BREAKING NEWS Fourth man arrested at Stansted Airport in connection with Sir Keir Starmer arson attacks in north London
A 48-year-old man has been arrested at Stansted Airport on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson, becoming the fourth man held over attacks on two properties and a car linked to Sir Keir Starmer, the Metropolitan Police said.
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The Independent
32 minutes ago
- The Independent
Reform-led councils in ‘shambles' since local elections, opponents claim
Reform UK gained control of nine councils and minority control in three more in May's local elections, but opposition councillors claim the party's organisation and productivity have been a "shambles" since. Across the 12 Reform-controlled councils, 33 meetings have been cancelled or postponed in the first nine weeks since the election, and at least 21 Reform councillors have missed their first meetings. In Kent, nine out of 22 scheduled meetings have been cancelled since the election, including legally required meetings like the governance and audit committee. Kent County Council said some meetings, such as planning committees, were scheduled on an 'if required' basis, and were cancelled because there were no applications requiring an immediate decision. Nottinghamshire Council's new Reform leader Mick Barton dismissed the criticisms as "political rhetoric from the opposition."
Telegraph
33 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Police officers played ‘snog, marry, avoid' with images of sex workers
Police in Derbyshire played a game of 'snog, marry, avoid' while using images of suspected sex workers, a tribunal was told. Shafarat Mohammed sued the force for racial discrimination and harassment after a female colleague involved him in the game, which involves naming three people and asking someone to pick which one you would like to kiss, marry and avoid. At the hearing in Nottingham, the woman officer admitted she had 'jokingly' played the game with co-workers and included PC Mohammed in their discussion. In the tribunal's ruling, the judge said that playing the game at work could breach equality legislation. Employment Judge Stephen Shore suggested that the officers may have referred to the game, which has several names, by a cruder version. PC Mohammed claimed that during the discussion in May or June 2022, he was shown images of black women and was asked what he liked about one of them. He said he was 'embarrassed' and 'offended' by the questioning and felt it was inappropriate. 'Crass and inappropriate' PC Kate Northridge, another officer at Pear Tree Station in Derby, admitted to the hearing that a group of officers played the game with photos of suspect. She said she had been the one to include PC Mohammed in the game but she had not asked him specific questions about any of the images. Speaking about snog, marry, avoid, Judge Shore said: ' The game was crass and inappropriate. It casts no one who participated in it in a good light.' The judge added that playing the game 'could constitute harassment of a sexual nature', although he acknowledged that Mohammed had not made that claim. 'We agree with [him] that the questions were inappropriate,' he said. Racial discrimination and harassment claims The tribunal heard that PC Mohammed joined the force in November 2021 and completed his training in March the next year. He resigned less than a year later, in September 2022, and then made an employment tribunal claim for racial discrimination and harassment. The tribunal found there was no racial or religious element to it as the sex workers were of varying ethnicities. They also concluded that he was not asked questions about a specific black sex worker and that his credibility was undermined by a lack of consistency between his different accounts. PC Mohammed made several allegations including that a colleague called him a 'road man', he was 'humiliated' for eating home-made food, and told he was 'sh*t'. The officer also claimed that another PC said the custody team was 'all black and ethnics', he was asked about his familiarity with alcohol, and that he had been ostracised from team events. However, the tribunal found these allegations were either entirely fabricated by PC Mohammed or were given 'a retrospective gloss of alleged discrimination' in his witness statements which often contradicted each other. PC Mohammed, a Pakistani heritage Muslim, lost his case for racial and religious discrimination and harassment.
Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Ministers admit they spent £35,580 - more than a nurse or teacher's annual pay - on thousands of BEER MATS in pubs to boast about minimum wage going up
Labour ministers have admitted they spent £35,580 - which is more than a nurse or teacher's starting salary - on beer mats in pubs. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) revealed the sum was spent on printing the drink coasters as part of an awareness campaign. Some 500,000 beer mats were distributed to 1,000 pubs across the country to help ensure workers were aware of this year's increase to the national minimum wage. Those who used or saw the beer mats were urged to 'make sure you're getting paid correctly' by visiting the website. Justin Madders, the minister for employment rights, said the distribution of beer mats was 'a unique opportunity to engage audiences in a social, high-dwell environment'. He described pubs as places 'where financial conversations naturally occur', adding: 'This setting encourages discussion and word-of-mouth sharing about rate changes.' According to the Government's National Careers Service website, the salary of a nurse at the beginning of her career is £31,000. And a newly-qualified secondary school teacher can expect to earn £32,000 a year. Mr Madders revealed the spending on beer mats in reply to a written parliamentary question by Tory MP Richard Holden, the shadow paymaster general. He said this year's campaign to advertise higher rates of the national minimum wage and national living wage was budgeted to cost up to £650,000 in total. 'The cost to advertise in pubs using beer mats was £35,580, which was approved at official level,' Mr Madders added. 'The 2024 campaign saw an increase in reach to eligible workers. 'However, recognition remained low, reinforcing the need for bolder, more engaging formats for the 2025 campaign, which expected to deliver an estimated 3.2 million impressions.' In April, the national living wage for those aged 21 and over rose from £11.44 per hour to £12.21 per hour. Meanwhile, the national minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds was increased from £8.60 to £10 per hour. But, despite the boost to pay packets, experts warned working age households are on track to be £400 worse off on average in this tax year. The Resolution Foundation said households were facing a 'triple hit' from the impacts of tax, higher bills, and benefits that are not keeping pace with the cost of living. Long-running freezes to personal tax thresholds will mean some people are dragged into paying more tax. And Labour's hike to employer national insurance will feed through to households through slower wage growth as employers recoup costs, the think tank said. The hospitality industry - including pub bosses - issued dire warnings about the impact of the national insurance hike when it was announced at October's Budget. They expressed fears about a 'double whammy' increase to costs, due to the rise in the national minimum wage coming in at the same time.
