Kwasi Kwarteng told representatives of a fake South Korean firm that he could introduce them to Boris Johnson – the “best campaigner you will ever see” – in the hope of securing a £10,000-a-day second job.
Kwarteng also indicated that Conservative whips would allow him to skip his parliamentary duties in order to further the interests of the fake firm, after apparently being duped by the campaign group Led By Donkeys.
The former chancellor was one of four Conservative MPs filmed in their parliamentary offices attending a preliminary meeting held on behalf of the firm with a view to securing paid work alongside their £84,000-a-year MP’s salary.
Boasting of his political career, Kwarteng said he could introduce foreign businessmen working for the firm, which does not exist, to Johnson, the former prime minister.
In a Zoom call with an undercover reporter from Led By Donkeys, Kwarteng said: “I’m a senior politician, we [have] got a majority of 70, we have whips. I can work with them to make sure that … as long as the meetings don’t [go on for] a whole week, I’m sure I can make that work.”
Describing Johnson as a huge asset, the former chancellor said he could not promise a meeting between Johnson and the fake firm, but added: “He’s someone I know, he’s a great guy.”
Questioned on whether he would be able to balance his role as an MP with flying around the world to attend board meetings, Kwarteng said: “I can do that. I’m very flexible. I would say [in] my generation in the UK, there are very few people who had the breadth of experience I’ve had across business and politics at this level.”
A source close to Johnson said he was not made aware of the conversation between Kwarteng and the fake businessman and no contact was made with him. The source added that he had never authorised anyone to act on his behalf in this way.
The former health secretary Matt Hancock also agreed to work for £10,000, while Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee, said a rate of about £6,000 a day “feels about right” and that any payments would be on a public register.
A fourth MP who was approached, the former minister Stephen Hammond, said this weekend he considered he had been the victim of a “scam”. He said he thought he was engaged in a preliminary discussion with a company but “it turns out this company was fake, with a fake website”.
Hancock’s spokesperson said he had acted “entirely properly” and criticised what he described as the “illegal publication of a private conversation”.
Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow leader of the Commons, called on Rishi Sunak to remove the whip from the Tories caught up in the sting.
The senior politicians have complied with all relevant rules and referred to their obligation to their constituents during preliminary meetings.
The levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, called on MPs to “reflect” on the sting operation, saying elected officials needed to ensure they were doing “everything they can to put public service first”, but he insisted they were acting “within the rules”.
Led By Donkeys said it created the company, called Hanseong Consulting, setting up a website that included fabricated testimonials and paying for a “fake virtual office” in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
The group said that after consulting the register of interests, it approached 20 MPs from different parties asking if they would join the phoney firm’s international advisory board.
The shadow culture secretary, Lucy Powell, said she was “pretty appalled and sickened” by the revelations. Labour has pledged to ban MPs from having second jobs, and Powell said MPs should be “fully focused” on helping constituents rather than “pursuing other commercial ends”.
A major incident has been declared after a leak from an oil field in Dorset.
The leak has come from the Wytch Farm facility in the Purbecks which is one of the largest onshore oil fields in Europe.
Philip Broadhead, the leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, has said oil has escaped into the water and surrounding area.
Mr Broadhead added in a statement: "As leader of the council I will, along with the senior council team, be working to see what implications this leak may have and what action we may need to take.
"It is of course extremely disappointing to hear of this event, and while there will be a time later for anger and investigation, our focus now must be on ensuring we can mitigate any impacts of this situation."
Sir Robert Syms, the Conservative MP for Poole, has said he has requested the House of Commons speaker to grant an urgent question on the incident tomorrow.
Image:The leak has affected water and the surrounding area. Pic: Chris Miller
The UK Health Security Agency in the South West has said members of the public should not swim in Poole Harbour or the surrounding area until further notice.
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Their statement continues: "Anyone who has come into contact with the spill should wash immediately with soap and water.
"If eyes have come into contact with the spill, they should be rinsed with water."
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Dorset Police has said the incident is being "overseen by a number of local agencies".
Their statement continues: "Please follow the advice not to swim in Poole Harbour or the surrounding area until further notice."
The Wytch Farm facility, taken over by Perenco in 2011, was previously operated by BP.
Shortly after noon on 15 September 1984, a young, smartly dressed man walked into the Grand hotel at Brighton and asked for a room facing the sea. The receptionist offered number 629, on the sixth floor. The guest paid £180 cash for three nights. On the registration card, he gave his nationality as English, his address as Braxfield Road, London, and his name as Roy Walsh. Thus was born one of the great riddles of the Troubles.
Nearly four weeks later, at 2.54am on 12 October, the guest’s purpose was revealed when a bomb in room 629 exploded. It obliterated adjoining rooms and unleashed a blast wave that shredded the roof. A five-tonne chimney stack crashed down into the rooms below, sweeping all away in its path.
The IRA had hoped to kill the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and to wipe out her cabinet on the last night of the Conservative party conference. She survived – the lethal avalanche just missed her suite. Five people died and 34 were injured, including Norman Tebbit and his wife, Margaret.
The most audacious attack on the British state since the 1605 gunpowder plot triggered a vast manhunt that led eight months later to the dramatic capture of the bomber, Patrick Magee. He was convicted and jailed for life.
An enigma remained. Why did Magee use the pseudonym Roy Walsh? Walsh was a well-known fellow member of the Provisional IRA. This had been the most painstaking operation in the IRA’s history, years in the planning, little left to chance. Yet Magee’s choice of pseudonym had imperilled everything. It gave police a clue that could have led to the bomb’s detection.
The probable rationale for Magee’s extraordinary action threads together Irish republican history, IRA psychology and the Good Friday agreement. It is the IRA version of Rosebud, the word that unlocks the mystery in the film Citizen Kane. Only now, as the UK prepares to mark 10 years since Thatcher’s death, and 25 years since the peace agreement, has the story emerged.
When, for a Guardian article in 2021, I asked Magee about the pseudonym, he said there was no hidden significance – it was a last-minute random choice. This is implausible. The IRA had stalked Thatcher since the 1981 hunger strikes. Brighton was a one-off opportunity that followed elaborate planning: scouts had surveilled previous party conferences and a construction engineer had inspected the Grand’s architecture.
Magee was an experienced bomber – a meticulous “operator” in IRA parlance – and could do a convincing English accent. Yet his choice of pseudonym risked it all because there was the real Roy Walsh – a fellow Provo from Belfast well known to English authorities. Walsh had been caught with the rest of an IRA team in 1973 after setting off two car bombs in London.
By 1984, Walsh had spent 11 years in English prisons, waging a dogged, often lonely, rebellion against his captors – another front in IRA resistance. He led protests, challenged guards, got into fights, tried to escape, leading to punishment blocks and solitary confinement. The Andersonstown News in Belfast interviewed his family, which complained of mistreatment during visits.
To this day, former IRA members debate whether Magee turned the attempted assassination of the Iron Lady into a homage to Walsh. Both were members of the England Department, the elite IRA unit charged with exporting the war across the Irish Sea. Such operations had a long republican lineage, starting with a wheelbarrow of explosives outside London’s Clerkenwell prison in 1867, followed by Fenian dynamiters in the 1880s.
The armed struggle sought legitimacy in continuity – a torch of resistance passed from generation to generation. For his own pseudonym in 1973, Walsh had chosen Tom Clarke, the name of a well-known Fenian who had bombed Victorian London.
In using the name Roy Walsh, Magee linked himself and the Brighton attack to a venerable, secret brotherhood dedicated to ending British rule on the island of Ireland. The choice could also be viewed as a taunt to the police who would hunt him. But it risked exposing the plot. The security services knew that the IRA had sophisticated timers that could detonate bombs planted weeks in advance of a VIP visit. A sweep of the Grand before the Conservative conference could have included a review of previous guests – and piqued curiosity at the one that shared the name of a jailed IRA bomber. It was a small, needless risk.
“For some extraordinary reason, he chose the name of one of the London bombers,” Michael Hayes, an IRA planner who dispatched Magee to Brighton, told me. “I could never come to terms with that. I called him an idiot.”
But Magee got away with it. The IRA had kept the operation tight. Intelligence agencies had no idea what was coming. Sussex police made just a cursory search of the Grand. Their fear was not a ticking bomb but striking miners storming the conference. The security lapses were a failure of imagination – nobody since Guy Fawkes had tried to blow up the government.
Thatcher was in the Napoleon suite on the first floor, five floors beneath room 629. Had she been in her bathroom, which was badly damaged, she would almost certainly have been killed, or at least seriously injured . She was in the lounge, still working. Even there, she might have died. But for a quirk of geometry, the cascade of masonry could have crashed through the ceiling.
The sight of bloodied, dust-caked Tories stumbling out of the ruins shocked Britain and the world. Hours later, Thatcher gave a defiant speech – she insisted the conference proceed – that, even her critics lauded. It was her finest moment.
Police extracted registration cards from the rubble and focused on guests who had stayed in sixth-floor rooms. When detectives visited Braxfield Road, nobody had heard of Roy Walsh. The investigation pivoted to uncovering the identity of room 629’s mystery occupant. On the assumption the bomber had some form of ID to back up the pseudonym, detectives trawled the passport office, driver licensing offices and registers of births, deaths and marriages, racking up multiple Roy Walshes, all of whom were checked and eliminated. There was an appeal on BBC TV’s Crimewatch for information about the guest known as Roy Walsh.
The public appeal jolted the real Roy Walsh, who was in Wandsworth prison. He had had no advance knowledge of the Brighton attack and heard about it on the news. That police were hunting a suspect with his name baffled Walsh – and worried his guards. Was it a coincidence, some sort of message, a threat? The prisoner seized the opportunity for leverage. “I played on it a wee bit with the screws: ‘Fuck about with me, I’ll get you done.’ And they backed off.”
Scotland Yard eventually matched a print on the registration card with one in their file on Patrick Magee. In June 1985, Scottish detectives stormed an apartment in Glasgow and arrested Magee and four other IRA members who were planning a bombing blitz in England. He was convicted and sentenced to eight life terms, with a recommendation that he serve at least 35 years.
In November 1985, Thatcher signed the Anglo-Irish agreement, a landmark treaty that gave Dublin a limited role in Northern Ireland. It helped pave the way to the peace process that culminated in the 1998 Good Friday agreement. Under its terms, paramilitary prisoners were to be freed.
The following year Magee walked out of the Maze prison having served 14 years. In one of the ironies of the Troubles, the woman he had tried to kill inadvertently helped his early release.
There is a coda to the story. After his release, Magee encountered a crumpled-looking figure on the Falls Road in Belfast selling raffle tickets for ex-prisoners.
“Pat!” the man called out. It was Roy Walsh. “Pat,” he repeated, “give me a pound.”
It was a surreal encounter. The men recognised but barely knew each other. Magee handed over a pound and Walsh gave him a ticket. Asked what name to put on the stub, Magee replied: “Care of Roy Walsh?”
Walsh did not ask about the pseudonym at Brighton, and Magee did not volunteer an explanation, in keeping with IRA operational etiquette.
To this day, Walsh says he does not know why Magee used his name. He jokingly refers to Magee as “Pat the Imposter”.
Killing Thatcher: the IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown, by Rory Carroll (Mudlark, £25) is published in hardback on 4 April. It will be published on the same day in the US under the title There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA and Two Minutes That Changed History (Putnam, $29)
Each week we share tributes from family and friends for lost loved ones who have passed away across Nottinghamshire. Every notice remains online forever, providing a safe space online for people to look back on and remember.
Announcing the passing of a loved one in local news media is a long-standing tradition, with every notice published to our newspaper and news site also appearing on funeral-notices.co.uk - the UK’s number one site for death notices. To read the latest announcements and add tributes to those from our area who have passed away, click here.
Joyce Amy DONN
Joyce Amy Donn
It is with much heartbreak and sadness we announce the passing of Joyce Amy Donn who passed away on the 09/03/2023 at the Queens medical centre Nottingham aged 91. Wife to the late Alan Donn and Mother to David and Lucy and to the late Michael and Jonathan. Those who wish to celebrate her life are invited to attend her funeral at Bramcote crematorium on Friday the 28th of April at 10am. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to The leprosy mission.
George MITCHELL
George Mitchell
Aged 87 of Arnold passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Monday 27th February 2023 at the QMC Hospital. Devoted husband to Pam, dearly loved father to Steve, Rob, Tony and Kay. Dearly loved father-in-law to Steph, Alison and Julie. Treasured grandfather to Samantha, Chelsea, James, Tim, Joe, Ollie and Danny. Treasured great-grandfather to Eliza, Teddy and Tommy. The funeral service will take place at Wilford Hill Crematorium on Tuesday 25th April 2023 at 1.00pm followed by a celebration of George's life at the Arnold Liberal Club from 2.30pm onwards. Please send all floral tributes to Arnold Co-op Funeralcare, 36 High Street, Arnold, Nottingham, NG5 7DZ. Tel: 0115 920 0150 Donations if so desired will be gratefully received for the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research.
Hugh MCCONNACHIE
Hugh McConnachie
(Jock) Passed away peacefully on March 14th 2023 with family members at the family home, aged 88 years. He will be sadly missed by his loving wife Brenda, the four children Peter, Lynda, Diane & David, the grandchildren, and all of the extended family. The service will be held at the main chapel at the Wilford Hill Crematorium on 28th March 2023 at 3pm. Flowers from immediate family only please. Donations to the Red Cross and Dementia Society may be sent care of Albert Oliver & Sons 45 Easthorpe Street Ruddington NG11 6LB 0115 921 1075 www.lymn.co.uk
Attilio PALMA
Attilio Palma
Passed away at home on 4th March 2023 aged 87 years. The funeral service will be held at Sacred Heart Church, Carlton Hill, on Thursday 30th March 2023 at 10.00 a.m. followed by burial at Carlton Cemetery. All friends will be welcome. All charity donations can be made to 'Shout at Cancer' (this is a charity to help people after laryngectomy - surgical removal of voicebox) and be sent c/o Harrod House Church Street Carlton NG4 1BJ 0115 961 6180 www.lymn.co.uk
Sandra PEDRICK
Sandra Pedrick
Sandy It is with deepest sympathy that we announce the passing of Sandra ‘Sandy’ Pedrick (Nee Wragg, Bush, Nicholson, Lamont) on Tuesday 7th March after a long illness. Her funeral is to take place at North Newbald Village Hall, North Newbald, York YO43 4SL on Monday 27th March at 11:30 am followed by refreshments at The Tiger Inn North Newbald at 12:30pm. No flowers, just a donation to the wonderful staff at Castle Hill Queen’s Centre Oncology Unit, Castle Hill, Cottingham via WISHH. No black wear on request of Sandy as she wanted this to be a bright occasion. All welcome to celebrate the life of an amazing sister, mother and nan who is sadly missed by her loved ones.
Geoffrey HUDSON
Of Retford Passed Away on 24th February 2023 aged 89. Funeral Service to take place on Wednesday 29th March at 3pm at Babworth Crematorium. Donations in lieu of flowers to Macmillan Cancer Support. All enquiries to Co-op Funeralcare, Retford 01777 708870 Co-op Funeralcare Retford
Colin Michael LIPSON
Passed peacefully away aged 81 at the Queen's Medical Centre on 14th March surrounded by family. Loving husband of Carole, father of Mark and Jane, grandchildren Ashley, Charlotte and Hollie, great-grandchildren Oliver and Halle-Daisy and extended family. Many thanks to the hospital staff. Funeral arrangements yet to be confirmed.
John David COTTERELL
Sadly passed away on 20th February 2023, aged 85 years. Loving dad of Kevin, David, Darren and grandad to Jonathon. Funeral service and cremation to be held at Wilford Hill Crematorium on Tuesday 4th April at 4.00pm. Floral tributes, or donations in memory of John will be accepted to the Dogs Trust. Any enquiries The Co-op Funeralcare 605 Mansfield Road, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 2FW. Tel. 0115 9626403
Jane Cecily ABBOTT
(Cecily) Passed away 13th March 2023 aged 92 years A Graveside service is to be held at Redhill Cemetery, Tuesday 28th March at 1.00pm. Floral tributes in memory of Cecily may be sent care of A W Lymn St. Albans House 32 High Street Arnold NG5 7DZ 0115 967 6777 www.lymn.co.uk
Susan SIMPSON
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Susan, who died peacefully at home on Thursday 9th March 2023 with her husband Alan and family by her side. Susan was an exceptional lady, leaving a tremendous legacy in her children Laura, Sarah, James, Stewart, Liz, stepchildren Louise and Chris, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She will be sadly missed by all her family and friends, and affectionately remembered by customers from her business Flowers by Susan. A cremation will be held at Wilford Hill Crematorium on Monday 3rd April at 12 noon. The service will be live streamed via the details below. watch.obitus.com Username: weme5303 Password: 261043 Susan wished to have a celebration of her life and preferred that the traditional mourning colours not be worn. We request family flowers only. Donations in lieu are welcome for the Macmillan Nurses and Nottinghamshire Hospice which may be sent care of Rutland House 128 Melton Road West Bridgford Nottingham NG2 6EP 0115 969 6006 www.lymn.co.uk
Leonard John MORRELL
(Len) Peacefully passed away on 23rd February aged 72 years. Len was a much loved friend to many. Burial will take place at Ruddington Cemetery on Thursday 30th March at 10.30am followed by a Service at Kingdom Hall, Greencroft, Clifton at 11.15am. All flowers welcome or donations for the Worldwide Work may be sent to the Kingdom Hall. Chaworth House 24 Varney Road Clifton NG11 8EX 0115 945 6232 www.lymn.co.uk
Derrick Alfred LACEY
Derrick passed away suddenly at his home on the 23rd February 2023. Beloved brother to Pat, the late Bill, Tom and sister Audrey. Derrick will be sadly missed by all his friends and family. The service will be held at Babworth Crematorium on Tuesday 11th April at 11am. Family flowers only please, however donations in memory of Derrick to Bassetlaw Hospice if desired. Any further enquiries to E.Hurton & Son, 73 Grove Street, Retford, Notts, DN22 6LA. Tel 01777 703502
Anthony John IRWIN
(Tony) Sadly passed away on the 8th March, aged 89 years. Loving Husband to Lynette. Adored Father to Karen. Tony will be missed by all that knew him. Funeral service will be held on the 17th April at 14:00 at St James Church Normanton On Soar. Followed by interment in the cemetery. Donations if desired to Red Cross, Hospice At Home, Leukaemia All enquiries to: Swanns Funeral Service 4 Bridge Street Loughborough LE11 1NQ 01509263032
Catherine BURROWS
(Rolfe) Passed away suddenly at home on 8th March 2023, aged 84 years. Will be sadly missed by daughters Ondre and Danita, son Richard, son-in-law Jason, daughter-in-law Erica, and grandchildren Jack, Eve, Jude, William and Leo. Funeral service to be held at Wilford Hill Crematorium - Main Chapel on Tuesday 18th April at 4pm. No flowers please. Donations if desired to 'The Salvation Army' may be left at the service
Linda Lillian SHEPPARD
A beloved Wife, Mum, Nan, and Friend, who will be greatly missed by all. Passed away peacefully on 7th March 2023, aged 75. Funeral Service to take place on Wednesday 5th April, 10.00am at All Saints Church, Rampton. Donations to church funds in Linda's memory. All funeral enquiries to Co-op Funeralcare, Spa Common, Retford Tel 01777 708870
Malcolm SCOTT
Passed away peacefully on 8th March in Greenacres Grange Care Home. Husband of the late Kathleen, father to Simon and Emma.
Marion Elizabeth PARNHAM
Sadly passed away on Tuesday 28th February at Nottingham City Hospital, aged 83. Funeral Service shall take place at Gedling Crematorium on Thursday 30th March at 11am. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Dementia UK on the day. For any enquiries please contact Baguley Brothers Funeral Directors, 500 Mansfield Road, Sherwood, Nottingham, NG5 2FB. Tel:0115 9605197
Elizabeth May FEARN
Passed away peacefully on 27th February2023 Widow of George, Mother to Roger and Philip, Mum in law to Yvonne and Jackie, Grandma to Gareth, James, Georgina, Thomas, Alexander and Jennifer, Great Grandma to Jacob. Funeral service Wilford Hill on Thursday 30th March at 2:00 pm Family flowers only. Donations in lieu to Royal British Legion may be sent care of Albert Oliver & Sons 45 Easthorpe Street Ruddington NG11 6LB 0115 921 1075 www.lymn.co.uk
Jean ALLSOP
Peacefully passed away on 11th March 2023 aged 82 years. Loving wife to the late Les, mum to Paul and Joann, mother-in-law to Sarah and William and granny to Caius and Amarris. Jean will be sadly missed by all those who knew and loved her. Funeral Service Monday 27th March at 11.00am, Main Chapel, Wilford Hill Crematorium. Family flowers only please by request. Donations if desired to the Stroke Association may be sent care of: Chaworth House 24 Varney Road Clifton NG11 8EX 0115 945 6232 www.lymn.co.uk
Pauline Rita SQUIRES
From Bestwood Park Passed away surrounded by her family on Thursday 2nd March at the QMC Hospital, aged 83 years. A devoted wife to Brian, a dearly loved mother to Joanne, Wendy and Steven, a mother-in-law to Keith, Kay and Eian, a treasured grandmother to Katherine, Charlotte, Emily, Freya and Leon, a great-grandma to Keelan, Isaac, Sophie, Emily, Ella and Jude. Burial to take place at Tithe Green, Calverton on Tuesday 18th April at 1 o'clock. Donations if so desired will be greatly received for the King's College Neonatal Unit. All further enquiries to Arnold Co-op Funeralcare, 36, High Street, Arnold, NG5 7DZ. Tel: 0115 920 0150
Barbara ROE
Passed away peacefully at Alexandra House Nursing home in Eastwood on 18th March 2023, aged 92 years. Will be missed by her children Rob and Sue, her Daughter-in-Law Jenny, Grandaughters Gemma & Deanna and Great Grandson Jensen. She will be greatly missed by all her family and friends. Funeral Wednesday 5th April, service 2:30pm at Trent Valley Crematorium, Aston-on-Trent. Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu will support the RSPCA (Derby & District) and may be left at the service or given online at www.wathalls.co.uk Enquiries to Wathall's Telephone: 01332 504027
Joyce Edith Lilian RIGBY
Passed away 14th March 2023 Aged 92 years Will be sadly missed by loving daughter Julie, grandchildren Mark, Tara, Liam, Mia, Jerran, Asiah and great grandchildren Callam, Inga, Sienna and Alesha. Be at rest mum. Funeral service to be held on Friday 21st April, St Paul's Church Daybrook at 1.00pm followed by committal at Southern Cemetery. Floral tributes or donations in memory of Joyce for The British Red Cross and Cancer Research may be sent care of St. Albans House 32 High Street Arnold NG5 7DZ 0115 967 6777 www.lymn.co.uk
Jennifer Joan MORRIS
(Jenny) Sadly passed away on 7th of March 2023, aged 77years. Jenny will be missed by all her family and friends. The funeral will take place at Rushcliffe Oaks Crematorium on Tuesday 4th of April at 1.15pm. Family Flowers by request, but donations may be made in lieu to Shelford Church for the restoration of the Bell Tower may be sent courtesy of Radcliffe & District 59 Main Road Radcliffe on Trent NG12 2BJ 0115 933 2257 www.lymn.co.uk
Neale COURT
(Naughty) Passed away peacefully at home after a long illness on 11th March 2023, aged 61. Adored husband, dad, grandad, brother, uncle, band-mate and friend; much loved and sadly missed by all who knew him. Funeral service will take place at Tithe Green Burial Ground, Calverton, NG14 6NZ, on 20th April at 2pm. Family flowers only please. Donations can be made on the day, if desired, to Maggie's Cancer Support. All enquiries can be made via: Co op Funeralcare 27 Plains Rd Mapperley Notts NG3 5LG 01159692885
Carole WIDDOWSON
Passed away peacefully, surrounded by family at Little Acres Care Home aged 69 years. A dear sister, sister in-law, aunt and beloved friend. Funeral service to take place at Wilford Hill Crematorium on 24/04/23 at 10am. Family flowers only please. Donations, if so desired, will be gratefully received for the Alzheimer's Society. Carole will be loved and remembered everyday and will be so sadly missed. All enquiries c/o Co-op Funeralcare 363-365 Aspley Lane Aspley Nottingham NG8 5RR
William John ROBINSON
Passed away on the 14th of March 2023 aged 89 years. Funeral service at Southwell Minster on the 11th of April 2023 at 1.30pm. Family flowers only, donations if desired to Cancer Research UK care of D. J. Hall Funeral Directors 62, King St, Southwell, Notts. NG25 0EN. Telephone: 01636 812481
Kenneth William HALLETT
(Of Wigston) Dearly loved husband of the late Monica, loving father of Lesley & Ian, very dear father in law of Darren & Cheryl, Grandpa of Christopher & Claire and great Grandpa of Oliver & Jake. Passed peacefully away on Monday 13th March 2023, aged 90 years. Funeral service at South Leicester Crematorium on Wednesday 12th April at 11am. Please wear bright clothing. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, may be made payable to Cure Parkinson's and sent c/o A.J. Adkinson & Son 12 London Road, Oadby, Leicester LE2 5DG or made online at www.ajadkinsonandson.com Tel: 0116 2712340 (24 hours)
Marjorie BRADLEY
Marjorie passed away peacefully at Bassetlaw District Hospital with her family by her side. Dear Mum to Jane and Kathryn. Mother-in-law to Alan and Kevin. Beloved Grandma of Richard and Helen. Great Grandma of five. Marjorie was dearly loved and will be sadly missed by both family and friends. The service will take place at Babworth Crematorium on Friday 31st March at 3pm. Family flowers only please but donations in Marjorie's memory to Arthritis Action if desired. Any further enquiries please contact E. Hurton & Son, 73 Grove St, Retford, Notts, DN22 6LA. Tel 01777 703502.
Nitrous oxide is set to be banned under government plans to clamp down on anti-social behaviour.
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove made the announcement this morning on the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.
"Antisocial behaviour can ruin lives," he said.
Confirming the ban on laughing gas, Mr Gove said: "I think anyone who has the opportunity to walk through our parks in our major cities will have seen these little silver canisters, which are examples of people not only spoiling public spaces but taking a drug which can have a psychological and neurological effect and one that contributes to antisocial behaviour overall."
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is the second most commonly used drug among 16 to 24-year-olds in England after cannabis and there are concerns about health problems caused by its usage.
Aninvestigation by Sky News revealed there had been a spike in hospital admissions caused by people using the party drug.
The independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) was asked by the Home Office in 2021 to provide advice on whether to make possession of nitrous oxide a crime.
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The ACMD concluded that the sanctions of offences under the act would be disproportionate with the level of harm associated with the substance, and that such control could create "significant burdens" for legitimate uses of the substance.
But Mr Gove said that ministers were ultimately responsible for making decisions, adding: " We believe collectively that it is absolutely vital that we deal with this scourge."
The Cabinet minister confirmed that the ban would be issued under the Misuse of Drugs Act 197 but did not know which class - A, B or C - the drug would fall under.
"We can't have a situation, we mustn't have a situation where our drugs, our public spaces become drug taking arenas and that is why we need to do crackdown on new manifestations of drug taking.
"These laughing gas canisters are an increasing scourge, and one that has been reported to me as a constituency MP."
People convicted of anti-social behaviour will be ordered to repair the damage they have caused within two days of being told their punishment, under new plans.
Where possible, low-level offenders will be cleaning up the mess they created but if this is not possible - if it has already been cleaned up, for example - they will be given other ways to help their community.
This could include picking up litter, washing police cars or volunteering in shops.
The scheme will be piloted in 10 areas before a rollout across England and Wales next year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce on Monday.
Labour's shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell backed the plans to ban laughing gas, telling Sophy Ridge: "I think we want to see it banned as well because I think it does cause a huge amount of littering of disruption and of anti-social behaviour challenges as well."
She said anti-social behaviour was "probably the number one issue" her constituents in Manchester raised with her on the doorstep.
"They feel that they don't have the police on the beat that they can turn to," she said, adding that Labour would bring in an extra 13,000 neighbourhood police officers if it wins power.
People who vandalise public spaces will have to repair the damage they cause within 48 hours of being given an order, under new government plans.
Communities will also have a say on how offenders are punished, No 10 said.
The pilot, covering 10 areas, aims to show the public such acts are "quickly and visibly" punished.
But Labour accused the government of "slashing" neighbourhood policing and trying to copying their plan on "tough community payback".
The pilot forms part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce on Monday.
Mr Sunak hopes the measures will stamp out the scourge of anti-social behaviour "once and for all".
The new plans will see police and crime commissioners (PCCs) given funding to ensure people responsible for offences such as graffiti and vandalism start repair work as soon as possible.
Offenders will be made to wear jumpsuits or hi-vis jackets and work under supervision so that they are visible to members of the public, to assure them "justice is being done".
In cases where damage has already been cleaned up, they will be assigned other tasks which benefit their local area, such as litter picking or volunteering in shops.
Further detail on where the pilots will take place and how much it will cost is expected to be set out in the coming days.
It will be rolled out across England and Wales in 2024.
The report, published earlier this week, said London no longer has a functioning neighbourhood policing service, such teams have been "decimated" and the force has become "less connected and less accountable".
'Eroding safety'
Ahead of the plan being published, Mr Sunak said: "For too long, people have put up with the scourge of anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhoods.
"These are not minor crimes. They disrupt people's daily lives, hold businesses back and erode the sense of safety and community that brings people together.
"That's why I'm bringing forward a new plan to crack down on this behaviour once and for all - so that everyone can feel proud of where they live."
PA Media
The plan also sets out how the government's 'Community Payback' scheme - where offenders are sentenced by courts to do unpaid work, such as cleaning up public places - will be expanded.
The government has already said it will increase the number of hours of unpaid work offenders are given from five million to up to eight million a year.
Under a new pilot, delivered by the Probation Service working with some local authorities, teams of offenders will be rapidly deployed to clean up more urgent incidents of anti-social behaviour.
It said it will also extend offenders' involvement in campaigns such as Keep Britain Tidy's annual Great British Spring Clean.
Last year 1,500 offenders spent almost 10,000 hours on 300 community clean-up projects across the campaign.
The government aims to double this in 2023.
Last month, Labour said its plans to tackle anti-social behaviour included fly-tippers being forced to remove litter as part of "clean-up squads", and councils being able to make offenders remove graffiti or rubbish they had dumped.
Responding to the government's latest plans, shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said: "The Conservatives have let anti-social behaviour make people's lives a misery by slashing neighbourhood police and letting offenders get away without punishment.
"They have been content to oversee crumbling frontline services meaning these crimes are now plaguing communities, blighting town centres and leaving people feeling unsafe."
Mr Reed said the government was "once again following where Labour has led by trying to copy our plan on tough community payback", and that it was "embarrassing" that all the Conservatives could come up with was a pilot covering only 10 areas.
The remarks follow a speech earlier this week by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accusing the Tories of being "soft" on anti-social behaviour - "the crime that most affects working class communities".
Liz Truss has been accused of showing a “stunning lack of humility” following reports that she plans in effect to create a peer for every 10 days she spent in office.
The former prime minister is reported to have nominated at least four new members of the House of Lords, despite being forced from office after only 49 days, following a disastrous mini-budget.
The names on her resignation honours list include a Conservative donor and a former long-time aide, according to the Sun. The newspaper reported that the list included Mark Littlewood, the director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, who lavished praise on her budget – which damaged the UK’s reputation across the world and wreaked havoc on the financial markets.
At the time Littlewood said it was not “a trickle-down budget, it’s a boost-up budget”, later saying he was “pretty distraught” when Jeremy Hunt shredded the economic plans in one of the most astonishing U-turns in modern political history.
Truss also reportedly wants to give peerages to Matthew Elliott, the former Vote Leave chief executive who helped found the TaxPayers’ Alliance group, which campaigns for lower taxes. Ruth Porter, her former deputy chief of staff, and Jon Moynihan, a Conservative donor and businessman, are also thought to be on the list.
The register of MPs’ financial interests shows Moynihan gave £50,000 in two separate donations to Truss’s Tory leadership campaign.
Wendy Chamberlain, the Liberal Democrats’ chief whip, described the move as “truly remarkable”, adding: “Rishi Sunak must block these honours immediately as allowing Truss to dish out positions of influence shows a stunning lack of humility.”
The deputy Labour leader, Angela Rayner, called it a “list of shame” after Truss “and her Conservative co-conspirators” had taken a “wrecking ball to the economy”.
It comes after Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list was said to include his father, prompting accusations the former prime minister had discredited the honours system.
Bill Esterson, the shadow minister for business and industry, said if Sunak approved the “so-called resignation honours lists of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson”, he would be “rewarding failure”, tweeting: “Remember he [Sunak] was Johnson’s chancellor, and it was 13 years of Conservative government, not just the 49 days of Truss/Kwarteng, that crashed the economy.”
Since Truss left office, there have been rumours about the names on her potential list and suggestions that she may want to elevate her close friend and pick for chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, whom she sacked over the mini-budget fiasco. Friends of Kwarteng have denied that he would want a peerage, saying that he wants to remain an MP.
