Monday, June 15, 2026

Well Said, Stephen.

STEPHEN GLOVER: Only Rupert Lowe can save us from a monstrous coup. The trouble is he's self serving, arrogant and a political extremist.

By STEPHEN GLOVER, DAILY MAIL COLUMNIST

Published: | Updated: 


Returning to our shores after ten days abroad, I was amazed to find a full-scale political coup in progress.

Despite having no obvious qualifications for the job – and without having gone to the bother of putting himself forward in a General Election – Andy Burnham could soon snatch the keys to No10.

He will probably install his pal Ed Miliband as Chancellor. Even though he's still a member of the Cabinet, 'Red Ed' has reportedly been offering tactical advice to the 'King of the North' as he plots to replace Sir Keir Starmer.

As the successor to Rachel Reeves, Miliband would double down on the impoverishing net zero policies he has been shoving down our throats as Energy Secretary. They would break the bounds of Labour's 2024 manifesto.

Also joining Burnham's Cabinet would be Angela Rayner, who evidently feels no shame over her failure to pay a £40,000 stamp duty liability, and is itching to whack hard-pressed employers with a further raft of workers' rights.

Louise Haigh, who resigned as a senior minister in November 2024 after it emerged she had falsely told the police a decade earlier that her work mobile phone had been stolen, is also expected to take her place at Andy Burnham's side.

What a crew! Let us disregard for a moment their moral and intellectual shortcomings (perhaps excluding Red Ed, who is a clever zealot). They would all of them – Burnham, Miliband, Rayner, Haigh and their support troops – dominate the most Left-wing government in our history.

Yet their policies were not put to the British electorate in 2024. Andy has been doing his best to conceal his true intentions before this week's by-election in Makerfield but, if he wins, the mask will instantly fall.

Rupert Lowe¿s language is more incendiary than Nigel Farage¿s, Stephen Glover says

Rupert Lowe's language is more incendiary than Nigel Farage's, Stephen Glover says

The essence of a coup is that it is non-democratic. A group of people, usually unrepresentative and small in number, seizes power. They almost always then proceed to ruin the unfortunate country that they control.

Can anyone save us? There is one man who could, if he wanted to. The trouble is he is vain, self-serving and arrogant, besides being a political extremist. There is no point in appealing to his decency and good sense, because he has none. I speak of Rupert Lowe, leader of Restore Britain.

Most polls suggest Burnham is a short head in front of Reform UK's rather limp candidate Robert Kenyon. If nothing changes, Andy will win on Thursday. His margin of victory, though, is likely to be smaller than Restore's entire vote, which opinion polls are putting at around 8 per cent.

In other words, if Restore's candidate Rebecca Shepherd were to vanish into thin air, there's a sporting chance that Burnham might be stopped and Britain saved from an incompetent Leftist government no one voted for.

Since there's no point in appealing to Rupert Lowe's better nature, the only hope is that prospective Restore voters will wake up in time to the reality that the party they're thinking of supporting harbours some pretty nasty secrets.

Of course Restore and Reform have much in common. Both have a robust approach to bringing down immigration, particularly the illegal variety – as do the Tories under Kemi Badenoch. But Lowe's language, which he deploys to great effect on social media, is more incendiary than Nigel Farage's.

He is also close to some very suspect people. While Farage has kept his distance from far-Right rabble-rouser Tommy Robinson and has refused to let him join Reform, Lowe said over the weekend: 'If Tommy Robinson wants to join us, that's up to him'.

Elon Musk partly fell out with Farage because the leader of Reform had distanced himself from Robinson. Lowe, by contrast, hasn't offended the world's richest man by attacking the activist.

Mr Lowe with Makerfield's Restore candidate Rebecca Shepherd

Mr Lowe with Makerfield's Restore candidate Rebecca Shepherd

Yesterday's Mail on Sunday revealed some very dubious connections between Restore and extremist figures. A number of those campaigning in Makerfield consorted with neo-Nazis at a recent summit of white supremacists in Portugal which called for a white-only Europe.

One of them is Callum Barker, who was on the stump for Restore last week and is described as a 'hardened neo-Nazi'. Lucy White, another Restore activist, spoke at the summit and interviewed American white supremacist Jared Taylor, whom she described as 'a true pioneer, a true legend'.

Also addressing a panel at the event last month was a Restore campaigner who uses the name 'Angloid' online and has been identified as 19-year-old Lorcan Barker. All three have been pictured with Rupert Lowe.

Steve Laws, another backer of Restore who has been described as an ethnic-cleansing extremist and has advocated the mass deportation of British Jews, has just posted online about the success of the party's campaign in Makerfield.

I'm not suggesting that Lowe shares all the highly obnoxious views of these people. But surely the mere fact that he associates with them, and that his party is supported by others of a similar ilk, should make decent people planning to vote Restore think again.

The views I've cited echo those of the far-Right British National Party and its forerunner, the National Front. Only in a handful of elections over many years did either party achieve as much as 8 per cent of the vote – the level at which Restore is now polling. Most of the time they got less than 1 per cent.

Why, then, do a significant number of people contemplate supporting Restore on Thursday? Unless you believe that Makerfield boasts an unusual number of bigots and extremists – which I don't – it can only be because many are unaware of the unsavoury side of Restore.

It suits the Left, of course, to lump Reform and Restore together as being indistinguishable. They're not.

The question is where Nigel Farage's heart really lies. Last week he declared that under a Reform government foreign nationals living in social housing would be given three months to find private accommodation or face being deported.

This sounds draconian, and is also apparently at odds with his statement in September 2024 that it was 'a political impossibility to deport hundreds of thousands of people'. He was right about that.

Was he moved to change his mind because of Restore's polling success in Makerfield and Lowe's enthusiasm for deportation? It is hard to think this wasn't the case.

A much more profitable approach for Reform would be to point out the unwholesome connections Lowe's party has with some very dodgy characters. Many planning to support it don't know what they would be voting for.

I doubt Restore will present much of a threat to Reform in the long term. Lowe isn't a serious politician. He is driven by hatred of Farage. He's a multi-millionaire maverick and extremist, supported by the world's first trillionaire, who preposterously portrays himself as an enemy of the Establishment.

I'd be surprised if he stayed the course. He'll probably fizzle out. But Rupert Lowe is capable of depriving Reform of victory on Thursday, and thereby of delivering us into the hands of a government that would ruin Britain.

Yet it's still not too late to stop Andy Burnham's monstrous coup. People of Makerfield, awake!

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I Despair!

Labour minister refuses to answer 'beheading' question 6 times in car-crash LBC interview.

The Northern Ireland Secretary was repeatedly asked if beheading is an "alien culture".

By Katie Harris, Senior Political Correspondent

Nick Ferrari and Hilary Benn

Nick Ferrari repeatedly asked Hilary Benn if beheading is an 'alien culture' (Image: LBC)

A Labour minister repeatedly refused to say if beheading is an "alien culture" during a fiery LBC interview. Host Nick Ferrari asked Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn multiple times as he dodged the question.

The clash came after Mr Benn condemned Traditional Unionist Voice MP Jim Allister for using the term "alien culture" in the Commons earlier this week in the wake of the horror Belfast attack. After being repeatedly pressed by Mr Ferrari, Mr Benn eventually said: "It is alien to all right thinking people." DE.

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Well. His Work Left Me Cold.

David Hockney, OM, blockbuster artist whose vivid paintings were recognisable to millions.

‘I suppose essentially I am saying we are not sure what the world looks like. An awful lot of people think we do, but I don’t’

Telegraph Obituaries
Published 
Hockney in 2015
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Burnout.

Life beyond burnout: how Christians can grow in the desert seasons.

desert, hope, christian living, life (Photo: Getty/iStock)

In her latest book, What Grows in Weary Lands, author and Anglican priest Tish Harrison Warren explores spiritual exhaustion, resilience and the quiet work of faith in the difficult seasons of life. 

She draws from personal experience and ancient Christian wisdom - specifically that of mystics and monks - to examine the realities of modern burnout and how periods of weariness and doubt can become places for deep faith and hope to grow.

Christian Today spoke with Tish to hear about how Christian resilience differs from the modern cultural idea of grit, what the Church can do to address spiritual weariness, and how Christians can weave their identity in Christ into all areas of their lives.

The subtitle of your book focuses on Christian resilience. How is Christian resilience different from cultural ideas of grit or self-sufficiency?

Grit gets us part of the way toward understanding resilience. There is something valuable in our culture’s emphasis on perseverance, on sticking with things, practising patience, and developing discipline. But Christian resilience is different from sheer willpower or stoicism.

The key difference is why and how we endure. Cultural grit often focuses on personal strength, pushing through because we have no other choice, or because we want to prove something about ourselves. Christian resilience, by contrast, is rooted in hope. We persevere not simply to survive, but because we know that God is at work and will ultimately set things right.

A helpful example is the prodigal son’s older brother. He stayed, he was dutiful, he endured, but his heart was distant. He was resentful and joyless. That isn’t Christian resilience.

Christian resilience means remaining not out of resignation, but out of trust. The desert fathers and mothers spoke about “staying in the cell” not as an act of grit alone, but as a place of encounter with God. In staying, we are formed. We believe God is present and working in us.

So resilience is not an end in itself. It’s not about gritting our teeth through life. It’s about sustaining a relationship with God through every season. 

As someone who writes about faith, how do you personally guard against burnout?

I don’t try to eliminate weariness entirely, because I think it’s an inevitable part of the life of faith, and often a place where we encounter God.

Part of what I’m trying to reframe is the idea that weariness, doubt, or disorientation are purely negative. These can actually be places of growth if we lean into them rather than avoid them.

That said, I do try to be intentional about renewal. Silence is important for me, especially because I work with words so much. I practise silent prayer to create space to be filled again.

I also try to keep the Sabbath, one day a week without work, shopping, or screens. It’s not perfect, and it’s not a quick fix. Even with years of practising the Sabbath, I’ve still experienced deep weariness. Life stages, like raising children or caring for ageing parents, can make true rest difficult. 

Another thing I’m increasingly aware of is the importance of community. Much of our culture’s burnout comes not just from busyness, but from isolation. So one of the ways I’m trying to guard against burnout is by inviting others more deeply into my life.

What role should the Church play in addressing collective weariness today?

I think the Church needs to distinguish between different kinds of weariness.

Some weariness comes from overwork, constant striving, or disordered priorities, chasing success, productivity, or control. In those cases, the Church should name those patterns and call people back to rest, limits, and a healthier vision of life shaped by delight and beauty.

But there is also a kind of weariness that is simply part of being human, and part of spiritual growth. Seasons of dryness, difficulty, or fatigue are not failures. They are normal.

So the Church’s role is both pastoral and prophetic. Pastorally, it should help people discern whether their weariness is a sign of imbalance or a natural part of growth. Prophetically, it should challenge a culture that resists limits and idolises productivity.

At the same time, the Church shouldn’t treat all weariness as a problem to fix. Like sadness, it is part of life. Doing good in the world is often hard, and that effort can make us weary. The goal is not to avoid weariness entirely, but to respond to it with patience, trust, and faith.

How can we take the peace, joy, and identity we have in Christ into our other roles, such as workers, parents, friends?

I think it starts with being the same person everywhere. Not one person at church and another at work or at home, but someone rooted in Christ wherever they are.

That means bringing our faith into the real moments of life, not treating it as something abstract. It’s easy to say we have hope in Jesus in a general sense, but do we have hope when we’re failing at work, struggling in relationships, or feeling like we’ve let our children down?

Christian hope has to be lived in those specific moments. It has to be embodied in our daily lives.

But this also works in the other direction. Being “one person” means bringing our real selves into church. If we’re struggling with doubt or weariness, we should be honest about that. Church isn’t a place to pretend we’re fine; it’s a place to come as we are, in need of God.

You write that culture and the Church tends to ‘lack stories of a long, steady continuation in faith.’ Why do you think that is?

I write in the book about Thomas Aquinas's idea of "arduous goods" - the idea that many of the best things, the "goods" in our life, are difficult and add friction to our days. I don't think, in Hollywood or in global capitalism - in the West in general - we have much of an understanding of arduous goods. We are told to seek our happiness and follow our bliss. But a life of merely doing that ends up a life without meaning. 

What do you hope readers will take from this book?

Firstly, I hope weary and discouraged readers find encouragement. I also hope to introduce the idea of stability. In an unstable world, the Christian life involves remaining committed to God, to people, to place, and to the practices of faith, even when we don’t feel like it.

I want readers to engage with the wisdom of the ancient church, the desert fathers and mothers and other early voices, because they offer a deeper and sometimes unfamiliar perspective on faith. 

But most of all, I hope readers experience grace. We often live as though the spiritual life depends entirely on us, our effort, our discipline, our strength. But when we reach the end of ourselves, we begin to see God’s sufficiency more clearly.

So I hope readers learn to rest, not in passivity, but in trust. That their efforts become participation in what God is already doing, rather than an attempt to control or perfect their own lives.

CT.

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I Wonder What This Is?


 

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A Fair Point!


 

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Excellent. Not Before Time.

Four sentenced to death over terror attack on Nigerian church.

Genesis 9:6 states: "Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind." (NIV). This verse establishes the divine principle of capital punishment for murder, grounding it in the sanctity of human life. Nowhere in the NT contradicts this teaching.

The Bible famously supports the death penalty—specifically referencing a "sword" as the symbol of execution—in the New Testament passage of Romans 13:4.

Bishop Jude Arogundade entering the St Francis Xavier Church shortly after the massacre in 2022Bishop Jude Arogundade entering the St Francis Xavier Church shortly after the massacre in 2022 (Photo: Aid to the Church in Need)

Four Islamic militants who carried out a deadly terrorist attack on a Catholic church in Nigeria have been sentenced to death.

Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulhaleem Idris attacked St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo during a Pentecost Sunday Mass on 5 June 2022.

The militants assailed the church with firearms and explosive devices, killing over 40 people in and around the church, including children. 

The attack was one of the worst in Nigeria in recent years, with the late Pope Francis commenting at the time that he was praying for the victims who had been “painfully stricken in a moment of celebration”.

Around 100 people were injured, among them Margaret Attah, who lost both legs and an eye in the attack. In 2023 Attah was granted Aid to the Church in Need’s first #RedWednesday Courage to be Christian Award, which honours heroism and faith in response to persecution.

As well as a death sentence, which requires presidential assent, the four men were handed symbolic life sentences for alleged membership of the terrorist group al Shabaab and were given 20-year sentences for conspiracy.

Court filings show the men had planned to attack other targets, including a public school. A fifth man was acquitted of the charges due to insufficient evidence.

Bishop Jude Arogundad’s diocese includes St Francis Xavier Catholic Church. He attended a special Mass to mark the fourth anniversary of the attack.

Prior to the Mass the bishop told Aid to the Church in Need that he was pleased the case had come to a close.

“We are pleased that at last the families and victims in general can move towards a kind a closure although we realise that they will never fully reach closure as they will carry the scars of what happened that day for the rest of their lives," he said. 

“Many are still traumatised and are still going through medical treatment and many are on the edge – they are still suffering and worried because they don’t know what will happen next.”

He added that although the Church did not approve of the death penalty, it did believe it to be important that those responsible for such crimes be held accountable for their actions. He called upon the authorities to do more to bring others involved in the attack to justice. CT.
Blogger: evil must never be 'given a get out' by liberals and leftists.
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Schools.

Christian Concern’s Head of Education Steve Beegoo, and the Christian Legal Centre’s Roger Kiska, lay out how, in response to updated guidance and key legal cases, Christian schools and teachers can best follow government guidelines relating to RSE and still respect religious beliefs.

Since it became compulsory in September 2020, many schools have been implementing and teaching Relationships and Sex Education but have discovered significant disquiet from those with a traditional religious background. This is due to the strongly held religious beliefs about sex, marriage and gender which are common to many religious communities. In order for a school to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and the government guidance, significant attention will need to be paid to the views of religious parents, so that schools properly address the issues arising and do not unlawfully disregard those with religious belief. Sadly, some schools are being taken through legal processes and this has resulted from their lack of understanding of the law, the government guidance and the strongly held views of many parents. This has also arisen because schools have relied heavily on the resources provided by external organisations, or where an activist staff member with strong views has inconsiderately implemented the RSE curriculum or promoted diversity events and clubs, especially where LGBT themes predominate. This guide is to help schools make sure they have done all they can to fully engage with religious views, and remain compliant with the law.

The key areas

The list below sets out certain issues that parents and/or teachers may have with the teaching of RSE:

  • Parents are raising objections as to inappropriate teaching of sexual themes to children, saying that they are not appropriate for their age. Religious communities often do not speak openly or publicly about sexual parts or relationships until much later in childhood than some schools are beginning to do.
  • Parents are raising objections when diversity or Pride celebrations are required to be celebrated through the school activities. Parents believe such requirements do not simply encourage students to treat others with kindness and respect, but that they indoctrinate children with ideas that contradict widely-held, historic, religious beliefs about marriage, sex and gender.
  • Parents are concerned about the teaching of LGBT relationships, believing these relationships are being celebrated and promoted, rather than their children being informed about them. Celebrating and promoting would be in contradiction to the teachings of their religious faith.
  • Parents are concerned that sexual themes, and discussions of intimate relationships, are being integrated across many subjects in the curriculum, not only in RSE or PSHE, and so their legal right to withdraw their children from ‘Sex Education’ is being undermined.
  • Parents are concerned that resources are being provided to schools by external organisations, where considerations of traditional religious beliefs about sex, marriage and gender are neither referenced nor considered, and are, on occasions actively being undermined. Some resources present a negative view of religious groups, or erroneously that religious groups accept the beliefs of the appropriateness of same sex sexual relationships, or the ideas of gender identity.
  • Parents are in fear of raising concerns due to the potential for their children being targeted and bullied because of their religious beliefs where they may believe they are a minority.
  • Teachers are concerned they are being asked to promote and celebrate gender identity ideology or sexual relationship practices that are against the religious convictions of many parents or the teachers themselves.
  • Teachers are concerned that they are being asked to engage in ‘positive affirmation’ of children’s gender dysphoria, through the use of changed pronouns, which is in contravention of their deeply held rational and religious convictions about the nature of
    gender, and the vulnerability of children to the long-term harm of socially transitioning children through the school environment.
  • Teachers are concerned about raising these issues to their employer for fear of discrimination due to their religious beliefs, which are protected in law.

Legal parameters

The below list lays out the exact legal parameters for schools and parents:

  • The Equality Act 2010, states that religion is a protected characteristic, alongside sex, gender reassignment and sexuality. Discrimination against those with religious perspectives is unlawful. While the content of the curriculum is explicitly excluded from the provisions of the Equality Act, the way in which it is delivered must not result in unlawful discrimination against those with religious belief. (See ‘The Equality Act and Schools’)
  • The judgment in the case of Kristie Higgs, like several decisions before it, has produced caselaw that deeply held Christian beliefs about social issues that affect children’s education, like opposition to same-sex marriage or gender identity belief, are legally protected.
  • The updated Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education (England) Regulations, to come into force in September 2026, maintain the right to withdraw a child from ‘Sex Education’. There is no right to withdraw a child from Relationships and Health education, nor can they be withdrawn from topics taught as part of the science curriculum, including science topics related to puberty or sexual reproduction.
  • It is only Relationships Education which is compulsory in primary schools. Whilst teaching on LGBT themes is not required as part of this, some Headteachers may choose to include it.
  • The Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education (England) Regulations 2026 requires substantial and meaningful engagement with parents about the content and policy, so that parents with religious beliefs can be involved in a full dialogue about the teaching their children will receive. Parents must be allowed to view materials used for RSHE (the must is underlined in the guidance). Schools are told not to enter into copyright agreements with RSE providers who seek to keep parents in the dark about what is being taught.
  • The guidance gives no expectations that LGBT themes be taught as a stand-alone lessons, or that allyship is required. The guidance does not require schools to signpost to pro-LGBT organisations.
  • Article 2 Protocol 1 of the United Nations Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory, states that in the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching, is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions. For any school to do otherwise is therefore unlawful.
  • All maintained schools have a statutory duty to promote community cohesion. The Education and Inspections Act 2006 inserted a new section 21(5) to the Education Act 2002 introducing a duty on the governing bodies of maintained schools to promote community cohesion. This duty is also set out in funding agreements between academies and free schools and the DfE. Schools which ignore the religious beliefs within their community will unlawfully be disregarding this duty. All maintained schools are under a public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010, which requires them to have due regard to preventing unlawful discrimination and harassment of those with religious beliefs, and others with protected characteristics, promoting good relations among those with different protected characteristics in the formation of any policies.
  • Employment law is also clear that those working in schools should not be discriminated against on the grounds of their religious beliefs. This would include the introduction of policies which have the unintended consequence of causing those with seriously held religious beliefs to suffer a detriment when compared to staff who do not share those beliefs.
  • Schools must align with Keeping Children Safe in Education (annually updated Statutory Guidance for schools and colleagues). The most recent version of this statutory guidance states that, when they become aware of a gender questioning child, schools should not initiate any form of social transition. Gender questioning is now seen as a safeguarding issue.
  • The guidance is also clear that schools must not allow under any circumstances pupils into toilets, changing rooms, or boarding or residential accommodation designated for the opposite sex, with no exceptions. Single-sex sports, as defined by biology, are also protected.
  • The Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance is clear that there is protection for teachers that they should not be compelled to use a pupil’s preferred pronouns.
  • The Human Rights Act 1998 requires schools to take into account the religious beliefs of their employees who may have conscientious objections to teaching LGBT themed material. They are required to balance the rights of their employees against their desire to pursue any employment requirements that may clash with the beliefs of employees.
  • Any form of teaching which fails to be critical and objective or which promotes partisan political views is forbidden. This could include certain campaigning elements of LGBT teaching. (1)

Download a pdf of our 2026 Schools guide to Respecting Traditional Religious Beliefs in RSE.

(1) https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health#train-teachers-on-relationships-sex-and-health-education

CC.
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Well Said, Stephen.

STEPHEN GLOVER: Only Rupert Lowe can save us from a monstrous coup. The trouble is he's self serving, arrogant and a political extremist...