What do we know about Reform UK’s frontbench team of four?

Nigel Farage has named the first four members of Reform UK’s frontbench team. Here are their briefs and what we know, so far, about their views.This budget demonstrates yet again that careful stewardship of the economy and meeting serious challenges in a serious way, thereby creating an environment for wealth creators to succeed, is always the right course. Now, the hard work of the British people is paying off.Jenrick, as exchequer secretary to the Treasury, speaks in praise of Philip Hammond’s October 2018 budget

Nigel Farage unveils Reform UK frontbench team and warns over dissent

Nigel Farage has unveiled the first part of Reform UK’s frontbench team, saying it shows that the party is no longer reliant entirely on him – while also warning that he will not tolerate any dissent from his colleagues.Two of the four appointees are recent defectors from the Conservatives: Robert Jenrick, who takes on the Treasury brief, and Suella Braverman, whom Farage has put in charge of education, skills and equalities.Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, who before Jenrick’s arrival had been expected to have the Treasury role, has instead been handed a combined brief of business, trade and energy. Zia Yusuf, the party’s head of policy and the only one of the quartet not in parliament, has been given the home affairs and migration brief.Farage said the emergence of this team, with more posts to be announced soon, should end criticism that he runs a “one-man band”

‘Scandalous and unacceptable’: readers on the new UK entry rules for dual nationals

British dual nationals living abroad have told of their disgust, fury and distress over new UK border rules that mean they could risk being denied boarding on a flight, ferry or train.The new rules, which come into force on 25 February, have caught many by surprise and require British dual nationals to present a British passport or a “certificate of entitlement”, which costs £589, to visit the UK on their non-British passport.The changes will affect up to 1.2 million people who have moved abroad. Some have said the only option they now have is to renounce their British citizenship

‘Betrayed’: 21 Hartlepool councillors threaten to quit Labour over care budget

Keir Starmer is facing a mass resignation of Labour councillors in one of England’s poorest areas over a “betrayal” of funding for children in care.Labour councillors in Hartlepool, County Durham, said they were “between despair and open revolt” over an “unfair” cash settlement that would leave them unable to balance the books.Pamela Hargreaves, the Hartlepool council leader, told the Guardian that her group of 21 councillors, who are in overall control of the 36-member council, were considering quitting Labour this week in protest.“We feel betrayed. We feel let down,” she said

Farage expected to name Jenrick as potential future chancellor

Nigel Farage is expected to name Robert Jenrick as his potential future chancellor, as part of a series of appointments of key Reform UK politicians on Tuesday.The appointment of the recently defected former Conservative cabinet minister is likely to raise eyebrows within the party when the role had previously been widely expected to be handed to the former leader Richard Tice.Tice, a net- zero sceptic, will instead get the brief of business, energy and industry. Reports on Tuesday also suggested the party’s former chair Zia Yusuf would become home affairs spokesperson, responsible for immigration policy.Last year, Yusuf unveiled the party’s mass deportation policy, with the aim of deporting up to 650,000 people over a five-year period

Starmer abandons plans to delay local elections in England in latest U-turn

Keir Starmer has been forced to abandon plans to delay local elections with less than three months’ notice in another policy U-turn that has prompted anger among his own MPs and scorn from opposition leaders.The prime minister is under fire after ministers said on Monday they were abandoning plans to delay local elections in 30 places in England – a decision that will cost taxpayers millions of pounds in administrative costs.Steve Reed, the local government secretary, announced the reversal after officials decided they were likely to lose a legal challenge brought by Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK.The announcement has left the government facing a £100,000 legal bill from Reform, has prompted a scramble among councils to organise elections in the next 12 weeks, and has infuriated Labour MPs, many of whom opposed the decision to delay elections in the first place.It also adds to the pressure on the prime minister, who narrowly hung on to his job last week after losing two key officials and the support of Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland