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Opinion

Labour delays new child rape offences carrying life sentences

Rape charges carrying a life maximum already exist for cases where prosecutors can disprove consent, but Baroness Casey found cases downgraded where 13 to 15-year-olds were said to have consented. The new offences removing that requirement received royal assent in April yet remain uncommenced, with an impact assessment forecasting 200 to 350 extra prison places at a time when around 4,500 other prisoners are being released early.

Vicky Richter · 13 October 2026
Opinion

Burnham claims Russia interfered in the Brexit vote

The Prime Minister says he received a "clear answer" that Russia interfered in the 2016 referendum, but has not published the evidence. A Foreign Office minister has since insisted that Russian attempts to influence the vote were unsuccessful.

Vicky Richter · 12 October 2026
Opinion

NHS waits could remain nearly twice Labour's 18-week pledge by 2029, analysis suggests

New Health Foundation modelling suggests that, if recent trends continue, the waiting-time threshold for 92 per cent of incomplete NHS referral-to-treatment pathways in England could reach almost 35 weeks by 2029, against the 18-week standard. The findings raise questions about whether Andy Burnham's Government can deliver Labour's pledge.

Vicky Richter · 8 October 2026
Opinion

Veterans treated as 'expendable pawns' for EU reset, ex-Army chiefs claim

Four of the British Army's most senior former officers have accused the Government of "duplicity" over its Troubles legislation, alleging that the legacy framework agreed with Dublin and the wider reset with Brussels are being put above the duty owed to soldiers who served in Northern Ireland.

Vicky Richter · 4 October 2026
Opinion

Burnham's Rejoin Gamble

The Prime Minister has put EU membership back on the table and refused to rule out a future referendum, reopening a Brexit argument Labour had spent years trying to close.

Vicky Richter · 4 October 2026
Opinion

Who Dares Wins, Who Pays? SAS veterans fight back as £58m inquiry fuels fears of a 'witch hunt' against Britain's elite soldiers

The Afghanistan inquiry has cost the taxpayer £58m and has run for more than three and a half years without publishing a finding. As it drags on, the association representing more than 5,000 serving and former Special Forces personnel says it is ready to take the Government to court over separate Northern Ireland legacy legislation. Brigadier Ed Butler warns that years of unresolved legal jeopardy are already deterring soldiers from attempting SAS selection, and Britain's most dangerous military work depends on a small number of volunteers. The question is what happens to that pipeline if the men who do it come to believe the law will follow them for the rest of their lives.

Vicky Richter · 1 October 2026