Author: James Carter

A new campaign puts the annual cost of membership at £39.3bn. That does not translate into a £6,500 bill per household, and the calculations have not been independently verified. A claim that rejoining the EU would cost every UK household £6,500 has surfaced as Andy Burnham prepares to meet European leaders in Brussels. It follows the launch on 13 November of a campaign called Stay Out, which estimates that membership would cost the UK £39.3bn a year, or about £750m a week. It is not clear how the £6,500 figure was calculated or what period it covers. Mr Burnham has…

The Prime Minister says reopening talks has helped progress on several agreements ahead of next week’s Brussels summit. He rejected Lord Cameron’s warning about reopening the debate, saying “no one’s talking about rejoin”. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said a “win-win” agreement with the EU can be struck that could be “more like the Brexit that people thought they were voting for in 2016”. Speaking at the European Political Community meeting in Ireland on Thursday, he said reopening talks on future UK-EU ties had helped progress on several pacts. He will meet European leaders in Brussels next week to finalise…

Age UK and Independent Age say up to £11.3bn goes unclaimed across four key benefits and are urging the Government to adopt a national take-up strategy. The DWP says pensioner poverty is falling. Older people are missing out on billions of pounds of support they are entitled to, according to a new report from the charities Age UK and Independent Age. The report estimates that up to £2.4bn in pension credit, £5.2bn in attendance allowance, £2.4bn in carer’s allowance and £1.3bn in housing benefit goes unclaimed. That is a combined total of up to £11.3bn. The charities say that for…

Illinois Congressman Jonathan Jackson was one of 11 Democrats absent when the House voted on the impeachment effort. He now calls his absence “inexcusable”, while colleagues have criticised those who missed the ballot. A Democratic congressman who said a traffic jam stopped him voting on the effort to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was seen outside the Capitol shortly before the vote closed, according to TMZ. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois was one of 11 Democrats who did not cast a ballot on Tuesday night. In a statement, he said “a traffic incident and a police-escorted bus caused a delay that…

California tuning specialist Unplugged Performance says it could take over production of the pickup after Tesla’s planned wind-down. It admits it cannot do so alone, and has no investors confirmed. An aftermarket tuning company has offered to take over production of Tesla’s Cybertruck once Elon Musk ends manufacturing of the divisive electric pickup. Unplugged Performance, a California firm that specialises in modifying Tesla vehicles, set out the proposal in an open letter on X. It says it could assemble a consortium of investors to fund a production line, leaving Tesla free to concentrate on its driverless Cybercab. Road & Track…

Gordon Brothers denies none of the figures publicly, but the Commons business committee chair says he is “deeply concerned” about jobs as Poundland seeks a two-week reprieve from creditors in the High Court. MPs have accused Gordon Brothers, the owner of Poundland, of taking millions of pounds out of the budget retailer while it teetered on a “knife-edge”. Poundland’s management will ask the High Court on Thursday morning for a two-week extension to its legal protection from creditors while a rescue deal is sought. The chain employs 12,000 people and runs 600 stores in the UK and Ireland. Mark Newton-Jones,…

Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth say the two leaders clashed in a weekend phone call over whether to restart the war. Netanyahu’s office has dismissed the reports as “fake news”. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly had a heated phone call over the weekend about the future of the war with Iran, according to Israeli media. Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Mr Netanyahu repeatedly pressed for hostilities to resume, while Mr Trump insisted on giving the diplomatic track a chance. Sources told both outlets the call descended into “a shouting match from hell”. Mr…

The Government has described its latest offer of 10.5% as “substantially improved”. Unions are weighing it and say the length of the deal is a concern. Formal talks on a public sector pay deal are due to resume at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) today, though a 24-hour strike planned for Thursday is still going ahead. Trade unions and Government representatives held talks overnight with an independent group led by WRC Chair Kevin Foley, which ended in the early hours of this morning. They found a route back to formal negotiations. Unions are now considering a 10.5% offer that would…

Glenn Gibbins, 66, avoided jail after a district judge found his post was grossly offensive. He called it a “tongue-in-cheek” joke and intends to appeal. Sunderland City councillor Glenn Gibbins, who has been suspended by Reform UK, has been convicted of sending a malicious communication over a Facebook post about Nigerians. The 66-year-old was sentenced at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court to a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. He had written that Nigerians should be “melted down” to fill potholes. His legal team said he intends to appeal to the Crown Court at a later date. The…

The former White House press secretary told Fox News that Republicans need a new “America first” figure at the top of the ticket, as the party reckons with losing both chambers of Congress. Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary, has said Democrats succeeded in the midterms by following the approach Donald Trump used to win over voters. Speaking to Lara Trump on Fox News on Saturday, she said Republicans now have to “grapple” with the fact that Mr Trump will never again be at the top of the ticket. Democrats won both the House and the Senate in…