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Minister says ‘labelling ups and downs of life as medical conditions holds people back and drives up benefit bill’ as report comes out into women’s pensionsQ; Are you feeling sorry for the Princess of Wales at the moment?Yes, says Starmer. We should leave her alone. Continue reading...

Shadow chancellor to deliver prestigious Mais lecture and will announce plans to rewire the TreasuryTribune, the long-established paper (now a magazine and website) for the Labour left, is not impressed by Rachel Reeves’ suggestion that Margaret Thatcher delivered a decade of renewal.Rachel Reeves’ claim that Margaret Thatcher ‘delivered a decade of national renewal’ is the latest attempt to justify the suffering caused by her...

Business secretary dismisses reports of plot and rejects calls for her party to return donations from Frank HesterReports of Conservative plots against Rishi Sunak are the work of just “one or two” MPs, and the party needs to unite before May’s local elections, Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary has argued.In a sometimes combative media round, Badenoch also said the Tories did not need to...

Reform UK is making the headlines but tactical voting can power Ed Davey’s party in seats where they are the Tories’ main challengersThe Liberal Democrats gathered this weekend for their final spring conference before the general election. You may be forgiven for not knowing this.The fourth-largest party barely feature in current political discussions lately, and are flatlining in the polls even as the government...

Exclusive: King’s Fund issues challenge as poll finds two-thirds of people want firms to be forced to cut sugar, salt and fatBritain’s political parties have been urged to show courage by forcing food producers to make their products healthier, as new polling shows two-thirds of voters back the move.Compelling food manufacturers to strip out large amounts of fat, salt and sugar would help “denormalise”...

The average time the Commons spends sitting every working day is now at lowest level for quarter of a centuryGood morning. Rishi Sunak has ruled out calling a general election on 2 May. This is no great surprise to anyone working in Westminster (despite what the Labour party claims), but worth knowing anyway, particularly for journalists with holiday plans for April. Here is the...

BMA committee votes in emergency motion after Tory donor’s comments about MP condemned as racist and misogynistGPs are calling on the Tory donor Frank Hester to resign from his health tech company after his remarks about Diane Abbott which have been widely condemned as racist and misogynist.Hester’s company TPP runs the electronic patient records of almost half the medical practices in the UK, making...

Victories in councils won during Boris Johnson’s ‘vaccine boost’ of 2021 face wipeout, leaving Rishi Sunak’s regime in perilSenior Tories are braced for a catastrophic set of local elections that will see a collapse in council seats won at the peak of the “vaccine bounce” enjoyed by Boris Johnson.Rishi Sunak’s allies regard the results as the most dangerous moment remaining for the prime minister...

Shadow cabinet talk with Whitehall officials after Keir Starmer meets head of civil service All members of Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet are to meet top civil servants in Whitehall departments before Easter as Labour steps up preparations to form the next government, according to senior party sources.The Observer has been told that Starmer recently held a first round of so-called “access talks” with the...

Former PM says she remains committed to supporting Sunak as she decides to ‘pass the baton on’ after 27 yearsTreasury minister Gareth Davies has denied the number of Conservative MPs stepping down signifies a lack of confidence in the party’s electoral prospects.He told Sky News he was “personally sad” to see Theresa May step down after “a pretty good innings” of “27 years of...

Former PM says she wants to focus on causes close to her heart after 27 years in parliament The former prime minister Theresa May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament.In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on...

Chancellor refuses to disclose number of houses owned but says he will pay higher tax rate on proceeds from salesBusiness live – latest updatesJeremy Hunt has promised to voluntarily pay more capital gains tax on his properties so that he does not benefit from a tax cut he introduced.The chancellor refused to disclose how many houses he owned but said he would pay a...

Exclusive: Team will try to resolve goods and services issues amid fears Delhi is holding out for a Labour governmentBritish negotiators have flown to India in a last-ditch attempt to clinch a trade deal amid concerns that Narendra Modi’s administration intends to hold out for a Labour government.A team of negotiators led by a senior civil servant flew out on Monday with a mandate...

Organiser suggests PM consider own MPs’ behaviour after speech about rise in ‘extremist disruption’Pro-Palestine protests are to continue across the UK on Saturday after Rishi Sunak’s warning that democracy was being targeted by “extremists”.In an address to the nation on Friday, the prime minister spoke about “forces here at home trying to tear us apart”, in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks by...

Losing party says ‘Galloway only won because Labour did not stand’ and calls him ‘a damaging force in our public life’Full story: George Galloway wins Rochdale byelectionLabour says George Galloway is “only interested in stoking fear and division”.In a statement issued about the byelection result, the party apologised to the people of Rochdale for the fact that it did not have a proper candidate....

Galloway claimed his victory signalled a ‘shifting of tectonic plates’. The reality is perhaps less apocalypticUK politics live – latest updatesWhile George Galloway’s portentous declaration of “a shifting of the tectonic plates” was the sort of hyperbole he specialises in, his sweeping victory in the Rochdale byelection does carry some lessons for other parties, and not reassuring ones.It is not the first or even...

The investment to improve parliamentarians’ security will include a dedicated police contact to liaise with over safety concernsSir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, has welcomed today’s announcement about extra security for MPs. (See 9.13am.) He said:I warmly welcome the government’s announcement of additional funding to protect our elected representatives and our democracy. It will enable us to build on the improvements we have made...

Illegal immigration minister Michael Tomlinson repeatedly refused to explain Anderson’s comments in LBC interview Good morning. Yesterday Rishi Sunak spent all day in interviews describing Lee Anderson’s claim about the Labour mayor of London (“I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of [Sadiq] Khan, and they’ve got control of...

Tory suspended over comments about Sadiq Khan would be populist party’s first MP if he joinedLee Anderson has said he is not ruling out defecting to Reform UK, in a move that would give the rightwing populist party its first MP.Anderson, a former Conservative party deputy chair, who has been suspended from sitting as a Tory MP because of his comments about the mayor...

In today’s newsletter: As suspended backbencher Lee Anderson launches a fresh attack, a former Tory MEP explains how the party got here• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Your 7am Lee Anderson update: still not apologised. The reason, he said yesterday, is that “when you think you are right you should never apologise, because to do so would be a...

Rishi Sunak gave interviews to local stations in Yorkshire where he is chairing his cabinet meeting this morningRishi Sunak is now on BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Scott Dalton is interviewing him, and asks why it is taking so long for the HS2 money to go to transport projects in the north.Sunak says he thinks the money has been redirected quite quickly.I believe racism or prejudice...

PM says prejudice unacceptable but refuses to address anti-Muslim concerns after comments about London mayorUK politics live – latest updatesRishi Sunak has denied that the Conservative party has a problem with Islamophobia in the wake of Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan, continuing to label them as “wrong” rather than prejudiced.Undertaking a round of BBC local radio interviews to promote spending moved from HS2...

Demonstration against Welsh Labour policy included No Farmers No Food campaign calling for end to climate measures, and Welsh Tory leaderRishi Sunak attended a protest alongside a group which has posted conspiracy theories about climate change, and which campaigns against net zero, the Observer can reveal.The prime minister has been accused of “pandering to extremists” by farmers and wildlife groups, who have asked him...

Politicians from Conservative and Labour parties get close protection and chauffeur-driven vehicles Three female MPs have been given bodyguards and chauffeur-driven cars after concerns about their safety, it was reported. Representatives of the Conservative and Labour parties had their security upgraded after a risk assessment, according to the Sunday Times.The MPs, who have not been named, have been given close protection by private companies...