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Tories pledge to build 50,000 new prison places

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As Trump's proposed arch looms over D.C., protesters pin their hopes on the midterms
Democratic lawmakers, veterans and concerned citizens gathered in Memorial Circle to protest the arch Trump wants to build there. Their hopes lie primarily in a lawsuit and next month's midterms.

Widdecombe suspect charged with planning terror act against Farage
Counter terror police say the further charge comes after a "hugely intensive and complex investigation".

Pro-Trump Influencer Benny Johnson is being sued for defamation by ICE protesters
The lawsuit says the prominent conservative podcaster falsely claimed the protesters were assaulting ICE officers during demonstrations at an ICE facility in Illinois last year.

Greens can move Labour in the right direction, says Polanski
The Green leader tells his autumn conference that a vote for his party can force changes from Andy Burnham.

At Brighton, Polanski raised his arms in triumph. It felt more like a wave goodbye | John Crace
The Greens’ leader seems long on agitprop but short on ideas – and one byelection away from losing his job The Chronicle of a Death Foretold. It must be weird to realise that you have in effect made yourself obsolete inside a year. Worse, that you have actively accelerated your demise. Even AI doesn’t work at that speed. But that’s precisely what it looks as if Zack Polanski has done. Maybe he should just look on the bright side. He’s managed eight Liz Trusses. Not to be sneezed at. Polanski is partly a victim of his own success. A cautionary tale of being careful what you wish for. Like Nigel Farage, the leader of the Green party was one of Keir Starmer’s fiercest critics. Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting excepted. Keir wasn’t radical enough. Did not care enough about Gaza. Was too dull. And under Zack’s leadership, voters swarmed from Labour to the Greens. The party climbed to a record h

The Guardian view on the Conservative conference: a party still searching for a purpose | Editorial
Kemi Badenoch has a lot to say about Labour and Reform UK but none of it amounts to a coherent alternative programme for government The Conservative party is far from the margin of British politics, but it has yet to recover the relevance to which it feels historically entitled. The Tories are flattered by their status as the official opposition in parliament. In the wider country, Reform UK has set the agenda on the right, overtaking Kemi Badenoch’s party in opinion polls and poaching MPs from her benches. But Nigel Farage’s progress has stalled. Scrutiny of Reform’s finances has made its leader look shifty. Competition from Restore Britain, an extreme nationalist party, has denied Mr Farage the luxury of taking far-right votes for granted. Pandering to a hardcore audience makes it difficult for Reform to affect the moderation required to capture more Tory and Labour votes. Continue rea