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 ThomasEditorLabour frontbenchers are “going to mess up” and “disappoint” voters, a new Labour minister has said.But Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said that overall, her party would have a “more honest approach” than the Conservatives.Of the last Tory government, she said: “It feels like politicians have been spitting in our face and telling us it is raining, which is a funnier way of saying ‘gaslighting you.’”The Birmingham Yardley MP added: “They will be like, ‘we’re spending more on the NHS than ever before’ and then you spent 19 hours and leave the accident and emergency unit not having any treatment.”Jess Phillips told an Edinburgh audience how she was ‘a bit surprised’ to be made a minister in the wake of Labour’s landslide election victory last month 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 ThomasEditorPupils are more likely to get their first choice of university course than at any point in the past three years – in part because of a fall in international students, experts have predicted. School leavers due to collect their results on Thursday are the first in five years to have sat both their GCSE and A-level exams after they were disrupted by Covid.Despite record numbers applying for places, analysts say universities are planning to accept more UK students. “All the signs are there that for 18-year-olds holding offers it will be a better admissions cycle than in either 2022 or 2023,” Mark Corver, a former director of admissions service Ucas who now runs his own consultancy, DataHE, advising universities told the Observer.What some students lacked in conventional social polish or confidence, they more than made up for in resilience and life experiences 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 ThomasEditorRioters will not be freed early despite the chronic overcrowding in the UK’s prisons, a cabinet minister has said.Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said they would not be included in the government’s release scheme. The guarantee came as the justice secretary Shabana Mahmood warned that the impact of the violent scenes on the country’s streets would be felt in the criminal justice system “for months and years”.Last month, she announced plans to release some inmates early to free up prison space, blaming the decision on the last Conservative government.Riot police officers push back anti-migration protesters outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham 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 ThomasEditorTory leadership hopeful James Cleverly has slammed Nigel Farage, telling him to choose between being a ‘serious politician or a social media content creator’.The shadow home secretary accused the Reform UK leader of making statements designed to “generate traffic” as riots erupted across the country.Mr Farage has been widely criticised for his claims of “two-tier policing”, echoing the language of a right-wing conspiracy theory, and his remarks about the Southport stabbings.Misinformation spreading online is believed in part to have helped spark recent riots (Owen Humphreys/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 ThomasEditorThe impact of the appalling scenes on the country’s streets will be felt in the criminal justice system “for months and years”, a cabinet minister has warned.Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the riots would set back Labour’s plans to fix the system, already struggling with a huge backlog of court cases and overcrowding in prisons.She said the Ministry of Justice has risen to the challenge of “bringing rapid charges against … thugs and hooligans”, in recent days.But she added: “The impact of these days of disorder will be felt for months and years to come. They make the job of rebuilding the justice system harder.“They also offer a sobering reminder of how much worse things might have been had this Government not acted fast, a few weeks ago, to address the crisis in our criminal justice system before it was too late.”Police are braced for another night of violence, with concerns raised about the safety of immigration law specialists. (Danny Lawson/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 ThomasEditorSchools will teach children about spotting extremist content and fake news online in an overhaul of the curriculum after far-right riots erupted across the UK.The education secretary announced on Saturday that English, ICT (information and communication technology) and maths are among the lessons that will be used to “arm” pupils against “putrid conspiracy theories”.Students will begin acquiring the critical thinking skills that enable identifying misinformation online as young as five, said Bridget Phillipson.She told The Telegraph: “It’s more important than ever that we give young people the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge what they see online.“That’s why our curriculum review will develop plans to embed critical skills in lessons to arm our children against the disinformation, fake news and putrid conspiracy theories awash on social media.The Education Secretary announced on Saturday that English, ICT (information and communication technology) and maths are among the lessons that will be used 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 ThomasEditorChildren will be taught how to spot extremist content and fake news online under planned changes to the school curriculum.Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she was launching a review of the curriculum in primary and secondary schools to embed critical thinking across multiple subjects and arm children against “putrid conspiracy theories”.Pupils might analyse newspaper articles in English lessons in a way that would help weed out fabricated clickbait from true reporting. In computer lessons, they could be taught how to spot fake news sites and maths lessons could include analysing statistics in context.Our curriculum review will develop plans to embed critical skills in lessons to arm our children against the disinformation, fake news and putrid conspiracy theories awash on social mediaBridget PhillipsonMs Phillipson told The Telegraph: “It’s more important than ever that we give young people the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge what they see online.“That’s why our curriculum review will develop plans to embed critical skills in lessons to arm our children against the disinformation, fake news and putrid conspiracy theories awash on social media. Our renewed curriculum will always put high and rising standards in core subjects – that’s non-negotiable.“But alongside this we will create a broad, knowledge-rich curriculum that widens access to cultural subjects and gives pupils the knowledge and skills they need to thrive at work and throughout life.”Misinformation spread online that the suspect in the stabbing of three young girls in Southport on July 29 was a Muslim asylum seeker in part sparked days of rioting across the UK.Specialist officers are pursuing suspected online offenders and influencers responsible for “spreading hate and inciting violence on a large scale”.Bridget Phillipson (Jordan Pettitt/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 ThomasEditorThe efforts of the chancellor Rachel Reeves to get control of Britain’s finances are being hampered by a massive £47bn bill in outstanding compensation claims which could balloon even further, The Independent can reveal.Analysis of a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) showed £84bn has been pledged by previous governments, with 12 compensation schemes for injustice, cover-ups and negligence.Although much of that sum has been paid out by the British state, almost £47bn is still owed in high-profile cases such as the infected blood and Post Office Horizon scandals.The outstanding total is more than double the £22bn black hole in the nation’s finances that the chancellor revealed to MPs in July which saw her slash winter fuel payments, cancel reforms to social care and cut spending plans including upgrades to the railway network. Ms Reeves has also confirmed that she intends to roll back on her election pledge not to raise taxes.But, alarmingly for the government, the bill could grow even higher. Infected blood scandal victims are expecting more than the £2.2bn currently in the budget to compensate them, while other demands for compensation are still to be decided.The intransigence of the Post Office under former boss Paula Vennells led to subpostmasters being wrongly convicted More