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The Guardian
24-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Daniel Hannan celebrates his chronicle of Brexit idiocy foretold
Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be Dan was very heaven! O wondrous day. One of which dreams are made. Especially if you've been taking large quantities of hallucinogenics. The day forever named Daniel Hannan Day. We will never see his like again. With any luck. The Man with a brain the size of a Higgs Boson particle. You know it must be there somewhere but only the Large Hadron Collider can conjure it into existence for a nanosecond. Yet in that fleeting moment, Dan can achieve great things. Can share the marvels he has seen. For Dan's unique ability is to be wrong about almost everything, all the time. Failing is his niche talent and his fans applaud his every disaster. Triumph and recognition are his alone. For Dan has long since been rewarded for being the dimmest man alive with a peerage. Living proof that even halfwits and liabilities need not be excluded from the upper chamber. And where Dan leads, Toby Young and others follow. To recap. Back in 2016, Dan was a Tory MEP. A confirmed Eurosceptic and bewilderingly considered by many to be the intellectual backbone of the Vote Leave campaign. Gravitas borne out of unbearable levitas. And two days before the referendum, Dan decided to share his genius for prophesy in an article he wrote for the website. This was the chronicle of Dan's idiocy foretold. 'It's 24 June, 2025, and Britain is marking its annual Independence Day celebration,' wrote Dan. 'As the fireworks stream through the summer sky, still not quite dark, we wonder why it took us so long to leave. The years that followed the 2016 referendum didn't just reinvigorate our economy, our democracy and our liberty. They improved relations with our neighbours.' Today we have reached that day. It is indeed 24 June 2025. And weirdly, Dan does not seem at all keen to be reminded of his morphine dreams from nine years ago. Surely this should be a day of celebration for him? Where is the column in the Daily Telegraph in which he once more shares his genius? Where is the pullout guide in the Daily Mail to all the street and firework parties taking place around the country? All hail the majesty of Dan Hannan Day. But it's really not fair that Dan should be so cruelly overlooked by his erstwhile backers on today of all days. Why all the long faces? Why do heads turn away when Dan's name is mentioned? Are we no longer allowed to enjoy the triumph of Brexit and the people who delivered such treasures to Britain? Whatever happened to punching the air at a self-inflicted 4% hit to GDP? It's almost as if the leavers are ashamed of what they have done. Back to the gospel according to St Dan. How else did he imagine the Britain of today? Agriculture and fishing booming. Cows with smiling faces, safe in the knowledge they would never hear moos with a French accent. Millions of cod swimming back into British coastal waters, desperate to be turned into fish fingers by Captain Birds Eye. It got better. Not only was the UK the foremost knowledge-based economy in the world, but Hoxton had superseded Silicon Valley as the global centre for tech. Not forgetting more traditional industries. Steel and ceramics would rise from their sick beds and become competitive again. Meanwhile the EU was withering and dying, choking on its own bureaucracy as Jean-Claude Juncker was voted back in for his second term as president of the European Federation. Imagine writing such trash. It's bad enough having to go back and read it again. The delusions became ever more tragic and grandiose. Hard not to worry about Dan's sanity. The trading arrangements with the EU were easily agreed, Dan fantasised. Not least because the EU was so intimidated by our show of strength. Tariff-free borders remained and EU nationals were given leave to remain. On and on it went. Birmingham and Leeds would become financial capitals of the world as Frankfurt, Milan and Paris stagnated. The UK would become the centre of world shipping. Shale oil and gas would come on tap and energy prices would hit record lows. Universities would flourish as the UK headed a new 22-state bloc to rival the EU. Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands would have already followed our example and left the EU. You can only wonder what Dan's predictions for 24 June 2034 might look like. Dear Diary, for nine years the Middle East has been at peace with Israel and Iran now inseparable allies. Crimea has become Europe's most fashionable summer resort after President Putin voluntarily handed it back to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the UK has become the largest economy in the world and has threatened to pull out of Nato unless the US increases its defence spending to 8%. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion If only all worlds were like Dan's. The reality is that, having just been blindsided by Donald Trump's decision to bomb Iran and the fragile ceasefire already broken, Keir Starmer found himself off to deal with yet another war at the Nato conference. This involved further Donald wrangling. Trying to persuade the US not to give away large chunks of Ukraine to Russia. Good luck with that. All of which left the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, to give a statement on the government's national security strategy to the Commons. And who better than Pat. The cadaver in human form. The man with the slightly sinister air of someone happy to sign death warrants over breakfast. The world was a very dangerous place, he began. All the more dangerous for having him in it. It was the government's policy to reach defence spending of 5% by 2035, with 1.5% coming from already existing internet and energy projects that had originally been assigned to other departments and would now be commandeered by defence. Not that he put it in those terms. But that appeared to be the gist of it. Everything else was on a need-to-know basis. All Pat could supply were some broad ideas. He would make us safe at home. And abroad. That was it. If he said anymore then our enemies would know what we were doing and the whole purpose of the strategy would be compromised. Thank you and good night. Sweet dreams are made of this on Daniel Hannan Day.
Daily Mirror
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Farage's 10 most public spats as he faces 'serious lack of leadership' jibe
There are fresh questions over Nigel Farage's leadership skills following the Zia Yusuf saga, with the Reform leader having got in a number of public spats over the years The latest Reform UK drama shows it's "Nigel's way or the highway" amid growing questions about Nigel Farage's leadership ability, Labour says. Last week the party was rocked when chairman Zia Yusuf stood down hours after accusing Reform's newest MP of asking a "dumb" question at PMQs. But in a round of 'humiliating hokey-cokey' he later announced his return, despite saying getting Mr Farage into No10 was no longer a "good use of my time". The debacle was seized on by Mr Farage's ally-turned-nemesis Rupert Lowe, who said it showed the Reform leader "must never be Prime Minister". The former Reform MP, who now sits as an independent, has previously accused his old boss of running Reform like a "cult". Labour has said Mr Yusuf's brief exit highlights Mr Farage's "inability to maintain good relations with any of his colleagues". Here we look at some of the best-known cases that raise questions about his leadership skills as he tries to convince the country he can run the country. Zia Yusuf: the Reform chairman initially resigned after suggesting Reform's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, had asked a 'dumb' question at Prime Minister's Questions. Mr Farage's response suggested Mr Yusuf didn't have the mettle for the 'highly pressured and difficult' political world. Humiliated Yusuf now says he 'made an error. It was a function of exhaustion' Rupert Lowe: Reform's fifth MP was expelled and reported to the police by the party. The explosive row that followed saw Mr Lowe accuse Mr Farage of running a 'cult', said he was 'messianic' and 'must never be PM', and said the Reform leadership had 'zero integrity'. Mr Farage, in return, suggested he'd 'rather eat razor blades' than allow Mr Lowe back to Reform Elon Musk: Mr Farage fell out with Elon Musk after criticising his support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. In response, Musk suggested he 'doesn't have what it takes' to lead Reform Gawain Towler: Mr Towler was sacked by Mr Farage after two decades with various Eurosceptic outfits. He suggested Reform infighting was 'sub-optimal' Ben Habib: Mr Farage called Mr Habib 'bitter' and 'twisted' after he was passed over for Deputy Leader. Mr Farage suggested Mr Habib leaving the party was 'a huge relief'. In return, Mr Habib called the Reform leader a 'coward', accused him of 'childish behaviour' said Reform was a 'cult' and 'unfit to govern' Douglas Carswell: Mr Farage accused former UKIP MP Douglas Carswell of blocking efforts to give him a peerage and called him a 'Tory party posh boy' who should be expelled from UKIP. Mr Carswell resigned UKIP and blamed Mr Farage for the party's decline saying that 'Far from having a strategy, we seemed to be driven by whatever came out of Nigel's mouth" Dominic Cummings and Vote Leave: Mr Farage said Vote Leave top brass were ' cretins' just a month before the referendum. Suzanne Evans: Former UKIP Deputy Chairman Suzanne Evans said Mr Farage was 'very divisive' and suggested 'somebody else' should front the Brexit campaign. She was dropped as a party spokesperson Patrick O'Flynn: Mr O'Flynn called Farage 'snarling, thin-skinned, and aggressive' and stood down as UKIP's economics spokesperson Alan Sked: The founder of UKIP called Mr Farage a 'silly bugger' for focusing on immigration Ellie Reeves, Labour Party Chair, said: 'Zia Yusuf's humiliating hokey-cokey in recent days might be laughable but it just goes to show that the party revolves around just one person who clearly has a problem with working relationships. For Farage to fall out with one colleague might be an accident but to feud with everyone you've ever worked with suggests a serious lack of leadership. Nigel Farage is only happy when he's in total control. 'It's Nigel's way or the highway. How on earth would he run a country if he can't manage a handful of politicians without sparking chaos every few weeks? Reform are just not serious. They've pledged £80 billion in unfunded spending, would put up every single mortgage in the country and hammer family finances, while forcing them to buy private healthcare. Working people simply can't afford the risk of Reform UK.'
Evening Standard
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Evening Standard
The biggest revelations from Sarah Vine's new memoir, How Not to Be a Political Wife
After the Brexit referendum was called, Johnson hosted a dinner with his then wife Marina. Yet Vine says he spent half the time sitting at the table on loudspeaker to various cabinet ministers and lawyers, trying to decide whether he should join the Vote Leave campaign. 'As we tucked into the roast lamb, Marina and I spent the next 20 minutes attempting to make dinner-party conversation with the other guests in stage whispers, Boris shushing us whenever we got too loud.'
The Sun
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
You can tell PM is scared of Farage…he took jacket off and was in serious mode when he launched latest salvo against him
YOU can always tell when a politician wants us to take them seriously. They take off their jacket and tie, roll up their shirt sleeves and stand in front of an impressively big bit of factory machinery, in the desperate hope that, as they read an autocue in front of cameras, they look more down-to-earth and honest. 6 6 It's a gimmick that rarely convinces voters, but we absolutely KNOW that Sir Keir Starmer was in 'serious mode' when he did just that to launch his latest salvo against Nigel Farage. The Prime Minister, despite having a whopping great majority of 165 MPs and four more years in office before the next general election, appears to be remarkably agitated by the potential threat posed by a man who leads a party with just five MPs. Smell desperation Indeed, barely a speech, or an interview or a PMQs now passes without Keir talking about Nigel. But while the PM pretends to laugh at the Reform leader, often treating him with undisguised contempt, it is obvious to everyone that Starmer is now a VERY worried man. It's not just Reform's first place in the opinion polls that scares Keir, or even the party's victory in the recent local elections and seizing one of Labour's safest seats. It's also the prospect that Farage is seeking advice from proven campaigners including Dominic Cummings. The Vote Leave chief, who led the Brexit vote and the architect of Boris Johnson's 2019 victory, claimed this week that Farage could 'definitely' become Prime Minister at the next election if he follows his advice, saying: 'Reform has been a one-man band, it's been Nigel and an iPhone,' but now it's time to make a proper plan for government. Not surprisingly, Labour are throwing everything they can at Farage but, so far, nothing is sticking. They've tried calling him a far-right bigot, and that didn't work. They dismissed him as a posh public schoolboy and ex-City trader, who doesn't care about ordinary Brits. But that didn't work either. So the latest tactic is to tell us that Reform's numbers don't add up. Starmer dismissed Farage's economic plans — announced to much fanfare on Tuesday — as 'fantasy' policies and 'a mad experiment' that will result in a Liz Truss -style economic meltdown. You can almost smell the desperation coming from Labour as they seek to head off Farage's turquoise army at the pass. 6 Certainly, Farage's pledge to bring back Winter Fuel Payments for all pensioners will be a very popular policy across the political spectrum. And more generous tax breaks for married couples would appeal to many families with young children. But his plan to scrap the two-child benefit cap is a sop too far to the left for many Reform supporters — and probably wouldn't help a single child in poverty. His 'ambition' to raise the personal tax allowance from £12,571 up to £20,000 a year, pulling millions of people on low wages out of tax altogether, is laughably unaffordable at upwards of £50billion a year. All that said, voters know it's a bit rich for Starmer to criticise Reform for uncosted policies when he himself happily backed Jeremy Corbyn's free-spending manifestos in the 2017 and 2019 elections — and indeed his own manifesto costings in 2024 were a fairytale fiction. Not to mention the small matter of Labour's Net Zero target for 2050 coming with an unaffordable price tag of seemingly more than £1trillion. Fraught with problems Meanwhile, on the other side of the political aisle, the Conservatives are getting openly jittery at how Farage, not the Tory's Kemi Badenoch, is increasingly viewed as the official Leader of the Opposition. The local elections proved that Reform is now appealing to both Labour and Tory voters. 6 That presents its own difficulties for Farage because trying to be 'all things to all men' is fraught with problems. Every policy that will appeal to one set of voters may also put off the other side. Yet when the Prime Minister is worried enough about Farage to go on the telly to attack Reform's policies, instead of announcing his own, it shows the upstart party's main man is leading the political agenda, not Keir. The next general election may still be four long years away, but the political rivals' shirt sleeves are well and truly rolled up ready for the fight for No 10. Khan is wrong SADIQ KHAN has called for cannabis possession to be decriminalised, insisting that the current law, which classifies it as a Class B drug, 'cannot be justified'. The Mayor of London claims the law is damaging 'community' relations because black people are more likely than whites to face police stop-and-search for suspected cannabis use. As per usual, Khan is wrong. There's plenty of evidence about the harms caused by regular cannabis use. Decriminalising possession for personal use will simply create even more demand for the organised criminals supplying the drug. We're told that the 'war on drugs' hasn't worked so we may as well give up fighting. Given that people walk freely on the streets smoking weed these days, it has not really been a hard-fought battle. If we are going to decriminalise cannabis because the law isn't being enforced, then why not decriminalise shoplifting or carrying a knife while we are at it? Maybe if we bothered to ENFORCE the law, fewer people would risk breaking it. Luvvies should blame Hamas GARY LINEKER and his celebrity chums Dua Lipa and Benedict Cumberbatch have joined 300 other luvvies to signal their virtue in a letter to the Prime Minister calling on him to 'end the UK's complicity' in Gaza. They demanded that Sir Keir Starmer ban arms sales to Israel and push for humanitarian aid and a ceasefire to save 'the children of Gaza'. 6 6 It is a tragedy that innocent people die in wars but, for some reason, the children killed in Yemen, Syria or Ukraine don't hold as much interest for righteous celebs as those in Gaza. The people complicit in the deaths of innocent children in Gaza are the Hamas terrorist leaders, who have publicly stated that they want Palestinian kids to be martyred and paraded on camera for their cause. That's why their fighters use them as human shields. If Lineker and his grand-standing mates really want to save those kids, they should publicly back Israel's military efforts to defeat Hamas and free ordinary Palestinians from their evil clutches. So don't applaud the likes of Lineker for their moral stance on Gaza. They aren't helping Gazan children, they're just fighting Hamas's propaganda war for them.
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Badenoch will be ousted this year, predicts Cummings
Kemi Badenoch will be ousted as leader of the Conservative Party this year, Dominic Cummings has predicted. Mr Cummings, who served as Boris Johnson's chief adviser in No 10, said Mrs Badenoch was 'going to go probably this year' and claimed that there were already people 'organising to get rid of her'. The Vote Leave maverick also said it was 'definitely' possible for Nigel Farage to win the next general election and become prime minister. His comments, made on a Sky News podcast, came as Mr Farage continues to position Reform UK as the true opposition to Labour while Mrs Badenoch tries to kickstart her leadership and a Tory recovery in the opinion polls. Mr Cummings said: 'Kemi is going to go probably this year. There's already people who are organising to get rid of her, and I think that that will work. 'If it doesn't work this year, it will definitely happen after next May. She's a goner, so there's going to be a big transition there.' He suggested that there could be an electoral pact between the Tories and Reform at the next election, but also said the Conservative Party may be past the point of no return. Asked about the possibility of a pact, he said: 'It all depends how the cards fall. Kemi can't do it, obviously, but she will be gone. 'Tories might not be salvageable' 'But also it is quite possible that the Tories have just, kind of, crossed the event horizon and actually aren't salvageable.' There have been calls for a pact from some senior Tory figures in order to unite the Right, but both Mrs Badenoch and Mr Farage have repeatedly ruled out an alliance. Mrs Badenoch is under pressure to deliver a turnaround in Conservative Party fortunes after the Tories were crushed at the general election last year and then suffered heavy losses at the local elections earlier this month. Opinion polls continue to paint a grim picture for Mrs Badenoch and her party. The most recent YouGov survey from May 19 put Reform in first place on 29 per cent, Labour in second place on 22 per cent, the Liberal Democrats in third place on 17 per cent and the Tories in fourth place on 16 per cent. Reform continues to ride high in the polls after its victory at the local elections. Mr Farage used an event in central London on Tuesday to declare that his party was now Labour's main rival for power. New Reform policies He sought to park his tanks firmly on Sir Keir Starmer's lawn by announcing new welfare policies, including lifting the two-child benefit cap and reversing the cut to winter fuel payments for pensioners. Mr Cummings said he had advised Mr Farage on how to turn Reform from a 'one-man band' into a party capable of winning a general election. He said Mr Farage would need to demonstrate to voters before the next election that he has a 'serious team' behind him. 'Can Farage stand up in 2028 on a platform and say 'look at the 10 people on this stage with me, this is going to be my chancellor, this is going to be my home secretary, man for man, woman for woman, these 10 people are obviously better both than the current farce in the Cabinet and the current farce in the Tory Party, look at me, look at these people',' he said. Mr Cummings said if Mr Farage followed his advice, then he could win power. Asked if the Reform leader could be prime minister, he said: 'It could definitely happen now, yeah, because the old system's just so completely broken.'
