Sue Gray issues first remarks since she was sacked by Starmer

Sue Gray has warned “Afghan women are being systematically removed from their own society” in her first remarks since being ousted as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.

The former top civil servant warned the prime minister and world leaders they must not “legitimise any process that sidelines Afghan women”.

And, speaking publicly as she joined the Friends of Afghan Women Network (Fawn) as chair, Baroness Gray said “we must all pull together to do better”.

She said: “I feel honoured that my first role since leaving government is to be invited to chair the Friends of Afghan Women Network. Afghan women are being systematically removed from their own society.

“This is not simply an issue of education. It is a question of human dignity, of rights, of global responsibility.

“I’ve been privileged to work with governments who have worked hard to improve human rights, and I will take this learning into this role.

“The world must not legitimise any process that sidelines Afghan women. It must continue to support Afghan women and girls. We must all pull together to do better.”

Baroness Gray was sacked as Sir Keir’s chief of staff in October after losing a bitter power struggle with his campaign guru Morgan McSweeney, who has since adopted her former role.

Sir Keir then offered her the symbolic role of envoy for the nations and regions but she rejected the position.

The ex-Partygate investigator had been blamed for Labour’s dreadful start in government after July’s landslide general election win. Its early months were plagued by infighting, a row over freebies and complaints Sir Keir had failed to plan for government and was lacking a driving vision, with policies such as the withdrawal of winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners defining his tenure.

At the time, allies of Baroness Gray, who was put in the Lords by Sir Keir, said she would “focus on other things”.

She is now chair of Fawn, a British campaign group aimed at supporting Afghan women facing persecution under Taliban rule.

Writing for The Independent on Friday, Fawn co-founder Shabnam Nasimi warned girls in Afghanistan have lost access to education and participation in public life. “This is not a cultural nuance or a transitional phase, it is the formalisation of gender persecution,” she said.

She added: “The international community must now move beyond symbolic gestures and adopt a principled, coordinated approach. Diplomatic engagement with the Taliban must be conditional on measurable progress on women’s rights.”

Fawn is calling for an increase in funding for women-led organisations working inside and outside Afghanistan, despite Sir Keir’s government slashing the international aid budget to pay for an increase in defence spending.

Bargain Hunt art expert admits terror offences

A BBC Bargain Hunt art dealer has admitted failing to report high-value sales to a man suspected of financing terrorist group Hezbollah.

Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, pleaded guilty to eight offences under section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000 during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

The art dealer, who has also appeared on Antiques Road Trip, was charged with failing to disclose information about transactions in the regulated art market sector between October 2020 and December 2021.

The legislation makes it an offence to not alert police if someone knows or suspects a business associate of being involved in financing a proscribed group.

Prosecutor Lyndon Harris said Ojiri sold artwork to Nazem Ahmed, a man designated by US authorities as a suspected financier for the Lebanese militant group.

“At the time of the transactions, Mr Ojiri knew Mr Ahmed had been sanctioned in the US,” Mr Harris told the court.

“Mr Ojiri accessed news reports about Mr Ahmed’s designation and engaged in discussions with others about his designation.

“There is one discussion where Mr Ojiri is party to a conversation where it is apparent a lot of people have known for years about his terrorism links.”

The prosecutor said that Ojiri “dealt with Mr Ahmed directly, negotiated the sales of artwork and congratulated him on those sales”.

Ojiri was charged on Thursday following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police‘s specialist arts and antiques unit, alongside the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and HMRC.

New money laundering regulations introduced in January 2020 brought the art market under HMRC supervision, and Ojiri is said to have discussed the changes with a colleague, indicating awareness of the rules.

The court heard the total value of the artwork sold was around £140,000.

The prosecution added the art was sent to Dubai, the UAE and Beirut.

District Judge Briony Clarke granted bail but ordered Ojiri to surrender his passport and not to apply for international travel documents.

Ojiri will be sentenced at the at the Old Bailey on 6 June.

Gavin Irwin, mitigating, told the court: “He is not a flight risk.

“The fact that he is here – he has left the UK and has always returned knowing he may be charged with offences – he will be here on the next occasion.”

Ojiri is not a member of BBC staff but has previously appeared on Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip.

Additional reporting by PA

Iranian man, 31, fourth to be arrested in ‘foreign power threat’ terror probe

A fourth Iranian man suspected of “foreign power threat activity” has been arrested as part of a terror probe, the Metropolitan Police said.

The 31-year-old Iranian was arrested in north-west London under the National Security Act 2023 on Friday morning.

Three other Iranian men were detained on Saturday in connection with the same counter-terrorism policing operation.

The investigation is not linked to the arrest of five Iranians suspected of reportedly plotting a terror attack targeting the Israeli embassy in London.

Following Friday’s arrest, searches were carried out at two addresses in north-west London, Scotland Yard said, with inquiries said to be “ongoing”.

The three other men arrested, aged 39, 44, and 55, can be held until Saturday May 17 after warrants of further detention were granted on Friday, the force added.

Under section 27 the National Security Act, officers can arrest without a warrant anyone they suspect is “involved in foreign power threat activity”.

Security minister Dan Jarvis told the Commons on Tuesday the two operations that took place were some of “the largest counter state threats and counter-terrorism actions we have seen in recent times”.

Mr Jarvis said: “I can confirm to the House that these are the first Iranian nationals arrested under the National Security Act.”

Iran was the first foreign power to be listed on the top level of the foreign influence registration scheme (Firs) earlier this year, aimed at protecting the UK from malign foreign influence.

It means anyone who is directed by the regime to carry out activities in the UK must declare it or face five years in prison once the scheme comes into force in July.

In October last year, the head of MI5, Ken McCallum, said authorities had stopped 20 state-backed plots hatched by Iran in the UK since 2022.

Four of the men held over the separate terror plot probe remain in custody after warrants of further detention until Saturday May 10 were secured on Monday.

The four: a 29-year-old man in the Swindon area; a 46-year-old man in west London; a 29-year-old man in the Stockport area; and a 40-year-old man in the Rochdale area, were arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act, contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

And a fifth, a 24-year-old man in the Manchester area, was detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act before being bailed with conditions to an unspecified date in May.

Trans Labour councillor quits party over Supreme Court ruling response

A trans Labour councillor has quit the party and accused Sir Keir Starmer of “throwing transgender people under the bus” after it’s response to the controversial Supreme Court ruling on gender.

Dylan Tippetts, who represented Labour on Plymouth City Council, said he can no longer represent a party “that does not support my fundamental rights”.

Judges ruled that the definition of a woman in equality law is based on biological sex. In response, a slew of ministers, including equalities minister Bridget Phillipson, said trans women should use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex.

And Sir Keir U-turned on his previous position that “trans women are women”, calling on trans women to use male bathrooms and trans men to use women’s toilets.

Quitting the party, Mr Tippetts said: “The Labour party nationally has thrown transgender people under the bus and has taken us backwards decades.”

He added: “Everyone deserves the right to live peacefully, and the Labour Party continues to deny transgender people that basic right.

“I cannot continue to represent a party that does not support my fundamental rights. I cannot as a trans person continue to support the Labour Party.”

After the ruling, a member of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee told The Independent Sir Keir was putting trans people in danger and forcing them out of society. Left-winger Jess Barnard said: “We already know trans women face extreme levels of violence in society and are likely to be targeted with hate crime and abuse for being trans.

“So we should not be in a situation where the prime minister of the UK is telling trans women to use men’s bathrooms.”

Seeking to address the anger, Ms Phillipson stressed that Labour will offer trans people the “dignity” they were denied by the Conservatives.

She said: “We will continue our wider work with commitment, with compassion, to protect all of those who need it right across society. Because this is a government that will support the rights of women and trans people, now and always.

“This is a Government that will support the rights of all people with protected characteristics, now and always. This is a government that will support the rights of our most vulnerable, now and always. And, on that, there is no change to announce. Dignity and respect for all, now and always.”

Labour suggested Mr Tippetts’ decision to to quit was taken after he was told he was being replaced as chair of the Taxi Licensing Committee.

A spokesperson for Plymouth Labour Group said: “We are very disappointed that Cllr Tippetts has taken the decision to resign. The residents of Compton ward deserve three committed councillors so we hope Cllr Tippetts will work hard to represent them during his final year in office”.

Mr Tippetts will now sit as an independent and will not seek re-election next year.

Animal charity in court battle over word ‘farmed’ on Scottish salmon

A government decision to remove the word “farmed” from Scottish salmon labels has prompted a bitter legal battle.

Animal-welfare campaigners insist shoppers are being misled by dropping the tag because all Scottish salmon sold in mainstream UK supermarkets comes from farms.

Charity Animal Equality UK has won permission to take the government to court a second time to fight the decision.

In 2023, trade body Salmon Scotland proposed dropping the word “farmed” from Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) labels so that packs would read just “Scottish salmon”.

The organisation said most consumers knew all supermarket Scottish salmon was farmed and had been for decades.

The government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) approved the change in April last year.

Appeals against the decision by both Animal Equality UK and another campaign group, WildFish, were rejected, and since then, PGI labels on most salmon on sale has been missing the word “farmed”, even if it is sometimes in small print elsewhere on the packet.

The charity cites surveys suggesting shoppers wrongly believe supermarkets sell wild Scottish salmon. A 2021 Fidra Survey found that only 6 per cent of people knew all Scottish salmon was farmed, and a 2024 YouGov poll commissioned by Animal Equality found that 41 per cent of adults believed that at least some Scottish salmon was wild.

PGI labels demonstrate regional products’ origins, such as Cornish pasties and Champagne.

The tribunal had ruled that changing “Scottish farmed salmon” to “Scottish salmon” was not likely to mislead consumers because “true origin” PGI designations referred to geographical origin only.

But the activists say the term should also refer to the method of production.

In a highly unusual move, chamber president Judge Mark O’Connor granted permission to appeal against his own decision to the Upper Tribunal, on an “exceptional” basis.

The Independent has revealed how several salmon farms in Scotland have been accused of poor welfare, lice infestations and causing environmental harm.

Footage has shown salmon suffocating to death, entering stun-kill machinery backwards, being thrown by workers and having their gills cut while conscious.

More than 17 million fish died on Scottish salmon farms in 2023, with over 10 farms reporting over 50 per cent mortality.

Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, claimed that dropping the word “farmed” was “a blatant assault on consumer transparency”, saying: “These animals spend their entire lives confined in underwater cages that are frequently plagued by lice infestations and disease outbreaks.

“Scotland’s farmed salmon industry is in deep crisis. A Scottish government committee recently issued a scathing report calling for urgent regulatory reform and tighter scrutiny.”

Edie Bowles, of law firm Advocates for Animals, said: “The law on Protected Geographical Indications clearly requires that the public cannot be misled. There is strong evidence suggesting the public could be misled if Scottish farmed salmon is labelled as Scottish Salmon, as it could suggest wild-caught.”

A spokesperson for Salmon Scotland accused campaigners of “wanting to make people unemployed” and of wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money with appeals.

He said Scotland’s salmon farming companies were investing more than £1m into work to save wild salmon. He added: “Consumers know Scottish salmon is farm-raised in the cold, pristine waters off the coast of Scotland, demand at home and abroad is rising, and we are confident this latest appeal will be dismissed like all the other ones.”

A Defra spokesperson said they would not comment on legal proceedings.

Celebration villa breaks: find your perfect luxury getaway

If you’re planning a milestone birthday, a big anniversary, or a long-awaited reunion, a villa holiday is hard to beat. Imagine clinking glasses on a rooftop terrace at sunset or gathering loved ones around a candlelit garden table for a leisurely dinner under the night sky.

These special occasions deserve much more than booking out a busy hotel, and nothing beats having your own sun-drenched sanctuary where you have the space and privacy to celebrate in style. Whether you’re heading to Marrakech in the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, to the rolling hills of Tuscany, or a tropical oasis further afield, Villas are the perfect home-away-from-home for celebrating something, or someone, special.

CV Villas’ luxurious ABOVE collection offers the perfect backdrop for unforgettable moments – think breathtaking settings, total privacy, and the kind of comfort and space that makes everyone feel at home. All come with stunning interiors, sweeping views as far as the eye can see, and enviable locations in some of the world’s most sought-after spots. Each villa is hand-picked by dedicated CV Villa specialists, who are experts in helping people craft their dream getaway. Many come with their own infinity pools, breathtaking views and large alfresco dining areas, perfect for spending quality time together during life’s most important moments. Villas aren’t just places to stay, they’re a big part of the celebration itself.

From the moment you book your stay to your arrival back home, the CV Villas Concierge team is there to make everything as seamless and stress-free as possible. They are dedicated to looking after you and your party before and throughout your holiday so that you can focus on the things that really matter, like spending quality time together and celebrating without having to worry about the minor details. The team tailors each trip to exactly what you’re after, whether you’re looking to book a private boat day or need to organise a surprise celebration dinner, nothing is too much trouble. Many of the five-star villas even come with their own butlers and chefs so that you can be waited on hand and foot during your special getaway.

ABOVE villas are the epitome of luxury and come with designer interiors, infinity pools boasting panoramic ocean views, and terraces made for golden hour cocktails  – properties with serious star quality. What’s more, they’re located all around the world, from the sun-soaked shores of Spain and Greece to the palm-fringed beaches of far-flung Sri Lanka and beyond.

Sampling delicious local food is a big part of a holiday, but catering for a large group can often mean juggling different requests and palates. Luckily for you, many of these luxury villas come with their very own in-villa chefs – perfect for when you’d rather toast the moment with a glass of fizz than spend time flapping around in the kitchen. Instead, let your chef whip up multi-course meals morning till night, using the freshest local produce, all based on your personal tastes and dietary requirements, before tucking into it alfresco under the undisturbed starry night sky.

The little luxuries make a big difference to a bucket-list trip: daily housekeeping to keep things spic and span, spa treatments for when you need a little R&R, wine tastings for the adults, yoga sessions with epic views, and even round-the-clock babysitting. All of this can be arranged to make your stay feel even more indulgent.

Maison Emilion, France

This rustic French villa is practically made for wine lovers, aptly located amidst the rolling vineyards of Bordeaux. This six-bedroom hilltop hangout boasts views of the working vineyards from every angle, including from the heated pool and surrounding sunbeds. Wander into the nearby village of Saint-Émilion, then enjoy the included wine-tasting experience before settling into the garden for dinner with nothing but the glow of flickering candlelight and the moonlit sky.

Oleander, Corfu

It doesn’t get much more luxurious than Oleander in Corfu, a five-bedroom villa overlooking Avlaki Bay and the picturesque town of Kassiopi. It’s located high above the Ionian Sea and is the ideal villa for memorable summer celebrations. Soak up the sunshine from the infinity pool while enjoying views of Albania’s craggy Ceraunian Mountains, or hang out on the wrap-around terraces and communal outside dining areas. During peak season at Oleander, chef service is also included, so you can enjoy meals with your loved ones without even having to leave the villa.

Spirit of Son Fuster, Mallorca

Spirit of Son Fuster in Mallorca is hard to beat for large groups and multigenerational stays. This five-star bolthole is set in a stunning natural landscape at the foot of the Alaro twin mountains, right near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Serra de Tramuntana, and is as secluded as it gets. This gorgeous ​​14th-century manor house sleeps twenty people across ten bedrooms and even has its own on-site spa and hammam where everyone can enjoy treatments in the dedicated treatment rooms. There’s even a private cinema room for movie nights and a well-stocked wine cellar filled with local vintage wines.

Masseria Giardini, Puglia

Masseria Giardini in Puglia is the height of luxury and the perfect home-away-from-home for families and large groups. It was built in 1750 and is surrounded by leafy olive groves and landscaped gardens curated by Chelsea Flower Show winners Urquhart & Hunt. Enjoy unparalleled views of the Canale Di Pirro Valley from this ten-bedroom farmhouse and spend days lazing around in the heated pool. This villa is an architectural masterpiece, with signature stone domed roofs and hand-carved stone baths in five of the ten bedrooms.

For more travel information and inspiration and to book your perfect villa getaway, visit CV Villas

As a Canadian, I can see the fatal flaw in Keir Starmer’s Trump deal

Starmer called it a “fantastic, historic” day, but while he and Donald Trump were busy praising their plan as a “breakthrough deal”, the details were still hazy. After all of his pleading and self-abasement in the Oval Office, the letter from the King and all the rest of it, all we knew for sure is the UK has less access to US markets and the US has more access to UK markets than it had in February, and the 10 percent tariff rate still applies.

It will do nothing for the UK economy. Indeed, Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, has already said that the deal will not be enough to dampen uncertainty. All that we do know for sure is that the British now lead the world in prostrating themselves before Trump for no noticeable gain. And as recent history from Canada attests, I am also certain that Trump will be waiting to tear up the agreement whenever he chooses.

This is why our new prime minister, Mark Carney, set a different tone. He defined his campaign in a single sentence: “Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over,” he said.

Only a week after his victory, Carney showed up at the White House for the most important meeting by a foreign leader since the humiliation of Zelensky. Carney didn’t speak much, but he didn’t have to. The contrast between the two men showed just how far the two countries have diverged. Canada, with Carney, is now at the forefront of the international effort to build economic, political and military structures without the United States.

Carney is the rules-based global order coalesced into a man who can walk around. Carney is Trump’s opposite – a boring, decent, responsible human being who has gone from success to success. He is a financial crisis manager of the highest order, with experience handling the 2008 crash and Brexit effectively, first as governor of the Bank of Canada, then as governor of the Bank of England. Unlike Trump, he has no entertainment value.

“You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose,” Carney told a rally just before the election. “As the assembled media will tell you, I campaigned in prose. So I’m going to govern in econometrics.” That should tell you just how unglamorous a politician the man is. He uses “econometrics” as a punchline.

Canada doesn’t feel much like laughing right now anyway. The brokenness of the relationship with our neighbour is not a partisan matter; the sense of threat from America is well understood across the political spectrum. It’s not like the Conservatives took a different position. Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative candidate, could not have been more explicit: “Canada will never be the 51st state.” Stephen Harper, who served as prime minister for 10 years, declared that the country should sustain “any level of damage” in resistance to American attempts at annexation.

Canadians elected Mark Carney in part to stand up to Donald Trump, and the world is taking note. As one of the world’s leading economists and a man with deep connections throughout the global economic order, he is best poised to lead us out of the American sphere of influence and create new institutions to protect us from a newly belligerent United States. The tariff war is only the beginning.

Trump’s trade “strategy”, if that’s the right word, is reminiscent of the scene from Blazing Saddles where the sheriff takes himself hostage by pointing a gun to his own head. There’s no way to plan for the implicit chaos of the current American administration. Perhaps Trump will randomly change his mind on tariffs as American economic pain grows. Perhaps the threats to Canada can be resolved by a straight bribe, through one of Trump’s various memecoin ploys.

Canada is already making adjustments. After the imposition of tariffs, Canada’s exports to the United States declined 6.6 per cent. But its exports to the rest of the world increased 24.8 per cent, almost entirely offsetting the difference. America, it appears, is not a necessary nation.

Trump has taught Canada, and through Canada, the rest of the world, an invaluable lesson: if you make a deal with the American government, as we did with Trump’s first administration in 2018, it’s not a deal; they can just change their mind whenever they want. If you buy American military hardware, the president has been explicit that you are buying a degraded version because “we like to tone them down about 10 per cent, which probably makes sense because someday maybe they’re not our allies, right?” That question applies to all of America’s allies, not just Canada.

Quite outside the question of the threat to our sovereignty, Canada cannot be tethered to a dying animal. With or without Trump, the American condition worsens day by day. The hyper-partisan politics, the massive inequality in its economy, the declining trust in institutions, the collapse of the legal system, the rising sense of the illegitimacy of power itself – all of these fires are about to have mass poverty poured over them like petrol.

Trump’s next hundred days will, in all likelihood, be more chaotic than the last hundred. When the United States faces its next debt ceiling crisis in August or September, it will most likely be in recession, with debt servicing costs higher than military spending, a promised five trillion in tax cuts, and zero appetite for spending cuts to Medicaid and social security.

Something has to give. America is about to face some very adult economic decisions; there are no adults in the room to answer them. America’s bullying is dangerous, but its self-destruction is actually what Canada and the rest of the world needs to fear.

“If the United States no longer wants to lead, Canada will,” Carney said early in his campaign. Malcolm Turnbull, the former Prime Minister of Australia, Canada’s hotter cousin, has said, “Carney is the man for the times.” Of all the middle powers, we understand America best. We are closer than Europeans or the Japanese. We can see America more clearly. The United States is a bus that Trump is driving over a cliff, and Canada has hired Carney to jump out with the least amount of injury possible. The rest of the world will have to follow when they realise the other option is crashing out.

Starmer has chosen another path; it is not a path of security or independence, even more so now that Trump knows that Britain is a pushover. Starmer may be feeling confident today, but as more details emerge, there will be many wondering whether he should have pulled a Carney instead.

The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future by Stephen Marche is published by Simon & Schuster

British Airways plane caught fire and closed Gatwick runway after pilot forgot left and right

A British Airways flight caught fire after a pilot confused his left and right hands during take-off.

Flight BA2279 was set to depart from London Gatwick Airport to Vancouver on 28 June 2024 when the co-pilot mixed up his right hand for his left, subsequently operating the aircraft’s thrust.

A report published on Thursday by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) stated the pilot was supposed to “move his left hand during the takeoff roll, while preparing to pull back on the control column with his right hand.

“However, he unintentionally pulled his left hand back instead.”

The “action slip” led to a rejected take-off and a brake fire, and forced the pilot to perform a “high-speed emergency stop” on the runway after reaching speeds of more than 190mph.

Airport fire and rescue services attended the aircraft and extinguished the fire on the right main landing gear.

The incident also resulted in the temporary closure of Gatwick Airport’s main runway, with 16 inbound flights being diverted elsewhere and a further 23 cancelled.

None of the 347 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 777 were injured, although the incident prompted a formal investigation and report by the safety agency.

The experienced co-pilot, who had more than 6,000 flying hours under his belt, insisted he was “well-rested and feeling fine” at the time of the incident and “could not identify a reason” why the mishap occurred.

The captain stepped in to “calmly and methodically” bring the plane to a halt and alert air traffic control.

“The airport rescue and firefighting service attended the aircraft and extinguished a fire from hot brakes on the right main landing gear,” the AAIB report noted.

A spokesperson for British Airways said: “Safety is always our highest priority and our pilots brought the aircraft to a safe stop.

“We apologised to our customers and our teams worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”