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    Top Tory donor and peer stripped of CBE after harassing journalist

    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.CloseRead moreA top Tory donor and peer has hit back at what he said was an unjust ruling after being stripped of his CBE following a series of controversies, including making derogatory remarks about Pakistanis and harassing a journalist.Lord Rami Ranger, who has donated around £1.5m to the Conservative Party since 2009, was made a CBE in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion.But a notice published in the London Gazette on Friday said the King had directed Lord Ranger’s CBE to be “cancelled and annulled”.The Forfeiture Committee, which decides on whether to strip someone of an honour, is understood to have taken the decision after considering social media posts made by Lord Ranger about the Sikh community, along with comments in the media about Pakistanis.It also considered the House of Lords Standards Commissioner’s finding in June 2023 that Lord Ranger had harassed and bullied Indian journalist Poonam Joshi in a series of tweets, the PA news agency understands.But the Tory peer hit back at the decision, saying he will explore “various legal avenues” to challenge the decision.Rami Ranger was made a CBE for services to business and community cohesion (Ian West/PA) More

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    Elon Musk responds to claims of $100m donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform party

    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.CloseRead moreElon Musk has responded to reports he is preparing to donate $100m (£79bn) to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party in what would be by far the largest in British electoral history.According to The Sunday Times, leading businessmen and Conservative Party officials believe that Musk could hand over the cash as a “f*** you Starmer payment” in his ongoing feud with the prime minister. At the end of last month, the controversial tech billionaire and “first buddy” of Donald Trump even shared a post on X claiming that Reform UK will win the next general election, captioning his repost with the word “yes”.Asked about the reports of the massive donation by ITV, Mr Musk denied reports he was planning to donate $100 million, but his response did not rule out another amount. Asked by ITV News if he was planning to give the upstart party £80m, he replied “no”.Controversial tech billionaire and “first buddy” of Donald Trump Elon Musk More

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    The European Union demands TikTok’s response to Romanian files suggesting Moscow’s role in vote

    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.CloseRead more The European Union said Friday it sent TikTok an urgent request for more information about Romanian intelligence files suggesting that Moscow coordinated influencers on its platform to promote an election candidate who became the front-runner in the presidential election. The 27-nation bloc’s executive branch is using its sweeping digital rulebook to scrutinize the video sharing platform’s role in the election, which ended with the far-right populist Calin Georgescu coming from out of nowhere to take top spot in the first round of voting. Declassified files released by Romanian authorities earlier this week suggest that a pro-Russia campaign used the messaging app Telegram to recruit thousands of TikTok users to promote Georgescu. It is unclear from the intelligence release whether Georgescu was aware of the alleged campaign or assisted in it.European Commission officials said they asked the video sharing platform to comment on the files and to provide information on actions that it’s taking in response. It’s the second time the commission has asked TikTok for information since the election’s first round of voting on Nov. 24, and comes a day after it ordered the Chinese-owned platform to retain all election-related files and evidence. TikTok did not respond immediately to a request for comment. “We are concerned about mounting indications of coordinated foreign online influence operation targeting ongoing Romanian elections, especially on TikTok,” Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a post on X. TikTok has 24 hours to respond to the EU request, officials told a press briefing in Brussels. Georgescu will face pro-EU reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party in a final vote on Sunday. “TikTok needs to step up resources to counter information operations ahead of the election weekend,” Virkkunen said. Georgescu’s unexpected rise in the polls has plunged the European Union and NATO country into turmoil and spurred the authorities to release the files. Romania’s intelligence services alleged that one TikTok user paid $381,000 to influencers on the platform to promote content about Georgescu. They said they obtained information that “revealed an aggressive promotion campaign” to increase and accelerate the candidate’s popularity.Some of the thousands of social media accounts used in the campaign were allegedly created years ago but were only activated in the weeks leading up to the first round vote, the files indicated. ___AP writer Stephen McGrath in Bucharest contributed to this report. More

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    Starmer fails to rule out new tax rises – despite Reeves’ claim there wouldn’t be another hike

    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.CloseRead moreSir Keir Starmer has failed to rule further tax rises before the next general election – despite Rachel Reeves claiming otherwise less than two weeks ago.The prime minister said he has no plan to hike taxes further, but could not rule out changes in unforeseen circumstances such as Covid or the war in Ukraine.Last week, the chancellor explicitly ruled out further tax rises in an address to the CBI, where she told business leaders: “I’m really clear, I’m not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes.” Since then, the party has stumbled through speeches and media interviews with senior figures refusing to repeat the promise.Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Friday, less than two weeks after the chancellor ruled out further tax rises, the prime minister said he can’t say there are “no circumstances unforeseen in the future that wouldn’t lead to any changes at all”. Sir Keir Starmer (Hannah McKay/PA) More

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    Sadiq Khan ‘set for knighthood’ in New Year Honours list

    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.CloseRead moreMayor of London Sadiq Khan is reportedly being lined up for a knighthood in the New Year honours list after securing a historic third term as London mayor in May.He is expected to be awarded the gong for his political and public service, having previously served as the MP for Tooting before he left the Commons in 2016.Mr Khan is first Muslim mayor of the capital also served as a minister under Gordon Brown.Sources told the Financial Times he is expected to receive the honours alongside a number of Labour veterans, including Islington South MP Emily Thornberry.Despite being dropped from Sir Keir Starmer’s front bench after the election, Ms Thornberry – who served as shadow attorney general for nearly three years and was a long serving member of the shadow cabinet – is set to receive a damehood, the newspaper reported.Sadiq Khan will be in New York this week (Yui Mok/PA) More

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    Nigel Farage brands Alastair Campbell ‘worst loser in history’ in Brexit clash

    Nigel Farage described Alastair Campbell as the “worst loser in history” while the pair clashed over the impact of Brexit on Thursday’s (5 December) episode of Question Time.The former director of communications for Tony Blair explained that he was disappointed that Keir Starmer did not mention Brexit when setting out his government’s “plan for change” in a speech, which the Reform UK leader reacted to by declaring: “Oh dear.”Mr Farage and Mr Campbell then called each other the “worst loser” and “worst winner” respectively as they disagreed on how leaving the European Union has affected the United Kingdom. More

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    Britain needs a ‘vaccine taskforce’ to prepare for the next pandemic, Lords warn

    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.CloseRead moreBritain needs a “peacetime vaccine task force” to prepare for the next pandemic, ministers have been warned amid concerns that the government could forget the lessons of Covid-19.The Commons science and technology committee has also called for the government to appoint a chief vaccines officer to help prepare the country for future threats. In a letter sent this week, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, chair of the committee, said evidence to an inquiry held by the committee raised “troubling concerns about our capacity to manufacture vaccines for future biological threats”.The warning comes after the government announced it has bought more than 5 million doses of bird flu vaccines to help battle a potential future pandemic. This follows an increase in transmission of the virus among animals. The committee said its interest in vaccine development in the UK was prompted by “a series of worrying developments”, including the sale of the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) in Oxfordshire, and the later mothballing of the facility. It also cited 11 reports that a planned reduction in state aid threatened AstraZeneca’s proposed vaccine manufacturing facility in Liverpool. Giving evidence in January, Dr Clive Dix, former chair of the vaccine taskforce, said the Conservative government had “destroyed almost everything that was going on” in favour of reliance on Moderna. He said there was less resilience in the UK now because many manufacturers had walked away from the UK. The committee’s letter added: “Our witnesses raised concerns that “other countries have learned the lessons … from where we are sitting, it appears that government and the public have concluded that the UK can do this and that we do not need to improve our systems”, comparing it unfavourably to the more pro-active EU response discussed below.”It added: “The UK needs to ensure it retains robust vaccine manufacturing and scale-up capacity for the next pandemic, but it is falling behind other countries. Witnesses argued that the UK was fortunate to be able to produce a vaccine at speed in 2020 and should not assume this will be possible in the future without renewed and sustained support, and that this relative success may have led to some complacency compared to countries that have funded vaccine manufacturing more urgently.”Earlier this year the government announced a new partnership with pharma giant Moderna to trial a new norovirus vaccine. More

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    Starmer pledges ‘golden era of building’ as he takes aim at environmental regulations

    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.CloseRead moreSir Keir Starmer has vowed to usher in a “new golden era of building” as he takes aim at “blockers and bureaucrats” who he claims have throttled economic growth and made homeownership unattainable.Writing in The Times, the prime minister attacked nimbys and environmentalists who he says have stymied economic progress in the UK. Sir Keir has directed ministers to draft laws that would simplify complex environmental regulations, which he argues can add millions to the cost of development and cause lengthy delays.These proposed reforms aim to eliminate the “case-by-case negotiations” currently required under habitat regulations inherited from EU law. By allowing developers to offset environmental damage by funding broader environmental improvements, Sir Keir hopes to avoid protracted negotiations over individual projects.He highlighted the HS2 project, which was compelled to spend £100 million constructing a tunnel for bats, as an “absurd spectacle” that must end. “This government will not accept this nonsense any more,” he said.Ministers are considering designating specific areas of the country as key infrastructure sites to expedite project approvals. This move would streamline the process, allowing projects to avoid the lengthy and uncertain approval procedures currently in place.Sir Keir’s comments came as he unveiled a new “plan for government” focused on six key areas: health, housebuilding, education, the economy, crime, and net zero. He said these milestones would enable the public to hold the government accountable by the next election.However, Sir Keir faced criticism for appearing to dilute Labour’s election pledge to generate “100 per cent” clean power by 2030 and for not setting specific targets to reduce either legal or illegal migration.Central to Sir Keir’s economic strategy is Labour’s target of building 1.5 million homes by 2030 and fast-tracking planning decisions on 150 major infrastructure projects. He promised to build “roads, grid connections, laboratories, train lines, warehouses, wind farms, power stations,” and to confront the “alliance of naysayers” that he says have impeded progress.Writing in The Times, Sir Keir explicitly targeted those who use environmental regulations to delay building, asserting that he would not shy away from confronting local development opponents. He described rising homelessness and falling homeownership as “a shame and a failure of our politics.”He lamented Britain’s failure to build a reservoir for over 30 years and criticized the “endless hoops” that every infrastructure project must jump through, only to face opposition and delays. Using the example of the costly bat tunnel in the HS2 project, he underscored the need for more efficient processes.Sir Keir pledged to double infrastructure project approvals compared to the previous Conservative government, acknowledging that both the government and developers would need to “stretch ourselves to the max” to achieve these goals.He anticipated resistance to his planning reforms but welcomed the challenge, saying: “I always knew there would be resistance to our planning reform. Let me say this — I won’t shy from this argument. In fact, I welcome it. Where there are blockers putting the brakes on, it’s a sign you are delivering real change.”Sir Keir’s remarks coincided with deputy prime minister Angela Rayner approving a multimillion pound plan by Marks and Spencer to redevelop its flagship Oxford Street store, a project previously blocked by Michael Gove. Stuart Machin, M&S’s chief executive, expressed his satisfaction with the decision but criticized the “three unnecessary years of delays, obfuscation and political posturing” under the previous government. More