Indy TV

Sir Keir Starmer and Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, were on Capitol Hill on Wednesday 10 July, meeting with a bipartisan group of Senate leaders on the sidelines of the Nato summit.Joe Biden welcomed leaders to Washington yesterday by celebrating the bloc’s unity against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and underscoring America’s ironclad commitment to the alliance under his watch.The message seemed aimed at bucking up his own wobbly Democratic supporters as much as allies confronting the prospect of a return to the White House of Nato skeptic Donald Trump.This week’s summit will give Mr Biden his first chance to meet face-to-face with Sir Keir at the White House. More

Reform UK chairman Richard Tice dismissed theories that one of his party’s candidates was an AI bot, describing claims as coming from “lefties who can’t believe we did so well.”Online commentators had speculated that a picture of Mark Matlock, who stood in the Clapham and Brixton Hill constituency, was computer-generated.Mr Matlock spoke to The Independent on the phone on Monday.“This is the lefties who can’t believe we did so well, they still [propagate] nonsense and lies and fibs,” Mr Tice said of the theories during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, 10 July. More

Suella Braverman described government buildings flying the Progress version of the rainbow Pride flag as “occupied territory” in a speech at the National Conservatism conference in Washington DC on Monday, 8 July.The 2018 version of the flag was developed by non-binary American artist and designer Daniel Quasar to celebrate the diversity of the LGBT+ community and call for a more inclusive society.In her speech on Monday, the former Tory home secretary claimed the flag symbolised support for “the mutilation of children in our hospitals”, something which she said “physically repulsed” her. More

Jeremy Corbyn was caught on a House of Commons microphone as MPs were sworn in to serve after the 2024 general election.The independent member for Islington North approached Marie Rimmer MP, jokingly instructing her to read her lines correctly.He then uttered, “This is such a load of nonsense.”The Commons welcomed 335 new members today (9 July) in a major shakeup for UK politics, featuring a majority of Labour MPs, as well as Lib Dem, Green and Reform UK members. More

Nigel Farage claimed that former House of Commons speaker John Bercow tried to ‘overturn’ Brexit, in his first speech since becoming MP. The leader of Reform UK is the new representative for Clacton and will be joined in parliament by four others from the party.Before last week’s general election, Mr Farage had sought to become an MP several times without success. He was, however, a member of the European parliament for 20 years, during which time he campaigned fiercely for the UK to leave the EU.Reform came second in 98 seats in the 2024 election, many of which are now held by Labour, and Mr Farage has set his sights on the new government, saying it “could be in trouble pretty quickly”. More

Rishi Sunak gave a gracious first speech to parliament as the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons on Tuesday (9 July).Mr Sunak started his speech by congratulating Sir Keir Starmer on his general election victory.The Conservative leader said: “In our politics, we can argue vigorously, as the prime minister and I did over the past six weeks, but still respect each other, and whatever disputes we have in this parliament, I know that everyone in this house will not lose sight of the fact that we are all motivated by our desire to serve our constituents, our country, and advance the principles that we honourably believe in.”Mr Sunak also described being an MP as the “greatest honour, privilege and responsibility”. More

Sir Tony Blair has blasted the lack of focus on real issues during the general election campaign.The former prime minister appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday morning (9 July) to discuss why the UK should “fully embrace” artificial intelligence, before referencing the coverage of Tory gaffes over the last six weeks.“If you think of this election campaign and how many days we spent on Rishi Sunak and his wet suit, and then how many days we spent on D-Day and him missing that ceremony, and how many days we spent on betting… in the end, none of those things will determine the future of this country,” Sir Tony said. More

Sir Tony Blair has urged the Labour government to “fully embrace” artificial intelligence to fuel growth and productivity.The former prime minister is set to say that the modern technological revolution means “there has never been a better time to govern” in a major speech in London on Tuesday 9 July.He will also set out how a package of measures including private and public sector adoption of AI, preventative healthcare, digital ID and embracing technology in education could boost growth and generate savings.Speaking to BBC Radio 4 ahead of his speech, Sir Tony suggested the “good news” is that Britain is already in a strong position globally when it comes to AI. More