Farage rejects Badenoch’s suggestion of Tory-Reform coalitions in town halls

Nigel Farage has rebuffed a suggestion from Kemi Badenoch that Conservative and Reform UK councillors could form coalitions in town halls after the local elections.Badenoch had opened the door to Tory and Reform councillors entering formal agreements to administer local authorities if it was “right for the people in their local area”.But the Reform leader hit back by saying his party had “no intention” of forming coalitions with the Tories at any level after 1 May.Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday, the Conservative leader said that while she categorically ruled out any national deal with Farage, Tory councillors routinely “end up with various coalitions” with all parties, including Labour and the Liberal Democrats.“You don’t get to have a rerun of an election at local level, so what I’m telling local leaders across the country [is] they have to do what is right for the people in their local area,” Badenoch said

Reform UK may overtake Welsh Labour in 2026 Senedd vote, poll suggests

A dramatic change looms in Welsh politics, as internal Labour polling suggests Reform UK could unseat the party in key Senedd seats in 2026, sources have said.Labour has led every Welsh government since devolution in 1999, but the new proportional election system makes it easier for Reform to gain a bigger number of seats in Wales than it did in Westminster at the general election.The data circulated within Labour put Reform UK on 25%, with Labour and Plaid Cymru tied on 21%.The early survey, a year before the Senedd election in May 2026, reflects the growing unease in Labour ranks as the party grapples with declining support in some of its traditional heartlands.The Labour survey echoes the latest poll from Survation, which showed Reform UK would rise to 24%, scoring even with Plaid Cymru, and Labour securing a narrow win on 27%

Gerry Adams considers suing Meta over alleged use of his books to train AI

The former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams is considering legal action against Meta because it may have used his books to train artificial intelligence.Adams said the tech company included at least seven of his books in a vast trawl of copyright material to develop its AI systems. “Meta has used many of my books without my permission. I have placed the issue in the hands of my solicitor,” he said.Sinn Féin said in a statement on Wednesday that the titles included its former leader’s autobiography, Before the Dawn; a prison memoir, Cage Eleven; reflections on Northern Ireland’s peace process, Hope and History; and other memoirs, a cookbook and a short story collection

Tory peer helped secure meeting with minister for Canadian firm he advises

A Conservative peer helped to secure a meeting with a minister for a Canadian company he was advising while it was seeking government funding worth millions of pounds.Ian Duncan was on an advisory board of Terrestrial Energy, a nuclear technology company, when he “facilitated an introduction” between its chief executive and a new energy minister while the company was applying for a government grant. The revelation raises questions for Duncan about whether his actions broke House of Lords rules.The meeting with Andrew Bowie, the nuclear minister at the time, enabled the chief executive of Terrestrial Energy to lobby for easier access to UK government funding.Lord Duncan of Springbank has been an adviser to the company since 2020, after he was recruited by another peer, Lady Bloomfield

‘We are nearly there’: UK and India agree 90% of free trade agreement

The UK and India have agreed 90% of their free trade agreement, businesses were told on a call with negotiators this week.There are hopes the UK government will succeed in finalising a highly coveted trade deal with India, a booming economy of 1.4 billion people, this year.A government source told the Guardian that mobility, which involves visas for Indian workers and has been one of the most contentious issues in the negotiations, had largely been resolved.“We are nearly there

Nigel Farage gets his 10th job as he becomes Sky News Australia commentator

Nigel Farage has got a 10th job, making £25,000 (AU$52,000) as a commentator for the Rupert Murdoch-backed Sky News Australia, with the MP telling the channel that Britain is “going downhill”.The Reform UK leader has a portfolio of gigs on top of his role as an MP, including a £280,000 job advertising gold bullion, a £4,000-a-month column for the Daily Telegraph and presenting for GB News, which has paid him more than £330,000 since July.His other jobs include giving speeches, social media work on Google, X and Meta, and selling personalised videos on Cameo, which has made him £125,000 since the election. In total, he is approaching £900,000 in outside earnings.Farage has provided commentary to the Australian news channel and gave a video interview over lunch with Peta Credlin, a former chief of staff to Tony Abbott, a former prime minister of Australia