Kemi Badenoch defends selection of man jailed for harassing Jewish MP in council election - UK politics live

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Badenoch defends selection of man jailed for harassing MP in council poll

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has faced down awkward questions from reporters today after the Conservatives selected as a local election candidate a man who was once jailed for harassing a former MP.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine was jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment of former Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, Luciana Berger. He labelled the Jewish MP “an evil money-grabber” with a “deep-rooted hatred of men” and claimed the number of Jewish Labour MPs was a “problem”. He was previously jailed for producing an antisemitic ad illustrated with a picture of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.

Speaking to reporters on a trip accompanying a police raid in Surrey today, Badenoch said her party believed in second chances. She said:

double quotation markI want to be very clear – and I think people can look at me and know that I’m not a person who would be recruiting neo-Nazis. Josh is someone who actually has been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on antisemitism and on countering extremism. Yes, he is somebody who had been previously convicted but he is someone who has shown contrition for his crimes, has been rehabilitated and is spending every day working to solve the very problem which he knew that he had caused previously. And the Conservative party believes in second chances. This is not just someone that we’ve picked up who’s a convicted criminal – this is somebody who is actively working to help communities.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch poses for a selfie. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

\n \n The Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has defended the selection of a former neo-Nazi activist as a candidate for a local election in Somerset despite him being jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment of the former Labour MP Luciana Berger.

Badenoch said her party “believes in second chances” after the Conservatives selected Joshua Bonehill-Paine to stand in the new Somerset council seat of Crewkerne South in 2027.

About 1,000 fewer prisoners will be released early after Andy Burnham’s intervention to exclude those convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from the scheme.

But domestic abusers and killers will still be eligible to go free, including two men jailed for their role in the death of PC Andrew Harper.

PC Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, said her family are “bitterly disappointed” that her son’s killers remain eligible for early release while his widow, Lissie Harper, called it “an affront to justice” and “an utter betrayal”.

There are mounting concerns that the probation service, already facing a staffing and funding crisis, won’t be able to cope with the additional workload, making mistakes more likely.

Burnham, who is on holiday, said he wanted to go “even further” with the exemptions, but argued that this was “not possible without the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing”.

Pupils in Scotland’s schools received their exam results this morning, with exam pass rates at all levels having risen this year, including a record number of National 5 passes.

Thanks for following along. We are closing the blog now – but you can keep up with all our latest coverage of UK politics here.

In a lengthy social media post, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, has defended his decision to exclude those convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from the early prison release scheme. But expressed regret that he couldn’t go “even further” as he will still allow domestic abusers and killers to go free, including two men jailed for their role in the death of PC Andrew Harper.

Burnham, who is on holiday, said the move had to be made because the system is “now dangerously close to capacity and we are running the risk of new offenders not being incarcerated in a timely manner”. Burnham wrote:

\n The truth is I wanted to go even further. I know there will be concerns about who will still be released early for other offences. I have pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do. I know I can look people in the eye and say to them there is nothing more I could have asked for without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing within months. Such an outcome would expose the public to enormous risk. Police would be unable to make arrests. Courts would be unable to send new offenders to prison. Our justice system would grind to a halt. \n However, I am determined to do more to support victims and the public. So, as well as excluding those sentences for rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences, we will be introducing much tougher community measures. Nearly all offenders released will be tagged. The period of supervision will be toughened. And we will be imposing new conditions for offenders, including restriction zones agreed with victims.\n

Speaking to reporters on a trip accompanying a police raid in Surrey today, Badenoch said her party believed in second chances. She said:

\n I want to be very clear – and I think people can look at me and know that I’m not a person who would be recruiting neo-Nazis. Josh is someone who actually has been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on antisemitism and on countering extremism.\n Yes, he is somebody who had been previously convicted but he is someone who has shown contrition for his crimes, has been rehabilitated and is spending every day working to solve the very problem which he knew that he had caused previously. And the Conservative party believes in second chances.\n This is not just someone that we’ve picked up who’s a convicted criminal – this is somebody who is actively working to help communities.\n

The probation officers’ union Napo has welcomed the new exemptions (prisoners who committed rape, grooming and serious child sex offences) from the early release scheme, saying they help to protect the public, to an extent.

But Napo warned that the government hasn’t considered the scale of the probation “workloads crisis” in its plans as it called for more funding for the service to retain staff and improve working conditions for those who will have to take on more work because of Andy Burnham’s intervention.

“It is not clear if the prime minister or the Lord Chancellor (justice secretary) have a clue about how ill-equipped the probation service is take on this additional work,” Napo, the largest union representing staff working in the probation service, said.

“For example, there are huge numbers of vacancies in Victim Liaison Roles, so we are not sure how the extra Victim Contact Scheme work will be done.

“Plans to release thousands of domestic abuse perpetrators and stalkers early from prison does not boost victim protection. It means that more people, largely women, will be killed or harmed.

“There’s no additional funding to retain probation staff, especially experienced ones, despite endemic staffing problems in many key roles across England and Wales.”

Napo’s general secretary, Ian Lawrence, said:

\n Everyone is talking about prisons, and yes it is bad, but the crisis in probation is far worse. But yet again, our members are being overlooked while all the attention is on prison. Without probation none of this can happen, so the service needs to be front and centre to this discussion.\n Napo is currently in a formal trade dispute with HMPPS over workloads and we are currently in an indicative ballot of our members due to close on Monday. We expect a strong response from our members indicating a wish to ballot for industrial action.\n

Pupils in Scotland’s schools received their exam results this morning, with exam pass rates at all levels having risen this year, including a record number of National 5 passes.

Almost 270,000 receiving a passing grade at National 5, up from about 262,000 last year. Pass rates for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher also increased across the board, to 79.2%, 76.7% and 77.6% respectively.

Scotland’s education secretary, Màiri McAllan, has congratulated all the young people receiving their results today, saying it is a “proud day” for them and the country’s education system.

“These are incredibly positive results across the board, with academic passes up at every level – National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher – as well as record numbers of vocational qualifications,” McAllan said in a statement. She continued:

\n This is testament to the breadth and strength of Scotland’s education system, the professionalism of our teachers and school staff, and the hard work of our young people.\n It is particularly pleasing to see another narrowing in the attainment gap between the most and least deprived areas.\n This builds on similar progress in the gaps for literacy and numeracy levels, as well as for the number of young people entering initial positive destinations, which has narrowed by almost two-thirds since 2009-10.\n

The Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) has warned that changing the sentencing act at such a late stage has heaped “huge pressure” on already stretched prison staff, making mistakes “more likely”.

The association says it is unclear on how many prisoners will now have their sentences recalculated and remain in prison after the government said last night that rapists, child sexual abusers and groomers will be excluded from early release plans for England and Wales.

“We don’t know if it is tens, hundreds or thousands that will be excluded from the so called “progression model’,” it said in a press release.

“The prime minister has acted following calls from victims of crime to do so at a very late stage putting huge pressure on prison and probation staff to get the work of identifying prisoners now excluded and recalculating their sentences done,” it added.

“This pressure, when the work has already been done once and many staff will be away on holiday, makes mistakes more likely.”

PGA president Tom Wheatley said:

\n Government needs to decide on a direction and stick to it, changing course at a late stage causes scarce resources to be used unnecessarily and puts prison and probation staff under extreme pressure.\n

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The mother of PC Andrew Harper said her family are “bitterly disappointed” that her son’s killers remain eligible for early release after the government revised plans to tackle the overcrowding crisis in prisons.

Following pressure from victims, MPs and frontline prison officers, rapists, child sexual abusers and groomers will be excluded from the scheme for England and Wales, the government said on Monday.

But domestic abusers and killers will still be eligible for early release, including two men jailed for their role in the death of PC Harper, who sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019.

“Quite frankly, we shouldn’t be in this position,” Debbie Adlam, PC Harper’s mother, told BBC Breakfast.

She said it was “completely right” that rapists and paedophiles are not going to be released under the government’s latest plans, but added “they shouldn’t have been considered in the first place”.

'They shouldn't have been considered in the first place for early release, what kind of society are we living in if that's the standards we are keeping'Debbie Adlam, the mother of PC Andrew Harper, spoke to #BBCBreakfast after learning two of his killers remain eligible for… pic.twitter.com/uB6DUVcvn9— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 4, 2026

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Adlam said she was “devastated” that two of her son’s killers remain eligible for early release. She told the programme:

\n It feels like we’re letting Andrew down again. We’ve been through the justice system, we thought we’d done as best as we could. Now we’re standing up to fight again … so I just feel really let down, for Andrew’s sake as well as ours.\n

The justice secretary, Alex Norris, told Sky News this morning that the latest changes to the early release scheme would see 5,000 prisoners released over 10 months, down from 6,000.

He said the government won’t need further emergency release schemes as sentencing changes would provide “long-term security” for prison capacity.

Writing in the Telegraph, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, said he asked the justice secretary to consider the early release of more female prisoners, “given the lower risk they generally pose” in order to prevent further overcrowding.

Burnham said he had “pushed to the very limits of what is possible” but was unable to exempt more criminals from the early release scheme without the prison system “collapsing within months”.

PC Harper’s wife, Lissie Harper, has expressed anger at the prospect that two of her late husband’s killers could be released early, calling it “an affront to justice” and “an utter betrayal”. The justice secretary said he understood the family’s “anger” and offered an apology.

He told Sky News:

\n Were we not to make these changes, then we would run out of prison places in this October or November.\n I know that’s difficult. I know that’s created harm, and it’s not Lissie Harper’s fault, and I’m sorry that she’s been put into this situation as a result, I genuinely am.\n

Key events

12m agoClosing summary
2h agoPM says he 'wanted to go further' with early release scheme changes
3h agoBadenoch defends selection of man jailed for harassing MP in council poll
4h agoProbation service 'ill-equipped' to take on additional work from tightening of early release rules, union warns
5h agoPupils in Scotland receive exam results, with record number of National 5 passes
7h agoPrison and probation staff put under 'extreme pressure' due to late changes to sentencing act, association warns
7h agoPC Harper's mother 'bitterly disappointed' that her son's killers remain eligible for early release

Closing summary

The Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has defended the selection of a former neo-Nazi activist as a candidate for a local election in Somerset despite him being jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment of the former Labour MP Luciana Berger.
Badenoch said her party “believes in second chances” after the Conservatives selected Joshua Bonehill-Paine to stand in the new Somerset council seat of Crewkerne South in 2027.
About 1,000 fewer prisoners will be released early after Andy Burnham’s intervention to exclude those convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from the scheme.
But domestic abusers and killers will still be eligible to go free, including two men jailed for their role in the death of PC Andrew Harper.
PC Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, said her family are “bitterly disappointed” that her son’s killers remain eligible for early release while his widow, Lissie Harper, called it “an affront to justice” and “an utter betrayal”.
There are mounting concerns that the probation service, already facing a staffing and funding crisis, won’t be able to cope with the additional workload, making mistakes more likely.
Burnham, who is on holiday, said he wanted to go “even further” with the exemptions, but argued that this was “not possible without the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing”.
Pupils in Scotland’s schools received their exam results this morning, with exam pass rates at all levels having risen this year, including a record number of National 5 passes.

Thanks for following along. We are closing the blog now – but you can keep up with all our latest coverage of UK politics here.

The number of police officers in Scotland has fallen to its lowest level in two years, with data from the Scottish government showing there were 16,402 full-time equivalent (FTE) officers at the end of June, the lowest quarterly total since June 2024, when there were 16,207 FTE officers.

The Scottish Conservatives said the SNP’s “savage cuts to police budgets have weakened frontline policing” and warned that public safety is at risk because of fewer officers on the streets.

The justice secretary, Neil Gray, said in response to the data:

double quotation markSince these figures were recorded on 30 June 2026, Police Scotland has welcomed a new intake of officers, with further recruitment planned throughout the year. We have invested more than £1.7bn in policing this year, and Scotland continues to be a safe place to live, with more police officers per 10,000 people than England and Wales, while recorded crime has fallen by almost half since 1991.

Jason Rodrigues

Jason Rodrigues is a researcher and writer in the Guardian’s research department

Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty has mocked Reform’s small-boat crossings plan after the party used a Royal Navy warship sold to Brazil eight years ago on the cover of its Operation Fortress: Stopping the Invasion of Britain booklet, held up by Nigel Farage at a press conference in London yesterday.

The Tory MP for Huntingdon and former British Army officer posted on X:

double quotation markReform, always across the detail on defence matters, have used a 2012 picture of HMS Ocean on the cover of Operation Fortress. HMS Ocean was sold to Brazil in 2018 and is now the Brazilian Navy flagship, NAM Atlântico. It remains unclear as to how the Brazilian Navy will be involved.

Nigel Farage holds the ‘Operation Fortress’ booklet as he speaks during a press conference in London on Monday. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

HMS Ocean was sold to Brazil by the Ministry of Defence for £84m. She was deployed in the intervention by British forces in the Sierra Leone civil war in 2000 and aided the Nato mission in Libya in 2011.

Her launch in 1995, reported by the Guardian, at the Govan shipyard in Glasgow was less than glorious. She “suffered serious” damage after being holed when her supporting cradle collapsed, sending her bow crashing down on the concrete slipway.

HMS Ocean holed, reported in the Guardian, 19 Oct 1995. Photograph: GDN/The Guardian

Reform UK has regained its lead over Labour in the latest YouGov poll, which shows that Nigel Farage’s party is up by 1% compared to the previous week when it was tied with Labour on 22%.

The prime minister, Andy Burnham, was credited for giving Labour a slight boost in popularity after spending his first week as leader looking to give voters “breathing space” on the cost of living – removing a tax on energy bills, capping bus fares and cutting taxes for pubs and bars.

According to the latest poll, which we shouldn’t read too much into, Reform UK is now on 23% of the vote, Labour on 22%, the Conservatives are on a 19% vote share, with the Greens on 13% and the Lib Dems on 12%.

Latest YouGov Westminster voting intention, 2-3 August 2026Reform UK: 23% (+1 from 26-27 Jul)Labour: 22% (=)Conservatives: 19% (-2)Greens: 13% (=)Lib Dems: 12% (+1)Restore Britain: 4% (=)SNP: 3% (+1)Plaid Cymru: 1% (=)Your Party: 0% (-1) pic.twitter.com/VTYnTT9A59— YouGov (@YouGov) August 4, 2026

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Commenting on the results, Patrick English, YouGov’s head of elections and political data, told The Telegraph:

double quotation markI would say that there certainly has been a positive response from the British public to Labour’s removal of Keir Starmer – who was, by the end of his prime ministership, one of the most unpopular prime ministers we’d ever seen – and replacement with Andy Burnham, who is currently the most positively rated party leader that we are measuring. There has been a response there and I think that’s to be expected, but even though Burnham leads our favourability ratings he is not hugely popular. So I don’t think we should expect a massive surge in Labour support, and I would caution expectations in that regard because the British public still don’t think that the government is doing a brilliant job. They still don’t think they’re addressing their concerns around the cost of living and around immigration, and they’re going to want to see actual improvement and actual changes in their day-to-day lives before they start giving Labour more reward in the polls and more reward at the ballot box.

Kalyeena Makortoff

Campaigners have renewed calls for a windfall tax on UK banks that could raise £19bn towards Andy Burnham’s cost of living agenda, after HSBC raked in $10.1bn (£7.5bn) worth of profits in the second quarter of the year.

Bosses at HSBC reported on Tuesday that profits rose 60% year on year in the three months to the end of June, helped by fees from wealth management and insurance business, as well as higher interest rates, which allow the bank to charge more for loans and mortgages.

The HSBC chief executive, Georges Elhedery, said he would consider increasing banker bonuses on the back of the strong results and planned to restart a share buy-back programme that had been on pause since last year.

It brings collective profits for the four largest banks – HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds – to £29.2bn over the first six months of the year, putting lenders back in the crosshairs of campaigners, including Positive Money and the Trades Union Congress, who are calling for a fresh tax on the lucrative industry. You can read the full story here:

PM says he 'wanted to go further' with early release scheme changes

double quotation markThe truth is I wanted to go even further. I know there will be concerns about who will still be released early for other offences. I have pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do. I know I can look people in the eye and say to them there is nothing more I could have asked for without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing within months. Such an outcome would expose the public to enormous risk. Police would be unable to make arrests. Courts would be unable to send new offenders to prison. Our justice system would grind to a halt. However, I am determined to do more to support victims and the public. So, as well as excluding those sentences for rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences, we will be introducing much tougher community measures. Nearly all offenders released will be tagged. The period of supervision will be toughened. And we will be imposing new conditions for offenders, including restriction zones agreed with victims.

Gatwick airport is to start development of its second runway after campaigners lost a legal challenge to the plans. The court of appeal on Tuesday dismissed a bid by local campaign groups to challenge an earlier high court ruling that the scheme could proceed.

Downing Street has commented on the news that a dinghy carrying 157 people had capsized in the Channel.

Reuters quotes a British government spokesperson saying “This incident underlines the terrible dangers of ⁠small boat crossings. We continue to work relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys.”

All 157 people on the vessel are thought to have been returned to Boulogne.

Badenoch defends selection of man jailed for harassing MP in council poll

Speaking to reporters on a trip accompanying a police raid in Surrey today, Badenoch said her party believed in second chances. She said:

double quotation markI want to be very clear – and I think people can look at me and know that I’m not a person who would be recruiting neo-Nazis. Josh is someone who actually has been certified by the Home Office to train police officers on antisemitism and on countering extremism. Yes, he is somebody who had been previously convicted but he is someone who has shown contrition for his crimes, has been rehabilitated and is spending every day working to solve the very problem which he knew that he had caused previously. And the Conservative party believes in second chances. This is not just someone that we’ve picked up who’s a convicted criminal – this is somebody who is actively working to help communities.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch poses for a selfie. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has suggested Andy Burnham should look at the record profits of oil companies as a potential source of revenue to help ease the cost of living crisis.

Responding to BP reporting its highest profits in four years, and after a similar result from Shell, Davey posted to social media to say:

double quotation markWhile wildfires rage, oil bosses are laughing all the way to the bank thanks to Donald Trump’s idiotic Iran war. People across the country are facing sky high energy bills. If Burnham is struggling to find the money to help families with those bills, I’d start here.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has taken an almost collegiate tone when asked about Andy Burnham’s decision to go on holiday so soon after taking up the role of prime minister. PA Media reports she told reporters:

double quotation markI’m not going to criticise a politician for taking a holiday. I’m not going to criticise Andy Burnham for that. It’s children’s school holidays, my children are on a holiday, I hope that everybody should be taking a break.

She did, however, follow up those words with a more typical political attack, saying:

double quotation markWhat I will criticise Andy Burnham for is not coming to parliament after becoming prime minister. He should have done that and allowed himself to face questions from MPs. That’s what we’re elected to do. We are the elected representatives of the people. Andy Burnham was running away from parliament. He can’t run away for ever. I’m not going to be giving him a holiday when we come back in September.

Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch speaks to the media after accompanying Surrey police on a raid for drugs in Surrey. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

Jessica Elgot

Our deputy political editor Jessica Elgot offers this analysis of Andy Burnham’s handling of the prisoner early release scheme, suggesting it offers him “his first taste of unpopularity”:

If Andy Burnham wanted to demonstrate he was the anti-Keir Starmer, the first fortnight could not have gone better. Instead of painting a gloomy picture of tough times and an economic black hole that would only improve with sacrifices such as cutting winter fuel allowance, Burnham’s first week was a blitz of small wins including cutting bus fares.

But the new prime minister can only control so much. And like Starmer, within his first days in office he found himself facing immediate decisions where every call will make you unpopular. And – like Starmer – blaming your predecessor counts for nothing with an angry public.

On Monday, the first day of the prime minister’s planned holiday with his family, the call had to be made on the early release of prisoners to stop the prison system becoming overwhelmed. Burnham excluded those convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from the scheme. But some killers – including two who were convicted of the manslaughter of PC Andrew Harper – will be eligible.

In an article for the Telegraph, where frustration seeped from every syllable, Burnham admitted he had not wanted to take that decision and had hoped to find a way to stop even more convicts from being released early, some just a third into their sentences. “The truth is I wanted to go even further … I have pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do,” he said

Read more here: Jessica Elgot – Prisoner early release scheme gives Burnham his first taste of unpopularity

Probation service 'ill-equipped' to take on additional work from tightening of early release rules, union warns

“For example, there are huge numbers of vacancies in Victim Liaison Roles, so we are not sure how the extra Victim Contact Scheme work will be done.

“Plans to release thousands of domestic abuse perpetrators and stalkers early from prison does not boost victim protection. It means that more people, largely women, will be killed or harmed.

“There’s no additional funding to retain probation staff, especially experienced ones, despite endemic staffing problems in many key roles across England and Wales.”

Napo’s general secretary, Ian Lawrence, said:

double quotation markEveryone is talking about prisons, and yes it is bad, but the crisis in probation is far worse. But yet again, our members are being overlooked while all the attention is on prison. Without probation none of this can happen, so the service needs to be front and centre to this discussion. Napo is currently in a formal trade dispute with HMPPS over workloads and we are currently in an indicative ballot of our members due to close on Monday. We expect a strong response from our members indicating a wish to ballot for industrial action.

The overall prison population in England and Wales has ballooned over recent decades in part because of longer sentences, a high level of people in prison on remand and court backlogs.

Keir Starmer inherited the prison overcrowding crisis from the Conservatives when he became prime minister in July 2024 – and it has now been passed on to Andy Burnham.

Successive administrations were blamed for not building enough prison places to accommodate the growth in prisoners while the crumbling prison estate remained underfunded. As the Howard League explains:

double quotation markThe prison population has almost doubled in the last 30 years. After a rapid increase in the 1990s and 2000s, it began to stabilise in the 2010s and decreased slightly during the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has since risen again to reach record heights. This is not a response to rising crime – in fact, recorded crime has fallen – but a sign of how changes in sentencing policy, led by politicians, have had a dramatic impact. Prison sentences have been handed down more and more, and they have got longer and longer over time. Campaigns calling for the creation of new offences, or the introduction of longer sentences, to address specific issues or problems have contributed to this shift. The impact of these campaigns can be far-reaching – when politicians make sentences longer for one crime, it often leads to calls for longer sentences for other crimes. And so it goes on.

Source note