Nigel Farage has warned that a future Reform UK government would prevent trade unions from funding the Labour Party if unions succeed in pushing through a cap on political donations, after his own party received an unprecedented £72m from two donors. Trade unions responded with a joint statement stopping short of backing an outright cap on donations but calling for further action to curb the influence of big money in politics, setting up a wider row over party funding rules that matters because it touches both major parties' financial lifelines.

Elsewhere in UK politics, Dan Thomas resigned as leader of Reform UK in Wales after being arrested and bailed on suspicion of assault, while another Reform Senedd member defected to Plaid Cymru citing the party's "scapegoating" of vulnerable people. A separate inquiry found three babies might have survived and seven others could have been protected had hospital bosses acted sooner on concerns about nurse Lucy Letby. The government also confirmed pensioners will avoid tax on the full new state pension, more than 130 legal experts wrote to Andy Burnham arguing UK sanctions on Israeli settlements fall short of ICJ obligations, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she is revising plans to extend waiting times for indefinite leave to remain, following pressure over proposed 15-year waits for foreign care workers.