Markus Andrews

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreKeir Starmer has delivered an extraordinary condemnation of the current welfare benefits system, calling it “unsustainable, indefensible and unfair”.He was speaking at a private meeting of Labour MPs as the Government is poised to announce major cuts in benefits payments.Sir Keir’s comments mark one of the strongest condemnations of the welfare system ever delivered by a Labour prime minister and signals the biggest overhaul of the system since Iain Duncan Smith’s reforms to create universal credit in 2010.He warned that the bill for people of working age on long term sickness and disability benefits will hit an eye watering £70 billion by 2030.Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer say they are focusing on growth (Darren Staples/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read more Portugal’s minority government was in danger of falling Tuesday as parliament prepared to vote on a confidence motion, with an overwhelming majority of opposition lawmakers saying they will choose to oust the center-right administration.Under the Portuguese Constitution, the government’s defeat in a confidence vote triggers its collapse. That would bring Portugal’s third general election in three years at a time when Europe’s security and economy are under threat.The government asked for the confidence vote, saying it was needed to “dispel uncertainty” about its own future amid a simmering political crisis that has focused on Social Democrat Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and distracted attention from government policy.The controversy has revolved around potential conflicts of interest in the business dealings of Montenegro’s family law firm.Montenegro, who says he’ll stand for reelection if the government falls, has denied any wrongdoing. He said he placed control of the firm in the hands of his wife and children when he became Social Democratic leader in 2022 and has not been involved in its running.It recently emerged that the firm is receiving monthly payments from a company that has a major gambling concession granted by the government, among other sources of revenue.Opposition parties have demanded more detailed explanations from Montenegro, and the main opposition center-left Socialist Party wants a parliamentary inquiry that would dog the government for months.The government, made up of the Social Democratic Party and its smaller ally the Popular Party, has 80 seats in the 230-seat legislature. It has been in power for less than a year.An election would pitch the European Union country of 10.6 million people into months of political uncertainty just as it is in the process of investing more than 22 billion euros ($24 billion) in EU development funds.Portugal has also been caught up in a rising European tide of populism, with a radical-right party surging into third place in last year’s election. Voter discontent with a return to the polls could play into the hands of the Chega (Enough) party, which has fed off frustration with mainstream parties.The Social Democrats are hoping that economic growth estimated at 1.9% last year, compared with the EU’s 0.8% average, and a jobless rate of 6.4%, roughly the EU average, will keep their support firm.The next general election in Portugal was scheduled for January 2028. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreSir Keir Starmer has urged MPs to be realistic as he moved to crush a rebellion over massive welfare cuts planned for later this month in a speech to MPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).The prime minister has launched a preemptive strike as Labour MPs have privately voiced disquiet about plans by chancellor Rachel Reeves to slash benefits for the disabled and long-term sick as she tries to balance the books.He warned MPs: “The real world is moving quickly and people look to their government not to be buffeted about by that change – not even to merely respond to it – but to seize it and shape it for the benefit of the British people.”With Labour facing a tough by-election in Runcorn following the decision by disgraced MP Mike Amesbury to step down after being sentenced for assaulting a constituent, Sir Keir had an important message to get Labour MPs ready to fight their first real test since the election.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer marked International Women’s Day More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreMike Amesbury is quitting as an MP in a move which will see Sir Keir Starmer face off with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in his first by-election as prime minister.The suspended Labour MP was last month given a 10-week suspended prison sentence for drunkenly punching a constituent multiple times in the street.In an interview with the BBC, Amesbury said he was going to step down from parliament “as quickly as possible”. “I’m going to step aside at the earliest opportunity,” he said, adding: “I’ve got processes I must go through – there’s a statutory process in terms of redundancies.” Mike Amesbury was set to face a recall petition after being handed a suspended jail sentence More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreJustice secretary Shabana Mahmood is set for a confrontation with the Sentencing Council later this week after they wrote to her warning her against “dictating” to judges over new measures which she fears will create a “two tier” legal system.A spokesperson for Ms Mahmood has confirmed that a meeting is set to go ahead with the Sentencing Council on Thursday where she will make clear her displeasure at new guidance which could lead to lighter sentences for some based on ethnicity and gender.The Labour minister is in rare agreement with her right wing Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who raised the issue last week after the Sentencing Council ignored the views of ministers from the previous government to go ahead with the new guidelines.But after expressing her own disapproval of the guidelines, the Sentencing Council, which is independent of government, angrily put down Ms Mahmood’s objections this week and rejected claims it was creating a “two tier system”.Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood (Ben Whitley/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreMore details on the billions in welfare cuts Labour plans to make have been revealed as reports indicate ministers are looking to shave £5 billion from a disability benefit claimed by 3.6 million people.Reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are now widely expected, with Labour MPs understood to be divided on the cost-cutting policy package. The payment is designed to help people with extra costs incurred by their disability, whether they are working or not.The changes will include making it harder to qualify for PIP, likely by changing the descriptors assessors used to determine if an applicant is eligible for the benefit.Further savings are also to be made by freezing PIP payments next year, ITV reports, meaning they will not rise with inflation as in previous years.Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreTechnology Secretary Peter Kyle has said he will cut red tape so that technology like medical delivery drones can be made available more quickly.He told a tech conference that the Government would prioritise pro-innovation regulation in a dedicated plan for the sector, saying there is “no route to long-term growth and no solution to our productivity problem, without innovation”.A trial of medical drones to deliver blood samples in London could be derailed by a single noise complaint, and this is the kind of red tape that will be peeled away so technologies can be brought to market quickly, he said.It comes as former Conservative minister Lord David Willetts was confirmed as the first head of the new Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), a role in which he will be tasked with shaping regulatory approaches for new technologies.The Technology Secretary told the techUK conference: “Everywhere you see, there is an imbalance of power in this country which has – for too long – made it impossible to imagine a better future for Britain.“To deliver our Plan for Change we have to shift the balance of power, away from stagnation and old ideas, towards innovation and opportunity, and the bold people building a new future for Britain.“In doing so, by 2035 we could see a whole new Britain emerge, harnessing the power of technological development, from engineering biology to AI, semiconductors and cyber security, or quantum and future telecoms for a stronger economy and better lives for all in the UK.”Mr Kyle also announced the 10 winners of Innovate UK’s Quantum Missions Pilot, who will receive £12 million between them to help develop quantum computing and networking technologies.The RIO was launched in October and is intended to reduce the burdens for businesses looking to bring new products and services to the market.Lord Willetts said he is “honoured” to take on the role and hailed the “exciting opportunity to shape regulatory approaches that empower new technologies”.Among the technologies the body could help make available are delivery drones for medicines and AI training software for surgeons, officials at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said.Drones could also be looked at in relation to other industries such as faster delivery of packages or groceries.Lord Willetts served as the MP for Havant from 1992 to 2015, and was paymaster general for a time under Sir John Major, before returning to the government as universities and science minister in Lord David Cameron’s administration.Mr Kyle said Lord Willetts’ experience “will be key to streamlining innovation and unapologetically unleash the innovation that we know can improve lives”. More