Author: Fatimah Idera

A Labour MP has reported receiving death threats and online abuse after a Conservative colleague shared a video questioning her stance on a proposed inquiry into grooming gangs. Anna Dixon, Labour MP for Shipley in West Yorkshire, said police were investigating after she was targeted with violent and misogynistic messages. She accused Robbie Moore, the Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley, of spreading misinformation about her position on the issue. Moore posted a video on social media this week claiming that Dixon had misled her constituents about why she voted against a Conservative amendment calling for a national inquiry into…

More than 200,000 workers in the UK have moved to a four-day week since before the pandemic, signalling a significant shift in working patterns. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that between October and December 2024, nearly 1.4 million people reported working full-time across four days up by more than 100,000 from the same period in 2019, when 1.29 million did so. Another 100,000 said they worked part-time over four days, pushing the total to 2.7 million, or 10.9% of the workforce, compared with 9.8% five years earlier. Meanwhile the data does not clarify whether workers have…

Angela Rayner has unveiled plans to prevent Sir Sadiq Khan from re-entering Parliament while serving as London Mayor, fuelling speculation she is seeking to sideline potential rivals for the Labour leadership. The Deputy Prime Minister is introducing legislation that would bar anyone from holding both a mayoralty and a parliamentary seat simultaneously. The change, contained in her forthcoming English Devolution Bill, would rewrite parts of the 1999 Greater London Authority Act and apply to mayors across England. Under the new law, “a person is disqualified from being the mayor if the person is an elected member of a legislature in…

Former Labour home secretary Lord Blunkett has called on Sir Keir Starmer’s government to consider temporarily suspending parts of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in order to accelerate the deportation of rejected asylum seekers. Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Blunkett said a radical step may be required to address growing public anger over the use of hotels to house more than 32,000 asylum seekers. He argued that suspending limited elements of the ECHR for a period of up to six months could help clear the mounting backlog of appeals. More than 50,000 migrants have lodged appeals against rejected…

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering extending the freeze on income tax thresholds as part of efforts to close a looming gap in the public finances, raising the prospect of higher tax bills for millions of workers. Treasury sources said the measure is among the leading options for Reeves’s second budget this autumn. The freeze, first introduced by the Conservatives in 2021 and due to end in 2028, means thresholds rise more slowly than wages and inflation. This so-called fiscal drag has already drawn tens of billions of pounds into Treasury coffers as pay growth pushes more people into higher tax…

Dozens of demonstrations or protests are expected this weekend outside hotels being used to house asylum seekers, as political and legal battles intensify over the government’s approach. The latest figures show that more than 32,000 asylum seekers are currently accommodated in hotels an 8% increase since Labour came to power, though still below the 2023 peak under the Conservatives. Anti-migrant rallies, alongside counter-protests organised by Stand Up to Racism, are due to take place in towns and cities, including Bournemouth, Cardiff, Leeds, Perth and Aberdeen. Two weeks ago, 3,000 riot police were placed on standby ahead of similar protests, but…

For some days, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, have dominated headlines amid an alleged supremacy dispute. The rift reportedly began after Oba Owoade issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Oba Ogunwusi, demanding that he revoke the chieftaincy title of “Okanlomo of Yorubaland,” which was conferred on businessman Dotun Sanusi. According to the report, Oba Abimbola claimed that the Ooni of Ife lacked the exclusive right to bestow such a chieftaincy title. Oba Abimbola Owoade further asserted that the right to confer Yoruba chieftaincy titles is exclusive to the Alaafin, while the…

The Government is considering scrapping compulsory GCSE resits in English and maths, in what could mark the most significant reform to post-16 education in a decade. At present, pupils who fail to achieve a grade 4 (equivalent to a C under the old system) in either subject at 16 are required to resit them if they remain in education. The policy was designed to ensure school leavers met the minimum standards needed for work and further study, since most employers demand passes in both subjects. However, the approach has come under growing criticism amid falling pass rates. This summer, only…

Britain is heading into an autumn of strikes that threaten to disrupt essential services, with industrial action planned across transport, healthcare, and local government. The RMT union confirmed on Thursday that the London Underground will face a week of strikes starting September 5, just as schools reopen and passenger numbers surge. Signallers, engineers, and service control staff will walk out on staggered days, causing severe disruption across the capital. The strike follows members’ rejection of a 3.4 per cent pay offer, with union leaders also citing demands over Boxing Day payments, shorter working weeks, and long-standing grievances about fatigue and…

Labour membership a political party in the UK has fallen by nearly 200,000 since Keir Starmer became leader, according to the party’s latest accounts. Despite Labour’s landslide general election victory in July 2024, one in ten members left the party over the course of the year, with 37,215 departing in 2024 alone. Labour’s membership stood at 333,235 at the end of last year, down significantly from its peak of 532,046 under former leader Jeremy Corbyn in 2019. Despite the decline, Labour remains the largest political party in the UK. Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has seen a surge in…