UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailTikTok suspended the livestream of a Reform UK rally for around half an hour on Sunday, the social media platform has confirmed.The “temporary suspension” of the stream on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s account was due to a “moderation error”, a spokesperson for the site said.His access to TikTok’s “Live” feature has since been restored.Mr Farage addressed thousands of Reform UK supporters at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre on Sunday afternoon, along with other members of the party.People complained that the livestream cut out as Reform UK politician Ann Widdecombe addressed the crowd.Ann Widdecombe speaking during a Reform UK General Election campaign launch (Lucy North/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Long-serving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged his country to support Ukraine and international cooperation in his final address to his compatriots Sunday, as an inward-looking new government is set to take over the Netherlands in two days.“It is crucial that our country is embedded in the European Union and NATO. Together we are stronger than alone. Especially now,” the 57-year-old Rutte said from his office in The Hague. After leading the country for 14 years, he will take his experience with consensus-building to Brussels, where he will take over as NATO’s new secretary-general later this year.He stressed the need to continue support for Ukraine, “for peace there and security here.” The new government, expected to take office on Tuesday, has pledged to maintain assistance. But far-right populist Geert Wilders, whose party won the largest block of seats in last year’s election, has expressed pro-Russia views and Kremlin backers cheered his victory at the polls. Rutte described the MH17 tragedy in 2014 as “perhaps the most drastic and emotional event” during his tenure. The passenger jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine as it traveled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including 196 Dutch citizens.A Dutch court convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian in 2022 of involvement in the downing of the Boeing 777. Known for cycling to meetings and his dedication to politics, Rutte highlighted his country’s positive attributes. “There is no war here, you can be who you are, we are prosperous,” he said in the 12-minute speech. He acknowledged that there had been low points during his tenure, including a child benefits scandal that wrongly labeled thousands of parents as fraudsters.Wearing a white shirt with several of the top buttons undone, Rutte said that his time in office had added some “gray hairs and wrinkles” to his appearance. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailAs you drive into Clacton there are scores of pro-Farage Reform posters asking people to “save Britain” in what is becoming a struggle for the soul of right-of-centre politics.Only as you travel out to the more genteel areas of the constituency, like Frinton, do they give way to “I stand with Giles” boards. But Giles Watling, the Tory MP defending his Clacton seat, may be the only Conservative candidate in this election with a wide coalition of support across the country willing him to win.In the wake of the Channel 4 News expose of the Reform Clacton team and the racist comments by one of the canvassers Andrew Parker, Watling received a telephone call from Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, in normal circumstances no lover of Tories.Giles Watling is defending his Clacton seat for the Tories More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailCandidates can turn up just about anywhere on the campaign trail, but several families were shocked when Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg walked into their children’s first holy communion. Sir Jacob had permission to appear with his family and a film crew for a mass at St Joseph and St Teresa Church in Somerset earlier this month, but while a sign had been put up, the families of some dozen children said they did not know he would be in attendance.Parents, including Gideon Davey, whose 10-year-old daughter Ottilie received her first holy communion, initially believed the film crew was there on behalf of the church.“This spiritual and deeply personal occasion will forever be stained by a selfish and self-promoting stunt,” he said.The reason for the film crew accompanying the Conservative candidate for North East Somerset and Hanham has been kept under wraps. Earlier this month it emerged Mr Rees-Mogg was in talks with Discovery+ over a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Gideon Davey with his daughter after she received her First Holy Communion during a church service attended by Jacob Rees-Mogg and his film crew More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightRishi Sunak has said he is “proud” of his disastrous election campaign and claims he will win Thursday’s general election. The prime minister has come under fire in recent weeks for a series of calamities that included a rain-soaked announcement of polling day, leaving D-Day commemorations early and a gambling scandal.But in a crunch interview with just days to go before the vote, Mr Sunak told the BBC‘s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg “this campaign is something I am very proud of” as he sought to disparage Labour’s plans.He also said he believes he will win the election. Asked whether he thought he would still be prime minister on Friday, he said: “Yes. I’m fighting very hard and I think people are waking up to the real danger of what a Labour government means.”Rishi Sunak, soaked in rain, pauses as he delivers a speech to announce the election date More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRussian dissidents living in the UK have hit back at “deeply offensive” words of admiration for Vladimir Putin by Nigel Farage and another Reform UK candidate.It comes as a former British defence attache posted in Moscow described Mr Farage and his party, now third in the polls, as “deeply maligned actors … working against the security interest of our country”.When asked about both accusations, a Reform UK spokesperson burst into laughter, before suggesting Julian Malins, a party candidate who last weekend bragged about meeting Putin and that he “seemed very good”, was merely a highly-intelligent “eccentric sort of character”.Mr Malins later sought to clarify his comments, saying Putin was a “popular” president and therefore a “good Russian president”, but said he was not a good man “in the Christian sense”.Three dissidents, as well as newly-knighted Sir Bill Browder, formerly Russia’s largest foreign investor before being exiled by Putin, told The Independent that comments from Mr Farage and Mr Malins were an affront not only to them but to the British passport holder Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in a Siberian solitary confinement cell for speaking out against the invasion of Ukraine. After the death of Alexei Navalny in a Russian penal colony, Mr Kara-Murza’s family now fear he will Putin’s next target. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIt has been seven long years since the White Stripes song “Seven Nation Army” became an anthem for a new generation of Labour voters. In 2017 the chant “Oh Jeremy Corbyn” rang out at music festivals and political rallies as young people got behind the socialist firebrand. But fast forward to 2024 and not only is Mr Corbyn not Labour leader, he is no longer a member of the party he championed for 40 years, and is instead running as an independent. Unfortunately for the man who has served Islington North since 1983, not all of his supporters appear to know that, and that could at least partly explain why the veteran campaigner appears to have a real fight on his hands despite winning a majority of 26,000 in 2019. Then Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn with shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer at a press conference in London in 2019 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailVoters in the blue wall have seen an average of eight Liberal Democrat adverts as the party steps up its bid to oust high-profile names like Jeremy Hunt, according to sources.The Lib Dems are climbing in the opinion polls, with some even suggesting they could be fighting for second place in the event of a Tory meltdown. Forecasts indicate the party could take more than 50 seats on Thursday, after a campaign noted for leader Ed Davey’s stunts.Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has spent £100,000 of his own money to try to save his seat (Aaron Chown/PA) More