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.CloseRead moreCloseRachel Reeves is facing a growing backlash over her national insurance hike as GPs, care homes, dentists and hospices have called for an exemption from the charge.The chancellor is piling pressure on GPs and the care sector with her increase in the employer rate of national insurance – at a time when the services are already under severe strain.But while the NHS and the rest of the public sector have been shielded from Ms Reeves’ national insurance hike, GPs, hospices and care homes have been left to bear the brunt. The national insurance hike came alongside a reduction in the threshold at which employers pay the charge and a 6.7 increase in the minimum wage, exacerbating the headache for employers.Health secretary Wes Streeting has said the UK’s palliative care is in such a dire state that he would not vote to support an assisted dying law, while the Commons public accounts committee has said the social care sector is “on its knees”.Meanwhile GPs are struggling with a recruitment crisis, with staff shortages growing at a time of rising demand.Treasury chief secretary Darren Jones on Friday cleared up initial confusion and confirmed that GP practices will have to pay the increased employer national insurance rate.“GP practices are privately owned partnerships. They’re not part of the public sector National Health Service system. And so yes, they will have to pay national insurance contributions as employers,” he told Times Radio.The Liberal Democrats said Labour had squandered the chance to “rescue GP surgeries from years of neglect”, calling for Ms Reeves to exempt them from the tax hike.Health and social care spokesperson Helen Morgan said: “This new government must not make the same mistakes as the Conservatives, fixing the GP crisis is crucial for saving the NHS.Wes Streeting has said he will have ‘more to say’ on the impact of the tax hike in the coming weeks 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.CloseRead moreCloseAn Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) error has left chancellor Rachel Reeves with £18bn less headroom in her spending plans, potentially fuelling investor concerns about her first budget.A footnote in the watchdog’s outlook, published on Wednesday alongside the Budget, said its earlier forecasts contained an error in the projections for public sector net financial liabilities – the debt measure now used by the chancellor in one of her new fiscal rules.In March, the OBR found the margin in the 2028-29 fiscal year would be £62bn. It has since corrected the figure £43.9bn.The margin, also known as the “headroom”, is the money left over in the budget to spend without breaking fiscal rules.The OBR document said: “An error was identified in the net liabilities calculation used in the March 2024 forecast of PSNFL.“The restated March PSNFL forecast and headroom calculation correct this error but otherwise is unchanged.”Rachel Reeves unveiled her first budget on Wednesday 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.CloseRead moreCloseLabour’s first Budget does not bear any similarity to that of Liz Truss, a minister has said adding that the country has “got PTSD” from the former PM’s catastrophic mini-Budget as the government seeks to downplay speculation about market turmoil.Asked about market jitters following the Budget, the Treasury minister told Sky News that “markets always respond to budgets in the normal way”.“There’s a lot of new information about the economy and the nation’s finances presented to parliament, and it’s normal for markets to respond,” he said.Mr Jones later added: “I think we’ve all got PTSD from Liz Truss and just let’s compare the two different scenarios, because they’re very, very different: So, under Liz Truss, as we saw, they sacked permanent secretary, they ignored the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.“They announced £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts and said they were only just getting started. And then the market went mad and we all know what happened.Darren Jones said Liz Truss’s mini-budget is ‘completely different’ to Rachel Reeves’ 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.CloseRead moreCloseSenior figures in Reform UK have spoken out against Nigel Farage and Richard Tice’s decision to distance themselves from Tommy Robinson and his supporters, with one saying he refused to throw the English Defence League founder “under a bus”. Deputy leader Tice sparked a row in the party after saying it wants “nothing to do with” Robinson, who was jailed this week, and ”all of that lot”, while Farage has previously accused Robinson and his supporters of “stirring up hatred”.But Ben Habib, the party’s recent former deputy leader and general election candidate in Wellingborough, stood up for those who attended a rally in support of Robinson on Saturday.Speaking to YouTuber Paul Thorpe, Mr Habib said: “Those of us who care about this country, who want to stand against the uniparty of the Tories and Labour, have to stick together. We are one group.Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months 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.CloseRead moreCloseSir Ed Davey has piled pressure on Sir Keir Starmer over his negotiations with the European Union, calling for the prime minister to “have some urgency” in his great “reset” of relations with the bloc.The leader of the Liberal Democrats also criticised the prime minister’s decision to rule out a youth mobility scheme with the European Union, saying it is “quite odd and bad”, as well as calling for a return to the single market.The European Commission has made a youth mobility scheme a key demand amid Sir Keir’s post-Brexit “reset” with Brussels after years of tense relations under successive Conservative prime ministers.The agreement, which mirrors similar arrangements Britain already has with countries including Australia and Japan, would allow 18 to 35-year-olds to move and work freely between countries for up to two years.Speaking to journalists at the press gallery lunch in Parliament, Sir Ed warned that the government will not be able to grow the UK economy “without rebuilding our relationship with our European partners and getting a better trade deal”.‘We can’t wait around to get our economy going’, Sir Ed warned 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.CloseRead moreCloseThe government’s new value for money tsar will be paid a day rate of £950, the equivalent of a £247,000 annual salary.David Goldstone, who will take up the position of chairman of the new Office for Value for Money, will effectively be on a higher pro-rata salary than the prime minister.Rachel Reeves announced during her Budget speech that Mr Goldstone was being appointed to “help us realise the benefits from every pound of public spending”.David Goldstone will take up the position of chairman of the new Office for Value for Money, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced during her Budget statement 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.CloseRead moreCloseLabour has seen its poll rating rise to its highest level in almost a month despite Rachel Reeves delivering one of the most contentious Budgets in recent history.According to this week’s Techne UK tracker poll for The Independent Labour has gone up a point to 30 per cent, its highest since 4 October when it was on 31 per cent.The leaderless Tories, who will announce their replacement for Rishi Sunak on Saturday, remained at 24 per cent, while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK lost a point to drop to 18 per cent. Sir Ed Davey’s Lib Dems were up one to 14 per cent and the Greens unchanged on 7 per cent.The week has been dominated by Rachel Reeves’ Budget and seen the news agenda move off allegations of sleeze and freebies in Keir Starmer’s government.Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves leaves 11 Downing Street, London, with her ministerial red box before delivering her Budget in the Houses of Parliament (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More