Manchester mayor takes aim at House of Commons briefing culture and says he will continue to call out liars

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Westminster insiders “do not get a licence to lie”, said Andy Burnham on Thursday, in an angry swipe at the political briefing culture in the House of Commons.

After a week of political antagonism over the Labour party’s national executive committee’s decision to block Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection next month, the Manchester mayor said he would call out liars in Westminster in the aftermath of the dispute.

Manchester mayor suggests claims he was told Labour would not give him permission to stand were untrue

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The Labour party’s civil war over the Gorton and Denton byelection has intensified after Andy Burnham accused Downing Street sources of lying about his decision to apply to stand in the Manchester seat.

The Manchester mayor was reacting to suggestions by unnamed Keir Starmer allies that he had been told “in no uncertain terms” that any request to the NEC committee to put his name forward for the byelection would be refused.

Reform leader says he agrees ‘strategically’ with Trump but adds that views of Greenlanders must be respected

The world would be a “better, more secure place” if America took over Greenland, Nigel Farage said at Davos, while insisting that he still believed in the sovereignty of nation states.

During a panel at the World Economic Forum’s “America House” in the Swiss ski resort on Wednesday, the Reform UK leader said he had “no doubt” that the world would be safer if a “strong America” was in Greenland “because of the geopolitics of the high north, because of the retreating ice caps and because of the continued expansionism of Russian icebreakers, of Chinese investment”.

Laila Cunningham accused of endangering Muslims after saying it ‘has to be assumed’ people hiding their face for a criminal reason

Reform UK’s mayoral candidate for London has been accused of endangering Muslims after she said women wearing the burqa should be subject to stop and search.

Laila Cunningham, who was announced as Reform’s candidate for the 2028 mayoral elections last week, said no one should cover their face “in an open society”, adding: “It has to be assumed that if you’re hiding your face, you’re hiding it for a criminal reason.”

Aaron Horsey says measures in Employment Rights Act will give support ‘at one of most difficult moments imaginable’

A father who has fought for a change in the law so that bereaved parents can look after their babies after the death of a partner will tell his son he can make the “impossible” happen after new rights for workers are laid before parliament on Monday.

Aaron Horsey was shocked when he discovered he had no right to take leave to look after his newborn son, after his wife, Bernadette, 31, died while giving birth at Royal Derby hospital.

Information watchdog says party’s data controller should consider ‘taking further action’ over unauthorised portal

Zarah Sultana’s unauthorised launch of a Your Party membership portal may have been “serious criminal activity” and should be referred to the police, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has advised.

Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project (PJP), which referred Your Party to the information watchdog last September over a potential data breach, has been advised by the ICO that it should consider “taking further action” regarding the matter, after deciding it was not a matter for them.

Article by former British ambassador to US is likely to be seen as criticism of Keir Starmer

Peter Mandelson has accused European leaders including Keir Starmer of a “histrionic” reaction to Donald Trump’s plan to take over Greenland, arguing that without “hard power and hard cash” they will continue to slide into unimportance in the “age of Trump”.

In his first political comments since being sacked as Britain’s ambassador to Washington last year, Lord Mandelson said Trump had achieved “more in a day than orthodox diplomacy was able to achieve in the past decade” when he captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.

Pat McFadden says stance on potential peace deployment casts doubt on Reform leader’s commitment to national security

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Nigel Farage has been accused of “parroting Kremlin lines” after saying that he would vote against any UK government plans to deploy the military in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Britain and France said they would be ready to send troops to Ukraine after a peace deal, but the Reform UK leader said he would vote against any such move to put boots on the ground.

Reform UK leader says accusations about his behaviour at Dulwich college were politically motivated

Nigel Farage has called allegations of racist and antisemitic bullying during his time at Dulwich college “complete made-up fantasies”, saying his accusers are “people with very obvious political motivation”.

More than 30 people have spoken to the Guardian as part of an investigation based on multiple accounts of racism, including Peter Ettedgui, 61, an Emmy- and Bafta-winning director, who recalled Farage growling repeatedly “Hitler was right” or “Gas them” at him when they were at school.