Why Britain’s climate and defence strategies need to be better integrated | Letter

Your article (National security threatened by climate crisis, UK intelligence chiefs due to warn, 8 October) exposed the dangerous disconnect between climate policy and defence. It raises vital questions about Britain’s – and the world’s – readiness to face the security threats posed by the climate crisis, none of which can be met if leaders keep treating climate and defence as separate issues.This summer, wildfires linked to climate change brought Europe to its knees, wreaking economic havoc, overwhelming health systems and draining military resources. All over the world, climate breakdown is fuelling instability, conflict and displacement. The EU’s failure to break free from Moscow’s pipelines is jeopardising its energy sovereignty

Swinney says Scottish government will sponsor visas for foreign care workers

John Swinney has said the Scottish government will help hundreds of overseas care workers stay in the UK, as he attacked Westminster for its rising hostility to immigrants.The first minister said it was unfair Scotland’s older people had to “pay the price for Westminster’s prejudice”, and that his devolved government would sponsor visa applications for workers needed to staff care homes, at a cost of about £500,000.Swinney described the UK government’s decision to greatly restrict access to visas for those jobs, in an effort to respond to rising tensions over mass migration, as deeply damaging.“Thousands of care workers here in the UK entirely legally have been left high and dry, unable to work, while care homes are crying out for staff,” he told the Scottish National party’s annual conference in Aberdeen. “In what world does that make any sense?”Swinney told delegates the measure was further evidence Scotland’s interests were being damaged by continued membership of the UK, as he confirmed he would make a fresh push for independence central to Scottish parliament elections next year

Families of David Amess and Jo Cox voice concern at rise in violent political rhetoric

The families of the murdered MPs David Amess and Jo Cox have voiced concern about a recent surge in violent political rhetoric in Britain.While the fatal attack on a synagogue in Manchester and targeting of Muslims have placed a renewed spotlight on violent antisemitism and Islamophobia, there are also concerns over an increasing normalisation of language calling for political figures to be killed.Examples include the suspension of a Reform UK councillor linked to a social media account calling for Keir Starmer to be shot and the arrest of a man allegedly captured on film at major far-right rally last month in London threatening to kill the prime minister. At the same rally, Elon Musk made comments that later drew condemnation from Downing Street when he told the crowd that “violence is coming”.The language comes after a summer of anti-immigration protests, culture war flashpoints and a surge in podcasts and YouTube videos predicting civil war

Reform UK abandoning manifesto pledge of £90bn in tax cuts, deputy leader admits

Reform UK’s deputy leader has admitted the party cannot deliver the £90bn in tax cuts promised in its manifesto, saying it would concentrate on public spending cuts once in government.Richard Tice said key election pledges such as lifting the income tax threshold would be an “aspiration” and that once in government Reform would concentrate on cutting the civil service and scrapping net zero.Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage, is said to be planning a speech next month to overhaul the party’s economic policy – which Labour and the Conservatives see as a key weakness. The Times reported that Farage would promise to reduce spending before reducing taxes.Farage has previously said he expected to make £350bn worth of spending cuts over the course of the parliament – the equivalent of axing the whole schools budget every year or wiping out a third of NHS funding annually

UK charities say toxic immigration rhetoric leading to threats against staff

Charities have warned of growing racial abuse, intimidation and threats of violence towards their staff and beneficiaries amid increasingly toxic rhetoric around immigration and race by politicians and extremist activists.Voluntary organisations say they are being forced to introduce extensive security measures to protect staff and property – a trend described by one charity head as in danger of becoming the “new normal” – after being targeted.Refugee and asylum seeker charities, Muslim, Jewish and ethnic minority organisations, women’s groups, youth bodies, homelessness charities and even charity shops have reported being subject to violence, threats and abuse.Incidents include threats to rape and kill staff, verbal and physical abuse of beneficiaries on the street, attempted break-ins to charity-owned accommodation, and damage to offices and vandalism, including anti-migrant and racist graffiti.Charities were being “targeted because of what they stand for and who they support”, said Saskia Konynenburg, executive director at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Post-ministerial jobs watchdog closes as part of UK government ethics shake-up

The much-criticised watchdog that scrutinises the jobs UK ministers can take after leaving office will be formally scrapped on Monday as part of a wider shake-up of the ethics structure in government.The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), described by critics as fundamentally toothless, has been closed, a Cabinet Office announcement said, with its functions taken over by two existing regulators.At the same time, a new organisation called the Ethics and Integrity Commission will oversee the work of a series of other regulators, the centrepiece of what Keir Starmer has promised will be a robust new approach to government and to any ministerial misdeeds.Also from Monday, a previously announced ban on severance payments for ministers who lose their job after a serious breach of the ministerial code comes into force.In the change, first revealed by the Guardian in July, former ministers who take up new jobs in a serious breach of the rules for post-government appointments could be asked to hand back any severance payment