Gary Gibbon

City of Westminster

Editor at Channel 4 News

News and gossip from the corridors of power in Westminster and beyond from the @Channel4News Political Editor.

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Zia Yusuf resigns as Reform UK chairman after less than a year

2 days ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

Reform UK announced its chairman Zia Yusuf has quit after less than a year in the job. In a short statement on social media – he said that working to get a Reform government elected was no longer “a good use of my time”.
Is Starmer’s defence plan ‘fantasy economics’?

5 days ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

We spoke to the Prime Minister during his trip to Glasgow and asked him about the scale of the threat the country now faces.
UK signs £100m-a-year deal returning Chagos Island to Mauritius

2 weeks ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

The UK has signed a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and lease back a crucial military base there for £101 million a year. The deal was blocked at the last minute after an injunction was filed at 2:30 Thursday morning. But a High Court judge overturned the injunction in the afternoon. Campaigners behind the legal intervention have called it a “very, very sad day”, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that the deal is ‘of the utmost significance to Britain.’
Shorter prison stays for criminals including sex offenders

2 weeks ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood will allow some criminals to be released from custody a third of the way through their sentences in order to ease the pressure on crowded prisons. She told MPs she was accepting most of the proposals put forward by the former Conservative Justice Secretary David Gauke to let well-behaved prisoners out early and scrap most short custodial sentences altogether. The government will also widen the use of chemical libido suppressants for some sex offenders.
PM says more pensioners to be eligible for winter fuel payments

2 weeks ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

Fresh from winning power last July, Labour got its bad news out quickly and cut winter fuel payments for more than nine million pensioners. Ten months on, after the cold shoulder from voters in the local elections and a growing backlash among his own MPs, Sir Keir Starmer has u-turned. He says more pensioners will be eligible for the benefit – though how many won’t be clear till the Autumn Budget
The new UK-EU post-Brexit deal explained

2 weeks ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

Sir Keir Starmer called the EU-UK trade deal a “new era” in Britain’s relations with Europe. The President of the European Commission said it was “turning the page” after Brexit. As well as increased cooperation on defence and travel for young people, the deal gives Britain more access to the EU’s agrifood and energy marketsĀ – in return for agreeing to mirror their rules. EU fishermen will continue to have access to UK waters until 2038. The Conservatives and Reform UK said that was a sell out.
Failed asylum seekers could be sent abroad under new plans

3 weeks ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

Sir Keir Starmer has announced for the first time he’s discussing whether failed asylum seekers could be deported from Britain to specially built camps in Eastern Europe. On a trip to Albania, the Prime Minister said he was in talks with several countries about the plans. But there was an awkward moment when the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama immediately said that his country would definitely not be a host for a British so-called “return hub”.
Starmer vows to ‘significantly’ reduce migration figures

3 weeks ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

The Prime Minister is promising a significant fall in immigration in the next four years, but refusing to put a number on it. Blaming the Tories for running an ‘open borders experiment’ he announced new plans to cut the numbers coming in on visas. Nigel Farage accused Labour of being panicked by Reform’s success. While on the left, he was accused of ramping-up anti-immigrant rhetoric, with echoes of Enoch Powell.
UK and US reach ‘historic’ deal to reduce Trump tariffs

1 month ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

Sir Keir Starmer was hailing what he called a “fantastic, historic day” as Donald Trump announced details of a new trade deal between the US and the UK. The 25% tariff on British steel and aluminium is gone altogether, and duties on car exports have been slashed to 10%. Both countries will allow more imports of beef, but the government insists food standards will not be changing.
UK and India sign ‘landmark’ trade deal

1 month ago | channel4.com | Gary Gibbon

After last week’s local elections, MPs – including Reform UK’s new MP for Runcorn – were back in Westminster. While Nigel Farage and his team were in celebratory mood, both Conservative and Labour MPs have been gloomily wondering how they can win back the trust of the electorate. Sir Keir Starmer hoped to cheer up his backbenchers with the news that the government has signed a trade deal with India.