Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 12 Oct 2013

1. DAILY MAIL’S PAUL DACRE BITES BACK

Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has responded to criticism of his paper’s article about Ralph Miliband, dismissing the row as “hysteria”, fired by “unpleasant intellectual snobbery”. He also attacked The Guardian for “helping terrorists” and putting British lives “at risk” and took aim at the BBC, which he described as the Daily Mail’s “bête noir”.

2. TAX: HMRC LOSES £4.7BN A YEAR

New data shows £1 in every £10 of corporation tax is lost to evasion and avoidance. A report from HMRC shows the problem costs the public purse £4.7bn a year. However, the true figure is likely to be higher, as HMRC does not count controversial schemes run by companies such as Google, Amazon and Starbucks as tax avoidance.

3. MALTA WARNS OF 'CEMETERY' WATERS

Mediterranean waters close to Africa are becoming a “cemetery”, says the prime minister of Malta, after another boat laden with migrants capsized. Joseph Muscat said Malta felt "abandoned" by the rest of Europe and insisted that the EU had to take action. Malta and Italy launched a rescue operation after a boat capsized yesterday, leaving at least 27 dead.

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4. MOD SACKS TROOPS DESPITE CASH PILE

The Ministry of Defence is sitting on a £2bn cash pile even as thousands of troops are sacked, says the Daily Telegraph. An “overzealous” austerity policy means the armed forces are suffering “unnecessary” cuts, warn senior commanders. Defence secretary Philip Hammond said the critics are “financially illiterate” and

“have no idea how the defence budget now works”.

5. PRESS CONSIDERS RESPONSE TO CHARTER

The newspaper industry may take legal action after the government published a royal charter aimed at underpinning self-regulation of the press. A press body said the charter does not address newspapers’ fundamental objections about political involvement. One source told the BBC there is a “realistic prospect” of legal action.

6. JUST CALL US CZECHZIA, SAYS ZEMAN

The Czech Republic may rebrand itself as Czechia. President Milos Zeman supports renaming the country, just two decades after the “velvet divorce” in 1993 peacefully split the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Zeman thanked Israeli president Shimon Peres this week for referring to the country as “Czechia” in a public speech.

7. OSBORNE’S FRIEND IN ROYAL MAIL WIN

A close friend of George Osborne works for a hedge fund that secured a £50m stake in Royal Mail while more than 40,000 people who tried to buy shares in the privatisation have been left empty handed. Peter Davies, of Lansdowne Partners, has been friends with the chancellor since they met at Oxford and was best man at Osborne’s wedding.

8. SAUCY SURREY IS DOGGING HOTSPOT

The leafy Surrey enclave of Elmbridge is England’s public sex capital with 10 regular dogging hotspots. The district, which includes the wealthy villages of Weybridge, Cobham and Esher, has more dogging sites than Norfolk and Warwickshire combined. Surrey as a whole has 93 established dogging hotspots, where strangers gather for sex.

9. ‘PLEBGATE’ MAN LANDS LUCRATIVE ROLE

Andrew Mitchell, the former cabinet minister who stood down after the ‘plebgate’ scandal, has taken a £6,000 a day job with an asset management company. The former chief whip, who denies calling a policeman a “pleb”, will be paid £60,000 for his role as “senior strategic adviser” to Investec. The role requires just 10 days’ work a year.

10. ENGLAND MARCH CLOSER TO BRAZIL

England edged closer to World Cup qualification with a 4-1 victory over Montenegro last night. Tottenham winger Andros Townsend had a dream debut scoring England’s third goal and inspiring the side’s overall performance. If England beat Poland at Wembley next Tuesday they will qualify for next summer’s tournament in Brazil.