Indy TV

JK Rowling should be given a seat in the House of Lords, Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has declared.The shadow housing secretary praised the Harry Potter author, who shares similar views on gender to her.“I don’t know whether she would take it, but I certainly would give her a peerage,” Ms Badenoch told TalkTV.Ms Badenoch went on to praise Baroness Cass, describing the paediatrician who reviewed children’s gender services as a “strong voice in parliament” for “women who have fought for so much [and] need protection”. More

Nigel Farage spent a relaxing Sunday foraging for mushrooms for his lunch.Mr Farage appeared aptly dressed for the occasion, wearing a farmer’s cap and wellington boots.In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, the Reform MP said: “It’s mid-October, it’s mushroom time. “People don’t really seem to want to go out foraging anymore, but I really do.“Take a look at these little monkeys, these are magnificent. If you don’t know what your pocking, be careful. You can tell a mushroom by how easily it peels and smells.“This is going to be my lunch.” More

Robert Jenrick smiled as he was confronted over his £1bn property approval for Tory donor Richard Desmond.Appearing on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg show on Sunday (13 October), the former housing secretary was quizzed over his decision to approve a billion pound development of Mr Desmond’s unlawfully.Ms Kuenssberg asked: “Matthew, our viewer, wants to know, why did you rush through reversal of the planning decision regarding Richad Desmond’s project to save him tens of millions of pounds?”The Conservative party leader hopeful said he was acting on his party’s 2019 election manifesto to increase homes.Mr Jenrick added: “The developer in question asked me about it, I told him not to talk about it. I regret obviously that I was subject to the mischarictarisation as to what our motivation was, which was simply to get homes built.” More

Sir Keir Starmer described Labour’s first 100 days in power as “bumpy” but said he is “happy” with what his party has achieved so far.The prime minister referenced “bumps and sidewinds” in the first three months in government, referring to the Labour donation row and the Sue Gray saga, when he appeared on the BBC’s Newcast, released today (12 October).Sir Keir said investment in the UK from companies such as Amazon, is proof that Labour’s “tough decisions” on the economy are beginning to “trigger investment”.The prime minister said: “This is proof to me that the steps we are taking are having effect.” More

In an exclusive interview, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has backed The Independent and Refuge’s Brick by Brick campaign.The prime minister has vowed that both he and Cabinet would donate to the campaign, which is looking for £300,000 to build a safe house for survivors of domestic abuse.Watch Refuge advocates such as Cherie Blair CBE, KC and other famous faces explain why they’re supporting the campaign here.Be a brick, buy a brick and donate here or text BRICK to 70560 to donate £15. More

Boris Johnson confirmed the exact number of children he has after being questioned on The Diary of a CEO podcast.Host Steven Bartlett directly asked him why the amount of kids he has is such a widely debated subject, to which the former prime minister replied: “Search me.”It was previously believed that Mr Johnson has nine children.He and his second wife, Marina Wheeler, who separated in 2018, have four children.Mr Johnson’s fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, was fathered as a result of an affair.During court proceedings, it was alleged that Macintyre was one of two children the former prime minister fathered as a result of an affair.He also shares three children with his third wife Carrie Johnson. More

The culture secretary has defended Labour’s winter fuel payment cut, insisting “No pensioner will be worse off this winter”.Lisa Nandy insisted the government is taking “tough decisions to stabilize the economy”, when she appeared on ITV’s Peston show on Wednesday evening (9 October).Ms Nandy insisted: “We haven’t taken £300 from pensioners“There are many hundreds of families paying hundreds of pounds more in rent or mortgages because of the economic chaos caused by the previous government.”Ms Nandy said the government is working hard to ensure the poorest pensioners are on pensioner credit.She said: “No pensioner will be worse off this winter than the last winter.” More

Sir Keir Starmer declined to rule out raising employers’ national insurance contributions as Tory leader Rishi Sunak attacked the prime minister over Downing Street personnel changesMr Sunak told MPs: “When he talks about security at work, once again, it’s one rule for him and another rule for everyone else.“But I know that not everything or everyone has survived his first 100 days in Government, so can he confirm that when he promised not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, that commitment applies to both employer and employee national insurance contributions?”The prime minister replied: “We made an absolute commitment in relation to not raising tax on working people.” More