Author: MoorningTimes

Lawyers affiliated to Labour were “blocked” from briefing party MPs to share concerns about plans to cut the number of jury trials in England and Wales, it has been claimed.The allegation was made by Karl Turner, the leader of a backbench rebellion against a flagship government bill that would remove the right to a jury trial in thousands of cases, before the first chance by MPs to vote on the legislation.As many as 65 Labour MPs are understood to have been considering voting against the courts and tribunals bill before Monday’s second reading.David Lammy, the justice secretary, announced the plans…

There have been any number of opportunities for people to decide they wanted no part of America’s war with Iran. The first was after the US had launched its first wave of strikes. To be fair, this was the moment Keir Starmer and most of the UK reckoned enough was enough and that our involvement would be limited to defensive strikes only.You couldn’t really fault the logic. Did the UK really want to be part of a war that was illegal in most versions of international law and for which the Americans had no clear vision of how it might…

A new definition of anti-Muslim hate will not restrict freedom of speech, the communities secretary has pledged, as he said that “clear expectations” will still be set for new arrivals and existing communities in Britain to learn English.MPs were told by Steve Reed that the government had a duty to act against record levels of hate crime against Muslims, but that “you can’t tackle a problem if you can’t describe it”.He was updating parliament on Monday on a new non-statutory definition for anti-Muslim hate, which was unveiled alongside a wider strategy on social cohesion.The three-paragraph definition, released alongside a longer…

Britain is likely to be hit by rising inflation because of the US war with Iran, the UK chancellor has said, as she suggested that a “rapid de-escalation” would be the best protection against a jump in energy prices.Both Rachel Reeves and the prime minister, Keir Starmer, suggested the government would be prepared to intervene to protect UK households against major cost-of-living shocks as oil prices surged past $100 (£75) a barrel for the first time since 2022.Starmer said a long-term US-Iran war would affect the “lives and households of everybody” but said the government would seek to “get ahead”…

Nscale, a UK company vital to the government’s AI ambitions, has raised $2bn (£1.5bn) in a funding round and appointed the former Meta executives Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg to its board of directors.It brings the valuation of the London-based startup, which is backed by the US tech company Nvidia, to $14.6bn, it said in a statement, and follows a $1.1bn funding round the company raised last September.Clegg, the former UK deputy prime minister, “brings deep expertise at the intersection of technology, policy, and global affairs”, the company said, and is “at the centre of the most consequential regulatory and…

Starmer seeks to reassure public over cost of living as oil prices surge from US-Israeli war with IranGood morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics as governments around the world brace for major disruption to energy supplies as a result of the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran.Keir Starmer is expected to promise to protect the British public from the economic impact of the war after oil prices surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022.“No matter the headwinds, supporting working people and their families with the cost of living is always top of my…

The recommendation that the names of MPs’ staff should be removed from a decades-old register, made by the House of Commons standards committee, is a retrograde step away from transparency. It is also appallingly timed. Public confidence in institutions including the government is fragile. A Labour MP resigned the whip just this week, after her husband was arrested on suspicion of spying. Parliamentarians should be striving to boost trust and engagement, not hiding information.The plan is all the more ill-judged as it emerged from a proposal to increase scrutiny. Currently, about 2,000 people employed by MPs, who hold passes granting them access to parliament, are…

The UK government will expand powers to tackle extremism by setting up a new whistleblowing route for university staff and giving the Charity Commission powers to shut down charities, as part of a new action plan to strengthen social cohesion.The plan, announced by the housing, communities and local government secretary, Steve Reed, will invest a further £5m in the Common Ground Resilience Fund, which was launched to support organisations and authorities tackling divisions in communities.“We must listen to people’s concerns about growing divisions and take action to bring our communities back together,” Reed said.As well as a new whistleblowing service,…

The Alba party has announced that it will wind up and not field any candidates for the 2026 Scottish parliament election.The pro-independence party was formed in 2021 by the late Alex Salmond as a “new political force” but has been suffering from a sharp fall in membership and a financial crisis.Police Scotland has been investigating alleged “irregularities” in the party’s finances since May.Kenny MacAskill, who defected from the Scottish National party and succeeded Salmond as Alba leader, said the decision taken by the party’s ruling national executive committee on Sunday had been made “with considerable regret”.The Electoral Commission advised the…

1. The air campaignThe UK refused to join the US and Israel’s airstrikes on the Iranian regime and its missile launch sites when they began a week ago, drawing the ire of Trump and the right wing of British politics.However, last week the government confirmed that RAF Eurofighter Typhoon and US-made F-35 jets were used to back up the safety of its allies in the Gulf in “defensive operations” – in effect to shoot down drones.Starmer told a press conference on Thursday that four more Typhoon jets were being sent to Qatar to support air defences in Bahrain and the…