Writing the summary…
All hail the Kult of Kemi – captain, coach and owner of the Conservatives | John Crace
Source: The Guardian
Original reporting
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BBC Politics
Greens investigate party member behind Zionism motion
It has emerged Lubna Speitan was listed in court documents as a "close friend" of a man later jailed for supporting al-Qaeda.
The Guardian
‘Palestinians will bear the cost’: UK consulate in East Jerusalem prepares to shut its doors
Forced closure marks low point in UK-Israeli relations, with reports UK is considering retaliatory expulsion of Israeli diplomats from London Israel marks three years since 7 October attack – live The UK consulate in East Jerusalem gave few signs it was at the centre of a geopolitical controversy this week, with little movement around the high-walled building save the fluttering of the union jack and the occasional car exiting the compound. The mission is to shut its doors on Thursday after Israel ordered its closure in response to a UK ban on trade with illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and sanctions on those who help build or finance them. Continue reading...
The Guardian
Badenoch made the best of it – but the Tories still have a mountain to climb before any hope of No 10 | Henry Hill
Conference announcements on inheritance tax and childcare boosted the party’s mood, but the task is still holding off Reform, rather than any realistic bid for power On paper, the traditional role of the journalist at a British party conference boils down to some simple questions: what was the mood of the assembled activists? Did the leader give a good speech? In practice, the changing nature of conferences and the media makes this superficially simple task more complicated than it may initially appear. Any journalist covering the leader’s speech, for instance, will have watched it in full. But it will reach the vast majority of its intended audience in fragmentary form, through clips – and speeches are increasingly written with that reality in mind. The conference hall is not really the audience, or the full speech really the product. This adds a layer of complexity to the reviewer’s ta
The Guardian
‘All me’: Tory party riding high on Kemi Badenoch’s wave of popularity
At Conservative conference, some worry about becoming a one-woman party, while others say party should thank their lucky stars they have her UK politics live – latest updates Kemi Badenoch has long said that the Conservatives were “under new management”, but in a TV interview to mark the end of a party conference at which she has been front and centre of more or less everything, she took the analogy further. “Your viewers will know that sometimes you have a football team that’s disappointing,” the Tory leader told GB News. “There’s a new captain, there’s a new coach, there’s a new owner, effectively – which is all me.” Continue reading...
The Guardian
George Galloway contests London byelection without setting foot in UK
Veteran leftwinger has been ‘in exile in the east’ in Russia and not been to Holborn and St Pancras constituency since campaign began George Galloway has been elected seven times to parliament, but his attempt to succeed for an eighth this week, in the London seat formerly held by Keir Starmer, is undoubtedly his most curious effort yet. Since the byelection campaign began, the leader of the Workers party of Britain has yet to set foot in the UK, let alone the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, because he is in what he describes as “self-exile” after being questioned by counter-terrorism police at Gatwick airport a year ago. Continue reading...
BBC Politics
Badenoch pledges inheritance tax changes as she pitches Tories as 'no-nonsense' party
The Opposition leader made the pledge as she said the Tories face a "battle for the soul of the this nation".