Deputy PM to unveil AI labs to drag legal sector out of ‘analogue’ age Legal The UK government is launching a new AI growth project aimed squarely at dragging the UK’s billion-pound legal sector out of its “analogue” age. Ahead of London Tech Week, City AM can reveal that Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy will unveil ‘AI growth labs’, a regulatory safe space designed to cut through bureaucratic red tape [...]
Defence spending plan delay undermines UK credibility, MPs say Politics The delay in publishing Keir Starmer’s long-awaited plan on defence spending has undermined the UK’s credibility and left the country less safe, a parliamentary committee has warned. In a new report critisising the long delay in publishing Starmer’s Defence Investment Plan (DIP), the Public Accounts Committee said this “has undermined the UK government’s credibility with [...]
Family-owned Tottenham brewer falls into administration as industry pressures mount Hospitality A beloved family-owned Tottenham brewery that was a key player in London’s craft beer renaissance has fallen into administration amidst mounting cost pressures on the industry. Redemption Brewing Company, which was the first commercial brewery to open in Tottenham in nearly 100 years, is officially listed on the formal register of new insolvency appointments as [...]
David Lammy rejects higher pay rise for judges amid recruitment crisis May 26, 2026 David Lammy turned down an independent recommendation for a higher judicial pay increase, instead approving a 3.5 per cent rise amid government efforts to tackle recruitment challenges for senior judges. The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) report, published last week, recommended a 3.8 per cent pay increase across the judiciary, estimated to cost taxpayers around [...]
Peer pressure: Starmer admits former aide was considered for diplomatic role April 22, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that he considered appointing Lord Matthew Doyle for an ambassadorial role without the foreign secretary knowing, amid growing questions over the Prime Minister’s judgment in key decisions. The Prime Minister appeared to accept that Doyle, who recently had the Labour whip removed following revelations about his relationship with a sex [...]
Starmer would have blocked Mandelson ambassador role, says Lammy April 19, 2026 Keir Starmer would have stopped Lord Mandelson becoming UK ambassador to the US if he had known about security concerns, deputy prime minister David Lammy has said, as the political fallout intensifies. Speaking to the Guardian, Lammy said the prime minister would “never, ever” have approved the appointment had he been aware Mandelson failed the [...]
‘Cure worse than the disease’: Starmer’s mentor lambasts plan to scrap juries April 14, 2026 The proposal to scrap jury trials is “a cure worse than the disease”, according to the founding head of the Chambers where Sir Keir Starmer once practised. David Lammy’s controversial Courts and Tribunals Bill aims to reduce Crown Court backlogs by approximately halving the number of jury trials. The Bill, if passed, will create a [...]
Law Society slams Labour’s ‘crude’ stealth tax on legal clients February 10, 2026 The Law Society issued a blistering response to the government’s proposal to take the interest law firms earn on money sitting in their client accounts, branding it a “fundamentally flawed” sector-specific tax that threatens the stability of the wider UK legal economy. Last month, the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation on a proposal to [...]
Lib Dems: Starmer has gone ‘cap in hand’ to China despite spy threats January 28, 2026 Keir Starmer has been accused of going “cap in hand” to China, piling further criticism on the government’s trade ambitions with a country that has backed hacking operations against the UK. Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper demanded deputy prime minister David Lammy, who stood in for Starmer at PMQs, to name a “single consequence” [...]
Legal accounts controversy: Who should fund the broken justice system? January 22, 2026 First, the government tried to go after the LLPs, but that failed. Now its eyes are on law firms’ client accounts under the narrative that it will be used to help the crumbling justice system, but lawyers are seeing it as just another tax raid. Law firms earn substantial income from interest on client accounts, [...]