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 moreArtificial intelligence should be kept out of classrooms, a royal family member and actor has said.Sophie Winkleman, styled as Lady Frederick Windsor, also suggested schools should bring back blackboards and chalk instead of relying on smartboards as she spoke at a centre-right political gathering in east London.The actress, known for playing Big Suze in Channel 4 comedy Peep Show, has previously leant to her support to a ban on under-16s from having smartphones, and was a supporter of strengthening the Online Safety Act.She told the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference at London’s Excel Centre that there is talk of “AI being pumped into our classrooms with children’s data being harvested to better improve the AI”.“Why?” she asked, adding: “The fact that AI will soon outperform humans in many areas means schools should be backing away from the neurological junk food of digital learning, alert to the fact that it’s counterproductive to learn anyway from an instantly ageing system, and teaching their pupils the deeply human skills, which AI will have a harder time replacing.”She listed “empathy, concentration, eloquent and humorous discussion, and creative expression” among the skills AI could not teach.The actor continued to question the use of AI in schools, adding: “Why is digitally transporting a child to the Egyptian pyramids better than that child imagining it?“This kind of jazz-hands immersion as an engagement tool doesn’t work.“It negates the need to imagine, rendering the pupil a passive rather than an active learner.”Elsewhere, as she criticised the rollout of educational technology, Winkleman said there was “no consensus” that interactive smartboards, used across in classrooms across the country, are “safe”.As she signalled she wanted to see a return to analogue learning, she said smartboards are “simply not as effective as a teacher writing out what is in that second being explained on the black and whiteboard”.“Yet we seem to be marching into a world where screens are replacing books,” she added. 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 moreSir Keir Starmer has been warned his plans to send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine may force Labour into breaking a manifesto commitment on tax and spending. The prime minister has announced he is prepared to send British troops to defend the country as part of any peace deal, vowing to “play a leading role” in keeping it safe from Russian aggression. But top military figures have told The Independent creating any peacekeeping force would require a major uplift in defence spending, above the shift from 2.3 per cent to 2.5 per cent of UK GDP promised by Sir Keir. And a leading economist said that any significant rise in the defence budget would be almost impossible while sticking to the letter of Labour’s general election manifesto. The manifesto promised not to fund day-to-day spending via borrowing, while the party ruled out any increases to national insurance, VAT, corporation tax and income tax, severely limiting Labour’s ability to raise new funds. Keir Starmer has said he is prepared to put a peacekeeping force into Ukraine (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 moreKemi Badenoch has sparked cross-party condemnation for using a speech to attack diversity policies and climate activism while European leaders thrash out a strategy to deal with the increasingly unstable global landscape and tackle the threat posed by Russia.The Conservative leader was accused of “parroting Donald Trump’s dangerous rhetoric” instead of standing up for national security, after addressing the right-wing Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London on Monday. Mrs Badenoch used the speech to brand diversity policies and climate activism “the real poison of left-wing progressivism”, arguing that “western civilisation is in crisis”. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Mrs Badenoch is “competing with Nigel Farage to fawn over Donald Trump”. Labour said it shows the Tories “haven’t listened and they haven’t learned”. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch speaking during the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference (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 moreSir Keir Starmer has been accused of living in “fantasy land” if he believes he can put troops on the ground in Ukraine without significantly increasing defence spending.After the prime minister confirmed he would be willing to put UK armed forces in harm’s way to defend the country, the former head of the army said the pledge “is going to come at a cost” and the PM’s current commitment, to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, “is not going to touch the sides”. “We’ve got to go to 3 or 3.5 per cent and commit to that now, so defence planners can start spending the money in a sensible fashion and do what needs to be done,” Lord Dannatt, who was chief of the general staff between 2006 and 2009, told BBC Breakfast.Former chief of the general staff Lord Dannatt called for increased defence spending (Ian Nicholson/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 moreRachel Reeves is facing a double whammy of economic blows as employers warn of the dire impact of her Budget tax hikes. The number of companies planning to make staff redundant has reached its highest level in a decade outside the Covid pandemic, according to a new survey.Meanwhile, confidence among small businesses has hit a new record low. Critics said the findings show the tax raids were “a millstone” around the neck of the economy, while business leaders said the government “urgently” needs to push for economic growth. Ms Reeves’s national insurance hike has prompted widespread plans to increase redundancies and cut hiring, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said. Rachel Reeves is under fire for her Budget changes 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 moreSir Keir Starmer has announced he is willing to put British troops “in harm’s way” on the ground in Ukraine to face down Vladimir Putin’s forces.In a dramatic escalation of rhetoric ahead of an urgent meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday, the prime minister confirmed he is prepared to put a peacekeeping force into Ukraine as the US looks to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Sir Keir said the UK was “ready to play a leading role” in Ukraine’s defence and security, including the commitment of £3bn a year until 2030.But he said that along with military aid to Ukraine “it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary.“I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way,” Sir Keir said.“But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country.“The end of this war, when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again.”Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands ahead of their bilateral talks in Kyiv on January 16 2025 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 moreSir John Major has accused Donald Trump of “cuddling” up to Vladimir Putin as he warned that “tin-pot” dictators around the world would be emboldened if the US agrees on a deal that leaves Russia in control of Ukrainian territory.As Keir Starmer prepares for a crisis summit on Ukraine in Paris, a member of his cabinet also warned the US president any agreement would not last if Europe is, as expected, excluded from the talks. World leaders continue to reel from Mr Trump’s announcement during the week that he and Mr Putin are to begin negotiations to end the war, triggered when Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago. John Major said a world in which the US did not back its allies would be a more dangerous one More