Category Archives: POLITICS

Greg Hands Sacked As Conservative Party Chairman In Rishi Sunak’s Reshuffle

Posted on by
Reply

Greg Hands has been sacked as chairman of the Conservative Party, as Rishi Sunak conducted a major cabinet reshuffle ahead of next year’s election.

He has finally paid the price for a succession of humiliating by-election defeats.

Richard Holden, who was only elected as an MP in 2019, has been given a big promotion to take over the job of running the Tory party machine.

Less than a month ago, Hands said he would not quit in the wake of two heavy by-election defeats in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth.

At the time, he said the losses were caused “by legacy issues” that predated Sunak’s time in No.10.

Hands remains in government, but has been demoted to a minister of state job at the department for business and trade.

Richard Holden leaves 10 Downing Street after he was made the new Conservative chairman (Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)
Richard Holden leaves 10 Downing Street after he was made the new Conservative chairman (Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)

Victoria Jones – PA Images via Getty Images

Holden snatched the red wall seat of North West Durham for the Tories in 2019, but the constituency is disappearing due to boundary changes and he is now on the lookout for somewhere else to stand at the next election.

Holden was appointed transport minister when Sunak became prime minister last October.

He now has the extremely difficult job of helping the prime minister overhaul a huge Labour poll lead over the next 12 months.

Leaving No.10 on Monday afternoon, Holden gave a thumbs-up when asked if the Tories could win the election.

As part of his reshuffle, Sunak also dramatically brought David Cameron back into government as foreign secretary.

Suella Braverman has been sacked as home secretary, replaced by James Cleverly.

Meanwhile, Therese Coffey has also been sacked as environment secretary, with Steve Barclay replacing her.

He has been replaced as health secretary by Victoria Atkins, with Laura Trott also being appointed chief secretary to the Treasury as the reshuffle continued.

Share Button

Trump’s ‘Badass’ UFC Entrance Gets Spoiled By 1 Harsh Gesture From The Crowd

Posted on by
Reply

Former President Donald Trump brought along an army of friends with him to watch UFC action at Madison Square Garden this weekend but his entrance didn’t go without two middle fingers from the crowd.

The former president continued shaking hands with the crowd before one woman flipped the double bird in his direction in a clip that has since gone viral.

The woman, who sat beside stand-up comedian Bill Burr, appears to be the comic’s wife Nia Renée Hill.

Social media users on X (formerly Twitter) gave the woman props for giving Trump the bird and called for the image to be put in a museum.

Share Button

Nadine Dorries Slammed After Accusing Michael Gove Of Being Drunk During Pro-Palestine March

Posted on by
Reply

Nadine Dorries has been criticised after she accused Michael Gove was “drunk” as pro-Palestine protesters marched through central London.

The levelling up secretary was heckled as he walked towards Victoria Station on Saturday afternoon.

People chanted “shame on you” at the cabinet minister, who had to be bundled into a police car to escape.

It is understood Gove was being driven back to London from his Surrey Heath constituency, but was forced to get out and walk because the roads were blocked. He was said to be “shaken” following the incident.

On BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this morning, Dorries said: “What was Michael Gove doing in the middle of Victoria Station on a day when any other sentient politician did not want to make the police’s job any harder?

“Was he drunk? What was he doing there? What judgement made him walk through Victoria Station?”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) later, Dorries said: “The point is, he was playing to the gallery. It was a stunt and those of us who have watched his unstable Machiavellian behaviour from the sidelines – his backstabbings, leaking and briefings, we can see right through him. There’s good reason why David Cameron has cast him into the outer darkness.”

Hitting back at Dorries, a source close to Gove told HuffPost UK: “It’s sad really, but she has a book to sell.”

That is a reference to The Plot, the former culture secretary’s book about the downfall of Boris Johnson as prime minister.

Gove’s ex-wife, Sarah Vine, also criticised Dorries on X (formerly Twitter).

Meanwhile, Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, condemned those who had targeted Gove.

Responding to a post on X which said it was “bizarre” for Gove to be walking in central London at that time, he said : “It’s not ‘bizarre’ for Michael Gove to use a major tube/train station. He should be able to travel in peace like everyone else.

“Those acting in this fashion damage their cause and, along with those displaying abhorrent anti-semitism amongst the rally today, must be condemned.”

Share Button

Labour On Course For Landslide Election Victory As Tories Face Wipeout, Mega-Poll Says

Posted on by
Reply

Keir Starmer is on course to lead Labour to an even bigger victory than Tony Blair’s landslide in 1997, according to a major new poll.

The Survation survey of more than 12,000 people for the UK Spirits Alliance predicts the Tories will return just 156 MPs – around 200 less than they have now.

Labour, on the other hand, would see their number of MPs soar to 431, handing Starmer a 212-seat majority.

In 1997, Blair’s New Labour won a majority of 179 and ended up holding on to power for 13 years.

In recent days he has also been embroiled in a row with home secretary Suella Braverman over her article in The Times accusing the police of having a left-wing bias.

Sunak is now under intense pressure from many within his own party to sack the home secretary, but that could spark an angry backlash from right-wing Tory MPs.

Starmer, on the other hand, will be delighted at the poll’s findings, which come despite his own internal problems.

The Labour leader is facing a major rebellion by dozens of his own MPs – including many frontbenchers – over his refusal to support calls for a ceasefire in the Israel/Hamas war.

Share Button

UK Journalists Taken Into Gaza For First Time Describe The ‘Wasteland’ And ‘Hell’ Of War Zone

Posted on by
Reply

Israelis soldiers have started to take international news crews into Gaza, and UK journalists have now reported on the “hell” they’ve discovered in the active war zone.

While reporters inside the Palestinian territory have been covering the war since it began a month ago, foreign journalists are only now being allowed into the Gaza Strip under the surveillance of the Israel Defence Force (IDF).

Israel then declared war, launched a series of air strikes and a ground invasion in the north, while putting the whole of Gaza under siege. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza say more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed so far.

Each broadcaster has made it very clear that they had maintained editorial independence over their own reports, but various parts of the footage had to have IDF approval before it could be released.

The Israeli forces would only take journalists if their reports did not reveal anything about their position.

Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s international editor, released his report into Gaza on Wednesday night.

He explained: “We got out of the back of an armoured vehicle and walked into a wasteland.

“After a month of air strikes and more than a week of tanks and troops, every building I saw was damaged or destroyed.”

The IDF showed each journalist what it described as a weapons factory in a building where a family clearly lived upstairs.

The army told reporters that was an example of Hamas using civilians as human shields.

<div class="js-react-hydrator" data-component-name="YouTube" data-component-id="5213" data-component-props="{"itemType":"video","index":14,"contentIndexByType":1,"contentListType":"embed","code":"

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"BBC News","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC16niRr50-MSBwiO3YDb3RA","cache_age":86400,"description":"Israel is claiming that Hamas has lost control of the north of the Gaza Strip after weeks of intensive Israeli bombardment.\n\nNow the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen has travelled with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into Gaza.\n\nWhile the BBC had editorial control of the report, the section with the IDF has been viewed by them.\n\nThe IDF showed the BBC what they said was a Hamas weapons factory, below a home in which children lived.\n\nThe area which the BBC was shown was a wasteland, with every building badly damaged or destroyed.\n\nClive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Jeremy Bowen.\n\nPlease subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog\n\n#BBCNews","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zhBM23x-nhE/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Special report: Inside Gaza with Israeli forces – BBC News","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhBM23x-nhE","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","slideshowAd":{"scriptTags":[],"otherHtml":""},"slideshowEndCard":{"scriptTags":[],"otherHtml":""},"isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"654cbfb8e4b041b06589eb80","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/uk-journalists-gaza-wasteland-israel_uk_654cbfb8e4b041b06589eb80","entryTagsList":"bbc,channel-4,israel,hamas,gaza,palestinians","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":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":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"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":10},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_slideshow":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"654cbfb8e4b041b06589eb80","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"bbc","slug":"bbc","links":{"relativeLink":"news/bbc","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bbc","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bbc"},"relegenceId":4179017,"section":{"title":"News","slug":"news"},"topic":{"title":"BBC","slug":"bbc","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bbc/"},{"name":"channel 4","slug":"channel-4","links":{"relativeLink":"news/channel-4","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/channel-4","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/channel-4"},"relegenceId":3449948,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/channel-4/"},{"name":"Israel","slug":"israel","links":{"relativeLink":"news/israel","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/israel","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/israel"},"relegenceId":3989007,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/israel/"},{"name":"Hamas","slug":"hamas","links":{"relativeLink":"news/hamas","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hamas","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hamas"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/hamas/"},{"name":"gaza","slug":"gaza","links":{"relativeLink":"news/gaza","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/gaza","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/gaza"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/gaza/"},{"name":"Palestinians","slug":"palestinians","links":{"relativeLink":"news/palestinians","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/palestinians","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/palestinians"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/palestinians/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-1\", \"entry_paragraph_1\", false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline\", \"entry_paragraph_2\", false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-2\", \"entry_paragraph_3\", false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-infinite\", \"repeating_dynamic_display\", false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

Channel 4′s Secunder Kermani also went into Gaza with IDF, and explained: ″Coming here with them is the only way for foreign journalists to get a first hand glimpse of this deadly conflict.”

His report, also released on Wednesday, focused on the Gaza civilians trying to move to the south of the territory, as on Israel’s instructions.

He showed how two Palestinian men were detained for “acting suspiciously”, and filmed how Israeli soldiers called out in Hebrew to the stream of evacuees just in case any Israeli hostages were among the crowds.

Kermani then went to the areas of Gaza which have already been “reduced to rubble in an Israeli strike”, and explained “this is the hell they are running from” in the north.

Share Button