
Reform will be ‘toughest' party on crime ever, Farage to say
The Reform leader is expected to use a speech in London to vow to cut crime in half, declaring his party to be 'the toughest party on law and order this country has ever seen', according to The Daily Telegraph.
Among his promises will be a pledge to recruit 30,000 new police officers; end early release for prisoners convicted of serious violent, sexual or knife offences; and deport 10,400 foreign offenders currently in British jails.
He will also propose a major prison-building programme aiming to provide an extra 30,000 places to alleviate the prison overcrowding that prompted the Government to expand early release schemes.
Mr Farage will say: 'We will cut crime in half. We will take back control of our streets, we will take back control of our courts and prisons.'
But he will face questions over how he will achieve this, given his already significant spending promises and the need to negotiate returns agreements for foreign offenders.
His speech comes amid rising concern about crime in Britain, with The Sun On Sunday reporting that a recent Survation poll found 49% of people thought the UK was 'becoming a lawless country'.
Overall, crime has generally fallen over the past decade, but rose last year driven mainly by sharp increases in fraud and theft.
Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, said: 'If Nigel Farage was serious about making our streets safer, he should have backed the tough new laws we introduced earlier this year.
'It's shameful that Reform constantly seeks to undermine confidence in our police and criminal justice system and voted to try to block measures to crack down on knife crime, anti-social behaviour, shop theft, child sexual abuse, and long overdue action to tackle the scourge of violence against women and girls.
'They should focus more on practical solutions to support our police, combat crime, deliver justice for victims of crime, rather than chasing headlines, spouting slogans and trying to divide communities.'

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ITV News
3 minutes ago
- ITV News
PM suggests UK will play role in Gaza aid airdrops amid mounting calls for Palestinian statehood
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has suggested the UK will play a role in dropping aid into Gaza by air, as he faces calls from 221 cross-party MPs to recognise a Palestinian state. Israel said on Friday it will allow airdrops of aid by foreign countries into Gaza to alleviate starvation in the Palestinian territory. Starmer said the UK will 'do everything we can to get aid in via this route'. Meanwhile, he faces growing calls to recognise a Palestinian state immediately. Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents, have signed a letter calling on the government to take the step at a UN meeting next week. France's president Emmanuel Macron announced his nation would formally recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September, leading UK politicians to question whether the British government would follow suit. US President Donald Trump suggested Macron's announcement 'doesn't matter' as he left America for a visit to Scotland. But Sarah Champion, the senior Labour MP who organised the letter by parliamentarians, said recognition 'would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people'. Other senior Commons figures who signed the letter include Labour select committee chairs Liam Byrne, Dame Emily Thornberry and Ruth Cadbury. Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, as well as Tory former minister Kit Malthouse, and Sir Edward Leigh – Parliament's longest-serving MP – also signed it. The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs. In a video statement released on Friday, Starmer made plain his desire for a ceasefire in the war. He said: 'I know the British people are sickened by what is happening. The images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying. 'The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.' Signalling the UK is willing to help get aid into Gaza via air, the prime minister added: 'News that Israel will allow countries to airdrop aid into Gaza has come far too late, but we will do everything we can to get aid in via this route. 'We are already working urgently with the Jordanian authorities to get British aid on to planes and into Gaza.' Children who need specialist medical treatment will be evacuated from Gaza to the UK, Starmer added. He also called for an international coalition to 'end the suffering' in Gaza, similar to the coalition of the willing aimed at helping Ukraine. Starmer had earlier responded to calls for the recognition of a Palestinian state, insisting such a move needed to be part of the 'pathway' to peace in the Middle East, which he and allies are working towards. He added: 'Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that. But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.' In a statement released on Friday alongside the leaders of France and Germany, the prime minister urged Israel to stop restricting the flow of aid into Gaza. Charities operating in Gaza have said Israel's blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing people there towards starvation, warning that they are seeing their own workers and Palestinians 'waste away'. The prime minister will meet the US president during his trip to Scotland, where he arrived on Friday evening. US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short on Thursday, with Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a 'lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'. The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.


Daily Mirror
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
BRIAN READE: 'Fat-shaming will be new bag-sizing for airlines - start worrying now'
Beware the bonus-conscious airline staff sniffing around for any chance to slap a penalty on the unwitting traveller, says Brian Reade Now that MPs are taking a break from work until a few weeks before the clocks go back, we are officially in the Silly Season. Which means, between now and the inevitable riots outside asylum hotels next month, us media outlets will seek out quirky stories to make you laugh. Like the one about the teenager who runs Warwickshire County Council for bureaucracy-slashing Reform UK demanding £150k of public money to pay people to tell him what to do. The season's biggest laugh, though, is Donald Trump's trip to Scotland, as his presence here always raises a titter. Remember last time, when paragliders flew expletive-ridden banners and comedian Janey Goodley stood outside his golf club with a placard that declared Trump was a thing that rhymed with runt? Sadly, Janey is no longer with us but there's a good chance protestors will repeat her message in 40ft letters on the nearby beach. Already a sign has been erected outside his Aberdeenshire golf course saying: "twinned with Epstein Island" and bald SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has said he won't be able to meet the president as 'I'll be washing my hair". But the best humour will come when Trump gives an after-dinner speech in one of his clubs, after being allowed to win, yet again, the Bestest Golfer In The World Invitation Trophy, with three mysterious holes-in-one while everyone was distracted. I reckon it will go something like this: 'I feel incredibly humbled to be back in the land of my dear mother, who as you know, left here in days when economic migrants with no papers and English as their second language were welcome in America. Because they were good people. And white. 'She often told me I was related to the great Charles Stuart, which I kinda like. Bonny Prince Donnie sounds nice. And that also makes my wife Melania Queen of Scots and my son Barron The Bruce. 'Mel Gibson, who's a terrific guy - and by the way that racism stuff was fake news - told me he based his Braveheart character on me leading the January 6 uprising. Which was nice. Although, unlike that Wallace guy, I got shot and survived. 'So you see folks, no world leader has ever been more Scottish than me. The only food I eat is from Clan McDonald and when people see me in a kilt they say I have the best legs ever. 'And I have great, great plans for my homeland. I am renaming The Firth of Forth the Firth of Forty-fifth and Forty-seventh US President and I'm going to finish that terrible job done by Crooked Hadrian and build a proper wall, a beautiful wall to keep all dark-looking immigrants out. 'By the way, the Outer Hebrides remind me of Greenland, so I'm going to buy them and turn them into a big, beautiful, military base to hit Russia. 'I will be meeting fans from Celtic and Rangers to get them to end their hatred as I need to score a few more points to get that Nobel peace prize. Something Sleepy Joe never would have done because he was in the IRA. 'Anyway, I have to leave you as I've got a high level meeting with Prince Andrew in Balmoral to discuss child welfare. So haste ye back as us Scotlanders say. And oh, I'm still putting 50% tariffs on whisky, salmon and shortbread.' It's been sad hearing Fiona Phillips's husband Martin Frizell promote a book about my old colleague's battle with Alzheimer's disease. Fiona was a proper Mirror person. A loyal but critical friend of the Labour Party with deeply-held principles who often wrote poignantly about her parents' struggles with dementia, only to be struck down with early-onset Alzheimer's at the age of 61. The book called Remember When, written by our former boss Alison Phillips, charts Fiona's courageous battle against a soul-crushing disease most families have had to cope with, or probably will do. Because, scandalously, as Martin has been pointing out, for every £1 given to cancer research in this country only 31p is spent on dementia research. Which has to change. In the meantime, Fiona, may you face your battle with much courage and love. *** If you break into a cold sweat every time you go through an airport gate fearing you'll be pulled for having an oversized carry-on bag, then you now have good reason to worry. It turns out Ryanair and easyJet award bonuses of just over a quid to staff to spot bulging bags and dish out penalties. I fear this is just the start, and soon the likes of Ryanair's Michael O'Leary will make us declare our body weight on 'environmental grounds' and charge us by the kilo. Expect bonus-sniffing staff to eye you up, guess you're packing too much timber and force you onto scales, before saying: 'Sorry but Sir's been telling porkies about his porkiness. That will be another £50 please.' Fat-shaming will be the new bag-sizing. And being a fat-fascist is the best route to a bumper pay packet. *** Labour MP Dr Simon Opher is set to prescribe free tickets to football matches in a bid to beat depression. The former GP will trial it in Gloucestershire surgeries as an alternative to anti-depressants, saying: "Football is about socialising and roaring on your team, getting excited, taking yourself out of your own life for a short while.' It's also about, most weekends, at least 33% of fans walking home beaten, gutted, miserable, cursing the donkeys in their team and descending into a depression that dogs them for days. So nice idea, doc, but in practice sending already-depressed people to football matches could be a massive own goal. *** Over the decades screenwriter Jimmy McGovern has crafted many profound lines but this week he surpassed himself by condensing into one sentence the real reason why the Establishment is resisting the introduction of a full-blooded Hillsborough Law, which would compel public bodies to tell the truth in the aftermath of major disasters. 'What's going on there is people demanding the right to lie." That, in a nutshell, is the truth. And Labour must not let it happen. THE WEEK'S FIVE BIG QUESTIONS Isn't it funny how the men who abuse women footballers like Jess Carter on social media were also the ones always picked last on the playground and forced to stand, quaking, in goal? Can't the princes William and Harry do what feuding aristocrats used to do and walk into a forest with a pair of pistols and have a duel? Has any political party in any country ever been given as much air time with only four nationally-elected representatives as Reform UK? Do Andrex, with their advert claiming 76% of students hold their poo in at school, really think kids will all start opening their bowels if the toilet paper is soft? How long will it be before people can only draw their state pension on the same date they receive their 100th birthday telegram from the monarch?


Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Rachel Reeves challenges Cabinet to buy British
Rachel Reeves has challenged Cabinet ministers to do more to buy British as she seeks to boost flagging economic growth. The Chancellor and Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, sent out the message in a letter to the Cabinet. It urged ministers to use procurement contracts, which are in the Government's gift, to help generate jobs in the UK by supporting British companies. The intervention comes amid a consultation about whether rules can be changed to give the Government more freedom to give contracts to UK firms. Each year £400bn is spent in public sector procurement, meaning small changes in approach could have a significant impact. Ms Reeves is facing difficult economic circumstances in her Budget this autumn, with official growth forecasts halved for 2025. New tax rises appear increasingly inevitable given that pressure on the public finances has intensified and the Chancellor will not break her borrowing rules. Excerpts of the letter from Ms Reeves and Mr McFadden were shared with The Telegraph. The pair wrote: 'We want people around the UK to feel the full impact of government spending through investment in skills and high quality jobs. That's why we're going further to ensure public procurement expenditure boosts British industry, jobs, skills, productivity, and expands the supply side. 'Every department needs to be pulling this procurement lever to support economic growth and strengthen our economic security. It is possible to do this within our trade agreements, as other countries do.' They added: 'We are asking all Secretaries of State to satisfy themselves that your department, and arms length bodies, have the commercial capacity and capability to ensure the creation of British jobs, productivity enhancing opportunities, and skills are prioritised in every major contract.' They also told colleagues to 'set ambitious and stretching targets for increasing your procurement spend with SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) and social enterprises while stripping away requirements and processes that are barriers to these firms competing with established players'. At one point they wrote: 'Your commercial team is not a back office function – it is a strategic policy lever and must be a priority.' Ms McFadden was once Sir Tony Blair's political secretary and has emerged as a key confidant of Keir Starmer in recent years. As the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office he is overseeing cross-government attempts to tackle Whitehall bureaucracy and make savings in the civil service. Whether the rhetoric of Ms Reeves and Mr McFadden will lead to a step change in procurement approach remains to be seen. During the Conservatives' 14 years in office government ministers often talked publicly about the importance of using the Government machine to support British businesses. A consultation issued by the Cabinet Office is looking at changes to procurement rules that make it easier for the government to boost British industry. It will report back in September.