The Independent UK

In numbers: Is the UK ready to put boots on the ground in Ukraine?

Alicja Hagopian — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 10:20:07 GMT

Keir Starmer’s commitment to deploy British peacekeepers to Ukraine has raised questions over whether the UK is ready for conflict, Alicja Hagopian writes

Martin Lewis ‘crashes government website’ as users rush to beat deadline for £50,000 state pension boost

Albert Toth — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 10:16:55 GMT

There’s just a few weeks left to massively boost state pension

Martin Lewis advice on getting the cheapest car insurance - and the best time to renew

Albert Toth — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:35:09 GMT

There are a few key tricks to know when finding a good car insurance deal

‘Queasy and exhausting’: With Love, Meghan savaged by critics

Laura Elston and Tony Jones — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:30:58 GMT

With Love, Meghan - where the duchess shares lifestyle tips - launched on Monday

Voices: Fare reforms, nationalisation, and new trains – readers have their say on fixing Britain’s railways

Independent — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:21:15 GMT

Readers are split between full re-nationalisation and targeted reforms to fix the UK’s rail system

Universal Credit down: Users unable to access benefits accounts as gov.uk not working

Albert Toth — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:18:13 GMT

Millions of people claim the DWP benefit

Slaughterhouse staff played wolf sounds to sheep and ‘inflicted immense pain, fear and distress’

Jane Dalton and Claire Colley — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:09:37 GMT

Three workers sacked after secret cameras reveal horrors at no-stun abattoir

Thousands of pensioners missing out on DWP income boost due to ‘long and difficult’ process

Albert Toth — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:01:03 GMT

Older people report that benefits system makes them ‘give up’

DWP issues crucial update for those who pay rent and claim Universal Credit

Albert Toth — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 08:49:12 GMT

The department has not revealed whether compensation can be expected in the future

Ban criminals from pubs and sports games instead of sending them to prison, minister suggests

Archie Mitchell — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 08:44:47 GMT

The courts minister confirmed ministers will look at banning criminals from sports games, pubs and social events in a bid to free up prison spaces

Zelensky cracks under Trump pressure after US president axes aid to Ukraine

Sam Kiley — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:24:57 GMT

Volodymyr Zelensky said he is ready to enter peace talks under Donald Trump’s leadership, just hours after the US announced it was stopping all military aid to Ukraine

Starmer faces growing concerns from MPs over ‘brutal’ cuts to foreign aid budget

Caitlin Doherty — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 23:57:58 GMT

Sir Keir Starmer is facing increasing pressure from MPs over his decision to cut the overseas aid budget to fund an increase in defence spending

Boy, 16, shot dead in southwest London as police hunt gunman in murder investigation

Bryony Gooch — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 21:51:52 GMT

The boy died after being shot in Paradise Road in Clapham on Tuesday afternoon

Jury shown moment crossbow triple killer Kyle Clifford buys rope days before murdering family of John Hunt

Lucy Leeson — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 20:51:30 GMT

CCTV footage shows the moment crossbow triple killer Kyle Clifford bought rope days before he murdered the family of BBC racing commentator John Hunt.

Woman charged with murder of two-year-old girl found in village pond

Bryony Gooch — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 20:49:22 GMT

Annabel Mackey, 2, was discovered at Kingsley Pond after she went missing from her home nearby

BBC director general Tim Davie doesn’t rule out reairing controversial Gaza documentary

Millie Cooke — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 19:33:58 GMT

The BBC previously said it had ‘no plans to broadcast the programme again in its current form or return it to iPlayer’

Farmers warn government they ‘won’t back down’ as thousands fill London for Pancake Day rally

Alex Croft — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 19:09:28 GMT

Farmers told the Labour government they ‘won’t back down’ during the Pancake Day protest

Man electrocuted during suspected burglary

Holly Evans — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:59:18 GMT

The incident caused a brief power cut for over 1,000 homes

Trump’s tariffs will harm UK even if we’re exempt, admits Rachel Reeves

Kate Devlin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 17:28:34 GMT

US president facing retaliation from Canada and China after imposing long threatened tax on goods amid fears of a global trade war

‘Justice should never come at such a cost’: Court delays leaving victims struggling and suicidal, report finds

Amy-Clare Martin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 17:10:52 GMT

Court delays are harming victims, a report has found, with one victim overdosing after her trial was postponed for the fourth time

Woman who quit job after three hours sues for unpaid wages

George Lithgow — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:51:06 GMT

Ley Tsang was ‘shown the ropes’ during an induction session with the child’s parents before changing her mind

Urgent Boots paracetamol recall after packets found to contain a different drug

Albert Toth — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:47:59 GMT

The medicines regulator has put out an urgent notice

Kosovo's prime minister again refuses to testify at prosecutor's office for a corruption case

Via AP news wire — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:28:00 GMT

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has again refused to report to the Special Prosecutor’s Office that had summoned him as a witness in an alleged corruption case of state reserves

Prison officer who boasted about sex acts with inmates is jailed

Dave Higgens — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:22:02 GMT

The judge outlined the issues prisons are having with accommodating inmates serving short sentences

DWP warned over new powers to spy on ‘everybody’s bank accounts’

Albert Toth — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 14:50:14 GMT

‘It is not just benefits claimants who will be targeted,’ MPs told

Tory MP claims Labour inheritance tax making families consider if they can afford elderly relatives to live past April 2026

Camille Chorley — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 14:19:58 GMT

Families up and down the country are discussing whether they can afford for elderly relatives to live beyond April 2026, the Conservatives' shadow environment secretary has claimed.

Iraq veteran MP condemns JD Vance over claim Britain ‘hasn’t fought a war in 40 years’

Archie Mitchell,Millie Cooke and Kate Devlin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 13:39:38 GMT

Keir Starmer hit back as vice president accused of ‘erasing experience’ of UK armed forces personnel who served alongside US in Iraq and Afghanistan

Tory MP attempts to gag criticism of assisted dying committee after Down Syndrome vote

David Maddox — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 13:18:57 GMT

Tory MP Kit Malthouse made a dramatic point of order after a majority voted down an amendment to protect people with Down Syndrome by 13 to 8

Starmer provokes diplomatic row by refusing to back Canada against Trump’s 51st state plan

David Maddox and Kate Devlin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 13:08:18 GMT

Row erupts after The Independent’s White House correspondent challenges Trump and Starmer over the plan to turn Canada into the 51st state

Americans apply for UK citizenship in record numbers after Trump’s re-election

Angus Thompson — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:56:53 GMT

Number of Americans applying to call Britain home has doubled in past 20 years

Corbyn calls for Chilcot-style inquiry into UK’s role in Gaza war

Archie Mitchell — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:21:19 GMT

Jeremy Corbyn has written to Sir Keir Starmer demanding an independent inquiry into the UK’s role in the conflict in the Middle East

Father in jail for 13 years for stealing a phone suffers crisis which leaves him smashing face on floor

Amy-Clare Martin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:16:39 GMT

Exclusive: A crunch meeting will decide if IPP prisoner Thomas White will finally be transferred to a secure hospital after a rapid deterioration inside HMP Manchester

Trump has caught Starmer out again – and exposed three major flaws in PM’s US plan

David Maddox — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:07:53 GMT

Political editor David Maddox, who watched on in the Oval Office as Starmer met Trump, examines how the prime minister needs to adapt his approach to the special relationship to deal with the volatility of the US president

Ancient Britons who built Stonehenge had dark skin, scientists reveal

Rebecca Whittaker — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:05:54 GMT

Darker skin tones may have been the norm in Europe for many centuries longer than previously thought, analysis of human remains suggests

Briton Jagtar Singh Johal acquitted in first India terror trial

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 11:35:09 GMT

Johal still faces eight other cases under India anti-terror law