Tag: News Story

STORY

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced a significant expansion of its crackdown on unscrupulous landlords, moving to protect hundreds of thousands of vulnerable tenants and claw back millions in misspent taxpayer cash. As of 20 December 2025, a successful pilot scheme that targets “rogue” operators is being rolled out to 41 local authorities across England, marking a decisive shift in the government’s efforts to uphold housing standards and fiscal responsibility.

The initiative leverages streamlined access to Universal Credit data, allowing local councils to identify landlords who are pocketing housing support payments while providing dangerous, substandard, or unlicensed accommodation. One trial area, Camden Council in North London, has already used this data to recover nearly £100,000 in public money and initiate fraud referrals against landlords who had effectively been “wrongly pocketing” taxpayer funds.

The expansion comes as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins to exert its influence on the sector. Under the new legislation, the maximum penalty for Rent Repayment Orders has been doubled, allowing local authorities to recover up to 24 months of rent from non-compliant landlords, up from the previous 12-month limit. These orders are a primary tool for penalising those who ignore improvement notices or leave residents in “mouldy, dire conditions” while continuing to collect state-funded rent.

“No one should live in unsafe or unsuitable housing” said Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms. He emphasised that the new tools are designed to deter “bad housing practice” and ensure better value for money by preventing the waste of public resources on properties that do not meet basic legal standards.

The government’s road-map for reform continues next week, with new investigatory powers for local councils set to take effect on 27 December 2025. These powers will grant enforcement officers the ability to demand documents, inspect premises, and access third-party data more easily.

STORY

The long-running saga of the “Lingerie Tycoon” and the unusable medical gowns has reached a cynical conclusion as PPE Medpro, the firm linked to Baroness Michelle Mone, has been forced into compulsory liquidation. The ruling on 18 December 2025 by the specialist companies court ensures that the £148 million owed to the British taxpayer will likely never be recovered, marking a final, bitter chapter in a scandal defined by greed and a high-profile web of deception.

At the heart of the outrage is the legacy of Michelle Mone herself, a woman who spent years orchestrating a brazen campaign of public lies before finally being cornered by the truth. For more than two years, the Baroness and her legal representatives issued aggressive denials to the media, insisting she had “no involvement” and “no financial interest” in PPE Medpro. She threatened journalists with libel and ridiculed those who questioned her integrity, only to eventually admit in a televised interview that she had lied to the press. Her confession revealed that she had not only lobbied then-ministers Michael Gove and Lord Agnew for the contracts but had stood to benefit from tens of millions of pounds in profits funnelled into her husband’s offshore accounts.

The liquidation of PPE Medpro is seen by critics as the ultimate extension of that dishonesty. By allowing the company to enter insolvency, the directors have effectively ensured that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is left holding a bill for millions of defective surgical gowns that were deemed a risk to NHS staff and never used.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has condemned the “shameful” disappearance of the funds, noting that the money lost to PPE Medpro could have funded thousands of nurses or modernised crumbling hospital wings. While the corporate entity of PPE Medpro may be dead, the Government has signalled its intent to pierce the corporate veil and pursue the individuals behind the scheme. Investigators are now focused on the millions transferred to the Isle of Man, seeking to prove that the company was stripped of its assets specifically to avoid the looming DHSC refund.

When questioned about her lies in 2023, Mone told journalists that “that’s not a crime”. Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Conservative Party, said that Mone should be stripped of her Peerage which had been granted by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.

STORY

In a move that has sparked a constitutional firestorm and united bitter political rivals in condemnation, the Trump administration has missed a critical federal deadline to release the full investigative files of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. As of 20 December 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has produced only a fraction of the mandated documents, many of which are obscured by extensive redactions that critics call a blatant attempt to shield the President and his associates from public scrutiny.

The failure to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation President Trump himself signed into law just one month ago, has left Capitol Hill in a state of uproar. While the law demanded the public release of “all unclassified records” by 19 December 2025, the DOJ instead delivered a “rolling release” that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche admitted would take several more weeks to complete. The initial tranche of documents released on Friday afternoon has been described by transparency advocates as a “mountain of black ink” featuring hundreds of pages that are entirely blacked out.

“This is not transparency; it is a funeral for the truth,” said Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, who co-sponsored the bill. Khanna warned that the administration’s “gross failure” to follow the letter of the law could lead to contempt of Congress or impeachment referrals for top DOJ officials. Even within the President’s own party, the frustration is palpable. Republican Representative Thomas Massie took to social media to highlight the specific language of the statute, noting that the word “all” does not mean “some” or “whatever the administration finds convenient.”

STORY

A group of 26 former classmates and a teacher from Dulwich College has called on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to make a public apology over alleged racist, antisemitic and discriminatory conduct during his school years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In an open letter published on Wednesday, the signatories recount episodes they say reveal a “persistent pattern” of abusive behaviour that went beyond casual “banter” and emphasise that Farage has so far neither acknowledged nor apologised for his actions.

The letter details allegations including comments referencing the Holocaust and remarks targeting Black and Jewish pupils, and urges Farage to accept responsibility, renounce such views and apologise to those affected. The group rejected suggestions that their claims are politically motivated, stressing their diverse backgrounds and long-standing memories of events from decades ago.

Farage and his spokesperson have denied the allegations, characterising them as politically driven and questioning the reliability of recollections from nearly fifty years ago. Farage’s response so far has been to reject the calls for an apology and to emphasise that incidents from his youth should be viewed in the context of the era, a defence that has drawn criticism from opponents and campaigners who say leaders must confront their past actions openly.

STORY

Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, accusing the British public broadcaster of deliberately misrepresenting one of his speeches in a Panorama documentary. The lawsuit, lodged in a federal court in Florida on Monday, marks a dramatic escalation in the President’s ongoing confrontations with major media organisations.

Trump’s complaint centres on a BBC Panorama episode that aired before the 2024 United States presidential election and spliced separate portions of his 6 January 2021 speech, creating the impression he was exhorting supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol. The suit alleges the broadcaster’s editing was “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory and malicious”, and asserts the BBC harmed his reputation and interfered in the election. Trump is seeking $5 billion in damages for defamation and another $5 billion for unfair trade practices.

The BBC has responded by saying it will defend the lawsuit vigorously. The corporation previously apologised for the “error of judgment” in editing the footage but has denied that it defamed Trump, insisting there is “no basis for a defamation case” and reaffirming its commitment to robust journalism. BBC executives also point out that the Panorama documentary was not broadcast in the United States, complicating the legal arguments.

The legal action comes at a time when Trump has faced a series of serious allegations and challenges, both legal and political. Critics argue the lawsuit against the BBC may be partly aimed at shifting focus from his current troubles and rallying supporters by portraying himself as under attack from powerful media institutions. Analysts note that suing a major foreign broadcaster in a U.S. court is unusual and could raise complex jurisdictional issues.

STORY

US President Donald Trump has ignited an international firestorm of outrage across the nation by publishing a post on his social media platform just hours after the shocking deaths of director and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were confirmed. In a statement widely condemned as utterly disgraceful and lacking any trace of human decency, the President not only failed to offer condolences but instead used the tragedy to attack his longtime political adversary.

Rob Reiner and his wife were found dead on Sunday afternoon in their Brentwood home in what is reportedly a double homicide, with their son taken into custody as a person of interest. Instead of acknowledging the horrific nature of the crime and offering sympathy to the Reiner family, Trump posted a venomous message alleging that Reiner died “reportedly due to the anger he had built up over the years”.

The scandal hit US President, who has been a frequent target of Reiner’s sharp political criticism, reportedly called the legendary director a “tortured and struggling star”. He went on to mock Reiner’s well-known opposition by blaming his death on a fictitious malady he often refers to: “Trump Derangement Syndrome”.

STORY

The Government has announced plans to create a new Child Protection Authority in England as part of a wider overhaul of how vulnerable children are safeguarded. The proposal, published by the Department for Education, sets out a public consultation on establishing a national body intended to provide stronger leadership, clearer oversight and greater consistency in child protection practice across the country.

Ministers said the new authority is designed to address long standing weaknesses in the current multi agency system, where information can be fragmented and lessons from serious cases are not always acted upon. The reforms draw on recommendations from recent independent reviews into child exploitation and abuse, with the aim of ensuring vulnerable children are less likely to slip through the gaps between agencies.

Under the plans, the Child Protection Authority would lead on national practice standards, improve data analysis, identify emerging threats and drive accountability across local authorities, social care, health, education and other statutory bodies. Officials say it will work alongside existing safeguarding partners rather than replace them, acting as a central hub for leadership and coordination.

The consultation invites views from professionals, families, charities and survivors on how the authority should operate, how it should be governed and how it should interact with current safeguarding arrangements. The Government says the new body will form a key part of its wider reforms, which include measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aimed at improving information sharing and collaboration across public services.

STORY

Resident doctors in England have voted overwhelmingly to press ahead with a five day strike beginning on 17 December 2025, after rejecting the Government’s latest offer aimed at ending their long running dispute over pay, training and working conditions. The ballot showed a large majority against the proposal, with turnout significantly higher than in previous consultations. The decision comes as the NHS faces severe winter pressures, with hospitals already stretched by an intense seasonal flu wave.

The walkout has drawn sharp criticism from the Prime Minister in recent days. Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said that the prospect of industrial action during what he described as one of the most challenging periods the health service has faced in years was deeply concerning, urging doctors to reconsider and accept the deal on the table. Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, echoed that sentiment, warning that the timing of the strike could cause serious disruption to patient care and undermine efforts to stabilise services during the winter surge.

Resident doctors’ representatives insist the Government’s offer fails to address longstanding concerns about real terms pay erosion and career progression, and argue that the Government’s comments amount to unfair pressure rather than meaningful negotiation. NHS leaders are now preparing for significant operational strain next week, with trusts activating contingency plans to protect urgent and emergency care as the strike approaches.

STORY

Halima Begum, the now-former chief executive of Oxfam GB, has been forced out of her role following a series of serious allegations about her conduct and leadership, prompting a major upheaval at the charity. Her departure follows an independent review commissioned by Oxfam’s trustees after staff raised concerns about her behaviour and management approach. Investigators reported “serious issues” with her leadership and concluded that trust between Begum and the organisation had broken down beyond repair.

The allegations include claims that she created a hostile working environment, fostered a climate of fear among staff, and interfered in internal safeguarding and integrity processes. It is understood that dozens of employees supported a letter urging trustees to examine her conduct, and that some staff had already resigned amid tensions at senior levels of the organisation. Oxfam’s board said it respected those who came forward and would act on the findings to strengthen internal processes and rebuild confidence.

Begum has rejected the allegations and suggested some complaints may have arisen from disagreements over restructuring and cost-saving measures she introduced. Her departure adds to a turbulent period for Oxfam, which has faced repeated scrutiny over governance and conduct issues in recent years.

STORY

The Charity Commission has opened a formal investigation into a Blackpool anti-poverty charity after persistent failures to file legally required financial information and concerns about how the organisation is being managed.

Blackpool’s Voice, founded in 2020 to help residents struggling with hardship, has never submitted its accounts or annual returns. The regulator also discovered the charity has been operating with too few trustees, raising doubts about whether it has adequate oversight. Earlier efforts by the Commission to secure compliance were unsuccessful, prompting the escalation to a statutory inquiry.

The investigation will assess whether trustees have met their legal duties, whether the charity is functioning in line with its governing document, and whether any conflicts of interest or personal benefit issues have arisen. The Commission has said the inquiry’s scope may expand if further concerns come to light.

A full report will be published at the end of the investigation. The charity has not commented publicly, but the inquiry highlights the regulator’s continued push to strengthen governance and accountability across the sector.