UK

Sir Keir Starmer has revealed that Donald Trump reached out to console him in the wake of his brother’s death last year. The prime minister said he and the US president’s focus on family values is a “point of connection” for the pair, something he suggested helped land the trade deal with the US. The prime minister admitted that while they may have “different political backgrounds”, he and Mr Trump have managed to build a “good personal relationship”. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer being interviewed by Nick Robinson in the Terracotta Room at 10 Downing Street More

Welcome to an exclusive Ask Me Anything session with me, John Rentoul, The Independent’s chief political commentator.Keep scrolling for more. If you want to jump straight to the Q&A, click here.Recent attempts by Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership to tackle welfare reform have exposed deep tensions within Labour, shaking its identity to the core.The standoff over disability benefits, with dramatic rebellions from both loyalist and Corbynite MPs alike, laid bare the struggles Labour faces in balancing fiscal responsibility with social justice. Starmer’s handling of the revolt has damaged his standing, and it seems that only deputy leader Angela Rayner emerged stronger, prompting whispers about the future leadership of the party.It comes as former Labour MP Zarah Sultana announced she will co-lead a new political party with ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, accusing the government of having “completely failed to improve people’s lives.” Sultana, who lost the Labour whip last year after voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, had remained a member of the party despite no longer sitting as a Labour MP.So, can Labour survive this identity crisis? Can the party reconcile its historic commitment to working people with the tough policy decisions required in today’s political climate – and craft a credible alternative to austerity without alienating its own members?What about Rachel Reeves, Liz Kendall, and Angela Rayner? Will these recent developments change the balance of power within the party, or push one of them out entirely?Join me live at 2pm BST on Friday, 4 July to discuss Labour’s internal battles, the challenges facing Starmer’s government, and what the future holds for the party.Submit your questions in the comments below. If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments section to participate. For a full guide on how to comment, click here.Don’t worry if you can’t see your question right away – some may be hidden until the Q&A starts. See you at 2pm! More

The government has failed to gather basic information such as whether people leave the UK after their visas expire or how many might have stayed to work illegally, the chairman of a cross-party committee of MPs said.The Public Accounts Committee (Pac), which examines the value for money of government projects, said the Home Office had failed to analyse exit checks since the skilled worker visa route was introduced by the Tories in 2020. Some 1.18 million people applied to come to the UK on this route – designed to attract skilled workers in the wake of Brexit – between its launch in December of that year and the end of 2024.Around 630,000 of those were dependents of the main visa applicant.But the Pac said there is both a lack of knowledge around what people do when their visas expire and that the expansion of the route in 2022 to attract staff for the struggling social care sector led to the exploitation of some migrant workers. The news is another blow to the government’s plans to take control of immigration and comes just days after new figures showed that a record number of people crossed the Channel in small boats in the first six months of this year More

A former Labour MP has announced her intention to co-lead the formation of a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn, the ex-Labour leader. Zarah Sultana, whose Labour whip was suspended last year, confirmed her resignation from Sir Keir Starmer’s party.In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Sultana, who represents Coventry South, stated the initiative would also involve “other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country”. She criticised the current political landscape, asserting that “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper” and that the “two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises”.Ms Sultana added: “A year ago, I was suspended by the Labour Party for voting to abolish the two-child benefit cap and lift 400,000 children out of poverty. “I’d do it again. I voted against scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners. I’d do it again. “Now, the government wants to make disabled people suffer; they just can’t decide how much.”Zarah Sultana recently compared Sir Keir Starmer’s defence of activists as a barrister to the crackdown on Palestine Action More

Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves hugged each other as they launched their new plan for the NHS and put behind them a troubled week which saw markets panic over the chancellor’s future.The united front came after the chancellor’s tears in the Commons on Wednesday threatened to plunge the Labour government into turmoil following the chaos of the welfare reform vote.In a bid to ease shattered nerves, the chancellor made a surprise appearance at the launch of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan in Stratford, east London, after the prime minister had moved overnight to guarantee her future in the Treasury.Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves share a hug More

Sir Keir Starmer has announced his latest U-turn: a £5bn change of course over his flagship welfare bill. With just minutes to go before MPs were set to vote on an already watered down welfare bill, he confirmed plans abandon a key plank of the reforms in order to get them through parliament and avoid a mass rebellion from his own MPs. The U-turn left the prime minister’s authority battered and left the chancellor with a gaping hole in the public finances. As Sir Keir marks one year in office,The Independent looks at all the times he has U-turned on his promises or let voters down. Sir Keir Starmer has been repeatedly accused of u-turning on key issues More

The weekly session in which the British prime minister is questioned by lawmakers in Parliament can be an ordeal for the government leader. For Cabinet members, it’s usually simply a matter of backing their boss.But on Wednesday the spotlight ended up on Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves during the Prime Minister’s Questions session because it became evident that she was crying as she sat beside Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It’s not known what triggered the tears, later said to have been personal. They came as Starmer sought to fend off attacks that his year-old government was losing its authority and that he was about to fire Reeves to regain the initiative. Markets spooked Traders got spooked, with the interest rate charged on the U.K.’s 10-year benchmark bond in the markets up sharply, and the pound down. The moves were a sign investors had lost confidence in U.K. financial assets.Reeves had become associated with fiscal discipline, in particular a rule of covering day-to-day government spending with tax revenue, said Andrew Wishart, an economist at Berenberg Bank. “The markets are concerned that if the Chancellor goes, such fiscal discipline would follow her out of the door,” he added.With Starmer insisting Thursday that Reeves would remain in post, the markets calmed down. Prime minister’s weekly ordeal Prime Minister’s Questions, or PMQs, can come as close to a gladiatorial contest as is possible in a modern legislative chamber. Very little deference is given to the man or woman holding the highest office in the land. The prime minister is considered the first among equals. Like all other members of Parliament, the prime minister represents one of 650 constituencies. And nowhere is that shared connection more noticeable than at noon every Wednesday in the House of Commons.Starmer stands for half an hour every week to be quizzed by friends and foes. He may get soft balls, but there’s always a potential zinger around the corner. The leader of the biggest opposition party, currently the Conservative Party’s Kemi Badenoch, has the best chance to knock the prime minister off course. With six questions, she can lay traps and go for the jugular. Typically it’s more theater than substance, and the weekly shouting match is consistently the most-watched parliamentary event, viewed around the world, including on C-Span in the United States. This week was fraught This week’s session appeared to have more at stake than usual following a chaotic run-up to a welfare reform bill. With scores of Labour lawmakers opposed, Starmer was forced to scrap key planks of the bill — at a cost, politically and economically.For a prime minister, with one of the biggest majorities in history, it was a sign of weakness. Many Labour MPs blame Reeves, for her rigid adherence to her budget rules. As usual, Starmer was flanked to his left by Reeves, who didn’t look her usual self, clearly bloated around the eyes. Badenoch showed little mercy, describing Reeves as “absolutely miserable” and a “human shield” for Starmer. She asked Starmer whether he could repeat a pledge that Reeves would stay in her post until the general election, which has to take place by the middle of 2029. While praising Reeves’ handling of the economy, Starmer didn’t give that assurance, and it was around this point that Reeves wiped away a tear.“How awful for the Chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place,” Badenoch responded. The immediate political aftermath Starmer’s Downing Street operation faced questions over Reeves’ teary appearance. Could it have been hay fever? Had Starmer told Reeves she would be fired for the government’s recent woes, which has seen Labour’s approval ratings slide? Starmer’s press spokesman said it was a “personal matter,” insisted Reeves was “going nowhere” and had the prime minister’s “full backing.” Later, Starmer told the BBC that Reeves would be Chancellor for a “very long time” and that it was “absolutely wrong” to suggest her distress was related to the welfare U-turn. A day on Images of Reeves’ agitated state were emblazoned across newspapers and remained a key item on the news agenda. Starmer repeated on Thursday that Reeves would remain Chancellor “for years to come” and sought to explain why he hadn’t comforted Reeves during PMQs.“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said at an event where he and Reeves hugged. “That’s what it was yesterday and therefore I was probably the last to appreciate anything going on in the chamber.”Reeves appeared more like her usual self.“People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday,” she told Sky News. “I guess the thing that is different from my job and many of your viewers is that when I’m having a tough day, it’s on the telly.” More

If there were any doubts about Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for Rachel Reeves, the prime minister and his chancellor have gone all out to try and put them to bed. A day after she sat crying through Prime Minister’s Questions on live television, the chancellor sat smiling and cheering through the prime minister’s speech outlining a 10-year plan for the NHS. For his part, Sir Keir shouted “wahey” as Ms Reeves got to her speech to lay the financial framework for the plan. The PM and Rachel Reeves hugged to put rumours of a split to bed More