UK

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “angry” at the number of migrants crossing the English Channel as he revealed deportations under Labour have topped 24,000 since the general election. The prime minister said “ordinary working people pay the price” of illegal migration, through strained public services and taxpayer-funded hotel places, calling for “decisive action” to deal with the issue. Addressing a summit of leaders from 40 countries around the world aimed at tackling organised immigration crime, Sir Keir said returns under Labour were running at their fastest for eight years. Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘angry’ about the scale of illegal migration (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

The UK and other countries affected by people smuggling must not allow the “vile trade” to pit them against one another, the Prime Minister will tell a summit aimed at cracking down on illegal migration.Sir Keir Starmer will call on the 40 countries that are gathering in London on Monday and Tuesday to work together to stop people-smuggling gangs in the same way they would terrorists.Countries including Albania, Vietnam and Iraq – from where migrants have travelled the UK – will join the talks, which are the first of their kind, alongside representatives from France, the US and China.Ministers and enforcement staff will discuss international co-operation on illegal migration, as well as supply routes, criminal finances and online adverts for people smuggling during the meeting.Officials from social media companies Meta, X and TikTok will also join discussions on how to crack down on the online promotion of irregular migration.Sir Keir is expected to call for unity among the nations involved when he addresses the summit on Monday afternoon.”This vile trade exploits the cracks between our institutions, pits nations against one another and profits from our inability at the political level to come together,” he will say.The Prime Minister will point to his time working across borders to foil terrorists when he was director of public prosecutions.He will add: “I believe we should treat organised immigration crime in the same way.”I simply do not believe organised immigration crime cannot be tackled. We’ve got to combine our resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream at every step of the people-smuggling routes.”The summit will deliver “concrete outcomes” for nations in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and North America, according to the Home Office.Developments aimed at tackling illegal migration ahead of the gathering include:- The Government will expand right-to-work checks to cover gig economy workers by making amendments to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Businesses that do not carry out the checks could be fined up to £60,000, or face closures, director disqualifications, and even up to five years in prison.- Home Secretary Yvette Cooper signalled she wanted to crack down on the number of people who have arrived in the UK on a student or work visa and have since claimed asylum.- The Government is reviewing how Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the right to family life, applies to migration cases, Ms Cooper said. Several deportation attempts have been halted by how the ECHR clause has been interpreted in UK law. Ministers have looked to a tougher approach in Denmark for inspiration.- Some £1 million in UK funding will go towards strengthened efforts to root out people-smuggling kingpins in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, the Home Office announced.- The UK has launched an advertising campaign on Vietnamese social media and messenger app Zalo, warning people about trusting people-smuggling gangs in an effort to reduce irregular migration from the south-east Asian country.Speaking ahead of the summit, the Home Secretary said law enforcement needed to “work together across borders” to bring down people smuggling gangs.She added: “Only a co-ordinated international response across the whole irregular migration route can effectively dismantle these networks.”The Organised Immigration Crime Summit is the first of its kind and will reinforce the UK’s position as a leader by securing international commitments to disrupt Organised Immigration Crime at every stage of the business model.”The summit demonstrates mine and the Prime Minister’s absolute dedication to disrupting the callous organised criminal gangs, strengthening our borders and ultimately save countless lives.”On Sunday, senior Tory shadow minister Alex Burghart said Labour should never have scrapped the Rwanda deportation plan.”It was ready to go, and Labour came in, they won a majority, and they scrapped it. There is now no deterrent programme,” he said. More

A deal worth hundreds of millions has finally broken a year-long deadlock between the government and community pharmacies over providing key health services across England.Ministers hope that it will allow pharmacists to deal with many medical issues and, as a result, free up GP time for more serious problems, although the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) warned the funding fell a “long way short of the NHS’s own estimates” of the true cost of providing pharmacy services.Speaking exclusively to The Independent, health minister Stephen Kinnock described the contract agreed between the government and Community Pharmacy England as an important step to fixing “a broken pharmacy sector”.Health minister Stephen Kinnock More

Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump have discussed “productive negotiations” towards a UK-US economic prosperity deal in a phone call, Downing Street said, as fears grow the UK may be landed with damaging US tariffs. The pair agreed that negotiations will “continue at pace” in the Sunday night call, which came after home secretary Yvette Cooper warned that “no option is off the table” in terms of a British response to any US tariffs.Downing Street is trying to negotiate an exemption from tariffs on all imports into the US, in talks which Ms Cooper described as “intense”. Mr Starmer and Mr Trump held a phone call on Sunday night to discuss trade and US tariffs More

Keir Starmer is being urged to adopt a trade plan that could unlock £250bn in economic growth and savings – even if Donald Trump unleashes direct tariffs on the UK.With senior government sources now admitting that tariffs from the US on UK trade are “now looking inevitable”, the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) has published its plan for growth which it says would free up billions in investment simply by scrapping outdated paper-based systems.There was disappointment that chancellor Rachel Reeves did not mention trade in her spring statement last week as she focused on putting a squeeze on benefits to balance the books.According to the ICC, outdated paper-based trade systems are stifling economic growth and productivity, but bold action can position the UK as a global leader in 21st-century trade. The chancellor outlined her plans on Wednesday More

A Labour MP who had originally been inclined to vote in favour of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying legislation has claimed that the bill now has weaker safeguards than when MPs voted on it in November.Naz Shah spoke to The Independent in the wake of the laborious and, at times, tetchy committee stage of the controversial bill being completed in parliament last Wednesday.The Bradford West MP, who served on the committee scrutinising the bill, had hoped that safeguards could be strengthened to make it workable but now claims the legislation is “fundamentally flawed”.It comes as data shows that 393 amendments were put forward by MPs who opposed the bill at its second reading. Of these, 330 were rejected by the committee, 31 were withdrawn before going to a vote and another 32 were accepted.Kim Leadbeater said assisted dying must be available free on the NHS More

Sir Keir Starmer’s first nine months in office have been far from easy. From the backlash against cuts to benefits, to mounting global instability and an impending trade war with the US, the prime minister has faced a number of challenges since he won the keys to 10 Downing Street. But 200 miles from Westminster, Runcorn and Helsby is where the prime minister faces his next major test. A safe Labour seat in an area that has been held by the party for more than 40 years, the optics of a loss in the forthcoming by-election would be disastrous for the government, not least because Reform UK is most likely to snatch the seat. By-elections are typically characterised by low voter turnout and an increase in tactical voting, and are notoriously difficult to predict. But current local polling puts Nigel Farage’s party neck and neck with Labour. Labour candidate Karen Shore meets a constituent in Runcorn“I don’t agree with everything Reform says, but it’s all about having a third option really. The Tories don’t know what they’re doing. Labour have now proven they don’t,” one voter in his twenties told The Independent. But the majority secured by Labour in July shouldn’t be underestimated. Mike Amesbury, who resigned after he was convicted of assault for punching a constituent, won by 15,000 votes after securing the backing of 52 per cent of the electorate. In second place, with 7,662 votes and just 18 per cent of the vote, was Reform UK. By-elections are traditionally fought on local issues such as roads, bins and leisure centres. But Labour’s more controversial economic policies have brought the impact of national politics to the forefront of people’s minds in Runcorn.From the decision to means-test winter fuel payments and hike national insurance, to last week’s benefits cuts, people feel let down by a government that promised change and they are fearful for their ability to pay bills and put food on the table. Andrew Gaskell, who voted Labour at the last election, is one of many Runcorn voters unsure if he will do the same again. “I’m disappointed,” he told The Independent. “I’m disappointed really with the chancellor. The way she’s tried to raise money, I don’t think she’s done it in the right way.” “I just think Labour has lost the plot,” said a second voter, who is considering voting for the Tories.Frodsham town centre in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency More

Beauty salons, car washes, building sites and restaurants are going to be targeted in a new crackdown on illegal working in Labour’s latest measures to tackle abuses of the immigration system.The moves will see business bosses face fines of £60,000 per illegal worker, company directors being disqualified, and potential prison sentences of up to five years.Home secretary Yvette Cooper is to unveil plans to tackle problems in the so called ‘gig economy’ to prevent undocumented workers doing cash in hand jobs to get round the migration system.Ms Cooper said: “Turning a blind eye to illegal working plays into the hands of callous people smugglers trying to sell spaces on flimsy, overcrowded boats with the promise of work and a life in the UK.Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (Jacob King/PA) More