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Reform UK MP James McMurdock resigns whip pending outcome of investigation

Reform UK MP James McMurdock resigns whip pending outcome of investigation

The Guardian9 hours ago
The Reform UK MP James McMurdock has 'removed the party whip from himself pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that are likely to be published by a national newspaper', the party's chief whip, Lee Anderson, has said in a statement.
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Reform UK MP James McMurdock comes out fighting after self-suspension
Reform UK MP James McMurdock comes out fighting after self-suspension

Sky News

time23 minutes ago

  • Sky News

Reform UK MP James McMurdock comes out fighting after self-suspension

On Thursday, Reform UK's Zia Yusuf was gloating that a hard-left party led by Jeremy Corbyn meant the odds of Nigel Farage becoming PM had narrowed further. But now that James McMurdock's self-suspension over "business propriety" allegations means Reform UK is down from five MPs to four - again - it's Reform's rivals who are gloating. "Does Farage think he [McMurdock] is fit to be an MP?" demanded Labour's chair, Ellie Reeves, while the Conservatives claimed: "Reform are perpetually in chaos…" Despite garnering 14.3% of the votes in the general election a year ago, Mr Farage's party won just five seats. Then there were four, after Rupert Lowe was ousted in March. Then, after Sarah Pochin's triumph in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election in May, it was five again. And now it's four again. For now, at least. A defiant Mr McMurdock is fighting back and says he only removed the party whip from himself as a precaution and to protect Reform UK. "All my business dealings [have] always been conducted fully within the law and in compliance with all regulations," he wrote on X on Saturday. The Sunday Times claims he took out £70,000 of loans during the pandemic under a government Bounce Back scheme through two companies he owned. The paper claims one had no employees and neither filed accounts, a violation of the Companies Act, and he failed to declare one of the directorships in the MPs' register of interests. This is not the first controversy for Mr McMurdock, whose 39th birthday was last Saturday, since he became an MP a year ago. It has been a difficult 12 months for him. He was, in fact, never meant to become an MP. He was what's known in political jargon as a "paper candidate", picked at the last moment to fight a seat held by the Tories with a majority of nearly 20,000. But Basildon South and Thurrock East voted 73% for Brexit, one of the highest margins of the 2016 referendum, so perhaps a shock win for Reform UK shouldn't have come as a surprise. After a marathon recount, Mr McMurdock won by just 98 votes, with Labour second and the former Conservative MP Stephen Metcalfe, who'd held the seat since 2010, third. Before long it emerged that aged 19 he was imprisoned for a week for assaulting a former girlfriend. He's admitted it's the "biggest regret of my life". And Mr Farage has revealed: "He wasn't vetted." The Reform UK leader has also claimed his party was "stitched up" by a firm it contracted to vet candidates. Now Mr McMurdock is claiming he's been stitched up - by The Sunday Times. He's also come out fighting against the allegations, insisting "appropriately qualified professionals had reviewed all activity" and confirmed compliance with the law. And he rebutted the paper's charge that he failed to declare a directorship in the MPs' register of interests. He says he completed his entry with the support of the parliamentary authorities. That hasn't stopped Labour demanding an inquiry by the parliamentary committee for standards. After all, we've seen Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs in recent weeks taking every opportunity to attack Reform UK. In Reform UK's defence against vetting lapses, it's claimed that an insurgent party is bound to attract mavericks. But amid the heady talk of a Reform UK government at the next election, Mr Farage has a cunning plan. He's now talking about following Gordon Brown's example and recruiting GOATS, a "government of all the talents". Mr Brown appointed former CBI boss Digby Jones and Lord West, the former First Sea Lord.

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time33 minutes ago

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HAMISH MCRAE: Behind the scenes in the US, there are lots of reasons for concern

It's party time in America. Thursday saw Donald Trump get his 'big, beautiful' budget bill through Congress. The economy is still thumping out more jobs, another 147,000 in June. That helped share prices hit yet another all-time high, with the S&P 500 index now up 7 per cent this year. The chip-maker Nvidia pushed towards $4 trillion in value, making it worth more than all the companies on the London Stock Exchange put together. And then on Friday it was the Independence Day holiday, not something we particularly celebrate in the UK, but I was glad to be watching the fireworks on a beach in Florida – the state that thanks to Trump and his Mar-a-Largo resort, can now make a decent pitch to have become the place where it all happens. It's certainly a long way from that miserable news from Blighty about soaring Government borrowing costs, a tearful Chancellor and the prospect of more swingeing tax rises in her Autumn Budget. And yet, and yet. Behind the scenes, there are lots of reasons for concern. Start with trade. Next Wednesday is the deadline for countries to agree trade deals or be hit by much higher tariffs. The timing is absurdly tight, and Trump has said that countries where there is no agreement will get letters imposing tariffs of 20 to 30 per cent. This matters for Europe, which unlike the UK doesn't yet have even a basic agreement on future levies. The markets in the US seem to think it will all be sorted: another case of the TACO trade, Trump Always Chickens Out. They have been encouraged by the fact that, so far, tariffs that have been imposed have not led to a significant increase in inflation. In theory, that's bound to happen, but in practice importers seem to be shouldering the burden by cutting their margins. You can only do that for a while. Then there's the budget. In the UK, we are profoundly concerned about maintaining our credibility in the markets, and rightly so. In the US, they don't seem to care, and at the moment can get away with it. The budget, with tax cuts for the better-off and some small trimming of outlays, will inevitably increase the fiscal deficit. I'm always suspicious of precise calculations about the impact of tax changes, and the overall effect may turn out to be quite modest. But the truth is that the US government plans to borrow around 6 per cent of gross domestic product for years to come. Some of that money has to come from abroad, with foreigners currently owning about 30 per cent of the national debt. So far, they have been prepared to do so, but the mood could shift. The main sign of such a change in attitude towards investment in US government securities has come in the exchange rate. So far this year, the dollar has fallen at the fastest rate since 1973. It is down more than 10 per cent on its trade-weighted average, and the lowest it has been for three years. You can soften the story a bit by pointing out that it was overvalued then, and it probably still is. As argued here last week, thanks to further dollar weakness, I expect the pound to go to $1.50. To be clear, this is not a panic run on the dollar; more a sensible reassessment of what it ought to be worth. But coming on top of the tariffs, a weaker currency will push up prices, and like the rest of us, Americans are feeling pretty battered by inflation. There's another warning signal: the housing market. It's gone soft. Prices are steady, nationally up just 0.6 per cent on a year ago. But the number of sales is down by 5 per cent, and there are 16 per cent fewer homes on offer. It's such a huge country that it's hard to generalise, but there is a feeling that the market has shifted from boom to stagnation, and in some areas, notably here in Florida, there's a slump. So there are cracks in the feet of the US giant. But let's not kid ourselves. The rest of the world does not seem important from this side of the Atlantic. The money is here. New York dominates global finance, and as far as equities are concerned, it has utterly squashed London. It has been a humiliating week for the UK and rather a triumphant one for the US.

Britain must hold Emmanuel Macron's feet firmly to the fire over France's abject failure to stop the boats
Britain must hold Emmanuel Macron's feet firmly to the fire over France's abject failure to stop the boats

The Sun

time39 minutes ago

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Britain must hold Emmanuel Macron's feet firmly to the fire over France's abject failure to stop the boats

Time net closed on Macron's failures BRITAIN must hold Emmanuel Macron's feet firmly to the fire this week over France's abject failure to stop the boats. The president will be accorded all the royal trappings on his state visit, including a carriage ride through Windsor. But he must also account for the tens of millions of pounds we have lavished on France to curb illegal migrant crossings — only to see the numbers surge. We reveal today that President Macron will unveil a new tactic to sabotage the dinghies before they leave French waters for the UK. Under the plans, French border police will ride jet skis alongside migrant boats and drop nets to entangle the engines. It does rely on a hitherto reluctant gendarmerie getting their feet wet. But, after the puncturing of a dinghy last week, France may at last be waking up to its responsibilities. Without a proper deterrent like the scrapped Rwanda scheme, the unscrupulous people-smugglers will always try to get one step ahead of the law. But anything that can turn the tide after years of French foot-dragging must be welcome, and one thing is for sure: The cops patrolling the beaches of Calais won't get anywhere unless they do more than just dip a toe in the water. Give us shelter THE Government's latest nanny state health crackdown is one of its strangest yet. Transport chiefs are to be given powers to fine people for vaping at bus stops, even if they are the only person there. French cops FINALLY drag migrant boat to shore - with BBC crew conveniently filming The move comes hard on the heels of Health Secretary Wes Streeting's threats to punish supermarkets that fail to cut sales of unhealthy food. He has already been forced to back down on plans to ban smoking in pub gardens. There is no doubt vaping is bad for children, who should be protected. But adults must be left to make their own informed choices. Labour must stop dreaming up sixth-form gimmicks that are doomed to go up in fruit-flavoured smoke. PIP squeak That means tribunal judges are overturning thousands of Government rulings that would reduce the taxpayer-funded benefits bill.

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