The transgender owner of a £5 million Scottish castle is selling up, claiming the rural community is “not ready” to accept someone who has changed their gender.

Samantha Kane said it sometimes felt like she had “landed on Mars” when “hurtful” gender identity comments were shared on social media.

Ms Kane, who was born male and now styles herself as Lady Carbisdale, is thought to be the only person in the UK to have changed gender three times.

The barrister has spent millions of pounds restoring Carbisdale Castle, near Ardgay in Sutherland, after buying the 117-year-old property in 2022.

But Ms Kane has now decided to sell the 19-bedroom, 29-acre castle, complete with its own loch. It has been listed with a guide price of £5 million.

Ms Kane, 64, told the Daily Mail: “It has been a labour of love mostly. But when people sit in their bedrooms writing on social media they have to realise the effect that has on some people.

“I really have been quite hurt by comments on my gender identity, so now I think it just needs someone, for a better word, ‘normal’ to take over.”

Ms Kane added: “It is such a special place but I did suffer some prejudice and I think probably the Highlands is not ready for a transgender owner of the castle. It needs someone else to protect its future.

“But I came here to a near-ruined castle and have restored it to its former glory, so I’ve done the job I said I was going to do.

“It’s really such an important landmark and my main concern is to see it preserved and to see it respected.”

After Ms Kane bought Carbisdale Castle for more than £1 million, police were called over a community council meeting at which homophobic remarks were allegedly made about her.

Ms Kane had attended the meeting to state her intention to restore the manor but had to leave while a vote took place.

One resident, who did not want to be named, claimed he heard a woman had been “abusive” towards a committee member understood to have been Ms Kane.

He claimed: “The language she used was exceptionally strong which even a sailor would have been proud of. I wouldn’t use it as a man, never mind it coming from a woman.”

Police Scotland said it received a report of a disturbance in Carron Place, Ardgay, on Nov 23.

Officers issued advice and a woman received a recorded warning in relation to an earlier disturbance on Nov 21.

At the time, Ms Kane described the police involvement as an “overreaction” despite claiming that some of what was said was “homophobic and racist”.

She said of the alleged abuse: “In my view it wasn’t a disturbance other than a handful of people wanting to see what I’m doing derailed. I’ve got a half a dozen people trying to smear my name and the castle’s name. They’d rather see a ruined castle than a preserved castle.”

Ms Kane said there were “a lot of great people in the community” and stressed the “actions of one or two people should not reflect the whole community”.

“Unfortunately if you have one or two very active and very vocal people trying to make it all personal… and comments on social media calling me a man – and this and that – it really hurt me and I can do without that,” Ms Kane said.

“It is a sad situation. But really for me I think it should be about whatever helps the castle, it shouldn’t be what helps me personally. In the interests of the castle I think it will be best served with someone else at the helm.”

Ms Kane was born in Iraq and moved to the UK, later making a fortune as the head of investment at a Saudi-owned company. She transitioned to become Samantha in 1997 and in 2004 transitioned back to a man.

In 2018, she underwent further surgery and hormone replacement therapy to revive her transition into femininity.

The former head of the Police Federation made a sexually suggestive remark about the grieving widow of a police officer killed in the line of duty, a misconduct panel was told.

John Apter is accused of saying he wanted to comfort Lissie Harper in his hotel room as she prepared to collect a posthumous award on behalf of her husband, Andrew Harper, who was dragged to his death while trying to stop a gang of quad bike thieves in 2019.

Mr Apter, who was chairman of the Police Federation between 2018 and 2021, allegedly told colleagues: “I wouldn’t mind looking after her tonight” and “I’d like to comfort her in my hotel room”.

A gross misconduct panel also heard the former Hampshire constable groped a much younger officer’s bottom and made a suggestive comment to a pregnant colleague while attending the annual Police Bravery Awards.

Barrister Cecily White, representing Hampshire Constabulary, told the misconduct hearing there was a “pattern” to Mr Apter’s behaviour, which she said was “sexist and derogatory”.

“There are significant similarities between the allegations that different people have made from different perspectives which show an unfortunate attitude towards women in the workplace,” Ms White said.

She added that his role as chairman “placed him in significant power and authority”.

Outlining the first of the allegations, Ms White said: “It was about the widow of Pc Andrew Harper, who was killed in the line of duty.

“His widow, Lissie Harper, was due to attend an awards ceremony to accept a posthumous award on behalf of her husband.

“In the context of a discussion about her attending the event, which would have been quite stressful for her, he said ‘I’d like to comfort her in my hotel room’, with an obvious sexual connotation.”

Pc Harper, a 28-year-old officer with Thames Valley Police, was killed in 2019 when a getaway car dragged him to his death.

He had married his wife just three weeks earlier and the pair were about to go on their honeymoon when he was killed.

Three teenagers were subsequently jailed for his manslaughter.

Ms White told the hearing Mr Apter is also accused of touching the bottom of a junior constable from another force – named only as Female A – on a police night out in December 2021 before the Police Bravery Awards in London.

The panel was told a large group of officers had been celebrating at a pub in central London.

Ms White said: “He bought [Female A] a bottle of Prosecco whilst everyone else got a single drink, continually topping her drink, giving her the impression that he was trying to get her drunk, directing all his comments to her. It made her feel uncomfortable.”

She said when the group moved on to a restaurant afterwards, Mr Apter allegedly placed his hands on Female A’s hips before squeezing her bottom at least once.

She described Mr Apter’s behaviour as “disrespectful and discourteous”.

The misconduct panel was told Mr Apter was allegedly “intoxicated” and “stumbling on the stairs” during the night out.

It was also alleged that he told a female colleague: “Maybe you’ll get a bum now”, after hearing about her pregnancy.

Mr Apter, who has since retired from Hampshire Constabulary, denies the allegations.

The hearing continues.

Sir Keir Starmer has called for the return of the “sausages” from Gaza in a slip-up during his speech at the Labour Party conference.

In an embarrassing gaffe, the Prime Minister misread his script – which called for the return of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on Oct 7 last year.

He said: “I call again for restraint and de-escalation between Lebanon and Israel. I call again for all parties to pull back from the brink.

“I call again for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of the sausages… the hostages, and a recommitment to the two-state solution, a recognised Palestine and a safe and secure Israel.”

The Prime Minister also said criticism of the way he runs his Government was “water off a duck’s back”.

“Politics can be on the side of good, politics can be on the side of truth and justice, politics can secure a better life for your family through the steady and uncompromising work of service,” he said.

“Because service is responsibility and opportunity for all. The precondition for hope. The bond of respect that can unite a country, bind us to the politics of national renewal. Service doesn’t mean you get everything you want. It doesn’t mean everyone will agree.

“But it does mean we understand that every decision we take, we take together, and that it is our duty for the British people to face up to necessary decisions in their interests.

“And conference – you know me by now, so you know all those shouts, the bad faith advice from people who still hanker after the politics of the people before me, the weak and tawdry fantasy of populism, it’s water off a duck’s back. Mere glitter on a shirt cuff.”

The Conservatives responded with a video on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The party said: “Keir Starmer uses his first big speech as Prime Minister to call for the return of the sausages.”

It then led to a Star Wars style title, saying: “Episode X: Return of the Sausages.”

Michael Gove has been appointed as editor of The Spectator magazine after its takeover by Sir Paul Marshall, the GB News co-owner, The Telegraph can reveal.

The controversial former Cabinet minister will begin his new job on Oct 4 – pending final approval from Acoba, a regulator that oversees new jobs taken by former ministers – just over three months after he stood down as an MP. It means he will be at the helm of the magazine known as the “Tory Bible” as the Conservative Party leadership election reaches its climax.

He will take over from Fraser Nelson, who has achieved record print circulation figures during his 15 years in the job as well as making a success of its digital subscription strategy.

It was also announced that Lord Moore, a former editor of The Spectator and The Telegraph, will become The Spectator’s non-executive chairman, replacing Andrew Neil.

Mr Gove’s appointment will not only give him a major platform for shaping opinion around who should be the next Tory leader, but it also suggests a shift in emphasis at the influential magazine, which was fiercely opposed to the Covid lockdowns that Mr Gove championed while in government.

Mr Gove is a divisive figure in Conservative circles, having scuppered Boris Johnson’s 2016 leadership bid by standing against him after promising he would back him. It earned him a reputation as a backstabber that has stayed with him ever since.

Mr Johnson, himself a former editor of The Spectator, had run the successful Vote Leave campaign with him before they became rivals.

Mr Gove will take over as editor of the magazine three weeks before the end of the Tory leadership contest. He has in the past been a vocal supporter of Kemi Badenoch, though their relationship is said to have cooled in recent months. She told a hustings event last month that she was not “controlled” by the former housing secretary.

Mr Gove is thought to have sought the approval of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which must approve any job taken by an ex-minister within two years of leaving government.

Mr Nelson, who is also a Telegraph columnist, is expected to leave the world’s oldest weekly magazine, which had become so successful under his stewardship that Sir Paul outbid Rupert Murdoch to pay £100 million for it earlier this month, around twice what it had been expected to sell for.

Mr Gove’s divisiveness in the Conservative Party was not confined to his long-running rivalry with Mr Johnson. David Cameron, now Lord Cameron, described him in his autobiography as “mendacious” after falling out with him over Brexit and said of him: “One quality shone through, disloyalty.”

Liz Truss described him as “that snake” after he helped undermine her brief premiership by saying he would not vote for her Budget when it was put before Parliament.

Sir Paul, who made his fortune as the co-founder of the hedge fund group Marshall Wace, is a former member of the Liberal Democrats who switched his allegiance to the Conservative Party because he supported Brexit.

He is co-owner of GB News and owner of the news website UnHerd, and is part of a consortium that has previously expressed an interest in buying Telegraph Media Group, the sale of which is ongoing.

Earlier this month, veteran journalist Mr Neil resigned as chairman of The Spectator with a parting shot at Sir Paul.

He told its staff: “My greatest regret is that I have not been able to find you a new home guaranteed to nurture the unique chemistry of The Spectator, which makes it so special and successful,” said Mr Neil.

“You can have all the resources in the world but if you don’t understand what really makes The Spectator tick then they will be as nought.”

He also urged Sir Paul not to interfere in editorial matters, saying: “I regarded it as my prime responsibility for 20 years to ensure [editorial independence], protecting the editor not just from outside pressures, commercial or political, but even from proprietors,” said Mr Neil.

“I cannot tell if the new owners will have the same reverence for editorial independence since they have not shared their thinking.”

Mr Gove and Sir Paul share a belief in the need for a more responsible form of capitalism, and in March, Mr Gove defended Sir Paul in the House of Commons during a debate about extremism.

Sir Paul had “liked” a tweet that said “civil war is coming” because of the increasing proportion of Muslims making up the population of Britain, which Labour criticised. Mr Gove said: “I deprecate the personal attack on Sir Paul”, describing him as “a distinguished philanthropist”.

Mr Gove’s new job marks a return to the career he left when he became an MP in 2005. He was assistant editor of The Times, having started his career in journalism working on The Telegraph’s Peterborough column.

Mr Gove is not the first former Cabinet minister to become an editor: George Osborne, the former chancellor, was appointed editor of The Evening Standard in 2017 by its owner Lord Lebedev, but he was unable to halt its decline during his three years in the job. Earlier this month, the newspaper ceased daily publication and moved to a weekly print publication model to cut costs.

Sir Paul bought The Spectator through his Old Queen Street Media company, which owns UnHerd. Its chief executive is Freddie Sayers, who is now publisher of The Spectator.

After the takeover, he promised that UnHerd and The Spectator would “remain fully separate titles, with independent editorial and governance structures”. 

Mr Sayers said: “To be editor of The Spectator requires a rare breadth of intellectual interests and depth of journalistic experience.

“Alongside his political and journalistic nous, Michael brings a love of books, philosophy, art, opera – and a mischievous sense of humour. He is perfectly suited to this role, and I can’t wait to work together to bring The Spectator to new audiences.

“Fraser has achieved huge success over his 15 years as editor, modernising and building The Spectator into a formidable media brand. I am delighted that he will continue to write and, as Associate Editor, be part of The Spectator family.”

Lord Moore said: “The Spectator thrives because of its free spirit and editorial independence. Having been continuously associated with the paper for more than a fifth of its nearly 200-year history, I am honoured to have been asked to be its chairman. I look forward to its future being even greater than its past.”

Mr Nelson said: “There’s never a good time to leave a job like mine but, after 15 years and a new owner with big ambitions, there is an obvious time. In many ways, Michael is the obvious successor.

“He’s a first-class journalist who took a detour into politics, he was my news editor when I was a young reporter at The Times and he first declared his ambition to edit The Spectator in an Aberdeen classroom at the age of seven. Now, aged 57, he has made it. His experience, combined with his journalistic skills and the quality of the team around him, will make for quite a potent combination.

“Charles was made editor of The Spectator aged 27 and went on to edit The Daily Telegraph. His remit as chairman will be to safeguard editorial independence and I can think of no one better-suited to The Spectator chairmanship.”

Mr Gove has been contacted by The Telegraph for comment.

A Ukrainian front-line battalion filmed its drone-led rescue of an injured Russian soldier.

The K-2 Battalion, which is part of the Ukrainian Army’s 54th Brigade, posted the video across several different social media platforms this week.

Set to eerie music, the video runs longest on Telegram at more than 18 minutes. It picks out the strained facial expressions of the injured Russian soldier, damage to his wrist watch and the streak of dried blood running down the side of his face.

In the video, the drone operator decides not to kill the injured Russian soldier and instead drops water and a note before leading him across No Man’s Land to a Ukrainian trench.

It is unclear where or when the video was shot, although it appears to be set in late summer on a battlefield in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Throughout the war, the 54th Brigade has been positioned on the front line in the Donbas region.

The video appears to be part of a sophisticated recruitment for the K-2 Battalion which, like the rest of the Ukrainian army, is under pressure to sign up more soldiers.

The released video starts as a Ukrainian drone scans a Russian trench after an attack, searching for survivors. It spots the injured Russian soldier lying on top of at least two bodies under an earth arch.

The Ukrainian drone drops a grenade near the injured man but fails to kill him.

Later, the drone returns to the trench to discover that the injured soldier has crawled away from the earth arch and is now lying on his back, begging to be spared.

The Ukrainian drone operator takes pity on the injured Russian soldier. The drone dumps its grenades onto the battlefield, flies back to base and then returns with a bottle of water and a note with instructions on how the injured Russian soldier can reach Ukrainian lines and safety.

The Russian soldier crosses himself and waves “thank you” to the Ukrainian drone operator before he gulps down the water.

The Russian soldier then takes out a syringe from his pocket and injects a painkiller into his left arm. He lies back exhausted before gathering his strength and staggering out of the trench into a sun-drenched No Man’s Land.

He has a leg injury and immediately falls to the floor before gingerly picking himself up and slowly walking forward, threading his way between the artillery craters.

The Ukrainian drone leads the injured Russian soldier through the battlefield. Puffs of smoke show that fighting is continuing.

At one point, the Russian soldier lies in a crater and signals to the drone that he wants to smoke a cigarette before moving on.

He takes out a new packet of cigarettes from a pocket, unwraps the packet, takes one and lights up.

The drone pans out for a wider view of the heavily scarred battlefield.

The sun is setting, bathing the battlefield in a soft orange light. Occasionally, an artillery shell lands near the injured Russian soldier who picks his way between debris and craters. The video’s accompanying subtitle claims that he is being shot at by his own forces.

The injured Russian soldier, with the Ukrainian drone as his guide, eventually makes it to the Ukrainian trench system where he collapses onto the dirt floor, exhausted.

Two Ukrainian infantrymen walk through the trench system towards the injured Russian soldier.

They walk with purpose, striding over rubbish and rubble with their rifles at their shoulders.

The Russian soldier surrenders. One of the Ukrainians then grabs him, roughly, and half-pulls, half-marches him to the trench command post.

A missing 10-year-old girl was located with thermal imaging drones one day after she got lost inside a forest in Louisiana.

Peyton Saintignan disappeared on Sept 14 after she sleepwalked deep into the woods near her home.

Drone footage, which was released on Monday, captured the moment she was found huddled under a tree in her pyjamas at 11pm local time the next day.

In the video, the drone operators can be heard cheering as soon as they see Peyton start to lift her head.

“She’s awake,” a male voice exclaims. “They got her! She’s alive!” another man says as clapping can be heard in the background.

Several police officers then arrive at the scene and Peyton, who appears to be shaking, is carried to safety.

Multiple police departments, firefighters, homeland security agents and hundreds of volunteers were involved in a major search which began on Sept 15.

However, it was volunteers from Arkansas who offered up their specialist drone equipment and eventually located Peyton 1.5 miles from her home.

She was found “in dense woods roughly 300 yards from where a trail camera had recorded her earlier Sunday morning”, Jason Parker, the local sheriff, said.

He explained that police had tried but failed to use a helicopter to find her and thanked the three volunteer drone operators, Josh Klober, Matt Ramos and Micah Carter, for “successfully located the young girl”.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled we all are to have a happy ending to this,” Mr Parker said at the time.

“A lot of prayers were answered today. And, I want especially to thank all the agencies who helped bring Peyton safely home and all the volunteers who gave their time and efforts.”

It was just the latest example of such aerial technology being used to find missing children.

Earlier this month, a three-year-old was quickly located within a cornfield in Wisconsin by police using drones with thermal capabilities.

France and Germany have demanded improved post-Brexit rules for EU workers and students in Britain in return for a new migration deal to drive down Channel crossings.

The two countries asked the European Commission to negotiate concessions alongside a deal on asylum with the UK in a letter seen by The Telegraph.

The call is an early result for Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to reset relations with the EU and his diplomatic outreach to Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor.

But any deal to return Channel migrants will be difficult and come attached with demands over youth mobility and calls on Britain to resettle genuine refugees in Europe to the UK.

Brussels must “rapidly present a draft negotiating mandate with a view to reaching an agreement with the United Kingdom on asylum and immigration issues”, Paris and Berlin wrote to the commission.

“We believe that Brexit has had very detrimental consequences for the coherence of our migration policies,” said the joint letter. 

“The absence of provisions governing the flow of people between the UK and the Schengen area is clearly contributing to the dynamics of irregular flows – and to the danger posed to people using this route in the Channel and the North Sea.”

The joint letter was sent by Nancy Faeser, the German interior minister, and Gerald Darmanin, her outgoing French counterpart, on Friday. Mr Darmanin has now left his post as France ushered in a new Right-wing government that promises to be even tougher on illegal immigration at the weekend.

As many as 41,078 migrants tried to reach the UK from the EU’s Schengen zone in the first eight months of this year, according to Frontex, the bloc’s border agency.

The ministers said the lack of a deal regulating the movement of “persons between the UK and the Schengen zone is obviously contributing to the momentum of irregular migration flows.”

They added: “The arrival in office of a new British Government, demonstrating its intention to co-operate constructively with the EU, seems to us to be conducive to concrete progress on this issue.”

Labour hopes to make the fight against illegal migration part of a new security and defence pact with the EU. The bloc sees the negotiations as a way to impose pressure on the Government to agree to increase legal youth mobility for EU citizens into Britain. 

Labour has already rejected a call from Brussels to negotiate such a deal, or rejoin the Erasmus student exchange scheme.

Diplomatic sources have previously said any EU migrant return deal would require Britain to take in a share of migrants from under-pressure countries in the bloc, as member states do.

“We are relying heavily on the commission to simultaneously address the issues of legal mobility, in particular family and professional mobility, the fight against illegal immigration and the right of asylum with our British partner,” the letter said.

During the Brexit negotiations, the European Commission rejected UK calls for an EU-wide migration deal to replace the Dublin regulation, which means migrants must stay in the first safe country they land.

‘Red lines have not changed’

Any EU-UK deal would require the unanimous support of the EU’s 27 member states, which is unlikely given that migration is a hugely divisive issue in the bloc.

Countries such as Italy and Greece, which have borne the brunt of migrant arrivals into Europe, will be likely resist moves to return people to the EU, as will the fiercely anti-migrant Hungary.

The overture from Paris and Berlin comes after Sir Keir told leaders at the European Political Community summit earlier this year that the UK would never leave the European Convention on Human Rights after ditching the Rwanda plan.

Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, will meet Ms Faeser, Bruno Retailleau, the new French interior minister, and Italy’s Matteo Piantedosi, her Italian counterpart, at a G7 ministerial meeting next week.

The Government insists its red lines have not changed and that there will be no return to freedom of movement or any involvement in an EU quota scheme for migrants.

“Starmer would do anything to get closer to the EU,” James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary and Tory leadership candidate, told The Times. “This is a man who campaigned for a second referendum and said all immigration laws were racist. The EU cannot wait to play Labour like a fiddle.”

Sir Keir Starmer has said that he hopes to meet both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris ahead of the US election in November.

The Prime Minister said that it would be “very good” to hold talks with the Republican and Democrat candidates for the White House. 

He made the remarks as he headed to New York to speak at the UN General Assembly on Thursday.  

No 10 is understood to be trying to set up meetings with both politicians whilst Sir Keir is in the United States this week. 

The Prime Minister said: “As far as the candidates are concerned, if possible, it would be very good to meet both of them at some stage before the election.

“We’ll just have to see what’s possible.”

Sir Keir has made concerted efforts to build bridges with both camps ahead of the US election, which will take place on Nov 5. 

He was the first world leader to phone Mr Trump after the assassination attempt on the former US president’s life in July. 

Labour has naturally close ties with the Democrats, a fellow Left-wing party, with Ms Harris adopting some of Sir Keir’s election strategy. 

The Prime Minister headed to the UN summit with a declaration that Britain is “returning to responsible global leadership” under his administration. 

He said that talks with fellow world leaders are set to focus on the response to the situation in Israel and Lebanon as well as the Ukraine war.

“I think what will dominate is the Middle East and recent developments and, of course, Ukraine,” Sir Keir said.

“So I think that’ll be pretty central. And it will be really important for us to have the conversations with our allies about the situation in both of those areas.”

Sir Keir will use his speech to the assembly on Thursday to suggest that other countries had lost faith in the UK as an international partner under the Tories.

He will say: “We are returning the UK to responsible global leadership. This is the moment to reassert fundamental principles and our willingness to defend them. To recommit to the UN, to internationalism, to the rule of law. 

“Because I know that this matters to the British people. War, poverty and climate change all rebound on us at home. They make us less secure, they harm our economy, and they create migration flows on an unprecedented scale.  

“The British people are safer and more prosperous when we work internationally to solve these problems, instead of merely trying to manage their effects. So, the responsible global leadership that we will pursue is undeniably in our self-interest.” 

Kemi Badenoch has accused Labour of being “hypocrites” for accepting donor gifts while criticising Boris Johnson for taking money to help redecorate Number 10.

The Tory leadership frontrunner defended receiving freebies herself, saying it can allow a hard-pressed politician to spend time with her children.

But she insisted: “You can’t buy me with a glass of Prosecco and smoked salmon.”

Ms Badenoch’s comments come in the wake of Labour’s sleaze row, with ministers under fire for accepting free clothes, holidays and concert tickets.

She told Times Radio: “It’s about hypocrisy. They are being criticised because they are being hypocrites.

“They criticised Boris Johnson for putting wallpaper in a public property.”

This is a reference to claims in 2021 that an undisclosed loan was used to fund new wallpaper in Mr Johnson’s Downing Street flat. Following the furore, Mr Johnson agreed to pay for the refurbishment himself.

Angela Rayner tries to deflect criticism

Ms Badenoch made reference to the 40th birthday party of Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary,which was paid for by a donor.

“Once in a while [donors] would ask me to come to something, and my children haven’t seen me for a week and they would like to go,” she said.

“You declare it and you explain what it is you’re doing. Nobody paid for my birthday parties or anything like that.”

Ms Badenoch has taken freebies for an Ed Sheeran concert and a rugby game at Twickenham.

She said: “I think what Labour are failing to do is point out why politicians do this.

“What many people don’t see is the school sports days that I miss or my children crying as they were this weekend because I had to go to hustings, a lot of the constituency functions which you do which mean that you actually miss out on time with your family.

“So if someone says, well, you can do some work and we can have a chat and you get time to spend with your family at something that they probably wouldn’t be able to do normally, you say yes to it.”

On taking her husband to the rugby, she said: “He likes rugby. My husband spends a lot of money subsidising my life as a politician. He has to deal with the fallout.

“So here’s something nice that he can do with me. It doesn’t mean that those people are buying me. You can’t buy me with a glass of Prosecco and smoked salmon.”

Ms Badenoch hit out at Tory leadership rival Robert Jenrick for a poor record as immigration minister, saying things “didn’t go well” under his time in office.

She said that, unlike Mr Jenrick, she was able to campaign on her record in office as business secretary and equalities minister.

She added that while Britain will “probably” need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights in order to tackle the small boats issue, that would not be the major factor in bringing down immigration.

There are now four candidates left in the race to run the Conservative Party: Ms Badenoch, Mr Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat.

Each will make speeches at next week’s Tory conference, after which MPs will hold two votes to whittle the number down to the final two.

Asked by Times Radio whether she thought Mr Jenrick had done a good job as immigration minister, Ms Badenoch said: “I think it’s an interesting argument to say that things didn’t go well when I was doing the job, but give me another chance.

“I’m standing on my record. I got things done and I can do more. And I think when it comes to immigration, we need to start from first principles.

“This policy of leaving the ECHR is something that we probably will have to do, but it’s not where to start from. We need to start from first principles. What kind of country do we want to be? Why have we been so bad at managing the borders despite wanting to do so?

“More promises are not the answer. We need a plan and we need people who show that they understand the system and know how to fix it.”

Ms Badenoch also ruled out doing an electoral deal with Nigel Farage to help the Tories at the next poll.

She said: “I’m a Conservative. I love competition. It’s another thing that we believe in from first principles.

“But that means doing better than the other lot. We created a vacuum which Reform has filled by not being authentically Conservative or visibly Conservative, by not delivering on our promises. So we have a job to do in order to remove that vacuum.

“I don’t think that there is space for two centre-Right parties but I don’t think the solution is attacking Reform voters. We need to win them back.

“Many of the Reform voters in my constituency were former Conservatives. We’ve got to do that but doing a deal with Farage for me is not on the cards.”

Sir Keir Starmer faces a fresh backlash over his relationship with Lord Alli because of the role played by one of the donor’s former staff members in choosing prospective Labour MPs.

Matthew Faulding, who was in charge of candidate selection for this year’s general election, worked in Lord Alli’s office on secondment from his firm BM Creative Management in the months before the poll.

He was blamed by critics of Sir Keir for “parachuting” favoured candidates into constituencies, imposing them on local Labour associations. He is now secretary of the Parliamentary Labour Party, “keeping them all in check” according to one former member of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), who described the arrangement as “rotten to the core”.

It came as Lucy Powell, the Leader of the Commons, said Labour would not change the rules around MPs accepting so-called freebies.

The Labour Party conference has been overshadowed by a row over Lord Alli’s donations to Sir Keir Starmer to buy clothes and spectacles. Lord Alli was given a Downing Street security pass in what has been dubbed the “passes for glasses” controversy.

He is attending the conference but has kept a low profile, shunning the main conference hall and fringe events. On Monday afternoon he was spotted leaving the conference secure zone, when he walked past Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, who did not acknowledge him.

When a reporter for Sky News asked him about the controversy, he said: “Please don’t – this is not very nice.”

Some Labour members are angry that Lord Alli’s influence appears to have extended to the selection of Labour candidates, many of whom are now MPs.

Mark Seddon, a former Labour candidate who served on the NEC and is now director of the Centre for United Nations Studies at the University of Buckingham, said on X: “The same Matt Faulding who fixed the selections is now Secretary of the Parliamentary Labour Party, keeping them all in check. Rotten to the core.”

The journalist Michael Crick reported before the election that candidates parachuted into constituencies included Josh Simons, the former director of the Starmerite think tank Labour Together, who is now MP for Makerfield; Calvin Bailey, MP for Leyton and Wanstead; James Asser, former chair of the NEC and now MP for West Ham and Beckton; and Luke Akehurst, MP for North Durham, who was seen as Sir Keir’s enforcer on the NEC.

Sir Keir had previously promised not to impose candidates on local party associations, but during the general election he was accused of breaking that promise and “riding roughshod” over the wishes of members.

‘Starmtroopers’

Those on the Left of the party accused him of flooding the country with “Starmtroopers” to purge Labour of anyone deemed to have diverged from the party line.

Some members resigned in disgust after having candidates imposed from above rather than being able to interview and select their own candidates.

Mr Faulding, 35, was a deputy director of Progress, the Left-wing think tank, and was also a director of the Lowick Group, a strategic communications consultancy, before he worked for Lord Alli.

‘We want to be transparent’

At a Labour conference fringe event on standards in public life, Ms Powell said she would “very strongly refute” the suggestion that the Government was “in hock” to “vested interests”.

“Campaigning is an expensive business and you do have to raise money. That’s why there are quite tight rules around that and people have fallen foul of it. So perhaps that’s just sort of how things are at the moment and [we have] no plans to change that.”

She acknowledged there were still “many” issues around “culture and behaviour” in politics.

But she said Labour politicians held themselves to higher standards than the Tories, which was “why we are transparent, and we want to be even more transparent around some of these things as well”.

Defending her own record on taking handouts, she said the “vast majority of the so-called freebies” she had accepted were “attending official events” in her former role as the shadow culture secretary.

Lord Alli and the Labour Party were both contacted for comment.

The Work and Pensions Secretary has said young people benefit from being in the office, deepening a growing split in the Cabinet over working from home.

Liz Kendall said that young employees working for her during the pandemic had found remote working from shared rental properties “a nightmare” that left them “stressed”.

She said that there was no “one size fits all” answer to home working, but highlighted the social benefits of the office for the young.

Her stance echoes Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, who has said that she wants civil servants in the office.

However, their comments are at odds with Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, who said that being able to work from home contributes to “productivity” and “resilience”, and makes a “significant contribution” to tackling regional inequality.

‘Bickering’ ministers

The Tories claimed that the Cabinet was not “on the same page” over home working.

Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow business secretary, said: “This just goes to show that if the Labour front bench can’t figure out what they want between themselves, businesses have no chance of navigating Labour’s byzantine regulations.

“Clearly the Business Secretary has been spending too much time telling some of the most successful businesses in the world how to operate, and forgotten to make sure the rest of the Government is on the same page as him.”

He added: “Ministers should spend less time bickering with themselves and more time engaging with businesses.”

Speaking at the Labour Party conference, Ms Kendall told a fringe event: “I do know from my own experience that many young people wanted to be in [the office], because it was a nightmare working from home and they were stressed, and it was great teamwork. But that was just in my circumstances.”

The Work and Pensions Secretary highlighted the challenges of working from home for young graduates who are often living in shared rental accommodation.

‘True flexibility’

She told delegates at a fringe event hosted by the Institute for Public Policy and Research: “Let me just say, from my perspective, during Covid, when I had a couple of young people start work for me, and they were desperate to get into their office.

“They didn’t want to try to work from home with two or three people in shared accommodation. I mean, this is not just London. They didn’t know people.”

She added: “Different things work for different people, and I think that that’s what true flexibility means.

“And as people of a certain generation, someone called me a veteran MP the other day…. How I worked is completely different from what people my age when I started work expect. So we have to change.

“So I’m not going to say either, ‘Everybody in the office’. Neither am I going to say, ‘Oh, yeah, let’s all work from home’. [It’s] what works for your company, but also for your individuals.”

Earlier on Monday, Ms Reeves said that there was “value” in working from the office.

She told LBC: “I lead by example. That first weekend when I was appointed Chancellor, I arrived at the Treasury at about three or four on a Friday afternoon.

‘Bringing people together’ 

“We work well into the evening, not just me and my political team, but civil servants. And we came in on a Saturday and a Sunday.

“We did that in the office, not on Zoom, because I do think there is real value in bringing people together and sharing ideas. You’re challenging each other.”

She said that there was “certainly a case for flexible working” to allow parents to take care of children or elderly relatives, but added: “I do think that productivity gains are more likely to happen when you have that sharing of ideas and bringing people together, and I lead by example on that in my department, and I think that it’s, it’s reaping dividends.”

Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was asked about his stance on Monday, telling Bloomberg Radio: “Well, I work for the Chancellor, and so I’ll be going to the office.”

Mr Reynolds, who is heading up the New Deal for Working People alongside Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, praised working from home in an interview with The Times last week.

He told the newspaper: “We’ve had flexible working laws for quite some time in the UK. I think where people reach agreement with their employer … it does contribute to productivity, it does contribute to their resilience, their ability to stay working for an employer.”

While he said that there “are times when it is absolutely necessary” to have the workforce in the office, he added: “The UK has very significant regional inequality. It could play a significant contribution to tackling that.”

Mr Reynolds criticised Amazon’s move to order staff back into the office five days a week, saying that “flexibility, when agreed between employer and employee, is good for productivity, is good for staff resilience”.

Also at the fringe event, Ms Kendall expressed concern about the growing mental health crisis among young people, and criticised the former government’s approach and rhetoric on the issue.

“I think it’s really important that we don’t just say, ‘Well, buck your ideas up’. You know, as the last government did. ‘Some day you’ve got to toughen up’.

“Is anybody with a young person who’s anxious, trying to even get them to school, just telling them to toughen up? Well, how successful is that?”

A 40-year-old woman and an eight-year-old girl have been found dead at a property in Salford.

Greater Manchester Police were called to South Radford Street shortly after 10:30am on Monday following reports of a concern for welfare at the property.

Officers attended, with assistance from North West Ambulance Service and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, and the bodies of a woman and girl were found at the property.

All known next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.

Det Supt Simon Moyles said: “A woman and young girl were both tragically found dead and we are working hard as a team to establish what happened here this morning. 

“Whilst we are not actively looking for anyone else in relation to this investigation, I understand the news of their deaths and the large police and emergency services presence at the address will most likely cause some concern to residents and those further afield in Greater Manchester.

“I want to reassure them that we believe this to be an isolated incident with no wider threat in the community.

“A cordon has been put in place and there is a scene contained on South Radford Street. We continue to thank the public for their patience as we respond in the area.

“We have placed a number of highly visible officers to patrol in and around the area should any residents wish to come and talk to us or pass on any information they may have about this tragic incident.”

A Salford City Council spokesman said: “We are aware of the terribly sad news this morning and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of those who have tragically lost their lives. 

“We’re working closely with GMP and assisting them with their ongoing investigation and our teams will be supporting both local residents and council staff who have no doubt been greatly affected by the events today.”

A grandmother has struck up a remarkable bond with a giant tortoise that she takes on walks around a seaside town.

Jackie Leek, 58, first bought the African sulcata tortoise she calls Mr Miyagi for company while recovering from cancer 18 months ago.

Since then, the pair have become inseparable and she has taken the eight-year-old tortoise on holiday in her caravan in Morecambe, Lancs, and for regular strolls on the beach.

It weighs around three stone (19kg) and is expected to be around 10 stone (63.5kg) when it is older.

Because it could live to be 120, she has even set up a trust fund to look after it when she has gone.

Despite Mr Miyagi’s size, Ms Leek, who is from Wigan, takes it everywhere she can and says that people often “abandon their cars” to stop and ask for a picture.

She said: “I open the door and he just follows me down the drive and onto the estate, where we live.

“He will just follow me and we have little walks.

“People will abandon their cars when they see us, they will stop and ask if he’s real and if they can touch him.

“I take him to the beach and there’s a little quiet bit where I take him.

“But I went there on a bank holiday Monday and before I knew it, we were surrounded by people and everyone was having a photo shoot with him – it was mad.”

Ms Leek was diagnosed with myeloma, a type of blood cancer that develops in the bone marrow, and breast cancer about four years ago.

After having radiotherapy, she would feel lonely, so decided to go to the pet shop, where she purchased a tortoise called Thor.

Ms Leek would often walk Thor in a pram, but it died three years after she bought it.

The mum of two then decided to rescue Mr Miyagi, who was originally called Arthur Pendragon.

Ms Leek, who lives in Warrington, Cheshire, said: “I never had an interest in reptiles or tortoises ever – I’m terrified of snakes.

“I never thought I would get a tortoise. He helps me loads, I do have some dark days.

“I’m getting stronger after my diagnosis, but Mr Miyagi is helping me.

“I couldn’t go back to work because of my immune system and I have to watch where I go and what I do, so he’s a massive part of my life.

“He gives me a purpose and when I’m crying, he sits there and I talk to him.”

Mr Miyagi loves eating romaine lettuce and dandelions, and sometimes has green beans, strawberries and tomatoes as a treat.

It also enjoys sitting in a children’s sand pit that has been filled up with water, but has been known to “rearrange the furniture” when Jackie has left her house.

Ms Leek, a former nurse said: “He takes himself off to bed at around 5pm and he will sleep until 8am unless I get up and he hears me in the kitchen.

“Before I do anything, I get a children’s sand pit and he stands next to me while I fill it with hot water and my partner lifts him into the bath.”

The trust fund set up for Mr Miyagi will make sure that whoever takes care of it after Ms Leek can afford it.

She said: “I’ve made plans for when I’m not here so my partner will keep him for as long as he can.

“After that, I’m hoping my daughter will take him and I’ve left money with him because they aren’t cheap and [he] has the best insurance and the best vets.

“If my daughter can’t have him or thinks that she doesn’t want him, then my partner has two sons, so I’m hoping they could even have him.

“If not, I’m sure there will be a home for him somewhere but you just don’t know.”

Sue Gray’s salary should not be “the subject of public debate”, Sir Keir Starmer has insisted.

The Prime Minister defended his chief of staff after it emerged that she is paid £170,000 a year, £3,000 more than him.

Speaking during a trip to New York he also said that he took “responsibility” for the No 10 briefing war that has erupted over her role.

Ms Gray, whose influence in Downing St has become a source of controversy, accompanied Sir Keir on a trip to the United Nations General Assembly.

Her salary has caused dismay among other government special advisers, who have been forced to accept pay cuts.

However, Ms Gray has been defended by Cabinet ministers and No 10 allies who say she has been unfairly made a scapegoat for criticism.

Asked about the row, the Prime Minister told the BBC: “I’m not going to discuss individual members of staff, whoever they are.

“I don’t believe that my staff should be the subject of public debate like this, and I’m not going to play any part in it.”

Sir Keir said he did “acknowledge that briefings are not helpful to the Government” when asked how he would put a lid on tensions in No 10.

He added: “It’s my job to deal with briefings and I take responsibility for that. But I get up every day to ensure that we’re delivering the change that we’re elected into government to deliver, as does every member of the Cabinet.”

Ms Gray skipped this week’s Labour Party conference in Liverpool following a week in which the spotlight on her role in government intensified.

But she did accompany Sir Keir on his trip to New York, having joined the Prime Minister on all his foreign visits since he entered Downing Street.

‘Shared strategy is good for the country’

The Prime Minister was separately asked by Channel 4 whether the Government was actually being run by his chief of staff and Rachel Reeves.

He replied: “The way we do it is as you would expect, through strong Cabinet decisions. I will openly admit the Chancellor and I are very close.

“We think together we have got a shared strategy and approach. This is a very good thing for the country, by the way.

“We’ve had plenty of examples of chancellors going in one direction, Prime Minister’s going in another. It usually ends pretty sadly.”

Sir Keir also defended his decision to accept £100,000 in freebies and insisted Lord Alli, a major Labour donor, was not trying to buy influence with them.

The Prime Minister admitted it was “fair” to ask questions about the gifts but insisted he had “human explanations” for accepting them.

‘In elections, we’re busy’

Asked about the thousands of pounds of clothes and glasses he received from Lord Alli, he told Sky News: “In the general election campaign, we’re busy.

“Lots of people want to help and in this particular instance, well, ‘I can help with sorting out some clothes’.

“In opposition that’s one thing. What I would say now is I won’t be doing donations for clothes again. There won’t be any declarations like that.”

Sir Keir was also asked whether “alarm bells” had rung that Lord Alli was seeking influence with donations to himself and Angela Rayner.

He told Channel 4: “I think your characterisation isn’t entirely accurate. People donate in different ways. The important thing is that it’s declared.

“There were plenty of people before the election who desperately wanted a Labour government and wanted to donate towards that end and that was their driving motivation.”

Keir Starmer’s speech at conference ought to have been an unequivocal lap of honour. Here he was, a Labour prime minister for the first time in 14 years, taking his bow. But his address was not without mishap. With urgency in his voice, he called for the return of the “sausages” still being held captive in Israel. Then, at the end of his speech, he went to kiss his wife, Victoria. 

In modern politics, kissing your spouse in public is generally agreed to be a way to display a softer side. In theory, it serves as a reminder that behind all the dry policy and politicking there lurks a regular human being. After all, who among us does not want to snog their partner in front of a few thousand people in an auditorium and maybe even a few watching on television? 

The problem for the Starmers yesterday lay in the execution rather than the principle. The kiss was a stilted, awkward thing. Victoria did her bit, with a round-the-head embrace, but her husband failed to rise to the moment, instead offering her a thin-lipped peck, like a penguin testing a new source of food. 

He can be forgiven. A public kiss is a difficult thing to get right. Like fishing or chess, it is apt to be a better sport for participants than spectators. Too enthusiastic and you risk looking like Italian teenagers in a piazza after one too many negronis. Too chaste and you leave the audience wondering whether the blood runs cold in your veins. 

In between lies a canyon of awkwardness, particularly in an era of lightning-quick digital cameras, where you can be sure at least one frame will show your smooch in an unflattering light, the better to be circulated online by your enemies. Here are some classics of the genre: the few good, the many bad and the downright urghhh. 

Donald Trump (rejected but enthusiastic) 

Donald Trump’s divisive shamelessness – or bravery, depending on what cap you wear – extends to his public displays of affection. He will lunge at Melania whenever he feels like it. As far as we can tell from looking through the archive, it has never been reciprocated. Instead, the former and possibly future first lady ducks decisively out of the way at the last second.

Donald Trump (Bandage kiss)

You may have thought her husband’s brush with death at the hands of a Pennsylvania gunman may have thawed Melania enough to admit a smooch. Not a bit of it. With his ear bandaged after his convention speech, Trump went in for his prize, only to meet the usual high plain of razor-sharp Slavic cheek bone instead of a mouth. 

Philip and Theresa May 

Voters did not warm to Theresa May for her soft and cuddly approach to politics. Whenever she tried to do something wacky, as with the regrettable robot dance, it tended to backfire. Like Mrs Thatcher, her predecessor as a female PM, Mrs May and her husband, Philip, wisely mostly eschewed conjugal peacocking. This image suggests that was wise: less “power couple” than “just won a weekend in Tuscany”. 

The Clintons

Thanks to his affair with Monica Lewinsky, the public learnt more about Bill Clinton’s amorous endeavours than it ever wanted to. When Hillary decided to take him back, she did so with respectful, dignified displays of affection such as this, in which she is in control. As befits the ultimate political power couple, she was sending a message to everyone watching. If she had forgiven her husband, the voters had permission to as well. 

Tony Blair 

In keeping with his radically relaxed call-me-Tony approach to politics, Blair was never shy about using his public interactions with his wife, Cherie, to show that he was red-blooded to the bone. Their kisses were refreshingly relaxed, so it was a pity that he took things too far with his memoir, in which he recalls that on the night he decided to run for leader, he “needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly”, adding that on the evening in question, he became an “animal” following his “instinct”, an image which casts a horrifying pall over all images of them together. 

The Camerons 

A genuine aristocratic cool girl, Samantha Cameron was always one of David Cameron’s strongest assets. Even those who hated his politics had to concede a grudging respect to him for pulling off such a blatant coup. This video is a clear display of the dynamic. She goes in for a genuine lunge, apparently genuinely enthusiastic about the prospect. He responds, in the manner of all good Etonians, by sitting back and waiting for the good thing to happen to him. 

Charles and Diana (hot) 

Charles and Diana’s wedding picture on the balcony of Buckingham Palace was one of the great political kisses; proof that when it comes to using displays of affection to win hearts and minds, nobody does it like the Royal family. He was the awkward prince, she the breathtaking princess, and here was the future of Britain, tradition and modernity coming together in one gorgeous photo opportunity. What could go wrong? 

Charles and Diana (cold) 

A fair bit, as it turned out. The public warmed to Diana because she seemed to be honest in front of the cameras. Having enjoyed the PR coup of their wedding, Charles and Diana were forced to endure the opposite as their marriage went south. Every appearance they made was studied for clues about what might be happening in private. You did not need a degree in body language to see from this picture that things may not have been rosy at home. 

William and Catherine 

Second time lucky? Despite the questionable auguries, the Royal family could not resist repeating the Charles and Diana pictures when it came to William and Catherine’s wedding. Same balcony, same combination of uniform and train, same angle of head. If there is something to remind you of how odd life as a member of the Royal family can be, it’s to imagine the possibility that William was given training in how to pull like his dad. It was just as effective as a piece of visual propaganda. In hindsight, the smooch was a recent zenith for the Royal family before relations with Harry and Meghan disintegrated. 

Ed Miliband

For politicians who get married after they have been elected, as Ed Miliband did with Justine, their wedding snaps can demonstrate the difference between private and public life. Miliband never looked comfortable with being photographed in political PDAs, whether with people or sandwiches. But here, on his wedding day, he just looks like a slightly awkward bloke in love. It’s much more relatable. If only we had seen more of this guy.

A hippopotamus threw a British tourist in the air “like a ragdoll” in a frenzied attack.

Roland Cherry, 63, was dragged to the bottom of a river in Zambia by the animal during a safari with his wife, Shirley, in June.

The company director was twice sent hurtling into the air by the hippo and bitten in the stomach.

But he managed to scramble to the riverbank and survived after being airlifted to a hospital in South Africa.

Mr and Mrs Cherry were three weeks into a holiday in the central African country when they opted for a canoe ride on the Kafue River on June 24.

The couple came across a female hippo and a young calf as they paddled down the river.

But the 1.4 ton mother became aggressive and rammed into their canoe, sending Mr and Mrs Cherry hurtling into the water.

“When the hippo first hit the canoe, there was a massive crash, it was like a car crash,” Mr Cherry said as he recovered at home in Tysoe, Warwickshire.

“The boat reared up in the air and we were both sent flying into the water. I surfaced, but my shoulder was dislocated, and I couldn’t actually swim.

“I was a sitting duck, trying to swim with one arm which was never going to end well, and then it grabbed me.”

Mrs Cherry had swum to the riverbank and could only watch on as her husband was dragged to the bottom of the river.

“As I was being dragged to the bottom of the river I remember thinking ‘oh no, what a way to go, I’m not ready to die’,” Mr Cherry recalled. “And I thought this was it, because nobody survives hippo attacks.”

He managed to free himself from the hippo’s jaws and was able to scramble to shallower water, only to be attacked again.

“I was grabbed again and thrown through the air like a rag doll, but towards the bank which was a godsend,” he said.

“I remember looking down at my legs thinking ‘that’s not good’. There were bits of flesh sticking out of my torn shorts and blood over my abdomen.

“I was in its jaws and I didn’t see it once – we have witness accounts of that happening – but I was never conscious of that.

“I just remember hearing Shirley calling my name and then lots of friendly arms dragging me out of the water.”

Mrs Cherry, 63, recalled watching in horror as the hippo launched itself at her husband.

“I saw him surface and he took a gulp, and then I saw him being thrown in the air,” she said.

“The hippo could have attacked any one of us and I can’t help feeling if it had been me, I wouldn’t be here now, so I think Roland took one for the team.”

Mr Cherry, who has been left with deep scarring from a 10in (25cm) bite to his stomach, was hauled onto a motorboat and taken back to the couple’s camp upstream, where an ambulance was waiting to transfer him to the Mtendere Mission Hospital.

Mr Cherry was then airlifted by helicopter to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was treated for five days before flying home to Britain.

Doctors in South Africa told him that he was lucky to survive the attack, and said he would have died if his wounds had been deeper.

He is now raising money for Mtendere Mission Hospital in Chirundu, southern Zambia. At the time of writing, £6,900 had been donated.

‘A second chance at life’

“I’m forever in their debt, which is why I’m raising money to try and see what I can give back,” he said. “They’ve given me an awful lot, a second chance at life and I need to give back to them.”

Despite his brush with death, Mr Cherry has not ruled out returning to Africa for more safari trips.

“We were there to see the natural world, but I didn’t want to see that close up,” he said.

“I certainly don’t hate hippos – I’m not very fond of what one did to me.”

The widow of a constable killed on duty hit back at the former chairman of the Police Federation after being told he made a sexually suggestive comment about her, a gross misconduct hearing has been told.

Lissie Harper described the alleged comments as “highly inappropriate”, the panel considering the charges against John Apter heard.

Mrs Harper also suggested Mr Apter had abused his senior position by making the alleged remark, just months after her 28-year-old husband lost his life.

Mr Apter, who was chairman of the federation, which represents rank and file officers, between 2018 and 2021, is said to have told colleagues: “I wouldn’t mind looking after her tonight” and “I’d like to comfort her in my hotel room” as Mrs Harper prepared to collect a posthumous award for her husband in 2020.

He is also accused of touching a much younger officer’s bottom on the night of the annual police bravery awards, and telling a pregnant colleague “maybe you’ll get a bum now”.

The Hampshire Constabulary gross misconduct hearing was told Mrs Harper attended an awards ceremony at the Annual Roads Policing Conference in January 2020 to collect an award on behalf of her husband.

The Thames Valley Police roads officer had been dragged to his death by three teenagers in a getaway car as he responded to a burglary call in August 2019, just a month after the couple’s wedding.

During the ceremony, Mr Apter gave a speech and presented Mrs Harper with the award.

Cecily White, a barrister representing Hampshire Constabulary, said the night before the ceremony, Mr Apter allegedly made remarks about Mrs Harper to colleagues.

Ms White said: “In the context of a discussion about [Mrs Harper] attending the event, which would have been quite stressful for her, he said, ‘I’d like to comfort her in my hotel room’, with an obvious sexual connotation.”

The misconduct panel was told that on hearing about the alleged comment, Mrs Harper had said if it was true it was “highly inappropriate from someone in that position”.

Ms White added: “It was a bereaved widow who was accepting a posthumous award.”

Mrs Harper has not been called to give evidence at the hearing.

Martin Buhagiar, the former head of communications of the Police Federation, told the hearing Mr Apter regularly engaged in “locker room bloke banter”, and claimed he had “got used to” comments such as the one allegedly made about Mrs Harper.

Mr Buhagiar said the main priority at the awards ceremony was taking care of Mrs Harper as it was her first public appearance since her husband’s death, and a group of colleagues were discussing it.

“We wanted to make sure everything was done in the right way,” Mr Buhagiar said.

“Somebody said something along the lines of if she needs comforting we bring her in in the right way, and if she needs a pause we afford her that pause.

“I remember him [Mr Apter] saying something like, ‘I’d like to comfort her in my hotel room.’

“It took me a few seconds to hear it because at first I took it as him saying he could look after her, but then the penny dropped and there was an awkward silence.”

Mr Buhagiar said after the awkward silence, he quickly wrapped up the conversation and the group of colleagues disbanded.

‘Drunk at bravery awards’ claim

When asked why he had not raised the comment with Mr Apter immediately, Mr Buhagiar said: “My style was never to confront people in a crowd. 

“John and I worked together for years and we had conversations in private, I didn’t want to turn it into a bigger issue.”

Mr Buhagiar claimed that at the police bravery awards in October 2021, Mr Apter had been drinking from a hip flask throughout the evening.

He added that at the end of the evening Mr Apter had filmed a short video interview about how the night went, but it could not be used because he was too drunk.

Mr Apter, who is now retired after a 30-year police career, denies the claims and the hearing continues.

A woman has died after being bitten by a mosquito in New York.

She became the first person to die from eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in the state in nearly a decade, prompting the governor to declare an imminent public health threat.

Governor Kathy Hochul yesterday announced the death, in Ulster County, and outlined measures that state officials are taking to reduce New Yorkers’ risk of exposure to the disease.

The patient was diagnosed three days ago with the first human case of EEE in New York since 2015.

Her death is the second linked to EEE this year in the United States. 

The first involved a 41-year-old New Hampshire man who died in August.

People diagnosed in five more states

Human cases of the disease have also been reported this year in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Earlier this summer, a horse in Ulster County also tested positive for the virus, health officials reported.

To combat the spread of the disease, mosquito repellent will be made available at state parks, campsites and trails, where signs will be erected to raise awareness. Health officials are also due to discuss limiting park hours and campaign availability during peak times of mosquito activity.

It comes after the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, last month introduced a partial night-time curfew amid concerns of an outbreak of the disease. A further four towns – Douglas, Oxford, Sutton and Webster – urged locals to finish their outdoor activities by 6pm, before mosquitoes are at their most active.

“Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority,” Governor Hochul said. “Following the first confirmed human case of EEE, my administration took statewide action to help protect communities – and with today’s declaration we’re making more State resources available to local departments to support their public health response. 

“We’ve been informed this patient has passed away from EEE, we extend our sympathies and our hearts go out to their family.”

‘Mosquitos, once a nuisance, are now a threat’

State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said that while mosquitoes carrying EEE tend to be found in two to three of New York’s 62 counties, the insects had been detected across 15 counties this year.

“This life-threatening mosquito-borne disease has no commercially available human vaccine and must be taken seriously,” he said. 

“Mosquitoes, once a nuisance, are now a threat.”

The last time EEE infections were recorded in New York was in 2015, when two people died, local news outlets reported.

Just seven people in New York have died from EEE since 1971, according to state health department records.

State authorities have urged New Yorkers to use insect repellent, wear long-sleeved clothing and remove free-standing water near their homes to reduce their risk of infection following Monday’s public health announcement.

According to health officials, mosquitoes will continue to be prevalent until the first frost arrives, which prevents the insects from breeding.

EEE is a rare but often fatal viral disease spread by infected mosquitoes that causes inflammation of the brain.

While most people bitten by an infected mosquito will not develop symptoms, severe cases may begin with the sudden onset of headache, high fever, chills and vomiting.

The illness may then progress into disorientation, seizures, encephalitis and coma.

Approximately a third of patients who develop EEE die, while many patients who survive EEE experience neurologic problems.

There is no commercially available human vaccine for the disease and the best protection is to prevent mosquito bites.