UK

The UK’s right to sell F-35 fighter jet parts to the Israeli military will this week be the subject of a High Court case brought against the British government.In a long-running legal challenge, human rights’ groups and lawyers have argued that the UK’s sale of arms to Israel – despite the government’s own assessment that Israel is not committed to complying with international humanitarian law in its destructive Gaza campaign – is unlawful.A four-day judicial review brought by Palestinian rights group Al-Haq will start in the High Court on Tuesday. If successful, it could force the government to quash a previous decision to not include F-35 fighter jet parts in the suspension of 30 arms licences to Israel.The government argues that suspending licences for F-35 parts would have damaging consequences for international peace and security.The case is backed by major rights organisations including Oxfam, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which is representing Al-Haq in court. A number of left-wing MPs have also added their support.( More

The House of Lords continues to stand off with the Government in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman, with one peer arguing that passports can no longer be relied upon to verify someone’s sex.On Monday, peers voted on measures to demand public authorities record sex data based on biological sex. An amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill was backed by 200 to 183, majority 17, a Tory change which aims to ensure collection of relevant information is based on “sex at birth”, “natal sex” or “biological sex”.The Labour defeat came after a similar amendment was rejected by MPs and means a continuation of the tussle at Westminster, known as parliamentary ping-pong, where legislation is batted between the two Houses until agreement is reached.Last month, top judges unanimously ruled the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.Sir Patrick Vallance said: ““We need to work through the effects of this ruling” (Lucy North/PA) More

Counter-terror police have launched an urgent probe after two properties linked to Sir Keir Starmer were damaged in suspected arson attacks.Fires broke out at the doors of two residences in north London within 24 hours of one another, prompting emergency services. The Metropolitan Police csaid it is investigating whether the fires were linked and said counter-terror police are involved. Scotland Yard is also looking into a vehicle fire as part of the probe.The London Fire Brigade attended one of the properties after reports of a fire shortly after 1.30am. The door to the property was damaged, but nobody was hurt.The home has been targeted repeatedly by protesters, including pro-Palestinian activists who have staged demonstrations outside the property. Forensics officers seen investigating the fire at the north London home More

The government has unveiled a slate of new requirements and restrictions around migration to the UK, from a higher level of English language proficiency to eliminating the careworker visa pathway entirely. “If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English. That’s common sense,” said Sir Keir Starmer on X (formerly Twitter).The changes could make British citizenship among the hardest to achieve in the anglophone world, with a decade-long wait to apply.“Extending the standard route to settlement to 10 years risks making it harder for people to contribute and settle into their communities,” said Marley Morris, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research.Here, The Independent looks at how some of Labour’s new rules compare to immigration systems in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Migration still at high levelsThe most recent figure for net migration to the UK stands at 728,000 people in the year to June 2024. Some 1.2 million people entered the country during that period, while 479,000 left the UK. “A one-nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more,” Sir Keir said on Monday. “The experiment is over. We will deliver what you have asked for – time and again – and we will take back control of our borders.”The figure was down overall by 20 per cent from the previous year, when net migration hit a record-high level of 906,000 in the year to June 2023.Net migration to the UK remains far above its pre-Brexit level, when it stood at around 200,000 to 250,000. New migration figures are set to be released next week, revealing the first full migration numbers since Sir Keir’s Labour government came to power. The figures, showing net migration up to December last year, will provide an insight into the effectiveness of the government’s immigration strategy so far. Decade-long barrier to citizenshipThe new route to settlement, which doubles the time a person is required to have lived in the UK from five years to 10, will mean British citizenship is among the hardest to acquire in the world. This decade-long requirement is over twice as high as in comparable countries, and is perhaps the most significant change made in this white paper.Mr Morris added: “Visa holders will spend lengthy periods on an insecure status, increasing their risk of poverty and losing status altogether. This could inhibit integration while doing little to bring down numbers.”Even in the United States, which is considered to have one of the toughest immigration systems, migrants only have to have lived in the country for five years on a visa before they can begin to apply for citizenship. The same requirement exists in New Zealand, and it’s even lower – four years – in Australia.“The UK will become a relative outlier on the global stage, where 10 years to gain settlement is rare,” explained Jonathan Beech, managing partner at immigration law specialists Migrate UK.“[This brings into question] how attractive the UK will be to those with the skills and expertise the UK requires to be an economic powerhouse.” Language requirementsThe government has placed a new emphasis on English language requirements for incoming migrants. Skilled workers and those looking to settle in the UK will see the language requirement rise from B1 to B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, along with other changes.This is a higher stage of the “independent user” level of proficiency in English. However, the UK is not necessarily unusual in imposing this requirement. For skilled workers and students, New Zealand requires a minimum 6.5 score on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), which is equivalent to the upper end of a B2 score in the European framework. The new B2 language requirement is broadly equivalent to a 5.5 – 6.5 score on the IELTS scale used by other countries More

Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the UK risks becoming “an island of strangers” as he laid out some of the toughest rules in recent history to crack down on immigration.Sir Keir also said that the number of people entering the country is causing “incalculable damage” – remarks that have provoked a furious backlash, with his own MPs joining trade unions and charities in comparing the language with that of the far right and Enoch Powell.In a dramatic early morning press conference on Monday aimed at seizing the political agenda, Sir Keir insisted his new immigration plans were being unveiled “because they are the right thing to do”.Among the measures announced were a ban on the recruitment of care workers from overseas, increased English language requirements for immigrants and the tightening of access to skilled worker visas. But while Sir Keir denied his government’s white paper was a “reaction to a political party” following the success of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK at the local elections, critics condemned his attempts to “pander” to Mr Farage.Starmer unveils his white paper on immigration in Downing Street on Monday More

Getting accurate information online is “under greater threat than ever before” and government, regulators and social media firms need to do more in response, fact-checking charity Full Fact has said.In its annual report, the charity accused the US government of making the term misinformation “politically charged” by suggesting fact-checking was restricting debate and free speech.The organisation also criticised Meta’s decision to end its use of third-party fact-checkers in the US, with founder Mark Zuckerberg claiming fact-checkers were “politically biased” and impeding free speech – a decision seen by many as an attempt to earn favour with Donald Trump’s White House.Full Fact said it was concerned by large online platforms “walking away” from measures to make online spaces safer, and called on the UK Government and online safety regulator Ofcom to “do more to hold these companies to account, by law if necessary”.In its report, the organisation urged the Government to “resist pressure” from the Trump administration around free speech and misinformation policy, adding that should strengthen the Online Safety Act to better counter misleading content and improve media literacy for platforms to help them spot it.“Full Fact’s 2025 report is being published at a moment of crisis for anyone who cares about verifiable facts — a time of global upheaval, as the second Trump administration rewrites the rules of American engagement and western political norms,” the report said.“Fact checking organisations around the world — which seek to amplify accurate information amidst a deluge of false, misleading or artificially generated junk — are under pressure as never before. Many may not survive.”It added that is was a time to “stand up for our values” and that, although it was an impartial charity, it would “not be impartial about the proposition that facts matter”, and that the ability to “identify, verify, and think critically about information is essential to any meaningful public debate in the UK”.The charity said: “Yet today, the United States is charting a different course.“Earlier this year, vice president JD Vance came to Europe to talk about the enemy within. He described misinformation as an ugly Soviet era word, and suggested anyone using it wanted to tell others what to think.“As we set out at the time, we strongly disagree. Fact checking doesn’t restrict debate; it strengthens it by grounding it in truth.“It’s not censorship. It’s more speech, not less—and by that standard, the vice president should approve.”Full Fact also compared the need to increase focus on combating misinformation to the recent debate around UK defence spending and the need to increase it.“But defence is not just about bullets and tanks; it’s also about bots and troll farms,” the charity said.“We are in a hybrid war, with attacks coming from some hitherto unexpected places, and if we want to protect what we value in our society we need to fight on all fronts.“Access to accurate information forms the basis of the robust political debates we need to have. It is not a luxury, it is the foundation of our democracy.”Chris Morris, the charity’s chief executive, said: “We cannot let large online platforms which wield so much influence over our daily lives walk away from commitments to make our online world a safer place.“Government and regulators must hold them to account, to the full extent of the law. This is no time for half measures.“In a critical year with the AI revolution gathering pace, the expertise of professional and impartial fact checking organisations is not part of the problem. It is part of the solution.” More