UK

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Commerce (ICC) has published its plan for growth which it says would free up billions in investment simply by scrapping outdated paper-based systems.There was disappointment that chancellor Rachel Reeves did not mention trade in her spring statement last week as she focused on putting a squeeze on benefits to balance the books.According to the ICC, outdated paper-based trade systems are stifling economic growth and productivity, but bold action can position the UK as a global leader in 21st-century trade.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 Of these, 330 were rejected by the committee, 31 were withdrawn before going to a vote and another 32 were accepted.Kim Leadbeater said assisted dying must be available free on the NHS More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

Thousands of people with disabilities who face losing their benefits under Labour’s £5bn welfare reforms still cannot read details of what ministers plan to do.Almost two weeks after work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall unveiled her green paper on welfare reform, an accessible version of the document is still to be made available.The Department for Work and Pensions has promised that audio versions for blind people, braille and other accessible forms will be ready in early April but, with the consultation underway, there is fury that they were not available from the start.Lib Dem MP Steve Darling, who is registered blind and uncovered the delay, hit back saying it was “nothing short of a disgrace”.Liz Kendall is work and pensions secretary More

Keir Starmer is considering retaliatory measures against the US after abandoning hopes the UK can avoid direct tariffs set to be unleashed by Donald Trump this week.The prime minister has suggested he could follow the EU and Canada’s lead on retaliatory tariffs, vowing to “act in the national interest” and “leaving everything on the table”.At the beginning of last week, there had been optimism that the UK would avoid direct levies planned for the EU, China and Canada among others. And there was even a hope that the UK/US trade deal might still be completed in time for 2 April.But a highly placed source admitted that once President Trump confirmed 25 per cent tariffs on imported vehicles last Wednesday, “negotiations became much harder” for the UK government. Another source told The Independent: “After the business with cars, tariffs look inevitable now.”US president Donald Trump and prime minister Keir Starmer agreed to consider a deal at the White House More

Rachel Reeves’s spring statement is almost as unpopular as the disastrous mini-Budget that collapsed Liz Truss’s short-lived premiership, a new poll suggests.Just one in five people had a positive view of the chancellor’s latest fiscal statement – in which she unveiled a fresh round of cuts to benefits – while 49 per cent of those polled by BMG Research for the i newspaper viewed it negatively. A third of Labour voters also disapproved of the chancellor’s announcements.Those findings give Ms Reeves’s spring statement a net popularity rating of -28, making it the least popular fiscal event since Ms Truss’s mini-Budget, which was rated at -37. Labour’s October Budget – which angered farmers and heaped further taxes on employers – had a net rating of -15.And in a twin blow to Ms Reeves, a further damning poll by Ipsos found just one in five people now believe she is doing a good job – a score which sees her plunge towards the approval rating of Ms Truss’s chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in the wake of their 2022 mini-Budget.Reeves confirms universal credit health benefits for new claimants will be halved in 2026 and then frozen until 2030 More