Mercifully for a prime minister whose defenestration was swift and brutal after Labour’s catastrophic local election results in May, Sir Keir Starmer’s valedictory week has offered several opportunities to point to what he got right. Sir Keir’s steadfast record in corralling international support for Ukraine – and ensuring Britain stayed out of Donald Trump’s illegal…
Keir Starmer has stepped down and Andy Burnham is, in all likelihood, about to walk through the door of No 10. I have had the rare privilege of working closely with both men. For five years I served as a chief prosecutor while Keir Starmer was director of public prosecutions (DPP). And for much of…
Just before Britain’s fateful referendum on its membership to the European Union 10 years ago, the government of the day gave a stark warning. A vote to leave the bloc would lead to “an immediate and profound shock” to the economy. By a slim margin, the public voted to leave anyway. The economic warnings were…
When Andy Burnham arrived in Parliament on Monday as the Labour Party’s great hope for political redemption, the only thing missing was the white steed. The former mayor of Greater Manchester swept into the chamber for his swearing-in with the flourish and charisma that his fellow party members are praying will deliver them from electoral…
The British government plans to ban access to social media for all children under 16, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, after weeks in which the nation debated how it would introduce new protections for children online. Mr. Starmer said the government would introduce the new regulations in Parliament before Christmas and bring a…
John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary on Thursday morning was genuinely shocking. Mr Healey is not just a veteran minister, but a Labour loyalist who previously served both Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn. In an interview in March, he observed that he didn’t toil to rebuild confidence in Labour “just to see that wasted with…
A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a knife attack in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Monday night, according to the police. The man, who the police described as in his 30s and believed to be Somali, is alleged to have attacked another man, in his 40s. The victim is currently in…
Britain’s beleaguered prime minister, Keir Starmer, was braced for fresh embarrassment on Monday with the expected release of hundreds of documents relating to Peter Mandelson, the former ambassador to the United States who was fired over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Mandelson lost his job last year after leaked emails showed the depth and…
Dumbarton, a picturesque coastal town along the River Clyde near Glasgow, has been represented in the Scottish Parliament by Jackie Baillie, a Labour Party politician, since 1999. Residents think this could be the week that changes. “I’ve lost total faith in all the politicians,” Willie Henderson, 98, said on a recent day as he sat…
King Charles III quoted Oscar Wilde, joking that the British have everything in common with America “except, of course, language.” President Trump said the morning’s gloomy rain reminded him of a “beautiful British day” and noted that his mother thought young Prince Charles was “so cute.” Both men waxed poetic about the bonds between their…
