For 20 years the Home Office has been blighted with regular and well-documented failures to manage asylum seekers. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's massive plan is unprecedented. And the legal and policy strategy marks an enormous change in thinking. In short, the government wants to move from thinking about "duties" the Home Office must fulfil to what "powers" it really needs to take and use to get a grip on the situation.
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.
Britain's leading tax and spending experts have urged Rachel Reeves to consider announcing billions of pounds in welfare cuts in next month's budget to help placate jittery financial markets. After the chancellor gave her strongest hint yet that spending cuts were under consideration, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) called on Reeves to take bold action to plug a potential 22bn shortfall in the government finances.
Former New Zealand prime minister Jim Bolger, whose political legacy was defined by his deep commitment to reconciliation with Maori as well as his brutal cuts to welfare and deregulation of the labour market, has died aged 90. Bolger died peacefully surrounded by his wife, Joan, nine children and 18 grandchildren, his family said in a statement on Wednesday. Bolger suffered kidney failure last year and had been undergoing dialysis.
Thousands of disabled women could find themselves trapped with abusers as a result of the government's upcoming welfare cuts, campaigners have warned, despite Sir Keir Starmer offering significant concessions.
The government is intensifying efforts to quell a growing rebellion over welfare cuts, with whips stepping up contact with MPs and strategists drawing up plans for a mini-reshuffle.
Sir Keir Starmer's recent benefit cuts could adversely affect around 800,000 legitimate disability claimants, raising concerns about the political fallout similar to pension cuts.
These proposed welfare cuts will lead to more than 15,000 households in Southwark losing support, totaling £33 million stripped from residents receiving disability-related payments.
.png?width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800)
