Wife of ex-Tory councillor jailed for social media rant loses appeal
The wife of a former Conservative county councillor has had her jail sentence upheld after she made an online rant about migrants on the day of the Southport attacks.
Lucy Connolly, 42, was handed a 31-month sentence after admitting making a post on X in the hours after three girls were stabbed and killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
In response, she had tweeted to her 9,000 followers: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care, while you’re at it take the treacherous government and politicians with them.
“I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist so be it.”
It was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours before Connolly deleted it.
On Tuesday Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Sheldon, refused her application to appeal.
In a written judgment, Lord Justice Holroyde, said: “There is no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive.
“The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused.”
During a hearing last Thursday at the Court of Appeal, she said that she “never” intended to incite violence and did not realise pleading guilty would mean she accepted that she had.
Giving evidence from HMP Drake Hall in Eccleshall in Staffordshire, Connolly had written the post on 29 July when she was “really angry, really upset” and that she knew how the parents felt.
She said: “Those parents still have to live a life of grief. It sends me into a state of anxiety and I worry about my children.”
The court heard that Connolly’s son died tragically around 14 years ago, and that news of the murders of the children in Southport had heightened her sensitivity.
When asked why she had deleted the post three and a half hours after posting it, Connolly added: “I calmed myself down, and I know that wasn’t an acceptable thing to say. It wasn’t the right thing to say, it wasn’t what I wanted to happen.”
In the aftermath of the stabbing, anti-immigration riots broke out across the country with mosques, homes and businesses targeted. Over 1,200 people were arrested while over 130 police officers were injured between 30 July and 5 August 2024.
Adam King, representing Connolly, asked if she had intended for anyone to set fire to asylum hotels, or “murder any politicians”.
She replied: “Absolutely not.”
However, the prosecution had argued that the post was a reflection of her attitude towards immigrants. When she was arrested on 6 August, she had deleted her social media account but other messages which included further racist remarks were recovered on her phone.
Naeem Valli, for the prosecution, asked Connolly if she believed the country was being “invaded” by immigrants.
She replied: “I believe that we have a massive number of people in the country that are unchecked, coming into the country and I believe that is a national security risk.”
She added that it would be “absolutely incorrect” to say she did not want immigrants in the country.
The former childminder, who is married to Raymond Connolly, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court last October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred.
Mr Connolly had been a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor but lost his seat in May. He remains on the town council.
In a statement issued by a spokesperson, Mr Connolly said the decision by the Court of Appeal to dismiss his wife Lucy’s appeal was “shocking and unfair”.
He said: “The 284 days of separation have been very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl. Lucy posted one nasty tweet when she was upset and angry about three little girls who were brutally murdered in Southport.
“She realised the tweet was wrong and deleted it within four hours. That did not mean Lucy was a ‘far right thug’ as Prime Minister Keir Starmer claimed.
“My wife Lucy is a good person and not a racist. As a childminder she took care of small children of African and Asian heritage; they loved Lucy as she loved them. My wife has paid a very high price for making a mistake and today the court has shown her no mercy.
“Lucy got more time in jail for one tweet than some paedophiles and domestic abusers get. I think the system wanted to make an example of Lucy so other people would be scared to say things about immigration. This is not the British way.”
EU urges Trump to hit Moscow with sanctions after threats to drop Putin peace talks
Donald Trump has been urged to pressure Russia with further sanctions, after Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky warned Vladimir Putin is “trying to buy time” to continue his war.
The US president insisted progress had been made after his two-hour call with the Russian president on Monday.
But despite Mr Trump saying negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow would begin “immediately”, the Kremlin quickly poured cold water on the US president’s optimistic statements, saying “there are no deadlines and there can’t be any”.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Russia’s failure to negotiate in good faith should trigger threatened US sanctions.
“We really haven’t seen, you know, the pressure on Russia from these talks,” she told reporters.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, repeated his threat to abandon efforts to broker peace, insisting that he has a “red line in my head” on when he will walk away and saying: “This is not my war.”
Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued along the front line, with Ukraine reporting 177 combat clashes and claiming to have inflicted more than 1,000 casualties upon Russia over the past 24 hours.
British athlete smashes record for running width of Australia
A British ultra-endurance athlete has broken the world record for running across Australia in just over a month.
William Goodge, 31, crossed the finish line in Sydney shortly after 4pm on Monday, completing the 3,800km run in 35 days at Bondi Beach.
The athlete from Bedfordshire started his run in Perth on 15 April and covered about 100km every day, the equivalent of two and a half marathons.
Mr Goodge shattered the world record held by Australian Chris Turnbull, who ran the width of the country in 2023 in 39 days.
Mr Turnbull himself had taken the record from Nedd Brockmann. The Australian electrician had completed the same run the year before in 47 days.
Mr Goodge said he started running marathons to raise money for cancer charities in the UK, US and Australia in honour of his mother, who died from cancer in 2018.
The athlete was handed bouquets of flowers after he crossed the finish line, which he placed at the shoreline in memory of his late mother.
“She was the most special person in my life,” he told The Guardian. “She would be proud of everything I’ve done – she’d also be concerned.”
Mr Goodge’s father joined him at the finish line, where the athlete said the run was “like a revolving nightmare that wouldn’t end”.
“The first nine days were extremely challenging,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald, “but you have to tell your body and mind that even though you’re struggling, you’re going to persevere, and you’re going to get through it.”
Mr Goodge explained how the challenging run took a toll on his body, saying his toenails started falling off along the way, his feet started rotting and the pain in his bones disrupted his sleep, causing him to hallucinate.
“So, in the moments where it’s tough, I will think back to those times, I think about the woman she was and how she handled herself and how she supported me,” Mr Goodge told the Australian daily, adding that he felt “like she’s there with me a lot of the time”.
Trump’s negotiations with Putin mean Europe should prepare for a second cold war
It is always painful to abandon longstanding certainties. The transatlantic security bond has, for 76 years, been one such certainty. Since 1949, generations of Europeans and North Americans have lived with the confidence that political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic shared a strong commitment to the international rules-based order, democratic principles, and a common vision of “Europe whole, free and at peace”.
Notwithstanding sporadic disagreements between individual allies, and regular requests from the US for Europe to bear a fairer share of the military burden, the allies’ vow to defend each other in case of need and maintain a credible military deterrent was never called into question, and neither was the willingness of any given occupant of the Oval Office to come to the aid of a Nato member if they were attacked.
Now, Donald Trump and his Maga acolytes have brutally shattered this certainty. The transatlantic partnership is unravelling in front of our eyes: in the space of 100 days, Trump has undermined Nato’s collective stance on defence; hit the global economy with tariffs; threatened the territorial integrity of dedicated allies Canada and Denmark; interfered in the internal affairs of allies with his brazen support for European right-wing populist parties; and departed from well-established multilateral bodies including the World Health Organisation, the International Criminal Court and the UN Climate Change Conference. In a series of hammer blows, Trump has shattered the rules-based global order.
Shockingly for Washington’s longstanding European allies, the Trump administration is prepared to hand on a plate to Vladimir Putin, the most brutal aggressor Europe has faced since Hitler, two major Russian foreign policy goals: the decoupling of America from European security, and the neutralisation of Nato.
Trump’s attempts to ram a so-called “peace deal” down Ukrainian and European throats, side with the Kremlin and its authoritarian supporters in UN votes, suspend cyber operations against Russia, and acknowledge Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea while halting critical military intelligence for Ukraine, underscore Washington’s departure from the Nato consensus on Russia and Ukraine.
While European leaders are trying desperately to keep Trump on side, hoping he will pressure Putin into coming to the negotiating table, their potential diplomatic breakthrough in Istanbul flopped. Trump is deeply agnostic about the fate of Ukraine, and is ready to recognise a Russian sphere of influence in Eastern Europe – the US-Ukrainian “minerals” deal does not change this fact.
While it was a clever move by the government in Kyiv to bind Washington, to some degree, to Ukraine’s future, the fact is that without cast-iron security guarantees, Trump’s commitment to Ukraine will remain lukewarm at best.
This US foreign policy shift is fundamental. It goes much deeper than military and financial burden-sharing. For Trump, the geopolitical sphere is a jungle in which only those with a “winner takes all” approach can survive. Enlarging America’s geoeconomic sphere of influence, keeping China (as its most daunting strategic competitor) at bay, and aggressively pursuing profitable business deals are Trump’s foreign policy objectives.
Europeans and Canadians must confront the new geopolitical reality with clarity. Fear is a mind-killer. Denial is not a strategy. Neither is polite subordination, or whitewashing Trump’s actions. While some European governments support the concept of transatlantic burden-shifting, they still look to Washington to provide them with a generous five-to-10-year timeframe to build up Europe’s defence capability, hoping that the US withdraws in good order. This is naive at best. Rather, the assumption must be that Trump has pulled the US defence rug from under Europe’s feet, and that Europe must stand alone or fail.
This means it is imperative for Europeans and Canadians to keep Nato functioning, and to increase Europe’s capabilities quickly. Currently, the European Union is unable to generate a comparable warfighting capability. If Ukraine is to be supported and Russia deterred, Europe and Canada must accept Trump’s decoupling from European security as a fact and start developing a concrete roadmap for a reinvigorated Nato that Europeans will lead in the future.
The list of issues to be tackled is hard and long: how can the alliance function in the presence of disruptive US actions, a reduced US force posture in Europe, and a smaller US financial contribution to Nato’s common, civil and military budgets? How can the allies fill the gaps left by the US in Nato’s command structure, the alliance’s vitally important backbone? How can we replace the US’s critical strategic battle-winning enablers and, most critically, US troops assigned to Nato’s battle groups in Poland, Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria? And how can we maintain a credible nuclear deterrence posture?
The challenge at hand may look overwhelming. But with sufficient political will, overcoming it is feasible. A European-led Nato command structure could be trimmed down and adapted. A general defence plan, combined with a rigorous exercise programme, could help to gear Nato’s military posture towards what it must be prepared for in the first place: to fight a modern conventional war across all domains.
A much more synchronised capability development programme, worked out in close cooperation with the European Union, could fill gaps in command and control, reconnaissance and surveillance, military mobility, and other areas of European military weakness.
Now is the time for “action this day”, as Churchill would have said. The opportunity presented by the Nato summit in June must not be squandered by supplicant European leaders begging for a sign from Trump that all remains well. That horse has bolted from the stable.
Rather, they must present a rigorous strategy for how a Europe that is free and secure from the long-term existential threat posed by Russia can be achieved without US participation. The first step in such a strategy is to provide the means, capabilities and expertise to support Ukraine in defeating Russia, and to provide the country with credible security guarantees. Only when Putin and his successors recognise that Ukraine will never become part of a new Russian empire can there be lasting peace in Europe.
The way ahead will be hard. European societies must rebuild the resilience they possessed during the Cold War, which will mean sacrifice, hard work, moral courage, and exemplary political leadership. However, the alternatives are grim. Capitulation to the Trump agenda spells suicide for European security and democracy, the rolling back of Nato from its post-1997 boundaries, and the establishment of Putin’s “new Yalta”, in which Russia, once again, dominates Eastern Europe.
This would mean almost certain war between Europe (and Canada) and Russia. But such a catastrophe is not inevitable if Europe is prepared to fight a second cold war to avoid an even bigger global disaster. As Carl von Clausewitz wrote: “The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgement that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish the nature of the kind of war on which they are embarking.”
European leaders have had more than three years to recognise that the Russian way of war and diplomacy is one that is based on the brutal application of raw power and terror. Now they must turn the tide. By unleashing the right will, energy and determination, Europe is more than capable of outmatching Russia. Above all, Europeans must believe in their own power.
General Sir Richard Shirreff was Nato’s deputy supreme allied commander of Europe, and Dr Stefanie Babst is a former Nato deputy assistant secretary general
From secluded bays to family-friendly shores, discover Costa Dorada’s beaches
Whether you prefer your sunbathing broken up by a spot of snorkelling, experiencing local culture, or simply blissfully uninterrupted – the Costa Dorada (locally known as Costa Daurada) has the perfect beach for you. With 50 miles of coastline, and 26 Blue Flag beaches, it doesn’t matter if you’re after calm waters, family-friendly facilities or adventurous water sports – there’s a sunspot that caters for every traveller.
What’s more, with Jet2holidays flying to the Costa Dorada from 12 UK airports and a range of two to five-star accommodation, it’s easy to get your beach break sorted. Jet2holidays is always giving you more, to help make planning and booking as smooth as possible. That goes for the PayPal Pay in 3 interest-free payments** option, 22kg baggage and 10kg hand luggage, and return transfers† that are included. Look out for Free Child Places***, and infants under two go free‡.
Here we pick out just some of the region’s gorgeous shores to delve into…
In one of the most picturesque and lively parts of Costa Dorada sits this almost two-and-a-half mile stretch of beach, lined with palms as well as the famous pine trees that give the area its name. It’s fab for everything from gentle strolls and paddles to more active games of volleyball, sand football and tennis. Other activities on offer include everything from shoreside Zumba classes to yoga, meditation and mindfulness sessions. The slow slope of sand into sparkling waters makes it ideal for families with young children, while for the real water babies, the exhilarating Aquopolis waterpark is only a short walk from the beach. With plenty of bars, restaurants, toilets and shower facilities lining the pretty promenade, there’s no reason not to stay all day.
With over five miles of Blue Flag beaches, all with gentle waters, Cambrils makes an excellent family-friendly break. Great for water sports such as kayaking, paddleboarding and sailing – especially at the pristine Platja del Cavet Beach, where the Escola Nàutica water sports centre offers windsurfing lessons.
For something more laidback, head to Platja de la Llosa for a series of smaller, but equally beautiful, beaches and coves. Then why not potter around the picturesque, cobbled alleyways of the old town to sample delicious local dishes? While you’re in the area, take the opportunity to visit neighbouring Platja de la Pixerota in Mont-roig on the southern border of Cambrils, to enjoy breathtaking views out to the Gulf of Sant Jordi and learn about the fascinating Spanish Civil War bunkers situated in the middle of the beach.
As the tourist capital of the Costa Dorada and the epicentre of amusement and entertainment, Salou’s beaches are home to good times for kids and adults alike. And being so close to PortAventura World (one of Europe’s largest theme parks) means double the fun, when so many of Jet2holidays’ Experience More hotels include park entry, meaning staying and playing is on the cards. Don’t miss the stunning Llevant Beach, dotted with colourful sunloungers and umbrellas, where the sea is filled with kayaks and jet skis. In between sunbathing and water sports, you can also enjoy wandering along its pretty promenade of shops, restaurants and bars. For something a little more secluded, take the coastal path to the sand dunes, pine trees and shallow crystalline waters of Platja Llarga, which is great for snorkelling.
This charming beach town is as much a magnet to those looking for lazy beach days as it is for history lovers. A medieval castle forms the backdrop to a swathe of fine golden sand at Platja d’Altafulla, and it’s a stone’s throw from the famous Roman ruins at Tarragona. You can even borrow a book from the Bibliomar beach library, which also organises workshops and storytelling, or join a yoga or Pilates class on the sands.
Walk down to neighbouring Tamarit Beach, which has its own castle dating back to the 11th century, as well as some friendly beach bars for a cheeky cocktail. Also in the area is family-friendly Coma-ruga Beach in El Vendrell. Its clear waters, palm-lined promenade of restaurants, bars and shops, and natural thermal springs, make for a balanced beach break.
The soft, sloping sands make Platja La Paella a super-safe option for families with children who love spending all day in the sea. As for water sports, there’s a designated area for surfers, and a bespoke exit and entry point for jet skis. The nearby marina offers scuba diving, snorkelling, water skiing and boat trips. For those who prefer being on terra firma, there are kids’ playgrounds, and a sports zone with four volleyball courts and three beach football pitches, often hosting championships. In summer, sports camps and gymnastics sessions are held here.
One of the most unique beaches in the Costa Dorada, the sugar-like sands and translucent waters of l’Arenal are split into two parts. There’s the northern section with its promenade and the Base Nautica water sports resort, which offers dinghy sailing, windsurfing and kayaking. Then there’s the southern part, which can only be accessed via a listed Blue Trail footpath. Here you can enjoy magnificent dunes, marshlands and white pine woodlands around a more tranquil shore.
With Jet2holidays, you can book your trip to the Costa Dorada with lots of package perks thrown in to make getting away even easier. From a low £60 per person deposit* to PayPal Pay in 3 interest-free payments**, 22kg baggage and 10kg hand luggage per person to return transfers†, it’s all included. Families can make the most of Free Child Places*** while infants under two go free‡. And with flights included and the choice of two to five-star hotels, Jet2holidays is always giving you more. For more Costa Dorada travel inspiration, and to find and book your ultimate holiday, visit Jet2holidays. Plus, right now, myJet2 members can save £100 per person§ in The Big Jet2 Price Drop (correct at original publish date).
*On bookings made ten weeks or more before departure. Full payment required by balance due date. **Spread the cost over three interest-free payments. Available when booked online, for holidays under £2,000, departing within ten weeks. ***One free child place per two paying passengers. Subject to availability. T&Cs apply, please see www.jet2holidays.com/promotions#FCP2025 for further details. †Unless otherwise stated. ‡Applicable for all infants under the age of two years on the date of return. Infants are not entitled to a flight seat (they must be seated with a parent or guardian) or a 22kg baggage allowance. §£100 per person off holidays for myJet2 members departing until 15 November 2026. myJet2 members will need to be logged into their account at the time of booking for the discount to automatically apply. Book online, via our app, through our call centre or with your travel agent. Please note the discount is not applied to children travelling on a free child place. Terms and conditions apply, please see www.jet2holidays.com/promotions#100APRIL2025 for details.
The West has finally spoken up on Gaza – but it must not stop there
Certainly not before time, the British government on Tuesday suspended trade talks with the Netanyahu administration and slapped it with further sanctions over its “egregious” military operation to “take over” Gaza – or whatever remains of it. So, too, have other close allies of Israel warned Benjamin Netanyahu to permit urgently needed humanitarian aid through. They must also act.
It is some months since anything resembling an adequate supply of food and medicines were provided to keep blameless Palestinian civilians alive, and famine, as well as war and pestilence, now stalks the Holy Land in grim Biblical fashion.
Tom Fletcher, the UN relief chief whose powerful speech last week did so much to mobilise global opinion, warns now that the lives of some 14,000 infants will be lost over the next 48 hours – if aid remains held up by the Israeli authorities. As Mr Fletcher notes, a mere five trucks of aid have gone into Gaza recently – a “drop in the ocean”. And even this minuscule contribution is only just inside the border, and hasn’t reached many civilians.
As the lorries contain baby food, they are unlikely to be compelling targets for Hamas to steal. Now reports say 100 lorries are coming through, but many thousands are needed on a consistent basis for disaster to be averted.
The situation, always appalling, has now reached unimaginable levels of desperation in Gaza, and the images of obviously malnourished, starving children have been so graphic that international pressure has forced Mr Netanyahu to bend – a little.
In a defiantly candid broadcast, the Israeli prime minister informed his people that such has been the outrage in the United States Congress from those normally automatically loyal to the Netanyahu administration that he has had to relent and permit essential supplies to move into the war zone. Mercy, in other words, has nothing to do with it.
With a knowing expression on his face, Mr Netanyahu stressed that the only reason even token aid was being allowed in was for “practical and diplomatic reasons”. Specifically, Mr Netanyahu cited US senators – Israel’s “greatest friends in the world” – who told him they would withdraw support for the country because of the media images of starving Palestinians. In his own account, they apparently informed him: “We cannot accept images of hunger, mass hunger. We cannot stand that.”
That statement is telling in a number of ways. First, it does prove that even this man, whose instinct for political survival is well-developed, and his even more extreme cabinet colleagues, are susceptible to political pressure. Second, as has been obvious since the foundation of the state of Israel, it is always the United States above all that counts.
Such has been the wanton destruction and newly stated ambition of Israeli territorial control in Gaza – a distinct break with past policy – it raises questions around what has been discussed between President Trump and Mr Netanyahu, given that even the modest restraints on Israeli aggression and expansionism that had been urged during the Biden administration (and many of its predecessors) seem to have gone.
Recent events involving settlers on the West Bank are also suggestive of an unprecedented level of American indulgence. How far prospective Israeli military occupation of the rubble-scape of Gaza is consistent with President Trump’s ambition to create an American-administered resort remains to be determined. But there appears no sign of President Trump exerting himself to save Arab lives.
The US National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt has stated: “Hamas has rejected repeated ceasefire proposals, and therefore bears sole responsibility for this conflict.” That may be true, but Israel has long since abused its inalienable right to defend itself after the 7 October atrocities, and conducted the conflict such that it has provoked charges of war crimes at the International Court of Justice. The war has become obscenely disproportionate.
Given that the Trump administration apparently remains content with this situation, that is all the more reason for America’s and Israel’s partners to step up the pressure. “Concrete measures” must start with clear and unambiguous condemnation of the Netanyahu government by Emmanuel Macron, Mark Carney, and all of Israel’s other friends.
On Tuesday, MPs from five political parties – Labour, the Tories, Lib Dems, Greens and SNP – told the foreign secretary David Lammy that the British government needs to go further and faster, including suspending arms sales to Israel and sanctioning ministers in the Netanyahu government.
As The Independent put on the front page of our daily edition on 11 May, we must end the deafening silence on Gaza; it is time to speak up. This must be allied to quiet but forceful diplomatic activity, with a focus on persuading Washington to realise the enormity – and danger – of what is happening.
There is a moral, humanitarian case for the Trump White House to act – but also a political and diplomatic one, which the president and his circle might find more persuasive. Mr Netanyahu is not acting in America’s interests. The war in Gaza, now seemingly with the objective of levelling the place and forcing its people out, makes Mr Trump’s ambition to extend the Abraham Accords, and formal recognition of Israel to his friends in the Gulf states, virtually impossible.
Despite the lucrative public and private deals recently secured by Mr Trump, the region will never be stable unless the war in Gaza is ended, and neither will American investment in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar be secure – nor a nuclear deal with Iran be possible.
On the Houthis, relations with the new Syrian leader and on Iran, President Trump has shown he is capable of independent thought and action that is not to Mr Netanyahu’s tastes; but on Gaza he is, as yet, unmoved. Soon the tragedy in Gaza may lead to a wave of many thousands of perfectly genuine refugees fleeing Palestine for a new life in the West – another powerful reason to end the conflict immediately.
There are other measures that may be raised by the international community. The supply of lethal or dual-use weaponry to Israel could be incrementally, gradually curtailed – something former US president Joe Biden did with the heaviest of ordnance, which was being used by the Israeli army inappropriately in densely populated areas.
The question of recognition of the state of Palestine could also be more openly discussed, preparatory to the two-state solution that may feel far distant now, but remains the official policy of most Western nations. Recognition might put it back on the table. Further, more assertive, economic pressure on the Netanyahu government is also an option, though never to be deployed in a manner that would endanger Israel’s right to exist.
It would also be useful for British ministers, and their international counterparts, to win the arguments with Mr Netanyahu about his war. He did not succeed in the rapid release of the hostages. He has not broken Hamas and ended the threat of terrorist attacks. He has eliminated a few Hamas leaders, but usually not as a result of indiscriminate mass bombings but by carefully targeted assassinations.
Put simply, Mr Netanyahu’s war in Gaza has not only been a continuing humanitarian disaster, it has failed in its stated objectives. It has left the Israeli people less secure than they were before the 7 October attacks. That, for him, should be the greatest indictment of all.