
Starmer suspends Labour MPs after welfare rebellion
One Labour MP told The Telegraph that some Left-wing backbenchers had been summoned to see the Chief Whip on Wednesday afternoon.
The disciplinary meetings appear to be an attempt by the Prime Minister to stamp his authority on the party after he faced a rebellion of 49 MPs over his welfare reforms.
A source told The Times that some MPs would be suspended for 'persistent k---headery' and rebelling against Downing Street.
But one Left-wing MP said: 'It doesn't look good for [Sir Keir] that he's having to do this.'
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Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Home Office social media influencer resigns after it designates Palestine Action a terrorist group
Former Coronation Street actress and social media influencer has ended her collaboration with the Home Office after the Government designated pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action a terrorist organisation. Nicola Thorp, 36, who has been a vocal advocate for women's safety since surviving a horrific stalking ordeal, said she could no longer 'essentially promote and do PR for' the department. She went on to accuse it of being 'complicit in the most abhorrent acts of violence against women and little girls in Gaza '. The actress-turned-activist had previously worked with the Home Office to promote its strategy to combat violence against women and girls. But in a strongly worded Instagram post, she revealed she had turned down a recent request to help publicise the initiative, which is being led by Labour MP Jess Phillips, now serving as a minister in the department. 'This request came shortly after Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, had announced that she would be proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation,' Ms Thorp explained. 'And it really got me thinking about how I feel about this particular Government.' The outspoken TV star, who played Nicola Rubinstein in the long-running ITV soap, added that while she supports domestic policies aimed at protecting women and girls, she could not in good conscience work with a Government she claims is 'an ally to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]' and continues to supply 'arms licences to Israel'. 'While I obviously support domestic efforts and policies put in place to reduce violence against women and girls in the UK, their continued supply of arms licences to Israel along with their position as an ally to the IDF is wildly hypocritical,' she said. Ms Thorp, who made headlines last year as a campaigner for the new 'right to know' anti-stalking policy after her own stalker was jailed, said all her previous work with the Home Office had been done on a voluntary basis. Her stalker, schizophrenic Ravinderjit Dhillon, was sentenced to 30 months in jail at Snaresbrook Crown Court in December 2023 after a disturbing two-year campaign of harassment in which he used 27 different online aliases to send her terrifying threats. Including one chilling message that read: 'I'm your Grim Reaper. I'm never going to leave you.' The traumatised actress has since dedicated much of her platform to women's safety but she has increasingly used it to criticise the Government's stance on Gaza and the policing of pro-Palestinian protests in the UK. Sharing a video of an armed officer confronting a man holding a Palestinian flag, Ms Thorp wrote: 'This is Yvette Cooper's Britain.' She called the scene 'unbelievable' and added: 'Where are all the free speech advocates now?' Ms Thorp has also refused an invitation to speak at the Labour Party conference this September on a panel about violence against women and girls hosted by the NSPCC. In her response, she said: 'I have ceased my work with the current Labour Government and will no longer be promoting any of the work they're doing to tackle violence against women and girls.' In the wake of her comments, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp launched a blistering attack on the former soap star, accusing her of 'virtue signalling' and defending the Government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action. 'Palestine Action is a violent group who want to achieve their political aims through coercion and criminal damage,' Mr Philp said. 'They have sabotaged an RAF aircraft, which our country relies on to defend us, they have smashed up property and they have even attacked a police officer with a sledgehammer. This is all totally unacceptable. 'In this country, we decide issues by debate and elections – not violence and intimidation. Palestine Action's methods should be condemned by anyone who believes in democracy and a peaceful political process. This influencer needs to stop virtue-signalling on Instagram and call out Palestine Action's violent tactics.' The Home Office has declined to comment. In recent years, the Government has increasingly turned to influencers - both paid and unpaid - to promote key policies to younger audiences on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. In 2020, Love Island stars were reportedly paid to promote the NHS Test and Trace scheme.


The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Rental deposit scheme ‘puts millions in the pockets of landlords'
The official deposit scheme for renters is 'putting millions in unscrupulous landlords' pockets', campaigners have said. Almost half (46%) of renters said they did not know they could challenge deposit deductions they deemed to be unfair. Only 4% have used the formal dispute resolution process to try to reclaim the money. Dan Wilson Craw of Generation Rent, the campaign group which conducted the research, said the system was 'failing renters who are put off from challenging unfair deductions by unclear rules, and threats and delaying tactics from landlords'. He added: 'Ultimately, that puts millions more in unscrupulous landlords' pockets. The uncertain timescales and unclear rules of the deposit system, as well as obstructiveness and threats from some landlords, mean that accepting unfair deductions to get some cash back quickly can feel like the better option.' The research, based on a nationally representative survey of 2,000 private renters, found that a quarter of tenants who did not challenge unfair deductions said their landlord either threatened to make a larger claim if they raised a dispute, refused to take part in the adjudication process or had not protected the deposit in the first place. Data from one deposit protection scheme, TDS, showed that 77% of tenants got some of their disputed deposit back and 32% got all of it back. Generation Rent analysis found tenants who disputed deductions won 79% of the disputed money back on average. 'Because challenging deposit deductions is usually worth it, renters put off from doing so are losing hundreds of pounds of their own money,' said Wilson Craw. 'The government's review of deposit protection is an opportunity to build trust in the system so tenants have the confidence to challenge unfair landlord claims.' Landlords must legally put a tenant's deposit in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme. There is a free dispute resolution service for tenants who disagree with their landlord on how much deposit should be returned. Ministers have said they were reviewing the system and 'identifying areas for improvement'. Generation Rent said it wanted to see a 14-day deadline for deposits to be returned at the end of a tenancy and landlords to be legally compelled to take part in a dispute resolution if a tenant pursued it, with disputes resolved within 10 days. It also said landlords and agents who broke the rules, or made repeated excessive deductions, should face 'meaningful penalties'. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.

The National
40 minutes ago
- The National
Flynn: Farage wrecked UK and threatens Aberdeen's future
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the SNP Westminster leader said it was astonishing that Farage, who was central to the Brexit campaign, has faced no accountability for the damage done. 'Finances are in a mess and the politicians are lost as to how you get out of that particular mess,' Flynn said. 'And yet the guy who orchestrated it … doesn't have to face the consequences of the economic damage that Brexit has done to the UK.' READ MORE: UK Government facing legal action over refusal of medical evacuations from Gaza Flynn was clear about the scale of the crisis: 'It has made us smaller and it has made us poorer.' He urged Labour to take a stronger stance against Farage, saying: 'If the Labour Party want to defeat Nigel Farage, they need to accept the premise that Brexit has been a disaster.' Realigning with the EU, Flynn argued, is the best route to economic recovery. 'The best way to grow the economy and to get our public finances in a fit state is to realign our relationship with the European Union.' Flynn also addressed Reform UK's impact on recent elections, pointing to their 26% share in the Hamilton by-election. But he rejected the idea that Reform is eating into SNP support. 'The SNP vote in that election reflected what national polling would suggest,' he said. 'It's the Conservatives and the Labour Party who are feeling it.' READ MORE: When 'critical friends' fall out: Angus Robertson's Israel meeting details revealed Taking aim at Farage's recent attacks on Scotland's renewables, Flynn said: 'The best way to take Nigel Farage on is to deal in the facts with him, to say to him 'if you are going to come after Scotland, you are putting at risk tens of thousands of jobs'. "You're going to leave cities like mine [Aberdeen] looking like Detroit in 30 years' time, rather than an expansive, future-looking city which exports its skills and expertise across the globe.' 'He wants to sabotage our renewable future to serve his own ideology, and whilst doing so, doesn't have to face any of the consequences for decisions he's made in relation to collapsing the UK's economy with Brexit."