Trump has also criticised France for its refusal to help fight the Iran war (Picture: AP)
Donald Trump has launched another rant at the UK for its stance on his war in Iran, saying the US ‘won’t be there to help you anymore’.
The president called on countries that are struggling to obtain jet fuel to ‘build up some delayed courage’ and risk Iranian attacks by sending ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump is under increasing pressure from rising global fuel prices as a direct result of the Iran war, which he launched alongside Israel at the end of February.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, he said: ‘All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.
‘You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.
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‘Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!’
According to the Financial Times, analysts and industry consultants believe British airlines will start to be hit by a jet fuel shortage at the end of April if pressures on the supply chain continue.
It is expected that the last known shipment from the Middle East will arrive in the UK this week.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is holding his second Cobra meeting in two weeks as his government scrambles to handle the impact of the war on the UK’s cost of living.
He has drawn Trump’s ire by taking an increasingly vocal stance against the US, telling a crowd at his local election campaign launch yesterday: ‘This is not our war and we are not going to be dragged into it.’
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The site in the picturesque village of Clenchwarton where tons of rubbish has been fly-tipped (Picture: Cover Media)
People living in a Norfolk village say their lives are being blighted by an ‘eyesore’ dump where tons of rubbish has been fly-tipped.
The site in Clenchwarton is piled high with furniture, caravans, insulation, pallets and oil tanks. In recent months, there have also been a spate of fires.
Villagers believe much of the flytipping is the work of one man and are furious the problem has been dragging on for years.
Keith Stapleton said: ‘It’s not nice for the village – but what can we do? I go to work at five in the morning and when I come back home at nine or ten o’clock, rubbish has appeared in those few hours.
‘You could do more patrols or have cameras – but people are very crafty.’
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A fly-tipper is caught in the act dumping waste on the site (Picture: Cover Media)
Mr Stapleton’s mum Lorraine said: ‘People who do it don’t really care about their country, that’s all.
‘They’re not bothered by the mess – but I don’t know what the solution is.’
She explained that some homeowners have taken to litter picking themselves, which is a ‘shame.’
‘I don’t think you should have to pay to bring in your rubbish to a centre. People don’t want to pay so they dump it anywhere,’ Ms Stapleton said.
Malcolm Ward added: ‘I used to live in that area – but it didn’t cause me any trouble. Now I know he’s constantly having fires, and there could be all sorts of fumes.
‘It’s not nice for the kids to be taking in. It is a bit of an eyesore.’
Neil, Keith and Lorraine Stapleton are among residents who are angry (Picture: Cover Media)
One person could be seen unloading more rubbish onto the site this week as witnesses watched on in fury.
Clenchwarton is a historic village dating back to Anglo-Saxon times and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book.
In August 2022, the fly-tipping area was made subject to a restriction order prohibiting access to, and the bringing in of waste, to the land.
The action was taken after a major fire ripped through the dump, prompting the Environment Agency to issue the landowner with a stop notice. The court order was lifted in February 2023.
Earlier this month, 65 tonnes of fly-tipped rubbish was cleared by West Norfolk Council.
Residents are frustrated over the rubbish dump and say that no-one seems to be able to resolve the issue (Cover Media)
A statement from the authority said: ‘We share the community’s concerns about this completely unacceptable dumping of waste, and we are liaising with the Environment Agency as lead authority on this matter.
‘We will investigate and take action where we can whenever fly-tipping is reported.
‘To report illegally dumped rubbish, or help with an investigation, please visit our website.”
West Norfolk councillor Steve Bearshaw, who represents the ward, declined to comment, as did the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service.
County councillor Alexandra Kemp, who also represents the area, said: ‘I would like to thank the borough council for clearing up the mess – but no one should ever be dumping rubbish in Clenchwarton in the first place.
‘It is selfish, thoughtless and dangerous. The Government’s promised new powers to tackle fly-tipping need to be sped up, andintroduced immediately.’
The Environment Agency and Clenchwarton Parish Council have also been approached for comment.
Earlier this year, a ‘putrid’ mound of illegally dumped rubbish was found on a site just off the M57.
In October, one of the UK’s biggest ever fly-tipping sites measuring more than 500ft long was found in a field next to the A34.
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As of December, there were 107,003 people in receipt of asylum support, with 30,657 in around 200 asylum hotels (Picture: Getty)
Asylum seekers who break the law or work illegally will soon be thrown out of Government-funded accommodation and lose support payments.
A new rule change means only those with legitimate asylum claims who follow the rules will get taxpayer-funded support, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced.
The measures, coming into force in June, will remove support payments and accommodation to asylum seekers who illegally work, have the ability to support themselves, have the right to work or have broken the law, the Home Office said.
The statutory legal duty under EU law to provide asylum seekers with support and accommodation will be replaced with a conditional approach.
The Government is determined to make the UK a less attractive destination for illegal migrants.
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Mahmood said: ‘Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution. But taxpayers cannot be expected to fund the lives of those who exploit the system or break our laws.
Mahmood is expected to lay out further measures to toughen up the UK asylum system (Picture: PA)
She added: ‘Asylum support and accommodation will now become conditional – reserved only to those who play by our rules.’
Last year, a total of £4 billion was spent on asylum support in the UK, and as of December, there were 107,003 people in receipt of asylum support, with 30,657 in around 200 asylum hotels, the Home Office said.
The issue of people being housed in hotels rose to prominence last year with protests outside some sites.
Labour has pledged to no longer use asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament, which would be 2029, if not earlier.
In October, the Government announced that barracks in Scotland and southern England would be used to house around 900 men temporarily, as part of the Government’s efforts to stop using hotels to temporarily house asylum seekers.
A charity boss said the Home Secretary was looking for ‘a bump in the polls’ with the move.
Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, said: ‘The Home Secretary already has the power to deny support and accommodation to people seeking asylum who are not destitute or who have broken the rules.
‘This is the latest in a long line of announcements from successive governments that bully refugees for a bump in the polls rather than try to solve the real problems faced by people and communities – poverty, homelessness, and the rise of the far right.’
Protesters around the UK marched against the ‘migrant’ hotels (Picture: Getty)
Hilton added: ‘Ministers must end this dangerous race to the bottom and make the case for a UK that welcomes people fleeing war and torture and supports them to rebuild their lives here.’
Amnesty International UK’s Naomi McAuliffe said: ‘This proposal is scapegoating and cruelty masquerading as strength. It is the latest punitive blow being dealt to some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
‘People seeking asylum are often fleeing conflict, persecution and grave human rights abuses. Removing access to basic support and accommodation risks forcing people into destitution, homelessness and exploitation while they wait for their claims to be decided.’
Responding to the announcement, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Labour should put foreign criminals on a plane home, not onto British streets.
‘If Labour had a backbone and deported all illegal immigrants, there would not be the need for asylum accommodation. Foreign nationals who commit crimes should be deported anyway.
‘Labour have deported only 6% of illegal arrivals since coming to office, so rolling out another gimmick will not change a thing.’
Mahmood will lay out further measures to toughen up the UK asylum system in a speech on Thursday.
Under the widely trailed plans, asylum seekers in the UK will have their refugee status reviewed every 30 months in an effort to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants.
Refugees whose countries are deemed safe will be expected to return home.
The Home Secretary believes the Government must cut migration or risk opening the door to the right who would divide communities with the kind of anti-immigration raids seen in the US.
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Ballot papers are tipped out of boxes during the vote count for the Gorton and Denton by-election in Manchester, Britain (Picture: EPA)
Election officials have said they are concerned people were forcing family members to vote in a certain way during the Gorton and Denton by-election.
After polls closed on Thursday night, an election observer group warned it had witnessed family voting in 68% of polling stations observed.
Democracy Volunteers’ intervention has caused consternation among the top three parties and threatens to overshadow the counting of votes.
They said in a statement: ‘Today we have seen concerningly high levels of family voting in Gorton and Denton.
‘Based on our assessment of today’s observations, we have seen the highest levels of family voting at any election in our 10-year history of observing elections in the UK.
‘We rarely issue a report on the night of an election, but the data we have collected today on family voting, when compared to other recent by-elections, is extremely high.
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‘In the other recent Westminster parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby we saw family voting in 12% of polling stations, affecting 1% of voters.
‘In Gorton and Denton, we observed family voting in 68% of polling stations, affecting 12% of those voters observed.’
Ballot boxes begin arriving before votes are counted for the Gorton and Denton by-election at Manchester Central (Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
What is family voting?
Family voting is an illegal practice where two voters use one polling booth and potentially direct each other on voting.
In 2023, the United Kingdom passed the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 to make family voting a criminal offence. The practice of family voting was made more clearly a breach of the secret ballot and enforceable by staff in polling stations.
Signs are often put up at polling stations reminding people against the practise.
But Democracy Volunteers said they spotted people undertaking this during the by-election this year.
A polling station in Denton West during the Gorton And Denton by-election on February 26, 2026 in Manchester, England (Picture by: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
What happened during the Gorton and Denton by-election?
The organisation said it attended 22 of the 45 polling stations in the constituency, spending 30 to 45 minutes in each, and witnessed family voting in 15 of the 22 polling stations observed.
The group said they observed a sample of 545 individuals casting their vote and saw 32 cases of family voting in total, including nine cases in one polling station.
Manchester City Council said that no issues had been reported and said it was ‘extremely disappointing’ that Democracy Volunteers waited until after the close of polls to make the claims.
A spokesperson for the acting returning officer at the by-election said: ‘Polling station staff are trained to look out for any evidence of undue influence on voters. No such issues have been reported today.
‘If Democracy Volunteers were so concerned about alleged issues they could and should have raised them with us during polling hours so that immediate action could be taken.’
John Ault, director of Democracy Volunteers, said the group had raised the matter at polling stations.
He told the Press Association: ‘It is a normal international standard not to issue a comment until after a voting has finished, another accepted aspect of election observation is that you are encouraged to ask questions of staff…
‘We posed questions about family voting in several polling stations and how staff dealt with it when it arose.’
A voter leaves a polling station in the Gorton and Denton constituency in northwest England (Picture: AP Photo/Jon Super)
A dog is walked past a polling station sign in Denton West during the Gorton And Denton by-election (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
How have the parties reacted to the claims?
Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said the report was ‘extremely worrying and concerning,’ Reform UK’s Nigel Farage said it raised ‘questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas,’ and Green Party leader Zack Polanski suggested he would back a probe into the issue.
Labour chair Ms Turley told BBC Newsnight of the family voting concerns: ‘That’s not what we want to see in our democracy.
‘So obviously we need to see the evidence and the report, and then make due decision about what authorities should look into this.”
Mr Polanski told the programme: ‘If the recommendation is that there should be an inquiry or further steps then yes I’d support that.’
Reform UK’s candidate Matt Goodwin said he was ‘deeply concerned about the extent to which the Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election is a free, fair, and democratic election’.
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Sebastian Lai, son of Jimmy Lai speaks during a press conference outside Downing street in London on Sept. 15, 2025.
Henry Nicholls | Afp | Getty Images
China’s embassy in London Tuesday criticized the U.K.’s decision to expand a visa program for Hong Kong residents, calling the move an interference in its internal affairs after a court sentenced pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison under a national security law.
The U.K. on Monday expanded the British National Overseas (BNO) visa scheme on Monday to allow children of BNO status holders — who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s handover to mainland China in June 1997 — to apply for the route independently of their parents.
“BNO has misled Hong Kong residents to leave their homes, only to face discrimination and hardship in the U.K., living as second-class citizens,” an embassy spokesperson said in a statement in Chinese translated by CNBC.
The embassy described the scheme expansion as “despicable” and “reprehensible.”
“China has always firmly opposed the UK’s manipulation and interference in China’s internal affairs,” the embassy spokesperson said.
The scheme was launched in 2021 after Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong. Since then, over 230,000 people have been granted visas, and almost 170,000 have relocated to the U.K.
The diplomatic tensions followed the sentencing of Lai by a Hong Kong court on Monday, in one of the city’s most prominent prosecutions. That was the heaviest penalty ever meted out under the national security law.
The 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper was a vocal critic of Beijing and was among the first prominent figures arrested in August 2020. He was jailed on charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials. Lai pleaded not guilty to all counts.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the case with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing last month, calling for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen. Critics and Lai’s family have argued that the U.K. did not take sufficient and concrete steps to reverse the course.
The sentencing showed how the Beijing-imposed national security law has “criminalised dissent, prompting many to leave the territory,” the British government said in a statement, adding that it will “rapidly engage [with Beijing] further on Mr Lai’s case.”
The expanded visa route came amid what the British government described as a “deterioration of rights and freedoms” in Hong Kong. The government estimated that 26,000 people will arrive in the U.K. over the next 5 years.
Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee said Tuesday that Lai deserved the harsh sentencing for all the harm that he had done, including “using Apple Daily to poison the minds of citizens” and “colluding with foreign forces to take sanctions and hostile actions against China and Hong Kong.”
Other governments have renewed calls for Lai’s release following the ruling. Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, called the ruling “unjust and tragic” and urged the authorities to grant humanitarian parole for Lai.
