Revelations. Resignations. From BBC bias to Cabinet scandals, read the stories that get the world talking – from the journalists that break them. |  | Nick Gutteridge Chief Political Correspondent | For the millions of middle-class families who are already dreading Rachel Reeves’s Budget next week, the bad news just keeps on coming.
Labour has unveiled a long-awaited shake up of council funding that will hit some affluent areas hard, while funnelling more money to poorer towns.
Ministers insist the plan will end “historic imbalances” between the North and South, but critics have branded it a “partisan cash grab”.
At the heart of the controversy is the suggestion that the biggest losers will be allowed to make up the shortfall with huge council tax rises.
Ministers have signalled they will be open to requests from hard-pressed authorities to waive the local referendum requirement for increases of above 5 per cent.
Sir James Cleverly, the shadow local government secretary, told me that it means residents in those areas face the prospect of unlimited increases.
A totemic example is Wandsworth. Once renowned as Margaret Thatcher’s favourite council, it still has one of the lowest tax burdens in the country.
The area turned to Labour in 2022, ending 44 years of Tory rule, and its residents are now amongst those who risk being hit with big rises.
All of London’s boroughs, including Wandsworth, will be up for grabs again in next May’s local elections. Will Labour be hit by a major case of buyer’s remorse?
Read the full story here ➤
£100k tax trap to hit 2.3m taxpayers by 2029 ➤ |  | Joe Barnes Brussels Correspondent | It’s a deal that has been kept under lock and key while being hashed out in secret between US and Russian officials. But now The Telegraph can reveal the entire 28-point plan put forward by Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin will be happy.
Under the plans, if they are implemented without amendments, Russia will be freed from Western sanctions, rejoin the G7 and take back the majority of its frozen assets. Moscow will walk away with full ownership over the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as international recognition over its long-term occupation of Crimea, the peninsula seized in 2014.
Russia will also be given an economic boost in the shape of an Arctic-exploration deal with the US.
Ukraine will have to halve the size of its army, abandon its plans to join Nato and give up its long-range missiles.
It is a deal France described as a “capitulation”, but one which Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said he would work with. Privately, Ukraine is furious that there was not more push back from allies, including the UK.
But the US insists the deal can act as the basis for peace. “It’s a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe that it should be acceptable to both sides, and we’re working very hard to get it done,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.
Read the full story here ➤
Read in full: Trump and Putin’s 28-point peace plan for Ukraine ➤ | | David Frost What an utter and complete waste of time and money this process has been
David will be replying to comments at 10am Continue reading ➤ William Sitwell Now advent is being replaced by ‘countdown’ calendars. Why are we dodging all traces of Christmas?
William will be replying to comments at 4pm Continue reading ➤ Michael Deacon Why should any of us care about a terrorist’s ‘human rights’? Continue reading ➤ | From Westminster to Washington… Follow trusted coverage of the stories that are shaping our world. | | Ben Stokes is clean bowled by Mitchell Starc | There are 12,000 England fans here in Perth for the first Test of this hotly anticipated Ashes series but the tourists got off to a calamitous start with optimism evaporating almost instantly.
Having won the toss and elected to bat, Zak Crawley was dismissed in first over of the day and it did not get much better as England were bowled out for 172 in just over three hours. Amid the wreckage was a duck for Joe Root, whose wait for a Test hundred in Australia continues, while Ben Stokes’s stumps were sent flying by Mitchell Starc, who ended the innings with seven for 58.
Not all hope is lost. England’s collapse meant we got an early glimpse of Jofra Archer, who humbled the debutant Aussie opener Jake Weatherald, pinning him lbw with the second ball of the innings. You can follow the action here.
It feels like it is going to be a long series for England cricket fans watching from home, too, with TNT’s coverage even more excruciating than the batting. And that’s saying something. Here’s Alan Tyers’ verdict.
Scorecard correct as of 7am GMT. | | China’s military has grown into one of the strongest in the world in the past 25 years and British universities have helped make this happen. Dozens of the UK’s top institutions, including Cambridge, Oxford and the London School of Economics have established partnerships with defence universities and corporations in China, including several sanctioned for human rights abuses. Allegra Mendelson, our Asia Correspondent, reveals the extent of the collaborations, with some dating all the way back to the 1990s.
Continue reading ➤ |  | | It is likely that most of us have seen shoplifting take place right in front of our eyes. This invidious crime is on the rise – and finally supermarkets are starting to take dramatic action to stop persistent offenders. We already accept scanning receipts to exit stores and security tags on premium products as the norm but, as Simon Usborne reports, we should get ready for facial recognition technology and digital locks preventing access to everyday foods. Continue reading ➤ | | | According to airline bosses and flight attendants, a “miracle” is occurring at 35,000 feet, where wheelchair-bound passengers are walking off planes unaided. In recent days, a series of TikTok posts have brought the issue into the mainstream. We delve into this strange, contentious debate. Continue reading ➤ | | | Leslie Glass will always remember the weekend that her daughter Lindsey moved out of her New York home, blocked her number and left no forwarding address after Lindsey reached breaking point. It followed years of bickering, co-dependency and poor communication that caused their relationship to become destructive. Here, the pair reflect on the moment that Lindsey walked out and share how they reconciled after a four-year estrangement. Continue reading ➤ | | | Coffee can make us sharper but the brain health benefits of your daily fix don’t stop there. An increasing number of studies suggest drinking coffee can offer a degree of protection against cognitive decline. It can help lower our risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, potentially adding years to our life in the process. So what exactly does coffee do to the brain and how much of it should we be drinking? David Cox speaks to the experts to find out. Continue reading ➤ | | | We’ve had to contend with biting weather this week, and maybe last year’s winter coat hasn’t quite done the job. If anyone has the ultimate authority on the best winter coats this season, it’s our Head of Fashion Lisa Armstrong. She advises to steer clear of passing trends and impulse buys, as a cold-weather jacket should not only be a wardrobe workhorse, but a style signature. Her elegant curation includes both high street and UK craftsman-made designs. Continue reading ➤ Below are two more articles I hope you find helpful: | | Theatre Wicked Witches Panto – For Adults! at Pleasance London ★★★★☆ Of all the roles Jeremy Corbyn is least qualified to play in a pantomime, a wise wizard surely inches out even the fairy godmother? Corbyn’s 15-minute appearance over video was only a brief cameo in an entertaining smash up of Wicked and The Wizard of Oz, featuring a non-binary Dorothy (Dor) and Tin Man (Tin 2.0) and Sir Ian McKellen in a quite wonderfully batty turn as Toto the dog. Despite a wafer thin plot, the overall fuzzy warmth of this cheap and cheerful LGTBQ+ celebration almost made The Telegraph’s Claire Allfree incline to Jezza. Almost.
Read the full review here ➤ Exhibition Wes Anderson: The Archives, Design Museum, London ★★★★★ If Wes Anderson didn’t design his films with such precision, where would we be? As a delightful new exhibition proves, his level of finicky perfectionism is second to none these days, and possibly unmatched since the heyday of Stanley Kubrick. The details in Anderson’s scenes cry out to be noticed – they practically wink and do jazz hands. Having the time to pause and pore over them is in some instances an even greater pleasure than watching the films themselves.
Read Tim Robey’s verdict in full ➤ Books Tigers Between Empires by Jonathan C Slaght ★★★★★ The Amur tiger rules the forest by fear. To meet what conservationist Jonathan C Slaght describes as the gaze of its “white headlight eyes” is to face up to one of the most terrifying predators on earth. In his excellent new book, Slaght charts the precipitous decline of Putin’s favourite big cat towards the brink of extinction and the remarkable story of the efforts to protect the species.
Read the full review here ➤ | |
A wax museum in Paris has unveiled a new figure of Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing her black “revenge dress”. What year did the Princess debut this look? | Ecclesiastical echoes Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal Reader Correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
Last month, we discussed the state of Britain’s churches. Things aren’t looking good: one prediction suggested that almost a third could close by 2030. Christopher Winn’s recent article, celebrating some of our finest rural places of worship, underscores what we stand to lose: architectural treasures, steeped in history and heaving with artefacts, right across the country. And there’s been a huge response from Telegraph readers, nominating their own favourites.
Jonty Warneken was not the only person to recommend “St Peter and St Paul’s church in Pickering, North Yorkshire, which has a remarkable set of medieval wall paintings dating from around 1450”.
Matthew Adams, meanwhile, felt that “St Michael and All Angels church in Berwick, East Sussex, would have been a worthy addition to the list”.
Sue Donnelly put in a word for “the church at Stow Bardolph in Norfolk. It has a life-sized wax effigy of Sarah Hare, the patron’s daughter. She is a sight indeed, hidden in a mahogany cupboard”.
Finally, Colin Bleakley had a query: “The carving of a sciapod at Dennington Church reminds me of the Dufflepuds in The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. Maybe that’s where he got the idea?” Where else should have been on the list? Send your responses here, and my favourites will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. | | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
The solution to yesterday’s clue was INVERTING. Come back tomorrow for the answer to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.
Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. | |
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