Top Foreign Office civil servant ousted over latest Mandelson bombshell April 16, 2026 The top civil servant in the Foreign Office has been ousted after losing the confidence over Sir Keir Starmer and foreign secretary Yvette Cooper. Foreign Office permanent under-secretary Sir Olly Robbins has become the latest Westminster figure to lose their role to the Mandelson scandal after it had emerged the disgraced peer was denied clearance in [...]
Starmer targets social media giants as Kendall faces AI legal threat April 16, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has called senior executives from Snap, Tiktok, Snap and Meta into Downing Street, as ministers double crack down on Big Tech’s effects on child safety. The meeting comes as tech secretary Liz Kendall faces mounting scrutiny over the government’s use of AI in the same consultation process. Starmer will tell the firms [...]
UK economy jumped above forecasts before Iran war April 16, 2026 The UK economy was growing ahead of expectations before the war in the Middle East erupted, official data has shown. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said GDP grew by 0.5 per cent over February, though City analysts have suggested the figures are “too good to be true” given trends seen in recent years. In [...]
Why Britain is the sick man of the global oil shock April 16, 2026 Britain's indecisiveness leaves the country dangerously exposed to further oil price shocks, writes Mykola Kuzmin.
Starmer hits back at defence spending attacks April 15, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has said he disagrees with allegations of “complacency” on funding the armed forces amid renewed scrutiny over the Labour’s defence spending plans. During Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer hit back at widespread backlash over the absence of the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which was due last autumn. He told MPs that he didn’t [...]
Historians won’t care about Starmer’s international diplomacy April 15, 2026 When future historians explain why Keir Starmer's premiership fell apart, they'll look at domestic issues, not international diplomacy.
IMF downgrade Reeves is gaslighting voters on energy crisis April 15, 2026 Rachel Reeves is set to urge other countries to “follow her plan” for the energy crisis, but international analysts expect Britain to perform the worst among comparable nations thanks to decisions she has made, says Alys Denby The war in Iran has come at the worst possible time for a government already struggling to command [...]
Labour’s international law credo is costing us April 15, 2026 Throughout history, British people have chosen a moral credo over practical duties to protect citizens. We must change course, says Mark Wheatley This is a story about a saint, a King, an Earl and a Prime Minister. It is about how the English have subjected sense to credo before and how we – across the [...]
Reform UK lead slips as Labour jumps after Iran war criticism April 15, 2026 Reform UK’s polling lead slipped in April as Sir Keir Starmer’s criticism of the war in Iran helped mount a slight comeback, fresh data has shown. Reform UK remained top of the party rankings for voter intentions in new research by Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy. Nigel Farage’s party lost four points in April as around 26 [...]
IMF slaps UK with biggest growth downgrade of any G7 country April 14, 2026 The UK economy has suffered the biggest growth forecast downgrade of any country in the G7 in the International Monetary Fund’s spring economic outlook report, dealing a blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she struggles to overcome setbacks sparked by the Iran war. Growth this year was revised down by 0.5 percentage points as trade [...]