The most shameful thing about Stella Creasy’s tweet was her glee.

The video post was to mark a day of celebration in the Muslim calendar, and pictured behind her were young women in hijabs and niqabs beaming at the camera.

With unashamed delight, the Labour MP for Walthamstow declared to the world: ‘These women are the future optometrists, lawyers, accountants, surgeons and leaders of our community and country. They also celebrate the Prophets Birthday at the Milad il Nabi March. Everyone is welcome so come next year and meet them to find out what this event is as they are fantastic!’

But Creasy had left out something important. The Muslim celebration she had lauded as being welcoming to all was not, it transpired, quite so inclusive after all.

Britain’s future surgeons and lawyers had not actually been part of the main body of the march, which was a male-only event. Instead, they had been required to stage their own separate parade, away from the men.

When challenged over this by journalist Jenni Russell: ‘Are these women segregated away from the march you posted?’ Creasy replied: ‘Jenni, they were.’

Segregation along gender lines is a topic of great interest to the former shadow minister for Crime Prevention. In 2022, when a controversy broke out over attempts by the exclusive Garrick Club to retain its male-only status, Creasy led the charge.

‘If this rule is not changed, membership of the Garrick club should be considered incompatible with membership of the 21st Century,’ she raged. ‘Whether it’s politicians, lawyers, journalists or businessmen hiding behind its panelled walls, they cannot hide how out of touch with the modern world it is to have a club which excludes women as a way of shoring up the importance of men as it does neither sex any favours.’

She also took up the fight for biological men who self-identify as trans to be granted access to safe spaces previously reserved for biological women. ‘Do I want to live in a world where we’re policing everyone who goes into a toilet? No’, she proudly stated, before claiming: ‘Do I think some women were born with penises? Yes.’

So it is somewhat surprising that an MP, who was once described as ‘a latter day Harriet Harman’, feels women and trans-women should have equal rights to be just about everywhere, except on the streets of her own constituency. Actually, maybe it’s not that surprising.

Creasy’s hypocrisy and self-righteousness are attended by a transparent cynicism. According to the last census, 25 per cent of the Walthamstow seat is Muslim. That equates to over 20,000 eligible voters, easily enough to erase her otherwise comfortable 17,000 majority.

So she has made a simple, if entirely self-serving, calculation. Her fight against the patriarchy will be waged without fear or favour. Until it risks bringing her into conflict with those of the Muslim faith. At which point the patriarchy can marginalise and subjugate women to its heart’s content.

Though to be fair to the MP nicknamed ‘Saint Ella’ by some of her colleagues because of her perceived haughtiness, Creasy is not alone in parading her grating political opportunism.

Last year, Jess Phillips, specifically appointed to the role of Safeguarding Minister because of her pioneering work in tackling violence against women, faced calls for her resignation from several victims of the predominantly Muslim rape gangs after she blocked a national inquiry into the scandal.

Again, Phillips’s decision to offload her previously inviolate principles was directly linked to the demographics of her constituency. At the 2024 election she had survived an especially toxic campaign at the hands of the fanatically pro-Islamist Workers Party. And again, the difference between her previous rhetoric, and her political timidity when faced with the potential ire of Muslim voters, was stark.

Labour’s statement about Israel’s ‘illegal settlements’ is surely an attempt to relieve pressure on their MPs facing a pincer movement from Zack Polanski’s pro-Palestinian Green Party

But then that is basically Labour’s MO now. Yesterday the Government announced it was introducing sanctions on what it termed ‘illegal settlements’ in the disputed Israel/Palestine West Bank. 

According to Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband this was to attempt to kick-start a renewed search for a two-state solution to the Middle East’s most intractable conflict. But as everyone watching his statement was aware, it was primarily an attempt to relieve pressure on Labour MPs facing a pincer movement from radical Islamist splinter parties, and Zack Polanski’s pro-Palestinian Greens.

Yet by doing so Andy Burnham and his colleagues are in danger of finding themselves riding around on the back of an especially dangerous tiger. One that will become ever more voracious as the next election approaches.

When our new Prime Minister was elected, he pledged that every new policy he announced would have to pass the ‘Makerfield test’. Basically, if it wasn’t a priority for his predominantly working class constituents in the North West, it wouldn’t be a priority for him.

Well, I spent a lot of time in Makerfield during that by-election. And I didn’t come across a single person who placed the Israel- Palestine conflict at the top of their list of pressing issues. Or who expressed their desire to attend religious marches segregated along lines of gender.

The kind of tortured moral relativity currently being paraded by Stella Creasy and her colleagues also runs into direct conflict with the brand of politics we were supposed to be getting from our new Prime Minister.

A couple of weeks ago one of Andy Burnham’s allies was at pains to stress to me how, on issues like immigration, he was attuned to the hopes and fears of working, not Metropolitan, Britain. ‘He’s from Wigan, not central Manchester,’ I was told. Creasy’s posturing demonstrates that message has yet to filter down the M6.

The PM pledged every new policy must pass the ‘Makerfield test’. But, says Dan Hodges, I did not see a single person in Makerfield who put the Israel- Palestine conflict at the top of their list

The sinister scenes in Dover, where masked men clashed with police, brought condemnation across the political spectrum. Why does this not apply to issues like gender segregation too?

But perhaps the most staggering thing about her intervention was the timing. At precisely the moment she was joyously tweeting about the women shunted aside by the men in their community parading through London’s streets, a firestorm had erupted over a different display of toxic masculinity.

The sinister scenes in Dover and Portsmouth, where masked men clashed with police, vandalised property and caused widespread disruption, had brought condemnation from across the political spectrum.

‘We have a responsibility in the times that we’re living in,’ the Prime Minister told his assembled MPs. ‘It’s a solemn responsibility to prevent the politics of poison seeping into our streets.’

Fine. But that has to be extended to all strains of that poison. This is Britain in 2026, not the deep US South of the 1930s. Segregation on our streets based on gender or race should be intolerable in all its forms. It should be especially intolerable to Members of Parliament elected on a pledge to serve all their constituents, regardless of colour or creed.

And it should be least tolerable of all to those Labour MPs who have made it their life’s work to lecture everyone in earshot about the need to challenge the abuses of the patriarchy.

‘Everyone is welcome so come next year and meet them to find out what this event is as they are fantastic!’ Stella Creasy tweeted excitedly. When the women of your constituency aren’t treated like second class citizens, with your gushing approval Stella, we will.

The UK needs new regulations for AI products used in the NHS and other healthcare settings, says Britain’s industry watchdog.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which regulates all medical devices and licenses treatment drugs in the UK, has published 44 recommendations to update its policies as the use of AI in the sector rises.

The technology will soon be routinely used within the NHS, MHRA chief Lawrence Tallon told the BBC.

“What I would expect is that patients will… increasingly see AI as part of the way that normal NHS healthcare is delivered,” he said.

“That should happen in a way that they can maintain their trust and their confidence in what’s happening.”

The report was compiled by an independent commission and involved input from more than 12,000 people including patients and clinicians.

The recommendations include:

“The medical devices regulatory framework predominantly dates from a period where we were thinking about things like hip replacements and knee replacements, or smaller things like stethoscopes and plasters,” Tallon said.

He added while current guidelines may work for simple AI products trained to spot known symptoms on scans, for example, the rules do not apply to more complex models.

“Unlike most of the medical products we’re used to regulating, these products continue to change after the point of authorization,” he said.

“As new data gets fed in, they learn, they adapt, they drift.”

And he acknowledged trying to regulate AI is a global challenge.

“I don’t think at this moment in time we can point to a single country, a single regulatory framework, and say that they have absolutely cracked it,” he said.

Labour was branded the ‘Welfare Party’ on Wednesday after Andy Burnham said he would never prioritise defence spending over benefits.

In an extraordinary intervention, the Prime Minister said he was serious about national security, but it ‘cannot come at the expense of social security’.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Burnham had ‘said the quiet part out loud’, adding: ‘For our new PM, social security – welfare – comes above national security.

‘The Labour Party has become the Welfare Party. The first duty of government is defence of the country, not paying more benefits.’

Last week, Mrs Badenoch laid out detailed plans to find £10billion to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030. The package included £8billion of cuts to the welfare budget, half of it through reforms to the runaway housing benefit bill.

During angry clashes in the Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Burnham refused to commit to the 3 per cent target, which his new Chancellor John Healey has warned is the minimum needed to keep Britain safe.

And the PM rounded on the Conservatives for proposing ‘crude’ benefit cuts to fund the Armed Forces. ‘We do everything to support our national security, but it cannot come at the expense of social security,’ he said.

Defending his support for higher welfare spending, he said strong national security ‘also depends on resilience in our communities’. He said Labour would never be ‘forced to choose between the two’.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch – pictured on Friday in Sussex 

The PM’s comments create a clear dividing line in British politics over how quickly defence spending should increase in the face of rising threats – and how it should be paid for.

They also appear to be at odds with remarks from new Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, who said in June that ‘there is no social justice without national security’. And they will raise fresh doubts about whether Labour will ever act to rein in the runaway welfare bill.

Earlier this year, messages released in the Mandelson files revealed that work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden told the disgraced peer that Labour MPs were demanding more welfare spending, saying: ‘Every meeting I have is: ‘Who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?’

Tory welfare spokesman Helen Whately said: ‘Does Burnham know what happens when a vulnerable country gets attacked? Without national security, there will be no social security.’ Fellow Tory Claire Coutinho said the PM’s comments were ‘barking mad’.

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice accused Mr Burnham of ‘surrender’, adding: ‘He’s basically saying mild anxiety is more important than the safety of the realm.’

Spending on sickness and disability benefits is on course to hit £109billion by the end of the decade – an increase of more than £30billion on last year. Sir Keir was forced to abandon plans to trim £5billion from the welfare bill last year following a mutiny by Labour MPs.

Mr Burnham on Wednesday confirmed he was opposed to any ‘crude cuts’ to benefits. He claimed that long-term reforms to housing and education could eventually bring the benefits bill down.

But one Treasury insider told the Mail that the welfare budget is now the only potential source of significant revenue: ‘In the past, Chancellors could always find a few billion pounds down the back of the sofa if they really had to. 

The Prime Minister speaking at PMQs on Wednesday 

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Mr Burnham at a meeting with the Jewish community leaders at Downing Street last Thursday 

‘But all the low-hanging fruit is gone. We can’t borrow more, we can’t really tax much more – the only thing left is welfare.’

Britain has suffered an alarming slide down the Nato spending league table in recent years as other countries ramp up investment to meet growing threats. After being a top player for decades, the UK is now in 13th place in terms of defence spending as a percentage of GDP.

Under Labour’s plans, spending will nudge up from 2.6 per cent next year to 2.7 per cent by the end of the decade. By contrast, Germany expects to spend 3.5 per cent by 2030 while Poland is already spending 4.7 per cent.

Mr Burnham is under pressure from MPs on all sides to increase defence spending in the face of growing threats from Russia and other hostile states.

Tan Dhesi, Labour chairman of the Commons defence committee, last week accused him of ‘kicking the can down the road’. In his resignation as defence secretary in June, Mr Healey said Labour’s plans ‘fall well short of what is needed for defence and the country at this dangerous time’, and urged ministers to move to 3 per cent by 2030.

But neither he nor Mr Burnham are willing to commit to hitting the target by the end of the decade. Instead, Mr Burnham on Wednesday adopted the looser target of spending 3.5 per cent by 2035.

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The Tory plans involve saving at least £4billion a year through reforms to housing benefit, and restoring the two-child benefit cap, which Labour scrapped this year, raising a further £3.1billion.

Another £1billion would be saved by ending VAT exemptions for Motability vehicles. The remainder of the £10billion would be funded by scrapping the controversial Chagos Islands giveaway and by diverting money from spending on new windfarms and civil research and development.

Downing Street insisted Mr Burnham was committed to bringing down the welfare bill but refused to put a timescale on it.

– DAILY MAIL COMMENT: After seven weeks in Downing Street, the PM’s mask FINALLY slips on welfare and defence spending 

– QUENTIN LETTS: The PM flicked through his folder with rising panic. He knew he had a fact in there somewhere

The Trump administration removed materials from Arlington National Cemetery that criticized a former monument to Confederate soldiers for its romanticized depiction of slavery, the latest in its campaign to drastically change the representation of the Civil War in high-profile public spaces.

In recent weeks, crews reportedly removed text at the former site of the Confederate Monument, which had described the statue that once stood at the site as presenting a “nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery.”

The monument, installed in 1914 and removed in 2023 after a vote by Congress, had explicitly referred to the pro-slavery Confederacy’s mission to violently separate from the United States as the “lost cause.”

A Defense Department web page noting that the statue featured racist tropes, such as an enslaved man following his enslaver into war and a Black “Mammy” caring for white children, was also recently amended to remove this context.

A new sign at the former statue site notes that in 2025, the Army entered into an agreement with Virginia to once again display the statue in Arlington with “interpretive content to ensure visitors receive clear and accurate contextual information.”

The statue is expected back at the cemetery in 2027.

Last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued the statue, designed by artist and Confederate veteran Moses Ezekiel, was originally meant to be a “Reconciliation Monument” and was taken down after pressure from “woke lemmings.”

At the time the monument was originally installed, mythologized retellings of the Civil War were growing in popularity, and the Ku Klux Klan racist terror organization was experiencing a resurgence. Many of the nation’s Confederate monuments were not installed around the time of the Civil War, but rather during this period.

The Defense Department website continues to note that Arlington spent decades blocking Black soldiers from being buried in the main cemetery, which was not integrated until 1948.

Ty Seidule, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general who served on a congressionally established commission that reviewed military assets named for the Confederacy for possible removal, called the soon-to-be-restored statue “the cruelest monument that I have ever seen” in an interview with The Washington Post, which reported on the change.

“It is a pro-slavery, anti-United States monument,” he said.

“Arlington National Cemetery’s decision to update website language and signage at Section 16 was made to ensure it was succinct, factual, current and objective,” an Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. “This included incorporating updates regarding the pending return of the Moses Ezekiel sculpture, which the Army expects to display in 2027 after it has undergone comprehensive conservation and refurbishment.”

The Trump administration has worked to restore multiple public-facing assets honoring the Confederacy, including reinstating the names of military bases that had been renamed to strike their Confederate-inspired titles, as well as reinstalling a statue of a Confederate general in Washington, D.C., that had been toppled by Black Lives Matter demonstrators in 2020.

Restoring the statue of Albert Pike, the only outdoor statue of a Confederate leader in the capital, was “morally objectionable,” Eleanor Holmes Norton, the capital’s non-voting delegate to Congress, told The Associated Press at the time.

The Trump administration has also restored a portrait of Confederate general Robert E. Lee to its place in the library at the West Point military academy.

Beyond the military, the Trump administration has pursued a wide-ranging review of Smithsonian-linked museums to purge them of what it calls “improper ideology,” amid complaints from the president that the Smithsonian was too focused on “how bad slavery was.”

Materials touching on the history of slavery and other controversial parts of U.S. history have been removed from national parks and historical sites.

Renting clothing used to be restricted to a wedding suit or prom dress, but the options are growing and becoming more popular.

Today, you can rent clothes directly from other people through apps like By Rotation and Hurr, or go straight to high street brands such as John Lewis and Selfridges. Most clothing rental platforms are online only, so shoppers can’t test the fit, sizing or style before committing.

But in a recently published study, I examined, with colleagues, what people thought about renting everyday clothing, and how an AI chatbot with an integrated avatar could change how people choose rental clothing items.

The study used three focus groups and 28 interviews. People said they had a strong desire to use AI tools to see what clothing looked like on them, before paying for the rental.

The chatbot could be used by an online shop to engage with the consumer by asking about size, fit and what the customer wanted the outfit for. The AI chatbot could then save these conversations (if given consumer permission) for use in future sales.

Consumers could upload an image of themselves to the avatar to “try on” a selection of pieces.

One renter from our study called the idea “a welcome need in fashion”. Another said a chatbot could clear up queries about the hidden details of renting clothes, such as unexpected costs or existing stains.

The chatbot could also tap into consumers’ environmental values by sharing sustainability information about the rental item and renting more generally. Many gen Z consumers say they cared about climate change and sustainability, and this could be reflected in their clothing choices.

Moving away from fast fashion to rental requires a significant mindset shift. But as shoppers grow more comfortable with AI, chatbots could guide people toward smarter, more sustainable wardrobes, where they rent more and buy less.

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One of the reasons why more shoppers might want to think about rental is linked to consumers’ growing awareness of fast fashion’s negative impact on the environment, such as the colossal amount of waste ending up in landfill or polluting developing countries. Over-consumption of clothes means that the sector is responsible for 10% of global CO₂ emissions and about 85% of textiles end up in landfill.

Rental should keep clothing in circulation for longer. There’s some evidence that by extending a garment’s life, fashion rental could reduce an item of clothing’s carbon, water and waste footprint by 20% to 30%.

Studies also show that chatbots can effectively encourage people to make greener choices. Our paper demonstrates how a chatbot with “green nudges” would share sustainability information. For example, it might say: “Save 2,700 litres of water and 3kg of CO₂ by renting instead of buying.” This data could be certified by an organisation such as the waste charity Wrap to demonstrate the accuracy of the information.

By remembering past interactions, a chatbot could also offer style advice and subtle prompts that encourage shoppers to step out of their comfort zone.

For instance, if you’re going on holiday a chatbot could create a good combination of clothing for you and save a lot of time, one gen Z shopper told us.

But some barriers still keep current consumers from renting outfits. These include hygiene concerns as well as fear of damage and cleaning fees and the feeling that renting isn’t mainstream enough yet.

Our study found shoppers also worried about whether rental clothing catered to different skin tones and colours.

Using AI to promote sustainability raises an obvious paradox. Studies show that the use of AI can have a large environmental impact such as the significant use of energy and water consumption.

But there are already some positive moves that show clothing rental is becoming a more widespread option. In August 2026, global charity Oxfam launched a pilot clothes rental scheme. The charity said it would give people access to special pieces, without adding to the wear-once cycle.

If virtually trying on clothes can make people feel more confident about renting, rather than buying, there is definitely potential to cut the huge amount of environmental damage that the fast fashion world is currently creating. It just depends on whether consumers are ready for that change.

Professor Bobby Duffy, director of KCL’s Policy Institute, said: “London has become a lightning rod in our national debate – deeply connected to arguments about crime, immigration and the direction of the country – with the sense that ‘London has fallen’ now a recurring theme in political, media and social media narratives.

Melania Trump’s top aide has revealed their true thoughts about Natalie Harp, whose close relationship with her boss, Donald Trump, has fueled recent speculation.

Harp, Trump’s executive assistant, has been thrust into the political spotlight in recent weeks with reports that she slept in the locker room at Trump’s Bedminster golf club and even hopped in the trunk of an SUV to stay close to the president.

Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia up for re-election, made headlines for his quip about Trump, telling a crowd in Atlanta last month, “He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie.”

Marc Beckman, senior advisor to Melania, dismissed any rumors that her husband’s relationship with Harp is anything but above board on an episode of conservative media personality Stella Escobedo’s YouTube show released Tuesday.

“The mainstream media…they’re endlessly obsessed with garbage tabloid gossip about Natalie Harp, who, by the way, is a hard-working, loyal White House aide to President Trump—a cancer survivor—who POTUS helped get off labeled treatment for and saved her life. I mean, what do you make of that?” Escobedo asked Beckman.

Harp, who says she was diagnosed with bone cancer, gained national attention in 2019 for crediting Trump for saving her life with a law he signed in 2018 that provided her access to experimental treatments.

“The liberal media is ridiculous. They don’t know anything about the first lady’s personal and private life,” Beckman told Escobedo. “They don’t even take the time to put us on air to cover these incredible achievements that our first lady has accomplished.”

“What they need to do is look in the mirror because they’re all attacking this hardworking, very talented, very intelligent person in Natalie Harp,” he said, adding that the mainstream media is “obsessed with the gossip with the first family. And I can tell you firsthand that it’s time for them to become journalists and stop looking at the gossip.”

The public started to pay closer attention to Harp after The Washington Post reported last month that she was one of the select few who got to ride with Trump in a catering truck that transported them from Air Force One to a smaller jet amid a potential assassination threat from Iran while they were leaving the NATO summit in Turkey. During Trump’s escape, Air Force One, which carried unsuspecting D.C. reporters and senior Trump officials, served as a decoy.

Harp —who reportedly received a $45,000 holiday cash gift from Trump — wrote in a letter to Trump in 2023, “You are all that matters to me,” The New York Times reported shortly after the president’s 2024 election victory in an article announcing that she would follow him to the White House after joining his team in 2022.

While Harp seems to never leave Trump’s side, Melania has been largely absent from the public eye during her husband’s second term.

Over the summer, Melania missed Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral, the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and the dignified transfer of the remains of four service members killed in the Middle East.

NBC News reported on August 17 that Melania has made about half as many public appearances as she did at that point in Trump’s first term.

The Sussexes appear to have blamed Uganda’s decision to withdraw from the Invictus Games on a letter written by King Charles which insisted they are ‘private citizens’. 

Ugandan General Muhoozi Kainerugaba insisted on Wednesday morning that his nation would not participate in any event without approval from Charles, adding that he felt motivated to quash ‘that Harry-Meghan nonsense’.

The move came less than 48 hours after the King outlined that the duke and duchess are still not working royals despite the couple relocating to the UK a fortnight ago.

The letter was said to have blindsided Harry and Meghan, who claimed they did not have enough time to clarify the King’s points before the guidance was released to the media. 

And the Sussexes have now reportedly blamed Uganda’s decision to withdraw from the Invictus Games on the letter, which was released on His Majesty’s instruction by his Lord Chamberlain on Monday. 

A source close to Harry and Meghan told ITV News tonight: ‘Intended or unintended, this is clearly a consequence of the Lord Chamberlain’s guidance regarding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that was rushed out without consultation on Monday. 

‘Sadly, the only people who will suffer are the Invictus Games competitors.’

Harry launched the Invictus Games, a Paralympics-style competition, himself in 2014 to aid the recovery of injured or sick military veterans and servicemen. Next year’s edition will take place in Birmingham. 

General Muhoozi Kainerugaba of Uganda announced that the country would be withdrawing from the games on Wednesday morning

The move came less than 48 hours after King Charles reiterated that Harry and Meghan are no longer working royals despite their return to the UK (Charles is pictured last week)

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The letter was released on behalf of the King by Richard Benyon, Charles’ Lord Chamberlain

Outlining the reasons for Uganda’s decision, General Kainerugaba, the president’s son, said in a post on X this morning: ‘In order not to be construed as being opposed to His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom, whom we deeply revere, Uganda hereby withdraws from the Invictus Games. 

‘We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval.’

Asked by The Times why he made the announcement, General Kainerugaba said: ‘I have factions in the Ministry of Defence that support that Harry-Meghan nonsense. I had to quash it straight away. I support the monarch. Period.’

Veteran royal reporter Richard Palmer described the intervention as ‘extraordinary’. 

Two months ago, Uganda’s defence minister Kiryowa Kiwanuka posed for photographs with a smiling Harry at an Invictus Games gathering in London.

During the ceremony at Chatham House on July 7, Uganda was announced as the 26th country to join the competition and the first from east Africa.

Harry posed for a picture with Uganda’s delegates and held a roundel with the nation’s name – making the guests laugh as he jokingly held it like a frisbee. 

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the ordeal today. But it is understood that the King – who is the Head and Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces – encourages all organisations and endeavours in support of wounded service personnel.  

General Kainerugaba’s father Yoweri Museveni, whom he hopes to succeed as president, described Charles as ‘our good friend in the conservation of nature’ in a condolence message following the death of the late Queen in September 2022.

Mr Museveni also sent a congratulatory message for his coronation eight months later in May 2023, citing ‘brotherly and cordial relations’ between Britain and Uganda.

The late Queen made the last visit by a UK monarch to Uganda in 2007, when she attended a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala with Philip.

It is understood that Harry and Meghan’s team were notified about the release of Charles’ letter on Monday at 1.59pm, around an hour before it was sent to the media.

Team Sussex sent a response back to Buckingham Palace at 2.19pm asking whether the guidance had already gone out, in the hope of letting the duke and duchess know ahead of the media, and for the team to have the chance to clarify one or two points.  

Meanwhile, Harry, who was pictured at Tower Bridge Studios in London in an Instagram post by the recording studios on Monday, was in a meeting and could not be contacted until 3.09pm when he was told a letter had been drafted and his team were seeking guidance on whether it had been distributed.

Prince Harry meets a delegation from Uganda during at an event at Chatham House in London on July 8 as the country was announced the newest Invictus Games community member

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Prince Harry and Invictus boss Rob Owen, left, present a commemorative plaque in London in July to Kiryowa Kiwanuka, second left, Uganda’s defence minister

Prince Harry and Meghan at a David Foster Foundation event in Canada on August 7

Team Sussex then received confirmation at 3.11pm it had already been sent to the media. A spokesman for Harry and Meghan said: ‘We were a little surprised not to have been told about this in advance.’

The disclosure of the private behind-the-scenes dealings is likely to fuel speculation of growing tension between the Sussexes and the Royal Household, just two weeks after Harry and Meghan returned to the UK.

The letter was revealed ahead of a reported meeting this week of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), which is responsible for making decisions about royal security.

Harry is waiting to hear the conclusion of the Risk Management Board’s threat assessment and Ravec is expected to decide at the meeting as to whether the Sussex family should be entitled to taxpayer-funded security now they live in the UK.

Lord Benyon’s letter reiterated the King’s stance in August, when Harry and Meghan announced their return, that there would be no alteration to their role and status as private individuals and non-working royals.

It read: ‘It follows that there is no change to the current status of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their styles as His and Her Royal Highness remain in abeyance and are not used.

‘The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity. In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.’

The Sussexes stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to the US for a new life of personal and financial freedom.

But the couple have now moved back to the UK for an ‘extended period’, enrolling their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in British schools.

There are also rumours that Meghan is set for a return to acting following the move. 

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK catapulted the likes of La Voix, Baga Chipz and Danny Beard into the public eye during its 11 series run

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The BBC has axed RuPaul’s Drag Race UK after 11 series as it battles “financial pressures”. The British version of the reality TV show, which has made stars of the likes of Baga Chipz, Danny Beard, and Strictly Come Dancing favourite La Voix, launched in 2019.

Since then it has aired eight series of the regular show and three series of the spin-off, RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs the World. But on Wednesday it was confirmed the show had been dropped from the BBC schedule.

Instead it will air on WOW Presents Plus. A BBC spokesperson told The Mirror : “As the BBC continues to navigate significant financial pressures and deliver the savings required of us, we have had to make some very difficult choices, none of which have been taken lightly.

“We can therefore confirm together with World of Wonder, that RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will be leaving the BBC and moving to WOW Presents Plus.

“The BBC is incredibly proud of all eleven series of this groundbreaking show and we would like to thank RuPaul, World of Wonder and everyone involved, both on and off screen. We are certain that viewers will enjoy the eighth series, which is currently airing on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three.”

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A source told the Mirror that it was a “huge surprise” to see the show cut. They said: “It’s been doing so well and it’s the only show of its kind. Staff were told that there was nothing that could be done.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK currenty averages around one million viewers per episode for the BBC. It was launched more than a decade after drag superstar RuPaul, known for hits like Supermodel, launched the format in the US.

The most recent series of RuPaul’s Drag Race launched just days ago and is currently airing. Last year saw Bones emerge as the victor.

BBC director-general Matt Brittin, the former Google executive who took over from Tim Davie, unveiled plans to cut around £80million from programming on TV, radio and news as part of corporation wide cuts earlier this year. Amongst the confirmed changes announced, BBC One’s Breakfast slot on a Sunday morning was ppulled, and the production teams making Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight will merge.

Radio 4’s The World Tonight is set to end next year, while the number of permanent presents on Today will be reduced to four from five, with just one single anchor operating on Saturdays. World Tonight is being replaced by Newshour, and Breakfast on Sunday is being replaced by the BBC News Channel.

Confirming the move, Brittin said: “We will reduce commissioning spend across Content, News and Nations by around £80 million in 2027–28 and review our broadcast TV channels and radio network portfolio as audiences move online.”

He added: “The scale of savings requires tough choices, careful work and won’t all be ready at once. We are committed to letting you know as soon as we have plans in your area. All divisions will be making significant savings.”

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President Donald Trump has once again predicted an end to the Iran war as he headed to Dallas to rally Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Unsurprisingly he delivered a politically favorable prediction.  

‘I think the war’s going to immediately end after the election,’ Trump told reporters on Wednesday, because the Iranians ‘can’t hold out any longer.’

The comment comes as the unpopularity of the Iran war looms over the president’s party as it faces losing both the US House and Senate this fall. 

The Iran war has now lasted more than six months and claimed the lives of 18 American service members.

It has also  become the heaviest political weight his party carries. 

Sixty-eight percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of it, according to a UMass Amherst poll taken in late August.

An NBC News survey finished on September 1 put approval of Trump’s Iran policy at just 31 percent. 

A still image from undated archive footage released by Iranian media on August 24, 2026, shows Mojtaba Khamenei attending a meeting before he assumed the role of Iran’s Supreme Leader, at an unknown location

An Iranian crude oil carrier identified as M/T Riesco burns after being struck, which US Central Command says it targeted after attempted Iranian missile attacks on a US Navy warship over the past two days, at an unknown location in this still image taken from video released September 8, 2026

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It remains to be seen if Trump mentions the war in his convention speech later Wednesday.

In true Trumpian fashion, the president will speak both nights of the Dallas convention.

But the guest list tells its own story about Trump’s cratering popularity.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is not speaking, a snub that follows Trump’s frustration with the South Dakotan over stalled pieces of his agenda, even as other House and Senate leaders were handed slots.

Several candidates in the country’s most competitive races are also skipping the main stage, among them Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson who is running for the US Senate in Iowa, and John E Sununu, the Republican nominee trying to flip New Hampshire’s Senate seat red.

Most prognosticators expect Democrats to win back the US House of Representatives, but the Senate will be tougher with battleground races in Maine, Ohio, Michigan and Alaska set to determine control.

Trump’s own trip to Texas was delayed Wednesday after his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One deployed its emergency evacuation slide.

Pressed on whether the aircraft was safe to fly, Trump responded: ‘Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it.’

Minutes after the oddity unfolded, the slide was reportedly seen being taken away from the new plane gifted to Trump from Qatar.

After speaking with the press for a prolonged period as the slide was being dealt with, the President boarded the plane as the cameras were still rolling. 

President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One on September 9th, 2026 at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Texas. Trump is traveling to Dallas to attend the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention where he is scheduled to deliver the keynote address

Air Force personnel remove an emergency inflatable slide after it deployed on Air Force One before President Donald Trump arrived to board at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland

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Vice President JD Vance was pressed about the case of one Air Force widow at Thursday’s White House briefing, when a CNN reporter asked him to make sure the family received its benefits.

The widow of a US soldier killed in the Iran war shared online that she was told her family would miss out on combat benefits because the Pentagon, under Pete Hegseth’s leadership, does not officially classify the conflict as a war.

Libby Klinner said that when she questioned her husband’s final paycheck, the officer assigned to support her after his death told her the family would not receive hazard pay or combat-related tax breaks because ‘we were not at war.’

Her husband, Major Alex Klinner, 33, died on March 12 when a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq while supporting US operations against Iran. The Alabama-based airman served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron and was among six crew members killed in the crash.

He left behind three young children; a two-year-old son and twins who were seven months old when he died.

The couple married in 2019, with Libby moving to the Pacific Northwest for his job before they relocated to Birmingham, Alabama, in 2022.

‘My husband lost his life because we’re in a war,’ she told the Associated Press. ‘It all comes down to principle.’

After her statement circulated online, the Air Force contacted her again and said it had itemized her husband’s benefits incorrectly, and that combat pay and tax exclusions were in fact included.

Klinner said officials acknowledged on Thursday they had provided her inaccurate information and confirmed she had received everything her husband was owed.

Vance asked for Klinner’s name and promised the administration would contact her directly after the briefing.

‘We want to be as helpful as we can and ensure she gets everything that she is entitled to,’ he said.

Elsewhere in the briefing, Vance disputed calling the Iran conflict a war, saying there was ‘no active shooting’, although he acknowledged places where fighting had flared up.

Senior commanders warned Hegseth that prolonged Iran operations could weaken US defenses elsewhere, including at home, the Washington Post reported last week.