Tory MP claims £1,100 for purchase of freely available Who’s Who books

A Tory MP has claimed more than £1,100 in expenses for copies of the Who’s Who reference books for his office — despite it being available for free in parliament.Mark Pritchard’s claim for the index, which lists the biographies of notable people, cost the taxpayer £321.17 in January this year.He has also claimed for three previous years of editions in May 2022, and was granted expenses to cover the 2022 version for £264.54, the 2021 version for £300

Starmer digs himself into a hole in Tirana while Tories froth about a flag | John Crace

During Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, Keir Starmer said the Conservative party was heading for brain-dead oblivion. The very next day, the Tories screamed: “Hold my beer. You ain’t seen nothing yet.” They seem to look on the prime minister’s description as a challenge. One to which they are determined to rise

UK asking other countries to host ‘return hubs’ for refused asylum seekers, Starmer confirms – as it happened

Q: [From Christopher Hope from GB News] To Starmer – Which countries are you talking to about hosting ‘return hubs’ about migrants from the UK whose applications for asylum have failed?Starmer says he is interested in using return hubs. He says he is in talks with other countries about this. But he would like to add them to the list of measures being used to tackle this problem. But he says he is not in a position to give more information about this plan yet.Keir Starmer has been accused of overseeing a diplomatic “embarrassment” after arriving in Albania to promote a policy of establishing “return hubs” for refused asylum seekers only for his counterpart to rule it out

Author denied UK visa unable to attend premiere of play based on his memoir

The author of an award-winning memoir about his life as a refugee has been refused a UK visa to attend a premiere of its adaptation for the London stage by one of Britain’s most celebrated playwrights.Ibrahima Balde, who lives in Spain, was told the UK government was not satisfied he would return home after the performance of Little Brother, which begins its run at Jermyn Street theatre next week.Balde’s memoir, Little Brother: An Odyssey to Europe, chronicles his search along the migrant routes of the Sahara for his younger sibling, Alhassane, who ran away from school in Guinea, west Africa, to make money for the family.The book’s critical acclaim led to Balde meeting the late Pope Francis and its adaptation for the stage by Timberlake Wertenbaker, an Olivier award-winner described in the Washington Post as “the doyenne of political theatre of the 1980s and 1990s”.Balde’s visa application to attend the premiere on 20 May during a four-day visit to London had been supported by the Jermyn Street theatre

MP to launch bill to target superyachts, private jets and fossil fuel producers

Fossil fuel companies and their shareholders and owners of superyachts and private jets should have to pay into a fund for flood defences and home insulation, according to a private member’s bill to be launched on Thursday.The bill is part of a broader movement by campaigners to “make polluters pay”, demanding that oil and gas companies, and those who benefit from fossil fuels, should take on more of the direct responsibility for tackling the climate crisis, rather than funding such measures from general taxation.As well as targeting oil and gas companies, the bill proposes ending subsidies for such businesses, taxing shareholders in receipt of dividends and capital gains on heavily polluting assets and companies whose operations have an impact on nature, and taxing the users and operators of luxury forms of travel including superyachts and private jets.Richard Burgon, the Labour MP who has tabled the bill in parliament, said: “Fossil fuel giants have driven us to the cliff edge of climate catastrophe. They’ve made obscene profits while millions suffer the consequences

Taxi driver in France charged with stealing from David Lammy and his wife

A taxi driver has been charged by French police with stealing luggage and cash from the UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, and his wife, Nicola Green. The driver took the couple more than 600km (370 miles) from the town of Forli in Italy to the French ski resort of Flaine, Haute-Savoie, last month. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Lammy and his spouse were victims in the case and that the driver has been charged with theft after driving off with their luggage. It also denied that the Labour MP for Tottenham had refused to pay the driver. Whitehall sources said no sensitive material was in the pair’s holiday luggage