Kemi Badenoch has vowed that she is "not at all worried" of a large-scale Reform UK rally in her North West Essex constituency this evening.
The Tory leader's seat lies in an increasingly Reform-threatened part of Britain, according to recent polling - and it was made a "target" following her and Nigel Farage's Christmas row over party membership.
Tonight, all five Reform MPs will descend on her constituency for a photocall with approximately 400 Reform members in North West Essex to say, in Farage's words, "we are coming for you at the next election".
But speaking to reporters at a visit to a farm in Cheshire, she dismissed the polls and labelled Reform UK a "protest party".
"It's not a surprise that, at the moment, protest parties are gaining in the polls," she said.
"The job that the British people have given me is to fight for them, be the leader of the opposition, hold the Government to account.
"That's why I'm here talking about the family farm tax. It's really important that we tell people what's going on with farming and how Labour's policies are going to destroy it. That's much more important than having a rally about myself."
Asked whether she was worried about Reform UK in her constituency, she said: "Not at all."
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Sir Keir Starmer has invited the freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari to Downing Street today in a first phone call since her capture and imprisonment at the hands of terror group Hamas.
Starmer said he was overjoyed by the "heartwarming" images of Emily reuniting with her mother Mandy, who had campaigned for her release for more than a year.
The Brititsh-Israeli national, was kidnapped from her home on October 7, 2023 by Hamas gunmen who shot her in the hand and leg, as well as killing her pet dog.
On the call, Emily and Mandy revealed that she had been held for some time in United Nations facilities belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and denied access to medical treatment.
Labour's Development Minister Anneliese Dodds spent £17million in aid on Gaza earlier this week, with some of that funding heading to UN agencies including UNRWA.
Sir Keir Starmer will host German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over the weekend - just weeks before Scholz faces a crunch election.
Downing Street has confirmed the two counterparts will meet on Sunday, three weeks to the day before Germans head to the polls.
Back in November, Scholz's governing coalition fell apart, forcing a snap election on February 23.
But opinion polls in Europe's largest economy make for grim reading for the Chancellor - his SPD party has slid to 16 per cent support, while the centre-right CDU sits at almost double that number, and the "far-right" AfD party has surged to 22 per cent.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched into a European love-in with a fresh anti-Brexit message on the fifth anniversary of leaving the EU.
Writing on social media this morning, Khan declared that "London is European" - and "European Londoners are valued and cherished".
The Remain-backing Mayor has previously called for Labour to sign up to the Brussels bloc's controversial youth mobility scheme - which would open Britain's doors to more than 70 million people.
He was also a leading proponent of a second Brexit referendum.
And today, he vowed that "you are wanted here - and always will be".
Khan also shared an image of himself grinning beneath some text reading: "On the fifth anniversary of Brexit, I want all European Londoners to know that you are welcome and wanted in our city."
Alongside that, he wrote: "Five years on from Brexit, London remains a European city, where European Londoners are valued and cherished.
"You are our neighbours, colleagues, friends and loved ones. Thank you for making London your home. You are wanted here - and always will be."
Britons who oppose Labour's Chagos Islands surrender outnumber those who back it by two to one, a new poll has found.
A survey on British "national interests" by pollsters at Electoral Calculus - which also asked Britons about the Elgin Marbles - found that 40 per cent of those surveyed opposed the handover - while just 18 er cent supported it.
Labour voters tend to back giving away the strategic territory - but neither Conservative nor Reform voters saw their support climb into double digits, with just six and eight per cent of respective party supporters backing the surrender.
On the other side, a staggering 71 per cent of Conservatives and 74 per cent of Reform voters disagree with the deal.
Sir Keir Starmer's Attorney General Lord Hermer has been skewered by a set of Ministers over his "activist" preference for international law over UK law.
Lord Hermer's legal guidance, according to a new report in The Times, has left Labour stuck in a "freeze on Government" - with lawyers said to be taking for a "computer says no" approach to policy.
"He seems to think - and has said as much = that international law is more important than national law, and that's totally insane," one source told the newspaper.
"It's a massive misunderstanding of how the public see their government and the laws that are made in this country.
"Look at all the deportation decisions that get made in the courts. People find them really shocking - that we can't remove these people from our country - and rightly so, but he would not be on that side of the argument.
"He thinks he makes policy. He doesn't, but he gets involved in everything and he's an activist, it's causing this freeze on Government."
Another called the AG "finickity" and said he had become more "obstructive" as time has passed since the General Election.
Last year, Hermer claimed international law was "the rule of law writ large", and yesterday he told the parliamentary assembly of the European Council that Britain would never refuse to comply with judgments made under the ECHR.
A Government spokesman said: "Decisions on policy are taken by the relevant secretary of state and departments as has been the case under successive governments. We will continue to deliver a package of legislation for the British people which is built on the strong foundations of our Plan for Change to have a stable economy, national security and secure borders."
A majority of Labour voters back Britain handing the Elgin Marbles to Greece, a damning new poll has revealed.
A survey on British "national interests" by pollsters at Electoral Calculus shows that 62 per cent of voters for Sir Keir Starmer's party would support parting ways with the marbles - while just four per cent would not.
Meanwhile, just 35 per cent of Tory voters and 37 per cent of Reform UK voters would agree to give the historic sculptures away.
Just eight per cent of Labour voters disagree with the idea of surrendering the marbles - compared to 31 per cent of Tories and 29 per cent of Reform voters.
Sir Keir Starmer has been told to "get serious" about economic growth and sign off two North Sea oil fields blocked by the courts.
Eco-campaigners Greenpeace and Uplift brought a challenge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh over decisions to give approval to the Rosebank oil field northwest of Shetland and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen. The approval has since been ruled "unlawful" by a judge.
And now, the Prime Minister has been urged to overrule Ed Miliband's decision to withdraw Government legal support last year for the oil companies involved in the court battle.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told the Mail: "The Labour Government who were banging on about growth yesterday are too scared to fight for the oil and gas fields that deliver energy security and jobs for thousands of people.
"For the sake of our country, Keir Starmer needs to get serious.
"His actions so far are all hiking taxes and caving to the unions and the green lobby."
Meanwhile, Tory energy spokesman Andrew Bowie said it was "almost inevitable after Ed Miliband refused to defend the case in court", adding: "Our energy security, economy and thousands of jobs are being sacrificed on the altar of Labour's eco zealotry. So much for growth."
And a Reform UK Scotland spokesman told GB News: "This ruling is a total disaster for the North East of Scotland and further puts at risk thousands of jobs due to idiotic ideology over common sense.
"The SNP, Labour, Greens and Tories are obsessed with net zero madness which will make this country poorer and dependent on foreign exports.
"Reform UK has been clear - we back extraction, the oil and gas sector and for this development to go ahead along with others.
"Labour's abandonment of the North East has been shameful. Ian Murray now has a choice to make - will he side with environmental extremists or workers in Scotland?"
GB News presenter Ellie Costello has confronted the Labour policing minister over the surge in retail crime, demanding urgent action.
Ellie challenged Dame Diana Johnson over "absolutely outrageous" figures from the British Retail Consortium showing 2,000 daily shoplifting incidents and a 50 per cent rise in violence against shop workers.
The confrontation comes as new figures reveal shoplifting has reached its highest level since records began in 2003, with nearly half a million offences recorded in England and Wales.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel has accused Labour of trying to drag the UK "back into the EU's grasp" on the fifth anniversary of Brexit.
Patel, now the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said: "Five years ago today, the Conservatives honoured the democratic will of the British people and Got Brexit Done.
"Since then, our country has reaped the benefits - securing new trade deals with dynamic, fast-growing markets across the world and reclaiming sovereignty from Brussels.
"This has allowed us to reform or revoke 2,500 EU laws, ensuring Britain's future is shaped by our own Parliament.
"But this Labour government, driven by socialist ideology and blind to the will of the people, is determined to dismantle Brexit and drag us back into the EU's grasp.
"The Conservatives will not stand by and allow this betrayal to happen - we will fight them every step of the way."
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson has called for more police funding to deal with Britain's XL bully dog epidemic - just days after the National Police Chiefs' Council warned the ban on the breed is set to cost taxpayers millions.
Johnson said she recognised the "cost pressure" of the ban on XL bully dogs to police - and said she wanted to make sure forces get the funding they need for it.
"This has been raised with me, actually, a few times, and it’s certainly something that I’m looking at and working with my colleagues in Defra on," she told LBC.
"But I recognise that’s another cost pressure for police forces, so absolutely I understand that.
"And as the police minister, I'm obviously keen to make sure that police get the funding they need for these things that we're asking them to do, because this is obviously quite a new development over the last few years."
Today marks the fifth anniversary of Britain leaving the European Union, while the UK remained in the single market, customs union and European Court of Justice until the completion of a transition phase on December 31, 2020.
GB News Political Editor Chris Hope has sat down with former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, co-founder of the Taxpayers' Alliance Matthew Elliott and journalist Quentin Letts to speak about the benefits and drawbacks of leaving the EU.
WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE
Nigel Farage has warned that Boris Johnson and Kemi Badenoch "never truly believed" in Brexit.
The Reform UK leader told the Express: "Brexit has not been delivered - and if I sat here five years ago, I'd have said to you in five years' time I'd be retired, I'd be out, I'd have done my bit, my 27 years of campaigning finally paid off.
"But I'm back and I'm back because we now need people in charge to deliver the Brexit we voted for who actually believe in it. We know Labour were opposed, Starmer wanted a second referendum - Liberal Democrats the same.
“But I frankly look now at Boris Johnson, Kemi Badenoch, all of these people, I don't think they ever really believed in it. I think they used it as a vehicle to win a General Election, which I helped them do. They never really believed in it.
"They always kind of saw it I think a bit more as damage limitation rather than an opportunity. I'm here to say I'm disappointed, you watching this will be disappointed, we can do so much better and we're the guys to do it."
The Government will invest an extra £100million into neighbourhood policing as it seeks to boost the number of officers on the ground.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the investment in neighbourhood policing marked a "major turning point" for policing.
She said: "This major investment marks a turning point for policing in this country. By doubling extra neighbourhood funding to £200million, we are giving forces across the country what they need to put more officers and PCSOs where they’re needed most – on our streets and in our town centres.
"Every neighbourhood deserves dedicated officers who know their patch, understand residents’ concerns and can tackle problems before they escalate. This investment, alongside new powers we are bringing into law, will help prevent crime and protect our communities, which is at the heart of our Plan for Change.
"Restoring local policing will not happen overnight, but this funding boost will get more officers into our town centres and rural areas."
Find Out More...
The Tory leader's seat lies in an increasingly Reform-threatened part of Britain, according to recent polling - and it was made a "target" following her and Nigel Farage's Christmas row over party membership.
Tonight, all five Reform MPs will descend on her constituency for a photocall with approximately 400 Reform members in North West Essex to say, in Farage's words, "we are coming for you at the next election".
But speaking to reporters at a visit to a farm in Cheshire, she dismissed the polls and labelled Reform UK a "protest party".
"It's not a surprise that, at the moment, protest parties are gaining in the polls," she said.
"The job that the British people have given me is to fight for them, be the leader of the opposition, hold the Government to account.
"That's why I'm here talking about the family farm tax. It's really important that we tell people what's going on with farming and how Labour's policies are going to destroy it. That's much more important than having a rally about myself."
Asked whether she was worried about Reform UK in her constituency, she said: "Not at all."
FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…
Starmer invites freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari to No10 in first phone call after Hamas ordeal
Sir Keir Starmer has invited the freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari to Downing Street today in a first phone call since her capture and imprisonment at the hands of terror group Hamas.
Starmer said he was overjoyed by the "heartwarming" images of Emily reuniting with her mother Mandy, who had campaigned for her release for more than a year.
The Brititsh-Israeli national, was kidnapped from her home on October 7, 2023 by Hamas gunmen who shot her in the hand and leg, as well as killing her pet dog.
On the call, Emily and Mandy revealed that she had been held for some time in United Nations facilities belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and denied access to medical treatment.
Labour's Development Minister Anneliese Dodds spent £17million in aid on Gaza earlier this week, with some of that funding heading to UN agencies including UNRWA.
Starmer to meet Germany's Olaf Scholz as Chancellor braces for electoral drubbing
Sir Keir Starmer will host German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over the weekend - just weeks before Scholz faces a crunch election.
Downing Street has confirmed the two counterparts will meet on Sunday, three weeks to the day before Germans head to the polls.
Back in November, Scholz's governing coalition fell apart, forcing a snap election on February 23.
But opinion polls in Europe's largest economy make for grim reading for the Chancellor - his SPD party has slid to 16 per cent support, while the centre-right CDU sits at almost double that number, and the "far-right" AfD party has surged to 22 per cent.
Sadiq Khan embarks on anti-Brexit tirade on fifth anniversary of escaping EU - 'London is European!'
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched into a European love-in with a fresh anti-Brexit message on the fifth anniversary of leaving the EU.
Writing on social media this morning, Khan declared that "London is European" - and "European Londoners are valued and cherished".
The Remain-backing Mayor has previously called for Labour to sign up to the Brussels bloc's controversial youth mobility scheme - which would open Britain's doors to more than 70 million people.
He was also a leading proponent of a second Brexit referendum.
And today, he vowed that "you are wanted here - and always will be".
Khan also shared an image of himself grinning beneath some text reading: "On the fifth anniversary of Brexit, I want all European Londoners to know that you are welcome and wanted in our city."
Alongside that, he wrote: "Five years on from Brexit, London remains a European city, where European Londoners are valued and cherished.
"You are our neighbours, colleagues, friends and loved ones. Thank you for making London your home. You are wanted here - and always will be."
Britons turn on Labour's £9billion Chagos surrender by two to one - new poll
Britons who oppose Labour's Chagos Islands surrender outnumber those who back it by two to one, a new poll has found.
A survey on British "national interests" by pollsters at Electoral Calculus - which also asked Britons about the Elgin Marbles - found that 40 per cent of those surveyed opposed the handover - while just 18 er cent supported it.
Labour voters tend to back giving away the strategic territory - but neither Conservative nor Reform voters saw their support climb into double digits, with just six and eight per cent of respective party supporters backing the surrender.
On the other side, a staggering 71 per cent of Conservatives and 74 per cent of Reform voters disagree with the deal.
'It's totally insane!' Starmer's 'activist' Attorney General faces Cabinet uproar as Labour caves to international law
Sir Keir Starmer's Attorney General Lord Hermer has been skewered by a set of Ministers over his "activist" preference for international law over UK law.
Lord Hermer's legal guidance, according to a new report in The Times, has left Labour stuck in a "freeze on Government" - with lawyers said to be taking for a "computer says no" approach to policy.
"He seems to think - and has said as much = that international law is more important than national law, and that's totally insane," one source told the newspaper.
"It's a massive misunderstanding of how the public see their government and the laws that are made in this country.
"Look at all the deportation decisions that get made in the courts. People find them really shocking - that we can't remove these people from our country - and rightly so, but he would not be on that side of the argument.
"He thinks he makes policy. He doesn't, but he gets involved in everything and he's an activist, it's causing this freeze on Government."
Another called the AG "finickity" and said he had become more "obstructive" as time has passed since the General Election.
Last year, Hermer claimed international law was "the rule of law writ large", and yesterday he told the parliamentary assembly of the European Council that Britain would never refuse to comply with judgments made under the ECHR.
A Government spokesman said: "Decisions on policy are taken by the relevant secretary of state and departments as has been the case under successive governments. We will continue to deliver a package of legislation for the British people which is built on the strong foundations of our Plan for Change to have a stable economy, national security and secure borders."
Labour voters back surrendering Elgin Marbles, damning new poll shows
A majority of Labour voters back Britain handing the Elgin Marbles to Greece, a damning new poll has revealed.
A survey on British "national interests" by pollsters at Electoral Calculus shows that 62 per cent of voters for Sir Keir Starmer's party would support parting ways with the marbles - while just four per cent would not.
Meanwhile, just 35 per cent of Tory voters and 37 per cent of Reform UK voters would agree to give the historic sculptures away.
Just eight per cent of Labour voters disagree with the idea of surrendering the marbles - compared to 31 per cent of Tories and 29 per cent of Reform voters.
Keir Starmer told to 'get serious' after crucial oilfield plans thwarted by eco-zealots - 'Act of self-harm!'
Sir Keir Starmer has been told to "get serious" about economic growth and sign off two North Sea oil fields blocked by the courts.
Eco-campaigners Greenpeace and Uplift brought a challenge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh over decisions to give approval to the Rosebank oil field northwest of Shetland and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen. The approval has since been ruled "unlawful" by a judge.
And now, the Prime Minister has been urged to overrule Ed Miliband's decision to withdraw Government legal support last year for the oil companies involved in the court battle.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told the Mail: "The Labour Government who were banging on about growth yesterday are too scared to fight for the oil and gas fields that deliver energy security and jobs for thousands of people.
"For the sake of our country, Keir Starmer needs to get serious.
"His actions so far are all hiking taxes and caving to the unions and the green lobby."
Meanwhile, Tory energy spokesman Andrew Bowie said it was "almost inevitable after Ed Miliband refused to defend the case in court", adding: "Our energy security, economy and thousands of jobs are being sacrificed on the altar of Labour's eco zealotry. So much for growth."
And a Reform UK Scotland spokesman told GB News: "This ruling is a total disaster for the North East of Scotland and further puts at risk thousands of jobs due to idiotic ideology over common sense.
"The SNP, Labour, Greens and Tories are obsessed with net zero madness which will make this country poorer and dependent on foreign exports.
"Reform UK has been clear - we back extraction, the oil and gas sector and for this development to go ahead along with others.
"Labour's abandonment of the North East has been shameful. Ian Murray now has a choice to make - will he side with environmental extremists or workers in Scotland?"
WATCH: Ellie Costello GRILLS policing minister on 'what can be done' to tackle soaring retail crime
GB News presenter Ellie Costello has confronted the Labour policing minister over the surge in retail crime, demanding urgent action.
Ellie challenged Dame Diana Johnson over "absolutely outrageous" figures from the British Retail Consortium showing 2,000 daily shoplifting incidents and a 50 per cent rise in violence against shop workers.
The confrontation comes as new figures reveal shoplifting has reached its highest level since records began in 2003, with nearly half a million offences recorded in England and Wales.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Labour is 'determined to dismantle' Brexit, Tories warn - as Starmer poised to 'drag Britain back into the EU's grasp'
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel has accused Labour of trying to drag the UK "back into the EU's grasp" on the fifth anniversary of Brexit.
Patel, now the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said: "Five years ago today, the Conservatives honoured the democratic will of the British people and Got Brexit Done.
"Since then, our country has reaped the benefits - securing new trade deals with dynamic, fast-growing markets across the world and reclaiming sovereignty from Brussels.
"This has allowed us to reform or revoke 2,500 EU laws, ensuring Britain's future is shaped by our own Parliament.
"But this Labour government, driven by socialist ideology and blind to the will of the people, is determined to dismantle Brexit and drag us back into the EU's grasp.
"The Conservatives will not stand by and allow this betrayal to happen - we will fight them every step of the way."
Policing minister says forces need funding to deal with XL bullies
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson has called for more police funding to deal with Britain's XL bully dog epidemic - just days after the National Police Chiefs' Council warned the ban on the breed is set to cost taxpayers millions.
Johnson said she recognised the "cost pressure" of the ban on XL bully dogs to police - and said she wanted to make sure forces get the funding they need for it.
"This has been raised with me, actually, a few times, and it’s certainly something that I’m looking at and working with my colleagues in Defra on," she told LBC.
"But I recognise that’s another cost pressure for police forces, so absolutely I understand that.
"And as the police minister, I'm obviously keen to make sure that police get the funding they need for these things that we're asking them to do, because this is obviously quite a new development over the last few years."
WATCH: Chopper's Political Podcast: Brexit Anniversary special
Today marks the fifth anniversary of Britain leaving the European Union, while the UK remained in the single market, customs union and European Court of Justice until the completion of a transition phase on December 31, 2020.
GB News Political Editor Chris Hope has sat down with former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, co-founder of the Taxpayers' Alliance Matthew Elliott and journalist Quentin Letts to speak about the benefits and drawbacks of leaving the EU.
WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE
Farage: Boris Johnson and Kemi Badenoch 'never really believed' in Brexit
Nigel Farage has warned that Boris Johnson and Kemi Badenoch "never truly believed" in Brexit.
The Reform UK leader told the Express: "Brexit has not been delivered - and if I sat here five years ago, I'd have said to you in five years' time I'd be retired, I'd be out, I'd have done my bit, my 27 years of campaigning finally paid off.
"But I'm back and I'm back because we now need people in charge to deliver the Brexit we voted for who actually believe in it. We know Labour were opposed, Starmer wanted a second referendum - Liberal Democrats the same.
“But I frankly look now at Boris Johnson, Kemi Badenoch, all of these people, I don't think they ever really believed in it. I think they used it as a vehicle to win a General Election, which I helped them do. They never really believed in it.
"They always kind of saw it I think a bit more as damage limitation rather than an opportunity. I'm here to say I'm disappointed, you watching this will be disappointed, we can do so much better and we're the guys to do it."
Labour announces extra £100m investment into neighbourhood policing
The Government will invest an extra £100million into neighbourhood policing as it seeks to boost the number of officers on the ground.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the investment in neighbourhood policing marked a "major turning point" for policing.
She said: "This major investment marks a turning point for policing in this country. By doubling extra neighbourhood funding to £200million, we are giving forces across the country what they need to put more officers and PCSOs where they’re needed most – on our streets and in our town centres.
"Every neighbourhood deserves dedicated officers who know their patch, understand residents’ concerns and can tackle problems before they escalate. This investment, alongside new powers we are bringing into law, will help prevent crime and protect our communities, which is at the heart of our Plan for Change.
"Restoring local policing will not happen overnight, but this funding boost will get more officers into our town centres and rural areas."
Find Out More...