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 “serious questions to answer” about his defence spending uplift, the Tories have said, after a cabinet minister admitted the PM’s figures were misleading.The prime minister on Tuesday promised to boost the defence budget from 2.3 per cent to 2.5 per cent of GDP ahead of a crunch meeting in the White House with Donald Trump on Thursday.At a Downing Street press conference, Sir Keir said the increase amounted to Labour spending £13.4 billion extra each year on the armed forces. Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of using misleading figures to sell his big defence spending announcement 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 moreThe traditional gifts for Keir Starmer’s visit to see Donald Trump for the first time since the inauguration have yet to be announced, but it is a fair bet that the prime minister will hand the US president an Arsenal shirt with the number 47 (for 47th president) on it.The shirt of the prime minister’s favourite football team has been his safe go-to gift for all his first meetings with previous world leaders and this is one trip above all where he will be wanting to play safe.Insiders have told The Independent that Sir Keir will receive a “respectful” and even “warm” greeting from the new president – at least publicly – and we’re likely to see similar jovial treatment in the Oval Office in front of journalists as French president Emmanuel Macron did earlier this week. Starmer announced an increase in defence spending 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 moreThe number of British personnel working on an international training program for Ukrainian soldiers has fallen by more than 1,000 in the last 2.5 years, new figures reveal. The decline marks a 73 per cent reduction in the UK staffing of the British-led Operation Interflex that has trained over 51,000 Ukrainian soldiers to resist Vladimir Putin’s invasion.It comes as Britain and its European allies scramble to bolster their own defences amid mounting pressure from Donald Trump and stark warnings about their defence capabilities.Operation Interflex has trained over 51,000 Ukrainian soldiers 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 moreNigel Farage’s trip to Florida to meet tech billionaire Elon Musk was partly funded by convicted fraudster George Cottrell, records show. The former Ukip volunteer paid for the Reform UK leader’s £15,000 fight from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Palm Beach, Florida, last year where he was pictured posing next to Mr Musk and Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy. Mr Cottrell, who spent eight months in jail after being convicted of one count of wire fraud in the US, is a former adviser to Mr Farage.After being arrested in 2016, he struck a plea bargain with prosecutors, who said he had agreed to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Yui Mok/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.Read moreWatch live as Sir Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs today (26 February) ahead of crunch US talks with Donald Trump.Sir Keir faces the Tory leader a day after his shock announcement to increase the UK’s defence spending to 2.5 per cent and just hours before he travels to Washington DC to meet with the US President.Defence secretary John Healey has insisted that the US president’s demands are not the sole reason for the increase.He pointed out that this promise was made in Labour’s election manifesto. but is being delivered three years early as the “world has changed”.It comes after Sir Keir said Britain would hike defence spending by 2027 with a further “ambition” to hit 3 per cent by the early 2030s.European countries including France and Germany have signalled a need to increase defence spending, but details of how and when this will happen have been vague.Sir Keir acknowledged his plans were accelerated by US president Donald Trump’s criticism of Ukraine and threats to withdraw security guarantees from Europe. 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 moreEuropean nations would have to send at least 100,000 troops to keep the peace in Ukraine and “none of them can do it”, a former head of the British armed forces has warned. General Lord Richards called for Nato countries to be “very grown up” and “live within what is physically and militarily possible”, rather than “what our political leaders sometimes would aspire to do”. The former chief of the defence staff warned it is “inevitable” that Russia will seek to test any defence force placed in Ukraine in the event of a deal to end the war. “If we send troops, they will be tested, and they have to robustly be able to defend themselves,” Lord Richards told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He said given the size of the border between Russia and Ukraine a force of 100,000 to 200,000 troops would be needed. He added that these troops would need to be rotated, which could singificantly increase the number number that would be required to maintain the presence. “The idea you are going to send a few peacekeepers with berets to reassure the Ukrainians is crass,” Lord Richards said. “We are talking, to do it robustly, 100,000 troops overall, drawn from European nations. None of them can do it,” he added.He instead called for Britain to put the Ukrainians in a position to defend themselves after any peace deal with a “massive increase in support”. Lord David Richards said Europe would be unable to sustain a peacekeeping force in Ukraine 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 moreGermany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has stirred debate by calling for Europe to achieve “independence” from the United States and questioning whether Nato can survive.Amid America’s controversial negotiations with Russia on bringing Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine to an end, Merz has distanced himself from Trump’s rhetoric and advocated for stronger European unity.Merz argues that Europe should build its own defence, with potential backing from nuclear powers like the UK and France.However, critics warn that no European alternative can match America’s military strength and that breaking away from Nato could leave Europe exposed to growing global threats.The debate is heating up as UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer revealed – ahead of a meeting with Trump in Washington – that he plans to increase defence spending by 2.5 per cent of GDP, adding £13.4 billion annually by 2027 to counter threats like Russia. With Merz pushing for greater European cohesion, we want to know if you think Europe should chart its own defence path with the US. Or would leaving Nato put the continent in danger?Share your thoughts in the comments – we’ll feature the most compelling responses.All you have to do is sign up and register your details – then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen. 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 has called on European allies to follow the UK’s lead and “step up” on defence after Keir Starmer’s pledge to boost spending to 3 per cent.In a move to underscore the reasoning behind the controversial budget shift, the chancellor wrote in The Telegraph it was the duty of the government to respond to Russian aggression by increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP in the next to years, before going further following the next election.“This is a generational moment for our Continent. All of us must step up and do more on defence,” Ms Reeves said. “That is why over the coming days I will be talking to European counterparts at the G20 in South Africa about the importance of security and defence for our economies, and how we can work together to bolster them.”The chancellor said Britain had stepped up at “every moment of history” when the world became less secure, referencing Winston Churchill’s stance against Nazi Germany, the post-war Labour government’s involvement in founding Nato, and the previous Conservative government’s support for Ukraine.Ms Reeves’ comments come as US president Donald Trump pressures European allies in Nato to boost their own share of the cost of defence as the administration brokers a deal with Russia to end the Ukraine war.Keir Starmer said Britain was confronting a “generational moment” More