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 moreJustice secretary Shabana Mahmood is set for a confrontation with the Sentencing Council later this week after they wrote to her warning her against “dictating” to judges over new measures which she fears will create a “two tier” legal system.A spokesperson for Ms Mahmood has confirmed that a meeting is set to go ahead with the Sentencing Council on Thursday where she will make clear her displeasure at new guidance which could lead to lighter sentences for some based on ethnicity and gender.The Labour minister is in rare agreement with her right wing Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who raised the issue last week after the Sentencing Council ignored the views of ministers from the previous government to go ahead with the new guidelines.But after expressing her own disapproval of the guidelines, the Sentencing Council, which is independent of government, angrily put down Ms Mahmood’s objections this week and rejected claims it was creating a “two tier system”.Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood (Ben Whitley/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 moreMore details on the billions in welfare cuts Labour plans to make have been revealed as reports indicate ministers are looking to shave £5 billion from a disability benefit claimed by 3.6 million people.Reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are now widely expected, with Labour MPs understood to be divided on the cost-cutting policy package. 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 used 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.Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall (Stefan Rousseau/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 moreTechnology Secretary Peter Kyle has said he will cut red tape so that technology like medical delivery drones can be made available more quickly.He told a tech conference that the Government would prioritise pro-innovation regulation in a dedicated plan for the sector, saying there is “no route to long-term growth and no solution to our productivity problem, without innovation”.A trial of medical drones to deliver blood samples in London could be derailed by a single noise complaint, and this is the kind of red tape that will be peeled away so technologies can be brought to market quickly, he said.It comes as former Conservative minister Lord David Willetts was confirmed as the first head of the new Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), a role in which he will be tasked with shaping regulatory approaches for new technologies.The Technology Secretary told the techUK conference: “Everywhere you see, there is an imbalance of power in this country which has – for too long – made it impossible to imagine a better future for Britain.“To deliver our Plan for Change we have to shift the balance of power, away from stagnation and old ideas, towards innovation and opportunity, and the bold people building a new future for Britain.“In doing so, by 2035 we could see a whole new Britain emerge, harnessing the power of technological development, from engineering biology to AI, semiconductors and cyber security, or quantum and future telecoms for a stronger economy and better lives for all in the UK.”Mr Kyle also announced the 10 winners of Innovate UK’s Quantum Missions Pilot, who will receive £12 million between them to help develop quantum computing and networking technologies.The RIO was launched in October and is intended to reduce the burdens for businesses looking to bring new products and services to the market.Lord Willetts said he is “honoured” to take on the role and hailed the “exciting opportunity to shape regulatory approaches that empower new technologies”.Among the technologies the body could help make available are delivery drones for medicines and AI training software for surgeons, officials at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said.Drones could also be looked at in relation to other industries such as faster delivery of packages or groceries.Lord Willetts served as the MP for Havant from 1992 to 2015, and was paymaster general for a time under Sir John Major, before returning to the government as universities and science minister in Lord David Cameron’s administration.Mr Kyle said Lord Willetts’ experience “will be key to streamlining innovation and unapologetically unleash the innovation that we know can improve lives”. 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 moreRupert Lowe has seized on new claims that the allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by female members of staff “had nothing to do with him”.Mr Lowe has suggested he has been stitched up by the party leadership, including Nigel Farage, with the Great Yarmouth MP telling The Independent that he is a victim of “total lies” against him.But it came after the top lawyer brought in to investigate the allegations denied his claims that she said there was “zero credible evidence” against him in a bullying probe. The King’s Counsel (KC) hired to examine allegations against Mr Lowe denied telling the MP she had expressed “shock and dismay” over the investigation.Rupert Lowe was one of five people elected as a Reform MP at the general election in July (Jordan Pettitt/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 moreSir Keir Starmer will attempt to rally his MPs around plans to make cuts to the welfare system, amid fears of a growing rebellion. The Treasury is expected to make significant welfare cuts ahead of the Spring Statement at the end of this month in order to make up for tightening fiscal headroom. Rachel Reeves, who will deliver her statement on March 26, is expected to make a raft of public spending savings through curbing the cost of welfare and a drive for greater efficiency across Whitehall. But Labour MP Rachael Maskell said she had detected “deep, deep concern” from colleagues in the Commons, sparking fears of a rift between the government and the back benches.Meanwhile, 16 major charities – including the Trussell Trust, Scope, and Mind – have penned a letter to the government warning that benefit cuts would have a “catastrophic impact on disabled people up and down the country”. They claimed that as many as 700,000 more disabled households could be pushed into poverty as a result of the plans. It comes against a backdrop of growing concern among Labour backbenchers over the government’s direction, following a cut to the winter fuel allowance, the slashing of international aid and a failure to scrap the two child benefit cap. Sir Keir Starmer said the UK will ‘redouble’ its work to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas (Julian Simmonds/Daily Telegraph/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 moreYvette Cooper has been accused of “adding salt into an open wound” after rejecting calls from the family of murdered MP Sir David Amess for a public inquiry into the killing.In the letter addressed to Sir David’s widow, Lady Julia Amess, and his daughter, Katie Amess, the home secretary said it was “hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond” terrorist killer Ali Harbi Ali’s trial and the recently published Prevent learning review.Responding in a statement, Lady Amess said Sir Keir Starmer should “go away and reconsider the government’s position” ahead of the family’s meeting with the prime minister and the home secretary on Wednesday.Sir David Amess (Chris McAndrew/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 moreThe head of online safety regulator Ofcom has defended the Online Safety Act, saying the “very ambitious” rules will help protect children.Some campaigners have suggested the incoming online safety laws do not go far enough to regulate big tech platforms and stop young people seeing harmful content.But speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast programme as part of the station’s Online Safety Day, Dame Melanie Dawes said the new laws would require sites to remove illegal content as well as limit and restrict other harmful content.“So, what the law does, is it says that content that’s illegal, so that’s things like terrorist material, also abusive images of children and so on, that must just not be allowed on platforms, and if anything gets through, it needs to be taken down quickly,” she said.“But it’s also very clear that our under-18s deserve a very different experience than the one they’re getting now.“So, no pornography, no suicide and self-harm material, and significant down ranking of things like violent content, misogyny, racist content, and so on.“So, it’s a pretty broad, I should say, very ambitious, what the UK is trying to do here. No one should be under any illusions about that.”Under the incoming Online Safety Act, social media platforms will be required to abide by Ofcom codes of practice on a range of online safety issues, with large fines among the possible penalties for those who breach the new rules.However, some campaigners have warned that the current approach is too narrow, and sites will be able to make themselves compliant simply by following Ofcom’s “checklist” of codes and not by expanding their safety tools.Dame Melanie said “above all”, she wanted to see platforms make their services “safer”, and said parents also had a role to play.“I think there is a really important role for parents here. And when their kids are signing up to a social media account at 13, which is the minimum age that most of those companies say that they stick to, that’s another thing that I think we need to improve on, that they really do what they say, I think the role of parents in being part of that is quite important.“But at the same time, what we don’t want to do, is what some of the platforms would say, as long as there are parental controls, then everything’s fine. And I would say, no, you’re not actually following your own responsibilities there.“Parents need to be part of this. Children can do things to keep themselves safe. But above all, I want the platforms to make the service safer.” 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 father of Molly Russell said he and other bereaved parents are “losing trust” in Technology Secretary Peter Kyle over the rollout of online safety laws in the UK.Ian Russell said “nothing’s changed” in terms of online safety in the more than seven years since his daughter Molly chose to end her life aged 14, in 2017, after viewing harmful content on social media.The Online Safety Act has passed into law, and from this year will require tech platforms to follow new Ofcom-issued codes of practice to keep users safe online, particularly children, with large fines and site blockages among the penalties for those who break the rules.But many campaigners have criticised Ofcom’s approach to the new laws, warning it has taken too long to implement, gives tech firms too much scope to regulate themselves, and that the laws are not strong enough to prevent online harm occurring.Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC’s Online Safety Day, Mr Russell, who along with his family set up the Molly Rose Foundation in his daughter’s name after her death, said: “The Government haven’t really done anything. This is a really tough thing… Seven years down the road, I would say nothing’s changed, in my experience.“Nothing of significance has changed. The sort of content that Molly saw, that a coroner concluded led to the end of her life, in a more than minimal way, is still easily available online.”He said online safety campaigners have seen a lack of response from the Government over concerns the new laws do not go far enough to protect young people online, and as a result they are losing trust in the minister.“I’m losing trust with Peter Kyle, and I know all the bereaved parents that I’ve connected with are losing trust,” Mr Russell said. “Some more than me. Some are really angry.“We have met Peter. He was very quick to meet the bereaved families. Within the first week of forming a Government, we were in his office talking to him. It all sounded really hopeful.“We’re now months into government, and we’re hearing things in the papers where it doesn’t sound like he’s even considering a strengthened Online Safety Act two, which we all agree is needed, and 85% of parents we surveyed this week think is needed.“Yet in the press this week, Peter Kyle is saying that ‘mmm, that isn’t on my agenda’. Now, I hope that’s wrong. I hope he will clarify this and say otherwise. But at the moment, we’re really, really disappointed.”Mr Russell also said the codes of practice he had seen from Ofcom are “not robust enough” and that the regulator had “stayed safely in the middle” of the boundaries of the new rules.“We’ve seen the codes of practice, seen the Ofcom regulations, the way they’re enforcing that, we know that they’re not being robust enough,” he said.“Melanie Dawes, the chief executive of Ofcom, will tell you that they couldn’t have done anything more as a regulator.“Well, maybe there’s a problem with all of regulation in that case, because there’s an awful lot we believe that they could have done.” More