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 moreUK interest rates will fall more slowly than expected following the tax rises, spending hikes and increased borrowing Rachel Reeves announced in her autumn Budget, an influential report has warned.In its annual economic survey, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said UK inflation will also surpass previous forecasts next year, and upgraded growth projections for the economy, because of a Budget boost.The OECD also warned that “risks and uncertainties are high” for the global economy, although added that it would “remain resilient” over the coming years.The global economy is predicted to grow by 3.2 per cent this year and 3.3 per cent next year, the organisation said.It reflects a slight improvement from its predictions of 3.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively, from its September interim report.In October, the chancellor set out plans for almost £70 billion a year of extra public spending, funded through tax rises and increased borrowing 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 moreRail fares will continue to rise under Labour despite plans to bring the railways under public ownership, the new transport secretary has indicated.Heidi Alexander, who was appointed to the position after Louise Haigh was forced to resign last week, said the “commercial realities for the railways are very challenging at the moment”.She said there needs to be enough money to provide good services for fare payers, warning against entering into a “death spiral” of low fares and poor-quality rail networks.It comes after the government announced that South Western Railway’s services will be the first to transfer into public ownership next year.Heidi Alexander was appointed transport secretary last week 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 moreDonald Trump’s threatened tariffs could hit UK trade with the US as badly as Brexit affected trade with the EU, a leading think tank has warned, as campaigners call for Sir Keir Starmer to protect the UK by urgently rebuilding ties with Europe.The president-elect has threatened to impose tariffs of between 10 and 20 per cent on all imports to the US when he returns to the White House, with experts warning of a tit-for-tat global trade war that would fuel another spike in inflation.And, in a bombshell report published today, the Resolution Foundation said the impact of Trump’s plans would hit UK firms as hard as the trade barriers that came into place after Brexit.Keir Starmer has rejected calls to prioritise the EU over the US under Donald Trump 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 moreFears are growing that Labour could be planning a new tax raid after Rachel Reeves refused to confirm her recent pledge not to repeat her £40bn Budget hikes.The chancellor was pressed on the issue in the Commons by shadow chancellor Mel Stride, and again at a conference in the north of England, over her promise last week to the CBI conference.With her next major fiscal statement expected in the spring, there is confusion over Labour’s economic policy amid a rumoured shift from delivering growth to raising living standards.Sir Keir Starmer is set to outline the new focus in a speech on Thursday resetting the government’s agenda after just five months in office.Rachel Reeves refused to rule out more tax rises 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 Israeli government has attacked David Lammy for using X (formerly Twitter) for diplomacy after he posted strong criticism about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.Less than 24 hours after the foreign secretary attended the Labour Friends of Israel annual lunch and met the mother of a hostage held by Hamas, he has provoked a row with Israel over his joint statement on the war in Gaza.Amid growing concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza following thousands of deaths and reports that aid angencies cannot get access, Mr Lammy and his German and French counterparts (the E3 group) agreed today to sennd an ultimatum to the Israeli government.Mr Lammy then posted on social media: “Together with France and Germany, I have written to the Israeli government to urge action on the unacceptable humanitarian situation in Gaza. Israel must implement the UN‘s winter plan now: send equipment to guard against cold & flooding, give access to fuel, repair vital infrastructure, and get aid in.”David Lammy 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 moreThere are growing fears that the government is preparing to greenlight the continued provision of financial assistance to countries that have overseen appalling human rights abuses, despite previously being extremely critical of the policy. It comes as a review into human rights abuses overseas is seemingly turning into a rubber-stamping process with no consultation of major campaign groups having yet taken place. The government’s review of the UK’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance guidance (OSJA), which was launched by the previous Tory administration, is designed to prevent UK assistance from contributing to human rights abuses abroad.The UK’s current policy does not explicitly prohibit British involvement in countries accused of human rights abuses, including the death penalty and torture.The guidance currently acknowledges that it is “important that we work with a wide range of countries”, including territories in which the UK has “concerns about human rights”.Lammy has been warned against rubber stamping the “deeply flawed” policies of the previous government 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 looks set to lose another key ally in a blow to his plans to reset the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the European Union.Michel Barnier looks likely to be ousted as French prime minister on Wednesday in a no-confidence motion after he pushed through a controversial budget without a vote.If passed, it will bring down the government and force Mr Barnier’s resignation after less than three months on the job.The move would be a setback to Sir Keir, who has developed a strong relationship with the French politician that dates back to his time as the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator.Sir Keir has promised to fix Britain’s damaged relations with the bloc for the benefit of “generations to come”.The PM has also rejected demands that he make a choice between a trade deal with the US and closer relations with the EU in the wake of the re-election of Donald Trump to the White House.But the loss of Mr Barnier would come just weeks after the government of another key ally in Europe, Olaf Scholz, collapsed. The German chancellor is now widely expected to lose a general election scheduled for early next year.Keir Starmer and French PM Michel Barnier last month 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 more TikTok took down several networks that tried to meddle in Romania’s elections, executives said Tuesday as they defended the company’s election integrity measures to European Union lawmakers. The video-sharing platform is a focus of controversy in the Eastern European country after far-right outsider Calin Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner in the vote, plunging the country into turmoil amid allegations of electoral violations and Russian meddling. Among the networks that TikTok uncovered were two small groups that it disrupted on Friday, days after the first round of voting, Brie Pegum, the platform’s global head of product, authenticity and transparency, told a committee.Both networks targeted Romanian users. One had only 1,781 followers and supported Georgescu, who was a little-known independent candidate until he set off shockwaves by convincingly winning the first round of voting, beating out the incumbent prime minister. The other networks supported different candidates, Pegum said. Many observers chalked up Georgescu’s success to his TikTok account, which now has 5.8 million likes and 527,000 followers. He gained huge traction and popularity in the weeks leading up to the first vote. But experts suspect Georgescu’s online following was artificially inflated while officials hinted that he was given preferential treatment by TikTok. The controversy highlights how TikTok has become a key election tool in Romania, an EU and NATO member state that shares a long border with war-torn Ukraine. TikTok applied its “global playbook” for the Romanian election and took a local approach with staff on the ground, said Caroline Greer, the company’s top lobbyist in the EU. Greer and Pegum were being grilled by EU lawmakers about Tiktok’s role in the Romanian vote as well as its compliance with the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Services Act, a sweeping set of regulations designed to protect users online from illegal or harmful content. Greer said TikTok deployed 95 Romanian language content moderators, worked with a fact-checking group and met with political parties and a number of different authorities including the country’s electoral authority. But many lawmakers were not satisfied with their responses. “The feeling here is that we are losing patience … and that we need more specific answers,” said Dirk Gotink, a Dutch member of the European Parliament. He also questioned what the scores of Romanian content moderators were doing during the election, and compared Pegum and Greer to firefighters TikTok sent to put out a fire.“They come, they let the fire rage online for weeks, months, during an election. And then they send very nice people here into this committee to answer questions in a very polite way,” Gotink said. “But it is simply not convincing — and it also doesn’t reflect what is happening online.”According to a report by the Bucharest-based Expert Forum think tank, Georgescu’s TikTok account garnered 92.8 million views primarily within the last few months, a figure that grew by 52 million views a week later, just days ahead of the first-round vote.Another TikTok account solely featuring Georgescu content, which had 1.7 million likes on the night first-round polls closed, was removed the day after voting. It had posts with Georgescu attending church, doing judo, running around an oval track, and speaking on podcasts.In an emailed statement to The Associated Press on Monday, TikTok said the account was one of “more than 150 accounts impersonating Georgescu” to date that has been removed, but added: “We also removed more than 650 additional impersonation accounts belonging to other candidates.”Georgescu will face reformist Elena Lasconi, of the progressive Save Romania Union party, in a presidential runoff on Sunday.—-AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan reported from London. __This story corrects the spelling of lawmaker Dirk Gotink’s name. More