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 moreForeign Office (FCDO) minister Stephen Doughty is being urged not to waste time with talks to end more than 50 years of division on the island of Cyprus unless Sir Keir Starmer is prepared to change decades of British policy.Mr Doughty will land on the strategically crucial Mediterranean island on Friday where the UK owns two military bases that are vitally important for security within easy reach of the Middle East.The minister will meet the recognised government of Cyprus in the Greek Cypriot controlled south and then hold a first meeting of Sir Keir’s government with the president of the unrecognised breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ersin Tatar.Stephen Doughty is arriving in Cyprus to talk to the recognised government in the Greek Cypriot south, and then the president of the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 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 is facing serious questions over his leadership for the first time since the general election last year. Fellow Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe, the former chairman of Southampton football club, warned it was “too early” to know if Farage would deliver as leader, and accused him of having “messianic” tendencies.Mr Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth, was touted as a replacement for Mr Farage by Elon Musk earlier this year.His criticism comes after polling suggested that the party may have hit their ceiling with a surge in support since the general election coming to an end three weeks ago.The latest weekly Techne UK poll for The Independent puts Reform on 25 per cent for the third week in a row and has Labour pulling ahead by three points on 28 per cent after praise for Sir Keir Starmer following a week of diplomatic talks over the Ukraine crisis.MP Rupert Lowe is the only senior figure in Reform to go public with concerns over Mr Farage(Jordan Pettitt/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 again as UK defence secretary John Healey and his US counterpart Pete Hegseth held talks in Washington on Thursday, 6 March, where they were expected to discuss the US decision to pause intelligence-sharing with Ukraine following Donald Trump’s explosive meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.The pair held a bilateral meeting on a possible peace plan while efforts continue to bridge a transatlantic rift over the country’s future security.CIA director John Ratcliffe told Fox Business Network on Wednesday there has been a “pause” on “the intelligence front” following the chaotic Oval Office confrontation.The decision could affect Ukraine’s ability to effectively use long-range western weapons, such as US-made Himars launchers and deprive Kyiv of advance information about potential incoming threats.It comes as European leaders hold crisis talks in Brussels on support for Kyiv.French president Emmanuel Macron said he would confer with allies about the prospect of using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent in the face of threats from Russia at a summit of EU leaders.Mr Healey’s trip was agreed after Sir Keir Starmer announced a rise in the UK’s defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP. 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 moreWhile the focus has been on the crisis in Ukraine and need for European nations to boost their defence budget, Rachel Reeves’s main role has been to sign cheques for President Volodymyr Zelensky’s war effort and increase funding for British military and security.But the focus is about to fall sharply on to the chancellor as she prepares to present her spring statement on Wednesday 26 March – an event which is already shaping up to be an emergency Budget.At stake for her and Sir Keir Starmer is a desperation to spark economic growth after the enormous backlash against her Autumn Budget, with its record £40 billion tax rises, including a massive jobs tax hike by raising national insurance.While businesses are applying pressure for no new tax rises, trade unions are beginning to make noises about public pay settlements again, and Labour MPs are beginning to get nervous about the prospect of “austerity 2” with a round of spending cuts.Already there are potential rebellions over the so-called tractor tax of imposing inheritance tax on farms and the cut to international aid. The issue is what further horrors will Ms Reeves have to perform?Reeves and Starmer sign off money for 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 moreRachel Reeves may be forced into fresh tax hikes or a new wave of austerity amid fears her financial buffer from October’s Budget has been wiped out, top economists have warned.The chancellor faces having to unveil tighter spending plans than Jeremy Hunt did as chancellor due to the deteriorating state of Britain’s public finances, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).In a bid to meet her self-imposed fiscal rules, Ms Reeves is this month grappling with whether to cut public spending or hike taxes again after higher borrowing costs and stagnant economic growth wiped out her £9.9 billion backstop. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver a fiscal statement to MPs on March 26 (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 founder of Lastminute.com has warned that the tech sector is in “peril” as US President Donald Trump cracks down on equality programmes.Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho argued that inclusion is central to growth and innovation, with diverse teams increasing company profits by 20%.However, the industry is now scrapping many of its efforts to diversify its workforce amid Mr Trump’s attack on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) schemes.Lady Lane-Fox told the House of Lords the US has a huge influence on the UK tech sector and implored peers to “feel the peril of this moment and the urgency of this moment”.The independent crossbench peer said: “I had never used the words DEI in my life until the last two months and yet I find myself defending the very notion of equality to journalists, to people I work with, to companions in the sector and outside it.“I cannot understand this disconnect between good business practice and what we are now facing, which is a fundamental row back in the belief and the priorities of these substantial programmes.“Just yesterday, I heard of Google’s edict from on high rowing back in a huge number of different projects that it works with here in the UK, charities and the civic sector, that look at diversity, equality, inclusion, AI for good.“I am angry and I am nervous, and we have to keep fighting.”She added: “I cannot believe that there is a single person who looks like me who has worked on the edges of the digital sector for so long who did not feel like crying as they watched the inauguration and the six men who have completely and totally committed to a president who, at the same time, has degraded the role of women so substantially.”The six men she is referring to include Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai.Her comments came as peers discussed International Women’s Day and the steps being taken to promote women’s participation and leadership in science and technology.Lady Lane-Fox, who co-founded Lastminute.com in 1998, went on to became the UK’s Digital Champion, helping to create the Government Digital Service, the team that launched gov.uk.She told peers that she has seen a “degradation” in both culture and the numbers of women in tech during her time in the industry.The businesswoman said: “I have to say, I am angry. I am not a person prone to rage and fury, but I am angry. I am angry, because this is an urgent and important question that I fear we are ignoring at our peril.“I have now worked in or around the technology sector for over 30 years and I have seen no change in the relationship between the sector and women and the numbers of women, in fact I have seen a degradation, not just in culture, but also in the absolute numbers…“Why does this matter? It matters because, as we know, software is eating the world. We know that it is not an option to digitise, it is happening.“These are the jobs of the future, they are the jobs that will create the services of the future and the jobs that will be paid the most amount of money.“It is about power and it is about justice and it is about fairness.“I am so dismayed when I see the numbers and I keep going back to this disconnect between what I see happening and then I see the benefits and the bonus of employing diversity in your teams and putting it at the heart of the company’s strategy, and I just can’t understand this disconnect.”Lady Lane-Fox highlighted the fact that just 26% of the world’s tech workforce are women, falling to 15% in leadership roles, which falls again to just 6% when it comes to leadership roles in the UK.She said: “If you believe, as I do, that the sector is going to be eaten again by AI, by quantum, by deep tech, the numbers fall off even more considerably, so we are in a very perilous position, and it is very disappointing to see the enormous influence of the US technology sector being integrated into the culture of our own companies here.” More