‘They will not get my vote this year’: Birmingham focus group shows shift from Labour support

Almost two years into Keir Starmer’s government, the polls suggest that many swing voters, including some of those who voted Labour, are unimpressed with how the country is being run.In the constituency of Birmingham Yardley, a focus group of eight previous Labour voters last week found support was now splintering in different directions, with one person considering going to Reform and several to the Greens. The group, convened by More in Common, had very little good to say about the government on the key issues.Most of the group said spiralling prices were their biggest concern. Bob, an engineering manager, said: “The wages doesn’t match the increase of everything every year so it just gets harder … Maybe you don’t go on holidays this year, maybe you used to be able to shop in M&S and now you shop somewhere else

British crypto billionaire Ben Delo says he has given £4m to Reform UK

A British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate anti-money-laundering controls in his cryptocurrency business has given £4m to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.Ben Delo, 42, who is now based in Hong Kong, wrote in the Telegraph that he had made the donation since the start of the year, before the government’s cap on donations to political parties by British citizens living abroad.The businessman, who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year, is moving back to the UK and therefore will not in future be subject to the new rules for donors. The cap may limit further contributions from Reform UK’s Thai-based donor Christopher Harborne, who has given £12m so far.In his article for the Telegraph, Delo explained his motivations for turning to Reform UK, saying England was his home and that “the biggest obstacle to national recovery is the entrenched self-deception of our elites”

UK politics: Starmer warns ‘lot of work to do’ to make ceasefire permanent at start of talks in Gulf - as it happened

Keir Starmer has said there is a “real sense of relief” in the Gulf at the Iran ceasefire – but also that there is “a lot of work to do” to make it permanent.Speaking to broadcasters at the King Fahd Air Base in Taif, Saudi Arabia, the PM said:double quotation markThere’s work to do. It’s early days.There is a real sense, I think, of relief you can feel it at the base here in Saudi Arabia, for 39 days, they’ve been acting in our collective self-defence. You can feel the relief

Keir Starmer is no Neville Chamberlain | Brief letters

Donald Trump says “We won’t want another Neville Chamberlain” (Trump uses Neville Chamberlain jibe to mock Starmer over stance on Iran, 6 April) – ie someone who does not stand up to tyrannical regimes and tries to appease them. Well, Donald, I am sure you are pleased that, so far, that is not happening in the UK, where our prime minister does seem to be standing up to such regimes by refusing to back the US-Israel attacks on Iran.Dominic RiceSheffield President Trump used to have the mantra “Drill, baby, drill”. Now it seems to be “Kill, baby, kill”.Rae StreetLittleborough, Greater Manchester The Guardian’s obituary pages invariably reveal fascinating details of the lives of both the well known and the less well known

Tell us: have you received local election leaflets through your door?

Have you received local election leaflets through your door? We’d like to see them. In an era of political turmoil, we’re particularly interested to see who each political party sees as their rival in their local area.You can tell us about the leaflets you’ve received – and share pictures of them – below.You can tell us about the local election leaflets you've received using this form.Please include as much detail as possible

Scottish Labour pledges £30m to top up artists’ income to a living wage

Labour has pledged to spend £30m on giving Scottish artists and musicians a living wage, mirroring a similar scheme in Ireland guaranteeing artists a basic income.Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said the scheme would be part of a deeper shake-up of cultural funding in Scotland by integrating arts and culture into the Scottish government’s economic strategies if his party won power in next month’s Holyrood election.The scheme would start with a pilot project to top up the incomes of up to 1,000 artists, musicians and designers to make sure they made a living wage, provided they had proof of other earnings or income.Costing £30m over two years, Sarwar said it was similar to Ireland’s basic income for 2,000 artists, who were given €325 (£283) a week in three-year cycles. The pilot scheme, which recouped more than its net cost of €72m through increases in arts-related expenditure, productivity gains and reduced reliance on other welfare payments, was made permanent in February

Keir Starmer arrives in Gulf after US and Iran agree two-week ceasefire

Keir Starmer has arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet leaders in the Gulf region to discuss diplomatic efforts to support the ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran.The UK prime minister’s visit on Wednesday comes hours after a two-week ceasefire was agreed on Tuesday evening, cancelling a self-imposed deadline by the US president, Donald Trump, for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction.Starmer said on Wednesday: “I welcome the ceasefire agreement reached overnight, which will bring a moment of relief to the region and the world.“Together with our partners we must do all we can to support and sustain this ceasefire, turn it into a lasting agreement and reopen the strait of Hormuz.”Downing Street said the prime minister would discuss diplomatic efforts to support and uphold the ceasefire to bring a “lasting resolution” to the conflict, and protect the UK and global economy

Londoners may regret protest votes for Reform or Greens in local elections, says Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khan has said he can understand why some former Labour voters are “flirting” with other parties in the run-up to May’s elections, but said that they may regret seeing a Green or Reform-led council in their areas.Speaking to the Guardian at a youth centre, where he was announcing new funding for facilities for young people, the London mayor also cautioned Labour MPs against considering a challenge to Keir Starmer, saying such “navel gazing” would be punished by the electorate.Members of all 32 London boroughs are being elected on 7 May, along with elections at other councils and mayoralties across England, and members of the Scottish and Welsh parliament, with Labour expected to perform very poorly.Across London, a number of Labour councillors in inner boroughs are forecast to lose to the Greens or independents, with Reform hoping to make gains on the edges of the city.Asked if he could understand why Labour might fare worse than usual in the capital, Khan said his call was for people “to vote on the track record of their local councils, rather than using it as a referendum on the imperfections of a Labour government”, saying he accepted that Starmer and his team had not delivered “the progress Londoners would have liked to have seen”, despite progress on areas like child poverty and renters’ rights

What has conflict in Iran revealed about UK’s geopolitical standing and military readiness?

The world breathed a sigh of relief as the US and Iran agreed at the 11th hour to a two-week ceasefire after a diplomatic intervention from Iran. Hours after Donald Trump had threatened widespread bombing of Iran’s power plants and bridges, warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight”, both countries agreed to a temporary ceasefire and Iran agreed to a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz.For the British government, whatever happens next, the conflict has revealed some important – and sometimes painful – lessons about the UK’s geopolitical standing and military readiness.In his first year as UK prime minister, Keir Starmer worked hard to cultivate a positive relationship with the US president, gaining a reputation as a supposed Trump whisperer. Just over a year ago, Starmer sat side by side with Trump in the Oval Office, gushingly handing over an “unprecedented” second state visit invitation from the king