The Know Daily - Tuesday 12 March

_{Read in 5m 18s ∙ Listening to Bleachers ∙}

A nonprofit organisation is giving free coding classes to low-income students living in New York City’s public housing, in a bid to make it “easily accessible” to the families living there. Founded in 2019 by Jason Gibson, Hood Code has taught coding basics to around 300 children so far, also helping them to develop “problem-solving skills, self-confidence and innovative thinking”.

🗳️ The rise of Reform UK

Former Conservative MP Lee Anderson defected to Reform UK on Monday - but what does the party stand for?

First things first - what happened yesterday?
The former Conservative Party deputy chairman and MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire announced his decision to defect to Reform UK at a press conference yesterday, making him the party’s first MP in the House of Commons.

Anderson was suspended from the Tory party last month for refusing to apologise after alleging that “Islamists” had “control” of London mayor Sadiq Khan - comments that were “widely seen as Islamaphobic” and “prompted an immediate backlash”, said Yahoo News.

How did Reform UK come about?
Reform UK was founded with backing from Nigel Farage in 2018 as the Brexit Party, explained The Independent. The party changed its name in 2021, with Farage stepping down as leader the same year and Richard Tice taking over.

What does it stand for?
Reform UK backs “populist causes” such as “tougher immigration laws”, said Reuters. On the party’s website, it calls for “net zero immigration” and also wants to cut foreign aid by 50% and scrap net zero subsidies. Here’s a full list of Reform UK’s policies.

What does all this mean?
According to The Guardian, Downing Street is “braced for more defections”, with senior Conservatives “worried at support draining away” to Reform UK.

The latest voting intention poll from YouGov - which asks people the party they would vote for if there were a general election held tomorrow - puts Reform UK on 13%, with the Conservatives on 20% and Labour on 47%.