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Nigel Farage squirmed in a heated interview as he was questioned on a Reform UK MP’s assault conviction for kicking his former girlfriend 18 years ago.The party leader described James McMurdock as someone who has “picked himself up from a terrible situation and made a big success.”The former investment banker did not publicly disclose his conviction for assault before being elected and claimed he had “pushed” his partner.The Times later obtained information about his sentencing from the courts, which said he was locked up for 21 days in a young offenders’ institute for kicking the victim “around four times” in 2006 when he was a teenager.Mr Farage dismissed the “discrepancy” between Mr McMurdock’s comments about the incident and the official record as an issue for constituents. More

Angela Rayner insisted “I hate failure” as she remained defiant over Labour’s new homes target.The deputy prime minister said she is determined to meet her 1.5 million new homes target, but wouldn’t guarantee it, when she appeared on Sky News with Trevor Phillips on Sunday (8 December).The housebuilding commitment was one of the six “milestones” Sir Keir Starmer set out in a wide-ranging speech on Thursday (5 December), against which the public can measure the Government’s performance.Ms Rayner said the Government was “tackling the housing crisis we inherited head-on with bold action” as it worked towards building 1.5 million homes over five years. More

Former prime minister Boris Johnson has created a bizarre celebrity Christmas ‘naughty and nice’ list – with some surprising additions.Sat eating a mince pie, Mr Johnson ponders over who to include on his list, as part of a promotional video released for his book, Unleashed.Celebrity names mentioned include Michael Gove, Jeremy Clarkson, Laura Kuenssberg, and Leonardo DiCaprio.Referencing the latter, Mr Johnson states: “A great Hollywood champion for tackling climate change. On the other hand, he did spend a long time on the bog during the cop summit.” More

Nigel Farage described Alastair Campbell as the “worst loser in history” while the pair clashed over the impact of Brexit on Thursday’s (5 December) episode of Question Time.The former director of communications for Tony Blair explained that he was disappointed that Keir Starmer did not mention Brexit when setting out his government’s “plan for change” in a speech, which the Reform UK leader reacted to by declaring: “Oh dear.”Mr Farage and Mr Campbell then called each other the “worst loser” and “worst winner” respectively as they disagreed on how leaving the European Union has affected the United Kingdom. More

A BBC Question Time audience member was visibly shocked when a viewer beside her said she did not believe in asylum.In Thursday’s (5 December) episode of the political panel show, a woman claimed the UK had “taken more than our fair share” and said she felt sorry for “little towns and villages” where asylum seekers had been housed.As she made her views clear, the audience member to her right raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes in astonishment.Laughter broke out in the studio as the woman continued: “I think there’s far too much made of this that they’re fleeing wars.” More

Sir Keir Starmer joked he could be the next James Bond as he mocked Tory leader Kemi Badenoch over her previous comments about working at McDonald’s.The prime minister made the joke as he delivered a major speech on Labour’s key plans for change, in a conference held at Pinewood Studios on Thursday (5 December).Sir Keir said: “It’s really great to be at the iconic Pinewood Studios.“Kemi Badenoch thinks if you do a couple of shifts in McDonald’s, then you can become working class, so by that logic, if I keep coming back here, I could be the next James Bond.” More