British-Egyptian dissident mulls giving up citizenship over failure to be released

Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the British-Egyptian political dissident held in a Cairo jail for more than five years, has reached such a state of despair over the UK’s inability to secure his release that he has contemplated renouncing both his British and Egyptian citizenship, his letters reveal.His family have given permission for some of his private letters to be published to show his situation and his concern for his 68-year-old mother, Laila Soueif, on hunger strike seeking his release.The letters came as the family said they had been encouraged by reports that the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, spent most of his meeting with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo last week making the case for Fattah’s release. Britain has been denied consular access to Fattah.The UK’s envoy to the UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, also publicly criticised Egypt on Monday, saying: “The continued detention of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, detained for spreading false news, who has now served his five-year sentence including pre-trial detention, is unacceptable

We survived Rachel Reeves’s ‘exciting plans’, but newts and bats may not | John Crace

And twenty-thirdly … Any Rachel Reeves speech is always going to be something of an ordeal. As much for her as anyone listening. A battle for meaning. Music to the ears of insomniacs. Tractor production is up again

Reeves’s growth plans ‘exactly what economy needs’ say UK business groups – as it happened

Business groups have strongly welcomed the measures in Rachel Reeves’ speech this morning.Rain Newton-Smith, CEO at the CBI, said:It’s crunch time for growth and today the chancellor has heeded business’ call to go further and faster. This is most evident in ministers grasping decisions that have sat on the desk of government for too long. This positive leadership and a clear vision to kickstart the economy and boost productivity is welcome …The chancellor’s announcements are smart, looking to leverage the UK’s strengths including our world class universities, innovation and openness to global talent.Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:The chancellor has laid down a clear marker on her intent to push for growth and these proposals can light the blue touchpaper to fire up the UK economy

Will Rachel Reeves’s plan for economic growth work?

The chancellor laid out a series of “supply-side” changes, aimed at improving the UK economy’s potential to grow, including by tackling what she called “chronic underinvestment”.Economists believe the UK’s low levels of investment compared with other large economies are a key factor behind the stubbornly weak growth since the global financial crisis of 2008.To encourage businesses to spend money and create jobs in the UK, Reeves is promising to sweep away some of the barriers that slow down major (and minor) infrastructure projects.That means a new planning and infrastructure bill, coming in the spring, which will make it harder to object to buildings on environmental grounds, for example – and easier to build homes around train stations.Reeves explained other aspects of her plan to woo corporate investors, including urging the UK’s 100-plus regulators to pursue growth, alongside their other duties such as consumer protection

Two Tory donors pay £25,000 to attend Reform fundraising dinner

Two major Conservative donors, Bassim Haidar and Mohamed Amersi, paid £25,000 each to attend a Reform fundraising dinner on Tuesday night, and sources say the party brought in pledges of more than £1m beforehand from businesspeople.Reform sources said ticket prices ranged from £10,000 for the dinner to £25,000 for a seat at the top table with Nigel Farage at Oswald’s in Mayfair, central London.Haidar, an IT billionaire and Lebanese-Irish national, gave the Conservatives more than £700,000 in the run-up to the last election and is one of a string of Tory backers who have flirted with Reform as it grows in the polls. He has previously spoken about his unhappiness with changes to government policy on non-doms.Haidar told the Guardian: “The event was a valuable opportunity to learn more about the party’s mission, and I believe they have a good one to ‘make the UK great again’

Animal spirits: Labour want to unleash them – but what do they actually mean?

‘We’re all sick of Britain being in the slow lane … we want to see a revival of those animal spirits so that we can grow the economy and bring investment here,” said Rachel Reeves on her return from Davos last week. Plainly a memo has gone round: in a radio interview this morning, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds claimed Labour’s willingness to take bold decisions “unleashes the animal spirit, the sense of something exciting happening”. When Reeves set out her plan for growth this afternoon, she reprised many of her Davos themes. She’s on a strange crusade against newts and bats, holding wildlife concerns responsible for Britain’s anti-growth mindset; she thinks bringing down net migration and fearlessly growing the economy are compatible and equal priorities; she’s putting a hell of a lot of faith in extra airport runways. But at least this time she wasn’t saying we should be more like Trump