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.
But asked if he concurred with Timothy’s argument about the large-scale Muslim prayer in public being an act of domination, Cleverly said: “So, that wouldn’t be my personal take,”Badenoch and some other Conservatives have largely framed their objection to the Open Iftar on the basis of gender segregation,Cleverly continued on this theme, but appeared to suggest that the whole event was separated, when it was not – men and women prayed separately, but otherwise mixed freely,Asked why the Conservatives objected to a Muslim event on Trafalgar Square, but had no concerns about earlier Christian, Sikh and Jewish events in the same place, Timothy argued that the difference was that women were not “segregated” at any of these,Cleverly said: “What the point Nick was making is that this type of ceremony in the public space, where women were segregated from men, is at odds with a lot of the norms and traditions of the UK.
”But speaking on the BBC’s London Politics show, Best disputed this characterisation, saying some fellow London Conservatives had attended Monday’s event without concern, and that the prayer was only a small part of it.“When it comes to this iftar event, there were thousands and thousands and thousands of people there,” she said.“I had friends and colleagues that went.Many people chose not to pray.In fact, the large majority of people celebrating chose not to pray, and that wasn’t what the event was about.
“So I agree with the organisers,There’s been a slight misrepresentation here,”Best said she did not want her party to be talking about bans on public prayer,She said: “I don’t want to live in a secular society,I want to live in a society where everybody in my family, my friends, my children, are free to practise whatever religion they want.
“Do I agree with Nick Timothy on this? No, I think prayer is a fundamental right of every UK citizen, and if you don’t like it, walk on.”
Starmer adviser urges ministers to look at profits cap for energy and petrol firms
The government’s top cost of living adviser has called on ministers to explore a temporary cap on the profits of energy and petrol companies to prevent them from cashing in excessively on the war in the Middle East.Richard Walker – a Labour peer, the chair of Iceland supermarkets and the prime minister’s “cost of living champion” – said he had asked the government to examine limiting how much businesses were able to benefit from higher energy prices after Iran’s blockade of the strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for Europe’s oil and gas, and the wider conflict in the region.“I have asked the government to consider a temporary profit cap … to stop producers and retailers exploiting the crisis to make windfall profits at the expense of consumers,” Walker wrote in a column in the Sunday Times.“As executive chairman of a retailer, I have no problem with profit. It’s what allows businesses to invest, employ people and pay tax
Thousands of care leavers in England ‘locked out’ of work as firms slow to adapt
Thousands of young people leaving care in England are being left “locked out” of work by employers who say they are open to hiring but make few changes to adapt, a charity has warned.Calling on employers to act on their promises, the Drive Forward Foundation said care leavers were almost three times more likely to be out of work than their peers.As ministers push to tackle a youth jobs crisis, the charity, which helps care leavers to find work, said this employment gap had remained “stubbornly consistent” despite a decade of youth jobs initiatives.Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 40% of care-experienced people aged 19 to 21 are not in employment, education or training (Neet), compared with 12.7% of their non-care-experienced peers
Palantir extends reach into British state as it gets access to sensitive FCA data
Palantir is to be granted access to a trove of highly sensitive UK financial regulation data, in a deal that has prompted fresh concerns about the US AI company’s deepening reach into the British state, the Guardian can reveal.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has awarded Palantir a contract to investigate the watchdog’s internal intelligence data in an effort to help it tackle financial crime, which includes investigating fraud, money laundering and insider trading.The Miami-based company, co-founded by the billionaire Donald Trump donor Peter Thiel, has been appointed for a three-month trial, paying more than £30,000 a week to analyse the FCA’s vast “data lake”, which could lead to a full procurement of an AI system.The deal is part of the FCA’s drive to use digital intelligence to better focus resources on rule-breaking among the 42,000 financial services firms it regulates, from major banks to crypto exchanges.There was only one other, unnamed competitor for the contract
‘Thank God they’re still alive’: Kaiser therapists claim its new screening system puts patients at higher risk by delaying their care
Ilana Marcucci-Morris is worried about the patients she treats and how long it took for them to arrive in her office. At Kaiser Permanente’s psychiatry outpatient clinic in Oakland, California, she says she increasingly finds herself assessing people experiencing more severe mental health issues than two years ago. For those who do make it to their appointments, she thinks: “Thank God they’re still alive.”It wasn’t always this way, according to Marcucci-Morris, a licensed clinical social worker. Licensed professionals used to almost always be the first point of contact for patients with behavioral health issues at Kaiser, she said
GB strike golden treble at world indoors with Hodgkinson, Hunter Bell and Caudery
Amid a gold rush for the ages, one image became instantly seared on the mind: Georgia Hunter Bell, Molly Caudery and Keely Hodgkinson jumping in pure delirium, before screaming in delight as they revelled in surely the greatest night for British athletics since the London 2012 Olympics.You could hear them high in the stands in Torun. And, one hopes, even louder in homes up and down the land. For across 29 enthralling minutes they delivered echoes of Super Saturday with three brilliant world indoor championship gold medals one after another. Bang
Chessum makes Tigers purr on return from England duty as Bristol fall short
Swapping the bright Saturday night lights of the Stade de France for the rusty old Crumbie Stand can be a real mental challenge. There is certainly less demand for foie gras in Aylestone but for certain people nothing beats a constant diet of rugby. England’s Ollie Chessum did occasionally look a tad weary during another selfless 80-minute shift but a vital 33-19 Leicester win made all those hard yards worthwhile.The result not only hoists the Tigers into third place in the Prem table but Gabriel Hamer-Webb’s spectacular last-gasp try earned what could prove a key extra point when the playoff maths are totted up. Bristol, who had been pressing for a couple of bonus points of their own, were ultimately left empty-handed and down in fifth place after a game that was never less than intense and absorbing
Lamb shanks with orzo and rhubarb galette: Anna Tobias’ Easter recipes
Best thing I ever ate? My first In-N-Out burger in LA
Reheated rivalry: why I’m the champion of leftovers
Helen Goh’s recipe for peanut and blackcurrant thumbprint cookies | The sweet spot
Spring has officially sprung – reawaken your palate with zingy, zesty seasonal ingredients
There’s more to Mexican spirits than tequila