Reform UK promises to scrap flagship Labour worker and renters’ protections

Unions and renters’ groups have criticised Reform UK after the party’s business spokesperson, Richard Tice, pledged to introduce a “great repeal act” that would abolish Labour legislation on workers’ rights and protection for tenants.In his first speech since being appointed by Nigel Farage to a portfolio covering business, trade and energy, Tice promised a bonfire of regulations, including an end to net zero targets and a new push for home-produced shale gas using fracking.Hitting out at what he called “daft” regulations, Tice said a Reform government would repeal the Employment Rights Act and the Renters’ Rights Act, two of the flagship pieces of legislation passed by Keir Starmer’s government.“We will repeal things that are unnecessary or against the strategic national interest,” he told an event in Birmingham, saying some of this involved “well-intentioned legislation that is having exactly the opposite effect”.The Employment Rights Act, passed in December, offers significant new rights connected to sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts, including rights to guaranteed hours and payment for short-notice cancellation of shifts, and a ban on most fire-and-rehire practices

Populism is plain to see all around us | Letters

Oliver Eagleton wonders whether we can any longer discern common strands within populism (‘Populism’: we used to know what it meant. Now the defining word of our era has lost its meaning, 18 February). While the left has deep roots in common endeavour and collective struggle, it has tended to act through structures concerned with improving the lives of working people. In contrast, populism is inherently about promoting cultural division and then suborning state institutions for the use of a great leader who alone can hold the nation together.Putting it in far less erudite terms than Eagleton’s article, the common characteristics of populism include self-aggrandising and self-interested demagoguery by pseuds and charlatans, often with a side helping of corruption, a colourful past involving many brushes with the law, strong attachments to some of the world’s worst authoritarian regimes, including the one based in the Kremlin, plus a deep reluctance to be transparent about the sources of their funding, a definition of common sense drawn solely from the wit and wisdom of the pub boor, all coupled with outright racism and membership of a far-right international (often labelled national conservatism) which provides a playbook and funding for their endeavours

Reform UK councillor shared Facebook post saying Labour MP ‘should be shot’

A Labour MP has said politicians should not expect to face “death threats as standard” after a Reform UK councillor shared a Facebook post which said she “should be shot”.The picture of Natalie Fleet, who has spoken previously about being groomed and raped as a teenager, was accompanied by a fake quote misattributed to her, which read: “I voted against the grooming gang enquiry.”The Facebook post was shared by Simon Evans, the deputy leader of Lancashire council and cabinet member for children and families. He also reshared text accompanying the picture, which said: “You dozy cow, you should be shot.”Fleet, who is MP for Bolsover in Derbyshire, said: “Posts like this are so common I don’t bat an eyelid

Reform’s Danny Kruger criticises UK’s ‘totally unregulated sexual economy’

The UK is “suffering from having a totally unregulated sexual economy”, the Reform MP Danny Kruger has said, and he indicated he expected the party to have a “limited but important role” in resetting sexual culture.Kruger said Reform UK had a “pronatalist ambition” and would seek policies to encourage people to have more children, including exploring changes to the tax system to make payments based on households rather than individuals.In an interview with the House magazine, the MP, who recently defected from the Conservatives, said he would personally support reversing changes that allowed no-fault divorce.Asked what role a political party could have in undoing the sexual revolution, Kruger said: “A limited but important one.” He said policy would be “critically important to the way families form” and he suggested changes could come via the tax system to mean that partners compile a household tax return rather than individually

Minister under investigation over targeting of reporters makes late donation declaration

A Cabinet Office minister under investigation over his role in allegedly smearing journalists has made a late declaration of personal donations.Josh Simons is facing an investigation from the prime minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards over his role in commissioning a PR agency to examine journalists who had written about £730,000 in undeclared donations to Labour Together, a thinktank he led at the time.The money came from a donor whose undeclared gifts to Labour Together were a subject of the stories that prompted Simons to commission the firm’s investigation into the journalists.Newly released data shows Simons received gifts of £1,250 on 21 October and 4 December 2025 from Trevor Chinn, a longstanding Labour donor.House of Commons rules require MPs to publicly declare cumulative donations of more than £1,500 within 28 days of receiving them

Rupert Lowe fails in effort to block investigation by MPs’ watchdog

A high court judge has dismissed an attempt by the independent MP Rupert Lowe to block a parliamentary watchdog from investigating a complaint against him.Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, is taking legal action against the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), which investigates complaints of inappropriate behaviour against MPs, after the body’s decision last July to investigate a complaint made about him.At a high court hearing earlier this month, Lowe asked a judge for an interim injunction preventing the ICGS from investigating the complaint pending a resolution of his claim against it.The body opposed the move and is defending the wider legal challenge, arguing the court has no jurisdiction over the matter and that it would interfere with parliamentary privilege.In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, Mr Justice Chamberlain dismissed Lowe’s request for an interim injunction, saying: “It seems to me that there is a strong public interest in allowing a process established pursuant to resolutions of the House of Commons to take its course