Reeves criticises budget leaks and says income tax decision taken ‘in partnership’ with PM

Rachel Reeves has condemned leaks before her make-or-break budget as “unacceptable” as she revealed her income tax U-turn was agreed in partnership with Keir Starmer.Defending her tax and spending plans before MPs on the Commons Treasury committee, the chancellor said she had been frustrated by “leaks that were clearly not authorised” before her November speech.“I want to reiterate in the strongest terms that leaks are unacceptable,” she said. “The budget had too much speculation, there were too many leaks, and much of the leaks and speculation were inaccurate. [It was] very damaging, as well as the IT security issues

Badenoch criticises Farage over refusal to apologise for alleged racist remarks

Kemi Badenoch has questioned why Nigel Farage has not apologised for alleged racist and antisemitic comments while at school, saying the weight of the evidence of more than 20 former schoolmates is significant.In her strongest comments yet on the issue, the Conservative leader said she was struck that Farage had not admitted any fault or apologised, saying it would have been her first instinct as a politician.She said the Reform UK leader’s refusal to apologise suggested that he “doesn’t care” about having hurt people in the past.Twenty-eight of Farage’s Dulwich college contemporaries have told the Guardian of allegations that they experienced or saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him when he was a teenager, including Peter Ettedgui, 61, who is Jewish and said Farage repeatedly told him “Hitler was right” and “gas them”.On Friday, Yinka Bankole said a then 17-year-old Farage had told him “that’s the way back to Africa” when he was much younger and new to the school

Leader of Reform-run council accused of ‘authoritarian’ attempt to silence opposition

The leader of a Reform UK-run local authority has been criticised for an “authoritarian” attempt to silence opposition after sending a legal threat to a Labour councillor, demanding he stops mentioning her name in public.Ed Kimberley, a Worcester city councillor, said he received the cease and desist letter from the leader of Worcestershire county council, Jo Monk, in late November.The letter, seen by the Guardian, demanded Kimberley stop publishing or sharing “videos, posts or commentary” about the Reform leader and the wider Reform party.It also claimed Kimberley’s videos contained content that “misrepresents” Monk and contributed to her harassment by members of the public.Kimberley denied the claims and told the Guardian there was no legal basis for the demands, adding the letter was written as if “someone fed into ChatGPT ‘write me an angry legal letter’”

Davey claims ‘historic victory’ for Lib Dems after tokenistic vote in favour of customs union with EU – as it happened

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has issued this statement about his party’s narrow victory in the 10-minute rule bill vote on joining a customs union with the EU.Today was a historic victory for the Liberal Democrats – winning a vote in parliament to finally end the economic nightmare of the Conservatives’ broken Brexit deal.Across the country, people are crying out for real change and a solution to the cost-of-living crisis. A customs union with the EU is the single biggest step the government could take to grow our economy, put money back into people’s pockets and generate billions for our public services.The prime minister must now listen to parliament and the public, drop his self-imposed red lines and finally go for proper growth through an ambitious trade deal with the EU

Roy Darke obituary

My husband, Roy Darke, who has died aged 85, was a town planning lecturer and Labour councillor in Sheffield and later in Oxford. He championed ordinary people having a voice in how their communities developed. Roy pioneered public participation in planning while a lecturer at Sheffield University from the late 1960s to the 80s, when the city was radicalising as part of the New Urban Left, with David Blunkett leading the city council.The impact of Thatcherism on South Yorkshire drew us both into the Labour party in the early 80s. Roy became a city councillor in 1990, and when chair of finance helped the city to recover from from the socially successful but financially disastrous World Student Games

Having nothing to say has never stopped Kemi holding a press conference | John Crace

If a press conference takes place and no one is around to take notice, can it be said to have really happened? Sometimes the most interesting thing is the person saying the thing they did not mean anyone to notice. It was always thus with Brexit.Time was when a press conference was a relatively rare event. Called only after diplomatic summits or when there was an important piece of news to be announced. Now, though, the format has been so downgraded it is being used for when any politician needs some attention