Companies that have recently donated to Labour were awarded contracts worth almost 138m during the party's first year in government, according to new research that raises fresh concerns about the relationship between political donations and public spending. A report by the thinktank Autonomy Institute has identified more than 100 companies that have given money to political parties and then won government contracts, under both Conservative and Labour administrations.
Lord Strathcarron is proposing amendments that would scrap the central provision of the tobacco and vapes bill, originally proposed by Rishi Sunak's government. If the bill is passed in its original form, the UK would become only the second country to implement a so-called generational smoking ban, making it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born after 2008. Strathcarron's proposal is to simply raise the legal purchase age from 18 to 21.
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.
On Friday, Pochin, who is Reform UK's MP for Runcorn and Helsby, complained that every advert seemed to feature black and Asian people, as she responded to a viewer on TalkTV who had complained about the demographics of advertising. Pochin said the viewer was absolutely right, adding it doesn't reflect our society and I feel that your average white person, average white family is not represented any more, blaming the woke liberati in the arty-farty world.
Pochin said the viewer was "absolutely right" and "it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people". She said "it doesn't reflect our society" and "your average white person, average white family" is not "represented anymore". Pochin blamed the situation on the "woke liberati" in the "arty-farty world". "It might be fine inside the M25, but it's definitely not representative of the rest of the country," she said.
If the industry faces higher taxes in the coming budget such as being included in the new surtax on business rates our ability to deliver value for our customers will become even more challenging, and it will be households who inevitably feel the impact, they wrote in the joint letter. Given the costs currently falling on the industry, including from the last budget, high food inflation is likely to persist into 2026.
Just over 25 weeks on from what the Reform leader described as one of the most significant days of his career the sparks flying are of a very different kind. Farage has returned to national campaigning and left the running of Kent county council and its 2.5bn annual budget to its newly installed leader, the combative former journalist and ex-Tory, Linden Kemkaran.
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.
It is a grey morning in Shadwell, east London. But inside the old shell of Tobacco Dock, the gloom gives way to pulsating neon lights, flashy cars and cryptocurrency chatter. Evangelists for Web3, a vision for the next era of the internet, have descended on the old trading dock to network for two days. For many, the main event is one man: Nigel Farage.
Eunice Osei is a proud, reserved woman, but give her time and she will say: I've not been treated fairly. Then she'll cry. The crime is her room, a tiny hutch crammed with a kitchenette, toilet, bed and flimsy chipboard furniture. Clothes, kitchen utensils and suitcases are stacked so high against the grimy windows that light struggles to enter. We are swathed in murk, with nowhere to sit and hardly anywhere to stand.
In a private letter - seen by The Guardian - to business secretary Peter Kyle, Labour MPs detailed how they had been contacted by large numbers of businesses that are deeply concerned about the implications of the guidance, including the huge potential cost it would take to bring their companies in-line with it.
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.
Ms Strom said she would do all she could to "ensure local voices are heard loud and clear". "We are working with the cards that have been handed to us by government, and under challenging conditions we continue to do our best to deliver for local people," she added.
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.
A key witness in the China spying case removed the term "enemy" from the final draft of a witness statement submitted to prosecutors, because it did not reflect government policy at the time. In a letter to MPs, deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins said the word "enemy" was included in the draft witness statement written when the Conservatives were in power. But he said he told police investigating the case he "could not call China an "enemy" as this did not reflect government policy".
Earlier this month, the EHRC was accused of trying to ' bully ' the government into rushing out legislation based on its updated guidance on gendered facility provision. Following the UK Supreme Court's verdict on the FWS v Scottish Ministers in April - which determined the 2010 Equality Act's definition of a woman is based on biological sex - the EHRC began consulting on proposed changes to its code of practice on servics, public functions, and associations.
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. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The director of public prosecutions has said the China spy case collapsed because a top national security official could not say the country had been classed as an "enemy" when the Conservatives were in power. In a letter to MPs, Stephen Parkinson said the unwillingness of Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Collins to say that China had been an active threat to national security between 2021 and 2023 was "fatal to the case".
2025 is proving to be one of the most challenging years yet for the hospitality industry in the UK, with the increase in National Insurance contributions and London Living Wage, the decrease in business rates relief, and the 20% rate of VAT putting a huge strain on the industry. Venues continue to close, with two hospitality sites closing per day in the first six months of the year and the hospitality sector accounting for 53% of all job losses in the UK since the Budget.
Cutting the annual cash Isa allowance will not encourage many savers to switch to shares but could push up mortgage costs, MPs have warned the chancellor. Adults can put up to 20,000 a year in a tax-free Isa and spread the money between cash and stock market investments as they choose. In the 2023-24 tax year, 66% of all contributions went into cash savings.
Campaigners including Tanni Grey-Thompson have warned that disabled drivers are at risk of being locked out of the electric car transition because of inaccessible chargers. The former Paralympics champion and the Electric Vehicle Association England are pushing for the government to introduce standards to ensure chargers are easy to reach. The number of public chargers across the UK is rising rapidly, with 17,400 two an hour installed in the year to July. However, the lack of standards means that disabled drivers have often been unable to trust that they can use them.
