INVASION STRIPES PAINTED ON RUSSIAN TANKS

The MIRROR reports that Russian forces massing on Ukraine’s border have daubed assault vehicles with ominous “invasion stripes,” heightening fears of all-out war breaking out.  The Daily Mirror can also exclusively reveal that Russia will soon have a staggering assault force of 107,000 troops amassed at Ukraine’s border. It is far more than previously thought and emerged in documents leaked to the Mirror which include shocking details on the Russian firepower involved. Ukrainian military estimates of the advancing force include 1,300 battle tanks, 3,700 drones, 1,300 artillery and mortar units and 380 multiple launch rocket systems. The shocking numbers of troops alone represents at least 35,000 more Russian frontline troops more than the entire British Army following defence cuts. Yesterday in Astrakhan, 350 miles from the frontline, Russian BTR 80 armoured vehicles painted with invasion stripes were spotted heading in convoy to the railway station. The appearance of these markings has escalated alarm amongst military experts who have drawn attention to similar stripes on tanks used by the Soviet Army during then 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. The stripes help identify vehicles to friendly forces.

NOT ALL IN  IT TOGETHER THEN

The Daily Mail reports that violence and abuse towards shop workers is  endemic and has worsened since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, MPs have heard. Almost nine in ten retail staff have said they suffered verbal abuse in the last year, with 60 per cent having reported threats of physical violence, and 9 per cent said they had been physically assaulted.  The shocking figures came from a survey of 2,700 workers by the retail industry’s trade union Usdaw.

BREACH OF HUMAN RIGHTS  PRITI PATEL HELD ACCOUNTABLE

The Guardian reports that a  landmark court ruling has held the home secretary, Priti Patel, accountable for failures in ensuring that deaths in immigration detention centres are properly investigated. Two judges in the immigration court ruled on Wednesday that three of the home secretary’s detention policies breached human rights rules and that she could not frustrate or undermine inquiries into these deaths. The ruling relates to two friends, Ahmed Lawal and Oscar Lucky Okwurime, both from Nigeria, who were in Harmondsworth immigration removal centre when Okwurime was found dead in his cell there on 12 September 2019.  Lawal proved to be a key witness, but the Home Office tried to deport him five days after the death before he could provide any evidence.The judges found that the home secretary’s decision to remove Lawal to Nigeria was unlawful as she had failed to take reasonable steps to secure his evidence relating to Okwurime’s death before starting removal proceedings. A replacement policy in August 2020 was also found to be unlawful as it failed to identify and take steps to secure the evidence of those who may have relevant information about a death in detention.

LABOUR CLAIMS SLEAZE AT THE HEART OF GOVERNMENT

The Guardian reports that Tory MPs have voted en masse to block a broader inquiry into the Greensill scandal as Labour claimed there was now evidence of sleaze at the heart of government.The opposition day motion in the Commons, which would have created a cross-party committee of MPs to look into Greensill and wider issues of lobbying, was defeated by 357 votes to 262, after the government opposed the plan. The Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith told MPs that much of the planned work of the proposed Labour inquiry was already being done elsewhere, “sowing confusion” and risking duplication.

TAX RAID ON OVERPAID UNIVERSAL CREDIT PAYMENTS

The Mirror reports that thousands of Universal Credit claimants have been issued bills for overpayments almost two decades ago in a tax raid on the country’s poorest families by HMRC. The tax-authority is cutting payments for more than 50,000 Universal Credit households a week in a raid linked to historical working tax credits. Between April and November last year it cut £63million from claimants’ payments because they were overpaid – despite extending the £20 uplift described as a ‘lifeline’ for the poorest families when it was first introduced at the start of the pandemic. HMRC’s tax credit system has identified millions of claimants who were overpaid since 2003. Many have subsequently faced demands for thousands of pounds in repayments despite the pandemic.

COVID NOWHERE NEAR FINISHED

The SUN reports that COVID’S grip on the world is nowhere near finished as super variants are spawning a “tsunami” of new cases, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) has warned. Its special envoy, Dr David Nabarro, said the UK is bucking the trend with falling cases and deaths while in most parts of the world coronavirus is “surging forward”. He warned: The pandemic is nowhere near finished, each week we have seen four and a half million cases being reported and know those are an enormous underestimate. We are still seeing a really significant number of deaths – nearly three million.”

REVEL NOW PAY LATER

The Evening Standard reports that a top scientific adviser today said he was concerned by the scenes of London revellers enjoying the easing of lockdown– warning that it could push up infection rates. Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said that every time the country lifts lockdown it pushes infection rates up. He also suggested the Prime Minister was also concerned about the scenes in London of people enjoying the relaxation of measures. It comes after Boris Johnson said that the fall in Covid-19 cases was not due to the vaccine roll-out programme but mainly down to the country’s national lockdown.

NO TEACHING FRUSTRATES UNI STUDENTS

The Independent reports that university students have been left frustrated after learning their face-to-face classes will not resume before the middle of next month, with some saying their teaching will have already finished by then.The government has said a full return to campus and in-person teaching will happen no earlier than 17 May, amid restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic but some students have told  The Independent they do not expect to have any in-person teaching now before the academic year, following months of online classes.

DENMARK STOPS ALL ASTRAZENECA JABS

The SUN reports Denmark  has become the first country to entirely cease administering AstraZeneca’s jab following its possible link to extremely rare cases of blood clots. This is despite recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and European medicines watchdog to continue using the vaccine — after a review gave just a 0.000095 percent chance of a clot. This development and decision by Denmark to drop AstraZeneca is set to worsen the shambolic EU vaccine rollout, which has been slammed by the World Health Organisation for being unacceptably slow.

BREXIT A DISASTER FOR FRENCH FISHING

The Express reports that France  is facing a huge Brexit crisis as 80 percent of fishermen operating from a historic port just 18.5 miles  from Britain still don’t have a licence to travel to UK waters. Boulogne-sur-mer, the first-ever fishing port in France that is located in the north of the country, employs around 6,000 people in the vital and once-lucrative fishing sector. But three months after the UK completed its departure from the European Union and the agreement on fisheries was reached between the two sides, huge swathes of French fishing boats have been forced to remain in the port.  Four in five fishermen still don’t have a licence to travel to those waters, and blamed demands from the UK placed on its fishermen as the root cause of the problem.

OUR TROOPS ARE COMING HOME

The Telegraph reports that Nato members have pledged to leave Afghanistan “together” as 750 British soldiers are set to leave the country along with American troops on September 11. After months of deliberation with no good choices, Joe Biden has decided to end America’s longest war and conduct an unconditional troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in the face of a resurgent Taliban.

STRONG SHOPPING SPREE  IN LONDON’S WEST END

The Evening Standard reports  London West End bosses said the first day after the easing of lockdown restrictions had unleashed the strongest reopening since the start of the pandemic and had far exceeded expectations. Footfall was around 55 percent of normal yesterday, one of the highest figures since the first lockdown began in March last year, beaten only by a handful of no traffic shopping days before Christmas.  Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of the New West End Company, which represents 600 businesses in Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street and Mayfair, said: Shoppers appear to be feeling ever more confident as a result of the vaccination programme.  She went on: “we’ve still a long way to go before we’re fully back on our feet and West End businesses will continue to need extra government support until international visitors return in force.”

AND FINALLY

From the Telegraph: Songbirds are staying all winter because British gardens are stuffed with so much food for them, an Oxford University study has found. While the cheerful sight of a blackcap usually heralds the end of winter, they have now stayed in some gardens year-round because of a slightly milder climate and an abundance of bird food. The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, suggests that humans are shaping the natural world through simple changes in our own back gardens. Blackcaps have enjoyed a more comfortable life in British back gardens, meaning they have established new migratory routes, and are loath to leave our shores. 

 

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