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 Labour former 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

Nigel Farage denies saying anything racist ‘with malice’ as he attacks BBC

Nigel Farage has denied saying anything racist “with malice” in his latest attempt to address allegations of abuse made by numerous of his contemporaries at school.The Reform leader declined to call his accusers liars, but lost his cool as he turned his fire on the BBC for questioning him about alleged antisemitic comments.He became increasingly angry as was asked by the BBC about his deputy leader, Richard Tice, saying the testimony of his former classmates was “made-up twaddle” and lies.Tice had earlier been questioned by the BBC’s Emma Barnett, who pressed the politician on Farage’s “relationship with Hitler”, in relation to allegations from a Jewish former classmate that Farage had said to him: “Hitler was right,” or “Gas them.”In response, Farage launched a tirade against the BBC and said he would no longer speak to the broadcaster, calling it “despicable” and “beyond belief”

Nigel Farage urged to sack Reform council leader accused of racism

Nigel Farage has been urged to sack a Reform UK council leader accused of racism over social media posts including one saying a black British lawyer should have “F’d off back to Nigeria”.Ian Cooper, the leader of Staffordshire county council, allegedly called Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, a “narcissistic Pakistani” and said migrants were “intent on colonising the UK, destroying all that has gone before”.In a post attacking the justice secretary, David Lammy, this year, Cooper allegedly wrote: “No foreign national or first generation migrant should be allowed to sit in parliament.”Reform UK said on Wednesday it had launched an urgent internal investigation into the council leader’s “non-disclosure of social media accounts”.Cooper, who has not responded to the allegations, was Reform’s parliamentary candidate for Tamworth in a byelection in 2023 and again in last year’s general election

Crypto investor gives £9m to Reform UK as donations exceed those to Tories

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party has received a £9m donation from Christopher Harborne, a leading cryptocurrency investor, as well as £50,000 from the wife of the owner of the Daily Mail.Harborne, who also has interests in defence and aviation fuel, gave the record donation to Reform over the summer in a boost to the party’s finances before its autumn conference.This year Reform became the first political party to accept donations in crypto but the £9m was made in cash rather than digital currency.The size of Harborne’s gift to Reform prompted campaign groups including Spotlight on Corruption and Transparency International to renew calls for a cap on political donations.The donation was revealed in new figures from the Electoral Commission, which showed Reform bringing in millions more than either the Conservatives or Labour

Peer suspended from House of Lords was allegedly paid $1m in ‘corrupt’ deal

A peer suspended by the House of Lords for breaking lobbying rules is now facing claims that he received at least $1m (£760,000) from an allegedly corrupt deal.Lord Evans of Watford, a longtime Labour peer, was found last week by the House of Lords watchdog to have broken its rules four times after undercover reporting by the Guardian, and will be suspended for five months.The peer was caught in a cash-for-access venture offering to introduce undercover reporters to fellow parliamentarians.Now it can be revealed that he is separately facing legal action over payments that he and others received as directors of a UK investment firm that managed assets based in Kazakhstan.Court documents show that Evans and the other directors have been accused by a former executive of “personally enriching themselves” by pocketing millions in alleged illicit payments

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