UK

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseThe UK risks suffering a shortage of drinking water by the mid-2030s, a Labour cabinet minister has warned. Environment secretary Steve Reed said without investment in the country’s creaking infrastructure, the system could run into crisis. His warning came as it emerged that water companies want to raise bills by 84 per cent by 2030. Mr Reed described the proposed price hikes as “eye-watering” – but said the issue was not one for ministers.He told LBC Radio: “We’re all facing a shortage of water within a decade and a half if we don’t act now.”Water companies want to raise bills by 84 per cent by 2030 More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseLabour peer Waheed Alli has been found to have committed four breaches of Lords rules over his declarations in the register of interests.The prominent donor, who gave thousands of pounds worth of clothes and gifts to Sir Keir Starmer and his wife, has apologised after being instructed to by the Lords commissioner for standards.Lord Alli faced an investigation over his alleged failure to register his interests as a director of charity The Charlie Parsons Foundation and the company Silvergate BP Bidco, of which he owns more than half.Lords standards commissioner Martin Jelley also investigated Lord Alli’s late registration of his interest as an unpaid director of another company, MAC (BVI).“While I consider each individual breach of the Code to be minor, I have found there to be four breaches in total, and have therefore recommended that Lord Alli write a letter of apology to the chair of the conduct committee, Baroness Manningham-Buller,” a report by Mr Jelley said.Lord Alli became embroiled in the freebie scandal which engulfed Sir Keir Starmer’s government More

The claims follow reports of senior Labour officials meeting with Kamala Harris’ campaign More

Keir Starmer refuses to rule out raising national insurance contributionsYour support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseRachel Reeves will announce Labour’s first Budget since coming into power on 30 October, leading one of the most anticipated fiscal events in over two decades.Ahead of her announcement, local mayors have reportedly launched last-minute lobbying talks with the Treasury to prevent cuts to their transport budgets. The chancellor is reportedly looking to skim funds from the pots to help fill the £22bn public spending shortfall she revealed in July.The reports come after cabinet ministers are understood to have written to the prime minister, going over Ms Reeves’ head to urge him to reconsider cuts to their departments.It is thought that complaints came from the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, deputy PM and housing secretary, Angela Rayner, and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood.Ms Reeves is also reportedly exploring increasing business rates on online tech giants in what has been dubbed an ‘Amazon tax’. The measure would be designed to help ailing high-street stores as online companies continue to dominate the market.We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates ahead of the big event on 30 October here, on The Independent’s liveblog.Show latest update 1729691065ICYMI: Wes Streeting warned inflation-busting NHS Budget deal will not be enoughFears have been raised that Wes Streeting’s inflation-busting funding deal for the NHS will not be enough for him to pay for the reforms he wants to drive through.Sources have told The Independent that the Department for Health and Social Care is set to get about 4 per cent – between £7bn and £8bn – as Mr Streeting confirmed that he has mostly agreed his settlement with chancellor Rachel Reeves. Inflation is currently running at 1.7 per cent.David Maddox23 October 2024 14:441729687555Could the chancellor introduce an ‘Amazon tax’?The chancellor is reportedly considering a new ‘Amazon tax’ that would see business rates paid my online tech giants increased.Industry sources understand that a consultation will be launched after Ms Reeves announces the Budget on 30 October. This means the plans may get a mention.It comes after Labour wrote in its manifesto that it would reform the business rates system to “level the playing field between the high street and online giants.”The manifesto added that the current system “disincentivises investment, creates uncertainty and places an undue burden on our high streets.”Albert Toth23 October 2024 13:451729680548Mayors in talks to soften local transport cuts – reportsLocal mayors have reportedly engaged in a last-minute lobbying campaign to persuade the chancellor to soften potentially hundreds of millions in transport cuts.There are fears bus, tube and tram projects in all 12 combined authorities represented by metro mayors could be at risk of underfunding. Following the local elections in May, 11 of these posts are held by Labour mayors.“The mayors have been pushing back on the idea that their sustainable budgets should be cut, not least because many of them thought the money was guaranteed until 2027,” one official told The Guardian.With the Budget only a week away, Ms Reeves will have already submitted her proposals to the Office for Budget Responsibility, making any last-minute changes unlikely. The chancellor already made a substantial cut to rail infrastructure projects in July, when she announced the cancellation of the Tory-era Restoring Your Railways project alongside unveiling the £22bn shortfall in public spending:Albert Toth23 October 2024 11:491729675097What should I do with my savings ahead of the Budget?Ahead of the Budget on 30 October, there has been fevered speculation about changes to pension savers’ tax allowances and other perks.Reports that pensioners could have tax breaks cut or axed led to savers withdrawing chunks of their retirement pots ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s big announcement.Howard Mustoe23 October 2024 10:181729670962UK economy to grow faster than thought in pre-Budget boost for ReevesThe UK economy will grow faster than previously thought as lower inflation and borrowing costs lead to a boost in business activity, a boost for chancellor Rachel Reeves as she aims to fix the nation’s finances.The update from the International Monetary Fund also suggested that the fight against inflation and the cost of living crisis had “largely been won”.Albert Toth23 October 2024 09:091729665394Jeremy Hunt “had a tough job” says Rachel ReevesChancellor Rachel Reeves has said she has a “good relationship” with her predecessor Jeremy Hunt. “I may not be particularly impressed with the state of the public finances that he left me, but I do recognise that after Kwasi Kwarteng, he had a tough job to do as well,” she told BBC Radio 5 listeners.She adds that if there were one person she could “pick up the phone to now” it would be Alistair Darling, who delivered Labour’s last budget in 2010.The veteran politician died last year at the age of 70. He served in cabinet for 13 years under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, working as chancellor during the 2008 financial crisis.“I hope that he would be proud of what I’m doing as the next Labour chancellor after him,” Ms Reeves said.Albert Toth23 October 2024 07:361729663200How make-or-break Budget has fractured Keir Starmer’s cabinetAlexander Butler23 October 2024 07:001729659600Budget 2024: Inheritance tax set to rise – here’s what it means for youAlexander Butler23 October 2024 06:001729652400Public sector pay rises hand Reeves a £6.7bn headache ahead of BudgetAlexander Butler23 October 2024 04:001729645200Inheritance tax already up 10 per cent as Reeves looks to squeeze levy in Budget, official figures showAlexander Butler23 October 2024 02:00 More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseDonald Trump’s presidential campaign has launched an extraordinary attack on Keir Starmer’s Labour as party officials are accused of interfering in the upcoming US election.Filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Trump-Vance campaign accused Labour of illegal foreign donations to rival Kamala Harris’s campaign.Writing on Mr Trump’s website, the campaign’s co-manager Susie Wiles says: “The far-left Labour Party has inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric.”The post contains several obvious references to the American Revolutionary War, fought in the 18th century, which resulted in the US gaining independence from Britain.Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseThere has been an ongoing joke in PMQs each week that Keir Starmer keeps forgetting who he is now, and calling Rishi Sunak “prime minister”. But a slip of the tongue in parliamentary exchanges is very different to causing an international incident with Donald Trump – the man who may shortly be president of Britain’s leading ally country again.This really is something Labour should have seen coming, given Trump has been claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him for the last four years. Someone should have said: “Remember January 6!”In past elections, it has been normal for Labour members and politicians to be given time to go and help their sister party the Democrats. The same has been true about the Tories and their sister party, the Republicans.Former President Trump has accused Labour of election interference More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseLabour MP and former shadow minister Bell Ribeiro-Addy has warned the “Commonwealth will crumble” if the government does not reopen talks on reparations for the slave trade.It comes as the prime minister faces growing demands to rethink the UK’s position on the issue as he heads to Samoa for a major Commonwealth meeting.On Monday, Downing Street rejected demands, saying the issue of reparations is “not on the agenda” for the event and “we won’t be offering an apology”.But Ms Ribeiro-Addy, a former shadow immigration minister, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme “an apology is absolutely free”, dismissing attempts from both this government and the previous government to focus on the present rather than unpick wrongs of the past.Bell Ribeiro-Addy said ‘an apology is absolutely free’ More

Your support helps us to tell the storyThis election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreCloseYvette Cooper will revive and complete a probe into how firearms police officers who take fatal shots in the line of duty are held to account after a police marksman was cleared of murdering Chris Kaba.The home secretary is expected to make a Commons statement on Wednesday on the planned review following the acquittal of Martyn Blake.In 2023, then home secretary Suella Braverman pledged to review the ways that firearms officers who take fatal shots are held accountable. Plans to give swifter decisions to suspended officers and more clarity to victims were among the changes touted by the previous government.Tory ministers also considered raising the threshold for referring firearms officers for prosecution.Home secretary Yvette Cooper during a visit to Lewisham Police Station in south London More