UK Politics

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThis week, the world’s richest person launched an unseemly public attack on his estranged transgender daughter.In an interview released on Monday, Elon Musk – electric car entrepreneur, US government rocket contractor, and outright owner of the social media service X (formerly Twitter) – claimed that his daughter Vivian Wilson’s transition was the trigger for his recent right-wing turn.”Essentially… my son is dead,” said Musk. “Killed by the woke mind virus. So I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that. And we’re making some progress.”Wilson soon fired back on the rival social network Threads and in an interview with NBC News, saying that Musk was “lying blatantly” about her childhood and of bullying her for expressing femininity. (The Independent has contacted Musk for comment, via his companies.)For many trans people, these events were sad but not surprising. That is because all too many have witnessed their family members’ politics becoming more extreme and more anti-trans since they came out.Here are the stories of three trans and non-binary people who spoke to The Independent about their experiences. Their identities and certain other details have been blurred, and their answers have been edited for length and clarity.In most cases, their family members’ political shift didn’t come from nowhere; some had a prior interest in anti-trans politics. But all our interviewees said that things had got worse since their transition began.Elon Musk arrives for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on July 24, 2024 More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditor Hungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday that the European Union is sliding toward oblivion. It came in a rambling anti-Western speech in which he warned of a new, Asia-oriented “world order”, and expressed support for Donald Trump’s presidential bid.“Europe has given up defending its own interests,” Mr Orban said as he spoke in Baile Tusnad, a majority ethnic Hungarian town in central Romania. “All Europe is doing today is following the US’s pro-Democrat foreign policy unconditionally … even at the cost of self-destruction.“A change is coming that has not been seen for 500 years. What we are facing is in fact a world order change,” he added, saying China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia were becoming the “dominant centre” of the world.Mr Orban also alleged that the US was behind the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines built to carry gas from Russia to Germany, calling it “an act of terrorism carried out at the obvious direction of the Americans”. He didn’t offer any evidence to back up the claim.The far-right leader’s remarks come amid growing criticism from his European partners after he embarked on rogue “peace mission” trips to Moscow and Beijing earlier this month, aimed at brokering an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Mr Orban is widely considered to have the warmest relations with the Kremlin of all EU leaders.On Ukraine, Mr Orban cast doubt on the war-torn country becoming either a member of NATO or the EU. “We Europeans do not have the money for it. Ukraine will revert to the position of a buffer state,” he said, adding that international security guarantees “will be enshrined in an agreement between the US and Russia”.Throughout Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, Mr Orban has broken with other EU leaders by refusing to provide Kyiv with weapons to defend against Russian forces and has routinely delayed, watered down, or blocked efforts to send financial aid to Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow.Mr Orban typically uses the annual Tusvanyos Summer University platform in Romania to indicate the ideological direction of his national government and to deride the standards of the EU bloc, which Hungary joined in 2004.Hungary currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, during which Mr Orban has made a Trumpian vow to “Make Europe Great Again” and has openly endorsed Mr Trump’s candidacy in this year’s US presidential election. Mr Orban has visited Mr Trump twice this year at the former president’s beachside compound in Mar-a-Lago.Mr Orban said on Saturday that Mr Trump’s bid for re-election aims “to pull the American people back from a post-nationalist liberal state to a nation state” and rehashed a slew of conservative tropes that Mr Trump is being penalised unfairly to hamper his electoral bid.“That is why they want to put him in prison. That’s why they want to take away his assets. And if that doesn’t work, that’s why they want to kill him,” Mr Orban said, referring to an assassination attempt on Mr Trump at a Pennsylvania rally this month.Mr Orban’s remarks on Saturday aren’t the first time he’s used the festival in Transylvania to stir controversy. In 2014, Mr Orban declared for the first time his intentions of building an “illiberal state” in Hungary, and in 2022, he sparked international outrage after he railed against Europe becoming a “mixed race” society. He doubled down on his long-held anti-immigration stance on Saturday, saying it is not an answer to his country’s ageing population. “There can be no question of a shrinking population supplemented by migration,” he said in his Saturday address. “The Western experience is that if there are more guests than owners, then home is no longer home. This is a risk that should not be taken.”The EU’s longest-serving leader, Mr Orban has become an icon to some conservative populists for his firm opposition to immigration and LGBTQ+ rights. He has also cracked down on the press and judiciary in Hungary and been accused by the EU of violating rule-of-law and democracy standards.___McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer is set to meet other European leaders after the opening ceremony of the Olympics as he continues his bid to reset Britain’s relationship with the continent after Brexit.The prime minister will be in Paris on Friday as the Games get underway in the French capital and is expected to meet members of the Team GB squad on Saturday. But it is understood there is also the opportunity for meetings with other leaders after the event. Last week the Labour leader, who has said he wants a “reset” with the European Union, promised to fix Britain’s damaged relations with the bloc for the benefit of “generations to come”.And less than two weeks into his premiership, he scored his first major success as European leaders hailed his plan for a new era. Paris Olympics More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRachel Reeves is set to unveil a £20 billion ‘black hole’ in public finances on Monday, sparking rumours that Labour’s first autumn statement will bring new tax raising measures.The chancellor is expected to reveal her findings when she releases a Treasury spending audit, setting out the strained state of government finances amid issues with cash-strapped public services.A Labour source said that the update will reveal “the true scale of the damage the Conservatives have done to the public finances.”It is the latest indication from the new government of its position that previous Conservative administrations have left them in a difficult position. Speaking at PMQs this week, the prime minister said that his party has found “crisis and failure everywhere.”But Insitute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson said: “There should not be a sense of surprise there is a big issue here.”Speaking about Ms Reeves upcoming statement, he said: “The manifesto words ‘no new taxes on working people’, means that there can be no tax rises at all.”Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to explain the financial challenges the country faces More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorDavid Lammy is being pushed to urgently review Britain’s foreign policy towards a potential key ally in the Red Sea conflict with the Houthis and officially recognise Somaliland.The former UK protectorate on the Horn of Africa has functioned as an independent state since 1991 after breaking away from Somalia following a civil war but has not received official recognition by the international community. The two countries had unified within days of the UK giving Somaliland independence in 1960 but broke up again after a civil war.The renewed calls came this week after Labour run Liverpool City Council unanimously backed a motion recognising Somaliland in what has been hailed as a significant move in the country’s relations with the rest of the world.Foreign secretary David Lammy is being encouraged to review UK policy towards Somaliland (PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRachel Reeves is set to unveil a black hole in the public finances of around £20 billion, signalling that tax rises could be on the way.The chancellor will on Monday set out the results of the spending audit she ordered Treasury officials to produce.The findings appear to confirm concerns raised during the election campaign by the influential Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) who accused the main parties of a “conspiracy of silence” in not addressing the reality of public finances.Asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning whether the black hole is a surprise, IFS director Paul Johnson said: “I don’t think that is really credible at all. There should not be a sense of surprise there is a big issue here.”He pointed out that cuts in recent years and the way public sector pay has lagged behind the private sector meant that it was clear that public services would need investment.Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (Justin Tallis/PA) More

Mel Stride offered a four-word response when asked why he should be the next Conservative Party leader.The former work and pensions secretary has become the fourth MP to announce they are joining the race for the Tory leadership.He told BBC Breakfast on Friday 26 July he has been “fully nominated” as a candidate, joining Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick in the race to replace Rishi Sunak.Mr Stride was also quizzed on why he should be the next leader despite being the “broadcast face” of the “failed Tory general election campaign”.“I’m a team player,” he responded. More

Martin Lewis has cleared up confusion over the two-child benefit cap as Labour defeated an amendment to scrap the controversial measure.The cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or tax credit for their third child.It came into place under a Conservative government April 2017 and applies to children who were born after 6 April 2017.The Tories said the measures were designed to encourage benefit recipients “to make the same choices as those supporting themselves solely through work.”It is a separate payment to child benefit, which does not have a limit on the number of children it can be claimed for. More