How Jeffrey Epstein could finish Trump from beyond the grave

Who owns Maga? I mean, not literally, of course. Maga is an idea rather than a thing. It is not a shop or a book. There are no bricks and mortar – although if I could have had 10 per cent from every red Make America Great Again cap sold, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this article.

The reason I pose the question is that when there was a rumbling disquiet over sending bombers to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, the president swatted his Trumpland critics who said this wasn’t true to the core principles of Maga and America First.

He more or less said, “I invented Maga, so Maga is what I say it is.” It worked. His detractors huffed and puffed a bit, but then they went quiet. The Maga coalition fell into line behind their hero.

But over Jeffrey Epstein – the disgraced millionaire and paedophile who died in custody awaiting trial – it’s all rather different. Here, the Trumpland critics are getting noisier, and their numbers are swelling. For the first time, the base is not buying what Donald Trump is selling. Or to put it another way, someone who died six years ago is posing the greatest challenge to the president’s authority since he returned to the White House in January.

It is replete with irony. Let’s face it, over the years, it has felt that Trump has been a one-man conspiracy theory generator, most famously of all, his “birther” theory: that Barack Obama was not born in the US, he was born in Kenya and was therefore ineligible to be US president.

The Obama White House initially tried to laugh it off, but the conspiracy theory just wouldn’t go away. So, eventually, they produced his birth certificate, which states quite clearly that Obama was born in Hawaii. But then those who bought into the theory said this was the summary birth certificate and not the full thing. And so it went on.

The lesson that Obama’s inner circle drew from this is that while you may be able to shrink a conspiracy theory by peeling off rational, fair-minded citizens, and while you may be able to get people to look away and focus on something else, you can never kill off a conspiracy theory completely. It’s like Japanese knotweed – or moths in your wardrobe.

And if anyone should know that, it’s Trump. He’s getting increasingly tetchy and cross that the American public – and his supporters in particular – won’t accept the findings of his attorney general, Pam Bondi, that with the Epstein conspiracy theory, there is nothing to it. Please move on. Nothing to see here.

Because, of course, the conspiracy theory was originally generated in Trumpland. It’s been talked up by the vice-president, JD Vance, and by the president’s son, Don Jr. And it roughly goes like this: Epstein had a client list of all the sleazy millionaires and politicians he’d entertained on his island of horrors where underage girls were forced to perform sexual acts for these powerful men – some of them supposedly prominent Democrats.

When he was found dead in his New York prison cell in 2019, it wasn’t suicide – as the post-mortem found. It was murder, they claimed. According to conspiracy lore, he had died because those powerful forces, whose names were in his little black book, wanted him dead before he could take the stand at a trial and implicate them.

Even Bondi is on record with her past promises of releasing a “truckload” of bombshell FBI documents on Epstein. She told Fox News in late February that she literally had possession of the convicted sex offender’s supposed black book of prominent figures who engaged in illegal sexual activities. “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,” the attorney general told Fox News anchor John Roberts at the time. “That’s been a directive by President Trump.”

Compare this to the Department of Justice and FBI’s two-page unsigned memo released last week, concluding that the agencies had found no evidence that Epstein was murdered in his jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019. Additionally, they were unable to find any list of powerful clients that Epstein was attempting to blackmail for having sex with underage girls.

The conspiracy theories had also been advanced relentlessly by the likes of Kash Patel – now head of the FBI, and his deputy (the former right-wing podcast host) Dan Bongino – and millions of Maga supporters bought into it with gusto. It was another slam-dunk, deep state cover-up if ever there was one.

All of which has left the attorney general and president looking as though they are isolated and swimming against the tide when they keep insisting the Epstein file is a great big nothingburger. Rumours have swirled that Bongino could resign his post over it.

The Epstein court documents are held by the federal judiciary — a branch exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Trump’s reluctance to release them is making him appear increasingly out of kilter with his base – something that just doesn’t happen.

He’s calling the Epstein story “boring” and said it was only being advanced by “bad people”. It’s a hoax. On his Truth Social platform, he called the Epstein conspiracy theory ‘bulls***’ – and referred to those who bought into it as his “PAST supporters” (His capitals, not mine) – as if there would be a process of excommunication for these apostates to the Maga faith.

Even the most pliant and obsequious lapdogs are growling and showing their teeth. Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House – who it sometimes feels was put on God’s earth purely to make Trump happy – is demanding the justice department publish everything it has on Epstein’s death. Republican congressmen are openly saying they don’t believe or trust what the administration is telling them.

There was a rally hosted by the former Fox TV presenter Megyn Kelly and right-wing radio host Charlie Kirk – two very prominent influencers – where they asked the 7,000-strong audience whether they buy the “nothing to see here” explanation. The hall is unanimous. They don’t. They believe there’s been a cover-up.

There is one other danger for Trump. And that is it generates a conspiracy theory in the opposite direction: that it is the president who has something to hide and is creating a cover-up to protect himself; that Epstein did have a list – and Trump’s name was on it. After all, that was the allegation made by Elon Musk when they had their Semtex-rich falling out a few weeks back. I should add that there is no evidence of that, although Epstein and Trump knew each other and have been photographed together.

It’s not quite Dr Frankenstein losing control of the monster he created, but if you live by the conspiracy theory – as Trump has done – you can die by it too.

Police face ban from marching in Pride parades after High Court ruling

Uniformed police face being effectively banned from taking part in Pride parades after a “wide-reaching” ruling at the High Court.

The judgment, handed down on Wednesday, ruled that officers were wrong to have taken part in Newcastle’s Pride parade last year.

The case was brought by Linzi Smith, who describes herself in court documents as a “lesbian who is ‘gender critical’,” who “believes that a person’s sex is an immutable characteristic”.

She argued that police breached their impartiality obligations by taking part in the event and appearing under a banner supporting transgender people’s rights.

The judge, Mr Justice Linden, agreed with her and ruled the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police acted unlawfully when she allowed uniformed officers to take part in the event last year.

The ruling is likely to have wide-reaching implications for how police are able to participate in community events across the country.

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said the organisation as “working through the detail” of the judgement and is working to create broader guidance to help local forces “make decisions around participation in events to maintain their impartiality.”

“Having police officers and staff who know their communities, are visible in those communities and play an active part in their local area has been shown time and time again to build trust and confidence in our service,” he said.

“Every week police officers and staff will as part of their duties take part in thousands of events up and down the country, from community events at village halls through to large scale events like carnivals, parades and festivals.

“However, we recognise that policing must also maintain its impartiality, including in the types of events it supports and plays an active part in.”

In a witness statement, Harry Miller, a former officer and founder of group Fair Cop, said the chief constable marched next to participants “carrying the flags and emblems clearly associated with the gender ideologists’ cause” such as banners saying “Trans women are women” and “Trans rights are human rights”.

He argued this signalled a political association.

Reaching his decision, the judge said the chief constable’s participation was likely to be seen as “expressing the support of the head of the force for the views and the cause which the march sought to promote” and “therefore as indicating the position or perspective of the force as an organisation”.

Jo Maugham KC, executive director of the Good Law Project said the “incredibly important” judgement could have practical implications for all people subject to impartiality obligations participating in such events.

“The impartiality duties that police have are substantially no different from the impartiality duties that all sorts of other public servants have,’ he said. “It doesn’t mean police can’t police these parades – they can. But it does mean they can’t march in them.

“But it also could mean civil servants can’t march in them or BBC journalists.”

He warned this could extend to parades or protests relating to other causes such as anti-racism or anti-misogyny as Trans people are also a legally protected group under the Equality Act.

Mr Maugham added there was a “lack of clarity at the heart of the judgement” which he said does not define the phrase “gender ideology” itself.

“[The judge’s ruling] seems to think the reality or legitimacy of trans existence is up for debate,” he told The Independent. “The difficulty of that is Parliament has said it is not up for debate.

“The Equality Act recognises that trans people – like women and disabled people – are a group whose existence is not up for debate, it is to be protected.”

He said: “This is yet another decision made by our courts which has a very profound affect on LGBT rights where a court has not thought it appropriate to hear from anyone from that community.”

Responding to the ruling, Northumbria Police said it has an “important role to play in a variety of events, including parades and festivals” throughout the year.

It said while their primary aim is to keep people safe, these events also provide police with “an opportunity to engage with people including those who may have less confidence in policing.”

these events provides the force “with an opportunity to engage with people including those who may have less confidence in policing”

“It is vitally important they feel supported and we continue to build their trust in us,” a spokesperson said. “That is why we felt it important to challenge the case which was brought against us and which has implications for wider policing.

“We will work through the ruling to understand the implications, while staying true to our values of fairness, visibility, and support for all.”

Jess Phillips says rebel MPs right to be punished for ‘slagging off own government’

A government minister has told Labour MPs punished for voting against welfare reforms that they have only themselves to blame in the escalating rebels row.

Keir Starmer suspended Rachael Maskell, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff on Wednesday after the four rebels voted against the government’s flagship benefits bill earlier this month.

Responding to controversy over the prime minister’s decision, home office minister Jess Phillips said on Thursday: “I disagree often with directions that are going on and I spend time working with colleagues on the back and front benches ensuring that we discuss these things.

“Constantly taking to the airwaves and slagging off your own government – I have to say: what did you think was going to happen?”

There had to be a level of party discipline for the government to function, Ms Phillips, who is the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The four MPs all voted against the government over the welfare reform legislation, but party sources said the decision to suspend the whip was taken as a result of persistent breaches of discipline rather than a single rebellion.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Phillips said: “We were elected as a team under a banner and under a manifesto, and we have to seek to work together, and if you are acting in a manner that is to undermine the ability of the government to deliver those things, I don’t know what you expect.”

Referring to a description of the rebels by an unnamed source in The Times, she told Sky News: “I didn’t call it persistent knob-headery, but that’s the way that it’s been termed by some.”

Ms Maskell, who spearheaded plans to halt the government’s welfare reforms, hit out at Sir Keir’s attempt to assert his authority over the party, saying he was wrong to carry out a purge of persistent rebels.

The York Central MP said: “On this occasion, I don’t think he’s got it right.”

Speaking to the BBC, she added: “I really hope from this process there will be reflection over the summer, but also learning. There needs to be a better reach-out to backbenchers to ensure that we are the safeguards of our government.”

Meanwhile, Sir Keir faced a fresh challenge to his authority when senior left-winger Diane Abbott said she had no regrets about comments on racism that led to her being suspended from Labour for a year.

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP was disciplined for saying in 2023 that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and in a different way to Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Despite withdrawing the remarks at the time, she was suspended from the Labour party after Sir Keir said her comments were antisemitic.

In a new intervention, Ms Abbott, who was subsequently readmitted to Labour, said she does not regret her remarks and stands by her argument.

She told the BBC: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.”

Yellow weather warning for thunderstorms and torrential rain issued by Met Office

A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms has been announced across large parts of the UK for Friday and Saturday, with heavy, thundery rain likely to lead to disruption.

London, the Midlands, and the North East and West of England can expect torrential rain with potential flooding, with the warning in place from 9pm on Friday until 6pm on Saturday.

The forecaster said: “Thundery rain will reach the south of the warning area later Friday before spreading north to affect much of England through Saturday.

“Rain will likely be locally torrential, bringing 20-30 mm in less than an hour in many places, with 60-90 mm in less than three hours possible in a few places.

“Whilst rain will clear from the south of the area by early Saturday afternoon, further thunderstorms are likely to develop here. As well as heavy rain, impacts from frequent lightning, gusty winds and large hail are also likely.”

Across other parts of the UK, temperatures will climb to 28C with a chance of 29C on Thursday, before peaking at a potential 30C in London on Friday in another burst of hot weather.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: “This heat is not going to be as widespread as what we’ve just come out of, areas to the north aren’t going to be seeing the same highs.

“The heat we had last time was home grown, it wasn’t that humid, but because this heat is coming in from the south westerly direction, it is more humid. It’s going to be feeling more sticky.”

In Northern Ireland, a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms is already in place from 11am on Thursday until 8pm this evening.

It comes as Southern Water has become the latest company to bring in a hosepipe ban, to protect rare chalk stream habitat, as England battles exceptionally dry weather.

The company said restrictions on hosepipes for activities such as watering gardens, filling paddling pools or washing cars would come in for households in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from Monday.

It is the latest announcement by water companies bringing in hosepipe bans in response to the driest start to the year since 1976 for England.

Rainfall across England was 20 per cent less than the long-term average for June, which was also the hottest on record for the country, with two heatwaves driving unusually high demand for water, the Environment Agency has said.

Drought was declared in East and West Midlands on Tuesday, with the region joining swathes of northern England in drought status.

Yorkshire Water became the first major water company to bring in a hosepipe ban which came into effect last Friday.

South East Water has announced a hosepipe ban in Kent and Sussex from Friday, and Thames Water is bringing in a ban from next Tuesday for customers in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, most of Wiltshire and some parts of Berkshire.

When my friends were facing cancer, a community of people stepped up

When I was younger, I used to worry incessantly about my parents getting cancer. I’d lay awake at night, ruminating on what would happen to my brother and I if they did. Who would support us? Thankfully, both are still cancer-free, well into their seventies.

However, now that I’m a parent myself, I worry about my children. Many people believe that cancer only really happens to people in old age, but that’s just not true. One beloved friend’s daughter died of leukaemia in 2020, aged just five; an unthinkable horror that changed the lives of everyone who knew her and her family.

And with Macmillan Cancer Support reporting that almost 3.5 million people in the UK are living with cancer, I also worry about my friends – parents themselves, their lives touched by cancer. One friend sat me down in our favourite local café, our toddlers playing at our feet, to break the news that she was about to undergo a double mastectomy. We cried together.

Another friend, Sarah, a single parent to two teenage girls, was diagnosed with breast cancer the day before we heard that King Charles had cancer, and a month before the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, announced her own diagnosis in March last year. It seemed like cancer was everywhere.

As a result, Sarah put 2024 on hold – she missed her daughter’s last sports day and last concert at primary school and had to find a whole new way of co-ordinating family life.

“I’m lucky in some ways that my children are teenagers, so they are able to look after themselves to some degree – but I’m also a single parent, so there are some things that they can’t do, or struggle with, due to their age,” she tells me.

“I have even set up multiple alarms on our Alexa reminding them to put their packed lunches in their bags or leave for school, just in case I can’t get up.”

Sarah says she thought she knew quite a lot about cancer prior to her diagnosis, but now admits she “really didn’t”. She explains: “There are so many terms and procedures to understand – stages and grades, not to mention over 100 different chemotherapy drugs.”

Sarah tells me about the exhausting cumulative effect of chemotherapy, which she endured every three weeks during her cancer treatment: “After the very first lot, I slept for a few hours and felt much better pretty quickly. For my last rounds, I slept for 48 hours solid and even days later, I needed to have a nap in the middle of the day and was in bed by 8pm.”

Sarah’s now finished chemotherapy and, a year on from her diagnosis, is turning 50. She’s throwing a huge party to celebrate not only the birthday milestone, but getting over this “annus horriblis” – a year she couldn’t have gotten through without the people around her.

“People can do so much for us when we are unwell – and I am forever grateful,” she says. “I’ve been really overwhelmed by the support that my friends have given me; from ferrying around my children to and from after-school events and sleepovers when things get bad, to my 75-year-old neighbour mowing the lawn. One friend popped round with a huge pot of pasta sauce and I even had a gift box from a recruiter at work.”

What talking to my strong, resilient friends about their cancer journeys has made me realise most, is the power of community: for when we receive the worst news imaginable, what we need is people around us to see us through. A community of other women: friends, school mums, neighbours.

They had people willing to make them food, pick up their children, go shopping for them or to just sit with them and listen. They had support when they decided to raise money for cancer support charities, when they did fundraisers such as hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning.

It takes a village to raise a child – and that village will be with you every step of the way when you need them most.

Find out how you can help raise vital funds by hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning. Sign up now on the Macmillan website

Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). Also operating in Northern Ireland.

Diane Abbott facing suspension from Labour again over race row letter

Labour MP Diane Abbott is facing suspension from the Labour Party again after she said she has no regrets about comments on racism which led to her being suspended by the party.

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP was suspended by the Labour Party in 2023 after a writing a letter to The Observer comparing racism experienced by people of colour with that seen by other groups in which she implied antisemitism and prejudice against groups such as travellers was not as serious.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.

But her remarks are now to be investigated by the party with the possibility she could have the whip suspended again in parliament.

Ms Abbott, who was readmitted to the party before the 2024 general election after a concerted campaign by supporters, told the programme: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.

“I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

“I don’t know why people would say that.”

She apologised for any anguished caused by the remarks which drew criticism from Jewish and Travellers groups.

But a Labour Party spokesperson said: “There is no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party. We take these comments incredibly seriously, and will assess them in line with Labour Party’s rules and procedures.”

The threat comes less than 24 hours after the suspension of four leftwing rebels as Keir Starmer attempts to reassert his authority.

The longest-serving female MP in the Commons, who entered Parliament in 1987, said she got a “bit weary” about people labelling her antisemetic and said she had “spent a lifetime fighting racism of all kinds”.

She said she was “grateful” to be a Labour MP but was sure the party leadership had been “trying to get me out”.

Ms Abbott is a close ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn who is now an independent MP having been expelled from the party. He is currently setting up a new party with another former Labour rebel Zara Sultana.

Ex-Tesco worker denies making kill list of ‘race traitor’ customers

A former Tesco worker accused of plotting a terror attack has denied making a kill list of customers and colleagues he branded “race traitors.”

Alfie Colman was 19 when he was caught buying a gun and was arrested by counter terrorism police in a Morrisons car park.

Colman was attempting to buy a Makarov pistol and ammunition, but the sale turned out to be an MI5 sting.

At the trial on Thursday, Nicholas De La Poer KC reminded Coleman of the list he had made of those who had “upset” him. The list separated people broadly into two categories – those he considered “undercover police officers” and others as “race traitors”, a jury heard.

Describing the annotated list, the prosecutor said “a very large number of people are the subject of a racial slur by you or described as race traitors”.

Coleman said: “I cannot remember what was going through my head. I cannot say what I meant when I wrote those words down.”

Referring to a colleague and her husband who appeared on the list, the prosecutor observed: “This is a white woman married to a person of non-white heritage and you have described her as a race traitor. This is someone who you worked with. Why did you describe her as a race traitor?”

Coleman said he could not remember.

Mr De La Poer went on: “Was that a list of people who you thought needed to be killed?”

The defendant replied: “No.”

Coleman said he understood “race traitor” to mean someone who was friends or in a relationship with a “non-white” person.

He added that he also included those in the “system” working against the interests of white people.

Referring to the defendant’s list, Mr De La Poer said: “Can we agree that none of the people you are describing as race traitors here fall into that category?

“They are not white people who are politicians who betrayed other white people because of their power. These are customers and colleagues at Tesco.”

Coleman replied: “I do not know specifically. They may not all have been where I worked. I cannot say any more other than that.”Judge Richard Marks KC asked the defendant to clarify his stance, saying: “Regardless of colour, if you co-operate with authorities and work in the Government you are a race traitor – people working for Government means doing something against white people?”

The defendant replied: “That’s the way I understood it, yeah.”

Mr De La Poer quizzed the defendant about his collection of extreme right-wing books including one Coleman had described as “captivating” and life-changing.

A chapter entitled “the day of the rope” detailed public hangings of people it described as “race traitors”, the court was told.

Coleman said he was not “specifically” interested in that part even though he had searched for artwork from the book and downloaded an image of a public hanging.

He denied he had read another book in his collection about a man who hunted down inter-race couples as “race traitors”.

The prosecutor suggested: “You were preparing to engage in illegal behaviour because you bought a firearm and so it’s not a case that you did not do things because they were illegal.”

The defendant replied: “I agree to a certain extent. There are a lot of reasons why I did it.”

Mr De La Poer asked: “In terms of publications likely to be of use to terrorists you know the explosive manuals were describing how a person might make a bomb, is that right?”

Coleman replied: “I did not read them. It is only through the process of the trial I have seen excerpts and screen shots.”

The defendant has accepted he had a large quantity of extreme right-wing material and has pleaded guilty to possessing 10 documents which contain information likely to be useful to terrorists.

Coleman, now aged 21, from Great Notley in Essex, has admitted attempting to possess both a firearm and ammunition but denies he was preparing for a terrorist attack.

The Old Bailey trial continues.