Free Republic

The UK’s agreement with France to pay for beach patrols is on the verge of collapse amid wrangling over the number of small boat interceptions and the safety of asylum seekers in French waters. Negotiations over plans to revamp the three-year, £480m deal remain deadlocked, despite the involvement of ministers including Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary. The deal expires at midnight on Tuesday. It is understood that Downing Street has insisted on an increase in the number and nature of interventions by French officials as they seek to disrupt gang activity. Paris remains concerned that UK demands could put the...

Keir Starmer is facing demands from Labour MPs to reprimand Donald Trump’s administration after the US president falsely claimed London wanted to “go to sharia law” under its “terrible mayor”, Sadiq Khan. In an address to the UN general assembly, Trump said: “I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it’s been changed, it’s been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can’t do that.” The development will cause further discomfort in No 10 after Trump was last week honoured with an unprecedented...

Police officers on foot will patrol every busy neighbourhood at peak times as part of a set of community-focused measures to be unveiled by Keir Starmer. In an announcement billed as a return to an era of “bobbies on the beat”, the prime minister will also confirm that every neighbourhood in England and Wales will be given a named and contactable police officer. The plans are expected to be in place by July, and follow the government’s promises to restore confidence in community policing. Labour’s leadership is under pressure to offer new policies for party councillors in England to sell...