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Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailUS-funded anti-abortion activists have begun a campaign of harassment of high-profile Labour campaigner Stella Creasy, targeting her in a “persistent and sustained” pattern, accusing her of killing babies.Speaking to The Independent in an exclusive interview, Stella Creasy said she is facing “a bonfire of abuse” from anti-abortion ideologues on social media in punishment for campaigning on abortion rights.The Labour MP for Walthamstow said protesters have harassed nearby residents and leafletted her constituency with graphic imagery.It comes after anti-abortion activists staged a protest against pregnancy terminations in the town square in Walthamstow in east London at the end of January where they brandished graphic images of foetuses.Ms Creasy, an outspoken campaigner for abortion rights, said: “Some of the commentary is all about me being held to account by a god, and having my day in hell. The protesters “are connected to American protest groups. And we have seen what American protest groups do and the violence and intimidation they use there.”Ms Creasy said the anti-abortion activists targeting her area appear to have a lot of money as she warned they are ignoring electoral law. “Who do I hold to account for the fact that they have gone around Walthamstow telling local residents that I want to kill babies at birth?” Ms Creasy asked. We have a government that is cracking down on protest in all sorts of other areas but feels it is fine for women to be subjected to persistent and sustained harassment as part of a political debate. It’s not consistent. MP Stella CreasyIt comes after an advertising company was forced to remove a “disgusting” anti-abortion billboard campaign levelled at Ms Creasy back in 2019 when she was pregnant.Ms Creasy previously said the billboards, which were emblazoned with the words “Stop Stella” and featured an image of a foetus, had left her “physically sick” and constituted a form of “harassment”.The UK arm of an American-based anti-abortion organisation called the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform was behind the advertising campaign, which saw six posters spring up around Walthamstow directly targeting her.Ms Creasy said the current protests are being organised by a coalition of different anti-abortion groups which include the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Abortion Resistance, and Christian Concern.Discussing the current wave of protests, she said: “I feel like they’ve got more money than they had in 2019. And that’s the thing that makes me wonder what else they might be capable of doing. “The stuff they did at the last election and the stuff they are doing now should not be part of a thriving democracy, because it is not a way of having a debate. If they want to participate in the democratic process, they need to be accountable, so they need to tell us who is funding them.”She said protesters are currently falsely linking her to killing babies as she explained residents reported that the activists sought to give an anti-abortion leaflet to a four-year-old.Ms Creasy added: “The irony to me is where we have a government that is cracking down on protest in all sorts of other areas but feels it is fine for women to be subjected to persistent and sustained harassment as part of a political debate. It’s not consistent.”Ms Creasy said the anti-abortion protests will not “deter” her from tabling amendments and proposing legislation about access to abortion. “Fundamentally I think it is a human right to choose,” she added.Current UK laws only allow abortions in restricted circumstances – with pregnancy terminations still deemed a criminal act in England, Scotland and Wales under the 1967 Abortion Act.Legislation passed in 1861 means any woman who ends a pregnancy without getting legal permission from two doctors, who must agree that continuing with it would be risky for the woman’s physical or mental health, can face up to life imprisonment. Any medical professional who delivers an abortion out of the terms of the act can face criminal punishment.Abortion providers, charities, medical bodies and MPs have spent years demanding abortion be decriminalised in the UK.Penelope Wiles, a local Walthamstow resident, told The Independent she thinks she overheard a protester spreading lies and disinformation about Ms Creasy during the recent protests.“I stopped to listen to what this woman was saying; she said ‘she thinks it is alright to just rip it out like it’s nothing, like it’s a piece of rubbish and chuck it in the bin’,” Ms Wiles added. “She was saying this to a group of two or three women. I cannot say ‘I heard her say Stella Creasy said that’ but I can assume that.”A Walthamstow council spokesperson said: “The council was made aware by the police of a planned protest in Walthamstow town square on the morning of Wednesday 24 January, the same day that the event took place. The MP’s office also made contact to alert us that morning and we shared the information we had with them before the protest started at 1pm.“We can only act within the law. The police, who are responsible for managing and monitoring protests, attended the event to ensure public safety. In a free society people have the right to lawfully express opinions that we may not agree with.” More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailThe government must fix a £4bn hole in council funding or risk severe impact to services and more local authorities going bankrupt, MPs have warned. In the last six years, eight local authorities have issued a section 114 notice, which notifies ministers that councils can’t balance their budgets properly. None had done so in the preceding 18 years. Cross-party MPs on the levelling up, housing and communities committee have called on the government to “act now” to avert “the severe crisis and financial distress” faced by councils. They pointed to social care, children’s services and homelessness as growing areas that are adding millions to councils’ bills. As many as one in five councils in England are on the brink of effective bankruptcy, the Local Government Association has previously warned, with half of council leaders not confident they have enough money to fund legally required services – such as providing emergency housing for homeless people. In a report published on Thursday, parliamentarians wrote: “The levels of funding available to local authorities, through council tax, retained business rates, and government grants have not kept pace with these pressures, leading to a funding gap which is already estimated at £4bn over the next two years”.Children’s social care is a soaring cost that councils with depleting budgets are having to deal with Chair of the committee, MP Clive Betts, said the financial crisis facing English councils was “out of control”. He added: “Increasing demands on council services such as social care and special educational needs and disabilities (Send) provision has resulted in rocketing costs but the levels of funding available to councils has failed to keep track.”He said that without emergency funding from government “well-run councils could face the very real prospect of effectively going bust”.The report calls on the next government to overhaul how councils in England are funded and to consider land value taxes. It comes after more than 40 Tory backbenchers signed a letter to Rishi Sunak warning that without emergency cash, many councils will be forced to cut basic services and hike council tax in an election year.In December, the government proposed an increase of core council funding of 6.5 per cent in cash terms for the year 2024-5, compared to 2023-4. However, MPs warned that this increase came from the assumption that all local authorities would raise council tax by the maximum permitted amounts. MPs also said that the extra cash would not affect the £4bn funding hole.MPs pointed to the government’s decision to freeze local housing allowance rates at 2020 levels as a factor in driving homelessness rates. The report explained that the “effect of the freeze has been to constrain the available supply of housing by making increasing numbers of properties unaffordable to those receiving benefits”.Tory MPs wrote to Rishi Sunak to ask that he provides emergency funding to councils Councillors told the committee that funding basic services, such as children’s social care provisions, was becoming unsustainable. Leader of Bradford council, Susan Hinchcliffe, said: “Nearly 50 per cent of the council’s entire budget is now spent on children’s social care through [the children and families] trust, yet the trust is telling us this is not enough to cope with the current pressures.”She added: “It is grappling with high agency costs, high placement costs and dizzying levels of demand.” The trust, which is run independently of the council by the Department for Education but depends on council funding, is forecasting spending £242m this year. Bradford council only collects £233m in council tax annually, Ms Hinchcliffe explained. Councils have also seen an increase in special needs children needing transport from home to school, a service that local authorities have a statutory duty to provide. Gary Fielding, corporate resources director at Yorkshire Council, explained: “Five years ago, in North Yorkshire, we spent £5m a year on Send school transport; we now spend £21m.”Rising homelessness is also stripping councils of their funding. Lambeth councillor Clair Holland said that London boroughs were forecast to overspend more than £90m on temporary accommodation this year, with an estimated one in 50 Londoners being homeless. Cllr Peter Marland, of the Local Government Association, said the report showed there were “significant challenges” ahead this year. “Councils have led the way at finding ways to save money and reduce costs, but they will still need to raise council tax this year and many will need to make further savings to local services.”Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said that that youth services are being “torn away from children” and “the elderly are not getting the care they deserve” because this Conservative government has left a blackhole in council finances.He added: “Instead of ensuring that councils have the resources they need, Rishi Sunak has turned a blind eye to disappearing breakfast clubs, tennis courts, and bus routes.“The Conservatives have decimated council finances and it is local people up and down the country who are paying the price. Without proper funding for local services, it is communities and local people who will continue to suffer.”A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We recognise councils are facing challenges and that is why we recently announced an additional £600m support package for councils across England, increasing their overall proposed funding for next year to £64.7bn – a 7.5 per cent increase in cash terms.“This additional funding has been welcomed by leading local government organisations, but we remain ready to talk to any concerned council about its financial position.” More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailA ban on disposable vapes in the UK is looming – but will it actually stop children from taking up the habit?Rishi Sunak has announced plans for a ban on disposable vapes by the end of 2025. The government also says it will limit reusable vapes to just four flavours and end the use of colourful packaging marketing them to young people.New data shows the number of children vaping has tripled in the last three years with a significant proportion (nine per cent) of 11 to 15-year-olds using the devices, while the number of 11 to 17-year-old vapers increased almost ninefold in the last two years.Powers will be introduced to restrict flavours, enforce plainer packaging and change how vapes are displayed in shops, moving them out of children’s sight. Campaigning MPs have long commented on how flavours are named after sweets and displayed in bright colours.New fines will be brought in for shops selling vapes illegally to children allowing trading standards officers to act “on the spot”. Local authorities can already impose a maximum £2,500 fine and the new fines are expected to build on this. Vaping alternatives – such as nicotine pouches – will also be banned for children.We want to know your opinions on the disposable vape ban. Are the plans outlined by the government enough? Or is it too late for these changes to make a material impact? If you want to share your opinion then add it in the comments and we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details – then you can then take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below or by clicking here. More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailMore than 250 charities, religious organisations and civil society bodies have called on the House of Lords to block the “deeply harmful” Rwanda bill, labelling it an attack on universal human rights and the constitutional role of the judiciary. In a joint statement ahead of the second reading of the bill in the Lords on Monday, the charities said that the government’s plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda would create a “two-tiered system” of human rights where some people had access to the UK courts and others didn’t, concluding: “Either we all have human rights or none of us do.” The group, which includes political organisations, faith groups, unions and councils, condemned the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill as “constitutionally extraordinary and deeply harmful”, saying it would “threaten the universality of human rights and is likely in breach of international law”. They also warned that the bill would breach the Good Friday agreement, which commits the UK government to “complete incorporation” of international human rights law in Northern Ireland. Three peers from the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens, also backed the statement saying the bill must be stopped. Rishi Sunak’s government agreed on a legally binding treaty with Rwanda in December, arguing that it addressed concerns raised by the Supreme Court about the possibility of asylum seekers deported to Rwanda being transferred back to a country where they could be at risk. Rishi Sunak has said he is prepared to ignore orders from the European Court of Human Rights Mr Sunak brought forward legislation to declare, contrary to the finding of the UK’s highest court, that Rwanda is in fact a safe country. The bill also severely limits asylum seekers’ ability to challenge their Rwanda deportation in the UK courts, making a showdown with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) more likely. Peers in the House of Lords delivered an initial blow to Mr Sunak’s plans when they backed, by 214 votes to 171, a motion to delay the treaty until the government can prove that Rwanda is indeed safe. In a hastily-arranged press conference this month, Mr Sunak warned peers not to “frustrate the will of the people” by opposing his flagship legislation.In the joint civil society statement, shared exclusively with The Independent, charities called on the Lords “to reject the bill at second reading” on Monday – pointing out: “It was not a government manifesto commitment”.In the letter, 256 civil society organisations, including Amnesty International, Unison, the Methodist Church, the Muslim Council of Britain and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, said that the bill is “an attack on the constitutional role of the judiciary and the rule of law” because it “legislates something that has been authoritatively found to be false by the Supreme Court”. Home Secretary James Cleverly and Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta shake hands after they signed a new treaty in Kigali, Rwanda. The letter, coordinated by human rights organisation Liberty, continued: “If parliament validates legislating legal fictions in this way, it would set a dangerous precedent for future governments”. They also said that the bill would put the UK “on a direct collision course with the European Court of Human Rights”. The president of the ECHR, Siofra O’Leary, has said that the UK must legally comply with any Rule 39 orders issued by the Strasbourg court. A Rule 39 order grounded the first attempted flight carrying migrants from the UK to Rwanda in June 2022. Mr Sunak has put a clause in the Rwanda bill saying that it is “for ministers to decide whether to comply” with rulings from the ECHR.The statement addressed this saying: “Giving a minister legislative validation in ignoring them is a deeply concerning green light to the breaking of international law and erodes the UK’s commitment to the Convention.”LibDem peer Lord Purvis of Tweed, said that the Rwanda bill was “an unsustainable long-term policy”. He added: “It will cost the taxpayer millions while running roughshod over international law and doing nothing to solve the sky-high asylum backlog. “Let’s be clear, this bill sets a dangerous precedent for the future and that is why we will be voting against the bill and all that it stands for”. Labour peer Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, said the bill was “cruel, costly and un-British”, adding: “In dangerous and divided times for our country and the world, it is heartening to see so much of civil society coming together in defence of the best of our values”. Green party peer, Baroness Jenny Jones, called on her fellow members to “stop this appalling bill”. She said: “It is not a manifesto commitment and convention allows the Lords to reject it. If the prime minister wants to claim the Rwanda bill is the will of the people then please hold a general election”. Ahead of the second reading, human rights watchdog the Equality and Human Rights Commission also warned that the home secretary has been unable to confirm that the bill complies with the ECHR. A spokesperson said: “By disapplying sections of the Human Rights Act and seeking to prevent courts from considering the risk of refoulement, this bill could expose people to harm and breaches of their right to life, their rights to be free from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment and their right to effective remedy.”A Home Office spokesperson said:”We are determined to get flights off the ground to Rwanda and the UK has a strong and longstanding tradition of standing up for human rights.”Rwanda is a safe country that cares deeply about supporting refugees. It hosts more than 135,000 asylum seekers and stands ready to relocate people and help them rebuild their lives.” More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailNewly released documents show that Post Office chiefs secretly ditched forensic accountants who found problems in the Horizon IT system – with the full knowledge of David Cameron’s coalition government.A Post Office committee called “Project Sparrow”, decided to sack Second Sight, a firm of investigators which uncovered evidence the computer system was faulty, and bring the investigation in-house.The secret plan to get rid of the firm was exposed in minutes from two meetings of the group that took place in April 2014, the BBC reported.Kevan Jones has warned of a potential second scandal involving IT software used by the Post Office (James Manning/PA)The records show that former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells, senior lawyer Chris Aujard, and Richard Callard, a senior civil servant at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, were all part of the Post Office committee.Former sub-postmaster Alan Bates told the broadcaster: “It’s been a cover-up from start to finish. That’s coming out now. It’s undeniable.“And this is what we’ve been up against all the way. We’ve always known they were covering up – it’s just been very difficult to find proof.”Second Sight first identified various IT bugs in the Horizon computer system in a report on 8 July 2013, which cast doubt on the data used to prosecute sub-postmasters. Alan Bates told the BBC the whole scandal ha “been a cover-up from start to finish” The Post Office was warned by its own legal counsel this could be in breach of its legal duties as sub-postmasters who were convicted should have been made aware of the faults.However months later when “Project Sparrow” met in April 2014, the members said it wanted to pay “token payments” to sub-postmasters, in the region of around £1m. The compensation bill is now expected to reach £1bn.Months after the meetings, former Post Office minister Jo Swinson reiterated the independent role of Second Sight in a parliamentary question in 2014 on the Horizon IT scandal. Vince Cable was the business secretary at the time.Second Sight’s contract was terminated in 2015 and the operations of “Project Sparrow” were not uncovered until years later.In a statement, the Post Office said: “We never discuss individuals and it would be inappropriate to comment on allegations being made outside of the Inquiry, whose role it is to consider all of the evidence on the issues it is examining and independently reach conclusions.“We fully share the Public Inquiry’s aims to get to the truth of what happened in the past and accountability.”In other developments, Labour MP Kevan Jones warned on Thursday of a potential “second scandal” involving the Post Office after concerns were raised that subpostmasters were convicted over losses involving another IT system.Labour MP Kevan Jones has called on Post Office boss Nick Read to come before MPs to answer questions following reports about faults with the Capture software used for accounting.Number 10 has said it wants the matter investigated and “robust action” must take place if there are any issues.The i newspaper first reported concerns about the prospect of a second faulty IT system, following on from the scandal over the Horizon system.In a letter to Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake, Mr Jones said: “We know the Capture software was faulty, resulting in corrupted data. We also know that the Post Office knew about these faults at the time, as it openly communicated with sub-postmasters about them.” More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailThe UK’s communications watchdog has outlined two options for changes to letter deliveries as part of a review expected to save Royal Mail hundreds of millions of pounds.Ofcom said the two “primary options” could include letters being delivered to households and businesses five or even three times a week, or the slow down of deliveries across three or more days.The first move could save the company between £100m and £650m and the second between £150m and £650m, according to the regulator.It comes after Rishi Sunak, which would have to approve any changes, appeared to rule out Royal Mail being allowed to scrap Saturday deliveries.But Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes said that changes to the postal system could be required as the number of letters being sent each year has halved since 2011, while people are getting many more parcels than they used to.Ofcom presented two options for either cutting frequency or speed of postal deliveries Currently, Royal Mail has an obligation to deliver letters six days a week to all 32 million addresses in the UK for the price of a stamp, no matter where the letters are going.Royal Mail, which recorded a £419 million loss in its previous financial year, said the current service requirement is “simply not sustainable”.Dame Melanie said: “Postal workers are part of the fabric of our society and are critical to communities up and down the country. But we’re sending half as many letters as we did in 2011, and receiving many more parcels.“The universal service hasn’t changed since then, it’s getting out of date and will become unsustainable if we don’t take action.“So we’ve set out options for reform so there can be a national discussion about the future of universal post. In the meantime, we’re making sure prices will remain affordable by capping the price of second class stamps.”Ofcom said Royal Mail could cut the frequency or speed of deliveries as part of a cost cutting exercise Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said the PM’s “strong view is that Saturday deliveries provide flexibility” and “would not countenance” seeing Saturday deliveries scrapped.The postal minister Kevin Hollinrake reiterated on Wednesday that government remained committed to a six-day service from Royal Mail – calling a Saturday delivery “sacrosanct”.Neither the minister, nor No 10, have said whether they would be prepared to legislate to keep a Saturday delivery.Mr Hollinrake told Times Radio: “The prime minister has been very clear on this, six-day delivery is really important for many people in this country, many of our citizens- but also for many of our businesses.”The Tory minister also said that nationalising Royal Mail would not be a “good option”. He said the “one advantage” of it remaining in private hands is “the amount of investments going in”.The Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokeswoman Sarah Olney said the idea of a thre-day delivery “feels like a slap in the face”, adding: “Regular deliveries are what the country has come to expect.”The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) warned that cutting the six-day delivery service could “cause real disruption to our economy”.And the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said a three-day delivery service would “destroy” Royal Mail.CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “We are not resistant to change, but we will not sign up to a three-day universal service obligation, which would destroy Royal Mail as we know and would impact thousands of jobs.”The Post Office, which was spun off when Royal Mail when the latter was privatised in 2012, said many people and businesses “depend on a reliable letter service”.Under fire over the Horizon IT scandal, a Post Office spokesman said there must be a “national debate” around how consumers need a parcel and letter delivery service to work for them in the 2020s. More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailJeremy Hunt has hinted that further tax cuts could be on the cards following the recent reduction in national insurance. The Chancellor, who will deliver a spring Budget in March, told the Martin Lewis Money Show Live on Tuesday evening that taxes will not return to pre-pandemic levels in “one go”. However, Mr Hunt did not give any timetable for when further cuts could take place. “After a period in which taxes have gone up in order to pay for the costs of the pandemic or the £3,500 of help we gave people in the cost of living crisis to a typical family, we now want to bring that tax burden back down,” Mr Hunt told the presenter. “Now we can’t get all the way back to where we were pre-pandemic in one go, but we can make a start. And this is about £1,000, just under £1,000 for a typical two-earner family. But we would like to go further as and when it’s affordable and responsible to do so.”It comes after a two percentage point cut in national insurance, from 12% to 10%, took effect last Saturday.Several economists have pointed to the fact that despite the national insurance cut, many households are still facing the burden of high taxes. Labour also branded the move a “raw deal”.There is speculation in Westminster that further tax cuts could be announced in the spring budget on 6 March, with a general election expected in the second half of the year. Some Tory MPs are lobbying the Chancellor to push ahead with tax cuts in a bid to woo voters.In the same interview, Mr Hunt also said that the carer’s allowance of £76.75 a week was never meant to be a replacement for income.He said: “We keep all the benefits under review. What I would say is the carer’s allowance was never meant to be income replacement. It’s meant to be support for people doing caring duties. But lots of people do caring duties for members of their family and people they know well.“But I don’t think it’s possible for the state to fully replace income. But we have increased the carer’s allowance and we will continue to keep it under review.” More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailDrivers will not be fined for breaching a new 20mph speed limit in Wales if they are “genuinely confused” by the rule change.The outgoing First Minister Mark Drakeford said today that only those who“deliberately” break the law will face consequences, but that police will not jump straight to enforcement if people have simply “misunderstood”.Last year, Wales became the first country in the UK to drop the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph in built-up areas, with enforcement of the limit starting this month.According to GoSafe Wales, who work with the police and local authorities on road safety, the enforcement threshold for prosecution is 10 per cent plus 4mph in a 20mph zone. This means you can only be prosecuted if you are caught doing 26mph in a 20mph limit in Wales.This is higher than the enforcement threshold in the rest of Britain which is 10 per cent plus 2mph, meaning you will get prosecuted for going 23mph in a 20mph zone.Asked during a press conference in Cardiff about the possibility of people being fined because the messaging over the law has not been clear enough, Mr Drakeford said: “I don’t think they will be fined in those circumstances.“I think if the police find somebody driving above 20 miles an hour and the reason is because they are genuinely confused about that, then that’s why the police will always start with education and conversation.A vandalised 20mph sign on Sloper Road on September 23, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales“I don’t think in those circumstances of genuine confusion, the police will move to enforcement.”The First Minister conceded that the policy should be “fine-tuned” and kept “under review” to ensure consistency across different local authorities throughout Wales.There have been “anomalies” in its introduction, he said, including with road signage which some drivers have complained is unclear.Mr Drakeford said that in cases where motorists drive “well above” the limit the law would have to be enforced.Asked to specify what speed would be considered “well above” 20mph, he said previous cases relating to pre-existing 20mph zones had involved people driving “closer to 30 than 20”.“Not a couple of miles over, but well in excess of what people were obliged to do, so if that’s a sort of rule of thumb I think that’s how the police have interpreted that so far,” he said.A petition against the rollout of the law, on the Welsh Parliament’s petitions page, has now been signed by more than 460,000 people.The two candidates in the running to replace Mr Drakeford as the next Welsh Labour leader after his planned resignation in March have said they would launch a review of the law if elected.Mr Drakeford said on Monday he had been clear from the outset that the policy would be kept under review.Additional reporting by PA More