Politics
Westminster and Whitehall: the Government, the Opposition, and the workings of Parliament.
Reform promises tariffs on countries that refuse to take back migrants
Nigel Farage is expected to outline the plan this week, escalating February’s visa ban proposals for six countries with tariffs, airline bans and levies on goods and services.
Sun probe: Labour MPs took almost £300,000 of UAE and Manchester City hospitality
Almost £275,000 of UAE-funded trips and £14,000 of Manchester City tickets and hospitality went to Labour politicians, a Sun investigation found, raising fresh questions about the party's links to the Gulf state weeks after City's guilty verdict.
Burnham uses Berlin visit to prepare ground for November EU summit
The Prime Minister ratified the Kensington Treaty with Friedrich Merz, launched a joint security partnership and said Britain was open to Germany joining the GCAP fighter programme, days after telling Labour conference Brexit had done “more harm than good”.
Two Latvians arrested under National Security Act after RAF Molesworth fence breach
The men, aged 32 and 36, were found inside the Cambridgeshire base in the early hours of Thursday after an abandoned vehicle was spotted on patrol; counter-terrorism police say there is no link to the RAF Fairford plot.
Labour holds Holborn and St Pancras as Abdi-Wali defeats Green leader Polanski
Sagal Abdi-Wali took 12,292 votes to Zack Polanski’s 8,928 in the first by-election of Andy Burnham’s premiership, as a 13-point swing to the Greens fell short in Keir Starmer’s old seat.
Eleven arrested at London October 7 anniversary protests on Wednesday as Israel moves against UK consulate
Five people were arrested for inciting racial hatred outside the Board of Deputies in Camden, with six more held at student marches and a counter-protest, as Israel confirmed it will strip the British consulate in Jerusalem of diplomatic status on Thursday in retaliation for the UK settlement trade ban.
Burnham weighs delaying defence spending review to next October
The Prime Minister is considering pushing the spending review that would set the path to 3 per cent of GDP into the autumn of next year, so the increase could be funded alongside the next Budget.
Badenoch to close Tory conference with ‘battle for the soul of this nation’ and tax-cut pitch
The Conservative leader’s keynote will centre on cutting inheritance tax and halving employers’ national insurance for workers aged 21 to 24, paid for from more than £30 billion in welfare savings, under what the party calls its Conservative savings plan.
Seventh arrest in RAF Fairford terror-plot inquiry as 22-year-old held in Westminster on 6 October
Counter Terrorism Police arrested the British man in central London on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. Six earlier suspects have been released on bail.
Griffith pledges a tax cut at every Budget as Tories unveil economic plan
The shadow chancellor told the Birmingham conference he would scrap Labour’s “family homes tax”, back a third runway at Heathrow and lead “the most ambitious deregulation project in a generation”.
Labour hits two-year poll high as Opinium puts Burnham’s party on 30 per cent
The first voting-intention survey since the Prime Minister’s debut conference speech puts Labour five points clear of Reform, with Burnham the only leader in positive approval territory and voters backing his care service and EU rethink.
Badenoch launches ‘The Right Way’ as Tories open Birmingham conference on an election footing
The Conservative leader declared her party the home of “common sense” and unveiled a 95-page policy booklet setting out tax cuts, a smaller state and 50,000 new prison places, as senior Tories talked openly of a possible snap election.
Burnham scraps Starmer-era plan to curb jury trials after legal backlash
The Justice Secretary said he had “heard the strength of feeling” against judge-only trials for less serious cases, as the Government refocuses the Courts and Tribunals Bill on magistrates’ powers and a record 81,000-case backlog.
Man accused of murdering Ann Widdecombe charged over terror plot against Nigel Farage
Joshua Kerry, 28, already charged with the murder of the former MP, faces a charge of preparing acts of terrorism over conduct alleged between May 2024 and July 2026.
Britain hits Putin’s war chest: 31 new sanctions on shadow fleet, propagandists and torturers
The Foreign Office announced asset freezes and travel bans on 23 individuals and entities and trade sanctions on eight ships, in one of the largest single-day sanctions packages of the war.
France pulls the plug on the ‘one in, one out’ migration deal
Paris says it is negotiating its exit from the pilot returns agreement, which lapses on 1 October, despite Burnham’s personal plea to Emmanuel Macron to keep it going.
Burnham puts EU rejoining on the table, saying Brexit has done more harm than good
The Prime Minister told the BBC that Britain should weigh every option for its future relationship with the EU, from the status quo to a customs union, the single market, or going “all the way”, and promised to lay out the choices around November’s UK-EU summit.
HMS Portland fires new ship-busting missile in Atlantic Thunder climax
The Type 23 frigate’s operational Naval Strike Missile firing, a Sea Venom launch from a Wildcat helicopter and a torpedo strike from a submarine sank the former USS Klakring off Scotland.
Fairford five released on bail as counter-terrorism police pursue ‘multiple lines of inquiry’
Five British men arrested near RAF Fairford over suspected explosives and terrorism offences have been freed on bail, as the US Secretary of State said the incident involved ‘the hands of a foreign actor’.
Healey promises ‘a new age of industrialisation’ in first conference speech as Chancellor
The Chancellor told Labour’s Liverpool conference that fiscal discipline would underwrite every promise the Government makes, and that the Budget he delivers a month from now would give families and businesses breathing space.
Burnham’s first conference as Prime Minister: the week that will define his premiership
Two months after succeeding Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham faces his first Labour conference as leader, with the economy stalling, small boats at a yearly high and a Budget a month away.
781 arrivals in a day: Channel crossings hit a 2026 high as two boats land undetected
Ten boats crossed on Wednesday, the busiest day of the year so far, as the Home Secretary ordered an urgent review after two vessels reached British shores without interception.