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Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorBritain’s army is not as strong as it should be because of “historic underinvestment”, the head of the military has admitted, with “deficiencies in people, equipment, stockpiles, training and technology”.Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of defence staff, said there was a need for “humility” to recognise the limitations and “near-term financial challenges” faced by our armed forces.But he said Russia, the main adversary of the West, has been hugely damaged by brutal losses in Ukraine and will take a decade or more to rebuild its military strength to the level it had at the time of Vladimir Putin’s invasion and rectify the shortcomings exposed.And he rejected the idea that conscription was needed, as proposed in the Conservative manifesto at the election. Baltic and Nordic nations “are talking about mass resilience and conscription”, he said. “That is understandable. They border Russia. The threat is close. Our geography is different.”Keir Starmer’s new government has committed to raising defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product but has not said when it will meet that aim.“There are near-term financial challenges to work through,” said Admiral Radakin. “We are addressing historic underinvestment. And beneath the headline capabilities, there are deficiencies in people, equipment, stockpiles, training and technology.”He sought to refute critical comparisons made by some analysts between Russian and British military capabilities, pointing out that UK forces would be fighting alongside Nato partners in any conflict with Putin.“It’s frustrating when I hear commentators contrasting Britain’s capabilities with those of Russia without acknowledging the context that we will only ever fight a war with Russia or any other peer aggressor alongside our allies and partners,” he told the Land Warfare conference at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. “The Nato overmatch against Russia is enormous.”Putin may threaten the nuclear option if a major conflict broke out with the West, he said, and one way to ensure he does not go down that path is to demonstrate that Nato is united and strong“There is the conundrum of deterrence: that it is because of the disparity in conventional forces that Putin might be tempted to raise the nuclear spectre,” said Admiral Radakin. “Paradoxically, this is precisely why we must continue to strengthen and extend our conventional overmatch so that we are never confronted with that scenario.”Nato, he pointed out, is growing from 30 to 32 nations; 23 member states now spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence, compared to just three members a decade ago. And the combined 3.2 million uniformed personnel “already outmatch Russia’s 1.2 million.” New member Sweden brings an additional 25,000 active personnel and 40,000 reserves, while Finland adds another 23,000 regulars and 280,000 reserves. On any measure of conventional strength – troops, tanks, armoured vehicles, fast jets, submarines – the alliance is battle-ready, he said.He warned, however, that Russia could offer a clandestine threat rather than a conventional attack under which a Nato state would invoke the Article 5 clause on mutual aid.“Putin may not directly attack a Nato member in such an overt manner as to trigger Article 5, we have seen that he’s able to threaten us in other ways, in cyber and space and underwater where our energy infrastructure and digital networks are most vulnerable,” Admiral Radakin said.“Our role as military leaders is to reassure the nation and stiffen its resolve. And our advice to ministers needs to be grounded in a thorough and honest assessment of the threats we face.“Yes, the threats can change and evolve, which is why we keep them under review and test them against the intelligence we receive from our allies.” More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe latest figure reported to be lining up a bid to take over The Telegraph newspaper group is former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi. Mr Zahawi stepped down from his Stratford-on-Avon seat ahead of the general election, and is now reported to have approached several billionaire backers to help finance a £600 million deal for the newspaper.Telegraph Media Group is seeking a buyer after its proposed takeover by an Abu Dhabi-backed fund was blocked by Rishi Sunak’s Tory government earlier this year.Who is Nadhim Zahawi?Mr Zahawi is a multimillionaire former businessman who had a meteoric rise to political power.Born in Iraq to a Kurdish family, Mr Zahawi arrived in England aged nine, unable to speak English, when his parents fled the regime of Saddam Hussein.He grew up in Sussex and studied chemical engineering at University College London.In 2000, Mr Zahawi co-founded the YouGov polling company, staying involved in its running for a decade and amassing significant wealth.His financial affairs came under the spotlight in 2023 amid claims he avoided tax using an offshore company registered in Gibraltar to hold shares in YouGov.It followed an investigation into his financial affairs that was first revealed by The Independent in 2022.He first denied the allegations before admitting more than a year later he paid nearly £5m to HMRC to settle his tax affairs.The former chancellor told the BBC he had paid the sum after making what he called a “careless mistake” with the tax he paid on the sales of shares in YouGov.Rishi Sunak sacked him as Tory chairman in January 2023 after he was found to have breached the ministerial code by failing to declare the HMRC investigation.Parliamentary and government careerMr Zahawi is believed to have been one of the richest politicians in the House of Commons.He first entered Parliament in 2010 as the Tory MP for Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.He spent nearly eight years on the backbenches, gaining media attention in 2013 for claiming expenses for heating stables for his horses.Getting his first junior minister role in the Department for Education under Theresa May in 2018, he rose up the ranks to become education secretary.But it was when he was promoted to help lead the government’s Covid-19 vaccine roll-out in 2020 that he rose to prominence.Mr Zahawi was appointed chancellor by Boris Johnson, hours after Mr Sunak’s resignation from the role, and the day before the scandal-plagued then-prime minister was forced to quit.He made a doomed attempt to replace Mr Johnson in the Tory leadership race.When Liz Truss emerged victorious, she appointed Mr Zahawi as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.After her premiership imploded, Mr Zahawi initially announced he would be backing Mr Johnson to return as PM, before switching allegiance to Mr Sunak on the same day, after the former leader said he would not be entering the contest.He stepped down from his Stratford-on-Avon seat in May, saying he wanted “a new, energetic Conservative” to take over. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour should remove the two-child benefit cap “immediately” to lift thousands of children out of poverty, MPs have said.Chancellor Rachel Reeves has come under pressure from her party’s backbenchers to lift the cap, which prevents almost all parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third child. The policy, which was brought in by David Cameron’s Conservative government, impacted 450,000 households and 1.6 million children last year according to official figures.Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson has tabled an amendment to the King’s Speech that would scrap the cap, with the proposal currently backed by 29 MPs. She told The Independent that the level of child poverty in her constituency was “unacceptable” and these children “can’t wait two years for a decision to be made”. She added: “Removing the two-child cap needs to be done and it needs to be done immediately”.Her comments come as education secretary Bridget Phillipson said on Monday morning that she would consider scrapping the cap as part of the newly established Child Poverty Taskforce. The review was set up by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer last week in an apparent attempt to appease backbench MPs who want bolder action on child poverty. A boy plays in the street near the Heron Cross pottery kiln in Stoke on Trent, England. 1.6 million children were affected by the two-child benefit cap last year, government figures show. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorGordon Brown’s multibank will be officially launched in London this week amid concerns over rising child poverty across the capital.The opening of Felix’s Multibank, the first in London, is being backed by the former prime minister and mayor Sadiq Khan. The scheme works like a food bank but also provides non-perishable goods such as cleaning products, toys and clothing and they have been established in areas such as Swansea, Greater Manchester and Fife. The West London-based multibank, due to open this week, is expected to help thousands of families with supplies sourced from the food industry which would otherwise go to waste. Earlier this week, The Independent revealed shocking reports of multiple families, who were being housed in awful conditions in hotels, being labelled “intentionally homeless” by councils in London. Mr Brown told The Guardian, “The London Felix Multibank is the fourth of six that will be opened by the end of this year across Britain. It is opening at a time of transition from a Britain where child poverty has risen dramatically to one where we wish to see child poverty falling.” “As a new anti-poverty plan is being prepared, the multibanks still need to secure more supplies and more funds from generous donors so that, working with food banks, we can provide poverty relief.”Multibank opens in Swansea, Wales More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe new Labour government confirmed its commitment to uphold plans for a UK smoking ban in the King’s Speech on Wednesday.The measure, which will raise the legal smoking age by one year, every year, means anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to purchase tobacco legally.It will also impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes.While the policy was first introduced by former Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to see it through to legislation.The bill gained cross-party support when it was first introduced by Sunak and has been dubbed the “greatest piece of public health legislation in a generation”.MPs voted in favour of the bill by 383 votes to 67 in April. However, the bill was dropped as the general election was called before it could make its way through the legislature.Following the King’s Speech, here we take a look at the current British smoking laws and how they could change:People currently under the age of 14 will never be able to smoke legally under new proposals More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe largest food bank in Westminster, home of the Houses of Parliament, has called for an end to subsidised “fine dining” for MPs, suggesting funds be redirected to combating poverty. The North Paddington food bank (NPFB) has launched the campaign “No Food in The House” urging Parliament to use the millions spent on subsidised catering for MPs to tackle food insecurity across the country. Politicians could enjoy a full three-course meal for as little as £10.41 last year, according to the charity, costing the taxpayer a reported £7million a year. Catering services in the Houses of Parliament run at a loss, so public money is effectively spent bankrolling politicians’ lunches.As well as MPs, there are around there are 14,000 parliamentary pass-holding staff who can eat and drink in parliament’s bars and restaurants. The North Paddington food bank (NPFB) has launched the campaign ‘No Food in The House’ More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorUkrainian refugee parents barred from bringing their two-year-old daughter to Britain after the UK’s sponsorship rules were suddenly tightened will now be reunited with their child after a government U-turn.Oleksandra and Yaroslav, both aged 31, decided to leave their daughter Anna with her grandparents in Kyiv while getting set up with their own accommodation and establishing a new business after arriving in Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme in April 2022.But after they overcame these hurdles, their application in April this year for Anna to join them was refused by the Home Office on the grounds that – as per rule changes brought in without warning in February – they were no longer eligible sponsors, being neither UK or Irish citizens nor having indefinite leave to remain.However, after Anna’s case was highlighted by The Independent and raised by the charity Settled with senior Home Office figures, her parents were given sponsor checks and the toddler’s visa was finally approved on 18 June.“I’m feeling relieved it’s finally sorted and we can live a normal life – I’m very happy about it,” Anna’s mother Oleksandra told The Independent, after months of worry. But despite the U-turn in Anna’s case, the rules preventing other Ukrainians from sponsoring close family members still remain in place – prompting Oleksandra, Labour peer Lord Dubs and multiple frontline charities to urge Sir Keir Starmer’s new government to urgently reinstate their right to do so.Kate Smart, chief executive at Settled, said: “We are so pleased that Anna has now been granted a visa and that this family can now be reunited in safety. This follows Settled’s intervention with a senior Home Office contact, and our sharing this story in national media. “However, the unfortunate changes to Homes For Ukraine rules made in February still stand – so it’s likely that other families will still be prevented from sponsoring their children. Prior to February’s changes, Ukrainians with more than six months left on their visa could act as sponsors More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailLabour has promised to investigate the exploitation of migrant workers in the UK social care sector if elected to government. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said she would back calls by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) for a full investigation into the treatment of migrant workers who have been left trapped in the UK with tens of thousands of pounds of debt. Her comments come after a Guardian investigation found that Indian nationals were paying thousands of pounds to immigration agents to secure health care worker visas to the UK. On arrival in the UK almost all were told that they could not be provided with full-time employment, and many are now stuck in the country, unable to earn enough to pay off their debts. Some paid up to £20,000 to come to the UK to work in the social care sector, the investigation found. Some Indian care workers paid thousands of pounds to middlemen for jobs that did not materialise More