Politics LIVE: Kemi Badenoch faces OUSTING by covert Tory-Reform pact as she prepares for major speech later today

Reform UK confirms defection deluge ahead of major press conference

Reform UK will be announcing a host of defections at its midday press conference, it is understood.

The party's YouTube live-stream is titled "defections announcement" - while political blog Guido Fawkes reports that 29 councillors will be joining Nigel Farage's party.

We'll bring you live updates from the announcement as they come in.

Keir Starmer SUED over 'unlawful' Chagos surrender: 'Our human rights have been stripped away!'

Labour's impending deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has been met with a fresh legal challenge just days after top Tory peers announced they would be taking the Government to the High Court.

Two British women born on Diego Garcia - home to a joint UK-US military base - are vowing to take the Foreign Office to court over the "unlawful" handover - branded a "surrender" by critics including Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick.

Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe say the islands should remain British, and both want the right to return to live where they were born, The Telegraph reports.

The native Chagossians were forced to leave the Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the base - and their plight has become a lightning rod for critics of Labour's controversial handover.

Dugasse and Pompe's lawyers have sent a pre-action letter to David Lammy's department, which warns that the Chagossian people have unlawfully not been given a say in the deal.

Pompe said: "Chagossians were removed from their place of birth, without their consultation, and have been treated badly for 60 years.

"Since then we have been struggling to understand why we have been treated so poorly by the British government. Our human rights have been stripped away.

"Today the British Government is repeating the same mistakes which it made 60 years ago... All our suffering and cries to be heard have been falling on deaf ears... I want to stay British and I also want the right to return to the Chagos Islands."

Barrister Michael Polak, representing the pair, added: "The Government's attempt to give away the Chagossians' homeland whilst failing to hold a formal consultation with the Chagossian people is a continuation of their terrible treatment by the authorities in the past."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office - which is set to issue a response to the letter by March 25, said: "We do not comment on potential legal challenges. The negotiations were between the UK and Mauritius with our priority being to secure the full operation of the base on Diego Garcia. However, we have worked to ensure this agreement reflects the importance of the islands to Chagossians."

Britain's growth forecast SLASHED in latest headache for Rachel Reeves and Labour

Britain's economic forecast has been slashed in a fresh blow to Rachel Reeves and Labour's repeated pledges for growth.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut its predictions for UK growth to 1.4 per cent in 2025 and 1.2 per cent in 2026 - down from 1.7 per cent and 1.3 per cent in its previous predictions.

The OECD has also cut its global growth forecast - with tariffs and trade wars to blame.

Around the world, growth is expected to slow from 3.2 per cent in 2024, to 3.1 per cent in 2025, then 3 per cent in 2026, down from the 3.3 per cent level previously forecast for both years.

But in the face of the figures, the Chancellor has claimed Labour is "delivering a new era of renewal".

"This report shows the world is changing, and increased global headwinds such as trade uncertainty are being felt across the board," she said.

"A changing world means Britain must change too, and we are delivering a new era of stability, security and renewal, to protect working people and keep our country safe."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Starmer gears up to deploy British troops in Ukraine for YEARS - 'As long as it takes!'

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is ready to place British troops in Ukraine for "as long as it takes" - and is gearing up to deploy British service personnel in Ukraine for years alongside western allies in order to maintain a ceasefire.

The "coalition of the willing" will meet in London once again this Thursday to speak "in great specificity" on where the peacekeeping force should be sent.

Starmer has neither confirmed nor denied whether the force will have authorisation to fire at Russian soldiers in the case of an attack - but his remarks have raised eyebrows from Conservative MPs.

West Suffolk MP Nick Timothy, writing in The Telegraph, warned: "The casual ease with which our political leaders and commentators are discussing decisions that could lead us to armed conflict should alarm us all.

"History tells us the most disastrous of wars often start with small and apparently harmless steps. The Prime Minitser should be prepared to answer these very serious questions."

READ THE FULL STORY ON STARMER'S TROOP DEPLOYMENTS HERE

Kemi Badenoch could be OUSTED by covert Tory-Reform 'Unite the Right' pact - 'She's doomed!'

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch could be ousted by a Conservative-Reform UK "Unite the Right" plot led by former officials with "significant" donor backing, according to The Telegraph and Sunday Times.

With local elections looming, the Tories bracing for major losses, and Nigel Farage having met ex-Boris Johnson supremo adviser Dominic Cummings to mull over the future of the British right, a deal between the two parties in blue could be on the cards.

Reform and the Conservatives could move to emulate Germany's centre-right parties - with the former concentrating on the north and the latter the south.

A Reform UK spokesman said: "There is no deal. The only reason the Tories are talking about it is because their poll ratings are about to fall off a cliff."

According to The Sunday Times, those involved in the plot are moving to oust Badenoch "sharpish" - with one warning that "more and more MPs realise she's doomed" and that they were planning to "bury her in disaster" following the local elections and "keep the pressure on".

Farage said "any suggestions that we are teaming up are false" - while a friend of Cummings said: "He spends his time mostly helping people outside Westminster and a few inside Westminster he thinks are trying to build interesting things, regardless of their party or whether they’re political or official or in the forces."

Now Andy Burnham joins Labour's benefits civil war in direct rebuke to Wes Streeting - 'It'll trap people in poverty!'

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has weighed into a growing Labour row over impending benefits cuts following Wes Streeting's "overdiagnosis" warning on Sunday.

The Health Secretary had warned that doctors were too quick to diagnose Britons with mental health conditions - thus making them eligible for welfare payments - and has vowed that the Government could give people the right "resilience and coping skills" instead.

But now, Labour heavyweight Burnham has warned that slashing benefits handouts would "trap people in poverty" in a direct attack on the Government's position.

Writing in The Times, Burnham said: "I would share concerns about changing support and eligibility to benefits while leaving the top-down system broadly in place.

"It would trap too many people in poverty. And to be clear: there is no case in any scenario for cutting the support available to disabled people who are unable to work."

Reform UK teases 'special announcement' in just hours as speculation over Runcorn by-election candidate looms

Reform UK has teased a "special announcement" at midday today amid mounting speculation over who the party may select to contest a by-election in Runcorn & Helsby.

Nigel Farage's party will gather in London at noon with its four MPs and chairman Zia Yusuf in attendance - though ousted MP Rupert Lowe will not be there, Politico reports.

One Reform insider predicted two possible avenues for today's announcement, according to the magazine: either the announcement of a candidate to stand in Runcorn, or a fresh defection to the party.

'Kowtowing to communist China!' Inside the fightback against Keir Starmer's 'surrender' of the Chagos Islands

A movement to save the Chagos Islands for Sir Keir Starmer's "surrender" deal is gathering pace - with activists now pushing harder than ever to stop Labour from subjecting the British territory to the same fate at communist-controlled Hong Kong.

The Prime Minister has stumbled over the sticky issue of handing over the Chagos and has struggled to live up to his Labour predecessor.

And Labour’s capitulation of the archipelago harks back to "painful memories of 1997", one former Home Secretary has told GB News, refreshing Tony Blair’s "Hong Kong betrayal" at home and abroad as Starmer bows to Beijing.

Speaking to the People’s Channel, Suella Braverman said: "The Chagos capitulation is a modern Chinese takeaway that brings back painful memories of Blair’s Hong Kong betrayal.

"Yet Labour seem incessant on kowtowing to communist China.

"Have we learnt nothing from our mistakes in 1997? The Chinese Communist Party can’t be trusted and aren’t our friends despite how much Labour might want to wish otherwise."

READ THE FULL GB NEWS EXCLUSIVE HERE

Labour left in UPROAR over Starmer's looming benefits cuts as PM takes aim at fraudsters

Labour MPs are bracing for the "worst week of the parliament" as Sir Keir Starmer pushes ahead with his plans to slash welfare payments across Britain, The Guardian reports.

It is understood that Ministers will drop plans to freeze personal independent payments (PIP) after fierce backlash from left-wing MPs - but will still tighten its eligibility criteria in new plans set out by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall tomorrow.

One Labour MP said they were preparing for the days ahead with "absolute horror" and feared it would be "the worst week of the parliament".

Another said they had been contacted by constituents in despair at what might be coming.

"We all get the case for reform, but we can also see that some of these cuts don’t actually seem to be targeted at the areas most in need of reform," they said.

MPs who spoke to the newspaper said it appeared "perverse" to target out-of-work Britons.

Emma Reynolds, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, told Times Radio this morning that she would not comment on speculation about the changes, but said: "What I will say is that what's really important here is that there will always be a safety net for the most vulnerable.

"We are the party that created the welfare state back in 1945 and of course, we need a system that is sustainable, and in being more sustainable it will maintain that crucial safety net for the most vulnerable."

Waspi women to descend on London in protest at Labour 'betrayal'

Waspi campaigners are gathering outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Monday as they step up their battle for compensation.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality group is seeking a judicial review to force the Government to reconsider its decision to rule out a compensation package for women affected by the way changes to the state pension age were communicated.

A previous report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PSHO) suggested compensation ranging between £1,000 and £2,950 could be appropriate for each of those affected.

But in December 2024, the Government said that, while it accepted the ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and apologised for there being a delay in writing to 1950s-born women, a blanket compensation scheme, which could cost taxpayers up to £10.5billion, cannot be justified.

Campaigners said they have raised more than £150,000 in recent weeks to fund a High Court challenge.

Waspi chair Angela Madden said: "We do not want to be taking legal action, but we have been forced to, due to the Government’s total denial of justice.”

A Government spokesman said that "evidence showed only one in four people remember reading and receiving letters that they weren’t expecting and that by 2006 90 per cent of 1950s-born women knew that the state pension age was changing”.

“The Government cannot justify paying for a £10.5billion compensation scheme at the expense of the taxpayer.