Labour accuses Badenoch of scoring ‘cheap political points’ over Iran strikes
Labour has accused Kemi Badenoch of scoring “cheap political points” after the Conservative party leader said Keir Starmer was “too scared” to join strikes on Iran.Al Carns, the defence minister, said “serious politics” was required in response to Badenoch’s speech at the party’s spring conference where she criticised the prime minister’s stance on the US-Israel strikes on Iran a week ago.Initially, Starmer did not allow the US to use UK RAF bases for the attack, and did not take part in initial military action against Iran, but then said the RAF would take part in defensive operations.A strike by an Iranian drone hit an aircraft hangar at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.Badenoch told the Conservative’s spring conference in Harrogate, North Yorkshire: “At a time when Britain needs strong and decisive leadership, we have a prime minister who is too afraid of making the wrong decision, too afraid to make any decision at all.
“Last week’s byelection has spooked the Labour party.They watched the Greens campaigning on sectarian voting lines.A tactic Labour used for many years is now being turned against them.And now Keir Starmer is too scared to make foreign interventions for fear of upsetting a tiny section of that electorate.”In response, Carns, a former Royal Marine, said: “Trying to score cheap political points off the back of a serious security situation is deeply irresponsible.
This situation is above politics and requires calm collective decision making – not hyperbole and soundbites.“British troops are doing an amazing job and no one should be questioning their commitment or competency.Serious times require serious politics, not political point-scoring on the back of our armed forces, civil service or [Ministry of Defence] personnel who are doing an amazing job.”Badenoch said Starmer had equivocated when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on the Iran last weekend.The attacks killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as other senior figures.
In response, Iran attacked Israel and US allies in the Middle East, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, leading to an evacuation of British nationals.The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has since apologised to its Gulf neighbours and said it will no longer attack them – unless strikes on Iran are launched from their countries.Badenoch denied she was calling for the UK to join the war uncritically, but hit out at apparent inaction from Starmer.She said: “Everyone remembers the mistakes of the Iraq war.Nobody sensible is suggesting that we should drop bombs without a second thought.
“But Keir Starmer spent days consulting lawyers, plucking up the courage to say whose side he was on.Canada and Australia have the moral clarity to do so immediately and unequivocally.“And even now, our prime minister is sitting on the fence.We are in this war, whether Keir Starmer likes it or not.”Badenoch, whose party finished fourth in the Gorton and Denton byelection and finds itself behind the Labour party and Reform UK in national polling, also said her party would rewrite the Mental Health Act so people who are considered a risk to the public are detained.
She referenced the case of Valdo Calocane, who killed three people in Nottingham in June 2023,“We are going to detain people who pose a risk to the public, keeping them safe, keeping the public safe,We cannot have dangerous men running around our towns and cities stabbing people,”The Tory leader also said she would clamp down on antisocial behaviour, including the introduction of a new immediate justice community sentences for “low-level offences”,It would force criminals to undo damage at the scene rather than go through the courts.
Badenoch named graffiti as one area that could fall into it.
Investors are expecting Donald Trump to back down in the war with Iran – but what if he doesn’t?
Investors over the past year have learned that Donald Trump has a boundless capacity to quickly reverse course in the face of acute political or market pressures.But a week since the United States and Israel launched missile strikes on Iran, there are fears the war could morph into a protracted conflict.In purely economic terms, the war has brought about what has long been considered a worst-case scenario from a conflict in the Middle East: the closure of the strait of Hormuz, through which travels a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.Since the start of the hostilities, the global benchmark oil price has jumped by 17% to more than US$85 a barrel, triggering shock waves through financial markets.The Australian sharemarket has been relatively shielded from the worst of the fallout, but still suffered a steep 3
Ian Arnot obituary
My friend and former colleague Ian Arnot, who has died of cancer aged 45, was an LGBTQ+ activist, charity leader and fellow of the Chartered Institute of PR (CIPR). He was also a longstanding non-executive director in the charitable sector in Edinburgh, and served as BT’s head of corporate communications from 2020 to 2025.Ian became well known in media and political circles in Scotland and London during his 24-year career with BT Group. He was appointed a chartered fellow of CIPR in 2023, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the institute and the profession, and was elected vice-chair of CIPR Scotland in 2025. He was about to start a new role with the IHG hotel group at the time of his terminal diagnosis, which he bore with typical resilience, courage and hope
UK arts must not be sacrificed for speculative AI gains, peers say
The UK’s creative industries must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of speculative gains in AI technology, a House of Lords committee has warned, as the government prepares to reveal the economic cost of proposals to change copyright rules.A report by peers has urged ministers to develop a licensing regime for the use of creative works in AI products and abandon proposals to let tech firms use the work of novelists, artists, writers and journalists without permission.The call from the House of Lords communications and digital committee comes as the government prepares to release an economic impact assessment of proposed changes to copyright law, as well as a progress update on a consultation about the legal overhaul, by a deadline of 18 March.Barbara Keeley, a Labour peer and committee chair, said the UK’s creative industries faced a “clear and present danger” from AI firms using their work without credit or payment.“AI may contribute to our future economic growth, but the UK creative industries create jobs and economic value now,” she said
Mark Zuckerberg says criminal behavior on Facebook inevitable
Harms to children, such as sexual exploitation and detriments to mental health, are inevitable on Meta’s platforms, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri said in taped depositions played at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday.“I just think if you’re serving billions of people, the unfortunate reality is that some very small percent of them are going to be criminals, and we should work as hard as we can to stop that activity from happening,” said Zuckerberg. “I don’t think that the standard for our platforms would be that you should assume that it will ever be perfect.”Meta’s apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, are among the most popular in the world, each with 3 billion monthly active users.The trial has set the social media giant against New Mexico’s attorney general, who alleges that Meta’s platforms put profits and user engagement over child safety
Rory McIlroy to defend Players title despite withdrawal from Invitational
Rory McIlroy is confident of defending his Players Championship title from Thursday despite withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer Invitational 35 minutes before his third round. McIlroy suffered back spasms, with the Northern Irishman unwilling to potentially put appearances at the Players and next month’s Masters at risk by taking to the course at Bay Hill. McIlroy will also be defending the crown at Augusta National.“While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back,” McIlroy said. “As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back
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