Crime

Sir Keir Starmer has been condemned for his “disgraceful” rhetoric aimed at Reform UK after a party council leader in Warwickshire was reportedly attacked in the street.George Finch, Britain’s youngest council leader, said he was called a “racist” and a “fascist” by a man who allegedly assaulted him in Nuneaton town centre on Friday evening.The 19-year-old, who suffered no lasting injury from the incident, told the Daily Mail that the alleged attacker “was wound up and sent into battle by the dangerous rhetoric of Labour and the Greens”.The incident, which Warwickshire Police are investigating, comes days after Reform leader Nigel Farage accused Sir Keir of inciting violence against him during his speech at the Labour Party conference.During his speech to delegates, Sir Keir had said that the politics of Mr Farage and Reform was “racist” and said anyone who argued that people who have lived here for generations should now be deported is “an enemy of national renewal”.Earlier this month, newly elected Green leader Zack Polanski also criticised Mr Farage’s party, saying its politics were “dangerous, deceitful”.George Finch says the alleged attacker ‘was wound up and sent into battle by the dangerous rhetoric of Labour and the Greens’ More

Stolen mobile phones could soon be permanently disabled in a bid to combat the soaring levels of theft across the UK – but a security expert fears it may not be enough to stop the problem of fraud.Labour MP Dawn Butler is seeking an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which would require mobile phone companies to block stolen phones within 48 hours of a police report and pay financial penalties if they fail to do so. In theory, this would discourage people from swiping them as they would lose resale value.Ms Butler, who has recently announced she will stand for London mayor if Sadiq Khan stands down, said: “Tech giants have a clear responsibility here: the tools already exist to disable stolen devices, and it’s time to use them.”Dawn Butler, who is tabling the amendment, is the Labour MP for Brent East More

Prisons across the UK were “on the brink of collapse” on three occasions after Rishi Sunak’s last government refused to cut the numbers in jail, an independent review by a former prisons watchdog has revealed.Dame Anne Owers, former chief inspector of prisons, wrote in her 72-page report titled ‘Independent Review of Prison Capacity’ that the overcrowded system was “in crisis” between autumn 2023 and the summer of 2024.At one point, there were fewer than 100 spaces left in adult male prisons, with the network at times “running very close to the edge of capacity” and “within three days of meltdown”, the report said. It remains at nearly 97.5 per capacity, despite Labour’s introduction of several early release schemes.Officials were so anxious about potential breakdowns that they maintained an audit of every decision and document “in case there was a public or parliamentary inquiry”, the report found.Lord chancellor and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood commissioned the prisons review in February More

A Tory MP has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault at London’s Groucho Club.Patrick Spencer, the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, allegedly cupped the breasts of two women over their clothes at the famous private members’ club on an evening in August 2023. He has been suspended from the Conservative Party and had the whip withdrawn over the charges. When the charges were made public last month, Mr Spencer “categorically denied” the allegations against him and vowed to defend them “robustly” in court. Mr Spencer is the son of Michael Spencer, a billionaire Conservative peer and founder of finance firm NEX Group.Patrick Spencer is the son of a billionaire Conservative peer Michael Spencer More

Once, when I was a teenager, I was in a Spar in Ballymena when a man walked in and announced he would burn the shop to the ground if it didn’t close immediately. My sister and I did not hesitate. Like everyone else, we believed him – and fled. We had been intending to dash in to the store for just a few minutes to stock up on essentials, amid fears of a long few days ahead of us as rioting broke out across Northern Ireland in the 1990s over Drumcree. So it’s terrifying to watch violence unfold in my hometown again, as we have over recent nights. Violence has erupted in Ballymena More

Whitehall is currently cordoned off while police investigate an abandoned vehicle near Downing Street.The street is closed in both directions between Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square.The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on X, formally Twitter: “A cordon is in place at the southern end of Whitehall as a precautionary measure while officers investigate an abandoned vehicle in the vicinity of Downing Street.”It is understood civil servants working inside government buildings on the road are unable to leave the building, and no one is being allowed to enter.( More

A rape victim has been forced to live just minutes from her attacker – despite assurances from the government that a plan would be put in place before his release to prevent them coming into contact. Christopher Lawson, who was jailed for 16 years in 2017 for the rape and indecent assault of a girl from the age of eight, was released on parole last week after serving half his sentence. As part of the terms of his release, he has been made the subject of an exclusion zone, which prohibits him from going to a particular place or area.Kate Osborne wrote to prisons minister James Timpson to request an ‘urgent review’ of the exclusion zone More

A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, after two fires at houses linked to Sir Keir Starmer.Emergency services were called to fires at the doors of two homes linked to the prime minister in north London within 24 hours of one another.Police are investigating whether the fires were linked, and counter-terrorism officers are leading the inquiry because the properties have connections to a high-profile public figure.The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday and remains in custody, the Metropolitan Police said.The incidents have been widely condemned by politicians across the divide, with shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick saying it is “important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected”.Here’s everything we know about the fires so far:What happened?Emergency services were called to blazes at the doors of two homes in north London within 24 hours of each other.In the early hours of Sunday, firefighters dealt with a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to Sir Keir.One person was assisted to safety via an internal staircase by crews wearing breathing apparatus, LFB said.Police were then alerted by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) to reports of a fire at another residential address in Kentish Town at 1.35am on Monday.A police cordon and officers, as well as investigators from LFB, could be seen outside a Kentish Town property, where the prime minister used to live.Sir Keir is understood to own the home still, but now lives at the PM’s official residence in Downing Street. Damage was caused to the property’s entrance, but nobody was hurt.Scotland Yard is also looking into a vehicle fire on 8 May as part of the probe. The car fire broke out in the early hours on the same street as the Kentish Town property.Who has been arrested?A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.The Metropolitan Police said the suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday, and he remains in custody.A police spokesperson said: “As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire.”Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it. All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing.”What has the reaction been?Speaking to Sky News, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said it is “important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected”.“We have robust disagreements in politics but I want to ensure anyone who chooses to go in to public life feels that they’ll be properly protected and that we have civility in our debate”, he added.“It is absolutely wrong, disgraceful, for any individual to take the kind of action that we saw against the prime minister’s home.”Home secretary Yvette Cooper said she had been briefed about the incidents.She told BBC Breakfast: “You are right that the police are investigating these incidents, and they have my full support in doing so.“I have been briefed about these incidents but you will understand, as home secretary I obviously cannot comment in any detail on the investigations that are ongoing.”The prime minister’s official spokesperson added: “I can only say that the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work and it is subject to a live investigation. So I can’t comment any further.” More