Joe Haines obituary

The most important characteristic in the makeup of the complex personality of the journalist Joe Haines, who has died aged 97, was loyalty. He was loyal to his family and a few carefully chosen friends; he never forgot the poverty and the culture of his working-class childhood and was thus always loyal to the journalistic trade that had enabled his escape from it.He demonstrated unwavering personal devotion while employed by the two men, the politician Harold Wilson and the publisher Robert Maxwell, who dominated the significant years of his working life. Yet superseding all of these, and perhaps also explaining some of his enigmatic career decisions, was his loyalty to the Labour party.He justified the publication of two of his books exposing the extraordinary shenanigans that had played out in private behind the doors of Wilson’s office while Haines was his press secretary on the grounds that the revelations were in the interests of the party

Knife crime strategy needs to focus on stopping supply as well as possession, says policing minister – as it happened

Policing minister Diana Johnson has defended government plans to increase sentences for those involved in knife offences amid a crisis in prison capacity in England and Wales, and said that the government needs to focus not just on possession of knives by young people, but on their supply.Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain Johnson said “There is not one thing that you can do to solve this problem with knives” adding “We’re going after the suppliers.”Johnson said:In the past, there’s been this focus on possession of knives, and that’s absolutely right, but we also now need to focus on the supply of knives, particularly to under-18s, and that’s why we’re putting the sentences up.And we’re also putting forward a number of other requirements around online sales where there’s bulk purchasing or suspicious purchasing that has to be reported into the police.Johnson said the government also needed to do “preventative work”, saying:You need to get alongside those young people who are on the verge of getting involved in knife crime, and put the support in

Joe Haines, former press secretary to Harold Wilson, dies aged 97

Joe Haines, the former press secretary to Harold Wilson, has died aged 97, the Labour party has said.The party said Haines, a lifelong Labour supporter, died on Wednesday at his home in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent.Haines served as press secretary to the Labour prime minister for two periods in the late 1960s and mid-70s, after working as a political journalist for the Sun before it was owned by Rupert Murdoch. He was also a political editor of the Daily Mirror and wrote a biography of its then owner, Robert Maxwell.Last year, Haines claimed Wilson had confessed to an affair with his deputy press secretary, Janet Hewlett-Davies, during his final year in Downing Street

Boris Johnson fans offered £121 handshake and photo op

Boris Johnson is charging £121 for a handshake and a photograph before a live event in Edinburgh.The former Conservative prime minister will appear at the Usher Hall on 2 September for an event titled An Evening with Boris Johnson, which will also allow guests to take part in a question and answer session.Audience members are charged separately for a meet-and-greet ticket in addition to tickets for listening to him speak, which range from £53.90 to £159.90, with the higher price guaranteeing VIP seats

Leftwing activists less likely to work with political rivals than other UK groups, study finds

Leftwing activists in Britain are less likely to work with their political opponents than other groups and more likely to think those holding different views have been misled, a study has found.The study by the polling group More in Common finds that 8-10% of the population, whom they classify under the heading “progressive activists”, hold strikingly different views on a range of issues than the rest of Britain.The research also shows the group is more likely to dislike and criticise those that disagree with them than other voting blocs, a trait the report’s authors argue has contributed to the repeated failure of progressive campaigns and the rise of the global far right.Luke Tryl, an executive director at More in Common and co-author of the study, said: “Progressive activists are the backbone of many of the UK’s campaigning organisations and have often been the drivers of social change in the UK. However, their political outlook and approach to bringing about change makes them outliers from much of the wider public and those they are trying to win over

Scottish Labour faces ‘challenge’ to win next Holyrood elections, Sarwar admits

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has admitted his party faces a significant challenge to win the next Holyrood elections after its popularity slumped in the polls.His party’s support has fallen by half since the chancellor cut the winter fuel payment and raised national insurance costs last year, leaving it trailing behind the Scottish National party (SNP).Speaking to the Guardian on the eve of Scottish Labour’s annual conference in Glasgow this weekend, Sarwar said: “I accept [that] shows we have a challenge facing us in the next 15 months.” His conference speech on Friday “has to be a big moment”, he added.“I took on this job four years ago when people questioned the very survival of the Scottish Labour party