UK

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorMigrants crossing the Channel in small boats fell by almost a third in Rishi Sunak’s last year as prime minister, figures show, piling pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to continue the downward trend.In the year to 30 June, days before the general election, there were 31,493 arrivals in the UK via small boats. It marked a 29 per cent fall on the year before and a slight decrease from the same period two years ago.Coming just days after Yvette Cooper fleshed out Labour’s alternative to the Rwanda deportation policy, which would have sent some asylum seekers to the east African nation, the figures will add to the pressure on the government to bring the numbers down further.Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper will come under pressure to cut the number of arrivals via small boats More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorUnion delegates are set to call on the government to pursue a raft of pay restoration settlements for public sector workers. In a bid to reverse over a decade of real-term wage reductions, Trades Union Congress (TUC) delegates representing nearly 200,000 workers will decide on a call for above-inflation rises at a conference next month. The move could set the stage for a potential clash between the new Labour government and its union supporters, following a series of pay agreements involving healthcare and rail workers.Leader of the Fire Brigades Union Matt Wrack has suggested that next month’s TUC conference is likely to see delegates pushing for significant pay increases. A motion from the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union argues that public sector wages have decreased by an average of 1.5 per cent annually since 2011, and it calls for a pay restoration to be at the centre of the TUC’s negotiations with the new government. A spokesperson told The Independent: “We have been in dispute with the government on pay for a number of years. The action we have taken has forced numerous concessions and we will take action again should we not secure further concessions at the bargaining table.Union delegates are set to vote to demand for above-inflation pay rises More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer is under fresh pressure to lift the two-child benefit cap in Labour’s first budget in October.The prime minister is facing renewed calls to scrap the austerity-era policy after a senior party figure suggested it would not be removed by chancellor Rachel Reeves in the statement this autumn.MPs and anti-poverty campaigners have warned that delaying the end of the limit will keep hundreds of thousands of children in poverty ahead of the October 30 budget.Sir Keir Starmer has previously called for the two-child limit to be scrapped More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorYvette Cooper is facing backlash over plans to reopen two troubled detention centres as part of a crackdown on immigration. On Wednesday, the home secretary announced a series of measures aimed at tackling illegal migration and improving border security, including a pledge to return the number of failed asylum seekers sent back to their home countries to 2018 levels over the next six months, meaning more than 14,000 deportations by the end of the year. However, the 14,000 figure is far lower than the 45,000 returned in 2010 under the former Labour government and less than the 19,000 migrants who have arrived in Britain by crossing the Channel in small boats so far this year.The government also revealed plans to increase detention capacity with 290 beds at two immigration removal centres, Campsfield in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire. But these plans are being criticised as a backwards step as both sites were plagued with problems before they shut in 2019 and 2015 respectively, including hunger strikes and suicides. Critics say the plans are a waste of taxpayer money, lack detail and fail to recognise “the dignity and humanity of migrants”, especially in the wake of recent racist riots that targeted hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.The home secretary Yvette Cooper has been accused of failing to get a grip on the issue More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorTransport secretary Louise Haigh said she plans to support local authorities who want to introduce 20mph speed limits, despite polling showing that 70 per cent of people are opposed to the policy. She said she wants to move on from the “culture wars” that made transport policy so controversial under the previous government.Ms Haigh dubbed the last government’s approach to 20mph speed limits, cycle lanes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods “ridiculous” after it launched criticism of so-called “anti-motorist” policies.Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has said her officials are ‘looking at various options’ regarding the fare cap (PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorGovernment borrowing surged by more than expected in July in a blow to Rachel Reeves as she prepares to deliver her first Budget.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing stood at £3.1bn last month, £1.8bn more than a year ago and the highest July borrowing since 2021.The total for July was £3bn more than predicted by Britain’s official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), and higher than the £1.1bn most economists were pencilling in.Rachel Reeves is planning to raise taxes and cut spending in October’s budget More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour will not use its first budget to scrap the two-child benefit cap, a member of Sir Keir Starmer’s government has said.Torsten Bell, parliamentary private secretary to the influential Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden, predicted the measure would not be repealed in the October 30 statement.The former chief executive of the Resolution Foundation and new MP for Swansea West warned against politicians making undeliverable or unfunded promises.The former Resolution Foundation chief is now Labour’s MP for Swansea West More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe UN special rapporteur on torture has urged Sir Keir Starmer to review the cases of thousands of people trapped in prison indefinitely under Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.Dr Alice Jill Edwards appealed directly to the prime minister to end the injustice, criticising the scandal which has left thousands of people to “languish without hope” in prison as “a terrible indictment” of the UK’s justice system.First introduced by Tony Blair’s government in 2005 to allow courts to hand offenders jail terms with a minimum length but no maximum time limit, IPP sentences were scrapped in 2012 over human rights concerns.But some 2,734 people are still incarcerated under the abolished sentence as of June, down just 6 per cent on the previous year. An estimated 700 people have served at least 10 years longer than their minimum tariff.This publication has highlighted numerous such cases, including those of Thomas White, who set himself alight after serving more than 12 years for stealing a mobile phone, and Abdullahi Suleman, who has spent nearly 20 years behind bars for a laptop robbery.Shaun Lloyd recently expressed fears he could be hauled back to jail for the fourth time for stealing a phone almost 20 years ago, while Leighton Williams finally had his sentence quashed in May after serving more than 15 years in prison for a drunken fight at the age of 19.Another tragic case highlighted by The Independent includes Yusuf Ali, who did not eat for 61 days as he lost hope of ever being freed. When he was handed the IPP sentence in 2008 for seriously injuring another prisoner, he was told he must serve a minimum of three years. But almost 16 years later, after five failed parole bids, he is still inside.Abdullahi Suleman, 41, has been in custody for 15 of the last 19 years under an indefinite jail term as he battles mental health problems More