Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has called for urgent action to end political abuse just hours after vandals wrote ‘f**k off home’ on the Reform UK office.
The campaign office, located on Caerphilly's Cardiff Road, had an expletive message emblazoned across its shutters.
"Now you can f**k off home," the vandals wrote. Photographs of Reform's campaign office circulated on social media yesterday.
Reform UK had been eyeing up its first major electoral victory in Wales on Thursday.
Now, a parliamentary investigation has identified flaws in criminal justice procedures as a factor enabling an escalating pattern of intimidation towards public figures.
MPs from across the political spectrum have united to denounce what they describe as increasingly routine harassment and threats directed at parliamentarians and electoral candidates.
The committee has put forward proposals requiring intervention from multiple sectors, including Government departments, oversight organisations, news outlets and the broader public, to establish stronger safeguards for elected representatives whilst preserving vigorous yet courteous political exchanges.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle said in a statement: "Standing for election and representing your community is something anyone should be able to aspire to.
"But the current climate of toxic political discourse is having a corrosive effect on our democracy, and is discouraging people from participating in our democratic process. The perception that it is acceptable to abuse public figures must end."
He added that the "onus is on all of us to moderate political discourse and ensure it does not cross the line into abuse, intimidation or violence".
Government warned wrongful release 'likely to happen' again
The Government have been warned that wrongful releases from prison are "likely to happen" again following the accidental discharge of an Ethiopian sex offender.
Steve Gillan, the union's general secretary, said: "We have a criminal justice system in crisis with our prisons overcrowded and understaffed with a staff cohort under pressure like never before.
"Unless these issues are dealt with urgently, then mistakes like this are likely to happen."
He added that the POA will cooperate with the investigation into what went wrong when the Epping asylum seeker was released to freely walk the streets of Britain.
One member of staff at HMP Chelmsford has been suspended, pending investigation.
According to Government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025, a 128 per cent increase on 115 in the previous 12 months.
Nigel Farage 'very unhappy' with Sarah Pochin's 'ugly' comment as grooming gang survivor slams media double standards
Nigel Farage has said he is "very unhappy" with Sarah Pochin's "ugly" comment as a grooming gangs survivor slammed the media for double standards.
Ms Pochin said: "It drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people".
She later apologised and said her comments were "phrased poorly" but maintained that many adverts were "unrepresentative of British society".
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Mr Farage said: "I am unhappy with what she has done."
He added that the comments came in the context of "DEI madness".
Mr Farage said: "I understand the basic point, but the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong and was ugly, and if I thought that the intention behind it was racist, I would have taken a lot more action than I have to date."
Grooming gangs victim pens letter to Keir Starmer as he risks 'silencing and failing' affected women
Grooming gang victim Carly Helliwell has written to Keir Starmer, warning that he risks “silencing and failing us again.”
She has urged the PM to ensure that Jess Phillips is no longer involved in the inquiry after she suggested that victims had lied about the widening scope.
Calls for Jess Philips to stand down have been ongoing since a group of four survivors resigned from the inquiry's panel.
They argue that the inquiry should focus exclusively on grooming gangs and should not include other forms of child sexual abuse.
China spy case evidence was not strong enough for trial, says chief prosecutor
The Government’s evidence in the China spying case was not strong enough to take it to trial, the chief prosecutor for England and Wales has said.
Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), declined to directly blame anyone for the collapse of the trial in September.
However, he said evidence given by Deputy National Security Adviser (DNSA) Matt Collins was central to its end.
The collapse of the case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, who both denied charges under the Official Secrets Act, has triggered a Westminster blame game.
Speaking at the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS), Mr Parkinson insisted the failure of the case was not "a question of blame".
He added: "The responsibility of prosecutors is to place cases before the court on the basis of sufficient evidence to secure a conviction.
"And ultimately, the issue in this case is that we were not able to provide the evidence to sustain the case in respect of one essential element, which was the element that China was an enemy, as was required by the statute."
Robert Jenrick asks David Lammy will he resign if wrongfully released Epping sex offender not deported by end of the week
Robert Jenrick asked whether David Lammy will resign
| GB NEWSRobert Jenrick asked whether David Lammy will resign if Hadush Kebatu is not deported "by the end of the week".
The Conservative shadow justice secretary claimed that "Kebatu would never have even stepped foot in prison in the first place" under Government "plans to abolish short prison sentences”.
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Mr Lammy repeated "no" from his seat as Mr Jenrick made the claim.
"We had the spectacle of the Metropolitan Police scouring London to find a man the Justice Secretary is simultaneously legislating to avoid sending to prison," Mr Jenrick continued: "What an absolute farce."
Mr Jenrick asked: “What is the Justice Secretary going to do now to address the way in which problems in our prisons are covered up routinely or wished away?”
He later added: "Can the Justice Secretary give the House his cast iron assurance that this man will be deported from our country by the end of the week, as he promised on the news on Sunday? And if he fails, will he take responsibility and resign?”
Robert Jenrick: 'The only illegal migrants this Government are stopping are those that actually want to leave the UK'
Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has claimed “the only illegal migrants this Government are stopping are those that actually want to leave the UK”.
Responding to Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy, Mr Jenrick told the Commons: "Dear oh dear. Where to begin? This Justice Secretary could not deport the only small boat migrant who wanted – no – who tried to be deported.
"Having been mistakenly released, Hadush Kebatu came back to prison asking to be deported not once, not twice, but five times, but he was turned away.
"The only illegal migrants this Government are stopping are those that actually want to leave the UK.
"His officials, briefing the press, called it the mother of all – yeah, they’re not wrong, are they?"
Mr Lammy laughed as Mr Jenrick continued: "Calamity Lammy strikes again. It’s a national embarrassment and today the Justice Secretary feigns anger at what happened."
David Lammy blames Conservative Party for accidental release of Epping sex offender
David Lammy attempted to attribute the cause of Hadush Kebatu’s accidental release to the legacy of the prison system inherited from the Conservative Party.
Mr Lammy said there had been a 30 per cent cut in prison staffing, and more than half of frontline prison officers now have less than five years’ experience.
He said: "It’s little wonder when the system has been brought to its knees that errors like this happen. We must also be honest that the previous government’s approach to this crisis, piecemeal, complex emergency releases in the hope that the system wouldn’t collapse has added to a level of complexity and pressure that makes errors more likely."
Conservative MPs objected to Mr Lammy’s description, with Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) shouting at him Kebatu’s release had been “on your watch”.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary said the Government was building 14,000 more prison places during the Parliament, and had already created 2,500.
He said Labour was deporting 14 per cent more foreign criminals than the Conservatives at 5,179.
Mr Lammy continued: “I’m clear that releases in error are not simply a fact of life. The public will not accept that, and neither does the Government. We’ll get to the bottom of what happened in this case, we will take whatever steps necessary to tackle the spike in releases in error, so that we can uphold the first duty of every Government, to keep the public safe of harm.”
David Lammy announces radical overhaul of prison release rules
Speaking to MPs in the House of Commons, David Lammy said that the early release scheme for prisoners across the nation is due to face a radical overhaul of release rules.
Addressing MPs three days after an Ethiopian sex attacker was accidentally freed, he said that it "appears to have been human error" that led to the release.
He further confirmed that His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are investigating the matter.
He added that "any foreign national offender being removed through the Early Removal scheme can now only be discharged when the duty governor is physically present and there will be no errors".
The Early Removal scheme was initially meant to remove Hadush Kebatu from the UK.
262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025 – a 128 per cent increase on 115 in the previous 12 months
According to Government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025
|PA
According to Government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March 2025, a 128 per cent increase on 115 in the previous 12 months.
David Lammy announces independent investigation into wrongful release of Epping sex offender
David Lammy has announced that an independent investigation has been launched
|GB NEWS
David Lammy has announced that an independent investigation has been launched into what went wrong at HMP Chelmsford, where a sex offender was accidentally released into the community.
In a statement to the Commons, the Justice Secretary has set out a series of new measures he has introduced since the mishandling of Hadush Kebatu's release.
Mr Lammy said: "I am today announcing that there will be an in-depth investigation by Dame Lynne Owens.
"I spoke to her yesterday, the former Deputy Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, director general of the National Crime Agency, and she will fully establish the facts of Hadush Kebatu's release and whether staff had sufficient experience, training and technology.
"She will also talk to the victims in this case to understand the effect this incident had on them.
"Her report will highlight points of failure and make recommendations to help prevent further releases in error, which have been rising year on year since 2021 – going from nine per month on average in 2023, to 17 per month in the period spanning January to June 2024.
"And I’m clear that a single release in error is one too many, which is why we have launched this independent investigation.
"And I can tell the House that it will have the same status as those into other prison incidents, including the awful attack on three prison officers at HMP Franklin in April of this year, and the escape of Daniel Khalife from HMP Wandsworth in 2023 under the last Government."
UK signs major £8 BILLION deal with Turkey as Britain to supply 20 new Typhoon fighter jets
The deal is the biggest fighter jet deal in almost 20 years | PAThe UK has signed an £8billion deal with Turkey to supply 20 new Typhoon fighter jets.
The Prime Minister visited Ankara for the first time today, where he described the deal as "a win for British workers, a win for our defence industry, and a win for Nato security".
It is the first new order for UK Typhoons since 2017 and the largest in two decades.
The Government says the deal will help sustain a 20,000-strong UK-wide workforce, with production lines in Edinburgh, Warton, Salmesbury and Bristol.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle: 'The perception that it is acceptable to abuse public figures MUST end'
Sir Lindsay Hoyle: 'The perception that it is acceptable to abuse public figures MUST end'
| GETTYCommons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has called for abuse of public figures to end following a parliamentary investigation that identified flaws in criminal justice procedures as a factor enabling this escalating pattern of intimidation.
MPs from across the political spectrum have united to denounce what they describe as increasingly routine harassment and threats directed at parliamentarians and electoral candidates.
The committee has put forward proposals requiring intervention from multiple sectors, including Government departments, oversight organisations, news outlets and the broader public, to establish stronger safeguards for elected representatives whilst preserving vigorous yet courteous political exchanges.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle said in a statement: "Standing for election and representing your community is something anyone should be able to aspire to. But the current climate of toxic political discourse is having a corrosive effect on our democracy, and is discouraging people from participating in our democratic process. The perception that it is acceptable to abuse public figures must end."
He added that the "onus is on all of us to moderate political discourse and ensure it does not cross the line into abuse, intimidation or violence".
Grooming gangs survivor slams media for Sarah Pochin double standards
Speaking alongside Nigel Farage at this afternoon's press conference, grooming gangs survivor Ellie Reynolds said: "I find it quite overwhelming that every single one of these media [outlets] have said something about a comment that was made by Sarah which is understandable - absolutely fine.
"Yet it has taken media decades to recognise grooming gangs that are coming over and raping our children because they are white. That is also racially motivated and it is racist."
Reform leader 'very unhappy' with Sarah Pochin's 'ugly' comment
Sarah Pochin’s suggestion that there were too many black and Asian people in adverts, was “ugly” and “taken on their own could be read to be very, very unpleasant indeed”, Nigel Farage has said.
“I am unhappy with what she has done,” Mr Farage told a press conference.
He added the comments came in the context of “DEI madness”.
Mr Farage added: “I understand the basic point, but the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong and was ugly, and if I thought that the intention behind it was racist, I would have taken a lot more action than I have to date.”
Time for Parliament to 'step up' and intervene in grooming gang scandal - Nigel Farage
It is time for Parliament to “step up” and intervene in the grooming gang scandal, Nigel Farage has said.
The Reform UK leader said he would be speaking to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and would write to the Home Affairs Select Committee about Parliament using its “extraordinary powers” to investigate the grooming gangs scandal.
He suggested both the House of Lords and the House of Commons could be involved in a “commission”.
Mr Farage said: “I am saying, here is the most enormous opportunity for Parliament, and indeed for this Government, to restore some public trust in the institution and those that currently inhabit it on an issue that has been gnawing away at our public consciences for well over a decade.
"I will be with my colleagues meeting the Speaker this evening, I will put these points to him.
"I know that he himself is very keen to re-establish Parliament at the centre of our national debate in this country.
"I will tomorrow write to Dame Karen Bradley, the chair of the Home Affairs committee, suggesting very quickly a sub-committee is set up.
"The advantages of this - the first one is it can be done incredibly quickly.
"The second of this, is it will take place in what we still know as the mother of Parliaments and perhaps re-establish some trust in the institution and it will happen in the full glare of the media and it won't take years to complete."
Inquiry was 'rigged from the start', says survivor
Former grooming gangs survivor Ellie Reynolds said: "We almost felt uncomfortable vocalising the ethnicity of these men.
"Pretty much when we were in that inquiry we were stripped of our voices."
She added that the inquiry was "rigged from the start" and made reference to former police officer Jim Gamble and former social worker Annie Hudson, who were previously announced as candidates to chair the inquiry.
Ms Reynolds concluded her speech by saying the inquiry was "corrupt".
Inquiry was 'mess from the start' - grooming gangs survivor
Ellie Reynolds has said the grooming gangs survivor was a 'mess from the start'
|POOL
Speaking at the press conference, Ellie Reynolds said: "The inquiry that was set up was a mess from the start.
"When I joined the panel we knew from the get-go that it was messy.
"It was a very controlling atmosphere there it was very gaslighting, very manipulative.
We all went on to do the right thing and that was to seek justice, find the truth, to not be silenced anymore and to be able to help our future.
"The way that we were spoken to was very degrading, it was very controlling."
Nigel Farage: 'Grooming gangs inquiry is flawed'
Nigel Farage has described the grooming gangs inquiry as "flawed".
He said: "The inquiry is flawed, the inquiry will not work and we want today to offer a better solution."
He introduced survivor Ellie Reynolds, who is one of five to have withdrawn from the inquiry.
Nigel Farage says he was in 'disbelief' when he first learned of Rotherham grooming gang in 2013
Nigel Farage said he was in 'disbelief' when he first learned of the Rotherham grooming gang scandal
|POOL
Nigel Farage is speaking at a press conference about the grooming gangs inquiry.
He said he first became aware of the scale of grooming gangs on a visit to Rotherham in 2013.
The Reform UK leader said: "I have to say, initially I looked upon it all with a degree of disbelief. surely nothing as large as this, nothing as appalling as this, could have happened on this scale without it breaking as a massive public story."
Kemi Badenoch delivers verdict on accidental release of migrant sex offender: 'I was shocked at the sheer levels of incompetence'
Kemi Badenoch said she was 'shocked at the sheer levels of incompetence' after Hadush Kebatu was wrongly released from prison
|POOL
Kemi Badenoch has said she was "absolutely shocked" at the "sheer levels of incompetence" following Hadush Kebatu's accidental release from prison.
The Tory leader said: "This is a man who should have been deported immediately.
"That is now Conservative policy - all foreign criminals [face] immediate deportation. We don't want them in our country."
Downing Street has said Kebatu will be deported "imminently".
Nigel Farage faces calls to remove whip from Reform MP
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is facing calls to suspend Sarah Pochin
|PA
Nigel Farage is facing calls to suspend a Reform UK MP who said “it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people”.
Labour has written to the party leader asking him to “urgently clarify” whether he endorses the comments made by Sarah Pochin, while the Liberal Democrats have said she must have the whip withdrawn.
Ms Pochin, who became the Reform MP for Runcorn and Helsby after a by-election earlier this year, has said her remarks on Sunday were “phrased poorly” and apologised for any offence caused.
But in a letter to Mr Farage, who is yet to comment publicly on the row, Labour chairwoman Anna Turley said the remarks were “racist” and “your silence is deafening”.
“Do you endorse Sarah Pochin’s comments? And can you confirm if her views on race are welcome in Reform UK?” she wrote on Monday.
“Saying that seeing black and Asian people in TV adverts ‘drives me mad’ is racist. You have the power to withdraw the Reform UK whip from Sarah Pochin. You should do it today.”
Nigel Farage to 'offer a solution to failing grooming gangs inquiry' in live address
Nigel Farage has said he will "offer a solution to the failing grooming gangs inquiry" in a live press conference today.
The Reform UK leader is set to deliver the address at 2pm.
Companies that donated to Labour were awarded £138m in contracts
Companies that donated to Labour were awarded £138million in contracts during the party's first year in power, a new report has shown.
The study by research group The Autonomy Institute investigated the link between donations from private businesses to major political parties in Britain and the awarding of public sector contracts.
It found over the last 25 years, £47million has been donated by companies who have received public contracts in return, totalling £60billion.
The report showed that eight companies which had donated over £580,000 to the Labour Party were awarded contracts worth just under £138million within two years of their contribution, between July 2024 and June 2025.
Tax and spending changes being considered ahead of Budget - Rachel Reeves suggests on visit to Saudi Arabia
Tax and spending changes are being considered ahead of next month’s Budget, Rachel Reeves has suggested.
In an indication that some form of tax rises could be on the table, the Chancellor indicated the Government needed to ensure there was “sufficient headroom” above its spending plans and that its fiscal rules are met.
The Chancellor also suggested she was “confident” a trade deal with the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) could be finalised, as she spoke at Fortune Magazine’s global forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ms Reeves has previously insisted that Labour’s manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT “stands” when questioned about how she will bridge a fiscal black hole in November.
WATCH: Steve Reed calls accidental release of migrant from prison 'catastrophic'
Steve Reed has called the accidental release from prison of a migrant who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl “catastrophic”.
The Housing Secretary said Justice Secretary David Lammy is expected to raise the matter in the Commons today.
“It’s catastrophic,” Mr Reed told GB News.
“David Lammy will be answering questions in the Commons today and he will be announcing the new checks that would be put in place to make sure this kind of thing cannot happen again.”
When told prison officers have raised concerns they do not have capacity for additional checks, Mr Reed said: “When the Justice Secretary stands up in the Commons and tells them they will carry out these checks to stop accidental releases, they will follow his orders.
“We will not tolerate this as a Government or as a country, seeing convicted criminals set loose by accident.
“Absolutely unacceptable.”
Kemi Badenoch says asylum hotels could be shut quickly if PM 'had the backbone'
Kemi Badenoch has spoken out after a report found billions of pounds of taxpayer money had been "wasted" on the asylum hotel system.
The Tory leader wrote to X: "Every asylum hotel could be closed quickly if Keir Starmer had the backbone to take difficult decisions.
"Only the Conservatives have a serious plan to: Leave the ECHR, establish a third country deterrent like Rwanda, create a Removals Force, deport every illegal arrival within a week.
"Only by having a real plan and the team to deliver that plan, will we ever get a grip on the immigration system and end asylum hotels once and for all."
WATCH: Andrew Griffith says 'heads should roll' after report finds billions of taxpayer's money 'wasted' on asylum hotel system
Housing Secretary brands criminal justice system 'broken' after asylum seeker mistakenly released from prison
Steve Reed has said the criminal justice system needs to be 'rebuilt from the bottom up'
|PA
Housing Secretary Steve Reed has said the criminal justice system needs to be "rebuilt from the bottom up" after the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu from prison.
Mr Reed said the debacle was a sign of a “broken” justice system.
"It wasn’t that he made an escape bid: he was released in a way that should not have happened," he told Sky News.
"Now, that is a sign, isn’t it, of a broken criminal justice system.
"But we know that, because when we were elected, the prisons were full up. There wasn’t room to house people who have got custodial sentences in the courts."
David Lammy faces backlash from prison governors after ordering strengthening of release checks on inmates
David Lammy is facing backlash from prison chiefs after ordering the "immediate strengthening" of checks on inmates upon their release.
The Justice Secretary announced plans for the new checks after Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker jailed for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl, was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre.
According to The Telegraph, one prison governor said: "I understand the Government is very eager to prevent this from happening again, but there’s an investigation which has only just been commissioned.
“Until that’s under way, the prison service won’t know what went wrong or whether the proposed checks are what are needed to prevent it happening again."
Another prison chief said it may be a "knee-jerk reaction" to prove to the public that the Government was taking action following the incident.
Officials at centre of collapsed China spy case to appear before parliamentary inquiry
Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash both denied charges under the Official Secrets Act
|PA
Senior officials at the heart of the collapsed China spying case will appear before a parliamentary inquiry today.
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson took the decision to drop the case, blaming the evidence from deputy national security adviser (DNSA) Matt Collins for not demonstrating that China posed a threat to national security.
Both men will give evidence to MPs and peers on the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) this afternoon.
The collapse of the case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry – who both denied charges under the Official Secrets Act – has triggered a Westminster blame game.
The Conservatives have accused Sir Keir Starmer of deliberately collapsing the case to avoid damaging relations with Beijing while the Prime Minister has said the prosecution had to be based on the Tory position – which did not describe China as a threat – at the time of the alleged offences.
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