Author: MoorningTimes

The BBC is to call for an end to political appointments to its board as part of sweeping changes designed to protect its independence.The corporation will also demand that its royal charter be put on a permanent footing in an attempt to end the existential threat posed by having to negotiate with ministers over its future every 10 years.The proposals form part of its official response to current charter renewal talks, to be published on Thursday.It follows concern within the BBC that political pressure from its board led to the resignations of the director general, Tim Davie, and the head…

“More Labour.” These two words sprang from the postmortem into last week’s Gorton and Denton byelection loss. But what do they mean when applied to what this government does, not least in the contested politics of migration?To answer that, we have to understand what the Labour party really is, because at its best it is a broad church. My party was born as a union of newly industrialised, working-class communities and radical social reformers. Added to that mix came those like my family. Immigrant communities came to this country in search of better lives and found their political home in…

It was perhaps the most attention-grabbing moment of prime minister’s questions. Responding to yet another Conservative salvo about his approach to Iran and how it might affect ties with America, Keir Starmer was direct.“American planes are operating out of British bases – that is the special relationship in action,” he said. “Sharing intelligence every day to keep our people safe – that is the special relationship in action. Hanging on to President Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship in action.”And certainly in the last few days, hanging on to and then endlessly, painfully analysing Trump’s ever-changing opinions has…

Keir Starmer has told MPs that “hanging on to President Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship”, after criticism of his stance on the Iran conflict.A day after Donald Trump dismissed Starmer as “not Winston Churchill”, angry that the US was denied use of British bases for initial strikes, the prime minister’s handling of the UK response to the conflict came under attack by Kemi Badenoch, the opposition leader, at prime minister’s questions.In reply, Starmer told MPs: “What I was not prepared to do on Saturday was for the UK to join a war, unless I was satisfied there…

Minister dismisses Trump’s claim that Keir Starmer is ‘no Churchill’Hello and welcome to the UK politics live blog.A government minister has dismissed Donald Trump’s claim that Keir Starmer is no “Winston Churchill”, arguing that the prime minister had approached the Middle East situation with a “cool head, a real clarity of purpose” and “a determination to do the right thing for the British people”.In his latest extraordinary salvo, the US president said he was not happy with the UK even though the prime minister eventually agreed the US could use Diego Garcia for strikes on Iranian missile facilities.It was the…

At home and abroad, Labour and its leader are under siege. Though the Gorton and Denton result is history now, the repercussions roil his party and underpin the fight for its future.Abroad, the policy rift within the Labour tribe is just as bad, with the fear that the party will be dragged backwards into the wreckage of another illegal war in the Middle East. Yet again Labour and Starmer are damned both ways, with much of the party raging at its leader and a “very disappointed” Donald Trump angry, not appeased.In seeking a clear way through the multiple rocky paths…

Keir Starmer’s efforts to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU are lacking in “direction, definition and drive”, parliament’s foreign affairs committee has said.A report based on months of expert witness testimony found the summit between the UK and the EU at Lancaster House last May had “substantially improved the overall political relationship” after years of Brussels-bashing by the Conservatives.But it concluded the UK “lacks clear strategic priorities”, which in turn results in “the appearance that the EU has achieved more concrete progress towards their most pressing demands than the UK”.Emily Thornberry, Labour MP and chair of the committee, said:…

More than half of Reform UK members believe non-white British citizens born abroad should be deported or encouraged to leave, according to the first publicly available poll of those in Nigel Farage’s party.The findings come as the Reform leader attempts to court centre-ground voters while facing pressure from his right-flank, including a hardline new party launched by Rupert Lowe, who left Reform after falling out with Farage.According to the research published by the anti-racism group, Hope Not Hate (HnH), 54% of Reform members thought non-white British citizens born abroad should be forcibly removed or encouraged to leave, while one in…

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UK considers sending Royal Navy destroyer to CyprusDan SabbaghYou can now read the full story on our earlier reports in the blog that the government is considering sending warship HMS Duncan to Cyprus, here:John Healey, the defence secretary, is considering sending a Royal Navy destroyer to Cyprus to help defend British bases there after several apparently hostile drones targeted RAF Akrotiri on the island.Defence sources said a deployment of HMS Duncan, currently in Portsmouth, was under discussion as a way to better protect the base in Cyprus – though another said it was possible one of two other destroyers might…