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Labour's Andy Burnham, the current mayor of Greater Manchester, has won a special election for a seat in Parliament that puts him in a position to challenge embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Burnham won the seat of Makerfield in northwest England over Rob Kenyon of the anti-immigration party Reform UK. The victory announced Friday cements the status of Burnham as the leading contender to replace Starmer as leader of the Labour Party and the country. Burnham has pledged that "if people put their trust in me, I will change politics" - a big promise for a politician who is just one of 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons. He said he would take the fight for change "as high as I can possibly take it." Starmer's popularity has cratered since he led the centre-left Labour Party to a landslide election victory in July 2024. He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps, ...
Efforts to unseat British Prime Minister Keir Starmer from within his party broke into open rebellion Thursday, with one potential rival resigning from the Cabinet and two others positioning themselves for a future leadership challenge. Health Secretary Wes Streeting became the first senior minister to quit Thursday in what was seen as a precursor to challenging Starmer's leadership. He said he had lost confidence in Starmer, who should not serve out the rest of his term. "You have shown courage and statesmanship on the world stage - not least in keeping Britain out of the war in Iran," Streeting wrote in an excoriating resignation letter. "But where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift." But Streeting stopped short of saying he was the best candidate to lead the party at the next election due by 2029, suggesting Starmer should step aside to allow a "broad" field of candidates to debate the future of the party. Starmer is under growing pressure t
Peter Mandelson, theUK's formerambassador to the US,wasarrestedfrom his north London home on Monday onsuspicion of misconduct in public office, the Metropolitan Police said. Mandelson hadresigned from the House of Lords andLabour Party earlier this month following damaging allegations related to his association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Met Police had confirmed soon after that the force had opened aninvestigation into the former frontlineLabour politician, who served in the Cabinet underprimeministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. "Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office,"said a Met Police spokesperson. "He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station forinterview.This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas. "We are not able to provide further information at this stage to preventprejudicing the integrity of the investigation," ..
UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy on Friday emphasised the importance of having a safe, inclusive and equitable artificial intelligence available for everyone. Speaking at a session at the AI Impact Summit in the national capital, Lammy said that the world faces two parts with respect to Artificial Intelligence (AI). The choices the world faces are two paths -- one which sees AI take power and opportunity away from people and "sadly divides us"; and another one that sees AI used as a force for good to solve problems and uplift all of humanity, he said. The session was on 'Speaking Everyone's Language: The Key to Inclusive Al Opportunity' Lammy also mentioned certain projects related to AI, including the Asia AI Development Observatory that would be a new network to support responsible AI governance and other aspects. These projects as well as many new institutions and coalitions that are now emerging can help make sure that "we go down the right path. That is a path of a safe
The UK's focus during the AI Impact Summit set to start in New Delhi on Monday will be on championing how artificial intelligence can supercharge growth, unlock new jobs, improve public services and deliver benefits for people around the globe, the British government has said. The UK delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and AI Minister Kanishka Narayan, is keen to highlight how AI can improve everyday life in every corner of the world and make the case for AI as an engine of renewal that can help doctors diagnose faster, teachers personalise learning, councils deliver services in minutes and businesses create the next generation of good jobs. "This summit is an important moment in determining how we can work together with our international partners to unlock the full benefits and potential of AI, while baking in robust and fair safety standards that protect us all," said Lammy, in a pre-summit statement. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) sa
The UK government has highlighted its first mover advantage by signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with a rapidly growing Indian economy ahead of the European Union (EU), which it claimed had used Britain's deal as a "baseline". During a House of Commons debate on the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) earlier this week, the Opposition Conservatives insisted the deal with "one of the largest economies on the planet, which is growing approximately five times faster than the European Union" could have been better. "British businesses needed something with a really good kick in it to get this country growing. Instead of a vindaloo of a deal, the Prime Minister came back with a bag of soggy poppadoms," said Andrew Griffith, shadow business and trade secretary. Chris Bryant, minister of state in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), responded on behalf of the Labour government to stress that CETA was a "momentous achievement" which goes "well beyond India'