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James Nelson, aged 18, of Victoria Road, Horwich, Bolton has been sentenced to two months in prison for his involvement in the rioting in Bolton town centre at the weekend. He pleaded guilty to violent disorder and received what is thought to be the first prison sentence issued for those involved in the recent spate of rioting.
STORY
The BBC has said that they have reviewed and changed an article written by Eben Leonard, a BBC journalist, which claimed that a pub had asked customers to leave because they were singing in Welsh. The BBC issued a statement saying:
“Having reviewed the report, the headline was amended to make it clear that customers in the pub were asked to leave because they were singing loudly, not because they were singing in Welsh. A passage was also added to the piece to explain this change.”
The article, which was on the front page of the BBC News on-line, caused the pub to suffer a number of negative reviews and hatred on-line. The BBC apologised for the article.
STORY
Josh Kellett, aged 29, of Southcroft in Washington has pleaded guilty to violent disorder as part of the rioting that took place in Sunderland at the weekend.
Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Barr, of Northumbria Police’s Major Investigation Team (MIT), said with reference to Kellett and two other rioters that “they should be ashamed of their actions and I am pleased that they have been convicted at court. A comprehensive investigation is well underway as we look to identify those responsible for the disorder and ensure they are faced with the full force of the law. We will continue to pursue every investigative avenue in order to bring justice against those involved, and further activity is planned.”
The court heard that Kellett, who is also known as Josh Major, was wearing a balaclava but was caught because of his distinctive tattoos and he had been videoed throwing rocks at police officers. Kellett was remanded in custody and will be sentenced later in the month.
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Reporting restrictions have been lifted to name the suspect in the Southport stabbing murders as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a 17 year old who has lived in Southport since 2013. The authorities confirmed that his parents were from Rwanda, with the date for his plea and preparation hearing listed as 25 October 2024. Daniel Sandford, the BBC court correspondent, wrote “the defendant was wearing a grey tracksuit made of sweatshirt material and kept his face covered throughout the five-minute hearing”.
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The Bank of England’s Monetary Committee has voted by 5-4 to cut interest rates from 5.25% to 5%. This represents the first cut in interest rates since March 2020 and comes as inflation has fallen from 8% last year to 2% this year.
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STORY
Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative MP for Tonbridge, has confirmed that he is entering the race to be the next Conservative leader. He is the second to join the race, with James Cleverly having announced his candidature yesterday.
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The Labour Party have suspended seven MPs from the Parliamentary party for voting against the Government on the benefit cap for two children. The MPs are Richard Burgon, Ian Byre, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Imran Hussain, Apsana Begum, John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana. The Government won the vote by 363 votes to 103 votes.
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Victoria Atkins, the Shadow Health and Social Care spokesperson, has been criticised by politicians across the political spectrum for her personal conduct in the House of Commons where she attempted to speak over Environment Secretary Steve Reed.
Christopher Chope, the Conservative MP for Christchurch, said that her behaviour was “abominable”.
Perran Moon, the Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth, said:
“The behaviour of Victoria Atkins today in the House of Commons was an absolute disgrace & I hope the authorities take appropriate action.”
Helen Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said:
“I witnessed this first-hand. The Conservatives proved the electorate got it right, they are not fit for Government”.
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Shabana Mahmood, the Secretary of State for Justice and the Lord Chancellor, has made a Commons statement on the shortage of prison places and the Government’s plans for limited early release. In the statement, she said:
“Since this Government took office two weeks ago, it has become clear that our prisons are in crisis and are at the point of collapse. The male prison estate has been running at over 99% capacity for the last 18 months. We now know that my predecessor warned No. 10 Downing Street but, rather than address this crisis, the former Prime Minister called an election, leaving a ticking time bomb. If that bomb were to go off—if our prisons were to run out of space—the courts would grind to a halt, suspects could not be held in custody and police officers would be unable to make arrests, leaving criminals free to act without consequence. In short, if we fail to act now, we face the prospect of a total breakdown of law and order. Rather than act, the last Prime Minister allowed us to edge ever closer to catastrophe. Last week, there were around 700 spaces remaining in the male prison estate. With 300 places left, we reach critical capacity. At that point, the smallest change could trigger the chain of events I just set out. With the prison population rising, it is now clear that by September this year, our prisons will overflow. That means there is now only one way to avert disaster.”
Edward Argar, the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, replied accepting that the Conservative Party were aware of the issue, noting:
“We recognise the challenges and pressures facing the prison and criminal justice system, and the need to ensure that our prisons function effectively. Of course, the Government were well aware of those things when they were in opposition, as I know from challenging oral question sessions. In Government, we took the right decisions to significantly toughen up sentences for those who commit the worst crimes, in order to ensure that society was protected. To reflect that, we set in train the biggest prison building programme since the Victorian era. More than 13,000 additional prison places were delivered while we were in government. Two new prisons opened; one prison is under construction; there are two prisons with planning permission; and one prison is on the cusp of a decision. Labour’s planning permission proposal for prisons would not impact any of those developments. In that respect, it is simply a gimmick.”
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Vaughan Gething, who has served as Welsh First Minister, has resigned after four Cabinet Ministers resigned this morning. Gething said in a statement:
“This has been the most difficult time, for me, and my family. A growing assertion that some kind of wrongdoing has taken place has been pernicious, politically motivated and patently untrue. In 11 years as a Minister, I have never ever made a decision for personal gain. I have never ever misused or abused my ministerial responsibilities.My integrity matters. I have not compromised it.”