Recent instances of Nigel Farage’s party trying to gain sympathetic coverage lead to debate over reporting practices The Telegraph and Reform UK are facing claims of undermining public interest journalism and eroding trust between reporters and politicians, after Nigel Farage’s party gave the newspaper stories first uncovered by other outlets. It is understood there is unease among editorial staff at the Telegraph about Reform’s repeated use of the outlet for “spoilers”: a media tactic designed to pre-empt a problematic story by placing it with a title seen as more sympathetic. Continue reading...

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd says party is ‘far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than finding solutions’ Leader of Reform UK in Wales stands down after arrest on suspicion of assault The Liberal Democrats have said that they will try to introduce a cap on the amount people donate to political parties by amending the representation of the people bill as it goes through the Lords. Lisa Smart , the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson, said: We can’t keep playing whack-a-mole with each new attempt by Farage to sell out our democracy. Labour’s residency requirements aren’t good enough and the Conservatives simply sat on their hands whilst in power. For decades governments of both colours have stood by and done nothing. The scale of donations made to Reform in recent days is unprecedented in British politics and should deeply concern anyone who cares about the health and integrity of our democracy. We cannot afford to see the Americanisation of our politics, with out of control political spending, funded by stratospheric sums of crypto and corporate cash. These donations show clearly whose side Reform are on, with crypto billionaires, foreign and powerful corporate interests lining up to pour in eye-watering sums of money to advance their agendas. Continue reading...

AI probably thinks a world that can elect Trump as president is so messed up it deserves to be put out of its misery We can all sleep easy. In a post on his Truth Social account, Donald Trump has declared that fears over artificial intelligence were all a hoax dreamed up by conspiracy theorists. Obviously that includes the top bods at Anthropic and its competitors, who all called for a coordinated global slowdown while the industry works out how to mitigate the risks. Still, good to know the tech bros are just fantasists and space cadets at heart. All that was needed to keep humanity safe and well, The Donald insisted, was a president with a very high IQ. Someone very like him. The only man alive who could out-think the combined power of the world’s supercomputers. He could tell them where to draw the line and they would reprogram themselves to back off. Inside every AI network is a default off switch that kneels before the US president. Trump can rewire the world with the power of his mind. Continue reading...

Green-run council also curbing ads for airlines, cruises, fossil fuels and SUVs on its billboards and bus shelters Bristol has become the first British city to impose a ban on the advertising of fast fashion, in new restrictions that will also curb ads for SUVs and airlines. The ban is part of moves by the West Country city, known for its radical political scene , to impose sweeping bans on advertising for polluting industries. Continue reading...

General secretaries say union funding is ‘cleanest money in politics’ and different to that from wealthy individual donors Trade unions have stopped short of backing a cap on political donations but called for further action on big money in politics, in a joint statement after Reform UK was given an unprecedented £72m from two donors . General secretaries have been split on a call for unions to back a specific cap on individual donors to political parties while protecting trade union donations, which the TUC said were the “cleanest money in politics” because it came from workers’ subscriptions. Continue reading...

Surely that’s the lesson the Reform polling furore should teach us. Politics should be about actually helping people, not mastering the line on a graph Solemn faces all round. We will listen. We will learn. We will hone and improve. Yes, it’s time for the latest bout of profound soul-searching in the UK polling industry following the allegations raised by the recent Channel 4 investigation that a polling firm reportedly failed to declare that three polls it published before the local elections in May were commissioned by Reform. By now these reckonings are becoming a regular occurrence in the wake of big elections: pollsters gather in a room, nibble biscuits, ritually self-flagellate, and pledge to learn all the right lessons from the electorate they’ve just catastrophically misread. Yet for all its very public ignominies, political polling is one of those rare and precious industries that somehow manages to keep failing upwards. You might think that after botching the 2015 and 2017 general elections , the 2016 Brexit vote and the 2021 London mayoral poll, we might have learned better than to trust in the mystical magic graph. In this parallel universe Keir Starmer is now sitting on a colossal 318-seat majority, as forecast by Survation in its final MRP poll on the eve of the 2024 general election, overstating the actual result by a mere 144 parliamentary seats. Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

More than 130 sign letter to PM saying international law requires further measures to stop illegal settlements More than 130 legal experts, including 18 king’s counsel (KCs), have written to Andy Burnham saying that sanctions on Israeli settlements “fall far short” of Britain’s obligations under the international court of justice’s (ICJ’s) finding that the occupation is unlawful. The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, last week announced an import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine and other measures. Signatories to the letter to the prime minister, including the leading lawyers Michael Mansfield KC and Imran Khan KC, and the former lord justice of appeal Alan Moses, say it is not enough. Continue reading...

Carmaker builds on relationship with British armed forces by seeking to cash in on Europe’s rearmament drive Business live – latest updates Jaguar Land Rover is in talks with Nato countries about selling them the newly revamped Defender military vehicle, as the UK-based carmaker seeks to tap into Europe’s defence spending boom. It is also among carmakers bidding for a UK defence ministry contract worth £900m to replace an ageing fleet of Land Rovers that have been out of production since 2016, competing with General Motors and the UK’s Ineos Automotive, which builds the Grenadier 4x4 for the civilian market. Continue reading...

More than 1,200 people, including Ben Fogle, sign letter saying domestic contracts will help preserve UK manufacturing Business live – latest updates London fashion week is only days away, but one industry organisation has turned its attention to clothing that is a little less catwalk-worthy – the uniforms worn by British defence forces and NHS staff. On Wednesday afternoon, the thinktank Fashion Roundtable will hand deliver a letter to Downing Street urging Andy Burnham to commit to manufacturing these uniforms in the UK. Continue reading...

This misconceived Treasury pet project may have been foisted on the government, but it would have added to voters’ mistrust in politics Shock reverberated through England’s councils last week. “Beggars belief!” “Shambolic!” council leaders protested to the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), which says: “We’ve never before heard such expletives. They’re apoplectic, incandescent.” And they have every right to be. The government has slammed the brakes on its unexpected reorganisation of local councils. This almost certainly ends the one-size-fits-all, politically damaging remapping of England’s councils , which was never forewarned in Labour’s manifesto. Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Economists urge John Healey to press Bank to change policy that is costing the exchequer billions of pounds Economists have urged the chancellor, John Healey, to press the Bank of England to slow down its bond-selling programme that has already cost the exchequer billions of pounds. The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meets this week to not only decide the level of interest rates but also whether they should freeze or slow the sale of government bonds, known as gilts, bought as part of the rescue operation after the 2008 banking crash. Continue reading...

Exclusive: George Osborne’s programme to reduce costs for first-time buyers delivered £25bn in social value in UK last year George Osborne’s scheme to reduce costs for first-time buyers represented “very high value for money”, according to a government review, bolstering the case of senior government figures who have been arguing to resurrect the idea. An official audit of the help-to-buy programme has calculated it provided £25bn of social value to the UK in the last financial year, despite criticisms it was overly expensive and only served to inflate house prices. Continue reading...

Tory and Whig MPs were central to funding trafficking of enslaved people and many opposed abolition of the slave trade There is a British culture of celebrating the abolition of slavery without acknowledging that the country enslaved and trafficked millions of African people for centuries. The newly published Register of British Slave Traders , which documents the thousands of investors in Britain’s near 250-year trafficking of more than 3 million enslaved African people, shows that it was a state-backed operation, fully supported by both major political parties at the time, the Tories and Whigs – the forerunners of today’s Conservatives and Liberal Democrats respectively. Continue reading...

Reform UK have just been showered with £72m in donations by billionaires. What does that money buy and what will the party do with it? Peter Walker explains On Friday Ben Delo, a 42-year-old businessman – and convicted criminal – donated £36m to Reform UK. That works out to £1m for every month between now and the latest possible date for the next general election. It brings the total Delo has donated to the party this year alone to £44m. Not to be outdone, less than 24 hours later, Christopher Harborne, the 63-year-old billionaire, pitched in with another £36m donation. That’s a cool £72m over one weekend. The Guardian’s senior political correspondent Peter Walker , says: “This is potentially a game changing amount. It’s more in total than the big four or five parties spent altogether in the 2024 general election.” Continue reading...

Alistair Burt speaks candidly about difficulties of tackling complex cases as families express concern over mandate The special envoy for British citizens detained overseas has spoken about the difficulties he faces in his new role, as families express concern over the position’s mandate in complex consular cases. In his first public engagement, Alistair Burt , the former Conservative Middle East minister, spoke candidly about the difficulties and limitations of the new appointment, made following years of mounting criticism of how the Foreign Office handled the cases of British citizens detained overseas. Continue reading...

Plans to strengthen legislation already going through parliament might mean donors having to meet stricter UK residence requirements Andy Burnham’s government could thwart Reform’s unprecedented £72m donations with retrospective restrictions on political donors that will include tough new residency requirements, ministers have announced. In a move that is likely to set off furious complaints from Nigel Farage’s party, the government will table amendments to legislation going through the House of Lords within weeks that puts the legality of Reform’s latest donations in doubt. Continue reading...

Key questions surrounding the huge sums donated by crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo Reform UK announced over the weekend the two biggest single political donations in British history: £36m from the Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne and a further £36m from another crypto billionaire, Ben Delo. However, by Monday experts were questioning whether the donations would be legal, especially under the elections bill that the government is bringing through parliament and which will apply retrospectively. Continue reading...

The vast sums given to Nigel Farage’s party in recent days must lead to action on political funding The staggering sums gifted to Reform UK over the weekend have transformed the context for the representation of the people bill making its way through parliament. The announcement of two £36m donations from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, both crypto billionaires who have lived abroad, makes Andy Burnham’s decision not to impose a limit on political donations – a move he supported before becoming prime minister – look even more misguided. Fortunately the House of Lords still has the chance to amend the bill. It should take it by imposing meaningful limits on both political donations and party spending. It is unclear whether either man meets the criteria set out in the Rycroft review into foreign influence in politics. It set a maximum of £100,000 per annum for people who have not been in the UK for at least a year. Mr Delo previously lived in Hong Kong while Mr Harborne is based partly in Thailand; Nigel Farage said on Monday that he does not know the details of their movements. While ministers will view the prospect of a legal fight over eligibility with trepidation, they must do what it takes to ensure rules are met. Continue reading...

It’s not just that Nigel Farage claimed his movement abhorred the super-rich. It’s also the obscenity of individuals seeking so much sway over who runs the country As £72m in donations makes its way to Reform UK’s bank accounts, consider what Nigel Farage said on the eve of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union a decade ago. “This referendum is the people versus the establishment,” he declared. “It is the vested interest, it’s the rich, it’s the big business.” Just two years ago, Farage assailed “an unholy alliance of big business, big banks and big government”. He is also the same man who, when he debated with the then Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, in 2014, claimed to “represent the mercantile, trading, entrepreneurial end of society”, while his opponent “represents big banks, big government and big business”. Continue reading...