Nigel Farage, TikTok and Lord Haw-Haw
As I stood in front of a Rothko at Tate Modern 22 years ago, our four-year-old ran up to it and I asked her what she thought. 'Too big!' she replied instantly, and ran off. She'll be starting her masters degree in fine art at Oxford University this October (The worst thing about the damaged Rothko is that it fuels the ban-kids-from-galleries debate, 11 May).Robert PedersenTotnes, Devon
I once remarked to a pupil's father that I'd been impressed at how his son had handled a couple of disappointments. 'Just as well,' he replied. 'We're Everton supporters' (Letters, 13 May).Marilyn RowleyManchester
Oh dear. I am a citizen of nowhere living in 'an island of strangers' (Report, 13 May). This is getting difficult.Murray MarshallSalisbury
I read Joseph Harker's article opposing low-traffic neighbourhoods (14 May) and wish him well at his next newspaper.David BricknellPlymouth
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Sky News
a minute ago
- Sky News
Government will not offer bailout to UK's largest bioethanol plant
The UK's largest bioethanol plant is set for closure with the loss of 160 jobs after the government confirmed it would not offer a bailout deal to the facility in Lincolnshire. Owners Vivergo, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, had warned that the plant would close without government support, and sources at the company have told Sky News the wind-down process is now likely to begin. ABF, which also owns Primark, has not formally confirmed its closure plans and is yet to comment. Vivergo have blamed the UK's trade deal with the United States, which ended a 19% tariff on imported ethanol, for making the plant unviable. Ethanol tariffs were cut along with those on beef as part of the UK-US deal, which focused on reducing or removing Donald Trump's import taxes on UK cars and aerospace parts. The plant, which converts wheat into the fuel typically added to petrol to reduce carbon emissions, was already losing £3m a month before the trade deal, with industrial energy prices, the highest among developed economies, cited as a major factor. Vivergo and ABF have warned of the threat to the plant since the spring, but had hoped negotiations with the government would lead to an improved offer by the end of the week. On Friday morning, they were told there would be no bailout. Government sources said they had employed external consultants to provide advice, and pointed out that the plant had not been profitable since 2011. A government spokesman said: "Direct funding would not provide value for the UK taxpayer or solve the long-term problems of the bioethanol industry." "This government will always take decisions in the national interest. That's why we negotiated a landmark deal with the US which protected hundreds of thousands of jobs in sectors like auto and aerospace. "We have worked closely with the companies since June to understand the financial challenges they have faced over the past decade, and have taken the difficult decision not to offer direct funding as it would not provide value for the taxpayer or solve the long-term problems the industry faces. "We recognise this is a difficult time for the workers and their families and we will work with trade unions, local partners and the companies to support them through this process. We also continue to work up proposals that ensure the resilience of our CO2 supply in the long-term in consultation with the sector."
The Sun
28 minutes ago
- The Sun
Farage slams ‘two-tier justice' as Labour councillor who urged crowd to ‘cut throats' of far-right protesters is CLEARED
THE decision to clear a Labour councillor who encouraged a crowd to cut the throats of protesters has been slammed by furious Nigel Farage as an "outrageous example of two-tier justice". Ricky Jones was filmed at the anti-racism demonstration in Walthamstow, East London, after the Southport murders last summer making a slashing gesture across his neck. 5 5 5 He branded far-right demonstrators as "disgusting Nazi fascists" and said "we need to cut their throats". But Jones has now been found not guilty of one count of encouraging violent disorder following just over 30 minutes of jury deliberation. Reform UK leader Mr Farage said: "This is another outrageous example of two-tier justice." While Zia Yusuf - head of Reform's Department of Government Efficiency - said: "The UK is now a country in which those who have the correct 'regime' political views can openly call for their political opponents to be brutally murdered, be filmed doing so, and face no criminal consequence. "A watershed moment in British politics." Former Tory Housing Secretary James Cleverly said in a post on X: "This unacceptable. Perverse decisions like this are adding to the anger that people feel and amplifying the belief that there isn't a dispassionate criminal justice system." Jones, 58, had attended the protest in August last year following the murders of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, in Southport. The representative for Dartford, Kent, was told by his party to stay away but attended regardless before being suspended. During a court hearing today, prosecutor Ben Holt said: "Last summer, three young girls were killed at a dance-themed party in Southport. "There was some hysteria… Some of that grief manifested itself in anger, and regrettably, violence." Furious Farage blasts 'It's a national EMERGENCY' as Starmer reveals 'ridiculous' migrant deal The horror brought out counter-protests, one of which Jones decided to go to, the prosecutor explained. Mr Holt continued: "He attended in the face of considered advice not to do so. "During that event, he made a speech, amplified through a public address system, to the crowd. "He called the other side disgusting Nazi fascists. He said that their throats needed to be slit. "He drew his finger along his throat as he said that. "This, in a setting where, we suggest, violence could readily have been anticipated. "We ask rhetorically, what did Mr Jones think was going to happen?" Jones later told police his speech was a response to seeing stickers planted on trains by far-right group National Front. He claimed they contained concealed razor blades and included the words: "National Front Rights for Whites". The councillor also apologised for the comments but said they were not meant to be "taken literally". Following the video of his speech being shared, Jones received a message telling him he was "on BBC News". Jones was said to have appeared "satisfied" and told the contact: "I served". He also co-authored a declaration on behalf of Labour, that read: "There is no excuse for what we've seen. No possible justification. "This is mindless criminal thuggery, fuelled and perpetrated by the far right spreading their divisive, destructive ideas on the streets and on social media." The court heard Labour had sent out an "instructive" email referring to the Southport rallies taking place across the UK at the time. It told its councillors to "follow the clear advice" issued by police, which urged anyone "not to take part in, attend, or encourage others to attend any sort of demonstration or counter demonstration". But Jones alegedly chose to "ignore" the advice, with the video showing him making a "conscious" decision to take to the stage and ask an aide to film his speech. In his evidence, Jones described the mood in the crowd at the time as "happy and joyful". The father-of-four and grandfather also told the court he felt "horrified" after realising what he had said. "When I had time to view the footage after the demonstration, I was shocked at what I had actually said," he told jurors. 5
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
You can't demand seats in the Lords and still be an establishment rebel, Mr Farage
As soon as Nigel Farage wrote to Keir Starmer demanding that the prime minister allow him to make some nominations to the House of Lords, I reached for my well-thumbed copy of Reform's 'contract' with the voters at the last election. In its first 100 days, the document says, a Reform government would start to ' replace the crony-filled House of Lords with a much smaller, more democratic second chamber'. It is easy to mock, so let us enjoy the contrast between Farage's high-minded manifesto promises and his demand that some of his cronies should join all the other cronies in the upper house. Let us, in particular, enjoy the next two sentences in Reform's manifesto. Readers wanting to know how this 'more democratic' chamber might be constituted are dismissed briskly: 'Structure to be debated.' The structure of a more democratic second chamber has been debated for more than 100 years; it seems unlikely that anything will be decided in 100 days. Then there is this gem: 'Immediate end of political appointees.' As St Augustine didn't quite say, Lord make it immediate, but not yet. Before the arrival of a Reform government and the immediate end of political appointees, Farage would like the prime minister to ennoble some political appointees on his behalf. It is not fair, the Reform leader says in his letter, that 'the Greens, DUP, Plaid Cymru and UUP have 13 peers between them, but Reform UK has none'. The Scottish National Party also has none, but that is because it disagrees with the House of Lords and means it. Reform, on the other hand, disagrees with the House of Lords but thinks it is a 'democratic disparity' – not that Britain has an appointed upper house but that Reform isn't in it. It is not as if Farage's parties have never had representatives in the Lords. Malcolm Pearson, a former leader of the UK Independence Party, is still a member, sitting as a non-affiliated peer. David Stevens, former chair of United Newspapers when it owned the Daily Express, was also Ukip and is now non-affiliated. Claire Fox, the former Brexit Party MEP, is also a non-affiliated peer. Pearson and Stevens were originally Conservative peers but switched, whereas Fox was nominated by Boris Johnson as a way of mischievously celebrating Britain's departure from the EU. But Farage hasn't been able to hold onto any of them and now wants to put some of his current allies in the Lords. The Times lists Ann Widdecombe, Nick Candy and Zia Yusuf as possible candidates. It is not going to happen. 'This is the same Nigel Farage that called for the abolition of the House of Lords and now wants to fill it with his cronies,' said John Healey, the defence secretary, this morning. 'I'm not sure that parliament is going to be benefiting from more Putin apologists like Nigel Farage.' The constitutional position is simple: nominations to the Lords are a matter for the Crown, as advised by the prime minister. The monarch is a cypher; Keir Starmer is the sole decision-maker. He may choose to invite other party leaders to make nominations, but that is entirely up to him. David Cameron and Boris Johnson, when they were going through green phases, even allowed the Green Party of England and Wales to nominate – Jenny Jones in 2013 and Natalie Bennett in 2019. But it is up to the prime minister, who usually allows him or herself to be fettered by the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission – although Johnson overruled it when it advised against making Peter Cruddas, the Tory former treasurer, a peer. It might be tempting for Starmer to agree to Farage's request. It would make it harder for Farage to present himself as the doughty outsider, locked out of the Establishment. It would mean that Reform had more public representatives and therefore more chances that one or more of them would embarrass the party. And it would be the responsible thing to do, given that there is a real chance that Farage might soon be prime minister: he ought then to have some back-up in the House of Lords. But it is not going to happen, and Farage knows it is not going to happen. His letter is a classic August news story, designed to get attention and to drive home the point that Reform, the most popular party in the country, is treated as unrespectable by the establishment parties. At a time when anti-government and anti-establishment feeling is running high, Farage's status as an outsider is a priceless asset to him.
