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Nigel Farage has quit as an MP to fight a by-election contest in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, where his main rival looks set to be Count Binface - whose real name is Jonathan David Harvey

Nigel Farage’s stunt to force a by-election in Clacton is quickly unravelling. Despite what his party, Reform UK, claims, other parties' refusal to field candidates is not cowardice. It is a refusal to legitimise Farage’s attempt to use voters as a shield while the Parliamentary Standards process examines his failure to declare a £5million personal cash gift. But the other party's absence has created a dangerous problem for him. Clacton is now left with a two-horse race between Farage and Count Binface. The Reform leader may think that makes victory certain. He should be careful. At the last election, more people in Clacton voted for candidates other than Farage than voted for him. If that electorate is tired of being dragged into his personal circus, frustrated by how little time he appears to have for them, and angry at being used to launder his reputation, they have only one place to go. Count Binface began as the joke candidate. He may yet become the dustbin into which Farage’s political career is finally thrown.

Trump's so-called peace deal was always fragile

Donald Trump has promised peace so many times that it has become a punchline. Now his ceasefire with Iran lies in ruins, and he is carrying out further strikes on Tehran. That is the problem with Trump’s foreign policy. He talks as if war can be switched on and off like one of his TV shows, then acts shocked when the other side fires back. The truth is, his so-called peace deal was never built to last, and Iran's threat to choke off oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz and widen the conflict shows exactly how fragile it always was. Trump wanted the credit for ending a war he began. What he is left with is a region back on the brink, an oil market rattled, and a president who mistook a pause for a triumph.

Starmer's up for bank holiday

If England ends 60 years of hurt, the country will deserve a day off to enjoy it. Keir Starmer is right to hint at a bank holiday should the Three Lions lift the World Cup. After their display against Mexico, this nation already needs time to recover. Come on, England.

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