Thursday, April 30, 2026
Farage and the £5 million gift
The paper says that Farage had stated he did not intend to stand as a prospective MP but U-turned in June 2024, within weeks of receiving the personal gift from the Thailand-based businessman:
After being approached by the Guardian about the gift, neither he nor Harborne provided a comment – instead lawyers for Reform UK and Harborne pleaded for more time. Farage then confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that he had received the gift, saying that it was to pay for his personal security.
Until that point neither Harborne nor Farage had spoken publicly about the £5m gift. It did not need to be declared to the parliamentary authorities as Farage was not a sitting MP at the time.
At the time of the gift, Farage had not announced that he would run for the seat of Clacton-on-Sea, and therefore may not have needed to declare it to the electoral commission.
Asked on Monday by the Guardian about the gift, Reform sent a legal letter asking for more time to respond. The deadline was extended until Wednesday morning. The Telegraph then published its interview with Farage before the deadline.
The money underlines what a pivotal figure Harborne has become in British politics – bankrolling Farage personally and the parties he has led over the past seven years.
Last year he donated £9m to Reform UK – the largest ever single donation by a living person to a British political party.
In total, he gave £12m to the party in 2025.
The £5m gift to Farage is likely to raise fresh questions for the Reform leader, given what he said in the run-up to the last election, and his more recent remarks about his relationship with Harborne.
On 23 May 2024, Farage declared he would not stand as an MP in the July poll, putting an end to weeks of speculation that he would make an eighth attempt to enter parliament.
In a post on X, he explained: “I have thought long and hard as to whether I should stand in the upcoming general election. I will do my bit to help in the campaign, but it is not the right time for me to go further than that.”
He also said he wanted to be free to campaign in the US presidential election later that year.
“Important though the general election is, the contest in the United States of America on 5 November has huge global significance,” he said.
One reason for his unwillingness to once again stand for parliament, he told friends, was the financial toll he believed his political career had placed on him. He has previously declared “there’s no money in politics”.
However, less than a fortnight later Farage had changed his mind, announcing on 3 June that he would stand for election in Clacton, Essex.
He also committed to remain as leader of Reform UK for five years.
After Harborne donated £9m to Reform, Farage said he spoke to the businessman “maybe once a month, maybe once every six weeks”, but insisted: “I’ve not promised him a single thing in return for his donation.”
He said: “Does he want anything from me? No. Absolutely nothing in return at all.”
The disclosure of the gift is also set to increase scrutiny of Harborne, who has also bankrolled the Conservative party.
He spends the majority of his time in Thailand, and uses a Thai name, Chakrit Sakunkrit. A large chunk of his wealth derives from a 12% shareholding in Tether, a cryptocurrency.
The £5m also came as Farage put pressure on Rishi Sunak to accept an election pact with the Conservatives, something that Harborne has said he had favoured at the time and previously discussed with Farage.
The huge financial boost to Farage may also raise questions over whether there ought to be greater transparency over the finances of MPs shortly before they assume office.
The need for greater transparency in the financing of politics and limits on donations ia becoming more and more urgent.
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
What are the consequences of freezing private sector rents in Wales?
The Guardian reports that shares in some of the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lenders such as Paragon and One Savings Bank have fallen after it emerged that the chancellor may make private landlords commit to a one-year rent freeze.
The paper says that in an effort to protect households from rising living costs as a result of the Iran war, Rachel Reeves is considering whether to ban landlords in England from increasing rents for a limited period of time, however shares in buy-to-let lenders subsequently fell when the London Stock Exchange opened on Tuesday:
Stock in OSB Group, one of the UK’s biggest buy-to-let mortgage providers, was down 3.6% at 510p as investors worried the rent freeze would hurt the FTSE 250 company behind the lenders Kent Reliance and Precise Mortgages.
Shares in Paragon Banking Group, another large buy-to-let lender, slumped 2.4% to 733p. The FTSE 250 group is largely focused on lending to professional landlords who own more than three properties.
The Guardian adds that the rent freeze would be the latest in a line of restrictive measures imposed on private landlords by successive governments since 2015 in a bid to crack down on the once booming buy-to-let sector:
On Friday, the Renters’ Rights Act will come into force, bringing significant changes to the sector. The new law aims to give renters more security by banning no-fault evictions, limiting rent rises to once a year and only up to “the market rate”, and stopping landlords from accepting an offer over asking price.
Timothy Douglas, the head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, which represents property agents, said the reports of a rent freeze were “alarming” for landlords when the Renters’ Right Act is already introducing “huge regulatory change”.
He added: “Rent controls risk distorting the market and undermining investment at a time when demand already far outstrips supply.”
Douglas said the government should instead focus on increasing housing supply and supporting long-term investment in the private rented sector.
These quick solutions very rarely work and often have unforeseen consequences, some of which could impact on the tenants that they are meant to help. The new Welsh government needs to bear that in mind when it considers how best to help renters.
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Labour MPs plotting against Starmer
The Guardian reports that Labour figures from across rival factions have begun circulating informal proposals for an “orderly transition” of power away from Keir Starmer.
The paper says that MPs have shifted discussions from speculating about whether the prime minister could be removed to how – including timelines, potential triggers and the mechanics of forcing a leadership contest:
One Labour MP said: “There have been conversations about process. When the time comes, and if the numbers are there, a process will be found.”
With no formal mechanism to remove a sitting prime minister, attention has turned to how political pressure can be applied, with one senior party source warning poor local election results could trigger junior ministerial resignations, which would provide “cover for someone to come out from behind”.
Starmer has said he is determined to lead Labour into the next general election, but his allies acknowledge he does not have for ever to convince his party. A source speculated the prime minister had nine months to persuade MPs that he can turn things around.
Senior MPs said it was “overstated” to suggest any one faction was leading efforts to oust Starmer, with figures across the party instead engaging in a range of discussions.
There are competing claims about where the push is coming from. One figure claimed allies of Andy Burnham were driving calls for a longer transition to allow him to return to parliament before any leadership contest, while others suggested MPs aligned with Wes Streeting were behind efforts to accelerate the process.
Some MPs said rival camps were trying to shape the narrative around any move, reflecting a wider disagreement over timing and strategy across the parliamentary Labour party.
It is clear there is growing frustration among backbenchers that no potential successor had yet set out a clear direction, with one saying none of the names that had been touted were “actually putting a full-on manifesto forward”.
One MP said there was now near-universal concern across the PLP. “We need an orderly transition,” they said, adding: “Most people think it’s over for Starmer.”
A senior backbencher said morale across the party was at “rock bottom” with frustration spreading rapidly over the last week.
We've been here before of course, with the abortive attempts by Labour MPs to force Gordon Brown out prior to the 2010 General Election. Will these latest plotters be any more successful?
Monday, April 27, 2026
Climate change versus economic growth, a dilemma?
They say that the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) thinks AI datacentres will consume 6GW of electricity by 2030, while the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) appears to think they will use less than a tenth of that:
Tim Squirrell, the head of strategy for the NGO Foxglove, said: “The government’s cluelessness over the environmental impact of datacentres would be laughable, if it weren’t so alarming.”
Cecilia Rikap, a researcher at University College London, said: “There are two ways to interpret this ‘misalignment’: either DESNZ and DSIT are incompetent, or there’s some kind of magical thinking about AI and big tech. Either way, the episode uncovers how these corporations control not only the AI value chain, but also the UK government.”
DESNZ is responsible for the UK’s carbon budget growth and delivery plan, which sets out how the government will reach its international climate targets.
In January, Foxglove filed an environmental impact assessment request with the department, asking how it had incorporated AI datacentres into its projections for Britain’s emissions. In response, DESNZ referred researchers to its broader forecasts for the energy use of Britain’s “commercial services” sector, and said it did not hold separate projections for datacentre growth.
The forecasts appear to project that the energy use of the entire sector will grow by 528MW between 2025 and 2030 – equivalent to adding the consumption of 1.7m homes by the end of the decade.
This projection is 10 times lower than the amount of electricity the government has committed to AI datacentres as part of its UK compute roadmap. That policy paper, put forward by DSIT in 2025, sets out a “bold, long-term plan to transform our national compute ecosystem” by building AI datacentres.
It adds: “We forecast that the UK will need at least 6GW of AI-capable datacentre capacity by 2030.”
This will come from multiple AI growth zones – hubs across the country where the government is attempting to attract investment into datacentres. Each would require at least 500MW of electricity – an amount only slightly less than DESNZ’s forecast for the increase in energy usage of the entire commercial services sector.
It is unclear how the discrepancy between the two departments’ forecasts arose. But one day after the Guardian requested comment from DSIT and DESNZ, DSIT appears to have revised its figures published on its website for the total emissions of the AI datacentre sector, raising them more than a hundredfold.
It is good that the two departments are now talking to each other, however the power needs of an AI operation on this scale are going to challenge other government objectives especially around climate change.
Sunday, April 26, 2026
Deep cuts in services needed to deliver Refom and Tory tax cuts
Nation Cymru reports that an analysis of party manifestos undertaken by Cardiff University academics has found that tax cuts proposed by Reform UK and the Welsh Conservatives would require deep cuts in public services and would disproportionately benefit better off earners.
The news site says that the report by the university’s Wales Governance Centre states that the Welsh Conservatives propose lowering the basic rate [of income tax] by 1p in the pound, while Reform UK propose a 1p in the pound reduction across all three income tax bands. They add that both policies would be regressive:
"Under Reform UK plans, 90% of the gains would go to households in the top half of the income distribution, with 60% of the gains going to households in the top two deciles of income.
“The Welsh Conservatives propose lowering the basic rate by 1p in the pound. The latest estimates from the Welsh Government suggest this would cost £325 million in 2027-28. We project this cost would grow to £367m by 2030-31.
“Reform UK propose a 1p in the pound reduction across all three income tax bands. The manifesto promises to enact this tax cut by the end of the Senedd term; we estimate that this would cost £444m by 2030-31.
“At lower income levels, a significant share of income is not taxed due to the personal allowance, so the rate cuts apply to a lower share of income than for higher earners. Under the Conservatives’ proposals, the biggest beneficiaries relative to income would be those with a gross income of around £50,270, for whom the decrease in total tax liability as a share of income would be 0.75% (saving £377 annually).
“For Reform UK’s policy, the decrease in total tax liability as a share of income would peak at 1% for those with incomes above £125,140 (who would save £1,251 a year). Reform UK’s policy is regressive, with a typical household in the richest 10% of households gaining three times as much as a typical household in the 5th decile as a share of their income. 90% of the gains would go to households in the top half of the income distribution, with 60% going to households in the top two deciles of income.
“The Welsh Conservative policy is also broadly regressive, but to a lesser extent; the biggest relative gains would go to households in the 8th decile of income, with almost half of the gains going to households in the top two deciles of income.
“All parties propose reviews, reforms or specific reliefs for Non-Domestic Rates (NDR). NDR revenues have fallen by a fifth in real terms since 2019-20 and tax cuts would have an impact on resources available for public services.
“Reform UK and the Welsh Conservatives propose introducing a referendum requirement for council tax increases of 5% or more. Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour both promise to ‘make council tax fairer’. While carrying through the planned 2028 revaluation may fulfil this promise, the lack of further detail on what reforms both parties would implement is disappointing.
“We estimate total Welsh Conservative tax cuts could amount to approximately £705m by 2030-31, or 2.6% of day-to-day spending. On current spending projections, this would imply no real-terms growth in day-to-day spending over the next Senedd term.
“Reform UK’s explicit tax cuts could cost approximately £450m by 2030-31. … [The] fiscal outlook is highly uncertain and the underlying UK government spending plans and the economic forecasts will likely change substantially. But tax cuts on this scale would make deep cuts to some public services likely.
Neither party have said how they will finance these tax cuts, which could potentially starve key services like health, education and social care of resources. With public services in Wales struggling we need investment not cuts. These policies would be disastrous for Wales.
Saturday, April 25, 2026
An historic structure
The pier's website says that the 835ft structure cost £10,000 to complete, and its completion which was relatively late in the history of Piers, takes on many of the architectural successes learnt from other piers all over the country. They add that along with the opening of the Pier came the extension of the Mumbles Railway line from Oystermouth to the newly built Pier Terminus:
It was officially opened by Lady Jenkins, on 10th May 1898, along with the new line of the Mumbles Railway Co, an extension from Oystermouth to Mumbles Head. Local schoolchildren were given a half-day holiday in celebration of these major events. In addition to the building cost of £10,000, another £40,000 was spent on improvements such as the Skating Rink and Bandstand.
The structure is set against the backdrop of a 200 year old lighthouse, a 145 year old lifeboat station and Swansea Bay, which for some reason has been compared to the Bay of Naples.
The pier is free for the public to walk along and enjoy. At the end you can visit the new RNLI Lifeboat house and take in the breathtaking panoramic views, however it is still in the middle of continued restoration work, which is needed to secure the structure for the future.
Labels: lochist
Sunday, April 19, 2026
Majority of voters would rather rejoin the EU than compromise on deal
The news site adds that the findings come in response to the planned UK-EU reset legislation set to be part of the King’s Speech package set out by the Prime Minister on May 13 involving a new law to allow single market rules to be adopted through secondary legislation:
The Best for Britain report has used recent YouGov polling to establish that the Government’s current plan has broad but shallow support, claiming that many voters are “holding their noses” in the hopes of something better.
Polling suggests 61% of people in the UK support building closer ties and establishing deeper alignment with the EU, but just 19% express strong support.
However, when faced with the options for that reset, becoming a member of the EU is the most popular choice, with 53% approval.
That is compared with other options such as joining the EU single market, negotiating a UK-EU customs union or diverging further from the EU.
“It’s plain to see little appetite exists for the halfway houses of a customs union or single market entry, relative to the resounding and deeply felt support for EU membership,” said Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain.
The report also indicated that support for the EU is highest among Labour (83%), Liberal Democrat (84%) and Green Party (82%) supporters.
Some 39% of Conservatives also support that policy, along with 18% of Reform UK voters, according to the YouGov survey.
The polling also suggests that parties advocating for EU membership actually increases support from Labour, Lib Dem and Green backers.
The YouGov data is extrapolated from two surveys of more than 4,000 voters from across the political spectrum, from September 2025 and March 2026.
This is obviously a reaction to the current situation with Trump and the Middle East, but it is also an opportunity to move closer to the EU, and it is one we should take.
Saturday, April 18, 2026
The church at the centre of Swansea and the devil that haunted it
As Wikipedia says, there has been a church on the site of St Mary's since circa 1328, which was erected by Henry de Gower, Bishop of Saint David's. It has rebuilt many times:
One Sunday morning, in 1739, the roof of the nave collapsed into the church while the congregation was waiting to enter the building. The whole structure was re-built apart from the tower. 1822 saw the church being lit by gas for the first time with thirty six lamps. The church underwent complete renovation between 1879 and 1882 by Vicar Dr Morgan. In 1896, the church was flattened and rebuilt again under the designs of Arthur Blomfield by Dean Allan Smith, though some parts of the old church survived the re-development. In February 1941 the church was extensively damaged by Bombing during the Blitz. It was not rebuilt until the 1950s.
He had his wish during World War II, when St. Mary's Church was destroyed in a bombing raid, but the devil carving remained unscathed. The original, carved devil was removed in the 1960s but later found and briefly displayed at the Quadrant Shopping Centre in the 1980s. It is now safely housed inside Swansea Museum.
Labels: lochist
Friday, April 17, 2026
Labour civil war?
The paper adds that the health secretary said that “the money has to come from somewhere” in a move interpreted as backing Labour’s former defence secretary and ex-Nato secretary general George Robertson earlier this week, but has since issued a clarification denying that he specifically wants to slash benefits to fund defence.:
However, they say that there is growing alarm at Sir Keir Starmer’s failure to decide on the UK’s defence spending, with the Defence Improvement Plan (DIP) still stuck on his desk after months of rowing between the Treasury and Ministry of Defence (MoD):
In a stark warning, Lord Jock Stirrup, the former chief of the defence staff, told The Independent the UK needs a decade to rebuild its defence capabilities and urged Sir Keir to show leadership and start the reinvestment now, in the latest intervention over the parlous state of the defence estate.
Mr Streeting, who is understood to still be hoping to replace Sir Keir as Labour leader and prime minister, is the first cabinet minister to appear to argue in favour of cutting the £334bn benefits budget to fund Britain’s military.
In so doing he risks reopening the dividing lines which saw Sir Keir forced into a humiliating U-turn by furious Labour backbenchers last year when he tried to trim the burgeoning welfare budget.
Mr Streeting has previously made it clear that money cannot be diverted from health spending following Labour’s manifesto commitment to increase it.
But asked if he would support switching funds from the welfare budget, Mr Streeting told LBC: “Well, yeah. We want to reduce the welfare budget.”
Mr Streeting was asked by LBC’s Nick Ferrari about claims of “corrosive complacency” made against Sir Keir by Lord Robertson and other military leaders last week.
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, the lead of Labour’s strategic defence review, warned the military could not be properly funded with an “ever-expanding welfare budget”.
Mr Streeting said: “Yes, and we do need to put money into defence.
“We have been putting more money into defence as a government, but we will need more. That is the reality of the challenge of the world that we face.”~
But with Treasury said to be blocking increases to defence spending, including a deal for UK troops to be peacekeepers in Ukraine, the health secretary said it was up to Rachel Reeves to set out in future Budgets, adding: “I want to make sure I stay in my lane.”
A source close to Mr Streeting later clarified: “The government’s position is to increase defence spending and reform welfare. Wes didn’t link those two positions, and he robustly defended the abolition of the two-child limit, for which he was a strong advocate. Wes is a product of the welfare system, so knows the value of it, and the need to reform it, better than most.”
There was a furious backlash from charities and Labour MPs to the health secretary’s intervention.
Evan John, policy adviser at Sense, said: “It’s extremely concerning that the government seems to be laying the groundwork for further cuts to disability benefits, fuelling anxiety among disabled people already struggling as the cost of living rises.”
Labour MP Rachael Maskell, who led the welfare rebellion last year, warned: “I am clear that we have to provide household security and national security. It is a false choice to play one off against another. People supported by the Department for Work and Pensions are already struggling to make ends meet. The government must not contemplate such moves.”
With this sort of controversy within Labour, it is no wonder Starmer doesn't seem able to make a decision.
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Call for ban on ‘abusive’ lawsuits against media outlets to be in King’s Speech
The news site says that the calls are part of a “day of action” aimed at highlighting the impact of strategic lawsuits against public participation (Slapps) on both local newspapers and wider society:
s Slapps, described by critics as “lawfare”, involve the rich and powerful using defamation and privacy laws to intimidate and shut down scrutiny, threatening to tie up their targets in costly legal action.
Organised by the UK Anti-Slapp Coalition, Wednesday’s campaign calls for the Government to include legislation curbing the practice in next month’s King’s Speech.
The call has been backed by MPs from a range of parties, including Tory grandee Sir David Davis, Labour’s Lloyd Hatton and Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Jess Brown-Fuller.
Sir David said Slapps were “a grave threat to free speech here in the UK” and cost the justice system “millions of pounds”.
Mr Hatton said they were “abusive tactics” that prevented “journalists, whistleblowers and campaigners from shining a light on suspected corruption or foul play”, while Ms Brown-Fuller said the Government must legislate if it is “serious about protecting victims”.
The UK Anti-Slapp Coalition has pointed to small media outlets, including student papers, being threatened with legal action over their reporting at a time when economic challenges made them less able to deal with the potential costs.
Coalition co-chair Nik Williams said: “Local journalism is the lifeblood of democracy, and if an outlet feels unable to cover a story because of legal threats, issues of real public importance can disappear from scrutiny altogether.”
Justice Secretary David Lammy was a vocal supporter of tougher laws against Slapps while in opposition.
But since coming to power Labour has shied away from introducing standalone legislation to end the practice, so far only activating provisions passed by the previous government to tackle the issue in 2023.
Justice sources have stressed the need to strike a balance between access to justice and freedom of speech.
Coalition founder Susan Coughtrie said: “Despite leading the charge in opposition to bring forward universal anti-Slapp legislation, press reports imply the Government has now shelved plans to legislate, which if true is extremely disappointing particularly given the significant cross-party support.
Anything that threatens the ability of the media and others to carry out their job is a threat to civil liberties and democracy. The government needs to act. “The longer the delay to take action, the longer the system will remain open for abuse.”
