Tory MP Danny Kruger investigated by standards watchdog over assisted dying funds

One of the UK’s most high-profile campaigners against assisted dying is being investigated over funding to a parliamentary group that received £55,000 from lobbyists linked to the Christian right.Westminster’s standards watchdog has opened a case into Danny Kruger, Conservative MP for East Wiltshire, who was chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on dying well from its launch in 2021 until earlier this year.Kruger is a vocal opponent of assisted dying, writing newspaper articles and fronting a documentary debating the subject with his mother, the Great British Bake Off star Prue Leith.The website for the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, said the investigation into Kruger related to an alleged breach of the rules for APPGs linked to the “registration of an interest received by the APPG on dying well”.A second potential breach relates to the “production and publication of an income and expenditure statement by the APPG on dying well”

UK jobcentres not fit for purpose, says Liz Kendall ahead of major reforms

Britain’s network of jobcentres has become a hollowed-out “benefit administration service” that is shunned by employers and jobseekers alike, a cabinet minister has warned before a government overhaul of out-of-work support that will oblige young people to take up education or employment.In an interview with the Observer, Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, warned that the nation’s 650 jobcentres are no longer “fit for purpose” and need to become hubs for those looking for work or a better position, as well as those dependent on welfare. Reforms to integrate the jobcentre network with healthcare and careers services in England will be unveiled this week, as part of a long-awaited plan to deal with economic inactivity.“Employers are desperate to recruit,” she said. “People are desperate to earn money and get on in their jobs

Homeless people to be given cash in first major UK trial to reduce poverty

Researchers are conducting the UK’s first major scientific trials to establish whether giving homeless people cash is a more effective way of reducing poverty than traditional forms of help.Poverty campaigners have long believed that cash transfers are the most cost-effective way of helping people, but most studies have examined schemes in developing countries.The new study, funded by the government and carried out by King’s College London (KCL) and the homelessness charity Greater Change, will recruit 360 people in England and Wales. Half will continue to get help from frontline charities. The other half will get additional help from Greater Change, whose support workers will discuss their financial problems then pay for items such as rent deposits, outstanding debts, work equipment, white goods, furniture or new clothes

‘One conversation really changed my mind’: the personal stories driving MPs’ decisions on assisted dying

During a Labour away day ahead of the last election, the party’s candidates were put through their paces as parliamentary debaters. The topic chosen, assisted dying, was a deliberately intractable issue designed to test their analytical skills. Yet just months later, scores of new MPs find themselves having to make a very real decision over changing the law.“I’m genuinely the most back and forth on this that I’ve been on anything,” said one new MP who has found themselves on either side of the debate over recent months. Like so many, with the issues so finely balanced in their mind, a single conversation can sway their thinking

UK justice secretary attacks assisted dying bill as ‘state death service’

MPs will be placing the country on a “slippery slope towards death on demand” if they back legislation on assisted dying in England and Wales this week, the lord chancellor and justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said in a letter to constituents before a historic Commons vote on Friday.Mahmood has received numerous letters about the bill from people in her Birmingham Ladywood seat, which has a big Muslim population, and sent out replies saying that she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation, not only for religious reasons but also because of what it would mean for the role of the state if one of its functions became helping people to die.“Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us that the state and those acting on its behalf are not always benign. I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away

Prison blueprints leak sparks security alert in jails in England and Wales

Detailed prison blueprints have been leaked, triggering a security alert at jails in England and Wales, it has emerged.The leak, first reported by the Times, involves prison layouts being shared on the dark web in the last fortnight, prompting an investigation by the National Crime Agency.The plans are understood to detail the location of cameras and sensors, sparking fears they will be exploited by criminals to smuggle drugs and weapons into prisons or to aid escapes.The leak emerged after prison officials who work at the jails were sent an internal email titled “security alert” to inform them of the breach.However, one Whitehall source played down the significance of the breach, saying cameras were regularly moved and could already be seen by drones