Reform is reporting £331 million in savings across the councils it runs, but Private Eye’s Rotten Boroughs writer Saba Salman says the claims are complete guff. In Kent, the party’s flagship council, supposed tens of millions in savings include cutting councillor allowances only to reallocate the money elsewhere. Watch the full episode of Page 94, the Private Eye podcast, on YouTube.
HIGNFY "Following an investigation in the aftermath of the Budget, we now know how the Economic and Fiscal Outlook was leaked: "The EFO was uploaded by the OBR on a PDF via a URL". With the investigators all agreeing: OMG, FFS"
I was ok with the original concept because it is a pointless waste of time and money to hold elections to cover a 1-2 year gap. But now the Councillors (at least current HCC ones) will be on a 7 year term, time to bite the bullet.
Don't really see it, under the original plan it was a fair point and would have been a genuine waste of time and money to hold an election for a seat that is being dissolved in 1-2 years time, but now it is stretching too far. Also many of the affected Councils are Tory anyway. I suppose the counter might be that Councils have now submitted their plans for restructure and it is too much of a pain in the balls to risk having Councils rebel against plans that they previously approved (although I am not sure that is really possible either).
Going to flip on what I said earlier. Councillor elections are still going ahead. It is the new mayoral positions that are being pushed back. I dont think there is as much of an issue with an election being pushed back for a post that doesnt exist yet, since I assume this is because the actual start date of the new role has been pushed back a year.
It is illegal for the Labour Party to directly receive donations from foreign individuals or entities that are not "permissible donors" under UK law. However, foreign money has entered UK politics, including to the Labour Party, through legal loopholes such as donations from UK-registered companies with foreign ties. Foreign-linked donations to Labour via loopholes Cayman Islands-based hedge fund: In 2024, Labour received a £4 million donation from Quadrature Capital, a hedge fund with its parent company registered in the Cayman Islands. The company stated that it pays corporation tax in the UK. Pro-Israel lobby groups: Reports from 2024 revealed that pro-Israel lobby groups have donated over £300,000 to more than half of Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet members. Some of these donations involved groups paying for Labour MPs to take trips to Israel, with some payments coming directly from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign-domiciled individuals: As of 2015, the Labour Party had received at least £8.55 million from donors who were domiciled abroad for tax purposes. Labour Party's response to foreign donations Pledged to strengthen rules: In its 2024 manifesto, the Labour Party committed to strengthening the rules on political donations to address "dodgy money" from overseas. Internal division over a ban: In February 2025, reports indicated that Labour had dropped a plan to ban foreign political donations after an intervention from a Labour peer.
