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.CloseRead moreAngela Rayner will on Monday unveil plans for new mega-councils as Labour takes on ‘nimbys’ blocking planning applications. A white paper on English devolution is expected to ask councils to submit plans for mergers. The move comes just days after Keir Starmer pledged to force local authorities to build if they stood in the way of Labour’s plans for 1.5 million new homes in five years. The proposals would see the creation of so-called “strategic authorities” across England, bringing councils together. The government said the move would help “to avoid duplication and give our cities and regions a bigger voice”.Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer during a visit to a construction site in Cambridg as the government announced major planning reforms to get Britain building (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.CloseRead moreAllies of Kemi Badenoch have urged people to scrutinise the record of the vice president of Nigeria who publicly criticised her this week after it emerged he was the governor of the region where 200 girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram.VP Kashim Shettima this week hit out at the Tory leader in a speech this week accusing of “denigrating her country of origin”, while praising Rishi Sunak as a “brilliant young man, he never denigrated his nation of ancestry.”But allies of Ms Badenoch have said that scrutiny should be focussed on the record of Mr Shettima as being illustrative of the problems in Nigeria and its failings.Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has been in a row with the VP of Nigeria (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.CloseRead moreKemi Badenoch will warn on Monday of the “devastating” impact of Rachel Reeves’ “family farm tax” on the rural economy, as campaigners hold a mass rally in London against the changes.The Conservative leader will tell attendees that Labour has “unleashed the worst raid on family business in living memory”. She will claim that “no one is safe” and reference “chilling” figures released earlier this month by Family Business UK that changes to Business Property Relief could lead to 125,000 job losses. The reforms which, similar to agricultural property relief, mean owners of family firms will have to pay Inheritance Tax if they want to pass shares or other assets to the next generation. It could reduce economic activity by £9.4bn and see the Treasury lose out on £1.3billion by 2030, according to calculations the group commissioned from CBI Economics. Farmer’s protest in London 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.CloseRead moreThe UK foreign secretary David Lammy has said the government has opened “diplomatic contact” with the Syrian rebels who ousted Bashar al-Assad’s regime last weekend.Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is still a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, Mr Lammy said on Sunday, during remarks in which he also announced a £50 million humanitarian aid package for vulnerable Syrians.”We want to see a representative government, an inclusive government. We want to see chemical weapons stockpiles secured, and not used, and we want to ensure that there is not continuing violence,” Mr Lammy told the BBC.”For all of those reasons, using all the channels that we have available, and those are diplomatic and of course intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to.”HTS is led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani 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.CloseRead moreA leading British businessman has warned Rachel Reeves that her Budget “spooked business” as he suggested a recession could be “around the corner”. James Reed, chairman of the recruitment giant, Reed, urged the chancellor to change course. Mr Reed told the BBC”s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that the economy was “cooling” and has been “for several months”.He added that data for November showed that vacancies had fallen by 13 per cent month on month, which he described as a “significant decline”. He added that when he had seen similar figures in the past that had been an indicator that recession was “around the corner”.The chancellor Rachel Reeves (Peter Byrne/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.CloseRead moreHouseholds are going to be hit with a hike in water bills of at least 20 per cent to fix the UK’s “broken” sewage system, the environment secretary has said, sparking a backlash amid fears for vulnerable customers.On Thursday, independent regulator Ofwat is expected to announce that charges will increase by more than 20 per cent by 2030, which means an average rise of £20 a year per household over the next five years, with the average bill soaring from £448 a year to £542.Steve Reed acknowledged bill-payers would be “angry” but insisted a rise is necessary to “repair the damage” after years of neglect and under-investment, with promises Labour will “reset our water sector” by fixing pipes and building reservoirs, not paying water chiefs’ bonuses.Blaming the previous Conservative governments for having “left our water system in ruins”, he wrote in The Telegraph on Saturday: “This week, the independent water regulator will announce water bill rises to repair the damage. The public are right to be angry. Tory recklessness has caused untold damage.”Consumer groups argued some households will not be able to afford a sharp rise in water bills, and urged water companies to provide more support.Scandal-hit Thames Water was close to needing to be bailed out by taxpayers this year 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.CloseRead moreYvette Cooper has hit out at China over an alleged spy who became a close confidant of the Duke of York and reportedly met two former prime ministers, as MPs threatened to name him if the courts do not. The home secretary said her message to the Chinese state was that the UK would take a “very strong approach” to national security. But she admitted that the government’s stance was “complex” because Britain’s still needs economic co-operation with China.There were warnings of a “major security breach” after reports that David Cameron met the businessman at a reception in Downing Street.He is also reported to have met a second former prime minister, Baroness Theresa May, and kept pictures of both of them in his London office.Earlier this week, Prince Andrew’s connections to the alleged spy became the latest scandal to engulf the Duke of York, after the man was barred from the UK because he was judged likely to pose a threat to national security. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has told The Independent he could name the businessman, known only as H6,  as early as Wednesday if the courts do not. He said his party may use parliamentary privilege – which provides legal immunity for MPs in cases such as this – to reveal the name of the man in the House of Commons. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (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.CloseRead moreSir Keir Starmer’s government has hailed the UK becoming the first European nation to officially join an Indo-Pacific trade bloc, despite having said the impact of the deal would be “very small” less than two years ago. At the beginning of 2023, when the UK began the process of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), he offered a lukewarm view of the trade deal, pointing out that the “net contribution to our economy will be something in the order of 0.08 per cent”. But on Sunday, his business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the agreement would “boost trade and create opportunities for UK companies abroad”. The UK will become the 12th country to join the trade agreement, following years of procedure, having first put in an application in early 2021. Britain will enter into the agreement with eight of the bloc’s 11 existing members who first ratified the accession on Sunday: Japan, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, Vietnam, Peru, Malaysia and Brunei.Sir Keir Starmer said the impact of CPTPP would be ‘very small’ in 2023 More