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David Wilcock, Deputy Political Editor

David Wilcock is an experienced political journalist who has worked at Daily Mail since 2019, having previously worked for the Press Association and various newspapers. High-profile stories he has covered include the 2019 general election, Brexit and the Covid pandemic.

Coverage: UK Politics Politics Conservatives Labour Liberal Democrats SNP

MOST RECENT ARTICLES FROM DAVID WILCOCK

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Starmer says Trump badmouthing him in bid to drag UK into Iran war

27/03/26 12:13

The US president has repeatedly dragged the PM in recent days over the UK's refusal, along with other NATO members, to help out with the conflict he launched in the Middle East....read

Keir Starmer 'could hand Sadiq Khan a seat in the House of Lords' to dampen London mayor's criticism of PM's leadership
27/03/26 11:02
The Prime Minister is said to be considering a peerage for Sir Sadiq less than a year after he was knighted, in a bid to reign in a senior party figure who has been unafraid to voice his differences.
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Now Angela Rayner launches her own political podcast fuelling claims she is on manoeuvres to replace Keir Starmer - as he tips her return to government
27/03/26 09:32
The former deputy prime minister is said to be launching Beyond the Bubble with a debut episode on housing featuring Tory Lord Gove, like her a former housing minister.
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Starmer says Trump is badmouthing him in crude attempt to drag Britain into Iran war after president branded him 'no Churchill' and hit out at 'toy' Royal Navy
27/03/26 08:08
The US president has repeatedly dragged the PM in recent days over the UK's refusal, along with other NATO members, to help out with the conflict he launched in the Middle East.
Trump mocks Britain's 'toy' Navy
26/03/26 05:05
In yet another sign of the deep freeze consuming the transatlantic 'special relationship' the president lashed out at the Royal Navy's capabilities in a rant against US Nato allies.
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Trump slams Britain's 'toy' aircraft carrier and mocks UK offer 'to send ships when the Iran war is over': 'I said... don't bother'
26/03/26 03:00
In yet another sign of the deep freeze consuming the transatlantic 'special relationship' the president lashed out at the Royal Navy's capabilities in a rant against US Nato allies.
Labour confirms it will block Chinese firm Ming Yang from opening £1.5bn wind turbine factory in Scotland over national security fears
26/03/26 01:07
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said he was blocking Ming Yang's proposed £1.5billion facility at Ardersier Port near Inverness, which would have created up to 1,500 jobs.
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Labour triggers fresh rural outrage after sneaking out 'unjustified and unfair' plan to ban trail hunting with dogs as soon as the summer
26/03/26 12:38
Ministers today confirmed they will toughen up measures first introduced by Tony Blair by banning the alternative practice which sees dogs chase an artificial scent trail.
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Starmer's Royal Navy 'shambles': Britain forced to beg the GERMANS for a warship to keep UK's Nato commitment as the Defence Sec can't say how many of ours are currently fit to fight
26/03/26 09:10
Germany has deployed the frigate Sachsen as the flagship of an alliance maritime task group to replace HMS Dragon, which has deployed to help defend Cyprus from Iranian attacks.
Depleted British Army only strong enough to seize a small market town 'on a good day' warns general - as Royal Navy is forced to use GERMAN warship to lead Nato deployment
25/03/26 01:20
General Sir Richard Barrons said UK land forces would be unable to do anything 'substantial' in a war and would only be able to help out with small tasks in operations led by the US or Nato.
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Labour on course for humiliating election defeat in Wales as new poll suggests nationalists Plaid will control Senedd with Reform leading opposition
25/03/26 11:03
Eluned Morgan's party is set to be reduced to a rump of just 12 seats as it is leapfrogged by nationalists Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.
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Ministers told to bring in 'temporary' ban on crypto donations to political parties in crackdown on foreign influence
25/03/26 10:15
Former top civil servant Philip Rycroft made recommendations amid concerns that digital currencies could be used to hide where funding has come from.
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'We have paid the price in the blood of our ancestors': Britain faces new UN push for slavery reparations worth trillions from African and Caribbean nations
24/03/26 10:10
The president of Ghana used a speech at the United Nations in New York today to attack the 'deafening silence' from European states 'enriched' by the slave trade.
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Now unions demand Ed Miliband approve new North Sea oil and gas drilling amid Iran price spike - but green minister insists wind and solar is 'homegrown power we can rely on'
24/03/26 09:27
The powerful Unite union added its voice to the clarion calls demanding the Energy Secretary change tack in the wake of a price spiral triggered by Donald Trump's war on Iran.
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Back off, Angela! Shabana Mahmood bats away 'absolute rubbish' claim ex-deputy PM Rayner is running migrant policy after she signalled support for anti-clampdown rebels
23/03/26 04:18
Ms Mahmood said it was 'absolute rubbish' to suggest the former deputy prime minister was calling the shots after she joined rebels opposed to making it harder for people to settle in the UK.
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Fresh Labour calls to delay Charles's state visit to US
23/03/26 02:04
Polly Billington became the latest Labour MP to warn that the monarch should not be 'embarrassed' by an appearance with Donald Trump while the US is fighting Iran.
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'We can't embarrass the King': Fresh Labour calls to delay Charles's state visit to US over Trump's Iran war
23/03/26 10:50
Polly Billington became the latest Labour MP to warn that the monarch should not be 'embarrassed' by an appearance with Donald Trump while the US is fighting Iran.
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Starmer declares law on Trump: PM's ally Lord Hermer to make case for international rules after US president threatens to ignore UN ban on hitting civilian power plants
23/03/26 10:10
Attorney General Lord Hermer will defend playing by the rules as in the UK national interest tonight in the wake of a deepening transatlantic right between London and Washington.
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Starmer to let US use UK-based bombers against Iran's Hormuz missiles
20/03/26 06:52
Downing Street gave the US the green light to use B-52s and other aircraft flying out of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia to unlock the strategically important waterway.
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Britain to let US use UK-based bombers to blast Iranian sites threatening Straits of Hormuz shipping amid growing energy crisis - but Trump says Starmer 'should have acted a lot faster'
20/03/26 06:02
Downing Street gave the US the green light to use B-52s and other aircraft flying out of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia to unlock the strategically important waterway.
Labour civil war ramps up over immigration reforms as left-wing rebels 'move to force vote' despite pleas from Starmer
20/03/26 02:00
They want to force a 'symbolic' division on Shabana Mahmood's plan to double the time it will take immigrants to qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), from five to 10 years.
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Report: Trump aides 'warned Starmer not to make Mandelson ambassador'
20/03/26 01:30
Senior members of president's transition team said that the 'arrogant' peer should not be handed the job because of past criticism, which included branding Trump 'a danger to the world' and a 'racist'.
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Trump officials 'twice warned Starmer not to make arrogant Mandelson ambassador to the US' - but not because of Epstein links
20/03/26 10:59
Senior members of president's transition team said that the 'arrogant' peer should not be handed the job because of past criticism, which included branding Trump 'a danger to the world' and a 'racist'.
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House of Lords FINALLY cuts 'pointless' £5million team of parliamentary traffic marshals saving peers from cars doing 5mph after admitting signs and humps can do the job
19/03/26 03:31
They have been placed at key points within the Westminster estate since 2019 while renovation works have been carried out. But questions have been raised over the exorbitant cost.
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Labour MPs demand Starmer keep ploughing billions into foreign aid despite UK cost of living crisis worsened by the Iran war
19/03/26 09:42
Backbenchers have urged the Government to U-turn on its decision to cut the £15billion overseas development budget to invest more money in defence.
Zack Polanski's 'magic money tree' plan for Britain: Green leader demands £8.4bn energy bills bailout funded by £12bn tax raid on 'wealth' - as he vows rent caps, no more right-to-buy and renationalisation
18/03/26 09:05
In his first major speech on the economy, the populist Green leader urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to hit firms harder to offset price rises caused by 'Trump's war' on Iran.
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Ukraine's Zelensky throws shade at Trump for easing oil sanctions on Russia in speech thanking UK for keeping up pressure on Moscow
17/03/26 03:03
The Ukrainian president used a speech in Parliament to thank the UK for keeping up pressure on 'wealthy madman' Vladimir Putin despite fresh fighting in the Middle East.
Badenoch blasts 'childish' Trump over Iran rant at rant at Starmer
17/03/26 02:20
The Conservative leader criticised the US president after he tore into the Prime Minister last night over Britain's lack of offensive support for his faltering war with Iran.
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Kemi Badenoch blasts 'childish' Donald Trump over president's Iran war rant at Starmer as she demands leaders cool 'spat' over UK military support
17/03/26 11:26
The Conservative leader criticised the US president after he tore into the Prime Minister last night over Britain's lack of offensive support for his faltering war with Iran.
Shamed Mandelson 'made more than £1.5m selling lobbying firm's shares' before it collapsed over his Epstein ties
17/03/26 11:13
As clients severed ties with the company earlier this year over the scale of his friendship with the disgraced child abuser, the firm bought out his final shares so he had no links left to it.
Are Starmer's allies trying to kill-off rival Rayner's hopes of replacing him? Labour infighting erupts over leak of legal bill for barrister to look into her tax affairs
17/03/26 09:35
Jonathan Peacock KC was hired to provide advice on whether she had underpaid stamp duty when she bought an £800,000 holiday flat near Brighton .
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Trump says he is 'not happy' with UK over response to Iran war
16/03/26 08:09
In his latest broadside, the US President said the UK 'should be involved enthusiastically' with helping American forces reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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Donald Trump says he is 'not happy' with Keir Starmer for refusing to join the war on Iran saying UK should 'enthusiastically' help US clear Strait of Hormuz
16/03/26 05:13
In his latest broadside, the US President said the UK 'should be involved enthusiastically' with helping American forces reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran war to bring petrol rationing, medicine shortages and bare shelves to the UK in weeks, warn experts as Labour prepares a 'bailout for benefits claimants and pensioners'
16/03/26 12:43
Former Downing Street energy expert Nick Butler said Tehran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping meant there would be a global 'shortage' of oil in no time.
British warships face being SUNK by Iran if they are deployed in Straits of Hormuz, warns ex-defence chief... but Starmer should send them anyway
16/03/26 09:49
General Sir Nick Carter said it was in the UK's national interest to agree to Donald Trump's request for naval help to combat Iranian forces throttling shipping in and out of the Gulf.
Labour could lose 1,700 councillors in May local elections bloodbath after failing to delay votes - with AI-driven model showing Reform set to surge
13/03/26 12:48
Sir Keir Starmer's party is set to retain fewer than a quarter of the 2,252 seats it currently holds which are to be contested, and relinquish control of 49 councils.
- 1927 comments
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The details unveiled in the Mandelson files
12/03/26 02:15
The first tranche of the Mandelson files reveal the advice given to the Prime Minister over the disgraced peer's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
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The dismal sight of the Royal Navy's last ageing Gulf minesweeper being towed into Portsmouth days before Iran 'mined the world's busiest oil shipping lane' and prices soar
12/03/26 12:34
The Hunt class mine countermeasures vessel (MCMV) returned to the home of the Royal Navy on March 8 after being brought back from the Gulf by a heavy-lift ship.
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Labour fears of 'cash crisis' as militant unions pull funding and demand Starmer lurches to the Left
12/03/26 10:05
The PM was warned that Unite's decision yesterday to reduce the size of its donation to party coffers by 40 per cent - or £580,000 - 'should set alarm bells ringing across our party'.
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Revealed: The top details unveiled in the Mandelson files
12/03/26 01:13
The first tranche of the Mandelson files reveal the advice given to the Prime Minister over the disgraced peer's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
No10's circular firing squad over Mandelson: How Starmer's closest aides McSweeney, Powell and Doyle all tried to escape the blame for disastrous appointment
11/03/26 04:10
In documents released today national security adviser Jonathan Powell appeared to suggest that Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir's former chief of staff was at fault.
Unite union cuts Labour funding by 40% amid major rift with Keir Starmer over Birmingham bin strike
11/03/26 02:34
Unite said it was reducing its affiliation with the party because of the Prime Minister's failure to back the bin strike in Birmingham.
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Minister behind digital ID card rollout won't say how much they will cost or when they will even appear - amid fears scheme could go far beyond initial proposals
11/03/26 11:43
Darren Jones rejected suggestions from the Office for Budget Responsibility that the rollout, already watered down, will cost £1.8bn, but refused to put an alternative figure forward.
African nations 'to use Starmer's Chagos surrender deal as model' for forcing Britain and other colonial powers into huge slavery reparations
11/03/26 10:42
Former empire colonies plan to use the PM's deference to international law against the UK when they come to push their case for compensation.
Badenoch demands action from Starmer on fuel prices soaring due to Iran war in PMQs clash amid Cabinet rift over extending duty freeze for struggling drivers
11/03/26 09:14
The Conservative leader used Prime Ministers Questions to push Sir Keir to extend a freeze on fuel duty in the wake of the US/ Israeli attack on Iran which has sent oil prices into spasm.
Macron's armada: French carrier group steams towards Iran war as Britain dithers and the Royal Navy withers before our eyes
11/03/26 04:10
The carrier Charles de Gaulle and an allied armada of ships have allowed French president Emmanuel Macron to rub British noses in the dirt.
HMS Dragon finally sets sail from Portsmouth to help defend Cyprus
10/03/26 04:59
The Type 45 destroyer put to sea this afternoon, a week after it was ordered to get ready to head to the Mediterranean.
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Royal Navy FINALLY sets sail to defend Cyprus after the island condemned Starmer for lack of protection from Iranian attacks... and after French aircraft carrier arrived
10/03/26 04:25
The Type 45 destroyer put to sea this afternoon, a week after it was ordered to get ready to head to the Mediterranean.
'We are not a cash machine for the world': Fury as stats suggest a quarter of non-EU migrants settled in UK are on Universal Credit
10/03/26 11:20
The Tories demanded action after the Government's own figures show there were 179,482 non-EU migrants with settled status claiming the benefit in December 2024.
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Zack Polanski says FIVE Labour MPs could defect to Greens as he vows to 'build relationship' with Putin while giving up nukes
10/03/26 09:12
Mr Polanski said he was speaking with a 'handful' of Keir Starmer's disaffected backbenchers in the wake of the Greens' shock win in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
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Reeves tells Brits to prepare for Trump's Iran war to hit them in the pocket: Chancellor warns of inflation spike amid fears that petrol could reach record £2 per litre
09/03/26 04:43
Rachel Reeves has warned that the conflict with Iran is 'likely to put upward pressure on inflation'.
'When Cyprus is attacked, Europe is attacked': Macron announces EU navies will protect island from Iranian attacks - with British warships still in UK
08/03/26 07:15
Mr Macron and Nikos Christodoulides embraced this morning at the start of the French leader's visit to discuss 'security' in the wake of an Iranian drone strike on RAF Akrotiri.
Keir Starmer faces new backbench Labour rebellion over bid to scrap jury trials as 80 MPs signal they are ready to block law change
08/03/26 11:57
Opponents to the proposal being spearheaded by Justice Secretary David Lammy believe around 80 Labour MPs will refuse to back it when it comes to the Commons for the first time this week.
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'Of course we support Iran': Putin's man in London says Moscow is 'not neutral' in war with US after Russian tech is 'found in drone that struck RAF base in Cyprus'
08/03/26 11:05
Andrey Kelin said Russia had a 'good relationship' with Iran but denied it had received any request for help with the air strikes that started more than a week ago.
Tories plan to let police dole out 'immediate justice' to yobs with new powers to make offenders clean up graffiti and litter - and clamp down on cannabis use
08/03/26 10:37
Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'People across Britain want the same basic thing - to feel safe in their own streets and communities.'
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Starmer desperately tries to mend US 'special relationship' with Trump crisis talks after major transatlantic rift breaks out over Iran war and allies trade insults
08/03/26 09:11
The two leaders spoke this afternoon after a weekend in which the US president and the Labour administration traded barbs over the UK's refusal to join the fighting.
Conservative peer quits the Lords as standards watchdog recommends he is banned for a YEAR for helping firm win Covid-era PPE deals
06/03/26 02:41
Lord Chadlington, 83, said he will retire after a report recommended he should be suspended from the upper chamber for 12 months after breaching the code of conduct.
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Nigel Farage could back new wave of grammar schools if Reform gets into government
06/03/26 01:21
Reform, which has made former Tory minister Suella Braverman its new education spokeswoman, could allow them to be set up via the free school system.
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Greens boast of getting 15,000 new members in week since by-election win as panicking Labour MPs try to force Starmer further to the Left
06/03/26 10:26
Zack Polanski's leftwing outfit says it has been signing people up at the rate of 2,000 a day since it won in Gorton and Denton, sparking a crisis for Keir Starmer.
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Britannia's shame: Now Spain sends ship to protect Cyprus as island blasts 'weak' Britain, Royal Navy languishes in port and Iran drones hit top secret RAF base
05/03/26 09:34
Madrid said the frigate Cristobal Colon would join a growing international armada in the Eastern Mediterranean to 'offer protection and aerial defence' and 'support any evacuation of civilians'.
Royal Navy warship will not set sail for Cyprus until next week
04/03/26 06:25
Sir Keir Starmer last night said HMS Dragon would be sent to the Eastern Mediterranean. But Western officials believe the ship will not be ready to set sail for days.
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Royal Navy warship will not set sail for Cyprus until NEXT WEEK amid growing row over UK's ability to protect forces from Iranian attacks
04/03/26 02:04
Sir Keir Starmer last night said HMS Dragon would be sent to the Eastern Mediterranean. But Western officials believe the ship will not be ready to set sail for days.
'Nelson will be spinning in his grave': Fury grows over Britain's impotent Royal Navy as it is confirmed warship will not leave for Cyprus until NEXT WEEK
04/03/26 12:52
Fresh concerns have been raised at the state of the UK's warship and submarine fleet in the wake of an Iranian attack on RAF Akrotiri.
Rachel Reeves attacks Brexit saying Tories were 'wrong' to support leaving and oppose Labour's plan to move closer to Brussels
03/03/26 01:56
The Chancellor used her Spring Statement to attack the Conservatives for steering the UK out of the European Union.
France sends warships to defend British RAF base in Cyprus
03/03/26 12:37
Emmanuel Macron has ordered units to the eastern Mediterranean island after RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was struck by a drone which pierced its air defences on Sunday night.
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Embarrassed Keir Starmer orders Royal Navy ship to Cyprus to protect UK base from Iranian air attacks after being stung into action by the French (but it will take a week to get there)
03/03/26 09:46
The Prime Minister said Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon would be sent to the eastern Mediterranean along with helicopters with anti-drone weaponry in the wake of a strike on RAF Akroitiri on Sunday night.
Iran will NUKE Britain if it is allowed to develop nuclear weapons, says Badenoch as she attacks critics of US military action
02/03/26 02:45
The Conservative Party leader said 'Iran in 2026 is not Iraq in 2003' as leftwing figures invoked the memory of the War on Terror to criticise UK support for Trump's decision to wage war.
He who must not be named! Welsh Labour leader fails to mention Keir Starmer as she launches Senedd campaign - before saying he can join her if he brings £14bn for her to spend
02/03/26 01:27
Baroness Eluned Morgan launched her desperate bid to cling onto power in Cardiff Bay today, running under a banner of 'a new chapter for Wales' for the party that has run the country for 27 years.
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Iran chaos 'could crush hopes of UK interest rate cut this month' with fears of inflation spike as oil prices surge 13%
02/03/26 09:06
Brent Crude rose almost 13 per cent in early trading to its highest price in more than a year after the fresh conflict in the world's busiest production and shipping area.
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The dirty tricks war for Gorton and Denton: How Labour, Reform and the Greens accused each other of using underhand tactics to win coveted seat
27/02/26 02:21
Reform, Labour and the Greens have all faced accusations of fighting dirty in the Manchester suburbs.
Kemi Badenoch says Labour bitten by its own 'monster of mass harvesting Muslim votes' after Green by-election victory marred by allegations of illegal 'family voting' sees Farage call in police
26/02/26 11:04
The Tory leader lashed out amid a growing row over claims of illegal 'family voting' in Gorton and Denton raised by independent observers of the shock Green victory.
Now Peter Mandelson faces EU fraud probe over Epstein files: Brussels to probe claim ex-commissioner gave disgraced paedophile financier advanced notice of €500billion euro bailout
26/02/26 04:54
EU fraud investigators have been asked to investigate Peter Mandelson's friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, it was revealed today.
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It's not YOUR Party, Jeremy: Zarah Sultana resumes war with Corbyn less than two hours after he won control of new hard Left party - even though he might be 80 at the next election
26/02/26 10:35
Mr Corbyn's faction won 14 of 24 seats on Your Party's controlling committee after a bitter internal election campaign which pitted them against a group led by Zarah Sultana.
Will student loans mark Starmer's 15th U-turn? PM hints at another climbdown
25/02/26 10:48
The Prime Minister said ministers are examining ways to make the student loans system 'fairer' following an outcry over the punitive charges.
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Labour told to get tough on criminal gangs dumping waste as fly-tipping in England soars by 10% in a YEAR
25/02/26 04:08
The figures were the highest since new methods for recording cases were introduced in 2018/2019, with London by far the worst region for incidents.
Met detectives APOLOGISE to Lindsay Hoyle for revealing to Lord Mandelson the Commons Speaker was source of 'flight risk' tip-off that prompted peer's arrest
25/02/26 11:32
Lindsay Hoyle told MPs he passed on the information to Scotland Yard that led to Lord Mandelson being dramatically arrested at his home on Monday afternoon.
Kemi Badenoch demands Keir Starmer fixes the student loans 'debt trap' leaving graduates with massive repayments and warns the current system is at 'breaking point'
25/02/26 11:18
The Treasury and the Department for Education are said to be holding talks about reversing a freeze to the salary threshold for repayments to start, which was introduced by Rachel Reeves in the Budget.
Reform could be main opposition party in Scotland as stunning poll shows SNP on track for Holyrood majority in May - with Labour and Tories in freefall
25/02/26 09:30
A new poll shows Nigel Farage's party picking up 25 seats in the Scottish Parliament, having won none in 2021 and picked up just one since.
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MPs attack Andrew amid pressure to release papers
24/02/26 06:01
Chris Bryant condemned the former prince's 'self-aggrandisement', saying he was constantly engaged in a 'self-enriching hustle'.
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Reform backs push for 'patriotic' fracking across Britain to help bring down family energy bills as party vows to ditch Labour's Net Zero 'madness'
24/02/26 11:44
Richard Tice and Nigel Farage defended the controversial gas extraction technique which was effectively banned in the UK in 2019 after it was linked to earthquakes.
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