Politics | kieransbrookholmes.claims

Reform faces criticism after councillors filmed making racist comments

In the film, Undercover: A Year in Reform, a Reform councillor and deputy mayor of Solihull is recorded calling Asian homeowners "parasites". It comes after Reform leader Nigel Farage vowed to root out "bad apples" from…

Caroline Elsom: Burnham’s housing benefit bill is coming back to haunt him

The new Prime Minister may have avoided setting another Halloween Budget, but the many fiscal challenges he faces aren’t anywhere near exorcised. Much of Westminster’s attention is on how Burnham can control welfare…

Croatia pumps the brakes on Montenegro’s EU membership bid

“We will ask our colleagues to help them to make progress, if there’s an objective to conclude the negotiations.” Croatia’s concerns are laid out in an orientation paper, obtained by POLITICO, in which Zagreb insists it…

The extremes of Reform: What will Farage do?

Reform says there is “no room for racism” within the party. Elsewhere, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Donald Trump is putting lives at risk by cutting Ukraine’s access to Starlink, a vital satellite technology. If the US can…

UK economy unexpectedly grows in August despite fall in consumer spending

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.1% last month, compared with 0.4% growth in July. That confounded a forecast by City economists of a 0.1% contraction. With…

Welcome to the world of ‘what I meant was’

She can talk to academics about complex issues in a language she learnt at school and I can just about ask basic directions in French. However, every so often I will get the phrase above served at me because in the midst…

No timeline for lifting Land Registry paywall as ownership remains opaque

Campaigners called for this change in order to make large landowners more accountable, particularly for key areas such as river catchments, grouse moors and peatland. But Reynolds did not put a date on when the paywall…

Bob Seely: Why is Burnham re-opening the Brexit debate?

What on earth is Prime Minister Andy Burnham playing at, digging up the bones of the decade-old Brexit campaign? On Sunday, a taster of The Rest is Politics podcast hit Social Media. Burnham gravely declared that the…

Susan Hall: Why won’t Khan speak out against the Government’s anti London cash grab?

The new Prime Minister seemingly has no problem swiping £100 million from Westminster’s budget or £84 million from Wandsworth or £30.5 million, in real terms, from Bromley. Andy Burnham wasn’t Prime Minister, or even an…

‘Reopening the Brexit debate would be a mistake’

One says Brexit liberated Britain from an inflexible political and economic structure. The other says Brexit inflicted lasting economic damage that can only be repaired through much closer integration. We voted to leave…