UK politics

UK politics

The Conservatives are over,

The Conservative Party has written to Sir Keir Starmer demanding answers over the extent of Downing Street's knowledge of Lord Mandelson's links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The Tories also called for the prime minister to release documents relating to Mandelson's appointment, including evidence that shows how No 10 reacted when they learned of his ties to Epstein. On Sunday, the BBC reported that Starmer explicitly asked Mandelson about his links to the paedophile before deciding to appoint him as ambassador to the US.

"This came as a huge shock," one executive said. "If the reforms are implemented as drafted, it will push costs beyond what is viable for many projects."

Jonathan Goldstein's narrative pod about regrets, mistakes and the pursuit of closure cancelled by Spotify in 2023 makes its return this week under the Pushkin banner, and it's been worth the wait. Heavyweight does up-close-and-personal like few other shows, and this first episode about a son's fears around his parents' cluttered house, and a plot to relocate their trinkets to a barn is both warm and spiked with melancholy. Hannah J Davies Widely available, episodes weekly from Thu

As part of an AI trial across government, more than 1,000 tech workers across 50 different departments trialed AI coding assistants from Microsoft, GitHub Copilot, and Google Gemini Code Assist between November 2024 and February this year. Figures published following a review of the scheme shows developers are saving around one hour each day, equivalent to around 28 working days a year. Technology minister Kanishka Narayan said the trial scheme highlights the benefits of rolling the technology out across government.

George Osbourne launched LISAs in his 2016 Budget. The idea was to help people save for their first home or retirement, but the product itself is not fit for that purpose and now costs the Government £3bn a year. The LISA allows the user to put in a maximum of £4,000 of savings a year, with the Government then adding a further 25% for every £1 contributed, thus giving a maximum saving of £5,000 a year.

For many in Welsh Labour, this summer was the last chance for a rest before the party faces the election battle of its life in next May's Senedd elections. Instead, Labour found itself in mourning for the MS for Caerphilly, Hefin David, who died suddenly last month. Come October, Welsh Labour will now have to fight a byelection under tragic and untimely circumstances.

I really want this Labour government to succeed, and sometimes that means having the difficult conversations, she said in her email to constituency Labour parties. I won't snipe from the sidelines. But when we get things wrong, I have the guts to say we need to change course. We need to listen to the country, and our movement. When we don't, we make mistakes that overshadow our achievements. That's how we succeed and that's where our strength lies.

The alternative is strikes continue to hold back the NHS's recovery, the costs of industrial action slow down investment in new technology, equipment and additional specialty places, the changes that we all agree need to be made are blocked, and patients continue to be failed. From there, the public will conclude that Labour has failed on the NHS and they will elect a Reform government instead a party that has openly said it will replace the NHS with an insurance-based system.

Global politics had been turned upside down, he told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg programme. The relationship between Britain and America was in a perilous state because of the threat of tariffs, what was happening economically, trying to repurpose and rethink the special relationship. Britain needed somebody with outstanding, singular talents, experience which was very hard to come by. And yes, a lot was known about Peter Mandelson's relationship with Epstein. He had apologised for it. And these two things were weighed up.

Speaking to former Tory councillor and conspiracy theorist William Coleshill, the protester said: Keir Starmer needs to be assassinated, someone needs to shoot Keir Starmer. Coleshill pushed back, saying the Labour leader should instead face trial and be lawfully executed. The clip, filmed among the estimated 110,000-strong crowd, has been widely shared online and triggered furious reactions. A jail sentence is in the post for this chump! one user posted. Another added: Hope the Met get this man.

There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence,

Grok, which has had a track record of giving false and misleading answers, answered: This footage appears to be from an anti-lockdown protest in London's Trafalgar Square on 26 September 2020, during clashes between demonstrators and police over Covid restrictions. The answer was quickly picked up and amplified by X users, including the Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, who tweeted: This was my suspicion, before asking: Did the Met claim footage of clashes in summer 2020 took place yesterday?

Officials at No 10 and the Foreign Office were aware of supportive emails between Lord Mandelson and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when the prime minister initially defended the former ambassador on Wednesday, the BBC understands. Sources stressed Sir Keir was not aware of the contents of the emails when he stood by Lord Mandelson at Prime Minister's Questions. The BBC understands that a media enquiry outlining details of the messages between the pair was sent to the Foreign Office on Tuesday, and passed on to No 10.