Author: MoorningTimes

Once a political leader’s net favourability sinks deep into negative territory, recovery is the exception, not the rule. It usually takes an economic rebound, a dramatic political reset or an opposition implosion to reverse the slide. Sir Keir Starmer’s personal ratings are in a danger zone from which few escape.Yet the prime minister, like the Bourbons, has learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. He made a speech this week after coming close to being ousted suggesting he would “fight” on. He doubled down in parliament despite glaring errors in judgment. He forced out his cabinet secretary while his own failures remain unaddressed. He…

Keir Starmer will say the UK and Europe need to step up their commitments to Nato and avoid the risk of overdependence on the US for defence, as he sets out one of the main planks of his foreign policy vision on Saturday.Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the prime minister will warn against the idea of the UK turning inwards on security, instead calling for a focus on what he will call the “sleeping giant” of shared European defence capabilities.The speech warns that voters will need to be primed to expect greater spending on defence, and to be told…

Peter Mandelson has been asked to testify to the US Congress over his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.Robert Garcia, ranking member of the committee on oversight and government reform, and congressman Suhas Subramanyam have written to Mandelson requesting he be questioned as part of the investigation into Epstein.The letter said: “While you no longer serve as British ambassador to the United States and have stepped down from the House of Lords, it is clear that you possessed extensive social and business ties to Jeffrey Epstein and hold critical information pertaining to our investigation of Epstein’s operations.“Given the appalling…

1. Breach of policy – allowed“The home secretary’s approach to ‘other factors’ was not consistent with her policy.”Under Home Office policy, organisations can be banned, or proscribed, only if this is proportionate. Such decisions have to take account of five factors, including the nature and scale of the organisation’s activities and the specific threat they pose.2. Breach of human rights – allowed“The nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities, so far as they comprise acts of terrorism, has not yet reached the level, scale and persistence that would justify the application of the criminal law measures that are the consequence…

Starmer condemns Reform UK’s ‘racist rhetoric’Yesterday the Labour party accused Nigel Farage of tolerating “flagrant racism” in Reform UK after Sarah Pochin claimed that she was right to complain about the number of black and Asian people in TV adverts.Keir Starmer has now made the same point in his own words. Commenting on Sarah Pochin’s latest intervention, he told the Daily Mirror: Yet again our country’s discourse is being poisoned and polluted by the racist rhetoric coming from Reform – pitting communities against one another and sowing division to suit their own ends. They should be apologising, not doubling down.…

Here it is as promised, a bill introduced to parliament on Thursday proposing to give the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds by the next general election. Good. The accusation from the Conservatives and Reform last year was that this was gerrymandering. “Rank hypocrisy” says the Sun. If polls had shown that the young traditionally swing to the right, would Labour have espoused this? I don’t know.Nigel Farage’s claim that the young are turning to him is largely overblown, according to YouGov polling, with only 9% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they would vote Reform – no better than what Ukip…

Keir Starmer was on the brink of a leadership contest this week, but he pulled it back. That does not mean his rivals have gone away, with one of the most hotly tipped leadership candidates the health secretary, Wes Streeting.Earlier this week, Labour’s leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, held an astonishing press conference calling for Starmer to resign. Meanwhile, in Westminster, Streeting was preparing to publish all his messages with Peter Mandelson to get ahead of swirling rumours about his friendship with the disgraced former ambassador to the US. But this kicked off speculation that Streeting had co-ordinated with Sarwar’s…

Labour and Reform candidates came head-to-head at a hustings in Greater Manchester for the Gorton and Denton byelection, with Labour’s candidate saying women in the constituency were scared to leave the house because of her rival’s rhetoric.Angeliki Stogia hit out at Reform’s Matt Goodwin, who arrived at the offices of the Manchester Evening News, which was hosting the event, with security.Goodwin responded by saying he had had “very real threats” on his life and suggested women were instead afraid because Labour was “running a policy of open borders, which is putting women and girls at risk”.Stogia said: “Matthew, how can…

Health officials fear Palantir’s reputation will hinder the delivery of a “vital” £330m NHS contract, according to briefings seen by the Guardian, sparking fresh calls for the deal to be scrapped.In 2023, ministers selected Palantir, a US surveillance technology company that also works for the Israeli military and Donald Trump’s ICE operation, to build an AI-enabled data platform to connect disparate health information across the NHS.Now it has emerged that after Keir Starmer demanded faster deployment, Whitehall officials privately warned that the public perception of Palantir would limit its rollout, meaning the contract would not offer value for money.By last…

Primary school-age children who question their gender could be allowed to use different pronouns under long-awaited government guidance to schools on the subject.The guidance, billed as moving away from a culture-war approach on the subject, has some changes compared with draft guidance produced in 2023, under the Conservatives, which said that primary-aged children “should not have different pronouns to their sex-based pronouns used about them”.The guidance sets out that school staff members should not adopt changes like a new name or different pronouns unilaterally, and that this should be agreed by the school or college based on proper procedures, including…