Steerpike

As if the Attorney General hadn't proven his ability for conjuring up negative headlines enough, Lord Hermer took it upon himself on Thursday to compare political threats to leave the ECHR to the Nazis. Speaking to the Royal Institute for International Affairs (RUSI) defence think tank, Hermer earnestly told his audience: 'The claim that international law is fine as far as it goes, but can be put aside when conditions change, is a claim that was made in the early 1930s by "realist" jurists in Germany.' But today, after a momentous backlash, Hermer has finally apologised for his, er, 'clumsy' language. You can say that again!

To Liverpool, where former Royal Marine Paul Doyle has been charged over the car crash that injured almost 80 people on Monday. Police announced they had taken a 53-year-old white British man into custody within hours of the attack and this afternoon, officers announced at a presser that Doyle had been charged with two counts of wounding with intent, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of dangerous driving. Reports note that 79 people – including four children – sustained injuries in the incident that took place during Monday's Premier League victory celebrations. Two people, including a child, were seriously hurt while 50 others needed hospital treatment.

The National Health Service is struggling under increasing patient demand to provide quick appointments, A&E support or hospital beds – yet its managers have still found the time to issue a memo to staff struggling to cope with, er, the Supreme Court's trans ruling. As if its staff didn't have more pressing problems to deal with… As reported by Guido Fawkes, the NHS letter sent out by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust first bemoans the judgment from the highest court in the land before announcing a string 'extraordinary sessions' for their 25,000-strong workforce. The one hour-long drop-ins will provide staff with help on how to power through with work in the face of both the ruling and the Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance that has followed it.

Ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe is no stranger to the spotlight. Nigel Farage's former colleague has made headlines in recent months after he was suspended from the party following a rather unflattering interview he gave to the Daily Mail about Reform's leadership. It quickly emerged that chairman Zia Yusuf and chief whip Lee Anderson had referred their former colleague to the police over ‘threats of physical violence’, with the Met Police launching an investigation into the parliamentarian. Earlier this month, news came that the Greater Yarmouth politician will not face criminal charges over the allegations – and Lowe was fast to tweet out a furious statement that branded his former party leader a 'cowards and a viper' over the matter. Tell us what you really think, Rupert!

Oh dear. It seems there’s trouble in one couple’s Parisian paradise after French president Emmanuel Macron was caught on camera being shoved in the face by his wife Brigitte as the pair landed in Vietnam. The footage spread furiously across social media – with the Elysée Palace initially denying the images were real before eventually admitting that they were indeed authentic. Talk about a tête-a-tête, eh? The video, captured by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening, revealed the president standing at the door of the plane as it opened. Out of nowhere, his wife’s arms flew at him as Brigitte pushed her husband in the face – with Macron looking rather unsurprisingly irritated in the aftermath.

The case of Lucy Connolly, the wife of a Tory councillor who was jailed over an offensive tweet, has sparked outrage across the country – and now even a Labour MP is calling for her release. Mary Glindon, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, has put her name to an early day motion tabled by ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe which calls for a review of Connolly's sentence to 'ensure that limited prison space is prioritised for dangerous and violent offenders' in a move that breaks ranks with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. How very curious… Remarking on her support for Lowe's motion, Glindon said: I simply signed the EDM because I was very upset that Lucy had lost her appeal, and that her young daughter would be without her mother for a longer period.

To Aberdeenshire in Scotland, where a fourth Scottish Tory councillor has defected to Reform UK. It transpires that Dominic Lonchay – represents the East Garioch ward on the council – has jumped ship to Nigel Farage’s real army in another blow to the Scottish Tories. Lonchay’s defection makes him the 13th councillor to join Reform UK in Scotland – and the fourth on Aberdeenshire Council. The tide is turning… Commenting on his decision, Lonchay remarked:  The reasons for this decision are many, and I have particularly recently been unable to influence the running of the council for the benefit of my constituents.

Just what is it with Oval Office encounters? Three months after his spat with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump is at it again. The US President ambushed a visiting Cyril Ramaphosa today, playing footage that appeared to show white South Africans being persecuted. Trump ordered aides to dim the lights and play a video showcasing what he called a 'genocide' of white farmers in the country. Turning to Ramaphosa, his South African counterpart, Trump said people 'were fleeing' while demanding an 'explanation' for what he said was a 'very sad situation'. 'We have thousands of stories talking about it, we have documentaries, we have news stories... it has to be responded to,' Trump said.