10 stuff you might need missed this week from Farage snub to Tory intercourse abuse inquiry disgrace
In a week that has seen the harrowing Southport murder case in court and Donald Trump’s return to the White House, there’s been a lot for Parliament to discuss.
The case of evil killer Axel Rudakubana has put sentencing rules back in the spotlight after he was ordered to spend at least 52 years behind bars. And there are questions about the Special Relationship with the US after Trump’s inauguration on Monday, which was followed by waves of draconian new laws and divisive words.
There has been no shortage of important issues on the domestic front either. There’s been bombshell evidence from the head of a seven-year inquiry into child sex abuse and fury from WASPI campaigners. This week has also seen announcements on rail tickets, while a massive post-general election bill came to light.
Here the Mirror Politics team looks at some of the big stories from the past week that you might have missed.
Child sex abuse inquiry chief’s bombshell evidence

The head of a landmark public inquiry into child sex abuse has said Tory failure to act was “awful” and left victims “angry”.
Professor Alexis Jay, who headed the harrowing Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), said her findings in 2022 were treated as “inconsequential” by the previous Government. She told MPs that she had written to No10 and the Home Office the following year voicing her alarm, but did not even get a response.
When she went to the press saying victims were being failed, she was given an angry dressing down by a Tory advisor, Prof Jay told MPs. She said she was shocked by the “complete silence” she was met with after laying out 20 recommendations to prevent children being sexually abused.
Keir Starmer facing WASPI rebellion in Commons

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Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)
Keir Starmer could face a rebellion over the WASPI scandal in the Commons next week.
The SNP last night said it would force a vote on the Government’s decision not to award compensation to 3.5million 1950s-born women. It comes as campaign leaders said they had been “airbrushed out of history” – but vowed to fight on.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, said he would put forward a Bill demanding the Government pays compensation of up to £2,950 after ministers refused to do so. Mr Flynn said: “I am pleased that the SNP WASPI compensation bill already has cross-party support from MPs of all the main parties – but, with a supermajority in parliament, what matters now is how Labour MPs choose to vote.”
No10 rules out return of the death penalty
Downing Street said on Friday it has “no plans” to re-examine a return for the death penalty.
The Government has slapped down calls – including by Reform UK – to consider bringing back capital punishment. It follows the sentencing of Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana, who had a history of violence and was reported for radicalisation.
Rudakubana murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Bebe King, six, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29 last year. He was jailed for a mimimum of 52 years – meaning he will be nearly 70 before he can be considered for release.
Rudakubana will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said there are “no plans” to look at capital punishment.
He said: “Parliament abolished the death penalty more than 50 years ago and in free votes has consistently voted against it being restored in recent decades.” The PM earlier said the attack was an “atrocity”.
Rishi Sunak announces two jobs – including one in California

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Rishi Sunak this week announced he’s taking up two new jobs – including one in California.
The former Tory leader, who led the party to its worst-ever defeat last year, said he was “delighted” to take up posts at Oxford University and Stanford University’s Hoover Institute.
They are his first new posts after being kicked out of No10 in July, but he is expected to remain as backbench MP for Richmond and Northallerton in Yorkshire. He said: “Oxford and Stanford shaped my life, and I look forward to contributing to their world-class work addressing the challenges and the technological opportunities of our time.”
Humiliation for Farage as Elon Musk downplays donation hopes

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Elon Musk has reportedly downplayed the possibility of giving a donation to Reform UK in humiliation for Nigel Farage.
The tech billionaire has told an associate that it will be difficult to pump cash into the political party now he is part of Donald Trump’s government in the US, the Financial Times reported. Musk has joined the administration as the head of DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency – which is a unit focused on cutting supposedly wasteful spending across official agencies.
And it comes as a senior campaign aide to Mr Trump told ITV on Wednesday night that Mr Farage “is a much smaller person today in Donald Trump’s eyes than he was two weeks ago as a result of Elon’s tweet and engagement on this issue”. Musk tweeted earlier this month that Reform UK “needs a new leader” as Mr Farage “doesn’t have what it takes”.
Savage put-down to ‘Liz Truss’s right hand man’
Keir Starmer delivered a brutal jab at one of ex-PM Liz Truss’s ministers as he hit back at Tory MPs over delays to fix crumbling NHS hospitals.
It came as Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was forced to intervene at Prime Minister’s Questions after the Conservative MP Chris Philp heckled Mr Starmer in the Commons over the issue. The Speaker told him: “Mr Philp I expect better from the front bench and I’m sure you’re going to show better.”
But the PM responded: “He was Liz Truss’s right hand man so I’m sure we wouldn’t expect anything else.”
David Lammy praises ‘funny’ Donald Trump after previously calling him a sociopath

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David Lammy has heaped praise on Donald Trump – who he previously branded a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath”.
In a gushing interview on the BBC’s Today Programme, the Foreign Secretary described the erratic Republican – who will today become US President for the second time – as “generous” and “funny”. Mr Lammy branded Trump a “revisionist actor” and not in any sense a “warmonger”.
The Labour frontbencher, who met the President-elect in September, said:”The Donald Trump I met … had incredible grace, generosity, very keen to be a good host, very funny, very, very, very friendly, very warm, I have to say, about the UK, our royal family, Scotland.”
Secret cost of replacing 350 MPs after Labour landslide revealed
More than £50million was spent on replacing MPs and their staff after last year’s election saw a “once in a generation” shake-up of Parliament.
Some 350 MPs left office after Labour’s landslide – the most of any general election in the last 50 years. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) said nearly all of the £52.8m was spent on helping former MPs leave offices and new MPs set up theirs – including a third of the cash going on redundancy payments for staff. It compares to £11.1m being spent in 2019 and 5.9m in 2017.
New train ticket retailer to be created
A new Government-backed online train ticket retailer will be created as part of the renationalisation of British railways, the Department for Transport has announced.
Labour has vowed to simplify the complicated ticketing system and take the stress out of the “labyrinth of fares”. Tickets will now be sold on a government-backed platform that will bring together individual train operators’ ticket websites.

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Mum’s desperate plea for PM to help bring son home
A mum who is on hunger strike in a desperate bid to bring her imprisoned son home warned Mr Starmer “time is running out” on Friday.
Laila Soueif, who has been taking the drastic action for 117 days in protest over her son Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s treatment, has voiced her frustration over the failure to secure his release. Pro-democracy activist Aala is being held in Egypt, even though he has served his full sentence and should have been released last year.
Ms Soueif, 68, warned on Friday that her “blood sugar levels are dropping”, adding: “I feel more tired every day”. Foreign Secretary David Lammy raised her son’s plight on a visit to Cairo this week, but Ms Soueif said she was devastated he did not bring him back to his family in Brighton.