Dual nationals could use expired UK passports to prove they are British, Home Office says

British dual nationals may be able to use expired UK passports to prove to airlines they are British when controversial new immigration rules come into force, the Home Office has said.The new rules, coming into force next Wednesday, require anyone coming into the UK with British dual nationality to present a British passport when boarding a plane, ferry or train or to have a “certificate of entitlement” costing £589 attached to their foreign passport.Airlines and other transport operators risk being fined if they board passengers who do not have the right to enter the destination country.The rules have caused stress, disgust and bafflement among Britons with imminent travel plans whose passports have expired or who do not have a British passport, including children born abroad.The Liberal Democrats have called for a grace period to allow people affected by the change to get new passports, a process that could take many weeks

Starmer appoints Antonia Romeo as head of civil service

Keir Starmer has appointed Antonia Romeo as the cabinet secretary, the UK’s most senior civil servant, and praised her drive and professionalism.The appointment comes after high-profile criticism of Romeo from a former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, Simon McDonald. Romeo has been highly praised by other previous secretaries of state as well as the current home secretary, Shabana Mahmood.Romeo, the longest-serving permanent secretary in the civil service, has a reputation as a reformer and has been a more prominent public figure than many of her contemporaries.She has previously faced accusations of bullying related to her time as consul general in New York in 2017 but was cleared by the Cabinet Office

Ministers must end ‘barking mad’ restraints on civil service pay, union leader warns

Ministers must end “barking mad” restraints on civil service pay or risk being unable to recruit the technical and digital specialists it needs to keep pace, a union leader has warned.Mike Clancy, the Prospect general secretary, said the government should end the “rightwing trope” that restrained the pay of highly skilled civil servants and left government unable to compete with the private sector. He said it should be realistic for senior specialists in competitive fields to be paid more than the prime minister.His intervention comes after the prime minister’s chief secretary, Darren Jones, said he wanted more risk-takers and delivery experts to create a civil service that “moves fast and fixes things”, saying hiring criteria would be changed to “promote the doers, not just the talkers”.Clancy said the civil service had significant issues retaining technical experts because of the low pay and lack of progression

Countries that do not embrace AI could be left behind, says OpenAI’s George Osborne

The former chancellor George Osborne has said countries that do not embrace the kind of powerful AI systems made by his new employer, OpenAI, risk “Fomo” and could be left weaker and poorer.Osborne, who is two months into a job as head of the $500bn San Francisco AI company’s “for countries” programme, told leaders gathered for the AI Impact summit in Delhi: “Don’t be left behind.” He said that without AI rollouts they could end up with a workforce “less willing to stay put” because they might want to seek AI-enabled fortunes elsewhere.Osborne framed the choice facing countries as one between adopting AI systems produced either in the US – such as Open AI’s – or China. The two superpowers have so far developed the most powerful AI systems

Why dispute ruling on Palestine Action, but accept legal challenge on elections? | Brief letters

Faced with adverse legal advice, the government has reinstated local elections and will pay £100,000 for Reform UK’s legal costs (Report, 17 February). But last Friday, faced with a unanimous unlawful verdict from three judges on the proscription of Palestine Action, the government intends to appeal. Why is it that the law, both in the UK and internationally, can always be ignored when it comes to Palestine?Phil TateChester One of the finest songs inspired by a book (From Brontë to Ballard, Orwell to Okri: the best songs inspired by literature – ranked!, 12 February) is Woody Guthrie’s Tom Joad, based on John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath. In 17 verses, Guthrie distilled the essence of Steinbeck’s harrowing chronicle of the Joad family’s enforced migration from Oklahoma to California in the Great Depression. Mike PenderCardiff You say (Pass notes, 16 February) cabbage is “having a moment”

UK politics: Starmer says Reform’s pledge to restore two-child benefit cap in full is ‘shameful’ – as it happened

Keir Starmer has responded to the Robert Jenrick speech. Referring to Jenrick’s commitment to bringing back the two-child benefit cap in full (see 11.45am), Starmer said in a post on social media:double quotation markShameful.I’m incredibly proud that this government has scrapped the cruel two child limit.Reform wants to push hundreds of thousands of children into poverty