Reform UK's Momentum Stalled by Departures, By-Election Defeat
Nigel Farage's recent run of political success stalled after his insurgent Reform UK suffered a pair of high-profile departures and came third in a Scottish election that it had hoped might prove its broader appeal.
The right-wing party saw its chairman, Zia Yusuf, quit on Thursday, saying 'I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time.' He was followed by Nathaniel Fried, who had been appointed to run Reform's DOGE-style cost-cutting efforts in local councils just a week earlier.
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Palestine Action was founded by Huda Ammori, 31, and Richard Barnard, 51, and was established on 30 July 2020 when activists broke into the UK headquarters of Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems in London and sprayed red paint in the interior. Ammori, from Bolton, was born to a Palestinian father and an Iraqi mother, and graduated from the University of Manchester, and was a supporter of the Labour Party when it was led by Jeremy Corbyn. Barnard, raised Catholic, is a former member of the radical Catholic Worker movement and Extinction Rebellion. Palestine Action has staged a number of protests in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli weapons company Elbit, as well as vandalising Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in Scotland. 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Massive new reservoir is 'nationally significant' project for planners
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