UK

Nigel Farage and Reform UK have been proudly sitting on top of many of the polls for months since the general election on 4 July last year.The latest Techne UK tracker poll for The Independent revealed that they stand joint top with Labour on 24 per cent each, two points ahead of Kemi Badenoch’s Tories.But on 1 May Farage and co will have their first big electoral test to see whether the polls are genuine or whether when it comes to the actual ballot box voters are less inclined to put their cross by Reform.It is fair to say that May day is also a serious first test for Keir Starmer as prime minister and Kemi Badenoch as Tory leader, but Mr Farage more than any other political leader has his credibility riding on this set of elections.But while multiple victories will confirm Reform as a serious political threat to its rivals, victory will also bring serious challenges to Farage’s style of leadership and answer questions over whether his party can actually be one of government.Nigel Farage leads Reform UK More

Labour rebels are doubling down on their opposition to Sir Keir Starmer’s benefit cuts despite ministers planning to offer spending on child poverty as a “trade-off” to win their support. Dozens of Labour MPs are expected to abstain or vote against the £4.8bn welfare cuts, announced in Rachel Reeves’ spring statement, when they come before parliament. Ministers and party whips held talks with concerned Labour MPs last week, and opposition to the plans is reportedly hardening.Keir Starmer said the welfare system as it exists is economically and morally indefensible More

Ed Miliband has hit out at Nigel Farage, accusing him of spreading “nonsense and lies” by appearing to blame the government’s net zero policy for the crisis in the UK steel industry.In a strong criticism of his political rivals ahead of next month’s local elections, the energy secretary claimed that both Reform UK and the Conservatives were willing to spread falsehoods to further their “ideological agenda”.The senior Cabinet minister also warned that if an anti-net zero agenda was followed, it would not only risk “climate breakdown” but “forfeit the clean energy jobs of the future” in Britain.In an article for The Observer newspaper referring to price rises that began in 2022, the former Labour leader wrote: “Our exposure to fossil fuels meant that, as those markets went into meltdown and prices rocketed, family, business and public finances were devastated.“The cost of living impacts caused back then still stalk families today.”Ed Miliband has hit out at Nigel Farage, accusing him of spreading ‘nonsense and lies’ More

Donald Trump risks becoming a “cheerleader for Russia” in its war in Ukraine, the former defence secretary has warned after the US president confirmed he is prepared to walk away from peace talks. Ben Wallace, who was defence secretary between 2019 and 2023, said Mr Trump could become a “bystander” if he pulls out of the peace process. His comments come after Mr Trump doubled down on Washington’s threats to abandon talks aimed at brokering a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine if there are no signs of immediate progress.Ben Wallace said Donald Trump is not good at making deals More

More than 70 refugee charities and human rights organisations have called on Yvette Cooper to shut a “prison-like” former RAF base housing asylum seekers in Essex. Just weeks after the High Court found the Home Secretary acted unlawfully in housing three asylum seekers at the facility, the campaigners have piled pressure on Ms Cooper to shut the “unsafe and unsuitable” site for good.Sir Keir Starmer this month declined to set a date for when the former RAF station will be shuttered, despite pledging to close it during the general election. An aerial view of RAF Wethersfield in Essex (Joe Giddens/PA) More

Councils are expected to start using a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool to digitise old planning documents and cut backlogs as part of the Government’s drive to build 1.5 million homes.Ministers hope the technology will help boost efficiency and prevent errors in record-keeping by turning blurry maps and handwritten notes into “machine-readable, shareable data”.The tool, named Extract and developed by a team within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), will undergo several rounds of safety testing before being deployed as early as this year.The Government says it could drastically reduce the time needed to convert old paper records into digital form, performing in 40 seconds tasks which typically take planners one to two hours to complete.Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said sluggish processes and outdated documents had made it “nearly impossible” for local authorities to take informed decisions quickly.“Technology like this could be a vital step towards councils meeting targets to help build the 1.5 million new homes the country needs, all while updating and improving the planning system for the future,” he said.DSIT said the tool could potentially be used across the public sector because “location-specific data is used to deliver services and inform Government policy and decisions across departments.”Sir Keir Starmer has said proposals for the wider digitisation across public services under his administration could achieve productivity savings of up to £45 billion a year.Labour’s plans also include streamlining the planning process by cutting red tape and giving councils new powers to seize land to speed up building as part of its flagship Planning and Infrastructure Bill.Joe Hill, policy director at the Reform public services think tank, welcomed the focus on new technology for local authorities but warned its benefits would only come if many councils are using the software day to day.He told the PA news agency: ““It is great to see the Government embracing new technology in public services. We will not achieve a leaner and more productive state without radical transformation through technology.“The key question is whether the Government can effectively scale up these new AI tools.“Our research has highlighted how Government regularly pilots new tools, then doesn’t scale them up – but the benefits only come if lots of councils are using this kind of software day to day.”He added: “However, the Government’s mission to meet the housing crisis with ambitious targets for new homes won’t be met by simply digitising a broken planning system, it needs to fundamentally reform planning processes themselves to create a system which incentivises housebuilding”. More

Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to follow in Donald Trump’s footsteps and appear more regularly in front of the media. Labour MPs have called on the prime minister to act more like the US president, who has made surprise calls to live TV news shows and held long meetings with cabinet members on camera. The result is that Mr Trump dominates news coverage in America, with a growing number of senior Labour figures believing Sir Keir would do well to adopt the tactic. Labour MPs want Sir Keir Starmer to take a more hands-on approach with the media More