Britain’s Armed Forces must be modernised to face a “deadly quartet” of enemy countries, the new head of the Government’s Strategic Defence Review has said.

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, a former defence secretary and secretary general of Nato, said “the world has changed out of all recognition” since he was last in government, acknowledging the threats posed by China, Iran, Russia and North Korea.

He made the comments as Sir Keir Starmer announced the launch of Labour’s Strategic Defence Review, which the Prime Minister pledged would tackle international threats head on.

Lord Robertson said: “We’re confronted by a deadly quartet of nations increasingly working together, and we in this country, and the Nato alliance that met so successfully last week, has got to be able to confront that particular quartet as well as the other problems that are pervading the world at the present moment.”

It comes after defence sources suggested last week that Sir Keir’s review would open the door to an increase in the size of the British Army.

Troop numbers were cut to their smallest size since the Napoleonic era under the Conservative government.

Announcing the review, Sir Keir said: “We live in a more dangerous and volatile world. My Government will forge a new clear-eyed approach to our national defences, equipping us to tackle international threats head on while keeping the British people safe and secure.”

He vowed to make the “hollowed out” military one that is “bolstered and respected”, to “responsibly” increase defence spending and to “ensure the UK’s resilience for the long term”.

John Healey, the Defence Secretary, added that those involved in the review would examine troop numbers as part of their work, taking a “hard look” at the threats the UK faces. “I’ve not come into this job to cut forces numbers further,” he said.

The cooperation between China, Iran, Russia and North Korea has become an increasing concern for defence figures.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years last month, holding talks with Kim Jong-un.

It was reported earlier this year that Iran had supplied Russia with drone-launched glide bombs for use in Ukraine, while in April the US warned that China was fuelling the biggest Russian military expansion since Soviet times by providing Moscow with cruise missile, drone and tank parts.

Mr Healey said the date for when the Government would achieve spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence would be dealt with at a “future fiscal event” as part of a “Treasury process”.

He stressed that the UK needed to be “clear-eyed” about the threats it faces as the world becomes “more volatile” and technology changes the nature of warfare.

“In response, our Armed Forces need to be better ready to fight, more integrated and more innovative,” he said. “We need clearer accountability, faster delivery, less waste and better value for money.

“The review will ensure that defence is central to the future security of Britain and to its economic growth and prosperity.”

The Strategic Defence Review, which will report in the first half of 2025, will also be overseen by Dr Fiona Hill, a foreign policy expert and former US presidential adviser, and Gen Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command and ex-deputy chief of the defence staff. 

They will consult military veterans, MPs across the House, academia and industry, with submissions invited until the end of September.

Lord Robertson added that, at the Nato summit in Washington last week to mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary, it was made “perfectly clear that the challenge of China was something that had to be taken very, very seriously”.

He added that what happens in the Asia-Pacific “can happen in the Europe Atlantic area very quickly after”.

The review will look at how to bolster Ukraine and to ensure that the UK continues to be a lead nation in Nato and also how defence can adapt to meet “evolving threats” such as cyber attacks and misinformation campaigns alongside conventional threats.

The King and Queen were rushed out of an engagement involving cows and potato farmers on Jersey following a security concern. 

The visit to the outdoor expo event, in St Helier, was suddenly cut short and the couple were ushered into a nearby hotel, during their two-day visit to the Channel Islands.

The King was chatting to the owner of Jersey Sea Salt and the Queen was buying a tub of Jersey Dairy ice cream when they were each told by their personal protection officers that they had to leave. 

The perceived threat was dealt with calmly and members of the public were unaware of any drama, as the couple left the site and were taken to the nearby Pomme d’Or hotel.

It is understood that there was a “small issue of concern” and that every precaution was taken.

But following an investigation it turned out to be a false alarm.

A full background check was carried out and the programme resumed shortly afterwards, when the King and Queen conducted a jovial walkabout in the sunshine outside the hotel.

Stall holders claimed the threat concerned a drone but the rumour was said to be unfounded.

Matt Taylor, founder of Jersey Sea Salt, was chatting to the King when he was approached by his protection officer and told he had to leave immediately.

He said: “He stopped at the stall and said ‘Ooh sea salt’ and I said ‘Come and have a chat, Sir.’

“Then his security appeared and grabbed me and said ‘He has to go, now’.

“He didn’t seem panicked but he was quite stern. They just ushered him out. It’s a shame as he’d stopped to chat to us of his own accord.”

Eamon Fenlon, managing director of Jersey Dairy, had just served the Queen an ice cream from a van before she was ushered out of the Expo.

Mr Fenlon said: “I had just given the Queen an ice cream and I turned back to get one myself before we had a chat.

“But when I turned back round she had been whisked off. Some of the other people told me it was a drone but whether that’s official or not I don’t know.”

The expo event had got underway just minutes earlier, with the King and Queen getting the giggles as they were introduced to some Jersey cows.

The couple were gifted seven Jersey heifers that will be transported back to the King’s Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire.

The cows represent an “outstanding cross section of breeding” from the leading herds in the island.

The Queen was entranced by animals, saying as she stroked them: “Aren’t they beautiful and so soft.”

But then one of them mounted the other from behind, causing much laughter.

“They say never work with animals or children,” muttered one aide.

The cows had been due to be sent to Windsor but because the Jersey herd at Windsor is complete, the monarch asked whether the cattle could be given to Home Farm, which forms part of his Highgrove estate and is run by the Duchy of Cornwall.

Henry James Gay, the Duchy’s tenant farmer, recently visited Jersey to choose the heifers that will live alongside his organic herd of Ayrshire cows.

Andrew Le Gallais, former chairman of the Jersey Milk Marketing Board, said: “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of all at Woodlands Farm in St Helier, the Le Boutillier herd is now fully restocked.

“We are delighted we’re now able to honour the gift intended for His Majesty, and we look forward to working with Henry and his father Colston to help them build the herd of Jersey cows.”

After the security drama, the King and Queen dropped in on a tea party held in their honour.

The King greeted Jersey’s oldest Normandy veteran like an old friend saying “you’re getting better with age”.

Charles and Camilla sat with Ernest Thorne, 100, as the monarch told the war hero “it’s a joy to see you” following their first meeting in Portsmouth at the D-Day commemorations earlier this year.

The visit began on Monday with a special sitting of the States Assembly, the local parliament, in St Helier’s Royal Square.

As the heavens opened, they were greeted with huge cheers as they got out of the state Bentley and immediately sheltered under umbrellas.

The King and the Queen, who wore a blue silk shirt dress by Anna Valentine, were led into the square by a Royal Mace, gifted to the island by Charles II in 1663 in recognition of the island’s loyalty to the Crown.

The Bailiff, president of the States Assembly, read out a Loyal Address welcoming the couple before Charles delivered his response.

“Mr Bailiff, I am most grateful to you and to the States for the warm welcome you have extended to both my wife and myself, and for the assurances of devotion, loyalty and allegiance to the Crown you have expressed on behalf of the people of Jersey,” he said.

“My wife and I have such happy recollections of the welcome we received when we were last here in 2012, to mark the Diamond Jubilee of my late mother.

“During that visit we met so many Islanders and learned of the high regard and affection in which she was held, and also a great deal about your beautiful and unique island. We look forward to doing so again today during our time here in St Helier.”

When the sitting transitioned to a Royal Court, the King was gifted locally laid duck eggs as a symbol of sustenance, replacing an 800-year tradition of presenting the monarch with two dead ducks.

The ritual formed part of a homage paid by five senior seigneurs, or lords of the manor, each of whom stepped up and clasped hands with the monarch, one by one.

When Elizabeth II visited Jersey in 2001, she was presented with two mallards on a silver tray as part of an ancient tradition dating back to the Middle Ages when six seigneurs, or lords of the manor, would pay homage to the sovereign as the Duke of Normandy.

Just as the late Queen did not take the dead ducks home, the King will not be packing the duck eggs in his suitcase.

Instead, he was shown the bowl of white mallard eggs by seigneur Pamela Bell, before they were accepted on his behalf by the Receiver General, the King’s representative on the islands.

The Queen watched on with a smile.

The couple were due to stay on Jersey on Monday night – the first King to have stayed on the island since Charles II in the 1600s – before heading to Guernsey on Tuesday.

Conversion therapy will be banned under a new law to be announced in the King’s Speech.

Sir Keir Starmer will push ahead with a ban at the first opportunity by including the proposals in Labour’s legislative agenda for its first year in office, to be set out on Wednesday.

The move comes despite fears that outlawing the practice, which attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, would risk criminalising parents who try to help children who think they are trans.

The campaign group Sex Matters has urged the Prime Minister to resist calls for “speedy action” on the issue and warned any legal changes must be approached “with the utmost caution”.

Labour pledged a full, “trans-inclusive” ban on conversion therapy in its manifesto, despite concerns that such a move could stifle legitimate conversations between parents and gender-questioning children.

During the election campaign, Nick Thomas-Symonds, now a minister in the Treasury, suggested the party could press ahead with the proposals in its first 100 days if it won power, saying he could not see “any undue reason for delay”.

On Sunday, Labour’s LGBT+ branch said it would be writing to Lucy Powell, the Leader of the House of Commons, calling for the ban to be included in the King’s Speech on Wednesday.

The plans are now expected to feature in the party’s first legislative agenda, which is set to include around 35 bills in total.

Labour has opted to act quickly on conversion therapy despite Wes Streeting taking a cautious approach to puberty blockers, which earned him praise from gender-critical campaigners.

The Health Secretary has said he will stop children from accessing the drugs for good, subject to a legal hearing, by renewing a ban rushed through in the final days of Rishi Sunak’s premiership.

He said he would “always put the safety of children first”, stressing his commitment to “evidence-led care”. It has sparked a backlash from within the party, with several Labour MPs hitting back on social media.

On Monday, Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at Sex Matters, warned Labour must avoid rushing into a ban on conversion therapy, or risk causing “immense harm”.

“By keeping the ban on private prescriptions of puberty blockers, the Government is rejecting the false ‘culture war’ narrative and prioritising the health and wellbeing of gender-distressed children,” she said.

“The Government also needs to avoid rushing into a ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’ for gender identity. Unless it gets this right, it risks doing immense harm.”

In a letter to the Prime Minister last week, signed by Maya Forstater, the chief executive of Sex Matters, as well as prominent gender-critical campaigners Sarah Vine, Julie Bindel and Kathleen Stock, the group put forward five key tests that “must be satisfied” before the Government moves ahead with a ban.

These included assessing whether there is any evidence of abuses that “cannot be prosecuted under existing legislation”, and ensuring “normal professional standards of therapy” and “family life” are not criminalised by new laws.

Compatible with other human rights

The campaigners also urged Sir Keir to make sure new legislation was consistent with “full implementation” of the recommendations of the Cass Review, that it is compatible with other human rights, including freedom of speech, and that it will “make life better for gay, gender-questioning and trans-identifying people”.

Helen Joyce, the group’s director of advocacy, said: “It is vital that the new Government takes the time to think through the knock-on impacts of any legislation in this complex and sensitive area. If it rushes, it risks catastrophic harm to the vulnerable children and young people it is seeking to protect.

“Already, ethical therapists are afraid to offer open-ended, evidence-based support to gender-questioning young people for fear of being maliciously reported to their regulatory bodies for practising ‘conversion therapy’.

“Teachers have made referrals to social services when loving parents do not rush to affirm a troubled child’s adoption of a trans identity. It is essential that any new criminal offence does not create a further chilling effect.”

The Conservatives had vowed to ban conversion therapy when they were in power, but the move was repeatedly stalled over fears it could criminalise parents who questioned their children’s wish to transition.

In the end, Mr Sunak excluded the commitment from the 2024 Tory manifesto, which declared that “existing criminal law” already protected against potential harms.

But Labour pressed on with its own proposals to outlaw the practice, pledging to “deliver a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices while protecting the freedom for people to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity”.

Last year, Anneliese Dodds, the minister now leading on the legislation alongside Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, said there would be “no loopholes” in the new law.

Mims Davies, the Tories’ shadow women and equalities minister, said: “We can all agree that so-called conversion therapy is abhorrent.

“There are already a number of laws offering proper protection when it comes to this complex issue.

“Labour should make sure any new legislation is properly considered and allow Parliament the time for a full and frank discussion.”

A musical comedy about the disastrous Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow will feature two child stars of the original 1970s film.

Julie Dawn Cole and Paris Themmen played Veruca Salt and Mike Teavee in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which starred Gene Wilder as the eccentric factory owner.

They will serve as narrators for Willy’s Candy Spectacular at the Edinburgh Fringe.

The musical was inspired by a Wonka-themed event which made headlines in February.

Visitors to the “immersive experience” in Glasgow, where tickets were £35-a-head, found themselves in a near-empty warehouse.

Police were called to deal with angry parents, and the event was cancelled halfway through its first day.

An image of an actress dressed as an Oompa Loompa and standing behind a table laden with test tubes went viral, with social media users likening the set up to a meth lab.

Kirsty Paterson, the actress, will also appear in Willy’s Candy Spectacular, which will run at the Edinburgh Pleasance King Dome from Aug 9-26.

Cole will narrate from Aug 9-18, with Themmen taking over until the end of the run.

Both hold the 1971 film in great affection. Cole, 66, from Surrey, continued to act and has appeared in Casualty, Doctors and Emmerdale.

Themmen, 65, quit acting for various careers including real estate, retail and film production.

The musical features songs written by the Emmy Award-winning Doug Rockwell and Tova Litvin.

They said: “The first time we heard about the Glasgow experience was reading a headline that said, ‘Police called to underwhelming Willy Wonka event’. It all sounded so ridiculous that we had to click on it.”

Andy Fickman, the show’s director, said: “I feel like Willy Wonka himself standing at the gates to the factory with this remarkable cast all arriving with their golden tickets ready to perform.

“Working with this glorious cast in this dreamy musical is already a joy, but to add the original Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee to the mix – my head is having an explosion of sweet treats.”

Organisers of the Glasgow event refunded tickets and apologised to customers, saying: “Unfortunately, last minute we were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue on and push through.

“[We] now realise we probably should have cancelled first thing [in the] morning instead.”

The murder suspect accused of dismembering two men and putting their remains into suitcases lived with his alleged victims and had joined them on holiday in his native Colombia.

Photographs posted on social media show Yostin Andres Mosquera enjoying a boat ride with his alleged victims, who had been partners, in March.

The partial remains of Paul Longworth, 71, and 62-year-old Albert Alfonso were discovered after a man was seen “acting suspiciously” while carrying a suitcase on Clifton Suspension Bridge, in Bristol  just before midnight on July 10.

Mosquera, 34, appeared in court on Monday charged with two counts of murder, having been detained by police at Bristol’s Temple Meads railway station on Saturday. Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court heard that the deaths of the two men had occurred up to two days before their remains were found.

Wearing grey custody-issued clothing, the Colombian national spoke to confirm his name and date of birth through a Spanish interpreter. The court was told he is accused of murdering both Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth between July 8 and July 10.

Asked for his current address, the translator told the court that Mosquera said: “I do have an address, however I don’t know the exact details.”

He had been living with Mr Longworth and Mr Alfonso in a flat in Scotts Road in Shepherds Bush, west London, for a short time before the alleged murders.

Pictures posted on Mr Alfonso’s social media account show the three on holiday in Colombia on March 5, on a boat off the coast close to the city of Cartagena. Another photo, taken two days earlier, shows them sitting on a city beach.

Mosquera was also photographed by Mr Alfonso eating fish and chips in London in October last year, suggesting he had been in the UK for at least nine months.

Mr Alfonso, who had worked as a high-end concierge, had been in a relationship with Mr Longworth until recently. They had continued living at the Shepherd’s Bush flat, which Mr Alfonso had bought for £455,000 in 2020, although neighbours said they had lived on the street for 15 years.

On his Flickr photographic account, Mr Alfonso, who was a keen traveller, said he had posted thousands of photos “to leave a digital print of my brief appearance on Earth”. Some of his pictures were of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

He had worked for the Saudi royal family in the 1990s, and until his retirement had been the estate manager at luxury flats in Kensington, then run by Harrods Estates, and then by Rendall & Rittner, until retiring in 2019. Mr Longworth is thought to have worked at the same property business.

A spokesman for Rendall & Rittner, which bought the development in 2017, said: “We are shocked and saddened to learn of the deaths of Albert Alfonso and Paul Longworth, who were both valued former members of our team. Our thoughts are with their families and friends at this very difficult and distressing time.”

In a statement, Scotland Yard said: “Albert and Paul had previously been in a relationship and still lived together at the flat in Scotts Road, W12. Both victims were known to the man arrested, and he had been staying with them at the Scotts Road flat for a short period of time.

“We are making thorough enquiries to establish whether there may be any linked offences in the UK or overseas, but so far none have been identified. Detectives will continue to build a full picture of the circumstances, including any previous incident that may be linked in any way to this case.”

The Metropolitan Police said it had initially categorised the murders as a hate crime, but that evidence so far did not suggest there was a homophobic motive.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said: “I know that this awful incident will cause concern not just among residents in Shepherds Bush but in the wider LGBTQ+ community across London. 

“I hope it will be of some reassurance that, whilst enquiries are still ongoing and the investigation is at a relatively early stage, we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with the two murders.”

At 11.57pm on Wednesday, officers had been called to reports of a man seen “acting suspiciously with a suitcase” on the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Avon and Somerset Police said.

A spokesman said officers arrived at the bridge within 10 minutes, but the man had already fled the area, “leaving the suitcase behind”. A second suitcase was located nearby a short time later. The property in Scotts Road was raided by police on Friday. Detectives later confirmed that more human remains were found.

Neighbours on the road spoke of their shock at the discovery. John, 77, who has lived there since 1984, said the victims had lived together on the road for about 15 years, and that Mr Longworth was a regular at the local pub.

Elizabeth Polmear, 48, said: “Paul had his little routine. He’d get up at 5am for work and then go to the pub on the corner for about an hour a day at 12.30pm. He was always happy and jokey. He was very friendly.

“It’s very very difficult to get my head around. It’s absolutely awful. You want to feel safe in your street, and that’s put the wind up me. It takes a lot to frighten me, but that really did.”