Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailReform UK’s Rochdale by-election candidate has said George Galloway’s rival campaign is “whipping” people “into a frenzy” after he received a death threat on social media.Simon Danczuk, an ex-Labour MP for Rochdale who is now standing for the right-wing challenger party, received a string of direct messages on social media and a video where an online troll appears to threaten to gun him down.Speaking to the Independent, Mr Danczuk said he links the threats to Mr Galloway’s campaign: “It’s just outrageous really, and I do actually link it to the campaigning that Galloway’s been doing in Rochdale. He’s really whipping up division, and I think that’s really unfortunate”.In the footage, which has been posted on the Reform UK’s social media feed, the online creator is heard uttering expletives before threatening to “put one in his head”.Reform UK leader Richard Tice has said political leaders are running in fear of extremists (Joe Giddens/PA)In the string of direct messages, the individual tells Mr Danczuk: “How dare you send such letters in our Muslim [sic] community”, and says “I am going to assault you when I see you and I care not of the consequences”.Mr Danczuk said the comments were “disconcerting” and he took it “very seriously, not least because the guy said he didn’t mind the consequences.”The Reform UK candidate said he was talking to a senior Rochdale counsellor prior to receiving the threat, who remarked that “[Since] Galloway has come into town, particularly in terms of young people, he’s is really whipped them up into a frenzy around Gaza”.The threats come after a particularly chaotic by-election campaign in Rochdale. The Labour candidate, Mr Azhar Ali, was suspended from the party after he repeated a conspiracy theory that Israel had allowed the October 7 attack to take place. George Galloway, the candidate for the Workers’ Party, has used the Palestinian flag in his campaign materials and has targeted local Muslim voters by focusing on the issue of Gaza. He is currently the bookies favourite to win.Mr Galloway has also claimed that his campaign materials across Rochdale have been “ripped down and destroyed”.A video posted to social media last week appeared to show Mr Danczuk being told he was not allowed to take part in a local by-election hustings in the town.Mr Danczuk told the Independent that his wife has now been taken of the campaign trail for her own safety and the Reform party have sent Mr Danczuk two security personnel for the remainder of his campaign.The Worker’s Party of Britain and Greater Manchester police have been approached for comment. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMP Lee Anderson has been suspended from the Conservative Party following controversial comments on GB News which have been branded Islamophobic and racist.Mr Anderson, who is paid £100,000 a year to be host on the TV channel, said on Friday: “I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London, and they’ve got control of Starmer as well.”“People are just turning up in their thousands, and doing anything they want, and they are laughing at our police. This stems with Khan, he’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”The comments were made during a discussion about pro-Palestine protests that have been taking place in central London since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza.What has the criticism against Lee Anderson been?In response to Mr Anderson’s comments, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called the comments “Islamophobic, anti-Muslim, and racist,” adding that “these comments pour fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred.”The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) likewise slammed Mr Anderson’s comments for “endorsing common talking points that peddle conspiracy theories and Islamophobic tropes of alleged Muslim takeovers of our country.”“Former Deputy Chair, Lee Anderson’s claim that the Islamists have taken charge of London and of the Mayor is a disgusting slur that has no place in our public life.”Lee Anderson arrives at the official launch event for the ‘Popular Conservatism’ movementRishi Sunak, after sustained criticism for inaction, suspended Mr Anderson from the Conservative Party on 25 February, two days after his comments were made.The prime minister later criticised Mr Anderson’s comments, but stopped short of calling them Islamophobic or racist: “Lee’s comments weren’t acceptable, they were wrong. That’s why he’s had the whip suspended.”“Words matter, especially in the current environment where tensions are running high,” he added. “I think it’s incumbent on all of us to choose them carefully”.The MCB welcomed Mr Anderson’s suspension, but argued that more needs to be done: “The Conservative Party has an Islamophobia problem. They need to own up to it.”Speaking on Monday, Keir Starmer said that the PM “lacks the backbone to call this out for what it is”.“I think this is straightforward. It’s Islamophobia and the Prime Minister should call it out for what it is,” the Labour leader added. “The reason he won’t is because he is so weak”.In his own defence, now-independent MP Lee Anderson shared a statement via GB News: “When you think you are right you should never apologise because to do so would be a sign of weakness. My words may have been clumsy but my words were borne out of sheer frustration at what is happening to our beautiful capital city.”Mr Anderson has indicated that he intends to run again in his seat of Ashfield whether a Conservative party member or not. He has also refused to rule out whether he could now join right-wing Reform UK party, saying that he’s “been on a political journey”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJeremy Hunt is said to be looking at cutting national insurance and introducing a vape tax as part of his upcoming March Budget.The chancellor is reportedly considering a 1 per cent NI reduction which will cost about £4.5 billion a year, in a bid to satiate calls within his party for tax cuts.But Mr Hunt has considerably less headroom than previously thought after official forecasts downgraded the amount of money available to the government.The chancellor is considering introducing a levy on vapes But the chancellor is still keen to push forward with some tax cuts, and is said to be looking at alternative sources of income to fund itIt is thought he may introduce a “vaping products levy” to be paid on imports and by manufacturers to try to make the habit unaffordable for children, The Times reports.The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has pushed back against the chancellor’s plans to introduce tax cuts, warning it would be “very challenging” to achieve considering Britain’s ageing population and mounting debt pile.It further cautioned the transition to net zero and protecting the UK’s public services like hospitals and schools would need higher spending in the medium term than current government plans.The chancellor has already scaled back his plans after he was said to be considering a 2p cut in national insurance tax, but the £13.7 billion a year cost made it unaffordable with current figures.Mr Hunt is also said to be considering only increasing public spending by 0.75 per cent rather than 1 per cent, a move that could save about £5 billion a year.But economists have warned this would lead to considerable spending cuts for unprotected departments. The IFS said this could worsen already struggling public services, such as courts and prisons, higher education and the Home Office.Rishi Sunak announced he would phase out the sale of cigarettes The IFS said during the Autumn statement the chancellor “ignored the impacts of higher inflation on public service budgets and instead used additional tax revenues to fund eye-catching tax cuts.”It warned against doing the same this time, stating that “until the Government is willing to provide more detail on its spending plans in a spending review, it should refrain from providing detail on tax cuts.”The plans to introduce a vaping duty are expected to raise more than £500 million a year by 2028 and 2029, and will be accompanied by a one-off increase in tobacco duty to ensure that vaping remains a cheaper alternative.The scheme forms part of Rishi Sunak’s push to stop children taking up vaping while creating a “smoke-free generation”. The prime minister announced he would phase out the sale of cigarettes in his Autumn conference speech, in what he dubbed the “biggest public health intervention in a generation”.The proposed vape tax is modelled on 15 similar schemes across Europe and will align the UK with the EU’s plans to introduce a bloc-wide vaping levy.Last week the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) informed the government that it would have about £13 billion of fiscal headroom, of which Hunt will leave about £6 billion in reserve.Typically, chancellors leave themselves £25 billion of headroom to cope with changes in interest rates and inflation without needing to change tax and spending policies, but Mr Hunt’s room for manoeuvre has been heavily impacted by inflation falling faster than expected, resulting in lower tax revenues, and increased borrowing costs.The final forecasts before the budget are expected on Friday. More