A Labour MP whose husband was arrested on suspicion of spying for China has resigned from the party.
Joani Reid said she was “voluntarily” suspending herself after discussions with the government chief whip.
Her move comes a day after her husband, lobbyist and former Labour adviser David Taylor, was arrested along with two other men on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service.
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Reid, the MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, has denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement, she said: “This week has been the worst of my life. The shock of recent days has been difficult for me and my family.
“I want to reiterate something very important: I am not under investigation by the police and no accusations have been against me. I have done nothing wrong.
“I love my country. To serve the people of East Kilbride and Strathaven as their MP and the Labour Party has been – and continues to be – the privilege of my life.
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“I understand that speculation and gossip is fevered at a time like this. I do not want the circumstances that I and my family find ourselves in to be a distraction for this government, of which I am proud and in whom I believe.
“I also do not want my children – who have nothing to answer for and who deserve privacy and compassion – to find themselves subject to intrusion.
“Following discussions with the chief whip, I am voluntarily suspending myself from the whip this evening and will not sit as a Labour MP until internal investigations are concluded.”
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A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Joani Reid has agreed to fully co-operate with the Labour Party’s investigation into these matters.”
General Sir Richard Shirreff warned Sky News that the Americans’ lack of strategy following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran could have far-reaching consequences for anyone who gets involved.
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Trump has lashed out at Keir Starmer after the prime minister hesitated over US requests to use British military bases to attack Iran.
Former deputy supreme allied commander of Nato, Sir Richard suggested to Sky News that it was not wise for Britain to get involved in the war.
He said any idea of a “special relationship” between the UK and US does not exist, adding: “It is a complete fantasy. America does what America wants to do and Britain’s got to look after its interests.”
“Britain shooting drones, Britain engaging in offensive or defensive operations is invidious, frankly,” the former commander continued. “We should not in any way, shape or form, be involved with the Americans closely because they are being led by a couple of gung-ho nutters, like Trump and [US Secretary of War Pete] Hegseth, without a proper strategy, without serious thought about what end-state for this war is.”
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“Unless we keep cool heads, as the prime minister is attempting to do, and think things through very very carefully this thing could go in the way of Iraq,” he said.
“Yet again we have an American president who has gone to war, a war of choice, a war of hubris frankly, without any clear idea of how the war ends, without a clear strategy.”
Starmer has so far managed to draw a distinctive line between the UK and the US’s aggression, even though Britain has just sent a warship to Cyprus.
Similarly, Sir Richard said: “The Americans might be getting frightfully excited about sinking submarines, X number of missions bombing the Iranians to bits, but unless there’s a strategy, unless they have thought about what they are doing on the minds of the Iranian people, this thing is going to go south very quickly.”
He said: “The idea of assassinating the Ayatollah, Khamenei, not just Iran’s head of state but the religious symbol for Shiites worldwide during the month of Ramadan, is about as subtle as murdering the Pope on the steps of St Peter’s during holy week.
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“It will enflame the Shiite world and what you’re doing by doing that is probably putting large numbers of Iranians who might have been reconcilable back into the folds of the irreconcilable.”
Britney Spears was arrested in California on Wednesday night.
According to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office website, the chart-topping singer was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol at around 9.30pm on Wednesday.
The site does not list a reason for Britney’s arrest, and the …Baby One More Time star was released from custody in the early hours of Thursday morning.
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Britney is now due to appear in court on Monday 4 May.
A representative told HuffPost UK: “This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable. Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life. Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.
“Her boys are going to be spending time with her. Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being.”
It’s been a turbulent few years for Britney, who in 2021 was released from a conservatorship she’d been placed under 13 years earlier.
Britney Spears’ conservatorship inspired the so-called Free Britney movement, which gained popularity in the early 2020s
via Associated Press
Since then, she has married and subsequently divorced the actor Sam Asghari, released a popular memoir telling her story for the first time, The Woman In Me, and returned to the music scene with the top 10 Elton John collaboration, Hold Me Closer.
In a statement, Britney’s spokesperson pointed out that the claims, made in Kevin’s new book, coincided with the Grammy winner no longer having to pay him child support, and accused the former back-up dancer of “profiting off her”.
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“All [Britney] cares about are her kids, Sean Preston and Jayden James and their well-being during this sensationalism,” her representative insisted. “She detailed her journey in her memoir.”
Britney and Kevin are parents to two sons, 20-year-old Sean Preston and 19-year-old Jayden James.
On 1 December 2021, Benedict Blythe went to school, as normal, yet a few hours later, his dad Peter received a call to say he’d been sick. When he arrived to pick up his son, it became clear he was seriously unwell.
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Peter began CPR until an ambulance arrived. Sadly, despite medical help, Benedict was pronounced dead in hospital just after lunchtime.
An inquest into his death determined the five-year-old died from an accidental exposure to cow’s milk protein, which triggered fatal anaphylaxis.
His parents, Helen and Peter, have been fiercely campaigning for safety changes in schools ever since.
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The couple have worked with clinicians, coroners, charities and parliamentarians to highlight gaps in allergy safety in schools and push for national protections so no other family suffers a similar fate.
And now it seems ‘Benedict’s Law’ is set to make real change.
The government has shared that under new statutory guidance, schools will have to stock life-saving adrenaline auto-injector pens, teachers will undergo compulsory allergy awareness training, and every school will need to have a dedicated allergy policy.
The guidance is currently open for consultation and will come into force in September 2026.
Helen and Peter said: “We are grateful that the government has listened to us, and that as a result a new generation of children with allergies will, from September, enter a school system far safer for them.
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“Our son Benedict died aged just five years old, from an allergic reaction in school that was not only preventable but treatable.”
They added that if Benedict’s Law had been in place when their son joined his school, “he may still be alive”.
Helen and Peter Blythe, pictured with their children.
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Food allergy affects around 7-8% of children worldwide, equivalent to roughly two pupils in every classroom. What’s more, roughly 30% of allergic reactions in schools occur in children previously undiagnosed with an allergy.
“As a family, leading the campaign for allergy safety in schools has been about remembering our son,” Helen and Peter continued.
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“He was a kind, clever boy who cared about helping others – so knowing that for the first time schools will be expected to protect children with allergies like him from harm feels like a fitting legacy for Benedict.”
The Benedict Blythe Foundation caveated that while guidance sets expectations, it does not create an enforceable legal duty or guarantee consistent implementation across every school.
Olivia Bailey, minister for Early Education, said: “No parent should have to send their child to school worried that a life-threatening allergic reaction won’t be handled swiftly.
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“We have listened to the families and organisations who have campaigned tirelessly on this issue, and we are acting.
“These new requirements will give parents the confidence that every school has the training, the plans and the equipment in place to keep their child safe.”
Tanya Ednan-Laperouse OBE, whose daughter Natasha died aged 15 from an allergic reaction, said she is “deeply grateful” that the government is taking action to keep children with food allergies safe at school.
Shabana Mahmood will accuse Zack Polanksi of pursuing a “fairytale of open borders” as she unveils her controversial crackdown on immigration.
The home secretary will say the Green Party leader wants to introduce “the most expensive and expansive migration policies anywhere in the world” if he becomes prime minister.
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Mahmood will also take on left-wing Labour MPs who wanted her to water down her plans to make it harder for immigrants to stay in the UK in the wake of the party’s humiliation in last week’s Gorton and Denton by-election.
Mahmood will insist that “restoring order and control at our border is not a betrayal of Labour values, it is an embodiment of them” and say it is the only way to halt the rise of the far-right.
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Asylum seekers who break the law or work illegally will be thrown out of taxpayer-funded accommodation and lose their benefits, the home secretary will announce as part of her package of reforms.
They will also have their refugee status reviewed every 30 months in an effort to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants.
In a major speech, she will say: “Some say that we should turn to the path proposed by the Greens. That we should create a world without borders, that nation states are social constructs and patriotism is a dirty word.
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“To some, this might seem like harmless student politics. But the danger and the possible damage is real. A party leader who seeks the highest office in the land should not be on the beaches of France helping migrants onto small boats encouraging them to make a perilous crossing.
“Creating further incentives to come to this country illegally, increasing the already vast burden placed on taxpayers in this country. Polanski calls for the most expensive and expansive migration policies anywhere in the world.”
Cracking down on small boat crossings will put Labour on the side of ordinary voters, the home secretary will say.
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“When people see small boat arrivals, at their current scale or they feel the pace and scale of migration today, they feel like we have lost control,” she will say.
“A loss of control breeds fear and when fearful, people turn inwards. Their vision of this country narrows. Their patriotism turns into something smaller, something darker, an ethno-nationalism emerges.
“The idea of a greater Britain gives way to the lure of a littler England. And other voices – voices to the far right – take hold.”
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Addressing criticism that she had gone too far in her desire to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants, Mahmood will say her reforms will offer “a compassionate but controlled asylum system”.
“Providing sanctuary to those genuinely fleeing persecution while striking at the vile smuggling gangs and restoring order at the border,” she will say. “Ensuring the right to live in this country forever is there, for those who seek a better life which comes with responsibilities to contribute to our national life.”
Some MPs have divided the internet after they were filmed dancing in parliament even as the crisis in the Middle East rages.
Parliamentarians, including the Speaker of the Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, gathered in Portcullis House on Wednesday morning while Strictly Come Dancing stars Angela Rippon and Alex Kingston showed them some moves.
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The event was meant to promote how dancing can boost health and wellbeing, but others have slammed the gathering for being insensitive.
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Since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, Tehran’s retaliatory strikes have pulled the whole of the Middle East into disarray.
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The UK is currently weighing up how to defend its own military base in Cyprus following an Iranian drone attack.
Keir Starmer has already given the US permission to use its British bases to target Iran, too.
International affairs aside, MPs have also come under scrutiny this week after the independent expenses watchdog announced their basic salary will rise by 5% to £98,599 in April.
So people have, naturally, been questioning the timing of this dance lesson while clips of jubiliant MPs have been repeatedly on social media.
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The Commons Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle and Angela Rippon lead a dancing class in Parliament’s Portcullis House with MPs. So while global conflicts rage and the UK endures a cost of living crisis, it’s heartening to see our MPs having a dance. FFS.pic.twitter.com/V4Ze6Rm1cF
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The Commons Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle and Angela Rippon lead a dancing class in Parliament’s Portcullis House with MPs. So while global conflicts rage and the UK endures a cost of living crisis, it’s heartening to see our MPs having a dance. FFS.pic.twitter.com/V4Ze6Rm1cF
At a time when war is brewing in the Middle East and the mood in the United Kingdom feels increasingly fractured, seeing MPs ballroom dancing feels tone-deaf. https://t.co/uhsqhF8Pr2
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At a time when war is brewing in the Middle East and the mood in the United Kingdom feels increasingly fractured, seeing MPs ballroom dancing feels tone-deaf. https://t.co/uhsqhF8Pr2
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Entirely normal behaviour when the world is at war. My parents shared fond memories of the newsreel coverage of Chamberlain and Churchill jitterbugging in the Parliamentary dance class of 1940. https://t.co/3lPl3nYEg2
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Some social media users said it was time to “lighten up” and suggested voters actually like seeing their politicians prove they know how to have fun on occasion.
I think people having a pop at the MPs doing this need to lighten up. It’s a light hearted event on a very serious subject and all the best to them … even the dad dancers https://t.co/Uj6tThxSUj
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I think people having a pop at the MPs doing this need to lighten up. It’s a light hearted event on a very serious subject and all the best to them … even the dad dancers https://t.co/Uj6tThxSUj
Disagree with the takes implying this is indicative of why people don’t like politics. Look at the politicians people have warmed to – Farage, Rayner, Johnson (remember the zip wire), Polanski, Spencer: they’re politicians not afraid to show they have fun. The reason people… https://t.co/wAStrvHCAC
","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Luke Tryl","author_url":"https://twitter.com/LukeTryl","cache_age":86400,"description":"Disagree with the takes implying this is indicative of why people don’t like politics. Look at the politicians people have warmed to – Farage, Rayner, Johnson (remember the zip wire), Polanski, Spencer: they’re politicians not afraid to show they have fun. The reason people… https://t.co/wAStrvHCAC— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) March 4, 2026\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Luke Tryl on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/2029164841861095819","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isMobile":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"69a84c35e4b0b7f2ce604ec1","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/mps-split-social-media-by-dancing-in-parliament-with-strictly-stars_uk_69a84c35e4b0b7f2ce604ec1","entryTagsList":"social-media,iran","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"isShopping":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"16b0ecc6-802c-4120-845f-e90629812c4d","clickToPlayPlayer":"823ac03a-0f7e-4bcb-8521-a5b091ae948d","videoPagePlayer":"05041ada-93f7-4e86-9208-e03a5b19311b","defaultPlaylist":"2e062669-71b4-41df-b17a-df6b1616bc8f"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":2},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"69a84c35e4b0b7f2ce604ec1","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"Social Media","slug":"social-media","links":{"relativeLink":"news/social-media","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/social-media","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/social-media"},"relegenceId":4993943,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/social-media/"},{"name":"Iran","slug":"iran","links":{"relativeLink":"news/iran","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/iran","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/iran"},"relegenceId":3686717,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/iran/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"signInUrl":"https://login.huffpost.com/login?dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fmps-split-social-media-by-dancing-in-parliament-with-strictly-stars_uk_69a84c35e4b0b7f2ce604ec1%3Fhp_auth_done%3D1","cetUnit":"buzz_body","enableIncontentPlayer":true,"bodyAds":["
Disagree with the takes implying this is indicative of why people don’t like politics. Look at the politicians people have warmed to – Farage, Rayner, Johnson (remember the zip wire), Polanski, Spencer: they’re politicians not afraid to show they have fun. The reason people… https://t.co/wAStrvHCAC
Meanwhile others took the chance to joke about U-turns…something Keir Starmer has become very famous for, having chalked up more than a dozen since being elected in July 2024…
The American president said “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with” after Starmer initially refused to let the US use British bases to launch their attacks amid concerns the strikes broke international law.
The PM eventually changed his mind after Iran began bombing countries across the Middle East, putting British lives at risk.
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Trump’s Oval Office comments mark a new low in the so-called “special relationship” between America and the United Kingdom.
Referring to the UK military base at Diego Garcia, he said: “That island… It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land there, it would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours, so we are very surprised.
“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
🚨 WATCH: Donald Trump again attacks Keir Starmer and the UK’s immigration policy
\"The UK has been very, very uncooperative… they are ruining relationships, it’s a shame… windmills are ruining their country… you have Sharia courts adjudicating law\" pic.twitter.com/YctAFJde2Z
","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Politics UK","author_url":"https://twitter.com/PolitlcsUK","cache_age":86400,"description":"🚨 WATCH: Donald Trump again attacks Keir Starmer and the UK’s immigration policy\"The UK has been very, very uncooperative… they are ruining relationships, it’s a shame… windmills are ruining their country… you have Sharia courts adjudicating law\" pic.twitter.com/YctAFJde2Z— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) March 3, 2026\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":748,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/2028884728707784705/img/H1OSX0qO-hlJHATH.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1342,"title":"Politics UK on Twitter / 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🚨 WATCH: Donald Trump again attacks Keir Starmer and the UK’s immigration policy
“The UK has been very, very uncooperative… they are ruining relationships, it’s a shame… windmills are ruining their country… you have Sharia courts adjudicating law” pic.twitter.com/YctAFJde2Z
Trump’s comments are just latest criticism he has aimed at Starmer since America and Israel’s attacks on Iran began at the weekend.
In an interview with the Telegraph on Monday, the president said he was “very disappointed” in the PM.
That prompted Starmer to hit back in the Commons, telling MPs: “President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes.
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“But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I’ve done, and I stand by it.”
In another dig at the US president, Starmer said: “This government does not believe in regime change from the skies.”
Trump responded in an interview with The Sun in which he said the PM “has not been helpful”.
“I never thought I’d see that,” he said. “I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”
He added: “It’s not going to matter, but [Starmer] should have helped… he should have.
“I mean, France has been great. They’ve all been great. The UK has been much different from others.”
Trump continued: “You’ve seen the secretary general of NATO, the great things he said, Mark Rutte, he’s great.
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“No, they’ve all been pretty much great other than…we think Keir’s was just very different.”
The president said the spat over Iran meant “it’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before”.
Luke Thompson’s character was confirmed to be queer during the show’s third run, where he was seen engaging in trysts with both men and women.
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Benedict is Bridgerton’s first openly queer lead character, and his coming out scene took the show’s writers into new territory.
“I am capable of caring for you, just as I have cared for women I have known who are of the Ton,” he told Yerin Ha’s character, Sophie, in season four’s sixth episode, which premiered on Netflix last week.
“Just as I have cared for some men whom I have known intimately,” he added. “And I refuse to be at all ashamed about that.”
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Since the episode’s release, showrunner Jess Brownell has explained why it was “hugely important” to her that this scene be included.
“I think any queer person knows that no matter who you end up with, queerness is a part of your identity,” Jess told Business Insider. “It never goes away. And I think one of the messages of this show every season is that the only way to truly be loved is to be your true self.”
After Benedict’s coming out, Sophie assures him: “Love is always a thing to be proud of. The world needs more of it.”
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Benedict and Sophie in the Bridgerton season four finale
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
But to Jess, there was never any doubt about how the character would react.
“Sophie is someone who’s been through so much and has lived in the downstairs world and been friends with people of all different classes,” she claimed. “And I do think she’s probably encountered people of different sexualities.”
“There is a really harmful and untrue stereotype that bisexual men are actually just gay men. More often, we see bisexual men ending up in media in homosexual-presenting relationships,” Jess told Variety last year.
“And it felt fresh and important to see a bisexual man ending up in a heterosexual-presenting relationship and still owning the fact that he is still queer.”
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Benedict is not the only queer character in the world of Bridgerton.
At the end of Bridgerton’s third outing, Francesca is introduced to her husband John’s female cousin, Michaeala Stirling.
Fans of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series will know that in the novels, this character is written as a man called Michael, with whom Francesca finds love after John suddenly dies.
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However, he has been gender-swapped for the TV adaptation, with Michaela being played by Masali Baduza.
All four seasons of Bridgerton are available to watch on Bridgerton now.
Rachel Reeves looked as though she was enjoying herself as she took aim at Labour’s political opponents while delivering her Spring Statement.
With no new policies to announce, the chancellor decided to use a decent chunk of her time at the despatch box attacking Reform UK, the Conservatives and the Green Party.
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“The Tories left our country, our people and our allies exposed: They had no plan and no intention to fund their pledge to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence,” she said.
“Reform would go one step further by ditching our allies and siding with Russia, while the Green Party wants to take us out of Nato and jeopardise our alliances.
“So let me be clear: It is Labour and only Labour that can provide social justice, national security and fiscal responsibility.”
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In another section, she dismissed Reform as “a Tory tribute act” following the defections of the likes of Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman.
“They may have changed the colour of their rosettes, but the British people won’t forget that they are the exact same people that wrecked our public services and wrecked our public finances in the last Tory government,” she said.
“The same people, the same policies and the same disastrous outcomes for working people.”
But behind the political knockabout, the chancellor must know that the fate of the UK economy – and perhaps even the Labour government – depends on the outcome of the latest war in the Middle East.
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The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) may have forecast that inflation will come down, but that was before the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran sparked an energy crisis which has seen gas prices soar in the past 48 hours.
If that ends up feeding through into people’s bills, Labour will pay a huge political price.
The same goes for the OBR’s forecasts on economic growth, as well as government borrowing and national debt.
A prolonged conflict in the Middle East, and the accompanying economic turmoil which would ensue, would blow another huge hole in the already-stretched public finances.
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With unemployment set to be higher than expected this year and the tax burden set to hit another post-war high, yet more economic uncertainty is the last thing the chancellor needs.
“This government has the right economic plan for our country,” Reeves insisted.
“A plan that is even more important in a world that in the last few days has become yet more uncertain.
“With the unfolding conflict in Iran and the Middle East, it is incumbent on me and on this government to chart a course through that uncertainty, to secure our economy against shocks and protect families from the turbulence that we see beyond our borders.”
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She may have talked a good game, but the chancellor knows that events thousands of miles away have the potential to destroy her economic plans and plunge the government into political crisis they may not recover from.
Over the weekend, SNL’s cast and guest host Connor Storrie took part in a skit referencing the moment in which Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson experienced an involuntary tic during this year’s Baftas and, as a result, shouted a racist slur while Sinners actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting on stage.
As footage of the skit became more widely-shared, it was met with immediate backalsh, including from Emma McNally, the chief executive officer of the UK charity Tourette’s Action.
Connor Storrie with Saturday Night Live cast members Sarah Sherman and Andrew Dismukes
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In a statement provided to HuffPost UK, she said: “Over recent weeks, our community has faced an unprecedented wave of online trolling, misinformation, and targeted mockery.
“Following the extremely difficult events surrounding the Baftas, many people with Tourette’s have been struggling with fear, shame, isolation and a huge need to defend a condition they cannot control.
“We had hoped this would be a new week and we could move on but the release of further content online that has been designed to ridicule Tourette’s and reduce our community to a punchline has only deepened that hurt.”
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“I want to be completely clear here this is not acceptable,” she continued. “Mocking a disability is never acceptable. It would not be tolerated for any other condition, and it should not be tolerated by people with Tourette’s.
“Tourette’s is a complex neurological condition, of which there is no cure. It is not a joke. It is not a personality trait. It is not a source of entertainment. It is a condition that can be extremely debilitating, causing pain isolation and huge amounts of discrimination.
“Videos and posts that deliberately misrepresent or sensationalise tics set us back years. A single video can undo the progress our community has spent years building toward greater awareness.
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“I hope those creating these videos understand that they create real consequences for people in our community: fear, isolation, bullying, abuse, and a feeling among many that they must hide away to stay safe.”
The statement added: “The trolling and harassment members of our community have endured in the past few days has been horrific. People have been targeted with threats and humiliation simply for having a condition they did not choose. No one should ever be treated that way.
“These recent events have been painful for multiple communities, and I am not for one minute dismissing that hurt, but directing anger and ridicule to people with Tourette’s does nothing to heal that pain and does not move us forward.
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“What we need right now is people to be kind. We need compassion, accurate information and above all, we need education.”
“This past week has been tough, and has reminded me that what I do, raising awareness for such a misunderstood condition, there is still a long way to go and I will keep on keeping on until this is achieved.”
