{"id":117485,"date":"2024-12-03T23:48:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T23:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/politics-latest-farages-deputy-defends-reform-mp-who-was-jailed-for-assaulting-girlfriend-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2024-12-03T23:48:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T23:48:44","slug":"politics-latest-farages-deputy-defends-reform-mp-who-was-jailed-for-assaulting-girlfriend-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/politics-latest-farages-deputy-defends-reform-mp-who-was-jailed-for-assaulting-girlfriend-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics latest: Farage's deputy defends Reform MP who was jailed for assaulting girlfriend – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice has faced a strong challenge from Sky’s Sophy Ridge over the criminal record of one of his party’s MPs.
Tuesday 3 December 2024 23:00, UK
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Finally with Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, we ask about his party colleague James McMurdock.
It’s emerged he was jailed when he was 19 for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend<\/a>, having not disclosed the conviction before he was elected.
‘Gone full circle’<\/b>
Mr Tice defends his colleague, saying: “We are a great Christian nation. Are you seriously saying that if someone makes a bad mistake in life, age 19, that there’s no redemption they are doomed as a sinner forever?
“The whole point of Christianity is a sense of – if you’ve done something wrong, you pay your price. And at the end of that sentence, whatever it is, then, in a sense you’ve done your bit, you served your punishment.”
He goes on to say it is “remarkable” that Mr McMurdock has “gone full circle” and done well in life after his punishment.
‘It doesn’t matter’<\/b>
Pushed on the discrepancy between Mr McMurdock’s initial account of pushing his girlfriend, and the court documents showing he kicked her, Mr Tice says “it actually doesn’t matter”.
“The law ruled that he had transgressed, and he was punished. He served his punishment.”
Pushed again by Sophy Ridge<\/a><\/b> on if the public has the right to transparency before someone is elected as an MP, he replies: “The transparency is we have a right to a difference of opinion, OK?”
He says The Times newspaper, which reported on the conviction, “were not there” and “the court documents were not there” either.
“Can I suggest that actually the individual might be closer to the truth?”
Mr Tice says this is a redemption story that sets a “really positive” example.
Thank you for joining us in the Politics Hub for live coverage of today’s events in Westminster.<\/p>\n

Scroll down for full live coverage of the day in politics – or see the main news and analysis in the key points above.
We’ll be back from 6am with the very latest political news – and full coverage of PMQs at 12pm.
By Alexandra Rogers<\/a>, political reporter<\/b>
The chancellor has admitted it will not be “easy” for businesses to “absorb” the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions that was announced in the budget.
Rachel Reeves also acknowledged that the change – which will see employers’ contributions rise to 15% from April 2025<\/a><\/strong> – would also hit charities and local councils.
Speaking at The Yorkshire Post’s great northern conference in Hull, the chancellor said: “I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy for businesses, or indeed for charities or local authorities, to absorb, especially, the national insurance increase.
“But we made a commitment during the general election…that we wouldn’t increase taxes on working people, because over the last few years it has been working people that have had to bear the brunt of tax increases.”
Ms Reeves cited Labour’s election campaign promise not to increase income tax, VAT or national insurance<\/a><\/strong> on employees, saying the party had “managed to stick to that manifesto commitment”.
However, the Conservatives have argued that Labour did breach its manifesto pledge because it did not specify between employee and employer contributions.
We spoke a short while ago to Heather Wheeler, who previously served as minister for Asia and the Pacific.
We asked her for her assessment of what has been happening in South Korea today, and she described the events as “unprecedented”.
“As everybody has said already, the president now is a lame duck president,” she said of the country’s leader, who sought to impose martial law before parliament put a stop to it.
She described South Korea as having “an incredibly vibrant democracy”, with the public making their voices heard publicly and debating issues.
‘True friend’ of UK<\/b>
Ms Wheeler also noted that North Korea is “emboldened” by Putin using their troops to help the war in Ukraine, but added: “As soon as the body bags start being sent back, I’m sure people will have another view.”
South Korea more broadly is a “true friend” to the UK, she said, and noted it is a critical country for the production of computer chips.
Labour MP Tan Dhesi is the chair of the Defence Select Committee.
He picked quite the night to appear on Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge<\/b>, with events in South Korea unfolding as they have.
He said it’s a “relief” that things seem to have “calmed down” after the president there lifted martial law.
It comes after parliament voted to block his shock declaration.
Mr Dhesi said it is “testament to the democracy in South Korea that it was resolved so quickly”.
With North Korean troops on European soil, aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it’s “very important our partners in South Korea reman strong”.
The prime minister is at Buckingham Palace tonight, attending the state banquet for the Emir of Qatar.
Sir Keir Starmer was seen arriving a little earlier this evening, accompanied by Ms Lolwah bint Rashid Al-Khater, who is Qatar’s foreign affairs spokesperson.
The King is hosting the Emir of Qatar for a lavish state banquet at Buckingham Palace tonight – and we couldn’t help but notice this quirk of the seating plan.
David Beckham is among the famous faces in attendance, and he’s been sat next to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
What might they end up chatting about?
They call it the people’s game. Yet members of the House of Lords this week claimed they’re just ordinary fans.
Peers of all parties this week proudly displayed their footballing colours and spoke passionately about their allegiances and their memories.
And while Sir Keir Starmer may watch Arsenal from the directors’ box these days, some peers claim they’ve been cheering from the terraces or the cheap seats for decades.
A crunching tackle!<\/b>
Yes, some of them support big clubs like the Gunners, Chelsea, or Liverpool, but others declared undying loyalty for unfashionable teams like Tottenham Hotspur or Bolton Wanderers.
Football became a game of two halves in the Lords as peers tackled one another over the Football Governance Bill, which will give the red card to rogue club owners and directors.
First on to the pitch was Tory peer Lord Maude of Horsham, ex-minister and fixer for David Cameron, who revealed he’s a lifelong Spurs fan.
Then came a crunching tackle from Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, a Tory former junior minister, who risked offending supporters of the two Manchester clubs.
“I’m taken to understand not everybody who’s a fan of Manchester United or Manchester City lives in the city of Manchester,” he said.
A swift counter-attack!<\/b>
Ooh! Over the top, your lordship! Yellow card, surely?
Lord Knight of Weymouth, the former Labour MP Jim Knight, confessed allegiance to Arsenal.
Kicking off for the blues, Lord Finkelstein, a former Tory aide who writes a football column called Fink Tank and calls himself Danny the Fink, declared he’s a Chelsea director and director of the club’s foundation.
Then the reds counter-attacked with Gordon Brown’s former little helper, Stewart Wood, who’s so loyal to Liverpool he called himself Lord Wood of Anfield when he got his peerage in 2011.
‘Closed shop’<\/b>
But peers don’t just support the glory clubs of the Premier League.
Baroness Taylor – a trailblazer as the first female government whip in the 1970s and later the first Commons leader and chief whip – revealed she supported Bolton.
New Tory peer Lord Goodman, former MP for Wycombe, said proudly: “My Lords, I declare an interest of a kind as a season ticket holder at Wycombe Wanderers, who are still top of League One.”
And Lord Jackson, former Peterborough MP, admitted: “When I was a child, I used to go to Charlton Athletic, the Valley, which in the good old days had a 66,000 capacity.”
And what of Tory peer Baroness Brady, vice chairman of West Ham and a football boss for 30 years? She doesn’t much like the new football regulator plan, claiming it will create a “closed shop” of top sides.
That’s a claim disputed by supporters of the Football Governance Bill, who insist the Premier League is a closed shop already, because the big clubs win it in the majority of seasons.
A closed shop? Just like the elite House of Lords – even if some of its members claim to be genuine fans of the people\u2019s game.
Labour have asked parliament’s standards watchdog to investigate Reform UK after both Lee Anderson and Dame Andrea Jenkyns claimed they were offered bribes from the party’s donors to defect from the Tories.
But Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, tells us he has “no idea” if defectors were actually offered money.
“Lots of people say all sorts of stuff, but they don’t speak to for Reform,” he tells us.
“The whole thing is a complete load of nonsense,” he adds.
On tonight’s edition of Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge<\/b>, we are hearing from the deputy leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice.
It comes as Sky News reports on the young men who are ditching the mainstream politics of Labour and the Conservatives for Nigel Farage and Reform UK – much more so than young women (read and watch the full story here<\/a>).
Mr Tice says these young men are attracted to the “personality”, “conviction”, and “principle” the party has.
“We’ve got a clear view on some stuff, and we tell it as it is, and I think a lot of people, they like that.
“They appreciate the facts, and we’re not waffly and wishy-washy about this stuff – we’ve got a view, whether you like it or not.”
He points to the trans debate (“our view is quite clear – there’s two sexes, two genders, and that’s it”), immigration, net zero, and similar policies that “impact on people’s lives”.
Asked about the gender gap, and the party not doing well among young women, Mr Tice says: “Whatever it is, clearly we’ve got more work to do.”
He adds that the party needs to “keep learning, keep improving”, and they are “of course” investigating how to expand their appeal.
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