Nigel Farage’s party received £72m in 48 hours (Image: Getty)
Reform UK has hit back at Labour after a furious row broke out about two £36million gifts to Nigel Farage’s party from crypto billionaires.
The donations from Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, disclosed over the weekend, total three-quarters of the money spent by all parties combined at the last General Election. Reform has said it will use the money to fund its preparations for office, and that the men want “nothing” in return.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said the Government is “trying to literally change the rules to suit their own narrative any day of the week at the drop of a hat”, adding: “That’s not the fair way, it’s not the British way.”
Campaigners have said the £72million gifts demonstrate the need for a cap on political donations. Spotlight on Corruption said the situation “creates risks that the game will be rigged in favour of those with the most cash”.
Proposals for a cap are likely to feature heavily in the House of Lords, which will debate the Government’s Representation of the People Bill on Monday. Questions remain over whether Reform will be able to keep all of the £72million.
Russia ‘reckless’ with attack on train
Downing Street has described Russia as “reckless” following an attack on a train near the border with Poland.
A Russian drone struck a train near the Ukraine-Poland border shortly after the former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had passed through.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told journalists today: “What this latest attack from Russia shows is that reckless, dangerous attacks of this nature on civilian infrastructure so close to Poland underline the wider security threat that Russia poses.
“As the defense secretary said last night, the strikes on Ukraine yesterday, including on the gasworks near NATO’s border, serve as a stark reminder of the bombardment that Ukraine and Ukrainians face.”
Boris Johnson in Ukraine (Image: Getty)
Downing Street suggests more limits on political spending planned
The Prime Minister’s spokesman told reporters: “Free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy.
“Everyone should be able to trust that political decisions are made in the interests of UK voters, not people trying to buy influence from overseas, and that’s why we’ve taken action to clamp down on interference in our politics.
“Our representation of the people Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, where our measures on a cap for donations from overseas electors was announced back in March, we’re also driving forward wider work to look at other risks to UK democracy.
“The cap on donations from overseas electors was a specific recommendation of the Rycroft review into foreign interference in our political system.
“We’ve been clear, though, that the bill going through Parliament isn’t the limit of our ambition for electoral reform. It strengthens safeguards against foreign influence and will continue bringing forward further reforms to strengthen public confidence in our democracy.
“To drive forward that work, the first secretary and community secretary have written to the electoral commission to review spending limits, which we believe are too high, and alongside the culture secretary, they’re creating a new team at the heart of government to go further on political funding, unfair influence, and platforms rigged to the virus.”
New travel rules for train passengers
Passengers whose trains have been cancelled will be able to travel with another company to finish their journey free of charge immediately, the Government has announced.
From Sunday, customers with a valid ticket will be able to travel on another operator’s service departing within two hours before or after their original cancelled train, using a direct or reasonable alternative route, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
Conservatives select by-election candidate
Today the Conservatives have selected former Camden Councillor and long time local conservative campaigner Ewan Cameron to stand in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on the 8th of October.
Ewan served as councillor for Belsize on Camden Council from 1998 to 2002. During that time, he was part of the team that created the master plan that transform King’s Cross from an industrial wasteland and crime hotspot into a blueprint for urban regeneration.
He said: “While families are leaving Holborn & St Pancras, the Green leader wants to talk about Gaza. Holborn & St Pancras has recently endured a ‘Never Here’ MP. We do not want another one!”
Kevin Hollinrake MP, Chairman of the Conservative Party, said:“This election is about the people of Holborn and St Pancras, not the Middle East. I know Ewan will put the issues that matter most to local residents front and centre throughout this campaign.”
Green leader Zack Polanski is to stand, while the Labour candidate is Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali.
Leaders of UK nations to call for independence votes
Leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin are expected to meet in Cardiff to sign an agreement aimed at putting pressure on Downing Street to hold referendums on independence.
The meeting on Monday will involve the first ministers of the UK’s three devolved nations, where they are set to sign a memorandum of understanding pushing for constitutional change in their respective countries.
SNP leader John Swinney, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill will meet in Cardiff.
Sinn Féin’s president Mary Lou McDonald, who is the leader of the opposition in the Irish Dáil, will also attend the meeting.
The group will meet in their capacity as party leaders, rather than as officials in their respective governments.
They are due to discuss partnership around the economy, energy and international co-operation.
They will also call on the UK Government to “prepare, plan and facilitate constitutional change in Wales, Scotland and the north of Ireland”.
A march by independence supporters in Edinburgh (Image: Getty)
Lib Dems call for ’emergency legislation’ to push for donation cap
The Liberal Democrats are likely to push for a cap, having called for “emergency legislation” to impose one and saying the donations exposed “a dangerous flaw in our democratic system”.
Liz Truss drops major hint about bombshell return
Liz Truss is eyeing a comeback to Parliament despite crashing out after just 49 days as Britain’s shortest-serving Prime Minister.
Revealing her plans on a podcast with an old Westminster ally, Ms Truss, 51, refused to rule out standing again – all whilst dodging every attempt to pin down what party’s colours she might wear.
In a wide-ranging and often blistering interview on Free Future Podcast with Steve Baker, she suggested the Tories she once led were riddled with MPs who were not really conservative at all.
A “large majority” fell short of the mark, Ms Truss fumed.
Liz Truss (Image: Getty)
Labour accused of ‘hypocrisy’ over donations
Labour have been accused of “hyperventilating hypocrisy” over the £72mn in donations received by Reform UK.
Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, made the claim after Labour suggested they would seek to change the law to retroactively make such donations illegal.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “These donations are made in accordance with the rules and the regulations, and you’ve now got a hyperventilating hypocrisy from the socialists ruining this country, who are trying to change the rules retrospectively, which is it’s not the fair way, it’s not the British way, and I think most people will say ‘does that just mean that Labour are terrified of the progress of Reform and they’re trying to create an unlevel playing field?’
“What these two donations are trying to do is to actually level the playing field. We’re relatively new, we haven’t had the vast donations over the last five to 10 years that Labour and the Tories have had, so we need to employ campaign managers up and down the country, we need to employ brilliant policy people, the best minds, in order to ensure that we have the best policies.”
(Image: Getty)
Kids will eat lentils under school meal shakeup.
Kids will be required to eat lentils and chickpeas once a week as Labour brings in new plans to improve school meals.
Rules set to be announced later today will also see ice cream banned, alongside fried eggs and coco pops, it was reported.
State schools will even be required to appoint a ‘food governor’ as part of sweeping changes to the system.
Lucy Powell, the Education Secretary, said: “These are once-in-a-generation changes that will transform school food for children across the country.”