Revelations about gifts of clothes and tickets to sporting events have put MPs’ declarations in the spotlight
Revelations that Keir Starmer and his team have accepted donations of clothes, accommodation and sports tickets have focused attention on the official register of MPs’ interests, usually published every couple of weeks.
Here are some highlights from the latest version, published on Wednesday.
Continue reading...PM promises ‘constructive’ relations, despite resisting talks with the bloc on a proposed youth mobility scheme
Keir Starmer has vowed to turn the page on the UK’s relationship with the EU, despite differences with Brussels over proposals for a European youth mobility scheme.
The prime minister said: “Of course, there will be challenges” in resetting relations but insisted he was “turning the page on the old way of doing these negotiations” in favour of a more “constructive” approach.
Continue reading...First charter flight has left Beirut, says David Lammy, with officials planning ‘sea and air’ rescues if situation worsens
The UK has laid on a charter flight to evacuate Britons from Lebanon and said it is ready to commission more for the 5,000 nationals and their dependants remaining in the country.
Beirut’s international airport remains open but ministers and officials are preparing contingency plans for sea and air rescues via Cyprus should the security situation in Lebanon deteriorate to the point at which commercial flights are stopped.
Continue reading...Risk found to be highest among black and north African people, as experts call for better mental health provision
People who migrate in adolescence have an increased risk of psychosis, researchers have found, noting the link is particularly strong among black and north African people.
While research has previously suggested migration could play a role in the increased risk of psychosis among people from ethnic minorities, the study suggests age could be an important factor.
Continue reading...Most of the defensive effort appears to have been undertaken by Israeli air defence systems
Quiet planning by the US, UK and other allies to help Israel repel an Iranian long-range attack have been going on for several months or more – but most of the defensive effort appears to have been undertaken by Israeli air defence systems.
The only reported military engagements in support of Israel were a dozen interceptors fired by two US warships in the eastern Mediterranean, while Jordan said its own air defence systems and air force were involved in targeting Iranian missiles.
Continue reading...Prime minister is covering cost of Taylor Swift tickets and designer clothing rental agreement after donations row
Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality, including Taylor Swift tickets and rented clothing for his wife, after a row over his acceptance of freebies.
The prime minister handed back some tickets and gifts he had received since he entered No 10 in July as he vowed to overhaul the rules on what ministers are allowed to accept.
Continue reading...Prosecutors say Christian Brückner, main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, should be kept in preventive detention
German prosecutors have called for a sexual offences conviction and 15-year prison sentence for a man who is also under investigation separately over the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann.
The 47-year-old German national, who has been identified by local media as Christian Brückner, is on trial at the Braunschweig state court in northern Germany over offences he is alleged to have committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Continue reading...Announcement that PM is returning gifts comes after news Labour peer Lord Alli is under investigation by Lords commissioner
Richard Fuller, the Tory chair, is on the conference platform now introducing the morning session.
He starts with thanks to various people who have helped with the conference.
After a frenetic Conference for Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat and Robert Jenrick the tiredness will be kicking in, but also for the teams of advisers who want, and maybe need, their principal to take another go at delivering the twenty-minute speech of their career.
It’s a four hoarse race.
The problem for the party, and for me, is that none of this gossipy chatter has taken the conference attendees much further forward – nor has any of the four taken conference by storm.
Continue reading...Nuclear waste dump in Cumbria pleaded guilty to leaving data that could threaten national security exposed for four years, says regulator
Sellafield will have to pay almost £400,000 after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges over years of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site.
The vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria left information that could threaten national security exposed for four years, according to the industry regulator, which brought the charges. It was also found that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attack.
Continue reading...Villa Vie Odyssey set sail on three-and-a-half-year voyage on Monday after repairs but departure delayed again
The luxury cruise liner stranded in Belfast for four months remains anchored off the coast of Northern Ireland after two failed attempts to finally set sail on a round-the-world voyage.
The Villa Vie Odyssey was originally due to embark on a “perpetual” three-and-a-half-year trip on 30 May but was marooned after requiring repairs, leaving passengers stranded in Belfast over summer.
Continue reading...Three-time Oscar winner to star in his son Ronan’s directorial debut, Anemone, which he also co-wrote
Three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis is ending his retirement from acting to star in his son’s directorial debut.
The 67-year-old British actor quit acting after starring in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 film Phantom Thread, and has largely stayed out of public life since.
Continue reading...Researchers say interventions could address key factors, such as smoking, but ‘structural changes’ also needed
Four key factors have been identified that together account for more than one-third of the inequalities in infant deaths between the most and least deprived areas of England.
Researchers say targeted interventions to address these factors – teenage pregnancy, maternal depression, preterm birth and smoking during pregnancy – could go a significant way to reduce inequalities, although higher-level structural changes to address socioeconomic inequality will also be necessary.
Continue reading...Joint review by chief of Ofsted and prisons chief inspector discovers children kept in cells to avoid conflict
Children in youth offender institutions (YOIs) are being denied access to education, with too many being kept in their cells as staff struggle to keep warring youngsters apart, a damning new report has found.
It documents a worrying decline in the quality and quantity of education provided to 15 to 18-year-olds in YOIs over the last decade despite a sharp drop in the number of children being held in custody.
Continue reading...Port of London authority to reopen scheme with waiting list, after surge in popularity of exploring riverbank for treasure
Whether fuelled by social media or prompted by the Covid lockdowns, the years between 2019 and 2022 saw a huge surge in interest in mudlarking on the foreshore of the River Thames in London.
The practice of exploring the riverbank for archaeology is permitted only with a permit from the Port of London authority (PLA), which owns much of the shoreline. But so dramatic was the growth in demand for permits – from 200 applications in 2018-19 to more than 5,000 three years later – that the port suspended the scheme in 2022 to “protect the integrity and archaeology of the foreshore”.
Continue reading...Tory leadership contender claims at party conference that a minority leak official secrets and undermine ministers
Kemi Badenoch has said she believes up to 10% of civil servants are so bad they should be in prison, claiming they leak official secrets and “agitate” against ministers.
At a fringe event at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, the leadership contender said she did not want to criticise all civil servants but said there were a few who were obstructive. “There’s about 5-10% of them who are very, very bad. You know, should-be-in-prison bad,” Badenoch said.
Continue reading...Ancram held role in early 2000s and also served as shadow foreign secretary before entering Lords in 2010
Tributes have been paid to the “stable voice” of the former deputy leader of the Conservative party Michael Ancram, who has died aged 79.
Ancram, known formally as the 13th Marquess of Lothian, held the role under Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard for five years in the early 2000s.
Continue reading...NCA says cybercriminal gang used family links to spy agency to shield members targeted by US authorities
A prolific Russian cybercriminal gang carried out attacks against Nato countries at the behest of state intelligence services and used family links with Russia’s domestic spy agency to protect its members after being targeted by US authorities, according to the UK’s National Crime Agency.
The dramatically named Evil Corp group had an unusually close relationship with the Russian state, said the NCA.
Continue reading...Senior Tories condemn leadership hopeful’s claim UK special forces are killing terrorists over fears that European laws would free detained assailants
Popular Conservatism, or PopCon, has released the results of a survey of party members suggesting more than half of them favour a merger with Reform UK. Some 30% of the respondents said they tended to support the idea, and 23% were strongly in favour. The survey covered 470 members.
Annunziata Rees-Mogg, PopCon’s head of communications and a former Brexit party MEP, said:
Every Conservative activist and canvasser knows people who had been Tories, but voted Reform UK in July. It is no surprise our panellists understand that the next leader of the party needs to take action to bring many like-minded voters back to the Tories. Almost three-quarters want a relationship with Reform in order to unite the right.
The answer I was often given by people in government at the time was that lockdowns were very popular.
They were getting 60, 70, 80% popularity ratings in the opinion polls. But you mustn’t believe those opinion polls, they’re basically nonsense.
Continue reading...Consumer champion urges consumers to head to a price comparison website to find a cheaper deal
The consumer champion Martin Lewis has said that the energy price cap should be called the energy “pants cap” because there are much cheaper energy deals available.
The cap is adjusted every quarter by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, and imposes a maximum on how much suppliers can charge customers for each unit of gas and electricity. On Tuesday it increased by nearly £150 to the equivalent of £1,717 a year for an average dual-fuel household paying by direct debit.
Continue reading...Henry Staunton tells inquiry Post Office and government ‘dragged their feet’ on compensation for Horizon IT failures
The former chair of the Post Office has told a public inquiry there was no interest at all in the exoneration of post office operators at the state-owned body, arguing it and the government “dragged their feet” making compensation payments.
Henry Staunton, who was sacked by the former business secretary Kemi Badenoch in January, said that his first impression upon taking up the role in late 2022 was there wasn’t an acceptance among management of the conclusions of damning high court judgments that the Post Office had been wrong to pursue prosecutions.
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