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.

Oprah Winfrey denied being paid $1million to help Kamala Harris by hosting a star-studded town hall event for the Vice President in September. While walking to her car after a workout in quaint Santa Barbara, Oprah was approached by a reporter for TMZ who quizzed her on some hot topics. ‘Not true’ she said when asked about the alleged payment. ‘I was paid nothing. Ever.’

Gloomy weather may get spirits down – but it’s also putting a damper on the UK’s power output. The amount of wind and solar energy generated has fallen significantly over the past two weeks due to a high-pressure weather system. And the calm, dark skies are expected to continue, according to the Met Office, as one high-pressure system is replaced by another.

Donald Trump announced late Sunday that his former ICE director Tom Homan would serve as ‘border czar’ to oversee the largest deportation of immigrants in US history. The president elect, 78, said on Truth Social that Homan would oversee the country’s borders in the incoming administration just days after his landslide victory against Vice President Kamala Harris. ‘I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation’s Borders (“The Border Czar”),’ Trump posted on his social network Truth Social.