Author: News Desk

Grant Shapps becomes defence secretary and Claire Coutinho named energy secretary – cabinet reshuffle live The Independent says Claire Coutinho has been confirmed as the new energy secretary as Rishi Sunak carries out a mini-reshuffle of his cabinet. Ms Coutinho, the former education minister, replaces Grant Shapps, who took over from Ben Wallace after he resigned as defence secretary. A close ally of Mr Sunak who previously worked as his special adviser, Ms Coutinho becomes the first MP from the 2019 intake to get a job in the cabinet. Mr Wallace, in a letter to the PM earlier, said it…

Cabinet mini-reshuffle predictions: Who Rishi Sunak could promote today, and why he’s replacing Ben Wallace The i newspaper says Rishi Sunak is expected to hold a mini Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday to replace Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary, with a fuller change-up of his top team expected in the coming weeks. The bigger changes are expected to take place in early September, just before or shortly after Parliament returns from its summer recess. Ahead of that, Mr Sunak is set to announce a replacement for Defence Secretary Ben Wallace who announced earlier this year that he would be leaving Cabinet…

Grant Shapps named as new UK defence secretary after Ben Wallace steps down Grant Shapps has been announced as the new defence secretary, taking over from Ben Wallace. It’s Shapps’ fifth cabinet job in less than a year. Wallace is standing down as an MP at the next election after four years as defence secretary. In a statement, Mr Shapps said he was “honoured” to take on the role. He paid tribute to the “enormous contribution Mr Wallace has made to UK defence and global security over the last four years”. “I am looking forward to working with the brave men…

Police officers to face quicker sackings for gross misconduct in England and Wales The government has announced that police officers guilty of gross misconduct in England and Wales will face automatic sackings. The change follows high-profile cases of police officers committing rape and murder, such as rapist and killer Wayne Couzens and serial rapist David Carrick. Under the new system, chief constables or their deputies will chair misconduct panels hearing serious allegations against officers. Until now the panels have been chaired by an independent lawyer. The Police Regulations will also be changed to allow cops who fail re-vetting checks to…

Police have released images of two men they would like to speak with regarding the incident.

‘If I was getting attacked [online] every day, that would be hard.’

‘A bit shocked, if I am being honest!’

Families welcome plan to force offenders into dock after Lucy Letby case A new law that gives judges more powers to make criminals attend sentencing hearings has been received well by families of victims. Some of the most recent high-profile murder cases have seen the killers refuse to appear in the dock during the sentencing. The mother of Olivia Pratt-Korbel – a nine-year-old shot dead by Thomas Cashman, and the sister of murdered Sabina Nessa -who was beaten to death by Koci Selamaj on her way to the pub, have been campaigning for law change. The most recent high-profile case…

England v New Zealand: England win first T20 by seven wickets England beat New Zealand by seven wickets with a strong performance in the first T20 of their four-match series at Chester-le-Street. In the first action since the Ashes, the hosts headed to victory reaching 140 with six overs to spare. Jonny Bairstow nicked the second ball of the chase to slip but Dawid Malan made a composed 54 from 42 balls. The left-hander fell with 24 needed from 48 but Harry Brook struck an unbeaten 27-ball 43 to take England home – two towering sixes reinforcing the surprise at…

More than 70 dead in Johannesburg building blaze A major fire in a block of flats in central Johannesburg has killed at least 73 people, and dozens are injured, with the death toll expected to rise. Firefighters have been able to bring some occupants out of the building. Local reports suggest the occupants of the building were mostly African migrants. City authorites say it is at the moment unclear what caused the fire at the building Marshalltown which “gutted” the building in the city centre at around 01:30 local time. The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Kabelo Gwamanda, will attend…