Kate Forbes choosing family over Holyrood leaves a vacuum in the SNP
Her partnership with the first minister John Swinney was a strong one, and together, in the run-up to next year's Scottish elections, they would have offered a powerful challenge to their opponents, including a rampant Reform party.
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The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says Josef Fritzl case made her ‘reject God'
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has revealed the case of Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl caused her to lose faith in God. Mrs Badenoch said she was 'never that religious' while growing up but 'believed there was a God' and 'would have defined myself as a Christian apologist'. But this changed in 2008 when she read reports that Fritzl had imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, in his basement over 24 years. Mrs Badenoch, whose maternal grandfather was a Methodist minister, told the BBC: 'I couldn't stop reading this story. And I read her account, how she prayed every day to be rescued. 'And I thought, I was praying for all sorts of stupid things and I was getting my prayers answered. I was praying to have good grades, my hair should grow longer, and I would pray for the bus to come on time so I wouldn't miss something. 'It's like, why were those prayers answered and not this woman's prayers? And it just, it was like someone blew out a candle.' But she insisted that while she had 'rejected God', she had not rejected Christianity and remained a 'cultural Christian', saying she wanted to 'protect certain things because I think the world that we have in the UK is very much built on many Christian values'. During her interview, which is due to be broadcast on Thursday evening, Mrs Badenoch also said her tenure as Conservative leader was going 'well', adding her job was to 'make sure that people can see that we are the only party on the centre-right'. In an apparent dig at Nigel Farage's Reform UK, she said: 'There are pretenders. We're the only party on the centre-right, and we're the only ones who still believe in values like living within our means, personal responsibility, making sure that the government is not getting involved in everything so it can focus on the things it needs to look at, like securing our borders.' She went on to defend previous comments saying the fact she had worked at McDonald's made her working class, saying: 'I had to work to live. 'That, for me, is what being working class is. It's the lifestyle that you have. You have to work, to survive.' And she argued that parents who were 'worried about their children getting stolen or snatched' had created a younger generation that lacked the 'resilience' to deal with problems in life. Responding to figures suggesting a quarter of people aged 16-24 said they had a mental disorder, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think they think they have a mental disorder, I don't think they all have a mental disorder.' She added: 'I'm not a medical expert so it is not my expertise on exactly what we need to do to get them into work, but we should be trying to get them into work.'
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘One in four councils could lose money' under Government's funding proposals
Around a quarter of councils in England could lose money under the Government's proposed reforms to how local authorities are funded, analysis has found. A report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the changes would create big 'winners and losers' as ministers attempt to address perceived unfairness in levels of core funding across the country. Sir Keir Starmer's own council, Camden in north London, will be hit by the reforms when taking inflation into account, the IFS added. The think tank said Camden, along with other inner London boroughs including Westminster, will have less money to spend on services even if they increase council tax by the maximum amount allowed. Whitehall will provide a minimum level of funding, a so-called funding floor, for council leaders during the changes, but the IFS said overall cash for inner London town halls would be 11-12% lower in 2028-29 in real terms. The paper said: 'Around one in four councils would see real-terms falls in overall funding under the Government's proposals, with around 30 on the lowest funding floors seeing real-terms cuts of 11–12%. Conversely, another one in four councils would see real-terms increases of 12% or more.' The changes, which will come into effect from next year, are being consulted on by ministers. The Government plans to create a new methodology to assess local authority needs relatively and factor in population and deprivation. It will also assess need for adult and children's services. Overall spending will fall for 186 councils and rise by the same total sum for 161. One in 10 will see a fall in overall funding, while one in 10 will see an increase of 10% or more. The overall Government spend on local authorities will not change. The changes will be phased in across three years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29. Kate Ogden, co-author of the IFS report and a senior research economist with the think tank, said: 'England has lacked a rational system of local government funding for at least 12 years – and arguably more like 20. It is therefore welcome that the nettle of funding reform is being grasped, and some councils will benefit substantially under the new system. 'But the changes will sting for those councils that are assessed to currently receive too high a share of the overall funding pot, and so which lose out from moves to align funding with assessed spending needs.' The proposals are criticised in the report as 'not particularly redistributive to poor, urban areas of England'. It cites South Tyneside and Sunderland councils being among those to lose out from the reforms as slow population growth is accounted for. The report added: 'It is somewhat surprising that, on average, councils in the most deprived 30% of areas would see very similar changes in overall funding over the next three years to those for councils in the middle 40% of areas.' It noted that rural areas, which feared being badly hit by changes, will benefit from a 'remoteness adjustment' which will compensate areas with higher needs due to being far from large towns. London will gain the least, with a cash-terms increase in funding of 8% in the next three years. Analysis by the London Councils collective has highlighted the risk of the funding 'dramatically underestimating' needs for local services in parts of the capital. It noted the city has the highest rate of poverty in the country when housing costs are factored in. Outside the capital, the East Midlands (22%) and Yorkshire & the Humber (19%) are set to see the biggest increases in funding, with the South East set to see the smallest at 13%. However, the proposals have been criticised by youth charity the National Children's Bureau, which said it was 'significantly concerned' about the way the Government plans to work out needs for children's services. Ms Ogden added: 'The Government should consider giving highly affected councils which currently have low council tax rates greater flexibility to bring their council tax bills up to more typical levels to offset funding losses. 'More generally, reform of council funding allocations is just one part of the financial sustainability puzzle. Efforts to reduce demands on, and the cost of providing, local services through reform and the use of new technology will also be vital.' A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'The current, outdated way in which local authorities are funded means the link between funding and need for services has broken down, leaving communities left behind. 'That's why we are taking decisive action to reform the funding system so we can get councils back on their feet and improve public services, with the IFS recognising that our changes will better align funding with councils' needs.'
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Billionaire grocery magnate warns NYC will turn into CUBA if socialist gets elected as mayor
Billionaire supermarket owner John Catsimatidis has warned that mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani will transform New York City into Cuba, which has been ruled by communists since 1959. Wealthy New Yorkers, including Catsimatidis, have been forecasting the doom of America's largest city should the self-professed socialist win the general election in November. Catsimatidis, owner of D'agostino and Gristedes, slammed Mamdani's agenda as free handouts in an exclusive interview with Fox Digital on Wednesday. 'We're gonna give you buses for nothing, we're gonna give you subways for nothing, we're gonna give you food for nothing. This is what Fidel Castro did,' Catsimatidis said. Mamdani, a 33-year-old New York State assemblyman, won the Democratic primary in June on promises of free bus service, free childcare, free tuition for the City University of New York and freezing the rents for more than 2 million residents. 'The people in Venezuela are starving,' Catsimatidis said. 'The people in Cuba are starving. And I think the American people, especially New Yorkers, they're smart and they're going to realize this right away.' In the next breath, the real estate mogul seemed to acknowledge Mamdani's charisma, while also tearing into his relatively thin résumé. 'He has a beautiful smile. He has a good smile. He seems like a nice guy, but it's a con game,' he said. 'He's not qualified to be mayor. The city is a $100 billion enterprise, and you have to be really smart. You have to be able to know your checks and balance, you have to be able to run 300,000 employees.' Still, Mamdani handily defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who was thought of as the more experienced option in the race. His main opponents in the general will be Cuomo and current mayor Eric Adams, both of whom are running as independents. Former US Attorney Jim Walden and Curtis Sliwa, the perennial Republican option, are also in the race. Catsimatidis sought to handwave away various polls that have Mamdani cruising to victory in November. 'I don't think the polls are really real right now,' Catsimatidis said. 'He doesn't like the Italian people. The Italians are going to be against him. He doesn't like business people. The business people are going to be against him. So I don't think he's that far ahead.' The most recent poll has Mamdani at 50 percent support among likely voters, while Cuomo is in a distant second at 22 percent. Catsimatidis, who ran for mayor himself in 2013, also believes the city won't be able to fund the Mamdani's policies by increasing corporate taxes and income taxes on rich New Yorkers. 'Sooner or later, you're going to run out of money,' he said. 'These union leaders are picking this guy, Mamdani, for what? They were promised a great day. They were promised great numbers. But if the city runs out of money, who's going to pay the pensions?' Catsimatidis's thorough condemnation of Mamdani comes as The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump is weighing getting involved in the mayoral race. Trump reportedly spoke on the phone with Cuomo directly about the state of the race, according to three sources who were briefed on the call. It's still unclear what exactly Trump and Cuomo said to one another or who of the two initiated the unlikely conversation. In early July, Trump publicly said he would arrest Mamdani if he dared to defy raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York City. He also accused Mamdani of possibly being in the United States illegally, even though he was born in Uganda and became a naturalized US citizen in 2018. 'I think he's terrible. He's a communist,' Trump has said. 'The last thing we need is a communist. I said there will never be socialism in the United States. So we have a communist?' Trump has also been asked about Mamdani's refusal to condemn the use of the term 'globalize the intifada,' a pro-Palestinian slogan that has encouraged violence against Israelis and Jews. Since becoming the Democratic nominee, Mamdani has now said he would discourage the use of the term. 'I think he's, frankly, I've heard he's a total nut job. I think the people in New York are crazy. If they go this route, I think they're crazy,' Trump has said.
