‘Subversion of democracy!’ Nigel Farage attacks Kemi Badenoch as she REFUSES to overrule Tory-led councils’ decision to scrap elections

Left-wing protesters storm House of Lords barriers and target King's throne 

Anti-House of Lords campaigners have stormed the historic parliamentary chamber to stage a protest calling for its abolishment.

The left-wing activists from protest group Assemble clambered over barriers during a tour of Parliament.

They then proceed to reveal a banner that said: “Replace the Lords.”

According to the group, some of its members were detained by the Metropolitan Police but were later released

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Reform says Kemi Badenoch 'doesn't care' about democracy 

Reform UK has accused Kemi Badenoch of not caring about democracy over plans by Tory councils to delay local elections.

A spokesman for the Conservatives said the Party leader wants elections to go ahead, but "it is ultimately a decision for local Council leaders".

In response, Reform UK said: "Kemi Badenoch doesn’t care about democracy."

Zia Yusuf accused Ms Badenoch of "thinking the British public are idiots".

"Kemi is far worse than Starmer," he wrote to X.

Kemi Badenoch will not overrule Tory councils which request to delay local elections

Kemi Badenoch will not overrule Conservative-led councils which request to postpone next year's elections, a Tory spokesman has said.

Nine out of the 63 councils which must tell the Government if they want to delay their May elections by January 15 are Tory controlled.

Two of the those, East and West Sussex County Councils, have already said they will request to postpone the elections.

A Conservative spokesman said: "Kemi is the Conservative Party leader, but she respects local Conservative Council leaders.

"She has been clear that she wants the local elections to go ahead, but it is ultimately a decision for local Council leaders."

Green Party councillor gives up whip amid 'investigation' 

A Green Party councillor has given up his whip amid an "investigation".

Lancashire County Council councillor, Sohail Asghar, who serves the Accrington West & Oswaldtwistle Central ward, has voluntarily stepped away from the party, its local leader has confirmed.

Councillor Gina Dowding, leader of the Greens on the council said, according to LancsLive: “Councillor Asghar has voluntarily given up the Green Party whip because there is an investigation.

“This will remain the case until the investigation is completed.”

WATCH: Dawn Neesom hits out at GB News guest for slamming 'gender-critical ideology'

Reform UK slams election postponement as 'the subversion of democracy'

Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf have slammed the decision to postpone local elections.

Party leader Mr Farage said: "The subversion of democracy begins… Tory controlled East and West Sussex will cancel their elections for a second year in a row.

"Does Kemi Badenoch believe in holding these elections, or does she have no authority over her party?"

Reform's Head of Policy Mr Yusuf added: "As I predicted, two Tory councils have already said they’re taking Starmer up on his offer to cancel elections for a 2nd year. Do not let them get away with it."

Council tax raid looms as Labour lifts cap in six areas - thousands face steep bill rise

Six councils in the UK have been granted permission by the government to increase council tax beyond the standard five per cent threshold without seeking approval from residents through a referendum.

These councils will have the power to make larger council tax hikes after Labour has reduced their share of government funding

Wandsworth, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea, and Windsor and Maidenhead will be exempt from rules that normally require council tax rises of five per cent or more to be approved by a local referendum

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Ex-soldier who burnt down MP’s office denies targeting politician

A former soldier who admitted burning down an MP’s constituency office disputes that he deliberately targeted the politician’s premises, a court heard.

Josh Oliver, 28, had been living rough near the offices of Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Gateshead South, when he set fire to a bin store at the building in September.

At a previous hearing before Newcastle Magistrates, he admitted arson on the basis that he was reckless. The case was listed on Friday at Newcastle Crown Court to fix a sentencing date.

Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, outlined the background to the offences, saying Oliver was discharged from the army because of his behaviour and went to live with his father.

Mr Perks said the defendant’s father confirmed a "significant deterioration" in his son’s mental health, which led to him living rough near the offices.

The prosecution said CCTV images filmed over the days preceding the fire showed Oliver breaking windows at Vermont House, damaging it, and burgling the building before finally setting fire to the bin store.

Mr Perks said the fire "took out the entire building."

As well as serving as the MP’s constituency office, Vermont House also accommodated a veterans’ mental health service operated by the NHS and a charity for people with extremely rare genetic diseases.

Lee Fish, defending Oliver, who was not in court, said: "He disputes he deliberately targeted the Member of Parliament. He disputes he intended to set fire to the entire building. He said he was reckless."

The court was told Oliver, who is in prison awaiting sentence, had not co-operated with the preparation of a psychiatric report or engaged with probation.

Recorder Jeremy Barnett said a Newton Hearing, where the facts relating to the guilty plea will be decided, should take place on March 9.

WATCH: Alex Armstrong skewers Labour's attempt to tackle misogyny with new 'helpline' - 'We're paying for this'

GB News host Alex Armstrong has torn into Labour's latest attempt to tackle misogyny in Britain's young men, branding the plan an "utter joke".

Discussing the newly announced violence against women and girls strategy, the Britain's Newsroom star criticised the "nonsense" helpline, declaring it the work of "north Islington elites".

Labour's new strategy will fund teachers receiving specialist training on how to talk to pupils about issues like consent and the dangers of sharing intimate images, with experts brought in to pilot new approaches.

Sinn Féin accused of 'misinformation' in blistering Stormont education row

Stormont Education Minister in Stormont Paul Givan has accused Sinn Féin of "misinformation" around teachers’ pay.

He also complained of delay in terms of the Executive approving his bid to spend extra money to give teachers a pay deal in 2025/26.

Mr Givan said he made a bid for £38million from the recent December Monitoring Round earlier this month but received around £25million, leaving a shortfall.

On Thursday Mr Givan announced he had been given permission for a ministerial directive to overspend his budget.

He also claimed that the item "hadn’t been allowed on the agenda" at an Executive meeting on Wednesday.

He said: "The Finance Minister (John O’Dowd) had publicly claimed that he had secured £37million over a month ago, and that informed the expectation within the trade unions and indeed the wider teaching profession, that we were on a pathway to securing this>"

BBC review into itself concludes NO PROBLEM with editing guidelines despite Trump Panorama scandal

A new report has found the BBC’s editing guidelines do not need to be altered in the wake of controversy surrounding the editing of a Donald Trump speech.

The BBC’s Director of Editorial Complaints and Reviews Peter Johnston, conducted an internal review of the Panorama programme, "Trump: A Second Chance?".

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

​Rachel Reeves welcomes EU loan to Ukraine 

Rachel Reeves said the UK’s support for Ukraine remains "iron-clad" as she welcomed a European deal to provide billions more in financial support for Kyiv.

The European Council agreed on Thursday to provide an interest-free loan worth £78.8billion to support Ukraine’s military and economic needs over the next two years.

The Chancellor said she is "pleased" a deal had been reached, adding: "The UK’s support for Ukraine remains iron-clad.

"We will work with partners to urgently consider options to ensure that Ukraine gets the funding it needs."

Keir Starmer left red-faced as Reform storms to victory in Labour stronghold as millions face election delays

Reform UK has gained a council seat in a key Labour stronghold as the two parties clash over local election delays.

The Conservatives also saw off competition from the Liberal Democrats after voters headed to the polls in the final set of council by-elections this year.

Nigel Farage's party was handed a victory as they gained a seat on Blackpool Borough Council, while the Tories took one on Harborough District Council from the Lib Dems.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Former Brexit negotiator blasts Erasmus scheme as 'total turkey'

Lord Frost has slammed the Erasmus scheme as "total turkey" as the UK looks set to rejoin the Brussels scheme.

Writing in The Telegraph, the former Brexit negotiator said: "I don’t have an ideological difficulty with us rejoining Erasmus. It all depends on the terms.

"The problem with Erasmus is that countries which receive more students than they send, like the UK, always pay more in than they get out."

WATCH: Theo Usherwood reacts to reports that the May local elections could be delayed

Labour MPs 'feeling like idiots' over new council funding plans

Northern Labour MPs have been left "feeling like idiots" amid new funding plans for local councils.

A new "funding formula" for local government is set to come in, with some backbenchers concerned it will will hurt deprived northern areas and benefit the capital.

Under the new plans, income deprivation after housing costs will be taken into account for funding, rather than before, meaning areas with higher housing costs, like London and the south east, will do much better.

Also, the new formula removes remoteness as a factor in the cost of delivering services (with an exception for adult social care). Therefore, more sparsely populated communities will do worse, compared to cities.

The top five winners from the finance settlement, released on Wednesday, are Luton, Enfield, Harlow, Hounslow and Hillingdon, reports The New Statesman.

The major losers are Trafford, Wigan, Sunderland, South Tyneside, Gateshead, Knowsley, Stockport, St Helens, Wirral, Sefton and North Tyneside.

One backbench Labour MP said: "I’m absolutely furious. I am so angry.

"The north-south divide is getting bigger under a Labour government. And what it looks like for the north west and the Midlands is that austerity is going to continue while you’ve got Heathrow expansion, train lines for Oxford and Cambridge and the rest.

"It’s like two different countries. We promised change in the election and we have been made to feel like idiots. We’re supposed to be sorting out inequality not adding to it."

WATCH: James Cleverly launches scathing attack on 'arrogant' Labour over delay to elections

Labour 'pretty confident' visa details not leaked to Beijing 

The Government has said it is "pretty confident" that no individuals have had their details "compromised" in a data breach at the Foreign Office.

Business minister Sir Chris Bryant told Times Radio that reports in The Sun, published on Thursday night, were not completely accurate.

Reports claimed a Beijing-linked cyber gang had targeted Government servers in October and accessed information relating to visa details.

Sir Chris said: "I’m actually going to take some of the details that you’ve just put out there off the table, because I’m not sure that they’re necessarily accurate.

"You just referred to potentially affecting thousands of visas. We are very confident that in the investigation that we’ve done so far, that nobody, no individual will have been harmed or compromised by what has happened.

"There certainly has been a hack, I can say that, I’m not able to say whether it is directly related to Chinese operatives or indeed the Chinese state."

Government borrowing higher than expected after winter fuel payments U-turn

Borrowing fell last month to its lowest November level for four years but was still higher than expected as figures for the year so far were pushed higher due to the Government’s U-turn on winter fuel payments.

Official figures showed borrowing stood at £11.7billion last month, £1.9billion less than in November last year and the lowest for that month since 2021 thanks to a sharp fall in debt interest payments.

But the figure was more than the £10.3billion expected by most economists and the £8.6billion forecast in March by the UK’s independent fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Borrowing for the eight months of the financial year so far was £132.3billion, £10billion higher than the same period a year ago and £16.8billion higher than the OBR forecast in March.

RECAP: Christian Turner announced as Britain’s new US Ambassador

Britain’s new ambassador to the US is veteran diplomat Christian Turner, the Government has announced.

The veteran diplomat, currently the UK’s permanent representative to the United Nations, will take on the role following the sacking of Peter Mandelson in September.

Lord Mandelson was removed from his post after the extent of his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.

No10 will now request Washington’s formal consent.

Reform 'will implode on first contact with reality' rather than form a successful Government, says Sir Geoffrey Cox

Reform UK "will implode on the first contact with reality, like a bubble blown from a child's wand" rather than form a Government able to run the country successfully, a former Conservative Cabinet minister has said.

Sir Geoffrey Cox, Attorney General between 2018 and 2020, said that Reform did not have the "regimental tradition to be able to face the enemy".

Critics say that Reform could not match the Tories for the necessary organisation and experienced leaders to set up and run a Government if, as polls suggest, it wins the next general election, expected in 2029.

You can watch the former senior Tory on Chopper's Political Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, GBNews, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Kemi Badenoch calls for immigration crackdown 'from cultures that don’t respect women'

Kemi Badenoch has launched a scathing attack on Labour, calling for a crackdown on immigration from cultures and countries "that don't respect women."

The Conservative leader attacked the Government’s strategy for halving violence against women and girls, saying it was too focused on young boys and too influenced by the hit Netflix series Adolescence.

Writing in The Telegraph, she said: "Lecturing schoolboys about respect, as Labour intend to do, is really an attempt to change the subject.

"The current Government don’t have the backbone to do what’s right.Conservatives take violence against women and girls seriously, because we focus on punishing the perpetrators, not performative gestures aimed at the innocent."