King’s speech reference to ‘disastrous’ mini-budget removed after Truss complaint

Official document updated after ex-PM writes to head of civil service Simon Case calling for investigation

The government has removed a reference to Liz Truss’s mini-budget as having been “disastrous” in an official king’s speech document after the former prime minister complained that this was incorrect and a “flagrant breach” of the civil service code.

Truss wrote to Simon Case, the cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, calling on him to investigate the matter and for the wording to be removed.

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UK adolescents get two-thirds of daily calories from UPFs, says survey

Concerns over ultra-processed foods and effect on health have led some countries to introduce new labelling

Adolescents in the UK get nearly two-thirds of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, with consumption highest among those from deprived backgrounds, researchers say.

The findings emerged from an analysis of food diaries kept from 2008 to 2019 by nearly 3,000 participants aged 11 to 18 as part of the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

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Women in England could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on NHS

Research suggests at-home tests could encourage 400,000 more women a year to have a screening

Women could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on the NHS, after research found self-testing at home significantly improved screening rates.

Researchers calculated that being able to take their sample at home could encourage about 400,000 more women a year to have a cervical screening.

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Mandatory housing targets at core of economy-focused king’s speech

Planning reforms and transport policies included in package of more than 35 bills as Labour prioritises growth

Local councils will have to adopt mandatory housing targets within months under planning reforms to be unveiled on Wednesday as part of Keir Starmer’s first king’s speech, which the prime minister says will be focused on economic growth.

Starmer will introduce a package of more than 35 bills on Wednesday, the first Labour prime minister to do so in 15 years, as he looks to put the economy at the centre of his first year in office.

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Call for action on UK men’s health as 133,000 die early every year

Movember says British men have worse health than comparable countries and suffer stark regional inequalities

More than 133,000 men die early every year in the UK, equating to 15 every hour, according to a report calling for urgent action to improve men’s health.

Two in five men are dying prematurely, before the age of 75 and often from entirely avoidable health conditions, research by the charity Movember found.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Priti Patel to enter Conservative leadership race, sources say

Former home secretary expected to be competing against candidates including Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat

Priti Patel has decided to enter the Conservative leadership race to succeed Rishi Sunak, sources have told the Guardian.

The former home secretary, who retained her seat of Witham in Essex earlier this month with a reduced majority of 5,145, has formed a campaign team funded by Tory donors who include former advisers and Conservative campaign headquarters staff.

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Two bodies found in burnt-out car in Sweden rented by Briton

Driver and passenger had been shot dead after car had reportedly been driven from Copenhagen to Malmö

Swedish police are investigating a double shooting after two bodies were found in a burnt-out car rented by a British citizen.

The driver and passenger, who had driven across the Denmark-Sweden border into the southern city of Malmö, were shot on Sunday, according to the daily newspaper Aftonbladet.

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Rishi Sunak ‘risked breaching legal responsibilities over prison crisis’

Exclusive: leaked letters said without urgent action the system in England and Wales would reach ‘critical failure’

Rishi Sunak was warned by senior civil servants a week before he called the election that he was at risk of breaching his legal responsibilities if he failed to take action over the prison overcrowding crisis, a leaked document reveals.

The advice, sent to the former prime minister on 15 May, said that failing to make an urgent decision on prison capacity would mean the criminal justice system in England and Wales reaching the point of “critical failure”.

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Iranian TV presenter stabbed in London moves abroad for safety

Exclusive: Pouria Zeraati ‘no longer felt safe in UK’ as Tehran regime steps up threats and attacks on critics in exile

An Iranian television presenter, who was attacked in London by men believed to be acting for the Tehran regime, has moved abroad, saying that he no longer felt safe in the UK.

Pouria Zeraati said the UK’s approach to the threat posed by Iran on British soil could not guarantee his safety.

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Vaughan Gething resigns as first minister of Wales

Resignation comes after four Welsh ministers stepped down in apparent attempt to force his hand

Vaughan Gething has announced he is quitting as first minister of Wales following a brief and turbulent period in the job after his fate was sealed by the resignation of four of his ministers.

Gething has faced a series of controversies, including over donations and claims he sought to delete sensitive messages, since he took over from Mark Drakeford as first minister and the leader of Welsh Labour in March.

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Vaughan Gething quits as Welsh first minister but hits out at ‘pernicious’ claims of wrongdoing – UK politics live

His resignation comes after four Welsh ministers stepped down from their posts in an apparently calculated move to force his hand

The JD Vance comment about Britain supposedly becoming an Islamist country under Labour (see 8.42am) is an example of the extreme political rhetoric that has coarsened politics on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years. Yesterday Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announced that she will chair a meeting of the Defending Democracy taskforce to consider how election candidates are being exposed to more aggression and intimidation than in the past.

This morning Brendan Cox, whose wife, the Labour MP Jo Cox, was murdered by a far-right terrorist during the Brexit referendum in 2016, told the Today programme that he thought the problem was getting worse. He said:

There was a wide range of intimidation, but I do think it was another level.

Having spoken to lots of MPs about it, there was a sense that something had changed, that they felt hunted, that they felt unable to go about campaigning – that there were men in balaclavas, there were fireworks being thrown, there were tyres being slashed …

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Southern Water boss handed £183,000 bonus despite huge rise in bills

Award for Lawrence Gosden comes despite criticism over business plan and attempts to increase bills by 73%

The chief executive of Southern Water has received a £183,000 bonus despite submitting a business plan that has been criticised by the industry regulator and attempting to raise bills more than any other English water company.

Lawrence Gosden received the bonus as part of a £764,000 pay package, up from £428,000 a year earlier, according to the company’s annual report.

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Boiling point of water dropped below 100C during Storm Ciarán, study finds

Recordbreaking low pressure due to extreme weather meant water was boiling at 98C in Reading on day of storm

Millions of Britons were forced to drink subpar cups of tea last November due to the recordbreaking low pressure caused by Storm Ciarán.

The low pressure caused the boiling point of water to drop below the 100C temperature some experts recommend to extract the full flavour from tea leaves.

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Ocado shares jump as it narrows losses and boosts technology business

Revenues from technology arm, which sells robots to retailers, climbed by nearly 22% in six months to June

Shares in Ocado jumped by as much as 18% after the UK online grocer reported narrowing losses and raised its annual guidance for its technology arm, which sells warehouse robots to other retailers around the world.

Technology revenues climbed by nearly 22% year on year in the six months to 2 June, while retail revenues were also up by 11%. Ocado sells groceries in the UK through its joint venture with Marks & Spencer and was the fastest-growing grocer for the fifth month in a row based on recent sales figures, according to the data analytics company Kantar.

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Jay Slater: body found in Tenerife is that of missing Briton, autopsy confirms

Lancashire teenager disappeared after attending music festival on the island four weeks ago

An autopsy has confirmed that a body found by Spanish rescuers in Tenerife on Monday is that of the missing British teenager Jay Slater.

A court spokesperson has reportedly confirmed that fingerprints taken from the body matched those of the missing 19-year-old from Lancashire. He disappeared after attending a music festival four weeks ago and was last seen walking alone in a remote area in the north of the island, near the village of Masca.

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Case of man who falsely claimed to be bitcoin inventor referred to CPS

Craig Wright’s case referred for potential perjury and forgery prosecution after losing legal battle with crypto firms

The case of Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist who falsely claimed to be the creator of bitcoin, has been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service over a potential prosecution for perjury and forgery.

In March, Wright lost a legal battle with a coalition of cryptocurrency businesses who had pre-emptively sued to prevent him from enforcing his claim in the courts. In a sign of the extent of his defeat, the presiding judge, Mr Justice Mellor, took the unusual step of issuing an oral verdict within seconds of the case concluding.

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Labour rejects JD Vance ‘first Islamist country with nuclear weapons’ remarks

Deputy PM Angela Rayner says she does not recognise Donald Trump running mate’s ‘characterisation’ of Britain

Senior Labour figures have rejected comments by Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, that the UK could become the first “truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon” under the party.

They were reacting to comments that were made by Vance, a junior senator for the state of Ohio who has been announced as Trump’s running mate, at a conference for US conservatives.

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Irish glee as Sinn Féin leader congratulates Spain on Euros win over England

For some it was harmless banter but others say Mary Lou McDonald’s post on X was an example of obnoxious trolling

It’s a venerable football equation: English defeat = Irish glee.

Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin leader, reflected this tradition when she posted “Olé, Olé, Olé” and celebrated Spain’s victory over England in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on Sunday. “Felicidades! Comhghairdeas to the champions of Europe,” she added, using the Irish word for congratulations.

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Tuesday briefing: What David Lammy’s Middle East visit says about Labour’s foreign policy plans

In today’s newsletter: The new foreign secretary has met with officials from Israel, Palestine and relief agencies – but what do his actions and words mean for the conflict?

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Good morning. A few months before the election, David Lammy outlined his vision for Britain’s role on the international stage under a Labour government: “progressive realism”, or “the pursuit of ideals without delusions about what is achievable”. Just over a week into his tenure as foreign secretary, we have our first concrete indications of how he intends to operate those principles in practice.

On a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories over the last couple of days, his first international trip as foreign secretary, Lammy says he is sending a clear message: “We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, unfettered access to aid in Gaza and a pathway towards a two-state solution”.

Republican national convention | Donald Trump named JD Vance, the Ohio senator who was once one of his fiercest critics and called him “America’s Hitler”, as his running mate at the Republican national convention on Monday. Trump, wearing a bandage over his wounded ear, shook hands with Vance in his first public appearance since the assassination attempt against him.

US politics | A Florida judge appointed by Donald Trump has dismissed the case against him for illegally retaining classified documents, ruling that the special counsel who brought the prosecution had been improperly appointed. The stunning decision, in defiance of precedent going back to the Watergate era, is likely to be appealed.

UK news | Rescue teams on the Spanish island of Tenerife have discovered the body of a young man in the area where the British teenager Jay Slater disappeared four weeks ago. Police said it appeared that the person could have died after an accidental fall from a cliff.

UK-EU relations | Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy. Reynolds will say that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.

Defence | Britain and its allies are facing a “deadly quartet” of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea who are acting together against the west, the newly appointed head of Labour’s defence review said. The comments from former Nato secretary general George Robertson reflect concerns that the grouping are increasingly sharing arms, components and military intelligence.

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Prospect of Irish unification referendum remains remote despite Sinn Féin gains

Party’s advances in Northern Ireland contrast with slump in Ireland, while new Labour government is keen to bury issue

Sinn Féin has completed a historic hat-trick for Irish nationalism by becoming Northern Ireland’s biggest party in local government, the Stormont assembly and Westminster.

On 4 July it increased its majorities in several constituencies and whittled those of opponents, teeing up potential gains in the next general election. Meanwhile, the party’s vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, has made history as the first nationalist first minister.

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