Keir Starmer threw down the gauntlet to Donald Trump at the Cop29 summit today by urging him to ‘show leadership’ on climate change. The Prime Minister issued the challenge to the US President-elect as he arrived at the UN conference in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Sir Keir is one of just a small handful of world leaders who have come to the annual event, aimed at curbing catastrophic global warming caused by greenhouse gases.

Labour’s plan to smash the small boat gangs ‘won’t work’, Home Office insiders have claimed. Civil servants at the department are said to be ‘underwhelmed’ by the Government’s proposals to tackling Channel crossings and reducing illegal migration to the UK. It comes as nine different boats carrying 572 migrants were intercepted crossing the Channel on Saturday.

A village school headteacher sparked fury after requesting all reference to Christmas be removed from a traditional festive pantomime being staged for young pupils. Parents have slammed the decision not to include anything about the Christian celebration so the event can be ‘inclusive’ for children of all faiths. A letter was sent to parents of 126 children at the Wherwell Primary School in Andover, Hampshire, from the head teacher informing them that there would be no reference to Christmas in a production of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.

Jeremy Clarkson is set to join protesting farmers at a rally against the Chancellor’s tractor tax next week. The former Top Gear presenter, 64, who runs Diddly Squat Farm, is in talks with organisers to give a speech at the demonstration, it is understood. Thousands of fellow farmers are set to appear at Westminster on November 19 to oppose Rachel Reeve’s new tax, which will stop all farms being passed on free from inheritance tax.

Vladimir Putin was so close to launching a nuke in Ukraine in October 2022 that Britain was preparing for the fallout, it is understood. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss reportedly spent her final days in office examining weather maps and preparing for UK radiation cases after American spies raised concerns that Putin was seriously close to pressing the button. The shocking details of how close the war came to a devastating escalation have been uncovered in an updated biography of Ms Truss, titled Out of the Blue.

A British manufacturer dubbed the Mail’s ‘most promising firm of the new millennium’ has blamed Labour for closing its factories. Kevin Hancock, managing director of Connectix Cabling Systems, has said he will shut down his four factories in the UK because of the anti-growth Budget. He blamed Rachel Reeves’ £25bn national insurance tax raid and increases to the national minimum wage for making it impossible to produce in Britain.