New RAF unit will warn of incoming missile attacks, and support offensive and defensive operations

A new military unit dedicated to defending satellites, protecting services people need on Earth and potentially supporting offensive operations is being launched by the UK.

The No III Space Effects Squadron will be announced on Wednesday, with the defence secretary, Wes Streeting, warning that Britain needs to “keep pace in the new space race”.

Thomas called followers to disrupt arrival of asylum seekers in Gosport, but Border Force instead transported them to Dover

Charities have condemned footage of far-right activist Daniel Thomas using a blade to slash an inflatable dinghy in the Channel while a rescue worker was onboard, in a further escalation of organised anti-immigration protest.

Hundreds of protesters gathered early on Tuesday evening at Gosport in Hampshire, aiming to disrupt the planned disembarkation of asylum seekers, but the Border Force vessels carrying them landed instead in Dover early on Wednesday.

Nigel Farage dismisses loss of previous leader as ‘bump in the road’ and says party will ‘carry on as if nothing has happened’

Nigel Farage dismissed the loss of Reform UK’s leader in Wales last week as a “bump in the road” as the party unveiled a replacement.

Helen Jenner replaces Dan Thomas, who stood down last Tuesday after he was arrested on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviours.

Action against Ofcom comes as social media companies are being accused of using courts to slow down implementation

Meta has launched a fresh legal challenge against Britain’s media regulator in the latest of a slew of actions by social media companies who are accused of using the courts to slow down implementation of the Online Safety Act.

Lawyers for the parent company of Facebook served notice during the week in an appeal against placing WhatsApp and Instagram, which are also owned by Meta, in a category that subjects them to additional duties.

Crypto billionaires’ £72m will be used to hire campaign managers and professional staff in target constituencies

For Nigel Farage, the £72m lavished last week on his party by the crypto billionaire donors Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne finally places Reform UK on a level playing field with its political rivals.

The donations are the largest received by a UK political party since declarations became required in 2001 and led to warnings Farage was aiming to “buy” his way to power, with a row still raging over whether they are legal.

Cambridge previously paid £5,000 compensation after an investigation partially upheld allegations against Dr James Orr

A former student of James Orr who was found to have been bullied by the suspended senior Reform UK figure is reopening a case against the University of Cambridge, after apparent discrepancies emerged over the university’s handling of the incident.

The former student alleges that the academic’s claim not to have been disciplined contradicts assurances they say they received from the institution.

Politicians from Solihull, Gateshead and Kent were in online group linked to balaclava-clad far-right agitators

At least five Reform UK councillors have been members of a Facebook group linked to the far-right group involved in the blockades of Dover and Portsmouth by masked men, according to anti-fascist campaigners.

Nigel Farage’s party has been wrestling with internal divisions over its position on the Patriot Platform group, whose activities have been condemned by Farage and across the political spectrum.

Villagers in Piddington, Oxfordshire, hold symbolic referendum over plans to house more than 1,000 asylum seekers nearby

• UK politics live – latest updates

Residents of an English village have voted to leave the UK in a symbolic referendum against plans to house more than 1,000 asylum seekers nearby.

The result of the poll in Piddington, Oxfordshire, was announced on Wednesday morning after 312 people voted on Tuesday. A total of 285 people were in favour of independence from the UK while 26 voted against. One ballot was spoiled.

Dan Thomas, elected in May, says he does not wish to be a ‘distraction’ on same day Reform MS defects to Plaid Cymru

The leader of Reform UK in Wales is standing down after he was arrested and bailed on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour.

Dan Thomas, a former Tory councillor, had only been announced as Reform’s Welsh leader by Nigel Farage in February.

Electoral Commission finds abuse, particularly of women, minority ethnic and disabled people, is affecting candidates’ behaviour

Abuse and intimidation of election candidates is “a serious and growing concern”, the Electoral Commission has said, as a review of this year’s local and mayoral elections in England revealed a surge in threats to those who stood.

More than half of the candidates for Labour or Reform UK reported abuse while those most likely to be targeted were women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and those with disabilities.

Daniel Thomas has spent months trying to unify the UK’s disparate far right to form a disciplined anti-migrant force

Just a few days ago, Daniel “Tommo” Thomas let a group of fellow far-right sympathisers in the north-west of England into a secret. “Groups of men all across the United Kingdom are joining up as one, as one group of resistance,” said Thomas, a convicted kidnapper who is a former bodyguard to Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. “Something is about to go down and it is about to send a fucking shock wave. What is the end goal of all of this? It is to start something that will then snowball. Once we pull this off it will then snowball across the country.”

The trigger event prophesied by Thomas in a YouTube video last week came to pass on Saturday morning, when hundreds of masked men dressed in black appeared on the streets of Dover. By occupying key roundabouts at 7am, the group caused a 4-mile-long queue of traffic along the A20, closing it in both directions. Perhaps more significantly, a uniformed gathering that brought to mind the black shirts of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists in the 1930s forcefully grabbed the nation’s attention.

Minister condemns groups behind Hampshire disorder and says officers were injured as they repelled ‘aggression’

Batons and synthetic pepper spray were used to repel hundreds of masked, black-clad vigilantes in Portsmouth on Sunday, it has emerged, as the policing minister said officers had been injured as they repelled organised “aggression”.

After police contained the weekend’s second disruptive demonstration against asylum seekers travelling to the UK in small boats, it was claimed that officers in Hampshire were pushed off their motorbikes and pelted with bricks. Sarah Jones, the Home Office minister, condemned groups behind the disorder for promoting “racism and thuggery”.

Reform UK leader maintains innocence in overseas funding controversy on last day of party conference

Nigel Farage has claimed that he “wasn’t even listening” during a meeting at the centre of a controversy about whether his party considered evading the law on accepting donations from overseas.

The Reform UK leader also claimed he knew donation law “better than anybody” during interviews as he sought to salvage the final day of his party conference from the fallout that has already cost him two of his closest aides.

Splits emerge within party after resignation of officials reported to police for apparent plot to evade donations law

Nigel Farage sought to shore up his damaged leadership on Friday as he attempted to distance himself from two of his most senior officials reported to the police for apparently plotting to evade the law on foreign donations.

As the scandal engulfed Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham, Farage was forced to suspend close aides Dan Jukes and head of policy James Orr after an undercover investigation by reporters from a group called Verbatim.

Magistrates in Hereford withdraw case against London mayor over untaxed Nissan Micra that is not his

• UK politics live – latest updates

A car tax conviction against the mayor of London has been withdrawn after it transpired that he was targeted by a “scam” that led to him being fined for failing to tax a car that was not his.

Sadiq Khan was found guilty last month under what has been described as a system of “conveyor-belt justice”, in which magistrates decide on hundreds of cases a day, sometimes spending less than a minute on each.

Clacton, funding, internal divisions – party prepares for annual conference next week after a season of missteps

Senior Reform UK figures like to boast that the summer time – and parliament’s longest recess – is when the party makes hay.

Supposedly, it is when Nigel Farage and co can muscle in on the news cycle with provocative statements and new policies, painting “establishment” opponents as workshy layabouts.

Reform MP seeks to heap pressure on Tory leader amid confusion around details of meeting with Giorgia Meloni

Robert Jenrick has accused Kemi Badenoch of telling “a pack of lies” about her meeting with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, as he launched a deeply personal attack on his former boss.

The Reform UK MP sought to heap pressure on the Conservative leader amid confusion about whether Meloni urged Badenoch at a meeting in Rome to “be her own woman” and resist doing a deal with his party.

Incident marks apparent escalation by Tehran in its in retaliation against UK over allowing US to use British bases

Hackers linked to Iran have been blamed for a cyber-attack that caused a British power plant to be temporarily shut down.

The incident involved a small-scale energy generator, according to the UK government, which said that at no point was there a risk to the wider energy system.

Embassy in London says Andrey Kelin left last month after seven years in diplomatic post

Russia has withdrawn its ambassador to the UK, it has emerged, as the Kremlin continues to try to put pressure on Britain over its support for Ukraine.

Andrey Kelin left last month after seven years in the diplomatic post, according to the Russian embassy in London.

Documents published on US embassy’s website prompt claims of attempt to export Maga propaganda to UK

The US embassy in London is offering grants of up to half a million dollars for new “public education” programmes in what has been criticised as interference in British domestic politics.

Using language that the pro-Trump Maga movement has sought to appropriate, a funding notice identifies a goal of fostering a “national conversation” about “shared civilizational values” underpinning US-UK ties. Priority will go to applicants aiming to celebrate “freedom of speech” and “limited government”.