Author: MoorningTimes

Five former education secretaries have made a joint appeal to Labour MPs to back the overhaul of special education provision in English schools, calling it “a once in a generation chance” to fix a failing system.The open letter is signed by David Blunkett, Estelle Morris, Charles Clarke, Ruth Kelly and Alan Johnson, who between them held the post for a decade from 1997.It comes ahead of the schools white paper, due to be published on Monday, which will set out proposals to transform the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system, in what could be one of the defining policy…

Britain and the EU said they were assessing the implications of the US supreme court ruling against Donald Trump’s global tariffs, while business groups reacted to the court’s announcement with caution.A spokesperson for Downing Street said: “The UK government is working with the US to understand how the overturning of Donald Trump’s tariffs by the supreme court will affect the UK but expects our privileged trading position with the US to continue.”The UK was the first to strike a tariff deal with the US, with 10% tariffs on all imports from Britain, compared with a blanket 15% rate for the…

The economic backdrop to Rachel Reeves’s upcoming spring statement appeared to brighten on Friday after a trio of reports painted a better-than-expected picture of the UK economy.Record monthly public finances, a surge in retail spending and accelerating business activity offered the most coherent picture of recovery since last autumn, economists said, and provided the chancellor with a more positive narrative ahead of her 3 March statement.“It’s been a hat-trick of good economics news for once for the UK,” said Sandra Horsfield, senior economist at Investec bank. “We had a disappointing end to last year, but as things look we may…

Last year, No 10 took an unprecedented step: it invited content creators to cross the threshold of Downing Street.Naturally, the creators all filmed themselves outside the famous door. Once inside, their most treasured possessions, their phones, were taken from them and exchanged for government-approved devices, so they could continue to take photos and record video without breaching security guidelines. At the reception, creators from areas as wide as science, education and travel took part in a networking session at the heart of government.This was one of a number of events in 2025. There were also off-the-record breakfasts to talk about…

A Labour minister who claimed to be “surprised” and “furious” at a PR agency’s work to investigate journalists on his behalf had been personally involved in naming them to British intelligence officials and falsely linking them to pro-Russian propaganda, the Guardian can reveal.Josh Simons, who was running the thinktank Labour Together at the time, was also involved in telling security officials that another journalist was “living with” the daughter of a former adviser to Jeremy Corbyn. Officials were told by Simons’ team that the former adviser was “suspected of links to Russian intelligence”.The extraordinary disclosures are contained in emails that…

Next week, the government is expected to announce its education white paper. It is a moment, as political correspondent Alexandra Topping explains, of high political peril.Part of the proposals will be reforms to special educational needs provision in England. And while nearly all agree that the current system is broken – extremely expensive, very divisive, and failing the most vulnerable children – the mood around the announcements is still tense. Simply put, many disability rights campaigners fear the reforms are not about improving the system, but cutting costs.It is perhaps the most difficult moment in parliament for the government since…

Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Antonia Romeo as the country’s most senior civil servant has prompted dismay among former colleagues who complained about what they considered bullying behaviour when she was a diplomat in New York.Several people who worked with Romeo at the New York consulate nearly 10 years ago have told the Guardian they are upset by the prime minister’s decision to make her cabinet secretary despite knowing about their complaints.The allegations from several colleagues were made as part of one formal complaint against Romeo in 2017. That complaint was investigated by a senior diplomat who found that she…

Donald Trump changed his mind on supporting the Chagos Islands deal because the UK will not permit its airbases to be used for a pre-emptive US strike on Iran, the Guardian has been told.In his latest change of heart on the deal, the US president said on social media that Keir Starmer was “making a big mistake” by handing sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius in exchange for continued use by the UK and US of their airbase on one of the islands, Diego Garcia.While Trump had previously criticised the plan, which is backed by the US state department, earlier…

Global Counsel, the advisory firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson, is to collapse into administration, blaming the “maelstrom” caused by revelations about the former peer’s relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Companies including Barclays, Tesco and the Premier League have all deserted Global Counsel, despite the company’s efforts to sever ties with Mandelson and the company’s co-founder Benjamin Wegg-Prosser.The crisis engulfed Global Counsel after it emerged that Mandelson had sought Epstein’s advice on setting up the business in 2010, shortly after leaving office when Labour lost the general election.On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that staff at Global Counsel had…

Starmer says Romeo appointed cabinet secretary because of her ability to ‘get things done’This is what Keir Starmer has said about the appointment of Antonia Romeo as cabinet secretary, replacing Chris Wormald, who was in effect sacked after just over a year in the job.Starmer said: I am delighted to appoint Dame Antonia Romeo as the new cabinet secretary. She is an outstanding public servant, with a 25‑year record of delivering for the British people.Since becoming prime minister, I’ve been impressed by her professionalism and determination to get things done. Families across the country are still feeling the squeeze, and…