Britain faces economic ruin unless the public finances are stabilised, Rachel Reeves will argue on Monday amid a winter fuel rebellion at the Labour conference.

Addressing delegates for the first time as Chancellor, Ms Reeves will insist that “tough decisions” on spending and taxation are necessary to bring about economic growth.

Her speech will further raise fears of a raft of tax rises in next month’s Budget.

Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, could also face embarrassment as delegates at the conference in Liverpool vote on whether to oppose the cut to winter fuel support.

Five trade unions have thrown their weight behind a motion set to be critical of the Government’s decision to remove the payments of up to £300 from almost all pensioners.

A formal rejection by the conference of one of the first major decisions the Government took would be a symbolic rejection of Downing Street’s approach.

In her speech on Monday, Ms Reeves will set out why she must make “tough decisions”, claiming the Tories left a £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances.

The Chancellor will say: “I can see the prize on offer if we make the right choices now. And stability is the crucial foundation on which all our ambitions will be built, the essential precondition for business to invest with confidence and families to plan for the future.

“The mini-Budget showed us that any plan for growth without stability only leads to ruin. So we will make the choices necessary to secure our public finances and fix the foundations for lasting growth.

“Stability, paired with reform, will forge the conditions for business to invest and consumers to spend with confidence. Growth is the challenge, and investment is the solution.”

Ms Reeves will also offer new hints about the Oct 30 Budget, which Sir Keir has warned will be “painful”.

She will say: “There will be no return to austerity. Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services, and for investment and growth too.

“We must deal with the Tory legacy, and that means tough decisions. But we won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain. So it will be a Budget with real ambition. A Budget to fix the foundations. A Budget to deliver the change we promised. A Budget to rebuild Britain.”

The pledge to avoid spending cuts similar to those brought in by George Osborne in 2010 comes amid fears of tax rises in the Budget.

It suggests Ms Reeves could unveil greater spending than the Tories had planned in office, which had public spending annually growing at one per cent in real terms. But it is unclear how that money would be raised, with tax rises of some form likely to come to pay for the extra spending.

In her speech, Ms Reeves will repeat the Labour election manifesto pledge not to increase National Insurance, income tax rates, VAT, or the corporation tax rate.

But there is no mention of capital gains tax and inheritance tax, further fuelling speculation that tax rises on wealth are possible.

Treasury sources did, however, indicate that they would not scrap the single person council tax discount or introduce a new standalone wealth tax.

A motion urging the Government to reverse the decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners is expected to be put to Labour conference delegates on Monday afternoon.

The exact wording of the motion is set to be decided on Sunday night, but it will almost certainly include explicit opposition to the policy, which trade union bosses have described as “cruel” and “politically inept”.

Winter fuel payments used to be given to around 11 million pensioners to help with colder temperatures. Now only 1.5 million older people, on pension credit, will receive it.

At least five unions – Unite, Unison, Aslef, the FBU and the CWU – are all expected to urge delegates to vote for the motion, according to union sources.

Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, contrasted the scrapping of the universal winter fuel payment with the accepting of freebies.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, she said: “I have been sickened by revelations of ‘donations’. It grates against the values of the Labour Party, created to fight for the needs of others, not self. Meanwhile, pensioners are having their winter fuel payments taken, risking going cold. I trust conference votes to change this.”

Angela Rayner has attempted to deflect attention away from Labour’s donations row by telling delegates at the party’s conference to remind voters of partygate.

The Deputy Prime Minister has denied she broke any rules over the donated use of a New York apartment owned by Lord Alli, the Labour peer who has also donated thousands of pounds towards clothes for Sir Keir Starmer.

In her keynote speech on the first day of the conference in Liverpool, Ms Rayner told party members: “Don’t forget what they did.

“We won because we had the courage to change our party, the discipline to make hard decisions, and the determination to remain united. And now, change begins.

“Even now, especially now, there will be no complacency. Don’t forget – partygate, Covid contracts, lies, division, scapegoating and the unfunded tax cuts for the rich that crashed our economy. Don’t forget any of it.

“The Tories failed Britain and tried to cover it up. A crater in the heart of Britain’s economy, a puncture in the pocket of every working family and a £22 billion black hole – and not as much an apology, let alone an acceptance, from the Tories.”

Earlier on Sunday, she denied breaking any rules over the use of the New York apartment. It has emerged that a former Labour MP, Sam Tarry, joined her for parts of her stay at the flat but was not named in the parliamentary declaration. 

Ms Rayner told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I followed the rules.” She also rejected the idea that Lord Alli was given anything in return for the donations, saying: “I promised nothing and gave him nothing in return.”

The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Housing Secretary, unveiled an extension to her devolution plans.

“Today, I’m proud to announce the next step in our devolution revolution,” she said. “This Government will change the future of the north of England so northerners will no longer be dictated to from Whitehall.

“We will be the Government to complete devolution in the North. Change will be irreversible, and I will get it done. And as a proud northerner, this milestone is personal to me.”

Ms Rayner also said she could be trusted with any cuts she has to make in her department because she had to live on £60 a week when she had a child.

“The Tories have left us facing tough choices, and even tougher ones face families across Britain, struggling to make ends meet,” she said. “Look, I get it – balancing my own department’s budgets brought me back to the old days when I had £60 to get me and my son through the week. 

“I know more than most that every pound counts. So let me be blunt – we can’t wish our problems away. We have to face them.”

Rachel Reeves will not scrap the single person council tax discount, Treasury officials have said.

The measure means people get 25 per cent off their council tax bill if they live alone, reflecting the fact that they benefit from fewer council services than couples or families.

Downing Street officials had previously refused to say whether or not the discount would be scrapped at the Budget next month.

But on Sunday the Treasury confirmed that the Budget will not contain measures to scrap the tax break, which is claimed by millions of households including four million pensioners.

Analysis from the TaxPayers’ Alliance previously found that scrapping the discount would have raised £5.4 billion, £1.9 billion of which would have been taken from single pensioners. 

That is is much higher than the £1.5 billion the winter fuel allowance cut is expected to raise.

Although the Treasury has ruled out scrapping the single person council tax discount, there could be other means by which the Government could launch a council tax raid in the Budget.

An overhaul of council tax bands, last evaluated in 1991, could affect millions of households.

In 2020, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that properties in band H, the highest cband, produced three times as much tax as those in the lowest, despite being worth at least eight times their value.

Changes suggested by the think tank could affect 17 per cent of households in England – 4.2 million – and see them lose an average of £1,230 a year, while up to 10 million would gain more than £200 a year.

In March, a spokesman for Ms Reeves, the then shadow chancellor, said Labour “has no plans to introduce this in government”.

Bespoke wealth tax ruled out

Ms Reeves also ruled out a bespoke wealth tax in the upcoming Budget, telling The Sunday Times ahead of the Labour conference:  “I’m not looking at creating some new tax or a wealth tax.”

Her confirmation comes despite Unite, one of Labour’s major union backers, being expected to bring forward a motion at the conference to demand a one per cent tax on the wealthiest

Erkan Ersoy, the national coordinator for the union, told a fringe event on Sunday: “The myth of trickle-down economics has to be challenged. It has never trickled down. Demand for a one per cent tax for the richest is a tactical step that my general is pushing.”

At the same event, Richard Burgon, the MP for Leeds East who was suspended from Labour after voting against the Government over the two-child benefit cap, called for a wealth tax of two per cent.

“We really need a fresh start under this new Labour Government when it comes to the issue of living standards and the funding of public services,” he said. “We need to steer clear of the siren voices on the political Right, in the media, for austerity and for cuts to living standards. The winter fuel allowance is an example of that.

“Of course there are alternatives – a two per cent wealth tax on assets over £10 million, for example, that would raise up to £24 billion a year, and that affects less than 0.1 per cent of the population, 20,000 people.”

An amber weather warning has been issued for up to 120mm (5in) of rain across England and Wales on Monday.

Floods are expected to cause travel disruption and possibly cut off communities in some areas of central and southern England.

The Met Office warned people to avoid car journeys on potentially dangerous roads, and not to drive, swim or walk through floodwater. It said anyone living in a flood risk zone should consider parking their car in a safer area, storing their valuables high up and charging mobile phones.

The warning followed heavy rain on Sunday, with some areas seeing a fortnight’s worth in just an hour.

The rain came after a final burst of summer at the end of the preceding week as high pressure brought warmer than average temperatures. The autumn equinox on Sunday marks the end of summer and the start of autumn.

The Met Office said an area of heavy rain was expected to develop across central and southern England during the early hours of hours of Monday, edging north and west and then becoming slow-moving somewhere across the warning area for several hours.

“Today marks the autumnal equinox and heralds in a brand new season, and for some of us it certainly going to be feeling very autumnal,” said Jonathan Vautrey, a Met Office meteorologist.

“There is some uncertainty about the exact positioning of this rain on Monday, so it is worth staying up to date with the forecast for all the latest. But it’s possible that particularly eastern Wales, into the Midlands and the corridor up towards north-eastern England could see some very heavy pulses at times.”

He added that further south “we will see some scattered showers developing, again very heavy in nature … but there will be some sunny spells in between those showers”.

Sarah Cook, a flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Persistent heavy rain and thunderstorms could lead to significant surface water flooding on Monday across parts of England.

“The impacts could include localised flooding in urban areas and fast responding catchments, including some property flooding as well as travel disruption. The risk from river flooding remains low.

“Environment Agency teams are out on the ground, and ready to support local authorities in responding to surface water flooding.

“We urge people to plan their journeys carefully, follow the advice of local emergency services on the roads and not to drive through flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.”

The average September rainfall across the UK is around 100mm (4in), meaning some areas could see more than a month’s worth on Monday.

From Tuesday, the weather is expected to be more settled, but feel cooler and turn wet and windy from the middle of the week.

Hezbollah rockets struck a suburb in the Israeli city of Haifa, destroying cars and spraying shrapnel on homes, in a revenge attack for Israeli air strikes and sabotage in Beirut.

The Israeli military said rockets had been fired “towards civilian areas” after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets.

Footage from car dashcams caught the moment of the explosions, which appeared to strike the middle of a residential street. Vehicles were left ablaze, and homes hit by debris.

The scenes of destruction in a major city are rare, with Hezbollah rockets normally falling on army positions or abandoned northern villages, and many being downed by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system.

It came as Israel fighter jets hit Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon with one of the most intense bombing raids since the war began.

 The Israel Defense Forces said it launched two waves of attacks – one on about 290 targets, and a second targeting 110 sites – across the region.

Israel is thought to be using air strikes and purported sabotage of pagers and walkie-talkies to try to pressure Hezbolllah to retreat north so Israeli civilians can move back to the north of Israel.

On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, warned: “If Hezbollah did not understand the message … I promise you, it will understand the message. 

“We will not suffer this – no state will suffer this, and we will do whatever necessary to return security.”

Israel and Hezbollah have so far resisted escalating the conflict to a full-scale war, despite tit-for-tat exchanges escalating almost daily. 

Iran, which backs Hezbollah, is thought to be resistant to a major escalation, while Israel faces internal and external pressure from allies to avoid a ground invasion of Lebanon.

However, Israeli officials suggested last week that the conflict was entering “a new phase” as more military reinforcements were sent northwards.

On Sunday, Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy chief, said his group was also in a new phase in its battle against Israel, which it said had become an “open-ended reckoning”.

“Threats will not stop us… We are ready to face all military possibilities,” he said.

They were the first comments from a senior group official since a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.

At least 16 Hezbollah members were killed in the strike, while Lebanon’s health ministry put the death toll at 45, including civilians.

Israel suggested on Sunday that those killed were plotting a new Oct 7-style attack on northern Israel and Galilee.

Hussein Fadlallah, the Lebanese member of parliament for Hezbollah, said the group had already replaced the commanders killed over the weekend.

“There is no vacuum – on the night of the attack in Dahieh, the new commanders were already appointed and began to plan an attack on the enemy. Not a single outpost remains empty of commanders for even a single day,” he said.

Experts believe the Hezbollah attacks that struck civilian parts of Haifa on Sunday risk escalating the conflict further. Usually, Haifa is a “red line”, said Ronen Solomon, an Israeli intelligence analyst.

Schools were closed in several areas of northern Israel, and gatherings restricted, while hospitals were ordered to move operations to facilities with extra protection from rocket and missile fire.

Alana Cohen, a resident, said: “In Haifa, we are not used to this. I have barely slept with all the booms and sirens through the night.”

Daniel Rosenfeld, another resident, said: “The streets are empty – there is a weird feeling here this morning. It [the conflict] hasn’t felt so close as now.”

Sarit Zahavi, from Alma, which focuses on security on Israel’s northern border, said: “It’s the first time during this conflict that Hezbollah has fired rockets, and so many, towards the Haifa area. We are in a new phase in the war and have been living under fire here since October, and we want to see our government doing something.”

Hezbollah claimed it had targeted the Israeli Ramat David Airbase with successive barrages of missiles in part as revenge for the attacks by exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, thought to have been carried out by Israeli secret intelligence.

Some of the drones overnight came from Iran-backed groups in Iraq.

Israel’s wave of bombings marked one of the largest sorties over southern Lebanon in months.

On Sunday, John Kirby, the White House National Security spokesman, said a regional military escalation was not in Israel’s “best interest”, adding that the US was “saying this directly to our Israeli counterparts”. He warned: “The tensions are much higher now than they were even just a few days ago.”

Israeli and Iranian delegations head to New York this week for the UN General Assembly, which falls two weeks before the anniversary of the Oct 7 attacks.

Donald Trump has said he will not run for the White House in 2028 if he loses to Kamala Harris in the November presidential election. 

Asked whether he thought he would run again in four years if he lost on Nov 5, the 78-year-old Republican nominee told Full Disclosure, a US outlet: “No, I don’t. I think that that will be, that will be it. I don’t see that at all. I think hopefully we’re going to be successful.”

Trump’s comments are thought to be the first time he has ruled himself out of running to become president again if he fails in this year’s bid.

If he wins, he would be ineligible for the 2028 race. The 22nd amendment to the US constitution limits the number of terms a president can serve to two four-year spells. However, he has previously suggested he would try to seek a third term if re-elected.

In March, he told the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting: “You know, FDR 16 years — almost 16 years — he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?”

During his campaign in 2020, Trump told a rally in Wisconsin that if he won another four years “we’ll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years”.

In July, Trump sparked criticism after telling people at a Christian summit they would never need to vote again if he returned to the White House next year. 

He told the crowd to “get out and vote, just this time”, adding that “you won’t have to do it any more. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote any more, my beautiful Christians”.

The Republican nominee later clarified his comments, saying: “That statement is very simple. I said: ‘Vote for me, you’re not gonna have to do it ever again.’ It’s true, because we have to get the vote out. Christians are not known as a big voting group, they don’t vote. And I’m explaining that to them. You never vote. This time, vote. 

“I’ll straighten out the country, you won’t have to vote any more, I won’t need your vote any more, you can go back to not voting.”

Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020 but refused to accept he was defeated and insisted the election had been “stolen”. On Jan 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt, spurred by his allegations, to stop the certification of the election result.

In recent months, he refused several times to commit to unconditionally recognising the result of the forthcoming election.

His remarks came as a new NBC News poll found he was trailing Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, by five points nationally.

The poll of 1,000 people found Ms Harris had 49 per cent of the vote among registered voters, compared to 44 per cent for Trump. The remaining seven per cent either choose a third candidate, said they were unsure or said they would not vote.

It is a significant shift from NBC’s July poll which put Trump two points ahead of Mr Biden, the then Democratic nominee. 

It also found Ms Harris’ favourability had increased by 16 points since July, the largest increase for any politician in the news outlet’s polls since George W Bush’s surge in popularity following 9/11.

In July, 32 per cent of registered voters had a positive view of Ms Harris, while 50 per cent saw her in a negative light. In the latest poll, she has a 48 per cent positive rating, compared to 45 per cent who see her negatively.

“In July, there was a stiff breeze heading directly at President Biden and obscuring a clear path to victory. Today, the winds have turned in Kamala Harris’s favour,” said Jeff Horwitt, a Democratic pollster of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.

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.

Four people were shot dead and dozens left injured after ‘multiple gunmen’ opened fire on a crowd in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, near the city’s university.

“We believe that multiple shooters fired multiple shots on a group of people” in the Five Points South district of Birmingham just after 11pm local time, police officer Truman Fitzgerald told local media.

The area has numerous entertainment venues, restaurants and bars and often is crowded on Saturday nights.

Detectives are investigating whether the gunmen walked up to the victims or shot from a vehicle in a drive-by type attack.

Officers found two men and one woman unresponsive on the pavement suffering from gunshot wounds, Mr Fitzgerald said. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth victim died at a local hospital and dozens of people were wounded with at least four sustaining life-threatening injuries, he added.

The shots were fired outside Hush, a hookah and cigar lounge.

Police believe the shooting was not random and stemmed from an isolated incident and officers are trying to identify the intended target, according to reports.

Police told local news station WVTM they think Glock switches were used in the attack. Glock switches are devices used to turn a handgun into a machine gun.

Police do not have anyone in custody over the shooting, Mr Fitzgerald confirmed, and urged the public to provide any information that could help the investigation.

Several agencies are involved in the investigation, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Fire rescue services were at the scene Saturday night and had cordoned off the area.

This year, there have been at least 403 mass shootings – defined as a shooting involving at least four victims, dead or wounded – across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

At least 12,416 people have been killed in firearms violence this year in the United States, according to the GVA.

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 Moshiko 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.

Labour wants to govern until at least 2049, a Cabinet minister has said.

Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said he wanted Labour to become the “natural party of government” and win as many as five elections in a row. 

Assuming Labour used the full five-year terms, that would see it in power for 25 years. That would surpass the 18 for which the Conservatives ruled under Margaret Thatcher and John Major – the longest period of government in modern times.

Speaking at the Labour conference, Mr Jones said he wanted Sir Keir Starmer to deliver “generational change for Britain” as Clement Attlee and Tony Blair had done.

‘Prove that we are the change-makers’

“But, conference, we should want more than that, more than a once in a generation chance to serve,” he said. “I want our Labour Party to become the natural party of government. A title the Conservative Party claimed for years – but we can take it from them.

“We have the chance to prove that we are the change-makers, that our changed Labour Party can be trusted to govern, not just for one or two terms but three, four and five. That together, as a united Labour Party, we can deliver for Britain.”

Mr Jones’ ambition exceeds that of Boris Johnson, who said he wanted to rule for a decade – but had to settle for only three years.

Lady Thatcher said she wanted to go “on and on”, but had to step down after 11 years. Her successor Sir John won the next election, ensuring the Conservatives had ruled for 18 years.

Labour’s longest term in office is the 13 years between Sir Tony’s 1997 victory and Gordon Brown’s defeat in 2010.

The Princess of Wales has been seen in public for the first time since announcing that she has finished her chemotherapy.

She attended the Sunday service at Crathie Kirk in Balmoral with her husband the Prince of Wales, the King and the Queen.

This week, Catherine returned to work for the first time since starting her cancer treatment with a meeting about her early childhood project.

She appeared in the Court Circular, the official record of the Royal family’s activities, for a meeting at Windsor Castle as she begins easing back into “a handful” of engagements over the coming months.

The entry, published in The Telegraph, reads: “The Princess of Wales, Joint Patron, The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, this afternoon held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle.”

She is understood to have been joined by members of her team at the Centre for Early Childhood, as well as Kensington Palace staff.

It is the first meeting noted in the Court Circular this year since the Princess withdrew from public life, first for major abdominal surgery and then for chemotherapy.

Earlier this month, she released a video explaining that she had finished her course of preventative treatment and saying she looked forward to returning to work in a limited capacity.

“Doing what I can to stay cancer-free is now my focus,” she said. “Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long, and I must continue to take each day as it comes.

“I am, however, looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months, when I can.”

The Princess is expected to attend a Remembrance Sunday service in support of the Royal family, veterans and their families. She is also set to host her annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey in December. No other engagements have been confirmed.

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.

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.”

Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus got married for a third time on Saturday, with the ceremony officiated by the former Great British Bake Off presenter Sandi Toksvig.

The Dancing Queen singer, 79, tied the knot with his Danish girlfriend Christina Sas, 51, in Copenhagen in a small ceremony in front of family and friends.

Ulvaeus was pictured smiling in a sleek grey suit and T-shirt as he held on tightly to his bride, who wore a khaki-coloured dress.

Toksvig was dressed in a clerical-style, gold-embroidered red cloak as she spoke into a headset microphone in front of the bride and groom.

The designer Søren Le Schmidt, who is known for dressing Danish royalty, provided clothing for the wedding.

The Danish-British presenter has been friends with Ulvaeus since they collaborated on the theatrical show Mamma Mia! The Party in 2018.

Toksvig’s role in the wedding, along with those of the Danish singers Anne Linnet and Kaya Brüel, made the evening “extra special”, read a post on the Abba star’s social media.

The newlyweds met in Nuremberg, Germany in 2021, during the release of Abba’s final album Voyage, when Ms Sas was working for the band’s record label, Universal Music Group.

They announced that they were a couple in June 2022 at the premiere of Ulvaeus’s musical Pippi at the Circus.

“We have dated for a while and I felt like I wanted to take her to this event. So this is the first time we go out together,” the singer said at the time.

Four months previously, Ulvaeus announced he had split from his second wife of 41 years, Lena Kallersjo. The couple share two daughters, Emma, 42, and Anna, 38, and agreed to split their £100 million in assets equally.

From 1971 to 1979, Ulvaeus was married to his bandmate and first wife Agnetha Faltskog. They had two children, Linda, 51, and Peter, 46.

Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrat have narrowly defeated the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the eastern German state of Brandenburg.

The victory for the party of Mr Scholz, although slight, will be a major relief to the least popular German chancellor on record, whose embattled coalition is struggling to cling to power.

The state election on Sunday in the formerly communist east was a rare bit of recent good news for his party.

The predicted results are also a blow to the AfD, which was polling high and predicted to win another state after a surge in support tied to its anti-immigration policies.

Scholz’s centre-left SPD won 30.9 per cent of the vote, while the AfD scored 29.2 per cent, according to provisional official results by the State Electoral Commissioner.

Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin like a doughnut, has been won by the SPD in every election since Germany’s reunification in 1990 and is one of its two remaining eastern strongholds.

Although one of the smallest states by population, Brandenburgh’s results are considered significant for the whole country and a strong indication of the mood of voters nationally.

The centre-Right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Left-wing anti-immigration party the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) received  11 and 12 per cent respectively of the vote, according to forecasts.

The Greens, with 4.1 per cent, are in danger of not passing the minimum 5 per cent threshold to enter the state parliament.

Turnout rose to 73 per cent from 61 per cent five years ago, according to broadcaster ZDF.

The results suggested there could be a continuation of the “Kenya coalition” of SPD, CDU and the Greens under Dietmar Woidke, Brandenburg’s popular SPD premier.

A visibly relieved Mr Woidke celebrated the projected close win in a race where just weeks ago his party had trailed the AfD in opinion polls.

The success for the SPD could give  Mr Scholz a slight reprieve from party discussions about his suitability to be once more its chancellor candidate for the federal election scheduled for next September given his unpopularity with voters.

“A great result, very great for the SPD, and for all of us,” Mr Scholz was quoted as saying by Politico on the sidelines of his visit to the United Nations in New York on Sunday.

It is unlikely, however, to give him or his party a major boost given Mr Woidke had distanced himself from Mr Scholz during the campaign and criticised the federal government’s policies.

“It was a very challenging campaign for us, but decisively we had a clear goal: we wanted to defend this state against a partly openly Right-wing extremist party,” Mr Woidke told broadcaster Tagesschau.

“We need to wait and see who can be in parliament [to form a coalition],” he added, referring to the Greens.

Kevin Kuhnert, SPD’s general secretary, said: “For us in the national SPD, when it goes well tonight the problems ahead of us don’t get bigger or smaller.

“We have a long process ahead of us if we want success in next year’s federal elections.”

The AfD, which had vowed “to send Woidke into retirement”, nonetheless hailed its strong showing, declaring it was the “strongest force in the east”.

Tino Chrupalla, the party co-leader, said it had “taken gold once and silver twice” in three elections in the east this month.

It is the third worst result for the CDU in post-war Germany’s history and its worst result in the east of the country.

A recent survey in the state found that immigration was the top concern for many voters.

The decade-old AfD has stoked and capitalised on public fears about irregular migration after a string of recent extremist attacks with suspected Islamist motives.

On Sept 1, the AfD made historic gains in former communist East Germany, becoming the strongest party in Thuringia, where it secured roughly 33 per cent of the vote.

In neighbouring Saxony, it emerged a close second with 30 per cent, narrowly losing to CDU.

Despite its ballot box success, the AfD is unlikely to take power in any state since all other mainstream parties have so far ruled out entering into a coalition with the party.

But the AfD’s rise has heaped political pressure on Mr Scholz and his governing allies, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, helping to spark further infighting.

At a national level, the three parties are now collectively polling less than the opposition conservatives, although political analysts say much could change before the federal election due in September 2025.

Angela Rayner faces an investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over the use of a $2.5million New York apartment lent by Lord Alli, the Labour peer.

The Telegraph can reveal that the Conservatives have written to Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, seeking an investigation.

The Tory letter claims that Ms Rayner’s “failure to properly register” the New York flat donation means the House of Commons code of conduct may have been breached.

It comes after it emerged that Sam Tarry, a former Labour MP, joined Ms Rayner for parts of her stay at the flat from Dec 29 to Jan 2 but was not named in the parliamentary declaration. 

During an interview on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Rayner denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I think I followed the rules.

Addressing the backlash, she added: “I get that people are frustrated, in particular the circumstances that we’re in, but donations for gifts and hospitality and monetary donations have been a feature of our politics for a very long time.

“People can look it up and see what people have had donations for, and the transparency is really important.”

Ms Rayner did declare to the parliamentary authorities the donation from Lord Alli that saw her use his apartment but did not detail publicly that Mr Tarry, then the Ilford South MP, had also stayed there.

According to the rules, MPs must declare foreign trips which they, or anyone connected to them, undertake if a donor pays for “part or all” of it as a result of “parliamentary or political activities”.

Ms Rayner argues that the trip was a personal holiday and denies any rule breach. Lord Alli is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Questions about the scale of donations from Lord Alli, a former TV mogul said to be worth £200 million, overshadowed day one of Labour’s conference in Liverpool.

The peer has decided to attend the conference despite a week of headlines about his hundreds of thousands of pounds of donations to the party. 

Sue Gray, the Downing Street chief of staff also in the headlines for her salary exceeding that paid to Sir Keir Starmer, has skipped the gathering. 

Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, on Sunday admitted receiving £14,000 from Lord Alli to help pay for events to mark her 40th birthday, but argued it was a work event.

Speaking on Sky News, she admitted some of the cash was used to pay for a 40th birthday event held in December at the Hoare Memorial Hall, a venue with views of Westminster Abbey.

Ms Phillipson said: “It was used to fund two events, all of which was declared properly and thoroughly – that’s why that information’s in the public domain. The first event was ahead of my birthday, so I was turning 40.

“I thought it was a good opportunity to get people together in a professional context – so it was journalists, trade unionists, education people, MPs and shadow Cabinet. The second event was an event that I held also, again, for Lobby journalists, for people in the education world, as part of a reception. It was in a work context.”

Ms Phillipson also defended accepting free Taylor Swift tickets, telling ITV: “Look, I’ll be honest – it was a hard one to turn down. I appreciate there was a big demand for the tickets, it was a privilege to be there.”

On the opening day of the Labour conference, Ms Rayner attempted to deflect attention away from Labour’s donations row by telling delegates at the party’s conference to remind voters of partygate.

She said: “Don’t forget what they did: partygate, Covid contracts, the lies, division, scapegoating, and the unfunded tax cuts for the richest that crashed our economy. Don’t forget any of it. The Tories failed Britain and they tried to cover it up.”

David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said: “Conference, for 14 long years, the Conservative Party misused the British state, handing out crony contracts to their mates, crashing the economy with their delusional ideology.”

There were no references to the donations row, and Andrew Bowie, the Tory shadow veterans minister, said: “Labour’s hypocrisy is off the scale. They spent years taking the moral high ground and now they’re excusing their freeloading as the done thing.”

On Sunday night, it was also reported that Ms Rayner had come by a “chief photographer” on a taxpayer-funded salary of up to £66,000.

According to the Mail, Simon Walker has been appointed Chief Photographer to the Deputy PM and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

A department spokesman said: “This is a Civil Service role and will be part of MHCLG’s communications team.”

Britain faces economic ruin unless the public finances are stabilised, Rachel Reeves will argue on Monday amid a winter fuel rebellion at the Labour conference.

Addressing delegates for the first time as Chancellor, Ms Reeves will insist that “tough decisions” on spending and taxation are necessary to bring about economic growth.

Her speech will further raise fears of a raft of tax rises in next month’s Budget.

Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, could also face embarrassment as delegates at the conference in Liverpool vote on whether to oppose the cut to winter fuel support.

Five trade unions have thrown their weight behind a motion set to be critical of the Government’s decision to remove the payments of up to £300 from almost all pensioners.

A formal rejection by the conference of one of the first major decisions the Government took would be a symbolic rejection of Downing Street’s approach.

In her speech on Monday, Ms Reeves will set out why she must make “tough decisions”, claiming the Tories left a £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances.

The Chancellor will say: “I can see the prize on offer if we make the right choices now. And stability is the crucial foundation on which all our ambitions will be built, the essential precondition for business to invest with confidence and families to plan for the future.

“The mini-Budget showed us that any plan for growth without stability only leads to ruin. So we will make the choices necessary to secure our public finances and fix the foundations for lasting growth.

“Stability, paired with reform, will forge the conditions for business to invest and consumers to spend with confidence. Growth is the challenge, and investment is the solution.”

Ms Reeves will also offer new hints about the Oct 30 Budget, which Sir Keir has warned will be “painful”.

She will say: “There will be no return to austerity. Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services, and for investment and growth too.

“We must deal with the Tory legacy, and that means tough decisions. But we won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain. So it will be a Budget with real ambition. A Budget to fix the foundations. A Budget to deliver the change we promised. A Budget to rebuild Britain.”

The pledge to avoid spending cuts similar to those brought in by George Osborne in 2010 comes amid fears of tax rises in the Budget.

It suggests Ms Reeves could unveil greater spending than the Tories had planned in office, which had public spending annually growing at one per cent in real terms. But it is unclear how that money would be raised, with tax rises of some form likely to come to pay for the extra spending.

In her speech, Ms Reeves will repeat the Labour election manifesto pledge not to increase National Insurance, income tax rates, VAT, or the corporation tax rate.

But there is no mention of capital gains tax and inheritance tax, further fuelling speculation that tax rises on wealth are possible.

Treasury sources did, however, indicate that they would not scrap the single person council tax discount or introduce a new standalone wealth tax.

A motion urging the Government to reverse the decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners is expected to be put to Labour conference delegates on Monday afternoon.

The exact wording of the motion is set to be decided on Sunday night, but it will almost certainly include explicit opposition to the policy, which trade union bosses have described as “cruel” and “politically inept”.

Winter fuel payments used to be given to around 11 million pensioners to help with colder temperatures. Now only 1.5 million older people, on pension credit, will receive it.

At least five unions – Unite, Unison, Aslef, the FBU and the CWU – are all expected to urge delegates to vote for the motion, according to union sources.

Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, contrasted the scrapping of the universal winter fuel payment with the accepting of freebies.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, she said: “I have been sickened by revelations of ‘donations’. It grates against the values of the Labour Party, created to fight for the needs of others, not self. Meanwhile, pensioners are having their winter fuel payments taken, risking going cold. I trust conference votes to change this.”

More than 30 people-smugglers have been arrested after attempting to sneak illegal migrants into the UK through the “back door” by exploiting the softer border controls with Ireland.

A three-day operation by Home Office immigration enforcement officers saw 31 people held after trying to smuggle migrants with fake IDs through airports and ports by using the common travel area between Britain and Ireland.

On the same day it was announced that migrants crossing the Channel had passed 24,000 since the start of 2024 after 707 people reached the UK on small boats on Saturday. It brings the total for 2024 so far to 24,335, which is up one per cent on the number of people who made the crossing by this time in 2023, but 20 per cent down on 2022.

The common travel area allows UK and Irish citizens to travel freely between the two countries without the need for visas that would be required for a migrant entering Britain from the EU or other countries.

The officers seized £400,000 cash and 10 fake ID documents during the operation at ports, airports and road networks. Locations included Belfast, Liverpool, Luton and addresses in Scotland.

Angela Eagle, the border security minister, said: “This Government will not stand by as criminal gangs exploit vulnerable people, risking their lives and giving them false hopes of a better life in the UK.

“Driven by greed, these gangs have no regard for human life or safety, charging outrageous fees, preying on those desperate to escape hardship and forcing them into illegal and dangerous situations.

“We are taking the fight to them on all fronts under the leadership of our new Border Security Commander. Dismantling the business models of these gangs does not just apply to the small boats trade – we are also stamping out other routes into the UK to bring them to justice and slash their profits.”

Soft border controls

The multi-agency operation was led by Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigations team in Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the National Crime Agency, other UK police forces and international partners.

The Telegraph revealed in 2023 how the soft border controls between Ireland and the UK were being exploited by Albanians to smuggle migrants into Britain in taxis for up to £2,500 less than the cost of Channel crossings.

The investigation found the Albanians worked with Irish criminal gangs to fly migrants into Dublin – often with fake EU papers – before providing them with an Irish taxi driver to sneak into Britain on ferries.

The back door route cost the migrants around £2,500 per person with a further £300 to £400 for fake ID bought in Albania. One gang organiser told an undercover reporter the trips were staged “every day”.

“You must get to Dublin. We have the price of £2,500 from Dublin to England. It’s 100 per cent secure. You need to get a European fake ID so you can get easily to Dublin,” he said.

Jonathan Evans, home office immigration enforcement inspector, said the three-day crackdown had been a “huge success” and sent “a clear message that the smuggling gangs who break our laws will face serious consequences”.

He added: “We are taking action day in, day out to ensure we stay a step ahead of these criminal groups, disrupting them at the earliest possible stage. We will continue working relentlessly to ensure no one abuses the Common Travel Area or the UK’s borders.”

The BBC is investigating Clive Myrie’s “moonlighting” payments after they were not logged in the presenter’s register of earnings.

The corporation records external payments made to staff in a regular log, but it has been claimed that cash paid to Myrie for several events has not been included.

The BBC has said it will review the issue and properly record further payments to Myrie, in addition to his £310,000 salary.

It is common practice among leading BBC presenters to earn extra money by speaking at corporate events.

Myrie’s £5,000 to £10,000 gig hosting an Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association lunch in March had been omitted, The Sunday Times has reported. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on his part.

A spokesman for the BBC said: “There appears to have been some administrative errors in relation to entries on the register. These will be reviewed and, where necessary, the register will be updated.”

Leading figure

Myrie is among the highest-paid presenters at the BBC, and has become a leading figure, heading much of the News at Ten’s coverage.

The journalist ranks at the top of the list of BBC staff in terms of outside earnings, according to a recent study by the Press Gazette, earning around £66,000 in the 12 months before June 2024.

This places him ahead of other high-earners, including Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson.

Following the departure of disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards from the News at Ten, the presenting role for the BBC’s flagship evening bulletin has been filled on rotation by Reeta Chakrabarti, Sophie Raworth and Myrie.

The permanent replacement for Edwards has been a subject of speculation, and bookmakers have often favoured Myrie’s chances of taking the role permanently

The presenter, among the BBC’s highest paid on between £310,000 and £314,999, previously said that he was “incredibly pleased with what I’ve got”.

Myrie has been contacted for comment.

Sue Gray personally authorised the Downing Street security pass given to Lord Alli, it has been reported.

Ms Gray, Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, allegedly approved access for the controversial Labour donor, which allowed him to attend meetings in No 10, according to The Mail on Sunday.

The decision was followed by a bitter briefing war against Ms Gray including the leaking of her salary, which revealed that she is paid more than the Prime Minister.

Such has been the furore that she decided to skip Labour’s conference in Liverpool. She will instead spend her time in Downing Street, preparing for Sir Keir’s attendance at the UN General Assembly later this week.

However, Lord Alli decided to attend the conference despite the controversy over his donations of £25,000 towards clothing for Sir Keir and his wife. Lord Alli is not accused of any wrongdoing. 

John Glen, a Tory MP, said it was “deeply concerning” that the Downing Street pass had been issued to Lord Alli at all. Mr Glen has written to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, demanding to know whether Ms Gray or Sir Kier had authorised the pass.

“No wonder she’s on a higher salary than the Prime Minister,” he said. “It’s now clear that it’s Sue Gray – not Sir Keir – who decides who comes in and out of No 10.”

Downing Street has declined to comment on the reports. Last month, it said the pass was “temporary” and had been “given back several weeks ago”.

The Downing Street pass gave Lord Alli, 59 – who was ennobled by Tony Blair in 1998 and led the party’s fundraising for the general election – unrestricted access to No 10. At the time, sources said it was rare for anyone not formally employed as a political adviser or civil servant to be given such a pass.

Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, said Lord Alli brought “a huge amount to the Labour party” and “was an important part of the election campaign”. He added: “I don’t believe there’s anything done here that’s in conflict with the rules.”

It came as Cabinet ministers rallied round Ms Gray and dismissed speculation that she could soon leave No 10. Asked whether Ms Gray would still be in Downing Street at Christmas, Angela Rayner told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg “I think so, absolutely”, she replied when asked on BBC One.

Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, also voiced support. She told Sky News: “What I would say about Sue Gray is that she is someone who brings enormous expertise, particularly in the running of Government, to this role.

“In the dealings that I’ve had with Sue, [she] has always been highly professional and focused on delivering.”

It also emerged on Sunday that Civil Service pay bands were set by a panel chaired by a long-standing ally of Ms Gray. Darren Tierney, Parliament’s head of propriety and ethics, worked alongside her in the Civil Service.

On July 12, less than a week after Labour’s election victory, a paper recommending that Ms Gray earn at least as much as she had in opposition was written by Mr Tierney and sent to Mr Case. He discussed it with Sir Keir and he agreed to the £170,000 salary – £3,000 more than the Prime Minister’s pay.

Ms Gray has one of the biggest public profiles for a Downing Street insider in recent years, in part thanks to her role in Boris Johnson’s departure as prime minister.

While still in the Civil Service, she led the Whitehall investigation into claims of parties at the heart of government during Covid lockdowns. Her findings were passed onto the Metropolitan Police, which eventually found that dozens of individuals had broken lockdown laws with events in Downing Street or the Cabinet Office.

Actor John Barrowman quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins just 32 minutes after he arrived at base camp.

The Doctor Who star was part of the sixth series of the Channel 4 reality show, which returned to TV screens on Sunday evening and showed celebrities taking part in SAS winter warfare training in the south islands of New Zealand.

Barrowman, who also opened up about the flashing allegations he faced in 2021 while on the show, could be seen throwing up sometime after the first challenge.

After the contestants put on their uniforms and got ready to see their accommodation, Barrowman started being sick and told the group “I’m out”. Asked by Mark “Billy” Billingham, the chief instructor, if he would like to see a doctor, Barrowman then said: “No… I’m done.”

He added: “I just… it’s not for me, I know who I am and what I’m about, it’s not for me.”

The narrator of the programme said: “After only 32 minutes on base, number 13 John is the first recruit to leave the course.”

The first challenge involved recruits traversing two parallel bars over a 335ft canyon.

During the episode, Barrowman addressed the accusations that he had repeatedly exposed himself on the set of the BBC One sci-fi series Doctor Who and its sister show Torchwood.

He said: “The press made the allegation that I was going around putting my d— on everybody’s shoulders.

“Having that happen to me ruined me, but this course is going to help me push through this and I want people to see the kind of person that I really am.”

He later added: “On Doctor Who and Torchwood, I had to do a lot of nude scenes. If I were being stupid, I would do something stupid.

“I would shake and waggle or I might do a scene where I might have one of my bollocks hanging out.

“The press made it out that I was a sexual deviant. We’ve all done stupid things and silly things, but what’s been said about me will never go away now.”

Contestants in this series include Rachel Johnson, the sister of former prime minister Boris Johnson, reality star Pete Wicks, former Olympic gymnast Ellie Downie, comedian Tez Ilyas, professional basketball player and Love Island star Ovie Soko and world heavyweight champion boxer Lani Daniels.

Reality TV Star Bianca Gascoigne, former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, TV Presenter Cherry Healey, former professional boxer Anthony Ogogo, comedian Shazia Mirza, Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison, reality star Bobby Norris and former Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson complete the line-up.

Series six of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins will air on Channel 4 every Sunday and Monday at 9pm.