Starmer accuses 'weak' Sunak of harbouring 'extremists' in his party

Sir Keir Starmer has accused the prime minister of harbouring extremists in his party after a senior Tory MP was suspended for "Islamophobic" comments.

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The Prime Minister In Waiting - but who really is Keir Starmer? | Adam Boulton

Sir Keir Starmer is a Prime Minister In Waiting.

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Democrat donors alarmed of Biden's mental capacity as he uses 'cheat sheets' at private fundraisers

Democrat donors have expressed concern after it was reported he was relying on cheat sheets to talk about his own policies at private fundraisers.

The 81-year-old, who has been known to use notecards, is allegedly turning to written prompts at closed-door meetings with donors.

Biden's fundraisers tend to follow the same pattern, with the President delivering introductory remarks with reporters, but not news cameras, present in the room.

There is often a teleprompter being used, but there was none at the President’s fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, where when speaking off-the-cuff Biden called Vladimir Putin a "crazy SOB."

Reporters are then led out of the room with the rest of the event continuing in private. Democrat donors at Biden’s fundraisers are usually allowed to ask the president a couple of questions that had been pre-screened by aides.

However, Axiom reports that it is during these staged Q&A sessions that Biden reportedly turns to his notes prepared by staffers.

Some donors were said to have come away from fundraisers alarmed that Biden appears to cling to written notes to speak on matters of policy he should be intimately familiar with.

But other donors have spoken out in favour of the President, saying he remained sharp on topics such as immigration.

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A donor who attended a recent fundraiser in Manhattan Fred Hochberg said: "He’s always been an extemporaneous speaker, and he spoke off-the-cuff.

"Not scripted at all. I asked him about immigration and the border, and he talked about what’s going on."

The President does have a history of having to rely on crib sheets. In April last year, a photo of a notecard in his hands during a press conference revealed that he had advance knowledge of a question from a reporter.

In June 2022, the president was caught holding a cheat sheet that gave him a series of extremely detailed instructions: "YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants. YOU take YOUR seat."

Biden has come under fire in recent months for his mental capabilities as he seeks re-election later this year.

A new poll from Quinnipiac University showed that 67 per cent of registered voters said that the octogenarian president is too old to serve another term.

This is compared to 57 per cent who said the same of the 77-year-old Donald Trump, Biden's most likley candidate.

President Biden has hit back at these concerns, saying: "I know what the hell I’m doing!"

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Leading critic of controversial Welsh farming proposals 'receives death threats'

A farmer who has been campaigning against controversial Welsh government funding proposals for his industry says he has received death threats.

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Prince Harry and Joe Biden warned 'the stakes are very high' as court showdown looms

Prince Harry and Joe Biden have been warned "the stakes are very high" as a court showdown looms.

On Friday, the Duke of Sussex is set to have his day in court over whether he lied on his immigration papers so he could live in the US.

The Heritage Foundation intends to force his papers to become public, to find out whether or not the duke lied about his previous drug use.

The issue arose after Prince Harry, 39, admitted in his memoir Spare that he had taken drugs, leading to questions over why he was allowed to get a visa.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, has questioned why Joe Biden's administration supported the duke from keeping his papers hidden from public view.

Gardiner said: "The stakes are very high for Prince Harry. If the judge rules that the Department of Homeland Security must release Prince Harry's immigration records, they will be released to the general public.

"We at the Heritage Foundation have sued the Department of Homeland Security for the release of those records because they have refused to operate in a transparent fashion.

"We want to establish whether or not Prince Harry lied on his immigration application with regard to his drug use.

"If Harry has nothing to hide, he should welcome the release of those records."

Gardiner claims that the American people "have a right to know" about the duke's past.

In Spare, Prince Harry wrote of using marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms, which was released in January 2023.

He continued to tell The Express: "I think the American people really intensely dislike the idea that someone should be treated differently because of their social status, or some kind of nobility, or belonging to some kind of elite.

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"I think that Prince Harry in many ways represents a ruling elite that expects to be treated differently.

"The American people want to see the law apply equally to everybody."

Prince Harry and his American wife, Meghan Markle, moved to the US in the summer of 2020.

They are raising their two children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, in Montecito.

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Joe Biden's family dog found to have bitten Secret Service agents 24 times

President Joe Biden's family dog is said to have bitten members of the Secret Service in at least 24 incidents, new records show.

The German shepherd, named Commander, appeared to become a serious workplace issue for White House staff in the months before he was removed, the internal documents claim.

According to the records, Secret Service personnel changed their habits to avoid being injured by the dog.

"The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present – please give lots of room," an unnamed assistant special agent in charge of the United States Secret Services’ (USSS) Presidential Protective Division wrote.

In June 2023, an email warned agents they "must be creative to ensure our own personal safety".

Incidents were said to have taken place inside and outside of the White House residence, but also at Biden family homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, at Camp David, and in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

A source has said the Biden family feels "awful" and left "heartbroken" over the spate of attacks.

"They’ve been heartbroken over this. They’ve apologized to those who have been bitten, taken flowers to some," the source told CNN.

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"They feel awful. Commander was over-protective, and even though they tried and tried to work on it, they had to let him go live with other members of their family."

Commander was introduced to the family as a puppy in December 2021.

However, incidents began in October 2022 and spanned a whole year before he was removed in October last year.

Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for USSS called on his media team to begin "crafting potential public responses" for questions about the incidents starting in July 2023.

One of the more severe incidents occurred on July 29, 2023, where Commander caused "a severe deep open wound" after a special agent from the presidential protective division’s counter surveillance unit was bitten.

Another documented incident also involved President Biden on October 2, 2022, when an agent was bitten on the forearm.

Elizabeth Alexander, First Lady Jill Biden’s communications director said: "The president and first lady care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day.

"Despite additional dog training, leashing, working with veterinarians, and consulting with animal behaviorists, the White House environment simply proved too much for Commander. Since the fall, he has lived with other family members."

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‘Absolute joke!’ Civil servants berated for demanding a four-day week for same pay

Civil servants have been slammed as an "absolute joke" after the Public and Commercial Services demanded a four-day working week.

The union has also called for its workers to receive 35 days of holiday and still be on the same wage.

According to The Telegraph, the PCS would like to see the four-day working week implemented across the Civil Service.

The move sparked outrage from Conservative MPs with the MP from Buckingham claiming that the move is an "absolute joke."

Greg Smith said: "This is an absurd demand. In what other world can you go to your boss and say I want to work a day less a week, but I want to stay on the same money?

"You'd be laughed out of town for that absolute joke. Especially when you remember who pays for the civil service. We do, taxpayers up and down the land who will be raising an eyebrow at this demand.

"I fear it is what would come should people go to the ballot box and elect a Labour Government next time around. Because we know Labour does whatever the unions say.

"We know the unions are the real bosses of Labour members of Parliament and demands like this will become commonplace.

"This is 200,000 civil servants across 213 Government departments and agencies, a significant tranche. This is just a solution.

"We've long heard the socialist dream of the four-day week. It's been banded about for years and years that it could become reality.

"It could, although here in some parts of the civil service, four days a week might be aspirational rather than limiting. The country does have big challenges.

"As we've come out of Covid, as we're facing war on our continent there are conflicts all around the world. We need civil servants to be doing their job.

"We need them to have rocket boosters underneath them to deliver the services domestically and the things that we need them to be doing with the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense daily.

"A four-day week just just doesn't cut it."

The PCS also demanded an "inflation-proofed" pay increase "plus pay restoration", and a living wage of £15 per hour.

What’s more, the letter also demanded a London wage uplift of at least £5,000 per year, and a minimum of 35 annual leave days for staff.

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