Olivia Barber

4 days ago | leftfootforward.org | Olivia Barber

Over the weekend, Nigel Farage used a double-page spread in the Daily Mail to set out his “manifesto” for Reform UK, which has been described as “every bit as unhinged and unserious as you’d expect”. The proposals include raising the income tax threshold to £20,000 and abolishing inheritance tax on estates under £2 million. Other policies included abandoning net zero in favour of “drill baby drill”, and creating a minister for deportations.

6 days ago | leftfootforward.org | Olivia Barber

Darren Grimes, the former GB News presenter who was elected as a Reform councillor in Durham at last week’s local elections, has refused to attend diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) training sessions. It was then pointed out to him that the council’s training programme for new councillors doesn’t actually offer any DEI sessions. Grimes said: “I will not be attending DEI training or climate change training.

6 days ago | leftfootforward.org | Olivia Barber

A Reform UK councillor in Nottinghamshire has stepped down just a week after being elected. Desmond Clarke, one of 40 councillors who helped Reform UK to take control of Nottinghamshire County Council last week has resigned, saying he couldn’t represent voters “in the way they deserve”. This will now mean a by-election will take place Newark West in Nottinghamshire, but a date has not been set. Conservative group leader and former council leader Sam Smith, has slammed Reform over the resignation.

1 week ago | leftfootforward.org | Olivia Barber

With public trust in politics at a record low, a new poll shows that more than half of voters support calls to review the electoral system. Confidence in politics is “through the floor”, with 45% of respondents saying they trust politics less than a year ago. Only one in four said their trust had improved. The APPG warned that volatile local elections are a dress rehearsal for the “chaotic, unrepresentative” results First Past the Post will deliver at the next general election.

1 week ago | leftfootforward.org | Olivia Barber

One in four Brits view Donald Trump as a greater threat to the UK’s national interests than terrorist groups. The poll was commissioned by Good Growth Foundation, a new think tank set up Praful Nargund, who stood against Jeremy Corbyn as Labour’s candidate in Islington North. It found that 24% of respondents saw Trump as the biggest threat, ahead of terrorist groups (22%) and China (10%). Only Russia ranked higher, with 34% identifying it as the most dangerous actor.