Parenting advice on social media is often poor quality, says Phillipson Parents who turn to TikTok influencers and Instagram gurus for advice on everything from potty training to childhood vaccination are at risk of falling victim to misleading and poor quality information, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has warned. Sally Weale has the story. Share In the Commons yesterday Kemi Badenoch quoted Mark Elliott, a public law professor at the University of Cambridge, as one of the many experts who have queried the government’s account of why the China spy…
Tag: Espionage
Government made ‘every effort’ to support China spy case, says minister
The government made “every effort” to support the trial of two men accused of spying for China, a minister has said as he accused the Tories of claiming the case was deliberately abandoned “without a shred of evidence”. Dan Jarvis, the security minister, issued a robust defence of Jonathan Powell in the Commons after reports that Keir Starmer’s national security adviser played a role in the collapse of the case. His intervention prolongs an extraordinary blame game between ministers and prosecutors over the abandonment of charges against two men, including…
Richard Tice confirms Reform abandoning firm commitment to most of the £90bn tax cuts in its 2024 manifesto – UK politics live
From 1h ago Richard Tice confirms Reform abandoning firm commitment to most of £90bn tax cuts in 2024 manifesto Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, has confirmed that the party has dropped its commitment to most of the £90bn tax cuts it was promising in its election manifesto last year. In a significant change of tack, the party is now saying that it will not implement tax cuts until it has cut government spending first. Tice and Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, still believe that colossal cuts in…
Jonathan Powell had no role in dropping of China spy case, senior minister says
The government’s national security adviser had no involvement in the prosecution being dropped against two British men accused of spying for China, a senior cabinet minister has said. Jonathan Powell had no connection to discussions about the “substance or the evidence” of the case, Bridget Phillipson said on Sunday, adding that Keir Starmer had full confidence in him. Powell’s role has been under intense scrutiny since it emerged that the sudden abandonment of the prosecution in September appeared to be because Starmer’s government was unwilling to say that China posed…
Foreign Office chief to visit China after collapse of high-profile espionage case
The head of the Foreign Office will travel to China next week as ministers come under pressure over the collapse of a high-profile espionage case, the Guardian can disclose. Oliver Robbins, who as permanent secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is its most senior civil servant, will visit China on “long-planned” government business. The trip comes during the same week ministers are expected to face questions over whether they had a hand in the abandonment of charges against two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, accused of…
Why has the UK dropped its trial of two alleged China spies?
An extraordinary disclosure by Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, on Tuesday evening has triggered a political row over who was behind the sudden abandonment of a high-profile espionage case. Two Britons had been accused of acting as spies for China. One of them, Christopher Cash, was a parliamentary researcher for the Conservative backbencher Alicia Kearns, specialising in China issues. A trial had been due to start in October, but three weeks ago the Crown Prosecution Service dropped proceedings with little explanation until Tuesday. What did the DPP say?…
Legal experts question reasoning behind CPS dropping China ‘spies’ case
Legal experts have questioned the explanation given by the Crown Prosecution Service for its sudden decision to drop charges against two Britons accused of spying for China amid a political row over who was responsible. The expert lawyers expressed surprise that the CPS thought it needed further assurance from the government that China was an enemy insofar as it posed “a current threat to national security” before the trial of Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry could go ahead. The former director of public prosecutions Ken Macdonald said in a BBC…
Tories would abolish stamp duty, Badenoch tells party conference – UK politics live
From 2h ago Badenoch says next Tory government will abolish stamp duty Badenoch says, because of all the savings she has promised, she can afford one more announcement. As the Conservative party, we know who our people are. They are people who work hard, they are the people who plauy hard, they are the people who understand the importance of putting down roots. They are the people who make sacrifices today for a better life. They are also people who want to own their own home, she says. But there…
China ‘spies’ case was dropped after government failed to provide evidence of Beijing threat
Charges against two men accused of spying for China were suddenly dropped last month because prosecutors could not obtain critical evidence from the government that Beijing represented a “threat to the national security of the UK”. Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, wrote to two select committee chairs to explain that despite trying over “many months”, the sought-after statements were not forthcoming from ministers and officials. The chief prosector did not name any individual as responsible for a decision that will raise questions about Britain’s willingness to confront China.…
Jonathan Powell to face MPs over role in collapse of espionage trial
Jonathan Powell will appear before parliament for the first time amid questions about his role in the collapse of a trial of two Britons accused of spying for China. Keir Starmer’s national security adviser is due to be quizzed by senior parliamentarians at a private hearing of the joint committee on the national security strategy in the coming weeks. Powell’s appearance will mark the end of a year-long standoff between the committee and ministers, who refused for months to make him available for scrutiny before parliament. The prime minister’s spokesperson…