Phillipson and Powell kick off Labour deputy race with very different visions for role

Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell fired the starting pistol in Labour’s deputy leadership race on Sunday, with the education secretary saying now was not the time to “look backward” on mistakes made by the party in its first year of government.The pair set out strikingly different approaches to the role of deputy leader, with Powell saying she would be an independent voice who would speak truth to senior leadership including Keir Starmer.Phillipson is widely seen as No 10’s choice for the role, with Powell recently ousted from the cabinet as leader of the House of Commons.Powell, in her first message to members, promised to be a “full-time deputy leader” and an “independent voice” as opposed to Phillipson’s potential dual role as education secretary.“I really want this Labour government to succeed, and sometimes that means having the difficult conversations,” she said in her email to constituency Labour parties

Labour MPs will hope Starmer’s words after far-right rally signal shift in tone

If there is a cause that could be said to unite almost all Labour MPs and members from left to right, it would be equality and anti-racism. Many of them will have spent their early political lives in trade unions, student movements or charities – or working as human rights lawyers.Over the summer, MPs have agonised about their political futures and that of progressive politics. Missteps on the economy, welfare, Gaza and relations with the parliamentary party have been part of that.But what has crystallised the sense of crisis for many has been the rapid rise in far-right rhetoric and violence, as well as Nigel Farage’s perma-presence in the media and his plans for mass deportations

NHS will die under Reform unless doctors stop striking and work with Labour, says Wes Streeting

Unless doctors stop striking and help Labour fix the damage inflicted by the Tories, the NHS will end up dying under a government led by Reform, Wes Streeting has warned.Speaking at a special meeting of the British Medical Association’s representative body on Sunday, the health secretary said hospitals and GP surgeries were “hanging by a thread” after more than a decade of neglect by the Conservatives.Progress was being made at rescuing the NHS from the biggest crisis in its history, Streeting insisted, but he said it required “a team effort” and would only be successful if medics became “friends, not foes”.“The alternative is strikes continue to hold back the NHS’s recovery, the costs of industrial action slow down investment in new technology, equipment and additional specialty places, the changes that we all agree need to be made are blocked, and patients continue to be failed,” he said.“From there, the public will conclude that Labour has failed on the NHS and they will elect a Reform government instead – a party that has openly said it will replace the NHS with an insurance-based system

UK politics: Scale of ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march shows free speech ‘alive and well’ in UK, says minister – as it happened

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.At least 25 people were arrested and 26 police officers were injured – including four who were seriously hurt – at Tommy Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” protest in London yesterday, the Metropolitan police said.The protest, thought to be the largest nationalist event in decades, saw between 110,000 and 150,000 people turn out, significantly exceeding the estimates of organisers. Elsewhere, about 5,000 anti-racism campaigners mounted a counter-protest.The crowds were addressed by Elon Musk, who dialled in via video link and spoke of “the rapidly increasing erosion of Britain”, before calling for the dissolution of the UK parliament

‘Busted flush’: Welsh Labour prepares to fight byelection amid dire polling

For many in Welsh Labour, this summer was the last chance for a rest before the party faces the election battle of its life in next May’s Senedd elections. Instead, Labour found itself in mourning for the MS for Caerphilly, Hefin David, who died suddenly last month.Come October, Welsh Labour will now have to fight a byelection under tragic and untimely circumstances. Plaid Cymru and Reform UK are well ahead in the polls. Losing the longtime Labour stronghold of Caerphilly would deal another serious blow to morale in an election year

As Starmer’s popularity tanks, what can Labour learn from Zohran Mamdani’s success in New York?

Progressives in the UK and US are grappling with the same question. Why have rightwing populists become so much more successful at tapping into public concern? And why are so few politicians on the left connecting with ordinary people?Barely a year after taking power in Britain, Labour’s popularity has collapsed with unprecedented rapidity against surging support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.In the US, a year after Joe Biden’s defeat, the Democrats are still derided by swathes of voters and remain at a loss for how to take on Donald Trump’s unique brand of politics.But while Labour and the Democrats languish in nationwide polls, there are exceptions. In New York over the summer, Zohran Mamdani rose from little-known assembly member to social media sensation and heavily favoured Democratic nominee in November’s mayoral contest