Reform MP James McMurdock resigns whip pending ‘business propriety’ investigation
A Reform MP, James McMurdock, has given up the party whip while he is investigated over allegations about his business conduct during the coronavirus pandemic,Lee Anderson, the party’s chief whip, made the announcement on Saturday, saying it related to accusations in the Sunday Times over government loans he is alleged to have taken out during the Covid pandemic,The report claims McMurdock took out £70,000 in loans in 2020, which it said were from the government’s Bounce Back scheme in 2020,It says he borrowed £50,000 for one business, JAM Financial Ltd, which had no employees and negligible assets until the Covid pandemic,For a firm to have been eligible for the loan, it would have needed to report a turnover of at least £200,000.
In 2021 McMurdock is said to have resigned as a director from the company, transferring his shares to Yvonne Allen.Another company McMurdock owned, Gym Live Health and Fitness Limited, is said to have borrowed £20,000.It would have required a turnover of £100,000 under the Bounce Back scheme.It too had no employees according to the latest registered accounts available on Companies House, and had nominal assets until the Covid pandemic.As a result, the companies were due to be struck off the register at Companies House.
Yet on the same day in February 2023, the process of suspending both companies was halted after the regulator had an objection from a third party.McMurdock told the Sunday Times to be “very, very careful”, when approached for comment and said a “technical expert” would be necessary to understand the issue.He repeatedly refused to say why he took out the loans, the newspaper reported.The report was pre-empted by an announcement from Anderson, who posted a statement on X saying: “I have today received a call from James McMurdock who has advised me, as chief whip, that he 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 allegations relate to business propriety during the pandemic and before he became an MP.
”After resigning the Reform UK whip, pending an investigation, McMurdock said, in a statement on X, that he asked for the whip to be suspended as a “precautionary measure” and “for the protection of Reform UK”,Sign up to Headlines UKGet the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morningafter newsletter promotionReferring to a conversation with a journalist, the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock added: “I confirmed to the journalist that all my business dealings had always been conducted fully within the law and in compliance with all regulations, and that appropriately qualified professionals had reviewed all activity confirming the same,”McMurdock, 39, was a political unknown when he won the Essex seat by 98 votes in last year’s general election,He subsequently admitted to having been convicted of assaulting his girlfriend at the age of 18,Reform said he was someone who had “got things wrong, learned from it and has grown and succeeded”.
The news will be a blow to Nigel Farage who had already lost Rupert Lowe, one of the party’s five MPs elected in 2024, after a row.Since then, the party has gained Sarah Pochin in a byelection.
EU leaders race to secure a deal as deadline looms in Trump trade talks
The EU is entering a crunch week with only two days of talks left to secure a trade deal with Washinton to avert Donald Trump’s threatened 50% tariff on its imports into the US.According to the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, on Friday, the negotiations – which continued over the weekend – are focussed on 15 to 18 agreements with important partners, while Trump warned of import tax rates of up to 70% on others.The uncertainty created by Washington has sent shock waves through the global economy. Businesses have paused investment and the dollar posted its worst performance in 50 years in the first half of the year.With the clock ticking down to Trump’s 9 July deadline, the European Commission remains uncertain how he will treat the bloc, threatening €1
Born into crisis, gen Z is saving for retirement like no other generation | Gene Marks
Research published at the end of last year by the Investment Company Institute with help from the University of Chicago found that gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – are “outpacing” earlier generations in contributing to retirement, having more than three times more assets in their 401(k) retirement savings accounts than gen X households had at the same time in 1989, adjusted for inflation.This mirrors a 2023 study from the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies, which found that gen Z is doing a “remarkable job” saving for retirement with many putting away as much as 20% of their income towards the future.It’s no wonder why.The oldest of this generation probably have early memories of the 2009-2010 financial crisis. They have lived through a global pandemic
Skirting the issue: Designer dress goes missing from Bezos-Sánchez wedding
Lauren Sánchez packed 27 designer dresses for her wedding to the billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, in Venice last week, but left with only 26 after one went missing.The couple, who are now honeymooning in Taormina, Sicily, were wed during a star-studded three-day celebration in the lagoon city.They left Venice on Sunday, but mystery over the missing dress has generated chatter in Venice, with Corriere della Sera claiming that it was stolen, possibly by someone who evaded security and gatecrashed a party on the tiny island of San Giorgio, where the couple exchanged rings, on Friday. The newspaper said the number of gatecrashers to the event was such that officers from the local unit of Italy’s anti-terrorism squad, Digos, were called to the island.The newspaper also alleged a vintage Dolce & Gabbana-designed dress, either worn by the bride or wedding guest Ivanka Trump, was torn and caught fire during another party
Fears AI factcheckers on X could increase promotion of conspiracy theories
A decision by Elon Musk’s X social media platform to enlist artificial intelligence chatbots to draft factchecks risks increasing the promotion of “lies and conspiracy theories”, a former UK technology minister has warned.Damian Collins accused Musk’s firm of “leaving it to bots to edit the news” after X announced on Tuesday that it would allow large language models to write community notes to clarify or correct contentious posts, before users approve them for publication. The notes have previously been written by humans.X said using AI to write factchecking notes – which sit beneath some X posts – “advances the state of the art in improving information quality on the internet”.Keith Coleman, the vice-president of product at X, said humans would review AI-generated notes and the note would appear only if people with a variety of viewpoints found it useful
‘All the hard work paid off’: Norrie says tough times make Wimbledon run even better
Cameron Norrie said his spectacular run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, where he will face the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, has been made even more satisfying by his recent struggles with form and injury, which led to him falling down the rankings.Norrie, the last British singles player standing, held his nerve to defeat Nicolás Jarry 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-3 in an epic four-hour 27-minute battle to reach his second quarter-final at the All England Club. The left-hander had held a match point on his serve at 6-5 in the third set tie-break before Jarry turned the match around with his enormous serve, eventually forcing a five-set shootout.“It feels a little bit better and more deserved coming back from the injury and kind of coming back and trying to push back into the top of the game,” said Norrie. “So all the hard work, it’s paid off
Alcaraz marches past Rublev while Khachanov and Fritz ease into Wimbledon last eight
Every point in tennis is worth the same as the next, but some are more valuable than others. At 3-3 in the third set here on Sunday, after two and a half sets of outrageous hitting, Carlos Alcaraz held a break point to finally move ahead in the match for the first time. He then produced the kind of athleticism and shot-making that make him such an incredible champion, going side to side, sliding across the court and ripping an unstoppable forehand past the onrushing Andrey Rublev.Until that point, the Russian had played outstanding tennis, testing the Spaniard with big serving, huge ground strokes and staying calm, which has not always been the case. But Alcaraz, like all great champions, has an uncanny ability to turn it on when he needs to and from that point on, he pulled away for a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory that takes his winning streak to 22 matches and secures a clash with Britain’s Cameron Norrie
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