Farage backs Tory attack on Muslim iftar event, saying public prayer ‘was a shock’ – UK politics live

Q: [From Peter Walker from the Guardian] Yesterday you backed what Nick Timothy said about the Ramadan event in Trafalgar Square. What was your objection to it? Yesterday your party said it was a segregation matter. This morning the party chair, Kevin Hollinrake, said it was a general point about prayer in public. But in an article this morning Timothy said this was a specific point about Islam. What is the party’s position?Badenoch says they are both right

Kemi Badenoch channels her fantasies as she launches the Tories’ local election campaign | John Crace

Abandon hope all ye who enter here. You’d have thought this would be the very definition of futility. An act of defiant nihilism. A few weeks ago Kemi Badenoch had declared that the Tory candidate for Gorton and Denton, Charlotte Cadden, had been the real winner despite getting under 2% of the vote and losing her deposit. Now Kemi was to launch the Conservatives’ local election campaign in the certain knowledge the end result would be electoral wipeout

Kemi Badenoch backs Nick Timothy after he calls Islamic public prayers ‘act of domination’

Kemi Badenoch has backed her shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, after he claimed that Islamic prayers taking place in public are intimidating and un-British, with Labour saying the Conservatives had embraced the “gutter” politics of prejudice.The row began after Timothy posted images on social media of prayer at a Ramadan event in London’s Trafalgar Square, saying mass prayer in public places was “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”.After heavy criticism, including from Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, who attended the event, Timothy doubled down on his views, writing in the Daily Telegraph that such an expression of a non-Christian faith was a “challenge” and a call for replacement.After a speech to launch the Conservatives’ local election campaign in London on Thursday, Badenoch was asked if she agreed with Timothy, or with arguments from other Tories that the main worry about the event was about prayers being separated for women and men.“They are both correct,” Badenoch said

Ban corporate donations to UK political parties to protect elections, says thinktank

Political donations by companies should be banned to protect UK elections from foreign interference, a thinktank has warned.In the first big overhaul of election funding in 26 years, ministers have pledged to “keep British democracy safe” by closing a loophole that allows individuals not eligible to vote in Britain to donate to political parties through UK-registered companies.The representation of the people bill, being debated in parliament, will oblige corporate donors to show they are controlled by UK electors or citizens.However, in a report published today, the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) claims the new legislation will not solve the problem.Sebastian Gazmuri-Barker, a senior legal analyst at CenTax, said the bill’s proposed tests “contain loopholes that are easily exploitable”

Sadiq Khan urges Labour to campaign on rejoining EU at next election

Labour should go into the next general election promising to rejoin the EU, Sadiq Khan has said.The mayor of London has repeatedly made the case for joining the customs union and single market, but went much further on Wednesday night by suggesting the party should promise full membership at next ballot.“We should, as a Labour party, fight the next general election with a clear manifesto commitment, a vote for Labour means we would rejoin the European Union. I think it’s inevitable,” he told the Italian publication La Repubblica.Khan cited the time that had passed since the referendum and the economic instability caused by Donald Trump since Labour was elected in July 2024 as reasons why it would be desirable

Angela Rayner’s allies say HMRC inquiry set to be resolved before May elections

For months there has been an apparently insurmountable obstacle to Angela Rayner going for the Labour leadership, should Keir Starmer find himself facing a contest.The investigation by HMRC into the former deputy prime minister’s tax affairs has hung heavily over her since she was forced to resign last September over underpayment of stamp duty on her seaside flat.But now Rayner’s allies are increasingly confident that the inquiry will be resolved before the May local elections – a moment of high peril for the prime minister – paving her way for a full return to frontline politics.The Guardian understands that outstanding legal issues over the tax investigation are being ironed out by lawyers and the HMRC process is now approaching its conclusion.Rayner is also on course to make about £100,000 from speaking engagements since she left government and her memoir, meaning she has earned enough to pay off her outstanding tax bill