UK Labour government

The UK government is set to open new refugee resettlement routes for Afghan women and girls as well as Palestinians, according to a Guardian report. The announcement, attributed to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, is being made around the Labour Party Conference in 2026. The move would create dedicated legal pathways for two groups facing acute insecurity, and it is drawing attention amid ongoing debate over Britain's asylum and migration policy.

Police arrested Palestine Action demonstrators outside the UK Labour Party conference on September 28, according to Al Jazeera. The protesters were demonstrating against the UK government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. The arrests highlight ongoing tensions over the ban and the limits of protest around Britain's Palestine policy.

Defence Secretary John Healey is set to use a UK Labour conference speech to promise a 'new age of industrialisation' for Britain. The pledge is expected to centre on boosting domestic defence manufacturing and industrial investment, and is drawing attention as part of the government's economic messaging at the annual party conference.

Foreign secretary Ed Miliband will use his speech to the Labour Party conference to acknowledge that the party's former stance on Palestine fell short, telling delegates 'we are not here to accept the status quo but to change it'. The remarks signal a shift in the government's framing of UK Middle East policy and are likely to spark debate within Labour over its historical position.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester and a potential Labour leadership contender, has pledged to make social care reform a central issue of the next UK general election. He argues that funding and fixing adult social care has been delayed for decades and should be a top national priority, putting pressure on the government and his own party to set out concrete plans.

The civil liberties group Liberty says the Labour government's failure to protect free speech could cost it votes at the next UK general election. The warning, reported by The Guardian, frames free speech protections as an electoral liability issue, adding to pressure on Labour over civil liberties policy ahead of the national vote.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, demanding an end to British support for Israel and full sanctions over the war in Gaza. Protesters called on the UK government to stop arms sales and take a harder line as the conference drew party members and media to the city.