Politics - Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Fractures were already emerging in the limited cease-fire. Vice President JD Vance will lead a U.S. delegation in talks this weekend.

Threat of losing benefits will be lifted but campaigners say more help needed to tackle hostile workplaces The government has unveiled its plan to allow disabled people to try work without fear of losing their benefits, but campaigners warn the policy does not go far enough to tackle hostile workplaces. Legislation laid before parliament on Thursday will mean that people who start work or volunteering no longer automatically face a benefit reassessment, a prospect disabled people said was holding them back from trying to gain employment. Continue reading...

Montgomery County Public Schools faces a federal complaint alleging its gender identity handbook helps staff keep parents in the dark about key decisions involving their children.

Ukraine’s president tells podcast he has tried to draw White House’s attention to collaboration between Moscow and Tehran over strikes on US bases How the Ukraine and Iran wars are starting to overlap Middle East crisis – live updates The US has ignored compelling evidence that Russia has been helping Iran to target US bases in the Middle East because it “trusts” Vladimir Putin, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Speaking in an interview with Alastair Campbell on The Rest is Politics podcast, Zelenskyy said he had tried to draw the White House’s attention to the close collaboration between Moscow and Tehran. Continue reading...

A lot of the money flowing into the political system is ultimately untraceable.

A Fox News Poll finds 75% of voters say government spending is wasteful, up nearly 20 points since last year, with bipartisan agreement rising.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a candidate for governor, had seized ballots from a 2025 special election based on unsubstantiated claims of election irregularities.

Karoline Leavitt says Trump's threat to destroy Iranian civilization was not a bluff, claiming it forced Iran to agree to a two-week ceasefire deal.

PM meets Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia before further visits to regional allies, who may see him as more reliable than Trump Middle East crisis – live updates The UK has a “job” to help reopen the strait of Hormuz, Keir Starmer has said, as Iranian reports said the key shipping route was closed again just hours after a supposed ceasefire. The prime minister met British and local military personnel at an airbase in Taif, Saudi Arabia, at the start of what is expected to be a wider trip to Gulf allies, one billed as a mirror to his efforts to pull together a plan for how a ceasefire might operate in Ukraine. Continue reading...

In a week in which President Trump has veered from threatening to wipe out Iranian civilization to declaring a cease-fire, Congress is out of session and lawmakers with the power to declare war are mostly in the dark.