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 ThomasEditorAll new MPs have been given panic alarms as they face unprecedented levels of threats and abuse.The 335 new members elected this month have been handed welcome packs containing pocket alarms with GPS trackers. When activated, they alert the police, who can quickly despatch officers.They have been available for all MPs on request since the murder of Jo Cox in 2016, but have now been given out by default after the general election saw an increase in intimidation and abuse.New MPs have been given panic alarms 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 ThomasEditorAn MP who has revealed she became pregnant at 15 after being “groomed” by an older man has vowed to be a voice for “women that have children in far from ideal circumstances”.Labour MP Natalie Fleet, 40, disclosed that she still suffers “weekly nightmares” as a result of the harrowing ordeal but is determined to use her platform to enact change.She said her family had been struggling when she was growing up and at one stage even found themselves homeless before she gave birth to her daughter.In an interview with Gloria De Piero on GB News to be broadcast on Sunday, Ms Fleet said: “At the time, when I was 15, I felt full of shame and guilt and responsibility.“And all I was determined to do was make sure that she had a life that was as good as she would have had to any age parent. That was what I was determined to do, I didn’t think about me or the impact.”But, with her daughter now 23 and “the absolute love of my life”, Ms Fleet said she could look back and think “that wasn’t okay”.She said: “That was an older man. That was potentially, I mean now we have labels like grooming that we didn’t have then. I didn’t know we were having unprotected sex. I was a child and this is statutory rape. You know, at the time this isn’t something that we were talking about. It’s not how I saw myself.”Natalie Fleet is interviewed by the former Labour MP Gloria De Piero 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 ThomasEditorThe government could need up to £10bn to cover public sector pay increases if reports of a 5.5 per cent rise prove true, a leading economist has warned.Independent pay review bodies are reported to be preparing to recommend such an increase for teachers and around 1.3 million NHS staff, according to The Times, well above the figure the government is thought to have been preparing for.Paul Johnson, director of the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies, said he was “not terribly surprised” by the figure, which would be in line with pay rises across the economy, and would cost an extra £3bn for schools and the NHS alone.He told the BBC’s Today programme: “In terms of the cost, there isn’t a specific number that is budgeted for schools, it’s probably 1 or 2 per cent, it’s certainly nothing like 5.5 per cent, so we’d certainly be looking at at least an additional £1bn on schools’ costs relative to what they’re currently expecting.“And at least double that across the NHS if the proposals for the NHS are similar, which it appears that they might be.”Mr Johnson added that if the 5.5 per cent figure was replicated across the public sector, it could mean the government needs to find an extra £10bn.A higher-than-expected pay rise could pose a significant challenge for chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget, likely to come in the autumn, after promising to control borrowing and ruling out a string of tax rises during the election campaign.Rachel Reeves faces a potential headache for her first budget if pay review bodies recommend a 5.5 per cent increase across the public sector 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 ThomasEditorTurkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will lead celebrations of the anniversary his country’s intervention 50 years ago which has left the island of Cyprus split in two.Thousands of mostly muslim Turkish Cypriots in the north of the island join their president Ersin Tatar and Mr Erdogan to watch a “peace parade” of tanks, soldier, jets and military vehicles, followed by an air performance carried out by the Turkish Stars (the Turkish version of the Red Arrows) on Saturday.But while this is happening Greek Cypriots in the south of the island will be treating the anniversary with a much more sombre mood with many on both sides losing their homes and land as well as family members to the conflict five decades ago.It comes as former Labour foreign secretary Jack Straw has written for The Independent, accusing the recognised [Greek] Cypriot government on the island of being “happy with the status quo” and demanding that the United Nations, European Union, and UK, as a guarantor power, propose a two state solution to force an end to the 50-year crisis.Newly appointed Europe minister Stephen Doughty has though stuck with UK foreign policy that the island needs to come back together in a federal structure which recognises both communities – the solution the UK attempted to create in the 1960s when it withdrew as the colonial power only holding on to its two key military bases.The presence of the two highly important bases for the UK facing out on to the Middle East have made the Cyprus crisis a critical issue and one difficult to navigate diplomatically.Cyprus crisis anniversary with Erdogan and Tatar More