Category: News Story

STORY

Oldham Council could face additional costs if councillors are unable to resolve a political stalemate over who should run the authority following the 2026 local elections.

Local democracy reporting has suggested that previous cases involving divided councils point to potential legal costs and commissioner fees if a deadlock cannot be broken. The situation in Oldham follows Labour losing eight seats, with Reform UK becoming the second largest group, two councillors behind Labour on 16 seats.

The dispute has placed the council’s governance arrangements under pressure at the start of the municipal year. The issue is likely to increase scrutiny of whether parties can reach a working agreement or whether the authority risks a more prolonged period of instability.

STORY

A third member of Bedford Borough Council’s executive cabinet has resigned in a week, with Councillor Sarah Gallagher saying she could no longer serve in an executive where she believed “unethical and corrupt behaviour” was being tolerated.

Gallagher, Conservative councillor for Shortstown and former portfolio holder for customer experience, leisure and culture, criticised the way informal cabinet meetings were being used. In her resignation letter to Mayor Tom Wootton, she claimed decisions were sometimes made and later changed without all cabinet members knowing.

The resignation follows the departures of Councillor Robert Rigby and Councillor Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant from the cabinet earlier this month. Gallagher said it had been a real honour to work for residents and highlighted improvements to leisure centres and the appointment of GLL as achievements during her time in the role.

STORY

North Yorkshire Council has brought in financial investigators to examine its loss-making housing company Brierley Homes, after councillors were told that the company had appointed Veritau to review decisions made over recent years.

The council’s executive committee heard that Brierley Homes had reported a £7.5 million loss for 2025/26, despite earlier forecasts suggesting a profit of around £700,000. The poor performance has been attributed to lower than expected income from sales, increased costs, delays in completing homes and higher overheads and interest costs.

Councillor Mark Crane, the executive member for open to business, told councillors that the authority was keeping a close eye on the company and said the appointment of a new managing director was a positive step. He added that Veritau would report back to the shareholder board and the executive with any recommendations or findings.

STORY

The Government has opened a competition for an organisation, or group of organisations, to design and deliver a national Muslim War Memorial. The project will receive up to £970,000 and is intended to create a permanent tribute to the contribution made by hundreds of thousands of Muslim soldiers who served alongside Britain and its allies in the First and Second World Wars.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the memorial would recognise those who travelled from across the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent to support the war effort. Although there are an estimated 70,000 war memorials across the UK, the Government said this would be the first prominent national tribute specifically dedicated to Muslim soldiers who fought and died for Britain.

Nesil Caliskan, the Minister for Faith and Communities, said the contribution of Muslim soldiers had been “in the shadows for too long” and that the memorial would help preserve their role in national memory. The successful applicant will also be expected to use the project to support education, public awareness and interfaith dialogue, with applications opening on 10 June and closing on 21 July 2026.

STORY

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has published a report on policing and security in Northern Ireland, warning that political and civic support for policing has not been consistent across all communities. The report says support for policing should not come at the expense of accountability or scrutiny, but remains central to recruitment, effective policing, peace and prosperity.

The Committee’s work covers PSNI funding, workforce pressures, the security situation and the relationship between policing and national security. It notes that national security matters remain reserved to the UK Government and Parliament, with formal arrangements for discussions between the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Justice Minister.

The report comes in the 25th anniversary year of the PSNI and argues that this should be used to reinvigorate support for policing and recruitment. Its conclusions point to the continuing sensitivity of policing in Northern Ireland, where security, community confidence and political leadership remain closely connected.

STORY

The Treasury Committee has received more than 52,000 responses to its public survey on student loans and the taxation of graduates. MPs said it was one of the highest response rates ever recorded for a select committee inquiry.

Of the 49,357 respondents who had taken out student loans, 40,373 said the financial impact of repayments combined with taxation was worse than expected. A further 45,843 said they did not think the level of interest and repayment terms were reasonable, while 34,555 said repayments had materially affected their future financial planning.

The Committee stressed that the responses came from a self-selecting group and should not be treated as a representative sample of the whole population. The evidence will nevertheless inform its inquiry into student loans, interest rates, repayment terms and the wider interaction between graduate repayments and the tax system.

STORY

Jess Phillips has said she threatened to resign several times over the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. The former safeguarding minister said she had been “hurt and upset” by the original appointment, before Mandelson was later dismissed over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Phillips said she used the situation to press for commitments on violence against women and girls, saying she made demands in order to stay in Government. She resigned earlier this month with a letter criticising Sir Keir Starmer for failing to be bold and for allowing opportunities for progress to stall.

The intervention adds to pressure on the Prime Minister from within Labour, particularly on questions of judgement and political direction. It also keeps the Mandelson row alive at a sensitive moment for Downing Street, with former ministers and backbenchers increasingly willing to speak publicly about their concerns.

STORY

Reform UK is facing criticism after analysis of its civil service reduction plan suggested that some proposed job cuts exceed the number of people employed in the relevant roles. The party’s Storm and Sunshine policy paper proposes a 13% reduction in civil service headcount and says this would save more than £5 billion a year.

The plan includes cutting 450 planning roles, although civil service statistics show 445 planners are employed across the civil service in Britain. It also proposes reducing occupational psychology roles by 930, despite many of those staff working in prisons and probation, and cutting 2,500 security posts without specifying which departments would be affected.

The Conservatives accused Reform of producing unrealistic policies that would risk damaging security, prison welfare and planning capacity. Reform said its figures included planning inspectors and defended the proposals, but the row underlines the growing scrutiny being applied to the party’s programme as it seeks to present itself as a Government-in-waiting.

STORY

Major British retailers have urged ministers to move more quickly to close a tax loophole they say gives overseas online platforms an unfair advantage. Companies including Next, Marks & Spencer, Primark, Argos, ASOS, Kingfisher and Currys have called for a £2.60 customs duty on low-value parcels from overseas.

The retailers argue that ultra-low-cost platforms such as Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Amazon Haul benefit from rules that allow parcels worth less than £135 to avoid customs duties. The Government has said it intends to begin charging duties on such parcels from March 2029 at the latest and has launched a consultation.

In a letter to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, the retailers said ministers needed to speed up the process to restore fair competition. The issue is likely to add to wider political debate about the future of high streets, consumer prices, Chinese e-commerce and the balance between cheaper goods and domestic retail jobs.

STORY

The head of GCHQ is expected to warn that Russia is carrying out “relentless” cyber activity against the UK and Europe. Anne Keast-Butler will use the agency’s inaugural annual lecture to say that critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust are being targeted.

She is expected to argue that businesses, public bodies and households all need to treat cyber security with greater urgency. Her remarks will also point to the role of GCHQ and the National Cyber Security Centre in disrupting Russian activity, countering sabotage and defending against hostile state-backed cyber attacks.

The warning comes at a time of heightened concern about hybrid threats, including cyber attacks, disinformation and attempts to undermine democratic systems. It also reinforces the Government’s argument that national security now extends well beyond conventional defence and requires cooperation between the state, industry and the public.