WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: The neighbour described the child killer as ‘horrible’ as she spoke out

A former neighbour has described the disturbing warning signs shown by former schoolteacher Jamie Varley years before he sexually abused and murdered his adopted baby boy.

The neighbour described Varley’s household as a ‘nightmare’ and said he was ‘horrible’ to live opposite. Varley, 37, who lived in Grimsargh in Lancashire, is currently serving a whole-life order for the horrific killing of 13-month-old Preston Davey.

On the day of his tragic death on July 27, 2023, defenceless Preston endured two unspeakable sexual assaults at the hands of the secondary school teacher. Varley had climbed the professional ladder to become a head of year and safeguarding lead at South Shore Academy in Blackpool.

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His partner, former public schoolboy John McGowan-Fazakerley, meanwhile, was employed as an accounts manager for a finance firm. Yet beneath this respectable façade lay a deeply disturbing past.

In sharp contrast to his partner’s privileged, middle-class upbringing, Varley was raised on a council estate in Newark.

The second youngest of six children, he moved to Blackpool as a teenager, with no father recorded on his birth certificate, reports Lancs Live. A former neighbour, who lived adjacent to the family’s Victorian mid-terrace home in the Lancashire seaside town, has described the household as an absolute ‘nightmare’.

The woman, a mother-of-five who has fostered around a dozen children, told the Daily Mail: “He [Varley] was horrible. I had to report him to the police and to the housing association for anti-social behaviour and criminal damage but he was never arrested.”

She said she was left concerned for her children’s wellbeing at the time. She said: “He started shouting nasty abuse and ended up throwing lit cigarettes at their toys, trying to set them on fire.”

She added: “I wouldn’t let my children play in the front of the house because of him, not unless I was on the doorstep. When his family moved out [in 2014], we put the flags out. How on earth he got to be a secondary school teacher, I really don’t know.”

Varley began his working life at South Shore Academy as a design and technology technician, before later attending university as a mature student and ultimately qualifying as a textiles teacher. Roughly seven years ago, the killer took a six-week absence from work, with colleagues told his time away was linked to mental health difficulties.

A further unsettling episode arose during the Covid pandemic lockdown, when Varley failed to report for work after allegedly sustaining a back injury. The injury occurred when he tumbled from a ladder or drainpipe while spying on a boyfriend — not McGowan-Fazakerley — whom he suspected of being unfaithful.

Following his sentencing at Preston Crown Court last month, Varley has now been added to the grim roll call of approximately 70 notorious British criminals condemned to die in prison, joining the ranks of Wayne Couzens, Levi Bellfield and Jeremy Bamber.

Preston was born to Sarah Davey, a convicted murderer, on June 16, 2022. Five days after he was born, the 5lb 7oz tot was taken into the care of Oldham Council.

Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved for adoption in January 2023. At the age of nine-months-old, in April 2023, Preston began living at their home in Blackpool, Lancashire.

In the months that followed, Preston was subjected to ever increasing physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of Varley. McGowan-Fazakerley turned a blind eye to the escalating abuse and on July 23 took part in a joint attack on Preston, as he slumped helplessly over the bars of his cot.

On July 27, Preston was carried into Blackpool Victoria Hospital in cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at 7.18pm.

The campaign group of beer lovers is also hopeful that son Sam Smith taking over the Tadcaster-based brewery from father Humphrey Smith will open relations between both sides.

In recent weeks, preparations have been made to re-open several Sam Smith’s pubs in the area.

The Tankard Inn at Rufforth is due to re-open later this month, as is the Wellington Inn on Alma Terrace, Fishergate.

This follows the re-opening of the Ebor Inn at Bishopthorpe in May.

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Nick Love, pub protection officer for York CAMRA, says he has no inside knowledge of goings on at the brewery and he can only judge matters on how better the brewery’s London pubs are doing, which for several years have been run by  son Sam instead of dad Humphrey.

Nick said: “There are definite indications that there has been a significant increase in activity regarding re-opening their closed pubs and also widespread optimism that some of the outdated rules imposed by Humphrey will be relaxed under the tenure of his son Samuel Smith – evidenced by the removal of rules signs in The Royal Oak in Tadcaster recently.”

At present around half of the 300 or so pubs Sam Smith’s Brewery owns are said to be empty, according to a list compiled by Malton man Tom Taverner.

Humphrey Smith, who died last week aged 81. (Image: SWNS)

Social media groups that report matters concerning Sam Smith’s brewery have noted that the brewery is disposing of empty pubs.

Recently, the Corporation Brewery Tap in Doncaster was sold at auction.

The Old Brown Cow pub in Bradford was also recently sold.

Nick Love continued: “Because of the way Samuel Smiths does its business out of the public eye I don’t think we’ll get much transparency on how many pubs they choose to dispose of.

“All we would hope and urge them to do is make sure that any pubs they deem surplus to their estate are then offered to local independent breweries and operators rather than large pub companies and God forbid – property developers.”

In the meantime, York CAMRA is keen to develop better relations with the brewery, putting them on the same footing as other breweries in its area.

Branches of CAMRA typically have a brewery liaison officer that works with the brewery to inform each other of their activities and new products to look out for.

York’s brewery liaison officer Steve Gorton says the branch has received ‘no response’ from Sam Smith’s brewery.

Steve said he wondered if that would change now, adding he might now contact the brewery to find out.

He added: “CAMRA has good relations with the other brewers. We would hope to build a good working relationship with Sam Smith’s Brewery.”

By BEN WILLCOCKS, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Published: 23:46 BST, 6 July 2026 | Updated: 07:06 BST, 7 July 2026

John Stones pulled a cheeky prank on Thomas Tuchel as England‘s jubilant stars partied in the dressing room after their stunning 3-2 victory over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on Monday.

England heroically held on to win at Mexico’s national stadium after being reduced to 10 men early in the second half, showing grit and resilience against adversity to stage one of the Three Lions’ greatest World Cup victories since 1966.

Footage of England’s players celebrating in the dressing room has been shared to social media following the historic win, which has set up an intriguing quarter-final with Erling Haaland‘s Norway on Saturday.

In the video, Declan Rice grabs the attention of his manager Tuchel to indicate that Stones, who defended admirably after coming on in the second half, may have injured his shoulder.

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With music blaring in the background, the Manchester City defender begins clutching his right shoulder before Tuchel turns around with a horrified look on his face.

John Stones pranked Thomas Tuchel by pretending he hurt his shoulder after England’s win

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham inspired England to a heroic 3-2 win over Mexico on Monday

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Stones, wincing in a hunched position, keeps up the charade as the song crescendos and then suddenly pumps the air in time with the music as the beat drops.

Rice, who was in on the act, then cheers and immediately bounces up and down before being joined by the rest of the dressing room, who all saw the funny side.

The video ends with Tuchel heading over to embrace Stones after falling victim to the prank, bursting out laughing with an expression of both relief and amusement. 

England’s official X account posted the footage to social media on Monday, writing with dancing, laughing and fire emojis: ‘John Stones. The energy in the changing room last night.’

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The clip has since gone viral with over eight million views at the time of writing, with fans loving the mood inside the dressing room.

BBC pundit Wayne Rooney was not impressed by the stunt however, and fears the Three Lions may be celebrating a touch too early.

Speaking on BBC One after Spain’s 1-0 win over Portugal, he said: ‘I’m a bit more old school. I know you’ve got to enjoy it, but I think it’s a bit too soon.’

Stones may play a crucial role for England in Saturday’s quarter-final against Norway, as he comes face-to-face with former City team-mate Haaland, who has been in remarkable form so far this World Cup with a tally of seven goals.

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Tuchel looked concerned initially but saw the funny side after it was revealed as a prank

Wayne Rooney wasn’t impressed by the prank and fears England are celebrating ‘too early’

The centre-half, who is now a free agent, called time on his fruitful 10-year spell at the Etihad at the end of last season.

England were indeed hit with an injury blow during their triumphant Azteca celebrations on Monday after Jordan Henderson suffered a nasty fall over the stadium’s advertising hoardings.

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The Brentford midfielder was rushed to hospital with a broken wrist and has thus been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament, although he is set to stay with England’s squad until the end of the World Cup. 

How much is David Beckham set to pocket from his World Cup brand deals? Take on our quiz in our newsletter HERE 

Last month a young woman sat in front of me in my consulting room and told me she was convinced she had Lyme Disease after reading about all the possible symptoms.

She wasn’t the first patient I’ve seen to say this and I’m sure she won’t be the last. Why? Because as diseases go, this one has rather a high profile.

Last summer, Justin Timberlake told his fans that he’d been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. He revealed that he’d been performing with a great deal of nerve pain, had felt worn out and unwell and had a diagnosis for what was troubling him.

He’s just one of a long line of famous faces, including model Bella Hadid, singer Shania Twain and comic Miranda Hart, who’ve all spoken about the same illness.

It seems hardly a week goes by without another article, another celebrity, another warning.

Of course, that’s going to trickle down to the rest of us, including the patients that come through my door.

What the coverage almost never makes clear is that, a good deal of the time, the illness being discussed isn’t ‘Lyme Disease’ at all. It’s something called ‘Chronic Lyme Disease’. And the two are not the same thing.

To be clear, there is an infection, spread by the bite of a tick and caused by a bacterium called Borrelia. That is Lyme Disease. The first sign is often a spreading rash, sometimes in the shape of a bullseye, though fewer than half of patients ever develop one.

Flu-like aches and tiredness can follow. Left untreated, it can do serious damage: a drooping of the face, inflammation of the heart and painful swollen joints that surface months or even years later.

So this isn’t an illness to shrug off and I’ve nothing but sympathy for anyone who has been dismissed by a doctor who never thought to ask about a tick bite.

Caught early, though, it’s treated much like any other bacterial infection, with a short course of antibiotics, usually doxycycline. For the vast majority of people that clears it, and that’s the end of the matter.

Recorded cases are creeping up. In England last year there were about 1,170 confirmed, against 959 the year before.

Warmer, longer summers certainly give ticks more time to feed, yet much of the increase can be attributed to the fact we’re all more alert to Lyme now, more likely to spot the signs and get tested. None of that adds up to an epidemic.

However, the word ‘Lyme’ has become stretched to cover something quite different and this is what’s muddying the waters.

Chronic Lyme Disease is the claim that a whole raft of vague, persistent symptoms: headaches, exhaustion, aching muscles, the fog that settles over your thinking, are all the work of a hidden Borrelia infection.

The trouble is that there’s often no clear history of an infection in the first place. The standard tests come back negative.

Rather than accept that, sufferers frequently become convinced the tests themselves must be wrong. Some go as far as sending blood samples to private laboratories abroad, which run their own unregulated tests, with no evidence behind them, that will then hand back a positive result.

It’s easy to see why this happens. A label, any label, is easier to carry than being told nobody knows what’s wrong with you.

Lyme Disease is an infection spread by the bite of a tick and caused by a bacterium called Borrelia. But, Dr Max Pemberton explains, this is easily treatable if caught early

And it’s nothing new. In 2007, a landmark paper in the New England Journal of Medicine looked hard at Chronic Lyme Disease and found no convincing evidence the symptoms had anything to do with Borrelia.

Study after study has since failed to turn up any evidence that symptoms are due to a lingering infection.

As for treatments, patient groups press for long courses of antibiotics, sometimes running to many months. Yet controlled trials show they work no better than a placebo, while carrying serious risks of their own.

That hasn’t stopped a handful of doctors, some aligned with campaign groups, insisting the guidelines are too timid and that patients need ever-longer treatment. Other evidence gets wheeled out too but it rarely stands up to scrutiny. A pilot study this year, for example, hailed in some reports as a breakthrough, gave psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, to people with lasting Lyme symptoms who reported big improvements in their condition.

Impressive, until you read the detail. Only 20 people took part in the trial, there was no comparison group and everyone knew exactly what they’d taken. That’s not proof of anything.

I want to tread carefully here, because the distress these patients feel is not in question. They are unwell, and they deserve to be taken seriously. Only that isn’t the same as signing up to a diagnosis that doesn’t hold.

If the symptoms aren’t caused by an infection, more antibiotics won’t help.

The kindest thing we can do for these patients isn’t to nod along, it’s to tell them the truth and look at the whole picture. And that, very often, means considering causes that have nothing to do with a tick.

Picture of Kate says so much

What a lovely photograph of the Princess of Wales at the summit of Snowdon. 

She had taken on the National Three Peaks Challenge, climbing the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales in 24 hours… in the rain.

The resilient Princess of Wales, seen with a fellow climber on the summit of Mount Snowdon, serves as a reminder of how important it is to care for one’s mind after recovery

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She did it in aid of the Royal Marsden, the hospital that treated her cancer, and also to raise awareness of ‘life beyond diagnosis’. That phrase really resonated with me. 

Health services are generally great at the sharp end of illness: the scans, the surgery, the drugs. What comes after can be another matter. So many people who’ve come through something frightening are left with an anxiety that won’t switch off. 

What Catherine seems to grasp is that recovery is about the whole person, not just the disease. Being outdoors, moving, setting yourself a hard physical target and reaching it, can do things for the mind that no prescription manages.

Good news for coffee lovers. People drinking five or more cups a day were found to be 47 per cent less likely to develop liver cancer and a third less likely to develop cirrhosis, a study of more than 355,000 adults shows. Decaf drinkers saw similar benefits. Not that I’m urging anyone to start downing five cups a day. If you want to look after your liver, go easy on alcohol, keep your weight in check and stay active. Still, that morning cup may quietly be doing you a good turn. 

Dr Max prescribes… 

The Happiness Lab

We think we know what will make us happy. A pay rise, bigger house, expensive holiday. We’re usually wrong. 

In this warm and waffle-free podcast, the Yale psychologist Dr Laurie Santos, pictured, takes the science of wellbeing, drawn from the most popular course her university has ever run, and turns it into something you can use. 

Well worth a listen and guaranteed to get you rethinking what true happiness really is. 

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A star-studded holiday destination in Bodrum, Turkey, has been forced to shut its doors following a dispute with a local business partner.

The beachside experience and club on the Turkish Riviera is a hotspot for wellbeing fanatics, and boasts Eastern Mediterranean cuisine with subtle Mexican influences.

With another location in Mykonos, Greece, the brand is a favourite with many celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan and Rita Ora.

With 12 bungalows complete with private pools and expansive decks perfect for entertaining, it is a truly elite destination where you can stay overnight, too.

Situated on the Aegean coast, other fans of Scorpios include Gigi Hadid and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Today, Bodrum boasts ultra-luxury brands including Mandarin Oriental, EDITION and Maxx Royal, while Mykonos favourite Scorpios has chosen the peninsula for only its second permanent outpost. 

However, a string of measures imposed by a local business partner have meant it has been forced to shut down temporarily.

Celebrity guests to Scorpios include Lindsay Lohan (pictured) as well as supermodel Gigi Hadid

It closed just weeks into the 2026 summer season for a handful of reasons, including operational problems that have significantly impacted the venue.

According to a source close to Scorpios, there are restrictions preventing Scorpios’ onsite ambulance and doctors from accessing the property, placing a limit on safety.

Additionally, there are restrictions on bringing ice onto the property, creating food safety and hygiene concerns.

Delivery windows have also been reduced to a one-hour period.

Meanwhile, the overnight demolition of the guest gatehouse and removal of the parking area mean guests would have to park on a public road and walk to the entrance.

There has also reportedly been a reduction in licensed operating hours.

A statement from Scorpios posted on Instagram over the weekend read: ‘We regret to inform you that Scorpios Bodrum will temporarily cease business operations as of today and until further notice due to differences with our local business partner that could not be resolved so far.’

‘Under the current circumstances being imposed on us, we are no longer able to operate in a way that meets the standards, values and responsibilities we hold ourselves to.’

‘At Scorpios, we have always been committed to delivering the best possible experience while ensuring the wellbeing and safety of our guests, employees, artists and suppliers.’

The resort is one of a string of luxury properties in Turkey’s Bodrum

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‘We sincerely hope that the current issues can be resolved and that we will be able to welcome our community back to Scorpios Bodrum in the near future.’

Fans were understandably disappointed, with one commenting: ‘Sad. One of the most beautiful places in the world.’

Another chimed in: ‘Come back stronger. Scorpios is one of Bodrum’s iconic symbols.’

A third wrote: ‘It takes real integrity to walk away when the conditions no longer align with your values. The Scorpios family has always stood for excellence, transparency, and genuine care for its community. 

‘Scorpios Bodrum is a beautiful project, but no location is worth compromising the principles that built the brand. Looking forward to seeing Scorpios thrive again under the right circumstances and in the right location.’

A fourth added: ‘Turkey lost again. Scorpios was the biggest entertainment brand that ever came to Turkey.’ 

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — NATO on Tuesday will showcase a series of new military projects worth billions of dollars in an attempt to convince U.S. President Donald Trump that the allies are stepping up defense spending and converting investment into real firepower.

At an event dubbed the “big reveal,” several leaders are due to announce new deals with defense companies, plenty of them in the United States. Trump has branded NATO a “paper tiger” that would cease to function without American arms and leadership.

“We will announce tens of billions in new contracts that will provide the crucial kit we need to deter and defend,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters on the eve of the military alliance’s two-day summit in Turkey.

The defense industry splash comes a few weeks after Rutte tried to ease U.S. concerns about military spending at NATO with a new pitch using a chart labeled the “The Trump Trillion” — showing $1.2 trillion in spending by European allies and Canada since 2017.

Far from being impressed, Trump appeared unmoved, saying he was still disappointed at some NATO allies’ refusal to join the Iran war, which he had launched alongside Israel without consulting them.

“We don’t need their money — we don’t need anything,” Trump said. “I just want loyalty.”

NATO surveillance planes up for renewal

Among the contracts to be unveiled, many of them drawn up and some signed long before the summit, is expected to be one to replace NATO’s aging fleet of surveillance planes.

NATO as an organization does not own any weaponry — these are the property of the 32 member countries — but it does have a fleet of AWACs aircraft that are about 50 years old and some newer surveillance drones.

Some of the other projects will notably be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.

“We need to ensure that we are translating our economic might into military capabilities, putting the cash to work from defense plans to drones, from money to missiles and interceptors,” Rutte said.

The summit is being held in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s sprawling palace compound in Ankara and Trump has suggested he would come bearing gifts for the Turkish leader.

Netanyahu opposes jet sales to Turkey

But speaking Monday on the morning show “Fox & Friends,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the U.S. not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, saying that Erdogan “calls openly for the annihilation of Israel.” Turkey and Israel have acrimonious relations. Erdogan frequently accuses Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Turkey was barred from the F-35 program in 2019, after it purchased Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. However, Trump, who has warm relations with Erdogan, has hinted ahead of his planned visit to Ankara for the NATO summit that the sales could soon resume.

Netanyahu said selling Turkey F-35s would “upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East.”

Israel’s Air Force depends on hundreds of U.S. fighter jets, including F-35s, F-16s and F-15s.

But hiking defense spending means increasing taxes or diverting resources from other priorities. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit last month, saying the government was not willing to spend at a time of rising threats.

Concern is mounting among some northern and central eastern countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack — a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks — on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

Keir Starmer’s office said the British leader will be “focused on building a stronger and more European NATO” on what is likely to be his last foreign trip as prime minister.

Starmer, who announced his resignation June 22, has faced criticism from military leaders, opposition politicians and some in his center-left party for the slow rate of increase in U.K. military spending.

His government has committed to reach the NATO budget target of spending 3.5% of gross domestic product on defense by 2035 but does not have a concrete plan to get there. Its current spending plan will see that spending hit 2.7% of GDP by 2029.

___

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Two massive Russian attacks on Kyiv in less than a week, renewed Iranian threats in the Strait of Hormuz, and a security crackdown in Turkey are just three of the immediate issues shaping the context of the Nato summit in Ankara on July 7-8.

While Ukraine and Iran will be on Nato’s agenda, the authoritarian drift of its host, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will be politely overlooked. But as ever, the summit outcome will be determined by the position of the United States.

At last year’s Hague summit, the Nato-sceptical US president, Donald Trump, was placated by the allies’ commitment to spend 5% of their GDP annually on defence by 2035. The challenge this year will be to demonstrate sufficient progress towards that goal, while also addressing Trump’s vision of “Nato 3.0” – involving, according to his secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, “a balanced alliance with Europe in the lead for its own defence”.

Progress towards defence spending appears reasonably on track. In 2025 alone, the Atlantic Council notes: “European allies and Canada increased defence spending by 20% from the previous calendar year.” Six Nato allies (the three Baltic states plus Denmark, Poland and Norway)
spent more on defence as a share of GDP than the US. Germany, not among that group in 2025, nonetheless has big ambitions. In absolute terms, it is now Nato’s second biggest defence spender.

The allies have also made strenuous efforts to wean themselves off American-sourced defence systems. But bumps in the road remain. Whereas in 2025, all the Nato allies (bar Iceland, which has no armed forces) met Nato’s 2024 standard of spending 2% of GDP on defence, this will not be repeated in 2026. The Czech government and Hungary are likely to dip below the target. And many spending commitments still need to translate into concrete capabilities. Europe’s defence industries are working flat out, but are at the limits of how fast they can absorb new investment.

The success of the summit may just be down to luck and the volatile mood of the US president. Trump seems unable to accept that the Nato allies have made genuine progress in defence. He claimed just days before departing for Ankara it was “ridiculous” that the US continues to support a “one-sided” Nato. That grievance appears to be one reason the meeting may withdraw its endorsement of Albania – a low-spending Nato member – as the 2027 summit venue.

Things could also prove tricky on another of Trump’s pet complaints – the lack of Nato support for the US-Israeli war with Iran. The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte (who chairs the summit), seems determined to avoid getting too deeply into discussion of the situation.

But if it does intrude, safety will likely be found in the formulation recently agreed by the G7 – welcoming the US-Iran deal, condemning Iran’s nuclear ambitions and supporting a Franco-British led maritime operation in the Strait of Hormuz. Don’t expect a Nato coordinating role in any operation, however. On that, there is no allied consensus.

United approach on Ukraine war

There will be greater scope at the summit for dealing with Russia’s war against Ukraine and the broader threat to European security that emanates from the Kremlin. The Trump administration has grown increasingly distrusting of Putin and, in parallel, more impressed with the Ukrainian war effort.

This has translated into some positives for Ukraine: the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, will be at the summit, attending the Nato-Ukraine Council and the Ukraine Defence Contact (Ramstein) Group meetings, which coordinate western support for Ukraine.

He will be hoping for more concrete commitments similar to British and German defence packages for Ukraine. Nato’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (Purl) initiative, launched last summer, has also already been a big success in keeping arms and other military aid flowing to Ukraine.

That initiative will be reaffirmed at Ankara, signalling a clear commitment to Ukraine-Europe defence links. But the allies still lack a consensus on offering Nato membership to Ukraine. The US is adamantly against it. So a pathway to accession will not be spelled out at the summit.

Where’s China?

Other items missing from the agenda at Ankara will also reflect the Trump administration’s priorities. It’s no surprise that climate change and Women Peace and Security – a UN-led initiative which recognises and fosters women’s contribution to peacekeeping – have fallen out of favour. Both issues figured in Nato communiques during the Biden period – both disappeared from last year’s Hague summit declaration. Don’t expect a mention at Ankara.

More curious, though, is the lowered priority given to China. Nato’s 2019 London declaration contained Nato’s first ever summit-level statement on China, recognising that the nation’s growing influence brought challenges as well as opportunities – a move engineered by the first Trump administration. Then, Nato’s relevance to the US was judged by how it was positioned in the emerging era of “strategic competition”.

Under Biden a similar logic applied, reinforced by the 2024 Washington summit’s description of China as the “decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine”. And yet China disappeared from the 2025 Hague declaration. It was not discussed at Nato’s recent foreign and defence ministerials. Neither is it expected to figure at Ankara.

Why not? The Trump administration’s recent efforts at accommodation with China are part of the answer. Other allies too are happy to see China sidelined from Nato’s business. France, easily perturbed by a globalist Nato, had always been a sceptic when it comes to including China in Nato’s agenda. Many east European allies, meanwhile, see a China focus as distracting Nato from Russia. And big exporters like Germany need to keep Beijing sweet, given the shrinkage of their Russian market.

The summit declaration will again be short to avoid controversy. But like an iceberg, much lies below the surface. The detailed work of moving to “Nato 3.0” was already agreed at the Nato defence ministerial in mid June. Most of the gaps in Nato’s European defence plans occasioned by recent US force announcements have already been plugged.

The summit will give rise to much noise, but Nato’s ongoing adaptation to the new reality engendered by shifting US priorities suggests a high degree of underlying resilience.

Evidence showed that the woman had deposits of more than £55k into her bank from running the brothel

A woman who ran a brothel in Cambridge has been sentenced. Sio Cheok, 58, first came to Cambridgeshire Police’s attention following reports of anti-social behaviour and frequent visitors to a property in Histon Road in 2025.

Officers attended the address on May 20, 2025, and found Cheok and a suspected sex worker inside. They also discovered a massage bed and sex-related paraphernalia, including condoms and lubricants.

Two mobile phones were seized. These contained evidence of Cheok arranging appointments and communicating with both clients and workers.

Cheok was arrested and released on bail with conditions. However, further enquiries and welfare checks carried out in December revealed she breached the conditions.

Further investigation showed more than £55,000 had been paid into her bank accounts through cash deposits and third-party payments over a 12-month period.

At Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (July 3), Cheok, of Chesterton Road, Cambridge, was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years. She previously pleaded guilty to controlling prostitution for gain between June 2024 and December 2025. She must also carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Detective Constable Steph Barnes-Dunlop, who investigated, said: “Cheok was motivated by financial gain and exploited vulnerable women for her own benefit. Through a thorough investigation, we were able to build a strong body of evidence which demonstrated her role in controlling prostitution activity from the property.

“We work closely with partner agencies to safeguard those involved in sex work and identify anyone who may be at risk of exploitation. I hope this sends a clear message that we will not tolerate those who seek to profit from the exploitation of others.

“If you are being exploited in any way then I urge you to contact us, or Crimestoppers, so we can help you turn your life around.”

Officers are now taking steps under the Proceeds of Crime Act to ensure she does not benefit financially from her criminality.

HMRC is pushing ahead with its tax overhaul

Sole traders and landlords are confronting a crucial deadline as HMRC presses forward with its contentious transformation of the tax system.

The tax authority is urgently attempting to dispel “myths” surrounding its Making Tax Digital (MTD) scheme following evidence that vast numbers of those impacted have still not registered – mere weeks before their initial submission falls due. In a message posted on social media, HMRC delivered a stark reminder to the self-employed emphasising that every three months they must use compatible software to submit digital records of income and expenditure.

The statement continued by clarifying who is impacted. Crucially, anyone enrolled in MTD must send an update for each income source, including self-employment and property income.

Millions dragged into ‘digital’ net

The reform impacts sole traders and landlords with a combined turnover exceeding £50,000 annually – with HMRC calculating that 864,000 people would be caught in this opening phase, all obliged to submit their first quarterly update via HMRC-approved software by August 7.

However, early indications suggest many are being taken by surprise. Statistics reveal that just one week after the system launched, only 250,000 people had registered – and the overwhelming majority of those, almost 170,000, had enrolled through tax agents and accountancy practices rather than registering personally.

Campaigners worry the actual number of those yet to sign up could reach hundreds of thousands. Perhaps anticipating difficulties, the Chancellor acted last year to ease the impact, confirming that no penalties would be imposed for late quarterly submissions during the 2026/27 tax year — a concession viewed by detractors as an implicit acknowledgement that the system’s implementation has been disorganised.

A long and troubled road

Making Tax Digital is not a recent initiative. The scheme was originally subject to consultation back in 2016, forming part of HMRC’s ambition to modernise its handling of taxpayer information.

Certain aspects of the programme, including MTD for VAT, have been operational for years, yet the income tax component has been continually delayed following numerous postponements owing to its intricacy.

Under the regulations finally coming into force this year, the era of the shoebox stuffed with crumpled receipts is drawing to a close. Taxpayers brought within the regime must abandon pen-and-paper bookkeeping and instead record every transaction electronically, submitting running totals to HMRC four times a year rather than completing a single annual return.

Officials maintain the reform is intended to provide taxpayers with a clearer, more current understanding of their liabilities. According to HMRC’s own guidance, once a quarterly update has been filed, users will be able to see an estimate of their tax bill for their self-employment and property income in their software or in their HMRC online services account.

The key dates

The first cohort – those already trading with income above £50,000 – must have started keeping digital records from 6 April 2026.

The critical dates that follow are:

• August 7, 2026 – deadline for the first quarterly update
• November 7, 2026 – second quarterly update
• January 31, 2027 – last “old style” Self Assessment return, covering 2025/26
• February 7, 2027 – third quarterly update
• May 27, 027 – fourth quarterly update
• January 31, 2028 – first year-end declaration filed directly through MTD software, covering 2026/27

A second wave of taxpayers, with lower turnover thresholds, will be dragged into the system in the following two years.

Penalties on the horizon

Although there is a grace period for late quarterly submissions this year, taxpayers have been cautioned against becoming complacent. From next year, a new points-based penalty system comes into effect, similar to driving licence endorsements – accumulate too many points for missed deadlines, and a fixed financial penalty will follow.

Accountants have urged their clients not to leave matters until the eleventh hour, cautioning that mistakes made in the first submission can carry through every subsequent filing, as each quarterly update builds cumulatively upon the last rather than being treated as a standalone return.

For the time being, HMRC’s message to those affected is straightforward: get registered, ensure your software is in order, and don’t let August 7 catch you off guard.

It’s been described as the most famous front door in the country. But the glistening black entrance of No 10 Downing Street is not a portal to the wellspring of power in modern Britain.

That honour lies with the front door of a much grander building round the corner on Horse Guards Road: the HM Treasury headquarters.

Power-hungry prime ministers through the ages have attempted to break the Treasury’s stranglehold over decision-making.

Now, Andy Burnham is plotting his own escape from the dead hand of its mandarins by shifting some of his executive power from London to Manchester, with the creation of a ‘national growth unit’ that he has christened ‘No 10 North’.

When he becomes PM later this month, it is said Burnham will spend one or two days a week in his northern fastness, with one report suggesting that – depending on parliamentary calls on his time – he might base himself there on Mondays and Thursdays, while presumably spending the weekend at his gated home in the town of Golborne, 14 miles west of Manchester.

This move, coupled with his plan to devolve certain powers to elected mayors and local authorities, is calculated to discombobulate the Treasury.

But wresting authority from its Sir Humphreys could prove to be easier said than done, as Keir Starmer and so many of his predecessors can testify.

The level of administrative support and bureaucratic heft surrounding the Prime Minister is no match for the might of the money men in His Majesty’s Treasury, with its serried ranks of number-crunchers and veto power over any legislation that may spook the markets.

The current Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has proved particularly ill-equipped to counter the influence of her civil servants, writes Alex Brummer 

It is a measure of the imbalance between the two government offices that while 300 civil servants and special advisers work at No 10, there are more than 1,600 in the Edwardian Baroque Revival building that houses Britain’s finance ministry.

A senior Treasury mandarin once explained to me that nothing goes on in Whitehall, the Cabinet or No 10 that escapes Treasury scrutiny.

Every decision which requires taxpayers’ money, from authorising a review to making a change to the pension and welfare system, passes through the Treasury.

Gordon Brown was so suspicious of Treasury snooping during his ten years as Chancellor that he and his top aide, Ed Balls, would retreat to a box room in a quiet corridor to avoid being overheard by civil servants.

Their thinking was that if anyone was going to leak details of future government policy it was going to be them, not some Machiavellian permanent secretary.

Indeed, when he attended financial gatherings overseas, Brown refused to stay in the local British embassy for fear of intrusive civil servants.

And it would appear that not much has changed since. Two years ago, a study by the Institute of Government found that the Treasury demonstrates ‘a worrying imbalance of power in government that leads to bad outcomes in spending’.

This, it argued, ‘egregiously’ leads to a lopsided centre of power, meaning the PM ‘lacks the firepower, intellectual support or control of the levers to set and drive strategy, leaving the Treasury to fill the resulting vacuum’.

The current Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has proved particularly ill-equipped to counter the influence of her civil servants, who regularly use blood-curdling warnings of a run on the pound or spiralling bond yields to keep their ministers in line.

The fingerprints of officials in thrall to the Treasury’s tin-eared economic orthodoxy have been all over her decision-making. It is no accident that Ms Reeves made the biggest political error of her tenure when she sought to address an alleged £20billion black hole in the government finances in July 2024 by cancelling – without consultation – winter fuel payments for ten million elderly people, a decision which provoked such a furious reaction that it had to be reversed 11 months later.

This was a prelude to the imposition of a disastrous succession of taxes on business which have crushed investment, employment and consumer confidence.

As power switches from one big spending socialist to another, the market for British government bonds – the financial instruments used to fund borrowing – has rarely been more jumpy.

The merest hint that the budget to fund Burnham municipal ambitions is in danger of spiralling out of Treasury control would be highly dangerous.

Britain, along with other members of the G7 group of the world’s wealthiest nations, is still counting the cost of the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Even finding the cash for Burnham’s presumably splendid ‘No 10 North’ will be a street fight.

One thing that Burnham does have in his favour, however, is the Treasury’s growing lack of intellectual firepower.

It has long considered itself primus inter pares among government departments, thanks to a long tradition of recruiting only the most brilliant minds from the finest universities.

But I am hearing more and more complaints from veteran mandarins that there has been a qualitative decline in Treasury recruitment, with a knock-on effect on decision-making.

The problem, they say, is the insidious rise of political correctness. A recent Freedom of Information request made by The Spectator magazine found that the Treasury had stopped using numerical reasoning tests in its recruitment process – tests once considered vital in assessing applicants’ ability to understand often complex financial and economic policies – because too many ethnic minority candidates were failing them. Or, as the Treasury put it in its response to The Spectator, it was dropped ‘due to evidence of the test having adverse impact on candidate diversity.’

Prime ministers more robust than Burnham is ever likely to be, have been defeated by the obstinacy and obstruction of the people on Horse Guards Road, says Brummer

To make matters worse, the Treasury’s board has since removed verbal reasoning tests, too.

The lowering of standards around numeracy and reasoning inevitably has a detrimental impact on the standard of financial analysis provided by its recruits

It also puts the Treasury at an intellectual disadvantage when it comes to dealing with high-flying employees of blue-chip banks such as Goldman Sachs.

Recruits in the private sector are expected to have advanced mathematical skills or a qualification from a top business school, where candidates are required to pass lengthy mathematical and reasoning tests, before they are granted the privilege of an interview.

Andy Burnham may think he has the answers to the nation’s problems with his decade-long strategic plan, as well as the political nous to pull it off by undermining the Treasury.

But prime ministers more robust than Burnham is ever likely to be, have been defeated by the obstinacy and obstruction of the people on Horse Guards Road.

Take the fate of Harold Wilson’s reforms, the PM who made perhaps the boldest efforts to subvert Treasury power. In 1964 he created two powerful new government departments: the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which – like Burnham’s ‘No 10 North’ – was charged with bolstering growth; and the Ministry of Technology, which had a brief to embrace the ‘white heat’ of the ‘scientific revolution’.

Within six years, both had been abolished and the Treasury’s hegemony was more unquestioned than ever.