UK politics

UK politics

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Tens of thousands of jobs could be lost if the UK's clean energy supply chains were to suffer a shock as a result of an over-reliance on China, a left-leaning thinktank has warned. A year-long disruption to the supply of essential battery components used to manufacture electric vehicles could wipe out production of more than 580,000 electric cars and endanger 90,000 jobs, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

The government's review of taxi licensing in England follows Baroness Casey's report on grooming gangs, which identified taxis being used by offenders across the country and recommended tougher rules. At the moment, taxi drivers can buy a private hire vehicle licence from one council but work as far away as they like, taking advantage of lower standards, cheaper licences, and a lack of enforcement. This allows them to get around tough rules aimed at protecting children, such as Rotherham's gold standard licensing scheme, which includes CCTV in cabs.

I am absolutely shocked that he is still in post. I genuinely thought that, having misled parliament, that having misled the public, and having had one of his own local MPs, the home secretary, saying she had lost confidence in him, I honestly thought that anyone with integrity would at that point say I have to resign.'. The fact that he hasn't, I really think, is a stain on his character that, if he doesn't act quickly, he won't be able to remove.

The results show students' views on free issues tend to be nuanced and they sometimes seem contradictory. In particular, while the principle of free speech has stronger support from students than in the past, so do specific bans. While 35% said they would bar Reform politicians from speaking, that included 41% of those who said they voted for Reform in the 2024 general election.

Late on Wednesday, Prisoners for Palestine said the decision not to grant Elbit Systems UK the contract, under which it would have trained 60,000 British troops a year, fulfilled a key demand. It said the company had won more than 10 public contracts since 2012, and so the decision by the Ministry of Defence marked a shift in thinking among officials.

Everything Bundle has accomplished is substantive and worthy of celebration, but in the course of learning who she can trust and foiling the theft of Dr. Matip's formula, she's lost Jimmy and Loraine, who represented her one remaining connection to Gerry. She's also been forced to reckon with the knowledge that although Lady Caterham loves her, she's never really seen Bundle and her gifts accurately. Worse still, Bundle realizes that she's never really been enough for her mother.

Keir Starmer is facing the prospect of Labour MPs rebelling on his manifesto-promised Hillsborough law after talks broke down with families over how the duty of candour would apply to serving intelligence officers. Starmer was introduced at last year's Labour conference by Margaret Aspinall, whose son James, 18, was one of the 97 people killed in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. She praised him for pushing forward with the bill after months of arguments over its future. But on Wednesday Aspinall, along with other people whose relatives died at Hillsborough and in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, emerged from a meeting with Starmer saying they were disappointed with the government's position.

Starmer launched the national digital ID scheme by pitching it as a means to control undocumented immigration, through making use of a government app mandatory when employers conduct right-to-work checks. The plan brought an instant backlash from civil rights groups and privacy campaigners, as well as widespread criticism from the tech sector, where digital identity providers have been encouraged for many years to go through a rigorous compliance process to achieve accreditation on a government-approved register of digital verification services.

Can I start by thanking you for raising this case, because it is very serious, very concerning, and all members of parliament should be able to visit anywhere in their constituency, schools or other places without any fear of antisemitism. We do take this seriously. We are providing more funding for security and support we're putting in across the country, and we will be holding to account those who prevented this visit to this school.