ANDREW NEIL: In 55 years of covering politics, I've never accused any UK government of routinely telling untruths. But Starmer & Co have taken lying and gaslighting to a deplorable level
How can you tell when politicians are lying? Their lips are moving. It's a hoary old joke but it can still be guaranteed to raise a rueful chuckle among British voters increasingly disillusioned with the political process. I always thought it a tad unfair.
Yes, politicians do deploy all manner of contrivances to avoid telling the truth when it's inconvenient. As someone who's spent an adult lifetime interviewing them, I can readily testify to that.
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Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Diplomatic win for UK hosting US-China trade talks
Sky News understands that the Trump administration approached the UK government to ask if it would host round two of the US-China trade talks. This is a useful 'diplo-win' for the UK. The first round was held in Geneva last month. News of that happening came as a surprise. The Chinese and the Americans were in the midst of a Trump-instigated trade war. President Trump was en route to Saudi Arabia and suddenly we got word of talks in Switzerland. They went surprisingly well. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng, met face-to-face and agreed to suspend most tariffs for 90 days. But two weeks later, the Trump administration accused Beijing of breaking the agreements reached in Geneva. Beijing threw the blame back at Washington. On Wednesday, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping spoke by phone. The Chinese claimed this call was at the Americans' request. Either way, the consequence was that the talks were back on track. "I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, trade deal," President Trump said this week. From that call came the impetus for a second round of talks. A venue was needed. In stepped the UK at short notice. Beyond being geographically convenient, UK government sources suggest that Britain is geopolitically in the right place right now to act as this bridge and facilitator. The UK-China relationship is in the process of a "reset". Other locations, like Brussels or other EU capitals, would have been less workable. Crucially too, for the UK, this is also potentially advantageous as it seeks to get its own UK-US trade agreement, to eliminate or massively reduce tariffs, over the line. 5:08 Talks on reaching the "implementation phase" have been near-continuous since the announcement last month, but having the American principals in London is a plus. Sideline talks are possible, but even the presence of the US team in the UK is helpful. For all the chaos that President Trump is causing with his tariffs, he has instigated face-to-face conversations as he seeks resets. Key players are sitting down around tables - yes, to untangle the trade knots which Trump tied, but this whole episode has pulled foes together around the same table; it has forced relationships and maybe mutual understanding. That's useful. And for this next round, between superpowers, the UK is the host. Also useful.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Australian universities urge Albanese to join New Zealand in $170bn Europe fund amid Trump attacks on education
Australian universities are urging the Albanese government to join New Zealand in a $170bn Europe research fund amid US president Donald Trump's sweeping crackdown on higher education and international students. Universities Australia's executive officer, Luke Sheehy, travelled to Brussels this week to meet representatives from the European Commission and the Australian ambassador, Angus Campbell, to discuss the possibility of joining Horizon Europe. The seven-year scientific collaborative research fund, with a budget of €95.5bn ($168bn), has 20 non-European partners – including New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada – but the Australian government has so far been reluctant to join. Industry insiders have attributed the government's reluctance to potential costs. New Zealand will pay €19m ($33m) over five years to be part of the program. The EU is drawing up strategies for the next seven-year funding cycle, due to begin in 2028, with a proposal expected to be announced mid-year. About €36bn ($63bn) is still available to the end of 2027. In comparison, Australia's total annual spend on research across all sectors is less than $40bn. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Sheehy said in a rapidly changing global environment, association with the body would give Australian researchers access to a mega-fund and support international collaboration on key sectors, including health and the environment. 'Growing geopolitical uncertainties are threatening to reshape our existing research alliances and we must adapt to remain ahead of the game,' he said. 'If we're serious about building a prosperous and productive economy, we need a seat at the table, particularly in a changing and more complex global environment.' The trade minister, Don Farrell, is in Paris this week restarting negotiations on a trade deal with the EU. Sheehy 'strongly encourage[d]' him to make Australia's involvement in Horizon Europe a focus of conversations. 'There is a strong appetite in Europe to have Australia come on board,' Sheehy said. 'This would remove the biggest roadblock for Australian researchers and scientists working with their European and other counterparts around the world. It's mutually beneficial. 'For what is a relatively modest investment, our best and brightest would gain access to billions of dollars in potential funding to take their work to the next level.' The higher eduction sector has closely focussed on Horizon Europe since the Trump administration was accused of possible 'foreign interference' in Australia's universities in March, pausing funding for programs at more than six universities. Researchers who receive US funding were sent a questionnaire asking them to confirm they aligned with US government interests and promoted administration priorities – including avoiding 'DEI, woke gender ideology and the green new deal'. Australia's Group of Eight CEO, Vicki Thomson, wrote to then-industry minister, Ed Husic, earlier this year on behalf of its member universities and the European Australian Business Council (EABC) CEO, Jason Collins, urging Australia to associate with the research fund. It has prepared a brief for the ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, at his request. Thomson, also the EABC deputy chair, has lobbied the government to join Horizon Europe for more than a decade. She will be meeting with stakeholders for negotiations in the next fortnight as part of an EABC delegation to Europe. Thomson said association with Horizon Europe was 'critical' to boosting productivity and providing essential buffers against negative global trends. 'Like trade, changes to the global research funding environment are also sending shocks around the world,' she said. 'The US is withdrawing from international research collaboration through the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies as well as defunding research in diversity, equity and inclusion. 'In the face of this, it is imperative that Australia maintains and extends international research collaboration through formal association with Horizon Europe.' The Australian Academy of Science president, Prof Chennupati Jagadish AC, also wants Australia to join the lucrative research fund, pointing to a possible research vacuum in the face of an increasingly unstable US. In April, the body announced a new global talent attraction program to capitalise on academics disfranchised by the Trump administration's research cuts. Americans represent 40% of collaborators in Australian physical sciences publications – including observational systems relied on for cyclone tracking capability and onshore mRNA vaccine manufacturing. Jagadish said the government must 'immediately act to diversify risk' by expanding international research collaborations, focusing on Horizon Europe. The industry minister, Madeleine King, was approached for comment.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Illegal work arrests double in year as police target 'unscrupulous' employers
Arrests for illegal work have doubled in a year as police focus on "unscrupulous" employers who exploit undocumented migrants, the government officers arrested more than 6,400 people in the past year in raids at businesses across the UK, data released by the Home Office shows. It said the figure is 51% higher than the previous year. It did not provide numbers as to how many arrests led to charges, convictions or said immigration enforcement officials had "intensified" their work to "tackle those abusing the UK immigration system and exploiting vulnerable people". Officers had visited more than 9,000 businesses - among them restaurants, nail bars and construction sites - to check paperwork and working businesses had often subjected migrants to "squalid conditions and illegal working hours" as well as below-minimum Home Office said there were a range of industries exploiting migrant one case in Surrey, officers arrested nine people at a caravan park who had been working as delivery one one major operation in March, officers arrested 36 people at a building site in Belfast's Titanic Quarter. Some had breached visa conditions while others didn't have working Enforcement director Eddy Montgomery said there were many cases where people travelling to the UK were "sold a lie by smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in the UK."In reality, they often end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours," he Angela Eagle, the minister for border security and asylum, said the government would "continue to root out unscrupulous employers and disrupt illegal workers who undermine our border security".The government said it had also returned nearly 30,000 people over the past year who did not have the right to be in the has said it is cracking down on illegal migration, setting out its plans in a White Paper to tighten work visas and those overstaying. It scrapped a special visa for care workers introduced during the pandemic, noting that this had been a pathway exploited by was mixed reaction to the plans, with some business sectors decrying the restrictions on work visas, while some Conservative opponents said the reforms didn't go far enough to stop illegal most recent data shows that approximately 44,000 people have entered the UK illegally in the year to March 2025, more than 80% through small boat journeys.
