Tesco could use Clubcard data to warn shoppers when they are buying too many unhealthy items, its chief executive has said.

The boss of Britain’s biggest supermarket said he expected to use artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor how customers were shopping to help “nudge” people into making healthier choices.

Tesco’s Ken Murphy said: “I can see it nudging you, saying: ‘look, I’ve noticed over time that in your shopping basket your sodium salt content is 250pc of your daily recommended allowance. I would recommend you substitute this, this and this for lower sodium products to improve your heart health’.”

He said this was “very simple stuff” which could “really improve people’s daily lives”. 

The suggestion is likely to delight health campaigners who have warned that unhealthy eating is driving a costly obesity crisis that is impacting the NHS. The Institute for Public Policy Research this week called for extra taxes on unhealthy foods such as biscuits and chocolates to discourage people from buying them. 

However, the suggestion that Tesco would seek to influence people’s personal choices has sparked concerns among privacy campaigners.

Jake Hurfurt, Big Brother Watch’s head of research and investigations, said: “It is astounding that Tesco’s CEO wants to use this data to tell us how to live our lives. 

He said: “Mr Murphy’s comments should alarm everyone and serve as evidence that loyalty card schemes are based on mass-scale surveillance of customers. Tesco has no right to make judgements about what’s in our baskets or nudge us on what we should and should not be buying.”

NatWest last year sparked backlash after it started telling customers to stop eating meat and to drive electric cars, having combed through their accounts to calculate their carbon footprint. The bank at the time argued this was an opt-in feature. 

Tesco stressed it was not currently looking at rolling out a nudge policy. However, the potential for the company to intervene – either through messages at the tills or emails after checkout – is significant.

Tesco is by far Britain’s largest supermarket, holding almost a third of the UK grocery market. More than 20m people are currently signed up for the supermarket’s Clubcard scheme, which launched in 1995 and gives customers access to better deals. 

The suggestion that Tesco could use Clubcard data to nudge customers into making healthier choices in the future follows pressure from regulators for supermarkets to do more to help with obesity in the UK.

In 2022, the government introduced rules forcing grocers to move junk food away from prominent parts of their stores such as entrances and near checkouts. 

Sir Keir Starmer is plotting a series of further interventions on public health in a bid to help save the NHS from collapse. These include a ban on energy drinks for children under 16, which is expected to be introduced to Parliament next month, and supervised tooth-brushing rolled out for pre-school children later this year.

Critics have been warning that Britain is moving towards becoming a “nanny state”.

Speaking at the FT Future of Retail Conference on Tuesday, Mr Murphy suggested AI could also be used to help Clubcard customers get better value when they shop. 

This could mean telling customers they should wait a week to stock up on products if Tesco had an offer coming up that could make their shop cheaper.

Mr Murphy said the aim was for customers to feel that “Clubcard is literally doing their job for them and making their lives easier”.

The comments come amid growing scrutiny over the extent of data collected by supermarkets through their loyalty schemes and how they use it.

As well as using loyalty card data to tailor offers, supermarkets are increasingly selling the information to third parties. Estimates have suggested that Tesco and Sainsbury’s alone make £300m a year from selling this in-house data on their customers. 

So-called “insights” on shoppers are anonymised, but are used to build archetypal customers that can give other businesses an idea of what a typical person might be interested in.

Tesco has said it does not “sell or share any individual customer data and we take our responsibilities regarding the use of customer data extremely seriously”. 

A spokesman for Sainsbury’s has previously said it doesn’t sell customer data but lets companies “use our platform to display ads to relevant customers, based on anonymised customer audiences”.

Squirrels forced the cancellation of a train service after they got on board and “refused to leave”.

The two rodents reportedly started to attack rush-hour commuters on Monday’s 8.54am Great Western Railway (GWR) service from Reading to Gatwick after they attempted to hitch a ride.

Witnesses said “pandemonium” ensued as passengers ran off the train at Gomshall, Surrey, and the conductor attempted to force the squirrels to get off the carriage.

One of them was successfully seen onto the platform further on in the route, but the other could not be shifted and the service was cancelled.

The saga began when the train stopped at Gomshall, a Surrey village, at 9.47am when the pair of unwanted passengers jumped aboard the rear carriage. A spokesman for GWR joked they had done so “without tickets”.

The squirrels started to attack those on board, prompting them to flee onto the platform and get into other carriages, The Sun reported.

A source told the newspaper: “It was complete pandemonium. The squirrels got into the rear carriage and attacked people.

“All the passengers ran off the train and got another carriage. The conductor then had to lock the doors to stop the squirrels moving up the train.”

The train continued on its journey until it arrived at Redhill, its penultimate destination.

Staff members at the station spent half an hour attempting to lure the squirrels off the train using broomsticks, a telescopic grabber and peanuts. They succeeded in getting one of the rodents off the train but the other refused to leave.

Railway bosses decided to terminate the service altogether and send the train back to Reading, where it originated.

The decision meant some passengers heading to Gatwick were in danger of missing their flights.

A spokesman for GWR said: “We can confirm that the 08.54 Reading to Gatwick was terminated at Redhill after a couple of squirrels boarded the train at Gomshall without tickets, breaching railway byeclaws.

“We attempted to remove them at Redhill, but one refused to leave and was returned to Reading to bring an end to this nutty tail.”

A video has been released that shows cows being beaten and stabbed at a flagship farm used in Marks & Spencer adverts.

An undercover investigation at Charlie Langmead’s dairy farm found one instance of an employee appearing to stab a cow with a sharp object.

Joey Carbstrong, a former gang member turned animal rights activist, published footage from secret cameras placed at the building, which has been an RSPCA Assured facility since 2022.

It shows workers smacking calves in the face, kicking cows, hitting the animals on the back with a metal floor scraper and calling them “f—ing c—s”.

An employee is also seen calling one of the animals “f—ing retarded” before lunging at it with a small metal object and stabbing it in the hind leg.

Another clip shows a worker shouting “f—ing bitch” before chasing a panicked cow.

Mr Carbstrong, who went vegan in 2013, claimed M&S had previously used the farm in its advertising.

A promotional interview with Mr Langmead is included in the M&S exposé video, in which the farmer says: “All farmers and all M&S dairy farmers have a real connection with their animals.

“Dairy farmers will be with their animals every single day.”

Responding to the footage on social media, M&S described the behaviour as falling “well below the standards rightly expected” of the supermarket, and confirmed it had suspended the farm from its supply chain.

Deborah Meaden, a businesswoman and world animal protection ambassador, said: “We don’t deserve this planet and [the animals] don’t deserve this cruelty and M&S need to be better or they don’t deserve our custom.”

A spokesman for M&S responded to Ms Meaden on X, formerly Twitter, saying: “You are absolutely right; this footage is completely unacceptable, and the treatment of the animals is a disgrace.

“As soon as we found out about this, we immediately removed this farm from our supply chain and have launched a full investigation with the RSPCA, which independently assures our farm standards.

“We care deeply about animal welfare and are doing everything possible to ensure behaviour like this is never repeated.”

However, Mr Carbstrong said: “Our latest investigation exposes the facade behind the RSPCA’s Assured label, which is meaningless in protecting animals.

“The dairy industry views sentient animals as machines to be exploited until exhaustion for profit, then slaughtered. It’s no wonder these sensitive, curious beings are also systematically abused when the workers think no one is watching.”

Mr Langmead was contacted for comment.

Mike Lynch’s widow may have survived the Bayesian superyacht sinking because her concerns about the safety of the vessel prompted her to leave her cabin, its former captain has suggested.

Angela Bacares survived the disaster off the coast of Sicily last month. Her tech entrepreneur husband and 18-year-old daughter were among seven people who died.

Stephen Edwards, who captained the Bayesian for five years until 2020, suggested she may have survived because her tendency to be concerned about safety on board led her to leave her cabin before the boat began its fatal rollover.

Mr Edwards told The Telegraph Ms Bacares “always wants to know what is happening and what the crew are doing”.

“She is always the first person to come up to the bridge if she hears us scuttling about up there. That could explain why she was saved and Mike wasn’t,” he said.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Ms Bacares reportedly told doctors that the boat had tilted, waking her and her husband.

According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, she said she had climbed up to see what was happening before chaos ensued, with shattered glass all over the yacht.

Mr Edwards, who has spoken to former colleagues on the Bayesian that night, said that the sinking happened in just a few minutes once the yacht began taking on water, with the extreme tilt of the boat and broken furnishing making it extremely difficult for occupants to climb to safety from the lower cabins.

“Those who stayed curled up in bed were in the worst situation,” he said, adding that some of the guests also got up to see what was happening.

“Then the storm hit hard, placing them in the melee of flying furniture, glass and other items,” he said. “Some had made it to the saloon at this point and they are the ones who survived, as their route outside would have been a little clearer.

“Inside the cabins, the only way to think of this is that people were lying in their beds one minute, and the next the room was on its side, totally dark, with the door now either in the floor or in the ceiling above.

“Cabinets crashed open as the catches were weak, resulting in glassware and crockery falling out. I’m told almost all the furniture broke loose inside the boat.”

Crew members who were on deck rescued passengers who were close at hand, but Mr Edwards said that heading down towards the flooded lower parts of the yacht “would have meant certain death”.

The former captain said the nine crewmembers who survived were suffering from PTSD. “They are not doing very well,” he added. “The dominant feeling is still one of shock from the event. They are dealing with what happened, how it happened and how quickly it happened.”

He said that once the weather had worsened, the usual drills were started, with the yacht’s three generators running and connected, its bow thruster made available and the main engines ready to start.

According to Mr Edwards’ account, the chief engineer was on his way to the bow in order to haul the anchor, which had come loose and was swinging around, when an extreme storm called a downburst drove the yacht onto its starboard side.

At an angle of more than 42 degrees, known as the flooding point, water pours into the vents that must be open so the engines and generators can operate.

Mr Edwards said he was “100 per cent certain” that the stern door was closed. “I also suspect all the hatches were closed, but if they weren’t it was because people were trying to escape through them,” he added.

A healthy 27-year-old died from a reaction to the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine after NHS mistakes meant he wrongly got the jab, a report has found.

Jack Last, from Stowmarket in Suffolk, died because of a combination of “system shortcomings, human error and tragic unfortunate timing” after he suffered a rare side effect to the vaccine, an independent report into his death has found.

The review found that Last was wrongly given the Covid vaccination and that there were failures in his care once he had been admitted to hospital after suffering an adverse reaction.

A coroner previously ruled that he had died from bleeding on the brain, which was a direct result of his body’s reaction to the jab.

Last, who worked as an engineer for Caterpillar machinery, was given the jab at the end of March 2021 because the system used by the NHS incorrectly indicated that he was living with his parents, one of whom was wrongly classed as being in a high-risk group.

An independent review has now concluded that the decision to classify the parent’s clinical condition as a lung disease was “erroneous” and that therefore Last “should not have been invited for vaccination”. NHS records showed one of his parents as having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), leading to them being classified as high-risk.

However, the report said: “A review of the GP records by the clinical expert adviser identified that there were no further reviews or active treatment of COPD after 2016. They further concluded there was no firm evidence of COPD and the parent’s chronic cough was thought to be more asthm- related by the respiratory consultant.”

Last was thought to be living with his relatives because the system used by the local NHS group matched people by their landline phone numbers, despite Last having asked for this information to be removed from his record.

When he was invited for the vaccination, clinical commissioning groups “were struggling to use their remaining AZ vaccine stock” and there had been a national requirement to limit wastage, the review said.

Last received the vaccination on March 30 2021. The following day, NHS England published updated guidance, which said that “household contacts” of people with “severe immunosuppression” had to show “documentary evidence of their address”.

The report concluded that if these checks had been required when he was vaccinated, he would “have been seen to be ineligible”.

The engineer is likely to have been one of the last patients in the younger age range to have received the AstraZeneca jab because, just over a week later, official advice recommended that under-30s should be offered an alternative vaccine following concerns about blood clots.

‘Lack of urgency’ in getting a scan

“Errors” in Last’s care at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust were also identified as part of the report. It found that blood tests identified “abnormal levels” and that the “indicators had been identified as warning signs [red flags]” for a rare side-effect called vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT).

A discussion with a haematologist should have taken place at this point, the report said, according to an expert advising the investigation.

The expert said that “despite Jack’s grossly abnormal blood test results… the on-call consultant showed little clinical suspicion about the potential underlying cause of Jack’s condition”.

There was a “lack of urgency” in getting a scan, and a radiologist mistakenly said that there were “no acute abnormalities”, which was later “found to be inaccurate”. Haematologists had been asked towards the end of March to be “vigilant” for possible cases of VITT.

The report found that a consultant who treated Last “did not specifically address” some of his test results and that “treatment” did not begin until a specific scan had confirmed a blood clot in his brain.

“This was therefore a missed opportunity to start Jack on the only treatment which might have had the potential to modify progression of the disease”, the report found. “Although it is not clear if this delay would have changed the outcome for Jack, this was still a missed opportunity to have started the medication regime for VITT as early as possible”.

Last died on April 20 2021. The report, carried out by Facere Melius on behalf of the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, said that “Jack’s death was a consequence of a combination of system shortcomings, human error, and tragic unfortunate timing”.

Dr Andrew Kelso, the medical director of the Suffolk and North East Essex ICB, said: “Our thoughts remain with the family of Jack and have been throughout this very tragic case. On behalf of all system partners, we are truly sorry for what has happened and for the loss, heartbreak and distress they must be experiencing.

“Due to the seriousness of what happened, we immediately commissioned an independent review to fully understand what led to this tragedy and to identify learning. We also wanted to give the family all the answers to their questions.

“This independent review allowed the system to look at the incident from beginning to end, without the restrictions of organisational boundaries and without prejudice.”

In a statement, Last’s family said that he was “a happy, healthy, carefree 27-year-old”. They said: “For Jack, life was worth living, and he made the most of every moment.

“Before Jack had his Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 injection, he hadn’t had a single day sick from work. He was very rarely unwell. Then suddenly he was not fine. It all happened so quickly. It still struggles to hit home at times that we are never going to see him again”.

‘Patient safety our highest priority’

Astrazeneca has previously said that “patient safety is our highest priority, and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines”.

It added: “From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile. and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side-effects.”

Since the pandemic, the uptake of childhood vaccinations has fallen every year. Data published by the NHS on Tuesday revealed that uptake of every jab offered to children had fallen in 2023-24 compared to the year before.

The 6-in-1, which protects against deadly diseases such as polio and whooping cough, fell to a 15-year low of 91.2 per cent. Uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination also continued to fall, despite NHS campaigns to boost it amid a measles outbreak.

Just 83.9 per cent of five-year-olds had received both doses of the vaccine, the lowest since 2009-10.

Coverage of all the main vaccines fell year-on-year and remained below the target of 95 per cent uptake. The largest drop was for the Hib/MenC vaccine, which protects against haemophilus influenzae type B and meningitis C.

This stood at 89.4 per cent for children aged five in 2023-24, down from 90.4 per cent in 2022/23 and the lowest level since 2011/12. All other vaccines decreased by about 0.5 per cent.

The UK Health Security Agency is urging parents to check their children’s vaccinations are up to date amid fears of a back-to-school surge of diseases like measles and whooping cough because of falling vaccine rates. The NHS says vaccines prevent more than 5,000 deaths and 100,000 hospital admissions each year in England.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal against convictions for helping the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls has been rejected by a US court.

The British socialite, 62, has been serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 on five charges for having recruited and groomed four underage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.

The decision to reject her appeal was issued on Tuesday by the Manhattan-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Epstein was once Maxwell’s boyfriend. The financier died by suicide at age 66 in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell, five weeks after being arrested and charged with sex trafficking.

Maxwell’s appeal focused in significant part on a legal argument related to a 2007 non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and federal prosecutors in southern Florida which, she said, barred her from being prosecuted in Manhattan 13 years later.

‘Potential co-conspirators’

Her lawyer argued that references in Epstein’s agreement to the “United States” signaled the government’s intent to bar prosecutions nationwide of “potential co-conspirators” including four named in the agreement. Maxwell was not among them.

A prosecutor countered that the mention of the United States was a throwaway reference and Epstein’s agreement was intended to bind only prosecutors in southern Florida.

In addition, Maxwell argued in her appeal that prosecutors scapegoated her because Epstein was dead and the public demanded that someone else be held accountable.

She also said her trial was tainted because one juror did not disclose that he had been sexually abused as a child.

Epstein ultimately pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state prosecution charge and served 13 months in jail, an arrangement now widely considered too lenient.

His victims have since recouped hundreds of millions of dollars from his estate and from banks accused of handling transactions that financed his sexual misconduct.

Maxwell has been serving her sentence in a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida. She is eligible for release in July 2037.

Migrant children held on Spanish holiday islands have been kicked, headbutted and locked up in vastly overcrowded camps where nightclub bouncers are being drafted in to help with security, it has been claimed.

Children were allegedly assaulted by staff in facilities across the Canary Island currently housing 5,293 children, which is almost 2,000 above capacity. Some have also been held in warehouses previously used to breed pigeons.

The overcrowding is the result of a major surge in migrants travelling the dangerous route from West Africa to Spain along the Atlantic before arriving in Europe on small boats.

Many of the children arrive unaccompanied and must be cared for by island officials, while adults travel further into the continent or seek unofficial employment as the processes for deportation or asylum play out.

The crisis has caught politicians off guard and sparked a row with the mainland, which is refusing to take a share of the minors.

Politicians were left bickering over a solution as human rights groups said children at the centres were suffering because of inadequate security.

Vania Oliveros, a Tenerife lawyer specialising in immigration law, told The Telegraph: “The centres need security personnel and there aren’t trained workers on the islands so they use nightclub bouncers.” 

“We have seen cases in which children have been slapped, headbutted and even slammed against the wall.

“The people doing this job should have proper training but this is often not the case,” she added.

Ms Oliveros is one of a group of lawyers compiling a dossier of alleged infractions of migrant minors’ human rights, which they have begun to share with public prosecutors in the Canary Islands.

One former worker from a centre in Tenerife described an adolescent boy being restrained by two former nightclub bouncers for refusing to get in a bath.

His legs were kicked from underneath him to force him into the water, and he hit his head on the side of the bathtub. 

“I asked him if he wanted me to help him to report the crime, but he said it would be worse for him because he didn’t have ID documents. These children are afraid,” said the former teacher, who did not wish to be named.

“I have seen them grab a boy and put him in a chokehold until he fainted,” said another former worker from the same centre. 

Ms Oliveros also said children being temporarily housed in a hotel in Puerto de la Cruz were being locked alone in rooms used as isolation cells. 

“The usual amount of time they are shut in is three to four days,” the lawyer said. “They don’t understand why they are being punished; these children all say they want to study and to work.”

A further 300 children sleep on bunk beds in the windowless hangar of a building once used to breed homing pigeons, one of several facilities run for the Canary Islands government by an NGO called Quorum Social 77.

Quorum Social 77 and Juana de la Rosa, the director general of the Canary Islands’ child protection authority, declined to comment when contacted by The Telegraph.

Ms de la Rosa stressed in recent statements that the archipelago could not cope with the number of migrant children arriving and said other regions of Spain should help.

“We cannot keep on doing this alone,” she told newspaper El País.

Only 50 children have been flown to the mainland for housing in 2024, according to the Canarian government. 

Fernando Clavijo, the Canarian president who leads the authority, blamed the Spanish government for abandoning the islands in a year where the number of migrant arrivals by boat is set to break records. 

More than 25,000 people have made the crossing so far in 2024, including close to 3,500 minors.

Mr Clavijo has hinted that his administration will soon refuse to care for migrant minors. This week, he passed a new protocol under which children must be identified and registered in Spain’s national child registry before the regional government will accept them.

With existing bottlenecks in the processing of new arrivals likely to worsen, the Canarian government began installing a large tent for child migrants arriving on El Hierro, which has become the focus of a new route for the skippers of migrant boats. 

Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish president, blames the main opposition People’s Party for previously refusing to back legislation that would have triggered obligatory transfers of migrant minors between regions in such instances of localised saturation.

British-made shows are Netflix’s most-watched, the streaming giant’s boss has revealed.

The top 10 list was led by Fool Me Once and Baby Reindeer, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief executive, said.

Together with Bridgerton and Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, they were Netflix’s most-viewed shows in the world with a combined audience of 360 million households.

The figures, covering the first half of 2024, were unveiled by Mr Sarandos at the Royal Television Society conference in London.

Fool Me Once stars Michelle Keegan, the former Coronation Street actress, as a widow whose husband appeared to come back from the dead.

Based on the novel by Harlan Coben and featuring Joanna Lumley as a mother-in-law from hell, it topped the Netflix charts in 91 countries when it was first released and is now confirmed as its most-watched show of 2024.

Baby Reindeer may have proved controversial, because the woman who claims she was wrongly portrayed as a convicted stalker in the show sues Netflix for $170 million, but it has been a ratings hit and picked up four Emmys at the weekend. 

Its creator and star, Richard Gadd, has now signed a first-look deal with Netflix, Mr Sarandos announced.

Bridgerton has lost none of its appeal with audiences, taking the third spot in the Netflix list. The Gentlemen, a crime caper featuring Ray Winstone and Vinnie Jones, was fourth.

The official top 10 list will be released on Thursday, but Mr Sarandos paid tribute to shows such as Baby Reindeer, which have been “global sensations because they were all in their own way authentically British”.

He described the UK as “the birthplace of prestige television”.

Defending Baby Reindeer, Mr Sarandos said that the controversy over identification of Gadd’s alleged stalker is a local one. “It’s a fairly unique British debate. This debate is not happening anywhere else in the world about Baby Reindeer,” he said.

“We’re very proud of Richard and the story he told. It is his true story. It’s not a documentary and there are elements of his story that are dramatised – we’re watching it performed by actors on television, we think it’s abundantly clear that there is dramatisation involved.”

Mr Sarandos also addressed criticism that Netflix has too much content, making it difficult for subscribers to find shows that they want to watch.

He said: “People often ask me if we really need so many movies and TV shows on Netflix. It’s a debate that you’re having here in the UK. And I always answer the same way, with an emphatic yes.

“People have such different and eclectic tastes that you cannot afford to programme for just one sensibility. You have to love it all. Prestige dramas, indie films, true crime, romantic comedies, stand-up, documentaries, reality TV… it may surprise you that people who love The Crown also like Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings. I guess Dolly is royalty in her own right, but that’s how diverse people’s tastes are.”

Britain will not adopt the Italian-style tactic of intercepting migrants’ boats in the Channel and turning them back to France, an immigration minister has said.

Dame Angela Eagle, the minister for border security, said the UK could not turn back boats without the agreement of France, whose policy is not to intercept them unless migrants ask to be rescued.

It has led to controversial videos of French navy and border force vessels shadowing migrant boats to the mid-way point in the Channel, where they are rescued by the British Border Force and taken to Dover.

France argues that any interception without the permission of those on board breaches maritime law because to do so would put their safety at risk. They will only intervene if the migrants request help.

By contrast, Italy has struck a £90 million deal with Tunisia, under which its border force and coastguard vessels turn the boats around and return them to the Tunisian coast.

Asked why Britain’s £490 million agreement with France could not allow the same tactic, Dame Angela told LBC: “The French don’t accept that migrants should always be returned to them. 

“If incidents happen in French territorial waters, they go back to France. If they happen in British territorial waters, we bring them in to safety in the UK.”

She added that the Government was “looking” to see if the UK could prosecute some of the boats’ pilots or facilitators.

“There are increasing signs of violence on the beach, as in France, often police are attacked in France, and so we’re seeing what we can do to cooperate from a law enforcement point of view to ensure that anyone who behaves violently towards a French officer can be brought to justice,” she said.

Dame Angela’s comments follow a meeting in Rome between Sir Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, on Monday to discuss how Italy has reduced the number of people crossing the Mediterranean by more than 60 per cent.

It came after the deaths of eight people on Sunday when their boat, with 60 aboard, hit rocks and sank off the French coast. This brought the number of migrant deaths this year to at least 45, nearly four times the 12 who died last year.

Some 23,533 people have arrived in 448 boats across the Channel this year, with an average of 52 people per vessel. It is the same number that had crossed by this time last year, but 6,000 fewer than in the record crossings year of 2022.

Dame Angela said the UK would examine whether Italian plans to process asylum seekers in Albania works before deciding whether to pursue a similar policy.

She told Times Radio: “Firstly, we don’t know whether it will work yet because it hasn’t started. Much of this has been portrayed currently as if it’s already a success, but the fact is that it hasn’t started.

“We will see how it works. But what we have said is that any scheme that we deal with for offshore processing or anything else has to be workable, it has to be cost effective, and it also has to be in line with international law.”

Dame Angela said Sir Keir’s meeting with the Italian prime minister s”doesn’t mean we endorse absolutely everything every single Italian member of the government says or does”.

She added: “But we are meeting a G7 country and a fellow Nato member to see how we can cooperate across borders to deal with some of these vile people-smuggling gangs.

“That is the announcement I’m making about the £75 million extra to beef up the border security command and that means that we can send people into Europol, extra investigators, more intelligence, we can work with our partners across Europe and in other places to try and put a stop to this vile trade.”

For 15 years, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford were Britain’s favourite husband-and-wife team. The pair presented ITV’s flagship magazine show, This Morning, every Friday, as well as various other factual programmes and a teatime quiz. Not all married couples would enjoy working together, but Holmes and Langsford appeared supremely content, on-screen and off.

The news earlier this year, then, that the pair were divorcing came as a huge shock to viewers. Holmes, who now presents the breakfast show on GB News (he and Langsford left This Morning in 2021), thanked fans for their support, and the couple were inundated with good wishes on social media. 

When a “friend” was quoted as saying that the split had been instigated by Langsford who had been struggling to care for Holmes ever since he had undergone a double-hip replacement followed by spinal surgery, some of those well-wishers shifted their sympathy to Holmes.

But, now, the presenter is in danger of losing that good will after being pictured on a romantic holiday with a blonde, 22 years his junior. Looking frail, he was seen in Barcelona and Ibiza in an electric wheelchair with his rumoured girlfriend, Katie Alexander, 42, by his side. The holiday has reportedly left Langsford “gobsmacked”.

Now, the Loose Women presenter is said to have hired formidable divorce lawyer Catherine Costley to negotiate her financial settlement from Holmes, who is worth a reported £4 million. The aptly-named Costley was once an apprentice of Fiona Shackleton, Britain’s highest-profile divorce lawyer, who represented the King in his split from Princess Diana in 1996 and famously had water poured over her by Heather Mills during her divorce from Paul McCartney.

Although a spokesperson for Holmes and Langsford said that they were “determined to stay friends and keep things amicable” when they first announced they were separating, that may no longer be the case. Costley has been named one of the top divorce lawyers in the country, described as “progressive, and fierce on behalf of women”. 

In her spare time, Costley enjoys a triathlon or two and has even competed in Iron Man races. “Competitive spirit runs deep in my family and I was racing against my twin sister, father and husband,” she said. “Only one of the three got past me but I’ll get her on the next one…” Good luck to anyone who goes into battle against her in court.

So what’s changed for daytime TV’s former golden couple? Alexander, a relationship counsellor from Yorkshire, first struck up a friendship with Holmes on Twitter way back in 2015. In October last year, the news anchor attended a mental health charity fundraising event in Yorkshire, where Alexander works as a therapist, and took on the role of a patron.

They might have a 22-year-age gap, but Alexander’s relationship history suggests she prefers the older man. She dated Michael Devine when she was a 19-year-old shop assistant and he was a 59-year-old coach driver. They had a son Ben, together, who is now 22. 

After splitting from Devine, Katie worked at Barca café in Dewsbury and married bar owner George Alexander, nine years her senior. They had a daughter in 2010 and a son in 2011, but by 2022 their marriage was over. Her ex-husband George, 53, revealed that it was social media that brought Eamonn and Katie together.

“She was not swooning over him like he was George Clooney, but she liked being on social media, and one day said she’d had a reply from him,” he told the Daily Mail recently. “She’d commented on one of his posts and Eamonn got in touch. I must admit I laughed it off. I was surprised by it. Katie would go and visit him. It was a regular pattern.” 

There is no suggestion that Katie was meeting Holmes while she was still with George, but, in the year before he split with Ruth, Holmes is said to have showered Katie with gifts, including tickets to a Beyoncé concert and a family trip to a safari park. There is no evidence that they were anything other than friends at this point.  

But, in recent months, the couple have been away together, not just on their Mediterranean holiday, but also to Holmes’s hometown of Belfast in August. The pair were spotted dining for four consecutive days at Papa Browns in Carrickfergus. They have also reportedly been spending a lot of time together at Holmes’s new flat in Kingston-upon-Thames and want to move in together. The divorced mother-of-three is said to have told friends that she is with Eamonn for the “long haul”. 

Holmes was married when he first met Ruth. The pair were introduced by their mutual friend, television presenter Sally Meen, in 1997. They initially kept their relationship under wraps, out of respect for Eamonn’s first wife, Gabrielle Holmes, with whom he had three children. Ruth and Eamonn went public a few years later, and his divorce was finalised in 2005.

“I thought it spoke volumes about the sort of man he was, the sort of father he was and the integrity he had. It made me love him more, not less,” said Ruth at the time about the secrecy. They had a son, Jack, in 2002 and got married in a lavish ceremony at The Elvetham Hotel in Hampshire in 2010. It was covered by Hello! magazine and TV stars including Jeremy Kyle, Gloria Hunniford and Zoe Lucker were in attendance. 

Ruth once described her and Holmes as “like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor – although we bicker and argue, ultimately our love for each other and the bond we share is so strong”. But unlike Burton and Taylor it looks like they won’t be reuniting any time soon.

Back in June, Holmes said “I’m not OK. This is not a good time at all. It’s too early to say but I hope we can still be friends.” Perhaps he has found comfort in counsellor Katie. An endorsement on her therapy profile describes her as: “Friendly, warm, down to earth and empathic”.

In early September, a fan asked Langsford on Instagram why she was still wearing her wedding ring. She shot back “Because I’m still married” with laughing emojis. After these pictures of Holmes on holiday, and the reported recruitment of the tenacious Catherine Costley, that probably won’t be the case for long.

Domino’s Pizza has withdrawn two of its popular dipping sauces after contaminated batches sparked allergy concerns.

The chain has withdrawn its Garlic & Herb and Honey & Mustard dips over the weekend after traces of peanut were found in the sauces.

Customers with allergies were told not to consume the items and to dispose of them amid concerns they could pose a health risk. It said there would be a disruption to supply of dips in the coming days.

A Domino’s Pizza spokesman told The Telegraph: “At the weekend, we discovered that some batches of Domino’s Pizza Garlic & Herb and Honey & Mustard dips contained traces of peanut which could pose a risk for people with peanut allergies.

“We have withdrawn all these dips from sale, and ask any customers who have people in their household with peanut allergies not to consume and instead dispose of any of these dips that they have at home.

“Domino’s takes food safety very seriously and we are working urgently with our supplier to understand how this happened and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“There will be disruption to the supply of dips in the coming days while we wait for new supplies to arrive and appreciate customers’ understanding during this time.”

‘Itchy mouth’

One customer wrote on X that they had an “itchy mouth” after one of the dips last week. They wrote: “I was wondering why I had an itchy mouth and felt sick after dipping my pizza in one of these last week, and other people’s allergies aren’t as mild as mine.”

A letter sent to customers from the pizza chain said both its 100g “Big Dip” pots and the 25g smaller pots may have been impacted.

The letter said: “At Domino’s Pizza, the quality of our products and safety of our customers is the highest priority, particularly when it comes to allergens.

“We have become aware that some of our Garlic & Herb dip and Honey & Mustard dip may contain traces of peanut.

“This issue may impact both our 100g Big Dip pots and the smaller, 25g, pots we provide with our pizzas.

“If you do have a peanut allergy, please dispose of the dips and do not consume them. If you do not have a peanut allergy, no further action is required.”

Shamima Begum’s lawyer has been fined for making false claims during an appearance on an “anti-Semitic” TV programme.

Mohammed Tasnime Akunjee has been ordered by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to pay £6,500 for undermining trust in the legal profession after participating in a show that attacked Mishcon de Reya, a law firm with Jewish roots.

Mr Akunjee, who previously represented Begum in her battle for British citizenship, made inaccurate statements about Mishcon during his appearance on Palestine Declassified in September 2022, a programme broadcast on Iranian state-owned news network Press TV.

The solicitor, 46, claimed that he accepted the invitation to discuss how legal threats were suppressing Palestinian voices. However, Mr Akunjee later discovered that the episode had a different focus and was to be titled “Mishcon de Reya – Zionist Law Firm”.

The programme subsequently launched a “wide-ranging attack” on Mishcon de Reya, including claims that the firm employed Jewish individuals who promoted a pro-Israel agenda. It also accused Mishcon de Reya of being a “law-lobbying firm deeply bonded to Israel at every level of the company”.

The tribunal concluded that the “content and the tone of the programme was anti-Semitic” by using well-known stereotypes and tropes, although stressed that Mr Akunjee himself did not say anything anti-Semitic.

However, Mr Akunjee, a consultant criminal defence solicitor at Waterfords Solicitors, was rebuked for participating in the TV show and making “misleading” statements about Mishcon de Reya.

This included false claims that Mishcon de Reya was guilty of a criminal offence after being fined a “record sum for money laundering”, while also wrongly alleging that the firm represented General Augusto Pinochet, Chile’s former military dictator.

The lawyer appeared on the pre-recorded show alongside Chris Williamson, a former MP who was suspended from Labour in 2019 after claiming the party had been “too apologetic” over anti-Semitism allegations.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) took action against Mr Akunjee after receiving complaints from James Libson, managing partner of Mishcon de Reya, who is Jewish.

The regulator argued that Mr Akunjee’s inaccurate statements were made because he was unprepared for the topic covered by the TV programme.

The tribunal concluded that while Mr Akunjee’s misconduct was “unplanned and spontaneous”, he could have refused to answer the questions during the programme.

It noted that Mr Akunjee has apologised to Mishcon de Reya and told Mr Libson that his comments were not driven by “any malice”. He said that the public nature of his “blunder” had caused him deep embarrassment.

The human rights solicitor has also written to Palestine Declassified outlining his inaccurate comments and requested that it withdraw the episode altogether. He has not appeared on the programme since.

Mr Akunjee must pay £30,000 to the SRA in legal costs.

Mishcon de Reya, best known for representing Princess Diana in her divorce, was founded by 1937 by Lord Victor Mishcon, the Brixton-born son of a rabbi who emigrated from Poland.

Mr Libson previously told The Telegraph that the firm was one of the few remaining City law firms with a “Jewish character” and strong ties to the community.

Mohammed Tasnime Akunjee was contacted for comment. Mishcon de Reya declined to comment.

A mother has been threatened with legal action for storing a toy unicorn on her shed roof.

Anna Smith was contacted by a neighbour complaining about her keeping the toy, as well as a children’s tricycle and a stepladder, on top of her garden shed.

The neighbour said they could see the items from their home and called them a “major eyesore and nuisance”. They also claimed to have contacted a lawyer, in a letter sent to Ms Smith.

Ms Smith said in a post on social media: “My neighbours across from us are re-letting their property and are saying that the items are a major eyesore nuisance and saying they will take legal action.

“Are my items actually legally an issue?”

She added: “They sent a similar letter the other day and I just responded saying that my children use the items and they said they were discarded and that I have tidied them up as much as possible.”

Ms Smith, who lives in London, said she covered the toys in winter but had still received two letters from the neighbour saying they did not want any items touching their fence.

She posted a picture of one letter that said: “As neighbours and a Christian community, we are anxious to resolve this matter amicably, but given our property is currently taking viewings on a re-let and this is a real concern of our agent, it has to be sorted out quickly.

“You’ll understand, therefore, that we have been obliged to run the matter past our lawyer informally at this stage… He confirms that this is an actionable private law nuisance and that he will be able to act swiftly if all items on the shed roof are not now removed by Thursday of this week at 4pm.

“We are also advised that such a failure, further to this final request from us directly, would make this ongoing nuisance clearly deliberate.”

People on social media said the neighbours’ complaint was “utterly ridiculous” and they needed to “get a grip”.

One poster said: “Does the unicorn face them? If it doesn’t I’d turn it around and paint its eyes with glow in the dark paint.”

Another said: “I’d ask them to kindly stop looking in my garden as this was concerning me, due to my children playing there.”

Hillary Clinton has accused Elon Musk of suggesting he would rape Taylor Swift after he told the pop star “I will give you a child”.

Mr Musk, the tech billionaire, was widely criticised for writing “fine Taylor… you win… I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life” on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. 

The post was in response to Ms Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, which she signed off as a “childless cat lady”.

The Shake It Off singer was referencing a comment made by JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, that “childless cat ladies” were running the country.

Mrs Clinton, the former secretary of state and New York senator, described Mr Musk’s remarks as “another way of saying rape, I think”.

She told the On with Kara Swisher podcast that the Tesla chief executive’s offer was “rotten and creepy”. 

 “I can’t understand why he says what he says. It just is beyond my imagination,” she added. 

Mrs Clinton characterised Mr Musk, who endorsed her during her 2016 presidential campaign, as one of a number of misogynist tech bosses who “gravitate toward toughness and brutality and machoism”.

“And here’s Taylor Swift, a self-made billionaire who brings joy to people and who imparts life lessons, particularly to girls and women,” she continued. “They can’t stand it.”

She said the singer, who has been the subject of a conspiracy theory that she is a “Pentagon asset” to prevent Trump’s re-election, could have a significant impact on the presidential race.

“Her fanbase is so intense and incredibly influenced by her,” Mrs Clinton said.

“She’s a singer who charts the course of her life – which they relate to as their own lives – but she’s also someone who stood up to a guy who groped her and stood up to get her music back from someone she thought had illegitimately taken it from her.

“She has demonstrated a resilience in taking control over her own life that sends a strong message. I’m a huge admirer. I think [her endorsement] has real impact.”

In a message to her 283 million Instagram followers last week, Ms Swift called Ms Harris a “warrior” before urging her fans to research both candidates when deciding who to vote for.

“I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” she said.

“I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

Trump, who previously shared fake AI images suggesting he had been endorsed by Ms Swift, appeared disgruntled by the singer’s backing of his Democrat opponent.

“I hate Taylor Swift,” he wrote in block capitals on his Truth Social platform.

Three cups of coffee a day halves the risk of developing numerous heart conditions, a study has found.

Data reveals that people who drink three cups a day are 48 per cent less likely to develope multiple cardiometabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke.

The study also found that drinking two cups of tea daily reduced the likelihood of these conditions by a third, compared to drinking none.

Scientists from Soochow University in China analysed UK Biobank data of middle-aged people in Britain who were followed for more than a decade.

Tea and coffee consumption were linked to a reduced risk of heart-related conditions, but the study also found that the benefits were seen when looking solely at caffeine consumption.

People drinking 200-300mg of caffeine a day were 41 per cent less likely than abstainers to later be diagnosed with cardiometabolic diseases.

Safe limit

Most experts say it is safe to consume up to 300mg of caffeine a day. The NHS suggests that pregnant women should consume no more than 200mg a day, equivalent to two cups of coffee.

The study found an association between caffeine, tea and coffee but was unable to find evidence of causation or discover what about the drinks may be beneficial.

“Consuming three cups of coffee, or 200-300mg caffeine, per day might help to reduce the risk of developing cardiometabolic multimorbidity in individuals without any cardiometabolic disease,” said Dr Chaofu Ke, the study’s lead author.

“The findings highlight that promoting moderate amounts of coffee or caffeine intake as a dietary habit to healthy people might have far-reaching benefits for the prevention of [multiple conditions].”

The scientists wrote in their paper, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, that the biological mechanisms underlying the link between the drinks and the seeming health benefits “remain unclear”.

Earlier studies

Previous studies have found that drinking coffee can lower the risk of stroke and also reduce the chance of an early death, but this study is the first to look at the possible lowering of risk of heart disease and other conditions.

A study in 2022 found that moderate coffee drinkers, having up to three cups a day, were 12 per cent less likely to die over an 11-year period.

They were also 17 and 21 per cent less likely to die of heart disease or stroke, respectively, according to researchers at Semmelweis University in Budapest and Queen Mary University in London.

The benefits were also found for those drinking decaffeinated coffee.

The scientists say the findings of this study suggest the health benefits may not necessarily be down to the caffeine, but could be caused by other chemicals in the drink.

Hot coffee cancer link

Although there is now a host of studies finding purported benefits in coffee consumption, a paper from the University of Cambridge in 2022 found that drinking hot coffee or tea almost tripled the risk of oesophageal cancer.

That study also used data from the UK Biobank, from more than half a million people in the UK, to consider their cancer risk.

The findings, published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, suggested that coffee consumption did not increase the risk of any cancers except for esophageal.

The most committed coffee and tea drinkers were found to be at 2.8 times more risk of oesophageal cancer than abstainers. 

But the study also asked participants how they liked their coffee: warm, hot or very hot.

Those who preferred a tepid brew were found to be at 2.7 times more risk than non-drinkers, while those answering “hot” had a 5.5-fold increase, and “very hot” a 4.1-fold.

Daniel Sanderson Scottish Correspondent

Scottish children were prescribed puberty blockers on the NHS despite doctors not knowing what risks the drugs posed to them, health chiefs have admitted.

Tracy Gillies, the medical director at NHS Lothian, said it was “really very difficult to articulate” why any clinician would now prescribe drugs to suppress puberty to treat gender issues, after a lack of reliable evidence for safety or effectiveness was highlighted by the Cass Review.

Between 90 and 100 children in Scotland, some as young as nine, received puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones between 2012 and last December, before their use for new patients was halted in April.

Rhoda MacLeod, head of adult services at the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow, home to the country’s only gender identity service for children, also admitted “we don’t know” about the benefits and risks of the drugs.

The senior clinical figures admitted to deficiencies in how services had operated despite activist groups, funded by the Scottish Government, demanding that the puberty blocker ban be lifted.

“Working in that uncertainty isn’t good, so we have to put some controls on this,” Ms MacLeod told a meeting of Holyrood’s health committee.

“We have reports of people saying this [puberty blockers] is beneficial, but systematically, we don’t know what the benefits are and what truly the risks are.”

The clinicians both backed the findings of the landmark review carried out by Hilary Cass, which was published in April and led to a halt on puberty blockers on both sides of the border.

Ms MacLeod blamed a rapid expansion in patients referred for gender issues over recent years for “how we find ourselves in the place we’re in”.

She acknowledged that this did not “excuse or alleviate” concerns about practices and backed a redesign of Scottish services in line with Dr Cass’s recommendations for England.

An ongoing review of child patients currently on Scottish waiting lists for gender services, which have grown to more than 1,000, revealed that 70 per cent were biological girls.

Half had a neurodevelopmental condition such as autism and around a third had a diagnosed mental health disorder, yet their issues had often been viewed through the “lens” of gender, Ms MacLeod said.

“This is a complex group of young people that need a really good, robust multidisciplinary team approach,” she told MSPs.

“As soon as a child mentions they’re gender questioning everyone goes ‘I can’t deal with this, they need to go to the gender service.’

“The problem is you then see everything through that lens rather than focusing on that young person or child.”

‘Psychological consequences’

Ms Gillies said demands to reduce long waiting lists had been “very hard to reconcile” with developing a service that examined in depth reasons a young person was distressed about their gender.

She said that suppressing puberty, using drugs which had not been licensed for use in treating gender issues, was “likely to have physiological consequences, some of which are known, some of which are postulated, but not yet evidenced.”

“The assessment process leading to such an intervention needs to have really quite significant rigour,” she added.

“The shift that there has been following Cass is it’s really difficult to articulate why any prescriber might want to undertake that step.

“There’s been quite poor or very short-term follow up of individuals, what we don’t know is the long-term consequences.”

‘life-changing impacts’

Ruth Maguire, the SNP MSP, told the witnesses that it was “shocking” to hear about the way children had been treated.

She criticised a “lack of curiosity” about why a high proportion of neurodiverse girls were being referred to gender clinics.

She said: “I want to be really clear that we never get to a situation again when we are giving children and young people drugs where we don’t know the benefits or risks of them, and they have life-changing impacts”.

• When is the US election?
• What are the key battleground states?
• What happens on election day?
• What time does polling end? 
• When do we get election results? 
• When does early voting start?

Donald Trump will face Kamala Harris in the 2024 race for the White House after an eventful start to the campaign.

Joe Biden pulled out of the race after intense pressure following his disastrous first debate with Trump.

When is the US election?

The US election will be held on Tuesday, Nov 5 2024.

The winner will serve four years in the White House starting from their inauguration on Jan 20 2025.

Voters will be electing not just a president, but Congressional candidates for seats in the House of Representatives and the US Senate.

What are the key battleground states?

The road to the White House effectively runs through a few critical battleground states, which play an outsized role on election day.

The states are typically divided, and flip between Democrat and Republican with a narrow margin of victory.

Pennsylvania, and its 19 electoral college votes, has proved to be a critical state in the last few presidential elections, and 2024 will be no different.

Trump will also have to flip Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada, which Mr Biden narrowly carried in 2020 to win the presidency.

Florida and Ohio, once considered marginal, have been safe Republican territory in recent elections. However, nothing is set in stone.

When does early voting start?

Alabama was the first state to send its mail votes on September 11. 

Here’s a timeline for early in-person and mail voting:

• September 11 — Alabama 
• September 19 — Wisconsin 
• September 20 — Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia 
• September 21 — North Carolina, and Military and overseas ballots 
• September 23 — Mississippi 
• September 26 — Michigan
• September 30 — Nebraska 
• October 7 — Georgia
• October 9 — Arizona 
• October 15 — Georgia
• October 16 — Nevada 
• October 17 — North Carolina
• October 19 — Nevada
• October 21 — Texas
• October 22 — Wisconsin 
• October 26 — Michigan 

What happens on election day?

The majority of voters go to the polls and ballots are counted. Many people may have already cast their vote ahead of time using the postal voting system or early voting.

What time does polling end? 

Votes are counted in each state after their respective polls close. Poll close times vary from state to state but generally begin from around 7pm local time.

The range of time zones across the US means that on the east coast, ballots will have been tabulated while voters in states like Alaska and Hawaii are still making their way to the polls.

When do we get the election results?

The winner of the election will likely not be projected for days. Even then, the results are not properly finalised for months. However, states and the whole election result are typically “called” long before final votes are counted.

This article is kept updated with the latest information for the 2024 election.

Glasgow will host a scaled-down version of the Commonwealth Games in 2026 after the Scottish Government backed the proposal.

Scotland’s largest city, which last hosted the games in 2014, has stepped in after the planned 2026 hosts backed out.

The state of Victoria, in Australia, withdrew in 2023, citing a rise in estimated costs, but pledging to make a “multi-million pound” investment if Scotland took over.

Some sports will have to be dropped from the international contest because of a lack of time and money, but no taxpayer funding will be required.

John Swinney, the First Minister, wrote on X, formerly Twitter that has was “very pleased” the games would go ahead, “after constructive discussions with partners”. 

He added: “It will be scaled-back compared to 2014 but will be a celebration of sporting achievement. Excited about Glasgow 2026.”

Neil Gray, the SNP health secretary, said that Glasgow would deliver a “world-class sporting event which will reimagine the Commonwealth Games for future generations”.

In an answer to a written question at the Scottish Parliament, Mr Gray said the Scottish government was supporting the proposal after “a thorough assessment”. 

He said: “That assessment has been conducted alongside Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS), the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Glasgow City Council, the UK Government and, most recently, Commonwealth Games Australia.

“The collaboration has been extremely positive and productive and has resulted in the finalisation of a strong event proposal that will help to support a new future for the Commonwealth Games and deliver economic and sporting opportunity for Scotland.”

Mr Gray said that the legal agreement on the games would stipulate that no public funding would be required and the SNP government would provide no financial underwriting.

The CGF will cover “the majority of costs using money secured in a compensation negotiation with the Victorian Government following their withdrawal as hosts in July 2023”, he said.

The CGF has provided a further £20 million of funding and contingency, including a £5 million investment for Glasgow City Council to use for capital upgrades and a cultural programme.

Mr Gray said the UK Government had agreed to provide a ring-fenced contingency funding of up to £2.3 million which can be used if funds run out and all efforts to reduce costs have been exhausted.

Four-yearly event

The games are held every four years in a Commonwealth country, with Birmingham the most recent host city in 2022. Edinburgh hosted the Games in 1970 and 1986.

Chris Jenkins, the CGF president, said the federation was “delighted” that Glasgow was to host the games again.

He said the Glasgow games would be a first step towards reframing the games “as a co-created, sustainable model that minimises costs, inspires athletes, and excites hosts and international federations”.

Ian Reid, chairman of CGS, said: “Glasgow is one of the few cities in the Commonwealth that can deliver on time, given its world-class facilities, experienced workforce and strong supply chain.

“This is a really exciting opportunity and we will be working hard over the coming days to bring the final pieces of the puzzle together.”

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader and a Glasgow MSP, said it was “fantastic news for Glasgow and Scotland”. He added: “Glasgow is a great city, but it is in need of economic investment and renewal. 

“By hosting the games, we can showcase Glasgow and Scotland on the international stage and bring investment and tourism here.”

Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a Glasgow Tory MSP, said: “This is fantastic news for Glasgow and crucially it is set to be delivered at no cost to hard-pressed taxpayers.”

Glasgow will host a scaled-down version of the Commonwealth Games in 2026 after the Scottish Government backed the proposal.

Scotland’s largest city, which last hosted the games in 2014, has stepped in after the planned 2026 hosts backed out.

The state of Victoria, in Australia, withdrew in 2023, citing a rise in estimated costs, but pledging to make a “multi-million pound” investment if Scotland took over.

Some sports will have to be dropped from the international contest because of a lack of time and money, but no taxpayer funding will be required.

John Swinney, the First Minister, wrote on X, formerly Twitter that has was “very pleased” the games would go ahead, “after constructive discussions with partners”. 

He added: “It will be scaled-back compared to 2014 but will be a celebration of sporting achievement. Excited about Glasgow 2026.”

Neil Gray, the SNP health secretary, said that Glasgow would deliver a “world-class sporting event which will reimagine the Commonwealth Games for future generations”.

In an answer to a written question at the Scottish Parliament, Mr Gray said the Scottish government was supporting the proposal after “a thorough assessment”. 

He said: “That assessment has been conducted alongside Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS), the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Glasgow City Council, the UK Government and, most recently, Commonwealth Games Australia.

“The collaboration has been extremely positive and productive and has resulted in the finalisation of a strong event proposal that will help to support a new future for the Commonwealth Games and deliver economic and sporting opportunity for Scotland.”

Mr Gray said that the legal agreement on the games would stipulate that no public funding would be required and the SNP government would provide no financial underwriting.

The CGF will cover “the majority of costs using money secured in a compensation negotiation with the Victorian Government following their withdrawal as hosts in July 2023”, he said.

The CGF has provided a further £20 million of funding and contingency, including a £5 million investment for Glasgow City Council to use for capital upgrades and a cultural programme.

Mr Gray said the UK Government had agreed to provide a ring-fenced contingency funding of up to £2.3 million which can be used if funds run out and all efforts to reduce costs have been exhausted.

Four-yearly event

The games are held every four years in a Commonwealth country, with Birmingham the most recent host city in 2022. Edinburgh hosted the Games in 1970 and 1986.

Chris Jenkins, the CGF president, said the federation was “delighted” that Glasgow was to host the games again.

He said the Glasgow games would be a first step towards reframing the games “as a co-created, sustainable model that minimises costs, inspires athletes, and excites hosts and international federations”.

Ian Reid, chairman of CGS, said: “Glasgow is one of the few cities in the Commonwealth that can deliver on time, given its world-class facilities, experienced workforce and strong supply chain.

“This is a really exciting opportunity and we will be working hard over the coming days to bring the final pieces of the puzzle together.”

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader and a Glasgow MSP, said it was “fantastic news for Glasgow and Scotland”. He added: “Glasgow is a great city, but it is in need of economic investment and renewal. 

“By hosting the games, we can showcase Glasgow and Scotland on the international stage and bring investment and tourism here.”

Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a Glasgow Tory MSP, said: “This is fantastic news for Glasgow and crucially it is set to be delivered at no cost to hard-pressed taxpayers.”