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 ThomasEditorKeir Starmer has vowed to “turn a corner on Brexit” and rebuild relationships with EU member states as he visits Germany and meets with chancellor Olaf Scholz today.Touching down in Berlin, the prime minister says he wants to fix “broken relationships” left by the previous governments, and strike new deals with European neighbours.The prime minister will add: “we have a once in a generation opportunity to reset our relationship with Europe.”Details of the deal UK negotiators are looking to strike with German officials have not been shared, but No 10 indicates that the trip will kick of talks that are expected to go on for the next six months.Flags of Britain, Germany and the EU flutter ahead of the arrival of Olaf Scholz and Keir Starmer in Berlin 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 Sir Keir Starmer meets German chancellor Olaf Scholz during a visit to Berlin on Wednesday 28 August.The prime minister is in Berlin as he hopes to “turn a corner on Brexit”, with plans for a new treaty with Germany aiming to boost business and increase joint action on illegal migration.It is expected he will tell Mr Scholz he is focused on making sure the UK moves past Brexit and rebuilds relationships with European partners.The UK’s negotiation team will spend the next six months working on the treaty, aiming to agree a partnership by early 2025.Sir Keir and Mr Scholz are also expected to discuss joint action to tackle illegal migration, including further intelligence-sharing to intercept and shut down organised immigration crime rings.After Germany, Sir Keir will travel to Paris for the Paralympics opening ceremony on Wednesday evening, before a breakfast meeting with French business leaders on Thursday morning, and a summit with French president Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. 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 ThomasEditorGenerative AI tools are to be trained to help teachers create lesson plans and mark homework under a new project announced by the Government.The £4 million scheme will see government documents including curriculum guidance, lesson plans and anonymised pupil assessments used to train AI to create tools which can be used reliably in schools.Research has shown that parents would be open to teachers using generative AI tools to help them with certain tasks, so they could then spend more time helping children in the classroom.Tests of the new approach carried out by the Department for Education (DfE) found it could increase accuracy to 92%, up from 67% when no targeted data was provided to an AI model.By making AI work for (teachers), this project aims to ease admin burdens and help them deliver creative and inspiring lessons every day, while reducing time pressures they faceScience Secretary Peter Kyle “We know teachers work tirelessly to go above and beyond for their students,” Science Secretary Peter Kyle said.“By making AI work for them, this project aims to ease admin burdens and help them deliver creative and inspiring lessons every day, while reducing time pressures they face.“This is the first of many projects that will transform how we see and use public sector data. We will put the information we hold to work, using it in a safe and responsible way to reduce waiting lists, cut backlogs and improve outcomes for citizens across the country.”Minister for Early Education Stephen Morgan said: “We are determined to break down the barriers to opportunity to ensure every child can get the best possible education – and that includes access to the best tech innovations for all.“Artificial intelligence, when made safe and reliable, represents an exciting opportunity to give our schools leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life.This investment will allow us to safely harness the power of tech to make it work for our hard-working teachers, easing the pressures and workload burdens … and freeing up time, allowing them to focus on face-to-face teachingMinister for Early Education Stephen Morgan “Today’s announcement marks a huge step forward for AI in the classroom.“This investment will allow us to safely harness the power of tech to make it work for our hard-working teachers, easing the pressures and workload burdens we know are facing the profession and freeing up time, allowing them to focus on face-to-face teaching.”To encourage innovation under the new scheme, the Government said it would also make the content store of educational data available to AI companies, with a share of £1 million to be awarded to those who brought forward the best ideas for tools to use the data to aid teachers.According to a survey from TeacherTapp, almost half of teachers were already using AI in some form to help with their work, but the Government said these tools were not specifically trained on teaching materials used in England. 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 has said he was forced to check every day whether there were enough prison spaces to arrest and jail suspects during the far right-fuelled riots in the wake of the Southport knife attack.As reports suggested prison capacity had reached an all-time low on Tuesday, with just 100 beds left across all men’s prisons in England and Wales, the prime minister gave a speech from Downing Street lambasting his Tory predecessors for leaving behind “a societal black hole”.“Every day of that disorder, literally every day, we had to check the precise number of prison places and where those places were to make sure we could arrest, charge and prosecute people quickly,” Sir Keir told reporters from the No 10 rose garden.Sir Keir Starmer attacked the mess left by his predecessors in a speech on Tuesday 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 ThomasEditorFire Brigade Union general secretary Matt Wrack has described a blaze which destroyed a block of flats in Dagenham, east London, as a national scandal which should not be able to happen.Mr Wrack spoke to The Independent after touring the site of the disaster in Freshwater Road, Dagenham, with deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who is also in charge of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).The veteran union boss and former firefighter said he has been at the site of many fires before but described the burnt-out block of flats as one of the worst he had seen.He said his warning to Ms Rayner was that the blaze was the consequence of years of deregulation on building regulations under the Tories and massive cuts to the council departments responsible for checking building standards.Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU (Clive Gee/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 biggest union appears to be on a collision path with Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government over plans for spending cuts and tax rises in the budget in October.Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, issued a warning to the recently elected Labour government against “austerity mark II” after Sir Keir warned that the budget will be “really painful”.The union boss was echoing concerns that Starmer and his chancellor Rachel Reeves may follow the austerity policies of Tory chancellor George Osborne following the financial crash to pay for a £22 billion black hole in public finances, which Labour claims to have discovered.The prime minister’s words on the budget came in a speech in the Downing Street rose garden in front of 50 supporters and activists from the last election.Unite boss Sharon Graham (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 ThomasEditorLiz Truss had planned to sign an energy deal which would have cost the British taxpayer £30bn extra on top of her economy-crashing ‘mini-budget,’ a new book has claimed. The former prime minister had argued in favour of buying long-term gas supplies from Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor, at a cost of £130 billion. This would have secured the deal at the same price for 20 years, regardless of price rises or falls.It is understood that Treasury officials had said the price was bad value for money as it was very likely to fall. The price fell dramatically over the following months, as the country avoided another financial disaster.A new book from author Anthony Seldon, ‘Truss at 10’, reveals that the chapter marked one of the few times Ms Truss’ chancellor and friend Kwasi Kwarteng stood up to her, siding with the official advice.Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng with Liz Truss at the Tory Party conference following his mini budget (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Keir Starmer says things are ‘worse than we ever imagined’ in first keynote address as PMSupport 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 has hinted at tax rises in the government’s first budget warning it is “going to be painful”.In his first keynote speech from Downing Street, Sir Keir said he will “make big asks” of people in Britain, warning they will have to accept “short term pain for long term good”.The prime minister said those with the “broadest shoulders” will carry the heaviest burden insisting taxes on “working people” including national insurance, VAT and income tax will not be increased in the 30 October budget.He claimed things are “worse than we ever imagined”and suggested the riots showed “the cracks in our society after 14 years of populism and failure”.On winter fuel payments, the PM admitted removing the measure for pensioners was difficult citing that the government inherited a £22billion black hole in public finances from the Tories. Reacting to his speech, general secretary of the Unite union Sharon Graham criticised the “bleak vision” Sir Keir delivered in his first keynote speech as prime minister.Rishi Sunak also hit out at the PM claiming that his keynote speech this morning was an indication of Labour’s plan to “raise taxes”. Laura Trott also accused Labour of “rolling the pitch” to increase taxes, warning “working families are next in line”.Show latest update 1724770203Downing Street draws up plans for announcing death of Larry the catDowning Street officials are preparing a “media plan” to announce the eventual passing of Larry the cat, The Independent understands.Larry has become a widely loved fixture of Downing Street and is often seen outside the door to Number 10 during major political events and news broadcasts.The 17-year-old ‘chief mouser’ is thought to be in his final years, having already outlived the average lifespan for a tabby cat.Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story:Salma Ouaguira27 August 2024 15:501724769303Cleverly accuses Starmer of ‘rolling out dishonest policies’Shadow home secretary James Cleverly has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “rolling out dishonest policies”, following the Prime Minister’s speech earlier today.Mr Cleverly, who is running to be leader of the Tory Party, said: “More meaningless drivel from Keir Starmer today as he tries to distract from his latest cronyism row.“He says he wants to serve people; all he is serving them are tax rises.“The Conservatives left Labour with low inflation, falling migration, and the highest growth in the G7. Yet the Labour government have waged war on pensioners, caved to their union paymasters and splurged millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on unaffordable pay rises for strikers.“Keir Starmer was elected on a manifesto that he won’t stick to, and he is now rolling out a series of dishonest policies for which he has no democratic mandate.”James Cleverly More