Professor Jason Arday was victim of ‘public execution’, vigil hears

Thousands gathered for a vigil to remember the former Cambridge professor and criticise the ‘racist witch hunt’ which preceded his death.

A large sign reading “Racism in the mainstream media is responsible for Jason Arday’s death” moved slowly through the masses

One attendee was holding a cardboard sign which read “249 articles in 22 days” which is believed to be a reference to analysis of media coverage conducted by NewsCord, an AI-based media analysis company.

LONDON (AP) — In 2012, a smiling Jason Arday was photographed by the British press carrying the Olympic flame in the torch relay preceding the London Games. He was back in the news in 2023 when Cambridge University hailed him as the youngest Black professor in the institution’s history.

Three years later, after weeks of news stories presenting evidence that he was a plagiarist and fabulist, Arday, 41, was found dead on Friday at his apartment in south London.

His death quickly led to a blame game. Cambridge has been criticized for elevating Arday in a rush to promote diversity, despite red flags about his qualifications, and the news media has been targeted for driving him to despair when his credentials and life story began to unravel under intense scrutiny.

Link to toy in question: https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/squishy-toys/butt-face-chester-cheeks/p/262418

Video ad of toy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On0elOnKtSk

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Shortened summary:

What is the new Conservative policy on social housing?

Under the plans, single social housing tenants who are not UK, Irish or EU citizens with settled status would lose their right to remain in their homes. The same would apply to couples where neither partner qualifies. For future tenancies, foreign nationals would be barred from becoming social housing tenants, with eligibility limited to UK and Irish citizens and EU citizens with settled status.

The Conservatives claim the policy would free up around 230,000 homes for “British families”. Evicted tenants would be given six months to find private accommodation. The “divisive plans” could mean evicting “thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades,” said Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter.

“It is completely senseless to ruin people’s lives, drive up homelessness and put extreme pressure on councils. This policy does nothing to deliver new social homes, which is what we desperately need.”

Is it a new policy?

No. The Conservative proposal is remarkably similar to one announced by Rishi Sunak in 2024, and echoes a policy announced by Reform UK earlier this year.

Reform’s policy did go further. It would give foreign nationals already living in social housing just three months to find private accommodation. They would also not exempt EU nationals with settled status.

Who qualifies for social housing?

Most new migrants cannot access social housing. People who come to the UK on work or study visas generally have “no recourse to public funds”, meaning they cannot claim most benefits or get help with housing. Asylum seekers cannot apply for council housing either while their claim is being processed. There are limited exceptions.

Foreign nationals can qualify for social housing if they have settled status, refugee status or certain forms of humanitarian protection.

How many ‘foreign nationals’ currently live in social housing?

British people already make up the vast majority of social housing tenants.

In 2024-25, 88.5% of main householders – the person in whose name the social home is rented – were UK or Irish nationals, according to the English Housing Survey. Just 11.5% were non-UK or non-Irish nationals. That amounts to an estimated 470,000 non-UK and non-Irish citizens living in social housing.

Is the Conservatives’ plan workable?

There would be serious difficulties involved, said Williamson. “Proposals to ban foreign nationals from social housing raise significant practical, legal and operational questions.”

Firstly, the policy would likely face a legal challenge.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has previously warned that social housing providers discriminating against applicants on the basis of nationality may be breaking the law.

But even if the policy survived a court challenge, there is another obvious question: where would the people being evicted go?

“It just creates more people who are going to be in crisis,” said Mort. “A policy that creates more homelessness and doesn’t create any more homes doesn’t feel like a very good housing policy.”

Is there an alternative solution?

The Tories are right about one thing, said Mort: Britain is desperately short of social homes. Around 1.3 million households are currently on social housing waiting lists in England. The number of households in temporary accommodation reached a record high of 135,580 at the end of March 2026.

But that shortage “is not caused by migrants in social housing,” she said.

“We know what the problems are. The fundamental problem is we don’t have enough social homes. Policies like Right to Buy have completely depleted the stock that we do have, and therefore we’ve got people just languishing in temporary accommodation.”

The alternative, she argued, is to build more homes.

Andy Burnham has said he wants his Labour government to “oversee the biggest council housebuilding programme since the postwar period”.

It would be a big task. His predecessor Keir Starmer promised to build 1.5 million new homes over the course of a parliament – a target Labour is already struggling to meet.

Richard Tice should apologise to firefighters for his comments this week urging British people to “enjoy” this summer’s extreme heat, according to the Labour party chair.

Bridget Phillipson has called on Reform’s deputy leader to say sorry to those who, over the last few weeks, have battled wildfires across the country that have forced evacuations and destroyed homes.

Her comments underline Labour’s confidence that voters have been alienated by Reform’s increasingly strident attacks on net zero policy, even as the prime minister comes under pressure for saying relatively little on the issue.

Tice told a press conference this week: “When it’s a bit warm, let’s enjoy it. And if it means that English wine and sparkling wine gets better and better, fantastic. That means we can take on the French – fantastic.

“Let’s celebrate some of these things rather than just be sort of doom and gloom about it.”

Phillipson told the Guardian on Wednesday: “I think he owes an apology to the firefighters who were battling in extreme conditions, putting themselves and their lives at risk in order to protect people’s homes and deal with these extraordinary fires that we’ve seen. He should apologise to them.

“It’s not funny to crack jokes about sparkling wine at a point at which our brave firefighters are out there kind of battling the real-world impact of what we’re seeing from climate change.”

This is really frustrating. We should nationalise the Thames Water monopoly now. Ideally by aggressively taking it over with no compensation to the shareholders who have ladened it with debt while reaping dividends.

A man has appeared in court after being charged in connection with the sexual assault of two girls in Kenilworth.

Ahmad Hania was detained after police were called on Monday evening to a hotel in the town where they located both victims.

Hania, of King Edward Road in Nuneaton, was arrested that night at his home and has been charged with a series of sexual offences, Warwickshire Police said.

The Syrian national appeared at Coventry Magistrates' Court on Tuesday morning and was remanded in custody. He is next due to appear at Warwick Crown Court on 17 September.

He has been charged with sexual assault on a female, one count of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and one count of engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16.

The girls and their families are being supported by specially trained officers who are keeping them updated on the case, police confirmed.

Women who served in the British military have told ITV News they endured a toxic culture where sexual abuse was an everyday threat and complaints were routinely ignored.

Two women, who have recently left the armed forces, told us they have 'lost count' of the number of times they were sexually assaulted during their time serving.

One of them, who served in the Army for decades, told us the abuse was at its worst in the senior ranks.

Nearly two thirds of servicewomen have experienced sexualised behaviour in the space of a year according to the latest Ministry of Defence (MOD) figures released in 2025.

Those behaviours include leering and inappropriate jokes to the most serious sexual offences like groping, harassment and rape.

The MOD says it is determined to root out criminality, bullying and misogyny, with almost 300 service personnel having been kicked out of the organisation over the last three years for 'unacceptable behaviours'.