MP resigns as trade envoy over northern Cyprus visit
A government spokesman told the BBC Afzal Khan, who represents Manchester Rusholme, had stepped down from his position on Friday.
Mr Khan said the trip to the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognised by the UK Government, was to visit his nephew and to receive an honorary degree.
He said he had paid for the trip himself.
Turkish troops have occupied the northern section of the Mediterranean island since 1974.
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ITV News
7 minutes ago
- ITV News
Reform will 'fail women' if it scraps Online Safety Act, Angela Rayner says
Reform UK risks 'failing a generation of young women' if the party scraps the Online Safety Act, Angela Rayner has said. The Deputy Prime Minister demanded Nigel Farage explain how his party would keep young women safe when they use the internet if it repeals the legislation as promised if it wins the next general election. Rayner's warning is the latest intervention in a row between senior Labour figures and Reform over the act. Under new rules introduced through the legislation at the end of July, online platforms such as social media sites and search engines must take steps to prevent children from accessing harmful content such as pornography or material that encourages suicide. However, civil liberties campaigners and some MPs have argued the law opens the door to censorship and poses a danger to free speech. Meanwhile cybersecurity experts warn that asking people to hand sensitive details to third-party providers to comply with new age verification requirements could present an opportunity to scammers and blackmailers if a data breach were to occur. On the other hand, many people are already being exploited in the form of "sextortion", were victims are persuaded to perform sexual acts on webcam, with the material used to blackmail them. Even if blackmail isn't involved, a growing number of people have found themselves the victims of so-called "revenge porn", which more often involves someone seeking to use what you thought were private images to embarrass or humiliate you. The Online Safety Act aims to address these issues through the creation of a specific offence of "intimate image abuse". Reform has said it would repeal the law and replace it with other means to protect children online, though the party has not said how it would do this. Farage and his colleagues have said the act is an example of overreach by the government and a threat to free speech, which prompted backlash from Technology Secretary Peter Kyle. The Cabinet minister claimed people like Jimmy Savile would use the internet to exploit children if he was still alive, and insisted anyone against the act – including Farage – was 'on their side'. The Reform leader demanded an apology, but ministers have been trenchant in their defence of the the deputy prime minister has questioned how Farage would seek to prevent the 'devastating crime' of intimate image abuse without the Online Safety Act's protections.'Nigel Farage risks failing a generation of young women with his dangerous and irresponsible plans to scrap online safety laws," Rayner said. 'Scrapping safeguards and having no viable alternative plan in place to halt the floodgates of abuse that could open is an appalling dereliction of duty. It's time for Farage to tell women and girls across Britain how he would keep them safe online.'Under the Online Safety Act, revenge porn is classified among the 'most severe online offences', the Deputy PM added. Citing figures from the charity Refuge, the Labour Party claimed a million young women had been subject to revenge porn: either intimate images being shared, or the threat of this. Some 3.4 million adults in total, both men and women, have been affected, Labour also have previously had to defend the Online Safety Act against accusations from Elon Musk's X social media site that it is threatening free a post at the start of August titled 'What Happens When Oversight Becomes Overreach', the platform formerly known as Twitter outlined criticism of the act and the 'heavy-handed' UK government countered that it is 'demonstrably false' that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech and said it is not designed to censor political debate. Farage has meanwhile suggested there is a 'tech answer' for protecting children online, but neither he nor the government have outlined also suggested children are too easily able to avoid new online age verification rules by using VPNs (virtual private networks), which allow them to circumvent the rules by masking their identity and Reform UK was approached for comment, its Westminster councillor Laila Cunningham said: 'Women are more unsafe than ever before thanks to Labour. Starmer has released thousands of criminals back onto the streets early with no regard for women's safety.'I am calling on Jess Phillips to debate me on women's safety – she ignored the grooming gangs scandal and now she's wilfully deceiving voters on this issue. "Reform will always prioritise prosecuting abuse but will never let women's safety be hijacked to justify censorship.'You don't protect women by silencing speech. You protect them by securing borders, enforcing the law, and locking up actual criminals, and that is exactly what a Reform government would do.'
The Sun
8 minutes ago
- The Sun
Tech Secretary Peter Kyle reignites war with Nigel Farage by accusing him of putting women at risk
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Western Telegraph
15 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock calls for two-child benefit cap to be scrapped
Rising levels of poverty 'would make Charles Dickens furious', Lord Kinnock said in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, in which he urged ministers to introduce a wealth tax. Lord Kinnock, who led Labour in opposition between 1983 and 1992, is the latest senior party figure to pressure the current Government to end the two-child limit on benefits. In 15 years, starting from a position where beneficial change was taking place, we've got to the place that would make Charles Dickens furious Lord Neil Kinnock Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown recently said ending the two-child limit, as well as the benefit cap, would be among the most effective ways of reducing child poverty. Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Lord Kinnock acknowledged the Government may not be able to scrap the two-child cap 'all at once'. He added: 'But I really want them to move in that direction because the figures are that if that did occur it would mean that about 600,000 kids fewer are in poverty.' Lord Kinnock suggested such a move could be funded by a wealth tax on the 'top 1%', telling the Sunday Mirror: 'I know it's the economics of Robin Hood, but I don't think there is anything terribly bad about that.' He warned that over the decade and a half the Conservatives were in power child poverty gradually rose. Former prime minister Gordon Brown has also called for the Government to take action on child poverty (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The Labour peer told the newspaper: 'In 15 years, starting from a position where beneficial change was taking place, we've got to the place that would make Charles Dickens furious. 'It's been allowed to happen because the kids are voiceless and their parents feel powerless. I defy anybody to see a child in need and not want to help.' The two-child limit has been long-criticised by Labour backbenchers as a driver of child poverty. Ministers are expected to set out plans to tackle child poverty at the budget in the autumn.
