Exclusive: David Dinsmore to advise ministers as they step up efforts to combat far-right rhetoric online Keir Starmer’s Whitehall communications chief will address the cabinet on overhauling the government’s media strategy on Tuesday as ministers increasingly try to combat far-right rhetoric online. David Dinsmore, a former editor of the Sun who was appointed permanent secretary for government communications in November, will speak to ministers about modernising the way they reach voters. Continue reading...

Lisa Nandy will have to assess deal after formal request from the seller, Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI * Business live – latest updates The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, is to consider whether to trigger an investigation into the £500m takeover of the Telegraph titles by the owner of the Daily Mail, after she formally received a request from the up-for-sale publisher’s Abu Dhabi-backed owner. RedBird IMI, which was forced to put the titles up for sale last spring after the government banned foreign states from owning UK newspapers, has informed Nandy that it wants to transfer its right-to-buy option to Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT). Continue reading...

The PM’s social media sortie has not been a total embarrassment, which may be a shame for him

Bridget Phillipson says £3bn scheme focussed on local state schools will ‘transform lives’, after rise in parent appeals The government is to invest £3bn in creating bespoke places within local state schools for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), a crucial part of its efforts to grapple with England’s rising numbers of children facing social and mental health problems. The plan announced by Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, to create up to 60,000 places within mainstream schools, will be partly funded by the suspension of a group of planned free schools, saving an estimated £600m in the coming years. The remaining £2.4bn will come from departmental spending outlined in November’s budget. Continue reading...

Agency says missile struck citizens in Khan Younis, as Israel reports targeting ‘Hamas terrorist’ after clash with militants An Israeli strike on Palestinian territory has killed five people including two children, Gaza’s civil defence agency told AFP on Wednesday. “Five citizens, including two children, killed and others injured, some seriously, as a result of an Israeli missile strike” in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP. Continue reading...

Pew Charitable Trusts finds plastic pollution will more than double globally by 2040 unless action taken The 66m tonnes of pollution from plastic packaging that enters the global environment each year could be almost eliminated by 2040 primarily by reuse and return schemes, significant new research reveals. In the most wide-ranging analysis of the global plastic system, the Pew Charitable Trusts, in collaboration with academics including at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, said plastic, a material once called revolutionary and modern, was now putting public health, world economies and the future of the planet at risk. Continue reading...

Judge last week’s budget in the light of our bold plans to sweep away red tape, tackle inactivity among young people and pursue a closer trading relationship with the EU, says prime minister Keir Starmer

The NGO’s chief says last month’s ceasefire ‘risks creating a dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal’ Amnesty International has said Israel is “still committing genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire agreed last month. The fragile, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect on 10 October, after two years of war. Continue reading...

Rail fares frozen for the first time in 30 years in historic intervention to deliver real savings for millions of commuters.

Second pandemic report focuses on decision-making, organisation and messaging by senior politicians including Boris Johnson