There's no excuse for SNP supporters voting for Reform UK

I am an SNP member and yes, I am angry! The wind continues to set fair for our independence yet the SNP stay becalmed in the shallows!
READ MORE: Labour MSP Davy Russell sworn in to Scottish Parliament
Certainly it is anger-inducing, but there are two things you never do: 1) vote for an anti-independence party and 2) (never ever ever) vote for fascists!
It is not as if there are not pro-independence parties to vote for if you want to protest; there are the Scottish Socialist Party or the Greens, for example! Or is it the case that some supposed independence supporters found it easy to make their mark for Reform without holding their noses!
Drew Macleod
Wick

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Western Telegraph

31 minutes ago

• Western Telegraph

Sir Mark Rowley ‘shocked' at planned protest in support of Palestine Action

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said a protest supporting the 'organised extremist criminal group' was due to take place in Westminster on Monday. He said until the group is proscribed the force has 'no power in law' to prevent the protest taking place, adding that breaches of the law would be 'dealt with robustly'. The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful. Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us. — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 20, 2025 The Home Secretary will update Parliament on Monday on the Government's plan to ban Palestine Action following the group's vandalism of two planes at an RAF base. Yvette Cooper will provide MPs with more details on the move to proscribe the group, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support it, in a written ministerial statement. The decision comes after the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine. The incident is being investigated by counter-terror police. The actions that they undertook at Brize Norton were also completely unacceptable and it's not the first Jonathan Reynolds In a statement on Sunday, Sir Mark said: 'I'm sure many people will be as shocked and frustrated as I am to see a protest taking place tomorrow in support of Palestine Action. 'This is an organised extremist criminal group, whose proscription as terrorists is being actively considered. 'Members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and last week claimed responsibility for breaking into an airbase and damaging aircraft. Multiple members of the group are awaiting trial accused of serious offences. 'The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest. 'Thousands of people attend protests of a different character every week without clashing with the law or with the police. The criminal charges faced by Palestine Action members, in contrast, represent a form of extremism that I believe the overwhelming majority of the public rejects. 'We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group. If that happens we will be determined to target those who continue to act in its name and those who show support for it. 'Until then we have no power in law to prevent tomorrow's protest taking place. We do, however, have the power to impose conditions on it to prevent disorder, damage, and serious disruption to the community, including to Parliament, to elected representatives moving around Westminster and to ordinary Londoners. 'Breaches of the law will be dealt with robustly.' A spokesperson for Palestine Action previously accused the UK of failing to meet its obligation to prevent or punish genocide. The spokesperson said: 'When our Government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action. The terrorists are the ones committing a genocide, not those who break the tools used to commit it.' Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds said he could not rule out the possibility of a foreign power being behind Palestine Action. The Business and Trade Secretary told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'It is extremely concerning they gained access to that base and the Defence Secretary is doing an immediate review of how that happened. 'The actions that they undertook at Brize Norton were also completely unacceptable and it's not the first. It's the fourth attack by that group on a key piece of UK defence infrastructure.' The Home Secretary has the power to proscribe an organisation under the Terrorism Act of 2000 if she believes it is 'concerned in terrorism'. Don't forget about Gaza. While the world is distracted, almost 400 people – queueing for food – have been gunned down by Israeli forces. You don't accidentally kill 400 people waiting for aid, they have been deliberately massacred. The UK must end all arms sales to Israel now. — Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) June 19, 2025 Proscription will require Ms Cooper to lay an order in Parliament, which must then be debated and approved by both MPs and peers. Some 81 organisations have been proscribed under the 2000 Act, including Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and al Qaida, far-right groups such as National Action, and Russian private military company the Wagner Group. Former justice secretary Lord Charlie Falconer said vandalising aircraft at RAF Brize Norton would not solely provide legal justification for proscribing the group. Asked whether the group's actions were commensurate with proscription, Lord Falconer told Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: 'I am not aware of what Palestine Action has done beyond the painting of things on the planes in Brize Norton, they may have done other things I didn't know. 'But generally, that sort of demonstration wouldn't justify proscription so there must be something else that I don't know about.' Former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf said the Government was 'abusing' anti-terror laws against pro-Palestine activists, as tens of thousands of protesters marched in London on Saturday. Belonging to or expressing support for a proscribed organisation, along with a number of other actions, are criminal offences carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Home Secretary @YvetteCooperMP is banning Palestine Action. We are pleased that the Home Secretary has listened to our representations over the last week. Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF… — Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) June 20, 2025 The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) welcomed the news that Ms Cooper intended to proscribe Palestine Action, saying: 'Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.' Former home secretary Suella Braverman also said it was 'absolutely the correct decision'. A pro-Palestine protester at Saturday's march in central London said it was 'absolutely horrendous' that the Government was preparing to ban Palestine Action. Artist Hannah Woodhouse, 61, told the PA news agency: 'Counter-terrorism measures, it seems, are being used against non-violent peace protesters. 'The peace activists are trying to do the Government's job, which is to disarm Israel.' Palestine Action has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.

Spectator

an hour ago

• Spectator

Farage's latest hero? Benjamin Disraeli

At 9 a.m on Monday morning, Nigel Farage will march into a central London venue to make one of his most audacious speeches yet. Since returning as leader of Reform UK last May, he has trodden carefully when it comes to policy. Farage quickly canned the party's manifesto after the election, preferring to focus on a few key areas: lifting the two-child benefit cap, hiking the annual income tax personal allowance to £20,000, cutting council waste, abolishing Net Zero and renationalising steel. But his next move is more original in its thinking. Farage will announce a new policy for 'non-doms': British residents whose permanent home for tax purposes is outside the UK. Rachel Reeves' first Budget abolished this status in April, claiming it would raise £2.7bn a year by 2029. Yet amid a wave of reports about a 'flight of the rich', Farage senses an opportunity to try to retain such wealth in the UK while making a political pitch to the poorest in society too. He will float a new one-off £250,000 'landing fee' for the super-rich, renewed every ten years. Non-doms would be exempt from inheritance tax, instead only paying income tax on a remittance basis. The cash generated by this card-based scheme will be redistributed to the poorest 10 per cent of full time UK workers. Between 6,000 to 10,000 are expected to be issued annually, according to internal estimates. In a low-uptake scenario with 6,000 cards issued, the party expects to generate a £1.5bn fund, resulting in a tax-free annual divided of £600 per worker. Farage hopes to do three things with this speech. The first is a straightforward political attack on Rachel Reeves. The Clacton MP intends to savage her record in office and dub her 'the worst Chancellor in living memory.' This fits in with Reform's plans to frame the next election as a straight fight between them and Labour. The second is to show that the party is serious when it comes to policy. Both Farage and Zia Yusuf have been heavily involved in its conception; a ten-page document of graphs and workings will be handed out to journalists at Monday's press conference. His speech aims to appeal to both rich and poor and show that the fate of these 'two nations' are bound together by fate. Farage, similarly, professes a confidence that 'the working classes of England are proud of belonging to a great country'. His speech will be delivered close to the statue of Disraeli in Parliament where the masses once gathered to lay primroses at his feet; the Reform UK leader hopes to elicit a similar metaphorical reaction on Monday too. The non-doms announcement will be relentlessly scrutinised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and others, who warned Reform's personal allowance changes would cost the Treasury between £50 to £80bn a year. Yet Farage is willing to face criticism if it enables his party to claim territory that others regard as unfavourable. His strategy has echoes of Boris Johnson's Brexit coalition in 2019: pro-banker, yes, but, crucially, pro-worker too. Farage and Yusuf have spent many hours discussing how best to capitalise on the theme of a 'battle of resources' in a country which, for many of their voters, seems to reward the old, the comfortable and the immigrant at the expense of the young, the struggling and the native. Reform might have ditched its 'contract with Britain', but expect talk of the social contract to be a staple of its future pitch.

Telegraph

an hour ago

• Telegraph

Farage: ‘I will charge non-doms £250k and give it to the poor'

Nigel Farage will vow to reinstate non-dom status for wealthy entrepreneurs if they pay a £250,000 fee which will be handed to Britain's poorest workers. On Monday, the Reform UK leader will use a press conference to unveil plans to impose a Robin Hood-style levy on new or returning 'high net worth' individuals. The revenue generated would then be redistributed to pay cash bonuses of £600 a year to low-paid workers. Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Farage said the policy would encourage the return of wealthy and talented entrepreneurs to the UK while also providing benefits to British workers. The policy will be seen as a further attempt to win over Labour voters after Reform's commitment last month to restore the winter fuel payment to all pensioners and scrap the two-child benefit cap. It also creates a clear dividing line with the Tories and Labour on wealth generation after both parties ordered crackdowns on non-doms. 'Success must be celebrated' The announcement comes a day after a poll showed that Reform was on course to win an outright majority at the next general election. Mr Farage said: 'Our policy is simple – Britain must be a place where success is celebrated, not punished with excessive taxes, crippling energy costs, or punitive inheritance levies. 'We will actively encourage the return of wealth and talent to the United Kingdom, on the clear condition that those who come here deliver immediate, visible benefits to our workers.' Rachel Reeves scrapped non-dom status in April, ending wealthy individuals' right to avoid full UK tax on their overseas earnings. The Chancellor also made worldwide assets of all UK residents subject to inheritance tax at 40 per cent. The moves have been blamed for driving some of Britain's richest people abroad. Those affected by the scrapping of the status include people such as the South African national Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs's best-paid banker outside the US, Nassef Sawiris, the Aston Villa FC co-owner, and the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. Mr Farage wrote: 'Over the last 10 years, UK policy toward non-domiciled taxpayers has lurched from piecemeal tightening under successive Conservative chancellors to outright abolition under the current Labour Government. 'The result? A record-breaking and alarming exodus of high-spending, high-tax-paying residents, leaving an estimated £7 billion yearly hole in public finances and inflicting huge collateral damage on London's position as Europe's financial centre.' Mr Farage claimed Reform's approach would be 'different, transparent, and designed to directly benefit the hard-working backbone of this nation'. 'Every high net worth newcomer [or returning leaver] will pay a £250,000 one-off entry contribution in return for a stable, indefinite remittance-style regime on offshore income and a 20-year inheritance-tax shield,' he added. The new non-doms would have to renew their status with a £250,000 payment every subsequent decade, which would renew their 20-year inheritance tax exemption. They would have to pay UK taxes on their UK earnings including income tax, NI, VAT and stamp duty. Anyone who had remained in the UK and wanted to renew their non-dom status would also be eligible under the plans, to be set out in a 12-page document on Monday. 'Crucially, 100 per cent of this contribution is hypothecated to Britain's lowest-paid full-time workers, delivered automatically by HMRC as a tax-free cash dividend,' said Mr Farage. 'This means roughly 2.5 million hard-working Britons – the grafters who keep this country running – will receive an annual cash bonus, sent directly to their bank accounts at the end of the financial year. 'Thanks to this policy, in a low-uptake scenario with 6,000 cards issued annually, we'll generate a £1.5 billion fund, resulting in a tax-free annual dividend of £600 per worker. In a high-uptake scenario with 10,000 cards, this could deliver a £2.5-billion fund, providing £1,000 per worker. 'This isn't just a number. It's money in the pockets of those who need it most, from cleaners to nurses to small business owners.' By Nigel Farage It should come as no surprise that, over the past few decades, many of the UK's most successful and influential business minds have left the country in droves – a clear and troubling sign of national decline. Over the past 10 years, UK policy toward non-domiciled taxpayers ('non-doms') has lurched from piecemeal tightening under successive Conservative chancellors to outright abolition under the current Labour Government. The result? A record-breaking and alarming exodus of high-spending, high-tax-paying residents, leaving an estimated £7 billion yearly hole in public finances and inflicting huge collateral damage on London's position as Europe's financial centre. The social contract between the rich and the poor is at an all-time low. Public trust in the tax system has been eroded by perceptions that elites play by a different set of rules. In the past, your average Briton saw little to no benefit from the wealthy in their midst. If anything, it created greater division and hostility. Reform UK is determined to change this. We are the party of working people – the party of those with alarm clocks who get up in the morning and work hard, whether they're at the higher end of the financial scale or the lower end. Our approach is different, transparent, and designed to directly benefit the hard-working backbone of this nation. Unlike the opaque financial mechanisms of the past, where wealth seemed to vanish into hidden pots of money that ordinary people could not see, Reform UK is committed to doing things differently. We will rebuild the social contract by ensuring that every wealthy individual who wishes to move here makes a tangible contribution to Britain's lowest earners. Our policy is simple: Britain must be a place where success is celebrated, not punished with excessive taxes, crippling energy costs, or punitive inheritance levies. We will actively encourage the return of wealth and talent to the United Kingdom – on the clear condition that those who come here deliver immediate, visible benefits to our workers. Here's how it works: every high-net-worth newcomer (or returning leaver) will pay a £250,000 one-off entry contribution in return for a stable, indefinite remittance-style regime on offshore income and a 20-year inheritance-tax shield. Crucially, 100 per cent of this contribution is hypothecated to Britain's lowest-paid full-time workers, delivered automatically by HMRC as a tax-free cash dividend. This means roughly 2.5 million hard-working Britons – the grafters who keep this country running – will receive an annual cash bonus, sent directly to their bank accounts at the end of the financial year. Thanks to this policy, in a low-uptake scenario with 6,000 cards issued annually, we'll generate a £1.5 billion fund, resulting in a tax-free annual dividend of £600 per worker. In a high-uptake scenario with 10,000 cards, this could deliver a £2.5 billion fund, providing £1,000 per worker. This isn't just a number. It's money in the pockets of those who need it most, from cleaners to nurses to small-business owners. Our policy is not a 'golden visa' or a backdoor to citizenship. It is a one-time flat tax paid by newcomers in exchange for the certainty of a favourable tax status. Individuals will still be liable for all standard UK taxes on UK-sourced income, property, and spending. But they won't be taxed on offshore income and gains for the duration of their agreed status. Pay your quarter million pounds upfront, and enjoy UK residency without worldwide taxation hassles. After all, this is still the best country in the world, and many of the world's wealthy want to move here but are deterred by the economic downsides. Unlike the old, indefinite non-dom arrangement under the Tories, which lacked transparency and failed to benefit ordinary people, our solution is immediate, visible, and mutually beneficial for both newcomers and the hard-working British worker struggling to make ends meet. Unlike Labour's punitive approach, which drives wealth away, we incentivise the rich to return to Britain. Over the past decade, the number of non-dom taxpayers has plummeted from over 120,000 to fewer than 80,000. The failed approaches of both Labour and the Conservatives have cost this country billions annually. Reform UK's plan will reverse this trend, capturing revenue from global wealth, channelling funds to support the working class, and restoring London as a global powerhouse for business, finance, and investment. The driving ambition of Reform UK is to put the lives of everyday British citizens first – and this policy does exactly that. We are the party of working people, and we are building a Britain where wealth and opportunity are shared, not hoarded. By ensuring that every pound contributed by the wealthy goes directly to those who get up early and work hard, we are creating a fairer, stronger, and more prosperous nation for all.