King expresses sympathy for Austria in wake of ‘horrific' school shooting
The King has sent a message to the people of Austria expressing his sympathy following the 'appallingly tragic' school shooting in Graz.
Charles described how the 'horrific attack' was all the more dreadful because 'schools should be places of sanctuary and learning'.
Ten people were killed in the shooting at the Borg Dreierschutzengasse secondary school on Tuesday, which ended with the gunman taking his own life.
Austria has declared three days of national mourning following what appears to be the deadliest attack in its post-Second World War history.
Charles wrote: 'My wife and I were deeply shocked and saddened to learn about the appallingly tragic events at the Dreierschutzengasse school in Graz.
' Schools should be places of sanctuary and learning, which makes this horrific attack on students and staff all the more dreadful.'
He added: 'Our most heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those affected by this terrible loss of life and injury.
'We send our deepest sympathy to all Austrians at this profoundly distressing time.'
Police said they found a farewell letter and a non-functional pipe bomb when they searched the home of the gunman.
The 21-year-old Austrian man lived near Graz and was a former student at the school who had not completed his studies.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
33 minutes ago
- Times
Three months' grace for claimants about to lose disability benefits
Disability claimants will keep their payments for three months if they no longer qualify under tougher rules, as ministers seek to placate angry MPs by promising nobody will lose out until 2027. Sir Keir Starmer is refusing to back down over contentious reform that make it harder to qualify for disability benefits, but in an olive branch to rebels will promise transitional protections to ensure claimants do not suddenly lose thousands of pounds a year. Claimants will be given 13 weeks before they lose either personal independence payments or linked carers' allowance once tougher rules come into effect in November 2026 that will see claimants lose an average of £4,500 a year. This will cost about £500 million over the parliament, and will intensify concerns about a host of recent unfunded spending promises. The extra protections for 800,000 disabled people expected to lose out through the reforms will be announced ahead of a vote expected at around the end of the month in an attempt to head off a significant rebellion among Labour MPs. More than 170 backbenchers have expressed concerns and while ministers insist they will win the vote, there is nervousness in government about the prospect of Starmer's biggest rebellion yet. However, leading rebels dismissed the attempt at reassurance, saying it was unlikely to shift support and accusing ministers of ignoring their key concerns. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, insisted on Thursday the government was 'not going to be changing' contentious package of £4.8 billion of welfare cuts, saying it was 'important to reform the the welfare state works' to save money. No further changes are expected before the vote and Reeves argued: 'Even with these changes we will substantially be increasing the amount of money we are paying in sickness and disability benefits during the course of this parliament.' The most contentious elements of the reform involve making it harder to claim PIP, payments which are not linked to work and are designed to compensate the disabled for the extra costs of illness. Claimants will be required to score at least four points on an assessment of problems with everyday living, which would rule out some needing help eating, going to the toilet or washing below the waist. A review of PIP criteria is expected to launch in the summer and will aim to fast-track changes to the rules around the four-point cut off to ensure the vulnerable do not lose out. A more comprehensive overhaul is expected to follow. With disability groups pressing ministers to change course, Reeves pointed to this work, saying: 'We are reviewing the criteria to get PIPs and of course we'll take into account those representations'. About 150,000 of those who lose PIP will also lose carer's allowance of more than £4,300 a year and ministers will promise that this will also not happen immediately, in an attempt to cushion the blow by giving them time to make other arrangements or extra work. The protections are expected to cost about £200 million in the first year the changes are introduced, falling back to about £100 million, with a total cost in this parliament of about half a million. While ministers will argue the changes are more generous than other transition arrangements, one leading rebel MP said: 'They're doing a lot of things short of the thing they've actually been asked to do. We had two principal demands — a clear look at the PIP criteria before we actually vote, and an impact assessment of the changes. This addresses neither of those. 'Rather than trying to listen to us and engage with us they're trying to pressure us with the power of the clock.' However, some of those who are currently considering abstaining on the bill have said that the softening does have an impact on how they might vote. 'The timing helps, because the welfare support will be coming in earlier so people aren't left without it when they lose PIP', one MP said. 'The sequencing does matter. Once I see the detail, it could be enough — but it doesn't strike me as sufficient to change many other people's minds on the package.' Separate figures showed 2.6 million people claiming the main incapacity benefit because they are deemed unfit for work, up half a million in a year. This includes 1.9 million on the highest rates who do not have to prepare for a job, up 100,000 in three months.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Private schools lose High Court battle against Starmer's VAT raid
A group of private schools, pupils and their parents have lost a High Court challenge over Labour's imposition of VAT on fees. It comes after six families last year launched a legal challenge against the government's controversial tax raid, claiming the tax raid is discriminatory against certain pupils. The legal challenge claimed the policy - which imposes 20 per cent VAT on private schools - causes unnecessary harm to certain categories of children, such as those with special needs. The families were therefore seeking a declaration of incompatibility under section 4 of the Human Rights Act, saying the new tax is incompatible with ECHR rights. While the legal challenge would not have been able to halt the VAT policy in its tracks or reverse it even if successful, it would have been a major blow to ministers and piled pressure on them to consider further exemptions. The government has estimated the tax raid will raise £1.7bn per year by 2029-30, money which ministers said would be used to fund 6,500 new teachers for state schools. So far, private school pupil numbers have fallen by more than 11,000 in England following the tax hike, Department for Education data showed. In January 2025, there were around 582,500 pupils at English private schools, down from 593,500 at the same point last year. When the policy was introduced, Treasury impact assessments estimated that private school fees would increase by around 10 per cent as a result of the introduction of VAT, But in May, ISC figures showed that fees have increased by 22.6 per cent in the last year, with parents now paying out more than £22,000 a year on average. On average, the Treasury predicts that 35,000 pupils would move into UK state schools 'in the long-term steady state'. A further 2,000 children would leave private schools, the department estimated, consisting of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system or domestic pupils who move into homeschooling.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Frozen pensions cost expats £25,000
Expat retirees with 'frozen' state pensions have missed out on more than £25,000 over 15 years, analysis shows. The state pension 'triple lock' boosts the payments of retirees living in Britain every year. But around 450,000 British pensioners living abroad, mostly in Commonwealth countries, do not get this uplift. Their pensions were frozen on the day they left the country, meaning their entitlement is whittled away by inflation each year. A pensioner retiring abroad outside the EU or the United States would have lost out on £13,162 since 2015 compared to if they had stayed in Britain, figures from stockbroker, Interactive Investor, show. A retiree receiving the full state pension who moved abroad in 2010 would have sacrificed £25,832 in payments over 15 years. According to the research, if a British pensioner considered retiring abroad today, they would risk missing out on around £70,000 from their state pension over the next 20 years if their entitlements are frozen when they move. This assumes full state pension payments are uprated by 3.7pc in 2025 and by 2.5pc per year thereafter. Britain has struck deals with the US, the majority of continental Europe and several other countries to ensure expat pensioners are shielded from inflationary pressures. In the UK, the triple lock ensures that the state pension rises every year by the highest of inflation, wage growth or 2.5pc. The new 'full' state pension rose by 4.1pc in April to £11,973. But in the rest of the world – including the Commonwealth – there is no 'reciprocal agreement', and British pensioners do not receive this uplift. Successive governments have ignored campaigners' calls to uprate the pensions in part because of cost constraints. In December, Anne Puckridge, a 99-year-old war veteran and 'frozen' pensioner, accused Sir Keir Starmer of having 'no respect' for retirees after he refused to meet her in Westminster to discuss the issue. Ms Puckridge made the 4,400-mile trip from Canada, one of the countries where the pensions of British expats are not inflation-linked. She has calculated that her 'frozen' pension has cost her around £60,000 since she moved abroad in 2001. The amount it would cost the Exchequer to unfreeze state pensions is contested. Uprating the pensions of overseas residents to the level they would have reached if they had never been frozen would have cost £940m in the 2024-25 financial year, and £4.59bn between 2023-2028, according to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) estimates. However, campaign group, the International Consortium of British Pensioners, has disputed this figure, arguing that the uplift would only start from the day any deal was signed, rather than being backdated. It estimates that the true cost of the policy change would be just £307m over five years, or around £60m a year. By comparison, the total state pension bill was £138bn in 2024-25. John Duguid, chair of the End Frozen Pensions campaign, said this represented a 'drop in the ocean' for the Treasury, and that uprating frozen pensions was 'morally and politically the right thing to do'. He added: 'This analysis underlines the scale of the frozen pensions scandal and its deeply harmful impact on some UK state pensioners living overseas – an impact that is not only financial but emotional too. 'The sense of grievance is further heightened as most victims say they were never told of the policy's existence despite paying their National Insurance dues, expecting a full and fair UK state pension in retirement.' Myron Jobson, of Interactive Investor, said: 'Many pensioners dream of spending their golden years overseas – whether it's for a warmer climate, an improved quality of life or to be closer to family and friends. 'But while the lifestyle may be appealing, it's vital to consider how such a move could affect your state pension entitlement.' A DWP spokesman said: 'People move abroad for many reasons and we provide clear information on how this can impact their finances in retirement.
