Keir Starmer is a leader under a cloud with opponents inside and outside the Labour movement in full cry.
As he arrives in Liverpool for the second party conference since Labour won a 400-plus seat victory in mid-2024, Mr Starmer cuts an unpopular figure, despite Labour's dominant political position.
An eve of conference opinion poll that looked at the fate of every parliamentary seat in a general election found that the right-wing Reform UK party is in pole position to win the next election.
The rise of Reform to the top of the polls would translate to it winning more than 300 seats in the next election. Labour would sit below 150 seats.
YouGov said the rise of multi-party politics would mean the average constituency would be won on just 34 per cent of the vote, down from 40 per cent in 2024 and 55 per cent in 2019.
“Such a defeat for Labour would be an even greater loss of seats than the Conservatives experienced at the last general election, and a sharp turnaround from a majority victory that was expected by some to carry the party through at least two terms in office,” YouGov said.
The troubles the Labour leader faces are expected to be seen on the opening day of the conference on Sunday when supporters of the banned Palestine Action group line up at the conference security fence on Liverpool's dockside. Mass arrests can be expected to mar the start of the annual gathering.
Mr Starmer led the government decision to recognise the state of Palestine as part of a co-ordinated movement by almost a dozen states last week.
The party ranks are likely to applaud that decision but it won't be enough to assuage many who want to go further including an arms sales ban to Israel.
Mr Starmer's party lost seats against the trend in the last election to pro-Gaza independents, who are now joining with ex-Labour MPs − including former leader Jeremy Corbyn − to form a new left-wing alternative to Labour.
If there was a sliver of comfort for Mr Starmer from the YouGov poll it was the prediction that Mr Corbyn's Your Party will not make a breakthrough. Neither, the poll showed, will the growing Green Party under dynamic new leader Zack Polanski. It has likely success in just three seats − down from its current four.
Mr Starmer has seized on the polling to make his case that the next election will be fought on dividing lines. “There’s a battle for the soul of this country, now, as to what sort of country do we want to be,” he told a meeting of progressive leaders on Friday, including Canada's Mark Carney and Australia's Anthony Albanese.
“We must show our politics resolutely opposed to a status quo that doesn’t deliver for working people,” he said. “The worst thing we can do is to defend the status quo, it hasn’t worked for working people.”
Mistrust is not confined to the outsiders flocking to Nigel Farage's Reform banner. The poll said 53 per cent of Labour supporters disapproved of its record in government.
To take the fight to Reform, Mr Starmer is proposing a digital ID scheme as move to ensure migrants cannot work illegally. Pressure over migrant levels rises daily. On Friday it was revealed that an extra 750,000 people were added to the UK population in 2024, the second highest jump on record.
The backlash against digital IDs is expected to be strong. Political analysts and pollsters warn that nearly all segments of the population are against the idea.
Labour is pitching this as a solution to illegal immigration, but “the iron law of polarised debates is that people will always attribute the worst motivations to any policy advanced by people they don't like”, wrote Nick Barron of lobbying firm MHP.
“The narrative will soon flip, and Labour's lapsed supporters will come to see it as another attack on ordinary people. Labour has haemorrhaged support among lower-trust voter groups and this will damage their chances of winning them back.”
Mr Starmer's badging of the idea as BritCard went down badly among Scottish and Welsh electorates, while its legal implications in Northern Ireland could be serious.
Challenger
At the conference efforts to unite Labour on a tough stand on migration is set to be overshadowed by attention on Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. He has been forced to cut back his events to just three at Labour conference after publicly toying with a leadership challenge to Mr Starmer.
Leave aside that he is not an MP, Mr Burnham is still likely to garner plenty of attention and his events are expected to be standing room only.
A real race is under way for deputy leader after Mr Starmer lost his deputy Angela Rayner, who was exposed for tax failings. She and a raft of figures have left the senior team, spoiling the launch of Mr Starmer's Phase II of government.
It is the economy that troubles Labour strategists most. Having promised a change of government on a mission for economic growth it has instead faced a debt spiral. The consultancy EY said on Friday that while the UK economy was not stalled, it was stagnant.
“The UK economy continues to tread water, with GDP growth flatlining but avoiding outright contraction,” said Barret Kupelian, PwC UK chief economist on Friday.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces the conference as a diminished figure and came under further pressure after Mr Burnham took as his rallying cry the state of the economy, saying Labour policies should not be in hock to the bond markets.
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Florida: The critical Sunshine State
Though mostly conservative, Florida is usually always “close” in presidential elections. In most elections, the candidate that wins the Sunshine State almost always wins the election, as evidenced in 2016 when Trump took Florida, a state which has not had a democratic governor since 1991.
Joe Biden’s campaign has spent $100 million there to turn things around, understandable given the state’s crucial 29 electoral votes.
In 2016, Mr Trump’s democratic rival Hillary Clinton paid frequent visits to Florida though analysts concluded that she failed to appeal towards middle-class voters, whom Barack Obama won over in the previous election.
Six tips to secure your smart home
Most smart home devices are controlled via the owner's smartphone. Therefore, if you are using public wi-fi on your phone, always use a VPN (virtual private network) that offers strong security features and anonymises your internet connection.
Keep your smart home devices’ software up-to-date. Device makers often send regular updates - follow them without fail as they could provide protection from a new security risk.
Use two-factor authentication so that in addition to a password, your identity is authenticated by a second sign-in step like a code sent to your mobile number.
Set up a separate guest network for acquaintances and visitors to ensure the privacy of your IoT devices’ network.
Change the default privacy and security settings of your IoT devices to take extra steps to secure yourself and your home.
Always give your router a unique name, replacing the one generated by the manufacturer, to ensure a hacker cannot ascertain its make or model number.
MATCH INFO
Red Star Belgrade v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight (Thursday), UAE
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
The five pillars of Islam
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
Disability on screen
Empire — neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis; bipolar disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Rosewood and Transparent — heart issues
24: Legacy — PTSD;
Superstore and NCIS: New Orleans — wheelchair-bound
Taken and This Is Us — cancer
Trial & Error — cognitive disorder prosopagnosia (facial blindness and dyslexia)
Grey’s Anatomy — prosthetic leg
Scorpion — obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety
Switched at Birth — deafness
One Mississippi, Wentworth and Transparent — double mastectomy
Dragons — double amputee
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2019 Lincoln MKC
Price, base / as tested: Dh169,995 / Dh192,045
Engine: Turbocharged, 2.0-litre, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 253hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 389Nm @ 2,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.7L / 100km
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
TOP%2010%20MOST%20POLLUTED%20CITIES
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Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%20four-cyl%20turbo%20%2B%20mild%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E204hp%20at%205%2C800rpm%20%2B23hp%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E320Nm%20at%201%2C800rpm%20%2B205Nm%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E9-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7.3L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2FDecember%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh205%2C000%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Avatar%20(2009)
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
ASSASSIN'S%20CREED%20MIRAGE
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
