Keir Starmer blames the Tories for Labourโs own cronyism scandal
The prime minister says the Tories “dragged our country down” as he denies any wrongdoing on civil service appointments.
Civil service
UK Labour faces a scandal of its own making
Keir Starmer promised to clean up Whitehall. Heโs already engulfed in a cronyism scandal.
The last of the Lords
Britain’s new leader Keir Starmer is determined to reform the archaic House of Lords โ but it could come with a hidden price.
Tony Blairโs AI mania sweeps Britainโs new government
The former PM sees artificial intelligence as a silver bullet for ailing public services, government inefficiency and a stagnant economy.ย Is he right?
Britainโs most powerful woman goes to war
Complaints are already mounting about the former civil servant turned Keir Starmer chief of staff Sue Gray.
UK Treasury failed to tell watchdog about senior officialโs Labour donation
Former banker Ian Corfield donated thousands to politicians including Chancellor Rachel Reeves before his appointment.
Wary of Trump, Azerbaijan, businesses shun COP climate talks
Companies are anxiously wondering: Can we get hotel rooms? What about the autocratic regime hosting? What if Trump wins?
Keir Starmer walks straight into summer from hell
With Britain’s prisons full and its population angry, the new prime minister hoped things wouldn’t reach boiling point so soon.
Labour plots radical shake-up at heart of British government
Cabinet Office faces being stripped back to core functions with 80 percent of staff moving out of the department, under plans for reform.ย
Bringing a claim of compensation for harm suffered as a result of alleged psychological harassment by the Head of Mission and his Deputy before the EU Courts: Montanari v Eucap Sahel Niger (Case T-371/22)
Antje Kunst*
* Antje Kunst is an
international lawyer and barrister of a UK based Chambers, specialised in EU
and international public law, human rights and litigation. She is admitted to
the Bar of England and Wales, and th…
Top UK official Simon Case to step down on health grounds
The Cabinet secretary is receiving treatment for a neurological condition that affects his mobility.
Brexit hit UKโs pandemic response, Covid inquiry finds
The U.K. state “failed” its citizens in the run-up to the Covid-19 pandemic.
How to speak EP
Your guide to the jargon that’s everywhere in Brussels.
Hungaryโs Orbรกn has taken sides in Americaโs election. Maybe other leaders should, too.
The prevailing wisdom that foreign leaders should stay neutral in U.S. politics could be out of date in an increasingly polarized setting.
Britainโs new power list: 12 people you need to know in the UK Labour government
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is now in office. These are the people who really matter in his government.
The politics of boring: Why Starmer won โ and why Biden probably wonโt
As the U.S. and U.K. leaders are discovering, dullness can be an electoral asset. Until itโs not.
Civil servants obliged to carry out Tory Rwanda deportations, court rules
Union for civil servants claimed Home Office staff could be open to prosecution if Strasbourg rulings on Rwanda ignoredโข General election 2024: live newsGuidance drawn up by Conservative ministers which told civil servants to ignore Strasbourg rulings …
Who is Keir Starmer? Britainโs incoming prime minister is complex, unknowable, aggrieved
A trip north with the U.K.โs most powerful leader in a generation.
Le Pen accuses Macron of โadministrative coupโ
As French president pushes through key high-ranking government appointments.
A bear attack in Slovakia reveals what the far right really wants
Across the globe, populists are rolling back efforts to save nature and the planet.
Ireland is dreaming of a UK Labour landslide
Irish eyes are smiling at the prospect of Keir Starmer in Downing Street surrounded by Irish-savvy aides.
Britainโs getting more corrupt. Will kicking the Tories out help?
Labour is talking a good game on cleaning up Westminster as an election looms โ but the U.K. has a long history of opposition parties promising the earth.
Are Franceโs senior civil servants ready to serve the National Rally?
Senior state officials are wondering what attitude they should adopt if they had to work for a far-right government.
This Tory election campaign is all about the vibes
Rishi Sunak’s policy platform is unlikely to keep many Tories happy.
In the Baltics, the stateless who canโt vote in the EU election
What if you want to vote in the European election, but you canโt?
Who is Dick Schoof?ย 8ย things to know about the new Dutch PMย
Nicknamed โTricky Dickโ, the new head of the Netherlandsโ far-right-led government is not afraid of bending the rules.ย
UK election: The great battle for Labour Party jobs
Too many ministers: Keir Starmer faces having to disappoint some of his top team if he makes it into government.
5 revelations you missed at the Simon Case Covid grilling
Civil service boss apologizes at the UK’s pandemic inquiry โ which risked being overshadowed by the election.
5 awkward WhatsApps as UKโs top civil servant faces Covid inquiry
Simon Case gives evidence after scathing comments about how Whitehall functioned during the crisis.
UK general election: Everything you need to know
Britain’s summer election is on. Here’s your bluffer’s guide.
Infected blood: UK apologizes for decades-long healthcare scandal
A public inquiry found that the infected blood scandal could have largely been avoided
UK sanctions watchdog flops in face of Russiaโs war
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, OFSI has issued zero fines for sanctions evasion, despite ยฃ22.7 billion of frozen Russian assets.
Dominic Cummings steps up plan to replace Tories with new party
Boris Johnson’s nemesis runs focus groups across the U.K. as plan to eclipse Britain’s Conservatives takes shape.
UK wants NATO defense target upped to 2.5 percent
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps says meeting that target would make a ‘real difference.’
Britainโs national security adviser Tim Barrow set for US ambassador gig
British PM Rishi Sunak says announcement will be ‘made in the usual way’ as Labour seethes.
EU Commission holds bring-your-pet-to-work days โ but attack dogs are bannedย
Officials told to โconsider teleworkingโ if theyโre scared or allergic to dogs.
Former high priest of EU politics Selmayr finds higher calling in the Vatican
“The monster of the Berlaymont” has been nominated for a new role.
Putin โwinsโ rigged Russian electionย with 88% of the vote, early results show
Preliminary results indicate huge victory for Vladimir Putin but thousands protest at polling stations and Russian embassies worldwide.
Britain doesnโt need โreformโ. It just needs to rejoin the EU | William Keegan
Well-intentioned moves are afoot to โoverhaul the machinery of governmentโ. But itโs the policies that are the problemIt was Dr Johnson, not Boris Johnson, who declared โpatriotism is a last refuge of the scoundrelโ. Some years have passed since Johnso…
Labour called on to quash snooping bank bill
SNEAK PEEK โ Labour peer criticizes own partyโs efforts on DWP snooping bill. โ Hunt and Martin Lewis at odds over budget leaks. โ Insurers finally extend flammable cladding home cover.ย Happy Thursday! Weโre all so close to the end of the week but there are still plenty of financial services goodies to get through [โฆ]
Liz Trussโ journey from Downing Street to โdeep stateโ conspiracist
How a failed British prime minister reinvented herself as a US-style populist.
After 14 years in power, Britainโs Conservatives fear the misery of oppositionย
Prime Minister Rishi Sunakโs MPs could soon be startled by their irrelevance after losing power
Staff unions call for EU personnel agency boss to quit
Three unions express “deep concern and dissatisfaction” with EPSO’s management.
France to cut spending by extra โฌ10B as growth forecast drops
“We earn less, we spend less,” says Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.
Britainโs Westminster power couples โ 2024 ranking
A look at the love matches wielding political power.
UK government comms chief quits to spin for Gulf petrostate
Veteran civil servant Alex Aiken says he has “done my bit” as he packs his bags for Abu Dhabi.
In Northern Ireland, โa Protestant stateโ finally has a Catholic leader
Sinn Fรฉin’s Michelle OโNeill vows to be โa first minister for allโ in a divided society where stable government has been a casualty of Brexit.
Sรกnchez avoids triple parliamentary defeat but Catalan ally refuses to back him
Junts nationalists abstain in vote on government decrees.
Boris Johnsonโs COVID inquiry grilling: all the bombshell moments
Britain’s former prime minister is facing a two-day going-over by the country’s official pandemic probe. POLITICO is tracking the key moments.
Labour to discuss agenda for government with civil service within weeks
UK opposition partyโs โaccessโ talks come as it leads by some 20 points in the polls
UK Labour Party admits itโs not ready for government โ yet
“We’d be fucked if there was an election tomorrow,” party officials say, as talks with civil service put on ice.
COVID inquiry: UKโs top official Simon Case โexcusedโ from appearing this year
Britain’s most senior official won’t be giving evidence until next year at the earliest.
Dowdenโs โhit squadโ aims to replace civil service jobs with AI
The deputy prime minister said automation could shrink the state.
Revenge of The Blob
Presented by Coca Cola.
Boris Johnson called Rishi Sunakโs Treasury a โpro-death squad,โ COVID inquiry hears
Contemporaneous diary of top scientist claims Johnson joked about his then-chancellor’s team at the height of the pandemic.
Boris Johnson asked scientists if COVID could be killed by hairdryer up nose, ex-aide claims
COVID-19 inquiry hears latest claim from Johnson’s aide-turned-nemesis Dominic Cummings.
Top Boris Johnson aide turned on disappearing WhatsApps weeks before COVID inquiry unveiled
Martin Reynolds said he couldn’t recall why he’d done so.
Sweeping new Biden order aims to alter the AI landscape
The White House is poised to make an all-hands effort to impose national rules on a fast-moving technology, according to a draft executive order.
Head of UK civil service Simon Case out on medical leave
Leave comes at a difficult time for Rishi Sunak, both geopolitically and domestically.
What happens next in Poland? 5 things you need to know after a landmark election
It’s not going to be fast or easy for a new government to roll back 8 years of actions by the Law and Justice party.
Rishi Sunak accused of presiding over โchaosโ as Tory conference braces for news of HS2 Manchester leg cancellation โ as it happened
Andy Burnham, Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, says news would be โprofoundly depressingโIn a report last week the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the current parliament was likely to mark โa decisive and permanent shift to a higher-tax economyโ.I…
Poland-Ukraine โgrain warโ escalates dangerously
In todayโs edition of the Capitals, find out more about the Bulgarian government promising protesting miners a secure civil service, Kosovoโs parliamentary speaker reiterates accusations against Lajcak, and so much more.
Bulgarian government promised protesting miners a secure civil service
A protest in Sofia, organised by the two unions of Bulgarian miners and energy workers from the Maritsa basin, led to an agreement with the government to guarantee the preservation of jobs for those employed in the sector.
Thereโs rage at civil servants who cried over Brexit. But virtually all of us have wept over Tory antics since 2016 | The civil servant
We donโt need to be true believers to do our jobs, but we know an incompetent government when we see it โ and feel its effectThe campaign to leave Europe always had a kind of Dambusters machismo frustration about it. Sure, Steve Baker MP may have gone …
Emmanuel Macron set to host UK Labour leader Keir Starmer in Paris
Coup for Britain’s opposition leader as French president agrees to bilateral summit.
Remainer UK civil servants were in tears over Brexit, top official says
Former foreign office chief Simon McDonald says he breached protocol and told ministers he had voted to remain in the EU.
Former Foreign Office chief admits telling colleagues he voted to stay in EU
Simon McDonald says department was in โmourningโ after 2016 referendum, leading him to reveal his personal viewsThe former top Foreign Office civil servant has acknowledged revealing to colleagues โ including government ministers โ that he voted to rem…