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    Starmer accused of lacking ambition as he launches Brexit reset in Germany

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer has been criticised for lacking ambition in wanting to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU after he rejected free movement for under-30s even before talks got underway.The prime minister made it clear he was not open to a deal on making it easier for young people from the UK and EU to travel when he held a joint press conference with German chancellor Olaf Scholz today.Despite describing the renegotiation as “a once in a generation opportunity” there were concerns that he was not willing to be flexible on a proposal which is strongly supported in the EU.Sir Keir was having his fifth meeting with Scholz since becoming prime minister as the two opened talks on a Germany/ UK bilateral deal to be completed by the end of this year.Starmer and Scholz at a joint press conference More

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    Germany and the UK seek a new bilateral treaty as Starmer pursues a ‘reset’ with the European Union

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditor The leaders of Germany and the United Kingdom announced plans on Wednesday to draw up a treaty meant to deepen the two nations’ trade, defense and other ties.The move comes as new U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer moves ahead with plans for a “reset” of relations with the European Union.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he welcomes fellow center-left leader Starmer’s desire for a new beginning in relations with the EU, and “we want to take this outstretched hand.”Starmer took office in early July after the previous Conservative government was trounced in an election. Four years after the U.K. left the EU, he says he wants to rebuild ties strained by years of ill-tempered wrangling over Brexit terms.He said that he hopes to conclude the bilateral agreement with Germany, which has Europe’s biggest economy, by the end of this year. “That will be ambitious, it will be wide-ranging, covering trade, the economy, defense and many other issues,” he told reporters. The two leaders are among Ukraine’s biggest military backers and stressed their commitment to keeping up that support. Starmer said that the two countries also plan to draw up a “joint action plan to tackle illegal migration.” His government still faces pressure to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, though it scrapped the Conservatives’ contentious plan to send them on a one-way trip to Rwanda.Migration is also an issue on which Scholz’s government has long been under heavy pressure, even more so since Friday’s attack in Solingen in which a suspected extremist from Syria who had avoided being deported is accused of killing three people. The proposed U.K.-Germany treaty is modeled in part on agreements that Britain struck in recent years with France on defense, security and closer law enforcement cooperation against people-smuggling gangs.Starmer sent a signal by visiting Berlin early in his term — unlike predecessor Rishi Sunak, who took 18 months. But his talk of starting anew with the EU has its limits. He has ruled out many of the major possible steps to closer ties and has been cool to the idea of a youth mobility agreement with the 27-nation bloc. “I’m absolutely clear that we do want a reset … with Europe, a reset with the EU,” Starmer said in Berlin. However, “that does not mean reversing Brexit or reentering the single market or the customs union, but it does mean a closer relation on a number of fronts — including the economy, including defense, including exchanges, but we do not have plans for the youth mobility scheme.”___Jill Lawless contributed to this report from London. More

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    Watch: Starmer and Scholz hold joint press conference in Berlin after discussing new pact

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorWatch as Sir Keir Starmer holds a press conference alongside German chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Wednesday 28 August.The prime minister is in Germany as he hopes to “turn a corner on Brexit”, with plans for a new treaty with the European nation aiming to boost business and increase joint action on illegal migration.Ahead of the talks with Mr Scholz, he met with German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier.In a post on social media site X, Sir Keir said: “We have a once in a generation opportunity to reset Britain’s relationship with Europe so we can deliver for the British people.”It is expected he will tell Mr Scholz he is focused on making sure the UK moves past Brexit and rebuilds relationships with European partners.After Germany, Sir Keir will travel to Paris for the Paralympics opening ceremony on Wednesday evening, before a breakfast meeting with French business leaders on Thursday morning, and a summit with president Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. More

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    Liz Truss hits back at claim she considered scrapping all NHS cancer treatment after crashing economy

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLiz Truss has denied a claim she considered scrapping all cancer treatment on the NHS in a bid to repair the damage caused by her disastrous economic policies.A new biography of the former prime minister by Sir Anthony Seldon makes the extraordinary claim that in the immediate aftermath of the mini-Budget, Ms Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng launched a desperate attempt to find spending cuts in an effort to restore stock-market confidence in their strategy.Sir Anthony said a group of the prime minister’s aides met to discuss the issue. One of her senior advisers, Alex Boyd, “was told that Truss and Kwarteng were thinking they could still sort out the black hole with severe cuts”: “We’ve been told that they’re looking at stopping cancer treatment on the NHS.”In response, Mr Boyd asked “Is she being serious?” writes Sir Anthony, while other aides said she had “lost the plot”.“She’s shouting at everyone that ‘We’ve got to find the money.’ When we tell her it can’t be done, she shouts back: ‘It’s not true. The money is there. You go and find it,’” they told the author.But a spokesperson for Ms Truss said it was “completely untrue that she ever considered” cutting cancer treatment. Meanwhile, her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who was also said to have been involved, told The Independent: “I wasn’t involved in any conversations about restricting healthcare, but that doesn’t mean the prime minister and her team didn’t discuss this.”Sir Anthony’s book, Truss at 10: How Not to Be a Prime Minister, is deeply critical of Ms Truss, who was forced to resign in 2022 just 49 days into her premiership after she triggered an economic crisis by proposing the introduction of £45bn of unfunded tax cuts.The UK economy fared better than previously thought during the year that Liz Truss delivered the mini-budget (Victoria Jones/PA) More

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    Liz Truss secretly mocked Rishi Sunak with ‘Russhi’ nickname for not doing enough to oppose Putin

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLiz Truss secretly mocked Rishi Sunak as “Russhi Sunak”, accusing him of not doing enough to oppose Vladimir Putin in respect of the war on Ukraine.New details of her alleged “intense personal dislike” of Mr Sunak are disclosed in a new book, Truss at 10, by Sir Anthony Seldon.According to Sir Anthony, Ms Truss believed Mr Sunak was guilty of “screwing” her, with “vicious attacks” on her by his team, before she defeated him to become prime minister.He describes how Ms Truss exacted petty revenge on Mr Sunak in her moment of triumph at a Conservative rally in September 2022.She ordered shocked aides to remove all references to her defeated rival – a longstanding customary act of courtesy – from her victory speech, says Sir Anthony.Rishi Sunak’s time as prime minister ranks as the fourth-shortest since 1900, while Liz Truss remains the shortest-serving PM on record More

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    Keir Starmer wants to ‘reset’ relationship with Europe – what are the UK’s options?

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorKeir Starmer has vowed to “turn a corner on Brexit” and rebuild relationships with EU member states as he visits Germany and meets with chancellor Olaf Scholz today.Touching down in Berlin, the prime minister says he wants to fix “broken relationships” left by the previous governments, and strike new deals with European neighbours.The prime minister will add: “we have a once in a generation opportunity to reset our relationship with Europe.”Details of the deal UK negotiators are looking to strike with German officials have not been shared, but No 10 indicates that the trip will kick of talks that are expected to go on for the next six months.Flags of Britain, Germany and the EU flutter ahead of the arrival of Olaf Scholz and Keir Starmer in Berlin More

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    Watch as Keir Starmer arrives in Berlin to seek new post-Brexit pact with Germany

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorWatch as Sir Keir Starmer meets German chancellor Olaf Scholz during a visit to Berlin on Wednesday 28 August.The prime minister is in Berlin as he hopes to “turn a corner on Brexit”, with plans for a new treaty with Germany aiming to boost business and increase joint action on illegal migration.It is expected he will tell Mr Scholz he is focused on making sure the UK moves past Brexit and rebuilds relationships with European partners.The UK’s negotiation team will spend the next six months working on the treaty, aiming to agree a partnership by early 2025.Sir Keir and Mr Scholz are also expected to discuss joint action to tackle illegal migration, including further intelligence-sharing to intercept and shut down organised immigration crime rings.After Germany, Sir Keir will travel to Paris for the Paralympics opening ceremony on Wednesday evening, before a breakfast meeting with French business leaders on Thursday morning, and a summit with French president Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. More

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    AI to be trained to help teachers mark homework under new Government plan

    Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorGenerative AI tools are to be trained to help teachers create lesson plans and mark homework under a new project announced by the Government.The £4 million scheme will see government documents including curriculum guidance, lesson plans and anonymised pupil assessments used to train AI to create tools which can be used reliably in schools.Research has shown that parents would be open to teachers using generative AI tools to help them with certain tasks, so they could then spend more time helping children in the classroom.Tests of the new approach carried out by the Department for Education (DfE) found it could increase accuracy to 92%, up from 67% when no targeted data was provided to an AI model.By making AI work for (teachers), this project aims to ease admin burdens and help them deliver creative and inspiring lessons every day, while reducing time pressures they faceScience Secretary Peter Kyle “We know teachers work tirelessly to go above and beyond for their students,” Science Secretary Peter Kyle said.“By making AI work for them, this project aims to ease admin burdens and help them deliver creative and inspiring lessons every day, while reducing time pressures they face.“This is the first of many projects that will transform how we see and use public sector data. We will put the information we hold to work, using it in a safe and responsible way to reduce waiting lists, cut backlogs and improve outcomes for citizens across the country.”Minister for Early Education Stephen Morgan said: “We are determined to break down the barriers to opportunity to ensure every child can get the best possible education – and that includes access to the best tech innovations for all.“Artificial intelligence, when made safe and reliable, represents an exciting opportunity to give our schools leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life.This investment will allow us to safely harness the power of tech to make it work for our hard-working teachers, easing the pressures and workload burdens … and freeing up time, allowing them to focus on face-to-face teachingMinister for Early Education Stephen Morgan “Today’s announcement marks a huge step forward for AI in the classroom.“This investment will allow us to safely harness the power of tech to make it work for our hard-working teachers, easing the pressures and workload burdens we know are facing the profession and freeing up time, allowing them to focus on face-to-face teaching.”To encourage innovation under the new scheme, the Government said it would also make the content store of educational data available to AI companies, with a share of £1 million to be awarded to those who brought forward the best ideas for tools to use the data to aid teachers.According to a survey from TeacherTapp, almost half of teachers were already using AI in some form to help with their work, but the Government said these tools were not specifically trained on teaching materials used in England. More