Call for standards commissioner to look into circumstances of former Tory MP’s defection to Reform party

Labour has written to parliament’s standards watchdog asking for an investigation into claims that Lee Anderson was offered a six-figure financial incentive to join the Reform party the year before he defected.

Ellie Reeves, the chair of Labour, called on the parliamentary standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, to look into the circumstances of Anderson’s decision to join Reform.

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Lack of faith in politics is a running theme among voters interviewed by the Guardian, but some believe Farage’s party may be worth a try

Crossing Gwent Square on a cold, crisp day in Cwmbran, married couple Maxine and David Griffin have more in common with each other than they did a year ago.

In July, the Brexit supporters voted for the Reform UK party in the constituency of Torfaen; it was the first time they had both voted for the same party.

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Labour leader tells working people rot left by Conservatives is so much worse than imagined and improvement won’t happen overnight

British people will have to endure even worse economic and social ­pressures in the months to come as the Labour government takes “unpopular decisions” to rebuild the country from “rubble and ruin” left by the Tories, Keir Starmer will warn this week.

With the prime minister under mounting pressure from within his own party to help people struggling with rising fuel payments and millions of families in poverty, Starmer will strike a defiant note against those demanding U-turns from his ministers, saying “tough choices” will have to be made before any recovery is possible.

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Could a trimmer figure, the quick-fix way, and new hairdo be enough to get the party vote?

Four stone in a year! No disrespect to earlier weight influencers Rishi Sunak, George Osborne, Boris Johnson and the late Nigel Lawson, but even if Robert Jenrick fails to win the Tory leadership contest there is no question that, with its quick and impressive results, his diet must be the best ever devised by an unpopular Conservative politician.

What does it involve? Simply obtain an Ozempic prescription, follow the instructions, and watch the unwanted pounds melt away. Last week, Jenrick said he had taken Ozempic, a version of the appetite suppressant, semaglutide, for around six weeks, subsequently keeping his weight down “in the normal way”, via diet and exercise. He told Politico : “I took Ozempic for a short period of time, didn’t particularly enjoy it, but it was helpful.”

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He blew up as chancellor and crashed the UK economy, but when we clashed on TV, he certainly stood his ground

When the chips are down, the pen is a little dry or I’ve needed a cheap laugh from an unforgiving audience, over the best part of the past 14 years I’ve been able to rely on one ace: Kwasi Kwarteng. The first Black chancellor and – still – the most powerful Black person in British history, however briefly.

I could have been kinder and gentler. Using him as an illustrative point in Think Like a White Man (my 2019 satire on being Black in the professional world), I compared Kwarteng’s hairline to the wonky lines of a colonial border, among many other quips, yet my critiques and roastings of the talented Mr Kwarteng were never personal, as I’d never had the opportunity to meet him properly. That all changed at 5:55am on Thursday at the west London studios of Good Morning Britain, where we were both booked to face off for the political panel.

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PM faces pitfalls navigating what are crucial relationships but claims by jilted Tories don’t ring true, say experts

Since last month’s general election, Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite trade union, has held face-to-face meetings with a string of key secretaries of state.

As she says, in many leading economies, that would barely merit a mention, given that she represents about a million members across 40-odd industries, including steel, energy and defence.

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Police say Gambling Commission still looking into possible offences under Gambling Act

Police will not pursue any charges of misconduct in public office against political figures who potentially used inside information to bet on the general election debate, they have announced.

A Metropolitan police statement said, however, that the Gambling Commission would continue to look into whether any possible offences had been committed under the Gambling Act, which is overseen by the betting watchdog.

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Offenders on bail who are likely to be jailed should have sentencing hearings delayed, courts of appeal judge reported to have said

There has been lots of reaction to Ofgem confirming the energy cap will rise to an average annual £1,717 from October, a 10% a year – or £12 a month – leap in the typical amount households face paying for their gas and electricity when using direct debit.

While this is a rise on the period from July to September, the new cap will be about £117 cheaper compared to the same period in 2023, when the typical bill was capped at £1,834.

Instead of prioritising cheap energy, the new Labour government are pursuing Ed Miliband’s reckless net zero targets with no thoughts to the costs.

And far from their promise of saving families £300 off their energy bills, one of their first acts in office is to remove the winter fuel payment from 10 million pensioners this winter.

We’ve braced ourselves for a challenging winter but today’s price cap increase will no doubt see even more people fall behind on their energy bills.

We’re particularly concerned about households with children and young people and those on lower incomes, who are most likely to struggle with their heating costs.

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There is no comparison between Labour’s transparent union funding and murky donations to the Tories – but stopping it all would be the best way to clean up politics

The Labour party is “ under the thumb ” of its trade union paymasters and its strike settlements are payback for the union millions that funded its election campaign. So say some Tory leadership contenders and their press loud hailers, a constant reminder that despite the Tories’ extreme unpopularity causing their worst ever election result, and despite Labour’s colossal majority, the media keep blasting out the messages that voters so resoundingly rejected. Labour governments swimming against this perpetual tide of hostility, which is often mindlessly mimicked by broadcasters, need to keep their nerve: this boombox is not the voice of England, let alone Britain.

Labour’s new deal for working people is a popular policy; it ends forced zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire, and creates a fair pay agreement for care workers. Despite the effect on the NHS and other services, many strikers, including nurses, doctors, teachers, firefighters, ambulance staff and postal workers retained public support; there was less for travel disrupters, not helped by Aslef’s misguided new strike . Misrepresentation of “inflation-busting” pay settlements ignores how public sector employees still lag 2% on average below their 2010 pay, while private sector pay has risen by 5% on average, according to the IFS .

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

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