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.Read moreOn the flight over to Washington DC last week it was obvious that Sir Keir Starmer and his team had a clear strategy for the prime minister’s meeting with Donald Trump.They rightly calculated that Trump is possibly the biggest political egotist on the planet, so they decided to do everything they could to massage his ego.The flourish with the letter from the King offering a “historic, unprecedented” second state visit; the supine deference; thanking him for “changing the conversation on Ukraine”; all of it was part of an attempt to schmooze Trump into doing what was necessary on Ukraine, as well as not imposing tariffs.As an emotionally exhausted PM and his team flew away from Andrews military airbase in DC on Thursday night they had genuine cause for optimism that it had all worked and Starmer had pulled off a masterstroke.Trump has cancelled aid to Ukraine 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 moreAngela Rayner has insisted Britain’s approach to the war in Ukraine has not changed, despite Donald Trump’s decision to suspend military aid to the country. With mounting calls for a radical rethink of the UK and Europe’s role in the conflict, the deputy prime minister claimed Sir Keir Starmer “won’t be derailed” by the US president’s announcement. “He will continue that dialogue with our oldest and strongest ally, the US, and with European partners and Ukraine,” Ms Rayner said.She was challenged over Sir Keir’s insistence on Monday that Mr Trump was not planning to scrap military aid to Ukraine, after his White House clash with president Volodymyr Zelensky last week. But Ms Rayner told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I can remind you of what the prime minister said yesterday, and it has not changed from yesterday to today. He is laser focused on getting peace. A defiant Angela Rayner insisted nothing has changed in Britain’s approach to the war despite Donald Trump’s bombshell announcement 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 moreDonald Trump criticised European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer on Monday, deriding their weekend talks over Ukraine and launching a furious new attack on Volodymyr Zelensky for saying a peace deal is still “very, very far away”.In what could be a major setback in ending Russia’s war on Ukraine, the US president fired off a tirade just as the prime minister was on his feet in the Commons insisting America was vital, sincere and indispensable in the path to peace.Sir Keir rejected calls from MPs for Britain to shun Mr Trump and America after last week’s extraordinary ambush on Mr Zelensky in the White House Oval Office.However, in a hint the US could be prepared to withdraw military aid to Ukraine, the president said in a social media post: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer! This guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing.”And in a sideswipe at Sir Keir and other European leaders, he added: “In the meeting they had with Zelensky, [they] stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US – probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”Ed Davey said that ‘President Trump is not a reliable ally with respect to Russia’ 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 moreThe centuries-old leasehold system in England and Wales will be abolished before the next general election, the housing minister has promised. The sale of new leasehold flats will be banned under government plans to make commonhold the default tenure, handing homeowners greater control over their properties. After years of complaints from leaseholders about crippling costs and deteriorating buildings, housing minister Matthew Pennycook vowed an end to the “feudal” system. He said homeowners have been subject to “unfair practices and unreasonable costs” for too long, with measures set out in a commonhold white paper on Monday marking the “beginning of the end” for the system. Under the current system, third-party landlords can own a building’s lease and therefore make decisions on behalf of homeowners.The government has proposed bringing the leasehold system to an end, as promised in Labour’s manifesto, giving homeowners more control over how their buildings are run.Housing minister Matthew Pennycook 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 moreLord Mandelson has said Ukraine should be the first side to declare a ceasefire in its war with Russia as he called for Volodymyr Zelensky to back Donald Trump’s minerals deal in a clash with Downing Street’s position on the war.The UK ambassador to the US said president Zelensky needs to “get back on the same page” as his US counterpart after a White House meeting between the pair descended into an extraordinary shouting match. After Mr Zelensky was asked to leave the White House early, without signing a deal giving the US access to Ukrainian minerals, Lord Mandelson said a “very radical reset” was needed.Lord Mandelson was slapped down over the remarks, with a minister describing them as ‘not government policy’ 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, top civil servants and members of the royal family are receiving fast-tracked tax advice through a little-known HMRC helpline, it has emerged.The VIPs are having queries dealt with by the taxman eight times faster than the general public, new figures reveal. Millions with tax queries for HMRC face an average wait time on the phone of 18 minutes, with more than 2 million calls abandoned or cut off altogether in the last six months of 2024 due to a lack of staff. VIP taxpayers are having calls dealt with faster by HMRC 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 more Christian Stocker was sworn in as Austrian chancellor on Monday as a new government, a three-party coalition, took office after a five-month wait following elections in September. The new government will have to deal with rising unemployment, a recession and a creaking budget. Its coalition agreement, presented on Thursday after the longest negotiations in post-World War II Austria, also foresees strict new asylum rules in the European Union country of 9 million people.This is the country’s first three-party government, bringing together Stocker’s conservative Austrian People’s Party, the center-left Social Democrats and the liberal Neos. The alliance in the political center came together only at the second attempt after the far-right Freedom Party emerged as the strongest political force in a parliamentary election on Sept. 29. 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 moreKing Charles met Volodymyr Zelensky at Sandringham on Sunday in an overt show of solidarity with the Ukrainian president.The meeting came after Donald Trump and the US vice-president JD Vance berated Mr Zelensky over his conduct during the Ukraine war and apparent lack of gratitude for American donations during a televised conference in the Oval Office.Mr Zelensky had been in London to attend a summit of European leaders which saw them discuss a peace plan for Ukraine and security on the continent, a day after Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Zelensky had “full backing across the United Kingdom” as he welcomed him to Downing Street. The decision to invite the Ukrainian president to Sandringham is the most conspicuous political act the King has made since succeeding Queen Elizabeth II, who went to great lengths to keep out of politics. The gestures by both the King and the prime minister are bound to be seen as the clearest possible signal that Britain is backing Mr Zelensky after his bitter fall-out with Mr Trump.The prime minister is attempting to bridge the gap between Ukraine and the White House, which was more evident than ever when Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of not being ready for peace in the heated White House show down. Cabinet minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said it is “entirely appropriate” that Mr Zelensky met the King, rejecting suggestions that the move is a provocation to the White House. Charles and Zelensky in Norfolk on Sunday More