Belgian PM condemns move by local mayor to shut down radical rightwing conference as ‘unconstitutional’ UK politics – latest updates A radical right conference that was addressed by Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman as police arrived to close it down has resumed after a Brussels court overturned a local mayor’s attempt to stop it. Following moves condemned as “unacceptable” and “unconstitutional” by the Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo, organisers of the National Conservatism conference went to the conseil d’état, Belgium’s supreme administrative court ..read more

Rishi Sunak’s authority suffers blow as several Conservatives vote against bill, which clears first Commons hurdle with 383 votes to 67 At 12.30pm a transport minister will respond to an urgent question in the Commons tabled by Labour on job losses in the rail industry. That means the debate on the smoking ban will will not start until about 1.15pm. Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, is one of the Britons speaking at the National Conservatism conference in Brussels starting today. The conference, which features hardline rightwingers from around the world committed to the NatCons’ ‘fa ..read more

Emir Kir ordered police to close down radical rightwing conference attended by Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage UK politics – latest updates The UK prime minister has rounded on Belgian authorities for closing down a radical rightwing conference in Brussels that was addressed by British politicians including Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman. After a day of chaos, claims and recriminations, the decision by a local Belgian mayor to stop the National Conservatives (NatCon) event was also condemned as “unacceptable” by Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo ..read more

Authorities in Brussels have ordered the closure of a radical right conference that was addressed by British politicians, including Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman. Authorities arrived as Nigel Farage, the Reform UK honorary president, was speaking and shut down the event while Suella Braverman was on stage. The order banning the National Conservatism conference was issued 'to guarantee public safety' according to Emir Kir, a mayor in Brussels. The venue was the conference’s third, after others had cancelled bookings. Concert Noble, near the EU Commission and European parliament, pulled the ..read more

Former home secretary will rub shoulders with populist right from across the globe, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán Rishi Sunak is being urged to stop his former home secretary from attending a rightwing convention featuring figures who have been under investigation for extremism, in the latest sign of his waning control of his party. Suella Braverman, who has been a central plotter against the prime minister since she left the cabinet, is set to be one of the keynote speakers at the National Conservatism (NatCon) conference in Brussels this week ..read more

Belgian PM says Russia is trying to influence forthcoming elections to weaken European support for Ukraine Prosecutors in Belgium have opened an investigation into alleged payments by Russia to members of the European parliament following an intelligence operation in Brussels, the Belgian prime minister has revealed. Alexander De Croo said Moscow’s objective was to weaken support for Ukraine in Europe ..read more

Act now on air quality in the Belgian capital, which is among the filthiest in Europe, say doctors and environmentalists More than 100 doctors and environmentalists in Brussels have called on their politicians to follow London and Paris and take measures to improve the choking air pollution in the Belgian capital. According to IS Global research, Brussels is ranked as the eighth worst of more than 800 European cities for nitrogen dioxide, which damages the lungs and is one of the main byproducts of internal combustion engines. The capital of the European Union is also ranked 308th out of 858 c ..read more

Questions surround ownership of demo tapes reportedly left by soul artist as a thank-you to his Ostend hosts A collection of cassette tapes containing a host of unreleased Marvin Gaye songs has been found in the Belgian city of Ostend. It has potentially lain hidden in Belgium for over 40 years, according to the BBC ..read more

A new show brings together historic sketches from Bruegel to Rubens and more, capturing fleeting snapshots of everyday 16th- and 17th-century life The women gather in a circle, talking intensely and unselfconsciously, their attention passing from one animated face to another as the conversation darts around the group. They seem completely unaware, from a window above the courtyard where they’re chatting, the artist Jacques Jordaens is sketching them in quick red chalk and brown ink. It is 1659, Antwerp, and, according to Jordaens’ scribbled note at the bottom of the paper, these so-called ..read more

Belgian farmers sprayed manure towards police who responded by using water cannon and teargas in a protest ahead of a meeting of 27 EU agriculture ministers who were planning to discuss the crisis in the sector. The farmers were protesting what they see as excessive red tape, increased environmental measures, cheap imports and unfair trading practices ..read more