British politician and former adviser
Conservative Party selects Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a former neo-Nazi and convicted offender, to stand in Crewkerne South for the 2027 Somerset Council election. The move prompts criticism from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and others who question vetting and rehabilitation.
The government has paused the September release plan to ease prison overcrowding following public backlash. It has announced October changes that exclude rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from early release, while imposing stricter monitoring and tagging. The policy restart aims to prevent the prison system from collapsing and to improve victim support.
Labour leader-in-waiting Andy Burnham is assembling a Downing Street team as Rachel Reeves faces potential demotion. Reports show Reeves backing Burnham and discussions about whether she will be kept in No 11. The leadership race is accelerating with other ministers weighing bets on the cabinet line-up.
In a heated PMQs, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch trade barbs over Labour’s plan to tax private school fees to fund teachers in state schools. Badenoch labels Phillipson a “spiteful class warrior” as the exchange spills into social media and prompts a call for decorum from the speaker.