UK politics

UK politics

Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana are preparing a fresh attempt to launch memberships for their new party this week but without a joint public statement or a unified line, the Guardian understands. The pair have spoken since Sultana called off legal action on Sunday night in a dramatic climbdown as she acknowledged people had been left feeling demoralised by the group's public spats.

the UK health secretary said the government was looking to create "third spaces" for trans women, away from female single-sex facilities such as toilets and changing rooms. "I know there will be lots of people, probably some Mumsnet users, and there'll be lots of people in the LGBT community and allies who would say that that's outrageous," he said. "I'm trying to find a way through on this that maybe not everyone loves but can live with and treats people with dignity and respect."

However, it is feared hundreds were wrongly hired with substandard or no vetting carried out, including many during the Conservative government's so-called uplift recruitment drive, The Guardian reports. The alleged recruitment predates the tenure of Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (PA) The Met is now carrying out an internal review into vetting and hiring practices between 2016 and April 2023, the force has confirmed.

A special needs teacher has spent almost a year trying to clear his name after a fraudulent universal credit claim was made using his identity, which has left him on the hook for hundreds of pounds in repayments. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to acknowledge the fraud, even though Michael Bene has supplied evidence he was in the Scottish Highlands when the claimant attended a face-to-face verification interview in Cheshire.

That not your [family member]'s formula entered the vernacular in a 1988 US car ad, when it was directed at dads: Not your father's Oldsmobile. Now, though, it seems mostly to have defaulted to mothers. It's a lazy marketing brag or headline, a shorthand for new, directional and disruptive, and I've started to hate it. I'm not usually actively angered by reflexive sexism and ageism; I tend to let it wash over me in a dispiriting wave.

In July, amid the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and under growing pressure from his own MPs, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer decided that time was now. He announced the UK would recognise a Palestinian state in September, coinciding with the UN General Assembly, unless Israel met certain conditions. Those included agreeing to a ceasefire and committing to a long-term sustainable peace that delivers a two-state solution.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to confirm the move after concluding the situation has deteriorated since he urged Israel to change course over the summer. Portugal, Canada, Australia and France are also due to recognise Palestine today, joining around three quarters of the 193 UN member states who do so. Ireland made the move last year alongside Norway and Spain.

The former City minister Tulip Siddiq has said she fears prosecutors could be planning to use fake documents to secure her conviction in her trial in Bangladesh on corruption charges. The Labour MP, who is being tried in absentia, spoke out after images of a Bangladeshi national identity card and a passport said to be in her name were published in newspapers in the UK and in Bangladesh.

Charities and universities have criticised the UK government's "excessively harsh" rules preventing university students from Gaza bringing their families with them to Britain. Last week, 34 Gaza students with scholarships at British universities were evacuated ahead of starting their studies. But some students said they would have to give up their places rather than leave family in Gaza, after learning tighter immigration rules barred them from bringing dependents.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

I know many people are feeling demoralised I share that feeling. We find ourselves in a regrettable situation, but my motivation has always been to ensure the collective strength of our movement, put members first and build the genuinely democratic conference and socialist party we so urgently need. I am determined to reconcile and move forward. I am engaged in ongoing discussions with Jeremy, for whom, like all socialists of my generation, I have nothing but respect.

Jensen Huang, the boss of the chipmaker Nvidia, had some advice for UK ministers last week as they signed a multibillion-pound tech deal with the US: burn more gas. I've every confidence that the UK will realise that it takes energy to grow new industries, he said. Sustainable power like nuclear and wind and of course all of that solar is all going to contribute. But I'm also hoping that gas turbines can also contribute.

She said about 7bn a year could be extracted by the end of the decade by taxing what she described as unexpected profits the banks had made as a result of high interest rates. Speaking at the party's autumn conference in Bournemouth, she announced the Lib Dems wanted to create a new Energy Security Bank to offer loans of up to 20,000 for households.

According to an invitation seen by the Guardian, the event will be hosted by Michael Dugher, the chair of the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC), who joined Brunswick as a part-time senior adviser last year. Dugher, a former Labour MP who stepped down during Jeremy Corbyn's stint as party leader, has since built a career as a pugnacious and sometimes controversial champion of Britain's gambling industry.

Late on Friday evening, Sultana said there had been baseless attacks on my character [that] are politically motivated, adding that she intended to hold to account those responsible for making them. To that end, I have this evening instructed specialist defamation lawyers.

Farron told a hall full of activists to "stop being so flaming squeamish and English" and reclaim the UK's flags from groups who seek to "divide and destroy". "Be proud of your country, the British flag and the flags of our four nations," he said. "They are ours. They belong to all of us. Let's take them back. Let's wave them with pride."

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson attracted many more people than the authorities had expected to his Unite the Kingdom rally last weekend despite his several criminal convictions and reputation for inflammatory language. But why did thousands of people travel miles to the heart of Westminster to march with a man reviled by mainstream politics carrying a banner calling for Remigration Now?

In his speech on Saturday, Robinson is expected to renew his calls for greater co-operation between unionist parties. The East Belfast MP will say that "no party or personality should ever trump our shared strategic aims". "Under my leadership, we will be strong, but we will not be selfish," he will say in his speech. Pacemaker Robinson will again express support for being part of Northern Ireland's devolved government, saying "things happen" when DUP ministers hold office.

The most infamous example of middle-income baby boomers seeking retribution for the loss of their accumulated wealth occurred in Germany in 2009, when a retired builder and his pensioner accomplice took their financial adviser hostage after more than 2m of stock market investments had crashed.

Cork's Morgan McSweeney is one of the most powerful Irishmen in the world as Keir Starmer's chief of staff. But now he faces mounting challenges