UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer has warned that the Middle East is on the brink of all out war ahead of his United Nations debut as prime minister on Wednesday. It comes as Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire across the Lebanon border, with the UK sending around 700 troops to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation is required.Asked on Wednesday morning whether he thinks the Middle East is on the brink of all out war, Sir Keir told the BBC: “I am deeply concerned about it and I have myself put it in those terms, that we are essentially at a brink point and we have to come back from the brink.”He will use his speech at the UN General Assembly, the annual gathering of world leaders, to set out how the UK will step up to play its part in a world increasingly dominated by conflict.Speaking in New York, the prime minister will promise to deliver “responsible global leadership” amid conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine.( More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentJustice secretary Shabana Mahmood has set out plans to slash the number of women going to jail and ultimately close women’s prisons amid an overcrowding crisis.She unveiled a new body, the women’s justice board, which will have the “ultimate ambition of having fewer women’s prisons” – potentially allowing them to be converted to male or mixed jails.The prison population in England and Wales hit a record new high a fortnight ago, with 88,521 people behind bars – but there are just 3,440 women in jail.More than half – 55 per cent – are victims of domestic abuse, while two-thirds have committed non-violent offences. Ministers want to improve services like community support and residential women’s centres to provide an alternative to prison.It comes after the government said thousands of inmates would be freed early in a bid to ease overcrowding.In her speech to the Labour conference in Liverpool, Ms Mahmood said that when she took over the ministerial role, the crisis had been just “one bad day from disaster”.“Within minutes, I was told our justice system was on the point of collapse,” she said. “Within weeks, our prisons would overflow. Had that happened, the consequences would have been apocalyptic.Ministers are battling a prisons crisis More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House Correspondent A former New York City official who helped coordinate the city’s response to the pandemic was fired from his private-sector job after a recording showed him talking about attending a sex party and other private gatherings when the city was urging people to practice social distancing.Dr. Jay Varma was terminated from his position as executive vice president and chief medical officer at SIGA Technologies, the New York-based pharmaceutical company disclosed in a filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Varma served as a senior public health adviser to then-Mayor Bill de Blasio from April 2020 to May 2021. He regularly appeared with the Democratic mayor at press briefings discussing the city’s COVID-19 response and helped develop programs and strategies to combat the virus, including encouraging people to wear masks in public, get tested regularly and get vaccinated, once vaccines were available.A hidden-camera video posted last week by a conservative podcaster shows Varma speaking casually to a woman about attending gatherings even as he served as a face of the city’s pandemic response.“I did all this deviant, sexual stuff while I was on TV and people were like, ‘Aren’t you afraid? Aren’t you embarrassed?’” he said at one point in the edited recording. “And I was like, no, I really like being my authentic self.”Varma also acknowledged how disastrous his actions would have been to the city’s efforts had they been exposed at the time. “It would have been a big deal,” he said at another point in the video. “It would have been a real embarrassment.”Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned in 2023 after a yearslong government inquiry revealed he and members of his administration attended parties in government offices in violation of COVID-19 lockdown rules at the time.Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom faced criticism for flouting his own pandemic rules when he attended a friend’s birthday party at the swanky French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley in November 2020.Varma declined Tuesday to comment on his firing, but acknowledged the authenticity of the video in a statement provided by a spokesperson.“I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time,” he wrote, adding that the recordings were from private conversations that had been “secretly recorded, spliced, diced, and taken out of context.”Varma didn’t elaborate on the events he referenced in the video, but acknowledged attending at least three private gatherings during his City Hall tenure.Varma, in the video, said one party took place in a hotel room in August 2020 with about 8 to 10 people, including his wife, who were naked and taking the recreational drug molly, or ecstasy.By then, New York’s governor had begun easing restrictions, with indoor gatherings of up to 10 people permitted months earlier. Varma said he still took precautions to make sure he wasn’t caught. “I had to be kind of sneaky about it,” he said. “I was running the entire COVID response for the city.”He also attended a drug-fueled dance party with roughly 200 people in a space under a Wall Street bank in May or June of 2021, according to the recording. In mid-May, New York state had raised the limit on indoor gatherings to 250 people and by mid-June, it had lifted most pandemic restrictions.Varma, who left his City Hall position around that time but continued to serve as a part-time consultant, according to his LinkedIn bio, recalled being worried about being spotted at the party at the time.“This was not COVID-friendly,” he said in the video, which appears to have been stitched together from recordings made secretly during a number of different social encounters with an unidentified woman, who is off camera.A spokesperson for SIGA Technologies didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, declined to wade into the controversy Tuesday during his regular City Hall briefing with reporters. Some local conservatives called for a government inquiry.“The hypocrisy is outrageous,” said City Council Member Robert Holden, a Queens Democrat, who applauded Varma’s firing. “Millions were impacted by their heavy-handed policies, and the public deserves accountability.”Varma in his statement defended his efforts to respond to the pandemic and denounced the video as part of “dangerous extremist efforts to undermine the public’s confidence” in vaccines.“Facing the greatest public health crisis in a century, our top priority was to save lives, and every decision made was based on the best available science to keep New Yorkers safe,” he wrote. ___Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer steadied his party on Tuesday after a turbulent week for Labour and his leadership, reminding activists they have a mandate to reshape Britain in a simple rallying message: “We won.”The prime minister pledged to “face the storm” from unpopular decisions and borrowed the Tory austerity language of David Cameron and George Osborne as he told the party’s annual conference in Liverpool – and the wider country – that “we’re all in this together”.Set against criticism over winter fuel payment cuts for pensioners, gifts for him, his wife and his ministers, and a civil war in Downing Street, Sir Keir sought to silence doubters with a long-term vision. It came as:He prepared to fly to the UN amid crises in Ukraine and the Middle EastHe promised “homes for heroes” to help veterans get a place to liveHis justice secretary pledged to cut the number of women in prisonHe unveiled a Hillsborough Law to end the scandal of cover-upsDespite an ovation from the crowd, Sir Keir was briefly interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protester angry about child deaths in Gaza – a timely reminder that he has not won over all of his critics.He will also be absent on Wednesday when a union-led motion on winter fuel payment cuts will be debated on the floor of the conference.But some senior ministers, led by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, have been urging Sir Keir to remind Labour it has earned the right to rule; it was advice the prime minister seems to have taken on board.Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria acknowledge cheers after his conference speech in Liverpool More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer has delivered his first Labour conference speech as prime minister as he vowed to “return this great nation to the service of working people”.Speaking as he faced criticism over his acceptance of gifts and hospitality, and his new government warned of hard times ahead with cuts to pensioners’ winter fuel allowance, Sir Keir insisted to delegates in Liverpool that there was a “light at the end of the tunnel” for Britain.Sir Keir was met with rapturous applause from delegates on Tuesday afternoon. Although a lone protester near the end of his speech shouting “children of Gaza” was escorted from the venue.You can read the PM’s conference speech in full here:Thank you, Conference. And I do mean that from the bottom of my heart.Thank you Conference for everything you have done to fulfil the basic duty of this party – our Clause One – so we can return this great nation to the service of working people. Thank you, Conference.People said we couldn’t do it, but we did. And we did it together. And look at this now, a record-breaking conference. The biggest attendance ever in our history.And such a far cry from my first conference speech to a live audience of one – the camera man. Socially distanced, in an arts centre in Doncaster. Remember that? Don’t worry, most people don’t. Not even the camera man.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was joined on stage by his wife Victoria following his conference speech More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer’s address to the 2024 Labour Party Conference saw him promise to rebuild Britain “brick by brick” after fourteen years of Tory government, telling conference delegates his government will create a “Britain that belongs to you”. But what exactly was announced? We look at the key developments from the prime minister’s speech below. Hillsborough law introduced by AprilPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed where GB Energy will be based during his keynote speech to the Labour conference (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentWatch as Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech at the Labour Party conference on Tuesday 24 September.He will tell Britons there is “light at the end of this tunnel” but they must first join a “shared struggle” through tough short-term pressures.In his first conference speech as prime minister, Sir Keir will say he wants to “build a new Britain” with faster economic growth, shorter hospital waiting lists and safer streets.But he will warn there are no easy answers and he could not offer “false hope” about the challenges ahead.Sir Keir will attempt to set out his positive vision of “national renewal” but the speech comes against a backdrop of anger within the Labour movement about the decision to means-test winter fuel payments, stripping them from millions of pensioners.That decision, along with infighting behind the scenes in No 10 and rows over donations to the PM and other senior Labour figures, has contributed to a party conference with a more subdued mood than might have been expected after July’s election landslide. More

Keir Starmer mistakenly calls for ‘return of the sausages’ in major Labour conference speechYour support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseMy recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyondEric GarciaWashington Bureau ChiefSir Keir Starmer has delivered his first party conference speech as prime minister to a packed hall of delegates in Liverpool. In a wide-ranging address that lasted over an hour, he covered policies new and old in his address, promising a “light at the end of the tunnel” for Britain.Sir Keir was met with rapturous applause from delegates, as well as a lone protester near the end of his speech heard mentioning the “children of Gaza” before being escorted from the venue.Responding to the heckler, Sir Keir said “this guy has a pass for the 2019 conference,” adding: “while he has been protesting we have been changing the party.The prime minister also said that pensioners will be better off under Labour despite the controversial cut to winter fuel payments.Acknowledging that some may find it hard to “take that on faith” due to the cold weather benefit cut, Sir Keir said: “if this path were popular or easy we would have walked it already.”The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.Show latest update 1727189447Tory leadership hopeful Jenrick brands PM’s speech ‘end of a term’Former immigration secretary Robert Jenrick has compared the Sir Keir Starmer’s like the end of a term. The Tory leadership hopeful also accused the prime minister of preparing a “dour plan for the UK”.He said: “This was the speech of a prime minister at the end of his five-year term, not three months in. Sir Keir is already a busted flush – a Mr Grey, with a dour plan for the UK.Behind all the rhetoric there was no substance. How can Starmer have no plan to grow the economy, reform the NHS or control and reduce immigration after 14 years? It appears he is too distracted with sleaze, infighting and chaos in Downing Street.”Salma Ouaguira24 September 2024 15:501727188928Keir Starmer’s heckler says he spoke up for Gaza and LebanonDaniel Riley, 18, who heckled the prime minister in his speech at the Labour Party conference said he was moved to shout due Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on the Middle East.He told reporters after being released by security: “Everyday we’re still sending British bombs and British bullets that are being used in Lebanon and in Gaza right now and the prime minister – he could stop that, he could stop that right now but he doesn’t.“And he says that he wants things to stop but he won’t lift a finger to actually stop it.”Asked if he had planned to disrupt the leader’s speech, Mr Riley said: “No, I was a delegate, I’m a Labour Party member, I hoped I’d be one for life but I suspect not now.”( More