In the weeds: After a successful PMQs probing the government’s education legislation, Badenoch dug into the specifics on that workers’ rights plan. Starmer wasn’t having any of it and would not be “taking lectures from” the party of short-lived Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss. On the dole: Badenoch charged that Stramer didn’t want to focus … Read more
Back to the clash: Even before Badenoch asked her first question, Starmer said “reasonable people could agree or disagree” on having another inquiry — but that survivors of abuse “want action.” Make a u-turn: The PM urged Badenoch to withdraw what he called her party’s “wrecking amendment” to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill later Wednesday … Read more
The tensions around the scandal contributed to race riots that took place in August, during which Musk also clashed with the United Kingdom’s government. Against this backdrop, Musk’s strident criticism of centrist and center-left politicians like Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, is not unexpected — the Tesla entrepreneur’s politics … Read more
Britain’s new government spent most of the fall bogged down in questions over where it stands on EU demands for a youth mobility scheme — which Brussels sees as essential to the reset. The young Labour administration is worried the idea smells too much like EU migration, a difficult political issue in Britain. It hasn’t … Read more
As the dust settles on another wild one, let POLITICO help you reminisce by rattling through, in no particular order, the 37 words on every extremely-online political type’s lips this year. TWO-TIER JUSTICE: A big talking point of comeback kid Nigel Farage and his fans. They argued that the British justice system treated white and … Read more
LONDON — Nigel Farage has challenged the main U.K. opposition Conservative Party to carry out an audit of its membership figures after claiming his upstart Reform UK had eclipsed it. The Brexiteer used the festive period to declare Reform the “real opposition,” unveil a flashy “ticker” to count up new recruits and claim his party … Read more
“A top priority for them is maintaining the support of ‘Red Wall’ voters, many of whom voted for Brexit, and the party is concerned that any significant deepening of relations could be seen as somehow undoing Brexit.” Ringing in the New Year The nervous caution in London is being noticed in Brussels. After leading a … Read more
When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 and changed the face and history of the country forever, he came with just 10,000 men. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest net migration of over 900,000 in the year to June 2023 alone, a new high. Questionable Figures These figures are themselves … Read more
Open goal: The Tory leader pressed the PM on whether Foreign Secretary David Lammy — Britain’s top diplomat, no less — had apologized to Trump for labeling him a “neo-Nazi sympathizing sociopath” and “a racist KKK and Nazi sympathizer” before he joined Labour’s frontbench in 2020. He has since been more diplomatic. Badenoch pressed: “If the … Read more
British-Nigerian Kemi Badenoch has been elected as the new leader of the UK Conservative Party, defeating Robert Jenrick in the final round of voting, the BBC reports. Ms Badenoch, who was raised in Nigeria, became the first black woman to lead a major political party in the UK. The final results saw Ms Badenoch win … Read more
