UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch live as health minister Victoria Atkins was questioned on NHS funding and the state of dental care in England on Wednesday, 7 February.Under plans to boost services, dentists will be offered cash to take on new patients and given £20,000 “golden hellos” to work in communities with a lack of NHS dental care.It came after Rishi Sunak faced Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions, after sources said Downing Street is planning a general election for October.A source told The Independent that the prime minister is looking at an election in early October, rather than waiting until November as it has previously been reported, as the timing would clash with the US presidential election.Mr Sunak had previously ruled out a vote in the spring, indicating he would like to go to the polls later in 2024.He told broadcasters at a visit to a youth centre in Nottinghamshire earlier this month that his “working assumption” was that the UK would have a general election “in the second half of this year.”The Sun reported that Mr Sunak’s fears over “global insecurity” triggered by Donald Trump potentially winning the US election mean he is “moving away” from a November election. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is planning a general election for the first two weeks of October, The Independent understands. Sources say Downing Street is eyeing an election earlier in the month with the PM unlikely to wait until November, as has been mooted in some quarters, because it would clash with the US presidential election.One source said a November election was a “non-starter” because of the noise a US election would generate likely drowning out any Tory messaging in the final weeks of campaigning. Yesterday, The Sun reported that the prime minister is “moving away” from a November election, in part over fears of “global insecurity” triggered by the controversial Mr Trump winning the US presidential election.The former US president has publicly sowed doubts on the legitimacy of the 2020 US presidential election which saw Joe Biden take the presidency from Mr Trump. He is now being indicted for the mishandling of official information and conspiracy to defraud the US government.However, Mr Trump is currently leading in the race for the Republican nomination and is ahead of Joe Biden, the Democrat’s candidate and incumbent president, in many opinion polls across the US. Donald Trump has been charged with incitement of insurrection against the US government Mr Sunak has to call an election by January 2025, but it is up to him what date he chooses. He recently told reporters that the election would be this year, leading many to predict it would fall in Spring or the Autumn.A polling day of November 14 had been widely tipped, but with the US going to the polls on November 5, multiple Conservative figures have now suggested that has been ruled out.Latest polling shows the prime minister is 20 points behind in the polls – leading many to suggest the prime minister would push the election to the last possible date.Meanwhile Labour officials are preparing to to fight an election as soon as May, and have been ordered to submit their policies for the party’s manifesto by Friday.Labour are preparing for an election as early as May An October general election would disrupt party conference season – a time which has typically been used by parties to bring in cash for campaigns.But the Conservatives are unlikely to be concerned about their finances after having brought in £16.5 million in donations in the last few months.Downing Street have declined to comment on the claims. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMore than £25 million in new funding has been unveiled for British scientists working on computer chips that could power advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and tech to help the UK reach net zero.The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has announced the new cash injection to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the department’s creation.It will see research centres in Southampton and Bristol given £11 million each to aid scientists in their work on computer chips, including semiconductors, which are a key component in nearly every electrical device in the world, from mobile phones to medical equipment.The increasing global reliance on technology has seen semiconductors become recognised as an area of global strategic significance.Currently, the semiconductor production sector is dominated by Taiwan.This isn’t just about fostering growth and creating high-skilled jobs, it’s about positioning the UK as a hub of global innovation, setting the stage for breakthroughs that have worldwide impactTech and digital economy minister Saqib BhattiDSIT said the new investment will help convert UK-based scientific findings into business realities by supporting promising research and projects, and giving researchers access to state-of-the-art technology for testing prototypes.Minister for tech and the digital economy Saqib Bhatti said: “This investment marks a crucial step in advancing our ambitions for the semiconductor industry, with these centres helping bring new technologies to market in areas like net zero and AI, rooting them right here in the UK.“Just nine months into delivering on the National Semiconductor Strategy, we’re already making rapid progress towards our goals.“This isn’t just about fostering growth and creating high-skilled jobs, it’s about positioning the UK as a hub of global innovation, setting the stage for breakthroughs that have worldwide impact.”Elsewhere, an additional £4.8 million of funding has been pledged for 11 semiconductor skills projects around the country, with the aim of raising awareness of the semiconductor industry and addressing skills gaps in the UK workforce.The latest investment is part of the Government’s £1 billion National Semiconductor Strategy, a 20-year plan to grow the UK’s semiconductor sector. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has compared himself to the Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, suggesting they have both turned around brands which have seen better days. The Labour leader said his party “lost its way” under previous leader Jeremy Corbyn but that it has been changed permanently under his leadership. After defeating Liverpool at the weekend, Arteta said his team had turned a corner and were back in the race for the Premier League title. Asked to pick which football manager he is most like, Sir Keir, a lifelong Arsenal fan, was quick to point to the Spaniard.Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “That’s actually an easy one for me at the moment because I feel an affinity with Arteta, the Arsenal manager, because again, if you look at his journey, he was appointed, it was hard to turn that Arsenal team around.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer“To start with, people said he can’t do it, there was talk about whether he should continue, and look what he’s done now.”The Arsenal manager was seen high-fiving fans after Arsenal defeated Liverpool at the weekend. It came as Sir Keir said £28bn is “desperately needed” to achieve clean power by 2030 amid confusion over the party’s commitment to the pledge.The Labour leader insisted he had been “unwavering” when it came to the party’s green energy plans and denied it was “scaling back” policies as this year’s general election looms.But he again insisted he would only spend the money if it was available under his party’s “fiscal rules”.Sir Keir originally announced £28bn a year would be invested in sustainable projects if the party wins power but has since said the figure will instead be a target for the second half of a first parliament.Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after his side’s win over LiverpoolAsked about the pledge in an interview aired on Tuesday, Sir Keir told Times Radio: “We’re going to need investment, that’s where the £28bn comes in. That investment is desperately needed for that mission.“You can only understand the investment argument by understanding that we want to have clean power by 2030 … We need to borrow to invest to do that.“That’s a principle I believe in and I’m absolutely happy to go out and defend. And of course, what we’ve said as we’ve got closer to the operationalisation of this, is it has to be ramped up, the money has to be ramped up, the £28bn et cetera, and everything is subject to our fiscal rules.”It comes after shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves last week promised “iron discipline” in sticking to Labour’s fiscal rules, which include getting debt falling as a percentage of GDP. More