Mum of Rhiannon Whyte and Nigel Farage blame Starmer for migrant murder.T

The Conservatives have welcomed the block of Mr West saying the government “followed our calls” to block the artist. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp MP said: “It is welcome the Government has followed our calls to block Kanye West coming to the UK.

“If the Labour government is going to deny visas to antisemites, it must apply the same standards consistently. The Government should now commit to refusing entry visas to extremists such as hate preachers. We must stop those expressing extremist views getting into Britain, and those already here who are not British citizens should be deported.

“We have tiptoed around the threat of Islamism for too long. Labour cannot pick and choose. Only the Conservative Party are doing the hard work in opposition to ensure we confront the dangers to our society and deliver a stronger country.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews has responded to the blocking of the controversial American musician Kanye West saying that “the situation could and should have been resolved much earlier.”

He was due to headline the Wireless Festival, which has now been cancelled after Mr West was blocked from entering the UK.

Phil Rosenberg, the president of the board, said: “It is deeply regrettable that Wireless Festival invited him in the first place and then doubled down when the Jewish community and our allies objected. “We note that the festival has now been cancelled but it should never have reached this point. The situation could and should have been resolved much earlier.

“We hope that lessons are learned across the industry. Music festivals should be places where all communities feel welcome, not venues that platform individuals with records of profiteering from antisemitism, racism and other repulsive views.

“We are immensely grateful for the support of those across the political spectrum and from other minority and faith communities. It should not be for the Jewish community alone to advocate for our safety; it is incumbent on the entire arts and culture sector, and civil society as a whole, to recognise the scourge of antisemitism and heed the concerns of Jews when problematic acts are booked.”

Mr Rosenberg also welcomed the Government’s announcement that West will be banned from entering the country. “We welcome the Government listening to the concerns of Jews in the UK and preventing Kanye West from entering the country,” he said.

The government will be “going further” to stop illegal immigrants, a spokesman has said. Responding to Reforms press conference they said: “This government is taking decisive action to bear down on small boat crossings and restore control of our borders.”

They added: “We have already stopped over 42,000 illegal migrants attempting to cross the Channel since the General Election, and removed or deported nearly 60,000 people with no right to be here. But we are going further – removing the incentives that draw people into dangerous crossings and ramping up removals, so the system is fair, controlled and works in the national interest.”

Wireless Festival has been cancelled following the Home Office’s decision to prevent headliner Kanye West from entering the UK, organiser Festival Republic said.In a statement, it said: “The Home Office has withdrawn YE’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom. As a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket-holders.“As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking YE and no concerns were highlighted at the time.“Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had. As YE said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the UK.”

Kanye West has been blocked from travelling to the UK because his presence in the country would not be conducive to the public good.

Nigel Farage has warned against banning Kanye West from coming into the UK to headline the Wireless Festival.

He told a Reform press conference: “I wouldn’t buy a ticket, I wouldn’t recommend anyone buys a ticket. I think his comments are vile, really vile. The sort of rabbit hole antisemitism, stroke Nazism that he’s gone down is vile.

“But I think if we start banning people from entering the country because we don’t like what they say, I worry where that ends up.

“I worry where that ends up, if Keir Starmer was to ban people coming into Britain, with whose views he doesn’t like, almost everybody wouldn’t be allowed in. I think it’s a dangerous path to go down.

“I suspect the free market will sort this out, in that sponsors are withdrawing already, the festival itself is threatened, and I suspect very few people will buy a ticket.

“I suspect the free market, choice, will sort this out. But I’m not going to go down the route of banning people, even if I think what they say is thoroughly objectionable, unless of course, the line’s crossed and you see direct incitement of violence. That’s where we draw the line.”

Nigel Farage told the press conference: “Frankly the people that are ultimately guilty for Rhiannon’s murder are the British Government. It’s the British government who, despite massive public demand for something to be done, have seen nothing done.”

He said he blamed both Conservative and Labour governments, adding: “I personally blame the Government.”

Mr Farage asked Mrs Whyte if she agreed. She said: “Starmer and the Government.”

Nigel Farage added: “Who next? There is nothing being done to change any of this. There is no plan with the French, and it doesn’t really matter how much money we send them, because we’ve given them £800 million to stop this since 2014, and I think cases like this genuinely outrage the British public as they should.

“This murder, this death was wholly unnecessary in every way.”

Nigel Farage introduced Siobhan Whyte, the mother of Rhiannon, to speak at the press conference.

She said: “He took Rhiannon’s life in 90 seconds, stabbed her through the brain stem.

“He has never shown any remorse, he called forensics liars, he just didn’t care, he didn’t tell us why, he just denied everything. So we’ve had to live with that. Her little boy’s been left without a mum, my children have been left without a sister, and I’ve lost my daughter through these scumbags that were allowed into this country illegally.

“Something needs to be done, they need to stop allowing them in, because it’s not Rhiannon, who will be next. Sadly there’s children, there’s young girls getting raped. When’s the next murder, and a family having to go through what we’re going through?”

Nigel Farage raised the case of Rhiannon Whyte, who was murdered by an asylum seeker in 2024.

The Reform UK leader said: “The case of Rhiannon Whyte is perhaps the most shocking we’ve seen to date.

“If you recall the incident she was murdered by somebody who had come from Sudan on a boat, stabbed 23 times in 90 seconds with a screwdriver, a genuinely horrific case.

“In many ways what happened to Rhiannon Whyte was totally avoidable in every single way.

“In almost every single country in the world if you enter illegally you are banged up in prison and deported.

“Somehow the EU has got itself into a different place. We have been insisting now for years that we not only have to leave the ECHR but anyone that comes is immediately detained and not free to walk the streets.”

Nigel Farage told the press conference:”As you all know it was five years ago that I went out into the English Channel endlessly filming the migrant boats coming, asking why there wasn’t a proper national debate about something that I feared would lead to and yes I did use the word invasion.

“We’re just approaching 200,000 people that have crossed the English Channel, 70,000 since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister, approximately 5,000 already this year.

“As the big deal with the French came to an end I did stand up in PMQs the other day and ask the Prime Minister given the failure of smash the gangs what was plan B and I got some answer to do with council tax in Worcestershire so I got up and walked out.

“But what is clear is that there are major security concerns about young men coming in from dangerous countries who willfully destroy their ID documents.

“There are also some quite big cultural concerns that many are coming from countries where women are not even regarded as second-class citizens has led to an upsurge in sexual violence.”

Nigel Farage is now speaking as the press conference gets underway.

Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said: “Labour are tinkering around the edges, while graduates will still be paying interest above inflation.

“These proposals do not go far enough and they confirm Labour have no serious plan to stop graduates being ripped off.

“Under Labour, graduates are mired in debt with fewer prospects than ever before because of Rachel Reeves’ choices.

“Her decision to freeze repayment thresholds means young people are paying more, and paying it sooner, all while they have fewer opportunities.”

Interest rates on plan 2 and 3 student loans will be capped at 6% from September following mounting criticism over the cost of repayments.

Interest on plan 2 loans is currently paid at a rate of between Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation and RPI plus 3%, which currently stands at 6.2%, depending on earnings.

Skills minister Jacqui Smith said: “We know that the conflict in the Middle East is causing anxiety at home, and while the risk of global shocks is beyond our control, protecting people here is not.

“Capping the maximum interest rate on plan 2 and plan 3 student loans will provide immediate protection for borrowers, supporting those who are most exposed within this already unfair system.

“More broadly, we’re bringing back maintenance grants and continuing to look at the broken plan 2 system we inherited, and the wider student finance system, to make it fairer for students, graduates and taxpayers.”

The Conservatives have pledged a crackdown on illegal Traveller camps if they win back power at the next general election.

Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “For years, towns and villages across Britain have been forced to accept criminality in their communities, but each measure we have used to deal with illegal Traveller sites has fallen foul of the ECHR.

“That is why I have serious plans to end the power of foreign courts to frustrate the will of Parliament, and to back our police with the powers and resources they need.”

Zia Yusuf has listed countries that Reform UK would block visas for if they do not drop demands for slavery reparations.

Resident doctors in England are staging a six-day strike from today in their long-running dispute over pay and jobs.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch took to X to hit out at striking doctors and Labour as the walkouts got underway this morning.

Wes Streeting said Kanye West needs the forgiveness of Jewish communities.

The Health Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The decision as to whether he’s let in is a legal decision for Home Office and I’m not going to prejudice that decision by commenting.

“Should he be headlining the Wireless Festival? Absolutely not. Look at his behaviour – not one or two off-colour remarks, he released a song called Heil Hitler, plastered it across T shirts, issued a mealy mouthed and self serving apology and now expects people to feel sorry for him.

“I’m only too sorry that the festival organisers have chosen to platform him, given that behaviour and then to offer the fig leaf of credibility with an absolutely absurd statement issued overnight.

“If he wants forgiveness, it’s not my forgiveness that he needs, it’s the forgiveness of Jewish communities and I don’t think he’s done anything to earn it.”

Kanye West has responded to the backlash over his headline show at London’s Wireless Festival.

The rapper said: “I’ve been following the conversation around Wireless and want to address it directly.

“My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music.

“I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen.

“I know words aren’t enough – I’ll have to show change through my actions. If you’re open, I’m here.”

The Home Office is considering whether Kanye West should be able to enter the UK after his previous antisemitic comments, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

He told GB News: “The decision about whether he can enter Britain is one for the Home Office and that case is being considered. It would be inappropriate for me to comment.”

The rapper has previously apologised and blamed his bipolar disorder.

Kanye West should not headline the Wireless Festival in London later this summer, Wes Streeting has said.

The Health Secretary GB News: “As to whether he should be headlining the Wireless Festival, I think that’s very straightforward, no I do not think he should be headlining the Wireless Festival.

“I think his comments were absolutely grotesque and whatever justification he uses, he has got to accept that with his enormous fame and reach comes influence and a responsibility, and his comments take place against a backdrop of rising antisemitism, rising hatred against Jewish people, not just around the world but in this country.”

In a post on X, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “I’ve had enough of us being threatened by the UN and these countries.

“Reform UK will block visa requests from any country that demands slavery reparations. It’s time to make a stand.”

Britain will host a meeting of allied military officers to discuss plans for securing the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway looms.

The US President has given Tehran until 8pm on Tuesday Washington time (1am on Wednesday UK time) to end its blockade of the key shipping lane for oil and gas or be bombed “back to the Stone Ages”.

At a press conference on Monday, Mr Trump reiterated his threat to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, dismissing the suggestion that such actions would constitute a war crime.

Reform UK has vowed to put an end to visas for anyone from countries which demand slavery reparations from the UK.

The party’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf described the demands for compensation as “insulting”.

He told the Daily Telegraph: “A growing number of countries are demanding reparations from Britain.

“These countries ignore the fact that Britain made huge sacrifices to be the first major power to outlaw slavery and enforce this prohibition.”