Slovakia's PM threatens expulsions from country after protests

DPA
Sat, January 25, 2025 


People gather at Freedom square as nationwide protests continue against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's government. Šálek Václav/CTK/dpa


Prime Minister Robert Fico on Saturday accused foreign countries of meddling in Slovakia's internal affairs and threatened to expel people from the country, a day after huge protests against his government.

"Our opposition members are only altar boys - someone else is celebrating the Mass," said the populist left-wing politician on public broadcaster STVR.

Fico directed his criticism at non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which he believes are supported by foreign financiers. He claimed there are "instructors" from abroad a working to undermine the state.

Fico, who survived an assassination attempt in May, threatened countermeasures: "It is the task of the intelligence services to compile a list of people to be expelled from the country."

On Friday evening, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in almost 30 cities to demand Fico's resignation. They accused Fico of being pro-Russia and putting Slovakia on an increasingly authoritarian path.

Fico accuses his opponents of spreading falsehoods about an alleged shift in Slovakia's foreign policy toward Moscow in order to discredit his government.

"This government will never take any steps that could cast doubt on our membership in the European Union and NATO," he said on Thursday.

But Fico has stopped supplying weapons from Slovakian military stocks to Ukraine and frequently criticizes EU sanctions. He believes the sanctions are hurting Slovakia, which is dependent on Russian gas and oil, more than Moscow.

The anger of critics intensified in late December, when he made a surprise visit to see Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The trip was also not well received by Brussels and other allies of Ukraine.

Fico said the trip centred on supplies of Russian gas to Slovakia. He also floated the idea that his country could host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The demonstrators out on the streets on Friday evening were also fuelled by Fico's allegation this week that his opponents were plotting a coup, citing a report by the SIS domestic intelligence agency.

Fico said the agency uncovered "structures with links to foreign countries and to the Slovak opposition," whom he said want to provoke riots and see government buildings occupied.

The opposition accused him of trying to stoke panic to distract from the failure of his government's policies and improve his standing.

People gather at Freedom square as nationwide protests continue against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's government. Šálek Václav/CTK/dpa

People gather at Freedom square as nationwide protests continue against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's government. Jaroslav Novák/TASR/dpa

People gather at Freedom square as nationwide protests continue against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's government. Šálek Václav/CTK/dp

Slovak protests grow in rebuke of PM Fico's Russian tilt

Demonstrators attend an anti-government protest in Bratislava

By Radovan Stoklasa

Fri, January 24, 2025

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of protesters thronged a central square in the Slovak capital on Friday, waving banners opposing Prime Minister Robert Fico's policy shift closer to Russia, after tensions between the government and the opposition rose.

Organisers estimated 60,000 people attended the demonstration in Bratislava's Freedom Square, about four times more than in the last demonstration two weeks ago.

The protests were nearing levels seen in 2018 when the murder of an investigative journalist caused mass demonstrations and forced Fico's resignation. Fico won reelection as prime minister in 2023.

Protesters shouted "Enough of Fico" and "We are Europe" and at one point lit up the square with their mobile phones after a brief power outage.

Rallies were also held in 20 other cities, with news website Dennik N estimating at least 100,000 protested across the central European country.

Tensions have built this week, after Fico's leftist-nationalist government attacked his progressive opponents, accusing them of attempting to cause chaos.

The government plans new preventive measures amid what Fico said were plans to escalate protests into attempts at illegally overthrowing the government, including by occupying state buildings.

Citing information from intelligence services, Fico has alleged, without showing evidence, there was a group of unidentified experts in Slovakia that had helped in protests against a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine in 2014 and Georgia last year.

Opposition political parties and civic groups organising the protests have rejected the accusations, saying they are meant to deflect attention from policy problems that the fragile government coalition is failing to tackle.

Opposition parties have sought a no-confidence vote against Fico's government, but Fico has so far looked set to survive the vote as he maintains a thin majority.

Fico, since his return as prime minister for a fourth time in 2023, has sparked worries among critics that his government is weakening democratic values and shifting foreign policy away from European Union and NATO allies and closer to Russia.

"We do not want to be with Russia... We want to be in the European Union, we want to be NATO and we want to stay that way," protester Frantisek Valach said in Bratislava.

FICO'S TALKS IN MOSCOW

The latest round of protests come after Fico privately travelled to Moscow in December to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, a rare encounter for an EU leader since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Marian Kulich from civic group Mier Ukrajine (Peace to Ukraine), which organised the protests, said the aim was to "create pressure so that this government actually changes its direction towards Moscow and focuses" on EU and NATO partners.

Fico became increasingly anti-liberal after 2018. In May last year, a lone gunman shot and wounded Fico, protesting against his policies, and Fico has stepped up attacks against the opposition since then.

He has also been in open dispute with Ukraine after Kyiv halted the transit of Russian gas supplies heading to Slovakia on Jan. 1, and he has threatened to end humanitarian aid in retaliation.

His government ended state military aid to Kyiv after taking office, and domestically it has also revamped the public broadcaster despite media freedom concerns and softened prosecution of economic crimes, drawing protests last year.

Fico has defended his government's foreign policy saying it worked in all directions, and while critical of some EU policies, he has said policy was still determined by EU and NATO membership.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy offered his support to the Slovak protesters, posting a picture of the demonstration on X with a comment, in Slovak: "Bratislava is not Moscow. Slovakia is Europe."

(Reporting by Radovan Stoklasa in Bratislava and Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Leslie Adler, Ron Popeski and Diane Craft)

Zelenskiy hosts Slovakia's opposition leader in Kyiv amid spat with PM Fico

By Yuliia Dysa

January 17, 2025

(Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed energy security with Slovakia's opposition leader in Kyiv on Friday, amid a row with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico who has threatened to cut aid to Ukraine.

Fico is angry with Kyiv over its decision not to extend a deal on the transit of Russian gas supplies via Ukraine, saying the move had damaged Slovakia's economy. His leftist-nationalist coalition is looking shakier and faces a no-confidence vote.

Zelenskiy had invited Fico to visit Kyiv for talks on Friday, an invitation he alluded to as he announced his meeting with Michal Simecka, the head of Progressive Slovakia, the country's biggest opposition party.

"Friday. Expected one Slovak leader, but met another. I had a good meeting with Slovak parliamentarians, led by @MSimecka," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

"We are ready for an open and mutually beneficial dialogue on all issues, particularly in the energy sector. This dialogue must strengthen our nations — Ukraine and Slovakia — not Moscow," Zelenskiy said in his statement after meeting Simecka.

Simecka said in a separate statement that he believed Ukraine was ready to negotiate over the issue, adding: "That is exactly what I am calling on Robert Fico to do now".

Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine ended at the start of the year after the transit agreement between Kyiv and Moscow expired. Kyiv refused to extend the deal to reduce revenue streams supporting Russia's war in Ukraine.

The overall gas situation has remained stable in Slovakia, but Fico says the end of Russian gas supplies via Ukraine has resulted in higher gas prices and a loss of transit fees. He has insisted on the need to restore flows, something Kyiv rejects.

THREATS

Zelenskiy and Fico have since exchanged mutual accusations.

If the gas transit problem is not resolved, Fico has threatened to cut emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine, reduce aid for its refugees in Slovakia or to use its veto right on European Union decisions relating to Kyiv.

Zelenskiy has said Fico's lack of desire to reduce his country's dependence on Russian natural resources threatens both Slovakia and Europe.

On Monday, Fico proposed he and Zelenskiy meet on the Slovakian-Ukrainian border to discuss the gas situation. Zelenskiy said Fico should instead come to Kyiv for the talks.

Fico said on Thursday that he was looking for a date to meet Zelenskiy, which could happen in the "nearest days", according to Slovak media.

He did not give details, but both leaders are scheduled to attend the Davos forum in Switzerland in the coming week.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, additional reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Gareth Jones)

Gig workers want change after B.C. court rules accepting orders amounts to distracted driving

CBC
Sun, January 19, 2025 

A Supreme Court decision against an Uber driver has sparked criticism, with advocates urging the B.C. government to update what they describe as outdated distracted driving laws. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press - image credit)


Delivery and rideshare workers and advocates are urging the B.C. government to review its distracted driving laws following a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that determined accepting a delivery order on a phone while driving is illegal.

The case involved Vancouver-based Uber Eats driver Vasu Subhashbhai Virda, who was ticketed on July 31, 2024, for tapping his phone to accept a delivery order while driving.

Virda testified that he had tapped the screen once to accept a delivery offer through the Uber Eats app, which he said he had to respond to within five seconds.

Initially, a judge acquitted Virda in September, citing the Motor Vehicle Act's allowance for a single touch on a properly mounted electronic device. However, the Crown successfully appealed the decision.

Last month, Justice Wendy A. Baker ruled that the law only permits a single tap on a device to answer phone calls and not for other functions like using apps. Virda was levied a $295 fine, reduced from the standard $368 and was given six months to pay it.

In her written ruling, Baker noted Virda's credibility, acknowledging he was "operating as safely as he could within the parameters of his job," but stressed the need to uphold the law as written.

Gig workers' catch-22 situation

Kuljeet Singh, who has been driving with Uber for the last five years, says he has been on the receiving end of multiple distracted driving tickets.

He says the ruling puts drivers in a difficult position, especially as the job relies heavily on phone-based apps.

Kuljeet Singh, who works as an Uber driver, says the current law is challenging for drivers who depend on their phones for their livelihood. (Sohrab Sandhu/CBC)

"We are losing money if we don't accept it and if we accept it, then we get tickets," Singh said.

Distracted driving tickets in B.C. come with a $368 fine and four penalty points, according to ICBC.

Such penalty points are like black marks on a person's driving record, says Singh, explaining that accumulating too many can deter employers from offering jobs.

"Put some more regulations in place so we don't have to suffer [and face] these problems every day," he urged.

Calls for legislative updates

Vancouver-based criminal lawyer Kyla Lee says the legislation was not written with the gig economy in mind.

"It has been around for 15 years now with absolutely no changes to bring it up to speed with the current ways that we use technology," she said. "[It] doesn't make a lot of sense because it's no more dangerous to touch your phone to answer a call than it is to touch your phone and [accept an order]."

Vancouver-based criminal lawyer Kyla Lee says the distracted driving laws are outdated, noting they were drafted before the rise of the gig economy.

The B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General acknowledged this gap, stating that when the legislation was last updated, the widespread use of apps for commercial purposes was not anticipated.

"We continue to monitor advances in technology, innovative practices, and court decisions related to distracted driving to determine if there are opportunities to update or clarify the current legislation," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry emphasized that distracted driving is a factor in more than 25 per cent of fatal crashes in the province, adding that strict enforcement is essential to "curbing the dangerous behaviour."

Advocates call for accountability

According to Singh, companies like Uber need to bear some responsibility.

"They should have to provide gadgets or something that makes it easier to accept, and safer [so] we don't have to pay for any tickets," he said

Lee says ride-hailing companies should advocate for drivers and push for legislative changes.

"When it's just the little guy, people screaming into the void, no change is going to happen because the government doesn't feel motivated."


Uber told CBC News that its community guidelines require app users to follow the law.

"Uber's app can be used in one-touch handsfree mode, via Apple CarPlay or via Android Auto."

The company added that it can't comment on the litigation, but said the events at issue occurred before B.C.'s new gig-worker laws came into force.

Last year, the province introduced new employment standards for the approximately 46,000 ride-hailing and delivery workers in B.C., including a minimum wage of $20.88, workers' compensation coverage and measures for pay transparency.

A driver texts while at the wheel in this photo illustration in Montreal on January 25, 2017. 

Manitoba drivers who use a hand-held cell phone behind the wheel will face stiffer penalties as of Nov. 1.The fines will jump to $672 from $203, and the number of demerit points will increase to five points from two.

By its interpretation, Uber said the new gig-worker laws recognize drivers' use of apps for receiving and accepting orders while driving.

"[It] requires specific information to be provided in the offer. We assume B.C.'s traffic laws will be interpreted consistent with these new regulations."

However, Lee said nothing in the new bill addresses that.

"All it does is address people who accept work through an online platform. You would still have to use the online platform in a manner that is in accordance with British Columbia's other laws."

PACIFIC ISLANDERS

‘We’re still here’: La Perouse community retains strong connection to culture and Country

Sarah Collard

THE GUARDIAN
Sat 25 January 2025

‘This is our country’: Kodie Mason’s family have lived in the tight-knit La Perouse Indigenous community for seven generations.

Photograph: Bec Lorrimer/The Guardian

Plucking the grass from a lomandra plant, Kodie Mason braids three strands of bright green flax. She breaks one off and splits it down the centre. Less than 30 seconds later she has a small coil, the makings of a basket. She’s been weaving since she was little, a skill passed down from her grandfather.

Mason has an intimate knowledge of plants: what to eat, which ones can be used to make soap or shampoo, which ones can be ground to make bread, the ones to stun fish.

She cups the seeds from one plant: “You cut it when it’s green, husk it, and then when it dries up, like that, all the seeds come out and you ground that down into a flour to make bread, cookies, stuff like that.”

The Dharawal, Ngarigo and Dunghutti woman grew up surrounded by her parents, aunties, uncles, cousins and siblings at La Perouse, in Sydney’s east, all under the watchful eye of her pop who told her stories.

“He taught me so much. All about plants that you use, all about the bay, and he taught me weaving,” Mason says.

For seven generations, Mason’s family has lived on land that was formerly an Aboriginal reserve and mission. Five generations of Masons have lived in her current home, where freedom to roam the bush and to fish and swim in local waters was a given.

The homes here are on 99-year leases, granted by the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council. It’s given the people here the security to thrive despite development, gentrification and rising house prices in an area just 14km from the CBD. “It’s really expensive here now, a lot of families wouldn’t be able to afford to live here if it weren’t for this community,” she says.

It’s not just the people who are feeling the impacts of a rapidly changing world. She points to one plant that used to be abundant – even a few decades ago kids would eat its juicy purple tendrils.

“It doesn’t grow like that any more. We can only eat a certain amount of fish [because of] pollution, overfishing. Oysters, abalone – we used to eat so much. Our old women used to be able to walk along the rocks and pick off abalone with a digging stick. Now you have to practically kill yourself diving five metres to get anything,” she says.

Aboriginal families have an unbroken connection to La Perouse of more than 7,500 years, but they bore the brunt of the impact of settlers who were hungry for land. More Aboriginal people moved to the area from the late 1800s, settling close to the current homes of the community.

Related: The Australia Day conversation is boring – but 26 January marks an incredible history of Indigenous resistance | Celeste Liddle

Local Aboriginal families – salt water people – used their knowledge to catch and sell fish and seafood. But in the 1890s, the government threatened to withdraw rations if fishers continued to sell their wares.

Disease, violence and land development further reduced resources, including the once plentiful fish, abalone and bush foods, forcing many people to live under state control until the late 1960s. Children were removed from their families, traditional languages were prohibited, and basic freedoms were severely restricted.

“We were the first ones hit by colonisation,” Mason says. “My family are Gweagal, so they were literally ‘first contact’ just across the bay here. I feel proud to have such a strong connection to my culture, such a strong connection to my family, my community.”

Her people have continued the fight for their culture and their rights. One of the longest disputes with the colonising powers was the community’s demand for the return of the Kamay spears, stolen by then Lt James Cook and his crew in 1770. About 40 spears were taken aboard the HMB Endeavour at the time of first contact. Many were lost or destroyed. Four remaining spears, cut down to fit the ship, were held for many years by Cambridge University. After decades of campaigning by local Gweagal people, they were returned to their traditional lands in 2024.

“It’s very sad to think of how much we have lost, but I think about how much our people have gone through,” she says.

Related: Reflection, recollection and resistance: Invasion Day 2025 – in pictures

“We are able to say this is our country. We’re still here. We’re still practising our culture, still speaking language. I feel proud to come from La Pa. So it’s good.”

La Perouse was named after an ill-fated French navigator, Jean-François de Galaup La Pérouse, who was sent by Louise XVI to explore the South Pacific. After visiting Botany Bay in 1788, he and his crew disappeared at sea without a trace.

Standing at the point of first contact in Botany Bay, Theresa Ardler looks out to sea. Ardler often thinks about what the county looked like before Europeans arrived.

“In our language it means ‘beautiful bay’. Even though it’s very different now [compared with] … 1770.

“It’s a story of a view from the ship and a view from the shore. And I think that sort of story should be told all around Australia,” she says.

Ardler, a Gweagal and Yuin woman with family ties to the La Perouse community, creates possum cloaks and burns totems on them. Her skills were honed sitting at the feet of her elders.

“We didn’t have message sticks. We had our cloaks, and the cloaks would be made in two different ways. One would be a blanket stitch. The mother and the grandmother would start the cloak with the possum skins,” she says.

“When the children were about five or 10 years old, then they would learn the techniques of the different sewing between a blanket stitch and a herringbone stitch.”

Passing on traditional knowledge and its power as a source of resilience and pride and cultural responsibility is vital, says Peter Cooley, CEO of IndigiGrow, an Indigenous owned and operated plant nursery that began in 2018.

Born and raised on the La Perouse reserve, Cooley noticed many kids were growing up without knowing anything about the vegetation, its uses and how it thrived for generations. It was something he was keen to teach.

“Growing up Aboriginal, you have this cultural responsibility to Country and caring for Country. That’s been happening for hundreds, if not thousands of generations before us, but at present, we’re the generation that has that responsibility,” Cooley says.

More than 90% of the biological diversity of the eastern coastal plants endemic to this area have been decimated by colonisation, feral animals and invasive non-native plants, he says.

“It’s all out of balance now,” Cooley says. “Our history of sustainability and caring for this ancient landscape in this part of the country, to be on the verge of extinction, that’s a frightening thing for us – to think it could be gone one day is horrifying.”

He tells the story of the Five Corners bush food, or Styphelia viridis, an ecologically threatened species that – through colonisation, change and apathy – has been pushed to the brink of extinction. The plant is notorious for being impossible to grow.

“Everybody told me that you couldn’t grow it but they didn’t have that ancient connection,” Cooley says. He tried and failed 50 times. But with perseverance, careful propagation and nurturing, he eventually succeeded in getting one plant to flower and then harvested its fruit, which are known as “bush lollies”.

“I asked my mother when was the last time she ate them. She said 59 years. For me, it had been 50 years. I didn’t realise the significance until then: three generations eating that fruit together.

“I promised my mother that I would revive the Five Corners plant. It’s so important. That was the start of IndigiGrow,” he says. But the heart and soul of his plan is to pass on knowledge and skills to the next generation.

“I’ve got 12 full-time employees, all Aboriginal, all from the La Perouse local community … and they are loving it.”

Kodie Mason is also proud to continue a long Indigenous legacy of using native plants, in her case, using grasses to make baskets. “It’s everything to me, making my family and my pop proud.”

Woman becomes world's longest-living recipient of pig organ transplant: 'I feel like superwoman'

Sky News
Updated Sat 25 January 2025


A US woman has become the world's longest-living recipient of a pig organ transplant, after living healthily with her new kidney for 61 days.

Towana Looney, 53, received the experimental organ in November after spending nearly eight years on the organ transplant list with little hope of finding a match.

She donated a kidney to her mother in 1999 but developed kidney failure several years later after a complication during pregnancy.

But now, she said she feels like "superwoman" after the successful transplant, laughing about outpacing family members on long walks around New York City.

"It's a new take on life," she told the Associated Press news agency.

She left the hospital just 11 days after her operation and is staying in New York for another month to be observed by doctors before heading home to Alabama.

Only four other Americans have received transplants of gene-edited pig organs and none lived for more than two months.

"If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she's the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that's functioning," said Dr Robert Montgomery from NYU Langone Health, who led Ms Looney's transplant.

Dr Montgomery called Ms Looney's kidney function "absolutely normal".

Ms Looney's success means her medical team are now in unchartered territory.

"The truth is we don't really know what the next hurdles are because this is the first time we've gotten this far," Dr Montgomery said.

"We'll have to continue to really keep a close eye on her."

Genetically altered pig organs could help solve a severe shortage of organs available for transplant.

There are around 7,500 people on the UK Transplant Waiting List, according to the NHS.

Last year more than 415 people died while waiting for a transplant.

In the US, more than 100,000 people are waiting for a transplant, most who need a kidney.

"It's a blessing," said Looney. "I feel like I've been given another chance at life. I cannot wait to be able to travel again and spend more quality time with my family and grandchildren."

There have been no UK transplants like Ms Looney's, but in the US a handful of hospitals are sharing information about what worked and what did not.
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That's in preparation for the world's first formal studies of xenotransplantation, which is expected to begin some time this year.

"Towana represents the culmination of progress we have made in xenotransplantation since we performed the first surgery in 2021," said Dr Montgomery.

"She serves as a beacon of hope to those struggling with kidney failure."

PARAPSYCHOLOGY

Is the London Underground haunted? TfL reveals recent 'ghost' sighting on the Tube

Ross Lydall
Sat 25 January 2025 



Are there any ghosts on the Tube?

It may seem an improbable question, but a recent sighting has been reported on the Metropolitan line.

Transport for London has been searching its records for sightings of ghosts, spirits, ghouls, poltergeists and banshees on the London Underground – in fact anything that may qualify as part of the “paranormal”.

It follows one of the most unusual freedom of information requests received by TfL.

One unnamed person asked TfL to publish “any reports of paranormal activity at Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth Line and Tram locations made to TfL since January 1, 2022”.
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The request, which was submitted on January 2, also requested the name of the station nearest to any sightings – and “a copy of any internal staff logbooks/documents for ghost sightings at the Aldgate East station”.

Aldgate East station, which is served by the Hammersmith and City and District lines, opened on October 6, 1884 – eight years after nearby Aldgate station.

Aldgate East was moved a short distance in 1938 to solve signalling problems associated with the track curving sharply as it approached the station.

The reason for the interest in Aldgate East could be its close proximity to the area where the five “Jack the Ripper” murders took place in the East End, four years after the station’s opening.

In her reply to the request, Gemma Jacob, TfL’s senior FOI case officer, said: “I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.
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“We have carried out a keyword search of all London Underground incident reports over the requested timeframe using the following words: ghost, paranormal, spirit, apparition, ghoul, phantom, poltergeist, banshee.

Aldwych station is one of the London Underground's fabled ‘ghost stations’

“The search returned 156 results, but only one of them related to paranormal activity.

“This related to a distressed 15-year-old boy at King’s Cross on the Metropolitan line in December 2023, who also mentioned that he had seen ghosts.

“The remainder of results were records talking about being in ‘good spirits’ (typically a customer or train driver after an incident) or spirit as in alcohol (customers who were intoxicated/carrying a bottle of spirit).”

During the construction of the lines and tunnels that form the modern-day Underground it is known that cemeteries and plague pits were disrupted.

Many construction workers and passengers have died on the Tube – adding to suspicions that it is haunted.

There are a number of “ghost stations” on the Tube network.

These include Down Street, which is located in Mayfair on the Piccadilly line between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner.

It closed in 1932, after just 25 years of use, and was used during the Second World War as a secret bunker for Winston Churchill and the War Cabinet.

The British Museum station, on the Central line, closed in 1933 when Holborn station was expanded.

But construction workers have reported seeing the ghost of Amen-Ra, or Amun-Ra, an ancient Egyptian princess, who is said to wander the tunnels at night wearing a loin cloth and headdress.

Other “ghost” stations include Aldwych, which closed in 1994, and Dover Street, which has been incorporated into Green Park station.

At Aldgate, “paranormal activity” has reportedly been traced back more than 100 years. This includes the ghosts of three young girls from the Sullivan family who died in fire while at home in Aldgate in 1896.

More recently, a track worker who survived being electrocuted in 2000 was said by a colleague to have been comforted by the ghost of an elderly women as he lay injured.

As part of its response to the FoI request, TfL also searched its customer contact centre database and found an average of 30 results per month - meaning there are likely to be more than 1,000 cases that would need to be reviewed to check whether they contain anything relevant.

“From previous similar searches it is likely that the majority of these will relate to reports of phantom/ghost Oyster card charges,” Ms Jacob said.

She said that such a search would exceed the £450 FoI limit on how much TfL is permitted to spend answering a FoI request.

She added: “We do not have any reports of paranormal activity on our Trams, Elizabeth line, DLR, or London Overground services.”

Ms Jacobs said that TfL did not have internal staff logbooks/documents of “ghost sightings” at Aldgate East.

British Army told to hand over treasures ‘looted’ from Ethiopia

Craig Simpson

THE TELEGRAPH
Sat 25 January 2025 

Colonel Richard Hawkins, a trustee at the Royal Engineers Museum, which could face calls from Ethiopia to return items - Crown Copyright

British Army units are facing a battle over artefacts looted from Ethiopia in a growing reparations row.

Famed regiments and corps defeated an Ethiopian emperor during an 1868 expedition and plundered his fortress capital of Magdala.

Units, including the Royal Engineers and Scots Dragoon Guards, kept looted mementos that are now stored in their regimental museums.

However, the Ethiopian government is now planning to demand that British regiments return the treasures pillaged by victorious soldiers 170 years ago.

The British Expedition to Abyssinia meets Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia - ALAMY

The African nation will need to persuade unit veterans and serving officers who oversee museums dedicated to regimental history to hand back the items.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed Ethiopian officials were also planning to demand the return of items held by the King as part of the Royal Collection. Officials in Addis Ababa may now consider approaching the Ministry of Defence, which helps to fund a number of museums, for assistance with the campaign.

The demands will form one part of a diplomatic push for artefacts led by the Ethiopian Heritage Authority, an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, which will ask the Labour government to support returns

Abebaw Ayalew Gella, the director general of the Ethiopian Heritage Authority, said: “What was taken from Magdala was not something that was found there accidentally. This is a very well-planned expedition. We call it looting.”

He added: “We are working on what is where, and how we can negotiate.”


Sir Robert Napier led the British army to victory, defeating Emperor Tewodros II at Magdala in April 1868 - The Print Collector/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

British units invaded Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, in 1868 after Emperor Tewodros II took a number of European hostages in a fit of rage over a letter not being delivered to Queen Victoria.

Sir Robert Napier led the British army to victory at the highland fortress of Magdala, where Tewodros killed himself and the treasures he had assembled were looted.

Ethiopian experts are now drawing up inventories of artefacts held in the UK, after which formal repatriation requests will be made to all institutions holding treasures taken from Magdala.

While institutions like the British Museum are prevented by law from returning artefacts, collections tied to regiments may hand over treasures with the approval of trustees, who often have closed ties to the Army.

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hawkins is one of the trustees of the Royal Engineers Museum - Crown Copyright

Those set to face these demands include the Royal Engineers Museum, overseen by the Institute of Royal Engineers and based at the corps headquarters in Kent. Several serving officers are among the trustees, including the current Corps Colonel, Colonel Richard Hawkins. The museum, which receives funding from the MoD, holds looted drums, swords, shields, an Ethiopian warrior’s cape, and chains used to secure one of the emperor’s hostages.

The Royal Artillery Museum in London also holds a sword taken after the Battle of Magdala. Decision-making trustees of the museum, which received £220,000 from the MoD in 2023, include Lieutenant Colonel Ben Baldwinson of the 19th Artillery Regiment, Scottish Gunners.

The museum of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is believed to hold a piece of a ceremonial Ethiopian drum taken by the Scots Greys, who later merged into the modern-day regiment. It is located at the unit’s headquarters in Edinburgh Castle, and its trustees are signed off by the regimental colonel, Brigadier Ben Edwards. These are led by chairman Rory MacLachlan, a former officer with the regiment.

Ethiopia is additionally seeking artefacts held by the National Army Museum, a public body under the MoD, which holds a shield and a damask coat possibly owned by Emperor Tewodros.


This shield was said to have been captured by Captain Cornelius Francis (Frank) James, DAQMS with the expeditionary force, during the Abyssinian campaign - National Army Museum

Officials are also inventorying artefacts held in regimental museums of units which have been disbanded, including the King’s Own Royal Regiment in Lancaster, which holds a shield, ring, illuminated scrolls and an Ethiopian Orthodox bible.

The Duke of Wellington’s Regimental Museum in Halifax is said to hold a plundered shirt which belonged to Tewodros, while the Cameronians Regimental Museum in Hamilton possesses a piece of the emperor’s coat.

The push for the return of royal paraphernalia comes as part of a planned 2026 campaign to reclaim all looted treasures from British collections.

The Labour government will be asked to support Ethiopia’s claims, which will include a demand that the Royal Collection of King Charles hands over sacred and secular artefacts taken from Magdala.

Regimental museums have been contacted for comment.


Oxford and Cambridge dragged into Ethiopia looting row

Craig Simpson

THE TELEGRAPH
Sun 26 January 2025 


Cambridge University library contains various garments which were intended to be worn by Ethiopian royalty - Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Oxford and Cambridge universities will be told to return looted Ethiopian artefacts by the country’s government.

The objects, some of them royal treasures and prized religious manuscripts, were plundered by British forces from the fortress of Magdala after the defeat of the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II in 1868.

They were then dispersed across collections in the UK, with some ending up in the universities’ libraries.

Addis Ababa’s demand comes after both universities signed off deals to send Benin Bronzes to Nigeria in 2022, following commitments to “decolonisation” in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

Officials in the East African country will launch a wholesale campaign to reclaim artefacts looted during the British expedition, and will request that the Labour Government supports the request.

The diplomatic push for artefacts will begin in 2026 and will be led by the Ethiopian Heritage Authority, an agency under the Ministry of Tourism.

The objects were plundered by British forces from the fortress of Magdala after the defeat of the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II in 1868 - Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

Abebaw Ayalew Gella, the director general of the Heritage Authority, said that looted artefacts were “some of the most important things in the political and cultural history of Ethiopia”.

From the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Ethiopia will hope to acclaim a cloak worn by Queen Terunesh.

This was taken when British forces seized the fortress of Magdala following a dispute over her husband, Emperor Tewodros, who took a number of European hostages in a fit of rage over a letter of his not being delivered to Queen Victoria.

The same museum also holds several other garments that came from Ethiopian royalty, while Cambridge’s library holds medieval bibles created for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, along with other holy books.

Similar Christian manuscripts are held in Oxford’s Bodleian Library.

The university’s Pitt Rivers Museum holds a number of parchment scrolls, crosses, shields and swords taken by British troops.


From the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Ethiopia hopes to acclaim a cloak worn by Queen Terunesh - Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

The British Museum and other national museums are bound by law to keep their collection intact, and legislation prevents treasures like the Elgin Marbles being handed over.

However, universities are charities and have the freedom to remove artefacts from their collections if decisions are signed off by the Charity Commission.

Following Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Pitt Rivers Museum began addressing its “rootedness in coloniality”, and within two years had agreed to a deal to return royal artefacts taken from the Kingdom of Benin, which was absorbed into modern-day Nigeria.

Cambridge also made a BLM-inspired “commitment to institutional change”, and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology returned more than 100 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.

Abebaw Ayalew Gella has said looted artefacts were ‘some of the most important things in the political and cultural history of Ethiopia’ - Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, the grandson of Haile Selassie, the final Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie under the dynasty which was attacked by the British in 1868, hopes British collections will return any plundered royal and religious artefacts.

Speaking to The Telegraph in Addis Ababa, he said: “Ethiopia is very much a Christian and monarchical heritage too is intertwined.

“The church and the crown were really very strong pillars through Ethiopia’s history, and they also manifest the cultural identity. Those items have a lot in terms of inherent identity.

“The younger generation would get pride back by having them return home.”

Ethiopian officials will ask the Labour Government to support repatriation claims, which will include a demand that the Royal Collection of King Charles hands over sacred and secular artefacts taken from Magdala.


Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie has said the looted royal and religious items ‘have a lot in terms of inherent identity’ in Ethiopia - Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

The diplomatic campaign comes after Greek newspapers reported that Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, was “keen to talk” with Athens about the rerun of the Elgin Marbles.

Sir Keir Starmer’s close aides suggested in 2024 that he would not seek to block a deal for their return.

In 2024, The Telegraph revealed that Labour had left open a legal loophole that could be used to circumvent existing legislation preventing the handover of artefacts.

This could pave the way for Ethiopia to claim sacred Orthodox tablets or “Tabots” held in the British Museum, which does not display the items due to religious sensitivities, but also cannot return them due to existing museum law.

UK

Labour risks ‘powder keg’ clash with environmentalists as it puts growth before going green

Michael Savage
Sat 25 January 2025 

An airbus flying over houses near Heathrow airport in London.

Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty


Labour is being warned it is hurtling towards a “powder keg” confrontation with environmentalists, green groups and a swathe of its own supporters in the next few weeks, amid its claims that “blockers” are standing in the way of economic growth.

A flurry of pro-growth measures have been announced by ministers in recent days as part of a government fightback against claims that the economy is stalling.

The drive culminated last week in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s assertion in Davos that economic growth is more important than net zero. She is now on the verge of effectively giving her backing to airport expansion at Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton.

However, both Labour figures and influential environmentalists believe Downing Street is playing a dangerous game by ratcheting up rhetoric aimed at those deemed to be holding up growth. They warn that pugnacious interventions from Keir Starmer and the chancellor risk undermining months of behind-the-scenes work keeping green and wildlife groups onside over the pro-growth reforms – with key flashpoints just weeks away.

“She is drowning and she is pulling at everyone and everything,” said one Labour MP. “This is a woman who was claiming she would be the first green chancellor three years ago. It feels desperate. They are desperate to appeal to the wrong people.”

Others warned that Labour could lose support across a swathe of seats that helped it to a massive majority at the last election. They pointed to previously Tory-held, affluent and rural seats in which environmental and green issues had become increasingly important. “A lot of it is virtue signalling that they are bold on growth, but the knock- on consequences of that for their broader coalition [of voters] is pretty significant,’ said one Labour insider. “You can hold together your coalition by having a constructive conversation between developers and environmentalists. They are doing that behind the scenes.

“But then you have people in No 10 shooting from the hip to look tough on growth, and then Rachel’s vibes. The whole green agenda in the Labour party is fairly substantial – [as it is] in a rural constituency sitting on a majority of less than 5,000. That’s a lot of seats.”

The moment of truth will come later in the spring when the government reveals just how far it will go in challenging those rules, in the planning and infrastructure bill designed to kickstart a building boom.

Last week, measures in the bill to overhaul the judicial review system and strip environmental quangos of the power to delay major house-building and infrastructure developments were unveiled.

Environmentalists told the Observer it would be “powder keg territory” if the government dabbled with the fundamental protections around protecting the natural world.

“The notion we’re ideologically opposed to planning reform is completely wrong,” said one influential environmental figure. “We owe it to this government to try to work with them. They will have to go near some of the most important environmental laws we have and we need a high level of trust. That’s being scuppered by No 10 and No 11 with their builders’ blockers rhetoric, pushing us into a fight nobody wants.”

There have already been worrying murmurings for the government, including from the head of the RSPB, Beccy Speight. “There is some deeply shocking rhetoric coming from the UK government,” she said in an online post on Friday. “The PM claims to ‘clear a path’ for building, but this move runs the risk of bulldozing through our chances for a future where nature, people and the economy all thrive.

“We know people want bold action on the climate and nature crises, which was Labour’s election platform, and these announcements have them veering wildly off course.”

Inside conservation and climate circles, there has been concern about an article by Starmer in the Daily Mail last week, in which he singled out Andrew Boswell, a 68-year-old former Green councillor, who attempted to stop the expansion of the A47 in Norfolk. Starmer labelled him as the kind of “zealot” who must be stopped from making “vexatious” legal claims that thwart growth.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “The planning and infrastructure bill will fast-track infrastructure delivery and home building, while enhancing our environment – delivering a win-win for nature and the economy.”

Even before that crucial bill is published, the government faces another reality check in terms of how growth rubs up against its green commitments. Next month, new targets will be announced on cutting carbon emissions that are set to be seriously challenging. The seventh carbon budget will be set by the Climate Change Committee. The fifth and sixth carbon budgets call for a cut of 58% in emissions by 2032, and 78% by 2037, compared to 1990 levels.

Raising the idea of expanding Heathrow is a provocative move from Reeves, with several figures in the cabinet previously opposed to it. Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, is also against the idea following warnings that it should not be done without significant safeguards around carbon emissions.

A key figure is Ed Miliband, the former party leader and energy secretary, who made it his mission to ensure the transition to a greener economy becomes a reality. In 2019, he described Heathrow’s expansion as “dreadful symbolism”, adding: “When difficult choices have been faced between economic gain and environmental protection, the latter loses out.”

While he ruled out resigning over Heathrow expansion last week, figures familiar with his thinking said he had concluded that he needs to be around the cabinet table when the issue is hammered out.

The deluge of pro-growth pronouncements comes as Reeves finds herself with little room for manoeuvre, with the UK’s debt problems meaning the public finances are getting ever tighter.

Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England chief economist, said this week that cutting public spending further risked creating a “doom loop” for the economy. Meanwhile, billionaire US investor, Ray Dalio, warned that the UK could find itself in a “debt death spiral” because of increases in its borrowing costs.

‘Move closer to Europe – not Trump’ voters tell Starmer in major UK poll

Toby Helm Political editor

THE GUARDIAN
Sat 25 January 2025


British prime minister Keir Starmer is facing calls to establish closer economic ties to Europe.Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/AP


Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to forge closer economic links with Europe five years on from Brexit, as a major new poll shows voters clearly favour prioritising more trade with the EU over the US.

The MRP survey of almost 15,000 people by YouGov for the Best for Britain thinktank shows more people in every constituency in England, Scotland and Wales back closer arrangements with the EU rather than more transatlantic trade with Washington. MRP polls use large data samples to estimate opinion at a local level

Even in Nigel Farage’s seat of Clacton, more people think the UK is better off trading more with its neighbours on the continent than with the US under the Reform UK leader’s ally Donald Trump.

The findings come as the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, on Sunday tells the Observer that Brexit has harmed the UK economy and that she is determined to claw back some of the lost gross domestic product (GDP) by reducing trade frictions for UK small businesses wherever possible.
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In one of the clearest statements by a senior government minister on Brexit, Reeves answered yes when asked if she was clear that leaving the EU had damaged the UK’s financial position.

The chancellor, who discussed possible ways to improve trade with EU finance ministers and others at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, said there were “loads of external estimates” showing the negative impact of Brexit on the UK economy and added: “What I want to do is get some of that GDP back by having a better trading relationship with the European Union.”

Reeves also enthused about one specific proposal, saying it was “great”, made by the EU’s new trade chief responsible for post-Brexit negotiations, Maroš Šefčovič , who floated the idea of the UK joining the Pan-Euro Mediterranean convention (PEM). The PEM is a set of common rules for sourcing parts and ingredients for use in tariff-free trade.

Reeves said: “They would not have made those suggestions a year or two ago because they knew they did not have a UK government that was interested. So the fact that they are putting those things out there shows there is a better deal to be had than the one we have at the moment. We look forward to exploring those options with them.”

Reeves’s comments are striking because Keir Starmer’s government has been fearful of moving too fast to foster closer links with the EU because of concerns that it would boost support for Reform among Brexit supporters.
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But with Reeves’s sights now fixed intently on stimulating economic growth by whatever means, the Treasury appears to be leading the charge to improve trade with the EU.

Under our current post-Brexit arrangements agreed by Boris Johnson, the UK sits outside both the EU single market and its customs union. This means that goods traded by UK companies to and from the EU face time-consuming and costly delays at borders as checks are conducted.

In addition, UK citizens are no longer able to travel to work in the EU as they were under freedom of movement rules that apply to member states.

The poll found that 46% of respondents said the EU should be the government’s top priority when it comes to trade, whereas less than half this number (21%) opted for the US.Interactive

The results come just days after Trump was sworn in for the second time as US president, promising to impose hefty tariffs on imports. Any UK trade deal with the US is likely to mean this country having to accept imports of food such as chlorinated chicken and hormone-injected meat that breach current UK and EU regulations.
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Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, said: “Trade doesn’t have to be either/or but it’s clear that when it comes to priorities, from Cairnryan to Clacton and Newport to Newcastle, Britain wants a closer relationship with the EU first.

“With Trump threatening new tariffs as soon as [this] week, the government should listen to voters and break down trade barriers with our largest market before pursuing deals elsewhere. That’s how Starmer can meet his growth ambitions, ease price rises for UK consumers and give British businesses a fighting chance in an increasingly protectionist world.”

Writing in the Observer, Praful Nargund, a Labour candidate at the last election, who is director of the Good Growth Foundation, said: “If we’re serious about fixing our economic stagnation, the EU cannot be sidelined. This problem has always been a political one at its heart. Provided it delivers on people’s priorities, there is a way towards a closer relationship with the EU that is not electorally disastrous – indeed, potentially quite the opposite.”

Marley Morris, an associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank and author of several reports on Brexit, said: “As the UK’s closest and most significant trade partner, the EU should be the top priority for the government’s new trade strategy. The current trade deal is not working as it should, with UK businesses facing an array of new barriers to selling goods and services into the EU.”

Related: UK economy could be especially at risk from Trump’s tariff war, says minister

The poll for Best for Britain found the desire for closer EU-UK ties was even stronger among voters who switched from Conservative to Labour at the last election (57%). Of those who voted Labour at the last election, two-thirds (66%) thought the government should prioritise trade with the EU, compared with only 9% for Trump’s US.

Strong support for prioritising trade with the EU was also found in the constituencies most heavily targeted by Labour at the last general election, including Ribble Valley and Stoke-on-Trent.

In Scotland and Wales, which will hold Holyrood and Senedd elections next year, battleground seats such as Stirling and Strathallan, as well as Llanelli also back prioritising trade with the EU.

Every constituency in Britain favours trade with EU over US, new poll suggests

Millie Cooke
Sun 26 January 2025 at 10:02 am GMT-7·4-min read


Every constituency in Britain favours trade with EU over US, new poll suggests


A new poll conducted on the fifth anniversary of Brexit suggests every constituency in Britain thinks the government should prioritise trade with the EU over the US and other countries.

The survey, conducted by YouGov for pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain, analysed responses from almost 15,000 people across England, Scotland and Wales.

It saw nearly one in two respondents (46 per cent) say the EU should be the government’s top priority when it comes to trade. Whereas less than half this number (21 per cent) opted for the US.

Some 4 per cent thought the government’s focus should be China, while 6 per cent favoured another country.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaks with prime minister Sir Keir Starmer at the United Nations in New York (PA Wire)

Clacton – Nigel Farage’s constituency – did not buck the trend, despite winning the seat on a pro-Trump and Eurosceptic ticket.
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It is a similar story in Boston and Skegness which recorded the strongest Leave vote in the 2016 referendum.

The desire for closer EU-UK ties was even stronger among voters who switched from Conservative to Labour at the last election (57 per cent).

Of everyone who voted Labour at the last election, two-thirds (66 per cent) thought the government should prioritise trade with the EU compared to just 9 per cent for the US.

Best for Britain is an organisation fighting to keep the UK open to EU membership and “fix the problems Britain faces after Brexit”.

The results come just days after Donald Trump was sworn in as US president for the second time, promising tariffs on China and the EU.

Donald Trump was sworn in as US president last week (AP)

While Sir Keir Starmer has rejected suggestions the UK needs to make such a choice, recently describing it as “plain wrong”, Rachel Reeves indicated on Sunday that the government is “absolutely happy” to look at joining a tariff-free trading scheme with Europe.

The chancellor said the government would consider the prospect of signing up to the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM), as it would with any “constructive ideas” consistent with its “red lines” about not returning to the EU.

Labour has ruled out rejoining the customs union or single market but committed to seeking closer economic cooperation with Brussels as part of a reset in UK-EU relations.

EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic this week suggested Britain could join the PEM, which allows for tariff-free trade of goods across Europe, as well as some North African and Levantine nations.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has also signalled an openness to continuing close ties with the UK, praising Sir Keir for having done a “very good job thus far” and saying the pair would have a phone call “over the next 24 hours”.

Speaking to the BBC on board Air Force One on Saturday, Mr Trump said: “I get along with him well. I like him a lot”.

“He’s represented his country in terms of philosophy. I may not agree with his philosophy, but I have a very good relationship with him,” he added.

It comes after insiders suggested last week that Mr Trump has Sir Keir “over a barrel” on a trade deal with the UK.

Andrew Hale, a senior analyst at the highly influential Heritage Foundation thinktank which helped draft the Project 2025 document that the Trump administration is using as a blueprint for policy, said: “The UK economy is contracting, and there is no growth.

“The Starmer government has doubled down on the failed economic policies of Jeremy Hunt and the past Conservative prime ministers. They need to give up their tried and failed policies of punitive taxes, borrowing, and reckless spending. The UK is bankrupt.

“The Trump administration is in a position to offer a free trade agreement that would be a lifeline to the UK economy, but Starmer and his band... have done everything they could to offend President Trump, and now they risk being tariffed as a form of economic sanction if they are going to realign economically with China - a foreign adversary.”
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The MRP poll surveyed 14,858 adults between 16 December and 28 December 2024.

A government spokesperson said: “Our number one priority is growing the UK economy, and free and open trade with our most economically important partners will be key to delivering on our Plan for Change.

“We are continuing our work with both the US and the EU to remove barriers to trade and help UK businesses grow.”

Trump administration wants ‘regime change’ in the UK as Starmer replaces Trudeau as hate figure

David Maddox
Sat 25 January 2025 

For those who were carefully listening, Nigel Farage had an interesting message in his speech at the “Stars and Stripes Union Jack” party three days before the inauguration.

He told an audience of leading right-wing Brits, a GB News film crew and a plethora of Donald Trump supporters – including members of the incoming president’s trusted circle – that he believed he would win the next general election. But, he, added: “I just hope it happens while Donald Trump is still president.”

Trump’s presidency is set to run out in 2028, a year before Keir Starmer has to go to the country in the UK. So was it Farage optimism or was there something else at play? This was not just a piece of wishful thinking said in a vacuum, it reflected a virulent mood among Trump’s supporters and advisers.

Keir Starmer is not liked by the Trump team (PA Archive)

Team Trump hates Starmer

The one thing that struck anybody having conversations with anyone involved in the Trump team, from lowly researchers to senior advisers, was the unanimity of hatred about Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government. There was no pretence, no attempt to hide it.

It is worth underlining that this goes well beyond a series of angry tweets from Elon Musk and is much more deep-rooted.

It may be that the decision by the bete noire Justin Trudeau to step down as prime minister of Canada has left a space for an international “socialist” hate figure which Keir Starmer has now filled.

Communist, Marxist, authoritarian, idiots, CCP (Chinese Community Party) puppets and other terms were trotted out with regular abandon. There was contempt for Starmer’s policies and worldview but most interestingly, there was a sense of pity for all the Britons they ran into.

“I’m so sorry for what’s happened to your country,” said one.

“Britain used to be great, we need to make it great again,” added another.

“What has happened to your country?” yet another asked.

And so it went on.

Trump felt betrayed by Labour sending 100 activists to help Kamala Harris (Reuters)
One hundred activists and the Prince of Darkness

For those close to Trump, the bad feeling dates back to the dinner he held for Starmer and foreign secretary David Lammy in New York and the sense of betrayal that, shortly after, Labour sent 100 activists across the Atlantic to campaign for Kamala Harris.

“Starmer, Lammy and Trump sat down for that dinner,” one source explained. “They make a lot about Lammy being given a second helping by Trump but all that does not matter because Labour then sent out activists to help Kamala Harris. Starmer had a terrible briefing saying Harris would win and his actions after undid any goodwill he may have had.”

But there is more to it. Since then, the handling of the race riots after the Southport murders was seen as “an attack on free speech”. The government is perceived as being “too close to China”, and now the issues around child grooming gangs and alleged “cover-ups” have been greeted with horror and disgust.

“Nobody believed such a thing could happen in Britain,” said one senior adviser to Trump about the grooming gangs. “It’s shocked everyone and makes Britain look like a backward country.”

What it all means is that Trump appears to have no qualms about humiliating Starmer, whether it is vetoing his Chagos Islands deal, being threatening about tariffs and the terms of a trade deal, deliberately not inviting British government representation to the inauguration or, most urgently, threatening to reject Lord Mandelson’s credentials as UK ambassador to the US.

Mandelson has become a genuine lightning rod of the toxic relationship between the White House and Downing Street because of his links with Jeffrey Epstein, China and the EU.

Peter Mandelson has been appointed US ambassador but could be vetoed by Trump (PA Wire)

‘The British Trump’

A number of people connected to the Trump team have talked about “regime change” in the UK and specifically how to get a Trump-style prime minister into Downing Street. Such discussions seemed to lack an understanding of the British parliamentary system and the fact that Starmer has a huge majority for the next five years.

There were some fanciful musings about “crashing the British economy” to cause a crisis which would force the government out. Most of all, it was about looking at how Labour can be defeated. But here there is uncertainty and disagreement. After all, who is the British Trump?

For some, it is Farage and he was certainly playing up his strong connections with the administration. But the Reform UK leader was not invited into the Capitol Rotunda for the ceremony, unlike former PM Boris Johnson. And Elon Musk is not the only one to have doubts about whether Farage can carry off victory by himself.

Farage has important allies and cheerleaders, not least the 47th president of the United States, but also figures like Farage’s former aide and now highly influential Maga insider Raheem Kassam as well as Steve Bannon. The Reform UK leader also had a meeting at one of the parties the night before the inauguration with Trump and Musk which saw some rapprochement with the billionaire X boss.

There were high-profile Tories in town for the inauguration including Johnson, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, former PM Liz Truss and a number of peers. They clearly had their own links too and new vice-president JD Vance likes Kemi Badenoch greatly. But there is also very little appetite to help out the “not conservative Conservative Party”.

A number of those particularly interested in the future of the UK are looking at how to encourage Reform and the Tories to get together, in the belief that would be a winning ticket.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has a fan in Donald Trump (PA Wire)

Is all lost for Starmer?

The answer to that is, certainly not. Not least because President Trump does have a soft spot for the UK thanks to his love of the Royal family and his mother growing up in Scotland.

Perhaps the prime minister will need to find a new ambassador (maybe former foreign secretary David Miliband) to appease Trump and if he pursues a trade deal, that may be taken as a sign that the Labour government wants a serious relationship.

Most of all they will need to pursue the unofficial policy already in place of using King Charles and Prince William to be the face of dealings with President Trump, as revealed by The Independent last month.

In the end, though, Trump will need allies to help with his agenda on Nato and Britain, even under Starmer, remains the most consistent voice in favour of higher defence spending.

However, as things stand, the mention of Starmer’s name to the Trump administration is more likely to induce thoughts on how to get him out of power sooner rather than later.

Trump Picks Sides in Elon Musk Feud—And It’s Not With the ‘First Buddy’

Sean Craig
Sun 26 January 2025 


Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC


President Donald Trump has praised U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, striking the complete opposite tone of his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who has called for the British leader’s ouster.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said the prime minister was “doing a very good job” and that the two have a “very good relationship.”

“I get along with him well,” he said of Starmer, who shared a two hour dinner with the president at Trump Tower in New York City in September. “I like him a lot. He’s liberal, which is a bit different from me, but I think he’s a very good person and I think he’s done a very good job thus far.”

Trump’s diplomatic tone is in stark contrast to his adviser and and self-proclaimed “first buddy” Musk, who has blasted Starmer over the U.K. grooming gangs scandal.

In a series of posts on his social media platform X, Musk launched incendiary allegations against the U.K. leader, including that he was “deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes.”

In addition to calling for Starmer’s ouster, the Tesla CEO said one of the UK leader’s cabinet ministers should be jailed.

Starmer accused Musk—a booster of the right wing populist Reform UK party—of spreading “lies and misinformation” and of amplifying far-right “poison.”

Starmer, who leads the centrist Labour Party, was elected Prime Minister in July after 14 years of Conservative Party rule.

Since taking office, he has taken increasingly fiscally conservative positions, earlier this month stating his government “will be ruthless” on making cuts to public services.

He and Trump spoke by phone after November election and Trump said they plant to speak again within the next few days.

Last month, Starmer named Peter Mandelson—a longtime Labour politician who previously called Trump “little short of a white nationalist and racist”— as UK ambassador to the United States.

After the announcement, Trump’s co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita called Mandelson an “absolute moron.”

Trump plans to send Mark Burnett, the producer of his reality show The Apprentice, to London as American’s top envoy.

Trump’s calls with British leaders reportedly left staff crying from laughter

Andrew Feinberg

THE INDEPENDENT
Sun 26 January 2025 



President Donald Trump’s phone conversations with the two British prime ministers who served during his first term were apparently so madcap that they left staff at Number 10 Downing Street in tears.

According to a report in Politico, any conversation between the then-president and the two occupants of Number 10 from 2017 to 2021 — Theresa May and Boris Johnson — were appointment listening for civil servants and other aides in the PM’s orbit, with staff making a point to gather in a secure room or the prime minister’s private study to hear them speak with the American leader.

One former Downing Street source described the conversations as “extraordinary” and “brilliant” — the latter meant more sarcastically — and said those who were present were “there with tears [of] laughter” because the calls were “hilarious.”

Another former British government official who worked in Number 10 at the time said any planned agenda for the arranged call between the two leaders would “quite quickly fall by the wayside” because Trump would simply change the subject to whatever was on his mind.

Trump would reportedly go off on wide-ranging and long-winded tangents on a variety of subjects close to his heart but not exactly germane to the Anglo-American Special Relationship, including his hatred of wind turbines, his Scottish golf property, or matters that prime ministers simply could not discuss because they were the subject of court proceedings.

“They were never what you wanted them to be about, broadly. If you were calling about trade or Israel or something, it would always go off beam,” said another former government official, who added that the American president would go so far as to ask about the health of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch at the time.

Boris Johnson shakes hands with Donald Trump (PA Archive)

Trump famously got on well with the second of two prime ministers during his term, Boris Johnson, with whom he is understood to have felt a kindred spirit because both men were seen as disrupters and outsiders.

He did not have feelings quite as warm for Johnson’s predecessor May, who was the second woman in history to lead the British government.

According to former Trump administration sources, the rift was due to May’s cautious attitude towards the U.K.’s exit from the European Union, plus Trump’s decidedly retrograde attitude towards women in general.

The newly-minted 47th president has yet to conduct his first leader-to-leader call with the current prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, though he met with Starmer for dinner alongside Foreign Secretary David Lammy last September while he was running his presidential campaign.

Donald Trump latest

Trump expected to make decision on Lord Mandelson as ambassador this week

Donald Trump is expected to decide this week whether to accept Lord Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US.

Concerns about Mandelson’s links to China, Jeffrey Epstein, and his previous EU role are cited as potential reasons for rejection.

Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently spoke, discussing trade and reaffirming the strong ties between their countries. However, the ambassador issue remains unresolved.

Despite Trump’s positive comments about Starmer, some sources suggest he might reject Mandelson to assert dominance.

The situation is further complicated by previous tensions, including Labour’s support for Kamala Harris and concerns over the Chagos Islands and free speech in the UK.

They spoke by phone on December 18 after Trump won the election, but the fact that details from that call leaked to the press shortly thereafter has put a chill on the vibes between Number 10 and the White House. A White House official did not respond to a query from The Independent on when the two leaders might speak next.

The Independent has also reported that Sir Keir’s tentative choice of Lord Peter Mandelson as the next British ambassador to Washington is also a bone of contention, with Trump considering taking the unprecedented step of rejecting Lord Mandelson’s credentials due to the Labour bigwig’s support for closer ties with Beijing.

“There’s also a possibility that they approve it conditionally. There would be a very short leash,” one Trump team source said last week.