Reform activist suspended over racist and antisemitic comments remains election agent

A Reform UK activist in the Gorton and Denton byelection who was suspended over racist and antisemitic comments has been named as the election agent for three of the party’s candidates in Manchester ahead of polls on 7 May.Adam Mitula, an interim campaign manager in the Tameside area, confirmed in February that he had been suspended as a party member “pending investigation”.It came after evidence was published that appeared to show he posted a highly offensive racial slur aimed at black people, and also made what appeared to be a derogatory remark about Jewish women.A notice of election document published last Thursday shows that Mitula is now the election agent for Reform candidates standing in three wards in the Tameside area: Aron Webb, Audra Murray and Daniel Bennett.Mitula also appeared to have agreed with a Holocaust denier that the number of Jewish people murdered by the Nazis had been exaggerated

Starmer’s ‘corrosive complacency’ on defence has put UK in peril, says ex-Nato chief

The government has shown a “corrosive complacency towards defence” and put the UK in peril, according to a government adviser, in fierce criticism of Keir Starmer’s military policy.George Robertson, the former Nato secretary general and author of the government’s strategic defence review, believes Starmer is “not willing to make the necessary investment”, the Financial Times reported.In addition, Lord Robertson will warn in a lecture in Salisbury on Tuesday that the Iran war “has to be a rude wake-up call”.The former general Richard Barrons, who co-authored the defence review with Robertson, echoed his concerns. “It is a mark of how serious it is that someone who has been a Labour party activist for more than 60 years and was a Nato secretary general has now had to say it in these terms today,” Barrons told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme

Renewed ties with EU needed to boost UK security and economy, says Starmer

The economic and security benefits of a closer relationship with the EU are “simply too big to ignore”, Keir Starmer has told parliament as the British government prepares for more rapid alignment with European rules.Updating MPs on the Iran conflict and his visit to the Gulf last week, the prime minister was explicit about what he argued was the need for renewed ties with Europe given the chaotic global situation and Donald Trump’s unpredictable US administration.The Guardian revealed that ministers were planning to use so-called Henry VIII powers to dynamically align with EU rules by default, including the adoption of changed EU single market rules without full parliamentary scrutiny each time.Setting out what he said were the lessons of the Iran crisis, Starmer said that after Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine war the idea of a global shock to UK living standards was no longer “a novel experience”, and that lessons should be learned.This time, he argued, the response “must and will be different to reflect the changing world that we live in”, saying this included efforts to reduce energy bills

Nige and Zia set out plan to send ‘Boriswave’ traitors to the gulag | John Crace

The Reform UK press conference began a little behind schedule. Time in which Nigel Farage had gathered Zia Yusuf and a few others into a circle for a two-minute silence. A moment to reflect on the sad news from Hungary that Viktor Orbán’s 16 years as prime minister had come to a premature end. Orbán had had so much more to give the world. There would be no one left in the EU to block the €90bn loan to Ukraine

Shabana Mahmood says Southport inquiry report exposed ‘systematic failures across multiple public sector organisations’ – as it happened

In the Commons Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is making a statement on the first report from the Southport inquiry, published today.Mahmood says she will be not using the name of the perpetrator, or dwelling on what happened.She says the report has exposed systemtic failings.double quotation markThe findings of the inquiry are unsparing. Sir Adrian [Fulford] has uncovered systematic failures across multiple public sector organisations

Anas Sarwar asks voters in Scotland to give Labour five years to ‘fix SNP’s mess’

Anas Sarwar has appealed to voters to give Labour five years “to fix the Scottish National party’s mess” as he pledged more homes, tax cuts and a smaller public sector.The Scottish Labour leader is fighting a last-ditch attempt to reverse a steep slump in support. Recent polls put Sarwar’s party third or even fourth behind the SNP, Reform and the Scottish Greens, dragged down by the UK government’s unpopularity.He said Labour still had time to claw its way back into contention before the 7 May Holyrood election, claiming voters would see the SNP government of John Swinney as “tired, full of excuses and out of ideas”.Sarwar said people “could see that quite clearly” during the first televised leaders’ debate on Sunday, as he unveiled Labour’s manifesto in Edinburgh

What is the new EU bill and could it give UK ministers Henry VIII-type powers?

Ministers in Britain are planning a new bill that would bring into force a food and drink trade deal with the EU but also contain powers enabling the government to “dynamically align” with Europe. It would allow the UK to quickly implement evolving single market rules if it determines it is in the national interest, without having to face full parliamentary scrutiny.Keir Starmer has made it clear he wants the UK to go much further in terms of the economic relationship with the EU.A summit is planned for early summer with Brussels, which Starmer has stated he hopes will go further than the deal struck last year at Lancaster House that covered food and drink imports, as well as plans for emissions trading and electricity.To implement the food and drink deal, the government will introduce a bill with a so-called “dynamic alignment mechanism” that will allow the government to align UK standards as the EU evolves its own rules

UK will not join any Trump blockade of strait of Hormuz

The UK will not be involved in any blockade of the strait of Hormuz, the Guardian understands, after claims by Donald Trump on Sunday that the US would be blockading the waterway with the assistance of Nato allies.Speaking to Fox News, Trump said “it won’t take long to clean out the strait” and claimed “numerous countries are going to be helping us”, adding that the UK and other nations were sending minesweepers.The UK has previously suggested it could play a role in making the strait of Hormuz safe to pass, and it has mine-hunting systems and anti-drone capabilities already in the region.But there have been concerns in Whitehall that complying with Trump’s demand to send ships could escalate the crisis. The UK’s willingness to consider a role in mine-removal operations is seen as distinct from Trump’s blockade proposal

Britain could adopt single market rules without MPs’ vote as part of UK-EU reset

Ministers are planning to fundamentally reshape Britain’s relationship with the European Union, with new legislation that could result in the UK signing up to EU single market rules without a normal parliamentary vote.In a major development in the prime minister’s push for closer ties with the continent after the Iran war, the Guardian understands ministers are bracing to face down opposition to “dynamic alignment” with the EU from those who “scream treason” over the powers in a new EU-UK reset bill.After weeks of Donald Trump’s war with Iran that have exposed the fragility of the UK’s damaged special relationship with the US, ministers argue the move will add billions to the UK economy, help temper the cost of the conflict and boost sluggish productivity.A new bill, which will bring into force the food and drink trade deal with the EU, will contain powers enabling the government to dynamically align with Europe on areas where it has already made agreements. But it will also allow the UK to quickly implement evolving single market rules if it determines it is in the national interest, without having to face full parliamentary scrutiny each time