Author: James Carter

Sir Keir Starmer’s political position has been severely weakened after the senior civil servant he publicly blamed for the Mandelson vetting scandal struck back, telling MPs he had been subjected to an “atmosphere of pressure” from Downing Street and had felt the appointment was being driven through regardless of security concerns. Sir Olly Robbins, who was dismissed from his role as the Foreign Office’s top official last week, gave explosive testimony to a parliamentary committee in which he said No10 had “chased” the posting and been “dismissive” of the need for formal security vetting. He described walking into a situation…

He wants to legalise every drug known to man, shut right-wingers out of society, and once claimed he could make women’s breasts grow larger through the power of hypnosis. Meet Zack Polanski — Green Party leader, self-styled political radical, and arguably the most colourful figure in British politics right now. This week, Polanski added a new entry to his already extraordinary public record, questioning on his own podcast whether people with right-wing views should simply be excluded from the society he intends to build. For a man whose past includes charging women £222 a session for hypnotherapy breast enlargement treatments,…

One of Labour’s most prominent green backers has turned on the party’s flagship home energy programme, arguing that nearly £2.7 billion earmarked for heat pump subsidies should be diverted to fill the Government’s growing defence spending gap instead. Dale Vince, founder of green energy company Ecotricity and a long-standing Labour donor, said the Boiler Upgrade Scheme — which offers households up to £7,500 towards the cost of installing a heat pump under Ed Miliband’s Warm Homes Plan — amounted to handing public money to people who already had the means to pay for the upgrades themselves. With Britain facing mounting…

Nigel Farage has set out the most detailed account yet of how a Reform UK government would tackle illegal migration, promising to pay unwanted migrants up to £1,000 to leave Britain voluntarily and warning that those who refuse would be forcibly removed by a newly created deportation unit. Farage and home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf presented the plans at a press conference, confirming that a Reform government elected in 2029 would conduct a retrospective review of all asylum grants made over the preceding five years. Those found to have entered the country illegally — whether by small boat, concealed in…

Sir Keir Starmer will face one of the most significant tests of his premiership in the Commons today, as he attempts to explain his role in the appointment of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador despite the Labour grandee having failed security checks. The Prime Minister is expected to make a statement addressing what he knew about the vetting process, following a week in which the affair has escalated rapidly into a full-blown political crisis. The Foreign Office’s most senior official, Sir Olly Robbins, was dismissed last week after it emerged that Lord Mandelson had been granted developed vetting status despite…

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has set out plans to detain and deport up to 400,000 asylum seekers should the party win the next general election, in what would represent the most sweeping overhaul of Britain’s immigration system ever proposed by a mainstream political party. The policy, unveiled as the party continues to build its pre-election platform, would target anyone who arrived in the UK illegally in the five years prior to a Reform government taking office. That encompasses those who crossed the Channel by small boat, entered clandestinely in lorries, claimed asylum using fraudulent documentation, or overstayed an existing visa…

Britain’s pub trade is facing an anxious wait over the coming weeks as brewers warn that the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Iran could trigger a shortage of carbon dioxide — the gas that puts the fizz in draught beer — just as the World Cup gets under way. CO2 is an essential component in carbonating drinks and dispensing beer through taps, and its supply has historically been vulnerable to disruption during periods of geopolitical instability. With the tournament beginning in under two months, industry figures are watching the situation closely and urging the Government to take action…

White House officials are said to be privately discussing who might succeed Kash Patel as FBI Director, according to reports emerging in the wake of a damaging profile published by The Atlantic that alleges erratic behaviour and a persistent drinking problem within the bureau’s senior leadership. The piece, written by journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick, paints a troubling picture of Patel’s conduct since taking charge of the agency. Multiple current and former officials cited in the report described him as “erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions without sufficient evidence.” Several sources also claimed his drinking had become “a…

British schools that sign up to the EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme will be required to teach pupils about European integration, display the EU flag and acknowledge the European project’s benefits — conditions that Conservative MPs say amount to government-sanctioned propaganda aimed at children as young as four. Labour finalised the UK’s return to the £570 million-a-year scheme this week, with ministers describing it as a significant opportunity for young people to study and work on the continent. But details buried in the small print of the agreement have drawn fierce criticism from Tory politicians, who argue the accompanying obligations…

A congressional financial disclosure listing US Representative Ilhan Omar’s assets at up to $30 million has been dramatically revised downward following intervention by a watchdog body, with an amended filing now placing her total holdings at under $100,000. The corrected document, reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, shows that Omar and her husband’s combined assets fall between $18,004 and $95,000 — a stark contrast to the original filing, which had estimated their holdings at between $6 million and $30 million. Her office attributed the discrepancy to an accounting error, stating the amendment was made “as soon as the discrepancy was…