Markus Andrews

Days before Bulgaria was expected to become the 21st member of the eurozone, opponents of the move geared up Saturday for a final battle to change the schedule.Thousands of protesters gathered on a central square in downtown Sofia to protest government plans to adopt the euro and to demand a referendum on the new currency. The European Union has given the green light for Bulgaria to adopt the euro starting Jan. 1.The protesters, led by civic groups, nationalist and pro-Russian parties known for their opposition to the euro, declared that after the rally they intended to set up a tent camp on the central square, dubbed “Town of the lev,” after the name of the national currency.On a platform for speakers hung a huge banner that read “The battle for the Bulgarian lev is the last battle for Bulgaria.”The leader of the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party Kostadin Kostadinov told the protesters that the country will be stripped of its currency.“Someone else will decide how we spend our money, the Bulgarian budget will be approved by the European Central Bank,” he said. “This is an anti-state coup, this is treason.”Kostadinov announced that lawmakers from Germany, Lithuania, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have joined the event to support the protest.Ahead of the demonstration, Vazrazhdane submitted in Parliament a motion for a vote of no confidence in the current government, accusing it of failing to undertake necessary reforms to restore stability to public finances and working for the forceful adoption of the euro.Parliament will vote on the motion next week, but the pro-EU government coalition is expected to survive.The Balkan country joined the European Union in 2007 and is now on the final stretch of its accession to the eurozone. The last institutional hurdle is the approval from both the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels, scheduled for July 8.These steps come after the European Council gave its clear endorsement of Bulgaria joining the eurozone on Jan. 1, 2026.During its almost two decades-long EU membership, Bulgaria has been plagued by political instability and corruption that have fueled euroscepticism among its 6.4 million citizens. Now, scores of false claims by opponents of the eurozone have been published on social networks feeding fears of economic changes that they say could bring more poverty.Economists say joining the euro will not bring massive change to Bulgaria’s economy in the short run. That’s because the government has pegged the currency to the euro by law, at a fixed rate of 1 lev for every 51 eurocents. More

Thousands of disabled women could find themselves trapped with abusers as a result of the government’s upcoming welfare cuts, campaigners have warned, despite Sir Keir Starmer offering significant concessions on the reforms late on Thursday.In the face of a growing rebellion, the prime minister announced adjustments to his welfare bill, including protecting personal independence payments (PIP) for all existing claimants – a move that is expected to ensure the legislation passes its second reading on Tuesday.But domestic violence charity Refuge and the Women’s Budget Group (WBG) have issued a stark warning over the reforms, saying that in the long term, the cuts to vital funding for daily living costs for disabled people – which will impact all new claimants – will make it difficult for those at risk to flee abusive relationships.Keir Starmer has pledged to halve violence against women and girls More

Nigel Farage is controversially attempting to woo business leaders by pledging to make some of them ministers if Reform UK wins the next general election. As it fights intense criticism of its economic plans, Mr Farage’s party is trying to win over influential figures in the city, according to the Financial Times. After the news emerged, Keir Starmer took aim at Mr Farage, calling him a “wolf in Wall Street clothing” who has “no idea what he’s talking about”. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (PA) More

Sir Keir Starmer has warned Britain’s benefits system is broken and fixing it is a “moral imperative”, days after a revolt by his own backbenchers forced him into a U-turn on welfare cuts. The Labour leader announced the climbdown late this week, in the face of potential defeat by Labour MPs over his plans. On Saturday he pledged Labour would not “take away the safety net” on which vulnerable people rely. But he added that he could not let welfare “become a snare for those who can and want to work” as he said that “everyone agrees” on the need for change. Sir Keir Starmer said fixing the ‘broken’ system must be done in a ‘Labour way’ (Screengrab/Welsh Labour TV/PA) More

Keir Starner is facing calls to act after Donald Trump cut off talks with Canada and threatened the Commonwealth country with more trade tariffs.Just weeks before president Trump is due to meet King Charles, Canada’s official head of state, on a visit to the UK, he claimed he had “such power” over the country but added “I’d rather not use it.” In a move that caused market turmoil amid fears of a renewal of Trump’s trade war, he said he would tell Canada the levies they will have to pay on goods entering the US “….within the next seven day period.” US President Donald Trump is presented with a letter from the King in February suggesting a first meeting and then a state visit (Carl Court/PA) More

Labour has been warned that its relationship with the working class is broken as stark new analysis shows it is increasingly becoming the party of the wealthy. New analysis by YouGov shows Britons earning more than £70,000 are now more likely to vote for Labour than any other party in a shock turnaround in UK politics. Poorer voters have have turned to Reform, whose popularity is soaring in the polls. Nigel Farage has declared that his party is “now the real party of the working class”.It comes as Sir Keir Starmer was forced into a U-turn over plans to slash benefits for the poorest and disabled in a stand off which calls into question his own authority less than a year in office. The prime minister needed the £5bn a year savings, but faced a rebellion from 122 Labour MPs who signed an amendment designed to kill his welfare reform bill. Leading pollster Lord Robert Hayward warned that the findings were part of a trend which has seen Labour’s traditional relationship with the working class “broken”.He said: “The working class has always been socially conservative but dependent on the state, so voted Labour. The link has been broken — firstly by Brexit, then by immigration. Farage recently declared Reform UK is the party of the working class More