More than 9,000 domestic abusers are set to walk Britain’s streets within three years under Labour‘s early prison release scheme.

In plans set to terrify survivors, 3,000 perpetrators will be freed annually before serving full sentences, the Daily Mail can reveal.

It follows the Prime Minister green-lighting controversial plans to release some of the worst criminals from prison early, excluding rapists and the most serious sex offenders.

Andy Burnham had paused the scheme after it emerged the killers of PC Andrew Harper would be among those freed. 

Last night domestic abuse victims, charities and Mr Burnham’s own MPs tore into the Government for allowing thousands of abusers back on to Britain’s streets before their jail terms are up.

According to analysis from the Tories, 9,371 of these criminals could be out of prison by the end of this Parliament in 2029.

Once free, they would be fitted with electronic tags to track their movements and alert authorities if they move outside of set zones.

But shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy last night branded it ‘disgraceful’ that domestic abusers are eligible for early release, even with such measures in place. 

Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy, pictured, branded it ‘disgraceful’ that domestic abusers are now eligible for early release 

He said: ‘Labour had to be dragged into this U-turn on [excluding rapists from] early release after campaigning from victims. But it clearly does not go far enough and is putting victims’ lives at risk. The clock is ticking… Labour need to ensure the remaining sex offenders and other serious criminals are excluded.’ 

And Reform UK’s equality spokesman Suella Braverman accused Labour of ‘throwing thousands of traumatised victims to the wolves’ by granting early release to violent abusers.

She said: ‘Not only is it deeply traumatising for these victims to know their attackers will be free to roam the streets nearby – many will be literally fearing for their life.’

Domestic Abuse Commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs said: ‘If these figures are anywhere near the level of abusers set to be let out, then it is critical the Government is transparent about the scale of releases, so we can be confident the right level of resource is in place to keep victims safe.’

Last night Mr Burnham was also facing a backbench mutiny.

Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, Allison Gardner, told this newspaper: ‘For survivors, the prospect of an abusive partner being released early is frightening, and their safety must come first.’

Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham, said: ‘With patchy rehabilitation in prisons, and less time served, there is no reassurance that these manipulative aggressors will have changed.’

Last month, the Prime Minister paused prisoner release reforms after learning two men convicted of killing PC Harper, 28, would have benefited. Both were passengers in a car that dragged the policeman down a road after he responded to a burglary report in 2019.

Following a backlash, Mr Burnham announced that no prisoners would be released under the scheme, designed to ease pressure on overcrowded prisons, until an urgent review had been carried out.

The Prime Minister said ministers would examine the policy in detail to ensure public safety remained the overriding priority before any changes were implemented.

The family of PC Harper learned this week that two of his killers remain eligible for early release after the review. Calling the move a betrayal of his legacy, Aileen O’Connor, chairman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, vowed to launch a legal challenge over the move.

Yesterday, Tory peer Baroness Bertin, co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on domestic violence, said ‘lives will certainly be lost if this [scheme] isn’t thought through properly’. 

She added: ‘The threat abusers can pose to victims on release can’t be underestimated.’

Under the scheme, which will take effect in October, criminals who faced serving two-thirds of their sentence before being considered for release will now be let out after only half their term.

Less serious offenders will be released after serving just a third of their sentence instead of half.

Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones, pictured, insisted that anyone eligible for early release would be ‘under the strictest licensing arrangements’

There was a 28 per cent increase in offenders being recalled to prison this year after breaking the terms of their licence agreements, according to Government data (Stock Photo)

Advertisement

Alice Russell-Harris, of abuse charity Refuge, said: ‘The PM took on the mission to halve violence against women. This decision risks undermining that commitment.’

Domestic abuse is not categorised as a specific offence – making it difficult to estimate the true extent of abusers up for release.

The Conservatives used Ministry of Justice data to calculate the number of criminals prosecuted for breach of a restraining order, stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour or intentional strangulation who would be eligible for release.

A MoJ spokesman said: ‘This is a speculative figure. It wrongly assumes prison population and sentencing patterns will remain unchanged throughout Parliament, while also counting people who have not yet committed offences.’

Abusers of women who were freed to reoffend  

Lover killed in fall as she tried to flee his beating

Leonidas Georgalla was jailed for more than a year for fracturing his ex-wife’s skull, but after his release from prison went on to kill his new girlfriend.

Georgalla, 54, was jailed for 20 months in 2008 for driving wildly in New Zealand while his terrified wife clung to the car bonnet, before coming loose and suffering the head injury.

After his release he came to Britain and later began a relationship with Kathleen John, 39. But he began beating her and police banned him from contacting her.

He was jailed for 12 years in November 2023 for killing Ms John, pictured, when she fell from a third-floor window in an effort to escape him as he was attacking her.

Georgalla admitted manslaughter and breaching a restraining order.

Detectives said injuries on Ms John’s body that showed she had been assaulted by Georgalla before the fall. Georgalla refused to tell police why he killed Ms John, who had worked as an NHS nurse.

Detective Inspector John Marriott said: ‘Leonidas Georgalla is a danger to women… At the time of Kathleen’s death, there was a restraining order against him for previous abuse she had suffered. He had been convicted of domestic violence in other countries.’

Leonidas Georgalla was jailed for more than a year for fracturing his ex-wife’s skull, but after his release from prison went on to kill his new girlfriend

Ambushed mother and slashed her in face 

Mark Brazant ambushed married mother Josephine Conlon, 36 – slashing her across the face and neck, narrowly missing her jugular vein – six days after he was let out of jail in December 2019.

Brazant, 50, who has paranoid schizophrenia, was supposed to be escorted to a secure address in Ealing, west London, after his release from HMP Thameside. He had being jailed for three offences of battery and one of common assault, all against lone women.

Instead, he was freed to stalk Mrs Conlon as she pushed her baby in a pram in broad daylight.

CCTV captured the vicious assault and Brazant was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 2022.

Giving evidence at the trial, Mrs Conlon, pictured, said: ‘I remember him being above me.

‘I think from that original shove your mind goes into overdrive trying to [understand] what is happening.

‘I remember thinking he had pushed me into the driveway because he was going to rape me, but he didn’t, he just started hitting me.

‘There were lots of blows and I realised I was being stabbed. I was screaming a lot because I was not on the road and I wanted someone to hear me. I was ducking a lot and trying to get away.’

Brazant was convicted of attempted murder and ordered to be detained in a mental hospital for 11 years.

Mark Brazant ambushed married mother Josephine Conlon – slashing her across the face and neck, narrowly missing her jugular vein

Advertisement

Inflicted over 70 injuries on partner in murder

David McCorkell murdered Diane Dyer in 2019 in an ‘orgy of violence’.

McCorkell inflicted 71 injuries on his 61-year-old partner and strangled her during the attack in south London.

Durng his trial at the Old Bailey McCorkell, 61, was described as a prolific abuser of women who was jailed in 2002 for robbery after he beat a woman in

a hospital.

Despite only receiving a two-year sentence for robbery he was not released until 2015 because he was viewed as such a threat to women.

After he was freed, McCorkell was jailed again in 2017 for 27 months for burglary.

After this sentence, he began dating Ms Dyer, pictured, in 2019 and had only known her for three months when he murdered her that July. Judge Richard Marks described McCorkell as an ‘evil bully’ who had ‘an appalling criminal record’ of 22 convictions.

Jailing him for a minimum of 21 and half years in December 2019, Judge Marks said: ‘This was a savage, vicious and brutal killing.’

Ms Dyer lived on her own and prosecutor Allison Hunter KC said she was ‘extremely vulnerable prior to her relationship and during her relationship.’

David McCorkell murdered Diane Dyer in 2019 in an ‘orgy of violence’

Stabbed pregnant girlfriend to death 

Shaine March murdered his girlfriend Alana Odysseos, 32, when she was eight weeks pregnant in 2024.

He had previously stabbed a 17-year-old teenager to death in 2000 and was released on licence in 2013, but was recalled to prison later that year after he was convicted of assaulting his then-pregnant girlfriend. He was released in February 2018.

When March, 47, started going out with

Ms Odysseos, pictured, probation services were told of the relationship but stopped monitoring him after he told them the relationship had ended amicably.

But on July 22, 2024, March stabbed her 19 times with a kitchen knife and was jailed for 42 years at the Old Bailey last October.

His sentence was increased to a whole life order after the Attorney General said the prison term was unduly lenient.

Shaine March murdered his girlfriend Alana Odysseos when she was eight weeks pregnant

Prosecutors said in the months before her death, Ms Odysseos confided in friends and family that March had started to become violent and abusive towards her.

When he was arrested on suspicion of murder he shouted ‘I stabbed her, I killed her’ and ‘I don’t regret nothing… allow me to rot in jail. I don’t ever want to come out.’

Samantha Yelland, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘His previous offending revealed a pattern of emotional and physical abuse, and he showed no remorse when he was being arrested.’ 

March was also convicted of assault in 1995.

Upholding complaints about the posters, the ASA said the grey and ashen appearance of the female’s skin, the dry and cracked lips and mouth, one eye swollen shut and the other fixed and vacant, together with the sunken and lifeless appearance of the face, gave a realistic impression of a dead child.

A popular square in London just yards from Victoria station has been overrun by ‘aggressive’ rough sleepers. 

Affluent Grosvenor Gardens has been turned into a shelter for the homeless in the shadow of £800-a-night The Goring Hotel – a favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth II.  

It is just over a mile from Andy Burnham‘s 10 Downing Street residence. The PM made ending rough sleeping his first policy pledge when he took office. 

When the Daily Mail visited the triangular patches of land this week, dozens of homeless people wrapped in blankets were seen dozing in tents, on the parched grass and even on top of public table tennis tables.

Others wandered around drinking alcohol while office workers and tourists enjoyed their lunch break in the leafy square.

One homeless man was seen screaming at passersby, including an elderly couple who appeared shaken.

Piles of pillows, sleeping bags and other belongings were left on top of bus shelters in what appeared to be a storage place for homeless people during the day.

Meanwhile, the smell of marijuana was strong in the area, where families often walk heading towards the busy train station.     

Nearby shopkeepers told the Daily Mail how homeless people, often on drugs, frequently steal hundreds of pounds worth of produce from their businesses or harass staff.

Others were seen wrapped in sleeping bags sleeping on the parched grass with a tent also erected close to the Grosvenor Gardens Shell Hut 

Advertisement

Bally Singh, who runs the off-licence Charles of Belgravia, said two homeless people had smashed through his front door and stolen more than £1,000 worth of alcohol and cigarettes. 

‘This was the first robbery I’ve had in my shop in over a hundred years of ownership,’ he said.

‘They were very foolish thieves as they put their stolen goods into a rubbish bag from the council, which is red in colour.

‘An hour later, police found them in the coach station with the bag – however the bottles had smashed, destroying all the goods.

‘It’s terrible. I had to replace the door and the lock on my shutters as they broke the motor.’

Another homeless man repeatedly stole ice cream from the freezer left outside the shop, while others discarded their shoes and belongings on the stand.

Mr Singh said homeless people raiding his shop is costing him between £30 and £40 a week.

‘We informed the council about it in a very big email, and there are guards patrolling around,’ he said.

Varundi, a receptionist at a nearby hotel, said: ‘So often they’re just coming here, they try to bother guests, they try and use our restrooms.

‘Of course we cannot physically touch them because that’s against law, but sometimes it’s really difficult for us to kick them out of here.

‘We’re trying to be nice to them because if they’re using the restroom, it’s fine, as anyone can use it, but it’s not truly sanitary.

‘If you look at the back of the building, you will find someone who has been sleeping there for the last three days.

‘We now have a hotel room that we can not open the blind to, as they would be bothered.

‘It’s very difficult, chaotic sometimes, but (it is) something you cannot control.

‘We really want to do something for them and sympathise with them, but there is nothing much we can do because they can be aggressive.’

The receptionist said they were unable to let a room for one week when a homeless man urinated inside after booking it. 

‘He stole the linens in the room,’ Varundi said. 

‘We could not let that room out for another week because it was so stinky. It was so smelly and nobody would have it inside. And there was the cost of having it deep cleaned, too.

‘There are more than ten people sleeping in Grosvenor Gardens each night. They don’t try to harm you, but sometimes you feel scared of them.’

Her colleague, Bianca, said: ‘One morning we were cleaning the buffet from our breakfast and there was someone hanging around.

‘He would walk around and take the sugar off our tables and things like this.’

She added: ‘There are more and more of them lately. It’s more common.’

Mary, 47, a server at a nearby burger restaurant, said the worst days are on Friday and the weekend.

‘Sometimes they come in, they grab a customer’s stuff, run away, pick up food,’ she said.

A camp with around 20 rough sleepers has been set up just yards from London Victoria station

A homeless man puts a blanket over his head as he dozes on the grass at Grosvenor Gardens 

‘Sometimes it’s £100s worth of food. So if you get a delivery, takeout, and it’s ready, they come in and grab the waiting bag and run.

‘They come in when they know it’s busy and we are attending to our customers.

‘We have to apologise to our customers and give free drinks or give a refund if it is taking too long. We get shouted at but it’s part of it.’

Morgan, a 28-year-old bartender, said: ‘Obviously we do get the occasional homeless person coming in but I wouldn’t say like it really affects us too much.’

Another shopkeeper near the station said they enter their shop ‘every single day’ while a 24-year-old baker nearby said the homeless people also frequently come in and steal their food.

A barista said that the recently installed security guards sometimes helped, and if any issues arose they would alert them.

‘They sleep around the corners, they sleep in the station. They often come in asking for coffee or if we have any free food we can give them,’ they added.

One barista said he had been punched by a homeless person after they tried to steal food from their cafe.

‘It’s not considered an emergency as they did not have a knife, so we had to wait a long time for police to come,’ he said, but added that he was eventually taken away by officers.

His colleague said: ‘We have been physically abused by the homeless people in the area.

‘They throw things at us when we tell them to stop stealing our food and they get angry.

‘They can be loud and aggressive. They take between £80 and £100 every day, one guy took £64 worth of food in one go.

‘They don’t mess with our bigger members of staff, but we have young people working here, women who may not be as strong.’

The barista said they have built up a relationship with some of them and ‘if they approach us nicely, I’m always gonna give you water or our hot food that’s about to expire’.

Shopkeepers have told the Daily Mail how they have had repeated problems with homeless people who are sleeping in the park 

‘You can clearly tell when someone is in need, especially when it’s cold,’ they said. 

Cafe owner Adam, 39, of Maestro of Belgravia said that homeless people entering his shop had ‘become a lot more prevalent’.

He recently had a homeless man sleeping in the doorway of the basement to his store who he had to wake up to access his storage area.

He said: ‘My customers have mentioned it as well, especially on Victoria Street, coming up to Grosvenor Gardens.

‘There’s a group or a camp of people that are just homeless and have addiction issues, just constantly get told to move on.

‘It’s a bit hard to see as just a person that has the luxury of running water and stuff. But also as a business person, you can’t be too generous or be too kind because it will be a recurring thing.

‘Our neighbour had a break-in a couple of weeks ago, and I think that was a bunch of addicts that went in and stole some alcohol and cigarettes on the shelf.

‘It makes you put life into perspective, how lucky you are just to have a roof over your head and have the food and the support and love of your family.

‘Sometimes when you open shop and then there’s someone sleeping outside and you have to wake them, it can be frustrating.

‘We’ve had a few negative, really negative reactions or you get few swear words before they move on.’

Cllr Caroline Sargent, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Enforcement at Westminster City Council, said:

‘Local people and businesses are fed up with rough sleeping sites springing up, and so are we. This is totally unacceptable in the heart of a capital city.

‘As a Council we do all we can to help people sleeping rough off the streets and spend £8m a year on support ranging from hostels to addiction treatment.

‘While many people we engage with support to move away from rough sleeping, some locations can also attract individuals involved in anti-social behaviour and, in some cases, criminal activity.

‘We work with partners to address both issues, recognising that rough sleeping and ASB are separate challenges requiring different responses.

‘Andy Burnham has pledged to end rough sleeping – we’d like to take him up on that. We need everyone to play their part – immigration, police and businesses so that we end this problem for good and this needs the urgent support of the Home Office.’

The Met said it has rolled out new technology as part of a crackdown on retail crime, which has quadrupled the number of shoplifters being brought to justice in the capital. 

It lets retailers submit CCTV footage, witness statements and other evidence directly to officers, allowing them to track, arrest and build cases against offenders more quickly.

Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the Met’s lead for business crime, said: ‘The results speak for themselves. This crime reporting technology is helping us identify offenders faster and bring more shoplifters to justice. By receiving CCTV footage and evidence directly from retailers at the point a crime is committed, we can build stronger cases and act more decisively.’ 

There is no suggestion that any of the individuals shown above have been engaged in illegal activity. 

Although the exact number of unregistered homes is unknown, Ofsted estimates there are around 900 illegal children’s homes operating in England.

In 2024 a report by the Children’s Commissioner for England found that, at any one time, hundreds of vulnerable children were placed in unregistered homes for an average of six months each.

Councils say that they are often forced to turn to unregistered children’s homes because there are not enough registered homes in the right locations or homes that are willing to take children with very complex needs.

Ofsted said increased funding will help them identify and investigate unregistered providers and that new powers granted through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act will allow them to issue fines.

During the sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Sushil Kumar said it was of “great concern” that the defendants failed to register the homes despite receiving multiple warning letters.

Daisy Wrigley, for Ofsted, told the court the number of unregistered children’s homes in the UK was not known, which “highlights the importance of registering”.

Ofsted’s chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said the prosecution “marks an important milestone in our efforts to tackle illegal children’s homes and sends a clear message that operating outside the law will have consequences”.

He added: “We are currently consulting on proposals to downgrade local authorities who commission these illegal homes.”

Josh MacAlister, children and families minister who led a review into children’s social care, called it a “welcome start to our wider crackdown”.

“Vulnerable children deserve to be safe and properly cared for, and I want to see more action of this kind,” he said.

Reacting to the prosecution, Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, said: “It is incomprehensible that this is happening in 2026 and prosecutions can’t come too soon.

“I hope it represents the beginning of the end for the scandal of illegal providers who put profit above the safety of vulnerable children.”

Additional reporting by Jemma Crew.

Half the Iberia squad arrived in the early hours of Tuesday, with the rest following on a later plane

Larne will have to do it the hard way if they are to book their place in League Phase football this year after failing to find the net against FC Iberia 1999 at Inver Park.

They Invermen had the momentum – and chances – either side of half-time but could only eek out a 0-0 draw ahead of the second leg in Tbilisi next week.

The visitors stood tall throughout the 90 minutes depite their travel woes ahead of making the six-hour plane journey to Northern Ireland, with half the squad arriving in the early hours of the morning matchday with the rest following on a later plane.

It was far from ideal preparation for the game for the side who are two points clear at the top of the Erovnuli Liga, but they held on for a scoreless draw to bring home for the decisive encounter.

The first sign of danger came on 12 minutes when a long ranging pass down their left flank split Larne open, but home captain Tomas Cosgrove nipped in to avert the danger just before Zavid Natchkhebia could pull the trigger inside the box

However, it was Larne who had the first effort on target as Cosgrove got to the byline at the other end to cross into the box, but Sean Graham just couldn’t get enough power on his effort to divert it past goalkeeper Giorgi Makaridze.

The ball was in the net for first time on 16 minutes, when defender Vahid Selimovic headed home Giorgi Kutsia’s right wing free-kick, but the flag for offside cut short their celebrations.

As the half wore on Larne began to settle more into their rhythm, allowing them to play further up the pitch.

They came close to breaking the deadlock with nine minutes to go before the break when Dylan Sloan led a counter attack down the right flank and his cross into the box was chested down by Matty Lusty into the path of Sean Graham, but goalkeeper Makaridze stood firm to palm the effort away.

They came even closer to scoring on 42 minutes but were thwarted by the visiting stopper once again.

This time the play came down the opposite flank as Sean Graham picked out his fellow wingback with a raking cross to the back post, but Tomas Cosgrove’s effort was too close to Makaridze to find a way past the 36-year-old goalkeeper.

The second began with Larne on the front foot as they look to press their opponents and they had another opening eight minutes into the second half.

Pressure from a group of players in the left-hand corner saw the ball only partially cleared to Ronan Dohety, but the former Cliftonville and Coleraine midfielder dragged his low effort from 20 yards wide of the mark.

Just before the hour mark Matty Lusty then went down under pressure from defender Vahid Selivmovic after he had got between the defender and the goal, but the Finnish referee was unmoved and the VAR agreed.

At this point it looked like the visitors were on the ropes, but just as it seemed a breakthrough was on the cards they lost their way for a spell.

After both sides had made changes from the bench the Georgians enjoyed more spells of possession as they took the sting out of a game they had looked like they were struggling to stay in.

It helped them to take the sting out of the game and Larne, playing just their fifth competitive game of the season were flagging, in their attempts to produce a big finish.

They spent the closing stages putting plenty of balls into the box but they were, by and large, well dealt by goalkeeper Makaridze and towering defender Selimovic.

Larne: Ferguson, Ridley, Donnelly, Gallagher, Graham, Doherty (’75 Simpson), Cosgrove, Sloan (’65 McEneff), Bent, Lusty (’75 O’Hara), Gibson (’65 O’Neill)

Subs: Carney, Wallace, McKendry, Magee, Ukek

FC Iberia 1999: Makaridze, Selimovic, Jinjolva, Dadiani, Kardava, Natchkhebia, Bartishvili (’59 Dzagania), Sikharulashvili, Amisulashvili, Kutsia (’77 Alhassan), Kobuladze

Subs: Megrelishvili,, Ende, Kuliiev, Chikhradze, Botchorishvili, Cahnturia

Referee: Mohammad Al-Emara (Finland)

Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox

Passengers have been warned of major disruption to bus journeys over the coming months as drivers are set to walk out over a heatwave row.

Bus services in North London and Essex could be thrown into chaos when over 1,500 Arriva drivers go on strike across several days in August, September and October.

Unite the union announced the drivers’ strike today after a row over working conditions in hot weather which has gripped the capital throughout the summer.

The union, which represents thousands of bus drivers, accused Arriva North London, a TfL contractor, of failing to act on complaints about conditions.

Some drivers suffered heat stroke and dehydration while working during the recent heatwaves, which saw temperatures hover close to 40C.

Arriva insists it is investing in both short and long-term measures to help drivers, including cab upgrades and air conditioning.

When will the strike take place?

The strikes are planned across the following dates:

• August 14 -15, August 18 – 21, August 25 – 28

• September 4 – 5, September 7 – 8, September 18 – 19, and September 21 – 22
• October 2 – 3, October 5 – 6, October 16 – 17, October 19 – 20

Some of the walkouts will happen at the same time as planned closures on the Piccadilly line this month and in September.

While the affected bus routes have not been named yet, the bus garages involved in the action include Barking, Edmonton, Enfield, Grays, Palmers Green, Stamford Hill, Tottenham and Wood Green.

Why are bus drivers striking?

The dispute boils down to the conditions inside buses, many of which have reached unbearable temperatures for passengers and drivers during the recent extreme heatwaves.

Hot weather conditions can increase fatigue for drivers, some of whom have experienced heat exhaustion, heat stroke and dehydration this summer, Unite said.

Most London buses are fitted with air cooling rather than more effective air conditioning systems.

Unite said the cooling system only reduces the temperature by a couple of degrees, and cab temperatures reached 40 degrees during the latest hot spells.

The London mayor Sadiq Khan has said drivers should not be working in conditions that are too hot or unsafe.

Speaking to LBC in June, he said: ‘Let me speak directly to bus drivers – if your cabin is too hot, I’ve given TFL permission, and told the bus operators, you must not be driving that bus.’

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Time and time again drivers have complained to Arriva North London about working in dangerous conditions but the company has failed to act which is completely unacceptable.

‘A profitable company such as Arriva could easily invest in improving conditions for its drivers and protecting the general public but is instead prioritising greed. We will back our members all the way in this dispute.’

Fatigued bus drivers have raised the alarm over a ‘dangerous’ epidemic behind the wheel, citing shift patterns and pressure.

Reaction after bus strike announcement

Wasim Mohammed, Arriva London managing director, told Metro: ‘We take the welfare of our drivers seriously and understand the impact of this extreme weather on them.

‘We are working closely with Transport for London to support both our colleagues and customers during these hot spells. We’ve introduced short-term measures to protect drivers, and we’re investing in longer-term fixes, including cab air conditioning upgrades and our ongoing investment in new fleet.

‘We remain ready to sit down with Unite at any time to discuss these important issues and find a resolution that avoids both strike action and the disruption it would cause to customers.’

A spokesperson for TfL said the strike action is expected to hit local bus routes in north and some central London areas.

However, the majority of the capital’s bus network will operate as planned on the strike days, they said.

Some routes could be busier than usual and passengers should plan ahead and allow extra time for journes.

‘We encourage both parties to find a solution to this dispute and we’re sorry for any disruption to people’s journeys,’ TfL added.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: The best men’s layering shirts to upgrade your summer wardrobe

MORE: Another UK holiday company shuts down after 8 years and enters liquidation

MORE: Man used detergent to kill neighbour’s fish after pond noise drove him ‘completely insane’

The global AI race is usually portrayed as a contest between the US and China. But another story is unfolding across east Asia, where countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam are looking to command key parts of the AI value chain.

Here, sovereignty is the desired outcome. These governments are trying to secure enough control over critical AI capabilities such as chipmaking, computing infrastructure and physical AI applications like robotics to avoid becoming rule-takers in the next technological era.

While their intentions are similar, each country starts from a distinct point and has chosen a different path.

Taiwan already occupies perhaps the strongest strategic position. Home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), it dominates production of the world’s most advanced semiconductors – the hardware upon which cutting-edge AI systems depend. These include AI processors, which are chips designed to handle AI tasks.

Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of US tech firm Nvidia, is Taiwanese and on a recent visit to Taiwan exclaimed that the island is at the “epicentre” of the AI revolution. While Nvidia is the leading designer of AI processors, the physical manufacturing of these chips is outsourced primarily to Taiwan.

Taiwan’s focus now is on maintaining leadership in advanced chip production. The Taiwanese foreign minister, Francois Chih-chung Wu, said in late 2025 what many assumed to be the doctrine: that the most advanced chipmaking capabilities must remain in Taiwan.

TSMC has chipmaking facilities in Germany, Japan and the US. But these are not producing chips at the leading-edge; that is reserved for Taiwan.

South Korea is taking a similar approach to Taiwan. The country’s government and leading chipmakers, Samsung and SK Hynix, have recently announced an investment of nearly US$600 billion (£446 billion) in two new chip manufacturing plants in the south-west of the country.

Samsung and SK Hynix lead a distinct segment of the AI value chain from TSMC. They constitute nearly 80% of the global market for high-bandwidth memory chips. These chips provide the ultra-fast memory that AI processors rely on to train and run increasingly sophisticated models.

If the Nvidia-designed, TSMC-manufactured AI processors are the “brains” performing calculations, Samsung and SK Hynix’s high-bandwidth chips are the short-term memory that continuously supplies those processors with the data they need.

Seoul has also actively courted global AI leaders and chip designers. On his trip to Asia, Huang met with SK Hynix, LG and Naver chairmen. Before leaving, he asserted that South Korea is set to be a global leader in AI given its infrastructure strengths. American AI giant Anthropic is also reported to be collaborating with Samsung to develop a new AI chip.

Japan’s strategy looks different. Japanese AI investment commitments are smaller than in South Korea. Japan’s government has announced a target of US$65 billion of investment by its public and private sectors in physical AI by 2040. This is nearly a tenth the size of the Korean investment.

But this commitment has been followed by headlines that Japanese corporate giants SoftBank and Sony will lead Noetra, a consortium to develop an AI model to bolster robotics. The Japanese government sees physical AI applications like robotics as central to addressing the country’s demographic challenges and an area of competitive strength.

Nvidia is also embraced with open arms in Japan. In Huang’s July visit to Japan, the country’s strengths in AI for the factory floor, including automotive production and robotics, were emphasised. The Nvidia chief’s visit brought a collective sigh of relief in Tokyo as his earlier spring tour of Asia skipped Japan, which had stirred anxiety.

Vietnam starts from a lower technological base than its north-east Asian neighbours. However, it has outlined an ambitious catch-up strategy. Hanoi aims to train 50,000 chip engineers by 2030 and is courting major investments. This has included a commitment by Nvidia to build research and development and AI data centres in partnership with Vietnam’s telecoms giant, FTP.

Vietnam’s restrictions on the export of its unprocessed rare earth minerals reflect its longer-term ambition to manufacture chips, rather than only assemble and test them. Rare earths are important inputs into the advanced electronics, robotics and data-centre infrastructure that support the wider AI ecosystem.

Winning the race

Taiwan currently occupies the strongest position because it controls one of the most irreplaceable parts of the AI supply chain: manufacturing of the most advanced chips. South Korea follows closely through its combination of memory chips and industrial AI capabilities.

Japan’s strength lies in physical AI, injecting it in robotics. And while Vietnam is starting from a different position, it is pushing for future gains by investing in talent, critical minerals and facilities.

Success brings new challenges. The out-performance of South Korea and Taiwan’s AI chipmakers catapulted their national stock markets to new heights and then to quick collapse, fuelling consternation about both growing wealth inequality and volatility. In the short-run at least, “winning” the AI race bears social costs.

The broader lesson here is that AI competitiveness is not about becoming self-sufficient across the supply chain. Very few countries, even the US and China, can realistically achieve that. Instead, Asia’s middle powers are identifying how and where they can cultivate indispensability.

By specialising and building complementary strengths alongside major US technology firms, especially Nvidia, they are increasing both their economic competitiveness and their strategic relevance. This is how they are pursuing sovereignty through, not in, AI.

I live on a private road next to a popular beach. 

In the summer, when the car park is full, we get chancers trying to park outside our houses. 

If I’m expecting visitors, I ask tourists not to park there and I sometimes get abuse. 

Can I put up a no parking sign and traffic cones outside my own house?

Name and address supplied

Living next to a beach can be wonderful, until the summer crowds arrive and every spare patch of road becomes a potential parking space.

Private roads are those not controlled or maintained by the local council but instead by the people who live there.

This gives them greater rights over how they can be used. Some allow the public to walk and drive down them, which sounds like the case on your street, while others do not, and block access with gates.

The answer depends on one crucial fact: who owns the road and the land outside your house? 

Some homeowners own the land outside their property, while in other cases it belongs to another individual, a management company or all the residents jointly. 

Details are set out in the homes’ title deeds or in Land Registry records.

If you alone own the land outside your home, you can usually erect a sign stating that parking is not permitted or that the area is private. 

The sign doesn’t create your legal rights, but it makes motorists aware that parking without permission may amount to trespass and often deters would-be parkers without confrontation.

Traffic cones require a little more caution. You can generally place cones on land you own to discourage parking, provided they do not obstruct anyone else’s legal right of way or interfere with access. 

However, you should not place cones on land you don’t own or on any public highway.

If someone ignores the signs and parks anyway, resist the temptation to take matters into your own hands. 

You should never block the vehicle in, clamp it or arrange for it to be towed away yourself, as this could expose you to legal liability. 

In practice, a polite sign and, where possible, a co-ordinated approach with neighbours or any residents’ management company is often the most effective solution.

Conned out of hotel air con

I booked a holiday to Majorca using an online travel agent. The hotel didn’t have air conditioning, even though the listing said it did. 

It was very warm and I couldn’t sleep, so I complained to the hotel manager, who said it never had air conditioning. 

The agent says it was a mistake and that it can’t do anything.

D.P, Ledbury

Let me reassure you straight away: ‘It was a mistake, there’s nothing we can do’ is not an answer your travel agent is entitled to give. 

It is firmly on the hook here. The starting point is that the listing formed part of your contract.

When you booked on the strength of a hotel described as having air conditioning, that became part of what you paid for.

A hotel without it means the holiday simply wasn’t as described. An honest ‘mistake’ is no defence, as a trader is responsible for the accuracy of what it advertises, whether the error was deliberate or careless.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must match their description. When they fall short, you are entitled to a remedy – here, a price reduction reflecting the gap between what was promised and what you got.

Separately, under the Package Travel Regulations 2018, which apply if you booked a package such as flights and hotel together, the organiser is liable for elements not as described or falling below standard, regardless of where fault lies.

Air conditioning in a Majorcan summer goes to the heart of whether you could rest and enjoy your stay.

Disturbed sleep is a real and compensable loss. Put a claim in writing to the agent. State the room was mis-described, cite the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Package Travel Regulations if relevant, and request proportionate compensation.

Attach the original listing showing air con, plus photos or booking paperwork.

If they stonewall, check whether the agent belongs to industry body ABTA, and escalate. Do not accept that brush-off!

By LILY JOBSON, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER

Published: 16:06 BST, 4 August 2026 | Updated: 23:36 BST, 4 August 2026

Daisy May Cooper has branded her father Paul a ‘narcissist’ in a foul-mouthed rant with brother Charlie about their ‘messed up’ childhood on Tuesday.

The comedy duo previously labelled their family as ‘dysfunctional’ growing up, before they found fame on the Bafta-winning hit This Country.

Paul also plays Daisy and Charlie’s on-screen father in the hit mockumentary series. 

The siblings were raised in a two-bedroom council house by their parents and had financial struggles.

Advertisement

Now incredibly close to their father, Daisy and Charlie revealed it hasn’t always been happy families with their father.

Speaking on Fearne Cotton‘s Happy Place podcast, Charlie said: ‘We did have a period where we just talk and it was all about stuff that happened as kids.’

Daisy May Cooper branded her father Paul a ‘narcissist’ in a foul-mouthed rant with brother Charlie about their ‘messed up’ childhood on Tuesday

Advertisement

Now incredibly close to their father, Daisy and Charlie revealed it hasn’t always been happy families with their father (pictured together in 2021)

Daisy added: ‘It was like childhood stuff that you are just remembering stuff together and you go, “F***, our dad is a f****** narcissist and he f***** us up really loads”.

‘That’s the only thing we came to a conclusion on. We don’t know whether ghosts exist, but we we know our dad’s a f****** narcissist.’

‘You take after him!’ Charlie said.

Advertisement

‘Yes so do you, yes you f****** do’, Daisy hit back.

Last year, Daisy lifted the lid on how her incredible 10-stone weight loss and lip filler treatment delayed the filming of season two of Am I Being Unreasonable?

Reflecting on how they dealt with the continuity challenges, the comedian said: ‘Series one is meant to be 30 seconds before series two and in that 30 seconds I’ve lost about 10 stone and had my lips done. 

‘I saw the rushes and I said to the BBC, “God, we’re going to have a disclaimer at the beginning saying – Daisy has had her lips done, go with it and please don’t judge”.’ 

Advertisement

The comedy duo previously labelled their family as ‘dysfunctional’ growing up, before they found fame on the Bafta-winning hit This Country

Discussing her appearance, the mother-of-two told the BBC podcast How To Be In The Spotlight: ‘I’m so for body positivity but when I was at my biggest I was at my most miserable and I had a massive food addiction.’

Daisy – who split from husband Will Weston in July 2021 after nearly two years of marriage – went on: ‘I wasn’t healthy. I couldn’t breathe when I was walking up the stairs. I was so unhappy.

‘And I’ve had some messages like, “Well, now you’ve lost the weight you’re not funny any more”.

Advertisement

‘What the f**k? Why do women have to be f**king fat to be funny? That makes me so angry. I champion anybody. I think everybody should be happy with their body. But I wasn’t.’

A 30 and 40 mph speed limit will be enforced in Camblesforth Road from today (August 4) to 12 for Yorkshire Water works, with the order extending until September 4 if needed.

The restriction is due to Yorkshire Water installing apparatus.

Residents with queries should contact Yorkshire Water on 03451 242424.

• For more information about this public notice, click here.
• For more notices affecting YOUR area, visit our Public Notice Portal at publicnoticeportal.uk/york-press

Meanwhile, Main Street in Kelfield will close to vehicles from August 17 to 21, except for premises access, due to Northern Powergrid installing a new connection.

The closure order could last until October 17 if necessary, with alternative routes signposted.

The restriction is due to Northern Powergrid works to install a new connection.

Residents with queries should contact OCU Utilities Services Limited on 0113 3227545.