Half of Scots say case for second independence referendum will be weakened if Labour wins majority of Scottish seats

By Alistair Grant
Published 30th Jun 2024, 00:01 BST

1Comment

Just 28 per cent told the poll by Savanta the case for a second independence referendum would not be weakened

Just over half of Scots (51 per cent) think the case for a second independence referendum will be weakened if Labour wins a majority of seats in Scotland at the general election, a new poll for The Scotsman has found.

The poll by Savanta found just 28 per cent do not think it would be weakened, while 20 per cent don’t know.

Meanwhile, if the SNP wins a majority of seats, more people (49 per cent) do not think this should lead to a second referendum than think it should (44 per cent).

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Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and UK leader Keir Starmer. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA

John Swinney, the SNP leader and First Minister, has said his party winning a majority of seats in Scotland should result in talks to deliver a second independence referendum.

However, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer previously said he will not engage in such negotiations. He accused the SNP of “focusing on the wrong priorities” and attacked their “dismal record of failure in government”.

Emma Levin, associate director at Savanta, said it was clear the independence cause “has taken a real knock”.

She said: "Labour's resurgence in Scotland has meant they have once again taken on the mantle of the main pro-union party. For some voters, weakening the case for independence will be one of the driving factors of their vote, but for many it's simply an unintended consequence of the SNP and Conservatives' shared collapse.

"It's clear that, along with the SNP's troubles, the cause for independence has taken a real knock over the last couple of years. That's reflected in our research where voters think even if the SNP got an unlikely majority of seats, they're still more likely to think a second independence referendum shouldn't take place."

Savanta interviewed 1,042 Scottish adults aged 16 and over online between June 21-25. Data was weighted to be demographically representative of Scottish adults by age, gender, region and past voting behaviour.

A quarter of those surveyed said they would be more likely to vote Yes to independence if Labour was in power in Westminster, while 14 per cent said they would be more likely to vote No. The majority (58 per cent) said it would make no difference.

Scots are divided on whether there should be another referendum, with 47 per cent saying there should be one and 48 per cent saying the opposite.

The poll found the SNP and Labour are now neck and neck on vote share north of the border, as the general election looms in just four days' time. However, Labour is still on course to win many more seats – 28 compared to the SNP’s 18 – due to the concentration of its support in the Central Belt.

Labour has dropped four points since the last Savanta poll for The Scotsman in mid June, while the SNP has gained one point, with both now on 34 per cent of the vote. Such a result would see the SNP fall well short of its goal of winning a majority of seats in Scotland in order to “intensify” the case for a second referendum.

Politicians forget we're voters, says Gypsy woman

By Kate Morgan, Communities correspondent, BBC Wales News 

• Sian Dafydd, BBC News

Leeanne Morgan
Leeanne Morgan says Gypsy and Traveller people want to not be "a second thought"

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities should be treated as voters and "not political footballs" during elections, campaigners have said.

The Traveller Movement added these communities faced "chronic democratic underrepresentation".

Leeanne Morgan, 48, part of the Gypsy community, said people like her just want to be treated "like everybody else".

The Electoral Commission is supporting a campaign to push more people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities to vote, saying they were "less likely" to be registered.

The mother-of-two said there were many barriers which her community faced, with many left feeling like "second-class citizens".

"There's only so long that you can stand up, you can ask and fight for things that you want," she added.

Leeanne, who lives with her family on a site in south Pembrokeshire, said politicians did not visit sites while on the campaign trail.

"I think they forget that they are their constituents as well. I mean, historically, Gypsy and Traveller sites are out of the way and sort of push to the side.

"Unless you've lived within the community for a long, long time, you wouldn't know that they're there," she said.

There are about 3,630 Gypsy and Irish Traveller people living in Wales, with the highest proportions in Cardiff and Pembrokeshire.

According to the latest census in 2021, 73% live in a house or flat and 27% live in a caravan or mobile home.

Political rhetoric and language was also creating barriers, according to Leeanne.

She has worked with officials to advocate for her community, and said too much jargon was used by political leaders and campaigners.

"I think they need to take into consideration how they're speaking to the people, to the people that are going to be voting them into power, so that they know, and everything is explained properly," she said.

'Political footballs'

Grace Preston is one of those behind Operation Traveller Vote – a push to empower members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities to vote in the upcoming election.

"Members of the community don't feel like constituents, but rather political footballs dragged out for politicians' campaigns," the senior policy officer added.

The organisation behind the campaign, The Traveller Movement, said members of these communities' faced "chronic democratic underrepresentation and huge levels of discrimination".

Grace Preston
The Traveller Movement has been holding registration drives across the UK

"If you don't feel like an active constituent in a community, you disengage and don't get involved, our job is to show how you can use your vote and voice," she added.

Alongside the campaign, the Traveller Movement has produced its own manifesto with recommendations on how all political parties can prioritise the communities' needs in areas such as health and education.

The group has been visiting UK cities and knocking on doors at Traveller sites to help overcome any literacy or digital literacy issues.

"We have our own manifesto and questions that people should ask politicians... giving people that power to have a voice for themselves is super important," she said.

The campaign has been supported by The Electoral Commission, the independent body which oversees elections.

"Everyone should be able to participate in elections, but our research shows that some groups are less likely to be registered to vote and to own an accepted form of ID, including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities," a spokesperson added.

What do the parties say?

Plaid Cymru said: "Romani, [Gypsy], Roma and Irish Traveller communities are too often used as a political football."

"We are committed to combating Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-migrant sentiment, anti-Gypsy and Roma Traveller sentiment, and all forms of racism and bigotry in politics and in wider society," a spokesperson added.

The party said politicians of all parties had a duty to engage with all communities in their areas, and encourage everyone to participate in elections.

Both Labour and the Conservatives have been asked to comment.

Britain's beloved NHS was kneecapped by the Conservative Party. Then the COVID pandemic hit

By Matt Bevan and Yasmin Parry for If You're Listening
ABC AUSTRALIA

Prime Minister Boris Johnson oversaw one of the deadliest periods in British history.(Reuters: Henry Nicholls)



The UK election is less than a week away and after 14 years in power, the Conservative Party is expected to lose.

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Who broke the NHS?
Britain's National Health Service was in crisis when COVID arrived in the UK. How was it left to fall into disrepair, right as a catastrophe hit?

About

At the top of the public's list of grievances is the country's crumbling National Health Service and how it was desperately underfunded before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

A massive inquiry is currently underway examining how the British government handled COVID-19, and former prime minister Boris Johnson has admitted "there were unquestionably things we should have done differently".

The COVID-19 years loom large as one of the most terrifying and deadly periods in British history — far deadlier than the German bombing raids during World War II.

Over 232,000 people died of the virus, wait times at hospitals hit record highs and the health system is still dealing with a backlog of patients.

But Britain's health system was already woefully underfunded and unprepared when the pandemic arrived.

So how was the NHS allowed to fall into disrepair and brought to the edge of collapse, right as a catastrophe hit?

Nye Bevan's vision

Welsh socialist Aneurin Bevan oversaw the birth of the NHS.

(Supplied: National Portrait Gallery, London)

The NHS is beloved in Britain.

During COVID, Boris Johnson called it the country's greatest asset.

"…Our NHS is the beating heart of this country. It is the best of this country. It is unconquerable. It is powered by love."

Former chancellor Nigel Lawson called it "the closest thing the English people have to a national religion".

It was founded in 1948 by a Welshman named Aneurin Bevan — known to everyone as Nye.

He was a hardcore socialist and clashed with just about everyone who wasn't.

Winston Churchill famously described him as "a projectile discharged from the Welsh valleys".

After the Labour Party won a landslide election in 1945, Bevan was surprisingly appointed to the position of health minister.

As minister of health, Aneurin Bevan had the daunting task of implementing the National Health Service.(Supplied: University of Liverpool Faculty of Health & Life Sciences under Creative Commons 2.0)

At the time, the British health system was a mess.

Some hospitals were run by charities, some were run by local governments, some were run by insurance companies.

It meant that richer parts of the country got far better care than poorer parts.

Nye Bevan was handed a blank cheque to fix this and his proposal was extraordinary — all of Britain's hospitals would be nationalised and come under the control of the health minister.

Using around 5 per cent of the government budget, health care would become free for everyone in Britain.

NHS's rise and Bevan's fall

Aneurin Bevan was known for speaking his mind.(Supplied: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales under Creative Commons 1.0 Universal)

There was massive opposition to the NHS from doctors, specialists and hospitals, who up until this point were their own bosses, but with money and compromise, Bevan brought them around.

Nye Bevan was on the verge of becoming a national hero and had a real shot at becoming the next Labour prime minister.

"There is nowhere in any nation in the world — communist or capitalist — any health service to compare with [the NHS]," he said.

But on the 4th of July 1948 — the day before the NHS was due to begin — Nye Bevan reminded everyone of his rabble-rousing roots.

At a rally in Manchester, he said, "No amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep, burning hatred for the Tory Party.

"So far as I am concerned, they are lower than vermin."

It completely overshadowed Bevan's NHS achievement. Even newspapers in Australia reported on it.

For years, Winston Churchill hammered him with it every chance he got. Young Tories started "vermin clubs". The Labour PM publicly condemned him.

The NHS rollout was also not flawless.

It cost double what Bevan had initially projected, as millions of poor people with long-term ailments came out of the woodwork now that health care was free.

When the government tried to claw back some of the money by making people pay for half the cost of false teeth and eyeglasses, it was the last straw for Bevan.

He quit over dentures, but the NHS and his legacy endure.

Funding flatlines

Former prime minister David Cameron introduced a policy of austerity which had long lasting impacts on the NHS.(Reuters: David Moir)

Three things have been rising in parallel since the 1970s — Britain's median age, Britain's life expectancy and the cost of the NHS.

And yet as the need for services has gone up, the budget for the NHS has flatlined in recent years.

Politicians and the public alike defend the NHS passionately, yet British governments are constantly surprised by its cost and try desperately to find ways to make it cheaper.

When David Cameron took power in 2010, he assured the public he understood the importance of the NHS and could be trusted with it.

He promised to isolate the NHS from the austerity program he was rolling out across Britain.

"We said five years ago that we were the party of the NHS, and now in government, by protecting the NHS from spending cuts, we are showing precisely that priority we've talked about so much in our party."

But Britain's aging population meant that more doctors, nurses and funding were needed every year to maintain the same quality of care.

Waiting lists began to grow. Overworked staff began quitting and the NHS was unable to find replacements for them.

The Labour Party began to attack Cameron for creating a crisis in the NHS, which Cameron angrily denied.

Percentage growth of UK median age, life expectancy and NHS cost since 1975.

(UK Government data)

But the figures speak for themselves.

The median waiting time in English emergency rooms went from 2 hours and 9 minutes in 2011 to 2 hours and 55 minutes in 2019.

The length of time cancer patients had to wait from diagnosis to treatment increased significantly.

For the first time in modern British history, life expectancy stopped going up. In fact, for Britain's poorest people — particularly poor women — it began to go down.

Too little, too late

Boris Johnson met with frontline workers during the pandemic.(AP: Jeremy Selwyn)

Surprisingly, the person inside the Conservative Party who seemed most aware of the situation was Boris Johnson.

For years, he'd been demanding increases in NHS funding, often as a way to wedge his opponents inside the Conservative Party and further his campaign to become prime minister.

He took over as prime minister in July 2019, and his government laid out a plan for a boost in NHS funding

.
Hospitals were overwhelmed with patients during the height of the COVID pandemic.(AP: Yui Mok via PA)

"We are doing 20 new hospital upgrades in addition to the 34 billion [pounds] more going into the NHS."

But it was too late, and the NHS was in a state of crisis right as the pandemic struck.

The effects were enormous.

For the first year and a half of the pandemic, the UK had the highest COVID-19 death toll per capita of any major economy.

Non-elective surgeries were postponed, wait times ballooned.

There were too few beds, too few staff, and buildings unsuitable to effectively contain infection.

Boris Johnson also contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic while serving as prime minister.(Reuters: Frank Augstein)

Life expectancy — stagnant for a decade — actually began to go backwards for the entire population, thanks to COVID-19.

It's easy to blame Boris Johnson for the high death toll, and many people do. They say he waited too long before putting the country in lockdown and then relaxed restrictions too early.

His decision to attend office parties while the British public were confined to their homes made it particularly easy to hang the blame around his neck.

But the reality is, the NHS was already in crisis before the first COVID-19 patient arrived in England.

Ongoing problems

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson gave evidence at the COVID-19 Inquiry in 2023.(UK COVID-19 Inquiry via Reuters)

There is currently a massive inquiry underway into how the British government handled COVID-19.

Boris Johnson admitted his government made mistakes but defended its response.

At one point, four protesters stood up in court as Johnson spoke with signs that read, "The dead can't hear your apologies".

Demonstrators stood outside the COVID-19 Inquiry in London holding banners.(AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

More findings are due out in the next week, but regardless, it's clear the NHS is still under enormous strain.

There is a backlog of patients who weren't able to access care during the COVID years and the original underlying issues in the NHS are still yet to be resolved.

One thing is for certain — it's an issue that is sure to play a role when British voters go to the polls this week.

At UK's Glastonbury festival: Music, sunshine and a call to vote

Revellers take selfies as they urge people to vote in the upcoming general election, at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival, Britain, June 27, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters

PUBLISHED ON JUNE 28, 2024

GLASTONBURY, England — Amid the thump of reggae beats from a stage nearby, the leafy scent of cannabis in the air and the warmth of sunshine at Glastonbury, a big sign tells festival-goers to "use your superpower" and vote in Britain's July 4 election.

The Just Vote campaign has installed a large black cube to represent a ballot box at the sprawling and eccentric five-day festival in southern England, and is trying to target young people with its message.

With polls predicting an easy victory for Keir Starmer-led Labour, there is a sense that many young people — a demographic with lower turnouts at past elections — may simply not vote.


That is a worry for Labour. It has told its candidates that if voters believe the election is a done deal, the Conservatives could do better than expected.

Polling by YouGov shows the vast majority of voters aged 18 to 49 want the Conservatives out of office after 14 years in government, which have seen five prime ministers, a series of scandals, widespread strikes, failing public services and falling living standards.

But among those at Glastonbury, a magnet for some 200,000 revellers, some will use their vote as a chance to back smaller parties, others care about voting the Conservatives out — and some simply won't turn up at all.

Many said they had taken a Labour victory for granted, and they want instead to support parties more closely aligned with the causes that matter to them, from climate change to Gaza. Campgrounds at the festival are dotted with Palestinian flags.

Under Starmer, Labour has shifted towards the centre, moving away from the hard-left politics of previous leader Jeremy Corbyn, who in 2017 addressed a huge crowd at Glastonbury.

Back then, many in the crowd treated Corbyn like a rock star, singing his name in a football-style chant. Starmer has since renounced the Corbyn era, and Corbyn is now standing as an independent.

"I'm excited about change, but I don't really love the Labour Party," said 28-year-old Ellie O'Connell, from Salford in northwest England, considered a Labour stronghold.


UK polls point to 'electoral extinction' for Prime Minister Sunak's Conservatives

"I think he's trying to appeal to [Conservative voters]," she said of Starmer, adding that she planned to vote for the much smaller Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition party.

Charles Olafare, 34, said he doesn't see much difference between Labour and the Conservatives: "The choice between them ... doesn't really feel like much of a choice, and it's quite frustrating."

An advertising copywriter from south London, Olafare said he was considering voting for the Green Party, which has advocated more taxes on the wealthy, scrapping university tuition fees and bringing forward the UK's 2050 net zero target by a decade.

Many younger voters still want to choose Labour if that is the best chance of removing the Conservatives from office, such as 20-year-old Harvey Morrey, who reckons the race will be tight in his constituency in Crewe, central England.
Tactical voting

Others, like Louis Billett, 23, will not vote at all. Turnout among those aged 18 to 24 at the last election in 2019 was about 52 per cent, compared to about 81 per cent for those aged over 75, according to the British Election Study.

"I just don't know enough about it to vote and I just don't see anyone I'd like to vote for," Billett said as he sipped from a can of cider.

Billett, a cheese factory worker from Midsomer Norton, 16 km from the festival site, who described himself as working class, said Corbyn was the one politician he "sort of had any respect for".

The Just Vote campaign, backed by Labour donor Dale Vince, is targeting people like Billett, and is managing to convince some to vote, but not everyone, said campaign volunteer Verel Rodrigues.

Sammy Henderson, 23, said she supported the Green Party but was considering Labour this time if that would help keep the Conservatives out of power — her overriding objective rather than any desire to see Starmer as Britain's next prime minister.

Glastonbury: How politics accompanies the music of the festival

Festival-goers will be familiar with Glastonbury's mix of music and politics. But this year's event is held just days before a General Election.

By Katie Spencer and Gemma Peplow, arts and entertainment team, at Glastonbury
Saturday 29 June 2024

Image:Pic: Yui Mok/PA

Glastonbury is no stranger to mixing music with politics, and with the general election just days away and protests against the Israel-Hamas war ongoing, this year has been no exception.

Artists from Damon Albarn to Charlotte Church have been vocal about their thoughts on the war on stage - and reflected back at them, a notable number of Palestinian flags are being held aloft by those in the crowds.
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Closer to home, while the looming election means planned visits by Labour's Angela Rayner and the Greens' Caroline Lucas were shelved, Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham did give a speech, and installations such as a large black cube representing a ballot box, by the Just Vote campaign, are here to impress on people there is one way to make a difference.

Elsewhere, during Idles set on Friday night, an inflatable life raft with dummy migrants was propelled into the crowd - a stunt the band have reportedly claimed was orchestrated by Banksy, although there is no official word from the anonymous artist on this yet, which they were not aware of until afterwards.

While Glastonbury is about escapism, what's going on in the wider world matters also clearly matters to a lot of people enjoying the festival.

Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto at Glastonbury

Ahead of their set, Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto told Sky News that as an 18-year-old, voting for the first time, no one explained to her why it mattered so much - and that it is important now to encourage younger people especially.

"Absolutely," she said. "The hard thing about youth is that you don't realise how fast that 20 years goes and you're not 20 anymore. You don't realise you only have however many elections in the next 15, 20 years, what a big difference they make."

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She continued: "It's about the money that's being spent for your future… there's so much more going on, so much deeper, that really will affect you."

However, Ditto said younger generations are also helping to inspire change. "I also want to say that they're going to save us all, Gen Z and Gen Alpha."

On Saturday, Labour's Andy Burnham told about 100 people who came to see him speak that Sir Keir Starmer will not "bulldoze" local government if he wins the election.

"I think it will change if Labour get in, it will improve, but it won't stop being very difficult," Mr Burnham told the crowd.

Meanwhile, a timely performance of Things Can Only Get Better, the D:Ream song that became the soundtrack to Tony Blair's 1997 electoral victory and more recently Rishi Sunak's sodden election announcement - got a huge reaction from the crowd on Friday.

:D:Ream perform Things Can Only Get Better at Glastonbury

Meet Glastonbury's State Of The Ground Guy

But is there also apathy among some?

Cast your mind back to 2017 and you might recall then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn receiving a rapturous reception on the Pyramid Stage - the crowd echoing with people chanting his name.

For socialist singer Billy Bragg, the mood has not been quite the same this year.

"If you go out there and offer people a vision of a better world, then people respond," he told Sky News. "And I think Corbyn is the proof of that… [Nigel] Farage as well, he promises something to his people. It might not be something I believe in or that I think it's going to work, but you've got to offer something to people other than, you know, steady as she goes, managerialism."

Charlotte Church performs at Glastonbury. Pic: Ben Birchall/PA

Charlotte Church, who joined Bragg's Radical Round-up on the Left Field Stage, sang "free Palestine" with a crowd of hundreds during her performance.

The singer's appearance at Worthy Farm comes months after she said police had to check on her because her safety and that of her family has been threatened after she took part in a pro-Palestine march in London.

The 38-year-old strongly denied claims of antisemitism at the time and voiced her support for Jewish people.

During his surprise appearance on stage with Bombay Bicycle Club on Friday, Blur's Damon Albarn addressed both the general election and global issues.

"Are you pro Palestine? Do you feel that's an unfair war?" he asked the crowd, before highlighting "the importance of voting next week" and adding: "I don't blame you for being ambivalent about that but it's still really important."

While many praise the artists for supporting causes they believe in, there are also those on social media who have complained about the mix, saying musicians should focus on the music.

But like it or not, politics is very much still a part of the Glastonbury experience.

Cuba's first transgender athlete shows the progress and challenges faced by LGBTQ people

Ely Malik Reyes stepped onto the platform and began delivering powerful punches and spectacular flying kicks against his combatant

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ

 Associated Press
June 28, 2024, 11:02 PM


HAVANA -- Ely Malik Reyes stepped onto the cordless platform and began delivering powerful punches and spectacular flying kicks against his combatant. He lost the fight, but won a major victory that day by becoming the first transgender athlete to officially compete in a Cuban sports league.

Reyes, a 26-year-old transgender man, competed for the first time in the male 60/65-kilogram (132/143-pound) category of sanda, a demanding contact sport that blends martial arts like kung fu with kickboxing.

The June 1 milestone marked the latest step toward inclusion in Cuba, one of Latin America's most progressive countries when it comes to LGBTQ rights. Yet, Reyes himself acknowledges having to overcome challenges, including the lack of medications, a law that sets conditions to change his gender on his ID and the “suspicious looks” he sometimes gets from people in the street.

“Educating society doesn’t happen in two days,” he said.

Reyes, who lives with his girlfriend in a colorful house on the outskirts of Havana, supports himself by repairing air conditioners, as his sanda fights are unpaid. He has been on hormone therapy for two years, but says he does not want full genital reassignment surgery.

His transition has been far from easy.

It began over four years ago when he visited Cuba’s Center for Sexual Education and consulted with a psychologist. He then saw endocrinologists and underwent tests to obtain a “tarjetón,” a special card that allows Cubans to purchase medication at pharmacies, enabling him to get the hormones needed for his transition.

But as Cuba’s economic crisis deepened, medications became scarce so he had to rely on other people who brought testosterone from abroad. While not illegal, the practice can be very expensive. “I’m an athlete; I can’t neglect my hormone treatment. ... I have to stay on top of it,” he said.

Changing his identity in official documents posed yet another challenge. While Reyes was able to legally change his name last year, his ID card still displays an “F” for female. That is because Cuba’s current law requires full genital reassignment surgery for this change — something he does not want to do.

LGTBQ activists in Cuba say a solution could come soon through a new Civil Registry law currently being drafted in the National Assembly that would allow people to change their gender on their ID cards — or eliminate this requirement altogether.

The changes stem from Cuba’s 2019 constitution, which gave way to the 2022 Family Code that allowed same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as surrogacy pregnancies among other rights. Though approved via referendum by a large majority, the measure faced opposition from evangelical groups and other conservative groups that disagreed with its provisions.

While Reyes’s ID still formally identifies him as female, sports authorities accepted his male status based on his hormone treatments, medical reports and self-identification. This allowed him to compete in the male category of the Cuban Fighters League.

“It’s something new; it’s a challenge that I have embraced with much love,” said Reyes's coach, Frank Cazón Cárdenas, the president of Cuba’s sanda community who handled the athlete's registration.

Cazón said he had to work on two fronts to make it happen: discussing Reyes with the other sanda male team members — and securing approval from the powerful Cuban Sports Institute, which ultimately authorized Reyes to participate in the male category.

Cuba’s LGBTQ community celebrated Reyes's milestone, noting it was the result of a hard-fought battle.

“It was only a matter of time,” said Francisco “Paquito” Rodríguez Cruz, a well-known LGBTQ rights activist in Cuba, referring to the sports institute’s unprecedented greenlight for a transgender athlete to take part in an official competition. “It’s the logical consequence of what has been done in the last 15 or 20 years.”

“It's obviously a cultural process of change that is still controversial," Rodríguez said.

A San Francisco store is shipping LGBTQ+ books to places where they are banned

Jaimie Ding And Haven Daley
Sat, June 29, 2024 














The Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In an increasingly divisive political sphere, Becka Robbins focuses on what she knows best — books.

Operating out of a tiny room in Fabulosa Books in San Francisco’s Castro District, one of the oldest gay neighborhoods in the United States, Robbins uses donations from customers to ship boxes of books across the country to groups that want them.

In an effort she calls “Books Not Bans," she sends titles about queer history, sexuality, romance and more — many of which are increasingly hard to come by in the face of a rapidly growing movement by conservative advocacy groups and lawmakers to ban them from public schools and libraries.


“The book bans are awful, the attempt at erasure,” Robbins said. She asked herself how she could get these books into the hands of the people who need them the most.

Beginning last May, she started raising money and looking for recipients. Her books have gone to places like a pride center in west Texas and an LGBTQ-friendly high school in Alabama.

Customers are especially enthusiastic about helping Robbins send books to places in states like Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, often writing notes of support to include in the packages. Over 40% of all book bans from July 2022 to June 2023 were in Florida, more than any other state. Behind Florida are Texas and Missouri, according to a report by PEN America, a nonprofit literature advocacy group.

Book bans and attempted bans have been hitting record highs, according to the American Library Association. And the efforts now extend as much to public libraries as school libraries. Because the totals are based on media accounts and reports submitted by librarians, the association regards its numbers as snapshots, with many bans left unrecorded.

PEN America's report said 30% of the bans include characters of color or discuss race and racism, and 30% have LGBTQ+ characters or themes.

The most sweeping challenges often originate with conservative organizations, such as Moms for Liberty, which has organized banning efforts nationwide and called for more parental control over books available to children.

Moms for Liberty is not anti-LGBTQ+, co-founder Tiffany Justice has told The Associated Press. But about 38% of book challenges that “directly originated” from the group have LGBTQ+ themes, according to the library association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. Justice said Moms for Liberty challenges books that are sexually explicit, not because they cover LGBTQ+ topics.

Among those topping banned lists have been Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer,” George Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.”

Robbins said it's more important than ever to makes these kinds of books available to everyone.

“Fiction teaches us how to dream,” Robbins said. “It teaches us how to connect with people who are not like ourselves, it teaches us how to listen and emphasize.”

She’s sent 740 books so far, with each box worth $300 to $400, depending on the titles.

At the new Rose Dynasty Center in Lakeland, Florida, the books donated by Fabulosa are already on the shelves, said Jason DeShazo, a drag queen known as Momma Ashley Rose who runs the LGBTQ+ community center.

DeShazo is a family-friendly drag performer and has long hosted drag story times to promote literacy. He uses puppets to address themes of being kind, dealing with bullies and giving back to the community.

DeShazo hopes to provide a safe space for events, support groups and health clinics, and to build a library of banned books.

“I don’t think a person of color should have to search so hard for an amazing book about history of what our Black community has gone through,” DeShazo said. “Or for someone who is queer to find a book that represents them.”

Robbins’ favorite books to send are youth adult queer romances, a rapidly growing genre as conversations about LGBTQ+ issues have become much more mainstream than a decade ago.

“The characters are just like regular kids — regular people who are also queer, but they also get to fall in love and be happy,” Robbins said.

_____

Ding reported from Los Angeles.

Jaimie Ding And Haven Daley, The Associated Press

A San Francisco bookstore is sending boxes of LGBTQ+ books to parts of the country where they are censored 

to counter the rapidly growing effort by conservative advocacy groups and lawmakers to ban them from public schools and libraries. The bookstore has already sent more than 700 books around the country to places like Florida, Texas, and Missouri, where many of the book bans have taken place. One recipient is a recently opened LGBTQ+ community center in Florida. 

(AP Video / June 29, 2024)

Yes, LGBTQ+ Pride still matters. A lot. Here's the many, many reasons why


Rainbow flags are a common sight nowadays. But make no mistake, advocates and queer campaigners urge: Pride still matters – a lot.

LOTTIE ELTON
29 Jun 2024

BIG ISSUE UK

Pride in London draws thousands of revellers every year.

Image: MangakaMaiden Photography/flickr

It’s Pride Month. And corporations are keen to celebrate.

With everyone from Burger King to Shell to the United States Marine Corps adopting rainbow flag imagery, perhaps you feel a little cynical about the annual event. But make no mistake, advocates and queer campaigners urge: Pride still matters – a lot.

“We have come a long way, but there is a long, long way to go,” said Christopher Joell-Deshields, the CEO of Pride in London. “The fight continues. We want people to be able to live authentically, loving whoever they wish to love, not just in the UK but around the world.”

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In 63 countries, being gay is still criminalised; in 12, it is punishable by death. In the UK, hostility towards the trans community has surged, and shame is shockingly common among queer young people.

Pride is a chance to fight back, says Nancy Kelley, former CEO of charity Stonewall and executive director of queer publication DIVA magazine.

“We are far from done when it comes from creating a safe and welcoming society for LGBTQ+ people,” she said. “But Pride is a massive, visible, powerful celebration of who we are, without shame, without fear. That is so important.”

What is Pride Month?

Pride Month honours the history, struggles, and achievements of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community.

It is celebrated in June each year to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York. On 28 June, 1969, NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar. Homophobic ‘vice’ legislation gave law enforcement the right to arrest and forcibly hospitalise gay people.

But Stonewall patrons fought back. The riots – and subsequent anniversary marches – galvanised the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Pride has since expanded beyond parades to include a wide array of activities: rallies, workshops, protests and memorials for those lost to hate crimes or HIV. The first official UK Pride march took place in London on 1 July, 1972.
Why does Pride Month still matter?

The LGBTQ+ community has come a long way in the last half-century. In the UK, equal marriage has been a reality since 2014. Section 28 – the law prohibiting the “promotion of homosexuality” in schools – has been consigned to history. Meanwhile, changes in the law mean that more schools, employers and public services can better tackle anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and bullying.

“We’ve had lots of milestones,” Joell-Deshields says. “But there are still issues… look at the inequalities, or the rise in hate crimes.”

From 2013 to 2023, homophobic and biphobic hate crimes in England and Wales escalated by 465%, according to the Office for National Statistics, while transphobic hate crimes surged by an astounding 1,211%.

“Culture war rhetoric” against trans people is driving this spike, said Kelley.

“What is happening right now is really worrying,” she said. “We are going backwards, some of the policy changes we are seeing could be even more damaging than Section 28 was.”

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has promised to fight a ‘war on woke’ by cracking down on gender-neutral toilets, restricting access to puberty blockers, and limiting the discussion of gender identity in schools.

“I think it felt previously like progress was kind of inevitable, and then suddenly you find yourself looking around wondering, how did we get here?” warned Amy Ashenden from Just Like Us, the LGBTQ+ young people’s charity.

“Why are there daily headlines that are very negative about trans young people? Why have we got an election and a culture war based around minority that represent roughly 1% of the population?”

Home is often not a safe place for young queer people: Up to 24% of young homeless individuals identify as LGBTQ+. But bullying is still common in schools – not just for queer children, but for the children of queer parents. More than half of lesbian and gay parents (56%) face negative comments about their families, Just Like Us research shows, and 42% of their children have experienced remarks about having LGBTQ+ parents.

Previous Just Like Us analysis found that a staggering eight-in-10 young queer women feeling ashamed of who they are.

Pride is “crucial” to counter this, says Ashenden.

“As older LGBT+ people, we can see that things come in peaks and troughs,” she urged. “It’s easier for us to hold hope that things will improve again. I think if you’re a young LGBT+ person right now things are probably looking quite bleak.”

“We really need to claim Pride as a space for community, solidarity and unpicking shame, because we’re getting so much negativity in the news. We need to reclaim space for ourselves and remind ourselves that there’s no shame in being LGBT+, and that it’s something to be really celebrated.”

Pride can also act as a “beacon” for other countries around the world, added Kelley.

“There are so many countries in the world where you can’t even hold a Pride march,” she said. “But things can be different, hopefully these massive pride marches can be a beacon to some of the people living in some of the hardest contexts around the world.”
What about the corporate aspect of pride?

Cynicism around corporate involvement is fair, says Joell-Deshields. But he insists that Pride in London will not tolerate any “rainbow washing” – they require partners who join the celebration to engage with related causes year-round.

“Allyship with the corporate world can be very can be very delicate,“ he said. “There are some corporates out there that are doing fantastic work in terms of the support that they give to their LGBTQ+ employees… they should be able to raise the rainbow flag above their organisation. Rainbow washing, however, is not acceptable. You cannot just talk the talk.“

Pride’s origins are in protest – and that tradition continues. Some queer groups will boycott the main event this year due to its ongoing affiliation with some climate polluters.

But even if you don’t attend the main event, Kelley says, don’t let Pride pass you by.

“Go to a big Pride. Go to a small Pride. Go to a picnic. You know, throw a barbecue in your own backyard,” she said. “There isn’t one way to recognise Pride, but if you’re part of the community, or if you love somebody who is part of the community, then celebrate!”

Thousands attend EuroPride parade in Thessaloniki

By

 AFP

A colourful “river” of people of all ages from across Europe marched through the centre of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece on Saturday, marking the end of a 10-day celebration of the LGBTQ community

According to police, the parade was attended by more than 10,000 people with the events heavily guarded by riot police in order to avoid incidents after far-right parties that are hostile to the LGBTQ community registered gains across northern Greece in recent European elections. 

Police had banned counterdemonstrations in the city to prevent any tensions or violence. 

On Friday, a 34-year-old was arrested for urging a counter demonstration “against the destruction of the family to resist the LGBTQ junta.” 

He was charged and will remain in custody until Monday. 

Demonstrators holding colourful balloons, flags, whistles and drums danced and sang throughout the march. Some placards read “love makes the family”, “proud parents together with our LGBT children”, “one law is not enough”, and “ban on conversion practices in the European union”. 

“Hundreds of volunteers have come from all over Europe to help make Thessaloniki Pride bigger and stronger. What is happening today is fantastic. We are very happy to see so many thousands of people participating in this parade,” said Lucas, 27, from Portugal.

“Thessaloniki was chosen among other reasons because of the slow progress on the rights of the LGBT community. Today we are sending a very important message: with solidarity we will succeed in every corner of Europe,” Thessaloniki Pride spokesman Apostolis Karampairis told AFP. 

“Despite the fact that the law on same-sex couples has been passed, we still have a long way to go to make the sexual identity of every human being accepted by the whole of society,” 23-year-old student Dimitris Stefanakis added. 

The conservative government earlier this year pushed through a bill legalising same-sex marriage and adoption despite opposition from the powerful Orthodox Church and some of its own ministers.

When the bill passed in February, dozens of people waving rainbow flags celebrated in front of the parliament building in central Athens. 

However, the ruling New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis blamed the legislation for its weaker showing in EU parliament elections last week.

New Democracy, which has been in power since 2019, won the most votes in the ballot but its 28-percent share was lower than the 33 percent it obtained in the previous European elections and well below the 40 percent it won in Greek parliamentary elections in June 2023.

Mitsotakis told Bloomberg TV that the same-sex social reforms had “put off some traditional voters”.

by Vassilis KYRIAKOULIS

Thousands attend EuroPride parade in Greek city amid heavy police presence

June 29, 2024 
By Associated Press

Revelers take part in EuroPride, a pan-European international LGBTQ event featuring a Pride parade which is hosted in a different European city each year, in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Greece, June 29, 2024.

THESSALONIKI, GREECE —

About 15,000 people attended the annual EuroPride parade Saturday, police said, in support of the LGBTQ+ community in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki amid a heavy police presence.

The parade, whose motto is "Persevere, Progress, Prosper," was staged on the ninth and last day of a series of events across the city. It was to be followed later Saturday by a concert and a series of parties.

"This participation from across Europe sends a message," parade participant Michalis Filippidis told the Associated Press. "It is very, very good. We are all united like a fist and, despite many things happening, we are all here to fight for our rights."

Participants marched through the city center, ending up at the city’s waterfront, at the statue of Alexander the Great, the most famous ruler of the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia. The nearby White Tower, once part of the city’s fortifications but now a standalone monument, emblematic of the city, was dressed in the colors of the rainbow.

There was a heavy police presence to prevent counterdemonstrations. In the end, police said, 15 people were detained for shouting obscenities at parade participants and, in one case, trying to throw eggs at them. Police prevented them from getting too close to parade participants.

Some Greek participants in the parade chanted at the counterdemonstrators: "For every racist and homophobe, there is a place in Thermaikos," the gulf on whose shores the city is built.

A 34-year-old man who had called for an anti-gay demonstration, despite the police’s ban on such an action, was arrested and will appear in court Monday on charges of inciting disobedience and disturbing the peace. He was visited in prison by the head of Niki, an ultra-religious political party, one of three far-right parties that elected representatives to the European Parliament in elections earlier in June.

Nationalism and religious fervor are more pronounced in Thessaloniki and other northern Greek areas than the rest of the country. The far right’s strong showing in elections was in part due to passage earlier in the year of a law legalizing same-sex marriage. The law, strongly backed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was opposed by nearly a third of the lawmakers from his conservative New Democracy party, and was backed by much of the left opposition, except for the Communists, who voted against it.

The EuroPride parade had strong official backing. The city was a co-sponsor and several foreign ambassadors attended.

"I am proud to be here ... for EuroPride 2024," said U.S. Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis. "This is about human dignity, this is about acceptance, this is about love, this is about equality. And, frankly, we need more love, more acceptance, more kindness in this world."

"I am here to show our support for diversity and equality for all. You are who you are, and you can love who you love," said Dutch Ambassador to Greece Susanna Terstal.

"I welcome the ambassadors ... and all the participants to Thessaloniki, a multicolored, friendly city that considers human rights non-negotiable," said Mayor Stelios Angeloudis.

Next year's EuroPride will take place in Lisbon.

Watch again: Thousands march in Paris for annual Pride parade on eve of French elections

London Pride 2024: 'Deeply shameful' politicians accused of endangering LGBT+ people to score political points

Sky News
Updated Sat, 29 June 2024 

Politicians were accused of "deeply shameful" "point-scoring" over LGBT+ issues as London's Pride parade took over the centre of the capital today.

1.5 million LGBT+ people and supporters were expected to take to the streets for the annual parade, with community groups, sports clubs, performers and companies taking part.

Ginger Johnson, the most recent winner of Ru Paul's Drag Race UK, was performing on one and spoke to Sky News before going on stage.

"It is deeply shameful that politicians think they can use LGBT+ issues to score points against each other," said Ginger.

"It's easy for them to rile people up with conversations like that [whether trans people should be allowed into single sex bathrooms]," she said.

"I don't think they understand the danger that puts especially the trans community in."

Dr Who star David Tennant was called "the problem" by Rishi Sunak this week after he told Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch to "shut up" because of her views on trans rights.

"It's just really really sad," said Kelly Panayi who was watching the parade with her wife.

"Who cares what people are, what they want to do? As long as they're not hurting each other, why does it matter?"

With fancy dress as far as the eye could see, plenty of people were taking the opportunity to celebrate the LGBT+ community together.

"When I was younger, I was a bit afraid to be gay in public," said Graham Kenny from Dublin.

"Pride is a chance to express yourself and feel safe doing that because everyone is here."

It's been 52 years since London's annual Pride parade began, kicking off three years after the Stonewall riots.

Those riots were triggered by LGBT+ people being hauled out of the Stonewall Inn by police in New York which kickstarted the gay rights movement.

Ruby Andrews was visiting the UK from the US and came to watch the parade. "It's just fantastic to see how you all are celebrating Pride, the numbers of people, we don't see this number [in the US]."

Tens of thousands march in Pride parade in central London

The colourful annual event mixed celebration with protest.


PEOPLE TAKE PART IN THE PRIDE IN LONDON PARADE (TIM ANDERSON/PA)
PA WIRE

JACOB FREEDLAND

6 HOURS AGO

Tens of thousands of people marched, many in colourful costumes, in this year’s Pride parade in central London.

The annual event, which had the theme #WeAreEverywhere in 2024, is a demonstration of LGBTQ+ pride and solidarity which celebrates diversity and fosters inclusion.

The parade was kicked off at midday by London’s Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan and his wife, Saadiya Khan, who stood at the front alongside the London Assembly chairman Andrew Boff, a Conservative, who is gay.

The event culminated in a mass gathering at Trafalgar Square where attendees enjoyed musical acts as free, cold soft drinks were handed out to crowds that had spent the day in the warm sun.

Alena Firestone, a 21-year-old student from Washington DC, in the US, said: “I’ve been to pride marches in DC and Philadelphia, and I saw that they were doing one in London so I wanted to see what it was all about.”

Ms Firestone went to watch the parade with her friend, Tamara Whitehead, 22, who studies with her at University College London.

Ms Firestone said: “In Washington, you march within the parade. But here, by standing on the side, you get a better feel for it.”

Among the myriad groups represented on the parade were Tesco workers, a marching band who treated crowds to a popular brass-version of Toxic by Britney Spears, and Ishigaki Ju-Jitsu – the UK’s largest LGBT+ martial arts club.

As the parade went down Piccadilly, spectators and participants danced and sang to loud pop music being pumped out of a Heart radio float.

Queers For Palestine marchers chanted “there is no pride in genocide” as they walked down Piccadilly.

The 50-person group held posters accusing Israel of genocide and condemning “pinkwashing” – the accusation that Israeli takes a progressive position on gay rights to improve its international reputation.

Asked why she wanted to march with the group, one young woman who did not want to be identified replied: “Free Palestine.”

Amran Khan, who did not want to give their age, said they were against pinkwashing.

Asked what they made of criticisms that Queers For Palestine ignore the limited gay rights within Palestinian society, they said: “I can’t speak because I’m not from there, but you have to be in a privileged position to ask that question.”

They said the group was getting a “very positive” reception from the crowd.

Another marcher, Tahir Kesai, said: “We decided to march because we think it’s important to be here. We’re too passionate about this cause not to participate.”

The 50-year-old from Windsor said: “Being gay means different things in different parts of the world.

“I don’t agree you have to be gay in a western way. I think people perceive it differently. I don’t think Israel is that gay friendly, either.”

Onlooker Wes, 42 and a GP from Surrey who did not want to give his surname, said he thought it was a “positive thing” that the group were part of the parade.

Ben, 44, a surgeon, also from Surrey, said: “Pride is a political event. It’s their freedom of speech.”




Christian counter-protesters gathered outside the parade reciting religious sermons criticising the march.

The group of seven men and one woman stood within a fenced off section adjacent to the route of the parade.

Several police officers were stationed around the counter-protest, set-up on Piccadilly, to prevent potential clashes.

A middle-aged man addressed the parade through a loudspeaker and was met with jeers from marchers ridiculing him.

Beside the counter-protest was a cardboard cut-out of Jesus Christ holding a sign saying “I’m sorry about them” with an arrow pointing towards the group.

Jenny Watson, 32, organised an alternative gathering for lesbians separate from the Pride parade.

The group met by the Emmeline Pankhurst statue at 11am on Saturday to chant and discuss themes around “lesbian resistance”.

One of the chants included: “Lesbians, not queer, we march with no fear.”

Ms Watson, a town planner from Belfast, said: “We didn’t want to advertise it because we didn’t want to be ambushed. (Our event) was not a protest, it’s a celebration.”

She said: “I’ve been coming to Pride since I was 18 – then it was easy, simple and fun.

“But it’s been taken over. The last time I went was two years ago. Towards the end of the parade I noticed this bus full of men in kink outfits with ball gags. I thought, what has this become?

“I don’t feel that it represents lesbians any more. It’s not welcoming.

“They said we don’t respect their values, but what are their values? Men can be women, and women can be men?

“Stonewall (the LGBT campaign group set-up in 1989) was about presenting gay people as normal, but now it’s turned into a circus. It’s not about saying gay people are normal. Now, there’s people in the LGBT community who just want to be a bit different.”

Police arrest Palestine activists for thought crime before Pride march

This follows similar arrests of Just Stop Oil supporters

By Arthur Townend
SOCIALIST WORKER
Saturday 29 June 2024


LGBT+ people have marched for Palestine, but cops arrested them at London Pride (Picture: Guy Smallman)

Police arrested some 30 activists at the gigantic London Pride LGBT+ march, on Saturday. Their “crime” was to think about holding a protest.

Using recently passed repressive laws, police detained protesters before they took any action. A group of pro-Palestine activists planned to do a ‘die-in’ at the Pride march.

The group wanted to show solidarity with Palestine—and expose that London Pride is sponsored by companies complicit in Israel’s genocidal murder of Palestinians.

These firms include HSBC, which has £100 million invested in Caterpillar. Caterpillar makes bulldozers used to flatten Palestinian homes.

Lloyds bank and Starbucks are also corporate sponsors of Pride, both of which have links with Israel.

Those arrested had not acted. and they held no “die-in”.

The 2023 Public Order Act contains Serious Disruption Prevention Orders, which empower the police to intervene before individuals cause serious public disruption.

It enables the police to suppress protests before they start. A similar set of arrests took place earlier this week. Police raided meetings of Just Stop Oil (JSO) and the homes of the climate justice group’s supporters. They arrested 27 activists.

Cops seized JSO activists on suspicion of planning to cause widespread disruption at airports during the summer holidays.

Police repression of pro-Palestine groups continues elsewhere. At the Cardiff Pride march last Saturday, Cymru Queers for Palestine staged a protest to oppose the Principality Building Society’s sponsorship of the event.

Principality Building Society is tied to Barclays, which has investments in companies complicit in genocide.

South Wales Police, who were marching in support of Cardiff Pride, “grabbed, dragged and brutalised” peaceful protesters, Cymru Queers for Palestine said.

The arrests at London Pride and of JSO activists show a clear escalation of police repression. It’s a disgusting way of suppressing those fighting for climate action and challenging imperialism. There must be resistance.

Led by Donkeys interrupt Nigel Farage speech by lowering huge Putin banner


Nigel Farage was initially unaware that the Russian president was on the poster, with the words ‘I heart Nigel’ written below

Holly Evans

Nigel Farage was speaking as a banner of Putin was lowered behind him (Led by Donkeys)

Nigel Farage’s latest rally was disrupted after political activists lowered a remote-controlled banner showing Vladimir Putin behind him while he spoke.

While talking at The Columbine Centre in Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, the Reform UK leader was initially unaware that the Russian president was on the poster, with the words ‘I heart Nigel’ written below.


He can be heard asking “Who put that up there?” before joking: “Someone at The Columbine Centre needs to get the sack”. Two staff members attempted to get rid of the banner, while audience members cheered and chanted “Rip it down”.

On their social media page, the group Led By Donkeys, who have previously targeted Mr Farage, wrote: “We just dropped in on Farage’s election rally with a beaming picture of Putin. Nigel was not pleased.”

Mr Farage has previously come under scrutiny for his comments on Putin, who has been president or prime minister of Russia since 1999.

When previously asked about him, Mr Farage told the BBC’s Nick Robinson: “I said I disliked him as a person, but I admired him as a political operator because he’s managed to take control of running Russia.”

He recently became embroiled in a war of words with former prime minister Boris Johnson, after he said that the West provoked Russia’s to invade Ukraine.


Writing in the Telegraph last Saturday, he urged readers not to “blame” him for “telling the truth about Putin’s war”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he would ‘never, ever defend’ Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he ramped up his row with former prime minister Boris Johnson (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

Mr Johnson shared the article on X, formerly Twitter, calling Mr Farage’s views “morally repugnant”.


Referring to the Telegraph article, he wrote: “This is nauseating historical drivel and more Kremlin propaganda.”

In Kent on Monday, Mr Farage said he had been “more far-sighted” in predicting a war in Ukraine, telling the crowd: “This has been turned into ‘Farage makes outrageous statement’, ‘Farage defends Putin’ – well, I’ve done none of those things.


“I would never, ever defend Putin and I think his behaviour in Ukraine and elsewhere has been reprehensible.

“But if we’re going to think towards a peace at some time in the not too distant future, perhaps it might be helpful to understand what went wrong in the first place.”

The Reform UK leader was holding a rally in Essex on Saturday (Paul Marriott/PA) (PA Wire)

Turning his fire on the former prime minister, Mr Farage said: “Well, perhaps it’s Boris Johnson that’s morally repugnant and not me, I don’t know. But can you see the sheer level of hypocrisy? Can you see the nonsense of all of this?”

He added: “This man will go down as the worst prime minister of modern times. A man who betrayed an 80-seat majority. Who opened the door to mass immigration? Boris Johnson. Who betrayed the will of Brexit voters? It was Boris Johnson. He pretended to be a Conservative but he governed as a Green.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly accused Mr Farage of “echoing Putin’s vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine” and shadow defence secretary John Healey said Mr Farage is “a Putin apologist who should never be trusted with our nation’s security”.

Nigel Farage's finances 'worth more than Reform UK' amid questions over family firm

The Reform leader's Thorn In The Side firm is valued at around £1.3m - while the party's books show a £1.1m debt. Meanwhile there are fresh questions about a family firm which folded owing the taxman £100,000

By Jeremy Armstrong News Reporter
Mikey Smith  Deputy Political Editor

29 Jun 2024

Nigel Farage is worth more than the party which he leads.

His firm Thorn in the Side Ltd returned accounts which showed it was valued at around £1.3million. In contrast latest books for the Reform Party show it is £1.1m in debt. It comes as the Reform leader faces fresh questions over his involvement in a family firm that went bust owing the taxman more than £100,000.

Farage, who was paid a reputed £1.5m for ' I'm a Celebrity ' last year, told of the expenses paid to MEPs while he worked in Brussels. The then leader of the UK Independence party ( Ukip ), which wants to lead Britain out of the EU, said he had then taken £2m of taxpayers' money in expenses and allowances as a member of the European Parliament, on top of his £64,000 a year salary.

In 2009, he called on voters to punish "greedy Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs" at the European elections on 4 June, boasting of his personal expenses at a meeting with foreign journalists in London. Farage was asked by former Europe minister Denis MacShane what he had received in non-salary expenses and allowances since becoming an MEP in 1999. "It is a vast sum," Farage said. "I don't know what the total amount is but - oh lor - it must be pushing £2 million."

Farage insisted that he had not "pocketed" the money but had used the "very large sum of European taxpayers' money" to help promote Ukip's message that the UK should get out of the EU. When asked later by the Observer to justify how he could claim so much while running a campaign attacking Westminster MPs for their extravagance, Farage was unapologetic, saying that, while MEPs were "very expensive", he was entirely happy that the money had been used for.

Andrew Farage, Nigel's brother, pictured in 2013 (
Image: John Alevroyiannis)

Mr Farage filed papers resigning as company secretary of Farage Ltd - of which his brother Andrew was director - in February 2012. But despite being listed as company secretary in several official documents through 2011, his resignation was backdated by a year - to just weeks before HMRC ordered it to be wound up. There’s no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Farage.

Administrators also noted concerns about a "potentially unlawful dividend" of £124,000 - apparently taken from the firm by Andrew Farage the same month as the Reform UK leader says he resigned from the firm. Farage Ltd later entered into an agreement with HMRC to pay the tax back - with Nigel saying in interviews that the owed tax would be paid out of earnings.

But no payments were made and the firm was eventually wound up in 2019 with the money still outstanding. Mr Farage has also kept up his lucrative side-hustle making custom internet videos, despite being the The Reform UK leader is still making as many as four videos a day, charging up around £75 a time to send birthday messages and personal shout outs to fans - even after returning as party chief. Mr Farage even made two videos on the day he attended D-Day commemorations in Normandy - wearing his anniversary pin badge.