Chancellor John Healey is set to use next week's Budget to grant HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) new powers to withdraw unpaid tax directly from people's bank accounts.

The measures are designed to recoup approximately £4billion in outstanding debts owed by millions of individuals and businesses who have repeatedly failed to respond to payment demands.

Under the proposed crackdown, HMRC would gain the ability to automatically take sums from both current and savings accounts, targeting those with comparatively modest outstanding liabilities, according to The Times.

At present, the tax authority's power to seize funds directly is constrained by significant thresholds. HMRC can only pursue money from accounts where the debt exceeds £1,000, and must ensure the taxpayer retains a minimum balance of £5,000 once the amount has been recovered.

Ministers believe these limits have effectively shielded a large number of people who knowingly disregard demands for payment, confident that HMRC is unlikely to pursue them for smaller sums.

Chasing such debts through conventional routes like debt collectors is both time-consuming and disproportionately costly.

Under the proposed changes, the minimum debt threshold would be dramatically reduced to as little as a few pounds. Officials would also be empowered to recover accumulated fines and interest alongside the original liability, significantly expanding the scope of what can be clawed back without judicial involvement.

An estimated 4.8 million people and companies each owe less than £10,000, with their collective liabilities amounting to roughly £4billion. For individual taxpayers, the typical outstanding bill stands at just £950.

To determine how much each debtor can realistically afford to repay, the tax authority is exploring partnerships with credit reference agencies.

These organisations would supply data on taxpayers' income and outgoings, enabling HMRC to calculate appropriate monthly instalments.

Earlier proposals indicated that deductions might be limited to no more than half of a person's disposable income. No court approval would be required before withdrawals begin, and the onus would fall on taxpayers themselves to contest any deductions they consider unjustified.

Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates, acknowledged the principle was sound but cautioned: "I do have concerns that an automated system is going to struggle to distinguish deliberate non-payment from illness or missed correspondence. It would be good to understand the safeguards that will be put in place."

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"There is a real problem with people simply not paying their tax, and the rest of us pick up the bill," he added.

The Association of Taxation Technicians urged HMRC to resolve its own operational shortcomings before wielding such powers.

Jon Stride, chair of the ATT's Technical Steering Group, said: "We have heard of debts being pursued while claims are still outstanding because of HMRC delays or errors, as well as difficulties contacting HMRC to resolve queries."

Fiona Fernie, a partner at tax firm Blick Rothenberg, warned that disagreements between HMRC and taxpayers are frequently far from clear-cut.

"The more direct and possibly automated the recovery process is, the greater the risk that innocent taxpayers get money deducted from their account before the liability question is fully resolved," she said.

Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith launched a fierce political attack on the plans, accusing Labour of handing the taxman powers "to empty your bank account over a few hundred pounds and leave you with nothing to pay the rent".

He branded the scrapping of existing safeguards and collaboration with credit agencies "outrageous".

HMRC already possesses a Direct Recovery of Debts mechanism, which permits the seizure of funds from current and savings accounts.

This power existed before the Covid-19 pandemic but was suspended during the crisis and has since been reinstated. Under current rules, once money is seized, there is a 30-day window for debtors to object, during which the funds are held by the bank but frozen.

Debt adviser Claire Cox, who runs the social media page Debt Crisis To Clear UK, has warned that unlike ordinary creditors, HMRC requires no county court judgement before taking enforcement action.

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Tents have been handed out to early release prisoners despite Andy Burnham's vow to end rough sleeping in the UK since taking office.

During his first speech as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham vowed to slash numbers sleeping on the streets across Britain as a marquee objective of his premiership.

However, he has also ploughed on with Labour's controversial early release scheme - which has seen around 1,350 prisoners freed this month after serving as little as a third of their sentence.

But the probation office has now resorted to offering tents to former inmates with the system running out of housing for the additional demand.

According to The Telegraph, around 100 tents have been offered out in the past year.

Since 2022/23, the number of former prisoners rough sleeping following their release has more than doubled from 6,040 to 14,360. In 2019/20, that figure was just 2,920.

Nearly one in six inmates, or 15.9 per cent, now leave custody without a home.

A probation office whistleblower told the newspaper: "I’ve had to say to someone, 'I've got a tent, go and live in a park for a bit.' You can tell them to go to the council, but they can’t help either because there’s a housing crisis."

This is despite the Prime Minister's pledge to "offer everyone a route off the streets this Christmas". A February 2025 report published by the Government estimated there were 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 in England - a new record high and the fourth annual increase in a row.

Figures from charity Nacro also indicate two-thirds of those who leave jail without a home go on to reoffend within twelve months.

London was the UK city with the highest number of releases into rough sleeping in 2025-26 with 1,990.

Documents seen by the outlet show that probation officers have been approaching charities to request tents they could pass on to homeless ex-offenders.

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A Berkshire-based organisation called The Inside Out Trust, which operates in Slough, Bracknell and Reading, has been working alongside probation staff to supply camping equipment, sleeping bags, cooking gear and mobile phones to former inmates.

Between March 2024 and January 2025, the charity provided more than 20 camping kits to people on probation.

However, a charity spokesman confirmed it was prevented from supplying additional tents or phones to the Probation Service early last year.

Stefan Fafinski, the trust's chairman, said: "I can understand why it's a bad look to be encouraging tented cities, but prison leavers need somewhere to live. It's frustrating that we're not able to help."

Shadow Justice Minister Nick Timothy said: "Labour's shambolic early release scheme is putting thousands of criminals back on to the streets, and their chaotic lack of planning means many released prisoners are now sleeping in tents."

He added that rough sleeping was proven to increase reoffending and that the scheme was "putting public safety at risk."

Reform UK's prisons spokesman Zia Yusuf called the situation a "farce," blaming the combination of early releases and housing pressures.

A Government spokesman said: "It is not Government policy to provide tents to people being released from prison who are at risk of being homeless. Tents are not, and should never be, an acceptable housing solution.

"The Prime Minister has made it clear that the Government is committed to ending rough sleeping. Backed by record investment in probation services, we’re helping those leaving prison to secure accommodation and move into work, as we work to halve prison leaver homelessness by the end of this Parliament, reduce reoffending, and keep the public safe.

"We’re also investing £47million in grassroots homelessness charities and community organisations, helping vulnerable people off the streets and into settled accommodation, alongside a national drive to end rough sleeping."

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Savers and pensioners are braced for possible changes to their finances when Chancellor John Healey delivers his first Budget on October 28.

Some major reforms have already been confirmed, while others remain the subject of speculation and have not been formally announced.

William Bale, wealth manager at financial planning and investment management firm Tideway Wealth, told GB News that households should avoid making rushed decisions based solely on Budget rumours.

Here is what has been confirmed, what has reportedly been ruled out and what could still be announced.

CONFIRMED: Unused pensions to face inheritance tax

Most unused private pension funds will be included within a person's estate for inheritance tax purposes from April 2027.

Mr Bale described this as "one of the most significant confirmed changes already on the horizon".

He said: "This could influence retirement income planning for many families, particularly those who previously viewed pensions as an efficient way of passing wealth to future generations."

The change will not affect only the wealthiest households. Someone with a relatively modest pension could face inheritance tax if their home, savings and other assets push the total value of their estate above the available thresholds.

Mr Bale warned that some retirees could respond by withdrawing more from their pensions than they need.

"There is a risk that some retirees may be tempted to draw pension benefits more aggressively than necessary in response to these changes, potentially reducing the sustainability of their retirement income later in life," he said.

For example, someone could have an estate worth £300,000 and an unused pension containing £100,000.

Once the pension is included, the total estate would be worth £400,000. If only the standard £325,000 inheritance tax allowance applied, £75,000 could be taxable.

At the standard 40 per cent rate, this would produce an inheritance tax bill of £30,000.

This is a simplified example. Spouse exemptions, the additional allowance for qualifying family homes and other reliefs could reduce or remove the bill.

RUMOURED: Tax-free pension cash could be targeted

Most people can currently withdraw 25 per cent of their pension without paying tax, subject to a maximum tax-free lump sum of £268,275.

There has been repeated speculation that the Government could reduce this entitlement, although no change has been confirmed.

Mr Bale warned that the uncertainty itself could prompt people to access their pensions prematurely.

He said: "If the Government were to reduce this entitlement, it could have significant implications for those who have built retirement plans around the benefit, whether that is repaying a mortgage, supporting family members or funding major expenditure in retirement."

However, withdrawing money before any announcement could create its own problems.

"The concern is that speculation alone could encourage people to make decisions about their pension savings before any changes have been confirmed," Mr Bale said.

"Withdrawing money unnecessarily could leave them worse off in the longer term."

CONFIRMED: Cash Isa allowance will fall to £12,000

The annual cash Isa allowance for people under 65 is due to fall from £20,000 to £12,000 from April 2027.

The overall Isa allowance will remain at £20,000, meaning savers can still place the remaining £8,000 into other types of Isa, including a stocks and shares Isa.

People aged 65 and over will retain the full £20,000 cash Isa allowance.

Mr Bale said those who currently save the maximum amount in cash could have to invest some of their money or keep it in an ordinary savings account.

Money held outside an Isa may become taxable once the saver has exhausted their Personal Savings Allowance.

He said the reform could encourage more people to invest for the long term, but warned that investment risk would not be suitable for everyone.

"The important distinction is whether that money is intended for long-term investment or might be needed at short notice," he said.

"Investing can offer greater potential returns, but it also carries risks which will not be suitable for everyone."

If someone placed the remaining £8,000 in an ordinary account paying four per cent, they would earn £320 in annual interest.

According to Tideway Wealth's illustrative calculation, a higher-rate taxpayer who had already used their £500 Personal Savings Allowance could face a tax bill of approximately £134 at the confirmed 42 per cent savings income tax rate from April 2027.

The actual bill would depend on the person's wider income, savings and tax position.

The Building Societies Association has urged Mr Healey to delay the cash Isa reduction for two years, arguing that weakening the product could discourage saving instead of increasing investment.

REPORTEDLY RULED OUT: Capital gains tax rate rises

Capital gains tax is charged on profits made when assets such as investments, second homes or businesses are sold.

Calls from some Labour figures to bring capital gains tax closer to income tax rates fuelled speculation about another increase.

However, reports citing Treasury sources suggest that Mr Healey has ruled out raising the rates. There has been no formal government announcement, meaning other reforms to the tax could still be possible.

The main capital gains tax rate was increased from 20 per cent to 24 per cent in October 2024.

Mr Bale said another rise could encourage investors to postpone selling assets, potentially reducing the amount raised for the Treasury.

"The risk with increasing capital gains tax is that some investors may choose to delay selling their assets rather than face a higher tax bill," he said.

"This could potentially reduce the amount of tax raised while discouraging people from reinvesting their gains elsewhere."

Reports suggest the Chancellor could instead introduce incentives encouraging entrepreneurs who sell businesses to reinvest their proceeds in British companies.

POSSIBLE: Changes to inheritance tax reliefs

Inheritance tax changes affecting farmers and family businesses remain under scrutiny.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has reportedly indicated that the Government could reconsider the restrictions placed on agricultural property relief in 2024.

It remains unclear whether any changes would also cover business property relief.

ALREADY CONFIRMED: Income tax thresholds remain frozen

The Government has ruled out raising the headline rates of income tax, employee National Insurance and VAT.

However, income tax thresholds are frozen until April 2031.

This means that rising wages can pull more people into paying income tax or move them into higher bands, even when tax rates do not change. This process is known as fiscal drag.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that restoring inflation-linked increases to the thresholds from April 2027 would cost the Treasury about £8.4billion a year.

Any decision to end the freeze early would therefore probably need to be funded through higher taxes or lower spending elsewhere.

RUMOURED: Higher taxes on banks

Bank executives reportedly expect the Chancellor to increase taxes on the sector after lenders recorded strong profits.

The Government could raise the three per cent surcharge on bank profits, which was previously reduced from eight per cent.

Another option would be to increase the bank levy, which is calculated using the size of a lender's balance sheet.

No changes have been formally confirmed.

EXPECTED: More details about help for first-time buyers

Further details of the Your First Home scheme are expected at the Budget.

The scheme is intended to help first-time buyers in England purchase new-build properties with a deposit of 2.5 per cent.

Buyers would receive a loan worth 20 per cent of the property's value to help fund the purchase.

Important details, including eligibility requirements and how repayments would work, are still expected.

REPORTED: Online marketplaces could collect tax for sellers

Major online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay could be made responsible for collecting tax owed by traders using their platforms.

Reports suggest the measure could fund business rates relief for high street shops.

The threshold at which small businesses begin paying rates could reportedly rise from £12,000 to £18,000.

The proposal has not yet been formally announced.

RUMOURED: Help with energy bills

Household energy bills are forecast to rise sharply again in January, with the typical annual bill potentially increasing by £276.

There has been speculation that Mr Healey could announce targeted support for households receiving certain benefits.

No details about eligibility or the amount of help have been confirmed.

CONFIRMED: Mansion tax to begin in 2028

The High Value Council Tax Surcharge, commonly called the mansion tax, will apply to homes in England worth more than £2million from April 2028.

There had been speculation that the threshold could be reduced to £1.5million. Reports now suggest the Chancellor has rejected that option, although this has not been formally confirmed.

Why does John Healey face difficult choices?

The Chancellor must balance demands for help with living costs and higher defence spending against the Government's fiscal rules.

These require the Government to stop borrowing to fund day-to-day spending and to have debt falling as a proportion of national income by the end of the current Parliament.

The Office for Budget Responsibility estimated in March that the first rule would be met with £23.6billion to spare. That headroom is expected to have fallen because of higher government borrowing costs.

Estimates vary, with KPMG placing the remaining buffer at around £12billion and the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimating approximately £20billion.

Higher inflation may increase tax receipts, but it also places additional pressure on households and raises some areas of government spending.

This leaves Mr Healey facing difficult decisions over how to fund support without breaking Labour's tax pledges or unsettling financial markets.

The Budget speech is expected to begin at about 12.30pm on October 28, following Prime Minister's Questions.

President Donald Trump said the US may carry out another military operation against Iran just as the war nears its eight-month mark.

The President spoke to a rally in Fort Myers, Florida as rising fuel prices and the cost of living weigh on voters' minds ahead of the US midterm elections in November.

Mr Trump told a rally of supporters: "We may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree. If they're smart, they'll just say, let's get down to business."

However, he did not outline the conditions Tehran would have to meet to prevent another round of military action.

Earlier in the day, President Trump said the US could end the war quickly but questioned whether Washington should seek a swift conclusion or allow the conflict to gradually wind down.

The President, who has offered shifting goalposts and timelines for the war, has said in recent campaign remarks that the war will end soon, "one way or the other."

Earlier this month, he said the US would not launch an attack on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections.

These elections will determine control of Congress, where President Trump's Republican Party holds a slim majority in both chambers.

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases.

US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.

The war has raised oil and gas prices around the world with Tehran planning a wider retaliation if the war resumes.

Iran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the US and Israel attack Iran again, according to two senior Iranian security officials.

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Elsewhere in his speech, President Trump talked tough about Cuba, part of a pattern of putting pressure on the communist government there after ousting the leader of Venezuela early this year.

President Trump, who won 68 per cent of the Cuban American vote in Florida in the 2024 election, said American naval forces from Iran will stop at Cuba on the way home.

He said: "We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They'll raise up their hands, and then we're going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal."

Secretary of State Rubio, a former US senator from Florida, has been handling much of the Cuba-related policy for the White House.

Mr Rubio said: "To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time".

He also urged those disappointed by Cuba's government "to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA", without providing further details.

President Trump's rally was intended to boost the electoral prospects of Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds, who is running for governor against Democrat David Jolly.

His speech, the latest in a near-daily blitz of campaign rallies in largely friendly areas, rambled from topic to topic such as the size of his crowds and his White House renovations.

In September, President Trump labeled Cuba a "failed state" at the UN General Assembly and said, "Freedom will be coming to Cuba," prompting a walkout by the Cuban delegation.

President Trump has openly stated that his goal is to fundamentally change Cuba's government.

A US-imposed oil blockade has put the country under severe strain as it contends with fuel shortages and blackouts exacerbated by failing infrastructure.

UN human rights experts have condemned the oil blockade as a violation of international law while rights advocates say the Trump administration's threats have echoed an imperialist approach.

Scottish Greens leader says the "political wing" of Hamas should no longer be proscribed as a terror group.

Ross Greer, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, has now called on Whitehall to reverse its 2021 decision to proscribe Hamas in its entirety, arguing it was a "barrier to peace".

While the military wing of the Gaza-controlling organisation should remain proscribed, he said, its political wing must be "engaged with for the purposes of finding peace".

Hamas's political wing is led by Khalil al-Hayya, who helped plot the devastating October 7 attacks.

The Palestinian political leader has also described the attack, which killed at least 1,200, as a "source of pride for our people" and a "great act" in separate instances.

But Mr Greer insisted there was a clear distinction between the two groups.

Asked about his position, he said: "For the purposes of peace negotiations, Hamas the political party being on the proscribed list is actually a barrier to peace.

"The UK government only did that a couple of years ago."

The Green co-leader, who was just 21 years old when first elected as an MSP in 2016, drew a comparison to the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin, arguing peace in Northern Ireland could never have been achieved if the political group was banned.

He added: "Since the October 7 attacks, we've clarified that the military wing absolutely should be proscribed because of these actions.

"But the political wing needs to be engaged with for the purposes of finding peace, just as we here in the UK did in Northern Ireland."

While the Greens in England have recently become embroiled in controversy after passing their "Zionism is racism" motion, the Scottish Greens have long shared the view.

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In 2015, the party passed a motion calling for Hamas to no longer be described as a terrorist organisation, and condemned "Zionism as a racist ideology based on Jewish supremacy in Palestine".

The Government first proscribed the military wing of Hamas in 2001, but under Sir Tony Blair, viewed the political wing as a separate entity.

But in 2021, it was determined Hamas was a "complex but single terrorist organisation", and as a result, both sections were proscribed.

When pressed if there remained a distinction between the political and terrorist wings of Hamas, Mr Greer claimed all parties in peace talks would have committed war crimes.

He said: "If we want to reach a peaceful solution for Israel and Palestine, that requires negotiations between parties who have all committed war crimes.

"Hamas have committed war crimes. The Israeli government have committed war crimes."

He added: "The reality is Hamas and the Israeli government are guilty of grave war crimes. The only way we can end genocide and the war crimes is with a peaceful resolution. That requires these parties being brought round the table.

"A ceasefire was agreed to because of negotiations with Hamas and the Israeli government. The Israeli government have since breached that ceasefire and murdered about 1,500 people."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Greens told The Times the party's "up-to-date" formal position on the conflict was from a 2023 conference vote, when Greer brought a motion condemning Hamas's October 7 attacks, as well as Israel's response.

An asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a seven-year-old in an immigration hostel has had his jail sentence increased by 18 months.

Afsar Safi pulled the girl into his room, grabbed her by the waist and kissed her on the cheek at a London hostel on September 6 last year.

Safi, who entered the UK via a small boat in 2021, denied the charges but was convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault of a child during a trial in April.

He was jailed for two years and six months, but the Court of Appeal has now ruled the sentence was "unduly lenient".

On Friday, Lord Justice Jeremy Baker, sitting with Mr Justice Swift and Mr Justice Kimblin, increased his jail term to four years.

Lord Justice Baker said the sentencing judge had not taken the kidnap offence seriously enough.

He added: "It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the reason he selected his victim was her age and inability to resist.

"We are satisfied the sentence that was passed in this case did not adequately reflect the offender’s criminality."

The court heard how the girl had noticed Safi staring at her before he offered her an apple and invited her into his room, which she refused five times.

He then pulled her into his room, forced the apple into her bag and assaulted the child before allowing her to leave.

She no longer feels safe around single men and has recurring nightmares, the court was told.

During the hearing, Ben Lloyd, representing the Solicitor General, argued the sentencing judge was wrong to reduce the term due to Safi’s youth, his claims of a difficult childhood and the fact he had limited English.

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Safi says he came to the UK from Afghanistan in 2021 after being taken from his family to be a slave for the Taliban at the age of 10.

Speaking through a Pashto interpreter during the hearing earlier this year, Safi told the court: “I like children, and she was a child. I asked her where she was going.

“She said she was waiting for her mother to go shopping. I kissed her to the face. I kissed her out of the love for children. Back home, all the people do that.”

His asylum claim has been refused but he is awaiting the outcome of an appeal.

Jai Patel, for Safi, argued that the details of the sexual assault should place it in a category resulting in a sentence on the lower end of the scale.

Andy Burnham has said politicians have "a lot to offer" traitors in his Celebrity Gogglebox appearance.

The Prime Minister had been scrutinised before his appearance on Channel 4's Gogglebox couch, becoming the first Prime Minister to do so.

Mr Burnham was joined by long-time personal friend and Liverpool City Mayor Steve Rotheram, as they reacted to shows including Only Connect and The Celebrity Traitors.

Reacting to clips from the BBC's show of treachery and backstabbing, he admitted politicians may have experience with the hit show's themes.

He said: "Well, obviously, I would say that politicians have got a lot to offer to those who are looking for tactics in relation to The Traitors."

Mr Burnham seized power from Sir Keir Starmer after Wes Streeting, John Healey, and Angela Rayner left the former Prime Minister's Cabinet.

All three now serve under the former Mayor of Greater Manchester.

He added: "I think we can spot faithfuls and traitors a mile off."

The Makerfield MP continued: "Our profession teaches us to do that, but it’s a great programme."

He also praised the show as a sign of how "strong British broadcasting is, and of course the BBC".

Turning to the Liverpool Mayor, he suggested Mr Rotherham would perform well on the show because "like politics, you've got to spot the wrong'uns in the room, and you're pretty good at that".

The Prime Minister was forced to defend his appearance after political opponents questioned how he had time to take part.

One Tory source told GB News leader Kemi Badenoch also should have been invited on the show, adding that it was "Channel 4's job to ensure political balance".

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Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage has previously appeared on the show, and a party spokesman told The People's Channel he would happily appear again.

The Prime Minister said he would "make no apology" for trying to "lead with a bit of lightness", and was "proud" to support Stand Up To Cancer

Scenes of Britons with cancer were interspersed throughout the programme.

Clips were shown from Callum's Story, revealing how the 16-year-old collapsed in school in January 2025, was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of brain cancer, and died in hospital just a year later.

Welling up with emotion, Mr Burnham said he "couldn't imagine" going through those circumstances, adding that it was "devastating" for the family.

Reacting to the story of a young family dealing with the aftermath of cancer, he said: "The only thing that does give some hope is there is so much incredible research going on, and some of the main cancers of years ago, there's been such big progress on them.

"But it's utter devastation, isn't it? If you're that couple, I don’t know how you cope with that."

Mrs Badenoch questioned the Prime Minister's decision to take part in the show while he had other commitments to attend to.

Referring to the Government's advice to the public to stockpile food, water and other essentials to prepare for possible emergencies in the future, she said: "I don't mind them giving advice.

"I worry that between the Prime Minister being on Gogglebox and then talking about stockpiling canned goods, they're not actually doing the really difficult stuff that will protect the country."

Andy Burnham has warned Donald Trump over Argentina's "coercive" behaviour in the Falkland Islands during a phone call between the two leaders on Friday.

Downing Street confirmed the pair discussed the Sea Lion project in the South Atlantic, alongside Ukraine, energy and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East during the talks.

A spokesman said Mr Burnham "raised the economic consequences of Argentina’s coercive measures" on both Britain and the United States to his American counterpart.

More to follow...

Siobhan Whyte has launched a scathing attack on Labour as she spoke to GB News two years on from her daughter's murder at the hands of an illegal Sudanese migrant.

Rhiannon Whyte was attacked by Deng Majek on October 20, 2024, as she waited for her train home.

The young mother died from her injuries three days later.

Majek had been staying at the Park Inn Hotel, where Rhiannon worked, but CCTV showed him staring at her that day as she handed out snacks.

Now, two years on from her daughter's murder, Ms Whyte told Britain's News Channel she felt as if the Government "just don't care" about the prospect of dangerous, unvetted criminals flooding into Britain illegally.

The grieving mother said she felt "broken" by the loss of her daughter as she laid flowers on the anniversary of her death.

After discussing reports of anti-social behaviour from illegal migrants being housed at a taxpayer-funded hotel in Warwick, Ms Whyte said it feels as if the British public are not "being listened to".

She said: "Shabana Mahmood is looking for a safe way to them to come in and the Home Office is telling us that their human rights. What about our human rights?

"I'm not never going to see my girl again, but we've got rights, you know? I feel like this scum of a Government are just kicking us to the curb really."

Telling Dawn Neesom what she wanted to see the Government doing going forward, Ms Whyte said: "All I want is them to be stopped.

"Detained, criminal, medical, all these ID checks because he lied about his age. We still don't know his real age.

"We don't even know that's his name, to be honest. Once they got onto these shores, they are illegal and the Government are not saying this.

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"They're saying they're stopping it and they've reduced it. That's a lie because you see them at the shores waiting for them with the coaches and the tents and the clothes.

"I know because I've been there," she added.

"I feel like it's just they just don't care. And on every single day there's a rape, a sexual assault, a violent attack, God forbid, a murder.

"But I really don't want another family to go through what we're going through. I really hope and pray it doesn't happen."

Although Andy Burnham has not yet met with Ms Whyte to discuss her concerns, the grieving mother held talks with Border Security Minister Anna Turley on September 3.

Reflecting on the meeting with the Home Office, she said: "I came out of there feeling hopeful that maybe they listened to us as a family.

"This was on a Thursday, and on the Sunday, we had an influx of boats into Portsmouth, so it felt like we'd just been kicked in the teeth, really.

"We just want answers, you know, I get people saying, ‘you've got justice. He got life and 29 years’. No, I will serve life because he's taken my daughter away."

A Home Office spokesman told the People's Channel: "The murder of Rhiannon Whyte was an abhorrent crime, and our thoughts are with her loved ones. This vile criminal is behind bars where he belongs, and he rightly received the strictest punishment of a life sentence.

"We share the public’s anger about Majek’s heinous actions. That is precisely why we are bearing down on small boat crossings, removing record numbers of foreign criminals, and closing every asylum hotel in the country."

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The Conservative Party’s former director of campaigning has been spared jail despite admitting he cheated at gambling on the date of the 2024 general election.

Last month, Anthony Lee pleaded guilty to two offences relating to placing bets on the date of the 2024 general election, with his wife Laura Lee, who was a parliamentary candidate at the time, admitting one charge.

At Southwark Crown Court on Friday, jurors were told how the ex-senior Tory figure used “inside information” from a private meeting called by then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to bet on the general election date months before it took place.

More to follow...

Chagossians could be handed a veto to stop the islands being handed to Mauritius under legislation passed by peers this lunchtime.

The draft law potentially gives Andy Burnham a fresh headache over his attempt to pass sovereignty of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius in a deal costing UK taxpayers billions of pounds.

The British Sovereignty Protection (Chagos Islands) Bill cleared the second reading stage in the House of Lords today.

It would give Chagossians a veto over any deal.

Four Chagossians settled on the archipelago earlier this year to protest at Labour's plans to hand sovereignty to Mauritius.

The descendants of thousands more have settled in the UK after they were forcibly removed in the 1960s and 1970s.

The new law would mean that sovereignty transfers require a referendum of Chagossians, an Act of Parliament and approval by the islands' own administration.

Earlier this week, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting suggested Labour will push ahead with negotiations to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

He told MPs he was looking at the issue "with a fresh pair of eyes".

Mr Streeting added: “Having looked at this whole issue with a fresh pair of eyes, I’ve reached the same conclusion as every Prime Minister since Boris Johnson, including this one, which is the capabilities provided by that base makes it extremely unwise and a risk not worth taking to have legal uncertainty.

“That is why efforts to negotiate a treaty continue, and they (the Conservatives) may disagree now.

“If they do, they should explain why Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and (Rishi Sunak) were all trying to achieve the same outcome.”

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Speaking to GB News before the vote, a Foreign Office spokesman said: “Securing the long-term operation of Diego Garcia remains a top priority for the Government, and protecting the base is the very reason for the agreement with Mauritius.

“We will continue to work with the US and Mauritius to find a way forward that is in the UK's best interests and protects our national security.

”A Government source added that ministers' position in relation to the private members bill will be "set out during the second reading debate tomorrow, as is the usual process."

A man has been arrested after a video appeared to show a person spitting on a statue dedicated to murdered MP Sir David Amess.

Essex Police confirmed a man in his thirties is now being questioned on suspicion of a public order offence and criminal damage.

He was arrested just a stone's throw away from the statue in Westcliff-on-Sea on Friday morning.

The suspect remains in custody.

Footage of the alleged spitting incident has since been deleted from TikTok.

However, the video appeared to show a man filming himself spitting multiple times on a statue of Sir David on Southend's seafront.

The incident is believed to have taken place just days after the fifth anniversary of Sir David's death.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “A man has been arrested as part of an investigation which relates to a video posted on social media in Southend.

“A report was made to us on Wednesday, October 21, and our investigation was launched.

“This morning, Friday, October 23, a man aged in his 30s was arrested in Westcliff.

“He's being questioned on suspicion of a public order offence and criminal damage. He remains in custody.”

Sir David was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2021.

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Islamic State fanatic Ali Harbi Ali was sentenced to a whole-life order for the murder the following year.

Sir David represented Southend West in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2021, having served as the MP for Basildon between 1983 and 1997.

A life-sized statue created in the memory of a long-serving Conservative MP was unveiled in April 2024.

"He may not admit it, but I'm sure he would have been flattered there is a statue in his memory," his former constituency assistant Julie Cushion said at the time.

The statue is located near the Chalkwell Lifeguards' base in Southend.

Sir David used to walk his dogs at the site and had built a close relationship with the lifeguard station.

Following this week's incident, a spokesman for Sir David's family said: "To see his memorial treated in this way is deeply upsetting."

The spokesman added: "David believed passionately in freedom of expression and the right to disagree.

"He understood that people would hold different political views, sometimes profoundly so.

"But disagreement should never be an excuse for abandoning basic standards of decency and respect.

"David was murdered because of the extremism of another individual.

"Five years on, his family continues to live with the consequences of that terrible loss."

Donald Trump has slammed LeBron James for "disrespecting" the US national anthem when playing his season-opening match for the Philadelphia 76ers against the New York Knicks.

During the anthem, James appeared to be practising a golf swing and basketball shots while his teammates stood by.

The US President has taken aim at the basketball great, saying he should apologise for his actions.

He wrote on social media: "While listening to our national anthem, LeBron James disrespects our country!

"I said right from the beginning that he's no good, a total disgrace.

"LeBron James should apologise to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag and all that our country stands for!"

GB News has contacted James through the 76ers for comment.

James confirmed his move to the 76ers in July, taking him into his historic 24th season.

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In a montage video of his highlights, James posted footage from his playing career to date, as he looked ahead to the upcoming campaign.

James wrote on X: "I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team, and I am so excited to energise a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time."

The four-time NBA MVP and the league's all-time leading scorer wrapped up his record-breaking 23rd season last year.

James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds last season with the Lakers.

He is the all-time leader in games played with 1,622 and points scored with 43,440.

Commenting on his future in the summer, James wrote on social media: "I thought I was done when the season ended.

"I wasn't ready to announce it, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was pretty sure I played my last game.

"I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and decide if I still love this game.

"I still truly love this game, and I have more to give. The last few weeks have really been special.

"I've never been able to have no clue what to do and take real time to just think. I've had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out."

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Andy Burnham has taken a veiled swipe at Angela Rayner after the Housing Secretary claimed mascara and white wine would be part of her survival kit.

The Prime Minister told Britons that alcohol should not be the priority when preparing an emergency box of supplies as part of the new "Be Ready" campaign.

The new campaign, which was confirmed by Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, advises to stockpile food, water and other essentials.

When asked about Ms Rayner's previous comments, the Prime Minister said: “I’m not sure that that’s the top of the list in terms of the advice that we’re giving to the to the public.

“You need to have a clear head when it comes to a challenging situation."

He added: "So yeah, some tins of food, some bottled water.

"But I’m sure people are allowed a glass or two as well to get them through a difficult situation."

During an interview at Labour's Party Conference last month, the Housing Secretary was asked what she would pack in a so-called "disaster bag" for emergencies.

She said: "Mascara, concealer... I don't know, a bottle of sauvignon blanc.

"A tin of baked beans because you've got to have some baked beans. I like a good tin of custard as well.

"So I think that will keep me going for a while."

Ms Rayner was sitting alongside Mr Burnham when the Prime Minister rebuked her comments.

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The pair returned to Liverpool to hold a summit on the dangers of wildfires while large parts of the country are being drenched by Storm Austen.

Andy Burnham has refused to rule out back-pedalling on Shabana Mahmood's migration reforms amid a Cabinet revolt over the Home Secretary's proposals.

The Prime Minister, who said he strongly supports the principle that indefinite leave to remain is a “right to be earned”, stopped short of committing to the implementation of all of Ms Mahmood's reforms.

He said: “We’re in a position where we’ve been consulting on those reforms, and we will come forward with our decisions soon.

“But I strongly support the Home Secretary when she says that settlement is a right to be earned through contribution, and that will be the principle that guides our reforms.”

Mr Burnham was speaking as Labour MPs plot to revolt against plans to increase the five-year wait for claiming indefinite leave to remain by up to 10 years.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has warned that changing settlement rules for migrants already in Britain would be “un-British”.

She said: “We shouldn’t rip up the rules halfway through – taking retrospective action on people who are taxpayers, who are making a contribution, who are part of our society looking after our most vulnerable.”

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh warned that “if we continually prolong the time people have to wait for settlement, we can also prolong the process of building cohesion”.

However, following further fury yesterday, the Peckham MP insisted she “100% back[s] Shabana Mahmood and everything she is trying to do”.

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Andy Burnham: We are facing a winter of great flooding

The Prime Minister has warned the UK could be facing a "winter of great flooding" as Storms Austen and Boelo batter much of the UK.

Andy Burnham is today speaking at a wildfire summit in the north west of England, where he declared the Government is "having the conversation with people about being better prepared" as the climate becomes more extreme.

"We’re living in a world where unexpected events seem to be becoming more and more common," he said.

"Obviously weather events - and we’re in a situation today where the UK is facing storms, and obviously we feel for the people without power in Cornwall right now - it is just having those supplies in the house to get you through those moments.

"So we are having that conversation about resilience. That’s why we’re holding this summit today, it’s why we’re putting the guidance out to the public.

"We potentially are facing a winter of greater flooding, so it’s about recognising all of those risks and taking action."

Prime Minister clarifies priorities after stockpiling advice 

Andy Burnham has clarified that alcohol should not be a priority when stockpiling, as per the Government's recent advice.

Labour's Be Ready Campaign encouraged people to stock up with food and water supplies to last three days, amid growing concerns over the weather and cyber threats.

Angela Rayner joked previously a bottle of sauvignon blanc and mascara would be part of her kit.

In response today, Mr Burnham said: "I’m not sure that [wine is] the top of the list in terms of the advice that we’re giving to the to the public.

"You need to have a clear head when it comes to a challenging situation.

"So yeah, some tins of food, some bottled water. But I’m sure people are allowed a glass or two as well to get them through a difficult situation."

Andy Burnham: Indefinite leave to remain is a right to be earned

Andy Burnham has backed the notion that settling permanently in Britain must be "a right to be earned".

There is mounting speculation that the proposal to extend the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five years to as long as a decade for overseas care workers may be diluted.

Concerns over a potential backbench revolt, fuelled by criticism from prominent Labour MPs, appear to be driving the rethink.

When pressed on whether the Government would hold firm on its plans, Mr Burnham said: "We're in a position where we've been consulting on those reforms, and we will come forward with our decisions soon."

He added: "But I strongly support the Home Secretary when she says that settlement is a right to be earned through contribution, and that will be the principle that guides our reforms."

​Labour unable to confirm three per cent defence spending by 2030

A Labour minister was this morning unable to confirm the party will achieve the targeted three per cent of GDP investment in defence by 2030.

Treasury minister James Murray defended the Government's stockpiling warnings to GB News, claiming the campaign was simply "common sense" and that "no specific threats" are known to the UK.

He did warn of wider threats, however, such as cyber attacks, wildfires and climate change, which he said are "real".

Asked about Labour's defence spending, Mr Murray insisted both Chancellor John Healey and Prime Minister Andy Burnham were "committed" to hitting the target of three per cent of GDP.

But when pressed on whether he believes the Government will achieve the target, the minister simply replied: "The Chancellor will set out the details and give an update on defence spending in the Budget next week."

Tories push for 'national resilience' vote to ban solar panels from prime agricultural land

The Tories will push for a "national resilience" vote to ban solar farms from prime agricultural land, Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins has told GB News.

Ms Atkins, who represents the largely rural seat of Louth & Horncastle in Lincolnshire, is bringing forward her first private members' bill since entering the House of Commons in 2015.

During an appearance on Chopper's Political Podcast, Ms Atkins said: "I very much am against it [building solar panels on agricultural land].

"Indeed, for the first time in 11 years of being a Member of Parliament, I've been drawn in the private members' bill ballot, which means I can put a law forward."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

​Conservatives: Wes Streeting's warning was a clever thing... but we must invest in Armed Forces

The Conservatives have said the Government's warning yesterday to stockpile food and water was "probably a clever thing," but insisted more investment must be put towards the Armed Forces.

Labour's Be Ready Campaign encouraged people to stock up with food and water supplies to last three days, amid growing concerns over the weather and cyber threats. It has been criticised for "causing panic".

Speaking to GB News this morning, Shadow Minister of State for Illegal Immigration, Crime, Policing and Fire Matt Vickers said the warning was a "sensible thing".

However, he insisted: "The bigger question is about our defence, about our ability and capability to deal with cyber attacks."

The Tory MP pleaded with the Government to spend more on the Armed Forces, stating: "The best way to work towards peace is to prepare for war - if we look weak, that is the biggest threat to peace."

He also said reaching the target of 3 per cent investment in defence will be "keeping Andy Burnham up at night".

Labour: We aren't setting out a shopping list for households

Labour has insisted it is not setting out a "shopping list" to households across the country.

This is despite the Government's Be Ready Campaign encouraging people to stock up with food and water supplies to last three days, amid growing concerns over the weather and cyber threats.

But speaking to Times Radio this morning, Treasury minister James Murray said: "This is not about the Government sending out a shopping list to everyone in the country.

"This is about putting the right information there on the government website, having an information campaign so that people are aware about it and then people taking the right choices for themselves about what they need to make sure they have supplies of at home."

Mr Murray said the campaign is about "making sure that households are resilient," and ensures the Governement "has a role to play in making sure the national infrastructure is there too."

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Women can "see and smell sexism within Reform UK a mile off", one of the most senior female Conservative frontbenchers has claimed.

Victoria Atkins MP, the Shadow Environment Secretary, said that she was aware of "senior professional women" who were called "groupies" and other "sexualised banter" after going to the party's conference last year.

Mrs Atkins was speaking after Sarah Pochin, one of the most senior female Reform MPs, was filmed telling an ITV undercover reporter that the party needed "women press officers".

She was recorded by a secret camera saying the party was "chauvinistic" and "they just exclude you if you are a woman".

Ms Pochin added: "There's a bit of a male issue going on."

Speaking to GB News' Chopper's Political Podcast, Ms Atkins said: "Any woman can see and smell the sexism within Reform UK a mile off.

"We know that senior women within the party are sidelined. We saw these comments."

She added: "I've had senior professional women unrelated to the party who went to Reform conference last year, who said to me in completely separate conversations that they have various experiences of Reform men calling them groupies or the banter, the sort of sexualised banter."

Asked what she was referring to, Ms Atkins said: "I mean very sort of sexualised banter about women whilst those women are in a professional meeting with them because they had to go there with their jobs.

"This is not how a modern political party should be operating, but I think people can spot it a mile off.

"If you remember the Makerfield by-election, I think one of the strongest campaigns that Andy Burnham had in that by-election campaign was the attitudes as revealed of the Reform candidate and the reaction of women to those attitudes.

"I'm afraid they've got a real problem with this.

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"And it doesn't matter how often they pat women on the head and say, oh no, nothing to see here.

"We can see it, we can feel it. And I think it's going to be a real problem for them."

Asked directly if Mr Farage "has a woman problem", Ms Atkins replied: "Yes."

Ms Pochin joined Reform UK from the Tories in March 2025.

She was elected as the MP for Runcorn & Helsby in May 2025 following a knife-edge by-election victory.

Ms Pochin defeated Labour challenger Karen Shore by just six votes after disgraced ex-MP Mike Amesbury resigned when he was given a suspended sentence for punching a constituent.

“One of the main reasons Sarah left the Tories in the first place was the rampant sexism that existed from local to national level," a Reform UK spokesman told GB News.

"For Victoria Atkins to make these wild accusations about Reform when she knows the institutional issues in her own party is completely disingenuous.

“Reform has come a long way as a party.

"We’ve grown enormously in a short space of time and have been addressing issues as they arise.

"With the launch of Women for Reform and women in top leadership positions across the party, we have shown our commitment to empowering them at all levels.”

Watch Chopper's Political Podcast every Friday from 6am on GB News.

Chancellor John Healey is preparing to dramatically cut back a £1billion tax break that retiring business owners have long relied upon when selling their companies.

The move, expected in next week's Budget, would see savings from the scaled-down relief redirected into new incentives for entrepreneurs who generate jobs and growth in Britain.

Business Asset Disposal Relief, which lowers capital gains tax when someone sells a qualifying business, could be significantly restricted, according to The Telegraph.

The money saved could instead fund lower capital gains tax rates or more generous reliefs for entrepreneurs who create jobs and economic growth in the UK.

The move would mark a shift away from the current system, which mainly rewards business owners when they sell their companies.

Economists have argued that this encourages tax planning rather than giving founders an incentive to reinvest and expand.

Labour introduced the relief in 2008 under its former name, entrepreneurs' relief. It originally allowed eligible business owners to pay capital gains tax at 10 per cent on qualifying sales, up to a lifetime limit of £1million.

The Coalition government later increased the lifetime allowance to £10million. Rishi Sunak cut it back to £1million in 2020 following criticism that the relief disproportionately benefited wealthy business owners.

Rachel Reeves, Mr Healey's predecessor as Chancellor, subsequently increased the tax rate to 14 per cent and then to 18 per cent in April 2026. The changes were introduced alongside inheritance tax reforms affecting farmers and business owners.

HMRC estimates that Business Asset Disposal Relief cost the Treasury £800million in the most recent tax year.

The Resolution Foundation, whose former chief executive Torsten Bell now serves as a Treasury minister, has branded BADR "Britain's worst tax break".

A review commissioned by Ms Reeves also questioned whether the relief was doing enough to stimulate investment and growth.

A consultation launched last year drew on the American experience, pointing to the so-called "PayPal Mafia" as a model for how successful founders can seed the next wave of companies.

Figures including Elon Musk and Peter Thiel used the proceeds from PayPal's success to back new ventures, many of which grew into major businesses in their own right.

The Treasury has been studying proposals from both the Start Up Coalition and the Centre for British Progress, which have each advocated for tax incentives that reward founders who build companies and plough their gains back into new enterprises.

Dom Hallas, of the Start Up Coalition, said: "We rightly do lots in the tax system to incentivise those investing in start-ups in the UK, but a lot less to support the founders that actually build them."

Mr Hallas added: "We'd love to see anything that encourages entrepreneurs themselves to not just start, but to scale and actually stay in the UK."

However, business groups have warned that the changes risk punishing owners who spent years building successful companies and depend on the sale proceeds to fund their retirement.

Craig Beaumont, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "Small business owners work hard through their lives and rely on entrepreneurs' relief when selling their business to fund their retirement.

"This relief has already been reduced and limited it must not be thoughtlessly discarded."

Others described the plans as a further blow to family-owned firms, which employ nearly 60 per cent of private sector workers and pay more than £400billion in taxes, according to the Family Business Research Foundation.

Analysis from wealth manager Rathbones showed that just under 5,800 businesses were sold in 2025, an eight-year high and 70 per cent above 2018 levels, suggesting growing numbers of entrepreneurs doubt whether the rewards justify the risks.

Mr Healey has promised a Budget for Britain's "bloody-minded entrepreneurs", pledging to reduce red tape and "back business in Britain making a profit".

The Tories will push for a "national resilience" vote to ban solar farms from prime agricultural land, Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins has told GB News.

Ms Atkins, who represents the largely rural seat of Louth & Horncastle in Lincolnshire, is bringing forward her first private members' bill since entering the House of Commons in 2015.

During an appearance on Chopper's Political Podcast, Ms Atkins said: "I very much am against it [building solar panels on agricultural land].

"Indeed, for the first time in 11 years of being a Member of Parliament, I've been drawn in the private members' bill ballot, which means I can put a law forward."

The Tory frontbencher added: "My bill is to ban the rollout of solar farm estates over prime agricultural land, because the land should be used to grow food, not solar panels.

"This is about protecting our national resilience. And again, it comes into the defence issue that we, Kemi and James Cartlidge, have been speaking so much."

Ms Atkins's Planning (Solar Power Generation) Bill was formally brought into the House of Commons for its first reading on June 17.

However, MPs will need to wait until January 15 next year to debate the proposed legislation in its second reading.

Concerns around national security were heightened when His Majesty's Revenue & Customs revealed 68 per cent of solar panels imported by the UK came from China in 2024.

The figure marked an increase from the 61 per cent recorded in 2023.

Great British Energy, which was unveiled as part of Labour's flagship taxpayer-funded clean energy company, also relied on Chinese-made solar panels for rooftop installations at schools and NHS hospitals.

There is currently no blanket ban on building solar farms on prime agricultural land.

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However, planning policy in England generally favours using poorer-quality farmland rather than the most productive land where a solar development is necessary.

Solar panels sat on 52,400 acres of land across the UK in September 2024, including on agricultural sites which are productively used for conventional farming activity.

Critics have called for developers to prioritise rooftops, car parks, industrial sites and poorer-quality farmland amid concerns about food security.

But a landowner who agrees to let a solar energy company use 100 acres of their land could pocket between £85,000 and £120,000 per year in rent.

The figure is estimated to exceed £2.5million within 30 years, potentially peaking at £3.6million.

Ms Atkins's call for farmland to be protected comes after residents in the village of Ludborough voiced fears about a proposed development.

Ludborough, which is home to fewer than 200 people, is rallying against the proposal by putting up placards and signing a petition.

GB News covered a similar backlash in the quaint Northamptonshire village of Easton Maudit last summer.

However, Labour is pushing ahead with solar projects on agricultural land.

Ministers approved the 500-megawatt Green Hill Solar Farm in Northamptonshire earlier this month.

The project covers almost 3,000 acres of land and includes battery storage and grid infrastructure.

A Department for Energy Security & Net Zero spokesman told GB News: “The biggest threat to agriculture and nature is the climate crisis.

"It is one of the cheapest and quickest forms of energy to build, helping get bills down for good."

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Andy Burnham has insisted Labour's "determination is unwavering" to achieve Net Zero by 2050, despite the approval of the Jackdaw gas field.

The Government's backing of the site opens the door to drilling in the North Sea and aims to supply gas to British businesses and homes as early as this month.

The site, off the coast of Aberdeen, is one of two North Sea projects, alongside the Rosebank oil field, that have hung over Labour since the previous Tory Government was halted by a legal challenge.

Writing in The Guardian overnight, the Prime Minister vowed his Government would not "abandon the responsibility" of Net Zero.

"There has been much speculation about what this announcement means for Britain’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis," he told the newspaper. "I want to be clear that our determination is unwavering."

Mr Burnham said he is "personally committed to confronting" the challenges of environmental issues, adding: "Britain has just emerged from its hottest summer on record, during which we had nurses collapsing on hospital wards, bus drivers working in intolerable conditions and families losing everything to wildfires.

"More extreme weather is forecast in the months ahead. The climate crisis is no distant threat.

"It is here, on our doorstep, affecting people’s lives and livelihoods.

"I am personally committed to confronting it, and I will not abandon the responsibility we have to future generations."

The Prime Minister also said it "makes sense to responsibly use our resources here at home," vowing energy from the field to be "heating our homes and powering our businesses this winter."

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Labour: We aren't setting out a shopping list for households

Labour has insisted it is not setting out a "shopping list" to households across the country.

This is despite Givernment's Be Ready Campaign encouraged people to stock up with food and water supplies to last three days, amid growing concerns over the weather and cyber threats.

But speaking to Times Radio this morning, Treasury minister James Murray said: "This is not about the Government sending out a shopping list to everyone in the country.

"This is about putting the right information there on the government website, having an information campaign so that people are aware about it and then people taking the right choices for themselves about what they need to make sure they have supplies of at home."

Mr Murray said the campaign is about "making sure that households are resilient," and ensures the Governement "has a role to play in making sure the national infrastructure is there too."

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An Eritrean rapist is back behind bars after he made a bizarre excuse for breaching the conditions of his sentence.

Mebrahtom Abrha, of Grace Road, Ellesmere Port, was jailed for 10 years in 2016, with an additional five-year licence period, after he was convicted of rape in Toxteth, Merseyside.

As part of the sentence, the 36-year-old was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life, with the requirement that he must notify the police of any bank accounts he had access to or was registered for.

However, shortly after his release, police specialists found he had already breached the terms of his sex offenders' register order, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Abrha, who sought asylum in the UK after absconding from his native Eritrea in East Africa after being conscripted into the army, was visited by officers from the Sex Offenders Management Unit (SOMU) in April.

During the visit, officers examined Abrha's devices and found two online banking apps on his mobile phone; in a subsequent search, they also found two bank cards on his person, which he had failed to disclose.

When asked about this, Abrha claimed he did not understand the order because English was his second language.

However, he had previously spoken fluent English with probation officers and signed the order document to confirm he understood what was required of him under his release conditions.

He also said he thought he needed to register bank accounts with officers once he had set them up, deposited money into them, and received a bank card, claiming he would have registered them if given the chance.

Constable Jones, of the Sex Offender’s Management Unit at Cheshire Police: "Abrha told police that, despite being handed court order that was to remain active for the remainder of his life, he had not actually read the terms and did not understand what was required of him to keep him out prison.

"He also attempted to justify his actions by claiming he did not know that his banking accounts were active until he had deposited any money into them and was sent a physical card.

“It was this clear breach, paired with the fact that he had only just begun the licence period of his sentence, that resulted in him being promptly arrested and returned to police custody and later charged.

“Sex Offenders Orders are put in place to keep members of the public safe from dangerous offenders, and we treat any breaches with the utmost seriousness and will always take immediate action.”

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Abrha was sentenced to six months' imprisonment on Monday, October 19, after being found guilty of two counts of failing to comply with the requirements of a Sex Offenders Order following a four-day trial at Chester Crown Court.

At his initial sentencing hearing in 2016, Liverpool Crown Court heard how Abrha pursued a woman and then violently raped her in the street in the early hours of July 19, 2015.

The court heard how the woman had been clubbing and was heading to her boyfriend's house in Toxteth. Unable to find a taxi, she decided to walk the mile-and-a-half route in the rain but did not realise Abrha was following her.

After throwing her to the ground, he raped her twice before "chillingly and casually" walking away and fleeing Liverpool.

Police watched CCTV and, spotting the rapist, traced his movements back to 4am, when he was thrown out of the Modo bar in Concert Square.

He was seen drinking on his own in two bars on Slater Street, then urinating against a wall on Wood Street, before following the woman.

In a victim statement, the woman said: "I felt ashamed, dirty, disgusting and unclean. I felt horrible in myself and always felt exposed, even when I was covered up.

"I love Liverpool but after this I want to get away from Liverpool. I felt after this incident it was now tarnished for me and isn't the city I first fell in love with."

Abrha was handed an extended sentence of 15 years after being branded a danger to the public.

He tried to challenge his sentence at the Court of Appeal, in London, arguing it was "excessive".

But three of the country’s most senior judges rejected his appeal, saying the sentence was justified given his "shocking" crimes.

Pete Hegseth's team has damaged a historic Second World War globe owned by General Dwight D. Eisenhower after the Secretary of War demanded that it be hauled into his office.

Two floor globes, used by the 34th President, had been kept in the Pentagon, but Mr Hegseth took a keen interest in the artefact and requested that his staff lug one into his personal office.

Normally, moving one of the 30-inch globes would be done in consultation with specialised experts from the US Army Centre of Military History.

But because the US Government was under a partial shutdown at the time, the staffers were unavailable.

Rather than wait for the expert curators to return, Mr Hegseth's staff dispatched a team to move the globe - and dropped it, the Washington Post first reported.

Images of the historic globe, seen by GB News, show a large hole near Antarctica after it was impaled by its own base.

A sign, displayed with the globe, explains the artefact's significance.

It reads: "According to popular theory, the one in this room was first used by Dwight D Eisenhower while serving on the General Staff as Chief of the War Plans Division from February to March 1942 and Operations Division from March to June 1942.

"It is conjectured that this was retained by the successors to the Operations Division, known today as the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-35."

Army spokesman Christopher Surridge said the damage happened during an "attempted move", and the "spherical portion of the globe was detached from the metal mounting that allows it to rotate".

It was not eventually relocated, he added.

And a Department of War (DoW) official, in a statement, told the US outlet that "accidents happen".

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Sources within the DoW said the incident was internally viewed as an embarrassment.

Mr Hegseth's team could have waited for experts to return from the partial Government shutdown, as it ended the same day the globe was damaged.

One person familiar with the situation said an "apparent lack of patience" contributed to the rushed job.

US Colorado Congressman Jason Crow said it was "incompetence all around".

"They break everything they touch," he added.

Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination in Kentucky, said the blunder "just about sums up his tenure at the Pentagon".

There are four globes associated with Eisenhower, who was known for posing with them in photographs.

A DoW official told The Times: "An accident occurred while staff were transporting a replica of the Eisenhower globe as part of its relocation.

"Accidents happen; we are grateful no one was harmed, and the globe is being repaired.

"It is unsurprising that The Washington Post is once again dedicating time to another inconsequential non-story."

Wes Streeting has said there is "no doubt" Vladimir Putin is a "cold-blooded killer" in a veiled swipe at US envoy Steve Witkoff.

The Defence Secretary warned that there was a "clear line between appeasement and a peace process" after Mr Witkoff, the chief negotiator to stop Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said Mr Putin was a "humanitarian".

Mr Witkoff poured the praise on the Russian President after Moscow freed retired US schoolteacher Stephen Hubbard, who had been held in custody since 2022.

"The President sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard...Because of you he's going home to his family," the US envoy told Mr Putin in a meeting shown on Russian TV.

But Downing Street rejected the description of the Russian leader as a "humanitarian", adding that it did "not recognise that characterisation".

Mr Streeting told the BBC he could understand that in the "path of diplomacy" an official may feel the "need to be gracious to the host sitting in front of you".

He said: "But I've got to say there is a very clear line between appeasement and a peace process, we should be in no doubt that Vladimir Putin is a cold-blooded killer."

Mr Streeting added: "We see that with the civilian casualties in Ukraine."

He continued: "We see it with the way that his regime is backing state-sponsored terrorism across Europe, and we also see that reflected in the high number of Russian casualties this year."

The Defence Secretary slammed the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a "totally unnecessary war" and not a "humanitarian initiative" as he welcomed US leadership over the peace process.

Mr Witkoff returned to Washington after also meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He has now said a trilateral meeting will be held by early November.

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Russia has accepted the deal, US officials have claimed, while Mr Zelensky said the talks should be held as soon as possible.

Mr Streeting said there must be a "negotiated peace that involves Ukraine and is acceptable to Ukraine".

He added: "They have suffered so much, a war that they didn't start, didn't provoke, didn't ask for, and want to see an end to. We can only achieve that through diplomacy.

"But what we will not do is deliver lasting peace through appeasement, and that's the cautionary note I've sent to all of our allies in remarks I've made in recent weeks."

As Mr Witkoff returned home, Moscow launched 21 ballistic missiles at Kyiv in three waves of attacks, Mr Zelensky said on Thursday.

Earlier, No10 suggested the Government was wholly at odds with Mr Witkoff's description of Mr Putin.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "We certainly do not recognise that characterisation, and President Putin has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own Russian people, who he has sent to their deaths on the frontline.

"He is starving children and the elderly of the heat and warmth, and systematically targeting critical national infrastructure.

"Ukraine's foreign minister summed it up well this morning when he said: 'This night, the residents of Kyiv heard what Russian humanitarianism really sounds like'."

Asked whether the Government would make the same argument directly to the US administration, the spokeswoman added: "We engage regularly at a range of levels with a range of partners on Ukraine, and I'm sure we will continue to do so."

Wes Streeting has called on Britons to gear up for food shortages driven by a rise in cyberattacks.

The Defence Secretary explained the Government had kickstarted a "national resilience conversations" and prepare for "everyday risks".

Earlier today, the Government unveiled its new "Be Ready" initiative, a three-year plan designed to ensure households across the UK are better equipped to cope when essential services face temporary disruption.

The campaign sets out updated guidance for families and individuals on how to prepare for events such as extreme weather that can knock out power, water supplies, telephone networks and internet connectivity.

Mr Streeting said: "We are asking households and businesses: are they prepared, are they ready and do they know how they will respond in the event of everyday challenges that might manifest themselves?

"But we’ll also need to take the country a step further and ask them: are they prepared for increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks on our businesses?

"Are they prepared for the eventuality that there may be disruptions on essential supply chains caused by hostile state actors or terrorists?

"How would we cope if the payment systems at the local supermarket went down? Those are the sorts of our everyday challenges we could face, and it’s right that we ask the country to be ready for those things."

The latest initiative marks the first phase of a broader effort to strengthen public resilience, with advice published today encouraging people to take a handful of practical, largely cost-free measures well before any emergency strikes.

Among the key recommendations is registering for the Priority Services Register, a free scheme that enables gas, water and electricity providers to identify customers who may require additional help during an emergency.

Households are also urged to maintain a modest stock of long-life food and bottled water at home.

At the core of the guidance is the principle that people should be ready to manage independently for up to three days if services are interrupted, a benchmark already adopted by several European nations.

Many of the suggested actions cost nothing at all, while others have been designed to keep expenses to a minimum.

The launch also brings Britain into step with its European counterparts, which already operate comparable public readiness programmes.

Ministers drew on lessons and best practice from abroad when developing the guidance, with France, Ireland and the Netherlands all advising their populations to prepare for a similar three-day period without normal services.

Local resilience forums throughout the UK were also closely consulted to ensure the advice reflects what works at community level.

More than 500 organisations nationwide, spanning charities and businesses alike, have already committed to distributing campaign materials through their own networks and communities.

In the weeks ahead, targeted radio and social media adverts will focus on groups considered most vulnerable during everyday emergencies, particularly families with young children and older people.

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The campaign was shaped in partnership with charities and advocates representing communities that are frequently overlooked, including those in insecure housing and food bank users.

The goal is that if those who can prepare do so, emergency responders can concentrate resources on the most vulnerable.

Backing the initiative, Security Minister Dan Jarvis declared that "those who can follow this advice should follow this advice".

He said: "By taking simple steps to be ready for everyday emergencies like severe storms, people can reduce pressure on emergency services, helping them prioritise people who need more support in an emergency.

"This is just the sort of community-focused campaign the UK needs to improve our resilience as a nation. It will bring us into line with European counterparts, where advice like this is a normal part of everyday life."

Laura Scott, Director for UK Resilience at the British Red Cross said: "We can’t control when emergencies happen, but we can all take some simple steps to be prepared, so that when they do, we are ready to help our friends, families and neighbours.

"We know from our work across the UK that local people know their communities best and want to play a part when a crisis happens.

"Having clear and trusted advice for people, especially those who may be more at-risk, could help reduce the impact of crises and even save lives."

Donald Trump has been ordered to sit for deposition as his lawsuit against the BBC ramps up.

The US President is seeking damages following an episode of the BBC's investigative documentary, Panorama, about the US Capitol riots.

Earlier today, lawyers appeared in a hearing before US Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett in Miami to address when Mr Trump will be available for deposition.

MORE TO FOLLOW...

The Government has unveiled their new "Be Ready", initiative a three-year plan designed to ensure households across the UK are better equipped to cope when essential services face temporary disruption.

The campaign sets out updated guidance for families and individuals on how to prepare for events such as extreme weather that can knock out power, water supplies, telephone networks and internet connectivity.

It marks the first phase of a broader effort to strengthen public resilience, with advice published today encouraging people to take a handful of practical, largely cost-free measures well before any emergency strikes.

Among the key recommendations is registering for the Priority Services Register, a free scheme that enables gas, water and electricity providers to identify customers who may require additional help during an emergency.

Households are also urged to maintain a modest stock of long-life food and bottled water at home.

At the core of the guidance is the principle that people should be ready to manage independently for up to three days if services are interrupted, a benchmark already adopted by several European nations.

Many of the suggested actions cost nothing at all, while others have been designed to keep expenses to a minimum.

The launch also brings Britain into step with its European counterparts, which already operate comparable public readiness programmes.

Ministers drew on lessons and best practice from abroad when developing the guidance, with France, Ireland and the Netherlands all advising their populations to prepare for a similar three-day period without normal services.

Local resilience forums throughout the UK were also closely consulted to ensure the advice reflects what works at community level.

More than 500 organisations nationwide, spanning charities and businesses alike, have already committed to distributing campaign materials through their own networks and communities.

In the weeks ahead, targeted radio and social media adverts will focus on groups considered most vulnerable during everyday emergencies, particularly families with young children and older people.

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• Met Office announces SECOND named storm of the year just hours after Storm Austen
• Storm Austen to batter Britain with 80mph winds as residents forced to batten down hatches
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The campaign was shaped in partnership with charities and advocates representing communities that are frequently overlooked, including those in insecure housing and food bank users.

The goal is that if those who can prepare do so, emergency responders can concentrate resources on the most vulnerable.

Backing the initiative, Security Minister Dan Jarvis declared that "those who can follow this advice should follow this advice".

He said: "By taking simple steps to be ready for everyday emergencies like severe storms, people can reduce pressure on emergency services, helping them prioritise people who need more support in an emergency.

"This is just the sort of community-focused campaign the UK needs to improve our resilience as a nation. It will bring us into line with European counterparts, where advice like this is a normal part of everyday life."

Laura Scott, Director for UK Resilience at the British Red Cross said: "We can’t control when emergencies happen, but we can all take some simple steps to be prepared, so that when they do, we are ready to help our friends, families and neighbours.

"We know from our work across the UK that local people know their communities best and want to play a part when a crisis happens.

"Having clear and trusted advice for people, especially those who may be more at-risk, could help reduce the impact of crises and even save lives."

Iceland boss and Labour peer Lord Richard Walker has sent a stark message to Andy Burnham, warning: “I did not join the benefits party”.

The Prime Minister has ruled out “crude” cuts to the nation’s welfare bill amid fears that spending will continue to balloon in John Healey’s upcoming budget.

Despite pledges to make “big changes to the way our welfare system operates”, costs are set to rise, with high upfront costs to youth services reform outpacing any potential cuts.

Research from the Office for Budget Responsibility stated that Britain’s welfare bill will rise to £409 billion per year by 2030–31, up from around £ 315 billion in 2024–25.

Lord Walker became a Labour peer in January and was appointed Sir Keir Starmer's cost-of-living tsar.

Under Mr Burnham’s leadership, the supermarket tycoon said the party needed to rethink its approach to tackle the bloated benefits bill.

Last month, he cautioned the Prime Minister that it was time to stop behaving like “Father Christmas” and start making unpopular choices.

Now, Lord Walker has warned: “I joined the Labour Party, not the benefits party.”

“Labour needs to become much more comfortable saying that, because a progressive government’s ambitions for public services depend on a private economy capable of paying for them,” he wrote in a paper submitted to the think tank Progress.

His intervention comes just days before the Chancellor delivers his first Budget on Wednesday, with Lord Walker pressing for sweeping tax reform and a fundamental rethink of the state's size.

In his Progress paper, the supermarket executive urged Mr Healey to deploy tax policy "more aggressively to reward genuinely additional investment" ahead of next week's fiscal statement.

Among his most significant proposals, Lord Walker called for employers' national insurance contribution reliefs to be broadened to cover all workers aged under 25.

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He said the move would encourage businesses to hire young people currently outside the workforce.

He also pressed the Chancellor to revisit Rachel Reeves' £25bn tax increase from 2024, arguing it should be redesigned so it “does less to discourage hiring people moving off benefits”.

On corporation tax, the Iceland chief executive advocated a graduated structure for businesses earning above the £250,000 profit threshold.

Lord Walker argued that the current system fails to distinguish between expanding firms and multinationals that meaningfully generate billions.

He argued that companies ploughing profits back into technology, skills and jobs should receive “aggressive breaks” through the tax code.

The Iceland chief demanded that the government's new jobs and career service must have “one brutally clear measure of success – sustained employment.”

Lord Walker's paper, entitled “Our moral and economic duty to make the Labour Party the party of work,” went further, calling for significant reductions in the overall size of the state.

“The expectation of increased state intervention has had disastrous consequences over time,” he wrote, noting that the tax burden was on course to hit a post-war peak without corresponding savings being made elsewhere.

He highlighted that when Tony Blair entered Downing Street in 1997, public expenditure accounted for 38.5 per cent of GDP, a figure the OBR now forecasts will reach 44.9 per cent in 2026-27.

Labour has finally revealed the full cost of Home Office guidance given to asylum seekers after ignoring a Freedom of Information request from GB News.

Tory MP Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst asked the department about the cost to taxpayers on October 12, 25 days after the Home Office was supposed to respond to GB News.

The nine-page pamphlet, which was released by the Home Office on August 19, told asylum seekers both people must agree to have sex and consent cannot be given if someone is asleep, drunk, or unable to respond.

It also makes clear it is not acceptable to whistle or make kissing noises at people on the street, "make sexual comments to someone", and that women in the UK have equal rights to men.

In his written question, the Solihull West & Shirley said: "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Understanding behaviours and expectations in the UK: a guide for asylum seekers, published on August 19, 2026, the total number of copies of the publication that have been distributed to date; and the total cost of producing and publishing the publication to date."

In a response released earlier today, Home Office Minister Anna Turley said: "No physical materials have been printed, ordered or distributed and therefore no distribution costs have been incurred.

"The total cost of the development of the posters and the leaflets was £21,635."

MORE TO FOLLOW...

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Andy Burnham has become the first Prime Minister to join Celebrity Gogglebox for a charity special on Channel 4.

On Friday, the Makerfield MP will appear on Gogglebox's Stand Up To Cancer special from inside No10 and will be joined by Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram.

The pair will appear on the nation's televisions to chat through some of Britain's TV as Mr Burnham continues his drive to reach out to "normal" people.

The Prime Minister will be joined by the likes of comedian Joe Lycett and the Sugababes, with more names expected to be announced ahead of the episode special.

The show, which was filmed out of work hours, will air at 9.05pm tomorrow night.

A short teaser trailer of the Labour leader and Liverpool Mayor was shared on social media, with Mr Burnham asking his "friend Steve" what snack he would like.

"I've got Skips, pork scratchings, Twiglets... Twiglets are probably best, aren't they?" the so-called "King of the North" could be heard saying.

But, with two weeks to go until his maiden Budget, Mr Burnham came under fire for not being a "serious" Prime Minister.

Louie French, the Shadow Culture Minister, told GB News: "Britain’s debt is growing, our economy is stagnating, and the world is becoming more dangerous.

"But don’t worry we know what Andy Burnham’s favourite crisps are and can watch him on GoggleBox. He is not a serious PM."

Meanwhile, another Tory source told The People's Channel that Kemi Badenoch should be invited onto the show.

One insider said: "It's Channel 4's job to ensure political balance."

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Earlier in his premiership, Mr Burnham's closest colleagues were forced to brush off claims their boss was "too blokey".

No10 advisers were said to have urged the incoming Prime Minister to tone down the number of football and pub references in his political rhetoric.

Anna Turley, a Home Office minister, backed Mr Burnham's latest social media video ranking bar snacks to advertise the Government's cut to business rates for hospitality.

A video of Mr Burnham and his Chancellor, John Healey, speaking about their favourite snacks was watched more than five million times on X alone.

The Labour MP insisted Mr Burnham's style was "reaching people", adding: "I think he is very authentic.

"That’s who he is and I think people want to see a politician who is who they are...

"Our communication has gone up substantially in terms of being authentic and reaching people."

Praising his "accessible" style, Ms Turley added: "As someone who likes football and has the occasional pint as well and quite enjoys pub snacks, I've got no problem with his content so far, and it's great to see him out engaging with the public."

A fiery debate has erupted in the Welsh Parliament after Reform UK Wales called for greater scrutiny of full-face coverings.

Protesters gathered outside Cardiff Bay yesterday as MSs discussed proposals to ban face coverings.

Taking on Plaid Cymru in the Senedd, Reform UK's Jason O’Connell argued that the burka and other full-face coverings raised questions about "women’s freedom" and "public safety".

He mentioned the use of balaclavas and burkas, vowing to crack down on those "evading accountability" is needed.

Mr O'Connell insisted that people should feel safe in their communities and nobody should be able to hide their identity.

He told the Senedd: "Plaid care more about promoting foreign cultures than our own and they clearly don't care about keeping Welsh people and businesses safe.

"Now, when a Welsh person supports Reform, Plaid often accuse them of questioning their loyalty to Wales. But when foreign people, who can't speak any British language, enter Wales, live on the welfare system, they are celebrated as trophies of the benefits of mass migration."

He argued: "They don't care about how a lack of integration by face-clad unknown people impacts Wales, our working-class communities.

"All they care about is supporting mass migration in all its forms, no matter the cost to our communities."

Mr O'Connell dismissed allegations from other parties that Reform Wales is being "Islamophobic".

He said: "They defend balaclavas, all because they want someone in our society to be able to hide their faces. Now, some will lazily say we're being Islamophobic, whatever that means.

"Now, some, in no doubt, will roll out the old classic, intrigue racists. These tropes are tired, ineffective, and clearly wildly inaccurate, but I will address them."

The Reform Wales politician said his party supported freedom of religion "in all its forms, but where that freedom oppresses women and damages assimilation into Welsh communities, a line must be drawn".

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He argued that coverings such as burkas are "anti-British": "For these women, raised under an extremist form of Islam, the burqa is a symbol of oppression. The symbol is what Plaid members are attempting to back today. An extreme ideology.

"There is an anti-British, anti-women, and against assimilation, forced on young girls and carried on into adulthood. Now, in numerous countries, the burqa is already banned, but we cannot allow this form of oppression to become the norm in Wales.

"Reform has no issue with hijab. We have no issue or problem with race, creed, or religion, protesters, we do have an issue with people living amongst our communities hiding their identities."

Hitting back at Mr O'Connell, Welsh Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams declared it is a "sad day indeed" that members who are "here to represent the whole of Wales seek to divide those communities".

She told the Senedd: "I've listened carefully to the contributions this evening. I've been disturbed by such an unsettling sound.

"Because, Llywydd, you don't have to strain hard at all, do you anymore, to hear the dog whistle that has too often pierced political debates in this chamber since the election in May.

"That dog whistle varies in volume. It's always there but it's getting louder. It lingers over those benches, a deliberately intangible thing that leaves many too many wondering whether a line has been crossed.

She also stated: "Framing religious dress as contrary to British values without demonstrating any harm that justifies interference with fundamental rights risks deepening division rather than strengthening cohesion. But this is clearly Reform UK's aim here.

"The Jewish people of 1930s Germany were subject to the Nuremberg laws that stated they were no longer German, laws that led to their persecution and extermination by the state that stripped them of their German-ness, enabled by those who believed German-ness could not accommodate diversity.

"Who is the arbiter of Britishness or Welshness? Who decides that a woman who wears a face covering is less British or less Welsh?"

Kemi Badenoch told GB News that John Healey must resign if his imminent Budget fails to deliver Labour’s defence-spending promises.

The Chancellor will set out his plans for the British economy next week, with pledges to meet Nato spending targets expected to be delayed until late next year.

Mr Healey previously resigned as Sir Keir Starmer’s Defence Secretary, saying he was frustrated that the Government was failing to raise defence spending to three per cent of GDP by 2030.

In an explosive resignation letter, he said the then-Prime Minister had been “unable” and the Treasury “unwilling” to “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats”.

However, as Andy Burnham's Chancellor, he appears set to delay a major increase in defence spending until sometime next year.

“John Healey resigned because Keir Starmer wasn't giving him enough money to get to 3 per cent by 2030,” Mrs Badenoch said.

“As Chancellor, if he cannot do this job, then he should resign.

“If not, they should call a general election because defence of the realm is the first duty of Government,” the Conservative leader said.

Mrs Badenoch accused Labour of failing to fund the armed forces while presiding over a struggling economy, as Britain’s national security faced growing threats.

“Our national security is under threat, and Labour are just frozen. They’re not able to fund our defence. They’re not growing the economy,” she said.

The Tory leader pointed to reports that Russia was spying on undersea cables and that vulnerabilities were growing in the High North as evidence that Britain needs to strengthen its defences.

“We need to pay for our defence because if we don’t, then we’re not going to have a welfare system or all of the nice things,” she said.

“If we get attacked, and we can see countries like Russia and Iran are getting bolder, we need to get ready.”

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Andy Burnham has become the first Prime Minister to join Celebrity Gogglebox for a charity special.

On Friday, the Makerfield MP will appear in No10 Downing Street Gogglebox for Stand Up To Cancer sat next to the Mayor of Liverpool, Steve Rotheram.

The MP will be joined by the likes of comedian Joe Lycett and the Sugababes.

MORE TO FOLLOW...

A “neighbour from hell” migrant has finally moved out of a retirement home in Reading after two years of what has been described as torment for other residents.

Shahidul Haque and his family had occupied the one-bedroom accommodation since July 2024 and refused to leave unless offered a larger upgrade.

The 59-year-old, along with his 28-year-old wife and twin three-year-old daughters, resisted efforts by housing provider Southern Housing to make them vacate the flat at David Smith Court.

Mr Haque cited Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to block his removal, arguing that eviction would breach his family's right to a private life.

Defending him at a previous court hearing, lawyer Isabel Bertschinger argued that eviction would have “a serious and drastic impact on the defendant's health and wellbeing and therefore on his private life, and to prevent him from living with his wife and children would have a severe and disproportionate impact on his family life.”

Despite arriving in the UK in 1997, the migrant claimed he did not understand the tenancy agreement he signed two years ago because it was not provided in his native Sylheti language.

Mr Haque also funded his weekly rent of £110.70 through disability benefits, which he claimed for depression and sleep apnea during his time at the retirement property.

“He is disabled and has limited English language skills and he is in receipt of benefits and therefore has a low income,” Ms Bertschinger said.

The migrant also demanded to be moved into a larger home, claiming the single-occupancy over-55s accommodation he moved into was unsuitable for his family.

Upon arriving in London nearly 30 years ago, Mr Haque found work in Bangladeshi restaurants across the capital.

After divorcing his first wife and leaving a four-bedroom property in east London, he was left homeless and awarded social housing in Newham before being transferred to Berkshire.

In October 2024, he applied to bring his second wife and twin daughters from Sunamganj in northern Bangladesh to join him, just months after securing the Reading flat.

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His children, though born in Bangladesh, possess British citizenship, whilst his wife entered the country on a spousal visa.

Mr Haque has now agreed to vacate the property after reaching an out-of-court agreement, the Daily Mail reported.

His departure has prompted celebration from his neighbours, who endured what they described as relentless disruption.

One 63-year-old man who had been living in the building for roughly a year before Mr Haque's arrival said: “They made my life hell for two years. It was horrendous.”

“Nothing but noise, kids banging about, shouting and screaming. From the moment they woke up at 10am to 1am the next morning,” he said.

Another resident, who had lived on the block for 12 years, said neighbours were glad Mr Haque and his family were gone.

“When they first moved in, the girls were running about the corridors… And you could hear them running about when they came back from nursery,” she told the Daily Mail.

Court documents submitted by Southern Housing detailed how Mr Haque and his family had generated excessive noise and engaged in anti-social behaviour throughout the retirement block.

The submissions specifically referenced the family's misuse of safety equipment and boisterous conduct, including one incident in December 2024 when the emergency assistance cord was activated nine times within a single day.

At Reading County Court, the two sides clashed over who should bear the financial burden of the lengthy legal battle.

Mr Haque's legal representative argued that the court should award costs in his client's favour, contending that taxpayers should not have to “cough up” for the case.

Southern Housing's barrister, Mr Ben Leb, dismissed the application as “nothing more than opportunistic”.

Judge Catherine Fisher declined to order either party to pay the other's costs, ruling that it would “not be appropriate” to do so.

GB News has approached Southern Housing for comment.

Some 32 Government services are offline and four are partially unavailable while work is carried out to address potential PHP cyber security issues, a minister has said in the House of Lords.

However, no large UK public-facing critical services have been affected, a Downing Street spokeswoman confirmed.

The official told reporters: "Work has already taken place across Government to identify and fix potential exposures to our systems, and our experts are continuing to work closely with both OpenAI and international partners on this issue.

"No large public-facing critical services are being affected by the exercise, but some limited services may temporarily be offline while security work is carried out.

"But this does not mean they were hacked, and work continues to resolve any issues."

The spokeswoman said it was not "standard practice" to provide a list of Government services that were affected.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has taken down its website ahead of the Budget next week.

This downtime is a precaution while it updates to the latest version of PHP, which has a patch for the critical vulnerability.

It came after cybersecurity chiefs warned UK organisations on Wednesday that a "critical security issue" had been discovered in PHP, which is used by almost 70 per cent of websites according to cybersecurity firm Cloudflare.

PHP is a popular programming language used across an immense number of popular websites.

The issue has affected many official websites including those for hospital resources and school websites, alongside Government portals.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said it had followed guidance to take its website offline "in view of the critical security issues affecting PHP".

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The security of next week’s Budget has not been compromised by the security flaw, a minister has said.

The National Cyber Security Centre has instructed British organisations to update to a new, fixed version of the PHP programming language or take their websites offline if that's not possible.

Oxford City Council and the City of Edinburgh Council have been forced to take their websites offline.

Some international government services in Finland, France, and Denmark have also been partly disabled as a precaution.

Some "limited" Government services may temporarily be offline while work is carried out to address potential PHP cyber security issues, Downing Street has said.

PHP is a popular programming language used across an immense number of popular websites.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has taken down its website ahead of the Budget next week.

This downtime is a precaution while it updates to the latest version of PHP, which has a patch for the critical vulnerability.

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LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Police have launched an investigation after a pro-Palestine activist shared a video of a man spitting on a statue of murdered MP David Amess.

The social media post sparked outrage, which went viral yesterday, triggered a flury of calls for Essex Police to investigate the “sickening act” of vandalism.

TikTok user 'Angry Jesus' shared the footage on the platform in what appeared to be a mockery of tributes laid at the statue just days after the fifth anniversary of the MP’s death.

Sir David’s statue, a life-size likeness of the late Southend West MP, stands on the Chalkwell Esplanade in his old constituency, overlooking the Thames Estuary.

In an update, Chief Inspector David Browning, Southend district commander, said: “We’ve assessed a report made to us yesterday, Wednesday, October 21, which relates to a video posted on social media in Southend.

“An investigation was launched last night. This morning, we’re pursuing a number of targeted lines of enquiry.

“We recognise the concern and upset that the content of this video may cause within the community.”

The monument was erected three years after the Conservative MP was stabbed to death by Islamist extremist Ali Harbi Ali as he held a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church Hall.

Ali had launched his brutal attack after Sir David had voted to support British airstrikes in Syria targeting Islamic State militants.

Sir David’s statue was defaced three times in the now-deleted TikTok video, filmed in first person to obscure the identity of those behind the camera.

It began with someone jabbing a finger at Sir David's monument, declaring “shame”, and spitting in the statue’s face.

“These people were just bowing to this p****. (He) voted for the Iraq War. Shame,” the man could be heard saying.

The video then cuts to two more clips of people spitting on the statue; the first shows someone directing an offensive gesture at the monument before defacing it.

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In the second clip, the person spits in the statue’s face and adds: “Nice.”

Angry Jesus’s TikTok account features many provocative pro-Palestine videos, including one where a man dressed as Jesus marches up and down a high street holding a Palestinian flag.

Other first-person videos show a man challenging Britons on the street about his activism.

However, Angry Jesus has denied being one of the people who spat on Sir David's statue.

“It wasn’t me who spat on Sir David. But if I catch the person who did it, I’ll… #grrrrrr,” he wrote in a caption below the now-deleted video.

Former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel took to social media to condemn the video.

“This is a sickening and disgusting act committed by a vile individual.

“Sir David was respectful, kind and a powerful advocate for free speech and expression. He always debated political differences with dignity.

“To disrespect his life and legacy in this way is dreadful,” she said.

Other outraged comments across social media call for Essex Police to investigate the individuals responsible for the defacement.

"Essex Police, this is vile, please investigate. The poor family and his friends, the community. It's distressing,” one wrote on X.

Another implored the force to: “Find that scumbag”.

Sir Keir Starmer will be summoned to give evidence to the national grooming gangs inquiry.

The former Prime Minister, who announced the inquiry last year, has been listed as a core participant.

The inquiry will commence its National Accountability Hearings in London in December and January.

Further hearings will take place in March and April next year.

The inquiry's hearings are expected to examine why previous probes and investigations have not resulted in "meaningful change".

It will assess why lessons were not learned and will require institutions and organisations to explain the steps they took to protect children.

The hearings will start with the experiences of victims and survivors.

They will then continue onto previous findings from national and local inquiries.

The inquiry, led by Baroness Anne Longfield, will examine institutional responses.

It is expected that Sir Keir will give evidence in this phase.

Other core participants include Greater Manchester Police whistleblower Maggie Oliver and Rotherham whistleblower Jayne Senior.

The inquiry has also summoned the ministries of justice, education, transport, among other Whitehall departments.

The Welsh Government, the Local Government Association and Manchester City Council will also be called on to give evidence.

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Chancellor John Healey has promised to champion "bloody-minded entrepreneurs" and reduce the burden on British companies in his first Budget next Wednesday.

The pledge comes as he prepares to deliver his maiden fiscal event against a deeply challenging economic backdrop.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Healey said: "I want to be a Chancellor who backs business in Britain making a profit, and those entrepreneurs who, in the end, are the ones who challenge the status quo, come up with innovative ideas and are trying, some of them through sheer bloody-mindedness, to keep going through these sorts of pressures."

Mr Healey, who replaced Rachel Reeves in the summer, suggested that reducing costs for businesses will be a key focus of his October 28 Budget. This could include cutting red tape for smaller firms.

However, he must balance supporting businesses with getting the public finances under control.

Britain's national debt passed £3trillion for the first time in September. A larger debt burden can mean the Government spends more on interest payments, leaving less money available for public services or tax cuts.

Inflation is also rising, reaching 3.5 per cent in the year to September, its highest level of 2026.

Mr Healey's predecessor, Ms Reeves, announced a combined £80billion of tax rises across her two Budgets.

This included a £25billion increase in employer National Insurance, with the rate rising from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent.

Major employers said the change added millions of pounds to their costs and made it harder to hire staff and invest.

Hospitality businesses were hit particularly hard, as they also faced increases to the minimum wage and business rates.

Mr Healey defended Ms Reeves's decisions, blaming what he called the Conservatives' economic "dereliction of duty". However, he acknowledged that the changes had put businesses under greater pressure.

Mr Healey acknowledged that companies had been squeezed from multiple directions in recent years. "I have recognised that in recent times there's been a lot of pressure: employment law, regulation, tax, input costs, supply chains," he said.

He also mounted a robust defence of profit-making, pushing back against voices within Labour who have called for wealth taxes or higher levies on capital gains.

"If you're not making a profit, you've got nothing to put back into the business," Mr Healey said. "And for the people who start up these businesses, the ones who really thrive and grow, they have to make a profit and they will be much more inclined to put it back into their own business. But we want it to grow here and stay here."

The Chancellor said he was treating the cost of business with the same seriousness as cost of living pressures on households.

Earlier this week, Mr Healey ruled out any increase to capital gains tax. He is understood to have been concerned that raising the levy would prompt wealthy investors to leave the country, ultimately costing the Treasury revenue rather than boosting it.

The decision came despite pressure from within the Cabinet. Cabinet office minister Louise Haigh has publicly advocated equalising capital gains tax rates with income tax, while defence secretary Wes Streeting has described it as a "wealth tax that works".

Banks, however, are expected to face a tax rise in next week's Budget, though few other major revenue-raising measures are anticipated.

Meanwhile, Angela Rayner's overhaul of workers' rights has drawn criticism from business owners who warn it will make hiring and expanding more difficult.

Plans by the Low Pay Commission to equalise the minimum wage for 18-to-20-year-olds with the rate for over-21s have also provoked concern, with Sir Tony Blair's think tank warning of potential damage to employers.

Public sector borrowing also rose more than expected last month, reaching £24.5billion and underscoring the tight constraints on Treasury spending.

Ofgem's energy price cap is set to climb by nearly a quarter in January, according to the Bank of England, adding further pressure to both households and businesses.

Mr Healey has also refused to approve advanced plans for an investment visa that would grant wealthy foreigners the right to remain in Britain in exchange for investing £5million over five years.

Critics have warned the decision could deprive entrepreneurs and businesses of vital investor capital.

Britain's largest trade union, Unison, has urged the Chancellor not to shy away from taxing the wealthy. General secretary Andrea Egan said recent polling showed the public's message was clear: "It's time to tax the rich."

Whether Mr Healey's Budget delivers meaningful relief for businesses or merely asks them to endure remains to be seen.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has unveiled her plan to "back" the police at the Police Federation conference in London.

Speaking to the conference, Mrs Badenoch said: "If we want a police force which keeps the public safe, we must fix these injustices for you, the police as well, and I have a plan.

"Part of it means backing you to do your jobs. Too often these days, we fail to recognise sacrifice and service. Whether it's hounding brave and elderly veterans through the courts, hounding police officers who try to do the right thing, or even ordinary members of the public who step in to help, only to find that they're in trouble themselves.

"It's no wonder the people in this country are becoming too scared to wade in, too scared to do the right thing. Well, I am different. I am not scared to wade in and I am not scared to back the police.

"I think it is telling the for two years in a row, the Labour Government has not sent anyone to address this conference. Not the policing minister, not the Home Secretary.

"You are the ones who enforce the law. You are the ones who ensure there are consequences for bad behaviour. That's why if we want law and order back in our country, back on our streets, we need to back the police."

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Kemi Badenoch declares Henry Nowak case a 'devastating police failure'

Kemi Badenoch has said many people see the police as a "ghost service" and "devastating police failures" like the case of Henry Nowak have left families suffering.

The Tory leader told the Police Federation conference: "I have met families who have suffered because of devastating police failures.

"Look at the case of Henry Nowak, and I know that many police officers – many of you, like all of us – were shocked by the decisions that were made that day.

"We can understand why people lose faith in the police when they’ve watched that video footage of Henry’s last moments.

"Often, instead of (being) given answers, those families then have to fight to uncover the truth themselves about what happened.

"Something is clearly going wrong when officers face lengthy investigations over open-and-shut cases, and then families are left to uncover serious wrongdoing themselves. We need a system that gets its priorities right.

"Accountability and fairness must go together. That is the balance that we need to restore. I want to rebuild policing around something that we all believe in: keeping the public safe.

"Right now, I know that you are stretched so thinly. Many in the public feel that you are becoming a ghost service. We’ve got to fix that. That means giving you the time, the equipment and the support to do your jobs properly."

Miatta Fahnbulleh will follow 'same process as Jackdaw' to make 'right' decision on Rosebank, Douglas Alexander says

Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander has said he wants Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to make the "right decision" on approving Rosebank.

Speaking to GB News, Mr Alexander said: "There are differences between the two fields, but the process will be the same. Both the decision in relation to Jackdaw and Rosebank had been challenged legally under our predecessors when the Conservative Government was in power, and that's why they became what were called quasi-judicial decisions that rest with the Department for Energy Security and Climate Change, Miatta Fahnbulleh's department.

"She had to reach a judgment in the round about Jackdaw yesterday. She is, in the days, weeks, and months ahead going to have to come to a judgement in relation to Rosebank. So the process is the same, but they're different fields, and therefore there will be some different considerations.

"I want Miatta Fahnbulleh, my cabinet colleague, to reach the right decision, and she will have all the evidence in front of her to allow her to make that decision. If I sound somewhat cautious talking about Rosebank, it's for a very good reason that we don't want further legal challenges to her decision when she makes it, in a way that we saw legal challenges under our predecessors.

"There have already been delays both in relation to Rosebank and in relation to Jackdaw, so if I'm very careful in my public comments as a cabinet colleague, it's specifically to avoid the legal risk of anything I say prejudicing the decision when Miatta ultimately makes it."

Labour's stance on Rosebank is 'madness' and Miatta Fahnbulleh 'must go further', Chris Philp tells GB News

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has hit out at the Labour Government over their stance on opening up the Rosebank oilfield.

Speaking to GB New, the Tory MP urged Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to "go much further" after giving Jackdaw the greenlight.

He said: "It's good the Government finally listened, but of course we've wasted a couple of years in the meantime. But they should go a lot further, they should definitely be drilling for oil in the Rosebank field, and indeed allowing new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea more widely.

"From a financial point of view, from an energy security point of view and even an environmental point of view, it is madness not to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.

"Miatta and her fanatical colleague Ed Miliband and the Labour Party more widely are completely wrong about this, and they are, frankly, a danger to our economy, and they're a danger to our energy security as well."

Labour's approval of Jackdaw but not Rosebank is 'suspicious', David Frost warns

Lord David Frost has warned that the Labour Government is "simply not facing up to the scale of the energy problem we face", following the approval of the Jackdaw gas field.

Lord Frost argued that it is "suspicious" that Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh did not also approve drilling in Rosebank.

He wrote in The Telegraph: "They could have approved Rosebank too. They didn’t. If it’s approved in future, they will get another day of criticism from the cranky green Left that they could have avoided.

"So one must be suspicious. One look at the stony faces on the benches behind Burnham told you everything about Labour’s real level of enthusiasm.

"The real charge against ministers is not that they have abandoned their net zero policy. It is that they have not."

Approving Rosebank after Jackdaw decision is 'common sense', says Shadow Energy Secretary

Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie has called on the Government to approve Rosebank following its decision to greenlight the Jackdaw gas field.

Taking to social media, Mr Bowie issued a stark plea to Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, urging her to "approve Rosebank now."

He said in a post on social media: "Every barrel of oil the UK exports to Europe is one less barrel they would buy from Russia.

"Revenue. Security. Common sense. Approve Rosebank now."

Energy Secretary branded 'completely mad' over Rosebank stance

Conservative MP Neil O'Brien has hit out at Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh after reports of planning to reject opening up the Rosebank oilfield.

Taking to social media, Mr O'Brien said in a social media post: "Completely mad.

"We are happy to import oil from Russia, but not allowed to take it out of our own North Sea."

Adura chief 'very confident' Rosebank will be approved

Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch has said he is "very confident" that Rosebank will be greenlit, despite reports of the Energy Secretary being poised to "reject" it.

He said: "We’ve seen a decision made that there is a process that can result in a decision, but it’s a matter for the Secretary of State and her team to examine the two fields separately.

"But we believe we’ve done as good a job in arguing our case with Rosebank as we did with Jackdaw. Obviously, the economic benefits of Rosebank are different.

"It’s a bigger field. It will last longer than Jackdaw, and so I’m sure she’ll take that into account when she makes her decision in terms of the jobs and economic impact for the UK. It’s about 6% addition to domestic gas flow into the UK."

A pro-Palestine activist has shared a video of a man spitting on a statue of murdered MP David Amess, who was killed by an Islamic State supporter in October 2021.

The social media post sparked outrage, with Essex Police facing calls to investigate the “sickening act” of vandalism.

TikTok user 'Angry Jesus' shared the footage on the platform in what appeared to be a mockery of tributes laid at the statue just days after the fifth anniversary of the MP’s death.

Sir David’s statue, a life-size likeness of the late Southend West MP, stands on the Chalkwell Esplanade in his old constituency, overlooking the Thames Estuary.

The monument was erected three years after the Conservative MP was stabbed to death by Islamist extremist Ali Harbi Ali as he held a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church Hall.

Ali had launched his brutal attack after Sir David had voted to support British airstrikes in Syria targeting Islamic State militants.

Sir David’s statue was defaced three times in the now-deleted TikTok video, filmed in first person to obscure the identity of those behind the camera.

It began with someone jabbing a finger at Sir David's monument, declaring “shame”, and spitting in the statue’s face.

“These people were just bowing to this p****. (He) voted for the Iraq War. Shame,” the man could be heard saying.

The video then cuts to two more clips of people spitting on the statue; the first shows someone directing an offensive gesture at the monument before defacing it.

In the second clip, the person spits in the statue’s face and adds: “Nice.”

Angry Jesus’s TikTok account features many provocative pro-Palestine videos, including one where a man dressed as Jesus marches up and down a high street holding a Palestinian flag.

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Other first-person videos show a man challenging Britons on the street about his activism.

However, Angry Jesus has denied being one of the people who spat on Sir David's statue.

“It wasn’t me who spat on Sir David. But if I catch the person who did it, I’ll… #grrrrrr,” he wrote in a caption below the now-deleted video.

Former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel took to social media to condemn the video.

“This is a sickening and disgusting act committed by a vile individual.

“Sir David was respectful, kind and a powerful advocate for free speech and expression. He always debated political differences with dignity.

“To disrespect his life and legacy in this way is dreadful,” she said.

Other outraged comments across social media call for Essex Police to investigate the individuals responsible for the defacement.

"Essex Police, this is vile, please investigate. The poor family and his friends, the community. It's distressing,” one wrote on X.

Another implored the force to: “Find that scumbag”.

Labour is likely to reject drilling at the giant Rosebank oilfield after approving the smaller Jackdaw gasfield.

After Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh made her long-awaited decision on drilling in the North Sea, sources now say she is not likely to approve Rosebank.

Ms Fahnbulleh told the Guardian, which first reported on her likely decision, that the same rationale behind approving Jackdaw did not apply to Rosebank, which her mentor Ed Miliband once described as "climate vandalism".

She said: "One is a gasfield that caters for the domestic market, while the other is an oilfield that is mainly for export.

"It is right that we judge each application in its own right, and it is absolutely critical that the decision is consistent with our climate obligations, our carbon budgets and the end destination we need to get to with the energy transition."

Her decision may spark further tensions within Labour as John Healey told ITV he expected both "oil and gas" revenues to contribute a new energy health fund.

Andy Burnham would be expected to make the final call if there is a conflict on the decision.

One Labour source told the newspaper the Energy Secretary was being pragmatic by approving Jackdaw but rejecting Rosebank, adding that she was "putting up a fight".

Rosebank would emit around seven times the carbon of Jackdaw and Ms Fahnbulleh is said to believe it would not shore up energy security because the majority of oil would be exported.

This comes as US President Donald Trump praised the decision to approve Jackdaw, hailing it as "great news for the wealth and prosperity of the United Kingdom, and the wonderful region of Aberdeen".

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Energy Secretary branded 'completely mad' over Rosebank stance

Conservative MP Neil O'Brien has hit out at Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh after reports of planning to reject opening up the Rosebank oilfield.

Taking to social media, Mr O'Brien said in a social media post: "Completely mad.

"We are happy to import oil from Russia, but not allowed to take it out of our own North Sea."

Adura chief 'very confident' Rosebank will be approved

Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch has said he is "very confident" that Rosebank will be greenlit, despite reports of the Energy Secretary being poised to "reject" it.

He said: "We’ve seen a decision made that there is a process that can result in a decision, but it’s a matter for the Secretary of State and her team to examine the two fields separately.

"But we believe we’ve done as good a job in arguing our case with Rosebank as we did with Jackdaw. Obviously, the economic benefits of Rosebank are different.

"It’s a bigger field. It will last longer than Jackdaw, and so I’m sure she’ll take that into account when she makes her decision in terms of the jobs and economic impact for the UK. It’s about 6% addition to domestic gas flow into the UK."

Two graphs have revealed how the EU economy has plummeted against the US as the gap between the pair reaches £1.27trillion.

Think tank Facts4EU, alongside Stand for Our Sovereignty and The Campaign for an Independent Britain, shared exclusively with GB News just how the bloc's economy is taking a dip against its international ally.

The graphs, based on newly-released figures by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), show the shocking £1.27trillion gap between the US and the EU.

For decades, the Brussels bloc took the lead in its economy size (excluding inflation), consistently taking the crown by some margin.

But, ever since the 2008 financial crisis, the EU's lead began to dwindle and, post-2022, the EU's economy was said to have started taking a nosedive.

In 2008, using Purchasing Power Parity, Brussels' eocnomy exceeded that of the US by £622billion.

And, by 2026, the US took the lead, according to the IMF data, to £1.27trillion.

Lord Redwood, a former Single Market Minister and former Secretary of State, told GB News: "The UK's growth all the time we were in the EEC/EU was around just half the level the economy achieved in the 20 years before joining.

"The growth slowed more the longer we stayed in, and the more laws and taxes the EU imposed.

"Now Mr Draghi in his excoriating report has said the EU has fallen further and further behind in recent years owing to excessive regulation.

"The EU has burdened its member states with dear energy, with carbon taxes and emissions charges, and extensive regulation of every industry and every farm.

"The EU code-based law is far less flexible than the Anglo-Saxon common law, with entrepreneurs and businesses impeded from innovating and getting costs down. It is no wonder the EU has grown so slowly."

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The think tank's chart shows the acceleration in the EU’s downfall has become extreme, which Facts4EU attributes to a combination of the 2022 Ukraine energy shock and the US tech boom.

Taken together, what was a slow divergence has very quickly turned into an economic rout, the report added.

In terms of comparative average annual growth rates of the two economies, the US has been growing more than 60 per cent faster than the EU over the past two decades.

Since 2008, the Tories struck up a trade deal with 11 countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, leading to Facts4EU to argue that it is more logical for Britain to align itself more closely with the US.

Lord Redwood added: "All the trillion-dollar companies listed on world stock exchanges are US, and are digital. Europe's largest companies are much older, smaller, more traditional businesses. The EU has chosen to watch from the sidelines as digital explodes.

"The EU is becoming a digital colony of the US dependent on US chips, software, social media, intelligent search, computers, mobiles, and now AI.

"As Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta and the other digital giants win millions of European customers, sign them up to services, and scoop up billions of dollars in revenues, the EU sets out to regulate and tax digital a bit more.

"When will the EU wake to seeing their over-regulation, their legal system, their excessive government intervention, their high taxes and dear energy all conspire to keep them in the slow lane?"

Over 260 people have been arrested for alleged immigration offences as part of a national policing operation on transport networks.

Police and border officers were deployed 387 times over two weeks on UK roads, the rail network, and at ports to catch suspects accused of involvement in organised immigration crime.

Of the 452 arrests between September 21 and October 5 in Operation Lockstream, 267 were for immigration offences, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said.

A total of 491 vehicles were seized, as well as 17,000 packets of cigarettes, 40kg of cannabis, 22 weapons including knives and ammunition, 57 phones, and more than £600,000 in cash.

Police also issued more than 900 fines, 62 per cent of which were for road offences.

Deputy Chief Constable Wendy Gunney, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for serious organised crime, said: "Organised immigration crime does not begin and end at our borders.

"We know through shared intelligence that our roads, rail and port networks are being exploited by criminals as they transport people and goods across the UK.

"Police forces are working side by side with partners to strengthen our response to this activity, and the results from Operation Lockstream demonstrate the impact we have made by targeting and disrupting criminals."

DC Gunney continued: "Arrests have been linked to illegal working, immigration offences and fraudulent documents, and we have gathered valuable information about the routes being used and why, the organised crime groups involved, and the tactics and methods being used.

"This information will help us to refocus our efforts to ensure we target our response to have the greatest impact on organised immigration crime, and protect our communities and legitimate businesses."

Officers said information shared across agencies showed where criminals involved in organised immigration crime were suspected of using on-land transport networks to move people, commodities and assets.

During the intense period of coordinated enforcement, the National Police Chief's Council said Operation Lockstream identified and disrupted this criminal activity, arresting offenders and seizing goods.

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Last month, Police Scotland made 36 arrests in the “biggest and most co-ordinated” operation the force has ever carried out to target alleged human trafficking.

Around 300 officers were deployed for the operation on Wednesday and they are understood to have raided 47 properties across Glasgow, Falkirk, Dundee and other locations in the central belt and north-east.

As well as the arrests, 14 cannabis cultivations were discovered by police and "a number of potential trafficking victims" were also found.

Police estimate the cultivations are worth around £3million.

Operation Kendrew is targeting a group said to be mainly run by people from Vietnam, with some members from other Southeast Asian countries, operating across the UK.

Offences the gang is under investigation for include alleged human trafficking, drug cultivation, fraud, forced labour, immigration crime, and money laundering.

Detective Superintendent Stevie Bertram, head of Police Scotland’s national human trafficking unit, said officers believe Operation Kendrew will “absolutely” disrupt the group’s activities going forward.

He said: “This enforcement action is the biggest and most co-ordinated human trafficking operation that we have ever carried out, and is a result of a lengthy investigation, working closely with our partners.

Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell said: “Alongside the enforcement that has been carried out, we worked with Justice and Care, which is a third-sector agency that supports victims of exploitation and trafficking.

“The action that has been taken is the biggest and most co-ordinated human trafficking operation Police Scotland has ever had.

“It followed close joint working by our Human Trafficking Unit and with partners including the Home Office, National Crime Agency and HMRC, supported by local policing officers and operational support division, among others, and in close consultation with colleagues at the Crown.

“This was a carefully planned and important operation to disrupt and tackle an international concern which impacts communities right across Scotland.”

An asylum seeker has been jailed for 15 weeks after he sexually assaulted a teenage girl in Cheshire.

Taha Derwish approached a group of teenage girls who were walking on Nantwich Road in Crewe on September 24, 2025.

The 26-year-old made several unwanted advances towards them.

He then inappropriately touched one of the girls on the bottom, despite being told that she was only 15 years old.

Cheshire Police said they arrested him within 10 minutes of the incident.

Derwish was jailed for 15 weeks at Chester Crown Court on October 12 after previously pleading guilty to sexual assault.

When Derwish first appeared in court in September 2025, magistrates heard he was appealing a refused asylum application.

Chester Magistrates Court heard Derwish had been staying at an asylum hotel in Crewe.

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Detective Sergeant George Booth said: "Firstly, I would like to commend the girls involved in this incident, who were understandably left shaken and upset by Derwish’s actions.

"They trusted their instincts, recognised that his behaviour was completely unacceptable, and contacted police immediately. Their swift actions allowed officers to attend the scene and arrest Derwish within minutes of receiving the call.

"I hope this result reassures them that they did the right thing by coming forward and that reports of this nature are always taken seriously.

"Women and girls should be free to go about their daily lives without fearing for their safety.

"Let me be clear, this behaviour has no place in our communities, and anyone who causes others to fear violence or intimidation can expect to be dealt with swiftly and robustly."

London Green councillors have encouraged Britons "inspired by the protests in France" to join a demonstration in the capital.

France has been swept by violent unrest, with around 2,400 rioters arrested and hundreds more injured.

Scenes of a historic city hall enveloped in flame, shattered bus stops, and devastated vehicles have stoked fears that similar unrest could hit the UK.

And on Sunday, the Hackney Greens shared an image urging those "inspired" by French chaos to join a march against austerity held the day before the Budget.

Florence Schechter, the cabinet member for finance, resident services and digital, promoted the "March against Austerity", to be held in central London, on her social media.

She urged her followers to attend, writing: "Inspired by the protests in France? We have our own protest in the UK the day before the autumn Budget is announced to tell our government what we think about austerity."

The Hackney Greens then shared the post.

Political opponents slammed the decision to promote the march as "careless" and "irresponsible", according to The Times.

Ms Schechter, who founded the world's first Vagina Museum before her political career, defended the post.

She said: "To speak to people who are inspired by protests is not an endorsement of violence.

"The media and political establishment consistently focus on respectability over people's real pain and needs.

"This only causes people to feel unheard and unsupported.

"Austerity is not just a topic: people are dying as a result of governments' decisions to cut spending and make our communities pay their debts, in France and here in the UK.

"Peaceful protest is an essential tool to make sure the government acts as urgently as we need it to."

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Hackney Labour said it had raised the matter with the monitoring officer and the council's chief executive.

A Labour spokesman for the borough told the newspaper: "Peaceful protest is a fundamental democratic right.

"But it is deeply concerning that a sitting Hackney cabinet member invoked France in this context, given the violence and tensions seen there.

"Such comparisons risk inflaming fears and divisions rather than bringing communities together.

"We call on Councillor Schechter and Hackney Greens to clarify these careless comments, and remind those in positions of power that their words carry weight and can have real consequences."

One former councillor said Ms Schechter's remarks showed "no awareness" of the current political climate.

"How anyone could suggest that burning public buildings and riots is inspirational defies belief," the councillor said.

"That an elected politician is suggesting it is scandalous.

"I cannot believe, given the terrible history we have in Hackney for riots and unrest, that they could be so irresponsible."

The former councillor warned the "mob will come wading in" as a result of the calls to protest.

Another former councillor said the post was "really unhelpful", and claimed the French protests "started off as totally legitimate" but were soon "hijacked by people with more extreme views".

"It wouldn't take much for a legitimate protest about how we are going to manage the budget to become something it shouldn't," the former councillor added.

Last week, GB News highlighted several protests organised in the wake of the civil unrest in France, with accounts promoting protests throughout the UK, including a mass mobilisation on November 7 and 8 in London, Birmingham and Manchester.

A senior ally of President Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin a "humanitarian" after the release of a US teacher, drawing the ire of Washington.

Steve Witkoff called the Russian President a "humanitarian" in thanking him for the move, a remark that drew sharp rebuke from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, given Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher in custody since 2022, from prison on Wednesday and took him to St Petersburg to fly back to the United States.

Mr Hubbard, a native of Michigan, had been serving a prison sentence of six years and 10 months in Russia following a conviction for mercenary activity in a closed-door trial.

However, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Mr Putin had freed Hubbard, 74, at President Trump's request, and that he had also taken into account the American's poor health.

President Trump later confirmed he had asked Mr Putin on a call in recent days, and the Russian leader agreed.

Mr Witkoff told Mr Putin in the meeting shown on Russian state TV. "The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard...Because of you he's going home to his family."

President Trump told reporters late Wednesday that Mr Hubbard had landed and would be visiting the White House "over the next day or so."

Mr Witkoff's praise for Mr Putin over Mr Hubbard's release was met with scorn by some in Washington.

Republican US Senator from North Carolina Thom Tillis said: "Look up the definition of 'humanitarian.' What an embarrassing and outrageous thing to say."

Meanwhile, Democrat Senator Chris Coons said: "Putin is a killer and a thug, murdering Ukrainian children, dropping bombs on neighbourhoods, and tearing families apart.

"Calling him a humanitarian is like calling Witkoff qualified or capable of doing this job. What are we doing here?"

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When asked about Mr Witkoff's comment, "Well, I guess you have to say for that particular purpose, for the purpose of allowing a man, who was thinking he was going to be in prison for life, out. But I wouldn't say anything one way or the other."

The US "gave nothing in exchange" for the prisoner release, Mr Trump said, adding "we're getting closer" to settling the war.

Meanwhile, the President said of Mr Hubbard. "He is the happiest man around.

"This was very surprising to him, but I did it; it really took place on a phone call at the end of last week with President Putin, so we appreciate it very much. And his family is extremely happy."

Mr Witkoff called the talks with the Kremlin "constructive" and said in a post he had also met Ukrainian and European leaders in Oslo to advance President Trump's mission to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he supported the US proposal for three-way talks with Russia and the US at the negotiator level, to be held as soon as possible, preferably by early November.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who also met with Witkoff, had earlier said the talks will likely happen in mid-November and focus on a potential post-conflict security structure.

On Wednesday evening, officials in Kyiv said Russian forces attacked the capital city with ballistic missiles that damaged homes and a petrol station and caused injuries.

Mr Hubbard was arrested in April 2022 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, where Russian prosecutors alleged he had been manning a Ukrainian military checkpoint.

Prosecutors said Mr Hubbard had joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received training, weapons and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 a month.

Russian state media reported he pleaded guilty to the charges.

However, Mr Hubbard's US-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, previously told reporters that the retired teacher told him the charges were false and that he was not in any combat or military unit.

Judges will be given more powers to banish killers to their cells and block prison visits if they refuse to attend their own sentencing hearings.

Several notorious cases, including triple crossbow and knife killer Kyle Clifford and Thomas Cashman, the gunman who murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, have refused to face their punishment in court.

Now, new measures being laid in Parliament will build on reforms already in force, which mean criminals can be ordered into the dock to face justice or be fined and jailed for another two years for contempt of court.

It means prisoners could be locked in their cells for up to three weeks, denied privileges for nearly three months and banned from social visits for nearly a month as well as these being restricted further to once every four weeks for almost three months

It is the latest bid to push killers to come to court because threats of more time behind bars are unlikely to deter them if they are already facing years of incarceration.

The powers, due to take effect next year, will also apply to those removed from their sentencing hearing for disruptive behaviour.

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was sentenced in his absence to a minimum of 52 years for the attack in which he murdered three young girls, after he refused to come into the courtroom and had been removed from the dock earlier in the day for shouting.

At his sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, Rudakubana interrupted the judge multiple times, saying: "I feel ill, judge. I feel ill. I'm going to pass out. No. I can't continue with this."

The judge responded, "I’ve asked you to be quiet." The prosecution was asked to continue but Rudakubna shouted: "I can’t continue with this, judge. No, no, it can’t continue, judge. I need to speak to a paramedic. I need to speak to a paramedic. My chest is hurting."

As he was escorted out of the hearing, a member of the public gallery shouted "coward" at the killer.

Families of murdered primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, law graduate Zara Aleena and mother-of-three Jan Mustafa are among those who previously campaigned for change after their loved ones’ killers were absent from sentencing hearings.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the plans will allow Crown Court judges to impose a range of prison penalties.

This includes the loss of privileges for almost three months (84 days), cellular confinement for up to three weeks (21 days), and the loss of social visits for nearly a month (27 days), as well as restrictions limiting social visits to once every four weeks for almost three months (84 days).

Visits from prisoners' children will be exempt when it is in the child's best interests.

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Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales Claire Waxman said it was "essential" that courts and prisons use the powers consistently, so families receive the justice and accountability they deserve.

Chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust Pia Sinha called on ministers to explain what evidence they have that such sanctions would increase attendance at sentencing hearings, warning the measures will punish relatives of prisoners who "have committed no offence themselves."

Ms Sinha said: "The Government should therefore be clear about the rationale for these sanctions, how their impact will be assessed, and whether they will deliver the accountability that victims’ families rightly expect.”

The measures will not guarantee prisoners attend their sentencing, but are intended to mean they face tougher consequences for refusing to do so, the Ministry of Justice said.

Prisons Minister Catherine McKinnell added: "Criminals should not be able to pick and choose when they face justice.

"Refusing to turn up to sentencing is an insult to victims and their families, and offenders must face the consequences."

Ms Waxman added: "Having worked with the families of Sabina Nessa, Zara Aleena and Jan Mustafa, I know how offenders' refusal to attend sentencing hearings compounds trauma and robs families of one of the very few moments of accountability in the justice process.

"Their determined campaigning, alongside that of Olivia Pratt-Korbel's family, helped ensure that this harm could no longer be ignored."

Two graphs have revealed how the EU economy has plummeted against the US as the gap between the pair reaches £1.7trillion.

Think tank Facts4EU, alongside Stand for Our Sovereignty and The Campaign for an Independent Britain, shared exclusively with GB News just how the bloc's economy is taking a dip against its international ally.

The graphs, based on newly-released figures by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), show the shocking $1.7trillion gap between the US and the EU.

For decades, the Brussels bloc took the lead in its economy size (excluding inflation), consistently taking the crown by some margin.

But, ever since the 2008 financial crisis, the EU's lead began to dwindle and, post-2022, the EU's economy was said to have started taking a nosedive.

In 2008, using Purchasing Power Parity, Brussels' eocnomy exceeded that of the US by $834billion.

And, by 2026, the US took the lead, according to the IMF data, to $1.7trillion.

Lord Redwood, a former Single Market Minister and former Secretary of State, told GB News: "The UK's growth all the time we were in the EEC/EU was around just half the level the economy achieved in the 20 years before joining.

"The growth slowed more the longer we stayed in, and the more laws and taxes the EU imposed.

"Now Mr Draghi in his excoriating report has said the EU has fallen further and further behind in recent years owing to excessive regulation.

"The EU has burdened its member states with dear energy, with carbon taxes and emissions charges, and extensive regulation of every industry and every farm.

"The EU code-based law is far less flexible than the Anglo-Saxon common law, with entrepreneurs and businesses impeded from innovating and getting costs down. It is no wonder the EU has grown so slowly."

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The think tank's chart shows the acceleration in the EU’s downfall has become extreme, which Facts4EU attributes to a combination of the 2022 Ukraine energy shock and the US tech boom.

Taken together, what was a slow divergence has very quickly turned into an economic rout, the report added.

In terms of comparative average annual growth rates of the two economies, the US has been growing more than 60 per cent faster than the EU over the past two decades.

Since 2008, the Tories struck up a trade deal with 11 countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, leading to Facts4EU to argue that it is more logical for Britain to align itself more closely with the US.

Lord Redwood added: "All the trillion-dollar companies listed on world stock exchanges are US, and are digital. Europe's largest companies are much older, smaller, more traditional businesses. The EU has chosen to watch from the sidelines as digital explodes.

"The EU is becoming a digital colony of the US dependent on US chips, software, social media, intelligent search, computers, mobiles, and now AI.

"As Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta and the other digital giants win millions of European customers, sign them up to services, and scoop up billions of dollars in revenues, the EU sets out to regulate and tax digital a bit more.

"When will the EU wake to seeing their over-regulation, their legal system, their excessive government intervention, their high taxes and dear energy all conspire to keep them in the slow lane?"

One person has been killed in an attack on a major international airport in Saudi Arabia as the US has ordered its diplomats to leave the region.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation has confirmed an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam has killed one resident and injured eight others.

Rising tensions in the region have forced the US State Department to order some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Riyadh.

Officials said they currently plan to withdraw family members from several other US missions in the region.

Department spokesman Tommy Pigott confirmed the department ordered the departure of "non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only" amid attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen on civilian targets in the country.

Washington had returned some diplomatic personnel to the region in recent months after many were pulled out when Tehran launched attacks on US facilities after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.

Mr Pigott said: "Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions."

Four US officials have told Reuters US missions in other Gulf states would also be ordering family members to leave,

Mr Pigott did not confirm these reports.

The latest withdrawals follow an escalation of the fighting in Yemen, opening another front in the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli ⁠war on Iran.

The wider conflict has snarled global energy trade and seriously impacted Gulf economies.

The US embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes, including on the main airport in the Saudi capital.

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The embassy and a CIA station hosted there came under attack by drones in early March, as Iran began launching attacks across the region.

More to follow...

A Labour MP has been subjected to racial harassment by a constituent who called him an "English c**t" in a dispute about disabled parking.

Mid & South Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell, who grew up on his family's £20million Cotswold estate, was targeted by 59-year-old Michael Glover earlier this year.

Glover admitted causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress ahead of an appearance at Swansea Crown Court last month.

He left a note on Mr Tufnell's constituency office door in Haverfordwest during an incident on March 10.

Glover wrote "f**k you English c**t and Welsh Labour", claimed he was "going to jail for a very long time" and said he had been looking around Mr Tufnell's mother's home.

Regan Walters, prosecuting, told the court that Glover waved at the building's CCTV cameras, stuck his tongue out, and made offensive "hand gestures".

Glover was arrested after being spotted carrying an axe to The William Owen pub the following day.

He told police he hoped the incident would expedite his personal plea with Mr Tufnell to sort a Blue Badge.

Blue Badge applications are assessed in Wales by local councils rather than MPs in Westminster.

It is not established during the reported proceedings whether Glover’s application had been refused, delayed or was still awaiting a decision.

Mr Tufnell, who was once described as Labour's poshest MP, said in a victim statement: "Knowing that Glover knows where I live with my wife and young child has made me rethink things, such as the security of my address."

He also said he had to be mindful that his "panic alarms and CCTV cameras are working" and revealed he felt "on edge, wondering if [his family] are safe" when he was in Westminster.

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Joseph Hocquard, representing Glover, said his client had been in custody for the past four months for breaching a probation order.

He also claimed his client was facing an "incredibly challenging" time due to his mental health and disabilities.

However, Judge Mark Powell KC said: "They [MPs] are entitled to go about their business without being subject to the sort of threats and harassment that you carried out… regardless of if they are English or not English."

Judge Powell gave Glover a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, as well as a five-year restraining order.

The 59-year-old will also need to pay a victim surcharge of £154.

Mr Tufnell was elected to the House of Commons for the first time in July 2024.

The 34-year-old won the former Tory seat by 1,878, defeating ex-Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb.

Mr Tufnell had been accused of having no connection to the constituency when he was unveiled as Labour's candidate.

He had announced he wanted to stand in the Essex seat of Colchester but missed out on selection.

In a short biography on his campaign website he states: “I have been coming to Pembrokeshire since I was a small child with my mum, who was born in Pontypridd and grew up in south Wales. I am originally from a farming family and I am now based outside St Davids.

“Professionally I trained and practised as a barrister before leaving to work as an organiser at a grassroots trade union.”

Mid & South Pembrokeshire is now considered a three-way split between Reform UK, Labour and the Tories.

Britain’s Border Force commander has warned that 4,000 migrants are massing in camps on the French coast as part of preparations to cross the English Channel.

Major General Duncan Capps told MPs that a “mass casualty” event was now inevitable given the “increasing size and occupancy of boats” helping migrants break into Britain.

Maj Gen Capps set out his deep concerns at the Home Affairs select committee today.

Citing French estimates, he said the number of migrants gathered in makeshift camps across northern France has roughly doubled compared with normal levels.

The border chief said about 3,800 migrants are currently split between sites near Dunkirk and Calais, waiting to attempt the crossing.

“There are a lot of people in the camps at the moment, which is bad in one respect because a lot of people are there.

“It also represents the fact that the French are making it very difficult, particularly in the Dunkerque-Calais area, to get across," he told the committee.

He said that increased police patrols along French beaches have significantly reduced launches from traditional departure points.

In response, smuggling networks have shifted to launching dinghies from locations farther along the coastline.

New launch sites include Belgium and Normandy, the latter involving a journey of nearly 60 nautical miles.

“If people try that in the winter, we are going to have loss of life,” Maj Gen Capps warned, describing it as his foremost concern.

“You will have seen this year we had a boat with 230 people in it,” he told MPs.

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“Extraordinary, and I ought to put on record that it is only a matter of time till we have a mass casualty event in the Channel… It is extraordinary that it hasn't happened so far."

The border chief also revealed that his officers had joined French counterparts in rescuing 168 people from a single vessel in French waters, with no drownings, which he described as “quite an extraordinary thing”.

More than 50 people perished during crossing attempts in 2024, based on French coastguard records, making it the deadliest year since the crisis began.

Turning to deportations, Maj Gen Capps acknowledged that removing those who broke into Britain on small boats has proved enormously challenging.

Since crossings began, he said only five per cent of arrivals have been sent back, a figure he put at fewer than 7,000 people.

The border chief explained that many on the journey come from "countries that we don't have returns agreements with," making removal through conventional channels all but impossible.

He pointed to the now-closed one-in-one-out arrangement with France as having made a "big difference because it allowed us to return Afghans, Iranians, Yemenis, Somalians in a way that we weren't able to do before."

Maj Gen Capps suggested that joining a broader European returns agreement could significantly ease the task, and indicated that the Home Office might also revisit the concept of foreign returns hubs.

Andy Burnham has claimed small boat crossings are falling significantly under his Government, telling GB News: “The numbers can fluctuate but overall boat crossings are down, down quite significantly year on year. So that does suggest that the plan is working.”

The Prime Minister has vowed to step up action against people-smuggling gangs, telling GB News: “We will now change our tactics and we will be relentless in chasing them down.”

Mr Burnham has defended the £662million deal with France, arguing: “The payment by results deal has created a change. There is more law enforcement on the other side of the channel in summer 2026 than there was last summer.”

He has acknowledged that the Government still has more work to do, telling GB News: “That's not good enough.”

The Prime Minister has insisted that restoring control of the border remains a priority, declaring: “The public wants to see control being exerted, and while we’ve made progress, there is more to do, and I recognise that completely.”

Britain's benefits bill is forecast to balloon by a £5.5billion by next year after inflation soared on Labour's watch, it has emerged.

September's level of inflation determines just how much the benefits could be raised the following year.

Official figures published earlier today showed inflation creeping up faster than initially projected.

Last month, inflation surged to its highest level in almost a year at 3.5 per cent, up from 3.1 per cent in August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Now, analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), shared with The Telegraph, showed that Britain's welfare bill could jump by £5.5billion in 2027.

The figure is £2.2billion more than the Treasury has budgeted for, as set out in the Office for Budget Responsibility's pre-Budget forecasts.

The gap will become a point of tension for the Chancellor ahead of his maiden Budget next Wednesday as John Healey refuses to rule out tax hikes on hard-working Britons.

Helen Whately, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, blasted Labour for "tax rises and red tape".

She told The Telegraph: "Higher inflation means higher benefit bills, piling more pressure on the public finances while families and businesses are already struggling with rising costs.

"Labour’s tax rises and red tape are driving up costs for businesses.

"At the same time, the Government are handing out billions more in welfare, leaving hardworking taxpayers to foot the bill."

Kemi Badenoch has repeatedly pushed Andy Burnham to cut welfare and fund Britain's defences instead.

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During a fiery rendition of Prime Minister's Questions earlier today, the Tory leader warned the Makerfield MP was "going to keep spending more, which means he’s going to keep borrowing more".

Mrs Badenoch said: "We know where that leads. The only solution to the challenges facing our country is to cut spending and to cut borrowing.

"The out-of-work benefits bill is set to rise by £50billion under this Government. So will the Prime Minister get a grip and cut the welfare bill?"

But Mr Burnham has refused to cave into the Opposition's demands, while welfare spending is soaring to around £160billion this year alone.

In the Commons earlier today, Mrs Badenoch stressed the total sum is more than the budgets for defence, schools and policing combined.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "We want to build a welfare system that incentivises work and supports those who need it most, but the system we inherited denied people the support and opportunities they need to move into work.

"We are already changing the system through the Youth Guarantee, narrowing the gap between Universal Credit standard and health rates, restoring face-to-face assessments, and investing a record £3.5billion in employment support for disabled people and those with long-term conditions.

"The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of the State Pension and working-age benefits, and final figures will be confirmed once this is finished."

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has accused Labour of treating MPs "appallingly" after Andy Burnham's Government failed to update MPs on its Jackdaw gas field announcement before telling the media.

Sir Lindsay, who delivered his scathing verdict shortly after Prime Minister's Questions, also berated Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh for failing to turn up in the House of Commons.

The Peckham MP sent her a junior energy minister in her place while she visited Shell UK's St Fergus Gas Terminal in Aberdeenshire.

Addressing MPs in the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay said: "It is shameful that this announcement was not made to the House first, and it is an immense discourtesy to the House that the Secretary of State is not here to make the statement.

"I am sorry that Sky News is more important than Members on both sides. This treatment is appalling."

He added: "I am sorry that he is having to take the flak for a Secretary of State who does not care about Members on this side or that side of the House—wherever.

"In the end, we are elected by our electorate to hear statements here, not via the media. Am I getting the message through, Minister?"

Energy Minister Michael Shanks stopped short of apologising to Sir Lindsay when called upon to deliver the Government's response.

"I entirely respect your comments," the Rutherglen MP said.

"I hope that in my time in this House, I have always given you the impression that I take this House seriously.

"Your points have been noted, and I will absolutely take them back to the Department."

Ms Fahnbulleh, who was embroiled in a Cabinet row with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood over immigration earlier this week, took part in a set of media interviews to defend Labour's controversial Jackdaw announcement.

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However, Ed Miliband's successor as Energy Secretary did not discuss Labour's plans with GB News viewers this morning.

She instead opted to appear on BBC Radio Scotland, Sky News, BBC Breakfast, LBC, ITV's Good Morning Britain and the BBC's Today programme.

Labour's Jackdaw announcement will see Shell and Norwegian state energy firm Equinor begin production after a fresh environmental assessment.

The gas field is situated 150 miles east of Aberdeen and is operated by Adura.

The decision is expected to increase domestic gas production by around six per cent at its peak.

However, Labour is now being forced to defend the decision amid mounting pressure from MPs and activists who argue it undermines Britain's push towards net zero.

Ms Fahnbulleh said: "The decision is compatible with our legally binding climate commitments, and we remain resolute in ending new licences for oil and gas and achieving net zero by 2050."

The Prime Minister also faced pressure to hand out more licences in the North Sea.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: "Britain cannot be a serious player on the world stage if the Government dither for two and a half years over approving a single licence.

"We have the resources, the expertise and the people; what we have lost is the confidence to make tough decisions.

"Will the Prime Minister now overturn Labour’s ban on all new oil and gas licences?"

Mr Burnham replied: "I can tell the House today that I have asked the Chancellor and the Energy Secretary to look at whether we can remove standing charges from gas bills and to report back to this House at the earliest opportunity."

Britain’s Border Force commander has warned that 4,000 migrants are massing in camps on the French coast as part of preparations to cross the English Channel.

Major General Duncan Capps told MPs that a “mass casualty” event was now inevitable given the “increasing size and occupancy of boats” helping migrants break into Britain.

Maj Gen Capps set out his deep concerns at the Home Affairs select committee today.

Citing French estimates, he said the number of migrants gathered in makeshift camps across northern France has roughly doubled compared with normal levels.

The border chief said about 3,800 migrants are currently split between sites near Dunkirk and Calais, waiting to attempt the crossing.

“There are a lot of people in the camps at the moment, which is bad in one respect because a lot of people are there.

“It also represents the fact that the French are making it very difficult, particularly in the Dunkerque-Calais area, to get across," he told the committee.

He said that increased police patrols along French beaches have significantly reduced launches from traditional departure points.

In response, smuggling networks have shifted to launching dinghies from locations farther along the coastline.

New launch sites include Belgium and Normandy, the latter involving a journey of nearly 60 nautical miles.

“If people try that in the winter, we are going to have loss of life,” Maj Gen Capps warned, describing it as his foremost concern.

“You will have seen this year we had a boat with 230 people in it,” he told MPs.

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“Extraordinary, and I ought to put on record that it is only a matter of time till we have a mass casualty event in the Channel… It is extraordinary that it hasn't happened so far."

The border chief also revealed that his officers had joined French counterparts in rescuing 168 people from a single vessel in French waters, with no drownings, which he described as “quite an extraordinary thing”.

More than 50 people perished during crossing attempts in 2024, based on French coastguard records, making it the deadliest year since the crisis began.

Turning to deportations, Maj Gen Capps acknowledged that removing those who broke into Britain on small boats has proved enormously challenging.

Since crossings began, he said only five per cent of arrivals have been sent back, a figure he put at fewer than 7,000 people.

The border chief explained that many on the journey come from "countries that we don't have returns agreements with," making removal through conventional channels all but impossible.

He pointed to the now-closed one-in-one-out arrangement with France as having made a "big difference because it allowed us to return Afghans, Iranians, Yemenis, Somalians in a way that we weren't able to do before."

Maj Gen Capps suggested that joining a broader European returns agreement could significantly ease the task, and indicated that the Home Office might also revisit the concept of foreign returns hubs.

Andy Burnham has claimed small boat crossings are falling significantly under his Government, telling GB News: “The numbers can fluctuate but overall boat crossings are down, down quite significantly year on year. So that does suggest that the plan is working.”

The Prime Minister has vowed to step up action against people-smuggling gangs, telling GB News: “We will now change our tactics and we will be relentless in chasing them down.”

Mr Burnham has defended the £662million deal with France, arguing: “The payment by results deal has created a change. There is more law enforcement on the other side of the channel in summer 2026 than there was last summer.”

He has acknowledged that the Government still has more work to do, telling GB News: “That's not good enough.”

The Prime Minister has insisted that restoring control of the border remains a priority, declaring: “The public wants to see control being exerted, and while we’ve made progress, there is more to do, and I recognise that completely.”

Donald Trump has refused to endorse JD Vance for the 2028 Presidential Election in an uncomfortable moment in the Oval Office.

During an interview earlier in the week, the US Vice President said his boss would back his decision to run as a candidate should he decide to do so.

However, when a reporter asked about the interview in the White House, Mr Trump said: "Well, I tell you this, he's a very talented person.

"And he's a very good person, but I literally — I don't think we've ever talked about."

Laughing as his cheeks turned red, Mr Vance said: "No, sir. I said that too."

The President added: "I don't talk about it with him, he doesn't talk about it with me. It's early. We are very early right now, we have to get through the midterms, we'll see how it goes."

Mr Trump has not yet named his preferred successor to run in the 2028 contest, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mr Vance emerging as the lead contenders.

Back in August, the two-term President said his Vice President was likely to take the Republican reins – with Mr Rubio as his running mate.

On Monday, Mr Vance told a reporter: "Look, I think if I run, the President will endorse me... but I don't know, man, I haven't talked to him about it."

But he also suggested that he could run with Mr Trump's support, saying: "I mean, again, I think I would get his endorsement. But I also think there's something to be said for people actually running their own race.

Mr Vance added: "Because the President's endorsement is so dispositive, you could absolutely see a scenario where the President says, 'you know what we need? Let this race play out and not pre-emptively prejudge the results."

In a separate interview with CBS, Mr Vance refused to commit to running.

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During the grilling, he said: "We've got four little kids, my wife has never loved politics. Anything could happen."

Just 13 days away, the November 3 midterms will provide a litmus test for whether the American electorate continues to have an appetite for a Republican administration.

During the poll, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as a third of the Senate, will be up for grabs.

Months of fundraising, campaigning and debating across all 50 US states will culminate next month at the anticipated midterm elections.

Ahead of the contest across the nation, GB News examined three crucial races as America decided the fate of their incumbent President.

The cost of living, the war in Iran, and checks on Mr Trump’s power are set to fire up voters this year when millions of Americans take to the ballot box.

The US goes to the polls every two years to elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives, around a third of the country's senators, a number of governors and a range of other elected positions and ballot measures.

Right now, Mr Trump's Republicans hold both the House and Senate by slim margins, but if either were to become Democrat-run, it is likely to significantly hamper the White House.

Anti-Brexit activist Steve Bray is proof that human rights laws have gone too far, Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy has claimed.

Mr Bray, 57, who is best known as "Mr Stop Brexit", started campaigning in Westminster in 2018.

Despite speculation the Welsh-born pro-EU campaigner was hanging up his megaphone, Mr Bray continues to demonstrate outside party political conferences and the Houses of Parliament.

In footage shared on social media, Mr Bray is spotted alongside a handful of other anti-Brexit activists blaring out music.

The music included an anti-Brexit version of The Beatles's 1966 hit single Yellow Submarine and Kaiser Chiefs's 2004 song I Predict A Riot.

Mr Timothy, who backed Brexit in 2016, responded by saying: "Every Wednesday, this entitled and selfish bore makes it impossible to work in nearby offices.

"He ruins the experience of thousands of visitors and tourists.

"And the police and courts let him. His supposed right to protest comes above the interests of everyone else.

"This is the problem with human rights laws – summed up in one very sad man."

Pro-Brexit campaigners have consistently voiced frustrations about Mr Bray's antics in Westminster, including Reform UK MP Lee Anderson labelling him a "parasite" and a "scrounger".

Ex-Tory MP Steve Baker, who played a leading role in the European Research Group, also described Mr Bray as "profoundly annoying".

Meanwhile, former Red Wall Conservative Marco Longhi called for the 57-year-old to be "locked up in the tower".

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Mr Bray's use of megaphones was brought up again in the House of Commons earlier this year.

Ex-Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden asked Labour if ministers would discuss ways to stop the "ridiculous heckling and disruption" outside Downing Street.

Police have seized Mr Bray's sound amplifiers on at least two occasions, including in June 2022 and March 2024.

However, the 57-year-old was cleared of flouting a police ban in April 2025.

Officers have previously approached Mr Bray to hand him a map and warn him he was prohibited from playing the speakers in the controlled area under a bylaw.

Mr Bray, who grew up in Port Talbot, has spent much of the past decade living in a £6million townhouse in Westminster.

However, The New Statesman revealed the former Liberal Democrat candidate is now back in South Wales and only travels to London for protests while staying in overnight accommodation.

Mr Bray appeared to admit he was taking a backward step from the anti-Brexit campaign in a social media post published after Mr Timothy made his comments.

He said: "Parliament always looks best at dusk on a wet day! PMQs today!

"My last for the next six weeks. Andy Burnham is doing a great job so I'm going to take a break and catch up with life!

"Thanks for all your support... it's been emotional!"

However, Mr Bray ended his message by telling his supporters: "Back soon."

Scotland Yard is set to interview the former MP, Jeffrey Donaldson, over an alleged rape of a woman in the Houses of Parliament.

The disgraced politician has been accused of raping the woman in Westminster in 2016.

It is understood the alleged victim has been interviewed by Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers before the case was passed to Scotland Yard officers.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the BBC: "On Tuesday 13 October, the Met received a report referred to us by the Police Service of Northern Ireland relating to an allegation of rape in 2016, by a man now aged 63.

"The allegation relates to one victim who is being supported by specialist officers.

"The investigation is in its early stages. No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing."

There is currently no official assessment of the financial damage caused by the "global criminal phenomenon" of illicit tobacco trading, an EU report has found.

The special report, published last month, reveals black market tobacco dealers operating in "almost all member states" of the EU, leading to an estimated thirteen million-pound tax black hole.

Despite documented growth, no framework has been established to measure the implications of the illegal practice.

The findings have led officials to conclude that the "EU fight against illicit tobacco trade is not up to the task."

The report states: "There is currently no comprehensive and robust assessment of the financial impact of the trade in tobacco products in terms of lost tax revenues."

John Coxhead, Professor of Policing at De Montfort University Business School, told GB News: "Whether it’s in Britain or the EU, it's clear black market cigarettes are rife. Illicit tobacco [is] peddled by organised criminal businesses that are ruthless and dangerous. Right now they're making a mockery of law enforcement all over the continent."

Dr Coxhead criticised the EU's approach.

He added that the fact that "European politicians don’t even know how big their tobacco tax black hole is deeply concerning."

The professor said: "Political leaders can’t be sure they’re investing in enough enforcement officers to crush the illegal tobacco trade, if they don’t even know how big the problem really is."

The comments add to revelations in the report that suggest EU member states aren't working closely together, and that estimates of the market size and economic impact are therefore lacking.

In the UK, the tobacco black market is already booming, according to Dr Coxhead, a fact corroborated by a KPMG report revealing that 45 per cent of cigarettes are consumed with no tax paid on them.

He warned: "We must make sure we invest in enough Trading Standards officers. Right now, we’re not investing anywhere near enough and it’s ripping the heart out of our high streets."

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The EU special report sets out objectives to mitigate the financial damage, including a timely overview of the market, regular estimates of its size and economic impact by 2029 and calls for stronger collaboration with EU member states.

On his way to the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s stance remained non-committal in relation to the EU, telling reporters that the question of rejoining was “for another day".

However, Mr Burnham confirmed he will consider pushing for Britain to rejoin the European Union when speaking to GB News.

The Prime Minister, who promised voters in Brexit-backing Makerfield he would not try to return Britain to the EU in May, told the People's Channel rejoining the bloc is one of the options he is considering for London's long-term relationship with Brussels.

He said: "We look at all options. The speech was about deciding the long-term direction for this country. Where do we want to be in 10 years' time? And I don't think we now can leave that question unanswered. An option is to stay as we are. Of course, that's an option.

"But public opinion has shifted in that decade, including in Makerfield, and it's right that I say, well, here are the options. George Osborne's put an option forward. Canada has talked about a different relationship with the European Union.

"I can't leave Britain out of those discussions. We do have to have an honest and grown-up conversation about what could a future relationship look like? And then come back to the public and say, well, here are the broad options, and here are the issues involved with each of them.

"That's just the right way to lead. I've got to do what's best for this country."

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy has criticised a "diversity, equality and inclusion" prison initiative costing close to £2million a year.

A bombshell report revealed the "disparities unit" employs 20 full-time members of staff.

The group engages in the task of "provid[ing] support and guidance to those responsible for oversight of Diversity and Inclusion in prisons and probation services".

Internal Ministry of Justice documents show the unit was renamed and expanded in October 2024.

It is currently advertising for the role of "HMPPS disparities analyst" with a salary of up to £53,081 a year.

The extension of the unit comes in spite of what the Conservatives have called an "acute threat" to public safety posed by the on-going early release scheme.

Labour implemented the scheme earlier this month amid growing cocnerns about overcrowding in British prisons.

Mr Timothy said: "At a time when Labour are releasing thousands of serious criminals back onto the streets, this money would be far better spent on increasing space within the prison estate and improving conditions for prison officers."

The most recent tranche of prisoners released early included at least 700 inmates since the start of October.

However, it has since expanded its scope to offenders of more serious crimes.

Up to 50,000 prisoners are expected to be released each year, adding to the 70,000 criminals released from prison under the previous scheme set up two years ago.

Mr Timothy added: "Taxpayers should not be forking out millions so that equality and diversity analysts can spend their time finding ways to claim that our prisons are racist.

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"Prison is for punishment, deterrence, and keeping criminals off our streets, not for promoting DEI ideology."

Revelations about DEI inside British prisons came just days after it was revealed foreign inmates were being treated to therapy sessions compared to yoga retreats.

Inmates at HMP Maidstone are allowed to take part in breathing exercises and cold-water therapy as part of their rehabilitation.

The Kent prison is home to around 600 foreign criminals from almost 100 different countries.

The Independent Monitoring Board recently penned a report on HMP Maidstone, in which it was hailed for its range of programmes.

The review noted: “[There were] a broad range of group programmes ... [including] pre-release support, criminal records workshops, relaxation and breathwork sessions.

“Additional initiatives included cold-water therapy and practical skills sessions such as soup and bread-making.”

The report also claimed violent incidents inside the prison had “reduced significantly” over the past 12 months.

One prison insider told The Telegraph that the foreign criminals banged up in the Kent jail must be "wondering what the hell is going on".

Meanwhile, prison chiefs at HMP Manchester have been blasted for spending thousands of taxpayers' cash on music lessons for inmates.

A damning report following an unannounced inspection of the Category A prison back in 2024 described it as being in "an appalling state".

A Prison Service spokesman said: "This figure represents less than 0.1 per cent of HMPPS' overall budget and supports all our hardworking staff."

Karl Turner has been readmitted to the Labour Party, having his whip restored on a “probationary basis”.

The Kingston upon Hull East MP had been sitting as an independent after being tossed out of the party for criticising David Lammy’s now-scuttled plan to ace jury trials.

Labour confirmed that Mr Turner had returned to its benches after apologising to collegues.

The MP said he regretted any “offence I may have caused colleagues” after his falling out with the then-Justice Secretary.

MORE TO FOLLOW

Migrants have been handed £96million in visa fee waivers since Labour took power, as a whopping 76,000 charges were scrapped, it has emerged.

Each waiver is said to be worth up to almost £4,000 per adult, comprising a £1,407 application fee and a £2,587 NHS surcharge.

While not every applicant has the NHS surcharge waived, the dropped charges have been found to come to at least £96.2million, analysis by The Sun showed.

In the first three months of 2026, some 33,737 people applied to avoid paying the fee, the highest number in a single quarter, the data revealed.

In the final quarter of 2023, half the number made the same request (13,669).

Between April and June, another 33,393 submitted an application.

To dodge paying the visa charge, applicants must prove they would be left unable to afford food or accommodation if they paid.

Equally, individuals can prove that paying could harm a child or their well-being.

Now, due to the influx, civil servants are struggling to handle the record number of applications.

But only 478 of the 33,737 applications were processed on time.

Meanwhile, some 50,257 fee-dodging migrants are awaiting their applications to be processed and to reach a conclusion.

In the first 18 months of Labour's time in Government, 70,916 waivers were doled out to applicants, jumping up by 57 per cent in the final year and a half of the Tories' time in Whitehall.

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Shabana Mahmood's department does not break down the figures by nationality.

The Home Office told The Sun that it did not recognise the figures above, further saying that the waiver acceptance rate was lower than under the Tories.

They said the figure was continuing to fall.

But across the pond, Donald Trump has taken a strong stance on visa applications, halting all immigrant visa applications in his bid to bolster US national security.

The State Department said it paused operations to launch a global training initiative at all US embassies and consulates worldwide.

The new "in-depth" training aims to ensure visa applicants are evaluated "comprehensively and consistently", but Washington did not provide further details.

The pause is also intended to prevent foreign nationals from becoming reliant on US tax-funded handouts.

A State Department spokesman said: "A more prosperous America means ensuring that visa applicants are not likely to become a public charge, as defined under US law and regulation, and not likely to become dependent on US public benefits reserved for qualified Americans in need."

GB News has approached the Home Office for further comment.

Emergency services, utility providers, local authorities, and Linton-on-Ouse residents have united to reject plans to use the former RAF base as an asylum centre in the village.

Concerns have been raised about the proposal to house up to 1,200 men at the decommissioned RAF site in the village, which is home to around 700 residents.

The proposal has been branded "unworkable" and " the wrong plan in the wrong place" by the local action group.

Both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of York have written to the Home Office urging it to use the site for housing rather than an asylum centre, with North Yorkshire County Council also formally opposing the plan.

But the Linton-On-Ouse Action Group said the proposal remains under consideration, despite Prime Minister Andy Burnham claiming three times on national television a month ago that he would listen to concerns.

Professor Olga Matthias, spokeswoman for the Linton‑on‑Ouse Action Group, said: "As stated by all stakeholders, without urgent infrastructure upgrades, professional staffing and proper safeguarding, additional funding for fire and police, health and social care, housing large numbers of vulnerable people at the former RAF site poses unacceptable risks to both asylum seekers and the local community, which is why every single stakeholder has said no to the proposal."

She added: "It is a real shame that Mr Burnham, who publicly pledged to listen to us on national television, has not, and he is definitely not fulfilling his promise of devolving power as he is not listening to our Mayor either - we are starting to think he is full of hot air or as they say up north all mouth and no trousers."

Prof Matthias also revealed to GB News that neither the campaign group nor the village has had any contact from the Government since it announced it was reviving the plans four months ago.

Sir Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative MP for Wetherby and Easingwold, continues to fight the plans in his Linton-On-Ouse constituency, but has been deferred to the civil service.

He previously told GB News the "only people supporting this plan are the Labour Government".

Campaigners in Linton-on-Ouse have urged a government investigation after claims that it could cost taxpayers £270million.

The Linton-on-Ouse Action Group has written to the Chancellor, demanding a full financial review before the government uses public money to convert the former RAF base on the edge of the village in North Yorkshire.

The group claims the centre could cost between £443 and £853 per occupied bed per night, depending on occupancy levels, significantly more than the cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels.

But the Home Office says its plan to close asylum hotels and move people into alternative accommodation is saving taxpayers money.

A spokesman said: "The government is closing every asylum hotel, saving taxpayers over £1billion on asylum support since the election.

"We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites which are designed to be self-contained to reduce impact on the local community. As part of the process, we engage with local authorities and police forces to ensure the safety and security of those in the surrounding area."

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In an open letter to Chancellor John Healey, the group claims North Yorkshire's Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime, Jo Coles, said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) may have to take back RAF Linton-on-Ouse by July 2029.

They also say the site has been extensively decommissioned; reinstating water, sewerage, power, and communications would be costly, time‑consuming, and extremely difficult at this rural site.

According to the group, local health, policing, fire, social services, and voluntary providers cannot meet the scale of need without unacceptable pressures on existing provisions, meaning asylum seekers would essentially go without key services.

The group added that proceeding with the centre despite unanimous local opposition would call into question commitments to listen to regional mayors and residents, truly devolve decision‑making, and operate in a democracy.

RAF Linton opened in 1937 and became an important bomber station during the Second World War, when British and Canadian airmen flew dangerous missions against the Nazis.

The base closed in 2020 and was subsequently proposed as an asylum reception centre by Boris Johnson's Conservative government in 2022.

Those plans were eventually shelved after tireless opposition from residents, only for Labour to announce this year they were once again looking at housing asylum seekers.

Back then, the plans were branded the UK’s answer to "Guantanamo Bay", dubbing it "Guantanamo-on-Ouse".

Under the latest proposals, the former RAF base would house single adult male asylum seekers aged 18 to 65, with CCTV and 24-hour security.

The men would be free to come and go, but would be required to sign in and out.

Labour said the scheme would operate for a minimum of three years and cut Britain’s reliance on expensive asylum hotels.

Unlike other isolated military camps earmarked for asylum processing, RAF Linton is embedded in residential streets and cul-de-sacs.

Many homes backing onto the former RAF base could house asylum seekers, and a children's playground is also nearby.

Linton-on-Ouse Action Group will keep campaigning against the plans, and the Home Office says it has not yet made a final decision.

Reform UK have reported ITV News and its undercover reporters to the police over a covert sting targeting the party.

Zia Yusuf, Reform’s foreign affairs spokesman, confirmed on social media that his party had made the complaint.

“Reform UK has reported ITV, its board, and its undercover reporters to the police,” he wrote.

“Some of the crimes carry up to 10 years in prison. They forged a passport. They directly interfered in elections and almost certainly altered the results, being paid to ‘canvass’ for Reform in crucial wards we lost by a few dozen votes,” Mr Yusuf claimed.

“They lied to a veteran about their service and left him ‘violated’. This is unprecedented,” he continued.

“The police are now involved. Scrutiny of political parties is one thing. But anyone breaking the law to try and ruin the lives of Reform’s staff, members or volunteers will be reported to the police and pursued relentlessly in the courts.”

MORE TO FOLLOW

Millions of Britons could see their energy bills fall under new Government plans.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering scrapping gas standing charges worth around £108 a year.

Mr Burnham has asked Chancellor John Healey and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to examine whether the charges can be removed.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Burnham raised the issue after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch challenged the Government over how it plans to help households with their energy bills.

Standing charges are fixed daily fees that households pay regardless of how much gas they use.

This means households must pay the charges even when they use no gas at all.

The Prime Minister said: "I have asked the Chancellor and the Energy Secretary to look at whether we can remove standing charges from gas bills, and to report back to this House at the earliest opportunity."

According to energy regulator Ofgem, the average gas standing charge under the current energy price cap is 29.68p per day, equivalent to approximately £108 a year for households paying by Direct Debit.

This is a breaking story, more to follow ...

Reform UK have reported ITV News and its undercover reporters to the police over a covert sting targeting the party.

Zia Yusuf, Reform’s foreign affairs spokesman, confirmed on X that his party had made the complaint.

“Reform UK has reported ITV, its board, and its undercover reporters to the police,” he wrote.

“Some of the crimes carry up to 10 years in prison. They forged a passport. They directly interfered in elections and almost certainly altered the results, being paid to ‘canvass’ for Reform in crucial wards we lost by a few dozen votes.” Mr Yusuf claimed.

“They lied to a veteran about their service and left him ‘violated’. This is unprecedented,” he continued.

“The police are now involved. Scrutiny of political parties is one thing. But anyone breaking the law to try and ruin the lives of Reform’s staff, members or volunteers will be reported to the police and pursued relentlessly in the courts.”

MORE TO FOLLOW

Vladimir Putin has agreed to free the imprisoned retired US school teacher Stephen Hubbard as Donald Trump’s envoy visits St. Petersburg to secure a peace deal in the war in Ukraine.

The 74-year-old had been behind bars for four years but will now be let go, according to Russian state media.

Mr Hubbard had been formally designated by the US State Department as wrongfully detained.

President Donald Trump said yesterday he had raised the case with President Putin to secure the 74-year-old’s release.

Russian prosecutors claimed that Mr Hubbard had joined Ukrainian forces in Izyum as a mercenary.

He was accused of signing a contract worth around $1,000 a month, according to Russian state media.

His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, rejected the allegation as a lie.

Speaking ahead of his mission to Russia, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said he would push for the “release of wrongfully detained American citizen Hubbard, reflecting President Trump’s continued commitment to bringing Americans home.”

The 74-year-old is the latest American to be released from Russian jails amid pressure from Washington.

In August, Marine veteran Robert Gilman was freed on humanitarian grounds amid serious concerns over his health.

He was said to have been rendered severely emaciated when he returned to the US aboard a specialist medical aircraft.

The organisation campaigning for his release claimed he had been tortured while in Russian custody.

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Mr Witkoff is currently in talks with President Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, is also attending the meeting and greeted the US on the tarmac upon his arrival.

Russian media reports that President Putin expressed a desire to restore diplomatic and economic ties with the US.

He also praised President Trump's diesel deal, which saw Washington relax sanctions in exchange for Russia releasing millions of barrels of the fuel onto the international market.

President Putin hailed the US leader’s comments on ending the war in Ukraine to end the loss of life in the conflict.

Mr Witkoff said he hoped that the Kremlin would consider returning to “technical discussions” on peace talks with Ukraine.

He also discussed talks with Ukrainian representatives in Oslo, which he said laid “a foundation in place to move toward a ceasefire.”

Vladimir Putin has agreed to free the imprisoned retired US school teacher Stephen Hubbard as Donald Trump’s envoy visits St. Petersburg to secure a peace deal in the war in Ukraine.

The 74-year-old had been behind bars for four years but will now be let go, according to Russian state media.

Mr Hubbard had been formally designated by the US State Department as wrongfully detained.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had raised the case with President Putin to secure the 74-year-old’s release.

Mr Hubbard spent decades working abroad as an English teacher before moving to Izyum, an eastern Ukrainian city, in 2014.

Russian forces later seized the city at the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

MORE TO FOLLOW

Protesters from Fossil Free London have descended on the Department of Energy after the Labour Government confirmed the approval of the Jackdaw gas field.

Gathering outside the headquarters in central London, demonstrators urged the Prime Minister to "stop Jackdaw" and "stop Rosebank", another oil and gas field under consideration.

Protesters could be heard chanting: "Hey Andy, stop gas and oil. Keep that carbon in the soil."

The site, off the coast of Aberdeen, is one of two North Sea projects - alongside the Rosebank oil field - that have hung over Labour after the previous Tory Government was halted due to a legal challenge.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he "welcomes" the approval, which will protect "hundreds of jobs" and keep "millions of homes warm this winter".

He said: "At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help.

"We’re committed to moving towards renewable energy and reaching net zero by 2050. But even on our ambitious climate path, we’ll still require oil and gas as part of our energy needs for decades to come."

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has confirmed that the approved Jackdaw gas field will begin to supply Britons as soon as 'this winter'.

She said in a statement: "Following careful consideration of all relevant factors I have agreed that the regulator can grant consent for gas to be produced at Jackdaw, which will begin to supply the UK with gas from this winter thanks to the highly skilled and vital North Sea workers."

WATCH ABOVE.

Shabana Mahmood has come under pressure from frontbench Labour colleagues to save her migration reforms.

The Home Secretary is being urged to water down plans that would make it harder for foreign workers to claim permanent residence, or risk an internal Labour war.

Under current plans, Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering exempting care workers from plans to triple the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five to 15 years.

But several frontbenchers, including Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, have already publicly criticised the policy.

Ms Rayner has previously branded the rule changes "un-British" and "disruptive" for moving the goalposts on essential care staff who moved to the UK to care for vulnerable citizens.

The Energy Secretary similarly warned that continually delaying permanent settlement risks harming local integration and "the process of building cohesion".

The Home Office has argued the move could result in a mass exodus of foreign care workers from their jobs.

A senior ally of Ms Mahmood told The Times, which first reported on the infighting, that Mr Burnham is in the Home Secretary's camp.

The ally said: "Andy has been on Shabana's side throughout this row over ILR. He is holding the line."

The Energy Secretary, in a post on her constituency website last week, said extending the time foreign migrants had to wait before being granted ILR threatened "the process of building cohesion".

Ms Mahmood's plans are set to be introduced to Parliament as soon as next month, with 100 Labour MPs said to be opposing the plans.

Earlier this year, as many as 80 MPs wrote to the Prime Minister, asking him to "water down" the Home Secretary's reforms.

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They urged Mr Burnham to "strip out the hostile rhetoric which triggers existing anxieties" on asylum seekers and refugees.

The letter said: "Targeting a group of migrants that followed the rules, and applying this retrospectively, does not pass the fairness test for a compassionate but firm system.

"We do not recall being asked on the doorstep to make it harder for migrant workers to settle in the UK.

"Yet we are expending political capital, huge Home Office resources, and losing progressive voters on an indefinite leave to remain reform, which few really understand or want."

Speaking about the policy earlier this year, Ms Mahmood acknowledged that "not everyone will agree" with her reforms.

She told LBC: "As I was making my statement in the House today, it was clear that a majority of my colleagues were supportive of the proposals and understand the need for these changes.

"Look, I think politics is about making an argument, and that is what I was doing in the House today as I introduced these reforms in Parliament.

"Not everyone will agree. I accept that."

Andy Burnham has been urged to confirm his stance on his national security adviser after his wife appeared to support Palestine Action.

The Tories have called on the Prime Minister to clarify whether he still has full confidence in Jonathan Powell after his wife, Sarah Helm, shared a post on social media that appeared to back the proscribed group.

Last week, the journalist and author responded to a post on X, showing a clip of broadcaster Adam Boulton criticising fellow author Sally Rooney.

In the clip shared by Ms Helm, Mr Boulton said: "She [Sally Rooney], in common with a lot of people in Ireland, is taking a very strong pro-Palestine and, I have to say, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish stance."

Reposting the clip to her own X feed, Ms Helm added a post which read: "God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action.

"Sounds like Adam would have all our books swept off the shelves in a jiffy."

A Met Police spokesman confirmed the post did "not meet the criminal threshold", and no further action would be taken.

However, a senior Tory has now written to the Prime Minister with a series of questions about Ms Helm's post and other comments she has made online.

Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns wrote in a letter to Mr Burnham: "I am writing to raise a series of public statements made on X by Sarah Helm, the wife of your national security adviser, Jonathan Powell.

"Taken together, they raise serious questions about the handling of sensitive national security information, about apparent support for a proscribed terrorist organisation, and about whether Mr Powell can credibly continue in his post."

Ms Kearns highlighted another post by Mr Powell's wife on Monday evening, where she was asked if he was instrumental in banning Palestine Action, if he had any input in the move and if he could unban them.

Ms Helm responded: "Nope and nope."

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The Tory minister asked the Prime Minister if the post was accurate, and whether he thought it was "acceptable that such a matter has been posted on social media".

She said: "If her account is accurate, sensitive detail about the handling of a terrorism proscription has been disclosed on social media from within the national security adviser’s own household.

"If it is inaccurate, it is still wildly inappropriate that she is discussing this on social media."

Ms Kearns also urged the Cabinet Office to investigate Ms Helm’s "disclosure" and whether the Prime Minister would be reviewing Mr Powell’s security clearance in light of the social media posts.

She said: "Do you retain full confidence in the national security adviser, and do you consider his position tenable?"

Palestine Action was officially proscribed as a terrorist organisation under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's premiership in July 2025.

However, the Supreme Court granted permission for Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori to appeal the proscription, scheduled to be heard by the UK Supreme Court between October 1 and December 21.

A No10 spokesman said: "These views are held by an individual who does not represent the Government in any capacity."

GB News has contacted representatives for Ms Helm for comment.

The Government has approved new gas drilling at the Jackdaw site after months of speculation.

The site, off the coast of Aberdeen, is one of two North Sea projects - alongside the Rosebank oil field - that have hung over Labour after the previous Tory Government was halted due to a legal challenge.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will "take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea" since coming to power in the summer.

The 2024 manifesto committed to issuing no new oil and gas licences, but proponents of Jackdaw and Rosebank within the party have argued that neither are new fossil fuel fields as they were previously approved.

Donald Trump has been a major advocate of North Sea drilling, having claimed the UK was "sitting on top of gold" and listed it as one of the two major issues - alongside migration - that Britain was facing

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has said a decision on Rosebank, the largest untapped oil field in the North Sea, will take "a bit longer", and will not be made alongside one on Jackdaw.

Andrew Bowie, the Shadow Energy Secretary, said the Jackdaw decision "should be the start, not the end".

He added: "Labour must approve Rosebank, end the ban on licences, and scrap the Energy Profits Levy. That is what a Conservative Government would do, and it is what this Prime Minister should do if he wants anyone to believe he is serious."

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Government plans crackdown on risky Brazilian butt lifts

The Government has planned a crackdown on "cosmetic cowboys" performing dangerous procedures, including vampire facials, chemical peels and liquid Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs).

Ministers said the changes would shield Britons from treatments that "can go badly wrong".

A BBL is a non-surgical cosmetic procedure where dermal fillers are injected into the buttocks to alter their size or shape.

But under the new rules, treatments that involve injecting fillers anywhere other than the face would only be able to be performed by qualified medics.

Other high-risk treatments such as deep chemical peels and vampire facials - which use microneedling to inject platelets drawn from a patient’s own blood back into the face - would be restricted to doctors, dentists, some nurses, midwives and pharmacists.

Health Minister Karin Smyth said: "If you're planning to undergo a major cosmetic procedure, you deserve to know you're in safe hands – not risking your life with a rogue operator."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

The Government has planned a crackdown on "cosmetic cowboys" performing dangerous procedures including vampire facials, chemical peels and liquid Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs).

Ministers said the changes would shield Britons from treatments that "can go badly wrong".

A BBL is a non-surgical cosmetic procedure where dermal fillers are injected into the buttocks to alter their size or shape.

There are currently no limits as to who can perform the potentially risky procedure, which has resulted in at least one death in the UK.

But under the new rules, treatments that involve injecting fillers anywhere other than the face would only be able to be performed by qualified medics.

Other high-risk treatments such as deep chemical peels and vampire facials - which use microneedling to inject platelets drawn from a patient’s own blood back into the face - would be restricted to doctors, dentists, some nurses, midwives and pharmacists.

High-risk procedures for under-18s will also be banned under the proposed legislation.

Rogue operators could be hit with new criminal notices or fixed penalties up to £4,000.

Health Minister Karin Smyth said: "If you're planning to undergo a major cosmetic procedure, you deserve to know you're in safe hands – not risking your life with a rogue operator.

"These changes mean that only properly trained professionals can carry out the most serious, high-risk procedures, and that young people will be shielded from treatments that can go badly wrong.

"We want to drive cosmetic cowboys out of the market and raise standards across the board, giving reputable businesses a fair chance to thrive by helping people identify safe, qualified providers they can trust."

The Government also said it remains committed to implementing a licensing scheme to ensure anyone providing treatments such as Botox and lip fillers meets strict safety standards.

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The consultation follows the death of Alice Webb, a 33-year-old mother of five who died after having a liquid BBL performed in a salon in Gloucester in 2024.

And Sasha Dean, from Bedfordshire, went into a coma after receiving her liquid BBL, saying her life turned into a "complete nightmare".

The number of deaths in the UK from the operation is not tracked, but there have been recorded fatalities in the US, with South Florida alone accounting for 25 deaths from BBLs between 2010 and 2022.

But Keith Allison, cosmetic surgery co-lead at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said the proposals "do not go far enough".

He said: "If the Government strengthens regulations for non-surgical procedures while leaving cosmetic surgery largely unchanged, it will create an unacceptable gap in patient protection.

"A doctor should not be able to carry out cosmetic surgery simply because they hold a medical licence."

Mr Allison has called for the Government to "ensure that anyone performing cosmetic surgery has the appropriate surgical training and expertise".

The Government will launch a consultation asking for input from doctors, regulators and businesses to draw up draft regulations.

The blueprint will then go through the parliamentary process, which is currently planned for spring 2027.

The welfare bill will continue to rise despite Labour's benefits reforms, it has been revealed.

Labour's plans to get those not in employment, education, or training (Neets) back into work are expected to cost more than the savings made by benefit cuts every year until 2030.

The number of unemployed young people has been described by Andy Burnham as a "moral failure".

Ministers are expected to reveal plans for welfare reforms after Alan Milburn's review into Neets and Sir Stephen Timms' review of personal independence payments (Pip) conclude next month.

Legislation to cut the benefits bill could be laid down as early as April after consultation with Labour MPs who blocked Sir Keir Starmer's own welfare reforms, according to The Telegraph.

Around the same time, ministers will introduce a package of measures for young people, including work placements, training opportunities, apprenticeships, and further help for certain mental health conditions.

The Prime Minister has pledged his Government would provide a "clear guarantee of support".

The fiscal "scoring" of both policies would not be published until the Spending Review, The Telegraph reported, citing Whitehall sources.

It is expected that the high upfront costs of the measures for unemployed youths will exceed the planned cuts to benefits for the next two years, until 2029.

Mr Burnham, writing in The Times, vowed to bring "big changes to the way our welfare system operates".

"Benefits will become the backstop, not the starting point," he said.

"The system will no longer begin by establishing which benefits a young person is entitled to."

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He has also pledged not to make "crude" cuts to benefits after previously saying that national security "can't come at the expense of social security".

Downing Street had provisionally planned to publish the new welfare bill at the start of the next Parliament, which could begin in April.

Kemi Badenoch, speaking ahead of John Healey's first Budget, said that welfare cuts must be used to fund defence.

"We need to cut welfare to fund defence," she said. "Cutting welfare to fund defence is our next challenge."

"Andy Burnham might think that national security can't come at the expense of social security, but John Healey resigned as Defence Secretary because he could not, in good conscience, preside over a funding settlement of less than three per cent of GDP."

Mr Healey's long-awaited plan to reach a defence spending target of three per cent of GDP will also be included in The Spending Review rather than the Budget, despite the Chancellor resigning from Sir Keir's Cabinet in June.

A DWP spokesman said: "The reviews, due in the autumn, will lay the foundation for sustainable reform, and we will not pre-empt their findings.

"We're already restoring opportunity for young people through our £2.5billion youth employment package, investing record funding into employment support to help disabled people and those with long-term health conditions and rebalancing the standard and sickness rates of Universal Credit for new claimants."

The so-called “Burnham bounce” will face its final test as voters head to the polls for the last time before John Healey delivers his first-ever Budget.

Labour has seen a significant polling boost since Andy Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, returning to poll position over Reform UK after months of languishing behind Nigel Farage’s party.

The polling boost has translated into some electoral success, with Labour triumphing over Green Party leader Zack Polanski in the Holborn & St Pancras by-election.

However, the promise of a fresh face in Downing Street, combined with Mr Burnham’s approach to politics, could soon hit a snag.

The Chancellor will deliver his plans for the nation's finances on October 28, with speculation rife over tax hikes and delayed promises on defence spending.

Ahead of the Budget, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch warned Mr Healey's plans could "do as much damage to our country as Rachel Reeves. In fact, it could be even worse."

She said: "We are being told next week’s Budget is going to be ‘nothing to see here’… That’s Whitehall code for a Budget that tries to do as little as possible in the hope no one notices."

On Thursday, a week before his address to the Commons, five council seats will be up for grabs nationwide.

It could be Labour’s last chance to capitalise on an unhindered "Burnham bounce" before the Chancellor's Budget sees reality bite for the Government.

Carmarthenshire (Saron)

In Wales, Saron in Carmarthenshire will be up for grabs on Thursday.

The seat became available after Labour councillor Peter Cooper died, having represented the ward for more than two decades.

Carmarthenshire council leader Linda Evans described him as “a dedicated public servant who gave many years of service to his community.”

Six candidates are standing in the by-election, including Labour’s Anthony Wyn Jones, who is defending the party’s seat.

Nicholas Craig Davies of Plaid Cymru, Richard Galvin of Reform UK, Craig Griffiths of the Conservatives and Caryl Evelyn Tandy of the Liberal Democrats are also running, alongside independent Owen Jenkins.

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East Hertfordshire (Hertford Kingsmead)

In Hertfordshire, Hertford Kingsmead on East Hertfordshire Council will also vote.

The seat became available after Green councillor Vicky Glover-Ward resigned as the council’s executive member for planning and growth.

In her resignation letter, Ms Glover-Ward said she felt "a square peg in the round hole of politics” and pointed to the Government’s new planning rules as the final straw.

Five candidates are standing, including the Greens’ Drew Waller-Downes, who is defending the seat for the party that runs the council alongside the Liberal Democrats.

Rosemary Anne Bolton of the Conservatives, Christopher Edmund Valentine Bush of Reform UK, Elif Nergis Lewis of the Liberal Democrats and Dawn Katherine Anne Newell of Labour are also on the ballot.

Leeds (Calverley & Farsley)

In West Yorkshire, Leeds's Calverley & Farsley will elect a new councillor.

The seat became available after Labour and Co-operative councillor Peter Carlill resigned for health reasons.

Mr Carlill, first elected in 2018 and appointed the council’s executive member for transport and planning in May, called the role “the best job I have ever had.”

Seven candidates are standing, including Kathryn Sara Penny of Labour and the Co-operative, who finished second in the ward in May.

Defending the seat are Amanda Lesley Carter (Conservatives), Craig Gabbitas (Reform UK), Daisy Nikita Gilpin (Green) and Stuart McLeod (Liberal Democrat).

Bob Buxton (Yorkshire Party) and Bradley Evan Holmes (Restore Britain) are also running.

Green candidate Ms Gilpin said she was standing to give her neighbours “a reason to feel hopeful”.

South Kesteven (Grantham St Wulfram's) 

In Lincolnshire, Grantham St Wulfram’s on South Kesteven District Council is also up for election.

The seat became available after independent councillor Tim Harrison resigned in July, saying he was stepping down “for personal reasons.”

Mr Harrison also left Grantham Town Council, where he had served as its first chairman.

Six candidates are standing, with independents Wayne Andrew Hasnip and Marie Reid both seeking to hold the seat.

Tim Galsworthy of Labour, Ben Lavender of the Local Conservatives, Andy McKinlay of Reform UK and Ian Paul Simmons of the Green Party complete the field.

Wychavon (Hartlebury)

In Worcestershire, Hartlebury on Wychavon District Council will elect a new councillor.

Three candidates are standing, including Tony Miller of the Conservatives, who is defending the seat.

Susan Anne Evans of Labour and Jake Richardson of Reform UK are also running.

Reform took a Wychavon seat from the Tories in a by-election in October last year.

A second Labour MP has been suspended amid questions over a £50,000 taxpayer-backed Covid loan.

Perran Moon, the MP for Camborne & Redruth, voluntarily referred himself to the party for a full investigation to be conducted into the matter, GB News understands.

Back in August, fellow Labour MP Bayo Alaba was suspended from the party over questions surrounding whether he tried to avoid repaying a taxpayer-funded Covid loan.

Now, Mr Moon is the co-owner of training company Autoswot Limited, which was founded in 2019.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government introduced a "dissolution objections process" in a bid to prevent firms from misusing bounceback loans.

Under such a process, borrowers were blocked from dodging repayments by dissolving their companies - which then struck off any outstanding loans.

Mr Moon has confirmed his firm took out a loan, with its accounts from June 2020 showing loans of £50,000.

And, in November 2022, there was an attempt to wind up the organisation, a bid which was later blocked by an opposing body.

It is understood the MP approached Companies House after the firm applied to be struck off, with the department confirming on three occasions that the accounts were not required.

Mr Moon said: "A company which I co-own had successfully applied for a bounce back loan to help with staffing and other essential business costs during the significant turbulence of the Covid pandemic.

"The business began to repay this loan, however due to unforeseen external market pressures and despite the best efforts of staff, it ceased trading in late 2022.

"When the company took out the loan, it fully intended to repay it, and it made repayments until it ceased trading.

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"The company has regularly sought professional advice with regards to our statutory obligations and as a director I take these obligations seriously.

"In order for these matters to be looked into, I have voluntarily referred myself to the Labour Party's investigations process and will cooperate fully with this process.

"The loan application was made in good faith, and the information provided, including the company's turnover forecast, was accurate and properly based. I will provide the documents that demonstrate this to the Party's process.

"I will continue to work hard every day representing my constituents while this party process is ongoing."

A Labour Party spokesman said: "Perran Moon MP has referred himself to the Labour Party so that these matters can be investigated in line with the Party's rules.

"The Labour Party expects the highest standards from our elected representatives and we have robust processes in place to ensure those high standards are upheld.

"We cannot comment further while the investigation is ongoing."

The Covid inquiry has found that a failure across care homes allowed the virus to "spread like wildfire".

In the sixth, 287-page report into the pandemic, experts revealed care homes were being treated as an "something of an afterthought".

More than 43,000 care home residents died from the Covid-19 virus between March 2020 and July 2022.

And, due to care homes being off-limits to visitors during this period, bereaved families are still searching for answers on how their loved ones.

Leading the campaign is Jean Adamson, whose father contracted the virus while in a care home. He died in April 2020, just a month into the first lockdown.

After he fell ill, the family was forced to only see him through a window, and was not able to hold his hand or offer any kind of support.

Ms Adamson fired furious criticism at the former Tory Health Secretary Matt Hancock for his "cruel lies" after ministers claimed the Government had set up a "protective ring" around care homes.

On May 15 2020, Mr Hancock said: "Right from the start, it's been clear that this horrible virus affects older people most.

"So right from the start, we've tried to throw a protective ring around our care homes."

But, since, Mr Hancock told the inquiry that the ring metaphor was "clearly a piece of rhetoric".

He added: "We really did do our best to take all of the actions we could to protect those in care homes from the virus in incredibly difficult circumstances."

Campaigners have said the latest instalment of the inquiry has "vindicated" their fight to the Government.

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Matthew Fowler, the the co-founder of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, said: "I think first and foremost they vindicate everything that the we have been saying for the last six years.

"To see these things written in black and white, and stated as fact, it means a lot to us."

He added that it was "crucially important" Whitehall started making "tangible changes" based on the report's recommendations.

"I've often said that if my dad's death is what it took to to learn these lessons and to save other people, then I can accept that... Ultimately it's down to the government to actually make the change," Mr Fowler added.

Andy Burnham said his Government was "committed to learning the lessons" from the report, vowing to whip up an "action plan" for any future pandemic.

He further acknowledged the "pain and suffering caused by the pandemic", adding that he was "acutely aware" of the experiences of people receiving and providing care.

"We will use these findings to continue development of our Adult Social Care Pandemic Action Plan," he said.

He assured bereaved families that his plan was "person-centred, highly integrated with health services and preventative in its character".

The Home Office has refused to rule out the possibility of more small boat migrants landing in Gosport, despite mass local protest.

Earlier this month, Gosport residents took to the streets to demonstrate against the "undetected" arrival of a small boat containing asylum seekers.

In the past six weeks, three small boats have crossed the Channel from Normandy in France, twice landing in Hampshire.

As a result of mass protests, Hampshire Police accumulated a bill of £800,000 in dealing with the protesters, who clashed with the authorities as they expressed their anger at the small boat arrivals.

The local council also took action against the undetected arrivals, with Gosport Borough Council passing a motion to call for the town to be excluded from any future small boat landings.

Addressing the situation in the Hampshire region, a Home Office spokesman has assured the Government as established "contingency plans" to tackle the new trend of arrivals.

They said: "Where circumstances permit, the Government will seek to engage relevant local authorities and operational partners in advance.

The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival."

The Home Office made clear that the Labour Government is working hard to reduce small boat crossings "significantly".

They added: "Over 80,000 people with no right to be in the UK have been removed or returned since the election.

"Small boat crossings are down significantly, and we have just recorded the lowest number of summer arrivals since 2020."

The Government has also ruled out any plans to process small boat arrivals at Fort Blockhouse, a former military site in Gosport.

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Instead, arrivals will be taken to the main processing centre at Manston, Dover, for security, ID and health checks.

However, Haslar Immigration Removal Centre in Gosport is undergoing a phased redevelopment, including an expansion to accommodate 600 beds.

Under the Home Office's planned development, the first phase would create accommodation for 130 detainees, with the second phase increasing capacity to 600 across three-storey accommodation blocks.

Criticising the arrivals earlier this month, Reform MP for Fareham and Waterlooville Suella Braverman said the situation was a "disgrace".

She told GB News: "I fully expect more migrants I'm afraid to be arriving on the southern Hampshire coast in future, probably escorted by Border Force or by RNLI or by the Coast Guard, and that will be under Government orders.

"That is a disgrace, that is not what local people want and it's not what they voted for."

In a statement, a Home Office spokesman told GB News: "We are making progress with the number of small boat crossings down on last year and June, July and August recording the lowest number of arrivals since 2020.

"But we must go further, which is why we've signed a payment by results deal with the French to put 40 per cent more boots on the ground on French beaches."

“We’ll be back,” Nigel Farage defiantly declared today as he acknowledged that Reform UK has suffered “a bit of a dip” in recent months.

Speaking exclusively to GB News Chief Political Correspondent Katherine Forster shortly before a Reform rally in Plymouth, the party leader admitted that “our success, ironically, has led to a bit of a dip”.

At the start of this year, Reform enjoyed a 10-point polling lead over Labour, but Labour now holds a five-point lead over them.

During the local elections in May, as well as the Senedd and Holyrood elections in Wales and Scotland, Reform enjoyed spectacular success with its slogan “Vote Reform, get Starmer out”.

Farage explained: “Success is a funny old thing, isn’t it? We had an amazing May 7.

"We wiped out the Labour Party in the North East, in Yorkshire and North West, the West Midlands, East Midlands.”

But those results meant the Labour Party, fearing electoral wipeout at a general election, ditched its unpopular leader in favour of the affable and well-liked Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.

Mr Farage said: “Andy Burnham would not be Prime Minister if Reform had not done what they'd done.”

However, the Reform UK leader also conceded: “There is a slight Burnham bounce.

“Most of it's come from the Green Party, who have passed a motion at their conference that I think most decent people think is beyond the pale.

“But, you know, this is a game of moving parts. We've had our ups. Yes, our success, ironically, has led to a bit of a dip. We'll be back.”

Mr Farage was speaking alongside Reform MPs and former Conservatives Danny Kruger and Robert Jenrick at what GB News was told was the biggest rally of the party’s “100 Days to Save Britain” tour.

Plymouth voted 60 per cent to leave the European Union, and Reform is now the official opposition on the Labour-run council there.

Although Mr Farage received a rockstar welcome inside the venue, demonstrators outside loudly protested: “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here.”

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There were two significant announcements at the rally, including a pledge to exempt Army reservists’ earnings from income tax.

Reform UK already supports making overtime earnings tax-free, while Mr Farage also announced plans for a 50 per cent stake in South West Water.

But beyond the challenge posed by a popular new Prime Minister, Reform faces two other major problems.

The first is the succession of negative stories that have plagued the party for months.

Questions surrounding the £5million gift from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne and two undercover investigations are among the most notable controversies.

One investigation broke during Reform’s conference in September, while another was published on Sunday.

Reform’s polling has also been sliding since the spring.

The latest undercover investigation saw councillors describe Muslims as “parasites” and claim that “no more than one per cent of the British population should be non-white”.

One individual also reportedly said: “King Charles is a f****** Muslim.”

Another spoke of becoming Prime Minister and hosting “Sunday morning Rose Garden executions” of grooming gang members.

Opening the rally, Danny Kruger acknowledged the findings, saying: “They found some bad apples and they had to go…there’s no place for people like that in this party.”

His remarks were met with applause from the audience.

Asked how he felt upon hearing the comments, Mr Farage told Katherine Forster: “The most egregious comment that was made was made by somebody who'd come to us from the Conservatives.”

He insisted: “We do our absolute best. We vet candidates to a much higher standard than Labour or the Conservatives do at local elections. But you can't vet for what people say in the future.”

Although he said “I’m not pleased with it," Mr Farage did not appear particularly concerned by the controversy.

“If you spoke to hundreds of Labour or Tory councillors, gave them a glass of beer, tried to provoke them in conversation, you'd get very, very similar types of statements,” he argued.

“So I'm not pleased with it. But some of it, I mean, frankly, you know, I mean, look, there's a snobbery here.

“There is a London, Oxford and Cambridge University snobbery.”

He went on: “Do you think working-class people, when they're talking about the rape gangs in Rochdale or Rotherham, do you think saying they should be executed is an unusual thing?

“I don't support it, but I promise you, that's how many folks speak.”

Reform is also facing a Conservative Party that has recovered in recent polls, with an increasingly confident leader in Kemi Badenoch and some surveys now putting the Tories ahead of Mr Farage’s party.

Asked whether he could assure GB News viewers and listeners that he would definitely lead Reform into the next general election, Farage replied: “I'm committed to doing this.

“Not because it's a career, not because I want rank or title or position.

“But because I want change.

“And I think the ITV investigation and many other things that have been done to us over the course of the last six months are an establishment that wants to stop change.

“They want to keep the two-party system going.

“Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and we all get our knighthoods and our memberships of the House of Lords, and we're not having it.”

Andy Burnham has said there will be no early general election, which would mean a contest in 2029.

However, Farage and many others suspect the Prime Minister could go to the country earlier, potentially as soon as next May.

Farage assured supporters in Plymouth: “We will be ready.”

Despite Farage’s defiant declaration that “we’ll be back”, some are questioning whether the next general election will once again become a contest between Labour and the Conservatives.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has voiced support for the British Army tackling violent protests if "intolerant" hard-left disruptors hold French-style riots in the United Kingdom.

Mr Farage, who spoke to GB News ahead of a rally in Plymouth, dismissed Donald Trump's suggestion that migration is the sole reason for unrest in France.

However, the Clacton MP voiced confusion about why French President Emmanuel Macron appeared hesitant to deploy members of the armed forces.

He told The People's Channel: "The mystery to me is why Macron did not call the army in more quickly, and I hope if we even begin to descend to those levels that we use the military as quickly as possible."

Admitting his fears about riots in the UK, Mr Farage added: "There is now such an intolerance, political intolerance, on the new left of British politics, and by the way, elements of the right, too.

"We don't respect democracy anymore, or some people don't. And they think direct action and violence is acceptable.

"Cast your mind back to 2011, when we did have some quite serious rioting and arson and looting taking place in London, I'm genuinely concerned."

Mr Macron confirmed the French army would take to the streets on October 24 after riots engulfed the nation on October 17.

Troops from the Sentinelle military operation were deployed to reinforce police and gendarmes.

Despite Mr Farage's call to deploy the British Army, it remains rare for soldiers to be used to deal with civil unrest.

David Cameron considered using the military following an outbreak of violence in 2011.

However, the Tories instead opted to bolster police numbers in impacted areas.

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Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch today echoed Mr Farage's concerns about disorder in the UK.

Speaking to GB News, Mrs Badenoch said: "I do worry that things like that could happen here.

"We've already seen protests flaring up across the country.

"That is why it is very important that we get our economy growing again.

"People are feeling poorer. But there is also a flip side to this.

"Our economic problems and our cultural problems are two sides of the same coin.

"If you tell young people that their country is terrible, that it's okay to hate their country, that Britain is a racist place, and end up going on about imperialism, white privilege and all of that rubbish, then you see them burning down churches and spraying graffiti on war memorials.

"And that's why I always intervene. You know, some people will say, 'Why are you getting involved in culture wars?'

"I will fight for British culture. It's very important."

While Mr Farage rejected Donald Trump's suggestion that the migrant crisis was the sole cause of the unrest, Mrs Badenoch warned failing to get a grip on the issue risked sparking disorder in Britain.

She added: "I don’t want us to end up like France is ending up, with so much civil unrest.

"Politicians need to take responsibility. We will help Shabana [Mahmood] if she takes responsibility."

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said that "war could be coming" after the head of the British Army warned that political leaders will soon be having a “frank conversation” with the public about the sacrifices that will be needed in the event of war.

General Sir Roly Walker, the chief of the general staff, said last week that Britons must understand what the army does for them and “consent to sacrifices to prioritise defence and security”.

Speaking to GB News, the Tory leader warned: "What the head of the army said was very concerning.

"I think a lot of people don't realise that the hybrid warfare is already happening.

"We had a power plant shut down, reportedly by Iran.

"We saw that attack on RAF Fairford.

"We've seen what Russia has been doing with the shadow fleet, and we know that there is war on this continent."

In a dire warning, Mrs Badenoch added: "War could be coming.

"And we as a country need to get ready, not just sit on benefits and hope that something magical will happen to make it go away."

Sir Roly told around 700 soldiers during a visit to Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, that the UK could soon need them to fight, as he warned of the dangers facing Britain today.

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Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has warned that spouting "rubbish" about white privilege and Britain being racist risks fuelling French-style riots in the United Kingdom.

Mrs Badenoch insisted the cost-of-living crisis remains the main driver of disorder.

She argued that prioritising economic growth would help deter people from taking to the streets.

However, the Tory leader also warned culture wars could drive unrest on this side of the English Channel.

Speaking to The People's Channel, Mrs Badenoch said: "I do worry that things like that could happen here.

"We've already seen protests flaring up across the country.

"That is why it is very important that we get our economy growing again.

"People are feeling poorer. But there is also a flip side to this.

"Our economic problems and our cultural problems are two sides of the same coin.

"If you tell young people that their country is terrible, that it's okay to hate their country, that Britain is a racist place, and end up going on about imperialism, white privilege and all of that rubbish, then you see them burning down churches and spraying graffiti on war memorials.

"And that's why I always intervene. You know, some people will say, 'Why are you getting involved in culture wars?'

"I will fight for British culture. It's very important."

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Mrs Badenoch issued the warning after delivering a keynote speech ahead of John Healey's first Budget as Chancellor on October 28.

Following her speech, the Leader of the Opposition warned failing to get a grip on the migrant crisis could result in scenes in France being emulated on this side of the English Channel.

She said: “I don’t want us to end up like France is ending up, with so much civil unrest.

"Politicians need to take responsibility. We will help Shabana [Mahmood] if she takes responsibility."

Despite taking aim at Labour, the Tories oversaw net migration hit a record high of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023.

Net migration dropped to 171,000 in the year ending December 2025.

The Conservative leader also accused Labour of wanting mass migration to get more votes at the next general election.

She said: "[Labour MPs] want more immigration and they will do everything they can to get more.

"They think that their votes in it for them. This is very self-interested on the part of the Labour Party on ILR.

"We do need to do something about indefinite leave to remain. It is an old system that doesn’t work for today’s world.

"Too many people came in under Conservative Governments who are now qualifying for it … What I’m interested in is how we fix this problem."

Civil service fact-checkers were placed in ITV and Channel 4's headquarters to assist with the broadcasters' news output, it has emerged.

Employees at the Office for National Statistics were transplanted into the media firms to help out with data analysis in general election coverage, including verification during live TV debates.

However, during an election, civil servants are instructed to limit public communications and activity to uphold political impartiality throughout the campaign period.

Earlier this week, it was also revealed that civil service fast-stream graduates and managers across the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice had been deployed for up to six months at the BBC.

There, they penned articles for the media outlets and provided "expertise on high-impact, sensitive topics", such as the small boat crisis.

But the embattled broadcaster was forced to pause the scheme following furious accusations that it had broken stringent impartiality rules.

Now, similar schemes have been revealed to be in place across ITV News, Channel 4 News and BBC News for coverage of general elections, according to The Telegraph.

The ONS, on its website, openly asserts it took a "proactive approach" by deploying a senior statistician to the BBC to "lend his expertise to producers for the duration of the 2015 campaign".

The ONS wrote on its website: “In 2015 we took a proactive approach and sent a senior statistician to BBC News to lend his expertise to producers for the duration of the campaign.”

The programme was expanded at the 2017 general election campaign, during which three employees were "embedded with the production teams three of the UK’s main network news organisations".

At the next election, two years on, the ONS shared out its taxpayer-funded fact-checkers to each major broadcaster, while remaining employed as civil servants and tied to their obligations according to the Civil Service Code.

The ONS said: "Their professional opinion is provided in confidence and should not be used publicly to validate or impugn any claims or assertions made by candidates, political parties or any other person during the period of attachment."

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One civil servant recalled travelling to Lincolnshire to ask for locals' opinions on "how cutting migration could hurt local businesses".

Rebecca Paul, the Shadow Secretary of state for Culture, Media, Sport, warned the expose "raised yet more serious concerns about the relationship between the civil service, public sector bodies and the broadcasters".

She fumed: "Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for civil servants to help private broadcasters produce their election coverage.

"The BBC, the ONS and the civil service need to provide clarity about exactly what these officials were doing, who authorised these placements and why the public was paying for them."

Insisting coverage was checked and overseen by editors, a spokesman for Channel 4 News said: "Our journalism upholds the highest standards of editorial independence and impartiality.

"We have, on occasion, hosted statisticians on secondment from the Office for National Statistics, whose work was rigorously checked by our senior editorial team."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for ITV News said: "In the past, on occasion, we have hosted an ONS statistician for a short period of time to assist sourcing of statistics and data analysis. Editorial control and decisions are always the sole responsibility of ITV News journalists and editors."

A spokesman for the BBC said: "We are pausing the civil service statistician secondment programme whilst we review the terms of the arrangement.

"To be clear, all BBC journalism and editorial decisions are made by BBC journalists and editors, in line with the BBC’s editorial guidelines, so the statisticians never make editorial decisions. However, the BBC takes independence and transparency incredibly seriously, and we must ensure we are meeting the highest standards."

The Government Statistical Service, the body which represents civil service statisticians, said: "These secondments are a valuable part of our investment in developing the skills of government statisticians, providing first-hand experience of how government data are used and communicated.

"Bringing that back into the Civil Service helps us communicate statistics clearly, informing the public and decision makers.

"The role of secondees is to fact check and advise on the accurate use of statistics. All are required to adhere to the Civil Service Code of objectivity and impartiality."

Kemi Badenoch has said she steps in to tell bus and train passengers to turn down music on buses and trains.

The Tory leader said too many people were "scared of intervening" because of the consequences but that young people tended to listen to a "firm adult" asking them to dial down any music.

Mrs Badenoch was speaking after Andy Burnham unveiled new fines for those who play loud music on phones and questioned why inspectors were not doing so already.

Asked if she had in the past intervened to ask young people to turn down the volume, the Leader of the Opposition replied: "Yes, I have. I've even done so in the past.

"I think with young people in particular, when they see a firm adult, they actually do show respect.

"What's happened now is that so many people are scared of intervening, and it's because they've seen things go wrong where someone intervenes and then they get into trouble. They get into trouble for it."

She added: "Nobody likes to hear music being blasted loudly on trains.

"But I do worry that the Prime Minister is focusing on something that is already pretty much against the rules, the fines are in place.

"What I worry about is enforcement. Why are people not enforcing that?

"And it's because the ticket inspectors are scared. The train drivers don't want to get involved.

"So simply telling them that it's bad to play music on trains isn't going to make."

Mrs Badenoch's message was to "turn it down".

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She added: "It's a culture thing. People think that they can get away with it. We need to bring back consequences for bad behaviour".

Labour is looking to introduce fines of up to £100 for non-compliance in a bid to crack down on nuisance behaviour on public transport.

Ministers will issue guidance to local transport authorities in England under the new plan.

They will advise on how to use new powers granted under the Bus Services Act.

Mr Burnham said in a statement: “We’ve all been on the train when someone starts blasting music or videos from their phone.

"It gets on your nerves and can quickly spoil the journey.

“So, we’re launching a nationwide campaign reminding passengers to use headphones on trains.

"On top of that, we’re giving local leaders new powers to tackle loud music, vaping and littering on buses.

“It’s a simple thing, but one that will make journeys that little bit better for all of us.”

Opinion polls suggest between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of UK adults support crackdowns and fines for passengers who play loud music, videos or use speakerphones.

London Mayor Lord Sadiq Khan unveiled his own campaign this summer, urging passengers across the capital to "travel kind" by wearing headphones.

The Liberal Democrats have also called for disruptive passengers to face £1,000 fines.

Kemi Badenoch has made clear the Tories are "under new management" as she accused Labour of "repeating mistakes of the past".

Responding to a question from GB News's Political Editor Christopher Hope, the Tory leader said: "You might not remember, but we are under new management.

"The difference between us and every other party is that we learn from our mistakes. There were many taxes we put up that I wasn't in support of.

"I know Andrew wasn't in support of them at the time, I remember us having those conversations.

"The difference is that we are in charge now. We are a new team and we are a strong team. We work together, we learn from our mistakes, and we have set out how we're going to fix the things that are going wrong.

"Simply repeating the mistakes of the past is what Labour is doing. We accept where mistakes have been made and we have got a better plan for the future."

WATCH ABOVE.

The NHS has become "over-reliant" on its income from the immigration health surcharge (IHS), a new report has claimed.

Findings by the Nuffield Trust revealed the income from the IHS boomed tenfold between the years 2015-2016 and 2024-2025.

However, the £2.5billion contribution to the NHS budget from the surcharge dropped to £2.3billion last year.

The slump in funding is due to fewer foreign workers arriving in the UK and paying into the IHS, the Nuffield Trust concluded.

The trust also concluded that the rise in contributions required of those paying the surcharge has also impacted figures.

10 years ago, migrants paid £200 per year into the IHS, but the cost climbed to £1,035 in 2024, in line with the Department of Health’s estimates on how much they use the NHS.

The think tank estimates that those paying the fee are being charged 60 per cent more than they should be compared with what they use.

The Nuffield Trust report argued that IHS income has become a "significant source of annual funding uplifts received by the service", which have averaged 2.6 per cent in real-terms growth to the NHS budget in England.

The income from the surcharge has rocketed from accounting for just 0.1 per cent of the NHS budget to one per cent over the past decade.

Nuffield Trust fellow Stelios Vassiliou said the IHS had "grown to a prominence that cannot be ignored".

He told The Telegraph: "If the level of income from the charge was to fall back to that seen at its inception in 2015-16, the NHS would be left facing a shortfall in the billions, as it has grown reliant on immigrants in this group contributing substantially more to the NHS than they take out."

Mr Vassiliou warned that the findings should encourage the Government to investigate such funding of the NHS which has been "possibly overlooked".

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He cautioned: "Our analysis should give politicians pause for thought about this unforeseen, and possibly overlooked, consequence of changes to visa rules.

"The Government needs to think carefully about what it’s trying to achieve with the surcharge.

"We need clarity on whether this policy is about migrants paying their fair share, topping up NHS funding or discouraging migration in the first place."

In England, the NHS budget is around £205billion for the current year, while a further £42billion is awarded to the other devolved nations.

Announcing a further boost for the NHS, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has confirmed a £140million uplift to ease winter pressures on urgent care.

The funding will be invested into 14 new urgent care schemes from new treatment centres across the country and an upgrade to ambulance fleets.

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "NHS staff worked incredibly hard to keep on top of the extra pressure this summer. Now we need to support them in delivering for patients through the winter season, so our NHS is there for all of us when we need it."

In a statement, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told GB News: "The Immigration Health Surcharge is an entirely fair system that means migrants who apply to enter or remain in the UK for more than six months pay the costs upfront for any NHS treatment they may end up needing while they are here."

John Healey is at risk of igniting a Labour civil war after being forced to rule out a hike to capital gains tax.

GB News understands the Chancellor will not increase the levy on taxable profit in his first Budget since entering No11.

The decision puts Mr Healey at odds with Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and Deputy Prime Minister Louise Haigh.

However, the Chancellor will also face grumblings from the Labour backbenchers after hundreds of MPs backed a resolution to increase the rate to 24 per cent in 2024.

Despite pressure to plug a growing financial black hole, Mr Healey also faced warnings that it could spark an investor exodus and hamper economic growth if wealthy people leave the country or defer selling off assets.

Capital gains tax applies to profits from selling assets, including a house or shares.

Labour introduced the levy at a flat rate of 30 per cent in 1965, with the Tories bringing the charge in line with income tax in 1988.

Rachel Reeves increased the main rates for most assets from 10 per cent to 18 per cent for basic-rate taxpayers and from 20 per cent to 24 per cent for higher-rate taxpayers.

Lord O'Neill of Gately, who has advised Mr Burnham and worked on the Northern Powerhouse project, told The Times: "Raising capital gains tax would send very much the wrong message to business."

However, the Treasury is now expected to raise revenue by targeting Britain’s banking sector.

Mr Healey is poised to impose a levy on lenders after the UK’s four largest banks generated bumper pre-tax profits.

HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group have recorded £200billion in pre-tax profits over the past five years alone.

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However, experts warn Mr Healey's lender levy risks costing the UK economy £20billion.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the Chancellor's proposed tax raid risks being worse than measures introduced by his predecessor, Rachel Reeves.

Speaking at an event in Central London, Mrs Badenoch said: "John Healey is not Rachel Reeves, and many people see that as an improvement.

"How could anyone do worse than £70billion in new tax rises across just two Budgets?

"However, I think that next week, John Healey will deliver a Budget that does just as much damage to our country as Rachel Reeves did. In fact, it could be even worse."

She added: "We are being told next week’s Budget is going to be ‘nothing to see here’.

"That’s Whitehall code for a Budget that tries to do as little as possible­... in the hope no one notices."

Mr Healey confirmed Labour was looking to prioritise wealth creation without it being constantly subject to penalties.

In a keynote speech last month, the Chancellor said: “I recognise that the cost of business – that’s energy bills, regulation burdens, planning constraints, labour costs – have grown since Covid. And I want to draw the line."

He added: “I want to see this country as a country of wealth creation. I want our government decisions and policies to raise the levels of confidence and investment and profit in British business.”

Mr Healey will deliver his first Budget as Chancellor on October 28.

A Treasury spokesman said: "As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events, rather than routinely commenting on rumour, speculation or proposals."

The mother of an asylum hotel worker who was killed by an illegal migrant has told GB News she feels like she’s serving a life sentence, as she fights for a change in asylum law.

Rhiannon Whyte was attacked by Sudanese migrant Deng Majek on October 20, 2024, as she waited for her train home.

The young mother died from her injuries three days later.

Majek had been staying at the Park Inn Hotel, where Rhiannon worked, but CCTV showed him staring at her that day as she handed out snacks.

During the murder trial, a witness told Wolverhampton Crown Court they felt scared and "worried he was going to do something that night".

They even informed the hotel’s security staff that they "all felt intimidated".

Now, two years on since Rhiannon’s death, her mother, Siobhan Whyte, has exclusively told GB News the story of that day and her campaign for Rhiannon’s Law.

Describing the day Rhiannon was attacked, Siobhan said: "My phone was going, ringing late at night, and I thought it was her to tell me she was on her way home, and it was her friend, Emma, to say that they'd heard screaming.

"I got the phone call from the police to say they were with her and that she was going to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and it was life-threatening or life-changing.

"It just broke me, but you still think she's going to be all right? It's Rhiannon, she bounces back from everything and all the way to the hospital I kept thinking she’ll be alright, but we didn't know what had happened or the severity of it."

After Rhiannon had finished her shift at 11pm that night, she walked across the road from the asylum hotel towards the Bescot Stadium railway station to catch her train home.

Unbeknownst to her, Majek had waited outside, followed her across the road, through the car park, and up onto the train station platform before attacking Rhiannon with a screwdriver.

She sustained more than 20 stab wounds, and died three days later from a brain stem injury.

Siobhan told GB News: "Alex [Siobhan’s daughter] parked up, came in and she said, ‘Mom, I can see her, she's in Resus’. She wasn't tubed up or anything.

"After a couple of hours, the consultants came in and said that Rihanna had been stabbed. I said, ‘what do you mean she's been stabbed, she was just coming home from work?’ and they said she'd been stabbed in the head and they were going to give her six hours and we needed to get her family up there.

"Then it was like six hours, 12 hours, 24. In my heart of hearts, I just kept hoping she'd be okay. On the Tuesday, they did further tests and then that evening, they told us not to leave. We asked if she could be an organ donor, but I was told no, because she was evidence, so he [Majek] took that away from her as well."

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Majek was seen on CCTV leaving the train station, throwing Rhiannon’s phone into the river as he left.

He then walked to a shop to buy alcohol and returned to the hotel.

As the emergency services arrived, footage recovered by the police showed the Sudanese asylum seeker laughing and dancing to music in the hotel and the car park.

Recalling the footage, Siobhan told GB News it was like watching Majek "dancing on her grave".

She said: "You watch him going back into the hotel, knock on people's doors, change his shoes, and then he comes out dancing and smiling. Then you see him dancing in reception, then you see him dancing walking down the corridor to his room, and then in the car park with the blue lights in the background trying to help Rhiannon.

"He was dancing on her grave, I think. I don't want him to die, I want him to suffer. The anger I feel towards him, I think he's given me the incentive to keep fighting because I can't keep, we can't keep, letting this happen, you know. I hate him. I hate him with every ounce that I have in me."

Forensic scientists found Rhiannon’s blood on Majek’s jacket, trousers, shoes, and jewellery.

DNA recovered from the swabbing of his fingernails was also a match.

Jurors at Wolverhampton Crown Court deliberated for just two hours and five minutes before reaching a unanimous guilty verdict in October 2025.

Recounting the trial, Siobhan said: "He denied every single bit of it. It made me feel angry and guilty because I wasn't there to help her. Angry at him because of the consistent lies and what he's put us through. Why? I just want to know why, you know?

"We couldn't have Rihanna's funeral for four months. We had her funeral on a Friday, and on the Monday after there was an admin case at the court. My daughter went, and he was meant to have come up on a video link, and the prison guard said his [Majek’s] words were, ‘today is not the day’.

"I was furious when I heard it. Anybody else would have been pulled out of their cells and made to appear."

She added: "He was very arrogant, he said he fled South Sudan to North Sudan for his safety with his mum, his 10 siblings, his pregnant wife.

"I think it was all just lies. It makes me angry, because at the time, I was so wrapped up in wanting justice that I couldn't understand why he was lying about his age, and it just angers me that I felt like he was dictating."

In recent months, Siobhan has turned her attention to campaigning for Rhiannon’s Law, which proposes the detention of undocumented asylum seekers whilst their claims are processed.

She told GB News: "If the government are going to keep allowing these illegals to come over, they should be stopped, they should be detained, they should be medically checked, ID checked, criminally checked, and not allowed out to wander.

"They should be put in a barracks, not near a school, not near children or women, and if they fail the checks, deported back. They go into HMOs, we don't know where the HMOs are.

"Hotels are closing down, where are they going? When we said to the Home Office, ‘detain them’, they said, ‘what about their human rights? They've got human rights'. What about our human rights? Because as far as I'm concerned, the minute they come onto these shores illegally, they are committing a crime."

Border Security Minister Anna Turley met with Ms Whyte on September 3.

The government says more than 80,000 returns of people with no right to be in the UK have been recorded in the two years since the July 2024 election, and told GB News that joint efforts have prevented over 48,000 channel-crossing attempts and seized 1,100 boats and engines since the election.

Reflecting on the meeting with the Home Office, Siobhan said: "I came out of there feeling hopeful that maybe they listened to us as a family. This was on a Thursday, and on the Sunday, we had an influx of boats into Portsmouth, so it felt like we'd just been kicked in the teeth, really.

"We just want answers, you know, I get people saying, ‘you've got justice. He got life and 29 years’. No, I will serve life because he's taken my daughter away."

A Home Office spokesperson told GB News: "The murder of Rhiannon Whyte was an abhorrent crime, and our thoughts are with her loved ones. This vile criminal is behind bars where he belongs, and he rightly received the strictest punishment of a life sentence.

"We share the public’s anger about Majek’s heinous actions. That is precisely why we are bearing down on small boat crossings, removing record numbers of foreign criminals, and closing every asylum hotel in the country."

Experts have warned that Labour's inaction on fuel duty could have a huge impact on millions of people across the UK by pushing up food prices.

The Iran war has sent petrol and diesel prices soaring since the conflict broke out in March, with drivers feeling the pressure at the pumps.

At present, motorists are paying an average of 174.18p per litre for petrol and 199.15p per litre for diesel - less than a penny cheaper than the all-time peak.

With the Government's Budget on the horizon, the Road Haulage Association has warned the Chancellor that the UK could face even greater issues if prices continue to have an impact.

The RHA has warned that the impact of high fuel costs will continue to push up the price of food and household essentials.

Over 85 per cent of the UK's goods are transported by road, with an HGV driver spending more than £380 on fuel every week.

Hauliers run on margins of around two per cent, while RHA research shows that 82 per cent of businesses back Government action on fuel duty in the upcoming Budget.

Richard Smith, managing director of the RHA, said: "Fuel prices continue to hammer many of the businesses that keep Britain moving.

"Piling fuel duty rises on top will push up costs for every firm that moves goods and every household that buys them."

The RHA has called on Chancellor John Healey for a 15p per litre rebate for "essential users of fuel", like HGV, coach and van drivers.

A 15p per litre rebate would allow drivers to claim £1,500 back for every 10,000 litres of fuel.

The organisation highlighted how other nations, including France, Spain and Italy, have already given commercial operators a fuel rebate.

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It accused Britain of playing catch-up, noting that the Republic of Ireland had extended its diesel rebate scheme very recently.

The enhanced maximum rate of 12 cents (10p) per litre has been extended until December 31, 2026, and applies to vehicles over 7.5 tonnes in weight.

Ahead of the Budget, the RHA said any rebate introduced should be in addition to the extension of the existing fuel duty freeze.

The current 5p per litre fuel duty freeze is set to expire at the end of the year, at which point, it will rise by 3p. It will return to its pre-Russian invasion level in March 2027.

Mr Smith emphasised the need for Chancellor Healey's support, adding that these measures would be the "cheapest and quickest inflation controls".

"Our message is clear: Bring in a fuel rebate for the HGV, coach and van operators this country depends on, and scrap the planned fuel duty rises," he said.

GB News has contacted HM Treasury for a comment.

Andy Burnham has said that one of the EU reset options on his table is joining the EU’s Customs Union.

Using the latest official data, this report reveals how this would put up prices, cost tens of billions, and ruin relationships with countries with which the UK has successfully negotiated trade agreements.

This report from the Brexit Facts4EU think tank, alongside Stand for Our Sovereignty and The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK.Org), looks at what joining the Customs Union (CU) would mean for British consumers and the UK’s economy.

To set the scene, the US is the UK’s largest single export market - by a very long way - and it's unhappy with Andy Burnham's EU direction.

United States trade representative Jamieson Greer told the FT last month: "Britain has fundamentally failed to capitalise on Brexit... [London is] continuing to align with EU-made rules and keeping its market closed to American goods.

"That’s how we interpret it... based on my conversations with the UK, where I say, ‘Hey, you’re free of the EU. Why don’t you liberalise a little bit, accept goods made to American standards?’ And they say, ‘Well, we have to wait and see what the EU says about it.’

"You know that is a problem for us and that’s challenging."

And when asked whether the UK was actively using its regulatory freedom, Mr Greer answered: "No, they're not."

The UK consumer - three examples from a checkout basket

Live customs logs from HMRC and Brussels TARIC databases expose the hidden, indigestible extra costs built into the EU's defensive external tariff regime. These three grocery examples show the potentially alarming effect on our weekly shop.

Red kidney beans: Protecting the budgets of British households, post-Brexit UK trade policy dropped the duty to a flat zero per cent tariff.

The EU restricts global imports to protect its canneries, slapping a heavy 17.6 per cent standard third-country duty onto these basic staples. Entering the EU CU would trigger a wholesale price spike for a product found in millions of British kitchens.

Fresh apples: The UK has an out-of-season window where imported apples attract a zero per cent tariff, taking advantage of cheap southern hemisphere fruit to keep supermarket prices keen and stable.

Conversely, Brussels applies a nine per cent base tariff with added cash penalties up to €23 per 100kg when a low-cost shipment falls below the EU's entry-price floor. This creates an effective tax rate exceeding 45 per cent.

Raw cane sugar: Under post-Brexit freedoms, this has a flat zero per cent tariff via a 325,000-tonne ‘Autonomous Tariff Quota’, keeping imports cheaper for domestic refineries like Tate & Lyle.

Joining the CU could add an EU fixed penalty of €339 per tonne, which translates to a massive 56-72 per cent total import tax that would hit every independent bakery and confectionery manufacturer.

On Christmas Eve, the EU Commission introduced variable weekly tariffs on products being imported into the bloc. It means buyers constantly have to check before they buy anything, simply to calculate if a commercial profit is possible.

The British status quo: The UK operates its own predictable UK Global Tariff, meaning British supermarkets can import food at flat, stable tariff rates without any weekly interference from Brussels.

The Customs Union threat: EU alignment would force British retailers into a volatile, weekly price-monitoring system, exposing supply chains to significant administrative time and costs. Checkout prices would inevitably surge.

Lord Redwood told GB News: "When the UK left the EU Customs Union, we removed tariffs completely on 2,000 products, or 21 per cent of our imports, and cut them on another 4,747 or 50 per cent of foreign goods.

"We had no need for many of these tariffs because we did not produce or grow the items ourselves. We were made to impose them to protect EU producers at the expense of our consumers. Cutting them was good news for shoppers.

"Today we are living through a surge in the cost of living so the last thing we should be doing is imposing EU tariffs on so many things to put up prices.

"Facts4EU have done a great job pointing out as examples it would mean dearer sugar, kidney beans, and apples. We would be buying dearer French golden delicious instead of cheaper Australian and New Zealand apples with more choice of varieties."

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'Burnham’s Brexit Betrayal' confronted with the hard economic facts

The UK’s trade with the EU27 has produced a shocking cumulative trade deficit for the UK of - £192billion in the five years since Brexit.

Why would the Burnham government abandon post-Brexit trade deals delivering billions per annum in net trade surpluses? Here are three post-Brexit trade deals to compare against the UK’s trade performance with the EU since leaving the bloc.

Meanwhile the run-rate on EU trade now stands at deficit of over -£75 billion/year

Here is the comparison between the EU and the CPTPP post-Brexit deal.

Membership of the fast-growing CPTPP Indo-Pacific trading bloc imposes no obligations on members to obey a centralised mountain of supranational laws, nor do member states subject themselves to foreign courts. They simply trade profitably.

Lord Redwood said: "One of the biggest Remain lies is that belonging to the EU and or its Customs Union would be good for our trade.

"All the time we were in the EU we ran big deficits. Their laws, taxes and tariffs made us import too much and export too little. Non-EU exports even before Brexit grew more quickly than sales to the EU.

"Facts4EU highlight the continuing run of big deficits as EU rules persist in areas like energy and food.

"Our trade has been expanding well with non-EU, the bigger part of our total, helped by some good new trade Agreements we could only negotiate and sign once out of the EU.

"It would be self-harm on a grand scale to dump these new Agreements and sandbag our trade with the faster-growing rest of the world. We would end up poorer, importing more and dearer EU goods, food and energy."

A government spokesman said: "This article is false. There has been no proposal to join the Customs Union. Instead, we are building an ambitious, close relationship with the EU that will add up to £9 billion a year to our economy and create more opportunities for young people and communities across the whole UK."

"Far from increasing prices, our upcoming deal on agri-food and drink will end the costly paperwork tax that has harmed businesses and pushed up supermarket prices on everyday items like sugar, apples and beans."

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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has cast doubt on Chancellor John Healey's upcoming Budget, declaring it will do "just as much damage" as Rachel Reeves's.

Delivering a major pre-Budget keynote speech in Westminster, Central London, she said: "John Healey is not Rachel Reeves, and many people see that as an improvement.

"How could anyone do worse than £70billion in new tax rises across just two Budgets?

"However, I think that next week, John Healey will deliver a Budget that does just as much damage to our country as Rachel Reeves did. In fact, it could be even worse."

She warned that borrowing costs and spending could spiral out of control.

The Tory leader added: "We are being told next week’s Budget is going to be ‘nothing to see here’.

"That’s Whitehall code for a Budget that tries to do as little as possible­... in the hope no one notices."

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Welfare must be cut to fund defence, says Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch has declared that the UK's welfare bill must be cut to fund defence.

Expressing a need to increase Britain's defence spending, the Tory leader said: "I have said before, and I will say it again and again until I'm blue in the face, Britain's national security is under threat.

"We need to cut welfare to fund defence. Cutting welfare to fund defence is our next challenge.

"Andy Burnham might think that national security can't come at the expense of social security, but John Healey resigned as Defence Secretary because he could not, in good conscience, preside over a funding settlement of less than three per cent of GDP."

Kemi Badenoch pledges £70billion in savings under Tory Government

Kemi Badenoch has pledged her party would save £70billion as part of her plans to save the UK economy.

The Tory leader declared: "Under our golden economic rule, half of those savings would go to reducing the deficit, because Conservatives believe in handing a stronger economy to the next generation.

"And that means less debt. Cuts are never easy, but they are much easier to accept if what you are doing is fair.

"Fair to taxpayers, fair to future generations, and fair to those who really do need support."

Tory leader predicts John Healey Budget could do 'more damage' than Rachel Reeves

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has cast doubt on Chancellor John Healey's upcoming Budget, declaring it will do "just as much damage" as Rachel Reeves's.

She said: "John Healey is not Rachel Reeves, and many people see that as an improvement. How could anyone do worse than £70billion in new tax rises across just two Budgets?

"However, I think that next week, John Healey will deliver a Budget that does just as much damage to our country as Rachel Reeves did. In fact, it could be even worse."

Kemi Badenoch delivers speech ahead of Labour's Budget

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has begun to deliver her keynote speech in Westminster, ahead of Chancellor John Healey's Budget next week.

Mrs Badenoch has warned that Mr Healey will not be an "improvement" on former Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

She opened her speech declaring that Britons must be able to "live within their means".

Andrew Griffith urges John Healey to 'reverse Rachel Reeves damage' ahead of Budget

Andrew Griffith has urged the Chancellor to "reversing some of Rachel Reeves's damage" ahead of the upcoming Labour Budget.

Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Chancellor accused John Healey of "maxing out the nation's credit card".

He said: "We can't have a business as usual, do nothing, kick the can down the road Budget. We need real action on defence.

"We need the Chancellor to stop maxing out the nation's credit card, building up the deficit, charging everybody more interest in their future, and action on that youth jobs emergency."

Angela Rayner responds to call from Nottingham attack families to end benefits for criminals detained in hospital 

Angela Rayner has responded to the families of the Nottingham attack victims after calling to end benefits for criminals detained in hospital.

Speaking to the BBC, the Housing Secretary said there were "far too many instances recently" where people feel that the criminal justice system "has not been on the side of those that needed the protection".

She said: "That’s something obviously for the Chancellor and the Secretary of State, but I am aware that the Secretary of State has met with the families regarding this and was quite frankly astonished that the situation was as it was and that these people were receiving benefits, and that’s why the Secretary of State has taken this action, and I welcome it.

"I pay tribute to the families who have campaigned on this matter."

Downing Street hits back at Pete Hegseth after 'diminishing role' of Britain in Afghanistan

Andy Burnham has hit back at Pete Hegseth after "diminishing" the role of the UK armed forces in the Afghanistan war.

Donald Trump's Secretary of War has been criticised by Downing Street after his fresh attack on Nato allies.

Speaking to US army cadets about his time as a captain in Afghanistan, Mr Hegseth said: "It was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different countries contributing to the Nato alliance and the mission there.

"Except there were maybe five that contributed, it was actually closer to one or two that by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Kemi Badenoch issues stark warning to John Healey ahead of Budget

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has warned John Healey to "stop borrowing so much" to fund the public sector, ahead of next week's Budget.

Delivering a keynote speech in London later today, the Tory leader is set to urge Prime Minister Andy Burhnham to "live within our means".

She will also accuse the Government of "taking out loans to pay the interest on our loans".

The Chancellor has ruled out calls to increase capital gains tax in his first Budget, amid fears it would limit economic growth and hinder investment.

UK wage growth at weakest level in six years, new figures show

UK wage growth has plummeted to its weakest level in six years, according to new Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

In the three months to August, total pay growth fell from 3.9 per cent in the three months to July to 3.7 per cent.

The slump comes as the rate of UK unemployment fell to 4.7 per cent over the same period.

David Freeman, Head of Labour Market and Households Division at the ONS said: "Regular wage growth remained relatively stable though total pay - including bonuses- has eased to its lowest level in nearly six years."

Unemployment falls to 4.7% ahead of Budget

Britain's jobs market was laid bare today as new figures showed unemployment fell while wages continued to rise faster than inflation.

The unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 per cent in the three months to August, while regular pay grew by 3.7 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

After Consumer Prices Index inflation was taken into account, regular earnings were 0.8 per cent higher.

The employment rate among people aged between 16 and 64 rose to 75.3 per cent. The economic inactivity rate, covering those who are neither working nor looking for a job, fell slightly to 20.9 per cent.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Serious criminals detained in hospital to no longer receive benefits

Killers and sex offenders who are detained in hospital will no longer receive benefits under new proposals called for by victims' families.

The Government confirmed the move to end so-called "double provision" which enables offenders to claim hundreds of pounds a month for living costs while receiving NHS psychiatric treatment.

Proposals set to be laid in Parliament on Tuesday would close the loophole and prevent serious criminals receiving up to £800 a month in universal credit over several years.

This would save an estimated tens of millions of pounds annually.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: "We said we'd act to tackle this gross unfairness and we’re delivering on that promise.

"For too long these violent criminals have had their living costs paid by the taxpayer twice over, while their victims and families paid the price.

"That ends today because victims and taxpayers deserve a system that is fair and supports only those who genuinely need it."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Those who believe the UK should remain independent say British laws should be decided by our duly elected MPs in Westminster, rather than the UK being ruled over by unelected Brussels bureaucrats. The reality of what is involved in being under the direct jurisdiction of EU law is shocking.

In this exclusive report, the Brexit Facts4EU think-tank, with help from Stand for Our Sovereignty and The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK.Org), has quantified exactly what it would mean to return to the EU from the perspective of the laws that govern us.

An astonishing 211,000 legal instruments have been created since the EU started. 115,000 are live and we would have to accept them if we rejoined. The UK has dodged 21,000 since 2020, thanks to Brexit.

Plus, there are October’s 105 formal infringement decisions by the EU Commission against the EU’s member countries, to add to more than 2,000 active legal disputes already pending across the bloc.

This report has been shared exclusively with GB News.

Just how big is the legal mountain the EU created since it started?

The historical volume of legal instruments created by the EU since its inception is simply vast.

Some will doubtless say our figures are vastly overstated. They will base this on superficial internet searches, often using AI, or by looking at government statements. To be clear, we went direct to the source - the official EUR-Lex database. The government’s own legislative figures are far less. However, we have not only counted primary legislation, but the entire, all-encompassing body of the EU acquis currently in force on that database.

From a strict operational perspective, any member country must take into account all active legal instruments and the vast mountain of evolving EU case law. No nation can simply ignore these administrative acts, as they form part of a binding legal architecture that national governments and courts must constantly monitor and obey to avoid prosecution.

Whether counting primary statutes or daily administrative decrees, the political reality remains identical: the sheer volume of incoming rules creates a cumulative regulatory load that completely dwarfs independent domestic law-making.

"Britain Behind Bars" - What would the UK have to absorb if it joined the EU tomorrow?

For those advocating for a return to the bloc, the entry price is an all-or-nothing requirement to absorb the acquis communautaire - the accumulated body of EU law.

Clearly, over the years some of the legal instruments totalled above have been repealed, changed, or replaced. We therefore then analysed the ‘functional corpus’ of all legal instruments which the UK would be required to absorb if it were to rejoin the EU, as Andy Burnham wants.

In practical terms, the operational load is currently an extraordinary 115,707 active instruments.

This number comprises the total of all active legal documents and represents the day-to-day legal reality which a joining country must instantly absorb and comply with, on a daily basis.

Lord Redwood told GB News: "Facts4EU excel themselves by reminding us of the EU elephant in the room: the vast body of EU law that dictates to member states regardless of their wishes and needs. They reveal the massive scope of the EU ‘s power grab.

"They remind us we have escaped thousands of new laws and Court judgements since we left.

"It reminds me of how powerless the UK was when we were members to stop the torrent of legislation. As Single Market Minister all I could do was delay or dilute the worst of it. Only the Commission could write the laws.

"They made relentless efforts to take ever more areas out of member state democratic control. They knew how to create majorities of states to drive the agenda.

"There is no official Opposition to test out or block bad new EU laws in the way we do in Parliament."

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The life sentence the UK has dodged by leaving

Next, we examined how many new legal instruments the UK has avoided by leaving the EU. Our analysis of the enormous EUR-Lex database has captured all EU laws, directives, regulations, and rules that must be followed by member countries, plus it also sweeps in all binding, post-Brexit judgements handed down by both the EU’s courts (‘EU case law’).

From a strictly legal point of view, the UK officially stopped automatically having to implement new EU laws and follow new case law at 11pm on December 31, 2020. This marked the exact end of the Transition Period and the chart shows what has happened since then.

Who actually writes this mountain of law?

Crucially for British voters, the laws governing member states do not originate from elected parliamentarians. Under the EU’s constitutional treaties, the unelected EU Commission holds an absolute monopoly on the "right of initiative." These are then added to by EU judges as ‘case law’.

Neither the directly-elected EU Parliament nor national parliaments can draft or introduce a new EU statute. They can only amend, delay, or vote on what Ursula von der Leyen’s executive puts in front of them.

Neither can countries disobey judgements of the EU Courts of Justice.

This means the primary legislative engines remain structurally isolated from direct democratic accountability.

Why is the UK still being prosecuted six years after leaving?

The final element of our analysis exposes the administrative ties that Britain has yet to fully sever. Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission still maintains 10 active infringement cases against the UK, outlined in the table below.

While the British mainland successfully regained its statutory sovereignty on December 31, 2020, legacy clauses embedded within the Withdrawal Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol left a lengthy legal tail.

In terms of importance, these 10 ongoing prosecutions vary but primarily centre on disputed interpretations of EU citizens’ residency rights and cross-border customs checks in the Irish Sea. Until these specific treaty obligations expire or are settled, Brussels retains the unique legal authority to drag the UK before its Courts of Justice.

Finally, the proof the UK didn’t leave until 2021

Despite what was stated by the government in early 2020, they did not "get Brexit done" on January 31, 2020. Whilst the UK "formally" exited the EU on that date, under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement a temporary transition framework was established.

During this transition period, EU law continued to operate in and apply to the UK exactly as it had before. British courts remained bound by the judgements of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) and the UK was also legally required to adopt all new regulations and directives churned out by Brussels during those 11 months.

It was only when the clock struck midnight in Brussels (11pm in London) on December 31, 2020, that the transition window slammed shut. At that precise moment, the European Communities Act 1972 was formally repealed, and the direct jurisdiction of EU law over the British mainland ended.

Lord Redwood observed: "No wonder the EU economy is so sluggish, constantly disappointing today’s voters in France, Germany and many other member states. It is so bad one of the EU ‘s greatest figures, Mr Draghi - the saviour of the Euro, wrote a big report about the devastating impact on growth and prosperity from too many laws.

"Facts4EU had the patience to count the thousands of often costly anti-enterprise, unhelpful rules and judgements that are holding the economies back. Europeans are not by birth more stupid or lazier than Americans so there has to be a reason why the US has dramatically outgrown Europe this century and now has GDP per head around double the EU average.

"US common law lets businesses do anything that is not banned. EU code laws set out in a vast library of laws what you are allowed to do.

"The US system delivers prosperity. The EU brings high costs, business frustration and less growth. UK voters understood this when we voted to end oppressive EU law. Pity many of our politicians and civil servants still haven’t got it."

A government spokesman told GB News: "This article is false. There has been no proposal to join the Customs Union. Instead, we are building an ambitious, close relationship with the EU that will add up to £9 billion a year to our economy and create more opportunities for young people and communities across the whole UK.

"Far from increasing prices, our upcoming deal on agri-food and drink will end the costly paperwork tax that has harmed businesses and pushed up supermarket prices on everyday items like sugar, apples and beans."

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Andy Burnham has vowed to ban video assistant referees (VAR) from football, saying the technology has "killed spontaneity" in the support.

The Prime Minister has been openly vocal about getting rid of VAR in the past, previously describing it as a "bad thing" during the Makerfield by-election.

Mr Burnham reaffirmed his position, suggesting decisions before VAR favoured stronger teams and continued to do so even after the technology rolled out.

"I often believed that other clubs, bigger clubs, Liverpool, Man United, got decisions, whereas Everton, my club, didn't.

"So refs were a bit more - they tended to give decisions that way, and I thought: 'Oh well, VAR will level things up', but it really hasn't levelled things up in my view.

"But also in the ground, because before I became Prime Minister, I had a season ticket and I didn't miss a game last year.

"I'm [an] Everton season ticket holder. What it does is it kills spontaneity.

"So football, going to the match, is about those moments when the goal goes in and [everyone celebrates]," he told LadBible.

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The Prime Minister continued: "That's what it's about. But then you do that, and it's VAR checking the goal.

"And the thing was, you'd accept it if it got the decisions right, but it doesn't get the decisions right."

Mr Burnham was challenged on whether he could ban VAR, joking: "You are putting an idea in my head".

Last season, VAR made 25 errors, up from 18 the campaign prior.

In the 2023/24 season, the technology made 31 mistakes, and in 2022/23, 38.

The breakdown of errors last season largely came down to missed interventions, when the VAR team failed to recommend an on-field review.

Three mistakes were made for incorrect interventions, when VAR wrongly intervened to overturn a valid on-field call.

Two errors occurred when an on-field review was initiated, but the incorrect decision was upheld.

According to the Premier League Key Match Incidents panel, 97 per cent of match decisions were determined to be correct.

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Andy Burnham has hit back at Pete Hegseth after the United States Secretary of War "diminished" the role of the UK armed forces in the Afghanistan war.

Donald Trump's cabinet secretary has been criticised by Downing Street after his latest attack on Nato allies.

Speaking to US army cadets about his time as a captain in Afghanistan, Mr Hegseth recalled seeing "50 flags" at the headquarters in Kabul.

He said: "I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters.

"It was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different countries contributing to the Nato alliance and the mission there.

"Except there were maybe five that contributed, it was actually closer to one or two that by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations."

Hitting back at the remarks, Downing Street said it is "wrong" to "diminish the role" of British armed forces in the Afghanistan war.

Asked about the US Defence Secretary’s remarks, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: "Look, frankly, the facts speak for themselves when it comes to the UK’s and Nato’s contribution to Afghanistan.

"Thousands of British and allied families made huge sacrifices to play their significant parts in that war and uphold our values.

"And more than 450 British personnel never returned. Their sacrifice and that of other Nato forces was made in the service of collective security and in response to an attack on our ally.

"We are incredibly proud of our armed forces and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten, and it is wrong to diminish their role."

The remarks come after US President Donald Trump was forced to climb down over comments he made about the British troops in Afghanistan.

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Mr Trump told Fox News in January: "I've always said, will they be there if we ever needed them? That's really the ultimate test, and I'm not sure of that.

"We've never needed them. They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan... and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines."

Taking to Truth Social a few days after his criticism, the President then hailed British troops as "the greatest of all warriors".

He wrote: "The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!

"In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors.

"It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken. The UK Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none (except for the USA!). We love you all, and always will! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

The then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had branded the remarks "insulting" and "frankly appalling".

In total, 457 British personnel were killed in Afghanistan between 2001 and the coalition's withdrawal two decades later.

John Healey has ruled out a hike in capital gains tax (CGT) in his first Budget.

The decision risks the ire of Cabinet ministers Wes Streeting and Louise Haigh, who both previously called for a rise in the tax before Andy Burnham entered No10 in July.

But Mr Healey has ruled out the move after warnings that it could spark an investor exodus and hamper economic growth if wealthy people leave the country or defer selling off assets.

CGT applies to profits from selling assets like a house or shares.

Lord O'Neill of Gately, who has advised Mr Burnham and worked on the Northern Powerhouse project, told The Times: "raising capital gains tax would send very much the wrong message to business".

The biggest "revenue raiser" in the Budget is set to be Mr Healey's raid on banks - but experts have warned the move could cost the British economy nearly £20billion.

The Chancellor has acknowledged that Britain finds itself in a "tough" position ahead of the Budget, and is reported to be downplaying the prospect of major revenue-raising measures in his October 28 statement.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is meanwhile due to warn the Government to slash its spending plans, and reduce its borrowing at the Budget.

In a speech on Tuesday, she will urge Mr Burnham and his Chancellor to "live within our means" and point to the Tories' £ 70 billion spending-cut package, including cuts to welfare and the civil service headcount, as a place to start.

A Treasury spokesman said: "As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events, rather than routinely commenting on rumour, speculation or proposals."

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Serious criminals detained in hospital to no longer receive benefits

Killers and sex offenders who are detained in hospital will no longer receive benefits under new proposals called for by victims' families.

The Government confirmed the move to end so-called "double provision" which enables offenders to claim hundreds of pounds a month for living costs while receiving NHS psychiatric treatment.

Proposals set to be laid in Parliament on Tuesday would close the loophole and prevent serious criminals receiving up to £800 a month in universal credit over several years.

This would save an estimated tens of millions of pounds annually.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: "We said we'd act to tackle this gross unfairness and we’re delivering on that promise.

"For too long these violent criminals have had their living costs paid by the taxpayer twice over, while their victims and families paid the price.

"That ends today because victims and taxpayers deserve a system that is fair and supports only those who genuinely need it."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Donald Trump has suggested leaving Nato after he blamed migrants who "despise" France for chaos on the streets.

The streets of Paris have seen widespread rioting which has resulted in more than 2,000 arrests and forced the French Government to hold a "crisis meeting".

Now, while campaigning in Kansas, the President blamed left-wing politicians for the violent unrest, adding that the US faces the same if the "radical" Democrats are elected.

"If you want to see what is at stake in this election, just look at what's happening in France," he said.

"A once great nation that is being conquered, looted and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists and communists who hate Christianity, and they hate, frankly, the Western civilisation itself.

"And as we're seeing in Europe, globalists, left-wing politicians have treasonously imported millions and millions of third world migrants who are totally incompatible with west - and they are incompatible with Western values."

More than half a million demonstrators took to the street on Saturday, with some seen looting and setting fires to buildings and cars.

The riots have resulted in a historic 143-year-old town hall in southwest-central France being torched in what was described as a "deliberate act by hooligans".

Authorities imposed a curfew on Monday night to curb the violent unrest driven by young people, but it remains unclear how effective the measures will be.

The President previously said on Truth Social that migration had resulted in "people with hatred in their hearts" entering France.

In his speech on Monday to campaign for incumbent Republican Senator Roger Marshall, he seemed to suggest the US may leave Nato unless Europe curbs migration.

He also said he warned Emmanuel Macron "many years ago" to close France's borders.

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The Commander-in-Chief said: "We stand with Europe despite its flaws and weaknesses, and hopefully it's going to be temporary what's going on there, because I watch that and I just am amazed. I could see it coming."

He added: "But if they don't soon find their way - and they have to find their way - we will have no choice but to leave. To leave, we will have no choice. It's a very serious situation."

While Mr Trump did not directly name Nato when he said the US would "leave", he went on to discuss the Iran war and the military alliance's lack of support at the outbreak of the conflict.

When Nato was asked to help in Iran - which the US "didn't need" - European allies did something "something that we can never really forget", the President said.

He added: "You know, we spent hundreds of billions of dollars a year on Nato protecting them. But when we said, would you like to help? 'No thank you'."

The President has previously said he was "strongly considering" pulling out of the international alliance and has repeatedly called the defence bloc a "paper tiger".

An increased military presence on Russia's border with Estonia have raised fears of an attack on a Nato member, which would be considered an attack on all countries within the defence alliance.

GB News has approached the White House for further clarity on Mr Trump's remarks.

Killers and sex offenders who are detained in hospital will no longer receive benefits under new proposals called for by victims' families.

The Government confirmed the move to end so-called "double provision" which enables offenders to claim hundreds of pounds a month for living costs while receiving NHS psychiatric treatment.

Proposals set to be laid in Parliament on Tuesday would close the loophole and prevent serious criminals receiving up to £800 a month in universal credit over several years.

This would save an estimated tens of millions of pounds annually.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: "We said we'd act to tackle this gross unfairness and we’re delivering on that promise.

"For too long these violent criminals have had their living costs paid by the taxpayer twice over, while their victims and families paid the price.

"That ends today because victims and taxpayers deserve a system that is fair and supports only those who genuinely need it."

The new regulations are expected to come into force early next year after parliamentary approval.

Parents of Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley Kumar, who were killed by Valdo Calocane in Nottingham in 2023, welcomed the announcement.

Calocane was convicted of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.

Emma Webber, Barnaby’s mother, said: "This is long overdue, and simply the right thing to do.

"It was a disgrace that Calocane and offenders like him have ever received taxpayers' money.

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"A hospital bed does not erase the egregious crimes committed, nor the destruction they have caused.

"Closing this loophole finally delivers some basic accountability that victims deserve."

Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Ms O'Malley-Kumar's father, said: "Our campaign has always been about accountability and fairness.

"On the principle of fairness alone, we do not see why taxpayers should fund benefits while they are incarcerated.

"We are grateful to the Secretary of State Pat McFadden for taking action and listening to our campaign which always been about what is good for the country."

The proposed regulations will apply to individuals subject to a Section 37 order under the Mental Health Act 1983 and a Section 57A order under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

The offences covered include manslaughter, attempted murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, rape, assault by penetration and rape of a child under 13.

The changes are expected to affect around 2,500 offenders already in hospital and a further 200 in the future, the Government said.

Helen Whately, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "Killers and rapists should not pocket benefits from a hospital bed.

"Labour has taken all year to stop a loophole it promised to close. And tens of millions saved barely makes a dent in the benefits bill Labour has let spiral out of control.

"The Conservatives would make universal credit a conditional, time-limited benefit, so taxpayers' money goes only to those who genuinely need it."