Author: James Carter

Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes of using Britain’s entry into a €90 billion Ukraine loan scheme as a bargaining chip in post-Brexit reset negotiations have been firmly rebuffed by Brussels, with EU sources making clear that goodwill gestures will not translate into concessions at the negotiating table. The Prime Minister was speaking at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, Armenia, on Monday when he suggested that Britain’s involvement in the loan programme was “very good for UK-EU relations, which is very important as we go on to the various discussions we’re going to have today.” An EU diplomat was blunt…

The leader of the Scottish Family Party has been thrust back into the national spotlight after a video of him challenging Scottish education officials over explicit sex education materials — including school lessons on masturbation, anal sex and oral sex — went viral days before Thursday’s Scottish Parliament election. Richard Lucas confronted then-Education Secretary John Swinney at a National Parent Forum event in 2019, questioning him directly about the content of Scotland’s Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood programme, known as RSHP, which is delivered in Scottish schools. The footage, available on the Scottish Family Party’s YouTube channel, has been shared…

Zack Polanski has accused Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley of interfering in the local elections by issuing a public letter condemning the Green Party leader’s criticism of officers who detained the Golders Green terror suspect — reigniting a row that has dominated the final days of the campaign and drawn fierce condemnation from senior Cabinet ministers. The Green Party leader initially backed down last week, deleting his post and apologising after Sir Mark published an open letter warning that his criticism of officers would “inflame tensions” by amplifying “us and them rhetoric.” But on Sunday, Polanski reversed course again,…

Zack Polanski was confronted on a street in Hastings by a Jewish resident who challenged him directly over his earlier suggestion that Jewish fears of antisemitic attacks may amount to a “perception of unsafety” — a confrontation filmed days after two Jewish men were stabbed in a terrorist attack in Golders Green and which has since gone viral. The video shows a man approaching the Green Party leader and asking repeatedly: “Was yesterday’s attack on the Jewish community a perception of unsafety? I’m not going to cause any trouble. I’m just asking you, Zack.” As Polanski continues walking without responding,…

A Green Party candidate standing in next week’s local elections referred to Jewish people as “cockroaches” in a social media post made just two months after the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, it has emerged — as the party faces mounting pressure over what critics are calling a systemic antisemitism crisis within its ranks. Raja Ateeq, who is standing in the Rushall-Shelfield ward in Walsall, posted the slur on Facebook in December 2023, claiming that “Jewish cockroaches” would not want to return to Gaza and adding that “400K Jewish have flown out of Israel.” He signed off the post with…

Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest point of his second term, with a major new survey showing declining confidence in his personal qualities, decision-making and trustworthiness — and with the erosion now reaching into his own Republican base and 2024 voter coalition. The findings, published this week by the Pew Research Center and reported by Newsweek, paint a picture of a president whose political standing has weakened on almost every measurable dimension since his return to the White House, even as he continues to dismiss negative polling as inaccurate or irrelevant. The sharpest decline is on the…

Sir Keir Starmer has told the British public to brace for an inflation spike caused by the Iran war, warning that even when the Strait of Hormuz reopens “it will not all return to normal” — and using the crisis to make the case for pulling Britain significantly closer to the European Union. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme ahead of next week’s local elections, the Prime Minister endorsed stark Bank of England projections that inflation could rise above six per cent, and said the country faced a choice between reverting to a failed status quo or taking “a…

Rupert Lowe, the Great Yarmouth MP and leader of newly formed political party Restore Britain, has confirmed that all of his party’s candidates are required to speak English as part of a rigorous vetting process ahead of the local elections on 7 May. Lowe, who split from Reform UK earlier this year to launch Restore Britain as a harder-line alternative on immigration, made the remarks in the context of candidate selection, saying the requirement was a basic standard of effective representation. Supporters have welcomed the pledge as common sense, drawing comparisons with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s own comments in 2024…

Sir Keir Starmer’s niece has been selected to stand in one of the safest Labour wards in London, sparking accusations of nepotism from local activists who say she was “parachuted into a safe Labour seat” because of her famous uncle. Ellie Sandover, who is in her mid-20s, will contest Bensham Manor ward in Croydon at next week’s local elections — a seat that has long been considered among Labour’s most secure in the capital. Her mother is Katy Swabey, one of the Prime Minister’s three siblings, who works as a nurse in the care sector. The selection has caused resentment…

From Friday, the legal relationship between millions of renters and their landlords changes in ways not seen for a generation. Whether it delivers the stability its architects promise is another matter entirely. For the first time in more than three decades, the fundamental terms on which private tenancies in England operate have been rewritten. The Renters’ Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May, represents the most substantial overhaul of the rental sector since the early 1990s — affecting an estimated 11 million people who rent from private landlords, as well as the landlords themselves. At its core, the…