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'The Trump Administration Must Abandon Its Delusions About Destroying the EU'

Read our Digital & Print Editions And support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system SUBSCRIBE TODAY Members of the Trump administration are guilty of making the same mistake as backers of Brexit in the UK, in assuming other people share their own prejudices about the European Union. This perception bias has led the administration to conclude that Europeans are yearning to be "free" from the "shackles" of the EU, and that the US has a crucial role to play in achieving this. In its recent National Security Strategy, the administration blames what it calls Europe's decline on the supposedly malign "activities" of the European Union, which it accuses of undermining political liberty and sovereignty, and imposing stifling over-regulation. It hints at its desire to break the bloc apart, in order to restore European nations' "individual character and history." According to the defense analysis organization, Defense One, this aspiration is made even more explicit in a longer unpublished version of the NSS which it claims to have seen, which lists Austria, Hungary, Italy and Poland as countries the US should "work more with…with the goal of pulling them away from the [European Union]" However, recent opinion polls confirm that across the EU, a majority of people still have a broadly positive view towards it, even in countries like those above targeted by the US. An opinion poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in September revealed that among the nine member countries surveyed, seven-in-ten or more in Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, and over half in Spain, Italy, Poland, France and Hungary, have a favourable view of the EU. The only country where views were more negative than negative was Greece. Nigel Farage Accepts Another £135,000 From Gold Bullion Firm for Just 12 Hours Work The Reform UK leader has pocketed £415,500 so far this year to act as the company's "Brand Ambassador" Russell Scott The same poll revealed that even in countries outside the EU many held a broadly positive attitude towards the bloc. In Canada, Nigeria, South Korea and Australia, roughly three-quarters had a favorable opinion of the EU. Six-in-ten or more agreed in five other nonmember countries, including the United Kingdom, and even the United States itself. Views were more finely balanced in Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Mexico, Turkey and South Africa. A similar poll conducted EU-wide earlier this year by the EU's in-house surveyor, Eurobarometer, revealed that over 74% of respondents think that their country benefits from EU membership - the best result ever recorded since this question was first asked in 1983. Figures ranged from a staggering 92% in Malta, over 90% in Ireland, Lithuania, Estonia and Denmark, to the lowest percentage in Bulgaria, at a still solid 61%. In the same survey, 89% said they believed that more unity was crucial to tackle global challenges, with 75% or more citizens agreeing with this in every Member State. Another poll conducted by the same organization this year found that over 70% of respondents in the 20 euro member states also believed that the euro was a good thing both for the EU and for their own country. In a third poll, a majority of correspondents in nearly every EU member state supported further EU enlargement, with Ukraine the most favoured country for accession, provided it can meet the membership criteria. Amongst those more sceptical about enlargement, concerns included uncontrolled migration (40%), corruption, organized crime, terrorism (39%) and the cost to European taxpayers (37%). This suggests that the US administration may be onto something, when it highlights concerns in its NSS about Europe's stagnating economy, migration policies, and loss of self-confidence. But, just as Brexit was never the right solution to the UK's genuine domestic problems in 2016, when the Brexit referendum took place, so, breaking apart the EU would not resolve Europe's current ills. Emp...

Nigel Farage Accepts Another £135,000 From Gold Bullion Firm for Just 12 Hours Work

Read our Digital & Print Editions And support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system SUBSCRIBE TODAY Nigel Farage has accepted another £135,000 from a firm selling gold bullion, for working just four hours per week over a three month period. The latest register of interests published by the House of Parliament shows that the Reform UK leader continues to earn huge sums of money from second jobs outside his role as the MP for Clacton. Farage, who acts as the companies "Brand Ambassador" is pocketing an eye-watering £11,250 per hour to push "tax-free gold". This isn't the first time payment Farage has accepted from the Mayfair registered Gold merchants, Byline Times previously reported on two previous payments. £91,200 was paid to Farage in February 2025, which followed a a £189,300 payment from the same company in December 2024 - again for working a "maximum" of four hours per month, with some of the fee paying for some work "undertaken prior" to his election to Parliament. In total the Reform UK leader has declared payments totalling £415,500 from Direct Bullion, a Mayfair-registered firm, which claims to be "the UK's No.1" Gold bullion dealer. The firm also had a large stand in a very prominent position inside Reform UK's recent party conference held in September and the Reform UK's logo has been affixed to the firm's website. It comes on top of hundreds of thousands of pounds in payments for Farage's role as GB News presenter, revenue sharing payments from Elon Musk's X platform and earnings from his profile on the Cameo personalised video message platform. The latest available accounts published on Companies House in October 2025 for DB London Ltd ,which trades under the name Direct Bullion shows the firm had just five employees as of 31 January 2025 and operates out of a shared office space in London, where over 100 other companies are also registered. In June this year, DB London informed Companies House that the firm was now majority controlled by another company called Eleven Intl Ltd. The registered address of Eleven Intl Ltd is in Ilford, and appears to be an accountancy company based above a supermarket. According to accounts filed in September 2025, Eleven Intl Ltd has no employees and only £96 cash in the bank as of 31 January 2025. 'If Nigel Farage's Racism Is Forgotten It Will Give Him Permission for Far Worse' When someone tells you who they are, over and over again, it is wise to listen, argues Clive Lewis MP Clive Lewis MP In a recent interview with The Observer, Paul Withers the Co-founder of Bullion Direct said: "I like Reform because I believe in what Nigel stands for. I worked bloody hard, and see a lot of what I worked hard for go to waste. The majority [of people are] seeing this - it's nationwide, and when I look at the proper alternatives, there's nothing there." Withers told the paper that Farage was "a real goldbug" and "bringing the customers to us," claiming "It's done better than I ever anticipated." Online customer reviews appear to support this claim, with some suggesting Farage's endorsement of Bullion Direct was the reason for them investing in gold. However, some customer reviews appear to be duplications despite being posted under different names and on different dates. The Bullion Directory, which provides online reviews of Gold and Silver dealers in the UK currently lists Direct Bullion as the "top rated" seller in the country, however in some instances these reviews also appear to be duplicates. Two separate entries from April 2025 both use identical sentences to boast about their investments increasing by 50% in value and both repeat the same spelling mistakes. Both Nigel Farage and Direct Bullion were approached for comment. ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account. PAY ANNUALLY - £3...

Grenfell Fire: Up to a Million People Still Living in Tower Blocks With Flammable Cladding Eight Years Later

Read our Digital & Print Editions And support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system SUBSCRIBE TODAY Up to a million people are still living in UK tower blocks covered in dangerous flammable cladding, some eight years after the Grenfell Tower fire, a damning report by peers reveals today. The failure to resolve the issue, almost a decade on from the tragedy that killed 72 people in the tower block in West London, is partly blamed on failures by the new Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to speedily approve renovations. The new agency was set up following the inquiry into the fire by Dame Judith Hackitt in 2018. However, instead of taking eight to twelve weeks to approve renovations to tower blocks, many cases take nine months and in one case 62 weeks -highlighted by lawyers Irwin Mitchell in written evidence to peers. The Lords report also blames the building industry for the huge delays, saying there has been a shortage of newly trained skilled housing inspectors. The peers say: "We heard consistent and repeated complaints that the BSR could take more than nine months to make decisions on whether construction projects should be allowed to go ahead, significantly longer than the statutory target of twelve weeks for these decisions. "In many cases, this has delayed or disincentivised refurbishments, safety upgrades and the remediation of dangerous cladding in high-rise buildings, leaving residents in unsafe buildings for longer and increasing costs for leaseholders." Keir Starmer's Government Is Funding 'Violence and Death' on the French Border, Say Human Rights Groups Billions of pounds is being spent on anti-migrant measures which campaigners warn are contributing to dozens of deaths of vulnerable people seeking to come to the UK Nicola Kelly "Many applications are being rejected or delayed due to basic errors and applicants' inability to evidence how they are considering elements of fire and structural safety, which reflects poorly on the construction industry." The campaign group Grenfell United told peers that up to one million flat dwellers are impacted by these delays and still living in unsafe conditions. Labour Chair of the Industry and Regulators Committee, Baroness Taylor of Bolton said: "The tragic loss of 72 lives at the Grenfell Tower fire laid bare the urgent need to reform building safety regulation in England, particularly for high-rise buildings. The introduction of the Building Safety Regulator was a necessary and welcome step. "However, the scale of the delays caused by the BSR has stretched far beyond the regulator's statutory timelines for building control decisions. This is unacceptable. We welcome that the Government and the BSR are now acting to try and make practical improvements, but this will not address the anxiety and frustration that residents and companies have experienced. "It does not improve safety to delay vital remediation and refurbishments, nor to deter the delivery of new housing in high-rise buildings. We expect to see further action from the Government and the BSR to ensure that construction projects in high-rise buildings can be brought forward more quickly, without compromising on vital safety improvements." The delays are bad news for the Government's plans to build 1.5 million homes by 2029, particularly in big cities where there are a large number of tower blocks., Peers were told The Greater London Authority's statistics on housing found that residential starts in London dropped from 48,745 new homes in 2022-23 to 27,543 in 2023-24. Residential starts in London fell further in 2024-25 to 21,026 - just 43% of the 2022-23 figure. Some of the blame for these figures falls on the safety regulator. Matt Voyce, Executive Director of Construction at Quintain, which is developing an 85-acre estate in Wembley Park, said that his experience of the BSR had been "challenging, frustrating and costly". ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE Receive th...

Nigel Farage's Russian Influence Advent Calendar

Advent Calendar 25 Times Nigel Farage Has Been a Gift to Vladimir Putin (chronological). Click a door to flip it. 1 2013 Byline Times: Farage lies about "meeting the Russian ambassador" Open story 2 31 Mar 2014 Guardian: relationship with Russian media comes under scrutiny Open story 3 1 May 2014 GQ (archived): Putin is the leader Farage most admires Open story 4 21 May 2014 HuffPost: Prince Charles Shouldn't Criticise Putin Open story 5 2014 (archived) The EU provoked Russia's invasion of Ukraine Open story 6 16 Sep 2014 Farage sticks up for Putin in the EU Parliament Open story 7 Jun 2016 Politico: Obama "behaved disgracefully" by intervening in Brexit Open story 8 8 Sep 2016 Independent: RT offers Farage his own TV show Open story 9 1 Jun 2017 Politico: Farage calls Trump-Russia probe reports "fake news" Open story 10 1 Nov 2017 Newsweek: "Jews should concern Americans more than Russian influence…" Open story 11 12 Dec 2018 Byline Times: Farage's Lieutenant bribed by "Putin's man in Ukraine" Open story 12 12 Mar 2018 LBC: Farage on Salisbury/Novichok - UK "jumped the gun" Open story 13 6 May 2019 Guardian: Farage claims Russian intervention a "hoax" Open story 14 17 May 2019 Newsweek: Farage plays down Arron Banks' visits to the Russian Embassy Open story 15 10 Oct 2019 Guardian: Farage's MEPs vote against EU anti-Russian disinformation measures Open story 16 15 Feb 2022 Telegraph: "should not entertain NATO membership for Ukraine" Open story 17 24 Feb 2022 Independent: Russian invasion a consequence of EU/NATO "provoking" Putin Open story 18 21 Jun 2024 BBC: Farage says West "provoked" Ukraine war Open story 19 3 Jul 2024 Byline Times: Farage, bots and the 2024 election Open story 20 23 Mar 2025 Big Issue: Farage record on Ukraine Open story 21 March 2025 The Times: Zelensky should take Trump's minerals deal Open story 22 YouTube clip TalkTV "Ukraine is corrupt" Open story 23 Oct 2025 Putin is a "bad dude" but Ukraine is corrupt Open story 24 16 Oct 2025 Bloomberg: It's still the fault of NATO and the EU Open story 25 Oct 2025 POLITICO Europe: "Putin is a very bad dude" Open story Thanks to all our supporters who made suggestions for this. And those who, after it was published, suggested it should be called a Griftmas Card, with Russian oligarchs falling out of each window as they open. Out of the Doom Loop As well as bringing you the bad news, Byline Times is committed to bringing you the good, and looking for rays of hope in the New Year. So subscribe for the new edition, hitting the doormats and shops next week. Last Minute Christmas Gift From Lady Mone, as told to Otto English* *Lady Mone's opinions are her own, and are also in this case entirely fictional Giftcards are 15% off with code: TISTHESEASON

'If Nigel Farage's Racism Is Forgotten It Will Give Him Permission for Far Worse'

Read our Digital & Print Editions And support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system SUBSCRIBE TODAY I've held back from commenting on the revelations about Nigel Farage's past racism. Not because the story shocked me. For many in this country, it merely confirms what we've suspected for years. But some will be hearing these allegations for the first time, and it's to you that I want to speak. Over the past weeks we've seen a steady stream of former classmates and teachers describe Farage's behaviour at Dulwich College: Nazi salutes, chants, anti-semitic slurs aimed at Jewish pupils, racist taunts at anyone who was not white. Some recall him saying "Hitler was right" or making jokes about gas chambers. Others simply describe a pattern of targeted, persistent abuse. These are not new concerns. A teacher's letter from the early 1980s warned school authorities that the teenage Farage should not be made a prefect because of what she called his "racism" and "fascism". What is new is the political context. Farage is no longer just a fringe protest figure. He leads a party riding high in the polls, and he openly talks about expecting to walk into Downing Street. The Government's 'Integrity Gap' Is Leaving the Door Open for Nigel Farage By offering watered down Faragist rhetoric combined with a programme of managed decline, Keir Starmer's Government has left a political vacuum which the Reform leader is now stepping into, argues Labour MP Clive Lewis Clive Lewis MP Most of us have said or done things when we were young that we look back on with regret. That is part of growing up. We make mistakes, we cringe at our former selves, we learn, we change. Some of those early attitudes fall away. Others become the foundations of who we later become. What is now emerging about Nigel Farage is not a single stupid comment or one heated moment. Former classmates are describing a pattern of behaviour. Not just a bully, but a racist bully of the ugliest kind, directing hatred at black and Jewish pupils as a kind of sport. That does not automatically mean he holds every one of those views today. People can change. But when someone tells you who they are, over and over again, it is wise to listen. So look at his politics. Look at his rhetoric. Look at the company he keeps and the division he trades in. For decades Farage has built his career on singling out migrants and minorities, from the infamous "Breaking Point" poster that depicted desperate refugees as a threat, to repeated claims that we are being "overrun" or that parts of Britain are no longer recognisably British. Look at Reform's immigration policy, which even the Prime Minister has felt compelled to call "racist" and "immoral". Consider his willingness to stand alongside and give cover to people in his own party who make openly racist comments, only distancing himself when public outrage forces his hand. Taken together, it paints a picture of a man whose worldview did not grow out of those teenage foundations, but from them. So, what does that mean now? If you already oppose Farage, these stories will only harden your resolve. If you adore him, nothing I say will shift you. But there is a group of people I do want to reach: those considering voting for Reform. I am not going to patronise you. I understand why many are thinking about it. If you have watched your pay stall, your bills rise, your community decline and your politicians shrug for years, you might well think: what have I got to lose? Why not give the system a kick? Why not try something different? You may feel the country has taken a wrong turn. That we have lost something precious and need to put it right. You may feel that people like you have been talked down to, ignored, or written off. Those instincts are not wicked. They are not inherently racist. They come from frustration, disappointment and a desire for dignity and control in your own life. I meet people every week who feel that ...