Tag Archives: Politics

Putin’s Top Diplomat Revives One Of Russia’s Most Toxic Claims – And Turns It Against The UK

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Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat has attacked Europe once again as Ukraine’s allies make grinding progress with US-brokered peace talks.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused the UK, France, Belgium and the Baltic States of “resurrecting” Nazism in a fresh takedown of the continent.

Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 by falsely claiming the country needed to be “denazified” and “demilitarised”.

Almost four years later, that excuse has returned – but is now being levelled at Ukraine’s allies, all while they are trying to negotiate a peace deal.

Europe has tried to water down Donald Trump’s pro-Kremlin peace plan so it does not end up sacrificing too much of Ukraine’s sovereignty, or rewarding Putin for his aggression.

These efforts have, unsurprisingly, not been welcomed in the Kremlin.

Russia has long criticised Ukraine’s allies for supporting the beleaguered country throughout the war.

Putin has also been dragging his feet in early peace talks, refusing to compromise on any of his maximalist goals.

Speaking to Iranian broadcasters on Monday – hours after European leaders held crunch talks over the Ukraine war – senior Putin aide Lavrov attacked the continent yet again.

Without any evidence, he said: “The saddest and the most hazardous thing is that the theory and practices of Nazism are being resurrected in Europe, primarily in Brussels but also in Berlin, London, Paris, not to mention the Baltic States.”

He also claimed: “Europe is waging a war with us once again with Ukrainians under a Nazi flag, using European money, instructors and all Western intelligence and reconnaissance data while Europe is pumping Ukraine with increasingly more modern weapons.”

Russia started the war by invading Ukraine in a land grab and now controls a fifth of its land.

Western leaders have repeatedly expressed fears that if Russia were permitted to seize Ukrainian land, Putin would come back for territory and eat into Europe.

Lavrov then appeared to wipe out Ukraine’s history altogether.

He said: “Another threat consists of cancelling everything Russian in territories which used to be inhabited by Russians for many centuries and which had a Russian culture and history but happened to become part of Ukraine.”

He also alleged: “Europe is like a failed doctor who struggles to diagnose his patients and opts for randomly prescribing pills or mixtures to ease the symptoms, if only for a brief moment.

“These Europeans doctors have been unwilling to come up with a diagnosis.”

Russia is yet to respond officially to the new proposals from Europe around ending the war – but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov suggested Moscow remained unwilling to compromise.

He said: “We want to stop this war, achieve our goals, secure our interests, and guarantee peace in Europe for the future. That’s what we want.”

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Huge Boost For Zack Polanski As Five Labour Councillors Defect To Greens

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Five Labour councillors have defected to the Greens in a further boost for party leader Zack Polanski.

The politicians, who sit on Brent Council, said they had become disillusioned with Labour’s direction under Keir Starmer.

It is the biggest mass defection from Labour to the Greens as the environmental party continues to enjoy a surge in support.

The five defectors include Harabi Farah, a former cabinet member on the council, and former Labour whip Iman Ahmadi Moghaddam.

Polanski said: “The Green surge has just widened in London.

“What we’re witnessing in Brent mirrors what we’re hearing across the country on doorsteps and in polls.

“Good Labour councillors can see Labour has abandoned any sense of progressive politics and is showing absolute cowardice in its doomed attempt to out Reform, Reform with the politics of division and scapegoating.

“Increasingly, people are finding the alternative they need by joining the Green Party and working for a better world shaped by hope rather than fear.

“In the elections in May, it is the Greens who will be taking the fight to Reform and we show our intent today in Brent. This is just the start.”

The chair of the London Green Party Federation, Eugene McCarthy, said: “This huge defection reflects what we are hearing on the doorstep. Labour aren’t prepared for what’s coming in May’s local elections.”

The Brent division of the Green Party also welcomed the news, saying: “Brent is the most diverse borough in London, rich in history and culture, yet years of Labour and Tory austerity have taken a heavy toll.

“Services continue to shrink, in-work poverty is rising, families are under pressure, and local businesses face growing uncertainty. In one of the world’s wealthiest cities, such inequality is indefensible.”

Polanski was only elected Green leader in September, and has overseen a huge boost in the polls for the fringe party and soaring membership.

As of December, the Greens has more than 180,000 members – meaning it has more than doubled in the last three months, and overtaken the Conservative Party in membership numbers.

Researchers at Opinium also found Polanski is the most popular party leader in the UK recently.

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Andy Burnham Says Latest Labour Leadership Stories Are ‘Rubbish’. But MPs Aren’t Convinced

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Andy Burnham has described reports he wants to become an MP again before May as “rubbish”.

However, Labour MPs are convinced the Manchester mayor is eyeing a speedy return to Westminster so he can be in position to run for the party leadership if Keir Starmer is ousted.

Voters will go to the polls on May 7 next year for elections to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd and councils across England.

Opinion polls suggest Labour is heading for a catastrophic result, which could trigger a leadership challenge to the prime minister.

Burnham, who quit Westminster in 2017 so he could run to become mayor of Greater Manchester, would need to be an MP again to stand for the top job.

He was accused of plotting to replace the PM during the Labour conference in September, when he made a number of criticisms of the party leadership.

According to newspaper reports today, Burnham has held talks about standing in a by-election before May.

Although Burnham passed up the opportunity to comment before the stories were published in the Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday, he did post a reaction on X this morning.

He said: “Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today. Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place.”

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Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today. Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place!

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Quite a lot of rubbish in the papers today. Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place!

— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) December 14, 2025

But one of his supporters told the Mail on Sunday: “It’s happening. We are on the brink of securing a seat which is likely to come free shortly and where the polls say Andy would beat Reform.”

It is understood that would most likely be the Gorton and Denton seat currently held by former minister Andrew Gwynne, who was suspended by Labour in February over offensive messages he sent WhatsApp messages and is currently on long-term sick leave.

In a statement to The Times in September, Gwynne said: “In order to end the tedious speculation about my seat while I’m trying to recover from a period of ill health, it is my intention to serve the full term.

“The route to No 10 is not going to be through Gorton and Denton.”

But one MP told HuffPost UK: “Andy is gagging for a seat before May. Why wouldn’t he be? He knows that he needs to be ready in parliament for the local election results in May. Andrew Gwynne’s is the seat he will go for.”

A former Labour frontbencher said: “Burnham has spoken to other MPs who might fancy going but hasn’t been able to get a deal.”

Gwynne is thought to be coming under pressure from senior Labour figures in his constituency to stand down to make way for Burnham, but it will ultimately be up to government chief whip Jonathan Reynolds to authorise a by-election.

Another MP said: “There’s a significant number of us livid that he’s undermining the PM at every turn. He’s overestimating his support at Westminster.

“If he wanted to stand for parliament, he had an opportunity last year to run at the general election.

“We also can’t afford to have a mayoral by-election at the same time as he purports to want to have a leadership contest at the very top of the party during the course of summer 2026. It’s incredible.”

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said Labour politicians should “focus on the day job” of delivering for the public rather than indulging in leadership speculation.

She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I think that all of us in Government and in the Labour Party have a responsibility to focus on the day job and to get on with delivering for the British people.

“I was on your show just a few weeks ago, and I made this point that every single minute you have in government is precious, and it’s a huge privilege and an honour to be the government of your country, and we mustn’t waste a single second of it.

“So actually, this is on the whole of the government and all of the parliamentary Labour Party and the whole Labour movement to make sure we don’t waste a single second of the time that we have in government.”

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