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Manchester City owner’s £55m housing loan while Burnham was mayor investigated

Scrutiny committee looks into financing of Manchester Life project as PM promises ‘full transparency’

A £55m loan to Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi owner will be investigated as part of a review into a fund for housing projects while Andy Burnham was mayor.

The prime minister has faced weeks of scrutiny over his links to Manchester City’s super-rich owners after the club was found guilty of boosting its income by £900m in a nine-year breach of financial rules.

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© Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

Pro-Palestine Action post by wife of aide to British PM doesn’t warrant probe — cops

17 October 2026 at 21:33
UK police say tweet by Sarah Helm, whose husband is Burnham's national security adviser, expressing support for Sally Rooney doesn't meet 'criminal threshold' of backing for proscribed group

Burnham Declares £500 Million War on Tory Councils

17 October 2026 at 13:00

Andy Burnham's Government has been accused of waging a £500 million "class war" on wealthy councils, slashing funding from rural Tory and Lib Dem areas to bankroll urban Labour Party strongholds.

The post Burnham Declares £500 Million War on Tory Councils appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Burnham’s Russia Narrative Car Crash is Worse Than We Thought

17 October 2026 at 07:00

Andy Burnham's claim that Russia interfered with Brexit is risible for one very simple reason, says Ben Pile: EU policy on climate and energy is so suicidal that Putin could not have wanted Britain to leave.

The post Burnham’s Russia Narrative Car Crash is Worse Than We Thought appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Brexit’s back – but are British voters ready to contemplate a reversal?

17 October 2026 at 06:00

As Andy Burnham talks up closer alignment with the EU and a poll suggests half in UK would rejoin, the B-word is back on the agenda

In February 2016, days after David Cameron announced the UK would hold a referendum on leaving the EU, he told workers in Slough not to imagine they could change their minds a few years down the line if they did not like how things panned out. Voting to stay in or leave was a once in a generation thing, he said. “This is a decision that lasts for life.”

Well times change, as the last prime minister but five could testify. A decade after Britain told Brussels where to go, Brexit is back on the political agenda. After years in which many politicians avoided any mention of the B-word, Andy Burnham broke the omertà in his party conference speech last month, saying he would look again at Britain’s relationship with Europe.

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© Photograph: Toby Melville/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Toby Melville/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Toby Melville/AFP/Getty Images

UK cops looking into post supporting Palestine Action by wife of Burnham’s top security aide

16 October 2026 at 23:50
Metropolitan Police 'assessing whether any further investigation required,' after Sarah Helm fumes on X about withdrawal of Sally Rooney books due to novelist's plan to give royalties to the proscribed terror group

Armies, healthcare systems and intelligence services: 11 European countries already have multimillion-dollar contracts with Palantir

16 October 2026 at 17:31
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“The growth sucks.” That’s how Alex Karp, the CEO and co-founder of Palantir Technologies, described the company’s performance in Europe. He said this on August 3 to shareholders, while his colleagues defended an “incredible” quarter in the United States.

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Palantir's response

Follow The Money and its media partners presented Palantir with the findings of this investigation, along with 14 detailed questions. Palantir has not responded to any of them. Instead, the firm forwarded a statement from a spokesperson: “A serious debate is needed on how Europe safeguards its technological sovereignty. Technological sovereignty must ultimately be measured by who controls the data, the decisions and the mission: not just by the nationality of the software provider.” According to Palantir, control over data (and what is done with it) belongs to the customer.

The statement adds: “Since 2011, Palantir has been working with democratically-elected European governments and institutions to increase hospital capacity, accelerate cancer diagnoses, safely resettle refugees, combat organized crime, protect victims of domestic violence, and respond more quickly to floods and other emergencies.” It also notes that more than 20% of Palantir’s employees work in Europe and that the company helps European businesses compete and grow in various sectors, such as aerospace, manufacturing and life sciences. Palantir further states that it supports European governments in protecting their national security, including in Ukraine.

In a previous response to this same media consortium, Palantir denied accusations of its involvement in human rights violations.

Repairing Brexit economic damage should be Burnham’s top priority, business chief says

Shevaun Haviland argues PM is right to revisit Labour’s EU red lines as current trading relationship is bad for business

Repairing the economic damage of Brexit should be the top priority for Andy Burnham as he reconsiders Labour’s red lines on EU membership, the head of one of Britain’s leading business groups has said.

Shevaun Haviland, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said she welcomed the prime minister reopening the Brexit battle lines despite the uncertainty it could create, arguing that the UK’s current trading relationship with the EU was bad for business.

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© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

“È tornato a Downing Street dopo un piccolo intervento chirurgico ed è in via di ripresa”: l’aggiornamento di Downing Street sul celebre gatto Larry

15 October 2026 at 11:53

Larry, il celebre gatto che dal 2011 vive a Downing Street, era stato avvistato nei giorni scorsi con una cicatrice che aveva fatto crescere molta apprensione sui social. Il governo britannico ha quindi voluto rassicurare tutti i cittadini inglesi circa il gatto noto nel Regno Unito come “Chief Mouser Larry“.

“Il nostro cacciatore di topi, Larry, è tornato a Downing Street dopo un piccolo intervento chirurgico ed è in via di ripresa. Sta molto meglio, ma procede con cautela, un passo alla volta. Siamo grati ai veterinari per le loro cure eccezionali” ha spiegato in un post pubblicato su X l’ufficio del premier Andy Burnham.

Il gatto è arrivato a Downing Street è arrivato dalla Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, dietro la volontà dell’allora premier David Cameron. Il suo ingresso ufficiale nella sede del governo inglese avvene, infatti, il 15 settembre 2011.

Negli anni il gatto è diventato protagonista anche di alcune particolari incursioni durante le visite di capi di stato stranieri. Nel 2019, durante una visita del presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump, è comparso nella fotografia ufficiale sulla soglia di Downing Street e poche ore dopo è stato visto dormire proprio sotto l’auto blindata del presidente americano.

Our Chief Mouser Larry is back at Downing Street following a minor operation, and is recovering well.

He is feline much better but taking things one paw at a time.

We are grateful to the vets for their outstanding care. https://t.co/ScZ82a5o7n

— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) October 9, 2026

L'articolo “È tornato a Downing Street dopo un piccolo intervento chirurgico ed è in via di ripresa”: l’aggiornamento di Downing Street sul celebre gatto Larry proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Excluding UK from ‘Made in Europe’ law will hurt entire EU car industry, Mercedes boss warns

Ola Källenius says it will ‘weaken the industry on both sides’ ahead of act intended to counter non-EU competition

Locking the UK out of the EU’s flagship industrial “Made in Europe” legislation would amount to a “deliberate choice” by EU leaders to “hurt” the car industry across the bloc, the head of Mercedes-Benz has said.

Speaking in his capacity as president of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), Ola Källenius said such a move would “weaken the industry on both sides”.

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© Photograph: Christoph Steitz/Reuters

© Photograph: Christoph Steitz/Reuters

© Photograph: Christoph Steitz/Reuters

Burnham to host Zelenskyy at No 10 in show of ‘rock-solid’ support

Prime minister reiterates UK backing after the Ukrainian president’s latest round of difficulties with Donald Trump

Andy Burnham will host Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Downing Street on Wednesday as the UK seeks to further underline its support for the Ukrainian president, in contrast to his difficulties with Donald Trump.

The UK prime minister said his message to Zelenskyy and his country would be: “We are with you for as long as it takes.”

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© Photograph: Future Publishing/Getty Images

© Photograph: Future Publishing/Getty Images

© Photograph: Future Publishing/Getty Images

The Guardian view on Burnham’s Brexit reset: overdue, but proceed with care | Editorial

13 October 2026 at 18:30

The prime minister is correct to judge the time is right to push for closer links with the EU. The political risk is far outweighed by the potential rewards

The German philosopher GWF Hegel famously evoked the owl of Minerva when discussing the historical wisdom that comes through hindsight. This autumn, she has flown tirelessly over the landscape of British politics. Party conference season was dominated by conflicting Labour and Conservative accounts of the 1970s and 80s. And a decade after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, Andy Burnham this week abandoned all equivocation over the damage – economic but also strategic – that resulted from that decision.

Having declared that it is time to “face up to the reality that Brexit has done more harm than good”, Mr Burnham told the House of Commons on Monday that it would be a “dereliction of duty” not to explore all options for closer relations with Brussels. Though he confirmed that in this parliament he will honour the red lines in Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour manifesto, all bets will subsequently be off.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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© Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

Brexit Does Not Mean Brexit

13 October 2026 at 17:24

As he charges head first into the Brexit debate, Andy Burnham resembles no one so much as Donald Trump, says Prof James Alexander: cause a stir via wild assertions, the better to give cover to what you really want to do.

The post Brexit Does Not Mean Brexit appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Brexiters can’t cope with the fact that Putin was cheering them on | Rafael Behr

13 October 2026 at 16:21

Russian meddling probably didn’t affect the referendum result – but the Kremlin’s motives for wanting to undermine the EU still matter

Russian territorial aggression against Ukraine didn’t feature much in the Brexit referendum campaign. It made headlines briefly when Boris Johnson blamed Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea on the European Union.

According to the Vote Leave frontman, Vladimir Putin’s land grab was a consequence of Brussels making foreign policy “on the hoof” and having “pretensions to running a defence policy”.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

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© Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images/Reuters/EPA

© Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images/Reuters/EPA

© Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images/Reuters/EPA

Russia did try to interfere in Brexit referendum, head of MI5 confirms

Ken McCallum says Kremlin attempted to influence vote through social media and TV reports but had little impact

Russia did try to interfere in the Brexit referendum through social media and television reports, the head of MI5 said on Tuesday, but he added that did not mean the Kremlin had any impact on the result.

Ken McCallum endorsed comments by Andy Burnham, who raised the issue over the past two days, though he said continuing to debate it risked giving the Kremlin a needless propaganda victory.

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© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Reuters

© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Reuters

© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Reuters

Who Will the Next Party Leaders Be?

13 October 2026 at 13:00

Amid renewed speculation about an early General Election, now is the time to look at whom to put money on as the next party leaders, says Mark Littlewood in his latest Political Betting column for the Daily Sceptic.

The post Who Will the Next Party Leaders Be? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

MI5 chief Ken McCallum confirms Russia did interfere in Brexit referendum but says it had little impact – as it happened

13 October 2026 at 17:23

He argued there was no evidence to suggest the result of the Brexit vote had been swayed as a result of the effort

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, has said he does not agree with his colleague Suella Braverman’s assertion that black people cannot be English.

Asked about her views in an interview on Sky News, Yusuf said:

In my view Ashley Cole is the best English fullback in history, and I won’t take any other position. So in my view, Ashley Cole is English. I think the argument that he’s not English doesn’t hold water with me.

Nasser Hussain, who I grew up watching when I went to the cricket, the idea that those people aren’t English is an alien concept to me.

I would respectfully disagree with people, who make the opposite argument.

To say I’m English is to take a ‘laissez-faire, anything-goes’ attitude to ethnicity, citizenship and identity. It also denies me my Asian heritage. The liberals (many of them in today’s Conservative party) take this cosmopolitan approach to Englishness. They’re terrified of being called racist so they say that anyone, as long as they’re born here, can be English.

I take the conservative approach. Englishness is an ethnicity. There have been English people for centuries and we need to recognise this more if we are to start taking a more muscular approach to citizenship and nationality. And no, it’s not racist to say this.

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© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Reuters

© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Reuters

© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Reuters

Suspected plot at U.S.-run air base almost certainly directed by Iran, UK prime minister says

12 October 2026 at 23:25
A suspected plot to attack a U.S.-run military air base in England was "almost certainly" directed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday.

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