Judge imposes three-year treatment order on Donaldson for aiding and abetting sexual offences by her husband, Jeffrey Jeffrey Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor, has been placed on the sex offender register for five years for aiding and abetting sexual offences by her disgraced husband. Eleanor Donaldson appeared via remote link at Newry crown court to hear the order on Friday one month after her husband, the former Democratic Unionist party ( DUP ) leader, was convicted of abusing two women when they were children. Continue reading...
Eleanor Donaldson, wife of former DUP leader, placed on sex offender register

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Right to make green challenges to planning decisions under threat, say UK lawyers
Exclusive: Government in ‘private meetings’ about removing cost cap protections under Aarhus convention UK politics live – latest updates The government is considering stripping back legal protections that limit the costs community groups face when challenging planning decisions that threaten nature. The Aarhus convention, an environmental treaty that was signed into law by the UK in 2005, guarantees the legal right to participate in democratic processes on environmental matters – such as sewage pollution, new roads or datacentre developments. Continue reading...

Row breaks out between Tories and Reform at Piddington news conference – UK politics live
United front is short-lived as Zia Yusuf and Chris Philp bicker in front of residents and cameras Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally has said “people are seeking meaning, connection and hope in a turbulent world” as new statistics reveal Church of England attendances have grown for the fifth year in a row. The number of regular attenders to C of E services grew to 1.03m in 2025, a 1.5% increase on the previous year. Whether at morning prayer, a Sunday service, Evensong, a youth hub, a parent and toddler group - or any of the countless ways that the Church of England serves our communities in every parish - it is clear that people are seeking meaning, connection and hope in a turbulent world. Continue reading...

Nigel Farage’s security paid for by Reform UK despite claim over £5m gift
Exclusive: Sources reveal party is covering costs – raising new questions about leader’s explanation for billionaire’s gift Nigel Farage’s personal security has been paid for out of Reform UK’s central funds despite his claim that these expenses would be covered by an undisclosed gift of £5m from a billionaire donor, sources have told the Guardian. The Reform leader has had the central party pay for a team and two cars ever since a reduction in the security provided by the taxpayer after a review in 2025. Continue reading...

Piddington to bring legal challenge over asylum base plans
Up to 1,256 men could be housed at the site near Piddington in Oxfordshire under the plans.

Reform and Tory spokesmen in angry clash over immigration at Piddington
Reform's Zia Yusuf and Tory Chris Philp were speaking against converting a former military site into asylum accommodation.

If you’re wondering what a Reform government might look like, just look at its chaotic record in Wales | Will Hayward
As the main opposition in the Senedd, the party should be taking politics seriously. Spoiler alert: it’s not In May 2026, Reform UK became the official opposition inside the Welsh Senedd. It was the best result the party had ever received in a national parliament – and since that time it has been a wild ride. Given that its leader, Nigel Farage, claims he expects to one day lead the UK government, how it performs in Wales matters more than just for the people of Cymru; it gives the rest of the UK a sense of what it could expect if Reform does well in the next general election. Just to give you a taste, here are two developments. In September, Reform’s leader in Wales, Dan Thomas, resigned after he was arrested and released on bail on suspicion of assault and coercive or controlling behaviour. (Thomas said that he had done “nothing wrong” but resigned to avoid becoming a “distraction”.) I