Schools closed and travel chaos at Storm Chandra hits UK

Storm Chandra has brought travel disruption and school closures as strong winds and heavy rain hit much of the UK.

Almost 250 schools are closed today in Northern Ireland due to “severe weather”, while the Met Office has warned strong winds could lead to flying debris, putting people at risk of injuries and posing a “danger to life”.

The M48 Severn Bridge was closed on Tuesday morning with The Humber Bridge shut to high-sided vehicles due to wind, while snow was also forecast in parts of the country as a number of weather warnings came into force.

National Rail issued a warning that “poor weather may affect South Western Railway services until the end of the day”, while traffic between England and Wales was being diverted over the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge.

An amber warning for wind is in place on the eastern coast of Northern Ireland from 5am to 9pm on Tuesday, with an additional yellow rain and wind warning for the whole of Northern Ireland for all of Tuesday.

Across the south west of England, where Storm Ingrid wreaked havoc and washed away part of a historic pier on the weekend, forecasters expect more downpours.

Nato chief warns Ukraine faces its ‘harshest winter’ in decades

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has warned that Ukraine is facing its “harshest winter” in over a decade as sustained Russian airstrikes disrupt its energy grid

“Russia is targeting civilian infrastructures and therefore leaving Ukrainians in the cold — without heat, without light and without water,” he said, urging the European parliament to be flexible on the use of EU funds.

Rutte says that the US-led peace talks were ongoing, adding that the aim should be to get to a peace deal or a long-term ceasefire. He said: “Let’s pray we have it as soon as possible,” and then make sure that Russia’s Vladimir Putin “never, never” attacks Ukraine again.

The US claims president Donald Trump hasn’t given up on peace and remains deeply involved in the process ahead of Sunday’s trilateral talks.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed the president’s commitment to peace after both Russia and Ukraine officials met for two days’ worth of talks in Abu Dhabi, dubbed “constructive” by Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said a US security agreement for Ukraine was “100 per cent ready” to be signed.

AI and facial recognition to be rolled out as ‘broken’ policing system faces sweeping reforms

The home secretary has announced plans to ramp up the use of AI and live facial recognition as she unveils sweeping reforms to fix Britain’s “broken” policing system.

Shabana Mahmood is investing £140m to roll out technology which she hopes will free up 6 million police hours each year, the equivalent of 3,000 officers, as part of the biggest overhaul of an “outdated” policing model designed for another century.

AI technology will be deployed to rapidly analyse CCTV, doorbell and mobile phone footage, detect deepfakes, carry out digital forensics and speed up administration such as form filling, redaction and transcription.

Ms Mahmood said: “Criminals are operating in increasingly sophisticated ways. However, some police forces are still fighting crime with analogue methods.

“We will roll out state-of-the-art tech to get more officers on the streets and put rapists and murderers behind bars.”

The government is also increasing the number of live facial recognition vans fivefold, from 10 to 50, which will be used by forces across the country to help catch wanted criminals.

The measures, announced on Monday, are part of the biggest overhaul to policing in England and Wales in 200 years. Other changes include:

The government’s white paper unveiled the plans to embrace AI, with the formation of a national centre dedicated to using the new technology, called Police.AI, despite an AI “hallucination” influencing the controversial decision by West Midlands Police to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a match in Birmingham last year.

The AI policing centre will also help to roll out successful projects nationally, such as AI chatbots being trialled by some forces to triage non-urgent online queries.

The white paper also includes plans to review whether the policing of non-crime hate incidents (NCHI) is “proportionate”.

The new NPS – designed to tackle serious crime – has been described as “Britain’s FBI” and will merge the existing National Crime Agency (NCA), Counter Terror Policing, the National Police Air Service and National Roads Policing all under a single organisation.

It will be led by a new national police commissioner, who will serve as the country’s most senior police chief.

Although the exact number of regional forces under the new model has not been announced, the first force mergers are expected this parliament, following a review which will report back to the Home Office this summer.

Laying out her plans in the Commons, Ms Mahmood said: “Taken together, these are, without question, major reforms.

“A transformation in the structures of our forces, the standards within them and the means by which they are held to account by the public, these are the most significant changes to how policing works in this country in around 200 years.

“The world has changed immeasurably since then, but policing has not.

“We have excellent and brave police officers across the country, we have effective and inspiring leaders across many of our forces, but they are operating within a structure that is outdated, making the job of policing our streets and protecting our country harder than it should be.”

Police chiefs welcomed the overhaul as “long overdue” on Monday, with Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), telling journalists there are currently “too many chiefs”.

“You’ve got rapidly changing new technologies which show huge promise, then you can’t get them rolled out because there are too many decision makers in the system,” he said.

“If we want to put in the hands of every neighbourhood cop, every local team, the best available technology, we’ve got to do that once for everybody and then get it rolled out.”

The major changes are expected to be rolled out in phases until 2034. Asked if they have come too late, Mr Stephens added: “Twenty years ago would have been good. Today is good as well. So we ought not to lose any time.

“It’s really important for us in these changes that we keep momentum and see them through.”

However, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) has criticised the proposals, warning they concentrate too much power in the hands of the home secretary and the new national police commissioner.

“This concentration of policing power in England and Wales is constitutionally alien and brings enormous risks,” said Emily Spurrell, the APCC chair. The government has previously announced plans to scrap police and crime commissioners, replacing them with mayors and local policing boards.

However, Graeme Biggar, director general of the NCA, which will form part of the new NPS, insisted “operational independence is, and I’m sure will remain, a fundamental part of what we do”.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp attacked Ms Mahmood for failing to mention overall officer numbers, claiming they have fallen “by over 1,000” in the year to March 2025.

Mr Philp added: “The government is engaged in a con trick – they are transferring officers away from crime investigation, away from 999 response and away from other teams into neighbourhood teams so they can say neighbourhood numbers are going modestly up, but total police officer numbers are falling.”

He added: “Her plan includes mandating the merger of police forces, and briefings over the weekend suggest a reduction from 43 down to 10 or 12, so a single police force might cover an area from Dover to Milton Keynes, or from Penzance to Swindon.

“Such huge forces will be remote from the communities they serve. Resources will be drawn away from villages and towns towards large cities.”

Beckhams put on united front in Paris amid Brooklyn feud

David and Victoria Beckham were joined at a fashion event in Paris on Monday by three of their four children, a week after their son Brooklyn went public with a bombshell statement about their estranged relationship.

Brooklyn’s siblings, Romeo, Cruz and Harper, appeared alongside their parents at Haute Couture Fashion Week.

At a subsequent event at the French Ministry of Culture, Victoria Beckham was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters for her work as a fashion designer.

Last week, 26-year-old Brooklyn declared that he has no wish to reconcile with the family, and said that he is “standing up” for himself “for the first time” in his life.

He went on to claim that his parents had tried “endlessly to ruin” his relationship with his wife, the billionaire heiress Nicola Peltz Beckham.

He accused his mother of cancelling the making of his wife’s wedding dress “in the eleventh hour” and of hijacking their first dance together.

“In front of our 500 wedding guests, Marc Anthony called me to the stage, where in the schedule was planned to be my romantic dance with my wife but instead my mum was waiting to dance with me instead,” wrote Brooklyn.

“She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.”

DJ Fat Tony, who was at the wedding, has agreed with Brooklyn’s claim that Victoria’s behaviour was “inappropriate”, solely due to “the timing.”

He said that singer Mark Anthony called Victoria to the stage in place of Peltz and called the former Spice Girl “the most beautiful woman in the room,” which “devastated” Brooklyn and sent Peltz out of the room in tears.

In his first public response to his son’s statement, David Beckham told CNBC’s Squawk Box that “you have to let your children make mistakes” while speaking about the power of social media.

“They make mistakes, but children are allowed to make mistakes. That is how they learn,” said David Beckham. “That is what I try to teach my kids, you sometimes have to let them make those mistakes as well.”

Opinions have been split on the family drama, with several commentators speaking out to back the parents. Comedian Katherine Ryan said Brooklyn should “grow up,” while Jimmy Carr described him as an “entitled nepo baby.”

“He claims he’s not just a nepo baby, he’s a chef,” Carr quipped. “I think he’s so entitled he’s mixed up being a chef with making his own dinner. He probably brushes his teeth and thinks, ‘I’m actually a f***ing brilliant dentist.’”

From slogans to uniforms – the Nazification of ICE is everywhere

It is one of the oldest tricks in the authoritarian playbook: aesthetic first, policy second. Before the mass arrests, before the street violence, before the bureaucracy hardens into a machine, you soften the ground with imagery that makes the coming crackdowns feel righteous, necessary – inevitable. That is why it matters, urgently, that America’s immigration enforcement apparatus is now recruiting in a visual and rhetorical register that looks, sounds and feels uncomfortably like the 1930s: the decade in which fascism stopped being a crank ideology and became a governing reality.

Let’s be clear: the posters and social-media graphics pushing people towards US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) jobs are not merely a bit retro. They are saturated with the grammar of Nazi and far-right propaganda; heroic silhouettes, blunt moral binaries, looming national decline and the call to defend a mythic “homeland”. And this all arrives at a moment when federal agents are killing US citizens on American streets.

The killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and US citizen, who was shot by US Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, over the weekend, shocked the world. His colleagues and family describe him as a compassionate healthcare professional, and despite a statement by Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, saying he was armed with a handgun, he was holding a phone, not a weapon, at the time he was pepper-sprayed, tackled and shot by federal agents.

Renée Good, a 37-year-old American citizen, was also fatally shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement two weeks before Alex Pretti was killed. These two citizen deaths are unlikely to be the last at the hands of ICE and many more American citizens have been and will be injured. For an increasing number of onlookers, this is all the bloody result of a recruitment drive that prioritises muscle over training, and whose messaging carries serious fascist overtones.

History might not repeat exactly, but it certainly rhymes. One of the most widely circulated recruitment images for ICE shows Uncle Sam, not rallying for a war abroad but apparently dithering at a crossroads: one direction labelled with virtuous abstractions – “HOMELAND”, “SERVICE”, “OPPORTUNITY” – the other with dread – “INVASION”, “CULTURAL DECLINE”. It is classic mobilisation art: a simplified nation-persona confronted by existential choice, reduced to signposts and slogans.

The image was posted by the DHS, along with the words, “Which way, American man?”, which was clearly a deliberate nod to the book Which Way, Western Man?, a vile 700-page tome by William Gayley Simpson and published by a neo-Nazi press back in the 1970s. As the book claimed that non-whites are a threat to the very existence of America, there can be no doubt that the words chosen to accompany the poster were designed to appeal to those who decide “real Americans” along racial lines.

Just one day after Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, the podium where Kristi Noem gave her press briefing was emblazoned with the slogan “One of ours, all of yours”. This phrase is strongly associated with Nazi ideology and SS collective-punishment doctrine, where, during the Third Reich, the killing or arrest of one German soldier would trigger retaliation against civilians (often expressed as “for one German, ten/one hundred locals”). While the DHS denied using literal Nazi propaganda and called the accusation of it being Nazi messaging “tiresome”, critics still believe the wording was deliberate aggressive rhetoric about retaliation or collective punishment.

There is also the poster showing ICE agents as heroic medieval knights, along with the caption, “The enemies are at the gates”. Nazi propaganda, too, just loved depicting members of the SS as knights in armour, ready to protect a sacred homeland from invasion.

Or how about the poster showing the lone silhouette of a cowboy set against a mountain range, above which flies a stealth fighter, and emblazoned with the words, “We’ll have our home again”? The line is the title of a song by the Pine Tree Riots – a band beloved by white nationalists – and which features the lyrics: “In our own towns, we’re foreigners now/ Our names are spat and cursed/ The headline smack, of another attack/ Not the last, and not the worst/ Oh my fathers, they look down on me/ I wonder what they feel/ To see their noble sons driven down beneath a coward’s heel”.

There can be no doubt that the recruitment aesthetic is being tuned to resonate inside a far-right cultural frequency – one in which “invasion”, “decline” and “homeland” are not neutral words but ideological dog whistles.

Why do these phrases matter so much? Because in white supremacist subcultures, “homeland” is rarely just a place. It is an imagined ethno-state – an all-white inheritance threatened by outsiders, upheld by force. “Invasion” is not merely a metaphor for border crossings; it is straight out of the “replacement theory” conspiracy handbook, which claims that non-white migration is a coordinated assault on Western civilisation. With these messages, you are no longer recruiting for law enforcement. You are recruiting for an all-out culture war.

And it is all so very 1930s. Not simply because the graphics borrow the stark, posterised look of interwar recruitment art, but because the emotional structure is the same: a beloved national community said to be on the brink, endangered by “outsiders” and “decadence”, requiring a cadre of tough men to restore order. Fascist movements also sold themselves as saviours rather than vandals.

If you want an embodiment of this aesthetic, look no further than Gregory Bovino, the senior Border Patrol figure who has become a recognisable face of the new enforcement posture. His distinctive brass-buttoned, calf-length greatcoat resonates with a “fascist” aesthetic. Along with his Himmler-like haircut, Bovino basically looks like he is cosplaying a senior SS officer, and does so while presiding over aggressive raids in the name of his country.

As the backlash grows over the killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti, it is being reported that Gregory Bovino and other federal agents are set to depart from Minneapolis. It is right that historians should be cautious with analogies, but we should not be timid. The SA – Hitler’s stormtroopers – although never an extermination unit per se, certainly created the atmosphere currently being invoked on the streets of America. They were a continual presence of street muscle, normalising violence, intimidating communities, and creating a constant and ambient fear that made normal life feel impossible. They terrorised Jewish neighbourhoods, smashed businesses, beat opponents, and taught ordinary people that the state would not protect them.

There are obvious differences between Nazi Germany and the United States in 2026. Yet there is a chilling familiarity in the pattern whereby a state-aligned force is encouraged – through imagery and nationalistic rhetoric – to see itself as the guardian of an ethnically defined nation, and to intentionally impose order through fear.

Against this backdrop, the recruitment imagery curdles into something darker. It is one thing to romanticise enforcement as “service” in the abstract; it is another to do so while agents, operating under the banner of immigration control, are, according to multiple reports, shutting out local scrutiny of the violence being imposed on communities. Through this lens, it is hard to escape the sense that the posters are not incidental marketing, but part of a broader political project: to create a self-selecting, ideologically hardened corps who see their work not as paperwork and arrests, but as a pitched battle for the nation.

Recruitment material that idealises a threatened “homeland” tends, in practice, to picture that homeland as racially homogenous. When the enemy is framed as “invasion”, the invader is understood to be non-white. When the mission is to arrest “illegals”, the public imagination – shaped by years of rhetoric – defaults to brown bodies.

And so much of the messaging which surrounds what some are dubbing “Trump’s private army” reads as an invitation to enforce racial boundaries, not merely legal ones. It implicitly promotes the idea of an all-white homeland under siege, implying that ICE agents are targeting non-white people to “save” it. You do not need to write “white” on a poster for white supremacists to hear it. They have long trained themselves to decode, and the DHS knows it.

The defenders of these campaigns say critics are seeing Nazis everywhere; they argue that the Uncle Sam figure is simply Americana, that “homeland” is a neutral word. To object to this is to be paranoid and melodramatic. But the 1930s taught us precisely why symbolism matters. Fascism did not arrive with a single marching column; it arrived by making brutality feel normal, even noble.

When official government campaigns flirt with far-right iconography and coded language, while federal agents kill citizens and communities describe being terrorised, we are not obliged to wait for jackboots before we recognise the direction of travel.

The posters, the uniforms, the slogans are not the whole story, but they are the weather vane. And right now, it is pointing to an ugly wind.

What the future of travel looks like in 2026

Are we done with viral hotspots? According to travel comparison site KAYAK’s WTF (that’s What The Future, by the way) 2026 trends report, the era of copy-paste travel may finally be winding down. Not because people are travelling less – quite the opposite – but because they’re travelling differently.

Drawing on billions of user searches, an independent survey from more than 14,000 Gen Z and Millennial travellers – including over 2,000 next-gen UK travellers – and exclusive TikTok community insights, KAYAK’s report shows a shift away from headline destinations and performative travel. In their place? Shorter breaks, quieter cities, better value and experiences that feel personal rather than pre-approved.

Here’s what that looks like in practice, and where those trends could take you.

The next “it” destination, it turns out, is the one you haven’t already seen 50 times on your phone. According to KAYAK, 71 per cent of Gen Z and 75 per cent of Millennials actively want to visit places they’ve never been before, while TikTok posts tagged #hiddengems are up more than 50 per cent. Saturation is the new turn-off.

Cork fits that brief neatly. Long treated as a stopping point on the way to somewhere else, Ireland’s second city still flies under the algorithmic radar. Yet it rewards curiosity in small, satisfying ways: a walkable centre, a burgeoning food scene and easy access to coastline and countryside without the fanfare.

Base yourself near Shandon rather than around the busier quays, and start the day with a stroll along the River Lee before the city fully wakes up. For dinner, follow locals to the English Market at lunchtime, then head out to Ballycotton or Garretstown the next morning.

Travellers aren’t cancelling trips in 2026, they’re financing them more creatively. Nearly 30 per cent of Gen Z and Millennial travellers say installment plans will determine how many trips they take, while KAYAK data shows international fares from the UK sitting almost exactly where they were last year. Add a 52 per cent rise in the use of flight price alerts and the picture becomes clear: deal-hunting has gone mainstream.

This shift favours cities that deliver substance without sticker shock. Bilbao still fits the bill, but it’s the city’s everyday pleasures that offer the real value. Skip the Guggenheim café and eat at Gure Toki or Sorginzulo for pintxos done properly. Better still, cross the river into Deusto at lunchtime, where menus del día feel resolutely local and prices soften noticeably. Savvy travellers are stretching budgets without sacrificing experience, and places like Bilbao are making it easy for them.

Forget souvenirs. In 2026, it’s goosebumps people are packing for. More than half of travellers say natural wonders will shape their plans, and 34 per cent list awe-inspiring experiences as a top priority. That’s driving renewed interest in northern landscapes, but not always the obvious ones.

While Tromsø continues to top bucket lists, travellers looking for something fresher are turning towards Christchurch, New Zealand as a gateway rather than a destination in itself. From here, the night skies of the Canterbury plains offer serious dark-sky credentials without the premium price tags of more famous stargazing spots. Pair it with a drive to Lake Tekapo or a night at Mt John Observatory, and prepare to be amazed as the universe puts on one of its more impressive galactic light shows.

AI has officially replaced your mate who “went once and loved it”. Nearly six in 10 travellers say they’d change destination if AI suggested somewhere better, and half would do so for a better deal. Notably, 44 per cent of AI prompts are now about value, not inspiration.

AI can also steer travellers toward lesser-visited cities that prioritise authentic, local experiences over familiar tourist circuits. Fukuoka, in particular, remains one of the country’s most liveable and engaging destinations, offering a compelling blend of modern convenience and rich cultural heritage. Base yourself near Hakata Station for better-value hotels, then eat like a local at the yatai food stalls along the Naka River. It’s informal, affordable and far more revealing than a booked-out tasting menu. Leveraging AI-led planning tools helps today’s savvy travellers to unlock the city’s true potential, moving beyond generic guidebook recommendations.

Luxury, redefined, looks suspiciously like a good night’s sleep. KAYAK’s report shows 69 per cent of Gen Z and Millennials travel primarily for mental reset, while wellness-led luxury continues to rise. The emphasis has shifted from showing off to switching off.

The Greek island of Zakynthos excels here, particularly inland. Head to villages such as Kiliomenos, where evenings are cooler and dinner at family-run tavernas like Latas stretches lazily into the night. No playlists, no dress code, just plates refilled without fuss. For one in five travellers, it’s the small comforts that matter most: a quiet morning, decent coffee, and nowhere you’re expected to be. Wellness travel isn’t about spa breaks and luxury escapes anymore; it’s about coming back better than you left.

The big-city rush is out. In 2026, 84 per cent of younger travellers say they’d rather visit a smaller city or rural area than a major hub. Lower prices help, but the real appeal is authenticity that doesn’t need explaining.

Bastia, in northern Corsica, perfectly exemplifies the trend. Mornings on the old port unfold naturally with fishermen unloading and café chairs scraping into place. Walk up to the Citadelle before the heat builds, then lunch at U San Ghjuvà for unfussy Corsican cooking. These are places where life hasn’t been edited for visitors. Yes, social media still nudges people towards them, but only once they’re already halfway there.

In 2026, the destination is wherever the action is. An overwhelming 95 per cent of Gen Z and Millennials plan to travel for a major event, whether that’s a concert, a sporting tournament or a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

Cities that flex around calendars are winning. In Canada, Toronto works as a terrific base. But those thinking ahead are looking beyond the obvious to places like Halifax, where festivals, touring acts and sporting events are easier to access and far less inflated by demand. Stay near the waterfront, eat at The Bicycle Thief, and let the event anchor the trip rather than dominate it.

Over half of travellers say slower travel helps clear their head, and #slowtravel content has surged by almost 330 per cent on TikTok. But the aim isn’t inactivity, more a break from decision-making.

The Azores remain a benchmark, but similar benefits can be found in places like Praia in Cape Verde. The rhythm is gentle, the beaches walkable, and long lunches at Quintal da Música turn into evenings almost by accident. Headspace holidays aren’t about ticking boxes, they’re about removing friction and the demand for constant optimisation.

Adventure hasn’t disappeared, it’s simply grown up. Nearly one in four travellers now combine light outdoor activity with proper rest, while searches for amenities like terraces, hot tubs and gyms continue to rise. The Great Outdoors is now more likely to be paired with a Quite Decent bottle of wine.

Hilo, on Hawaii’s Big Island, captures that softer approach to adventure perfectly. Base yourself here and mornings might mean walking the edge of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park or taking an easy hike through the stunning scenery of Akaka Falls rainforest. Afternoons are for slowing down: soaking in naturally warmed ocean pools, lingering over poke bowls or fresh fish, and letting yourself reset.

Who says holidays have to be long? Nearly two-thirds of travellers plan to take several shorter trips in 2026, with searches for one-to-four-day breaks continuing to rise. The appeal is immediacy: quick resets, minimal planning and maximum reward.

Milan makes for an excellent Nanocation. Trains run on time, neighbourhoods are compact, and finding good food rarely requires much research. Rather than chasing the Duomo and moving on, spend a night in areas like Isola or Porta Venezia, where the city feels lived-in rather than visited. Grab a seat for aperitivo along the Navigli as the working day winds down, eat late without ceremony, and walk everywhere. Milan rewards restraint; do it right, and even 24 hours can feel like a proper break.

With billions of user searches across its platforms, KAYAK helps travellers find their perfect flight, stay, rental car or holiday package. Download the app here and start exploring.

Tories forced to retract Braverman mental health claim

The Conservative Party has been forced to retract a statement making claims about Suella Braverman’s mental health after her dramatic defection to Reform following criticism from politicians and charities.

The former home secretary was unveiled as the latest ex-Tory right-winger to defect to Nigel Farage’s party on Monday, following her friend and political ally, Robert Jenrick.

But soon after the defection, an initial response issued by the Conservative Party included the sentence: “The Conservatives did all we could to look after Suella’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy.”

Speaking at a press conference, Ms Braverman said: “It is a bit pathetic. As I said, it says more about them than it does me. I’m not really going to dignify it.

“It is, I’m afraid, just more sorry signs of a bitter and desperate party that seems to be in free fall.”

A Reform UK spokesperson described the statement as “gutter politics”, as the reference was decried across the political spectrum and by mental health charities, and forced her former party into a humiliating retraction.

The statement came after a bitter month for the Tories with Mr Jenrick, Ms Braverman and Romford MP Andrew Rosindell all defecting. Another nine Tory MPs are on a defection watchlist.

Her defection means there are now more members of Liz Truss’s cabinet in Reform than on Kemi Badenoch’s front bench.

A tweet supporting Ms Braverman from former Brexit minister Lord Frost also sparked renewed speculation that he will be the latest Boris Johnson ally to join Mr Farage.

But the tone of the Tory attack on Ms Braverman, the MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, was met with an angry response.

Brian Dow, deputy chief executive of the Rethink Mental Illness charity, warned the issue of mental health should not be “used as a political football”.

“Employers should never disclose any details about the mental health of their employees or former staff,” he said.

“Doing so says far more about them than the person they are referring to. People living with mental ill-health do not deserve to have their experiences trivialised or used as a political football.”

Both Labour and Conservative politicians criticised the statement as “nasty and unpleasant”.

Conservative peer Lord Jackson wrote on X: “What a nasty and unpleasant statement from @Conservatives. That’s another few thousand votes they’ve lost.”

Meanwhile, Labour MP Jake Richards wrote on social media: “I hope decent Conservatives call this statement out. It is beneath them.”

Home Office minister Mike Tapp criticised the statement as “below the standards we expect”.

“I have no sympathy for Suella Braverman when it comes to politics and what she did to our immigration system,” he wrote on X.

“But the Tories attacking her mental health is below the standards we expect. British values are strong but decent, firm but fair. Neither the Tories nor Reform sign up to that.”

Hours later, the sentence was removed and a new statement was reissued. The party said the earlier version was a draft sent out in error.

The corrected statement from a Conservative Party spokesman now reads: “It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect.

The statement adds: “There are some people who are fMPs because they care about their communities and want to deliver a better country.

“There are others who do it for their personal ambition. Suella stood for leader of the Conservatives in 2022 and came sixth, behind Kemi and Tom Tugendhat.

“In 2024 she could not even muster enough supporters to get on the ballot. She has now decided to try her luck with Nigel Farage, who said last year he didn’t want her in Reform. They really are doing our ‘Spring cleaning’!”

After being introduced as the eighth Reform MP at a rally in London, Ms Braverman, who once ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party and was a major supporter of Brexit, said: “Today I am announcing that I am resigning the Conservative whip and my party membership of 30 years. And because I believe with my heart and soul that a better future is possible for us, I am joining Reform UK.”

She told the crowd that Mr Farage was the only man in UK politics who has been “courageously consistent”.

Two years ago, when she was home secretary, Ms Farage had described Ms Braverman as “absolutely pathetic” on immigration and stopping the small boats.

When asked about his previous comments after Ms Braverman’s defection, Mr Farage told reporters on Monday: “Utterly useless as they all were. They all were utterly useless, because they were stuck within the ECHR. So she found herself in this bizarre position….we were still stuck in the ECHR, which she opposed.

He added: “The government was a failure, but she’s now prepared to put her hands up and say, ‘we got it wrong’, and that’s the first criteria.”

In a chequered career Ms Braverman was forced to resign as home secretary from Ms Truss’s government and then sacked from the same role by Rishi Sunak.

As well as being a so-called Brexit spartan who voted against all Theresa May’s deals with the EU, she also infamously attacked rough sleepers and described asylum seekers as “invaders” in a career which saw her on the extreme right of the Conservative Party.

Anna Turley, the Labour chair, said: “Nigel Farage is stuffing his party full of the failed Tories responsible for the chaos and decline that held Britain back for 14 years.

“Suella Braverman helped botch Brexit and got sacked as home secretary – her defection shows Farage is willing to accept the very worst of the Conservative Party and exposes his complete lack of judgement.”

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.

Venezuela’s acting leader says she has ‘had enough’ of US orders

Venezuela has had “enough” of taking orders from the Trump administration, the country’s acting leader has said just weeks after Washington claimed she would “run” the country under their instruction.

Delcy Rodriguez assumed the role of president earlier this month after US forces captured Nicolas Maduro in a dramatic overnight raid, plunging the country into chaos.

“Enough already of Washington’s orders over politicians in Venezuela. Let Venezuelan politics resolve our differences and internal conflicts. Enough of foreign powers,” she told oil workers in Puerto La Cruz city, according to state-run channel Venezolana de Televisión.

Caracas has remained under pressure from Washington following months of military buildup near the country and attacks on Venezuelan ships in the Caribbean Sea.

In the wake of Mr Maduro’s capture, Donald Trump declared that the US was “going to run” Venezuela. But afterwards he appeared to back down, giving his backing to Ms Rodriguez to take office as an interim leader.

The Trump administration has nonetheless pushed Ms Rodríguez and other allies of Mr Maduro to allow greater investment from US energy companies in Venezuela’s flagging oil industry – one of the main motivations behind Mr Trump’s actions in South America.

Ms Rodriguez said Caracas would address longstanding disputes “face to face” with Washington, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

“We are not afraid, because what must unite us as a people is guaranteeing peace and stability for this country,” Ms Rodriguez said.

She had earlier on Saturday appealed for talks with the opposition in Venezuela to reach “agreements” on the country’s political future, declaring that there must be “no political or partisan differences when it comes to peace in Venezuela”.

But Maduro loyalists were left concerned after Venezuela’s legislature started debating a loosening of state control over the country’s vast oil sector, in the first major overhaul since the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez nationalised parts of the industry in 2007.

The legislation, which appears to be an attempt to partially appease the US government, would create new opportunities for private companies to invest in the oil industry and establish international arbitration for investment disputes.

The draft shows a dramatic change from the economic nationalism of Chavez, who accused multinationals of colonial exploitation and considered the country’s oil wealth to be state property.

It would allow private companies to operate oil fields independently and collect cash revenues, despite remaining on paper minority partners to the state oil company.