Tag: News Story

STORY

Ministers and MPs have raised concerns that transport projects are being cancelled or delayed to help fund the Government’s defence investment plans. The row has focused on road schemes including the A46 Newark bypass, with local figures arguing that the East Midlands is being asked to carry a disproportionate share of the burden.

The Government said defence investment was essential in the current security environment. Critics argued that the funding approach risked setting national defence commitments against local infrastructure schemes which had been promised or expected for years.

The dispute has increased pressure on ministers to explain the full funding settlement behind the defence plan. It also gives opposition parties an opportunity to argue that Labour’s national security commitments are coming at the cost of economic growth and regional transport improvements.

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Andy Burnham is under pressure from Labour MPs to rule out welfare cuts as a way of filling the reported £4.7 billion defence funding shortfall. The issue has emerged before he has formally taken office, but it is already shaping debate about the fiscal choices likely to face his first Budget.

The defence plan includes a significant increase in spending, but questions remain about how part of the package will be funded. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that meeting longer-term NATO spending expectations would require much larger sums, raising the prospect of difficult trade-offs across Whitehall.

Labour MPs on the party’s left have warned against using welfare savings to fund defence commitments. The row highlights the challenge Burnham would face in balancing Labour’s social policy priorities with pressure from allies, military leaders and NATO partners for higher defence spending.

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Sir Keir Starmer faced renewed pressure over the Government’s Defence Investment Plan after Kemi Badenoch accused him of leaving a funding gap for his successor. The exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions focused on how the long-term spending commitments would be met and whether the next Labour leader would be forced into further borrowing, tax rises or cuts elsewhere.

The issue has become politically sensitive because Andy Burnham is expected to take over from Starmer later this month. Defence minister Luke Pollard said he had only seen the detailed funding breakdown the day before the plan was published, adding to questions about how far ministers and Burnham had been briefed before the announcement.

The Government said the plan was necessary to strengthen national security and meet future defence challenges. Opposition MPs argued that the package lacked a credible funding route, leaving Labour exposed to accusations that it was making strategic commitments without showing how they would be paid for.

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An illegal waste site in West Yorkshire has been cleared after court action brought by the Environment Agency.

Andrew Leadbeater, 57, pleaded guilty in April to two charges relating to waste offences at a site in Wyke Lane, Wyke, Bradford. West Yorkshire Magistrates’ Court ordered him to clear the land of rubbish by 17 June.

Complaints about fly-tipping and burning at the site were first made to the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in 2023. During a visit by the council in June that year, Leadbeater said some of the waste had been fly-tipped on his land and admitted burning material at the site. He said he would stop burning and arrange for the land to be cleared.

In June 2024, Leadbeater contacted the council to complain that fly-tipping had again taken place on his land. Council officers visited and found a significant amount of waste before referring the case to the Environment Agency.

Environment Agency officers later spoke to Leadbeater, who said he knew about the waste but did not know who had deposited it. He said he had tried to secure the site and agreed to remove the waste urgently.

Follow-up visits in November 2024 and March 2025 found the waste had not been removed. The Environment Agency then issued a notice requiring Leadbeater to clear all waste from the land by 22 September 2025, but he failed to comply. He also failed to attend an interview with the Environment Agency in October 2025.

Leadbeater was charged with operating a waste site without an environmental permit and failing to comply with an Environment Agency notice to clear the waste. The rubbish included fire-damaged trailers and mixed household waste.

He was given two months to clear the site, along with a 12-month conditional discharge and £6,067.50 in costs.

Ben Hocking, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, said illegal waste operations had a negative impact on residents’ lives and welcomed the full clearance of the site. He said the case showed the agency was taking action against waste crime and urged anyone with information about unlawful waste activity to report it.

The Environment Agency said it is stepping up action on waste crime through a new 10 Point Plan, which aims to strengthen prevention, improve detection and deliver more consistent enforcement.

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A Wolverhampton company director has been given a suspended prison sentence after fraudulently claiming £30,000 through the Covid Bounce Back Loan scheme.

Sohail Cheema, of Richmond Road, Wolverhampton, falsely claimed that his company had a turnover of £60,000 when applying for two separate £15,000 Bounce Back Loans in 2020. Businesses were only entitled to one loan under the scheme, which was designed to support genuine companies during the pandemic.

The Insolvency Service said Cheema’s company, Sohail Cheema Limited, had been set up to allow him to gain agency employment as a self-employed bus driver and was not actually trading. None of the money obtained was used for the economic benefit of the business, as required by the scheme.

Cheema transferred the full proceeds of both loans out of his business accounts on the same day they were received. The money was moved to his personal accounts and to his wife’s account, before later forming part of a £90,000 payment to a third party in August 2021.

He pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering following an investigation by the Insolvency Service. At Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday 29 June, Cheema was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years.

He was also disqualified from acting as a company director for 10 years, ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and required to carry out 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said Cheema had deliberately made two fraudulent applications despite knowing he was not entitled to the money. He said Bounce Back Loans had been a lifeline for genuine businesses during the pandemic and warned that the Insolvency Service would continue to pursue those who exploited the scheme.

Sohail Cheema Limited went into liquidation in May 2021. The Insolvency Service said it is seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained money under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

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An energy services firm has paid more than £500,000 to HM Revenue and Customs after breaching Russia sanctions regulations. Petrofac Facilities Management Limited paid a £569,157 compound settlement and has become the first company to be publicly named by HMRC after accepting such a penalty. The breaches took place in 2022 and 2023 while the company was winding down its Russian operations.

HMRC said the company supplied sanctioned industrial goods to individuals connected to Russia and provided technical assistance relating to those goods. Petrofac Facilities Management Limited self-reported the breaches and fully cooperated with the investigation.

The decision to name the company marks a change in HMRC’s approach to compound settlements for strategic export and sanctions offences. The department said naming companies in appropriate cases would improve transparency and bring its approach more closely into line with other UK sanctions enforcement bodies.

Edwige Hill, Deputy Director in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said non-compliance with Russia sanctions was a serious offence. She said the Government, together with international partners, had implemented the most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy, and that naming those involved sent a clear message about the consequences of breaching sanctions rules.

HMRC said it may now include public naming as a condition when offering compound settlements for strategic export and sanctions offences. The department said the approach would support consistency with bodies such as the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.

A compound settlement allows HMRC to settle alleged sanctions and strategic export offences out of court through the payment of money. HMRC said such settlements are offered only where it believes there is sufficient evidence to prosecute.

The case underlines the continuing enforcement risks for companies connected to Russian operations, even where firms are in the process of withdrawing from the market. HMRC said businesses breaching sanctions may face large financial penalties or referral for criminal prosecution.

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The Low Pay Commission has paid tribute to Nigel Cotgrove, who has died after a short illness while on holiday. Cotgrove, a member of the Commission, was remembered by Simon Sapper on behalf of colleagues as a highly respected figure in the British trade union movement who devoted his working life to the service of others. The tribute said he had championed the interests of workers across telecommunications, information technology, financial services and other sectors.

He spent 31 years with the Communication Workers’ Union, first as a research officer and then as a national officer. By the time he retired in 2020, he was the union’s longest serving officer. The Commission said he had earned a reputation for diligence, integrity and a strong understanding of the issues affecting working people.

Cotgrove was particularly known for his work on pensions, leading negotiations across the telecommunications and financial services sectors and helping to secure and protect members’ retirement benefits. His work included negotiations on BT pension arrangements and major reforms, including the development of the BT Hybrid Scheme.

After retiring from the CWU, Cotgrove continued in public service. He became a trustee director of the BT Pension Scheme, served on the members’ panel of the National Employment Savings Trust and was appointed to the Prison Service Pay Review Body. He was appointed a commissioner of the Low Pay Commission in 2024 and also served as a member of the Central Arbitration Committee.

The tribute described Cotgrove as a thoughtful, principled and effective advocate who combined a sharp analytical mind with genuine concern for people. It said his work was shaped not by personal recognition, but by a belief that working people deserved dignity, security and a voice in decisions affecting their lives.

Low Pay Commission colleagues said they would remember him as a kind and thoughtful colleague and a good man. The Commission said he leaves a legacy of gratitude and respect among colleagues, friends and those who benefited from his work.

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Businesses can now apply for a new Youth Jobs Grant worth £3,000 for every eligible young person they hire. The Department for Work and Pensions said the scheme would support people aged 18 to 24 who have been on Universal Credit and looking for work for six months.

The funding will be paid in two instalments after employment and earnings are verified. Ministers said the programme could help up to 60,000 young people over three years and would sit alongside more intensive jobcentre support for almost one million young people.

Merlin Entertainments has been named as an early backer of the scheme and is expected to offer 300 jobs for young people over the next three years. The Government said the initiative formed part of its Youth Guarantee and wider attempt to improve opportunity for young people.

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The Competition and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on new requirements for Apple and Google under the UK’s digital markets competition regime. The proposed rules are intended to make mobile platforms more open and reduce restrictions on app developers.

The CMA said the measures would allow developers to steer customers towards off-platform payment options, potentially helping them avoid mandatory fees imposed through app stores. Apple currently bans such steering in the UK, while Google restricts it.

The consultation is politically significant because it tests the Government’s post-Brexit competition framework for large technology firms. Ministers and regulators have argued that stronger digital market rules could reduce prices, support innovation and improve choice for consumers and businesses.

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Domestic killers could face an additional 10 years in prison under changes announced by David Lammy. The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary said the Government intended to close a sentencing gap affecting murders committed by partners or former partners.

Under current rules, many domestic murders have a 15-year sentencing starting point because they take place in the home using a weapon already at the scene. Other murders where a weapon is taken to the scene with intent can have a 25-year starting point. Ministers said they wanted domestic murders to be treated with comparable severity.

The change is part of the Government’s wider pledge to halve violence against women and girls. The Ministry of Justice said safeguards would remain for cases where a victim of domestic abuse kills their abuser, and that the new starting point would apply only to future murders after implementation.