Electoral Commission reviewing whether Reform UK leader should have declared billionaire’s gift before entering parliament
The UK elections watchdog is considering whether to investigate an undisclosed £5m gift received by Nigel Farage before he announced his candidacy at the last general election.
The Guardian revealed this week that the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne gave the Reform UK leader the money.
Continue reading...Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre’s assessment means terror attack thought to be ‘highly likely’
The UK terrorism threat level has been raised to “severe” by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre after the Golders Green stabbings, meaning a terror attack is thought to be “highly likely”.
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, described Wednesday’s attack as a vile act of terrorism. “Today, the national threat level has increased to ‘severe’, which means a terrorist attack is considered highly likely,” she said.
Continue reading...Patrick Vallance says government working with Chinese officials to remove postings from Alibaba after Biobank data breach last week
There have been further listings of confidential health records of UK volunteers on the Chinese website Alibaba since the breach reported last week, and the government is braced for further leaks, the science minister has said.
Addressing a House of Lords debate on the attempted sale of data belonging to 500,000 UK Biobank volunteers, Patrick Vallance said the government had worked with Chinese officials to remove additional postings on the online marketplace.
Continue reading...PM took questions from leader of the opposition and other MPs in final PMQs before recess
Here is the running order for PMQs.
Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, Anna Isaac reports.
Continue reading...Reform leader changed his mind about standing as MP after gift from Thai-based crypto tycoon Christopher Harborne
Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, the Guardian can reveal.
Farage had stated he did not intend to stand as a prospective MP but U-turned in June 2024, within weeks of receiving the personal gift from the Thailand-based businessman.
Continue reading...Ian Collard tells MPs he had not seen UKSV assessment summary before briefing Olly Robbins on clearance
A top Foreign Office security official who played a key role in granting Peter Mandelson’s vetting clearance “felt pressure to deliver a rapid outcome” because of contacts from Downing Street, MPs have been told.
In testimony relayed to parliament via the Foreign Office (FCDO), Ian Collard said he had not seen the assessment summary produced by the vetting agency when he gave an oral briefing to Olly Robbins, the department’s former permanent secretary. Instead, Collard had received an oral briefing from a member of the FCDO’s personnel security team.
Continue reading...Former chief of staff who helped bring Mandelson out of Labour shadows for Washington post to be questioned by MPs on vetting process
Like many Labour stories, Peter Mandelson’s and Morgan McSweeney’s both start at Lambeth council.
Mandelson was in his mid-20s. It was 1979, and he was a new councillor under the leadership of “Red” Ted Knight. He came to despise the local party, describing the Lambeth Labour party’s leadership as “contributing very little to the economic development of south London, instead politicising everything, attacking the police and the Tory government, and making the council go broke.”
Continue reading...The prime minister faces a standards investigation over Mandelson affair and testimony from Morgan McSweeney
Keir Starmer has told Labour MPs to “stick together and fight together” as ministers launched a massive operation to shore up his fragile position before a critical day for his premiership.
The prime minister faces the double threat of a standards investigation into his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US and potentially damaging testimony from Morgan McSweeney, his former chief of staff.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Health Foundation says Britain is ‘going backwards’ compared with most other rich countries
People in the UK are spending fewer years in good health than a decade ago, prompting concern that the population’s health is “going backwards”.
The sharp decline in Britain’s healthy life expectancy, the amount of time someone spends free of illness or disability, is in sharp contrast to its recent rise in most other rich countries globally.
Continue reading...Message on private Facebook group for staff said: ‘I dumped them all in a bin. They can sack me!’
Royal Mail is investigating allegations that a postal worker claimed to have “dumped” Reform UK campaign leaflets in a bin ahead of Thursday’s local elections.
A post on a Facebook group for Royal Mail staff said: “My DO had reform party’s D2D today. I dumped them all in a bin. They can sack me! Idgaf!”
Continue reading...Prime minister has shed trusted staffers but can still turn to many genuine friends in and out of government
Given that the signs of an embattled premiership are all around – defensive-sounding interviews insisting he will be in post at the next election; a rush of stories about supposed cabinet plotting – now, more than ever, Keir Starmer needs real allies. And here, at least, there is something to feel positive about.
If you talk to most Labour MPs, Starmer most likely will not lead Labour into the next election. He may even not remain in No 10 much beyond a set of Scottish, Welsh and local English elections on 7 May, which are expected to be disastrous for his party.
Continue reading...Chief property and security officer Ian Collard set to submit written answers to foreign affairs committee questions
A key figure in the row over Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to Washington will not appear before a parliamentary committee of MPs to give evidence.
Emily Thornberry had requested that Ian Collard speak to the foreign affairs committee (FAC) on Tuesday, but confirmed on Saturday that he would submit written answers instead.
Whether he felt under pressure to deliver Mandelson’s clearance, after Robbins said there was an “atmosphere of pressure” and “constant chasing” from Downing Street.
Whether he had seen the cover form for Mandelson’s vetting by UK Security Vetting (UKSV), the agency responsible for checks on candidates for sensitive posts, in which it had ticked two red boxes – meaning they had “high concern” and recommended “clearance denied or withdrawn”.
If he was asked by anyone in the Foreign Office, Downing Street or the Cabinet Office for advice about whether Mandelson required vetting for the post given that he was a member of the House of Lords.
If he advised on how Mandelson should be treated during the period between his appointment being announced and his clearance coming through.
Continue reading...Former US ambassador and Labour peer joins a long line of people who have gone out to meet awaiting paparazzi head-on
For a man at the centre of a storm that has rocked the political establishment, Peter Mandelson has spent the week looking remarkably relaxed. Day after day, as MPs have grilled civil servants over who knew what when about the former US ambassador’s security vetting, and police continue to investigate serious allegations over his own conduct, Mandelson has stepped out of his Regent’s Park mansion and pottered across the road to take his dog for a walk.
Smart-casually dressed in jeans and a jumper and holding in front of him a plastic ball-thrower, he has set off for the park like a weekending solicitor on his way to an egg and spoon race. There have been occasional small smiles for the photographers at his gate, but no comment. The message appears to be: I am insouciant, normal. Not in prison.
Continue reading...Home secretary indicates Whitehall talks about returns programme, a move that would shock humanitarian groups
Shabana Mahmood has refused to rule out sending rejected Afghan asylum seekers back to the Taliban-controlled country.
The home secretary said she is “monitoring very closely” talks between Kabul and EU countries about a returns programme for refused claimants. She also indicated that “additional conversations” about Afghan returns were happening inside Whitehall.
Continue reading...Police investigating allegations Mandelson and former prince Andrew passed sensitive info to Epstein will struggle to make charges stick without files
British police investigating the former prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson are preparing to start interviewing witnesses in royal and government circles.
It comes as police fear that prosecutors will be “reluctant” to bring charges unless the Trump administration agrees to hand over the original documents from the Epstein files.
Continue reading...Revised figures increase fears about how the energy-intensive sites could worsen the climate emergency
The UK government vastly underestimated the climate impact of artificial intelligence, it has emerged, after officials raised their estimate of carbon emissions from the technology by a factor of more than 100.
According to new data quietly published this week, energy use by AI datacentres in the UK could cause the emission of up to 123m tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO₂) – about as much as generated by 2.7 million people – over the next 10 years.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Scholars, writers and artists risk arrest with message of support for proscribed group before next week’s appeal hearing
Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg and Brian Eno have written to the court of appeal in support of Palestine Action before next week’s hearing to determine the lawfulness of the ban on the direct action protest group.
The letter, composed of only seven words – “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action” – is signed by more than 130 people and is the first time that prominent scholars, writers and activists have come together to defy the ban.
Continue reading...US president accuses UK of thinking it can ‘make an easy buck’ from US tech companies, weeks after warning that UK–US trade deal can be changed
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms.
The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies.
Continue reading...Hope Not Hate campaign identifies election hopefuls calling for a ‘white Britain’ and complaining of ‘kowtowing to the black community’
A Reform UK candidate who called for a “white Britain” and said Keir Starmer should be shot is among a number of contenders fuelling doubts about the party’s claim to have tightened up its vetting.
The past comments of Linda McFarlane and other political hopefuls have been unearthed ahead of the 7 May elections, including one who complained about “constant kowtowing to the black community” and others who endorsed the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Continue reading...Proposal at heart of offer made during a 30-country two-day meeting jointly organised by France
Britain is prepared to deploy a squadron of RAF Typhoons based in Qatar to patrol over the strait of Hormuz as part of a multinational mission to keep open the strategic waterway once the Iran war comes to an end.
The UK military also offered to deploy mine-hunting drones and specialist divers to help clear the strait mined by Iran – but no decision has been made on whether HMS Dragon or another warship would also be deployed.
Continue reading...