October

Top GOP groups scale back North Carolina spending. The Senate Leadership Fund’s decision to pause future spending is the latest evidence Republicans are not confident Michael Whatley can win in a state President Donald Trump carried three times.

The Guardian view on the Conservative conference: a party still searching for a purpose | Editorial. Kemi Badenoch has a lot to say about Labour and Reform UK but none of it amounts to a coherent alternative programme for government The Conservative party is far from the margin of British politics, but it has yet to recover the relevance to which it feels historically entitled. The Tories are flattered by their status as the official opposition in parliament. In the wider country, Reform UK has set the agenda on the right, overtaking Kemi Badenoch’s party in opinion polls and poaching.

The Green party’s anti-Zionism motion is yet another attempt to tell Jews how we should think | Jonathan Freedland. The resolution shows little understanding of what Zionism is, who Jews are or how antisemitism works Tomorrow I will be in synagogue to say Kaddish, the traditional mourner’s prayer, in memory of my father who died eight years ago this week. If I were a member of the Green party, I would have reason to believe that that simple act could soon see me expelled as a racist. It sounds hyperbolic, but the warning comes from Green party activists opposed to.

Burnham to pass law scrapping pension triple lock before next election. Guarantee will remain until 2030, but MPs will vote on changes during this parliament, government says Andy Burnham will pass legislation to scrap the state pension triple lock in this parliament, even though the guarantee will remain until 2030, the government has said. The prime minister used his conference speech to announce a change to the policy, which guarantees that the state pension rises by the highest of 2.5%, inflation or earnings growth. Continue reading...

Greens can move Labour in the right direction, says Polanski. The Green leader tells his autumn conference that a vote for his party can force changes from Andy Burnham.

England school inspections to be overhauled again after barrage of complaints. Exclusive: Education secretary sends Ofsted back to ‘drawing board’ as teachers raise serious concerns about new system School inspections in England will be overhauled for the second time in a year, after a barrage of complaints that the new system was dangerously stressful and damaging teachers’ mental health. Lucy Powell, the education secretary, will tell the schools regulator Ofsted to “go back to the drawing board” after becoming concerned that inspection changes overseen by her predecessor, Bridget Phillipson, were creating problems for headteachers. Continue reading...