Criminals could serve sentences at home under house arrest as part of government plans to “reshape and redesign” punishments outside prison.

Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, who is carrying out a sentencing review, is drawing up plans for a major expansion of community punishments as an alternative to jail, in which judges use technology to create virtual “prisons outside of prison”.

Courts would have powers to enforce the virtual prisons through technology such as GPS tags, smart phones and special watches that remind offenders to attend meetings with probation officers, drug treatment courses and work placements.

They are likely to be modelled on the current home detention curfews (HDCs), under which prisoners can be freed six months before their scheduled release date to serve the rest of their sentences tagged and under curfew. The prisoners are barred from leaving their home from, for example, 7pm to 7am – effectively placing them under “house arrest”.

Ms Mahmood is expected to announce on Tuesday an immediate expansion of HDCs from six to 12 months. This would mean a prisoner could be released as little as a quarter of the way through their sentence to serve up to a year of their remaining time tagged at home rather than in jail.

The moves come in response to official forecasts that jails will again run out of space by July next year, despite the early release of thousands of prisoners after serving 40 per cent rather than half of their sentences. More than 1,200 criminals jailed for more than five years will be freed early on Tuesday under the release scheme.

In a statement to Parliament, Ms Mahmood is expected to confirm that David Gauke, the former Tory justice secretary, will head the review of sentencing that aims to ensure there will be enough space to lock up the most dangerous criminals, encourage offenders to turn their back on crime and expand punishments outside prison.

The extension of HDCs to 12 months could pave the way for their wider use by judges for offenders who would normally go to jail. Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows people on HDCs are half as likely to reoffend as those released straight from prison. Their use has already doubled in a year, with 4,000 freed prisoners on HDCs.

“Theoretically a judge could hand down a sentence of house arrest,” said Ms Mahmood. “We have an opportunity now to reshape and redesign what punishment outside of a prison looks like.

“I’m sure the review is going to want to look at all the different mechanisms that are out there to monitor offenders in the community, to supervise them effectively and then also to nudge their behaviour towards a rehabilitation activity that we know reduces re-offending.

“So I’m interested in what punishment outside of a prison looks like. It still has to be punishment, they still have to have their liberty curtailed. People have to know and believe there are consequences to breaking our laws.”

‘Nudge watches’

Some 18,000 offenders are currently on tags, which have helped police solve crimes by enabling them to track the movements of suspects using GPS and place them at the crime scene at the time of the offence. The 3,000 sobriety tags – which detect alcohol in offenders’ blood – have achieved a 97 per cent compliance rate.

Prison service officials are also keen for the review to explore the use of “nudge” watches worn by convicted offenders that can direct messages from probation officers to help change their behaviour and their “chaotic” lives.

“We are particularly interested in nudge technology, like a wrist watch that says: ‘Have you got in touch with your probation officer? Have you turned up at your mental health treatment appointment?’” said a senior prison service source.
“They’re not things that restrict your liberty, but they are very helpful in terms of behaviour compliance.”

Community alternatives will be necessary because the review will consider scrapping most short sentences of under six months or potentially a year, which Mr Gauke advocated when justice secretary.

Mr Gauke told ITV on Monday night: “The reoffending rate for those who have been in prison for a short amount of time is much higher than for those who served a community sentence.

“There is a question about whether we can have more effective community sentences, particularly in the context of new technologies that are coming into play: the use of electronic tagging, the use of drug and alcohol monitoring. Is there more that we can do to make sure those community sentences feel like more of a genuine piece of punishment than perhaps they have been in the past?”

Some prolific offenders could, however, face longer in jail so that prison officers and support staff have more time to provide intensive rehabilitation work to turn them away from crime.

Texas scheme model

Ms Mahmood wants the review to look at successful schemes from around the world, including Texas, where the Republican governor Rick Perry introduced “good behaviour” credits in jails, where prisoners could earn time off for taking part in rehabilitation and work schemes.

She will visit Texas with Mr Gauke early in the new year to appraise the scheme, which halved reoffending rates, increased employment rates of ex-convicts by 50 per cent and enabled the authorities to close 16 jails after the prison population fell from 152,661 in 2007 to 129,653 last year. The crime rate also fell by 29 per cent.

The review will also consider recategorising more offences as domestic abuse. The Government’s early release scheme has been criticised for excluding assaults even though the victims have been attacked by ex-partners. “We want the review to consider the broader framework when it comes to sentencing violence against women and girls,” said Ms Mahmood.

It will consider reviving plans by the Tories for whole life orders for any murder involving sexual or sadistic conduct and for rapists to serve their full jail sentence rather than being released on licence.

With 1,2,00 prisoners to be released early on Tuesday, officials admitted there was a limit to what they could do to stop them from repeating last month’s celebrations when freed prisoners were sprayed with champagne, except to remind them that bad behaviour can be a breach of licence.

“They’ve all got strict licence conditions, a reminder to be well-behaved. We will make sure prison property and everything is respected in the way it should be. If it’s not, then we will obviously report people,” said a senior prison service source.

Ms Mahmood is expected to announce plans on Tuesday to make it easier and quicker for prison and probation officials to re-release offenders re-called to jail for breaching their licence after being freed. At present, it can take up to a year for the parole board to make a decision.

The moves have been forced on the MoJ by the continuing rise in the prison population, which is projected to increase by 4,500 a year at current rates. This would require nearly five medium-sized prisons to be built every year, at a cost of £3.2 billion a year.

On the evening of Sunday, Sept 5 2022, Chris Kaba, a 24-year-old black man, was driving alone through the streets of south London.

As he travelled through the Camberwell area, his black Audi Q8 was spotted by a police firearms officer, who recognised it as a vehicle that had been flagged as suspicious.

According to the police intelligence database, the car, which was not registered to Kaba, had been involved in a firearms incident the previous evening.

A witness reported having seen three balaclava-clad men, one armed with a gun, open fire on another vehicle near a primary school in Brixton before the suspects fled the scene in two cars.

Nobody was hurt in the incident, but the description of one of the getaway vehicles – a dark-coloured Audi Q8 along with the number plate – was passed to Scotland Yard.

While the police had no idea who was behind the wheel at that stage, a firearms incident was declared.

A convoy of unmarked armed response vehicles (ARVs) began tracking the Audi as it continued its route across south London, travelling through Herne Hill, Brockwell Park and Brixton.

Meanwhile, a marked BMW ARV containing three officers, including Martyn Blake, remained on standby parked in Kirkstall Gardens, a residential street in Streatham.

Firearms officers were preparing to stop the car and apprehend the driver when Kaba unexpectedly turned into Kirkstall Gardens to be confronted by the marked BMW ARV, which had moved into the middle of the road blocking his path.

Kaba quickly reversed but discovered he was boxed in from behind by an unmarked police car, which he collided with.

Within seconds, armed police were swarming around the Audi, pointing their guns and telling the driver to surrender.

They ordered him out of the car. When he refused they tried to smash the windows.

But determined to get away, Kaba floored the accelerator, lurching forward and ploughing into the BMW police car and a Tesla parked in the street.

Unable to get through the gap, Kaba slammed the car into reverse – but again collided with a police Volvo, which had moved forward to close the gap.

It was at that point Mr Blake discharged his carbine, firing a single bullet that pierced the windscreen of the Audi and struck Kaba in the head.

Kaba was rushed to King’s College Hospital but was pronounced dead just after midnight.

No firearm was recovered from the Audi and, as is the case in any police shooting, there was an automatic referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Within hours of his death there was an angry reaction from Kaba’s family and friends, who claimed he would not have been shot if he had been white.

In an emotional statement, they described him as an expectant father and aspiring architect with “so much potential”.

Despite having had problems in the past, Kaba’s family insisted he had been trying to turn his life around and had been looking forward to becoming a father.

Mr Blake, the 40-year-old officer who fired the single shot, was unaware who was at the wheel, but insisted he acted in line with his training and because he genuinely feared for his life or the lives of his colleagues.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Mr Blake – who was known at that stage only as NX121 – was removed from front-line operations as he completed the post-incident procedures.

On Sept 9, the IOPC announced it had launched a homicide investigation.

Three days later, on Sir Mark Rowley’s first day as the new Met Commissioner, he bowed to pressure and agreed to suspend NX121, citing the need to maintain “public confidence”.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, described the suspension as “a really important decision” that he fully supported.

But sources close to the officer said that decision came as a huge “kick in the teeth” and left him feeling that the force did not have his back.

In the days that followed, dozens of his colleagues in the Met’s firearms unit threatened to hand in their weapons in protest and Sir Mark had to hold an emergency meeting to avert a crisis.

The focus on the Queen’s funeral, which was due to take place the following week, helped take the heat out of the situation and most firearms officers went back to work.

But just over a year later on, Sept 23 2023, came the news that following an IOPC investigation and lengthy consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service , the decision had been made to charge NX121 with murder.

The officer appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and then the Old Bailey while tearful members of Kaba’s family packed into the public gallery.

It was only the second time in the last 30 years that a firearms officer in the UK had been charged with murder over a shooting carried out in the line of duty.

Tony Long shot dead gangster Azelle Rodney in 2005 and went on trial accused of his murder 10 years later in 2015.

But he was acquitted by a jury and later said: “It has been very difficult facing trial for something that happened 10 years ago when I had acted to protect the lives of others as a part of my job and based on my training and experience.

“Police firearms officers do not go out intending to shoot people and, like me in this case, have to make split-second life-or-death decisions based on the information available to them at the time.”

The fallout from the decision to charge Mr Blake was almost immediate. More than 300 firearms officers, representing 10 per cent of the Met’s armed capability, laid down their arms.

Firearms officers in the UK are all volunteers who do not get any extra money for the risks they take, and many decided it was simply no longer worth it.

The situation plunged the Met into a crisis and the Army had to be placed on standby to ensure there was enough armed cover across London.

Frantic negotiations eventually calmed the situation down but sources said morale among armed officers in the Met was at rock bottom.

In February, The Telegraph revealed that only six officers had applied to join the current intake.

A grandfather jailed for violent disorder and abusing police at an anti-immigration riot this summer has become the first rioter to die in prison.

Peter Lynch, 61, described as a conspiracy theorist at his court hearing, is believed to have taken his own life on Saturday night at HMP Moorland near Doncaster in south Yorkshire, according to prison service sources.

Lynch was jailed for two years and eight months on Aug 22 after pleading guilty to violent disorder in a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court.

The court was told Lynch went to the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on Aug 4 with a placard which called police officers, MPs and the media “corrupt”.

Lynch shouted “racist and provocative remarks” towards officers and called asylum seekers in the hotel “child killers”, the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told the court during his sentencing.

His death in jail will now be investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

A prison service spokesman said: “HMP Moorland prisoner Peter Lynch died on Oct 19 2024. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”

‘Family man’

“Family man” Lynch, who recently had a heart attack, had gone to protest at the hotel against immigration, his defence barrister told the hearing in August.

He had “a general conspiracy theory against anyone and any form of authority”, and his placard referenced the “deep state” and space agency Nasa. Video played to the court showed Lynch “revving up” the situation before it turned violent, the Recorder said.

He was filmed calling the police “scum”. His sign and protest was not unlawful, but his verbal abuse towards police officers during the “racist incident” crossed the line, the Recorder added.

Lynch, of Burman Road, Wath-upon-Dearne, was a “full participant” in the disorder, the court was told. “You were unquestionably endeavouring to rev up the situation the best you could,” the Recorder added.

Lynch’s placard stated that police chiefs, reporters, civil servants, judges and the Environment Agency were all “corrupt”.

More than 1,511 arrests

Police have made more than 1,511 arrests linked to the summer riots and, together with the Crown Prosecution Service, have brought around 1,000 charges.

The arrests came amid a prison overcrowding crisis, with the jails in England and Wales almost running out of space on the weekend of the August bank holiday after the riots.

Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has since introduced an early release scheme in which prisoners – including many of those convicted for rioting – are eligible to be freed 40 per cent of the way through their sentences rather than halfway.

Terrorist, sexual and specific domestic abuse offences are excluded from the scheme – as are those sentenced to more than four years in jail for violence. 

Lynch would have been eligible, having been sentenced to under four years in jail for a violent offence.

Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and government adviser, said: “Any death in custody is a tragedy. Not all can be prevented. 

“However, the profile of this offender, rightly jailed for his role in rioting, suggests to me he ought to have at least been considered as a suicide risk.

“The investigation which must take place after a fatal incident in a prison will need to explore this in relation to his vulnerability and care.”

Angela Rayner’s sweeping overhaul of workers’ rights could cost employers almost £5bn a year, the Government’s own analysis has found.

According to an impact assessment published by the Government on Monday, the Deputy Prime Minister’s shake-up could result in businesses raising prices, cutting back on salaries or reducing investment as they shoulder a significant increase in costs.

Officials estimated the changes would cost businesses £4.5bn a year but added: “We are confident that the total direct cost to business will be less than £5bn annually.”

The burden means companies are facing a double whammy of increased costs from changes to workers’ rights and a looming tax raid. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is expected to increase employer National Insurance payments in her upcoming Budget on Oct 30.

Businesses warned that the Government was using a “sledgehammer to crack a nut” when it came to improving standards for workers.

In a meeting with Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow business secretary, on Monday, directors and chief executives of business groups warned that the Bill meant “employers will become more risk averse” and were already putting the brakes on investment.

Attendees included the Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses, the British Chambers of Commerce and the Institute of Directors.

A source who attended the meeting said: “Given that business confidence is pretty fragile currently given what businesses have been through in recent years, this is damaging growth and employment prospects.”

Ms Rayner pledged to end “exploitative” zero-hours contracts, give workers the power to take employers to a tribunal from “day one” in a job and extend statutory sick pay when she tabled the Employment Rights Bill earlier this month. She described the changes as “the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation”.

However, the Government’s impact assessment warned there would be “a direct cost on employers” from the changes and said any benefits from many of the policies were uncertain at best. Significant costs include a £1bn annual bill for ending zero-hours contracts, £1bn in payments for shifts cancelled at short notice and up to £1bn for improved access to statutory sick pay.

The measures that will cost businesses the largest sums of money will have the most unclear gains for society, officials warned. The four most expensive measures, which include the right to guaranteed hours, will all have an “uncertain” impact on society.

The official analysis also warned that measures to strengthen the power of unions contained within the legislation “may directly impact the public sector pay bill” by pushing up the cost of wage settlements.

Costs for businesses will arise from administrative expenses, compliance fees and the reduction in flexibility. The analysis said the £4.5bn annual bill was equivalent to a 0.4pc increase in businesses’ wages bill across the UK. 

The impact will be felt more heavily in lower-paid sectors such as retail, hospitality and social care, the report noted, rather than spread evenly across the economy. 

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, which represents the sector, said: “These measures are not without cost. If you couple that at the same time with discussions about increases in the national living wage and employers’ NICs [National Insurance Contributions], you can see that there’s going to be a significant impact on the cost base of hospitality.

“With more than half of our operating costs already taken up by employment and wage costs, any changes to that, any addition to that, will have a net impact – both on prices to the consumer but also on job opportunities for employees.”

The costs will be disproportionately higher for smaller businesses because the fixed costs of complying with these new measures will be harder to bear given their lower turnover.

Businesses are likely to try and pass on these higher costs to customers and workers through higher prices and smaller future pay rises.

If customers baulk at higher prices or regulations such as minimum wage stops employers from squeezing wage bills, companies will likely instead cut investment, training or jobs, the report warned.

Officials cited an October survey of employers by the Office for National Statistics, which found that two fifths of businesses would respond to higher labour costs by increasing their prices, while more than a sixth – 17pc – would cut staff.

Steve Alton, chief executive of the British Institute of Innkeeping, urged the Chancellor to introduce more support for the hospitality sector in next week’s Budget. 

He said: “Our members pride themselves on supporting their team members – for many, their first job – with professional development that provides career pathways.

“However, the significant additional employer costs expected through the recently announced Employment Rights Bill will simply be unaffordable without levelling the current unfair level of tax that pubs face.”

Overall, the measures contained in the Employment Rights Bill will help to raise living standards but will have a “small” positive effect on economic growth, officials concluded. Some of the new costs will be offset with benefits for businesses, such as having more productive workers, officials concluded.

Sir Tim Martin, the founder and boss of JD Wetherspoon, criticised the ever-increasing level of regulation and tax on the economy since the end of the Tony Blair era.

He said: “Since then, taxes and regulation have increased and there appears to be a belief that you can regulate your way to prosperity. This belief will almost certainly lead to less investment and less prosperity.”

Ms Rayner said the measures would make millions of workers better off through stronger employment protections. She said: “We said we would get on and deliver the biggest upgrade to rights at work in a generation and the growth our economy needs – and that is exactly what we are doing.”

Seven Israeli citizens have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran on Israeli army bases and taking pictures of the Iron Dome missile defence system.

The Shin Bet security agency and Israeli police said they dismantled a “spy network” involving Israeli citizens who were gathering “sensitive information on IDF [Israel Defense Forces] bases and energy infrastructure” for Israel’s arch enemy.

The suspects were all Jewish Israelis from Haifa and other areas in northern Israel. They were identified as Azis Nisanov, Alexander Sadykov, Vyacheslav Gushchin, Yevgeny Yoffe and Yigal Nissan, and two minors who could not be named.

The suspects operated under instructions from two Iranian intelligence agents known as “Alkhan” and “Orkhan” for more than two years, and conducted “extensive reconnaissance missions” on military bases across the country, as well as on ports, Iron Dome system locations and energy infrastructure.

The police and Shin Bet said that the network of spies was aware the information they gathered could “potentially aid enemy missile attacks”, and noted a power plant in the central coastal city of Hadera as an example. 

Paid in cryptocurrencies

The operation also involved spying on “several” Israeli citizens as well as “photographing and documenting strategic sites, with the collected data being transferred to Iranian agents”, the authorities added.

The spy ring are said to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Iran for their activities, often paid in cryptocurrencies.

The investigation led to the seizure of substantial materials “including photographs and videos of numerous IDF bases across Israel, ports and energy infrastructure”, a senior Shin Bet official said.

The police said that the “severity and scope of the events were exposed, which are amongst the most serious known to Israel”.

Israel has exposed and arrested a number of Iranian spies in recent years, most recently a 73-year-old Israeli who was arrested on Sept 19 for trying to kill Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.

Moti Maman, from Ashkelon, southern Israel, was smuggled twice into Iran, where talks were held over paying him as a hitman, according to Israel authorities.

Israel claimed Iran asked Mr Maman to carry out the assassinations as revenge for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, on Iranian soil in July, which Tehran attributed to Jerusalem.

Mr Maman was then alleged to have demanded one million dollars up front for the task, which the Iranian authorities refused. Instead, he received €5,000 (£4,164) for participating in the meetings, the statement said.

Documents leaked

The US launched an investigation this week into the leaking of two alleged intelligence documents that detailed Israel’s preparation for a potential strike on Iran.

The documents, seen by The Telegraph, include interpretations of satellite imagery that appear to have been prepared recently by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and analysis information gathered by US spy satellites and the National Security Agency.

They were marked “Top Secret”, dated Oct 15 and 16, and were circulated on Friday night on the Telegram messaging app.

The documents do not appear to be a comprehensive assessment of Israeli intentions but an assessment of developments by the US on the dates given.

Israel has still not decided on the target of its attack, according to local media.

An Israeli colonel has been killed by a Hamas booby trap, becoming the most senior soldier so far to be killed in Gaza.

Col Ehsan Daxa, the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed by an explosive device on Sunday in Jabalia, once a refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Col Daxa had left his tank and walked to an observation post where the explosive device was planted. The blast also left a battalion commander seriously injured, and two additional officers slightly hurt.

Hamas has killed dozens of Israeli soldiers by planting explosive devices on roads and inside civilian buildings across Gaza.

Earlier this year, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, told The Telegraph that when civilians were ordered to evacuate from Rafah in early May, Hamas put explosive devices “everywhere, in entire apartment blocks, to kill as many soldiers as possible”.

The death of Col Daxa adds to the pressure of war fatigue amongst parts of the Israeli public.

With Israel’s defence establishment repeatedly saying that Hamas as a military no longer exists, many are pushing for the government to declare the war in Gaza over.

Despite immense military losses, Hamas still manages to kill Israeli soldiers across Gaza, due to their continued “pockets of resistance”.

At least 355 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched its ground invasion last year.

The IDF said Col Daxa was “an outstanding officer and a humble warrior” who left his studies on Oct 7 to join the war against Hamas.

He was appointed commander of the 401st Brigade four months ago, having begun his career in the military in 2001.

Col Daxa was awarded the IDF Chief of the General Staff Citation for his “bravery” during the 2006 Lebanon War, when he evacuated wounded soldiers under fire.

He also served as an operations officer in the Northern Command as well as the commander of the 474th Territorial Brigade stationed on the border with Syria.

Of Druze origin, Col Daxa came from the town of Daliyat al-Karmel in northern Israel. The Druze minority in Israel has a long tradition of serving in the IDF, often in high-ranking positions.

‘An Israeli hero’

Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the leader of the Druze community in Israel, said the army lost one of its “finest and most senior field commanders who led forces in battle”.

Rafik Halabi, the mayor of his hometown, also issued a statement, saying: “With sorrow, pain, and much grief, Daliyat al-Karmel, the IDF, the Druze community and the State of Israel say goodbye to one of its heroes.”

Col Daza told the Walla! News site in an interview last year that he felt “equal” to his comrades in the IDF.

“Someone who isn’t deeply involved can’t understand that. The IDF is truly a melting pot. It is a sane place. It includes everyone,” he said.

Col Daxa was also praised by lawmakers from across the political spectrum. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, called him an “Israeli hero, a fighter and commander – an exemplar of the covenant with the Druze people”.

Benny Gantz, the leader of the opposition party National Unity, said Col Daxa was a reminder of the “sacrifice of Druze society as a whole, always, and especially in this difficult war. As we continue the battle, we must make sure that the entire Druze society feels equal and a part of our people.”

Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, said he saluted and embraced him and his family, the community of Daliyat al-Karmel, and “our sisters and brothers from the Druze community, who have lost many precious sons since the beginning of the fighting, with devotion, a sense of mission and shared destiny”.

Col Daxa is the second colonel to be killed in fighting in Gaza, while three other colonels were killed in the Hamas terror attack on Oct 7. He is survived by a wife and three children.

Israel released footage of Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza on Monday amid fierce fighting and a resurgence by Hamas. 

A video showed hundreds of Gazans moving through the rubble of a destroyed street as an Israeli armoured car watched from the side.

The IDF said it was allowing civilians to evacuate via organised routes as it continued to battle “terrorists and terrorist structures” near Jabalia, where Israel has been conducting an offensive since early October.

According to Israeli media, troops are battling Hamas fighters in areas of Jabaliya that they have not operated in until now. Hamas released several propaganda videos in recent days of attacks on Israeli troops and tanks in the area. 

The question of whether Kamala Harris ever worked at McDonald’s has become one of the most unexpected talking points of the election campaign.

The Democratic candidate has used it to burnish her middle-class credentials by claiming her time behind the deep fryer helped fund her way through law school.

But Republicans, led by Donald Trump, have pounced on Ms Harris’s claims, accusing her of lying in a desperate attempt to make her seem more relatable to voters.

McDonald’s reportedly said it could not confirm claims made by either camps because its records do not extend back to when the vice-president would have served french fries to customers.

“We and our franchisees don’t have records for all positions dating back to the early 80s,” it said in an internal memo circulated to staff, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Ms Harris has also failed to provide anything more than a vague account of her time at the golden arches.

When The Telegraph visited branches in the area where she claimed to have worked, we found staff had been told they were not to talk about whether she had ever worked at McDonald’s.

Now, Trump has taken things a step further, by entering the kitchen himself and serving up portions of fries to supporters at a franchise in Pennsylvania.

Asked how he found swapping his suit for an apron at the fast food restaurant, the Republican candidate said: “I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala at McDonald’s.”

The ongoing sparring match has raised questions about the truth of Ms Harris’ claims and put pressure on the Democratic candidate to come clean about which restaurant she worked at.

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Here’s everything you need to know about whether Ms Harris ever worked at McDonald’s.

What has McDonald’s said?

The Telegraph visited all three McDonald’s restaurants in the Almeda region of California where Ms Harris claims to have worked and found that employees had been sworn to secrecy at one of the sites.

It is not known which branch she worked at, but at one location (pictured below), on Shore Line Drive, staff told The Telegraph they had been instructed by bosses not to talk about the vice-president.

The Telegraph understands McDonald’s head office has never commented publicly on whether Ms Harris was ever an employee.

The fast food giant has sought to stay out of the debate, and in an internal memo confirmed by the Wall Street Journal it said it did not have the records to confirm Ms Harris’s claims.

“We’ve been proud to hear former president Trump’s love for McDonald’s and vice president Harris’ fond memories working under the Arches,” it said in a message on Sunday.

“We and our franchisees don’t have records for all positions dating back to the early 80s.”

It added that Ms Harris had been offered a visit to its restaurants by franchise owners, after Trump visited a Pennsylvania McDonald’s in an attempt to show up the-vice president.

“Upon learning of the former president’s request, we approached it through the lens of one of our core values: we open our doors to everyone,” the memo added.

McDonald’s was contacted for comment by The Telegraph.

What has Harris said?

Ms Harris has spoken repeatedly about her time spent working at the restaurant, claiming her job there during her university degree in the 1980s inspired her to support working families.

“Part of the reason I even talk about having worked at McDonald’s is because there are people who work at McDonald’s in our country who are trying to raise a family,” she told MSNBC last month.

“I think part of the difference between me and my opponent includes our perspective on the needs of the American people and what our responsibility then is to meet those needs.”

Ms Harris said she first “did fries” at the restaurant and then worked as a cashier to help pay for her law degree at the University of California.

According to Quentin Fulks, her deputy campaign manager, she worked at a branch of McDonald’s in Alameda, California during the summer of 1983, while she was a student at Howard University.

Her time at the restaurant helped her to earn a bit more spending money, Politico reported.

What has Trump said?

Ms Harris’s story has been disputed by Trump and his supporters, with the former president accusing her of lying.

Ms Harris “lied about working at McDonald’s”, he told supporters at a rally in Detroit on Friday .“That’s like not a big thing, but can I be honest with you, it’s terrible,” he added.

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Trump claimed the restaurant manager had admitted she had never worked there.

“I know she didn’t [work there],” the Republican candidate said. “We checked it out. They said she never worked here. She even picked the store. We went to the manager. The manager’s been there forever.”

The Trump campaign has circulated a press release promoting a story from the Washington Free Beacon, which reported that the vice president did not mention McDonald’s on her CV when applying for a job as a law clerk in the Alameda County district attorney’s office in 1987.

Ms Harris did not refer to the job in either of her memoirs, published in 2010 and 2019, and appears to have first revealed the job during a rally in Las Vegas in 2019.

Neither Ms Harris nor Trump have offered proof of their claims about her job at the fast food restaurant.

A Russian air force commander blamed for a lethal attack on a shopping centre in Ukraine has been found bludgeoned to death with a hammer.

Ukraine’s military intelligence said that it had assassinated Col Dmitry Golenkov, a senior officer in Russia’s 52nd heavy bomber regiment, with the “hammer of justice”.

Golenkov was said to be behind one of the most egregious attacks on a civilian target of the war. Images of a rocket striking the shopping centre, and its aftermath, were circulated widely.

Ukraine said on Monday: “A Russian Tu-22M3 pilot has been liquidated on the territory of the Russian Federation. His head was smashed with a hammer.”

The Tupolev Tu-22M3 is a modernised version of a Soviet-era long-range strategic bomber.

Golenkov’s body was found outside the village of Suponevo in the Bryansk region of Russia.

It was not clear how Ukraine carried out the killing, but Ukrainian special forces and partisans have been expanding operations inside occupied territory and Russia since the war began.

A video, shot at night, showed Golenkov’s body lying face down in shrubland, with his head covered in blood. He had been carrying a white plastic bag.

From his base in the neighbouring region of Kaluga, Golenkov ordered bombing missions to be flown over Ukraine.

One of his targets was the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk in June 2022, an attack that killed 22 people.

The shopping centre was full of shoppers on a Saturday afternoon at the time of the attack. Ukrainian officials said that there wasn’t a military target in the area.

Golenkov was also accused of being involved in a bombing raid in January 2023 against Dnipro in Ukraine that killed 46 people.

Ukraine’s military intelligence said that Golenkov had held the position of chief of staff of the aviation squadron, giving him an important planning role.

“He was involved in missile strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets,” it said.

The Russian ministry of defence has not commented.

Ukrainian military intelligence has developed a reputation for daring operations behind enemy lines and this is not the first time that it has claimed the assassination of Russian military personnel inside Russia.

In 2023, it used data from a fitness app to plan and execute the murder in Krasnodar of a Russian submarine captain who had fired missiles at Ukraine.

Dozens of collaborator officials in occupied parts of Ukraine have also been assassinated by Ukrainian agents.

In 2023, Ukraine’s military also planted a bomb inside a bust to kill a Russian military blogger at a street food café in St Petersburg.

The vice-president of the Philippines has threatened to unearth the remains of the president’s father and throw his body into the South China Sea amid a bitter feud between the country’s biggest political dynasties.

In a withering press conference, Sara Duterte, the vice-president, accused her running mate, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, of leading the country down a “road to hell”, with a lack of clear policies to tackle issues, from inflation to food security.

The 46-year-old said she had even thought about cutting off the president’s head after witnessing how he spoke to a young university graduate.

In further warning to Mr Marcos relating to attacks on her family, she added: “One of these days, I will go there. I will get the body of your father and throw it in the West Philippine Sea [the Filipino name for a portion of the South China Sea].”

The pair come from two of the most powerful political dynasties in the Philippines.

Mr Marcos Jr is the son of Ferdinand Marcos, a dictator toppled in 1986, while Ms Duterte is the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, a “strongman” figure whose six-year term as president ended in 2022.

But although they joined forces to win an election landslide two years ago, Ms Duterte resigned from the cabinet in June, amid a bitter and escalating power struggle ahead of midterm elections in May 2025.

The election – the biggest poll before the next presidential vote in 2028 – is seen as a litmus test for Mr Marcos Jr’s popularity and an opportunity for him to consolidate power and groom a successor.

Meanwhile, the vote could “serve as the end of the Dutertes’ political ambitions, or at least their relegation back into local politics”, Anthony Lawrence Borja, an associate professor at De La Salle University in Manila, told Nikkei Asia.

Mr Duterte, who had “retired” from politics, recently announced his intention to re-run as mayor of his home town Davao, while one of his sons is running as his vice-mayor and another is seeking re-election in the House of Representatives.

But there are potentially higher stakes for the family too. Mr Duterte is facing an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over potential crimes against humanity during his bloody “war on drugs”, when thousands of people died.

He has repeatedly denied authorising any killings but his rhetoric was openly provocative.

‘A dynastic rivalry’

In a recent parliamentary hearing – itself a flashpoint in dynastic relations – it was claimed that Mr Duterte paid “rewards” of up to $17,000 (£13,055) to police who killed suspected drug dealers.

In the past, Mr Marcos Jr has previously said he would not comply with the ICC investigation, but some suspect he could change this stance if his rivals are weak or public sentiment shifts.

“At its core the Philippines is a dynastic rivalry,” said Peter Mumford, the head of Eurasia Group in south-east Asia.

“The 2025 mid-term elections are intensifying this; further ahead, the families are positioning themselves for the 2028 presidential election.

“Despite all the noise, Marcos’s position is secure – it is very hard to unseat a sitting president and he seems likely to retain majority support in both chambers of Congress in the midterms.”

Commonwealth leaders are set to elect a new head of the organisation who favours Britain being made to pay slavery and climate reparations.

Sir Keir Starmer will have to face down calls for the UK to hand billions of pounds to former colonies when he attends the group’s biannual summit in Samoa this week.

The club’s 56 member countries will choose its next secretary-general at the gathering as Baroness Scotland, a Labour peer, stands down.

They are set to pick from three candidates, all from African nations, who have all voiced support for the UK paying some form of reparations.

Downing Street has ruled out discussing their demands for cash at this week’s summit, insisting that they are “not on the agenda”.

Joshua Setipa, a former trade minister for Lesotho who is one of the three hopefuls, has said he supports “the idea of reparative justice”.

He told the Financial Times that it was time for the UK to “acknowledge injustices committed during slavery and colonialism” and their ongoing impact.

Rather than writing “cheques”, he said Britain and other Western nations should instead support more cheap loans and grants to developing countries.

Shirley Botchwey, Ghana’s foreign minister who is also running for secretary-general, has previously said that “financial reparations is good”.

She said: “Whether or not the Commonwealth has a role to play will depend on the heads of government, who will give the secretary-general her marching orders.”

Mamadou Tangara, The Gambia’s foreign minister and the final candidate, had in the past added: “I am fully in support of reparatory justice.

“The Commonwealth can use its convening power to facilitate the dialogue and make it happen.”

Barrage of calls for reparations

One of the three will be elected to replace Lady Scotland, a former attorney general, who has come to the end of her eight-year term in office.

Sir Keir can expect to face a barrage of demands for reparations from Commonwealth leaders who he meets during the six-day summit.

Island nations including the Bahamas and Barbados are also pressing for multi-billion-pound payouts linked to Western countries’ impact on climate change.

Philip Davis, the prime minister of the Bahamas, told The Observer: “The Commonwealth is the ideal forum for making progress on reparations.

“Our very name echoes the principles and values of the necessary stewardship of the wealth we hold in common – our shared planet.”

A No 10 spokesman insisted Sir Keir would not bow to calls for reparations.

He said: “Just to be clear, reparations are not on the agenda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting [CHOGM].

“Secondly, the Government’s position has not changed. We do not pay reparations.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman also insisted that Sir Keir would not be offering an apology for slavery when he meets Commonwealth leaders.

He said: “We won’t be offering an apology at CHOGM, but we will continue to engage with partners on the issues as we work with them to tackle the pressing challenges of today and indeed for the future generations.”

It’s life-changing news that would be unbearable for any family. This week, Sir Chris Hoy announced that the primary cancer found in his prostate last September had spread to his bones, pelvis, hip, spine, shoulder and rib. The six-time Olympic gold medallist has been given between two and four years to live by doctors.

But terminal cancer wasn’t the only blow which the Hoy family have been privately battling with. In Hoy’s forthcoming memoir All That Matters, he reveals that just weeks after his cancer diagnosis, his wife, Lady Sarra Hoy, was diagnosed with a “very active and aggressive” form of multiple sclerosis (MS).

As well as Chris’ parents David and Carole and his sister Carrie, she is the woman who supported one of Britain’s most successful Olympians to greatness, cooking him super nutritious meals while he was training, and often pictured kissing him from the stands after yet another historic win. After taking gold at London’s velodrome in 2012, Chris said: “Sarra has been the one that has really got me through it all.”

But while Chris revealed his cancer diagnosis back in February, before this week, few people outside the family knew about Sarra’s MS. She even kept it from Chris for over a month, while he was undergoing treatment for his cancer, which was first diagnosed in September 2023.

“It’s the closest I’ve come to, like, you know, why me? Just, what? What’s going on here?” says Chris of Sarra’s news. “It didn’t seem real. It was such a huge blow, when you’re already reeling. You think nothing could possibly get worse. You literally feel like you’re at rock bottom, and you find out, oh no, you’ve got further to fall. It was brutal.”

Sarra, 44, had visited her GP after experiencing a tingling sensation in her face and tongue. After undergoing a scan just before Christmas, she was found to have the degenerative and incurable disease MS. According to Chris, on bad days she can struggle to carry out simple tasks, such as opening the front door with her key. But, like Chris, she has remained positive in the face of her illness, and continues to run and attend gym classes. 

Hoy even revealed that Sarra, a former lawyer from Edinburgh, says “all the time ‘How lucky are we?’ We both have incurable illnesses for which there is some treatment. Not every disease has that. It could be a lot worse.”

The couple have now told their two children, Callum, 10, and Chloe, 7, that their father has cancer. But they have chosen to keep the fact that their mother has MS from them for a bit longer. “I never want to lie to them. But there are certain things you don’t need to tell them straight away,” says Chris.

The 48-year-old former track cyclist revealed his greatest fear is his children learning about their parents’ health struggles from schoolmates, and someone saying: “I saw your daddy on the news last night and he’s going to die.” In the hopes of avoiding this, the family have taken a two-week holiday, hoping that the attention will have calmed down by the time they return.

Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling disease of the central nervous system in young adults. It results from damage to myelin, a white fatty substance that forms a protective sheath around nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord and acts as an insulator to ensure that nerves transmit electrical impulses efficiently.

It affects more than 130,000 people in the UK and is notoriously unpredictable. Some people with MS are crippled or blinded by the condition, or unable to swallow or speak. Others have more mild symptoms – fatigue, tingling, blurred vision – and are able to live a relatively normal life, but it is a degenerative disease so symptoms usually worsen with time.

There is no cure for MS but scientists have made huge progress in treating the condition. Disease-modifying drugs slow its advance and help reduce relapses and new therapies are constantly being tested. In 2023, a small trial at Cambridge University found that stem cells injected into the brain appeared to stop the disease from worsening. Hoy says that the couple have chosen low-risk, less effective treatments for Sarra’s condition instead of more potentially effective, but riskier, new treatments. Actors Selma Blair and Christina Applegate, and TV personality Jack Osbourne have all spoken publicly about their battle with MS.

It’s not the first time that the couple – who met on a night out three months before the 2006 Commonwealth Games – have faced testing times. In 2014, their son Callum was born 11 weeks premature, weighing barely a kilogram, and spent his first nine weeks in hospital.

“Initially, my biggest fear was just that Callum wouldn’t live, it is a fight for survival,” said Sarra. “You’re literally taking it hour by hour, then day by day, then the hard part becomes trying to let go of that fear. Once that passes and you think ‘this is actually happening, he’s putting on weight, he’s wearing clothes now, he can breathe by himself’, you have to begin to come to terms with the fact you can let your guard down a bit. That’s very hard to do and the fear doesn’t leave you for a long time. I would relive it, have flashbacks and cry every day probably for two years. But time is a healer.”

Their daughter Chloe was also born four weeks premature. Sarra became an ambassador for Bliss, the charity supporting babies who need neonatal care. She has also launched fundraising initiatives to support children with eye cancers and has been involved in campaigns to improve outcomes for premature babies.

Following their double announcement of tragic news this week, the family has received an outpouring of support from fellow athletes and celebrities. Former prime minister Gordon Brown said that courage had “defined” Sir Chris’s career and “now characterises how Chris and Sarra both face their health diagnoses and embrace life”.

Sarra previously made the headlines when she joined queues and waited 11 hours to pay her respects to the late Queen’s coffin as it lay in state at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh in September 2022. “I grew up in a military family… I had met the Queen on a couple of occasions,” she said. “The Queen was woven into every fabric of our lives… she has been that level, steadfast force in all of our lives… She has made a connection with people not just as a head of state… but also on a personal level.”

Perhaps Sarra has been inspired by the Queen’s dignity and strength in her stoic response to this double blow of cruel misfortune. Clearly the couple, who recently celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary, plan to keep living life to the full. Sir Chris has said he is “optimistic, positive”; and continuing to “work, ride my bike and live my life as normal”. 

Sarra’s Instagram is full of family holidays to Wales, a trip to Paris for the Olympics in July, and watching tennis at Wimbledon from the Royal Box. 

Sarra has yet to speak out publicly about either her or Chris’ illnesses, but in March she posted a picture on Instagram of herself wearing earrings that spelled out “F— It”. She wrote in the caption: “When life doesn’t quite go the way you had planned, you have to remind yourself – WAIT, THERE WAS NEVER A PLAN! This is life, right here right now. Live it.”

Nigel Farage has accused a woman who threw a milkshake over him at a campaign rally of seeking publicity for her OnlyFans modelling page.

Victoria Thomas Bowen, 25, threw the McDonald’s drink over the Reform UK leader outside a pub in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, during the general election campaign.

Appearing at Westminster magistrates’ court on Monday, she pleaded guilty to assault by beating.

She also admitted criminal damage after causing £17.50 worth of damage to a jacket belonging to James Woolfenden, Mr Farage’s security officer.

In a video posted on X after the hearing, Mr Farage claimed that Thomas Bowen, who publishes pictures on the explicit website OnlyFans, had been seeking attention with the stunt.

He said: “I am pleased it was only a milkshake. We went to Westminster magistrates’ court this morning. Huge circus and right at the last minute she pleads guilty.

“Just think of the vast amount of public money and time that has been wasted in taking this all the way to the magistrate’s court when at any point in the intervening period she could have pled guilty but chose not to.

“She is on OnlyFans and therefore makes money out of any publicity that she gets.

“Not only are actions like this damaging to our democracy, is it any wonder that Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak barely met a voter in the whole of the election campaign, but frankly she has taken the mickey out of the whole system.

“It is not for me to say what sentence she gets but she’ll deserve it. Whatever she gets.”

Mr Farage, who is now the Clacton MP, was doused as he left the Moon and Starfish pub in the seaside town, after he had addressed supporters at a general election campaign rally on June 4. He was left with the milkshake splattered across his dark blue suit.

Thomas Bowen had originally denied the charges and was due to go on trial on Monday, but changed her pleas to guilty before proceedings began.

She was reportedly spotted sitting outside the pub while Mr Farage was speaking to the media before he left and was hit with the £2.79 drink.

Bowen was later apprehended and witnesses said someone had shouted “silly little girl” as the milkshake was thrown.

At the time James Cleverly, the then home secretary, condemned the attack on Mr Farage, who had announced his return to front-line politics in a press conference less than 24 hours earlier.

But Mr Farage made light of the incident in a video posted on social media. In a reference to the 2003 song Milkshake by Kelis, he held a McDonald’s milkshake up to the camera and said: “My milkshake brings all the people to the rally.”

He was in attendance at the court on Monday, having expected to give evidence before Thomas Bowen entered her guilty plea.

Following the incident, a woman, who gave her name as Victoria when she spoke to the BBC, claimed that she had not come down to Mr Farage’s campaign launch to throw the drink at Mr Farage, adding that she “just felt like it”.

Thomas Bowen has more than 18,000 followers on Instagram.

She has previously supported Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, on social media and called for a boycott of the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

It was not the first time Mr Farage has been hit by a milkshake while on the campaign trail. 

He warned that “radicalised Remainers” were making political campaigning “impossible” after a drink was thrown over him during a European election walkabout in Newcastle in 2019.

A “misogynistic” sculpture depicting a woman “tied in a sack” should be removed from display, a councillor has said.

Ariadne (Wrapped) was unveiled outside Cambridge railway station by artist Gavin Turk in 2022.

The artwork, which depicts the Greek goddess Ariadne, was created to show a sculpture in transit while wrapped in a dust sheet and tied with ropes.

Concerns were first raised over the sculpture by Naomi Bennett, a Green councillor, during a meeting of Cambridge city council on Oct 10.

Ms Bennett said it was “not really the impression that [she wants] people to get when they come to Cambridge”.

The Cambridge Independent reported that she said: “I just think it’s just another way that violence against women is being mainstreamed.”

Jean Glasberg, a Green councillor, has since added to the criticism, saying it was “totally inappropriate” for visitors to the city to be greeted by the statue at the station.

She told the BBC: “I think about all the women in so many countries who are being veiled and unable to speak out, and about the violence and abuse of women we know is so prevalent.

“It seems wrong to me that this sculpture should be here. Is that what we want people to see when they arrive in Cambridge?”

Ms Glasberg said the artwork was a “contradiction” to how Ariadne was portrayed historically.

She added: “Ariadne was not a trapped, passive victim at all, she was a clever, brave and resourceful woman.

“She was the person who gave Theseus the thread to get out of the labyrinth and kill the Minotaur.”

The councillor said that although she did “question the ethics” of this piece she did not want to curtail Mr Turk’s creative freedom.

However, Deborah Curtis, Mr Turk’s wife, rebutted criticism of the sculpture and said the piece had been “engaging people and their curiosity” while promoting “positive debate”.

A QR code installed near to the sculpture directs those who scan it to a website where the context of the artwork is explained.

“I think there’s an interesting question as to whether the sculpture stays or not,” she told the BBC.

‘Intention is getting lost’

The charity director believed that people looked at public art in a different way to how they did historically.

Ms Curtis, who is the creative director of an art charity, said she and her husband were listening to feedback and engaging with critics.

“In one sense [Mr Turk’s] intention is getting lost in how people are seeing the sculpture and that’s completely fine,” she added.

“There is something good here and I think there is something of public interest about the debate.

“If we can see things or interpret them in a different way to before by having these conversations then that can only be a positive.”

However, Ms Curtis said the “last thing Gavin would want” was for people to think he was promoting misogynistic beliefs.

She said the fact it was a piece of art and not a real person was a “very important distinction”.

She said: “It’s a journey of transportation, or maybe it’s a story of metamorphosis like a cocoon turning into a butterfly.”

Aboriginal elders said King Charles is “welcome here” as they called for “proper conversation” about indigenous rights, a day after a protest in which a senator at Australia’s Parliament House told the visiting monarch “You are not our King”.

Uncle Allan Murray, a leader of the Metropolitan local Aboriginal land council, greeted the King on ‘Gadigal land’ on Tuesday before immediately speaking of his people’s goal of “sovereignty”.

“Welcome to Country,” Uncle Allan told Charles at the start of Tuesday’s engagement at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) in Sydney.

Making reference to the protest by Senator Lidia Thorpe who on Monday accused the Crown of genocide, Uncle Allan continued: “We’ve got stories to tell and I think you witnessed that story yesterday in Canberra but the story is unwavering and we’ve got a long way to achieve what we want to achieve and that’s our own sovereignty.

“But welcome to Gadigal land.

“We are proud, sovereign people, and we continue to walk on this great land.”

The King was seen to nod and listen as Uncle Allan – the preferred form of address for elder men – spoke.

“We always long for a return of our sovereignty. We are a sovereign people, we have never signed a formal agreement or treaty,” Uncle Allan said after the conversation.

“The Union Jack was put on our land without our consent.

“We’ve been ignored. We can’t rest on our laurels.”

Asked whether he blames the King, he said: “It was his family that goes back to 1770. We’ve sent to the Kings and Queens asking to be recognised but have been ignored since 1770.

“I think he listened to what I said.

“The King’s visit to Australia is a year after the failed referendum (where public voted down a bill on Aboriginal rights).

“There’s ill feeling in the community and our people are being violated, discriminated and displaced.”

The event, part of the arranged schedule of the royal visit, came coincidentally a day after Ms Thorpe, an independent senator, launched a one-woman protest at the end of the King’s speech to dignitaries in Canberra. 

She had shouted: “You are not our King, you are not sovereign … you have committed genocide against our people.

“Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us … Our babies, our people. You destroyed our land.”

As she was ushered from the building’s hall, Ms Thorpe had screamed: “Give us a treaty – we want a treaty with this country … This is not your land, this is not your land, you are not my king, you are not our king. F– the colony.”

The King was afterwards said to be “unruffled” and hoped it would not overshadow an otherwise “wonderful day”.

Asked about Ms Thorpe’s protest, Uncle Allan said: “I think if we can be polite we get the message out.”

Indigenous elder Joyce Wymarra, 81, also had a private conversation with the King, in which she said the issue of sovereignty was not raised. Instead they spoke about service in the Armed Forces and climate change.

She said: “I’m a broad-minded person.”

Uncle Harry Allie, 81, who wore five medals after serving in the Royal Australian Air Force, said it had been a “real honour” to speak to the King.

Asked about Ms Thorpe and indigenous rights, he said: “There’s a time and place. I think the King was welcome here and for us to be up close and personal, was a great honour.”

Uncle Noel Timbery, 85, also met the King in private, and told him that he saw Queen Elizabeth II on her 1954 tour of Australia.

He said afterwards: “It was a very good meeting and we didn’t speak about any issues.

“I don’t know her (Ms Thorpe) and I don’t know the young protesters outside who made all the noise on the road.

“It’s better to have a proper conversation about it.”

Aunty-in-Residence at the NCIE, elder Beryl Van Opploo, said of the protest: “Everybody has choices but I come from a different era.

“Personally, I grew up with it and I’ve lived it. We did used to protest and did all when I was younger but not in a mean way.

“People have choices and I’ve been brought up by my elders with respect.” 

Chloe Wighton, 31, who is chair of the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy (NASCA) said that the royal visit came at “a wonderful time to reflect and understand our place in history”.

She added: “There’s no sugar-coating our history but I think when we listen to Aboriginal communicators, we see the results.”

During the engagement, the King was welcomed to the land with a traditional smoking ceremony.

Seeing how the eucalyptus leaves used for the ceremony were lit using a lighter, he recalled: “I was out in the Bush in Victoria in 1966 trying to get the fire going was a problem because we didn’t have one of those.”

He wafted the smoke which signifies a welcome to indigenous land.

In the sports hall, the King appeared impressed with a dance performance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Greeting the dancers afterwards, he tried jumping the air himself and said: “That looked like a good exercise. I don’t think I can still do it at my age.”

He also spoke to Gamay Rangers and members of the Inner City Empowered Communities Group, which provides services to the local First Nations communities in Sydney. 

While the King was there, Queen Camilla was undertaking a separate programme at a cafe in Sydney, in which she was inducted into the “Order of the Teaspoon” after helping to serve professional chef-standard food to vulnerable customers.

The Queen sprinkled herbs and edible flowers on lunch at Refettorio OzHarvest in Sydney, which rescues food that would otherwise be thrown away to create restaurant-quality dishes for those in need.

The Queen called it a “wonderful idea” and “incredible”, as she entered the kitchen to take instructions from the chefs.

Founder Ronni Khan told Camilla that the cafe was designed to “not just feed the belly but to feed the soul”.

After helping to make the lunch, asking chefs about the ingredients, the Queen sat at a long table to join clients for a meal.

Before the group began eating, Ms Khan offered the Queen a brooch in the shape of a teaspoon, with a crown on it.

She explained the concept that in the case of bushfire there are three ways to react: run away, complain, or find water.

Ideally, she said, you would find a bucket; if not a jug; and failing that a teaspoon, and if everybody had a teaspoon of water it would make a difference.

“I’m very honoured to join you,” said the Queen, accepting her brooch. “It’s a very important order to be a part of.”

Outside, hundreds of locals had gathered to see the royal visitor.

The Queen undertook an impromptu walkabout, greeting well-wishers and persevering when a nine-year-old talking parrot named Caesar refused to reply. 

“He’s gone camera shy,” the Queen joked, before a cheer went up from the crowd as the parrot finally said “hello” back.

Two people who won $1 million each in a controversial giveaway by Elon Musk are reported to be registered Republicans who have already voted.

Mr Musk, a supporter of Donald Trump, is attempting to drive up voter registration among Republicans in battleground states ahead of the presidential election.

The Tesla billionaire handed over two $1 million cheques at the weekend to Kristine Fishell and John Dreher of Pennsylvania after they signed a petition supporting the US Constitution.

However, Politico reports that voting records show the pair are Republicans who were already registered to vote and had cast their ballots by mail this year.

It raises questions about how much impact Mr Musk will have on the presidential race despite committing $75 million of his own money for Trump through his America PAC campaign group.

The Telegraph has attempted to confirm the Politico report. Public records show that an individual who matches data available on Ms Fishell registered as a Republican in 2009 and was registered to submit an absentee ballot, while information on Mr Dreher was not immediately available.

Mr Musk has vowed to give $1 million each day until the election on Nov 5 to a selected person who signs the petition.

However, Democrats have warned that the latest venture to give money to registered voters in the must-win state of Pennsylvania may fall foul of US election law.

The online petition reads: “The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments”.

To be eligible to win the money, those signing the petition must be a registered voter and live in one of the seven swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Winner wore Trump T-shirt

The petition also offers $100 to each registered Pennsylvania voter who signs and $100 for referring a registered Pennsylvania voter to sign.

On Saturday, Mr Musk handed over a $1 million cheque to a man named John Dreher in Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania.

On Sunday, he handed a second $1 million cheque to a woman wearing a Trump T-shirt at an event in Pittsburgh in footage shared online by America PAC.

The woman embraced Mr Musk on stage and thanked him for using his “wealth and responsibility” to save free speech. “We just all appreciate it, we really do,” she told him.

Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, has called for law enforcement to investigate Mr Musk’s drive to give money to registered voters in his state, calling it “deeply concerning”.

Federal law bans anyone from paying or receiving money as an inducement or reward to vote or to register to vote, an offence punishable by prison time.

“Musk obviously has a right to be able to express his views,” Mr Shapiro told NBC’s Meet the Press.

“But when you start flowing this kind of money into politics, I think it raises serious questions that folks may want to take a look at.”

Mr Musk’s lawyers reportedly believe the businessman is in the clear since he is not directly paying voters to register.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are battling for the White House, with polling showing it will be one of the closest presidential races in history.

It could take anywhere between hours and weeks for the winner to be declared, depending on their eventual margin of victory and whether the result spawns any legal battles.

One of the earliest indications for who will win the White House will be the exit poll.

However, not all of its projections will be released immediately by TV networks, even after polls have closed and the votes that will decide the next president are being tallied.

What time are the exit polls released?

The embargo period for exit polls will end at 5pm ET on polling day, after which news organisations are allowed to begin reporting results from individual states.

However, at this point they are not permitted to project a winner while voting is still taking place.

Exit polls will only be announced in states where the margins are large enough and they will not be used in the battleground states to project whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump have won. 

Instead, statisticians will use a combination of the exit poll, actual declared votes and other data to forecast a winner.

Along with establishing how respondents voted, the exit poll also questions voters on their demographics and what motivated their decision.

When will we know who won the election?

If one candidate has a significant lead over the other, then the result may be clear within a matter of hours.

However, a fine margin of victory will mean delays in how long it will take for experts to declare whether Ms Harris or Trump has come out on top.

Previous contests have taken days or even weeks to be called.

In 2000, when Al Gore and George W Bush competed for the White House, polling day was on Nov 7 but the election was not called until Dec 12.

It hinged on the result in Florida, where votes were subject to an automatic recount because of Mr Bush’s fine margin of victory.

The saga eventually ended in the Supreme Court, where justices voted to terminate the recount, prompting Mr Gore to concede shortly afterwards.

If the 2024 election hinges on a handful of votes in a single state, a similar legal battle could break out between the two parties.

When will the election results be announced?

Although the result will likely be called well before, the winner will not officially be announced until January.

First, the states need to certify the results for the presidential election, with that taking place in either November or December.

A joint session of Congress then counts the electoral votes and will declare the election winner on Jan 6 2025, as set out by the 12th Amendment.

It was the certification process in 2021 that prompted the storming of the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.

When was the 2020 election result called?

The 2020 election was called for Joe Biden by TV networks on Nov 7 – four days after polls closed and ballot counting began.

CNN was the first to break cover, and was followed in a matter of seconds by CNS, MSNBC, CBS and a series of other networks.

The latest batch of votes counted in Pennsylvania had put Mr Biden out of reach by Trump by giving the Democrat a lead of more than 30,000 votes. Trump had declared victory in the state three days earlier even while more than a million ballots remained uncounted.

“America, I’m honoured that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” Mr Biden wrote on social media later the same day.

“The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a president for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not.”

Harrods has said more than 250 people are part of its process to settle compensation claims over alleged historic sexual misconduct by Mohamed Al Fayed.

The London department store said it had “settled a number of claims with women” made against its former owner since last year.

Since the airing of a BBC documentary last month, there were more than 250 individuals “now in the Harrods process to settle claims directly with the business”, it added.

The BBC’s Al Fayed: Predator At Harrods documentary reported the claims of five women who said they were raped by Mr Al Fayed, who died in 2023 at the age of 94, with a number of others alleging sexual misconduct.

In a statement, Harrods said: “Since 2023, Harrods settled a number of claims with women who alleged historic sexual misconduct by Fayed.

“Since the airing of the documentary, so far there are over 250-plus individuals who are now in the Harrods’ process to settle claims directly with the business.”

Earlier this month, the group Justice For Harrods Survivors said the number of women “feeling safe to come forward” was “increasing on a daily basis”.

On Saturday, Scotland Yard said a “detailed and thorough” review of allegations against Mr Al Fayed was taking place, amid criticism of their actions in response to women who said they had been abused.

The Metropolitan Police asked prosecutors to decide whether to charge Mr Al Fayed, who was also the owner of Fulham FC, in relation to two out of 21 women who made allegations, including of rape and sexual assault, between 2005 and 2023.

Evidence was shown to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 2009 and 2015, but it decided not to go ahead with either case because there was not “a realistic prospect of conviction”.

Mr Al Fayed acquired Harrods for £615 million in 1985.

In 2010, after 26 years in charge, he sold the department store to the Qatari royal family for a reported £1.5 billion.

Justice For Harrods Survivors has been approached for comment.

A man was killed and 15 people were hurt when two trains collided in mid-Wales.

Police, fire crews and the ambulance service were called to the scene of the crash near Llanbrynmair, in Powys, just before 7.30pm on Monday.

Locals reported a large emergency services presence including road ambulances and an air ambulance.

A coastguard helicopter was also at the scene, as well as firefighters and police.

The trains were said to have been travelling at low speed before the collision.

BTP Superintendent Andrew Morgan said: “We can sadly confirm a man has died following this evening’s incident.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to his loved ones, alongside everyone else impacted and specialist officers continue to provide support.

He said the BTP was working with emergency services and the rail industry.

All services between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury were cancelled on Monday night.

A joint statement from Network Rail and Transport for Wales said the trains involved were the 6.31pm from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and the 7.09pm from Machynlleth to Shrewsbury.

It added: “Our main priority is the safety of our passengers and colleagues, and we are doing all we can to support the emergency services as they respond to the incident.

“We would encourage passengers to plan ahead and check journeys before travelling”.

Incident ‘ongoing’

A British Transport Police spokesman said: “Officers were called to the line near Llanbrynmair at 7.29pm today to reports of a low-speed train collision involving two trains.

“Paramedics, fire and rescue, and Dyfed Powys Police are all in attendance and the incident is ongoing.”

The A470 at Talerddig is also closed because of an “emergency incident”, Dyfed Powys Police said.

National Rail said in an online statement to customers: “Rail replacement transport is in operation between Shrewsbury and Machynlleth, also between Machynlleth and Aberystwyth. 

“Due to road closures, rail replacement transport are unable to call at Caersws station until further notice.

“Please note rail replacement may experience delays and disruption due to emergency services on the main road.”

Criminals could serve sentences at home under house arrest as part of government plans to “reshape and redesign” punishments outside prison.

Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, who is carrying out a sentencing review, is drawing up plans for a major expansion of community punishments as an alternative to jail, in which judges use technology to create virtual “prisons outside of prison”.

Courts would have powers to enforce the virtual prisons through technology such as GPS tags, smart phones and special watches that remind offenders to attend meetings with probation officers, drug treatment courses and work placements.

They are likely to be modelled on the current home detention curfews (HDCs), under which prisoners can be freed six months before their scheduled release date to serve the rest of their sentences tagged and under curfew. The prisoners are barred from leaving their home from, for example, 7pm to 7am – effectively placing them under “house arrest”.

Ms Mahmood is expected to announce on Tuesday an immediate expansion of HDCs from six to 12 months. This would mean a prisoner could be released as little as a quarter of the way through their sentence to serve up to a year of their remaining time tagged at home rather than in jail.

The moves come in response to official forecasts that jails will again run out of space by July next year, despite the early release of thousands of prisoners after serving 40 per cent rather than half of their sentences. More than 1,200 criminals jailed for more than five years will be freed early on Tuesday under the release scheme.

In a statement to Parliament, Ms Mahmood is expected to confirm that David Gauke, the former Tory justice secretary, will head the review of sentencing that aims to ensure there will be enough space to lock up the most dangerous criminals, encourage offenders to turn their back on crime and expand punishments outside prison.

The extension of HDCs to 12 months could pave the way for their wider use by judges for offenders who would normally go to jail. Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows people on HDCs are half as likely to reoffend as those released straight from prison. Their use has already doubled in a year, with 4,000 freed prisoners on HDCs.

“Theoretically a judge could hand down a sentence of house arrest,” said Ms Mahmood. “We have an opportunity now to reshape and redesign what punishment outside of a prison looks like.

“I’m sure the review is going to want to look at all the different mechanisms that are out there to monitor offenders in the community, to supervise them effectively and then also to nudge their behaviour towards a rehabilitation activity that we know reduces re-offending.

“So I’m interested in what punishment outside of a prison looks like. It still has to be punishment, they still have to have their liberty curtailed. People have to know and believe there are consequences to breaking our laws.”

‘Nudge watches’

Some 18,000 offenders are currently on tags, which have helped police solve crimes by enabling them to track the movements of suspects using GPS and place them at the crime scene at the time of the offence. The 3,000 sobriety tags – which detect alcohol in offenders’ blood – have achieved a 97 per cent compliance rate.

Prison service officials are also keen for the review to explore the use of “nudge” watches worn by convicted offenders that can direct messages from probation officers to help change their behaviour and their “chaotic” lives.

“We are particularly interested in nudge technology, like a wrist watch that says: ‘Have you got in touch with your probation officer? Have you turned up at your mental health treatment appointment?’” said a senior prison service source.
“They’re not things that restrict your liberty, but they are very helpful in terms of behaviour compliance.”

Community alternatives will be necessary because the review will consider scrapping most short sentences of under six months or potentially a year, which Mr Gauke advocated when justice secretary.

Mr Gauke told ITV on Monday night: “The reoffending rate for those who have been in prison for a short amount of time is much higher than for those who served a community sentence.

“There is a question about whether we can have more effective community sentences, particularly in the context of new technologies that are coming into play: the use of electronic tagging, the use of drug and alcohol monitoring. Is there more that we can do to make sure those community sentences feel like more of a genuine piece of punishment than perhaps they have been in the past?”

Some prolific offenders could, however, face longer in jail so that prison officers and support staff have more time to provide intensive rehabilitation work to turn them away from crime.

Texas scheme model

Ms Mahmood wants the review to look at successful schemes from around the world, including Texas, where the Republican governor Rick Perry introduced “good behaviour” credits in jails, where prisoners could earn time off for taking part in rehabilitation and work schemes.

She will visit Texas with Mr Gauke early in the new year to appraise the scheme, which halved reoffending rates, increased employment rates of ex-convicts by 50 per cent and enabled the authorities to close 16 jails after the prison population fell from 152,661 in 2007 to 129,653 last year. The crime rate also fell by 29 per cent.

The review will also consider recategorising more offences as domestic abuse. The Government’s early release scheme has been criticised for excluding assaults even though the victims have been attacked by ex-partners. “We want the review to consider the broader framework when it comes to sentencing violence against women and girls,” said Ms Mahmood.

It will consider reviving plans by the Tories for whole life orders for any murder involving sexual or sadistic conduct and for rapists to serve their full jail sentence rather than being released on licence.

With 1,2,00 prisoners to be released early on Tuesday, officials admitted there was a limit to what they could do to stop them from repeating last month’s celebrations when freed prisoners were sprayed with champagne, except to remind them that bad behaviour can be a breach of licence.

“They’ve all got strict licence conditions, a reminder to be well-behaved. We will make sure prison property and everything is respected in the way it should be. If it’s not, then we will obviously report people,” said a senior prison service source.

Ms Mahmood is expected to announce plans on Tuesday to make it easier and quicker for prison and probation officials to re-release offenders re-called to jail for breaching their licence after being freed. At present, it can take up to a year for the parole board to make a decision.

The moves have been forced on the MoJ by the continuing rise in the prison population, which is projected to increase by 4,500 a year at current rates. This would require nearly five medium-sized prisons to be built every year, at a cost of £3.2 billion a year.

The fraud watchdog is investigating the construction of a hotel and conference centre owned by one of Britain’s biggest unions.

Detectives from the Serious Fraud Office are looking into the project in Birmingham, which Unite spent £112 million of its members’ money on.

The building has since been valued at only £23 million, suggesting that £83 million has potentially been wasted.

Tory MPs said the investigation raised serious questions over the Government’s plans to repeal legislation their party passed to tame the unions.

Unite is one of the biggest financial backers of Labour, having donated £500,000 to 88 mostly Left-wing MPs so far this year.

There have been repeated questions over its huge spend on the complex in Birmingham, which also houses the union’s central office.

It features a 195-bedroom four-star hotel and a 1,000 capacity conference centre and was meant to save Unite money spent on hiring venues.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, ordered an inquiry into the project after she replaced Jeremy Corbyn ally Len McCluskey in 2021.

The independent investigation, carried out by Martin Bowdery KC, identified a missing £14 million that does not appear in the final accounts.

‘No stone unturned’

Unite turned the findings over to the police in December 2022, and on Monday a spokesman told the BBC the case was “now with the Serious Fraud Office”.

He said that Ms Graham would “leave no stone unturned in finding out if there was any financial wrongdoing” in relation to the project.

“It is important to note that Sharon Graham has had to endure repeated attacks by those with much to lose since she launched these inquiries, from both inside and outside the union,” he said.

“These have been sickening and horrendous but she has remained determined to get to the truth.

“We are also pursuing legal claims to recover money lost to the union and the general secretary has put safeguards in place to ensure that such things can never happen again.”

The revelation came after the Government published its full plans to repeal a series of anti-strike laws passed by Conservative ministers.

Saqib Bhatti, a Tory MP, described it as an “important story… as Labour put through a Bill to strengthen trade unions and give them free rein”.

A spokesman for the Serious Fraud Office said: “In line with long established practice to avoid prejudice to law enforcement activity, we can neither confirm nor deny any investigation into this matter.”

Labour faces a showdown next year with a delegation of Caribbean nations set to submit new reparations demands to Britain.

The 15 member states of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) have previously set out its formal demands in a 10-point plan detailing what form slavery reparations should take, from apologies to payments and debt cancellations.

But a Caricom delegation to the UK is now being planned for 2025 with an updated list of demands.

David Lammy’s Foreign Office staff may even have to receive the delegation for reasons of protocol, it is understood.

Various sums have been demanded by Caribbean nations, with some estimates from academics and lawyers ranging from £206 billion to £19 trillion.

Arley Gill, a lawyer and the leader of Grenada’s national committee for reparations, said: “The time has come for the British Government and Prime Minister Starmer to sit down with the leaders of those countries where these crimes against humanity were committed, and begin to have an engagement on how best to go forward with reparatory justice.”

He added that leading advocates were looking to seek an audience with Mr Lammy and other members of the British Government.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to face down demands for reparations to former colonies when he attends the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa this week.

The planning of the 2025 delegation is in its early stages.

But leading Caribbean campaigners have restated their demands, and called on Mr Lammy directly to back the cause of reparations which he has signalled support for in the past.

Sir Hilary Beckles, the chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) reparations commission, said the Foreign Secretary should have a “free hand” on the issue of compensation, and called him a “supporter of the discourse” on reparations.

Mr Lammy, who is of Guyanese descent and frequently visits the region, was spoken of with hope among reparation campaigners in the Caribbean prior to Labour’s election victory.

Writing on X, then known as Twitter, in 2018, Sir Hilary said: “As Caribbean people enslaved, colonised and invited to Britain as citizens, we remember our history. We don’t just want an apology, we want reparations and compensation.”

It was hoped that a Labour government might be more amenable to the cause, with the MPs Clive Lewis, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Nadia Whittome and Dawn Butler among those who have shown support for proposed payments to former colonies.

There were also high hopes that at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, with both Sir Keir and King Charles in attendance, would provide the ideal forum to make the case for reparation justice.

All three candidates running for the role of the new Secretary-General of the Commonwealth – Joshua Setipa, Shirley Botchwey, and Mamadou Tangara – have also voiced their support for slavery reparations.

Mia Mottley, Barbados’s prime minister, a fervent advocate for reparative payments, has also indicated she will make slavery an issue at the gathering.

However, Number 10 has moved to quash hopes of a reparation deal being struck, with a spokesman for the Prime Minister saying: “Just to be clear, reparations are not on the agenda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

“Secondly, the Government’s position has not changed. We do not pay reparations.”

The updated 10-point plan is set to include clauses covering not only slavery, but also the later practice of indentured labour which staffed plantations with Indian workers.

But the demands do not only insist on monetary compensation.

The first point on the plan is the demand for an apology from the countries who maintained colonial possessions in the Caribbean, and other points call for debt cancellation and the transfer of advanced technologies to the region to speed up its development.

Britain profited from plantation economies on Caribbean islands, and the slave trade provided a renewable source of labour until 1807.

The slaves themselves were not freed until 1834, and were initially bound to remain “apprentices” tied to plantations following abolition.