Starmer accused of hypocrisy over sharp cuts to World Food Programme 07. February 2026 (13:46) UK reduces funding by a third despite pledges to tackle hunger, with critics warning the move will cost livesUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy after cutting funding to the UN World Food Programme by a third while pledging to tackle “suffering and starvation”.The reduction in UK funding to the World Food Programme (WFP) from $610m (£448m) in 2024 to $435m last year is part of a wider reduction in aid spending that campaigners say is putting lives at risk. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Lib Dems suspend Chris Rennard amid new inquiry into sexual harassment claims 07. February 2026 (13:03) Party says it has received advice that 2013 investigation of allegations against peer was ‘flawed in several respects’The Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard has been suspended from the party amid a new investigation into sexual harassment allegations.The party said it had received advice that a 2013 inquiry into the claims made by four women against Lord Rennard was “flawed in several respects”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
The Epstein files reveal that a vast global conspiracy actually exists – sort of 07. February 2026 (13:00) The documents confirm what many have long assumed: elites live by their own special rules and codes of immunityThe millions of Jeffrey Epstein files dumped last Friday by the US Department of Justice will provide journalists, conspiracy theorists and interested members of the public with months of reading. And what they will read is enraging.What makes these files so infuriating, however, is not just Epstein’s horrific predatory behavior, which is well-known, but the more mundane examples of elite conduct that the documents continue to expose. They vividly illustrate a world whose existence many everyday people, whether fevered with visions of the Illuminati or just jaundiced by banal anti-establishment cynicism, already suspected exists: an informal global club of powerful, ultra-rich people who all seemingly know each other, help one another out, and protect each other from the consequences of their depravity. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘An unqualified insurrectionist’: outcry over Trump nominee in Wyoming 07. February 2026 (13:00) Darin Smith, who was outside Capitol on January 6, decried as Senate mulls nomination as state’s top federal prosecutorA Republican former state lawmaker with no experience trying cases, a record of opposing LGBTQ+ rights, and who was outside the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the top federal prosecutor in Wyoming.Donald Trump first nominated Darin Smith as Wyoming’s US attorney last year, and the judiciary committee advanced him in a party-line vote in January. Democrats have condemned Smith, saying he lacks the experience necessary for the job and threatens to impose a discriminatory approach to federal law enforcement in the state where gay college student Matthew Shepard’s 1998 murder galvanized the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Post-Brexit sales of British farm products to EU fall by 37% 07. February 2026 (13:00) NFU warn it could take years to restore Brexit losses despite efforts to smooth negotiations on farming and other elements of UK-EU resetExports of British farm products to the EU have dropped almost 40% in the five years since Brexit, highlighting the trade barriers caused by the UK’s divorce from the EU in 2020.Analysis of HMRC data by the National Farmers’ Union shows the decline in sales of everything from British beef to cheddar cheese has dropped by 37.4% in the five years since 2019, the last full year before Brexit. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘A harmful barrier’: new Florida law mandates all driving tests to be offered in English only 07. February 2026 (13:00) Critics say law will disproportionately affect immigrant communities and those who speak limited EnglishAs of 6 February, people in Florida are no longer be able to take driver’s license examinations in any language other than English, the Florida department of highway safety and motor vehicles (DMV) said in a statement.Before the change, exams for noncommercial driver’s licenses were offered in multiple languages, including Spanish, Haitian Creole and Portuguese, while the commercial learner’s permit and commercial driver’s license knowledge exams were both offered in English and Spanish. Now all driver’s license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump housing policy is a mess and it won’t fix the US housing crisis 07. February 2026 (13:00) Deregulation alone can’t make homes affordable when rising inequality, not zoning, is what is driving prices upDonald Trump has an interesting view of how housing plays in US politics. “I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes,” he said at a recent cabinet meeting. Unaffordable housing may be front and center of the “affordability crisis” pissing off voters. Still, he insists: “We’re not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn’t work very hard can buy a home.”It can be hard to square some things Trump says with other things Trump says, let alone with reality. One can’t help but remember his campaign “goal of cutting the cost of a new home in half” by eliminating pesky regulations that raise the cost of construction. Forget that cheap new entry-level homes will weigh on the price of the existing housing stock. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Thousands of Malawi businesses close in protest over tax changes 07. February 2026 (13:00) Peaceful demonstrations force a delay in measures aimed at improving revenue collection but which many fear will be fatal for small traders Demonstrations across Malawi’s four main cities during the past week have achieved a delay in the introduction of a new tax regime that business owners claim will cripple their livelihoods.Tens of thousands had signed petitions which this week were presented to tax officials and on Monday thousands of small traders shut up shops and businesses to hold protest marches in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Monzo wrongly denied refunds to thousands of fraud and scam victims 07. February 2026 (12:00) Ombudsman found bank wrongly rejected 34% of complaints last year, with NatWest and HSBC close behindMonzo has wrongly denied refunds to thousands of fraud and scam victims, the Guardian can reveal.The digital-only bank wrongly rejected more than 1,000 fraud and scam complaints that were closed last year alone, according to data from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Starmer leadership speculation ‘serious’ but task ahead ‘very clear’, says Brown – UK politics live 07. February 2026 (11:51) Gordon Brown says he believes current prime minister is a man of ‘integrity’ who was ‘misled and betrayed’ by Peter MandelsonHere are some images from the newswires last night showing police searching two properties connected to Mandelson:A Labour minister commissioned and reviewed a report in 2023 on journalists investigating the thinktank that would help propel Keir Starmer to power, the Guardian has learned. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
