Tags: wtf, funny

271 points, 103 comments.

Tags: FAFO, random, meme

533 points, 102 comments.

GB News' Royal Correspondent Cameron Walker has analysed Prince Harry's lawyers' writing to the Home Secretary, examined King Charles's reaction to King Harald V's death, and detailed Princess Anne's surprising encounter in Scotland.

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Prince Harry's lawyers urge Home Secretary to act over security

Prince Harry’s lawyers have written to the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, urging her to personally intervene in the decision over whether the Duke of Sussex and his family are entitled to taxpayer-funded police protection.

It is understood the Sussexes, who moved back to the UK this week, are currently relying on their unarmed private bodyguards and a police liaison telephone number.

It is unknown what the latest Risk Management Board (RMB), which assesses the threat level against Prince Harry and his family, found at the end of last month.

Those findings, it’s thought, are currently with the committee responsible for deciding which individuals receive police protection (Ravec).

Ravec, made up of an independent group of Government, intelligence, police and Royal Household officials, will now decide whether to provide the Sussexes with more protection, at British taxpayers’ expense.

The question, therefore, is why Harry’s lawyers have written to the Home Secretary, when she does not have the power to order the metropolitan police to provide more protection for him.

Legally, Ms Mahmood is politically responsible and accountable to Parliament for protective security policy.

She could, in theory, ask Ravec to reconsider Prince Harry’s case and speed up the process; civil servant holidays are probably not acceptable excuses for a delay in a decision, when Prince Harry and his family have already moved into their new home.

The Home Secretary has effectively delegated the powers to Ravec, who should make their decision based only on evidence of threat and perceived risk.

So, how will Shabana Mahmood react?

The Home Office routinely refuses to comment on individual security arrangements.

Remember, Prince Harry lost his High Court battle to get his taxpayer-funded security reinstated on an ad hoc basis, visiting the UK from California.

Arguably, however, the goalposts have now shifted; Prince Harry, Meghan and their children are back living in Britain.

On the other hand, I predict British taxpayers will be infuriated if they are forced to pay for the security of two unpopular and unofficial royals.

Despite this, politicians from both sides of the House have called for Prince Harry and his family to be reinstated, but others have made it clear he should pay for it himself.

A High Court judge has ruled the police cannot be hired by wealthy individuals for their own private security needs.

So, we await the inner workings of Whitehall, used to moving at a glacial pace, to finally make a decision and put us all out of our misery.

King Charles mourns the death of his cousin, King Harald

On Friday, Norway’s Royal House announced the death of His Majesty King Harald V, the cousin of King Charles III.

Shortly after the announcement, Buckingham Palace and other royal residences in the United Kingdom lowered the flags to half-mast as a sign of respect.

A special musical tribute was also played outside Buckingham Palace on Friday, during the Guard Change.

In a deeply personal and emotional statement, King Charles said: “It is with the most profound sadness that my wife and I have learned of the death of my dear cousin, King Harald V of Norway.

“For thirty-five years, King Harald served his people with unwavering dedication, guiding Norway through times of great change with warmth and humility.

“As Norway mourns the loss of so towering a figure, my whole family join in remembering a much-loved kinsman and friend whose kindness, compassion and deep sense of duty echoed from across the sea and across the decades.

“The United Kingdom and Norway share particularly close historical and family ties, with Britain one of the first countries to recognise Norwegian independence and establish diplomatic relations in 1905.

“These special bonds were even further strengthened during the dreadful trials of the Second World War and help to bind our two countries together.

“The Queen and I extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Queen Sonja and all her family, as Britain shares in Norway’s grief at this time of such heartbreaking loss.

“Charles R”.

King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway attended Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral in September 2022.

Senior members of the Royal Family are expected to travel to Oslo for King Harald’s state funeral, in a show of diplomatic unity.

'Keep going!' Princess Anne takes runner by surprise in Scotland

A Scottish runner was taken by surprise when he bumped into Princess Anne during his morning exercise in rural Scotland on Thursday.

Finlay Jacobs explained he was running along a remote road when a woman got out of a car near a secluded house.

The two of them said "good morning" to each other, before the penny dropped and he realised it was the King's sister, Princess Anne.

Mr Jacobs took to Instagram to tell his story, explaining that the Princess Royal encouraged him to "keep going" and not interrupt his morning exercise routine.

He explained he wanted to grab a selfie with her but decided against asking out of fear of upsetting Princess Anne's private holiday in Scotland.

The Princess Royal spent time with the King and other members of the Royal Family at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire earlier this month.

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Andy Burnham will abstain from next month's crunch vote on legalising assisted dying in England and Wales, saying he does not want to "unduly influence" MPs.

The Prime Minister has told Labour MPs he will not cast a vote when the controversial legislation returns to the House of Commons on September 11.

His decision comes after he warned that Britain's palliative and social care system should be fixed before consideration is given to legalising assisted dying.

Mr Burnham has previously indicated that his position has shifted over the years towards supporting the principle of assisted dying.

But in a letter to the Parliamentary Labour Party, he said remaining on the sidelines was the "most appropriate" course of action as Prime Minister.

He wrote: "I, of course, have my own personal views on the issue.

"However, I am also clear that this is a matter for Parliament to decide and my role, as the Prime Minister, will be to lead a Government that implements the will of Parliament in this area – whether that is to change the law or not.

"I also do not want to unduly influence the debate as Prime Minister and for every colleague to know it is a genuinely free vote.

"For these reasons, I have taken the decision that it is most appropriate for me not to vote at second reading."

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death.

Applications would require approval from two doctors and an expert panel.

The legislation is being brought forward by Labour MP Lauren Edwards after its previous version ran out of parliamentary time.

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It was originally introduced by Kim Leadbeater in late 2024 and passed two Commons votes before stalling in the House of Lords.

Mr Burnham was not an MP when the legislation previously came before the Commons and therefore did not have a vote.

Speaking last month, he said "something that needs to happen first" was "the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care".

The Prime Minister has also warned ministers they "should avoid being part of the public debate" or expressing views about the implications for their departments.

The Government will remain officially neutral, with MPs allowed to vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.

Mr Burnham said there was "no single right position" on the issue and expressed his "deep respect for MPs on all sides".

Ms Edwards welcomed the Prime Minister's confirmation that the Government's neutral position remained unchanged.

She said: "Andy Burnham is absolutely right to say that people’s personal experience around terminal illness lie at the heart of the debate and I welcome his view that everyone’s views should be treated with dignity and respect."

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Tags: nepal, chinese, unexpected, random, wtf

1601 points, 263 comments.

Furious residents in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have torched a makeshift migrant camp as tensions continue to erupt after more than 70,000 people stormed the border from Morocco.

Spanish flag-waving protesters descended on the beachside encampment on Thursday before tearing it apart and setting it ablaze.

Footage showed demonstrators throwing migrants' possessions into the sea as the makeshift settlement was destroyed.

Migrants could be seen watching as flames engulfed the camp, while police later formed a line separating the two groups.

The unrest follows weeks of mounting anger in Ceuta after tens of thousands migrants poured into the North African territory from Morocco last month.

Some residents have described the influx as an "invasion".

The majority of those who crossed have since returned to Morocco, but thousands are estimated to remain in Ceuta, with many living in makeshift shelters along the coastline.

Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska appealed for calm following the destruction.

Addressing parliament, he said: "Violence is not the answer.

He added: "I call for calm and an end to any form of violence, because violence is not the way to resolve any problem with the complexity" of the situation in Ceuta.

Juan Vivas, the president of Ceuta's local government, said residents had a right to demonstrate peacefully against the situation but condemned the violence.

He said: "We totally reject the use of any kind of violence.

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"No one can or should take the law into their own hands. The defence of Ceuta and the interests of its people can only be pursued through legality."

Clashes also erupted on a beach on Thursday where migrants had been sleeping, with demonstrators confronting police officers.

In a separate incident, a soldier was injured after troops were pelted with stones, with 12 Moroccan migrants later arrested.

The disorder followed several days of growing demonstrations over the Spanish government's handling of the migrant crisis.

Hundreds of residents took to the streets on Tuesday before more than 2,000 people gathered outside the Military Hospital the following day.

The facility had been earmarked under government contingency plans to accommodate migrants remaining in Ceuta.

Security personnel were stationed outside the building as government officials met to discuss their response.

Madrid has since declared the migrant situation a matter of national security and moved to centralise its handling of the crisis.

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Furious residents in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have torched a makeshift migrant camp as tensions continue to erupt after more than 70,000 people stormed the border from Morocco.

Spanish flag-waving protesters descended on the beachside encampment on Thursday before tearing it apart and setting it ablaze.

Footage showed demonstrators throwing migrants' possessions into the sea as the makeshift settlement was destroyed.

Migrants could be seen watching as flames engulfed the camp, while police later formed a line separating the two groups.

The unrest follows weeks of mounting anger in Ceuta after tens of thousands migrants poured into the North African territory from Morocco last month.

Some residents have described the influx as an "invasion".

The majority of those who crossed have since returned to Morocco, but thousands are estimated to remain in Ceuta, with many living in makeshift shelters along the coastline.

Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska appealed for calm following the destruction.

Addressing parliament, he said: "Violence is not the answer.

He added: "I call for calm and an end to any form of violence, because violence is not the way to resolve any problem with the complexity" of the situation in Ceuta.

Juan Vivas, the president of Ceuta's local government, said residents had a right to demonstrate peacefully against the situation but condemned the violence.

He said: "We totally reject the use of any kind of violence.

SPAIN - READ THE LATEST:

• Spain finally apologises to people of Ceuta for migrant invasion... while welcoming in millions more
• ‘Telling silence’ over rise of sexual abuse in Ceuta following migrant invasion slammed
• Spanish holiday hotspots rocked by earthquake leaving dozens injured

"No one can or should take the law into their own hands. The defence of Ceuta and the interests of its people can only be pursued through legality."

Clashes also erupted on a beach on Thursday where migrants had been sleeping, with demonstrators confronting police officers.

In a separate incident, a soldier was injured after troops were pelted with stones, with 12 Moroccan migrants later arrested.

The disorder followed several days of growing demonstrations over the Spanish government's handling of the migrant crisis.

Hundreds of residents took to the streets on Tuesday before more than 2,000 people gathered outside the Military Hospital the following day.

The facility had been earmarked under government contingency plans to accommodate migrants remaining in Ceuta.

Security personnel were stationed outside the building as government officials met to discuss their response.

Madrid has since declared the migrant situation a matter of national security and moved to centralise its handling of the crisis.

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Donald Trump has declared that the US has struck the "biggest oil deal in world history" with Venezuela as he vowed the agreement would slash fuel prices for Americans.

The US President said the agreement would give America access to more than 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan crude reserves.

Mr Trump announced the deal on his Truth Social platform on Friday evening, claiming it would "more than double" American oil reserves.

He credited Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth with negotiating the agreement with Venezuela's Interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Mr Trump said: "This historic transaction more than doubles American oil reserves, greatly increases our oil supply, and will substantially lower gas prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward tremendous success and great prosperity."

The President said the agreement would come at no cost to American taxpayers and claimed it would further strengthen relations between Washington and Caracas.

The transaction has been structured alongside private companies, reportedly including US oil firms.

It comes as Mr Trump faces mounting pressure over fuel prices amid disruption to global oil supplies caused by the continuing conflict with Iran.

Petrol prices averaged around $4.09 (£3.02) per gallon in the US on Friday, according to AAA, compared with around $3.21 (£2.37) at the same point last year.

The six-month conflict in Iran has severely disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which previously handled roughly a fifth of global petroleum supplies.

US strategic petroleum reserves have also fallen below 300 million barrels after declining by more than 100 million barrels since the beginning of the year.

The Venezuelan agreement is the second major accord between Washington and Caracas since Nicolas Maduro was removed from power in January during Operation Absolute Resolve in January.

Mr Trump has previously acknowledged that access to Venezuela's vast oil wealth formed part of his thinking behind the US intervention.

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Venezuela's Interim President Delcy Rodriguez welcomed the latest agreement.

She said: "This initiative is the result of the strengthening of relations between Venezuela and the United States, and it will facilitate a significant flow of investment aimed at the recovery and reconstruction of strategic infrastructure for the development of our hydrocarbons industry."

Mr Rubio also hailed the agreement as "a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people".

The Secretary of State said the deal would bring close to $100billion (£73.88billion) of private investment into Venezuela, create thousands of well-paid jobs and help rebuild the country's economy.

Venezuela possesses an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil, accounting for around 17 per cent of global reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Despite possessing the world's largest proven crude reserves, years of underinvestment and deteriorating infrastructure mean Venezuela produces only a fraction of its potential output.

Mr Trump has long argued that Venezuela effectively seized American oil assets when the late Hugo Chavez nationalised foreign-owned operations, including those belonging to US companies.

Following Maduro's removal in January, the President floated plans for American energy companies to return to Venezuela and develop its vast reserves.

Mr Rubio said the latest agreement demonstrated that the White House's foreign policy was "driving America First wins: securing stable reserves and low-cost oil in our Hemisphere".

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Tags: Alexandra Daddario

854 points, 121 comments.

A Reform-run council is deploying private security guards across three town centres amid concerns over women's safety linked to the expansion of a nearby asylum seeker facility.

Essex County Council will station guards in Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford as the Home Office prepares to increase capacity at the former RAF Wethersfield base by around 50 per cent.

The site currently houses around 800 male asylum seekers but is set to accommodate up to 1,245.

The move forms part of Operation Vanguard, which will see two security guards deployed in each of the three locations closest to Wethersfield.

Council leader Peter Harris said concerns had been raised about the impact of the expanding facility on surrounding communities.

He said: "Concerns for community safety are clearly there, particularly among women and girls, because of the daily gatherings of asylum seekers which will increase in number and size as the facility expands."

Mr Harris also criticised the induction programme provided to migrants arriving at Wethersfield.

He said: "The induction process which migrants undergo at the centre is, in my view, woefully inadequate, especially on their introduction to British culture and the expectations we have of acceptable behaviour toward women and girls.

"But we are not prepared to sit on our hands and wait for the next incident. We are taking action."

The private security patrols will be funded by Essex council taxpayers, although the total cost of the scheme has not been disclosed.

The guards are intended to provide a visible presence to reassure residents and discourage antisocial behaviour.

Essex County Council is currently appointing a private security firm to carry out the patrols.

The authority said it would consult Essex Police, Braintree District Council, Colchester City Council and Chelmsford City Council over the operation.

The contract will initially run for three months while the council seeks additional support from central government.

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During that period, the authority plans to hold urgent talks with the Home Office and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood over funding for public services in communities affected by asylum accommodation sites.

Mr Harris has also taken aim at the Home Office over what he described as "a fleet of 17 minibuses" transporting asylum seekers from Wethersfield into nearby towns and cities each day.

After visiting the former RAF base, the council leader branded the facility a "holiday camp".

He said residents had access to a fully equipped gymnasium, a dedicated fitness room, a full-sized football pitch and a large indoor sports hall offering five-a-side football, basketball and cricket.

Residents are also provided with three meals a day across two dining halls, including vegetarian options and receive mobile phones with call allowances.

The council's decision is thought to be an unprecedented move by a local authority in response to an asylum accommodation site.

Wethersfield is one of two asylum centres operated by Home Office contractors on former military land, alongside RAF Crowborough in East Sussex.

The Government is also proposing facilities at Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire, RAF Barnham in Suffolk and MoD Bicester, with the plans facing opposition from local communities.

Piddington, near Bicester, has scheduled a referendum for September 15 to symbolically leave the UK in protest against the plans.

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British conservative influencer Milo Yiannopoulos has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and is facing deportation from America.

The 41-year-old was arrested at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on August 27 after allegedly overstaying his permission to remain in the country.

The Department of Homeland Security said Mr Yiannopoulos had legally entered the US through New York City on May 14, 2019, but subsequently remained beyond his permitted stay.

An immigration judge issued a final order for his removal on July 22 after he failed to attend an immigration hearing, according to officials.

A Homeland Security spokesman said: “On August 27, ICE arrested Milo Yiannopoulos, an illegal alien from the United Kingdom, at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) in Kenner, Louisiana. Yiannopoulos legally entered the country on May 14, 2019, through New York City, New York.

"He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.

“Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an Immigration Judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.”

His detention comes after the British-born conservative repeatedly championed Ice and called for tougher deportation measures in America.

In June 2025, Mr Yiannopoulos argued that federal agents should be able to deport anyone "on the spot" who "can't prove they are in the US legally".

He later called for "total legal immunity for Ice agents when they're on duty" in a post on social media.

MAGA influencer Laura Loomer has claimed she was responsible for reporting Yiannopoulos to the Department of Homeland Security.

She said: “For years, I have been warning the American people and the federal government that Milo Yiannopoulos is an illegal alien.

“It should shock the American people that disgraced former Congresswoman Marjorie Traitor Greene once had this alleged illegal alien living in her home and working for her in her congressional office.

"It’s a great day for America and our immigration system that a Brit who excused paedophilia is being deported from America.”

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Mr Yiannopoulos worked as an intern for former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in 2022, describing the position as an "unpaid internship with a friend".

The Cambridge-educated writer rose to prominence after leaving Britain and establishing himself as a provocative figure in American political discourse.

He became particularly well known through his work at Breitbart, the conservative news outlet previously run by Steve Bannon.

Mr Yiannopoulos resigned as a senior editor in 2017 after a resurfaced video showed him making controversial remarks about paedophilia and the age of consent.

The controversy cost him a keynote appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference and a book deal.

During the press conference announcing his departure from Breitbart, Mr Yiannopoulos said he was living in America on an O-1 visa, which is available to people deemed to have extraordinary ability in fields including the arts, sciences, education, business and athletics.

He has also become an increasingly fierce critic of Donald Trump after previously being an outspoken supporter of the US President.

The 41-year-old accused Mr Trump of having "sacrificed his honour and his integrity" and declared that "Trumpism died" over the administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

During a 2025 interview with conservative influencer Candace Owens, he claimed the US President was "bought, paid for, owned and operated" by Israel.

Mr Yiannopoulos was also barred from entering Australia in 2019 following remarks about the Christchurch terror attacks.

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Tags: marriage, funny, wtf

2503 points, 226 comments.

John Healey's first Budget will fail to set a target for Britain to spend three per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, despite the Chancellor resigning from the Cabinet over the issue just months ago.

The Treasury has confirmed the milestone will not feature in the October 28 fiscal statement, with a decision on the timetable instead being pushed back until next year's spending review.

The move puts Mr Healey in the position of overseeing the Treasury after previously accusing it of being "unwilling" to provide the resources needed to protect Britain.

He quit as Defence Secretary in June after demanding that the Government commit to spending three per cent of GDP on defence by the end of the decade.

At the time, Mr Healey warned that Labour's existing trajectory towards spending just 2.7 per cent by 2030 would leave Britain exposed.

He accused Sir Keir Starmer of being "unable" and the Treasury of being "unwilling" to allocate the money necessary for national security.

Mr Healey's dramatic resignation helped seal Sir Keir's fate as Prime Minister and paved the way for Andy Burnham to enter Downing Street.

But after returning to the Cabinet as Chancellor, Mr Healey will now use his first Budget to prioritise funding the Government's existing defence investment plan rather than setting a deadline for reaching three per cent.

Government sources told the Financial Times that plugging the funding gap in the investment plan inherited from Sir Keir would be Mr Healey's "immediate priority".

A Government spokesman said: "The first duty of Government is to keep its citizens safe. The Prime Minister and Chancellor are committed to fully funding the defence investment plan."

Ministers are expected to set out a pathway towards higher military spending at the 2027 spending review.

That will include a roadmap towards Britain's Nato commitment to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035.

However, the Treasury has declined to say whether 2030 will ultimately be chosen as the deadline for reaching three per cent.

The decision comes amid heightened concern over Britain's security after Russia renewed threats against British military assets.

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Speaking to Sky News on Friday, Mr Healey defended his approach by stressing the importance of keeping control of the public finances.

He said: "Fiscal discipline has been the bedrock of the Government that I was part of for the first couple of years."

The change in direction also prompted falls in British defence stocks, with military companies listed on the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 shedding around £1.7billion in value.

One defence industry executive described the Government's position as "disappointing but entirely predictable."

They told The Telegraph: "When the Government turns a blind eye to direct threats from the Russian state against British infrastructure, factories and, in some cases, individuals, but talks about defence as a percentage point of GDP or a job creation scheme, we shouldn't expect anything better.

"The longer we mess around with reaching defence spending targets, the more we will see direct threats to our country escalate, and we will only have ourselves to blame."

Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge also accused the Chancellor of backtracking on the issue which contributed to the downfall of Sir Keir's premiership.

He said: "Given he is now the Chancellor, it is extraordinary that he is backtracking on the very pledge which sealed the fate of the last PM and opened the door of No 10 to Andy Burnham.

"Russia doesn't work to Treasury timetables."

Reform UK's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick branded Mr Burnham's premiership "continuity Labour with a new face."

Rory Wells, a director at Second Front Systems, meanwhile warned that simply increasing expenditure would not necessarily make Britain safer without wider procurement reform.

He said: "Three per cent of GDP will not make the UK any safer if more money simply moves through the same processes at the same speed."

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Tags: old meme, humor, married with children

3613 points, 240 comments.

Tags: birthday

7233 points, 344 comments.

Nigel Farage has been handed a major boost after a mega poll found Reform UK would be the largest party if a general election was held today.

The bombshell poll, which included more than 10,000 Britons, revealed Reform UK would win 227 seats, up from just five at the 2024 General Election.

Survation placed Labour in a distant second, with Andy Burnham's Labour ending up with fewer seats than Jeremy Corbyn's calamitous 2019 performance.

Despite talk of a Tory revival, Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives slip into a disastrous fourth place, ending up one seat behind the Liberal Democrats.

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party would win 46 seats and Plaid Cymru would secure a record-breaking nine seats in Wales.

Survation's survey, which was conducted on behalf of Hope Not Hate, found tactical voting could prove decisive at the next general election.

"A shallow polling lead of 0.4 per cent is exactly where tactical voting would become decisive for many seats, and there’s good reason to think the next election will see plenty of it," Survation said.

"With voters across the spectrum currently dissatisfied with their traditional parties and with political preferences more fragmented than ever, the incentive to vote for whoever is best placed to block an unwanted winner only grows.

"The target on this occasion could be Reform UK, the party seen as the biggest threat across the board, or Labour which has alienated a significant proportion of its 2024 electorate.

"Under first-past-the-post, an anti-Reform tactical vote would mean a voter abandoning their preferred party when it is likely to finish third or lower to back the strongest challenger to Reform in their constituency."

The polling firm also revealed the seats most in play for three or more parties, with Reform UK, Labour and the Conservatives all within the margin of error in Dunstable & Leighton Buzzard.

Similar splits were registered in Bexleyheath & Crayford, Maidstone & Malling, Northampton South, Torridge & Tavistock, Hinckley & Bosworth, Derbyshire Dales, Newark, Lichfield and Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk.

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However, Reform UK's biggest surge since the 2024 General Election appears to have taken place in the Red Wall.

Nigel Farage would now win 101 out of 160 seats in post-industrial corners of the north of England and Midlands.

Despite Reform's Red Wall surge, Mr Burnham is helping Labour claw back support in key seats since replacing Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.

Survation found Labour has recovered 11 per cent in the Red Wall since the spring.

However, Survation's poll suggests a hung parliament remains the most likely scenario at the next general election.

The right-of-centre parties only secure 298 seats in the House of Commons, with Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain unable to make a breakthrough in any of the 650 constituencies.

Meanwhile, a left-of-centre coalition – made up of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party – narrowly secures enough seats to lead a rainbow alliance.

Mrs Badenoch has ruled out entering a coalition with Reform UK, describing the prospect of working with Mr Farage as "monstrous".

Mrs Badenoch is instead targeting a group of voters who have previously voted Tory but also supported the 2016 Remain campaign.

The revelations, first documented by Guido Fawkes, came hours before Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey opened the door to a coalition with the Tories.

Sir Ed, who served as Environment Secretary in David Cameron's coalition Government, said: “I maybe agree with Kemi that it looks like there’s going to be a hung parliament.

“If there is, I would say I’m the party leader with most experience of how you manage that sort of situation for our country. And I want my party to be in Government.”

690 points, 142 comments.

Tags: 24 hours of le mans, car, wtf

1855 points, 224 comments.

Andy Burnham has been handed a three-point plan to fix Britain's broken asylum system and help restore public trust using a model championed by a close partner of the UK, which has seen asylum applications plummet and forced returns surge.

As the Ministry of Justice's own data shows, the UK is facing record-high numbers of asylum appeal claims.

Nearly 87,500 appeals to overturn failed asylum applications were lodged at the end of March 2026, marking a 70 per cent year-on-year increase.

However, GB News has been told how the UK can learn from asylum reforms in Switzerland to get a grip on the crisis affecting millions.

Andy Burnham could find a solution based on a model by Jonathon Thomas of the Social Market Foundation which found the Swiss system has reformed its system to achieve the following three goals: Faster, Fairer, and Firmer - the same mantra used in the UK in 1998 by New Labour.

Alp Mehmet, the chairman of Migration Watch UK, told GB News how the framework was abandoned in 2015.

He told the People’s Channel: “The Swiss process applications within 24 hours and return rejected asylum claimants to their countries of origin or to safe countries with which they have return agreements. The UK’s Detained Fast Track system was introduced by the Blair Government in 2003 and worked very well.

“The High Court’s ‘unfairness’ ruling was based on the Home Office’s inability to verify the circumstances of undocumented applicants claiming to be fleeing persecution or danger. Rather than requiring claimants to provide evidence supporting their claims, the burden was placed on the Home Office to disprove them; even when an asylum seeker had travelled to the UK through one or more safe countries.

“The Detained Fast Track system not only worked, as the Swiss have shown, but was fair to the British taxpayer. The Government should legislate as soon as practicable to reintroduce it.”

He added: “If Mr Burnham is serious about stopping illegal immigration, he should also immediately give the six months’ notice required to withdraw from the ECHR.”

Britain's Faster, Fairer, and Firmer framework was heavily modified, amended, or replaced by subsequent frameworks.

Despite the Government cutting the number of outstanding asylum claims awaiting an initial decision - with the number at the end of March standing at 35,744, down from 85,839 when Labour took office in June 2024 - that reduction has been offset by a rise in the total number of appeals, pushing up the total backlog to around 123,914 cases.

The Home Office said: “These figures reflect the progress this Government has made in tackling the asylum backlog, with the number of people waiting for an initial decision falling by 72 per cent since June 2023.”

The Swiss system, which was reformed following a national referendum, splits asylum claims into two separate streams: an accelerated process and an extended procedure, depending on the complexity of the case.

The target for a case is for it to be concluded in less than 40 days; that includes the asylum decision as well as any appeal hearing and removal for unsuccessful cases. If that target cannot be met, then the case needs to be concluded within the maximum duration of the claimant's stay at the Federal Asylum Centre, which sits at 140 days.

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Switzerland is also part of the EU Dublin scheme, which allows the possibility for the country to request another country to “take back” an asylum claimant, with that claim then being determined in that country, should the claimant have passed through that country on their way to Switzerland.

In those cases, the Swiss work on an aspirational target of less than 60 days for transferring the claimant out of the country.

Tony Smith, former head of Border Force UK and managing director of Fortinus Global, told GB News: “We need a deterrent!

“We need to make it clear to people arriving by small boat that they cannot claim protections here.”

Mr Smith continued to tell the People’s Channel that Mr Burnham would need to do more than just remove migrants from the UK, saying: “I think the problem we have is that we allow people who have travelled through safe countries to claim asylum.

“So most of our asylum applications come by people who've arrived by small boat from France or through the common travel area, and there is provision in our legislation to say we're not obliged to accept any asylum application from anybody who's arrived from a safe country or has got a connection with a safe country, and that's under section 80 of the 2002 Act, which was in force when I was serving in the Home Office.

“I would prefer a system where actually, for people that are arriving from safe countries like the small boats, you're not going to be allowed to claim asylum at all in this country because you could and should have claimed it in France or another safe EU country.

“Rather than allow people to keep claiming asylum in this country when they've arrived from another safe country, like the Swiss do and the Swedish do.”

The part of Switzerland’s system that has faced the most pushback from UK experts has been the legal system that the Swiss use.

The Swiss system allows for claimants to be given access to expert legal advice and support.

The cost is covered by the state and is delivered by NGOs. This is markedly different from the rest of the EU, which, despite the recently agreed EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, now goes much further than previously in giving asylum claimants the right to free legal advice; such advice is still to be provided “upon request”, not as default.

Legal access is provided for all parts of the claim process, even the expedited ones, which the Swiss say provides a realistic assessment of the likely outcome of their case.

Should their claim be denied, the Swiss system is designed to be firm but fair. Only one claim is allowed for asylum decisions, at the Federal Administrative Court. The court is “the first and last court of appeal in asylum matters in Switzerland,” and appeals can only be made if the asylum determination was incorrect, or there was an error of law made by the State Secretariat for Migration.

Should a claimant make an appeal, no additional funding will be given by the state, so while the original lawyer is available, there will be no other support.

Marley Morris, Associate Director of Migration, Trade and Communities at the Institute for Public Policy Research, raised serious concerns about a similar system being implemented here, telling GB News: “A 'one-shot' appeal system would risk miscarriages of justice - particularly given the Government is currently introducing a new independent appeals body, which I think needs a judicial backstop.

“And I think large asylum centres on the Swiss model would risk the same kind of tensions we have seen with hotels and former military barracks - we would prefer a more decentralised and community-based approach to asylum accommodation.”

The Swiss system is done with the aim of ensuring that only claims with sufficient merit are made.

The entire appeal process is only done in writing to help expedite the process.

This reformed process has not seen the number of appeals change that drastically in the last 10 years, with around 33 per cent of decisions being appealed; however, the success rate for appeals is only five per cent.

This faster process of claims has been seen to help integrate migrants within Swiss society more efficiently and spend less time looking for jobs.

Since 2014, areas housing successfully placed migrants have been required to develop integration plans for the migrants.

The policies aim to promote opportunities to participate in economic, social and cultural life, as well as financial independence. The target objectives are that arrivals learn one of the Swiss national languages, have access to education and employment opportunities aimed at their participation in the labour market, which is supported by ongoing tailored counselling.

The report by Mr Thomas highlights that one of the biggest differences between the Swiss and UK asylum systems is the expectation put on reforms.

The report notes that the Swiss are extremely realistic in what is achievable with their asylum reforms, whereas the UK has been “recklessly ratcheting up expectations of what is realistically achievable.”

Another area of disparity between the two nations is the costs associated with the systems. The report notes that Switzerland has “the resources to invest in a best-in-class asylum system, and has done so, not to save money, but to spend it most effectively, in order to head off the destabilising threat posed by growing tensions over the functioning of the system.”

The single most fundamental difference between the two systems comes down to dispersal.

The Swiss only disperse migrants if they are allocated to the extended procedure and need more than temporary accommodation, and if they are dispersed, it is done on a transparent basis to ensure that there is a fair allocation between different regions and that nationalities are evenly distributed to promote integration.

The report notes: “The UK disperses all asylum seekers, but has a much fuzzier approach to doing so. In practice dispersal rules are not rigidly followed and the UK’s approach is subject to competing and conflicting drivers and aims which result in a more haphazard and tense outcome, increasingly driven by the availability of cheap accommodation on short notice rather than what is fair between localities.

“In the UK some local authorities – particularly those in more densely populated, deprived areas – receive disproportionate numbers; others none at all. This creates significant community tensions and pressures on accommodation and services in some areas. And is exacerbated by the often chaotic process surrounding those exiting asylum accommodation after being granted refugee status.”

Recent proposals from Labour have echoed some of aspects of the asylum reforms taken in Switzerland, specifically accelerating the process for cases with a low likelihood of success, as well as better streamlining and resourcing the appeals process and the importance of the provision of early legal advice to claimants, however how those ideas will be implemented to win the public back on side is yet to be seen.

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The United States has threatened not to support the UK's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands if Andy Burnham does not commit to an increase in defence spending.

Senior defence officials in the Pentagon are drawing up plans to apply pressure on Nato members that still fail to reach the alliance's five per cent spending pledge.

A senior US official told The Telegraph that Britain will be examined with "special attention" as Washington assesses its allies' capability and commitment to increase defence spending.

Describing Sir Keir Starmer's Defence Investment Plan (Dip) as not enough of a "step in the right direction", Washington officials' belief in Britain being a key military partner to the US is wavering.

"I would expect the UK to receive special attention because it has so much potential," they said.

"We will therefore continue efforts to incentivise and enable the UK to step up in a major way."

When questioned about whether the US would change its position on the Falkland Islands, the senior official said: "I can say that conversations are candid and nothing is being ruled out as far as options for encouraging the sort of burden-sharing that we seek."

The threat from Washington came just hours after Chancellor John Healey faced fury amid speculation about Labour failing to commit to spending three per cent of GDP on defence spending by 2030.

When Mr Healey quit as Defence Secretary in June, he alluded to the Treasury's "unwillingness" to commit more money to defence.

He said Sir Keir was "unable" to spend the money to further resource the UK's military.

With Mr Healey now in charge of Britain's coffers, Whitehall sources have said the Chancellor would not be making any commitments relating to the three per cent figure he advocated for in his previous office in his Budget on October 28.

The US "incentive" planning is part of a broader initiative driven by President Donald Trump to evolve Nato's dynamic, with a focus on greater burden-sharing on Europe's behalf.

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Dubbed Nato 3.0, Washington's ambition is to require European nations and Canada to take principal responsibility for Europe's conventional defence.

The official said: "We’ve seen the Defence Investment Plan, and it is a step in the right direction.

"But a step in the right direction isn’t enough. Given the scale of challenges facing us and our allies, we need allies like the United Kingdom to step up in major, fundamental ways.

"Fortunately, some already are. We strongly encourage the UK to do likewise."

While the US adopts a position of neutrality over the Falklands, Washington recognises the UK's administration of the islands.

In April, a leaked memo from the Pentagon suggested the US should reevaluate its position on the islands to punish Britain's lack of involvement in the Iranian conflict.

The Falkland Islands Government said in a statement that 99.8 per cent of islanders voted in favour of remaining as a British Overseas Territory.

It said: "The Falkland Islands has complete confidence in the commitment made by the UK Government to uphold and defend our right of self-determination."

The US's Secretary of State Marco Rubio played down the leak, saying it was a minor internal decision.

However, it appears the discussion over the Falkland Island's sovereignty has continued in Virginia.

Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's top policy official, held talks yesterday with Nato members in Brussels over the US military withdrawal in Europe.

Warning that some allies had to move faster to replace weapon systems which had long been resourced by the US, he said: "We hope to see more from countries like the United Kingdom."

He acknowledged the efforts of Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia for stepping up their military efforts.

Tags: nope, brutal, omg, accident, oddly terrifying

1725 points, 360 comments.

Tags: spa, weight loss, treatment, funny

431 points, 118 comments.

Tags: harry potter

368 points, 153 comments.

Richard Tice has launched a scathing attack on Andy Burnham's latest plan to crack down on Britain's cowboy builders.

Speaking to GB News, the Deputy Leader of Reform UK hit out at the Prime Minister's policy, declaring it "yet another scheme".

Mr Burnham has launched a crackdown on "cowboy builders" ripping off Britons with shoddy work and disappearing before jobs are finished.

The PM has vowed to put rogue traders "out of business" as ministers introduce new protections for households undertaking home improvements.

Criticising the policy, Mr Tice told GB News: "So what the Government should be doing, is not adding yet another scheme, another layer of bureaucracy, another layer of regulation which adds to the cost."

He described the plans as typical of well-meaning government initiatives that ultimately fall down in their execution.

Instead of creating new frameworks, Mr Tice argued that the government ought to be raising awareness of established industry and local authority programmes that already function well.

He pointed to the Federation of Master Builders, Checkatrade, TrustMark, and Buy With Confidence as proven options that consumers could rely upon.

"What it should be doing is boosting and advertising the existing scheme schemes that work well," he said, adding that this approach represented "a better, simpler, lower cost, less bureaucratic way of dealing with it."

Mr Tice noted that the latter two programmes were already backed by Government or local authorities, making the case for new regulation even weaker.

While acknowledging that the overwhelming majority of building work meets customer expectations, he maintained that rogue operators remain a genuine source of frustration.

He said: "Of course, regrettably, there is the odd cowboy rogue builder. But I repeat the point.

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"There is a better, simpler, lower cost, less bureaucratic way of dealing with it, which is promote the existing local authority and government and industry schemes such as the Federation of Master Builders."

He drew on his personal experience in the sector to underpin his stance, telling viewers: "That's the right way to go. I know because I'm a builder. I'm a construction guy."

Mr Tice expanded his criticism beyond the building trade, taking aim at the broader political culture in Westminster. He declared: "The country is broken, our social housing system is broken. Everybody knows it."

Dismissing what he called the negativity of the "Westminster Village," he insisted Reform UK takes a more pragmatic approach. "We're businesslike. We get stuff done," he said.

He urged a willingness to attempt meaningful change, warning that without it, progress would remain elusive. Returning to the issue of rogue tradespeople, he acknowledged that many viewers would know somebody who had been left out of pocket by a dishonest builder.

In a statement, the Prime Minister said: "Cowboy builders don’t just rip people off. They leave families with months of stress, the disruption of unfinished work, and that horrible feeling of being taken advantage of.

"Not only that, but they give the vast majority of decent, hardworking tradespeople a bad name.

"So we’re putting the cowboys out of business. These changes mean you’ll now have the option to make sure your money is held safely and released bit by bit as the work gets done."

Tags: Sports, Sophie Cunningham, WNBA, cake, DID SHE JUST POINT AT ME

697 points, 86 comments.

Pakistan has rejected appeals from Labour to take back the Rochdale grooming gang ringleader.

Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's deputy Prime and Foreign Minister, told Ed Miliband there was no bilateral agreement between the two countries which would legally allow the transfer of child rapists such as Shabir Ahmed.

Pakistan is considering the UK's request to deport Ahmed back to his birth country after he was released from prison on July 2.

However, it is unlikely it will agree to the paedophile's return unless the UK hands over Pakistani dissidents in a quid pro quo-style deal.

It is also doubtful whether the UK would agree to such terms.

During diplomatic discussions on the matter, Pakistani negotiators are understood to have said: "We currently do not have any legislation or formal mechanism under which we can take him back."

Ahmed, 73, who moved to the UK in the late 1960s, was convicted in 2012 for 30 sexual offences, including child rape, with some incidents involving girls as young as 12-years-old.

His UK citizenship was revoked due to his crimes.

However, the 1971 Immigration Act currently forbids the removal of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in Britain before 1973.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said last month she would change the law to close the loophole which currently prevents Ahmed's deportation, but this has failed to materialise.

Pakistan has dug its heels in, initially refusing to take the paedophile back on the basis he had forfeited his Pakistani citizenship and had grown up in the UK.

Tahir Andrabi, Pakistan's foreign spokesman, said last month that the UK was responsible for Ahmed as he "grew up, was raised, groomed and, unfortunately, spoilt".

He said the onus was "exclusively" on Britain.

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The Foreign Secretary is understood to have directly raised the issue with Mr Dar during talks in London, asking him if Pakistan was willing to take Ahmed back.

He is thought to have explained the importance of Ahmed's removal from the UK and emphasised the concerns around a child rapist remaining in Britain, if there was a chance he could be removed back to his birthplace.

Accommodating Ahmed is costing the Ministry of Justice thousands of pounds.

He is electronically tagged, remains excluded from geographical zones in Oldham and Rochdale and continues to face round-the-clock supervision at a bail hostel.

While Pakistani officials acknowledged the UK Government's predicament with the grooming gang orchestrator, Islamabad emphasised there is no existing agreement or legal lever in which he could be deported.

Sources close to the talks told the Telegraph that Pakistan insists it cooperated with the UK on matters of immigration, deportation and extraditing criminals.

However, a Pakistani source said: "Shabir Ahmed’s case is different because he is a convicted child rapist, on the sex offenders register, and there is no treaty between the UK and Pakistan to exchange or extradite sex convicts."

Mr Miliband is understood to have pressed his Pakistani counterpart, asking if an agreement could be struck.

While Mr Dar agreed to consider the request, he asked in return for the UK to understand Pakistan's perspective and Islamabad's concerns.

An official statement was released following the meeting, but omitted the Ahmed issue.

It said the two countries "reviewed the full spectrum of Pakistan-United Kingdom bilateral relations and agreed to establish a structured mechanism for formal talks between the two foreign ministries to cover all areas of co-operation, to further strengthen bilateral co-operation and regularly review progress in key areas."

Pakistan previously said it would withdraw its cooperation in taking back illegal migrants from Britain if the UK forced it to take back Ahmed.

Government sources said the UK was considering imposing sanctions on Pakistan, including visa bans and ceasing foreign aid payments, if it did not take back the paedophile.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are pursuing every available lawful option to deport this criminal, working with the government of Pakistan.

"We will not give a running commentary on discussions."

A Piddington parish councillor has demanded Labour publishes the risk assessments for the housing of asylum seekers near their tiny Oxfordshire village.

Speaking to GB News, Joe Marshall warned that there is a "direct risk" in housing 1,250 asylum seekers next to their village with a population of less than 400 people.

The village's protest against plans to house more than 1,200 asylum seekers at a former military base has resulted in the release of an anthem, as the village prepares to hold its second independence referendum.

The song, named Battle for Britain, was created by one of the village's supporters on social media alongside a glossy AI-made music video.

Discussing the lack of response from the Prime Minister about their concerns, Mr Marshall told GB News that since Mr Burnham said he would "listen to the good people of Piddington", they have not heard anything.

He said: "We're more than two weeks since that sort of quick cornered discussion that the Prime minister had with GB News, where he promised to listen to us, and unfortunately, from that point onwards, we are yet to have any form of conversation.

"Our chairman, Tim McNally, is very present on social media, his phone number can probably even be found on a Google search if the Prime Minister wanted it. But unfortunately, he's not reached out."

Mr Marshall stressed that the residents have had "no form of consultation" on the plans to house more than 1,000 asylum seekers at the base.

He told GB News: "The Home Office have still clearly indicated that they're pushing ahead with the plans and that they're they're going to engage with the local authorities and the police and all the relevant people.

"But when we actually discuss things with the local authority and ourselves as a parish council, we've not had any form of consultation or even a discussion. We're yet to see any plans, and we know that categorically what's being proposed here doesn't work."

Asked whether the locals would be more comfortable if the asylum seekers were not allowed to leave the base, the councillor said there needs to be "secure site premises and improved vetting" of those being moved in.

He said: "I think it would definitely help the situation, obviously 1,250 to our our village population is easily three times if not four times the number that we have.

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"And I think the concern that we have is that if there happens to be five per cent or two per cent or one per cent that have got ill intentions, they may have mental health conditions, there's a risk directly to the village.

"So if there was improved vetting, secure site premises that was well managed, then there may be potential that the village would be a little bit more comfortable with the decision, but ultimately we feel like we're not having any real input on the discussion. And obviously we're not being consulted at all about what our needs may potentially be."

Asked what response he would like to see from the Government, Mr Marshall urged Labour to publish the "risk assessments" for not only the Bicester site, but the other former military bases housing asylum seekers.

He told GB News: "I think ultimately there's a few areas that we'd like to have responses from. Would like to see their risk assessment of how they're going to manage these sites. Obviously we haven't got a local police station, there's not really the resources in the police at present to respond.

"Grants aren't going to cut it, there needs to be additional funding and additional officers, even potentially reopening the local station to counter this. We need to know that they're going to be covered by the risk assessment that the Government has put in place.

"We want to also see how these sites are going to work, is there going to be any form of restriction on the movements? How is the actual vetting process going to work? How are people removed if they don't meet requirements? And I think that's the ultimate area that we need."

Mr Marshall concluded that the Government must "prove that these sites will work" in the long run.

He said: "We need to know that the Government have put some consideration into our safety, because at the moment, it feels very much like if you were to put this to anyone with common sense, it's a ludicrous proposal that isn't going to work.

"So the Government really needs to prove to us and prove to prove to the country that this proposal works not just for Piddington, but also for the other sites, other villages that are going to have similar proposals."

Andy Burnham has previously told GB News of the situation in Piddington: "I have begun to become aware of the campaign from Piddington, and I will listen to what people are saying and respond to the concerns that they are putting forward.

"I don't know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it, it is about creating secure space and not have the HMO issues that you were talking about earlier.

"It's obviously going to be challenging, but I am prepared always to listen to people, to work with people and to pick up legitimate concerns, and I will address those concerns.

"I do have to say we cannot have a situation where it's only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers."

Conservative MP Matt Vickers has called for calm following a serious of disorder in Middlesborough, following a fatal crash on the A66.

Speaking to GB News, the representative for Stockton West told reporter Will Godley: "People are thinking about the criminals, they're thinking about what's going on, but actually the starting point is to think about those brave police officers, the families involved, about some of the other incidents that have gone on in this part of the world and the loss of life with that young girl.

"A horrendous, horrendous situation that nobody ever wants to see. Lots of incidents in this part of the world, not all related, lots of details emerging.

"It's devastating for Cleveland police force, that's gone through lots of turmoil and change in recent years anyway, and I think the scenes of those burnt out cars, they're just not what people want to see now.

"They want a bit of comfort that everything's under control, the police are on top of this, that the resource is there to keep people in this part of the world safe."

WATCH ABOVE.

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5080 points, 115 comments.

Tags: lol, funny, humor

3706 points, 40 comments.

An illegal migrant being deported back to Bangladesh was given a first-class ticket for his flight, GB News understands.

The People's Channel uncovered last autumn the astonishing story of Mr A, a homeless illegal migrant and convicted criminal who had been asking the Home Office to send him home since March.

Following the involvement of GB News, he was finally returned to his family.

However, it has emerged that he was issued with a first-class ticket from London to Doha, the first leg of his journey.

Mr A had come to the United Kingdom legally in 2013 on a student visa.

He failed to finish his university course and then stayed for years, working illegally.

He had later become homeless in Southend and turned to shoplifting.

By this point, he was keen to return home to his family in Bangladesh, where his father is ill.

However, despite help from former Tory MP Anna Firth, the current Southend Labour MP David Burton-Sampson and various local organisations, he was still stuck here when GB News interviewed him last autumn.

Sitting down with the People's Channel, he said: “Who would love to stay in the streets when they can live in their house in Bangladesh?

"If you tell me, my flight is ready? I can go now. I want to go now. I'm ready to go.

"I have nothing, no one to worry here. I got everything back home.”

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Asked why his family in Bangladesh cannot pay for a plane ticket home, the migrant said they could not afford it.

He added: “My dad is a heart patient. He had a stroke because of me.

"Being in this kind of situation.”

Though he was finally returned home, GB News understands it was with a first-class ticket.

The Home Office initially insisted this was incorrect.

However, the department later admitted “The ticket said first – which was an administrative error in the printing of the ticket.”

GB News has been attempting to get data on the costs of flights for illegal migrants and how many may have been sent first class since the start of the year.

Multiple Freedom of Information requests have been rejected on the grounds of cost.

The Home Office insists that despite a First Class ticket being issued, “Mr A***** departed in economy.”

GB News will continue to fight to learn whether other illegal migrants are being deported on first or business-class tickets.

The People's Channel will continue to investigate the matter due to the importance of taxpayers' money being spent wisely.

Nigel Farage has been handed a major blow after a shock Green Party by-election victory has exposed the real cost of the split on the Right.

The Guston, Kingsdown & St Margarets-at-Cliffe ward by-election for the Dover District Council was up for grabs yesterday, with six candidates putting their hat in the ring.

Right-wing parties won 55.3 per cent of the vote, with Reform achieving 27.5 per cent.

However, in a disastrous result for Mr Farage, the Green Party won by a narrow 1.2 per cent.

Zack Polanski's party achieved 28.8 per cent, with candidate retired GP Ingrid Dodd winning the ward due to a split on the Right.

The Tories fell by a massive 16 per cent from their 2023 vote share but still garnered 17.1 per cent.

Restore Britain won 10.7 per cent, confirming political commentators' fears that, despite Britons increasingly turning to right-wing parties, support remains fractured.

Many right-of-centre voters argue that the Conservative Party, Reform UK and Restore Britain should merge, form a pact, or work together to avoid splitting support.

It is yet another example of the divided right-wing vote handing areas of Britain to Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Greens after local contests across Berkshire, Cheshire and Hertfordshire were won by the left.

In Hemel Hempstead's Apsley & Corner Hall, the Liberal Democrats were victorious in their bid to bat off rivals with some 33 per cent of the vote.

However, with the Tories on 18 per cent and Reform UK on 25 per cent, a joint ticket on the right could allow an easy 10-point lead for the blue parties.

In Cippenham Green in Slough, the Greens were able to sneak a win with a mere five votes at the ballot box, booting out the Tories from their long-held seat.

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The Conservative Party lost 19.9 per cent of their vote, while Reform UK picked up 19.5 per cent of local support.

Together, with almost 40 per cent of the vote, the right-wing vote would annihilate the Green Party's 24 per cent vote share.

In Christleton & Huntington (Cheshire West & Chester), the Conservatives were able to cling on to their seat with 32.9 per cent of the vote share – despite the Greens hot on their heels with 30.4 per cent.

Again, with Reform UK's extra 17.2 per cent of the vote, the Blues would catapult Zack Polanski's party out of the ward.

On the national level, a new poll of more than 10,000 people has revealed that Mr Farage's Reform UK would win the most seats if a general election were held today, with 227 MPs.

The Survation poll puts Labour in second with 197 seats, having revelled in a "Burnham bounce" in recent weeks as the new Prime Minister appeared to rapidly win back the faith of public opinion.

Shockingly, the Lib Dems would win 72 seats, while Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives would be behind with 71 - further pointing to the "death" of two-party politics in Britain.

The SNP would win 46 seats, while Zack Polanski's Green Party would have a measly four MPs.

Having won the contest at the Clacton by-election earlier this month, Mr Farage appears to be well on his way to winning back public faith ahead of the next general election.

According to pollsters, Reform's margins are thin despite the party's improving popularity, with just 100 of its seats considered safe.

Tactical voting could also prove an obstacle, with fierce rivalry on the right side of politics among Reform, Restore Britain and the Tories.

Commentators have proposed the "unite the right" move in a bid to avoid votes splitting across the three parties and handing Labour a win in 2029.

However, the idea seems far from reality as Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe took to social media to celebrate his party coming 5th.

He wrote: Restore Britain is six months old - we just achieved our best over election result outside of Great Yarmouth. 11 per cent for Jez Hermer in Guston, Kingsdown and St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe by-election in Dover. Massively outperforming national polling.

"No other party has shown such rapid growth - we are the fastest growing political party in British history. Other parties have historic support to rely on. We have none. Every single one of those votes was earned by Jez and his team.

Mr Lowe added: "I offered to work with Reform, on the correct policy platform. They refused. The offer remains on the table, but the Reform leadership have made it clear they will not work with us. That is their choice. Restore Britain is on the march."

It comes after Mr Lowe proposed an alliance that aimed to unite the two right-wing forces.

However, an agreement was never reached due to ideological demands and leadership clashes.

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Tags: job, work

359 points, 93 comments.

1837 points, 206 comments.

A Piddington resident has hit out at Andy Burnham's continued silence to the ongoing protest from locals over plans to house 1,250 asylum seekers at their local ex-military site.

Speaking to GB News, Jamie Perkin declared they have tried "everything" to grab the attention of the Prime Minister to express their concerns for their tiny village of less than 400 people.

Piddington's protest against plans to house more than 1,200 asylum seekers at a former military base has resulted in the release of an anthem, as the village prepares to hold its second independence referendum.

The song, named Battle for Britain, was created by one of the village's supporters on social media alongside a glossy AI-made music video.

Sharing the latest on the feeling amongst residents, Mr Perkin told GB News they have "written to Downing Street every day" to try and discuss their concerns.

He said: "He hasn't contacted us, he hasn't spoken to us, and the Government have tried every legal way possible not to acknowledge us.

"And when I mean acknowledge us, we've had not a single thing. The only thing we have heard is Andy Burnham's words to GB News a couple of weeks ago."

Mr Perkin stressed that it is not just Piddington that is affected, but other local villages as well.

He said: "I think it's really important that we don't just just say Piddington because this isn't just about our little village, there's there's other villages surrounding the area.

"There's Bicester too, which is the closest town. This is very much about the local area and not just our little village."

Mr Perkin argued: "Until we get given any detail from the Government, all I would say with this is that people keep mentioning the word barracks and people keep saying, oh yeah, it's really important that we use old army barracks to put these people in.

"What we have is an empty field with some derelict asbestos buildings, no services on a main road on a sharp bend with a 50 or 60 mile an hour road where there's been fatalities over the last couple of years.

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"All I would say is rather than saying where we think they should go, it's about saying that this just isn't the right place."

Criticising the Prime Minister's suggestion that "all areas should play their part" in housing asylum seekers, Mr Perkin made clear that in their small village, one woman will be outnumbered by 10 asylum seekers that are moved in.

He said: "All I'm going to say and all we are trying to say is that we will do our bit, and Andy Burnham's asking people to do that bit. But doing your bit is not having four men to one villager, or 10 men to one lady in our village.

"That isn't doing our bit. And I think everyone nationwide knows that we have a very large problem with asylum seekers at the moment."

Andy Burnham has previously told GB News of the situation in Piddington: "I have begun to become aware of the campaign from Piddington, and I will listen to what people are saying and respond to the concerns that they are putting forward.

"I don't know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it, it is about creating secure space and not have the HMO issues that you were talking about earlier.

"It's obviously going to be challenging, but I am prepared always to listen to people, to work with people and to pick up legitimate concerns, and I will address those concerns.

"I do have to say we cannot have a situation where it's only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers."

Tags: Humor, funny, random

6679 points, 158 comments.

Tags: wholesome, funny

2496 points, 134 comments.

Watch the moment GB News host Ellie Costello grills Conservative MP Matt Vickers on the party's "Boris wave" of migrants after staggering new Home Office data was released.

Discussing Britain's migrant crisis on GB News, the Shadow Immigration Minister argued he is "not entirely convinced" that the wave was responsible for the 16-year high in migrant permanent residency.

Fresh Home Office statistics showed the number of asylum seekers in the UK has ballooned beyond 73,000, while the number of those applying to settle has hit a 16-year high.

Those 73,000 migrants were housed in "non-hotel accommodation" in the 12 months leading up to June this year, three per cent higher than at the end of June 2025.

Asked whether the data is a "direct result" of the "Boris wave" of migrants entering the UK, Mr Vickers disagreed.

He told GB News: "I'm not entirely convinced it's my fault, but I think there is a huge challenge. The reality is too many people are coming into the country too fast, and it's not getting any better.

"There are real challenges on public finances, public services, housing, it can't be allowed to continue. When this Government came in, we tried to extend the requirement for indefinite leave to remain to say that you had to have stayed for a significantly longer in order to qualify for it.

"We also put in place legislation that meant that people who'd entered the country illegally could not become British citizens, that is the right thing to do. If you break into a country, you cannot be gifted citizenship."

Mr Vickers argued that the Government must now "leave the ECHR" in order to "send these people a message" when crossing the Channel.

He argued: "Where we need to be is we need to leave the ECHR. Anybody who enters the country illegally needs to be detained and needs to be deported. We need to send these people a message, we need to make it not worthwhile getting into those boats.

"It is completely wrong, it is completely unacceptable, and it comes with a huge cost to taxpayers across the country."

Pushing back on Mr Vickers's argument, host Cameron Walker then asked the MP: "So why didn't you leave the ECHR when you were in power for 14 years?"

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Mr Vickers responded: "I wasn't a minister in the last Government, Kemi wasn't the leader. We've got to where we've got to with it, we've done the homework, we haven't just come out with it as a tweet or press statement.

"Kemi has gone away, got some of the greatest legal minds to look at what can be done and why it's required. The conclusion of that is we do need to leave in order to be able to protect our borders, in order to be able to protect our veterans and all the other things that allow us to be a sovereign state, making decisions in our best interest."

Challenging Mr Vickers a second time, Ellie echoed the views of GB News viewers, arguing that they "do not trust" the Tories to tackle the crisis as they "created the problem" in the first place.

Mr Vickers responded: "Well, the other thing that people also have to be aware of, you might call it the Boris wave, though the people have called it the Jenrick jump or the Suella surge, the person who was the Home Secretary, the person who was the Immigration Minister who've now gone on, picked up a different rosette and all is forgiven and they're going to have a fresh go.

"I'm standing behind Kemi Badenoch, who has very set views on this. She's done the homework, looked at how it is done, why we need to do it. There's a real plan there."

The Tory MP told GB News: "In fact, you know what? I'd be very happy for Andy Burnham tomorrow to pick up our plan, leave the ECHR, follow what we've set out about setting a cap on the number of legal migrants, about detaining and deporting anybody who breaks into this country.

"It's the right thing to do. It needs to be done for British people who are working hard, doing the right thing, paying a fortune in tax, seeing less police on the streets, less teachers in their schools, less places in their prisons."

In a statement, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said of the figures: "A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling, illegal working arrests are at record levels, and deportations and returns are up markedly.

"Small boats numbers are also now falling, but we are not complacent and there is more we must do.

"That is why I have boosted enforcement on the French beaches and overseas and introduced new legislation to tackle the pull factors that draw people here through unsafe and illegal routes. This government is restoring control at our border and fairness to the migration system."

Labour MP for Halifax, Kate Dearden, has commended the efforts of both police officers and political colleagues for "standing up for constituents and residents" in light of the recent violent disorder in Middlesborough.

Speaking to GB News, Ms Dearden said: "The community there have had a lot to deal with recently and I really, really feel for them. It must be a really worrying time for lots of people.

"My heart really does go out to them and I pay tribute to lots of colleagues in the region who are standing up for their constituents and for their residents and commend them for fighting for them, and I know they're working really closely with the police.

"Obviously, we have those those extra 200 police officers, and that is a decision by the police there in terms of pulling those resources. I know they're working closely with my colleagues in Government, too, and keeping them updated and keeping a real eye on the situation.

"We want to, of course support people as much as we can and keep them safe, and I really, really do feel for them in this time. It will be extremely concerning."

WATCH ABOVE.

Britain's high streets face further devastation unless the government slashes business rates, one of the country's most prominent retail figures has warned.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham's plans to breathe new life into struggling town centres have been branded "delusional" and doomed to fail.

Billionaire Mike Ashley, founder of Frasers, launched a blistering attack on the Labour leader in a letter seen by multiple outlets.

Mr Ashley cautioned that shops across the country will be "further devastated" without meaningful cuts to business rates, dismissing the Prime Minister's approach as woefully inadequate.

The intervention marks a sharp escalation in tensions between Downing Street and the retail sector.

In his letter to Mr Burnham, Mr Ashley accused the Prime Minister of chasing headlines rather than tackling the fundamental problems facing British businesses.

"Rather than address the real underlying issues of how the country's financial affairs are managed, and supporting growth and entrepreneurialism in business, it is easier for you to pick topics which provide good media soundbites and the old salve of yet more regulation which is not what the country needs to become competitive," he wrote.

Mr Ashley pointed to the soaring cost of employing staff as a key factor driving businesses to the wall.

He warned that these pressures were ironically triggering further job losses, the very opposite of what the government intended.

Although he acknowledged Mr Burnham's pledge to examine business rates in the next Budget, Mr Ashley dismissed the commitment as "too little, too late".

Mr Ashley argued that if the Prime Minister's solution involves heaping additional taxes on larger retailers to subsidise rate reductions for pubs and clubs, "then that is simply delusional".

The Frasers founder also raised the alarm over rampant shoplifting, which he estimated costs his business roughly £40 million each year.

He called on the government to do far more to combat store theft, suggesting the scale of the problem was being overlooked by ministers.

Reviving Britain's high streets has been a central priority for Mr Burnham since entering Downing Street, with promises to empower councils to block vape and betting shops.

Downing Street pushed back against Mr Ashley's criticism, insisting the Prime Minister was delivering real change.

A spokesperson said Mr Burnham would lead "a cost-of-living government" focused on giving people "the breathing space" they need.

The spokesperson highlighted that within his first month in office, Mr Burnham had already scrapped VAT on household electricity bills, reduced business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues, and introduced a cap on bus fares.

"This is just the start," the spokesperson added, pledging that the Prime Minister would "build a new economy that backs British business, delivers growth in every postcode" and makes essentials such as energy, water and housing affordable.

Tags: gta 6, rockstar, funny, dark humor

3881 points, 261 comments.

A small boat migrant has been taken to hospital after dozens of illegal immigrants cross the English Channel for a second day.

GB News filmed as paramedics stretchered the injured migrant off a border force vessel at Dover Lifeboat Station.

It is unclear the extent of the injuries suffered by the female migrant.

Since yesterday, 615 channel migrants have made the illegal journey.

Dozens more have crossed on Friday, despite poor weather conditions in the Channel.

The latest arrivals take the total number who have crossed so far, this year, to around 16,500.

Small boat crossings are continuing in the Channel for a second day, despite heavy thunderstorms and increasingly strong winds making conditions treacherous.

One small boat has reached UK waters today, with the migrants on board brought ashore at Dover by Border Force.

GB News can confirm that one migrant was rushed to hospital after arriving in Dover, with the circumstances surrounding the medical emergency not yet clear.

The latest arrivals come after multiple boats crossed the Channel yesterday, with hundreds of migrants brought to Britain amid difficult weather conditions.

The Channel remains hazardous at present, with thunderstorms and strengthening winds creating dangerous conditions for anyone attempting the journey.

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Seven people have been accused of having a "terrorist connection" after being charged with vandalism at Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.

The group are set to appear in court this Monday, August 31.

Kieran Robson, 35, Uzma Bashir, 56, Ricky Southall, 34, Autumn Taylor Ward, 22, Rebecca Sian Davies, 29, John Moxley, 58, and Dylan Chiaramello, 24, were all charged following an incident at the five-star Ayrshire property in March last year.

The group allegedly dug up sections of the course and daubed the phrase "Gaza is not 4 sale" across the grounds.

According to the indictment, the defendants "did maliciously damage property there in that you did maliciously dig up turf on the golf course, spray glyphosate [weed killer] or similar substance on the fairways and greens, spray a building and signpost with paint, paint political and offensive slogans on the grass, score a political slogan into the turf, paint political and offensive slogans on a building, walls and pillars, damage a sprinkler system causing flooding, and damage a light".

The alleged attack on the clubhouse and grounds of the west coast resort took place on March 8 2025.

The accusations include graffiti being sprayed across the building.

Prosecutors intend to demonstrate "that the aforesaid offence was aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection".

The incident prompted a diplomatic exchange between Scotland's First Minister John Swinney and Eric Trump, the US president's son, who met on March 13 2025.

A record of that discussion stated that it "noted with concern the recent incident at the Trump Turnberry property, condemning the damage caused by vandalism and offered reassurance that the relevant authorities would continue to take the incident seriously".

The meeting occurred just days after the alleged attack.

Turnberry's renowned Ailsa course is among the most celebrated in British golf.

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It has hosted the Open Championship on four occasions.

Tee times for visitors who are not staying at the resort can cost as much as £1,000 per person.

President Trump acquired the Ayrshire property in 2014 from a Dubai-based ownership group for an undisclosed price and subsequently rebranded it under his own name.

The luxury resort, situated on Scotland's west coast, has remained one of the most high-profile assets in the Trump business portfolio.

The US President was last at the resort from Friday, July 25 to Monday, July 28, 2025, staying at the South Ayrshire property during the first leg of a four-day working visit to Scotland.

During his time at the resort, he played two rounds of golf.

He held high-level political meetings, including trade talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and discussions with the then UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Trump then departed for his second golf course in Aberdeenshire on Monday evening.

Households across the UK are being urged to take advantage of a Labour Government initiative that has saved families millions of pounds on summer activities before it is too late.

Britons have just days left to benefit from the Great British Summer Savings scheme, which slashes VAT on children's restaurant meals and attraction tickets from 20 per cent to five per cent.

The initiative, which has been running since June 25, will come to an end at midnight on Tuesday September 1. Chancellor John Healey is encouraging households to make the most of the remaining bank holiday weekend to take advantage of the reduced rates.

Originally introduced by former Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the scheme covers a wide range of family activities, from dining out to visits to theatres and soft play centres.

It was designed to ease pressure on household budgets during the cost-of-living squeeze, making summer holiday outings more affordable.

More than 2,100 restaurants and attractions nationwide have participated, listed on a government deal finder website that was among the fastest digital tools ever created through a business-Government partnership.

The Chancellor visited Haven's Kiln Park holiday park in Pembrokeshire yesterday, where the company revealed that its customers had collectively saved more than £4million as a direct consequence of the scheme.

Roughly 251,000 families benefited from the discounts at Haven parks across the country, with 39,000 of those in Wales alone. Haven's chief executive Simon Palethorpe highlighted that over half a million children received activity vouchers through the programme.

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Participating businesses have ranged from Barleylands Farm Park in Essex to Playdale Farm Park in Scarborough, while Alexandra Palace offered reduced prices on activities such as pedalo rides on its boating lake and family meals.

Cinema chain ODEON, which signed up to the scheme at its June launch, reported that more than 1.2 million guests had taken advantage of cheaper tickets across its 100 UK venues.

The reduced rates coincided with a strong summer film lineup featuring titles such as Toy Story 5, Minions & Monsters and Moana.

Pub and restaurant group Greene King sold upwards of 1.1 million children's meals during the scheme's duration and welcomed over 80,000 visitors to its Wacky Warehouse soft play centres.

Chancellor Healey said: "I want every family to get out and enjoy the bank holiday weekend by taking advantage of the final days of Great British Summer Savings.

"This Government is determined to give people a bit of breathing space. So families can afford the days out that make the summer holidays special. While giving our world-class attractions and businesses a welcome boost in trade."

Merlin chief executive Fiona Eastwood said: "We were pleased to pass these savings on to our guests at Merlin's UK attractions, making visits more accessible and helping even more families create lasting memories during the school holidays."

ODEON's Suzie Welch called it "fantastic" to have launched the scheme alongside former Prime Minister Keir Starmer and local schoolchildren at ODEON Milton Keynes on June 25.

Elizabeth Quigley, the veteran BBC Scotland journalist and wife of First Minister John Swinney, has announced she is stepping down from the corporation on health grounds after a career spanning more than a quarter of a century.

The broadcaster, who has lived with multiple sclerosis for 26 years, said a condition called trigeminal neuralgia had forced her hand.

She described it as causing "excruciating pain like an electric shock across the side of my face, which can stop me from speaking, eating or drinking."

For someone whose profession depends entirely on the spoken word, the condition proved insurmountable.

Although her neurologist and NHS team helped her recover her speech and reduce discomfort, Ms Quigley said the pain could return without warning.

Ms Quigley joined BBC Scotland in November 1999, having previously cut her teeth at the Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Scottish Daily Mail.

At just 28, she made history as the BBC's first female political correspondent covering the newly established Scottish Parliament.

Within three months of taking up the role, however, she received a life-altering diagnosis.

What she had assumed was a dental issue, a peculiar pins-and-needles sensation in her face, turned out to be something far more serious.

An MRI scan swiftly confirmed multiple sclerosis.

The news came as a shock to the young journalist, who, by her own admission, knew virtually nothing about the degenerative condition.

No treatment was offered at the time; she was simply told to stay healthy and steer clear of stress.

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For several years, Ms Quigley managed to keep her condition hidden from colleagues, but by 2007 her increasingly unsteady gait could no longer be explained away.

She felt compelled to go public with her diagnosis.

By that point, she had transitioned away from political journalism, a move necessitated in part by her relationship with MSP John Swinney, whom she married.

Mr Swinney went on to serve as a Scottish government minister before becoming first minister.

Ms Quigley produced television and radio documentaries exploring the condition, highlighting that Scotland was thought to have the world's highest rates of MS.

She expressed hope that a cure, or at least answers about its prevalence in Scotland, might one day be found.

The birth of her son Matthew in 2010 brought an unexpected revelation.

During pregnancy, her MS symptoms largely subsided, her mobility improved, and she regained dexterity in typing and writing.

Ms Quigley discovered this phenomenon was not unique to MS, noting it could also occur in women with other autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid disorders.

Her investigation, which she turned into a radio documentary, pointed to hormones playing a significant role, with much more research still needed.

The symptom relief persisted for roughly nine months after Matthew's arrival before her condition reasserted itself.

Her MS has since progressed from relapsing-remitting to secondary progressive, leaving her increasingly reliant on crutches, a rollator, which she calls "my wheels", and occasionally a wheelchair.

Despite the advances in treatment since her diagnosis in 2000, when very few disease-modifying therapies existed compared with roughly 20 today, a cure for MS remains elusive.

Ms Quigley adapted her working methods throughout her career, recording interviews and editing from home to keep producing journalism.

Among her notable later work was a pioneering film about a woman whose sense of smell could aid in diagnosing Parkinson's disease.

The journalist made a point of refusing to conceal her disability, choosing to stand visibly with a crutch on the steps of Bute House when Swinney became first minister.

"I've always maintained that you can live life well with MS; it might just have to be a bit different," she said. "And my career proves that."

Ms Quigley expressed deep gratitude to colleagues who supported her over the years, adding that the moment had arrived to close one chapter and embark on another.

Reform UK's Danny Kruger has unveiled plans to remove the right to vote for Commonwealth citizens, those they declare are "unattached" to Britain.

Speaking to GB News, the Reform MP warned that they pose a "significant threat to democracy", as more than two million people who are not British currently hold the right to vote in UK elections.

The party, led by Nigel Farage, has also pledged to prevent people from being able to vote if their ability to understand English is "not good enough to understand the electoral rules".

Detailing the plans on GB News, Mr Kruger said it is a "point of principle" that millions of people in Britain temporarily should not be able to vote in local and parliamentary elections.

He said: "It's not whether it would have an impact on the results, but it's a point of principle here. There are 2.5 million Commonwealth citizens, not British citizens, here on on visas, temporary work visas, on student visas, on family visas, by definition not attached to our country.

"But they're here on some temporary basis because of this quirk of our electoral history, and they have the right to vote in parliamentary elections and in local elections, we think that is wrong."

He argued: "We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people from India, from Pakistan, from Nigeria, all here are on a temporary basis, not because they're citizens here, but because they're here for some other reason, often work related.

"So we think it is wrong, we are going to stop that practice, we are going to insist that if you are voting in a British election, it's because you are a British citizen only."

Asked by host Cameron Walker whether Commonwealth countries such as "Canada, New Zealand and Australia" will also be banned, Mr Kruger agreed.

He responded: "Absolutely. If you're not a British citizen, if you're not invested in our country, it's a very important principle, and it applies to all these amendments that I've tabled, the Representation of the People Bill, which is going through Parliament, coming back next week.

"We're introducing a series of amendments designed to ensure that we have one nation, one electoral system. So yes, all election materials should be in English or Welsh or Cornish if need be."

The Reform MP explained how such a policy would work: "Election material is already policed, you have to register and declare where the material has come from. It will be illegal to issue election material in foreign languages.

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"We insist that people should take part in a single election. We're also banning postal voting except for people in the armed forces or people who are literally unable to vote in person.

"People should be participating in this important ritual, this shared endeavour in our Government, and that needs to be done by a single community of the British people all understanding the language."

Mr Kruger also vowed to crack down on family voting, pledging to make the practice "illegal".

He told GB News: "If you don't understand the language, if you don't understand the voting system, if you're being led through to the voting booth by your elder, your family member, your father or your husband and told how to vote, that should be illegal.

"We're going to we're introducing amendments to stop that. We're insisting on the traditional British model of elections, and you vote on your own. It's a secret ballot, you're not coerced by other people. You understand the electoral system that you're participating in and you're a British citizen if you do so."

Th Reform policy chief concluded: "These seem essential elemental principles that I suspect people will be surprised to hear we don't have already.

"But our democracy has been abused over many years, and because of the rate of immigration that we've just been discussing, we now have a significant threat to our democracy.

"So Reform is introducing these amendments to change all of that."

1620 points, 124 comments.

1700 points, 712 comments.

Chancellor John Healey could be forced to contend with a £4billion fiscal headroom hit following the publication of shocking new immigration figures.

Analysis from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) is sounding the alarm that Britain's declining immigration projections weigh on the UK's economic growth outlook.

This warning from the think tank comes just two months before his inaugural Budget on October 28, when the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish fresh economic and fiscal forecasts.

The squeeze on headroom against the Chancellor's central fiscal rule adds to existing strains on the public finances caused by the conflict in Iran, which has pushed up both inflation and Government borrowing costs.

Economists cautioned that the OBR's final assessment would depend on numerous moving parts, with some factors, such as stronger-than-anticipated wage growth feeding through into higher tax revenue, potentially cushioning the impact.

The Chancellor and Prime Minister Andy Burnham face a challenging fiscal backdrop as they seek to convince markets of their commitment to reducing borrowing amid turbulent conditions in global bond markets.

Much of the pressure stems from the Government's own crackdown on work, study and family visa routes. Home Office figures released earlier this week revealed a steep fall in arrivals via the skilled worker and health and care worker pathways.

Immigration has served as a significant driver of UK labour force expansion, meaning a slowdown in adult population growth translates directly into a smaller economy and reduced tax revenues.

Nick Ridpath, research economist at the IFS who has been studying the migration data, said: "It will be one of the things that play a role in the Budget. There will be a lot of moving parts from what happened between March and October."

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Mr Ridpath said the impact on headroom could fall anywhere between £1billion and £4billion , depending on how the OBR chose to incorporate the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) population outlook.

"£4billion would be the biggest downgrade they'd be likely to do," he noted, adding that net migration could drop by a further 50,000 annually based on more recent estimates.

Ben Brindle, senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: "A decline in net migration will have more of a negative impact in the short term than over the longer term, so it is more of a concern for a government that's living from Budget to Budget."

Beyond the immigration drag, the Iran conflict's impact on energy prices has driven interest rates higher, heaping additional borrowing costs onto the Government.

Pantheon Macroeconomics estimates these extra charges could erode the fiscal buffer to approximately £15billion, down sharply from the nearly £24billion projected in March.

The OBR forecast in March last year that Labour's planning reforms designed to boost home construction would generate an additional £3.5billion in Government receipts by 2029-30.

Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon, said those assumptions were now "clearly at risk" given the Government's failure to hit its own targets for new homes.

Offsetting some of these headwinds, stronger-than-expected inflation feeding through into wages and income tax could provide a fiscal uplift, though this makes it difficult to predict precisely where the headroom figure will settle.

Mr Healey has pledged to maintain the fiscal rules established by his predecessor Rachel Reeves when she took office in 2024. These require the current Budget, excluding investment, to reach surplus by 2029-30, while public debt as a share of GDP must be falling by the same date.

A Treasury spokesperson said that the Chancellor remained "fully focused on his priorities to boost business, help with the cost of living and support people in every postcode, underpinned by fiscal discipline and a commitment to meeting the fiscal rules with a buffer against uncertainty".

Long-awaited reform of the welfare system in Britain might be delayed until next year, as Andy Burnham can only tackle "one big issue at a time".

The Prime Minister is not expected to implement any changes to benefits in the upcoming Autumn Budget, and will instead wait until the new year, according to the Telegraph.

A senior Government source told the newspaper that Mr Burnham could sort only “one big issue at a time”, and that his immediate focus was to fill a scorching £4.7bn black hole in the defence budget left by Sir Keir Starmer.

Recently appointed Chancellor John Healey will deliver the Budget on October 28 - described by the Prime Minister's team as a “defence budget”, rather than an attempt to fix the ballooning cost of benefits.

Two reviews of the welfare state were conducted by Sir Stephen Timms, the equalities minister, and Alan Milburn, the former New Labour cabinet minister - which No10 are still waiting on.

Mr Milburn’s review was intended to be published next month, but will now be delivered in October after Labour’s annual conference.

Ministers will then take time to respond to the reviews and consult on changes to benefits provision, before bringing forward plans that would take months to clear Parliament.

Before taking office last month, Mr Burnham said he was “concerned with getting the welfare bill down”, adding that it was “how you do it” that would be controversial in Westminster.

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John Healey says his 'first priority' as Chancellor is maintaining 'fiscal discipline'

John Healey has said his “first priority” as Chancellor is maintaining “fiscal discipline”.

Speaking ahead of his first Budget in October, Mr Healey told Sky News he and Andy Burnham were “in lockstep” on controlling Government spending and meeting the fiscal rules.

“We’ll keep control of Government spending, we’ll hit the fiscal rules, and that will be the bedrock for the Budget that I bring in in two months’ time,” he said.

When challenged that Mr Burnham had already announced several major policy projects during his first two months in office - all of which will need to be funded - Mr Healey insisted the Government would remain within its financial limits.

He added: “We’re both determined. We will stick within the fiscal rules, but we’re both behind this longer-term vision of giving the country a future direction, more hope.”

The Chancellor also rejected suggestions that he had changed his position on defence spending, two months after resigning from his previous role over concerns about a lack of funding.

Asked whether Mr Burnham’s Government genuinely represented a change for the country, Mr Healey described himself as part of a “continuity” government.

“This Labour Government has been a government of change for the last two years. We now step that up with Andy Burnham as leader. We’re a continuity of a Labour government with a change of leader.”

Andy Burnham has launched a crackdown on "cowboy builders" ripping off Britons with shoddy work and disappearing before jobs are finished.

The Prime Minister has vowed to put rogue traders "out of business" as ministers introduce new protections for households undertaking home improvements.

More than one in four adults have experienced problems with their most recent home renovation project, according to Citizens Advice.

Complaints include poor-quality work and builders disappearing before completing jobs, with home renovations now among the organisation's biggest sources of complaints.

Under the crackdown, homeowners will be given the option of having their money held safely rather than handing large sums directly to tradespeople upfront.

A new payment system available from next week will allow payments to be released gradually as agreed stages of a project are completed.

Mr Burnham said: “Cowboy builders don’t just rip people off. They leave families with months of stress, the disruption of unfinished work, and that horrible feeling of being taken advantage of.

"Not only that, but they give the vast majority of decent, hardworking tradespeople a bad name.

“So we’re putting the cowboys out of business. These changes mean you’ll now have the option to make sure your money is held safely and released bit by bit as the work gets done.

“It’s the latest in our series of everyday fixes to give people room to breathe and make Britain fairer. We’ve taken on subscription traps, fake discounts, and now we’re coming for the cowboy builders. Enough is enough.”

A separate Government-backed scheme being rolled out from September will help households identify traders who meet approved standards.

Businesses will be able to sign up to a code covering customer service, transparency and the handling of disputes.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the changes would “protect consumers, support reputable traders” and help families avoid home improvements “turning into a nightmare”.

However, the Tories warned that legitimate businesses could be burdened with added bureaucracy.

ANDY BURNHAM - READ THE LATEST:

• Andy Burnham fast-tracks specialist sex crime police teams across England and Wales
• Andy Burnham rules out Irish unification poll as PM takes veiled swipe at Brexit vote
• Andy Burnham refuses to back down on Net Zero pledge amid mounting pressure over energy costs

Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: “We all want to see action to stop rogue traders, but this announcement looks like the sort of government initiative that risks the unintended consequence of piling more paperwork onto the majority of businesses who already do the right thing.

“The Government would do far better to beef up law enforcement and have tougher sentences for the minority who fraudulently rip off customers, but they have cut police numbers and are letting criminals out of jail early.

“Those who break the rules will keep breaking them regardless of whether there is an app in the way. Only the Conservatives will bring back consequences for lawbreakers.”

Ministers are separately tightening rules governing private bailiffs operating in England and Wales.

The reforms follow concerns that some enforcement agents have pressured people struggling with debt into repayment arrangements which leave them unable to afford everyday essentials.

Private bailiffs will be required to be accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board, or work for an accredited firm, to obtain the certificate needed to operate.

The Government says the mandatory independent oversight will ensure enforcement agents meet consistent professional standards.

Courts Minister Sarah Sackman said: “Bailiffs have an important job to do, but with that responsibility must come high standards.

"When someone is already struggling with debt, the last thing they should face is intimidating behaviour, unfair treatment or being pushed into excessive repayment arrangements they cannot afford.

“That’s why we’re strengthening the rules. All private bailiffs will have to meet proper, professional standards and will be subject to independent oversight - giving people greater protection and somewhere to turn when things go wrong.”

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Tags: Use, This, Strategy

2337 points, 52 comments.

Piddington's protest against plans to house 1,250 asylum seekers at a military base has resulted in the release of an anthem as the village prepares to hold its second independence referendum.

The Oxfordshire village, which is home to just 314, held its first independence vote on July 4 in an attempt to prompt a response from the Labour Government.

An overwhelming majority of residents - 98 per cent - voted in favour of leaving the United Kingdom.

However, a second poll will now be held on September 15, with supporters of Piddington's independence hoping Donald Trump will formally recognise the village's vote.

The anthem, dubbed "Battle for Britain", was created by one of the village's supporters on social media.

In a two-and-a-half-minute music video, the village continuously switches from the 1940s to the modern day.

Locals appear to walk around the leafy village, with Spitfires flying over the Oxfordshire skies.

Union Jacks also adorn the streets along with red, white and blue bunting.

The AI-generated video includes numerous polling stations across the village, with the ballot paper reading: "Should Piddington remain an independent village?"

The lyrics are dominated by the phrase "Piddington Roars" and frequent reminders that the vote will take place on September 15.

"September 15, Piddington rise," the song opens.

The lyrics add: "When the sky was full of Spitfires and brave young men, a few against the many, and they turned the tide that day.

"Now every village and town has got something to say. From Bicester to Barnham to the fields of Crowborough Town. Linton lit the torch and word is travelling round."

Tim McNally, Chairman of Piddington Parish Council, said: "This is not just a song. It is a rallying cry.

MIGRANT CRISIS - READ THE LATEST:

• Plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at former RAF base ‘could be scrapped’ as costs soar
• Rhiannon Whyte’s mother joins protests at RAF Barnham as site set to house asylum seekers
• Britain ‘facing catastrophe’ if Labour fails to address indefinite leave to remain, expert warns

"It is the sound of neighbours standing shoulder to shoulder. The sound of a community refusing to be ignored.

"The sound of people demanding transparency, accountability and the right to have their voices heard."

He added: "The track is dedicated to Piddington’s residents, campaign supporters and every community that has ever felt overlooked, controlled or silenced.

"It belongs to everyone who believes that ordinary people can make an extraordinary noise when they stand together.

"Now Piddington is calling on supporters across the country: listen, share, add it to your playlists and help make 'Battle for Britain' the song Britain cannot ignore."

Residents in Piddington have attempted to catch Labour's attention in several ways since the Home Office earmarked MoD Bicester to house 1,250 asylum seekers.

Children across the village penned a series of heartbreaking letters to Andy Burnham.

However, the Prime Minister has remained reluctant to consult residents in Piddington about Labour's plan to place 1,250 asylum seekers at MoD Bicester.

Speaking to GB News, the Prime Minister said: "I do have to say we cannot have a situation where it's only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers.

"We're working at it, we understand people's concerns, and I will look into the issues raised by the good people of Piddington."

The song is now available to download on Spotify and other major music streaming services.

All proceeds generated will go towards Piddington’s campaign, legal advice, and community action against the proposed site.

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Tags: kabalist, bullshit, woke

632 points, 142 comments.

1027 points, 105 comments.

Specialist rape and sex offences investigators will be introduced to every force by the end of next year, Andy Burnham has announced.

The plan, with an original deadline of summer 2029, has been accelerated by the Prime Minister in an effort to curb violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Measures were first announced under Sir Keir Starmer in December 2025 under the last Labour Government's VAWG strategy.

But Mr Burnham slammed his predecessor's deadline as "too slow", bringing it forward 18 months, adding that ministers should be "laser focused on stamping out these vile crimes".

He said: "The scale of violence and abuse suffered by women and girls in this country is unacceptable.

"We must be laser focused on stamping out these vile crimes.

"These measures were going to be introduced in 2029, but I think that's too slow. So we're taking action to accelerate the roll out of specialist rape and sexual offence teams, who will go after perpetrators, enforce strict new protection orders to protect survivors, and invest in programmes to intensively manage offenders to break the cycle of abuse."

Former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspectors Mike Neville told GB News he was surprised there was not already widespread specialist officers.

He said: "I'm quite amazed because this is a very specialist type of investigation. You need dedicated officers to treat the victims and the specialist facilities to help the victims.

"I find it quite amazing that this has not happened already and the fact that it was going to wait until 2029, it makes it even worse."

Funding has also been announced to boost protection orders, which can be enforced through electronic tagging, exclusion zones and behaviour change programmes.

Up to 10 police forces across England and Wales will receive a share of a £13.3million pot, met by the Home Office, to help specialist teams improve the enforcement of orders.

Domestic abuse protection orders are being rolled out with no maximum duration, meaning victims will not need to repeatedly apply for continued protection.

A programme aimed at curbing reoffending by working with abuse perpetrators to address issues such as drug and alcohol misuse, first announced in July last year, is also being expanded.

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Guidance and training on establishing specialist rape and sex offences teams has been made available to police forces by the Home Office and the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection.

Under the orders, courts can set conditions for as long as needed to protect victims of all forms of domestic abuse, including physical, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and stalking.

But the timing of the announcement has been criticised while the Prime Minister faces pressure over the early release scheme which would free domestic abusers.

Mr Neville said: "What's the point of doing all this when you're going to release rapists earlier from prison? And then they're saying, 'Oh, we'll, use tags'.

"My own research with tags shows that only 23 per cent result of tag breaches result in any sort of action being taken.

"So our criminals know that they can just breach these tags, go where they want, and very little will be done about it."

Those convicted of serious sex offences, including rape, were previously exempted from the early release scheme.

Charities have urged the Prime Minister to exclude domestic abusers from the early release scheme - Justice Secretary Alex Norris will set out findings his after the summer recess.

Respect, the UK charity stopping perpetrators of domestic abuse, said the current response when criminals are freed is "alarmingly insufficient", with a failure to engage in multi-agency specialist teams.

"Early release of domestic abuse perpetrators is likely to make a bad situation even worse," it added.

Dame Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner has urged the government to exclude domestic abusers, warning their early release "puts victims lives at risk" - with victims bearing the "brunt of the crisis".

Mr Neville told The People's Channel his solution to preventing future VAWG - "they need to be locked up and the keys thrown away".

Safeguarding minister Satvir Kaur said: "We are going further and faster to ensure victims and survivors of these devastating crimes get the protection and support they deserve.

"By ensuring every police force has specialist rape and sexual offence teams sooner, and funding for new protection order teams, we are strengthening our response, relentlessly pursuing perpetrators and helping victims live their life without fear."

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Tags: win stupid prizes, wtf, stupidity, random, not funny

151 points, 124 comments.

Tags: woah, spilling the guts

1430 points, 396 comments.

Tags: random, N

28 points, 18 comments.

Tags: maga

77 points, 33 comments.

Tags: Usa, politics, wtf

110 points, 24 comments.

Tags: amazed, satisfying, damn thats interesting

1101 points, 267 comments.

Plans to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers at RAF Barnham may be abandoned as costs soar into the millions.

Reports that the plans may be scrapped comes as a regular protest of the site - attended by local politicians, residents, and Rhiannon Whyte's mother - was held.

Residents have raised fears that a mass flood of migrants could drastically affect the nearby town of Thetford, around a mile from the site.

But insiders have now told the Local Democracy Reporting Service for the Eastern Daily Press that an overhaul of the ageing site, which was set to be disposed of by 2020, could result in asylums seekers never moving in.

RAF Barnham will need new accommodation units and costly sewage disposal methods, sources said.

Environmental hurdles in connection to protections covering rare bird sites are also likely to pose an obstacle.

Terry Jermy, the Labour MP for the area, has regular meeting around the plans and said it is "becoming increasingly clear how entirely unsuitable the site is".

He added: "I have repeatedly been making these objections and concerns clear to the Home Office, other government ministers and the prime minister."

West Suffolk Council, the body which would have been responsible for planning permission, has publicly opposed plans for the site.

But the Government has used Urgent Crown Development powers to bypass normal council planning process, similar to the controversial RAF Crowborough site, now housing around 350 asylum seekers.

RAF Crowborough cost over £7million to house asylum seekers in its first four months, according to Home Office officials.

This means the cost of housing an illegal migrant was around £160 per night, while housing a migrant in a hotel cost, on average, £144 a night.

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• Hundreds of illegal migrants brave stormy seas as mega-dinghy among boats making Channel crossing

Costs to make RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire suitable for migrants ballooned from £5million to £60million before the plan was scrapped in 2024.

Scott Hussey, a Reform cabinet member, said: "Barnham has decades of history as a munitions and nuclear weapons store and sites like this routinely need substantial sewerage and utilities upgrades.

"The Home Office's own factsheet admits due diligence on Barnham is still ongoing.

"Given their track record, taxpayers deserve to know the full costs - including any ordnance clearance and infrastructure works - before this Labour government presses ahead."

Residents have been told security guards will monitor the former military base 24 hours a day, with CCTV installed.

Leader of Norfolk County Council, David Bick, told GB News on Thursday the proposed safety measures "provides virtually no comfort at all" to residents.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites.

"We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, engaging with local authorities to reduce the impact on communities.

"And we are reducing the burden on local communities and taxpayers, with asylum costs down by £1 billion since the general election."

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2264 points, 147 comments.

Tags: tim curry, it

6423 points, 403 comments.

Andy Burnham has said an Irish border poll is "off the table" as he took a swipe at the impact of the Brexit referendum.

The Prime Minister sparked a political row on his first official visit to Northern Ireland since entering No10.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald reacted strongly to the remarks, stating that no prime minister has the right to "high-handedly" remove the provision for a unity referendum from the Good Friday Agreement.

However, DUP leader Gavin Robinson welcomed the comments, stating the Prime Minister had "put to bed the nonsense" speculation over a unity poll.

During his visit to Belfast, the Prime Minister said he is "here to listen" to all sides but added that the "rifts" arising from referendums "take a long time to heal", a reference to the Brexit and the Scottish independence referendums.

Mr Burnham said: "It sets you right back and you can’t focus on what’s right in front of us here and now, the cost-of-living pressures that are hurting people in Northern Ireland, the need to get that budget set so that public services can function as they should.

"These are the things right in front of us and sometimes politicians go to things that they want to see, as opposed to getting the solutions that the public need.

"I think a decade since the Brexit referendum, I think we’ve had too much division, too much arguing, too much backward looking. We need to fix the things right in front of us in the here and now."

Under the terms of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, the Secretary of State can decide to hold a border poll.

It also places a duty on the office holder to call one if it appears likely a majority would vote for Irish unification.

The people of the Republic of Ireland must also vote in favour to effect constitutional change.

However, the most recent polling from June of 1,534 Northern Ireland electors by the University of Liverpool found 49.7 per cent did not support unification, compared to 35.8 per cent were in favour, while 4.7 per cent "do not know" and 9.8 per cent "neither agree/disagree".

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Speaking following a meeting with the Prime Minister, Ms McDonald said: "At the core of our discussion with him has been the Good Friday Agreement and the provision for a referendum on Irish unity.

"We have made it very clear to the British Prime Minister that the right to referendum, the right for Irish people to decide our future, is one that is contained within the Good Friday Agreement.

"[It] is a commitment entered into and a matter of international law, and he simply does not have the right to dismiss or disregard that commitment. He accepts that as a matter of fact.”

The Sinn Féin leader said she had had a “very direct exchange” with the Prime Minister on the matter, adding: "Nobody, not the British Prime Minister or anybody else, has the authority to high-handedly remove any provision of the Good Friday Agreement, including and especially the provision for a referendum."

Mr Robinson welcomed the Prime Minister’s remarks, telling reporters: "It’s particularly encouraging to hear his comments today, putting to bed the nonsense that has been mentioned over many months now around a border poll.

"I shared with you my view of the Secretary of State’s position back in July in Hillsborough Castle, and it’s good to hear the Prime Minister put that issue beyond doubt.

"He will hear from us about our desire to see Northern Ireland play its full and integral part within United Kingdom national politics, constitutionally and economically. Clearly, there are issues around budget resettlement in Northern Ireland.

"People at home are familiar with those and the challenges that creates in public service, so that will form a key part, not only of our discussion about what we can do collectively and politically in Northern Ireland to reach agreement around a budget, but what assistance is required from our UK national parliament and from this Prime Minister to support us in that endeavour.

Meanwhile, First Minister and Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O’Neill called on Mr Burnham to bring in a "proper funding model" for public services in Northern Ireland.

She said: "We underlined very, very clearly that for decades now we’ve been underfunded, and that we need to get an adequate budget in place.

"We want to agree a budget, but it must be the right budget, a budget that allows us actually to invest in public services to give our nurses the pay that they deserve.

"We’re now apparently about to start on a process, process that will start over the coming week, where we’re going to get into the nitty gritty of the budget itself.

"But if Andy Burnham does the same thing as all of his predecessors and comes in at a crisis point and puts a few pounds on the table and then walks away again, we’ll be in that vicious circle again.

"So I made the point to him today, what we need is proper funding, a funding model that reflects the needs of our people here, a funding model that matches what they get in Scotland and Wales."

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1837 points, 277 comments.

Tags: oscars, movie, meme, funny, politics

2141 points, 294 comments.

Tags: maga, donald trump

3521 points, 487 comments.

The mother of murdered asylum hotel worker Rhiannon Whyte has joined protesters opposing plans to house asylum seekers at a former Norfolk RAF site.

Speaking to GB News at a demonstration near RAF Barnham, Siobhan Whyte said she wanted to help residents understand the “reality” of the proposals and keep their children safe.

Protesters have raised concern over the prospect of 1,250 asylum seekers moving to the base, which is near a village with fewer than 500 residents and a small primary school.

“I worry for their safety,” Ms Whyte said, adding she was attending to “help these people understand the reality of what's really happening.”

WATCH THE FULL CLIP ABOVE

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Britain could be “facing a catastrophe” if Labour fails to reform indefinite leave to remain, immigration expert Rob Bates has warned.

Speaking to GB News, the research director at the Centre for Migration Control said the long-term consequences of the surge in migration under the previous Conservative Government were now beginning to “crash land” on the welfare state.

“If the Labour Government continues to drag its heels on its reforms to indefinite leave to remain, then we could be facing a catastrophe,” he said.

Mr Bates pointed to estimates of the potential cost of settlement, saying: “Even the Home Office’s conservative estimates suggest a £10billion, or up to several hundred billion pounds.”

“This is something that simply a country’s books cannot afford.”

The immigration expert also criticised Labour MPs who have opposed attempts to tighten the settlement system.

“It’s really distressing to see the lackadaisical approach of the Labour frontbench and the howls of execration from the Labour backbench on any suggestion of actually, this is not a suitable future for our country,” Mr Bates said.

Mr Bates said that the fiscal and social costs of the “Boriswave” could become increasingly apparent as more migrants become eligible for settlement.

“The fiscal costs, the social costs of the Boriswave — that period of hyper mass migration — we saw where the skills threshold, the salary threshold for individuals coming into Britain, was dramatically reduced,” he said.

“That is now starting to crash land onto the beach of the British welfare state.”

Mr Bates said recent settlement figures indicated that some of those who arrived during the period of high migration were already beginning to apply for indefinite leave to remain.

“I think today’s settlement figures have started to indicate we have seen some of those individuals already making those applications,” he said.

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He also challenged the assumption that those being granted settlement would predominantly be highly paid workers.

“It is worth bearing in mind when it comes to individuals being given settlement, being given indefinite leave to remain, just one in five of those individuals are actually work main applicants,” Mr Bates said.

“Over half are family members and dependants, and actually one in seven are refugees.”

“So this idea that they’re all going to be economic dynamite and aren’t going to make use of Britain’s welfare state is pie in the sky thinking.”

Mr Bates also raised concerns over the continued scale of visa issuance, particularly through the student route.

He pointed to what he described as the “continued obsession with entry clearance”, saying there were around three-quarters of a million visas being issued, with student visas forming the largest component.

However, he warned that the student route was increasingly being used as a long-term migration pathway.

“We are seeing an increasing trend now of the student visa route being increasingly used not just actually to come and study at a world-beating university, but as a back door into Britain and a long-term migration route there,” he said.

Mr Bates claimed that more than 60 per cent of people arriving on student visas remained in Britain for more than three years after their studies ended.

“So there is huge, huge pressure that is being piled already on the British welfare state,” he said.

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3224 points, 353 comments.

Tags: mildly interesting

1132 points, 95 comments.

Donald Trump has signed an executive order that renames Lake Ontario, which separates the United States and Canada, Lake America.

Announcing the move from the Oval Office, President Trump declared the name change was “effective immediately” amid renewed tensions with America’s northern neighbour.

The United States and Canada have been locked in a bitter trade war, with Mark Carney announcing that Ontario would match Washington by slapping 50 per cent tariffs on key exports.

Sitting at the Resolute Desk, President Trump signed the order under the banner ‘Making the Great Lakes even Greater’.

He said: “We filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else. We notified all the people we have to notify. So we've done everything that you have to do.

“This is official, effective immediately."

Addressing why he had issued the order, Mr Trump said: “We defend Canada for nothing; we don’t get anything. We love the people of Canada, but their representatives aren’t doing an appropriate job.”

Lake Ontario lies between the US state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario, from which it took its former name.

Both nations share control of the body of water and agreed to manage it jointly when they signed the Boundary Waters Treaty in 1909.

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2206 points, 264 comments.

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4614 points, 261 comments.

A string of migration policy U-turns under Sir Keir Starmer's Government appear to have come back to haunt Andy Burnham after damning asylum statistics were revealed today.

Since Labour took office in 2024, the party has U-turned on or altogether dropped a host of policies intended to ease illegal immigration into Britain, while others have objectively failed to make any meaningful change.

Fresh Home Office statistics showed the number of asylum seekers in the UK has ballooned beyond 73,000, while the number of those applying to settle has hit a 16-year high.

Despite only assuming the role of Prime Minister last month, the latest data reflects poorly on the incumbent, Andy Burnham.

Sir Keir's first notable migrant U-turn was the renowned Rwanda deportation scheme, scrapped within days of assuming office in July 2024.

The scheme would have seen Channel migrants sent to the East African country while their asylum claims are processed, until the then prime minister described the effort as "dead and buried".

The scheme was scrapped entirely on the grounds that it would only deport less than one per cent of asylum seekers arriving on small boats, making it unviable as a real deterrent – choosing instead to redirect funding into a new Border Security.

The Supreme Court also ruled in November 2023 that the plan was unlawful under international and domestic human rights laws and that Rwanda was not deemed a safe destination to relocate migrants to.

The controversial Migration and Economic Development Partnership cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds, without ever successfully deporting a single asylum seeker under the plan.

Yet another case of about-turns was witnessed with Syrian asylum claims, which were first paused under Labour in December 2024 after the fall of the Assad regime.

At the time, officials stated there was a lack of information to accurately judge the risk of return to Syria, leaving more than 7,000 pending applicants in legal limbo.

It was then reversed in July 2025, when case working resumed after a seven-month freeze when the conflict reignited in the region, rendering the country unsafe once more.

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Perhaps the Labour Government's biggest U-turn on immigration was its effective reversal of key elements of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, introducing legislation to repeal its detention and removal provisions for everyone arriving via unauthorised routes in July 2024.

The Government noted that the previous rules had stalled internal decision-making by the Home Secretary, creating an unmanageable backlog, with new legislation enacted to resume processing regular asylum claims.

However, by December 2025, Labour passed the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, coupled with the Sentencing Act 2026, extending deportation duties.

Shabana Mahmood has been hard at work to shift focus toward tougher enforcement powers of the kind it had initially rolled back.

Pressure is now mounting on Andy Burnham to take action as the Prime Minister comes under greater scrutiny.

Home Office data released today showed more than 73,000 migrants were housed in "non-hotel accommodation" in the 12 months leading up to June this year.

The figure is three per cent higher than at the end of June 2025.

In a bid to close all hotel accommodation by 2029, the housing of hundreds of male asylum seekers in disused military barracks and other sites has sparked significant local and national outrage, protests, and political backlash.

Today's figures also show the number of foreign criminals on Britain's streets who are subject to deportation orders has jumped by more than 2,000 in a year.

A total of 21,294 foreign national offenders were living free in the community in the year to June 2026, up from 18,993 a year earlier – attributed to Labour's early release scheme.

Separately, more migrants than ever applied to settle in the UK over the last year as foreign nationals rushed to secure their status before tougher immigration rules came into force.

The number of migrants granted indefinite leave to remain climbed to 199,628 in the year to June 2026, up 24 per cent on the previous year and the highest annual total for 16 years.

Ms Mahmood's reforms aim to lengthen the time migrants must spend in the UK before qualifying for legal status, which allows them to live, work and study permanently in Britain.

However, the Home Secretary's critics have little faith based on the party's track record.

London's Metropolitan Police has expanded its fleet of electric bikes and mopeds to fight crime on roads across the capital.

The Met has increased the size of its own e-bike fleet from five to 25 in a bid to cut street crime using the latest vehicle technology.

It described the new vehicles as a "game changer" in the battle against phone theft, which has become a serious issue in London over the last few years.

Data suggests that the police's use of e-bikes has helped to reduce phone theft by more than 13,000 offences across the capital in the last year alone.

Since the start of the year, more than 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters have been seized by the Met, many of which have been modified with high-powered batteries.

The purchase of the new electric bikes was funded by profits taken from crime, with the measures being backed by the Home Office.

Commenting on the new fleet, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said the fleet of Sur-Ron e-bikes would "send a clear message" to criminals.

He added: "These bikes have been successfully helping the Met to go after offenders who are increasingly using high-powered, illegally modified e-bikes to commit crimes and it's great to be able to expand the fleet.

"With record funding from City Hall, the Met are using the latest innovation and technology, alongside neighbourhood policing, to stay one step ahead of criminals.

"Working closely with the Met, I am committed to being tough on crime and building on the progress that we have seen in tackling robbery and phone thefts, as we build a safer London for everyone."

The e-bikes will operate around Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham.

Neighbourhood offences have fallen over the last 12 months, with incidents down 14 per cent in the year to July, compared to the year prior.

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This includes a 24 per cent drop in thefts from a person, an 11 per cent fall in personal robberies and 7,336 fewer vehicle offences.

Sarah Jones, Minister for Policing and Crime, praised the rollout of the new vehicles, noting that officers would be able to respond to crime more effectively, especially in busy parts of the capital.

The Labour MP for Croydon West added: "The Government is committed to ensuring police forces across the country are equipped to effectively tackle crime and keep communities safe.

"As part of our mission to halve knife crime, the Knife Crime Concentration Fund is supporting police to take the right action in the right places. We are already seeing progress, with knife crime down by 11 per cent since the start of this Government."

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4070 points, 71 comments.

Tags: awesome, funny, music, feminism, menonlywants1thing

5329 points, 181 comments.

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2272 points, 140 comments.

A Suffolk resident has declared that RAF Barnham is "not the right site" to house 1,250 asylum seekers as locals continue to protest against the Government's decision.

Speaking to GB News, local resident and business owner Steph Donaldson expressed concern for the safety of herself and her family, who live close by.

She said: "I don't think it's appropriate. I think there was a lack of consultation which has caused uproar to begin with, but it's not the right site to have this.

"There has been no communication at all until it was actually put out there. We were told initially by somebody locally and were not listened to, we tried to consult, and there has just been no answers given.

"It's going to impact my businesses, which are directly opposite here. But more than that, my family live opposite. I've got two small children and there are real safety concerns."

WATCH ABOVE.

Andy Burnham has said there was “no change at all” to his commitment to tackling climate change.

The Government has come under mounting pressure over soaring energy. On Wednesday, the Ofgem price cap jumped four per cent to its highest level in three years.

Opposition parties have blamed surging costs on green levies and the race to Net Zero. Both the Tories and Reform have pledged to row back on climate commitments.

But Mr Burnham said he stood by comments he made a decade earlier, when he said that Labour, under his leadership, would “never turn our back on either our duty to tackle climate change or the prospects offered by the green economy”.

Asked whether that was still the case, the Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to South Wales: “It completely stands.”

He said that the best way to lower bills was to cut the link between gas and the price of electricity.

His Government is working on plans to address this.

He said: “I think if we’re going to get people’s energy bills down, we have to work towards the day when we can de-link gas and electricity pricing.

“That would be one of the biggest moves we could make to support people with the cost of living, and that is linked to renewables and building out renewables.”

He said the transformation of Port Talbot, “one of the biggest green industrial transition projects in the UK”, was “amazing for Wales”.

The South Wales steelworks, where blast furnaces closed in 2024, is moving towards green steel production with new electric arc furnaces.

Mr Burnham continued: “This is where we’ve got to turn our thinking – to future industry that is clean powered, and it’s exciting when you start to think about things in those terms.

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“I led Greater Manchester with a carbon-neutral ambition of 2038… So, you know, people can look back at my record, and none of that changes.”

Mr Burnham is also under pressure over the future of the North Sea, with ministers set to make a decision on the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields after consultations for both closed in recent weeks.

Environmental activists have urged Mr Burnham to refuse consent for the developments due to concerns about the climate impact.

But the oil and gas industry and opposition politicians have argued permission would create thousands of jobs and cut bills.

Production had been approved by the previous Conservative Government, but those decisions were quashed after a legal challenge by Greenpeace, leaving Labour ministers to decide whether drilling should go ahead, with a decision expected in September.

Mr Burnham reiterated that he would take a “pragmatic” approach to the North Sea.

He told the Financial Times he had seen eco-tycoon Dale Vince take a pragmatic approach on BBC’s Newsnight.

Mr Vince argued that if the UK price controlled its own North Sea oil and gas, there would be a valid economic argument for permitting Rosebank and/or Jackdaw because that would lead to cheaper energy.

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621 points, 95 comments.

Leader of Suffolk County Council Michael Hadwen has hit out against the use of RAF Barnham to house asylum seekers.

Speaking to GB News, Mr Hadwen said: "They are not acting in good faith and we as the local government have to be able to secure people's safety in Suffolk.

"I am saying now, if this site opens, we will not be able to guarantee the safety of the public and that is a failure from the state.

"It's outside the community of Barnham, which is about 600 people, meaning that when they move over 1,200 migrants here, that will double the size of the village.

"The village doesn't have any shops, no amenities, so what's going to happen is these undocumented men are either going to have to walk up the road to Thetford, or they're going to be bussed into the local area, meaning that you're going to have people who we don't know their history, don't know their background coming around our communities.

"And this is a real public safety issue. They should not be here in the first place, but we definitely do not want them in Suffolk."

WATCH ABOVE.

The leader of Norfolk County Council has hit out at the Government over plans to move 1,250 asylum seekers into their local ex-RAF base.

Speaking to GB News, David Bick declared the move "totally unacceptable" as he joined furious locals in protest outside RAF Barnham.

In a bid to move asylum seekers out of costly hotels, Labour is earmarking ex-military bases across the country to move the migrants into.

As well as a former base in Piddington, Oxfordshire, the base in Suffolk has also been earmarked to welcome more than 1,000 men aged between 18 and 65.

Expressing his outrage at the decision, Mr Bick told GB News his main concern is the safety of those in the local town of Thetford, just two miles from the base.

He said: "Less than a mile up the way, Thetford starts, which is in Norfolk, and to be straight, it's more likely to be Thetford threatened first by these illegal immigrants than anybody else round about.

"So it's very much a matter dear to our hearts."

Pushing back on GB News reporter Jack Carson's point that the Government would say the asylum seekers "have got to go somewhere", the council leader argued that they "shouldn't be in the country in the first place".

He told GB News: "They say they've got to put them somewhere, but they shouldn't be in this country in the first place. And let's be clear what they are, we've got some of this as a Home Office admission.

"Firstly, the illegal immigrants, and we're not talking mothers and children, we're talking about military-aged men exclusively, we've had the Home Office admit they're coming from countries like Eritrea and Iran, so they should not be here in the first place.

"The Government's responsibility is to remove these illegal immigrants and send them back. They're not proper refugees in the true sense of the word, they simply shouldn't be here."

Mr Bick made clear that successive Governments have "created this problem" of illegal migration.

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He said: "Whether it's the last Conservative Government or the current Labour Government, putting them so close to a tight-knit community, close to schools, is totally unacceptable."

Asked whether the Home Office's pledge that the base will have "security and CCTV" on site, Mr Bick declared that any measures will make "no bit of difference" to people's concerns.

He argued: "It provides virtually no comfort at all. The reality is that these illegal immigrants will be allowed to roam, and even when they're not allowed to roam, they get bussed into towns.

"I've seen it with my own eyes in various towns in Norfolk, so having CCTV here isn't going to make a bit of difference to the security of Thetford."

In a statement, a Home Office spokesperson said: "We're closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into basic accommodation, including these ex-military sites.

"This is an important step in ending the perception you can arrive illegally and be put up in a hotel.

"The population of asylum seekers in hotels has fallen by 35 per cent in the last year, and by 63 per cent from the peak under the previous government.

"Overall asylum costs have already fallen by nearly £1billion since this Government was elected."

1456 points, 573 comments.

The Treasury raked in a "meteoric" £24.2billion in capital gains tax (CGT) in the 2024/25 tax year ahead of Chancellor John Healey's Budget announcement.

According to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures published today, receipts for the levy doubled the £12.8 billion collected in the previous year.

The dramatic jump, representing an 89 per cent rise in CGT liabilities, was fuelled by a wave of asset disposals as taxpayers scrambled to crystallise gains ahead of changes announced in the Autumn Budget 2024.

Successive cuts to the tax-free allowance, an increase to the main CGT rates partway through the year, and widespread speculation about further hikes all prompted individuals to bring forward sales of investments, property and business assets before less favourable rules took effect.

Reported gains reached a total of £127billion across the year, marking an 82 per cent jump compared with 2023/24. The number of individuals paying CGT climbed 45 per cent to an all-time high of 584,000.

A significant portion of that increase was driven by reductions to the annual exempt amount. The lowering of the tax-free threshold on April 6, 2024 alone drew an estimated 76,000 additional people into the CGT net.

Taken together, the consecutive cuts to the allowance introduced in April 2023 and April 2024 brought as many as 163,000 new taxpayers within the levy's scope.

These are individuals who would previously have fallen beneath the reporting threshold but now face a liability on their gains thanks to fiscal drag.

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Fewer than one in a hundred CGT taxpayers, those realising gains of £5million or more, accounted for 45 per cent of the total take in 2024/25.

The main CGT rates were raised midway through the tax year, while the announcement that the Business Asset Disposal Relief rate would increase from April 2025 prompted business owners to accelerate sales before the higher charge applied.

Pre-Budget speculation about even steeper rate rises added further urgency, encouraging a rush of disposals in the months before the Autumn Budget 2024.

Elizabeth Bradley, a partner at international law firm BCLP, cautioned that the record haul may prove fleeting.

She said: "Today's meteoric rise in CGT liabilities offers the Chancellor some short-term relief, but it may be a sugar hit caused by forestalling.

"These bumper liabilities could be borrowing from future years, leaving a hole in the medium-term fiscal plan.

"Some taxpayers could accelerate disposals ahead of the forthcoming Autumn Statement from the new Chancellor, while others may simply defer gains for years, a pattern seen repeatedly after past CGT reforms.

"Either way, today's rise may not translate into stronger receipts for the rest of this Parliament."

The Labour Government has been slammed by a former immigration minister as new data released reveals the staggering number of asylum seekers in British communities.

Speaking to GB News, Kevin Foster criticised the "crass" way that Labour has handled the growing crisis, including issuing asylum seekers with guidance on "how not to rape women".

New immigration data released today by the Home Office has revealed asylum seekers who have been dispersed across Britain has surged by three per cent compared to the end of June 2025.

The number of migrants housed in "non-hotel accommodation" in the 12 months leading up to June 2026 reached 73,068.

Around 17 per cent of asylum seekers remain in hotel accommodation, nearly half the amount compared to a year earlier as Labour continues to disperse them around Britain in HMOs and former military sites.

Discussing the figures on GB News, Mr Foster recalled how many Britons believed that migrants being moved out of asylum hotels would be moved "out of the country", not into their communities.

He said: "I think a lot of people, when they heard asylum hotels were closing said great, that means people are going to be moved out of the country - well, actually, that isn't the case.

"There's about 93,000 people receiving asylum support, according to the figures that have been published this morning.

"Take off 16,000 who are in hotels, a couple of thousand in army bases, even with the new three that were announced, you'd only be talking about 3,600 new spaces. That means a lot of people are in HMO accommodation."

Highlighting one of the key problems associated with using HMOs to accommodate migrants, Mr Foster stressed that it the "type of accommodation local authorities look for" to help Britons find somewhere to live.

He told GB News: "One of the problems of using those types of shared houses is that's exactly the type of accommodation a lot of local authorities look for when trying to accommodate those they have a duty to.

"So that's creating some real issues for councils as well, seeing so much of this accommodation going to them, alongside the concerns it inevitably brings about people being spread out, some of whom may have limited knowledge about the background of."

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Criticising the Government's strategy further, Mr Foster said: "And these are people who the Government felt they had to give them a leaflet to tell them not to rape women and sexually harass children, which speaks volumes for some of the concerns they have, even that that was a pretty crass way of dealing with it."

Reflecting on the regular migration figures, the ex-immigration minister highlighted a "trend" repeated from the previous year of data.

He explained: "In terms of regular migration, some of the trends we've seen repeated from last year around citizenship is a lot of people applying for it now.

"These are people who will have been at least six years, possibly longer, who are converting basically something like indefinite leave to remain or permission to be here permanently into actually being a UK national.

"Some of that might be motivated by some of the debates we've seen recently about restricting access to certain support from those with permanent permission to be here versus those who are British citizens."

In a statement, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said of the figures: "A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling, illegal working arrests are at record levels, and deportations and returns are up markedly.

"Small boats numbers are also now falling, but we are not complacent and there is more we must do.

"That is why I have boosted enforcement on the French beaches and overseas and introduced new legislation to tackle the pull factors that draw people here through unsafe and illegal routes. This government is restoring control at our border and fairness to the migration system."

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3268 points, 125 comments.

Watch the moment GB News host Stephen Dixon grills Pat McFadden on Labour's new Jobs Guarantee scheme, as almost one million young Britons remain out of work.

Speaking to the People's Channel, the Work and Pensions Secretary assured the scheme will offer a "policy of hope" for unemployed youths.

New figures published by the Office for National Statistics this morning revealed an estimated 981,000 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK were classed as NEET (not in education, employment or training) between April and June.

The figures are down 30,000 on the previous quarter, when the total topped one million for the first time since 2013.

Detailing the scheme, Mr McFadden told GB News that it will help ease the "stickiness" of the benefits system.

He explained: "It's a scheme where, when young people have been out of work for 18 months or more, we will step in and pay their wages for six months, 25 hours a week at national minimum wage rates.

"And the reason we do that is because of what I call the stickiness in the benefits system, when people have been out of work for a long time, it's very, very hard for them to get back into work.

"It is an economic policy and a Labour market policy, but it's also a policy based on hope, and we need to offer more help to young people because frankly, for many years now, we've had too many of them out of work."

Pushing back on Mr McFadden's claims, Stephen highlighted that there is "no guarantee" that the companies that take the youths on will offer them full employment after six months.

The Labour MP responded: "I put that precise question to the managers at Boots yesterday, I said, 'what chances are that of retention for these young people after the six months is over?', and they told me that the chances of retention are very high.

"Because people grow in confidence, they get used to the pride and purpose that comes with having a job, and they get used to having to set the alarm clock and get up in the morning after six months, compared to two or three years in the dole. They've changed in a positive way as people, so the chances of retention are much higher."

Mr McFadden also revealed Labour's pledge to promote 300,000 work experience places for young people, including 10,000 places at supermarket Sainsbury's.

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He told GB News: "The Prime Minister and I visited Sainsbury's yesterday in south London, where they're offering 10,000 work experience placements for young people, and they hire thousands of young people every year.

"So that bit of experience, that bit of getting used to the workplace, makes a great difference to their chances for the future. This is a really positive story, at a time of so much negative news around, we're giving hope to young people."

Noting the ONS figures on Neets, Mr McFadden said that the number has been "too high for too long", assuring that the Government will push further to get young people into employment.

He said: "The current figure is too high and it's been too high for too long. Those figures went up by about a quarter of a million between the end of the pandemic and the general election two years ago, and the situation we inherited was there was no jobs guarantee in place, there wasn't the funding for the 300,000 extra work experience placements.

"And in fact, on top of that, youth apprenticeship starts had declined by 40 per cent in 10 years. I am changing that too, I want to see 50,000 more youth apprenticeship starts in the next few years because apprenticeships are a great way into work for young people.

"But the difference now compared to a few years ago is that hope is on the way and help is on the way through the investment that we're making into work experience, youth apprenticeships and indeed, in the end, paid subsidised work for the long term young unemployed."

Mr McFadden concluded that British businesses will also receive financial incentives to employ young Britons.

He said: "I'm offering employers a hiring incentive of £3,000 if they take on a young person who's been out of work for six months or more. The Government's got its part to play and it's job to do, but I am hoping that great British businesses will step up and help us with this effort."

GB News can reveal that hundreds of illegal immigrants are crossing from France today despite terrible weather conditions in the English Channel.

At least five migrant boats including - GB News believes - a mega-dinghy, are making the illegal crossing.

These are the first attempted crossings since 250 illegal immigrants arrived on the 17th of August.

There are heavy thunderstorms in the Channel at present and winds are increasing, making any attempted crossing extremely dangerous.

One small boat has already reached UK waters and the illegal migrants on board have been taken to the Border Force processing centre at Dover Harbour.

GB News can confirm that 87 illegal immigrants were counted as they disembarked from the Border Force vessel Ranger at the Western Jet Foil landing dock.

They have now been taken for brief medical and security checks at the nearby migrant processing facility before being transported to the main migrant centre at Manston in Kent.

GB News can confirm that more than 16,000 Channel migrants have crossed from France so far this year.

The figure is more than 40 per cent lower than for the same period last year which saw more than 41,000 cross by the end of 2025.

Today's decision by criminal people smuggling gangs to launch multiple boats in bad weather conditions appears to have taken French police patrols by surprise with most of the boats able to launch unhindered.

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Andy Burnham has said the UK has offered £5million to help the Nepalese government amid a "very distressing and devastating situation" following flash floods.

Thirty-three British citizens, including a 13-year-old girl, are missing following the extreme flash flooding in Nepal.

A wall of mud and rock appeared to collapse into a river on the Himalayan border between Nepal and Tibet, triggering catastrophic flooding on the Nepali side.

Footage posted online showed dozens of people swept away at the border, with authorities on both the Chinese and Nepalese sides fearing far higher casualties and massive destruction.

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Asylum seekers who have been dispersed across Britain have surged, new immigration data released by the Home Office has revealed.

Over 73,000 migrants were housed in "non-hotel accommodation" in the 12 months leading up to June 2026.

The figure is 3 per cent higher than at the end of June 2025

This makes up 78 per cent of all asylum seekers in the UK.

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Helen Whateley has launched a scathing attack on Labour's approach to getting young Britons into work.

Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary hit out at the Government's Job Guarantee scheme, arguing that they have "destroyed British businesses".

The Jobs Guarantee scheme offers a direct route into work for all 18 to 24-year-olds who have been claiming Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months.

Almost 100,000 young people will be supported into work by the scheme in the next three years, with the first cohort of young people having already started positions at retail giant Boots.

As GB News host Stephen Dixon argued that the move is "welcome", Ms Whateley was quick to disagree.

She said: "Really what's going on here is that Labour has taxed businesses, added red tape and reduced the opportunities for young people, so they have literally destroyed job opportunities for young people.

"Under Labour, we now have one million young people not in education, employment or training. That's one million Neets and tens of thousands fewer vacancies in the economy."

The Tory MP argued that the Government has made it "so hard" for businesses to hire young people.

She said: "I speak to so many businesses who say to me that because of the higher taxes, the extra costs and actually the extra red tape as well, they are reducing their hiring of young people.

"If they've got a choice between an experienced person and a young person, they're going to pick the experienced person because they made it so hard for them to hire young people. So what Labour is doing is, I think, a big distraction exercise from those terrible policies that they've put in place the damage they're doing to young people by talking very loudly about this youth guarantee, when really they've taxed businesses and they're using some of that money to subsidise jobs and work experience for young people."

Ms Whateley urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to "back British business" and "give real opportunites to real people".

She told GB News: "Yes of course I welcome work experience, but actually what young people tell me again and again is they really want real jobs.

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"What the Government should be doing is backing business, getting out of the way so that businesses can create jobs and give real opportunities to young people."

Pressed on why she is so "critical" of the scheme, Ms Whateley explained it is a "classic Labour approach" to a problem and involves "higher spending".

She said: "What the Government is literally doing is it's put up taxes on businesses, and then it's spending some of those taxes on work placements for people, particularly in big businesses.

"It's just a classic Labour approach to a problem, which is that the Government is the answer and that higher taxes is the answer and higher spending is the answer.

"No, the answer is lower taxes, lower Government spending, and for there to be more opportunities that the economy creates for young people in areas where businesses really know they actually need people and opportunities to grow, which can be long term careers and have people really contributing to our economy. So the answer isn't more Government and more taxes, it's actually less government and less taxes."

In a statement, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: "Young people want to get on in life but for too long too many have been denied that opportunity. The Jobs Guarantee helps change that.

"Seeing the first young people start their roles brings to life what this scheme is about: real jobs, proper wages, and a genuine route into a career.

"As we roll this out to tens of thousands more young people across the country, we’re backing the next generation to succeed and backing British businesses to grow with the talent they need."

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1918 points, 170 comments.

Andy Burnham has been handed a bleak assessment of Labour's early release scheme, as he is warned that the legislation could "plague him for months".

Speaking to GB News, Commissioning Editor of The Spectator Tali Fraser cautioned the Prime Minister that if his Government continues to face problems with the legislation, it will further impact his time in Downing Street.

The scheme sparked nationwide backlash over the summer as thousands of dangerous criminals were set to be released from September.

The most high-profile of those criminals, the killers of PC Andrew Harper, were at the centre of the controversy after it emerged that two of the three jailed were eligible for early release.

After much back and forth from within Labour, Justice Secretary Alex Norris has said he is "confident" that PC Harper's killers will remain behind bars.

Mr Norris is set to announce new changes to the early release legislation next week.

Discussing the policy on GB News, Ms Fraser explained how Mr Norris will introduce "secondary legislation" to exclude them from the scheme.

She said: "Amongst the backlash to Labour's early release scheme, they had already made exemptions for rapists and child groomers, but they hadn't done so for manslaughter.

"Now this is where PC Harper's killers come in, and what Alex Norris is planning on doing is introducing secondary legislation, which basically changes existing laws quickly to include rapists, child groomers and this specific bit of manslaughter called unlawful act manslaughter."

Ms Fraser continued: "Now that's where the cause of that someone causes the death of another whilst committing an illegal act, which in this case, Albert Bowers and Jesse Cole did in the case of PC Harper.

"So I think under the immense pressure that Andy Burnham was under to not let PC Harper's killers out on early release just seven years after PC Harper's death, they seem to have found a way to allow for this element of manslaughter."

The commentator acknowledged the outrage from the public about the case, and argued that the Government should be finding other ways to tackle prison overcrowding.

She told GB News: "When it comes to this case, you can see why so many people have signed the petition, because his killers are just seven years into their sentences. To then be eligible for early release, I think people would be entirely shocked by that.

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"Yes, it is part of the plans to tackle overcrowding in prisons and allow for prison space to still exist, but I think people will rightly be asking, surely there is a way other than releasing these killers to to look at how to do that."

Ms Fraser warned that although the Government appear to have solved the issue surrounding PC Harper's killers, the scheme could still cause problems "further down the line".

She said: "And the problem is yes, it looks like they're about to deal with PC Harper's killers now, but there are other sort of examples within the early release scheme that could still cause problems for Labour further down the line.

"So domestic abusers may still be eligible for early release, that could cause real problems amongst campaigners and activists pushing the Labour Government, saying well, if we can find a workaround for this, why aren't we finding an exemption around domestic abuse? Why are you letting domestic abusers back onto the street?

"And if they keep basically having to go through all these different problems, this is going to plague Andy Burnham's Government again for months."

Ms Fraser concluded: "They may say that this is them trying their best to both sort of protect the prison system from collapsing and then getting too full where you actually don't have any more prison spaces, but it will just continue in a cycle, which is unbelievably depressing really, isn't it?"

In a statement, a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The death of PC Andrew Harper was a horrific crime. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we share the anger from the police community that we are in this position.

"The Prime Minister has asked the Justice Secretary to work through further options to keep a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper."

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330 points, 61 comments.

Britain's benefits system has a critical "design flaw", Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has warned.

Mr McFadden claimed that Universal Credit, which is handed to 8.4 million people in the UK, is too "black and white" and called for change in the system.

He said: "There’s a design flaw in the universal credit system, which too readily separates people into fit for work and unfit for work, and when they are unfit for work, leaves them without any support or any conditions.”

"I think that distinction is too black and white in the system as it stands. It’s something that I think they need to change."

Currently, around 4.27 million have no requirement to look for work, a figure Mr McFadden said needs to be reduced.

He added that the "culture of being signed off and written off" must be significantly reduced in Britain.

Welfare spending is estimated to rise from £350billion this financial year to £407billion by 2030-31, the Forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility have predicted.

The comments come shortly after Reform UK proposed an overhaul of the UK welfare system to cut spending by more than £50billion a year by 2030.

Nigel Farage's party vows that only British citizens would generally be entitled to most welfare benefits, with limited exceptions for armed forces service and contributory state pensions for those who have paid in.

This covers Universal Credit, housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, child benefit, free childcare, and disability payments.

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Andy Burnham warned anti-Israel sanctions could spark trade war with Donald Trump

Andy Burnham has been warned anti-Israel sanctions could risk a trade war with Donald Trump.

Alarms have been raised after it was revealed the Prime Minister is set to announce a "robust" package of sanctions which could amount to a "de facto boycott" of Israel.

The Prime Minister has now been told by Labour MPs that if he pushes ahead with the plan he may face retaliatory measures from the White House.

The President has frequently dished out or threatened tariffs - engaging in a recent trade war with Canada after taxing exports including raw materials, toilet paper, hockey sticks, and cotton t-shirts.

One Labour MP told The Times: "Our trade and diplomatic relationship with the US is fragile enough as it is.

"We shouldn't be naive enough to believe we could sanction Israel and not face any economic and political consequences from the White House, Congress or states with anti-BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) laws."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

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4897 points, 160 comments.

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7615 points, 125 comments.

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7833 points, 66 comments.

The watchdog for human rights has urged Labour to make it easier for migrants to claim benefits.

The Equality and Human Right Commission (EHRC) has now given the Government its lowest ranking - "inconsistent action" - for failing to meet recommendations from the United Nations (UN).

The regulator said: "Instead of revising rules which do not allow many migrants to access social security (‘no recourse to public funds’) when they may need it – in line with the UN’s recommendations – the Government has consulted on proposals to extend no recourse to public funds conditions to people granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK."

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, the chairwoman of the EHRC said human rights only worked when they apply to everyone "regardless of their citizenship or immigration status".

Pointing to recommendations from the United Nations, she argued migrants needed to be given more access to benefits to ensure migrant households are not put at a risk of poverty.

A tracker of outstanding UN recommendations, published by the EHRC in 2025, urged the Government to rapidly implement 10 changes, including scrapping the "no recourse to public funds" (NRPF) rule.

Those with NRPF status cannot claim most benefits, tax credits or housing assistance that are paid by the state.

Another EHRC tracker, measuring changes to employment laws, states that asylum seekers must be allowed to access employment before their claims are even decided.

The regulator also condemned the scrapping of a refugee employability programme which helped asylum seekers write CVs and prepare for interviews.

Dr Stephenson said: "Among the UN's recommendations are steps that the government could be taking to improve how people arriving in this country settle and contribute to it.

"Which should accelerate their integration into society and improve social cohesion in our communities.

"That's why we are calling on the UK government to implement the outstanding recommendations for promoting economic, cultural and social rights in full."

Her remarks have now been slammed by a number of critics, including Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary.

"The out-of-touch Equality and Human Rights Commission and its ridiculous demands show exactly why we need to strip these bodies of any control over Government policy," he told the Daily Mail.

"There is not a word from them speaking up for the hardworking British families struggling with their own bills, but these open-borders activists never miss a chance to lobby for more benefits for immigrants."

LATEST ON THE MIGRANT CRISIS:

• One in ten children who went missing from asylum hotels still not found
• Council SWITCHES OFF street lights in village where 1,250 male asylum seekers will be housed
• Migrant crime victims urge Labour to publish data on foreign offences

Mr Philp added that the UK's social welfare offering served as a "pull factor" for immigration and his party would only give benefits to Britons.

Fellow Tory MP Neil O'Brien said: "The problem with encouraging more free handouts and benefits for illegal immigrants is that you create a pull factor and encourage even more people to come. Many are not really refugees but just economic migrants.

"Encouraging even more unvetted, illegal migrants to come here poses a serious risk to British people."

Nearly 40,000 small boat migrants entered Britain from the year to March 2026, with 44,000 detected illegal entries across all routes.

The criticism from Conservatives follows the revelation that a Scottish council had prioritised asylum seekers for housing amid a homelessness crisis.

And in Essex, migrants claimed to be disappointed by the "lack of a swimming pool" despite staying at a military base more "akin to a holiday camp".

The around 800 migrants staying at RAF Wethersfield also receive free bus trips and constant access to an in-house medical centre, Peter Harris, leader of Essex County Council, previously told GB News.

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said the comments from Dr Stephenson showed "breathtaking cheek".

"The chair of the EHRC has the effrontery to demand that the British taxpayer dole out more money for migrants for fear of upsetting the UN - a body that now seems utterly divorced from the real world," he added.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We will always provide sanctuary to those who genuinely need it. We take the safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers extremely seriously.

"The Home Secretary has overhauled Britain's immigration system to restore fairness and control to our borders while reducing the burden on local communities. We are closing every asylum hotel, bearing down on dangerous small boat crossings and delivering record-high removals of individuals illegally in the UK."

GB News has approached the EHRC for comment.

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Andy Burnham has been warned anti-Israel sanctions could risk a trade war with Donald Trump.

Alarms have been raised after it was revealed the Prime Minister is set to announce a "robust" package of sanctions which could amount to a "de facto boycott" of Israel.

The Prime Minister has now been told by Labour MPs that if he pushes ahead with the plan he may face retaliatory measures from the White House.

The President has frequently dished out or threatened tariffs - engaging in a recent trade war with Canada after taxing exports including raw materials, toilet paper, hockey sticks, and cotton t-shirts.

Last month, Washington criticised Ireland for passing similar sanctions on Israel, warning of "unintended consequences" for hundreds of businesses, calling the move "unhelpful".

And a full trade embargo with Spain has been threated, which last year banned goods being imported from Israeli settlements amid a wider row over the use of the country's military bases.

One Labour MP told The Times: "Our trade and diplomatic relationship with the US is fragile enough as it is.

"We shouldn't be naive enough to believe we could sanction Israel and not face any economic and political consequences from the White House, Congress or states with anti-BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) laws."

Another admitted there was a "significant risk" of Washington tariffs being placed on countries banning goods from Israeli settlements.

US anti-boycott laws restrict companies and individuals from participating in anti-Israel boycotts not approved or sanctioned by Washington.

"There is a very big risk of Trump and the Israelis taking retaliatory measures," a separate former Labour minister said.

"Our ministers need to weigh these risks very carefully before going ahead with gestures that might make their backbenchers and some voters feel better, but would not improve the plight of the Palestinians anyway."

LATEST ISRAEL NEWS:

• Settler attacks continue on last Christian village in West Bank despite IDF declaring 'closed military zone'
• Ex-PM Tony Blair holds meeting with Hamas leaders in Gaza
• Benjamin Netanyahu mocks the UK as 'the Islamic Republic of Britain'

The Prime Minister wants to take a harder approach to Israel after it planned to open tenders for 1,200 settler homes in the West Bank, known as "E1".

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has slammed the plan, calling it an "unacceptable and destructive act" that would "endanger the viability of a two-state solution".

The issue of Israel has split the party - more than 140 Labour MPs, around a third of the party, have signed a letter in favour of the ban on Israeli settlement goods.

Andrew Pakes, the Labour MP for Peterborough, has urged the Government to introduce sanctions, saying: "If not now, when?"

"The moral imperative here [is] to keep alive the idea of a two-state solution," he added.

But the Labour Friends of Israel have hit out at the plans, arguing that a blanket boycott of settlement trade would be "practically impossible" and supported only "calibrated steps against extremist settlers and extremist settler groups".

Mansfield MP Steve Yemm warned that a broad trade ban could raise "serious questions" around enforceability, resulting in unintended consqeuences.

A Government spokesman has previously said illegal settlements "threaten the viability of a Palestinian state and undermine security for both Israelis and Palestinians".

A bombshell report has lifted the lid on how every single Briton is feeling the burden of the UK’s £3trillion debt.

The report, produced exclusively for GB News by Facts4EU in collaboration with Stand for Our Sovereignty and the Campaign for an Independent Britain, has detailed how every UK adult now owes over £50,000 as their share of the staggering burden.

On August 21, the Office for National Statistics released its latest Government debt figures, which show the UK getting very close to hitting the high watermark of £3trillion.

The ONS stated: “Public sector net debt – the amount owed to the UK private sector and overseas, less liquid assets - was provisionally estimated at £2,984.9 billion at the end of July 2026, £95.9 billion more than a year earlier.”

Lord Redwood, former Secretary of State, told GB News: “I have more government than I want, more government than I need, and more government than I can afford.

“The Government is running up huge debts which taxpayers will have to pay. You probably have a big enough mortgage and credit card bill without having to shoulder the state's borrowing as well. If you have repaid the mortgage and have some savings in retirement, the last thing you want is your savings raided to bail out a spendthrift, wasteful government.

“Each of us adults, on average, is now £52,000 more in debt thanks to runaway government spending. It will mean many more tax rises to come.

“As the state debt surges through £3,000,000,000,000, an unimaginably large sum, it means more taxes now to pay all the interest on the debt and more taxes to come when we have to repay all that money the state borrowed.

“We have got used to Government living well beyond its means and borrowing the rest. When interest rates were around one per cent that was not too painful. Now they are 5 per cent and rising for 30-year loans it is becoming increasingly painful. As Facts4EU show, we could get to the point where they cannot keep spending on the never-never.”

Adults in the UK who are working see a higher share of the national debt, with every taxpayer footing a £76,340 share.

That’s nearly three times your net annual income if you are the median basic rate taxpayer.

The report finds that if no interest was applied to the national debt, it would still take 58 years for it to be paid off.

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• Council SWITCHES OFF street lights in village where Andy Burnham will place 1,250 male asylum seekers to save planet
• Reform unveils £30 tax credit for Britons stuck on the phone to HMRC for over 30 minutes

The report also finds that almost 30 per cent of all tax that is paid in the UK goes towards paying benefits.

The 30 per cent share of tax being taken for these purposes this year is nearly 60 per cent more than the share for health, over three times education, over six times defence, and over seven times what is spent on law and order.

Staggeringly, almost 10 per cent (9.6 per cent) in the last year has been spent tackling the interest on the debt the UK has accrued rather than actually paying it off.

Lord Redwood concluded to GB News: “How does a country go bankrupt? Slowly for a long time, then in a rush – to adapt to Hemingway.

“The massive build-up of debt under this government on top of the huge borrowings to get through Covid made by the last government with Labour support means we are much closer now to a debt crunch.

“As Facts4EU brilliantly reveals, much of the big burden of debt charges will fall to be paid by higher income tax payers who also pay most of the IHT, Stamp duties and CGT.

"As debt and taxes rise, more of them will leave, adding to the tax burden on everyone else. In the 1970s Labour tried an 83 per cent top tax rate and triggered a big exodus of the rich and talented. That speeded up the bankruptcy and the collapse of the Government.

“To avoid the same again this time the government needs to do one simple thing. Spend and borrow less.”

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A Labour-run council has been giving priority for council housing to asylum seekers despite a deepening homelessness crisis in Edinburgh, it has emerged.

Homeless asylum seekers whose claims have been approved have been able to leapfrog local applicants under a policy introduced by the City of Edinburgh Council in April 2025, The Telegraph has revealed.

Since the policy came into effect, applications from local applicants who are not deemed to be disabled, homeless or at risk of violence have been put on hold as the council attempts to manage mounting pressure on its housing stock.

However, the authority has continued processing applications from asylum seekers who have been granted permission to remain in Britain and are homeless.

The council's housing waiting list currently contains more than 31,000 applicants, with around 42,000 homes available through the authority and local housing associations.

On Tuesday, local councillors voted to reinstate the system used before April 2025, allowing applications from the wider waiting list to be processed again.

However, the change will not take effect until October.

Under SNP policy, Scotland is required to house people who are assessed as homeless, with asylum seekers automatically receiving that status once the Home Office approves their claims.

Edinburgh's homelessness crisis has spiralled since the COVID-19 pandemic, with homelessness rising by 75 per cent over recent years.

The city's temporary accommodation has also come under increasing pressure, with asylum seekers now accounting for more than 16 per cent of placements, according to a council report.

That figure has risen sharply from just one per cent in 2023.

There has been comparatively little change in the proportion of temporary accommodation being used to house Scottish residents.

The Scottish Conservatives have accused the SNP of allowing the housing system to become overwhelmed.

Tim Eagle MSP, the party's housing spokesman, described the figures as a "damning indictment" of the SNP's management of Scotland's housing crisis.

MIGRANT CRISIS - READ THE LATEST:

• One in ten children who went missing from asylum hotels still not found
• Rhiannon Whyte's sister shares fury after Labour blocks release of migrant crime data: ‘Outraged!’
• Council SWITCHES OFF street lights in village where 1,250 male asylum seekers will be housed

"Ordinary Edinburgh residents have been left waiting as the system becomes completely clogged," he told The Telegraph.

"The council’s own figures show a huge increase in homeless asylum seekers using temporary accommodation, piling further pressure on a housing system that is already buckling.

"Local people should not be pushed to the back of the queue because SNP ministers have allowed Scotland’s housing system to become completely overwhelmed.

"They need to stop ignoring the consequences of their policies and put local communities first."

Internal council documents unearthed by The Telegraph have also pointed to asylum policy as one factor placing additional pressure on Edinburgh's housing system.

In 2022, Nicola Sturgeon removed the requirement for council homes to be allocated to applicants with a "local connection" to the area where they would be housed.

The change has subsequently been blamed by critics for contributing to Edinburgh's housing pressures and making Scotland more attractive to successful asylum seekers seeking council accommodation.

A City of Edinburgh Council internal risk assessment warned that changes to asylum policies could result in an "increase in homelessness presentations" in the city.

The document identified asylum policies enacted by the UK and Scottish Governments as a key "risk" to the city's homelessness crisis.

Officials are now planning to pause some council housing allocations in an effort to manage demand, while new buildings could also be converted into accommodation.

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesman said: "We continue to monitor the different reasons households require temporary accommodation; it is important to recognise that there is not always an opportunity for the council to prevent instances of homelessness.

"For example, households who have received a positive asylum decision, or who have a local connection elsewhere in Scotland, are categorised as non-preventable because there is no opportunity for the Council to intervene before they require our support.

"We therefore monitor these groups separately from areas where there is greater scope for prevention, such as tenancy loss or relationship breakdown.

"This gives us a clearer picture of both the pressures on temporary accommodation and where preventative action can make a difference.

"Despite these challenges, we continue to see progress against our emergency plan and remain focused on improving housing provision across the city."

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One in 10 children who went missing from asylum hotels has yet to be found, a new report has revealed.

It emerged in 2023 that 400 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children went missing from Home Office hotels, with some reported to be as young as 12.

Forty of those who went missing still have not been found, and while most are now adults, two of them are still children.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights, which authored the report, has raised concerns for the young people still missing.

In 2023, the High Court ruled that the Home Office’s routine use of hotels to house lone child asylum seekers was unlawful.

At the time, the then-Conservative Government said that “due to the unsustainable rise in illegal Channel crossings, the Government has had no option but to accommodate young people in hotels on a temporary basis while placements with local authorities are urgently found”.

A director of children’s social care at the Department for Education told the committee: “Guidance was issued to police from the Home Office, to be shared with local networks, to ensure that we continue to look for those children and that we can surface whether they have been found, and information can be updated to provide more reassurance.”

The committee, which published a wider report on children’s social care on Thursday, said: “We welcome the fact that the majority of missing children have now been found.

“However, we continue to be extremely concerned about the fact that some children who went missing from asylum hotels in previous years remain missing.”

The committee called on the Home Office to “make clear what specific action is being taken to locate these children, to investigate the causes for them going missing, and to avoid unaccompanied asylum-seeking children going missing in the future”.

England’s Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said she shared the report’s “serious concern” about missing children.

She added: “Every child arriving in this country has the right to safely apply for asylum and to be provided with shelter and support while they do so.

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“The disappearance of these children represents an unacceptable failure, and the Government must set out the action it is taking to locate those still missing and prevent this happening again.”

A Government spokesman said: “The safety and wellbeing of children is paramount, and we take any child going missing extremely seriously.

“The Home Office-operated accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children closed in January 2024.

“Since then, the vast majority of children reported missing from those settings have subsequently been located.

“Police forces are responsible for investigating missing children cases and we continue to review our records, share relevant information with them and work closely with local authorities and safeguarding partners to support those investigations.”

Earlier this month, it was announced that a further 13 hotels housing asylum seekers had closed, following Labour’s pledge to stop using asylum hotels completely by the next election.

Ministers are increasing their use of more “basic” sites including former military barracks, and the most recent closures are expected to save taxpayers £51million, and brings the total number below 160, down from a peak of around 400 under the Conservatives.

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Labour has capitulated over Pakistani deportations as direct flights from Islamabad and Lahore have doubled without a promised deal being signed.

GB News revealed last year that Pakistani delegates proposed accepting grooming gang deportations if its flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, resumed flights to the UK.

A month later, the British High Commission lifted the ban on the airline, without any such deal in place, so that flights could resume.

The UK initially banned the airline from flying in 2020 over concerns surrounding the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority’s compliance with international safety standards after a PIA plane crash killed 97 people.

However, PIA has now announced it is ramping up the number of flights bound for London Heathrow from both Islamabad and Lahore.

The airline will increase the number of weekly flights from Islamabad to Heathrow from three to five in October.

Meanwhile, the number of journeys from Lahore, in eastern Pakistan, will be doubled, meaning there will be two weekly flights to London.

GB News understands there is still no deal on the table for Pakistan to accept the return of its national offenders in the UK.

This includes Pakistani Shabir Ahmed, the Rochdale grooming gang ringleader, who managed to dodge deportation through a legal loophole despite his vile crimes.

Ahmed was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court in August 2012 of two rapes, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault and trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

The child sex offender swindled his way out of a return to Pakistan due to provisions under the Immigration Act 1971, which protects arrivals to the UK before 1973 provided they have lived in Britain for a minimum of five years.

The lack of a settled agreement to repatriate a number of grooming gang offenders of Pakistani origin has led to cross-party fury.

At the time of Ahmed's release, Paul Waugh, Labour MP for Rochdale, said: "This depraved paedophile should have been deported to Pakistan years ago.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Labour slips Pakistan £153million in 'aid' while it refuses to take back Rochdale rape gang ringleader
• Pakistan demands airline resume flights to Britain amid grooming gang deportation diplomacy
• Pakistan demands political dissidents in Britain in exchange for grooming gang abusers

"The people of Rochdale want him booted out of the country and it’s simply unacceptable that the Government of Pakistan are refusing to take him back.

"If the Citizenship Act needs to be amended to do that, ministers should look at doing just that."

Speaking to the People's Channel, Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel took aim at the series of Labour ministers accountable for "failing" to see through deportations of foreign offenders.

She told GB News: "A succession of feeble Labour ministers have destroyed Britain's standing in the world as they virtually signal globally and fail to confront those countries who have harmed our citizens and country through abhorrent crimes and criminality.

"Labour’s failure to take all necessary tough action to remove foreign national offenders and grooming gang members, is a stain on Britain’s international influence.

"It shows how weak this Government is when it comes to negotiating deals to keep our county safe and place sanctions on those countries who do us harm."

Keighley MP Robbie Moore previously told GB News that the restoration of normal flights without any guarantees of deportations would be a "disgraceful failure of diplomacy".

“This is also a double-edged scandal," he said.

"Not only is the Pakistani Government refusing to accept the return of foreign nationals convicted of heinous crimes, but when convicted offenders flee to Pakistan before their trials, authorities there seem unwilling or unable to locate them."

Labour ministers were also criticised last month after insisting they were doing "everything possible" to boot the paedophile from the country while handing Pakistan £153million in foreign aid.

A Home Office spokesman told The People's Channel: "Nearly 10,000 foreign criminals including murderers and rapists have been removed since the last election – a 36 per cent increase on the 21 months prior.

"Any foreign national who receives a prison sentence in the UK is referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity and will be barred from ever returning."

Chagossian leader Misley Mandarin has told Andy Burnham that his people “will not surrender” as the Prime Minister prepares for a showdown over the future of the Chagos Islands at the United Nations.

Speaking to GB News, the self-appointed First Minister urged Mr Burnham to listen to Chagossians who want their homeland to remain British as pressure mounts over the proposed transfer of sovereignty to Mauritius.

The Prime Minister is set to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next month, where Mauritius is expected to press Britain over the Chagos dispute.

“My message to our new Prime Minister coming next week in September is that this can be a pivotal moment for him to show leadership to the world and say, ‘I’m listening to my own people’,” Mr Mandarin began.

“Even though we are in the middle of the Indian Ocean, we’re still British.”

“They want their homeland to stay British, and they want to settle as British citizens into their homeland,” he insisted.

Addressing the Prime Minister directly, the Chagossian leader pledged that the islanders would resist any attempt to hand over the territory.

“If Andy Burnham decided to go ahead with that shameful deal, we can fight tooth and nail to keep our homeland British,” he said.

“We are here as British citizens, and we would not surrender,” he said, adding: “We can fight tooth and nail to keep our homeland British.

”A deal agreed between Britain and Mauritius would transfer sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius while allowing the UK to retain control of the strategically important Diego Garcia military base through a long-term arrangement.

But the proposed settlement has faced opposition from Chagossians who say their own wishes have been overlooked.

Mr Mandarin accused Mauritius of pursuing “lawfare” through international institutions in an attempt to gain territory “that’s not theirs”.

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• Rhiannon Whyte's sister shares fury after Labour blocks release of migrant crime data: ‘Outraged!’
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• Grooming gang survivor warns Labour ‘repeating same mistakes’ as migrant crime data kept hidden

He argued that the situation had now fundamentally changed because Chagossians living on the islands are British citizens.

“Now Chagossians are living for more than seven months. They are British Overseas Territory citizens. They are British citizens on British territory.”

The remarks refer to the group of Chagossians who returned to the islands earlier this year in defiance of UK restrictions, seeking to establish a permanent presence on their ancestral homeland.

Mr Mandarin said the dispute was ultimately about Chagossians' right to determine their own future.

“The main thing for the UN is self-determination of people,” he said, adding: “That is something paramount in the law.”

“We are talking more about real people’s lives. We are here as British citizens, and we would not surrender to the UN or to the British Government under Andy Burnham.”

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PC Andrew Harper's killers will stay behind bars following furious public backlash over their possible release, the Justice Secretary has told police chiefs.

Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were handed a 13-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of the 28-year-old in 2020 after the police officer was dragged for more than a mile behind their car after responding to reports of a quad bike theft in 2019.

Under the Sentencing Act 2026, Andy Burnham oversaw the potential release of the killers midway through their sentence, as Labour struggled to ease the pressure on Britain's prisons.

Justice Secretary Alex Norris told police chiefs that he plans to introduce secondary legislation, which will amend existing laws, to prevent criminals convicted of manslaughter, rape and child grooming from early release.

This move would cover the crimes carried out by Cole and Bowers by exempting those guilty of committing "unlawful act" manslaughter.

This type of manslaughter is where one person causes the death of another while they commit an illegal act - in this case, theft.

Last month, Labour admitted around 6,000 criminals could be eligible for release, either having served half of their term or, in some cases, a mere third.

The Sentencing Act was whipped up by Sir Keir Starmer's Government when they looked for possible solutions to solve the prison crisis.

However, following serious backlash from police leaders and local communities, as well as a petition which rapidly collected more than a million signatures, Mr Burnham appeared to U-turn on the issue.

The Prime Minister was able to exempt around 1,000 rapists and child sex offenders from the controversial scheme.

However, with the revised agreement, PC Harper's killers would have still been allowed to roam free on Britain's streets.

Bowers and Cole were trying to steal the quad bike and, upon PC Harper's arrival, fled the scene. The third convicted individual, the driver, Henry Long, has not been eligible for early release.

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• Labour MP blasted as PM plans 'rule change' to block early release of PC Andrew Harper's killers
• Andy Burnham plots major rule change to BLOCK early release of PC Andrew Harper's killers

When it was first suggested that PC Harper's killers would be released under the notorious scheme, the police officer's widow, Lissie Harper, who campaigned for Harper's Law, said the move was an "utter betrayal".

"This is disgusting. I am beyond appalled and bristling with anger to hear that Andrew’s killers are soon to be free to roam the streets,” she said in a statement.

Mrs Harper said: "What abhorrent message does this send? How dare ministers say the killing of a police officer is not enough of a ‘sickening crime’ that deserves the stiffest of punishments.

"The level of disrespect the government are showing to Andrew and other victims – and to their loved ones such as me – is beyond contempt."

She added: "The killers of Andrew have shown no remorse... they robbed us of our future. They are vile criminals and they should remain in jail.

"To release them early from their already pitiful sentences is an affront to justice. The Government and the justice system have not just let me down...

"They have added insult to injury. They are meant to be on our side."

An MoJ spokesman said: "The death of PC Andrew Harper was a horrific crime.

"Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we share the anger from the police community that we are in this position.

"The Prime Minister has asked the Justice Secretary to work through further options to keep a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper."

A grooming gang survivor has warned that Labour is “repeating the same old mistakes” by refusing to release migrant crime data which could help identify patterns and prevent further abuse.

Fiona Goddard, who was abused from the age of 14, was speaking to GB News after being forced to move following the early release of one of her tormentors from prison.

“These types of crimes have impacted my life, as well as many others,” Ms Goddard began.

Ms Goddard was one of 18 victims and relatives to sign a letter urging Justice Secretary Alex Norris to publish figures detailing the nationalities of offenders in England and Wales between 2018 and 2024.

The Information Commissioner previously ruled that the data should be disclosed.

However, the Government decided to block the release.

Then-Justice Secretary David Lammy approved legal proceedings to overturn the commissioner’s decision.

Speaking for her and her fellow signees, Ms Goddard said they “feel that the Government is making the same mistakes all over again as they did with the grooming gangs by being reluctant to release figures”.

“It is just a repeat of the same old mistakes, and no one seems to be learning from what happened,” she said.

The survivor argued that withholding information which could reveal patterns in offending made it harder to prevent future crimes.

“While we’re hiding away from data that could potentially show patterns that we could use to try and understand why there could be disruptions, then we’re never going to be able to prevent it,” she said.

“We need to understand what patterns there are in perpetrators, no matter what that is, whether that’s religion, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and criminality.”

“None of it matters. The most important thing is finding out the patterns.”

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Rhiannon Whyte's sister shares fury after Labour blocks release of migrant crime data: ‘Outraged!’
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Ms Goddard said identifying such patterns could help authorities develop strategies to tackle offending and prevent other children from becoming victims.

“We can start making frameworks that will reduce the crime and save people from having to be a victim like I was,” she said.

The survivor also revealed the devastating impact the early release of one of her abusers has had on her own family.

As a result, Ms Goddard said she had been forced to leave her home city with her five children and live in hiding.

Ms Goddard said the situation illustrated what she believes is a fundamental injustice facing victims of serious crime.

“It shows the reality that often the victim has their life rooted to work around the perpetrator and not the other way around,” she said.

Nigel Farage is still eating into the Tory vote as Labour's lead over Reform UK holds at just two per cent, a new poll exclusively shared with GB News has revealed.

Research conducted by Electoral Calculus found Reform UK's support remains 11 points higher than at the last general election, putting Mr Farage's party on 26 per cent.

Meanwhile, Labour has suffered a seven per cent drop since Sir Keir Starmer's thumping 172-seat majority in 2024.

Despite a slump in support, a so-called "Burnham bounce" appears to have propelled Labour ahead of Reform UK on 28 per cent of the vote.

While Labour's lead over Reform UK remains within the margin of error, Kemi Badenoch's Tories have dropped three points since 2024 to stabilise at 21 per cent.

The biggest movement behind Reform UK's rise is still coming from 2024 Conservative voters, with one in five switching to Nigel Farage's.

Labour losses have come from across the political spectrum, with Zack Polanski's Greens hoovering up almost 10 per cent of voters who backed Sir Keir in 2024.

However, Electoral Calculus also found that Labour is losing voters to both Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats.

Martin Baxter, CEO of Electoral Calculus, told GB News: "There is very little crossover now, with voters less likely to switch from either left-to-right or right-to-left.

"Out of every 100 voters in 2024, only one has changed sides left to right, whereas 25 have changed views about which party they support.

"Just as we saw in 2024, Labour and the Conservatives are continuing to lose support to the new insurgent parties: Reform on the right and the Greens on the left."

Mr Baxter also set out how Mr Burnham faces an electoral conundrum.

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"Andy Burnham needs to triangulate between the Liberal Democrats and the Greens," Mr Baxter explained.

"Maybe that's what he's trying to do, or maybe he's trying to edge closer to the Greens and try to get some of those lost Labour voters back."

However, Mr Baxter stressed the so-called "Burnham bounce" appears to have stabilised.

He said: "The bounce is good so far, and seems to be stable. He's a better communicator than Keir Starmer, but he is playing a high-wire act.

"Politics is so fragmented, and keeping everyone happy is incredibly difficult in British politics."

Mr Baxter also explained that Reform UK is still embroiled in a battle to secure its position as the largest party on the right.

"Voters who have left Reform have gone to Restore, but it also includes the SNP, Plaid, Gaza independents and everyone else.

"Reform are losing votes on the right. While Labour remains the largest party on the left, Reform is just about the largest party on the right.

"It's much more even between Reform and the Conservatives. Reform really want to take more voters away from the Conservatives, and the Conservatives want to take more voters away from Reform.

"Logically, Reform should move a little bit closer to the Conservatives, and the Conservatives should move a little bit closer to Reform."

Giving direct advice to Mr Farage, Mr Baxter added: "I'd suggest that Nigel Farage could have a slightly more right-wing economic agenda – maybe be tighter on the budget and spending – to peel off the economically conservative voters from the Tories."

The polling guru also indicated Reform has more voters to win over from the Tories than other parties, including Restore Britain supporters.

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3079 points, 517 comments.

Labour has been urged to "drop your Net Zero dogma” as it battled claims that green charges were driving up energy bills.

Ofgem announced a four per cent hike to the energy price cap this morning, bringing it to its highest level in three years.

The increase was blamed on wholesale gas prices, which have soared as a result of the war in Iran.

The costs make up around 40 per cent of the average bill.

Other charges include green subsidies and network charges.

Energy giant EDF has predicted that bills will remain "stubbornly high" for years because of policy and system costs, irrespective of whether gas prices fall.

However, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh denied that Net Zero was costing people more, telling the BBC: “Absolutely not.”

She insisted that sky-high gas prices were the culprit and that clean energy was the only way to protect the country from geopolitical price spikes.

However, when pushed on LBC on whether green subsidies and network charges were also putting bills up, she said: “Well, no – so it is both. We should be honest, and it is both.”

She said that multi-billion pound upgrades to the electricity grid – which are ultimately funded through bills – were a necessity, with or without Net Zero.

The Energy Secretary added: "I don’t think, if we did not invest in the infrastructure of our energy system, anyone would forgive us.

“It is not a choice to make sure that we are upgrading our energy system. We absolutely need to do that.”

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Ofgem has estimated that £70billion will be spent on network transmission upgrades between now and 2031.

Shadow Energy Secretary Clarie Coutinho said suggestions that these sums would be needed for the grid without Net Zero were "absolute codswallop".

"You need to build far more grid to connect lots of wind farms in the Scottish sea than you would, say, a gas of nuclear power plant which is closer to where the energy is needed," Ms Coutinho said.

"The fact the Energy Secretary doesn't seem to be aware of that is simply shocking.

"She needs to get her Department working on the true costing of renewables that I started but Ed Miliband cancelled, so she can be better armed with facts and not just wishful thinking."

Meanwhile, Robert Jenrick, Reform's Treasury spokesman, said that Net Zero costs were adding to bills "by stealth".

He predicted a “very difficult period ahead” for consumers, saying: “Households are being battered by energy price increases. Energy prices will have risen by 17% since April alone.

“My message to John Healey and Andy Burnham is very simple: drop your Net Zero dogma.

“Do what Reform have proposed. Get rid of the green taxes and levies that have been ladled onto people’s energy bills by stealth.

“If you do that… you will save the average household £200 off their energy bill.

“I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone would want to put Net Zero ideology above the interests of British people this winter, who are going to find life very, very tough.”

Andy Mayer, energy analyst at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said that it was policy costs that meant UK electricity was some of the most expensive in the world.

He told GB News: "The Government cannot make energy cheaper by blaming high costs on gas prices or hiding the costs in the national debt.

"The UK has some of the highest electricity prices in Europe, despite our neighbours facing similar gas prices. And all of us are paying much more than the Americans.

"The difference is Net Zero, and the UK's deeply ideological approach that makes rapid decarbonisation a higher priority than growth."

Energy UK, the trade association that covers the energy sector, said that gas prices had driven the latest price cap hike.

But it warned that policy and systems costs also needed to be tackled if bills were to become affordable.

Ned Hammond, Energy UK’s deputy director for customers, said: “The Government needs to assess how to bring bills down over the longer term.

“The impact the conflict in the Middle East has had on gas prices underlines why we need to move to using more of our own sources of clean energy.

“But it’s equally true that we need to look at a fairer way of funding the policy and system costs that are also driving bills higher.”

Bills have been lowered by Mr Burnham's decision to cut VAT on domestic electricity bills, starting in October.

Ms Fahnbulleh said that the Government would continue to strive to protect households.

She said: "Families will be understandably concerned about the cost of energy bills this winter, which is being driven up by the Iran War.

“Energy is an everyday essential and it needs to be affordable for everyone, which is why we have cut VAT on electricity bills from October to give families some breathing space.

“This has limited the rise in the price cap and follows the £150 in costs we removed from bills earlier this year, and we will keep looking at what more we can do to protect families from unaffordable bills.”