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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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UK’s ‘incoherent’ approach to China plagued by a lack of expertise, report says
International grouping of China-sceptic legislators warns of risks inherent in misjudging bilateral relationship The UK’s approach to China is “beset by incoherence” and plagued by a lack of senior expertise, according to a report warning of the risks inherent in misjudging the bilateral relationship. Wednesday’s audit by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), an international grouping of China-sceptic legislators, says past engagement with Beijing has often exposed the UK to the risks of interference without delivering the opportunities promised. Continue reading...
Trump administration promises social security recipients 3.6% increase in 2027
‘Seniors have spent years watching their expenses outpacing their benefits’ advocate says Social security recipients will see a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment (Cola) in 2027, increasing retirement benefits by an average of $75 per month as millions of Americans continue to grapple with rising prices. Nearly 72 million social security beneficiaries will see higher payments beginning in January 2027, while approximately 7.3 million supplemental security income (SSI) recipients will receive increased payments starting on 31 December 2026, according to the Social Security Administration. Continue reading...
Done family took £30m dividend from Betfred before warning of job cuts
Money was withdrawn from gambling firm before founder warned chancellor against doubling machine games duty The billionaire Done family took a £30m dividend from their Betfred gambling empire, before warning that they would close hundreds of bookies and cut jobs if the government increases tax on high-street slot machines . The chancellor, John Healey, is understood to be considering proposals to double machine games duty in the upcoming budget, a move that the Social Market Foundation thinktank has said could boost state coffers by up to £460m. Continue reading...
Pope Leo’s recovery from lung cancer surgery ‘progressing as planned’
Pontiff has begun walking in his hospital room and is eating normally after operation to remove growth, doctors say Pope Leo’s recovery from a lung cancer operation is progressing as planned, his doctors have said, as the pontiff received good wishes from around the world, including a letter from Britain’s King Charles. Leo, who had a cancerous mass removed from his right lung late on Tuesday , began walking in his hospital room after respiratory therapy on Wednesday. He was eating normally, his doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritoria said in a statement issued by the Vatican. Continue reading...
That Kemi is spectacularly wrong about almost everything is a big help to the PM | John Crace
One good poll has convinced the Tory leader she is invincible. She was back in her happy place with a scattergun PMQs Little things please little minds. And minds don’t come much smaller than some of those in Westminster. If a researcher had come up with a study that showed one element two points higher in value than countless other experiments, it would almost certainly be marked down either as an outlier or “within the margin of error”. At the very least, no conclusions would be drawn until many other experiments had been conducted which had produced similar results. Serious scientific journals would just laugh at you if you asked them to publish your findings. And yet. In one – just one out of many – recent opinion poll, the Tories have increased their ratings by a couple of points and are now for the first time in years in second place, ahead of Reform. And all of a sudden, Kemi Badenoch is insisting this is incontrovertible proof that the Tories are back in business. All the sins of its 14 years in government have been wiped clean. All hail to Kemi, the new chief. She is the chosen one. And the Conservatives are a government-in-waiting. Continue reading...
Campaigners decry slow progress in repaying victims of carer’s allowance crisis
Only 1.04% of estimated 230,900 cases reviewed in first five months of £75m three-year scheme Campaigners have urged Andy Burnham to step in after it emerged just a handful of the tens of thousands of unpaid carers who unknowingly racked up huge debts when welfare officials unlawfully changed benefits guidance have been repaid. The first official update on the carers allowance reassessment exercise launched by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in April confirms that progress in cancelling wrongful overpayments has started slowly. Continue reading...
Container ship sinks near strait of Hormuz amid surge in Iranian attacks
Second vessel also reportedly sinking as uptick in strikes suggests Iran trying to close waterway before US elections A container ship has sunk near the strait of Hormuz and a second cargo vessel was reportedly sinking amid the sharpest uptick in Iranian attacks on shipping since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. The surge of attacks suggests Iran is trying to fully close the strategic waterway in a deliberate attempt to frustrate Donald Trump’s efforts to bring down fuel prices before the US midterm elections on 3 November. Continue reading...
Mont Blanc, the ‘roof of Europe’, loses more than a metre of height in a year
Peak of French mountain now 4,807 metres high and fluctuates year by year due to changes in Alpine climate Europe’s highest peak shrank by more than a metre last year, data has shown. Mont Blanc in France now stands 4,807.47 metres above sea level, a team of surveyors from the Haute-Savoie regional department said on Wednesday, putting “the roof of Europe” 1.29 metres lower than in 2025. Continue reading...
Boy, 17, accidentally shot dead with air rifle at Hampshire house party, inquest told
Connor Bell died of his injuries after his friend Jack Beechy, 18, pulled the trigger, mistaking it for the safety catch A 17-year-old died after he was accidentally shot in the head with an air rifle by his friend at a house party, an inquest has been told. Connor Bell had been drinking at a friend’s house in Basingstoke, Hampshire on 8 November last year when Jack Beechy fired the fatal shot by mistaking the trigger for the safety catch, the inquest heard. Continue reading...
France’s students are angry about more than crumbling classrooms and missing teachers
Beneath a wave of school protests in France lies a more existential worry: the future prospects of an entire generation • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Say what you will about France’s high schools, they still produce world-class slogan writers. Here’s a brief selection spotted during three weeks of blockades and marches over chronic teacher shortages, overcrowded classes and crumbling buildings: “ Pas d’avenir, pas de calme ” (No future, no calm). “ Diplômés aujourd’hui, précaires demain ” (Graduates today, insecure tomorrow). “ Vous détruisez notre futur, on bloque votre présent ” (You destroy our future, we block your present). Continue reading...
New York City moves to ban horse-drawn carriages
Mamdani and city council leader agree on ban that would make it illegal to operate horse-drawn carriages in the city Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the leader of the New York City council have agreed to ban horse-drawn carriages from the city, a popular tourist attraction that has faced widespread scrutiny. Mamdani has agreed to back a bill supported by Julie Menin , the speaker of the New York City council, that would make it illegal to operate horse-drawn carriages beginning in June 2028, Politico reported on Tuesday. The city council is expected to vote on the legislation next week. Continue reading...
‘English nationalist’ content creators film themselves in asylum seekers’ house
Video posted online shows men entering home through unlocked door and claiming to be looking for paperwork A Home Office accommodation provider has launched an investigation after “English nationalist” content creators posing as contractors filmed themselves entering a property housing asylum seekers. The video, titled “HMO Hunting in Leicestershire”, was posted to the Truthhurts101UK YouTube account, which describes itself as being run by an “English nationalist citizen journalist” and claims to cover “immigration, demographic change, policing and stories others overlook”. The footage was also posted to the associated TH101UK’s X account, where is has been viewed more than 300,000 times. Continue reading...
Merry squishmas: £10 squeezy banana on list of top festive season toys
Social media-driven craze puts ‘squishies’ up there with evergreen favourites such as Lego and Barbie, Hamleys says A cartoonish banana so addictively squidgy that it is “really difficult to put down” is tipped to be among the must-have toys this Christmas , according to expert buyers at Hamleys. The £10 “slow-rise, squeezable, sensory” fruit taps into the “squishies” craze that is fuelling a high street boom in toy sales. Hamleys expects to sell thousands of the Big Squij toys, which come in a variety of food and animal shapes filled with a flour-based compound, in the coming weeks. Continue reading...
Russell Brand was ruthless, calculated and manipulative sexual predator, court told
Comedian faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women Russell Brand was a ruthless, calculated and manipulative sexual predator who used his celebrity status and force to rape and assault women, a court has heard. The 51-year-old comedian is alleged to have had an “insatiable desire” to get what he wanted and treated women as a means to an end, jurors were told. Continue reading...
Texas prosecutor considering felony charges for ICE agent who ran over man
A conviction on the possible charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon could mean up to 20 years in prison A Texas prosecutor said he was considering felony assault charges for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who ran over a man following an attempted traffic stop and broke his leg in multiple places. Sean Teare, district attorney for Harris county, said video of the incident in west Houston on Saturday morning, in which the officer’s unmarked SUV is seen veering into the man as he runs away across an empty parking lot, could support a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Continue reading...
How we lost our appetite for eat-the-rich satire
Tom Cruise’s latest film could lose $250m (£190m) – could one reason be that audiences are tired of Hollywood telling them what they already know about the super-rich? It seems as if nobody can decide who should shoulder most of the blame for the recent box office flop of Digger. Was it the ousted Warner Bros film executives Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, whose love of big-budget auteur cinema usually came with a hefty price tag? Or was it the marketing team, who were responsible for hiding the movie’s biggest swing from all trailers, ensuring many viewers would be left alienated from its early meta-reveal onwards? Continue reading...
Closer EU trade ties greater prize for UK than making separate deals, minister says
Exclusive: Douglas Alexander, on trade delegation to India, talks up economic benefits of joint trading arrangements with Europe UK politics live – latest updates Britain will benefit from much closer trading relations with the EU even if that means giving up its ability to negotiate free trade agreements, the Scotland secretary has said. Douglas Alexander helped negotiate deals with India and the US when he was a trade minister under Keir Starmer. Continue reading...
Locking UK out of ‘Made in Europe’ law will ‘hurt’ carmaking across EU, says Mercedes-Benz boss
Ola Källenius says it will ‘weaken the industry on both sides’ ahead of act intended to counter non-EU competition Locking the UK out of the EU’s flagship industrial “Made in Europe” legislation would amount to a “deliberate choice” by EU leaders to “hurt” the car industry across the bloc, the head of Mercedes-Benz has said. Speaking in his capacity as president of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), Ola Källenius said such a move would “weaken the industry on both sides”. Continue reading...
Sally Rooney says she can no longer sell books in UK due to Palestine Action support
Irish writer of Normal People says she can no longer receive royalties from British sales and she cancelled UK trip due to fear of arrest Sally Rooney has said she is being forced to withdraw her books from sale in the UK because of her support for the banned organisation Palestine Action. The Irish novelist, whose books include Normal People and Conversations With Friends, said her public support for the direct action group meant she could no longer receive royalties from UK sales. Continue reading...
Uber begins self-driving robotaxi trial in Manchester
Company hails first step in rolling out technology across UK as first autonomous vehicles take to city’s streets Uber has begun a trial of autonomous vehicles on the streets of Manchester as it looks to bring robotaxis to cities around the UK. The first self-driving cars are operating, using the technology of its partner firms Pony and Verne, with whom Uber recently launched Europe’s first autonomous taxi service in the Croatian capital, Zagreb. Continue reading...
‘A big responsibility’: Clifton Suspension Bridge master hails £7.6m renovation
Engineer Tristan Ralph describes task of maintaining and running Bristol structure without public money The job does not give the holder age-old perks such as the right to drive sheep across the great structure, but the title “bridge master” does have a certain ring to it. “I don’t tend to say I’m the bridge master when I’m at a party,” said Tristan Ralph, the current holder of the title. “But people do seem to know and bring it up. It’s a job less ordinary, isn’t it? It’s a Victorian sounding title and people are really, really interested.” Continue reading...
French minister accuses Elon Musk of ‘online harassment campaigns’ against European leaders
Jean-Noël Barrot criticises X owner in speech attacking foreign efforts to destabilise country before 2027 election France’s foreign minister has accused Elon Musk of using his social media platform to orchestrate “massive online harassment campaigns” against European leaders, as he took aim at foreign efforts to destabilise the country before next year’s presidential election. Speaking at an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development conference on Tuesday, Jean-Noël Barrot pointed to the role that social media had come to play in the global battle over democracy. “The forces seeking to undermine democracy now dominate the information landscape, where they employ tactics designed to polarise public debate,” he said . Continue reading...
US inflation rose to 3.7% in September, figures show
Final inflation report before midterms comes as polls show widespread anger over cost of living under Trump Republicans are entering the midterm elections with the highest rate of inflation since the spring, according to a government report released on Wednesday. US price increases reached an annual rate of 3.7% in September, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This final inflation report before the pivotal midterm elections comes amid polls showing widespread dissatisfaction with the Trump administration over the cost of living. Continue reading...
‘From liabilities to goldmines’: refineries eye record profits from diesel shortage
Firms turning crude oil into the ‘workhorse’ fuel stand to gain most despite economic fallout from record prices Business live – latest updates Days after Donald Trump announced a deal to import Russian diesel into the US in an effort to lower soaring pump prices, the world’s energy watchdog has warned that the global fuel shortage will drag into 2027. Trump’s temporary sanctions reprieve was criticised for offering “too little, too late” to temper the sky high pump prices triggered by the shutdown of war-damaged refineries in the Middle East and Russia – once the world’s second-largest diesel exporter behind the US. Continue reading...