UK MPs vote to proscribe Palestine Action as terrorist group

MPs have voted to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation despite concerns that the move could risk criminalising legitimate protest.The draft order to amend the Terrorism Act 2000 and proscribe the group, laid by the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, passed the Commons on Wednesday by 385 votes to 26.The order also bans two neo-Nazi groups, the Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC) and the Russia Imperial Movement (RIM).Outlining the government’s case to MPs, the Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said: “By implementing this measure, we will remove Palestine Action’s veil of legitimacy, tackle its financial support and degrade its efforts to recruit and radicalise people into committing terrorist activity in its name.“But we must be under no illusion

Reeves ‘going nowhere’ and has Starmer’s full backing, No 10 says – as it happened

Rachel Reeves has the prime minister’s “full backing”, Downing Street has said.Asked why Keir Starmer did not confirm in the Commons that he still had faith in Reeves, the prime minister’s press secretary said:He has done so repeatedly.The chancellor is going nowhere. She has the prime minister’s full backing.He has said it plenty of times, he doesn’t need to repeat it every time the leader of the opposition speculates about Labour politicians

Reform UK hires ex-Tory MP who was suspended for using racist language

Reform UK has hired a former Conservative MP who was suspended for using the N-word.Anne Marie Morris, who had the whip withdrawn by Theresa May in 2017 for using the term in a debate about Brexit, will lead Reform’s social care policy. She is one of several ex-Tories who have defected to Nigel Farage’s party.Morris had used the phrase “[N-word] in the woodpile” in an event at the East India Club, and apologised after the remarks came to light. She had the whip returned to her six months later – one day before a crucial Brexit vote for the then-government

Green party leadership race is between joint-MP ticket and deputy’s ‘eco-populism’ bid

The battle to lead the Greens has been confirmed as a straight fight between a joint ticket comprising two of the party’s MPs, Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, and the more insurgent offering of Zack Polanski, the deputy leader.A final list of nominations to head the party in England and Wales has resulted in a two-way battle for the leadership, while nine candidates are vying to be deputy leader.Since 2021 the party has been led by Ramsay and Carla Denyer, two of the Greens’ record haul of four MPs elected to Westminster a year ago. In May, Denyer announced she would not stand again, with Ramsay opting to stand again alongside Chowns.The leadership race is broadly a competition between two contrasting styles: the more organised and elections-led approach of the two MPs, versus Polanski’s aim to make the Greens a radical, mass-membership “eco-populism” movement

Former UK civil service chief calls Xi Jinping a ‘dictator’ over Taiwan threats

The former head of the UK’s civil service has described the Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a “dictator” and said Donald Trump had put “helpful pressure” on Europe to increase defence spending.Simon Case, who served as the cabinet secretary until December, when he stepped down on health grounds, said China had sent a clear message to “prepare for serious conflict” in Taiwan.The UK has committed to spend the equivalent of 2.6% of GDP in 2027, and it and other Nato members have signed up to increasing spending to 5% by 2035 on militaries and related security.The increased defence spending came after years of Trump raising questions over the future of the Nato alliance – and whether the US would come to allies’ defence – if other countries did not increase spending

‘This isn’t a U-turn’: disabled people react to passing of watered-down welfare bill

When Tim Boxall went to the protest outside Westminster on the eve of the welfare bill vote, he knew the 32C heat would exacerbate his multiple sclerosis. But he felt he had to be there. “The hour train here and the heat will cause me spasms, pain, fatigue, and set off motor and vocal tics,” he says. “It’ll take days bedbound to recover, but if we don’t fight our own corner, who will?” Boxall, 50, has received the personal independence payment (Pip) for a decade and calls it a “lifeline”, particularly since he had to give up work as a credit controller for a high street bank. The benefit bought the wheelchair he’s using today