Home News

UK food and drink exports are down by more than a third since Brexit, with claims bureaucracy is to blame. Although some products including whisky, chocolate and cheese remain popular with EU customers, overall, there has been a sharp decline in food and drink traded with the bloc, according to the Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF) latest report. It found export volumes of food fell 34.1 per cent in 2024 in comparison to 2019 figures, to 6.37bn kilograms.The FDF blamed post-Brexit trading arrangements for the slump, highlighting how bureaucratic barriers have changed the relationship between the UK and the EU. The UK’s global food export volumes are almost 20 per cent lower on average between 2020-2024 than they were between 2015-2019. Although some of the fall in exports since the UK left the EU five years ago can be attributed to the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, other countries including Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands all saw an increase in their average volumes. “This decline shows that the UK’s challenges aren’t part of a global trend but rather unique to the UK’s post-Brexit circumstances,” the report said. Food and drink imports entering the UK are subject to fewer checks than UK businesses exporting similar products (Liam McBurney/PA) More

The UK economy unexpectedly shrunk by 0.1 per cent in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in a massive blow to Labour’s growth agenda.The figure comes just weeks before Rachel Reeves’s spring statement on 26 March, when the chancellor will give her updated plans for the UK economy. Billions in welfare cuts and reduced spending for other departments are widely expected to form part of her announcement.Responding to the new GDP figures, Ms Reeves said Britain was “feeling the consequences” of global events, likely referencing the ongoing Ukraine peace negotiations and US president Donald Trump’s imposition of international trading tariffs.Rachel Reeves will deliver Labour’s spring statement on 26 March More

As Labour’s crunch Spring Statement draws near, details of the rumoured cuts to welfare have grown rife. Estimates of what the government is hoping to save have continued to grow – now sitting at around £6 billion – with health and disability related benefits understood to be at the heart of the changes.Reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) have now been widely reported, although Labour MPs are understood to be divided on the cost-cutting package. Claimed by 3.6 million people, the payment is designed to help people with extra costs incurred by their disability, whether they are working or not.The changes will include making it harder to qualify for PIP, likely by changing the descriptors assessors use to determine if an applicant is eligible for the benefit. Further savings are also to be made by freezing PIP payments next year, ITV reports, meaning they will not rise with inflation as in previous years.The plans come as spending on all health-related benefits rose to £65bn last year – up 25 per cent from the year before the Covid pandemic. They are forecast to rise to £70bn before the next election. The prime minister on Monday called the current system ‘unsustainable, indefensible and unfair’.“People feel that in their bones,” he said, “It runs contrary to those deep British values that if you can work, you should. And if you want to work, the government should support you, not stop you.”But welfare experts, alongside claimants with experience of PIP, say the benefit is already too hard to claim, and cutting it back further would be ‘catastrophic’. In an open letter, organisations including Disability Rights UK, Citizens Advice, and Sense urged Rachel Reeves to “safeguard” PIP and other health-related in her upcoming spring statement. Around 700,000 disabled people “could be pushed into poverty” without it, disability equality charity Scope adds.David Southgate, policy manager at Scope told The Independent: “Life costs a lot more when you’re disabled, and disability benefits are a lifeline.“The benefits system desperately needs improving, but cutting benefits will just push thousands more disabled people into poverty.”The PIP application process is “complex, stressful and degrading” he adds, something several claimants attest to. Generally, to apply for the benefit, applicants must call the DWP’s dedicated phone line, complete the 90-plus question paper form that is sent to them, and return it.In most cases, an application will then be followed by an assessment, which is carried out on the phone or in-person. It is this assessment where most claimants find they run into the greatest difficulty.Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has the current benefits system is ‘unsustainable, indefensible and unfair’. 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 moreWatch live as Sir Keir Starmer sets out Labour’s plan to save taxpayers £45 billion during a major speech today (13 March).The prime minister has vowed to to fight the “overcautious and flabby” British state, promising root and branch reform of the civil service.Ahead of his speech today, Sir Keir made the stark admission that record tax and spending in recent years has not led to improvement in front-line services.Writing in The Telegraph, the prime minister described the civil service as “overstretched, unfocused and unable to deliver the security people need today.”Speaking on Thursday, the prime minister is expected to hail a “£45 billion jackpot” from digitalising government services, linked to announcements over the weekend about reforming Whitehall to cut costs.In a worrying sign for many civil servants, he will insist that jobs should not exist if artificial intelligence (AI) or computers can do them better.Sir Keir will hail a “new era” in government operations and while ministers have refused to set a target on how many jobs may be scrapped, his words suggest a potential major reduction. 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 moreWatch live as Sir Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today (12 March) after Donald Trump imposed global tariffs on steel and aluminium.While the European Union has already announced it will introduce counter-measures on American goods, Britain has resisted imposing immediate retaliatory action against the move.The tariffs, which came into effect overnight, raise a flat duty on steel and aluminium entering America to 25 per cent.Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has described the move as disappointing, but said the UK is focussed on a “pragmatic approach”.He said ministers are “rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement with the US to eliminate additional tariffs” and “remain resolute in our support for UK industry.”“This government is working with affected companies today, and I back industry’s application to the Trade Remedies Authority to investigate what further steps might be necessary to protect UK producers”, Mr Reynolds 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.Read moreLabour has shared its plans to give certain households up to £250 a year off their energy bills as the part of major changes to planning rules in the UK.The government has previously said it wants to boost the number of infrastructure projects by cutting red tape in the planning system. This includes homes, railways and power systems like pylons.The changes will means that local residents are less able to veto new projects in their areas if they disagree with them. Anticipating pushback on this, ministers have now begun promising incentives to those who will be affected.Households living within half a kilometre of new or upgraded power systems such as pylons could get access to a bill discount scheme equivalent to an annual payment of £250 over 10 years, with housing minister Alex Norris saying people who make the “sacrifice of having some of the infrastructure in your community” should get some of the money back.This would mean a £2,500 reduction over a decade, making for major savings at a time when energy bills remain stubbornly high.Mr Norris told Sky News: “As part of our plan for change, those are all our commitments around being a clean energy superpower.“We’re clear that communities need to share the benefits. And if you are making that sacrifice of having some of the infrastructure in your community, you should get some of the money back.“So we’re making that commitment, £250 a year if you are near those pylons. So we think that’s a fair balance between people who are making that commitment to the country themselves, well they should be rewarded for that.”The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has also confirmed that a legal requirement for communities affected by new infrastructure projects will be introduced through Labour’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill next week.Deputy PM Angela Rayner said: “We owe it to the people of this country to get Britain building again” (Chris Radburn/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 moreMinisters have been warned against welfare changes that would see people stripped of their benefit entitlements and pushed into poverty ahead of Labour’s crunch Spring Statement.Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be revealing the party’s plans on 26 March, with pencilled-in cuts to the benefits bill thought to have risen to as much as £5 billion. This will come alongside a Green Paper from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) outlining the proposals.It’s understood the changes will focus largely on health and disability benefits, as government spending rose to £65bn last year – up 25 per cent from the year before the Covid pandemic – and is forecast to rise to £100bn before the next election.DWP secretary Liz Kendall said on Thursday: “We inherited a broken welfare system that is failing sick and disabled people, is bad for the taxpayer, and holding the economy back. “For too long, sick and disabled people have been told they can’t work, denied support, and locked out of jobs, with all the benefits that good work brings.”Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall (Jacob King/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 moreA recent poll has revealed outrage over Donald Trump’s second state visit invitation, with nearly half of the respondents calling for its cancellation after his explosive confrontation with Ukrainian President Zelensky. About 42 per cent believed the invitation should be withdrawn, and a petition by 38 Degrees has already collected more than 180,000 signatures. Meanwhile, a poll of Independent readers revealed an even stronger response, with 88 per cent saying the visit with King Charles III should not go ahead at the time of writing.You can still cast your vote in the poll below.When we asked for your views, readers were more contemplative in their responses. Some condemned the move as a grovelling act by Sir Keir Starmer – who delivered the invitation on the eve of Trump’s infamous White House shouting match – and worried that it would unnecessarily boost Trump’s ego. Critics argued that extending the invitation not only panders to Trump’s unpredictable temperament but also undermines the UK’s strong public support for Ukraine. On the other side of the debate, many warned that rescinding the invitation might appear insulting, suggesting instead a low-key visit that minimizes pomp while still holding firm to Britain’s principled stance in a turbulent global climate.Here’s what you had to say:Feeding Trump’s egoAs an American, I can truthfully say that any meeting with the King will only feed Trump’s ego and inflate his sense of self-importance, reinforcing his belief that he is indispensable to the political processes of the entire Western alliance of the EU and NATO.He is already insufferable – this will only make him more so.BejeebersThe visit must go ahead, but… As difficult as it is to say this, and as much as I can’t stand to see people being forced to grovel and feed the MAGA egos, Europe (including the UK) HAS to remain the grown-up in the room. Excluding voices and people is what has got the world into the mess it is in – pitting one ideology against another, one group against another, one country against another, etc.So yes, unfortunately, for now at least, the visit must go ahead. We must become the true peacekeepers and unifiers that Trump keeps saying he wants to be.Kat13Trump’s inconsistencyTrump can’t, he claims, remember what he said a few days ago, so there is no reason to assume that he will keep his word on anything. Remember, he rules by executive order – not through Congress – so there’s no one holding him to account.So, why bother to be nice to him? I don’t think you can win him over.GooddayNot in my name!Absolutely no state visit! The current narrative is all about Ukraine – what about that obscene AI/CGI filth Trumpsky put out about Gaza? That alone should be enough to scupper any notion of a visit. Not in my name!WheegA hostile stateWe should look at the USA as a hostile state until they can prove otherwise. Trump has said in plain language that America comes first and he has no interest in Europe. We must build up self-reliance and defense. The odds are that Trump will pull the USA out of Nato – if he does, what is the point of having American military bases and troops on European soil? The UK has been America’s lapdog for too long; to Americans, the UK is nothing but a static aircraft carrier.knightmareowlDon’t hide him from protestsI don’t want to see him over here. But if he must come, please don’t hide him away from any demonstrations against him.Let him be in a place where he can see what the real British people think about him.CrisPKeeping Trump onside If our intelligence service and satellite dependence are intertwined with that of the US, as Sir Keir Starmer has warned – after many years of our being close allies, which I believe to be the case – I think that any form of persuasion to keep Trump onside would be preferable to his handing all this over to Putin.FairdealSycophantic sweetenerThis was offered to Trump as a sycophantic sweetener and everyone knows it. We can all see how transparent Trump is.Trump was supposed to play nice – bribery only works if both parties understand it. Trump blew the deal up in Starmer’s face and still expects the state visit to go ahead. This is a joke, right? What is the point of a naked bribe if the bribee does not follow through?Jim987Grovelling act The invitation should not have been made in the first place. It was a grovelling act that placed us firmly in a position subservient to the will of Trump. Having made the offer, it will now be virtually impossible to withdraw it given the volatile and revengeful nature of the US President. The best we can hope for is that the date of the visit can be delayed sufficiently for it never to happen.RedRoosterLet him come, politely Let him come. Be distantly polite in true English fashion. Minimise the security and the pomp, and do as little as possible to hide him from the inevitable protests and demonstrations. Ensure that plenty of women and members of minority groups have key roles in whatever is organised. Invite other leaders of small, well-governed countries to come at the same time and make our goodwill towards them apparent.BrianCMassaging his fragile ego Yes, sadly, through gritted teeth. Trump has the power, and the only way to keep him remotely onside is to massage his fragile ego. The guy has zero self-awareness, and that’s a useful flaw – he’s a sucker for being sucked up to.Hopefully, there will come a point when the UK, the EU, and its proper allies can pretty much match the US’s trading might, and then we can call his bluff. Why can’t Canada send its oil and aluminium to the EU, for example, instead of the US? That would both remove Trump’s tariff premium and secure a vital source of these products. Yes, I know – simplistic and it won’t be easy. But, man, that would be a sucker-punch and a lesson he would understand.DevsAdThe invitation should stand Moimeme Yes, the invitation should stand. The event can be managed up or down, as appropriate at the time. The meeting between Charles III and Zelensky was nicely managed, taking place before Trump, but not as a full state visit – pointed but low-key.DissapointingI am disappointed that King Charles invited Donald Trump to a second state dinner. As the Head of the Commonwealth, of which Canada is a member, he should not reward Trump for imposing tariffs on Canada and disrespecting Justin Trudeau by calling him “Governor.”RonLecKeep him on board I dislike Trump and do not trust him. However, he is the current leader of the richest country with the strongest military. More importantly, Nato cannot currently function without him. Hence, we have to keep him on board and kowtow to him for the foreseeable future. If a state customer with the King is part of that, then so be it.CardoCardoSome of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity. You can read the full discussion in the comments section of the original article here.The conversation isn’t over. To join in, all you need to do is register your details, then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here. More