NewsBeat
Environmental bodies to be stripped of powers to delay building | Politics News
Environmental bodies will be stripped of their powers to delay major infrastructure projects in a bid to “get Britain building” again.
In changes aimed at speeding up 150 road, rail and energy schemes, regulators will no longer be able to demand that developers mitigate environmental harm before construction can begin.
Instead they will be asked to contribute to a new Nature Restoration Fund, which will pool the money to fund larger strategic interventions to protect habitats and wildlife, rather than on a site-by-site basis.
Politics Live: Badenoch brands Starmer’s school reforms an ‘act of vandalism’
The new law is also aimed at unblocking housebuilding in areas affected by controversial nutrient neutrality rules.
The water pollution restrictions have been blamed on preventing tens of thousands of new homes being built, with critics arguing houses have a minimal impact on nutrient levels in rivers compared with water companies and agriculture.
Former housing secretary Michael Gove sought to scrap the EU-derived rules in 2023, but this was prevented by a Labour-led rebellion in the House of Lords.
However, it is understood Labour ministers are not worried about a repeat of this scenario because they believe the impact will be offset by the Nature Restoration Fund, which could be used to clean up rivers.
A source close to the plans said the government consulted with nature groups to find “a practical solution that works as a win-win” for the environment and building.
Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside link, stopped short of criticising the announcement but called on Labour to honour its manifesto commitment to “restore the natural world”.
He told Sky News: “Under no circumstances should the government’s proposals open the door to unsustainable developments in return for vague promises of future gains.
“But done well, there’s a real opportunity here to improve the way developers fulfil environmental rules while multiplying investment and protection for nature recovery.”
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What are Labour’s housing plans?
The government is under pressure as it seeks to deliver on its manifesto pledge for 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament, and 150 decisions on infrastructure projects, to help achieve its mission of economic growth.
Pro-building campaigners have expressed concern over the feasibility of the plans, given problems with the UK’s clogged-up planning system.
At present, infrastructure projects have to secure mitigation for environmental harm to protected sites and species before being granted permission to build, adding costs and delays to the process.
£100m for HS2 bat shed
The issue was highlighted by the recent news that the beleaguered HS2 project had to spend £100m on at bat shed on a section of the line.
Artist’s impression of the HS2 bat protection structure
Sir John Thompson, the company’s chairman, said there was “no evidence that high-speed trains interfere with bats” and the cover was being built to appease the Whitehall advisory body, Natural England.
He called it a “genuine problem” with completing major infrastructure projects in the UK, with HS2 required to obtain over 8,000 planning consents from public bodies after legislation was passed to approve the project by central government in 2017.
Read More:
Thames crossing delayed after planning it cost more than world’s longest road tunnel
Property developers could bypass planning committees in bid to ‘overhaul’ process
Reforms to speed up projects
The HS2 bat protection structure has cost £100m
Ministers said the reforms announced on Wednesday will help to speed up 150 projects, including new wind farms, railways and roads, gigafactories and data centres across the country.
The current rules mean developers are required to identify and meet environmental obligations on a project-by-project basis, which misses opportunities to find strategic solutions, the government said.
The new approach removes the need for individual site-level assessments and mitigation, with development able to proceed after a single payment to the Nature Restoration Fund in most cases.
The fund is expected to be managed by Natural England, which will look at overall actions needed to protect sites and species in the country. This could include using the money to reduce water pollution or securing nesting habitats to increase the population of a certain species, for example.
It is hoped the fund will help developers to meet their environmental obligations faster and at greater scale by pooling contributions for larger interventions.
The changes will be included in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is expected to be introduced early this year.
Campaign group Britain Remade welcomed the announcement, saying that for “far too long” environmental agencies “have been able to hold up and delay the growth boosting infrastructure projects our economy desperately needs”.
Chief executive Sam Richards said: “From bat tunnels to fish discos these measures add huge delays to projects, cost hundreds of millions of pounds and do little to protect or enhance nature.”
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “Nature and development have been unnecessarily pitted against each other for too long. This has blocked economic growth but done nothing for nature’s recovery.
“These reforms will unblock infrastructure projects while protecting the natural environment we all depend on.”
Unmarked Joao Neves puts PSG 3-2 up against Manchester City in the Champions League, with a “beautiful” header at the back post.
NewsBeat
Timeline of Prince Harry’s long-running battle against Rupert Murdoch and The Sun publishers
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The Duke of Sussex has settled his legal claim against the publisher of The Sun, with his barrister describing the agreement as a “monumental victory”.
Prince Harry was one of two remaining claimants, alongside the former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson, who were due to take their claims over alleged unlawful information gathering against News Group Newspapers (NGN), which also ran the now-defunct News Of The World, to trial.
But the High Court was told on Wednesday that the pair “had reached an agreement” with the publisher before the trial started.
The settlement saw NGN, which denied any unlawful activity took place at The Sun, offer a “full and unequivocal apology” to both men and agree to pay them “substantial damages”.
Many others had previously settled their claims against NGN, including: actor Hugh Grant, actress Sienna Miller, ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne, comic Catherine Tate and Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm.
Harry began legal action against NGN in 2019, with the trial twice adjourned before Wednesday’s hearing.
Here is a timeline of the duke’s claim against NGN
2020
March 4: The High Court is told that The Sun unlawfully obtained phone records of Harry’s then-girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, in 2005, from a South Africa-based private investigator named Mike Behr.
The court heard that these were sent to The Sun’s then-royal correspondent, Duncan Larcombe, in May that year. NGN did not respond to the allegation in court.
May 20: A judge was asked to extend the period for which claims of alleged unlawful information gathering could be brought against NGN, from 1998-2010 to 1994-2011.
Mr Sherborne said at the time that disclosure of further evidence showed that NGN was “engaged in unlawful information gathering” both before 1998 and after 2010.
June 4: Mr Justice Mann rules that victims of phone hacking can sue NGN for alleged unlawful information gathering between 1996 and 2011.
2021
March 5: The High Court heard allegations, which NGN denied, that senior staff at the publisher paid “hush money” to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed for phone hacking, in order to “conceal criminal activity” at the newspaper.
It was alleged that Tom Crone, legal manager of NGN in 2007, arranged for Mulcaire to be kept on the payroll to keep him “non-hostile” ahead of his sentencing for intercepting the voicemails of aides to the royal family.
Les Hinton, then NGN’s chief executive, was said to have been “intimately involved” with the plan to “prevent Mr Mulcaire from revealing the truth” that unlawful information gathering was “widespread” at the publisher’s newspapers, the court heard.
NGN said the allegations were “not accepted”.
March 22: Mr Justice Mann rules that Harry and other claimants cannot have access to sticky notes thought to have been written by a lawyer working for NGN to support his claim.
2023
April 25-27: At a three-day hearing, the High Court heard that a “secret agreement” was reached between the institution of the royal family and NGN stopping them from bringing legal claims, which Harry claimed he was informed of in 2012 and prevented him from bringing legal action sooner.
At the same hearing, NGN applied for the case to be thrown out, arguing it was brought too late.
The publisher also said that the duke did not say in his evidence who made the agreement, who it applied to, when it was made, or a date when it was meant to expire.
In court documents, Harry also claimed that the tabloid press always became involved in his relationships, and tried to ruin them.
In a witness statement, he said: “Whenever I have been in a relationship, I have always tried to be the best partner that I possibly could, but every woman has her limit.
“Unfortunately, they are not just in a relationship with me but with the entire tabloid press as a third party.
“At no point did I have a girlfriend or a relationship with anyone without the tabloids getting involved and ultimately ruining it, or trying to ruin it, using whatever unlawful means at their disposal.”
He also said that in late 2017, he wanted to “push for a resolution” over alleged phone hacking and get an apology from News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch before his wedding to the Duchess of Sussex.
He said that the late Queen backed his bid, but his efforts were blocked by King Charles, then Prince of Wales.
Harry accused Clarence House of “seemingly blocking our every move” as part of a strategy to keep the media “onside in order to smooth the way for my stepmother, and father, to be accepted by the British public as Queen Consort and King respectively”.
July 5: Harry asked the High Court to be allowed to rely on the alleged “secret agreement” at trial. NGN again denied that such an agreement existed.
July 27: Mr Justice Fancourt ruled that Harry could not bring his claim relating to phone hacking.
He also ruled that the duke’s claim over other allegations, including the use of private investigators, should go ahead to a trial, but that Harry could not rely on the alleged “secret agreement” as part of his claim.
2024
March 20-21: Harry’s barristers asked the High Court to update parts of his case, including adding allegations that media mogul Rupert Murdoch “turned a blind eye” to allegations of phone hacking at the News Of The World.
In court documents, Mr Sherborne claimed that it should be “inferred from his dominant position” in the company that Mr Murdoch would have known about phones being hacked as early as 2004 and “was aware of the nature and extent of NGN’s wrongdoing” when allegations were first published by The Guardian in 2009.
NGN resisted the application, with its lawyers saying the proposed changes were “wholly unnecessary” and “positively undesirable”, adding there should be a “serious audit” of the claims.
At the two-day hearing, Harry also asked the court to extend the timescale of his claim, with his barristers stating that several Sun and News Of The World articles dating from 1994 to 2016 showed evidence of unlawful activity.
It was claimed that some of these came from NGN unlawfully intercepting phone calls of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Charles when he was the Prince of Wales and his now-wife, Camilla Parker Bowles.
This had “the inevitable and/or intended consequence” of revealing private information about Harry, the court was told.
Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said described the new information as “designed to grab headlines” and that the duke’s updated case was “wholly different in nature to the claims currently made”.
April 19: NGN lost a bid to push back the full trial scheduled for January, claiming that a narrower-in-scope preliminary trial should have been held to decide whether the cases against it have been brought too late and outside a legal time limit.
Mr Justice Fancourt ruled that there was a “plainly considerable risk” of a preliminary trial “increasing costs overall and delaying” a full trial by up to two years.
May 21: Mr Justice Fancourt ruled that claims made against Rupert Murdoch as part of Harry’s legal action could not be tested at trial.
The judge said that the new claims against “trophy targets” such as Mr Murdoch added “nothing material” to the case, but ruled some other amendments could be made, including some concerning other senior NGN executives.
June 27: Harry is accused by NGN of creating an “obstacle course” in its efforts to find relevant material for the legal action.
The High Court was told by the publisher’s lawyers that they were “extremely concerned” about the deletion of exchanges via the Signal messaging service between Harry and John Moehringer, the ghostwriter of the royal’s memoir, Spare.
The duke’s legal team told a judge that NGN had wrongly characterised his approach to disclosing material, accusing the publisher of embarking on a “classic fishing expedition” for potential information that was “entirely unnecessary and disproportionate”.
Mr Justice Fancourt ordered Harry to explain how the messages were “destroyed”, with the judge stating this was “not transparently clear”.
November 15: The High Court was told that Harry was “one of two claimants whose claims are still live” along with Lord Watson, with 39 cases settling since the earlier hearing in July.
2025
January 21: The trial of the legal action failed to begin as expected after barristers for both sides asked for time for “discussions”, stating they were “very close” in negotiations.
January 22: Harry and Lord Watson settled their cases against NGN.
In its apology, the publisher said: “NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.
“NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World.
“NGN further apologises to the duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years.
“We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages.
“It is also acknowledged, without any admission of illegality, that NGN’s response to the 2006 arrests and subsequent actions were regrettable.”
In a statement outside the court in London, Mr Sherborne described the agreements as a “vindication”.
He said: “In a monumental victory today, News UK has admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices.
“This represents a vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling, without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them.
“After endless resistance, denials and legal battles by News Group Newspapers, including spending more than a billion pounds in payouts and in legal costs, as well as paying off those in the know to prevent the full picture from coming out, News UK is finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law.”
We are witnessing a giant deflection tactic when it comes to the Southport massacre.
Let’s get one thing clear – knives don’t kill people. Deranged lunatics do.
Keir Starmer’s decided that the main problem here is that the monster Axel Rudakubana could buy a knife and now we’re going to get new laws on that.
You’ve got James O’Brien piping up now blaming Jeff Bezos…
Patrick Christys says we are witnessing a ‘massive’ deflection tactic
GB NEWS
Rudakubana was referred to Prevent three times. He was expelled from school. He apparently attacked pupils with a hockey stick at school. He was known to police. His parents must have had an idea that their son was a monster.
His father reportedly stopped him getting in a taxi to his old school, a week before he took another one on his way to commit the dance studio massacre.
Labour wants tougher laws for under-18’s buying knives online. Firstly, that would have prevented him from buying one for a few weeks. Secondly, he could have killed people with the biological weapon he was making. Thirdly, Labour wanted votes for 16-year-olds at the last election.
So he’d have been old enough to vote, but not old enough to buy a knife.
Fourthly, as Nigel Farage points out, you can’t ban knives entirely – there is a murder weapon in every kitchen drawer.
We’ve been here before.
Keir Starmer admitting to knowing details about Axel Rudakubana before the public
GB NEWS
After the murder of Sir David Amess by a jihadi lunatic somehow it all became about passing a new law to clamp down on social media use.
What about clamping down on jihadis instead?
What you’re going to see now in the Southport case is a concerted attempt to do everything apart from tackle the real issue.
GB News Presenter Matt Goodwin said: “Southport is not about buying knives on Amazon, or what big tech lets us watch online…It’s about hapless Western leaders importing masses of people from high conflict societies who are more prone to violence, don’t share our values and don’t care about our people.”
And look at what’s happened today in Germany, again.
An Afghan asylum seeker stabs a toddler and a man to death in a park.
Our establishment politicians will do everything to distract you from the fact it’s their ideologies and their decisions that have put us all, and our children, at risk.
A new fast-moving wildfire has erupted in Los Angeles County, triggering evacuations in a region already reeling from the most destructive fires in its history.
The Hughes fire ignited north of the city on Wednesday afternoon, near Castaic Lake in a mountainous area that borders several residential areas and schools.
The out-of-control blaze has grown to more than 5,000 acres in just two hours fuelled by strong winds. No homes or businesses have been damaged.
The new fire is burning north of the two mammoth blazes – which are still burning – that destroyed multiple neighbourhoods in Los Angeles County earlier this month.
Two other fires have ignited further south near San Diego and Oceanside, officials said.
They are both smaller – 85 acres for the Lilac fire near Oceanside and 3.9 acres for the Bernardo fire – but were burning in populated areas. Fire crews appeared to have a handle on both of the blazes and evacuation orders had been mostly lifted and forward progress stopped.
In Los Angeles County, local news showed those near the Hughes fire hosing down their homes and yards with water and others rushing to evacuate neighbourhoods.
Orange flames lined the mountains as aircraft dropped water and flame retardant.
The region is once again under a red flag warning, which cautions of a high fire risk due to strong winds and dry, low-humid conditions.
Winds in the area are blowing around 20 to 30 mph but are forecast to strengthen throughout the day, which could allow the blaze to grow and make it harder for air crews to continue their battle from above.
One woman who evacuated her home told NBC 4 that she was stuck on Interstate 5, a major highway that cuts through the area and runs north and south through California.
“It looked like a cloud, but as you got close, it looked like we were driving into hell,” she said of the dark smoke and red flames she saw. “It was pretty terrifying to be honest with you.”
She acknowledged being on edge after watching the Palisades and Eaton fires burn nearby, killing at least 28 people and decimating more than 10,000 homes and businesses.
“I don’t know why they keep popping up,” she said. “It’s definitely a scary time in this area.”
Politics
Keir Starmer branded a ‘very dangerous man’ as PM raises ‘authoritarian’ fears with protest crackdown
Political commentator Aaron Bastani has issued a stark warning about Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, describing him as a “very, very dangerous man” who could quickly become “authoritarian”.
Speaking on GB News, Bastani expressed deep concerns about potential restrictions on protest rights under Starmer’s leadership.
“I think he’s a very, very dangerous man and I think he’d be a very authoritarian man very quickly,” Bastani said.
The commentator warned that attempts to criminalise protest could lead down a “slippery slope”.
Aaron Bastani is fearful of Keir Starmer cracking down on protests
GB NEWS / PA
The warning comes amid recent protests in London that saw significant police intervention.
Just days ago, 77 protesters were arrested during a pro-Palestine demonstration in central London.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Pro-Palestine protesters have taken to the streets of London PAThe Metropolitan Police said the arrests followed “a coordinated effort to breach Public Order Act conditions and cause serious disruption to Londoners”.
The demonstration, which took place on the eve of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, was confined to a static rally in Whitehall after police rejected the organisers’ initially proposed route.
It marked the largest number of arrests at such rallies since they began in October 2023.
Bastani defended the fundamental importance of protest rights, regardless of political stance.
The matter was discussed on GB News
GB NEWS
“The right to protest is only meaningful if it applies to people you disagree with,” he told GB News.
He pointed to recent farmers’ protests as an example of positive democratic expression.
“If you look at the recent farmers’ protest, that was really powerful and positive in many ways to see so many people from around the country protesting their point of view and their rights at the heart of Government,” he said.
He stressed that protest rights shouldn’t be limited only to those whose views align with the authorities.
Bastani warned that restrictions on pro-Palestinian protesters could set a concerning precedent.
“If he’s doing this to Palestinian protesters, who do you think is next?” he questioned.
The political commentator emphasised that protecting fundamental rights was crucial for everyone.
“I think everybody should care deeply about the rights of free speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of protest, because it won’t stop here if this man is given a free hand,” he said.
His comments highlight growing tensions between protest rights and public order enforcement in the capital.
US President Donald Trump has warned he will impose high tariffs on Russian goods and impose further sanctions if it fails to end the war in Ukraine.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, he said that by pushing to settle the war he was doing Russia, and its President Vladimir Putin, a “very big favour”.
Trump has previously said he would negotiate a settlement to the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, in a single day.
Russia has not yet responded to the remarks, but senior officials have said in recent days that there is a small window of opportunity for Moscow to deal with the new US administration.
Putin has said repeatedly that he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, but that Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20% of its land. Kyiv meanwhile says it is not prepared to give up its territory.
On Tuesday Trump told a news conference he would be talking to Putin “very soon” and it “sounds likely” that he would apply more sanctions if the Russian leader did not come to the table.
But in his Truth Social post on Wednesday, he went further: “I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR,” he wrote.
“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a ‘deal’, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”
Continuing, he said: “Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL”.”
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy earlier told Reuters news agency that the Kremlin would need to know what Trump wants in a deal to stop the war before the country moves forward.
Meanwhile Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed under any agreement.
And he told Bloomberg that any peacekeeping force for his country would have to include US troops to pose a realistic deterrent to Russia.
“It can’t be without the United States… Even if some European friends think it can be, no it will not be,” he said, adding that no-one else would risk such a move without the US.
While Ukraine’s leaders might appreciate this tougher-talking Trump – they have always said Putin only understands strength – the initial reaction in Kyiv to the US president’s comments suggest that it is actions people are waiting for, not words.
Trump has not specified where more economic penalties might be aimed, or when. Russian imports to the US have plummeted since 2022 and there are all sorts of heavy restrictions already in place.
Currently, the main Russian exports to the US are phosphate-based fertilisers and platinum.
On social media, there was a generally scathing response from Ukrainians. Many suggested that more sanctions were a weak reply to Russian aggression. But the biggest question for most is what Putin is actually open to discussing with Ukraine at any peace talks.
In Moscow meanwhile, some people are seeing signs that the Kremlin may be readying Russians to accept less than the “victory” once envisaged, which included tanks rolling all the way west to the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.
TV editor Margarita Simonyan, who is stridently pro-Putin, has begun talking of “realistic” conditions for ending the war, which she suggests could include halting the fighting along the current frontline.
That would mean the four Ukrainian regions that Putin illegally pronounced as Russian territory more than two years ago, like Zaporizhzhia, still being partially controlled by Kyiv.
Russian hardliners, the so-called “Z” bloggers, are furious at such “defeatism”.
In his social media post, Trump also couched his threat of tariffs and tighter sanctions in words of “love” for the Russian people and highlighted his respect for Soviet losses in World War Two – a near-sacred topic for Putin – though Trump massively overestimated the numbers and appeared to think the USSR was Russia alone. In reality, millions of Ukrainians and other Soviet citizens also lost their lives.
That said, the man who previously said he could “understand” Russia’s concerns about Ukraine joining Nato – which for Kyiv is tantamount to saying Putin was provoked – does seem to be shifting his tone.
Trump’s position matters. But after 11 years of war with Russia and a history of poor peace deals, Ukrainians are not inclined to be hopeful.
Politics
Kwasi Kwarteng accuses Liz Truss of desperate attempt to stay relevant in brutal swipe at former ally: ‘Pathetic!’
Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has branded Liz Truss’s appearance at Donald Trump’s inauguration as “pathetic” and “regrettable”.
Speaking on GB News, Kwarteng accused his former boss of attempting to “stay relevant” by attending the Washington DC event.
The ex-Chancellor took particular aim at those who previously held office but have lost their Commons seats, suggesting they were trying to “borrow Trump’s image”.
“These aren’t people who are Trump all the way”, Kwarteng said, drawing a contrast with figures like Nigel Farage who he noted had genuinely backed Trump since 2016.
Kwasi Kwarteng hit out at his former ally
X / LIZ TRUSS / GB NEWS
Truss travelled to Washington DC ahead of Trump’s inauguration, posing for a photo wearing a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap.
The former prime minister posted on social media platform X: “In DC. The Donald Trump term can’t come soon enough. The West needs it.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States
Reuters
The inauguration itself has faced last-minute changes due to expected freezing weather, significantly reducing attendance numbers.
While wealthy and influential figures are guaranteed seats at the event, it remains unclear whether Truss will be among those attending the ceremony in person.
Kwarteng specifically criticised Truss’s political transformation, noting her shift from being a Remainer to a Trump supporter.
“Liz Truss was a Remainer and has now morphed into a Brexit, Trump supporter”, he said on GB News.
Kwasi Kwarteng spoke to Martin Daubney on GB News
GB NEWS
He dismissed her Washington connections, stating: “She obviously has friends in Washington but trying to use this as a way of staying relevant I think is regrettable.”
The former Chancellor expressed particular disdain for ex-government members, “some of them Remainers, turning up to the inauguration”, adding bluntly: “Give me a break. These guys are trying to get in the limelight.”
Truss’s Washington appearance comes after she lost her parliamentary seat in the recent general election.
Her trip has sparked widespread mockery on social media, with critics drawing parallels between her appearance and Paddington Bear due to her red hat and blue coat combination.
The ridicule follows recent controversy where Truss sent a “cease and desist” letter to Keir Starmer over his comments about her crashing the economy.
The New European magazine commented: “Many people thought Liz Truss couldn’t embarrass herself further. But they seriously underestimated her on that front.”
Her 44-day tenure as Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister ended following the fallout from her disastrous mini-Budget.
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Downing Street has rebuked Elon Musk over a gesture he made during a rally for new US president Donald Trump, with the prime minister’s official spokesperson saying he “would not be happy” if a member of the government did similar.
On Monday, the tech billionaire gave a speech at a rally following the new president’s inauguration, in which he thanked Mr Trump’s supporters.
He then slapped his hand on his chest and extended his arm straight outward and upward with his palm facing downwards.
The Tesla mogul then turned around and made a similar gesture in the opposite direction.
Mr Musk has not explicitly denied claims the gesture looked like a Nazi salute, but hit out at his critics, writing on his X social media site that the “‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired”.
Asked about the gesture, the prime minister’s spokesman replied: “It is clearly for the individual to defend his own actions.
“When it comes to the government’s position on these issues, you have heard the prime minister speak passionately about his visit to Auschwitz and our plans ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day.”
Asked if Sir Keir would be happy if a member of his government gave a similar gesture, the spokesman replied: “Would he be happy if a member of the Government did a Nazi salute? No.”
He added: “The prime minister would not be happy with a member of the government doing a Nazi salute.”
When pressed whether this meant the government believed Mr Musk’s gesture was a Nazi salute, the spokesman replied: “I am saying it is up to Elon Musk obviously to respond to that.”
The billionaire – who will lead a US federal government cost cutting exercise in Mr Trump’s new administration – has had an uneasy relationship with Downing Street in recent months.
Mr Musk has repeatedly attacked ministers over the historical handling of the grooming gangs scandal in the UK.
In a slew of social media posts criticising the Labour government, Mr Musk attacked safeguarding minister Jess Phillips on social media after she declined a request from Oldham Council for a Whitehall-led inquiry into child sexual abuse in the town.
The Sun newspaper publisher has apologised and agreed to pay him damages
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