Chairman of UK's right-wing Reform party resigns
LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - Zia Yusuf, the chairman of Britain's right-wing Reform UK party, has resigned, he said on X.
"I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office," Yusuf said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
Danes Moss: Campaigners say peatland plan withdrawal 'step to victory'
Campaigners have welcomed a council's decision to scrap its plans for close to 1,000 homes on a peatland site in Cheshire as the "first step to victory".Cheshire East Council has rowed back on the proposal and asked officers to look at alternative uses for Danes Moss in Macclesfield, which could include restoring the Eccles, the chair of the Danes Moss Trust, said he felt pressure from the campaign group had led to the decision and there was "no justification to build there". Cheshire East opposition councillor, Conservative Chris O'Leary, told a meeting of the authority it was right to "reset the council's plan". The original proposals for the site, known as the South Macclesfield Development Area, included 950 homes, a supermarket and a link East Council owns 55% of the site, while Barratt Homes owns approximately 41%.Campaigners had been calling for no building there because of the amount of peatland, although it has been earmarked for development since 1997.A report ahead of the council meeting said the proposals to build on the land "cannot be fully reconciled" with the council's peat and carbon on Cheshire East Council's economy and growth committee voted on Tuesday to withdraw the homes application and approved plans to review include selling the land rethinking the development plans, or allowing for a "nature-led" recovery, an option added after a cross-party amendment. During the debate, O'Leary said: "Anyone who's visited Dane's Moss will know what an incredibly special place it is and it's quite right we reset the council's plans".The withdrawal was needed to "consider all the available options and make the right decisions for the right reasons for the future of this incredible site," he Labour's Anna Burton said that doing nothing was "not an option"."The wetland peat is drying out, so whatever decisions are made long term doing nothing is not an option," she councillors voted in favour of the withdrawing the application, with two Eccles told BBC Politics North West that he hoped councillors had "seen sense that there's no justification on earth to damage or build on peatlands".He said: "It's good news that the original plans are not going to go ahead but we still feel there should be zero development on this site because of the huge global importance of peatlands."James Melling of the Cheshire Wildlife Trust, which has a nature reserve on the border of the site, said he was "delighted" with the said: "I think it's testament to the hard work of all the campaigners involved and Save Danes Moss have been fantastic." See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
38 minutes ago
- BBC News
Leicester woman vows to fight 'political' camping table fine
A woman has vowed to fight a fine she was given for setting up a table in Leicester city centre while campaigning against city council Rawling was given a £100 penalty under new rules to prevent anti-social behaviour on Saturday 31 72-year-old, from Leicester, said she believed the fine had been issued to prevent political campaigning and she would rather go to court than council said its new public spaces protection order (PSPO) introduced in April does not restrict free speech and that Mrs Rawling had been fined for putting an unauthorised structure on the highway. Mrs Rawling, a member of the Socialist Party, said she was not causing a nuisance or blocking the highway. "I accept the PSPO can be needed to deal with people on e-bikes, noisy speakers or street drinkers," she said."But this was a small camping table which we had for leaflets and so people could sign a petition."I don't think we were in anybody's way. There's plenty of space. We weren't being a nuisance."I think this was political - we were asked to take it down because we were campaigning about council cuts."It was all very amicable. The warden asked me to take it down. I said I would not and he issued a fine."I'm not going to pay it on principle, and if I have to go to court, I will."Mrs Rawling said she was opposing cuts to public services at the city council, including potential closures of community centres, and public sector job council said the penalty for breaching a PSPO could rise to £1,000 if the matter goes to court for prosecution. 'Noticeably improved' Campaigners previously wrote to Leicester's mayor Sir Peter Soulsby seeking assurances they are exempt from the PSPO.A number of groups including unions and political parties said they feared the order could "constitute an unjustified limit on their democratic rights" as the ban also includes "unauthorised structures" such as banners, stalls and told the BBC: "There's absolutely nothing in the PSPO that prevents people from going out and trying to persuade people on political matters - if they do it without a table or gazebo or loud speaker."A council spokesperson said: "The PSPO does not restrict freedom of speech, but it does restrict the nuisance of amplifiers, gazebos and other structures that more than 1,100 respondents to our consultation told us negatively impacted their experience of Leicester city centre."Many groups have been respectful of this so far and, as a result, the environment in the city centre is noticeably improved.""This group had put up a table, in breach of the public spaces protection order (PSPO) that covers the city centre. "One of our wardens asked them to take down the table and advised that if they didn't, they would be issued with a fixed penalty notice. "They refused to take it down and so a fine was issued."The council said three fixed penalty notices were issued in May under the new PSPO rules - all relating to unauthorised use of unauthorised structures on the highway.
BBC News
42 minutes ago
- BBC News
Business Matters Has a phone call led to the end of the tariff war?
The US and China have announced their delegations will meet in London to talk trade on Monday... so has a phone call between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jin Ping signalled an end to the tariff war between the World's biggest two economies? Andrew Peach discusses whether Elon Musk's time at the White House achieved anything for the tech sector that will survive his rift with President Trump. Elsewhere, we are on the road in China with a truck but no driver, and the fashion statement that's set to go up for auction in Paris. Global business news, with live guests and contributions from Asia and the USA.
