UK politics news today: homeless veterans, a plan to merge police forces, Labour MPs and the trans bill
By the Population Decides team. Every story summarised from several outlets, with links to the originals.
Good morning. It is Sunday 8 November 2026, Remembrance Sunday. Veterans living in tents and caravans on Salisbury Plain are asking the government for help, London's top police officer wants far fewer police forces, and some Labour MPs want a new law on conversion practices dropped. Tube drivers have also set strike dates running into the new year. Here is what happened and what it means for you.
Homeless veterans camp on Salisbury Plain as the country marks Remembrance Sunday
Former soldiers and airmen are living in tents, caravans and cars on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, saying they cannot find anywhere suitable to live.
LBC spoke to veterans at the camp, close to where the Army trains with live artillery. One former soldier who left the Army in 1992 has been there for over a year and faces another winter in a caravan. Another, in his 70s, served with the RAF from 1971 to 1990 and says his veterans' housing was sold off. Several said they live with PTSD, a mental health condition that can follow traumatic events. A local homelessness charity, ALABARÉ, says some veterans are "working but sleeping in cars" because rents are too high.
The Ministry of Defence says it is making record investment in support for veterans, including a £50 million UK wide service called VALOUR, and accepts there is more to do. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants to end rough sleeping. Shadow Veterans Minister Mark Francois says the government cut the budget for military housing and that grants are not reaching the people who need them. Wiltshire Council says it is talking to the small number of people camping there. Separately, the government says more than 23,000 digital Veteran Cards, which can help with GP registration and discounts, have been downloaded since October 2025. Find out what your MP is doing and track the government's promises.
Explain it like I'm 15
Some people who served in the armed forces have nowhere proper to live and are sleeping rough in fields. The government says it is spending more to help, but critics say the help is not reaching them.
The People's Verdict: What should be the main way to help homeless veterans?
Met Police chief says England and Wales should have far fewer police forces
Sir Mark Rowley, the head of London's Metropolitan Police, says the 43 police forces in England and Wales should be merged into as few as eight.
In a speech in Manchester, he said policing faces "inevitable decline" unless it changes. His plan is for eight to ten regional forces, backed by hundreds of local policing teams and a new National Police Service. He says each of the 43 forces repeats the same back office work, and cutting that would free up thousands of roles. He compared it to the NHS, where not every hospital offers every specialist service.
He also said police funding has fallen from around 0.9% of the UK's total income (GDP) to around 0.7% since 2010, while threats like fraud, online child abuse, cyber crime and organised gangs have grown. Supporters of merging say bigger forces could tackle crime that crosses county lines more easily. People who oppose big mergers often worry that local policing would lose its local link and become more remote. Try running public services yourself in the game or set the spending in the People's Budget.
Explain it like I'm 15
There are 43 separate police forces, each doing the same admin. London's police chief wants to merge them into about eight to save money and fight modern crime better.
The People's Verdict: Should police forces in England and Wales be merged into a handful of big regional forces?
Some Labour MPs urge the Prime Minister to scrap the conversion practices bill
A group of Labour MPs has asked Prime Minister Andy Burnham to drop a planned law banning conversion practices, according to The Telegraph.
Conversion practices are attempts to change someone's sexual orientation or transgender identity. The government's draft bill, which MPs are now examining, would make it a crime to do this deliberately through abusive acts that cause serious harm or distress. It would also be a crime to arrange for someone to be taken abroad for this. The Telegraph reports that the MPs fear parents could be treated as criminals for having honest conversations with their children about gender.
Equalities Minister Simon Lightwood says prosecutors would have to prove intent, abuse and serious harm, and that parents, religious practice, doctors and exploratory therapy, where a therapist helps someone think through their feelings without pushing an outcome, are protected. He says a ban was first promised by Theresa May's government in 2018, and accuses the Conservatives and Reform UK of trying to kill the bill. Critics say the wording is too wide and could affect free speech and family life. See where your MP stands.
Explain it like I'm 15
The government wants to ban abusive attempts to change someone's sexuality or gender identity. Some MPs worry the law could catch parents just talking to their children, while the government says families are protected.
The People's Verdict: What should happen to the conversion practices bill?
Tube drivers in the RMT union set eight strike days over Christmas and into 2027
The RMT union says London Underground drivers will strike on eight days between late November and February in a row over a new four day working week.
Each strike lasts 24 hours from noon, on 26 November, 17 and 19 December, 4 and 6 January, and 17, 23 and 25 February. Transport for London expects no service on the Circle and Piccadilly lines, the Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate, or the Central line between White City and Liverpool Street. Other lines should run but with disruption. Exact details will be confirmed nearer the time.
The plan would squeeze the working week into four longer days with slightly fewer hours in total. Transport for London says the change is voluntary. RMT leader Eddie Dempsey says there is "nothing voluntary" about it and that drivers would lose existing protections, though the union says it is not against a real four day week. Another drivers' union, Aslef, has already accepted the new rosters.
Explain it like I'm 15
If you use the London Underground, some lines may not run on eight days this winter, including two just before Christmas. Drivers in one union say new shift patterns are unfair, while bosses say no one is forced to change.
Conservative leader says Donald Trump deserved his midterm defeat
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says US President Donald Trump deserved his heavy losses in the recent American midterm elections, calling them "entirely self-inflicted".
Speaking to The Independent's Talk Show, she criticised his war in Iran, his tariffs, which are taxes on imports, and his threats towards Canada and Greenland. She said tariffs are bad for the cost of living and asked what his plan was on Iran. She said Britain needs to separate President Trump from the United States as a country, and that she did not like him being rude about the former Prime Minister.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also distanced himself from the President, telling LBC that the Iran war was a mistake and that the President broke promises. Both parties are competing for voters ahead of next year's elections, and how close to be to the US President has become a dividing line. Read about the 2027 elections.
Explain it like I'm 15
The two main parties on the right in Britain are both stepping back from the US President after his party lost badly in US elections. They think being close to him could cost them votes here.
HMRC says the interest it charges on late tax payments will go up, following the Bank of England's rise in interest rates to 4% on 5 November. Check your own finances with our Budget calculator.
Passengers hit by last week's bomb threat hoaxes at Heathrow and Birmingham airports are unlikely to get compensation, the Civil Aviation Authority says, because hoaxes count as an "extraordinary circumstance". Which? says airlines must still provide food, drink or a hotel and offer a refund or new flight. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says UK airport security is among the strongest in the world.
A second UK military satellite, Titania, is now in orbit. The Ministry of Defence says it is part of more than £3 billion of defence spending on space over the next four years.