Author: Miles Donavan

‘I didn’t realise he was quite so good at stand-up comedy’ Reform MP Lee Anderson was mocked at PMQs today after he claimed that Reform is getting on with the job of running councils and making millions in savings, while Labour is peddling dogwhistle politics. Anderson said: “Whilst the Labour front bench continue to peddle their own form of dogwhistle politics, Reform UK are cracking on with the day job.” Anderson’s claim about dogwhistle politics was met with laughter, with one MP saying “you know all about that” and another calling him an “expert” in the subject.  Labour has faced…

“GB News peddled unverified and frankly racist statistics to thousands grounded in dodgy methods.” GB News has been accused of peddling “frankly racist statistics” after it presented unscientific research which counted the number of defendants with foreign sounding names.  Ofcom has received complaints about a segment aired last week where GB News’ Martin Daubney presented what he called “exclusive analysis” of crimes committed by non-British people. The figures, gathered by solicitor and media commentator Marcus Johnstone, used a methodology which involved going to nine crown courts over a six-week period and counting the number of defendants with non-British sounding surnames. …

In at least six of these councils, making up around 4.8 million people, bills could rise by the maximum of 5 per cent Reform has finally collided with the realities of local government, with party leader Nigel Farage now admitting that delivering the changes the party promised before the local elections last May is a lot harder than he thought. Farage and his party had promised to cut waste and bring down people’s taxes. The problem with populism of course is that shouting slogans and soundbites goes only so far, scratch beyond the surface or subject plans to scrutiny and…

More than a dozen of former schoolmates have described “deeply offensive” behaviour by Farage throughout his teenage years Nigel Farage is facing fresh allegations of racism and antisemitism dating back to his time as a student at Dulwich College in the 1970s and 80s. According to The Guardian, one of Farage’s classmates, the Bafta-winning director Peter Ettedgui, said the Reform leader “would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right,’ or ‘Gas them,’ sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.  The newspaper has also spoken to more than a dozen other former classmates…

“National interest was brushed aside by false hopes and promises. False hopes and promises that even a cabinet dominated by frontline Brexit enthusiasts was unable to deliver.” A former Tory leader has slammed Brexit as an ‘act of collective folly’ in what amounts to an outspoken attack on his party after its decision to hold a referendum to leave the EU. John Major said Britain’s “enemies celebrated and our friends despaired” at the result of the 2016 referendum. His comments come as the economic harm caused by Brexit becomes increasingly clear. Earlier this week, a new study based on nearly…

Reform has outlined a set of policies to plug the fiscal black hole, but Best for Britain says Farage’s plans would leave the country “worse off” Reform UK has been accused of designing a policy to jeopardise the UK’s relationship with the EU, after it announced a proposal to stop foreign nationals, including EU citizens with settled status, from claiming Universal Credit. Reform’s Zia Yusuf claimed the policy would save £20 billion a year. However, EU citizens’ right to access benefits is protected by the Brexit withdrawal agreement.  Nigel Farage argued that due to the “explosion” in numbers of EU…

‘What on earth is going on at cash-strapped Kent County Council?’ Is this what a Reform government would look like? Clueless and wasting taxpayers’ cash on schemes that were never needed? It’s emerged that Kent County Council, which is widely seen as a test case of Reform UK’s ability to govern, repainted road markings outside a school which closed nine years ago. So much for Reform doing things differently and cutting costs! The Mail reports: “Kent County Council (KCC) said it was ‘sorry for any confusion’ after daubing yellow zigzags and ‘School Keep Clear’ warnings outside the former site of…

So much for the land of milk and honey promised by Brexiteers. Yet another study shows that Brexit has severely damaged the UK economy, as the evidence of the economic harm done by the decision to leave piles up. According to the National Bureau for Economic Research (NBER), which has based its findings on a decade of data since the referendum, the UK’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) had fallen by as much as 8% from where it should be since 2016. The NBER says that increased uncertainty and reduced demand following the decision to leave had an adverse effect on…

“The only lesson we can learn from the disaster of PFI is to keep private finance – in all its forms – out of our NHS.” Rachel Reeves is facing calls from experts, academics and patients to steer clear of new private finance deals for the NHS ahead of the Autumn budget on 26 November.  Labour’s 10-year Health Plan includes developing a business case for public private partnerships (PPPs) to deliver neighbourhood health centres, before a final decision at the autumn budget. The Department of Health and Social Care has awarded £3 million in contracts to Deloitte and lawyers Addleshaw…

Although the last Labour government turned around the NHS, this plan looks set to fail In July, the government published Fit for the Future, its 10-year health plan for England. In a few days’ time, the Chancellor will unveil her Budget. Between them, the 10-year plan and the Budget will determine the future of the NHS.  The omens are bad: although the last Labour government turned around the NHS, this plan looks set to fail – and it needs more than tweaks to fix it. How to turn around the NHS By 1997, patient satisfaction with the NHS had reached…