UK Politics

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer faced his first big test as prime minister last week, as far-right riots engulfed the country.The unforeseen crisis appears to have played to Sir Keir’s strengths as a former public prosecutor, with over 900 people arrested and 466 already charged following the violent disorder.Towns and cities including Liverpool, Middlesborough and Sunderland saw widespread violence last week, with people arrested for a broad range of offences.The prime minister has cancelled his planned summer holiday this week after the riots and will instead spend his time working between Chequers and 10 Downing Street.A No 10 spokesperson said: “The PM is not alone in this. We’ve seen many people over the course of the disorder having their leave cancelled to ensure we can respond. It is welcome that we’ve seen a de-escalation over the weekend but the work is not done.”We want to know if you think Sir Keir is dealing with the riots effectively. Was the PM right to delay his holiday to deal with the fallout? Are those involved in unrest being punished fairly? And are you worried about the impact on prisons?Share your thoughts by adding them in the comments — we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details — then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorNew research shows the most popular Conservative leadership candidates tend to the least well-known.Savanta, which carried out the polling, warned “the rule of thumb appears to be that the more the public see of them, the less they like them”.The findings are an ominous message for the group, who are due to spend the next four months battling it out for the top job. This year’s Conservative party conference will be dominated by the contest, which will not finally conclude until 2 November.The latest research shows former security minister Tom Tugendhat is the most popular with the public, but nearly one third, 29 per cent, chose ‘don’t know’ when asked about him. And, in a sign of why the Tories were heavily defeated in last month’s general election, to be the most popular candidate Mr Tugendhat’s net favourability rating was -5. Tory leadership candidates – the most popular tend to the least well-known, research has found More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorA cabinet minister’s claim rioters will not be freed early to help ease chronic overcrowding in UK jails has been hurriedly rowed back.Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said those caught up in the recent violence would not be included in the government’s release scheme. But a government source later said he had “misspoke”.Last month ministers announced plans to release some inmates early to free up prison space, blaming the decision on the last Conservative government and overcrowding.Asked if he could guarantee that rioters would not be set free early under the scheme, Mr Reynolds told The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “I understand that they won’t be.”He added that it was “because of those difficult decisions that were made by the ministers in the new government… that there is capacity in the system to deal with this disorder”.However, sources later made clear that some of those involved in the riots could be eligible for the scheme – depending on what their conviction is for and the length of their sentence, with violent offenders being unlikely release candidates.Ministers say they were forced to act after just hundreds of places were left in the adult male estate. Prisons have been routinely operating at over 99 percent capacity since the start of 2023.The early release scheme is due to run for at least 18 months, but could last longer. Greg Smith, the Tory MP for Buckingham, has accused Labour of sending mixed messages over the issue saying: “They can’t say they’re tough on rioters and then let them out of jail after only five minutes.”Earlier the justice secretary Shabana Mahmood warned that the impact of the violent scenes on the country’s streets would be felt in the criminal justice system “for months and years”.Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said he is “not worried” about the potential effect of days of rioting on foreign investment in the UK as the Government seeks to secure economic growth (Maja Smiejkowska/PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour frontbenchers are “going to mess up” and “disappoint” voters, a new Labour minister has said.But Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said that overall, her party would have a “more honest approach” than the Conservatives.Of the last Tory government, she said: “It feels like politicians have been spitting in our face and telling us it is raining, which is a funnier way of saying ‘gaslighting you.’”The Birmingham Yardley MP added: “They will be like, ‘we’re spending more on the NHS than ever before’ and then you spent 19 hours and leave the accident and emergency unit not having any treatment.”Jess Phillips told an Edinburgh audience how she was ‘a bit surprised’ to be made a minister in the wake of Labour’s landslide election victory last month More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorPupils are more likely to get their first choice of university course than at any point in the past three years – in part because of a fall in international students, experts have predicted. School leavers due to collect their results on Thursday are the first in five years to have sat both their GCSE and A-level exams after they were disrupted by Covid.Despite record numbers applying for places, analysts say universities are planning to accept more UK students. “All the signs are there that for 18-year-olds holding offers it will be a better admissions cycle than in either 2022 or 2023,” Mark Corver, a former director of admissions service Ucas who now runs his own consultancy, DataHE, advising universities told the Observer.What some students lacked in conventional social polish or confidence, they more than made up for in resilience and life experiences More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRioters will not be freed early despite the chronic overcrowding in the UK’s prisons, a cabinet minister has said.Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said they would not be included in the government’s release scheme. The guarantee came as the justice secretary Shabana Mahmood warned that the impact of the violent scenes on the country’s streets would be felt in the criminal justice system “for months and years”.Last month, she announced plans to release some inmates early to free up prison space, blaming the decision on the last Conservative government.Riot police officers push back anti-migration protesters outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorTory leadership hopeful James Cleverly has slammed Nigel Farage, telling him to choose between being a ‘serious politician or a social media content creator’.The shadow home secretary accused the Reform UK leader of making statements designed to “generate traffic” as riots erupted across the country.Mr Farage has been widely criticised for his claims of “two-tier policing”, echoing the language of a right-wing conspiracy theory, and his remarks about the Southport stabbings.Misinformation spreading online is believed in part to have helped spark recent riots (Owen Humphreys/PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe impact of the appalling scenes on the country’s streets will be felt in the criminal justice system “for months and years”, a cabinet minister has warned.Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the riots would set back Labour’s plans to fix the system, already struggling with a huge backlog of court cases and overcrowding in prisons.She said the Ministry of Justice has risen to the challenge of “bringing rapid charges against … thugs and hooligans”, in recent days.But she added: “The impact of these days of disorder will be felt for months and years to come. They make the job of rebuilding the justice system harder.“They also offer a sobering reminder of how much worse things might have been had this Government not acted fast, a few weeks ago, to address the crisis in our criminal justice system before it was too late.”Police are braced for another night of violence, with concerns raised about the safety of immigration law specialists. (Danny Lawson/PA) More