UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKeir Starmer has given the most revealing interview yet on his fears for his family, his regrets, and the inner anger that drives him to want to change the country.The Labour leader has often been accused of being too robotic or lacking passion and personality.But with Starmer on the cusp of entering No 10, he has given an emotional interview to Geordie Greig, editor-in-chief of The Independent, where tears welled up in his eyes as he expressed his innermost feelings about his life and his family. He addressed:How his wife Victoria is his “rock”How his teenage children fear their lives will dramatically change as he prepares to move the family into Downing Street – and how they “take the p***” out of their fatherHow he decided not to take advice from the Blairs about life in No 10His regrets at never telling his late father he loved himHow his mother’s determination to overcome her lifelong ill health fuels his own drive to bring changeHow he took on homophobic thugs who beat up a gay friend and was beaten up when he intervenedThe Labour leader admitted his greatest fear about becoming prime minister is its impact on his children, as he confirmed that, if he wins on 4 July, he will be moving his family into Downing Street.“It’s been a cause of concern for me about the impact on the kids in particular. I’m not going to pretend that they are not worried about this, because they are. Our girl is 13 and a half, our boy 15, nearly 16. It is very impactful. They’re just sort of exploring their independence, and suddenly, if we get over the line, that is going to be hard.”Political editor David Maddox and editor-in-chief Geordie Greig interview Keir Starmer More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDavid Cameron has been caught on video speaking to a Russian impostor pretending to be a former Ukrainian president – but he’s not the only politician to be caught out by pranksters. The Foreign Office said the perpetrators behind the call are “clearly Russian”, adding that “disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook”.He now joins a string of politicians, world leaders and celebrities to be duped by impersonators and pranksters. The Russian prankster duo Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov are among the most prominent tricksters, with a modus operandi that involves them masquerading as leaders or senior officials.Here, The Independent has put together a list of the politicians that have been hoaxed by impersonators and pranksters. Suella Braverman pranked into collecting ‘D*** of the year’ awardSuella Braverman awarded ‘D*** Of The Year’ in The Last Leg prankFormer home secretary Suella Braverman was duped into accepting a comedy show’s “D*** of the Year” award while launching a small boat in her constituency.Pranksters invited the Tory MP to officially launch “Fareham Fishing” – a bogus angling company – as part of a segment for Channel 4’s Last Leg programme.Ms Braverman, unaware, accepted the invitation from YouTube pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners.As she cuts a red ribbon with her head turned, the two pranksters unveil a sign saying, ‘The Last Leg’s D*** of the Year 2023, Suella Braverman.’Nigel Farage tricked into saying pro-IRA ‘up the RA’Nigel Farage tricked into saying ‘up the RA’ on CameoNigel Farage was tricked into reading a message supporting the IRA by tricksters who targeted him on the video message site Cameo.The politician read out a birthday message and is seen raising his drink and saying ‘up the RA’ in a clip on the video-sharing platform.He was then confronted by Irish news presenter Claire Byrne on the comments. Ms Bryne shared the clip on her RTE One show, and explained: “I want people to see just how much you know about the history and culture of this island.”After it played she said: “Up the RA, Nigel?“I know you said sorry and I know you got 87 quid, that’s entirely within your rights to do that – but come on.“Don’t try and lecture the Irish people on culture and history and the precarious nature of peace on this island, you haven’t got a clue.”Kwasi Kwarteng and Matt Hancock offered to help fake Korean firm Led By Donkeys undercover investigation reveals MPs charge 10k a day for consultancyFormer chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng offered to facilitate setting up a meeting between a fake foreign firm and former prime minister Boris Johnson during a sting interview.Mr Kwarteng was caught up in a hoax organised by campaign group Led By Donkeys in which he was approached about providing political advice to a bogus company in South Korea.Mr Kwarteng indicated he would take on external consultancy work for the firm for a rate of £10,000 per day.Former health secretary Matt Hancock, in a separate interview, said his daily rate was the same five-figure sum.The sting by anti-Brexit group Led By Donkeys saw it create a company called Hanseong Consulting, including setting up a website which contained made-up testimonials and paying for a so-called “fake virtual office” in the South Korean capital Seoul.Nigel Farage falls for Brexit prank call live on LBCCaller pranks Nigel Farrage on LBCNigel Farage was pranked on live radio when a caller said he changed his mind about being a Remainer when he was “kicked in the head by a horse”.Calling into Mr Farage’s LBC show the man, who gave his name as Mark, started by thanking Mr Farage for his political work in recent times.“I’m immensely grateful to you for everything you’ve done in British politics over the last few years,” Mark told Mr Farage, before explaining how he had switched sides on the Brexit debate.As Mr Farage nodded along, Mark told him: “Then something monumental happened.”Mr Farage, then asked: “And what was that monumental thing, Mark?”To which he responded: “I was kicked in the head by a horse.”Sensing the answer was not wholly honest, Mr Farage said: “Right, very good, okay, fine. Thank you, Mark, we’re going to move on.”Boris Johnson tricked into 18-minute call with man pretending to be Armenian PMBoris Johnson gets duped by Russian prankstersBoris Johnson was duped into discussing the UK’s relationship with Russia with hoax callers pretending to be the Armenian prime minister.An audio clip posted online by Russian pranksters, Lexus and Vovan, appeared to show the then-foreign secretary talking about the UK’s dealings with Vladimir Putin and the poisoning of the Skripals with the pair, who were pretending to be Nikol Pashinyan, the then recently elected political leader.The Foreign Office said Mr Johnson had ended the call when he realised it was a hoax and issued a stern statement condemning the “childish actions” of the duo. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email An Albanian prison cell wouldn’t rank high among choice spots to run a successful campaign for election to the European Parliament.Fredis Beleris, a member of Albania’s ethnic Greek minority, had no choice. Last year he was elected mayor of a town in southern Albania — a candidate to join the European Union — but lost his office and is serving a two-year sentence for vote-buying in that election.The case soured relations between the two Balkan neighbors and led to the dual Greek-Albanian citizen’s election on June 9 to represent EU member Greece in the European Parliament. He ran on the ticket of Greece’s governing center-right party.“I know (my election) will help put a spotlight on a major problem Albania faces, which is the rule of law,” Beleris told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday from prison.“Here, the judiciary is the long arm of politics,” he added. “I think these problems must be brought to the fore — lack of respect for the Greek ethnic minority’s rights, such as the right to property … and to be governed by the people it elects.”Beleris’ election isn’t unique. An Italian leftwing activist held in pretrial detention in EU member Hungary was released after her election to the European Parliament on an Italian party’s ballot. Members of the legislature enjoy substantial legal immunity from prosecution within the 27-state EU, even if the allegations relate to crimes committed prior to their election. But Albania is not an EU member, and unlike Beleris, the new Italian MEP had not been convicted in court. Athens described Beleris’ detention and trial as politically motivated and implied Albania’s prospects of joining the EU would suffer. The case is complicated by fractious Balkan politics, minority rights and property disputes on a prime coastal stretch of what’s marketed as the Albanian Riviera, the top tourist destination in the country.Some 10 million tourists visited the small country last year, contributing about a fifth of the economy.“I had no intention of entering politics in Greece, it was because of the need to highlight this huge problem,” Beleris said. “Anybody who knows me knows for sure that I would prefer to have been mayor.”Beleris, 51, was arrested two days before the May 14, 2023 municipal elections in Himare, on the Albanian Riviera, 220 kilometers (140 miles) southwest of the capital Tirana. He was charged with offering some 40,000 Albanian leks (360 euros; $390) to buy eight votes.He won with a 19-vote lead, backed by the ethnic Greek minority party and others opposing Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s governing Socialists. But he never took office, being detained until his court conviction in March. An appeals court upheld the ruling Tuesday.Beleris denies the charges, claiming that Prime Minister Rama directly targeted him to keep control of Himare, and that judges ignored evidence in his favor.Albanian officials strongly reject his claims, citing the independence of the judiciary.Judicial corruption has long plagued post-communist Albania. The system recently underwent deep reforms, following EU and U.S. pressure to root out bribery and ensure judges are independent from politics.Beleris said he believes that at the heart of his case are “huge financial interests as far as tourist development is concerned.”“But it’s also that the Albanian prime minister doesn’t want the local (ethnic) Greek population to share in that prosperity,” he said. “That’s a direct breach of our human and minority rights.”Relations between Greece and Albania have been at times uneasy, largely over minority rights and the sizeable Albanian migrant community in Greece.Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has strongly backed Beleris, giving him a place on his New Democracy party’s ticket. Beleris won some 235,000 votes, coming in fourth among the seven MEPs the party elected.Mitsotakis’ move came as ND was struggling to staunch a leak of votes from its traditional conservative base towards small far-right parties. Greece is also at loggerheads with another small Balkan neighbor and EU hopeful, North Macedonia, and has suggested that that country’s efforts to join the bloc could also suffer in consequence.So far, the EU Commission has treated the Beleris matter as a bilateral dispute. EU membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia started in 2022 and are expected to last for years.“I think Albania must join the European Union sooner or later, but … with the rules and the rule of law that befit a European country,” Beleris said.___Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed. More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightThe sheer scale of the collapse in support for Tories in the opinion polls begs a question as the election approaches: Who are the party faithful, still willing to back Rishi Sunak?Recent polls have the Conservatives’ voting intention at about 19 per cent – less than half the 43.6 per cent vote share of 2019.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called an election for 4 July after months of speculation about an autumn date. Since then, the campaign has been plagued by scandals, from the PM leaving D-Day early to alleged betting by politicians and campaign officials.With a resurgent Reform UK eating into the vote share under Nigel Farage, the Conservatives look all but defeated as the race enters its final week.Who is still voting Tory?While the odds are strongly against a general election victory, one in five voters are still planning to back the Conservatives at the polls.The current average Tory voter is aged 62, voted for Brexit, and has voted Conservative in previous elections. Polling from More In Common shows that Tory voters are slightly more likely to be white, and more than half are comfortable financially.Ed Hodgson, research manager at More In Common, said many Tory voters are fearful about Labour’s approach to the economy. “Most current Conservative voters have real concerns about the idea of a Labour government,” he said. “Many of them are instinctively cautious about Labour. They are receptive to arguments that Labour will increase taxes, mishandle the economy, or that a ‘supermajority’ will create an unopposed Labour government.” He said those issues are raised in focus groups, where Tory supporters frequently raise the famous “I’m afraid there is no money” note, left by Labour’s Liam Byrne, chief secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown, in 2010 for the incoming coalition government.Polling shows the Tories have no particular advantage among voters aged 55-64, of whom 18 per cent say they are voting for the party – just below the national average.The strongest group of Tory supporters by far remains the over-65s, a third of whom say they will vote blue next week. This jumps to 40 per cent when looking at the over-70s.Around 1.3 million people who voted Conservative in 2019 have since died – nearly 10 per cent of supporters. With the majority of Tory support clustered in the older age brackets, the Tories may have a serious demographic problem, not just in this election but also in the next.Despite apocalyptic projections of a Labour landslide from top pollsters, the Tories are still forecast to win with a margin of over 5 per cent in 106 constituencies, according to More In Common’s June MRP. These include large margins in constituencies such as Sevenoaks, Maldon, and Hinckley and Bosworth.In national voting intention polls, those in the North East of England are slightly more likely to vote Conservative, at 23 per cent compared to the national average of 19 per cent, as are those in the South East, with 21 per cent.While there has historically been a gender gap among Tory voters, with more men voting Conservative (47 per cent) in the 2019 election compared to 42 per cent of women, that gap is now less wide.Support among men is currently at 20 per cent, compared to 18 per cent among women.In fact, the real right-wing gender gap exists among Reform supporters.  A much higher proportion of men (16 per cent) are turning to the more right-wing party, compared to the proportion of women (10 per cent).Mr Hodgson said current Conservative voters are more positive about Sunak than the rest of the country. “They think he did a good job as chancellor, getting us through the pandemic, and tend to blame recent issues with the government on the Conservative party not properly backing the prime minister,” he said. “The same cannot be said for their views about Nigel Farage, who Conservative voters understand the appeal of, but don’t like the tone in which he conducts his politics and have an instinctive distrust of.”Of Conservative voters in 2019, 23 per cent say they will go over to Reform UK, 13 per cent to Labour and 4 per cent to the Liberal Democrats. Half are staying loyal and the remainder are undecided.A separate poll by More In Common has shown that Brexit voters are split between the right-wing parties, with a third voting Tory and a third Reform.When it comes to top issues on the ballot, all voters rank the NHS and cost of living as a primary concern, but the average Conservative voter is much more preoccupied with immigration and twice as likely to see the war in Ukraine as a factor impacting their vote. More