UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour has clarified its position on transgender rights as Wes Streeting says the party would “modernise and reform” gender laws if it comes into power on July 4.The shadow health secretary has said Labour’s policy aims to allow transgender people to “live their lives with freedom, dignity and respect”. His comments come after all the major parties unveiled their manifestos over the past few weeks, outlining their visions for the country. Each covers transgender policy, with the issue becoming a major cultural talking point over the past few years.For the latest updates ahead of the general election, follow The Independent’s live coverageUnder current UK legislation, the ability to change legal sex is enshrined in the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. This followed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which found that the previous inability to do so in the UK was a breach of certain human rights.The 2010 Equality Act defines sex in binary terms as ‘a reference to a man or woman’ – but this can be changed. A trans person can change their legal sex by obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate, amending the sex category on their birth certification. However, they must also meet certain criteria to do so.Simplifying the gender reassignment processLabour has said it wants to “simplify” the process of changing gender in the UK. Speaking to The Times, shadow women and equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds said the party’s plans would see the system become “modernised”.“This means stripping out the futile and dehumanising parts of the process for obtaining a gender recognition certificate, while retaining important safeguards.”Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA leading think tank has accused Nigel Farage’s Reform of poisoning the debate around painful economic choices, as it warned it would be a “considerable surprise” if there are no further tax rises in the next five years.Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, slammed the Tory and Labour manifestos, saying they leave voters “guessing”.But he also hit out at Reform and the Greens for “unattainable” tax claims he said had made offerings from other parties look “feeble”. Their pledges were helping to “poison the entire political debate”, he said.The attack comes as Mr Farage faces a growing backlash on another front, over his claim the West provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Mr Johnson also accused Labour and the Conservatives of making “essentially unfunded commitments” to improve the NHS as he said a conspiracy of silence between the main parties over difficult decisions after the election was leaving voters in the dark. Paul Johnson, director of the IFS appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to intervene in the Tory general election betting scandal, with senior figures calling on him to act.The prime minister has been urged to suspend all those under investigation from the party immediately and hold a Cabinet Office inquiry into the scandal.Party chair Richard Holden, who is responsible for overseeing the Conservative general election campaign, has remained tight-lipped on the crisis.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaignA former Tory minister and the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats are among those who joined the growing call for the people involved to be suspended.Rishi Sunak has been urged to suspend all those involved in the scandal More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightWhen Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen was at school, his history teacher would be going through an episode in Europe’s chronicles and note: “That’s something Mr Habsburg surely knows about.”He would be referring to the many events linked to the 850-year history of the Habsburg empire which touched almost every corner of Europe right up until the end of the First World War.Mr Habsburg – now Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See in Rome – admitted that at the time he did not know as much as someone from such an eminent family perhaps should.Speaking to The Independent, he joked: “You realise you don’t know, of course, because you’re not born with knowledge about the Habsburgs. Yes, so you begin to read, and that’s how I got to understand that – apart from England and France – in all the rest of Europe – German speaking, central Europe, Balkans, Italy, the Habsburgs were a big deal.”Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen speaks to The Independent More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWealthy donors aiming to woo Sir Keir Starmer’s party ahead of its likely win in next month’s election have helped Labour overtake the Tory party in receiving political donations, latest figures show.Labour has landed £15.5m in funding so far this year from individuals, companies, unions and others, exceeding the £9.9m handed to the Conservatives.While the Tories have historically found more favour with companies and individuals, Labour typically receives substantially higher donations from trade unions. They contributed 26 per cent of the Labour Party’s fundraising since the last election in 2019, at £25.3m. Overall, Tory donations are still well ahead at £111.9m, topping Labour’s figure of £98.7m.However, The Independent has found that individual donors have been dwindling in their support of the Tories, and flocking to Labour – with some even switching sides.While major donors such as controversial businessman Frank Hester have stayed loyal to the Tories (to the tune of £15m), others like Crystal Palace investor Jeremy Hosking have turned to back competing parties, including Reclaim and Reform. Meanwhile, the two Lord Sainsburys – cousins and heirs to the fortune – have planted their cash in opposite camps. Figures out earlier this week showed Labour received £4.4m between 6-12 June while the Conservatives received just £292,500.Read on to find information on the big-name donors staking their cash on the major parties. Frank HesterFrank Hester donated £10m to the Tories last year, according to Electoral Commission records.He individually donated £5m to Mr Sunak’s party in May and gave another £5m via his IT company in November.Mr Hester came under fire earlier this year accused of saying in 2019 that Diane Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving black MP made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.Frank Hester donated £10m to the Tories in 2023 and £5m earlier this year More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe man who could become the face of the greatest shock in British political history has claimed that whether he wins or not, there is a “bubbling undercurrent” of change in the electorate which means once safe Tory strongholds will fall.Tom Wilson is the 29-year-old Labour candidate running against Rishi Sunak in Richmond and Northallerton who, according to polls last week, could be the first electoral “king killer” – in that he may be the first person to defeat a sitting prime minister in a general election.He became a person of interest for the entire political establishment when an MRP poll last week suggested Mr Sunak’s constituency was “too close to call”.For everyone looking for the so-called “Portillo moment” of this election – named after the shock defeat of Michael Portillo in the 1997 Tory collapse – this looked unbeatable.Sunak could be facing a Portillo moment, according to some polls More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA top aide to James Cleverly has described Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation plan as “crap”, a leaked recording has revealed.James Sunderland, Tory candidate for Bracknell and the home secretary’s parliamentary private secretary, said he has been immersed in the policy for two years, repeatedly calling it “crap”.Addressing a private meeting in April, Mr Sunderland said: “I have been part of this for the last two years and am probably going to say too much.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign.“What I would say to you is that… nobody has got their cameras or phones on, have they?“The policy is crap, OK, it’s crap.”James Sunderland said the Rwanda policy is ‘crap’ More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The chief data officer of Britain’s Conservative Party has taken a leave of absence, British media reported Sunday, following growing allegations that the governing party’s members have been using inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 national election.The Sunday Times and others reported that Nick Mason is the fourth Conservative official to be investigated by the U.K.’s Gambling Commission for allegedly betting on the timing of the election before the date had been announced. The Times alleged that dozens of bets had been placed with potential winnings worth thousands of pounds. Two other Conservative election candidates, Laura Saunders and Craig Williams, are under investigation by the gambling watchdog. Saunders’ husband Tony Lee, the Conservative director of campaigning, has also taken a leave of absence following allegations he was also investigated over alleged betting. The growing scandal, which came just two weeks ahead of the national election, has dealt a fresh blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, which is widely expected to lose to the opposition Labour Party after 14 years in power. Sunak said this week that he was “incredibly angry” to learn of the allegations and said that anyone found to have broken the law should be expelled from his party. Saunders, a candidate standing in Bristol, southwest England, has said she will cooperate fully with the investigation. Williams was Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary as well as a candidate. Senior Conservative minister Michael Gove has condemned the alleged betting and likened it to “ Partygate,” the ethics scandal that contributed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ouster in 2022. That controversy saw public trust in the Conservatives plummet after revelations that politicians and officials held lockdown-flouting parties and gatherings in government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. “It looks like one rule for them and one rule for us,” Gove told the Sunday Times. “That’s the most potentially damaging thing.”Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said “people are sick and tired of this sleaze” and that Sunak must intervene and order an official inquiry.The Conservative Party said it cannot comment because investigations are ongoing. More