Restore Britain was “conceived as a pressure group”, said LBC. But its founder, former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, has “stepped up his ambitions and appears willing to challenge his old party for the space on the right”.

After being suspended by Reform UK over bullying allegations, which he denied, the Great Yarmouth MP set up his party last year, and it’s already polling at 4%, according to YouGov. Last week, former Chelsea captain John Terry appeared to endorse Restore Britain, responding “100% yes” to an Instagram post by Lowe calling for the country to “ban foreigners from claiming benefits, and remove migrants who are incapable of financially supporting themselves”.

What are Restore Britain’s policies?
Restore would “reverse mass immigration” by deporting all illegal migrants and introducing a “red list” of countries with “higher barriers to entry”, according to its website. It would use tents to house “so-called asylum seekers”, before getting rid of the asylum system altogether. Benefits for those on indefinite leave to remain would be abolished, and “rape gang collaborators” and foreign criminals would be deported.

The party also promises to abolish inheritance tax, establish the lowest corporation tax in Europe and get “able-bodied Britons on benefits back to work”. Other plans include scrapping foreign aid, spending more on defence, defunding the BBC, banning the burqa and repealing net zero goals. Perhaps most controversially, Restore would hold a binding referendum on restoring the death penalty.

What impact could it have on Reform?
Lowe’s party has sought to present itself as the true voice of the right and has used social media to amplify its anti-immigration rhetoric. Boosted by backing from Elon Musk, Lowe is now one of the most followed UK politicians online. Such a force “could cost Reform a number of seats – and potentially even power, in a wafer-thin general election result – by splitting support among those drawn to hard-right anti-immigration populism”, said The Guardian.

For now, Restore is “really very small fry”, Queen Mary University politics professor Tim Bale told Politics Home. Its impact will be determined in large part by how Nigel Farage reacts. He might position Reform as more “mainstream” than Restore. But he might be drawn into adopting some of its policies, which runs the risk of Reform “moving too far out of the kind of what is sometimes called the zone of acceptability, as far as most voters are concerned”.

Life on the MV Hondius has turned from a dream adventure to a nightmare following the outbreak of hantavirus on board. Today, three people were evacuated from the boat, which is off the coast of Cape Verde. The patients – British, German and Dutch nationals – are being taken to the Netherlands to receive medical care.

The World Health Organization said the “overall public health risk remains low”, but it is closely monitoring the health of passengers and crew on the ship. In addition to three passengers who died earlier in the cruise, a total of five people are thought to have symptoms consistent with an outbreak of hantavirus.

‘Tragic echoes’ of Covid
The MV Hondius set sail last month on a “voyage of adventure to some of the world’s most remote islands”, said CNN. “Whales, dolphins and penguins awaited; landscapes of icy expanses, towering cliffs and rolling green hills beckoned.” Now, the “nearly 150 passengers” are “isolating in their cabins, trapped aboard a ship anchored in the Atlantic, taking what measures they can to shield themselves from an outbreak of a deadly virus”.

The passengers include travel vlogger Kasem Hato, who said most of the people on board are staying calm. The captain and staff are giving regular updates to passengers, who are keeping “busy by reading, watching movies, drinking hot beverages”.

The cruise, which is thought to cost around £10,000 per person, has “descended into something with tragic echoes of the early days of the Covid-19 epidemic”, said The Times. 

‘Miserable wait’
The exact cause of the outbreak remains a “mystery” to investigators, said The Telegraph. The Hondius “did not travel anywhere where the virus is endemic”, and Antarctic cruise ships have to adhere to “scrupulous infection control” to protect the environment.

This is “not a new pandemic waiting to begin”, said The Telegraph. “The risk for the rest of the world is negligible.” But the isolated passengers are likely to “face a miserable wait”. The Canary Islands have rejected the Spanish government’s offer to allow the ship to dock in the territory. Due to the incubation period of the virus, the ship may need to quarantine for up to eight weeks, and the number of infections may rise. But it is “unlikely to spread between passengers, so only those initially exposed will be at risk”.

The Milky Way arcs over a salt flat in northwest Argentina. Titled “My Perfect Night”, the image was captured by Daniel Viñé Garcia and is among 25 winners of the 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition, published on the Capture the Atlas blog. 

Daniel Viñé Garcia / Milky Way Photographer of the Year

When it comes to nature documentaries, no one quite measures up to David Attenborough. The veteran broadcaster, who turns 100 this week, has been making thrilling and informative shows about the wonders of our planet for decades. These are some of his must-see shows.

Life on Earth, 1979
This landmark documentary was Attenborough’s “first step in what has become an inadvertent and profoundly influential lifelong mission to reframe how we see, hear and think about the natural world”, said Gabriel Tate in The Telegraph. In it, the broadcaster travels to 40 countries, documenting more than 500 species. The ambitious 13-part show’s “wow factor” comes from its balance of remarkable “breadth and intimacy”.

The Private Life of Plants, 1995
Attenborough turns his attention to the fascinating world of plant life in this “vibrant” series, said Chris Harvey in The Telegraph. Anyone expecting a mere “coffee-table book celebrating colour, shape and pattern” will be shocked by what transpires. Yes, the timelapse visuals are “exquisite” but as “seeds explode or float gently to the ground”, this “tale of survival” is also “riveting”.

The Blue Planet, 2001
I was “astounded” by Attenborough’s “first in-depth look at what happens beneath the rarely explored waves”, said Eleanor Parsons in New Scientist. “Extraordinary footage” reveals “alien-looking creatures in the ocean depths” and “blue whales from the air”. This doesn’t have the “glossy HD footage” of more recent shows, but it “changed the shape of nature documentaries” and sparked my “life-long interest in the oceans”.

Welcome to the Great Hunkering Down
Sarah O’Connor in the Financial Times
The “waxing and waning of workplace perks” is usually a “gentle push and pull”, writes Sarah O’Connor, but “over the past five years it has been more like a whipsaw”. Fewer people are quitting their posts amid “macroeconomic uncertainty” and “warnings about looming AI-induced job losses”. But despite predictions of a “tsunami”, the “sea is as placid as a lake”, so “perhaps we’re all expecting more drama from the AI story than we really should”.

Reform UK doesn’t like you
Ethan Croft in The New Statesman
There was “an element of flippancy” in Reform UK’s pledge to build migrant detention camps in seats that vote for the Greens, says Ethan Croft. “This proposal would be the inverse” of pork-barrelling, with a Reform government instead overseeing a “form of ritual punishment for the loser”. But at least they’re “being honest” about their dislike of the “more than 70 per cent of voters who say they do not support” Nigel Farage’s party.

Take advertising seriously – it’s good for growth
Stephen Woodford in The Times
“The Advertising Association turns 100 this year” amid a “global crisis of trust”, says the trade body’s CEO Stephen Woodford. Advertising can “help to inform, normalise and persuade at scale”, yet “successive governments have cut back on investing” in campaigns promoting a “healthy lifestyle”. Any government “serious about growth should be serious about advertising”, encouraging “responsible practice” while also “recognising its power to support jobs, innovation and enterprise”. Advertising is a “critical investment in growth and a core driver of our economy”.