Politics
Choppers Drown Out Trump, And People Can’t Stop Laughing
On Monday, the television press pool that covers the White House protested Trump’s ban against the three outlets by refusing to cover his activities there.
As a result, the president’s speech at the unveiling of a new helipad, unaided by news agencies’ audio equipment, was drowned out by helicopters.
Even Newsmax reporter Bianca de la Garza admitted that the instance of Trump being silenced because of his own actions ― and the copters ― was a sign that his attacks on the press were “backfiring just a little bit.”
Not surprisingly, many people were amused by the clip ― and some tried to see the positives.
Andy Burnham has hit back at the billionaire owner of Manchester United after he claimed Britain is “on the slide”.
Tax exile Jim Ratcliffe accused the government of trying to “tax everyone to death”, spending too much on benefits and failing to cut immigration.
But speaking to reporters on his way to deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, Burnham rejected Ratcliffe’s claims, without mentioning him by name.
He said: “I hear people saying the country is on the slide – we’re the fastest growing in the G7, there’s lots to be proud of, there’s a lot right with the country and I’m going to give a really upbeat message when I speak.”
The prime minister, who will shortly set out his 10-year plan for the UK, said “we can be hopeful about where we’re going, we can draw a line under the last decade and say this next one’s going to be different”.
Burnham’s comments came after Labour chair Bridget Phillipson tore into Brexit-backer Ratcliffe over his comments.
She told the BBC: “You’ll forgive if I do take with a pinch of salt what someone who is a tax exile has to say about our country.”
Phillipson, who is also minister for women and equalities, added: “He was also someone, as I understand it, who was a big supporter of Brexit,” she said.
“That was over a decade ago now, but we’ve seen the impact of Brexit on our economy, and that’s why this government is committed to making sure we do have a better trading relationship with the European Union, which will be a central part of how we make sure we do see stronger growth.”
Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
The post ‘Ed Sheeran has been cancelled by the Palestine mob’ appeared first on spiked.
I stood in Parliament Square 10 days ago among a motley group of individuals opposed to assisted dying, waiting for the result of the vote on Labour MP Lauren Edwards’ assisted-dying bill. Whereas those demonstrating in favour of assisted suicide wore signature pink t-shirts, reflecting the campaign’s neat, middle-class support, we included fundamentalist Christians, Muslim doctors, Reform UK supporters, hardened left-wing activists, atheist disabled advocates and a colourful trans person with dwarfism. Other times, many of our side would have been at each other’s throats. But on Friday, we stood together.
As a BBC crew pointed a camera in our faces to record our responses to the vote, I was worried that I might be sick, given my nerves. Not, perhaps, a good look on television. It was a real battle to ensure that all MPs against the bill could vote. Reform’s Suella Braverman, delayed on a train, bolted ahead of her security to get to the vote with 30 seconds to spare.
After the result was announced, the sickness vanished instantly and we cheered, more in relief than triumph. Those who had argued among each other went off to the pub together – including a Muslim doctor who had a Coke.
But now the sense of relief has subsided, it’s worth reflecting on a hugely important result. After the defeat of Liam McArthur’s assisted-dying bill in Scotland, the first rollback of the euthanasia regime in Alberta, Canada, and a referendum vote against assisted dying in Slovenia, we might wonder whether the momentum behind euthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) has stalled.
Of course, those in favour of the UK’s assisted-dying bill immediately came forward with their own reasons why it failed. Labour MP Liz Kendall complained that the bill had been ‘scuppered by a tiny minority of unelected members of the House of Lords’. She insisted that the Commons vote against the bill belied ‘widespread and deep public support for assisted dying’.
These assertions are not grounded in fact. After all, the bill was defeated on Friday not in the Lords, but in the elected chamber, where Liz Kendall sits. And while among the public there is widespread support for assisted dying, it’s shallow support. The more people learn about assisted dying, the more they reject it. Palliative care doctors, who know most about the end of life, reject EAS by 82 per cent.
The truth is that EAS thrives when no one pays attention to it. The more light that is shone on the case for assisted dying, the more it falls to pieces. Campaigners assume that spending huge amounts of money on popularising simplistic slogans, or telling horrific end-of-life stories, will convince the public and silence the opposition.
But people’s common sense tends to cut through assisted-suicide campaigners’ rhetoric. It is common sense that ingesting poison with intent to die is suicide, no matter how much money is spent rebranding it as ‘assisted dying’. It is common sense to see that those with Down syndrome can be easily manipulated into assisted suicide if it is legal. It is common sense that killing is not medicine.
One of the hallmarks of EAS regimes around the world is that they list the cause of death as the underlying disease rather than poisoning. This cover-up – from California to Canada – has sinister echoes across history. During the Second World War, Nazi Germany ran a euthanasia programme known as T4. It led to the murder of more than 70,000 people deemed senile, mentally handicapped, mentally ill, epileptic and so on. The Nazis, using a similarly euphemistic phrase to ‘assisted dying’, called these murders ‘mercy deaths’. On 3 August 1941, Clemens August von Galen, the Catholic Bishop of Münster, exposed the T4 programme in a brave speech:
‘The patients who have been selected for killing are removed from their home area to some distant place. Some illness or other is then given as the cause of death. Since the body is immediately cremated, the relatives and the criminal police are unable to establish whether the patient had in fact been ill or what the cause of death actually was.’
Under pressure from growing protests, Hitler halted the T4 programme on 24 August 1941, though less systematic murder of disabled people continued.
We should seek to emulate Galen’s stand against the T4 programme today. The more the false claims of assisted-dying proponents are questioned, the more the reality of what they want is exposed. The Lords held the assisted-dying bill to the light earlier this year. They showed that the bill’s much-vaunted safeguards were inadequate. They showed that someone with Down syndrome could be pressured into the ‘choice’ of assisted suicide and that women suffering domestic abuse might also be pressured into an early death. The Lords even brought to our attention the fact that companies like G4S might be employed to dispatch British citizens for a profit. The more light that is shone on these dishonest practices, the better.
The last word should be left to Ashley Dalton, the Labour MP suffering terminal breast cancer. As she told the Commons on Friday: ‘The idea that it is not possible to alleviate pain and discomfort is false… It’s nothing short of irresponsible to scaremonger people like me into believing our deaths will be horrific.’
Kevin Yuill is emeritus professor of history at the University of Sunderland and CEO of Humanists Against Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia.
Andy Burnham has revealed the UK will send help to Saudi jets against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Speaking to reporters while travelling to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the prime minister said Saudi Arabia had asked for assistance.
He said: “On the advice of the defence secretary and the foreign secretary, last night I agreed to that request.”
Burnham said he was “acting to secure the interests of Britain and the wider region, because of course Saudi Arabia has been experiencing attack, is looking at potential further disruption and we need to keep those pathways open”.
The UK will offer one RAF voyager for air-to-air refuelling for Saudi planes on defensive missions, according to Sky News.
The UK military is not expected to be used for a wider range of military actions.
Burnham said the support – due to start in the coming days – will be “time-limited” and kept under “review”.
The announcement marks the first time the prime minister has made a major military decision since taking office in mid-July.
Burnham’s offer to help comes as the Iran war continues to rock the Middle East and upset the global economy.
The US and Israeli strikes on Iran back in February saw Iranian forces close the major oil shipping lane, the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation.
A fifth of the world’s oil usually passes through the waterway, meaning the knock-on consequences have been significantly pushing up costs – for US allies in the Gulf and countries around the world.
Burnham insisted this military action would also help drive down the cost of living at home.
He also he will use his first meeting with US president Donald Trump on Tuesday to call for de-escalation in Iran, as the “dark clouds of global instability” are affecting people worldwide.
“Of course the message is that we want to see an end to the conflict as quickly as possible and we stand ready to play our part,” he said.
The Houthi rebels control parts of Yemen and have been attacking Saudi Arabia since July, when the militants declared a naval blockade.
The Houthis also claimed responsibility for a series of drone attacks targeting the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday.
Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
ALL EYES ON GRACIE: Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to sit down with President Donald Trump at Gracie Mansion this afternoon, their third in-person meeting in less than a year and the latest wrinkle in one of the strangest relationships in American politics.
Since Mamdani’s first, shockingly cordial meeting with Trump at the White House last November, political observers have scratched their heads about the democratic socialist mayor playing nice with the Republican president despite their deep disagreements on … just about everything. Ostensibly, Mamdani is putting his personal distaste for Trump aside and betting it’s best for New York City to keep things cordial so as to avoid drawing the president’s ire.
But as resistance to Trump remains animating for Democrats nationally ahead of November’s midterms, Mamdani’s strategy for engaging with him stands out.
Earlier today, Gov. Kathy Hochul made clear that she, for one, has no plans to meet with Trump while he’s in New York. “I speak to him on the phone whenever I need to,” she told reporters in Manhattan.
Hochul, who’s facing reelection in November and tends to directly criticize Trump more frequently than Mamdani, said it was her understanding that the mayor agreed to host the president at Gracie Mansion during a previous conversation at the White House.
“The mayor and [Trump] said that when he’s back in town again, he would go to Gracie Mansion,” the governor said. “I don’t have a Gracie Mansion to invite him to.”
Still, Hochul said there’s an opportunity for Mamdani to use the Gracie confab to push Trump on releasing federal funding for New York, including for law enforcement, that she said the president’s administration has been withholding.
“We have to continue fighting for what New York needs,” she said.
Mamdani’s office wouldn’t say who requested today’s meeting or share specifics about the expected focus in advance, only saying the mayor will talk to Trump about “issues affecting New York City.” A Mamdani spokesperson said the mayor will elaborate on what was discussed at a post-meeting press conference that Trump isn’t expected to attend.
After the appointment at Gracie, Trump is slated to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron before headlining a couple Republican fundraisers. By contrast, after his Trump tête-à-tête, Mamdani will have dinner with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who’s in the city to headline a United Nations Charter event this evening that will also feature pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a person familiar with the plans who was granted anonymity to discuss them told Playbook.
The Queens-born Trump is in town ahead of his Tuesday address to the United Nations General Assembly.
Maintaining a relationship with Trump isn’t without risk for Mamdani.
As Trump remains deeply unpopular amid the war in Iran and other controversies, some Democrats are privately questioning why the mayor sees a need to keep interacting with the president. But so far, Mamdani hasn’t faced any significant pushback from his hard-left base over his engagements with Trump, with leaders of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America largely viewing it as the mayor acting in the city’s best interests. — Chris Sommerfeldt and Madison Fernandez
From the Capitol
EYES ON AI: Hochul floated requiring safeguards like an artificial intelligence “kill switch” as part of state-level interventions to address the rapidly evolving technology.
During a Monday event in Manhattan rolling out next steps for enacting the RAISE Act, New York’s landmark AI safety law that is set to go into effect in January, the governor said she’ll “look closely at additional ways to build on” the legislation — including AI kill switches “if they’re deemed feasible and in the best interest of our state.”
The governor in recent days has vowed to take additional AI-related actions beyond the RAISE Act, but has not specified what that might look like. Her suggestion of a kill switch comes days after California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to explore such a requirement for AI companies’ most-advanced models.
Some in the tech industry have argued implementing one is not technically feasible. Federal legislation to enact a kill switch requirement is currently stalled in Congress.
When asked to expand on the prospect of requiring a kill switch, Hochul said that “all options are on the table,” but wasn’t making a commitment.
“We’re going to do the research and make the decisions that are thoughtful to protect New Yorkers,” she said. “We’ll go as far as we need to to protect people of this state and ultimately this country in the absence of other leadership.”
Read more from Madison Fernandez in POLITICO Pro.
MORE BLAKEMAN MONEY: Billionaire former casino developer Steve Wynn has donated $1 million to the main super PAC supporting Republican Bruce Blakeman’s gubernatorial bid, records filed with the state Board of Elections this morning show.
The committee, Strong and Safe New York, has now raised $5.3 million since July.
Wynn has been a top donor to national Republican causes for over a decade. His most recent large donations in New York came last year, when he gave $361,000 to the state GOP and $500,000 to a super PAC boosting Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid. — Bill Mahoney
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
ENDORSEMENT CORNER: Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) endorsed GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in his reelection campaign in suburban New York, Golden wrote in an opinion article published Monday.
Lawler is facing a tough reelection campaign against Democrat Cait Conley in one of the biggest House battlegrounds this November. The lawmakers have previously collaborated to advance the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act, and are both members of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus.
Golden, who is not running for reelection, was one of two House Democrats to break with the party and twice vote in favor of the Republican legislative agenda earlier in September.
“Mike Lawler has been a true partner to me and a friend to fishing families he will never represent,” Golden wrote. “I strongly back him, and I hope voters send him back to work. Wherever you live, find the members who pass laws with the other party, and keep them.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the cross-aisle endorsement a “smoke and mirrors ploy” that “will do nothing to change the outcome of the race.”
“In desperation, [Lawler] is peddling an 11th hour endorsement from a retiring Congressmember who represents an out of town district more than 400 miles away,” Jeffries said in a statement. “Mike Lawler is an unadulterated phony who has never shown bipartisan courage when it matters.”
Read more from POLITICO’s Elleiana Green.
ON THE AIRWAVES: With fewer than 50 days to go before Election Day, House Democrats’ main super PAC is making its first TV ad buy in support of Conley on Monday.
The House Majority PAC said it is reserving $1.2 million on cable in the Hudson Valley contest. (An additional $1.2 million is going toward fighting Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s re-election in New Jersey, which is also covered by the New York City media market.) HMP said earlier this year that it didn’t include the high-dollar NYC media market in its initial reservations because it was “prioritiz[ing] markets where rates increase significantly.”
Republicans have been largely outpacing Democrats in NY-17 on the ad spending front, thanks to significant buys from super PACs backed by the president and House leadership. From the beginning of September through Election Day, the GOP has placed $15 million on ads across broadcast, cable, CTV and digital platforms, according to ad tracker AdImpact.
The new HMP spend is the biggest from an outside Democratic group so far, but still leaves a large gap between the parties. Democrats have placed around $3 million on advertising in the period between September and Election Day, with the largest chunk coming from the Conley campaign. — Madison Fernandez
IN OTHER NEWS
IN OTHER NEWS:
— JUDGES CASH IN: Brooklyn Democratic Party leaders have raked in $190,000 in contributions from judges and judicial candidates since 2012, raising some ethical and legal concerns. (New York Post)
— AFFORDABILITY AHEAD: Anthony Shorris, the mayor’s new pick for the president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, laid out a vision for solving the city’s affordability crisis that goes beyond Mamdani’s vision for five city-owned grocery stores. (The New York Times)
— BUY NOW, PAY LATER: The Mamdani administration is pushing Albany for tougher ‘buy now, pay later’ regulation, as many New Yorkers use the plans to pay for basic essentials, sinking deeper into debt. (amNY)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
Ed Sheeran resumed his Loop Tour over the weekend, after landing himself at the centre of controversy for bowing to pressure to remove Macklemore as the show’s opening act.
Last week, Ed made headlines when it was announced that Macklemore would no longer be serving as his support act, following comments the Thrift Store rapper had made on stage in support of Palestine earlier in the run.
This decision was met with widespread backlash, and his remaining opening acts eventually announced that they were withdrawing from the tour, as did his backing band.
On Saturday night, the Grammy winner performed his first live show since the controversy, which was not always smooth sailing.
Speaking from the stage at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, where the tour continued without any support act, Ed began: “This is not usually how I would open the show, but before I play some songs tonight, I hope it’s okay if I say a few words about this last week.
“I’m used to my music being criticised, and I’m always happy to take that […] but this week the criticism was about something much more important. And I’ve had to take, and make, difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.”
While Ed maintained that he “never wanted to be an activist musician”, he said the events of the last week had “put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech, and the most complex political issue on the planet”.
Appearing to read from a teleprompter, he said: “Honouring my commitment to my fans is completely central to who I am, and that is why I’m here tonight on my own and continuing my current tour. But I am deeply worried about the idea of venues pre-approving content of performers. This happens in so many places I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”
Ed continued: “I’ve tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division, about humanity, not politics.
“But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel at a music festival on October 7th was horrific, and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilian’s lives – of children’s lives – and the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”
“I, honestly, am so grateful that you’re here tonight with me,” he then noted. “This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome. And everyone here can stand beside people who have opposing views, and stand by people that they don’t agree with on everything, but they can all agree on singing these songs. And these songs are about love, hope and unity.”
Per Entertainment Weekly, the Grammy winner added that he was working out how he could contribute to help what he described as the “victims of these terrible times”, as well as dedicating time to “listening and learning, because I do not know enough” about the conflict in the Middle East.
Later in the evening, Ed claimed that he’d also edited his show in light of the past week.
“At this point in the show, to be honest, I usually go out to a B-stage,” he explained. “And I’m going to be totally honest with you, I didn’t know what this audience would be like tonight. I didn’t know if I’d have things thrown at me.
“I apologise that today is not the usual show. I took the B-stage out because I was afraid of what might happen if I stood in the middle. And I will admit that. So, the show is a little bit different.”
At another point in the show, Ed said that the “last week of my life has been one of the worst weeks of my life” while “today has been one of the weirdest days of my life”.
“Tonight has been, honestly, the best show of my life,” he then enthused, to cheers from the crowd. “I really didn’t know whether this tour would be carrying on. I really didn’t know whether I’d even be getting on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all. In these situations, you really find out who your friends are, and it’s been a weird week. It happened very quickly, and the whole time, I have so many people telling me to cancel this tour, and so many people falling out of my life, that I’ve known for years and years and years. People just kind of backing away.
“And in the back of my mind, I saw the ticket sales for this gig, and you know… I didn’t see cancellations, I saw people buying tickets for this gig. And, everyone’s telling me to cancel [the tour], and I’m feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me. And I look at the end of the week, and I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me.
“People will say what they want, but I am doing this for you. I love you.”
During another emotional moment, he was seen breaking down in tears as he stated: “The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope. Thank you so much, Philadelphia.
“I hope you all have had fun. The one thing that I would like to apologise for is the first bit of the show, where it wasn’t about music, and I had to talk. And I understand that people have children here, and I understand that families didn’t buy a ticket to hear that first bit of the show.
“But that was something that I felt like I needed to say. I felt there were a lot of questions that I needed to answer. So, for all the parents there with their kids tonight, thank you so much for bringing them, and I do apologise for that first bit. My shows are about this – they’re about unity, they’re about love, they’re about family, they’re about people coming together that have different beliefs.”
Earlier this month, Macklemore told Ed’s fans in New Jersey: “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: ‘free Palestine’. I said, ‘free Palestine!’.
“I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza, to the occupied West Bank, know that we have not forgotten about them.”
Reacting to the news he had been dropped from the tour, Macklemore detailed alleged phone conversations he’d had with Ed in the preceding days, in a statement shared on Instagram.
“Nothing I’m writing here is out of spite or because I want to tear down his character,” Macklemore told his followers. “But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can’t change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened.
“Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said [on stage], Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group. Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium.
“Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues. Ed was in a fucked up position. He knew it. His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before.
“He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with. I told him that if those words were more offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood. But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides’.”
The following day, Ed broke his silence on the matter, claiming: “After Macklemore’s performances at my New Jersey shows, venues on my upcoming tour dates communicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting.
“I was informed that this stance was based on how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance, rather than on everything that was said. I spoke with the venues at length all week to try and build a bridge.
“One of those people was Robert Kraft. I was also involved in direct talks with promoters along with activists on both sides to try and find a mutual resolution for all, but the venue’s and promoter’s decision was final.
“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me. I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.”
Ed also maintained: “I have always used my platform and music to bring people from all backgrounds and cultures together and this won’t ever change. Those who have been to one of my shows will know that they are about unity, joy, escapism, love and a place for everyone to feel welcome.
“I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care. Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own, personal way.
“There is a reason I do not use my professional platform for politics – my audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds. Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum. I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes. However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace.”
In his own statement to Rolling Stone, Robert Kraft said that Macklemore’s removal from Ed’s tour had been based on “recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community”.
He was seemingly referencing an incident in 2014, when Macklemore performed in an outfit many critics claimed was inspired by antisemitic tropes and imagery. The rapper later apologised, insisting this had not been his intention.
“I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same – peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate,” Kraft added.
“This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real.”
Following this, Macklemore pledged his entire $1 million pay from Ed’s Loop Tour to charities offering aid in Palestine, encouraging Robert Kraft to match his donation.
Both Robert Kraft and Ed Sheeran then said they’d be giving $2 million each “to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis”, without offering specifics.
Labour has a problem with young people. Whenever the government tries to help us, things become immeasurably worse. As it demonstrated again over the past week.
Speaking at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton last Tuesday, first secretary of state Louise Haigh told conference-goers that Labour would make it harder for employers to reject requests from employees to work from home (WFH). The new law would go further than current rules, which compel employers to consider the request in a ‘reasonable manner’. Haigh not only wants employers to ‘properly consider’ applications to WFH – they will also be obliged to hold a face-to-face meeting with the employee and provide a ‘justifiable reason’ if they deny the request.
Appealing to hearts and minds, Haigh claimed that ‘life isn’t always as neat as we’d like it to be or as employers would like it to be. There’s kids to pick up, parents to look after, families who rely on us at short notice.’
In fairness, British workers will welcome Haigh’s announcement. Almost 70 per cent of Britons hold a favourable view of WFH. Around 14 per cent of British workers currently work from home exclusively, and 28 per cent have a hybrid working model. As a nation, we are clearly infatuated with the post-Covid working settlement. According to a King’s College London study from May last year, fewer than half of Britons would happily comply with a nationwide mandate to return to the office for five days a week.
Of course, for the Labour Party, campaigning for the rights of workers is only important insofar as it appeases their union paymasters. Paul Nowak, head of the TUC, described Haigh’s move as ‘a welcome step forward’. Mission accomplished.
So the trade unions are happy and so, ostensibly, are the workers of Britain. But will making it easier to work from home do us any good in the long-run?
We often hear about the crisis of those not in employment, education or training (NEETs), and the impact this has on their lives. According to a study in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, NEETs show greater vulnerability for mental-health issues, including higher rates of substance-abuse problems. Some 35 per cent of NEET participants suffered from depression compared to 18 per cent of non-NEETs, and 14 per cent had generalised anxiety disorder, compared to six per cent of their non-NEET peers.
The obvious answer to growing joblessness, particularly among the young, would be to create more jobs. Yet that’s exactly where the government is getting in the way.
Since 2024, the business world has responded to Labour’s employment-rights legislation by halting recruitment. Keir Starmer’s Employment Rights Act, which mandates day-one sick-pay rights and gives trade-union officials greater access to workplaces, combined with hikes in the minimum wage and national insurance, has made it ludicrously expensive to hire new staff. Between 2024 and 2026, the cost of hiring a new full-time employee on the minimum wage has risen by £3,414. Last week, labour-market data showed a drop in employment of 26,000 in August, while wage growth fell to its lowest rate in six years.
This has been a particular problem for young people, as employers increasingly view them as expensive, hypersensitive liabilities who at any moment will drag them before a judge for not allowing emotional support pets in the office. Taking a chance on an inexperienced young person poses a much bigger risk than before.
I am sure these ‘reforms’ are well-intentioned. Yet they are also entirely misguided. Rather than reverse unemployment, the government has encouraged it. And the incoming home-working law will make matters even worse.
There is another point to be made. Is a career working from home really what our leaders should be encouraging? Put yourself in the shoes of many young people in Britain today. They’ve travelled to a city where they have no pre-existing social circle, moved into a cramped rental with strangers, only to spend all their waking hours at home working in front of a computer. Chats by the water cooler and quarterly trips to the local indoor crazy golf course can be tiresome – but they can also mean the difference between a social life and complete isolation.
If Andy Burnham and his cadre truly care about the future of Britain’s young NEETs, they will get out of the way of businesses and stop attempting to control the jobs market from Whitehall. What young people need is a labour market in which they can meet people and find work. They don’t need cynical politicians weaponising their struggles to curry favour with trade unions.
Joseph Dinnage is a senior press officer at the Prosperity Institute.
Nigel Farage has played down the loss of Reform UK’s last leader in Wales as a “bump in the road”.
The Clacton MP was unveiling the party’s new regional leader after Dan Thomas stood down last Tuesday.
He was arrested on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviours. He has been bailed and says he has done nothing wrong.
The former Tory councillor is still a member of the Welsh parliament, and has been Reform’s Welsh leader since February.
The role was previously filled by Nathan Gill, who led the party in Wales for two months in 2021. He was jailed for 10 and a half years in 2025 for taking Russian bribes.
Reform’s main leader Farage announced today that his ally Helen Jenner, previously the deputy leader in Wales, would be taking over.
Alluding to Thomas’s exit, Farage said: “I am sorry for his personal difficulties that he is going through. No one’s life is ever seamless and I am quite sure he will come out of these before too long.
“But it was pretty much untenable for him to continue as leader while he had these domestic disputes, so we very quickly and rapidly have moved to electing a new leader.”
Jon Rowley via Getty Images
Farage said elections for a new Reform deputy leader in Wales would follow to fill Jenner’s old role.
He added: “We will carry on as if nothing has happened, waiting for Dan who is going to stay a member of this place, to come back more actively with us.
“We could have done without this bump in the road. But it has happened, we are making the best of it.”
Thomas announced last weekend that he had been released without charge.
“I stress that I have done nothing wrong, but I do not want the coming headlines to be a distraction from the fantastic work our Senedd team is doing in holding this government to account,” he said.
Gwent police confirmed a 45-year-old man from Aberbargoed area was arrested on September 13 “on suspicion of assault and engaging in controlling/coercive behaviour. He has been bailed pending further inquiries”.
The announcement comes amid heightened scrutiny on Reform and its finances.
The party received £72 million in 48 hours from crypto-billionaires earlier this month, though Reform insists the donors want nothing in exchange.
Farage is also subject to a parliamentary sleaze probe after he failed to declare a £5 million donation from Thailand-based Christopher Harborne once he became an MP in 2024.
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Donald Trump appears to be concerned about Ukraine’s ongoing attacks on Russia’s oil refineries – even though Kyiv is only retaliating again Moscow’s aggression.
Vladimir Putin is expected to “intensify” attacks on the Ukrainian capital after Ukrainians forces tried to “disrupt” Russian elections by firing drones at the Moscow region over the weekend while the public were voting.
It comes more than four and a half years after the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in a land grab, triggering a long and bloody war as Kyiv consistently pushes back.
Putin continues to illegally occupy a fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory.
Ukrainian allies in Europe have been weaning themselves off Russia’s cheap energy experts to punish the Kremlin for its violence.
But the US president, who caused global oil prices to rise after his war against Iran triggered the effective closure of a major shipping lane, seemed to blame Ukraine for the decline of Russia’s own fossil fuel industry.
“Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine,” he wrote on his social media platform TruthSocial.
“A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission.
“This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended.
“The whole World suffers as 25,000 people, mostly soldiers, are being killed each month. What a shame! President DJT”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy hit back at Trump’s statement.
He wrote on X that the war must end, adding: “Every new week of this war, let alone every new year, adds more and more problems.
“ From the very first minute, Ukraine has sought peace. We have already made dozens of diplomatic proposals on how to end this war with dignity, guarantee security, and prevent new Russian invasions.
“Right now, there is a dialogue with President Trump and America.
“There are also ideas on the table for bringing peace closer, starting with strong de-escalation steps.
“Ukraine’s energy sector, critical infrastructure, and our food exports must stop being targets for Russia, and this will lead to matching de-escalation steps on our part. Solutions are possible.”
He continued: “We are ready to work on this, and we will discuss it with our partners on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“I thank everyone who is helping! It will no longer be the case that only the country under attack suffers. The nature of war is now such that the aggressor will suffer as well. Technology makes this possible.
“The strength of countries’ leadership can – and must – deliver de-escalation, security, and peace. Thank you!”
The elections – widely disregarded as a sham vote to bolster Putin’s authoritarian rule – already appear to cement the Kremlin’s dominance over the country amid speculation Russia may need to call up more reserves for the war effort.
Zelenskyy is set to meet Trump at the United Nations’ General Assembly on Tuesday.
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Ever heard of the “rete ovarii”?
If you answered “no”, you have every reason. Even though it was discovered and described in humans over 150 years ago (drawings of it appear in early copies of Grey’s Anatomy, an anatomy reference book that’s been running since 1858), scientists quickly dubbed it purposeless.
The structure, which lies near the ovaries, became so ignored that it was eventually removed from textbooks altogether. It was considered a “functionless vestige” of the adult ovary, meaning experts decided it was a useless evolutionary holdover.
But a study from Duke University suggests that the body part might play a role in fertility and ovarian health and maintenance for those with wombs.
While the research was conducted on mice, researchers think the findings could apply to humans too; the structure has been seen in lots of other mammals, and our sex organs develop in a manner very similar to those of a mouse.
What is the rete ovarii?
Sometimes shortened to RO, the rete ovarii is a horseshoe-shaped “network of tubules and cords” that is attached to the ovary.
As it happens, those with penises have an equivalent: the rete testis, which we know helps to transport sperm.
What does the rete ovarii do?
We don’t know yet – but new imaging technology has offered exciting suggestions which would render the rete ovarii far from useless.
The “rediscovered” rete ovarii was found to have three distinct regions in both living mice and animals’ dissected tissue:
- The intraovarian rete (IOR), found in the ovary
- The extraovarian rete (EOR), made up of that network of tubes we mentioned earlier
- The connecting rete (CR), which joins up the IOR and CR
The EOR seems to contain and produce proteins like insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 2 (IGFBP2), which may play a role in ovary function.
And after placing fluorescent dye in the EOR, they found it seemed to propel liquid towards the ovary, too. That suggests it may have a role in how the appendage operates or maintains itself.
Not only that, but experiments pointed to the possibility that the rete ovarii might switch on genes that affect how hormone receptors work.
The paper reads: “The direct proximity of the RO to the ovary suggests that it is functionally linked to the ovary and may play an important role in ovary development and homeostasis [self-regulation].
“Based on the cell biology, transcriptome and proteome of the RO, I hypothesise that the RO acts as an antenna for the ovary and plays an important role in ovary homeostasis and fertility.”
This could prove a springboard for further studies
More research is needed to confirm or disprove that hypothesis, or indeed to find any other possible uses of the rete ovarii.
Speaking to Live Science, the study’s lead author, Dilara Anbarci, said: “There’s still so much we can’t even begin to comprehend about female anatomy.
“I hope this encourages more investigation in reevaluating what we don’t already know about the ovary.”
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