Eleni Courea

Westminster

Political Correspondent at The Guardian

Political correspondent @guardian. Previously @politicoeurope @thetimes 🇨🇾 Get in touch — contact details in pinned tweet 👇

Articles

Potential role for Chinese firm in key UK windfarm attracts government scrutiny

2 days ago | theguardian.com | Eleni Courea

Ministers are weighing up proposals for a Chinese company to supply wind turbines for a major offshore windfarm in the North Sea. The government is in discussions with Green Volt North Sea over whether Mingyang, China’s biggest offshore wind company, should supply the wind turbines. Mingyang has emerged as the preferred manufacturer, but the company has sought advice from ministers on whether to proceed.
Nigel Farage is a hit on TikTok - but are young voters listening or laughing?

3 days ago | theguardian.com | Raphael Boyd |Michael Goodier |Eleni Courea

On social media they call it “clout”. The term refers to the amount of influence a personality can command through their posts and followers who like and share their content. Among UK politicians, one man has more of it than all the others put together.
Trump and Starmer confirm ‘breakthrough’ US-UK trade deal

6 days ago | theguardian.com | Eleni Courea |Callum Jones

Donald Trump and Keir Starmer have announced a “breakthrough” trade deal that is expected to slash US tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel. Speaking from the White House, with Keir Starmer on speakerphone, the US president said the bond between the US and UK would be “stronger than ever before”. Starmer said it was a “fantastic, historic day” for the two countries and that the agreement was “hugely important for sectors like car manufacturing, and for steel and aluminium and so many others.
Keir Starmer to make statement on US trade talks after reports of deal

6 days ago | theguardian.com | Eleni Courea

Keir Starmer will make a statement on trade talks with the US on Thursday amid reports that the UK has reached an agreement with Donald Trump. Trump and Starmer are expected to unveil the agreement later, which is likely to focus on lowering US tariffs on specific products such as British steel, aluminium and cars. Trump said on Wednesday that he was preparing to announce “a major trade deal with representatives of a big, and highly respected, country”.
Has the UK-India trade deal ‘sold out British workers’ as Farage and Badenoch claim?

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Eleni Courea

A multibillion-pound free trade agreement with India has long been touted as a big Brexit boon. Cheaper clothes and shoes for British shoppers, a huge market for scotch whisky producers and luxury carmakers, and billions of pounds worth of extra trade are among the benefits of the agreement, which was finalised this week. But all these have been overshadowed by a row over national insurance contributions (NICs).
Keeping Farage from No 10 is ‘a battle for UK’s future, heart and soul’, Labour MPs told

1 week ago | aol.co.uk | Jessica Elgot |Aletha Adu |Eleni Courea

Labour MPs have ramped up pressure on the Treasury, calling for an economic reset after the Reform UK surge in the local elections and saying that the economy is stuck in a “doom loop”. The warning comes from the influential Labour Growth Group (LGG), a large caucus of loyalist new MPs who have lobbied the government to go further on planning and energy reforms. Its chair said that, without drastic action, the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was on course to become prime minister.
UK and India agree trade deal after three years of negotiations

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Eleni Courea

Britain and India have agreed a long-desired trade deal that ministers said would add £4.8bn to the UK economy a year by 2040. The agreement, which was finalised on Tuesday after more than three years of negotiations under successive governments, has long been touted as one of the biggest prizes of Brexit. Keir Starmer said the “landmark deal” with India would “grow the economy and deliver for British people and business” after a call with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Britain has one of most difficult voter registration processes, report finds

1 week ago | ca.news.yahoo.com | Eleni Courea

Researchers found that of 28 liberal democracies, the UK, Ireland and Barbados were the countries where it was most difficult to register to vote. Researchers found that of 28 liberal democracies, the UK, Ireland and Barbados were the countries where it was most difficult to register to vote. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPAThe UK has one of the most difficult voter registration processes among liberal democracies, according to research that examined 62 countries.
Ministers reconsider changes to UK copyright law ahead of vote

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Eleni Courea |Dan Milmo

Ministers are rethinking changes to copyright law before a vote in parliament next week, in a further concession to artists, the Guardian has learned. A source close to Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, said proposals to introduce an opt-out system of copyright rules was no longer his preferred option but one of several being given consideration.
Now Farage not Starmer is feeding public’s appetite for change

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Eleni Courea

There was a time when any election campaign featuring the name Nigel Farage would have featured the word “Brexit” just as prominently. And yet, almost a decade after Farage orchestrated Britain’s great EU schism, and with the Reform leader emerging as a bigger political threat than ever, at this week’s local elections Brexit was not a word on the lips of voters.