The government has ordered a statutory inquiry into Mayor, Lord Ben Houchen’s Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA). The move reflects concern in Whitehall about governance and value for money

Government says ambition for 2036 will be good for food and climate resilience, but concerns remain over funding The government has set an ambition to increase the share of English land farmed organically to 10% by 2036, but concerns remain over how the transition will be funded. Currently, just 3.4% of England’s agricultural land is farmed organically, one of the smallest shares in Europe. France, for example, farms 10.4% of its land organically, and aims to increase this to 18% by 2027. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Douglas Alexander, on trade delegation to India, talks up economic benefits of joint trading arrangements with Europe * UK politics live – latest updates Britain will benefit from much closer trading relations with the EU even if that means giving up its ability to negotiate free trade agreements, the Scotland secretary has said. Douglas Alexander helped negotiate deals with India and the US when he was a trade minister under Keir Starmer. Continue reading...

PM to pledge more backing for Ukraine despite the US president calling for the country’s leader to be removed.

Jonn Elledge: The Reform politician thinks he’s brave to say what he does – he’s actually just got no humanity

Ken McCallum says Kremlin attempted to influence vote through social media and TV reports but had little impact

Russian meddling probably didn’t affect the referendum result – but the Kremlin’s motives for wanting to undermine the EU still matter, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

The president’s actions over the past 72 hours look like an effort to force Kyiv to surrender.

Britain is reopening the question of Europe. This time, we need an honest debate before choosing again

Let’s be clear: the risk to humanity is unprecedented. Without an urgent public debate and robust use of international law, we will lose control of the future, says Labour life peer Richard Hermer