Tag Archives: Politics

Ex-Republican Lawmaker Predicts What Trump’s Going To Start Doing On Day 1

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Donald Trump is going to start revising history to suit himself as soon as he takes office, former Representative David Jolly (Florida) predicted over the weekend.

“I think one of the things Donald Trump wants to do this term, starting on day one, is rewrite history,” Jolly, who served as a Republican in Congress but later renounced his affiliation with the Republican Party, told MSNBC’s Alex Witt. “We’re going to see it on Covid, having RFK Jr there. We’re going to see it on Russia, having Tulsi Gabbard there. We’re going to see it with a lot of the prosecutions by having Kash Patel there, should these people get confirmed.”

Jolly was referring to Trump’s picks for health secretary, national intelligence director and FBI director respectively. Critics have sounded the alarm over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine scepticism, Gabbard’s sympathetic views toward Russia, and Patel’s fondness for dangerous conspiracy theories and his fixation on Trump’s supposed enemies.

“I think we’re also going to see a retelling of January 6,” Jolly went on. “And the question is, does that start with his inauguration speech? Or is it something that happens by way of pardons? Or is it a prosecution — an attempted prosecution — of Liz Cheney?”

“I do think Donald Trump wants to rewrite history,” he concluded. “And to do that, he’s going to force upon the American people a narrative that largely is untrue, but that he hopes, with conservative media’s influence, he can win out with.”

Trump has vowed to pardon people convicted for participating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Trump’s favour.

Even though the majority of those serving substantial prison time committed violent crimes, including assaulting law enforcement officers, the president-elect has referred to them as “peaceful January 6 protesters” and “hostages” who were unfairly prosecuted.

He’s also made threatening comments about former Representative Liz Cheney (Republican, Wyoming), warning that she “could be in a lot of trouble” for serving on the House panel that investigated the attack. He’s said that he believes members of the panel “should go to jail.”

Trump has a penchant for revisionist history, with a pattern of walking back promises, deflecting blame for his failures and dubiously taking credit for successes. He pledged during his 2024 campaign to reduce the prices of “everything,” but has already admitted since his victory that it’s “hard to bring things down once they’re up.”

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‘Worst Of All Worlds’: Fresh Blow For Rachel Reeves As Businesses Make Gloomy Forecast For 2025

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Rachel Reeves has been dealt yet another blow as businesses warned the UK economy is “headed for the worst of all worlds” in 2025.

A survey by the Confederation of British Industry found firms expected to reduce both output and hiring at the start of the New Year.

They said the chancellor’s decision to hike employers’ National Insurance in the Budget in October was one of the reasons for the slump in confidence.

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics revealed this morning that the economy flatlined between July and September – Labour’s first three months in power – having previously said it had grown by 0.1%.

Alpesh Paleja, the CBI’s interim deputy chief economist, said: “There is little festive cheer in our latest surveys, which suggest that the economy is headed for the worst of all worlds – firms expect to reduce both output and hiring, and price growth expectations are getting firmer.

“Businesses continue to cite the impact of measures announced in the Budget – particularly the rise in employer NICs – exacerbating an already tepid demand environment.

“As we head into 2025, firms are looking to the government to boost confidence and to give them a reason to invest, whether that’s long overdue moves to reform the apprenticeship levy, supporting the health of the workforce through increased occupational health incentives or a reform of business rates.

“In the longer term, businesses will be looking to the industrial strategy to provide the stability and certainty which can unlock innovation and investment – and provide that much-needed growth for the economy which can deliver prosperity for firms and households alike.”

The CBI survey is yet more grim news for Reeves and prime minister Keir Starmer, who have pledged that Labour will have the fastest growing economy in the G7 by the time of the next election.

Lasy week the ONS said gross domestic product (GDP) actually fell by 0.1% in October, just as it did in September, raising fears that the UK could be heading for recession in 2025.

Meanwhile, inflation increased to 2.6%, and the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said “uncertainty” caused by the Budget meant interest rates will stay higher for longer.

Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “Since taking office, the Chancellor has made this country a hostile climate for aspiration, for investment and for growth. Rachel Reeves’s tax-raising spree and trash-talking her economic inheritance are literally killing businesses and jobs.

“If there is a recession – and based on these CBI expectations that seems increasingly likely – it will be one made in Downing Street.

“Labour needs to urgently change course before the damage they are doing becomes even greater.”

Responding to the ONS revising down economic growth between July and September, Reeves said: “The challenge we face to fix our economy and properly fund our public finances after 15 years of neglect is huge. But this is only fuelling our fire to deliver for working people.”

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Peter Mandelson To Be Named Britain’s Ambassador To America

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Peter Mandelson is to become the UK’s next ambassador to the United States.

The Labour peer and former cabinet minister is expected to take up the role in the New Year.

He will take over from Dame Karen Pierce, the current ambassador, whose tenure is will come to an end at the start of 2025.

A government source said: “The fact the prime minister has chosen to make a political appointment and send Lord Mandelson to Washington shows just how importantly we see our relationship with the Trump administration.

“We’re sending someone close to the prime minister with unrivalled political and policy experience, particularly on the crucial issue of trade. He’s the ideal candidate to represent the UK’s economic and security interests in the USA.”

Lord Mandelson served in government under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who controversially made him a peer to bring him back into the cabinet as business secretary in 2008.

The former MP for Hartlepool had been the Britain’s European commissioner since 2004.

Last month, the Labour peer told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show last month that he would be “very interested” in giving advice on trade to whoever became the UK’s ambassador to America.

He said: “Can I just make the point if you don’t mind: nobody has spoken to me about this job.

“I read about it in the papers but nobody has actually spoken to me about it, so let’s put it to one side.”

Pushed further on whether he would be interested in the role, the former government minister said: “I would be very interested indeed in giving advice about trade to whoever is appointed.”

Lord Mandelson also said last month that the government should consider using Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as a “bridge” to president-elect Trump and Elon Musk.

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‘They Are Shameless’: Labour Ministers Accused Of ‘Betrayal’ For Refusing To Compensate Waspi Women

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Labour ministers have been accused of “betrayal” after ruling out compensation for women who lost out when the rules over when they received their state pension were changed.

Keir Starmer was among those who gave their support to the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign when the party was in opposition.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall told MPs on Tuesday that it would not be “a fair or proportionate use of taxpayers’ money” to pay up to £10.5 billion to those affected.

That was despite the parliamentary and health service ombudsman ruling that the women should be compensated due to mistakes made in the way the changes to their pension age were communicated to them.

Women’s state pension age was increased from 60 to 65 so it was equal with men’s between 2010 and 2018.

But the campaigners insisted they were not adequately informed about the change.

Speaking in 2022, Starmer said the Waspi women were the victims of “a real injustice”, adding: “We need to do something about it.”

Kendall herself was also pictured with a sign saying: “I will work with Waspi to identify and deliver a fair solution for all women affected.”

Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, re-posted the picture on X and said: “The Labour secretary of state is currently stating that her government will not provide any financial compensation to the Waspi women. They are shameless.”

Waspi chairwoman Angela Madden said: “The government has today made an unprecedented political choice to ignore the clear recommendations of an independent watchdog which ordered ministers urgently to compensate Waspi women nine months ago.

“This is a bizarre and totally unjustified move which will leave everyone asking what the point of an ombudsman is if ministers can simply ignore their decisions.

“It feels like a decision that would make the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump blush.”

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‘A Reverse Robin Hood’: Kemi Badenoch Accused Of Supporting ‘Massive Tax Cuts For The Rich’

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Kemi Badenoch has been criticised after saying a flat rate of income tax for everyone in the country is an “attractive idea”.

Labour accused the Tory leader of being “a reverse Robin Hood” because the policy would mean “massive” tax cuts for the rich.

They also compared her to former Tory prime minister Liz Truss, who was forced from office after her plans for huge unfunded tax cuts caused economic chaos.

Under the current tax system, workers pay higher rates of income tax as their salaries increase.

Appearing at an event on Monday, Badenoch was asked is she supported replacing that with a flat tax rate, with everyone paying the same regardless of their income.

She replied: “It’s very attractive but if we’re going to get to that sort of scenario there’s a lot of work we will need to do first.

“We cannot afford flat taxes where we are now. We need to make sure we rewire our economy so that we can lighten the burden of tax and of regulation on individuals, and on those businesses that are just starting out in particular.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “Kemi’s reverse Robin Hood would mean massive tax cuts for the rich, paid for by everyone else.

“While Labour protects working people with no tax rises on their payslips, the Tories are bringing out the ghost of Christmas past with these Truss-style tax cuts for millionaires.

“They haven’t listened and they haven’t learnt.”

At the same event on Monday, Badenoch also suggested that the UK’s regulatory standards were too high – but that she supported them.

She said: “Where we continue regulating ourselves at very high standards – which we should do – but in a way that other countries don’t follow, which puts us at a disadvantage, which means that there’s no level of playing field if you’re a farmer, for example, and many others. And we need to start thinking differently.”

A senior Labour source told HuffPost UK: “I don’t get how anyone could follow each clause of that sentence and have a clue what she is suggesting.”

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‘That’s A Sickness’: Donald Trump Criticizes Fans Of Shooting Suspect Luigi Mangione

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President-elect Donald Trump called the glorification of shooting suspect Luigi Mangione a “sickness,” criticising people who have celebrated the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York earlier this month.

“I think it’s really terrible that some people seem to admire him, like him. And I was happy to see that it wasn’t specific to this gentleman that was killed. It’s just an overall sickness as opposed to a specific sickness,” Trump said on Monday during a wide-ranging press conference in Florida.

“It was cold-blooded, just a cold-blooded, horrible killing,” he went on. “And how people can like this guy is — that’s a sickness, actually. That’s really very bad. The way it was done. It was so bad. Right in the back. Very bad.”

Trump also suggested that some of the gleeful online posts about Thompson’s death could be fake, adding that “it’s hard to believe that that could even be thought of, but it seems there’s a certain appetite for him. I don’t get it.”

Mangione, 26, has been charged with murder in Thompson’s killing. He was arrested in Pennsylvania last week and remains in custody there. Police said his fingerprints match prints that investigators found on a water bottle and a granola bar wrapper near the scene of the shooting in Manhattan.

Mangione described his anger toward corporate America in a “manifesto” published last week. Words etched on shell casings at the scene ― “deny,” “defend,” “depose” ― also echoed a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims.

Some people online have expressed support for Mangione and glee over the death of a top health industry CEO. Others condemned the killing but said the industry deserves the scorn and criticism, due to insurance practices that prioritise profits over people’s lives and well-being.

“All of that pain that people have experienced is being concentrated on this event,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters last week. “It’s really important that we take a step back, this is not to comment and this is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them.”

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Marjorie Taylor Greene Slammed For Saying Vaccines Cause Autism

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The congresswoman declared on social media that she believes in the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism, a claim that has been researched again and again and found to be baseless.

“I fully believe vaccines cause Autism,” Greene wrote on X, formerly Twitter. ”It’s another example of crimes against humanity. And innocent babies, children, and their families are the victims.”

Greene’s post quickly received a community note pointing out that “the scientific literature on this is so extensive, that claiming otherwise can only be explained through sheer ignorance, or some sort of nefarious political purpose.”

The note included links to many, many sources explaining the issue in more detail.

Greene’s post got quite a bit of attention, and a great deal of mockery.

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Zelenskyy Calls On World To Be ‘United’ Against Putin As UK Says Russia Is Making ‘Further Gains’ In Ukraine

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the world to be “united and stronger than ever” against Vladimir Putin as the UK said Russia is making “further gains” in Ukraine.

According to the latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence, Moscow’s troops are advancing on the “key logistical hub” of Pokrovsk in Donetsk after gaining control of the nearby village of Shevchenko.

In a post on X, the MoD said: “Russia will likely continue to make gains towards Pokrovsk whilst continuing to advance westwards to the south of the town.”

Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, revealed that in the last week alone, Russia has used nearly 630 guided aerial bombs, around 550 strike drones, and over 100 missiles against his country.

He said: “I am grateful to the warriors defending Ukraine and to our partners who understand our need to bolster Ukraine’s air defences to save the lives of our people.

“Now, the world must be united and stronger than ever. Only through strength can we together force Russia and its allies to give up terror and achieve a just peace.”

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has also announced that Ukraine will support humanitarian efforts in Syria following the fall of its former president, Bashar al-Assad.

He said: “For Ukraine, this is important: the calmer the situation in such regions, the more actively the world can help us achieve peace.

“It is precisely for this reason that Moscow tries so hard to ignite more conflicts and wars in various parts of the world, fuelling instability and adding to global challenges.”

The president said a “grain from Ukraine” programme would allow his country to provide Syria with food.

“We call on everyone worldwide to join stabilisation efforts to ensure that the war—ignited over a decade ago in Syria with the involvement of Iran and Russia—can finally come to an end,” he said in a post on X.

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Susanna Reid Brutally Slams Chris Philp Over The Tories’ Record As She Defends Migrants

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Susanna Reid has criticised Chris Philp over the Tories’ record in office as she mounted a passionate defence of migrants.

Philp had used his own appearance on the programme to criticise Labour over the high numbers of asylum seekers who are still crossing the English Channel on small boats.

Asked for her views on the subject, Reid said: “I think that successive governments have failed to tell a positive story on immigration. We rely on immigration to run our public services, to grow our economy.

“But there is huge concern about how we support the immigrants who come, and with all due respect to Chris Philp, how he can lecture the current government on immigration when it was under the previous government that legal net migration by almost a million is remarkable.

“Anybody is going to be worried that if you have that scale of legal migrants coming in how are you going to support them with the NHS and housing.

“What governments need to do is say ’we need migrants, they are positive and valuable contributors to our society, but this is the number roughly we need.”

Reid also attacked Labour’s pledge to lower immigration, saying: “That makes it sound like immigration is a bad thing – we’re going to lower it because immigrants are bad.

“But they’re not bad, and then you hand over the political argument to Reform and a sort of Faragist proposal on one in, one out.”

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Yvette Cooper Repeatedly Refuses To Say When Small Boat Crossings Will Fall

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Home secretary Yvette Cooper has repeatedly failed to say when the number of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats will come down.

Keir Starmer pledged to “smash the gangs” controlling the people smuggling operation before the election, but thousands more have made the dangerous journey since then.

On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC 1 this morning, Cooper said the number of crossings was “deeply damaging” and “puts lives at risk”.

Kuenssberg asked her: “The question that our viewers watching and listening to you have is when will they see a difference?

“People see the numbers continuing to go up. People see more hotels being used to house people without permission in their towns.

“So when can people expect to see a difference? When can you expect to see the numbers of small boats coming down if you’re approach is the right one?”

After the home secretary appeared to dodge the question, Kuenssberg said: “I do think the question that people want to know is when will we see a difference?

“This government now seems to be fond of giving us timelines and targets and milestones. So when can people expect to see a difference, to see the number of boat crossings coming down, to see the number of asylum hotels coming down too?”

Cooper said the government was cutting the existing backlog of asylum claims.

Trying a third time to get an answer, the presenter said: “I will ask you again. When can our viewers expect to see the numbers making small boat crossings – putting their lives at risk trying to get to the UK – when can they expect that to come down?

Cooper said: “Of course we want to see the boat crossings come down as rapidly as possible. What we’re not going to do is deal with this by slogans.”

Kuenssberg then told her: “But home secretary, this is not about slogans. When it comes to something like waiting lists and the NHS, the government is very happy to put targets on that and say ‘measure us by whether we hit those’.

“When it comes to kids’ education, the government’s been very happy to put a target on that and say ‘judge us by this measure’.

“When it comes to this issue, you won’t give us a yardstick by when people can expect a significant difference. Why not, because it makes it feel like it’s not a priority to the government in the way that some other issues are.”

But Cooper said: “We’ve made clear that border security is one of the foundational issues, before you get to any of the missions. We’ve been clear that we need to reduce both legal migration and illegal migration.

“There is a history of home secretaries and prime ministers making grand promises, but never actually having a proper plan. The approach we’re taking to this is step by step.

“We are putting in place the things that we need – the agreements with other countries, the stronger returns arrangements, much stronger law enforcement, the operations with Germany to go after the smuggler supply chains, the operations with Italy to go after the illicit finance.”

She added: “I think we’re being really clear and straight with people about the complexity of this because the gimmicks did not work.”

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