UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Reform UK activist described prime minister Rishi Sunak as a “f****** p***” while campaigning for the party’s leader Nigel Farage.Party activist Andrew Parker was caught using the racial slur while canvassing in Clacton, Essex, where Mr Farage is standing as an MP in the general election.Mr Farage told Channel 4 News that he was “dismayed” and he and some other objectionable candidates “will no longer be with the campaign”.It comes after Reform UK dropped its candidate in Basingstoke, Hampshire, after it was revealed he was previously a member of the British National Party.Mr Parker, who was filmed as part of an undercover investigation by Channel 4 News, said: “I’ve always been a Tory voter. But what annoys me is that f****** p*** we’ve got in. What good is he? You tell me, you know. He’s just wet. F****** useless”.Mr Farage said he was “dismayed” by the comments and claimed the activist had been removed from his party’s local campaign.Nigel Farage said he was ‘dismayed’ by the racist comments and the activist had been removed from his local campaign More

A BBCQuestion Time audience member clashed with Yvette Cooper after accusing the politician of failing to give a “yes or no” answer to a viewer’s question about people dying while crossing the English Channel on small boats.The shadow home secretary and fellow panellists were asked if tragedies, such as a seven-year-old girl dying after being suffocated beneath a crush of bodies inside an inflatable boat, were a direct result of not providing safe and legal routes for migrants.As Ms Cooper explained Labour’s position, an audience member interrupted to tell her that she had failed to give a “yes or no” answer.”This is the issue with politics,” the viewer added. More

Labour’s promises to tackle knife crime are like “putting a collar on an XL Bully” dog, a BBC Question Time audience member said on Thursday’s (27 June) episode.The party’s manifesto says they aim to halve knife crime in a decade and pledges that every young person caught in possession of a knife will be referred to a youth offending team and will receive a plan to prevent reoffending, with penalties including curfews, tagging, and custody.Steven Rhodes, whose friend Tom Ellis died after was stabbed in Nuneaton on 8 June, described Labour’s plans to tag offenders as “like putting a collar on an XL Bully… it can still bite you.” More

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

Kemi Badenoch vowed that she will “never going to shut up” about the “divisive agenda of diversity politics” as she spoke at The British Chambers of Commerce annual conference on Thursday, 27 June.The equalities minister told an audience that Labour’s “vision of the future economy is one that micromanages your businesses to meet their political objectives and that includes – my favourite topic of course – the divisive agenda of identity politics”.It came after David Tennant said he wished the Conservative politician would “shut up” and suggested he hoped for a world in which she “doesn’t exist anymore”, while she fired back that he was a “bigot” in a row over LGBTQ+ rights. More

Sir Keir Starmer said he is backing England “all the way” at Euro 2024 as he explained why he has sympathy for Gareth Southgate.During an interview with Channel 5 News, the Labour Leader drew comparisons between himself and the England boss.“I’ve been changing my party, getting us to a position where we hope to win this election and along the way, almost everybody is giving their view,” Sir Keir said.“The same is happening to Gareth now.”Sir Keir also weighed in on the Cole Palmer debate, admitting he wasn’t sure he would start the Chelsea man in the next game, but that he is a “real talent”. 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

Sir Keir Starmer visited a bone China factory on Thursday 27 June and stamped the word “change” onto a mug made by celebrity potter Keith Brymer Jones.The Great Pottery Throw Down expert judge made the mug as he chatted to the Labour leader about apprenticeships for craftspeople at a factory just outside Stoke.After Sir Keir pressed the Labour campaign slogan into the mug, he presented it to the cameras and crowd and said “brilliant, as clear as anything… change”.“Right, now I’ve got another 600 for you,” Brymer Jones joked, as the pair shook hands. More