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 ThomasEditorSuella Braverman is facing a backlash after launching an extraordinary attack on the LGBT community, describing government buildings flying rainbow flags as “occupied territory”.In a speech to burnish her leadership credentials with the Tory right, the ex-home secretary said the Progress version of the Pride flag represented “a horrible political campaign I disagreed with” and described trying to have it removed from her Marsham Street office.And, in the incendiary speech, she said the flag symbolised support for “the mutilation of children in our hospitals”, something which she said “physically repulsed” her.Ms Braverman said the Progress flag represented ‘a horrible political campaign I disagreed with’Former Labour culture secretary Ben Bradshaw said: “Suella Braverman reveals the true face of the Tory right with her bitter fury about LGBT people. We exist. Get over it.” And broadcaster Iain Dale, who was set to stand as a Conservative candidate in the general election before pulling out, said: “What a disgusting speech. And she seriously thinks she has a chance of leading the Conservative Party. Not while I have a breath left in my body.” And Labour MP Stella Creasy said: “Everyone has to stand up to this bile polluting our politics, not just Tories who get vote in contest, because equality benefits and liberates us all.” Ms Braverman has also faced criticism from her own party, with former candidate and LBC presenter Iain Dale tweeting: “What a disgusting speech. “And she seriously thinks she has a chance of leading the Conservative party. Not while I have a breath left in my body. Moderate Conservatives need to stand up and be counted. This will not stand.”It came after Ms Braverman said: “We Tory ministers, nominally in charge of the system, completely failed. The Progress flag flew over our buildings as if they were occupied territory. I couldn’t even get the flag of a horrible political campaign I disagreed with taken down from the roof of the government department I was supposed to be in charge of.”As the row raged, historian and TV presenter David Starkey apeared to fan the flames, telling a PopCon (Popular Conservatism) gathering in central London that it was “deranged” that a Conservative prime minister would cite enabling same-sex marriage as his greatest achievement. The former home secretary is widely expected to run for the leadership (Andrew Matthews/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 ThomasEditorBritain’s ageing population, rising long-term sickness and “deep structural health problems” will lead to a “triple whammy” of high taxes, debt and poor outcomes, Sir Tony Blair has warned. The former prime minister is set to warn that, unless the country improves growth and productivity and drive value and efficiency through public spending, it will become “much poorer”.During a speech at the Tony Blair Institute’s (TBI) Future of Britain conference in London on Tuesday, he will set out how a package of measures including private and public sector adoption of artificial intelligence, preventative healthcare, digital ID and embracing technology in education could boost growth and generate savings.And, despite the gloomy warning, Sir Tony will add: “I don’t think there has ever been a better time to govern.Tony Blair is speaking at his institute’s annual Future of Britain conference in London 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 ThomasEditorSuffering from pneumonia, Reform candidate Mark Matlock checked social media after he missed election nightto find he was being accused of being an AI bot.Looking at his glossy profile picture, online commentators had decided he was computer-generated and the inevitable Twitter pile-on ensued. Fuel was added to the fire when he didn’t show up for hustings or even the election count after winning 1,758 votes for Brixton and Clapham Hill on a day of national success for Nigel Farage and his fledgling party.It wasn’t helped that on his website, he campaigned on how “we should manage the transfer of human jobs to AI responsibly”.But looking to put the rumours to bed, Mr Matlock spoke to The Independent over the phone on Monday. Speaking with a croaky voice while still recovering from the illness he opened the conversation with the reassurance he was a real person: “Good afternoon. It’s Mark Matlock speaking how are you?” “I am a real person and that is me in the photo,” he confirmed. “Though I must admit I am enjoying the free publicity and when I feel up to it I will put out a video and prove these rumours that I’m a robot are absolute baloney.“I got pneumonia three days before election night I was exercising taking vitamins so I could attend but it was just not viable. On election night I couldn’t even stand.“The photo of me was taken outside the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. I had the background removed and replaced with the logo and they changed the colour of my tie. The only reason that was done was because we couldn’t get a photographer at such short notice – but that is me.”The candidate says the original picture was taken in Oxford and had a Reform UK logo put in and his tie colour changed 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 pressure to raise defence spending ahead of his first Nato summit as prime minister.A day after the deadliest strikes by Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine for months, the Labour leader is facing calls to hike spending on defence towards 3 per cent of GDP to keep Britain safe.Former head of the army General Sir Patrick Sanders has warned that the UK’s armed forces are so depleted they could only fight a small war for around a month.Sir Keir Starmer will go the Nato summit this week (Victoria Jones/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 ThomasEditorNigel Farage has renewed calls for an overhaul of the Westminster electoral system – but should Britain abandon first past the post?Reform UK argues that the system is “broken,” and even some Conservative commentators have questioned how governments can wield significant power with a comparatively weak mandate. In last week’s election, Labour received about 35 per cent of the popular vote but secured 63 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons, resulting in a landslide 174-seat majority. Given the low turnout of 60 per cent, only about one in five adult Britons actively voted for Keir Starmer’s programme of change, meaning Starmer is now governing with one of the lowest shares of the vote for any administration since 1923.Within the more proportional systems, such as Single Transferable Vote, there are different ways of electing MPs. With some, you only vote for a party, with others, you vote directly for candidates.The Alternative Vote system, where an MP must win a majority of votes in a constituency with second and third preferences considered, was rejected in a 2011 referendum.Now we want to know what you think. Would a different system be fairer? Would you be happy to see more coalitions and fewer governments with a mandate for radical change under proportional representation? Or do you worry that this system would allow extremist parties easier access to parliament?Share your thoughts by adding them in the comments — we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details — then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below. 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 Tony Blair is set to say that the modern technological revolution means “there has never been a better time to govern”.During a speech at the Tony Blair Institute’s (TBI) Future of Britain conference in London on Tuesday, he will set out how a package of measures including private and public sector adoption of artificial intelligence, preventative healthcare, digital ID and embracing technology in education could boost growth and generate savings.The former prime minister will say that Britain faces an “unenviable triple whammy” of high taxes, debt and poor outcomes, with the “worse to come” due to an ageing population, “deep structural health problems” and rising numbers of long-term sick.He is set to warn that, unless the country improves growth and productivity and drive value and efficiency through public spending, it will become “much poorer”.Sir Tony Blair with Sir Keir Starmer (Stefan Rousseau/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 ThomasEditorJK Rowling has criticised the new women and equalities minister over previous remarks she has made on gender.The Harry Potter author called past comments made by Anneliese Dodds on gender “nonsensical” as the Labour MP’s new appointment was announced, after Ms Rowling previously accused Labour of having “abandoned” her and others campaigning for women’s rights.The novelist has frequently argued online that trans women are not women and criticised Scottish Government proposals to introduce self-identification for transgender people.Shortly after Monday’s announcement, Ms Rowling tweeted part of a transcript from an interview Ms Dodds had taken part in for BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour in 2022.According to the posted transcript, when asked for Labour’s definition of a woman, Ms Dodds said there are “different definitions legally around what a woman actually is” and, when pressed again, said: “I think it does depend what the context is.”Ms Rowling tweeted: “And if you happen to be wondering how I have the transcript of that Woman’s Hour to hand, it was sent to me by Dodds’ office after I publicly criticised her prevarication on the programme. They seemed to think I’d find her comments less nonsensical if I saw them in print.”Anneliese Dodds has been appointed a minister of state – Minister for Women and Equalities – in the Department for Education 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 ThomasEditorUnited Nations experts have warned Britain is at risk of breaching international law over allegations of child asylum seekers being placed in adult detention centres after crossing the Channel on small boats.At least 1,300 child refugees who arrived alone in the UK were wrongly identified as adults by border officials in the 18 months from January 2022, with nearly 500 placed in adult detention or unsupervised accommodation, a report by the Refugee Council and other charities found.The situation was described to The Independent as “a safeguarding crisis on an unprecedented scale”, with January’s report also revealing at least 14 children had been criminalised under new migration laws and held in adult prisons after the Home Office wrongly assessed their ages.Now five UN special rapporteurs have intervened to highlight their concerns over the report in a letter to the UK government, warning that Home Office age assessment procedures appeared to allow for potential breaches of international law.Warning that detaining children in adult settings, including at asylum accommodation, is prohibited, the letter states: “The current age determination procedures seem to allow for such a chance, and therefore would place the UK in violation of its responsibilities” under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.A slogan of the Conservative Party’s general election campaign was ‘Stop The Boats’ More