Jay Blades, the BBC presenter, is facing a second court case for allegedly using his mobile phone while driving.

Mr Blades, who presents The Repair Shop on BBC One, is set to appear at Cannock magistrates’ court on Tuesday, after pleading not guilty to an alleged driving offence, according to The Sun.

The 54-year-old separately attended Kidderminster magistrates’ court on Friday, after being charged by West Mercia Police with one count of engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship.

According to court documents, the charge relates to his wife Lisa Zbozen, a fitness instructor, who announced on her Instagram page in May that their relationship was over.

Mr Blades will appear at Worcester Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on Oct 11.

The father of three is alleged to have used his phone while driving in Wombourne, Staffordshire, in April last year.

Mr Blades, who was made an MBE for services to craft in 2022, has presented The Repair Shop since 2017. He won a daytime Bafta TV award last year, along with other members of the programme, for a special featuring the King, who was at the time the Prince of Wales.

The King selected an 18th-century bracket clock from the collection at The Prince’s Foundation’s Dumfries House headquarters and a piece of Wemyss Ware made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee for restoration.

Blades steps away from high-profile roles

Mr Blades had supported the King’s Foundation, formerly the Prince’s Foundation, as an ambassador, and visited its Dumfries House location in Ayrshire for the BBC special The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit.

Mr Blades has since stepped away from his role at the King’s Foundation. He has also resigned as chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University.

A spokesman for the university said: “Jay Blades MBE has resigned from his role as chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University with immediate effect.

“We thank Jay for his loyal service to the university, and will be making no further comment.”

Mr Blades grew up in Hackney, east London, and left school aged 15 without any qualifications, spending his 20s working in factories and as a labourer.

After graduating from Buckinghamshire New University, he co-founded the Out of the Dark charitable social enterprise which trained young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to revamp furniture.

Mr Blades also presented the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020 and appeared on Celebrity Masterchef, Celebrity Bake Off and Comic Relief.

Richard Gadd has collected three awards for writing, producing and starring in Netflix hit series Baby Reindeer at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Hollywood stars descended upon the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday for the second time this year to celebrate the best in television, after the September 2023 ceremony was delayed following the US writers’ and actors’ strikes.

Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon led the best dressed stars on the red carpet.

The awards were hosted by the father and son duo of Eugene and Dan Levy, the winning stars of the 2020 Emmys with their show Schitt’s Creek.

The drama Shogun and comedy Hacks were awarded top series, as Baby Reindeer and The Bear each took four awards.

Gadd gave emotional speeches on stage at the Peacock Theatre after scooping awards for the British thriller about a female stalker, said to be inspired by his real-life experiences.

“This is the stuff of dreams,” he said after winning his first Emmy in writing, before collecting outstanding limited or anthology series and lead actor in the same category.

Gadd said the awards for Baby Reindeer proved that “there’s no set formula” to success, despite there being a “slump” in the industry.

“The only constant across any success in television is good storytelling, good storytelling that speaks to our times. So take risks, push boundaries, explore the uncomfortable, dare to fail in order to achieve,” he told the audience.

After collecting his acting prize, Gadd also thanked his mother and father who “never, ever told me what I needed to do with my life”, which he described as “the greatest gift a parent can give a child”.

“They always said follow your heart and the rest will fall into place, and I think it’s good advice, follow your heart and the rest will fall into place,” he added.

His co-star Jessica Gunning also won the Emmy for best supporting actress in a limited or anthology series for playing Martha Scott, who stalks Gadd’s character Donny Dunn in the show.

“I am so incredibly proud to be a part of Baby Reindeer,” she said on stage.

“My biggest thanks has to go to Mr Richard Gadd. I tried so many times to put into words what working on Baby Reindeer meant to me and I fail every time. So, I’m going to sing,” she joked.

“Thank you for trusting me to be your Martha. I will never, ever forget her or you or this.”

The show made headlines after a woman, who claimed to be the inspiration behind the character Martha, filed a lawsuit against Netflix and accused the story of being inaccurate.

Baby Reindeer was not alone in receiving multiple gongs, with hit series The Bear also taking home four wins.

In their opening monologue, father-son hosting duo Eugene and Dan Levy joked that the show – officially deemed a comedy programme – would be better off categorised as a drama.

The series is about a star chef (Jeremy Allen White) who returns to Chicago to run the family business after the death of his brother.

Allen White described himself as “so, so, so lucky” after picking up the Emmy for lead actor in a comedy series for his role as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto. 

“This show has changed my life, it has instilled a faith that change is possible, that change is possible if you are able to reach out, you are really truly not actually alone,” he said on stage.

His win came after US actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach won best supporting actor in a comedy for his role as restaurant manager Richard “Richie” Jerimovich in The Bear.

Meanwhile, the FX series Shogun, about lordly politicking in feudal Japan, had already set a record for most Emmys for a single season of a series, with its 14 wins at the precursor Creative Arts Emmy Awards last weekend.

The show seized all the Emmy power in the top categories by shifting from the limited series to the drama category in May when it began developing more seasons. And it was in some ways Emmy royalty from the start. 

During the golden age of the miniseries, the original 1980 Shogun, based on James Clavell’s historical novel, won three including best limited series.

Veteran screen star Hiroyuki Sanada, who won the actor award, and Anna Sawai, the actress award, were the first Japanese actors to win Emmys.

Sanada had faced a challenge from Gary Oldman, who has been quietly creating one of his career defining roles on Apple TV+ as spy chief Jackson Lamb on Slow Horses.

Sawai’s competition included Emmy luminary Jennifer Aniston of The Morning Show, who has only won once before in 10 nominations, and Imelda Staunton for playing Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown.

Elizabeth Debicki also won her first Emmy for her role as Diana, Princess of Wales in The Crown.

“Playing this part based on this unparalleled, incredible human being, has been my great privilege – it has been a gift,” Debicki said on stage after collecting the award for outstanding supporting actress in a drama.

Hacks was the surprise winner of its first best comedy series award, topping The Bear, which most had expected to take it after big wins earlier in the evening.

A member of the RAF went Awol to appear on the reality TV show Married at First Sight.

Alex Henry, 28, who abandoned his post at an electronic warfare base to take part in Channel 4’s dating show, was jailed by a military court.

The 28-year-old requested extra leave last winter to take part in the reality TV show, but this was denied by his commanding officer at RAF Spadeadam, Cumbria.

Mr Henry, from Birmingham, ignored the decision and attended filming for the show.

He was arrested by military police on his return and sentenced to 34 days in a military prison, of which he served 24 before being sacked.

Military prison

Mr Henry’s spokesman told The Sun: “He returned after filming of his own volition and handed himself into the military authorities.

“He was sentenced to 34 days in a military prison and served 24 as a model inmate.”

In promotional material for the show, Mr Henry said he knew the meaning of “work hard and play hard”. He said in a social media post since filming: “Anything worth having in life comes with a risk.”

After it was announced that Mr Henry would be appearing on Married at First Sight 2024 – dubbed “MAFS” by fans – allegations were made against him about his alleged past behaviour around women.

A Channel 4 spokesman said in a statement: “MAFS UK contributors are subject to rigorous background vetting, including multiple independent psychological evaluations and a criminal record check before they can be cleared to take part.

“We cast contributors based on the information we are legally able to access and we continue to review this process to ensure checks are as thorough as legally possible.”

Later, a Channel 4 adviser responded directly to those protesting his participation, in a message which read: “MAFS UK was filmed several months ago and is not live, so Alexander will feature in the programs that have been edited and are due for broadcast later this month.

“There will also be promotional activity on the channel’s social media platforms during this time, in which Alexander may appear.”

Mr Henry, who is also a personal trainer and has ambitions to become a professional boxer, worked as an Air Specialist which is a non-commissioned rank responsible for providing technical expertise.

A pensioner was forced to crawl up a hill on his hands and knees with his shopping after his bus route was axed.

The 82-year-old was found crawling along a pavement in the village of Netley, Hampshire, by a fellow resident who said he told her: “That hill is going to kill me.”

The unnamed pensioner was trying ascend the hill, which residents consider “steep even for a younger person”, on his way home after the route was axed by bus company Bluestar.

An urgent meeting was held in the village – home to 6,000 people – to discuss the future of the route.

Bluestar announced changes to its routes on Sep 1 to improve journey times, but some stops serving Netley and other villages were axed as a result. Some pensioners in attendance were in tears, fearing they may be left stranded without a bus service.

The meeting called to discuss the route change was attended by more than 50 people including Paul Holmes, the local Conservative MP. It heard that the stops axed by the company only carried around 20 people per day.

June Bangs, 81, said of the day she found the pensioner crawling up the hill: “I went out to my garden bin and found the poor gentleman on his hands and knees trying to get home.

“I rushed as quick as I could towards him and when I got to him, he looked up at me and said: ‘That hill is going to kill me.’ This bus service is a lifeline for us.”

Rachel Foulkes, a family friend, said she was like a daughter to the 82-year-old, and he had asked her to represent him at the meeting.

She added: “He gave up his car two years ago and relies on the bus for everything. He goes on the bus to Co-op, Hamble Square and Woolston.

“He can get down to the bus stop on Hound Road – but the hill back up on Woolston Road is steep, even for a younger person. 

“The bus company said: ‘We have walked the walk and it takes seven to nine minutes’, but walking back up is really a whole different experience. So sadly for someone like him he is now effectively housebound, apart from when I can take him out.”

Mrs Foulkes said although only 20 or so residents had been using that section of the bus route, that still meant 20 people were going to be impacted, adding: “Netley isn’t serviced by any other buses other than the number 15.

She said the fact that more than 50 residents had attending the parish meeting at the weekend “shows the interest level”.

Wendy Alison, 52, said: “It [the change] has had a huge impact already. The hill is a killer. From our point of view, it’s the fact it’s such a steep hill at the bottom. Luckily, they have put a bench at the top so people can have a rest.”

Doreen Salter, 88, said: “This has floored me. This will mean we are completely cut off. It is just a tragedy for us older people.”

Mr Holmes said: “I am very saddened to hear about this – nobody should have to be in such a situation. I am continuing to work with the local community and Bluestar to find a solution that works.”

Richard Tyldsley, the Bluestar general manager, said: “We are continuing to operate Bluestar 15. We do appreciate the inconvenience the change of route in Butlocks Heath may have on some customers.

“Bluestar 15 still operates locally though, with existing and new bus stops being located within a short distance. For a small number of our customers there is a slightly longer walk, following the omission of Ingleside and Woolston Road, but we have looked very closely at this and made the decision in order to improve the overall route.”

Bluestar said the changes would improve journey times and allow the bus service to extend beyond Southampton city centre to Central Station – but the changes have come at the expense of stops in Netley and neighbouring villages.

Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer jumpsuit amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

Lady Starmer sat in the front row of the Edeline Lee runway, wearing a jumpsuit in the same style as those in the show.

Her appearance comes as Sir Keir Starmer is alleged to have broken parliamentary rules by failing to declare donations of clothing for his wife by Lord Alli.

Lord Alli, a Labour peer, paid for a personal shopper in addition to designer garments and alterations for Lady Starmer.

The peer is Sir Keir’s biggest personal donor and was at the heart of a cronyism row last month after it emerged he had a Downing Street security pass.

No10 said the jumpsuit by Edeline Lee was a loan and that declarations will be made as required.

Sir Keir said it was “very important” to him that rules were followed and to have “transparency”, adding: “I’ve always said that. I said that before the election, I’ve reinforced it after the election.

“And that’s why, shortly after the election, my team reached out for advice on what declaration should be made, so it’s in accordance with the rules. They then sought out for further advice more recently, as a result of which they made the relevant declarations.

“But for me it’s really important that the rules are followed. That’s why I was very pleased my team reached out proactively – not once, but twice – because it is very important that we have transparency, very important that you and others can see the rules are being followed.”

It is understood that Lord Alli has also given Sir Keir £18,685 of work clothes and several pairs of glasses in the past year, as well as spending £20,000 on his accommodation during the general election campaign.

Israel has told the United States that hopes for a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Hezbollah are dwindling and a full-scale war is looming.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, informed Lloyd Austin, his American counterpart, on Monday, that the possibility for an “agreed framework in the northern arena” is running out.

Mr Gallant blamed Hezbollah’s ongoing position of “tying itself” to fellow Iran-backed terror group, Hamas.

“The trajectory is clear,” said Mr Gallant, indicating that Israel will have to go to war with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah to solve the daily rocket and drone attacks on its northern border.

At least 40 rockets were fired by Hezbollah at Israel on Sunday and, separately, several IDF soldiers were wounded in a drone explosion in the Golan Heights.

Mr Gallant has previously warned Hezbollah that Israel will turn Lebanon “back to the Stone Age” in the event of a full-fledged war.

His latest warning comes after Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, also implied that Israel would have to take further steps to allow the 60,000 internally displaced Israelis to return to their homes in the north.

“The current situation will not continue,” said Mr Netanyahu during Sunday’s cabinet meeting.

“This requires a change in the balance of forces on our northern border. We will do whatever is necessary to return our residents securely to their homes.”

The IDF and the Israeli defence ministry also made further preparations to defend the northern border, announcing on Monday that “civilian defence squads” in 97 communities close to Lebanon have been equipped with new arms and combat gear.

Communities in the Golan Heights are also set to be rearmed in the coming weeks, amounting to a total of 120 civil defence squads receiving new equipment.

The ministry said it purchased 9,000 Arad-type rifles at the cost of £10 million.

Meanwhile, unsanctioned leaflets with evacuation orders for civilians were dropped in the village of Wazzani in south Lebanon on Sunday, raising further fears of a major attack by Israel.

“To all residents and refugees living in the area of the camps, Hezbollah is firing from your region,” the leaflet read in Arabic according to AFP.

“You must immediately leave your homes and head north of the Khiam region before 4pm. Do not return to this area until the end of the war.

“Anyone present in this area after this time will be considered a terrorist.”

The IDF later said the leaflets had not been authorised and an investigation into the incident had been opened.

Hezbollah began launching daily rockets, anti-tank missiles and drones at Israel on Oct 8 last year in support of Hamas’s war against Israel.

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has since said that the terror group will stop attacking Israel when a ceasefire in Gaza is reached.

But both Hamas and Israel have refused to give up on core demands in recent weeks, making the prospect of a ceasefire deal bleak.

Israeli airstrikes killed 16 people in Gaza on Monday, including five women and four children, according to Palestinian health officials.

A strike flattened a home in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least 10 people, Associated Press reported.

The Awda Hospital, which received the bodies, confirmed the death toll to AP and also said 13 people were wounded.

Hospital records show that the dead included a mother, her child and her five siblings.

Another strike on a home in Gaza City killed six people, including a woman and two children – according to the Civil Defense, rescue workers who operate under the Hamas-run government.

Israel says it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas.

The IDF rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

Statistics that suggest Lucy Letby tampered with babies’ breathing tubes while working at a Liverpool hospital are “not credible”, experts have warned.

At the Thirlwall Inquiry last week, Richard Baker KC said an audit had shown that the dislodgement of breathing tubes occurred at a rate 40 times higher than normal during Letby’s shifts when she worked at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015.

However, neonatologists and statisticians have written to Lady Justice Thirlwall questioning the data.

In a letter seen by The Telegraph, the experts write: “We do not find the assertion credible and are writing to express our deep concerns over the figures presented to the Thirlwall Inquiry with regards to extubation rates.

“The apparent careless presentation of unsubstantiated and uncorroborated figures is likely to create unnecessary distress and harm, and generate additional worry, for example among parents of babies who were treated at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

“If data quoted is subsequently shown to be robust, reliable and accurate, we question why such a drastic increase went unnoticed and unaddressed for nearly a decade. The failure to raise this issue would in that case raise important questions and have profound implications for Liverpool Women’s Hospital.”

Signatories to the letter include Dr Neil Aiton, a consultant neonatologist and lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and Dr Svilena Dimitrova, a consultant neonatologist and specialist adviser for the Care Quality Commission, as well as a medical reviewer for the review of maternity services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

While the inquiry heard that tubes were dislodged on 40 per cent of Letby’s shifts, other scientists have pointed out that there is extensive scientific literature suggesting that breathing tubes can become dislodged in newborns between one per cent and 80 per cent of the time.

Lucy Easthope, a professor in practice of risk and hazard at the University of Durham, also warned that there was a national product recall of breathing tubes for newborns in 2012.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, she said: “Is it correct to say that there was an inexplicable rise in dislodged neonatal endotracheal tubes in the year that we saw national major product recall in neonatal endotracheal tubes? I expect the inquiry will cover this MHRA alert tomorrow.”

In August 2023, Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016. In July, she was also found guilty at retrial of attempting to murder a baby girl by dislodging the breathing tube in her throat.

The Thirlwall Inquiry, which opened last week, is investigating the wider circumstances about what happened at the Countess of Chester and how the deaths might have been prevented.

In his opening statement, Mr Baker said that some of the incidents had involved complications “that were, in themselves unusual”, such as the dislodgement of breathing tubes. He added: “It is very uncommon. You will hear evidence that it generally occurs in less than one per cent of shifts.

“As a sidenote, you will hear that an audit carried out by Liverpool Women’s Hospital recorded that whilst Lucy Letby was working there, dislodgment of endotracheal tubes occurred in 40 per cent of shifts that she worked. One may wonder why.”

However, a paper by Newcastle University in 2016 found that dislodged breathing tubes were common in premature babies – happening an average of six times for infants born at 25 weeks and under, and two times for pre-term babies above 25 weeks gestation.

“Potential causes are challenges met when fixating the endotracheal tube to a very small person, mostly the size of the fixation tool and its interaction with fragile skin,” said the report published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Since Letby’s conviction, many doctors, nurses, scientists and statisticians have questioned the way evidence was presented in the trial.

At the inquiry on Thursday, Mr Baker said that “everybody who recklessly promotes conspiracy theories, or who parrots without questioning the same tired misconceptions about this case, should be ashamed of themselves”.

Cheshire Police are currently investigating whether babies were harmed at Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, but no further charges have been brought.

A mother died from sepsis after doctors failed to examine her despite signs of infection following a hysterectomy, an inquest has heard.

Jessica Bonner, 51, developed sepsis after delays by medics in diagnosing a perforated bowel.

Bonner was admitted to Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, for treatment for pelvic pain and fibroids in October last year.

She underwent a hysterectomy and oophorectomy – the removal of her womb and ovaries – but recorded a high temperature and elevated heart rate a day later, both indicators of infection.

Her situation was not escalated to the ward consultant or surgeon, the inquest heard.

At 10am, Bonner began complaining of severe abdominal pain but she was not physically examined until after 5.30pm, by which time her abdomen was swollen, indicating a perforation.

An urgent CT scan was ordered but owing to the deterioration of her condition, Bonner was not fit enough to be transferred.

She was later transferred to the intensive care unit. She suffered two cardiac arrests and multi-organ failure and later died.

A post-mortem examination found that she died from sepsis as a result of a bowel perforation sustained during her hysterectomy.

An inquest at Birmingham and Solihull coroner’s court ruled that Bonner would “likely have survived” if her symptoms had been acted upon sooner.

Her family instructed medical negligence lawyers to investigate her standard of care under University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

The trust has now admitted that there were “missed opportunities” to identify the source of the sepsis.

A Patient Safety Incident Investigation Report also stated that a piece of surgical equipment used during the hysterectomy was “not approved” as part of the trust’s policies and that the communication between staff “was limited”.

Family: We were so powerless to help

Jason Large, Bonner’s partner, and her sons, Corey Wilson and Shakil Stevens, from Edgbaston, Birmingham, are now calling for “lessons to be learnt” from the tragedy.

Mr Wilson said: “It’s almost impossible to find the words to describe the hurt we feel over mum’s death.

“When she went into hospital for surgery, we never thought she wouldn’t return home. Seeing her in those final days was terrible and we were so powerless to help.

He added: “The inquest and listening to the evidence as to why she died has been traumatic but it was something we were determined to do to at least honour her memory.

“I don’t think we’ll ever get over losing mum in the way we did. To hear the issues she faced in hospital has just added to that upset, particularly finding out that it’s likely she would have survived if her injury had been found sooner.”

Since her death, recommendations have been made in the NHS Trust’s Patient Safety Incident Investigation Report.

These include a review of the Good Hope Hospital theatre procedures to identify equipment that needs replacing, as well as an audit to ensure all abnormal observations proceed to a higher frequency, such as hourly observations.

Joe Matchett, the specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Bonner’s family, said: “This is a truly tragic case which has left Jessica’s family heartbroken.”

He added: “Sadly, the inquest heard worrying evidence not only regarding the care Jessica received but also regarding communication between medical staff and the use of unapproved surgical equipment.

“While nothing can make up for Jessica’s death, we’re pleased that we’ve at least been able to provide her family with the answers they deserve.

“Jessica’s death is a stark reminder of the dangers of sepsis and how early detection and treatment are key to recovery.

“It’s now vital that lessons are learnt from the issues identified by the hospital trust in its own internal investigation and the inquest to improve patient safety.”

A spokesman for the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said: “We extend our deepest sympathies and a heartfelt apology to the family of Jessica Bonner.

“Jessica should have received a much greater level of care from our trust.

“We are committed to learning, and we will continue to work to improve the care and safety of our services, so that no other family endures the pain that Jessica’s loved ones now face.”

Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up 1970s pop group The Jackson 5, has died at the age of 70.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson, is no longer with us,” his sons TJ, Taj and Taryll said in a statement posted on Instagram on Sunday.

“We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken. Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their well-being.”

Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson was the third of nine Jackson children. His brother Michael and sister Janet each achieved huge global success as solo stars. 

The Jackson 5 was made up of Tito and his brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. Tito Jackson played guitar and sang backing vocals.

The group, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, produced several No 1 hits in the 1970s, including ABC, I Want You Back and I’ll Be There.

Speaking to The Associated Press in December 2009, Tito Jackson said Michael Jackson’s death at the age of 50 in June that year had brought the family closer together.

“I would say definitely it brought us a step closer to each other. To recognise that the love we have for each other when one of us is not here, what a great loss,” he said, adding he would personally never “be at peace with it”.

“There’s still moments when I just can’t believe it. So I think that’s never going to go away,” he said.

In 2014, Jackson said he and his brothers still felt Michael’s absence in their shows, adding: “I don’t think we will ever get used to performing without him. He’s dearly missed.”

On Sep 11, Tito Jackson posted a message on his Facebook page from Munich, writing: “Before our show in Munich, my brothers Jackie, Marlon, and I visited the beautiful memorial dedicated to our beloved brother, Michael Jackson. 

“We’re deeply grateful for this special place that honors not only his memory but also our shared legacy. Thank you for keeping his spirit alive.”

Tito Jackson was the last of the nine siblings to release a solo project, with his debut, Tito Time, coming out in 2016. He released a song in 2017, One Way Street, and told AP in 2019 that he was working on a second album.

Jackson said he had held back from pursuing a solo career because he wanted to focus on raising his three sons, TJ, Taj and Taryll, who formed their own music group, 3T.

Kathy Coolican has spent her entire adult life in Coventry, after moving there with her husband in the early 1960s. It was where they bought their home together after “years and years and years” of saving up.

It was later where she raised her family. “It was a good city, a thriving city,” says Coolican, now in her 80s. The city centre was filled with “lots of lovely stores” and on the outskirts were friendly neighbourhoods.

But recently, Coolican and her husband have started to think they need to leave. “We’re considering moving up north to Chester, where my son lives,” Coolican says. “Now that is a beautiful city.”

Coventry has become “poor and dirty”, she says. Lots of her favourite stores have been closed. Those that are left “are all pound shops and card shops and charity shops”.

While she would be sad to leave, a move north may be inevitable. “It’s just my opinion, but Coventry isn’t the same city any more,” Coolican laments.

It is easy to see why she feels this way. In the past 10 years alone, the city has undergone dramatic changes. Where once the city centre was thriving, now large areas have been boarded up.

Crime, meanwhile, has been on the rise. Official police data shows that there were 96 cases of shoplifting in Coventry in July. Meanwhile other cities with similar-sized populations, such as Leicester and Reading, are dealing with fewer cases. In those two cities, 77 and 70 shoplifting incidents were reported respectively during July.

Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a whole, Coventry is ranked among the top 20 most dangerous cities.

It means the city is at the forefront of the new Labour Government’s battle to “breathe life” into Britain’s high streets, with a two-pronged plan to lure retailers back and to clamp down on city centre crime.

“The country is in crisis,” says Richard Walker, the managing director of Iceland. “These places are the backbone of our communities and are quite distinctly British.”

In Coventry, locals say the problems with decline are linked. The boarded-up shops have led to a rise in the number of rough sleepers in the area and higher levels of crime.

The number of empty shops in the city has gone from fewer than one in 10 a decade ago to almost four in 10 this year, according to JDM Retail Consulting. Coventry now takes the dubious crown of the city with the most boarded-up shops.

The council insists that its rates are artificially high as a result of a long-term redevelopment scheme in which 150 shops moved from the south side of the city to free up space for a new large housing scheme. The scheme, they say, is the single biggest regeneration project in Coventry since the city was rebuilt after the war.

Still, it is causing frustration for locals. One elderly shopper says she has seen people “defecating on empty entry ways”. “Safety is a big factor for me. As you get older, you feel more vulnerable.”

Richard Moon, director of property services and development at the council, admits the drive to overhaul the city centre has caused some upheaval, but he says it has been necessary.

“The reality is, I can’t sit here and tell retailers to come back. We’ve got to work with the best of the city centre that we’ve got.”

In Coventry, that means the high street will ultimately be getting smaller. Instead, more of the city will be given over to homes in a bid to tempt students from nearby universities to settle down.

Senior Labour MPs have in the past argued against allowing too many shops to be sold off for conversion to housing without proper checks. In 2021, then-shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said Conservative plans to allow landlords to convert shops into homes without planning permission would be “catastrophic” for local communities.

More recently, Labour has been clear of the importance in getting more retailers back on to the high street. Rachel Reeves, speaking in April, said the party would “create the conditions to get retailers thriving again”.

The Government is starting to hand councils new powers to bring empty shops back into use after 12 months of vacancy. Under the High Street Rental Auctions scheme, which is currently being piloted, landlords will essentially be required to rent out vacant commercial properties to willing tenants, such as local businesses.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Too many shops stand empty in our town centres, and we will take the action needed to reinvigorate our high streets and help them flourish.”

Yet the proposals have raised eyebrows in cities such as Coventry. There, officials have come to the conclusion that it is not simply a case of matching retailers with properties; council chiefs say the city centre needs a total rethink. Coventry has been working to bring in more coffee shops, pubs and bars.

The wider revamp of the centre – to swap out shops for homes – has been in the works for 14 years. It is expected to be another 15 years until the housing is fully complete, although the blocks of flats will come in phases.

All this raises questions over whether Labour will be able to move the dial in a meaningful way in many cities in its term in office.

“In and around the city centre, there are a lot of retail warehouse parks,” says Jonathan De Mello, the founder of JDM Retail Consulting. “You can’t change that now that they’re there.”

For retailers, it is easy to see why they might prefer retail parks. The spaces are regular and do not need much spending on refitting. Retail bosses argue that shoppers often prefer visiting the parks as they can avoid city centre parking fees.

Marks & Spencer has been among those making a major push into these out-of-town areas, although it argues it will never “leave city centres”. In Coventry, retailers including Next and Currys have stores in out-of-town parks but not in the city centre.

There are other geographical issues that put Coventry at a particular disadvantage. Since it was rebuilt after the Second World War, Coventry has had to compete with nearby towns and cities including Birmingham and Solihull, where councils have spent heavily to attract big stores such as John Lewis.

Andrew Goodacre, who heads up the British Independent Retailers Association, lives near to Coventry and says other cities hold bigger draws.

“It’s got that big brother of Birmingham nearby which people can easily get to on the train. They think, ‘If I’m going out, I’ll be able to go to Birmingham.’ It’s got the indoor market, it’s got a busy high street, there’s a German market at Christmas. I’d rather go there than Coventry.”

It appears a stretch for the Government to try to convince shoppers otherwise. Still, Goodacre says, “Coventry has a very rich history that it could work with and build on”.

One key point of difference could be more independent stores in the city centre. Here, policies such as changes to business rates could be useful. Goodacre says: “If you’re a new entrepreneur, you need to know the overheads are manageable before you can commit to space.”

Ultimately, Goodacre believes it is only local leaders who can revive places like Coventry rather than central government.

“What you don’t want is to end up with every high street looking the same, which is what happened in the 80s,” he says.

For locals like Coolican, anything would be better than the current situation. Today she rarely goes into town and, when she does, it is a frustrating experience.

“It’s the poor quality of shops that gets me. I’m disappointed, that’s the word.”

Chester is on the horizon. “We can’t quite afford it yet, but hopefully we will be able to soon,” Coolican says.

“Then, I expect we’ll be ready to leave.”

Dramatic flooding across Central Europe left at least half a dozen people dead as forecasters warned of more rain to come.

Poland, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Romania were particularly hard hit by Storm Boris in what could be some of the worst flooding in the region for 30 years.

Romania was forced to set up displacement camps and launch volunteer rescue operations, with Klaus Iohannis, the president of Romania, offering his condolences to the victims’ bereaved families.

“We must continue to strengthen our capacity to anticipate extreme weather phenomena” he wrote. Five thousand homes were flooded in the east of the country.

Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, confirmed there was one death by drowning in the district of Klodzko, calling on the population to follow evacuation orders and telling reporters that “the situation is dramatic in many places.”

Officials said 40 per cent of the major city of Wrocław was underwater, while the mayor of nearby Głuchołazy warned: “We are drowning.”

Rivers were continuing to break their banks on Sunday and town centres were being flooded, with homes swept away.

Some 25,000 residents have been evacuated in a valley in the Sudetes mountains near the border with the Czech Republic.

50 litres of rainfall per square metre are expected in parts of the country, more than in the historic 1997 flood which killed 100 people across central Europe.

A firefighter died in a rescue operation in a cellar in Austria as the region of Lower Austria declared a state of emergency.

“We are experiencing difficult, dramatic hours in Lower Austria,” said Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of the region.

“For many Lower Austrians, these will be the hardest hours of their lives”.

“We will do everything we can to stand up to the water to protect the land and its people.” A Black Hawk helicopter was deployed to rescue two trapped motorists near Markersdorf.

The region was declared a “catasrophe zone”, while motorways and railways were cut off completely

Karl Nehammer, Austria’s Chancellor, said: “The storm situation has worsened in the last few hours…the storm situation in the federal states is very serious.”

Thousands of people have been evacuated from the eastern Czech region of Moravia, with more than a quarter of a million people without power.

Polish train operator PKP has suspended train services that enter the Czech Republic and more than 180 patients were evacuated from the Brothers of Mercy Hospital in the city of Brno.

Meteorologists have warned the situation still might get worse as waters in most rivers are rising, the flood wave made its way through the country and more heavy rains could return overnight.

Thousands of others were also evacuated in the towns of Krnov and Cesky Tesin. The Oder River that flows to Poland was expected to reach extreme levels in the city of Ostrava and later in Bohumin.

Towns and villages in the Jeseniky mountains, including the local centre of Jesenik, were inundated and isolated by raging waters that turned roads into rivers. The military sent a helicopter to help with evacuations.

Four people who were swept away by waters were missing, police said.

The head of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has urged Labour to end a “shocking” ban on government talks with the lobby group.

Zara Mohammed, elected three years ago as the MCB’s first female secretary general, criticised the lack of contact with the Government after Muslims and mosques were targeted in the summer riots.

Ms Mohammed said Labour’s shadow Cabinet had worked closely with the MCB when the party was in opposition, including a meeting in 2021 at which Ms Mohammed and Sir Keir Starmer discussed the “importance of engaging with Muslim communities”.

But she claimed that after becoming Prime Minister Sir Keir had ignored attempts to discuss the dangers facing Muslims in the riots.

The 33-year-old, whose tenure as the MCB leader will end in January, said she hoped the Government would review its “baffling” approach to the organisation, which has more than 500 affiliated members.

‘We want to vocalise on policy issues’

The Conservative government had a policy of non-engagement with the MCB, which has been continued by Labour. On Aug 1, Alex Norris, the communities minister, said there had been “no change” to the policy.

While the Government has not given its own reasoning behind the approach, Rishi Sunak’s administration had said “previous MCB leaders have taken positions that contradict our fundamental values, and these have not been explicitly retracted”.

The statement was a reference to a controversy in 2009 when the MCB’s then deputy secretary general, Daud Abdullah, signed a document – known as the Istanbul Declaration – advocating attacks on the Royal Navy if it tried to stop arms for Hamas being smuggled into Gaza.

The then Labour government refused to engage with the group unless Mr Abdullah stepped down. After he resigned, Gordon Brown’s government re-engaged with the MCB in its last year.

Ms Mohammed told The Guardian: “I’m hopeful that the Government will review the former position and will look at offering a position of clarity as to why [it is not engaging], and having a conversation with us.

“Just as other faith communities have representative bodies, we have one – and of course we want to vocalise on the policy issues, on national representation.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The Government engages regularly with faith communities. During the recent disorder, the minister for faith spoke to representatives of Muslim communities through numerous round-tables and visits to places of worship.”

The suspect in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump laughed in court before he was charged with firearm offences. 

Less than 24 hours after he is thought to have made an attempt on the former US president’s life, Ryan Routh was seen smiling and laughing with his lawyer. 

Moments later, he was charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person – a convicted felon – and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The first charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, while the latter offence carries up to five years in prison. Both can result in a $250,000 fine. 

Routh, dressed in navy blue overalls, appeared calm and collected throughout the hearing on Monday, which took less than 10 minutes.

He told the courtroom five at the Paul G Rogers federal courthouse that he earns $3,000 a month, has “zero” real estate, owns two trucks in Hawaii and has one dependent, his 25-year-old son.

Magistrate judge Ryon M McCabe set a pretrial detention hearing for next Monday, and an arraignment hearing for Monday 30 September.

Routh could face further, more serious charges as the investigation continues and Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.

Routh was initially brought into the courtroom through a dark wooden door to the right of the judge’s bench just before 10am with three other defendants.

Minutes later Routh, who was shackled, was removed.

He re-entered the court at 10:35am and spoke intently with his lawyer, federal public defender Kristy Militello, as they reviewed court documents.

His was the sixth and final case heard before Mr McCabe on Monday morning.  

Routh was sworn in just after 10:46am and the judge unsealed the criminal complaint.

Prosecutor Adam Craig McMichael argued Routh should be detained ahead of his trial as he is a flight risk and poses a danger to the community.  

Asked about his financial standing, Routh said his youngest son, 25, is a dependent. He said he has a job but requires “occasional support”.

When asked if he had other possessions with value, such as jewellery, he replied: “no, nothing”.

Court was adjourned at 10:55am and Routh was escorted out.

Officials alleged yesterday Routh had hidden in bushes surrounding Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, pointed a with a scope at Trump, who was about 400 yards away.

It was the second apparent assassination attempt targeting Trump in three months.

On July 13, a bullet grazed Trump’s ear when gunman Thomas Crooks fired a volley of bullets while he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Four children who died in a house fire while their mother went to Sainsbury’s had their case closed by social services just three months earlier, a court heard.

Deveca Rose, 29, is accused of being being responsible for the deaths of twins Kyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four, and twins Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three, who died in a fire in Sutton, south London, on December 16 2021.

She denies four counts of manslaughter and one of child cruelty.

The fire started from either a discarded cigarette or an upturned tea light that spread to rubbish on the floor and then engulfed the living room sofa, the Old Bailey heard.

The fire brigade found the four boys under a bed in the upstairs front room, the court heard. They also reported “rubbish all over the floor of the house and human excrement”. There was also a mattress and a door lying on the stairs.

Ms Rose claims she had left the children with a woman called Jade, but police have not found evidence to support that “Jade” exists, the court heard.

The incident came just months after social services had closed the family’s case after Ms Rose stopped engaging with meetings, and after the children had stopped going to school.

Prosecutor Kate Lumsdon, KC, said the children were left unattended at around 6:30pm that day when Ms Rose went to the supermarket.

Neighbours realised the house was on fire while she was out and could hear the children inside.

“A neighbour kicked in the door but the fire had taken hold to the extent that it was impossible to enter,” Ms Lumsdon said.

“Lifesaving attempts were made on the pavement outside, but there was nothing that could be done.”

“As the firefighters were tackling the blaze, Deveca Rose arrived back from Sainsbury’s,” Ms Lumsdon said.

“She said that she had left the children in the care of a woman called Jade. The fire brigade went back into the property to search for Jade but there was no sign of another person within the property.

“Extensive investigation by the police, combined with inconsistent information provided by Ms Rose about Jade, leads the crown to the firm conclusion that Jade did not exist, or, if she existed at all, she did not play the part ascribed to her by Ms Rose that night.”

Logan and Leyton were taken to St Helier Hospital while Kyson and Bryson were taken to St Georges Hospital along with their mother. Ms Rose was arrested at the hospital for child neglect.

Ms Rose was a single mother to the four children after splitting from their father, Dalton Hoath.

Ms Lumsdon said: “Evidence from the paternal family and the children’s schools indicates that Ms Rose was considered to be a good mother and kept her children clean and tidy.

“However, there were concerns.”

The children’s paternal great-grandmother Sally Johnson said Ms Rose had stopped letting her go any further into the house than the front room and would tell her to go to a local shop to use the toilet.

The children’s paternal grandmother said Ms Rose was ‘cagey’ about letting her into the house so she had not visited for a year before the fire, the court heard.

GP records from a visit in December 2020 noted a ‘chaotic home environment’ and broken window but Ms Rose did not accept the help offered, the court heard.

Social services were engaged with the children between July and September 2021.

In an email, the social worker said the front garden was full of rubbish which she had to climb over to get inside.

She said: “There was a very strong unpleasant smell, I also believe Deveca had body odour and it worries me that she hasn’t taken care of herself since Monday’s visit.

“I asked to see the boys and Deveca refused saying they were asleep. I went to leave but asked again as I was going, Deveca then became quite manic and was defensive, walking out the door with me and pulling it closed behind her.

“I am concerned about her mental health and the fact that she refused to let me see the boys.”

Ms Rose did not engage in further meetings so social services decided to close the case, jurors were told.

Ms Rose’s next-door neighbour said she would hear her shouting at the children.

She said there was a problem with rats because of the rubbish outside and the children did not play in the garden.

The boys had not been to school for three months before the fire but teachers did not think this was unusual because of Covid, the court heard.

Ms Rose went to the school on the day of the fire to collect some Christmas presents for the children.

She went to Sainsbury’s with the children at 2pm.

At 6pm a neighbour said she heard Rose ‘screaming, shouting and swearing’ at the children.

She was shouting “why would you f–ing do that?” as the children cried, the court heard.

Ms Lumsdon said: “CCTV shows that Ms Rose went to Sainsbury’s again, this time alone, at around 7pm. The items purchased are non-essential items.”

Ms Rose, wearing sunglasses, headphones and a large coat, sobbed and made loud moaning noises in the dock as the jury was sworn in on Monday morning.

Her junior barrister sat in the dock beside her as the judge asked her to raise her head so the jury could check if they recognised her.

Asked if she recognised any members of the jury, she said she could not see anything.

Jurors were told she had issues with her eyes and would observe proceedings for the rest of the day via a link from a room with lower lighting.

Ms Rose denies four counts of manslaughter and one of cruelty to a person under 16.

The trial continues.

When university student Alex Williams began contacting celebrities on social media, it was more in hope than expectation.

The 19-year-old from South Wales sent dozens of messages to famous people but unsurprisingly heard nothing back.

That was until early 2018 when, after contacting Huw Edwards, the BBC newsreader and one of the best-known faces on British television, his inbox pinged with a reply and the pair began chatting.

It was the beginning of an exchange that would eventually result in Edwards’s spectacular self-destruction and leave him with a suspended prison sentence for committing a string of child sex offences.

Despite being one of the BBC’s most trusted voices, Edwards, the proudly Welsh news anchor, had been struggling with hidden demons that had wrecked his mental health and left him extremely vulnerable, Westminster magistrates’ court heard.

Born in Bridgend in 1961, his father Hywel Teifi Edwards was a prominent Welsh language academic and Plaid Cymru activist.

However, according to one psychiatrist who interviewed Edwards following his arrest, he endured a “psychologically challenging” upbringing.

The 63-year-old claimed that despite being “lauded outside the family”, his father had behaved “monstrously” at home and that – combined with the “puritanical” but “hypocritical” culture of the South Wales community – had left him suffering from “low self-esteem”.

He claimed this was further exacerbated when he failed to get into Oxford and was forced to settle for Cardiff University instead.

Edwards claimed this had left him feeling like something of an “outsider” at the BBC, despite the fact he rose to become the corporation’s best-paid journalist and the man trusted to announce the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

He suggested it was this low self-esteem that had led him to take to social media and engage with people with whom he would otherwise not have had contact.

The newsreader’s presence on Instagram and WhatsApp also allowed Edwards to renew his sexual interest in men, which he claimed he had been “managing” since 1994 – the year after he married Vicky Flind, a television producer.

It was against this backdrop that Edwards and Williams began exchanging messages with one another in the spring of 2018.

Williams was just one of several young people Edwards was communicating with on social media at the time. 

Still, perhaps because of their shared Welsh backgrounds and other more sinister interests, their relationship quickly flourished.

They shared a video call in May 2018 and even met in person on one occasion.

With Edwards increasingly beginning to explore his dormant bisexuality, the pair began to share male pornographic images.

The majority of the photos and videos featured younger-looking adult males, which were lawful.

But by December 2020, with the country in lockdown, the exchanges between the pair began to take a dark and criminal turn.

Migrating to the encrypted WhatsApp platform, Williams, who had access to the dark web, began sharing indecent images of children.

Edwards in return would send the cash-strapped student money and gifts, amounting in total to around £1,500.

In August 2022, Williams was arrested by South Wales Police and his devices were seized.

A WhatsApp exchange between him and Edwards, recovered by officers, revealed a total of 377 sexual images, of which 41 were of children.

In one exchange Williams said he had “a file of vids and pics for you of someone special” and later sent three images of a child exposing themselves.

Williams later offered to send “12 videos and 42 pics” of someone he had shared images of previously.

Asked “Want me to send you the full file?”, Edwards replied: “Yes xxx…”.

The student then forwarded a series of images and videos featuring a child aged between 13 and 15 performing indecent acts.

Included was a video considered by prosecutors to constitute Category A, the most serious level of child abuse images.

Four minutes after receiving the clip, Edwards replied “F–––”, before the pair wished each one another a Happy Christmas.

Later that day Williams asked for a “Christmas gift”, telling Edwards he had further “hot” videos featuring the same child, but saying the files were too large to send on WhatsApp.

The following day Edwards asked him to send the material using the Dropbox app, which allows users to share large files.

After telling Williams he would watch the videos, Edwards then asked if he was in direct communication with the subject.

A subsequent batch of screenshots bearing the word “adolesc” were then sent to Edwards featuring a child aged 12 to 14 and featuring another Category A image.

Williams then requested another “Christmas gift” for “all the hot videos” and Edwards immediately responded: “What do you need?”

The student mentioned he would like a pair of Nike Air Force 1 trainers that cost around £100 and Edwards offered to send him twice that amount.

In early 2021, with the pandemic resulting in lockdowns, Edwards and Williams continued to exchange images, with one video entitled: “Boys Town Adolescents Presents 13yo Josh”.

On Feb 10 2021, a Category A video was sent to Edwards which prosecutors said featured sexual acts featuring two children aged between seven and nine and 11 and 13.

Edwards did not respond but a week later Williams sent two more Category B and four Category C images, following up with the message “Is the stuff I’m sending too young for you?”

Three days later, Edwards replied: “Don’t send underage”.

In the following months, there were sporadic messages between the pair and in August 2021, Williams messaged to say he had some “naughty pics and vids if you’d like?”

Edwards replied: “Go on” and when Williams responded “yng”, Edwards said: “Go on”.

Williams then sent a Category A video which featured a male child aged as young as seven being abused.

The pair discussed the fact the subject appeared very young-looking looking but Edwards insisted it could be “deceptive” and asked if Williams “had any more?”.

Williams replied that he did have but was not sure whether Edwards would like them as they were “illegal”, at which point the BBC newsreader replied: “Ah ok don’t”.

No further illegal images were shared between the pair, although they maintained contact throughout 2021 and early 2022.

In August 2022, Williams was arrested by South Wales Police and his devices were seized.

As a result, the exchanges with Edwards were recovered by officers in November 2023.

They passed the material to Scotland Yard and on Nov 8 2023, Edwards was arrested and interviewed under caution for the first time.

Williams appeared in court in Merthyr Tydfil in January this year and pleaded guilty to seven offences.

On March 15 he appeared at Cardiff Crown Court and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years.

Little over a month later, on April 22, Edwards announced he was resigning from the BBC. 

Three days after that he was interviewed under caution for a second time.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service on May 1 and Edwards was formally charged with three offences on June 26.

He pleaded guilty at Westminster magistrates’ court on July 31 and was sentenced at the same court on Monday.

Avoiding an immediate custodial sentence, Edwards received six months suspended for two years, and will also have to sign the sex offenders’ register for seven years.

He will have to complete a sex offender treatment programme and complete 25 sessions of a rehabilitation activity requirement.

A Liberal Democrat councillor has said she has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of Brexit.

Antonia Harrison, who sits on Havant council in Hampshire, said she was “European to the core” and that Britain’s departure from the European Union (EU) had a “profound impact” on her.

The Liberal Democrats stood on a platform of cancelling Brexit at the 2019 general election. The party now calls for closer ties with Europe, including a return to the single market as a first step. It eventually intends to campaign to rejoin the EU.

Speaking at a fringe event for the annual Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton, Ms Harrison said: “I actually have, in my medical history, a diagnosis of PTSD over Brexit.”

Asked about the claim after the panel, she told the Independent: “It is just on my record. At some point, they just put it on my record.

“It has had so many effects on my physical body and things that have come out since. I have lost my voice many times and they put that down to trauma.”

Ms Harrison added that she was able to speak eight languages and had lived in Belgium while the UK was a member of the EU.

“The day after the election, I told my daughter: ‘This is the worst day of your life,’” she said.

“She has a masters in international law. She should be in Brussels like I was at her age, and instead she is stuck here.”

On Monday, Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the Government would struggle to grow the economy after Sir Keir Starmer ruled out rejoining the single market.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I welcome the fact that Keir Starmer has gone to Europe and is trying to recover relationships… I just don’t think it’s going far enough.

“If you’re going to rebuild our economy and get growth, you have to go further than the Prime Minister is going.

“The fact he’s ruled out going back into the single market I think is a mistake for negotiations, for the vision, and more investment into our country.”

Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesman, said public support for rejoining the European Union was “getting more and more emphatic” over the weekend. 

At a separate Liberal Democrat fringe event on Monday, one of the party’s London Assembly members suggested employees should not be required to declare criminal convictions.

Ms Bokhari said there were “real issues” to address, adding: “I would like some courage really on this particular point. There’s a campaign called ‘Ban the Box’, which is about removing the box where you have to tick that they have any criminal convictions.

“That’s a bit out there, but it’s an interesting point to say is there a possibility for people to start doing that and then having simple conversations at the interview stage and going through that process. It’s a question to ask.”

Just two months after declaring the Rwanda Plan “dead and buried”, Sir Keir Starmer now says he is “interested” in Italy’s migrant deal with Albania.

The Prime Minister is in Rome for talks with his counterpart Giorgia Meloni and wants to discuss how to stop the boats after a drop in migrant numbers in Mediterranean countries.

Britain’s Rwanda flights never got off the ground – so how did Italy, which has long borne the brunt of illegal migrant arrivals in Europe, manage to strike a similar asylum agreement with Tirana? And what else can Sir Keir learn from the Italian crackdown?

The hard-Right Ms Meloni won admiration at home after striking a deal with non-EU Albania for the offshore processing of asylum seekers picked up at sea.

Under the agreement made last November, Italy is building two reception and detention camps in Albania, which will host a maximum of 3,000 migrants and be run by Rome.

It will cost Italian taxpayers about £560,000, far less than the £700 million that was earmarked for Rwanda.

It was the first time an EU country had struck such an agreement with a so-called third country and other member states have suggested copying the Italian plan.

In contrast, the now-ditched Rwanda Plan faced criticism from EU leaders, who were unimpressed at Tory threats to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

There are significant differences between that doomed scheme and the “Rwanda-lite” pact with Tirana.

While Rwanda trampled over European human rights law, Albania stays carefully within its limits.

Under the plan first brought forward under Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, anyone entering the UK illegally could have been sent to Rwanda. Even if a migrant’s claim for refugee status was successful, they would have to stay in the African country.

Under the Albania agreement, only migrants coming from the 21 countries deemed safe by Italy can be sent for offshore processing. Children, pregnant women and vulnerable people will still be processed in Italy, Ms Meloni has promised.

Albania is legally closer to Europe than Rwanda

While it is expected the vast majority of claims will be rejected, any migrant making a successful claim from Albania will be allowed into Italy.

Albania is geographically and legally closer to Europe than Rwanda. It is a candidate country to join the EU, as well as a Nato member.

Unlike Rwanda, Albania is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, the non-EU agreement of which the UK is also a member. Those shared values and legal commitments spared Ms Meloni some of the legal difficulties the Rwanda plan faced in British courts.

In November, the UK Supreme Court said the plan broke the European Convention and that Rwanda had a poor human rights record. There was a risk that genuine refugees could be returned to their home countries from Rwanda and face torture, it said.

Later, a court in Belfast ruled the Rwanda plan could not apply in Northern Ireland because of human rights provisions in the Brexit agreements for the region.

Waiting to join the EU

Albania has been waiting to join the EU for the past 10 years but, unlike Northern Ireland, European law does not hold sway there yet.

“The preliminary assessment by our legal service is that this is not violating EU law, it’s outside EU law,” said Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, of the agreement last year.

Ms Meloni has not escaped criticism. NGOs blame her strict rules for stopping them saving migrants at sea. She has decreed that rescue ships can only pick up migrants from one boat at a time and must return to port rather than look for more boats at sea.

Despite being delayed, the Albania deal appears to be having a deterrent effect, with migrant arrivals across the Mediterranean from North Africa dropping by 64 per cent.

The drop in numbers is also thanks to EU-brokered pacts with countries such as Libya and Tunisia. Italy and the EU struck a deal in July last year in which they paid Tunisia €105 million (£88.5 million) to train its coastguard and improve border security.

Booster payment to Tunisia

Ms Meloni also paid Tunisia €100 million to boost business, renewable energy projects and education investment. Boat crossings from Tunisia to Italy have dropped by 80 per cent.

The agreements with Kais Saied, Tunisia’s autocratic president, have been criticised by human rights organisations.

Last month, human rights groups claimed migrants and asylum seekers had been expelled from the coastal city of Sfax, Tunisia’s main departure point for Italy, and taken by authorities to the governorate of Gafsa, nearer to the border with Algeria in the south of the country.

About 30 people were found “in catastrophic humanitarian condition”, according to FTDES, a Tunisian rights group.

However, the deal with Tunisia has the strong backing of the EU. Ms Meloni played a crucial role in driving forward those negotiations, working with the European Commission despite her long history of hostility towards the EU.

Sir Keir wants a migrant return deal with the EU and a security pact, including provisions against illegal migration, hence his decision to pick Ms Meloni’s brains for pointers.

France’s EU commissioner has accused Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron of forcing him out of Brussels in a backroom deal that culminated in his resignation on Monday.

Thierry Breton attacked the EU Commission president’s “questionable governance” in a letter he posted on social media on Monday.

He claimed Mrs Von der Leyen offered France a more influential role in her new executive in exchange for getting rid of him “for personal reasons”.

It comes amid horse-trading over jobs in the new EU executive, which has been dominated by Mrs Von der Leyen’s struggle to name a gender-balanced “college” of commissioners.

But by Monday lunchtime, Mr Macron appeared to have spurned the commission president’s demand for two candidates by only nominating a man for the position – his outgoing foreign minister, Stéphane Séjourné.

The Elysée Palace said Mr Séjourné, who is a close ally of Mr Macron, “meets all the required criteria” for the position, having previously led the centrist Renew Europe group in the European Parliament.

In his resignation letter, Mr Breton accused Mrs Von der Leyen of having “questionable governance” and offering France more influence in return for getting rid of him.

“A few days ago, in the very final stretch of negotiations on the composition of the future college, you asked France to withdraw my name – for personal reasons that in no instance you have discussed directly with me – and offered as a political trade off an allegedly more influential portfolio for France,” he wrote.

Mrs Von der Leyen pledged that there would be gender parity in her administration, but some EU capitals have been reluctant to name female candidates to serve for the next five years.

Romania and Slovenia have replaced male candidates with women under pressure from Mrs Von der Leyen, who is reported to have dangled plum jobs as rewards for naming female candidates.

Mr Breton said Mr Macron had already announced that he had picked him to be France’s commissioner for a second five-year term before saying he would propose a different candidate.

“In light of these latest developments – further testimony to questionable governance – I have to conclude that I can no longer exercise my duties in the college,” Mr Breton said. “I am therefore resigning from my position as European commissioner, effective immediately.”

The decision of the 69-year-old former chief executive of France Telecom to resign will force Mrs Von der Leyen into a quick reshuffle of responsibilities held by her current commissioners.

Mr Breton and Mrs Von der Leyen clashed in public and private during the five years he was France’s commissioner.

Breton had become ‘ungovernable’

Mr Breton is best known in Britain as the EU’s coronavirus tsar during the pandemic. During a row over jabs in 2021, he introduced export controls on vaccines that prevented a shipment of AstraZeneca jabs being delivered from the Netherlands to the UK.

He also threatened an EU vaccine blockade of Britain, if Boris Johnson did not abide by the terms of the then recently agreed Brexit deal.

EU sources said Mr Breton was ultimately ousted by Mrs Von der Leyen because he had become “ungovernable”.

The former French commissioner had repeatedly issued public statements, such as his open letter denouncing Elon Musk’s interview with Donald Trump on social media platform X, without permission from his boss.

“You can’t have someone like that, a rattlesnake in the basket, next to you,” a source said.

Mr Breton also had a reputation for over-regulating using European powers. A recent report by Mario Draghi, the former Italian prime minister, recommended overhauls to the bloc’s competition rules, many of which were drawn up by the Frenchman to counter rivalries with the US and China.

It is widely considered that Mr Macron nominated Mr Breton as France’s EU commissioner to remove a problematic voice from domestic politics.

Mr Séjourné, 39, was appointed foreign minister earlier this year despite at the time being a novice on the international diplomatic scene. He is one of the “Macron boys” who helped him win the presidency in 2017 and led the Renew group in the European Parliament and Macron’s Renaissance party in France.