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 ThomasEditorIt’s almost been a month since Labour’s historic election victory, which sparked renewed conversation about electoral reform.Even a fleeting glance at July’s election results confirms Britain’s first-past-the-post system can produce disproportionate outcomes. Labour scored about 35 per cent of the popular vote – modest by historic standards – but managed to secure 63 per cent of seats in the House of Commons, and thus also a landslide 174-seat majority. Given the low turnout of 60 per cent, it means only about one in five adult Britons actively voted for Keir Starmer’s programme of change. Starmer is governing the country with just about the lowest share of the vote of any administration since 1923.Many political parties have called for electoral reform over the years. Reform UK loudly claims the system is “broken” and the Liberal Democrats have long argued first-past-the-post robs millions of voters of their voice.During the recent campaign, even Conservative commentators had raised questions about how governments can wield great power on a comparatively weak mandate.It’s hard to imagine a government that has won a huge majority under first-past-the-post system changing it. Politicians don’t give up power voluntarily. But might a people’s revolt eventually force their hand? And what are the other options on the table should Britain choose to revamp its voting system?If you have a question on electoral reform or proportional representation submit it now, or when I join you live at 12pm on Friday 2 August for the “Ask Me Anything” event.Register to submit your question in the comments box under this article.Scroll down or click here to leave your comment.If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments section to leave your question. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they may be hidden until I join the conversation to answer them. Then join us live on this page at 12pm as I tackle as many questions as I can. 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 ThomasEditorRachel Reeves has accused Jeremy Hunt of lying about the state of the public finances after revealing a £22bn hole in the public finances.The chancellor branded her predecessor as a liar, in her strongest condemnation yet of Mr Hunt and Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.MPs are barred from referring to other members as liars in the chamber as it is deemed unparliamentary, but even outside of the commons it is unusual for senior politicians in the UK to accuse one another directly of lying.“It is even worse than that, because during the general election campaign I was clear everything I put forward was fully funded,” she told Sky News on Tuesday.Rachel Reeves said Jeremy Hunt lied during the election campaign about the state of the public finances 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 ThomasEditorA peer has been accused of Islamophobia after giving a “disgusting and outrageous” speech in the House of Lords.Lord Pearson of Rannoch claimed “radicals” plan to “take us over through the power of the womb and the ballot box” after discussing government plans to improve counter-terrorism measures at public venues following the King’s Speech.“The sharia allows Muslim men to have four wives at a time, most of whom are having at least two children, so the Muslim population is going up 10 times faster than our national average,” he told the House of Lords last Thursday (25 July). “On past trends, Birmingham and nine other English local authorities will be majority Muslim by 2031. The radicals’ plan is to wait until they can take us over through the power of the womb and the ballot box.”The 82-year-old, now a non-affiliated peer having formerly sat as a Conservative and briefly been the leader of UKIP, has been condemned for his comments. Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece wrote on X: “Lord Pearson of Rannoch gave a disgusting anti-Muslim racist speech in the House of Lords today. He would’ve been loudly condemned if he spoke about other faiths in this way.”The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) say they are lodging formal complaints with the House of Lords Commissioners for Standards over Lord Pearson’s remarks.Islamophobia and antisemitism have seen a sharp rise in the UK 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 ThomasEditorBritain’s pensioners will take the brunt of a raft of brutal cuts announced by the new chancellor Rachel Reeves to deal with a £22bn black hole in the country’s finances.To gasps in the Commons chamber, Ms Reeves announced that she would be removing winter fuel allowance payments for pensioners from almost 7 million of the households that currently receive them.The bold move on the winter fuel allowance – a benefit that was first introduced by Labour’s Tony Blair in 1997 – is similar to a policy proposed by Theresa May in 2017, when the outcry over the proposal almost sank the Tory election campaign. The plan did not feature in the Labour election manifesto this year, and visibly came as a complete shock to MPs.Ms Reeves also cancelled the plan to introduce the Dilnot Commission recommendations on social care for the elderly next year, meaning that people will still have to sell their homes to pay for residential care.Reeves delivers the results of her review of the nation’s finances 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 Conservative Party has put in place a “yellow card” system to prevent in-fighting during its leadership race, with the six candidates in the running to replace Rishi Sunak being confirmed on Monday. Mr Sunak resigned in the wake of his party’s poor result at the general election but will stay on as an interim leader until his successor is decided.Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly have all received the 10 nominations necessary to enter the race, chair of the 1922 Committee Bob Blackman confirmed.( 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 ThomasEditorWatch as Rachel Reeves holds a press conference after outlining Labour’s economic plan in a speech on Monday 29 July.The chancellor warned of “difficult decisions” as she accused the previous government of leaving £21.9 billion of unfunded commitments that it had “covered up from the country”.In a statement to Parliament, she set out “immediate action” to address the shortfall by £5.5 billion, with the rest of the gap to be addressed at a Budget on 30 October.Public sector workers are in line for a pay rise but 10 million pensioners will lose out on winter fuel payments in an attempt to fill the hole, Ms Reeves announced.In a hint that taxes may have to increase, she said: “I have to tell the House that the Budget will involve taking difficult decisions to meet our fiscal rules across spending, welfare and tax.”Ms Reeves added it will be “a budget to fix the foundations of our economy and it will be a budget built on the principles that this new Government was elected on”. 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 ThomasEditorChancellor Rachel Reeves has said there was a £22 billion black hole in the public finances as she accused the Tories of covering up the scale of the problems.In a statement to Parliament she set out “immediate action” to address the issues she said had been uncovered by the audit ordered by Labour when it took office.The chancellor said her aim was to “expose the scale of what has been uncovered” after Labour came to power. She then set out Labour’s “immediate action” to deal with it, including cancellation and delays of major infrastructure projects, before turning to the government’s longer-term plans to fix “the foundations of our economy”.Ms Reeves cancelled or postponed road and hospital building projects, restricted winter fuel payments to just the poorest pensioners and warned that “difficult decisions” on tax would be required in her first budget on 30 October. Follow The Independent’s live coverage. Here are the key takeaways from her speech and some of the key infrastructure cuts Ms Reeves announced:£22 billion spending black holeMs Reeves told the Commons that Labour had inherited “a projected overspend of £22 billion” beyond what the previous government had planned for, which she said the Tories had “covered up”.She said the Government would aim to recoup £5.5 billion this year, and £8 billion next year.Budget date set with tax rises on the way30 October will be the date of the new government’s first budget, the chancellor said.She added it will involve taking “difficult decisions” to meet Labour’s fiscal rules, and said this would include decisions on spending and tax.Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves in the House of Commons More

Chancellor Rachel Reeves hints at giving public sector workers above-inflation pay risesSupport 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 ThomasEditorRachel Reeves said the previous government “covered up” things in the public finances and that Labour has inherited a projected overspend of £22 billion from the previous Tory administration.In a speech in the House of Commons, the chancellor has accused the previous Conservative government of “covering up the true state of the public finances” as she revealed the results of the Treasury spending audit she commissioned. Ms Reeves will reportedly cancel some road and rail projects, and also make alterations to the hospital building programme.A new Office of Value for Money, a Labour manifesto pledge, will start work right away to identify and recommend areas where the government can save money in the current financial year, she said.The office is expected to announce public cuts worth billions to plug the gap in the public finances that could see the cancellation of projects including the road tunnel near Stonehenge and Boris Johnson’s New Hospital programme.But the long-waited announcement comes with Show latest update 1722264963Chancellor cancels ‘unfunded transport projects’ including Stonehenge tunnel Rachel Reeves has announced that a £150m investment fund announced by Jeremy Hunt last year has been scrapped as no projects were supported. On leveling up, she claimed her Treasury audit found £1billion of “unfunded transport projects” from the Tories that will now be reviewed. Ms Reeves claimed these include the Stonehenge tunnel on the A303, and the A27 Arundel bypass.The restoring our railways scheme will also be stopped as there was no money for them.She added the sale of the government’s owned NatWest shares will be stopped by 2025/2026.Salma Ouaguira29 July 2024 15:561722264733Pictured: Jeremy Hunt reacts to Rachel Reeves announcement ( More