It’s all going pear shaped: headlines and the gist of the stories over just two days. – Owl

Rishi Sunak left thousands of Afghans eligible for UK stranded in Pakistan ‘to save money’

Rishi Sunak left thousands of Afghans eligible to come to the UK stranded in Pakistan hotels in a bid to save money, the High Court has heard.

Around 2,300 Afghans who worked alongside British armed forces have been stuck in hotels in Islamabad for months after the UK stopped chartering flights last November and insisted families must find their own place to live in Britain before relocation. www.independent.co.uk 12 October

Growing number of people face 18-month waits for NHS care in England

The number of people waiting longer than 18 months for NHS treatment in England is growing, figures show, despite ministers vowing to have eliminated such long waits six months ago.

The government promised to end all waits of a year and a half by April this year. Figures published on Thursday show 8,998 people were waiting more than 18 months for treatment at the end of August, up from 7,289 at the end of July.

Overall NHS waiting lists have hit a record high. NHS England figures show 7.75 million people were waiting at the end of August, up from 7.68 million in July. It is the highest number since records began in August 2007. www.theguardian.com  12 October

Just 557 prison spaces left as jailed population hits new all-time high

[The National Audit Office raised the alarm in a report published in February 2020 – while Rishi Sunak was chancellor – saying that without intervention demand for prison places was on course to exceed supply sometime between October 2022 and June 2023.]

The average length of prison sentences increased by a third in the decade to 2019 as governments sought to appear tough on crime, while recent efforts to bolster police numbers and chaos in the court system have seen the backlog of trials hit an all-time peak of more than 65,000.

Consequently, there are more suspects than ever awaiting trial behind bars, some trapped for more than five years, while the backlog of rape cases involving bailed defendants has also hit a new high to reach more than double the average between 2014 and 2019, The Independent revealed last week.

Overcrowding has led to prisoners being kept in harrowing conditions, with some doubled up in cells and kept locked inside for 23 hours a day, forced to choose between exercising, showering or calling loved ones, with little access to rehabilitation programmes. www.independent.co.uk 13 October