UK aid cuts take 40% from funds to counter Russian threat in western Balkans

Keir Starmer’s raid on overseas aid has led to a 40% cut in funds for countering Russian aggression and misinformation in a region of Europe described by the prime minister as vital to the UK’s national security.British funding committed to bolstering the western Balkans, where Russia has been accused of sowing division and creating destabilisation, has been cut from £40m last year to £24m for 2025-26.The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) is designed to tackle the highest priority threats to the UK’s national security at home and overseas.Starmer recently described the western Balkans region, encompassing Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, as “Europe’s crucible – the place where the security of our continent is put to the test”.Last year’s ISF funds were used in part to counter and respond to malicious cyber-attacks in the region and to bolster democratic institutions and independent media

‘It’s rather rude’: Truss accused of trying to poach members of rival Tory club

For Tory grandees licking their wounds and plotting their return after their disastrous 2024 general election performance, the opulent, fire-lit rooms of the exclusive club 5 Hertford Street are a sanctuary.But in recent weeks, their long lunches have been rudely interrupted by Liz Truss, who has been accused of wandering the premises in search of members to poach for her own rival operation, just one street away, which asks “founding members” for an eye-watering £500,000.The former prime minister’s alleged headhunting is understood to have irritated those who run the Mayfair club, including its owner, Robin Birley, the entrepreneur and son of Annabel Goldsmith and the nightclub owner Mark Birley. A friend of his said: “It is rather rude, but at £500k, we are rather better value.” Membership of 5 Hertford Street is a relative snip at less than £2,000 a year

UK politics: ‘Not clear’ who was behind FCDO hack, says minister, amid reports of China link – as it happened

Good morning.The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, according to trade minister Chris Bryant.Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack.The Sun named Storm 1849 as the Chinese cyber gang responsible for the breach, which it said was understood to possibly include tens of thousands of visa details.The group has been “accused of targeting politicians and groups critical of the Chinese government”, the newspaper said

UK Foreign Office victim of cyber-attack in October, says Chris Bryant

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, a minister has said.Chris Bryant, a trade minister in Keir Starmer’s government, told Sky News there was a low risk to “any individual” from the cyber-attack.Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacking group was behind it.But Bryant told broadcasters it was “not clear” who perpetrated the attack and cautioned against speculation. “There certainly has been a hack at the FCDO and we’ve been aware of that since October,” Bryant told Sky News

Society of Editors decries Starmer’s plan to reduce media scrutiny of No 10

The Society of Editors has raised concerns about Keir Starmer’s plan to reduce scrutiny of No 10 by political journalists, saying it risks weakening transparency.The body, which represents news organisations, said regular, open and robust questioning was a cornerstone of democracy and that the plan to reduce briefings was deeply concerning.Downing Street’s director of communications, Tim Allan, unveiled the plan on Thursday without consulting the group of political journalists known as the lobby who traditionally attend briefings twice a day to question the prime minister’s spokesperson.Allan said the government would be reducing the briefings to one a day, and would sometimes replace the single briefing with a press conference.Held at 9 Downing Street, lobby briefings are on the record but not broadcast

Reform-run Kent council accused of blocking scrutiny of claim it saved £40m

Reform-run Kent council has been accused of trying to block scrutiny after it refused, for more than five months, to produce evidence that it had saved more than £40m by cancelling two environmental projects that did not exist yet.Polly Billington, a Labour MP in Kent, first requested background to the claim via a freedom of information (FoI) request in July. She said the subsequent delay had not been explained and seemed to show the council was embarrassed at what the documents would show.Kent county council said it rejected any suggestion of a cover-up, and that it planned to release the information to Billington, the East Thanet MP, later this week.The saga began when the Kent leader, Linden Kemkaran, told a council meeting on 10 July that the authority had saved £32m by scrapping a programme to make properties more environmentally friendly, and £7