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Young people on benefits will be offered job opportunities in industries such as construction and hospitality in a bid to tackle rising youth unemployment. The government will fund 350,000 training and work experience placements, and will guarantee 55,000 jobs in areas it says are in the highest need from spring 2026. Funding will come from … Read more
Laura KuenssbergPresenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg BBC “If I was a politician I’d be going, ‘Oh blimey, there is a demographic time bomb’. There are now people of voting age – well into their 30s – who just have not had a good deal, and they have started to vote with their feet.” Whether it’s … Read more
The former Conservative business and Scotland Office Minister, Lord Malcolm Offord, has defected to Reform UK. He was unveiled by Nigel Farage at a rally at the the Macdonald Inchyra hotel in Falkirk on Saturday. Lord Offord was the serving Treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives and frontbencher for the Conservatives in the House of Lords. … Read more
Trans women will not be able to take part in the main session at Labour’s Women’s Conference next year. It follows a legal review into how the event should operate after the Supreme Court ruled in April that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities legislation. Trans women will not be able to … Read more
Helen Catt,BBC political correspondentand Jenny Sneesby,Political reporter Dogs Trust Pip and Squeak, who are now called Elsa and Sky, after being rehomed by the Dogs Trus A law to tackle the smuggling of puppies and kittens into Britain has passed Parliament this week, after two previous attempts failed. Animal welfare charities say it’s a game-changer, … Read more
BBC Ian Cooper is alleged to have made racist comments online The Reform UK leader of Staffordshire County Council has been removed from the party after being accused of making racist comments on social media. The posts at the centre of complaints about Ian Cooper included one making reference to then foreign secretary David Lammy, … Read more
Paul SeddonPolitical reporter EPA/Shutterstock Sir Keir Starmer has repeated that he is not planning to rejoin the EU’s customs union, after the deputy prime minister said countries in such unions see a boost to their economies. Speaking on a podcast on Thursday, David Lammy said it was “self-evident” that Brexit had damaged the British economy. … Read more
Gareth Gordon,political correspondentand Brendan Hughes,political reporter, BBC News NI Niall Carson/PA First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at Stormont last year The UK prime minister has been told by the leaders of the Stormont Executive that the chancellor’s budget was “a missed opportunity” for Northern Ireland. … Read more
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will not face an investigation by the prime minister’s ethics adviser over whether she broke the ministerial code with her pre-Budget interventions. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage had asked Sir Laurie Magnus to launch an inquiry arguing that Reeves had breached rules which require ministers to be open and candid. He accused … Read more
A senior UK government minister has defended its record in Wales after strong criticism from Labour Senedd members. Several backbench Labour MSs wrote to Keir Starmer accusing him of rolling back devolution by bypassing ministers in Cardiff Bay to make decisions in Wales. But Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, said Wales had … Read more