Good morning. Reform UK are holding a press conference on 30 July 2026, with Robert Jenrick, the party’s Treasury spokesperson, expected to speak about Andy Burnham’s speech yesterday on social care reform. But there are already several other stories that journalists may want to raise at the event.
Those include Anna Isaac’s latest scoop about George Cottrell, as well as a case involving a Sunderland councillor who has been charged with posting a grossly offensive message on social media after allegedly making a racist comment about Nigerians.
Jenrick may also be asked about a separate police decision: the Metropolitan police said no further action would be taken against the Green party leader, after a photo circulated of a man wearing a T-shirt showing a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel”. Aletha Adu has written about the announcement.
The Metropolitan police said it is “unlikely that the sharing of the image online would constitute a criminal offence” and that, because more than 100 other people shared the post, it would be unfair to take action only against Polanski, and disproportionate to investigate everyone who did the same.
Reform UK have said they are not happy with that outcome.
“Once again we see that we are living in two-tier Britain,”a party spokesperson claimed.
The Green party responded that it was
“obvious from the start”that Polanski had not committed an offence, and said Reform UK were
“always using this as a political football for their own cynical purposes to distract from questions”about how Farage’s party was funded.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The Ministry of Justice publishes figures about assaults and deaths in prisons in England and Wales.
10am: Reform UK’s holds a press conference.
Morning: Andy Burnham is on a visit in Cumbria to confirm as part of the next phase of the nuclear submarine replacement programme.
Also, in Greater Manchester people are already voting in the byelection for a new mayor, to replace .
As I explained earlier this month, we are . From today, if you want to contact me, or anyone else writing the blog when I am not here, please email politics.live@the.com. You can use this to flag up corrections, comments for publication, questions or complaints. There is a longer post about how we hope this will work.
Why did Avon and Somerset police decide not to act?
Avon and Somerset police decided not to take any further action after the Metropolitan police said yesterday that
“a crime should be recorded”in relation to the person wearing the T-shirt showing a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel” that was in the picture shared by Polanski.
The Met said:
The event where that occurred took place in Bristol and as a result, we have transferred the crime report to Avon and Somerset police. They will consider what further action should now follow.
Avon and Somerset police then reviewed the case and decided not to proceed. A spokesperson for the force said:
We have carefully considered the available evidence in relation to a photograph taken at a political event in Bristol and subsequently shared on social media as part of a gallery of 20 images.
Particular consideration has been given to the context around the image; its use of song lyrics, and the marketing of the T-shirt as a satirical piece.
No complaints were received from people at the event at which it was worn and there is no evidence the wearer of the T-shirt intended to threaten any individual, or encourage anyone else to do so.
As a result, a senior detective has determined that the threshold for a criminal offence has not been met and no further action will be taken.
The safety of elected politicians is something we take extremely seriously and we continue to take action wherever a threat is identified.
The affected parties have been updated of our decision.
