More than half of the 40 new hospital projects promised by the previous government could be postponed, the Health Secretary has announced.

Wes Streeting confirmed that the Government was considering changing the timetable for 25 of the new hospitals Boris Johnson pledged to build by 2030.

Mr Streeting said the cost of the New Hospital Programme (NHP) had “risen by billions” and was now “undeliverable and unaffordable”.

Almost all – 19 – of the hospitals are in constituencies represented by Labour MPs, raising the possibility of further political pain for Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.

In a letter to MPs on the eve of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Streeting wrote: “This Government is fully committed to an NHS estate that is fit for the future. However, from our first weeks in office it was clear that the New Hospital Programme was undeliverable, unaffordable, and estimated costs had risen by billions.

“Combined with the incredibly challenging fiscal inheritance that the Chancellor set out in her statement on July 29, it has become clear that the challenges facing the NHP, and the wider public finances, are much more severe than we were aware.”

Mr Streeting blamed the previous Tory government for leaving a “vacuum” in the public finances that allowed his predecessors to suggest £20 billion had been invested in the NHP that was not there.

It comes after warnings from the Health Secretary that the NHS is broken. Earlier this month, a landmark report by Lord Darzi, a surgeon and former health minister, said the health service was in a “critical condition”, with surging waiting lists, poor cancer performance and a struggle to access care.

The report also found that A&E waiting times have risen so much that a patient in need of care will now typically have 100 people ahead of them in the queue – up from just under 40 in 2009.

Lord Darzi said the NHS had “more resources than ever before”, with funding of £165 billion – a record outside the pandemic. But he also warned that there was an urgent need to boost productivity and shift more care out of hospitals.

Addressing the postponing of new hospital projects, Mr Streeting wrote: “This Government wants to see the NHP completed, but we are not prepared to offer people false hope about how soon they will benefit from the facilities they deserve.”

The terms of the reference for the review mean more than three in five of the hospitals could now face delays, with some likely to extend beyond the 2030 deadline set by Mr Johnson.

Promising a “thorough, costed and realistic timeline” for the new facilities, Mr Streeting said schemes would have to be taken forward “as financial conditions allow”. He also pledged to meet the MPs whose constituencies would be affected by the delays.

Hospitals in Labour constituencies that face delays include Royal Preston, in the seat represented by Maya Ellis, and Lancaster Royal Infirmary, in the seat represented by Cat Smith. 

The London constituencies of new MPs Calvin Bailey and Matt Turmaine could also be affected by potential delays at Whipps Cross University Hospital, in east London, and Watford General Hospital.

Danny Beales, the MP for Mr Johnson’s old constituency of Uxbridge and Ruislip, in north-west London, may have to explain any delays at the Hillingdon Hospital to the former prime minister’s constituents.

Mr Streeting stressed in his letter that the rebuilding of hospitals made up almost entirely of potentially dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) will not be delayed. It emerged last year that almost two million patients and 43,000 NHS staff were thought to be “at risk” from buildings with crumbling concrete.

“Central to the review is the understanding that the hospitals built primarily from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) need to be replaced as a priority, to protect patient and staff safety,” said Mr Streeting. “While the review is taking place, all schemes within the NHP will be supported to continue to make progress.”

Seven of the 40 new hospital sites were identified in Mr Streeting’s letter as having Raac concrete. Among them were Airedale General Hospital, Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Cambridgeshire, and Leighton Hospital, in Mid Cheshire, all of which will continue being rebuilt as planned.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We inherited a New Hospital Programme that is undeliverable and unfunded. We will be honest with patients and will put the programme on a sustainable footing.

“Patient safety is our biggest concern, so rebuilds of hospitals built primarily from RAAC, alongside those where the Full Business Case is already approved, will continue as planned. Our review will provide a thorough, costed and realistic timeline for delivery of the rest of the programme to ensure we can replace the crumbling hospital estate in England.

“This, alongside the fundamental reforms that will be introduced in our 10-year plan, will ensure we build an NHS that is fit for the future.”

The VAT raid on private schools could hit four areas in the UK harder than anywhere else, Labour has been warned.

The Government has been told that some cities and boroughs “do not have the capacity” for students in the state sector who could be displaced by cutting the VAT exemption on school fees.

Think tanks and industry figures have said that the policy will cause an influx of pupils into the state sector as a result of the changes to come into force in January.

But Labour has insisted the number of students leaving independent schools will be “minimal” and that “there are more than enough state school places for pupils who may move from a private school”.

However, evidence presented to Bridget Phillipson has suggested that the cities of Bristol and Salford have significant numbers of children in independent education and high occupancy in state secondary schools.

Sixth forms in the London boroughs of Richmond-upon-Thames and Camden are half full and completely full respectively, raising questions about the areas’ capacities to take on more students.

In a letter to Ms Phillipson, the shadow education secretary said it was “no help for there to be large numbers of unfilled places in state schools if these are not in the geographic areas where they’re needed”.

Damian Hinds wrote: “The widest impact of all will be that felt by children and their parents in the state sector.

“This tax could see many thousands of pupils move to the state sector, increasing class sizes and cost for the taxpayer, and ultimately making it less likely a parent will secure their preferred choice of school.

“Moreover, the haste with which this policy is being brought in – and part-way through a school year – risks great disruption not only to displaced pupils’ education, but to state schools, and to local authorities responsible for ensuring place-sufficiency.”

The Tories have demanded that the Government publish an assessment of the capacity in state schools by region and by year group before the Budget on Oct 30.

The shadow education secretary said that the information was needed as soon as possible “so that parents, schools and local authorities have the information they need”.

Mr Hinds pointed to Department of Education data, which showed that over half (59 per cent) of secondary schools are at or in excess of capacity in Bristol.

More than 900 children in the city are already in places that exceed their school’s capacity.

In Salford, 94 per cent of state secondary places were filled in the academic year 2022-23, Mr Hinds said, as he warned that the large number of children at independent faith schools in the area could cause capacity issues.

The Government also admitted earlier this month that 100 per cent of school sixth forms in Camden were at excess capacity, along with 50 per cent in Richmond-upon-Thames.

Mr Hinds described the figures as “concerning”, and said that they showed “areas of England… simply do not have the capacity for students that may be displaced through your rush to tax education”.

A government source attacked Mr Hinds for having “spent more time in his first two months in opposition defending the interests of private schools than he ever did working for state school-educated children while in government”.

They added: “He and his party have learned nothing from their crushing election defeat.”

A spokesman for the Government said: “We will ensure all children have the best chance in life to succeed.

“As part of our mission to deliver opportunity, we’re ending tax breaks for private schools from the start of 2025, to better invest in the 93 per cent of pupils in state education.

“Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows the number of pupils who may move schools as a result of this change is likely to be minimal.”

Popping to your local shop could be costing you as much as £832 extra a year than going to the supermarket.

Which? collected price data on 42 items which were commonly purchased from Morrisons Daily, Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local and compared the cost of the same items at big supermarkets.

The data shows Morrisons customers will pay 21 per cent more – around £16 – on average a week,  if they buy at the supermarket’s convenience store, Morrisons Daily.

The basket of shopping – which includes cheese, blueberries, and ice cream –would cost a shopper £832 more over the course of a year than if they bought the same items from a supermarket.

A 400g tin of chickpeas at Morrisons costs more than double in its Daily stores, while a 165g pack of Philadelphia soft cheese was £1 more.

For Sainsbury’s, the difference between big- and small-shop prices is five per cent without a Nectar card, and 14 per cent with one.

Tesco Clubcard holders pay an additional 11 per cent more, compared to 10 per cent without one.

At both supermarkets, this adds more than £500 to the cost of shopping over 12 months.

Basics including milk and bread were also more expensive in convenience shops.

A medium white Hovis loaf cost 12 per cent more at Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco Express, and 14 per cent more at Morrisons Daily.

All three supermarkets charged eight per cent more for two pints of own-brand milk in their convenience shops.

Ele Clark, Which? retail editor, said: “Convenience stores may often be easier to travel to and handy for shoppers who need to stock up on a few essentials, but people who have to use them regularly will be spending significantly more over the course of a year than those with access to larger supermarkets.”

She added: “This latest research shows that more can still be done to increase the range of affordable product options for those consumers who rely on convenience stores.”

Clare Bailey, of Retail Champion, said that customers had to be prepared to pay for convenience. She said: “The customer wants the convenience and the customer is increasingly moving away from the big weekly shop.”

The retail expert said that the costs of running the smaller shops were higher for supermarkets, as rent is more expensive in “convenient” locations. She said that being in city centres also makes deliveries and waste collection more difficult.

Ms Bailey said: “I don’t see it as necessarily costing the consumer more. It’s a lifestyle choice.”

Convenience shopping has become more popular in recent years, and the sector grew by an estimated 5.3 per cent in 2023, according to Mintel, the market research company.

Tesco is estimated by analysts to account for nearly a third of the convenience store market in the UK. It opened 60 new Tesco Express stores last year, according to its 2024 annual report.

Both Waitrose and Asda have opened smaller versions of their shops. Britain’s third-largest grocer, Asda, unveiled 110 in February in an effort to catch up to Sainsbury’s.

In August, Waitrose said it was ramping up investment in stores, with plans to spend £1 billion new and existing sites over the next three years. As well as opening 100 new shops by 2029, it will refurbish and update almost half of its existing stores, equivalent to 150 shops.

A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “There may be price differences between convenience stores and supermarkets. This is because our Sainsbury’s Local stores, which tend to be located in city or town centre locations, often have higher operating costs relative to their size, such as rents and business rates.”

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We’re always working hard to keep prices down and competitive for our customers while maintaining high standards and availability in all our stores.

“Last year, we became the first supermarket to introduce our budget ‘Savers’ range into Morrisons Daily stores nationwide.”

Tesco was contacted for comment.

Rickshaw drivers are secretly shifting the decimal point on credit card machines to “swindle” tourists in London out of hundreds of pounds, newly released data show.

A dossier of complaints collected by Transport for London (TfL) reveals how some drivers have even charged £1,300 for trips of just a few hundred yards.

Others have billed customers twice to rip off those touring the capital’s landmarks in their garishly decorated pedicabs.

The complaints log was released following a Freedom of Information request and illustrates the techniques used by some unscrupulous riders who view tourists as easy targets.

One customer claimed she was swindled out of £1,300 for a 500-yard rickshaw ride.

She wrote to TfL: “I was swindled after taking transportation from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.

“We rode a few blocks going towards the Palace and something broke. We exited the rickshaw, and I paid the vendor and asked for a receipt. He said: ‘No.’

“I called my husband immediately to make sure he charged me correctly. My husband called me back and said the vendor charged me £1,278.96.”

Another woman wrote: “I took a rickshaw from Mayfair to High Street Kensington, and I was charged £336 instead of £33.60. I believe that it was intentional.”

She added that she believed she and her friend were targeted because they were women, adding: “He was enjoying it.”

A couple who flagged down a pedicab to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella at a West End theatre were told they would be charged £9.40.

The theatregoer wrote: “I tapped my card. It wasn’t until the interval when I checked my online banking app and saw that I had been charged £94.40.”

These examples suggest the vendor had added another zero to the bill, shifting the decimal point and hoping the customer would not check properly.

Two complaints stated that the driver insisted the fare was real because he had a “handheld meter”.

A mother contacted TfL with a picture of their crashed rickshaw saying: “Not only is it daylight robbery – he tried to charge me £130 for the journey – but it is also very unsafe.

“He tried to go through the cycle lane tunnel on Bermondsey Road and crashed at the end as there wasn’t enough space. He got very aggressive.”

There were also complaints from people who said that their payments had been pushed through twice – doubling the bill.

One couple was charged £296 for a 13-minute trip to the theatre.

They eventually agreed to pay £110 but reported the scam to their hotel, who encouraged them to make a formal complaint.

‘Pedicab industry should be banned’

Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, said “rip-off rickshaw riders” give London a bad name and the pedicab industry should be banned.

“TfL now have the powers they need to take action and stop this once and for all, and it’s high time they used them to keep visitors to our great city safe from these scam artists.”

The Conservative government brought in new rules allowing TfL to start regulating drivers who tout for passengers in the city’s tourist hotspots.

A TfL spokesman said it welcomed new “robust and effective” powers it will have under the Pedicabs (London) Act 2024.

“We are engaging with the pedicab industry and other interested parties to help us shape proposals ahead of a public consultation, including carrying out an impact assessment.

“Once these proposals are developed, we will launch a public consultation and we hope to do so in early 2025. Feedback from our consultation will help shape these important new regulations and will enable us to confirm a timetable for their introduction.”

In July, Henry Winkler, the actor who played the Fonz in the American comedy Happy Days, used social media to warn others about how he was ripped off by a rickshaw driver when visiting London with his family.

Winkler, 78, posted a “travel tip” saying: “Do not take one of those bicycle taxis without absolutely negotiating the price first.

“This person in London rode us around in circles then finally to our destination seven blocks away for $170!”

Traffic analysis by the Sunday Telegraph revealed that two rickshaw drivers carrying London visitors had shot red lights weaving between pedestrians on Westminster Bridge Road.

Ukrainian forces have blown up one of Russia’s largest ammunition storage bases in a drone attack, causing a huge explosion in the southern region of Krasnodar.

Video footage posted on social media showed the moment of the attack, on a depot near the city of Tikhoretsk, which created an enormous explosion that lit up the night sky.

Ukraine also struck a weapons depot in the western Tver region as part of its ongoing drone offensive against key Russian army infrastructure.

In a statement, the Ukrainian army said the strike in Tikhoretsk had targeted one of the “three largest ammunition storage bases” in Russia. Kyiv’s military also said it struck an arsenal in Oktyabrsky village, in the Tver region, resulting in “fire and detonation”.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region, announced the evacuation of 1,200 people after a drone attack caused a fire that “spread to explosive objects” near Tikhoretsk.

Mr Kondratyev called it a “terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime” and said an unnamed village near the fire had been evacuated, with most people staying with relatives but others placed in temporary accommodation in Tikhoretsk.

Video on social media later showed smoke rising into the air in the distance as sirens wailed around Tikhoretsk, a city of some 50,000 people, in the daylight.

AFP, the news agency that first reported the images of the explosion, said they could not immediately be verified.

Krasnodar is separated from occupied Ukraine by the Azov Sea and has been largely spared from the types of attacks inflicted on other Russian border regions.

Authorities in the western Tver region also announced a night-time drone attack near the city of Toropets, which lies in the western part of the region. Its governor, Igor Rudenya, said the “consequences of falling debris” from the attack were being “cleared”.

He said there was no evacuation in Toropets but announced the temporary closure of the federal M-9 highway, promising that it would reopen soon.

The attack also caused some disruption on passenger trains, with railway officials saying a train going from Moscow to the western city of Pskov was sent on an alternative route, while another train was delayed.

Earlier, Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had downed 101 Ukrainian drones, mostly over the border Bryansk region, bringing down 18 over Krasnodar. Russia has recently claimed it is shooting down Ukrainian drones almost daily.

Kamala Harris was “joking” when she suggested she would shoot a home invader, one of her top advisers has said.

The vice president told Oprah Winfrey on Thursday: “If someone breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.”

After making the comment, Ms Harris laughed, adding that she “probably should not have said that” and that her “staff will deal with that later”.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Harris campaign adviser, has now walked back on the comment saying it was “a joke” and designed to “humanise” her to voters.

“It was a joke, and she knew that we would still be talking about it today, but I think it‘s important that people know that the vice president respects the right to bear arms, that she supports the Second Amendment, but she wants responsible gun ownership and she wants our communities to be safe,” Ms Bottoms told CNN on Friday.

Ms Harris is striking a delicate balance between her own support for gun controls and the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which gives citizens the right to bear arms.

“Here’s my point, Oprah,” Ms Harris said on Thursday. “I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away.”

Ms Harris has previously said she is a gun owner, and mentioned it again during her debate with Donald Trump on September 10. A source told CNN she had bought a small pistol that would fit in a purse.

“I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do – for personal safety,” she told reporters on the campaign trail in Iowa in 2019. Tim Walz, her running mate, is also a gun owner.

Ms Harris has backed a ban on assault rifles, many of which have been used in mass shootings in the US, and described them as “weapons of war”.

She has also spoken in favour of so-called “red flag laws” that would enforce stricter background checks on gun purchases.

She said on Thursday that her support for the restrictions are “just common sense”.

Joe Biden, her running mate in 2020, has passed several restrictions on guns during his time in office, including a new rule that imposes stricter background checks on buyers under the age of 21.

She has always been a familiar face to the German public, cropping up constantly on TV news debates and even taking part in a cookery show where she made îles flottantes.

Now Sahra Wagenknecht, a stalwart of the German Left, is stirring up trouble in politics with a new party that could become a major player in Germany’s next general election.

Set up in January this year, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) combines old-school Left-wing economics with a deeply populist streak on migration, as well a distinctly Kremlin-friendly attitude towards Ukraine.

It could be a dangerous recipe for Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, as many supporters of his centre-Left SPD party are disillusioned with his military support for Kyiv and failure to tighten up the country’s border security.

More importantly, it reflects a major shift at the heart of German politics: after decades of bland but predictable leadership, voters are abandoning the centre en masse and embracing colourful populist figures.

With the BSW polling around 10 per cent nationwide, about the same as the Green faction in Mr Scholz’s coalition, it could potentially be a kingmaker in coalition talks after the German general elections in September 2025.

It is also set to perform well in this weekend’s state elections in Brandenburg where, along with the hard-Right AfD, it is striking a chord with war-weary East Germans.

Conservatism and Marxism

Born in East Germany under the communist GDR, Ms Wagenknecht was raised by her German mother after being abandoned by their Iranian father.

In her early career she was a member of the GDR’s ruling party, the Sociality Unity Party (SED), where her blend of social conservatism and Marxist economics went down well with her decrepit communist elders.

After the unification of Germany, she ended up in Die Linke, German’s hard-Left party. But allies say she never felt truly at home there due to her scepticism towards mass migration, which ultimately led to her departure.

“Many politicians have chosen not to speak about migration… but Sahra Wagnknecht kept talking about it, and criticised her party, Die Linke, about it,” said Steffen Quasebarth, a newly elected BSW MP in the Thuringia state parliament.

“Her criticism got ever stronger, and it led to a rift, and she ended up deciding to form her own party to address that precise problem.”

Unfortunately for Die Linke, she took many of the party’s brightest stars with her, although none outshine her as the most recognisable face of the new party.

At a rally this month in Frankfurt an der Oder, ahead of the Brandenburg elections, Ms Wagenknecht turned up 45 minutes late and apologised to the crowds, blaming a traffic jam near Berlin.

‘Why have energy prices exploded?’

The small border city is connected by a bridge to the town of Słubice in Poland, one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters. And the rally itself was held on a stage right next to Frankfurt an der Oder’s Friedensglocke (peace bell), a relic of the post-war border treaty between the former GDR and Poland.

The crowd had already been fired up by lead candidate Robert Crumbach, who complained that migration had overwhelmed Brandenburg’s hospitals and schools.

When Ms Wagenknecht took the stage – after a rendition of the anti-war German pop anthem “99 Red Balloons” – she wasted little time getting onto Russia’s war in Ukraine, accusing the German government of hypocrisy on energy politics and its stance on other conflicts in the Middle East.

“Why have our energy prices exploded? Because we have a government that sees itself as the moral master of the world,” she said. “And their view is that as they have the loudest morality and hypermorality, we can no longer buy the evil Russian gas and oil. So instead, we get the good gas from Qatar, an Islamist dictatorship that funds Hamas.”

She added: “It’s true, the world is complicated, there are many wars, but other European countries live in the same world, and despite this their economies are growing, they are investing, they are not closing their industries, and the prices are not as explosive as ours are.”

There is also a populist jab at Scholz’s coalition, which includes the Greens, whom she claims are too busy “sipping oak milk macchiatos with their friends” in gated communities to worry about the concerns of normal voters.

‘She brings change’

Several hundred East Germans had turned up for the rally, mainly old Die Linke voters who crossed to BSW with Ms Wagenknecht.

“She brings imagination, she brings change, she brings energy, and she’s a good woman,” said Veronika, 65. “It’s time we have a change of leadership.”

Lydia, 72, a retired schoolteacher, said: “We have the impression that Scholz has said too much and done too little. People here are very unhappy with his performance. We’ve also experienced so many Ukrainian refugees coming here and we just don’t have the funds for them… we are waiting a long time for doctors appointments, and there are no places left in the schools.”

To her critics, Ms Wagenknecht’s foreign policy, which sees Germany as being pushed around by the United States and dragged into wars against its best interests, is dangerously close to making her a pro-Putin fifth columnist.

She was humiliated in February 2022, when she confidently predicted on a TV panel show that Vladimir Putin would never dare to invade Ukraine – shortly before he did precisely that.

She then tried to save face, criticising Putin over the invasion, but has since slipped back into a more cynical attitude towards Russia, suggesting that he is no worse than US leaders when it comes to warmongering.

“She’s on the very pro-Russian end of the spectrum, a Left-wing populist who grew up in East Germany and thinks Marxism and communism is superior to capitalist democracy,” said Rafael Loss, a German politics and European security analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“While she at times is critical of Putin, she has always added a big ‘what if’, at the end, usually pointing to US failures or trying to minimise the damage that Russia has produced,” he added.

In the heart of Xinjiang, the Chinese region where more than one million Uyghurs are believed to be detained in re-education camps, two carefree British travel vloggers cheerfully introduce their viewers to “one of the most controversial areas” of the country.

Journalists are harassed and heavily monitored in the rugged western province, where Western governments and rights groups have accused the authorities of suppressing Muslim minorities through mass surveillance, abuse and political indoctrination.

But foreign YouTube influencers are warmly welcomed by the normally censor-happy Chinese government, which seizes on their happy-go-lucky content to legitimise its own narrative that no human rights abuses are taking place.

“Nice, fancy Mustangs,” says one of the British vloggers, admiring sports cars on the streets of Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi. “It’s like a normal city, so what’s all the hype about? Negative hype as well. I don’t understand that,” he says.

It’s a message that chimes well with China’s own state propaganda machine.

As the country reopens for travel after years of pandemic isolation, foreign influencers, including many Brits, are heading East armed with cameras and tripods, eyeing an increasingly lucrative YouTube market with an eager audience ready to increase their ratings.

The Chinese government has given them a helping hand with a raft of new visa-free policies, and the country received over 17 million foreign travellers in the first seven months of this year, up by almost 130% year-on-year, according to foreign ministry figures.

“I myself have watched a good number of videos by foreign vloggers sharing their trips in China. I’m happy to see more and more foreign friends come to China and fall in love with China,” said Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesperson in August.

Many marvel at the bright lights of Shanghai’s skyline, Beijing’s imperial palaces and the impressive high speed rail network.

But a growing number are entering lesser-known regions including Xinjiang, which for years has been beset by allegations of severe human rights abuses and repression that Beijing justifies as necessary to fight terrorism.

Some YouTubers setting foot in the rugged region attempt to draw viewers with sensational titles about exposing Western media “lies” about Xinjiang or by alluding to the risks of travelling there.

But they often stress they are not pushing any narrative other than to see Xinjiang with their own eyes and to offer their viewers authentic firsthand accounts.

In a video titled “This is the XINJIANG the Western Media DON’T want you to see”, young Scottish couple Alan and Shannon explore Kashgar’s tourist district and dress in Uyghur traditional outfits for a photoshoot. 

Another Briton, Mike Okay, 28, offers a grittier, and at times humorous experience as he hitchhikes through the province in search of a toilet or a carpark or campsite to sleep in. He documents multiple identity checks by police officers, surprised by his travel methods, but not unfriendly.

Some videos have more political undertones, explicitly contrasting their content with media reports.

In Urumqi, Tauseef Ahmed, with partner Libby Collins, comments that “if you relied on the Western media..then you wouldn’t normally hear anything positive,” and cites the oppression of Muslims as an example of typical accusations.

As the couple walk through Urumqi, they point out mosques. They also comment on the higher number of surveillance cameras, but add: “if you haven’t done anything wrong then there is nothing to be worried about.”

There is no suggestion any of the vloggers are acting at the behest of the Chinese government or receiving its money, but titles about media deception echo official state messaging about the West’s perceived anti-China narrative, particularly on fundamental rights.

For China, the influx of influencers offers the opportunity to rebut overseas criticisms and reinforce its stance through highlighting the unimpeded visits of awestruck foreigners.

The footage, amplified by Chinese social media platforms and state-run outlets, receive hundreds of thousands of views and screeds of favourable comments.

An increasing number of international vloggers were visiting Xinjiang “with great curiosity,” noted a recent article in the Global Times.

“A somewhat remote and mysterious region in China, Xinjiang is nonetheless a name constantly spotlighted in many Western media stories, which are usually filled with misinformation.”

It namechecks Mike Okay among several vloggers, highlighting a conversation with a campsite owner who says police checks are for his own safety.

It then rams home the government line that enhanced security in Xinjiang “is not an overreaction” due to the threat of terrorism from religious extremists and ethnic separatists.

Mike Okay, who described his trip as a “wild adventure” with “incredible people” said he had tried hard to avoid politics and focus on simply showing a “relatively unexplored” part of the world.

“As a content creator when you sign up..you are putting your content out into the world. People are going to read it however they like. So of course it concerns me,” he said.

“My intention was not to go there and disprove anything. My intention was ‘what does it look like if a clueless relatively uneducated foreigner walks around Xinjiang with a camera’?”

Daria Impiombato, a cyber analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has co-written several reports on China’s multilayered ways of folding local and foreign influencers into its propaganda strategy.

She said vloggers with large platforms had a responsibility to inform themselves and to be sceptical.

“There needs to be a reckoning with that type of platform,” she said. “It’s like influencers who are going to Syria, just doing travel vlogs from Syria without talking about years and years of war and devastation. You can’t do that, and you can’t do that in Xinjiang either.”

But she stopped short of saying influencers should not go to Xinjiang, adding that some videos offered nuggets of valuable information.

Australian couple Michael and Josie, the creators of “josieliftsthings”, a YouTube channel with nearly 1m followers, raise questions in their Xinjiang video about the destruction of historical buildings in Kashgar and observe that the town centre appears to be set up for tourists.

They said their frankness had generated “heat” from viewers and made the video less popular as it wasn’t purely positive.

YouTubers had realised that “pro-China” content attracted more views, making it more profitable, they said.

“It’s a business decision and it comes down to whether you are honest about what you see or you are doing it for the cash,” said Michael.

“The reality of it is that it is a bit of a gold rush at the moment,” he said, adding that the couple were unlikely to return soon as the influencer scene had turned “a little bit ugly”.

“I do get very disappointed when I see a lot of YouTubers who use human rights as bait for their content and then say something in their video like ‘I’m here and..it looks completely normal,” he said.

“We never say everything is fine because we don’t know that,” added Josie. Scottish YouTubers Alan and Shannon did not respond to requests for comment.

Tauseef Ahmed and Libby Collins declined an interview and permission to feature their content. In a previous interview with the New York Times, Mr Ahmed said he did not worry about how their content was used by Chinese propaganda or others.

“At the end of the day, people can give it any narrative they want. It’s just two people going around and recording their travel adventures,” he said.

Maya Wang, the associate China director at Human Rights Watch, urged travellers to be more aware in societies suffering human right abuses and “not be complicit in the censorship and disinformation that the Chinese government hopes to achieve.”

But Prof Steve Tsang, the director of the SOAS China Institute, said vlogger videos were unlikely to sway already entrenched opinions about the Uyghurs.

The top priority for Chinese officials was how everything was seen in Beijing, he said.

“The propaganda machinery will be able to report back up the chain of command all the way through .. to Xi Jinping that we are doing it and doing it well, we are seizing and controlling the narrative.”

Even before Tuesday’s exploding pager attack on Hezbollah, war seemed to be looming on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Benjamin Netanyahu began the week promising to return 60,000 evacuees to the north of the country.

After the pager blasts Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, announced a “new phase” of the conflict.

Maj Gen Ori Gordin, head of Israel’s northern command, said he and his troops are “determined to change the security reality as soon as possible”.

So will there be a wider war? And what, if anything, could it achieve?

Days before the pager attacks, Israeli’s security cabinet updated its official war goals to include the return of around 60,000 residents to parts of northern Israel they were evacuated from following Hezbollah’s attacks in the aftermath of Oct 7.

Hezbollah has linked its rocket attacks to a ceasefire in Gaza. So in theory, there is a diplomatic solution: stop the war in Gaza, and the problem will go away.

That is clearly the solution that Israel’s key allies, including the United States and Britain, prefer. They have publicly and privately urged restraint and warned against derailing peace talks.

But rhetoric from Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, the pager attacks, escalating air strikes, the redeployment of troops from Gaza to the north – and The Telegraph’s conversations with serving and retired IDF officers – suggest an Israeli action in Lebanon is a question of when, not if.

Three options

There are three options for Israeli planners to consider: air strikes; a massive, Gaza-style invasion; and a “limited” incursion to set up a “buffer zone”.

The first is, of course, the safest. Mr Gallant, the defence minister – no dove, even by Israeli standards – is said to have argued for this option.

It does not commit troops on the ground, avoids the risk of a quagmire, and would not require committing ground forces while the main effort in Gaza (and, increasingly, the West Bank) is still under way.

Compared to Israel’s first invasion of Lebanon in 1982, or even its last in 2006, aerial targeting technology has made a quantum leap.

On Friday morning, Israel said its strikes had destroyed 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers. But, as the 11-month war in Gaza shows, even modern, relentless air strikes cannot win a war alone.

In the end it is the infantry who must engage the surviving enemy to take and hold ground.

“There is no scenario where we can bring citizens back to the towns along the border, if Hezbollah is on the border,” said Brig Gen Amir Avivi, former IDF deputy commander of the Gaza Division and founder of Israel Defense and Security Forum.

“This means that if Hezbollah doesn’t willingly withdraw, according to UN Security Council resolution 1701, Israel is left with no choice but to do a ground incursion.”

Opposing forces 

But any ground invasion is fraught with risk and overshadowed by the memory of previous bloody, and ultimately unsuccessful, adventures north of the border.

In the semi-desert landscape of Gaza, Hamas has had to tunnel into earth and sand.

Hezbollah’s tunnels are dug into the solid rock of imposing mountain valleys, said Maj Mashiko Giat, an IDF special forces soldier who fought in Israel’s last incursion into Lebanon in 2006.

“So the infrastructure in Lebanon is pretty solid and very, very hard to break into. And that was one of our dilemmas, how we’re going to basically attack all this infrastructure that was built from 1982 to 2006,” he said.

Hezbollah, he added, is a country mile ahead of Hamas in both numbers and military prowess.

Independent observers believe Hezbollah can field between 20,000 and 40,000 fighters.

It is believed to have amassed an arsenal of up to 150,000 rockets and missiles, many of them advanced Iranian designs able to fire deep into Israel.

And it will have massively expanded the minefield, ambush sites and tunnel systems that caused Maj Giat and his troops so much bother 18 years ago.

“They act like an army and we would treat them like an army,” he said.

“They have undergone training, including in Iran, and they have a lot of combat experience, more than they had in 2006, because they fought in the civil war in Syria on the side of the Assad regime.

“We are not going to meet a militia, we’re going to meet a proper force.”

Opposing this force is the IDF’s 98th Division, an elite paratroopers and commando outfit, and the 179th and 769th armoured brigades, which have already been deployed to the border and are waiting for orders.

Mr Netanyahu must now decide what those orders will be. There are two options.

Invasion

A full-scale, Gaza-style invasion, fighting house-to-house and tunnel-to-tunnel in pursuit of the total destruction of Hezbollah and its (supposedly) enormous arsenal of rockets, holds an emotional appeal to Israelis who would like to secure the northern border once and for all.

But the IDF has still not destroyed the much less formidable foe of Hamas after 11 months of war in the much smaller territory of Gaza.

Trying to do the same to Hezbollah would mean repeating the bloody 1982 march on Beirut. Military casualties would be high, civilian ones probably much higher, and the patience of key allies like the United States tested to breaking point.

And if progress in Gaza is anything to go by, fighting building-to-building for years, and suffering heavy casualties.

The war that began on Oct 7 last year is already the longest in Israeli history. How much longer the economy, and public and international sentiment, can take is now a serious consideration.

Buffer zone

So that leaves the so-called third option. A more “limited” incursion to establish a buffer zone.

Even that would be a major operation.

It would take “several divisions”, or around 30,000 troops, to clear southern Lebanon, said Assaf Orion, a retired brigadier general and former head of the strategy division for the IDF general staff.

That would drop to one or two divisions – between 10,000 and 20,000 troops – to occupy and hold afterwards, he said.

It is not exactly clear how deep that zone would be.

Maj Giat said he understood the objective of any ground offensive would be to clear and hold a buffer-zone 6 to 12 miles deep.

Brig Gen Avivi said the goal would be to “destroy them in South Lebanon and push them north of the Litani river”.

That is only a rough guide: The Litani is 18 miles from the border at its mouth but further inland comes within little more than a mile of the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan heights.

Brig Gen Avivi insisted such an operation would be more than manageable. “Lebanon is not as densely populated as Gaza, and the towns and villages in southern Lebanon are pretty empty. This is not going to be as complicated as what we saw in Gaza.

“I think it can take a few weeks because it’s going to be very, very intensive. And also there will be huge pressure inside Lebanon on Hezbollah to stop, because, obviously, Lebanon is going to pay a heavy price here.

“I would assume that the war is not going to be long.”

Memories of wars past

But the ghosts of the 1982 and 2006 wars loom over any talk of fighting in Lebanon.

The first, also directed at creating a buffer zone, reached Beirut but ended in public disillusionment over high casualties.

It also catalysed the birth of Hezbollah.

The 2006 war, triggered by the Hezbollah abduction of three Israeli soldiers on the border, lasted 34 days and claimed the lives of 121 Israeli soldiers, an estimated 250 Hezbollah fighters, and around 1,200 civilians.

After it was over, a public inquiry concluded that Hezbollah had successfully resisted a superior force; that the war had been entered into without any clear strategy; and that the ground offensive came late, was not completed, and did not achieve its goals.

Another way?

Maj Giat says he’s not worried about repeating the same mistakes this time.

Lessons have been learned, the soldiers have been training hard for the operation, and there will be a greater emphasis on speed, aggression, and precisely identifying and then pursuing targets than in 2006.

“We know what we are doing,” he said.

The infantry battle is one thing though.

It is not clear how, if at all, Hezbollah’s anticipated massive rocket barrage would be dealt with. Another salvo of missiles and drones could be expected from the group’s allies in Syria and Iran.

And there is a strange dichotomy in Israeli rhetoric, and possibly thought. On the one hand, brash confidence in the IDF’s superiority on the battlefield. On the other, a recognition that this is a much more serious and difficult problem than such bravado would suggest.

The bottom line is that from the Israeli point of view, none of the options of invasion are good ones.

And Mr Netanyahu, for all his rhetoric, is considered by observers to be a cautious and even indecisive politician.

That’s led some to conclude that war is not inevitable.

Amos Yadlin, former Israeli military intelligence chief, told The Telegraph: “I am not sure either side wants a full-scale war and there are other ways for Israel to damage Hezbollah. We’ve seen that so far.”

There are those who argue the bloodshed of recent days – the device attacks, air strikes on the border and in Beirut – are meant to achieve something else.

Could the prospect of a full-scale war force Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah chief, to tell his fighters to cool down the rocket attacks?

Could he and his patrons in Iran could even lean on Hamas to sign a ceasefire in Gaza on Israeli terms?

If that is the Israeli strategy, it is a high-risk one.

And it is not – yet – bearing fruit.

A new eco “incineration tax” risks pushing councils to the brink, local authorities have warned.

Emissions from burning waste will be taxed from 2028 as part of Government efforts to encourage the uptake of greener technologies.

Around half of all household waste collected by councils is burned every year in facilities that produce the same greenhouse gases as around three million homes.

But the carbon tax could cost as much as £6.5 billion by 2036, and £747 million in 2028, according to research by the Local Government Association (LGA), the County Council Network (CCN) and the District Councils Network (DCN).

The tax, which currently applies to aviation, power and industry, adds around £65 per ton of carbon produced. Councils could be forced to raise taxes or cut other vital services unless the tax burden is shifted, the LGA warned.

All three bodies are calling for the taxes to be shifted to the industries that manufacture the materials, such as packaging, textiles and furniture.

Councils argue that they have no way of reducing the amount of waste they have to collect, while manufacturers can move to more recyclable materials.

The taxes would put an extra burden on councils already struggling to meet their financial obligations. Half of councils are warning of effective bankruptcy within five years amid rising social care costs, growing populations and caps on tax increases.

“Current proposals risk councils and local taxpayers facing enormous costs, which simultaneously risks the scheme failing to meet its objectives while exposing councils to significant additional financial risk,” said Cllr Adam Hug, the environment spokesman for the LGA.

Cllr Richard Clewer, the infrastructure and planning spokesman for the CCN, added: “If these costs are to be borne by councils, they will have to paid for by council tax or by reducing highly-valued services, so we are calling on the new Government to rethink these proposals.”

Waste incineration is the main destination for household rubbish that is not recycled, and the number of plants is expected to increase by 30 per cent in coming years.

But the practice has been criticised by environmental campaigners for the amount of emissions and air pollution produced, and over concerns that recyclable waste also ends up in incinerators. One analysis found that more than half of plastic that ends up incinderated is either “readily recyclable” or “potentially recyclable”.

Cllr Andy Graham, the DCN environment spokesman, said: “Taxing councils for the waste we have little option but to incinerate would be a bombshell for the delicately-balanced funding of local waste services – including district councils’ successful efforts to increase recycling.

“We want to make it easier for our citizens to recycle materials like clothing and medical waste so it doesn’t need to be incinerated. We can only do this through action from producers, who should be incentivised to produce recyclable goods and penalised if they don’t.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: “We are committed to expanding the UK ETS [emissions trading scheme] to include waste incineration and energy from waste facilities from 2028. We will continue to engage with the sector on our proposals, and will publish further detail in due course.”

When he was 18, the Duke of Sussex vowed to finish the work started by his mother, Princess Diana.

More than two decades on, he remains true to his word. On Monday, he will take to the stage before a global audience to champion two causes intrinsically linked to her legacy: landmines and young people.

Prince Harry, 40, will be the star guest at five high-profile events held over two days in New York during UN General Assembly High-Level Week and Climate Week, which will also see him focus on conservation, sustainable travel and the many crises facing the tiny African country of Lesotho.

But it will be his first two appearances that honour that birthday pledge; when he steps out on behalf of the Diana Award, which works to create positive change for young people, and the Halo Trust, the charity for which the late Princess famously issued a clarion call for action by walking through an Angolan minefield in 1997.

Tessy Ojo, the chief executive of the Diana Award, hailed the Duke’s continuing support as “truly priceless”, while the Halo Trust said that in a time of “unprecedented conflict” the Duke’s voice was needed “more than ever”.

The appearances will come amid a flurry of activity for the Duke, marking something of a shift in his public profile as he takes centre stage, solo, to further his own charitable causes.

Travelling without the Duchess of Sussex, he will undertake a busy schedule somewhat evocative of his days as a working royal, with back-to-back charity engagements in place of glitzy award ceremonies and television interviews.

It comes after his 40th birthday celebrations, when he said that his mission was “continue showing up and doing good in the world”, and before a return to London, where he will appear at the annual WellChild Awards.

His involvement will also help to position the Duke and Duchess’s relatively nascent Archewell Foundation, alongside big philanthropic big-hitters such as the Clinton Global Initiative on the international stage.

In an interview to mark his 18th birthday in 2002, the Duke said that his mother had inspired him to carve a future role for himself in championing lesser-known causes.

“I want to carry on the things that she didn’t quite finish,” he said.

In 2016, he expanded on the same subject. “All I want to do is make my mother proud. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” he said.

When he steps out at the Sheraton Hotel in Times Square on Monday morning, he may well cast his mind back to that pledge.

The Duke’s first engagement of the week will be on behalf of the Diana Award, a charity set up to reflect the late Princess’s belief that young people can change the world – and the only one to bear her name.

He will take part in a panel discussion with Christina Williams and Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang, two young recipients of the Diana Award, and Dr Ojo on the current mental health crisis engulfing young people.

The event coincides with the award’s 25th anniversary celebrations, and Dr Ojo said that the continuing support of both the Duke and the Prince of Wales was critical.

“It’s incredibly helpful to have people in positions of power, especially a non-political position, and especially in a system when young people are feeling more and more unheard and unseen, speak up for us,” she said.

“To have people who have that platform, who have that power, not only to listen to young people but help amplify their voices, is truly priceless and we are deeply honoured and grateful to have both of them involved in our work, lending their voices to the challenges that young people face.”

As the Diana Award celebrates its 25th anniversary, it is particularly keen to address the mental health struggles faced by young people.

Dr Ojo acknowledged that the topic had been a long running thread through both of the brothers’ work, highlighting the “pivotal” and “groundshifting” Heads Together campaign, which was launched in 2016 and is spearheaded by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

While his brother took up the issue of homelessness, the Duke has followed in their mother’s footsteps in championing the anti-landmine Halo Trust.

In 2010, he travelled to Mozambique to tour a minefield with the charity, dressed in a visor and protective vest.

The Halo Trust’s New York event is being held in partnership with the Angolan government and comes almost five years to the day since the Duke retraced his late mother’s footsteps through a former minefield in Huambo, in 2019.

He also visited a minefield near the south-eastern town of Dirico, calling for an international effort to clear landmines from the Okavango watershed in the Angolan highlands.

A spokesman for the Halo Trust said that the Duke was very interested in landmine clearance in that particular area because “he understands that without it, you cannot gain access for conservation”.

She said that the charity had always “really hugely appreciated that special connection he has to Angola”.

She added: “He understands it is a long-term commitment, he has not forgotten the people of Angola, he stays in touch with us, he’s interested, he cares about our work and is in regular contact with us.”

The Duke was particularly interested when the charity had to move from the front line in Ukraine, expressing great concern for staff welfare. He spoke to two employees caught up in the siege of Mariupol on Zoom.

“We are living in an unprecedented age of conflict and are grateful to the Duke for his support as we need it more than ever,” the spokesman said.

Lord Goldsmith is reportedly to marry for the third time after becoming engaged to Ian Fleming’s great niece.

The 49-year-old Conservative peer, who has six children, separated from his second wife last year and has now reportedly asked partner Hum Fleming, 34, to marry him.

Ms Fleming, whose great uncle was the James Bond author, is a public relations executive in the fashion and lifestyle sector and a member of the Fleming private banking dynasty.

She suffers from epilepsy, and is an ambassador for the Young Epilepsy Foundation. Earlier this year she shared footage of one of her seizures on social media to raise awareness about the condition.

In an interview with The Telegraph two years ago, she described how her seizures have become convulsive in adulthood and how at night she sometimes bites her tongue so hard it bleeds.

A friend of the couple confirmed their engagement to the Daily Mail. “They are engaged,” the friend said. “Hum was wearing a big sparkler on a night out in Mayfair this week and said she and Zac were to be married.”

Lord Goldsmith’s split from his second wife, Alice Rothschild, 41, was revealed last year. The couple had been married since 2013 and share three children.

Their spokesman said at the time: “Alice and Zac have made the difficult decision to separate. They do so amicably and are committed to jointly raising their three children in a happy and healthy environment.”

Friends of the couple insisted that no one else was involved.

The environmentalist served two stints as an MP for Richmond Park in London in 2010-16 and 2017-19. During this time he held several junior ministerial positions, including for the foreign office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and international development.

He and his first wife, Sheherazade Goldsmith, also have three children.

The Telegraph has contacted Lord Goldsmith for comment.

Sir Mick Jagger has said that he is “so sad” at the death of Cleo Sylvestre, “the first female vocalist to sing with the [Rolling] Stones”.

Sylvestre, also known as Cleopatra Palmer, who had been a feature of film, stage, television and music since the 1960s, died at the age of 79 on Friday morning, according to a statement from Fulcrum Talent.

The veteran screen and stage star was known for playing Melanie Harper, Meg Richardson’s adopted daughter, in ITV’s Crossroads and sang as Cleo, with the Rolling Stones backing her on a cover of To Know Him Is to Love Him in 1964.

Sir Mick, the lead vocalist of the Rolling Stones, said in an Instagram story: “So sad to hear of the passing of my old friend, the actress and singer Cleo Sylvestre, the first female vocalist to sing with the Stones.”

The 81-year-old shared a black-and-white photo of the band with Sylvestre.

In an interview with Masterpiece PBS, Sylvestre had said that her mother would often cook for the band.

“I mean, the Stones were always round, especially Brian [Jones] and Mick [Jagger],” she said.

“We lived in a council flat with a tiny little kitchen, and she’d do meals for 15 people.”

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) posted on X: “We’re saddened to hear of the death of Cleo Sylvestre, who performed as Audrey in our As You Like It production last year.”

“Our thoughts are with Cleo’s family and friends at this time.”

Theatre at the Tabard, a theatre in Chiswick, west London, said in a social media post that it was “saddened to hear of the passing” of Sylvestre, who “graced our stage last year” for “a wonderful sold-out blues night.”

The US-born playwright and author Bonnie Greer wrote on X that Sylvestre was “one of the reasons that from my vantage point in NYC that I thought that this country has the best anglophone theatre, and the best place to be a black woman in it”.

She added: “I still think that. Thank you, Cleo!”

Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, the UK’s first sickle cell nurse specialist, also wrote that she was “devastated”.

She added: “My wonderful, kind friend. Amongst many activities, she was a great supporter of the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal.”

Dame Elizabeth shared a photo of Sylvestre dressed as Jamaica-born nurse Seacole at the unveiling of the memorial statue.

A statement from Fulcrum Talent on Friday said: “It is with deep regret that I have to announce the sad news that Cleo Sylvestre MBE died this morning.

“Much loved and admired by her peers, she will be remembered as a trailblazer and a true friend. She will be sorely missed by so many.

“We ask that you respect the privacy of her family at this difficult time.”

In 2023, Sylvestre went to Buckingham Palace where she was made an MBE for services to drama and charity.

Her most recent screen roles included the ITV thriller Platform 7, and Channel 5’s revamp of All Creatures Great and Small.

Sylvestre made her debut at the RSC in As You Like It last year after a long theatre career, which included Wise Child at Wyndham’s Theatre and Under Milk Wood at the National Theatre.

Her film roles have ranged from the 2014 film Paddington and 1993’s The Punk, while her TV appearances included The Bill, New Tricks, Till Death Us Do Part, Grange Hill, Doctor Who and Coronation Street.

Ministers are set to impose heat pump targets next year in a move that will lead to a “boiler tax” on households, industry sources have said.

Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is expected to introduce the policy from April, despite warnings that it will drive up the cost of a new boiler.

Under the plans, boiler makers would be hit with hefty fines if they fail to achieve targets on the number of heat pumps they have to sell every year. Manufacturers have warned that it would force them to add up to £180 to the price of a boiler, although campaigners have accused them of profiteering.

Officials have privately told the industry that the scheme will definitely be introduced next year, sources have told The Telegraph. A Government source insisted that no final decision has been taken.

The Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) would set a number of heat pumps they must sell as a percentage of their overall boiler sales. It was initially drawn up by the Tories and had been set to come into force earlier this year before being shelved following a backlash.

Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, delayed the introduction until at least next April and privately indicated that she wanted to kill off the policy.

She said: “I scrapped this policy last year because I strongly felt we should think again. It’s a classic example of policy designed for the green lobby and vested interest groups rather than for the consumer.

“It will raise the costs of getting a boiler for ordinary families, perhaps by hundreds of pounds, when many of them can’t afford to get a heat pump.

“If Labour press ahead with this on top of cutting the Winter Fuel Payment, it will make an even greater mockery of their promises of bill savings for consumers.”

Mr Miliband is now set to revive it, with industry sources saying officials in his department have told them that the targets will be brought in next year. Manufacturers and suppliers have been alerted that legislation to introduce the scheme will be tabled in November, suggesting an April start date.

An industry source said: “Ministers and officials have been engaged with the boiler manufacturers with a view to bringing the CHMM in in 2025. What hasn’t yet been finalised are the details around the size of the fine. There’s a conversation to be had about whether it’s set at the appropriate level.”

Under the Tory plans inherited by Mr Miliband, manufacturers would have to make sure that at least six per cent of their overall sales were made up of heat pumps. They would be fined £3,000 for every missed sale, with companies warning they would have to pass the cost of multi-million pound penalties on to customers.

Industry insiders have said the demand for heat pumps, which are much more expensive than boilers, is not sufficient to meet the targets.

A second source said that “as far as we know the CHMM is still scheduled to start in 2025”, but added that there had been little engagement from officials. The source said manufacturers were still hopeful that ministers were “having second thoughts or making amends to the punitive measures that the policy will impose”.

Around 1.5 million new boilers are installed every year, with most being put in over the winter when the appliances are being used the most.

It is estimated that a quarter of those – some 375,000 a year – are in pensioner households, most of which have just lost the £200 winter fuel allowance.

Boiler makers temporarily put up their prices by £120 last January when they believed that a four per cent target for heat pump sales was about to be imposed. They reversed the price rise and issued refunds when the policy was delayed.

Industry sources said that, if Mr Miliband were to press ahead with the planned six per cent target this year, that would suggest a £180 rise will be needed this January.

Some green groups have accused boiler manufacturers of scaremongering about the policy and using it as an excuse for “price gouging”.

Jess Ralston, the head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “The boiler tax was a self-imposed price increase brought in by boiler manufacturers to lobby against heat pump policy so they can keep selling gas boilers for longer.

“Unless the UK starts to transition away from gas boilers, we will have to import more gas from abroad as the North Sea output continues its inevitable decline, so this is a matter of energy security.”

Andy Manning, the head of energy systems transformation at Citizens Advice, added: “Boiler manufacturers must not raise their prices again in response to a scheme that would help homes across the country move to clean energy. Instead, they should focus on meeting the requirements of the scheme.

“If reintroduced, the Government must not water down the Clean Heat Market Mechanism in response to similar action from manufacturers. Doing so would reward behaviour that left many people out of pocket, and expose us all to volatile gas prices for longer.”

Fewer than 37,000 certified heat pump installations were recorded last year, significantly short of the 90,000 that would be required to meet a six per cent target.

Mr Miliband pledged whilst in opposition that he would “support the Clean Heat Market Mechanism” if Labour won the election. Speaking in March, he said: “On the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, we’re going to have to deal with what we inherit from the government.”

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “The energy shocks of recent years have shown the urgent need to upgrade British homes and secure our energy independence.

“Our Warm Homes Plan will set out a range of measures to support low carbon heating, including heat pumps. Our ambitious plans will protect bill-payers, reduce fuel poverty and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.”

A man whose image went viral when he was hit in the head and groin by bricks during the summer riots was arrested after being recognised by police at A&E, The Telegraph can reveal.

The man was injured during the disorder in Southport that followed the fatal knife attack on three girls attending a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in the Merseyside town on July 29.

A video uploaded to social media showed a man wearing a grey tracksuit approaching a line of riot police who were being pelted with missiles.

As he got close to the line of officers a brick hurled from the crowd hit him on the back of the head, causing him to stumble away. Holding his head, he began to walk back towards the crowd before a second brick hit him in the groin area. 

The man, clearly in pain, was helped away to safety with blood coming from a head wound.

It is understood he later attended an A&E unit where he was spotted by police officers who were being treated for injuries sustained in the riots.

A source told The Telegraph: “The officers who were at the A&E had seen the footage, which had already gone viral, and immediately recognised the man who was waiting to be treated. It definitely was not his lucky day because, after he was seen by doctors, he was then arrested on suspicion of being involved in the disorder.”

A spokesman for Merseyside Police said: “I can confirm that the male was arrested and is currently on bail.”

The investigation into the rioting that followed the Southport attack is continuing. More than 1,500 people have been arrested and a total of 960 charges have been brought for a range of offences.

Kamala Harris was “joking” when she suggested she would shoot a home invader, one of her top advisers has said.

The vice president told Oprah Winfrey on Thursday: “If someone breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.”

After making the comment, Ms Harris laughed, adding that she “probably should not have said that” and that her “staff will deal with that later”.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Harris campaign adviser, has now walked back on the comment saying it was “a joke” and designed to “humanise” her to voters.

“It was a joke, and she knew that we would still be talking about it today, but I think it‘s important that people know that the vice president respects the right to bear arms, that she supports the Second Amendment, but she wants responsible gun ownership and she wants our communities to be safe,” Ms Bottoms told CNN on Friday.

Ms Harris is striking a delicate balance between her own support for gun controls and the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which gives citizens the right to bear arms.

“Here’s my point, Oprah,” Ms Harris said on Thursday. “I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away.”

Ms Harris has previously said she is a gun owner, and mentioned it again during her debate with Donald Trump on September 10. A source told CNN she had bought a small pistol that would fit in a purse.

“I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do – for personal safety,” she told reporters on the campaign trail in Iowa in 2019. Tim Walz, her running mate, is also a gun owner.

Ms Harris has backed a ban on assault rifles, many of which have been used in mass shootings in the US, and described them as “weapons of war”.

She has also spoken in favour of so-called “red flag laws” that would enforce stricter background checks on gun purchases.

She said on Thursday that her support for the restrictions are “just common sense”.

Joe Biden, her running mate in 2020, has passed several restrictions on guns during his time in office, including a new rule that imposes stricter background checks on buyers under the age of 21.

Donald Trump said it was “just too late” for another presidential debate against Kamala Harris, hours after she accepted an invitation from CNN to appear on stage with him on October 23.

The former president told a crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday that he would not take part in a second debate because voting has already started in some states, and the CNN event was planned for less than two weeks before polling day.

“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” he said, adding: “Now she wants to do a debate right before the election with CNN because she’s losing badly.”

It came just hours after Ms Harris’s campaign formally accepted an invitation to appear at a debate on CNN – the same network that broadcast Trump’s debate against Joe Biden in June.

Ms Harris’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, announced earlier on Saturday that the Vice President had agreed to the debate on October 23.

“The American people deserve another opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate before they cast their ballots,” she said.

“It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate.

“Debates offer a unique chance for voters to see the candidates side by side and take stock of their competing visions for America.”

Trump had previously expressed doubt that he would take part in a second debate against Harris, after his lacklustre performance in their first head-to-head on September 10 in Philadelphia.

It came as he launched a new $100 “Trump coin” to catch up with Ms Harris’s fundraising boom.

Trump announced he would begin selling “incredible” new silver medallions, which are available to his supporters online.

The coins have been added to an increasingly bizarre collection of Trump merchandise, including gold trainers, cologne to commemorate the assassination attempt against him, digital trading cards that depict him as a superhero, and Taylor Swift spoof t-shirts.

The latest fundraising figures for his campaign, released on Saturday, show Kamala Harris raised four times more money than him in August.

In the first full month of her presidential campaign, Ms Harris raised almost $190m, compared with his $45 million. Her campaign war chest was valued at $235m at the end of the month, while his campaign had $134m.

Trump’s campaign sends daily texts to supporters, urging them to give to his campaign. His team has organised a lottery, the winners of which will be flown to Mar-a-Lago to meet the candidate himself.

Ms Harris has erased Trump’s fundraising advantage, which was built up in the months before Joe Biden left the presidential race on July 21. The figures show donors flocked to Ms Harris in the days after she announced she would run to replace him in the White House.

After the presidential debate on September 10, Ms Harris’s team said $47m was donated to her campaign, which was not included in the latest filings.

Trump is now unlikely to catch up with Ms Harris’s fundraising lead before election day on November 5.

The latest financial filings show a closer race between Trump’s main super PAC, MAGA Inc, and Ms Harris’s Future Forward. Trump’s body raised $25m in August, to Future Forward’s $37m. The Democratic National Committee also out-raised the Republican National Committee in the same period.

Trump’s new coin is a 1oz silver medallion featuring an etching of his face on the obverse and the White House and his signature on the reverse.

A new website to market the coin describes it as the “highest quality struck medallion using a process to create a mirror-like finish”.

“This finish is primarily made for collectors, not for general circulation,” it notes.

Announcing its launch on his Truth Social platform, Trump said: “Good morning everyone—I have something incredible to share today, as we are introducing the launch of our Official Trump Coins! The ONLY OFFICIAL coin designed by me—and proudly minted here in the USA.”

Trump has capitalised on some of the most dramatic moments of the presidential campaign in his merchandise, and already sells t-shirts, mugs and beer coolers printed with his mugshot from the Georgia election interference court case.

He sells trainers and men’s cologne emblazoned with the words “Fight! Fight Fight!”, which has become his unofficial slogan since he called it out to supporters in the moments after an assassination attempt against him on July 13.

Another t-shirt is printed with a graph of illegal migration statistics that Trump was gesturing towards on a screen as Thomas Crooks shot at him from a nearby rooftop.

The campaign is also selling digital trading cards with various photos of Trump, including one that depicts him as a superhero. Some supporters who bought several digital cards have received a physical card containing a fragment of the suit he wore to debate Mr Biden.

Sir Keir Starmer has a month to prove that his Government is not “fundamentally” dysfunctional, a senior Whitehall figure has said.

In a warning shot to the Prime Minister, the source said Sue Gray was “not of the party” and that only he could get a grip on the worsening situation.

The remarks come amid a bitter briefing war between top figures in Downing Street, and a public row over donations to Cabinet ministers.

On Saturday night, a No 10 source dismissed suggestions of a split and insisted the Government was “laser-focused” on delivering on voters’ priorities.

A poll on Saturday showed that Sir Keir’s approval rating had plummeted to its lowest level, and he was now more unpopular than Rishi Sunak. 

One well-connected source said figures close to the Prime Minister had been warned he needed to personally intervene and “get a grip” on the crisis.

“If this is continuing in four weeks time then there’s something fundamentally wrong,” the Whitehall figure told The Telegraph. “That will show how dysfunctional it is, or whether it’s just growing pains that they do need to sort out. They have not handled it well, to be honest.”

The source said the unrest must not be allowed to overshadow Rachel Reeves’ first Budget, which will take place on Oct 30.

Sir Keir is facing growing discontent within Labour. Ms Gray, his chief of staff, has been the target of attacks including the leaking of her salary, which revealed that she is paid more than the Prime Minister.

Reports have also repeatedly surfaced suggesting that No 10 has split into three rival camps, all of which are vying for power over Sir Keir.

Morgan McSweeney, his top political adviser, and Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, are both said to have clashed with Ms Gray. Her role has been the subject of repeated anonymous briefings that she is wielding huge power over the Prime Minister.

The leaks have come against the backdrop of huge anger among advisers who have seen their pay cut compared to when Labour was in opposition.

Ms Gray has been blamed by many after it emerged that she has been placed in a new top salary band, meaning she is able to earn £170,000. In contrast, many special advisers entering government departments have been put on a flat wage packet of £57,000, meaning their earnings went down.

One source said many more junior advisers were “royally  f—ed off” by the situation, while another admitted that it had “caused a lot of resentment”.

On Saturday night it was also claimed that of the 12 officials in Sir Keir’s office, three have already quit and five have asked to be moved, with fingers pointed at Ms Gray. She has been defended by allies, who insist she is not responsible for the row over pay and has been blamed for decisions she did not make.

Cabinet ministers also rallied around her amid rumours that she could even quit because she has become so fed up with the public attacks on her.

Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, who is a close ally of Sir Keir, told The Telegraph in an interview that Ms Gray was an “outstanding public servant”.

“I’m not sure why it’s a surprise to anyone that the chief of staff to the Prime Minister is powerful,” he said in response to the criticism of her. “I think it would be far more worrying for our country if the chief of staff to the Prime Minister was weak.”

‘A human shield’ for the Prime Minister

A Labour MP also defended Ms Gray, saying she had become a “human shield” for the Prime Minister and describing her as a “very tough cookie”.

“I have no doubt that Starmer-sceptic forces are trying to remove Sue Gray on the one hand and that she is a kind of human shield for him on the other,” said the MP. “The bottom line is they have no confidence in Keir and think if they weaken her then they can control or even remove him at a time of their own choosing.”

But she was criticised by Lord Blunkett, a former home secretary, after it emerged that she had been advised to lower her salary below Sir Keir’s but refused to.

He told Times Radio: “It could all have been avoided if Sue Gray had taken a salary of just slightly less than Keir Starmer, maybe a cut of £5,000 on what she’s taken…. The amount of difference that it would make in terms of her living standards is minuscule at that level.”

It came as a new survey by Opinium suggested the row is harming Sir Keir personally, with his net approval rating plummeting to -26.

A No 10 source said: “Whatever the noises off, this Government is completely focused on stabilising the economy and delivering the change Britain voted for. Nothing will distract us from that task.”

‘Jail Starmer’ graffiti probed

Meanwhile, police have also launched an investigation after graffiti saying “Jail Starmer” was daubed on the window of an MP’s office.

The Metropolitan Police said the graffiti was daubed on the window on Friday and they received an allegation of criminal damage a day later. 

The words “Jail Starmer” in large white letters appeared at the south-east London office of Clive Efford, the Labour MP for Eltham and Chislehurst, according to images shown online by Sky News. 

A police spokesman said: “On Saturday 21 September police received an allegation of criminal damage to an office building in Westmount Road, SE9. 

“Graffiti had been daubed on the premises the previous day. An investigation has been launched and enquiries are ongoing.”

More than half of the 40 new hospital projects promised by the previous government could be postponed, the Health Secretary has announced.

Wes Streeting confirmed that the Government was considering changing the timetable for 25 of the new hospitals Boris Johnson pledged to build by 2030.

Mr Streeting said the cost of the New Hospital Programme (NHP) had “risen by billions” and was now “undeliverable and unaffordable”.

Almost all – 19 – of the hospitals are in constituencies represented by Labour MPs, raising the possibility of further political pain for Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.

In a letter to MPs on the eve of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Streeting wrote: “This Government is fully committed to an NHS estate that is fit for the future. However, from our first weeks in office it was clear that the New Hospital Programme was undeliverable, unaffordable, and estimated costs had risen by billions.

“Combined with the incredibly challenging fiscal inheritance that the Chancellor set out in her statement on July 29, it has become clear that the challenges facing the NHP, and the wider public finances, are much more severe than we were aware.”

Mr Streeting blamed the previous Tory government for leaving a “vacuum” in the public finances that allowed his predecessors to suggest £20 billion had been invested in the NHP that was not there.

It comes after warnings from the Health Secretary that the NHS is broken. Earlier this month, a landmark report by Lord Darzi, a surgeon and former health minister, said the health service was in a “critical condition”, with surging waiting lists, poor cancer performance and a struggle to access care.

The report also found that A&E waiting times have risen so much that a patient in need of care will now typically have 100 people ahead of them in the queue – up from just under 40 in 2009.

Lord Darzi said the NHS had “more resources than ever before”, with funding of £165 billion – a record outside the pandemic. But he also warned that there was an urgent need to boost productivity and shift more care out of hospitals.

Addressing the postponing of new hospital projects, Mr Streeting wrote: “This Government wants to see the NHP completed, but we are not prepared to offer people false hope about how soon they will benefit from the facilities they deserve.”

The terms of the reference for the review mean more than three in five of the hospitals could now face delays, with some likely to extend beyond the 2030 deadline set by Mr Johnson.

Promising a “thorough, costed and realistic timeline” for the new facilities, Mr Streeting said schemes would have to be taken forward “as financial conditions allow”. He also pledged to meet the MPs whose constituencies would be affected by the delays.

Hospitals in Labour constituencies that face delays include Royal Preston, in the seat represented by Maya Ellis, and Lancaster Royal Infirmary, in the seat represented by Cat Smith. 

The London constituencies of new MPs Calvin Bailey and Matt Turmaine could also be affected by potential delays at Whipps Cross University Hospital, in east London, and Watford General Hospital.

Danny Beales, the MP for Mr Johnson’s old constituency of Uxbridge and Ruislip, in north-west London, may have to explain any delays at the Hillingdon Hospital to the former prime minister’s constituents.

Mr Streeting stressed in his letter that the rebuilding of hospitals made up almost entirely of potentially dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) will not be delayed. It emerged last year that almost two million patients and 43,000 NHS staff were thought to be “at risk” from buildings with crumbling concrete.

“Central to the review is the understanding that the hospitals built primarily from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) need to be replaced as a priority, to protect patient and staff safety,” said Mr Streeting. “While the review is taking place, all schemes within the NHP will be supported to continue to make progress.”

Seven of the 40 new hospital sites were identified in Mr Streeting’s letter as having Raac concrete. Among them were Airedale General Hospital, Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Cambridgeshire, and Leighton Hospital, in Mid Cheshire, all of which will continue being rebuilt as planned.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We inherited a New Hospital Programme that is undeliverable and unfunded. We will be honest with patients and will put the programme on a sustainable footing.

“Patient safety is our biggest concern, so rebuilds of hospitals built primarily from RAAC, alongside those where the Full Business Case is already approved, will continue as planned. Our review will provide a thorough, costed and realistic timeline for delivery of the rest of the programme to ensure we can replace the crumbling hospital estate in England.

“This, alongside the fundamental reforms that will be introduced in our 10-year plan, will ensure we build an NHS that is fit for the future.”

Angela Rayner is accused of breaching parliamentary rules by failing to declare she was joined by a friend on a personal holiday funded by Labour donor Lord Alli.

The Deputy Prime Minister is reported to have travelled to New York with Sam Tarry, the then Ilford South MP,  and stayed in Lord Alli’s $2.5 million Manhattan apartment.

Mr Tarry is said to have covered the cost of his flights but stayed in the accommodation for free, according to the Sunday Times.

She took the decision not to declare the stay initially as she regards Lord Alli as a personal friend but had a change of heart as he also acts as a donor to her political activities.

The rules make clear that MPs must declare foreign trips if they or anyone connected to them go on if a donor pays for “part or all”.

Lord Alli has given Labour more than £500,000 since 2020.

On Saturday, Ms Rayner told The Guardian: “Look, the donations rules apply to all of us. Keir [Starmer, the prime minister] is really clear that you have to disclose when you’ve had donations.” She added: “I do think the rules matter.”

The Telegraph revealed earlier this week that the Deputy Prime Minister spent five nights in the two-bedroom Manhattan apartment, with views over New York from the 56th floor of a skyscraper.

Both Rayner and Tarry declined to comment on the latest allegations.

Improve housing standards

Meanwhile Ms Rayner will announce measures to protect renters and improve housing standards in her speech to the Labour Party conference on Sunday.

The Deputy Prime Minister will commit to “building homes fit for the future” in the speech, which will open Labour’s first conference since winning the general election.

The package is expected to include a new law aimed at ensuring that landlords respond to reports of hazards such as damp and mould swiftly.

The proposed legislation – Awaab’s Law – is named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died as a direct result of exposure to mould in the social home his family rented in Rochdale.

Before her speech, Ms Rayner – who is also the Housing Secretary – said: “Just because Britain isn’t working at the moment, it doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. We will deliver for working people and, in doing so, show that politics can change lives.

“We’ve inherited a Tory housing crisis. This Labour Government is taking a wave of bold action to not only build the housing our country needs and boost social and affordable housing, but also to ensure all homes are decent, safe, and warm.”

Labour estimates that it would support tenants in 746,000 homes with reported serious hazards to secure faster repairs, reducing health and safety risks.

Ms Rayner will speak about plans to accelerate efforts to fix unsafe cladding on high rise buildings across the UK, shortly after the conclusion of the Grenfell Tower inquiry.

She is also expected to lay out Labour’s intention to consult on a new decent homes standard for all social and private rented homes.

The Deputy Prime Minister added: “For Labour, this is not just about building houses at any cost but making houses people can call home. This means ending the scandalous situation where standards for existing and future tenants don’t currently even meet the minimum of safety and decency everyone should expect.

“Today, Labour is committing to raising the bar on the poor standards we’ve inherited from the Tories to ensure homes are fit for the future.”