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    Kemi Badenoch to call for end to energy windfall tax and oil licence ban

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    Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is poised to advocate for the end of the windfall tax on oil and gas firms and the ban on new licences in a major speechInitially established by the prior Conservative administration but extended upon Labour’s ascent to power, the energy profits levy was intended to finance initiatives aimed at reducing household expenses. However, the policy has faced criticism from within the industry.Addressing the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh on Friday, Ms Badenoch is anticipated to champion the oil and gas sector, accusing the UK Government of “killing” it. She is expected to assert that “renewing our party and our country means standing up for our oil and gas industry”.She will add: “When the oil and gas windfall tax, the energy profits levy, was brought in, the oil price was near a historic high, at the exact time as energy bills for the British people were sky-rocketing.“But there is no longer a windfall to tax. It has long gone. And the longer this regressive tax on one of our most successful industries remains, the more damaging it becomes.Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch More

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      History is repeating itself in my hometown and it’s terrifying to watch

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      Once, when I was a teenager, I was in a Spar in Ballymena when a man walked in and announced he would burn the shop to the ground if it didn’t close immediately. My sister and I did not hesitate. Like everyone else, we believed him – and fled. We had been intending to dash in to the store for just a few minutes to stock up on essentials, amid fears of a long few days ahead of us as rioting broke out across Northern Ireland in the 1990s over Drumcree. So it’s terrifying to watch violence unfold in my hometown again, as we have over recent nights. Violence has erupted in Ballymena More

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      Jonathan Reynolds mocks Nigel Farage’s coal mines plan as an ‘absolute parody’

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      Jonathan Reynolds has mocked Nigel Farage for wanting to reopen the coal mines in Wales, dubbing him an “absolute parody”. The business secretary, whose grandfather was a coal miner, admitted that Reform UK are Labour’s biggest opponents – but said Mr Farage fails to understand “the pride in where we’re from and what we represent, but also the aspiration for the future”. Speaking at a media lunch in parliament, Mr Reynolds also defended the UK’s plan for closer trade ties with the US, saying: “We might have different views but we have to engage with them”. Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds More

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      Family doctors could run hospitals in NHS shake-up, says Wes Streeting

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      Radical reforms could see hospitals taking over GP surgeries and family doctors running hospitals, under new plans to reform the NHS in England.The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the forthcoming 10-year plan would also see “much of what’s done in a hospital today, will be done on the high street”.He stressed that the government was “not embarking on another top-down reorganisation” of the health service.The plan is expected to be published in July.Speaking at the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester, Mr Streeting said: “The NHS should not be bound by traditional expectations of how services should be arranged.”I am open to our strongest acute trusts providing not just community services, as many already do, but also primary care.”Whatever services will enable them to meet the needs of their patients in a more integrated and efficient way.”Indeed, I would hope that those old-fashioned labels – acute, community – become increasingly meaningless.”Likewise, there is no reason why successful GPs should not be able to run local hospitals, or why nurses should not be leading neighbourhood health services.”Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves meet staff in the outpatients department during a visit to St Thomas’ Hospital in London More

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      Campaigners urge MPs to vote down assisted dying bill over anorexia ‘loophole’

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      People with anorexia could be allowed to die by assisted death under a proposed bill, more than 250 campaigners have warned, urging MPs to vote down the legislation when it returns to the Commons.A letter to MPs, signed by 268 people who have suffered with eating disorders, warned: “If this bill had been law during the years many of us were struggling, we would have used it to end our lives.” Campaigner Chelsea Roff, the founder of the eating disorder organisation Eat Breathe Thrive, warned that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill contains “dangerous loopholes that have enabled suicidal women with anorexia to die by assisted death” in other countries. Kim Leadbeater speaking during the debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill More

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      Tax hikes will come if economy shrinks any further, IFS warns Rachel Reeves

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      The influential Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned Rachel Reeves that any more bad economic news will “almost certainly” spark fresh tax rises. Council tax will already have to rise at its fastest rate in a generation, the IFS said, as it added to concerns the chancellor has left herself with little room for manoeuvre a day after she unveiled her spending plans for the rest of the parliament. The warning came as the government was hit with the bad news that the economy had shrunk by 0.3 per cent, sparking fears of a potential recession.Ms Reeves came into office with a pledge to grow the economy, but it has been sluggish at best in her first year.Paul Johnson, the outgoing director of the IFS, said council tax is set to rise at its fastest rate for 20 years as local government tries to close its funding gaps with annual increases of up to 5 per cent. More councils could also reach a “tipping point” unless demands on their resources fall, the think tank warned. Rachel Reeves insisted she would not need to increase taxes on the same scale as in her first budget, but declined to rule out rises altogether More

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      Ben Wallace accuses Labour of ‘conning’ public over defence spending boost claim

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      Former defence secretary Ben Wallace has branded Labour’s claims that it has boosted military spending “a con” after concerns were raised over how the figures are being calculated.The row has exploded following Rachel Reeves’ spending review on Wednesday where she boasted that defence spending would be 2.6 per cent of GDP. But this included wrapping in security and intelligence spending for the first time.Earlier this year prime minister Sir Keir Starmer controversially slashed international aid to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, two years ahead of schedule. At the time he also promised it would rise to 3 per cent by 2034.Sir Ben Wallace (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

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      Blow for Rachel Reeves after UK economy shrinks by more than expected

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      The UK economy has shrunk by more than expected in a major blow to Rachel Reeves, just one day after she unveiled her spending review. The chancellor, who set out record investment in the Commons on Wednesday, acknowledged that the latest GDP figures, released on Thursday, were “clearly disappointing” but insisted her plan for the economy would help deliver growth.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3 per cent in April, compared with growth of 0.2 per cent the previous month and marking the biggest contraction since October 2023. It was also worse than the 0.1 per cent contraction expected by most economists.Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivering her Government’s spending review to MPs in the Commons (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA) More

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      Voices: ‘It feels good to say I’m Irish’: How second passports grant readers post-Brexit travel freedom

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      As Brits grapple with the post-Brexit reality of restricted EU access, many Independent readers have been sharing why they’ve pursued second citizenship – and how it’s reshaped their identity, freedom, and sense of belonging.Jessica Furseth’s article struck a chord with those determined to reclaim their right to freedom of movement through ancestral ties, even if it meant wrestling with red tape. Her piece captured the reality of a growing trend: UK-born citizens pursuing second passports not for novelty, but necessity, reestablishing the rights they feel were stripped away by Brexit.Our readers described frantic searches through family records, cross-border paperwork marathons, and bittersweet awakenings to long-dormant heritage. Irish citizenship was the most popular route, but many also explored their Polish, German and Italian heritage. While a few wrestled with feelings of imposter syndrome, most said the outcome was worth it – not just for smoother holidays or easier work permits, but to feel connected to Europe again.The overarching view was that Brexit took something personal – and that this wave of passport reclamation isn’t just administrative – it’s emotional: about agency, identity, and quietly defying the walls that went up.Here’s what you had to say:Jus sanguinisHusband asserted his right to Italian citizenship on the basis of jus sanguinis, or bloodline, unbroken through his mother’s family. Took about two weeks after getting a codicil on his birth certificate, as a result of which my daughter has done the same (found herself frozen out of jobs otherwise) and my son should have got around to it, having studied in Italy for six years. I will be applying on the grounds of marriage, only slightly more complicated. All of this became an issue solely because of Brexit, and I’m so annoyed that the doors have been slammed in the faces of Britons who valued EU membership.MonteRosaHave you pursued a dual citizenship post-Brexit? Share your story in the commentsWonderful to still have my European citizenshipAs someone who, years after his hair became grey, became truly interested in his Irish heritage, I can only say it’s wonderful to still have my European citizenship. I can see my daughter in Holland as I please – no 90 days nonsense. I can cross any Schengen border as a true European citizen. This, as we go, for example, as a family to the Christmas fair in Oldenburg (Germany).But as we pass Mr Farage and his German-speaking family doing their Christmas shopping in Germany too, it’s good to know that more people have found this loophole!BradIt feels good to say I’m IrishI can relate to Tom Harrison. My father told me many years ago that I could claim Irish citizenship because his father was Irish, but I never saw the need. But post-Brexit, I wanted to remain an EU citizen, so I went for it, and it’s a much simpler task now with the advent of the internet. Despite visiting family and friends and having many holidays in Ireland over the years, I do feel a bit of a fraud. That said, I am immensely grateful to the Irish government for allowing it. I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable telling people that I’m British, but it feels good to be able to say that I’m Irish.BionicpantsTravel is what the EU is aboutThese people are pro-EU for the right reasons: the freedom to travel, work and live all over Europe. That is what the EU is about, the Ever Closer Union. You may notice, they don’t mention the nice side effects, like frictionless trade, no additional roaming, or certain subsidies. They embrace the Euro and the Schengen area.Should the UK want to join, they have to embrace the principles of the Ever Closer Union as well. It helps if you focus on what that means, instead of repeating the economic benefits. As said, those are just nice side effects.OrvalCan we please have Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Grealish back?As an Irish person, it’s very satisfying to hear these stories of people with Irish heritage benefiting from getting an Irish passport. Can we please have Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Grealish back as a sign of appreciation? All very pleasant chaps too from what I can see.AnonyMousseMy mother is an immigrant from an EU country, and I got an EU passport about three years ago, as a result.Interestingly, I went to Spain recently, and when spotted with my EU passport getting off a flight from Britain, they ushered me and my friend (with her British passport) through EU passport control. She went via the EU fast lane because she was with me.PrenstSwitch nationality mid-flightAfter having lived in the UK for 18 years, Brexit made it necessary for me to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen. When I now travel to my native Germany, I have to leave the UK on my British passport and arrive in Frankfurt on my German passport. As per German law, I have to use my German ID to enter/leave Germany. I could, of course, enter any other EU country on my British passport, but this would mean queuing and getting an entry stamp and then an exit stamp. When returning to the UK, I then ‘switch’ nationality again in mid-flight from being a German in the EU to being a Brit in the UK.On one occasion, I flew from Tenerife to London… as a German from Tenerife to Madrid and as Brit from Madrid to London.Baldrick’s PlanLegal technicalitiesMy mother is a French citizen, as is all her side of the family, with French government certificates back to the 14th century, but I am refused citizenship (despite also living and paying taxes in France for eight years). Reason: a legal technicality called desuetude. You may want to do some research before handing over a few grand to the lawyers!Frankx33You can’t complain about being considered a foreignerBritain’s approach to the EU always was a “what can I get in return” one… called it cakeism. What matters is being in the slow lane, no longer being able to live and work, etc. Britain would have loved to retain all EU perks without committing. You can’t complain about being considered as a foreigner while being one and expecting the same rights as EU citizens….EuropeancitizenI don’t know what I would have done with just a UK passportGot my precious Irish passport a couple of years ago, thanks to my grandfather, who was born in Ireland. This has allowed me to move from Italy back to France following retirement without any issues. I don’t know what I would have done with just a UK passport, as there is no mechanism for UK passport holders to move from one EU place of residence to another. Farage, Johnson, Gove, etc, should be imprisoned for the lies they told. I cannot believe that Farage is still so popular, says a lot for the intelligence of a good percentage of the UK population. Very sad. YaketyYakKeep the family in one piece with my Irish passportMy father was born in Ireland in 1916. I was born in England in 1944. He was an RAF pilot. I ended up marrying a German and lived happily in Solingen (which my father’s squadron bombed!) until that swine Farage stirred up his sleazy chauvinism. Thanks to my father, I was able to keep the family in one piece with my Irish passport. I am immensely grateful. And to the Germans, too, who have made me very welcome KenhubertHearteningIt is heartening to read the stories of the people who have been able to reclaim the EU citizenship stripped from them by the disgusting and mendacious Brexiteers, who have yet to apologise to the rest of us for stripping us of our rights. SturlusonNot just the youngIt’s not just young people. Us older folk are also going for dual passports after Brexit cut off our travel freedom. My Irish grandfather has now continued to be very useful after his death!JustMeHereSome of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.Want to share your views? Simply register your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day’s top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click ‘log in’ or ‘register’ in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here. More