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 moreNato general secretary Mark Rutte has warned that the West is “not ready” to deal with the threat of war from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.His warning has come amid concerns over the future course of the war in Ukraine, with the election of Donald Trump as the next US president raising fears that American backing for Kyiv could be withdrawn.While a number of Nato member states – including the Netherlands, where Mr Rutte stepped down as prime minister earlier this year – do not yet meet the 2 per cent of GDP threshold for defence spending, there are also concerns over the failure of Sir Keir Starmer to specify a timescale in relation to his pledge to increase UK spending to 2.5 per cent.In a foreboding speech in Brussels, Mr Rutte said: “Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us,” adding: “We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years.“It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbocharge our defence production and defence spending.”Keir Starmer’s government has pledged to increase UK defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP 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 is facing an angry backlash against controversial planning reforms set to force councils to surrender swathes of the green belt and see housebuilding surge by more than 60 per cent.The deputy prime minister has been accused of planning to “bulldoze” the countryside and waging a “war on rural England” as Labour scrambles to meet its pledge to build 1.5 million new homes.Councils have already protested that the target is impossible to achieve, while the National Trust has warned the government’s push to build nearly 400,000 homes a year risks harming “some of the most valuable ‘green’ land to local communities”.Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner during a visit to a construction site in Cambridge 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 Some European Union countries on Thursday doubled down on their decision to rapidly halt asylum procedures for Syrian migrants in Europe, but said that it was too early to consider sending any of the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled since 2011 back home.Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and non-EU country Norway suspended asylum applications from Syrians in the wake of Bashar Assad’s fall. France is weighing whether to take similar action, at least until Syria’s new leadership and security conditions become clearer.The decisions do not mean that Syrian asylum-seekers will be deported. The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, has said that currently “the conditions are not met for safe, voluntary, dignified returns to Syria.”“We need to wait a few more days to see where Syria is heading now,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said. “What is the situation? What about the protection of minorities? What about the protection of the people? And then, of course, there could be repatriation.”Asked by reporters whether it would make sense to organize repatriations at an EU level, Faeser said “it would be very expedient to organize this together.”But she stressed that Syrians who work in Germany and abide by its laws are welcome to stay. Over 47,000 asylum claims by Syrians are pending in Germany, a main destination in Europe for those who have fled since 2011.“This is not a long term pause as far as I’m concerned,” Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee told reporters. “It’s really positive that the Assad regime has come to an end. At the same time, we can all see that it’s not clear what will happen next.”The arrival in Europe in 2015 of well over 1 million refugees –- most fleeing the conflict in Syria –- sparked one of the EU’s biggest political crises as nations bickered over who should host them and whether other countries should be forced to help. Those tensions remain even today.Almost 14,000 Syrians applied for international protection in Europe this year up to September, according to the EU’s asylum agency. Around 183,000 Syrians applied for asylum in all of last year. On average, around one in three applications are accepted.Already on Monday, despite deep uncertainty about the country’s future, hundreds of Syrian refugees gathered at two border crossings in southern Turkey, eagerly anticipating their return home following the fall of Bashar Assad’s government.In the days since Assad’s abrupt fall, rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has sought to reassure Syrians that the group he leads — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – does not seek to dominate the country and will continue government services.HTS appears on the EU’s anti-terrorism sanctions list as an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. That freezes any assets it has in Europe and prevents European citizens and companies from doing business with the group or funding it. Al-Golani is subject to a travel ban and asset freeze.Belgium’s interior ministry said Thursday that the whole of the 27-nation EU must monitor Syrian migration flows, amid concern that Assad loyalists might seek refuge in Europe. It said that around 100 of its nationals are in Syria, and that intelligence services believe that eight of them might have links to HTS. On Tuesday, the EU’s top diplomat expressed concern that Syria might violently fall apart like neighboring Iraq, or Libya and Afghanistan if its territorial integrity and the rights of minorities are not protected.“The transition will present huge challenges in Syria and in the region,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told European lawmakers during a special hearing.The U.N.’s refugee agency has called for “patience and vigilance” in the treatment of Syrians who have sought international protection, and believes that much will depend on whether Syria’s new leaders are prepared to respect law and order.___Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report. 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 moreKeir Starmer is being pushed to be more ambitious wiith his Brexit relations reset with the EU after new polling suggested voters – even Brexiteers – now support reversing large parts of the UK’s departure from the bloc.The survey of 9,278 voters was commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). The YouGov and DataPraxis survey of six European countries (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland and Spain) is the most comprehensive poll of public attitudes towards UK-EU relations since 2016. In the UK it found that British citizens are reluctant to follow America’s lead during a second Trump presidency, and a majority – including many Brexit-voting citizens – now favour a “closer” relationship with the European Union for the coming period.The polling suggested that Brexit-era divisions within Britain have abated, with both Leavers and Remainers now prepared to countenance free movement in exchange for a stronger economic relationship with the EU. Starmer wants to reset relations with the EU 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 moreWatch live as Labour outlines its shake-up of planning rules that it says will see councils given mandatory targets to deliver a total of 370,000 homes a year in England.The Government has said it is “absolutely willing” to step in and take over plans from local authorities that refuse to comply with new housebuilding targets.Local councils have been urged to “exhaust all their options” to meet goals, including releasing the “right parts” of protected greenbelt land.Housing minister Matthew Pennycock told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme local authorities will get government support to put plans in place but “recalcitrant authorities” that refuse to comply and put plans in place to meet targets could face the “full range of ministerial intervention power”. 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 moreSir Brian Leveson is to lead a “once in a generation” review of the courts system in England and Wales to deal with the spiralling backlog of cases.Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced that the retired judge, most famous for chairing the inquiry into press standards a decade ago, with the instruction that “no reform is off the table” to deal with the crisis.It means that the right to a jury trial could be removed from a whole series of offences apart from the most serious and magistrates could be empowered to hand out sentences beyond their current maximum of 12 months.The review will run alongside a sentencing review being carried out by former justice secretary David Gauke and is expected to report in the spring of 2025.Sir Brian Leveson will lead the review of the courts system 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 moreTony Blair has revived his former government’s failed policy of ID cards in a digital form to tackle the challenges the world is facing on immigration, health and taxes.Writing for The Daily Mail, the former prime minister claimed that the lesson of Donald Trump’s victory in America is that “any politician today, who is promising management of the status quo and not fundamental change of it, will lose.”Sir Tony noted: “Our taxes are high; our spending and levels of public debt are high; and our service outcomes are poor. So, we spend more on the NHS than ever before, with more staff than ever before – and the service is coming apart at the seams.”He insisted that the UK and other countries he works with through the Tony Blair Institute need to adopt a radical new approach for the future by embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and digital ID.Tony Blair wants digital ID to be rolled out 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 announced that councils will be forced to surrender large parts of the green belt to achieve immediate new housing targets.The move comes as ministers scramble to deliver their pledge to build 1.5 million new homes over five years. Under the plans, local authorities will have to review the green belt’s boundaries.And they will have to use “grey belt” land, Sir Keir Starmer’s term for low-quality areas of the green belt, to meet ambitious mandatory targets to build 370,000 new homes a year.Responding to the plans, Kevin Hollinrake, shadow housing secretary, said: “Labour will bulldoze through the concerns of local communities. If Labour really want homes to be built where they are needed, they must think again.”And Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Gideon Amos accused Labour of “ignoring local communities. He added:” The new homes we need must be genuinely affordable and community led, not dictated from Whitehall diktat.”‘The question is where the homes and local services people expect are built, not whether they are built at all’ More