UK Politics

Keir Starmer took a playful dig at Elon Musk while speaking at the UK Embassy in Washington DC on the eve of his meeting with US President Donald Trump on 27 February.“We share the view that our best days lie ahead.  And, you know, taking out a chainsaw isn’t quite my style.” said Sir Keir. “But we are stripping away red tape and bureaucracy. We are reforming permitting, getting things built, reducing barriers to investment and growth.”The prime minister’s comments followed Elon Musk’s appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., on 20 February, where he waved a blinged-out chainsaw around on stage. 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 moreMinisters have been urged to ban degrading, violent and misogynistic pornography including making it illegal to publish videos of women being choked during sex.A major review of the industry has proposed giving regulator Ofcom the power to police porn sites plagued with “harmful” material. The review, commissioned by Rishi Sunak and carried out by Tory peer Gabby Bertin, said porn depicting non-fatal strangulation is “rife on mainstream platforms”. Baroness Bertin said porn websites are ‘rife’ with choking videos 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 moreKeir Starmer has refused to rule out more spending cuts and tax rises ahead of Rachel Reeves’ spring Budget on 26 March.But speaking to journalists on a trip to meet President Donald Trump in Washington DC, the prime minister has tried to calm fears claiming that the worst news was delivered in the Budget in October.Sir Keir was attempting to deal with dire warnings from a number of economic thinktanks who have warned that he has little headway to afford his spending plans with growth at minimal levels.Starmer and Reeves are plotting the Budget 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 Bank of England governor has slammed the chancellor’s pre-election tax promises as “irresponsible” and called on her to hike income tax. Mervyn King, who ran the Bank from 2003 to 2013 and was the chancellor’s boss when she worked there, said Rachel Reeves made “silly” promises on tax before the general election and should row back on them in government. Lord King also questioned the chancellor’s self-imposed fiscal rules, urging Ms Reeves to set rules in a way that would allow her to borrow more and boost government spending. In the general election campaign, Labour promised not to hike VAT or income tax. The party also ruled out reversing a Tory cut to employee national insurance contributions, despite economists warning it was unsustainable at the time. In her first Budget, Ms Reeves instead increased employer national insurance contributions, with the aim of raising around £25 billion a year. But Lord King told Sky News she raised the wrong tax by doing so. Mervyn King was the chancellor’s boss at the Bank of England – this week he said she made the wrong call on the tax to raise in her Autumn Budget 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 moreRussia and China will be the beneficiaries of Keir Starmer’s plans to slash the foreign aid budget, a former deputy foreign secretary has warned in a stark message to the prime minister.Sir Keir defended his controversial cuts saying he would use the cash to hit back at “tyrants” like Putin, as he bowed to pressure from Donald Trump to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP just hours before jetting to meet the US President at the White House. But Andrew Mitchell warned the move would actually aid Russia, three years after its illegal invasion of Ukraine. And he suggested Labour had turned its back on its own principles, pointing out that Sir Keir argued against reductions to the overseas aid budget under the Conservatives. Keir Starmer has been told Russia and China will benefit from plans to slash the foreign aid budget 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 moreMinisters are considering relaxing the two-child benefit cap after facing intense pressure to scrap the limit entirely, it has emerged. Under plans being considered to tackle child poverty, parents of under-fives could reportedly be exempted from the limit.The government is also considering exempting parents of disabled children, parents in work and hiking child benefit payments for those with young children, The Guardian reported. Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to scrap the two-child benefit cap 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 moreKeir Starmer has made it clear he intends to stand up to Donald Trump over Ukraine as he jets over to Washington DC for one of the most consequential meetings ever between a US president and British prime minister.Speaking to journalists on the flight over the Atlantic, Sir Keir insisted that Russia’s Vladimir Putin has to be viewed as the aggressor.He will make clear that there can be no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine, and will push for Europe to play a greater part in global defence.However, in a challenging meeting which will also encompass awkward conversations on plans to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, trade deals and a potential visit by President Trump, Sir Keir was keen to talk up the relationship between the two.The prime minister insisted that “there is no issue between us” on Ukraine as he jetted out – attempting to play down disagreements in the past two weeks.He said: “Of course, the president has been very clear about the peace that he wants. He’s right about that. We all want peace. The question is, how do we make sure it’s a lasting peace? There’s no issue between us on this.”His words came as it was revealed he plans to host Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders for a defence summit this weekend.With talks on tariffs being imposed by the US and concerns by the Trump administration, inflamed by Elon Musk, on free speech in the UK regarding social media, Sir Keir will be keen to remind the president that the two countries share trade worth $400bn, which supports more than 2.5 million jobs across both countries.The prime minister will join the president at the White House on Thursday, before a tete a tete at the Oval Office. He will be accompanied by the foreign secretary, David Lammy.Last week, President Trump shocked allies in the West by calling President Zelensky a dictator and arranging a meeting in Saudi Arabia with Russia without Ukraine or Europe at the table.Even worse, there was fury when the US sided with autocratic regimes including China and North Korea to vote down a resolution blaming Russian aggression for the war.Donald Trump discussing foreign policy More

Donald Trump may have a say over the UK’s deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, David Lammy admitted on Wednesday, 26 February.Speaking to Robert Peston, the UK foreign secretary confirmed that if the US president isn’t happy with the deal then it “will not go forward.””We have a shared military and intelligence interest with the United States… they’ve got to be happy with the deal or there is no deal,” Mr Lammy added.The UK is in talks to hand control of the archipelago back to Mauritius as part of a deal rumoured to be worth £9bn. More