Government steps in to help run Spelthorne Borough Council
Under the intervention, which will last until May 2030, commissioners Lesley Seary, Peter Robinson, Deborah McLaughlin and Mervyn Greer will oversee changes to council services to deliver "value for money and financial sustainability".Commissioners will be in place until January 2026, at which point their role will be reviewed.As of March 2023 Spelthorne's debt stood at nearly £1.1 billion.The authority was found to have the second highest level of debt for a district or borough council in England, after nearby Woking, relative to its size.A letter from the government to Daniel Mouawad, Spelthorne's chief executive, says the commissioners will aim to close budget shortfalls and reduce the council's "exceptionally high level of external borrowing".Costs for the commissioners will be met by the council rather than the government, Mr McMahon said.An inspection of the authority in January found the council had a "culture of optimism bias", lacked consistent leadership, and did not have the awareness to identify issues or areas for improvement.To some degree the authority had been "blindsided" by the financial situation, the inspection report added.A council spokesperson added that most decisions would continue to be made by the local authority, but with the oversight of the commissioners.
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BBC News
a few seconds ago
- BBC News
New offence to target online posts for small-boat Channel crossings
People advertising illegal Channel crossings online could face up to five years in prison under a new offence the government plans to offence, which the government is seeking to create under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently going through Parliament, would form part of a crackdown on the number of migrants coming to the UK on small illegal immigration to the UK is already a crime, but officials believe the offence would give police and other agencies more power to disrupt criminal out last week showed more than 25,000 migrants have arrived in the UK via small boats in 2025 so far, a record for this point in the year. BBC on French beach as police slash migrant 'taxi-boat' heading to UKHow many people cross the Channel in small boats?A decade of small boat migrants - how did it begin?Why do Channel migrants want to come to the UK? The new UK-wide offence would criminalise the creation of material for publication online, which promotes or offers services that facilitate a breach of UK immigration law. This would include people using social media to advertise fake passports or visas, or the promise of illegal work opportunities in the UK, and as well as jail time could carry a large fine. According to analysis by the Home Office, around 80% of migrants arriving in the UK via a small boat have told officials they used social media during their journey, including to contact agents linked to people-smuggling Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Selling the false promise of a safe journey to the UK and a life in this country - whether on or offline - simply to make money, is nothing short of immoral."These criminals have no issue with leading migrants to life-threatening situations using brazen tactics on social media. We are determined to do everything we can to stop them."The National Crime Agency (NCA) already works with social media companies to target online posts promoting organised immigration crime, with more than 8,000 posts taken down in NCA has taken action against a number of people-smuggling gangs where social media accounts have been used to promote crossings.A network operated by Preston-based smuggler Amanj Hasan Zada, who was jailed for 17 years, posted videos of migrants thanking him for helping director general of operations Rob Jones said the proposed new offence would give them more options to target gangs and their business Home Office said cases of Albanian people-smugglers, who have used social media platforms to promote £12,000 "package deals" to Britain including accommodation and employment upon arrival, would be within the scope of the proposed offence. Policing minister Diana Johnson said the law would be drafted to enable "extra-territorial reach" which would mean that if an advert was produced abroad and the perpetrator then travelled to the UK then authorities in the UK "would be able to deal with them".She added: "We will be working, as we have done for many months now, with authorities in other countries, to hold these people to account, to close down these criminal gangs, to stop this business model."But the Conservatives said the plan was "too little, too late".Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "Tinkering at the edges won't fix the problem."He added that the Conservative Deportation Bill would allow police and other agencies to "remove illegal arrivals immediately and remove them without delay". No 10 wants to work more closely with France to reduce the crossings.A deal was struck in early July between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron to send some migrants who arrive on small boats back to every migrant returned, France would send an asylum seeker to the UK - potentially one with a family connection to critics pointed out this would involve a tiny proportion of those currently crossing, and questioned whether the scheme would deter government has also toughened up rules to make it almost impossible for anyone arriving in the UK on a small boat to become a British citizen.
The Sun
a few seconds ago
- The Sun
Dragon's Den star stripped of MBE after judge slams high-flyer as ‘selfish & untrustworthy' over £200k in unpaid bills
A FORMER Dragon's Den star has been stripped of her MBE after refusing to pay £200,000 in legal fees. Julie Meyer was slammed by a judge for being "selfish" after she failed to pay her lawyers or attend court hearings. 4 4 4 In 2022, the 58-year-old venture capitalist became embroiled in a legal row with law firm Farrers & Co. She claimed she had received a poor service and refused to pay £197,000 after they represented her during a case in Malta. An arrest warrant was issued for the entrepreneur after she failed to turn up to court and provide documents for the case. Meyer claimed she was unable to travel from Switzerland as she was suffering with conjunctivitis and didn't have a Covid vaccine. But it was decided her reasoning was insufficient to avoid attending hearings in person. Meyer was later slapped with a six-month sentence after she was ruled to be in contempt of court. And last night, the Cabinet Office revealed that the businesswoman had been stripped of her MBE. Her name appeared on a recently updated list of shamed individuals who have forfeited their honours since 2023. Disgraced former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells also features on the list, after she was formally stripped of her CBE by the King. She had already committed to relinquish the gong following fury at her role in the Horizon postmaster scandal. The document said that Meyer's gong had been taken away after she brought "the honours system into disrepute". She was awarded the MBE in 2012 for services to entrepreneurship. Sara Davies breaks silence on shock Dragon's Den exit as star says she struggled to 'juggle' her busy career Meyer was chosen to star on the online version of Dragon's Den in 2009. After her appearance on the BBC Two show, she was appointed as David Cameron 's Government a year later. She has previously supported huge tech brands such as and Skype. Handing her the six-month suspended sentence three years ago, Mr Justice Kerr slammed Meyer as "selfish and untrustworthy". He added: "I am satisfied there is every prospect that the defendant will continue to flout orders of the court unless coerced into obeying them." Later the same year, Meyer lost an appeal to overturn her suspended prison sentence. Three disgraced former submarine captains were also stripped of their OBEs by the King. Top brass urged ministers to withdraw the prestigious gongs from the trio over sex and bullying scandals. One had made an X-rated film on HMS Victorious and a second, nominated for an OBE during his misconduct probe, licked a female officer's ear, blew on her neck and punched her on HMS Vigilant. The third was found guilty of bullying on nuclear-powered attack sub HMS Trenchant. All three were commanders — James Bond 's rank — and led crews of more than 130. The Navy asked the Cabinet Office Forfeiture Committee to strip the men of their awards and King Charles gave final approval. Last year, Grime artist Wiley was stripped of his MBE after he posted anti-Semitic comments on social media. The Met confirmed they were investigating the tweets after he was dropped by his manager and banned from the website. 4
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
Embarrassment for Keir Starmer's top aide who told PM he had to smash smuggling gangs - as it is revealed his father's firm was handed £6m to house asylum seekers
Nobody understands the electoral cost of failing to tackle the migrant crisis more than Sir Keir Starmer 's powerful right-hand man Morgan McSweeney. Hailed as a genius strategist, he was bending his boss's ear about it more than a year ago. We need to be tough from the start, the Irishman told the future Prime Minister in a memo. Regain control of borders, he said, smash the gangs, tackle small boats – noble exhortations Sir Keir would later parrot. Failure to address these issues, McSweeney warned, risked handing future victory to Nigel Farage 's Reform UK. Softly spoken and little known outside Westminster, McSweeney, 48, masterminded Labour's election victory, though with Labour lurching from crisis to crisis his stock has shrunk of late. His immigration warnings seem hollow now. Legal and illegal migration is spiralling out of control. Failure to stop the small boats is one thing but much public anger is reserved for the scandalous gravy train of outsourcing companies and middlemen making a small fortune from a broken system. Among them a former caravan park owner from Essex who became a billionaire after housing asylum seekers for the government. For Sir Keir and McSweeney, the headlines were embarrassing. And The Mail on Sunday can reveal there is something closer to home that might cause McSweeney, if not outright embarrassment, then surely a twinge of unease. His father Tim McSweeney, a County Cork-based accountant, has his part to play in the asylum gravy train causing resentment in his homeland. Sharply rising immigration coupled with a housing crisis has fuelled protest across the Irish Sea. As in the UK, there is much criticism of those who have got rich quickly on the back of the influx of new arrivals. Mr McSweeney, 73, helped set up a company that received £6million from the Irish state to house asylum seekers. He incorporated Togail Veilbhit Glas Teoranta in February 2023. He and wife Carmel are the only listed directors and it is registered at the same address in Macroom as his accountancy firm. Macroom is where his son was raised before moving to England as a 17-year-old, initially working on building sites and later joining Labour after university. He now earns between £155,000 and £160,000 as Sir Keir's Chief of Staff. Public records show Togail received £6million for provision of 'international protection accommodation and/or related costs'. Typically, accountants advise on company structure and handle registration and incorporation obligations. But Mr McSweeney senior dismissed a suggestion he was benefiting directly from the contracts. He said: 'Do I look like a wealthy man? I don't think so. It is just a job I have. It is not unusual for accountants to fulfil roles like this.' It is not easy to fathom who gets the money. The company's owners are hidden behind a labyrinthine corporate structure. It leads – via two other Irish shell companies, both linked to Mr McSweeney – to a web of Cyprus-registered companies. Asked how he became involved, Mr McSweeney said it was 'nobody's business'. In addition to its ties to No 10, the McSweeney family is linked to the upper echelons of the Irish government. Morgan's cousin Clare Mungovan is a special advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris. In June, thousands took part in an anti-immigration protest in Dublin, some wearing hats with the slogan 'Make Ireland Great Again'. Others held banners declaring: 'Ireland is full'. Ireland's spend on accommod- ating migrants hit £900million last year – up 54 per cent on the £569.14million cost in 2023. The country's Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan wants to see more of the 25,000 hotel beds occupied by Ukrainian refugees returned to the tourism sector, calling it 'hugely important' to the Irish economy. Back in the UK, Mr McSweeney's son looked on helplessly last week as Sir Keir's pledge to 'smash the gangs' blew up in his face after a new record was set for Channel crossings. More than 25,000 migrants have now arrived in the UK in small boats this year, the earliest that this milestone has been reached. It has been said of McSweeney that 'nobody without elected office wields as much power in British politics' – but he prefers life in the shadows. The highest form of praise at Labour HQ has been said to be: 'Morgan loves it.' But he is a bogeyman on the Left after leading the think-tank Labour Together to purge the party of Jeremy Corbyn's influence. He divides his time between Scotland and Westminster. His wife Imogen Walker is Labour MP for Hamilton and Clyde Valley and the couple have a son. Having been director of the centrist Labour Together, McSweeney ran Sir Keir's successful leadership campaign in 2020 before becoming director of campaigns as he plotted the party's rise to power last year. He was initially appointed head of political strategy in Downing Street in July but soon clashed with then Chief of Staff Sue Gray. There were briefings that he was at the head of a 'boys' club' inside No 10, along with Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden, with Ms Gray on the other side. Amid jostling for position between the sides, it was even reported that she had moved McSweeney's desk further away from the PM's office. One Cabinet minister was prompted to say: 'One or both of them will have to go. It's not going to be Morgan.'
