The government is in talks with Labour MPs about possible changes to its welfare policies, Downing Street has confirmed. In a notable softening of tone, No 10 said that they “want” to hold a vote on Tuesday – as is currently planned – and admitted that getting the policy right was “not easy”. It follows...
Iain Watson, Henry Zeffman and Harry Farley Political correspondents Reuters Angela Rayner has declared that the government will go ahead with its controversial legislation, aimed at reforming the welfare system, next week. But a well-placed source told us it could still be pulled: “It’s a live discussion.” Conversations are continuing at the heart of government...
Billy Kenber Politics investigations correspondent Phillip Kemp Political reporter Getty Images On a cloudy Tuesday in September last year, Gawain Towler, a veteran press chief for Nigel Farage’s various political parties, was working in Reform UK’s central London offices when his phone went calling him into a meeting. He was being given the sack. The...
Bob Dale BBC News, South East Getty Images Zia Yusuf announced the first raft of council audits late on Sunday Reform has announced it will send its first Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) team into local authorities to assess “wasteful spending”. The party said the first council to be audited will be Kent...
Felicity Evans Money editor, BBC Wales News EPA At a protest in London, people expressed their upset at the UK government’s disability welfare reforms The incomes of people in Wales could be cut by £466m by 2029-30 as part of the UK government’s disability welfare reforms, according to new analysis. Data analytics company Policy in...
Sir John Curtice Professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde BBC There is no doubt that Reform performed well in Thursday’s local council elections. The party won most votes, most seats and overall control of most councils. True, the party’s share of the votes cast across all 23 councils where elections took place on...
I am a big fan of DOGE, and even approve of cutting government with a meat axe instead of a scalpel. A decade or two ago, I would have preferred “reform” and a zero-based budget–the idea being that responsible representatives in Congress and the Executive Branch would do their jobs and separate the wheat from...
Basillioh Rukanga & Alfred Lasteck BBC News, Nairobi & Dar es Salaam AFP Tundu Lissu faces treason charges Shot 16 times in an assassination attempt in 2017, Tindu Lissu is the great survivor of Tanzanian politics – and one of its most persecuted politicians. But some are asking whether he has now reached the the...
Sam Francis Political Reporter Helen Catt Political correspondent Getty Images The five biggest business groups in the UK have written an open letter calling for urgent changes to the government’s Employment Rights Bill. The proposed new law, due to be scrutinised by the House of Lords this month, includes a right to guaranteed hours and...
A push to claw back a process-oriented change in New York’s criminal legal code shows just how readily Democrats will capitulate to carceral demands in 2025. After years of advocacy, New York lawmakers passed a suite of criminal legal system reforms in 2019. The hard-won changes included the elimination of cash bail for most misdemeanor...