UK Politics

The Government has defended the Online Safety Act after Elon Musk’s X said the legislation was threatening free speech.In a post titled What Happens When Oversight Becomes Overreach, the platform, formerly known as Twitter, outlined criticism of the act and the “heavy-handed” UK regulators.The Government countered that it is “demonstrably false” that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech and said it is not designed to censor political debate.Under rules that came into effect on July 25, online platforms must take steps to prevent children accessing harmful content such as pornography or material that encourages suicide.This includes a new duty for online providers to reduce the risk that users encounter illegal content as well as age verification measures in the UK to access pornographic content.“As a result, the act’s laudable intentions are at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach. Without a more balanced, collaborative approach, free speech will suffer,” X said.It accused regulators of taking a “heavy-handed approach” and said that “many are now concerned that a plan ostensibly intended to keep children safe is at risk of seriously infringing on the public’s right to free expression”.Ofcom said this week it had launched investigations into 34 pornography sites for new age-check requirements.The company said “a balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children”.A Government spokesperson said: “It is demonstrably false that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech.“As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression. Failure to meet either obligation can lead to severe penalties, including fines of up to 10% of global revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater.“The Act is not designed to censor political debate and does not require platforms to age gate any content other than those which present the most serious risks to children such as pornography or suicide and self-harm content.“Platforms have had several months to prepare for this law. It is a disservice to their users to hide behind deadlines as an excuse for failing to properly implement it.”Technology Secretary Peter Kyle became embroiled in a row with Nigel Farage earlier this week over Reform UK’s pledge that it would scrap the Act if the party came into power.He said the Reform UK leader of being on the side of “extreme pornographers”. More

Sir Keir Starmer needs to listen to his own MPs, an ex-Labour frontbencher who quit her role over plans to slash benefits has said. Vicky Foxcroft, who dramatically quit as a government whip in June, said ministers need to “properly engage” with Labour backbenchers after a massive rebellion forced the government to abandon key aspects of its benefits reforms. Ms Foxcroft said she was “really concerned” about the negative impact the proposals – which were later abandoned – would have on disabled people. “There was some quite bad cuts to disabled people’s benefits suggested, particularly around Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and having to have four points before you would be able to access the benefit.Vicky Foxcroft resigned as a whip over the government’s proposed welfare cuts More

Millions of drivers have been denied payouts as the Supreme Court ruled that lenders are not liable for hidden commission payments in car finance schemes.Two lenders, FirstRand Bank and Close Brothers, went to the UK’s highest court to challenge a Court of Appeal ruling that found that the “secret” commission payments paid by buyers to car dealers as part of finance arrangements made before 2021, without the motorist’s fully informed consent, were unlawful.The Supreme Court’s decision means that the bulk of the claims will not go ahead, leaving the door open to compensation for only the most serious cases and protecting banks from a wave of costly payouts. Experts now expect compensation to cost lenders between £5bn and £15bn, rather than the £45bn it was expected to cost if the Supreme Court upheld the ruling in full – a payout that would have been similar in scale to the one that followed the payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal, which cost the banks almost £50bn. The UK’s Supreme Court issued its long-awaited judgment on Friday in relation to the car finance commission saga More

Rachel Reeves has rejected Donald Trump’s call to halt the spread of “unsightly windmills” in the North Sea and drill for oil instead. The US president took aim at wind turbines within hours of landing in Scotland last week for a trip that included a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer.But the chancellor has insisted that there is no “either/or” choice between renewable and non-renewable energy sources on her visit to Lossiemouth on the North Sea coast in Moray on Friday.Donald Trump in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, last week More

The Ministry of Defence’s top civil servant David Williams will be stepping down in the autumn.Mr Williams, who is the permanent secretary at the MoD, announced his departure just weeks after it was revealed the government had put up to 100,000 lives at risk though a catastrophic data loss. His departure is part of a bid to bring fresh leadership to senior defence roles, The Independent understands.David Williams, the MoD’s top civil servant, will step down in autumn More

Civil service hopefuls will have their fates decided by their parents’ jobs under a shakeup aimed at recruiting more staff from working class backgrounds. The government will tighten eligibility criteria for Whitehall internships as part of a broader push to make the civil service more representative of the working class.The main Whitehall internship scheme will be limited to students from “lower socio-economic backgrounds” and based on which occupations their parents held when they were 14.Pat McFadden said the civil service needs to be more representative of the country as a whole More

A government minister has reopened the door to a wealth tax, just days after the business secretary dismissed the idea as “daft”. Asked about a wealth tax, policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said it is “important… that all these issues are looked at and discussed and we look at the evidence about what will work and what won’t work”.But last week, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds slapped down the concept, urging his colleagues to stop calling for a “magic wealth tax” that does not exist and dismissing it as “daft”. It comes amid mounting questions over how the government will raise the money to fill the black hole in the public finances left by a series of major U-turns and spending commitments.Dame Diana Johnson left the door open to a wealth tax More

Marco Rubio has lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer, describing the prime minister as “clumsy” over his plan to recognise a Palestinian state in September. In the strongest condemnation yet from the Trump administration, the US secretary of state said the prime minister was “clumsy” for vowing to recognise Palestine before Hamas releases the remaining hostages taken during the October 7 attacks. Speaking to Fox News Radio, Mr Rubio said: “The UK is like, well, ‘if Israel doesn’t agree to a ceasefire by September, we’re going to recognise a Palestinian state’.“So if I’m Hamas, I say, ‘you know what, let’s not allow there to be a ceasefire.’ If Hamas refuses to agree to a ceasefire, it guarantees a Palestinian state will be recognised by all these countries in September.Marco Rubio (far right) pictured with Trump and Starmer in the Oval Office during the prime minister’s visit to the White House in February More