Why Labour can’t kick Whitehall’s consultancy habit September 9, 2026 Since coming to power, Labour has been vocal about cutting spending on external consultants to save taxpayers money. However, data suggests it has actually moved in the opposite direction, as the private sector shows it is a necessity and not a luxury, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. The pledge to cut back on external consultants was first [...]
Reform’s funding scandal is scaring away the very voters it should be appealing to September 9, 2026 A row over unlawful donations to Reform UK is getting extraordinary cut-through with voters, and it’s former Conservatives, the very people Farage is best placed to win over, who are most sceptical, says Matthew Lesh Reform’s jamboree in Birmingham last week had a weird feel. Thousands of party faithful trampled across the hundreds of square [...]
Will Westminster learn the right lessons from Scotland’s education disaster? September 9, 2026 When experiments are run in public policy, evidence can be collected and the policies can be reviewed, scored and either rolled out, tweaked or abandoned. Not every area of policy lends itself to evidence-based analysis, but sometimes it’s clear-cut. We can see, for example, whether tax revenues rise or fall in response to fiscal reforms. [...]
Nandy absence called out as MPs urge greater use of sport as soft power September 9, 2026 The government must do more to use sport and the wider culture sector to maximise global soft power, according to an influential MP. Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, has criticised the government for staging its Soft Power Council only four times, with the department’s Secretary of State Lisa [...]
Donations row ‘reflects problem in Reform UK’, voters say September 9, 2026 The donations row that engulfed Reform UK last week “reflects a real problem” with the party, the majority of voters believe. Nearly two-thirds of people believe the allegations surrounding top Reform figures show there is a problem with the way the party is run and deals with its finances, City AM/Freshwater Strategy polling has revealed. [...]
Trade sanctions on Israeli settlements attacked as ‘performative’ September 8, 2026 Trade sanctions imposed by Andy Burnham’s government on Israeli settlements in the West Bank are “performative” and could put the UK’s international standing at threat, shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat has said. On Tuesday, Ed Miliband announced the government would impose sanctions on companies and individuals who finance or help create settlements in Palestinian land, [...]
How the NHS backlog fuelled a private equity gold rush in UK health market September 8, 2026 Private equity firms are circling the UK’s healthcare market as NHS backlogs push a wave of patients towards private providers, experts have said. Britain’s biggest private hospital operator, Spire Healthcare, which operates 38 private hospitals, on Sunday agreed to a £1bn takeover by Toscafund Asset Management. Earlier this year, private healthcare property firm Assura agreed [...]
Healey wants to focus on the future but business is haunted by past mistakes September 8, 2026 John Healey has a reassuring voice. If he revealed dry rot in your house or rang to tell you of suspicious activity on your account, you’d feel oddly calm about it. He’s not a gifted public speaker, but there is an ease and a glimmer of warmth that stands in stark contrast to the earnest [...]
Labour takes narrow lead over Reform as donation row wounds Farage September 8, 2026 Labour has taken a narrow polling lead over Reform UK for the first time in a year and a half as voters warmed to Andy Burnham in September. The latest City AM/Freshwater Strategy poll has shown that Labour now enjoys 26 per cent of the voter share, ahead of Reform UK, which is on 25 [...]
Can John Healey deliver the growth the UK needs? September 7, 2026 The Chancellor John Healey says growth will provide the “pathway out of indebtedness and into prosperity”. But the path is a difficult one to tread, write Mauricio Alencar. When it was announced that John Healey would be delivering a speech in Coventry, it was assumed that he would be visiting Jaguar Land Rovers’s headquarters with [...]