Starmer was kept in dark about Mandelson’s vetting by two top civil servants

The death toll included three children, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saidAt least 24 people, including three children, were reported killed in yesterday’s Russian attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.The death toll update came after a night of search and rescue operations.“A Russia like this can never be normalised – a Russia that deliberately destroys lives and hopes to remain unpunished. Pressure is needed. It is Ukraine that is defending Europe and the world so that such strikes, in which children are killed, do not spread further.” Continue reading...

Crypto billionaire goes straight into top 10 on Sunday Times list, with Noel and Liam Gallagher among other first-timersBusiness live – latest updatesUK politics live – latest updatesChristopher Harborne, the crypto billionaire who controversially gifted Nigel Farage £5m, has been named in the list of the UK’s wealthiest people for the first time.Other first-timers in the top 350 include Noel and Liam Gallagher and Emily Eavis, the daughter of Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List published on FridaySanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and family: £38bnDavid and Simon Reuben and family: £27.971bnLeonard Blavatnik: £26.852bnIdan Ofer: £24.481bn: £24.481bnGuy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family: £18.939bnChristopher Harborne: £18.177bnNik Storonsky: £16.411bnAlex Gerko: £16.006bnJim Ratcliffe: £15.194bnIgor and Dmitry Bukhman: £14.26bn Continue reading...

Pressure is intensifying on Keir Starmer after Andy Burnham was given a route back to parliamentGood morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.Housing secretary Steve Reed has been on the media round this morning urging Labour colleagues to put the “country first, party second”, even as he admits Keir Starmer is “unpopular”. Continue reading...

Housing secretary Steve Reed says no one has numbers for challenge and Labour should row in behind prime ministerOne of Keir Starmer’s closest allies in the cabinet has conceded that the prime minister is “unpopular” but has insisted Labour should not repeat the same pattern of changing leaders that damaged the Conservatives.The housing secretary, Steve Reed, one of Starmer’s most loyal ministers and staunch defenders, told broadcasters on Friday that no one had the numbers to challenge him and the party should come together behind the prime minister. Continue reading...

Redress for force-fitting devices in homes of vulnerable includes £20m penalty and £70m of debt write-offsThousands of British Gas customers who had prepayment meters force-fitted in their homes will receive up to £112m in compensation and debt write-offs on their energy bills.Great Britain’s energy regulator found that British Gas forced prepayment meters on homes that were not keeping up with their bills at the height of the Russian gas crisis, in one of the most complex Ofgem investigations in its history. Continue reading...

Home affairs minister Tony Burke says listing will stop group from organising and meeting, and may prevent more ‘horrific bigoted rallies’The government has banned neo-nazi group, National Socialist Network, also known as White Australia, as prohibited hate group, under legislation passed in the wake of the Bondi terror attacks.The listing will mean that activities including supporting, funding, training, recruiting and joining the group will constitute a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Contract changes mean Post Office outlets inside TG Jones stores would be easier to close, with up to 60 possibly affectedThe owner of WH Smith’s former high street business is aiming to change contracts with the Post Office to make it easier to close outlets within its stores, increasing fears that communities will become “postal deserts”.TG Jones operates 180 post offices and it is understood that as many as 60 could be closed under a restructuring plan by Modella, the private equity group that renamed the WH Smith high street chain as TG Jones after buying it last year. Continue reading...

News will come as a shock to staff, especially at Cranfield, but the institutions’ bosses say intention is growthThe announcement that King’s College London is to absorb Cranfield University came as a surprise but not a shock to England’s higher education leaders, who have been braced for sudden announcements about job cuts and course closures.But for staff and students at both institutions the news will have come as a shock, particularly at Cranfield, the smaller, highly focused postgraduate technology and management college that has its own airport. Continue reading...

Federal court affirms an August 2024 finding that Tickle was discriminated against on the basis of her gender identity and awards her $20,000Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal court has upheld a landmark decision that found a women-only social media app and its founder unlawfully discriminated against Roxanne Tickle after the transgender woman was denied access to the platform.In their judgment on Friday, 15 May, justices Melissa Perry, Wendy Abraham and Geoffrey Kennett affirmed an August 2024 finding that Tickle was discriminated against on the basis of her gender identity, and also sided with Tickle’s cross-appeal, claiming she experienced two instances of direct discrimination by the Giggle for Girls app and its founder Sall Grover. Continue reading...

Butterfly Conservation poll is open until 7 June with choice of 60 species from small tortoiseshells to purple emperorsWill it be the rapidly disappearing former garden favourite, the small tortoiseshell? Or the poet John Masefield’s “oakwood haunting thing”, the charismatic purple emperor? Or perhaps the brimstone, the ultimate harbinger of spring?The question of which is Britain’s favourite butterfly is being put to a popular vote for the first time. The charity Butterfly Conservation is running the poll, which runs until 7 June, giving people the chance to choose their favourite from the 60 species that fly around Britain every summer. Continue reading...

Redevelopment of the former Department of Lands building on Sydney’s Bridge Street wins National Trust heritage awardIt was once a grand old sandstone masterpiece, where returned soldiers would cram into marble corridors to anxiously await lottery draws that could change their lives.Then the 20th century happened. Continue reading...

Pressure grows on Alcoa over strip-mining of Western Australian jarrah forest, which also threatens Perth’s water supplyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastUS mining company Alcoa’s strip-mining of Western Australia’s jarrah forest is under further investigation after its “deliberate repeat breach” of environmental laws that destroyed habitat for protected species – including black cockatoos, quokkas and numbats – and cost it $40m to avoid prosecution.The ongoing inquiry into Alcoa’s clearing at its Willowdale mine was revealed in talking points for federal ministers prepared ahead of the February announcement of a record $55m settlement for clearing at its Huntly mine. Continue reading...