Politics
Conor Boyle: If we want Britain to be better, we need a radically different Civil Service
Conor Boyle is a young conservative and unionist from Northern Ireland, an Oxford graduate, and now works in the financial services sector.
Civil service reform used to be a topic reserved for genuine political anoraks, and A-Level politics teachers, but if we want the country to succeed, it’s going to have to become an issue on all our lips.
The permanent system of government in the United Kingdom is often heralded as a model of good administration.
We’re told that the British model is the ‘Rolls Royce” Civil Service, capable of governing a vast global Empire and achieving some heroic feats. This is all very much in the past. And the issues with today’s civil service are the major roadblocks to a building a more successful, prosperous, efficient Britain. The are, to my mind, two serious problems. The first is the mentality and culture of our bureaucracy, and the second is the inability to do anything about it.
On the civil service themselves, without being impolite to our public servants, but I highly doubt many of the current crop would have made it in the days when Wellington or Disraeli were running the British Government. I have heard commentators from Tony Young to Dominic Cummings lay the decline in calibre of our public servants at the feet of the push to remove the aristocracy (who they argue felt a mitral burden of duty and service to the country) in favour of a merit-based system unveiled after the Northcote-Trevelyan reforms.
I’m not sure how much there is to this theory, I don’t propose to explore it further. My initial gripe is that, at the moment, we don’t have a meritocratic civil service, and culture turns away good, able, energetic young people before they reach senior positions. This is undoubtedly true. Seventy years ago, let’s say, the top graduates of our great universities would bite your hand off for a job in the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence, and many more government departments and agencies alike.
While may talented youngsters are, of course, still applying to become diplomats and what-not, it is no longer the case that the civil service attracts talent on a scale even close to the private sector. Consider that, a century ago, the type of young person being recruited for the likes of Stripe or SpaceX, seen a career in the Home Civil Service as having a greater level attractiveness to a private venture.
Now, it’s not even close.
Never-mind the super and futuristic companies mentioned above, the Civil Service can’t even compete with the relatively run-of-the-mill private sector jobs in London and the South-east. Part of this is money, of course (although, not if you subscribe to the argument about aristocrats and their love of service) but it’s also something deeper; the feeling that you’ll achieve something, be part of something special or important in a fast-paced private sector role; whereas in the civil service there is a perception – borne out by reality these days – that your job would be to push the pen and watch a managed decline.
Now, there will be a sort-of chicken and egg argument here about which caused which. Did the civil service stop attracting the best and brightest because Britain is no longer a great power, or did we stop being a great power because the talent intake dried up. The answer to that question I do not have, but I’m not sure that’s even the most important point.
The point is that the current civil service cannot hold a candle to its former self, and the country is suffering as a result. Readers who are alive in modern Britain will not need a reminder of this. Infrastructure projects don’t get built, or when they do, they’re very late and more costly than ‘anticipated’, the government can’t manage large data sets without losing some of it, there’s no joined-up or long-term thinking when it comes to procurement, the services provided are inefficient and the negotiating skill leaves a lot to be desired.
The reason for all of this, in my view, is the lack of a proper incentive structure. On the one hand, it appears nearly impossible to be dismissed from the civil service for not being very good, and there appears to be no consequences for catastrophic failure. On the other, there is neither the political will nor the public appetite to provide large rewards for a job done really well.
It seems to be an unfortunate truth that civil servants can fail upwards.
Doing the job, having held the very eminent position, is an achievement in itself. It’s the sort of London dinner party mentality that says, “ooh what an impressive title he’s got”. Despite the fact that the public have been broadly unimpressed by the performance of the NHS for the last ten or fifteen years, all permanent secretaries in the Department of Health leave with not only their generous pension package, but with a knighthood.
The gong, which ought to be awarded for having done something good, worthwhile or impressive, is merely a perk of the job, regardless of how well or badly the job is actually done. This is surely bizarre.
The other big problem is the political impossibility of changing any of this.
Any notion of substantial reform to the civil service is met with the howls of derision, and firm clutching of pearls.
The high-pitched screeches of “politicization” can be heard from all directions. To me, this is a sort of luxury belief that merely exists to ensure that entrenched interests aren’t disrupted by the will of the voters if they prove too radical. Just a few years ago I might’ve called that view a conspiracy theory, but I believe it’s as clear as day now. In the early twentieth century, a Labour government would’ve complained that the Whitehall mandarin was obstructing their programme, and the civil service was broadly a soft-Tory institution.
Today, the civil service would probably be described accurately as socially liberal, fairly internationalist/multilateralist and somewhat Keynesian in their economic philosophy. Obviously, this is painting with a broad brush, and I want to avoid the claim often made some on the right that the civil service is rabidly left wing or anything of the sort. I don’t think there’s much malign intent here, just a relatively common “do-gooder” attitude to the politics. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a perfectly legislate world view.
The problem is that it stays constant in the heart of the British government even as the voters opt for a different direction of government from election to election. It is bizarre to me that “politicized” carries such weight as an insult, surely we want the officials implementing government policies to be invested in the policies’ success.
As such, I would be in favour of a new system which allowed ministers to appoint senior civil servants to oversee the implementation of the Government’s programme, including Permanent Secretaries. Minister should have trusted advisers who also believe in the mission they are carrying out. I believe there are lots of benefits that would come from this.
Firstly, I think the quality of our public discourse would be enhanced markedly because think tanks would be empowered and become a much more important institution in British politics. This is because, when a party is in opposition, the would-be political appointees in the civil service will not be employed by the state and so would take up roles in think tanked which are broadly aligned to their political masters’ tastes.
For instance, young, smart thinkers on the right would spend these years in the likes of the Institute for Economic Affairs, Adam Smith Institute, or the Centre for Policy Studies, building up the knowledge and intricate detail of policy and implementation. As the think tanks grow stronger with high calibre, passionate, intakes, their production of research, papers, memos will be strengthened. As such, on both sides, our politicians will be well-armed with the facts, arguments and intuition for all of the policy ideas that are floating around our political system.
Secondly, the state will be better run with outsiders and true believers being responsible for policy. Under this type of regime, civil servants could properly be held to account in front of Parliament, because the old rules would no longer apply. This means that those responsible for projects that go wrong can be dismissed forthwith. Most importantly, ministers will, for the first time in decades, be in control of their departments. Currently, as I see it, a Minister of the Crown is a glorified press secretary for their department who answers to the press and on the floor of the House of Commons. The tortured metaphor of “pulling the lever but nothing working” would be consigned to the dustbin of history, because ministers would be directing officials who are loyal to the Government’s policy programme. The institutional power base of the Civil Service, which is considerable to say the least, will be significantly weakened by the ability of a minister to appoint trusted confidants to positions within the command structure of a department.
It is always the political moderates in our society today – the Lib Dems, Tory wets and the New Labour crowd – who are most appalled by this idea. It’s the sort of people (and their voters) who stand to lose most from a government with a radical vision (in any ideological direction). Thus, the compliant about “politicizing” the civil service is one they make rather disingenuously. Currently, I would argue that the administrative state is akin to a Blairite think tank. The political bias of the current system suits them nicely. It’s not that they’re trying to protect a truly neutral system. What I’m proposing is to simply make the political bias more open and honest, so that no one is under any illusions or pretences.
It goes without saying that this more radical reform can only come after getting the basics right. Restore appointment and promotion based on ability alone, removing any quotas or requirement on the basis of immutable characteristics, looking beyond university graduates alone for top jobs, end promotion and pay policy based on seniority or length of service in favour of a performance-based system, and begin the long-overdue process of downsizing much of the Civil Service to reduce overmanning.
This is necessary, so that decisions taken by Governments are implemented without needless layers of bureaucracy and second-guessing by well-meaning officials. And when the policy is delivered, its success or failure can be judged, and decision-makers held to account. This is good for democracy. This is good for Britain.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Donald Trump is determined to secure a peace deal to end the Ukraine war before the US midterm elections later this year.
The Ukrainian president previously claimed that the White House wants the conflict to draw to a close by June.
He has since warned that the US needs to put apply more pressure to Russia if it wants the war to end by summer.
Moscow is allegedly still deliberating over attending the next round of trilateral talks in Miami.
Trump started his second term in office last year by declaring that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
The conflict is now approaching its fourth anniversary at the end of this month, and Russia continues to drag its feet over negotiations.
The US president has continually blamed Ukraine for the delay, however.
He is desperate to get some kind of deal over the line, as soon as possible – even if that means rewarding Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
Speaking to The Atlantic, Zelenskyy said the most “advantageous situation for Trump is to do this before the midterms” in November.
He added: “Yes, he wants there to be less deaths. But, if you and I are talking like adults, it’s just a victory for him, a political one.”
Zelenskyy also claimed ending the Russia-Ukraine war would be Trump’s “no.1 legacy”.
The Republican Party is expected to take a beating at the midterms.
However, the Ukrainian president continues to hold onto his red lines in the negotiating process – while trying to offer up something new to keep the US president on side.
Trump has repeated Kremlin claims that Zelenskyy is a “dictator” for staying in his post longer than his term, even though Ukrainian martial law imposed during wartime prohibits elections.
So Zelenskyy said Ukraine will hold elections once it has security guarantees in place and a ceasefire with Russia.
He said the idea of holding the election during the war came from Moscow because “they want to get rid of me”.
The Ukrainian president continued: “No one is clinging to power.
“I am ready for elections. But for that we need security, guarantees of security, a ceasefire.”
“We’ve never been against ending the war. It’s the Russians who have shown they are not ready for a dialogue,” he said.
Zelenskyy said Moscow should use this time before the midterms to “end the war while President Trump is really interested in that”.
The president also acknowledged elements of Trump’s peace deal – such as US security guarantees – have not been nailed down yet, and called for all of their terms to be “written out.”
It should then be put to the Ukrainian people in a public vote, according to Kyiv.
“I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum,” Zelenskyy added, noting that while Ukrainians are “in a hurry to end the war” they do not want to rush to cut a deal.
Zelenskyy will meet with prime minister Keir Starmer, US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and French president Emmanuel Macron at the annual Munich Security Conference, where peace in Ukraine is set to be discussed.
But Russia continues to hold onto its maximalist goals with Ukraine, insisting on taking more territory.
A High Court judge has ruled this morning, 13 February 2026, that the government’s ban on anti-genocide action group Palestine Action was “disproportionate” and breaches the human rights of UK people.
Palestine Action NOT a terrorist group (obviously)
However, the ‘proscription’ remains in place for at least another week while the government has a chance to prepare submissions on the court’s finding. It remains a criminal offence, for the time being, to express support for Palestine Action. Police should, of course, weigh whether it’s worth arresting people when no prosecutions are likely, but their record suggests they won’t.
Zack Polanski perhaps summed up the verdict the best:
A court has ruled that the government’s authoritarian ban on Palestine Action was unlawful.
Time to stop criminalising the people protesting a genocide – and start ending the UK’s complicity.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 13, 2026
Meanwhile, on the ground, supporters of Palestine Action were jubilant.
The decision was made by a panel of judges who all have strong links to Israel, underscoring just how far the Starmer regime overstepped human rights legislation. It is almost certain to try to appeal, despite the exposed web of lies it created to try to justify the ban.
Outside the court, supporters were holding signs saying “I support Palestine Action”. These were the exact same ones that saw police people in their 1000s last year. Yet on 13 February, as far as the Canary team on the ground could tell no one was today:
The full judgment is available here.
Featured image via the Canary
In recent decades, a huge wave of dental tourism has been expanding worldwide, driven by people seeking quick solutions to their dental problems. Today, social, professional, and personal approval play a significant role in how we are perceived, and a perfect smile is essential for fitting into a society where the growth of the internet and social media has increased the pressure to present a beautiful and confident image.
Taking care of your teeth, keeping them white, and so on has become just as important as any other cosmetic surgery on our bodies. People look for the best deals and the best dentists in a single clinic, dental tourism has become a great option in recent years, when patients cannot find what we mentioned in their countries of origin.
The most popular countries for dental tourism are:
● Türkiye: Without a doubt, this wonderful country has become a great option in Europe because it offers packages for tourists not only to visit exotic and historical places but also to enjoy its dental services at an affordable price.
● Mexico: In Latin America and the North, this country is a great option since dental procedures are very expensive in places like Canada and the United States.
● Vietnam: This country is ideal in the Asian part because they train excellent professionals and are ideal for offering good prices without lowering quality standards.
There are also other ideal countries for dental tourism, such as Costa Rica, Colombia, Dubai, Poland, among others.
What are the most sought-after dental procedures in the world?
- ORTHODONTICS: Undoubtedly, crooked or gapped teeth are among the biggest factors that lower a person’s mood and dental aesthetics. Orthodontics is an ideal procedure to correct these types of problems, as well as bite malformations. It involves placing a series of metal appliances that, over the months, gradually tighten the teeth and move them into their correct position.
- TEETH WHITENING: It is one of the most used procedures since most people in the world suffer from tooth stains at least once in their lives for various reasons, whether the most common ones, such as not having proper oral hygiene or the consumption of tobacco, cigarettes, tea, or mate, among others. Sometimes it turns into tartar and this can only be removed by the doctor using special equipment.
- DENTAL IMPLANTS: When we lose one or more teeth, it’s possible to replace them through this procedure, which, although more complex, is a valid option. A screw is placed in the tooth root, and once the osseointegration process is complete, a custom-made prosthesis, matched to the natural tooth colour, is then attached.
- DENTAL CROWNS: They are used after the implant and act in place of the missing tooth, they are made of a biocompatible material with the mouth, they are made to measure for each patient, they are made with the natural color of the tooth and they are placed permanently, the patient automatically recovers the aesthetic and chewing function of the mouth.
- DENTAL VENEERS: These are “caps” so called because of their manufacturing method, which cover imperfections of natural teeth such as stains, cracks, crooked teeth, etc. They are made in the same color and help to make the smile beautiful and perfect.
- HOLLYWOOD SMILE: It is undoubtedly most sought after by those who practice dental tourism; its name is derived from the way famous people in film and television have a beautiful and enviable smile. The professionals provide individual assistance to each patient when it comes to this treatment, as each one is evaluated and given the procedures they need to achieve a Hollywood smile.
These are just some of the many dental procedures performed in various clinics, where patients go with the assurance of receiving top-quality care at competitive prices. Among the outstanding clinics, we must mention the dental clinic called Dentakay, located in Istanbul, Turkey, famous for its excellent price packages that include not only treatment but also pre- and post-treatment services, as well as the opportunity for patients to explore historical sites in the country, thus enhancing their dental tourism experience.
‘Lady’ Victoria Hervey — ex-partner to disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — went on LBC to smear the late Virginia Giuffre, who serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein abused for years before she lost her life to suicide in 2025.
Unrepentant
Giuffre dedicated her life campaigning against sexual abuse. Despite that, Windsor, notwithstanding his position in the royal family, denied having had a relationship or contact with Giuffre. The release of the ‘Epstein files’ revealed the disgraced ex-royal to be the dishonest party. He did know her and the infamous image of them was not doctored as claimed.
Hervey’s interview charade mirrors Andrew’s unrepentant mindset. Hervey, dismisses these events as a storm-in-a-teacup of lies that were ‘unravelling.’
It gets worse, with Hervey claiming that:
just before [Virginia] passed away her lies were unravelling. Like, finally people were kind of realizing ‘okay, this girl is making up stories,’ and then she conveniently dies.
Challenged on who Giuffre’s death was convenient for, she said it was:
Convenient for her.
This is not her first defence of Andrew. But tolerance for anyone cheering for rapists or excusing statutory rape is wearing thin — even the insufferable Piers Morgan shut down Hervey in a recent interview, describing her theories as as “utter s***”.
It should be astounding, but isn’t, given the context of the contempt shown for Epstein’s countless victims by their abusers. Nor given the establishment’s ongoing contempt now for their lives, reputations and the justice they deserve. Nor indeed Hervey’s own history of responding to Giuffre’s death with “lies catch up with you”.
But Hervey wasn’t finished. She also wanted to pour scorn on the horror decent humanity feels at the string of revelations of the rich and powerful and their sick crimes. According to Hervey, being in the files isn’t shameful. Not being in the files is — it means you’re “a bit of a loser”:
To be honest, if you’re not in those files it would be an insult, because it just means that you were a bit of a loser.
And Hervey just doubled down when she was challenged. In an interview shortly after her vile comments, she told Piers Morgan subsequently that she meant anyone “in the upper echelons of society” would be in Epstein’s files:
More questions than answers
Certainly, there are a handful of people in the files who aren’t tainted by their appearance in the Epstein files. Anti-Zionist academic Norman Finkelstein came out shining, after the files showed him telling an academic who defended Epstein that Epstein and his lawyer Alan Dershowitz should be strangled.
But not the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Not the string of sick billionaires and politicians who participated in Epstein’s crimes. And perhaps not Hervey either. She appears some thirty times in the latest Epstein release — and not in a ‘passing mention’ way either. None of it is proof of wrongdoing. None of it is incidental, either. All of it raises questions.
For example, in a frantic email to Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies last year, a redacted whistleblower correspondent accused an “OUT OF CONTROL” Hervey of running a ” serious gang of coordinated stalkers” to doxx and pursue them:
Or, in another example, seemingly from the same person:
Ward celebrated with HERVEY and KRAUS the night [redacted]’s death. They will not be satisfied until I am dead as well.
I have already served HERVEY and need to serve KRAUS. HERVEY uses the felon on parole, George B Tonks, to harass me full time since she no longer legally can. I had to hire a barrister in UK to serve Lady Victoria HERVEY, and did so [because] of the way [redacted] was being pummeled publicly by this gang. The guy was on parole as a convicted federal felon and I’m a federal whistleblower, so they did nothing. Vanity Fair gave a felon in prison my phone number and said felon NEVER STOPPED THREATENING AND HARASSING. The NYPD, Chicago PD, and FBI have failed us all and now I have been so beaten down the last five years without an ounce of support aside from fellow victims…
…HERVEY speaks to Maxwell in prison. Why is any of this harassment of witnesses legal and always overlooked?
One file includes an email with a redacted sender and no mention of the recipient’s identity:
You use ppl with no support systems and make them carry the weight of unimaginable power and retribution! I begged you and SIGRID YEARS to protect NM/me from LADY VICTORIA HERVEY, as you gaslighted having never heard of the royal stalkers! Fergie and Maxwell are behind all of the suffering. LAW ENFORCEMENT IS
NOT HERE FOR VICTIMS. They arc here for elites.
Another Epstein file shows Hervey being accused publicly of being an “MI6 honeypot operative” close to Trump’s FBI director Kash Patel. The image used shows a redacted Hervey with Patel, wearing a ‘MAGA’ cap. Patel is accused by senior US congresspeople of trying to cover up Trump’s involvement with Epstein.
Finger-pointing
Another DOJ file shows a chat between an unnamed sender and “Lisa Probation for Stalker”, accusing Hervey of participating in illegally-obtained medical information:
Another file:
[Redacted] needs to be restrained legally and once again, I wasn’t given enough compensation to even cover my
upcoming surgeries. I had to serve HERVEY in the UK, PREDMORE, etc…how am I to survive? BEDWARDS, you did ALL OF THIS to my tiny private life.
Another, to lawyer Ariel Mitchell, accused Hervey and others of working with the Trump administration, Ghislaine Maxwell’s family and the royal to destroy the sender:
Ariel,
He’s a felon on parole who was just released in NYC from his ankle monitor. His probation officer had promised
he would not go free, yet LV HERVEY used her “influence”, as they continue to try to kill me with threats/harassment/lies/smears/releasing my home address, sharing my ss#, sharing my [redacted] trauma journal!They work in tandem with this current administration/Maxwell/Royal family.
Another, an email to Boies and others:
They gang stalk and HERVEY/Kraus have eyes set on attacking [musician P] Diddy victims next. FBI JUST WATCHES AS WE ARE EATEN ALIVE! Six full years.
Another, from a UK citizen to an unnamed Met Police detective, describes Hervey as “besotted” with Epstein’s enabler and fellow trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, and demands a ‘restraining order’ against her:
I would like it noted that LVH [Hervey] has many friends as politicians as per her Daily Mail interview.
Again I want a restraining order filed against her. She is NOT a journalist but someone whom is besotted with Maxwell a convicted pedophile charged with sex trafficking who participated in my OWN TRAFFICKING AND HER OWN EGO!!!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14511171/Samantha-Landry-Victoria-Secret-excitement-Trump-MAGA-influencer.html
I WANT ALL HER LETTERS TO MAXWELL CONFISCATED AND USED AS EVIDENCE. ALSO ALL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN YOURSELF LUCIA AND LVH MUST BE SENT TO DC [redacted] INCLUDING ALL OF [redacted] EVIDENCE YOU STOLE!!
AGAIN MAY I REMIND YOU ALL THAT THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL SEX TRAFFICKING RING!!!!
I also have have photos of Ghislaine with myself and others in Epstein Island.
See [redacted] email below. I expect you will also contact her because I want every single communication she had with Lucia Osbom and Lady Victoria Hervey!
An implicated Daily Mail
Another, heavily redacted file includes an email sent to Daily Mail owner Jonathan Harmsworth, Viscount Rothermere. The email, apparently sent by a trafficked Epstein victim, informs Harmsworth that s/he is adding him to the witness list in “litigation and investigations into Epstein and Co”, specifically, among other issues, because Hervey writes for his publication:
Jonathan Harmsworth,
I will be adding you to my witness list in the ongoing litigation and investigations into Epstein and Co where you personally will be held accountable for aiding and abetting Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, victim-blaming and discrediting Epstein’s victims to aid further those who committed and are committing heinous crimes of rape and sex trafficking accountable.
Seeming as Daniel Bates, Callahan, Lucia Osborne, Victoria Hervey, Alan Dershowitz, and Boris Johnson are enthusiastic journalists of your or in other z class stations, you to will be investigated along with Rupert Murdoch and The New York Post. Because of Callahan, I had to go into isolation and hiding for two years, and you all
put my life in danger when Epstein located me in Barcelona.It was Sharon Churcher, a Daily Mail journalist who went down to see with a photographer and took her and her husband to the FBI in Sydney. It was the Daily Mail that Published the photo of Prince Andrew.
Over the years, how many millions/ billions have you made plugging the Prince Andrew story? I even made complaints directly to the Daily Mail many, many times at the unfair constant plugging of only one male being held accountable in an entire sex trafficking ring. Why has not one journalist held another man in the Epstein ring accountable?? NOT ONE???
Again, none of these appearances are proof of wrongdoing. But they certainly raise questions about Hervey’s evident contempt for rape victims and survivors, including Giuffre.
For more on the the Epstein Files, please read the Canary’s article on way that the media circus around Epstein is erasing the experiences of victims and survivors.
Featured image via the Canary
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It doesn’t matter whether they’re adorned with ruffles, sparkles, faux fur, lace or applique flowers – you name it, the it-girls are wearing it.
Keeping things low-key up top and party down below is perfect for going from the office to the bar, especially if you swap your sensible work shoes for heels at the end of the day.
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Keen to get the look? Here’s a selection of fabulous statement skirts to suit a range of budgets.
Rahm Emanuel is embarking on a three-day swing through the crucial swing-state of Michigan this weekend. But he’s not just dropping in to help boost down-ballot Democratic candidates — he’s also visiting some trade schools to unveil yet another policy proposal.
The moves raise the question: Is he presenting the planks of a larger platform that he can run on for president? Or is he headfaking a run to build buzz and draw interest to his ideas, redirecting the field to where he thinks the party’s intellectual center of gravity should be?
“I’m going to continue to lay out changes — reforms — that I think address the challenges Americans are facing today. And that is how to get an education that affords and ensures access to the American dream,” Emanuel said in an interview when asked about his motivations.
His latest plan is aimed at helping military service members transition back to civilian life through the skilled trades.
The proposal would give 20,000 departing service members a $10,000 tax-free sign-on bonus to enroll in a registered apprenticeship to become electricians, carpenters, plumbers and construction workers over a five-year period. The $200 million plan would be paid for by eliminating a tax “giveaway” from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act for private colleges, Emanuel said.
“We do a signing bonus of $50,000 to go into ICE and become a lawless mob, yet we have people that have the potential to be a carpenter, electrician, a pipe fitter, an operating engineer, a laborer, and we don’t do anything,” said Emanuel.
His plan is his fourth policy rollout in almost as many months, and months before the midterm election that most Democrats are focused on, as well as years ahead of what could be a crowded 2028 presidential primary. His other proposals include banning children under 16 from social media; forcing public officials to retire at 75; and boosting literacy. And he has said he is ramping up his 2026travel outside of the coasts to the middle of the country.
Emanuel’s blizzard of white papers stands in contrast to his potential 2028 foes.
Many of Emanuel’s would-be rivals are still in office and can point to concrete governing or legislating proposals. Others eyeing a run who are back in private life have sought different paths, like former Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, who has been traveling and promoting her book, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeig, who recently held a Wisconsin town hall and has been making the rounds on the podcast circuit.
But Emanuel, the former U.S. ambassador to Japan, Chicago mayor, White House chief of staff and congressman, doesn’t currently have an official day job to leverage to execute policy changes or get himself noticed. He’s instead spent more time on cable TV and podcasts while developing what amounts to an education policy vision.
“There are some people that want to emphasize the resistance to Donald Trump, and there’s a lot to resist. I am about fighting for America as much as about fighting Donald Trump,” Emanuel said.
He cited several recent moments that have shaped his thinking, including a warning from Michigan-based Ford CEO Jim Farley, who has issued a warning that the U.S. faces a one-million jobs shortage of skilled workers. He also mentioned a private dinner with Dario Amodei, the CEO of the fast-growing AI startup Anthropic. “No AI can destroy these jobs,” Emanuel told POLITICO.
At one point in explaining his belief in the “power of ideas” to shape politics, Emanuel seemed to suggest the idea of running before catching himself.
“If you’re going to r— think about public life,” he said, redirecting his sentence midstream, “you got to answer these challenges.”
Jesy Nelson has shared that she tried to take her own life for a second time shortly before parting ways with Little Mix.
The Bad Thing singer parted ways with her Little Mix bandmates in 2019 after eight years in the group, and while everyone involved initially maintained that her departure was an amicable one, this appeared not to be further from the truth as time went on.
In her new documentary Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, the former X Factor winner claimed that she tried to confide in her bandmates about how she was feeling shortly before her suicide attempt, which was days before she left the group.
“I sat everyone down to explain how I was feeling and I remember one of [their] responses being, ‘Are you done now? Is that it?’,” Jesy recalled.
“She was like, ‘Can I go now?’”
As reported by The Sun, Jesy added that in the moment, she felt “really alone”, “like there was no point” and that “no one cared” about her.
While recovering in hospital, she and her mum made the decision that she should quit Little Mix, and after seeking legal advice about her situation, she said she was shocked when her lawyer told her bandmates about her quitting before she had the chance.
“I think they felt really hurt about that and it should never have played out like that,” Jesy said. “I didn’t get my opportunity to explain why I couldn’t do this any more. I feel mad that that was taken away from me.”
Jesy continued: “I got myself up mentally and was like, ’right, I want to have a chat with the girls now, I wanna chat to them and tell them why I did what I did [and] how I’ve been feeling. [I wanted to] really explain to them [and] try to make them understand how I was feeling.”
However, she claimed that she then received a call from her manager who told her the remaining three members of the band didn’t “feel comfortable being in a room with you unless there is a therapist there”.
“I just remember being like, ‘what? I’ve just come out of hospital, like this is the time I need you the most!’,” Jesy recalled. “I don’t know, I just didn’t feel like they were my sisters.’
“Eventually there was a phone call. It was really awkward and so weird. It was like talking to strangers. It was the most uncomfortable phone call of my life. No one knew what to say. And that’s the last time I ever spoke to them as a group.
“It’s been five years now and every time I think about it, I think, ‘was it them or was it the management?’ I’ll never know.”
VICKIE FLORES/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for Leigh-Anne, Jade and Perrie for comment.
Jesy also claimed that, before her own departure, another member of the band had made it clear she wanted to leave first, at the beginning of 2020.
Ultimately, Covid meant the decision to end the band was pushed back, which Jesy noted is “when everything got messy”.
“I knew the band was coming to an end because one of the girls had made the decision to leave and I felt like I was being fake,” she claimed. “I got this very quick realisation that I wasn’t happy.”
Jesy previously opened up about a previous suicide attempt while she was still part of the band in a BBC documentary she made about online bullying and body image.
Last year, Jesy welcomed twin girls Ocean Jade and Story Monroe with her ex-partner Zion Foster.
More recently, she disclosed that her daughters had been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and has since been campaigning to raise awareness of the condition.
Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Help and support:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
- CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
- The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
- Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.
Keir Starmer has accused Reform UK of promoting a “racist rhetoric” after one of its MPs went on a controversial rant over the race of people used in adverts last year.
Sarah Pochin told Talk TV in October that it “drives me mad when I see adverts full of Black people, full of Asian people, who are anything other than white”.
The MP for Runcorn and Helsby blamed the “woke liberati that goes on inside the arty-farty world”.
She later responded to the backlash by saying her comments were “phrased poorly,” and that she “unreservedly apologise[s] for any offence caused”.
However, Pochin added: “The point I was making is that many British TV adverts have gone DEI mad and are now unrepresentative of British society as a whole. This is not an attack on any group but an observation about balance and fairness in how our country is portrayed on screen.”
She added this week that her comments were clumsy but “absolutely right”.
The prime minister condemned her remarks in a new interview, telling the Mirror: “Yet again our country’s discourse is being poisoned and polluted by the racist rhetoric coming from Reform – pitting communities against one another and sowing division to suit their own ends.
“They should be apologising, not doubling down.”
Starmer also attacked Reform over its candidate for the upcoming by-election, Gorton and Denton.
The right-wing party has put forward Matt Goodwin, who has received support from the far-right extremist Tommy Robinson and who has previously called for “an immediate ban on all migration from predominantly Islamic nations”.
The prime minister said: “You only have to look at the toxicity flowing from their candidate for Gorton and Denton to know what they are about – dangerous ideas that pull at the fabric of who we are in Britain.
“They don’t have solutions to the challenges we face as as country. All they can offer is a smokescreen of hate and division.”
The prime minister said Britain left that kind of politics “in the 1980s”, and that he rejects it “completely and utterly”.
“My Labour government will always choose the other path – the one that celebrates our reasonable, tolerant and diverse country,” Starmer said. “That is the country I love and that is the country I am fighting for.”
The interview comes after the most tumultuous week of this Labour government yet, as the prime minister tries to hang onto his premiership in the wake of the Peter Mandelson scandal.
Labour Party chair Anna Turley also slammed Pochin, saying in a statement: “It is utterly grotesque that Nigel Farage tolerates this flagrant racism in Reform.
“Sarah Pochin – Reform’s last by-election candidate – has followed Farage’s lead in peddling toxic division in our communities. If Reform had any shame whatsoever, they would have dealt with these vile remarks long ago.
“Instead, Reform are offering more of the same with their latest extreme by-election candidate Matthew Goodwin, who is endorsed by the far-right thug Tommy Robinson.”
Pochin reignited the debate around her remarks this week when she was asked if she accepted some people saw her comments as racist.
She told the Daily T podcast: “Those who choose to perceive it that way will do so, those who have nothing else to throw at me because I would like to think I represent the politics of common sense and represent the average person in this country.
“Those comments were misinterpreted entirely, I accept it was clumsy speech but what I said is absolutely right.
“I said, the British advertising industry has 52% or 56% – I can’t quite remember what the figure is – of ethnic minority actors represented in the adverts, and yet the population is 4%, that is not a reflection of our population.”
Pochin also referred to a Channel 4 survey which noted 51% of adverts in 2024 featured Black people.
Her party leader Nigel Farage described Pochin’s remarks as “ugly” in October, but insisted the intention was not racist and rejected calls for her to be punished.
One of life’s small sadnesses is when your favourite TV show wraps up for good, which is exactly what happened for Stranger Things fans when the final episode landed in January.
Unable (or unwilling) to come to terms with the fact that the gang’s story had really come to an end, some fans cooked up a theory – dubbed “Conformity Gate” – that suggested a bonus episode was still to come later that month.
The theory proposed that the epilogue in the last episode of Stranger Things was actually an illusion created by Vecna to make the residents of Hawkins believe he was dead, paving the way for a “real” ending.
Of course, the date of the alleged “real ending” episode came and went, at which point it became clear that the finale really was it for Stranger Things.
Caleb McLaughlin, who played Lucas in all five seasons of Stranger Things, has now weighed in on the “Conformity Gate” debacle, admitting he initially thought the whole thing was a bit silly.
“At first, I thought the ‘Conformity Gate’ theory was dumb,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I get that people want to live in this optimistic place of, ‘Oh, we want more Stranger Things,’ but I was like, ’Guys, it’s over. It’s been ten years.”
Caleb then claimed that fans had “missed the concept of what the show is” when they collectively decided there was more to come after the finale.
While Stranger Things in its classic form might be done for good, it’s not totally it for Hawkins and its adventures.
An animated spin-off series – Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 – will arrive on Netflix in April while fans can also see a stage version of the show thanks to Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which is reportedly being filmed by the streaming platform this week.
As for Caleb, he’s voicing the title character in the new animated film Goat, which also features his Stranger Things castmate David Harbour.
Rayner turns on Starmer over pubs as union chief calls for her to replace PM
“Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham have called for more tax support for pubs in a fresh challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s authority. The two Labour figures, tipped as potential rivals in a future leadership contest, suggested the Prime Minister should cut VAT to ease pressure on struggling businesses. On Thursday, Ms Rayner was also backed by a trade union leader who told The Telegraph she should replace Sir Keir if Labour finish third in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election. The Prime Minister is also facing pressure to soften his immigration clampdown, with 35 Labour MPs, largely on the Left, signing a letter calling the approach “deeply unfair”. Meanwhile, Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, described the scandals that have dogged the party in recent weeks as “unforgivable”. The moves are all signs of the Left pressuring the Prime Minister to change his policy agenda as he tries to cling on to power. Sir Keir’s position remains severely weakened following the fallout from the Lord Mandelson scandal.” – Daily Telegraph
- Angela Rayner urges Keir Starmer to ‘do better’ on hospitality – The Times
- Union chief calls for Angela Rayner to replace Keir Starmer or risk Labour defeat to Reform UK – The Guardian
- Trade union chief calls for Rayner to replace Starmer as they ‘want someone who can stand up to Trump’ – Daily Mail
- Will Starmer’s women problem hand Rayner the keys to No 10? – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
- Survival for Keir Starmer means a new set of captors – Patrick Maguire, The Times
- I must be hallucinating, DJ Rayner just questioned the minimum wage – Ed Cumming, Daily Telegraph
- Lurch to the left won’t get us out of this state – Emma Duncan, The Times
- Under Labour, Britain is heading for its John Galt moment – Lord Frost, Daily Telegraph
- This Manchester by-election will prove why Starmer has lost the working class – Sherelle Jacobs, Daily Telegraph
> Yesterday:
PM ousts top civil servant in attempt to relaunch his leadership with No 10 shake-up
“Keir Starmer was on Thursday night accused of throwing another member of his top team under the bus to save his own skin. As the turmoil in his floundering government deepened, the Prime Minister forced out Sir Chris Wormald barely a year after appointing him as head of Britain’s civil service. His dramatic move came hours after an extraordinary farce in which Downing Street would not say who held the Cabinet Secretary job. In a sign of the chaos in No 10, the role was last night split between a trio of temporary incumbents. And it means that, in less than a week, Sir Keir has lost three of the most senior people he has appointed, following the resignations of Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney on Sunday and Director of Communications Tim Allan the following day. Mr McSweeney was replaced by two temporary chiefs of staff, further swelling the number of decision makers. The PM is facing mounting questions over who is running his government, plunged into disarray by the Mandelson scandal. Only last week, Sir Chris was given the key role of overseeing the publication of the documents that led to the disgraced New Labour grandee’s appointment as US ambassador.” – Daily Mail
- Starmer ousts cabinet secretary in clear-out of top team after Mandelson scandal – The Guardian
- No 10 reset row after third senior official goes in a week – The i
- Minister refuses to say £260k payout for ex-Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald is ‘value for money’ for taxpayers – The Standard
- Tories and Lib Dems criticise Starmer’s judgement following ousting of top civil servant – Sky News
- Starmer to force through preferred Cabinet Secretary despite warnings – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
- Sometimes a scandal doesn’t call for scalps – Hugo Rifkind, The Times
- Yes, the No 10 boys’ club is real. But it’s the least of Starmer’s failures – Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph
> Today:
> Yesterday:
Labour opens door to trans children in primary schools
“Pupils will be allowed to change their gender at school and use different pronouns, including in some “rare” instances those as young as four. New guidance issued by Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, will allow children to use pronouns of the opposite sex but only after schools have consulted with parents. It says clinical advice should be taken into account. Primary schools are told to exercise particular caution because allowing children to change their gender can put them on an “irrevocable pathway” and have significant, lasting effects. “We would expect support for full social transition [including changing names, pronouns and uniform] to be agreed very rarely,” the new rules say. It represents a significant change from guidance proposed by the Tories in 2023, when they were in power, which included an outright ban on the use of different pronouns for primary aged children. The new guidance states that schools should not “initiate any action” in suggesting that children change their gender. It points to the fact that some children “engage in activities that are less typically associated with their sex”.” – The Times
- Trans guidance for schools says pupils can socially transition with ‘caution’ but girls’ toilets must remain female-only – Daily Mail
- Kids will be allowed to change gender at school under Labour’s controversial new trans guidance – The Sun
- Children allowed to change gender at primary school – Daily Telegraph
News in brief:
- Modern slavery claims are crippling Labour’s immigration agenda – Chris Bayliss, UnHerd
- Why was Jim Ratcliffe punished for speaking the truth? – Brendan O’Neill, The Spectator
- Thatcherism’s ownership revolution isn’t over – Harry Scoffin, CapX
- Mind your business Britain – Felix Hardinge, The Critic
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