When the government first drew up plans to axe the virtual parliament and bring MPs back to the Commons chamber, ministers argued that it would boost support for the prime minister. Boris Johnson tends to work best with a crowd, so events such as prime minister’s questions were trickier when only a handful of Tory MPs were allowed in the chamber.

Katy Balls www.theguardian.com 

But when Conservative politicians turned up en masse to the Commons on Wednesday to debate the situation in Afghanistan, the opposite proved true. Rather than provide supportive interventions, Johnson soon discovered his biggest critics were sitting right behind him.

As Tory MPs lined up one after another to vent their anger on how the government had allowed the Taliban to take control of Afghanistan and criticise the response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis, it was clear how little support the prime minister had. “It’s good to see Tory MPs suddenly realising how crap their boss is,” noted one Labour figure.

As Johnson grapples with his biggest foreign policy challenge since entering 10 Downing Street, he faces a feuding cabinet and a febrile parliamentary party. To make matters worse, the questions being asked about the UK’s place in the world cut through to the very identity of the Conservative party.

The party has long prided itself on its commitment to defence, its special relationship with the United States and the ability to wield both hard and soft power on the global stage. Yet after the UK was bounced into withdrawal in Afghanistan with little in the way of consultation from the Biden administration, all three things have been called into question. Little wonder that a blame game is under way. Tensions have risen between the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office with regard to the rescue effort.

When the prime minister stood up to open the debate, attention was as much on the stony-faced two men sitting either side of him: Dominic Raab and Ben Wallace. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if fisticuffs had broken out,” remarked one old-timer MP.

The foreign secretary and defence secretary have clashed, with the Guardian reporting Wallace telling colleagues there will be “a reckoning” for the department after several diplomats left “on the first plane out”, leaving MoD officials processing complex resettlement claims. While Wallace has publicly defended Raab since, staff in the Ministry of Defence claim their prior warnings were not taken seriously enough.

But Raab’s problems go further. The foreign secretary is facing a growing Tory backlash over his decision to only fly back from a holiday in Crete on Sunday evening when the Taliban were well on their way to taking Kabul. “Of the cabinet, he has a reputation for being sensible. What the hell was he thinking?” asks a government aide.

New revelations from the Mail alleging that Raab failed to listen to advice from Foreign Office officials and make a crucial phone call to the Afghan foreign minister to seek help to get translators out of Afghanistan will only add to the pressure. When Raab addressed MPs in a call earlier this week to answer questions, several came away unimpressed. “He seemed genuinely taken aback by how quickly things were moving. He had a nice tan at least,” says one attender.

“There’s a lot of anger at Boris and Dom,” says a member of government. “Why were they on holiday at the same time? Raab is his deputy. The only person who has come out of this with any integrity is Ben [Wallace].” Not that Wallace has escaped criticism entirely. When he appeared to shed a tear in a radio interview over the situation, some colleagues were quick to compare it unfavourably to the time Matt Hancock was accused of pretending to cry on television in reaction to the first coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, Priti Patel is due to address Tory MPs today and a number of so-called “red wall” MPs are seeking reassurances over the security checks being carried out on Afghan refugees accepted on to the resettlement scheme.

While the debate failed to point to mass support for an alternative strategy to the government’s, it did point to the problems Johnson now faces. As MPs heaped praise on foreign affairs select committee chair Tom Tugendhat – who served in Afghanistan – for his emotional speech, and more criticism on Raab for failing to reference it in his closing remarks of the debate, there were complaints that it contained clearer leadership and vision than the frontbench contributions.

The fact that Joe Biden has only spoken to the prime minister by telephone a handful of times since entering the White House is leading to concern among Johnson’s own supporters that he has little sway over a key ally. This means pressure on Johnson to strengthen European ties at a time when rows continue over the Northern Ireland protocol.

Meanwhile, if Johnson no longer believes the UK is able to lead on military missions, should that mean a focus on soft power? If so, the timing of foreign aid cuts – and the closing down of the Department for International Development as a single department – are hardly ideal. “There is no strategy or vision. That’s the problem,” says a government source.

For now, the government’s best hope is that the situation in Afghanistan does not deteriorate further in either cruelty and violence there, or terrorism here. In that time, Johnson needs to work out what he now thinks Britain’s place in the world is, who is best placed to help him deliver it and how to articulate it to his party.

• Katy Balls is the Spectator’s deputy political editor

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab can answer that — he spent Sunday on the beach in Crete.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson can also answer that – he went on holiday in Somerset on Saturday.

(Multiple sources)

Who is looking after the cat? – Not to worry, Owl doesn’t think either No 10 or the FO has a resident mouser at the moment.

The message lit up her phone late last Thursday afternoon, and as soon as Vicky Alvarez saw it the tears came. She ducked out of her meeting, hurried to the loo and began phoning family.

“We’ve won,” she told them.

“Won what, the lottery?”

“No, bigger than that.”

Aditya Chakrabortty www.theguardian.com 

Much bigger. Alvarez isn’t just a victor in a battle that has swallowed 17 years of her life; she stands now at the intersection of some of the largest questions facing our pandemic-battered cities: how they are run and in whose interests. If you want to gauge where post-Covid, post-Brexit London could go next, Alvarez and her allies are the ones to watch.

You might assume Alvarez is wheeler-dealing at City Hall or flogging penthouses to passing oligarchs In fact, she runs a stall in a market in one of the poorest parts of Britain. Yet Alvarez and 40-odd other traders, most of whom are women from across South America, have created something that amounts to so much more.

The Latin Village market in Tottenham, north London, is a maze, offering everything from empanadas to nail jobs to news about jobs. Before the pandemic, it was a bustling shopping centre-cum-labour exchange-cum-community hub for expat Latin Americans and their kids – until Saturday night drew in, when the music bumped up a few notches and the dancing started. Vicky and many other traders came here as refugees. Together, they built businesses that sustain dozens of families and proudly watched their children grow up to become doctors and lawyers. The market is a story of how migrants can build a future for themselves and improve their new home, too. Trading out of tatty buildings, including a once grand but long abandoned Edwardian department store called Wards, they have breathed colour into dereliction.

No wonder the Latin Village gets love letters from the Washington Post and the UN. Were this in Berlin or Brooklyn, the market would be prized as a community jewel. Except this being London, it has been underfunded and under threat of demolition since 2004.

Alongside other traders and locals, Alvarez has spent years fighting developers and the local council, Haringey, as well as Sadiq Khan’s Transport for London, which owns the old Wards store and has let it rot. Over nearly two decades the fight for the Latin Village has grown in strength and significance. The arguments over a local market have become a battle for the future of our cities.

Until last Thursday, when the developer, Grainger, publicly announced it was dropping the entire scheme. It’s extraordinary enough for a big-money builder to flush away nearly two decades of deal-making and pledge-signing and buying up of land, but what follows could be really momentous. Starting next week, every big politician with a say on this issue – Khan, his deputy Heidi Alexander, David Lammy, Haringey’s senior councillors ­– will hammer out a plan for what to do next. Ultimately, they have two choices: stick with the broken old model of regeneration, or try something new.

Most city-dwellers know all too well what the busted model looks like, so let me sketch it only briefly. A big developer takes over a tract of rundown public land, usually aided by a nice slug of taxpayer money. They swear solemnly to give back to the public realm, typically providing a sliver of “affordable” homes, before sometimes rowing back on even those small promises because they are “not viable” ­– which means they would eat too far into their profit margins. By then, the developers have local politicians and officials over a barrel. The result is shoebox apartments sold at eyewatering prices (to say nothing of the cladding bills yet to arrive). The big winners are the developers, the big losers are locals who aren’t owner-occupiers, and the greatest work is done by the passive magic of rising land values.

This is a top-down system of development that treats people’s lives and livelihoods as brownfield land to be torn down and concreted over. Grainger’s original plans for the site jettisoned the Latin Village for a “Pasta Express” and a “Coste Cafe”, as if that were better than the Colombian coffee already on offer. Traders had to fight for every major concession, from saving the market to securing a temporary home for it during the rebuilding process (which Grainger later deemed not viable). Those calling the shots treated them as inconveniences throughout.

When traders complained about the market manager, Jonathan Owen, calling them “bloody illegal immigrants”, TfL took no action apart from ordering him to apologise. When they pointed out there was something funny going on with the market’s energy supply, TfL investigated and found evidence of electricity theft. The transport body told Owen to pay the suppliers but admitted to me that it ended up footing the bill, handing over £83,000 of public money. When asked about these issues and others, Owen declined to comment.

What makes this project and its collapse so instructive is that it shows the old model of regeneration no longer works economically, politically or environmentally. The economic point is easiest to see. Grainger admits that a large part of its withdrawal was driven by “the changing economic environment”. In the new world of white-collar workers spending more of the week at home, it will not be so easy to shift a bunch of expensive two-beds above a busy main road, whose main selling point is that you can get on a tube in seconds. Nor do 3,800 sq m of generic shops now seem like a wise investment. Far better to have the kind of social infrastructure that the Latin Village offers, where shopping is also about community cohesion, and where the money that people spend remains in local pockets rather than disappearing to remote shareholders.

Over the past three years, each time I have written about Latin Village it has been clear that even in a Labour stronghold like Haringey, when councillors support developers over locals they cause severe and long-lasting damage to their party. So it has proved. A few months ago, the leader of the council, Joe Ejiofor, was deposed in large part because of Labour members’ unease about his enthusiasm for Grainger. That makes him the second Haringey council leader, after Claire Kober in 2018, to be ousted over regeneration politics.

Straight after Grainger pulled out, the new council leader Peray Ahmet publicly supported a community plan for the market. This has the overwhelming backing of traders, many of whom have been involved in drawing it up. Instead of throwing up carbon-intensive concrete and steel, the plan will refurbish the buildings that are already there. At the heart of the alternative scheme will not be a FTSE 250 developer, but a community benefit society that will reinvest profits locally. The plan is a step into the unknown and it is not without risks, but Haringey has seen just what the old way delivered – or failed to.

In 2011, councillors in the city of Preston were told that the vast shopping centre they’d pinned their hopes on wasn’t coming after all. Developers no longer saw it as viable. That forced local politicians to rethink not just their plans, but their model. The result is one of the great experiments in guerrilla localism and alternative economics: a city that outperforms even in hard times and a local Labour party that actually thrives.

Sadiq Khan pledges “high streets for all”. Every politician in a suit swears they’ll “build back better”. Well, now they can live up to their promises. Let’s see London try bottom-up development, based around imagination and heart and giving people a say.

An ambitious vision for a huge new  park in East Devon is in the running for a top South West planning award.

eastdevonnews.co.uk 

The district council’s Clyst Valley Regional Park is one of ten projects shortlisted.

It is up against Torbay Heritage Strategy ‘Excellence in Plan Making’ category of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) South West Awards for Planning Excellence 2021.

Winners will be announced in November.

“Given the high calibre of entries, the judges will no doubt find it difficult to pick an overall winner…”

The protected green space proposed – described as being ‘half the size of Exeter’ – will take in Clyst St George, Broadclyst, Poltimore, Killerton, Ashclyst, Cranbrook, Whimple and Bishops Court.

A ‘multi-disciplinary team’ at East Devon District Council (EDDC) has turned the vision into a 25-year masterplan,backed up by public support and a partnership of 17 organisations.

The area covered by the proposed Clyst Valley Regional Park. Image: EDDC

Councillor Geoff Jung, EDDC portfolio holder for coast, country and environment, said: “I am delighted for the hardworking and dedicated officers and team who worked on the Clyst Valley Regional Park Masterplan successfully being shortlisted.

“It is so important whilst we recognise the need for extra housing and infrastructure, we should not lose sight of the importance of protecting and improving our countryside.

“The masterplan is to make the area around the Clyst River catchment more accessible for people to appreciate and enjoy, plus to improve and enhance the biodiversity for nature and most importantly locally, help towards protecting against global climate change.”

RTPI South West chair Angharad Williams added: “The shortlisted entries are a mix of outstanding planning, reflecting the really high standards and achievements of the planning profession throughout the South West.

“Given the high calibre of entries, the judges will no doubt find it difficult to pick an overall winner.”

Work to build a community centre with a play park, multi-use games area and shops at the Redhayes development in Clyst Honiton can now begin.

eastdevon.gov.uk

Work to build a community centre with a play park, multi-use games area and shops at the Redhayes development in Clyst Honiton can now begin.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) gave the plans, which come as part of a wider housing development, the go ahead on Friday 23 July.

The proposals, which were approved with conditions, also included a public square and parking on the development at the Old Tithebarn Lane in Clyst Honiton.

Outline planning permission was originally granted for the area to be developed in 2013 – this included 930 dwellings, a new link road, employment area, park and ride facility, local centre/square, health and fitness centre, crèche, public and private open space car and cycle parking, together with landscaping.

This latest application means work can now start on the next phase of the project –  the local centre – which will comprise a convenience store and cafe, community facility, healthcare facility and local centre square.

The convenience store and café will occupy the ground floor and the healthcare facility and community facility will be located on the first floor.

The building will be located on the junction of Tithebarn Link Road and Southern Mosshayne Link Road.

A public square with street furniture will then be built to the east of the local centre building with car parking to the south for 40 vehicles, plus two disabled user spaces. Cycle parking spaces are proposed in areas with good natural and/or CCTV surveillance. A pocket park will also be located in the north east section of the site.

The square and associated buildings will be followed by construction of a play park and multi-use games area The play area will have a focus upon natural play as well as integrating formal pieces of play equipment and multi-use games area will comprise of a tarmacadam-based area with a fence to act as an effective ball stop.

Cllr Eileen Wragg, East Devon District Council Planning Chair said:

“The further addition of the Community Centre and play area moves the whole project towards becoming a sustainable and inclusive community and must be welcomed by residents of all ages.

I recall being on the Committee at Devon County when the pedestrian  bridge was granted permission in 2011, so it is very pleasing to see the evolvement towards completion in the near future, and is a credit to all the Councils which have contributed towards a safe and happy environment.”

Councillor Sarah Chamberlain, EDDC ward member for Broadclyst added:

“I am so pleased that this much needed area is now coming forward for the new community, making it much more sustainable.

It is fantastic to see these areas now start to have the facilities they will need as a community going forward, I am sure the local residents will welcome the local shops and play areas along with the new community centre.”

Cllr Eleanor Rylance, an EDDC ward member for Broadclyst, said:

“Development of houses should always bring positive change both for existing residents and for the new ones who will soon move in. I am pleased to see these firm plans made for a community centre and areas for children’s games- they will improve the lives of Clyst Honiton residents to accompany the development taking place.”

Record numbers of coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Devon with more than 1000 cases alone reported in today’s Government update.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

In the latest daily figures, the Devon County Council area saw 1040 further 872 Covid-19 positive cases added – the first time that figure has breached the four figure mark – with a further 285 in Plymouth and 159 in Torbay.

East Devon (172), North Devon (122), Teignbridge (204), Torridge (88) and West Devon (95) all saw single day records for the number of new cases confirmed, as did Cornwall with 872 – taking the total tally for the two counties past the 100,000 mark.

The 1484 cases is the highest single daily figure yet for new positives in Devon – with the vast majority of cases coming from specimens taken on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday this week – although Plymouth and Torbay have each seen higher daily totals.

The overwhelming majority of the new cases are in the 15-19 age range bracket.

And so far, 777 specimens from Monday and a staggering 1026 specimens from Tuesday have been reported as positive in the Devon County Council area – higher than the previous single day record of 601 – and those figures are likely to rise in the upcoming days as specimens from the most recent five days of data are excluded from infection rate calculations as they are ‘subject to change’ due to lag in reporting positives.

It means that Devon’s infection rate for the week ending August 14 is at 363.8/100,000 – just shy of the record rates seen a month ago – will explode and soar to new heights in the upcoming days when the newer cases replace those from the seven days prior – with the totals for August 16 and 17 already more than double those of August 9 and 10.

At upper tier level, Torbay has the second highest infection rate of 535.2/100,000 – with only Kingston-upon-Hull higher, with Exeter the 6 ^th highest at a lower tier level.

The record number of cases comes just days after the Boardmasters festival in Newquay – and following reports that a growing number of young people who attended the festival at Watergate Bay have contracted the virus.

Boardmasters had worked closely with experts from Cornwall Council’s Public Health service, wider Cornwall Council departments, the NHS and emergency services to put in place a variety of measures to manage the risk of infection at what is effectively a pop-up town with 50,000 temporary residents and visitors.

It is unclear yet how much of a link, if any, between the festival and the newly reported cases there has been, as figures relating to age of those testing positive and the MSOA area they reside in are also based on the five-day specimen delay.

But a spokesperson for the festival had previously said they would be monitoring the impact that it had on rates, adding: “In addition to having the advantage of perhaps the best ventilated venue in the country, we asked festival goers to play their part in reducing the impact of potential infection by showing proof of full vaccination, a negative lateral flow test or immunity from having had the virus before they could join us on site.

“All staff, regardless of vaccination status, had to show a negative test every 48 hours and all campers were asked to re-test before they could come back into the arena on Friday.

“By giving those who had to isolate on festival dates, or who tested positive for Covid-19 before or during the festival, the ability to roll-over their tickets to 2022, we made sure they would not lose out by following the guidance and helping to reduce infections. We are processing over 450 requests from those affected and we are very grateful to them for doing their bit for the entire Boardmasters community.”

The spokesperson added: “Like any town, we cannot eliminate risk entirely and, while it is still too early to see from the data if there has been any impact on Covid-19 cases, there are likely to be anecdotal reports of some people who were at the festival among those who test positive in the days following. Cornwall Council’s public health team will be closely monitoring the data in the coming weeks, as will we.”

A spokesperson from Cornwall Council agreed it was still too early to say whether the festival has had any impact on Covid case numbers in the county.

“We will be monitoring the data closely as we have done throughout the pandemic. Our advice to residents and anyone visiting Cornwall remains the same – if you have Covid symptoms then isolate immediately and book a PCR test. If you have no symptoms, please continue to test twice a week with rapid Lateral Flow Tests which are available for free from pharmacies or can be delivered to your home,” added the council spokesperson.

A statement issued by Devon County Council on Thursday added: “Festivals, and any such large gatherings where there are a lot of people crowded together, are environments that bring with them heightened risk of transmission.

“And when audiences to those gatherings include younger people, who are not all vaccinated, then the risk of transmission again is greater.

“The same is true though of any event or setting where there’s socialising. It’s not just festivals.

“So perhaps it should not surprise us that the majority of positive cases in Devon now – holiday, events and festival time – are in the 15 to 19 year old age group, and that socialising is the main driver of that trend.

“The largest proportion of positive cases continue to be in the younger age groups including those working in hospitality and other sectors.

“Vaccination levels are increasing rapidly in the younger age groups, and that’s important to stop the spread of the virus and serious illness.”

It comes as the number of people in hospital following a positive Covid-19 test in Devon has risen in the last week.

The latest Government figures, which give the position as of Tuesday, August 17, show that across hospital trusts in Devon there are 120 patients currently in hospital in the two counties – up from 89as of August 10.

Numbers at Derriford Hospital have risen from 42 to 48 and to the highest level since February 15.

At the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, numbers are up from 28 to 34, and to the highest level since February 10.

In Torbay, the numbers at Torbay Hospital have more than doubled from 11 to 24, and to the highest number since February 15.

And at North Devon District Hospital, numbers have leapt from eight to 14, and to the highest number since January 6.

Of the 120, there were 18 patients in a mechanical ventilation bed – but despite the increase in patients in hospital, numbers are still only about a fifth of the peak of hospitalisations from January, although due to the lag between infection and illness, won’t take into account the most recent positive cases.

The figures show how many patients are in hospital following a positive test for Covid-19, but not whether they were admitted for Covid-related reasons, whether they were infected inside the hospital, or whether their admission was entirely unrelated but they happened to have Covid at the same time – figures for the South West show on August 10, around 25 per cent of beds were occupied by ‘non-Covid’ patients – up from 15 per cent a fortnight ago.

Owl had been slightly worried that some of Dominic Raab’s laissez-faire attitude may have rubbed off onto his one-time SPAD.

Simon Jupp MP writes in this week’s Exmouth Journal:

If you glance out of your window or take a short stroll, you’ll be reminded that we live in a very special corner of the country. East Devon is a beautiful place with picturesque villages and towns nestled around breath-taking countryside and coastline.

Now we’ve emerged from restrictions, our beaches and high streets bustle with residents and visitors. We need both to keep the shop doors open across East Devon and I’m proud to represent a place people want to visit.

Many visitors will no doubt wander past the many estate agent windows to peruse the property market. They may romanticise about the idyllic lifestyle they could have if they upped sticks from somewhere up the line and made East Devon their home. Some may even be able to afford that dream.

Meanwhile, some local people may look at the estate agents’ windows and experience a sinking feeling. The average salary in East Devon is £28,800 and the average price of a property is around £327,000.

Many people who’ve lived here for generations are being pushed further away by property prices they simply cannot afford. We also risk our communities becoming unsustainable because those who work in town can’t afford to live there, resulting in a recruitment crisis as we’ve seen in places including Salcombe and St Ives. The solution is not simply to build more houses everywhere, although affordable and social housing prioritised for people with local connections is undoubtedly needed locally. We must also look at the rise of second home ownership and the increasing numbers of holiday cottages. Whilst some holiday cottages are being run as legitimate businesses which provide accommodation for visitors which spend money in our local economy, others are being run as a tax dodge.

After a hard-fought campaign by MPs in the South West, the Chancellor has committed to closing a loophole that lets second homes avoid paying council tax by registering as a holiday rental, signing up for business rates and then receiving business rates relief. I hope we’ll get a date in the diary for this change sooner rather than later. Separately, a countrywide survey assessing the impact of Airbnb-style rentals on the housing market would surely provide a sobering wake-up call in Westminster and Whitehall.

We must also take action to protect newbuilds from being lost to the local market. We could follow the example recently set in Salcombe by setting a specific rule in any new Section 106 legal agreement to ensure new properties remain a principal residence in perpetuity. South Hams District Council recently agreed to pursue this policy and it is now with an independent examiner. I will be watching the outcome of the examiner’s conclusions carefully and I hope our local councillors will too. I’d argue that we need this intervention in some of our towns and villages and the Secretary of State is aware of my views. We should also consider the way we build homes. Mid Devon District Council is showing the way with a modular home development in Cullompton. I’ve had a tour of similar types of housing and I’d very happily live in one. They are considerably cheaper to construct and a firm reminder that our local housing crisis shouldn’t become a license to print money for developers. Over 300 properties are currently advertised on Airbnb in East Devon. Meanwhile, just 25 properties are available for longterm rent in the constituency, some asking for eye-watering monthly rents.

Homes for long-term rent and buy are out of reach for many people who grew up here, work locally or need the support of family to look after children or care for a loved one. Local politicians at every level owe it to everyone in East Devon to consider more than their own backyard.

Cash for the Tories buys you access. And access means cash from the public purse. That’s the abysmal two-step that channels public cash to Party donors. 

goodlawproject.org

All of this happened secretly through the VIP backchannels for PPE and Test and Trace contracts unearthed by Good Law Project. But now the institutionalisation of favours for those with special access is out in the open.

Mandating Covid testing services for travellers entering and leaving the UK has meant a bonanza for those firms lucky enough to get approved. An investigation by Good Law Project into the process for obtaining that lucrative approval has revealed the apparent existence of another VIP lane. 

Applicants for approval are asked to say whether they have a ‘sponsor’ who is a ‘Member of Parliament or Minister’ and to name them.

The fact of a Minister ‘sponsoring’ your application is – or should be – irrelevant to your prospects of gaining authorisation. It is hard to see any reason for this criteria – beyond a desire to red carpet those lucky enough to be on good terms with Government Ministers. 

We also know that many of the firms operating in the lucrative PCR testing market have ties to the Conservative Party. 

Rapid Clinics

Rapid Clinics was incorporated in December 2020 by Dr Ashraf Chohan and has a ‘poor’ rating on trust pilot with users labelling their service as “terrible” and “unprofessional”. 

On the other hand, Chohan does have strong ties to the Conservative Party. He is chairman of the ‘Conservative Friends of the NHS’, a Party donor and a member of the Party’s ‘treasury team’. He has also been snapped at events with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, and a host of other senior Conservative Party figures.

Quick Clinics

Dr Chohan’s son Jamal Chohan also operates a Government approved Covid testing firm – Quick Clinics. Like his father’s business, it also has a ‘poor’ rating amongst consumers, who have labelled the firm “dishonest and avaricious”.

Qured 

Qured, another Government approved testing company, was last week labelled a “joke” and a “fraud” by UK travellers let down by the firm. 

Qured’s company name is Health Technologies Ltd and the firm appointed Stephen John Oakly Catlin as a director in April 2020. Catlin is a major Conservative Party donor and has handed the party £450,000 – including £50,000 as recently as February 2021.

Mr Catlin is also a member of the Conservative Party “Leader’s Group” – an elite Conservative dining club whose members get direct access to Boris Johnson. 

We don’t make any allegations about how these firms won Government approval that many customers don’t think they deserve. But we do say as a general rule this: cronyism – welfare for the wealthy – gives short shrift to the public interest.

Following the guilty verdict on former Exmouth Mayor, John Humphrey, George Dixon posted the following question:

Perhaps Councillors Ingham and Hughes would care to tell us why they felt it appropriate to make him an alderman in 2019, four years into the investigation which led to this?

He was one of eleven proposed by Cllr Ben Ingham, seconded by Cllr.  Andrew Moulding to receive the title of Honorary Alderman or Alderwoman at an extraordinary meeting of EDDC on 18 December 2019.

Cllr. Stuart Hughes, the Chairman, put the proposals to the vote.

The vote was carried by a majority with one abstention. (No details of the vote appear to have been recorded)

Details of the meeting can be found here , though the audio recording appears to be no longer available.

The phrases: “due diligence” and “bringing the Council into disrepute” come to mind.

Will he now be stripped of this title?

[The award of Aldermanic status on this occasion seemed to have been unusually extensive. Handing out lollipops is a bit of a British obsession, easily debased.]

There are fears of a huge Covid spike in Torquay as teenagers returning home from Newquay’s Boardmasters festival at the weekend report that “everyone is testing positive”.

It seemed to Owl that the Boardmasters festival was always going to be a super spreading event waiting to happen. We wait to see just how big a spike it generates and whether it can be contained.

Stay safe!

Colleen Smith www.devonlive.com

The 16 and 17 year olds also reported that people who suspected they had Covid while at the festival were skipping tests on Friday organised to detect people carrying the virus in the 50,000 strong crowds.

Health officials say that data is being monitored from the Festival that finished last Sunday and results should be available later this week.

One Torquay grandmother said: “I want to warn everybody to be careful in Torbay because we are about to get a huge Covid spike.

“The young people are all coming back from Boardmasters festival and testing positive with Covid. My grandaughter is at Torquay Girls Grammar School and lots and lots of her friends are all testing positive.”

A 17-year-old Torquay Boys’ Grammar School pupil from Newton Abbot said everybody in his group of 10 who hadn’t been vaccinated came back with Covid – plus one person who had been vaccinated. He said that out of 30 who went – at least 15 to 20 have since tested positive.

The grandmother, who didn’t want to be named, said: “They have all been to Boardmasters and on Tuesday every one of them who went has tested positive. I was horrified when my grandaughter told me.

“These are mainly 16 to 17 year olds and they were all celebrating after getting their GCSE results.

“What I want to warn people about is that the numbers in Torbay are going to go very high and I want everyone to be aware.”

A 17-year old from Newton Abbot who attends Torquay Boys’ Grammar School said: “All the people in my group who hadn’t been vaccinated came back with it.

“Even one who had been vaccinated had a positive PCR – it spread through pretty much everyone.

“In my group there were 10 of us and I know about 30 who went and I would say at least 15 to 20 have since tested positive.

“I started to have a sore throat before I left, obviously it was hard to know at the time whether you have caught Covid or not but 100 per cent Monday I was feeling under the weather.

“Everyone realised they had it after they got back. They had a thing on Friday (the third day) when everyone was retested and I heard it showed about 1,000 came forward as positive.

“But there were loads who had it but didn’t come forward because they wanted to stay until the end of the festival. Everyone was quite aware about it and it and the tests coming back positive.”

Andrew Topham, CEO of Vision Nine – the company behind Boardmasters – said before the event organisers had put everything in place to minimise the risk.

Mr Topham said organisers went “above and beyond what was asked of us” by implementing its own Covid-19 policy.

Staycationers are thought to be a key reason for the general rise as Brits head to UK beaches rather than contend with the hassle of travelling abroad.

Newquay, where the festival took place, had 182 new positive tests between August 5 and 11.

In the seven days up to August 13 Newquay East’s infection rate rose to 1,123.8 per 100,000 which is higher that cities like London and Manchester.

A former mayor of Exmouth is facing years in jail after being found guilty of the historic sexual abuse of two schoolboys.

Ted Davenport www.devonlive.com

John Humphreys raped one of the boys after taking him into an abandoned military blockhouse on Woodbury Common 30 years ago and went on to abuse the other a decade later.

He is not only a former Mayor and long-serving Conservative councillor but also served as governor of a primary school for many years.

He is openly gay and became one of the first people in Britain to take part in a same sex wedding when he married his partner in April 2014 on the first day the new law came into effect.

He denied having any sexual contact with either boy but was found guilty of all charges by majority verdicts at the end of an eight day trial at Exeter Crown Court.

He said he was shocked and flabbergasted at the allegations and accused his first victim of being ‘wicked and vindictive’ and making up his allegations so he could claim compensation.

Humphreys ran his own gardening business in Exmouth and was considered to be a pillar of the community until the first allegations came to light in 2015.

Former Exmouth mayor John Humphreys who is accused of sexually abusing to boys in the 1990s and 2000s (Image: MARTIN WHITHAM)

He was prosecuted after police unearthed records of a previous complaint from the second victim, which was not pursued when it was first made in the 2000s.

Humphreys, aged 59, of Hartley Road, Exmouth, denied but was found guilty of three counts of a serious sexual assault (buggery) and two of indecent assault on the younger boy and five counts of indecent assault against older one.

The jury were out for more than eight hours before they delivered their majority verdicts.

Judge Timothy Rose adjourned sentence to Friday to allow the victims time to update impact statements.

Miss Fiona Elder, defending, said Humphreys knows he will receive a long jail sentence.

(Image: DevonLive)

Mr Piers Norsworthy, prosecuting, said he would submit a schedule setting out the sentencing guidelines for modern offences which are the equivalent to those he was convicted of.

The first victim was aged about 13 when he was picked up by Humphreys in public toilets in Manor Gardens in Exmouth, which was a well-known gay meeting spot or cottage at the time in 1990 or 1991.

He took the boy to a friend’s flat and had sex with him before dropping him off. They met again in the same way twice and on the first occasion he took him back to his former home in Salterton Road where they had sex again.

The victim said he was taken to Woodbury Common on the third meeting where he was subjected to a brutal sexual assault he described as rape.

When police asked him why he had decided to make a complaint, he replied ‘because I’ve had 25 years of sleepless nights’.

The second victim met Humphreys when he was aged 14 or 15 in 2001 and off school.

He said he was assaulted for the first time after being taken back to his home during a lunch break and was so confused that he froze.

Humphreys later offered him holiday jobs and went on to abuse him on other occasions, telling him ‘this doesn’t mean you are gay’.

Even the Telegraph has criticised Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab as “missing in action”.  

Marina Hyde’s satirical comment in the Guardian is headed: “Can someone fill in Dominic Raab about the news? He only watches it on catchup.“ She also writes: “News that Dominic Raab was spotted lounging on a beach in Crete on the day Kabul fell certainly sends a message.”

But we shouldn’t forget that one of his recent special advisors (SPADS) was none other than our own Simon Jupp. Simon was appointed a SPAD to the then “First Secretary of State” in 2019, before running for parliament. 

SPADS have also come in for much criticism (see the recent New Statesman debate). The essence of this is that they usually possess a surfeit of ambition coupled with little experience.  Many SPADS see their appointment as a stepping stone to preferment to a “safe seat”.

In the case of Simon, one has to ask what foreign policy expertise could he “bring to the table”, or was appointed because of his political “nous”? Doesn’t look as if much his wisdom rubbed off.

In turn, we might ask what did he learn at the feet of his master? – Owl 

[In 1982 Peter Carrington resigned as Secretary of State, taking full responsibility for the complacency of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in its failure to foresee the invasion of the Falkland Islands and for the misleading signals sent by the Foreign Office on British intentions for retaining control over the Falklands.]

NHS England hospitals have sounded the alarm over materials used in roofs that reached the end of their lifespan more than a decade ago, with one hospital forced to restrict the use of some operating theatres to patients under 120kg (19st).

Rachel Hall www.theguardian.com 

Several hospitals are warning of the potential for roof collapses due to structural weaknesses in the reinforced concrete planks used in their construction between the 1960s and 1980s, which have a 30-year lifespan.

North West Anglia NHS foundation trust wrote in its annual plan that the poor condition of the main theatres in Hinchingbrooke hospital in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, posed a significant risk to elective care.

The plan, published in June, stated: “There are a number of building-related issues, the most significant being the RAAC [reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete] panelling, which affects the loadbearing of the floor, restricting the use of some theatres to patients under 120kg.”

Since the report, more structural surveys have been undertaken and the hospital is able to use just one of its seven operating theatres for patients weighing more than 120kg. The hospital said it had received £13m this year to cover the costs of surveys and repairs.

Reports leaked by a whistleblower to the BBC showed that West Suffolk hospital, which has a similar design to Hinchingbrooke, had hired a law firm to investigate the potential for corporate manslaughter charges in the event of a fatal roof collapse, while hospital trusts in eastern England had produced an emergency plan outlining what would happen in the event of “significant hospital structural failure”.

The documents seen by the BBC included an initial risk assessment that warned of an “almost certain” plank collapse, which would have “catastrophic” consequences.

The risk level has since been downgraded to “likely” in response to West Suffolk launching a multimillion-pound safety works programme, though it is understood this will not be completed until spring 2023.

NHS England said the affected trusts were maintaining safe services and were regularly required to manage complex estates repairs, including roofing work. It added that training exercises were regularly conducted in the interests of safety and preparedness.

The problems relate to RAAC planks that were commonly used in the roofs, floors and walls of NHS buildings and schools between 1960 and 1980, that have since deteriorated or have structural weaknesses.

The BBC reported that West Suffolk hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, had 27 metal supports under the planks, while the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King’s Lynn in Norfolk had more than 200.

A spokesperson for NHS England and NHS Improvement East of England said: “Trusts in the east of England work in line with specialist industry advice and have been given more than £67m to help them manage their estates programme.

“Trusts have maintained safe services for patients, who should access hospital care as they normally would, and also introduced a number of measures including improved surveillance and use of specialist equipment to help identify and fix any issues immediately.”

Caroline Walker, the chief executive of the North West Anglia NHS trust, said: “Operations continue to take place for all our patients, and we are following expert advice to manage our estate, checking and surveying our buildings regularly and completing any maintenance as it’s needed.”

The jury have retired to consider their verdicts in the case of a former Mayor of Exmouth who is accused of the historic abuse of two schoolboys.

Ted Davenport http://www.devonlive.com 

John Humphreys is facing a total of 10 charges at Exeter Crown Court where he has denied any sexual contact with the two complainants.

The boys say he abused them when they were aged around 13 and 15 in 1990 and 2001 respectively.

Judge Timothy Rose sent the jury out in mid-morning and told them that they would have as much time as they needed to reach their verdicts.

Humphreys, aged 59, of Hartley Road, Exmouth, denies three counts of a serious sexual assault and two of indecent assault on the younger boy and five counts of indecent assault against the older one.

Humphreys is an alderman who was Mayor of Exmouth from 2010 to 2012 and a councillor for 12 years.

He told the jury last week that he had no sexual interest in boys and had never had any sort of sexual contact with either complainant.

Hundreds of people have signed a petition calling on Devon County Council not to sell-off farmland near Exeter for housing.

Paul Greaves www.devonlive.com

Markhams Farm, which lies between Ide and Alphington, has been earmarked in the Teignbridge Draft Local Plan as a huge housing plot where a total of 727 houses could be built.

The site is currently a working farm and part of the county council’s tenant farm estate.

A petition – organised by district ward councillor Alison Foden – to ‘Save Markhams Farm from being sold off and keep farming local’ has so far attracted 523 signatures.

The petition states: “At this time of emergency, we call on Devon County Council to drop the planned sell-off of our local farms for housing development, and to continue to support local farming and sustainable agriculture.

“We call on Devon County Council to keep Markhams Farm and to drop their proposed sell-off for housing development as mentioned in Teignbridge District Council’s Local Plan Review 2020 – 2040.

“We say Keep Devon County’s Farms Farming.”

Markhams Farm Exeter (Image: Teignbridge District Council)

Markhams Farm is one of more than 100 sites across Teignbridge identified as places where future housing could be provided.

A public consultation run by the district council has already ended.

The petitioners hope that by putting pressure on the county council the land will be withdrawn as a potential location for housing.

The site falls within the parish of Ide. Neighbouring Shillingford St George Parish Council says it is in ‘total opposition’ to the proposal.

The minutes from its most recent meeting state: “The site is totally rural in character and consists of high quality agricultural land which is being actively farmed.

“The proposed site being set on a hillside would be highly visible from large parts of Exeter and would further erode the unique rural setting of the city.

“The proposed site is currently high quality productive agricultural land which would be destroyed if it was to be developed for housing.

Markhams Farm overlooking Exeter

“A large part of the site is occupied by a County Farm, owned by Devon County Council and leased to a tenant farm holder.”

The parish council says the working farm is a success and building would destroy it ‘at a time when agriculture nationally and locally needs to be supported and encouraged’.

The Draft Local Plan (Part 2) sets out options for where different types of development might be located over a 20-year period.

It includes a number of controversial ‘Edge of Exeter’ proposals, including 933 houses on a large swathe of land at nearby Peamore and between 200-250 at Atwell Farm in Whitestone.

As part of the process, landowners submit their land as potential building sites. Markhams Farm has been submitted by the county council’s agents.

The 80-acre plot sits beside a traditional country lane linking Alphington and Ide and is currently little used by vehicles. It is bordered on three sides by fields and also by the A30.

In the Local Plan, Teignbridge District Council says: “The site is large enough to provide local public open spaces to support wildlife and provide landscaping, tree planting and on-site play areas.

“The site is more than 800m from an area of major open space, but is close to public footpaths and cycle paths that connect to this and other areas of local public open space.”

It acknowledges a number of ‘sensitivities’ should the proposals succeed.

“The landscape contains known archaeological sites – prehistoric or Roman settlements,” the plan says.

“Therefore a comprehensive programme of archaeological work should be undertaken to enable the significance of the heritage assets to be understood as well as the impact of any development upon any such assets.”

It also says roads and footpaths would have to be improved and a new primary school built.

The district council says about the Local Plan: “It is important to note that no decisions have been taken at this stage as to where development might take place.”

The petition will be emailed to Cllr John Hart, the Leader of Devon County Council, and a formal in-person presentation at County Hall.

A copy will also be emailed to the Planning Department at Teignbridge District Council.

DevonLive has contacted Devon County Council for comment.

(Building the Burrington way! – Owl)

From a correspondent:

The above Winslade Manor in Clyst St Mary is a substantial mansion that has recently been very sensitively re-developed by Burrington Estates to now include Winslade Manor Restaurant and Bar, Number 6 personal training and wellness studio and office accommodation.

The architecture of this building with its architraves, pediments, balustrades, quoins, sash windows, porticos and Doric columns under a slate hipped roof continues to evoke an admiration and appreciation today in 2021, even after so many centuries have elapsed. Burrington Estates have successfully returned this Grade II* Listed Georgian Manor to its former glory, when it was built by Edward Cotsford, the High Sheriff of Devon around 1800 and this renovation deserves accolades and commendation.

210110 Presentation 08 Near neighbour presentation.pdf – OneDrive (live.com)

The above link shows Burringtons design proposals for their two new housing areas in Zone A and Zone D at Winslade Park, Clyst St Mary, which are soon to be submitted to East Devon District Council for a decision. Again the plans submitted for the Zone A housing on green fields at the entrance to Winslade Park show creative, low-density, high-quality innovative designs that many will find attractive and appealing.

However, displayed on the very final two pages of this housing design presentation link on Pages 71 and 72 (which appears as a hurriedly-prepared afterthought to achieve high-density volume home-building in a restricted brownfield car park area) are 40 four-storey apartments!

Many would consider such high-density towering structures in a rural, historic village, overlooking existing homes and sited in close proximity directly opposite the valued majestic northern façade of the historic Winslade Manor, to be completely inappropriate.

Tall four-storey block structures are more usual in urban areas (like Exeter City) to provide significant numbers of homes in a metropolis but not in a rural community that has no local housing need.

The three four-storey brick-blocked structures totalling 40 apartments are considered by many to be totally incongruous in this setting and fail to reflect distinguished, prestigious standards in architecture in the immediate setting of a valued, historic asset and they conflict with recommendations by Government to enhance our communities.

Many believe that homebuilders in the 2020s should show an ethical responsibility to improve areas and not return to the low-cost brick three-five storied apartment building styles which were developed in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and have thankfully mostly been demolished and replaced.

This is an opportunity for the creation of a truly outstanding build back better brownfield design standard that could be revered as an esteemed design guide for future admiration that will stand the test of time – but these design proposals for Zone D fail to reach that objective.

Architectural designs are creative and are, therefore, vulnerable to personal, differing opinions but surely  this historic site requires imaginative high-quality style and a venerable discernment to compliment the Georgian Manor? Many find these current Zone D proposals an overdevelopment in this rural village with the designs being too utilitarian and failing to achieve aesthetic, quality, harmonious standards. Designs must not overpower, clash and be incompatible with the historic Manor and its surroundings.

The Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission advised the Government to promote and increase the use of high-quality styles and designs for new build homes and neighbourhoods to reflect what communities want by  building on the knowledge and tradition of what works for their area – but do 40 four-storey blocks of apartments opposite an historic Manor House in a rural community reach those aspirations?

In the past the advice would have been to ‘return to the drawing-board’ but in this age of digital technology, it would not seem too onerous to search for a more sympathetic computer-generated design for this valued location which surely deserves so much better?

Another crisis unfolds as the PM goes AWOL, remember how many Cobra meetings he skipped last year whilst the pandemic gained momentum? – Owl

Jessica Elgot www.theguardian.com 

Boris Johnson’s departure on holiday on Saturday, despite public warnings the Taliban would be in Kabul within hours, has been criticised as a “dereliction of duty” by former senior military and security figures.

It emerged on Monday that the prime minister and the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, took their summer holidays at the same time before both taking the decision to return.

Johnson had gone to Somerset, and Raab was in Cyprus until Sunday, hours before the fall of Kabul, after being absent from public debate for more than a week.

Major Gen Charlie Herbert, who undertook three tours of duty in Afghanistan between 2007-18, said: “It is almost impossible to believe that the prime minister departed on holiday on Saturday; he should hang his head in shame. It is dereliction of duty on an extraordinary scale.

“He is overseeing one of the greatest military humiliations in the recent history of this country. Three weeks ago Gen Lord Dannatt and 44 other senior retired military officers wrote openly to the government to express their grave concern about the handling of the interpreter issue and urged the government to accelerate the relocations.

“That they failed to heed the warning is symptomatic of the disastrous complacency that has led to this national humiliation. Interpreters will die as a result of their apathy.”

Lord Ricketts, the former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), told the Guardian that Johnson’s holiday decision was “one more piece of evidence that Whitehall as a whole failed to anticipate either the scale or the speed of the collapse of the Afghan regime and the implications for British interest”.

Adm Lord West, the former first sea lord and chief of the naval staff, said: “I would be extremely surprised and indeed appalled if the JIC and assessments staffs were not predicting a very rapid collapse of the Afghan regime in the face of Taliban pressure by Saturday.

“In view of that I find the prime minister’s decision to go on holiday surprising. I also find the foreign secretary’s absence baffling. Holidays are important but not crucial. World events have a remarkable habit of happening in August and the government needs to be capable of responding quickly.”

Johnson returned from Somerset and chaired his second Cobra meeting on Afghanistan in three days on Sunday afternoon, as well as speaking to Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, and the UN secretary general, António Guterres, about the Taliban takeover.

No 10 said he would remain working in Downing Street until at least Wednesday, when parliament will be recalled.

“The prime minister has returned to Downing Street today,” his spokesperson said. “He has been monitoring the situation in Afghanistan throughout.” No 10 also said Raab had attended meetings while away and spoken to ambassadors and senior staff.

Johnson’s spokesperson said the Taliban “have moved swiftly across the country, but we’ve monitored the situation throughout and have been focused on getting out those Afghan nationals who’ve been working with the British and obviously the British nationals themselves”.

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said there had been a “catastrophic miscalculation” over the strength of the Taliban and the resilience of Afghan forces. Starmer said Raab should have returned sooner from his holiday, and described the speed of the government’s response to the situation in Afghanistan as slow.

Asked whether he should have returned from holiday sooner to deal with the crisis, Raab said: “As we’ve just described, everyone was caught by surprise by the pace and the scale of the Taliban takeover.

“I think the important thing to understand is right the way through last week … I’ve been directly in touch with my team, directing them, which has paid the dividends. You can see what we’ve delivered with 150 British nationals who are going to be arriving back in the UK tomorrow [Tuesday] morning.”

Staff shortages to blame

East Devon District Council has apologised to residents for the continuing disruption to its waste and recycling services. 

Joe Ives, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Slow: recycling not quite in progress (courtesy: East Devon District Council)

Staff shortages at Suez, a private company which runs East Devon’s waste service, mean that bulky waste collection is suspended and some residents may have collections on a different day than usual.

The council says the staff shortage is being caused by a “perfect storm” of covid, a national shortage of skilled workers and a number of people being on holiday. They say the challenges may continue “for the foreseeable future.” 

Suez is currently trying to recruit for five positions it has vacant in its East Devon staff.

Councillor Geoff Jung, (Democratic Alliance Group, Woodbury and Lympstone) portfolio holder for coast, country and environment said: “Just as we thought we were returning to more normal times, we are experiencing tremendous pressure because of short term staff shortages like every other service provider in the country.

“On behalf of East Devon District Council, I would like to thank all our residents for their understanding, whilst we continue to provide a recycling and waste collection service during these very challenging times. 

“Please, please continue to recycle and please help our team sort and load by organising the recycling items within the containers” 

Councillor Tom Wright (Conservative, Budleigh and Raleigh), who oversaw the appointment of Suez when the Conservatives were in charge, echoed this message: “We’re doing all we can. All I can say is sorry to the residents who are inconvenienced, but I’m sure this is a short term situation and when things get back to normal I’m sure Suez will be able to give the first-rate service they did when I was a portfolio holder [for coast, country and environment].”

Staff shortage are affecting councils up and down the country as well as across Devon.  Earlier this month Exeter City Council suspended its garden waste collection for eight days because of a lack of HGV drivers. At the height of the crisis, the council resorted to enlisting some office staff to help with collections.

Former Exmouth mayor John Humphreys has told a jury he was ‘shocked and flabbergasted’ two males he had shown kindness to had accused him of sexually abusing them as boys.

About Author Becca Gliddon eastdevonnews.co.uk 

Humphreys, aged 59, of Hartley Road, Exmouth, on trial at Exeter Crown Court accused of historic sex offences against two underage boys, denies ten charges against him, alleged to have taken place between 1990 and 2002.

Humphreys, who came out as gay aged 21, denied ever having any sexual activity with either of the boys, telling the court he only liked men his own age or older.

He told the court the allegations made by the males – now adults – were ‘vindictive and wicked’.

Humphreys said: “To have to force someone to do something they don’t want to do – where is the joy in that?”

He added: “I did not do it, and will not.”

Humphreys said he had never touched the first complainant, or had sex with him.

He said he first saw the male outside public toilets in St Andrews Road, Exmouth, where they said ‘hello’.

Humphreys said in the past he had met men in public toilets in Exmouth, but not on that occasion.

He told the jury he saw the male again outside the toilets in St Andrews Road on a sperate occasion, was not attracted to him, and gave him a lift home because he seemed ‘stressed’.

Humphreys told the court: “He was talking about the men in the toilet and how awful it was.

“He was distressed and I offered him a lift to drive him home. He said he was 18 years old and we talked about the gay scene.”

Humphreys told the court he pointed out his Salterton Road home to the male as they drove past the flat in the defendant’s work van.

On another occasion, Humphreys found the male hanging around outside his flat in a ‘distressed’ state.

Humphreys said: “He was all of a dither. He just wasn’t right. I could see something wasn’t right. I invited him in for a cup of tea.

“I think he was coming to terms with his sexuality. I suggested he talk to someone; there are places in Exeter. He calmed down and then he left.

“I felt sorry for the man but I didn’t want to get too involved.”

Humphreys told the court he had ‘never’ had sexual contact with a second male who accused him of sexual touching while he was a teenager on school work experience with the defendant’s gardening firm.

He told the jury he was ‘shocked and flabbergasted’ by the ‘evil, wicked lies’, saying the allegations were ‘vindictive’.

Humphreys told the court he had only ever encouraged the second male to forge a successful career through offering him employment – once paying £100 for him to enroll in a horticulture course at college.

“That was to give encouragement and a good start in life,” he told the jury.

“People have always been kind to me and I would always try and do the same throughout my life. Kindness breeds kindness.”

Humphreys has denied two charges of indecent assault and three counts of a sex assault on a boy aged 12 to 13 between 1990 and 1991.

He has also pleaded not guilty to five further counts of indecent assault of a second boy aged 14 to 15 between 1999 and 2002.

The trial continues.

No he’s not called Simon or Neil – Owl

Anthony Mangnall, MP for Totnes and Brixham, today’s Western Morning News:

South Devon is home to some of the most extraordinary views, landscapes and coastlines. 

As a representative of the area, I am only too aware of the privilege I have in speaking up for such a unique part of the country: yet, like the rest of the nation, our businesses, tourism and hospitality industries were put on hold through the onslaught of the pandemic. 

Now, with the vaccine surging through the nation’s veins, we are seeing our economy spring back to life. The previously deserted beaches are packed, while our high streets bustle with resident and tourist alike. Our pubs, bars and restaurants all throng with the clitter-clatter of happy customers who have rightly chosen South Devon as their destination of choice for this year’s holiday.

As a result, our local economy is booming. Visitors are helping it to bounce back at rapid speed. All of this is welcome, but it is important to understand that it comes at a cost.

Such are the demands from the visitor economy that thousands of homes are being moved from long-term rentals to Airbnb lets. Many who live and work in the area are being issued with eviction notices so landlords can capitalise on the boom in holiday rentals. At the time of writing, only 16 properties are available for long-term rent across the district council area of the South Hams, and Torbay tells a similar story.

For years there has been a fine balance between holiday rentals and primary residences. That balance saw schools, hospitals and lifeboat stations (to name a few) catered for by residents who lived locally. It is readily apparent this is often no longer the case, as these and many other local organisations, and businesses, struggle to find the staff they need to operate. Some of our towns and villages, thronged in the summer, are ghostly quiet in the winter.

At both a local and national level, more needs to be done to regain that balance between holiday homes and primary residences. So what can be done?

First, we must introduce the necessary legislation to close the loophole that allows second homes to advertise as holiday rentals, avoid council tax by registering for business rates and subsequently be entitled to small business rate relief. Every holiday home puts pressure on local services and they must pay their share. I have campaigned vociferously for this change in the law, and welcome the Chancellor’s announcement earlier this year that the loophole will be closed, but it cannot come soon enough.

Second, a nationwide survey should be conducted to evaluate the impact of Airbnb-type rentals on local communities. This could include lost tax receipts and the impact on long-term rental markets in both rural and urban communities (this affects London too).

Third, new builds must be built with local affordability targets in mind. This should include Section 106 legal agreements which can be registered against the property title to ensure they are primary residences in perpetuity. This is already under way in Salcombe and looks set to happen elsewhere in the region.

The visitor economy is hugely important to South Devon. I welcome it, but Devon and the South West must have functioning communities that offer more than just a seasonal visitor economy. I am working to find that balance.