Markus Andrews

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorA health adviser to the Labour government has said the long-term sick must be forced to look for jobs to cut welfare costs and reduce the UK’s reliance on immigration.Former health secretary Alan Milburn, who has been brought in by the party to advise on NHS reform, said seven in 10 economically inactive people want to work but few are required to or have the help to do so.He called for fundamental reform of a “crazy” system.Former health secretary Alan Milburn called for reform of the ‘crazy’ system More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorJames Cleverly will become the first Tory to throw their hat in the ring and replace Rishi Sunak in what promises to be a fierce leadership battle.The former home secretary said he could “unite the Conservative Party and overturn Starmer’s loveless landslide” as he blew the race wide open with an emotional pitch featuring clips of home video of his childhood growing up in south London.In a post on social media, the shadow minister said he was running to “restore the confidence of the British people in us as a party” and “re-establish our reputation” as a party that “helps grow the economy, helps people achieve their goals, their dreams and their aspirations”.Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he said: “Over the next parliament, we must not descend into the infighting, navel-gazing and the internecine manoeuvrings at Westminster that plagued us in government.“In opposition we must be unified and disciplined, resolute in the job of holding the Labour Party to account on their promises.”For updates on the Tory leadership race – visit our live blog by clicking hereJames Cleverly has declared his candidacy in the race to replace Rishi Sunak More

Bibby Stockholm conditions ‘harrowing and humiliating’, claims MPSupport trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer has seen off a small rebellion from Labour backbench MPs in the Commons in a crunch vote over scrapping the two-child benefit cap.In total, there were 103 votes for the amendment, and 363 against, with the prime minister winning a majority of 170.Seven Labour MPs broke ranks and voted to scrap the amendment, which included Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Rebecca Long-Bailey, John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana.But the issue is unlikely to go away with Mr Starmer set to face further questioning on the benefit cap at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.It follows a night when former home secretary James Cleverly announced his intention to run for leadership of the Conservative party in a video on social media. A set of new dossiers published by the National Audit Office revealed on Tuesday the real state of government after 14 years of Tory rule.According to a NAO report, the NHS is at an “unprecedented” breaking point with health workers “working at the limits” of the system.Show latest update 1721786400New poll reveals voters main concerns as Starmer comes under pressureNearly half, 47 per cent, name the health service as the most important issue – the highest since December 2019, just before the pandemic hit.Immigration is also a growing issue, at the highest level since January 2017 and cited by 31 per cent of those asked.Salma Ouaguira24 July 2024 03:001721784600Labour to end use of Bibby Stockholm asylum accommodation bargeThe Government will end the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge for housing migrants off England’s south coast as part of an overhaul of the asylum system, the Home Office has announced.The contract for the barge moored in Dorset will not be renewed past January as demand for such accommodation will be reduced by moves to clear the asylum backlog, the department said.The vessel was one of several sites, including the military bases RAF Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, used by the previous Tory government in a bid to cut the cost of housing migrants in hotels.But the new Labour Government said continuing the use of the Bibby Stockholm would have cost more than £20 million next year, and that scrapping it forms part of the expected £7.7 billion of savings in asylum costs over the next 10 years.Dame Angela Eagle, minister for border security and asylum, said: “We are determined to restore order to the asylum system, so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced.“The Home Secretary has set out plans to start clearing the asylum backlog and making savings on accommodation which is running up vast bills for the taxpayer.“The Bibby Stockholm will continue to be in use until the contract expires in January 2025.”The Government’s efforts to tackle the UK’s asylum backlog include redeploying more than 100 Home Office staff from working on the now-scrapped Rwanda deportation scheme to focus on a “rapid returns unit” to send people with no right to be in the UK back to their home country.A view of the Bibby Stockholm barge at Portland Port in Dorset (Matt Keeble/PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorKeir Starmer has suspended seven Labour MPs after they voted, against the government, to scrap the two-child benefit cap.Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, ex-business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain and Zarah Sultana have been suspended from the parliamentary party.The move will be seen as a show of strength by the new prime minister after he easily saw off the first rebellion of his premiership, by 363 votes to 103, a majority of 260. In a bid to head off a larger revolt on the issue, ministers had said on Monday that they would consider ditching the “cruel” policy.But, just hours before the vote, the new work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said the government had to do “the sums” before it could commit to abolishing the limit.Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to axe the limit More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorPressure is mounting on the Labour government to rethink its policy on smartphones for under-16s, after a new survey of 10,000 parents saw more than half say they wish they had waited longer before handing the devices to their children.Experts have warned that “solutions are needed”, as three-quarters of respondents admitted they fear smartphones expose their children to internet dangers.The previous Conservative government promised to ban mobile phones from schools and was considering a ban on selling smartphones to under-16s.Sunak’s government was also looking at raising the minimum age for social media accounts More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLawlessness “characterises” pornographic websites, an MP has said, while a minister has agreed there is “much work to do” to tackle illegal behaviour online.Labour backbencher Tonia Antoniazzi labelled the laws which govern pimping and pornography a “fudge”, during a House of Commons adjournment debate she secured to discuss the prevention of commercial sexual exploitation.Victims minister Jess Phillips told the Commons that she has been unable to get images depicting her taken down from pornographic websites, weeks after Channel 4 News found more than 400 digitally altered pictures of more than 30 high-profile UK politicians online.Victims of sexual exploitation face criminal sanction for soliciting in a public place, while individuals who pay for sex only face criminal sanctions if they kerb crawl or pay for sex with an individual subjected to force, even then, the law is very rarely enforcedTonia Antoniazzi“Lawlessness characterises the online pornography trade with films featuring child sexual abuse, rape and trafficking victims found on some of the UK’s most heavily visited sites,” Ms Antoniazzi said.“Illegal content is freely accessible on mainstream pornography websites.”Gower MP Ms Antoniazzi referred to a 47-page All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Commercial Sexual Exploitation report from 2023 which featured a testimony from Alia Dewees.Ms Dewees told the APPG she had signed a contract when she took part in a pornographic film, so the organisers told her she was “expected to perform, or that (she) would be in violation of that contract”.On the buying and selling sex, Ms Antoniazzi said: “In England and Wales, there is a loose patchwork of laws relating to prostitution, with no consistent objective underpinning them.“Third-party facilitation of prostitution is illegal in some circumstances yet permitted in others.“Victims of sexual exploitation face criminal sanction for soliciting in a public place, while individuals who pay for sex only face criminal sanctions if they kerb crawl or pay for sex with an individual subjected to force, even then, the law is very rarely enforced.”Our laws have not kept pace with technological change and pimps have got rich as a resultTonia Antoniazzi MPShe claimed there had “not been sufficient political will” to update the statute books and added: “Pimping websites are commercial online platforms dedicated solely or partly to advertising women for prostitution. They function like mass online brothels, making it as easy to order women to exploit as it is to order a takeaway.“Despite it being illegal to place a prostitution advert in phone box, the same advert can be legally published for-profit on a website.“Our laws have not kept pace with technological change and pimps have got rich as a result.”Responding, Ms Phillips said: “It’s time we treat tackling violence against women and girls as the national emergency it is.The new Government policies will be announced in due course, but I want to re-state that I believe passionately that change in this area is needed and until it is achieved, we must not rest.”She told MPs: “We will build on the Online Safety Act to ensure that online companies fulfil their duties to eradicate this exploitation from their sites. There is much work to do in this particular space, as has been highlighted by (Ms Antoniazzi), and I have handled many cases where this has not been handled well at all.“I myself, there are images of me on pornographic websites that I cannot get taken down.”Earlier this month, Channel 4 News identified Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Conservative former home secretary Priti Patel and Labour backbencher Stella Creasy among the victims of digitally altered images online – sometimes known as “deepfakes”.According to the broadcaster, some of the victims in UK politics had said they planned to call in the police to investigate. More