Brown’s allies could wreck Labour’s 2005 election hopes, Mandelson warned

Peter Mandelson warned Tony Blair not to allow Gordon Brown’s supporters to wreck Labour’s 2005 general election campaign from within, according to newly released government files.Relations between Blair and his chancellor were strained in the autumn of 2004 as Labour prepared to try for a third successive election victory. Brown and his allies believed the prime minister had reneged on a promise to step down towards the end of Labour’s second term to allow him to take over.In one file released to the National Archives in Kew, west London, the now Lord Mandelson warned Blair that such tensions would need to be carefully managed during the election campaign.Before leaving for Brussels to take up the post of Britain’s EU commissioner, the former cabinet minister said one of the challenges would be “agreeing where GB’s people can be included without giving them a veto or scope for insider demolition”

Third of Reform UK’s council leaders have expressed vaccine-sceptic views

A third of Reform UK’s council leaders across the country have expressed vaccine-sceptic views, openly questioning public health measures that keep millions safe.The leaders of four of the 12 councils where Reform is in charge or the largest party – Kent, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Durham – are among those in the party who have publicly criticised vaccinations.The health minister Zubir Ahmed, an NHS transplant and vascular surgeon, described their remarks as “dangerous and utterly irresponsible”, saying that politicians who cast doubt on vaccines risked exposing children and vulnerable people to harm.It comes after a controversial doctor, the cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, used his main-stage speech at Reform’s conference in September to air a claim that the Covid vaccine had caused cancer in the royal family, which drew immediate condemnation.Malhotra, a senior adviser to the vaccine-sceptic US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy, has long been publicly hesitant about Covid vaccines, claiming they pose a greater threat than the virus itself – a view debunked repeatedly by factcheckers

A defence of Labour was overdue, but Keir Starmer needs to listen to his opponents | Letters

Yes, Polly Toynbee, the Labour government has managed some worthwhile achievements, but its route to those achievements has been convoluted to the point of obtuseness (Let me tell you the good things the government has done in 2025 – because it certainly won’t, 22 December). Keir Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin has noted that Starmer is an iterative problem solver who gets the right solution, eventually.There are three problems with this approach; most importantly, when his starting point is too distant from the right solution he wastes time that could be better put to increase the number of successful achievements; second, he ends up looking weak to parliamentary opposition and the electorate because he’s reversed his position so often; and lastly, he causes anger, frustration and resentment within his own party.In short, Starmer should listen seriously to his opponents in his own party. When his initial instinct is to instead suppress opposition, it is no wonder that it takes him so long to work out when he is in the wrong

Trade unions leader calls on Labour to forge closer relationship with Europe

Keir Starmer should seek out a far closer relationship with Europe, including a possible customs union, the head of the TUC has said.Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said the British public recognised the need for a vastly improved trading arrangement and said it had become more urgent than ever because of the fickle nature of the relationship with Donald Trump’s United States.In an interview with the Guardian, Nowak said Starmer must relentlessly focus on the cost of living to improve Labour’s standing in the polls, saying it was little surprise there was leadership chatter when the party was doing so badly.But he warned would-be challengers they would “not be thanked” by the public for distracting the government from its core focus on the economy.He also cautioned Starmer and the home secretary Shabana Mahmood not to be “Nigel Farage-lite” when it came to the migration crackdown, saying trade unions were worried about reforms to indefinite leave to remain

UK ministers urged to cap political donations to ‘rebuild voter confidence’

Ministers should legislate to cap political donations to “rebuild voter confidence” in democracy, campaigners have said before the introduction of a landmark elections bill.The government is being urged to show more ambition as it prepares to publish legislation early next year that will extend the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds.In a letter sent this week to Steve Reed, the communities secretary, and Samantha Dixon, the democracy minister, 19 civil organisations said “a donations cap is the best way to protect our democracy and to rebuild voter confidence in the system”.Its signatories include the Electoral Reform Society, Transparency International UK, Hope not Hate and the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition.The call comes weeks after Nigel Farage’s Reform UK declared it had received £9m from the Thailand-based crypto investor Christopher Harborne, the largest donation made by a living person to a British political party

Outdated furniture fire safety rules putting people at risk, MP warns

The UK is still using extremely outdated furniture fire safety rules, putting people at risk from toxic materials, an MP has warned.Bob Blackman, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on fire safety, said the government has failed to update rules that date back to 1988, leaving millions of households exposed to materials that exacerbate the release of dangerous fumes when they burn.“We have been lobbying ministers for years, yet there is still no clear plan to modernise these standards,” Blackman said.A number of chemical groups are used in upholstered furniture – mostly as flame retardants applied to foams, fabrics and backing materials to help furniture meet the UK’s stringent ignition tests. Many of these substances have been linked to toxicity, persistence in the environment and health concerns, with the use of several restricted over time