Kemi the attention seeker somehow always makes two plus two equal five | John Crace

Losing sleep over the war in Iran? Worried sick about the cost of living? Can’t pay your energy bills? Then relax. Because Kemi Badenoch has a displacement activity for you.It’s becoming increasingly easy to understand the Conservative leader by viewing her as a hyperactive five-year-old at the back of the class who is constantly disruptive. Who can’t get through a lesson without some kind of attention-seeking behaviour. Who has a constant desire to be indulged even though her first reactions are invariably wrong

‘A cruel penalty’: disabled people face lower benefit payments if conditions not deemed lifelong

Hundreds of thousands of severely ill and disabled people making new claims will have their benefits cut if the government assesses that their condition might improve, charities have said.In April, the health element of universal credit – an extra payment for people assessed as too unwell to work or prepare for work – will be halved to £50 a week and frozen for new claimants unless their condition is found to be terminal or severe and lifelong with no prospect of improvement.Ministers had pledged last summer that the “severe and lifelong” clause – known as the severe conditions criteria – would shield the most severely disabled and ill people from the new lower benefit rate.But charities and disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) have told the Guardian that a wide range of debilitating conditions may not meet the strict eligibility criteria, despite them often leaving someone unable to work. This includes multiple sclerosis, learning disabilities, bipolar, Parkinson’s, ME and long Covid

PM rejects ‘far-fetched’ scepticism about Morgan McSweeney phone theft

Keir Starmer has said it is “far-fetched” to suggest that the theft of his former chief of staff’s mobile phone is somehow connected to a subsequent push for the release of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.Downing Street has come under pressure to say whether key messages between Morgan McSweeney and the former ambassador were lost after it emerged that the government-issue phone was stolen last year.Kemi Badenoch had “raised an eyebrow” in relation to accounts about the theft, a spokesperson for the Conservative leader said on Wednesday. The Labour MP Karl Turner, who has clashed with the government over jury trial legislation and was a critic of McSweeney’s role, said on X on Wednesday night that he did not believe the phone was stolen.The prime minister responded to the claims on Thursday morning, saying: “The phone was stolen

Reform busy firefighting in Scotland but may yet set Holyrood’s politics ablaze

Hope, change, progressive change, change with fairness at its heart – from a harbour north of Edinburgh to a hipster arts venue in Glasgow’s Barras Market, Scotland’s political parties spent the first official day of the Holyrood election campaign reaching for the phrase that best encapsulates what people will get if they vote for them on 7 May.Only one of the main parties did not hold an event to set out their stall on Thursday: possibly Reform UK was too busy firefighting after another of its Scottish parliament candidates quit, bringing to four the number who have stepped down or been suspended since they stood with the party leader, Nigel Farage, under a hail of turquoise confetti last week.But despite the bright spring sunshine, Farage was a shadow presence at the other launches, with the Scottish National party’s John Swinney and Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar in particular differentiated by their approach to him.At the newly renovated Citizens theatre in Glasgow, Swinney urged supporters to get out and campaign for a “historic” overall majority – as happened once before in 2011 under Alex Salmond – promising voters “a fresh start with independence”.An SNP majority would not only force another independence referendum, but also “lock Nigel Farage out of any influence” in Scotland, he said, speaking from a lectern emblazoned with the word “hope”

Police find no evidence of criminality in Gorton and Denton byelection

Police have found no evidence of criminality in the Gorton and Denton byelection after claims by Nigel Farage that it was “a victory for cheating”.Reform UK had asked Greater Manchester police (GMP) to investigate allegations of corrupt voting in the Greater Manchester contest, which the Green party won.The election observers’ group Democracy Volunteers said it had witnessed “concerningly high levels” of so-called family voting, where one family member dictates how others cast their ballot. However, GMP said on Friday its investigation had found “no evidence of any intent to influence or refrain any person from voting”.Four observers from Democracy Volunteers had given accounts to police of about 32 potentially suspicious voting habits

Reports Sadiq Khan could join Starmer’s cabinet dismissed by allies

Allies of Sadiq Khan have dismissed reports the London mayor could join Keir Starmer’s cabinet after being made a peer, although it remains possible he could join the Lords while keeping his current job.Downing Street said reports that Khan could become a peer after crucial elections in May across England, Scotland and Wales were “speculation”, while a Labour source also declined to comment.Any decision on a peerage was one for No 10, Khan’s allies said, but they ruled out the possibility cited by the Financial Times that Khan could be brought in to strengthen Starmer’s cabinet after joining the House of Lords.Khan spent a decade as a London MP before stepping down in 2016, having won the first of three consecutive election victories to be London mayor, a role where he has had some success in courting support beyond Labour’s core vote, such as Greens and Liberal Democrats, to defeat Conservative opponents.A role for Khan working closer with Starmer could be sold by No 10 as the prime minister making full use of Labour’s talents, particularly given that the London mayor has at times been critical of the government, for example warning after the Gorton and Denton byelection loss to the Greens that Labour must stop taking progressive voters for granted