(Farage says the next mayoral election will be in 2027, but he is wrong; it will be in 2028.)<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Farage says some commentators think the economic is doing better than expected.<\/p>\n But he says he does not agree, and he thinks there is a danger of a serious collapse amongst small businesses.<\/p>\n He still thinks the general election will take place before 2029.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Farage says he will announce Reform UK’s leader in Scotland at press conference in Edinburgh next week<\/p>\n Nigel Farage is starting now. He is in front of a banner saying London needs Reform.<\/p>\n He says he is in the some venue where he announced on 3 June 2024 that he was coming out of retirement and returning to Reform UK<\/a> as party leader. He says the party has now led in almost 200 polls in a row, normally by about 10 points.<\/p>\n Today he wants to talk about the local elections in May, which he says will be the most important set of elections ahead of the general election.<\/p>\n He will be focusing on getting the party ready, with the right candidates in place.<\/p>\n There has been a lot of focus on Wales<\/a> already, he says. Wales \u201clooks like a two-horse race between us and Plaid\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n And in Scotland he says is amazed by how much progress the party is making there. He will do a press conference in Edinburgh on Thursday next week where he will announced the name of the Reform UK leader in Scotland.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is holding a press conference, which is due to start at 10am.<\/p>\n There is a live feed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Reform UK accuses BBC of bias over party allegiance of audience member in Caerphilly byelection debate<\/p>\n Reform UK has complained to the BBC after it emerged that a prominent audience member at a byelection debate is now running as a Plaid Cymru candidate, PA Media reports. PA says:<\/p>\n Voters in Caerphilly went to the polls after the sudden death of Labour Senedd member Hefin David last year.<\/p>\n BBC Wales held a television debate with six of the candidates called Your Voice, Your Vote, in the lead-up to polling day.<\/p>\n During the debate, a woman criticised the party\u2019s stance on immigration, claiming she had \u201cnever felt so unwelcome in my own home town\u201d, telling Reform candidate Llyr Powell: \u201cMr Powell, I blame you for that.\u201d<\/p>\n The interaction went viral and was discussed for the remainder of the campaign, the party said.<\/p>\n Plaid candidate Lindsay Whittle went on to win with 15,961 votes, more than 47% of the total.<\/p>\n Nigel Farage\u2019s party had pledged to \u201cthrow everything\u201d at its campaign for the seat, which Labour had held since the Senedd was established in 1999.<\/p>\n Plaid has since announced the audience member, Alison Vyas, as a community council candidate in Caerphilly.<\/p>\n A Facebook post announcing her candidacy described her as a \u201cproud Valleys woman\u201d who \u201cbrings the strength, warmth, and community spirit she grew up with\u201d.<\/p>\n Farage said: \u201cTrust in the BBC has been shaken by scandals in recent years, from Huw Edwards to the selective editing of a clip of President Trump. Now, this revelation will be the final straw for many people in Wales. How can there be any confidence that Reform will get a fair and balanced hearing when this is the kind of thing that happens at key election debates?\u201d<\/p>\n A BBC spokesperson said: \u201cAs with all BBC election debates, the audience was selected through an established and impartial vetting process designed to ensure a fair representation of political views. All participants were selected in line with our standard editorial guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>\u2018Catastrophic\u2019 MoJ leasing of jail with toxic gas set to cost more than \u00a3100m<\/p>\n A \u201ccatastrophic\u201d decision by the Ministry of Justice to sign a 10-year lease on a prison where high levels of a poisonous gas had been detected is expected to cost the UK taxpayer more than \u00a3100m, the Commons public accounts committee has concluded. Rajeev Syal has the story.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>MSPs vote to suspend Ash Regan for 2 days over code of conduct breach during gender recognition row Severin Carrell is the Guardian\u2019s Scotland editor.<\/p>\n Ash Regan, the independent MSP and former Scottish National party minister, has been suspended for two days by her Holyrood colleagues after she was found to have breached the devolved parliament\u2019s code of conduct.<\/a> One of Holyrood\u2019s most vociferous gender critical MSPs, Regan had complained to the presiding officer about Chapman, one of Holyrood\u2019s most vociferous pro-trans MSPs, over Chapman\u2019s comments about the supreme court judgement on the legal definition of woman.<\/p>\n Although Regan had not lodged a formal complaint, she posted her letter attacking Chapman and calling for an investigation of her on X; the process is designed to be confidential.<\/p>\n MSPs voted by 84 votes to 18 to suspend Regan from two sitting days; eight MSPs abstained while 19 did not vote. Regan\u2019s counter motion rejecting the sanction was defeated by 88 votes to 19, with two Labour MSPs supporting it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Greenwood explains why restrictions on new drivers not included in road safety strategy<\/p>\n Although the road safety strategy is extensive, the government has not adopted a proposal backed by some campaigners \u2013 preventing new drivers carrying passengers, or driving at night, for a certain period after they have passed their test.<\/p>\n Asked why the government was not doing this, Lilian Greenwood, the transport minister, told ITV\u2019s Good Morning Britain:<\/p>\n We\u2019ve had to strike a balance between protecting young people and not overly impacting their opportunities to access work and education and social activities.<\/p>\n But she said the proposal to make learner drivers wait up to six months<\/a> between taking the theory exam and doing the practical test would reduce the risk of new drivers being in charge of a car with too little experience.<\/p>\n As the BBC reports<\/a>, Crystal Owen, whose son Harvey was one of four teenagers killed in an accident in Wales in 2023 in a car driven by a new driver, has said restrictions for new drivers should have been included in the plan.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Greenwood defends proposal to require older drivers to take eye tests<\/p>\n In interviews this morning, Lilian Greenwood, the transport minister, also defended the proposal to require older drivers to take eye tests. She told BBC Breakfast:<\/p>\n We know that our eyesight can deteriorate as we get older. I\u2019ve had coroner\u2019s reports where people have been killed by people who\u2019ve got poor eyesight. Sometimes they\u2019re driving in a reckless way when they\u2019ve already been advised that they shouldn\u2019t be driving anymore. In other cases, people didn\u2019t realise that their eyesight had deteriorated.<\/p>\n But we\u2019ve got an ageing population. We know that this is a growing issue, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re proposing this action today.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.16 EST<\/p>\n Transport minister Lilian Greenwood rejects claim tougher drink-driving rules will kill off rural pubs<\/p>\n Good morning. Keir Starmer<\/a> is taking his first PMQs of 2026 today, and it is hard to imagine that he will get through that without being able to comment on Donald Trump escalating his threats about annexing Greenland \u2013 a prospect that would tear apart Nato.<\/p>\n But, even with the world in crisis, domestic policy making has to continue and this morning the government is focusing on something closer to home \u2013 its road safety strategy.<\/p>\n The full document is not out yet, but here is the Department for Transport\u2019s press release <\/a>and here is Gwyn Topham\u2019s overnigtht story about it.<\/p>\n The government wants to cut deaths and serious injuries on Britain\u2019s roads by 65% by 2035 and it is quite a meaty strategy, with several significant proposals, albeit mostly ones that are going out for consultation, which means there is a chance they could be watered down.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most controversial plan is the proposal to cut the drink-drive limit in England and Wales<\/a>. It has not changed since 1967 and it is the highest in Europe, at 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. It could be cut to 22 micrograms, in line with the limit in Scotland since 2014.<\/p>\n Predictably, the rightwing papers are presenting this as a threat to rural pubs.<\/p>\n Telegraph splash Photograph: TelegraphSun splash Photograph: The Sun<\/p>\n The Telegraph story quotes the British Beer and Pub Association as saying: \u201cThe pub sector continues to face huge challenges, so any additional policy measures that further impact trade will be of real concern to licensees, especially those in rural areas.\u201d<\/p>\n Lilian Greenwood, the transport minister, has been giving interviews this morning, and and she has rejected the claim that a lower drink-drive limit would lead to rural pubs closing. She said there was evidence to back this up. She told Times Radio:<\/p>\n In drawing up these plans we\u2019ve listened carefully to road safety experts from both in the UK and across the world. That\u2019s precisely what we wanted to do was to be evidence-led in terms of our policy making.<\/p>\n Obviously the drink drive limit was reduced in Scotland back in 2014. The evidence from studies by the University of Stirling<\/a>, [and from the] University of Bath <\/a>is that that didn\u2019t have a significant impact on the pub trade. They didn\u2019t suffer as a result of that. So we have taken that into account in devising these proposals.<\/p>\n She also said the government did not want to stop people going to pubs.<\/p>\n What we\u2019re just saying is don\u2019t take your car. So that might mean that you know some places you\u2019ll be able to take a bus or a taxi. In other places you\u2019re going out with a group of mates. One of you agrees to be the designated driver. I know from working with the pub trade how many great low alcohol drinks there are out there. Now most of our favorite brands are produced in a low alcohol version. So people have lots of opportunities to do something to choose a different drink when you want to go out and you know and enjoy yourself in the pub.<\/p>\n I will post more from her interviews soon.<\/p>\n Here is the agenda for the day.<\/p>\n 10am: Nigel Farage<\/a>, the Reform UK leader, holds a press conference.<\/p>\n Morning: The Department for Transport is due to publish its full road safety strategy.<\/a><\/p>\n Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch<\/a> at PMQs.<\/p>\n After 12.30pm: MPs debate two Tory opposition day motions, on jury trials and rural communities.<\/p>\n If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can\u2019t read all the messages BTL, but if you put \u201cAndrew\u201d in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.<\/p>\n If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X<\/a>, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.<\/p>\n I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can\u2019t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.<\/p>\n![\"Severin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/severin_carrell_140x140.jpg\")
Severin Carrell<\/p>\n
<\/a>Regan, who quit the SNP to join Alex Salmond\u2019s nationalist party Alba, but then quit Alba after disputes over succeeding him, was found to have twice broken the code by making public her criticisms to parliament about a Green MSP, Maggie Chapman.<\/p>\n