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Two MPs have admitted using their parliamentary offices as part of a paid meeting.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran and senior Conservative backbencher Crispin Blunt both took part in a panel event for Bindmans legal firm regarding the treatment of detainees in Saudi Arabia.

According to her register of interests, Ms Moran has earned £3,000 for her work with Bindmans on top of her £81,932 MP salary.

Mr Blunt has registered a £6,000 payment from Bindmans for chairing a “fact-finding” panel for the firm.

There is a fresh focus on MPs’ outside earnings following the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal.

As part of the scrutiny of MPs’ other employment, Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Cox is facing claims that he used his parliamentary office to undertake some of his lucrative legal work for a firm representing the government of the British Virgin Islands.

Labour has urged the parliamentary commissioner for standards to investigate Sir Geoffrey’s use of a Commons office, although he denies breaching parliamentary rules.

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A code of conduct states that MPs should “ensure that their use of public resources is always in support of their parliamentary duties”.

Ms Moran has expressed her “deep regret” that she joined the Bindmans event via video-conference from her Commons office.

“With MPs from other parties, I worked on the detention of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia with Bindmans, the legal firm,” she said.

“I deeply regret that I zoomed in for one meeting from my office in parliament when COVID restrictions were in place.

“I take full responsibility for this and it will not happen again.”

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Mr Blunt did not respond to a Sky News request for comment.

But he was quoted in a report on the BBC website as saying it did not occur to him that there would be an issue in using a room in parliament.

According to the report, Mr Blunt said the MPs on the panel were discussing a matter of “serious public concern” and stated he would accept the findings of any investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner if a complaint was made.

Mr Blunt was said to have added he thought MPs were being subjected to an “absurd feeding frenzy” by the media in relation to their additional work.

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FBOT registry won’t bring offshore crypto exchanges to the US — Attorney

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<div>FBOT registry won't bring offshore crypto exchanges to the US — Attorney</div>

<div>FBOT registry won't bring offshore crypto exchanges to the US — Attorney</div>

The Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) framework is designed for the legacy financial system and is a poor fit for cryptocurrency exchanges.

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‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

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‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

A crypto developer says Trump-linked crypto project WLFI froze his tokens and refused to unlock them, calling it “the new age mafia.”

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Farage confirms he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to Taliban in Afghanistan

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Farage confirms he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to Taliban in Afghanistan

Nigel Farage has confirmed he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to the Taliban in Afghanistan if he becomes prime minister.

The Reform UK leader’s position on the topic has not been clear, with him previously saying he would send women back to the fundamentalist regime that took over after western militaries withdrew, before now saying he would.

Mr Farage was speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby at the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham.

Politics live: Govt responds to Farage wanting early election

When asked if he would “detain” women and children and “send them back”, the Clacton MP said “yes”.

Challenged on when he said in August that he was not “discussing” women and children, Mr Farage claimed this was a reference to his desire to seeing men detained on arrival in the UK.

At the time he said he was “very, very clear” on the “deportation of illegal immigrants”, adding: “We are not even discussing women and children at this stage – there are so many illegal males in Britain, and the news reports that said that after my conference yesterday were wrong”

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Speaking today, Mr Farage claimed that the UK has a “duty of care” if a four-year-old arrives in a dinghy, for example – but not so for women and men.

“For clarity, those that cross the English Channel will be detained and deported, men and women,” Mr Farage went on.

“Children, we’ll have to think about.”

The Reform leader also rowed back on his pledge to stop all boats within two weeks if he is elected prime minister.

Speaking to the conference yesterday, Mr Farage said: “You cannot come here illegally and stay – we will stop the boats within two weeks of winning government.”

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Watch Farage face questions on his tax affairs

But speaking to Beth Rigby today, he changed tack – saying “the passing of legislation” would be required.

He said the boats would then be stopped within two weeks, or sooner.

In the interview with Rigby, Mr Farage tried to claim he did not say he would end the boats within two weeks of “winning government”.

But the video of his speech, as well as the transcript released by Reform UK, clearly show him saying: “We will stop the boats within two weeks of winning government.”

When asked why he wouldn’t be able to stop the boats within two weeks of winning government, Mr Farage said it was impossible and “no one” can prevent them crossing the Channel.

The Reform UK leader said the law he wants to introduce will be called the Illegal Migration Act once it is passed by parliament.

He confirmed his agenda includes leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, shutting down asylum hotels and housing people at RAF bases instead, as well as deporting Channel migrants.

Mr Farage also claimed that deportation flights would also begin within two weeks of the law changing, and this combination of factors would stop people from wanting to travel from France.

This strategy all depends on Reform UK winning the next general election – which Labour does not have to call until 2029.

However, Mr Farage says he believes the government will collapse in 2027 due to economic pressure and other factors.

Reform are currently well clear of Labour and the Conservatives in the polling, and are targeting next year’s Welsh, Scottish and English local election to try and win more power in councils and national assemblies.

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