Ukraine peace talks crumble
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After the purported 'Easter truce' fighting has resumed in Ukraine and Russia, meanwhile peace talks in the West have broken down with the US speaking to Russia separately.
Hannah Barnes is joined by Andrew Marr to discuss this week in UK politics, and later in the episode by Rachel Cunliffe and George Eaton to look at Reform UK's surging popularity ahead of the local elections.
Read: Can Reform grow up?, Steve Reed: 'Reform is a symptom of broken trust'
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Daily Record
a few seconds ago
- Daily Record
Reform UK announces latest councillor in Scotland is daughter of former Labour MP
Reform's newest recruit is the daughter of the late John MacDougall, an ally of Gordon Brown who served as Labour MP for Glenrothes until his death in 2008. The daughter of a former Scottish Labour MP has been announced as Reform UK's latest councillor. Julie MacDougall, who previously sat as an independent on Fife Council, has today signed-up for Nigel Farage's right-wing populists. The member for Kinghorn and Burntisland quit Labour last year after she claimed she was blocked from becoming a general election candidate. The councillor is the daughter of the late John MacDougall, an ally of Gordon Brown who served as Labour MP for Glenrothes from 2001 until his death in 2008. Reform claimed her arrival was further proof it was on course to become "Scotland's main vehicle of opposition to this arrogantly out-of-touch SNP Government". MacDougall said: "I will always do my best to help and improve people's lives. That's where my passion has always lay, with you, my community. After thoughtful consultation I am delighted to join Reform UK to become part of a team who want to deliver real change for our communities. "I want more grown up, authentic politics and an opportunity to work together to offer better. I look forward to this exciting new chapter and I remain fully committed to serving the people of Fife as always with my full commitment, honesty and Integrity." MacDougall previously claimed she quit Labour last year in protest at the party "parachuting" in a candidate based in London to contest the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency. The seat was ultimately won by Melanie Ward for Anas Sarwar's party. MacDougall said in the run-up to the vote: "It is no secret that candidates are being imposed on members and constituents in a non-democratic, autocratic manner which I simply cannot support. "Our local area is being denied the opportunity to have a local candidate and in my opinion this is not acceptable." She was first elected to represent the Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy ward in May 2022. She followed in the footsteps of her late father who was a former Rosyth Dockyard worker, respected MP and leader of Fife Council. 'I know he would have been thoroughly disappointed at what has been happening, particularly here in Fife,' Cllr MacDougall said. 'I have lost faith in the Labour Party and do not believe it is practising what it preaches while upholding its core values.'
STV News
a few seconds ago
- STV News
Council leaders weigh up legal challenges to asylum seeker hotels
Demonstrations have erupted in Scotland and England outside hotels housing asylum seekers A council in England has won a temporary legal block on aslyum seekers being housed in a hotel Nigel Farage has urged councils where his party Reform UK holds sway to follow Epping's legal challenge The Home Office has warned that injunctions could incite further unrest and hinder its legal duty to house asylum seekers Local authorities across England are considering launching their own legal actions after a district council in Essex secured a High Court victory temporarily blocking asylum seekers from being housed in a hotel in the area. It comes after demonstrations have erupted in Scotland and England outside hotels housing asylum seekers – leading to arrests and fears of rising tensions. Conservative-run Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire said it was taking legal advice 'as a matter of urgency' about whether it could take similar action to Epping Forest District Council, which is also run by the Tories. Stand Up to Racism The demonstrations outside Scottish hotels were met by counter-protests. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage indicated the 12 councils where Reform UK was the largest party would consider legal challenges following Tuesday's ruling. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Farage said the local authorities would do 'everything in their power to follow Epping's lead'. On Tuesday, a High Court judge ruled the former Bell Hotel in Epping must stop housing asylum seekers by September 12. Farage added: 'The good people of Epping must inspire similar protests around Britain. Wherever people are concerned about the threat posed by young undocumented males living in local hotels and who are free to walk their streets, they should follow the example of the town in Essex.' Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said ending crossings into the country would 'stop the hotels'. Writing in the Daily Express, he said: 'Every illegal arrival must be removed, every loophole must be closed, every community must be protected so towns like Epping are never put in this position again.' The area had seen thousands of people turn out in protest about the housing of migrants in the Bell Hotel. Protests have also taken place in Scotland with the group Save Our Future & Our Kids Futures holding a demonstration outside Falkirk's Cladhan hotel. On August 9, a demonstration was held outside the former Patio Hotel in Aberdeen. A hotel in the Summerhill area of the north-east city was also the subject to a recent demonstration. The protests were met by counter-demonstrations. STV News has contacted all 32 councils in Scotland to ask if they are looking to challenge the housing of asylum seekers in hotels. Epping Forest District Council had asked a judge to issue an interim injunction stopping migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel. The hotel has been at the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker who was staying there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. In a post on Facebook, Broxbourne Council said: 'Broxbourne Council will now take legal advice as a matter of urgency about whether it could take similar action.' Meanwhile, the leader of South Norfolk District Council, which covers the town of Diss where a hotel housing asylum seekers has also been the subject of protests, said the council would not go down the same route. Conservative leader Daniel Elmer said the council was using planning rules to try to ensure it was families being housed in the area rather than single adult males. He said to do so, which would effectively convert the hotels into hostels, should require a change of use. Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with a protest in July outside the hotel in Diss, which houses more than 40 children. Cllr Elmer told the PA news agency: 'We make a big play about integration, and to replace families who have children in the local school system and have integrated into the local community would make no sense.' He added: 'If we can punish people who have put up sheds in their gardens without permission, then we can take action against hotels being converted into hostels without planning consent.' Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle said the Government will 'continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns'. She added: 'Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.' Lawyers for the Home Office had warned the court that an injunction 'runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests'. Edward Brown KC also said the injunction would 'substantially interfere' with the Home Office's statutory duty in potentially avoiding a breach of the asylum seekers' human rights. Several protests and counter-protests have been held in Epping since a then-resident at the hotel was accused of trying to kiss a teenage girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied the charges against him and is due to stand trial later this month. A second man who resides at the hotel, Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, has separately been charged with seven offences, while several other men have been charged over disorder outside the hotel. In a ruling on Tuesday, Justice Eyre granted the temporary injunction, but extended the time limit by which the hotel must stop housing asylum seekers to September 12. He also refused to give Somani Hotels Limited, the hotel's owner, the green light to challenge his ruling, but the company could still ask the Court of Appeal for the go-ahead to appeal against the judgment. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
Plumbing tycoon Charlie Mullins joins fury at Rachel Reeves as he accuses Labour of 'ROBBING' hardworking Brits with property tax raid
Plumbing tycoon Charlie Mullins has joined the backlash at Rachel Reeves over a possible and highly controversial shake-up of property levies. The millionaire hit out at the Chancellor's 'atrocious' tax plans and claimed she was 'robbing' working class Brits. Mr Mullins fled Britain to move to Spain after Labour won power at last year's general election, due to his fears of a tax raid by Ms Reeves. The 72-year-old has now urged those who are also thinking of moving abroad to 'sell your house now' amid concerns the Chancellor might hammer property owners. Ms Reeves has been warned that proposals to replace stamp duty with an annual charge on homes worth more than £500,000 would damage the market. There is also outrage that such a move would punish people who have worked hard to own their houses. As part of her efforts to fill the Government's coffers, Ms Reeves is understood to have asked officials to look at a potential overhaul of property taxes. She has already been called on by economists to scrap the current system, in which buyers have to pay thousands of pounds in stamp duty on house sales, which they say deters people from moving. The Guardian reported that owners of houses worth more than £500,000 could have to pay a 'proportional property tax' based on the value of their properties when they sell up. However, sources played down the claims that Treasury officials are looking at this proposal or threshold. Responding to Ms Reeves' reported plans, Mr Mullins told Talk: 'What she's doing now is atrocious, she is robbing working class people again. 'She's talking about someone with a £500,000 house, which is nothing in London - it's like a one-bedroom apartment. 'How does she think these people got them? They're working class people, they purchased the property. 'Now they're going to tax you on buying the property, tax you on selling the people. What it will do, it will freeze the property market up - it will freeze it up completely. 'It will stop people wanting to buy a property and it will also, people like me and many others, it will drive or force us out the UK even more.' Mr Mullins is a former Tory donor who switched to bankrolling the Liberal Democrats due to the party's anti-Brexit stance but now backs Nigel Farage's Reform UK. He explained that he left the UK 'because of Labour and all their robbing everybody'. 'I'm in Marbella, absolutely loving it - wish I'd done it years ago and not allowed Labour governments to keep robbing people and working class people,' he added. 'My advice to anybody, if you're thinking of leaving the UK, is sell your house now before she [Ms Reeves] brings it in. 'Because she will bring this in very quickly, it's another way of robbing working class people.' Treasury sources moved away from suggestions that civil servants are drawing on the findings of a report published last year by think-tank Onward. This proposed that only future owners could pay an annual tax based on the value of the property instead of stamp duty. Under the plan put forward by economist Professor Tim Leunig, current homeowners would not be hit by the charge. But if they do sell up in future their buyers would pay the levy each year instead of stamp duty at the point of purchase. It is intended to open up the property market by making it less expensive to move and encouraging those in large homes to downsize. Meanwhile, it has separately been reported that Ms Reeves is eyeing a 'mansion tax' on the owners of high-value properties. According to The Times, the Chancellor is drawing up plans to end the current exemption from capital gains tax when some people sell their main home. This would see those on the higher rate of income tax pay 24 per cent of the value of any 'gain' they make from the increase in the value of their property. And those on the basic rate of income tax would pay 18 per cent. Ms Reeves' reported plans would see the 'private residence relief' from capital gains currently enjoyed by homeowners scrapped for some properties. The threshold at which the relief would end is currently being discussed within the Treasury, the newspaper added. It is estimated a threshold of £1.5million would hit around 120,000 homeowners who are higher-rate taxpayers with capital gains tax bills of £199,973. TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has warned the Chancellor not to risk destabilising the market by 'flying kites' about potential new property taxes. She told Times Radio: 'It's not Rachel's to go after because it's their homes. 'It's the roof over their head. And this Government seems to want to punish people for making the sacrifices they've made to buy their own homes.' James Browne, senior economic policy adviser at the Tony Blair Institute, said: 'While replacing stamp duty with a new annual property levy on homes worth more than £500,000 is economically sensible, it would be politically challenging. 'Either long-standing homeowners who are asset-rich but cash-poor would be hit with much larger bills or, if it only applied after a property changed hands, would discourage moving just as much as stamp duty does at the moment.' Treasury minister Torsten Bell told broadcasters this morning: 'Working people and people's living standards is what this Government is all about. 'We've seen wages rise more in the first 10 months of this Government than the first 10 years of the last Conservative government. 'But of course, as you know, questions for tax are for the budget and they're for chancellors.' A Treasury spokesman said: 'As set out in the plan for change, the best way to strengthen public finances is by growing the economy - which is our focus. 'Changes to tax and spend policy are not the only ways of doing this, as seen with our planning reforms, which are expected to grow the economy by £6.8billion and cut borrowing by £3.4billion. 'We are committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible, which is why at last autumn's Budget, we protected working people's payslips and kept our promise not to raise the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax, employee national insurance, or VAT.'
