UK

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentKeir Starmer’s top team is unapologetic about the cut to the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners as the party chair warned “we have to get the money from somewhere” on the eve of Labour’s conference in Liverpool.Rising star in the cabinet Ellie Reeves, who is due to open the conference on Sunday, has insisted the government shouldn’t “paper over the cracks” as she admitted she understood that the party would face a wave of emotion if pensioners die this winter in cold homes.Her warning, in an exclusive interview with The Independent, comes as Sir Keir prepares to square up again to the left of the party trying to embarrass him by demanding the reversal of the winter fuel cut.Despite widespread criticism and calls for a U-turn after chancellor Rachel Reeves was given £10bn extra headroom by the Bank of England, her sister Ellie Reeves said that the government is sticking with its plans.Chair of the Labour Party Ellie Reeves More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentWhen Neil Kinnock’s Labour suffered a humiliating shock defeat to John Major’s Tories in 1992, he would not have known that a school mock election coinciding with the national vote would launch two of his party’s future stars.At Cator Park School for Girls, in Beckenham, a 13-year-old Rachel Reeves decided to run in the mock election. Her campaign manager was her sister Ellie, who was a year younger.Now Rachel is chancellor of the exchequer, while Ellie is chair of the Labour Party. Both are pivotal figures in Keir Starmer’s top team and were hand-picked by him to change the country and make the party a winning machine.Chancellor Rachel Reeves and her sister, Labour chair Ellie Reeves, share a laugh More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentDiane Abbott has accused Keir Starmer of being “in the pocket of millionaires” as senior party insiders fear that Labour is being put on trial over the freebies saga.The claim by the veteran left-wing Labour MP, who Sir Keir’s allies attempted to block from standing in the recent election, has come amid growing unease over the influence of Waheed Alli and the £107,000 of gifts received by the prime minister since 2019.The row is threatening to derail what should be a triumphant Labour conference in Liverpool in the wake of the election victory in July.Already comparisons are being drawn with disgraced former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson. Ministers have privately admitted to The Independent that the comparisons are a concern.But cabinet minister Ellie Reeves, the party chair, has pleaded in an exclusive interview with The Independent for Sir Keir not to be compared to Mr Johnson. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is under fire over accepting freebies More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentChannel 4 is facing demands to stop running betting companies adverts ahead of attempts to bring in a full ban on the “harmful” commercials.A letter from Leeds Central and Headingley MP Alex Sobel has been sent to chief executive Alex Mahon, pushing for an end to accepting paid adverts from betting companies.Mr Sobel has targeted Channel 4 because it is still in public ownership despite an attempt by Boris Johnson to sell it off.The letter has arrived amid growing momentum behind demands to end betting company advertising to help tackle gambling addiction.Leeds MP Alex Sobel has called on Channel 4 to take paid for gambling adverts (PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentChancellor Rachel Reeves is considering increasing alcohol duties in next month’s Budget, it has been reportedMs Reeves has not ruled out putting up tax on beer, wine and spirits as part of a plan to restore public finances.She has been presented with forecasts that show that putting up alcohol duty would raise an extra £800m next year, the Telegraph reports. Alcohol duty rises each year in line with inflation unless the chancellor decides to freeze it. While the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation is set to be 2 per cent next year, industry sources told the paper that forecasts produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility point to a potential increase in duties by more than 6 per cent. Drinks industry bosses warned that tax takings could actually go down if customers baulk at higher prices and buy less.Ms Reeves has said that next month’s Budget will involve “difficult decisions” on tax, spending and welfare. She said she faced a £22bn “black hole” in public finances this year. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has warned that hard decisions will be made in next month’s Budget More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentReform UK’s conference had the buzz of a party punching well above its weight. And that is exactly what the party’s leadership is attempting to do. Nigel Farage and other senior figures spent today’s conference – the largest it has ever held – trying to persuade its members, and the wider public, that it is a credible electoral force.They even went so far as to suggest Mr Farage could be the next prime minister.With just five sitting MPs, the most the party has ever secured in its short history, it’s certainly a bold ambition.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaking during the party’s annual conference (Joe Giddens/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentKeir Starmer has said he will not accept any more free clothes from donors after days of negative headlines over “wardrobe-gate”. Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves have also made the same pledge, in an abrupt change of policy just before Labour’s annual conference opens this weekend.But the move still leaves Labour’s top team free to accept thousands of pounds worth of other gifts and hospitality. The row erupted after it emerged the prime minister did not initially declare clothing bought for his wife Victoria by Waheed Alli, who has given more than £500,000 to Labour over the last 20 years. As the row raged Lady Starmer made a surprise appearance at London Fashion Week, in a borrowed outfit. Keir Starmer has defended accepting free Arsenal tickets More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentNigel Farage has said Reform UK must “model itself on the Liberal Democrats” if it wants to succeed in upcoming elections.He outlined plans to “professionalise and democratise” the party, saying it was “amateurism” that let Reform down at this year’s general election. Mr Farage used his speech at his party’s conference to announce the creation of hundreds of local associations, as well as overhauling the party structure to hand back ownership to its members.Farage said that ‘amateurism let us down’ More