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Donald Trump praises ‘natural businessperson’ Andy Burnham after first meeting

Original reporting
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Trump says he can do business with Burnham but criticises 'terrible' Chagos deal
The UK has proposed handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and paying to lease back an important military base.

Reform MSPs walk out of parliament in protest against independence debate
The party's leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, describes the debate as an insult and a waste of time.

UK politics: Trump says he has a better UK relationship with Burnham as PM – as it happened
US president says Burnham will be ‘a great PM’ in friendly first meeting on the sidelines of UN General Assembly but makes jibe at Starmer If Andy Burnham wanted to inject some edge into his meeting with Donald Trump later (which he doesn’t), he could bring along a copy of today’s Financial Times. This front page headline speaks for itself. Mortgages ‘on the front line’ as Iran war deals £840 blow to homeowners British homeowners are paying an average of £840 a year more when they refinance their mortgages, as the rising borrowing costs triggered by the Iran war start to impact consumers’ spending power. Approximately 1m households have rolled off fixed-rate mortgage deals since February, according to Bank of England data. Continue reading...

The Guardian view on the Lib Dems: Ed Davey wants Tory voters without losing the left | Editorial
The party leader offers social liberalism and lower taxes, hoping opposition to Reform UK will hold together voters with competing economic interests Sir Ed Davey’s speech at the Liberal Democrat party conference was a calculated appeal to voters who recoil from a rightwing bloc associated with Brexit, nationalism and reactionary politics. That’s not a bad place to start. But he wants this message not to be lost in the headlines about his party’s £17bn tax giveaway aimed at disillusioned Conservative voters. To walk that line, his address sought to present Reform UK’s politics as an existential threat to Britain, appealing directly to left-leaning tactical voters. At the same time, he told moderate Tories that only a vote for the Lib Dems can reliably block both Reform and a Conservative-supported Nigel Farage premiership. It’s a clever strategy. Too clever, think some in his party, who

Reform UK-led council ends support for Show Racism the Red Card
Charity’s head coach ‘shocked’ after Sunderland council leader says it will not support ‘politically charged’ groups Anti-racism education in some schools will be scrapped after a city council now led by Reform UK ended its 30-year support for the charity Show Racism the Red Card. Announcing the decision last week, the Reform leader of Sunderland city council, Christopher Eynon, said it would no longer support “politically charged organisations with an agenda”. Continue reading...

Laura Anne Jones elected Reform's deputy Welsh leader
She fills the vacancy left by Helen Jenner becoming leader on Monday.