Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, multiple sources have told the Guardian. The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine, which UK and US officials … Read more
Getty Images Former Labour MP and current crossbench peer in the House of Lords Gisela Stuart heads the Civil Service Commission A review into appointments to government jobs has concluded it is “largely satisfied” with the processes in place. The Civil Service Commission launched the probe in August after Conservatives said appointments to the new … Read more
Alas, poor Olive! I knew him, Horatio. This should have been Oliver Dowden’s day, his chance to shine. The half-hour when he stepped out of the shadows into glorious sunlight. When the Tory party put aside its differences with one another and cheered him unconditionally. Laughed at his jokes. No one had ever done that … Read more
After the bus driver Keith Rollinson died at Elgin bus station after a violent assault by a teenage passenger, friends and colleagues held a candlelit vigil to remember the man described by his family as “a true gentleman with a heart of gold”. On the day of his funeral, the north-east town came to a … Read more
BBC On a spring day, Hamid Khoshsiar decided to make the perilous journey into the European Union. He was 31 at the time, an Iranian refugee who had been living in Turkey for two years. But in 2019, he felt it was time to go. Starting out in Igneada, in the north of the country, … Read more
Britain’s longest-serving MPs, Labour’s Diane Abbott and the Conservative Sir Edward Leigh, have issued a joint call urging the Commons to reject the assisted dying bill, arguing it is being rushed through and puts vulnerable people at risk. Writing for the Guardian, Abbott and Leigh – the mother and father of the house – said … Read more
Good morning. Keir Starmer is travelling back from the G20 summit in Brazil, but he won’t be in the Commons in time for PMQs, and so Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, will be taking questions on his behalf. In line with recent practice, Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative leader, won’t go up against a … Read more
Cuts to the winter fuel allowance could force 100,000 pensioners in England and Wales into relative fuel poverty, government analysis has shown, as ministers come under mounting pressure over a number of measures in last month’s budget. Internal government modelling shows the decision to remove the benefit from millions of pensioners will push about 50,000 … Read more
It was a very civilised protest. The sort of protest you might expect from roughly 10,000 asset-rich, cash-poor millionaire farmers from all over the country. The police officers there just to redirect the traffic. Only the occasional shouted slogans to punctuate proceedings; most people were just happy to be there. “What do we want?” “To … Read more
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has heaped praise on Keir Starmer’s economic policy, as the UK prime minister used their first meeting to raise concerns about sanctions on MPs and the treatment of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai. During their conversation at the G20 summit in Rio, the first meeting between the UK and China’s leaders … Read more