Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump speak on the phone for second time in 24 hours 

Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump have spoken over the phone for the second time in 24 hours.

The two leaders discussed the "ned to deter an increasingly aggressive Russia in the High North", No10 said.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, this afternoon.

"The leaders discussed Euro-Atlantic security and agreed on the need to deter an increasingly aggressive Russia in the High North.

"European Allies had stepped up in recent months to defend Euro-Atlantic interests, but more could be done to protect the area, the Prime Minister said.

"The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon."

The PM yesterday "set out his position on Greenland" during his call with President Trump, which marked the first time the pair had spoken since the US launched airstrikes on Venezuela over the weekend.

Labour MP calls on Government to 'listen' and 'act urgently' over business rate hikes 

Labour MP Emma Lewell has called on the Government to "listen" to backbenchers over plans to increase business rates amid a rumoured U-turn.

The MP for South Shields wrote to X: "Here we go again. My colleagues and I made the Government aware of the impending crisis back in October.

"They didn’t act. Now, after pressure, they are considering changes.

"Backbench MPs are very much in touch with their constituents and local businesses.

"The Government should listen to us and work with us before we reach a crisis point and are forced to make a U-turn.

"The harm and stress caused to hospitality businesses has already had an impact. Instead of the Government saying they are 'considering' changes, they need to act urgently before more businesses become boarded up and more jobs are lost."

Sir Keir Starmer 'reiterated his position on Greenland' in call with Denmark PM, says No10

Sir Keir Starmer has "reiterated his position on Greenland" in a call with Denmark's Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, Downing Street has confirmed.

Donald Trump has in recent days repeated he wants to gain control of Greenland, arguing it is key to US military strategy and claiming Denmark has not done enough to protect it.

Sir Keir said at PMQ's on Wednesday that the future of the island "is for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone".

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister spoke to the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, this afternoon.

"The Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Frederiksen for her strong support at the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris on Tuesday.

"Coalition partners had made good progress in Paris, the leaders agreed.

"Turning to Denmark, the Prime Minister reiterated his position on Greenland. Both leaders agreed on the importance of deterring Russian aggression in the High North and that Nato should step up in the area to protect Euro-Atlantic interests.

"The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon."

'Labour is killing Britain's pub's, says Kemi Badenoch as she declares rumoured U-turn 'too little too late' 

Kemi Badenoch has accused Labour of "killing Britain's pubs" over upcoming increases in business rates and labelled a rumoured U-turn "too little too late".

The Tory leader wrote to X: "Yesterday Keir Starmer told us Labour had ‘turned a corner.’

"Well, it looks like they’ve turned the corner straight into their first U-turn of 2026.

"Labour are killing Britain’s pubs. This rumoured u-turn is too little too late. It’s time to back our local pubs."

REVEALED: Pubs to be saved from closure over spiralling business rates by major Rachel Reeves U-turn

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce short term financial support for pubs hit by huge increases in business rates from April 1, ahead of a complete shake-up of pubs' business rates from 2029.

Pubs are also likely to be allowed to be open for longer, as well as utilise outside space to increase their attractiveness to customers.

There could also be a default right for pubs to stay open if neighbours complain about the noise.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Nigel Farage is 'on the side of Russia and not Ukraine', says PM

Sir Keir Starmer has said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is "on the side of Russia and not Ukraine".

The Prime Minister announced this week that in the event of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, British and French forces will help to train Ukrainian troops and protect stocks of weaponry, aimed at deterring future aggression from Moscow.

Sir Keir said the number of personnel placed in “military hubs” in Ukraine will be determined in accordance with the UK’s military plans.

Mr Farage however said the UK is in "no position" to put boots on the ground in Ukraine if a ceasefire is reached.

Sir Keir told Greatest Hits Radio: "Nigel Farage and Reform lean towards Russia. I am not surprised he is indicating that in relation to a force which is there to protect Ukraine from Russia, he says 'I don't want to have anything to do with that'.

"That tells you everything you need to know. Are you on the side of Ukraine or on the side of Russia?

"And Nigel Farage has reminded us again that when it comes to that question he is on the side of Russia, not the side of Ukraine. I'm on the side of Ukraine."

Sir Keir Starmer says 'all options on the table' to stop AI tool Grok allowing users to create sexualised images 

Sir Keir Starmer said "all options" are on the table for the Government in response to concerns that AI tool Grok is being used to create sexualised images of people, including children.

Users of Elon Musk's social media platform X, appear to have prompted Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Mr Musk’s xAI, to generate undressed images of people.

Ofcom said it has made "urgent contact" with X over the concerns.

Sir Keir told Greatest Hits Radio: "It’s disgraceful, it’s disgusting and it’s not to be tolerated.

"X has got to get a grip of this and Ofcom have [our] full support to take action in relation to this.

"This is wrong, it’s unlawful, we are not going to tolerate it.

"I have asked for all options to be on the table. It’s disgusting and X need to get their act together and get this material down."

Rachel Reeves set to make screeching U-turn on business tax relief cut hitting Britain's pubs

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing to U-turn on her plans to axe business tax relief for parts of the hospitality industry in a much-needed win for Britain's pubs.

This represents another significant policy reversal from the Labour Government after backing down from key elements of its cuts to welfare spending last year.

Labour MPs who are concerned about soaring business rate for pubs have told GB News they are hoping the Government will announce a package for pubs "very soon".

One said that a proposal from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to extend licensing hours to allow pubs to trade for longer would be "pathetic" compared with the hike in business rates which are set to increase by 75 per cent over the next three years.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Zia Yusuf demands Keir Starmer sack Rachel Reeves over 'beyond the pale' comments 

Zia Yusuf has demanded that the Prime Minister remove Chancellor Rachel Reeves from her post over comments she made that he deemed " beyond the pale and overtly racist".

Taking to X, the Reform UK Head of Policy wrote: "Rachel Reeves’ comments to the Guardian equating Britishness with race are beyond the pale and overtly racist.

"Keir Starmer must sack her," he declared.

Earlier, he had accused Rachel Reeves of being an "ethno-nationalist" after he claimed she appeared to equate black Britons with foreigners.

Nigel Farage's benefits opposition branded 'basic racism' by Scottish First Minister

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s stance that the two-child benefit cap should only be lifted for British-born families is “basic racism”, Scotland’s First Minister has said.

Mr Farage has drawn criticism for his comments at a press conference on Wednesday, where he said his party would vote against Government proposals to lift the cap.

Under Reform plans, both parents would have to be born in the UK and working full time for the cap to be lifted.

The Scottish Government has long spoken out against the cap and had instituted plans to mitigate it before Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced its scrapping in her November budget.

Mr Swinney said: “I think Nigel Farage is quite actively engaged in a competition with the Conservative Party to be the nastiest of all parties.

“I think underlying much of what Nigel Farage says is just basic racism, and I will have none of it," he told LBC.

Reform’s Lord Offord sets out First Minister ambitions as Nigel Farage poised to reveal Scottish leader

Lord Malcolm Offord has set his sights on becoming Scottish First Minister as Nigel Farage prepares to announce who will lead the party north of the border.

Mr Farage said on Wednesday he will name a leader next Thursday at an Edinburgh press conference, with Lord Offord – who defected from the Conservatives late last year – saying he is not the only member in the frame to take charge.

When asked if he sought to take the top job in Hollyrood, Lord Offord confirmed: “Yes, I mean, you’ve got to be in it to win it.”

“As to whether we can win, of course, that would be an astonishing result to come from nowhere to that, but what is clear is that we do have the momentum here.

“We do have the momentum and this is a two-horse race between Reform and the SNP,” he stressed.

Scotland’s only Reform MSP, Graham Simpson, who defected from the Tories in August 2025, and Thomas Kerr, Reform councillor for Shettleston in Glasgow, are also in the running to become the party's leader in Scotland.

Labour 'could deny 10 million Britons a vote' in make-or-break election for Keir Starmer 

As many as 10 million Britons could be denied the chance to vote in May’s crunch local elections.

Across the UK, 29 councils have either announced delays or have yet to formally decide whether to press ahead - with 21 of them run by Labour.

Just four local authorities under the control of Sir Keir Starmer’s party have confirmed they will not postpone ballots, while 17 are still yet to decide, one week out from a January 15 deadline.

By contrast, only two Tory-run authorities will delay a vote, along with a single Liberal Democrat council.

While it is anticipated that the majority of councils will not delay elections, Labour-run quartet Preston, Chorley, Hyndburn and Blackburn with Darwen have already done so.

All four are areas where Reform UK is surging in the polls.

A recent poll in Hyndburn revealed Nigel Farage's party was rating at 39 per cent, while Labour was sat adrift in third with just 16 per cent.

Mr Farage has accused Labour of postponing the votes to save the party from electoral humiliation.

“This is the kind of outrageous behaviour you expect from a banana republic. Labour is damaging our democracy," he said.

A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats fumed: "The Government’s actions mean that 10 million people could see their democratic right to an election this May, and choice over who governs them locally, ripped away.

"We’re calling on the Government to reverse course and take these proposals off the table.”

And the Tories have accused Labour of "denying democracy and running scared of voters" because the party knows it is "in for a pasting at the ballot box".

The Prime Minister has denied the locals represent a "referendum" on his Government.

"I was elected in 2024 with a five-year mandate to change the country, and that's what I intend to do," he told the BBC.

UK 'has to get used to' disagreeing with US on some issues, insists Government minister

The UK must "get used to" disagreeing with the US over some issues, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden has insisted.

He assured GB News that America was still a "reliable ally", despite President Donald Trump's threats to take over Greenland, which the UK has opposed.

Mr McFadden celebrated the "really important relationship between the UK and the United States" for its security and economic boons.

However, he added that this did not mean the two countries would always be aligned.

"I think it is possible to say that to really value this relationship, but it won't always mean that you agree with every single comment, or indeed, you have to respond to every single comment," he told The People's Channel.

"This is the world we've been in for the past year. I think we have to get used to it. I think we have to understand why it's changed.

"Critically, I think we have to understand that in this world, you have to be able to exercise both hard power and soft power, and that's why it's right that the UK has stepped up by increasing our own defence expenditure and trying to play a leading role in organising European countries in support of the Defence of Ukraine.

"This is the big picture of what's been happening over the past year," he added.

Mel Stride blasts Labour for 'spending it all on benefits' as pubs face fresh financial blow

UK was 'very happy' to aid US in Russian shadow fleet raid

The UK was "very happy" to help the US in raiding the Marinera tanker in the Atlantic, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has assured.

"I don't think we should think that we've only been taking action against shadow fleets starting yesterday," he informed.

"It was a very high-profile operation," the minister noted.

Mr McFadden stressed that such operations were vital to prevent President Vladimir Putin's shadow fleet "funding either terrorism or Russia's war effort in Ukraine".

"We don't always comment on what our military is involved in, but we were very happy to be involved yesterday because we saw it as being in our national interest," he told Sky News.

"And that's always the North Star," Mr McFadden added.

Government insists US is a 'reliable ally' in wake of Greenland threats 

The United States remains a “reliable ally” to the UK amid Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland, a senior Government minister has insisted.

“The United States is a reliable ally. We believe that to be the case, we see that every day,” Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said.

“But we also know the world is changing, and we’ve got to step up, and Europe’s got to step up, and, actually, President Trump may have his own style, he’s not the first US President to say that.

“I think the thing that we’ve really got to understand about the world is that hard and soft power have to go together,” he told Sky News.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among European leaders who joined a joint statement issued on Tuesday that stressed: "Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland".

'Wasteful' Labour splurges TENS OF THOUSANDS in taxpayer cash on new Great British Railways logo

More than £30,000 of taxpayer cash has been spent on creating a new emblem for Britain’s nationalised rail services.

The Great British Railways logo - featuring a double arrow reminiscent of the former publicly owned British Rail - was unveiled last month by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.

Train carriages operating under the Great British Railways banner are also set to receive a new paint scheme.

Ms Alexander said the emblem “represents a new railway, casting off the frustrations of the past”.

However, Sky News revealed the branding exercise, including the logo and paintwork, cost £32,400.

The TaxPayers' Alliance criticised the move as “wasteful government spending”, describing it as “simply the tip of a costly rail renationalisation iceberg”.

Its chief executive, John O'Connell, said: “This is just Whitehall playing with logos while passengers pay more for nationalised trains that have no guarantee of providing better services.

"Spending £32,000 on branding and focus groups without any idea of the final cost of repainting trains or building the app shows how flippantly taxpayers' money is being treated."

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "To maximise value for money, the GBR brand was designed in-house, and will be rolled out gradually, rather than as an expensive exercise painting all the trains and stations in one go.

"As you'd expect with any new brand, the process included focus groups, including those with accessibility needs, which was done to fully comply with relevant accessibility legislation."

Kemi Badenoch outlines plan to SAVE Britain's pubs after landlords reveal plans for strike

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has unveiled her party's plans to protect British pubs from extinction.

“Like so many of Britain’s small businesses, pubs are being treated by Labour like cash cows to milk instead of as places to protect," Mrs Badenoch wrote in The Telegraph last night.

"Just another group of people to squeeze to fund their pet projects and handouts.

“Well, the Conservatives have not given up on saving the Great British Pub. Since we have left office, things have got a whole lot harder for them.

"And so, under my leadership, we are going to be bolder and take radical action to save your local boozer.”

Under her plans, business rates for thousands of pubs would be abolished, funded by a slashing to the benefits bill and mass cuts to the Civil Service.

Mrs Badenoch also warned losing thousands of pubs would bring an end to "the centre of local communities" and a "huge part of our way of life".

Her plan came after publican Andy Lennox told GB News a "day of industrial action" was coming."

If Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer don't sit up and listen, this is only going to get bigger," Mr Lennox told the People's Channel.

READ THE FULL STORY ON THE PUB STRIKE THREAT HERE

Labour hits out at ‘pointless speculation’ and defends postponing elections in official response

In response to reports that millions of Britons could be denied a vote in May, a spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "This is pointless speculation about a process that is still far from complete.

"So far, we’ve only had responses from less than half of the councils due to hold elections this year.

"These areas are in the best position to judge the impact of postponements on their area, and this government will listen to them.

"There is a clear precedent for postponing local elections where local government reorganisation is in progress, as happened between 2019 and 2021."

EXPLAINED: Why are elections being 'cancelled'?

Elections are being pushed back this year under sweeping plans to reorganise local Government, first announced by Angela Rayner when she was Communities Secretary.

Ministers are pushing to scrap district councils and merge them with county councils to create new, larger unitary authorities which provide all services.

There are currently 204 councils in 21 parts of the country undergoing reorganisation - with 63 of these set to hold elections this May.

Under the changes, some elections would be scrapped this year before they are held for the new, bigger authorities in May 2027.

These elected councillors would run the new authorities in shadow form until they become fully operational in 2028.

The old county and district councils would stay in place until they are formally abolished in 2028. County councillors were last elected in 2021, meaning they would end up serving for seven years instead of the traditional four.