by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#649NG)
The prime minister appeared at ease despite mounting Tory unrest after the mini-budgetLiz Truss had her first lengthy grilling since the mini-budget from Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, after critics called a series of mini-interviews with BBC local radio and regional TV presenters earlier in the week a “car crash”.In a 20-minute interview on Sunday morning with the BBC’s Kuenssberg, the prime minister appeared at ease despite the mounting Tory rebellion over her chancellor’s mini-budget, which sent the markets into a spiral. Continue reading...
Frozen funds expected to be released in exchange for freedom of Baquer and Siamak Namazi, says state mediaIran is awaiting the release of about $7bn (£6.3bn) in funds frozen abroad, state media said on Sunday, after it allowed an Iranian-American to leave the country and released his son from detention.Baquer Namazi, 85, was permitted to leave Iran for medical treatment abroad, and his son Siamak, 50, was released from detention in Tehran, the UN said on Saturday. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#649MB)
PM says she accepts ‘we should have laid ground better’ after mini-budget sparked economic turmoilLiz Truss has refused to rule out public spending cuts and a real-terms drop in benefits to help pay for the mini-budget, as she sought to quell fury over her handling of the economy by admitting she should have “laid the ground better”.The prime minister offered a sliver of remorse for the way last Friday’s mini-budget was received. There was a temporary collapse in the value of sterling against the dollar, a rebuke from the International Monetary Fund and warnings that interest rates could be hiked again. Continue reading...
The Afghan Adjustment Act would offer permanent resident status to Afghans who fled the Taliban but Congress has not taken actionA group of 12 people sit in camp chairs – chatting, smoking, listening – in the dark. Behind them, the Capitol building in Washington DC is luminescent, bringing into focus the Afghan flag. Well, the version of the flag before the Taliban changed it. It flies above their heads, catching the yellowy light of dusk.Since Kabul fell to the Taliban in August last year, military veterans and organizations have been lobbying Congress to offer Afghan evacuees long-term visas to stay in the US. Now, with no action taken and thousands coming to the end of their temporary stays, a different route is being taken to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. This bipartisan bill would grant thousands of Afghans permanent status in the US. Continue reading...
Surging poll numbers mean the party can dare to dream of No 10, but it’s been here before, and the path is riskier than everTwelve short months ago, Boris Johnson’s Conservatives were riding a vaccine bounce, and high-spirited Tory commentators were speculating about another decade in office. Now it is Labour who are buoyant, as their poll numbers surge to record highs after a disastrous mini-budget from the new Truss administration unleashed economic and political turmoil. Some in Labour now dare to dream big. Could their party rebound from the worst performance in 80 years straight to a Commons majority?Veterans counsel caution. Labour has been burned before. Ed Miliband’s opposition posted regular big poll leads during the coalition only for these to evaporate come polling day. But history never repeats itself exactly. Unless the economic weather changes fast, the next election will be fought in the wake of inflation, recession and home repossessions. The Conservatives’ ratings on economic management are already the worst in a generation, with much of the real pain still to come. When their reputation was last torched like this, by the ERM crisis, the next result was a Labour landslide. Time to start humming Things Can Only Get Better?Robert Ford is professor of political science at Manchester University and co-author of The British General Election of 2019 Continue reading...
But hopes leftwing former president will defeat Jair Bolsonaro tempered by fear a runoff contest could mean weeks of turmoil and violenceBrazil’s former leftwing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is on the brink of an astonishing political comeback, with polls suggesting he is poised to defeat his far-right rival Jair Bolsonaro in Sunday’s election.Eve of election polls suggested Lula was within a whisker of securing the overall majority of votes that would guarantee him a first-round victory against Brazil’s radical incumbent, whose calamitous Covid response, assault on the Amazon and foul-mouthed threats to democracy have alienated more than half of the population. Continue reading...
Prime minister is facing the same fate as Theresa May when the Commons returns and could even be removed as leaderLiz Truss is already facing the possibility of crippling parliamentary rebellions over welfare, planning and a new wave of austerity, as MPs warn that No 10 has become “disconnected from reality”.With some Conservatives in talks with Labour over how to block elements of the prime minister’s sweeping plans, senior Tories believe that Truss is now heading into the bruising parliamentary warfare that characterised Theresa May’s beleaguered premiership. Continue reading...
Outgoing president insists AFL club is not in crisis as WorkSafe urges anyone who experienced or witnessed ‘health and safety concerns’ to contact them
Exchange of Maduro nephews for seven Americans is unusual gesture of goodwill from socialist president but Washington denies any change in policyVenezuela has freed seven imprisoned Americans in exchange for the US releasing two nephews of President Nicolás Maduro’s wife who had been jailed for years on narcotics convictions.The swap of the Americans, including five oil executives held for nearly five years, follows months of back-channel diplomacy by senior US officials – secretive talks with a major oil producer that took on greater urgency after sanctions on Russia put pressure on global energy prices. Continue reading...
Russian forces retreat from stronghold of Lyman hours after Putin declares it Russia’s ‘for ever’; Germany minister visits Ukraine; Nord Stream pipeline leak halted
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#649C0)
No need to apply because £400 discount will ‘reach people automatically’, says Rees-MoggA scam alert has been issued by ministers encouraging people not to fall foul of fraudulent messages asking them to provide bank details as the energy price guarantee comes into force.From 1 October, a limit on the price households pay for a unit of gas and electricity they use will mean a typical energy bill should be £2,500 a year. The first instalment of a £400 discount for households will also appear on bills. Continue reading...
Aides Alice Robinson and Mac Chapwell paid by company run by Liz Truss’s new chief of staffTwo of the prime minister’s most senior advisers are being paid through her new chief of staff’s lobbying company, it has emerged, days after Downing Street said it would employ the latter directly.The government admitted last weekend that Liz Truss’s chief of staff, Mark Fullbrook, was being paid through his lobbying firm, a move that could have helped him avoid paying tax. Continue reading...
Teargas and stun grenades used by security forces as unrest over poverty and corruption flares up in the capital and other citiesIraqi security forces have fired teargas and stun grenades to disperse stone-throwing protesters in clashes that wounded scores of people near Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, where hundreds marked the anniversary of anti-government unrest in 2019.At least 86 people were wounded on Saturday, about half of them members of the security forces, and 38 protesters were hit by rubber bullets. Continue reading...
London museum bows to years of pressure and removes signs bearing name of family associated with OxyContin crisisThe Victoria and Albert Museum has bowed to growing pressure to rename key areas of its Kensington site, the Observer has learned, as it drops controversial ties with the Sackler family, benefactors descended from the American makers of addictive opioid prescription drugs.This weekend the signs that directed V&A visitors to the Sackler Centre for Arts Education and to the £2m tiled “Sackler Courtyard” on Exhibition Road, have gone, as the museum finally jettisons its damaging association with the opioid drug market. Continue reading...
Prime minister’s net approval falls to minus 37, while just 12% say mini-budget was ‘good’Liz Truss’s personal popularity ratings are lower than those of Boris Johnson when his premiership came to an end, a new Observer poll has revealed.The latest Opinium poll shows a precipitous fall in Truss’s personal ratings after the fallout from her government’s mini-budget, and Labour surging ahead with voters across a whole range of issues. Continue reading...
Conservative MPs urge Liz Truss’s removal from No 10 after poll reveals British public’s fury over tax plansThree-quarters of UK voters, including a staggering 71% of those who backed the Conservatives at the last general election, believe the prime minister, Liz Truss, and the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, have “lost control” of the economy, according to a devastating poll for the Observer on the eve of the Tory conference.The survey by Opinium – which also reveals that Labour has extended its lead by a massive 14 percentage points in the last week alone, from 5 points to 19 points, and that Truss’s ratings are now lower than Boris Johnson’s at the height of the Partygate scandal – comes as some Tory MPs are beginning to demand the new prime minister’s removal from No 10 after less than a month in office. Continue reading...
Thomas Cashman, 34, also charged with attempted murder of Olivia’s mother, Cheryl Korbel, and Joseph NeeA 34-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, the girl shot dead in her own home in Liverpool, along with the attempted murder of her mother.Thomas Cashman, from the west Derby area of the city, is accused of killing the nine-year-old, who was shot in the chest. Continue reading...
by Emma Graham-Harrison and Akhtar Mohammad Makoii on (#6498M)
People, determined to defy violence by security forces and online blackout, are resorting to old-fashioned methods to organise unrestThe messages, printed on scraps of paper, were thrown on doorsteps across Iran overnight by protesters determined that an online crackdown would not stop their movement.“The Islamic Republic is falling. Join the people,” said one handed out in northern Rasht city. In southern Ahvaz organisers gave an address and time for protest, and a broader call to action. “If you cannot come, spread the message so other people come,” it urged readers. Continue reading...
Jingye Group understood to have told ministers that its blast furnaces are unviable without huge cash injectionThe owner of British Steel, the UK’s second-biggest steel producer, is understood to be seeking an urgent package of financial support from the government.Jingye Group, which bought the company out of insolvency just two years ago, has told ministers that its two blastfurnaces are unlikely to remain feasible unless the Scunthorpe-headquartered company is granted financial aid, Sky News has reported. Continue reading...
Rally by campaigners, who say Westminster government does not serve nation’s best interests, is second in a few monthsThousands of people have marched through Cardiff as part of a rally for Welsh independence.Campaigners at the event carried large flags and banners and paraded through the city centre led by a samba band. It was organised by All Under One Banner Cymru (AUOB) and Yes Cymru. It was the second pro-independence rally to take place in Wales this year, after a march attracted about 8,000 supporters in Wrexham in July. Continue reading...
Basic Oxygen Steelmaking, which shut seven years ago, blown up using 1.6 tonnes of explosivesA former steelworks in Redcar has been pulled down in what is believed to be one of the biggest explosive demolitions in the UK.In dramatic scenes – in which the structure disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke with a blast that could reportedly be heard eight miles away – the 65-metre-high Basic Oxygen Steelmaking plant was blown up on Saturday morning. Continue reading...
Campaigners hit out after data reveals majority of successful appeals were due to Department for Work and Pensions mistakesCampaigners have accused the government of “unforgivable” failings after previously unreleased figures suggested that the majority of successful disability benefit appeals were because of errors by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).According to previously unpublished data held by the DWP, 59% of successful tribunal appeals by applicants for the personal independence payment (Pip) benefit since the start of 2021 were because the tribunal “reached a different conclusion on substantially the same facts”. Continue reading...
West African bloc said country’s second military coup in nine months was ‘inappropriate’Gunshots rang out in Burkina Faso’s capital amid signs of lingering tensions a day after a group of military officers overthrew the man who had seized power in a coup only nine months earlier.Roads remained blocked off in Ouagadougou, where a helicopter could be heard flying overhead. An internal security analysis for the EU seen by the Associated Press said there was “abnormal military movement” in the city. Continue reading...
Protest group repeats call not to pay unless electricity and gas tariffs are made affordable, as 193,000 sign upMore than 193,000 people have pledged to “strike” from paying their energy bills if a million Britons commit to not paying.Originally, the Don’t Pay campaign had pledged not to pay from 1 October, the date regulator Ofgem’s price cap was due to rise, if a million people had signed up. The scale would “give safety in numbers” from repercussions, the anonymous organisers argued. Continue reading...
Russia is suspected to have carried out explosions to put pressure on western energy suppliesLiz Truss has said a series of explosions which severely damaged Russia’s undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines were an act of sabotage.In a joint report delivered to the United Nations last week, the Danish and Swedish governments have claimed that the leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which can carry gas to Germany, were caused by blasts equivalent to the power of “several hundred kilograms of explosive”. Continue reading...
by Joe Middleton; Damien Gayle and Guardian staff on (#648VG)
This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest political coverage hereThe UK devolved governments have called for an urgent meeting with Kwasi Kwarteng and urged him to “reverse the damage” caused by his tax-cutting mini-budget.The joint letter from the finance ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, warns that the chancellor has taken a “huge gamble” on the health of the economy.We’re calling for this at a time of economic and political crises. We’ve seen economic chaos caused by a mini-budget that has been making our society more unequal.This is about trying to make our society more equal.We’ve got the leakiest homes in Europe - losing huge amounts of energy through badly sealed windows and poorly lined walls.We could be saving hundreds, thousands of pounds through insulation - reducing energy wastage, cutting bills and emissions. It really isn’t rocket science. The cheapest bill is the one you don’t have to pay. Continue reading...
by Robyn Vinter North of England correspondent on (#64942)
Before the prime minister appeared on the Leeds breakfast show, the host heard from people who were suffering as a result of government policies“Where’ve you been?” The Yorkshire-accented question by the BBC Radio Leeds breakfast show host Rima Ahmed to Liz Truss dominated national news and social media after a round of disastrous local radio interviews for the prime minister this week.This unexpected exposure came in part because, like Truss, some people were taken by surprise that local radio presenters were capable of handing out such a grilling. Continue reading...
Organisers describe gatherings as largest wave of simultaneous protests seen in Britain for yearsThousands have gathered in dozens of towns and cities across the UK to register their anger at the cost of living crisis in what organisers describe as the largest wave of simultaneous protests seen in Britain for years.From Eastbourne to Edinburgh, Newcastle to Norwich, “huge turnouts” were described throughout the UK at protests timed to coincide with the jump in gas and electricity unit prices that will cause bills to soar. Continue reading...
Fed up with stoned visitors and worried by hard-drug criminality, the mayor wants to clean up the city. But will it work?Strumming gently at a guitar, outside the “nicest” coffee shop in Amsterdam, French tourists Terry Novel and Manon Fouquet enjoy a quiet joint in the sun.They have no idea of the dark cloud around them and the cannabis sector in Amsterdam. The council has just spent a day debating whether to ban tourists from cafes such as Coffeeshop The Rookies – where the state currently turns a blind eye to foreigners smoking weed and taxes the profits. Continue reading...
Demonstrations in string of major cities in solidarity with protests sparked by death of Mahsa Amini in police custodyWorldwide protests are being held in solidarity with the growing uprising in Iran demanding greater freedom and protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by Iranian morality police.Demonstrations under the slogan “Women, life, liberty” are taking place in many major cities, including Rome, Zurich, Paris, London, Seoul, Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, Stockholm and New York. Continue reading...
Families voice fury as policemen at centre of high-profile cases remain on full dutiesOfficers involved in the high-profile deaths of two black men in London have yet to be interviewed under caution, prompting fury among their families.The family of Oladeji Omishore say it is “unacceptable” that the police officers who repeatedly Tasered the 41-year-old before he fell off Chelsea Bridge continue to be treated as witnesses four months after his death. Continue reading...
My heart is with Iran’s protesters, says British-Iranian man released alongside Nazanin Zaghari-RatcliffeAnoosheh Ashoori, a British-Iranian man who spent nearly five years in jail in Iran has said he will be running the London Marathon with “solidarity with the people of Iran and the women’s movement” on his mind.Ashoori, from Lewisham in south London, was freed in March alongside Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Continue reading...
General meeting was held to discuss failing children’s services after an inspection slated its social work as ‘inadequate’ in all areasCouncillors called for heads to roll at an extraordinary general meeting held to discuss Herefordshire’s failing children’s services after an Ofsted inspection slated its social work as “inadequate” in all areas.After a slew of damning high court judgments since 2018 that detailed how Herefordshire social workers had breached children’s human rights, the criticisms in a recent Ofsted report were described by councillors as “painful”, “extremely upsetting”, and “harrowing”. Continue reading...