Mask-off outbursts by Maga insiders and most strikingly, the destruction and reconstruction of the presidential seat, with a huge new $300m ballroom, means Trump isn’t planning to leave the White House when his term ends, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
IT IS A cliche, or perhaps a truism, of British parliamentary politics that in the “first-past-the-post” parliamentary electoral system, the odds are stacked against independent candidates and even against the smaller political parties.
The Greens, despite having a solid voter base and receiving more than a million votes in 2015, have only had Caroline Lucas in the House of Commons.
That view was borne out for decades. From the abolition of university constituencies in 1950 to the end of the 20th century, the only MP elected as an independent was former war correspondent Martin Bell, who became MP for Tatton after declaring his candidacy only 24 days before the 1997 general election.
CLAUDIA WEBBE argues that Labour gains nothing from its adoption of right-wing stances on immigration, and seems instead to be deliberately paving the way for the far right to become an established force in British politics, as it has already in Europe
The New York mayoral candidate has electrified the US public with policies of social justice and his refusal to be cowed. We can follow his example here, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
With Reform UK surging and Labour determined not to offer anything different from the status quo, a clear opportunity opens for the left, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE



