‘No other plan comes close’: how Labour MPs turned to Burnham with Starmer on the brink

When the eyes of Westminster were on the committee rooms and voting lobbies of parliament this week, Keir Starmer’s political future was being decided elsewhere.Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner were buttering up Labour MPs in the Strangers’ Bar in parliament as colleagues spoke of their “existential” fear about the crucial elections next week.Starmer, meanwhile, tried to calm backbenchers’ nerves as he did the rounds in the members-only smoking room and his private office behind the Commons chamber. One former minister said the mood was so dark that several MPs refused to meet the leader, saying: “We don’t want to be seen with him.”Andy Burnham was 800 miles away in Madrid as Starmer’s future dominated Westminster

Andy Burnham has plan to return to Westminster ‘within weeks’, allies say

Andy Burnham has a credible plan to return to Westminster “within weeks”, his allies have said, with the Greater Manchester mayor expected to use a byelection fight to set out a new agenda for government.Burnham, who was blocked by Labour’s ruling body from running in February’s Gorton and Denton byelection, has identified several seats where MPs are prepared to step aside for his leadership bid.In a sign that his campaign is more progressed than previously thought, Burnham’s team is understood to have lined up an “impressive” candidate to replace him as Greater Manchester mayor.Allies said he planned to outline a “radical rewiring” of the state in the coming weeks – including sweeping changes to the electoral system and a 10-year growth plan – after a potentially devastating set of elections on 7 May that could end Keir Starmer’s premiership.After a fortnight that left Starmer fighting for his political future over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, the number of MPs backing Burnham is understood to have grown to far more than the 80 required to challenge the prime minister

Foreign Office cuts will weaken oversight of international law, MPs warn

MPs have expressed alarm at the closure of the Foreign Office’s international humanitarian law unit, warning it “will impair the UK’s ability to anticipate, assess and respond to serious violations of international law across multiple contexts”.News of the closure, revealed by the Guardian, was raised with Keir Starmer at prime minister’s questions this week by the independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley, Iqbal Mohamed. Starmer said the work would be undertaken by another team as part of a restructuring.However, he made no reference to the ending of the Foreign Office contract with the Conflict and Security Monitoring Project, run by the Centre forInformation Resilience, which monitors incidents of concern in Gaza, the West Bank and, more recently, Lebanon.In a letter to the foreign secretary, Yvettte Cooper, the cross-party group of MPs asked how the closure aligned with the government’s stated commitment to upholding international law and ensuring rigorous compliance with the UK’s arms export licensing criteria

Zack Polanski apologises for sharing criticism of police response to Golders Green attack – UK politics live

Zack Polanski, leader of the Green party, has apologised for sharing a social media post about the police officers who arrested the suspect in the Golders Green attack.‘Everyone in leadership has a responsibility for lowering the temperature at a time of such tension, and I apologise for sharing a tweet in haste,” Polanski said in a statement.He continued: “Police responses to emergency situations such as these do need later reflection in the right forums, but I accept that social media is not the appropriate channel for doing so.“I have invited Mark Rowley to meet with me to discuss the police response and the wider issues raised in his letter.”Polanski had reshared a post on X that alleged that the officers who arrested the Golders Green attack suspect “were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser

End of Trump tariffs on whisky sparks row between Scottish parties over claiming credit

Donald Trump’s announcement that he will lift punishing US tariffs on scotch whisky has been overshadowed by a row between rival Scottish party leaders over claiming credit for the decision.The whisky industry and business leaders were delighted by the US president’s announcement on his Truth Social network on Thursday that he would end the tariffs to mark the visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla.“The King and Queen got me to do something nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!” Trump said.The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) estimates the 10% tariff imposed by Trump last year has cost producers about £150m in lost sales and led to hundreds of job losses. Shares in Diageo, the drinks multinational that produces Johnnie Walker, rose sharply on the news

Watchdog weighs investigation into Farage’s undisclosed £5m gift

The UK elections watchdog is considering whether to investigate an undisclosed £5m gift received by Nigel Farage before he announced his candidacy at the last general election.The Guardian revealed this week that the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne gave the Reform UK leader the money.In a written response to the Conservative party, the Electoral Commission said it was “aware of this matter and are considering it under our regulatory remit. We will consider all the available relevant information and recommend what, if any, next steps the commission will take.”Farage had previously stated he did not intend to stand as an MP but reversed his position in June 2024, within weeks of receiving the personal gift from the Thailand-based businessman

Nearly twice as many men as women standing in May elections in UK

Women will be massively underrepresented on ballot papers across the UK next week, campaigners say, with research revealing that almost twice as many men as women are standing as candidates across the local, mayoral and devolved elections.Democracy campaigners say men of all political stripes are likely to dominate local government, with women’s views on issues from social care to bin collections sidelined by the huge gap between the numbers of male and female candidates.Across all elections taking place on 7 May, a third of candidates are women and two-thirds are men, with no party achieving gender parity, according to analysis by 50:50 Parliament and Democracy Club shared exclusively with the Guardian.In local elections in England, which account for the largest number of candidates out of all elections next Thursday, 34% of candidates are female and no party is fielding an equal number of men and women. In the six mayoral elections taking place, 18% of candidates are women; in the Senedd elections, the figure is 38%; and in the Scottish parliament elections it is 36%

Where does Starmer’s leadership stand – and who are his potential challengers?

As the May elections creep closer, the leadership speculation at Westminster grows more intense. Is Keir Starmer safe and, if so, for how long?When will Angela Rayner’s tax affairs be resolved, and will she return to the cabinet? Who has Andy Burnham done a deal with to get back to Westminster, and would MPs support him if he did? Why has Wes Streeting gone so quiet?To the frustration of many – not least the prime minister himself – discussions about who is up and who is down have long been a staple of Westminster life. But as the security of Starmer’s position has ebbed and flowed in recent months, it has intensified. So where do Starmer – and his putative rivals for No 10 – stand?Despite feverish leadership speculation, and Starmer’s rock-bottom public approval ratings, the most likely scenario remains that he stumbles on. The quiet, loyal majority of the parliamentary Labour party may feel deeply despondent about their predicament, but many feel that ousting him remains the nuclear option

Starmer restores powers to ousted hereditary peers in Lords shake-up

Dozens of hereditary peers whose seats have been abolished have had their lawmaking powers restored as Keir Starmer seeks to accelerate changes to the House of Lords.It is understood that 15 Conservative hereditary peers, two Labour and nine crossbenchers have been handed life peerages, enabling their return to the red benches.The apparent concession was made in a bid to end a long battle over Starmer’s plans to remove the right of the last remaining hereditary peers to sit in the Lords, a commitment made in Labour’s 2024 manifesto.A government source described the parliamentary session that has just ended as “tortuous” given that every stage of the bill to abolish hereditary peers has resulted in considerable disruption in the Lords, as well as demands in private meetings for compensation for removed peers.The peers have already been subject to a due diligence process run by the House of Lords appointment commission, which includes a check by HM Revenue and Customs