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The Daily Telegraph NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

A royal welcome

Calls to scrap 'chilling' trans law

New bill will criminalise parents for normal discussions about gender, warn experts

CAMPAIGN

By Daniel Martin, Hayley Dixon and Tim Sigsworth

A NEW law that risks criminalising parents who question whether their children are trans must be scrapped, MPs, peers and experts have demanded.

Ministers have introduced controversial legislation threatening people with five years in prison for trying to suppress or change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The proposed bill would cover parents, meaning mothers and fathers risk arrest for asking their child whether they really want to change gender.

Campaigners say parents could find themselves in the dock for restricting their child's online access, or even for refusing to go along with a child who identifies as a cat.

The Telegraph has launched a campaign for the Draft Conversion Practices Bill to be scrapped amid warnings that it would have a chilling effect on the relationship between children and their parents.

The campaign has been backed by high-profile figures, including Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, Baroness Falkner, a former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, whistleblowers who sounded the alarm over the Tavistock gender clinic, and Baroness Sharron Davies, the former Olympic swimmer.

Mrs Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said: "We have laws to protect people from abuse and discrimination. I looked at this in government, and concluded the bill was unworkable. Parents should be able to talk to their children without worrying that an ordinary conversation will land them in court.

"If the Government thinks there's a gap in the law, it needs to spell out exactly what it is. The country needs a government with common sense focused on growing the economy, getting people into work and strengthening our national security. That's not Labour, that's us."

Mr Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: “I fully support The Telegraph with their campaign. This bill needs to be scrapped immediately – parents should never be criminalised for simply having conversations with their children about their gender. It’s time this nonsense was stopped once and for all.”

Lady Falkner has warned that the bill could criminalise people for trying to persuade someone that they were not a cat. Some people claim to be “catgender”, a non-binary gender identity that can include people who have delusions of being a feline.

She called on Andy Burnham to "quietly abandon" the bill, even though it was a Labour manifesto commitment. Writing in today's Telegraph, she said: "It is an unprecedented and unwarranted intrusion into family life that could jail parents for up to five years for crimes' such as refusing to use a child's preferred name, refusing to fund gender reassignment or for seeking to dissuade a child from embarking upon a course of medical intervention that leads to permanent sterility."

Two whistleblowers whose evidence contributed to the closure of the controversial Tavistock clinic for children with gender dysphoria called for the bill to be stopped. Sue Evans, a psychotherapist who still works with families affected by gender dysphoria, said: "It is going to remove the possibility for parents to have an open conversation, and it will impact siblings because they won't be able to say what they think.

"It is a perverting thing for society. It means that people won't say what is on their mind – they will say things that they think they need to say."

Her husband Marcus Evans, a consultant psychotherapist who quit his role as a governor at the Tavistock Continued on Page 2

Editorial Comment: Page 17

The Queen shakes hands with Marie-France van Heel, the wife of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, during a visit to Princess Margaret School in Antigua yesterday to meet students taking part in a writing workshop through the Queen's Commonwealth Writing Competition. The visit came before the Heads of Government meeting on the island

King's reminder that Navy helped end slavery

By Hannah Furness ROYAL EDITOR in Antigua and Barbuda

THE KING has reminded the Commonwealth that the Royal Navy led the way in ending the transatlantic slave trade.

In his speech at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua yesterday, the monarch told leaders that the “complex” histories of their forebears must include “the good they did as well as the wrongs”.

He said: “We cannot change the actions of those who came before us. We can, however, learn from the past. The transatlantic trade in enslaved persons still casts a shadow over these islands and other members of our Commonwealth. As I have said before, that shameful chapter of history is one that fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow.

“And yet history also teaches us that evil need not have the last word; that character and courage can combine to overcome the most monstrous injustice, as they did with the determination to end international trade in enslaved people, in which the Royal Navy played such a leading role.”

The King's trip to the Caribbean has been overshadowed by a row over whether Britain should apologise and pay reparations for its part in the slave trade. Last week, within two hours of landing in the Bahamas, he directly addressed the “great suffering” caused by slavery in the islands.

Days after the speech, Andy Burnham said he would be “open” to making an apology on behalf of Britain. The Prime Minister also pledged to give £40m to Caribbean projects including green-energy schemes in the West Indies.

Yesterday, Mr Burnham repeatedly refused to rule out spending more government money on Commonwealth nations as part of his “new approach” to “revitalise” the network of 56 countries. He said: “It’s not the case that we don’t support countries in the Commonwealth around development and helping them with debt issues that they’ve got, green finance, that’s what we’ve done under all governments.”

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said Mr Burnham should concentrate on defence rather than reparations.

Distancing the monarch from the row, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said that his contribution as head of the Commonwealth was “one of inspiring and convening rather than policy-making”.

Yesterday, the King said: "None of us, of course, would be here today were it not for our history, which has shaped us in myriad ways. History is not ours to choose or to change. It is bequeathed to us in complex synthesis by forebears we can never know. Our inheritance includes both their achievements and their failures – the good they did as well as the wrongs.

“History can be hard to compass, viewed as it is through the prism of time, which can be both clarifying and distorting, and yet its consequences resonate with contemporary force.

"Our history inspires us, can appal us, yet it can always teach us."

Buckingham Palace has made it clear that the King will not apologise for the historic slave trade, saying he is constitutionally unable to do so. He has expressed his personal sorrow, and has given permission for researchers to access the Royal Archives to establish the extent of the Royal family's own involvement centuries ago.

Reports: Page 5

Robert Tombs: Page 16

Russia blamed for ‘malicious’ bomb threats to flights across Europe

By Emily Smith, Lily Shanagher and Gareth Corfield

A SERIES of bomb threats grounded flights across Europe yesterday, raising suspicions of a co-ordinated sabotage attempt.

Experts pointed the finger at Russia, which was also accused of staging a provocation on the border with Poland.

At least seven planes, including three from Britain, were subjected to the threats after another flight to Sofia had been threatened on Monday. An airport in Warsaw was briefly shut and the

Italian air force accompanied one of the flights to Rome. An Israel-bound cruise ship was also searched for bombs in Greece.

A British government spokesman told The Telegraph that the threats against the UK flights had been a “malicious hoax”, though it was not clear how it was orchestrated.

Speculation quickly fell on Moscow. A former MI6 intelligence officer told The Telegraph that it was his first thought when he learned of the bomb threats, which fit a “pattern of behaviour” from the Kremlin. Yesterday morning, a flight from London Heathrow to Warsaw's main Chopin airport was diverted, forcing the closure of Modlin airport in the Polish capital while searches were carried out.

Chopin airport also received information about a dangerous item on board a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen. Police and bomb squads met the aircraft and declared the planes safe.

Later, two Ryanair planes – one from Lisbon and one from Dublin – were searched in Rome. The Dublin flight was escorted by the Italian air force until it landed. There were email threats against flights from Dublin and Bergamo to Sofia, but both planes landed safely and police found nothing.

A Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia was targeted with a “written security threat”. The plane landed as scheduled in Spain.

On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from London Luton to Sofia was forced to make an emergency landing in Budapest after a suspected bomb threat. All the alerts were false alarms.

While no country has pointed fingers over the bomb threats, European officials have repeatedly blamed Russia and Iran for what they describe as “hybrid attacks” and acts of sabotage.

Two of the planes were flying to Poland on the same day that Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, reported suspected Russian provocation along its border with the exclave of Kaliningrad.

Matthew Dunn, a former MI6 intelligence officer, told The Telegraph that he suspected Russia was behind the threats. "It was the first thought I had in terms of the ingenuity we are seeing play out with Russia, the shadow wars it's been playing right across Europe and elsewhere," he said. "The threat to our infrastructure in all its different guises will be a major priority from Russia to disrupt, delay or even to destroy all of that.

“This is conjecture, but in terms of the pattern of behaviour we have seen, accelerated over the last few years, in terms of other Russian actions, actions we know definitely belong to Russia, this would very much form that pattern.”

Matthew Borie, co-founder and chief intelligence officer of Osprey Flight Continued on Page 5

NEWS

INSIDE

BUSINESS

Ketchup sachets face ban under Brexit reset | Puzzles | 18 | Obituaries | 27 | TV listings | 28 | Weather | 31 |

Ketchup and mayonnaise sachets could be banned in British restaurants under plans to align with EU net zero laws. The restrictions on single-use plastics – which also apply to packets of sugar, salt, oil and vinegar – are set to be imposed throughout the EU and Northern Ireland from 2030. Ministers have signalled plans to extend the ban to the rest of the UK to create “alignment” after Andy Burnham’s EU reset, risking a backlash from Britain’s struggling hospitality sector. Page 3

Burnham climbdown over net zero subsidies

Andy Burnham has ordered a halt to new wind and solar power subsidies in a net zero climbdown aimed at cutting household energy bills. The Government revealed yesterday that next year's auction of contracts for difference – a form of state support for renewable energy projects – will be paused to ensure that it benefits consumers. This year's auction is expected award subsidies of hundreds of millions of pounds a year, paid for by households and businesses.

Page 19

'Hackers have taken control of all British supermarket trolleys'

Give the devil his due Carrick inspires epic United comeback

Sport

WORLD

Infantino asked Trump aide to get maid permit

Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, told his top go-between with Donald Trump to help secure a work permit for an immigrant maid at his luxury Miami home. Tax authorities have been urged to investigate the employment of the Nicaraguan woman who appeared at risk of deportation after a Trump-enforced law change. Carlos Cordeiro, part of the White House World Cup task force, was called in by Infantino to help secure the woman a work permit last year. Page 15

News

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Help fund vital support and care for those facing illness, disability and hardship. Your donation, however big or small, will make a lasting difference to people's lives.

Scan the QR code, call 0151 317 5247 or visit telegraph.co.uk/appeal2026 to make a donation

Infantino asked Trump aide to get maid permit

Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, told his top go-between with Donald Trump to help secure a work permit for an immigrant maid at his luxury Miami home. Tax authorities have been urged to investigate the employment of the Nicaraguan woman who appeared at risk of deportation after a Trump-enforced law change. Carlos Cordeiro, part of the White House World Cup task force, was called in by Infantino to help secure the woman a work permit last year. Page 15

News

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Give to our 40th

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Help fund vital support and care for those facing illness, disability and hardship. Your donation, however big or small, will make a lasting difference to people's lives.

Scan the QR code, call 0151 317 5247 or visit telegraph.co.uk/appeal2026 to make a donation

Trans bill ‘like using hammer to crack nut’

MPs, whistleblowers and charities back Telegraph campaign to stop Labour's ‘authoritarian overreach’

Continued from Page 1

because of the concerns over the way it was treating young people, said: "The bill should be stopped. It will have a chilling effect on parents, on the relationship between parents and children and on the professionals trying to help them. This legislation is exactly the opposite of what these children need – it is taking a hammer to crack a nut."

Rosie Duffield, a former Labour MP who left the party after it refused to apologise for subjecting her to a year-long investigation into her views on gender, said: "This chilling and totally unnecessary bill would outlaw conversations between concerned parents and their children, even in private and in their own home. It is impossible to police private family relationships this way, and many are fearful it will make advising confused children and teenagers impossible without fear of arrest."

Baroness Davies of Devonport, who has fought for trans women – biological men – to be excluded from women's sports teams, said: "This horrendous bill threatens to criminalise loving parents and even siblings, as well as potentially removing vulnerable children from their families, who just want to keep them safe during the emotional roller-coaster of puberty.

“Understanding biological reality or trying to stop your child starting a life of medication, that will very likely ruin their once healthy bodies, must not be criminalised. It’s not right for the state to remove parental responsibilities.”

The Government published the Draft Conversion Practices Bill in June. It says that people who use physical and psychological abuse to prevent children from saying they are gay or transgender will face five years in jail. Ministers insist it will not outlaw the expression of beliefs about LGBT identities or ban explorative conversations.

But Maya Forstater, the chief executive of Sex Matters, a women's rights charity, said: "The bill needs to be scrapped. It is authoritarian overreach that will criminalise ordinary parents for simply acting responsibly and seek-

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People

missing people

little

TROOPERS

For all Forces Families

Kidney Research UK

ing to protect their gender-distressed children from irrevocable harm."

The Prime Minister's spokesman insisted the draft legislation “doesn't touch regular parenting”. However, he refused to rule out some parents being charged, saying that gay and trans people “should never, without exception, have to suffer coercion or abuse in an effort to change who they are”.

Little Troopers helps children of British Armed Forces personnel cope with separation and the challenges of military life.

The spokesman said the measures would “not prevent open, exploratory, or challenging conversations between young people, or with parents, teachers, clinicians, or pastoral leaders”.

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People trains assistance dogs that help deaf people build confidence, independence and companionship.

A government spokesman said: “Successive governments have agreed for almost a decade that conversion practices have no place in modern Britain. This bill would outlaw a specific form of abuse, setting high bars which protect regular parenting. Parents are free to raise their children and have difficult, challenging conversations, but no one is free to commit abuse.”

Kidney Research UK funds research into preventing, treating and managing kidney disease, improving lives for those affected.

Missing People provides a lifeline to missing children and adults, and the family and friends left behind.

Hampstead Heath ponds 'discriminate against women'

By Telegraph Reporter

HAMPSTEAD Heath ponds “indirectly discriminate against women”, the High Court has heard.

The Sex Matters charity is challenging the City of London Corporation's rules allowing trans people to use the facilities at the north London swimming ponds according to the gender with which they identify.

The charity's lawyers told the High Court yesterday that the arrangement put women at a “particular group disadvantage compared to men” because they were at greater risk of their privacy, dignity and sense of safety being “compromised”.

The corporation is defending the claim, telling the court there have been no substantiated incidents of inappropriate behaviour.

In June, the corporation confirmed the Highgate men's pond would be open to transgender men whose biological sex was female, while transgender women whose biological sex was male would continue to have access to the Kenwood ladies' pond.

Tom Cross KC said the arrangements “indirectly discriminate against women without legal justification”.

Acting on behalf of the City of London Corporation, Daniel Stilitz KC, said in written submissions: “There is no evidence before the court of any risk posed by the admission of trans women to the ladies’ pond.”

The hearing is expected to conclude today, with a judgment expected in writing at a later date.

Maya Forstater, centre, in pink, chief executive of Sex Matters, alongside other campaigners and Hampstead Heath pond swimmers outside the High Court yesterday

Think again on gender law that'll make criminals of parents

Baroness Falkner

SHOULD a parent be jailed for a good-faith conversation with their child?

Few would say yes. But if the Government's euphemistically named Conversion Practices Bill is passed, that is precisely the threat that will face not just parents, but teachers, social workers and others seeking to support children who feel distressed about the fact they are a boy or a girl, or whether they may be gay, lesbian or bisexual.

The term “conversion practices”, sometimes referred to as “conversion therapy”, is a shocking one. It conjures up horrific practices that were once used to attempt to “cure” gay people of same-sex attraction – practices such as electroshock therapy, exorcisms and even rape. Such practices are rightly considered abhorrent. They are already illegal in the UK. The Government would have you believe that the latest draft Bill is simply intended to tidy up any loopholes.

But as the report I have co-authored for Policy Exchange with Akua Reindorf KC, Not What It Says on the Tin, makes clear, the scope of the Bill goes far wider. It is an unprecedented and unwarranted intrusion into family life, that could jail parents for up to five years for “crimes” such as refusing to use a child’s preferred name, refusing to fund gender reassignment or for seeking, with the best of intentions, to dissuade a child from embarking upon a course of medical intervention that leads to permanent sterility.

Every year, thousands of children question their gender. This is often triggered by repressive gender stereotypes that make them feel they must conform to what is “expected” of being a boy or a girl. Children with autism are disproportionately likely to experience this distress, as are those who will grow up to be same-sex attracted. For many of these children, such feelings will pass, which is why Hilary Cass, in her landmark review, recommended that social transition of such children was a significant intervention, which should not be undertaken lightly.

What such children need is support, yet the draft Bill would criminalise ordinary, good-faith conversations between vulnerable children and those seeking to help them. Additional problems include the lack of any

'Parents could be jailed for up to five years for refusing to use a child's preferred name'

statutory defence beyond a minimal exemption for healthcare, meaning that it would be no defence to say that it was reasonable to carry out a certain course of action. It enables private

prosecutions, exposing individuals and charities to malicious prosecutions by activists. And it has no minimum-age limit. With 10 being the age of criminal responsibility, this means children at primary school could be prosecuted for playground conversations.

The draft Bill would smuggle long-term goals of trans activists on to the statute books by the back door, despite these having been repeatedly rejected by Government. This would include effectively mandating the “affirmative approach” to supporting children, and bringing in the concept of gender self-ID, where a person who claims to be male or female must always be treated as one.

The Bill appears oblivious to human-rights law in Britain. In its current form it breaches numerous rights including the right to a fair trial, the right to a family life, the freedom to express religious or other beliefs, while curtailing freedom of expression. The impact of its measures on parental rights and duties and children's safeguarding is substantial.

It will be unworkable unless it is considerably revised and then subjected to a full public consultation.

But better still, the Government should think again. A Conversion

Practices Bill was first promised by Theresa May in 2018; a commitment to introducing such a Bill appeared in the Queen's Speech in 2021 and 2022. Yet the Conservatives were unable to find a way to make such a Bill work – because it is unworkable. Indeed, medical transition can itself be considered a form of “conversion therapy”, for some parents who would “prefer to have a straight daughter than a gay son” or vice versa.

One alternative to the Bill would be to add a new “aggravating factor” in sentencing to existing law, so that where a criminal offence is motivated by a desire to change the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity the penalty may be increased. It is true that this Bill was in the Government’s 2024 manifesto. He should reflect upon whether some manifesto commitments are best quietly abandoned.

Baroness Falkner is a Distinguished Fellow of Policy Exchange and a former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission

NEWS BULLETIN

Pupils to study GCSE in Ukrainian from 2028

Pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will soon be able to study a Ukrainian GCSE, the Department of Education has announced

Aimed at young people displaced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the qualification, from 2028, aims to help pupils preserve their cultural heritage. The number of people taking Russian GCSEs had spiked in recent years, potentially because Ukrainian pupils were urged to take it, in the absence of a Ukrainian qualification.

It was reported last year that Ukrainian officials were “deeply concerned” at potentially retraumatising displaced teenagers by pushing them to learn Russian.

Jewellery raiders caught through travel card data

Two prolific burglars have been jailed after detectives used Oyster card travel data to link them to a series of London burglaries in which a Rolex watch and gold jewellery were stolen.

Clirim Ferizi, 26, was caught on CCTV topping up his Oyster at Ruislip station after a burglary, which he had travelled to using the bus and Tube.

He and Oresti Saliaj, 40, who was jailed for three and a half years in April, had been targeting homes belonging to south Asian families, the Metropolitan Police said, believing they would find expensive jewellery.

Ferizi was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Isleworth Crown Court yesterday, the force said.

Knifeman believed he was fighting a demon

The man accused of stabbing 10 people on a train near Huntingdon believed one of his earlier victims was a demon, a court has heard.

Anthony Williams, 33, attacked passengers on a train from Doncaster to London on Nov 1, 2025. The service stopped in Cambridgeshire, where armed police arrested Williams.

Earlier, Williams had attacked Isaiah Idris, then 17, on a Docklands Light Railway train in east London. According to a witness, Williams appeared to believe Mr Idris was a demon before slashing him across the face. Williams denies attempted murder but admits wounding with intent. The trial continues.

Army chief sorry for soldier's training death

The head of the Army has apologised to the family of a soldier who was killed during a training exercise.

Pte Jethro Watson-Pickering, 23, died from head injuries after the gun barrel of his armoured vehicle struck a tree during the exercise on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.

The death of the soldier, from the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive, which has now issued the Ministry of Defence with a Crown Censure for the incident in October 2021.

Gen Sir Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff, said: "We fully accept the Health and Safety Executive's Crown Censure findings."

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Sauce sachets squeezed out by EU laws

Condiment packets to be lumped in with straws and plastic cups in push to cut down on waste

By Amy Gibbons

POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

KETCHUP and mayonnaise sachets could be banned in British restaurants under plans to align with EU net zero laws.

The restrictions on single-use plastics – which also apply to packets of sugar, salt, oil and vinegar – are set to be imposed throughout the EU and Northern Ireland from 2030.

Ministers have now signalled plans to extend the ban to England, Scotland and Wales to create “alignment” across the UK after Andy Burnham's EU reset. The move risks a backlash from Britain's struggling hospitality sector, which is already reeling from increases to the minimum wage, employment taxes and business rates.

On Monday, Emma Hardy, the environment minister, said the Government would launch a consultation on “UK alignment” with the new EU rules on packaging waste.

In answer to a parliamentary question from the Conservatives, she said: "The European Union's ban on the sale or provision of single-serving sachets or containers of ketchup, mayonnaise, sugar, salt, oil and vinegar will apply in Northern Ireland under the [Windsor Framework, which mandates it must follow EU rules on goods] but will not apply in the rest of the UK under EU reset. A consultation regarding UK alignment is being planned."

Sachets could be banned in the UK thanks to new rules in the EU

The European Union rules go further than the existing ban on single-use items in England, which applies to plastic cutlery, balloon sticks and polystyrene cups.

The regulations will forbid European restaurants and hotels from offering ketchup and mayonnaise sachets to dine-in customers from January 2030, to cut down on “unnecessary” waste.

Northern Ireland will also have to abide by the new rules, despite not being part of the EU, under the post-Brexit measures designed to prevent a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

It is unclear whether the Government intends to align the UK with other other aspects of the new EU laws, which will also ban mini shampoo bottles in hotels and plastic shrink wrap around suitcases in airports from 2030.

Last night, Mr Burnham said that the public would expect him to grab the chance to deepen ties with the EU “with both hands”, and claimed that following EU rules on food standards would add 0.4 per cent to the UK’s GDP.

He told broadcasters: "What's facing me two weeks on Friday is a UK-EU summit where I have the opportunity to add to UK growth. It's estimated up to 0.4 per cent extra on GDP.

"I think people in Britain would expect me to take that with both hands, given where we've been in recent times.

“And that’s what I’m doing. We’re not in the EU, therefore we do have to

'That's what I've been doing... having a really constructive relationship with our European partners'

work with them in a different way. But if that can get growth, if that can help our farmers, if that can remove red tape from British businesses, I think most people would expect me to go to that summit and negotiate the best deal that I can.

“That’s what I’ve been doing in recent weeks, leaning in, being positive, having a really constructive relationship with our European partners and hopefully we can land a good deal for Britain in terms of growth but also I hope more collaboration on controlling immigration.”

Ms Hardy did not explain why the Government had chosen to consult on UK alignment, or when the consultation would be launched.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been approached for comment.

What the Dickens

Johnny Depp goes full Ebenezer Scrooge at Bryant Park Winter Village in New York as the 63-year-old American actor promotes Ebenezer. The black comedythriller, in which Depp stars as the misanthropic businessman who hates Christmas, will be released on Nov 13.

Heatwave leaves us pining for Christmas trees as shortage hits

By Tom McArdle

BRITAIN is set for a Christmas tree shortage after its hottest ever summer.

Tree growers across the country said hot temperatures, dry weather and drought meant many newly planted trees did not survive their first year.

While trees remain in the ground for around eight years before being cut, it has prompted concern about the health of this year's harvest and a tree shortage in years to come. Oliver Combe, 57, who has worked at York Christmas Trees for 40 years, said it had been a “tough year” for growers.

“For the first time ever we have had losses in what we planted last year,” he told The Telegraph.

The Christmas tree grower, who was last month chosen to supply the tree for No10, said he had switched to autumn planting to enable strong root growth before inevitable summer droughts.

However, this year the hot, dry summer resulted in the loss of around 2,000 of his 15,000 newly planted trees. “This year, we have had no proper rain since Easter,” he said.

The lack of rainfall also meant fertiliser was not easily absorbed by the older trees.

Mr Combe is now looking to irrigate his crops after successive dry summers, having previously opted not to in favour of trees growing deeper roots to find moisture themselves.

Describing the hot weather of recent summers, he said: "The summer of 2018 was pretty extreme. We did think it was an exception before but very, very hot summers are becoming the norm.

“In Yorkshire, we used to have drier Aprils and Mays but it seems to be drier for longer. We all think ‘oh, it will balance out over August’, but one of my fields is still bone dry.”

England had its driest July on record, with just 5.6mm of rain. Meanwhile, the Met Office said this summer surpassed 1976 as the hottest on record.

The average daily maximum temperature of 21.3C beat the previous record of 21C, set 50 years ago.

Mr Combe said the future for Christmas tree-growing in England is “worrying” and urged people to avoid purchasing trees until the beginning of December when they have experienced frosts, which helps them last longer.

Elsewhere, James Wallis, who runs Sutton Hall Farm near Lewes, East Sussex, with his wife Ruth, said the effect on their business had been severe. The couple lost 20,000 trees they planted two years ago as a result of the weather. Mr Wallis told the BBC: "The drought has made it harder for trees to absorb nutrients, and some have turned yellow."

Mrs Wallis added: "The financial consequences are significant."

Russell Parkins, chairman of the British Christmas Tree Association, said: "There are enough trees, but it's a challenge to keep them in good condition."

David Walliams theme park to shut after author accused of harassing young women

By Patrick Sawer and Fiona Parker

THE David Walliams theme park at Alton Towers is to close permanently, after The Telegraph exposed claims that he had harassed young women.

The owner of Alton Towers has announced that following a review of its attractions the World of David Walliams – which featured rides such as Gangsta Granny and Raj's Bouncy Bottom Burp! – closed its doors yesterday.

It comes nearly a year after Walliams was dropped by his publisher following an investigation by The Telegraph into allegations of inappropriate behaviour. Walliams, 55, one of the country's best-selling children's authors, faced accusations that he had "harassed" junior female employees at Harper Collins.

One woman who raised concerns was given a five-figure payoff by the publisher and left the business. Former staff also said employees were told to work in “pairs” when meeting Walliams and were advised not to visit his home.

He has strongly denied the allegations. Merlin Entertainments, which has operated Alton Towers, in Staffordshire, since 2007, said yesterday that it had taken the decision to shut World of David Williams after carrying out its annual review process at the end of the main season.

A spokesman said: "As the 2026 peak season at Alton Towers Resort comes to an end and following our regular review of rides and attractions across the resort, we have taken the decision to permanently close the World of David Wal-

liams." The announce ment coincides with the seasonal closure of Alton Towers until next year. The World of David Walliams

opened in 2021, promising “brilliant rides” inspired by

The World of David Walliams at Alton Towers opened in 2021, right; Gangsta Granny, below

the characters in his books, including one called the Royal Carousel and a merchandise outlet called Raj's Shop.

Alton Towers said it had yet to decide the future use of the area occupied by The World of David Walliams.

Walliams, who rose to fame more than 20 years ago through the comedy series Little Britain, has since become one of Britain's most successful authors, with more than 40 books and short story collec-

tions to his name and sales of more than 60 million copies.

In 2019, it was estimated that he and his publisher had sold £100m worth of books. His books have been widely used in schools and translated into 55 languages,

Walliams has been contacted for comment.

Badenoch's broadside knocks Prime Minister for six

Sketch

By Ed Cumming

CREDIT to CCHQ: there are few places more fitting for a discussion of British defence spending than HMS Wellington, a former Royal Navy ship that is now a multi-function centre moored on the embankment at Temple.

It served in the Arctic convoys; now it serves Arctic rolls.

Admiral Badenoch was in front of us, addressing her faithful mariners, although not before she nearly slipped over on the damp deck. Even in these progressive times, there is a reason naval officers tend not to wear stiletto heels. To be fair to her, there was a slight swell and roll. Can you claim Pip for seasickness?

Still, it is a reflection on our political class that, merely by staying upright, Badenoch was one up on her Labour counterpart. Four thousand miles to the west in Antigua, Andy Burnham had fallen over while going for a run playing cricket. Politicians complain about sticky wickets, but sometimes the wicket isn't sticky enough.

Badenoch told the throng. “This ship is a fantastic reminder of when Britain took defence seriously.” The Royal Navy, she explained, “defended prosperity, freedom of navigation and free trade” and “defeated fascism”. Finally, it “was our Royal Navy that helped end the slave trade”.

While ostensibly this was yet another speech about how we need to cut welfare to fund defence, really it was an opportunity for Badenoch to score a few quick singles off the Prime Minister about reparations while he was labouring in the Caribbean. “And where is our Prime Minister today?” she asked, the wind filling her sails. “He’s in Antigua. He should be talking about resilience.”

Instead, she said, he was “apologising for slavery, something that happened two centuries ago.” The British public has been consistently opposed to apologies and reparations, which means the Labour Left, with their usual infallible power-seeking instincts, cannot get enough of them. Ed Miliband is always itching to apologise, although not to his brother.

Splice the mainbrace, indeed. Politics, like naval battles, can be decided by superior gunnery.

News

Andy Burnham ends up flat on his back going for a run during a cricket match in Antigua. The PM met West Indies great Sir Viv Richards at the Bullets Cricket Ground

Britain to fund poorest EU countries in Brexit reset

By Joe Barnes and James Crisp

BRITAIN has agreed to pay into European Union development schemes as the price for rejoining the bloc's electricity market, according to a draft text seen by The Telegraph.

Taxpayer money will be funnelled into projects to build roads, airports and green energy facilities across the bloc's poorer member states under the plan.

In exchange, British energy companies will be allowed to trade freely in the EU's single market for electricity.

"We agree that the UK's participation in parts of the EU's internal market requires an appropriate level of financial contribution towards reducing economic and social disparities between the regions of the EU that reflects the degree of the UK's participation in the EU's internal market," a draft joint EU-UK statement seen by The Telegraph said.

The statement has been circulated among European diplomats before a joint summit later this month.

At the gathering, Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, alongside EU leaders, will announce the completion of a series of mini-deals aimed at resetting post-Brexit relations between Britain and the bloc. Britain has agreed to align with the EU's rulebook on food safety and emissions to cut the paperwork needed to trade with the bloc, and stop certain products being hit by levies.

It means the country will realign with hundreds of regulations drafted in Brussels and submit to the jurisdiction of the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice. The food deal “would allow that the vast majority of movements of animals, animal products, plants and plant products between Great Britain and the Crown Dependencies and the EU to take place without the certificates or controls that are currently required”, the statement said.

A separate youth mobility deal would allow young Europeans to work, study, volunteer or travel in the UK, and vice versa, for up to three years.

The Telegraph understands that member states have not yet been presented with how much money they could receive from Britain under the deal. It is understood that British officials also believe the document represents a series of demands by Brussels that will be used in future negotiations over potential deals.

A government spokesman said: “We are building an ambitious, close relationship with the EU that will strengthen our economy, protect British industry, and create more opportunities for young people across the UK.”

Burnham: Cutting welfare will cause crime

Whose side EU on? PM backs Europe over US on war crimes court

Brutal savings will leave people in crisis, says PM, but Tories insist system must work for taxpayers

By Nick Gutteridge

CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

THE PRIME Minister has suggested that cutting benefits would force people to turn to crime.

Andy Burnham attacked the Conservatives' plans to cut £36bn from welfare spending, arguing that it would heap pressure on the criminal justice system and the NHS.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, has said she would cut the benefits bill by ending handouts to foreigners and stopping claims for low-level mental health conditions.

The Prime Minister told ITV: "If [the

Tories] were to do that, there'd be another big number over here for the utter chaos that they cause in people's lives. If you just go to brutal cuts, you will leave people in absolute crisis and then they will be going into other services in a chaotic way.

"If you come at it from a numbers game, you'll just make those cuts and you'll throw people into crisis, so the £36bn won't be a number that will hold because you'll be spending money on people in A&E and the police, [the] criminal justice system."

A surge in sickness claims, especially for mental health conditions, has left taxpayers facing a £100bn-a-year benefits bill by the start of the next decade.

Mr Burnham said he wanted to cut welfare spending but refused to say by how much, insisting he would not put “a number before people”.

He said that savings would not be achieved through “a cuts agenda” but

Andy Burnham will side with the EU against Donald Trump over the US president's war on the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Britain and Brussels will declare their "unwavering support" for the Hague-based war crimes tribunal in a thinly veiled rebuke of Mr Trump at a Brexit reset summit on Nov 20.

The US hit the ICC with sanctions and urged allies to withdraw from the court after it issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu last year. The court had accused Mr Trump's ally in the war against Iran of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

According to a draft seen by The Telegraph, the UK and EU will say in a joint summit statement in Brussels: "We condemn attacks or threats against the court, its elected officials, its personnel and those cooperating with the court."

The draft, which is subject to change, adds: “We reaffirm our commitment to effective multilateralism, with the United Nations at its core, and our unwavering support for the international criminal justice system, particularly the

International Criminal Court."

The UK and all the EU's 27 members are among the 125 signatories to the ICC, which was set up in 2002 to try people accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Major powers, including the US, China, India, Israel and Russia have either never signed or failed to ratify the Rome Statute, its founding treaty.

by putting in place more employment support to help people into work.

"If you come at it through that normal Westminster mindset of saying we must cut X amount from the system, it will fail again," he added.

Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: "Andy Burnham would rather defend a bloated benefits bill than tackle the spiralling cost of welfare.

“You cannot keep pouring taxpayers’ money into welfare and pretend that is a plan for fixing the country. Labour’s work and pensions secretary said himself that all Labour MPs want to do is tax people more to pay for more benefits Only the Conservatives have a plan to cut the welfare bill and deliver £36bn of savings per year to make sure the system works for the taxpayers who pay for it.”

Labour is under growing pressure over its failure to take action in last month's Budget. Mr Healey, the Chancellor, has been forced to admit that Labour will not reduce spending on benefits before the next election.

Ministers are awaiting the publication of two reviews – one on youth unemployment and the other on the personal independence payment (PIP) – later this month.

In the first, Alan Milburn, a former Labour health secretary, will say that tackling joblessness amongst the young will require the Treasury to plough billions more into employment support schemes under a long-term “invest to save” model.

The second, being led by Sir Stephen Timms, the social security minister, is expected to set out proposals to overhaul the PIP system, which is “not fit for purpose”.

But that review was not tasked with finding savings, meaning its proposals may not cut any money at all from the ballooning welfare bill.

Mahmood to crack down on foreign students' right to settle

By Charles Hymas

HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR

SHABANA MAHMOOD will crack down on asylum seekers who use work and student visas as a backdoor to settle permanently in the UK.

The Home Secretary will introduce rules that will force them to wait more than a decade longer for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in Britain, even if they have already spent years working or studying in the UK.

It is part of a tougher approach by Ms Mahmood to migrants perceived as exploiting the UK's asylum system and designed to counter criticisms that she has watered down her reforms on ILR.

She was accused of a climbdown on Monday after sparing nearly 300,000 foreign care workers from longer waits for the right to settle in the UK, in a move predicted to cost the taxpayer nearly £10bn. The new curbs – part of the “earned settlement” reforms announced on Monday – are targeted at the 35,000 migrants a year who claim asylum after entering the UK legally on work, study or tourist visas.

They represent more than 40 per cent of all asylum seekers, outnumbering those who seek asylum after entering the UK illegally by crossing the Channel on small boats. Many choose to seek asylum when their visa is about to expire, which would force them to leave the UK and return to their home countries. Under Ms Mahmood's proposals, they will no longer be allowed to count the years they have spent working or studying in the UK towards their entitlement for ILR.

The clock will only start when they are granted refugee status, from which time they will have to wait up to 20 years before seeking ILR like other asylum seekers – unless they decide to work or continue their studies. If they study and work, they will be entitled to seek permanent settlement after a decade.

Previously, a foreign worker who spent four years on a visa could seek ILR a year after being granted asylum. Under the new rules, they will have to wait up to 24 years, including their time in the UK on their initial visa.

Any refugee granted asylum after arriving illegally on a small boat will have to wait 30 years, unless they enter work or study, which would reduce their wait for ILR by 10 years.

The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said the tough baseline “tests” for migrants seeking ILR could mean some may never be able to settle permanently in the UK.

Under the rules, all migrants must have no state debt to qualify for ILR. However, Ben Brindle, a senior researcher at the Observatory, said new laws requiring them to pay back their asylum accommodation costs could prove difficult for them. “That’s a group with low income and low employment rates. That might prevent refugees from getting settlement all together,” he said.

Migrants will be required to have a “spotless” criminal record, meaning any fines, community sentences or driving offences such as a drink-driving ban could bar them from ILR.

They must also speak English to A-level standard, and have reached the National Insurance threshold of £12,571 for five of the previous seven years.

Ms Mahmood admitted the climb-down on 300,000 care workers would increase the welfare bill but insisted that her compromise plan would still shave billions of pounds off the Home Office's previous projection.

Andy Burnham refused to say yesterday whether he had ordered Ms Mahmood to water down her initial plans. Asked whether he had intervened, the Prime Minister dodged the question and instead said Ms Mahmood's updated reforms had "got the balance right".

He said: "I fully support what the Home Secretary has been doing.

“She has put forward a package that is tough but also listens to the consultation that was held and respects the fact that people came here to work in care in this country at our request, they answered our call and I think the Home Secretary has got the balance right.”

The true cost of migrant U-turn could be as much as £52bn

Robert Jenrick

IT is a rule of British politics that the things that matter most invariably receive the least scrutiny. Just look at “Net Zero 2050”, passed with less debate than the decision to ban plastic straws.

When it comes to fiscal policy, a fundamental asymmetry exists. If I decide to set out a plan for spending taxpayer money – whether it's keeping the triple lock, or raising the personal allowance – I am rightly expected to explain how I'm going to pay for it.

The same goes for the Chancellor, John Healey. Even the most minute amounts of Treasury spending are subject to scrutiny.

Yet other policies, which cost far more, are pushed through without any funding detail at all. Take, for instance, Shabana Mahmood's decision to back down to the baying mob of backbench Labour MPs, and carve out care workers from reforms of indefinite leave to remain (ILR). She's refused to come clean with the public about how much the decision will cost.

Read through the Government's statement, or its response to the consultation document, and you'll get lots of warm, fuzzy language about “contributions”. What you won’t find is cold, hard figures. The truth is that for most migrants, “contributing” by the Government’s definition means earning just £1 over the personal allowance: paying 20p in income tax for five years. In exchange, they will receive entitlement to a lifetime of welfare. And for care workers, there’s a separate system entirely.

It's important to be clear what this means. This isn't the price of keeping the care sector going. We've seen

books. Which is exactly why Mahmood doesn't want to come clean about the cost of her U-turn.

'This decision will haunt this country's finances for generations. In fact, it's a generational mistake'

what happens when care workers get residence before, in Canada: just 15 per cent stayed in care work long term.

The rest quite rationally left for better-paying, less stressful jobs, left Canada, or left work entirely.

It's the same old problem. Giving British workers a pay rise goes on the fiscal scorecard. Migration doesn't. You can put a giant hole in the public finances, set up a fiscal time bomb that will cost taxpayers tens upon tens of billions, and the Treasury won't make a peep so long as you keep it off the

Last year, the Government's own analysis suggested that giving ILR to care workers and their adult partners would cost the taxpayer £10bn. Read that again. Even without counting the cost of their children, that figure is the same as the Government's AI investment plan for the NHS.

Unfortunately, I believe it's also far too low. Earlier this year, Reform UK put together our own analysis of the care worker cohort. Put together lifetime entitlements to NHS care, Universal Credit, pensions, and the costs of educating their children, and our estimate is that carving out care workers will cost the UK £52bn: almost £1,800 for each of the 29 million households in Britain.

It's a decision that will haunt this country's public finances for generations. In fact, it's a generational mistake.

We can debate spending on this or that policy, and the Chancellor's budget "headroom", but it all pales into insignificance compared to this one massive call. We have to reverse it. Anything else would be simply unfair to the taxpayer, and devastating to our public finances.

Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP is Reform UK's treasury spokesman

Royal litter pick lightens mood after tense talk

SHUTTERSTOCK/VICTORIA JONES—

Hannah Furness

ROYAL EDITOR

in Antigua and Barbuda

Beach clean-up in Antigua is moment of levity in visit dominated by the issue of slave trade reparations

WIELDING litter pickers like swords, the King and Queen made their way across the sand of Fort James Beach collecting discarded plastic.

On Antigua for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, they did their bit to leave the landscape a little better than they found it by joining local volunteers.

The King said he was “shocked” to hear that 71 bags of rubbish were collected from the beach that morning in just two hours, while the Queen told those involved with projects focused on marine protection: “Thank goodness for all of you.”

The Queen, who had taken her shoes off and was carrying a parasol to shelter from the sun, was given a gift of a bright blue bracelet made from discarded kite surf materials.

“Thank you, it matches my dress!” she said.

After the Queen collected so much rubbish, one aide told her: “Ma’am, you’ve not left any for the King to pick up.”

The King and Queen also watched a game of beach volleyball, and posed for a photograph with young people from a swimming school.

The engagement came shortly after the King had given a speech to the CHOGM opening ceremony in which he reminded leaders about Britain's role in ending the historic slave trade.

From there, the couple embarked on a programme of engagements to showcase the best of Antigua and highlight some of their own key campaigning issues including the environment and literacy.

Some of the events provided a moment of levity in what has been a trip dominated by discussion about slave trade reparations.

In a separate engagement, at the Princess Margaret School in Antigua, the Queen heaped praise on schoolchildren for their literacy abilities, telling them to “keep on reading and writing”.

Joined by Marie-France van Heel, the wife of Andy Burnham, and Jodi Haydon, the wife of Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, she listened to a steel band before meeting students.

The Queen told them: “It’s so important you keep on reading and writing and great you are all so involved.”

She then presented certificates to the winners of the Queen's Commonwealth Writing Competition, bringing together 70 secondary school students from across Antigua and Barbuda.

Afterwards, she donated a copy of the book Impossible Creatures, by Katherine Rundell, which she is

handing to all year six children in the UK as part of the National Year of Reading.

The Queen's Commonwealth Writing Competition is the world's oldest international writing competition for schools and has been delivered by the Royal Commonwealth Society since 1883.

In the playground outside, the Queen viewed a student art exhibition exploring the landscape, heritage and people of the Commonwealth.

She was particularly interested in a colourful painting by Yohander Jarvis Sanchez, 16, who showed the Queen his image depicting the history of slavery.

Titled The Rhythm of Freedom, the painting displayed an enslaved man in chains breaking free from the

shackles in a symbol of emancipation. He told the Queen: "It shows our history and progress and how anything is possible for our future." She replied: "Well, it is certainly very powerful. Well done."

She was also shown two baby rabbits the children were taking turns to care for as part of their curriculum.

The chickens provide eggs that are sold to the local community, with the birds eventually being sold to the local butcher.

Before leaving, the Queen told the children they were “fantastic”, adding: “I hope you all continue to thrive – I have been so impressed with you all and your teachers at this fantastic school.”

At an event with The King's Trust, the King spoke of his pride in

The King and Queen pose with young people from a swimming school on Fort James Beach, Antigua, above, while slave trade protesters make their point, left

the charity as he met young people in the year of its 50th anniversary

Vida Betances-Reyes, of the Commonwealth Youth Task Force, told the King about the need to help young entrepreneurs across the Commonwealth. The King said: “It’s exactly what I said 50 years ago.”

The King and Queen have carried out 34 engagements during the trip. The King has spent eight days in the Caribbean, visiting the Bahamas and Guyana, before the Queen joined him in Antigua and Barbuda.

Last night, the King and Queen hosted a formal dinner for the Commonwealth heads.

The King was set to deliver a second speech of the day, with the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda and the prime minister of Tonga delivering toasts.

Andrew called to court over £1.4m gift from alleged fraudster

By Tim Sigsworth

ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR has been called to the witness box to explain why he was given more than a million pounds by an alleged fraudster.

The former prince has been served with a summons to attend London's High Court to explain payments linked to Selman Turk, a former Goldman Sachs banker who is accused of stealing £40m from Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, a Turkish millionaire. The former duke, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and his daughters are said to have received transfers of £1.4m relating to the case.

It was thought that they would dodge scrutiny after reaching a confidential settlement with Mrs Isbilen in 2023.

A High Court judge ruled last month that Mr Turk can issue the King's brother with a witness summons to force him to explain the reasons for the payments, during the trial which begins in November.

It is understood to be the first time since 1870 that a member of the Royal family will be subject to summons after the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, was forced to deny having an affair with Lady Harriet Mordaunt in her divorce case.

The summons was served to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor this week, according to BBC News. His court appearance is expected to shed some light on his financial situation, which has long been shrouded in secrecy.

He will be questioned on whether he used his position to obtain information to assist Mrs Isbilen's husband, a political prisoner in Turkey, at the same time the transfers were made. Neither the judge nor Mr Turk's legal team have been told the full details of the confidential settlement with Mrs Isbilen.

It would add to the legal woes of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, who is under police investigation for misconduct in public office relating to his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He denies all allegations against him.

Mr Turk's legal team applied for permission to call Mr Mountbatten-Windsor on the basis that payments to the family are central to the claims that he was dishonest. He said the transfers were a gift for Princess Beatrice's wedding and a loan to help Mr Mountbatten-Windsor pay for a Swiss chalet, which he said Mrs Isbilen made in order to secure his help with her husband.

Mrs Isbilen's legal team argued against the witness summons, saying that the application was made too late in the case and Mr Turk had no evidence that he had asked Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to give evidence and he had refused. But Mr Justice Adam Johnson said he was satisfied that "had he been asked, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor would have declined to provide a witness statement".

Mr Turk was helping Mrs Isbilen after she fled to the UK when her husband, Ilhan Isbilen, the former deputy leader of the ruling AK Party, had been imprisoned in 2015 after an attempted coup in Turkey. But she alleged that the banker defrauded her of nearly £40m. Mr Turk denies all the allegations against him.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Mountbatten-Windsor or his family.

Russia ‘would want to make it feel like air travel isn’t safe in Europe’

Police and sniffer dogs inspect the Ryanair plane that landed in Murcia yesterday

Continued from Page 1

Solutions, an aviation risk intelligence agency, said the bomb hoaxes “would fit into a pattern of hybrid warfare incidents against critical infrastructure”.

He pointed to hybrid attacks such as the one on Leipzig airport, which was targeted by an explosives-laden drone in September. Mr Borie said it may be retaliation for the disruption to Russian air travel in Moscow caused by Ukrainian attacks.

“Who is facilitating the Ukrainian attacks? Nato countries. If it’s perceived that air travel isn’t safe in Russia, they would want to make it perceived that air travel isn’t safe in Europe.”

Mr Borie also noted that the disruption coincided with Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Berlin yesterday. Yesterday, unidentified hackers who shut down fridges in supermarkets in several European countries this week also hacked into fridges in the UK. Some experts said the hoax bomb threats could be part of a similar pattern of low-cost, deniable disruption efforts.

Eric Schouten, the head of aviation security group Dyami, told Reuters: "From railways to the food infrastructure that you see happening with the fridges being hacked and all kinds of other operations, it does fit the narrative of Russian state actors who want to disturb Europe." A government spokesman said: "The UK has one of the most robust aviation security systems in the world, with well-tested processes for dealing with any potential threats, as well as malicious hoax threats, like those we've seen today. Our world-leading police and intelligence agencies work closely every day to keep us safe."

A government source would not be drawn on the identities of those sending the threats, nor whether they had been co-ordinated by a foreign state or some other group.

Pupils from a London Jewish school were caught up in the bomb scare on a flight to Poland yesterday. The teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were among 181 people aboard the LOT Polish Airlines flight which landed at Warsaw-Modlin airport following the bomb threat.

The passengers were evacuated without their luggage as security teams searched the aircraft.

Cold case: British food suppliers caught up in wave of fridge hacks

By Joe Sledge

BRITISH food suppliers have been caught up in the wave of fridge hacks that has hit supermarkets across Europe.

A UK fruit and vegetable wholesaler said that six out of its 10 fridges had been hacked on Monday, while the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers said some of its members had become “collateral” in the cyber attack.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), an arm of GCHQ, said yesterday it was aware of “instances where vulnerable technology has been exploited in the UK”.

It emerged on Monday that dozens of grocery shops in Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg and Estonia had been targeted by hackers, just weeks after hundreds of supermarkets in France were hit.

Hackers have tampered with fridges, raising their temperatures to dangerous levels and spoiling millions of euros in food. UK officials have so far insisted that only a small number of companies have become victims in the attacks, where hackers exploit security vulnerabilities on industrial fridges that are connected to the internet.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, Alex Pearce, the managing director of fruit and vegetable supplier Langridge Organic, said he had noticed on Monday morning that two of his company's fridges were showing "abnormal temperatures and defrost settings".

“A third fridge suddenly went into a defrost mode... At the back of my mind I thought, ‘I think we’re being hacked.’ So I unplugged the cable from the wall which disconnected our fridges from the outside world.”

He said the company's fridges had been set as high as 150C. Mr Pearce said: "I reckon I caught them by luck right in the middle of it being hacked."

Elsewhere, the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers said some of its 300 members had “unexpectedly become collateral” from the hack. A spokesman said: “None who have been affected have lost any meat, but once again this must act as a reminder to all in the food industry, at whatever point in the supply chain they are, that their businesses may be seen by some as targets.”

Officials have yet to confirm who is behind the attacks, and so far no group has claimed responsibility. It is thought that the UK's major supermarkets have not been affected.

The hacks in France in October affected fridges supplied by Danish engineering giant Danfoss. In response to the attacks, Danfoss has said that most of the affected fridges were either older systems or newer ones running on outdated software.

Richard Horne, the NCSC's chief executive, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it had “worked through the night” to alert potentially affected organisations in the UK.

Mr Horne warned firms yesterday that AI would be used to carry out a ransomware attack on Britain's critical infrastructure in the next two years, and that organisations have spent years saving money instead of shoring up their cyber defences.

He linked under-investment in cyber security to the attacks on fridges, saying: "For decades we have collectively got away with tech on the cheap.

"Our resulting exposure as a society is huge and increasingly exploited in cyber attacks, as we saw in the recent disruption of refrigeration units in supermarkets in France."

Industry sources said the NCSC had issued advice to retailers and was in touch with bosses to ensure that they were patching any vulnerabilities.

An NCSC spokesman said yesterday that it was “aware of a small number of UK organisations that may be affected by this incident”.

Lawyer who backed Chagos giveaway to represent UK

By Pieter Snepvangers

POLITICAL REPORTER

A LAWYER who backed Mauritius's claim to the Chagos Islands has been elected to represent Britain as an international judge.

Prof Dapo Akande, a legal scholar at the University of Oxford who was proposed for the role by Sir Keir Starmer and Lord Hermer, will serve a nine-year term as a judge to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

His nomination came despite his support for Mauritius in a 2019 case on the Chagos Islands, in which the ICJ ruled that Britain should give the islands away “as rapidly as possible”.

In that case, Prof Akande spoke out against Britain's ownership of the Chagos Islands, describing the case as a “decolonisation” effort and arguing that they should be given away.

Representing Zambia, he said the Chagos case was “about the international law obligations regarding decolonisation” and that it should not be

‘This is a victory for the UK’s commitment to the rule of law and our ability to stand up for our values’

treated as a “purely bilateral dispute” between the UK and Mauritius.

Last month, Prof Akande said the chances of Britain “handing over” the Chagos Islands to Mauritius without the ICJ’s ruling “would have been zero”.

Speaking to the Asymmetrical Haircuts podcast, he said: "Without the advisory opinion at the ICJ, none of this would have happened. So this shows the influence of international law.

“And we’re not there yet. We’re not there yet because the Chagos Islands are still actually with the UK. But I think we’ve actually seen how international law and how using the ICJ can help to shift things. And I think things have shifted significantly before the advisory opinion and after the advisory opinion.”

Andy Burnham said he was “incredibly proud” that Prof Akande would represent Britain at the ICJ.

Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said: “This is a victory for the UK’s commitment to the rule of law and our ability to stand up for our values on the world stage.”

News

EMMA TRIMBLE/SWNS

Forget-us-nots Thousands of crocheted red poppies cascade from St Peter's Church in Inkberrow, Worcs, ahead of Remembrance Day. More than 200 volunteers spent months hand-stitching the 62,500 poppies, which create the illusion of a red waterfall falling from the bell tower towards the war memorial.

Sex claims celebrity can be named, says judge

Man who said he would kill himself if his identity was revealed retains protection while he considers appeal

By Gordon Rayner and Tim Sigsworth

A CELEBRITY accused of sexual misconduct has lost his High Court battle to avoid being named.

He had tried to use human rights laws to gag news organisations, telling a judge he would take his own life in the event of publication, which would therefore breach his right to life.

Mr Justice Nicklin yesterday dismissed the celebrity's claim, but an interim injunction which protects his anonymity remains in place while he decides whether to appeal.

The man applied for the injunction after The Guardian and ITN approached him for comment on allegations made by 30 women.

Handing down his decision, Mr Justice Nicklin said: "The claim brought by the claimant is dismissed and the application for the injunction is refused."

The celebrity was not well enough to make a decision on whether to appeal, the court heard. Mr Justice Nicklin gave him until 4.30pm on Monday, Nov 9 to decide whether to do so.

The judge said: “The court is not legally required and has no proper legal basis to restrain the defendants’ proposed publications.”

But he said there were grounds for appeal, because he had found that publication would be a “powerful trigger” for the man’s “risk of suicide”, although the allegations were “not the sole cause of the claimant’s psychiatric condition or suicidality”.

He added that the man's “stated intentions” to take his own life upon publication did not establish that this was inevitable.

At a court hearing last month, during which he was named only as PPT, the celebrity's lawyers argued that his rights to life, privacy and to be spared "inhuman or degrading treatment" under the European Convention on Human Rights trumped the public's right to know of the allegations.

Women's rights campaigners praised the judge's decision yesterday saying human rights laws had never been

'Allegations included potential criminal conduct and followed a rigorous investigation'

intended to protect powerful men from female accusers.

The court heard last month that he faced accusations that he had attempted to engage in “inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities with a large number of girls and young women”.

Gavin Millar KC, representing the media outlets, said at a hearing last month that the allegations included “potential criminal conduct” and followed a “wide-ranging and rigorous investigation” that had started in early 2022.

In written submissions, he warned that preventing public-interest journalism about the allegations would present an “ongoing risk that other young women will be subject to similar kinds of inappropriate conduct”.

He argued that the case also risked “dragging judges into assessing the causes of suicidal ideation, which are for professionals and not for a judge”.

The man's lawyers argued that the injunction was necessary because he planned to take his own life if details were published, having already made two unsuccessful attempts since he had become aware of ITN and The Guardian's investigation in May this year. Sara Mansoori KC said the celebrity denied the allegations of wrongdoing and argued that publication “would have a potentially fatal impact”.

She told the court: “The only reason they would not be fatal is that the claimant would be locked up and prevented from his desire to end his life.” Ms Mansoori also said that the claimant “had no intention of returning to public life”.

The man, who doctors said had “recurrent suicidal ideation”, was detained under section two of the Mental Health Act on Oct 22. It was the third time he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital since learning of the investigation.

Mr Justice Nicklin said the permanent injunction would have been an “exceptionally serious interference” with freedom of expression.

"The injunction sought would constitute an exceptionally serious interference with the rights engaged on the other side," he said.

"It would prohibit the defendants from publishing the results of their investigations into allegations of serious wrongdoing by a prominent individual. It would also prevent the

‘Threatening suicide is a manipulation tactic that is often used by domestic abusers’

sources whose accounts form part of those investigations from communicating their experiences to the public through the defendants, thereby interfering with their Article 10 rights [to freedom of expression under ECHR] and, insofar as they seek to tell their own stories, with the interests in personal autonomy protected by Article 8 [right to private, family life, home and correspondence under ECHR].

Women's rights campaigners say it would set a “damaging precedent” if he won an appeal against the decision.

Charlotte Nichols, a Labour MP, who has spoken publicly about being a victim of rape, said: "It would set a really damaging precedent if this person won their case. The ECHR was never intended as a tool for the wealthy and powerful to evade scrutiny.

"It would become another tactic for powerful men to use to try to shut down any accountability – all they would need to do is cite their mental health. Threatening suicide is a manipulation tactic that is often used by domestic abusers, and the courts being used for that is wrong."

Editorial Comment: Page 17

These laws were not designed to protect powerful men from scrutiny | Left-wing lawyers challenge anti-Semitism curbs in schools

Camilla Tominey

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

THE legal maxim of shield over sword has long been invoked in free speech battles: laws should protect individuals from harm, not be weaponised to silence journalists.

Derived from Lord Hewart's landmark 1924 ruling, the principle that justice must be “seen to be done” demands that court proceedings remain open to public scrutiny – not buried under gag orders.

Which is precisely why the High Court was right to rule that a celebrity accused of sexual abuse cannot hide behind anonymity. The household name attempted to argue his rights to life, privacy and freedom from “inhuman or degrading” treatment under the European Convention outweighed the public’s right to know.

His legal team even claimed he might take his own life if named publicly. Given the tragic death of Prof Jason Arday and Huw Edwards's prior bid to suppress his own identity on mental health grounds, the High Court could easily have yielded to the man's desperate plea.

Ultimately, Mr Justice Nicklin delivered a tightly balanced judgment. While dismissing the celebrity's claim, he extended an interim injunction protecting his identity while considering an appeal, setting a strict deadline of 4.30pm on Friday to apply for permission.

The reality remains undeniable: granting anonymity to someone facing such grave allegations would be entirely unacceptable, especially given that no fewer than 30 women have lodged complaints against him.

As women's rights campaigners

'Granting anonymity to someone facing such grave allegations would be entirely unacceptable'

correctly argue, human rights laws were never designed to shield powerful men from female accusers.

Expecting judges to diagnose the root causes of suicidal ideation alongside evaluating case evidence places an impossible burden on the bench. Judges are arbiters of law, not practising psychiatrists.

The court heard last month that the accused faced claims of engaging in “inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities with a large number of girls and young women". As Gavin Miller KC, representing The Guardian and ITN, highlighted, these allegations involved "potential criminal conduct" following a "wide-ranging and rigorous investigation" launched in early 2022. In written submissions, Miller warned that muzzling public interest journalism posed an "ongoing risk that other young women will be subject to similar kinds of inappropriate conduct".

Defence lawyers countered that an injunction was vital, citing two failed suicide attempts since he learnt of the probe in May, leading to his sectioning under the Mental Health Act on Oct 22.

While many will feel sympathy for anyone enduring such acute psychological distress, a celebrity's personal rights cannot override those of his alleged victims. Nor can they supersede the public's fundamental right to know. If he is innocent, sunlight remains the ultimate disinfectant. As Jeremy Bentham wrote: "Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the keenest spur to exertion, and the surest of all guards against improbity."

Transparency will surely expose the truth and justice will demand nothing less. Today's judgment is an important win for press freedom. Celebrities should not be able to use their wealth to escape legitimate public scrutiny.

By Albert Tait EDUCATION EDITOR

LUCY POWELL is facing a challenge from Left-wing lawyers over her crackdown on anti-Semitism in schools.

The Education Secretary pledged to “root out” anti-Semitism from schools and colleges in England last month, after a government-commissioned review exposed widespread abuse suffered by Jewish pupils.

One of her responses to the report was encouraging all schools and colleges to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which states that holding Jewish people collectively responsible for the actions of Israel or comparing Israeli government policy to that of the Nazis is anti-Semitic.

The Good Law Project, a legal campaign group, has written to Ms Powell arguing that the definition “will deter lawful expression by teachers and pupils on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and so create a chilling effect in the school and college environment”.

It has threatened to launch a judicial review against Ms Powell unless she reconsiders her stance on the IHRA definition.

The Department for Education (DfE) responded that the definition had “been adopted by 47 countries and countless public bodies and can provide a practical framework for teachers and pupils".

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said that efforts to discredit the IHRA definition were “particularly egregious” at a time when anti-Semitism is at record levels in Britain.

Ministers have accepted all 27 recommendations of last month's review by Sir David Bell, the former chief inspector of schools, which revealed that three in five Jewish pupils reported they had been targets of abuse.

How anti-Semitism is driven by events in Israel

As well as recommending schools adopt the IHRA definition, Sir David said schools and colleges should record anti-Semitic incidents as a separate category and there should be new training for teachers to recognise and respond to anti-Semitism. Presenting the report to Parliament last month, Ms Powell told MPs she would write to all schools and colleges telling them to adopt the IHRA definition, which has already been adopted by mainstream political parties in the UK and Europe and universities across the country.

A DfE spokesman said: “The IHRA definition has been adopted by 47 countries and countless public bodies and can provide a practical framework for teachers and pupils, and help give greater clarity on how to identify and tackle anti-Semitism.”

Snap, crackle and stop: No more rice in Rice Krispies

Recipe changed for the first time in decades after droughts then floods – and Coco Pops are affected too

By Telegraph Reporter

RICE KRISPIES and Coco Pops cereals will no longer be made from whole grains of rice, Kellogg's has revealed.

The cereals have been reformulated, with Rice Krispies now using rice flour instead of rice and Coco Pops containing a blend of rice flour and corn flour.

Kellogg's blamed “changing weather conditions” for affecting the quality and availability of the ingredient.

Rice Krispies were previously made by cooking medium-grain rice kernels with a malt flavouring solution, before flattening and cracking them with heavy rollers. They were then oven toasted until they puff up.

Kellogg's sources its rice from Arkansas, California and Louisiana, all of which have suffered floods and strong storms in recent years.

In California, rice farmers have endured mega-drought

flooding, while farmers in Louisiana and Arkansas have suffered flash floods and strong winds.

The recipe for Rice Krispies was first formulated in 1927 by WK Kellogg himself, according to the Kellogg's website, when he poured milk over a new toasted rice cereal.

The “Snap! Crackle! Pop!” slogan first appeared in adver-

Bad weather has hit Rice Krispies recipe

tisements in 1929, the year after the cereal was first released to the public.

In 1939, Mildred Day and Malitta Jensen, two Kellogg's recipe tasters, inadvertently created the recipe for Rice Krispie treats when they combined the original recipe with various other pantry staples.

The previous recipe required specific moisture levels in the dried grain, which has been compromised by extreme weather conditions.

Both cereals remain “non-HFSS” – or not high in fat, salt or sugar – contain no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners and maintain the same levels of fibre, Vitamin D and iron.

Previously, Rice Krispies and Coco Pops were labelled “may contain gluten” because they were made in a factory where other cereals containing gluten were also handled.

After the reformulation, wheat gluten is now an ingredient, meaning wheat must be declared as an allergen. Both cereals now carry prominent labelling on their packs alerting consumers to the change in allergen.

A spokesman for Kellogg's said: "We have updated the Rice Krispies and

Coco Pops recipes, which

re now made using corn flour and rice flour.

"This helps us maintain consistent quality at a time when changing weather conditions are affecting the quality and availability of some of the rice and grains used in our cereals.

“We appreciate that even small changes to a much-loved product can feel noticeable and that’s why we have approached this with a lot of care and consideration.”

AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES / KENA BETANCUR

Close resemblance American actress Glenn Close, right, and British drag performer Alexis Stone, left, at the premiere of Hulu's All's Fair Season 3 in New York.

‘We all get paid the same, if you’re there for day one or day 23. I was trying to... get the hell out of Dodge’

than you. No matter what really went on in that castle, you're a victim to the edit."

Blunt, who made it to the finale before being banished, admitted he signed up for the show to promote his new music.

“We all get paid the same, whether you’re there for day one or day 23. So for most of the time, I was trying to… get the hell out of Dodge,” he said.

During the penultimate episode Acaster told his fellow contestants his identity at the round table.

After leaving the show, he said: “I would have to remind myself they don’t have a game without you, literally; if no one’s doing this stuff, they can’t play, and they all want to play.”

Filming had to be paused when Acaster became upset during his last scenes on the show. He was reportedly given a welfare check before the round table began.

A representative for the comedian declined to comment, while a BBC spokesman said in response that its “highest priority is always the safety and welfare of everyone taking part”.

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Anti-migrant Reform councillor charged with 12 counts of rape

By Samuel Montgomery

A REFORM UK councillor has been charged with 35 offences including 12 counts of rape.

George Madgwick, the party's leader on Hampshire county council, was also charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of assault by penetration, two counts of making and one count of distributing indecent images of a child.

The charges follow an investigation by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary into allegations relating to four complainants between 2008 and 2021. The claims relate to four alleged victims who were aged between 16 and 17 at the time.

A Reform UK spokesman said: "Cllr

Madgwick has been suspended from Reform UK with immediate effect." Mr Madgwick, 37, will appear at Portsmouth magistrates' court on Nov 25.

A spokesman from the Crown Prosecution Service said it was prosecuting Mr Madgwick for “serious sexual offences, including multiple counts of rape. He has also been charged with making a threat to kill, false imprisonment and stalking. Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to bring the case to court."

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary launched an investigation on July 25 2025 after receiving a report of a sexual offence. Mr Madgwick was arrested on Jan 6 this year in Wandsworth, south-west London. The Reform councillor has become a prominent anti-immigrant voice and played a role in recent protests against small boat arrivals on the south coast.

Mr Madgwick was recently filmed by ITV undercover reporters admitting that the Portsmouth Patriots, a Right-wing group, were helping Reform to campaign ahead of the council elections. He later denied being a member of the group but said he had “supported their movement over the years from the sidelines”.

Mr Madgwick yesterday said he was “innocent of the allegations against me” and that he had resigned as Reform’s leader on Hampshire council “until I’m cleared”. He added: “I am shocked and dismayed at the charges.”

Police launch manslaughter probe after football death

Spanish forward believed to have suffered cardiac arrest after a challenge from opposing keeper

By Jeremy Wilson

CHIEF SPORTS REPORTER

A POLICE investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter has been launched after a Spanish footballer died following an on-field collision with Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono.

Tenerife forward Jesús de Miguel, who was 30, suffered a cardiac arrest following the incident, which prompted the referee to issue a straight red card in stoppage time of Monday's Spanish second-tier match.

With the scoreline 2-2, Owono ran towards the halfway line to clear a long ball and appeared to strike De Miguel in the chest with his knee.

De Miguel lay motionless on the

Jesús de Miguel, left, and Jesús Owono were involved in an on-field collision

ground as players from both teams sig-

nalled for medical assistance before the

match was abandoned.

Medical staff had treated De Miguel on the pitch for more than five minutes while distressed players watched before he was taken away in an ambulance. He reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest on his way to hospital.

Spanish police confirmed yesterday that an investigation had been opened and that prosecutors would also be involved.

Owono, a 25-year-old Equatorial Guinea international, has deactivated his Instagram account since the incident, and was reportedly seen crying and praying in the dressing room after the match.

In a club statement announcing the player's death, Tenerife said: "Racked with pain, with a lump in our throats and unable to believe that this is true, from CD Tenerife we communicate the tragic passing, this Tuesday,

November 3, 2026, at 8am of Jesús de Miguel Alameda.

"There are no words of comfort; there is absolutely nothing that can alleviate this feeling overflowing with sadness. We stand alongside his devastated family, alongside his loved ones, alongside all of tinerfenismo [supporters of Tenerife] that today weeps for this cruel outcome.

"The family of Jesús de Miguel thanks each and every one of the expressions of support received, and likewise requests, from the heart, the utmost respect for their privacy in these terrible moments."

On Monday night after the incident, Andorra had also added in a statement: "We want to send all our strength and best wishes to Jesús de Miguel after the serious incident suffered during today's match. A very strong hug to the player, his family and Tenerife."

The Spanish football federation announced that all Copa del Rey matches scheduled for last night had been postponed as a mark of respect.

Uefa confirmed that a minute's silence will be observed before every Champions League, Europa League and Conference League match that is played this week.

Yesterday morning, Real Madrid and Arsenal players held a minute's silence before training in tribute to De Miguel.

Born in Madrid, De Miguel joined Tenerife in 2025 and went on to make 36 appearances for the club, scoring 11 goals.

He spent the majority of his professional career at CD Castellón, who are top of the Spanish third division.

Gerard Piqué, the former Barcelona and Spain defender who co-owns Andorra, said: "I am sorry with all my soul. Rest in peace, Jesús."

De Miguel's former club, Castellón, said: "It's hard to find words when reality strikes in such an unfair way.

“We join with all our affection in the grief of his family and loved ones, whom we embrace in these terribly difficult moments and to whom we extend our most heartfelt condolences.”

Kylian Mbappé, the Real Madrid and France forward, said on social media: "So much sadness. There are no words."

Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, said: “Today, we all share the terrible pain of an irreparable loss. My deepest condolences to his family, loved ones, team-mates and the whole club.”

Jesús Owono appeared to strike Jesús de Miguel in the chest with his knee, left. Players surround the stricken forward, right. Players from both sides were in shock after the incident, above

'Thomas Markle's devices' found with child sex videos, say police

By Victoria Ward

DEPUTY ROYAL EDITOR

POLICE in the Philippines have found "explicit" content on digital devices said to belong to Thomas Markle Sr.

Police Maj Gen Wilson Asueta, of Philippine National Police (PNP), said videos of alleged child sexual abuse and exploitation were among files found in four boxes that allegedly belonged to the Duchess of Sussex's father.

Police were granted a warrant on Thursday to begin examining the cache of digital devices and hard drives handed to the force by Mr Markle Sr's son, Thomas. It included nine mobile phones, three SD cards, five hard drives, a camera and a non-digital device.

In a separate development, authorities in Mexico confirmed they have raided a storage unit previously rented by Mr Markle Sr, 82, as part of an investigation into alleged child sex material.

The FBI is also thought to be investigating after Scotland Yard finally shared a letter containing allegations about Mr Markle Sr, sent by his first wife, Roslyn Loveless, in 2019. The force is being investigated by the complaints watchdog for failing to act on the letter.

Maj Gen Asueta, acting director of the PNP's Investigation and Detective Management, held a press conference in Cebu yesterday. "We were able to find that there are files consisting of several CSEAM (Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act) materials," he said. "This will be subjected further to analysis. These are videos of a male and female minors, others are not minors doing sexual activities."

Preliminary findings are said to indicate that those in the footage are foreign nationals, with no Filipinos yet identified. It is also unclear whether the alleged abuse depicted in the videos occurred in the Philippines. Maj Gen

Asueta said the police had not yet determined who produced the recordings, who owned the devices or whether Mr Markle Sr appeared in any of the files.

"The investigation is going in the right direction," he added, noting that further analysis was needed before deciding whether criminal charges could be brought.

Mr Markle Sr moved from Mexico to the Philippines in January 2025 before relocating to Florida in May following the amputation of his lower leg. On Friday, he was reportedly moved into a care home for dementia patients.

Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer who represents several victims of Jeffrey Epstein, told The Telegraph: "It is highly likely that someone with advanced mental illness could avoid not only extradition but also prosecution."

Mr Markle Sr has admitted paying for sex in the Philippines, but has strongly denied the child abuse allegations.

Thief caught stealing £7k in stones from 300-year-old wall thanks to secret AirTag

By Telegraph Reporter

A THIEF who stole £7,000 worth of 300-year-old coping stones from a wall was caught using an Apple AirTag.

Craig Barker, 41, was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, suspended for 22 months, after the stones were found in his garden.

About 30 stones went missing from an 18th-century wall along a half-mile-long stretch of road which connects the towns of Rufford and Holmeswood in West Lancashire.

When the police said they could not help, Matt Smith, 43, a Rufford and Holmeswood parish councillor, alongside other locals, took matters into their own hands.

The wall is thought to have been built around 1730 for the Grade II-listed Rufford New Hall, which was later converted into a hospital in the 1900s.

After the hospital closed in the 80s, it was refurbished and split in half and has since been turned into luxury apartments. The surrounding estate has since been subject to housing development.

Mr Smith said worried locals noticed the wall was first attacked and stones taken in May last year, followed by two further raids in June and October. The councillor contacted Lancashire Police, but they were unable to help as the area had no “CCTV coverage” or “forensic opportunities”, a spokesman said.

Mr Smith and other residents first decided to put up signs saying “smile, you are on camera” but the criminal was not deterred. They also thought about installing their own CCTV cameras but said it would have been too expensive.

After the third attack on Oct 4, Mr Smith obtained permission from the wall owner to attach an AirTag to a loose stone.

On the morning of Oct 25, Mr Smith said he woke up to find phone notifica-

‘It was great to know we had found the man responsible for causing such pain’

tions that more stones had been stolen overnight. He then contacted Lancashire Police and its South Rural Task Force attended the scene, where a “substantial amount” of coping stones worth approximately £7,000 were found.

Mr Smith claims dozens of other stones from across the country were discovered, making the estimated total value of up to £40,000.

Mr Smith said: “It was a great feeling to know we had found the man responsible for causing the community so much pain.”

He reinstalled the stones in December last year, which he said was a “great Christmas present for the villages”.

Barker, of Tan House Drive, Wigan, Greater Manchester, was arrested and charged with one count of handling stolen goods and two counts of theft. He initially pleaded not guilty but on May 19 this year amended his plea to guilty on all offences.

SWNS/CHARLEY ATKINS

Matt Smith with the AirTag he used to bring the serial stone thief to justice in West Lancashire

PA'LIAM MCBURNEY

Moving moment

Thomas Moran (centre) carries the coffin of wife Ciara Mageean into St Patrick's Church in Portaferry, Co Down, at her funeral service. The Irish Olympian, pictured with Mr Moran on their wedding day just last month, above, died from bowel cancer on Sunday, aged 34.

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'Man put drugs in curry to rape wife'

Husband shared images of his wife in exchange for sedatives, court told

By Will Bolton

CRIME CORRESPONDENT

A HUSBAND who raped his wife with several other men while she was unconscious hid sedatives in her curry, a trial has heard.

The man, who cannot be named to protect his wife's anonymity, has pleaded guilty to more than 60 charges over 20 years, including rape and sexual assault. Nine other men are on trial after pleading not guilty to a range of sexual offences against the woman.

The defendants, aged 28 to 70, are from Greater Manchester, Derbyshire and Kent, and include a mechanic, a football coach, a senior paramedic and a taxi driver. They deny all the charges.

At Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday, jurors heard the lengths the husband had gone to to find the right cocktail of drugs and alcohol to render his wife unconscious.

Louise Oakley KC, prosecuting, said that the “sad reality of this case is that there are many, many men whose fantasy is to have sex with and abuse an unconscious and unresponsive women. [He] found a number of them”.

The court previously heard that the man, who is in his 60s and from Stockport, Greater Manchester, began abusing his wife alone from at least 2004, before his “escalating” perversity led to him involving other men from 2023 until his arrest two years later.

One defendant, Robert Stewart, 70, whom he met on Craigslist, allegedly gave the man some Tramadol and antidepressants and came to his home. However, on that occasion, the court heard, the drugs had not had the desired effect and Mr Stewart had left when the woman started to wake up.

Louise Oakley KC, the prosecutor, said: "So desperate was [the husband], he would share imagery of [his wife] with complete strangers and then discuss how they would supply him with drugs in order that she be raped."

The court heard that by 2018, the husband had been having regular conversations, throughout the day and night, with another defendant, David Graves, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

Mr Graves had advised hiding drugs in food, jurors were told, but the man had said that when he had hidden them in a curry, his wife had complained about the taste.

In December, the husband said that he had drugs, but was “finding it difficult to get [my wife] to have them unaware”.

Mr Stewart, of Stockport, denies rape, conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.

Mr Graves, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, denies conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.

Philip Wild, of Stockport, denies sexual assault, attempted rape, assault by penetration and conspiracy to rape.

Daniel Rayner, denies conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to assault by penetration and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.

The other men on trial are: Mohammed Sabir, 28, of Stockport; Jonathan Kirk, 43, of Stockport; Jordan Wallace, 31, of Wythenshawe, Manchester; Alan Keelan, 42, of Wythenshawe, and Richard Townsend, 38, of Heywood, Greater Manchester.

The trial continues.

MI5 off contempt hook after lying about neo-Nazi

By Rozina Sabur

By Rozina Sustal

NATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR

MI5 will not face contempt of court proceedings over false evidence it provided during cases involving a neo-Nazi on its payroll.

The Security Service previously admitted giving evidence based on lies to three courts about whether it had breached its policy of neither confirming nor denying its Agent X, a Right-wing extremist working for MI5, who used his status to abuse his partner known as “Beth”.

Three senior judges were heavily critical of MI5's conduct but said it "would not be in the public interest" for the court to initiate contempt proceedings against it.

However, in a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday, they suggested misconduct in public office charges could be brought by the police against individual MI5 officers involved.

Sir Ken McCallum, MI5's director general, welcomed the decision but conceded that his agency had fallen "badly short". He acknowledged that confidence in MI5 would have to be "re-earned".

MI5's false evidence was used to secure an injunction against the BBC in 2022, preventing the broadcaster from airing a documentary identifying Agent X as an MI5 source and alleging he had abused two women. For three years, MI5 maintained that it had not broken NCND in its conversations with the BBC but later admitted that was untrue and apologised.

In July, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office (IPCO) found “serious and systemic failings in MI5’s conduct” in the case. It also concluded that MI5’s false evidence was based on “lies” by a high-ranking employee called Officer Two. His successor, Officer Three, also “significantly contributed” to the false account.

The findings led to a hearing in September where the senior High Court judges – who had ordered IPCO to investigate – were told that MI5 and individuals including Sir Ken and Officer Two should face contempt of court proceedings. Lawyers for “Beth”, Agent X’s former partner, argued that there were “repeated efforts to prevent the truth emerging”.

Baroness Carr, the Lady Chief Justice, sitting with Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Chamberlain, said the court could see “no public benefit” in contempt proceedings against MI5 as an entity or Sir Ken personally. Lady Carr added that imposing a financial penalty would only deprive “MI5 of funds it requires to undertake its important work”. However, the service must pay the BBC’s and Beth’s legal costs.

In their judgment, the senior judges noted that contempt proceedings against Officer Two or Officer Three would be “highly resource-intensive” for which the court “lacks investigatory powers and personnel”. As such, they said any further action against the officers “should follow an investigation by the police”.

Yesterday, Sir Ken said: "Today's judgment underlines MI5's serious failures. I repeat my apology for those failures, and for the additional distress they caused Beth. The courts, and those charged with scrutinising us, must have confidence that information we provide is accurate and complete. That now needs to be re-earned."

Daniel Craig as 007 in No Time To Die

his odds. Lowden is believed to be one of the top contenders for the role, alongside Callum Turner and Josh O'Connor.

Asked about rumours that Lowden

could be the next 007, Dame Kristin told The Times: "Oh God, I wish I knew. He'd be very, very good. He's got that twinkle; he's cheeky and he's a very, very good actor."

Speaking to GQ Hype, Lowden responded to the rumours, but did not confirm or deny whether he

was part of the auditioning process. He said: “On this... it’s all very flattering. It’s nice to be mentioned – for any role – and I’m just not really going to add to the noise.”

Lowden was reported to have screen-tested for the role in London in October, along with Turner and O'Connor.

Amy Pascal, who will produce the next Bond film, told Deadline earlier this year about casting: "I would say [an announcement by] the end of the year is a good bet. We are being really, really methodical. Having worked with [producer] Barbara Broccoli at the studio, I mean, Daniel Craig is a hard act to follow. And it's got to be something really different that is stirring, exciting and different."

The next Bond film will be directed by Dune's Denis Villeneuve.

Samuel Smith's leaves a bitter taste by turning pubs into flats

By Tom Haynes

ONE of Britain's oldest breweries has been criticised for selling its pubs to flat developers.

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has raised concerns about Samuel Smith's advertising of shuttered pubs for “non-pub use only”, which could prevent other landlords from reopening them.

Campaigners have written to the Government warning that the sales could leave communities permanently without their local pubs, despite planning rules designed to protect them.

The Yorkshire brewer, known for its strict bans on mobile phones, swearing and televisions, has put several properties on the market through estate agents Fleurets. The sales come months after the death of Humphrey Smith, the brewery's eccentric former chairman, who became notorious for imposing strict rules on customers and staff.

Under his leadership, Samuel Smith's pubs closed for extended periods, sometimes leaving buildings empty for years.

The Smith family has controlled the brewery for generations, with a sprawling property portfolio in its home town of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. Mr Smith took over the business aged 18 in 1963 and expanded it with his brother Oliver into an empire of around 300 pubs. His

'Pub operators need a fair shot at taking on these pubs first, or locals exploring community pub ownership'

son Samuel Smith has previously helped oversee the pub estate, while the latest sales come amid uncertainty about the family business's future direction after more than six decades under Humphrey's leadership.

Among the properties being sold is the Grapes Hotel in Heywood, Greater Manchester, a 1920s pub with a largely preserved historic interior, advertised for £250,000.

The pub, which closed last summer, is being marketed for non-pub use only. Camra is seeking listed status to protect the building's historic features.

However, selling a pub for another purpose does not automatically give its new owner permission to convert it into flats, shops or offices.

Since 2017, developers have generally needed planning permission to turn pubs into other types of property, even when they have been closed for years.

Government planning rules also make it harder to argue that a pub is no longer commercially viable without first giving other operators a reasonable opportunity to buy it. This can involve marketing the property as a pub for at least 12 months.

Paul Ainsworth, Camra's national planning adviser, said: "Other pub operators need a fair shot at taking on these pubs first, or local people who want to explore community pub ownership."

Samuel Smith's and Fleurets were approached for comment.

Households on gas set for higher bills because of heat pumps

By Alex Marsh

BRITAIN'S net zero drive could push up bills for gas customers over the next nine years, Ofgem has suggested.

The energy regulator said that more than seven million households could disconnect from the gas network by 2034-35 as consumers adopt low-carbon heating technology such as heat pumps.

At present, around three-quarters of gas disconnections are paid for by network operators. These costs are then recovered through gas bills.

As a result, a typical gas bill, which currently stands at £865 a year, could rise by as much as 9.3 per cent in 2034-35 as more households disconnect from the gas network, the energy regulator said.

The Government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme incentivises households to replace gas boilers with heat pumps by providing grants of up to £9,000 to make the switch.

Energy and Utilities Alliance, said: "For those advocating replacing gas boilers with heat pumps the question they must answer is how to pay for disconnections and decommissioning fairly.

“Simply charging those left on the gas network, likely the least well-off, to pay for the disconnection of those who can afford to buy and run a heat pump is

'Hard-working families should not be left footing the bill for Labour's ideological crusade'

inherently unfair."

The cost of gas disconnections only adds around £1 to the average gas bill annually. But under government targets announced earlier this year, heat pump installations would hit 450,000 a year by 2030.

In a recent report, Ofgem said: "As the UK progresses to net zero and consumers move to low-carbon heating, there will be costs associated with disconnecting consumers from the gas network. Under current arrangements and without government intervention, the majority of these costs would be recovered through network charges paid by the remaining gas consumers."

Households that switch from gas will typically contact their supplier to remove their meter. After 12 months, gas network operators must then physically disconnect service pipes under health and safety laws, the cost of which is recovered through gas bills.

Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, said: “Labour’s net zero agenda is piling cost upon cost for ordinary families, and gas customers face another bill hike. Hard-working families should not be left footing the bill for Labour’s ideological crusade.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: “As more households move towards low-carbon heating, we are working with the sector to ensure this is done in a fair and affordable way for all.”

Landlords face £35k tax hit from Labour's raids on rental incomes

By Linus Uhlig

LANDLORDS face an extra £35,000 tax hit after Labour's latest raid on buy-to-let, analysis shows.

John Healey's four-percentage-point tax rise on income from rental property could force London landlords to stump up £35,946 more over 25 years, according to figures from Rathbones.

Landlords with two rental properties in the capital can expect a £1,122 tax hit after the first year of the increase, rising to £5,840 over five years and £12,288 over a decade.

Those renting out two properties in the South East and East of England would face an additional £22,109 and £19,956 tax hit respectively over 25 years, assuming rental incomes rise by 2 per cent a year.

Buy-to-let investors in the North East would lose out on £12,146 over 25 years, the smallest loss of any region.

Landlords will be subjected to higher property taxes from April next year after the Chancellor announced an additional tax increase on landlords and savers in last week's Budget.

Under Labour's plans, income tax on landlords will rise from 20 per cent to 24 per cent for basic-rate taxpayers, 40 per cent to 44 per cent for higher-rate taxpayers and 45 per cent to 49 per cent for additional-rate taxpayers. Charlie

3lpc Percentage of retirees who are private landlords, typically with one or two properties, who will be hit by new tax

Newsome, of Rathbones, said: “The landlord squeeze is tightening from all directions and, for some, the sums simply no longer stack up.”

He also warned that “today’s landlord squeeze risks becoming tomorrow’s renter squeeze”, with landlords forced to sell up or pass on higher costs to tenants. As well as higher taxes on rental income, landlords are set to contend with additional costs and administrative burdens from Labour's Renters' Rights Act and the introduction of Making Tax Digital – which requires many landlords to submit five tax updates every year, instead of just one.

Chris Sykes, of MSP Financial Solutions, said that since the Budget, some landlord clients had viewed the tax increase as the “final nail in the coffin” and are now looking to exit the market.

Official figures show that 3lpc of private landlords who will be hit by the tax rise are retirees, who typically own one or two properties and supplement their pension income with additional rental income.

Chris Norris, of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “The Budget presents significant challenges for landlords from all backgrounds, especially given that the Treasury’s surcharge is only going to have one outcome – an increase in the number of landlords exiting the market.” The Treasury was approached for comment.

Whitty: Libraries should be used to help elderly access virtual GPs

By Michael Searles

DEPUTY HEALTH EDITOR

ELDERLY patients in the country should be offered remote appointments in libraries to access care, Prof Sir Chris Whitty has said.

People who live in rural areas often face long trips to visit the GP or hospital, and are also more likely to be older and need help. Those living in the countryside should make better use of phone and video appointments rather than travelling, and be given more flexible appointment options, the chief medical officer for England recommended.

Prof Whitty called for a national strategy for rural health in his annual report because of the barriers to healthcare facing those who live outside cities and major towns.

The people most affected are the elderly, who are more likely to live in the country.

However, the report also pointed to farmers, those in the military and the Royal Air Force, and other professions based away from large populations.

People living in the country are further from GPs, local hospitals and specialist centres, such as those for stroke treatment, which are usually based in cities.

They are also heavily dependent on cars to get to appointments because of scarce and irregular public transport, but then become unable to drive with age-related disabilities that compound the issue. The report found that some patients lived more than an hour's drive away from a hospital, even with their own car.

Prof Whitty said the NHS “should really push telemedicine”, which is the use of remote appointments, particularly in local community settings where there is internet access.

"In my view, a telemedicine system based around general practices and libraries may be more useful than one, for example, where they're trying to do it into people's homes where they have no kind of support," he said.

“Wherever possible, don’t make them do the trip at all. Do it by telehealth, because that’s going to save them a lot of trouble. You can actually deal with some of the problems which don’t need physical examination.”

Plaid spends taxpayer cash on Ugandan beekeepers

£300k African aid fund labelled ‘waste of money’, with calls for finances to be used to fix NHS instead

By Nick Gutteridge

CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

WELSH ministers have spent taxpayers' money on “ridiculous” foreign aid projects including beekeeping classes for disabled Ugandans.

The Welsh Government is running a £300,000-a-year scheme to support a range of projects in the African nation, including financial literacy training for LGBTQI+ people.

The payments were signed off by the previous Labour-run administration before it was voted out in May's Senedd election, but have continued under the nationalist Plaid Cymru.

The minority administration is seeking applications for new projects in Africa to bankroll.

Reform UK, the official opposition in the Senedd, described the aid projects as a “waste of money” and said the cash should have been spent on fixing Wales’s crumbling NHS services.

Official documents show the Wales and Africa Grant Scheme has spent just shy of £300,000 on foreign aid projects for the financial year 2025-26.

They include £25,000 to fund an initiative to provide beekeeping classes to 150 disabled men and 150 disabled women in Uganda and Ghana.

"We will train organisations in

Uganda, Ghana and Wales in disability inclusive beekeeping to reach marginalised people... and develop a disability inclusive beekeeping training package," a summary of the scheme says.

Another grant of just under £22,000 paid for “financial literacy” training for LGBTQI+ Ugandans “who have been excluded from education and work”.

“Participants will gain skills, confidence, and resilience, while peer-to-peer training ensures knowledge is shared widely for long-term community impact,” the programme description said. Other initiatives included almost £20,000 for radio phone-in programmes to “introduce Montgomeryshire farmers to Ugandan farmers”.

Cai Parry-Jones, Reform's finance spokesman in the Senedd, said: "It's ridiculous the Welsh Government spends money on these projects abroad, and it's no wonder Labour were booted out of Wales for wasting money.

"The new Plaid government also supports this international spending, so expect more of the same. Taxpayers in Wales are already paying for UK foreign aid. It's outrageous that the Welsh Government makes them pay twice.

“Despite rising waiting lists and missed cancer treatment targets, money is found to spend on projects for disability inclusive beekeeping.

“Reform will be holding Plaid’s feet to the fire. Charity begins at home, and it’s time we put the Welsh people first.”

The projects are all funded through the Wales and Africa Grant Scheme, which has been receiving Welsh Government funding since 2013.

Under the programme, money is awarded to charities in Wales, which then use it to pay for initiatives in Africa. Welsh charities can apply for between £5,000 and £25,000 to cover the cost of each 12-month project.

It was designed to contribute to Wales's delivery of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and “deliver benefits to Wales and Africa”.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Wales is a confident, outward-looking nation that takes its global responsibilities seriously.

"Our new international strategy will set out our ambitions for Wales in the world, the values that will guide us, and how we will work with partners to forge a new path, both at home and internationally, which put those values into action."

The Welsh Government aid schemes include helping Ugandan beekeepers

Bruno The Battling Bear used to entertain crowds by fighting people and beat James Corbett, a world champion boxer at the time

Bear stuffed and knighted by Queen Victoria for sale

By Tom Jeffreys

IT ONCE knocked out a world champion boxer... and was subsequently "knighted" by Queen Victoria.

Now Bruno the Battling Bear, which entertained Americans in the 19th century by fighting other animals and humans while wearing boxing gloves, is set to go to auction in North Yorkshire.

The bear, which was stuffed at the behest of Queen Victoria after she heard of its exploits in America, has been listed for sale by the widow of a taxidermy collector. Rosh Keegan, 64, said it was so upsetting to sell the item, bought by her late husband Johnnie Keegan, that she had to hug it goodbye when she left it at auctioneer Tennants.

She said Mr Keegan's collection was so vast it filled all five buildings on their family's farm in Norfolk, but she had not been able to go there since he died in December 2024, aged 79.

Mrs Keegan added: "It's too much. It's too many memories and too many dreams that we were going to carry out that we can't any more.

“And I can’t bring any of the taxi-dermy back to London because it’s huge. I don’t have the space. So reluctantly, I’ve given it to Tennants to sell and hopefully go to people that will love and adore it the way I do.”

'I was born in Africa, so I'm used to having dead animals around. I used to work on an elephant's foot'

The bear's journey to Britain is the stuff of legend. It travelled with shows through California as part of a tradition of training animals to box while they were young, finding fame after reportedly knocking out James “Gentleman Jim” Corbett, a world champion boxer.

When Queen Victoria learned of the bout, she made him a Knight of the Royal Bath and ordered he be stuffed when he died in 1900.

Mrs Keegan, who was married to Mr Keegan for 36 years, said she saw an auction advert for Bruno in a newspaper in 2010 and told her husband, whose winning bid was £1,200.

She said: "We had a very big house in Kentish Town which was incredibly unusual because it was full of taxidermy. We sold it five years ago but kept Bruno in the dining room.

"I was born in Africa, so I'm well used to having lots of dead animals around. I used to do my work on an elephant's foot, to me it was just normal."

Bruno is being auctioned by Tennants in North Yorkshire for £2,000 to £3,000 on Nov 11. Robbie Bright, a taxidermy specialist at Tennants, said: "His right paw is raised in triumph. He doesn't weigh much, but it has some damage to his right foot from where the late owner's dog chewed it."

Blood tests that detect multiple cancers to be offered to NHS patients

By Laura Donnelly HEALTH EDITOR

BLOOD tests that can detect signs of multiple cancers from a single sample will be offered to NHS patients in a world-first trial.

More than 20,000 patients aged 45 or older will be invited to take part in the Stride-RCT study, which aims to spot cancers earlier, when treatment is more likely to succeed.

The pioneering tests – which use artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies – could also help GPs identify patients with cancers that are difficult to diagnose. Patients who present with symptoms such as persistent bloating or abdominal discomfort at more than 200 GP practices across England will be offered the chance to take part in the £8.5m government-funded trial.

Several different multi-cancer blood tests, developed by three companies, will be tested to establish whether they can help doctors identify patients who need urgent investigations.

The tests are designed to detect signs of cancers including bowel, pancreatic, ovarian, stomach, liver, kidney, bladder and prostate cancer. Some work by identifying tiny fragments of DNA that are shed into the bloodstream by tumours. Others measure proteins in the blood, or use artificial intelligence to analyse routine blood test results.

The tests aim not only to identify possible cancer but also to indicate where in the body it may be developing.

Researchers hope the project could transform the diagnosis of cancers which often cause vague symptoms that are difficult to attribute.

Around 71,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic, stomach, liver, ovarian or bowel cancer in England each year, and almost 35,000 die from the diseases.

Around nine in 10 patients diagnosed with bowel cancer at stage one survive for at least five years, compared with just one in 10 whose disease is discovered at stage four.

Most patients taking part will need to provide only one or two samples of blood during a routine appointment with their GP.

A positive result would not amount to a cancer diagnosis, but could prompt an urgent referral for further investigation. A negative result would not guarantee that a patient is cancer-free.

Currently, only around 2 to 6 per cent of patients referred urgently for suspected cancer are subsequently diagnosed with the disease.

Scientists hope the tests could help doctors target investigations more effectively, reducing unnecessary referrals while identifying patients who might otherwise be missed.

Yvette Cooper, the Health Secretary, said: "The earlier cancers are diagnosed, the more chance they can be successfully treated, and lives can be saved. This world-first trial will establish whether simple blood tests can help GPs identify much sooner the patients who need urgent support."

The study is being led by researchers at the University of Birmingham and funded through the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The trial comes amid growing concern about rising cancer rates among younger adults, particularly bowel cancer. Cancer Research UK figures show that bowel cancer rates among adults aged 25 to 49 have risen by 24 per cent since the early 1990s.

Cut the volume of school bells to entice back truants, suggests SNP

By Simon Johnson

SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR

THE volume of school bells should be lowered to encourage truant pupils back into classrooms, according to SNP guidance.

A Scottish government report on how teachers can improve attendance argued that they should consider their schools' "physical environment."

Among the factors it said could be changed were “bell volume” and lighting, both of which it said could be lowered to “reduce anxiety”.

The report also warned against punishing poor attendance by banning truant children from school trips or activities. It said that poor attendance "is often due to factors beyond a child or young person's control" and banning them "can be demotivating and cause further distress." Some children with

ADHD have greater sensitivity to sound. Official figures showed that 37.4 per cent of Scottish secondary pupils were persistently absent from the classroom in 2024/25. This is defined as missing 10 per cent or more of the school year

This was slightly down on the 40.6

‘Woke tinkering with lighting will do nothing. Pupils skip classes as there are no real consequences’

per cent recorded the previous year but it remained much higher that the 21.9 per cent recorded in England. But Meghan Gallacher, the Scottish Tories' education spokeswoman, said: "It is frankly laughable that ministers think turning down school bells is going to solve Scotland's schools attendance crisis. Instead of coming up with daft gimmicks, the SNP should be restoring discipline in our schools and giving headteachers the authority to deal with persistent truancy and bad behaviour."

Senga Beresford, Reform UK's children spokesman, said: "Woke tinkering with lighting will do nothing. Pupils skip classes as there are no real consequences."

The guidance was published after official figures disclosed that that more than four out of 10 Scottish school pupils (43 per cent) have additional support needs.

This was more than double the proportion of pupils in England (19.6 per cent) who are deemed to have special educational needs.

Scotland's total has also nearly doubled over the past decade, with just over 150,000 children (22.5 per cent) being recorded with additional needs in 2015.

Braverman: Hampshire's police chief must resign over Nowak

By Charles Hymas

HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR

SUELLA BRAVERMAN has said Hampshire's chief constable should quit over his force's "failings" in handling the murder of student Henry Nowak.

The former Tory home secretary, now the Reform UK MP for Fareham, and Colin Sutton, Reform's policing adviser, have called on Alexis Boon to step down, alleging that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has "lurched from scandal to scandal under its current leadership".

The politicians said Mr Boon's admission that the force had "failed" Mr Nowak in his final moments when he "needed us most" was the "final straw".

They also called for Donna Jones, Hampshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC), to resign.

lay dying from stab wounds, while Vick-rum Digwa, his killer, was treated as a victim of racist abuse. Digwa, who is Sikh, lied to police, claiming that Mr Nowak, a University of Southampton student, had made racial slurs, punched

Henry Nowak, a student at the University of Southampton, was handcuffed by police despite being stabbed

him and knocked his turban off in Southampton on Dec 3. In an ITV documentary, Dear Henry: Our Fight for Justice, Mr Nowak's family said they felt "hoodwinked" by police in the immediate aftermath of his death.

Mrs Braverman said: “This is the latest in a long line of failures by Hampshire police under Alexis Boon. Meanwhile, the Conservative PCC, Donna Jones, seems more interested in her party and her own standing ahead of the mayoral elections than in delivering safety for local people.

“Alexis Boon and Donna Jones are complicit in creating a blue wall of silence and a catalogue of dreadful errors across a force that the public are now rapidly losing faith in. To restore public confidence, they should now do the right thing and resign.”

Mr Boon apologised to the family in June but said he was not going to resign over the matter. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating two Hampshire police officers for potential gross misconduct over their “failures”. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and Ms Jones have been approached for comment.

Iranians stand in front of a defiant billboard in Englehab Square, in Tehran, which threatens the White House administration and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli president, yesterday

SHAWN THEW/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

US cuts \$4bn Israel aid as voters go to polls

Trump says he agreed with Netanyahu months ago to end support as ‘they don’t need it’

By Harriet Barber

DONALD TRUMP said the US would cut off aid to Israel at the end of the year, in a surprise announcement on the day of the midterm elections.

The US president said he had reached an agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to stop funding his country to the tune of around \$4bn (£3bn) per year.

Speaking to Fox News yesterday, Mr Trump said the decision had been agreed during a phone call. "We made a deal months ago that we're stopping," he said, in what will be viewed as a last-ditch appeal to voters. "It gets cut off at the end of the year. Because they don't need it."

Mr Trump also framed the move as a way to blunt Democratic criticism of Republican support for Israel.

"Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like El-Sayed when they don't need it?" he said, referring to Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate in Michigan's closely watched Senate race.

Dr El-Sayed, a vocal supporter of Palestinians, defeated Haley Stevens, a pro-Israel candidate, in a bitter Democratic Senate primary. On Sunday night, Ms Stevens endorsed Dr El-Sayed's Republican rival.

The president's announcement comes as voters decide control of Congress in the midterm elections, with Democrats widely expected to make gains in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Support for Israel has become an increasingly contentious issue within American politics, particularly among progressive Democrats and parts of Mr Trump's Maga base.

The US currently provides Israel with \$3.3bn in annual military financing, alongside a separate \$500m (£380m) for missile defence programmes.

The funding is governed by a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed in 2016 under Barack Obama, which pledged to provide \$38bn in military assistance between 2019 and 2028.

Since its founding in 1948, Israel has received more than \$300bn, adjusted for inflation, in US economic and military assistance, according to figures from the Council on Foreign Relations. It is the largest cumulative recipient of US aid since the Second World War.

[\$500m] The amount the United States provides Israel for missile defence programmes alongside a further \$3.3bn in military aid

In July, nearly half of House Democrats voted in favour of cutting off aid to Israel, but the measure failed amid strong Republican opposition.

Dr El-Sayed has described Israel as "an affordability issue". "The money that we are spending to subsidise apartheid in the West Bank is money that should be used on the West Side [of Detroit],” he told Jon Stewart, the Daily Show host, in a recent podcast interview.

“That’s our money. It should be spent here. It shouldn’t be this hard to pay your taxes and know that that money is going to be spent on you and your kids rather than dropping bombs on somebody else and their kids,” he said at a rally in Kalamazoo last week.

Mr Trump said Israel would still be able to buy American weapons and the US would continue to offer assistance if needed. “Israel is fine with it because they’ve become a very successful country,” he said. “We give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it. Now, we’ll help them if they need it.”

Earlier this year, Mr Netanyahu suggested that Israel should gradually reduce its reliance on American military assistance, saying the country had developed the capabilities to stand more independently.

“We very deeply appreciate the military aid that America has given us over the years, but here too we’ve come of age,” he told The Economist.

•A Jewish conservative activist was attacked during an apparent argument over Islam on a Michigan university campus. Liz Benichou, a pro-Trump influencer, was taking part in a “Liberty Under Fire USA” tour in Ann Arbor when the incident occurred. Online footage shows Ms Benichou being shoved to the ground and the attacker can be heard shouting: “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

are preparing for a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of a summit in China later this month to discuss the war in Ukraine, according to the Financial Times.

Melania hosts Russia and Ukraine for peace talks in White House

By Antonia Langford in Kyiv

MELANIA TRUMP will host representatives from Russia and Ukraine for talks tomorrow, the White House has said.

US, Chinese and Russian officials have held discussions about the talks, which are to take place when the respective leaders attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhenh. The Kremlin confirmed discussions were under way, with Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, telling journalists that officials "hope it will be finalised in the coming days".

The US first lady's office said that she would personally bring officials from the warring countries together in what it described as an “extraordinary moment in American history”.

The British Ministry of Defence said yesterday that hundreds of British troops and RAF jets will take part in a multinational wargame in Poland in preparation for peacekeeping operations if a deal can be reached to end the war in Ukraine.

Mrs Trump recently mediated on a humanitarian mission in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, enabling the evacuation of hundreds

It was also reported that British troops and their European allies will be allowed to fire back if attacked by the Russians, in the event that they are stationed as peacekeepers in Ukraine.

of civilians into Ukrainian-controlled territory during a ceasefire.

“This marks an unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American first lady,” the White House said, adding that she would deliver remarks on the ceasefire tomorrow.

The announcement came as Volodymyr Zelensky accused Vladimir Putin of capitalising on the US midterm elections to launch a major attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

He accused the Russian president of intensifying strikes while Donald

Trump was distracted as Ameri cans headed to the polls. Moscow's forces struck regions across Ukraine with 289 attack

200 patients. Five people were injured in the port city of Odesa on the Black Sea in an attack on a warehouse.

drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles overnight yesterday, mainly targeting energy facilities and causing power outages around the country.

It was the largest attack on Ukrainian energy facilities this year, according to the chief executive of Ukrenergo, the country's state grid operator. "It is highly significant that this has taken place on the day of the US congressional elections," Mr Zelensky said, adding "the

Mrs Trump's move has been hailed as 'extraordinary'

On the eve of polls opening in crucial midterm elections, US negotiators announced on Monday that peace talks will resume with Washington's mediation later this month. Delegations from Ukraine and Russia will meet in Abu

Russians likely assume that America will fail to notice this 'signal'".

The sweeping attacks followed one of the most fatal strikes on Ukraine this year, with at least 31 people killed and 48 remaining missing

after Russia dropped several aerial bombs on a school serving as a humanitarian aid distribution centre in the Zaporizhzhia region. Footage posted online showed the building flattened and littered with burning debris.

Among the dead were two first responders and four police

'This marks an unprecedented diplomatic intervention by an American first lady'

officers. Some 73 people were also injured in an overnight aerial bomb attack on a medical clinic in Kharkiv, forcing the evacuation of

Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's special envoy, said that the discussions would emphasise “post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts and next steps towards peace”. Meanwhile, Mr Trump, Putin and Xi Jinping, the Chinese president,

Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, on Nov 10 and 11, to attempt to broker an end to the war before the winter.

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Wealthy Britons flee Meloni's ‘exit tax’

Conservative coalition's surprise policy has 'spooked' rich Britons planning move to Italy

By Nick Squires

ROME CORRESPONDENT

ITALY'S plans to impose a hefty exit tax on wealthy expats who have settled in the country has "spooked" Britons, experts have warned.

The Italian initiative means rich Britons looking to escape taxes introduced by the Labour Government will be “jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire”, financial consultants warned.

Giorgia Meloni's government won international plaudits for a flat-tax regime that lured thousands of wealthy foreigners to settle in Italy. Milan in particular saw newcomers buying property, joining private clubs, spending in high-end restaurants and enrolling their children in costly private schools.

But in a surprise move, the conservative coalition has proposed levying a 26 per cent capital gains tax on expatriates who, having settled in Italy, later decide to relocate. The measure, announced in the country's latest budget, will apply to people with assets of €800,000 (£700,000) or more.

The new levy will apply to foreigners who are tax residents in Italy for at least six of the 10 preceding years.

Expats would want to escape the country before the six-year period is up, experts said.

The exit tax has “spooked” wealthy Britons who were planning to move to Italy, financial consultants told The Telegraph. “It’s an odd thing to do. People will be watching the clock, making sure they stay for less than six years,” said Tim Stovold, head of tax at Moore

Kingston Smith, a tax and advisory firm based in London.

countries like Italy, Spain and France are designed to attract people to see long term. They pump money into the economy. I have clients in Italy who buy property, embark on a restoration project and become the principal employers in the village. It's a terrific benefit to the host country."

The Istituto Bruno Leoni, an Italian free-market think tank, said the government initiative was “incomprehensible”. It said

Giorgia Meloni has increased Italy's flat-tax regime

the exit tax would bring in only modest revenue for the government but would dissuade wealthy foreigners from investing in Italy.

"On the one hand, we are trying to attract foreigners with the flat tax

regime. On the other hand, we are telling them once they settle, if they want to leave, they have to pay a disproportionate tax duty," it added.

Italy's flat-tax regime was introduced under a previous government in 2017. Initially, the annual flat tax to be paid by for-

eigners who relocated to Italy was €100,000. The Meloni government

increased it to €200,000

and then to €300,000, in part to fill government funds and in part because of a backlash among Italians over rising property prices in cities such as Milan.

Even with that increase, the deal remained appealing to many wealthy foreigners. “If you sold your business for £20m, say, the arrangement remained attractive – you would only pay €300,000 in tax,” said Mr Stovold. “What will now trouble people who want to leave the UK tax regime is the question of whether it’s a case of ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’.

"You would pay 24 per cent capital gains tax in the UK but now, in Italy, you will pay a 26 per cent exit tax. It appears to be an own goal, an act of self-harm, similar to when the UK abolished the non-domiciled regime.

“For people looking to leave the UK, I think this moves Italy a long way down the list of where they will want to go.” In April last year, the UK Government decided to abolish Britain's “non-dom” tax regime that exempted from taxation the overseas income of UK residents with a foreign domicile, including for inheritance purposes.

The Italian exit tax will be particularly problematic for families with children, who will want to settle their children in school for more than six years. "It will be a deterrent for people who were looking to leave the UK and live in Italy," said Mr Stovold.

Wealthy foreigners who moved to Italy were already unsettled by the steep increase in the flat tax threshold, said Charlie Sosna, head of private wealth and tax at the law firm Mishcon de Reya. The proposed exit tax will damage Italy's image as a haven for high-net-worth individuals, he said.

“This will have spooked them and clients are likely to wait and see how this develops and what it may mean for them,” said Mr Sosna.

Tourist killed as Everest helicopters hit trying to land

By Samaan Lateef FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT in Mumbai

A TOURIST has died and three others have been injured after two helicopters collided while attempting to land near Mount Everest's base camp.

The collision took place yesterday morning at the high-altitude Pheriche village, on the Everest trekking route in eastern Nepal, said Gyanendra Bhul, of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

The helicopters, operated by Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty, were ferrying trekkers who had been hiking up to Everest base camp during Nepal's popular trekking season.

Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu, an Indian national on board the red Fish-tail Air helicopter, died in the crash, Mr Bhul said.

Shailesh Krishna Patel, a New Zealander, and Rabindra Pradhan, the pilot of the Fishtail Air helicopter, were injured and airlifted to Medicity Hospital in Kathmandu. The pilot of the Air Dynasty helicopter also sustained minor injuries, Nepali media reported.

The Air Dynasty helicopter had flown from Lukla airport to a helipad in Solukhumbu on a cargo flight, CAAN said.

The Fishtail Air helicopter had taken off from Gorakshep in Solukhumbu car-

‘It appears both pilots tried to land on the same helipad. The area was covered with snow’

rying two foreign nationals, the authorities added.

“It appears both pilots tried to land on the same helipad very close to each other. The area was covered under snow which could have caused the confusion,” said Insp Mausam Tamang of Solukhumbu district police office. “The rotor blades of a helicopter struck another, triggering the crash.”

A video broadcast by local media showed the Air Dynasty helicopter making a rapid descent.

As it approached the helipad, it collided with the Fishtail Air helicopter, which was attempting to land from the opposite direction. The footage also showed people on the ground running for safety.

The exact cause of the collision between the two AS350s has not yet been established.

“Preliminary reports suggest miscommunication between the pilots, as the area is outside the coverage of Lukla airport’s air traffic control tower and pilots have to communicate with each other,” Mukesh Dangol, the director general of CAAN, told The Kathmandu Post. “We are recording the statement of the injured pilot.”

Mount Ama Dablam attracts most of the climbers in the Everest region. The region is also popular for trekking.

Nepal received 9,385 British tourists in October. Some 17,437 Americans also travelled to the Himalayan nation.

Witnesses said the helicopters approached from different directions and collided while trying to land on the same helipad, killing an Indian tourist on the red helicopter

Poland thwarts 'disturbing movements' at Russian border

By James Rothwell

BERLIN CORRESPONDENT

POLAND has thwarted a suspected Russian provocation along its border with the exclave of Kaliningrad.

Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, said that a number of men carrying torches had been seen making “disturbing movements” near the 143-mile frontier with the Russian territory on Monday night.

Security forces were sent to the area, Mr Tusk said. He stressed that the intentions of the unidentified men were not known and could not be established definitively.

Mr Tusk said yesterday: "Just after midnight, I received information from the border guard that disturbing movements had been observed on the Polish-Russian border – individuals with torches."

The announcement came hours after Poland revealed it was sending counter-terrorism police to the border amid concerns over possible sabotage and further provocations.

The “special operation” in north-eastern Poland also involved regular soldiers, border guard officers and members of the intelligence services, according to Wyborcza, a Polish newspaper.

Kaliningrad, which is surrounded by

'Just after midnight, I received information that disturbing movements had been seen on the border'

EU and Nato countries, is about 250 miles west of Russia, and has become a flashpoint of tensions between Moscow and the West in recent weeks.

Kaliningrad hosts nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles, S-400 air-defence systems and the Russian navy's Baltic fleet.

Poland and its Nato allies fear that, in the event of a full-scale war, Moscow could use the exclave to launch long-range strikes deep inside Europe.

Russia has accused Nato of posing a threat to Kaliningrad by imposing a de facto blockade via sanctions on the territory, which is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland.

Vladimir Putin has suggested that he would be willing to use nuclear weapons to defend Kaliningrad if it were to come under direct attack.

The Russian president said last month: “If it comes to a direct attack on the Russian Federation, in this case we are talking about Kaliningrad but possibly some other territories, of course the issue of use by the Russian Federation of all arms at the disposal of our country will inevitably and immediately be on the agenda.”

In an interview with The Telegraph earlier this year, Lt Gen Holger Neumann, the head of the German air force, named Kaliningrad as a potential target if war were to break out between Nato and Russia.

South Africa's Farmgate scandal has come back to haunt Ramaphosa

By Ben Farmer

AFRICA CORRESPONDENT

A SOFA stuffed with cash, a valuable herd of buffalo and a burglar with diamond-encrusted Rolexes.

The lurid details of South Africa's Farmgate scandal have been in the headlines again this week, as Cyril Ramaphosa has been trying to rally his African National Congress (ANC) party before local elections today.

Just as the Watergate scandal began with a break-in, so Mr Ramaphosa's own version started with a burglary, triggering a case that has mired him in an impeachment saga that endangers his presidency and his legacy.

Imanuwela David was found guilty this week of stealing more than \$580,000 (£432,000) in dollar bills from the Phala Phala farm, which is owned by Mr Ramaphosa, in February 2020. Six years later, the fallout from what appeared to be a simple crime still hangs over South Africa's president.

about where the money stolen from his farm was from, whether it had been properly declared and whether he had attempted to cover up the whole affair.

Mr Ramaphosa, 73, has strongly denied any wrongdoing, and courts have halted attempts to impeach him.

Yet he has not been able to kill them off, and his allies fear the affair could overshadow the remainder of his second presidential term.

On Monday, David was found guilty of theft, money-laundering and conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal at Phala Phala farm in the Limpopo province.

Froliana Joseph, a cleaner at the property, was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal. Her brother, Ndilinasho Joseph, was acquitted on all charges.

Delivering the verdict, Peter Manthata, a magistrate, admitted that the prosecution had no direct evidence against the accused, and criticised the original police investigation.

He said there was no fingerprint evidence or usable video footage, despite the high-profile owner. He added: “It is in my view not understandable, as we are not talking about an ordinary house, but the house of the country’s first citizen, the president.”

Imanuwela David bought cars and Rolex watches after the thefts from Cyril Ramaphosa farm; a picket at the constitutional court in Johannesburg, right

Despite that, Mr Manthata said, there was enough circumstantial evidence to convict. The court heard David had been accused of breaking into the farm and stealing the cash, which was hidden in a sofa. Soon after the theft, he had bought a 2016 Mercedes C200 for his girlfriend, two Mercedes ML SUVs, a Porsche, two Volkswagen, diamond Rolex watches and a house.

The court rejected his defence that he had earned the money in business or through Bitcoin investments. He is due to be sentenced on Nov 13.

Mr Ramaphosa said the cash had come from a Sudanese businessman called Hazim Mustafa, who had wanted to buy 20 buffalo – the banknotes had then been put in the sofa for safe-keeping.

As he diverts his attention to who in the ANC should succeed him, the affair still has the potential to upend his plans.

MICHOU VON BESCHWITZ/SOLENT NEWS

Author who admitted using AI wins France's top literary prize

By Henry Samuel in Paris

FRANCE'S most coveted literary prize has been awarded to an author who used artificial intelligence (AI) to write his book.

Philippe Jaenada, 62, won the Prix Goncourt yesterday for L'Inconnue du quai de Javel (The Unknown Woman of the Quai de Javel), an investigation into the unsolved murder of a young woman in post-war Paris.

This year's prize was already engulfed in an AI scandal after a front-runner was excluded over allegations of computer-generated prose.

The winner – who prides himself on being an old-school author who does not even own a mobile phone – nevertheless incorporated his own research conversations with ChatGPT and Claude into his book.

Defending his use of AI before the award, Jaenada asked: "Would a film director hide the fact that he uses special effects?"

He told 20 Minutes newspaper: "Very soon, we will no longer be able to assert

Infantino ‘tried to get migrant maid permit’

Gianni Infantino has faced intense scrutiny over his relationship with Donald Trump

Trump adviser Carlos Cordeiro enlisted to help obtain working rights for Nicaraguan housekeeper

By Tom Morgan, Claire Newell and Sophia Cai

GIANNI INFANTINO told his top go-between with Donald Trump to help secure a work permit for an immigrant maid at his luxury Miami home.

Tax authorities have been urged to investigate the employment circumstances of the Nicaraguan woman who appeared at risk of deportation after a Trump-enforced law change.

Investigations by The Telegraph can detail how Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino's US adviser, described by Fifa as "central" in the White House Task Force overseeing the World Cup, was called in by the Swiss-Italian executive to help secure the woman a working permit last year. Yesterday, Fifa "firmly" rejected "any suggestion of wrongdoing" surrounding the working circumstances of the housekeeper, whose identity is known to The Telegraph.

The governing body went on to insist “costs of any domestic staff are met by the Fifa president personally” despite previous Fifa correspondence suggesting the woman, in her 30s, was on the governing body payroll. One internal letter dated Jan 7, and seen by

The Telegraph, said she “was employed by Fifa (Americas) Inc from 1 Aug 2024 to 31 Oct 2025”. The letter added that she was employed on a “full-time basis”.

The correspondence indicates the maid was in Fifa's employment for months after the Trump administration effectively revoked her permission to work in the US. However, by January this year she had received a permit to carry on working, other documents seen by The Telegraph show.

Mr Infantino, who is fighting for re-election as Fifa president next March, has faced intense scrutiny over his relationship with the US president and his circle, having secretly held talks to sell a share of World Cup rights to a company owned by the brother of Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law. Mr Infantino lives in luxurious surroundings and makes business use of a private jet as part of a deal Fifa struck with Qatar Airways.

In August, The Telegraph disclosed how Uefa paid off an alleged lover of Mr Infantino while he was its general secretary. The woman received a six-figure sum after the alleged relationship with Mr Infantino ended while he was a top official at European football's governing body before moving to Fifa.

Mr Trump confirmed Mr Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs banker and already a senior adviser to Fifa since 2021, had also been recruited as a “senior adviser” to the “President’s Task Force on the 2026 Fifa World Cup”. He and colleagues “will work tirelessly to make the 2026 Fifa World Cup an unprecedented success,” the US president said, adding his “congratulations” to Cordeiro on Truth Social.

The Telegraph has established direct evidence that Mr Cordeiro, who quit Fifa in August in outrage over Mr Infantino's secret World Cup sell-off plan, helped with the visa arrangement under Mr Infantino's instruction. He is understood to have turned to an external law firm for help. Those with knowl

edge of the situation say the former US Soccer Federation president was never under the impression Fifa was paying the \$40,000 (£29,800) salary of the maid. Whistleblower accounts and documents seen by The Telegraph include claims that she “performed domestic work exclusively” for the Infantino family. She was initially recruited by his wife, Leena, for their Miami residence, “while receiving compensation or benefits through a Fifa-affiliated entity”, insiders claim. Mr Infantino, who has been at the centre of a global storm in recent months over his plans to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, earns about \$6m (£4.47m) per year, according to Fifa's annual report.

It is understood that a complaint relating to Fifa's deal with the maid has been submitted to the US Internal Revenue Service.

Sources with understanding of the situation also told The Telegraph that the Department of Homeland Security has been alerted to concerns about the woman's immigration status.

Multiple sources claim that Mr Infantino tasked colleagues at Fifa, a non-

‘Fifa rejects any suggestion it employed an individual in the US without the necessary authorisation’

profit organisation that generated \$2.6bn last year, with securing working rights for the maid.

Infantino first asked colleagues for help with the Nicaraguan's migrant working rights in January 2024. At the time she is understood to have had refugee status but no working rights and a law firm was recruited by Fifa to help.

A two-year working visa was subsequently secured but that was then effectively ruled invalid by summer 2025 when Trump announced a national policy to revoke the humanitarian parole program that the maid had initially benefited from. The “Securing Our Borders” programme affected Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and Haitians parolees and left all those impacted facing deportation if they had no other legal basis to remain.

However, the maid continued to work for the Infantinos while he explored avenues to secure her a fresh visa, it is claimed. Multiple sources confirmed Mr Cordeiro was asked in mid-2025 to help in securing a new work permit. Documents seen by The Telegraph show she eventually secured a legal working permit approved in January this year.

Fifa documents and insider accounts indicate she had been working on the governing body's payroll.

The governing body said last night: "Fifa rejects any suggestion that it employed an individual in the US without the necessary authorisation. Fifa verifies the employment status of each employee and ensures compliance with US immigration and employment requirements."

In response to the Uefa payout, Fifa said in August that there had never been any complaints by employees about Infantino's behaviour.

A spokesman said: “Fifa president Gianni Infantino strongly denies these allegations, and they are categorically untrue. Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct or violation of statutes or regulations is defamatory.”

Olympian turned drug lord's £30m motorbike fleet to be sold | North Korea denies responsibility for \$6.3bn cryptocurrency heist

By Max Stephens INTERNATIONAL CRIME CORRESPONDENT

THE £30m motorcycle collection owned by an Olympian snowboarder turned drug lord is to be auctioned after his arrest by the FBI.

Ryan Wedding, 45, amassed a fleet of rare and high-performance motorcycles while allegedly running one of

Pulming one North America's most powerful criminal syndicates.

Prosecutors believe that Wedding worked with cartels in Mexico and Colombia to flood his native Canada with an estimated 60,000kg of cocaine every year.

four of Wedding's properties a month before his arrest in January.

Mexican police seized 62 motorcycles in a series of co-ordinated raids on

The motorcycle haul included models by Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, MV Agusta, Suzuki and Yamaha. The FBI stated that Wedding had used some of the vehicles in professional racing.

Other seized items included artworks, drugs, two Olympic gold medals and a rare 2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster, said to be worth £10m.

The silver two-seater had

The silver two-seater had been purchased by Rolan Sokolovski, a jeweller from Toronto, who is alleged by prosecutors to be one of Wedding's chief money-launderers.

Ryan Wedding, pictured snowboarding at the Winter Olympics in 2002

Prosecutors have

alleged that Wedding laundered his vast wealth through an “extensive transatlantic network” involving associates, businesses and luxury assets such as cars and motorcycles.

He is also accused of ordering the killing of a key FBI witness as well as several other murders, including that of a couple who were killed in a case of mistaken identity.

Mexico's state agency Indep, which manages the sale of assets seized by police and security forces, announced that the collection would be auctioned at a banquet hall in Mexico City on Nov 11, alongside armoured vehicles, boats and aircraft.

The organisation said that some of the motorcycles dated back to the 1960s, with starting bids priced at £850 to £100,000 depending on the model.

Wedding is in custody in Los Angeles and expected to go on trial in 2027 for murder, money laundering and offences related to drug trafficking.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

By Allegra Mendelson

ASIA CORRESPONDENT in the same room at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in China.

NORTH KOREA has denied that it was behind the largest heist in history after \$6.3bn (£4.7bn) was stolen from the cryptocurrency giant Binance.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un, the president, accused the US of “grave political provocation” by spreading “absurd rhetoric” in blaming Pyongyang for the hack.

The FBI, along with cyber analysts, has said North Korea orchestrated the hack, as the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange scrambles to recover the funds.

Ms Kim added: “This is not the first time that the US has attempted to spread misunderstanding of the DPRK in the international community, blindly linking the DPRK with the ‘cyber crime’ incidents whenever they occur on an international scale.”

The hack, and Ms Kim's comments, come two weeks before Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un could find themselves

As one of the most heavily sanctioned and isolated regimes in the world, North Korea relies on illicit networks to bring in foreign currency and fund its nuclear weapons programme. Hacking has become one of its most lucrative tactics. In the last year, the regime has

Value of foreign currency that the North Korean regime has reportedly brought in in the last year through hacking

brought in \$7.6bn, according to Elliptic, a blockchain-analytics firm.

Last week's attack on Binance dwarfed the previous largest heist in history when \$1.46bn was stolen from Bybit in 2025.

It also paled in comparison to the largest physical heist recorded when

Saddam Hussein's family stole \$1bn from the Bank of Iraq in 2003. The FBI said that North Korea's hacker group, TraderTraitor, also known as the Lazarus Group, was behind Friday's Binance hack as well as the Bybit heist.

Ms Kim also accused the US of fabricating the Bybit allegations in her statement on Monday.

She said that both allegations were a “sinister attempt to damage the international image” of North Korea.

Binance's initial investigation indicated that the hackers compromised an engineer's laptop about 8pm on Thursday, which allowed them to gain access to the company's system and submit unauthorised withdrawals.

According to analysis group TRM Labs, most of the money was stolen within the first 20 minutes.

Elliptic has tracked the funds since and found that, as of Monday, North Korea had used 12,000 wallets across 11 blockchains to launder the money.

Only a “negligible amount has likely been cashed out”, according to the firm.

Comment

I thought that 'mogging' was a family in-joke not word of the year

HELENA REES MOGG

I awoke yesterday morning to a WhatsApp message from my sister on the family chat to inform those of us on it that “mogging” – a word used light-heartedly to mean outshining, outperforming or upstaging someone or something – has been named word of the year by the Collins English Dictionary, having apparently had a 210 per cent increase in its usage in 2026 among Gen Z (pronounced “zed” please, not the American “zee”) and Gen Alpha.

This at least prepared me for the pleasant surprise of hearing in Somerset (our three boarding teens are still on half-term) my husband Jacob on the radio in London, having sent in a voice note on the subject (how mogdern?) to the effect that since the Mogna Carta, there hadn't been such magnificent news about the transmogrification of our language... you get the gist.

That I had heard the word at all before this latest development is of course thanks entirely to having teenage children. Mary, 17, used it some months ago in the car, in conversation with younger brothers in the back, then had to explain the meaning to Dinosaur Parent (not that one) and that no, it was absolutely nothing to do with any political, oratorical or broadcasting outshining, or otherwise, by her father or journalistically by his father William. I might alternatively have assumed it was a political version of mugging (being swamped for selfies at the Conservative Party Conference?) or worse, an alarming new feline version of the term for couples in the great outdoors/parked vehicles, apparently not there primarily for the view (though the onlookers obviously are).

Anselm, 14, when presented with the mogging news, confidently asserted: "Your children do it."

Mary loves the term, performs an associated gesture (not rude) implying a jawline so chiselled that it would cut one's finger and to emphasise the point, wipes her supposedly cut finger on her black Cocker spaniel, Daisy. When she posts on Instagram, friends reply with nice comments like “mogging us all”, “the Mogg mogging us once again” and so forth. “You cannot mogg the Rizz-Mogg,” she concludes, shoehorning in some further modern slang, for charisma. As she thankfully has a private account, she hasn’t yet had to learn Helena’s Second Law of Political Sanity, which is “never read the comments beneath the post”. (The First Law being: “Don’t go into politics – or have a political partner – unless you actually like people.”)

I was delighted to learn from Tim Sigsworth's article on the topic that mogging has mogged other new words of 2026 including "Manchesterism" (I should hope so – though certain Moggs could possibly be accused of Somersetism) and the irritating "hydration break" from the football World Cup in America back in the summer – "drinks interval", anyone? Some contenders are a delight: "carspreading" neatly capturing the tendency of modern cars to be longer, wider and heavier (guilty as charged, as driver of a Land Rover Discovery – with six children, flooded/icy rural roads and parking in muddy fields for equestrian events as my defence) and "fricy" combining fruity and spicy, like several of the cocktails on the menu at the Speedboat Bar in London's Soho, to which a friend introduced me this summer.

On taking The Telegraph's quiz on the meaning of 10 modern slang words, including the horror "friendslop", I was mollified (not moggified) to score eight out of 10 (probably thanks to being a daily consumer of The Telegraph) and be told, for the first and surely last time: "Top marks! You're fluent in 2026 and clearly ahead of the curve."

That will be news to the children.

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Andy Burnham is helping to revive two of the worst ideas in history

The PM's stance on slavery encourages the claims that it was key to Britain's wealth and we owe reparations

ROBERT TOMBS

The Prime Minister has blithely walked into the obvious trap laid by those Commonwealth governments who are hoping for large payouts as reparations for slavery.

His waffly statements, rather than “drawing a line” under the issue, have announced open season on the British taxpayer. To talk about being “open” to an apology, and to link development aid to the issue of reparations implicitly concedes what successive prime ministers have consistently refused. Can Burnham really think that rebadging a few millions in aid payments will satisfy the reparations lobby?

The demand for a “formal apology” is not really about giving satisfaction for supposed psychological trauma dating back two centuries. Soothing words

\- whether pronounced by a monarch or a prime minister - are only phase one. The real demand for massive amounts of money is based on economic theories that claim the slave trade and slavery were essential to Britain's own development.

The godfather of these arguments was Eric Williams, an Oxford PhD student in the late 1930s. His thesis was published in 1944 titled Capitalism and Slavery. He came from a middle-class Trinidadian family, went into politics, was influenced by the Black Power movement, and became the first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

Williams's arguments, much elaborated by later writers, were twofold. First, he aimed to demolish the idea that Britain had abolished slavery for moral reasons, and therefore deserved some credit, even gratitude. No, he said, the British only abolished the slave trade and slavery because they were no longer profitable. Second, he claimed that the slave economy was central in British economic history. The Industrial Revolution, and hence Britain's later wealth, was founded on the exploitation of enslaved Africans.

These two ideas remain the basis of the reparations lobby: British abolitionism was mere opportunism, and Britain owes trillions of pounds to the descendants of slaves. There are some academic historians who try to support these arguments. One recently claimed, against all the evidence, that a technological breakthrough vital to the Industrial Revolution was invented by slaves in Jamaica and stolen by Britons.

Despite such ingenuity, both of Williams's arguments defy basic common sense.

First, slavery was not unprofitable. Slave uprisings could not stop it: the price of slaves kept rising. It took a bloody civil war to end it in the United States. Sustained efforts by the Royal Navy and the Foreign Office – financial payments, diplomatic pressure, and gunboats – were required to throttle it in the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Not only did slavery last until the 1880s in parts of the Americas, it continues today. Britain could have monopolised this booming traffic. It chose to do the opposite.

Second, ascribing Britain's wealth today to 18th-century slavery ignores everything since: the internal

combustion engine, electricity, the atom, computers and so on. Even more crucially, it ignores what went before. England was a wealthy country long before the age of slavery and the Industrial Revolution. England was three times as rich as Africa in 1500, and richer than China and India would be until the 1990s. It was the high level of wages and consumption in Britain that sparked industrialisation, not the labour of enslaved Africans. Moreover – and this ought to clinch the argument – several countries were more involved with slave economies than Britain: France, Portugal, Spain, the Ottoman Empire. But none industrialised.

These are the common sense arguments against the Williams thesis. In addition, generations of economic historians have disproved it in painstaking detail. They have calculated the relative importance of the slave trade and the slave economy within the broader story of British economic growth. The verdict has been the same over and over again. At the height of slavery, the Caribbean took only about 5 per cent of British exports. One estimate of profits from the slave trade in 1770 is at most £342,000, out of a total British GNP in that year of £166m.

Strikingly, even historians who try to talk up the importance of the slave economy seem to end up doing the opposite. The most recent example is an expensive inter-university project to track every British slave owner and trader. Press reports suggest it has found that only a fraction of 1 per cent of the population was involved. Yet we are being told that all of us owe reparations.

The slave trade bequeathed many kinds of evil, tangible today in the United States, Africa and the Arab world. In the Caribbean, the trade created whole new societies of

Robert Tombs is emeritus professor of history at the University of Cambridge

An estimate of profits from the slave trade in 1770 is at most £342,000, out of a total British GNP in that year of £166m

enslaved people and their descendants. That those societies today are in many ways successful and attractive testifies to their resilience and creativity over many generations. It also owes something to the efforts of British colonial rulers to repair the damage done by slavery and set up working democracies. Compare Barbados with Haiti.

Do Commonwealth countries now deserve apology and reparations? As I noted in an earlier article, William Pitt as prime minister made a very strong apology in 1792, and his successors worked hard to “atone” (his word) by combating slavery. To repeat expressions of regret may be desirable and conciliatory, but not if they imply that Britain accepts the case for reparations. The idea that the Caribbean and Africa were somehow the creators of Britain’s present wealth, and that they therefore have a practically unlimited claim on it with no strings attached, is absurd.

Caribbean countries today can prosper by their own efforts, and many do. Most outstrip the African countries that enslaved their ancestors. The idea that they are still suffering from slavery nearly two centuries after emancipation is implausible. Where there are concrete problems – in health or education – they would be candidates for aid based on friendship and goodwill, not on obligation.

A sensible prime minister would keep questions of aid and investment entirely separate from discussion of reparations, to which our response should be a polite but unambiguous no. A much wiser King maintained that separation in his opening speech on Tuesday. He also praised the anti-slavery efforts of the Royal Navy – a reminder that history (in his words) can “inspire” as well as “appal”.

The Right seems blind to how dangerous the PM is

ANNABEL DENHAM

Is Andy Burnham all style and no substance? Wrong question. The style is the substance.

The Right is clinging on to a comforting theory about Britain's neophyte Prime Minister: that he is enjoying a honeymoon, that his popularity is built on sand, and the electorate will soon discover that beneath the sartorial pizazz and social media output is an empty vessel. Keir Starmer, with unbuttoned shirts.

Opposition parties have a tendency to view their adversaries through their own eyes rather than those of the voters who support them, underestimating political adversaries because they are reluctant to give credit where due. It took Tony Blair time to famously counter William Hague's sharp Prime Minister's Questions quips by claiming: "The jokes are good, but the policies are bad." Kemi Badenoch needs to find an equivalent attack line, fast.

Throw punches and Burnham smiles; try to rattle him and he won't rise. He has none of Starmer's brittleness. He's not puce-faced and personally affronted when the Leader of the Opposition asks questions. Just as Franklin Roosevelt mastered radio and JFK understood TV, so in the second quarter of the 21st century Burnham grasps that politics is no longer conducted through the sort of set-piece oratory delivered by some of his heavyweight predecessors.

Even his speech at the Labour Party eschewed familiar rhetoric for an apparently genuine display of raw emotion. But only political junkies watched that: his greater connect with the public is through TikTok. For all that we obsess over authenticity, John McTernan, Blair's former political secretary, identifies something arguably more potent in Burnham's appeal: "empathy".

He talks about unreliable trains and unaffordable bills and the Right snorts, because it's self-evidently absurd to reassure voters they can use a different railway operator when the national debt has soared past £3tn and the benefits bill is larger than the amount raised in income tax. But these are the terms in which most people experience politics. His decision to dispense with a lectern the first time he stood outside Downing Street as Prime Minister was similarly deliberate, a small gesture designed to compress the space between politician and public.

Opponents dismiss all this as

unserious, which it is. His approach to

policy is disturbingly casual and his

failure to back Shabana Mahmood this

week was ungracious. Yet it might also

be what makes him so dangerous. Is he

thinking aloud without considering the

consequences when he claims Putin

interfered in the EU referendum? Or is

he using “gaffes” to signal intent?

“He’s Teddy Sheringham coming on when Manchester United were losing the Champions League final,” says McTernan. This points to another misconception about Burnham – that the vast parliamentary majority he inherited makes him vulnerable to rebellion. If anything, he has more authority than any recent prime minister: none of Labour’s 400 MPs emerged as a serious alternative as Starmer fell. Instead, the parliamentary party crossed its fingers for a by-election which would enable the Manchester Messiah to return to Westminster.

The complaint that Burnham is tinkering when Britain requires transformational change is valid enough, but voters might be more impressed than political columnists. Post-Budget research from More in Common suggests the public appreciated the small interventions.

Section #73

FOLLOW Annabel Denham on X @AnnabelDenham1 READ MORE at telegraph.co.uk/opinion

tax the banks, clobber the landlords. Labour people want things done in a Labour way. What they don't want is £5bn of welfare cuts sold as a step towards fiscal retrenchment.

While there are big variations in Labour leads across different polls, the Party is now consistently ahead. Burnham's interventions on energy, public “control”, rejoining the EU, even reparations, all speak to younger disaffected voters who had drifted towards the Greens. Mahmood's immigration measures, even watered down, amount to one of the toughest announcements by a home secretary for decades. It might even win back a few soft Reform votes.

All of which means the Right needs to get its act together. As Britain teeters on the brink, Andy Burnham's solution is to take us back to the 1970s – and, when we've arrived, to keep us there by implementing constitutional reforms that could lock Right-wing parties out of power for a generation.

Yet many are indulging in the belief that Burnham's popularity is a passing fad and his policies too piffling to warrant serious attention. They may turn out to be right, but to this observer there is a more coherent and ambitious political project beneath the affable everyman façade than many care to admit.

ESTABLISHED 1855

Scrap this dangerous assault on parenting

CAMPAIGN

C hould a parent be sent to prison for

S questioning their child's self-identification as a cat? Ludicrously, that appears to be one of the risks inherent in draft legislation to stop so-called "conversion therapy".

The legislation is the draft Conversion Practices Bill, introduced in the dog days of Sir Keir Starmer's premiership to fulfill a manifesto promise to pass a “trans-inclusive” ban on conversion practices. Like previous aborted Tory attempts to do the same, the intention is seemingly well-meaning: to outlaw cruel practices that seek to persuade an individual that they are not the sexuality or gender they believe themselves to be. But campaigners point out that these are already unlawful. What we are left with is an expansive and potentially dangerous law that threatens to turn normal conversations between parents and their children into criminal matters.

In a report for Policy Exchange, the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Baroness Falkner, has gone line by line through the legislation. Writing in The Telegraph, she calls it an “unprecedented and unwarranted intrusion into family life”. She warns that parents could be sent to prison for up to five years for refusing to use a child’s preferred name, for refusing to fund gender reassignment, or seeking to dissuade a child from embarking on medical intervention that could lead to permanent sterility.

That is abhorrent. On social media and in schools, children are assaulted with confusing ideas about genders, including the notion that there are a possibly unlimited number of them. Lady Falkner points out that the draft legislation is so poorly worded that exotic identities such as “catgender” could potentially be given protection.

But desperate to appease extreme trans campaigners, Labour has failed to answer basic questions of this legislation. Is it necessarily based on evidence of real harm? Does it undermine existing rights? Does it replicate any existing laws? Is it even enforceable? The Conversion Practices Bill should be scrapped before it causes real damage.

Parents will naturally feel a responsibility to help their children through this maze, and will be best placed to judge when a child's statements should be questioned and when they should be affirmed.

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It is an important victory for free speech. In an extraordinary case before the High Court, a celebrity had sought to prevent news organisations from publishing an investigation into his behaviour because, he claimed, he would take his own life.

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The celebrity had asserted that his rights under Articles 2, 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (protecting life, prohibiting inhuman or degrading treatment and protecting private and family life) would be jeopardised by the story, which includes serious allegations of inappropriate and exploitative sexual behaviour. The defendants had relied upon Article 10, which protects freedom of expression.

Too often, courts have reached the wrong balance between rights under the Convention, with chilling effects on the free press and free expression. In this case, the High Court got the judgment right.

It did not deny that publication might increase the risk of suicide. But it noted that, “Article 8 does not require the Court to eliminate every source of psychiatric distress by imposing a prior restraint upon the lawful activities of private parties.” It added that the journalism concerned matters of substantial public interest and that “the restraint sought [by the celebrity] would be comprehensive and potentially indefinite”. In other words, if the Court accepted his argument, the allegations against him might never have been published.

That would have set an appalling precedent. The celebrity is still unnamed pending an appeal. He should not be allowed any longer to hide behind human rights laws to avoid facing accountability for his alleged actions.

Bringing home a tree

In “The Cultivation of Christmas Trees”, TS Eliot advises on avoiding the wrong attitude if we hope that one day “The accumulated memories of annual emotion / May be concentrated into a great joy.” But his cultivation of an honest attitude relies on actual trees being grown – and it has never been harder than in 2026. Heat and drought have done for vulnerable saplings. As we report, the man who grows the tree for 10 Downing Street has lost 2,000 of his 15,000 newly planted trees. But 85 per cent of households still put up a tree, and the 7 million harvested make up a small proportion of the 100 million trees of all kinds planted each year. In total the United Kingdom has 3 or 4 billion trees, according to the Woodland Trust, less than half of them deciduous. So Christmas trees can still find a niche in a well-regulated woodland ecology.

SIR – The Home Secretary's concessions on indefinite leave to

Vet costs

SIR – Regarding your article (“I travelled to Belgium to escape Britain’s rip-off vets”, Money, telegraph.co.uk, November 3), my daughter is an ambulatory equine vet. By necessity, her skillset does not just include fixing horses, but also dealing with the owners.

The problem is that many private vet practices have been bought by “corporates”. This offers a one-time payment hit for the practice partners, but does not increase the pay for the other vets, nurses or staff.

The cost of doing veterinary business now includes a head office, with a plethora of administrators setting the charges for treatments and drugs. In addition, the cost of living in Britain is roughly 15-20 per cent more than it is in Belgium or France.

This is a toxic situation, but not one caused by vets ripping off their customers.

Alan Carmichael

Nairobi, Kenya

The Government has discovered that restricting immigration is rather more difficult when the state has made itself dependent upon it.

David McCreadie

Hindhead, Surrey

Winter fuel quirks

London and North Eastern Railway passengers choose music for their carriage in 1931

The value of taking time to be still and listen

SIR – By entertaining the prospect of a formal apology for Britain's historical role in the transatlantic slave trade, Andy Burnham is laying the ground for payment of reparations to Caribbean countries.

SIR – My wife and I have just received our notifications about the 2026 winter fuel payments. My wife was born before September 27 1946, so is potentially entitled to £300 – the amount that she would receive if she was the only person in the house eligible for a payment.

SIR - James Rollin's church runs a monthly album club (Letters, November 3). What a splendid idea.

A former priest in our parish holds quiet days at a nearby convent. He started one of these by playing Serenade to Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. I had never heard it, so am eternally grateful

to him for introducing me to it. There is much merit in the communal listening experience. There should also be space, in our often frenetic lives, for periods of silence, with which that day was interspersed.

Tony Tudor

Southport, Lancashire

This would be picking the pockets of our children and grandchildren who, like our generation, bear no responsibility for the actions of our forefathers.

I wonder how the Chancellor would weave into our national accounts £20tn of reparations, even if (as with the original Chagos deal) payments were to be spread over many years. I suspect bankruptcy would result, followed by a hasty visit to the IMF. Fred Fearn

Burton Bradstock, Dorset

SIR – To apologise for something, surely you personally must have done that something.

We can regret deeply Britain's involvement in slavery, while also being proud that this country brought it to an end.

Mary Sutherland

London SE10

Ways of parenting

SIR – I identified with Hannah Betts's article espousing “tough love” (Comment, November 3).

However, I was also born before that date, so we will instead receive £150 each. Then, after I have submitted my tax return for 2026-7, HMRC will claim back my £150 because my total income exceeds a maximum allowable amount. Thus we will end up with a total payment of £150. But if I was not yet of pensionable age, regardless of my income, my wife would receive £300.

It sounds as though my own upbringing was similar to hers, especially in terms of being expected to ride the waves of a turbulent life without mollycoddling. Admittedly, my stance has inched towards a more sympathetic and interactive version of parenting.

I fear, however, that we have now moved to the second generation of child indulgence, with parents' approach driven by the wishes of their progeny.

progeny:

Barry Sheldon

Cholsey, Oxfordshire

Veterans overlooked on Remembrance Sunday

We are being penalised for being two pensioners born before September 27 1946, rather than just one such person who lives with a well-off spouse of non-pensionable age. The same thing happened last year.

David Pearson

Bottisham, Cambridgeshire

Postal paragon

SIR – John Andrew (“Sluggish Royal Mail”, Letters, October 31) tells how a letter he sent from Pinner to Evesham took almost a month to arrive.

Our daughter, currently travelling in rural Japan, posted us a stamped card from a matcha farm. It arrived at our home in Surrey five days later. Perhaps the fastest way to send a letter in Britain is to take it to Japan first.

Emma Lines

Wormley, Surrey

SIR – On Sunday, veterans will gather in London to take part in the annual Remembrance Sunday parade at the Cenotaph. Around 10,000 are expected to march. Many are elderly and frail.

A significant number of these veterans travel from Salisbury, Winchester and the surrounding Wiltshire and Hampshire areas, having settled in places steeped in the military.

Yet, in what can only be described (at best) as an extraordinary failure of consideration, South Western Railway and Network Rail have chosen this particular weekend to carry out engineering works, disrupting the rail services on which so many would normally rely.

Their alternative is a replacement bus service, requiring veterans to leave Salisbury and Winchester at the ungodly hour of 4.45am, in order to arrive in London at 8am. After the parade, they face the prospect of an equally tiring journey home.

Of all the weekends in the year, could there really not have been a little more thought given to this one? Engineering works are necessary, of course, but surely Remembrance Sunday, when thousands of veterans travel to honour their fallen comrades, should have been an obvious date to avoid. After all, it is always the second Sunday in November, so not a surprise, one-off event.

We rightly talk about our duty to remember and respect those who have served and given their lives. That respect should extend beyond the Cenotaph itself and include some practical consideration for the people who are making the journey to be there.

I hope that this doesn't result in too many veterans not making the trip to London, but I fear it may do, and it won't be through a lack of resilience: just one hurdle too many. Giles Nevill

Quarteira, Algarve, Portugal

Rules of address

SIR – Bill Rutherford's letter (“Cringey courtesy”, November 2) reminded me of when I worked in a solicitors' practice.

If a letter between solicitors commenced by saying “With respect”, it would most certainly be followed by words doubting the intelligence and opinion of the addressee.

Alyson Persson

Henfield, West Sussex

SIR – I do not so much cringe at the phrase “With all due respect” as recognise it for being an untruth, since what follows is usually delivered with no respect whatsoever. Similarly deceitful phrases include “I’m not a racist, but” – and (the worst lie of all) “Your call is important to us”. Chris Howland-Harris Almondsbury, Gloucestershire

SIR – I, too, think there is an English equivalent to schadenfreude (Letters, November 3). It is “tee-hee”.

Cherry Jennings

Garstang, Lancashire

We are paying a high price for the Brexit reset

Labour's deal with the EU reduces Parliament to a rubber stamp for regulations set in Brussels

DAVID FROST

So, Labour's leaders have got their agrifood deal with the EU. That was never exactly in doubt. They had decided where they wanted to finish before the negotiations began, and effectively signalled to the EU in May last year that they would agree to it whatever happened. The only question was how much they would give away to get there. We now know. They gave away the farm.

Andy Burnham and the pro-EU campaign like to tell us this new agreement is a necessary corrective to the 2020 trade deal, “a harder Brexit than the country voted for”, when Boris Johnson and I supposedly let ideology get in the way of common sense. Saying that saves them the trouble of understanding what we were trying to do in 2020. And because they don’t understand it, they have casually junked it, and with it a significant part of Britain’s growth prospects.

Britain hasn't been self-sufficient in food for nearly 200 years. Our most successful food and drink exports are processed niche products like Scotch and smoked salmon. We will always be a major food importer, for reasons of climate, geography, population density and economic structure. So, to feed ourselves we have a national interest in sourcing the best and cheapest imports from a range of countries.

While we were in the EU, we couldn't properly do this. Yes, we had some limited influence over EU food and agriculture rules. But we were always fighting rearguard actions (have we all forgotten the arguments over chocolate or bananas, the battles over Common Agricultural Policy subsidies?) and the rules never worked entirely to our benefit. We had to accept the risk averse EU approach to regulation, and its consequence: high quality and cheaper food from third countries could not make it to British supermarkets. Britain became a largely captive, high-cost food market for the rest of the EU.

Leaving the EU meant we could leave all that behind. Our vision for Britain was as a pro-technology, pro-research, innovative economy, and we knew this could be true of the agrifood sector too. We could dump the restrictions on gene editing and research. We could support our farmers in a way that suited us, not the French. We could have properly humane animal welfare rules. We could import food from countries all round the world, not just from the EU, and more cheaply too as we lowered tariffs. And we could make Britain one of the world leaders in agritech.

exports to the EU. It didn't have to be like that, but we knew the EU would insist. However, we believed, rightly, that the cost was minor, most firms would adjust, and the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks. We were shifting to a different model: one that suited, rather than handicapped, the modern, innovative economy we aimed to be. And it was beginning to happen.

Labour have just thrown this all away with their EU reset. It's back to the old EU model, now even more restrictive in our absence. The innovations we started to develop will be undone. Key animal welfare rules risk being compromised or unwound. Our farmers will have to face competition from EU farmers, subsidised from Brussels. EU regulations will squeeze out food from beyond the EU once again. And every farm and every food business in Britain will have to comply, whether or not they export to the EU or anywhere else. And all this is even worse than when we were a member state, because, under the “dynamic alignment” rules, we don't get any say in any of it. There won't be any more bent banana wars because the EU will not have to pay attention to us. They will decide on their regulations and our Parliament will have to implement them.

What will we get for this? Economic growth? Labour will tell you it will boost the economy by the princely sum of £5bn in 10 years' time. The Growth Commission, made up of international economic experts, describes the EU's rules as "one of the most anti-competitive and growth-destroying

regulatory systems in the world" and says being subject to its agrifood regime will in fact cost us three times as much.

Reduced paperwork? Yes there will be some reductions, but it won't be eliminated. For as long as we have lower tariffs on some food imports, then the EU will still maintain customs controls at Dover and tell us to do so in the Irish Sea as well.

Or lower costs? Not for the taxpayer. The scale of paperwork is greatly exaggerated. Even Labour only put it in the tens of millions, around half of one per cent of the value of our EU food and drink exports. In return, the Government now has to pay a whole lot more to Brussels instead.

Obviously Marks & Spencer like that, but you the taxpayer ought to be worried. Figures of around £1bn for the cost of the reset are circulating. If Labour didn't like the old arrangements, why didn't they just subsidise the costs directly, rather than put the entire industry under EU control and pay for the privilege?

If anything is “hard Brexit” then surely this is. Our entire agrifood industry regulated from outside the country, the British Parliament reduced to a rubber stamp, our own ability to innovate controlled by people we didn’t elect, can’t remove, and have no say over. Not only has Labour made a mess of these negotiations, they have sold our democratic birthright for a mess of imported pottage. Shame on them.

Lord Frost served as chief Brexit negotiator and Brexit minister

Kakuro No 5923

Train Tracks

Puzzles, Mind Games & Telegraph Toughie

KAKURO

To solve kakuro you must enter a number between 1 and 9 in the empty squares without repeating a digit. The clues are the numbers on the black squares and are the sum of the solution numbers. The clue pointers indicate the direction of the answers. A block of two squares with a clue of 3 will solve as 2,1 and a 5 will produce 4,1 or 2,3. A 4 can only be 1,3, never 2,2. Solution tomorrow.

MODERATE NO 5924

[KILLER SUDOKU] MODERATE

Your clues are the caged numbers that represent the sum of the numbers within the cage. As in standard sudoku, each 3 x 3 box, each row and each column must contain all the numbers 1 to 9. Solution tomorrow.

ANAGRAMS

Each of the anagrams below spells out a term relating to psychology. Solution tomorrow.

Numbers are substituted for letters in this crossword grid. In the smaller key grid some letters are solved. Use these as clues to complete your first word. This will solve more letters that you can then enter in the grids. Solutions tomorrow.

OLD IN USE

LEND CAMPSITE

INDIGO COT INN

CODEWORDS

For today's right-hand codewords solutions call 0905 757 0131. For up to five extra letter clues call 0905 757 0130 or text DTCODE (leaving no spaces) to 64343. Calls cost £1 per minute, plus network access charge; texts cost £1, plus network access charge. You must be 18 or over and have the bill payer's permission.

Services open Mon - Fri. SP: Spoke Ltd - Helpline 0333 202 3390.

NO 4966

—TELEGRAPH —TOUGHIE—

NO 3786

DONNYBROOK

[MIND GYM] SUDOKU

Start on the left with the given number and work your way across following the instructions in each cell. Target time: 30 seconds. Solution below.

To solve this puzzle each $3 \times 3$ box, each row and also each column must contain all the numbers from 1 to 9. There are numerous strategies to help you solve sudoku. Solutions tomorrow.

Sudoku Solution For today's tough sudoku solution call 0905 757 0136. Calls cost £1 per minute, plus network access charge. You must be 18 or over and have the bill payer's permission. Services open Mon – Fri. SP: Spoke – 0333 202 3390.

TOUGH NO 7494 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 2 | BEGINNER | x7 | xl.25 | -37 | $\frac{3}{4}$ OF THIS | -44 | X BY ITSELF | TRIPLE IT | +15 | ANSWER | 108 | ÷9 | INTERMEDIATE | ANSWER | 91 | 6/7 OF THIS | TRIPLE IT | -47 | DOUBLE IT | -262 | HALVE IT | 6/7 OF THIS | DOUBLE IT | x2.75 | ADVANCED | ANSWER | 18 | xl2 | TRIPLE IT | -424 | ÷8 | X BY ITSELF | +32 | ÷3 | ÷17 | x11.75 |

[Down | Across] PANAGRAM

Create words of four letters or more, always using the centre letter. Proper nouns and plurals are not allowed, and you can only use each letter once per word. Can you find the nine-letter Panagram? Answers must be in the Oxford Dictionary of English. Solution tomorrow.

Up to 6 words - Word Finder, 7 - Wordsmith, 14 - Word Wizard, 21 - Word Master, 28 - Word Genius, 36 - Word Perfect

1 Join two sailors in savings scheme for capital (5,5)

6 Confused state reported in Mons for example? (4)

10 Author Edith briefly recalled dramatist (5)

11 Stories about theologian bored by Catholic Church stars (9)

12 Black water for the maker of The 14 Across of 6 Across (5)

13 Temperature retained by ersatz coffee? (9)

14 Really old canine somehow beginning to talk (7)

16 Perform an aria on the radio for playwright (5)

19 Get on in the sack – produce babies (5)

20 Go in and use rocks like granite (7)

22 We go ninth with changes in wide position (2,3,4)

26 Pole fast runs away (5)

27 12 Across, say, one near Jerusalem blocking change (9)

28 Individual extinguishing second fire (5)

29 Arab vessel departs for south in spectacle (4)

30 Grand English celebrities back in the garden (10)

Toughie No 3785

1 Elbows out a Kipling character: lad not unknown (6)

2 Diptera as distributed essentially unalike (9)

3 In post, cardinal with church given porridge (9)

4 Money needed for memorial (5)

5 Poor cricket side hosting first-class game (9)

7 Sober group securing reduced payment for venue (5)

8 Surprised Rosebud perhaps devouring pastry (8)

9 Lower-class alliance losing heart in revolution (3-1)

15 Take out with cream Mrs Harker tucks into? (9)

16 Tax back that will produce deal (5,4)

17 Student in Santiago lost in fond remembrance (9)

18 Five held in old base potentially pardoned (8)

21 Rudd's overnight journey (3-3)

23 T bones served up for Renaissance poet (5)

24 Poet's black, yet brown here and there (4)

25 Ugly photo displays ornamental feature (5)

Help with clues

Single clues 0905 757 0126.

All Across/Down clues 0905 757 0127.

Calls cost £1/minute, plus network access charge. You must be 18 or over and have the bill payer's permission. Service open Mon-Fri.

SP: Spoke Ltd – Helpline 0333 2023390.

7 5 2 3 6 6 6 8

Sudoku Regular and Tough No 7493

MINI SUDOKU

Fill in the grid in such a way that every row and column and every 2 x 3 box contains the numbers 1-6. Solution tomorrow.

MODERATE NO 4735 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 |

[PLUSWORD] NO 1627

Solve the crossword, then use letters in the shaded squares to complete the additional PlusWord. A letter in a green square appears in the same column in the PlusWord as it does in the crossword; a letter in a yellow square appears in the PlusWord, but in a different column than it does in the crossword. There is only one possible answer for the PlusWord; it may be that the PlusWord contains letters that aren't found in the crossword, but it can always be worked out logically without guessing. Solution tomorrow.

Across

1 Jane Austen character played by Colin Firth

6 US State known for its potatoes

7 Certain to result in failure

8 It's all \_\_\_\_ to me

9 Feudall labourers

Down

1 Bell sounds; dents

2 Venerate

3 Less refined

4 Head honcho

5 A very long time

THE SOLUTIONS | S | Q | U | A | D | C | U | R | V | E | R | I | G | E | L | U | T | E | R | I | B | E | S | T | S | Try all of our Puzzles free.

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The Telegraph PUZZLES

Killer Sudoku

Mini Sudoku No 4734

Codewords 1 and 2

Y 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

A L Z D J N B G P W C E

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M T Q H S R U X K I O V F

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

O D N H M F 7 C A X T W E K

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

P R U B Z Q S L Y I G J V

Kakuyu No.502

Business

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Burnham to halt new net zero subsidies in climbdown

Next year's renewable energy auction is paused amid concerns over electricity grid bottlenecks

By Matt Oliver

ANDY BURNHAM has ordered a halt to new wind and solar power subsidies in a net zero climbdown aimed at cutting household energy bills.

The Government revealed yesterday that next year's auction of contracts for difference (CfDs) – a form of state support for renewable energy projects – will be paused to ensure that it benefits consumers.

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This year's auction is expected to continue as normal in the coming weeks and is set to award subsidies that could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year, paid for by households and businesses.

But Michael Shanks, the energy minister, told the House of Lords environment committee next year's auction was being put on hold so that the CfD programme could be reformed.

It follows concerns that the development of renewable power capacity is moving faster than work to upgrade the electricity grid.

This has resulted in network bottlenecks, where too much power is generated for the UK grid to handle, and vast amounts of power going to waste.

It has also led to wind farms being paid hundreds of millions of pounds to switch off, a practice known as curtailment in industry jargon.

Mr Shanks told peers that the Government was drawing up a new plan to prevent too much future capacity being built in Scotland, which is behind the biggest bottlenecks.

He said how subsidies are awarded will also change. Currently CfDs are the UK's flagship mechanism for supporting renewable energy projects and are ultimately funded through consumer bills. They ensure generators are always paid a fixed strike price for the electricity they produce, regardless of market prices.

Developers win CfDs by putting forward projects and bidding for fixed prices in auctions, helping to ensure the strike prices are competitive. Last year's estimated CfD budget was £1.7bn, covering wind farms, solar farms and other clean technologies.

"The CfD process has been incredibly useful to give investors certainty to build new projects," Mr Shanks said.

But he added “We do now want to pause” before the next auction round to “look at whether we need some more significant changes to the contracts for difference scheme to make sure they work for the consumers of the country”.

John Healey, the Chancellor, declared that Labour's new priority was “first and foremost cheaper energy” in last week's Budget.

Whitehall sources told The Telegraph his remarks signalled a demotion of the 2030 clean power targets championed by Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, when he led the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Dan Tomlinson, a Treasury minister, said after the Budget that Mr Burnham would pursue “a new energy pathway”

£1.7bn

Total contracts for difference estimated budget last year, that covered wind farms, solar farms and other clean tech

to “bring energy costs down to help British business to compete and British households to cope”.

Ministers have also imposed a moratorium on new levies and policy costs being added to bills.

The Government insists it stands by the 2030 clean power targets, which aim to ensure that 95pc of electricity generated by the end of the decade comes from “clean” sources such as renewables, nuclear or batteries.

However, ministers have sought to downplay the commitment. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Energy Secretary, told MPs last month it would be “pretty hard” to deliver clean power while keeping bills down, having previously said affordability was her top concern.

She also told a conference that while her department would “play its part” to try and reach Mr Miliband’s target, “the public doesn’t measure the success of our energy system in gigawatts – they measure it in bills”.

Check it out Supermodel and actress Cara Delevingne heads a stellar cast helping Burberry celebrate its 170th birthday. The fashion house's campaign also features Pierce Brosnan.

Taking a pounding

Meet Mark Newton-Jones,

the former Mothercare

boss who is under fire over

the woes at Poundland

Page 21

Hostage to fortune

If Donald Trump launches fresh strikes against Iran, the resultant oil shock could break the West Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Page 23

Virgin Media debt crisis sees thousands of job cuts

By Chris Price

VIRGIN MEDIA O2 (VMO2) has outlined plans to cut thousands of jobs and halt its rollout of fibre broadband as the telecoms giant grapples with an escalating debt crisis.

The telecoms company has warned of significant job cuts as it seeks to ease concerns about its ability to finance £22bn of borrowings.

VMO2 said it would save around £300m through redundancies - equivalent to about a third of its labour costs - as part of a wider cost-cutting programme aimed at saving £800m per year by 2029. It did not say how many of its 16,000-strong UK workforce would be affected, though Sky News reported last week that around 4,000 jobs would be axed. The company also said it would stop rolling out upgrades to its full-fibre broadband network in an effort to shore up its balance sheet.

Noel McClean, the deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, described the job cuts as “devastating”.

He added: “Industry conditions are tough but this level of cuts will drastically alter the way VMO2 works.”

Other cost-saving measures include reducing the use of contractors and ramping up the deployment of AI. Bosses are also considering whether to scrap this year's dividend.

VMO2, which is owned by Liberty Global and Telefónica, was formed through a £31bn merger in 2021 that gave it the scale to challenge former state monopoly BT but also loaded the group with debt.

That debt has come under scrutiny in recent months amid fierce competition from start-up broadband rivals and uncertainty over its ability to consolidate the market.

VMO2's bonds suffered a sell-off over the summer, trading as low as 41p in the pound, in a sign of investor concern.

It comes after the Competition and Markets Authority threatened to block a £2bn takeover of “alt-net” broadband firm Netomnia by VMO2’s parent company. The watchdog warned the tie-up risked damaging competition and pushing up prices.

VMO2 revealed it lost 23,000 broadband customers owing to tough competition from rivals, though this was an improvement on the same time last year. Bosses expected service revenue and profits to decline by between 3pc and 5pc for the full year.

Lutz Schüler, the chief executive of VMO2, said: "Given the market conditions we face, the regulatory backdrop in fibre and the technological changes sweeping across all areas of the economy, standing still and doing what we've always done is not an option and while many of these decisions are tough, they are necessary for our future success and growth."

Living standards won't rise without public spending cuts: think tank

By Szu Ping Chan

ANDY BURNHAM will not be able to raise living standards without significant public spending cuts, the head of a leading think tank has warned.

Ruth Curtice, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said that the ballooning cost of the state was squeezing the money available to improve household finances.

She warned of a “catastrophic” outlook for living standards as households bear the brunt of the Government’s huge debt interest costs.

Ms Curtice said the Prime Minister and John Healey, the Chancellor, faced “extremely difficult trade-offs”

in next year's spending review. The “big choice” facing Mr Burnham next year, “having not faced it at this Budget, is the choice between household incomes and departmental spending”, she told the Treasury committee of MPs yesterday.

The Resolution Foundation said typical working-age households would see their disposable income fall by £1,050 between now and the next election. Ms Curtice said the 2020s had largely been “a story of higher spending for less household income”.

While voters may have welcomed extra spending on the NHS, higher debt interest costs – which are poised to rise to £160bn a year by the start of the next decade – were squeezing spending in other areas. “That higher debt interest has meant we are much, much poorer as a country,” she told the parliamentary committee.

“The choice the Government faces is the extent to which public services or households absorb that cost. The reason we’ve seen these grim living standards forecasts through the 2020s is because they’ve chosen to ask households to bear almost all of that burden.”

Ms Curtice warned the Government faced even tougher choices on public spending in future. Whitehall budgets have been eroded by higher inflation, meaning some departments now face real-terms cuts unless they are topped 'The “big choice” next year is the choice between household incomes and departmental spending'

up. The former Treasury official said history suggested that departmental budgets would be topped up again, repeating a pattern of increasing day-to-day spending in the near term while relying on optimistic projections for the longer term.

“We also saw again this pattern of day-to-day spending being topped up in the near term, and then these very optimistic projections for the longer run,”

she said. “So day-to-day spending was increased by £9bn across the current years of the spending review, where those totals are meant to be fixed.”

Speaking on the same panel, Helen Miller, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, warned that Britain faced a lost decade for growth.

She said fundamental reforms across a range of policy areas, including energy prices, competition, education and tax, were needed to boost the economy.

"If you doggedly did the hard yards across lots of areas, that would be what could tilt up the growth rate and make the next decade better than this one," she said. However, she suggested it was “probably too late for this decade” to significantly improve productivity growth and incomes during the 2020s.

Ms Miller also said the Budget did little to improve the outlook for growth. She criticised the Chancellor's raid on savings, describing it as a move in the "wrong direction", and noted landlords were also facing very high taxes.

Landlords and savers will see their income taxed at a further four percentage points from next April, meaning basic-rate taxpayers will pay 24pc, up from 20pc, higher-rate earners will pay 44pc, up from 40pc, and additional-rate taxpayers will face a 49pc rate, up from 45pc.

Asda appoints ex-Morrisons boss as new chief

By Eir Nolsøe

ASDA has appointed former Morrisons boss David Potts as its new chief executive, in the latest attempt to strengthen the troubled supermarket's ailing fortunes.

Britain's third-largest supermarket has appointed Mr Potts to take charge with immediate effect, with chairman Allan Leighton stepping back from his role of running the business day to day.

The appointment ends years of uncertainty over Asda's senior leadership, as Mr Potts becomes the company's first chief executive since Roger Burnley's departure in 2021.

Mr Leighton, who will become non-executive chairman, said: “David has an outstanding record in our industry, his experience is exactly what we now require for the next stage of our transformation and beyond and it will be great to work with him.”

It marks a return to the retail sector for Mr Potts after he left Morrisons in late 2023, ending eight years in charge. He started his career on the shop floor of Tesco and later worked his way up to lead the supermarket's Asia division.

However, this may prove to be his biggest challenge yet. Shoppers have been abandoning Asda ever since it was bought by the billionaire Issa brothers and TDR Capital for £6.8bn in 2021.

Asda's market share has fallen from 14.8pc at the time of the takeover to 11.5pc today.

Mr Potts said: “We will revitalise the business and bring benefits for all our stakeholders, including our 116,296 very hard-working colleagues.”

Court to hear £1bn skyscraper-loans appeal

By Luke Barr

BRITAIN'S highest court is to rule on claims that Andy Burnham wrongly approved nearly £1bn in housing loans to a Manchester property tycoon.

The Supreme Court confirmed yesterday it will hear the case between Aubrey Weis, a property entrepreneur, and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) – reviving scrutiny of the Prime Minister's time as mayor.

Whitaker, a rival developer, while Mr Burnham served as chairman of the authority. Mr Weis has claimed the loans amounted to subsidies for Mr Whitaker, who used the cash to help build a string of luxury skyscrapers through his company, Renaker.

These loans “distorted” the local property market, according to Mr Weis, who also alleged the GMCA failed to conduct full financial checks on Mr Whitaker. His lawyers had claimed previously that the “advantageous treatment” was unfair because other developers did not receive comparable financial support. These claims have so far been defeated in both the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and the Court of Appeal, which ruled that there had been “no error of law”.

A spokesman for Mr Weis said: “We are pleased the Supreme Court has granted us permission to appeal on two grounds. The Court of Appeal previously found our concerns regarding the GMCA’s lending practices were well founded.” The GMCA was contacted for comment.

Bish bash Bosch Workers on strike at a Robert Bosch plant in Stuttgart, Germany, light flares at a rally organised by the IG Metall trade union. Metal and engineering workers from companies including Bosch, Audi and Mercedes-Benz have demanded a 5pc pay increase, jobs safeguards and profit sharing deals.

SHUTTERSTOCK/EPA/RONALD WITTEK

Prosecutor used case made up by AI in legal documents

By Louis Goss

A SENIOR criminal prosecutor has been rebuked for citing a fake case in legal documents, in the latest high-profile example of AI producing mistakes in UK courts.

Ravinder Dhillon, a senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, admitted that she erroneously included a fictional case in legal documents as part of a dispute over whether a child should be prosecuted for the rape of his younger sister. The legal documents, submitted to the Youth Court, referenced an entirely made-up case referred to as "R v J [2024]", which was later discovered never to have existed.

In a ruling, High Court judge Lord Justice Holgate said: "It turned out, and it is agreed, that this decision does not exist." The mistake follows a series of cases in which AI errors have been included in legal documents submitted to Britain's courts, including by lawyers at some of the country's most well-established firms.

Pinsent Masons, one of the UK's largest law firms, referred itself to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in May after AI hallucinations were discovered in its legal documents. An immigration lawyer subsequently became the first to be struck off for misuse of AI in September after submitting error-strewn documents to a disciplinary tribunal.

The Law Society of England and Wales has since warned that lawyers will be held accountable for any mistakes caused by AI.

A spokesman for the CPS said the error “occurred from conducting legal research using the internet”.

He added: “As soon as this error was identified, it was remedied and an internal review was carried out.”

Apple warns AI is driving up cost of gadgets

Global scramble to build data centres has sent the price of semiconductors soaring for the tech giant

By Joe Sledge

APPLE has warned of a sales slowdown as artificial intelligence (AI) drives up the cost of its iPads and laptops in what it described as an “unprecedented” situation.

The US tech giant forecast sales growth of 7pc to 10pc for the crucial

Christmas quarter, compared with growth of 12pc in the three months to Sept 26.

The slowdown comes as a global scramble to build AI data centres and other infrastructure drives up the cost of the semiconductors Apple relies on. Estimates indicate that memory and storage costs for the iPhone 18 Pro have surged to nearly \$200 (£160) per device, up from approximately \$52 in the previous generation.

Apple raised its laptop and iPad prices by up to 25pc over the summer in response to the rapidly rising component costs. John Ternus, the chief executive of Apple, warned that pressures from the rising cost of memory chips were only intensifying.

On his first earnings call since taking over from Tim Cook in September, Mr Ternus described the situation as “unprecedented”, telling analysts that the company expected to confront even higher costs in the months ahead.

Rising semiconductor prices are also squeezing its profit margins. Apple forecast a gross margin of 45pc to 46pc in the coming quarter, compared with 47.9pc in the period just ended.

Mr Ternus said that “costs with manufacturers have significantly risen as

\$200

Memory and storage costs per device for the iPhone 18 Pro, up from \$52 for the previous generation of the smartphone

well". Apple's shares slumped as much as 4pc following the update.

The downbeat sales and profit margin forecasts took the shine off what was an otherwise strong quarter for Apple. It reported quarterly revenue of \$114.5bn, beating Wall Street's expectations of \$113.4bn. iPhone revenue came in at \$57.6bn, compared with projections of \$56.5bn. Net profit was \$30.7bn, which also beat forecasts.

The quarter included nine days of sales for the new iPhone 18 Pro line-up but excluded revenue from the \$1,999 foldable iPhone Duo, which launched on Oct 23.

The new device has faced an early setback after some customers reported cracks and line defects forming along the inner display's centre fold.

Performance in the most recent quarter was helped by tariff refunds after the US Supreme Court ruled

Donald Trump's sweeping trade restrictions unlawful. Apple said the refunds added around 1 percentage point to its profit margin.

The tech giant recently reclaimed the position of the world's most valuable company, worth more than \$5tn, after Nvidia lost the title during a tech sell-off. The slump was driven by fears of AI overspending, which has rattled Wall Street in recent days.

Until now, Apple has largely benefited as it is seen as being less exposed to the AI industry than other big tech companies.

TRAVEL SOLUTIONS BY TELEGRAPH MEDIA GROUP

Inn on the Lake Lake District

What's included

Book by Dec 15, 2026.

Valid for stays until Dec 22, 2026.

This impressive four-star hotel has a glorious location at the southern tip of Ullswater, England's second largest lake. The 15-acre grounds feature lawns that sweep to the lake shores with a backdrop of mountains. Extensive dining options include the smart Lake View Restaurant, the Orangery with a panoramic outlook, and the charming Ramblers Bar. Walkers can set off along

◆ Two-night stay (based on two people sharing)

◆ Breakfast daily

\- First-night dinner credit £44pp in the Lake View Restaurant

Lake steamer cruise

Light lunch in the Orangery including classic and deli sandwiches or grazing boards to share

◆ Friday and Saturday supplements

the lake, follow the route to Aira Force Waterfall, or scale the peak of Helvellyn.

Telegraph Travel writer Helen Pickles says: "This large hotel has a peerless position, enviable views, spacious rooms and comfortable lounges."

telegraph.co.uk/tt-inn-on-the-lake

Call 0330 162 6757 and quote TELP0411

Subject to availability at this special rate. Valid from Sunday to Thursday nights only. Surcharge of £50 per night for Friday and Saturday nights. Rates based on two people sharing. First night non-refundable deposit, taken at time of booking. 100 per cent cancellation fee within seven days of arrival.

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Meet the former Mothercare boss at the centre of the Poundland scandal

Mark Newton-Jones is accused of running chain into the ground to maximise Gordon Brothers' returns, writes Ben Marlow

MARK NEWTON-JONES is the corporate raider at the centre of the Poundland controversy, branded an act of “predatory capitalism” by one Labour MP yesterday.

The European chief of Gordon Brothers, the investment firm accused of unjustifiably trying to push the high street chain into administration, has his fingerprints all over the scene.

He is the senior of a trio of Gordon Brothers men who sit on the board of Poundland's parent company. With a starring role that has made him a target

Poundland is in trouble

for politicians across the spectrum, Newton-Jones has had to defend Gordon Brothers' stewardship of the chain to the Government.

In a letter to David Bickerton, a Department for Business official, Newton-Jones said Gordon Brothers had put “significant working capital at risk” on Poundland. He also pointed to a series of factors including inflation, higher staffing costs and “severe levels of shoplifting” for its slide towards – though not yet into – insolvency. MPs, though, were unmoved at Gordon Brothers’ attempts to downplay its part.

Gareth Snell, the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, said the distressed investor was guilty of “predatory capitalism”.

Snell is among a growing group of politicians, including Reform's Robert Jenrick and Richard Tice, who allege

Mark Newton-Jones blamed for chain's distress

Gordon Brothers may have unnecessarily pushed Poundland to the brink in a cynical ploy to maximise its returns.

Few foresaw the brickbats when Newton-Jones celebrated Gordon Brothers' takeover of Poundland last summer for a token £1. "We are delighted to provide Barry Williams [Poundland's chief executive] and his management team with the financing to support the substantial turnaround of this iconic retailer," he said then.

Yet now tens of thousands of jobs are at risk at Poundland and in its supply chain. Gordon Brothers did provide some fresh capital, but by Christmas, the management team was complaining privately the business wasn't receiving the funds it had been promised by Newton-Jones's team.

According to a profile on Gordon Brothers' website, Newton-Jones has more than 35 years of “leading, operating and restructuring physical and digital retail brands”. Yet the 59-year-old is no stranger to corporate car crashes, either, having been at the wheel when Mothercare spun off track six years ago. A source involved in the frantic attempts to save Poundland, said there was little evidence to suggest it had benefited from Newton-Jones's purported retail nous.

"I've seen nothing to confirm he sat next to Barry [Williams] and said: 'This is what you should do,' or asked anything much more than 'What's your plan?' and 'Can we see your numbers?', the person said.

A source who has sat across from Newton-Jones in the recent talks at Poundland called him “pompous”. Despite this, away from work, Newton-Jones is said to be fond of a night out.

His record at Mothercare is equally up for debate. After being fired and rehired to run the ailing chain in the space of just a few weeks, he was given the nickname the “Boomerang Boss”.

The boardroom farce in 2018 saw him sacked minutes before his successor was announced to the stock market. Alan Parker the chairman of Mothercare, told the City the board had "looked at the results over the last few years" and "unanimously decided to replace him". Yet just 36 days later, Parker was out and Newton-Jones was back. But Mothercare's decline continued and 18 months after Newton-Jones's reappointment, they collapsed into administration.

Now insiders are under no illusions about who is to blame for

oundland's predicament. One said of Newton-Jones: "It takes a certain type of person to make thousands of people jobless just before Christmas."

ALAMY/STEPHEN CHUNG

Bowl dancer A traditional Amazon costume is showcased on the Peru stand at the World Travel Market. The travel trade show is being held at the Excel Centre in east London until tomorrow.