Treachery and stupidity to the fore as Robert Jenrick defects to Reform | John Crace

Treachery and stupidity to the fore as Robert Jenrick defects to Reform | John Crace

Even Nigel Farage looked taken aback by the news Honest Bob was about to join his flock, but he quickly saw the upside UK politics live – latest updates One is too many and a thousand never enough. Addiction is a tricky business. What starts as fun inevitably, insidiously tears away the soul. And there are signs that Nigel Farage’s press conference habit is getting badly out of control. He started off at one a week. Then that no longer worked. His narcissistic need craved more and more attention. So he upped it to two or three a week. Each time the buzz got less. He was mainlining more and more just to try and stand still. To keep the withdrawals at bay. Still not enough. So on Thursday, Nige upped the dose to two inside a day. This can only end in a spell in rehab. Followed by meetings of PA. Pressers Anonymous. Boom. The best laid plans etc. Nige was just six minutes into his first press conference of the day – the unveiling of the latest Tory defector, the meg-rich Malcolm Offord, whose lifetime achievements amount to buying yachts, as the leader or Reform Scotland – when it all kicked off. Malc had just signed a card renouncing his peerage, when every journalist in the room started looking at their phones. There was breaking news. Kemi Badenoch had just announced she was sacking Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet and the Tory party. Continue reading...

The Guardian view on Trump’s world: from Venezuela to Iran to Greenland, the madness is the method | Editorial

The Guardian view on Trump’s world: from Venezuela to Iran to Greenland, the madness is the method | Editorial

The US president delights in his inconsistency. But his short-term victories have profound long-term costs for his country and the world The Middle East was braced on Wednesday night, but the anxious petitioning of Gulf states and Iran’s attempts to appease the US president appeared to win out – at least for the moment. No bombs fell on Tehran. After all his threats, and with military options under discussion in Washington, Donald Trump stepped back , announcing that “the killing [of protesters] has stopped”. Despite the telecommunications blackout, it seems clear that a ruthless regime has shed still more blood than in previous protest crackdowns. Rights groups say that thousands have been killed and vast numbers arrested; one official spoke of 2,000 deaths. Witnesses compared the streets to a war zone. If the large-scale killings have indeed ebbed, that is probably because Iranians have been terrified out of the streets – for now, at least. Iran’s foreign minister chose Fox News to insist no hangings were imminent, in case the identity of the message’s one-man audience was in any doubt. But while retribution may have been postponed , it will not be cancelled as it should be: the calls for the regime’s downfall are seen as an existential threat. The Iranian authorities can wait. Mr Trump will move on. Continue reading...

Anger in Iceland over incoming US ambassador’s ‘52nd state’ joke

Anger in Iceland over incoming US ambassador’s ‘52nd state’ joke

Thousands sign petition calling on Iceland’s foreign minister to reject Trump ally Billy Long’s nomination Thousands of people have signed a petition expressing anger after Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Iceland reportedly joked that the Nordic country should become the 52nd US state. On Wednesday, hours before top officials from Greenland and Denmark were to meet with the US in the hope of warding off Trump’s threats to seize the Arctic island, the news outlet Politico said it had heard of musings regarding another Nordic island. Continue reading...

West Midlands chief constable may face investigation by police watchdog

West Midlands chief constable may face investigation by police watchdog

Craig Guildford remains in post after damning report into decision to ban Israeli fans from football match, despite calls for his resignation The police watchdog is considering the use of special legal powers to place the West Midlands force’s chief constable under investigation. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was studying the devastating official report on the force’s banning of Israeli fans from a football match in Birmingham last year, which led the home secretary to declare she had lost confidence in Craig Guildford. Continue reading...

Influencer Perrie Sian left ‘shaking with anger’ in furious rant about rude hotel guest who made her ‘explode’

Influencer Perrie Sian left ‘shaking with anger’ in furious rant about rude hotel guest who made her ‘explode’

AN INFLUENCER has been left ‘shaking with anger’ after a rude hotel guest made her “want to explode.”  Perrie Sian, a Primark-loving content creator recently travelled from the Maldives to Dubai, but not long after arriving, was left fuming after noticing some shocking behaviour from other travellers. Posting on TikTok, Molly-Mae’s pal and fashion powerhouse erupted...