Morning Star
PM’S PROMISE TO GRASP NETTLE ON SOCIAL CARE
ACTION to end the social care crisis must finally be taken, Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged yesterday, announcing an outline commitment to a national care service. Continuing his run of significant early initiatives, Mr Burnham announced the...
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END 40 YEARS OF CARE NEGLECT
ANDY BURNHAM was urged yesterday to keep his vow to abandon 40 years of neoliberalism by legislating for a national care service before the end of this parliament. Health experts, campaigners and unions called on the Prime Minister to prioritise...
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SHUT DOWN THE BASES
ANTI-WAR protesters have gathered outside RAF Fairford to call on PM Andy Burnham to do the “right thing” and withdraw the use of British military bases from the US war with Iran. Demonstrators from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and...
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RAYNER REFUSES CAP ON RIP-OFF RENTS
ANDY BURNHAM cannot claim to be tackling the cost of living while taking one of its strongest tools off the table, renters’ rights campaigners warned yesterday as ministers ruled out rent controls. Returning Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said she...
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BUS FARES CUT — BUT BY AID RAID
CHEAPER buses but more bombs and bullets was the contradictory message yesterday from Andy Burnham as his new government struggled for definition. Maintaining his focus on the cost of living, Mr Burnham announced a £2 cap on bus fares – a move...
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CABINET FOCUS ON WAR OVER WELFARE
WE ARE a cost-of-living government, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told his new Cabinet yesterday after slashing energy bills for millions. Mr Burnham acted to cut VAT on energy bills at a cost of £850 million as his first major move in Downing Street...
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BURNHAM VOWS A NEW ERA — BUT SAME OLD RULES
ANDY BURNHAM walked into Downing Street as prime minister yesterday, pledging to introduce a new political and economic model for Britain, starting with an end to rough sleeping. He began by firing many of Sir Keir Starmer’s phalanx of right-wing...
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CHAMPION THE BEST OF OUR COUNTRY
MORE than 200 charities have urged Andy Burnham to “reject the politics of division” and forge a new path for asylum-seekers and refugees in Britain after he becomes Prime Minister today. In an open letter, they called on Sir Keir Starmer’s successor...
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I’LL TURN PAGE ON FORTY YEARS OF THATCHERISM
ANDY BURNHAM assumed the leadership of Labour yesterday with a pledge to turn the page on 40 years of neoliberalism. Mr Burnham, who will become Britain’s eighth Labour prime minister on Monday, pledged a restoration of hope and a radical reversal of...
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UN TO BURNHAM: END THE ‘STAIN OF IPP TORTURE IN BRITISH JAILS’
REDOUBLE efforts to “eradicate the stain” of preventative detentions, the government was urged yesterday as United Nations experts slammed Britain for “perpetuating serious human rights violations.” Campaigners demanded incoming PM Andy Burnham listen...
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SMEARS, TEARS & BELLYACHES
Sir Keir once again took the opportunity to peddle falsehoods about Labour under Mr Corbyn. Bitter to the end, he accused SIR KEIR STARMER bid farewell to Labour of having been found institutionally the Commons front bench yesterday antisemitic under...
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SANCTION ISRAEL NOW
SANCTION Israel now, 82 MPs and peers from nine different parties have told Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. In a move that will test incoming premier Andy Burnham’s intentions to reset government policy towards Israel, the letter, organised by Labour...
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WINDFALL TAX NOW!
BANKING bonuses are set to hit a record £25 billion this year, sparking union calls for a windfall tax hike to fund a social energy tariff and permanently cut most people’s bills. The TUC called for the “common sense and long overdue” increase in the...
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WEATHER:
Temperatures in parts of England and Wales will continue to exceed 30°C this week, the Met Office has said. Yesterday a large part of southern England and pockets of the south Midlands were assessed to be at exceptional risk of wildfires, according to...
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UC IS NO EASY FIX IN PENSION CRISIS
INCREASING universal credit (UC) for 66-year-olds will not fix Britain’s “inadequate” pensions system, which causes people to suffer “up until and beyond retirement,” campaigners warned. A report from the work and pensions committee published today...
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MEET THE NEW BOSS – SAME AS THE OLD BOSS
ANDY BURNHAM was accused of “continuity Starmerism” yesterday as the potential prime minister pledged to back Labour’s arms build-up and backing for Nato and nuclear weapons. In his first pronouncement on foreign policy and the military build-up, Mr...
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FARAGE FIASCO AS CLAIMS MOUNT UP
NIGEL FARAGE’S desperate by-election gambit has descended into farce as his Reform party was rocked by fresh funding revelations. It emerged that the Reform boss’s £5 million donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, and other cash for...
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FARAGE FORCES BY-ELECTION TO DISTRACT FROM DODGY DONORS
REFORM boss Nigel Farage yesterday announced he was forcing a by-election in his Clacton constituency amid growing concerns about his secret multimillionaire funding. After a video address without reporters present, the hardright leader said he would...
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MINISTERS’ WAR FIXATION ‘PUTS US ALL AT RISK’
ANTI-WAR campaigners slammed ministers yesterday for “driving us all closer to annihilation,” as the government laid out plans to make military spending its “number one priority.” Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Sophie Bolt warned...
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PA PROTESTERS HELD ON BAN ANNIVERSARY
SAVING LIVES is not terrorism, protesters chanted outside Scotland Yard yesterday as they marked one year since Palestine Action was banned as a terror group. An 84-year-old retired priest was arrested for showing her support for the proscribed...
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1,000 DAYS OF GENOCIDE
INCOMING PM Andy Burnham must finally put an end to arms sales with Israel, anti-war campaigners demanded yesterday as they marked 1,000 days of genocide in Gaza. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Stop the War Coalition (StWC) and the BDS...
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£15BN SPREE FOR MILITARY ‘COULD COST 20,000 JOBS’
LABOUR’S £15 billion increase in military spending could lead to more than 20,000 job losses, research suggested yesterday as Britain’s largest union slammed the government’s “wrong priorities.” Analysis by Transition Security Project estimated the...
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PEERS RAKE IT IN
PEERS have seen their shares in oil and gas firms soar by tens of thousands since the start of the US war on Iran as the energy price cap jumped yesterday, the Morning Star can reveal. At least seven lords and one baroness have seen their stock...
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PM GOING OUT WITH A BANG
WARFARE before welfare is Keir Starmer’s chosen legacy as the outgoing Prime Minister deluged the military with cash yesterday. The long-awaited defence investment plan boosts military spending by £15 billion, an increase of £1.5bn over the last two...
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PLAYING BY RULES WILL WRECK ANDY PLAN
ACCEPTING the fiscal rules will hinder Andy Burnham’s ability to deliver fundamental change, campaigners and unions warned the incoming PM yesterday. The PM-in-waiting revealed a decade-long plan setting out what he called a “new direction,” giving...
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‘STARMER’S WAR DRIVE TAKES JOBS AS WELL AS LIVES’
LABOUR plans to increase military spending will lead to job cuts and worsen Britain’s economic woes, analysis of official figures suggests. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to unveil his government’s long-delayed £14.5 billion Defence...
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DUBS ROUNDS ON ‘CRUEL’ MAHMOOD
A VETERAN Labour peer and refugee from the Nazis has urged Andy Burnham to remove Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary as her “performative cruelty” is dividing the party. Alf Dubs, who fled the Nazis as a child, said the PM-in-waiting should draw a line...
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‘BAKING BRITAIN IS FACING 10,000 HEAT DEATHS BY 2050’
UP TO 10,000 extreme heat deaths are predicted by 2050 as Britain was “built for a climate that no longer exists,” MPs have warned. The environmental audit committee urged the government to climate-proof schools, hospitals, care homes and prisons...
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Left urges Burnham to deliver REAL change
LABOUR’S left laid down the changes the government must make as Andy Burnham stands poised to become prime minister. In a statement yesterday the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs (SCG) spelt out a new programme including a wealth tax, public ownership...
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WHAT’S THE PLAN, MR BURNHAM?
BATTLE has been begun within the Labour Party over the shape and direction of the Andy Burnham government, likely to begin next month. The key issue is the direction of economic management and the extent to which the new regime will break with the...
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END OF THE KEIR SHOW
ANDY BURNHAM is on course to be Prime Minister within a few weeks after Sir Keir Starmer finally bowed to the inevitable and resigned as Labour leader yesterday. The only other declared contender to succeed the hapless Sir Keir, former health...
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WE NEED MORE THAN JUST WARM WORDS TO FIGHT FAR-RIGHT HATE
SCOTLAND’S trade union movement has demanded “more than warm words” to help communities “choose unity over hatred.” The call came in the wake of an Islamophobic machete rampage in Edinburgh that left five men injured — three of them hospitalised. The...
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IT’S TIME TO GO, SIR KEIR
NO MORE messing about — read the room and get out, the labour movement told Sir Keir Starmer yesterday after Andy Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election. Mr Burnham will now call for the Prime Minister to quit in the wake of his larger than...
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US CUBA SIEGE ‘POSES NEW PANDEMIC RISK’
THE US fuel blockade on Cuba is increasing the risk of the next global pandemic, experts, campaigners and Labour MPs have warned. World-class vaccine research that produced three Covid vaccines is grinding to a halt as 20-hour blackouts continue to...
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STARMER BIDS TO BUY OFF BURNHAM
LABOUR will be plunged into a leadership contest next week despite desperate efforts by Sir Keir Starmer to buy off his main rival, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. The Prime Minister said he would offer Mr Burnham a big job in the cabinet if he...
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NATIONALISE DISGRACED WATER FIRM, UNIONS SAY
UNIONS, campaigners and MPs are demanding the government put an end to the uncertainty surrounding Thames Water and permanently nationalise the scandal-ridden utility. They renewed their calls to nationalise the water firm yesterday after Environment...
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A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE
CAMPAIGNERS and MPs called on ministers to withdraw the proscription of Palestine Action following the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the ban, branding the decision an attack on the “very foundations of democracy.” The government won its appeal...
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JEWS SAY NO TO SALE OF ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS
MORE than 100 politicians have joined calls demanding the government halt the sale of illegal settlements in British synagogues, as campaigners warned against normalising colonisation in Palestine. Jewish anti-zionists protested outside the Great...
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JUDGE’S TERROR RULING ‘UNJUST’
HUNDREDS of protesters gathered outside Woolwich Crown Court against the “completely unjust” trial of four Palestine Action activists who broke into the British factory of Israelbased arms firm Elbit Systems. A judged ruled yesterday that the...
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STARMER DRAMA AS HEALEY BOMBS OUT
SIR KEIR STARMER’S tottering authority crumbled further yesterday as Defence Secretary John Healey quit in a row over arms spending. Mr Healey slammed Sir Keir for not overruling Chancellor Rachel Reeves in an argument over how fast to raise the...
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Concern grows over health official’s Palantir ties at time of NHS bidding ‘STINK OF LEGAL CORRUPTION’
HEALTH campaigners demanded the government put an end to the “dizzying revolving door of corruption” after it was revealed today that a top health official had close ties with Palantir while it was bidding for a £330 million contract with the NHS....
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A WAR ABROAD — BUT A BILLS CRISIS FOR BRITS AT HOME
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PAID TO POLLUTE
SOUTHERN WATER has sparked fury with “absolutely disgusting” plans to dump sewage into a major Isle of Wight tourist hotspot, which is home to rare seagrass and seahorses. The utility firm announced it will add a 22-metre extension to an old sewage...
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STARMER CONDEMNS MUSK FOR TRYING TO ‘WHIP UP DIVISION’
SIR KEIR STARMER told Elon Musk yesterday to stop trying to divide Britain and get out of British politics in a long-overdue pushback against the pro-fascist billionaire. The Prime Minister, who has long avoided offending Mr Musk for fear of upsetting...
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UNFORGIVABLE
NIGEL FARAGE was slammed for an “unforgivable” snub to the grieving family of teen murder victim Henry Nowak yesterday after far-right riots left 11 police officers injured in Southampton. PM Sir Keir Starmer blasted the Reform UK leader’s cynical...
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TIME FOR ENERGY WE CONTROL, NOT THE PROFITEERS
CLIMATE campaigners have warned that a transition that swaps one form of profiteering for another cannot be accepted after the government committed yesterday to an 87 per cent emissions cut by 2040. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced the plan,...
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MANDELSON FILES LATEST DEEPENS STARMER’S SHAME
THOUSANDS of documents and messages detailing Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment and activities as US ambassador were published by the government yesterday. The disclosure, including internal emails and WhatsApp messages, is an “unprecedented piece of...
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‘KEEP SPY-TECH CREEPS OUT OF OUR NHS FILES’
CONTROVERSIAL US tech firm Palantir should not be allowed to develop a new NHS system amid fears “creeps” will be allowed access to a patient’s entire medical records, unions warned ahead of a parliamentary debate today. The NHS Modernisation Bill is...
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AI WAR ON REFUGEE CHILDREN
CAMPAIGNERS have slammed the government over plans to use “dangerous and discriminatory” AI facial scanning to guess the age of unaccompanied children seeking asylum. The Home Office announced yesterday that it had awarded a £322,000 contract to...
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GENERATION LOST
MORE than a million young people are not in work or education, a major report found yesterday, warning of a “lost generation.” Former health secretary Alan Milburn warned that a “wholesystem failure” has led to nearly one in seven 16 to 24-year-olds...
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WORKERS PAY TO BANKROLL TRUMP’S WAR
HOUSEHOLDS must not bear the brunt of US President Donald Trump’s illegal war, campaigners warned yesterday, as energy bills are set to rise by 13 per cent. Ofgem’s new price cap from July 1 will see the typical household face an annual energy cost of...
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COURTS DEGRADING BRITONS’ RIGHTS TO PROTEST — REPORT
COURTS are “degrading the right to protest” with 256 Palestine and climate protesters jailed for 136 years since 2019, an expert report revealed yesterday. Palestine solidarity activists are among the most oppressed with three in five held longer than...
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IT’S SPIRALLING OUT OF CONTROL
RECORD NHS spending on private firms to analyse diagnostic scans is “spiralling out of control” amid soaring demand and a lack of in-house capacity, research shows. NHS trusts and health boards gave £241 million to outsourced companies to interpret CT...
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PM JOINS OUTCRY OVER BOYS SPARED CUSTODY FOR RAPING TWO GIRLS
A COURT ruling sparing two boys from jail time after they raped two girls was called “appalling” by the Prime Minister yesterday as campaigners condemned the decision and the Attorney General opened a review of the sentences. Sir Keir Starmer said it...
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BURNHAM: I WILL BRING BACK THE LABOUR OF OLD
ANDY BURNHAM promised voters he will restore Labour to the party “they used to know” as he officially launched his campaign to return to Westminster yesterday. Standing against Reform UK in the Makerfield by-election, the Greater Manchester mayor...
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BE A BIT BRAVER ON PRICE CRISIS
MINISTERS must be bolder in tackling the cost-of-living crisis, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak warned yesterday. He was speaking as Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled a package of measures to ease the impact of spiralling prices on families,...
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BURNHAM BOUNCE CAN BEAT REFORM
LABOUR could see off Reform with a “Burnham bounce” if the Greater Manchester mayor replaced Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, latest polling revealed yesterday. The findings came as Mr Burnham plunged into the by-election fight in Makerfield, a...
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NO WORK NO HOURS NO HOPE
UNIONS hit out at an “epidemic of insecure work” as the economic fallout from the Iran war was revealed for the first time yesterday. Youth unemployment has risen to its highest rate in more than a decade with one in seven (14.7 per cent) 16 to...
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RACIST ATTACKS ON NHS NURSES: ONE EVERY HOUR
NURSES suffer racial abuse once every 51 minutes amid a “catastrophic rise” in discrimination over recent years, new analysis shows. There have been more than 40,000 incidents involving racial abuse or discrimination between 2022 and 2025, according...
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BRITAIN STANDS AGAINST RACISTS
PROTEST organisers hailed the hundreds of thousands of antiracists turning out in London on Saturday to oppose the far right and defend the right to protest on Nakba Day. Palestine Solidarity Campaign said that 250,000 anti-racists, trade unionists,...
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UNITED AGAINST FAR-RIGHT HATE
HUNDREDS of thousands of demonstrators are expected to march in London today to mark the 78th anniversary of the Nakba and to unite against the far right. Protesters are demanding an end to Britain’s complicity in Israel’s military occupation,...
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QUITTER STREETING TURNS UP HEAT ON PM
LABOUR lurched a step closer to a leadership contest yesterday as Wes Streeting finally resigned from the Cabinet and an MP quit to make way for the return of Andy Burnham. Streeting slammed Sir Keir’s lack of vision and leadership, called out a...
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HEAD TO HEAD
LABOUR stands poised on the edge of a leadership election as Blairite Wes Streeting gears up to challenge Sir Keir Starmer. The Health Secretary is expected to announce tomorrow that he is quitting the Cabinet to fight the Prime Minister for the top...
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PETER MERTENS: MOOD HAS CHANGED AS BELGIUM’S WORKERS STRIKE BACK
TODAY Belgium will grind to a halt. A general strike supported by the three main trade union confederations is expected to paralyse transport across the country. Organisers expect 100,000 people to demonstrate on the streets of Brussels. Given the...
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STOP Left MPs call to block Streeting as WES vultures circle Starmer
STOP Wes Streeting, left MPs were urging yesterday as fears grew that the Blairite Health Secretary is poised to stage a takeover from Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street. As the mood grew across Labour that Sir Keir’s premiership is holed below the...
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Finger points at PM for Labour defeat as SNP on course to win
North Kincardine constituency, meaning he will be expected to resign his Westminster seat. “It looks to most people like the SNP are going to win a fifth historic term in government in Scotland, and let it be known that soon Scotland will be an...
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Shell announces ‘obscene’ profits thanks to conflict
LABOUR was urged to back hardup Britons by closing energy tax loopholes after Shell reported “obscene” £5 billion profits thanks to the Iran war yesterday. Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer sparked fury as it reported better-than-expected...
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LOOKS LIKE YOUR NUMBER’S UP, PM
LABOUR is facing electoral annihilation across the country today in elections which could bring the hard-right Reform UK a major step closer to power. Much of Britain is set to deliver a damning verdict on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s two years...
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BIG FOUR BANKS MAKE £14BN IN THREE MONTHS
UNIONS have called for a “common sense” increase to the bank windfall tax after the Big Four made £13.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026. The TUC said lifting the surcharge could raise up to £60bn over four years as the latest figures show...
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Starmer cornered over pledge to join £78 billion arms loan
‘WELFARE BEFORE WARFARE’ PEACE campaigners urged the prime minister to put “welfare before weapons” yesterday as Sir Keir Starmer suggested joining a £78 billion arms loan for Ukraine would create jobs. Yesterday, Sir Keir announced Britain’s bid to...
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UNITY IS OUR STRENGTH
TRADE unionists and peace activists have marched in May Day demonstrations across the country commemorating the centenary of the General Strike. Ahead of today’s event in London, Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright said this year’s...
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CALL TIME ON THE WATER RACKET
CAMPAIGNERS welcomed the resignation of South East Water’s chairman today after a report by MPs said they had “no confidence” in the company’s leadership following major supply outages in Kent and Sussex. Independent non-executive chairman Chris Train...
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OUTRAGE AT ISRAELI FLOTILLA ‘PIRACY’
THE ISRAELI military was accused of “piracy” in European waters yesterday after its forces launched a raid on activists attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a group of 55 vessels, mostly small...
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PROBE CALL FOR LABOUR TOGETHER
PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces a fresh threat as the Commons Speaker indicated backing for an inquiry into rogue faction Labour Together. The Prime Minister’s troubles seemed far from over after Sir Lindsay Hoyle endorsed the call from leading...
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JUST WHAT ARE YOU HIDING? REBEL MPs TURN ON STARMER
PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer was staring down the barrel of a major Labour rebellion last night as back-bench MPs came out against his plan to block a probe into his handling of the Mandelson scandal. One warned that the cover-up could further...
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