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The Guardian view on Reform UK: crypto billionaires must be stopped from undermining democracy | Editorial

The vast sums given to Nigel Farage’s party in recent days must lead to action on political funding The staggering sums gifted to Reform UK over the weekend have transformed the context for the representation of the people bill making its way through parliament. The announcement of two £36m donations from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, both crypto billionaires who have lived abroad, makes Andy Burnham’s decision not to impose a limit on political donations – a move he supported before becoming prime minister – look even more misguided. Fortunately the House of Lords still has the chance to amend the bill. It should take it by imposing meaningful limits on both political donations and party spending. It is unclear whether either man meets the criteria set out in the Rycroft review into foreign influence in politics. It set a maximum of £100,000 per annum for people who have not been in the UK for at least a year. Mr Delo previously lived in Hong Kong while Mr Harborne is based partly in Thailand; Nigel Farage said on Monday that he does not know the details of their movements. While ministers will view the prospect of a legal fight over eligibility with trepidation, they must do what it takes to ensure rules are met. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Editorial14 Sept

Leeds United v Newcastle United: Premier League – live

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off ⚽ 10 weekend talking points | And you can mail Daniel Let’s take a loser look at the teams… Daniel Farke tells Sky it’s been a good start in terms of performance and points, but this is a difficult test against a strong team who are especially dangerous in transition. They’re hoping to ride momentum and it’s good their fans are excited having suffered plenty. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Daniel Harris14 Sept

Alligator Alcatraz held detainees in cages the size of phone booths, DHS watchdog says

Office of inspector general’s report says practice at Florida immigration jail is not aligned with ‘humane treatment’ Before the facility was shuttered , detainees at Florida ’s “Alligator Alcatraz” federal immigration jail were frequently locked in outside metal cages no bigger than a phone booth, according to a damning government watchdog report that said the practice “does not align with standards for humane treatment”. The findings from the office of the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were published on its website – and offer rare criticism of the Trump administration by one of its own agencies. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Richard Luscombe in Miami14 Sept

Andrew Davies admits to drawing on ‘stimulating’ Made in Chelsea for Jane Austen adaptation

Screenwriter points to parallels between two worlds while academic says some of author’s characters ‘would make perfect reality show contestants’ If Jane Austen’s novels run on closed social worlds, courtship rituals, status anxiety, gossip and relentless scrutiny of who’s coupling with who, it follows that the obvious contemporary equivalent would be reality television. That’s according to Andrew Davies, the writer who has spent decades modernising British period dramas. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent14 Sept

Maryland boy recovering from surgeries after rabid beaver attack at state park

Teen was swimming at a popular spot at the time of the attack, the latest in a string that have occurred in the state A 13-year-old Maryland boy is reported to be recovering from multiple surgeries and nerve damage after being attacked by a rabid beaver. The teen, Dominick Cebula, was swimming at a popular spot in Cunningham Falls state park in Thurmont, Maryland, on 26 July when a beaver attacked his chest underwater, a relatively rare kind of encounter that more recently has been recurring, according to reporting from local news outlets. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Maya Yang14 Sept

Ally Van Tillo obituary

The activist Ally Van Tillo, who has died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease aged 67, was the founder of the UK Aids Memorial Quilt . It is part of the world’s largest community art project, originating in the US and with chapters around the world, and consists of quilted panels made by friends, partners, family members or colleagues of those who died of Aids-related illness. The Quilt is for commemoration and activism, and against stigma and homophobia. Ally was born in Gourock, a seaside town in Renfrewshire; adopted as a baby by Elizabeth Taylor, a pianist, and John Hume, an electrical engineer, he was named Alastair Hume. His first years were spent in Gourock, growing up with his younger sister, Vivienne, before the family moved to Edinburgh, where Ally went to George Heriot’s school. He was brought up to be whoever he wanted to be, and, when he was 13, his mother helped him come out. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Charlie Porter14 Sept

As Reform celebrates £72m in donations, tell me this: are you ready to see two rich men buy our democracy? | Owen Jones

It’s not just that Nigel Farage claimed his movement abhorred the super-rich. It’s also the obscenity of individuals seeking so much sway over who runs the country As £72m in donations makes its way to Reform UK’s bank accounts, consider what Nigel Farage said on the eve of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union a decade ago. “This referendum is the people versus the establishment,” he declared. “It is the vested interest, it’s the rich, it’s the big business.” Just two years ago, Farage assailed “an unholy alliance of big business, big banks and big government”. He is also the same man who, when he debated with the then Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, in 2014, claimed to “represent the mercantile, trading, entrepreneurial end of society”, while his opponent “represents big banks, big government and big business”. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Owen Jones14 Sept

‘Party for sale’? Reform’s £72m donation causes huge backlash | Politics Weekly

There’s been a huge backlash against Reform UK after the party received £72m from two crypto billionaires over the weekend. Paul Nowak, the TUC leader, said the money showed democracy was ‘in crisis’. Labour is pushing for tighter restrictions on political donations which could be retrospective, but Reform is confident this will not affect its new war chest. How much does this money change the political landscape? And with Labour receiving millions from unions, will its new rules backfire? The Guardian’s political editor Pippa Crerar and policy editor Kiran Stacey discuss. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Presented by Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey , produced by Nada Smiljanic , music by Axel Kacoutié ; the executive producer is Maz Ebtehaj14 Sept

Richard Tice rallies to the defence of Reform’s crypto ‘patriots’ | John Crace

You can’t buy Dicky’s level of stupidity though it could be argued that Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo just have Never in the field of British politics has so much been given to so many by so few. You’d have thought Nigel Farage would have wanted to explain Reform’s sudden windfall from Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo himself. To bask in the glory of the donations from two down-to-earth, anti-establishment crypto billionaires. Men who know what it’s like to graft, who know the meaning of an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. There again, Nige is keen not to appear as a one-man band these days and he could do with some downtime to enjoy his own £5m handout. And besides, he’s got a police investigation into Reform party funding to worry about. Even so, it wasn’t the best of looks to send Richard Tice out on to the morning media round. Dicky may have his talents, but he keeps them well concealed. His main talent is the unfortunate ability to make Honest Bob Jenrick sound trustworthy. But he does always leave you guessing. Is he being wilfully stupid or is he naturally that half witted? Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•John Crace14 Sept

Bolsonaro 2.0: Brazil braces for the return of the far right

With Lula mired in scandal, Flávio Bolsonaro is firing up his base in the bellwether state of Minas Gerais – starting at the scene of his father’s stabbing A giant banner of Brazil’s incarcerated former president Jair Bolsonaro fluttered in the morning breeze as his eldest son, Flávio, touched down at an airfield on the fringe of a city that will soon help decide the future of one of the biggest democracies on earth. “Brazil is rudderless. Brazil has no president and Brazil needs a president – and that president is Flávio Bolsonaro,” the far-right senator declared as he waded into the flock of supporters who had gathered to welcome him to Juiz de Fora, one of the largest cities in the battleground state of Minas Gerais. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Tom Phillips in Juiz de Fora14 Sept

Why has university become such a scam? | Zoe Williams

Graduates are leaving with an average debt of £53,000 – while entry-level jobs plummet. It’s time for politicians to stop burying their heads in the sand It wasn’t in relation to university that I first came across the organisation Rethink Repayment, which campaigns for a fairer settlement on student debt. I was looking into the astronomical numbers of young people who still live with their parents. It’s now more than a third of young men and more than a fifth of young women, statistics which get even crunchier when you realise that “young” describes anyone under 35. There were various reasons – some had gone home after a health crisis, some really liked their parents, some were battling unemployment, but the single unifying theme was student debt. Those on incomes too low to start repaying couldn’t make rent; those in the lower repayment bracket (an annual income of £25,000 or thereabouts, depending on your loan plan) still couldn’t make rent, because they were spending 9% of their income repaying. And those on more than £50,000 were keeping less than 50p in every pound they earn because of their marginal tax rate. It’s always been sold to students when they take on this debt that it won’t count against their mortgage raising capacity, which technically it won’t – but any affordability check by a mortgage company or letting agent will factor in the monthly repayments. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Zoe Williams14 Sept

Ex-CIA director John Brennan subpoenaed in Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ investigation

Subpoena is among a flurry issued in recent weeks as part of DoJ inquiry into alleged conspiracy against Trump The former CIA director John Brennan has been subpoenaed to testify next month before a Florida grand jury as part of a Department of Justice investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against Donald Trump, one of his lawyers said Monday. Ken Wainstein, an attorney for Brennan, disclosed in a court filing that prosecutors last Thursday presented him with a subpoena for Brennan to appear before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, on 15 October. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Associated Press14 Sept

Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett under fire for honoring Chris Brown at concert

Congresswoman awarded the convicted abuser and musician a congressional record recognition in Arlington Democratic US representative Jasmine Crockett is under fire for honoring musician Chris Brown, a convicted abuser, with an official recognition at a Texas concert over the weekend. Crockett, a Texas congresswoman, awarded Brown and R&B musician Usher a congressional record recognition at a performance in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday. Appearing alongside Texas state representative Venton Jones, Crockett said she was there to “honor” Brown and Usher. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Rachel Leingang14 Sept

Sweden’s political parties launch coalition talks as both blocs try to secure power

Centre-left bloc led by Social Democrats has narrow lead with 95% of vote counted, but faces internal policy battle Sweden’s political parties have launched coalition negotiations as the Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson started the long and difficult process of trying to form a new government. Full results from Sunday’s election are not expected until after overseas votes are counted on Wednesday, but with 95% of the votes counted, the Social Democrats and the centre-left bloc had a narrow but growing lead of 176 seats to the right-leaning parties’ 173. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent14 Sept

British man accused of drugging and raping wife over two decades admits all offences

Man, who cannot be named to protect anonymity of his victim, admits 60 criminal offences A man has pleaded guilty to drugging and sexually assaulting his wife over a period of 20 years as he admitted 60 criminal offences. The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the anonymity of his victim, is in his 60s and before his arrest lived in Stockport, Greater Manchester. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Josh Halliday and Hannah Al-Othman14 Sept

British man accused of drugging and raping wife over two decades admits 60 offences

Man, who cannot be named to protect anonymity of his victim, admits scores of criminal offences A man has pleaded guilty to drugging and sexually assaulting his wife over a period of 20 years as he admitted 60 criminal offences. The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the anonymity of his victim, is in his 60s and before his arrest lived in Stockport, Greater Manchester. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Josh Halliday and Hannah Al-Othman14 Sept

Government moves to nationalise Speciality Steel UK to protect 1,300 jobs

Firm, once part of Sanjeev Gupta’s empire, fell into administration last year but has failed to find buyer Business news – live updates One of Britain’s steelworks is to come into public ownership after the government said it would take over Yorkshire-based Speciality Steel UK (SSUK). Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said officials would “work towards” acquiring the company to protect the jobs of its 1,300 workers in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Brinsworth in South Yorkshire and Wednesbury in the West Midlands. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Alex Daniel14 Sept

Keeping women out of prison must be the focus | Letters

Readers respond to an editorial on overcrowded jails and plans to convert parts of the women’s prison estate for use by men Your editorial ( The Guardian view on the prisons crisis: moving men into women’s jails is not the answer, 10 September ) is right to argue that the prison capacity crisis cannot be solved through a series of short-term fixes. Victims need confidence that the government has a credible long-term strategy for the criminal justice system, not another piecemeal intervention designed to buy time. I share your concern about the pressures facing probation services. There are also legitimate questions about the impact on policing, but we cannot discuss the prisons crisis without confronting the crisis in our courts. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Guardian Staff14 Sept