How scuzzy is your neighbourhood?
Voters turned to Reform in the recent local elections for many reasons, but one theme resonated more than most: the state of our streets, neighbourhoods and communities.
Across Britain – as Gus Carter writes for the cover of this week's magazine – the same pattern repeats. Whether it's car thieves smashing windows in London, shops being looted in daylight, or fly-tippers trashing local parks, anti-social behaviour is rife, and no one seems to do anything about it. Councils fob you off. Police don't turn up. Victims give up reporting crimes because nothing happens.
This, as Gus put it, is Scuzz Nation. It's a country where taxes are high, services are broken, and the social contract has frayed. It's a place where empty high streets and rising knife crime exist alongside financially improbable barbershops and zombie knife attacks in schools. It's not just grime and graffiti, it's the deep sense that the rules no longer apply and no one in charge cares.
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North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Farage to call for Port Talbot blast furnaces to reopen
On a visit to the South Wales town, the party leader is expected to say that the resumption of traditional steelmaking should be a long-term ambition, a spokesman said. Mr Farage believes his party has a chance of ending Labour's long-standing dominance in Wales during the Senedd elections next year amid opinion poll momentum and gains made at the local polls last month. The Government has backed plans for a new £1.25 billion electric arc furnace at the Tata steelworks, with the switch-on due in 2027 as part of the push towards greener production. The plant's last blast furnace was shut down in September 2024. Some MPs have said workers in South Wales have been let down in comparison with those retaining jobs in Scunthorpe, where ministers took control of the steelworks to prevent the closure of its blast furnaces. The Government has said the two steelworks were in different situations. Mr Farage's speech comes as Reform seeks to draw a line under internal clashes after chairman Zia Yusuf quit the party on Thursday only to return 48 hours later, saying the resignation had been 'born out of exhaustion'. It followed a row in which he described a question to the Prime Minister concerning a ban on burkas from his party's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, as 'dumb'. Mr Yusuf will now have four jobs, including leading the party's plans to cut public spending via the so-called 'UK Doge', based on the US Department of Government Efficiency which was led by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Mr Farage's spokesman said: 'He will focus part of the speech on Keir Starmer's year of failure in the UK as a whole but especially Wales. Of course for years Welsh Labour blamed all issues on the Tories in Westminster, now their excuse is gone and the game is up for them.' Reform had also been hoping to cause an upset last week in Scotland, where it was fighting a Holyrood by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, but Labour secured a shock victory. Scotland's First Minister John Swinney had claimed the contest would be a 'two-horse race' between the SNP and Reform but Mr Farage's party came third with 7,088 votes to Labour's 8,559 and the SNP's 7,957.
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Farage to call for Port Talbot blast furnaces to reopen
On a visit to the South Wales town, the party leader is expected to say that the resumption of traditional steelmaking should be a long-term ambition, a spokesman said. Mr Farage believes his party has a chance of ending Labour's long-standing dominance in Wales during the Senedd elections next year amid opinion poll momentum and gains made at the local polls last month. The Government has backed plans for a new £1.25 billion electric arc furnace at the Tata steelworks, with the switch-on due in 2027 as part of the push towards greener production. The plant's last blast furnace was shut down in September 2024. Some MPs have said workers in South Wales have been let down in comparison with those retaining jobs in Scunthorpe, where ministers took control of the steelworks to prevent the closure of its blast furnaces. The Government has said the two steelworks were in different situations. Mr Farage's speech comes as Reform seeks to draw a line under internal clashes after chairman Zia Yusuf quit the party on Thursday only to return 48 hours later, saying the resignation had been 'born out of exhaustion'. It followed a row in which he described a question to the Prime Minister concerning a ban on burkas from his party's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, as 'dumb'. Mr Yusuf will now have four jobs, including leading the party's plans to cut public spending via the so-called 'UK Doge', based on the US Department of Government Efficiency which was led by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Mr Farage's spokesman said: 'He will focus part of the speech on Keir Starmer's year of failure in the UK as a whole but especially Wales. Of course for years Welsh Labour blamed all issues on the Tories in Westminster, now their excuse is gone and the game is up for them.' Reform had also been hoping to cause an upset last week in Scotland, where it was fighting a Holyrood by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, but Labour secured a shock victory. Scotland's First Minister John Swinney had claimed the contest would be a 'two-horse race' between the SNP and Reform but Mr Farage's party came third with 7,088 votes to Labour's 8,559 and the SNP's 7,957.
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Farage's 10 most public spats as he faces 'serious lack of leadership' jibe
There are fresh questions over Nigel Farage's leadership skills following the Zia Yusuf saga, with the Reform leader having got in a number of public spats over the years The latest Reform UK drama shows it's "Nigel's way or the highway" amid growing questions about Nigel Farage's leadership ability, Labour says. Last week the party was rocked when chairman Zia Yusuf stood down hours after accusing Reform's newest MP of asking a "dumb" question at PMQs. But in a round of 'humiliating hokey-cokey' he later announced his return, despite saying getting Mr Farage into No10 was no longer a "good use of my time". The debacle was seized on by Mr Farage's ally-turned-nemesis Rupert Lowe, who said it showed the Reform leader "must never be Prime Minister". The former Reform MP, who now sits as an independent, has previously accused his old boss of running Reform like a "cult". Labour has said Mr Yusuf's brief exit highlights Mr Farage's "inability to maintain good relations with any of his colleagues". Here we look at some of the best-known cases that raise questions about his leadership skills as he tries to convince the country he can run the country. Zia Yusuf: the Reform chairman initially resigned after suggesting Reform's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, had asked a 'dumb' question at Prime Minister's Questions. Mr Farage's response suggested Mr Yusuf didn't have the mettle for the 'highly pressured and difficult' political world. Humiliated Yusuf now says he 'made an error. It was a function of exhaustion' Rupert Lowe: Reform's fifth MP was expelled and reported to the police by the party. The explosive row that followed saw Mr Lowe accuse Mr Farage of running a 'cult', said he was 'messianic' and 'must never be PM', and said the Reform leadership had 'zero integrity'. Mr Farage, in return, suggested he'd 'rather eat razor blades' than allow Mr Lowe back to Reform Elon Musk: Mr Farage fell out with Elon Musk after criticising his support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. In response, Musk suggested he 'doesn't have what it takes' to lead Reform Gawain Towler: Mr Towler was sacked by Mr Farage after two decades with various Eurosceptic outfits. He suggested Reform infighting was 'sub-optimal' Ben Habib: Mr Farage called Mr Habib 'bitter' and 'twisted' after he was passed over for Deputy Leader. Mr Farage suggested Mr Habib leaving the party was 'a huge relief'. In return, Mr Habib called the Reform leader a 'coward', accused him of 'childish behaviour' said Reform was a 'cult' and 'unfit to govern' Douglas Carswell: Mr Farage accused former UKIP MP Douglas Carswell of blocking efforts to give him a peerage and called him a 'Tory party posh boy' who should be expelled from UKIP. Mr Carswell resigned UKIP and blamed Mr Farage for the party's decline saying that 'Far from having a strategy, we seemed to be driven by whatever came out of Nigel's mouth" Dominic Cummings and Vote Leave: Mr Farage said Vote Leave top brass were ' cretins' just a month before the referendum. Suzanne Evans: Former UKIP Deputy Chairman Suzanne Evans said Mr Farage was 'very divisive' and suggested 'somebody else' should front the Brexit campaign. She was dropped as a party spokesperson Patrick O'Flynn: Mr O'Flynn called Farage 'snarling, thin-skinned, and aggressive' and stood down as UKIP's economics spokesperson Alan Sked: The founder of UKIP called Mr Farage a 'silly bugger' for focusing on immigration Ellie Reeves, Labour Party Chair, said: 'Zia Yusuf's humiliating hokey-cokey in recent days might be laughable but it just goes to show that the party revolves around just one person who clearly has a problem with working relationships. For Farage to fall out with one colleague might be an accident but to feud with everyone you've ever worked with suggests a serious lack of leadership. Nigel Farage is only happy when he's in total control. 'It's Nigel's way or the highway. How on earth would he run a country if he can't manage a handful of politicians without sparking chaos every few weeks? Reform are just not serious. They've pledged £80 billion in unfunded spending, would put up every single mortgage in the country and hammer family finances, while forcing them to buy private healthcare. Working people simply can't afford the risk of Reform UK.'
