Jamie Oliver has withdrawn his children’s book from sale after it was criticised for causing offence to indigenous Australians.

The celebrity chef’s book, Billy And The Epic Escape, is set in England but features an Australian subplot where the story’s villain abducts a First Nations girl near Alice Springs.

An Aboriginal rights group said the book perpetuated a number of “harmful stereotypes” that it said Australian authorities have historically used to justify removing children from indigenous communities.

Sharon Davis, the chief executive of Australia’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation (Natsiec), criticised the book’s alleged implication that Aboriginals “are easily swayed by money and neglect the safety of their children”.

“[It] perpetuates a racist stereotype that has been used to justify child removals for over a century,” Ms Davis said. “This portrayal is not only offensive but also reinforces damaging biases.”

‘I am devastated to have caused offence’

The book incorrectly uses indigenous words, with an Aboriginal character from near Alice Springs using words from the Gamilaraay people of New South Wales and Queensland.

Ms Davis said such errors exposed Oliver’s “complete disregard for the vast differences among First Nations languages, cultures, and practices”, and that the book’s reduction of indigenous religious beliefs to “magic” was “a longstanding stereotype that diminishes our complex and diverse belief systems”.

In a statement, Oliver said: “I am devastated to have caused offence and apologise wholeheartedly.

“It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue. Together with my publishers, we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”

Penguin Random House said on Sunday the book would be pulled from sale in all countries where it holds rights, including the UK and Australia.

A spokesman for the publisher said: “Our mission at Penguin Random House UK is to make books for everyone and with that commitment comes a deep sense of responsibility.

“It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that and take decisive action.

“With that in mind, we have agreed with our author, Jamie Oliver, that we will be withdrawing the book from sale.”

Oliver released his first children’s book, Billy And The Giant Adventure, last year.

The King will celebrate his 76th birthday by taking part in a “surplus food festival” at a newly opened charity food hub.

The King’s birthday, which falls on Thursday, Nov 14, coincides with the first anniversary of the Coronation Food Project, an initiative inspired by the monarch to reduce food waste.

To mark the event, the King will open a new facility that is hosting a “festival” with meals created from food which would have otherwise gone to waste.

The event, which has been organised to commemorate his visit, will also include an opportunity for the King to view a newly installed industrial freezer.

The Coronation Food Project was launched last year to coincide with the monarch’s 75th birthday after he felt “increasing concern” over the cost of living crisis.

The ambitious project, which will run for at least five years, aims to join the dots between the UK’s huge amount of food waste and increasing need.

‘Turbocharge’ sector’s logistical capacity

This year, similarly to last, the King will use his birthday to shine a spotlight on a cause close to his heart and will mark the day with a public engagement.

He will spend it opening the initiative’s first two Coronation Food Hubs – one in person and one virtually.

The project, coordinated by His Majesty’s charitable fund, seeks to “turbocharge” the sector’s logistical capacity by providing warehouses, fridges, freezers, refrigerated lorries, and drivers.

Since its launch last year, the Coronation Food Project has saved an additional 940 tonnes of surplus food, which is equivalent to more than 2.2 million meal portions.

More than £15 million has been raised to design, build and run a network of up to ten Coronation Food Hubs across the country.

A county lines gang leader who dealt drugs since he was a teenager has avoided deportation to Nigeria after claiming it would breach his rights to a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The Nigerian, who was jailed for eight years for supplying drugs, also successfully argued that he could not be returned to the West African country because it did not have adequate psychiatric care to treat his mental health problems.

The 29-year-old, who has been granted anonymity by the courts, claimed it would be a breach of his Article 3 rights under the ECHR because deportation would be inhuman and degrading by denying him the medical treatment he needed.

His claim against deportation was initially rejected by an immigration tribunal amid allegations that some of his claims about his family were “a work of fiction”, but the removal order was overturned on appeal.

The tribunal was told he came to Britain from Nigeria at the age of 10, but remained in the country illegally after overstaying his visa.

He was dealing drugs by the age of 15 and was convicted six years later in 2016 of possession with intent to supply both cocaine and heroin.

Despite being handed a suspended jail sentence for that offence, he continued to run an “efficient” drugs line in Farnborough, using “people he knew and could trust, including a young man who was only 17”, according to the court documents.

He and his girlfriend were making up to £5,000 a week from their drugs network, which he “masterminded”, advertising for clients on social media. A police investigation resulted in his conviction and sentencing to eight years in jail in July 2018.

The Home Office sought to deport him on his release on the basis that he was a danger to the public with a “significant number” of criminal convictions and having spent periods in and out of jail.

It rejected his claims that his removal to Nigeria would breach his right to a family life and damage his mental health.

His lawyers said that he would struggle to reintegrate into Nigerian life if deported, claiming his half-brother, who had previously been deported to Nigeria, would not be able to help him.

His mother told the tribunal that his grandmother and aunt in Nigeria were dead, so also could not support him.

But the court was told: “The evidence of [his] mother, that these relatives had died, was emphatically rejected as a work of fiction … It was noted that no death certificates had been obtained or produced in support of the claims.

“[His] mother’s reasons for not revealing the deaths to any other family members until the date of hearing was treated as manifestly implausible.”

The lower tribunal also rejected claims that his deportation would be “unduly harsh” on his partner and their child, because it judged she had a “wide and supportive family structure” around her and had been able to cope without him while he was in jail.

It also threw out claims that the necessary treatment for his mental ill health would not be available in Nigeria.

However, the upper tribunal hearing his appeal against the lower court’s judgment found there had been errors in law, in that the judge had failed to apply the correct standard of proof.

It concluded that the judge had also failed to undertake the necessary “delicate and holistic assessment” of his ties to the UK from having lived in the country since he was 10 years-old.

Because of these “errors on points of law”, it upheld the appeal and remitted it to be considered again by a fresh judge.

The case comes a day after a report, backed by Lord Howard, the former home secretary, called for reform of the human rights law to prevent it subverting the will of Parliament.

It follows a series of similar recent cases including an Albanian wanted for murder in his home country and another who sneaked back into Britain after being deported won the right to stay in the UK under the ECHR.

Bruges, Madrid, Amsterdam and Berlin are among the European destinations ready to lure British tourists away from France by ruling out a Brexit tourist tax.

Tourists are facing a €5 (£4.10) surcharge to visit attractions such as the Louvre museum and Notre Dame cathedral in Paris because the UK has left the EU.

However, authorities in other cultural hotspots told The Telegraph that Britons could dodge the higher prices by coming to their cities instead.

Dirk De fauw, the mayor of Bruges, which welcomed seven million tourists last year, said: “We will never make a difference between European inhabitants and non-European inhabitants.

“For us it is all the same if they come from Mexico, or if they come from China, or if they come from Korea, or if they come from London.”

He added: “Bruges has also always been an open city where everybody is welcome. We will not close the doors or close the gates of the city and put taxes on it.”

His vow to roll out the welcome mat comes as attitudes to tourism harden across Europe.

In cities such as Barcelona there has been a backlash against Airbnb, with residents blaming short-term holiday rentals for pricing them out of affordable accommodation and creating a housing crisis.

Venice has introduced a €5 charge in a bid to reduce overcrowding and improve the quality of life for residents, while France wants to charge extra to non-EU tourists with the money raised used to renovate its major attractions.

Mr de Fauw said that some people in Bruges wanted to charge cruise day trippers extra, but even if that happened the city would never discriminate between non-EU and EU nationalities.

He urged Britons, the second largest nationality visiting Bruges after Germans, to come to the “Venice of the North”.

They should stay the night to sample the city’s beautiful canals and ancient buildings once the tourist crowds dispersed, he said, adding: “When you stay at night, this is the most romantic city of Europe.”

Madrid leader also rejects taxes

In Madrid, home of the Prado and Reina Sofia museums, the Spanish capital’s Right-wing regional president also said she would not introduce tourist taxes.

A spokesman for Isabel Díaz Ayuso said: “Madrid is not going to impose new taxes. The president rules out any tax that taxes tourism.

“Our policy is one of low taxes that generate greater economic activity, job creation and prosperity.”

Ms Ayuso, who was the first leader in Spain to take her region out of lockdown, recently caused controversy by telling restaurants in Madrid to open earlier for lunch and dinner to cater for tourists.

The usual Spanish time for lunch is 2pm and dinner can be as late as 10.30pm. “We have a new battle cry,” she said. “Welcome tourist!”

Tory culture chief calls French plans ‘daft’

In Berlin, a spokesman for the mayor said there were no plans to introduce a Brexit tourism tax in the capital.

Meanwhile, Amsterdam has cracked down on anti-social behaviour by tourists in its centre and red-light district in an effort to keep the city liveable for residents.

But Wouter Moll, the city spokesman, said: “The municipality of Amsterdam has currently no plans to impose a local taxation for non-EU-residents, especially not when it comes to museums.”

The French plans for the tourist tax were reported in late October and could be imposed in 2026.

It would raise tickets to the Louvre, which has nine million visitors a year and houses the Mona Lisa, from €22 to €30.

It could also result in tourists paying €5 to enter Notre-Dame when it reopens, instead of entry being free.

Rachida Dati, the culture minister, told Le Figaro: “I want visitors from outside the EU to pay more for their entrance ticket and for this supplement to finance the renovation of the national heritage.”

“Is it normal for a French visitor to pay the same price for entry to the Louvre as a Brazilian or Chinese visitor? The French people should not have to pay for everything on their own.”

Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group of Brexiteer Tory backbenchers, said the French plans were daft.

The shadow defence minister said: “It seems daft that Brits might have to pay extra to see the Mona Lisa, just because we’ve left the EU.

“Hopefully, these dotty plans for a Brexit tourist tax will be reconsidered, before they actually come into force.”