Starmer adviser held 16 undisclosed meetings with top US tech bosses

An influential government adviser close to Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves held 16 undisclosed meetings with top US tech executives, the Guardian can reveal.The No 10 business aide Varun Chandra discussed regulatory changes, AI and Donald Trump’s second administration with tech corporations during confidential meetings between October 2024 and October 2025. In one meeting he offered to help a top executive meet the prime minister directly.Chandra’s dealings with six major technology companies – Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, Apple and Meta – took place as the government developed policies to secure investment from Silicon Valley, including multimillion-pound energy subsidies and preferential planning approval for datacentres in what ministers have called AI growth zones.While largely unknown outside Westminster, Chandra, who ran a corporate intelligence firm founded by former British spies before joining government, is a central figure in Downing Street and is a key champion of the government’s push for economic growth

UK politics: Polanski says he would ‘discourage’ the use of ‘globalise the intifada’ chant on marches – as it happened

Speaking to the BBC, Zack Polanski discouraged people from using the phrase “globalise the intifada” (see this earlier post for its meaning) but added he is “not interested” in policing language.The Green Party leader told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg:double quotation markIt’s not a phrase I would use personally and that’s because I think if there’s other phrases you can use or other ways to do things then why not just do them.I want people to be more effective so I wouldn’t encourage people to use it because actually I think you can make your point a lot more effectively and not get into this conversation about language.Words matter, but the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been murdered, the people in Lebanon who have been killed, these people matter too, and I think if people want to protest, that it’s important we defend their right to protest.Yes I do discourage, to give you a more direct answer, the use of the phrase but I’m not interested in trying to police people’s language

Polanski says he would discourage ‘globalise the intifada’ chant but warns against march bans

Zack Polanski has said he would discourage pro-Palestine protesters from using the chant “globalise the intifada”, but the Green party leader warned against specifically outlawing the phrase or banning a protest planned in London later this month.Speaking earlier in the weekend, Keir Starmer called for “tougher action” against marchers using the chant after last week’s attack on Jewish people in Golders Green, saying pro-Gaza marches risked having a cumulative effect of being intimidating.While the Metropolitan police already have a policy of arresting people who chant “globalise the intifada”, Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said any further action would await an ongoing review of protest laws.Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Polanski said outlawing the chant would overly restrict freedom of speech.He reiterated his apology for sharing a post on X that criticised police for the way they arrested a suspect after two Jewish people were stabbed in Golders Green, north-west London, on Wednesday

‘We have let them come on to our ground’: Labour fights off Green gains in Leeds

On the wide streets around Leeds’ Roundhay Park, Labour canvassers have built up a considerable step count just to walk between each of the stone-built mansions in one of the city’s most affluent suburbs.Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, is with activists in the sunshine admiring the manicured lawns and window-box pansies. This is one of the safest wards for Labour in Leeds, with graduates, doctors, lecturers and small business owners.In years gone by, voters in these houses with sweeping driveways and climbing roses would have been natural Conservatives. A short walk away is Roundhay school, the alma mater of Liz Truss, a place she amusingly tried to paint as the wrong side of the tracks

Lucy Powell says Labour has ‘no magic bullet’ as MPs brace for heavy losses in local elections

Labour’s deputy leader has warned there will be “no magic bullet” to solve Labour’s problems – or major challenges facing the country – as its MPs grapple with how to navigate the fallout out from the local elections.Lucy Powell told the Guardian she understood there was “huge anger and despondency” from Labour MPs in the aftermath of the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal, but said the prime minister would not make a similar mistake again.Powell, who called for Keir Starmer to be more explicitly progressive during her deputy leadership campaign, said she would not engage in leadership speculation with the party facing a potential loss of more than 75% of the council seats it is defending, as well as losing power in Wales and failing to beat the SNP in Scotland.But she warned restive MPs there would be “no one change” that would lead to a reverse in fortunes. “There’s no magic bullet here for us

Reform UK council backs release of beavers amid party row over rewilding

A Reform UK council has backed the release of wild beavers into the countryside, despite the party’s opposition to rewilding.The Reform-led Leicestershire county council has backed the release of the rodents as part of efforts to reduce flooding.The Labour government recently legalised the release of beavers in England, about 400 years after the animals were hunted to extinction for their fur and an oil they produce.The animals are lauded by environmental campaigners for the habitats they create by damming rivers, which can reduce flooding during periods of heavy rain while also storing water in the landscape during drier months. They also have been found to improve water quality and boost numbers of bats, fish, birds, amphibians and invertebrates