Foreign Ministers during the Ministerial meeting on the implementation of the Middle East peace plan held in France, following a ceasefire agreement reached this week © Abaca Press
President Trump announced his peace plan for Gaza this week, following on from the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks on Tuesday. After days of negotiations, Israel and Hamas have both agreed to Trump’s plan, with the first phase expected to see the release of all 20 living Israeli hostages by Monday in exchange for around 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza. The bodies of the deceased hostages will be returned too, although it remains unclear how long this could take. Increased aid is also due to be allowed into the Gaza strip, with about 600 humanitarian aid trucks expected to enter daily, as part of efforts to deal with the UN-declared famine there. A multinational force of around 200 troops, overseen by the US military, will monitor the ceasefire, and the Israeli military has begun positioning their troops along the line detailed in the agreement, which reportedly leave them in control of 53% of Gaza. If completed, the first phase of the plan would be followed by negotiations over details of the later phases, with the proposal suggesting that Gaza would initially be governed by a temporary transitional committee of Palestinian technocrats, before being handed over to the Palestinian Authority once it has undergone reforms. Crucially, however, there is no mention of recognition of a Palestinian state.
So looks like that makes it war number 8 that Trump has managed to end this year then… although sadly still not enough to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which went to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Then again, not exactly surprising given that nominations for the award actually closed in January – but the White House was still quick to accuse the Committee of putting ‘politics over peace’.
Back in the UK, Conference season continued with the Conservatives in Manchester, as the official opposition sought to finally set out a bit of policy. New plans announced included: scrapping Stamp Duty on primary residences; abolishing business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses; scrapping the Climate Change Act; a first job bonus for young people, with the first £5,000 of NI contributions saved to be put towards a house deposit for first time buyers; reviewing IR35; reducing payments for low level mental health problems and ensuring only British citizens can access welfare; deporting 150,000 illegal immigrants a year; banning asylum claims for illegal entrants; ending the Immigration Tribunal, Judicial Review and legal aid for immigration cases; tripling stop and search; utilising half of every £1 found in savings towards reducing the deficit; and cutting the civil service back to 2016 levels, from 517,000 to 384,000. After all that, the Party will be pleased to hear that a key takeaway from the Conference was… a lot of empty seats.
125 – The number of UK CEOs, entrepreneurs, university Vice Chancellors and cultural leaders that travelled with the Prime Minister on his two-day trip to Mumbai.
£47bn – How much Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride claimed the Conservative Party could deliver in savings as a result of cuts to welfare, the civil service and foreign aid.
20 – The number of Tory Councillors that defected to Reform UK on the third day of the Tory Conference.
26 – the number of migrants that have been returned to France under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme.
60,000 – The number of Liberal Democrat party members, a decline from 118,000 in 2020.
The UK’s biggest trade mission to India has secured over £1bn of investment from 64 Indian companies, creating 6,900 jobs across the UK. The announcement came as UK businesses also confirmed £3.6bn in new projects in India, focusing on sectors including electric vehicles, clean energy, AI, and advanced manufacturing. Key investments include TVS Motor’s £250m plan to expand electric vehicle production in Solihull, Cyient’s £100m investment in semiconductors and geospatial tech, and Atul–Date Palm Developments’ £11m investment in sustainable agriculture. On the UK side, firms such as Acron Aviation, Paysecure, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies confirmed major investments to grow in India, while Lancaster and Surrey universities announced plans to open new campuses there.
A £350m contract was also signed to supply UK-manufactured Lightweight Multirole Missiles to the Indian Army, the same as those currently being manufactured for Ukraine. Both countries also signed the Implementing Agreement to advance collaboration on electric-powered engines for naval ships, following joint exercises between the UK Carrier Strike Group and the Indian Navy in Exercise Konkan.
Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for what the committee called her "tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” The decision was made despite intense lobbying from Donald Trump, who had made the prize a focal point of his foreign policy in recent weeks, including frequent claims that he has resolved seven wars since returning to the White House.
The Home Office has revealed plans to expand police powers to restrict protests that are repeatedly held in the same location and have caused ‘repeated disorder’. Under changes to be made to Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act officers will be able to consider the cumulative impact of demonstrations on local communities and take steps to prevent prolonged disruption. The Home Secretary is also reviewing existing legislation to ensure powers are sufficient and being consistently applied, including powers to ban protests outright.
Separately, the Home Office also announced that police across England and Wales will be able to equip themselves with new and improved taser devices following a joint review by the Home Office, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing. A joint implementation plan has been developed to ensure forces are supported with training and guidance ahead of the Axon Taser 10 model rollout.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney renewed calls for independence this week with the publication of a new paper titled ‘A Fresh Start with Independence’. The report outlines how an independent Scotland could rebuild its economy, strengthen the NHS, and take control over issues such as pensions, energy, migration, and defence, with Swinney arguing that Brexit, declining living standards, and ‘little prospect of change’ has made the case for independence ‘urgent.’
The UK’s ‘one in, one out’ agreement with France has now seen 26 individuals returned to France, after two flights carrying 19 individuals took place this week. Further flights to France are due to take place ‘over the coming days and weeks’, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood stating the flights were sending a “clear message” to those travelling to the UK illegally.
Improvements are being made to the Horizon compensation scheme, after the Government responded to the recommendations made by Sir Wyn Williams in his report. There will be a new appeals process for people who accepted fixed sum offers under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, together with funded legal advice, with the Government to also look at establishing an independent body who could oversee and manage the redress for any future scandals.
The trial of two men accused of spying for China collapsed, as the Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson wrote to the Home Affairs and Justice Committees saying the case was dropped when it became clear that no evidence would be provided stating that China ‘represented a threat to national security’. With the opposition blaming the Government for refusing to designate China as a threat, the Prime Minister rebutted that in the UK could “only try people on the basis of the situation as it was at the time”, passing the blame to the last Conservative Government.
A Plaid Cymru Welsh Government will provide universal childcare for 9 months to 4 years, leader Rhun ap Iorwerth announced in his speech at the party’s conference. With Plaid consistently polling above 20%, ap Iorwerth has also said they are ‘ready’ to replace Labour and to govern Wales. Rounding Conference season off, the SNP will begin their Conference on Saturday, with First Minister John Swinney giving his speech on Monday afternoon to end a mammoth season which began with Reform UK way back on 5 September.
And looking back to the end of last week, Green Party leader Zack Polanski gave his Conference speech, railing against a political class “poisoned by extreme wealth” and committing to a tax on the assets of the wealthiest 1%. With the Greens now having more members than the Liberal Democrats, Polanski is aiming for the party to “rocket” through the polls in the same way as Reform UK, only through the “politics of hope”.
The new series of Celebrity Traitors has been all the talk this week, and a new poll by Ipsos has found that the British adult population find that celebrities on the show are more trustworthy than politicians. The poll found that Claudia Winkleman has a 51% trustworthiness score compared to Chancellor Rachel Reeves at 15%, Jonathan Ross has a 41% trustworthiness score vs Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 23%, and Alan Carr has a trustworthiness rating of 50%, compared to Nigel Farage at 22%.
Leaving the ECHR is big talk within the Conservative Party at the moment, however, according to a new YouGov survey, the British public is generally opposed to the idea. Whereas 46% say we should remain a member, 29% say we should withdraw from it, and the remaining 24% are unsure. However, when tested on their actual knowledge of the ECHR, half (49%) say they don’t know very much about it.
Pressure to drink at work events is contributing to widespread alcohol-related absences and reduced productivity, according to a new report by IPPR. While young people may be drinking less overall, nearly half (43%) of 18 to 24-year-olds reported calling in sick after drinking the night before at a work event, and over a third said they felt pressured to drink to fit in or progress professionally. The report calls for the Government to reintroduce the alcohol duty escalator, standardise duty rates, and implement minimum unit pricing in England, and for employers to offer alcohol-free alternatives at events and embed alcohol harm into HR and wellbeing policies.
Tory Party Leader Kemi Badenoch may have temporarily silenced the critics from within her party by a headline grabbing and largely well-received speech to the party faithful in Manchester this week, but it was a glaring, insert-palm-face-emoji-here, gaff in the free merchandise used to butter up arriving journalists to the Conference that grabbed even more headlines. As first highlighted by LBC’s Political Editor Natasha Clark, every member of the media pack was given a chocolate bar emblazoned with the words “When Labour negotiates, Britain loses” and Badenoch’s signature underneath… except, in what could have been straight out of The Thick of It… Britain was spelt wrong. You couldn’t make it up.
We feel a little guilty flagging this one up on her birthday, but we couldn’t not highlight an epic campaign video fail by former Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell. Now sadly deleted, the video highlighted her Partridge-esq inspired “Lucy Listens” events during a nationwide tour as part of her Labour Deputy Leadership campaign. Unfortunately in what must have been some haphazard editing, half her head was entirely out of shot for the majority of the reel, leading to a slew of rather humorous comments in response…
Fair play to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp for highlighting the growing scourge that is shoplifting on our high streets… but, in the spirit of You’ve Got to Laugh we’ve even more grateful to him for the way he phrased a tweet doing so… “What this idiot just did in Greggs is completely unacceptable”, later calling the individual who stole a drink a “brazen scallywag”… Even the most straight-faced political observer would find it hard to resist a witty reply... As one member of the Navigate team joked: “Me when I buy three sausage rolls in Greggs”.
And finally… moving from Government to Opposition can be a daunting experience, but we had to laugh this week when former Housing Minister Baroness Maclean – now serving as Kemi Badenoch’s Director of Strategy – tweeted in support of the Conservative Leader’s speech at the Tory Conference this week. Criticising an anonymous “senior Tory” for briefing against her boss, she argued, that after 15 months in opposition, the party “have had a long period in the wilderness and we are not out of the woods yet…” We suspect any Conservative who served in the 2010 Government after 13 years in opposition, or any new Labour Minister who had only ever known the opposition benches, may have had a gentle chuckle at the description of 15 months as a “long period in the wilderness”. Please nobody point out the latest MRP poll either…
