The Standard

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has launched a crackdown on illegal migration, with new reforms aimed at stopping the UK being seen as a ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers. They include fast-tracking the deportation of illegal migrants, an overhaul of human rights law and changes to refugee status. The Home Secretary’s proposals are based on those adopted by Denmark, which has seen the number of illegal arrivals in the country plummet in ten years. The plans have been billed as the most radical since World War II, but have proven controversial, especially with backbench Labour MPs. As ministers face a growing revolt over the sweeping immigration changes, The Standard’s Chief Political Correspondent Rachael Burford is here with the latest. 

It’s been confirmed that the long-awaited Renter’s Rights Act will come into force next year on May 1, with the government setting out a staggered timeline for sweeping renters' reforms. As the biggest shake-up to private renting in a generation, the lobbying organisation Generation Rent described it as a “vital first step in righting the power imbalance between landlords and tenants”. But critics are concerned it will prompt more landlords to sell up.  We’re joined by Matt Hutchinson, Communications Director of flat-sharing site SpareRoom, who shares his perspective on the capital’s housing market, whether landlords will be deterred by the new housing regulations, and what further action the government should take.

On 5th November, Ugandan-born Zohran Mamdani secured an astounding, against-the-odds victory in the New York mayoral election, becoming the youngest person in over a century to lead the largest city in the US. It was Mamdani’s message about affordability and the high cost of living that resonated with voters in the Bronx and other underserved areas of New York, but now he has to actually deliver on this mandate for change. But can he actually run New York successfully, and how might the capital be impacted by his election win? We’re joined by Sarah Baxter, Director of the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting, in New York City.

Refugees and people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity are London’s most disadvantaged groups. To support them, The Standard is launching our Winter Appeal with the backing of Rita Ora - and in collaboration with Comic Relief, who have pledged £500,000 to get us underway. We’re joined by The Standard’s Campaigns Editor David Cohen, and CEO of Comic Relief, Samir Patel, to discuss how you can help the most vulnerable people in society - those who are homeless, struggling with food insecurity or who have been forced to flee their homes and are seeking asylum in the UK.Click here to make a donation.

Britain’s jobless rate has surged to its highest level for more than four-and-a-half years, as the labour market continues to weaken. London had the highest unemployment rate of any region in the UK at 6.5%, up 0.5% since the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics reports. Hikes to employer national insurance contributions have been largely blamed for the trend. But the grim jobless figures make a December interest rate cut from the Bank of England a near certainty. The capital has been hit particularly hard because of its large numbers of relatively low paid workers in hospitality and retail. It comes ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ autumn budget later in the month, when it’s widely expected that she will break Labour’s manifesto pledge and increase taxes in an attempt to kickstart the UK’s sluggish economy. The Standard’s Business Editor Jonathan Prynn is here with the latest. 

Communities Secretary Steve Reed, who is in charge of local government, has said he is “appalled” that serving London councillors are campaigning to become MPs in another country. He wrote to Tower Hamlets Council after it was revealed by The Standard that at least two of the borough’s elected representatives had launched campaigns to stand in upcoming elections in Bangladesh. Residents in Mile End have called on Sabina Khan to resign after she announced she was standing for the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) in polls in February. Independent councillor Ohid Ahmed, who represents Lansbury ward in Poplar, is also campaigning to become a BNP candidate. It comes as government envoys were sent into Tower Hamlets Council last year, over concerns about the party’s leadership, governance and culture. But are these councillors breaking the law by running for office abroad? The Standard’s Chief Political Correspondent Rachael Burford joins us with the latest.

Is the world’s richest man about to become even richer? Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now in with a shot of becoming a trillionaire, after a record-breaking pay deal was approved by 75 per cent of his company’s shareholders. It would give him stock worth one trillion dollars, if he hits certain performance targets over the next decade, including delivering 20 million Tesla vehicles and one million robots. Ann Lipton, a law professor at the University of Colorado who specialises in corporate governance and securities regulation is here with the latest.  And in part two, The Standard’s Commissioning Editor and Culture Writer Vicky Jessop joins us to review last night’s finale of the hugely popular Celebrity Traitors TV show.

Did you know Britain's courts are in crisis? After years of cuts by politicians, pandemic disruption and operational failures, The Standard’s special report explores the spiralling backlog of court cases that define our broken justice system. Defendants and victims talk about the impact of being trapped, waiting years - sometimes until 2029 or 2030 - for their cases to even come to court. The Standard’s Courts Correspondent Tristan Kirk reports on this shameful decline, and how jury trials could be axed as a possible solution. It comes as Justice Secretary David Lammy is under fire, as two criminals were mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth by mistake - with prison governors called in for crisis talks. He went on to admit that the government has a "mountain to climb" in tackling the prisons crisis, as it emerged that 40 more inmates may be wrongly freed before Christmas.

Today it’s been revealed that “human errors” led to some grooming gang police investigations being dropped, in the first stage of a massive review of cases involving child sexual abuse. The development came after The Standard's investigation uncovered cases of vulnerable young girls from across London who reported allegations of rape from multiple men but saw inadequate police action.Thousands of cases of rape and sexual assault are being reviewed as part of the National Crime Agency’s Operation Beaconport, which has been designed to rectify police failures to tackle grooming gangs. The Standard’s Chief Political Correspondent Rachael Burford is here with the latest. And in part two, The Standard’s Chief Theatre Critic and host of the London Theatre Review podcast, Nick Curtis, joins us to review the new production of Othello at the capital’s Theatre Royal Haymarket.