Cost of living – live: Boris Johnson treating No 10 final weeks ‘like one big party’

More than 20,000 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year, government figures show.

Ministry of Defence data published on Sunday said there were 607 people detected crossing the Channel in the 24-hour period between 12 and 13 August. They were transported in 14 small boats.

On 1 August, nearly 700 migrants made the treacherous journey – the highest number in one day this year.

Large groups of migrants, many young children and women among them, were brought to the shore by UK Border Force.

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Child asylum seekers are going missing from Home Office hotels after being left at risk of exploitation and human trafficking, charities have warned.

They are disappearing at a rate of one a week, data obtained by The Independent and other organisations shows, and the whereabouts of dozens of vulnerable teenagers is unknown.

An open letter signed by 60 charities and campaigners said children as young as 11 had gone missing, adding: “Our concern for these children cannot be overstated.

“Already vulnerable, separated and traumatised, isolated from family support networks, they are at the greatest risk of exploitation and trafficking.

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Seventy charities and community organisations have signed an open letter to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak warning families on benefits face a £1,600 shortfall over the coming months, despite receiving £1,200 in the last Government support package.

In the letter, co-ordinated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), they warn soaring energy bills mean many low-income households are already facing in a choice between skipping meals or not heating their homes properly, and that the situation is only set to get worse.

“Many of our organisations work directly with these families and are becoming overwhelmed, too often unable to provide the support so desperately needed,” the letter said.

“This situation cannot be allowed to continue.

“As the prospective leaders of this country, we urge you to act now to demonstrate the compassion and leadership needed to tackle this issue head on.

“We ask you both to pledge that, under your premiership, everyone who needs it will be properly supported when they hit hard times.

“This means ensuring that, at a minimum, the social security system always provides people with enough to be able to afford the essentials.”

Government ministers must be able to overrule opposition from local MPs, councillors and residents to new reservoirs in a bid to combat widespread drought, the infrastructure tsar has warned.

Sir John Armitt, chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, said there was “increasing urgency” for more reservoirs amid the threat of water shortages.

Speaking out against the nimbyism – those who say “not in my back yard” – Sir John warned that giving into local campaigns would cost the Conservatives at the polls.

“If you constantly fail to make sure that the basic infrastructure that everyone needs to live their lives is not being provided, then people aren’t going to vote for you, sooner or later,” he said.

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It appears Liz Truss was getting a little bored of talking about terrifying energy bills and the nation’s economic woes, Adam Forrest writes. The Tory leadership favourite has had little new to say about tax cuts and government “handouts” for several weeks now.

The foreign secretary has some very different set of questions to answer in the days ahead, having managed to take the contest into culture war territory with an astonishing attack on “creeping antisemitism” in the civil service.

Truss sparked outrage with the single strangest press release of her campaign to defeat Rishi Sunak and succeed Boris Johnson. Her team said she would “change woke civil service culture that strays into antisemitism”.

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Boris Johnson has been spotted in Greece enjoying his second summer holiday in two weeks despite the deepening cost of living crisis.

The prime minister has been accused of leading a “zombie government” and failing to provide reassurance to families anxious about soaring energy bills expected to hit almost £3,600 this October.

Labour accused Johnson of treating his final weeks in office as “one big party”, after he was filmed with shopping for groceries in a supermarket in Greece.

Greek news websites reported that Johnson and his wife Carrie were in Nea Makri, a coastal town near Athens, and only a few hours aways from where his father Stanley has a villa.

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Bill Bullen, chief executive of Utilita Energy, said it is “not a great time to have a lame duck government in No 10”.

“It would just be helpful to be working with the team that is actually going to implement whatever mechanism it is, because we’re running out of time here,” he told Times Radio on possible measures ahead of October’s price rise.

He said it was time for “a proper cap on prices, especially for low income households” – suggesting that a social tariff should be introduced on a permanent basis

Tory leadership contender Rishi Sunak has said the stabbing of Sir Salman Rushdie should be a “wake-up call” for the West about the threat which Iran still poses.

Britain should designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation following the brutal attack on Sir Salman Rushdie, Mr Sunak added.

The former chancellor said Iran’s response to the stabbing bolstered the case for proscribing Tehran’s elite military unit, which acts as a protection force to the regime.

He also suggested that the nuclear deal that lifted sanctions against Iran could have reached “a dead end”.

Business minister Greg Hands, a Rishi Sunak supporter, said his favoured candidate is prepared to commit “big” sums to help with the cost of living this autumn.

“He is not denying the fact that there is going to be a big rise and we’re talking big numbers here,” he told Times Radio – denying the idea Sunak was “showering money around”.

Sunak has committed to an extra £10bn in support through VAT cuts in energy bills and extra direct payments. “We need to take exceptional actions. That is what he’s saying, while still being fiscally responsible,” said Hands.

Tory MP Ranil Jayawardena, a Liz Truss backer, said she was wise not to commit to any extra support until she is “in office”, should she be announced the winner on 5 September.

“Projections are just projections at this point,” he told Sky News. “Let’s see what the situation actually is after this leadership contest is over.”

Civil servants will have to trawl through social media accounts of guest speakers – including going back up to five years – to see if they have ever criticised government policy, as part of a new vetting process, the Financial Times reports.

The new Cabinet Office rules cover the vetting of outsiders coming into the department to take part in “learning and development” events and urge managers to carefully check the backgrounds of such guests.

Allies of Cabinet Office minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said the policy, which took effect this week, was “very sensible” and should be implemented straight away.

“There have been far too many examples recently where essentially extremist speakers have been invited to speak to civil servants and staff networks,” said a colleague of Mr Rees-Mogg.