Rowena Mason

5 days ago | theguardian.com | Rowena Mason

The US deal on steel tariffs imposes conditions on the “nature of ownership” of British plants as part of its efforts to freeze out Chinese steel, it has emerged. It is understood Donald Trump’s administration pushed for requirements to be attached to the steel deal to ensure that the Chinese-owned British Steel plant in Scunthorpe was not used by Beijing as a backdoor to circumvent US tariffs.

5 days ago | theguardian.com | Rowena Mason

The Conservative party is fighting to justify its existence amid concerns that its pipeline of future voters is “completely dead”, a former cabinet minister and leading thinktank director has said. Simon Clarke, an ally of Boris Johnson who backed Kemi Badenoch for the leadership last year, was among a string of former Tory ministers and serving MPs to tell the Guardian she faced removal by her party if she did not turn its fortunes around by next year’s local elections.

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Rowena Mason

Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said the Conservatives cannot rule out becoming extinct because of a “massive earthquake” in politics that is seeing the fracturing of the old two-party system. Senior Conservatives are increasingly alarmed about polls that show support for the party plummeting, while Reform UK is soaring. Those supportive of the leadership have urged colleagues not to panic and to give Kemi Badenoch more time to turn things around.

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Rowena Mason

Keir Starmer has praised the “selfless dedication” of those who have served in the military before the anniversary of VE Day. In an open letter to mark 80 years since the end of the second world war in Europe, the prime minister said the sacrifice made by members of the armed forces was a debt that could “never fully be repaid”. He said the country would show how thankful it was during events to commemorate VE Day, which signalled the end of fighting on 8 May 1945.

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Rowena Mason

Reform UK has vowed to use “every instrument of power” to resist housing people seeking asylum in areas where it now controls councils, its chair has confirmed. Zia Yusuf, the party chair and a major donor, acknowledged it may not be able to stop people seeking asylum being put up in hotels where the Home Office has contracts with accommodation providers. However, he said the party would use “judicial reviews, injunctions, planning laws” in an effort to prevent them being accommodated.