News

Jeremy Corbyn said he is “getting 500 people a minute” wanting to join his new political party.The former Labour leader launched a new outfit with Zarah Sultana that does not yet have a name, on Thursday (24 July), calling for a “mass redistribution of wealth and power”.Asked what the new name of his party would be, Mr Corbyn said: “We’re going to decide when we’ve had all the responses, and so far the response rate has been massive.“They’ve been coming in at 500 a minute wanting to support and join the new party.”He also said that he and Coventry South MP Ms Sultana are “working very well together”. More

Stephen Flynn joked he will be washing his hair when Donald Trump visits the UK.The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Westminster leader, who is bald, told Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that he will find “any excuse possible” to avoid meeting the US president on his trip to Scotland.While insisting it was “absolutely right” that First Minister John Swinney meets Mr Trump, Mr Flynn quipped that he’d be “looking after his own toddlers” while the Republican is in the country. More

Stephen Flynn joked he will be washing his hair when Donald Trump is in the UK for his state visit in September.The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Westminster leader, who is bald, told Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that he will find “any excuse possible” to avoid meeting the US president on his visit to Scotland.While insisting it was “absolutely right” that First Minister John Swinney meets Mr Trump, Mr Flynn quipped that he’d be “looking after his own toddlers” while the Republican is in the country. More

Richard Tice claimed he has seen “people carry bag loads of postal votes to a polling station on election day” during a House of Commons urgent question on Labour’s strategy for elections on Thursday (17 July).Describing Reform UK’s opposition against giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote at the next general election, the party’s deputy leader said they have “grave concerns about the risks to security and the risks of impersonation of postal voting.”Responding, democracy minister Rushanara Ali reassured Mr Tice: “Personating another voter is a deliberate act of fraud. It completely undermines our democracy and is a serious criminal offence that will continue to be prosecuted. If he has examples, he should report them to the police.” More

Sir Keir Starmer rejected comparisons to Sir Tony Blair when grilled over the suspension of Labour MPs due to their opposition of welfare cuts.Sky News’ Beth Rigby recalled how 47 MPs voted against the former Labour prime minister’s welfare plans in 1997, but none had the whip removed.It comes after the party suspended Brian Leishman, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchcliff, and Rachael Maskell on Wednesday after they led a backbench rebellion over planned welfare cuts.When asked why he was “so rattled” by the rebellion, the PM replied: “I’m determined that we will change this country for the better for millions of working people, and I’m not going to be deflected from that.”Everyone was elected as a Labour MP on the manifesto of change, and everybody needs to deliver as a Labour government.” More

Suspended Labour MP Brian Leishman was defiant in his promise that he could not guarantee he would rebel againThe MP for Alloa and Grangemouth was suspended alongside Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchcliff and Rachael Maskell on Wednesday (16 July).They led a backbench rebellion over planned welfare cuts.Mr Leishman’s office confirmed he had had the whip “temporarily suspended”.On whether he would rebel again, Mr Leishman told LBC on Wednesday evening: “I can’t give [Sir Keir Starmer] that promise… we don’t know what’s going on down the line.” More

Former MI6 boss Sir Alex Younger is backing calls for digital ID cards to help deter small boat crossings.It was reported last month that Downing Street is exploring a proposal to introduce digital ID cards for every adult in Britain to check an individual’s right to live and work in Britain.“It’s absolutely obvious to me that people should have a digital identity,” he told BBC Newsnight on Thursday (10 July).“Let’s stop shouting at the French; a lot of this is on us,” he added.It comes as Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron agreed a “groundbreaking” one-in, one-out migration deal at the end of a historic three-day state visit by the French president. More

Brexit made it harder to tackle illegal migration across the Channel, Emmanuel Macron said as he and Sir Keir Starmer unveiled a “one in, one out” migrant returns scheme on Thursday (10 July).The French president told a joint press conference with the British prime minister: “It’s in fact since Brexit [that] the UK has no migratory agreement with the EU.”It creates an incentive to make the crossing, the precise opposite of what Brexit had promised.”The pair have agreed on a plan to send back small boats migrants, with an asylum seeker being sent to the UK in exchange. More