Huntingdonshire District Council’s Liberal Democrat-led joint-administration collapsed over backlash to plans to build on car parks

The leader of a district council has survived a vote of no confidence sparked by backlash over plans to build flats on car parks. Cllr Sarah Conboy will continue to lead Huntingdonshire District Council after Tuesday evening’s vote failed.

The Liberal Democrat-led administration collapsed last month after two Green councillors left, leaving them without a majority. Councillors Stephen Ferguson and Lara Davenport-Ray said they had lost faith in the council’s leadership over their handling of the plans.

The council joined a partnership with developers Capital and Centric in July 2025 to come up with ideas to regenerate parts of St Ives, St Neots and Huntingdon. The developer unveiled plans to build homes earlier this year which included building on a number of council-owned car parks, though no formal application has been submitted.

Cllr Ross Martin, leader of the Conservative group, said that calling a special meeting for the vote of no confidence was not something they had taken lightly.

He said: “We have seen, quite sadly from my point of view, a series of events which has significantly damaged the reputation of this council. When we look back in history, we see empires being destroyed by barbaric invasions, we see governments brought down from scandals or financial issues.

“It’s not very often that you see a council administration fall down because of a consultation – a questionnaire essentially.”

He said that nobody has taken ownership of the decisions that have been made but it is up to elected officials to bear the responsibility. Cllr Tom Sanderson said the administration had invested in leisure centres – reopening Sawtry swimming pool and putting £30 million towards improving One Leisure in Huntingdon.

The Lib Dem councillor said: “There are plenty of good things happening in this district and I think we need to remember those as well.”

Cllr Julie Kerr, leader of the independent group, said that Cllr Conboy still had their support and they should wait for the facts to be investigated first.

She said: “Tonight we are being asked to overturn a democratic decision – so I think we have to ask a very simple question, what’s changed? What has happened since May that is so fundamental that it justifies removing a leader that this council elected?

“The decision at cabinet was to explore the regeneration opportunities and work with Capital and Centric – it was not a final approval of a particular development.”

Cllr Alex Bulat, the council’s only Labour member, accused the Lib Dems of trying to shift blame and hide from responsibility. She said: “It’s the same playbook every single time – it’s always someone else’s fault, never the right time to say, ‘we got this wrong’.”

Cllr Geoff Seef said: “There is not a councillor in this chamber, nay a resident of Huntingdonshire, that is not concerned and does not have questions to ask about Capital and Centric’s appointment and instructions.”

The Lib Dem councillor said voting to oust the leader would disrupt the investigation into how the contract was awarded and what the developer was told.

He added: “It does not allow attention to our residents’ needs and frankly they’ve done this for naked, and I would say naive, attempt to gain political advantage”

Cllr Ricky Ioannides said: “You have been elected to lead this council yet all we have got is blunders, excuses, blaming of others and the same old waste – not only of time, but of our taxpayers’ money. But equally blind and deaf, I’m afraid to say, are the Tories.”

The Reform councillor said they had failed to scrutinise the Capital and Centric partnership and would not be able to win a vote of leadership – which could lead to a hung council or a different Lib Dem-led administration.

He said: “I am therefore minded to abstain from this vote because you are all as bad as each other. You all brought this disaster upon yourselves today and to be honest I’m sick of this nonsense.”

Cllr Sarah Conboy said she had “listened carefully” to the debate which had been “excruciatingly uncomfortable”.

She said: “I have said publicly, and I will say again tonight – we got this wrong. I deeply regret the cause for concern to our communities and the damage this has done to the confidence in this council.

“I didn’t wait for a vote of no confidence to act – immediately after the final engagement event, I commissioned the information needed to understand what had happened. I haven’t hidden from the response – I have spent hours reading residents’ emails and watching the conversations on social media. If I say I’m going to listen, I have to be prepared to listen.”

The motion of no confidence failed with 24 votes against, 18 for and eight abstaining. Following the vote, a spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats branded it a “failed political stunt”.

They said: “We’re glad that we can get back on with the job we were elected to do, which is making Huntingdonshire a fairer, greener, and better place to live. We are listening to residents and will make sure their views are being fed into the work this council does. Compare that to the Conservatives who have wasted everyone’s time with their failed political stunt this evening.”

Reform UK begin their annual conference in Birmingham a bigger party than they were a year ago, their numbers swelled at Westminster, at Holyrood, in the Senedd and in local authorities.

But they also gather amid significant political headwinds, much of which revolve around money.

There was that whopping £5m gift to Nigel Farage from Christopher Harborne, the Thailand based British billionaire, and the long running row about whether the money should have been declared by Farage once he became an MP.

Then there is, among other things, the Metropolitan Police investigation into donations to the party during the last general election campaign.

Reform insists that it “takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations.”

When the party got together in the same West Midlands venue a year ago, they were an insurgency provoking intrigue and attention and demonstrating plenty of momentum.

Indeed that momentum was so significant that it was a major factor, perhaps the major factor, in accelerating the demise of Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, because the potential prospect of a Reform government frightened the Labour Party to its core.

Would Starmer, its then desperately unpopular leader, help or hinder their attempts to take on Farage? Hinder was the eventually overwhelming view within Labour, and so Starmer was a goner.

But politics can change, and change quickly. With Starmer out and Burnham in, there is early evidence of some support for Labour picking up. No longer are Reform comfortably leading in all the opinion polls – in some they’re not leading at all. Add to this a more confident and prominent Kemi Badenoch leading the Conservatives and the recent rise too of Restore Britain, the outfit set up by the former Reform MP Rupert Lowe. And the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru won and so beat them in the devolved elections in Scotland and Wales respectively. In other words, collectively Reform’s opponents appear more energised and popular.

Make no mistake, no party at a UK wide level is popular at the moment, but the scrap appears more evenly matched than it did.

Autonomous cars – vehicles that drive themselves – can sound like either the future of transport or an utterly terrifying prospect. 

For me, they’ve always felt more ‘science fiction’ than ‘London taxi’. But now that future has arrived on the capital’s streets – and I’m about to find out what it’s really like.

Uber and intelligence firm Wayve have today launched ‘driverless’ rides in London, marking the first time the service has been available in the UK.

I say ‘driverless’ because, for now, a supervisor remains behind the wheel for safety reasons, with their hands hovering close by.

I climb into one of the much-talked-about cars – already used for testing and private trips around the city – and set off through central London.

And initially, it feels remarkably… normal.

Booking one is simple. You request an UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort and can opt to be matched with a Wayve car at no extra cost, with the fare shown upfront in the app.

So far, so Uber. Except this time, there’s a robot in .

Once seated in the car, you can adjust the temperature and seat

Riders – like myself – matched with a Wayve ride will travel in an all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicle equipped with the Wayve AI Driver, as well as surround sensors. 

The in-vehicle experience, designed by Uber, features interactive screens available in 64 languages where riders can start their trip and view the vehicle’s planned path. 

My car pulls up to collect me and, aside from a couple of add-ons (notably the camera bar on top of the car and Wayve markers on the side), looks like any ordinary car.

But the robo-taxi element kicks in once it comes to a halt.

To unlock the doors, you need to press a button in the app.

It’s the driving itself that is most bizarre.

Knowing that the steering wheel will move on its own is not enough to prepare you for seeing it in the flesh.

It’s totally unsettling at first – and then inexplicably cool. I felt like I was in a sci-fi movie.

While drivers are currently still in the vehicle for safety reasons, they do very little, other than a quick safety briefing, and I can envisage the joys of hopping into a taxi with no pressure to make conversation.

A few minutes into our drive, which has thus far been an exercise in child-like wonder given the spinning steering wheel, I’m struck by how few passers-by are looking at the car. 

Don’t they realise how groundbreaking this is?

The vehicles are identifiable by the overhead camera panel

The steering wheel moves by itself – and for now, a supervising driver is in place to monitor the journey

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The truth is, part of the success of the vehicles is exactly this – they function just like an ordinary car, down to the braking and accelerating, speed and general smoothness of drive.

In all honesty, it’s one of the smoother rides I’ve had through the nation’s capital, known for its stop-start traffic and often jerky taxi rides. 

It’s even better than being driven around by some of my friends and family – you’re not relying on someone’s skill with navigating tough routes and gear changes (sorry, mum!).

You can also adjust the temperature inside the car – I favour cooler rides, so I turn it down a couple of degrees – as well as the music.

I’m told that soon you’ll be able to do so directly from the app or by voice, without even having to fiddle with buttons inside the car. 

When our drive comes to an end, it pulls over seamlessly into a parking spot – and nestles in perfectly without any of the manoeuvring and faff I associate with parking when forced to do so myself.

A real feat for what I consider to be robo-engineering mixed with a spot of witchcraft and wizardry.

It’s not the end of the road for developments in the field, either. 

Uber and intelligence firm Wayve have launched the cars today

The question on my lips is, of course, when will the cars be totally driverless?

Kaity Fischer, Wayve’s vice president of commercial and operations in London, tells me it’s not yet confirmed – the safety trial phase currently in operation needs to undergo rigorous development and testing first.

Headquartered and founded in London, Wayve has built and specifically trained its AI technology on the capital’s roads since 2018.

Wayve’s approach uses an AI model that learns from experience, much like a human, allowing it to scale and adapt to complex environments without relying on traditional HD maps or hand-coded rules.

This launch is part of Uber and Wayve’s partnership, which included an investment to put Wayve-powered vehicles on the Uber network in 12 markets around the world, beginning with London.

As part of the future service in London and other global markets, Wayve and Uber will also introduce riders to the Nissan LEAF vehicle, powered by the Wayve AI Driver using NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion, starting in Tokyo later this year.

‘We’re proud to introduce the Wayve AI Driver to the public for the first time right here in London, our home city and one of the most complex driving environments in the world,’ said Alex Kendall, CEO and Co-founder of Wayve. 

For now, the car model used is an all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicle

‘Autonomous driving technology will complement the city’s rich transport network, and we’re excited for Londoners to experience it first as we begin our global rollout with Uber.’

Sarfraz Maredia, global head of autonomous mobility at Uber, added: ‘London is a world-class hub for transportation innovation and this launch is a major milestone in scaling safe, accessible AV technology in a city with some of the world’s most complex roads.’

London being first is important and my ride, I reflect, is a success.

It’s unsettling at first. But after a moment getting used to the steering wheel moving of its own accord, it becomes just as ordinary as any other taxi ride. 

At least two civilians were killed and four others were injured, including two police officers, when a gunman opened fire at a downtown Minneapolis apartment building.

Minneapolis police received a call at 4.36pm on Wednesday that one person had been shot at Loring Towers, an affordable housing community, Minneapolis Police spokesman Sgt Garrett Parten said at a news conference.

Soon, other calls came in reporting additional gunfire.

When police then arrived at the scene at 4.39pm, they found one victim dead and several others suffering from gunshot wounds.

Police then followed the sound of gunfire to an upper floor, where they were confronted by a ‘haze’ that limited their visibility. 

Still, officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, leaving two officers shot, while a third sustained a non-life threatening injury.

One of those officers was shot in the stomach, while the other sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound to the leg KSTP reports. Both are now expected to make full recoveries.

In total, seven patients were rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center, one of whom was later pronounced dead, spokesman Jonathan Comito said. 

The officer who was shot in the stomach has since undergone surgery, and was said to have been in stable condition. 

The suspect was also killed on the scene, but it remains unclear whether he died in a police-involved shooting.

Photos from the scene show a massive police presence, as other emergency officials arrived

Minneapolis police, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rushed to the scene

Photos from the scene show a massive police presence at the Loring Towers, where some windows were shattered.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz added that his public safety team was also responding to the shooting, and noted that state officials are ‘on the ground to support local law enforcement.’

By 5.30pm, ATF agents, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents all responded to the scene. 

FBI Director Kash Patel also shared on social media that agents are responding to the scene as he vowed to ‘offer any and all resources necessary to assist local authorities.’ 

Meanwhile, the nearby University of St Thomas Minneapolis campus ordered students and staff to shelter in place before giving an all-clear at around 6.15pm.

The Hyatt Regency Minneapolis had also been placed on lockdown, but that was lifted at around 6.20pm. 

At least one civilian was killed in the attack on Wednesday evening

Officers who responded to the scene found a ‘haze’ that limited visibility

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said his public safety team was also responding to the shooting

Anthony Strong told the Minneapolis Star Tribune how he was smoking behind the apartment building when he heard gunfire.

‘It was pop, pop, pop, pop and it was a bunch more after that, and then I went upstairs,’ he recounted.

There, he said he saw a property manager on the ground ‘and outside, there [were] two more people shot on the ground.

‘And then I saw them bring an officer out that got shot in the leg.’

Strong said he is still trying to ‘process’ what he witnessed. 

Umecua Agnew, a resident of the building, also said she was in the elevator on the first floor when the shots rang out.

‘It was three adults and one child in the elevator, we were all together and when we got to the first floor, it was when we heard the massive shooting,’ she said.

At that point, Agnew said she and another woman grabbed the child and went to her eighth-floor apartment, from where she heard more gunfire. 

A nearby hotel was placed on lockdown amid the shooting 

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By 5.30pm, ATF agents, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents all responded to the scene

Officers are asking the public to avoid the area of 15 East Grant Street

Another resident eventually led her out ‘because I wasn’t gonna leave, I was terrified that I might get caught in the shooting in the hallway so bad I didn’t want to leave.’

The two residents were then led across the street to safety.

‘I just thank God for being alive because that could have been me, or he could have killed another girl or her mom or anybody that could have got shot right there,’ Agnew said. 

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called the situation ‘horrifying’ in a post on social media.

‘My deepest thoughts are with those killed and hurt, including the police officers injured. I pray for their quick recovery,’ he said.

‘I fully support responding law enforcement and my office will help in all the ways possible.’ 

Residents were evacuated from the apartment building following the shooting

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The massive police presence at the apartment building is pictured

Police swarmed the downtown area following the mass shooting on Wednesday

In a statement on social media, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said he and his wife are ‘praying for the Minneapolis police officers involved in this tragedy and all the victims.’

He added that he is in contact with law enforcement and is awaiting further information.

‘God bless our Peace Officers,’ Emmer wrote.

Lisa Demuth, speaker of the Minnesota House who is now running for governor, also said she was ‘aware of reports regarding a shooting in downtown Minneapolis.

‘I am praying for the victims of this heinous crime and I’m incredibly thankful for the massive response of our brave law enforcement officers.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Minneapolis police for more information.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

The Bolton News reported earlier today that the local high school went into lockdown on the advice of police as the school was close to where the incident was reported.

No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “Officers were called to reports of a man being seen with a knife on New Lane in Bolton today.

“Due to the proximity of Bolton St Catherine’s Academy the school voluntarily kept the children in the school until officer attended in supporting with the children leaving safely.

St Catherine’s School (Image: NQ)

 “The initial report did not involve the school.

 “No arrests have been made at this time and enquiries continue as well as a heavier police presence in the area.”

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Headteacher at Bolton St Catherine’s praised the young people at the school as carrying on as normal as they were kept in as part of the amber ‘invacuation’ instigated at 2.45pm.

They remained in school for about an hour and the police ensured the children left safely and were not at risk.

Head Ryan Mallet said:”Pupils carried on as normal and were fantastic. Our new Year Sevens acted perfectly and our Year Elevens were mature and got on with their work without a fuss. Primary were fantastic and there was no disruption to the working of the school.

“The situation was resolved at around 3:45pm once police arrived to ensure that any of our pupils walking home would be completely safe at our request.”

He added: “Our priority is always keeping our pupils safe. Really grateful for parents’ understanding and support. It was lovely to chat to so many on the gate afterwards.”

“As always, our pupils and staff are being fantastic, and staff acted swiftly to ensure safety.”

The motion, proposed by Reform councillor Derek Wunderley at Wednesday night’s meeting, centred on what he described as putting Bolton residents first when decisions are made about housing and local services.

Speaking during the debate, Cllr Wunderley said: “This motion is about one simple principle.

“Bolton residents must come first, not second, not somewhere on the list of competing priorities.

“First, because this council exists to serve the people of Bolton, the people who live here, the people who work here, the people who pay their taxes here.”

He said councillors regularly hear concerns from residents about housing waiting lists, a shortage of affordable homes, families living in temporary accommodation and increasing pressure on schools, GP surgeries and other services.

“People have every right to ask whether there are enough homes, people have every right to ask whether the services can cope and people have every right to ask what the impact is on their community,” he added.

The motion passed by just two votes at the full council meeting. (Image: Phil Taylor)

The Bolton Council debate touched on the impact of national government decisions on Bolton, including housing and migration policies, and whether local authorities have enough influence over decisions which affect their communities.

However, councillors also heard that Bolton has received millions of pounds through Greater Manchester schemes to bring empty homes back into use

The chamber heard that through its membership of the Greater Manchester Combine Authority, Bolton had received millions to bring back empty homes into use, the majority of which went to Bolton residents.

Cllr Sean Fielding said:: “However, the motion also refers to Bolton Council’s participation in discretionary refugee resettlement schemes, the inference being that this is a significant in contributing to housing strategies locally. Bolton Council has indeed participated in the Afghan Resettlement Scheme as part of receiving money from the Local Authority Housing Fund. The scheme provides homes for Afghan nationals who supported British troops during the occupation of Afghanistan and who would more than likely be persecuted. The Local Authority Housing Fund was awarded to Bolton Council by the government and has been used to bring empty homes back into use. The funding has refurbished more than 50 Be-One homes that would otherwise have been sold off. .”

And of those only a small fraction have been used for resettlement.

Cllr Andy Morgan argued the debate should not focus on “race, immigration or nationality” but on “local democracy, local accountability and ensuring that the people of Bolton, and the councillors they elect, retain a meaningful say over decisions affecting their communities”.

Supporting the motion, Cllr Morgan said there was “nothing unreasonable” about asking what capacity Bolton has to accommodate further demand on housing and services, adding that residents “deserve a meaningful voice” in decisions that affect their communities.

He said:”We all recognise the pressures Bolton faces. We need more genuinely affordable homes. Families are waiting for housing, pressures on temporary accommodation are increasing, and health services, schools, social care and other public services are facing significant demands.

“There is nothing unreasonable about asking what capacity we have as a borough. Nor is there anything unreasonable about asking the government to recognise that capacity when making decisions that ultimately have consequences here in Bolton.

“That principle of local decision-making is precisely why I believe this motion has relevance.

“At the same time as we talk about giving local communities a voice, government planning reforms and changes to the National Planning Policy Framework are reducing the ability of local planning committees to make decisions.

“As a member of the planning committee, I see first-hand how important local knowledge is when applications are considered.

“Councillors know their wards and residents know their communities. They know where traffic problems exist, where schools and GP surgeries are already under pressure, where drainage and infrastructure difficulties occur, and where well-planned development could genuinely improve an area.

“That does not mean we simply oppose development. Far from it. Bolton needs more homes, investment, regeneration and economic growth. I support appropriate development in the right places.

“However, local democracy cannot be treated as an inconvenience when it conflicts with national policy.

“Whether we are discussing housing, planning, infrastructure or pressure on public services, there is one common thread: local decisions should include a meaningful local voice.

“I support the principles contained in this motion: that we properly understand Bolton’s capacity, protect public services, consider local need, and ensure decisions affecting the borough are transparent and evidence-based.”

The motion was ultimately approved by the council, with a vote of 27 for, 25 against, and one abstention.

New surge teams are being deployed on the beaches of France, according to the government

Andy Burnham has trumpeted a seven-year low in small boats bringing illegal migrants across the English Channel and promised ‘relentless’ action to tackle the problem as he hosts President Macron of France.

The prime minister spoke as his government said new French ‘surge teams’ were being deployed to tackle launches from the beaches of France and prevent ‘mega dinghies’ from coming across the Channel as part of up to £662m Britain is paying to tackle the problem.

In the coming weeks a team of 45 officers is being deployed to western beaches in France to tackle launches from further along the coast, nearly tripling French resource in the area, according to the government.

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Some 102 small boats brought migrants over the English Channel between June and August this year, a lower number than any year since 2019, when 57 vessels made the journey.

The summer months are usually a popular time for making the Channel crossing, as weather is usually calmer than the rest of the year.

At his first Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Burnham said: “The loaning of the (Bayeux) tapestry is a great example of French-British co-operation, the same co-operation that has helped us reduce summer small boat crossings to a seven-year low.”

He said earlier in a statement: “The progress we have seen this summer shows what can be achieved when the UK and France work together.

“But I am clear that we cannot be complacent. Smuggling gangs are constantly adapting their tactics, and the UK and France need to respond quickly and stay one step ahead of the criminals facilitating the dangerous crossings.

“The small boats crisis is a shared European challenge, and no country can solve it alone. Working with France and our international partners, we will restore order and control to our borders and prevent smugglers exploiting vulnerable migrants.”

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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “We are boosting officer numbers to record highs to crack down on small boat launches and the gangs behind them. This work is bearing fruit. Over 48,000 crossing attempts have been prevented, small boat crossing numbers are down and removals of those here illegally are at record levels.

“But we are not complacent and we must be relentless. We will continue efforts on all fronts to tackle these illegal and dangerous crossings.”

They called it the ‘moron premium’. It was September 23, 2022, and Liz Truss‘s nascent government had announced £45billion of tax cuts – funded entirely by borrowing, rather than corresponding cuts to public spending.

The markets went haywire. The notorious ‘bond vigilantes’ who trade global government debt were appalled at her fiscal irresponsibility. They dumped British bonds, known as gilts, en masse.

In response, the interest rate or ‘yield’ on those ten-year bonds exploded: from 3.03 per cent to 4.42 per cent. This made it agonisingly more expensive for Truss and her equally inept chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to borrow.

The Treasury’s bill to service public debt, along with the government’s cost of doing business at all, soared.

This was the moron premium in action. Truss, of course, resigned soon after her infamous ‘mini budget‘, her 49-day tenure making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history – famously outlasted by an iceberg lettuce.

That was only four years ago. It’s hardly ancient history. But Andy Burnham appears to have ignored those lessons completely.

Less than a year ago, our new Prime Minister airily opined: ‘We have got to get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond market.’

The only way of achieving this, of course, is for a government to live within its means and not borrow more than they can afford from those markets, but that is not the Labour way.

On Tuesday, Burnham gave a speech to Parliament that sent further tremors through the City and sparked a new ‘moron premium’.

Outlining his dream of going back to the future, to a bright socialist utopia in which Margaret Thatcher’s pioneering reforms would be reversed, the welfare system would continue to balloon without ‘crude cuts’ and ‘relentless’ efforts would be made to renationalise utilities such as water and energy – all sent bond yields soaring once again.

Yesterday, the yield on the crucial ten-year bond climbed to 5.29 per cent, the highest since the onset of the Great Financial Crisis in July 2008, and in excess of the rates seen under Truss, which Labour has claimed amounted to ‘crashing the economy‘.

The yield on 30-year gilts, meanwhile, reached a peak of 5.92 per cent: a rate not seen since 1998, when Burnham was occupying himself as an ‘administrator for the Football Task Force’.

This new Labour moron premium only seems set to get worse.

What is particularly infuriating is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Yes, rising bond yields currently afflict all major economies. But Britain’s are by far the highest among the G7 richest nations: far ahead of the runner-up, America, at 4.79 per cent and leaving France trailing in comparison on 4.22 per cent.

The shock of the Iran war has undoubtedly made life more expensive for the world’s governments. But that is no reason to compound the problem with policies that could have been designed to make it worse.

The dogmatic Burnham manifestly fails to understand the simple fact that, far from being responsible for the nation’s economic woes today, Thatcherism ushered in an era of prosperity, imperfect though that was.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey during a visit to Sheffield earlier this year

Smaller-state Thatcherism slammed the door on precisely the sort of red-blooded socialism that wrecked the economy in the 1970s, forcing the then Chancellor Denis Healey to go cap in hand to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.

Burnham was then in short trousers, but I saw it as a young economics reporter at the time – it was a national humiliation that remains seared on my memory.

And though he loves to castigate it, Brexit, too, has freed Britain from the statist bureaucracy of Brussels.

Although undoubtedly we can and should be doing more to harness its advantages, leaving the EU has helped to unleash a boom in the export of home-grown financial and professional services to the rest of the world.

We rarely hear any of this from doom-laden Labour politicians, obsessed with what they incessantly call the ‘cost of living crisis‘. But Britain’s income from exported services has soared by 21 per cent since the pandemic to £545 billion last year.

Burnham could be capitalising on all this but, instead, he’s wedded to the foolish, well-tested delusion that growth and prosperity can be delivered in a country where an addiction to benefits, untrammelled trade union power and an unreformed NHS suck the lifeblood out of enterprise.

The PM’s endless cascade of easy, feel-good gestures, from a £2 cap on bus fares to an assault on vaping and betting shops on our derelict high streets, is simply cover for his failure to tackle more important issues.

Foremost among these: our nation sits on a £3trillion debt mountain and faces an interest-rate bill of £135billion this financial year – vastly more than the defence budget (£62 billion) and close to our spend on education (£122 billion). I should hardly need to say it, but such borrowing costs are utterly unsustainable and can only end in political and economic disaster.

Events in the bond markets may seem remote, but they filter down into all our lives. Higher bond yields mean more expensive mortgages, fewer houses being built, more expensive borrowing for businesses and individuals, fewer jobs, reduced output and slashed investment.

Most seriously of all, the Labour moron premium is eating away at Chancellor John Healey’s precious ‘headroom’: the spare capacity he has in next month’s Budget to cope with unexpected contingencies, following Rachel Reeves’s growth-crushing £75billion stream of tax rises.

City experts suggest that the Burnham Bond Crisis has already wiped out as much as £14billion of that headroom, leaving precious little scope for hitting the crucial Nato target of spending 3 per cent of our GDP on defence.

Early indications are that instead of tackling Britain’s bloated welfare bill and the exploding cost of state pensions – and generous public sector pensions in particular – Healey will target wealth, housing and banking for new taxation at his first budget.

How dispiriting. In July, the Office for Budget Responsibility noted that even a simple and entirely reasonable change, such as indexing welfare-payment increases to inflation rather than average earnings, could produce billions in savings.

IMF officials warn privately that Britain is moving towards ‘peak’ taxation, the point at which raising taxes becomes counterproductive because citizens and businesses will simply avoid paying: if necessary, by fleeing overseas.

Burnham may boast a refreshingly cheerful demeanour after his lugubrious and robotic predecessor. But his refusal to acknowledge the oncoming fiscal cyclone means that Britain looks as vulnerable now as at any time since the 1976 sterling crisis.

I suspect this will be the second Chancellor named Healey I will witness plunging Britain into a terrible financial crisis.

Failing to tackle the ‘moron premium’ is no longer an option. History shows that in any fiscal crisis, governments are overwhelmed by the power of markets and swept from office.

Unless Burnham and Healey wake up to the danger, mark my words: they will be removed from power as speedily as they arrived.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Researchers in Chile have designed an unlikely new garment for injured penguins — snug red vests threaded with copper and zinc that they hope will help the aquatic birds heal faster.

Veterinarians have found success in the past using such suits to treat injured dogs and cats. Now they’re trying out the technology on Humboldt penguins in Chile, home to the largest concentration of the vulnerable species.

“For years, vests with microfibers containing elements like copper and zinc have been tested on pets, particularly dogs and cats, and have greatly helped in the recovery of skin wounds,” said Ignacio Idalsoaga, director of the Buin Zoo, a wildlife park on the outskirts of Chile’s capital, Santiago, where researchers took measurements of penguins to develop the first bodysuits.

“We began to wonder — why can’t this be used on penguins?” he told The Associated Press from the zoo on Wednesday.

The experiment comes as Chile’s Humboldt penguin population declines sharply. Chilean and international researchers surveying the country’s major breeding colonies in 2024 and 2025 found a 63% drop in active nests compared to the same sites three years earlier. The birds face mounting threats, including entanglement in fishing nets, plastic pollution, disease outbreaks and competition with fisheries for food.

Now Humboldt penguins also find themselves in the cross hairs of one of the world’s most disruptive weather patterns, El Nino, which brings unusually warm waters to parts of the Pacific Ocean, making the cold-water fish that they rely on harder to find. Hunger forces penguin parents to travel farther afield for food and leave their nests behind.

“Especially now, with all the problems caused by El Nino, we’re likely to see many abandoned chicks in the coming weeks, with injuries they suffer in the environment,” Idalsoaga said.

Wildlife clinics across Chile receive distressed penguins stranded along Chile’s coast, some cut by fishing nets or boat propellers, others weakened by a lack of food, said Tomás Pino, a veterinarian who runs Conservación Humboldt, a nonprofit that rehabilitates injured marine animals in the country’s north.

Treating those injuries can be tricky. Penguins often twist their long necks to peck at gashes and pull out their own stitches, Pino said. The vests prevent them from doing that while putting copper — of which Chile is the world’s top producer — to work as a salve. Copper and zinc woven into the fabric inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi. Zinc also stimulates the formation of new blood vessels, helping damaged tissue heal faster.

Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

By DAILY MAIL COMMENT

Published: 00:59 BST, 3 September 2026 | Updated: 02:12 BST, 3 September 2026