UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentThe row over winter fuel payments being cut for 10 million pensioners and questions over £107,000 of gifts Sir Keir Starmer has received have not harmed Labour’s poll ratings, a new survey has revealed.According to the first Techne UK weekly tracker poll for The Independent, Labour has increased its lead over the Tories from 10 per cent on the day of the election to 12 per cent.Sir Keir’s party is still the number 1 choice among pensioners aged 65 and over, with 19 per cent compared to 14 per cent for the Conservatives. This despite the much criticised decision to cancel winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners.Overall, excluding “don’t knows” or “wouldn’t vote”, Labour polls at 33 per cent, just one point below what they received on election day. The Tories, who are still looking for a leader to replace Rishi Sunak, are down three points to 21 per cent. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party is up four points to 18 per cent.Sir Keir Starmer has held his election lead and increased it (Justin Tallis/PA) More

Farage says there’s some truth in Trump’s claim Haitian migrants are eating petsYour support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseMy recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyondEric GarciaWashington Bureau ChiefNigel Farage has announced he is “relinquishing” his majority shareholder position of Reform UK, one day before the party begins its annual conference.In a post on social media, the Clacton MP said: “I’ve now made a decision. I no longer need to control this party. I’m going to let go.” Unlike most other political parties, Reform UK is a registered company with its deputy leader Richard Tice also listed on Companies House as a person with significant control.The annual party conference, which is taking place in Birmingham on Friday, has been hailed as the “coming of age” for the party, which gained success in July’s election by winning five seats. Meanwhile, a row has broken out over Mr Farage’s claim that safety concerns prevent him from holding constituency surgeries, with Parliament’s security services disputing the suggestion.He has repeatedly been accused of not prioritising his Commons role, coming under fire for spending time in the US endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign since July. Show latest update 1726794000Keir Starmer accused of handing ‘gold-plated pension’ to Sue GrayThe Conservative Party claimed Sir Keir had “snatched away support for the vulnerable”, while handing large pensions to his senior officials.Read the full article here: Holly Evans20 September 2024 02:001726790400Can Reform UK show that it’s more than a one-man band?Reform UK opens its annual conference in Birmingham sporting its first elected members of parliament, a much-expanded membership, and plenty of enthusiasm. Its leader, Nigel Farage, who has been knocking around at the top of politics for longer than all his many rivals combined, has made it into the Commons, on his eighth attempt. He has pledged to spearhead “the real opposition” to the Labour government…What’s the mood?Read our full take on Reform’s upcoming party conference: Holly Evans20 September 2024 01:001726786800Row erupts after Farage claims he was told not to hold face-to-face MP surgeries over knife attack fearsNigel Farage is at the centre of a row after he claimed security concerns had prevented him from holding surgeries in his Essex constituency.Now he has said he was told not to hold the face-to-face meetings with voters, traditionally held on the last day of the week, for safety reasons.Read the full article here: Holly Evans20 September 2024 00:001726783224Reform conference to see keynote speech from Farage Reform UK’s five MPs will each address the conference stage, leading up to a keynote speech by Mr Farage at 4pm which will see him issue a “clarion call for change”.The party branded the conference “the most exciting of all the political conferences this year”, mocking its mainstream rivals for “festival gratuities” and hosting “lobbyists all offering gifts”.A preview released on Thursday read: “You have already had the vapid ‘It’s a knockout’ shambles of the Lib Dems in Brighton.“Next week you will have the Labour festival gratuities and gradgrinds, surrounded by lobbyists all offering gifts.“And then, oh the pity, the extended funeral rites of a Tory party, lost in its own navel, casting public lots to chose its own pallbearers.”Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage is to make the keynote speech of the event (Paul Marriott/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentDomestic abuse specialists will work in 999 control rooms under a new ‘Raneem’s Law’, Yvette Cooper has announced. New emergency restraining orders will also give victims greater protection, the home secretary said.It comes as part of government plans to strengthen the police’s fight against violence towards women. The Independent has launched the Brick by Brick campaign, in partnership with Refuge, which aims to raise £300,000 to build a safe house for survivors fleeing domestic abuse. Last year this publication revealed that police were missing crucial opportunities that could protect hundreds of thousands of domestic abuse victims, by failing to impose emergency restraining orders on their alleged attackers.Police staff operate 999 emergency phone lines in the control room at Exeter Police HQ, Devon More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentNigel Farage is at the centre of a row after he claimed security concerns had prevented him from holding surgeries in his Essex constituency.Before he was elected to Westminster, the Reform UK leader famously asked: “Do I want to be an MP? Do I want to spend every Friday for the next five years in Clacton?”Now he has said he was told not to hold the face-to-face meetings with voters, traditionally held on the last day of the week, for safety reasons.But parliament’s security services have disputed the suggestion he was given that advice, which would interfere with his democratic duties as an MP.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s claim that he was told not to hold constituency surgeries in person has been disputed More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer insists that he is in “complete control” of his government as he heads to his party conference on Sunday mired in controversy over the salary of his chief of staff and the acceptance of luxury gifts by himself and his wife.The PM gave a round of interviews on Thursday with regional broadcasters ahead of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool with questions over his decision to accept more than £100,000 in gifts, the role of Sue Gray and a continued row about the cutting of winter fuel payments to pensioners.Concerns over the power of Ms Gray in government were raised again this week when it was revealed she is paid more as chief of staff than the prime minister.On Wednesday, the BBC revealed it had been told that Ms Gray asked for and was given a salary of £170,000 after July’s election, about £3,000 more than Sir Keir. Starmer sidestepped many of the tough questions, blaming the previous government More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentNigel Farage has announced he is “relinquishing” control of Reform UK and giving up his majority shareholder position, just one day before the party begins its annual conference.The conference, taking place in Birmingham, “marks the coming of age” of the party, Mr Farage said.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Maja Smiejkowska/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer has been accused of handing “gold-plated pensions” to his top team while pensioners across the UK brace for the consequences of a cut to winter fuel payments.On Wednesday, it emerged that Sue Gray was awarded a salary of £170,000, around £3,000 more than the prime minister and more than any cabinet minister or her Conservative predecessor.The Conservative Party claimed Sir Keir had “snatched away support for the vulnerable”, while handing large pensions to his senior officials. Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of handling “gold plated pensions” to his top team“It’s one rule for Labour and their trade union paymasters, another for everyone else,” a Tory party spokesperson said. “No wonder Labour has shown no restraint in axing winter fuel payments for suffering pensioners, as Keir Starmer and his top apparatchik have gold-plated pensions at taxpayers’ expense.“Starmer must come clean on how much taxpayers are being billed for Labour’s pensions, while he snatches away support for the vulnerable.”In July, Rachel Reeves announced that older people not in receipt of pension credits or other means-tested benefits will no longer receive winter fuel payments from this year onwards – a change that will impact around 10 million pensioners across the UK. On Wednesday, it emerged that Sue Gray was awarded a salary of £170,000 More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House Correspondent Less than three months after he was elected on a promise to restore trust in politics, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is trying to shake off criticism over donations from a wealthy businessman and the hefty salary of his most senior aide.The Labour Party leader, who won power in a landslide victory on July 4, denies impropriety over thousands of pounds (dollars) worth of clothes and eyeglasses paid for by Waheed Alli, a media entrepreneur and longtime Labour donor.Starmer is also facing grumbling among his own employees over the salary of chief of staff Sue Gray. The BBC disclosed that she is paid 170,000 pounds ($225,000) a year — about 3,000 pounds more than the prime minister’s salary.Gray’s salary is at the top of a set of pay bands for political advisers, which have been raised since the election. The government said it did not interfere in setting the pay scale.“The pay bands for any official, any adviser, are not set by politicians. There’s an official process that does that,” Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Thursday.In recent days British media have been full of largely anonymous grumbling from government officials about Gray, a former senior civil servant best known for leading an investigation into lockdown-breaching parties in government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic.Gray’s findings helped topple Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and her subsequent move to work for Starmer led the Conservatives to claim the “partygate” probe was politically biased, something Gray denies.Labour claims the leak of Gray’s salary and the donation revelations -– branded “frockgate” in the press after dresses bought for the prime minister’s wife, Victoria Starmer — is being whipped up by the Conservatives and their media supporters to tarnish the government.Lawmakers are allowed to accept gifts but have to declare donations and extra-parliamentary income within 28 days. Starmer missed the four-week deadline to declare the donations of clothes and a personal shopper for his wife from Alli. He says the delay was due to his staff seeking advice on exactly what needed to be declared.“I’m very consistent with following the rules,” Starmer said this week. He rejected suggestions that prime ministers should get a wardrobe budget, saying taxpayers should not have to pay for politicians’ clothes.The scale of the freebies accepted by Starmer has raised eyebrows even among supporters. Sky News reported that Starmer has declared “gifts, benefits and hospitality” worth more than 100,000 pounds since December 2019, more than any other lawmaker.The donations include thousands of pounds’ worth of tickets for Premier League games involving Starmer’s beloved team Arsenal.“I’m a massive Arsenal fan,” Starmer told reporters during a trip to Rome this week. “I can’t go into the stands because of security reasons. Therefore, if I don’t accept a gift of hospitality I can’t go to a game. You could say, ‘Well bad luck.’ … But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.” More