Author: James Harden

US Senator John Fetterman, Democrat from Pennsylvania, is displayed on a screen as he delivers a video message during the Republican National Midterm Convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on Sept. 9, 2026. Kent Nishimura | AFP | Getty ImagesDemocratic Sen. John Fetterman on Wednesday night made a surprise appearance at the Republican midterm convention, an astonishing move that is bound to invite even more scrutiny about his party loyalty.”Yes, I’m a Democrat,” Fetterman, the first-term senator from Pennsylvania, said in a video played on the first night of the event nicknamed “Trumpapalooza” for its focus on…

The topic was raised in Westminster in response to SNP MP Chris Law.Burnham said the Good Friday Agreement made clear that a border poll would be “considered by the Northern Ireland Secretary when there is a clear consensus in the country, when public opinion has changed to the point where the call has to be considered.”The prime minister added: “I would say exactly the same situation in Scotland.”I am not aware that there is a majority of public support for another referendum and until that changes there won’t be one.”Downing Street said despite the comments there had been no change…

A sign is posted in front of the American Airlines Center ahead of the 2026 Republican National Committee (RNC) Midterm Convention on Sept. 8, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesThe Republican midterm convention kicked off Wednesday, with fewer than half of the candidates in the most competitive congressional races due to speak at the event that’s intended to give the party’s candidates a boost ahead of the November election.A CNBC analysis of the 45 most competitive House and Senate races this year found 19 of the candidates are slated for speaking spots at the two-day convention in Dallas.Among…

Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali has been selected as Labour’s candidate in the by-election for Sir Keir Starmer’s former seat.Abdi-Wali, who has led the council since May and has been a councillor for Camden Square since 2022, will stand in Holborn and St Pancras on 8 October.The seat became vacant after Sir Keir, who resigned as prime minister earlier this year, announced on 1 September that he was standing down as an MP, saying it was the right time to go and to focus on international affairs.Abdi-Wali said she was “delighted that local members have put their trust in me…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s push to calm the bond market is colliding with a more political role, as his planned Republican convention speech raises questions about the credibility he needs to manage U.S. debt markets.Bessent’s prime-time speech at the Republicans’ midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday will mark the first time in 50 years that a sitting Treasury secretary has spoken at a national political convention. The Dallas meeting is the first time the GOP has held a midterm convention. But the principles that have kept Treasury secretaries off the national convention stage since Treasury Secretary William E. Simon spoke…

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., attends the House Oversight Subcommittee in the Rayburn Building, June 30, 2026.Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty ImagesRepublicans are using their midterm convention to make a congressional stock-trading ban part of their anti-corruption pitch — even as President Donald Trump’s own investment accounts continue actively trading millions of dollars. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is one of at least two speakers expected to call for restrictions on congressional stock trading during the Dallas convention’s opening day Wednesday, which includes a focus on “Government Integrity.” Since returning to office, Trump has maintained an unusually…

A defence start-up whose backers include US tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is building a trio of factories in the US, Germany and Israel to mass-produce long-range weapons designed to counter threats from China, Russia and Iran.Washington-based Covenant told the FT it was emerging from two years in secretive “stealth mode” as it seeks to disrupt the western defence market with its Anthem “deep strike” munition.Anthem is intended as a cheaper alternative to weapons such as US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have a 1,600km range but cost several million dollars each and are in short supply because of production…

The government is to scrap its advisory body on social mobility, with a new “class unit” charged with improving life opportunities for poorer people.The move will see the abolition of the Social Mobility Commission (SMC), responsible for advising ministers on tackling inequality in England.Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson argued the move would bring the government’s efforts to tackle disadvantage “in-house”.But the commission’s outgoing chair Alun Francis criticised the decision, adding that class was a “messy concept around which to organise policy”. Previously known as the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, the body was renamed in 2016 when the Conservative-Liberal Democrat…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Sweden could see a party with neo-Nazi roots enter government for the first time after Sunday’s elections, a watershed moment in securing a formal role after years of reshaping the debate on migration and crime from outside power.The nationalist Sweden Democrats, who are not at present part of the centre-right coalition but support it from parliament, are expected to remain the biggest party on the right on Sunday, allowing them to receive the most ministerial posts.Opinion polls suggest a tightening race but…

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has rejected the chief rabbi’s warning that British Jews are at greater risk after the UK announced sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.Miliband said that as a “proud British Jew” he disagreed with UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who described the move as a “truly dark day” that would “succeed only in bolstering the very extremism they seek to target”.”We all need to do more to tackle antisemitism,” Miliband said, “but I believe we can do that and stand up for British values”.The sanctions on trade with illegal settlements in the occupied…