Labour announces plans to lift 550,000 children out of poverty – as it happened

We’ll end our live coverage now. Keir Starmer’s government has launched its full child poverty action plan – the heart of which is the lifting of the two-child benefits cap announced in the budget last week.Under Labour, families will be able to access welfare payments for more than two children from April. The previous policy, brought in by the Tories in 2017 to teach low-income parents that “children cost money”, had plunged more than 1.7 million children under the poverty line – affecting nearly one in nine

Nigel Farage’s shifting answers on school-days racism claims – a timeline

Nigel Farage’s response to allegations of teenage racism during his time at Dulwich college have ranged from vehement at times and rather more nuanced at others.Here is what he has said:After the Channel 4 reporter Michael Crick revealed a June 1981 letter written by a teacher about Farage during his time in Dulwich referring to him as “racist” and “fascist” or “neo-fascist”, Crick tracked down Farage.Farage said: “Of course I said some ridiculous things that upset them.” Crick asked him if these were “racist things”. Farage replied: “Not necessarily racist things

UK-EU youth mobility scheme could let tens of thousands live and work abroad

Tens of thousands of young British and European citizens would be given the right to live and work in each other’s countries under plans for a scheme that ministers are aiming to finalise within the next year.Ministers want to secure a youth mobility scheme with the EU by the end of 2026, as part of a broader reset of Britain’s relationship with Europe six years after leaving the bloc.Labour strategists believe there is a growing political benefit to ministers stepping up their criticism of Brexit and arguing more openly for a closer relationship with Europe.In a speech on Monday, Keir Starmer attacked the “wild promises” made by Brexit campaigners and said the UK was “still dealing with the consequences today, in our economy, and in trust”.“The idea that leaving the EU was the answer to all our cares and concerns has clearly been proved wrong,” he said, though he stressed that he would “always respect” the outcome of the referendum

Holocaust survivors call on Nigel Farage to apologise over alleged antisemitic comments

A group of Holocaust survivors have demanded Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for the antisemitic comments that fellow pupils of Dulwich college allege he made toward Jewish pupils.The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with intent but may have engaged in “banter in a playground”.But in a letter to Farage seen by the Guardian, the 11 survivors said: “As Holocaust survivors, we understand the danger of hateful words – because we have seen where such words lead.“Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground

Explaining UK debt with biscuits: Labour MPs get the hang of viral content

A perennial head-scratcher for progressives is how to craft a simple, compelling message on the economy. One Labour MP found the answer in a few packets of M&S biscuits.Gordon McKee, who represents Glasgow South, has racked up more than 3.3m views on X with an 101-second video in which he demonstrates the UK’s debt to GDP ratio using stacks of custard creams and chocolate bourbons.It may not seem like a major feat when several of the world’s most impactful politicians – Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and Zohran Mamdani among them – have used sleekly produced short-form videos to spread their campaign messages with considerable success

Farage turns on broadcasters over racism allegations as number of claims hits 28

Nigel Farage has turned on broadcasters for questioning him about his alleged teenage racism and antisemitism as the number of school contemporaries who recalled such behaviour to the Guardian reached 28.In an angry performance at a press conference in London, the Reform leader suggested he would boycott the BBC and said ITV had its own case to answer, as he repeatedly shouted “Bernard Manning”.Manning, a comedian from Manchester who died in 2007, was a regular face on British television in the 1970s but he drifted from the public eye after claims that his material was racist and misogynistic.The intemperate performance by Farage, whose party has slipped in the national polls in recent weeks, came as a further five school contemporaries came forward to the Guardian with allegations that they had witnessed deeply offensive racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.The former Dulwich college pupils said they had been motivated to speak now by the response of Farage and others in his party to an investigation by the Guardian based on multiple accounts of racism