Emmanuel Macron blames Brexit for migrant crisis as Starmer agrees deal
The French president told a joint press conference with the British prime minister: "It's in fact since Brexit [that] the UK has no migratory agreement with the EU.
"It creates an incentive to make the crossing, the precise opposite of what Brexit had promised."
The pair have agreed on a plan to send back small boats migrants, with an asylum seeker being sent to the UK in exchange.
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The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Will Nigel Farage's attempt to copy and paste Trump's policies work in the UK?
A popular maxim on the American right is that politics is downstream from culture. In the UK, it increasingly feels like politics is simply downstream from the US. With Reform UK ascendant in the polls, Nigel Farage – officially MP for Clacton, unofficially Donald Trump's emissary to the UK – is setting the terms of the national conversation, and he is importing them directly from across the pond. Over the past few months, Reform has sought to launch 'Doge' initiatives (referencing Elon Musk's department of government efficiency), waged war on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) employment schemes, and called for the UK government to embrace crypto and create a bitcoin digital reserve at the Bank of England, following Trump's lead. It seems the Brexiteers were right: Britain doesn't make anything any more – not even its own bogeymen. Reform's repeated attacks on DEI are particularly striking because DEI doesn't technically exist in the UK. The equivalent framework is called EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion), and it is nowhere near as prominent as Reform seems to think. At the national level, Reform has claimed that cutting such equality and diversity schemes could save central government £7bn a year – according to 2022-23 figures, the real figure is £27m. Farage nonetheless insists that the British left 'obsess about DEI and spend plenty of public money on it'. After Reform's success at the local elections in May, he warned that all those working in diversity for Reform-controlled councils 'better be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly'. But the sought-after image – woke council members walking out of county hall with their redundancy boxes while ordinary, hardworking Britons applaud the return to common sense – is unlikely to materialise. A recent investigation by the Guardian found that in Reform's 10 councils, the total number of jobs connected to equality and diversity amounts to fewer than five full-time positions and accounts for about 0.003% of their combined budget. Under Trump's presidency, Doge has vastly overestimated the scale of its government savings – in one notable instance it misfiled an $8m saving as an $8bn one – and DEI has been blamed for everything from a plane crash in Washington to wildfires in California to inflation. A sober assessment of the pros and cons of DEI initiatives – the benefits they can bring to companies, their approach to systemic inequalities that can be superficial box-ticking – has nothing to do with the rightwing backlash against them. Republicans aren't looking for alternative solutions, because attacking DEI gives them everything they need: a way to foment resentment against state bureaucracy, the left, marginalised groups and minorities – appealing to xenophobia and serving capitalist interests at the same time. Why ape US ideas so transparently, especially in a country where even many on the right are repulsed by Trump? One possible answer lies in semantics. Perhaps the hope is that DEI will sound like something new and scary to Britons who are no longer moved by mentions of previous bogeymen such as 'political correctness', 'the bureaucrats in Brussels' and 'the woke mob', just as Doge will sound slicker and more exciting than 'austerity' despite in practice meaning the same thing: stripping local councils down to their barest components – consistent with Westminster's orders for the past 15 years. But shiny US branding will not make cuts any easier. An analysis of Reform's 10 councils by PoliticsHome found that almost 80% of their combined spending is now taken up by social care and homelessness. Another explanation, however, is that Reform's rhetoric is the symptom rather than the cause of a broader Americanisation of the British right. It is telling that Farage's greatest asset in trying make DEI mean something has been GB News, itself a knockoff of Fox News, which has tirelessly warned of DEI's evils – in the NHS, the army, the civil service and so on. ('It's exasperating the number of hours I have wasted on various online 'training packages' on DEI topics,' an anonymous 'senior soldier' revealed in a GB News exclusive, giving Britons a sense of what's at stake.) GB News also recently announced plans to expand its coverage to the US with a nightly show about American politics from September. 'We've seen time and again this year that a decision made on one day in Washington DC is felt the next day in Washington, Tyne and Wear,' GB News's editorial director, Michael Booker, explained. Paul Marshall, the billionaire hedge fund manager who co-owns GB News, has deepened ties between the UK and US right through other ventures as well, such as UnHerd and the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. Last year, after buying the Spectator, he also came close to purchasing the Telegraph with the help of Ken Griffin, an American billionaire who is one of the Republicans' biggest donors. Marshall's son Winston, a former banjoist for Mumford & Sons, is now a podcast host based in the US. At a recent press conference in Washington, he asked whether 'the Trump administration would consider asylum' for citizens affected by the UK's 'free speech issues'. Trump's press secretary said she would look into it. The special relationship forming between the UK and US right is tainted by the stark imbalances in wealth and power. Take away the vast wealth of its financial centre in London and the UK is poorer than each of America's 50 states. The attempts by the British right to import panic about DEI and dynamism through Doge reflect a desire for inclusion and imagining that the UK and the US are in it together. It's clear what Farage gets from this – the good graces of a US president who wants to be king and prizes sycophancy in his court above all – but the benefits to UK voters are naught. Farage has repeatedly declared his intention to give the British ruling classes a reality check through his success, implying that he alone knows what the UK wants. 'I don't think the Westminster politicians and journalists even get what's going on out there,' he said in a recent TikTok video. But the references to DEI and Doge should remind us that he hasn't a clue either. Samuel Earle is the author of Tory Nation: How One Party Took Over
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Number of offers made to prospective students by universities at record high
As of June 30, the final deadline to apply to up to five courses simultaneously, more than two million main scheme offers had been made by universities and colleges – a rise of 3.8% compared with last year. Increases in offers from universities and colleges can be seen across all major applicant groups, but the largest increases can be seen for international applicants outside of the EU which are up 10.7%. It comes as university leaders have been warning of financial concerns due to a drop in the number of overseas students – who can be charged higher tuition fees – following restrictions introduced by the former Tory government. Universities are in a 'scramble for students' in a bid to avoid redundancies and course closures due to growing financial pressures, a higher education expert has suggested. The latest Ucas figures, released on Thursday, show that the number of UK 18-year-old applicants to courses by June 30 has reached a record high of 328,390, up 2.2% compared with the same point last year. But the data, which has been published ahead of A-level results day next month, shows that the application rate – the proportion of the 18-year-old population in the UK who applied – has fallen to 41.2% from 41.9% last year. Overall, the total number of applicants – of all ages and all domiciles – has risen to 665,070 this year, a 1.3% increase compared with 2024. There have been 138,460 international undergraduate applicants through Ucas, an increase of 2.2% compared with the same point last year. The data shows a new record number of applicants from China, up by 10% to 33,870 applicants this year, as well as year-on-year increases in applicants from Nigeria (plus 23%) and the USA ( plus 14%). Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank, told the PA news agency: 'Universities nearly always prefer to fill their places than to have to close courses or make staff redundant, so I am not surprised that they are in such a scramble for students. 'Moreover, universities currently lose money on average on each home student but, if you can enrol a few more students on lots of your courses, then fewer of your courses will make a financial loss. 'There is also a fear among some universities of applicants moving up the 'prestige chain' by securing a place at the most selective university they can, meaning some universities think they need to make more offers than they otherwise might.' He added: 'It is very worrying that the participation rate among 18-year-olds is down because it means the post-Covid picture of falling demand among school leavers is persisting. 'We need to ask if falling demand for higher education is now a trend rather than a blip. 'It seems the cost of living among students is biting and that some school leavers are waiting to see if other options come good.' Jo Saxton, chief executive at Ucas, said: 'The record number of UK 18-year-old applicants, and record number of offers being made to prospective undergraduate students, reflects real confidence in the higher education sector. 'It's great to see young people eager to take the next step in their educational and career journey, and universities and colleges committed to welcoming them. 'In the run-up to results day, I'd like to remind students and their families to remember that while the vast majority of applicants secure their first choice each year, it's always worth having a plan B. 'My advice is to begin by revisiting all of your original five choices on your Ucas application as your starting point.' A spokesperson for Universities UK (UUK) said: 'The proportion of 18-year-olds going to university is relatively stable, after a long period of growth, and in terms of absolute numbers of applications, it is a record year. 'These applicants will form the future workforce, and our country desperately needs the skills that universities will equip them with. 'Government data shows that some of the UK's highest potential employment sectors are hungry for people with graduate level skills.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Tory ex-ministers defend record as pressure mounts after Afghan data leak
Tory ex-ministers have sought to defend their record amid mounting pressure over the Afghan data leak that resulted in an unprecedented superinjunction and an £850 million secret relocation scheme. Members of the previous administration are distancing themselves from the handling of a breach which saw a defence official release the details of nearly 19,000 people seeking to flee Kabul. Shadow justice secretary and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said he first learned of the 2022 data breach after a legal gagging order had been put in place the following year. Former home secretary Suella Braverman said there is 'much more that needs to be said about the conduct of the MoD (Ministry of Defence), both ministers and officials' and that she was not involved in the superinjunction decision. Ex-veterans minister Johnny Mercer claimed he had 'receipts' regarding the previous government's actions in relation to Kabul but said it was 'absurd' to accuse him of failing to grasp the scale of the crisis. 'I know who is covering their tracks, and who has the courage to be honest,' he said. 'I would caution those who might attempt to rewrite history.' Thousands of people are being relocated to the UK as part of an £850 million scheme set up after the leak, which was kept secret as a result of a superinjunction imposed in 2023 which was only lifted on Tuesday. At Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir Starmer insisted there would be scrutiny of the decision, telling MPs: 'Ministers who served under the party opposite have serious questions to answer about how this was ever allowed to happen.' Former prime minister Liz Truss, who was foreign secretary at the time of the breach in February 2022, but a backbencher when the superinjunction was sought, said she was 'shocked' by the 'cover-up'. She said the revelations pointed to a 'huge betrayal of public trust' and 'those responsible in both governments and the bureaucracy need to be held to account'. Mr Mercer said: 'I've spilt my own blood fighting for a better Afghanistan, lost friends, fought to get operators out of the country and away from the Taliban, and visited hundreds of resettled families and hotels in the UK under direct commission from the previous prime minister after the schemes were dangerously failing. 'Others were with me in this process and we have all the receipts.' Shadow justice secretary Mr Jenrick said he had 'strongly opposed plans to bring over' thousands of Afghan nationals during 'internal government discussions in the short period before my resignation' in December 2023. 'I first learned of the data leak and plan to resettle people after the superinjunction was in place,' he said. 'Parliamentary privilege is not unlimited; I was bound by the Official Secrets Act.' Mr Jenrick said the secret scheme had been 'a complete disaster' and that the previous government 'made serious mistakes' but that 'thousands more (Afghan people) have come since Labour came to power'. The Commons Defence Committee will be setting out plans for an inquiry straight after the parliamentary recess in September. A dataset of 18,714 who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme was released in February 2022 by a defence official who emailed a file outside authorised government systems. The Ministry of Defence only became aware of the blunder when excerpts from the dataset were posted anonymously on a Facebook group in August 2023, and a superinjunction was granted at the High Court in an attempt to prevent the Taliban from finding out about the leak. Then-defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace said he had applied for a four-month standard injunction shortly before leaving office but, on September 1 2023, when Grant Shapps took the role, the government was given a superinjunction. Mr Shapps has not yet publicly commented on the revelations. Sir Ben has insisted he makes 'no apology' for applying for the initial injunction, saying it was motivated by the need to protect people in Afghanistan whose safety was at risk. The leak led to the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route – in April 2024. The scheme is understood to have cost about £400 million so far, with a projected final cost of about £850 million. A total of about 6,900 people are expected to be relocated by the end of the scheme. The official responsible for the email error was moved to a new role but not sacked. The superinjunction was in place for almost two years, covering Labour and Conservative governments. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has apologised on behalf of the Conservatives for the leak, telling LBC: 'On behalf of the government and on behalf of the British people, yes, because somebody made a terrible mistake and names were put out there … and we are sorry for that.'
