Kemi Badenoch was slammed for her new plan to drop Net Zero altogether during her broadcast rounds this morning.

The Tory leader claimed drilling in the North Sea would help ease the upcoming energy crisis, and dismissed the UK’s legally binding target to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 as a “slogan”.

She also claimed the country would go “bankrupt” because of the policy, which was championed by former Tory prime minister Theresa May.

Badenoch has called for the government to approve more oil and gas drilling in the UK in response to the strain the Iran war has put on global energy supplies.

“The first thing [the government] should do is start drilling our own oil and gas in the North Sea,” the Tory leader told Sky News. “It’s important for our energy security, our economic security, our national security, and they’re not doing [it].”

Presenter Trevor Phillips said: “That’s all very helpful, but the point is none of that oil would come on stream for years.”

He added: “I’m asking you what should happen in the next few months when this conflict is on, which is what people are worried about, what will happen between now and the summer, not what will happen next year or the year after.”

Badenoch said: “I’m not even talking about next year. I’m talking about this year.”

“There will be no oil coming out of Rosebank this year, you know that,” he hit back – while the Tory leader insisted gas would be accessible by this winter and that drilling would save British jobs, too.

“Governments are elected to do the right thing right now. That is not to bankrupt the country with a plan that is not working,” she told Sky News. “What we need is cheap, abundant energy – it should be clean, that means doing everything we can, nuclear, renewables, and oil and gas, too.”

Asked about the risks of fuel rationing, Badenoch said: “You’re speaking about a hypothetical. I don’t want to be in a situation where people are panic buying fuel because of speculative discussions.”

And on the BBC, presenter Laura Kuenssberg suggested Badenoch had been “misleading” people with her suggestion that this would make bills cheaper.

But the Tory leader claimed that is not what she was saying.

She said: “No, I’m not saying that once you drill oil and gas in the North Sea, it’s going to go straight on to your bills.

“No one has said that, but it is all related. And pretending that it is not related is very dishonest from a government that has a terrible energy policy.”

Labour’s chair Anna Turley slammed Badenoch’s broadcast performances, saying: “Kemi Badenoch’s energy policy has completely fallen apart. She’s been forced to admit her central energy intervention won’t bring people’s bills down. And she can’t say whether she’d support families who might need help.

“Badenoch wanted to send British troops head first into a war without thinking about the consequences. Now she’s putting forward energy plans that she freely admits won’t help Brits struggling with their bills. She is completely out of her depth and proving once again that she’s unfit for high office.”

Some research suggests that workers with ADHD are 60% more likely to be fired and 30% more likely to report chronic employment issues than those without ADHD.

And according to a new survey conducted by UK ADHD clinic Focused, run in partnership with the ADHD Chatter Podcast, just under half of people asked (47%) said they’ve been fired or lost jobs partly due to their ADHD.

59% of people surveyed with ADHD hadn’t told their employer about it, meanwhile, and 77% said that ADHD had negatively affected their performance at work.

Nurse practitioner and clinical lead at Focused, Danielle Mulligan, explained that though these stats are “sad,” they’re “probably not too surprising for many people with ADHD”.

One in five neurodiverse workers has faced discrimination or harassment related to their disability at work.

“It’s common for symptoms like inattentiveness to make it seem like someone is disengaged in a conversation, which could easily not play well in meetings or in general workplace settings,” Mulligan told us.

Additionally, “Impulsivity and emotional dysregulation could escalate a difference of opinion into a more heated disagreement, which in an extreme case could turn unprofessional. And poor timekeeping might lead to repeated lateness that reaches the point of dismissal.”

When these pile up, they might lead to a negative perception of a worker – particularly, Mulligan said, if their ADHD has not been disclosed and/or reasonable adjustments have not been put into place.

But speaking to HuffPost UK previously, career psychologist Dr George Sik said that many people who delay or avoid telling their employer about their ADHD are doing so to “protect themselves”.

“There’s still a real fear of being judged as less capable or more difficult to manage, even when someone is performing well. For a lot of people, waiting feels safer than risking the label being misunderstood.

“However, when it’s starting to affect your workload or wellbeing, that might be a sign that staying silent is costing more than speaking up”.

For her part, Mulligan said, “While it’s up to the employee to tell their employer about their diagnosis, it’s probable that many employers could do more to make sharing this info easier, and less riddled with feelings of uncertainty.”

Just over 11% of people with ADHD surveyed said that ADHD had no effect on their work, while 12% said it had a positive effect.

“The phrase ‘ADHD is my superpower’ is one that we’re starting to hear more of now that awareness of the condition is increasing and people are beginning to understand it better,” Mulligan shared.

“Due to their different way of thinking, many people with ADHD take an alternative approach to solving problems, thinking ‘outside of the box’ to overcome obstacles in a task.”

It’s also common for people with ADHD to excel at creative tasks, she added.

“Hyperactivity symptoms can provide someone with the bursts of energy they need to be more productive, or bring enthusiasm into a meeting or group activity. And hyperfocus – which many people with ADHD experience – can mean that someone is able to complete a complex, intensive or fiddly task in a swift and methodical manner.”

A senior MP has called out Donald Trump after he again accused Nato of not supporting the US in its time of need.

The US president has lambasted the defence alliance repeatedly as its member states have refused to get involved in his offensive action against Iran.

He has repeated his false claim that Nato has never been there for the US and threatened to pull out of the alliance altogether.

Actually, the only time the mutual defence clause of Article 5 has been activated was following the 9/11 attacks in New York.

Multiple countries, including the UK, sent troops to war in Afghanistan on America’s behalf for nearly 20 years.

So Tory MP Alicia Kearns, who sits as the shadow national security minister, nit out at the president on X.

She wrote: “As a British MP I can tell you what ‘showing up’ looks like.

“It looks like 457 British soldiers who died in Afghanistan.

“Nato has only ever gone to war for one country. Yours.

“The question isn’t whether Nato showed up, it’s whether we forgive you for pretending otherwise.”

Her remarks come after Trump provocatively claimed on Friday: “Nato made a terrible mistake when they wouldn’t send a small amount of military armaments, just even acknowledge what we were doing for the world taking on Iran.”

He continued: “I think a tremendous mistake was when Nato just wasn’t there. They just weren’t there.

“They take a lot of money from the United States.

We spend billions of dollars a year on Nato.

“Hundreds protecting them! We would have always been there for them.

“But, now, based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we?”

He added: “Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us?”

Chances are you’ve heard of “the bank of mum and dad,” or adults relying on their parents for anything from house down-payments to holidays.

But the “reverse bank of mum and dad,” which sees adult children spending on their ageing parents, is a growing phenomenon, says James Mulvaney, Head of Digital at Clifton Private Finance.

Already, 55% of UK adults with living parents financially help, or expect to help, them in retirement. Only 45% of adults in midlife (45-54 years old) are optimistic about their parents’ finances, a figure that drops to 2% among 18-24-year-olds.

“Several factors are driving this shift,” Mulvaney said.

“Rising care costs and the wider cost of living crisis have made retirement much more expensive, while many older homeowners are discovering that their pensions may not stretch as far as they once expected.”

Then, investment platform Ageon noted, there’s the fact that people are living longer lives. That means that savings, investments, and pensions may have to go further than expected.

“At the same time, families are recognising that housing decisions can play a major role in supporting older relatives,” Mulvaney added.

While the parents of over-50s may have benefited from lower house prices in their youth, parents of younger adults may have been part of a pricier housing market, which offers less return on investment.

Housing is the biggest source of household wealth in the UK (40%), followed by private pension wealth (35%).

“For many households, helping parents navigate retirement is becoming just as important as helping younger generations onto the property ladder,” said Mulvaney.

“And with housing playing such a central role in family finances, property is likely to remain at the heart of how families support one another for years to come.”

Mulvaney told us communication is key.

“One of the most effective steps you can take to help your older parents is reviewing their retirement finances together,” he shared.

That could involve reviewing their monthly outgoings, planning for care costs, and/or a simple budget.

It might also be worth discussing downsizing, which can “release equity from a larger home while also reducing maintenance costs and household bills”.

Lastly, Mulvaney said, “It’s also worth checking whether parents are claiming all the financial support they are entitled to. Recent DWP figures suggest almost one million pensioner households are missing out on an average of around £2,600 a year in Pension Credit, so checking eligibility can be one of the most valuable steps families take.

“Benefits such as Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, and Winter Fuel Payments can make a meaningful difference to retirees on lower incomes.”

Bridget Phillipson has claimed questions around the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone are drifting into “conspiracy theory territory”.

The cabinet minister was defending Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff as the government is facing further pressure to disclose all of its communications around Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to Washington.

McSweeney phoned the Metropolitan Police on October 20 last year to say his iPhone had been snatched out of his hand in Westminster.

In a transcript released by the police, McSweeney did not tell them who he was or why the phone contained highly-sensitive information.

He also mistakenly gave the call handler the wrong street name for where the theft took place.

The phone’s disappearance meant it was not possible to access any potential communications between the PM’s former top aide and his close friend Mandelson, who is in disgrace over his association with late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The theft has triggered intense scrutiny across Westminster about the timing of events.

On Sky News, presenter Trevor Phillips asked Phillipson: “Why is Morgan McSweeney the only person in the modern world who doesn’t have his messages automatically backed up to the cloud so we could recover them and see what traffic there was between him and our former ambassador to the United States?”

Phillipson said the “question was a bit of a reach”, adding: “It’s hyperbole and you know it.”

Phillips insisted the question was “perfectly straightforward”, before asking if she backed up her own messages.

“I follow all of the guidance on what is required,” the minister said. “What happened here, which we all know, is that Morgan McSweeney was mugged, reported that to the police, followed all of the processes that was asked of him.

“I do think some of this wider coverage is drifting into conspiracy theory territory here.”

The presenter said he was not questioning any of that, but was “just wondering how it is this particular set of exchanges seems to be the only thing in the 21st Century that isn’t backed up somewhere”.

“Again, that’s hyperbole and you know it,” Phillipson said, visibly irritated. “Come on, to say he’s the ‘only person’ – it’s ridiculous and you know that.”

She said McSweeney is providing any material required, while the government “is complying with the humble address, providing information that isn’t needed, has been asked”.

“All ministers will also be complying with what is asked of us,” she added.

In every generation of British society, we have a responsibility to leave the next generation with a better world.

The 60s and 70s, under Harold Wilson’s government, saw Britain take decisive steps towards becoming a more open and equal society. Central to these changes was the decriminalisation of homosexuality, a landmark reform that helped lay the foundations for the rights many now take for granted.

The 80s through to the early 2000s brought fundamental questions about the role of the state in our communities across the four nations. Devolution sparked debate on whether Westminster should hold majority control over local communities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and we saw the creation of the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd in 1999. In London, we saw the Greater London Authority established – comprising the Mayor of London and the London Assembly Members, who play a crucial role to our Capital’s continued prosperity.

From the 2010s, we’ve shifted the conversation towards systemic injustices, fair policing and fairness of our institutions with respect to ethnic minority groups and the LGBT community. Here in the Cities of London and Westminster, a constituency with such historic ties to the LGBT community in Soho; home to London Pride, G-A-Y and the City of Quebec, we know the impact this has had. And we continue to welcome individuals from all over the world representing a wide range of backgrounds and religious beliefs into our community.

What underpins the issues that previous generations have responded to is the preservation of our liberal democracy. How do we define this? At its core, it is simple: the idea that we are all free to express our opinions, without fear of being targeted or harmed for doing so and that we all have the chance to vote for candidates who we believe best represent us, based on information available to us.

It has been covered at length that far-right rhetoric is once again finding its way into communities across the country. Many of these far right views are designed to incite division, spread hatred, and revive ideas that should have been rejected decades ago.

We have all discussed how to confront many of these views, and rightly so, but what tends to slip out of the conversation is the legal framework that governments can implement to actively defend and strengthen our democracy.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government introducing the Representation of the People Bill before the House is not just another piece of legislation, it is a clear statement of intent. With the growing complexity of the current state of our society, there is a growing demand to reflect and reconsider how we reinvigorate democratic values within our grassroots. This Bill shows this government is prepared to act. Trust in politics, and crucially politicians, is at an all-time low. This Bill is an opportunity to begin rebuilding that trust, with measures including transparency over political donations, preventing foreign interference in our elections and stronger sanctions on serious malpractice.

We are extending the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds. For many young people, this is long overdue. This will be music to the ears of many sixth form and college students that I have been talking to across the Cities of London and Westminster. Many of whom remind me they can begin their first job, pay taxes into the state, or even enlist themselves into the army, but cannot yet make a decision on their futures.

We must also take on the challenge of donations in the form of crypto assets. There are no mechanisms in place to identify whether the sources of these donations are lawfully approved, due to the anonymity crypto provides.

And crucially, while current laws are designed to ensure transparency during the election, the government must consider the impact of undeclared political donations outside of the regulatory period. Influence is not limited to the campaign period, it is persistent and lacks the transparency necessary to regain public trust in our institutions.

The Representation of the People’s Bill is about more than process, it is about protecting our democracy, rooting out foreign interference and taking action against those who seek to divide us.

Future generations deserve to look back at this point in time as the moment we chose to act to protect and strengthen our democracy, not stand by while it was tested.

Vice President JD Vance brushed off manosphere podcaster Joe Rogan’s comment about MAGA followers being “dorks.”

“It becomes a movement of a bunch of fucking dorks because a lot of them are dorks,” Rogan told guest Dave Smith on Thursday’s episode of his podcast. “A lot of them, these really weird, fuckin’ uninteresting, unintelligent people that have got something they cling to — and there’s a lot of people that are just real genuine patriots, and they’re all lumped into this one group and you got to accept the dorks, too? Fuck that!”

Vance dismissed Rogan’s comments in an interview with right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson that aired on Saturday.

“I think we have many, many fewer dorks than the far left, but everybody’s got some dorks. We love our dorks. We love our cool kids. We love anybody who wants to save the country,” Vance told the MAGA mouthpiece, who has been criticised online for being “cringe as fuck” and has referred to Trump as “Daddy.”

The vice president also responded to Rogan’s suggestion that Hillary Clinton’s immigration stance made her “more MAGA than MAGA.”

“I did not see Joe say this. I’m going to text Joe, because that is that is definitely wrong,” Vance said.

Rogan’s criticism of MAGA comes amid an onslaught of White House social media posts that promote the administration’s agenda, particularly the war in Iran, through pop culture, sports, or video game references. A senior White House official called the posts “cringe” and embarrassing in an interview with MS Now published on Friday.

Vance himself has also faced cringe allegations, as has Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose workout video with Kid Rock was met with mockery.

Trump jokingly admitted at a Saudi-backed investment conference in Miami Friday that he that he likes to “hang around with losers.”

“It’s a good thing to have a lot of losers. I always like to hang around with losers, actually, ’cause it makes me feel better,” Trump said. “I hate guys that are very, very successful and you have to listen to their success stories. I like people that like to listen to my success.”

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s golf habit has now cost US taxpayers at least $101.2 million in travel and security expenses since his return to office, a figure that is two-thirds of his first-term golf total and has him on track to spend $300 million by the end of his second term, according to a HuffPost analysis.

Trump’s arrival at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday morning marks his 56th visit there since his 2025 inauguration and his 110th day on a golf course that he owns — meaning he has played golf on more than one-quarter of his days since returning to the presidency.

“At a time when gas prices are spiking and Americans across the country find themselves in an ever-worsening affordability crisis, the president has burned through over $100 million in taxpayer money in order to make promotional appearances at his golf courses and hobnob with millionaires and billionaires,” said Jordan Libowitz with the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington watchdog group. “If his goal were to help struggling Americans out, one thing he could try is stop spending their money going to his golf courses.”

Trump needed two full years to hit the $100 million mark in his first term, during which he played golf a total of 293 days at his own courses at a cost to taxpayers of $151.5 million. HuffPost has based its figures for transportation and security for Trump’s golf trips on a report to Congress during his first term in office.

In this second term, Trump has made 17 trips exclusively to his Mar-a-Lago country club home in Palm Beach, which is close to his courses in West Palm Beach and Jupiter. He has made seven more trips to Mar-a-Lago that included at least one additional stop. Last weekend, for example, Trump flew from Florida to Memphis for a speech before returning to Washington.

He has made eight trips to his course in Bedminster, New Jersey, at a cost of $1.1 million each and five to his resort in Doral, Florida, which cost $2.7 million each.

Of his regular golf destinations, Mar-a-Lago is by far the most expensive for him to visit, at $3.4 million a trip, because of the expense of patrolling both the Atlantic Ocean off the Palm Beach coast, as well as the Intracoastal Waterway that separates the barrier island from the mainland. When Trump is present, a Coast Guard ship is stationed offshore, and smaller law enforcement vessels with guns mounted on their bows are in the Intracoastal.

His most expensive trip to date has been the $9.7 million one he took to his resorts in Scotland last summer, which included participation in the grand opening of a new course at his Aberdeen property — an event for his for-profit business that the White House’s government staff helped promote.

In recent weeks, the White House has begun categorising Trump’s golf outings as “executive time.” That phrase also appears in his public schedule almost daily.

When asked if that means that Trump is participating in some form of leisure activity in each of those instances, the White House press office responded with the unsigned statement: “Executive time refers to executive time.”

HuffPost’s analysis uses methodology and figures from a 2019 Government Accountability Office report on Trump’s golf trips early in his first term. That report found that four trips to Mar-a-Lago in early 2017 cost taxpayers $13.6 million, and then broke down that total into components like additional security expenses, the costs to fly Air Force One, and the need to transport motorcade vehicles using expensive C-17 cargo planes.

In his second term, the major drivers of the high cost for the president’s hobby ― the flights on Air Force One, the need for the Air Force C-17 transports, the salaries for those protecting the president ― have not diminished. Indeed, they have likely increased.

Because the salaries for military service members and law enforcement officers generally have not kept pace with the consumer price index, HuffPost did not inflate the figures to current dollars. The actual costs and totals, nevertheless, are certainly higher than HuffPost’s unadjusted 2019 numbers.

Prior to his election in 2016, Trump spent years criticising former President Barack Obama’s golf outings, and during his first campaign, he promised he would be too busy to play golf. Then, following his 2020 election loss and failed coup attempt, Trump repeatedly criticised his successor, Joe Biden, for his frequent weekend trips to his home in Delaware.

But Obama’s taxpayer golf tab was a small fraction of Trump’s because Obama mainly played the course at Joint Base Andrews, a short motorcade ride from the White House. And Biden’s trips home used either the smaller version of Air Force One or a Marine One helicopter. Both cost far less to operate than the $273,063 per hour the GAO found it costs to fly the larger, modified Boeing 747 that Trump takes on his Florida golf trips.