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.Read moreA former minister sacked over “sexist” and “racist” WhatsApp messages is being investigated by parliament’s standards watchdog. In a development which could see Sir Keir Starmer face his first by-election in government, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has launched an investigation into Andrew Gwynne.Mr Gwynne was sacked as a minister and suspended from the Labour Party earlier this month after the emergence of offensive messages in a WhatsApp group.Andrew Gwynne was sacked as a minister after the messages emerged (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.Read moreDecades of Army cuts have left the UK “massively vulnerable” to Russian aggression, the former head of the British armed forces has said. With Sir Keir Starmer under mounting pressure to boost the UK’s defence budget, General Sir Nick Carter said the Army had suffered a “process of neglect” over the last 30 years. Gen Sir Nick, who served as chief of the defence staff between 2018 and 2021, warned the Army was “remarkably hollow” and would be unable to fend off an “onslaught” of Russian drones and missiles like those Ukraine has been subjected to. Former chief of the defence staff General Sir Nick Carter said the Army had been ‘hollowed out’ 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.Read moreBritain will reportedly offer the EU an “Australian-style” youth mobility scheme as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s post-Brexit reset of relations with the bloc. The plan would see tens of thousands of workers and students from the EU allowed to live and work in the UK for up to three years, with 18 to 30-year-old Britons granted similar access to the European Union. A youth mobility scheme has emerged as one of the key sticking points in negotiations about a closer relationship between the UK and Brussels, with Downing Street so far rejecting the plan. Ministers fear a deal on youth mobility will be painted as a return to freedom of movement and a betrayal of Brexit. But, under the proposals to be tabled by British negotiators, there will be a cap on the number who can take part in the scheme to allay concerns over its impact on immigration figures, The Times reported.Sir Keir Starmer is attempting to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU 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.Read moreSupporters of the political campaign to boycott literary and arts festivals have been fiercely criticised by culture secretary Lisa Nandy, who has accused them of “gagging society, self defeating virtue signalling and moral Puritanism”.Ms Nandy rejects claims by campaigners that their protest is aimed at sponsors linked to Israel and fossil fuel companies – and not the festivals themselves.Such a notion is “for the birds”, she argues.Her intervention in the inaugural Jennie Lee lecture comes after a number of festivals, including the internationally renowned Hay Festival, ended sponsorship by the Baillie Gifford investment management firm.Singer Charlotte Church and comedian Nish Kumar were among those who pulled out of last year’s Hay Festival over its connection to Baillie Gifford.The Hay Festival is one of the highlights of the literary calendar and attracts more than 150,000 people every year 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.Read moreA generational divide in British politics is playing into Nigel Farage’s hands, as his party Reform UK tops the Techne UK tracker weekly poll for the first time.Overall in the Techne poll Reform leads with 26 per cent (up 1), Labour second on 25 per cent (down 1), and the Tories trailing unchanged on 22 per cent. The Lib Dems are on 12 per cent (down 1) and Greens are unchanged on 7 per cent.According to Electoral Calculus, if this was the result in a general election Reform would be the biggest party on 199 seats, with Labour on 183 and Tories on 145.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage 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.Read moreSir Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to boost defence spending ahead of a crucial showdown with Donald Trump over Ukraine. The prime minister travels to Washington next week as the only major UK party leader who has not backed calls to hike the defence budget to 2.5 per cent of Britain’s GDP by 2030. And, with the PM hoping to impress upon the US president the importance of his ongoing support after any peace deal in Ukraine, he faces the task of showing Britain and other European nations are serious about their own defence and not over reliant on the US. Sir Keir has promised a pathway towards Britain spending 2.5 per cent of its GDP, up from 2.3 per cent now, on defence, though he has not guaranteed the benchmark will be met before 2030. Sir Ed Davey has piled pressure on the PM, becoming the latest political leader to call for Sir Keir to hike spending as soon as possible to the 2.5 per cent mark, joining Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage in supporting a boost. Sir Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to boost defence spending 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.Read moreBoris Johnson has reacted to Donald Trump’s claims that Ukraine started the war with Russia, as the president came under fire for branding Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator. The former prime minister said the US president’s statements on Ukraine – which were the latest in a series of controversial interventions by the Trump administration – “are not intended to be historically accurate, but to shock Europeans into action”.Mr Trump caused outrage when he wrongly claimed Kyiv started the war, as well as claiming the Ukraine president’s approval rating stands at 4 per cent and the country should hold an election. He later doubled down on the attack, describing Mr Zelensky as a “dictator” and warned he “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left”.A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir Starmer had called Mr Zelensky on Wednesday evening to express support for him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”.Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer backed Zelensky following Mr Trump’s comments 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.Read moreIn a book filled with startling claims, former chief whip Simon Hart has recounted surreal moments from the ailing Conservative government’s final months. Serialised in The Times, it covers orgies, Matt Hancock’s abrupt departure to the I’m a Celebrity… jungle, a Tory MP becoming stuck in a brothel, and the various misconduct scandals that engulfed members of Rishi Sunak’s government. Hart was the Conservative MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire from 2010 to 2024, and his diary covers the final 21 months of Tory leadership before the party’s crushing defeat at the last general election. Here are the most bizarre takeaways from his book, ‘Ungovernable’: Former prime minister Rishi Sunak is said to have described a cabinet minister as ‘f***ing useless’ More