James Saunders
Guest Reporter
A top adviser to Donald Trump has branded the incoming UK Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, as an "absolute moron."
Chris LaCivita, who served as senior adviser to the successful 2024 presidential campaign for the Republican, also praised the outgoing ambassador, Dame Karen Pierce as "universally respected."
Mandelson, a key part of New Labour's electoral success under Tony Blair in the late 90s and early 2000s, is set to take over the role when Trump begins his second term as president.
However, LaCivita drew attention to the Labour peer’s comments about the president-elect on Italian journalist Alain Elkann’s podcast in 2019.
Mandelson described Conservative attempts to build relations with Trump during his first term as disturbing.
He claimed that even those with a "sneaking admiration" for the President would regard him as "reckless and a danger to the world", warning that Trump would "never be viewed by people in Britain as a true embodiment of or spokesman for our values."
Writing on social media, the Republican strategist said: "This UK [government] is special, replace a professional universally respected [ambassador] with an absolute moron - he should stay home! SAD! Mandelson described Trump as a danger to the world and 'little short of a white nationalist'."
Jeremy Corbyn has slammed his successor Sir Keir Starmer for "fanning the flames of hatred" and for failing to deal with the climate crisis.
The Independent MP for Islington North, who led Labour from 2015 to 2020, said: "The UK is a global leader: cracking down on climate activism. British police arrest environmental protesters at nearly three times the global average a shocking reflection of an establishment that criminalises those who want to save our natural world while rewarding those intent on destroying it.
"The government is also trying to win the global race-to-the-bottom over migration. The Prime Minister knows what he is doing when he talks of British "open boarder experiments.'"
"He is fanning the flames of hatred of the kind we saw on the streets last summer. And he is contributing to the demonisation of human beings who are fleeing the very climate crisis he is failing to address.
"While marginalised communities are under attack, climate doomism is not an option. As long as there is life on this Earth, there will always be a reason to defend our shared humanity. The future is stark, but it is never too late to build a better, more sustainable world."
The Foreign Secretary has welcomed the announcement of Peter Mandelson as the new UK ambassador in Washington.
David Lammy said: "It is wonderful to welcome Peter back to the team. He offers a wealth of experience in trade, economic and foreign policy from his years in government and the private sector.
"He will arrive in Washington DC as we deepen our enduring alliance with the incoming United States administration, particularly on growth and security."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer thanked outgoing US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce as he officially confirms Lord Mandelson will be the next British ambassador to the US.
Sir Keir said: “I am delighted to appoint Lord Mandelson to be the next British ambassador to the United States of America. The United States is one of our most important allies and as we move into a new chapter in our friendship, Peter will bring unrivalled experience to the role and take our partnership from strength to strength.
"I would also like to thank Dame Karen Pierce for her invaluable service for the last four years, and in particular the wisdom and steadfast support she has given me personally since July.
"She made history as the first woman to serve as UK Ambassador to the US and she has been an outstanding representative of our country abroad. I wish her all the very best in future."
Lord Mandelson said: “It is a great honour to serve the country in this way. We face challenges in Britain but also big opportunities and it will be a privilege to work with the government to land those opportunities, both for our economy and our nation’s security, and to advance our historic alliance with the United States.”
National chairman of Jewish Labour Movement Mike Katz said he would use his peerage to continue to fight the “toxic racism” of antisemitism.
He warned anti-Jewish hatred was now at an "unprecedented level" in the UK in a post on X welcoming his nomination to Parliament’s upper house.
Katz added: "More positively, I passionately believe in this Government’s commitment to creating a fairer, more prosperous society, and its determination to build the homes and the infrastructure that our country needs and our people deserve.
"I can’t wait to get started."
The UK and Mauritius have been holding talks and hope to finalise the deal to hand back the Chagos Islands "as quickly as possible."
They held a "series of productive, ongoing conversations and exchanges" on finalising the treaty, the countries said in a joint statement on Friday.
It comes after the new Mauritian prime minister rejected the deal earlier this week, which was struck under his predecessor.
"Both countries reiterated their commitment to finalising a treaty as quickly as possible, whose terms will agree to ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the existing base on Diego Garcia and that Mauritius is sovereign over the Archipelago," the statement said.
Lord Mandelson's past remarks about Donald Trump have come back to haunt him after it emerged he had branded the President-elect "little short of a white nationalist and racist".
The Labour grandee is poised to take a job as Sir Keir Starmer's US ambassador - but back in 2019, he claimed Trump would "never be viewed by people in Britain as a true embodiment of or spokesman for our values".
The anti-Brexit Lord Mandelson had said: "I wake up today and discover that not only am I seeing my country, which I love, being forced out of its own European neighbourhood, but is crossing the Atlantic to make common cause with an American president who is little short of a white nationalist and racist.
"So you can imagine I am not very happy. This disturbs me greatly, because it's completely different from all my upbringing, whether my family or in politics, what I believe, and the identity I see for my own country."
"Even those who have a sneaking admiration for Donald Trump, because of the strength of his personality, nonetheless regard him as reckless and a danger to the world," he said.
Lord Mandelson was picked for the Washington gig in the face of Donald Trump's own calls that Nigel Farage would be a "great choice".
The Labour peer also recently suggested the Government should use Farage as a "bridgehead" across the Atlantic - and that the next ambassador should try to befriend Elon Musk.
Farming advocate Jeremy Clarkson has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Rachel Reeves over her inheritance tax hikes on farms.
As he met Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at his Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire, Clarkson warned that "all the things that had happened", including raising employers' National Insurance contributions, had "made it more and more difficult to employ people and run a business".
"The people making the rules have never had to run businesses, so they don't understand," Badenoch said in response.
"Also, if you're from Lewisham, you don't know much about farming," Clarkson retorted.
Rachel Reeves was born in Lewisham - a highly-urbanised borough in southeast London.
Diane Abbott has torn into reactions to Lord Mandelson's incoming appointment as US ambassador with a swipe at his support for the Iraq War.
Responding to an article in The Guardian in which Mandelson was branded a "big beast" and "big hitter", the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP wrote:
"Ugh! Mandelson repeatedly referred to as a 'big hitter' or 'big beast', even by himself!
"Never applied to women in politics with just as much experience - some who have never been sacked from Government or who have supported far fewer wars."
Sir Keir Starmer has been left bracing for more fury over Labour's decision not to offer compension to Waspi women - with leaked messages from his own MPs already show fears about the next General Election.
Earlier this week, Work & Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall revealed Labour would not offer compensation pay-outs for more than three million women born in the 1950s whose state pension age was raised so it would be equal to men.
Labour MPs, including Kendall, Starmer and Angela Rayner, were among those highlighting the "injustice" facing the women while the Tories were in power.
But in the wake of the party's Waspi snub, shock new WhatsApp messages unearthed by The Times have revealed the emotions on show on Labour's back-benches.
Michelle Scrogham MP asked party bigwigs: "You have to wonder, how did we get here? I was elected under a banner of integrity. I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with these women and promised to fight for them, as did many of us. My integrity is worth more than this."
Fellow MP Sarah Champion asked why Labour had announced the snub "when journalists are bored and everyone is spending time with their grannie", while Dawn Butler lamented why the story emerged when the party should have been "focused on positive announcements".
"Have we not learnt from the Winter Fuel Payment announcement?" Champion added.
And in a final blow, more MPs relayed constituents' concerns over the non-payout, with The Times reporting how one said the move had "lost the unprincipled Labour Party the next election".
Another substantial Labour lead in a council seat has been demolished by a swing to Reform UK - and unlike Brockmoor and Pensnett earlier this morning, Nigel Farage's party has surged to victory.
Milton Regis in Swale, Kent, saw new entrants Reform take home a 33.9 per cent vote share, while Labour plummeted by 33 percentage points - a near like-for-like exchange which saw the incumbent councillor ousted.
Party chairman Zia Yusuf said: "Another Reform by-election win. Another new entry from Reform, straight in at number one, and another huge swing away from Labour.
"Congratulations to Reform's newest councillor Kieran Mishchuk - who is also our youngest at 18 years old! The future is Reform."
Reform UK could win as many as 1,000 councillors before the next election, analysis by a leading data scientist has revealed.
Senior data journalist Ben Walker has restarted his ‘Britain predicts’ model which almost exactly predicted July’s General Election result.
The poll-aggregating model shows Reform dominating councils across northwest England, the Midlands, Lincolnshire and the Thames Estuary, though it remains unlikely the party would win overall control of any councils.
SIGN UP TO GBN MEMBERSHIP AND READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Unionists in Northern Ireland have launched a bid to block a controversial EU law from being implemented for the first time since Brexit.
The Democratic Unionist Party secured enough signatures to trigger the Stormont Brake mechanism after voicing concerns about the new EU chemical labelling regulations in Northern Ireland.
The DUP-led initiative marks the first attempt to use this oversight tool, which was established under the Windsor Framework.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Wes Streeting has been forced to step in after an official Government anti-smoking campaign poster featured a Sikh man - whose religion strictly prohibits tobacco.
The poster, which was uploaded to the NHS website but has since been taken down, showed a stock image of a Sikh man alongside the wording "make 2025 the year you quit smoking".
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care, which was behind the campaign, told Sky News the "image was included in our Stop Smoking campaign materials in error" and apologised for "any offence caused".
Streeting then sent a message to Sikh lobby group Sikh Federation UK calling the poster "inappropriate" and "offensive", adding that he had "asked for a note setting out how this could have happened to ensure we put steps in place across the board to make sure similar mistakes aren’t repeated".
Labour has announced it will be handing councils £1.6billion to "get on with the job" of fixing Britain's pothole-ridden roads.
The Department for Transport said that road maintenance will see a £500million boost on its funding allocation last year - with England's regions all set to receive nine-figure sums to push through repairs.
Broken down across England, the £1.6billion fee will be split as follows:
A substantial Labour lead in a council seat has been demolished by a swing to the Conservatives and Reform UK in a fresh by-election.
The Brockmoor and Pensnett seat at Dudley Council had been won with a 63.6 per cent Labour vote share - but in last night's snap vote, the party's lead crumbled.
Labour saw its share slide by 34.7 per cent to just 28.9, while new entrants Reform took home 30.1 per cent of the votes.
But the Tory candidate won out - in what Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake hailed as a "fantastic result".
"Fantastic result for Councillor Alex Dales and the team, following similar successes in Stock (Essex) and Fylde," he said. "Labour in freefall - their candidate was the Deputy Group Leader and had been a councillor for 27 years."
Sir Keir Starmer has warned incoming President Donald Trump against imposing punitive tariffs just hours before New Labour grandee Peter Mandelson was tipped to become the UK's next US Ambassador.
The Prime Minister said: “I am not going to speculate as to what he is going to do. It won’t come as any surprise to you that I am not a fan of tariffs and therefore we have to make sure that we avoid tariffs.
He added: “We have got very good trade with the US as we have got very good trade with other countries around the world.
“I want to improve on that and as you will know I have had a meeting with President Trump in September in New York, I have had a number of phone calls since including one yesterday.”
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Chris LaCivita, who served as senior adviser to the successful 2024 presidential campaign for the Republican, also praised the outgoing ambassador, Dame Karen Pierce as "universally respected."
Mandelson, a key part of New Labour's electoral success under Tony Blair in the late 90s and early 2000s, is set to take over the role when Trump begins his second term as president.
However, LaCivita drew attention to the Labour peer’s comments about the president-elect on Italian journalist Alain Elkann’s podcast in 2019.
Mandelson described Conservative attempts to build relations with Trump during his first term as disturbing.
He claimed that even those with a "sneaking admiration" for the President would regard him as "reckless and a danger to the world", warning that Trump would "never be viewed by people in Britain as a true embodiment of or spokesman for our values."
Writing on social media, the Republican strategist said: "This UK [government] is special, replace a professional universally respected [ambassador] with an absolute moron - he should stay home! SAD! Mandelson described Trump as a danger to the world and 'little short of a white nationalist'."
Corbyn SLAMS Labour for 'fanning the flames of hatred' over summer riots
Jeremy Corbyn has slammed his successor Sir Keir Starmer for "fanning the flames of hatred" and for failing to deal with the climate crisis.
The Independent MP for Islington North, who led Labour from 2015 to 2020, said: "The UK is a global leader: cracking down on climate activism. British police arrest environmental protesters at nearly three times the global average a shocking reflection of an establishment that criminalises those who want to save our natural world while rewarding those intent on destroying it.
"The government is also trying to win the global race-to-the-bottom over migration. The Prime Minister knows what he is doing when he talks of British "open boarder experiments.'"
"He is fanning the flames of hatred of the kind we saw on the streets last summer. And he is contributing to the demonisation of human beings who are fleeing the very climate crisis he is failing to address.
"While marginalised communities are under attack, climate doomism is not an option. As long as there is life on this Earth, there will always be a reason to defend our shared humanity. The future is stark, but it is never too late to build a better, more sustainable world."
Lammy says Mandelson appointment will 'strengthen' relationship between two countries
The Foreign Secretary has welcomed the announcement of Peter Mandelson as the new UK ambassador in Washington.
David Lammy said: "It is wonderful to welcome Peter back to the team. He offers a wealth of experience in trade, economic and foreign policy from his years in government and the private sector.
"He will arrive in Washington DC as we deepen our enduring alliance with the incoming United States administration, particularly on growth and security."
Starmer confirms Mandelson appointment adding the US is 'one of our most important allies'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer thanked outgoing US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce as he officially confirms Lord Mandelson will be the next British ambassador to the US.
Sir Keir said: “I am delighted to appoint Lord Mandelson to be the next British ambassador to the United States of America. The United States is one of our most important allies and as we move into a new chapter in our friendship, Peter will bring unrivalled experience to the role and take our partnership from strength to strength.
"I would also like to thank Dame Karen Pierce for her invaluable service for the last four years, and in particular the wisdom and steadfast support she has given me personally since July.
"She made history as the first woman to serve as UK Ambassador to the US and she has been an outstanding representative of our country abroad. I wish her all the very best in future."
Lord Mandelson said: “It is a great honour to serve the country in this way. We face challenges in Britain but also big opportunities and it will be a privilege to work with the government to land those opportunities, both for our economy and our nation’s security, and to advance our historic alliance with the United States.”
Jewish Labour Movement chairman made peer and promises to combat 'toxic racism' of antisemitism
National chairman of Jewish Labour Movement Mike Katz said he would use his peerage to continue to fight the “toxic racism” of antisemitism.
He warned anti-Jewish hatred was now at an "unprecedented level" in the UK in a post on X welcoming his nomination to Parliament’s upper house.
Katz added: "More positively, I passionately believe in this Government’s commitment to creating a fairer, more prosperous society, and its determination to build the homes and the infrastructure that our country needs and our people deserve.
"I can’t wait to get started."
UK and Mauritius want to finalise Chagos treaty ‘as quickly as possible’
The UK and Mauritius have been holding talks and hope to finalise the deal to hand back the Chagos Islands "as quickly as possible."
They held a "series of productive, ongoing conversations and exchanges" on finalising the treaty, the countries said in a joint statement on Friday.
It comes after the new Mauritian prime minister rejected the deal earlier this week, which was struck under his predecessor.
"Both countries reiterated their commitment to finalising a treaty as quickly as possible, whose terms will agree to ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the existing base on Diego Garcia and that Mauritius is sovereign over the Archipelago," the statement said.
Lord Mandelson's anti-Trump outbursts come back to haunt him as 'white nationalist and racist' remarks resurface
Lord Mandelson's past remarks about Donald Trump have come back to haunt him after it emerged he had branded the President-elect "little short of a white nationalist and racist".
The Labour grandee is poised to take a job as Sir Keir Starmer's US ambassador - but back in 2019, he claimed Trump would "never be viewed by people in Britain as a true embodiment of or spokesman for our values".
The anti-Brexit Lord Mandelson had said: "I wake up today and discover that not only am I seeing my country, which I love, being forced out of its own European neighbourhood, but is crossing the Atlantic to make common cause with an American president who is little short of a white nationalist and racist.
"So you can imagine I am not very happy. This disturbs me greatly, because it's completely different from all my upbringing, whether my family or in politics, what I believe, and the identity I see for my own country."
"Even those who have a sneaking admiration for Donald Trump, because of the strength of his personality, nonetheless regard him as reckless and a danger to the world," he said.
Lord Mandelson was picked for the Washington gig in the face of Donald Trump's own calls that Nigel Farage would be a "great choice".
The Labour peer also recently suggested the Government should use Farage as a "bridgehead" across the Atlantic - and that the next ambassador should try to befriend Elon Musk.
Jeremy Clarkson issues thinly-veiled swipe at Rachel Reeves over Labour's family farm tax raids
Farming advocate Jeremy Clarkson has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Rachel Reeves over her inheritance tax hikes on farms.
As he met Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at his Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire, Clarkson warned that "all the things that had happened", including raising employers' National Insurance contributions, had "made it more and more difficult to employ people and run a business".
"The people making the rules have never had to run businesses, so they don't understand," Badenoch said in response.
"Also, if you're from Lewisham, you don't know much about farming," Clarkson retorted.
Rachel Reeves was born in Lewisham - a highly-urbanised borough in southeast London.
Diane Abbott tears into Mandelson with 'war supporter' jibe
Diane Abbott has torn into reactions to Lord Mandelson's incoming appointment as US ambassador with a swipe at his support for the Iraq War.
Responding to an article in The Guardian in which Mandelson was branded a "big beast" and "big hitter", the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP wrote:
"Ugh! Mandelson repeatedly referred to as a 'big hitter' or 'big beast', even by himself!
"Never applied to women in politics with just as much experience - some who have never been sacked from Government or who have supported far fewer wars."
Starmer faces Waspi fury as leaked messages warn PM's already LOST next election - 'Have we learnt nothing?!'
Sir Keir Starmer has been left bracing for more fury over Labour's decision not to offer compension to Waspi women - with leaked messages from his own MPs already show fears about the next General Election.
Earlier this week, Work & Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall revealed Labour would not offer compensation pay-outs for more than three million women born in the 1950s whose state pension age was raised so it would be equal to men.
Labour MPs, including Kendall, Starmer and Angela Rayner, were among those highlighting the "injustice" facing the women while the Tories were in power.
But in the wake of the party's Waspi snub, shock new WhatsApp messages unearthed by The Times have revealed the emotions on show on Labour's back-benches.
Michelle Scrogham MP asked party bigwigs: "You have to wonder, how did we get here? I was elected under a banner of integrity. I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with these women and promised to fight for them, as did many of us. My integrity is worth more than this."
Fellow MP Sarah Champion asked why Labour had announced the snub "when journalists are bored and everyone is spending time with their grannie", while Dawn Butler lamented why the story emerged when the party should have been "focused on positive announcements".
"Have we not learnt from the Winter Fuel Payment announcement?" Champion added.
And in a final blow, more MPs relayed constituents' concerns over the non-payout, with The Times reporting how one said the move had "lost the unprincipled Labour Party the next election".
'The future is Reform!' Populist party's top brass react as Labour wiped out AGAIN in Kent
Another substantial Labour lead in a council seat has been demolished by a swing to Reform UK - and unlike Brockmoor and Pensnett earlier this morning, Nigel Farage's party has surged to victory.
Milton Regis in Swale, Kent, saw new entrants Reform take home a 33.9 per cent vote share, while Labour plummeted by 33 percentage points - a near like-for-like exchange which saw the incumbent councillor ousted.
Party chairman Zia Yusuf said: "Another Reform by-election win. Another new entry from Reform, straight in at number one, and another huge swing away from Labour.
"Congratulations to Reform's newest councillor Kieran Mishchuk - who is also our youngest at 18 years old! The future is Reform."
Reform SURGE: Shock map shows Farage’s party winning 1,000 councillors in 'Tory nightmare'
Reform UK could win as many as 1,000 councillors before the next election, analysis by a leading data scientist has revealed.
Senior data journalist Ben Walker has restarted his ‘Britain predicts’ model which almost exactly predicted July’s General Election result.
The poll-aggregating model shows Reform dominating councils across northwest England, the Midlands, Lincolnshire and the Thames Estuary, though it remains unlikely the party would win overall control of any councils.
SIGN UP TO GBN MEMBERSHIP AND READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Unionists trigger 'emergency' Brexit clause as DUP 'makes no secret' about resisting EU overreach
Unionists in Northern Ireland have launched a bid to block a controversial EU law from being implemented for the first time since Brexit.
The Democratic Unionist Party secured enough signatures to trigger the Stormont Brake mechanism after voicing concerns about the new EU chemical labelling regulations in Northern Ireland.
The DUP-led initiative marks the first attempt to use this oversight tool, which was established under the Windsor Framework.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Streeting forced to intervene after 'offensive' anti-smoking campaign features Sikh man - whose religion strictly bans tobacco
Wes Streeting has been forced to step in after an official Government anti-smoking campaign poster featured a Sikh man - whose religion strictly prohibits tobacco.
The poster, which was uploaded to the NHS website but has since been taken down, showed a stock image of a Sikh man alongside the wording "make 2025 the year you quit smoking".
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care, which was behind the campaign, told Sky News the "image was included in our Stop Smoking campaign materials in error" and apologised for "any offence caused".
Streeting then sent a message to Sikh lobby group Sikh Federation UK calling the poster "inappropriate" and "offensive", adding that he had "asked for a note setting out how this could have happened to ensure we put steps in place across the board to make sure similar mistakes aren’t repeated".
Labour to spend £1.6BILLION on potholes in damning indictment of Britain's roads
Labour has announced it will be handing councils £1.6billion to "get on with the job" of fixing Britain's pothole-ridden roads.
The Department for Transport said that road maintenance will see a £500million boost on its funding allocation last year - with England's regions all set to receive nine-figure sums to push through repairs.
Broken down across England, the £1.6billion fee will be split as follows:
- More than £327 million for the North West, North East and Yorkshire and Humber;
- More than £372 million for the East Midlands and West Midlands;
- More than £244 million for the East of England;
- More than £378 million for local authorities in the South East and London;
- More than £300 million for local authorities in the South West.
Reform UK WIPES OUT Labour in latest by-election - as 'fantastic' Tories take seat
A substantial Labour lead in a council seat has been demolished by a swing to the Conservatives and Reform UK in a fresh by-election.
The Brockmoor and Pensnett seat at Dudley Council had been won with a 63.6 per cent Labour vote share - but in last night's snap vote, the party's lead crumbled.
Labour saw its share slide by 34.7 per cent to just 28.9, while new entrants Reform took home 30.1 per cent of the votes.
But the Tory candidate won out - in what Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake hailed as a "fantastic result".
"Fantastic result for Councillor Alex Dales and the team, following similar successes in Stock (Essex) and Fylde," he said. "Labour in freefall - their candidate was the Deputy Group Leader and had been a councillor for 27 years."
Starmer warns Trump against 'tariff war' as PM picks Brexit-bashing Mandelson for US role
Sir Keir Starmer has warned incoming President Donald Trump against imposing punitive tariffs just hours before New Labour grandee Peter Mandelson was tipped to become the UK's next US Ambassador.
The Prime Minister said: “I am not going to speculate as to what he is going to do. It won’t come as any surprise to you that I am not a fan of tariffs and therefore we have to make sure that we avoid tariffs.
He added: “We have got very good trade with the US as we have got very good trade with other countries around the world.
“I want to improve on that and as you will know I have had a meeting with President Trump in September in New York, I have had a number of phone calls since including one yesterday.”
Politics LIVE
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We'll be updating this page throughout the day with live politics updates as they come in.
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