The trope of ‘choosing pets over people’ is not new | Letter

Jonn Elledge (What’s worth more: Churchill or a woke badger? Welcome to Britain’s banknote culture war, 16 March) is right that the debate over whether wildlife might replace figures such as Winston Churchill on Bank of England banknotes has become another front in Britain’s culture wars. As he notes, proposals to feature animals are neither unprecedented nor unpopular, with public consultation showing majority support for nature-themed designs.But the backlash relies on a familiar claim: that attention to wildlife represents a misplaced priority – “the definition of woke”, as Nigel Farage put it. This framing is not new. During the 2021 evacuation efforts of animal charity Nowzad in Kabul, the story was reduced to “pets over people”, despite the fact that both animals and staff were saved

James Cleverly says he disagrees with Nick Timothy about Islamic public prayer

James Cleverly has said he disagrees with his Conservative frontbench colleague Nick Timothy’s assertion that public Muslim prayers are an act of domination, as another senior Tory called for the party to respect the right to worship.Kemi Badenoch has defended Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, after he posted images of mass prayer at a Ramadan event on Monday evening in Trafalgar Square, calling it “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”.His remarks sparked significant condemnation, with Keir Starmer calling for Badenoch to sack Timothy; while Richard Hermer, the attorney general, has challenged the Conservative leader to say whether she would object to Jewish prayer in public.In the most open criticism of Timothy by a senior Tory so far, Emma Best, the party’s deputy leader on the London assembly, said prayer was “a fundamental right of every UK citizen” and that if people did not like this, it was their problem.Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Cleverly, the shadow communities secretary, said Timothy had been correct to begin a debate about Monday’s “Open Iftar”, the last of 18 such public events at which anyone can join the breaking of the Ramadan fast at dusk

Evgeny Lebedev and Ian Botham have lowest Lords attendance, records show

Evgeny Lebedev’s longstanding commitment to being the most relaxed member of the House of Lords has come under threat from another peer, Ian Botham, with both recording identical attendance rates of 1.12% over the past four years.According to Lords records seen by the Guardian, Lebedev and Botham – who were both appointed by Boris Johnson – each managed to make it to seven of the 625 sessions of the upper house that took place from the start of 2022 to the end of 2025.One consolation for Lebedev, the newspaper proprietor, son of a billionaire Russian oligarch and friend of Johnson, is that he has beaten his own mark. From November 2019 until the end of 2022, Lebedev attended Lords sessions at the slightly higher rate of 1

Tory chief whip reposts AI video created by far-right figure who was jailed for hate crimes

The Conservative party’s chief whip has been condemned for promoting AI-generated footage created by a notorious far-right figure who was jailed for hate crimes against Jewish people.Rebecca Harris reposted the latest skit by the Crewkerne Gazette, which depicts Kemi Badenoch and her shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, as characters in the gangster film Scarface.The online satirical account had gained a large online following before its creator was revealed last month to be Joshua Bonehill-Paine, an activist who previously described himself as a “nationalist, fascist, theorist and supporter of white rights”.It can now also be revealed that Bonehill-Paine claims to be a fully paid-up member of the Conservative party, despite a history of far-right activism and convictions ranging from assault to racially aggravated harassment against a Jewish Labour MP.“Push it to the limit,” sings Timothy’s AI-generated avatar in the account’s latest skit, which was created after the MP was accused of Islamophobia for claiming that an Islamic prayer event in Trafalgar Square was intimidating and un-British

Minister claimed thousands of pounds on expenses for promotional videos

Labour minister Al Carns has claimed thousands of pounds on parliamentary expenses for promotional videos including one showing him doing pull-ups at a fire station in competition with a firefighter.The veterans minister and former Royal Marine, who is tipped by some MPs as a leadership hopeful, claimed about £3,000, approved by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), for the production of 17 videos that show him interacting with local businesses.In the series of films, Carns is shown chatting with fire officers and taking part in a “MP v firefighter pull up challenge”, as well as visiting a local brewery where he is filmed having a pint, saying: “It’s really important we in government help companies like this thrive.”Another video shows him at a museum about life in history, where he mentions he spent “weeks, if not months in the field in the marines where it was hard going being outside for that amount of time”. He is also shown handling armour, saying: “I’ve worn body armour my whole life – for 24 years

Anger grows among UK ministers amid fears Iran war could jeopardise Britain’s fragile finances

Donald Trump has branded the UK and other Nato allies “cowards” as anger grows among cabinet ministers that his war in Iran could jeopardise Britain’s fragile finances.Senior members of the UK government are in despair about the potential effects on the economy, with experts warning of higher energy prices and increased mortgage and borrowing costs.They have already begun contingency planning in case the conflict is protracted, including considering lowering speed limits to minimise fuel consumption.With the conflict continuing to escalate, the UK confirmed it was authorising the use of British military bases to strike Iranian missile launchers that are targeting commercial ships in the strait of Hormuz. Previously, UK bases were only being used to strike Iranian sites targeting British allies and interests in Gulf states