Reform UK has outlined a bombastic "day one" assault on net zero as it eyes up drilling the North Sea for oil and gas.
Nigel Farage's party - currently riding high in the polls - is promising to slash taxes and regulation on fossil fuel firms, with Richard Tice carrying out a series of meetings with energy bosses in a bid to win them over.
Thanks to their polling, Tice has been able to sell the idea of a Reform administration to industry chiefs - and has told them to "get their licence applications ready for Reform to fast-track when it comes into government".
"I'm urging them not to give up," Tice told the Financial Times. "There's about to be a sea change in less than four years.
"I want these firms to know they are working with a shadow government that is willing to tick the box as soon as we get in."
The party's deputy leader also pointed to two ways to ensure Britons can make the most of a "drill, baby, drill" outlook to oil and gas.
The first would be forcing firms to give the Government a stake in exchange for granting licences, and the second would be "investing hard equity" - potentially by offering cash up-front to drill in riskier, untapped locations, in exchange for a larger stake.
"We can completely move away from the windfall tax idea because taxpayers will be getting a slug of the profits," he said.
"We will be accused of picking winners, and yes I am picking winners. Oil and gas companies have been huge winners for decades."
Sir Keir Starmer has been pictured meeting US ambassador Warren Stephens
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Sir Keir Starmer has been pictured meeting US ambassador Warren Stephens this afternoon.
Stephens, who shared the image on social media, said that he and Donald Trump were "committed" to working with Starmer - and said he would be telling the White House that the "special relationship" remains "very strong".
"The Prime Minister and I met today to discuss the recent progress made between our countries - from the historic trade deal that we made two weeks ago, to ensuring our long-term security with partnerships such as Aukus," the ambassador said.
"I told the Prime Minister that President Trump and I are committed to working with him and his Government as we advance our shared interests of promoting stability and prosperity worldwide.
"I will report back to Trump that the US-UK special relationship is very strong."
Just 12 per cent of Labour voters oppose their party's "surrender" of the Chagos Islands, damning new data from YouGov has revealed.
The figures, brought to light after a poll of 7,000 Britons on Friday, has found that just six per cent of Labour backers "somewhat oppose" the giveaway, while the same amount "strongly oppose" it.
Combined, 37 per cent of Labour voters support the deal.
And compared to Tory, Lib Dem and Reform voters, a majority of Labour-voting Britons admitted they "didn't know" what they thought of the plans - while just 25 per cent of Reform backers were unsure.
Reform voters were the only group of which a majority expressed an opinion on the handover.
It comes as Boris Johnson has broken his silence on yesterday's "surrender".
"The Chagos surrender is beyond belief," he said. "Why are we paying a foreign country up to £30billion to take an asset that belongs to Britain?
"Why are we damaging our long-term national security? Starmer looks like a man with a bizarre and pointless fetish for self-mutilation."
Scottish Labour chief Anas Sarwar (left) has lashed out at Reform UK
PAScottish Labour chief Anas Sarwar has lashed out at Reform UK after the party highlighted a video in which he called for "Pakistanis to be represented in every mainstream political party in Scotland and across the UK".
Reform had promoted footage of a 2022 speech in which Sarwar had vowed: "The days where South Asian communities get to lead political parties and get to lead countries is upon us."
And now, Sarwar has accused Nigel Farage's party of using "very deliberate dog whistles".
"They want to try and question my identity, my belonging and my loyalty to the country in which I was born, the country with which I identify, the country in which my children were born," he blasted.
"I am a Scot, a proud Scot. Having worked in Scotland’s NHS, I want to deliver a fairer and better Scotland.
“What these guys are, are chancers who want to play on people's fears, to divide us rather than actually deliver meaningful solutions for the people of Scotland."
But he added: "I think many of the people who identify with Reform - I imagine many people who are thinking about voting Reform - I don't think they’re racist, I don't think they're stupid, I don't think that we should talk them down.
"People feel scunnered with politics and are therefore looking for other choices in terms of expressing that frustration.
"The best way of winning those people over is by improving their lives."
Warren Stephens, the new US ambassador to the UK, refused to comment on whether abandoning wind farms and pursuing North Sea oil drilling would be part of future trade talks with Donald Trump.
Stephens met Starmer for the second time at Downing Street today - and a spokesman for the American embassy said: "Today's visit provided an opportunity to convey the priorities of the Trump administration, which includes maximising the US-UK partnership to advance our shared interests, such as the recently announced trade deal and our defence and security alliance which promotes stability and prosperity worldwide."
PICTURED: Friday's landmark Mayoral Council meeting
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Angela Rayner has told Reform UK's new Hull and East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire mayors to avoid "empty headline-grabbing promises" as they descended on Whitehall for their first appearance at her Mayoral Council.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns and Luke Campbell were in Westminster for the first time in their new jobs alongside 12 other regional mayors.
And the Deputy Prime Minister was "clear that local leaders must be held to account as they take back control of decision making", a statement from her Ministry of Housing said.
She also told them to "play their part" in Labour's so-called "plan for change".
"We are ripping up the long-standing 'Whitehall knows best' rhetoric that has for too long stifled growth with a 'one size fits all' approach," Rayner said.
"That's why we are driving forward deeper, strategic devolution, so mayors can make decisions that will actually deliver for their communities.
"Deeper devolution isn't about empty headline-grabbing promises, but doing the hard yards to make meaningful improvements to the day to day lives of working people in line with our plan for change".
Nigel Farage and Richard Tice are eyeing up a 'drill, baby, drill' oil and gas drive
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In the FT's report on Reform UK's Donald Trump-style plans for UK oil and gas, industry executives appear unconvinced about the prospect of Farage in No10.
Reform is still seen by many in the sector as "one good funeral away from oblivion" - a reference to Farage's outsized role in his party, which has drawn criticism in the past by former colleagues Ben Habib and Rupert Lowe.
"By now they should have: a policy unit staffed by informed wonks, a national infrastructure for disseminating policy and holding the party line, and a means to keep the leadership accountable," the executive told the newspaper.
"Instead they look like a 1990s PR firm - one man and his dog."
President Donald Trump has called on Labour to ditch "costly and unsightly" wind turbines and instead to focus on drilling in the North Sea.
The Republican has encouraged Sir Keir Starmer to encourage "modernised drilling" in the North Sea in order to bring down energy costs.
In a post on his Truth Social page, Trump said: "Our negotiated deal with the United Kingdom is working out well for all.
"I strongly recommend to them, however, that in order to get their Energy Costs down, they stop with the costly and unsightly windmills, and incentivise modernised drilling in the North Sea, where large amounts of oil lay waiting to be taken.
"A century of drilling left, with Aberdeen as the hub. The old fashioned tax system disincentives drilling, rather than the opposite. The UK's Energy Costs would go WAY DOWN, and fast!"
The President has a long history of calling for further natural resource extraction, with Trump using the phrase "Drill, Baby, Drill" during his 2024 campaign.
US President Donald Trump
GettyDonald Trump has called for a 50 per cent tariff on all European Union imports.
The US President accused the EU of exploiting the United States and said trade talks had collapsed.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has welcomed Donald Trump's comments encouraging "modernised drilling" in the North Sea.
He told The Telegraph: "Trump is 100 per cent right. Lower energy costs have powered the American economy whilst we de-industrialise.
"I will be visiting Aberdeen very soon to meet what is left of the industry."
Mary Glindon was the first Labour MP to sign the motion
PA
A Labour MP has become the first from Sir Keir Starmer's party to call for Lucy Connolly to be freed from prison.
Mary Glindon, the MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, has broken ranks with the party by signing an early day motion (EDM) drafted by former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe.
She told The Telegraph: "I simply signed the EDM because I was very upset that Lucy had lost her appeal, and that her young daughter would be without her mother for a longer period."
Children will be taught how to avoid getting into debt and spot scams as part of a new school curriculum hailed as "common sense" by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
It comes as Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis warned that young children were not being taught vital skills to manage their finances and many enter the workforce unable to understand their own wages.
Phillipson said: "Children should learn about financial literacy – it's common sense. Our Plan for Change will make it happen. With our Children's Wellbeing & Schools Bill, every child will benefit from an education that leaves them ready for work, ready for life."
Shadow Policing Minister Matt Vickers has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's "insane" Chagos deal, after signing a £10billion agreement.
In an announcement on Thursday, the Labour leader confirmed Britain's newly signed deal with Mauritius on the future of the Diego Garcia base, claiming the staggering cost was "part and parcel of Britain's global reach".
Kemi Badenoch has said Donald Trump will be "laughing" at the Chagos Islands agreement because the US president has got a "great deal at the expense of the UK."
The Tory leader told BBC Breakfast: "Donald Trump is laughing at that Chagos deal. He’s welcoming it because he’s not going to have to pay very much, if anything at all.
"He’s got a great deal at the expense of the UK. That’s not right. It hasn’t been done in our national interest.
"What I want to see is more nurses being paid well but we can’t do that because we’re taking a lot of terrible decisions under Keir Starmer that are weakening our country."
Former Home Secretary James Cleverly has accused Sir Keir Starmer of wrongly taking credit for a significant 50 per cent reduction in immigration numbers, claiming the drop is due to Conservative policies that the Labour leader previously opposed.
Speaking to GB News, Cleverly said the decrease in migration figures was primarily the result of visa rule changes he implemented while serving as Home Secretary under Rishi Sunak's Government.
"I find it pretty galling that he's been taking credit for this reduction in migration numbers," Cleverly told GB News.
NHS junior doctors take part in a march and rally in the centre of Birmingham
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Health ministers are preparing for a fresh set of strikes as doctors denounced pay rises of up to 5.4 per cent this year as "derisory" and threatened to take action in protest.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said increases of four per cent for consultants, GPs, specialists and speciality doctors and four per cent plus £750 for resident doctors (formerly known as junior doctors) were "woefully inadequate."
Philip Banfield, the union’s chair of council, told The Guardian: "The health secretary can avert strike action by negotiating with us and agreeing a route to full pay restoration."
Household energy bills will fall by around seven per cent this summer after Ofgem confirmed its latest price cap update.
From July, the average annual bill for a typical household will drop by £129 to £1,720, down from the current level of £1,849.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the fall is welcome but stressed that the Government will continue to work towards clean energy to get off the "rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets."
He said: "This fall in energy bills is welcome news for families across the country and will mean that working people keep more of their money in the coming months."
The Liberal Democrats managed to hold on to a trio of council by-elections which took place overnight.
Sir Ed Davey's party managed to hold on in Carshalton South & Clockhouse ward on Sutton Council, Hedge End South ward on Eastleigh Council and Horsham Riverside on West Sussex Council.
The party saw big gains in the local elections with 370 councillors across England, gaining control of Shropshire, Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire councils.
Not a single extra fish will be taken from UK fishing waters as a result of the Labour Government's Brexit reset deal, the minister behind Sir Keir Starmer's negotiations has told GB News.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, also told GB News' Chopper's Political Podcast that the UK was not on a course to rejoin the European Union after the deal, which was dismissed as a surrender by the Government's critics.
