‘We promised change but people aren’t feeling it yet’: Labour rues poor first year

In a stiflingly hot room at a health centre in East London, as he announced the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS on Thursday, Keir Starmer was confronted with a brutal assessment of his first year in power.“You’ve U-turned on your reforms, your MPs don’t trust you, and markets worry that you’ve lost resolve on fiscal discipline. It’s the epitome, isn’t it, of sticking-plaster politics and chaos that you promised voters you would end?” a television journalist asked.Initially, Starmer avoided answering the question, but he eventually addressed the fall-out from his government’s chaotic handling of its welfare bill. “I’m not going to pretend the last few days have been easy: they’ve been tough,” he admitted

Reform councillor’s boast about removing ‘trans-ideological’ books from children’s library sections falls flat

A boast by a Reform UK councillor that he ensured the removal of “trans-ideological material and books” from the children’s section of his county’s libraries has fallen flat after it emerged that no such material ever existed there.Paul Webb, the cabinet member for communities at Kent council, whose portfolio covers libraries, posted a video to X in which he said he had been “recently contacted by a concerned member of the public who found trans-ideological material and books in the children’s section of one of our libraries”.He said: “I’ve looked into this and this was the case. I’ve today issued instructions for them all to be removed from the children’s section of any of our libraries.“They do not belong in the children’s section of our libraries

Sultana’s alliance with Corbyn shows Starmer there is life in the Labour left yet

A year ago, many around Keir Starmer believed the Labour left had been sealed in a tomb. The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn, the disciplinary action against Labour MPs including Zarah Sultana and the push to the political centre were supposed to fracture the party’s leftwing.But this week’s drama, which included the prime minister narrowly avoiding defeat on the welfare bill after 49 Labour MPs rebelled, the chancellor’s tears during prime minister’s questions and Sultana announcing she was quitting the party to join Corbyn’s Independent Alliance, has shown that the forces are very much alive.It has also shown that the votes for a populist challenge remain there for the taking, if anyone can get organised enough to harness them.In the months after Starmer’s landslide win, figures excluded from Labour’s selection processes have been regrouping in the spaces he does not occupy: outside Westminster

Ban on Palestine Action to take effect after legal challenge fails

Being a member of, or showing support for, Palestine Action will be a criminal offence from Saturday after a last-minute legal challenge to suspend the group’s proscription under anti-terrorism laws failed.A ban on Palestine Action, which uses direct action to mainly target Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, was voted through by parliament this week but lawyers acting for its co-founder Huda Ammori had sought to prevent it taking effect.After a hearing at the high court on Friday, however, Mr Justice Chamberlain declined to grant her application for interim relief. Ammori said: “The home secretary is rushing through the implementation of the proscription at midnight tonight despite the fact that our legal challenge is ongoing and that she has been completely unclear about how it will be enforced, leaving the public in the dark about their rights to free speech and expression after midnight tonight when this proscription comes into effect.”Chamberlain said: “I have concluded that the harm which would ensue if interim relief is refused but the claim later succeeds is insufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in maintaining the order in force

Jeremy Corbyn confirms talks about forming new party with Zarah Sultana

Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he is in discussions about creating a new leftwing political party, hours after the MP Zarah Sultana announced she was quitting Labour to co-lead the project.Sultana, the MP for Coventry South who had the Labour whip suspended last year for voting against the government over the two-child limit on benefits, said on Thursday night she was quitting Labour and would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with Corbyn.Her announcement took some on the left of Labour by surprise and was seen as premature and potentially counterproductive.While Corbyn has long hinted at plans to establish a more organised platform for leftwing and pro-Palestinian campaigning, he has so far avoided confirming any formal structure or leadership arrangements.Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, is understood to be reluctant to take on the title of leader, as he has a preference for collective decision-making, and he believes imposing a hierarchy too soon could risk fragmenting the coalition of like-minded MPs he has spent months encouraging to work together

Jeremy Corbyn says ‘discussions are ongoing’ after Zarah Sultana claimed she would ‘co-lead new party’ with him – as it happened

Jeremy Corbyn has said that “discussions are ongoing” after former Labour MP Zarah Sultana said that she would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with the ex-Labour leader.In a post on social media, the independent MP and former Labour leader said:Real change is coming.One year on from the election, this Labour government has refused to deliver the change people expected and deserved. Poverty, inequality and war are not inevitable. Our country needs to change direction, now