Author: James Carter

Wes Streeting is preparing to fire the starting gun on a Labour leadership challenge in the immediate aftermath of next week’s local elections, with sources telling The Telegraph he has already secured the backing of more than 81 MPs — the minimum number required to trigger a contest — putting him on a collision course with rivals who are not yet ready to move. The Health Secretary’s calculation is straightforward and ruthless: strike fast, strike before Andy Burnham can get back into Parliament and before Angela Rayner resolves her tax troubles. A short race suits Streeting and nobody else. “Wes…

A former Conservative councillor who had already admitted nearly 50 offences of drugging, raping and sexually assaulting his wife has pleaded guilty to additional charges of making indecent images of children, after initially denying those offences. Philip Young, 49, appeared via video link from HMP Winchester on Friday to change his pleas on all remaining charges to guilty. He now stands convicted of one of the most extensive catalogues of sexual offending to come before the courts in recent years. Young had pleaded guilty in January at Winchester Crown Court to 11 counts of rape and 11 counts of administering…

Reform UK has expelled a councillor after leaked WhatsApp messages revealed he described the St George’s Cross as a “crusade” symbol and said he was “not aligned” with its use, preferring instead to fly the Union Jack. Cllr Aaron Roy, who had defected from Labour to Reform just last month, made the remarks during a private message exchange about a row over flag-flying in Hartlepool. The messages, obtained by The Sun, show Roy distancing himself from the St George’s Cross and questioning whether it was appropriate to display it alongside flags representing other nations. “Does this mean it’s ok to…

Two Green Party election candidates have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred after allegedly posting antisemitic content online, including posts suggesting that attacking a synagogue constituted “revenge” and accusing the British government of being “overrepresented with Zionist Jews.” The Metropolitan Police detained two women aged 54 and 57 in London on Thursday morning under Section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, taking them into custody for questioning. The arrests followed an investigation launched after concerns about antisemitic material posted online were reported to police on 21 April. The Met has not confirmed the identities of those…

The Bank of England has held its base rate at 3.75 per cent, with eight of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voting to keep rates unchanged and just one member pushing for an increase. The decision was widely anticipated by economists, who had warned that the ongoing conflict in Iran had made it too soon for rate setters to move in any direction with confidence. Before the war erupted on 28 February, the Bank had been expected to cut rates today, reducing the base rate to 3.5 per cent in what would have been the first reduction…

Reform UK has announced plans to ban foreign nationals from accessing taxpayer-funded student loans, describing the current system as a “foreign student ponzi scheme” that has cost the British public more than £4 billion a year. Nigel Farage’s party says up to 300,000 foreign nationals living in the UK are currently drawing on student loans annually, with the cost to taxpayers having risen by 40 per cent in recent years — up from £3.2 billion in 2021-22. Under Reform’s proposals, maintenance loans, grants and all Student Loans Company funding would be restricted to British nationals only, with foreign nationals expected…

Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that Sir Keir Starmer take decisive action to protect Britain’s Jewish communities, saying words alone were insufficient in the wake of the Golders Green stabbings, as Israel warned that London had become too dangerous “to openly walk the streets as a Jew.” The Israeli prime minister’s intervention came as the British government faced a wave of international and domestic condemnation following Wednesday morning’s knife attack in north London, in which two Jewish men — one in his 70s and another in his 30s — were stabbed on Golders Green Road by a suspect who was seen…

Green Party leader Zack Polanski is facing intense criticism after a video resurfaced in which he suggested that fears about antisemitic attacks within Jewish communities may be a matter of “perception of unsafety” rather than actual danger — comments that landed days before two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green in a knife attack now being investigated by counter-terrorism police. The contrast between Polanski’s words and the violence that followed has drawn furious responses online, with one user writing sarcastically: “Don’t know why he’s worried, it’s probably just a perception of unsafety and a couple of unstabbings.” Another went…

The chairman of John Lewis has delivered a stark warning about the state of retail crime in Britain, describing the current wave of shoplifting as the worst he has witnessed in 35 years in the industry — while firmly rejecting the growing public appetite for workers to physically confront thieves. Writing in The Telegraph, Jason Tarry said he received “daily reports of abuse, organised criminal gangs and serious physical attacks” on John Lewis and Waitrose staff, but insisted the answer lay not in encouraging “have-a-go heroes” but in a coordinated response from retailers, law enforcement and the courts working together.…

Potentially explosive messages between Peter Mandelson and government ministers have been reviewed and are ready for release, but are unlikely to be published before next week’s local elections — meaning Sir Keir Starmer could face a fresh crisis over the scandal the moment Parliament returns. Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee confirmed last night it had completed its review of a large tranche of documents the Government was ordered to release in February. However, ministers are to be given the opportunity to contest the level of redactions applied on national security grounds, and with Parliament proroguing today ahead of the King’s…