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 has been warned even spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence won’t be enough amid an increasingly turbulent global landscape and pressure from Donald Trump for Europe to bolster its own defences. The government has pledged to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence, but has not given details on how or when this figure will be reached. But even if there is an urgent push to boost spending, there is said to be concern among military chiefs that the Armed Forces will still be unable to meet current targets, with a senior Whitehall source telling The Telegraph that the 2.5 per cent figure “won’t touch the sides”. They warned that ambitions for armed forces capabilities would need to be pulled back unless the Ministry of Defence acquired “big, big lumps of money needed for defence over a sustained period of time”.And as Nato members scramble to boost their defence spending, Mr Trump has said he wants them to spend as much as 5 per cent of GDP on their armed forces. Defence Secretary John Healey said Russia ‘remains a threat well beyond Ukraine’ (Harry Nakos/AP) 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 moreBusiness feels that Labour has failed them, Alastair Campbell has told one of the party’s key pressure groups. In the wake of Rachel Reeves’ national insurance hike on employers, the inheritance tax raid on farmers and other reforms, Tony Blair’s former spin doctor said that of 300 business people at a recent event, the overwhelming majority told him Labour was performing “worse than expected.”And one of the major reasons was “disappointment on the much vaunted “reset” with Europe,” he warned. In his lecture to Labour Movement for Europe he also hit out at Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson, saying facts were the way to take on the Brexiteers’ arguments, as he extolled the Independent’s recent front page setting out the true cost of Brexit. Alastair Campbell warned warned Labour that it has to “stop debating Brexit on your opponents’ terms”. (PA)In his speech, he said: “That Labour needs to win over the business community, or perhaps that should be “re-win over”, is not in doubt. “I did an event last week, 300 business people, and asked them, on a show of hands, whether the Labour government was A) performing as expected; B) better than expected, or C) worse than expected … my exercise had zero hands raised for “better than expected”, around 20 per cent “as expected” but an overwhelming majority “worse than expected.”He also warned Labour that it has to “stop debating Brexit on your opponents’ terms”. ( 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 moreBritain’s AI Safety Institute will drop its focus on bias and free speech to concentrate on crime and national security issues, the Technology Secretary will announce on Friday.The agency will also be rebranded as the AI Security Institute (AISI), emphasising its renewed focus on crime and security issues.Technology Secretary Peter Kyle is expected to announce the agency’s new name at the Munich Security Conference on Friday along with a new “criminal misuse” team, in partnership with the Home Office.The institute’s focus from the start has been on security and we’ve built a team of scientists focused on evaluating serious risks to the publicIan Hogarth, AI Security InstituteSpeaking ahead of the event, Mr Kyle said: “The changes I’m announcing today represent the logical next step in how we approach responsible AI development – helping us to unleash AI and grow the economy as part of our plan for change.”He added that the “renewed focus” on security would “ensure our citizens – and those of our allies – are protected from those who would look to use AI against our institutions, democratic values and way of life”.Crime and security concerns already form part of the institute’s remit, but it currently also covers wider societal impacts of artificial intelligence, the risk of AI becoming autonomous and the effectiveness of safety measures for AI systems.Established in 2023, then-prime minister Rishi Sunak said the institute would “advance the world’s knowledge of AI safety”, including exploring “all the risks from social harms like bias and misinformation, through to the most extreme risks of all”.Although Mr Kyle insisted the institute’s work “won’t change”, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the rebranded agency “will not focus on bias or freedom of speech”.The refocusing on security is expected to include addressing how AI can be used to develop chemical and biological weapons, carry out cyber attacks and enable crimes such as fraud and child sexual abuse.AISI chairman Ian Hogarth said: “The institute’s focus from the start has been on security and we’ve built a team of scientists focused on evaluating serious risks to the public.“Our new criminal misuse team and deepening partnership with the national security community mark the next stage of tackling those risks.”Also on Friday, Mr Kyle announced a new partnership between the UK and Anthropic, a San Francisco-based AI company, the first deal involving the Government’s new sovereign AI unit.Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei said: “We look forward to exploring how Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude could help UK Government agencies enhance public services, with the goal of discovering new ways to make vital information and services more efficient and accessible to UK residents.”The Government began the year with a major focus on AI, setting out plans to both boost the UK’s AI industry and incorporate the technology into the public sector.Alongside the launch in January of an AI action plan, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote to ministers instructing them to make driving AI adoption and growth in their departments a top priority. 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 moreSir Keir Starmer’s government is considering tightening controls around shotgun ownership, in a move likely to further fray Labour’s relationship with farmers.Following a series of murders involving such weapons, the Home Office has announced a new consultation into shotgun licensing – citing concerns over the current rules raised by victims, police, coroners and MPs.Pointing to concerns around shotgun owners keeping the weapons in their homes, including in towns and cities, the Home Office has also announced imminent plans to increase the number of referees required to obtain a shotgun licence – from just one to two – and to refresh police guidance, including around domestic abuse.But some farmers have expressed fears over what they called “draconian and unreasonable” proposals, which they claimed would be viewed as “part of a wider anti-rural agenda”.The government is already on a collision course with farmers as a result of controversial changes to inheritance tax on agricultural property, with protesting farmers using tractors to disrupt a public outing by Sir Keir on Thursday. Keir Starmer’s visit in Milton Keynes was disrupted by a protest on Thursday 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 former foreign secretary has warned Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy that they must use this weekend’s Munich defence and security conference as an opportunity to stand up to Donald Trump over Ukraine.Tory grandee Sir Malcolm Rifkind raised the spectre of the infamous 1938 Munich conference, where the then British prime minister Neville Chamberlain struck the “peace for our time” deal with Hitler and allowed him to invade Czechoslovakia.It comes as Sir Keir, in an interview with ITV’s Robert Peston, did not guarantee that Ukraine would have a seat at the table in the talks about ending the war with Russia, only saying that President Volodymyr Zelensky “must be involved”.David Lammy and Keir Starmer have been warned that they must stand up to 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.Read moreKemi Badenoch has been dealt a fresh blow as a new poll revealed the Conservatives are falling further behind Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.The latest weekly tracker poll from Techne UK has cast a shadow over the event with a number of senior Tories now questioning whether Ms Badenoch will survive as leader by the next general election.The poll showed that the Tories had gone down one point to 22 per cent while Labour had climbed a point to 26 per cent. Reform staying the same on 25 per cent is now three points ahead of the Conservatives.The survey of 1,637 voters also suggested that 26 per cent of Tory voters in last year’s election have now switched to Farage’s party.Kemi Badenoch 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 moreRachel Reeves is under mounting pressure over allegations she used company expenses to buy handbags, perfume, earrings and wine for colleagues before becoming an MP. The BBC said Ms Reeves was one of three people investigated while working for the Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) before entering parliament for using her expenses to “fund a lifestyle” with allegedly inappropriate spending on dinners, events, taxis and gifts, including for each other.The BBC also made fresh claims about the way Ms Reeves has “exaggerated” her CV.The broadcaster uncovered documents it said showed Ms Reeves was accused of spending hundreds of pounds on handbags, perfume, earrings and wine for colleagues, including one gift for her boss. Concerns were also reportedly raised about her spending on taxis and on a Christmas party, with one whistleblower believing it to be excessive. The BBC reported that Rachel Reeves exaggerated her CV More