Former trade union activist who had Alzheimer's died peacefully at care home, says family

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John Prescott, the former UK deputy prime minister and stalwart of the New Labour movement, has died aged 86.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown led tributes on Thursday to Prescott, who had Alzheimer’s, after his family announced he had died.

Watchdog’s highly critical inquiry finds Hannah and Colin Ingram-Moore culpable of ‘serious and repeated’ misconduct

• Captain Tom Foundation inquiry: three key failings

The family of the NHS charities fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore personally benefited from the charity set up in his name through a series of lucrative deals worth more than £1m, the charities watchdog has ruled in a highly critical report.

A Charity Commission inquiry concluded the late Captain Tom’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin Ingram-Moore, were culpable of “serious and repeated” instances of misconduct, mismanagement and failures of integrity.

Hannah Ingram-Moore “initiated the process to secure her appointment as chief executive” of the charity, suggesting she should be paid a salary of £150,000. The charity proposed paying her £100,000 but this was blocked by the commission and she was eventually hired on £85,000.

Hannah Ingram-Moore received £18,000 from Virgin Media in September 2021 to judge its Local Legends awards when she was chief executive of the foundation. This was unauthorised and a conflict of interest, and there was no evidence it was undertaken, as she claimed, in a personal capacity.

The Ingram-Moores used the charity’s name inappropriately and for their private benefit in a planning application to build a private spa pool in the grounds of their family home. The building was subsequently demolished.

Ukraine’s air force said the launch took place from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation, an area to the south-east of Vologograd

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has described a US decision to open an air defence base in Redzikowo in Poland as “provocative” and “deeply destabilising”.

Reuters quotes her saying:

This is another frankly provocative step in a series of deeply destabilising actions by the Americans and their allies in the North Atlantic alliance in the strategic sphere.

This leads to undermining strategic stability, increasing strategic risks and, as a result, to an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger.

At least 17 state agencies to be created or overhauled, a challenge the IfG says will require major investment

Labour is creating or overhauling at least 17 public bodies, a move which is likely to come with high costs, an Institute for Government report has found.

Launching a new “tracker” of public bodies, the thinktank warned of some of the pitfalls when setting up government agencies from scratch, saying: “Successfully creating a new public body is difficult and entails high fixed costs in terms of time, budget and leadership focus.”

Exclusive: Trail would help region with few areas where people can walk in countryside, report says

A new trail along the east coast of England should be created, a Tory thinktank has said, because farmland is preventing those who live there from having access to nature.

A report from Onward has found that in most rural areas, people enjoy extensive rights-of-way networks. But across the east of England, there are many areas where people have barely anywhere they are allowed to walk in the countryside. This, the report says, is because of large areas of high-grade farmland in that area, but also because Lincolnshire has the largest backlog for recognition of historical but unrecorded rights of way, with more than 450 outstanding applications.

Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun bought one of three editions of the viral 2019 work, describing it as ‘a cultural phenomenon’

Maurizio Cattelan’s viral artwork involving a banana duct-taped to a wall has sold at auction for US$5.2m, besting initial estimates of between US$1m and US$1.5m.

One of three editions for the 2019 work, titled Comedian, made its auction debut on Wednesday evening at Sotheby’s New York, as part of its contemporary art auction.

Regulator uses new powers to ensure customer funds were not used for bonuses at Thames, Yorkshire, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water

Shareholders at Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water will be forced to pick up the tab for executive bonuses after the water regulator determined that the sector had awarded “undeserved” extra payments worth £6.8m.

Ofwat said on Thursday that it had used new powers to ensure shareholders at the three companies paid for bonuses because they had not “adequately reflected overall company performance issues”.

Peace Brigades International calling for new act to force companies with links to UK to do due diligence

Human rights defenders have faced brutal reprisals for standing up to extractive industries with links to UK companies or investors, according to a report calling for a law obliging firms to do human rights and environmental due diligence.

Peace Brigades International (PBI) UK says a corporate accountability law requiring businesses to do due diligence on their operations, investments and supply chains could have prevented past environmental devastation and attacks.

New poll finds 53% of Britons support permanent exhibition on Britain’s role in slave trade at British Museum

The majority of people in the UK think the British Museum should have a permanent exhibition dedicated to the transatlantic slave trade, according to research.

New polling data by YouGov found that 53% of respondents think a permanent display about Britain’s role in the trade of enslaved African people would be appropriate, while two-thirds believe the British Museum has a role in educating the public about the UK’s history in the slave trade.

After almost 700 episodes playing Bart’s bespectacled and beleaguered best friend, the voice actor is moving on to other opportunities

Pamela Hayden, the actor behind beloved Simpsons character Milhouse, has announced her retirement from the show after 35 years and almost 700 episodes.

“The time has come for me to hang up my microphone,” Hayden, 70, said in a statement on Wednesday. “It’s been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show … I’ll always have a special place in my heart for that blue-haired 10-year-old boy with glasses.”