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 moreA group of medics, disability campaigners and faith leaders have urged undecided MPs to reject a bill that would make assisted dying legal.They warn there are “numerous problems” with Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, including possible coercion and the “strain” the change would place on judges and the court system. “We urge MPs who share these and other concerns not to abstain, but to vote against this proposal,” they say. The call has been backed by Abdul-Azim Ahmed, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Wales, Tanni Grey-Thompson, the peer and Paralympian, and consultant and member of the House of Lords Ilora Finlay, among others.MPs have been urged to vote no to the assisted dying bill 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 moreAll pensioners in Scotland will receive a winter fuel payment once again from next year, the Scottish government has announced.The Westminster and Scottish governments earlier this year both scrapped the universal payment, making it means-tested instead, so only people on pension credit or similar benefits qualify.But Scotland’s social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told the Scottish parliament on Thursday: “This Scottish government is determined to stay true to our values. We will not abandon older people this winter, or indeed any winter, and we will continue to protect our pensioners from the harsh reality of a UK Labour government.”If the plan is passed in Holyrood, the universal winter fuel payment is expected to be revived by next winter and will help around 900,000 people north of the border who are not getting it this winter.Ms Somerville said every pensioner in Scotland would receive it. Those on pension credit would receive £200 or £300 depending on their age, and wealthier pensioners would receive £100.Chancellor Rachel Reeves blamed a £22bn black hole in government finances for scrapping the universal fuel payment, saying the measure would save around £1.4bn this financial year. The decision prompted widespread concern and anger.Shirley-Anne Somerville announced the move on Thursday (Jane Barlow/PA) More

Esther Rantzen’s daughter urges MPs to rethink religious vote on assisted dying billYour 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 moreMPs are primed to start debating the assisted dying bill on Friday morning in the House of Commons, as the politician who brought forward the legislation admitted the vote would be “close”.The private members bill from Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will be the subject of a five-hour debate starting at 9.30am on Friday.Ms Leadbeater told BBC Breakfast earlier this week that she thought the vote would be “very close” and that the proposed legislation would receive “hours and hours” of scrutiny.Former prime ministers Gordon Brown, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Baroness Theresa May have all come out against the bill, but David Cameron has backed the move to legalise assisted dying.At a press conference to discuss today’s migration figures Sir Keir Starmer said the vote was “genuinely free” for all MPs and that the government would remain neutral.He said: “I’ve obviously got a huge amount of interest and experience in this having looked at every single case for five years that was ever investigated.”He added: “I will therefore be casting my vote tomorrow.”MPs primed to debate assisted dying billMPs are primed to start debating the assisted dying bill tomorrow morning in the House of Commons, as the politician who brought forward the legislation admitted the vote would be “close”.The private members bill from Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will be the subject of a five-hour debate starting at 9.30am on Friday.Ms Leadbeater told BBC Breakfast earlier this week that she thought the vote would be “very close” and that the proposed legislation would receive “hours and hours” of scrutiny.Labour MP Kim Leadbeater admitted the vote would be close 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 moreThe biggest social change in Britain in five decades could be shepherded in by the closest of margins on Friday. A historic vote among MPs over whether or not to legalise assisted dying appears to be on a knife edge, with those in support thought to be narrowly in the lead. If passed, it could lead to the most significant reform in British society since the abolition of the death penalty in 1965 and the introduction of abortion two years later. Campaigners protest outside parliament ahead of a debate in the House of Commons on assisted dying 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 moreA social media ban for young children is “a brilliant idea” for tackling abuse, the chair of a domestic violence charity has said.Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, chair of Refuge charity, emphasised the link between an increase in schoolchildren experiencing sexual harassment and abuse and social media after she was made a CBE on Thursday.Speaking after the ceremony at Buckingham Palace, Ms Barkworth-Nanton referenced the news that the Australian Senate had passed a social media ban for under 16s, saying it was “absolutely the right way to go”.“Personally, I think it’s a brilliant idea, and I think it ties really neatly in with the work we do around tech abuse,” she said.“If you can do it in a way in which you don’t isolate young people, which is the other challenge, and we can turn that into the norm, then I think it’s absolutely the right way to go,” she added.Ms Barkworth-Nanton, who is also the co-founder and patron of the Joanna Simpson Foundation, was honoured by the Princess Royal for services to people affected by domestic abuse and homicide.She said: “We are seeing something like well over 30% of young girls in schools are saying that they have experienced sexual harassment or abuse, and that is direct result of social media and often that’s being done on social media so that images are being shared.”Asked what could be done to prevent young people accessing harmful content, Ms Barkworth-Nanton said schools should be “proactive” in banning phones and that social media and technology companies need to “work together” to ensure algorithms do not “specifically target dangerous content to young people.”We are seeing something like well over 30% of young girls in schools are saying that they have experienced sexual harassment or abuse, and that is direct result of social media and often that’s being done on social media so that images are being shared.Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, chair of domestic violence charity RefugeOn ending domestic violence, she said: “The most important thing would be absolutely the education situation today in our schools, brought on by influencers like Andrew Tate and ready access to pornography, where young boys are abusing young girls in our schools, and that’s the generation that’s growing up.”An “absolute overhaul” of the criminal justice system is also needed, she added, as many survivors do not report abuse to police as they do not trust they will “get the right response.”One in five adults experiences domestic abuse in their lifetime, and it is estimated that around three women die by suicide as a result of domestic abuse every week.Every 30 seconds, someone calls 999 about domestic abuse, however it is estimated that less than 24% of the crime is reported to police. 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 moreCoercion by doctors and other members of the medical profession poses one of the biggest dangers to vulnerable, elderly and disabled people if assisted dying is legalised, a leading consultant has warned.Baroness Llora Finlay, a consultant in palliative care and a member of the House of Lords, told The Independent that “it is often almost impossible” to detect coercion in patients.She has raised her concerns about the problem of coercion ahead of tomorrow’s historic debate in the Commons when MPs will consider Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying Bill.Her comments came after Canadian Roger Foley also warned UK MPs of a slippery slope, alleging that medics in his country, where assisted dying has been legalised, had tried to persuade him to end his own life because he suffers from spinocerebellar ataxia, a severe neurodegenerative disease.Baroness Finlay told The Independent ‘it is often almost impossible’ to dectect coercion in patients(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 moreSir Keir Starmer has accused the Conservatives of using Brexit to run a “one-nation experiment in open borders” after eye-watering migration figures revealed that more than 900,000 people entered the UK in 2023.The prime minister described the figures as “shocking” and pledged that his government would bring the numbers down with “hard graft” and by taking a tough approach with businesses.Sir Keir made clear his view that voters had been betrayed after they were persuaded to narrowly back Brexit in 2016 with a promise that it would bring down immigration. He accused the Tories of deliberately pursuing the opposite policy.In a press conference in Downing Street on Thursday, the prime minister said the Conservatives were responsible for a “different order of failure” that had happened “by design, not accident”.He highlighted how his government had inherited a crisis in Britain’s prisons and a £22bn black hole in the public finances, but said the migration figures were worse.The figures came less than 24 hours after new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch admitted that Brexit had failed and that her party had failed the country on immigration.Sir Keir said: “Time and again the Conservative Party promised they would get the numbers down. Time and again they failed, and now the chorus of excuses has begun.”Keir Starmer says the Conservatives were responsible for a ‘different order of failure’ 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 moreNigel Farage has said parliament should debate imposing stricter limits on abortion for women, saying the current timeline may need to be shortened.The legal limit for a woman to have an abortion is 24 weeks’ gestation, but the Reform UK leader said that some babies are now saved after being born at 22 weeks, and questioned whether the current limit is set too late.Speaking to reporters after a Reform UK press conference, Mr Farage said: “You know, is 24 weeks right for abortion, given that we now save babies at 22? That, to me, would be worthy of a debate in parliament.”Nigel Farage questioned whether the current time limit for abortions is set too late More