Starmer appointed ’Blairites’ to key roles
Sir Keir Starmer has appointed “Blairites” to key roles in a cabinet reshuffle and handed the main economic departments to ministers on Labour’s reforming right flank, the Times reported.
The new housing secretary, Steve Reed, told civil servants to “build, baby, build” to kick-start growth.
Peter Kyle, appointed business secretary, is expected to focus on overhauling burdensome regulation, as Labour aims to cut costs on business by 25 per cent.
Rebecca Whittaker8 September 2025 03:30
Recap: Channel crossings pass 30,000 arrivals in record time
Some 1,097 migrants crossed the Channel in 17 boats on Saturday, bringing the total in 2025 so far to 30,100, Home Office figures show.
It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 30,000 mark has been passed since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.
Last year, the figure was not passed until October 30 and in 2023 it was never reached as crossings totalled 29,437 for the whole year.
In 2022, the number was reached on September 21.
Rebecca Whittaker8 September 2025 03:00
Housing Secretary vows to ‘build baby build’
Angela Rayner’s replacement as Housing Secretary has vowed to “build baby build”.
Steve Reed has pledged to boost housebuilding amid concern in government that the economy is not growing quickly enough.
The Housing Secretary has identified that there are believed to be up to 1.4 million homes that have been granted permission but have not yet been built, the Telegraph reported.
Rebecca Whittaker8 September 2025 02:30
Sirens blare as emergency test alert sent to phones across UK
Rebecca Whittaker8 September 2025 02:00
Emily Thornberry tells Keir Starmer to ‘stop making mistakes’
Sir Keir Starmer has been warned by senior Labour figures to stop making mistakes.
Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington South and Finsbury, who confirmed she is considering running for the role of deputy prime minister, said further mistakes from Starmer could lead to having to “hand our country to [Nigel] Farage”.
Thornberry told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “Domestically, things just don’t seem to be working … People hear about the mistakes. And the question is, why are we making these mistakes?
“We can’t afford to keep doing this, because we’ve gone from having the fantastic gift from the British public of a huge majority to now being at 20 per cent in the polls, and we will have in the next election the biggest fight of our lives coming against Farage. And the last thing we want is to go from a position where it was thought we would be in for two terms, to hand our country over to Farage.”
Rebecca Whittaker8 September 2025 01:30
Brian Cox slams ‘bully’ Nigel Farage in scathing rant on ‘misinformed’ Reform UK leader
Brian Cox slams ‘bully’ Nigel Farage in rant on ‘misinformed’ Reform leader
Brian Cox has slammed Nigel Farage as a “bully” who is “misinformed” in a scathing assessment of the Reform UK leader. Appearing on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the Scottish actor said that he is “dazzled by the way a lot of people have been seduced by him”. Mr Farage’s party is currently 10 points ahead in the polls, according to Techne UK. He said that Mr Farage, who was interviewed by Kuenessberg earlier in the episode, was a “bit of a bully”. He said: “You can tell by the way he conducted that interview with you thought a lot of it was badgering. I just don’t trust the man.” Slamming Brexit, Mr Cox also said that he believes there has “never been a more positive time to be in Europe” due to the ongoing Ukraine war.
Rebecca Whittaker8 September 2025 01:02
New home secretary hit with immediate crisis as small boat Channel crossings top 30,000
Rebecca Whittaker8 September 2025 00:30
Watch: Reform UK sings national anthem as Andrea Jenkyns takes the lead
Rebecca Whittaker8 September 2025 00:00
Recap: Reform UK’s biggest weakness is government inexperience, Farage said
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said his party’s biggest weakness is “experience at government level”.
He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that Nadine Dorries “brings us the one commodity we’re very short of and that’s experience at government level”.
Mr Farage said: “That is our biggest weakness. You could ask me lots of questions about policy and personnel and all the rest of it, but if you ask me, how are you going to do this? I can’t really give you an answer, because I haven’t got anybody in the senior team that’s ever been there before.
“Nadine came yesterday. She’s the first, and there will be others.”
Rebecca Whittaker7 September 2025 23:31
Healey dismisses suggestion Lammy is preferred candidate
On Sunday, John Healey dismissed the idea that former foreign secretary David Lammy’s appointment as Deputy Prime Minister meant he was the Prime Minister’s preferred candidate for the job.
“They’re two separate jobs, two very important jobs. The deputy leader of the Labour Party is an important job and an important vote for Labour Party members,” he told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.
Meanwhile, Andy Burnham backed Louise Haigh, who resigned as transport secretary last year after it emerged she had previously been convicted of a fraud offence, or former Commons leader Lucy Powell.
Ms Powell was sacked as part of Sir Keir’s Cabinet shake-up this week while Ms Haigh left Government in November after it emerged she had admitted to incorrectly telling police a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.
Rebecca Whittaker7 September 2025 23:00
