Markus Andrews

One of Britain’s richest men, who donated £1m to Brexit campaigns, says he’s considering moving permanently to Australia after delivering a damning assessment of a UK “in chaos”.Lord Edmiston was ranked 187th on the Sunday Times Rich list this year with an estimated wealth of £855m, after making his fortune through his IM Group empire, which started by importing cars and later expanded into property and finance.In 2011 he was made a Conservative life peer before he retired from the House of Lords four years later to focus on his evangelical charity, Christian Vision, where his donations make him one of the UK’s biggest philanthropic donors. The devout Christian has also donated £1m to pro-Brexit campaigns, including £850,000 to Vote Leave through his company before the 2016 EU referendum. But with his son, Andrew, taking a bigger hand in running the West Midlands-based business, Lord Edmiston told The Independent he is spending more time out of the UK, having semi-retired to Portugal in 2016 and built a property in Australia.Now, he has revealed that he and his wife Lady Edmiston are considering going a step further by applying for permanent residency in Australia. He put it down to family reasons and a warmer climate, but also fired off criticism of the NHS and the country’s tax system. Lord Edmiston’s company IM Group donated £850,000 to Vote Leave, which had Boris Johnson as one of its figureheads More

A panicked Downing Street briefing about Keir Starmer’s plans to fight off any attempts to oust him has fuelled speculation about who could replace him as leader. The clock has been ticking for some time now on a prime minister who has seen terrible polling ratings get progressively worse in his 16 months in power.Sir Keir was being given until the crucial elections next May – and potential calamities in Scotland, Wales and London – before MPs would consider a move against him, but if the Budget in a fortnight’s time lands badly then his demise could come sooner.Sir Keir Starmer’s senior political aides are said to have warned against attempts to oust him (Jack Taylor/PA) More

A senior member of the British government on Wednesday denied he’s plotting to oust Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a sign of deep anxiety in the Labour Party over its dire poll ratings less than 18 months after a landslide election victory.Health Secretary Wes Streeting said talk of a leadership challenge by Labour officials and lawmakers is “self-defeating and self-destructive.” He spoke after aides to the prime minister preemptively told British media outlets that Starmer would fight any leadership challenge.“It’s totally self-defeating briefing, not least because it’s not true,” he told Sky News. He said “whoever’s been briefing this has been watching too much ‘Celebrity Traitors’,” referring to the hit reality TV show that pits faithful members of a group against conniving enemies within.The 42-year-old health secretary is one of the government’s most effective communicators and is widely tipped as a future party leader.A challenge this early in a government’s five-year term would be highly unusual. But Labour lawmakers are gloomy about opinion polls that consistently put Labour well behind the hard-right Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage – though ahead of the main opposition Conservative Party, which faces crises of its own.They are nervous about the annual budget statement on Nov. 26, which is expected to include income tax hikes, breaking an election promise.Since being elected in July 2024, Starmer’s government has struggled to deliver on its pledges to get the economy growing, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living. Inflation remains stubbornly high, unemployment has risen and the economic outlook subdued. Latest figures released Tuesday showed that the jobless rate has gone up to 5% in the three months to September from 4.8% in the previous three months — the highest since 2016 once the COVID-19 pandemic years were factored out.Under Labour Party rules, a lawmaker can mount a leadership challenge if they have the support of 20% of their colleagues, a threshold that currently stands at 81 members of Parliament.Britain’s parliamentary political system allows a governing party to change prime minister without the need for an early election, though unelected prime ministers face pressure to demonstrate their legitimacy by going to voters.The U.K. had three Conservative prime ministers – Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – between the last two elections in December 2019 and July 2024. More

A group of wealthy Britons are calling for increased taxes on the rich, claiming that such measures could “lift kids out of poverty” and significantly contribute to rebuilding public services. The campaign group, Patriotic Millionaires, believes Chancellor Rachel Reeves could generate up to £36 billion annually through reforms to capital gains tax and the introduction of a new wealth tax. This appeal comes ahead of Ms Reeves’s upcoming Budget announcement in Westminster later this month.Group member Phil White said: “It’s time for the wealthiest – people like us – to pay a fairer share, so we can help lift these kids out of poverty and begin rebuilding our public services and communities right across the UK.”Speaking as Patriotic Millionaires began a tour to take its message to key cities across the UK, Mr White added: “We all want to live in a society where everyone has a decent shot at life – but at the moment that just isn’t the case.“The gap between the super-rich and everyone else grows by the day.“In Scotland, around one in five children live in poverty, while the country’s five richest families own a combined £19.3 billion – more wealth than a quarter of the population put together.”Patriotic Millionaires, believes Chancellor Rachel Reeves could generate up to £36 billion annually through reforms to capital gains tax and the introduction of a new wealth tax More

Downing Street is preparing to defend the prime minister from any attempt to remove him in a coup, with a number of ministers being proposed as a possible successor.Sir Keir Starmer has been subject to months of rumours that he could be replaced as Labour continue to tank in the polls under his leadership. Several reports on Tuesday evening suggested the prime minister’s position could be challenged after the Budget later this month or next year’s local elections in May.Sources claimed health secretary Wes Streeting has made moves to replace Sir Keir and loyalists within No 10 are said to fear his job could be under threat.Mr Streeting, who is due to appear on the morning media round for the government on Wednesday, has denied the claims, but other names are also said to be in the frame.One senior figure told The Independent that the highly respected defence secretary John Healey is being put forward as “a continuity candidate” and “safe pair of hands”.Meanwhile, home secretary Shabana Mahmood is another name in contention, while the left of the party is looking for former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner to make a comeback or energy secretary Ed Miliband to have a second go as leader.Under pressure: Starmer with the chancellor Rachel Reeves More