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Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has faced criticism after a report she endorsed suggested people with autism get “economic advantages and protections” and “better treatment or equipment at school”.

The pamphlet, which Badenoch had launched at a campaign event, covers ways the Conservative Party can get “back on track” and includes contributions from 24 of her supporters.

It claims that “the socialisation of mental health so everyone has to treat you differently has failed to improve people’s mental health outcomes” and that this has “created costs and failed to improve people’s mental health”.

The section specifically references autism and anxiety as two examples of this, stating that people diagnosed with either of them get “economic advantages and protections” not afforded to their peers.

“If you have a neurodiversity diagnosis (e.g. anxiety, autism), then that is usually seen as a disability, a category similar to race or biological sex in terms of discrimination law and general attitudes,” it states.
[…]
Former Conservative justice secretary Robert Buckland, who published the Buckland review earlier this year into employment rates among autistic people, said the section appeared “muddled”.

He added that the report shouldn’t be “stigmatising or lumping certain categories in with each other”, adding: “Anxiety is not a neurodiverse condition… autism is not a mental health condition.”
[…]
Before the election, former education secretary Gillian Keegan admitted that special needs support in schools – which can be accessed by autistic children – was in “crisis” with many parents having to “fight to get the right support”.

Sir Keir Starmer has promised “no more talking shops of the past” when he meets regional mayors and leaders of the devolved nations on Friday as part of his programme to transfer power away from Westminster.

But despite the rhetoric, some mayors are concerned Treasury officials are already putting the brakes on a project designed to give locals greater say over housing and adult education.

Downing Street said the meeting in Scotland is intended to bring together First Ministers John Swinney, Michelle O’Neill and Eluned Morgan; 11 English metro mayors; and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to discuss “shared challenges” and “opportunities” to boost inward investment across the country.
[…]
However, without spending clout there is a limit to what they can achieve, sources said. While the mayors broadly welcome how Sir Keir has promoted devolution, some say they are frustrated by the Treasury, which they say is hoarding power by putting national priorities for growth and jobs creation ahead of giving local leaders control.

“The Treasury is saying to the mayors, ‘This is the national strategy; we see you as just implementing our strategy,’” one mayor told [I]. “They don’t see it as devolution or, ‘You have control, and you decide.’ They just see us as a mechanism for delivering their national plans. And the mayors hate it.

“It’s not a fight yet, but there’s a big, very, assertive discussion going on at the minute about the strings that the Government is still trying to attach to all the pots of money that we’re going to get.”
[…]
“It’s a Treasury orthodoxy issue rather than a political one with Angela [Rayner] or Rachel [Reeves].

“What’s the point of mayors, if you’re just basically going to tell us what to do and how to do it without giving us the freedom of having devolution? At the moment the mayors are not getting devolution, it’s decentralisation because it’s all linked to the national industrial strategy.”

The mayor said that “the Government rhetoric on devolution is really good, but they love central control. So how do you deliver devolution without giving us more control over jobs and skills or our local industrial strategy? Instead, you have a national industrial strategy, you have a national jobs plan.”

In one of the incidents, a French rescue service picked up 15 people, including the boy, and one person was airlifted to a French hospital with burns to their legs.

The prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, Jacques Billant, said one of the boats was off the coast of Boulogne-Sur-Mer in northern France which was carrying "almost 90 people" overnight.
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According to the Boulogne-Sur-Mer prosecutor Guirec Le Bras, the young boy, who he said was born in Germany to a Somali mother, was “trampled to death”.
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On a separate overcrowded small boat, another incident happened overnight off the coast of Calais when “multiple engine failures led to a stampede and some migrants fell into the water but were rescued”, Billant told journalists.

“Three people – two men and a woman – were then discovered unconscious inside this small boat,” he added. Billant said they were all about 30 years old.

“They were likely trampled to death during the stampede," Billant said.
[…]
According to French authorities, 51 migrants have lost their lives this year while trying to cross the Channel to reach the UK.
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UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, also posting on X, described the deaths as "appalling", adding that "criminal smuggler gangs continue to organise these dangerous boat crossings".

"The gangs do not care if people live or die - this is a terrible trade in lives," she said.

She said she had been in touch with Retailleau on Saturday, and they had met in Italy at the G7 meeting earlier this week, where they had discussed the matter.

She previously said that an action plan agreed at that meeting "means new international joint investigative teams to pursue the gangs, finance and supply chains."

Sir Keir, who was on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the assault was launched, said the rockets were aimed at civilian targets and it is "too soon to assess the impact fully".

"I utterly condemn this attempt by the Iranian regime to harm innocent Israelis, to escalate this incredibly dangerous situation and push the region ever closer to the brink," he said.
[…]
Sir Keir called on Iran to "stop these attacks", saying it had "menaced the Middle East for far too long".

"I am deeply concerned that the region is on the brink, and I'm deeply concerned about the risk of miscalculation," he added.
[…]
Asked if the UK would be prepared to use British military capabilities to help Israel defend itself against Iran, which backs the militant group, the prime minister said: "This, as you'll appreciate, is an evolving situation.

"But what I will say is that we stand with Israel and her right to self-defence. And any relevant updates will be provided in due course."

A few hours after that statement, Mr Healey confirmed the involvement of British forces tonight - though it is not clear in what capacity or whether personnel were involved in shooting down the Iranian missiles, as US forces did.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is not yet confirming what kind of support it gave Israel, but RAF Typhoon jets, operating from an air base in Cyprus, were deployed to help Israel during Iran's previous attack in April.
[…]
"My calls have been about the importance of creating the space and the conditions for that de-escalation, and to find that political route forward," the prime minister told reporters after his televised address.

He added that with Mr Netanyahu he was able to "make the case for a ceasefire in Gaza", which has been under siege for the past year following the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023.

The prime minister also repeated the advice for Britons in Lebanon to leave immediately, saying "we're doing everything we can to get people out, but the situation is extremely volatile".

Archive

The Government is poised to approve the extension of HS2 into Euston station, despite concerns it could saddle the taxpayer with billions of pounds in extra costs.

The move will ensure that the high-speed rail route runs into the centre of London rather than ending at Old Oak Common in the west of the capital.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will reportedly use her first Budget next month to approve funding for the project, which will also include a multi-billion-pound transformation of Euston.
[…]
As part of any Euston expansion, the Government must also decide whether to retain Mr Sunak’s slimmed-down plans for a six-platform HS2 terminus or reinstate the original blueprint for an 11-platform layout, with a new Tube station.

Labour has been under pressure to make a swift decision on the Euston leg after two 1,700-tonne boring machines were delivered from Germany last month. The company responsible for overseeing HS2 has warned that the machines cannot be left underground indefinitely and that drilling must begin early next year.

Source: Love Bullet