57 h. ago Scotland's Finance Secretary lays out demands ahead of 'chaotic and uncertain' Budget

Shona Robison urged the UK Government to deliver more funding for Scotland’s public services.

Economics

68 h. ago DWP letters slammed as 'new low' for department as staff strike

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union said more than 80 jobs are at risk at the Lincoln City Hall site and its members will take strike action from 1 December until 2 January

Events

68 h. ago Keir Starmer backs SafeCall campaign to protect missing children as donations surge past £75,000

Prime minister hails The Independent’s appeal in supporting the 70,000 children who go missing each year, as major donors and public figures join effort to fund new national service

Economics

5 d. ago UK government insists it is ‘taking time to get this right’ on single

Labour accused of delaying new rules to avoid backlash, after leak of EHRC guidance saying trans people could be questioned based on looksThe UK government has insisted it will take as much time as necessary to “get right” new rules on access to single-sex spaces after a leak of guidance submitted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) raised concerns that its publication was being deliberately delayed.The equalities watchdog submitted its formal guidance on how public bodies, businesses and other service providers should respond to April’s landmark supreme court ruling on biological sex to the UK government in September. Since then, its outgoing chair, Kishwer Falkner, has urged the equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson, to approve it “as soon as possible”. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago North of Scotland prepares for another day of snowy and icy conditions

The Met Office said there could be travel delays on roads and cancellations on public transport services.

Politics

6 d. ago Female prison officer, 29, faces jail after admitting having an 'inappropriate relationship' with an inmate

Zoe Oldham, 29, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to plead guilty to charges of misconduct in a public office during her service at HMP Risley in Warrington.

Events

6 d. ago Lack of planning has hit Labour’s efforts to fix public services, says thinktank

Keir Starmer accused of failing to adequately strategise while in opposition, leading to uncoordinated policymaking Keir Starmer is failing to make major improvements to public services partly because he did not plan properly while in opposition, according to a report from the Institute for Government (IfG).The prime minister went into government without a clear idea about how to achieve his targets, the IfG found, resulting in haphazard attempts to reform various sectors, from the health service to the courts. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago UK Budget: Why Labour still need to learn about the problem with tax rises

Both Labour and the SNP should be prioritising economic growth that would provide extra money for public services

Economics

7 d. ago Shabana Mahmood tells MPs asylum system is ‘out of control and unfair’ amid Labour backlash over proposals – UK politics live

Labour MP calls government’s asylum plans ‘dystopian’ as home secretary announces measures in CommonsMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago BBC boss issues update after Donald Trump says he will still sue corporation

The US president is determined to pursue legal action against the public service broadcaster

Politics

7 d. ago Labour MP calls asylum plans ‘dystopian’ as government accused of ‘performative cruelty’ by rival parties – UK politics live

Nadia Whittome says government has sunk so low it is being praised by Tommy Robinson as SNP and Plaid Cymru criticise plansMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Labour accused of ‘performative cruelty’ over asylum plans – UK politics live

SNP and Plaid Cymru say government facilitating Farage’s agenda with proposals to drastically tighten rulesMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Starmer facing growing backlash from Labour MPs as Mahmood sets out asylum plans – UK politics live

Home secretary to announce a drastic tightening of rules, including requiring asylum seekers to wait 20 years before getting the right to permanently settle in UKMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Starmer braced for backlash from Labour MPs as Mahmood sets out asylum plans – UK politics live

Home secretary to announce a drastic tightening of rules, including requiring asylum seekers to wait 20 years before getting the right to permanently settle in UKMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Man found clinging to capsized boat by his "fingertips" off Scottish coast

Members of the public called emergency services for help after noticing the man in difficulty around 100 metres off Holborn Head near Scrabster in Caithness on Saturday afternoon.

Politics

1 week ago Raise property taxes on rich by £3.9 billion to slash council tax for majority, ministers told

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) say reforming property tax reform could slash council tax bills by 3% for four in five households, raising cash to fund vital public services

Economics

1 week ago BBC apologises to Trump for edit of speech but refuses to pay compensation

Public service broadcaster says there is no basis for a defamation claim by the US president

Politics

1 week ago Voices: How should the BBC adapt to Trump, scandals and changing audiences? Join The Independent Debate

Have your say: Is the BBC’s public service model still fit for purpose in 2025, or does it need a major rethink amid Trump’s threat of legal action?

Politics

1 week ago The real Reform voters have been revealed – it’s a slapdash coalition Farage will struggle to hold together | Aditya Chakrabortty

This is no single bloc marching under one ideology, or even a mass of ‘red-wall’ voters. What unites them is a desire for something differentWho are Nigel Farage’s army, the voters who want him as our next prime minister? Few questions are as important in British politics. Were an election called tomorrow, the favourite for No 10 would be Farage, whose immigration policies are in some ways more extreme than those of the BNP were. His party’s role model for government would be Donald Trump’s US: Elon Musk-style cuts to our public services and masked agents snatching families off the streets.A few months ago, many in Westminster and across the country would have considered this a cautionary nightmare, a catastrophe that would unfold if Keir Starmer failed. But in the week of another red-on-red assault and after 150 opinion polls in a row topped by Farage’s Reform UK, it’s no longer a scare story. It’s the most likely prospect. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Sicily deserves better than the looming prospect of a giant bridge that will never get built | Jamie Mackay

Troubled waters over the world’s longest suspension bridge are no surprise. The Italian government should be funding public servicesA dozen or so times each day, as Italy’s southbound Intercity rail service arrives in the Calabrian town of Villa San Giovanni, the journey comes to a dramatic halt. The train is decoupled from its tracks, carefully loaded on to the deck of a ferry, and secured in place. The entire cargo then eases out into the Strait of Messina en route to Sicily. Invariably, this 25-minute crossing becomes an impromptu community moment. Passengers abandon their carriages, flocking to the ship’s top-deck snack bar to share freshly fried arancini, trade anecdotes, and admire the vista over Mount Etna’s distant peak, before returning to continue their journey by rail.For tourists and itinerant visitors like myself, the ferry crossing is a charming novelty. For local people, however, it has long been a defining part of their identity. In his 1941 novel, Conversations in S...

Politics