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The Labour government is “moving forward with the strongest team” following the resignation of Angela Rayner, the chief secretary to the prime minister said.Appearing on BBC Breakfast on Saturday, newly appointed Darren Jones said that Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet has entered a “second chapter” which is focused on “strengthening 10 Downing Street’s operation”.He said that the prime minister had “already been considering” a reshuffle but it was brought forward in light of Ms Rayner’s resignation following her admission that she failed to pay the correct stamp duty on her Hove £800,000 flat.“We are moving forward with the strongest team that we have around the Cabinet now”.Mr Jones also dispelled Reform’s claims that there will likely be an election in 2027, calling the party “one that fees off dismay and problems”. More

Dame Andrea Jenkyns walked onstage at the Reform UK conference, belting out a song entitled “Insomniac” that she said she wrote.The mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, walked onstage at the party’s two-day conference at Birmingham’s NEC on Friday (5 September) in a sparkly jumpsuit before breaking into song.She said: “Are this awful Labour government giving you sleepless nights as well?,” adding that she co-wrote the song 20 years ago with a friend.Dame Andrea’s website says she is a soprano who has been singing since her childhood. More

Nigel Farage mistakenly said Angela Rayner had avoided paying £40,000 in council tax after the deputy prime minister resigned on Friday, 5 September.Ms Rayner quit after ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found that she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.She had faced mounting pressure to stand down over recent days after admitting she had neglected to pay stamp duty by £40,000 on the flat.”You simply can’t get away from being the housing secretary and avoiding £40,000 of council tax, and it screams to entitlement,” Mr Farage told conference attendees in Birmingham. More

Nigel Farage said he thinks there is “every chance now of a general election happening in 2027” as he addressed Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham shortly after Angela Rayner resigned on Friday, 5 September.The Reform leader warned of a “big rift” in Labour and told attendees in a keynote speech: “Before long, there’ll be Labour MPs that reckon they’ve got a better chance on the Jeremy Corbyn sectarian ticket … they’ve got a better chance of being re-elected under that ticket, under Corbyn, than they do under Sir Keir.”His comments came following the deputy prime minister’s announcement that she would step down after ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found that she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex. More

Richard Tice fumbled his words as he was grilled on why Sir Keir Starmer was like Kim Jong Un after both the deputy Reform UK leader and Nigel Farage compared the UK to North Korea.Appearing on BBC Radio 4 on Friday (5 September), Mr Tice was repeatedly questioned by Nick Robinson on the comparison and said that Sir Keir is “authoritarian”.After he was asked whether Sir Keir was like Kim for a third time, Mr Tice said that it is “good to use anecdotes and analogies at times”.Mr Robinson fired back, calling it “offensive” to compare the prime minister to “one of the worst autocrats on the planet”.Mr Tice said “what is really offensive” is punishing those who are “concerned about illegal immigration”. More

Angela Rayner’s seaside flat in Hove has been vandalised with “tax evader” graffiti, after the deputy prime minister revealed that she had failed to pay enough stamp duty on the property.On Wednesday (3 September) Ms Rayner said that she has referred herself to both the Government’s independent ethics adviser and to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for failing to pay the levy.Video captured on Thursday (4 September) shows the words “tax evader” scrawled outside the £800,000 property, and “Rayner tax avoidance” on a nearby construction chipboard.Rayner, who reportedly earned a tax break worth up to £40,000, said she received inaccurate legal advice that led her to underpay tax when buying a flat in Hove in May. More

Liz Truss has hinted about returning to frontline politics, revealing that she has “always been obsessed with making Britain a great nation again”.Speaking to Sky News’ Wilfred Frost on The Master Investor Podcast on Wednesday (3 September), the former prime minister said that she is “depressed about how far the UK has sunk”.Asked by Mr Frost if she would consider returning as an MP, she said: “I never rule anything out. Why would I do that?”Describing the economy as “dire”, Ms Truss said she “wants to help fix that in any way I can”. More

Sir Keir Starmer has slammed “disgraceful” Nigel Farage for “badmouthing” the UK, as the Reform leader skipped Prime Minister’s Questions to appear at the US congress.Speaking during the Commons exchange on Wednesday (3 September), the prime minister claimed Mr Farage has travelled to Washington to “impose sanctions that will harm working people”.He said: “The honourable member for Clacton is not here representing his constituents in the house he was elected to. No, he has flown to America to badmouth and talk down our country.”Sir Keir said that “you could not get more unpatriotic than that”, branding Mr Farage a “disgrace”.Mr Farage will be discussing free speech in the UK in front of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. More