Guardian UK Politics
Reform activist suspended over racist and antisemitic comments remains election agent
Reform UK is facing fresh scrutiny after Adam Mitula, an activist suspended over racist and antisemitic comments, has been named as election agent for three of the party's candidates in the Tameside area ahead of May 7 local polls. Mitula, who confirmed his suspension as a party member in February, continues to hold a formal campaign role despite his status. The appointment raises pointed questions about Reform's vetting processes as the party contests elections amid intense national attention.
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Former Nato chief warns UK's national security 'in peril'
Lord Robertson, the former NATO Secretary General, is set to deliver a stark warning that the United Kingdom's national security is under serious threat. In unusually direct language, he will accuse Treasury officials of committing "vandalism" against defence capabilities through budget decisions made without adequate military expertise. The intervention signals deepening alarm among senior figures over the government's approach to defence spending at a time of heightened global instability.
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Mahmood’s migration changes will deliver fraction of claimed savings, data suggests
The government's own figures suggest Shabana Mahmood's migration reforms will save just £600m — roughly 6% of the £10bn the Home Secretary publicly claimed. The plans, which would double the qualifying period for settled status from five to ten years, fall dramatically short of the savings used to justify the policy. The discrepancy raises serious questions about the credibility of the government's fiscal case for tightening migrants' access to benefits.
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‘Bizarre’ lack of urgency in putting UK on war footing, says defence review co-author
Britain's own strategic defence review co-author is now publicly criticising the government's response to its findings. Fiona Hill, former White House Russia adviser, described the lack of urgency in putting the UK on a war footing as "bizarre," joining ex-NATO chief George Robertson in breaking ranks with Starmer's leadership on military policy. The rare spectacle of a review's architects condemning the government's inaction on their own recommendations raises serious questions about Britain's readiness in an increasingly volatile security environment.
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Chagos Islands treaty is now ‘impossible to agree at political level’, UK minister says
The Chagos Islands deal is effectively dead after the UK government acknowledged the treaty cannot pass parliament following the withdrawal of US support. Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty confirmed that Donald Trump's opposition has made agreement "impossible at a political level," reversing a key foreign policy initiative that would have ceded sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius. The collapse marks a significant diplomatic setback for the UK, which had originally negotiated the deal in close coordination with Washington.
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