UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailOn May 2, the country will go to the polls as local elections get underway.Alongside the thousands of local councillors, many voters will also pick their candidate for regional metro mayor. Ten of 12 positions are up for grabs this year, representing around 44 per cent of the English population.Metro mayors are directly-elected leaders who chair combined authorities in the UK. These authorities have powers that are devolved from central government, covering areas such as transport, business support, and sometimes housing, crime and health.There are currently ten metro mayors in the UK, but this will rise to 12 after the May 2 elections. A new mayoral post has been created for the East Midlands, while the North of Tyne combined authority will be absorbed into the new larger North East authority.Here’s everything you need to know about the UK’s eight metro mayors facing election battles on May 2:Sadiq Khan, LondonMayor of London Sadiq Khan urged young people to vote on May 2 (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe final set of local elections before the looming general election offers parties a final litmus test of their electoral prospects before the nation decides who they want hanging the curtains in No.10.But interpreting local election results requires nuance. Historically, challenger and fringe parties often outperform expectations, driven by localised issues and lower turnout.Still, locals can provide insight into broader political trends. These results serve as a barometer of the national mood and potential shifts. This set of locals may set hares running. Rishi Sunak is holding together a divided majority, with murmurs of a leadership challenge looming if losses prove substantial. Speculation is swirling about the possibility of an early general election. Labour’s commanding poll lead suggests inevitable Conservative losses, but the tipping point for altering the party’s course remains uncertain. So, what scenarios constitute disaster or triumph? Delving into the key benchmarks, The Independent dissects where success and failure lie for Labour and the Conservatives.Rishi Sunak’s authority is on a knife-edge as local elections loom More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer England cricketer Monty Panesar will stand for the Workers Party at the general election, its leader George Galloway has said.Mr Panesar will contest the Ealing, Southall seat in west London, currently held by Labour with a majority of 16,084.“Monty, of course, was a great left arm spinner and so we could do with him”, Mr Galloway told LBC on Tuesday.The left-wing firebrand was on Tuesday set to unveil 200 parliamentary candidates outside parliament, with Mr Panesar, who appeared in 50 tests for England and represented Sussex, Essex and Northamptonshire at county level, the headline announcement.Speaking after his candidacy was confirmed, Mr Panesar said he was running for parliament so that he could stand up for the working class.“When I played for England there was so much support from the fans and the whole nation when they put me where I am today, it’s my turn now to actually help the working class people, whatever problems they have,” he said.“The gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger and bigger”.Monty Panesar More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch live as David Cameron gives evidence during a committee session on Tuesday 30 April.The foreign secretary yesterday urged Hamas to accept the “generous” ceasefire package which has been put on the table, amid a push by Western leaders to end fighting in Gaza.Lord Cameron called for the militant group to agree to a ceasefire while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.He claimed it “never pays” to be optimistic in pushing for an end to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, but insisted the group should take the deal being offered.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had earlier weighed in, saying Hamas had been presented with an “extraordinarily generous” offer by Israel that he hoped it would accept.The UK wants to see an immediate pause in the fighting to get more aid in and hostages out of Gaza, then progress towards a permanent and sustainable ceasefire. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailCalls to prevent foreign state involvement in UK online media are being examined by the Government, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has said.Ministers have previously agreed to amend the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill to ban foreign states from owning UK newspapers and magazines.But MPs pressed ministers to go further as they welcomed news that RedBird IMI, an Abu Dhabi-backed fund, has withdrawn from a takeover deal for the Telegraph newspaper group.We are looking at the online news space, that is absolutely vitalCulture Secretary Lucy FrazerConservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned the Government is dealing with a “digital world with analogue tools”.He told the Commons: “I know there’s an amendment coming through on another Bill, but we really, really, really need to speed this process up by saying very simply that no foreign state could own any of our media and we now need to look at the online elements as well if we can.”Ms Frazer said the amendment to the Bill “puts beyond absolute doubt” that it would be “inappropriate” for a foreign state to own UK news media.She added: “I do recognise that other point in relation to online media and that is absolutely something we are already looking at.”Conservative MP Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) also sought assurances on how the Government will prevent foreign involvement in online and television media.Ms Frazer replied: “We are looking at the online news space, that is absolutely vital.“It is important to emphasise that Ofcom already has significant powers in the broadcast space, has already taken actions in relation to foreign involvement in our broadcast media over here, has banned certain entities from operating and of course we always need to look at how we tackle misinformation – and that’s something we’re doing across government as a whole.”Conservative former minister Sir John Redwood earlier welcomed the Government’s stance, adding: “I do hope that in the proposals for amending the law it will be very clear that’s not just a government, but it could be a nationalised industry, it could be a public authority, it could be a company with a shareholding by a state of significant influence because otherwise they might try and find ways around it.”He added: “Can we please have an amendment that absolutely nails press freedom in the way we want it, free from influence from foreign states?”Ms Frazer said it is important “we don’t have loopholes” in legislation, adding: “We thought about that as a department very carefully, how do we protect against that and I think he will see when the legislation comes back to this House this afternoon that we’ve defined foreign state ownership very broadly … it includes not only ownership, it also includes control and influence.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour has announced a crackdown on shoplifting and assaults of retail workers as new analysis reveals that a quarter of a million shoplifters got away scot-free last year. Keir Starmer has announced that his government would reverse the Tory ‘Shoplifter’s Charter’ – a rule that means shoplifting of goods under £200 isn’t investigated – and has committed to boosting police numbers in a bid to lower crime as incidents of shoplifting hits record levels across Britain.Analysis of newly released Home Office statistics by Labour found that over 248,000 shoplifting cases were closed without a suspect being found, or where further action was considered not to be in the public interest.At a speech today at the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers’s (Usdaw) annual conference, Sir Keir said he’s putting shoplifters “on notice”. Addressing the conference, the Labour leader said: “You might get away with this under a weak Tory government. But if Labour takes power, we won’t stand by while crime takes over our streets.”The Labour leader has made tackling crime one of his five missions, including introducing a new Community Policing Guarantee to crack down on shoplifting and antisocial behaviour in Britain’s town centres, with a surge in neighbourhood policing. Sir Keir says the mission is driven by his own values and has been informed by his experience as director for public prosecutions between 2008-13. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is visiting the USDAW conference today More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightBusiness are holding off bringing goods into the UK from the EU amid fears new post-Brexit border checks will cause chaos. The long-delayed checks have come into effect despite concerns of disruption as well as higher food prices.Under the scheme, animal and plant products which are deemed “medium-risk” or higher will face physical checks at the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel.Importers will have to pay up to £145 to bring some of the products into the country. Richard McKenna, the managing director of Provender Nurseries, in Swanley, Kent, said his business was giving the checks a “wide berth”. Mr McKenna, who gets half of his plants and trees from the EU, said on Tuesday morning “like many businesses, we are giving it a wide berth for a day or two, to experience what is going to go on here, because none of us really know”. Food suppliers have warned that the checks, known as the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), will increase food prices and reduce consumer choice, thanks to “impractical” requirements on businesses.Earlier this month, the Cold Chain Federation warned the government was not listening to experts and would “seriously damage business confidence in the UK and add costs to consumers’ weekly shop.”The Sevington Inland Border Facility near Ashford in Kent, as physical, documentary and identity post-Brexit border checks get underway More