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Chancellor opens Commons questions with mini statement on Trump's tariffs, saying government will respond in calm, pragmatic mannerHalf of Britons (51%) think the government should impose retaliatory tariffs on imports from the US, according to polling by More in Common, a campaign group. Last week, just before the Trump tariffs were announced, YouGov published figures suggesting 71% of Britons would favour retaliatory tariffs against the US.Yesterday YouGov also released polling suggesting that only around a third of voters think Keir Starmer and the government played a significant role in ensuring the US tariffs imposed on the UK are relatively low. Continue reading...

Rare early work Going to the Mill is to be auctioned after remaining in the Wallace family since 1926When LS Lowry sold one of his earliest paintings to the literary editor of the Manchester Guardian in 1926, he had an immediate change of heart.Arthur Wallace had edited a supplement for the Guardian to accompany a civic week organised by Manchester city council in October 1926, and featured three paintings by the then struggling artist. Continue reading...

Prime minister and Coalition leader go head-to-head in debate hosted by Sky News. Follow live

Tycoon was named in Lords as having obtained injunction against Telegraph to stop publication of misconduct allegationsRetail tycoon Sir Philip Green has lost a legal case against the UK government after complaining about being publicly named in the House of Lords as facing misconduct allegations.The case, which was said to be a test of the concept of parliamentary privilege, was launched after Lord Hain announced in the House of Lords that Green had used the courts to obtain an interim injunction against the Telegraph to stop publication of the allegations during 2018. Continue reading...

Those who lose benefit payments will find it difficult to access care and support services, says Policy in PracticeHundreds of thousands of seriously ill and disabled people will become invisible" and cut adrift from local support services as a result of the government's 5bn programme of disability benefit cuts, experts have warned.Claimants who do not qualify for personal independence payment (Pip) or incapacity benefits would lose a marker of need" with local councils and NHS bodies, making it nearly impossible" for them to access help, said the consultancy Policy in Practice. Continue reading...

Health secretary says chaos caused by fears of a global trade war will be another layer of challenge'US tariffs could adversely affect the supply of medicines to the UK, the health secretary has said.Donald Trump announced a wide range of reciprocal" tariffs on goods imported into the US, including a 10% levy on the UK as well as 20% on the EU, 34% on China and 46% on Vietnam. Continue reading...

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Backbench groups revive controversial issue to tackle threat of Reform and crack down on illegal migrationMore than 40 Labour MPs from three influential backbench groups have called on ministers to introduce digital IDs, which they claim would boost productivity in delivering public services and crack down on illegal employment.The open letter - organised by the Rother Valley MP, Jake Richards - is signed by the co-chairs of the Labour Growth Group, Chris Curtis and Lola McEvoy, as well as Jo White, who convenes the Labour Red Wall Group. Other signatories include Dan Carden and Jonathan Brash, members of the Blue Labour group of socially conservative MPs. Continue reading...

Nathaniel Smith, previously a NSW state MP, is a member of the party's religious conservative faction

Benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closes up more than 2%, representing its biggest one-day gain in more than two years

Tuesday is the first of three days of industrial action being taken by public sector doctors in NSW

Report released as Labour admits it will break promise to enact law by 36th anniversary and rewrites key proposalsBereaved families have urged ministers to introduce the Hillsborough law in full, according to a new report, as Labour admitted a promise to bring legislation by the 36th anniversary would be broken.The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds attended the family listening day" event on 3 February, which the Ministry of Justice funded, organised by the campaign group Inquest. Continue reading...

Campaigners claim NI is being used as a whipping boy' to feed Irish republic's energy-hungry datacentresAn ambitious 350m (300m) plan to connect electricity grids across the island of Ireland is heading for the high court after a challenge brought by campaigners claiming Northern Ireland was being used as a whipping boy" to feed the republic's energy-hungry datacentres.An estimated 150 landowners representing 6,500 residents have called on the Northern Ireland minister for infrastructure, Liz Kimmins, to suspend the construction of more than 100 towering pylons in Armagh and Tyrone until a judicial review, due to start on 9 April, has been completed. Continue reading...

Quilt, made in 1980s to raise awareness, to be shown as US cuts raise fears of Aids resurgence in some countriesA giant quilt made to remember people who died of Aids in Britain is to be publicly displayed later this year at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in London.The UK Aids Memorial Quilt was created in the 1980s at the height of the epidemic to raise awareness of the disease and humanise the people who died from it. By the end of 2011, 20,335 people diagnosed with HIV had died in the UK. Continue reading...

Journalist argues that Justice Michael Lee should have found an intentional rape' had taken place

Exclusive: Opposition leader has opened the doors' to abolishing the department of education and cutting funding to schools, Jason Clare claims

Cars and other goods were to be included, according to EU trade commissioner, who says offer is still on tableThe EU has said it offered the US a zero-for-zero" tariff deal on cars and industrial goods weeks before Donald Trump launched his trade war, but that it would not wait endlessly" to defend itself.Maros efovi, the EU commissioner for trade, said he had proposed zero tariffs on cars and a range of industrial goods, such as pharmaceutical products, rubber and machinery, during his first meeting with the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, on 19 February. Continue reading...

Michelle de Kretser and journalist Amy McQuire among six authors in contention for $60,000 prize for women and non-binary writers

Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbaek, now in Guatemala, had racked up large tax debt at Stedsans forest retreatA Danish chef couple who attracted international acclaim with a forest resort" in Sweden have been tracked down to Guatemala after apparently going on the run from tax authorities, leaving behind 158 barrels of human waste.Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbaek founded their purportedly eco-friendly retreat, Stedsans, in Halland, southern Sweden, after claiming to have felt the call of the wild" in Copenhagen, where they ran a popular rooftop restaurant. Continue reading...

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, founding members of the new wave hitmakers, pay tribute to their late bandmateClem Burke, the drummer whose backbeats powered Blondie to huge chart success across several decades, has died aged 70.Burke's bandmates Debbie Harry and Chris Stein said he had died after a private battle with cancer", in a tribute posted to Instagram. Continue reading...

Ministers and more than 70 MPs attended photo call with Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed whose travel ban was called unacceptableCabinet ministers and more than 70 parliamentarians staged a show of solidarity with two MPs who were detained and barred from entry to Israel in what was the first time British MPs had been banned from the country.The health secretary, Wes Streeting, and the chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, joined the photocall in Westminster Hall on Monday with the MPs, along with Hamish Falconer and housing minister Rushanara Ali. It was organised by the Rochdale MP Paul Waugh. Continue reading...

Prime minister says no one is pretending tariffs are good news' during speech on car industryIn his Times article Keir Starmer describes the Trump tariffs as the beginning of a new era". He has been saying this at least since last Thursday, when he spoke about the tariffs at a Q&A with journalists at Labour's local elections campaign launch. The speech this afternoon is being described as the PM's most considered response so far to the global economic turmoil generated by the tariffs, but we have already heard quite a lot from Starmer on this topic already, in a Sunday Telegraph article yesterday and in No 10 briefings on the calls he had with world leaders about the situation over the weekend.Is there a coherent strategy? On the basis of what he has said so far, there are at least five elements in the mix at the moment.John Ryan is a local hero and we are truly humbled that he has publicly endorsed Reform UK ahead of May's elections in Doncaster. Continue reading...

PRCS calls for international investigation after postmortem results add to evidence contradicting Israel's accountAutopsies conducted on 15 Palestinian paramedics and civil emergency responders who were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza show they were shot in the upper body with intent to kill", according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, which is demanding an international investigation into the attack.The killings took place in the southern Gaza Strip on 23 March, days into a renewed Israeli offensive in the Hamas-ruled territory, and sparked international condemnation. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Richard Harpin pauses donations in move insiders say will result in closure of party's northern HQ UK politics live - latest updatesOne of the Conservatives' biggest donors has stopped funding the party in a move insiders believe will result in the closure of its northern HQ, the Guardian can reveal.Richard Harpin, the founder of the home repairs business HomeServe, has ended his donations to the Conservatives, according to two Tory sources. Continue reading...

Park service deletes quote and an image of abolitionist from webpage, instead emphasizing Black/White cooperation'The National Park Service has removed a quote and an image of US abolitionist Harriet Tubman from a webpage about the Underground Railroad network that helped enslaved people escape captivity - and instead, the page now emphasizes what it describes as Black/White Cooperation" as Donald Trump's presidential administration continues its effort to sanitize the country's history.Previously, the page in question led with a quote from Tubman, who was the most renowned Underground Railroad operative, along with a prominent image of her. However, the revised page no longer includes these elements, and several references to enslaved people and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 which Tubman as well as the Underground Railroad defied have also been removed. Continue reading...

Barbados PM and Caricom chair calls on Washington to engage in talks to keep prices down for all of our people'The Caribbean is a friend, not an enemy, leaders in the region have told Donald Trump after the US president's imposition of worldwide import tariffs.The prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, invited Trump to talk with leaders in the region and work together to keep prices down for all of our people", adding: I say simply to President Trump: our economies are not doing your economy any harm in any way. They are too small to have any negative or distorted impact on your country." Continue reading...

Ashley Daniels accused of giving more work to engineering firm after gifts that also included 2,000 boxing ticketsA senior manager at the Hinkley nuclear power plant accepted bribes such as an 11,000 quad bike to funnel extra work to a British engineering firm, an employment tribunal has heard.Ashley Daniels was investigated by Hinkley's owner, EDF, after he was given gifts such as 2,000 hospitality tickets for a boxing match and a refill for his Montblanc fountain pen, the tribunal in Bristol heard. Continue reading...

South Wales officer was driving van that followed Harvey Evans, 15, and Kyrees Sullivan, 16, in May 2023A police officer who was driving a van that followed two teenage boys before they died in an e-bike crash in Cardiff, triggering hours of disorder in the city, will not face charges, prosecutors have said.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had decided not to bring criminal charges against the South Wales police officer following the deaths of Harvey Evans, 15, and Kyrees Sullivan, 16, in Ely, Cardiff, on 22 May 2023. Continue reading...

15 medics and rescuers killed last month in Gaza were shot in upper body with intent to kill', says president of Palestinian Red Crescent SocietyRussia, China and Iran will hold consultations at expert level on the Iranian nuclear programme in Moscow on Tuesday, Russian's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has been cited as saying.Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran unless it comes to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear programme, and the Kremlin said earlier today that Russia was ready to do all it could to help resolve tensions between the Washington and Tehran.Macron said he strongly opposed any displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. We are firmly opposed to the displacement of populations and to any annexation of both Gaza and the West Bank," Macron told journalists. This would be a violation of international law and a serious threat to the security of the entire region, including Israel," he said.Macron said Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007, should have no part in governing the strip after the war and reiterated his support for a reconstruction plan for the territory endorsed by the Arab League. I salute here the crucial work of Egypt on this plan, which offers a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and should also pave the way for new Palestinian governance in the enclave led by the Palestinian Authority," he said. Hamas must have no role in this governance, and must no longer constitute a threat to Israel." Continue reading...

Asylum seekers detained at Manston in Kent say they were kept in unsanitary tents during infectious disease outbreakAt least 250 people who were detained at Manston asylum centre during a period when it was dangerously overcrowded and grappling with outbreaks of infectious diseases are suing the government for unlawful detention and other breaches of their rights.They include a woman who had a miscarriage, a child whose age was recorded as five years older than he was, classifying him as an adult, and a teenager who was a victim of torture and trafficking. Continue reading...

Relatives of Agnes Wanjiru say 13-year fight for justice has taken heavy toll' after meeting with John HealeyThe family of a Kenyan woman who was allegedly killed by British soldiers have said their 13-year fight for justice has taken a heavy toll", and that they have been offered too many empty promises" after a meeting with the defence secretary.Agnes Wanjiru was 21 when she disappeared in March 2012. She was last seen in the company of British soldiers in a bar in a hotel in Nanyuki, a town in eastern Kenya where the British army has a military base, BATUK. Continue reading...

Top employment lawyer issues warning after large US companies roll back policies amid Trump push

Average price fell by 0.5% in March to 296,699, the steepest decline since March last year, Halifax says

Analysis suggests prioritising projects that give quick local results may hold back support for populismAreas that received money from the last government's much-criticised levelling up fund tended to have lower votes for Reform UK in the general election, a study has found, indicating that projects delivering quick results may hold back support for populism.The study by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) thinktank, billed as the first to examine a mass of data factors linked to support for Reform at the level of individual seats, identified a series of factors likely to make voters more likely to back Nigel Farage's party. Continue reading...

London gallery's competition marks 200th anniversary and opening of Sainsbury Wing after two-year overhaulAs far as sleepovers go, it's a one of a kind: an overnight stay in a luxury bed in the middle of the National Gallery's exhibition rooms, dreaming under the world's greatest paintings.Perhaps you'll be inspired by the venerated artworks to pick up a paintbrush, or you'll have a surreal experience like Ben Stiller in Night at the Museum, whose character - a night security guard - finds its exhibits come to life after sunset. You could even unearth a long-buried conspiracy, and find your discoveries adorning the pages of the next Dan Brown novel. Continue reading...

Hospital waiting lists among worst in UK and children with special needs waiting a year for support, report findsNorthern Ireland's public services, including hospitals, schools and police, are being crippled" by lack of funding, impinging on the quality of life for many people, a report by a government committee has concluded.The Northern Ireland select committee found patients waiting more than 12 hours to be seen in accident and emergency departments and mental health needs 40% greater than anywhere else in the UK. Hospital waiting lists are among the worst in the country. Continue reading...

Benchmark S&P/ASX 200 sank 6% within minutes - back to levels not seen since late 2023 - before early losses were trimmed to be down 4% by midday

NSW parliamentary inquiry hears extraordinary' revelation that motivation of overseas mastermind was kept secret due to non-disclosure agreement

Scottish government holds emergency meeting to coordinate response after blaze reaches Loch DoonEmergency services were on Sunday continuing to battle a wildfire that started in Galloway in the south of Scotland, and has spread north into East Ayrshire, forcing the evacuation of walkers and wild campers.The blaze started in the Newton Stewart area on Thursday, then spread northwards over the weekend after a change in wind direction to reach Loch Doon. Continue reading...

About 57,000 people participated in the Aussie Bird Count, with the lorikeet joining the noisy miner and magpie in the top three spots

Her introduction to politics began as the child of the chair of Birmingham Labour party and as justice secretary she's made tough decisions from day oneShabana Mahmood's potential as a future cabinet minister was first noticed by the former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson in the 90s over tea and samosas at her family's end-of-terrace Birmingham home.Watson, a seasoned fixer, had become a close friend of her father, Mahmood Ahmed, the chair of Birmingham Labour party. When political problems arose, Watson and fellow Labour party organisers would be guided through to comfy sofas in the family sitting room. Continue reading...

Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, killed alongside two other teenagers in West Bank town as settler violence escalatesA Palestinian teenager with US citizenship was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, Palestinian officials said on Sunday, with the Israeli military saying it shot a terrorist" who was allegedly endangering civilians by hurling rocks.The incident is the latest in a surge of violence and near-daily confrontations in the volatile West Bank, where settler violence and clashes between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians have kept it on edge. Continue reading...

Actor, who won an Olivier for Oedipus, says her bugbear' is that venues outside London do not get enough money

Far-right leader tells supporters she is victim of witch-hunt', while radical left says RN's mask has slipped What is Marine Le Pen guilty of in National Rally embezzlement case?The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has told supporters in Paris she would fight a political, not a judicial ruling" that could bar her from the next presidential election, as a rival rally denounced an existential threat" to the rule of law after her conviction for embezzling public funds.This decision has trampled on everything I hold most dear: my people, my country and my honour," the figurehead of National Rally (RN) told a crowd of flag-waving supporters as the country's three main political movements staged events in the Paris. Continue reading...

Lawsuit would be first of its kind against police officers, police chiefs and government departmentsMore than 100 relatives of people who have died after contact with the police in the UK since 1971 have joined plans for a class action lawsuit in pursuit of compensation and justice.The plan for group legal action was announced at the People's Tribunal on Police Killings, a two-day event in which bereaved families presented evidence to a panel of international experts on how their relatives died and the long-term impact this has had on them. Continue reading...

Phone footage contradicts IDF claims vehicles were not using emergency lights when troops opened fireIsrael's military has backtracked on its account of the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in Gaza last month after footage contradicted its claims that their vehicles did not have emergency signals on when Israeli troops opened fire.

Defence officials believe Trident nuclear fleet is latest target in Putin's greyzone' war with the UKBritain is behind the curve" in tracking Russia's deep-sea operations, an ex-minister has said, after spy sensors targeting Royal Navy submarines were found in waters around the UK.Tobias Ellwood, a former defence and Foreign Office minister, called for a huge expansion of the navy's surveillance capability after it was revealed that a number of Kremlin spy devices had been seized by the military. Continue reading...

Move comes after Keir Starmer tells cabinet to stop outsourcing' decisions to regulators

Pontiff makes first public appearance in the Vatican since his release from hospital two weeks agoPope Francis has made a surprise appearance in St Peter's Square during a special jubilee mass for the sick and health workers, marking his first public appearance at the Vatican since his discharge from hospital two weeks ago.The pontiff waved at the crowd that stood and applauded as he was appeared unannounced, assisted in a wheelchair to the front of the altar in the square. Continue reading...