Tag: Featured

    David Cameron has emerged as a frontrunner to be the next secretary general of Nato after reports he will be nominated by Theresa May. The former prime minister is reportedly being lined up by the UK government as a candidate to replace the current secretary general, former Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, when he steps down in 2018 or 2019. Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, has previously said the UK will play a bigger role in Nato to make up for its withdrawal from the EU. Cabinet sources said they want to find a prominent role for Mr Cameron, who resigned in June after losing the EU referendum. One senior Cabinet minister told the Daily Mail: We've got to find a role for him – he has so much to offer. We have got to get him batting for Britain again. Alli...

    A woman jailed for pocketing nearly £20,000 in false benefits and stealing a further £30,000 from vulnerable people has been ordered to pay a token fine of £1. Maria Pridmore, 36, was sentenced to three years in prison in August after she admitted fraudulently taking more than £16,000 in housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support while carrying out Walter Mitty style frauds against friends and relatives. She was also found guilty of 19 counts of fraud and theft against four women – including one with dementia – who she befriended and stole the bank details of. But Judge Simon Hirst ruled Pridmore, who appeared via video link from Drake Hall prison in Staffordshire, did not have the assets to pay the money back to her victims or the state and ordered her to pay...

    Amir Khan's wife has claimed she was attacked by his sister while carrying the boxer's first child. Tempers flared earlier this month when Faryal and Amir’s family came to blows over her choice of clothing and her faith - and the drama looks set to rage on. In her latest in-dept interview, Faryal has opened up about an incident that left her terrified while she was living in the same house as her sister-in-law. "She grabbed my hair and slapped my head. I was eight months’ pregnant," she told Mail Online . Ian Vogler But it was such a shocking claim that the brunette beauty claims her husband didn't even believe her at first, saying: 'I told Amir but he didn’t believe me because he couldn’t believe me.'" "I was so lonely and scared." Despite the shocking claims, Amir's sist...

    Dozens of children who lived in the Calais refugee camp have launched a legal challenge against the Home Secretary for mishandling their asylum claims. The Government has a commitment to bring particularly vulnerable accompanied children into the UK, under the Dubs amendment to the Immigration Act. But the Home Office has failed to provide sanctuary to the most at-risk refugee children and not given proper written decisions in refusing these applications, their lawyers say. It was revealed in early December that hundreds of children who had expected to come to the UK had been refused asylum by the Home Office. Charities have previously taken legal action against the Government over its handling of minors asylum claims. But this will be the first time that children have lau...

    The Conservatives have been accused of an attempt to hide party cronyism after quietly switching the way that the political affiliations of people given top public-sector roles are recorded. Ministers have admitted it will make it impossible to compare figures released in the future with those from the final year of David Cameron’s administration, which has already been marred by a damaging cronyism row. Critics claimed the switch in the way affiliations are recorded will mean Tories could hand top jobs to their mates, just months after officials blocked part of Mr Cameron’s resignation honours list in which aides and friends were handed baubles including a peerage and knighthoods. It comes just 24 hours after Theresa May’s administration was accused of making a separate c...

    A right-wing think tank that campaigns for tougher immigration controls has been accused of risking the livelihoods of thousands of British people. In a recent report, the influential Migration Watch UK recommended a hard Brexit, claiming that immigration from the EU would remain high if Britain stayed in the single market. It is not possible to be both a member of the European single market and in control of EU immigration, it said. If the UK remains a member of the single market, EU migration will remain high and is unlikely to fall below 155,000 a year in the medium term. But the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, said it was no surprise that Ukip's favourite think-tank is pushing for a hard Brexit that would rip Britain out of the single market, costing jobs ...

    Theresa May is planning on making the case to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) a central aspect of her 2020 election campaign, according to reports. She would reportedly plan to transfer the rights from the international body into British law, to be applied by the Supreme Court. Ms May will be looking for a solid mandate from the British public and a stronger majority in Parliament to proceed with the controversial process of leaving the ECHR. Critics have said the move, which goes further than David Cameron’s plans for a Britsh Bill of Rights, would weaken the rights of citizens. A government source told The Telegraph: A clean break [from the ECHR] is by far the best option and, if we put it in the manifesto, even those Tory MPs who are squeamish about...

    Dozens of people have been arrested in a crackdown on nail bars suspected of committing immigration offences. A total of 97 people were arrested, while businesses were warned they could face fines of up to £20,000 per illegal worker. Some 14 people were also identified as potentially being at risk of modern slavery. The week-long Operation Magnify aimed to target risk industries in which ministers claim employers are exploiting foreign workers. The Immigration Enforcement initiative took place from 27 November to 3 December and saw officers visit more than 280 businesses across the UK. It comes after Theresa May promised tougher immigration rules in her first conference speech as Conservative leader. Immigration minister Robert Goodwill said: “This operation sends a strong...