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Jenrick ducks question about why George Cottrell gave $2m to his mother days before she made big donations to Reform UK

Q: [From ITV’s Romilly Weeks] You say that Reform UK followed all the rules in relation to donations. But why did George Cottrell give $2m to his mother shortly before she made substantial donations to the party?

Jenrick said Reform was certain all the rules were followed. Any questions for Cottrell would have to be directed to him, he said.

When it was put to him that Cottrell did not respond to questions from the media, Jenrick did not engage any further and said he had already answered the question.

Key events

• 9m ago

  Burnham says increasing use of Zoom for job interviews 'doesn't seem right' because youngsters can't show their personality

• 1h ago

  More than 70,000 prisoners released early under government's early release scheme, MoJ figures show

• 2h ago

  UK on track for record heat-related deaths this summer, official data shows

• 3h ago

  Jenrick ducks question about why George Cottrell gave $2m to his mother days before she made big donations to Reform UK

• 3h ago

  Jenrick says it's 'astonishing' police not taking action against person wearing Farage guillotine T-shirt

• 3h ago

  Jenrick claims Reform UK 'entirely confident' it followed all electoral rules when accepting donations

• 3h ago

  Jenrick says he's 'astonished' Tories taking part in talks with Burnham on social care reform before 'death tax' ruled out

• 3h ago

  Streeting claims UK would pay 'heavy price' if government made 3% defence spending pledge without plan to fund it

• 3h ago

  Britain had almost 3,000 heat-related deaths in May and June, double figure for last year, UK Health Security Agency says

• 4h ago

  Trident renewal central to defence spending, says Andy Burnham

• 4h ago

  Avon and Somerset police rule out action over Farage guillotine T-shirt because 'threshold for offence' not reached

• 5h ago

  Reform UK to hold press conference after Met rules out investigating Polanski over anti-Farage message

Burnham says increasing use of Zoom for job interviews 'doesn't seem right' because youngsters can't show their personality

Andy Burnham has criticised the growing tendency for employers to interview job candidates online.

As Sky News reports, in an interview with Jimmy McLoughlin for his Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future podcast, Burnham said:

double quotation markOne thing I really don’t like is this culture now of interviewing via Zoom or Teams.

That just doesn’t seem right to me. I know it’s convenient for the organisations that do it, but how does a young person shine in that situation?

How do you get over some of your personality, your passion? It seems to me to then work against people who have that side to their character and work for those who are just giving the more formulaic answer.

I do worry about that and I’ve seen that in relation to my kids and their situation.

In reality, the situation is even worse than Burnham says. Many employers now use AI to screen applicants and, in his recent report on youth unemployment and Neets, Alan Milburn the use of online recruitment processes is one factor making young people less engaged with the labour market. He said:

double quotation markOnline application portals, automated screening, psychometric tests, recorded video interviews and multi-stage recruitment processes are increasingly being used for jobs that require little or no formal qualification. A young person applying for a warehouse or retail role may now face a process more like professional recruitment than first job hiring.

That shift matters. These systems tend to reward confidence, familiarity with recruitment conventions, digital access and the ability to navigate formal processes. They are less good at recognising potential in young people with little experience. A young person with anxiety, weak digital access, no quiet space and no one to help them through the process starts at a clear disadvantage. The result is a system that produces rejection at scale, often with no human contact and no feedback.

Here are two comments from readers about what Robert Jenrick was saying at his press conference this morning about the decision by the police not to take any action over the Farage guillotine message. (See 10.48am.)

John Leroy says:

double quotation markOn the subject of the Polanski thing and Reform’s reaction - someone at the press conference really ought to ask them about how they reacted to when one of their own councillors did exactly the same thing earlier this year and they weren’t at all bothered.

I assume that their hypocrisy is what they mean by a two-tier Britain?

And Stephen Glynn explains why the police would have decided Polanski did not commit an offence.

double quotation markIt’s maybe worth pointing out that Section 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 abolished the old common-law offence of incitement and replaced it with encouraging or inciting an offence. This requires the prosecution to prove both an act capable of encouraging or assisting an offence; and an intention to encourage or assist its commission.

That is, it’s not sufficient to prove that posting the image might, or even probably would, encourage violence against Farage. The prosecution would need to make a jury sure that, when he posted the image, Polanski actually intended to incite someone to try to kill Farage.

Section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, soliciting murder, similarly requires an intent to encourage someone to commit the murder.

Possibly sharing the image might have constituted sending a menacing communication under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 but, again, the prosecution would need to prove that, at the time he sent it, Polanski was aware that there was at least a risk the image would create fear or apprehension in any reasonable member of the public who saw it.

In other words, the case was a non-starter from the very beginning and Reform must have been aware it was.

More than 70,000 prisoners released early under government's early release scheme, MoJ figures show

The Ministry of Justice has published a raft of data today about prisons in England and Wales. Here are the main lines, as picked out by the Press Association.

• More than 70,000 prisoners in England and Wales have been let out of jail under the government’s early release scheme to tackle overcrowding. PA says some 70,066 inmates had been freed between 10 September 2024 and the end of March 2026, according to the MoJ figures. Under a separate prisoner release scheme introduced by the last Conservative government, 13,325 prisoners in England and Wales were freed early between 17 October 2023 and 9 September 2024.

• Some 51,419 prisoners were recalled to jail in the year to March 2026 after breaching the terms of their licence, the MoJ figures show. This is up 28% from 40,259 in the previous 12 months and is the highest number since current data began in 2015, PA says. The ongoing early release of certain types of prisoner is one of a number of recent policies that is “likely” to have contributed to the rise in recalls, the MoJ said.

• There were 14 escapes from prisons in England and Wales in 2025/26, up from 12 the previous year and the highest annual total since 16 in 2019/20. Of the 14 escapees, four were still at large after 30 days – again, the highest number since 2019/20, when eight were still at large after this time period, PA says.

• A total of 1,497 drone incidents were recorded at prisons in England and Wales in the year to 2025/26, the second highest annual number since data began in 2020/21. The figure is down from a peak of 1,712 in 2024/25, PA says.

Labour’s prisoner release scheme is more extensive than the Tory one it replaced. When Keir Starmer was PM, he said he had to act because prison overcrowding under the Tories was so bad that the system was days away from breaking down.

It is thought that one reason why Rishi Sunak called the election for July 2024, which was earlier than expected, was because he thought if he left it much longer the Tories would have to start releasing prisoners early on the scale that eventually happened under Labour.

At his press conference this morning Robert Jenrick, the Reform UK Treasury spokesperson, claimed his party was serious about social care reform – even though it does not have a health spokesperson.

Asked if not having a health spokesperson meant the party did not take this issue seriously, Jenrick replied:

double quotation markNo, we’re holding this press conference today. Have other opposition parties held a press conference dedicated to social care and this response? I haven’t seen them.

Reform is currently running 30 local authorities across the country which have responsibility for social care, more than any of the other political parties.

We are absolutely at the coalface of this, trying to do our utmost to support people in difficult times. Don’t tell us we don’t care about this issue. We really do.

What we don’t want to see is hardworking Brits having to pick up the price of that for losing their home, losing their nest egg, not being able to hand that on to their children and their grandchildren. That’s the point that we’re making today.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said in April he was looking to appoint a health spokesperson.

UK on track for record heat-related deaths this summer, official data shows

The UK is on track to suffer its highest ever number of heat-related deaths this summer after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced that an estimated 2,877 people had died in the May and June heatwaves, Damian Carrington reports.

Here is the UKHSA report. It says:

double quotation markUsing the UKHSA heat mortality monitoring methodology, an estimated 2,877 (95% CI: 2,476 to 3,278) heat-associated deaths were observed across the 2 heat episodes that occurred during May and June 2026 in England.

The May heat episode lasted 4 days and was associated with an estimated 753 heat-associated deaths (95% CI: 529 to 977), equivalent to an average of approximately 188 heat-associated deaths per heat period day. Daily deaths over this period peaked during hottest day of the period, the 26 May where CET reached 23.2°C.

The June heat episode lasted 8 days and was associated with an estimated 2,124 heat-associated deaths (95% CI: 1,758 to 2,491), equivalent to an average of approximately 266 heat-associated deaths per heat period day. As in May, the number of deaths peaked on the hottest day of the heat episode, 26 June where CET reached 26.5°C.

And here are charts from the report illustrating these figures.

Jenrick ducks question about why George Cottrell gave $2m to his mother days before she made big donations to Reform UK

Q: [From ITV’s Romilly Weeks] You say that Reform UK followed all the rules in relation to donations. But why did George Cottrell give $2m to his mother shortly before she made substantial donations to the party?

Jenrick said Reform was certain all the rules were followed. Any questions for Cottrell would have to be directed to him, he said.

When it was put to him that Cottrell did not respond to questions from the media, Jenrick did not engage any further and said he had already answered the question.

Jenrick says it's 'astonishing' police not taking action against person wearing Farage guillotine T-shirt

Q: What did you want the police to do about Zack Polanski and the anti-Farage message. Do you think he should have been arrested or jailed?

Jenrick said it was “not for me to tell the police how to do their jobs”. But there have been many examples of people being arrested for social media posts, he said. He went on:

double quotation markIt does seem curious that in this case the police have chosen not to take action.

We’ll see whether they take action against the individual who posted the original tweet, who wore the T-shirt. I’m hearing today that the police may have closed that investigation as well. [See 9.20am.]

If that is the case, then that does look like two-tier policing to me …

You have a man in Nigel Farage who’s been subject to 600 threats in recent times, many of them credible, serious threats, where a man has been arrested for threatening to kill him in recent weeks, where a man is serving in prison.

And in those circumstances, the police are saying that it doesn’t warrant further investigation for somebody to wear a T-shirt emblazoned with a guillotine dripping in blood, saying it’s preparing for the death of Nigel Farage – that I find astonishing and unacceptable.

Jenrick claims Reform UK 'entirely confident' it followed all electoral rules when accepting donations

The next question came from the BBC’s Harry Farley. He raised the Guardian’s latest story about George Cottrell, and asked if Reform UK was doing any sort of internal inquiry into its donations and if it was confident that all the money it took came from permissible donors.

Jenrick replied:

double quotation markThis has been going on for for a long time, but we are entirely confident that Reform followed all electoral rules at the time when the donations were made.

Of course, we’ll participate with any inquiries.

To the best of my knowledge, we haven’t even been contacted by the police. so I don’t think we have anything more to add to that.

Jenrick says he's 'astonished' Tories taking part in talks with Burnham on social care reform before 'death tax' ruled out

At his press conference Robert Jenrick has just finished his opening statement, which was a long speech about what he claimed was Andy Burnham’s plan for a “death tax”.

The first question came from a GB News reporter who pointed out that the “death tax” was just one option that Burnham was considering. She asked if it wouldn’t be better for Reform UK to attend the cross-party talks and make the case of its own plans.

Jenrick said Reform UK would attend the talks if invited. But Nigel Farage would make participation conditional on Burnham ruling out a “death tax”, he said.

He also said he was “frankly astonished” that other parties (he meant the Conservatives) had not done this.

Streeting claims UK would pay 'heavy price' if government made 3% defence spending pledge without plan to fund it

Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, has defended Andy Burnham’s decision not to give a firm commitment to get defence spending up to 3% of GDP by 2030.

Shortly before Keir Starmer resigned, John Healey quit as defence secretary because the government’s defence investment plan did not commit to the 3% figure by 2030. Healey is now chancellor, but Burnham has not given a commitment to reaching 3% on that timetable.

Asked about this at a press conference yesterday, Burnham implied he was more focused on the Nato target of getting defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035.

In an interview with Sky News this morning, Streeting said Burnham was right not to give a commitment to 3% when it was not yet clear how the government might fund that. He said:

double quotation markLet’s say, for argument’s sake, I just said ‘yes, we will by 2030 meet 3%’.

The inevitable next question is how will you fund it? And the trap that I’ve seen so many previous, particularly Conservative, governments fall into is setting out what they would spend or the taxes they would cut, without at the same time, saying how they would pay for it.

I’m sorry but that path leads to uncertainty, a loss of market confidence, a rise in borrowing costs, so we end up paying a heavy price if you don’t have that fiscal discipline of spelling out at the same time, not just what you will spend, or the taxes you would cut, but also how you would pay for it.

Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesperson, is speaking at the start of his press conference.

Expanding on the statement he issued yesterday, he claims that Andy Burnham is firmly committed to introducing a “death tax” to fund his plans for social care reform.

Britain had almost 3,000 heat-related deaths in May and June, double figure for last year, UK Health Security Agency says

There were an estimated 2,877 heat-associated deaths during hot weather in May and June this year, almost double the figure reported for the summer of 2025, the UK Health Security Agency has said.

I will post more on this when I get further details.

Trident renewal central to defence spending, says Andy Burnham

There was a time when a government announcement about an investment in nuclear deterrent would focus on what this might mean for Russian cities that could be wiped out. Now, though, the government likes to frame the massive spending allocated to the Trident renewal programme as a job creation programme for Britain.

Here is the No 10 news release on Andy Burnham’s visit to Barrow today. It’s headlined:

double quotation markBurnham drives defence to deliver security and growth in every postcode with £8.4bn nuclear submarine investment supporting 22,000 apprenticeships

And here is Dan Sabbagh’s overnight news story.

As Dan explains, this is not really a new announcement; the £8.4bn investment was already in the pipeline. And the 22,000 covers the total number of apprenticeships likely to be supported up to 2035 as a result of the entire project building four new Dreadnought submarines to replace the four Vanguard submarines that are currently carrying the nuclear deterrent.

There is one new apprenticeship scheme that Burnham is announcing. But it is fairly minuscule. As No 10 explains in its news release:

double quotation markThe trailblazing initiative will help local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the local defence supply chain to recruit and train 30 apprentices across the next three years and will use the successful apprenticeship model set up by BAE Systems in the region.

It is an example of how the government is baking in opportunities for young people to its approach to procurement and paves the way for more schemes to help those who miss out on their first choice apprenticeships– delivering growth and prosperity for local communities across the UK.

As Politico explains in its London Playbook briefing, it is unusual for a PM to be associated with such a small-scale announcement. But Burnham is focused on the big headline numbers, and he knows that just because the media have heard these numbers before, that does not mean the public has registered them. He is also committed to reindustrialising Britain and keen to promote any initiative that will support this narrative.

Avon and Somerset police rule out action over Farage guillotine T-shirt because 'threshold for offence' not reached

In its statement yesterday the Metropolitan police said that “a crime should be recorded” in relation to the person wearing the T-shirt showing a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel” that was in the picture shared by Zack Polanski. The Met said:

double quotation markThe event where that occurred took place in Bristol and as a result, we have transferred the crime report to Avon and Somerset police. They will consider what further action should now follow.

But Avon and Somerset police have decided not to take any further action. A spokesperson for the force said:

double quotation markWe have carefully considered the available evidence in relation to a photograph taken at a political event in Bristol and subsequently shared on social media as part of a gallery of 20 images.

Particular consideration has been given to the context around the image; its use of song lyrics, and the marketing of the T-shirt as a satirical piece.

No complaints were received from people at the event at which it was worn and there is no evidence the wearer of the T-shirt intended to threaten any individual, or encourage anyone else to do so.

As a result, a senior detective has determined that the threshold for a criminal offence has not been met and no further action will be taken.

The safety of elected politicians is something we take extremely seriously and we continue to take action wherever a threat is identified.

The affected parties have been updated of our decision.

Reform UK to hold press conference after Met rules out investigating Polanski over anti-Farage message

Good morning. Reform UK are holding a press conference this morning. It is going to feature Robert Jenrick, the party’s Treasury spokesperson, and he wants to talk about Andy Burnham’s speech yesterday about social care reform. But we already know what Jenrick thinks about that, and there are plenty of other stories that reporters might want to ask about.

For a start, there is Anna Isaac’s latest Guardian scoop about George Cottrell.

Someone might want to ask about a Reform UK councillor from Sunderland being charged with posting a grossly offensive message on social media after allegedly making a racist comment about Nigerians.

And Jenrick may want to talk about a different police charging decision – the Met saying no further action will be taken against the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, after a photo of a man with a T-shirt showing a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel”.

Here is Aletha Adu’s story about this announcement.

And here is the full press release from the Metropolitan police. The Met says it is “unlikely that the sharing of the image online would constitute a criminal offence” and that, because more than 100 other people shared the post, it would be unfair just to take action against Polanski, and disproportionate to investigate everyone who did the same.

Reform UK are not happy about this. “Once again we see that we are living in two-tier Britain,” a party spokesperson claimed.

But the Green party said it was “obvious from the start” that Polanski had not committed an offence and that Reform UK were “always using this as a political football for their own cynical purposes to distract from questions” about how Farage’s party was funded.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: The Ministry of Justice publishes figures about assaults and deaths in prisons in England and Wales.

10am: Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick holds a press conference.

Morning: Andy Burnham is on a visit in Cumbria to confirm an £8bn spending announcement as part of the next phase of the nuclear submarine replacement programme.

Also, in Greater Manchester people are already voting in the byelection for a new mayor, to replace Andy Burnham.

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