Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that Lord Alli gave him £32,000 to pay for clothing, double what he previously declared.

The Prime Minister received clothing donations worth £10,000 in October 2023 and £6,000 in February 2024, his office said on Friday. The donations were originally declared as money for his private office, but have now been “re-categorised”.

The extra £16,000 comes on top of the £16,200 that had already been declared.

His disclosure will raise more questions over how close Sir Keir is to the Labour peer.

Sir Keir also received £2,400 from Lord Alli for glasses, and the use of an £18 million penthouse during the election campaign and on other occasions. Members of his frontbench team have also declared large donations from the peer.

Last night, Labour claimed there were no further re-categorisations to come.

The latest gifts were not previously known as they were described as being “for the private office of the Leader of the Opposition”.

It is understood that Sir Keir sought advice from the registrar of MPs’ interests over the two donations, and they will be re-categorised as “donations in kind” of clothing. The original donations were declared on time.

Sir Keir said last week he would no longer accept money for clothes while in office, as did Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister.

Lord Alli gave Ms Rayner a donation for work clothing in June. It was declared as a donation in kind worth £3,550, without explaining that it was for outfits.

Labour has claimed that all opposition parties invest in the presentation of candidates, including speech and media training, as well as photography and clothing.

It emerged this month that the parliamentary standards watchdog would not investigate another instance in which Sir Keir initially failed to declare clothes donated to his wife, Lady Starmer, also by Lord Alli.

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister defended the use of the peer’s Covent Garden apartment. He said he took the offer so that his son would have a place to study for his GCSEs without having to walk past journalists and protesters outside their family home. The exams finished in mid-June, about a month before the family moved out.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, also used the property to host a fundraising event. Ms Rayner has used another of Lord Alli’s properties, a flat in New York, for a holiday.

The London flat was also used by Lord Alli to host Sir Tony Blair and Sue Gray to discuss the future of the Labour party, months after she became Sir Keir’s chief of staff.

The former prime minister was seated next to Ms Gray during the summit at the flat at the beginning of the year.

It emerged yesterday that the peer also held a number of meetings with Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator, and warned against military intervention in the country.

Lord Alli spoke in the House of Lords about his “several” meetings with Assad, who is responsible for multiple war crimes.

He argued against then-prime minister Lord Cameron’s plan to bomb Syrian troops a week after Assad unleashed chemical weapons against his own people.

In a speech in 2013, he said that if Assad were toppled, the country would be at the mercy of “soldiers with guns but no paymaster”. The following day, the Commons unexpectedly failed to approve military action after Labour – then led by Ed Miliband – refused to back the move.

The King has led tributes to British stage and screen star Dame Maggie Smith, who has died at the age of 89.

Her two sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, announced that she had passed away peacefully in hospital early on Friday morning.

“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end,” they said in a statement issued via their publicist. “She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.”

Paying tribute, the King said: “My wife and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dame Maggie Smith.

“As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join all those around the world in remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances, and her warmth and wit that shone through both on and off the stage.”

As tributes poured in, it was announced the West End would go dark in her honour, with London’s theatres dimming their lights for two minutes on Tuesday at 7pm to mark the Oscar-winning actress’s storied career.

Hannah Essex, co-chief executive of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, said that she would be remembered “as one of the most significant performers British theatre has ever seen”.

Dame Maggie was one of the few in the industry to have achieved the “triple crown” of acting, garnering the highest accolades for film, TV and stage performances.

Ms Essex said: “Today the theatre world, and the nation, have lost an icon. Throughout her 71 years on stage and screen, Dame Maggie Smith was a magnificent talent and will be remembered as one of the most significant performers British theatre has ever seen.

“Our deepest condolences are with her family and loved ones, and we are proud to be able to honour her remarkable career in some small way.”

‘Her work will be cherished for years to come’

Tributes for Dame Maggie, a six-time Olivier Award nominee and 2010 Special Award recipient, came flooding in from across the world on Friday.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, described her as “a true national treasure whose work will be cherished for generations to come”.

In a tribute on X, Sir Keir said: “Dame Maggie Smith introduced us to new worlds with the countless stories she acted over her long career.

“She was beloved by so many for her great talent, becoming a true national treasure whose work will be cherished for generations to come.

“Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones. May she rest in peace.”

Daniel Radcliffe, who starred in the title role of the Harry Potter films alongside Dame Maggie, said that she “could intimidate and charm in the same instant”.

In a statement to Variety, he said: “She was a fierce intellect, a gloriously sharp tongue, could intimidate and charm in the same instant and was, as everyone will tell you, extremely funny.

“I will always consider myself amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her, and to spend time around her on set. The word legend is overused but if it applies to anyone in our industry then it applies to her.”

Sir Patrick Stewart said: “I luckily saw her perform on stage, and her work was so compelling and unique. She was delightful and will be missed.”

She starred in more than 60 films and television series over a career that spanned seven decades, becoming an Oscar winner at the age of 34.

In recent years, she played Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films and Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, in Downton Abbey, which earned her a Golden Globe and two consecutive Emmy awards.

Dame Maggie was nominated for six Oscars, winning Best Actress for her role in the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Best Supporting Actress for the 1978 film California Suite. She is one of only five actresses to win an Academy Award in both lead and supporting categories.

Born in Ilford, Essex, on December 28, 1934, she was educated at Oxford High School for Girls and later the Oxford Playhouse School, first appearing on the stage at 18 in Twelfth Night.

She was later spotted by Laurence Olivier, who invited her to join the newly formed Royal National Theatre Company in London.

Her numerous awards also covered her performances in Tea With Mussolini, A Room With A View, A Private Function and The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne.

She starred alongside Dame Judi Dench in the 2004 film Ladies In Lavender, and on stage in the David Hare play The Breath Of Life.

One of her best-known roles was as a bag lady in The Lady In The Van, the 2015 adaptation of Alan Bennett’s memoirs.

Discussing her later roles in film and television, Dame Maggie told ES Magazine: “I am deeply grateful for the work in (Harry) Potter and indeed Downton (Abbey) but it wasn’t what you’d call satisfying.

“I didn’t really feel I was acting in those things.”

Actor Hugh Bonneville, who played the son of Dame Maggie’s character in Downton Abbey, said in a statement: “Anyone who ever shared a scene with Maggie will attest to her sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent.

“She was a true legend of her generation and thankfully will live on in so many magnificent screen performances.

“My condolences to her boys and wider family.”

Dame Maggie remained among the Downton Abbey cast until the series came to an end in 2015, and reprised the role for two films in 2019 and 2022.

Throughout her celebrated career, she was also awarded five Baftas, three Golden Globes, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, two more Emmys and a Tony Award.

She was appointed a CBE in 1970 and was made a dame in the 1990 honours list for services to the performing arts.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 73 but recovered following bouts of intensive chemotherapy over two years that she described as leaving her “so flattened” at the time.

She was halfway through her cancer treatment during filming of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince and said the experience “knocks you sideways” but added it “very much” changed her.

“I think it’s the age I was when it happened. It knocks you sideways,” she told The Times in 2009. “It takes you longer to recover, you are not so resilient. I am fearful of the amount of energy one needs to be in a film or a play.”

Last year, at 88 years old, she modelled in the advertising campaign for the Spanish luxury fashion house Loewe.

In a post on X, Bafta said: “Dame Maggie was a legend of British stage and screen, winning five Baftas as well as a Bafta special award and Bafta fellowship during her highly-acclaimed career.”

Whoopi Goldberg also paid tribute to Dame Maggie after they starred together in Sister Act.

The US actress shared a picture of the two on set of Sister Act, dressed as nuns, on Instagram and described her as a “great woman”.

She wrote in her post: “Maggie Smith was a great woman and a brilliant actress. I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with the ‘one-of-a-kind’. My heartfelt condolences go out to the family… RIP.”

Gyles Brandreth, the television presenter, said: “The saddest news: the death of Dame Maggie Smith marks the end of a golden era & a quite extraordinary life.

“She was a truly great actress, ‘one of the greats’ & simply the best company: wise, witty, waspish, wonderful.

“One of a kind in every way and consequently irreplaceable.”

Severe flooding submerged railway tracks and blocked motorways as heavy rain lashed parts of England on Friday.

Households have also been warned about the potential for rats to enter homes to scavenge for food following the floods.

Traffic was brought to a standstill while fire crews worked to pump water away from the M5 near Bristol.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service said northbound was closed between J16 for Aztec West and J14 for Thornbury, while southbound was closed from J14 to J15, and advised motorists to avoid the area.

Stranded motorists have been rescued but the road is expected to remain closed while floodwaters are cleared.

Flooded areas are expected to enjoy some respite through Saturday, after a chilly start in some places. But the Met office warned it would ‘go downhill through the weekend’ with the potential for strong wind on Sunday.

Steven Basterfield, from National Highways, said: “It’s run off from the fields either side of the motorway and it’s a real multi-agency response.

“There’s extensive flooding in the area so it is going to take some time, but the pumps do seem to be having a positive effect.”

Pest control body the National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) is urging the public to keep food and waste secure, and check properties for any gaps, cracks, or holes where rodents scavenging for food could enter.

With rodents’ usual food sources being disrupted by flooding, current weather patterns have created the ideal conditions for rodents to make their way inside homes and businesses.

Grahame Turner, the NPTA technical manager, said: “Rats and mice will often live in burrows underground, and rats will also live in drains and sewers.

“Floods can cause these spaces to become waterlogged and lead to the rodents being flushed from their normal habitat.

“They will seek refuge in drier, elevated areas such as homes, offices, and commercial properties including, of course, food businesses.

“This increases the likelihood of infestations in places that might not typically experience rodent problems.”

It comes as an amber rain warning issued by the Met Office for areas of the Midlands and the south of the country, and a separate yellow rain warning for large parts of England and Wales, both ended on Friday.

Areas affected by the amber warning – including Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and the West Midlands – were struck by flash floods on Friday morning.

A yellow weather warning was issued concerning strong winds which may cause disruption across the south-west of England and Wales on Sunday.

Winds will strengthen from west to east during Sunday, with gusts of 50-55 mph likely in places, exceeding 60mph in the most exposed areas.

Greg Dewhurst, a meteorologist, said that northern and central parts of England and Wales had been hit the hardest.

He said: “There will continue to be localised flooding. A lot of these areas have been hit by rain in the past few weeks which means the ground is already saturated.

“The amber warning is in place until 6am and the wider yellow warning will be lifted at 9am. We’re expecting it to then ease up and become a bit drier.

“But rivers often take time to respond so we’re expecting disruption to continue in central and southern parts throughout the morning. Those planning to travel on Friday should factor this into their journey times.”

Severe flooding submerged the tracks at Wellington station in Shropshire. Flooding affected train services to and from Aberystwyth in West Wales, as well as on the Chiltern Main Line in Oxfordshire between Banbury and Bicester North.

Rail firm LNER said flooding between Peterborough and King’s Cross has caused all trains to run at a reduced speed. In a post on social media, it said: “Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed.”

At least four schools have closed because of flooding in Bedfordshire: Hockliffe Lower School in Leighton Buzzard; Lincroft Academy in Oakley; Marston Vale Middle School in Stewartby; and Sharnbrook Academy.

Meanwhile, in the Birmingham area, at least four schools have reportedly closed: Bournville School; St Laurence Church Junior School; Victoria School; and Longwill School for Deaf Children.

The Environment Agency has issued 67 flood warnings – when flooding is expected – and 123 flood alerts in England, with National Resources Wales issuing eight flood alerts.

Recent flooding in areas including Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire has brought widespread travel disruption and damage to properties.

According to the Met Office warning, the weather could lead to difficult driving conditions and road closures. Homes and businesses are likely to be flooded and there is a “good chance” some communities will be cut off.

Delays and cancellations to train and bus services and power cuts are also likely, with footage shared on social media showing cars battling through partially submerged roads.

Tewkesbury borough council, in Gloucestershire, has been handing out sandbags to residents to help protect their homes.

Parts of the country saw more than the monthly average rainfall on Monday.

Looking ahead to the weekend, a spokesman for the Met Office said: “The good news is that the flood affected areas in the UK should have a bit of a respite in terms of winter rain through at least Saturday, after a chilly start with some frost in places on Saturday morning.

“But it’s going to go downhill through the weekend, really, for all areas. There’s certainly the potential for strong wind on Sunday.

“There may well be some large waves, bringing some sea water onto promenades and seafronts across the southwest of the UK. There may be some disruption to road and rail travel, particularly on coastal routes.

“And Monday is going to be like a widely wet day once again, before it calms down and dry for Tuesday and Wednesday.”

Boris Johnson struggled to keep a straight face as Penny Mordaunt told him that gender recognition for trans people was the “most important issue of our times”.

He reveals in his memoirs that the former Tory leadership candidate had raised the issue in Cabinet.

But both he and Lord Hammond of Runnymede, the former Chancellor, found it hard to contain their amusement during her long speech. 

Ms Mordaunt served as equalities minister while Lady May was prime minister, and sat at the Cabinet table. Mr Johnson was the foreign secretary.

Later, in 2022, Ms Mordaunt’s advocacy of “woke” policies such as trans rights came under scrutiny as she ran for the Tory leadership, and she was forced to row back on her support for the issue.

In his book Unleashed, which is being serialised by the Daily Mail, he wrote that Lady May once announced “in breathy vicar’s-daughter tones” that Ms Mordaunt had “something very important to talk about”.

‘Fairly harrowing stuff’

“At which point Penny began a long disquisition about gender recognition, and the problems of British transsexuals in changing sex,” the former prime minister wrote.

“I didn’t catch all the details, but it seemed fairly harrowing stuff, and at one point I heard Penny claim: ‘This is the most ­important issue of our times’.

“I didn’t always agree with Phil Hammond, but I happened at that moment to catch his eye and to see that he – like me – was ­struggling to contain his amusement.

“I mean: I could see that this was an issue of huge importance to some people (though surely not that many?) and I could see that it needed to be handled with tact and sensitivity.

“But ‘the most important issue of our times’? Really?”

Was May really Right wing?

Mr Johnson questioned whether Lady May was really Right-wing after she invited Ms Mordaunt to give her speech on trans rights.

“There was Theresa, nodding away enthusiastically at what was clearly a presentation organised and approved by No 10,” he said. “So was she a Right-winger, or was she woke?

“And as for Europe, to what extent – to ­borrow the language of Penny’s presentation – had she transitioned? Was she still a Remainer, wrapped in Brexiteer clothes, or had she surgically altered her beliefs?

“Was she some kind of cross-dresser – and could she switch back? I started to worry.”

While she was prime minister, Lady May promised to allow trans people to self-change their legal gender without having to see a GP, a practice known as self-ID.

Ms Mordaunt was for years a vocal supporter of this policy, but many women’s rights organisations believe self-ID can put women at risk by allowing predatory biological men into single-sex spaces.

By the time she ran for the Tory leadership, she claimed she had changed her mind on self-ID and toned down her views but few were convinced.

Prime Ministers

Lady May had strange nostrils and was a political “cross dresser”, while Sir Keir Starmer looked like a “bullock having a thermometer unexpectedly shoved in its rectum”, according to Mr Johnson.

The former prime minister had barbed comments about his predecessor in the role and one of his successors.

On Lady May, he wrote: “I didn’t dislike Theresa May, not remotely. I enjoyed her schoolmarmy self-righteousness and watching her roll her eyes when I said something outrageous.

“It seems weird, but I was particularly fixated upon her nostrils – immensely long and pointy black tadpole shapes, like a Gerald Scarfe cartoon, and the way she would twist her nose, as if to show them off.

“What did it mean, this nose-twisting? Was it disgust? Or just reflection? What was she thinking?”

Starmer ‘like a ­bullock with a thermometer in its rectum’

Turning to Sir Keir, he recalled how they sparred against each other when he was Leader of the Opposition.

“The new Labour leader, Keir Starmer ­incautiously took up the complaint from teachers that it was not safe to reopen schools closed by Covid,” he wrote.

“I hammered him in the ­Commons. He would stand up and point out that lockdown had been hardest for the poorest and greatly damaged their academic chances.

“He is right, I would tell him. We both agree that the best place for kids is in school. So why won’t he go against his masters in the teaching unions and say what the country needs to hear from him – that schools are safe?

“At this point Starmer would do his puzzled/irritable face, like a ­bullock having a thermometer unexpectedly shoved in its rectum, and I would bash him again and again.”

The former prime minister added: “Starmer failed to stick up for parents, kids and common sense (never mind the scientific ­evidence, which also said schools were safe), and his mistake blunted his attack on the ­Government in what might otherwise have been a thoroughly wobbly period for us.”

Sue Gray

Sue Gray was approached by Ed Miliband to be his chief of staff before she compiled the partygate dossier which led to Mr Johnson’s downfall, he claims in his memoirs.

The former prime minister used the book, due to be published on Oct 10, to launch a vigorous denial that he had broken any Covid rules during his tenure in Downing Street, taking aim at Ms Gray.

He said: “I should not have sanctioned a ridiculous and unfair witch-hunt led by a senior civil servant, Sue Gray, who was to become – ­unbelievably – chief of staff to Keir Starmer, and whose evidence ­collation was overseen by a Labour-supporting QC who had publicly called on Twitter for me to be removed from office.”

He added: “I relied upon Sue Gray, who (though I did not know this) had already been approached to be the chief of staff to Ed Miliband, former Labour leader, and who was to go on to be the chief of staff to Keir Starmer, my number one political foe.

“Some of the allegations in her report – vomiting, fights and so on – turned out to be untrue, and had to be withdrawn.”

Last night Labour said this claim was untrue. Ms Gray has said she was first approached by Sir Keir to be chief of staff in October 2022, five months after her full partygate report was published.

Mr Johnson said it was completely wrong to say he had been “dancing drunkenly with his advisers” in No 10, and said he was the victim of people “determined to bring me down”.

‘Drunkenness, dancing – all completely untrue’

“Nothing of the kind actually happened,” he wrote. “Drunkenness, dancing – all completely untrue; but you know what they say – a lie goes halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on.”

Mr Johnson said there were three occasions where officials “briefly slackened the tempo of their work” and marked a birthday or held a quiz.

“At the time we believed that these events were in ­accordance with the rules – and I still think they were,” he said. “I only went to a handful – almost always to make a quick speech of thanks…

“I was so confident of our fundamental innocence that never once did I think that the story would really endanger the Government. And actually, I think we could and should have got through it far ­better if I had been less naive and less trusting.”

The former premier said he should not have apologised when the stories first came to light, should have asked anyone with evidence of wrongdoing to go to the police, and should have realised Dominic Cummings was behind the briefing of the stories.

He described the Metropolitan Police’s decision to fine him – and Rishi Sunak, then the chancellor – for a Covid breach at a “birthday party” event as “mind-boggling”.

He said of the birthday party: “I saw no cake. I ate no blooming cake. If this was a party, it was the feeblest event in the history of human festivity.”

Covid nearly killed me

Mr Johnson revealed how close he came to death when he was admitted to hospital with Covid, saying the possibility seemed to please Michael Gove.

He said that Prof Sir Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, took him aside in Downing Street to suggest he test for the virus.

“Later that afternoon I went into the Cabinet Room where a doctor in a kind of nuclear waste hazmat suit stuck a probe down my throat,” he said. “I tested positive.

“Oh well, I thought. It was a ­nuisance. It might slow me up. But, as I kept telling everyone in those early days of the pandemic, it was generally a mild disease.

“On the other hand, I also ­remembered my Athenian history. ‘Pericles died of the plague,’ I had earlier reminded my colleague Michael Gove, and his spectacles seemed to glitter at the thought, like the penguin in Wallace & Gromit.”

Pericles was a Greek politician from the fifth century BC. Mr Gove ended Mr Johnson’s leadership bid in 2016 after announcing a run for the job himself.

Rejected ‘shamming’ claims

Mr Johnson rejected claims from some that he had been “shamming” about his illness and that he did not need to go into intensive care.

“I can say is that I felt truly lousy: the scratchy, breathless exhaustion that is ­familiar to Covid sufferers,” he said, adding that his oxygen levels dropped to as low as 72 per cent.

“That night in April 2020, the doctors and nurses of St Thomas’ Hospital were preparing, if necessary, to intubate me – spike a hole in my trachea and stuff a tube down my ­windpipe to force-feed oxygen into my lungs.”

He said he asked medics if the procedure was necessary, saying they made it sound “routine”.

“What they didn’t explain is that, at that stage in the ­pandemic, patients who were intubated had about a 50 per cent chance of survival,” he said. “Then I was being wheeled on a gurney into ICU – the intensive care unit.”

Boris Johnson was not asked by Buckingham Palace to try and persuade Prince Harry to stay in the UK, The Telegraph understands.

The former prime minister claims in a new book that he was asked to give the Duke of Sussex a “manly pep talk” to convince him not to step back from his royal duties.

He says that officials from Buckingham Palace and Downing Street made the request in the belief that a last-minute intervention, in January 2020, might encourage the Duke to change his mind.

In Unleashed, his memoir which will be published on Oct 10, Mr Johnson describes “a ridiculous business… when they made me try to persuade Harry to stay. Kind of manly pep talk. Totally hopeless”.

The pair enjoyed an “informal” 20-minute meeting, which took place behind closed doors on the margins of a UK-Africa investment summit in London’s Docklands, on January 20, 2020.

Sources close to the Duke confirmed that the then prime minister did suggest that both he and Meghan remain in the UK.

However, sources with knowledge of such meetings at the time insisted that the Palace did not ask Mr Johnson to intervene.

While it cannot be ruled out that a member of the Downing Street team suggested that it might be worth mentioning to the Duke, there was no specific formal request.

By that point, all involved had realised that any attempt to persuade the Sussexes to stay would be futile. The following day, Prince Harry flew to Canada to be reunited with Meghan and their son, Archie.

The previous evening, the Duke had delivered a speech at an event for Sentebale, his charity based in Lesotho, in which he said he had “no other option” but to step back from royal life and spoke of his sadness that it had “come to this”.

A week earlier, on Jan 13, the Duke had joined his grandmother, Elizabeth II, father and elder brother for the so-called Sandringham Summit, to thrash out the terms of his exit.

In his memoir, Spare, the Duke claimed that his brother “screamed and shouted” at him during the talks before “an agreement of sorts was reached”.

Since then, the Duke has focused on establishing a new life in California, while also continuing with his charitable work.

It was confirmed on Friday that the Duke will return early next month to the African kingdom of Lesotho for the first time in almost six years.

Meghan will not join him on the visit, which will focus on advancing youth prosperity and challenges around digital inclusion, education, and employment.

Prince Harry will also participate in Lesotho’s 200th-anniversary celebrations, reuniting with Prince Seeiso, with whom he co founded Sentebale in 2006, shortly after he lost his own mother. The pair will also travel to Johannesburg.

The Duke hailed Sentebale’s “profound understanding of local youth” in Lesotho and Botswana and expressed hope that the charity could help in “addressing the challenges faced by the next generation in southern Africa”.

The seed of Sentebale was planted in 2004 when a 19-year-old Harry spent two months in Lesotho during his gap year.

He came face-to-face with Aids orphans, met other traumatised young people and visited herd boys living a harsh existence looking after cattle in remote mountain areas.

The teenage prince had been invited to the country, land-locked inside South Africa, by Seeiso, a friend of his mentor, ex-Army officer Mark Dyer, and the experience made a lasting impression.

His return will follow a whirlwind trip to London, where he will attend the WellChild Awards on Monday evening. Last week, he made a series of high-profile appearances in New York.

Boris Johnson considered invading the Netherlands to seize Covid vaccines during the height of the pandemic, he has revealed.

Writing in his memoirs, to be published next month, the former prime minister said he commissioned the Armed Forces to consider whether an aquatic raid on a warehouse in Leiden was possible.

The building contained five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which Mr Johnson believed were rightfully British because they were developed in the UK.

But he was told the plan was unlikely to succeed and was forced to admit that the idea of effectively invading a Nato ally was “nuts”.

In his book, Unleashed, Mr Johnson also reveals that he nearly died from Covid, saying that without the round-the-clock effort of two dedicated nurses he would have “carked it”.

The former prime minister also addressed the partygate row, denying he had used his evenings in Downing Street partying “with my cronies from the Covid Taskforce and the ­Cabinet Office”, He also described Sue Gray’s report into pandemic rule breaches as a “witch hunt”.

The release of the book, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail, threatens to dominate the Conservative conference, which starts on Saturday, taking the spotlight away from the four candidates vying to lead the party. Mr Johnson is not planning to attend.

Mr Johnson wrote that he had been infuriated that supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which were pioneered with British Government support, had been “kidnapped”.

The five million doses were stuck at the Halix plant in the Netherlands because it was a long-standing part of AstraZeneca’s supply chain.

After five weeks of negotiations, in March 2021 he brought in military top brass to ask “whether it might be technically feasible to launch an aquatic raid on a warehouse in Leiden, in the Netherlands, and to take that which was legally ours and which the UK desperately needed”.

Lt Gen Doug Chalmers, the deputy chief of the defence staff, told him that such action was “certainly feasible”. “He explained how we could do it,” Mr Johnson wrote. “We would send one team on a commercial flight to Amsterdam, while another team would use the cover of darkness to cross the Channel in ribs [rigid inflatable boats] and navigate up the canals.

“They would then rendezvous at the ­target; enter; secure the ­hostage goods, exfiltrate using an articulated lorry, and make their way to the Channel ports.

“‘But I have to warn you, PM’ – and they all looked at me ­meaningfully – ‘that it will not be possible to do this undetected’. He pointed out that there were lockdowns in place in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the local authorities might observe our movements… ‘If we are detected we will have to explain why we are effectively invading a long-standing Nato ally.’“

The former prime minister concluded: “Of course, I knew he was right, and I secretly agreed with what they all thought but did not want to say aloud: that the whole thing was nuts.”

He said he had been desperate because he believed it was his “paramount duty” to secure vaccines while “people in my country were dying of Covid”.

Mr Johnson accused the EU of “treating us with malice and with spite [because] we were vaccinating our population much faster than they were, and the European electorate had long since noticed”.

Jabs prove Brexit was a success

By March 2021, Britain had vaccinated about 30 per cent of the UK population, while the European Union had only managed 8 per cent.

The EU, where countries were having trouble with their vaccine rollouts, launched a legal case against AstraZeneca to stop them exporting the vaccines to the UK despite Britain signing a “bomb proof” contract to secure the first 100 million doses.

“They had kidnapped our ­vaccines – but that wasn’t the real outrage,” he wrote, saying his “pencil-snapping, bin-kicking rage” was aimed at the EU, which he claimed wanted to block access to the vaccines but not use them itself.

Mr Johnson said he was “flabbergasted” when Emmanuel Macron, the French president, claimed that the British AstraZeneca vaccine was “quasi-ineffective” for the over 65s.

“The frustration of EU ­governments was, of course, being aggravated by the success of Brexit Britain,” he said.

Mr Johnson said he was glad that he did not “violently seize” the vaccines, admitting it would not have improved relations with the EU. “But it still enraged me – in fact, it still does – that they were actually willing to let British people die rather than acknowledge the possibility that there might be an upside to Brexit,” he added.

Harry’s pep talk

Mr Johnson also claims in his book that he was asked to give Prince Harry a “pep talk” in an attempt to persuade him not to leave the UK.

The pair enjoyed an “informal” 20-minute meeting, which took place behind closed doors on the margins of a UK-Africa investment summit in London’s Docklands, on Jan 20, 2020.

Sources close to the Duke of Sussex confirmed that the then prime minister did suggest that both he and Meghan remain in the UK.

However, multiple sources with intimate knowledge of such meetings at the time insisted that the Palace did not ask Mr Johnson to intervene.

A day later, the Duke walked away from his royal duties and flew to Canada to be with the Duchess.

China’s newest nuclear attack submarine has sunk in a shipyard accident, in a setback to the country’s attempts to overtake the United States in a naval arms race, according to US officials.

The sinking of the first of a new Zhou-class of nuclear-powered submarines triggered a scramble for Beijing to cover up the incident, officials told The Wall Street Journal.

The newly built vessel, which features a distinctive X-shaped stern, was sighted on satellite images alongside a pier at Wuchang Shipyard as it was being equipped for sea in late May.

It is claimed to have sunk later that month or in early June. Suspicion was said to have been raised when floating cranes were seen at the site soon afterwards.

Brent Sadler, a former submarine officer at Washington’s Heritage Foundation think tank, said: “The sinking of a new nuclear sub that was produced at a new yard will slow China’s plans to grow its nuclear submarine fleet. This is significant.”

Undersea warfare has become a Chinese priority in its arms race with the US as tensions rise in the Pacific.

Submarines would probably play a key role in any future conflict over Taiwan, with a Chinese fleet potentially attempting to invade, while blockading the US from arming and supplying the island.

Submarine warfare has traditionally been an area of significant US supremacy, but China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy has been closing the gap.

A senior US defence official told The Wall Street Journal: “It’s not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to conceal the fact that their new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank pierside.

“In addition to the obvious questions about training standards and equipment quality, the incident raises deeper questions about the PLA’s internal accountability and oversight of China’s defence industry, which has long been plagued by corruption.”

The submarine is thought to have been salvaged from the site, but experts said that it will require a huge refit to make it seaworthy.

Thomas Shugart, a senior fellow at the Centre for a New American Security, said: “Can you imagine a US nuclear submarine sinking in San Diego and the government hushes it up and doesn’t tell anybody about it? I mean, holy cow.”

He continued: “The whole boat would be full of water.

“You’d have to clean out all the electronics. The electric motors may need to be replaced. It would be a lot of work.”

US officials said that it was not clear if anyone had died during the sinking and it was also not clear if the vessel had been carrying nuclear fuel at the time.

They had not detected any indication that Chinese officials had sampled the water or nearby environment for radiation, the officials added.

A university professor has been sacked after making pornography with his wife.

Dr Joe Gow, 63, claims the loss of his job at the University of Wisconsin-La Cross is a violation of his freedom of speech.

The professor was forced to leave his post as university chancellor in December, after the institution discovered he had filmed vegan-themed pornographic videos with his wife, Carmen Wilson, and posted them online.

The former chancellor was placed on leave but continued collecting his salary as a tenured communications professor, despite posting the sex clips under the username Sexy Happy Couple.

A disciplinary panel has now unanimously voted to fire Dr Gow, arguing that his actions have damaged the university’s reputation. However, the professor has claimed that the decision breaches his constitutional right to free speech.

Mr Gow’s attorney Mark Leitner said: “We need the First Amendment precisely when the danger of stifling controversial, unpopular speech is at its highest. And that’s what we have here in this situation.”

Dr Gow and his wife have appeared in multiple publicly available pornographic videos, where they host adult film stars as guests and have sex afterwards.

The couple’s OnlyFans web page describes videos where “top adult video stars cook, converse and shoot sex scenes with a plant-powered couple”.

They have also published two books under the pseudonyms Geri and Jay Hart, titled Married with Benefits: Our Real-Life Adult Industry Adventures and Monogamy with Benefits: How Porn Enriches Our Relationship.

The university’s lawyers warned that Dr Gow’s continued employment could have a negative effect on the institution’s reputation, claiming he had used his teaching position as “marketing opportunity” to sell adult content.

“Dr Gow just doesn’t get it, or is unable to acknowledge that his conduct has been harmful to the UWL campus community and a distraction from its core mission,” said Wade Harrison, senior legal counsel for the university.

“Dr Gow has largely gotten what he wants through this process, a large media presence that continues and a great marketing opportunity for his cooking and adult content,” he added. “Enough is enough. Dr. Joe needs to go.”

In documents submitted prior to Friday’s hearing, lawyer’s argued that retaining Dr Gow on the faculty risked jeopardising the university’s finances.

“At least one donor has stated publicly that he would ‘kill’ a planned scholarship gift if Gow were not terminated,” the lawyers wrote, referring to a statement from Republican Senator Rob Hutton who put pressure on the university to fire him.

“Senator Hutton has made clear that he, a member of the legislature that provides some of the University’s funding, is opposed to Gow’s returning to teach.”

Dr Gow argued that his right to share his and his wife’s pornographic content with his wife is protected by the First Amendment.

Gow has previously maintained that he and his wife produced the pornographic content in their own time, and that neither the books nor the videos ever mentioned the university or his role as part of the faculty.

Speaking on Friday, he said he was initially drawn to Wisconsin-La Cross for its commitment to academic freedom, adding that he’s eager to return to the classroom.

“I genuinely love teaching, and I’m not ready to just retire and sit at home,” he told Wisconsin Public Radio.

He added that he’s not currently creating explicit content, but wouldn’t want to give up the right to in future.

“We certainly wouldn’t want to give up the right to be able to do that if we choose to,” he said. “We live in 2024. We have access to all kinds of material. It’s up to us to choose what we, as adults, what we want to access.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s Faculty Defense Fund (FIRE), who have supported Dr Gow’s legal defence, said the decision to sack the professor over making adult videos is a “major blow to academic freedom and faculty free speech rights”.

“FIRE has said time and time again: public universities cannot sacrifice the First Amendment to protect their reputations,” the foundation’s legal defence counsel Zach Greenberg said. “We’re disappointed UW caved to donors and politicians by throwing a tenured professor under the bus.”

“You may not like Joe Gow or his videos, but the principles that protect him also protect countless dissidents, freethinkers, artists, and others who speak truth to power.”

Britain’s youngest knife murderers could be free by the time they are 20 years old.

The two boys were 12 years old when they attacked Shawn Seesahai, 19, stabbing him in the heart in a Wolverhampton park in November last year.

On Friday, a judge jailed the pair for life with a minimum of eight years and six months.

They were the youngest people to be convicted of murder since Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were detained over the torture and murder of James Bulger in 1993.

Mr Seesahai’s killers, both now 13, cannot be named because of a court anonymity order. The judge said that naming one of the 12 year-olds who had “extremely complex needs” would be detrimental to his welfare and treatment, which outweighed the arguments that it was in the public interest.

The Attorney General’s Office confirmed on Friday evening it had received a request for the sentence to be considered under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. The scheme allows anyone to ask for certain Crown Court sentences to be reviewed by the office.

The Law Officers – either the Attorney General or Solicitor General – will have 28 days from Friday to consider the case and make a decision on the sentence. If they decide the sentence is unduly lenient, they can ask the Court of Appeal to review it.

Both youths were allowed to leave the dock and sit in the back row of the court benches on Friday as High Court judge Mrs Justice Tipples described their attack as “horrific and shocking”.

She said: “When you killed Shawn he was 19 starting out on his adult life with everything to live for. His parents have lost their son, his sister has lost her brother… that loss will be with them all the time and their lives have been changed forever.

“What you both did is horrific and shocking. You did not know Shawn, he was a stranger to you.”

Mr Seesahai, from Anguilla, had come to Britain for eye surgery and was discussing plans for Christmas with a friend when he was attacked.

He died at the scene after being stabbed by the nearly 17in-long (42.5cm) blade.

The fatal wound to his back was more than 20cm deep and went through his heart, almost coming out of his chest.

His parents have spoken of their anger and criticising the boys’ sentences, saying they were too lenient.

Maneshwary Seesahai, his mother, told the BBC: “I’m not happy. All the children in the UK will see that they only get eight years [and six months] and they will do the same thing.”

Suresh Seesahai, his father, added “The police did a good job, but I’m not satisfied with the justice system.

“Fifteen years would have been better, because they will come out and still have a life at the age of 20.”

His father told of how Mr Seesahai had begged “daddy, help me”, as the two killers stabbed him to death.

Explaining her reasons for the length of the minimum terms after the boys were taken down to begin their sentences of detention, Mrs Justice Tipples said the murder was aggravated by the fact it was an attack involving two offenders.

Mitigating factors included the fact the “spur-of-the-moment attack” was not premeditated, and the young age of the defendants, who were told they would remain in separate secure units where they were held on remand during their trial.

The “extremely vulnerable” first defendant, who admitted buying the murder weapon from a friend for £40 about a month before the attack, had been “groomed and exploited” by others, the court heard.

The judge said the first defendant had had “very many adverse childhood experiences” including falling victim to exploitation by criminals and “multiple traumas” in childhood for which he was not responsible.

“I agree with the authors of the (pre-sentence) report that he does not at this stage have the maturity to fully appreciate the consequences of his actions,” the judge added.

The court heard the second defendant had a supportive and loving relationship with his parents and was not previously known to the police.

After refusing to answer police questions in the aftermath of the murder, the boys both gave evidence to jurors, blaming each other for inflicting the fatal blow.

As well as failing to summon help for Mr Seesahai, the youths showed no remorse for what they had done in the 24 hours before their arrest, with one cleaning the machete with bleach and hiding it under his bed.

They told the court they both played video games in the hours after the killing, claiming they did not know Mr Seesahai had died until the following day.

Jurors heard one of the defendants posed for a photograph with the murder weapon, wearing a mask, hours before the killing. He was found to have 11 areas of blood staining on his clothing.

The boy was also seen with blood on his hands in the aftermath of the murder, while his friend had a small area of blood staining on his right trainer.

The youth who owned the black-bladed machete was incriminated by his heavily bloodstained clothing and bag. He said he bought the machete for £40 from a “friend of a friend” who he refused to name, but police said there was evidence he had searched for knives online.

His hoodie, found by police inside out and mixed in with other clothes in a washing basket, was bloodstained on the front of the right sleeve, the front and back of the left sleeve, the right chest and the lower left front.

Officers searched a storage space under a bed and recovered a machete. A tracksuit with apparent blood stains on it was also seized from a laundry basket at one of the schoolboys’ homes.

Jonathan Roe, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “As prosecutors, we often deal with harrowing cases, but this case is particularly distressing due to the complete senselessness and devastating consequences of the defendants’ actions.

“The defendants at the age of 12 should have been enjoying their childhood rather than arming themselves with a machete and killing an innocent person.”

On Friday, Shawn’s family told of their heartbreak in a moving impact statement read to the court by Dorothea Hodge, the UK representative for Anguilla.

It read: “Mentally it has been hard for any of us to function normally, none of us have had an unbroken night’s sleep since Shawn was taken from us, every time I close my eyes all I can think about is what his last moments were, and how scared he must have been, it continually breaks my heart.

“As well as the emotional and mental anguish we are going through, we have also suffered financially. No one expects to have to bury their child, and we were not prepared for this. In order to repatriate Shawn’s body back home from the UK, we had to use all of our savings. And in order to then fly back over to the UK to attend the trial, we had to take out a loan to fund the flights and accommodation.

“The impact on us as a family is devastating, it’s hard to believe that we will ever come to terms with what has happened. We will never get to see Shawn get married or have a family of his own, these things have been taken from us for what appears to be no reason at all.”

Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, has said he was “shocked” by the murder.

In a post on X, Sir Keir said: “When I read about Shawn Seesahai’s murder last November, I was shocked to my core.

“In my five years as director of public prosecutions, I never encountered a case like this.

“That a murder so brutal could be carried out by 12-year-olds is hard to believe.

“Young children should not have access to knives.

“We need to tackle the crisis head-on. My Government is committed to halving knife crime and taking back our streets.”

An enabler for Mohamed Fayed sought out young women in pubs and clubs for the Harrods billionaire to prey on, it can be revealed.

The young blonde associate, who cannot be named for legal reasons, would visit pubs in Surrey looking for “pretty young girls” and promise them a job at Harrods, a woman whom she procured has claimed.

She would befriend the women by boasting of her wealth and designer bags before asking if they would like to meet her “boss”, the billionaire Egyptian businessman.

She would then arrange a date to meet the girls, drive them to Fayed’s Park Lane penthouse apartment in a white Range Rover, and hand them over to the alleged sex abuser.

The disclosure sheds new light on the network through which Fayed procured women. Lawyers have compared the tycoon to Jeffrey Epstein, who used his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to groom underage girls.

Fayed has been accused by more than 100 women of sexual abuse in the wake of a BBC documentary about his alleged attacks.

At least four women in Surrey were approached by the glamorous executive around 2011 and taken to see Fayed, The Telegraph understands.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was approached by Fayed’s associate when she was a university graduate while drinking at a pub in Cobham.

She was driven to London to meet Fayed, who greeted her wearing silk pyjamas and asked: “Would you stay with me tonight?”.

Refusing, she was allowed to leave untouched after accepting £350 in cash and a promise that he would get her a job at the department store.

Speaking for the first time, she said: “He rang me up all the time. He would just be like ‘you need you to come and see me, you need to come and work at Harrods’.

“It was like having a chit-chat with a dirty grandpa. It was very odd. He was a man of few words but I knew straight away what he wanted.”

Nineteen women have made allegations against Fayed to the Metropolitan Police, the force has revealed.

The reports, made between 2005 and 2023, included three allegations of rape, 15 reports of sexual assault and one related to trafficking. The offences are said to have taken place between 1979 and 2013.

Between 2005 and 2023, the Met approached the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on five occasions – two of these, in 2009 and 2015, were to pass full files of evidence.

However, in all 19 allegations that were reported to police, no further action was taken against Fayed, who died last year aged 94.

The Metropolitan Police also announced it was looking into any other people who “could be pursued for criminal offences” over sexual abuse allegations against Fayed.

“It is important to make clear at this stage that it is not possible for criminal proceedings to be brought against someone who has died,” the force said. This means there is no prospect of any conviction relating to Fayed himself.

“However, we must ensure we fully explore whether any other individuals could be pursued for any criminal offences.

“As such, we are carrying out full reviews of all existing allegations reported to us about Al Fayed to ensure there are no new lines of enquiry based on new information which has emerged.”

Son defends his ‘wonderful dad’

Fayed’s son said in a statement on Friday evening that the allegations made against his late father have “thrown into question the loving memory I had of him”.

In a statement to Sky News, Omar Fayed said: “I am horrified and deeply concerned by the allegations recently brought to light against my late father.

“The extent and explicit nature of the allegations are shocking and has thrown into question the loving memory I had of him.

“How this matter could have been concealed for so long and in so many ways raises further disturbing questions.”

Mr Fayed, the founder of data visualisation and mapping company EarthX, said although he loved his father “very much” and he was a “wonderful dad, that aspect of our relationship … does not blind me from an objective assessment of circumstances”.

He said he stood “unequivocally in support of any legitimate investigation into these allegations”, adding: “The alleged victims and public deserve full transparency and accountability.

“I will continue to support the principles of truth, justice, accountability and fairness, regardless of where that journey may lead. No-one is above the law.”

‘Culture of secrecy and fear’

It came as Michael Ward, the managing director of Harrods, claimed that he was “not aware” of Fayed’s predatory sexual abuse.

Mr Ward has been under mounting pressure to reveal what he knew about Fayed’s alleged attacks after managers were accused of presiding over a “culture of secrecy and fear”.

Mr Ward, who has been in the post since 2006, oversaw the luxury retailer both while it was under Fayed’s ownership and afterwards. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Mr Ward.

On the blonde fixer, the woman added: “I think she would have gone around Parsons Green, Chelsea and where all those girls hang out and going up to them saying: ‘Hey do you want to go work at Harrods?’

“We all had a lucky escape, I can tell you that.

“I think she thought she was getting quick cash in hand. I don’t think she would have known the full scale.”

Yesterday, the lawyers representing women who allege rape and sexual abuse while working at Harrods said there was “credible evidence of abuse” at Fulham Football Club under Fayed’s ownership.

The allegation was made by the Justice For Harrods Survivors, which is now representing 60 women, and says that it has been contacted by more than 200 people from all over the world.

A spokesman for the group said: “Given our prolonged experience in dealing with the women impacted by this case, we expected that anywhere Mohamed Al-Fayed went, abuse would follow. Sadly, this has proven to be true. We are now in possession of credible evidence of abuse at other Al-Fayed properties and businesses, including Fulham Football Club.”

Fayed’s son said in a statement on Friday evening that the allegations made against his late father have “thrown into question the loving memory I had of him”.

In a statement to Sky News, Omar Fayed said: “I am horrified and deeply concerned by the allegations recently brought to light against my late father.

“The extent and explicit nature of the allegations are shocking and has thrown into question the loving memory I had of him.

“How this matter could have been concealed for so long and in so many ways raises further disturbing questions.”

Mr Fayed, the founder of data visualisation and mapping company EarthX, said although he loved his father “very much” and he was a “wonderful dad, that aspect of our relationship … does not blind me from an objective assessment of circumstances”.

He said he stood “unequivocally in support of any legitimate investigation into these allegations”, adding: “The alleged victims and public deserve full transparency and accountability.

“I will continue to support the principles of truth, justice, accountability and fairness, regardless of where that journey may lead. No-one is above the law.”

A tree surgeon bludgeoned his wife and killed himself in a murder-suicide weeks after receiving a large tax bill, an inquest heard.

Richard Parks, 63, stabbed and strangled his wife Suratchanee “Lat” Parks, 53, during the attack at their home in Tunbridge Wells earlier this year.

Mrs Parks was found dead with several injuries and a fractured skull inside the first-floor bathroom of the home on Feb 23. Officers found Mr Parks’s body in the hallway. There were bloodstains on the stairs and in every room of the house, the inquest heard.

Mr Parks owned several businesses, including a gardening and tree surgeon company, and his wife worked at a nail bar and Thai massage parlour.

The couple had bought a house in Thailand they planned to move to when they retired next year but weeks before their deaths Mr Parks had received a large tax bill from HMRC.

Mr Parks’s brother Robert told the inquest that the couple had got into financial trouble due to the large tax bill, but that the couple were hoping to move to Thailand once they had fixed their finances.

He said: “This is a terribly sad situation. Only those two will ever know exactly what happened.

“They loved each other very much and he was looking forward to going to Thailand. It’s just terribly sad for both families.”

Investigating officer Detective Constable Jessica Summers said prior to the tragedy, their marriage had been described as “happy and without problems”.

Family members said Mr Parks had become very stressed about the bill and that he was “struggling with his mental health”.

Mr Parks was said to have told others the move to Thailand would likely be delayed because of his financial problems, which had left his wife upset. The couple were also said to be concerned that they would have to move in with Mr Parks’s father because of their finances.

DC Summers said prior to the attack, Mr Parks had taken steps to set his affairs in order.

He had made changes to his will just two days before and had handed a folder of important documents and the combination to his safe to his sister.

Relatives visited the house on the day of the couple’s deaths following concerns about their welfare.

Police then attended and found blood stains on the kitchen floor, the dishwasher, the hallway and stairs, and on a sofa and carpet in the living room.

There was blood on a silver metal photo-frame which had been turned facedown and contained pictures of the couple.

A red folder found on the hall floor had a large sum of cash in £10 and £20 notes spilling out of it, as well as two coats at the foot of the stairs covered in a large pool of blood.

A blood spatter analyst concluded there had been a bloody assault in the kitchen area and at some time, somebody had moved around the house and had attempted to clean themselves up in the kitchen.

The pathologist said it was not possible to determine the order of the injuries sustained by Mrs Parks, other than the wounds to her neck had been delivered after her death or as she was dying.

At two separate inquests into their deaths in Maidstone, coroner Roger Hatch concluded that Mrs Parks was unlawfully killed and that Richard Parks had taken his own life.

Phillip Schofield has mocked Holly Willoughby’s “are you OK?” moment in his TV comeback, and accused former colleagues of throwing him under the bus.

After more than a year out of the public eye, Schofield is set to appear in Cast Away, a Channel 5 show in which he spends 10 days alone on an island off Madagascar.

Schofield lost his job on ITV’s This Morning over an affair with a male co-worker more than 30 years his junior.

He uses his appearance on Cast Away to settle some scores.

Filmed enjoying a family barbecue with his wife, Steph – with whom he has remained on good terms despite the affair – and their two daughters, Molly and Ruby, Schofield tells them: “If you’re ok, then we’re ok, and I’m ok. Are you ok?” then laughs.

It appears to be a mocking reference to Willoughby, who opened her first This Morning show post-Schofield’s departure with the words: “Right, deep breath. Firstly, are you ok?”

She went on to tell viewers that she had given “love and support to someone who was not telling the truth”. The pair had been on-screen partners and supposedly close friends for 14 years.

Schofield did not mention Willoughby’s name during the Cast Away show.

‘Angry, bitter stage’

He said of his old career: “I miss parts of it. I miss most of it if I’m honest. But there are bits that I really, really don’t miss. You learn a lot about people. I don’t miss that.”

And he said: “When you throw someone under a bus, you’ve got to have a really bloody good reason to do it.”

Tasting a coconut on his desert island, Schofield said that he was “going through an angry, bitter stage… like some television presenters”.

Schofield was forced to quit This Morning in May last year after admitting to a relationship with a runner on the programme. They first met when the boy was 15, although Schofield maintained that their relationship did not become sexual until the runner was 20.

Schofield described the affair, which he repeatedly denied to his ITV bosses and his management, as “an unwise and unprofessional thing to do”.

“I’ll be forever sorry. I screwed up, I made a mistake and I hurt the people around me,” he said.

However, referring to the age gap, he added: “I think another TV presenter or two might have done exactly the same thing.”

Schofield, 62, said his life had “totally unravelled” and his 41-year television career was ruined. “One minute you’re there and then the next minute you’re gone. You know what it feels like to be cancelled.”

‘Step back from the edge’ 

Describing his lowest moment, he said: “In the last 18 months, it got as dark as it is possible to get. A year ago, I got so close,” he said. 

“I had everything in place, everything was set up and everything was ready and it was Molly and Ruby both looking after me at the time, and Molly said, ‘Do you imagine what this would do to us if you actually managed to pull this off? Can you imagine what it would do to me if you did this on my watch?

“And that was just enough to take a step back from the edge.”

Schofield also spoke about coming out as gay, an announcement he made four years ago in an emotional interview with Willoughby on the This Morning sofa.

“I’m very proud of what I did, and I know that coming out for many people is liberating. The saying ‘just live your best life’. But for me, doing it later in life, at the moment it’s just given me more anguish than joy because I’m fully aware of the damage that it leaves.”

Schofield suggested his appearance on Cast Away would divide viewers. “I think there’d be an awful lot of people [who] hope that I never come back,” he said.

His daughter, Molly, told the programme that the scandal had brought the family closer. His wife, Steph, described Schofield’s critics as “[a] very few horrid people”.

Schofield described ITV presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly as his “best mates” but said he had no interest in appearing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! “There are some channels you just won’t work for,” he said.

He is alone on the island, filming himself, with basic survival tools including a tarpaulin to build a shelter, a fishing rod and a machete.

Previous celebrities to have undertaken the challenge include Dame Joanna Lumley, who has sent Schofield a video message of support.

Cast Away begins on Monday at 9pm on Channel 5

A couple who engaged in a sex act on a plane in front of other passengers have been convicted of outraging public decency.

Bradley Smith, 22, and Antonia Sullivan, 20, were escorted off an easyJet flight by police on March 3.

The pair, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, had been returning to Bristol from a holiday in Tenerife, Spain, on a packed 7am flight.

Minutes after take-off, unemployed Smith was heard asking his girlfriend to perform a sex act on him, The Sun reported.

Sullivan, sitting in 16B, began rearranging coats on Smith’s lap, who was by the window in 16A, and obliged, to the shock of fellow passengers.

Their neighbour in 16C later reported the couple to the cabin crew.

‘No regard for the feelings of other passengers’

Prosecutor Maree Doyle told Bristol magistrates’ court: “After a few minutes the witness was aware that the couple had rearranged some coats over Smith’s lap and there followed vigorous hand movements beneath the coats.

“The witness sitting next to them could see what was happening while a mother and teenage daughter sitting behind the couple could also see what was going on.”

Doyle added that the teenager had told her mother she could “see his bits”, prompting the parent to also complain.

Sullivan insisted to flight attendants that she was only rubbing Smith’s leg, but both were escorted from the plane when it reached Bristol by an easyJet manager and police.

The couple pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of outraging public decency by committing a sexual act in a public place.

Sentencing the couple, Judge Lynne Matthews said: “You had no regard for the feelings of other passengers.

“There was a child sitting behind you who was able to see what was happening.

“Who do you think you are and what right do you think entitled you to behave in that way in full view of people on that flight?”

Smith was ordered to complete 300 hours of community work, while Sullivan, a full-time care worker, received 270 hours.

They were both ordered to pay £100 compensation to each of the three witnesses.

An easyJet spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that this flight to Bristol was met by police on arrival, due to the behaviour of two passengers onboard.”

Benjamin Netanyahu left Israel for New York to “trick” Hezbollah’s leader into thinking he was safe, a senior Israeli official told The Telegraph.

Mr Netanyahu’s address to the UN was part of a “diversionary plan” intended to make Hassan Nasrallah believe Israel would not take drastic action with the prime minister out of the country.

Israel struck Beirut with a massive air strike on Friday that shook the Lebanese capital.

Mr Nasrallah was believed to be watching Mr Netanyahu’s speech “and was then attacked by Israeli Air Force planes”, the official said.

“Netanyahu approved the strike before delivering his speech at the UN,” the official added.

He went on to say that the Israeli assessment was that Mr Nasrallah was in the building at the time of the strike.

There are conflicting reports about his fate, however. Iran has said that the Hezbollah chief is in “good health”.

The attack came minutes after Mr Netanyahu vowed to continue operations against Hezbollah while addressing the UN chamber.

He struck a defiant tone, telling delegates that Israel would “continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met”.

Israel’s prime minister made little mention of the US-led peace plan that aims to establish a 21-day ceasefire between the IDF and Hezbollah.

He told the UN: “We will not accept a terror army parked on our northern border…able to perpetrate another October 7th-style massacre.”

On Friday night, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief lamented that no world power, including the US, can “stop” Mr Netanyahu.

Josef Borrell told reporters that Israel’s prime minister seems determined to crush militants in Gaza and Lebanon with or without Western approval.

“What we do is to put all diplomatic pressure to a ceasefire, but nobody seems to be able to stop Netanyahu, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank,” Mr Borrell said.

On Friday night Israel launched a new wave of air strikes on Beirut, targeting six suburbs in the south of the Lebanese capital that it said were being used by Hezbollah to store weapons.

Kamala Harris has visited the southern US border for the first time in three years in an attempt to confront her electoral vulnerabilities on immigration.

The US vice-president viewed a port of entry between Mexico and the battleground state of Arizona on Friday afternoon before holding a rally in the border town of Douglas.

The Democratic presidential candidate used her visit to attack Donald Trump on an issue that has been central to his campaign, and a major weakness of her own, accusing her Republican rival of “fanning the flames of fear and division” with his language on immigration.

Ms Harris also called for more punitive measures for people crossing the border illegally.

“I will take further action to keep the border closed between ports of entry. Those who cross our borders unlawfully will be apprehended and removed and barred from re-entering for five years,” she said.

It marked her first visit to the southern border since June 2021, and only her second as vice-president, despite being tasked by Joe Biden with stemming the flow of migrants from Latin America into the US early in his term.

Ms Harris has struggled with the brief and, while it does not include oversight of the physical border, the Trump campaign has used it to brand her a “failed border tsar”.

On Friday, Trump blamed Ms Harris for the rising trend of irregular migration. “The architect of this destruction is Kamala Harris,” he said, at Trump Tower in Manhattan. “She keeps talking about how she supposedly wants to fix the border. We would merely ask, Why didn’t she do it four years ago? It’s a very simple question.”

Ms Harris’s first border visit in 2021 followed intense political pressure amid an unfolding crisis, with border facilities overrun and asylum seekers being held in squalid conditions.

When Ms Harris was asked why she had not yet visited the border in an interview at the time, she replied: “I haven’t been to Europe [either]”.

It was seen as a PR disaster and her trip to El Paso, Texas, followed shortly afterwards.

Conditions on the southern border have since improved, with shelters seeing a sharp decline in numbers and official data over the summer recording the number of apprehensions is at the lowest level since Mr Biden entered office.

However, immigration remains an electoral millstone for Ms Harris’ White House run, with polls consistently showing voters trust her far less than Trump on border security and tackling illegal immigration.

In Douglas, Ms Harris spoke to Customs and Border Protection officials and viewed part of a border barrier constructed between 2011 and 2012, during the Obama administration. She also drew on her past work tackling international gangs of drug and people traffickers in California and said she would target the “entire global fentanyl supply chain”.

“As a former attorney general from a border state, she took on international gangs and criminal organisations who traffic drugs, guns, and human beings, and she has long believed we need an immigration system that is secure, fair, orderly and humane, a stark contrast from the divisive and dangerous politics of Donald Trump,” a Harris campaign aide said.

Ms Harris has previously highlighted her support for the tough bipartisan border security legislation that would have granted Mr Biden sweeping powers to shut down the border on days when crossings exceeded a certain threshold, toughen criteria for asylum claims and fund more border agents and deportation flights.

The legislation was blocked from advancing through Congress by Republican senators following a lobbying campaign by Trump who said he did not want to give Mr Biden a “win” on the border in an election year.

Ms Harris frequently highlights her opponent’s intervention to paint him as a political opportunist. “He killed a bill that would have actually been a solution, because he wants to run on a problem, instead of fixing a problem,” she told MSNBC in an interview this week.

While Trump has promised to carry out mass deportations and other measures to remove both illegal and legal migrants from the country, Ms Harris has attempted a more delicate juggling act.

She has supported tough action to secure the border against illegal immigration, while also backing a pathway to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children.

Ms Harris has gained some ground among Hispanic voters, a significant voting bloc in Arizona, but Trump still holds a narrow lead in the state. It will be critical to winning the White House on Nov 5.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants with criminal convictions have been released into the US by immigration authorities, according to new figures.

They include some 13,099 people convicted of homicide, 14,301 of burglary, and 15,811 of sexual assault, who were detained as they crossed into the US before being set free while their cases are pending.

A further 62,631 had convictions of assault, 10,031 for robbery, and 56,553 for an unspecified dangerous drugs offence, according to data up to July 21 2024.

In all, 425,431 migrants with criminal convictions have been released, among whom the most common crime was traffic offences of which 77,074 had been convicted.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made the admission in response to a request for information from Tony Gonzales, a Republican member of the House of Representatives’ homeland security committee.

The issue is a hugely controversial one following several alleged killings of Americans by migrants. The death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, caused outrage in February when an illegal immigrant from Venezuela was charged with her murder.

Harris on tour

The newly released figures came as Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, visited the US-Mexican border on Friday, where she pledged to tighten up rules for asylum seekers.

Republicans were quick to turn the new figures on Ms Harris, although the ICE data did not indicate when the migrants had entered the US or been released from detention.

“In March, I requested data from the Biden-Harris administration on how many illegal immigrants with a criminal history have been released in our communities,” Mr Gonzales wrote on X.

“I just received an answer this week. Remember this as VP Harris tries to tout the administrations’ ‘success’ during her dog and pony show at the border.”

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, wrote on his Truth Social platform: “13,000 people convicted of murder have crossed into our country through Kamala Harris’ open border – non-detained, non-citizen, non-convicted criminals.

“I’ve been saying this from the beginning of the Harris-Biden administration, as soon as I learned they opened the borders.”

‘Bad timing’

Seemingly referring to the fact that the figures were released six months after Mr Gonzales’ request, Trump added: “Bad timing for [Ms Harris] to show up to the border today, after not going for four years.

“Why didn’t she release these numbers earlier?”

More than 10,000 migrants with criminal convictions remain in detention, ICE figures show.

Those with a criminal history who are released from detention may be assigned to a programme for closer monitoring, which may include location-tracking technology or regular check-ins with the authorities.

Patrick J Lechleitner, the acting head of ICE, said in a letter to the homeland security committee: “ICE is bound by statutory requirements not to release certain noncitizens from ICE custody during the pendency of removal proceedings.

“Most noncitizens who are convicted of homicide are typically not eligible for release from ICE custody under §236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

He added: “From mid-May 2023 through the end of July 2024, DHS removed or returned more than 893,600 individuals.”

ICE has been approached for comment.

A judge has been accused of trolling himself with fake racist social media posts when he ran for re-election.

A grand jury indicted Fort Bend County Judge KP George on a misdemeanour charge of misrepresentation of identity of a candidate.

The indictment alleges that on Sept 26, 2022, he posed as a Facebook user named “Antonio Scalywag” in a campaign communication posted on the judge’s Facebook page “with intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election”.

However, at the time, Mr George, a Democrat, was running for re-election as county judge against Trever Nehls, who is the twin brother of Texas congressman Troy Nehls.

A county judge serves as the chief executive officer of a county in Texas.

In a Sept 17 search warrant, authorities accused Mr George of working with his former chief of staff, Taral Patal, to use the “Antonio Scalywag” alias to post racist social media posts targeting himself in order to garner sympathy.

After the search warrant was issued, Mr George’s cell phones and computer were seized.

Misinterpretation of identity

Mr George, who was born in India and later became a US citizen, is the first person of colour to serve as county judge in Fort Bend, a diverse county located southwest of Houston. He was first elected as county judge in 2018.

Mr Patal, who is running for a county commissioner position in the Nov 5 election, was indicted earlier this month on four charges of online impersonation and four charges of misinterpretation of identity.

Authorities allege Mr Patal also used the “Antonio Scalywag” alias to make racist posts to help him in his own run for county commissioner.

A spokesman for Mr George said in an email on Thursday that the county judge would not immediately comment on the indictment.

The Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, which led the investigation, declined to comment. Frank Yeverino, an attorney for Mr Patel, did not immediately reply to a call seeking comment.

In a statement last week, Mr George said he believed he was a witness and not a target of the investigation.

“I have not been charged with any crime, nor do I expect to be,” he said in last week’s statement.

At least one Fort Bend County commissioner, Vincent Morales, called for Mr George to resign following his indictment.

Sky has launched legal action against Warner Brothers after allegedly being cut out of its new Harry Potter series.

According to Sky’s legal complaint, the companies agreed they would “co-fund” the production in a 2019 deal that would have given Sky the exclusive rights to market and distribute the Harry Potter series throughout Europe.

Instead, Sky claims, its “longstanding partner” decided to keep the series for itself for the launch of its new HBO Max streaming service.

Sky is now seeking hundreds of millions dollars in damages after allegedly being “brazenly” cut out of the show, which is expected to be released in 2026 or 2027.

“Warner has… brazenly denied Sky its right to partner on Warner’s highly valuable decade-long, tentpole television series adapting JK Rowling’s iconic Harry Potter novels,” it argued in its complaint, filed in a New York court on Friday.

“Instead, Warner has largely disregarded the parties’ agreement and sought to keep the Harry Potter content for itself so that Warner can use it as the cornerstone of the launch of its Max streaming service in Europe.”

Sky also claimed that Warner Brothers had consistently breached the 2019 agreement, with the US media giant said to have failed in its obligations to provide it with at least four series per year to partner on.

‘Misconduct’

“Warner was obligated to present Sky with at least four shows per year across 2021, 2022, and 2023 but undisputedly fell far short of that mark, in certain years offering barely a single qualifying series,” the complaint states.

It also withheld “critical, contractually required information necessary for Sky to evaluate any potential options that it did receive”, Sky claimed.

“This misconduct has deprived Sky of its bargained-for opportunity to co-fund, co-produce, and subsequently exploit exclusively in UK and European territories all manner of top-end Warner content.”

A Sky spokesman said in a statement: “Warner Brothers. Discovery is a longstanding partner to our business. In the course of our work together, we have been unable to resolve a dispute over a specific agreement.

“As a result of exposure to harm and losses we have initiated proceedings to safeguard our interests and enforce our rights to partner in the production and distribution of highly valuable content. We look forward to achieving a swift and conclusive resolution of the matter.”

The new Harry Potter series launched a casting call for actors earlier this month, seeking children between the ages of 9 and 11 and living in the UK or Ireland to play Harry, Ron and Hermione.

According to the notice, the production team is “committed to inclusive, diverse casting”.

A spokesman for Warner Brothers Discovery claimed that Sky was “deeply concerned about the viability of its business” and that its legal action was a negotiating tactic.

“The HBO and Max licensing agreements expire at the end of 2025, and this lawsuit is a baseless attempt by Sky and Comcast to try and gain leverage in its negotiations for our programming beyond that date,” he said. 

“We know HBO-branded shows are critical to Sky, as evidenced by their desire for over a year to find a way to renew our agreements, and this lawsuit makes it clear that Sky is deeply concerned about the viability of its business were it to lose our award-winning content. 

“WBD will vigorously defend itself from this unfounded lawsuit as we move forward undeterred with plans to launch Max, including the new HBO Harry Potter series, in the UK and other European markets in 2026.”

The Crown Prosecution Service considered bringing charges against a female co-conspirator while investigating Mohamed Fayed’s alleged sex abuse, The Telegraph can reveal.

The Metropolitan Police passed on a full file of evidence on the billionaire businessman and an alleged enabler to the CPS while investigating allegations against the former Harrods owner in 2015.

However, after considering the evidence for a year, prosecutors deemed it did not pass the legal threshold and no charges were brought against the pair.

It comes as the Met announced it was looking into any other people who “could be pursued for criminal offences” over sexual abuse allegations against Fayed, who died aged 94 last year.

Lawyers have compared the tycoon to Jeffrey Epstein, who used his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to groom underage girls.

Nineteen women have made allegations against Fayed to the Metropolitan Police, the force has revealed.

The reports, made between 2005 and 2023, included three allegations of rape, 15 reports of sexual assault and one related to trafficking. The offences are said to have taken place between 1979 and 2013.

Between 2005 and 2023, the Met approached the CPS on five occasions – two of these, in 2009 and 2015, were to pass full files of evidence.

However, in all 19 allegations that were reported to police, no further action was taken against Fayed.

“It is important to make clear at this stage that it is not possible for criminal proceedings to be brought against someone who has died,” the force said in a statement. This means there is no prospect of any conviction relating to Fayed himself.

“However, we must ensure whether any other individuals could be pursued for any criminal offences.

“As such, we are carrying out full reviews of all existing allegations reported to us about Al Fayed to ensure there are no new lines of enquiry based on new information which has emerged.”

It comes as The Telegraph revealed an enabler for Mohamed Fayed sought out young women in pubs and clubs for the Harrods billionaire to prey on.

The young blonde associate, who cannot be named for legal reasons, would visit pubs in Surrey looking for “pretty young girls” and promise them a job at Harrods, a woman whom she procured has claimed.

She would befriend the women by boasting of her wealth and designer bags before asking if they would like to meet her “boss”, the billionaire Egyptian businessman.

She would then arrange a date to meet the girls, drive them to Fayed’s Park Lane penthouse apartment in a white Range Rover, and hand them over to the alleged sex abuser.

At least four women in Surrey were approached by the glamorous executive around 2011 and taken to see Fayed, The Telegraph understands.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was approached by Fayed’s associate when she was a university graduate while drinking at a pub in Cobham.

She was driven to London to meet Fayed, who greeted her wearing silk pyjamas and asked: “Would you stay with me tonight?”.

Refusing, she was allowed to leave untouched after accepting £350 in cash and a promise that he would get her a job at the department store.

Speaking for the first time, she said: “He rang me up all the time. He would just be like ‘you need you to come and see me, you need to come and work at Harrods’.

“It was like having a chit-chat with a dirty grandpa. It was very odd. He was a man of few words but I knew straight away what he wanted.”

There is no suggestion that this is the same woman passed onto the CPS by the Met.

A CPS spokesperson said: “It is very concerning to hear of so many women coming forward with a series of very disturbing allegations against Mr Al-Fayed.

“The prosecutors who looked at the files of evidence that were received in 2008 and 2015 concluded at that time that there was no realistic prospect of conviction and no charges were brought.

“We are working to build a full picture around these serious allegations and want to reassure the public that alongside our criminal justice system partners, we are determined to secure justice in as many rape and serious sexual offences as possible.