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.CloseRead moreFormer home secretary Suella Braverman has spoken out about her husband Rael’s defection to Reform UK to quell speculation about her own future.Mr Braverman is expected to become a senior campaigner for Nigel Farage’s party, defending farmers against Keir Starmer’s new inheritance tax raid.But the move has again reopened speculation about Ms Braverman’s future in the Conservative Party. She was a leadership contender to replace Boris Johnson in 2022 and has been the darling of the right.However, in a statement, Ms Braverman made it clear that, for now, she is not planning on defecting.Former home secretary Suella Braverman 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.CloseRead moreAngela Rayner has denied that she is damaging local democracy after it was revealed she plans to force large developments on communities and bypass council planning committees.The deputy prime minister was laying out how she plans to get 1.5 million homes built in the UK before the next election.Speaking to Sky News’ Sir Trevor Phillips she admitted that it would require a rate of building not seen since the 1950s for a target last achieved in 1972.But she told him: “I don’t like failure.”Angela Rayner was asked about planning changes on the Sunday morning political programmes (Jeff Overs/BBC/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.CloseRead moreKemi Badenoch landed a major political coup when she secured a meeting with vice president elect J. D. Vance on her trip to Washington DC.The convivial meeting saw the pair share a picture of Mr Vance with his arm around Ms Badenoch and praising the new Conservative leader on X (formerly Twitter).He said: “Great to see the leader of the UK Conservatives, ⁦ Kemi Badenoch⁩ during her trip to the US. We discussed many topics, but I was unable to persuade her that coffee is much better than tea. Cheers, Kemi!”Ms Badenoch only retweeted Mr Vance’s post but Canadian MP Jamil Jivani who joined them in the meeting posted: “Thanks to the VP-elect and Kemi Badenoch for a great conversation in DC.”J.D. Vance met up with Kemi Badenoch 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.CloseRead moreDiplomatic tensions are rising over Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial Chagos Islands deal, with fears the UK government is unable to guarantee whether nuclear weapons will be able to be stored at the Diego Garcia base.Concerns have been raised about the strategically crucial but secretive joint UK/US base in the Indian Ocean after a written answer by defence minister Luke Pollard was unable to confirm further details.The issue has arisen because Mauritius, which is set to take ownership of the islands under Labour’s controversial deal, is part of the Africa nuclear weapons-free zone under the terms of the Treaty of Pelindaba.Any question marks over nuclear weapons at the base under a lease agreement could potentially hit the US even more than the UK.Questions are emerging over the impact of the Chagos deal on the operation of the Diego Garcia base 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.CloseRead more The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland on Saturday strongly condemned “the disproportionate use of force” against peaceful protesters and the targeting of the opposition and media representatives in Georgia.Mass protests in Georgia fueled by the governing party’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union entered a second week on Thursday, with police cracking down on demonstrators with increasing force. In their joint statement, the three foreign ministers called for the immediate release of opposition members. They demanded that “fundamental rights, including freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, must be upheld and protected as per Georgia’s constitution and international commitments.”The ruling Georgian Dream party retained control of parliament in a disputed Oct. 26 election, a vote widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s EU aspirations. The opposition and the pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, have accused the governing party of rigging the vote with neighboring Russia’s help and have boycotted parliament sessions.Opposition protests gained new momentum after the Georgian Dream’s decision last Thursday to put the EU accession talks on hold.Riot police have used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the rallies and beat scores of protesters, who threw fireworks at police officers and built barricades on the Georgian capital’s central boulevard. Hundreds have been detained and over 100 people have been treated for injuries since the start of the clashes.Another 50 protesters were detained Friday night, Georgian officials said Saturday. Police chased demonstrators through the streets of Tbilisi until the early morning hours of Saturday and violently detained some of them.The crackdown has drawn a strong condemnation from the United States. Speaking at a ministerial conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday denounced what he described as a brutal “repression of those calling for their country to stay on the path to closer ties with Europe.”On Saturday, Germany, France and Poland called on “Georgian Dream to deescalate tensions and open an inclusive dialogue with all political forces and representatives of civil society.” “We underscore our determination to support the democratic and European aspirations of the Georgian people,” the statement 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.CloseRead moreNigel Farage’s Reform UK has made a dramatic three-point jump in the polls in a week.The latest Techne UK tracker poll for The Independent appears to confirm a trend that voters are moving towards his brand of nationalist populism.The polling of 1,644 voters took place in the wake of Sir Keir Starmer’s reset speech at Pinewood Studios on Thursday and appears to suggest it failed to improve confidence in the Labour government.Support for Labour was down one point to 27 per cent – the lowest level since Jeremy Corbyn was leader – while Reform UK was up three points to 21 per cent. In addition, trust in Sir Keir’s government being on the right track fell four points from 33 per cent to 29 per cent in just a week.There was worse news for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who has been on a visit to Washington DC this week, with her party down two points to 25 per cent.Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has made a dramatic three-point jump in the polls in a week More