Nigel Farage turned down taxpayer-funded security including bodyguard, car and driver last year – UK politics live | Politics

Keir Starmer As one of his last appearances on the international stage, he attended the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris today. The Press Association reports:

The Prime Minister met with British soldiers attending ceremonial events in the French capital before watching the parade with Emmanuel Macron and other leaders, including Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Starmer will be replaced by Andy Burnham on Monday after the former Manchester mayor won enough support to make it mathematically impossible for anyone to challenge him for the Labor leadership.

The Prime Minister and other European leaders watched the military parade and flight in Paris.

Troops from the Grenadier Guard marched alongside the French Garde Republicaine.

The celebrations followed Starmer’s latest “coalition of the willing” summit on Monday, where he paid tribute to the influence of fellow leaders Macron, Zelensky and Germany’s Friedrich Merz on the world stage.

While French President Macron said to Starmer, “We owe you a lot, Prime Minister,” German Chancellor Merz said that he would “call you from time to time to get your opinion on this or that issue.”

Ukrainian president Zelenskyy thanked Sir Keir for his “constant, committed support”, which he said would continue under the prime minister’s successor.

Andrew McDonald And Megan McElroy Starmer’s reception at the summit yesterday will be described in a more colorful way. London Playbook briefings for Politico.

The Prime Minister wakes up this morning in a very hot French capital to celebrate Bastille Day with Emmanuel Macron… and their farewell may be emotional. Playbook heard Macron led a football match-style applause at the top of a Coalition of Volunteers meeting on Monday after thanking Starmer for what he had done for Ukraine. Macron said the Prime Minister played a “historic role” in establishing the CoW, before Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy described him as a “friend” and “a great Prime Minister and a great man”.

Good morning. It didn’t take long. In the House of Commons yesterday afternoon John Crace There was a rare burst of logic as MPs debated the death of Ann Widdecombe, according to reports. early in the day Richard TiceThe deputy leader of Reform UK was claiming on social media that the establishment wanted Nigel Farage dead and demanding an apology from anyone who accused Reform UK of politicizing the tragedy after police announced counter-terrorism officers were now in charge of the murder investigation. But in the House of Commons, Tice brushed aside those arguments and instead focused mostly on a warm and funny tribute to Widdecombe. And Shabana MahmoodThe Home Secretary avoided any temptation to criticize Reform UK and instead noted how much he understood Farage’s concerns.

It was an almost sincere end to a day that started with the most unpleasant reaction on social media. You can find more information about today’s Focus here or our overnight opening story here.

It’s back to normal this morning. Robert JenrickReform The UK Treasury spokesman was on the Today show and rehashed all the Farage security complaints from the weekend. Here are the important quotes.

The government chose not to give Nigel the security he needed. As a result of Ann Widdecombe’s horrific murder they have now asked her on a date.

The Minister of Internal Affairs could have proposed this meeting a year ago, two years ago. He chose not to.

I’m afraid this is playing politics with the security of politicians.

And I think it’s because they don’t like the views put forward by Reform politicians.

Because we are not mainstream politicians. We are politicians who fight against the establishment every day. We are not stepping back.

• Jenrick acknowledged Farage turned down a significant government-funded security offer last year. Questions were asked about a report in i Farage “rejected an offer of taxpayer-funded security last year, including bodyguards, cars and a trained driver,” he said. In their story, Arj Singh, Caroline Wheeler And kitty donaldson to say:

The Reform UK leader was offered protection following police advice about the threats he faced.

Before this, he was already receiving publicly financed coverage and thought his package had been downgraded.

This would give Farage a similar level of security to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and some high-profile Cabinet ministers.

Farage rejected the offer because he felt the protection was inadequate.

They asked about the story, Jenrick He did not dispute the details and accepted that Farage had turned down the security he was offered because he did not consider it sufficient.

• Jenrick rejected suggestions that politics did not factor into the decision about what security should be offered to Farage. Decisions on what kind of security to offer politicians such as Farage are made by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), the body responsible for VIP protection. Yesterday in the House of Commons Mahmoud He said this body, run by officials, was and should be “fiercely independent”. However, when this claim is made Jenrick, He did not accept this. He said:

It’s a choice. The Home Secretary is not powerless… I think it is in his power to override this if he wishes.

• Jenrick rejected claims Farage was deliberately talking about the security threats he faced because he wanted to distract public attention from controversy around his failure to record donations from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne and convicted fraudster George Cottrell. When this was put to Jenrick, he repeated his claim that the security threats to Farage were real and that they were not being taken seriously by the government.

• But Jenrick didn’t go so far as to confirm this a claim His Reform UK colleague Zia Yusuf said yesterday: “None of the government, the Speaker or the police care about the safety of Reform MPs.” Jenrick instead argued that Reform UK MPs’ security concerns were not taken seriously because of their political views.

Reform MPs are not demanding special treatment.

What reform MPs want is to be able to return home safely to their families at the end of the day, and to know that their homes and loved ones are protected.

There is a legitimate concern that Reform MPs are more at risk than others because we raise issues that many mainstream politicians shy away from.

If you talk about Islamic extremism, as I do, and as Nigel Farage has done for years, you are probably in far more danger than those who don’t.

nick robinsonThe presenter said this was not a view the family of Labor MP Jo Cox, who was murdered by a far-right extremist 10 years ago, would support, or suspended Labor MP Diane Abbott, who was subjected to record amounts of online abuse.

I think it is wrong for some sections of the media to claim that Nigel politicized the death of Ann Widdecombe; It was a terrible claim as he was about to mourn the death of a beloved colleague.

And he is now cleared, as the police accept that the killer may well have had a terrorist or political motivation.

Here is the agenda of the day.

9.45: Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey gives evidence to the House of Commons Treasury committee.

Morning: Keir Starmer attended the Bastille Day parade in Paris.

11.30: Health Secretary James Murray answers questions in the House of Commons.

Afternoon: A lobby briefing is being held in Downing Street.

After 12.30: Lawmakers are beginning to debate the remaining phases of the civil liability bill, also known as the Hillsborough bill. Keir Starmer is expected to lead on behalf of the government at the third reading, which may not start until 6pm. The first MPs will debate changes At the report stage.

13.30: Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, gives a speech at the Institute of Government.

14:00: Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper testifies to the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.

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