Cleverly refuses to back Badenoch on ECHR
During last year's Tory leadership race, both Badenoch and Cleverly had opposed leaving the ECHR. However in recent weeks Badenoch's stance has shifted somewhat, with the Conservative party leader stating last month that she is 'increasingly of the view that we will need to leave'. Yet when pressed multiple times on the matter this morning while he was across the airwaves for the morning round, Cleverly would not support his party leader's position. The ex-Foreign Secretary did say, however, that if leaving the ECHR does become Tory party policy, he 'will abide by that'. He went on, telling the Beeb's Radio 4 Today programme that:
Well, she has commissioned a review by the shadow attorney general and it is right that we look at this. It was incredibly frustrating when I was trying to deport people and we had judges making what I regarded as completely perverse decisions, leaning on the European court and so it is absolutely right that we look at that. I am going to wait for the outcome of that review.
Hardly a full-throated endorsement, eh?
Indeed, Cleverly's response raises questions about what exactly the party stance is on the subject – and whether it will officially change any time soon. The issue has already created a clear dividing line between Nigel Farage's Reform UK and Sir Keir Starmer's Labour lot – with Farage's crowd wanting out, while Starmer's army in favour of remaining. Sound familiar, anyone…?
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Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Nigel Farage is taking the side of Jimmy Savile and other child abusers by criticising Online Safety Act says cabinet minister in free speech row
A senior Cabinet minister accused Nigel Farage of being on the side of sick paedophiles like Jimmy Savile today amid a deepening row over online free speech. Peter Kyle also accused the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of being on the side of 'extreme pornographers' over the party's pledge to scrap the Online Safety Act. The Technology Secretary made the astonishing outburst as he defended the law, which came into effect last Friday and requires social media sites and search engines to take steps to prevent children accessing harmful content like pornography. Critics including Mr Farage claim that it is being used to stifle free speech by blocking people from seeing some political statements online, especially those by right-wing figures. But Mr Kyle told Sky News he had seen no evidence that the Online Safety Act 'goes too far'. He added: 'I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he's going to overturn these laws. So you know, we have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side. 'Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he'd be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he's on their side.' Mr Farage immediately labelled the comments 'disgusting' and demanded an apology. Former BBC television presenter and DJ Savile, who died aged 84 in 2011, is believed to have been one of Britain's most prolific paedophiles, whose crimes went undiscovered or unchallenged for decades. Asked to clarify his comments, Mr Kyle said: 'Nigel Farage is on the side of turning the clock back to the time when strange adults, strangers can get in touch via messaging apps with children.' Reform UK would scrap the Online Safety Act as a 'dystopian' infringement of free speech, the party announced yesterday. During the press conference, Mr Farage acknowledged that his party did not have 'a perfect answer' for what could replace the Act, but said his party had 'more access to some of the best tech brains, not just in the country but in the world' and would 'make a much better job of it'. Former party chairman Zia Yusuf said the Act, intended to reduce online harm, did 'absolutely nothing to protect children' but worked to 'suppress freedom of speech' and 'force social media companies to censor anti-government speech'. Addressing a press conference at Reform's headquarters in Westminster, Mr Yusuf said: 'We will repeal this Act as one of the first things a Reform government does.' The intervention came after it emerged that X blocked a powerful speech on grooming gangs by Tory minister Katie Lam in Parliament this year. Meanwhile, footage of arrests during asylum seeker hotel protests was also blocked 'due to local laws', according to the social media platform. After a demonstration outside the Britannia Hotel in Leeds at the weekend, X users said the site blocked arrest footage. They were shown the message: 'Due to local laws, we are temporarily restricting access to this content until X estimates your age.' Last week, the law changed to require websites to check users are over 18 before allowing them to access 'harmful' material such as pornography or suicide material. Failing to comply with the new rules could incur fines of up to £18million or 10 per cent of a firm's global turnover. Asked about concerns the law has seen posts wrongly removed from social media, the Technology Secretary told Sky News: 'I have not seen any evidence that the Bill goes too far at all.' He added: 'I will be monitoring the impact, but I have not so far seen anything that gives me concern for anyone about free speech grounds. 'We have very strident protections for free speech in this country.
The Guardian
16 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Labour says Farage's plan to repeal Online Safety Act shows he is siding with ‘extreme pornographers' over children
Update: Date: 2025-07-29T07:30:48.000Z Title: Peter Kyle Content: Good morning. Yesterday Reform UK said that it would repeal the Online Safety Act, key parts of which have only just come into force. The party described it as 'the greatest assault on freedom of speech in our lifetimes' and claimed that it won't protect children because some people are using VPN services to bypass age cerification requirements. It was quite a bold policy announcement, because polls suggest voters strongly back measures to limit the spread of harmful content online, but it has gone down well with hardcore libertarians. , the science secretary, has been giving interviews this morning, and he has not held back. In an interview with Sky News, he claimed this meant that Nigel Farage was now in effect siding with pornographers and paedophiles like Jimmy Savile. He explained: Children under 18 should not be viewing involuntarily dangerous, hateful, violent, misogynistic and pornographic material. People have to understand the wild west [lasted on the internet] for too long. That ended on my watch. It ended on the watch of this government. [The implementation of the Online Safety Act is] a big step forward. Believe me, anyone that thinks it's a step back needs to come and answer now. I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he's going to overturn these laws. So we have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side. Make no mistake about it. If people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he'd be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he's on their side, not the side of children. When Wilfred Frost, the presenter, challenged Kyle, and asked if it was he was seriously saying that Farage was aligned with the likes of Jimmy Savile, Kyle doubled down. He replied: When it comes to online activity, we have seen unfettered access of adults to children via social media. When we put in the age verification, it stops strange adults getting in touch with children … Nigel Farage is on the side of turning the clock back to the time when strange adults, strangers, can get in touch via messenging apps with children. We have now asked [social media companies] to age verify the age at which people can have access to online content so we can protect children from unwanted, dangerous content, and also those messaging services. Nigel Farage wants to turn the clock right back. People are perpetrating more crime online, [presenting] more danger to children online, and Nigel Farage has said he wants to overturn every single one of the laws that keeps children safe in our country. Frost described that as 'an interesting extrapolation'. We will hear more on this later. But the main news today is will come from the cabinet meeting that Keir Starmer is chairing about Gaza. I will post more on that soon too. And the Donald Trump news machine is still on UK soil until this afternoon, so we will hear from him as well. Here is the agenda for the day. Morning: Donald Trump opens his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. He also has a meeting with John Swinney, Scotland's first minister, who will be there for the opening, along with Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader. Swinney and Sarwar are expected to give interviews. Trump is due to leave Scotland for the US at about 4pm. 2pm: Keir Starmer chairs a rare recess cabinet meeting to discuss the starvation crisis in Gaza, and his proposals for a peace plan. Also, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is visiting a tin mine in Cornwall. And David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is addressing a UN conference on a two-state solution for the Middle East in New York (late afternoon UK time). If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can't read all the messages BTL, but if you put 'Andrew' in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word. If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @ The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary. I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can't promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Nigel Farage savaged by Cabinet minister with brutal Jimmy Savile insult
The Technology Secretary has said Nigel Farage is on the side of people like Jimmy Savile after the Reform UK leader said he'd scrap protections for kids online. Peter Kyle said repealing online safety laws would open the floodgates of "people out there who are extreme pornographers peddling hate, peddling violence" onto children's social media feeds. And he said if disgraced Savile - one of the UK's most prolific sexual predators - was alive today, Mr Farage would be "perpetuating" criminals like him. Mr Farage yesterday said his party would abolish the Online Safety Act if it got into power. It would mean removing Ofcom's children's safety codes, which came into force on Friday and which order tech companies to bring in age verification tools, tame toxic algorithms and remove harmful content. The Reform UK leader hit back at Mr Kyle's comments, branding them "disgusting" and asking him to apologise. Major backlash over Nigel Farage tech vow - 'doesn't care if kids are exploited' Speaking on Sky News this morning, Mr Kyle said: "I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he's going to overturn these laws. We have people out there who are extreme pornographers peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side. "Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he would be perpetrating his crimes online, and Nigel Farage is saying that he's on their side, not the side of children." Asked if he genuinely thought Mr Farage was on Savile's side, Mr Kyle continued: "When it comes to online activity, we have seen unfettered access of adults to children via social media. When we put in the age verification, it stops strange adults getting in touch with children. "Nigel Farage is on the side of turning the clock back to the time when strange adults, strangers can get in touch via messaging apps with children. We have now asked them to verify the age in which people can have access to online content, so we can protect children from unwanted, dangerous content, and also those messaging services where people can get access directly to it." Mr Farage responded: "Peter Kyle's comments on Sky News are disgusting. He should do the right thing and apologise." Elsewhere, Mr Kyle acknowledged there was an issue with people using virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the rules, after one supplier reported a 1,400% increase in downloads. He said he is not considering banning VPNs, adding: "We're going to be looking very, very closely at use of VPNs. "We're going to be looking very closely at the ability of these tech companies to detect VPNs from within our country and make sure that people stick to the rules." And the Cabinet minister admitted the rules were never going to keep 100% of children safe but that the new laws were a "big step forward" in keeping most people safe. "People have to understand the wild west that children have been living in for too long," he said. "That ended on my watch. It ended on the watch of this government. It's a big step forward." We'll be bringing you the latest updates on this Breaking Politics News story. Please check back regularly for updates on this developing story HERE. Get email updates on the day's biggest stories straight to your inbox by signing up for our newsletters. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by following The Mirror every time you see our name.
