UK Politics

Reform UK’s 2025 conference kicks off on Friday 5 September, as party leader Nigel Farage takes the helm in Birmingham over the weekend. The event comes as the party enjoys success in the polls, and welcomes former senior Conservative MP Nadine Dorries to its ranks.Former Reform chairman Zia Yusuf said on Friday: “Nigel [Farage] is preparing for government. We are taking seriously the important work of getting ready for government.”The party has been criticised in the past for its radical, anti-immigration policy proposals. These would see asylum seekers treated more harshly, and the bar to entry to the UK raised.At the same time, generous tax breaks have been pledged for businesses and households alike. However, given the spending commitments also made by the party, it is not always clear how a Reform government would afford its ambitious goals.Here are some key points from Reform’s policy platform, and what the experts have to say:Migrant deportation planIn August, Mr Farage shared radical plans for the mass deportation of asylum seekers, including children, to address what he claimed was a “rising anger” among the British public towards the UK’s small boats crisis.He claimed the party would remove 600,000 asylum seekers within their first term if elected to power.The party leader pledged to do this by securing deals with countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Iran to return migrants to their countries. Asked whether this could mean handing money to a regime like the Taliban, Mr Yusuf said that would be “quite reasonable”.Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage takes the helm in Birmingham over the weekend More

Nigel Farage will tell Reform UK activists and MPs to prepare for a 2027 general election, declaring that Labour’s handling of the economy will force Sir Keir Starmer into an early poll. As the insurgent right-wing party gathers for its annual conference in Birmingham on Friday, leader Mr Farage will rally members by claiming financial markets will lead to an election in the next two years. It comes as the first Techne UK poll since the summer break has given Reform UK its biggest lead yet with a 10-point advantage over Labour by 31 per cent 21 per cent. This would hand Mr Farage a massive 107-seat majority in an election.Britain’s long-term borrowing costs have soared to a 27-year high, with Rachel Reeves set to outline billions of pounds worth of fresh tax hikes in her Budget this November. Nigel Farage visited Donald Trump last week More

Former Conservative minister Nadine Dorries has declared “the Tory party is dead” as she announced that she has defected to Reform UK.The former culture secretary, who was MP for Mid-Bedfordshire from 2005 to 2023, revealed her decision in her column for the Daily Mail.“The time for action is now and I believe that the only politician who has the answers, the knowledge and the will to deliver is Nigel Farage. Nigel and I will never agree about everything. Neither of us are political robots,” she wrote. Ms Dorries also said that “it’s time for change” and “time make Britain great again”, declaring the Tory Party “dead”.She wrote: “My decision to leave the party I’ve served for more than 30 years is possibly the most difficult I’ve ever had to make, and it has taken me 12 agonising months to reach.”Her announcement came a day before the Reform UK party conference begins.Nadine Dorries was MP for Mid-Bedfordshire from 2005 to 2023 More

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to back Angela Rayner staying in post until the next election, in the first sign he could be distancing himself from the under-fire deputy prime minister, as the crisis over her tax affairs deepens. Ms Rayner’s political future hangs in the balance after she admitted she did not pay enough stamp duty when purchasing her £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex, sparking calls for her to resign.The housing secretary insisted she had made a “mistake” in failing to pay the required £40,000 tax on the second home, based on incorrect legal advice, and referred herself to Sir Keir’s standards adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, who will give his verdict on Friday, according to reports.Sources close to Ms Rayner said an unnamed conveyancer and two experts in trust law had all suggested the amount of stamp duty she paid was correct.But on Thursday evening, conveyancing firm Verrico and Associates, which handled the flat purchase, said it did not give tax advice to Ms Rayner, and was being made “scapegoats”.Keir Starmer has backed Angela Rayner but refused to guarantee her survival More

Angela Rayner’s lawyers insist they did not give her tax advice on her flat at the centre of a scandal and claim they have been made scapegoats.Conveyancing firm Verrico & Associates, which managed the purchase of her £800,000 apartment in Hove, East Sussex, insisted it had done everything “correctly and in good faith”, it has been reported.The deputy prime minister has blamed “legal advice” for paying about £30,000 in stamp duty rather than £70,000 when she bought the seaside home.Sources close to Ms Rayner had said she received the legal advice from a conveyancer and two experts in trust law on the amount of stamp duty paid – but none has been identified.Ms Rayner referred herself to the ministerial ethics adviser on Wednesday after admitting she had wrongly listed the flat as her primary residence, benefiting from a tax break. The band of stamp duty applicable to the flat would have been higher had she said the flat was a second home.She is reported to have removed her name from the deeds of a family home in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.Verrico & Associates, based in Herne Bay, Kent, confirmed it had advised the deputy prime minister on the flat purchase but insisted it had done nothing wrong.Joanna Verrico, the managing director, told The Telegraph: “We acted for Ms Rayner when she purchased the flat in Hove. We did not and never have given tax or trust advice. It’s something we always refer our clients to an accountant or tax expert for.“The stamp duty for the Hove flat was calculated using HMRC’s own online calculator, based on the figures and the information provided by Ms Rayner. That’s what we used, and it told us we had to pay £30,000 based on the information provided to us. Keir Starmer refused to say whether he would sack Angela Rayner if she was found to have breached the ministerial code More

Calls have been for Nigel Farage to be hauled in front of the MPs to face questions about Reform UK’s “assault on the free press” after the party threatened to banThe Independent from attending events if it did not change a critical story. It comes afterThe Independent’s political editor David Maddox reported that he had taken calls from a member of Reform’s leadership and an aide to Mr Farage warning that the publication would be banned from all events if it did not alter its coverage. Last week, The Nottingham Post accused Reform UK of a “massive attack on local democracy” after a local council leader effectively banned the authority from engaging with the newspaper and its website. Nigel Farage gave evidence at a US congressional committee before delivering a speech in Washington on Wednesday (Mariam Zuhaib/AP) More

A phone was planted in the House of Commons as part of an attempted prank which would have seen “sex noises” broadcast during Prime Minister’s Questions, it has emerged. Parliamentary authorities have launched an inquiry into how a mobile was hidden near where Sir Keir Starmer was due to stand up and face Kemi Badenoch on the front benches on Wednesday. It was found during a routine sweep before PMQs and was reportedly due to play a sexually explicit audio recording. A phone was planted near where Sir Keir Starmer stood for PMQs More

If you asked anyone in Labour circles before Wednesday who was Sir Keir Starmer’s most likely successor, the chances are they would have said Angela Rayner. The deputy prime minister is a cabinet favourite with members and a darling of Labour’s trade union backers. But Ms Rayner’s political future is hanging in the balance after she admitted failing to pay £40,000 in tax when purchasing a property. Her career now depends on the outcome of an ethics probe into her tax dealings, which could conclude by the end of the week. But who is Ms Rayner, and how did she get to where she is? Her backgroundAngela Rayner is often touted as a prime example of Labour values in practice – a working class girl with a complex family background who found her feet with help from the Blair government’s Sure Start centres.She was born in Stockport, in Greater Manchester, in 1980, and raised on a council estate by her mother Lynn, who struggled with depression and could not read or write. From a young age, Rayner acted as a carer for her mother, at times having to bathe and feed her. Her father was nearly always out of work. Angela Rayner said she had received incorrect advice over the amount she needed to pay for a property in Hove More