By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Published: 13:55 BST, 8 September 2026 | Updated: 16:58 BST, 8 September 2026

The Maldives today demanded talks with Andy Burnham over the future of the Chagos Islands as it renewed a sovereignty claim to the vital archipelago.

Mohamed Muizzu, the Maldives president, wrote to the Prime Minister to call for discussions over what is officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory.

He also expressed his concern about the UK Government‘s controversial attempt to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. 

Labour‘s so-called ‘surrender deal’ to cede sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius is currently in limbo following the withdrawal of American support for the agreement.

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US President Donald Trump switched his position on the UK’s handover of the Chagos Islands amid a furious spat with former PM Keir Starmer over his Iran war. 

Parliament’s ratification of the agreement has since stalled, with Mr Trump continuing to attack the ‘terrible’ deal while suggesting Mr Burnham ‘will have a look’ at it.

The Maldives today demanded talks with Andy Burnham over the future of the Chagos Islands as it renewed a sovereignty claim to the vital archipelago

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Mohamed Muizzu, the Maldives president, wrote to the Prime Minister to call for discussions over what is officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory

Under the terms of Labour’s deal with Mauritius, Britain would hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and then pay to lease back the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia 

A statement issued by Dr Muizzu’s office revealed he had invited Mr Burnham to hold talks over the Chagos Islands.

‘The President expressed the Maldives’ concerns regarding the UK’s decision to proceed with the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius,’ the statement said.

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‘The President highlighted the shared history and cultural ties between the Maldives and Chagos, as well as the Maldives’ longstanding support for major marine conservation and scientific research expeditions in the region.

‘In this regard, he reaffirmed the Maldives’ commitment to maintaining a reliable and constructive partnership with the UK on matters relating to Chagos, while safeguarding the legitimate interests of the Maldivian state and its people.

‘President Dr Muizzu reiterated the importance of meaningful dialogue between the UK and the Maldives on matters concerning the sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago.

‘He further expressed hope that renewed engagement and partnership between the two countries would contribute to stability and security in the Indian Ocean, particularly at a time of increasing global uncertainty.’

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Under the terms of Labour’s deal with Mauritius, Britain would hand the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius and then pay to lease back the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands, for 99 years.

It would see Britain pay an average of £101million a year to Mauritius over that period, totalling about £3.4billion according to the Government’s figures.

But critics have said the real cost would actually amount to £35billion and warned about handing control of the islands to Mauritius, which is seen as an ally of China.

Malé, the capital of the Maldives, is around 800 miles from Diego Garcia, while Mauritian capital Port Louis is around 1,300 miles.

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Since becoming PM in July, Mr Burnham has retained Jonathan Powell – the architect of the Chagos deal – as national security adviser.

It has prompted concerns that Mr Burnham will mount a new attempt to push the agreement through Parliament, despite the withdrawal of US support for the deal.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘We continue to speak to our counterparts in the Maldives on a regular basis about a range of issues.

‘However, the question of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is a matter for the UK and Mauritius, which is why the previous government launched negotiations with Mauritius on the issue in 2022, rather than with the Maldives.’

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A California father, 44, passed away from severe injuries days after a plane crash that killed his wife and two sons on Saturday. 

The four-seater single-engine aircraft crashed atop a bluff of the San Joaquin River, about 12 miles north of Fresno in Central California, shortly before 2pm on Saturday, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. 

Craig Eady, 44, spent three days in the hospital with critical burns and passed away on Monday, the sheriff’s office said.

His wife Danna Eady, 41, died of her injuries in hospital on the night of the crash, according to Fresno County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Tony Botti. 

Their two sons Pavel, 10, and Remus, 13, were pronounced dead at the scene.

The recreational plane, piloted by Danna, crashed shortly after takeoff from the nearby Sierra Sky Park Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently investigating the crash. An NTSB investigator was on site Sunday morning, according to a statement to the Daily Mail.

‘Several electronic devices were recovered from the plane and are being sent to NTSB headquarters for further analysis,’ the statement reads. 

The Eady’s plane crashed and started burning near the San Joaquin River in Central California

Craig Eady and his wife Danna Eady were removed from the wreckage and taken to a hospital. Their two young sons were pronounced dead at the scene

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The wreckage has been taken to a secure facility for further examination.  

The exact cause of the crash is not yet clear but is likely to be revealed in a preliminary report from the NTSB to be published up to 30 days from the crash.  

‘I would say for the number of flights that come in and out of Sierra Sky Park, this is unusual. As a whole, airplane crashes are very rare. I think we need to keep that frame of mind,’ Botti said in a video posted to the FCSO Facebook page. 

Danna Eady was a flight instructor at Reedley College, a community college in Fresno County.

Nick Wilcox, a longtime friend and flight instructor, said to abc7: ‘Danna was always just up for an adventure. So, I know she is still on an adventure right now and this is… she just loved adventure. She loved flying. She died doing what she loved.’

Daniel Armenta, a flight science student at Reedley College, added: ‘She was an amazing instructor. She taught us well. She taught us how to keep on going.’ 

The couple are survived by their two older children, Felicity, 18, and her brother Lucien, 17.

Felicity wrote in a Facebook post: ‘I will forever miss my best friends. We went on so many adventures together and truly lived life to the fullest during our time together. I love you Mom, Dad, Remus, and Pavel!’ 

Craig Eady (far left) passed away from his injuries on Monday. He was the last survivor of the plane crash which claimed four out of six members of the Eady Family

Danna Eady was piloting the single engine aircraft. She was a flying instructor at Reedley College in Fresno County

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. The wreckage of the plane was transported to a facility for further examination, according to a statement from the NTSB to the Daily Mail. 

An online fundraiser was put together for them to alleviate the many unexpected costs that come with a tragedy of this nature. So far, $65,000 has been raised towards the $250,000 goal. 

The Eady family were a part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Auberry, according to abc30. Kristin Leonard, a member of their ward, said many are finding comfort in their beliefs as they mourn, abc30 reported. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to the City of Fresno and Reedley College for comment.  

The worst affected airports are Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham.

Leeds Bradford Airport is not affected but many people living in North Yorkshire and York use Manchester Airport.

READ MORE: The Bread Bin (Harrogate) Ltd of Harrogate in liquidation

The air tracker found 352 flights to and from Heathrow were delayed out of its daily average of about 1,300.

Meanwhile, 281 Gatwick flights were delayed out of its 850 total operations average.

This was 249 out of 650 for Manchester, and 101 out of 300 for Birmingham.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was aware of the issue impacting flights and that engineers were “fixing it as we speak”.

She said: I’m aware of a technical issue impacting flights at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick.

“Technicians have identified the issue and are fixing it as we speak.

“I know this will be frustrating for passengers and I’m sorry.

“Please check with your airline for latest advice.”

Have you been affected by this widespread issue and live in North Yorkshire? Contact kevin.glenton@newsquest.co.uk if so.

She said the crash ‘ruined her life as she knew it’

A mum pushed her daughter to safety after a car crashed into her family before the driver fled the scene. The woman was walking with her young daughter, followed by her partner walking their puppy just behind in Brinkley Road, Burrough Green, near Newmarket on the evening of July 9, 2024.

When she noticed the car being driven straight at them, the mum managed to push her daughter out of the way, but she was hit by the car alongside her partner and their puppy.

Lydia White, 43, was driving on the road following a person she knew on a motorbike in front. She mounted the footpath and crashed into the family just before 10pm.

After the crash she didn’t stop and drove off, leaving the mum and her partner with serious injuries. The man was left with a fractured hip and the woman suffered a fractured arm, severe bruising and soft tissue damage, requiring skin grafts and prolonged rehabilitation.

Both were taken to hospital and the puppy was taken to the vets by an officer. The dog suffered a broken pelvis and needed thousands of pounds of specialist treatment.

The mum said the crash had “ruined her life as she knew it” and has led to her family being around £25,000 in debt due to not being able to work. She said she is now fearful to go out, feels constantly vulnerable and like a burden on her own family. She described the crash and its consequences as a never-ending nightmare.

After the crash, two people identified the driver following a police appeal for witnesses. Police were able to identify her as the suspected driver of the white Hyundai i20.

A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) was sent to White but she denied being the driver, failed to identify who was and then ignored the second notice.

However, she was caught on CCTV getting into the car about a mile before the scene of the crash and again following the motorbike just before and after the crash. Her car has never been found, but the insurance was renewed a few months later with White as the only registered driver.

White, of Grange Road, Chalfont St. Peter, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, gave no comment to all questions asked of her in three different police interviews. She later pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

She was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court today (September 1) where she was handed two years and seven months in prison, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to complete 220 hours of unpaid work, a 25-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, and has also been disqualified from driving for four years.

Sergeant Rochelle Eves, who investigated, said: “This was a horrific collision involving a young family who were simply out for an evening walk with their puppy.

“The consequences of White’s actions and how this has affected them cannot be underestimated. They were left with serious, but thankfully not life-threatening injuries.

“Incredibly bravely, the woman managed to keep her daughter safe by pushing her out the way of the car coming towards them – if she had not done so, the situation could have been so much worse.

“White’s behaviour was nothing less than shocking by fleeing the scene after causing such devastation, denying any involvement and lying to police. I hope this case shows the lengths we will go to identify drivers who flee the scene of collisions and bring them before the courts.”

LONDON (AP) — Matt Cullen’s streak of attending NFL games in London is nearing an end.

The Englishman’s run started at London’s first regular-season game in 2007, when he shrugged off steady rain to watch the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium.

But Cullen can’t bring himself to look past ticket prices and some “team fatigue.” He’s not the only one on the sidelines as London, a key international location for the NFL, gets set to host three games in October.

Most tickets historically get snapped up quickly — as they did for the Week 5 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. But the Jags vs. Houston Texans matchup at Wembley Stadium still had swaths of unsold seats over the weekend, and some tickets were still available for the Indianapolis Colts vs. Washington Commanders game Oct. 4 at Tottenham two months after going on sale to the public.

“It will just be really, really interesting what the future of the London games looks like because they’re not selling to the potential anymore that they used to,” Cullen said. “It’s a little bit around team fatigue … a lot of it’s around cost.”

The Jags-Texans (Week 6) is a Jacksonville-run game, meaning the Jags manage operations and ticketing themselves as they have done since 2022. The NFL runs the two Tottenham games.

The NFL is playing a record nine international games this season. The Australian city of Melbourne hosts for the first time when the Los Angeles Rams face the San Francisco 49ers in their season opener Friday morning Melbourne time (Thursday night in the U.S.).

The slate includes a game in Germany, Spain and France — giving fans more European choices and possibly impacting London demand.

Dori Dunai, a London-based Green Bay Packers fan, is on an NFL UK mailing list and said she has been receiving weekly emails about available Colts-Commanders tickets.

“All other years tickets were gone on the day of sale and heard nothing more of tickets,” Dunai said.

Price hikes from 2025 still sting

Ticket-price anger — evident even in comments on the NFL U.K.’s social media posts — gained steam last year.

After scrapping its “season tickets” program, which allowed fans to buy tickets for each year’s NFL-run London games at once, the NFL added two new ticket categories and sharply increased some prices. One former season ticket-holder, journalist Thomas Willoughby, described a price increase of nearly 48% from 2024 to ’25.

The league priced this year’s Tottenham games individually. The Philadelphia-Jacksonville game is the more expensive of the two, and its brisk sales seemingly point to the popularity of the Eagles.

Children’s discounts aside, the cheapest ticket for both Tottenham games is 79 pounds ($106). From there, the Eagles-Jags game is more expensive, topping out at 280 pounds ($378) while the highest price for Colts-Commanders is 245 pounds ($331) in standard seating. Those prices include fees.

Compared to the 2025 games at Tottenham, the categories for the Colts-Commanders game reflect slightly lower prices, though seats can also be moved into higher-priced categories.

Wembley adult prices for Jags-Texans start at 70 pounds ($95) and rise to 297 pounds ($402) — all before fees.

Cullen’s seat at Wembley for a 2016 game — when he was a season-ticket holder — cost 66 pounds ($89). This year’s price chart shows the same seat at 146 pounds ($197) for Jags-Texans on Oct. 18, also excluding fees.

He’s managed to attend at least one London game — none were played in 2020 — each season including last year. But barring a below-face-value offer, Cullen’s streak will end: “It’s priced me out.”

Strong demand for Eagles-Jags

From a market viewpoint, because the available Eagles-Jags tickets sold out, “it does suggest that they’ve got the pricing right for that fixture,” said Jonathan Fry, a lecturer in business and management at Aberystwyth University in Wales who has researched event ticketing. But if the other games feature less popular teams, he added, “they could look at reviewing the pricing.”

Indeed, there appears to have been re-categorization of some tickets.

Dunai, who posts on Instagram about American football, said on the day Tottenham tickets went on public sale — July 7 — that she was “shocked” at the prices. Her video highlighted a seat for the Colts-Commanders listed at 185 pounds ($249). The same adult-priced seat in late August was available for 115 pounds ($155).

The Jaguars have a taller task when it comes to ticket sales because Wembley is much bigger than Tottenham.

The Jaguars gave early access to some groups, including its local Union Jax fan club, “historic Wembley purchasers” and opposition season-ticket holders — before tickets went on sale to the general public May 29.

By the numbers: Jags lagging

Is the London lineup getting dull for neutral fans with so many Jaguars games?

“Give us six new teams each year from next season, that’s the biggest change I want,” Dunai said in an interview.

Including their two October games, the Jags will have played in London nine times since 2021. They played an annual game at Wembley from 2013-19 and have built a fan base.

But despite their longevity, U.K. viewing and popularity indicators are not in their favor.

The Jags ranked No. 28 for most-watched teams on NFL Game Pass in Britain and Ireland in 2025. Their Oct. 18 opponent, Houston, was two spots lower.

Jacksonville was also among the lesser-searched NFL teams by U.K. fans in 2025, according to analytics company Hyperset Group, based on Google search data.

It’s not just the Jaguars, said Cullen, a New York Jets fan. His team played in London in 2024 and 2025 and “no one wants to see the Jets.”

Ultimately, the stadiums fill up. Tottenham’s capacity for Premier League games is 62,850 but lower for NFL games, which regularly surpass 61,000 fans.

Attendance at three of the past four Jaguars games at Wembley exceeded 86,000.

Jaguars to ‘totally re-evaluate’ London strategy

The Jags will play most of their home games in 2027 in Orlando — with up to three international games possible — while work wraps up on their $1.4 billion stadium renovation.

Team President Mark Lamping confirmed earlier this year that the team now does rolling one-year renewals with Wembley — rather than the multiyear commitments of the past — adding that’s how the NFL prefers it.

The small-market Jaguars at one point earned about 11% of their local revenue by playing in London, but Lamping said it’s “nowhere near that high anymore” and that “the economic motivation will change even more once we move into the new stadium.”

At training camp, Lamping told the team’s flagship radio broadcaster: ”We’re going to totally reevaluate our London strategy.”

What does the NFL say?

Both the Jaguars and the NFL declined interview requests. In a statement, the NFL said the U.K. “remains one of the league’s most important international markets.

“Interest in NFL games continues to be strong. Each year, hundreds of thousands of fans register for ticket information and opportunities to attend our games, and London remains one of the premier destinations for NFL fans outside the United States,” it said.

The league added it is “incredibly grateful for the passion and loyalty” of U.K. fans.

___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Israel hit back today after Ed Miliband unveiled controversial UK sanctions on ‘illegal’ West Bank settlements – with the US also poised to wade in.  

The Foreign Secretary lashed out at ‘ethnic cleansing’ by ‘terrorists’ in the disputed areas as he announced a package of measures banning imports.

Companies are set to be banned from helping construct or sell properties in the settlements, in a push being coordinated with France and Canada. 

The move comes after Labour formally triggered a by-election in Keir Starmer‘s Holborn & St Pancras seat, where Palestine is set to be a major issue. 

There was an immediate storm of protest, with Israel declaring it will shut the British consulate in East Jerusalem over the ‘hostile’ action. 

A string of left-wingers including Jeremy Corbyn have been banned from going to the country, and Britain will be barred from participating in the US-led Gaza coordination mission.

Netanyahu administration ministers have also pledged to back Argentina’s campaign to seize control of the Falklands in retribution.

Andy Burnham informed Donald Trump of his plans in a call last night, with the Government bracing for the president to respond publicly. 

US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accused the UK of ‘Jew hate’ and ‘discrimination’.

In further escalation, Florida congressman Randy Fine has warned that the state has a law that would ban British imports in retaliation.

Kemi Badenoch and shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat criticised the ‘performative’ nature of the restrictions, voicing concern that access to crucial intelligence could be disrupted. The Tory leader said Labour had not moved on from the Corbyn era.  

There is also disquiet in Labour ranks, with one MP raising alarm about ‘a real risk of increased chances of attacks on the British Jewish community’.

Britain is facing reprisals from the US and Israel as Andy Burnham imposes sanctions on West Bank settlements

Concern about Israeli settlements has been mounting for years. It has intensified following Israel’s recent decision to open tenders for 1,200 homes east of Jerusalem, which would divide the West Bank

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Mr Burnham has not spoken to Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu

Labour has been under intense pressure from activists to toughen its position on Israel after losing votes to the Greens and pro-Gaza independents.

Around 160 settlements have been built by Israel since its occupation of the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967. 

Around 770,000 live in them, up from an estimated 270,000 in 1993. 

Concerns have intensified following Israel’s recent decision to open tenders for 1,200 homes east of Jerusalem, which would divide the West Bank.

Mr Miliband told MPs he is a ‘proud British Jew’, but insisted he had a ‘deep sense of shame’ about what had unfolded in Palestine.

He said the two-state solution is the ‘North Star’ of the Government’s policy. 

Mr Miliband said the UK is ‘no longer prepared to be bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution’.

In a statement to MPs, he accused Israeli settlers of ‘terrorism’ – and suggested Mr Netanyahu’s government was guilty of ‘war crimes’ in Gaza.

Announcing plans for new sanctions coordinated with France and Canada, he said: ‘Britain is not silent in the face of deep injustice and nor is it powerless.’

He said Labour would ban goods produced in the settlements. And he said firms providing services for ‘settlement expansion’ would face sanctions. This could include services covering construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate.

Advertising property in settlements will be banned in the UK.

The sale of arms to Israel that ‘materially contribute to the occupation’ will also be banned.

‘I do not believe that the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets,’ he said.

The sanctions will not be applied to other aspects of trade with Israel.

Mr Miliband said the sanctions plan was designed to ‘salvage the only course for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians- the two-state solution’.

He accused Israeli settlers of ‘rampant terrorism’, saying Labour believes there is now ‘ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists’.

‘All too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians,’ the Cabinet minister said.  

He said Israeli occupation of areas of the West Bank was ‘unlawful’

Mr Miliband condemned the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel – and said the country had the right ‘not to live in fear of vile terrorism’.

But he said Israel’s right to self-defence ‘cannot justify what has happened in Gaza’.

He said independent reports of Israel’s actions, such as blocking aid, ‘represent increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed’.

Mr Miliband, whose parents fled the Nazis, said he was ‘proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the state of Israel’.

He insisted there was ‘absolutely no contradiction’ between that and his backing for a Palestinian state.

He said he felt a ‘deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community’.

Mr Miliband said Israel’s actions in Gaza were ‘a stain on the conscience of the world and this country too’.

He acknowledged that Britain is experiencing ‘rising antisemitism’, with the life of ordinary British Jews ‘deeply affected by the climate such hate creates’.

He insisted the government was committed to tackling antisemitism, despite warnings his latest action will make it worse.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said the UK move is ‘morally distorted’ and has ‘echoes of the antisemitic words’.

‘The British move is morally distorted and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and in its electoral process,’ he said.

‘The attempt by the British Labour Government to impose measures in the style of the ”White Paper” carries echoes of the antisemitic words of British Lieutenant-General Barker, commander of British forces in the Land of Israel during the Mandate, who said: ”punish the Jews by striking at their pockets.”

‘The Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel. The connection and right of the Jewish people to this land are documented more extensively than those of any other people in human history.’

Mr Burnham has said the Israeli proposals could ‘imperil or end’ the dream of a two-state solution, which successive British governments have supported for years. In a call with Mr Trump last night he reiterated his commitment to a two-state solution.

But Itamar Ben-Gvir, the hardline Minister of National Security of Israel, used the disputed Argentinian name for the Falklands as he wrote on X: ‘It’s time for the State of Israel to publicly recognize that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people.

‘The British are not content with merely occupying the territory; they also carry out oil drilling there and steal the money from the Argentine people.

‘I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Argentina’s sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues.’

Last week Argentine president Javier Milei reiterated the country’s ‘sacred’ claim to the territory, which it failed to seize in the 1982 Falklands War. 

Mr Milei has announced sanctions on oil exploration around the islands, encouraged by his ally Donald Trump pledging to ‘review’ US neutrality on the dispute. 

Britain has been adamant that sovereignty of the Falklands is not in doubt. 

In a referendum of islanders in 2013, 99.8 per cent voted to stay British, with a turnout of 92 per cent. 

Senior Labour MP Dame Emily Thornberry slapped down Mr Ben-Gvir in the Commons.

She pointed out that an Israeli oil company had just been sanctioned by Buenos Aires over a contract with the islands, and suggested he was too distracted by his ongoing effort to find ‘new ways to inflict ever more cruelty on the Palestinian people’ to do his research properly.

Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the expulsion of the British ambassador.

‘We will not be a doormat trampled by an antisemitic government, in a country conquered by radical Islam, trying to save itself from economic and social decline by attacking Jews and the State of Israel,’ he said.

‘The British Mandate in the Land of Israel is over.’

Israeli president Isaac Herzog said Britain should focus on ‘dialogue’ not sanctions.

‘If this happens – and other nations may join – I believe it will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history,’ he said in a statement. 

Although Mr Trump has yet to comment, Republican Mr Fine posted on social media: ‘As the British government considers forcing British companies to boycott portions of Israel, it should be aware that a Florida law that I passed as a member of the Legislature would ban any British company forced to comply from doing business with any state or local government in Florida. 

‘It would also end any British business participating in that boycott from doing any business in Florida if it needed any official interaction with state or local government to operate (permits, tax collection). 

‘Florida is one of Britain’s largest trading partners. They should understand that their vanity project in support of Muslim terror could cost them billions of dollars. 

‘And for those who doubt the power of this policy, it was this same law that broke Airbnb’s misguided effort to boycott portions of Israel in 2019. 

The PM informed Donald Trump of his plans in a call last night, with the Government bracing for the president to respond publicly

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‘They realized that this law would have bankrupted their company. Florida has made it clear. Any company — or nation — that boycotts Israel is boycotted by Florida.’ 

Mr Huckabee said: ‘I feel like that it’s a discrimination against the Israeli government, it’s discrimination against the Jewish people and I don’t understand the rationale of it.’

He added: ‘I don’t know if they have thought through, it’s like throwing a stone and not having an idea of where it’s going to land.

‘And I realise, look, the UK is a sovereign country, they can do what they want, but so is the US.’

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there would be ‘implications’ for Britain.

‘For example, 25 per cent of pharmaceuticals that are used in the UK are made in Israel. Are they willing to give those up? It looks like they are.

‘Are they willing also to do great damage to any Brits who are doing business in a number of states in the US.

‘I don’t know what all of the national sanctions or repercussions or retaliations will be from the US, hasn’t been announced yet.

‘But I do know that there are a number of states. Let me mention one, one of the largest US states, Florida, that has a law that if this action is taken, then Brits will not be able to do business with any company or business in Florida.’

Writing in the Jewish Chronicle, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Labour has developed a strange moral confusion in which it can speak solemnly about antisemitism one day while driving to an increasingly hostile climate around Israel the next.

‘Criticism of an Israeli government is not antisemitic. No democratic government should be beyond criticism, and Conservatives have disagreed with Israeli governments before.

‘But Labour’s obsession with Israel is rooted in UK politics. It’s got less to do with peace in the Middle East, and more to do with trying to keep the peace in the Labour party.’

Mr Tugendhat told the Commons: ‘We do agree that illegal settlements are wrong.

‘We all agree that groups of settlers have been guilty of outrageous abuses of ordinary Palestinians and crimes against innocent civilians.

‘We agree that some Israeli ministers have indulged in hateful propaganda and incitement – we agree that the current path is leading Israelis and Palestinians towards a darker, more dangerous future.’

Mr Tugendhat also said: ‘This isn’t about Israel alone and it certainly isn’t about reducing the complexity of the region to a single sentence. Sadly, the Government is in the process of doing just that.’

He complained that the Government had recognised Palestine ‘in contravention of the Montevideo Convention’ and was now ‘enacting policies that the Foreign Office knows won’t work’.

The Tory frontbencher said Labour ministers had previously warned that ‘the economies of Palestine and Israel are too interconnected’ for a ban on goods for illegal settlements to work.

‘The Israeli election is in just seven weeks and many have argued, correctly, that this action will help the extreme candidates’ campaigns and not help those who are making the moderate argument for a united Israel,’ he added.

Britain and Argentina fought in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid to take them

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Last week Argentine president Javier Milei reiterated the country’s ‘sacred’ claim to the territory

You may know the feeling. You’re supposed to have finished work for the day, but later, during your evening meal, you start mentally preparing for tomorrow’s meeting. Or just having a quick check of your emails while you half watch TV.

You might not mean to, or even want to. It’s just something that you end up doing as part of the price of enjoying some autonomy at work.

For a while now, research has claimed that professional autonomy was a good thing. Being able to decide how, where and when you worked was considered a major plus in terms of motivation, job satisfaction and overall health.

And although those benefits still exist, we now know that more autonomy can often also mean more work and less downtime.

Research shows that workers with a high degree of autonomy struggle to leave work behind at the end of the day. When you have control over your job, it can stay on your mind as you run through decisions and ponder unresolved problems. Switching off becomes difficult.

But the capacity to stop thinking about work during personal time, what’s known as “psychological detachment”, is a form of emotional and cognitive recovery. Without it, resources are never fully replenished. The person who cannot switch off does not just feel tired – they go back to work the next day already running on empty.

Autonomy can make this detachment harder precisely because of the sense of ownership it brings. Responsibility does not respect working hours, and the person who controls their own job carries it home in a way that the person purely following instructions does not.

Research my colleague and I conducted with 40 entrepreneurs – people whose working lives are especially autonomous – reveals another problem arrives when your work and identity are entwined. When work becomes bound up in who you are, detachment becomes virtually impossible.

One woman in her 20s told us that she would regularly lie awake at night, unable to stop thinking about her work. She explained: “I feel the pressure. I am still struggling with [what it means] to be an entrepreneur.”

“Sometimes, I feel I am not giving enough to the company. Like [at] 11pm, should I just work an extra hour and a half?”

She understood that this was unsustainable, but she could not stop. For her, the work and the self had become the same thing – the result of a working life in which she alone was responsible for every outcome. No changes to her evening routine could help her separate the two.

Another told us that she felt guilty if she separated her business from the rest of her life.

Working from everywhere

Separate research confirms that workers who have a high degree of autonomy over their schedules and tasks end up working more, not less. When people have autonomy, they repay the trust with extra effort.

This is especially the case in situations where autonomy removes visibility, such as when people work from home.

Being seen less in the workplace can mean having more to prove. In these situations, some workers end up showing their commitment by replying quickly, being online late or taking on extra projects.

The shift to working from home and the technology which allows it, has brought a big change in what it means to stop working for the day. When work requires being in a specific place, the end of the day has a physical logic to it. You leave that place and the day’s work is done.

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But for many that shift has gone and been replaced with constant availability. Being reachable shows commitment. Not being reachable requires explanation and justification.

And that problem cannot really be solved with legislation. Things like the “right-to-disconnect” or flexible working policies tend to address intrusions from outside – the manager who emails at 9pm, or the meeting which clashes with the school run.

Laws can do nothing about the work pressures inside employees’ own minds. Because in many cases, organisations have not simply given workers more freedom, they have also given the job of managing that work onto the worker themselves.

While autonomy is still worth having, it often comes at a personal cost. It can mean less power and more work – which is unacknowledged and unpaid.

Iran’s threat to target American warships with an enhanced ballistic missile appears to mark a new and potentially more dangerous phase of the Middle East conflict, six months in. Tehran says its solid-fuel Qassem Basir missile enables it to “take action against any threat, even before it is carried out”. Reports have suggested that the Qassem Basir was the missile used in tests Iran claimed to have carried out against US warships on September 5.

Washington acknowledged an Iranian attack on its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington and a guided-missile destroyer near the Strait of Hormuz. But it said it was unclear whether the new missile had been used and confirmed its vessels had evaded the attack. But the more assertive rhetoric coming out of the Islamic Republic suggests it is moving beyond the largely retaliatory strategy that characterised much of the war and is increasingly prepared to raise the stakes itself.

Tehran has also announced it is preparing to sign an agreement with Oman which would establish a new corridor through the Strait of Hormuz extending out into the Persian Gulf, although this has yet to be confirmed. Taken together, these developments suggest that Iran is no longer simply responding to escalation – it is increasingly trying to drive it.

This does not mean Iran has the upper hand militarily. Far from it. But Tehran appears to have concluded that prolonging and widening the conflict can improve its bargaining position by making the war increasingly expensive for the US and the rest of the world.

It’s an extraordinary reversal for a conflict intended to force Tehran’s hand and even possibly achieve regime change. Military superiority, while inflicting enormous damage on Iran, has not produced the political outcomes aimed at by the US and Israel.

The regime survives, its missiles continue to operate, the question of its nuclear programme remains unresolved, and its regional network retains offensive capabilities – something seen clearly in the latest attacks by Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz has become a potent instrument of economic leverage for Tehran.

Never-ending cycle of confict

The war seems to have settled into a cycle: escalation, diplomacy, agreement, renewed coercion and then another return to diplomacy. Far from resolving anything, however, the six-month conflict looks to have taught Tehran that resisting US pressure eventually produces better terms.

The latest escalation suggests Iran is now exploiting that lesson. Tehran does not need to defeat the US navy or completely control the Strait of Hormuz. It needs only to make passage sufficiently dangerous that shipping companies hesitate, insurance premiums rise and energy markets price disruption into every barrel of oil.

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Recent shipping data show commodity traffic through Hormuz falling to its lowest level since May. Tehran is now threatening wider restrictions on navigation and “economic warfare” if Washington continues trying to strangle the Iranian economy.

This changes the logic of the conflict. Trump sought to make Iranian resistance progressively more expensive. Iran is now making American coercion progressively more expensive too. It cannot match American firepower, but possesses something Washington cannot eliminate by force militarily: its geography and ability to control one of the world’s most important energy corridors.

The conflict should therefore be measured against its political objectives. The broader ambitions associated with the Trump-Netanyahu campaign were to fundamentally weaken or change Iran’s political system, eliminate its nuclear threat, destroy its long-range missile capability and break its network of regional allies.

Six months later, none of these objectives has been decisively achieved. The still-unresolved issue of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions particularly demonstrates the limits of military power. Bombs can destroy facilities, but not the political incentives that lead states to seek strategic deterrence.

Other regional powers are watching. Saudi Arabia has long sought domestic enrichment capabilities. If Middle Eastern governments conclude that a nuclear capacity provides protection against external attack, proliferation pressures could increase rather than diminish. Ultimately, the nuclear question returns to where it began: negotiation.

Trump’s escalation trap

Meanwhile the costs are becoming global. Energy, insurance and shipping costs have all risen and will surely have political ramifications. Meanwhile, Russia benefits from higher hydrocarbon revenues and China gains strategically whenever US naval assets, munitions and political attention are diverted from the Indo-Pacific.

Gulf states face an uncomfortable lesson too. US bases intended to guarantee their security can also make them targets in a conflict they did not start.

None of this means Iran is winning militarily. Its economy and infrastructure have suffered enormously – and America can still inflict far greater destruction. But Iran does not need to defeat the US. It needs to prevent Washington from using military superiority to force it into political submission while making continued armed conflict progressively more painful.

Trump is therefore caught in an escalation trap partly of his own making. He can tighten the blockade, but Iran can disrupt Hormuz. He can intensify bombing, but Tehran can widen its retaliation against Washington’s Gulf allies. He can negotiate, but Iran now has reason to demand stronger guarantees and potentially better terms than it accepted in June.

And US threats lose their coercive power when repeated escalation keeps bringing Washington back to negotiations.

The latest Iranian actions therefore represent more than another exchange of missiles. Six months after Trump and Netanyahu sought to force Iran into submission by force of arms, Tehran has learned that the longer it survives, the greater the costs it can impose and the stronger its eventual bargaining position may become.

America can still escalate far beyond anything Iran can match. What it can no longer assume is that escalation brings victory closer. Iran’s latest moves suggest Tehran now believes the opposite.

Birmingham Airport said the air traffic technical issue is affecting airspace in the south of the UK.

A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: “There is currently an air traffic technical issue affecting airspace in the south of the UK, which is impacting a significant number of departing flights across the country.

“We apologise to customers whose journeys have been impacted.

“Passengers are advised to arrive at Birmingham Airport (BHX) in line with their airline’s check-in requirements and to contact their airline directly for the latest flight information and updates.”

Passengers are facing travel chaos as flights at airports across the UK have been grounded due to an air traffic control ‘technical failure’. 

Thousands of holidaymakers, including at Heathrow and Gatwick, are facing hours of delays, with disruption expected to last until at least 9pm this evening. 

It’s not yet clear how widespread the disruption to travel is but Belfast City Airport is among those online warning about possible delays. 

According to Flightradar24, at least ten airports across the UK are facing minor to major disruptions as a result of the issue. 

They include Aberdeen International Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Manchester Airport, Nottingham East Midlands Airport, Birmingham Airport, Bristol Airport and London Stansted, Gatwick, Heathrow and City Airports.

In an update this afternoon, National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said it had identified an issue in its ‘flight processing system’, which it was working to resolve. 

Some inbound flights from continental Europe are also being held on the ground, it is understood. People are being advised to check in as normal and check with their airlines before travel. 

One passenger who is travelling from Dublin to Malta told the Daily Mail their flight has been affected due to the ‘issue in London’. 

They said: ‘Our Aer Lingus flight to Malta was due to depart at 2.20pm and we’ve had zero information from the Aer Lingus. 

‘They just keep saying an update will be provided in 15 mins – there’s an issue in London but no information regarding departure time or how long we will be delayed.’ 

Flight radar data shows planes stuck at airports across London due to an air traffic control failure

Others have shared their experiences of being stuck at airports on social media. 

One person posted on X: ‘We are currently sat on Alicante tarmac going to Manchester and this is affecting us. Not just London!’ 

‘Luton airport too! We’re stranded on the actual plane,’ another added. 

A spokesman for NATS said: ‘We are investigating a technical issue which is causing some disruption to flight departures.

‘Our engineers are on site and we will provide an update as soon as we can.

‘We apologise for the delay this will cause to journeys, passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight.

‘We will provide updates on www.nats.aero and on X – @NATS.’

A spokesman for Heathrow Airport added: ‘The air traffic control service is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting departing flights at UK airports. Arriving flights are not currently impacted. 

‘We are supporting our local NATS team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We will provide updated information when we have it. 

‘We apologise to those disrupted and advise passengers to check with their airline for latest flight information.’

People are being advised to check in as normal and check with their airlines before travel

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A spokesman for Jersey Airport said: ‘UK air traffic control is currently experiencing issues which is impacting flights across the UK including services between Jersey and UK.

‘Passengers are advised to check the latest flight information directly with their airline.’

A spokesman for Gatwick added: ‘We are aware of a NATS technical issue that is currently affecting a number of UK airports, including London Gatwick.

‘Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for more information regarding their flights.’

It is the latest issue to affect passengers flying out of the UK, with flights at Gatwick brought to a standstill last week after a plane became stuck on the runway. 

The plane was surrounded by several fire engines and the runway was closed for around 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, in July passengers at Gatwick were left without running water due to an issue with the supply. 

Flyers were unable to flush toilets, wash their hands or refill water bottles for hours during the outage. 

Heathrow has also been affected by two grass fires this summer, which have caused delays to flights. 

One flight from San Francisco was diverted away from Heathrow towards Manchester and another from San Diego landed in Birmingham due to a blaze on September 5.

In early August, flights were disrupted after a grass fire ignited near Heathrow’s southern runway.

One hectare of grassland was destroyed by the fire as 18 inbound flights were diverted to other airports.

Are YOU affected? Email: olivia.christie@dailymail.co.uk