Author: Morgan

Boris Johnson has said Nigel Farage’s stance on Russia is “extremely dangerous” and Reform UK is a threat to national security.

The former prime minister’s attack comes in a week in which Reform has stepped up its criticism of what it calls the “Boriswave” of post-Brexit legal migration.

Speaking on the Harry Cole Saves the West show for the Sun newspaper, Johnson said he has “serious anxieties” about Reform’s Ukraine stance.

“My concerns, and they are serious concerns, are about the approach to the economy of the Reform party and the approach on our national security,” he said.

“We are going to need a Conservative government that is strong on defence and doesn’t believe, to take a position at random, that the problem in Ukraine was that Nato provoked Putin. I think that’s extremely dangerous.”

He also criticised Reform UK’s stance on lifting the two-child benefit cap as ridiculous.

Johnson said: “How are we supposed to explain to hard-working people that their neighbours can take more and more money from the state?

“We have got to reform welfare. We have got to spend less on public services.”

Johnson backed Kemi Badenoch as Conservative leader but did not rule out trying to return to lead the party in future, saying he was happy writing his book and working on other projects at the moment. The former prime minister also said he was convinced he could have beaten Keir Starmer last year in the general election.

He mocked Reform UK’s position leading the polls, saying: “That party was on zero when I was prime minister … and that was because we got Brexit done … Who is to say whether that party will even exist before the next election?”

Some current and former Conservatives MPs have defected to Reform, including Johnson’s one-time allies Jake Berry and Nadine Dorries, fuelling speculation of a possible alliance between the Tories and the party in future.

But asked if the Conservatives should strike a deal with Farage, Johnson dismissed the idea: “The answers to this country’s problems are going to be Conservative answers.”

He claimed the Conservatives “will come back” and described the beleaguered Badenoch as “easily the sparkiest and the most intellectually original” of current party leaders, saying she had “the right ideas”.

Jeremy Corbyn has apologised to his leftwing party’s supporters for a week of turmoil and division, in a video that failed to feature or mention its co-founder Zarah Sultana.

The former Labour leader said membership was now officially open and that the new party would have its founding conference in Liverpool at the end of November.

Announcing the conference in a video for supporters, Corbyn said he was “sorry for the confusion in getting to this point” – a reference to the tensions over a membership portal launched by Sultana, which Corbyn then disavowed.

Threats have been exchanged between the two factions, including reporting Sultana to the Information Commissioner. Sultana accused the group of independent MPs of running a “sexist boys club” and said she would take legal action for defamation – which she later said she would drop and attempt to repair relations.

In an email to the 750,000 people who expressed an interest in supporting the new organisation when it launched in the summer, Your party said: “Today, we’re delighted to announce the next steps in this process, starting with the opening of our official membership portal.”

It said the conference would encompass “a total of 13,000 members” and they would “debate and amend the party’s founding documents in person across two days”. Attenders would be chosen by lottery, it said, “ensuring a fair balance of gender, region and background”, and a final decision would be taken by a digital vote involving all members.

Corbyn did not mention Sultana in the video but twice expressed regret for the row, which threatened to blow up the party. There were also no images of Sultana in the film. As of Wednesday evening, she had not posted about the new membership portal or conference.

He said: “We’ve had some fraught days in the last week, as you will no doubt be very aware. And to be honest, we haven’t covered ourselves in glory. But what is most important is this: We all agree about the plans for the conference and the road map to get to it.

“Once the party is established at the conference, the role that I and other Independent Alliance MPs have been playing to get it off the ground will end.

“Our role is not to run the party, not to control it, not to direct it. It is merely to steward the founding of the party that will belong to the grassroots, to the members, who will make the key decisions and elect a leadership through one member, one vote.”

On Wednesday Sky News reported that Corbyn had yet to secure the ACC Liverpool to host the conference despite announcing it as the venue. The venue will host the Labour party conference this week.

An ACC spokesperson told Sky: “All event enquiries are handled in strict confidence between our team and prospective clients, therefore we are unable to provide any further comment on this matter.”

Climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen has appeared with Turkey’s first lady, Emine Erdoğan, at a major environment event in New York as negotiations over hosting rights for the COP31 summit come down to the wire.

Bowen – who is in the US for talks at the UN general assembly – has been lobbying Turkey to drop its rival bid to host the conference in 2026 in order to secure the event on behalf of Australia and Pacific nations.

Anthony Albanese is seeking a meeting with the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as part of the negotiations, but the first lady is critical to any breakthrough.

A longtime environmental campaigner, she hosted dignitaries at the Zero Waste Blue exhibition on New York’s upper east side on Thursday morning, Australian time. Bowen spoke to the first lady and Turkey’s climate minister Murat Kurum.

The event was planned to show off Turkey’s environmental bona fides, including protection of the oceans, and to “strengthen environmental diplomacy by creating a platform for partnership and cooperation”.

Organisers said the New York meeting would enhance Turkey’s “global visibility in environmental policy” and “create global awareness under the leadership of Mrs Emine Erdoğan”.

Bowen’s attendance had been planned for some weeks, part of his efforts at respectful diplomatic engagement. He was the only foreign government minister in attendance.

Photos obtained by Guardian Australia show Bowen and Erdoğan posing with other guests.

Bowen also spoke to the president of Azerbaijan’sCop29 summit, Mukhtar Babayev.

Turkey is adamant its time has come to host the annual event after withdrawing from the race to host Cop26, which ultimately went to Glasgow.

Any decision on the host country has to be made through consensus, or the event will default to Bonn in Germany.

Both Bowen and Albanese have declined to discuss the status of negotiations with Turkey, but describe Australia’s support among partner countries as overwhelming. Australia has at least 23 votes among the critical 28-country Western European and Others Group whose turn it is to host the annual summit.

“I’ve had good and positive conversations with Türkiye, and when there’s more to say, we’ll say,” Bowen told journalists a day before the event in New York.

“We do want a very investment focused Cop, on investing in Australia’s renewable energy superpower, as well as lifting the agenda of the Pacific, whose very existence of several countries is at stake.”

Asked if a resolution could be achieved before he leaves New York for London, the prime minister said he was not sure.

“I will be having discussions with President Erdoğan as well. I’ve had a short discussion with the foreign minister… and my ministers and Turkish ministers are having those discussions.”

Albanese and Bowen spruiked Australia as an investment destination to business figures at an event hosted by Macquarie Group, as they pitch returns from the growing renewable energy transition and extraction and processing of critical minerals.

Albanese was due to speak at a special climate summit hosted by UN secretary general António Guterres and a separate New York Times conference on climate on Thursday.

“This is the decisive decade for acting on the environmental challenge of climate change – and seizing the economic opportunities of clean energy,” he will tell the UN.

“We all grasp the scale and the urgency of our task.

“If we act now, if we move with common purpose and shared resolve, then we can do more than just guard against the very worst.”

A family of three including a small child have become the first arrivals from France under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal, the Home Office said on Wednesday.

The move follows the removal of the first four asylum seekers from the UK to France over the past six days, despite ongoing legal challenges.

Under the deal, signed in July by Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, the UK agreed to detain Channel asylum claimants and send them back to France in return for taking a similar number of asylum seekers with family ties to the UK.

The first rejected asylum seeker was removed under the deal last Thursday. The Indian national, who arrived in the UK on a small boat in August, was flown into Paris from Heathrow.

A fifth man, who is from Eritrea, has won a high court ruling placing a temporary block on his deportation. The Home Office was refused permission to appeal on Tuesday.

Three other people whose claims have been rejected – men from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iran – have been flown to France.

The move comes days after Donald Trump told the prime minister to “call out the military” to stop small boats, as the number of crossings hit a then record high, and claimed illegal migration could “destroy” countries.

The business secretary, Peter Kyle, later said the Royal Navy could be called upon to tackle the crossings “if needed”.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The UK-France deal is a historic agreement, and these are critical first steps. We will continue to detain and remove those who arrive by small boat. And we will work with France to operate a legal route for an equal number of eligible migrants to come to the UK subject to security checks.”

More than 1,000 people reached the UK on small boats on Friday, bringing the total to more than 32,000 so far this year.

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In a separate development, the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has ordered a review into the multimillion-pound use of taxis by asylum seekers in hotels to transport them to medical appointments. The BBC reported on Tuesday that asylum seekers were being taken by taxi to GP or hospital appointments hundreds of miles away, with one running up a bill of £600 for one journey.

The broadcaster gained access to four migrant hotels where it claimed there appeared to be a “constant stream of cabs arriving and leaving”. Following the report, Mahmood asked the Home Office to investigate the use of taxis to transfer asylum seekers at the public’s expense.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The home secretary has asked the department to urgently look into the use of taxis to transfer asylum seekers.”

Jessica Chastain-led series The Savant has been pulled from the Apple TV+ release schedule.

The thriller was set to begin on 26 September but its release has been postponed.

“After careful consideration, we have made the decision to postpone The Savant,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We appreciate your understanding and look forward to releasing the series at a future date.”

The show follows Chastain’s character infiltrating online hate groups in order to stop violence being committed in the US. It was loosely inspired by a 2019 Cosompolitan article that describes an investigator known as the Savant as “an elite investigator who tracks angry men online”.

In the trailer, her character warns: “Snipers, bombings, ambushes, we’re on the verge of serious violence.” She adds: “This guy isn’t just planning violence, he’s out to make a statement … innocent Americans are going to die”.

While Apple did not elaborate on the decision, it comes soon after the killing of rightwing commentator Charlie Kirk at at Utah Valley University. Prosecutors have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with the crime with text messages appearing to show the act was motivated by wanting to stop Kirk’s “hatred”.

Chastain released a statement on Instagram in response, detailing “an unfortunate amount of violence” that has taken place during the making of the show, using examples such as Kirk’s killing, the kidnapping attempt on Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and the January 6 riot.

The actor explains that while she respects Apple, she is “not aligned” with the decision to postpone. “I’ve never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn’t so relevant, unfortunately it is,” she writes. “The Savant is about the heroes who work every day to stop violence before it happens, and honoring their courage feels more urgent than ever. While I respect Apple’s decision to pause the release for now, I remain hopeful the show will reach audiences soon. Until then, I’m wishing safety and strength for everyone, and I’ll let you know if and when The Savant is released.”

While reviews are embargoed, the Irish Independent’s Pat Stacey called The Savant “a thriller depicting the ugliness of white supremacist extremism in the United States”. The trailer also features threats of “a coordinated mass attack” and words on-screen mention that between 1994 and 2020, there were 893 extremist attacks in America.

The Oscar-winning actor, who was named best actress for her role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, called its timeliness “upsetting” in an interview with Emmy magazine before referring to “what just happened in Minnesota”, signalling toward the killing of Melissa Hortman. The Democratic politician was murdered in June in what appeared to be a politically motivated assassination.

Australia’s national climate risk assessment report, released last week, revealed a horrifying future if urgent action to address global heating was not taken.

The report looked at 10 “priority hazards” – such as bushfires, flooding and extreme heat – and the risks they presented across Australia’s way of life (you can read about the key takeaways from the report here).

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Accompanying the report was a new tool from the Australian Climate Service which provides access to data about climate hazards and risks.

Here, I’ve brought together some of the maps released by the ACS which show just how bad things will get for heatwaves, drought and coastal flooding.

It is important to note that the worst outcomes shown on these graphics can still be avoided if urgent action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The highest levels shown are based on a 3C increase in global temperatures which could happen as early as 2050 if emissions are not curbed.

According to the ACS the number of severe and extreme heatwave days is projected to increase, with the greatest increase in the northern parts of Australia.

As a consequence of the increase in temperatures and heatwaves, heat-related mortality is projected to increase dramatically under the worst global heating scenarios:

Showing the modelled increase in heat-related mortality* for selected Australian cities under different global warming levels: 1.5, 2 and 3 degree increases

Heatwaves are Australia’s deadliest natural hazard, with one recent study estimating they caused as many as 1,009 deaths in Australia from 2016 to 2019. The deaths attributed to heatwaves vary greatly depending on the methods used – the numbers are lower when only considering deaths that list heat as a contributing factor on official documents like coroner records and death certificates, but far higher when statistical methods are used to estimate excess mortality associated with heatwave events.

Time spent in drought is projected to increase, especially for areas in southern Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia:

This will have obvious consequences for the agricultural industry, with reduced rainfall in growing seasons, in addition to crops facing higher heat stress from increased temperatures.

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In coastal areas, the ACS projects a significant increase in coastal flooding as sea levels rise. The following map shows the average number of days each year exceeding the record flood level, which is the highest water level recorded over the baseline period (1995–2014) at each location:

Minor flooding is also projected to increase significantly. For example, Sydney currently experiences minor flooding 31 days per year on average, but this could increase to 344 days a year with 3C of warming.

One headline figure from the climate risk report is that by 2050, more than 1.5 million people would be living in areas around the country that would be hit by rising sea levels and coastal flooding.

All of which underscores the importance of setting meaningful and ambitious targets for reducing emissions.

Maps shown are images taken from the ACS website, and so show cities as they are on the originals
Cities shown in the heat-related mortality chart were chosen by the ACS. The ACS declined to provide the same data for the missing capital cities

Huntington’s disease, a devastating degenerative illness that runs in families, has been treated successfully for the first time in a breakthrough gene therapy trial.

The disease, caused by a single gene defect, steadily kills brain cells leading to dementia, paralysis and ultimately death. Those with a parent with Huntington’s have a 50% chance of developing the disease, which until now has been incurable.

The gene therapy slowed the progress of the disease by 75% in patients after three years.

Prof Sarah Tabrizi, the director of University College London’s Huntington’s disease centre, who led the trial, said: “We now have a treatment for one of the world’s more terrible diseases. This is absolutely huge. I’m really overjoyed.”

The drug, which inactivates the mutant protein that causes Huntington’s, is delivered to the brain in a single shot during a 12- to 20-hour surgical procedure, meaning that it will be expensive. The breakthrough is sending ripples of hope through the Huntington’s community, many of whom have witnessed the brutal impact of the disease on family members.

The first symptoms, which typically appear in your 30s or 40s, include mood swings, anger and depression. Later patients develop uncontrolled jerky movements, dementia and ultimately paralysis, with some people dying within a decade of diagnosis.

With treatment, people will be able to work and live independently for significantly longer, Tabrizi said, and the dramatic impact of the therapy raises the possibility that it could prevent symptoms occurring if given at an earlier stage.

It is estimated that there are between 6,000 and 10,000 people with Huntington’s disease in the UK, and at least another 20,000 who are carriers of the faulty gene, meaning they are likely to develop it. However, only about a fifth of those in families affected by Huntington’s choose to test for the gene because current treatments only help with symptoms rather than slowing the disease’s relentless progression.

“Now I think many more people will come forward for the genetic test because there’s a treatment,” said Tabrizi.

The mutant Huntington’s gene contains instructions for cells to make a toxic version of a brain protein, called huntingtin. The therapy is delivered via a harmless virus that has been modified to deliver a specifically designed strand of DNA into neurons.

To avoid adverse reactions, the virus is infused very slowly through a micro-catheter into two separate brain regions, a complex procedure that takes 12 to 20 hours. Once the DNA is delivered into the neurons, it instructs the cells to block the production of the toxic version of huntingtin.

Results from the trial, involving 29 patients treated in the UK and US, have been released by the company uniQure, although the full details are yet to be published. Three years after treatment, those on the high dose of the drug had an average of 75% slowing of the progression of the disease, based on tests of motor function, cognition and the patients’ experience of day-to-day life.

There were also clear indicators in the brain that neurons were being spared, with levels of neurofilaments (a sign of cell death) being significantly lower in the treatment group.

“We are incredibly excited about these topline results and what they may represent for individuals and families affected by Huntington’s disease,” said Walid Abi-Saab, the chief medical officer of uniQure, adding that the company hopes to submit the drug for approval in the US early next year.

The Walt Disney Company, which has been recently making headlines since its 17 September decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show on ABC, said Tuesday that it would be raising the price of its streaming services – including Disney+ and bundles that include Hulu and ESPN.

On 21 October, the cost of a Disney+ and Hulu package will increase from $10.99 to $12.99 while an ad-free plan with both will still cost $19.99. Plans with Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, with ads, were previously $16.99 and are soon to be $19.99, per Disney’s website.

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Consumers have been vocal about Disney’s handling of Kimmel in recent days, responding by canceling their subscriptions to Disney+ and bundles with Hulu and ESPN Select. However, a company spokesperson told Bloomberg that the price increases were planned for months and unrelated to the Kimmel controversy.

The comments that culminated in Kimmel’s suspension came earlier this month, in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death. Kimmel said on his show that the Make America Great Again movement was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it”.

A few days later, Nexstar Media Group, which owns 28 ABC affiliates, announced that it was pulling Kimmel’s show because his comments were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”.

Disney, also facing political pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, followed suit by suspending the show. The New York Times reported that the “cancel Disney+” campaign caused more “subscriber churn” than previous efforts to boycott Netflix over some of its controversies.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Disney+ has raised its streaming prices since launching Disney+ in 2019. It follows suit with many other streaming services, including Netflix and Peacock, who both announced price hikes earlier this year.

Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump, accusing the US president of being “racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic” after he used a speech at the UN to call the London mayor “terrible” and claim the city was being steered toward “sharia law”.

Trump’s remarks on Tuesday night provoked anger among Labour figures, with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, praising Khan as someone who “stands up for difference of background and opinion”.

However, Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, a close ally of Keir Starmer, stopped short on Wednesday of commenting on Trump’s remarks about Khan. Instead, McFadden defended London’s reputation as a global city.

Khan later launched a blistering attack on Trump. He said: “I think President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist he is misogynistic and he’s Islamophobic.”

The London mayor also subtly criticised senior Labour figures, including the prime minister, for not calling out Trump’s rhetoric.

Trump has been publicly attacking the mayor of London since 2015, when Khan criticised the then presidential candidate for suggesting that Muslims should be banned from travelling to the US.

In an address to the UN general assembly, Trump said: “I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it’s been changed, it’s been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can’t do that.”

Pressed on what he made of Trump’s description of him as a “terrible, terrible mayor”, Khan pointed to the record numbers of American visitors and investors choosing London.

He said: “Since records began, there’s only been a period where more Americans have come to London.

“There must be a reason for that. You look at a number of different criteria; we’re often the No 1 city in the globe when it comes to culture, when it comes to foreign investment, when it comes to sports, when it comes to the ability of people to fulfil their potential. I’m really proud we are the greatest city in the world.”

Khan did not directly criticise the prime minister, McFadden and others who are yet to directly call out Trump’s rhetoric, but he indicated “they should have the confidence to”, given the UK and US have a special relationship.

Asked whether Starmer should be befriending Trump, Khan said: “One of the things about having a special relationship, it’s akin to having a best friend. I think when you have a best friend, you should expect more from them.

“It’s very different to an acquaintance or somebody who’s just, you know, a distant friend. I think one of the advantages of having a special relationship with the USA is obviously when it comes to trade, when it comes to military alliances.

“When it comes to other areas, where we work closely together, but it should also mean you’ve got the confidence to call them out when they’re wrong. I think President Trump is wrong in many, many ways.”

Last week Trump described Khan as “among the worst mayors in the world” and claimed he had made sure Khan was not invited to the banquet he attended at Windsor. Sources close to the mayor said this was false.

McFadden referred to Trump’s long-running dispute with Khan and said: “I think the two of them have had a beef for some years.”

The work and pensions secretary, who was on the government morning media round, later described London as “a great capital city that we have” adding: “I think it’s a great asset to the UK. And I’m afraid I differ from the president on that.”

Nigel Farage said Trump was right to say that sharia law “is an issue” in London, adding: “Trump has a point.”

The Reform UK leader told LBC: “Never take what he [Trump] says literally, ever on anything. But always take everything he says seriously.”

He added: “So is he right to say that sharia is an issue in London? Yes. Is it an overwhelming issue at this stage? No. Has the mayor of London directly linked himself to it? No.”