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Shadow minister to say PM hopefuls are vying ‘for the mantle of Margaret Thatcher, promising tax cuts for the wealthy’

Under the proposal all households would pay for the BBC through their local authority billThe TV licence fee could be abolished and replaced with a new levy on council tax bills, according to a House of Lords committee that looked at the best way to fund the BBC in the future.Under the proposal, all households would pay for the BBC through their local authority bill, with low-earning families paying less for the broadcaster’s services. This would end the traditional link to owning a television set and ensure that people who only use the BBC’s online or radio services also have to pay to use them. Continue reading...

Design Museum show to look at how movement revolutionised arts from furniture to fashionSurrealism often brings to mind the melted clocks of Salvador Dalí or René Magritte’s image of a pipe, placed aptly above the words “this is not a pipe”.However, despite the success of displays at top galleries in New York and London, the movement’s heydays were between the 1920s and the 1960s. Continue reading...

Gap in education outcomes between poor children and others is far too wide, says policy thinktankPoorer pupils in England and Wales are “significantly” behind their peers, according to a report.The Education Policy Institute (EPI) study found that in 2019, prior to the pandemic, the gap between poorer pupils and their peers was 22-23 months in Wales and about 18 months in England. Continue reading...

Network Rail says to avoid trains unless absolutely necessary, with much of country covered by extreme heat alertThe UK’s first ever red warning for exceptional heat came into force at midnight, with temperatures expected to climb up to 41C (105.8F) over the next two days, breaking the country’s heat records.Passengers have been urged not to travel by train from Monday as a record-breaking heatwave hits the UK, while the deputy prime minister said schools should not close and people should be resilient enough to “enjoy the sunshine”. Continue reading...

Truss says Sunak will choke economic growth by raising taxes while he accuses her of not being conservativeRishi Sunak accused his rival Conservative leadership candidates of promoting “socialism” by promising unfunded tax cuts, as the deep divisions in the party over economic policy were exposed in a bad-tempered televised debate.As the contenders clashed repeatedly over tax and spending in the ITV debate, Liz Truss confronted her former cabinet colleague, saying: “Rishi, you have raised taxes to the highest level in 70 years. That is not going to drive economic growth. Continue reading...

Fighting between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups broke out last week over the killing of a farmerThe death toll from days of tribal clashes in the southern Sudanese state of Blue Nile has climbed to at least 65 people, according to a senior health official.Around 150 people have been injured in the fighting between the Hausa and Birta ethnic groups, the state’s health minister, Gamal Nasser al-Sayed, said. Continue reading...

John Harding, who says in video he could be executed, implores the PM to use influence with Putin and Zelenskiy to help him

Albie Speakman’s mother describes him as ‘little sunshine boy’ after he died of critical injuries on farmlandThe mother of a three-year-old boy killed in a collision with a tractor on a farm said she is “broken beyond repair”.Albie Speakman suffered fatal injuries on farmland off Bentley Hall Road in the Tottington area of Bury, Greater Manchester, at about 12.45pm on Saturday 16 July. Continue reading...

After a decade of finals but no flags under coach Chris Scott, the 2022 Cats are the best placed since 2011 to win Geelong a long-awaited premiershipAt the end of the 2018 season, following yet another cutthroat final that had gone belly-up in less than ten minutes, another final where the Cats had looked old, slow and ripe for a rebuild, Chris Scott addressed the players, staff, and sponsors. “We’re not giving up,” he told them. “We’re not playing it safe. No rebuild. No managing expectations. No acquiescence to equalisation.”For many, it was typical Chris Scott – stubbornly trying to beat the handicapper. Every year, the Cats would lug their weight, and race on the speed. Every year, they would be mown down by some emerging lightweight. Many Geelong fans resented the coach for his prickly ways, for his game-plan, for the manner in which he’d moved on several legends of the club, for the fact that he wasn’t Bomber Thompson. Continue reading...

Grattan Institute report calls for fundamental reform after finding 21% of federal board positions were politically connected• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastOne in five lucrative and powerful federal government board positions have been handed to politically connected individuals, according to a new report warning Australia has developed an “insidious jobs-for-mates culture”.The Grattan Institute has released a report revealing a shocking level of politicisation in government appointments to public boards, tribunals, advisory councils and agencies. Continue reading...

US citizen Asim Ghafoor detained in Dubai and convicted two days later of money laundering and tax evasionThe United Arab Emirates has sentenced the former lawyer of Jamal Khashoggi – the dissident Saudi journalist who was killed at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018 – to three years in prison on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.The Abu Dhabi money laundering court also ordered Asim Ghafoor, a US citizen, to pay a fine of more than $800,000 (£675,000) stemming from his in absentia conviction, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported. Continue reading...

Rockets and missiles continue to pound Ukrainian towns amid fears of renewed Russian offensive

Study challenges idea poor outcomes are due to Muslims’ so-called ‘sociocultural attitudes’Poor outcomes for Muslims in the British labour market cannot be explained by sociocultural attitudes, such as commitment to traditionalism, a study has found.The research, published in the peer-reviewed Ethnic and Racial Studies journal, confirmed the existence of a “Muslim penalty” in the employment market but rejected previous suggestions that it was due to cultural and religious practices. Continue reading...

Remedies used by healer Susanna Hall and her doctor husband will be planted at Stratford homeIn Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia offers rosemary to boost memory, while in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Puck pours the juice of “love-in-idleness” on to the sleeping eyelids of Titania, making her “madly dote” on Bottom wearing an ass’s head.The magical power of herbs and flowers that Shakespeare recognised is now inspiring the recreation of a 17th-century herbal garden in the historic 1613 house that his daughter Susanna shared with her husband, John Hall, a physician who is believed to have advised his father-in-law on medical ailments. Continue reading...

Deputy PM launches broadside against foreign secretary as Conservative MPs prepare to vote to decide final two

Families face stressful holidays with fewer providers, higher prices or deciding to keep their children at home while they workThe cost of childcare over the holidays is likely to be the highest on record this summer as providers of activity camps and other paid-for care are forced to put up prices, while others have gone out of business altogether.A leading national charity concerned with childcare and family issues said that a cocktail of rising costs, including higher utility bills, food prices and national insurance contributions is contributing to pressures on holiday care providers. Continue reading...

Learner drivers are overpaying to book driving tests and struggling to find teachers as the Covid crisis disrupted lessons for some half a million pupilsLearners are struggling to sit driving tests due to a chronic backlog of pupils due to the pandemic.Here, a driving instructor and three learners share how they have been affected. Continue reading...

Backlogs caused by the Covid crisis have meant disruption for about 500,000 pupilsDesperate learner drivers are paying double the going rate for tests on the secondary market, while others are struggling to find an instructor, as the industry grapples with a huge backlog of pupils owing to Covid.Nino Shankischvili, a London-based learner, told the Guardian she paid an instructor £530 for three tests because she was unable to get an appointment at her local test centre. A practical exam booked through the official Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) website costs just £62. Continue reading...

Telegraph (backs Mordaunt) and Mail (prefers Truss) hold most sway with Conservative party membersBritain’s Conservative-leaning newspapers have been handed a moment of decisive influence in the election of the next prime minister. The political analysis they project – the headlines they choose – could effectively anoint the next resident of No 10. But while these Tory titles continue to quarrel over the merits of rival candidates, the impact on voters in the Conservative party is unsure.According to Chris Blackhurst, a former editor of the Independent, the limited electoral constituency, estimated at just over 150,000 party members, is looking for guidance in a confusing battle. “This leadership election represents the high-water mark, in terms of power, for the right-wing press barons,” he said. “The entire electorate in this race is composed of their readers. Their ability to influence the outcome far exceeds any sway they might possess in a general election.” Continue reading...

Veto on Met interviews into child abuse allegations ‘overreached powers’A family court judge overreached his powers in making an order blocking the Metropolitan police from interviewing two children who reported allegations of abuse by their father, the court of appeal has found.An application to review the “highly exceptional order” came before judges at a hearing on 28 June and the appeal was upheld after it was deemed Mr Justice Keehan should not have restricted the actions of the police. Continue reading...

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Premier, Daniel Andrews, announces a $162m package to fund specialist staff across 12 hospitals as Covid-related absentee rates climb

Chancellor’s £58m property firm used loans to buy commercial and retail premises across the UKThe chancellor Nadhim Zahawi is under pressure to explain the source of £26m of unsecured loans reported by his family property firm in 2018 as he faces questions over his tax affairs.The millions of pounds of loans helped Zahawi and his wife buy properties across Britain, including commercial and retail premises in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Continue reading...

The $750 payment for those who need to isolate due to Covid has been extended through September, following pressure on the government

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Budapest since parliament approved law change in first protests since PM won fourth termThousands of people protested in Budapest on Saturday for a fifth day against Viktor Orbán’s government as anger deepens over tax changes that critics say will hurt small businesses.Hungarians have taken to the streets since the parliament approved a law change on Tuesday that will affect hundreds of thousands of small-sized business owners. Continue reading...

Campaigners accuse the government of creating an alternative reality to suit its ‘cruel’ deportation agendaThe Home Office is claiming that asylum seekers are “fine” with being sent to Rwanda, even after they have threatened to kill themselves in detention as they wait to be removed to Africa, according to internal documents seen by the Observer.They reveal that Home Office officials described how an individual being held in immigration detention “was fine with going there [Rwanda]” days after he had threatened to commit suicide amid anxiety he would never see his children again. Continue reading...

Senior Conservatives in northern seats warn leadership contenders that they must stand by the government’s investment promisesSenior Tories in “red wall” seats have warned Conservative leadership candidates that the party will lose the next general election unless they re-commit to level up the country and boost investment in the UK’s deprived regions.The warnings come as economists and business figures who are pushing the levelling up agenda in the north of England say the entire project – which was at the heart of the 2019 Conservative manifesto – risks being downgraded as candidates to succeed Boris Johnson compete to offer more generous tax cuts, and money to ease the cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Observer investigation finds Chinese-owned brand Elf Bar is fuelling the boom in e-cigarettes among young people as social media influencers on TikTok promote its goods in an apparent breach of advertising rulesA leading e-cigarette brand is flouting rules to promote its products to young people in Britain, an Observer investigation has found, as experts warn that brightly coloured, sweet-flavoured vapes are being used by children as young as seven.Elf Bar, a Chinese-owned vaping giant that has seen the use of its products by under-18s soar in the past year, is being promoted by social influencers, who in some cases claim to be paid for the promotions and benefit from free products. Continue reading...

Board expresses ‘profound dismay’ at exhibits German government and Jewish groups say went too farThe director general of Documenta, one of the world’s biggest art fairs, has been forced to resign following outrage over anti-Semitic exhibits upon opening in Germany last month.Documenta, which every five years turns the sleepy German city of Kassel into the centre of the art world, features more than 1,500 participants and – for the first time since its launch in 1955 – had been curated by a collective, Indonesia’s Ruangrupa. Continue reading...

Victorian environment officials said images of the dead humpback proved it was not well-known humpback• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastA white whale that washed up on a Victorian beach is not the well-known albino humpback Migaloo, according to the state’s environment department.The carcass of an albino whale was found at a beach in Mallacoota in the state’s far east this week, sparking concern it could be the beloved Migaloo, who was first spotted off Byron Bay in 1991. Continue reading...

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Government will fund safety measure after 10-year campaign by parents of Oliver King, who died of cardiac arrest during swim raceAll state schools in England will have a defibrillator by the end of the 2022/23 academic year, the government has announced.Department for Education (DfE) officials met campaigners including Mark King, whose 12-year-old son Oliver suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while competing in a swimming race in 2011. Continue reading...

Prince will address late South African leader’s ‘memories and legacy’ in annual celebration at general assemblyPrince Harry will address the UN general assembly at its annual celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day on Monday and is expected to speak about the legacy of the South African anti-apartheid leader who spent 27 years in prison and became his country’s first black leader.The 37-year-old Duke of Sussex will be the keynote speaker at the UN event in New York. Continue reading...

Demonstrations take place outside Brook House and Colnbrook immigration removal centresCampaigners have rallied against the government’s “heinous” policy to send some migrants to Rwanda in a series of protests across the UK.Protests were scheduled to take place in Cambridge, Cardiff, Coventry, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford and Sheffield, according to refugee charity Care4Calais. Continue reading...

Duchess of Cornwall poses with home-grown peaches in her Wiltshire garden after guest-editing Country Life magazineAn official picture has been released to mark the Duchess of Cornwall’s 75th birthday.Camilla is pictured looking relaxed and smiling in the image released for her milestone anniversary she celebrates on Sunday, which follows a busy week for the royal. Continue reading...

Ahmad Merhi, who travelled from Sydney to Syria and is accused of joining Islamic State, says he is now stateless as he awaits hanging

Woman from Yorketown in South Australia has been referred to a job agency in Kadina under new Workforce Australia program

Offenders may be kept in prison after serving sentence, but wrongly made order ‘almost always amounts to arbitrary detention', rights group argues

Force urges people not to start fires, including barbecues, and report incidents of arsonPolice have issued a warning ahead of the potentially unprecedented heatwave after a series of wildfires on moorland near Manchester which they now believe were started deliberately.The blaze began last weekend and swept across part of Saddleworth Moor near a car park close to the Dovestone reservoir. Continue reading...

Former prime minister warns era of political and economic dominance by west coming to an endTony Blair has issued a rallying call to western nations to come together to develop a coherent strategy to counter the rise of China as “the world’s second superpower”.Delivering the annual Ditchley lecture on Saturday, the former prime minister called for a policy towards Beijing of “strength plus engagement” as he warned the era of western political and economic dominance was coming to an end. Continue reading...

Kelvin Bilal Fawaz reveals how Farah’s TV interview was a reminder of how his own boxing career was lost to life in immigration limboA prodigious talent with the drive and ambition to make it all the way to the top, when Kelvin Bilal Fawaz got the chance to represent Team GB as a boxer at the 2012 Olympics in London it was a dream come true.Trafficked as a child from Nigeria to the UK and forced into domestic servitude, Fawaz had the opportunity for Olympic glory in the place he now called home. Continue reading...

Jefferson Hack, who co-founded the influential 90s journal, has empowered raft of new designers, says industry“I don’t think there’s been a tougher time in fashion since I’ve been doing this,” says the tastemaker and independent publisher Jefferson Hack, who co-founded Dazed & Confused magazine in 1991. “Brexit has made it incredibly difficult to trade. The lack of visas has meant that all the collaboration between Europe and the UK is gone. And with the tailwind of the pandemic and interest rates, we’ve got this really difficult set of conditions for younger designers.”Hack is given to viewing the world through the lens of young creatives, and the challenges they face. It is this nurturing perspective that has won him a special recognition award from the British Fashion Council (BFC) for cultural curation, due to be announced this week. Continue reading...

Victim pronounced dead at scene in West Melton, while man also left with potentially life-altering injuriesA woman has died after a dog attack in Rotherham which also left a man with potentially life-altering injuries.South Yorkshire police were called to a property on Masefield Road in West Melton at about 10.15pm last night by a member of the public who said a dog had attacked him and a woman. Continue reading...

The island’s plans also include special hotels, hiking trails and a village resort, but not all the locals are in favourSergio Cossu’s nude awakening came in 1972, when, at the age of 16 and needing a getaway from his family, he ventured to Santa Teresa Gallura, whose stretch of wild, pristine coastline in northern Sardinia was a mecca for hippies from across Europe.“It was my first solo holiday away from the traditional family setting,” he said. “There was this feeling of an immense connection with nature; from that point on it was impossible to wear a costume on a beach again. There was less of a taboo about nudity back then but, paradoxically, naturism diminished in the 1990s with the explosion of gyms and this focus on having the perfect body. But over the last 20 years, there has been a revival.” Continue reading...

The former chancellor is campaigning in Teeside following last night’s Tory leadership debateLabour has criticised Boris Johnson after reports said he had failed to attend recent Cobra meetings.Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said:Boris Johnson has gone missing in action again. He’s back to his old tricks of skipping important Cobra meetings. Where’s the plan for the delivery of essential services and how people will be kept safe at work, on transport, in schools, hospitals and care homes?The public will have no confidence in this zombie Conservative government responding swiftly and decisively to this national emergency as this disgraced prime minister prepares to party while Britain boils. If he still can’t take the responsibility of the job, he should leave right now. Continue reading...

Portugal and Spain among countries affected as rescue forces from Greece help battle blazes in southern FranceFirefighters are working tirelessly to tackle wildfires raging in parts of southern Europe as a result of soaring temperatures linked to the climate crisis.France, Portugal and Spain are among the European countries particularly affected, with temperatures of more than 45C (113F) recorded during a heatwave that is also sweeping the UK. Continue reading...