UK Politics

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.Read moreSir Keir Starmer faced his first Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 5 March, since his visit to the United States and the explosive meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.It comes after the US president criticised European leaders, including the British prime minister, on Monday, deriding their weekend talks over Ukraine and launching a furious new attack on the Ukrainian president for saying a peace deal is still “very, very far away”.Mr Trump fired off a tirade just as the PM was on his feet in the House of Commons insisting the US was vital, sincere and indispensable in the path to peace.Sir Keir has dismissed calls from MPs for Britain to shun Mr Trump and America after last week’s extraordinary ambush on Mr Zelensky in the White House Oval Office.The US president and JD Vance shouted over Mr Zelensky as a critical meeting on Ukraine erupted into a shouting match.The meeting appeared to go south when the US vice president accused the Ukrainian leader of being “disrespectful” when Mr Zelensky said US security guarantees are necessary for a ceasefire.Mr Trump talked over Mr Zelensky repeatedly, warning him he is “not in a good position” as Mr Zelensky looked visibly irritated.The Republican has since said he received a letter from Mr Zelensky praising his “strong leadership.”The US president boasted in an address to Congress that he “appreciated” Mr Zelensky sending the letter, which expressed willingness to come to the negotiating table and end the war as soon as possible.There was no direct mention of a rare earth minerals deal in Mr Trump’s speech, although he quoted Mr Zelensky’s letter as saying Ukraine was ready to sign. 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.Read moreCriminals could be banned from pubs, sports grounds and social events under plans being considered to free up prison spaces, a minister has suggested.Courts minister Sarah Sackman said the bans, as well as mandatory work for offenders, were “very much part of the mix” amid an ongoing government review of prison sentences. The review, chaired by Tory former justice secretary David Gauke, was launched in October to consider ways to punish offenders outside of prisons to ease the overcrowding crisis. It is taking ideas from foreign jurisdictions such as Texas, where authorities have relied on good behaviour credits for early release schemes, as well as considering home detention curfews and sobriety tags. It comes amid government plans to ease the overcrowding crisis in prisons 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.Read moreA cross-party committee of MPs has written to Sir Keir Starmer about its “deep concern” over the cut to the aid budget.Sarah Champion, chairwoman of the International Development Committee, said the “brutal” cut to funds “risks undermining our soft power, as well as years of progress in areas such as healthcare, education, clean water and sustainable development”.Last week the prime minister announced that spending on defence will rise from its current 2.3 per cent share of the economy to 2.5 per cent in 2027.But to fund it, development assistance aid will be slashed from its current level of 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027.Last week, international development minister Anneliese Dodds resigned in protest over the move.Anneliese Dodds said she disagreed with the decision for aid to ‘absorb the entire burden’ (Lucy North/PA) 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.Read moreDonald Trump’s swingeing tariffs will harm the UK economy – even if Britain is exempt, Rachel Reeves has warned.The chancellor said a global trade war triggered by the US President would lead to even higher inflation and slower economic growth.The UK is seeking a carve out from damaging tariffs which have already seen Canada and China hit with an extra 25 per cent on their goods entering the US. Rachel Reeves said ‘even if tariffs aren’t applied to the UK, we will be affected by slowing global trade’ 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.Read more Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday again refused to report to the Special Prosecutor’s Office that had summoned him as a witness in an alleged corruption case of state reserves.Kurti, who was first summoned in December and refused, instead has said they can take his testimony at his office. He is not accused in the case but other officials are. Few details have been made publicly available.The prime minister has said he considers the prosecutor’s request to be politically driven.“It is using and abusing its freedom to fight the government, not crime and corruption. I have always been ready to testify,” Kurti told journalists.The prosecutors’ governing body and chief prosecutor supported the request to summon Kurti and denounced his allegations of taking political sides, adding that his words “seriously damage the functioning of the democratic institutions.”His Self-Determination Movement Party won the most seats in the Feb. 9 election but was left without a majority in parliament, forcing it to look for a partner to form the new government.The incident comes as Kosovo’s ties with its norther neighbor, Serbia, remain tense. Normalization talks with Serbia, which the European Union has facilitated since 2011, have stalled, though they are key for the countries’ potential membership in the bloc.Kosovo was a former Serbian province until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists there. That left about 11,400 dead, mainly ethnic Albanians, and pushed Serbian forces out.Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence, proclaimed in 2008. More