Nigel Farage’s Clacton by-election fight will cost taxpayers an estimated quarter of a million pounds, an official has suggested(Image: Getty Images)
Reform chief Nigel Farage is facing comedy candidates including Count Binfance in next week’s Clacton by-election after major political rivals boycotted the contest
Nigel Farage’s Clacton by-election fight will cost taxpayers an estimated quarter of a million pounds, an official has suggested.
The Reform chief is facing comedy candidates including Count Binfance in next week’s vote after major political rivals boycotted the contest. They accused him last month of a political stunt last month for triggering the vote amid a Commons probe over a £5million gift received from a Thai-based crypto billionaire.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today, chief executive of Tendering district council, Ian Davidson, said the ballot paper with 34 candidates was just under a metre long.
He said: “We’ve got 34 candidates, which is the most number of candidates any parliamentary election has ever had. And the ballot paper is just under a metre a long. The cost of actually printing, running, and posting things like that is about four times the cost of the General Election where we had five candidates.”
Nigel Farage is scathing at the £250,000 cost to the taxpayer of his unnecessary and ridiculous Clacton-on-Sea election campaign that he caused to avoid scrutiny and acccountability for the £5MILLION ‘gift’ that he didn’t declare.Nigel Farage explains that he’s called another byelection in Clacton-on-Sea because he should be able to secretly enrich himself without scrutiny and accountabilty and that the rules shouldn’t apply to him.Nigel Farage reminds you that he’s the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.
Back in March, the Labour government’s bill to restrict access to jury trials – a right enjoyed by English citizens for over 800 years – successfully passed its first reading. But last week, only hours after former Justice Minister David Lammy was dropped from Andy Burnham’s new cabinet, a Downing Street spokesperson announced that the newly coronated Prime Minister had no intention of following through with the plan.
Eyebrows were raised, however, at the ministerial re-appointment of Sarah Sackman, Keir Starmer’s ex-solicitor general and a key supporter of Lammy’s jury proposals. Sackman has previously worked as a foreign law clerk at the Israeli Supreme Court, and her grandfather once served as an ambassador for the settler state. Last week, Burnham extended her role in government with a re-appointment at the Ministry of Justice.
Sackman’s funders
At the end of June, and just eleven days after Burnham’s by-election victory in Makerfield, Sackman registered two new donations, each of £1250, from veteran pro-Israeli bankroller Trevor Chinn.
…
Burnham continues Starmer’s legacy
Starmer will always be remembered for the military and diplomatic support he consistently lent to the Israeli state. But in December 2024, just over one year into the Gaza genocide, Sackman insisted that Starmer’s administration had “broadly got it right” on the issue of Palestine.
She made the comments in a public conversation with Adrian Cohen, LFI’s lay chair. Last Thursday, the controversial lobby group published a new paper suggesting that a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements is “practically and politically impossible”.
LFI-affiliated MPs continue to dominate the Labour cabinet. On the issue of Palestine, Sackman’s re-appointment sends a loud signal to those who thought Burnham might change course.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.
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Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing wait to cross into the Gaza Strip early on October 15, 2025, after Israel said it would allow the crossing to reopen for humanitarian aid to enter from Egypt into the Palestinian territory. [STR/AFP via Getty Images]
Egypt is pressing for the reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza to allow goods into the enclave, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported Wednesday, Anadolu reports.
“By contrast, Israel insists on limiting the entry of goods to the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is under its control,” the broadcaster said.
Israel’s security establishment and political leadership have informed the US and Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative of the Peace Council, of their unified position “not to allow the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip except through the Kerem Shalom crossing,” the broadcaster said, citing an unnamed Israeli source.
On Feb. 2, Israel reopened the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which it has occupied since May 2024, on a limited basis and under tight restrictions.
Following a closure of nearly 20 days after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on Feb. 28, Israel reopened the crossing on March 19 under the previous operating mechanism and with strict restrictions.
The crossing currently operates on a limited basis for pedestrians only. Dozens of patients, wounded Palestinians and other humanitarian cases are intermittently allowed to leave under tight Israeli monitoring and restrictions.
Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are still awaiting permission to travel for medical treatment.
Egypt had not officially commented on the Israeli broadcaster’s report as of 0930GMT.
Before Israel’s genocide in Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians traveled daily through Rafah to Egypt, while hundreds of others returned to the enclave. The crossing was operated by Gaza’s Interior Ministry and Egyptian authorities without Israeli intervention.
Since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, around 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 173,000 injured, while nearly 90% of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed.
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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement during a visit to the site of the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was hit by an Iranian missile barrage, in the central city of Rehovot on June 20, 2025. [Photo by Jack GUEZ / POOL / AFP / Getty Images]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday hinted that Israel could take unilateral military action against Iran as diplomatic efforts continued to secure an agreement aimed at ending the conflict between Tehran and Washington, Anadolu reports.
“We heard today the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ahmad Vahidi, declare that Iran intends to continue developing a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu said.
“As Israel’s prime minister, I am determined to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he added.
Describing the US as “Israel’s greatest ally,” the Israeli premier said, however, that he was “determined to do whatever is necessary to ensure” Israel’s security.
On Tuesday, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said mediation efforts between the US and Iran had reached “advanced stages,” with the two sides exchanging draft proposals.
Speaking at the ministry’s weekly press briefing, Al-Ansari said efforts remained underway with all parties to reach a diplomatic solution.
On Feb. 28, the US and Israel launched a war against Iran that, according to Iranian authorities, killed more than 3,000 people.
Iran responded with attacks on regional countries hosting US assets.
In June, Qatar joined Pakistan as part of a mediation team between Washington and Tehran, leading to the signing of a memorandum of understanding on June 18 and the start of negotiations toward a final agreement.
The talks later stalled over disagreements related to maritime security and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Between July 8 and July 24, tensions escalated again as the US carried out attacks on Iran, prompting Tehran to target what it said were US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, particularly Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.
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Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück, Germany. [Photo/AA]
As Volkswagen explores converting one of its German factories from civilian vehicle production to manufacturing components for an Israeli missile defense system, local peace activists are stepping up efforts to stop the move, Anadolu reports.
The campaign comes amid reports that Volkswagen is in discussions with Israel’s state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems about repurposing its Osnabruck plant after passenger car production ends in 2027.
The site could manufacture components for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, including launchers, transport vehicles and power generators, according to the Financial Times. Volkswagen has not confirmed any agreement and says no decision has been made on the plant’s future.
Even without a confirmed agreement, Osnabruck Peace Initiative (OFRI) said it plans to intensify its grassroots campaign to stop the deal, organizing rallies, public events and demonstrations while working with local groups to build support for keeping the factory focused on civilian production.
“We’re working with various coalition partners to build support in the city for the civilian use of the factory, and we’re explaining why we don’t approve of arms production,” OFRI spokesperson Marie Dominique Guyard told Anadolu.
She said the group’s biggest challenge is convincing people that expanding arms production undermines rather than strengthens security.
“We are in favor of peaceful conflict resolution, diplomacy, ending conflicts through diplomacy, and respect for international law – and attracting arms companies to the city is the exact opposite of that,” Guyard said.
She argued that Rafael’s reported involvement makes the proposal particularly controversial.
“Israel is not known for its respect for international law,” she said. “The establishment of an Israeli state-owned company is, in effect, support for Israel’s wars.”
Guyard also criticized reports that public funds could support the project.
A call for worker resistance
Prominent German peace activist Reiner Braun echoed those concerns, calling the reported proposal “criminal.”
“Such a deal must be rejected outright,” he told Anadolu. “Of course, if Volkswagen, an industrial company, manufactures a component for Rafael, it is complicit in the policy of genocide and cannot absolve itself of that responsibility.”
“They know what they are doing, and they do it deliberately because they believe they can make more short-term profits. It is immoral, unethical, and one could actually say it is a criminal deal.”
Braun urged Volkswagen employees to oppose any move toward military production.
”The most important thing is resistance within the plant itself,” he said. “All employees at all Volkswagen plants must raise their voices and say, ‘We do not want to participate in the development of weapons of genocide.’”
He said Germany’s peace movement would continue supporting workers who oppose the reported plans.
Where the talks stand
Volkswagen has not confirmed reports that it is negotiating with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems over defense production at its Osnabruck plant.
A company spokesperson previously told Anadolu that Volkswagen is evaluating options for the factory after passenger car production ends in 2027 and remains in discussions with various market participants.
“There are currently no concrete decisions or conclusions regarding the future direction of the site,” the spokesperson said. “The production of weapons by Volkswagen AG remains ruled out for the future, and we do not engage in speculation regarding further plans for the Osnabruck site.”
Since then, media reports have offered conflicting accounts of the future of the proposed deal.
Last month, German newspaper Bild reported that Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, Volkswagen’s third-largest shareholder with a 17% stake, had blocked management’s proposal to partner with Rafael to manufacture missile components and military vehicles at the Osnabruck plant.
However, German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche later reported that negotiations were continuing despite Qatar’s reported objections.
The magazine said the head of the works council at the Osnabruck plant, which employs about 2,400 people, had urged the German state of Lower Saxony – Volkswagen’s second-largest shareholder – to acquire a majority stake in the factory itself, a move that could allow the Rafael partnership to proceed.
The reported negotiations come as Volkswagen undergoes a broad restructuring program amid mounting competition from Chinese automakers and slower-than-expected growth in the electric vehicle market.
Rafael, meanwhile, has been expanding its European footprint as governments across the continent boost defense spending and procurement following the war in Ukraine.
