UK Politics

Sir Keir Starmer will declare the end of globalisation and admit it has failed the public amid the growing fallout of Donald Trump imposing global trade tariffs, including 10 per cent on the UK.The prime minister will argue in a speech on Monday that the shock from the US president’s trade war means Britain must “move further and faster” cutting red tape to boost economic growth. And, in an article on Sunday, Sir Keir said “the world as we knew it has gone”. “We must rise to meet the moment,” he said.Sir Keir Starmer will say globalisation has failed More

Two Labour MPs who were denied entry to Israel have said they are “astounded” by the decision.Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang have said it is “vital” that parliamentarians are able to “witness first-hand” the situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.The current war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas fighters launched an attack inside Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 50,000 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military offensive.The MPs were refused entry because they intended to “spread hate speech” against Israel, the nation’s population and immigration authority claimed.Abtisam Mohamed More

Wes Streeting defended Labour’s controversial national insurance hike as the health secretary accused Reform UK and the Conservatives of plotting to pull billions of bounds of funding from the NHS.As the tax rise comes into effect today, Mr Streeting has challenged critics including Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch to explain how they would pay for a reversal of the policy change. The 2p increase to employer national insurance has been criticised by opposition parties, business chiefs and top economists, who have linked it to the stagnant economy, since it was unveiled by Rachel Reeves back in October. Wes Streeting is being rolled out by Labour as an anti-Reform attack dog More

One of Reform UK’s local election candidates accused Queen Elizabeth of “scrounging” and “sponging” and called for her to be jailed, The Independent can reveal.Mark Wade, council candidate in Chorley Rural West, marked Her Majesty becoming the longest-reigning British monarch with a post on Facebook saying she had spent “a long time scrounging”. He also commented on the late Queen’s visit to Crumlin Road Gaol in north Belfast: “The Queen has just entered an old jail in Belfast, let’s shut the gates and get the rest of her sponging family to join her.” Critics said the comments raise questions about Reform UK’s partiotism More

Jaguar Land Rover is pausing shipments to the US as it works to “address the new trading terms” of in the wake of Donald Trump‘s 10 per cent tariff on British goods coming into force.Sir Keir Starmer was expected to spend the weekend making back-to-back phone calls to world leaders about the tariffs, after talking with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Italian PM, Giorgia Meloni, on Friday. In those calls the leaders agreed that an “all-out trade war would be extremely damaging”.Sir Keir was “clear the UK’s response will be guided by the national interest” and officials would “calmly continue with our preparatory work, rather than rush to retaliate”, a No 10 spokesperson said.On Saturday afternoon, Jaguar said it was “taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans”. Jaguar Land Rover has paused shipments to the US (JLR/PA) More

Labour’s biggest financial backers are among the loudest voices pressing Sir Keir Starmer to have a much more ambitious approach to his Brexit reset in the wake of Donald Trump unleashing an international trade war by imposing sweeping tariffs.Trade unions, who were previously divided over Brexit and still provide more than half of Labour’s campaign funding, are now at the forefront of a new push for much closer ties with the EU.Armed with a huge 5,000 voter survey by the pollster who has carried out strategic research for both Labour and the unions, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has joined with business groups and others to urge Sir Keir to rethink his Brexit red lines.While the prime minister has insisted he will resist what he calls “a false choice” between the EU and US the TUC’s public demands are being reflected in private by many in Labour as well.It follows President Trump imposing a 10 per cent base “reciprocal tariffs” on the UK, half of the 20 per cent slapped on the EU. Other countries such as China, South Korea, Japan and Cambodia faced tariffs of more than 30 per cent.But some specific tariffs including 25 per cent on automobile, steel and aluminium products have hit the UK as well putting at least 25,000 jobs at risk in the car-making sector alone.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Eddie Mulholland/Daily Telegraph/PA) More