UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseSince becoming prime minister on 5 July, Sir Keir Starmer has only met with one of the two candidates hoping to be elected president – and it was not with his natural Democrat ally Kamala Harris, but Republican rival Donald Trump.The lack of a meeting between Ms Harris and Sir Keir was not a snub from either side but reflects a twin-track approach that Labour has been taking in preparing for the outcome tomorrow for many months now, dating back to when they were still in opposition.In what always looked set to be a tight presidential race, the Labour prime minister has known for a long time that he faced two very different scenarios from an outcome dependent on a handful of counties in a few swing states.One was for an ally – who shares a similar legal background, is aligned ideologically and is on the same page regarding the big international issues – to be in the White House. But the other was for a US president with a volatile personality, who would happily rip up international consensus and sees his closest ally in Britain to be Nigel Farage on the hard right.Getting ready for the first scenario is much easier, but preparing for the second has involved painstaking diplomacy and meticulous planning.Starmer needs to be ready whichever candidate wins More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseWhistleblowers led by the cricketer who revealed the Yorkshire racism scandal Azeem Rafiq have called on ministers to force firms to investigate employees’ concerns. They want an amendment to Labour’s upcoming Employment Rights Bill that would significantly strengthen the power of whistleblowing. The group warns that “far too often the only reaction is to shoot the messenger”.In a letter to The Independent, they say: “Whistleblowing has been the common thread linking the recent public inquiries into Infected Blood, the Grenfell Tower fire and the Post Office Scandal. But whistleblowing concerns fell on deaf ears in each of these cases.”Azeem Rafiq (House of Commons) More

Kemi Badenoch calls Partygate furore ‘overblown’ in first TV interview as Tory leaderYour support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseSir Keir Starmer is poised to increase tuition fees for the first time in eight years, according to reports.Education secretary Bridget Phillipson is expected to announce this afternoon that fees will rise in line with the Retail Price Index inflation from September 2025, The Telegraph reported.Matching university tuition fees to the current rate of inflation at 2.7 per cent means they would increase to around £9,500. Fees have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017.It comes after Kemi Badenoch named the first members of her new shadow cabinet, with close ally Laura Trott to step in as shadow education secretary.Neil O’Brien, who supported Robert Jenrick during the leadership contest, has been named shadow minister for education.The announcements came after a speech to CCHQ staff on Monday, in which Ms Badenoch reportedly insisted that her party can turn their fortunes around in one political term.The party must first focus on principles such as free speech and personal responsibility before setting out policy, she added.Show latest update 1730731699PM: Butler was ‘quite right’ to delete repost about Kemi BadenochSir Keir Starmer has said a Labour MP was “quite right” to delete a repost of social media comments about new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.Dawn Butler appeared to share a tweet describing Ms Badenoch as a “member of white supremacy’s black collaborator class”.The tweet by Nigerian-British author Nels Abbey also described “Badenochism” as “white supremacy in blackface”. Ms Butler deleted the retweet shortly after sharing it.At the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow, the prime minister said: “She shouldn’t have said what she did and she has deleted it and quite right too.”Labour’s Dawn Butler was ‘right’ to delete comments she appeared to repost on social media about new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said (Jane Barlow/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseUniversity tuition fees will increase in England for the first time in eight years, The Independent understands, as part of a major overhaul of the higher education system. Fees, which have been frozen at £9,250 since 2017, are expected to rise in line with the Retail Price Index inflation from September 2025. Matching them to the current rate of inflation at 2.7 per cent would mean they increase to around £9,500.It comes amid growing concern over the state of the education sector, with many universities facing financial crisis. As many as 40 per cent of English universities are expecteed to fall into a budget deficit this year. The education secretary is expected to give a statement to the House of Commons on Monday More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseMinisters have been warned that they face a “militant” backlash from farmers over the so-called tractor tax of imposing inheritance death duties on family farms over £1 million.The warning came from National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw as he met with environment secretary Steve Reed over the shock measure in the Budget, while a protest has been planned for 19 November when angry farmers are set to descend on London.The row over inheritance tax changes came on top of a lack of extra funds for farming in Rachel Reeves’ announcements last week coupled with extra costs through increases in national insurance for employers and a 6.7 per cent rise in the minimum wage.Mr Bradsaw said that the ‘tractor tax’ raid through changing inheritance rules on farmland which had previously been exempt was “completely unfair.”Environment Secretary Steve Reed told MPs he can not yet reveal funding for farmers (Joe Giddens/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseSir Keir Starmer has said that tackling the migrant crisis is “every bit as significant” as tackling climate change in a speech announcing new measures to combat the small boat crisis. Addressing Interpol’s General Assembly on Monday, the prime minister said that addressing the migrant crisis would be a “victory for humanity” that would help to save “countless lives”. “If together, we could win this war against the people smugglers, then this gathering would have achieved a victory for humanity every bit as significant as the Glasgow Climate Pact. Because you will have helped to smash the gangs, secure our borders and save countless lives,” Sir Keir said. It comes as the government prepares to fast track people responsible for smuggling refugees on small boats through the courts in the same way as those who participated in the summer riots. As part of a £150m package of measures to tackle the small boat crisis announced on Monday, the prime minister will order the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to speed up charges for people smugglers.The PM will travel to Hungary later this week for talks on tackling people smuggling More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseSir James Dyson has condemned Labour’s Budget as “spiteful”, warning her so-called tractor tax will be the “death of entrepreneurship”.The leading British businessman – who employs more than 2,000 people in the UK – claimed that the new government will “kill off home-grown family businesses”, dubbing the changes an “ignorant swipe at aspiration”.The Budget – Labour’s first for nearly 15 years – saw the chancellor tighten inheritance tax relief on business property, meaning firms passing down assets worth more than £1m will be charged 20 per cent.A 20 per cent levy on farms worth more than £1m has also been introduced, meaning inheritance tax will be applied to family farms for the first time in history.Dyson has revealed plans to cut around 1,000 UK jobs More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseMore Government incentives and exposing more people to the technology around electric cars are key to growing the sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK, the UK boss of Polestar has said.Matt Galvin said the UK was not currently doing enough to encourage people to transition away from petrol and diesel cars.The managing director of the UK arm of the Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer said the firm was also looking to increase its retail footprint in the UK to try to expose more people to EVs in order to answer questions they had about them and showcase how far the technology around charging has advanced.The automotive manufacturers are doing all they can to reduce the cost of manufacturing and therefore pass on those savings to the customer in terms of incentivesMatt Galvin, PolestarIn September, a new body called Electric Vehicles UK was formed to combat what it called “misinformation” around owning an EV, saying there was “a clear disconnect” between some perceptions of electric motoring and the “lived experience”.On more Government support for the industry, Mr Galvin told the PA news agency: “UK markets are the worst supported in Europe for any government incentives to help people transition from a petrol or diesel engine to an EV powertrain, and we really do need now for the Government to step up, and I’m calling for the Government to step up and assist not just Polestar but the wider automotive industry, to help customers make that switch.“I firmly believe that the automakers have made big steps forward in quite a short space of time to lower the cost of buying an electric car – they’re still quite expensive, let’s be honest, but the automotive manufacturers are doing all they can to reduce the cost of manufacturing and therefore pass on those savings to the customer in terms of incentives.“We at Polestar have recently launched a 0% finance campaign across all of our range, so I feel that we’re doing our bit, but there isn’t the carrot coming from the Government for people to make that change.“That carrot needs to come in the form of maybe halving VAT on all new electric cars, and certainly levelling that VAT on public charging – taking VAT down to 5% in line with domestic charging – that would also be a welcome step forward.”He added that “more needs to be done” around public charging infrastructure to help people get over so-called “charging anxiety” – the uncertainty about when and where a user can charge their EV, which he said had replaced older fears about the range of electric cars.“I don’t think it’s so much range anxiety that’s the issue, it’s charging anxiety. It’s ‘if I’m caught out, where can I charge? Is it easy? Am I going to be stuck there for hours waiting?’,” he said.“I think we all just need to re-gear our minds a little bit to be open to this new technology – because for the majority of people that (drive) eight to 10 thousand miles a year, they probably need to charge the car once a week because ranges have got much better.”The technology now is so much better, and it’s one of those things where, until you’ve experienced it and lived it, it’s difficult to get your head aroundMatt Galvin, PolestarIt was in this area in particular that Mr Galvin highlighted how technology was helping to boost the appeal of electric cars.The version of Google Maps used in Polestar’s vehicles automatically plots any required charging stops for users into planned routes, and can even be customised to allow drivers to set a battery charge level they would like to have in the car when they arrive at their destination.Mr Galvin said this ever-improving technology was a “super important point” to make around EV ownership because it “makes it nearly foolproof”.“The Google integration and the Polestar product certainly means you haven’t got to think about it – the car works it all out for you, even telling you if charging stations are available or working,” he told PA, adding that it was the key goal of the firm to expose more people to what EVs can do.“The technology now is so much better, and it’s one of those things where, until you’ve experienced it and lived it, it’s difficult to get your head around,” Mr Galvin said.“We run lots of test drive events all around the country to try and expose that experience to as many people as possible, because I firmly believe that once you’ve tried it, and you’ve experienced the savings that go with it – maintenance costs are much narrower for electric cars and if you can charge at home, the cost of fuelling is significantly cheaper than a petrol or diesel car – then actually, it becomes quite a compelling argument.“One of the big projects we’re embarking on this year and next year is we have the ambition to double the size of our retail footprint in the UK, so we’re going to go from eight or nine spaces to 17 or 18 spaces.“But we’re still a very small brand – we’re not BMW or Tesla – but we’ve got big aspirations to grow and grow quickly, and we need to do that by educating people, we need to do that by giving people the experience that Polestar offers, which is quite unique.“We need to be able to convey these positive messages about our brand, but also how easy it is to live with an electric car.”He added that the idea that EVs were more technologically advanced than petrol or diesel cars was a “marketing theme”, and one he felt was “positive”.“Technology is advancing at a fast pace and it’s advancing in a way that’s helping all of our lives in terms of day-to-day ease of things, getting places… and actually, the way we power and fuel our cars is developing quickly, and so is the technology that helps you to live with that car,” Mr Galvin said.“And I think that’s an important point, because you couldn’t have an electric car without the backup of the technology.“Having an electric car is one thing, but if you don’t know when or where to charge it and that becomes a headache, you’re going to fall out of love with it quite quickly aren’t you? So the two are married quite well together.”A DfT spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting drivers and manufacturers as we phase out the sale of new cars that rely solely on internal combustion engines by 2030.“There are already a range of incentives to help people switch and we will continue to work with industry on supporting continued demand.” More