UK Politics

Wes Streeting is set to hold last-ditch talks with doctors’ union leaders in an effort to avoid five days of “highly dangerous” NHS walkouts later this month. Junior doctors in England are set to strike from 7am on July 25 as part of a pay dispute with the government.Professor Robert Winston, a Labour peer who became a household name through his documentaries on child development, has warned the “highly dangerous” industrial action risks harming the public’s trust in the profession. But the new leader of the British Medical Association (BMA) has said that the doctors’ 29 per cent pay demand is “non-negotiable” and warned strikes could go on for years.Junior doctors striking last year (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More

Labour has left the door open to higher taxes on the middle classes in Rachel Reeves’ crunch budget later this year. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander would not rule out tax rises in a series of interviews on Sunday morning, but said the government had pledged not to hike them for “people on modest incomes”. Asked if the public should expect taxes to go up in the autumn, she said ministers would be guided by “fairness”. She also told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme that Cabinet ministers did not “directly” talk about the idea of a wealth tax – being pushed by unions and former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock – during an away day at the prime minister’s Chequers country estate this week.Lord Kinnock has called for a wealth taxThe shadow home secretary Chris Philp said her comments “sound to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn”. It comes as Ms Reeves strategy for economic growth appears in tatters after the Federation of Small Businesses said that for the first time more small firms expect to shrink than grow. The FSB found 27 per cent expected their firm to become smaller or close over the next 12 months, while just 25 per cent predicted it would expand. The chancellor has refused to rule out tax rises at the budget since Labour MPs forced ministers to make a U-turn on welfare reforms, losing the government an estimated £5 billion a year in savings.She is under intense pressure to find more money after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) this week warned that the UK’s finances are on an “unsustainable” path the government “cannot afford” in the longer term.On Wednesday, Keir Starmer failed to rule out extending so-called “stealth taxes” – as well as the introduction of a wealth tax – as his government struggles to balance the books.The prime minister reiterated that Labour would stick to its manifesto pledge and ruled out increases to income tax, VAT and national insurance, but he did not confirm whether the government was planning to lift the freeze on income tax thresholds in 2028. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the government would be guided by ‘fairness’ on any tax decisions.(Jonathan Brady/PA) More

Most people in the four largest countries in the European Union would welcome the UK back into the bloc, a new poll has found – but not on the same terms it had before.At the same time most Britons are in favour of rejoining the EU, the YouGov survey of six western European nations found, but only if they can keep the opt-outs the UK previously had, such as remaining outside the Schengen zone and keeping its own currency. The results come just days after Keir Starmer welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to the UK for the first state visit from an EU leader since Brexit. The Labour leader has said he wants to fix Britain’s damaged relationship with the European Union for the benefit of “generations to come”.Now, 10 years after MPs voted to hold the referendum that led to Britain leaving the EU, the poll found that at least half of people asked in France, Germany Italy and Spain, supported the UK being allowed to rejoin, a range that spanned from 51per cent support in Italy to 63 per cent in Germany.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron (Leon Neal/PA) More

Peter Mandelson says Donald Trump should expect a “warm reception” when he visits Britain for his second state visit later this year. The UK’s ambassador in Washington said the US president “really does love Britain” and “hugely admires it” in an interview with the Sunday Times. “He trusts Keir Starmer. It’s not a question of expressing our gratitude. My lodestar here is to demonstrate respect, not sycophancy. I don’t think the administration has any problem with that,” the 71-year-old veteran politician told the newspaper. Referring to Mr Trump as a “phenomenon” and a “unique politician”, Lord Mandelson said the pair have met several times, with the Labour grandee forming a strong relationship with the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles.Earlier this year, the US president accepted the invitation from King Charles for an unprecedented second state visit to the UK earlier this year, becoming the first US president to receive the honour. The visit is reportedly likely to take place during the political party conference season, in September, and so Mr Trump will not get the opportunity to make an address to MPs and peers in Parliament.UK Ambassador to the US, Lord Peter Mandelson explained Trump “loves Britain” and “hugely admires it” during an interview with the Times More

Sir Keir Starmer’s much-lauded “one in, one out” migrant return deal with Emmanuel Macron is a “publicity stunt” that won’t win back voters, Britain’s leading pollsters have warned.Professor Sir John Curtice, Lord Robert Hayward and Luke Tryl have suggested that the small scale of the agreement, which will only see a tiny fraction of those arriving on small boats returned to France, will have little or no impact on the prime minister’s dwindling popularity because of record low trust in the government.The problem was underlined on Thursday when more than 700 migrants arrived on small boats just hours before the announcement of the deal, which will reportedly see only 50 returned a week, although ministers have refused to discuss specific numbers.It comes as new polling reveals concerns about the government’s wider migration policy, with a survey of Labour party members, seen by The Independent, showing opposition to Sir Keir’s plans to crack down on legal migration as well.Small boat crossings continued on Friday, with the RNLI and Border Force bringing people into Dover from the Channel as more than 350 migrants made the crossing (Gareth Fuller/PA) More

Just one in three people support plans by doctors to stage five days of walkouts later this month, a new poll has revealed as tens of thousands of patients across the country face operations and appointments being cancelled.Nearly half of those polled (49 per cent) oppose the planned industrial action called by the British Medical Association, a YouGov survey has found. The figures showed a marked fall in support compared with previous industrial action. When doctors last went on strike, just before last year’s general election, YouGov found the action was supported by 59 per cent of the public, and opposed by 36 per cent. It comes as a former Labour cabinet minister and union leader warned the BMA it had picked the wrong battle with the government, and told health secretary Wes Streeting it was a fight he had to win. Alan Johnson, who was health secretary for two years under Tony Blair and who used to lead a union himself, told The Independent: “This has all the signs of the BMA leading their troops into a battle they can’t win, nor should they, given that government has honoured the pay review recommendations in full having settled last year’s dispute immediately on taking office. Doctors on a picket line last year More

Just one in three people support plans by doctors to stage five days of walkouts later this month, a new poll has revealed as tens of thousands of patients across the country face operations and appointments being cancelled.Nearly half of those polled (49 per cent) oppose the planned industrial action called by the British Medical Association, a YouGov survey has found. The figures showed a marked fall in support compared with previous industrial action. When doctors last went on strike, just before last year’s general election, YouGov found the action was supported by 59 per cent of the public, and opposed by 36 per cent. It comes as a former Labour cabinet minister and union leader warned the BMA it had picked the wrong battle with the government, and told health secretary Wes Streeting it was a fight he had to win. Alan Johnson, who was health secretary for two years under Tony Blair and who used to lead a union himself, told The Independent: “This has all the signs of the BMA leading their troops into a battle they can’t win, nor should they, given that government has honoured the pay review recommendations in full having settled last year’s dispute immediately on taking office. Doctors on a picket line last year More

Reform UK has selected a teenager to permanently run a major county council, overseeing hundreds of millions of pounds of public spending.George Finch, 18, took over temporarily after the previous council leader, also a member of Reform, resigned just weeks after being elected. Now the 18-year-old has been selected by Nigel Farage’s party to head Warwickshire County Council, which has £1.5bn of assets and a budget of around £500m.The Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, Preet Gill, has criticised the decision, saying the people of Warwickshire “frankly deserve better”.”This is not work experience,” she told the BBC. “This is not about learning on the job.”George Finch, who has been selected to run a county council More