Police conclude Partygate investigation into Downing Street gatherings

Met has issued 126 fixed-penalty notices, but it is unclear if Boris Johnson has had more than one

The Metropolitan police have completed their investigation into lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street and Whitehall, and issued a total of 126 fixed-penalty notices, the force has announced.

Thus far Boris Johnson has received one fine. It is not immediately clear if any of the last tranche of fines involve any more for the prime minister.

20 May 2020, when “bring your own booze” drinks were held in the Downing Street garden.

18 June 2020, when a party was held to mark the departure of a No 10 private secretary.

19 June, the date of Johnson’s birthday party, for which he was fined.

13 November 2020, when a leaving do was held for adviser Lee Cain as well as a party in the No 10 flat.

17 December 2020 when several parties were held, including one to mark the departure of Covid taskforce boss Kate Josephs.

18 December, the date of the “cheese and wine” gathering which led to the resignation of Allegra Stratton.

14 January 2021, when gatherings were held to mark the departure of two private secretaries, as revealed by Sue Gray.

16 April, the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, when two parties were held, one of which culminated in Wilfred Johnson’s swing being broken.

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Gloucester couple revealed as record-breaking £184m lottery winners

Communications engineer Joe Thwaite and his wife, Jess, a hairdressing salon manager, win big

A communications engineer and manager of a hairdressing salon from Gloucester have been revealed as the winners of a record-breaking £184m lottery haul.

Joe and Jess Thwaite revealed their identity at a press conference with Dermot O’Leary near Cheltenham on Thursday after scooping £184,262,899 last week on the Euromillions, the biggest lottery win in the UK.

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Casket linked to Mary, Queen of Scots bought for nation for £1.8m

Silver relic will go on public display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh this week

An exquisitely decorated silver casket believed to have played a role in the downfall of Mary, Queen of Scots has been acquired for the nation for £1.8m.

The National Heritage Memorial Fund contributed £810,000 towards the cost of the casket, along with £200,000 from the Scottish government and donations from other organisations and individuals.

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Royal Mail ‘at crossroads’ as pandemic parcel boom fades

Postal service says it needs to adapt to post-Covid business world amid near-9% drop in profits and union pay battle

Royal Mail has warned that the company is at a “crossroads” and needs to urgently adapt to the post-pandemic environment as parcel deliveries, originally boosted by Covid lockdowns, continue to wane.

It piles further pressure on the postal company, as it struggles to reach a pay deal with unionised staff who are pushing for an inflation-based pay rise as the cost of living soars.

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Helping cash-strapped Britons won’t add to inflation, says CBI

Chief of business association calls for stimulus that aids ‘hardest hit’ with rising food and fuel bills

Tackling rising food and fuel bills will not add to inflation and people who are “the hardest hit” need help now, the head of the UK’s biggest business association has warned.

Official figures published on Wednesday revealed UK inflation soared to 9% in April – its highest level for more than 40 years – as the rising cost of gas and electricity pushed household energy bills to record levels.

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Boris Johnson ‘choosing to let people struggle’ with cost of living says Keir Starmer – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. You can find our latest cost of living stories below:

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, has warned that inflation will experience a further “bump” before prices are likely to stabilise.

In a Q&A after delivering a speech on green trade at Bloomberg’s HQ in London, she said countries around the world were facing a “a global battle against inflation”. She went on:

This is something we have to tackle across the board.

And the worry we always have is that inflation tends to have two bumps to it.

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Rape accused Tory MP’s alleged offences include one relating to person under 18

Labour is calling for politician in his 50s – released on bail after being arrested on Tuesday – to be identified

The alleged sexual offences for which a Conservative MP has been arrested include one connected to someone aged under 18, it has emerged as Labour called for the MP to be identified.

The man in his 50s has been bailed after being arrested on Tuesday over accusations of rape and sexual assault offences spanning seven years from 2002 to 2009. He has not been suspended by the Conservative party but Chris Heaton-Harris, the chief whip, asked him to stay away from parliament.

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Why does the UK have the highest inflation in the G7?

Analysis: UK among hardest-hit countries thanks to perfect storm of war in Ukraine, Covid and Brexit

Britain’s inflation rate has soared to the highest level since the early 1980s. After a record increase in gas and electricity bills in April, inflation is the highest in the G7. Having reached 9% last month, it is above the 8.3% rate in the US and Germany’s reading of 7.4%. Japan, an economy characterised by low inflation for decades thanks to an ageing population, has the lowest rate at 1.2%.

Here are some of the reasons why prices are rising faster in the UK than in other major economies.

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UK pub chains warn of price rises due to increase in food and fuel costs

Marston’s phases out ‘two-for-one’ meal offer while Mitchells & Butlers increases prices to cope with rising costs of utilities, wages and food

Two of Britain’s largest pub groups have warned that punters may have to pay more for a meal and see fewer discounts on the menu as they struggle to absorb rising energy and food costs.

The pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers, which runs pub chains including O’Neill’s and restaurant brands such as Harvester, said it was facing a difficult trading environment. Its rival Marston’s said it was working to mitigate inflationary rises through a combination of cost-cutting and “pricing strategies”.

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Russian soldier pleads guilty in first Ukraine war crimes trial since invasion

Tank commander Vadim Shysimarin, 21, admits shooting dead a 62-year-old civilian who was on a bicycle

A Russian tank commander has pleaded guilty to shooting dead 62-year-old man as he rode his bicycle down a village road, in Ukraine’s first trial for war crimes committed during the Russian invasion.

Vadim Shysimarin, 21, sat emotionless as prosecutors detailed charges that he had fired his AK-47 at the unarmed cyclist from the window of a car in the north-eastern Sumy region in late February.

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Officers should use discretion over stealing to eat, says police watchdog

New chief inspector of constabulary says crimes of poverty should be ‘dealt with in the best way possible’

The cost of living crisis will trigger an increase in crime and officers should use their “discretion” when deciding whether to prosecute people who steal in order to eat, the new chief inspector of constabulary has said.

“The impact of poverty, and the impact of lack of opportunity for people, does lead to an increase in crime. There’s no two ways about that,” Andy Cooke said as inflation hit a 40-year high of 9%.

Every burglary victim should get a visit from the police.

Forces may be marked down by the inspectorate if they fail to do so.

The charging rate should more than treble, from the current 6% to at least 20%.

The criminal justice system is failing victims of rape.

Policing is still recovering from cuts inflicted by Conservative-led governments from 2010.

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‘I thought the UK was a good country’: Sudan massacre refugee faces removal to Rwanda

Mohammed is among first asylum seekers to face removal under Home Office’s controversial scheme

It took Mohammed more than three years and a journey of more than 5,000 miles to reach the UK after fleeing a massacre in his village in Sudan.

Now, just over a week after arriving by kayak across the Channel, he is among the first tranche of asylum seekers facing forced removal to Rwanda, on the continent where his journey began.

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John Peel: personal records and memorabilia set for Bonhams auction

Items including a handwritten letter from David Bowie and Peel’s horn gramophone will be up for sale next month

Records and music memorabilia once owned by the celebrated former BBC DJ John Peel, including a signed mono pressing of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1968 album Two Virgins, is to be sold at auction in June.

Peel’s family said in a statement: “John/Dad was in a position to have access to many of the most celebrated people and events in the history of popular music. This is reflected in a wealth of souvenirs he collected. In going through the accumulation of 40 years of pop music moments, we decided that some of the most interesting items might find a home, with fans of his programme or of the artists whose music he played.”

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UK must accept border on Irish Sea is inevitable, says ex-WTO chief

Pascal Lamy says row is solvable if PM stops using emotional Brexit politics to solve ‘technical problem’

Boris Johnson’s row with the EU over Northern Ireland’s Brexit arrangements is “absolutely solvable” but only if the UK accepts that a border is inevitable, the former head of the World Trade Organization has said.

But Pascal Lamy said the prime minister could only achieve a breakthrough if he stopped mixing “oil and vinegar” and throwing emotional Brexit politics on to what he said was essentially a technical problem.

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UK deportation flight to Jamaica takes off with seven onboard

Home Office initially had 100 people on list of Jamaican nationals to be removed, say reports

A Home Office deportation flight to Jamaica took off in the early hours of Wednesday morning with seven people onboard.

Some media reports said the Home Office initially had 100 people on the list of Jamaican nationals that officials hoped to remove.

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Covid support schemes left ‘open goal’ to fraudsters, says watchdog

Public Accounts Committee report says business department efforts to identify fraud came after trails had ‘long ago gone cold’

The business department’s handling of Covid support schemes left an “open goal” to fraudsters and embezzlers that has added “billions to taxpayer woes”, parliament’s spending watchdog has found.

In its review of the annual report of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it recognised that the government offered crucial support to businesses at the height of the pandemic.

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Numbers of nurses and midwives leaving NHS highest for four years

More nurses leave NHS than at any time since Covid struck, many reporting stress as their main reason

More than 27,000 nurses and midwives quit the NHS last year, with many blaming job pressures, the Covid pandemic and poor patient care for their decision.

The rise in staff leaving their posts across the UK – the first in four years – has prompted concern that frontline workers are under too much strain, especially with the NHS-wide shortage of nurses.

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Omagh bomb suspect Liam Campbell extradited to Lithuania

Man held liable for the Omagh bombing, is due to face charges related to weapons smuggling for the Real IRA

The man found civilly liable for the 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people were killed has been extradited to Lithuania after a lengthy legal process.

The Irish supreme court ruled last week that Liam Campbell could be extradited to the Baltic country in relation to offences of smuggling, the possession of firearms and terrorism.

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Rishi Sunak faces Tory clamour to act now on cost of living crisis

Conservative MPs to urge chancellor to tackle inflation with VAT cuts, energy bill support and improved benefits

Tory MPs are piling pressure on Rishi Sunak to take decisive action to deal with the cost of living crisis with measures such as cutting VAT, increasing energy bill support and raising benefits, as inflation is forecast to top 9% on Wednesday.

A string of Conservatives from across different wings of the party called on the chancellor to intervene within weeks, amid dire economic predictions about the squeeze on households.

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‘The cost has become astronomical’: UK schools struggle with rising food prices

Heads reluctant to increase burden on families already caught in cost of living crisis

At St Jude’s, a small Church of England primary school in south London, the morning breakfast club is exceptionally busy. Over the past six weeks the number of pupils coming in to have porridge, scrambled egg and fruit smoothies before the school day begins has climbed from eight to 22 – nearly a quarter of the Southwark school’s population.

Families hit by the cost of living crisis are increasingly desperate, says the acting deputy head, Matt Jones. They need help with their debts; they can’t pay their bills. Staff are making more and more referrals to StepChange, a debt charity, and the school has made discretionary payments to help families unable to afford gas, electricity or nappies.

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