UK Politics

The most senior civil servant in government is on the verge of being sacked, it is understood, adding to a growing image of turmoil in Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street operation. Cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald is understood to be at risk of being ousted in the new year, amid growing concerns about his performance in the role. It comes despite the prime minister reorganising his top team just last month, conducting a full cabinet reshuffle, days after replacing the top civil servant in his No 10 team, Nin Pandit, who previously served as Sir Keir’s principal private secretary. One senior Labour source told The Times that Sir Chris is now seen to be the “embodiment of Whitehall groupthink”, with ministers privately criticising the civil servant for a lack of dynamism and an excess of caution. There are growing concerns about Chris Wormald’s performance as cabinet secretary More

Lawyers, GPs and accountants will reportedly face higher taxes as Rachel Reeves looks to top up the Treasury’s coffers by targeting the wealthy.In her Budget next month, Ms Reeves is expected to announce a charge on workers who use limited liability partnerships, raising £2 billion as she tries to fill a hole in the public finances estimated at between £30 billion and £50 billion.The UK has 355,760 partnerships, with 86,030 of them having employees, according to Money.co.uk. They are particularly common in the legal world. Partnerships do not pay employer’s national insurance of 15 per cent because partners are treated as self-employed. Partners also pay a lower rate of employee NI.But Ms Reeves is preparing to announce changes to the system in her Budget, as reported by The Times.She will impose a new charge on partnerships in an effort to “equalise the tax treatment”. But the charge is expected to be levied at a slightly lower rate than employers’ rate of national insurance.Lawyers commonly work in partnerships so escape employer NI More

There’s an old phrase in south Wales: “A one-legged donkey could run for Labour and people around here would still vote for it”. But on a rainy morning in the former mining town of Caerphilly, it is clear that the saying no longer rings true. Two days before a crucial by-election, there is no doubt that Sir Keir Starmer will struggle to retain this constituency, which has been considered a Labour stronghold since 1918. Polls currently show the governing party is heading for a total washout, with a two-horse race emerging between Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform party and the Welsh nationalists, Plaid Cymru. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage with candidate Llyr Powell during a visit to Caerphilly More

It is 731 years since the Welsh constituency of Caerphilly has seen a siege by insurgents attempting to seize power from the established rulers.Back in 1294, Madog ap Llywelyn attacked the great 13th-century castle which stands in the midst of Caerphilly in a bid to end the previously unchallenged authority of Edward I.Where Madog failed, Nigel Farage’s Reform now expect to succeed. The siege by insurgents in 2025, though, looks set to mark the dramatic collapse of Labour’s previously unassailable hold on Wales, with Plaid Cymru also expected to be a serious challenger to the incumbent party.Nigel Farage has been out on the campaign trail for the Caerphilly Senedd by-election, using the opportunity to spread the party’s plans ahead of the Welsh elections next year More

Robert Jenrick has been accused of “anti-British” comments after he suggested he would ban the burqa in Britain. The shadow justice secretary, tipped as a potential successor to the struggling Kemi Badenoch, pointed to Italy where prime minister Giorgia Meloni had recently proposed outlawing the traditional Muslim dress in public places.Labour MP Sam Rushworth hit back, denouncing the comments that put Mr Jenrick at odds with Conservative Party leader Ms Badenoch as “anti-British” and going “against what our nation stands for”. Robert Jenrick’s comments on the traditional Muslim dress are at odds with his party leader More

Brexit had an even bigger impact on Britain’s economy than critics predicted, Rachel Reeves has said, as ministers become increasingly bold in blaming the dire state of the nation’s finances on the decision to leave the European Union. Speaking at the government’s regional investment summit in Birmingham, the chancellor said Brexit “needlessly” added costs to UK businesses, saying ministers are now “unashamedly rebuilding our relations with the European Union”. It comes with just over a month to go until the Budget, where the prime minister and the chancellor are expected to blame Nigel Farage and Brexit for Britain’s ailing economy. In the upcoming Budget the chancellor and the PM are expected to blame Nigel Farage and Brexit for Britain’s ailing economy More

Boris Johnson has admitted that Covid rules probably went “too far” for children and that youngsters paid a “huge price” to protect others during the pandemic.Giving evidence at the Covid inquiry on Tuesday, the former prime minister said children could have been exempt from strict social distancing rules which were put in place during lockdown to stem the spread of the virus. Mr Johnson went on to insist shutting schools during the pandemic was a “nightmare idea” which he wanted to avoid at all costs and that he “had a personal horror” over the idea, fearing the impact of shuttered classrooms on the least well off. He also admitted that the exam system put in place during the pandemic “let down a lot of kids”. It came after the former prime minister was shown a document drawn up by the Department for Education (DfE) in March 2020, warning that closures would mean almost 9 million pupils could not be guaranteed an education. “I think that looking back on it all, the whole lockdowns, the intricacy of the rules, the rule of six, the complexity, particularly for children, I think we probably did go too far and it was far too elaborate,” Mr Johnson told the inquiry. Boris Johnson was prime minister at the time of the pandemic More

If Reform UK ever won power in Westminster, many Independent readers believe it would look much like what’s happening in Kent – chaotic, divided and out of control.Our community has been reacting after footage emerged of council leader Linden Kemkaran berating colleagues and telling them to “suck it up”, prompting the suspension of four councillors from Reform’s “flagship” Kent County Council.Reform took control of the authority earlier this year in a shock local election victory, ending three decades of Conservative rule.Many described the incident as proof that Reform is “imploding”, arguing that the chaos in Kent shows the party is “unfit to govern”. Some cited Reform’s Elon Musk-inspired Dolge scheme as evidence of a group playing at politics rather than delivering serious governance.Meanwhile, others accused the party of hypocrisy – promising efficiency and lower council tax but now mired in scandal and internal feuding. Here’s what you had to say:At least they turn upWhat did people expect? All these right-wing councils have turned out to be useless in the past – why did they think Farage and his right-wing cronies rebranding would be any different?Though unlike Farage, at least they turn up to do their job. People of Clacton are still wondering when they will see their MP.HairyferritReform couldn’t run a parent-teacher meetingReform couldn’t run a parish council either. Or a parent-teacher meeting. Doge? It’s public office, not business.All they’ll do is cut vital services while keeping the contracts and tenders for the ‘boys’. Then say, look at the numbers. It’s nonsense. I work for a local council – that’s how it works.And telling people to do one if they disagree? Sounds familiar. So when people say ‘they can’t be any worse than blah-blah’ – oh yes they can. Much worse. They’ll make Labour and the Tories look competent.robertfortonThe pack of cards is imploding The pack of cards (cards in more ways than one) are imploding and this is only the start. The reality is they could not even run their own bath, let alone a little council – imagine the chaos if they got to run our nation.Just SayingThere soon won’t be a single Reform councillor leftThere soon won’t be a single Reform councillor left. More than 30 have been expelled, suspended or have resigned since the local elections. Not all bad news then.HASTINGSPIERWhat reputation did Reform ever have to start with?Brought the party into disrepute? With many other such embarrassments by inexperienced, unqualified or even teenaged councillors, what reputation did Reform ever have to start with? And having lying Brexiteer Farage as its owner – sorry, leader – it couldn’t get much worse, could it?haynemanHatred doesn’t equate to competence in governanceWe have seen this behaviour before in councils. It might be easy to get elected on the espousal of some form of hatred, but time and time again (and not just with Reform) we see that hatred does not equate to competence in governance.YeahyeahThe ‘we know best’ brigade strikes againOh dear. These people look every bit as power mad as local politicians from any party. They are typical of the ‘we know best’ brigade of really annoying and expensive wasters who impose stupid policies on locals to the detriment of business, ratepayers and shoppers.Also typical of the saying: “Those who seek power should never be allowed it.”OlTom Have a look at Kent County Council, where Reform were elected on a promise to save millions in “waste”. Trouble is, they can’t find any, and council tax is now likely to rise by the maximum 5 per cent. The Reform councillors are fighting like cats in a sack as their baseless promises meet reality.This is a preview of what we are in for if we vote in these dodgy chancers at national level.mG123An unmitigated disaster in WestminsterI am not surprised at Reform councillors wrangling in this fashion. Running an administration is serious business. The lack of experience, and even more concerning, the lack of respect for democratic functioning, shows. If they can’t function at a council level, they would be an unmitigated disaster in Westminster.Reform would not be a wise choice at the next general election.Labour is showing us what they truly are. The Lib Dems and the Greens are not serious contenders.The choice, therefore, falls on a reformed Tory Party. I feel that they have learned their lessons, and they have the experience. The country should vote them in at the next general election.KrispadCan Reform govern?Standing on a soapbox or a stage with a microphone shouting slogans that you think people will want to hear is easy. Being in government, whether local or central, is very, very difficult. Reform are very effective at electioneering, as has been proven by their polling, but the jury is well and truly out on their ability to govern. The ten local authorities which they currently control are the litmus test.Fru T-BunnLocal elections are a protest voteLabour and Conservative-controlled councils are absolutely terrified of their next local elections because, for many, it’s almost a certainty Reform will take over.While many voters will ultimately refrain from voting for a Reform Westminster government, local elections are used as a protest vote – and those boats aren’t showing any sign of stopping.Ian RobinsonWe will implode with Farage as PMWe can laugh all we want at Reform – make fun of them, make jokes – which is what we did with Trump supporters, only for him to get re-elected and take his country on a path that, at one time, we could not even have imagined. The craziness that is the US today is a sad day for all of us. We’ve already let them break us away from the EU, to great detriment to ourselves.Unless Labour and those on the left start addressing the very real issues that ordinary Reform supporters (and all of us) face – good jobs, decent affordable housing, a decent NHS, a decent education system – will support for Reform drop. Yes, we have to get a grip on immigration as well, but it becomes (almost) a moot point when the economy is doing well for the average person, not just the already wealthy. The disparity between the wealthiest and those at the bottom is obscene, to say the least. Otherwise, we too, like the US, will implode with a Farage PM.pundaLow turnoutWhat I find utterly depressing is that, taking the US as a template, the other parts of our demography are all too willing to be ruled over by the first part.In America, despite the first term, millions of so-called ‘decent’ Americans decided to sit the 2024 election out and let them have another go. Too many ‘decent’ Americans would rather ‘send a message’ via an empty ballot box than vote for the only woman who could stop Trump.We are seeing the same here. Those councillors were elected, fair and square, with a turnout around 30 per cent. Thousands of ‘decent’ Kentish folk had something better to do than walk to a polling booth and vote to stop the rot setting in.I bet that if they reran the council election on Thursday, the turnout would be about the same and a handful of voters would actually decide the result.Instead of posturing and ‘sending a message’, the better end of the demographic needs to use their votes to stop these clowns.Jim987Reform isn’t a real political partyHere’s the simple and obvious reason why Reform hasn’t sunk – it’s because it’s not a genuine political party. It’s a limited company vehicle for Nigel Farage’s bluster. Without him, there is no Reform.For me, it’s well-nigh impossible to imagine Farage and his band of ex-Tory mediocrities being able to keep it together in the medium term.PinkoRadicalSome of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.Want to share your views? Simply register your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day’s top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click ‘log in’ or ‘register’ in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here. More