UK Politics

British pork will be served up on Mexican tables, after the government signed a new £19m deal with the country. After eight years of negotiations between Mexican and UK authorities, twelve businesses across England and Northern Ireland have secured approval to export quality British products to Mexico with the UK securing new access specifically for Northern Irish exporters, ministers said on Sunday. The businesses will now be able to export pork, offal and edible by-products, bringing British pig farmers a return on parts that are less popular in the UK but which Mexican consumers enjoy as part of classical buche meat dishes. Businesses across England and Northern Ireland will now be able to export quality British pork products More

As Ursula von der Leyen left Scotland last weekend with the ink still drying on the US/ EU trade deal she had just signed with Trump, the reception in European capitals was beyond gloomy.After all the posturing, threats of counter tariffs, Ms von der Leyen had signed a deal which was roundly criticised by a long line of leaders including German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said the agreement would “substantially damage” his nation’s finances, and French prime minister Francois Bayrou, who described it as tantamount to “submission”.Hungary’s Viktor Orban, an outspoken critic of the EU leadership, said Trump “ate von der Leyen for breakfast”.But there was one question which diplomats and government heads were asking all over Europe: “How did Keir Starmer get a better deal than us?”Trump and Starmer land in Aberdeenshire for a private dinnerNot only is the EU still paying 15 per cent tariffs, but it now has agreed to spend billions purchasing energy resources from the US. This compared to the 10 per cent tariffs for the UK.‘Featherweight’ Ursula von der LeyenA seasoned diplomat of an EU member state told The Independent that there was “anger” about what had happened.The fact that the UK “appears to be rewarded for Brexit” also really stung.But what was more worrying was that the EU supposed collective muscle had failed to produce the goods.Much of the blame has fallen on Ms von der Leyen herself and she is now being referred to as “the featherweight”. “She was just not strong enough to take on Trump,” said the diplomat.rump and von der Leyen agree their trade deal More

Britain says people who advertise fake passports or people-smuggling services on social medial could face up to five years in prison, in the government’s latest effort to deter migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.The government said Sunday that anyone convicted of creating online materials intended to break U.K. immigration law will face prison time and a large fine.Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the aim was to stop the “brazen tactics on social media” used by smuggling gangs.“Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the U.K. and a life in this country — whether on or offline — simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral,” she said.Assisting illegal immigration to the U.K. is already a crime, but officials believe a new offense — part of a border security bill currently going through Parliament — will give police and prosecutors more powers to disrupt gangs that send migrants on perilous journeys across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the crime gangs are a threat to global security and should be treated like terror networks.Since taking office a year ago, Starmer’s center-left Labour Party government has adopted powers to seize the assets of people-smugglers, beefed up U.K. border surveillance and increased law-enforcement cooperation with France and other countries to disrupt the journeys.Despite that, more than 25,000 people have reached Britain by boat so far this year, an increase of 50% on the same period in 2024. Small boat crossings have become a potent political issue, fueled by pictures of smugglers piling migrants into overcrowded, leaky inflatable boats on the French coast.Opposition parties say the government’s plans aren’t working — though the government argues the problems built up during 14 years when the Conservative Party was in power,The Conservatives say Starmer should not have scrapped the previous government’s contentious and expensive plan to send migrants arriving by boat on a one-way trip to Rwanda.“This is a panicked attempt to look tough after months of doing nothing,” Conservative immigration spokesman Chris Philp said.The government says it will take time to clear a backlog of applications that has left thousands of migrants stuck in temporary accommodation — often hotels — without the right to work.The hotels have become flashpoints for tension, attracting protests fueled by a mix of local concern, misinformation and anti-immigrant agitation. More

Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant has said he was sexually abused as a teenager by the then head of the National Youth Theatre. The Labour minister also said he has been sexually assaulted by five male MPs during his time in Westminster, although he has not named or reported them.Sir Chris said Michael Croft, who died in 1986, had invited him to dinner every evening while he was attending the company in London during the summer of 1978.Mr Croft was 40 years the then-16-year-old’s Sir Chris’s senior and the MP said one evening, having returned to Mr Croft’s house, he came back from the toilet to find his host naked except for a silk robe.Sir Chris Bryant says he was abused as a teenager by the head of the National Youth Theatre at the time (Alamy/PA)The MP said Mr Croft then asked him for sex, which he felt he had no option but to go through with, leaving him feeling like he was “a 16-year-old w****”.Speaking to The Sunday Times ahead of the release of his book, A Life And A Half: The Unexpected Making Of A Politician, Sir Chris said: “I don’t like telling this very much because I’ve not told it very often.“It was always the same Italian in King’s Cross. He would eat and drink, I would eat, then he would theoretically give me a lift home, except I always ended up at his house.”Sir Chris says Mr Croft never made an advance towards him again, with the pair remaining friends. An ordained minister, he conducted Mr Croft’s funeral.“He behaved absolutely appallingly, it’s despicable,” Sir Chris added.“Michael, in my case, managed to spot somebody who was gay at a time when nearly all homosexuality was illegal – certainly very frowned on – so presumed that people would keep a secret.”He said at least one friend during his National Youth Theatre days was also abused by Mr Croft.Speaking about incidents he said occurred in Westminster, Sir Chris said he did not report them at the time.“There was no system for doing so and I was frightened it would make me look bad,” he said, adding he felt homophobia in parliament has declined during his 24 years as an MP.A statement on the National Youth Theatre website said: “We are grateful to Chris Bryant for disclosing to our team the historical abuse he suffered in the company in the 1970s. We are very sorry that this happened to him and to others who have previously shared with us their accounts of historic abuse by the same perpetrator.“As we set out in a public statement on the case in 2017, we stand in solidarity with all victims of abuse and encourage anyone who has experienced abuse, no matter how long ago, to speak to someone and access support.“In this case the perpetrator has been deceased since 1986, but all reports made to us will be dealt with in accordance with our robust and formalised safeguarding policy and practice.“While Chris writes he doesn’t feel damaged by what happened, we recognise that being subjected to an abuse of power can have lasting consequences for many, in different ways.“Anyone getting in touch will be listened to and treated with care and respect by trained professionals, in line with our certified trauma-informed practice.“We are grateful to Chris for his support of our organisation today, and acknowledgement of how different a charity we are in 2025 to the one he encountered in the 1970s, with thorough safeguarding practices and policies in place.” More

Gangs promoting small boat Channel crossings on social media will face up to five years in prison as part of a new crackdown announced by the government. An amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill – currently going through parliament – will introduce a new, UK-wide offence to criminalise the creation of material for publication online which promotes or offers services facilitating a breach of UK immigration law. This could include small boat crossings, the creation of fake travel documents like passports or visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK. While facilitating illegal migration is already a crime, the government said the proposed changes would “add another string to law enforcement’s bow, better enabling them to disrupt the gangs while they are publicising people smuggling activities and provide an additional tool when building a case against those peddling this content”. A group of people are taken into the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, from an RNLI lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel More

Gangs promoting small boat Channel crossings on social media will face up to five years in prison as part of a new crackdown announced by the government. An amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill – currently going through parliament – will introduce a new, UK-wide offence to criminalise the creation of material for publication online which promotes or offers services facilitating a breach of UK immigration law. This could include small boat crossings, the creation of fake travel documents like passports or visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK. While facilitating illegal migration is already a crime, the government said the proposed changes would “add another string to law enforcement’s bow, better enabling them to disrupt the gangs while they are publicising people smuggling activities and provide an additional tool when building a case against those peddling this content”. A group of people are taken into the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, from an RNLI lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel More

Sir Keir Starmer’s historic decision to recognise Palestinian statehood later this year will not be enough to stop some of his top cabinet ministers from facing major battles to hang on to their seats, leading pollsters have warned.Health secretary Wes Streeting and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood are among those who could be ousted from parliament at the next general election, the UK’s top pollster Sir John Curtice warned, in the face of major challenges from pro-Gaza candidates. Sir Keir lost a key member of his top team, Jonathan Ashworth, to a pro-Palestine independent candidate at the last election. Mr Streeting was among those who held his seat, but saw his majority in his Ilford constituency slashed from 5,198 in 2019 to just 528. But pollsters now warn anger over the issue of Palestine, which Jeremy Corbyn’s newly announced political party will attempt to capitalise on, could see Mr Streeting and other high-profile casualties from the cabinet. Health Secretary Wes Streeting (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More

Talks have been held over giving Donald Trump the Freedom of the City of London during his state visit in September, in a highly symbolic move.According to a source, the proposal to give President Trump the honour was made because it would give the Corporation the opportunity to meet the US leader and make the case for free trade and against tariffs at the ceremony.It would also be a way of marking the UK receiving the first of the Trump trade deals with questions still over tariffs on steel.The president would helicopter in from Windsor Castle to the US ambassador’s Winfield House residence in Regent’s Park for the ceremony.The Independent was told: “It would be an important honour for the president just as our countries prepare to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year.President Donald Trump More