Ed.: It’s time to thank our News Correspondent who again stepped up and brought us the daily News Review while Debbie was in hospital. From tomorrow Debbie – now in another rehab care home – will be doing the News again.

If you wondered who this outstanding News Correspondent was, then wonder no longer: it was our ‘Norman’ whose reports from life outside the Westminster Bubble have delighted us during the grim weeks of lockdown. So let’s put our hands together –  for ‘Norman’ and for Debbie!

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COP CONVICTED OF  MANSLAUGHTER JAILED FOR EIGHT YEARS

The Mirror reports that a policeman convicted of killing football star Dalian Atkinson has been jailed for eight years. Benjamin Monk, 43, became the first British officer in 35 years to be found guilty of unlawfully killing a member of the public in the line of duty last week. He was found guilty of manslaughter but cleared of murder after a seven-week trial at Birmingham crown court. Monk, formerly of West Mercia Police, had been called to Atkinson’s father’s house in Telford, Shropshire in 2016, where the footballer was trying to break in. Jurors were told how the officer then zapped the ex-Aston Villa ace with a stun-gun for 33 seconds and booted him in the head “like a football”.

HOUSEHOLDS BORROWING AND SPENDING RETURNING TO OLD NORMAL

The Guardian reports that households increased their borrowing in May for the first time in eight months as the easing of lockdown rules coincided with a fall in loan interest rates. Figures from the Bank of England showed the first significant credit spending surge since last August, as a run of net repayments by households came to an end in May when £280m more was borrowed on consumer credit than was repaid. Car finance deals and personal loans lay behind most of the increase, the central bank said, and came after the rates on new personal loans fell to 5.61%, compared with an interest rate of 7.03% in January 2020. The debt charity Stepchange said that some of the average rise in borrowing reflected the needs of poorer households who have suffered a loss of income during the pandemic. It said 6.3 million people who experienced a fall in income had had to borrow to make ends meet – “a debt overhang that stands in sharp contrast to the experience of households who have been able to deleverage and save during the pandemic”. In a sign of future mortgage lending, the number of mortgage approvals made to homebuyers increased slightly in May to 87,500, from 86,900 in April. Approvals have fallen from a recent peak of 103,200 in November, but remain above levels before February 2020.

HOUSE PRICES  RISING FASTER

The Guardian reports that house prices in the UK are growing at the fastest annual rate in 17 years, with all regions picking up, according to Britain’s biggest building society. The average price of a UK home rose 0.7% in June from May to £245,432, taking the annual rate to 13.4% – marking the highest annual growth rate since November 2004, said Nationwide building society in its monthly report. Britain’s housing market has been boosted by the extension of government tax breaks for homebuyers and an exodus from big cities such as London, with movers seeking more space and leafier locations after the experience of working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

MANY BOUNCE BACK LOANS WILL NEVER  BE REPAID

The Sun reports that  scale of fraud and bankruptcy could cost the Treasury £27billion. The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was rushed out to allow small businesses quick access to cash. But tomorrow the Public Accounts Committee of MPs will say it was rolled out at pace — leading to a “significantly increased” risk of fraud. They will say the Treasury was “reliant on banks that it admits lack incentives given it is not their money on the line”. Between 35 per cent and 60 per cent — up to £27billion of loans — may now never be repaid with 55,000 fraudulent bids for £2billion in loans estimated to have been spotted in time and thrown out. The cost of Universal Credit fraud rose to an all-time high of £5.5billion last year as Brits signed on.

HANCOCK STITCHED UP SAY  WHITEHALL INSIDERS

The Evening Standard reports that the  CCTV camera that ended Matt Hancock’s career was deliberately tampered with to “stitch up” the former Health Secretary, senior Whitehall insiders believe. The camera was originally installed to point towards a glass door and balcony with sweeping views outside his ministerial office, which was considered a security weak point. But somebody turned it around so that it pointed instead to the internal doorway where Mr Hancock was caught kissing and fondling his aide Gina Coladangelo. An internal investigation is seeking to discover if the camera was moved accidentally during renovations or whether it was repositioned by the leaker to spy on the couple. Insiders are convinced that it was done deliberately. “We all think Matt Hancock was really stitched up on this,” a senior source told the Standard. The Standard has been told that private contractors, rather than police or the Government’s own officials were hired to monitor the camera. The department did not comment.

WOMEN REPORT UNWANTED SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR IN THE WORKPLACE

The Independent reports that half of women report having suffered unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace, according to a new poll. Around a quarter of women suffered unwanted touching at work, heard colleagues make comments of a sexual nature about a fellow colleague in front of them at work, or were questioned or interrogated about their sex life in the workplace, the survey by YouGov found. Researchers, who polled over 1,000 women living in the UK, found one in 10 women suffered sexual assault at work and one per cent of women had experienced a rape or attempted rape at work. Sarah Morrison, a senior campaigner at Avaaz, a global civic movement that commissioned the survey, said: “No woman should ever have to fear sexual violence or harassment at work, but shockingly it is still part of working life for millions of women in Britain.” Ms Morrison warned sexual harassment in the workplace is prevalent across the world. Around one in four countries have no legal provision to protect women from sexual harassment at work but even those nations with measures in place do not always enact them properly, she said.

SCHOOL COVID RELATED  NON ATTENDANCE RISES

The Times reports that the  number of children absent from school and isolating because of Covid in England has risen by 400 per cent in June to the highest level since classrooms reopened in March. In total, 375,000 children were off school last week, mainly because they had come into contact with a classmate with Covid rather than because they had the virus themselves. Approximately 279,000 were isolating as a result of potential contact with a coronavirus case inside a school or college.

BRITAINS NEWEST TANKS AGAIN WITHDRAWN FROM SERVICE

The Times reports that new light tanks that have so far cost the army £3.2 billion have been withdrawn for a second time after more troops reported suffering hearing loss during trials. All trials involving the Ajax armoured vehicle were paused in mid-June on “health and safety grounds” amid concerns that mitigation measures put in place to protect soldiers — including ear defenders — were not sufficient. Ministers believe senior officers in the army may have hidden the extent of the problem with Ajax over recent months to prevent it being axed as part of this year’s “integrated review” of Britain’s defence and foreign policy.

PUTIN PUTS RUSSIAN HYPERSONIC NUKE MISSILES ON ALERT

The Sun reports that Vladimir Putin has put Russia’s fearsome arsenal of “invincible” hypersonic nuke missiles on “combat alert” after clashes with the Royal Navy. The Kremlin strongman’s announcement comes after HMS Defender was fired on by a Russia coastguard off Crimea and the presence of a UK carrier strike group in the eastern Mediterranean. As he spoke today, the Kremlin chief deployed the Kinzhal – or Dagger – on two MiG-31K warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean, in a military operation monitoring the UK strike group led by aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

CEASEFIRE IMINENT IN UK/EU SAUSAGE WAR

The Telegraph reports that a ceasefire in the UK and EU sausage war should be announced within 48 hours in Brussels, a European Commission vice-president told members of the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday, preventing a ban on British bangers in the country. Maros Sefcovic also warned Britain against continued “negative rhetoric” against the Northern Ireland Protocol, which he said had “irresponsibly” stoked tensions. “We have been gravely concerned at negative rhetoric about the protocol, which is after all an instrument to protect peace and stability,” he said in a virtual appearance before MLAs. Mr Sefcovic said a UK request for a three month extension on a grace period for chilled meat preparations such as sausages would be granted. If it was not, British bangers would be banned from sale in Northern Irish shops, as they now are in the EU, from July 1. Brussels had warned it would resort to tariffs in a sausage trade war, if the UK carried out its threat to unilaterally extend the grace period to ensure the sausages could still be sold.

AND FINALLY

The Metro reports: A dad on Universal Credit has been slammed with a £1,000 fine for using his son’s e-scooter when he was late for a doctor’s appointment. James Bladen, 41, from Pentrebane, Cardiff, says the £400 e-scooter has been destroyed after police caught him riding on a road without insurance. The single father says he had no idea riding an e-scooter on a public road or pavement is illegal in the UK, unless as part of a designated trial. He doesn’t drive but has been told he faces six points on his provisional licence in addition to the fine.

 

 

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