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Reform’s circles of influence: who’s who at the top of the party

Nigel Farage’s Reform party is being driven by a close-knit group of rightwing, male advisers, with the party chair, Zia Yusuf, at the helm and the treasurer, Nick Candy, raising money. Here are the key players at the top.Zia Yusuf A former entrepreneur who founded a concierge company, the new Reform chair, aged 38, is in charge of day-to-day operations and has overseen a drive to professionalise the party. He has hired his own chief of staff, Matthew MacKinnon, a Welsh former Conservative who in 2012 was given a civil ban from football grounds after pleading guilty to disorder. The ban was lifted two years later after he made an application to end it

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‘Guess who’s back?’: the inside story of Nigel Farage’s quest for power

With a new HQ and digital-savvy staff, Reform UK is trying to tighten its operation – but there are tensions over fringe views and trouble brewing at the grassrootsNigel Farage seems to be everywhere again: striding into rallies to the beat of Eminem, popping up at Maga parties in Washington, hosting a champagne-soaked fundraiser in Mayfair and grinning on the ITV breakfast sofa taunted by a Chinese dragon.Since July, Reform UK has soared in the polls, threatening the Conservatives and Labour and leaving many backers daring to dream that one day Farage could enter government.“This is a 1789 or 1917 moment,” says a new Reform donor who claims to be one of many former Tories now battering down Farage’s door to give money. “The ancien régime is going to be swept away and the UK is going to have a political revolution.”Farage may be the ubiquitous face of Reform, but inside the party he is surrounded by a coterie of men – and they are nearly all men – working to make its hard-right leanings appeal to the British public in the way Americans were drawn to Donald Trump’s politics

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Rachel Reeves says ‘no one raised concerns’ about her expenses at HBOS

Rachel Reeves has defended herself and said it would be up to the public to judge her on her record as chancellor, after a BBC investigation raised questions about her job history and expenses.In her first comments since claims emerged that she was the subject of an investigation into her expenses while working at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), the chancellor said no one ever raised any concerns with her.The BBC reported she had been subject to an unfinished investigation while working at the bank, but Reeves said: “No one ever raised any concerns about my expenses.” Insisting her expenses had been submitted and approved “in the proper way”, she added: “I was never questioned, never asked to pay back any expenses.”The BBC had also suggested the chancellor’s online CV exaggerated the length of time she worked at the Bank of England

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No 10 says Starmer and Trump spoke last night as minister calls for ‘clear thinking’ on tariff threat – as it happened

Downing Street has issued a read-out of a meeting that prime minister Keir Starmer held last night with Donald Trump’s special envoy to the UK, former television producer Mark Burnett, during which, it says, Starmer spoke to the US president.In the read-out, No 10 says:The prime minister was pleased to host president Trump’s special envoy to the UK, Mark Burnett, at Downing Street last night, during which he took a call from president Trump and discussed his forthcoming visit to the US.Burnett and the prime minister agreed on the unique and special nature of the UK-US relationship, the strength of our alliance, and the warmth of the connection between the two countries.Burnett reflected on his personal connections to the UK, and his mother’s experience working part-time in Downing Street as a waitress over 30 years ago.They emphasised the huge potential for even stronger collaboration on trade, tech and cultural matters between the US and the UK, and looked forward to working together

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Angela Rayner insists workers’ rights package is ringfenced

Angela Rayner has insisted Labour’s flagship package of workers’ rights will be ringfenced from a bonfire of regulation being pursued by the government to reboot economic growth.The deputy prime minister said that company bosses who were critical of the proposals needed to “get on board” because bolstering employment protections was good for workers and growing the economy.Speaking to the Guardian after figures showed Britain had narrowly avoided a recession last year, she dismissed suggestions there was a rift within senior Labour ranks over the sweeping changes to rights at work, amid growing pressure from businesses to water down the plans.“Absolutely the cabinet is united on it, because they understand this is pro-worker and pro-business as well,” she said.“The prime minister was really clear on this in his speech earlier this year, that people have to feel the growth

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Weatherwatch: Hadley Centre shows Thatcher understood value of climate science

When Margaret Thatcher opened the Hadley Centre for Climate Change in 1990 journalists suggested she was attempting to appear to be doing something about global heating rather than implementing any policies.Fast-forward 35 years and the Hadley Centre’s science is world-leading and makes the claim that for every £1 invested, the UK economy benefits by £33. This calculation is based on the predictions scientists are able to make, and advice they can then give about incoming weather and its impacts.This enables farmers, government and industry to prepare. The advice covers everything from medium-term seasonal forecasts to predictions about what new food crops we might grow, where flood defences need to be and the need for greater structural strength in buildings and bridges