UK won’t give more visas to Indian workers, says PM

Published

2 months ago

October 8, 2025

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Sir Keir Starmer has said the government will not relax visa rules for India, as he embarks upon a two-day trade trip to Mumbai.

The prime minister touched down this morning with dozens of Britain’s most prominent business people, including bosses from BA, Barclays, Standard Chartered, BT and Rolls-Royce.

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The first full-blown trade mission to India since Theresa May was prime minister, it’s designed to boost ties between the two countries.

Sir Keir – whose face has been plastered over posters and billboards across Mumbai – will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, five months after the UK signed the first trade deal with India since Brexit.

The agreement has yet to be implemented, with controversial plans to waive national insurance for workers employed by big Indian businesses sent to the UK still the subject of a forthcoming consultation.

However, the business delegation is likely to use the trip to lobby the prime minister not to put more taxes on them in the November budget.

Sir Keir has already turned down the wish of some CEOs on the trip to increase the number of visas.

Speaking to journalists on the plane on the way out, he said: “The visa situation hasn’t changed with the free trade agreement, and therefore we didn’t open up more visas.”

He told business that it wasn’t right to focus on visas, telling them: “The issue is not about visas.

“It’s about business-to-business engagement and investment and jobs and prosperity coming into the UK.”

No birthday wishes for Putin

The prime minister sidestepped questions about Mr Modi’s support of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whom he wished a happy birthday on social media. US President Donald Trump has increased tariffs against India, alleging that Indian purchases of Russian oil are supporting the war in Ukraine.

Asked about Mr Modi wishing Mr Putin happy birthday, and whether he had leverage to talk to Mr Modi about his relationship with Russia, Sir Keir sidestepped the question.

“Just for the record, I haven’t… sent birthday congratulations to Putin, nor am I going to do so,” he said.

“I don’t suppose that comes as a surprise. In relation to energy, and clamping down on Russian energy, our focus as the UK, and we’ve been leading on this, is on the shadow fleet, because we think that’s the most effective way.

“We’ve been one of the lead countries in relation to the shadow fleet, working with other countries.”

PM: We aren’t forcing wealthy people out

Sir Keir refused to give business leaders any comfort about the budget and tax hikes, despite saying in his conference speech that he recognised the last budget had an impact.

“What I acknowledged in my conference, and I’ve acknowledged a number of times now, is we asked a lot of business in the last budget. It’s important that I acknowledge that, and I also said that that had helped us with growth and stabilising the economy,” he added. “I’m not going to make any comment about the forthcoming budget, as you would expect; no prime minister or chancellor ever does.”

Asked if too many wealthy people were leaving London, he said: “No. We keep a careful eye on the figures, as you would expect.

“The measures that we took at the last budget are bringing a considerable amount of revenue into the government which is being used to fix things like the NHS. We keep a careful eye on the figures.”

Politics

A peace deal isn’t a sure thing, Zelenskyy’s UK visit needs more than a warm welcome

Published

56 mins ago

December 8, 2025

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A peace deal isn't a sure thing, Zelenskyy's UK visit needs more than a warm welcome

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Downing Street once again, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be keen to make this meeting more than just a photo op.

On Monday the prime minister will welcome not only the Ukrainian president, but also E3 allies France and Germany to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will join Sir Keir in showing solidarity and support for Ukraine and its leader, but it’s the update on the peace negotiations that will be the main focus of the meet up.

The four leaders are said to be set to not only discuss those talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also to talk about next steps if a deal were to be reached and what that might look like.

Ahead of the discussions, Sir Keir spoke with the Dutch leader Dick Schoof where both leaders agreed Ukraine’s defence still needs international support, and that Ukraine’s security is vital to European security.

But while Russia’s war machine shows no signs of abating, a warm welcome and kind words won’t be enough to satisfy the embattled Ukrainian president at a time when Russian drone and missile attacks continue to bombard Kyiv.

What is the latest in negotiations?

Over the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed “next steps” with US President Donald Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”.

“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”

But on Sunday evening, ahead of an event at the Kennedy Center, President Trump said he was “disappointed” with Mr Zelenskyy, as was asked about the next steps in Russia-Ukraine talks following negotiations.

He said: “We’ve been speaking to President Putin and we’ve been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy.

“And I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago.

“His people love it. But he hasn’t – Russia’s fine with it. Russia’s you know, Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it but he hasn’t read it.”

On Saturday, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, had told the Reagan National Defence Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in “the last 10 metres”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised new US security strategy over the weekend, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement”.

Politics

Coinbase mounts a cautious comeback in India, two years after exit

Published

1 hour ago

December 8, 2025

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Coinbase mounts a cautious comeback in India, two years after exit

Major US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is returning to India after a two-year absence from the market.

Coinbase has resumed app registrations in India as it prepares to roll out local fiat on-ramps in 2026, Coinbase APAC director John O’Loghlen announced at India Blockchain Week (IBW), according to a Sunday report by TechCrunch.

Coinbase’s return to India comes more than two years after it ceased local services in September 2023, following a troubled debut of its local exchange launched in 2022.

“We had millions of customers in India, historically, and we took a very clear stance to off-board those customers entirely from overseas entities, where they were domiciled and regulated. Because we wanted to kind of burn the boats, have a clean slate here,” O’Loghlen said.

Crypto-to-crypto trades available immediately

As Coinbase resumes customer onboarding in India, users can immediately execute crypto-to-crypto trades, according to the report by TechCrunch.

The exchange initially began onboarding users through an early-access program in October, around the time it hired Karan Malik as its India marketing lead.

Coinbase, India, Cryptocurrency Exchange, Policy — *Source: Coinbase India marketing lead Karan Malik*

Malik had previously overseen marketing for last year’s IBW event, where Coinbase served as a platinum sponsor this year.

“Last year, I was leading the charge and building the marketing and brand playbook for IBW. This year, I’m bringing Coinbase to the party,” the exec said.

Coinbase ramps up push in India

Coinbase has been actively working to rebuild its relationship with the Indian government. In early December, Coinbase’s international policy adviser Katie Mitch represented the exchange before India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.

“We are optimistic on the potential for forward-looking VDA regulation in India,” she said in an X post last Thursday.

In another development last week, Priyank Kharge, IT minister for Karnataka, signed a memorandum of understanding with Coinbase India to deepen the state’s leadership in blockchain innovation and cybersecurity.

*Source: Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge*

Through the collaboration, the Karnataka government will collaborate with the exchange on startup incubation on Coinbase-backed Base protocol and speed up real-world applications of blockchain technology, the minister said.

As previously mentioned, Coinbase secured a license with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit in March 2025, positioning the exchange for a potential launch in the country. In August, Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal also met with Karnataka’s IT minister Kharge to explore collaboration on developer tools, cybersecurity and blockchain in governance.

Cointelegraph approached Coinbase for comment regarding its relaunch in India, but had not received a response by the time of publication.