UK politics

UK politics

A close aide to Nigel Farage, Cottrell served several months in a US prison after being convicted there in 2017 for wire fraud a chapter in his life he referred to at his book launch party on Thursday night. Farage was among the guests at the luxury hotel Raffles on Whitehall, along with many senior members of Reform UK, but for once the party's leader was content to let the spotlight fall on Cottrell and his co-author Lawrence Burke Files.

The Arctic is strategically vital - packed with shipping lanes and untapped resources. Britain is sending a clear warning to Moscow and rivals: stay out or face serious consequences. The warships will exercise with NATO partners, boosting readiness and deterrence against any threats. Analysts say this raises the stakes in Arctic geopolitics and proves Britain can project power far from home waters.

As young people bear the brunt of a downturn in the jobs market, figures show a significant number are leaving the UK. Although statisticians caution against comparing annual figures after a recent change in methodology and stress younger people are traditionally more drawn to emigration, a net 111,000 people aged 16 to 34 emigrated from the UK in the year to March 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics.

In February 2025, a post on a popular social media account in Palmerston's name said he had come out of retirement in order to start work as feline relations consultant (semi-retired) to the new Governor of Bermuda. Announcing his death, a post on Palmerston's X account read: Palmerston, Diplocat extraordinaire, passed away peacefully on 12 February. Palmy was a special member of the Government House team in Bermuda, and a much-loved family member, it added.

I made very clear that I want a UK Labour government demonstrating it's delivering for Scotland, and I made clear that the choice in the election campaign is going to be between me and John Swinney. I didn't step back from what I said, I stand by what I said and what I stated, but I'm looking to the future and the choice between me and John Swinney for this country.

According to the document, Murrell is accused of embezzling the funds between August 2010 and January 2023. He is accused of illicitly purchasing items including luxury goods, jewellery, cosmetics, two cars and a motorhome. Details of the indictment were first published in the Scottish Sun. Murrell is due to appear at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday 20 February for a preliminary hearing in the case.

If polls had shown that the young traditionally swing to the right, would Labour have espoused this? I don't know. Nigel Farage's claim that the young are turning to him is largely overblown, according to YouGov polling, with only 9% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they would vote Reform no better than what Ukip achieved in 2015. However there is a gender gap, says More in Common, with boys nearly twice as likely to support parties on the right.

Former Scottish National Party (SNP) chief executive Peter Murrell is accused of embezzling 459,000 from the party over more than 12 years, according to reports. Mr Murrell, who is Nicola Sturgeon's estranged husband, is alleged to have used the money to buy items including a motorhome and luxury goods, and to partially fund the purchase of two cars. He is accused of embezzling the funds between August 2010 and January 2023, according to an indictment seen by the BBC and first reported in The Sun.

Meg Hillier, the chair of the all-party House of Commons Treasury committee, said the chancellor should make clear her long-term plans for the 6bn-a-year Send bill as uncertainty grows over how it will be accounted for at the end of the decade. Reeves, who is due to appear before the committee next month, said in a letterto MPs that she plans to delay a decision until next year.

Claim: There's not much manufacturing. If you look at the UK, about 25 years ago no, about 1995 I think it was about 25% of our GDP was manufacturing, and Germany was about the same, 25%. So we're going back what, 30 years? Today Germany's still up there, 20-21% of its GDP is manufacturing, in the UK it's down at about 8%. So manufacturing's collapsed in the UK.

It will look to assess the impact of factors affecting investment in high-quality connectivity by 2030, identify actions to support the sector to achieve government objectives over the next decade, and assess how the regulatory framework can be improved to support investment, innovation and competition. As part of this, the government is announcing an action plan based on four key principles: drive investment in comprehensive, high-quality connectivity by 2030; deliver for consumers; support innovation and growth across the economy; and provide secure and resilient connectivity.

The UK population is estimated to have grown by nearly three million between 2020 and 2025, official figures show, not by 12 million as stated by Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. In an interview for Sky News broadcast on Wednesday, Sir Jim said: The population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it's 70 million that's 12 million people. It had climbed to just under 69.5 million by mid-2025, an increase since 2020 of almost 2.8 million.

"A very small number of Palestine Action's activities amounted to acts of terrorism within the definition of section 1 of the 2000 Act," she said. "For these, and for Palestine Action's other criminal activities, the general criminal law remains available. "The nature and scale of Palestine Action's activities falling within the definition of terrorism had not yet reached the level, scale and persistence to warrant proscription."

Keir Starmer will say the UK and Europe need to step up their commitments to Nato and avoid the risk of overdependence on the US for defence, as he sets out one of the main planks of his foreign policy vision on Saturday. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the prime minister will warn against the idea of the UK turning inwards on security, instead calling for a focus on what he will call the sleeping giant of shared European defence capabilities.

Sir Keir Starmer nominated a former aide for a peerage despite being told he had been supportive of a councillor who had been accused of child sex offences, his ex-communications chief has claimed. The prime minister is facing continued questions over his judgment in appointing his former spin doctor, Matthew Doyle, to the House of Lords after he campaigned for a councillor who had been charged with having indecent images of children.

Opposition says reforms will fuel more homelessness, emigration of skilled workers and delays in starting families

Peter Ricketts said there had to be more awkward questions asked of a person such as Peter Mandelson than the system allows, given all the baggage of his three decades in politics and business. For that person there must surely be an even more thorough process including detailed interviews with those who have known him/her well in their previous life. That will take time, Lord Ricketts said.