Nigel Farage And Donald Trump 'To Appear On Stage Together'

Nigel Farage has told Sky News he will appear on stage with Donald Trump in the US tonight to discuss "The Brexit Story".

The Republican presidential nominee is due to campaign on Wednesday evening in Jackson, Mississippi, and the former UKIP leader is also said to be in the southern US state.

Trump campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks told Sky News she would "highly doubt" such a joint appearance.

She added that she knows nothing about it and "they don't know each other".

Mr Trump caused a stir last week with a cryptic tweet in which he said: "They will soon be calling me MR BREXIT!"

The real estate businessman supported June's UK vote to leave the European Union and described it as "the people taking the country back".

Many Trump supporters have voiced nationalist, anti-globalisation, anti-establishment views, which have been echoed among many who voted for Brexit.

During a visit to his Trump Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire, Scotland, in the aftermath of the referendum, Mr Trump said the UK's vote to leave the EU was a "great thing".

"People are angry all over the world," he said.

"They're angry over borders, they're angry over people coming into the country and taking over and nobody even knows who they are."

Two-Year-Old Girl Who Was Swept Into The Sea With Her Dad Dies

A two-year-old girl who was swept into the sea at Newquay with her father last week has died.

McKayla Bruynius died at Bristol Children's Hospital on Tuesday night.

She was caught by a large wave at Fistral beach in the Cornish resort while she was with her father last Friday.

Her father Rudy, aged 33, died that day.

It brings to seven the number of people killed in tragedies around the British coast during the weekend.

Devon and Cornwall Police have issued a statement from the little girl's mother. Lisinda.

In it she paid tribute to her husband and her daughter.


Lisinda Bruynius has paid tribute to her husband and daughter

"Rudy was a loving, caring and supportive husband, father and friend," she said.

"He had a great sense of humour and was an active person. He always put other people first. Mckayla was a busy bee and always happy.

"I am in disbelief at what has happened. I am so shocked at how quickly the sea condition changed on that day whilst we were enjoying a family time together in Cornwall.

"I pray that others can learn from our tragedy as I do not wish for anybody to go through our grief.

"I would like to thank the RNLI, the staff at Royal Cornwall Hospital, the staff from Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, the emergency services and all the members of public for their generous support and prayers they have given towards my family.


The RNLI was called in to help with the rescue. Pic: Paul L Blatchford

"I would especially like to thank the people of Cornwall for their messages of love and offers of help.

"I will never forget the close community spirit displayed towards us.

"Please respect our privacy at this really difficult time and allow my sons and I to try to come to terms with what has happened."

Mrs Bruynius had also been swept into the sea and sustained minor injuries. Two other children in the family had managed to scramble onto rocks.

The family are from Croydon in south London, and were on holiday in the area. An appeal to help them has so far raised more than £32,000.

In the other coastal tragedies at the weekend:

:: Julie Walker and her son Lucas, six, drowned in the sea off Aberdeen

:: Joy Godfray died in hospital after being rescued from the sea off Jersey

:: A swimmer caught in rough seas off the coast of Dorset died

:: A windsurfer who got into trouble off the Essex coast drowned

Owen Smith Denies Calling Jeremy Corbyn A 'Lunatic'

contender Owen Smith has denied calling rival Jeremy Corbyn a "lunatic".

Mr Smith told Sky News he was talking about himself when he said: "What you won't get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party."

The Pontypridd MP continued: "Somebody had said I'd been running around like a lunatic earlier on.

"Look, it was a poor choice of words on my part and if anyone has been offended by that I'm very sorry.

"But I was simply making the point that we need a sensible Labour Party, one that is going to appeal right across the country."

Mr Smith made the "lunatic" remark at a meeting of party members in London on Tuesday.

During the event he tried to tout himself as the man to provide a "coherent narrative" that would try and win over millions of people who voted for the Conservatives at the last election.

Mr Smith also attempted to shore up his credentials as a radical candidate, quipping that "Jeremy is not the only socialist in the village".

He told the audience: "Jeremy, the biggest thing he said recently that I disagreed with was 'yes, we've got to get some of the people who contemplated voting Tory in the past to vote Labour', rubbish - we've got to get two million people who actively voted Tory 12 months ago to vote Labour in 106 seats.

"What you won't get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party.

"You will have someone who is trying to forge a coherent narrative about what is wrong with Britain, why we are so unproductive as an economy, why we are not creating more decent jobs."

Responding to Mr Smith's comments, the Jeremy for Labour campaigned condemned his choice of words.

A spokesman said: "Owen Smith has degraded this contest by descending into personal abuse.

"He should apologise to people suffering with mental illness, many of whom would have been dismayed and upset to hear such offensive language used in public by a Labour politician.

"He should also withdraw his remark, and spend time with people suffering from mental health problems to develop some sensitivity in his use of language."

The controversy comes as Mr Smith said he would block Brexit until the Government offers a second vote.

Mr Smith says that under his leadership Labour would not support the triggering of Article 50 unless there was a commitment from Prime Minister Theresa May to hold a second referendum or a General Election to approve the final Brexit deal.

Owen Smith Pledges To Block Brexit Unless There Is A Second Vote

Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith says he would block Brexit until the Government offers a second vote.

Mr Smith says that under his leadership Labour would not support the triggering of Article 50 unless there was a commitment from Theresa May to hold a second referendum or a General Election to approve the final Brexit deal.

Speaking two months after the June referendum result, he said: "The British people were lied to by the Leave campaign - they deserve to have a say on whatever exit deal the Tories strike with the EU.

"Theresa May says that 'Brexit means Brexit' - but nobody knows what Brexit looks like.

"It could involve trashing workers' rights and environmental protections, opening our NHS up to foreign competition, making it harder for us to trade with our neighbours and damaging our economy.

"I'm a passionate pro-European and I will fight tooth and nail to keep us in the EU.

"Under my leadership, Labour won't give the Tories a blank cheque. We will vote in Parliament to block any attempt to invoke Article 50 until Theresa May commits to a second referendum or a general election on whatever EU exit deal emerges at the end of the process."

The result of Labour's leadership contest will be announced on 24 September.

The working assumption is that Britain will trigger Article 50 at the end of this year or the start of 2017, beginning the two-year exit negotiations.

However, there are growing suggestions within Westminster circles that Prime Minister Theresa May is considering delaying the trigger until after both the French and German elections in May and September 2017 respectively. 

There have been concerns that Mrs May's two Brexit departments, the Department for Britain's Exit from the EU and the Department for International Trade, will not be in a position to begin their work satisfactorily by the end of this year.

Two Months On From EU Referendum Result - And Still No Brexit Plan

Two months on from the tumult, it might seem that calm and normality has returned to British politics.

The referendum rollercoaster is merely in service and the Thrills and Spills have been on a brief summer break.

Fundamentally, this arises from the fact - as I found out within 48 hours of the result - that "there is no plan".

And two months on, that remains the case.

Sure, there is some consultation with leading Brexit-impacted industry.

The leaders of the nations and some regions have met Brexit minister David Davis and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, too. This is not a quick process.

There is some office space now. There is a structure. But so far it involves more of a to-do list than even a plan about a plan. Basically, they have the paper and the pens to write an outline.

The Government did not have a plan: policy was to remain in the European Union.

Leave campaigners argue it was profound negligence from David Cameron and George Osborne but the Leave campaign itself did not have a plan.

In the case of the Scottish Referendum in 2014, the SNP prepared a White Paper of 670 pages covering many details of how Scotland leaving the United Kingdom might work.

From divvying up the Bank of England's gold reserves, to the role of the Queen, to apportioning the national debt.

And yet, its vagueness over plans for sterling, even in that document, proved very difficult for the Yes campaign.

In comparison, the Change option in the EU referendum provided a canvas of a certain shape, yes… but a rather blank one.

The Bank of England did have a plan to deal with the sharp drop in sterling and confidence impact of the shock result. But its armoury goes only so far.

There is a fundamental reason why the Leave campaign did not have a plan: Its different wings did not agree with each other.

Even among the 'Three Brexiteers', one offered an immigration amnesty days before the referendum and another sought out specific assurances from Theresa May that migration restrictions would be prioritised over Single Market access, before backing her in the leadership contest.

The fundamental question here is this: What was the Leave mandate for EU migration?

For none? For less? For a bit less? For total control? For more control? For the strongest degree of control consistent with unimpeded trade access to Britain's biggest trade partner?

For more control over migration but not at the expense of a single lost job in the car industry/City/pharmaceuticals and higher education?

For UK citizens in the EU having the same restrictions as those planned for EU migrants here? For more migrants from South Asia, as was promised by some Vote Leave politicians?

So there is a judgement to be made on the mandate from the vote. There is another one on the degree of trade-off with ease of trade access.

And then there is another one about the how much of the electorate will rebel if their conception of Brexit is not delivered, or delayed.

That fundamental judgement on where to pitch Britain's tent is what we are waiting for right now. It is what our prospective negotiating partners across Europe are waiting for, too.

The Cabinet Brexiteers will have to agree. The Cabinet will have to agree. The Government, and then the Conservative Party, too.

The Supreme Court will get involved in determining how much say the House of Commons has, particularly on the mandate to withdraw from the Single Market.

The House of Lords can cause havoc.

The Northern Irish First and Deputy First Ministers have already written a remarkable letter demanding, post-Brexit, all of the benefits as they see them of EU membership, from migration, to development and farm funds, and an open border with Ireland. Scotland looms large.

In London, soundings are being taken from the sector that provides most of our tax revenue: the City.

Against this backdrop, the Treasury is calculating the hit to the public finances from the post-Brexit economic slowdown. It is still early to tell exactly what happened.

Business investment appears to have slowed down - but the consumer kept on spending.

And that is just the picture in the UK... watch out for an imminent referendum on Italy that could fell prime minister Matteo Renzi at a time of fragility in the Italian banking system.

Watch out for the French presidential primary which will see millions of centre-right supporters paying two euros to choose between Nicolas Sarkozy and Alain Juppe.

Mr Juppe, current favourite to be next French President, has already talked about changing the UK-France treaty that sees our border policed in Calais.

It would be entirely predictable to see beastly behaviour to the exiting Brits become a feature of the French presidentials.

Then there are the French and German elections in spring and autumn 2017, respectively.

So, yes, we still await a Brexit plan.

Perhaps that is now to be expected, given no one thought to detail one in advance.

My shock back in June was that I had thought, just maybe, that Leave MPs would be brandishing some detailed ideas, in order to celebrate a famous victory.

First though, they have to agree with each other. And then they have to commit to paper before the end of the year, if there is any chance of Article 50 being triggered early next year.

Rarely can there have been a need for the most forensic scrutiny of the decisions made by a government.

The compromises decided on, possibly in the next 12 weeks, will have ramifications for the shape of British politics and economics for decades to come.

Earthquake leaves at least six dead in central Italy

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least six people dead and others trapped under rubble, Italian officials said.

The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 76 km (47 miles) southeast of the city of Perugia, at the very shallow depth of 10km (six miles), the USGS said.

The mayor of one town told Italian radio that "half the town is gone".

In Rome, some buildings shook for 20 seconds, according to La Repubblica newspaper.

A family of four had been found under rubble in the town of Accumoli, the town's mayor Stefano Petrucci told RAI TV.

Meanwhile police said two people had died in the nearby village of Pescara del Tronto, RAI reported.

There were also reports of serious damage in the town of Amatrice.

"The roads in and out of town are cut off. Half the town is gone. There are people under the rubble... There's been a landslide and a bridge might collapse," mayor Sergio Perozzi told RAI radio.

Italy's Civil Protection agency described the earthquake as "severe".

The quake was initially reported as being magnitude 6.4. It was followed by several powerful aftershocks, La Repubblica newspaper reported.

"It was so strong. It seemed the bed was walking across the room by itself with us on it," Lina Mercantini of Ceselli in Umbria, told Reuters news agency.

The USGS predicted the damage could be significant, based on data from previous quakes.

In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in the Aquila region, which was also felt in the Italian capital, left more than 300 dead.

British Backpacker Stabbed To Death At Queensland Hostel

A British backpacker has been stabbed to death at a hostel in Australia by a man who allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he attacked her.

Police said they found a "terrible scene" when they arrived at the scene of the knife attack in Home Hill, north Queensland.

Two men were injured, including a 30-year-old Briton who was taken to Townsville Base Hospital where he is reportedly in a critical condition.

A dog was also killed in the attack, which happened at around 2.15pm (11.15pm local time) on Tuesday and was witnessed by up to 30 people.

Police have arrested a 29-year-old Frenchman and recovered a knife, which they believe was used in the attack.

Investigators said they were probing possible extremist links, while mental health issues and drug use were also lines of inquiry.

Queensland Police Service Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said: "We are not ruling out any motivations at this stage. We wish to reassure the community - we are not looking for anyone else."

He said the suspect had been in Australia for about a year on a temporary visa.

He said: "This person appears to have acted alone.

"He is a visitor to Australia and has no known local connections, however investigations are ongoing."

The British High Commission in Australia said it was providing support to the families of the victims.