Navy vessels shadow Russian ships in UK waters
The warships worked closely with NATO allies as they kept constant watch on the Russian vessels, including two Steregushchiy-class corvettes, a tanker, bulk carrier and a Smolnyy-class training ship, as they passed through UK waters. 'This all took place as allied nations took part in a significant exercise in Portland aimed at helping Ukraine make the Black Sea safe,' the Royal Navy said in a statement.
Boudewijn Siemons, chief executive of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, told the Financial Times that it was planning how to manage if the port was flooded by British and US vehicles and supplies if needed. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned that while Europe is not currently at war, it is not at peace either. Russia has been accused of acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and fake news campaigns, designed to weaken European support for Ukraine, according to officials.
Last week, one of Putin's deadly attack submarines was also shadowed by the Royal Navy off the English coast. The RFN Novorossiysk, a heavily armed Kilo-class sub, was detected as it made its way through the North Sea and into the English Channel. Patrol ship HMS Mersey, based in Portsmouth, was scrambled to intercept the Russian boat, w hile a Wildcat helicopter and specialist submarine-hunting Merlin aircraft from 824 Naval Air Squadron were also deployed in the air.
Many European leaders insist they have heard the Trump administration's warning that American security priorities now lie elsewhere - in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific. At a key summit last month, NATO leaders endorsed a statement saying: 'Allies commit to invest 5 per cent of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense- and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.'
That historic pledge will require them to spend tens of billions of euros more over the coming decade instead of the suggested five years. Spain - NATO's lowest spender with 1.28 per cent of GDP last year - quickly branded the target 'unreasonable.' Belgium has cast doubt over whether it will make the grade. Slovenia is considering a referendum. Heavyweights France and Italy are mired in economic woes and will struggle to get there too.
Money spent on military support to Ukraine can now be included in NATO's defense calculations, but even that will not hike the GDP military spend by much. With the threat of Russian aggression in mind, the EU's executive branch has come up with a security plan. It hinges on a 150-billion-euro loan program that member countries, Ukraine and outsiders like Britain could dip into, and aims to fill gaps that the US might leave. Spending priorities for joint purchase include air and missile defense systems, artillery, ammunition, drones, equipment for use in cyber and electronic warfare, and 'strategic enablers' like air-to-air refueling and transport.
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The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
Your move, Jenrick… passed over for promotion, what will Kemi's biggest rival do next?
Robert Jenrick insists that he is happy where he is. I am told that he 'genuinely' did not want to be shadow chancellor, and that he is 'concentrating on the job at hand' as shadow justice secretary. 'That's what Kemi [Badenoch] has asked him to do for her, and that's what he has to focus on,' says an ally. Jenrick focuses on it effectively, finding the holy grail of 'cut-through' for his recent video in which he accosted fare-dodgers and asked them if they would go back and pay. That is just about in his justice department brief – but he is also known for ranging more widely in his social media communications. Pride of place in his X (I still call it Twitter) account is a two-minute video setting out his assessment of Keir Starmer's first year, a 'year of lies and decline'. It is the sort of thing a leader of the opposition might produce – if they were unwise enough to use the word 'lies'. Jenrick's ambition is taken for granted across Westminster. At his summer reception for journalists at No 10 last night, the prime minister joked about Jenrick's imminent replacement of Kemi Badenoch. Most senior Conservatives who are no longer MPs say the same three things privately. One, that they do not expect Badenoch to survive as leader through this parliament. Two, that they expect Jenrick to succeed her. And three, that they think he will do a deal with Nigel Farage to 'unite the right' before the election. Jenrick's allies try to squash such talk – or, at least, they try to make it clear that their man is not encouraging it. One tells me: 'Rob is concentrating on the job at hand as shadow justice, trying to highlight issues that need fixing and then putting pressure on the government to fix them.' When I point out that leadership speculation is rife, this ally says: 'Others can talk about whatever they like, but Kemi's job is incredibly tough and she's doing a good job. It's not for Rob to get into any leadership chatter.' But the chatter is happening anyway. Will Lloyd has an article in the New Statesman repeating a lot of it, and predicting that Badenoch will be challenged when the rules allow it after she has been leader for a year in November. This may be right, even if a lot of the criticism of Badenoch is unfair. I do not believe that either Jenrick or James Cleverly would have done any better over the past year: the Conservative Party's problems go much deeper than something that can be fixed by a swashbuckling performance at Prime Minister's Questions or a viral video. The problem is the Tory government's record, particularly on immigration, and no one who was a minister in that government is going to escape that record until they have served several years in quarantine. But politics isn't fair, and so the Tories might change leader, despite Badenoch trying to shore up her position by bringing Cleverly into the shadow cabinet. It might happen because it is one of the few things that a Tory MP can actually do that might make a difference, even if they know that it probably won't. This is despite the doubling of the threshold for triggering a leadership election. After Badenoch was elected, Bob Blackman, the chair of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, announced that a vote of no confidence in the leader would require private letters from one-third of Tory MPs, namely 40 out of 120, as opposed to the 15 per cent, or 18 MPs, previously needed. As Jenrick had 41 votes in the final MPs' ballot last year, though, this higher number is clearly attainable – even if it probably wouldn't happen straight away in November. Tory MPs would be right to hesitate long and hard before they take such a step. The party has got into the habit of changing leaders, which makes it look like a desperate and directionless rabble. And if it is not obvious that Jenrick would have done better over the past year, why would he do significantly better in future? As for doing a deal with Farage, what is in it for Reform UK? It is not too strong to say that Reform activists hate the Tory party, and there is an equal and opposite repulsion, in that many Tory voters would rather vote Lib Dem than have anything to do with Farage. Nor were relations between Jenrick and Reform smoothed by last week's clash between Jenrick and Zia Yusuf, the head of Reform's 'Doge' unit. Yusuf claimed that 'one of the team who post to my X account accidentally pressed 'like' on an awful antisemitic tweet' about Jenrick, whose wife is Jewish. Jenrick refused to accept Yusuf's apology, calling it 'bulls***'. This spat complicates the other big option for Jenrick, which would be to defect to Reform. This simply 'isn't a consideration', according to Jenrick's ally, and it does seem unlikely. 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The Guardian
8 minutes ago
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Ex-cricketer Graham Thorpe ‘spiralled into depression' after losing job, inquest hears
The former England cricketer Graham Thorpe 'spiralled into depression' after losing his job as a batting coach in 2022, an inquest has heard. The 55-year-old died on 4 August 2024 after being struck by a train at a railway station in Surrey. His widow, Amanda Thorpe, later said he had taken his own life. An inquest at Surrey coroner's court in Woking on Wednesday heard that Graham Thorpe was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in 2018 and had tried to kill himself in 2022. An incident involving a leaked video in Australia in 2022 had left him distraught, the court was told. According to reports at the time, the video, filmed after a dismal Ashes series in which England lost 4-0 to Australia, showed Tasmanian police breaking up a drinking session involving players from both sides. The video incident had 'caused catastrophic damage' to Thorpe, his father said in a statement to the inquest, adding that he believed those who were responsible for his son's safety and care could have done more to intervene. Amanda Thorpe said that up until 2020 there were no psychological issues in particular, apart from 'a bout of depression' in 2018, which did not affect her husband's job. In a statement to the court, she said her husband 'found lockdown and Covid very difficult, very stressful'. Graham Thorpe shared a video with some friends, which was leaked, and the incident was 'blown out of all proportion', leaving him 'distraught', her statement added. She said it was a 'horrible' time, and the later termination of his employment with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was a 'real shock to Graham', which was the 'start of the decline of his mental health'. Thorpe was a prominent batter for England between 1993 and 2005 before spending 12 years in coaching roles. He struck 16 test hundreds, including a debut century against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1993, and represented his country 182 times in all formats. Thorpe's father said his son became 'more and more desperate and helpless in the last year of his life'. Reading Geoff Thorpe's statement, the coroner said: 'You felt those who were responsible for Graham's safety and care could've done more to intervene.' Prof Nick Peirce, the ECB's chief medical officer, said in a statement that after Thorpe's employment ended in February 2022 his private health insurance cover was extended until May that year. In May, the ECB was advised that Thorpe had attempted to take his own life, and Peirce explained that 'at no point during Graham's time at ECB had there been any concern regarding a risk of self harm or intent to end life'. The inquest continues. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The teenage sex offenders getting away with raping and assaulting children... because police take too long to investigate the crimes
A teenager accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old schoolgirl has escaped prosecution because he is now over 18 and would have to be tried as an adult. The boy was 16 when he allegedly attacked the girl but the police investigation took so long that he was 19 by the time a file was sent to prosecutors. Despite the boy admitting the sexual contact took place, it was decided that it was 'not in the public interest' to prosecute him. The victim, from Surrey and named only as Rachel, said: 'I wish I had never bothered to report what happened to me. 'The message here is that if you are a few years from turning 18, you can rape and assault whoever you like without being punished for it.' The Mail has identified another shocking case which suggests teenage sex offenders are escaping justice because investigations take years and prosecutors drop cases when the suspects can no longer be tried as youths. 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In a letter containing the news, the prosecutor wrote: 'The importance of this is that, if he were to be charged with the offences, he is no longer deemed a youth and therefore has lost the right to have his case heard in a Youth Court which means he no longer has the right to have the proceedings held in private, he has lost the right to anonymity and the Youth Court special measures and possible sentences, if convicted, that would have been available to him if he were charged as a youth. 'Although this has been a difficult decision to make, I have concluded that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute the suspect for the sexual activity which took place between you.' Rachel said: 'What happened to me that day was the single most horrific thing in my life, and this experience has just made it so much worse. 'I just cannot understand it. 'The message to young girls who are sexually assaulted by teenagers is 'don't bother reporting what happened to you – it will take so long for something to happen that they will turn 18 and the authorities won't care'. 'It feels like his interests are being prioritised over mine. It is not my fault that so much time has passed. 'And I won't be the only case. If this has happened here then it must be happening all over the country – it's almost like there's a loophole in the law.' Human rights lawyer Harriet Wistrich, who founded the Centre for Women's Justice, said Rachel had been 'failed by the state because of its own delays.' 'She has potentially been denied justice so may have a case under the Human Rights Act,' she added. 'This is not the only case involving an allegation of rape committed by a suspect who has then become an adult while the investigation is dragging on, something which can obviously change things. ' A colleague is working on a case currently where the investigating police force hasn't even interviewed the suspect two years on. 'He has now turned 18, and it seems that part of the reason they haven't bothered is they feel that his behaviour was just a young man being a young man and perhaps they didn't want to ruin his career. 'But this is another victim potentially being denied justice.' A CPS spokesman said: 'We take allegations of sexual offences extremely seriously regardless of the age of the people involved. 'Prosecutors examined the evidence in this case carefully and on review, concluded that there was no realistic prospect of conviction for any rape charge. When considering other potential sexual offences, it was not in the public interest to pursue prosecution. 'We have written to and offered to meet with the complainant and her family to explain our decision-making.' A Surrey Police spokesman said: 'Officers put in significant amounts of work into securing evidence in rape and sexual assault cases which are often complex and can involve multiple agencies. 'Whilst it is not uncommon for suspects under 18 to reach adulthood during an investigation, we understand each case must be individually assessed. 'In [Rachel's] case, charges were secured for underage sexual activity and an appeal was made against the decision not to charge for rape or attempted rape. 'Surrey Police continue to work with the family and liaise with CPS about this case.'
