UK failure to seal EU tax exemption hands industry mountain of paperwork

UK manufacturers are to be hit with mountains of Brexit-style paperwork in January on £7bn worth of exports to the EU after the government failed to secure an expected exemption from new green taxes.The UK had hoped to secure a carve-out by Christmas on the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), but EU commissioners have confirmed this is not going to happen.UK Steel says the exemption is unlikely to be in place before Easter, resulting in detailed paperwork for exporters in a repeat of Brexit when they were hit with paperwork on customs and standards of their goods.The documentation requires exporters to provide a detailed paper trail of carbon emissions generated during the manufacturing process.It will apply to scores of products made with steel and aluminium, including washing machines and car parts, under plans Brussels announced on Wednesday

Reform councillors in Kent condemned for spending thousands on political assistants

Reform UK’s “flagship” local authority, Kent county council, has been condemned for pushing through plans to spend tens of thousands of pounds on hiring political assistants.The move comes after councillors from Nigel Farage’s party in Warwickshire were accused of hypocrisy in July when they voted to spend £150,000 on the advisers, some of whom are being parachuted in by the national party to deal with a litany of issues at Reform-run councils.Both councils face budget crises and Reform candidates were voted in on pledges to cut waste and save money.A new leaked recording of a meeting of the Reform councillors in Kent – wearing turquoise Santa’s elf hats – showed them being told earlier this week by one of their leaders, Maxwell Harrison, that a former Reform director of campaigning and training at the party’s head office had been hired by the council as a “political assistant”.Harrison named him as Michael Hadwen, who has attracted controversy for social media posts including expressing support for Enoch Powell’s ideas about immigration

UK aid cuts take 40% from funds to counter Russian threat in western Balkans

Keir Starmer’s raid on overseas aid has led to a 40% cut in funds for countering Russian aggression and misinformation in a region of Europe described by the prime minister as vital to the UK’s national security.British funding committed to bolstering the western Balkans, where Russia has been accused of sowing division and creating destabilisation, has been cut from £40m last year to £24m for 2025-26.The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) is designed to tackle the highest priority threats to the UK’s national security at home and overseas.Starmer recently described the western Balkans region, encompassing Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, as “Europe’s crucible – the place where the security of our continent is put to the test”.Last year’s ISF funds were used in part to counter and respond to malicious cyber-attacks in the region and to bolster democratic institutions and independent media

‘It’s rather rude’: Truss accused of trying to poach members of rival Tory club

For Tory grandees licking their wounds and plotting their return after their disastrous 2024 general election performance, the opulent, fire-lit rooms of the exclusive club 5 Hertford Street are a sanctuary.But in recent weeks, their long lunches have been rudely interrupted by Liz Truss, who has been accused of wandering the premises in search of members to poach for her own rival operation, just one street away, which asks “founding members” for an eye-watering £500,000.The former prime minister’s alleged headhunting is understood to have irritated those who run the Mayfair club, including its owner, Robin Birley, the entrepreneur and son of Annabel Goldsmith and the nightclub owner Mark Birley. A friend of his said: “It is rather rude, but at £500k, we are rather better value.” Membership of 5 Hertford Street is a relative snip at less than £2,000 a year

UK politics: ‘Not clear’ who was behind FCDO hack, says minister, amid reports of China link – as it happened

Good morning.The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, according to trade minister Chris Bryant.Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack.The Sun named Storm 1849 as the Chinese cyber gang responsible for the breach, which it said was understood to possibly include tens of thousands of visa details.The group has been “accused of targeting politicians and groups critical of the Chinese government”, the newspaper said

UK Foreign Office victim of cyber-attack in October, says Chris Bryant

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, a minister has said.Chris Bryant, a trade minister in Keir Starmer’s government, told Sky News there was a low risk to “any individual” from the cyber-attack.Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacking group was behind it.But Bryant told broadcasters it was “not clear” who perpetrated the attack and cautioned against speculation. “There certainly has been a hack at the FCDO and we’ve been aware of that since October,” Bryant told Sky News