Politics

5 top UK news stories today: Starmer’s latest U-turn, big ramp up in war spending, Lloyds in hot water for looking at staff accounts & more (17 February 2026)

Ryan Brothwell 17 February 2026 3 min read

Here’s your UK news roundup for Tuesday (17 February 2026):

Starmer abandons plans to delay local elections in England in latest U-turn

Keir Starmer has been forced to abandon plans to delay local elections with less than three months’ notice in another policy U-turn that has prompted anger among his own MPs and scorn from opposition leaders. The Prime Minister is under fire after ministers said on Monday they were abandoning plans to delay local elections in 30 places in England – a decision that will cost taxpayers millions of pounds in administrative costs. Steve Reed, the local government secretary, announced the reversal after officials decided they were likely to lose a legal challenge brought by Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK. [Guardian]

Government plans to spend £13 billion on preparing for war

Starmer is planning to ramp up the UK’s military spending but is unlikely to hit a benchmark to spend 3% of national income on defence by 2029. Talks are taking place in Whitehall aimed at accelerating a funding uplift for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), but there are concerns in Government about how it will be paid for. On Monday, the BBC reported that Downing Street is considering spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence during the current Parliament, which is due to end in 2029.
This compares to a plan set out by Starmer last year to spend 2.6 % of GDP by 2027, and 3 per cent by the end of the next parliament in 2034. The accelerated funding has been prompted by increasing Russian aggression and concerns that the US is now a less reliable ally under Donald Trump.

Lloyds in hot water for looking at staff accounts

The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group has acknowledged there have been concerns over its use of information from staff bank accounts as part of pay negotiations. Charlie Nunn said “we have definitely listened” after the UK’s biggest lender was criticised for comparing employees’ spending habits to the wider public to show if they weathered the cost-of-living crisis better. The group was found to have looked at the data of staff who banked with Lloyds, along with the savings rates and salary increases of its lowest-paid workers, and assessed them against its customers. [BBC]

Hundreds arrested for phone theft in London

More than 200 people have been arrested in the past four weeks as part of a phone theft crackdown in London, with drones and facial recognition used to catch those responsible. The Metropolitan Police said officers had made 248 arrests for stealing mobiles and seized about 770 devices, with a further 122 people arrested for other offences as part of a wider effort. [Sky News]