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 moreThe last culture secretary to renegotiate the BBC charter has claimed that the licence fee is now “unsustainable” and must be replaced by an alternative form of funding.Sir John Whittingdale has responded to a new report which suggests that viewers have turned off from the BBC and moved to streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon.It comes just ahead of the Labour government opening talks for the next charter renewal.While Sir John has not specified a preferred option, theBBC could turn to advertising or a new version of the licence fee. One of the options understood to be on the table is that viewers of Netflix, Amazon and Disney Plus who do not watch the BBC may be forced to pay the licence fee in the future.Former culture secretary minister Sir John Whittingdale (Dominic Lipinski/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 moreThe government has denied it is set to hold talks with Caribbean representatives over reparations for the slave trade as one Labour MP called for the UK to take steps towards acknowledging the damage caused by its colonialist past.The Foreign Office angrily denied reports on Saturday that it was to meet with a Caribbean delegation on reparations.Clapham and Brixton Hill MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on Afrikan Reparations, said she had been “surprised” by the initial reports in The Telegraph, but added it was “a shame” they are not going ahead.She told The Independent: “Talks with Caricom nations would be a significant step towards acknowledging the enduring harm caused by enslavement and colonialism. Critics often misconstrue the campaign for reparations as being solely about financial compensation, or historic events that have no relevance today.“But for these countries our historic crimes play a central part in their present struggles. So reparations at its core is about equality and justice. There are many ways we can go about righting our wrongs, and that starts with a conversation.”Bell Ribeiro-Addy 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 moreClaims that Nigel Farage may be the biggest problem for Reform breaking the political mould and winning the next election have been supported in a new poll.The findings by Opinium suggest that while voters are tempted to support Reform UK, particularly on immigration, the party leader is the main reason they may not bother.It follows a row last month when X boss Elon Musk, who has been backing rightwing parties across Europe, suggested that Farage was not the right leader for Reform in an inflammatory Tweet.However, the survey taken on 5 February also provide dreadful results for Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch.Farage has led Reform to new heights 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 moreReform’s popularity surge in the polls is legitimate and could be sustained until the general election, polling guru professor Sir John Curtice has told The Independent.Prof Curtice argued that while the problems for the Tories persist, the notable trend has been a historic collapse in Labour support after just seven months in power. For the Conservatives, questions are being asked about Kemi Badenoch’s future as leader, but a similar spotlight is being shone on chancellor Rachel Reeves with economic woes being blamed for Labour’s unpopularity.Prof Curtice’s assessment is backed up by two other leading UK polling experts Lord Robert Hayward and Luke Tryl of More in Common.It comes after a week where several polls put Nigel Farage’s Reform UK either in top spot or equal first.‘The fall in Labour’s vote of this size so quickly is, I think, a record,’ says John Curtice 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 Labour MP has issued a warning to Sir Keir Starmer as he helps lead protests against the government giving the greenlight to a controversial new Chinese embassy in London.East Renfrewshire MP Blair McDougall, a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, will join other MPs including former security minister Tom Tugendhat and shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick in a protest today against the proposed new building.It comes amid growing concerns over attempts by Sir Keir’s government to build relations with China at a time when the new Donald Trump administration in the US is on the cusp of a trade war with the Communist country.The Labour Government has sought to improve relations with China as it pursues economic growth (Stefan Rousseau/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 moreForeign secretary David Lammy has warned Donald Trump that slashing foreign aid to countries could be a major ”strategic mistake”, drawing parallels to the fallout from Britain’s own aid cuts. Mr Trump has sent shockwaves across the countries that were dependent on US foreign aid after his administration imposed a sweeping freeze on aid programs under the US Agency for International Development (USAID).Thousands of staff have already been laid off, and programs supporting health services, disaster relief, and anti-poverty efforts in nearly 100 countries are scrambling after the shutdown, including in Ukraine.Mr Lammy told the Guardian on Friday that the US government should “look closely at what went wrong” when the previous UK government shut down its Department for International Development (Dfi). He was referring to former prime minister Boris Johnson’s actions of merging Dfid with the Foreign Office in 2020.“What I can say to American friends is it’s widely accepted that the decision by the UK with very little preparation to close down DfID, to suspend funding in the short term or give many global partners little heads up, was a big strategic mistake,” he told the newspaper. “We have spent years unravelling that strategic mistake. Development remains a very important soft power tool,” he added.”We were hugely critical of the way that the last government handled the decision. So I would caution US friends to look closely at what went wrong in the United Kingdom as they navigate this decision.”The top receivers under the USAID programme’s roughly $40bn budget were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Syria.On Friday, a federal judge in Washington, DC, put the brakes on the controversial plan to gut the USAID workforce by issuing a temporary restraining order. It blocked the Trump administration from placing roughly 2,200 USAID workers on administrative leave, hours before the administration was set to send them packing at midnight.It was after unions representing nearly 2,000 USAID employees filed a lawsuit against Trump and administration officials on Thursday.Mr Lammy, who was in Kyiv, met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior officials.He said he did not see any hope of an imminent end to war with Russia despite Mr Trump’s pledge to end the war under his second administration. Peace talks are set to begin at a security conference in Munich next week.“I am not sure we are weeks away from peace talks. And I say that because our assessment, which I’m quite sure the US shares, is that Putin shows absolutely no appetite for negotiation and to bring this war to an end,” he told the Guardian.He added that the “Ukrainians are pretty clear there can be no ceasefire before negotiations”.“So I don’t anticipate a ceasefire in this war anytime soon. I’m very clear that Putin at the moment shows no desire to negotiate. And therefore, sadly, I think this war of attrition will go on for some months yet,” he said. 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 suffered another blow in her bid to boost tepid economic growth after the Bank of England played down the idea of a big interest rate cut later this year. Huw Pill, the Bank’s chief economist, pointed to a more “careful” approach instead. His comments came just a day after the bank’s decision to halve its growth forecast overshadowed news of a smaller interest rate cut.Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made economic growth her 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 moreThe government has ordered Apple to allow it access to users’ encrypted files, prompting allegations of an “unprecedented attack” on privacy rights.The Home Office issued the order last month under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, which enables authorities to compel assistance from companies when it needs to collect evidence, The Washington Post reported.The order asked for a blanket ability to view encrypted material, not just help accessing a specific account.Apple has frequently said it regards privacy as a ‘fundamental human right’ (PA) More