Reform deputy leader dismisses claims of Farage’s past racism as new witnesses come forward

Reform UK’s deputy leader has described a celebrated film director and a large and growing group of corroborating witnesses as liars over their allegations of Nigel Farage’s teenage antisemitism and racism.With the bigotry row continuing to dog Reform, whose lead in the national polls has slipped in recent weeks, Richard Tice turned on those who claimed to have been abused and those who say they saw it.In an outspoken intervention, Tice described the testimony of about two dozen people who have spoken to the Guardian about Farage’s racism at Dulwich College as “made-up twaddle”.Among those who have made allegations are Peter Ettedgui, a Bafta- and Emmy-winning director, who is Jewish, and who has said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and say “Hitler was right” and “gas them”, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.The Guardian has spoken to eight school contemporaries who have corroborated Ettedgui’s account

No 10 to delay four England mayoral elections amid accusations of ‘cancelling democracy’

Ministers are to postpone elections for new mayors in four parts of England, prompting accusations from opposition parties that Downing Street is “cancelling democracy”.Newly created mayoralties in Greater Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, Hampshire and the Solent, and Sussex and Brighton will be first contested in 2028 under the plans, ministers confirmed on Thursday.The government argued that the areas needed more time to complete their local government reorganisation, but faced criticism from opposition parties and the former Labour local government minister.Jim McMahon, who was removed as a minister in September, said his party needed “to be better than this” and had “a moral and a legal obligation to honour its side of the bargain”.Criticising the postponement in the Commons, he said: “All involved had a reasonable expectation that these elections would go ahead, and the government knows that trust is hard won but is easily squandered

Welsh Labour MSs accuse Starmer government of rolling back devolution

More than a third of Labour members of the Welsh parliament have launched an extraordinary attack on Keir Starmer’s government, accusing it of rolling back devolution.Eleven Labour Senedd members (MSs) wrote to the prime minister and Labour leader claiming his administration had been either “deeply insensitive” to Wales or guilty of “constitutional outrage”.They expressed “increasing concern” about what they said was the UK government’s failure to devolve further functions to Wales, including justice, policing and the crown estate.The move is being seen as further evidence of a dramatic decline of Labour in Wales.Labour has dominated Welsh politics for a century but lost the Caerphilly byelection in October, coming third

Reform council leader accused of racism after alleged remarks about Sadiq Khan

A Reform UK council leader has been accused of racism after allegedly describing Sadiq Khan as a “narcissistic Pakistani” and saying a black British lawyer should have “F’d off back to Nigeria”.Ian Cooper, the leader of Staffordshire county council, is also said to have attacked the justice secretary, David Lammy, in a social media post that said: “No foreign national or first generation migrant should be allowed to sit in parliament.”In another post, Cooper allegedly claimed migrants were “intent on colonising the UK, destroying all that has gone before”.Nigel Farage’s party said it was undertaking an “urgent internal investigation over Councillor Cooper’s non-disclosure of social media accounts”.Two other Reform UK politicians were suspended last month over offensive messages

Keir Starmer expected to award 25 new Labour peerages

Keir Starmer is putting the finishing touches to a list of dozens of new peerages aimed at strengthening Labour’s hand in the Lords, with Rachel Reeves’s outgoing chief of staff expected to be among them.The prime minister is planning to publish his list before Christmas, with a number of other former senior advisers, Labour party staff and former union leaders expected to be on it, the Guardian has been told by multiple sources briefed on the plans.About 25 new peers are expected to be created, joining the 30 new members of the House of Lords who were on Starmer’s list last December, including the short-lived former Downing Street chief of staff Sue Gray.The Conservatives are also expected to appoint a handful of new peers. Reform UK is not expected to have any, despite a request from Nigel Farage

Reform UK aiming for reverse takeover of Tories, Farage says

Nigel Farage has said Reform UK is aiming for a “reverse takeover” of the Conservatives, after some donors claimed he would be open to a formal pact if Kemi Badenoch was not the Tory leader.Farage denied a report that he had told donors an electoral deal was “inevitable” but he acknowledged he would like to in effect absorb the party by winning over defectors and replacing it.“No deals, just a reverse takeover,” Farage said. “A deal with them as they are would cost us votes.”His comments allowed Labour to claim Reform and the Tories were ideologically the same, with Keir Starmer hitting out at their “unholy alliance”