Darren Grimes wins Durham council seat for Reform
Grimes won the Annfield Plain ward in County Durham this afternoon as Farage's party continues to pick up council seats across the country. Reform's campaign claimed that 'Durham was broken' and sought to take advantage of growing disillusionment with Sir Keir Starmer's Labour lot. Speaking ahead of the election, Grimes told the BBC that:
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Daily Mirror
2 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
BRIAN READE: 'Britain's a financial mess - we must pay more tax to fix Tory mistakes'
When Labour took office last year, ministers proclaimed that 'the grown-ups are back in charge'. Why not prove it by having an adult conversation with us, says Brian Reade If voters were asked for the one trait they would dearly love to see more of in politicians, the vast majority would cite honesty. Imagine if Keir Starmer had said this week: 'I now back a Palestinian state - not because of the slaughter in Gaza, but because my MPs are so appalled by it I might lose hundreds of them if I don't distance myself from the IDF butchers. And from now on I'll come clean after every U-turn.' You'd think more of him, wouldn't you? Imagine if Kemi Badenoch said: 'The main reason the population of England and Wales has shot up by 2.6 million since 2020 is not the small boats but right-wingers like me selling you the myth that Brexit would let us take back control of our borders. Well, we were lying.' Again, you'd think more of her. Now imagine if Rachel Reeves levelled with us by saying: 'Us politicians have been selling you a false illusion that we can have world-class public services and low taxation. We can't. It's why Britain is broken. And so, being Labour, we're going for world-class public services, and that means reneging on our manifesto pledge and raising direct taxes.' Now you might not like the idea of paying more tax but you would probably agree with her appraisal of the financial mess we are in, and how the most urgent issue we face is the abject state of virtually every public service we once treasured. When Labour took office last year, ministers proclaimed that 'the grown-ups are back in charge'. Why not prove it by having an adult conversation with us and spelling out the facts of life? That we're living way beyond our means and cannot dig our way out of a financial black hole by cutting public services because the Tories slashed them to the bone, and made the coffers emptier with two cynical pre-election National Insurance cuts to try to save their skin. And with an ageing population and increased defence spending, things will only get bleaker. So we all need to pay more tax, with those who earn the most paying the most. Like we used to. When I started work in 1976 the basic rate of tax was 35%. Then along came tax-slashing Margaret Thatcher, but even when she left office in 1990 the basic rate stood at 25%. As successive governments have cut that since, today's basic rate is 20%. In Holland it's 36.93%, Belgium is 25% and Italy 23%. If we lifted the basic rate back to what it was under Thatcher we'd raise £34.5 billion a year. But that won't happen. Yet lifting it only one per cent would raise £8.2 billion a year by the end of this parliament. Lifting the higher rate, reinstating the 50% rate George Osborne dropped, and bringing in a wealth tax for those with assets above £10 million would raise many more billions. And prove we're all doing our bit. I'm sure the majority of British people want to see first-class public services and are prepared to pay for them. Certainly the ones who elected this government. After an ineffective and almost apologetic year in power, it's time for Labour to go on the offensive by not just fighting for the kind of country they believe in. But by being honest and telling us we have to pay for it. *** A few thoughts on the Lionesses' remarkable victory against the odds. How refreshing it was to see English football fans enjoying themselves without singing about shooting down German bombers, and those back home in pubs not hurling pints into the air whenever a goal was scored. What a wonderful two fingers to the money-obsessed men who run football that the women's Euros in Switzerland (where the prize was £34million) was deemed far more exciting and watchable than the mainly ignored men's Club World Cup in America (total prize money £743million). And how ludicrous is our honours system that some MPs are demanding every England player is made a dame. Yet had they lost the final there may have been the odd call to give them CBEs. Meaning, in the eyes of those who believe in it, the highest honour the British state can bestow on a woman depended on a couple of Spaniards taking better penalties. How absurd. *** PORN star Bonny Blue, who is proud to have slept with 1,057 men in 12 hours, describes her job as being 'a bit like a community worker'. And I'm sure many Tories agree with that as they think everyone who does social work lays on their back all day screwing the taxpayer. Much criticism has come the multi-millionaire's way after a Channel 4 documentary on her this week, but I think she is simply someone who has compromised with her childhood dream of being a midwife. By working in more-or-less the same area. *** Rather than walk away with a shred of dignity, shamed ex-MasterChef host Gregg Wallace continues to keep on digging a hole so furiously he may soon reach Australia. Rather than walk away with a shred of dignity, shamed ex-MasterChef host Gregg Wallace continues to keep on digging a hole so furiously he may soon reach Australia. According to him, despite 45 separate complaints about his inappropriate behaviour being upheld by the BBC, he is a serial victim, not perpetrator, of sleaziness: 'My God... have you got any idea how many times suggestive comments have been made to me? How many times I've been groped?' is his latest defence. Well I'll have a stab in the dark, mate. And say somewhere in the ballpark of none. *** THE WEEK'S FIVE BIG QUESTIONS: Tommy Robinson fleeing the country as police want to question him over a vicious assault at a London railway station. What a brave leader, eh? What a hero. When did we decide that unless you had money to queue-jump it was impossible to get a tooth taken out or sit a driving test in the UK? Article continues below If England's female footballers continue to show themselves to be in a superior class to the males, how long before we see women explaining the offside rule to their partners? Is there anything more hypocritical than high-profile expats who've moved abroad to pay less tax whining about migrants coming to the UK to make a better life?
Glasgow Times
31 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
MSP hits out at plans for new solar wind farm in Eaglesham
An application for the project at Bonnyton Golf Club has been lodged with East Renfrewshire Council. Contractors Advance Grid Solutions has proposed the installation of 41,000 Solar Photovoltaics, aiming for an anticipated export capacity of up to 28 megawatts (MW). Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, has voiced strong opposition to the planned development, arguing that it would significantly erode greenbelt land in Eaglesham. The bid follows East Renfrewshire Council's decision in April to grant planning permission for a 40MW battery energy storage facility located just over two miles from the golf club on the east side of Glasgow Road. Carlaw said: 'There is a serious risk that large swathes of greenbelt land in Eaglesham could now be lost to development. 'The solar farm proposal suggests that the unacceptable decision of Labour and Independent councillors to grant planning permission for the battery plant may lead to a stream of applications for energy infrastructure projects on our local greenfield sites. 'There is no evidence in the planning support statement that the applicant has fulfilled a key requirement of Scotland's National Planning Framework 4 to identify and explore if the development can be on land that is not part of the greenbelt.' Carlaw said that while planning powers are devolved to Scotland, the position of the previous UK Conservative Government was that brownfield areas should be prioritised for solar development. He added: 'It is vital that the case continues to be made for protecting Eaglesham's green belt and I urge local residents to object to the solar farm planning application.' A statement accompanying the planning application for the solar wind farm states: 'The 28 MW array will supply ~29 GWh/yr of zero-carbon electricity, advancing national and Local Development Plan 2 goals. 'LVIA (Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment) confirms no significant landscape or visual effects from the well-screened site; LEMP (Landscape and Ecological Management Plan) secures native planting and a measurable biodiversity net-gain with no impact on designated habitats. 'Cultural-heritage, glint-and-glare and aviation assessments record no significant residual effects.' An East Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: 'The application will be considered in due course.' Advance Grid Solutions has been approached for comment. Comments supporting or objecting to the proposal can be made by typing in the reference number – 2025/0405/TP – on the planning applications search page of East Renfrewshire Council's website.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
'I hated how Sandie Peggie's daughter was used against her'
Jackie Baillie has sized up the situation too and moves across to exchange greetings with him. This jocund character is a constituent and he recognises her immediately, delighted that his MSP, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, is giving him the time of day. I've been trying all morning to bring out the 'designated b****** in Ms Baillie, this being the locution Anas Sarwar once coined for her. He'd said it with a twinkle in his eye, but several Labour politicians and party retainers might have experienced a chill. Almost everyone involved in Scottish politics has, at some point, asked the question I'm about to raise with her: why did you never want to be leader of Labour in Scotland? It would have been there for the taking if she'd really wanted it. The party had turned to her twice to steady the ship when the leader's chair was temporarily vacant. She's possessed of a formidable political intellect which puts her in the Champions League bracket of UK politicians, so she could have done the job no danger. 'People should know their own limitations,' she says. 'I've never really been comfortable about some of the public-facing stuff. I'm not delusional about what I can and can't do.' I'm not buying that, though. 'Come on, Jackie: look at some of the clowns who currently hold down cabinet positions in Scotland.' She'll say only that there are a lot of people on the SNP's backbenches who 'have struggled to make a contribution'. 'You mean they're as thick as sauce,' is how I'm putting it. 'I'm not saying that,' she laughs in mock outrage. She pledges her support for Anas Sarwar as leader and, to be fair, they work well together when I've seen them out and about. 'Anas is probably one of the best leaders we've had. He is our real opportunity to do something this time round. He does a lot of front-facing stuff because he's good with people, both in the party and beyond. 'I love my constituents, I want to spend most of my time here with them. I'm rooted here. I'd much rather be behind the scenes getting things done: it suits me and I'm good at it.' Read more by Kevin McKenna: If you were being unkind though, you might suggest that this is just code for knowing where the bodies are buried, principally because most of them are buried in her back garden. 'I know I have a reputation for being as hard as nails and that Anas called me his 'designated b******', which I thought was very mean.' But she says 'very mean' in the manner of one of the Bennet sisters taking bashfully about that nice Mr Bingley. 'You just need a long memory,' she says. Now we're talking. I'm meeting Ms Baillie the day after the end of Sandie Peggie's employment tribunal versus NHS Fife in what's become Scotland's Dreyfus moment. I can't not ask her about it and she knows it too. Ms Baillie is currently in the process of selecting candidates for next year's Holyrood elections and has noted that more men are coming forward than women. She's putting twinning arrangements in place to ensure equality. This isn't surprising. When women see what happens to other women in public life or in the public eye – Sandie Peggie, Kate Forbes, Joanna Cherry, JK Rowling – it must make them less inclined to volunteer for the same treatment. And so we begin exchanging our most vivid recollections of the tribunal. I tell her that Sandra Peggie being questioned over her claim that she'd been having a heavy period when she'd asked Dr Upton to leave the female nurses' changing-room was just about the most sinister and malevolent statement I'd ever seen uttered in Scottish public life. Sandie Peggie brought the case against NHS Fife. (Image: PA) Jackie Baillie says: 'What I hated the most was how Sandie Peggie's daughter was used against her and forced to say twice that her mum was her best friend. I was utterly horrified by that. 'Let me be clear, though. If I was Health Secretary my position would be to improve waiting times at gender identity clinics. I've seen people who are experiencing gender dysphoria and all the physical and emotional torment that comes with that. Do I have a responsibility to do reduce waiting times in these cases? Absolutely. 'The Gender Recognition Certification process requires reform, but I wouldn't go as far as self-ID, because you then remove the kind of protections that I think are still needed.' From the evidence she's heard in Ms Peggie's employment tribunal, does she think there's enough alleged malfeasance to merit a public inquiry into the customs and practices of NHS Fife? 'I'm loathe to call for public inquiries,' she says, 'partly because they take so long; they're expensive and I've never been convinced that their recommendations are always followed. Do I think though, that there needs to be some kind of independent investigation into what's happened [at NHS Fife]: absolutely. 'I can't help but think of the 800,000 people on waiting lists across Scotland, many of whom are from Fife: the delayed discharges; the cancer waiting lists. All of them exert real pressures on the NHS and yet so much time of NHS Fife's senior management team has been devoted to this case. 'I note that Dr Upton doesn't have a gender recognition certificate and so why can't we – and I get the desire to be inclusive – be inclusive of all staff while respecting individual rights?' Read more Kevin McKenna: I ask Ms Baillie if it's as simple as building a third toilet and changing facility. 'The corporate body of the Scottish Parliament got it right,' she says, 'when they designated some spaces across the estate as women-only; some as men-only and some as unisex. This made sense. 'Sandra Peggie is a nurse and we should value our nurses. NHS Fife's primary responsibility is healthcare and dealing with patients, so why are they pitting staff groups against each other? I also question the sense of NHS Fife being joint defenders in this action and I question the amount of money that's been spent on this and every day. NHS Fife are not covering themselves in glory.' Does she have a view about the SNP repeatedly expressing confidence in NHS Fife throughout the tribunal? 'I know, having been around for so long, that there is no way on earth that Scottish ministers – and particularly the Health Minister – knew nothing about what was going to happen. I don't understand why we are still here. Some people believe it should play out, but to be frank, if I was the Scottish Government I would have ended this. 'The issue now is that Sandie Peggie won't be the only person. There will be other health boards and other public bodies. The government needs to move fast on this. It can't wait until after the election. 'Practically, we need to see where there has been institutional capture and fix that. That's what the Scottish Government should do without waiting. I'm now in a place that says we should be inclusive of everybody in society but that there's a way of doing it that safeguards the rights of others.' Yet, wasn't [[Scottish Labour]] party complicit in bringing us to this employment tribunal in Dundee by voting with the Government on the GRA? 'You all saw what was happening. Were you just listening to the wrong people or was it a case of not wanting to upset some activists,' I ask. 'None of the above,' she says forcefully. 'I was brought in late after Stage 2 of the GRA had passed to try and negotiate with the Scottish Government. We were particularly keen to place amendments in the bill that would protect single-sex spaces. 'I spent a lot of time trying to negotiate with [then Health Secretary] Shona Robison. 'What would happen though, is that having agreed something with me, she would then go to the Scottish Greens and Maggie Chapman and it would unravel.' 'Yet, you all – with a few noble exceptions – still voted for it,' I tell her. 'I had assurances on the record that they would discuss all of the detail with the UK Government (for Equality Act purposes),' says Ms Baillie. 'Nor did we impose a whip from the centre. We had group meetings where every single member was invited to speak and the group as a whole decided to take particular concessions. Some of them I didn't share, but I respected the process we went through which was the most inclusive route there had been about any piece of legislation. Well, perhaps. In mitigation, there was support for Michelle Thompson's amendment aimed at pausing applications for GRCs from men 'charged with a sexual offence but not yet convicted and placed on the sexual offenders' register'. The MSP, who is a survivor of sexual assault, had warned that allowing these risked traumatising and harming their female victims. Ms Baillie had also tabled her own amendment. 'If you look at what we tried to do with the amendment, we were trying to get to a position where there were more safeguards in the Bill. We were very clear about protecting single-sex spaces. 'I think then that reality hit them with the Isla Bryson case and the extent to which it could be manipulative was just laid bare.' 'Our fault was to believe the reassurances we'd been given that there were negotiations going on with the UK Parliament. I'm not really buying this either. In the world of Scottish politics, you'd trust rattlesnakes more than any assurances given by the [[SNP]] in the Nicola Sturgeon era. PART TWO ON MONDAY: The relationship between Holyrood Labour and Westminster Labour; seeking candidates with life experience and how the SNP have betrayed their own supporters.
