Britain has lost respect for the police, the Home Secretary has claimed in the wake of the riots.

Yvette Cooper pledged to restore the public’s faith in the law as she warned would-be rioters that the streets would be flooded with police this week.

Writing for The Telegraph, she said a soft approach to justice had led too many people to “feel as though crime has no consequences”.

The Home Secretary called the rioting that erupted across British towns and cities a “disgraceful attempted assault on the rule of law itself”.

“I am not prepared to tolerate the brazen abuse and contempt which a minority have felt able to show towards our men and women in uniform, or the disrespect for law and order that has been allowed to grow in recent years,” she wrote.

“As well as punishing those responsible for the last fortnight’s violent disorder, we must take action to restore respect for the police, and respect for the law. From anti-social behaviour through to serious violence, too often people feel as though crime has no consequences, as charge rates have been allowed to fall and court delays have grown. That has to change.

“There is lots of rebuilding to be done in our communities after the damage of the last fortnight. But respect for the police. Respect for the law. Respect for each other. That is where we must start.”

On Sunday, the funeral was held of one the three child victims of the Southport stabbing attack, which happened a fortnight ago. 

Tributes were paid to nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar as her family released a photograph of her outside the Taylor Swift dance class where she was killed and praised their “perfect dream child”.

The riots were fulled by false reports on social media, which identified the suspect as a Muslim refugee who had arrived in the UK on a small boat.

Ms Cooper acknowledged that a lot of voters have “strong views” on immigration, but said that was no excuse for the behaviour of the rioters.

She added that prosecutions of those responsible for the unrest, which have seen more than 30 people jailed so far, would continue apace this week. 

Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested and more than 450 charged in relation to the riots and counter-protests staged over the past two weeks.

On Sunday, Stephen Parkinson, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, warned rioters that they could face up to 10 years in jail if convicted.

Labour will be under pressure to explain how it will address some of the problems that have been blamed for fuelling the riots, including concerns over border controls. It will also need to address pressure on public services from high levels of immigration.

Sir Keir Starmer ditched the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan on his first day in office but has so far set out little detail on how he intends to bring both legal and illegal migration down.

On Friday, the Telegraph revealed that Labour was considering changing rules to force social media companies to ban fake news, and Ms Cooper has said she wants more neighbourhood police officers patrolling the streets.

But the Government will also need to address the pressure on public services from high levels of immigration.

Regional inequalities have also been pinpointed as a factor in the riots, with seven of the 10 most deprived areas in England witnessing unrest. 

Sir Keir scrapped Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” slogan but could redirect money to the worst affected area to fund social cohesion projects.

Ms Cooper said: “Lots of people across Britain have strong views on crime, immigration, the NHS and more. 

“But they don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police, they don’t loot shops or wreck cars, or attack people because of the colour of their skin, or set light to buildings knowing people are inside.

“We said criminals would pay the price, and we meant it. That is the rule of law in practice. It will be crucial over the coming days to maintain the work that quelled the threatened violence – the strong police response on the streets and the pace of arrests and prosecutions.”

She added that, in the longer term, Labour’s plans to put thousands more neighbourhood officers on the streets would restore public confidence in the police.

Her remarks come after Dame Margaret Hodge, a Labour grandee, said the party had been “too frightened” to address voters’ concerns about immigration. 

She said the Government would “have to show we can control our borders” and that it could deport migrants who break the law.

Downing Street is in disarray after a power struggle broke out between Sue Gray and Sir Keir Starmer’s top adviser.

Ms Gray, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, and Morgan McSweeney, his most senior aide, are understood to be at loggerheads.

Reports emerged over the weekend claiming that Ms Gray, the former civil servant, who investigated partygate, was being accused of preventing Sir Keir from receiving security updates by blocking access to him.

A Whitehall source was reported to have said that she thinks “she runs the country” amid disquiet over her powerful role within the Government.

The claims, reported by The Mail on Sunday, fuelled fears of a split between two of Sir Keir’s most senior officials.

Downing Street dismissed the accusations against Ms Gray as “noises off from people who don’t know what they’re talking about”.  

It is understood that Mr McSweeney disputes all the claims made about him, and Number 10 insiders have dismissed the idea that the Prime Minister could be blocked from receiving important security information.

Ms Gray, the most senior political official in Number 10, is said to have tried to block Mr McSweeney from having access to a secure government IT system.

Her demand reportedly prompted a row with Simon Case, the Cabinet secretary, who told her: “I will only authorise that if the Prime Minister tells me himself.”

A security source also told The Mail on Sunday that Ms Gray had tried to block them from directly briefing Sir Keir on an important national security matter.

The source said: “It has got to the point where we have said that the PM needs to be given an intelligence briefing and Gray has said ‘tell me’. But we need to know that it has reached him.”

A Downing Street source said Sir Keir had introduced weekly National Security Council meetings, which he chairs, at which major security matters are discussed. He also has “regular sessions on security matters outside of this” when necessary, they said.

Ms Gray is reported to have twice moved Mr McSweeney’s desk within Number 10, making it further away from the Prime Minister’s office each time.

The reports will fuel speculation of a power struggle between the pair, which could force Sir Keir to decide whether to dispense with one of them. 

He is known to have a low tolerance for the sort of factional infighting that has beset previous administrations, including Boris Johnson’s.

Mr McSweeney is Number 10’s head of political strategy, and has been Sir Keir’s senior adviser since he became Labour leader in April 2020.

Ms Gray was poached by Sir Keir in March last year to become his chief of staff and make his operation ready for government.

There has been disquiet within Labour’s ranks over her powerful role, which included her reportedly exerting heavy influence over the appointment of ministers.

Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister at the Home Office, has revealed that it was Ms Gray who rang her up to offer her the job.

Universities are set to admit more pupils who fail to make their A-level grades than ever before.

Vice-chancellors are under pressure to fill places amid a funding crisis and a fall in demand from international students.

Senior education sources told The Telegraph they expect far more pupils than in previous years to be admitted to their first choice university even if their grades are well below what they had hoped for.

A-level results are finally set to return to pre-pandemic levels when they are published on Thursday.

A-level grading is finally set to return to pre-pandemic levels when results are published on Thursday, after years of inflation. The proportion of A*s and As is expected to fall to 25.4 per cent – down from 36.4 per cent in 2022.

However, universities expanded capacity during the pandemic to accommodate the increase in students who were made offers after grades were predicted by teachers.

Many have maintained this extra capacity and, in order to fill the places, are set to be more willing than ever before to accept students whose results are below what they had hoped for.

Education sources said they expected a flurry of calls to universities on Thursday that would result in more pupils talking their way into courses than in previous years.

One source said: “We will potentially this year initially hear students saying: ‘Oh, I don’t know anybody that’s got their predicted grades and that has got their offer, you know, I’m terribly disappointed.’

“And then two hours later it will be: ‘Actually, everything’s fine because I’ve now heard from my university and I’m in.’ The higher results are the less that will happen, and the lower results are the more that will happen.”

Experts predict that a sharp drop in international applicants will mean many universities cannot afford to turn away prospective students this year, even if they fail to meet their conditional offers.

Up to 16,000 fewer top grades could be handed out this year as exam regulators look to stamp out the last remnants of pandemic-era grade inflation, according to one forecast.

There are also concerns that the cost of living crisis and fears over student debt may put off swathes of young people from taking up their university places, despite a record number of offers being made.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) told The Telegraph that university offers topped two million for the first time this year. 

Offer rates rose across the sector, but the biggest increase was among the most selective universities – from 56.5 per cent in 2023 to 60.2 per cent this year.

Jo Saxton, the Ucas chief executive, said she had seen an increase in the number of students “who are holding a firm offer somewhere but are declining it and are actively putting themselves into clearing… and in many cases trading up”.

She told The Telegraph: “Some of the vice-chancellors who I’ve had conversations with about this, they’ve definitely clocked that behaviour, and some of the most selective institutions have talked to me about recognising that and wanting to keep that option open for students.”

It could mean less selective universities lose out as students ditch their existing offers for more prestigious alternatives.

A survey of Ucas data, published last week, showed a marked increase in top universities offering courses through clearing this year, with 18 Russell Group universities advertising 3,892 courses between them. 

It is almost double the figure last year, when 15 Russell Group universities had 2,021 unfilled courses available between them.

Clearing is open to students who do not meet the conditions of their offer on A-level results day, as well as those who did not receive any offers. The increase in places is more good news for students who do not make their grades.

Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, said it meant it would be a “good year” for domestic students looking for university places.

“It’s likely to be a slightly more volatile clearing process this year,” she told The Telegraph. “Universities do have a floor they put in to make sure that they don’t recruit students who are unlikely to be able to succeed on a course, but if they end up having space… they will look at who else has applied.

“From the perspective of a student waiting for their grades, it’s probably all a good thing… This is a pretty good year to be an applicant – so more people holding firm offers and more opportunities in clearing, including for courses that are usually very, very heavily subscribed.”

Ms Saxton urged school-leavers not to make any decisions ahead of A-level results day because top courses may be added to the clearing website in a bid to fill places.

UK universities are facing financial turmoil amid a sharp decline in international students, who pay much bigger fees than those from Britain. Home Office figures, published on Thursday, showed that overall student visa applications were down by 16 per cent between January and July compared with the same period last year.

There was also a steep drop in students trying to bring family members with them to the UK, with 13,100 applications from dependents of students between January and July – 81 per cent fewer than in the same period last year.

In January, the previous Conservative government introduced a ban on dependent visas for most postgraduate students in January in an attempt  to reduce overall migration.

Private GPs are signing £25 sick notes for people to take time off work and go “to the beach”.

NHS consultants working for private GP clinics are signing people off of work for between £25 and £55 per note, it has been revealed.

An undercover reporter received sick notes from seven different doctors online after telling each of them that she was suffering from stress or anxiety, as part of a Mail on Sunday investigation.

In one example a doctor advised the journalist to take two weeks off after she also wrote that she would “really benefit from time off work due to the hot weather and I want to be spending time at the beach”.

The letter was written by a doctor working for an Australian-owned company called Updoc, which offers a £24.95 sick note, as well as other letters such as specialists referrals or all-clears for people who have been ill.

Its website says its services have so far been used by more than 10,000 Britons to receive medical letters.

The platform gives doctors “competitive remuneration” and “flexible working hours” in return for issuing medical letters.

Dr Ravikumar Ravindran, an endocrinologist, wrote the sick note for the Mail on Sunday reporter, claiming that he had “reviewed” her medical history and “determined that she is unwell and unfit for work”.

Dr Ravindran told the newspaper he wrote “a couple” of sick notes a week through Updoc because “it’s about helping the public because they are not able to get appointments with their GP when they have serious health problems”.

In other examples, the investigation revealed letters were easily obtained from The GP Clinic, which provides a same-day service and has a “money back guarantee” if a consultant does not approve signing a sick note, which costs £55.

Dr Mohammed Sulaiman Shah, who runs the company, said he would be conducting an audit of his company’s process in response but added that: “We took the statement in good faith, recognising it as a genuine expression of need.”

A GP from Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust, working for a website called Home2Lab – and owned by SomDoc – reportedly signed a sick note for two weeks after the reporter submitted a 30-second video saying she wanted time off for stress.

The website says “no appointment required” for “same day” medical letters at a cost of £44.

A spokesman for Home2Lab said its services “are fully in line with General Medical Council guidance” and that “doctors generally work in good faith and are not in the habit of disbelieving patients”.

In a similar scenario a GP working privately for ZoomDoc, also signed off a sick note following a 30-second video call, with the investigation claiming it was done within seven minutes of the call ending.

A ZoomDoc spokesman said the company helped reduce strain on NHS resources and that it had “saved approximately 8,500 hours of NHS GP surgery time in the last year alone”.

He added: “We expect people to be truthful and accurate when reporting their symptoms, just like any other NHS service.”

Updoc was approached for comment.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics have revealed that the number of people classed as economically inactive has spiralled to 9.4 million, up from 8.4 million before Covid.

While NHS patients who want to be signed off usually get a letter free of charge from their GP, private online services allow them to buy a letter.

Some doctors have criticised the practice, including Dr Dean Eggitt, a senior principal GP in Doncaster, who claimed it was “not appropriate”.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, he claimed: “It goes against the GMC’s duties of care as a doctor, it goes against human moral standards and it needs to be tightly regulated to stop it happening. It’s clearly not appropriate.”

The families of the Nottingham knife attack victims have demanded that the BBC tell viewers that a controversial documentary was made without their consent.

The loved ones have said they are “traumatised” at the prospect of a Panorama programme airing on Monday night which is set to include interviews with the family of the killer Valdo Calocane.

The corporation only informed the families of victims Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates, that the programme was due to come out two weeks ago, “months” after filming started.

The Webber family say they have been given almost no detail as to its contents, nor an opportunity to contribute.

It comes amid an ongoing battle by the families to secure justice after they were left devastated by the decision not to prosecute Calocane, 32, for murder.

The paranoid schizophrenic was instead given a hospital order having accepted manslaughter for diminished responsibility.

The BBC said the documentary is in the public interest because of the decline of Colocane’s mental health, asking “whether there were systemic failings and missed opportunities” by health services.

They said they have provided the bereaved families with an “outline of its editorial focus”.

However, a source close to the families said on Sunday that the Panorama programme, titled The Nottingham Attacks: A Search For Answers, had been presented to them as a fait accompli and that their pleas for more information as to its contents had been “rebuffed”.

“We’re aware that the BBC plans to tease out excerpts of the programme all day on their news channels to drum up interest,” the source said. “It’s going to be torment not knowing what it’s going to say.

“The families demand that the BBC includes a disclaimer in the programme stating that it was made without the families’ knowledge or consent.”

The Panorama episode is due to air on the evening before the publication of a review into the handling of Calocane by Nottingham NHS Mental Health Trust.

Before the fatal attack in the early morning of June 13 2023 he had been assessed as psychotic by mental health services but judged to pose a low risk to others.

It is understood that, while members of Calocane’s family did contact mental health services, there is concern among the victims’ families that they could have done more to highlight the danger.

The Panorama programme will air interviews with people who have not previously spoken about the attacks before, the families have been told.

The source said that being forced to wait to find out about the contents of the documentary at the same time as everyone else had caused the families to “lose trust” in the BBC.

Earlier, Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby, told The Sun newspaper: “All the families feel very disappointed and alarmed at the way they have managed this.

“We feel very let down, very disappointed. We expected better. We deserved better.”

Mrs Webber even raised her concerns about the programme with Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, who is understood to have contacted the BBC about their engagement with the families.

A BBC spokesman said: “We have the deepest sympathy for the families, and the Panorama team has been extremely mindful of the sensitivities in handling this programme.

“They have been in contact with the bereaved families to tell them about the programme and to provide an outline of its editorial focus.

“This investigation, which is very much in the public interest, examines the decline in the mental health of Valdo Calocane and asks whether there were systemic failings and missed opportunities in his interactions with mental health services in the three years leading up to the terrible events in Nottingham last year.

“The documentary has been produced in accordance with the BBC’s editorial guidelines.”