UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseRichard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, has admitted his party’s policy of picking up and taking migrants back to France could result in a “friendly stand-off” between the countries in the English Channel. Speaking to Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, he said: “It’s very simple. The government’s policy of smashing the gangs is clearly not working, and sadly people are literally dying… The only way to stop the boats is a variant of what Australia did.“We’ve talked about it before. I will repeat it again: You’ve got to safely pick up and take back to France, which we are legally entitled to do under the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of Sea.“And by the way France has a legal obligation to do the same, which they are in breach of. So we are legally entitled to do this.“If the French coastguards say ‘you’re not coming in’ they’re in breach of international law.”When pressed on what would happen if French authorities refused, Mr Tice said: “Well then we’ve got a stand-off… I’m not saying go to war but you can have a friendly stand-off with friends. It’s the only way you’re going to stop the deaths. Ours is the kind and compassionate policy.”An inflatable dinghy carrying around 65 migrants crosses the English Channel on March 06, 2024. This year’s crossings are higher than 2023 but lower than the peak in 2022. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseRachel Reeves claimed her Budget was for strivers as she tried to draw a line under a furious row over Labour’s definition of working people. The chancellor, who is expected to raise taxes on Wednesday, warned that she had had to make “tough decisions…Not everything is going to be easy”.But she said her reforms, which Labour hope will kickstart economic growth, were for “hardworking families up and down the country who have been crying out for change. “To these people I say, I’ve got your back…. I will deliver for you. It’s a Budget for the strivers,” she wrote in The Sun on Sunday.Her comments risk a backlash for echoing George Osborne’s claims when he was chancellor that strivers would be better off under his budgets.Rachel Reeves in her office at no 11 Downing Street (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseThe new Labour government is considering a ban on smacking, a cabinet minister has said. Bridget Phillipson said she was “open-minded” about the move and wanted to hear from experts.Smacking bans have already been brought in in Scotland and Wales, to outlaw the use of physical violence to punish children.The move follows fresh calls for a change in the law from the Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de SouzaEducation secretary Ms Phillipson told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme “we do need to look at how we keep children safe”.Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was speaking to Laura Kuenssberg More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseMilitary families are set to be protected from Labour’s decision to impose VAT on private school fees.Critics of the plan have warned it is unfair to those in the Armed Forces who have to move countries and homes frequently and put their children in boarding schools. There have even been warnings some could leave the services altogether as a result of fee increases which could come as a result of the changes due to come in in January.Military families already receive support through an existing scheme, and now they are set to get extra help to ensure they are not affected by VAT under a package in the Budget, to be revealed on Wednesday.But the move risks fuelling the outcry from other parents.Military families are to be protected VAT on private schools (Ben Birchall/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreClose Georgia’s pro-Western opposition disputed the results of the parliamentary election after officials declared Sunday the ruling party led the crucial vote that could decide whether the country remains on the path to joining the European Union or comes under Russian sway. The Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream won 54.8% of Saturday’s vote with almost 100% of ballots counted. Following a divisive pre-election campaign, initial figures suggested turnout is the highest since the ruling party was first elected in 2012.Georgian electoral observers, who stationed thousands across the country to monitor the vote, reported multiple violations and said the results “do not correspond to the will of the Georgian people.” Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian, adopting laws similar to those used by Russia to crack down on freedom of speech. Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU membership process indefinitely because of a “Russian law,” passed in June.Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream who made his fortune in Russia, claimed victory almost immediately after polls closed and said, “It is rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation.” He had vowed ahead of the election to ban opposition parties should his party win.Tina Bokuchava, the chair of the United National Movement opposition party accused the election commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and said he “stole the victory from the Georgian people and thereby stole the European future.”She indicated the opposition would not recognize the results and “will fight like never before to reclaim our European future.”The UNM party said its headquarters were attacked on Saturday while Georgian media reported two people were hospitalized after being attacked outside polling stations. The pre-election campaign in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people, which borders Russia, was dominated by foreign policy and marked by a bitter fight for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.Some Georgians complained of intimidation and being pressured to vote for the governing party.Georgian Dream scored its highest share of the vote — polling almost 90% — in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers (83 miles) west of the capital Tbilisi where it failed to get more than 44% of the vote in any district. The Associated Press traveled to the region before the election where many people are ethnic Armenians who speak Armenian, Russian and limited Georgian. Some voters suggested they were instructed how to vote by local officials while several questioned why Georgia needed a relationship with Europe and suggested it would be better off allied with Moscow. Around 80% of Georgians favor joining the EU, according to polls, and the country’s constitution obliges its leaders to pursue membership in that bloc and NATO.Many fear that Georgian Dream is dragging the country toward authoritarianism and killing off hopes of becoming and EU member.—Associated Press producer Sophiko Megrelidze contributed to this report More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreClose Lithuanians headed to the ballots Sunday in the second and final round of parliamentary elections, with the conservative governing party still in contention despite first-round gains for the left-leaning opposition.Strict COVID-19 measures during the pandemic, political scandals involving several key members of the Cabinet and an influx of migrants from neighboring Belarus have hurt the popularity of Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s government, which took office in 2020. The vote in Lithuania, which borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west and Belarus to the east, comes at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine is fueling greater fears about Moscow’s intentions, particularly in the strategically important Baltic region.It will set the political tone for the next four years, but despite a possible shift to the left analysts say there won’t be any significant change in Lithuania’s foreign policy. The European Union and NATO member is a staunch supporter of Ukraine. Voters in dozens of electoral districts will choose between the two leading candidates from the first round to complete the new 141-seat parliament, known as the Seimas.The opposition Social Democrats, led by Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, came out of the first round with an edge two weeks ago, taking 20 of the first 70 seats to be decided. That put them two seats ahead of Šimonytė’s Homeland Union party. Blinkevičiūtė has said that she and the center-left Democratic Union, which took eight seats, would attempt to form a coalition together with a smaller third party. The three parties, which so far have 34 lawmakers in total, have said they would support each other’s candidates in the second round. But the center-left parties could lose their lead, and their ability to form a stable government could depend on a new party that many consider a pariah. The Nemuno Aušra party came in third in the first round, with 15 seats. Its leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis had to resign from parliament earlier this year for making antisemitic statements. A strong showing for Nemuno Aušra could open the way for the prime minister’s party to form a minority government.“Nobody can claim to have an obvious majority after the first round,” said Mažvydas Jastramskis, a political analyst at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science.Šimonytė’s Homeland Union won 18 seats in the first round and its coalition member, the Liberal Union, took eight. Both have several dozen candidates leading in run-offs, but they aren’t in a position to win the 71 seats needed for a majority.Tensions in Lithuania’s neighborhood, with Russia’s war on Ukraine, are on voters’ minds as well as domestic concerns.Most of the traditional parties said before the elections that they would not team up with Nemuno Aušra. The Social Democrats, for instance, have ruled out any alliance with Žemaitaitis’ party. Still, Nemuno Aušra announced this week that it would support the Social Democrats’ Blinkevičiūtė in her bid to become prime minister.Jastramskis said it’s unlikely that the three center-left parties will emerge with enough seats to form a stable new government alone.“The one more likely option for the stable majority is if Nemuno Aušra joins the already announced three-party coalition,” Jastramskis said. “But it may turn out as a major problem for the cabinet if the unacceptable rhetoric and actions continue”. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreClose Bulgarians were voting Sunday in a seventh general election in just over three years with little hope that a stable government will be formed to stop the country’s further slide into political instability.Voter fatigue and disillusionment with politicians have created an environment where radical political voices, aided by Moscow’s widespread disinformation, are successfully undermining public support for the democratic process and boosting the popularity of pro-Russian and far-right groups.The never-ending election spiral has a serious impact on Bulgaria’s economy and its foreign policy. The country risks losing billions of euros in EU recovery funds due to lack of reforms. Full integration into the open-border Schengen area and joining the eurozone are likely to be delayed further.Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Sunday. Initial exit poll results will be announced after polls close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) and preliminary results are expected on Monday.According to latest opinion polls, Bulgarians’ lack of confidence in elections will result in a record low voter turnout. Gallup World Poll data show only 10% of Bulgarians trust the integrity of their elections — the lowest proportion in the EU, where the average is 62%.Some observers have labelled the past few years as a period of “revolving-door governments,” which has additionally fueled voters’ apathy.There was no clear winner in the latest vote, held in June, and the seven groups elected to the fragmented legislature were unable to put together a viable coalition. Observers suggest that Sunday’s vote will produce more of the same. These early elections are not expected to break a protracted political stalemate, Teneo, a political risk consultancy, said in a report last week. Although former prime minister Boyko Borissov’s center-right GERB party is set to win a plurality of seats, it will likely struggle to form a majority government in a fragmented parliament, Teneo predicted.“As a result, a technocratic government or another early election are the most likely outcomes. Political instability and a surging budget deficit are key challenges to Bulgaria’s accession to the eurozone,” the consultancy added.The Balkan country of 6.7 million has been gripped by political instability since 2020, when nationwide protests erupted against corrupt politicians that had allowed oligarchs to take control of state institutions.Bulgaria is one of the poorest and most corrupt European Union member states. Attempts to fight graft are an uphill battle against an unreformed judiciary widely accused of serving the interests of politicians.Despite a fall in support for GERB in recent elections, it is tipped to finish first with a quarter of the votes. It will be a hard task for Borisov, however, to secure enough support for a stable coalition government.Analysts believe that the main pro-Russia party in Bulgaria, Vazrazhdane, could emerge as the second-largest group in parliament. The far-right, ultra-nationalist and populist party demands that Bulgaria lift sanctions against Russia, stop helping Ukraine, and hold a referendum on its membership in NATO.The reformist, pro-EU We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria bloc is tipped to come in third.The Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which traditionally represented Bulgaria’s large ethnic Turkish minority, recently split into two rival factions, one around party founder Ahmed Dogan, and the other behind U.S.-sanctioned businessman and former media tycoon Delyan Peevski. Both factions are tipped to enter parliament, gaining between 7 and 9 percent each,Up to four smaller groups could also pass the 4-percent threshold for entering parliament, which would even more complicate the forming of a government. More