Sir Keir Starmer will vow to take on those who commit “fraud against the public purse” in a major speech that will mark the start of campaigning for the general election.

Alexandra Rogers news.sky.com

The Labour leader’s first speech of 2024 is expected to focus on the erosion of trust in politics following a series of scandals, including the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.

He is expected to announce that those who defraud the government could face a jail sentence of more than 10 years – the current limit – as part of Labour’s “total crackdown on cronyism”.

Sir Keir, who led the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013 and previously worked as human rights lawyer, is expected to say that trust in politics is now “so low, so degraded, that nobody believes anyone can make a difference any more”.

“After the sex scandals, the expenses scandals, the waste scandals, the contracts for friends – even in a crisis like the pandemic – people think we’re all just in it for ourselves,” he will say.

“To change Britain, we must change ourselves – we need to clean up politics. No more VIP fast lanes, no more kickbacks for colleagues, no more revolving doors between government and the companies they regulate.

“I will restore standards in public life with a total crackdown on cronyism.”

Sir Keir will point to his past in the legal profession to highlight his desire to “serve”.

He will say: “Politics isn’t a hobby, a pastime for people who enjoy the feeling of power, and nor is it a sermon from on high, a self-regarding lecture, vanity dressed up as virtue.”

The Labour leader will make his speech just weeks after Tory appointed peer Baroness Michelle Mone admitted involvement with PPE Medpro, which received over £200m in government contracts during the pandemic.

Baroness Mone is set to benefit from its £60m profits that have been put into a trust by her husband, Doug Barrowman.

PPE Medpro is currently being sued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over claims millions of the gowns it supplied failed to meet the standard required – something Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman deny – while the company is also under investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Sir Keir has previously branded the scandal a “shocking disgrace from top to bottom”.

A source told The Guardian, which first reported on the story, that a range of policy options are being considered including tougher sentences for “fraud against the public purse”, including the billions wasted through COVID loan schemes.

In March, the National Audit Office (NAO) found that £21bn had been lost to fraud since the start of the COVID pandemic, with more than £7bn linked to schemes introduced during the pandemic.

The maximum sentence for serious fraud currently stands at 10 years’ imprisonment.

Under Labour proposals those who fraudulently claim money from the government – for example through the bidding of public contracts – could be sent to prison for a longer time.

However, the newspaper reported that a separate pledge to ban former ministers from lobbying for five years is likely to be scaled back.

Speaking to Sky News, shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said Sir Keir would highlight how the government has “denigrated the sense of public service”.

He pointed to breaches of the ministerial code – which sets out how ministers should behave – and said Labour would set up a new ethics and integrity commission with powers to investigate ministers

“When we’re knocking on doors, we find people saying almost despairingly to us, ‘can things be better?’ Things can be better, but that’s why we need that general election and change as soon as possible.”

“Consumption” is on the rise again with cases notified in Plymouth, Torbay and Exeter.

Another sign of “Broken Britain”. – Owl

Paul Greaves www.devonlive.com

A Dickensian disease responsible for killing millions in Victorian Britain is making a post-pandemic comeback in Devon. Tuberculosis or TB – also known as “consumption” – caused the deaths of an estimated four million people between 1851 and 1910.

It was the scourge of the 18th and 19th centuries and featured heavily in the literature of the time, with Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Samuel Richardson among the authors writing about the disease. TB is thought to be one of the illnesses afflicting Tiny Tim in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Although it is now curable, TB is still the second leading infectious killer globally, behind Covid-19. In the UK cases and infection rates had been falling since 2011, as the health authorities work toward the elimination of the disease.

However, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says that progress has now stalled. Cases went up during the pandemic in 2021 and then remained stable last year.

In 2023, the UKHSA received notifications of 4,813 cases of TB in England and Wales – a 7% increase on the 4,480 cases over the same period during the previous year. It is also higher than in 2021 (4,557).

In Devon, the UKHSA has received notifications of 29 cases in 2023. That includes seven cases in Plymouth, seven in Torbay, and six in Exeter.

When compared to the population, Torbay had the highest infection rate, with 5.0 cases of TB per 100,000 of the population, followed by Exeter (4.6 per 100,000 population), and Torridge (2.9).

You can see the cases and rates where you live using our interactive map.

Meera Chand, Deputy Director at UKHSA said: “We remain concerned that we are seeing TB cases increasing in some parts of England. TB is curable and preventable, but despite significant progress towards elimination in recent years, the disease remains a serious public health issue in the UK as shown by these figures.

“With treatment, most people will make a full recovery. It is very important that those with relevant symptoms are tested for TB and appropriate treatment is started promptly, both for the individual and for the prevention of onward transmission.

“TB notification rates in England remain highest in people who are originally from parts of the world where TB is more common and those in large urban areas in England which are associated with higher levels of deprivation, and in inclusion health groups – a term used to describe people who are socially excluded and typically experience multiple overlapping risk factors for poor health. This includes those experiencing homelessness or contact with the criminal justice system

“As we head into winter, it is important to remember that not every persistent cough, along with a fever, is caused by flu or COVID-19. A cough that usually has mucus and lasts longer than three weeks can be caused by a range of other issues, including TB. Contact your GP if you think you could be at risk so you can get tested and treated.”

TB is a highly infectious disease caused by airborne bacteria, spread through the air when people cough, sneeze, or speak. It is a serious long-term condition, but it is now curable.

It usually affects the lungs but can spread to other parts of the body such as your glands, bones, and brain.
Symptoms include a chronic cough, fever, chills, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, and coughing up blood.

Of local authority areas in England and Wales, Birmingham has had the most cases of TB this year, with 206.

When compared to the population, Leicester has had the highest rate of infections with 40.7 per 100,000 population. London is the region most blighted by TB. A third of all cases identified this year were diagnosed in London.

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you are coughing up blood. Call 999 if you have a stiff neck and a severe headache, it’s painful to look at bright lights, you’ve had a seizure or fit, if you’ve had a change in behaviour such as sudden confusion, or if you’ve had a weakness or loss of movement in part of the body. These could be signs that TB has spread to the brain.

The statistics watchdog has launched an official investigation into the government’s claim it cleared the legacy backlog of asylum claims last year.

Kate Nicholson www.huffingtonpost.co.uk 

Downing Street has faced intense criticism – and has even been accused of a “barefaced lie” – after PM Rishi Sunak said his government cleared all applications to remain in the UK made prior to June 28, 2022.

But, after the government’s own data suggested there were still plenty of claims which needed to be addressed, the Office for Statistics Regulation have launched an investigation.

According to Sky News, the watchdog announced its action after a complaint and the investigation is expected to take a few weeks.

It cannot force the Home Office to offer more data although it can ask for it. It could also remove its stamp of reliability from the Home Office’s press releases.

Sunak pledged at the start of last year to “stop the boats” and clear the asylum backlog – meaning this is a crucial policy for his administration.

The confusion over the asylum backlog began earlier this week, when the PM posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the Home Office had dealt with 112,000 “legacy cases” – claims made before June 2022 – by the end of last year.

Sunak claimed: “I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023. That’s exactly what we’ve done.”

However, Downing Street’s own data shows that 4,537 “complex cases” still need a decision.

Sunak’s spokesperson suggested that because they had been “reviewed” they were now considered “cleared”.

Home Office data shows that 51,469 asylum applications were granted in total last year, while 25,550 were refused – and 35,119 “non-substantive” decisions were made – where the claim is withdrawn, pause or declared void.

There are also 99,000 more recent claims yet to be processed from last year.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock called Sunak’s claim a “barefaced lie”, saying it would “be laughable if it wasn’t such an insult to the public’s intelligence”.

Home secretary James Cleverly was scrutinised on the BBC’s Today programme over the numbers too, after he said it was “impossible” to say when the remaining 100,000 asylum cases would be dealt with.

The UK could soon see its highest-ever rate of Covid infections thanks to the new variant JN.1, according to experts. Professor Christina Pagel, of University College London, said the rapid spread of the strain means we have yet to reach the peak of infection while Professor Steve Griffin said it could outstrip previous waves of infection.

Neil Shaw www.devonlive.com

She compared the current strain to the Omicron substrains BA.1 in December 2021 and BA.5 in January 2022 and said coronavirus cases will continue to surge for weeks, reports The Mirror. New figures show that overall numbers have soared over the Christmas and New Year period, with JN.1 subvariant emerging as the dominant strain in the last few weeks.

It grew from making up just one per cent of coronavirus cases at the end of October to five per cent by mid-November – and is now topping the table of infections after reaching 51 per cent on Christmas Day. JN.1, which has been reported worldwide, is a descendant of the Pirola variant and has been described as much more immune evasive than its parents.

Professor Pagel told the i newspaper: “Unfortunately it is likely that this JN.1 wave has not yet peaked and will peak mid-January, either next week or the week after. And then infections will stay very high for a few weeks on the downward slope too. I am sure this wave will rival the first two Omicron waves in 2022 and might even exceed them.”

However, she said it is unlikely that hospitalisations will approach the levels seen during the previous Omicron waves. Professor Steve Griffin, a virologist at Leeds University, meanwhile told the newspaper that we may see case numbers “resembling when BA2 emerged”, which was England’s largest-ever wave in March and April 2022.

Surveys showed that 7.6 per cent of the population were estimated to be infected with Covid during this period, though hospitalisations and deaths were far lower than during the pandemic.

Other scientists have warned about waning immunity. Prof Peter Openshaw, from Imperial College London, told the Sun: “Immunity falls over time, and for many, it’s been over a year since they had their last booster jabs.”

The US Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has also highlighted the rapid spread of JN.1 – but said in their latest report that is not any more aggressive than other variants in circulation. The CDC wrote: “At this time, there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health relative to other currently circulating variants.”

The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) latest report estimates a Covid-19 prevalence of 4.2 per cent across the total population in England and Scotland – meaning that approximately 1 in every 24 people could test positive for any type of Covid infection at the current time. Prevalence rates were highest in people aged 18 to 44 years, and the highest prevalence regionally was found in London.

The cold winter weather and increased socialising indoors have contributed to the seasonal rise in cases. The NHS and UKHSA are urging all those eligible to come forward for a seasonal COVID-19 vaccine before the window closes on January 31, 2024. Professor Steven Riley, Director General for Data and Surveillance, UKHSA said: “At this time of year, the cold weather, shorter days and increased socialising mean that the potential for transmission of respiratory viruses like COVID-19 is particularly high. This, as well as the possible impact of new variants, means it’s not unexpected to see cases increasing.

“If you are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses, you should try to limit your contact with other people as much as possible, especially those who are older or more vulnerable. It’s important that those people who are most at risk of severe illness and hospitalisation as a result of COVID-19 come forward for their seasonal vaccination to make sure they have the best possible protection this winter. You can get a vaccine through your GP, by booking with a local NHS vaccination service, or you can find a COVID-19 vaccination walk-in site.”

SWW said sewage was now being transported to a treatment works after the clearing of floods.

From BBC Local news

A spokesman said: “Our teams continue to work hard to fix the issue at Exmouth.

“However, we are experiencing some delays with the temporary pipe that will allow us to complete a full repair without the need to further tankering.

“We expect the temporary pipe to be working fully by the end of the week.”

He added the firm was “sorry for inconvenience and appreciate the patience of the local residents”.