Steerpike

Well, well, well. Less than 24 hours after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote to Conservative councillors in a bid to persuade them to defect to his party, the first has defected. James McIvor, a councillor in Essex, has switched to the Farage-founded party – in a tweet that suggests more of his former colleagues will join him. How very curious... Taking to Twitter today, McIvor declared: It is an honour to represent my community and serve the people of Ontario and its beautiful surrounding Essex villages. In order to continue to do so to the highest standard, I’m delighted to announce I have joined Reform UK. It’s time to save Britain. I think I will be the first of many Reform councillors on Essex county council as we head towards the May 2025 elections!

They say all publicity is good publicity – unless you're Meghan and Harry, that is. Despite their valiant efforts (including a search for a PR guru) the dynamic duo never quite manage to stay out of the spotlight for long. Now the Duchess of Sussex has found herself in the firing line after Tina Brown – the former Vanity Fair editor who penned The Diana Chronicles on Princess Diana's life – took to the Ankler podcast to blast the Montecito monarchs. Slamming Harry and Meghan's decision to step away from royal duties as a 'disaster', Brown went on to lament the 'bad choices' made by the couple – adding that had they not been 'hot-headed' they could have had a more positive relationship with Harry's family.

The second round of Labour's early prison release scheme saw around 1,100 inmates released on Tuesday – and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is insistent that she wants this emergency release to be the last. As Mr S wrote earlier, a rather interesting range of jailbirds were let out early today – including convicted drug dealers, violent assaulters and identity thieves. But, in a shocking turn of events, it transpires that a London criminal jailed for the kidnap and torture of a 16 year old boy has also been let out early under the scheme. Isaac Donkoh – a gang member and drill music artist also known as Young Dizz – was imprisoned in 2019 after enlisting four boys under the age of 18 to attack another 16 year old boy.

To City Hall, where tonight Sadiq Khan welcomed journalists from across the city to a Diageo-sponsored drinks reception. The London mayor took to the podium to laud the efforts of his diligent and dutiful staffers, taking time to praise his comms team for their relentless work trying to defend his decision-making. Yet about certain journalists, the Labour mayor wasn’t quite as gushing… In his self-congratulatory speech, Khan was quick to call out the commentariat for their pre-election predictions in May.

Well, well, well. On Thursday it emerged that Israeli forces had killed Hamas's leader Yahya Sinwar in a 'chance' hit, according to Israel's Kan Radio, after the IDF opened fire on a group of men running into a building. The leader was behind the horrific 7 October attack last year, in which over 1000 people were killed and hostages were kidnapped by the terrorist group. After Israel confirmed Sinwar had been 'eliminated', Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer released a statement, declaring: 'The UK will not mourn his death.' But it seems not everyone is thrilled by the news that Hamas's leader has been taken out... Dr Ashok Kumar of London's Birkbeck Business School has taken to Twitter today to tweet a screenshot from a video thought to be of Sinwar.

The wife of a Tory councillor has been jailed for 31 months over a social media post during the riots. Lucy Connolly, married to Raymond Connolly on the West Northamptonshire Council, took to social media in July with some rather controversial words in the wake of the killing of three children in Southport. In her Twitter tirade, Connolly called for 'mass deportation now', adding: Set fire to all the f***ing hotels full of the b******s for all I care. While you're at it take the treacherous government and politicians with them. Good heavens. The wife of the Tory councillor previously admitted to intending to stir up racial hatred, and was sentenced today at Birmingham Crown Court.