Our fragmented political model will endure for the foreseeable future – and Reform will benefit from it until Burnham learns that cooperation is key As I wrote last week , whatever its current troubles, Reform UK has hardly disappeared. Meanwhile, those black-clad quasi-paramilitaries may well be another augury of a frightening immediate future. One more English settlement – the town of Barnham, in Norfolk – is seemingly poised to stage a pretend independence referendum in protest at plans to locally accommodate asylum seekers. Oh, and our new Labour prime minister has just held cordial talks with a US president who has not only brought a modern de facto fascism to his homeland, but wants to export it to Europe . But hold all those cheerful thoughts for a moment, and let us have a look at the Labour party as it gathers in Liverpool. The slogan plastered all over its conference is “ Hope Again ” – which, unlike last year’s dreadful “Renew Britain”, suggests that a few people at the top might have belatedly learned the basics of pithy political storytelling. John Harris is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Decision to allow development of 190 new homes in north Somerset sparks campaign for change in the law Houses can be built on floodplains even if they fail a crucial safety test, according to a high court judgment that will be of “immense interest” to developers across England and Wales. The ruling clears the way for a highly controversial development of 190 new homes on north Somerset’s floodplains, despite the site being in “flood zone 3a”, the highest level of flood risk before land is considered a functional floodplain. Continue reading...

People evacuated from village after men are arrested on suspicion of explosives offences near Gloucestershire airbase used by US forces Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation in which several men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences near an RAF base used in American attacks against Iran. After the declaration of a major incident at RAF Fairford, a bomb squad was sent to the village of Whelford and extra security measures were put in place, including the fortification of entrances to the base. Roadblocks and armed police have been seen in the area over the weekend. Continue reading...

The former PM has been consulted by many who came after him – but Burnham might want to shake his New Labour past once and for all Tony Blair can, apparently, sound slightly wistful when he describes how he once had a cloak-and-dagger meeting with Andy Burnham, who wanted to talk to him about standing for the party leadership. Before anyone gets too excited, however, this wasn’t in the past few months, during which Burnham succeeded in landing the job. The story dates back to 2010. That was when he was a callow member of Gordon Brown’s cabinet and understandably wary of his boss discovering not only his ambition to take over if Labour lost the looming general election, but also from whom he wanted advice. Much has changed since then, not least Burnham himself. His journey out of Westminster and back again – which in his telling has become an almost spiritual pilgrimage of personal redemption – enabled him to shed the New Labour baggage that proved so cumbersome during his previous, and unsuccessful, runs for the leadership. In common with Brown, Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer – all of whom tried with varying degrees of success to distance themselves from Blair – Labour’s latest leader now also wants to keep Blair at arm’s length, and certainly far away from his party conference in Liverpool this week. Tom Baldwin is a former assistant editor of the Times and a former senior adviser to the Labour party. He is the author of Keir Starmer: The Biography Continue reading...

Surging energy bills, higher borrowing costs and rising inflation have left the PM and his chancellor in a fiscal bind As Labour heads to Liverpool this week, Andy Burnham has promised to deliver “stability” in the public finances; but the economic backdrop is anything but stable. The longer the US-Israeli war on Iran persists, the more likely it is that UK consumers will have to swallow higher mortgage rates and energy bills – just as the government is wrestling with its own surging borrowing costs. Continue reading...

Villagers have been evacuated from their homes near RAF Fairford after a major incident was declared

Residents have been given a reminder about presenting their bins properly

PM says he will put proposals for NHS-style service funded by everybody into Labour’s next general election manifesto UK politics live – latest updates Andy Burnham has said that he is going to “rip the plaster off” to fix the broken social care system, as he set out a vision for a universal service that would be free at the point of use for everybody in England. The prime minister said the new NHS-style social care service would be funded by “everybody” but did not give further details of how his radical long-term plan would be paid for. Continue reading...