Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice co-owns a second home purchased for £4 million in 2013, Byline Times can reveal - despite attacking Angela Rayner for supposedly owning a "property mountain".

Open source imagery and Land Registry data unearthed by author Guy Shrubsole and this outlet reveal the Buckinghamshire mansion - and 12,800m2 of land around it - is a lavish property, complete with a tennis court, lake, a long driveway, and outbuildings.

The property is nearly 100 miles from Tice's seat in Skegness. Tice is also listed as owning a leasehold flat in Belgravia, London, now believed to be worth around £1.6m, Byline Times has found.

The findings come as Reform's largest ever conference kicks off in Birmingham this weekend.

Tice's real estate portfolio contrasts with the party's recent attacks on Rayner's so-called "property mountain", for buying an £800k flat in Hove, which the Deputy Prime Minister is now being investigated over for not paying £40,000 in stamp duty.

Rayner added the property to her three-bedroom grace-and-favour flat at Admiralty House, in central London, and a £650,000 constituency home near Manchester.

But Reform MP Tice also holds substantial stakes in - and remains a director of - at least four property companies, according to his register of interests and Companies House records: Quidnet Capital Partners LLP, Enjoyouretirement Ltd, Tisun Investments Ltd, Quidnet REIT Ltd. Tice is a Non Executive Director at Quidnet REIT, for which he earns £10,270 for 25 hours work a month.

According to their website and Tice's LinkedIn, he remains CEO of Quidnet Capital Partners, which boasts that it specialises in "corporate/public-to-private transactions", property "asset management" and "sourcing and executing [real estate] acquisitions".

Speaking about Quidnet REIT in March to The Times, Tice said: "I control most of the business. Actually, I'd like more backbenchers to have second jobs."

Tice's house in a leafy area around Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) also contrasts with Reform's attempts to court working-class communities, which had led to accusations of hypocrisy over his attacks on Rayner. The Deputy Prime Minister has now resigned amid the allegations she avoided paying enough stamp duty on her south coast property.

A Best for Britain spokesperson told Byline Times: "[Reform] try to present themselves as men of the people (and they are all men) - but the truth, Reform's leadership is a collection of former bankers being promoted by billionaires with Tice increasingly looking like the Monopoly man."

The property is not declared in his register of interests as an MP. Tice lists nothing under 'land and property' in his declarations, but the rules allow this to exclude property lived in only by the MP or a family member. Electoral roll records suggest a relative of his lives at the property, so there is no suggestion that rules have been broken.

Tice and his ex-wife separated in 2019 and have since divorced, and he is now in a relationship with Telegraph writer Isabel Oakshott, who lives in Dubai, which he visits.

The revelations come after a mysterious offshore entity connected to Tice was folded months after legal campaigners at Good Law Project exposed its existence.

Financial records for the Jersey-based entity, 'Gellymill Ltd' did not have Tice's name on them, and instead made reference to corporate directors and secretaries linked to an offshore trust services provider.

ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE

Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.

PAY ANNUALLY - £39.50 A YEAR

PAY MONTHLY - £3.75 A MONTH

MORE OPTIONS

We're not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to...

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

The controversial cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, accused by critics of spreading anti-vax misinformation laden with conspiracy theories, will give the only health-related address on the main stage of the Reform Party conference this weekend.

Leading doctors have urged Reform leader, Nigel Farage, not to put lives in danger by handing Malhotra - who claims that mRNA COVID vaccines did more harm than good - a prime conference slot.

The British cardiologist is chief medical adviser to MAHA Action, a US campaign group advocating the "Make America Healthy Again" agenda of Robert F Kennedy Jr, US President Donald Trump's secretary of health and human services.

Reform has said Malhotra will speak about "making Britain healthy again" and he has insisted his main topic in Birmingham will be the "commercial influence over science" and the importance of health living, but, his inclusion in the conference has raised concerns that Farage may be tempted to follow Kennedy's lead in scrapping vaccine research, and replacing expert advisors.

Over the summer, Kennedy cancelled $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccines and earlier sacked all 17 members of the official government committee that advises on immunisation.

Jeanette Dickson, chairwoman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the professional standards body for Britain's 400,000 doctors, told The Times: "We must not let ignorance and ideology replace evidence-based medicine. It is a very dangerous step to replace peer-reviewed, proven science with simple-sounding populism."

The decision to embrace Malhotra is one of several actions by Farage that suggest Reform is heading towards closer policy alignment with Trump and Project 2025.

In May 2024, Farage was himself accused by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of "spreading misinformation" after becoming the face of Action on World Health (AWH), a campaign for the UK to end its membership of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

EXCLUSIVE

Sacked, Expelled, or in the Dock: All the Reform UK Councillors Nigel Farage Has Lost in Just Four Months

Party faces questions over candidate screening after string of resignations, expulsions and criminal investigations

Josiah Mortimer

AWH has received favourable coverage in right-wing newspapers, repeating the narratives of groups associated with coordinated COVID disinformation that has seeped into the mainstream media via outlets like the Telegraph, GB News and TalkTV.

Malhotra's speech comes as health officials warn that vaccination rates in children starting school in September have fallen below the levels required to prevent spread through herd immunity, while in the US the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) has been pitched into chaos after CDC chief Susan Monarez was fired and several other top officials resigned in protest at RFK Jr's assault on established vaccine science.

This comes in the wake of a gunman's attack on the CDC building, which killed a police officer, after the man was reportedly inspired by anti-vax conspiracies.

On 27 September 2022, Malhotra published a paper with Clare Craig of the anti-vax HART group in his own journal calling for the immediate halt to COVID vaccinations.

The paper was released via a press conference by the World Council for Health (WCH), founded by Tess Lawrie of disinformation groups HART and Pandata as an umbrella organisation for groups promoting a range of alternative treatments from ivermectin to protection from 5G. WCH's coalition partners includes Children's Health Defence that was founded by RFK Jr.

Lawrie also founded the British Ivermectin Research Group (BIRD). BIRD is the sister organisation to Pierre Kory's Frontline Covid Critical Care (FLCCC) organisation in the US, together they led the way in promoting ivermectin as an alternative treatment for COVID, long COVID, and "spike detox...

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

A neo-Nazi music festival that was due to be held in Great Yarmouth this weekend has been cancelled under pressure from anti-facist campaign group Hope Not Hate.

The event, billed as 'Resurrection 4', was described by Hope Not Hate as "the biggest white power gig in Britain in 10 years" and was due to see 500 neo-Nazis and skinheads interested in the 'oi' punk scene descend on to the seaside town.

The festival was organised by Rob Claymore, a supporter of the British Movement, an openly Nazi organisation, and Robert Bray a veteran of the neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour. Recent posts in a Telegram channel linked to the British Movement include the claim that the group is the "voice of national socialism in Britain" and a photo of someone holding leaflets next to Buckingham Palace which read "stand up for the 14 words" a reference to the nazi slogan "we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children".

In January of this year, Blood and Honour had their assets frozen by the British Government. Although it has not been proscribed, it is the first extremist right wing organisation to face an asset freeze under the Treasury's sanctions regime.

EXCLUSIVE

What the Fight Against Racism in the 1970s Can Teach us About Defeating Fascists in 2024

The events of the past two weeks have been eerily reminiscent of the violent rise of the far-right National Front

Adam Bienkov

According to Hope Not Hate, several members of the bands booked for the festival have ties to, or are members of, fascist groups. This includes Gary Smith, the drummer of the band Crucified who is a former activist for Combat 18, a fascist group. Smith was also a member of the band No Remorse which made what German authorities described as "the most extreme nazi CD ever produced".

Sal, a Great Yarmouth local resident told Byline Times, "it was organised for the same time as Pride, I don't know if that was deliberate, but I felt very uneasy about it being in the town. I believe in freedom of speech, so I felt kind of uneasy about it being completely cancelled. But it would have been much better if it could have been held in a camp or a venue out of town so it didn't coincide with the [LGBTQ+} pride events and didn't upset people in the town."

According to Hope Not Hate, the festival sold 500 tickets before it was cancelled, netting an approximate £35,000.

Hope Not Hate started a campaign to get the festival cancelled in August. Over 34,000 people responded to HNH's call to write to the Home Office urging them to cancel the visas of international bands booked for Resurrection 4, the festival was pulled and local police say they are investigating the matter.

EXCLUSIVE

The Reform and Conservative Politicians Mingling With Neo-Nazis and Fascists at Asylum Hotel Protests

The recent wave of anti-migrant protests are providing a bridge between right-wing elected politicians and extremist groups

Josiah Mortimer

Nick Lowles, CEO of Hope Not Hate said "These hate-fests have no place in our communities, as is evident from the over 34,000 people who joined Hope Not Hate in emailing the Home Office and spreading the word. The cancellation will be a huge financial hit for the promoters and will deter people from planning similar nazi skinhead gigs."

Rupert Lowe, the Independent MP for Great Yarmouth who previously sat with Reform UK, appears not to have commented publicly on the plans to hold the neo-Nazi festival in his constituency.

On Rupert Lowe's lack of public opposition to the festival Sal told Byline Times: "this directly affects his constituency, the people in it, and the holidaymaker trade. He should be very vocal in his opposition to it, but he's not. He's not uttered a word. So, I'm pretty disgusted with him at the moment".

Lowe has however indicated his opposition to the possibility of asy...

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

The Conservative party, whose leader Kemi Badenoch has repeatedly pledged to fight for "free speech", has banned Byline Times from attending her party's annual conference.

The party gave no explanation for the ban, but a Conservative official said that the decision had been taken by "our media team".

The ban comes despite Byline Times having previously being approved to cover Conservative conference under the leadership of Badenoch's predecessors Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson.

As a member of Parliament's press lobby I have also attended conference under the leaderships of Theresa May and David Cameron. At no point over those more than ten years were any complaints made to me, or any issue raised about my attendance at the annual event.

A spokesperson said in a statement: "I'm sorry to inform you that your media registration has not been approved by our media team this year. This decision was made following a thorough review of all accreditation requests, and I understand that this may be disappointing news - particularly given your longstanding attendance and engagement with the event.

SUBSCRIBE TO FEARLESS, INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM FOR AS LITTLE AS £3 A MONTH

"We genuinely value your past participation and the coverage you've provided over the years. Please be assured that the decision was not taken lightly."

The ban comes despite Bandeoch's repeated commitments to upholding free speech and support for a free press.

"Free speech is a Conservative principle and is under threat", Badenoch said earlier this year, insisting that "we must fight for it".

"Silencing free speech harms democracy, culture and individual resilience."

The ban follows this news organisation last year revealing how Conservative party councillors had posed for the cameras as supposedly ordinary workers in order to ask questions of Rishi Sunak during a televised election campaign event.

We also revealed in 2023 how the party had secretly exempted selected media organisations from its previous plans to charge journalists for attending its conference. The money-raising plans were later withdrawn entirely.

A leading free speech campaign group described the decision to ban Byline Times from the Conservative conference as "concerning".

"Concerning news that the Conservatives led by Kemi Badenoch have banned Byline Times from attending their annual conference - ironically amid the party's claim to uphold free speech," a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for the Conservative leader was contacted for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.

The ban follows a series of other media organisations also being banned from covering the upcoming Reform UK conference.

Like the Conservatives, Nigel Farage's party have also made protecting "free speech" a central campaigning issue.

The Reform leader was confronted at a US congressional hearing about free speech on Wednesday, after his party banned a series of critical news organisations, including New World and DeSmog from covering its own party conference. Byline Times has previously also been blocked from attending the party's events.

Asked about the bans, Farage boasted about the number of questions he takes at press conferences, while failing to deal with questions about all the news organisations banned from ever asking questions at them, saying only that "somebody else" may have banned them.

ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE

Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.

PAY ANNUALLY - £39.50 A YEAR

PAY MONTHLY - £3.75 A MONTH

MORE OPTIONS

We're not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

The arrest of seven leading activists from the 'Lift the Ban' campaign against the proscription of pro-Gaza group Palestine Action - now designated a 'terror' organisation - has been damned as 'chilling' by the Liberal Democrats and the human rights group Amnesty International.

Speaking to Byline Times, the Lib Dems called for a review of the controversial law which outlawed the direct action group, members of which are accused of breaking into RAF Brize Norton in June this year to sabotage aircraft they believed were destined to assist Israel's war on Gaza.

The alleged participants were arrested under existing laws, but Home Secretary Yvette Cooper rushed out the designation of Palestine Action as a 'terrorist' group shortly after, meaning supporters of the organisation can now land over a decade in prison.

Don't miss a story

SIGN UP TO EMAIL UPDATES

The Liberal Democrats have now added their calls to warnings from Amnesty International after counter-terrorism police arrested seven of the 'Lift the Ban' campaign's key spokespeople in 'dawn raids' in London, Cumbria and Yorkshire on Tuesday morning, over Lift the Ban protests, under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Today the Daily Mail and The Sun both have front pages dedicated to attacking an alleged assault on free speech in the UK, focusing on the arrest of Father Ted writer and anti-trans activist Graham Lineham over allegations of inciting violence. The Mail claims Britain is becoming "North Korea" while The Sun says the UK is "f*cked". But they do not mention the arrests of pro-Gaza campaigners.

Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is in the US, seemingly calling for sanctions on the UK by Donald Trump to push Keir Starmer to repeal the Online Safety Act, which he claims is undermining free speech.

The Lift the Ban campaign is being spearheaded by Defend Our Juries, a group initially set up to defend climate campaigners from the likes of Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil facing criminal action.

DoJ founder Tim Crosland was arrested just hours before he was due to hold a press conference announcing that the mass action against 'terror' ban on Palestine Action will proceed in Parliament Square on Saturday 6 September from 1pm. At least 1,000 people have now pledged to hold signs saying 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action' this weekend, according to the group.

Over 700 people have now been arrested opposing the Palestine Action ban, including 500 at the last demonstration outside Parliament Square. More than 100 of them have now been formally charged for peaceful protests shortly after the ban came into force. The vast majority of attendees were sitting down holding cardboard signs. Defend Our Juries hopes to make the ban on PA untenable given the scale of potential arrests.

EXCLUSIVE

Palestine Campaign Group Says It Has Been 'De-Banked' by Virgin Money With '£10,000 Trapped'

EXCLUSIVE: Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine says their account was frozen without explanation days after Palestine Action was proscribed, preventing aid donations from reaching Gaza

Josiah Mortimer

Defend Our Juries has said its 'mass action' will go ahead on Saturday despite the 'targeted arrest' of key spokespeople.

The arrests include young law student Paddy Friend, who was due to speak at the press conference alongside Tim Crosland. You can see a video of his arrest here.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs Lisa Smart, told Byline Times: "The arrest of these campaigners under terror laws, following hundreds of arrests under the same powers last month, is deeply alarming. If charged, they could face up to 14 years in prison simply for expressing support for Palestine Action.

"The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of a liberal democracy - this sets a dangerous precedent and risks a chilli...

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Yvette Cooper on Monday announced that the Government was suspending all refugee family reunion to the UK. This is a shameful decision that will have devastating consequences for the affected families and will do nothing to placate politicians like Nigel Farage, and the racists terrorising asylum hotels.

Contrary to Cooper's claims, UK family reunion rules are already extremely restrictive. Refugee sponsors can bring children or pre-flight spouses and no other family members can apply. This is simply not fit for purpose when assessing family dynamics for those fleeing conflict zones. Children are often orphaned in such settings, with older siblings taking on de facto parental responsibility. UK family reunion rules do not reflect this reality, and rather than closing down the scheme, any sensible government, focused on preventing dangerous journeys, would expand the scope of family reunion.

The limited scope of family reunion though is just one problem. Those in conflict zones usually cannot even submit applications. This is because they must attend a Visa Application Centre, and no such centres exist in Gaza, Sudan, Eritrea or Afghanistan. The last Conservative Government's position was that lone children should take dangerous cross-border journeys to neighbouring countries and attend visa centres. Depressingly, Labour is failing these children just as catastrophically.

EXCLUSIVE

Reform UK's Darren Grimes Under Investigation Over Fake AI Asylum Video of Keir Starmer

Grimes faces an official complaint to the council after using manipulated imagery and attacking asylum seekers as 'deviants'

Josiah Mortimer

Cooper justified suspending family reunion by arguing that refugees should wait longer before reuniting with loved ones, as this would allow them to find jobs and housing. Cooper herself is a parent and a partner. If she relocated to a third country, does she really think she would feel settled and able to flourish if her partner and children were living thousands of miles away. If she does, let's rephrase the question: does she really think she'd be able to flourish if her partner and children were living thousands of miles away in a warzone and every night she lay awake worrying whether they'd survive until the morning?

Cooper's Government is now waging a sustained campaign attacking asylum rights as they attempt to ward off the electoral threat from Reform. They've already banned refugees making irregular journeys to the UK from ever securing British citizenship. In July, they closed the Afghan resettlement schemes, one of the few safe routes to the UK. Last week, they reduced the move-on period for newly recognised refugees leaving asylum accommodation from 56 to 28 days. All of these moves are regressive, cruel and bound to fail on their own terms, preventing refugees from fully integrating into society, encouraging unsafe journeys and increasing refugee homelessness.

Nigel Farage has made clear he is happy returning refugees to face torture, death and execution. This was a chilling proposal from an elected politician, a clear violation of the absolute prohibition of torture and a repudiation of any sense of moral decency. Keir Starmer's response has also been pathetically weak. He didn't condemn Farage's support of torture, he just said Farage's plan wouldn't work.

Both main political parties are now trying to fight Reform on their territory, with a race to the bottom to propose ever more extreme and cruel immigration policies. Some of Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp's language has been truly dehumanising in recent weeks, as he and the Conservatives more desperately seek air time and attention.

Labour and the Conservatives cannot out-Reform, Reform. When either party proposes something more extreme, Reform will simply raise the stakes. And what ...

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

The spiralling cost of the Ministry of Defence data breach that put at risk the lives of thousands of people who helped British forces in Afghanistan is revealed by the National Audit Office today.

Their report reveals that the cost of resettling over 7,000 Afghan nationals in the UK to save them from retaliation by the Taliban, is in reality likely to be much higher than the original figure of £850 million quoted in July.

The breach took place under the last Conservative Government in 2022 but was not spotted until 18 months later when posts started to appear on Facebook disclosing what had happened. Originally it was thought that just 150 people had been affected but when the scheme to bring people over to the UK closed last month it turned out that 7,355 people, including their families will be resettled in the UK by 2029.

Undue Influence: The Reform-Supporting Online Network Using AI to Monetise Anti-Migrant Hate

A prominent social media campaign for Brexit and Boris Johnson has morphed into a large-scale network boosting Reform and pushing anti-migrant hate, reports Katherine Denkinson

Katherine Denkinson

The disclosure led the MOD to apply for a super injunction to keep the scheme secret until last July for fear that it would alert the Taliban. This, the report reveals, has already cost the taxpayer an additional £2.5 million in legal fees, with additional costs still to come when the Government pays the defendants' costs. This will come on top of compensation payments for all those affected.

None of these legal costs were included in the estimate.

The ministry's explanation for not keeping separate accounts for the scheme was to preserve the secrecy of the operation after it obtained a super injunction. Instead, it was merged with other resettlement programmes for Afghans. Altogether the ministry has spent £400 million this year and will eventually spend another £1.5 billion on resettlement programmes from Afghanistan by 2029, taking the total bill to over £2 billion.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts said: "The NAO briefing published today has provided some much-needed clarity on the Afghanistan Response Route, which was launched following a data breach in 2022…"

"Confusion still remains over the reported £850 million historic and future costs relating to the breach, with the MoD unable to provide sufficient assurance over their numbers. This figure does not include all legal costs or compensation claims, which currently remain unknown."

Next week MPs on the Public Accounts Committee will question officials from the MOD on the scheme.

The National Audit Office is planning a full scale investigation into the overall cost of settling Afghans in the UK to be published next spring.

An MoD spokesman told Byline Times: "We are committed to honouring the moral obligation we owe to those Afghans who stood with us and risked their lives.

"Since taking the decision to support the lifting of the super injunction brought by the previous government, we have been clear on the costs associated with relocating eligible Afghans to the UK - and are fully committed to transparency.

"The cost of all Afghan resettlement schemes, including the Afghan Response Route, has been fully funded as part of the Government's Spending Review."

ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE

Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.

PAY ANNUALLY - £39.50 A YEAR

PAY MONTHLY - £3.75 A MONTH

MORE OPTIONS

We're not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Councils are at legal risk if they continue to invest in companies 'facilitating Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people', according to a new legal opinion from lawyers from the Doughty Street Chambers on behalf of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

PSC has now written to Secretary of State Angela Rayner arguing that she too is under a legal obligation to issue guidance to prevent all local Government pension funds investing in companies 'enabling Israel's crimes'.

The campaign group has asked for a response from councils within 21 days to outline how they will abide by their legal obligation.

The position paper, first seen by Byline Times, states: "In the face of the almost incalculable devastation caused by Israel's military assault on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, it is a moral and legal imperative that all levels of Government take action to bring Israel's violations of international law to an end.

"One lever the UK has to effect change is by divesting from companies which are aiding or assisting in Israel's violations of the most fundamental norms of international law."

Don't miss a story

SIGN UP TO EMAIL UPDATES

It continues: "The UK has a number of 'prevention and non-assistance duties' [under in international law]: The UK must not recognise, explicitly or implicitly, situations created by Israel's serious breaches of peremptory norms [fundamental international law principles. The UK must refrain from rendering aid or assistance to maintaining situations created by Israel's serious breaches of peremptory norms.

"[And] the UK is required to cooperate with other States, and take all reasonably available measures to bring to an end any violations of peremptory norms by Israel, ensure respect of the Geneva Conventions, and prevent genocide."

The legal opinion written by leading lawyers today sets out the duties local and central Government have to prevent and end assistance to Israel's violations of international law, and how those duties apply to investments under the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Ministers and local Government pension bodies must take action to counter the risk of aiding war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the legal counsel.

They add: "Administering authorities and the Secretary of State will be at significant legal risk if they continue to invest or permit investment in Involved Companies," referring to firms allegedly abetting genocide and other crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.

The legal opinion continues: "Administering authorities must take a prudent approach in considering, making inquiries and exercising due diligence to determine whether investments in [war crime-] Involved Companies under the LGPS are contributing to violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories."

In the past year, 17 local councils have called for, or committed to, divestment from companies believed to be 'complicit in Israel's crimes', according to PSC. More are expected to follow in light of this new legal opinion.

EXCLUSIVE

UK Gaza Families Urge Starmer to Hold Israel Accountable for Press Killings

A group representing 350 Palestinian families living in Britain have called on the PM to condemn Israel's 'systematic assault on the press' and back an inquiry

Matt Gallagher

It comes as PSC launches a new front in its campaigning by issuing legal notices to all councils in England and Wales that administer a LGPS fund, arguing they are under an obligation to take steps to divest from companies alleged to be enabling Israel's war.

PSC's research released earlier this year has found that LGPS funds have invested £12.2billion in companies which further Israel's violations of international law.

That includes substantial investments in companies which are involved in the supply of technology, surveillance equ...

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

"I always sit in front of a Union Jack and I've been doing it for years," Keir Starmer told the BBC this week, when asked about far-right activists vandalising roundabouts around the country with the painted St George Cross.

"I'm very encouraging of flags" he told the broadcaster.

Not wishing to be outdone by her boss, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper agreed, later telling the BBC that: "We actually have Union Jack bunting on our garden shed at the moment. I've got St George's flags. I've got St George's bunting… I've got Union Jack flags and tablecloths. We've got the lot."

Of course in the current political and media climate, simply smothering your own living quarters with patriotic regalia isn't quite enough to prove your inherent Britishness. For that you also need to signal your discomfort around foreign people.

Asked by the BBC's Matt Chorley how he would feel if there was an asylum hotel on his own street and "your daughter was having to walk past one of these hotels every day?" Keir Starmer replied that "I completely get it".

ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE

Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.

PAY ANNUALLY - £39.50 A YEAR

PAY MONTHLY - £3.75 A MONTH

MORE OPTIONS

We're not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.

Failing in any way to push back against the false far-right claim that refugees are inherently prone to be sexual predators, the Prime Minister insisted that: "I understand why people want the hotels closed. I want them closed".

The fact that the national public service broadcaster is even asking such questions of Keir Starmer is a sign of quite what a dangerous spot we are now in.

Eleven years ago when Nigel Farage insisted that he would feel uncomfortable living next to Romanian immigrants, he was widely condemned for his comments, with then Labour leader Ed Miliband calling them a "racial slur", yet now such sentiments are apparently not only condoned, but actively encouraged by our Labour Government.

Are you frightened of being sexually assaulted by a foreigner? Don't worry, your prime minister gets it. And he's willing to smother his home in Union Jacks just to prove the point.

Where Is the Political Leadership Against This Violent Far-Right Movement Terrorising Britain?

The silence of senior mainstream politicians and media organisations against the rise of a new well-organised far-right movement on Britain's streets is a disgrace, argues Adam Bienkov

Adam Bienkov

Echoes From History

I was thinking about all this while walking through Welling in South East London earlier this morning. This mostly white, working-class suburban area was previously host to the headquarters of the far-right BNP, which had its offices above a bookshop in the town.

Their presence coincided with a big increase in racist attacks in the local area, and was followed by the murder of Stephen Lawrence in nearby Eltham. Lawrence's death was a turning point for race-relations in Britain, exposing the institutionalised racism in the criminal justice system and helped spur on national campaigns to rid British culture of such violent racist instincts.

Among those fighting to make that change at the time was Keir Starmer, who as Director of Public Prosecutions later helped to bring Lawrence's killers to justice.

Marking the anniversary of his death last year Starmer Tweeted that: "I was proud to help bring his killers to justice, and I will continue my work with his mother, my friend Baroness Doreen Lawrence to rid our society of racism and break down barriers to opportunity for all young people.

"We will honour Stephen's legacy for ch...

Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his so-called 'DOGE' (Department of Government Efficiency) leader Zia Yusuf hailed the work of Reform's dozen councils in a press conference on Monday.

However, their praise excluded the many Reform councillors who have already had to stand down, or who face investigations for alleged misconduct, since May's local elections.

At least 15 Reform councillors have been suspended, expelled, or have quit since being elected earlier this year, with at least four facing criminal investigations, Byline Times can report.

Some quit within days of being elected, whilst others were caught sharing Hitler memes, spouting racist conspiracy theories, or are now the subject of police probes or prosecutions.

The below is a non-comprehensive list of scandals that have beset Reform UK's tranche of councillors elected since May.

It comes after Byline Times previously revealed that Reform UK have actually loosened their vetting procedures for potential candidates following the election.

UPDATE

The Reform and Conservative Politicians Mingling With Neo-Nazis and Fascists at Asylum Hotel Protests

The recent wave of anti-migrant protests are providing a bridge between right-wing elected politicians and extremist groups

Josiah Mortimer

Full Resignations from Council

1. Desmond Clarke (Nottinghamshire County Council) - resigned from the council just a week after the election in May, stating he was "not in a position to represent the people of Newark West in the way they deserve" while continuing his career in social care

2. Andrew Kilburn (Durham County Council) - resigned from the council nine days after being elected, after not declaring he worked for the council he was elected to (something which is banned)

3. Wayne Titley (Staffordshire County Council) - stood down shortly after being elected in May after Facebook posts emerged calling for a "volley of gun fire" to sink small boats in the Channel

4. John Bailey (Durham County Council) - resigned from council in June citing health reasons

5. Sam Booth (Doncaster Council) - resigned from council in July citing "personal reasons"

6. David Maclean (Isle of Wight Council) - resigned from council in August after missing three meetings of the children's services committee

7. Robert Bloom (North Northamptonshire) - resigned as councillor in August after being accused of shouting the N-word at a black neighbour and her family. He has so far refused to comment.

Defections / Attempted Defections

1. Owen Clatworthy (Bridgend County Borough Council) - five weeks after being elected, Clatworthy quietly contacted Labour's council leader saying he "can't stand Farage," that "Reform is full of big egos," and that he's "a socialist" whose "values are more Labour," before appearing on stage with Nigel Farage four days later in July 2025. He has not denied the claim.

2. Donna Edmunds (Shropshire County Council) - suspended one day after the May election and subsequently quit her membership, having announced her intention to defect to whatever party expelled-Reform MP Rupert Lowe and ex-Deputy Leader Ben Habib set up. She had previously stated her intention to put up a statue of Tommy Robinson in every British town

3. Luke Shingler (Warwickshire County Council) - announced days before the election that he would have to sit as an Independent because he works in a politically-restricted job (understood to be in the Royal Air Force)

4. Michael Ramage (Durham County Council) - was listed as having left the Reform group on the council, but is now back with them, it seems. We've asked him what happened there and will update if we hear back.

holding farage to account #reformUNCOVERED

While most the rest of the media seems to happy to give the handful of Reform MPs undue prominence, Byline Times is committed to tracking the activities o...