NADHIM ZAHAWI has defected from the Conservative Party to Reform UK, becoming Nigel Farage’s highest-profile political recruit to date and delivering a fresh blow to the Tories’ attempts to rebuild after last year’s general election defeat.

The former chancellor, who served briefly in the role under Rishi Sunak, was unveiled at a Reform UK press conference in London on Monday morning alongside party leader Nigel Farage.

Zahawi, who was sacked from the cabinet in 2023 following a dispute with HM Revenue and Customs over his tax affairs, said he had reflected deeply on his time in government and concluded that Britain “needs Reform”.

Speaking to reporters, Zahawi said he could have stepped away from politics altogether, noting that he now chairs one of the UK’s largest retailers. However, he said he felt a duty to act as the country entered what he described as a “dark and dangerous chapter”.

“We can all see that our beautiful, ancient, kind, magical island story has reached a dark and dangerous chapter,” he said. “You know in your heart of hearts that our wonderful country is sick.”

He argued that Westminster had become detached from the lived experience of people struggling to access GP appointments, facing rising taxes, or concerned about freedom of expression and education policy.

Tax row played down

Zahawi was challenged on whether his tax settlement undermined Reform UK’s anti-establishment credentials.

Responding, he said his mistake had been failing to be sufficiently specific with the Cabinet Office about the settlement he reached with HMRC. He did not dispute the findings that led to his dismissal from government.

Farage moved quickly to downplay the issue, saying tax disputes were commonplace among senior business figures.

“There’s nobody with a complex business empire that does not have to have negotiations at some point with HMRC,” he said.

Farage also compared Zahawi’s treatment to criticism faced by Reform’s London mayoral candidate, Laila Cunningham, who was attacked last week over past business failures. In the United States, he said, such failures were often seen as part of the route to success.

Attack on ‘administrative state’

In a wide-ranging speech, Zahawi accepted that the Conservatives bore responsibility for many of the country’s problems, saying he now regretted what he described as the party’s “timidity” in government.

He blamed what he called “over-mighty bureaucratic inertia” for restricting individual liberty and stifling economic growth, arguing that power had drained from parliament to unelected bodies.

While stressing his respect for civil servants as individuals, he said collectively they had turned the UK into “an administrative state”.

Zahawi also criticised Conservative failures on mass migration, defence spending and legislation he described as “virtue signalling”, saying these had provided “painful lessons” that brought him to Reform UK.

Concluding the event, Farage said: “Britain needs Reform.”

WITH New Year celebrations safely packed away with the tinsels and baubles for another 12 months, a quiet corner of Pembrokeshire is once again preparing to herald in the New Year with gusto.

Cwm Gwaun near Newport is one of the few places in Wales that continues to adhere to a centuries’ old tradition by celebrating Hen Galan tomorrow, January 13, in line with the old Julian calendar, which was used since the time of Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire.  When the calendar was reformed in 1752 and superseded by the Gregorian calendar, the people of Cwm Gwaun refused to play ball.  And 2026 will be no exception.

Once again this year the children of Cwm Gwaun will go from house to house collecting ‘calennig’ – a new year’s gift – from their neighbours.  After wishing the householders good fortune for the rest of the year with a new year’s greeting, usually in song and verse, the children are then given a small gift of money or sweets.  Originally, this was food to help sustain families through the hard months of winter. Anyone who has the audacity to ignore the children’s good wishes is destined a year of bad luck or, as the Cwm Gwaun community labels it, ‘llond ty o fwg’ (a houseful of smoke).

The Gregorian calendar modified the use of leap years as a means to keep more accurately to the revolution of the Earth around the sun.  Catholic countries were more inclined to accept the reform while Protestant Britain clung to its traditions until the middle of the 18th century.  

As the Julian calendar gained a day every 128 years, by the mid 18th century Britain found herself 11 days ahead of her continental neighbours which naturally resulted in confusion and complications for trade and diplomacy.

So from 1752 onwards, the Calendar Act resulted in the new year starting on January 1 rather than on March 25, as had previously been the custom.  The tax year, incidentally, which begins on April 6, is the old date for the previous new year of March 25, with the missing 11 days added on.

Another ancient Welsh custom  to mark the Julian new year is the Mari Lwyd, where a horse’s head is paraded around on a pole decorated with ribbons and bells.  In bygone years, this would have been a real horse’s skull, whereas in more recent years it is a wooden effigy covered in white cloth.

‘Mari Lwyd’ is translated as ‘grey mare’, connecting the traditional to the heritage of the pale horses in Celtic and British mythology, many of which crossed over to the underworld.

Main photo: Stuart Ladd/Herald

International spiritualist medium to appear at rugby club event

A CHARITY evening with an international spiritualist medium is set to take place in Milford Haven later this month, with all proceeds going to Cancer Research Wales.

The event will be held on Friday (Jan 16) at Milford Haven Rugby Club, and will feature a live demonstration by Lee Mills, who is described by organisers as an internationally recognised spiritualist medium.

Organised in support of Cancer Research Wales, the evening aims to raise funds for cancer research carried out in Wales. Organisers have confirmed that all proceeds raised on the night will be donated to the charity.

Doors open at 6:30pm, with the event starting at 7:00pm. Tickets are priced at £12, and the evening is a ticket-only event.

Those wishing to attend are advised to book in advance. Tickets can be available by contacting Sara on 07817 677632.

Organisers said the event offers local residents the chance to enjoy an evening of entertainment while also supporting a Welsh charity dedicated to funding life-saving cancer research.