Suella Braverman has sparked an online backlash by declaring she is “not English”.

The former Tory home secretary, who was born in Harrow, raised in Wembley, went to school in Brent, studied at Cambridge University and lives in Hampshire, would only say she is “proud to be British”.

Her comments came after former prime minister Rishi Sunak, who put Braverman in his cabinet, rejected suggestions that only white people can be English.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said: “If you are born and brought up in England and view it as home, what are you other than English?

“Attempting to deny people their Englishness or Britishness because of the colour of their skin is a recipe for alienation, for a two-tier society. How are children who hear this meant to feel?”

But Braverman, who defected to Reform UK last year and is now the party’s education spokesperson, insisted that Englishness is “an ethnicity” and therefore she does not qualify.

In a post on X, she said: “As I’ve said before, I’m not English. I’m proud to be British.

“My family and ancestors have a link to Britain which spans centuries. But in no way are we English. Yes, I was born in England, speak English and support the England football team. And indeed, I love England and the English people.

“But to say I’m English is to take a ‘laissez-faire, anything-goes’ attitude to ethnicity, citizenship and identity. It also denies me my Asian heritage.

“The liberals (many of them in today’s Conservative Party) take this cosmopolitan approach to Englishness. They’re terrified of being called racist so they say that anyone, as long as they’re born here, can be English. I take the conservative approach.

“Englishness is an ethnicity. There have been English people for centuries and we need to recognise this more if we are to start taking a more muscular approach to citizenship and nationality. And no, it’s not racist to say this.

“Other countries have no qualms in limiting who can be part of their citizenry and use ethnicity and culture as criteria. Here, the dogma of multiculturalism has been so corrosive that some people don’t actually know who we are anymore.”

A poll by the More in Common think-tank last year found that 74% of English people believe someone can be English regardless of their ethnicity or skin colour, compared to just 17% who think those factors are important.

Meanwhile, a Focaldata poll in February this year found that 83% believe someone can be considered English regardless of skin colour, with 10% saying they must be white.

Braverman’s comments also led to criticism from other social media users.

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Actress Hayden Panettiere died from the toxic effects of fentanyl and several other drugs, according to a toxicology report obtained by multiple media outlets Tuesday.

The 36-year-old’s cause of death was ruled accidental by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, which conducted an autopsy after her death at an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on 16 August.

Also contributing to her death and found in her system were 4-ANPP, Alprazolam, Methocarbamol, and Quetiapine, according to the report.

“At autopsy no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death,” the coroner’s report states.

4-ANPP is a controlled substance that’s found in the illicit manufacturing of fentanyl, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Alprazolam, more commonly known as Xanax, is used to treat anxiety and panic disorders. Methocarbamol is a prescription muscle relaxer, and Quetiapine is prescribed to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.

The DEA joined local and state officials in the investigation days after her death, ABC News reported at the time, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The Heroes and Nashville star was with her on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson when she was found unresponsive.

She was pronounced dead at the scene after life-saving methods were performed “for an extended amount of time” by responding paramedics, according to a heavily redacted police report.

Panettiere was known to have had a volatile and unhealthy relationship with Brian Hickerson, who was arrested multiple times on suspicion of domestic violence against her, starting in 2019.

TMZ reported that the brothers were not invited to Panettiere’s celebration of life held this past weekend in Malibu, California.

Donald Trump has condemned the UK government’s “terrible” plan to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The US president hit out at the “ridiculous” deal in his first face-to-face talks with Andy Burnham at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Trump said relations between the UK and America were “more up” now that Burnham had replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister.

He said Burnham was “going to be a great” – then delivered his damning verdict on the Chagos deal.

The UK government announced last year that it was going to pay Mauritius £9 billion over the next 99 years so the UK-US military base at Diego Garcia will continue to operate as it does at the moment.

But Trump said: “I don’t support it. I think it’s a terrible deal.

“They all of a sudden say they have ownership, somebody has ownership that never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it’s ridiculous. No, we were talking about that.

“It’s strategically very important, very important. You know, we had to send our B-2 bombers when we bombed the Iran nuclear, we sent the B-2 bombers back home to Missouri. As opposed to flying for a short period of time, they had to fly for a long period of time.

“It’s amazing how strategic it is, and I think the prime minister is going to be looking at it. It’s very strategic location. And it’s unique…

“It’s a very important piece of real estate, militarily and strategically.”

Reform Uk leader Nigel Farage welcomed Trump’s comments.

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You might remember the heartbreaking story of Martha Mills, who died aged 13 after developing sepsis following an injury sustained during a bike ride.

Martha was admitted to hospital with pancreatic injury as a result of the end of her bike’s handlebar hitting into her stomach.

Per the BBC, her family’s concerns over her deterioration in hospital were not listened to, and – following her death – a coroner ruled that had she been referred promptly and appropriately treated, the “likelihood is that she would have survived her injuries”.

Her parents, Merope and Paul, later campaigned for a new rule whereby loved ones could flag concerns and trigger an urgent review if a patient’s condition deteriorated and they were concerned they weren’t being listened to by medical professionals.

This rule, dubbed Martha’s Rule, is now being rolled out across all NHS hospital A&E departments, with a view to complete this between now and March 2028.

Patients, loved ones and even staff in busy emergency departments will be able to call a dedicated Martha’s Rule phone number to trigger an urgent review if a patient’s condition is deteriorating and they are concerned this is not being acted upon.

This is different to a second opinion, where you’d speak to another consultant to discuss a diagnosis or treatment.

As the service is operated separately by each NHS Trust or hospital, the phone number will vary depending on location. This information will be displayed on posters and information around participating hospitals.

Between now and 2028, patients and their families can check with their local hospital or NHS trust website whether Martha’s Rule is available – you can also ask hospital staff on site.

According to the Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust website, you might call the Martha’s Rule number if your loved one is:

• Acting different to usual (/is not being themselves)
• Breathing differently
• Sweating or looking an unusual skin colour
• Experiencing reduced urine output or not passing urine
• More sleepy than usual or confused
• Cold or very hot to touch on their hands
• In pain and looks uncomfortable.

A pilot in seven trusts to test whether the escalation process worked in A&E environments found, over the course of eight months, 69 calls were made to dedicated Martha’s Rule phone numbers.

In some cases, this led to a patient having urgent surgery or being transferred to intensive care.

Discussing the rollout, Professor Aidan Fowler, National Director of Patient Safety at NHS England, said: “Martha’s Rule is already having a transformative effect in making our acute care even safer, and by expanding Martha’s Rule into A&Es, we are giving even more patients, their families and NHS staff a critical new lifeline to help improve care and save more lives.

“Early testing has shown that Martha’s Rule can work well in busy A&Es and builds on the evidence from our adult and children’s wards, where thousands of calls have been made by patients, families and staff to date – with many leading to changes in treatment and potentially life-saving interventions.”

So far, Martha’s Rule has been rolled out to 221 acute adult and paediatric inpatient sites. Hospitals are also expected to extend it to A&E, maternity and neonatal units by March 2028.

A charity which aims to kick racism out of sport could sue Reform UK after a council withdrew support for the organisation.

Chris Eynon, the leader of Sunderland City Council, said the local authority would no longer back “politically charged organisations with an agenda”.

He also accused Ged Grebby, chief executive of Show Racism The Red Card, of “stark political bias” over comments he has made criticising Reform.

Speaking to HuffPost UK, Grebby said he was expressing his own personal opinion rather than the charity’s, which he insisted has cross-party support.

He said any suggestions that Show Racism The Red Card was a political organisation “could cause huge damage” to the organisation.

Grebby said: “It’s a very serious accusation to say a charity is being party political.

“If Reform are making false accusations against us, our lawyer will look into whether it is libel.”

He added: “I’ve got a right to have my own political views, and I stand by comments I’ve made about Nigel Farage and Reform being dangerous. But as a charity we need to be cross-party.”

He said any suggestion that Show Racism The Red Card is linked to the Labour Party was “absolute nonsense”.

“As a charity we’ve got the support of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens,” Grebby said. “We’ve always worked with other political parties.”

Sunderland City Council has supported the charity since it was set up 30 years ago.

In the last year, the funding it received from the authority trained 250 teachers and educated 1,675 young people in the local area about tackling racism.

Grebby said the charity had been planning to re-apply for funding from the council, but now there was “no point”.

“The damage will be that we’re unable to provide those programmes in future,” he said.

Asked about Sunderland City Council’s decision on LBC, Reform home affairs spokesman Robert Jenrick refused to criticise them.

He said he had “not seen the evidence” behind the claim that Show Racism The Red Card is a “politically-charged organisation”.

But in a later post on X, Jenrick accused Grebby of being “a left-wing political activist”.

He said: “Residents would be right to question whether this organisation should be supported financially by their council under Mr Grebby’s leadership.

“Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying the wages of political activists like Mr Grebby. If Show Racism The Red Card wants to command public support, and receive public money and charitable status, I’d suggest they look for a new CEO.”

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