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 ThomasEditorAnti-immigration rioters have been accused of “defiling” the Union flag by the Archbishop of Canterbury.The Most Reverend Justin Welby’s comments were in response to violent protesters seen waving Union Flags in street demonstrations across Britain.Hundreds of people have been arrested after riots linked to the far right rocked major cities including Manchester, Liverpool and Hull, with violent mobs setting fire to hotels housing refugees and clashing with the police. A far-right protester wrapped himself in the flag in Leeds on Saturday 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 ThomasEditorElon Musk’s post on his social media platform that “civil war is inevitable” as rioting in the UK continues is “deeply irresponsible”, justice minister Heidi Alexander said.Mr Musk, the head of X, formerly Twitter, has faced a backlash to his comments as social media sites have also been criticised for not doing enough to tackle the spread of disinformation.Ms Alexander told Times Radio: “If you have got a platform, a large social media platform, then you have also got a responsibility.”She said it was “deeply irresponsible” and that “everyone should be appealing for calm”.“Use of language such as a ‘civil war’ is in no way acceptable. We are seeing police officers being seriously injured, buildings set alight, and so I really do think that everyone who has a platform should be exercising their power responsibly,” Ms Alexander said.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said on Monday that there was “no justification for comments like that”.“We’re talking about a minority of thugs who don’t speak for Britain,” he said.Michelle Donelan, a former Conservative MP who worked on the Online Safety Act when she was technology secretary, criticised Sir Keir for “going off on one at Elon Musk”, saying the Prime Minister should focus on engaging with social media platforms.She told GB News: “I don’t think he’ll do anything in relation to social media.“We’ve done the Online Safety Act, which is the most comprehensive Bill in this space in the world.”Offences around incitement in UK law were in place long before the social media age, and fall under the Public Order Act 1986, but stronger measures are on the way in the form of the Online Safety Act, which passed into law in 2023 but is yet to come into full effect.It will require social media firms to take more robust action against illegal and harmful content and activity on their platforms.They have got a moral responsibility not to be propagating and disseminating misleading and inflammatory content on their platformsHeidi Alexander, justice ministerBut Sir Keir’s spokesman said on Monday that social media firms have a responsibility to make sure their users are safe and that criminal activity is not being posted on their platforms.He said: “They shouldn’t be waiting for the Online Safety Act for that.”A mosque in Southport and a Citizens Advice office and police station in Sunderland are among buildings that have been damaged during days of clashes between anti-immigration demonstrators, police and counter-protesters.Ms Alexander also said the Government was taking a “very robust approach” to social media companies and that being behind a computer or mobile phone screen would offer no protection from the law.The justice minister told Sky News: “There has been some welcome action where there has been automated removal of some false information, but I do think the social media companies could and should be doing more.“They have got a moral responsibility not to be propagating and disseminating misleading and inflammatory content on their platforms.”On Monday, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he had met representatives from TikTok, Facebook’s parent company Meta, Google and X “to make clear their responsibility to continue to work with us to stop the spread of hateful misinformation and incitement”.Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government would not tolerate “armchair thuggery” and that social media platforms needed to take responsibility for the spread of online misinformation which has fuelled much of the disorder. 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 government has announced £100m to improve HMP Wandsworth after a damning inspection report found high rates of self-harm, dangerous levels of violence and nearly 50 per cent of prisoners taking drugs.The report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) revealed that crumbling infrastructure, inadequate security measures and consistent staffing pressures had contributed to the prison’s failings.Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood warned that state of the prison shows the “reality of a prison system in crisis”.The report comes just one month after the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced that thousands of prisoners on standard determinate sentences would serve 40 per cent of their sentence in jail, instead of 50 per cent, under new measures aimed at tackling overcrowding. Wandsworth was found to have high rates of self harm and violence, with almost half the inmates taking drugs 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 ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer has ordered a new “standing army” of specialist police officers to be set up to bring an end to the far-right riots which have broken out across the UK in the last week.The prime minister made the move after chairing an emergency Cobra committee meeting this morning with the deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, home secretary Yvette Cooper, senior officials and leading police officers including Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.It came as reports suggest that far-right groups intend to target 30 immigration and law centres on Thursday after sharing addresses on the messaging platform Telegram.Ms Cooper pledged that the far-right thugs face “a reckoning”, with nearly 400 people arrested after far-right violence swept across the country over the weekend.The meeting took place as the first cases of alleged rioters were heard in emergency sessions of courts, with the accused as young as 14 and one sobbing as he faced justice.The mobile force of police officers is a rare use of special emergency powers since they were first used 40 years ago, with the controversial squads drafted under the Ridley Plan to tackle the miners’ strike in 1984 and 1985.Over the weekend Sir Keir signalled that he had lost patience with “the far-right thugs” who caused civil unrest around the country in towns and cities such as Southport, Liverpool, Hull, London, Rotherham and Tamworth.And the unrest continued on Monday evening with demonstrations in Plymouth and Birmingham seeing outbreaks of violence.Six people were arrested in Plymouth after a police van was damaged and several officers received minor injuries. Pictures and footage from the scene showed fireworks and stones being thrown.Far-right rioters attack a Holiday Inn Express, known to be housing asylum seekers, 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 ThomasEditorMinisters will back social media firms if users who spread misinformation “have nowhere to hide”, the Technology Secretary has said.Peter Kyle confirmed in a statement that he had met representatives from social media giants on Monday amid fears that posts to online forums are fuelling violent disorder.His meetings followed several days of clashes between anti-immigration demonstrators, police and counter-protesters, during which buildings have been damaged including Southport Islamic Society Mosque, Spellow Lane Library Hub in Liverpool, a Citizens Advice office and next-door police station in Sunderland, and a Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth, near Birmingham.I expect platforms to ensure that those seeking to spread hate online are not being facilitated and have nowhere to hidePeter KyleSocial media has come under scrutiny from politicians and journalists, and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday: “You can’t just have the armchair thuggery or the people being able to incite and organise violence and also not face consequences for this.”Elon Musk, boss of X, formerly Twitter, has faced criticism from Downing Street after the billionaire posted “civil war is inevitable” to the platform on Sunday.Mr Kyle said in a statement: “I have been clear it is unacceptable that people are using social media to cause damage, distress and destruction in our communities.”The Cabinet minister confirmed he had met representatives from TikTok, Facebook’s parent company Meta, Google and X “to make clear their responsibility to continue to work with us to stop the spread of hateful misinformation and incitement”.The statement continued: “There is a significant amount of content circulating that platforms need to be dealing with at pace.A fire-damaged Citizen’s Advice office after violent disorder in Sunderland (Tom Wilkinson/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 ThomasEditorUnpaid council tax debt has rocketed to £6bn as households reel from the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, according to a new report. Arrears have nearly doubled since before the Covid crisis – when they totalled around £3.6bn. The figures are contained in a new report published days after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said she had identified a £22bn black hole in the nation’s finances since entering government and that she faced “difficult decisions” ahead. The report found 1.3 million households are struggling to pay their bills 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 ThomasEditorAnyone whipping up violence online will face “the full force of the law”, Sir Keir Starmer has said, as the Technology Secretary said social media firms providing “a platform for this hate” must go further in tackling it.Downing Street also condemned Elon Musk for claiming “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, and suggested that online misinformation fuelling disorder on Britain’s streets may be being amplified by foreign state actors.After chairing an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday morning, the Prime Minister stressed that “the criminal law applies online as well as offline”.There is more that they (social media firms) can and should be doing… to counter misleading and inflammatory material hosted on their platformsSpokesman for Prime Minister Sir Keir StarmerThe police, Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the National Crime Agency are working to tackle criminality online and to ensure people are prosecuted for online criminal activity, according to a read-out of the Westminster gathering.The Prime Minister’s spokesman told reporters: “Anyone who stokes this violence, whether on the internet or in person, can be prosecuted and face prison.”Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said the Government is working with social media giants to ensure they are not promoting inflammatory content.In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Kyle said: “The internet cannot be a haven for those looking to sow division in our communities. Responsibility for harmful social media content principally rests with the individuals and groups who create it.“But it is undeniable that social media has provided a platform for this hate. We have been clear with these companies they also have a responsibility not to peddle the harm of those who seek to damage and divide our society, and we are working closely with them to ensure they meet that responsibility.”No 10 also warned that action by social media firms to tackle harmful material “doesn’t go far enough”.Sir Keir’s spokesman said: “The Government is working with social media platforms to ensure that they are removing content quickly, that their processes are in place.“But there is more that they can and should be doing, as I think the Prime Minister has said, to counter misleading and inflammatory material hosted on their platforms.“They have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their users and online spaces to ensure that criminal activity is not being posted on their platforms. They shouldn’t be waiting for the Online Safety Act for that.”Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned against illegal online activities related to the rioting and disorder (Henry Nicholls/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 ThomasEditorThere are no plans to mobilise the Army to quell the escalating violence on Britain’s streets, the defence secretary has said. The former first minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf has called for troops to be used to stop “thugs” following appalling scenes in Hull, Halifax, Liverpool, London, Southport and Rotherham. But ministers have so far insisted that the police have the resources they need to respond to the violent mobs, who on Sunday stormed a hotel full of asylum seekers and set fire to it, knowing people were inside. John Healy, the defence secretary, said it was the police’s responsibility to respond in the first place “and currently, they’ve got the means to do it, and they will make sure that people stay safe.”Asked directly if the Army would be used in response to the riots, he said: “No”.A youth wearing a grey tracksuit and with his face covered by a black T-shirt throws a fence post towards police in Rotherham (Danny Lawson/PA) More