UK-EU youth mobility scheme key to better EU relations, says top diplomat

Keir Starmer’s effort to reset Britain’s relations with its European allies is contingent upon a UK-EU youth mobility scheme, a top diplomat has indicated.Miguel Berger, Germany’s ambassador to the UK, said stability across Europe could be undermined if the allies could not secure a number of “clear measures” that demonstrate the “concrete advantages” of their relationship – one being the youth mobility scheme.While Berger appeared to accept the pressure Starmer was under from Eurosceptics and Brexit-supporting newspapers in the UK, he said the scheme was ultimately “quite simple”.“The most important thing is [that] people who come here will go home after that. So the idea is really to have the experience, but then go home,” he told the Guardian

Curb extremism now or face new terrorist threats, Labour warned

Labour must reverse years of ­political failure on extremism to stop it ­fuelling more disorder, violence and terrorism in Britain, leading figures have said.Neil Basu, the former head of counter-terrorism policing, and Dame Sara Khan, previously the government’s counter-extremism tsar, warned that proposals unveiled last month would not be enough to address a toxic pool of hatred, conspiracy theories and “dangerous rhetoric” from high-­profile figures including Elon Musk.Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, last month announced increased funding for counter-terrorism police, plans to strengthen the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme and a new independent commissioner to oversee its effectiveness.However, that role overlaps with the Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE), which was set up after the 2017 terrorist attacks, and the Observer understands a decision is yet to be made on the CCE’s future.Khan, who led the ­commission from 2018 to 2021, welcomed Labour’s creation of an independent Prevent commissioner but said a separate body was still needed to counter extremism and related threats, including disinformation and conspiracy theories

‘Picture Nigel Farage as PM’: jubilant Reform UK dares to dream at East of England conference

“I want you to take a moment to picture the day when, in just a few years’ time, prime minister Nigel Farage triumphantly arrives at No 10 Downing Street, puts his briefcase down on the desk and takes a seat,” Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf tells a rapt audience of party members. “Change is coming. We will turn this country around and restore the United Kingdom to its rightful position as one of the greatest countries in the world.”The speech is met with rapturous applause and a standing ovation at Reform’s East of England conference, held in Kemi Badenoch’s rural North West Essex constituency on Saturday.About 1,000 people have packed into the unseasonally named “summer marquee” at Chelmsford City Racecourse for the event, which is one of four party gatherings being held across England in the space of a fortnight

New year, new Keir? Labour have big plans for 2025 - including taking inspiration from Thatcher

As the popularity of his government has nosedived in recent weeks, Keir Starmer has turned up the heat on his cabinet ministers. Since early last month, individual secretaries of state have been summoned by the prime minister to attend 90-minute, one-to-one interrogations to check on their work, department by department.Starmer’s officials insist that no one in Downing Street or Whitehall is panicking. Not yet, anyway. But just six months on from his landslide general election victory, the meetings are evidence of a sense of urgency and unease, and proof that the hard realities of government have dawned

Labour’s poll lead is fading and the base is weak – it’s time for Starmer to roll the dice

Six months after Labour’s biggest landslide in a generation, the new government is already in the mire. The poll lead on which Starmer’s majority was built has already all but vanished, leaving Labour in a three-way dogfight with the Conservatives and Nigel Farage’s resurgent Reform UK, while, further down, both the Greens and Liberal Democrats have also made gains.Voters have historically given new governments the benefit of the doubt, with most holding their ground or gaining support in their first six months. Blair’s first two new Labour governments enjoyed polling honeymoons. Starmer has had no such luck

Nigel Farage ‘very pleased’ Elon Musk backs Reform UK, calling him a ‘hero’

Nigel Farage has hailed Elon Musk as a “hero” and said he was “very pleased he’s backing our party”, but he called reports that the tech mogul was preparing to donate $100m (£80m) to Reform UK “somewhat overexaggerated”.Speaking at Reform’s East Midlands conference on Friday night, the party leader said Musk’s efficiency plan for Donald Trump’s government was the “blueprint we need” as he called for a “complete change of culture in Britain”.“I am very pleased he’s backing our party, even if reports of his potential financial donations are somewhat overexaggerated,” he said. “Whether we like everything he says or not, he’s a hero.”The tech billionaire has been weighing in on British politics in recent months, and told his social media followers on Thursday that “Britain needs Reform now” as rumours circulated he is preparing to give the party up to $100m