Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 21 Sep 2014

1. ‘PLEBGATE’ MP FACES NEW CLAIMS

‘Plebgate’ MP Andrew Mitchell called a police officer a “little shit” and said he was “too important” to obey the officer’s request, the high court will hear. Allegations of rude and abusive behaviour by the former minister over a seven-year period are contained in court documents presented by The Sun in its libel defence against Mitchell.

2. ROW OVER ‘ENGLISH LAWS’ PLAN

Some 58% of the UK public support David Cameron’s “English votes for English laws” plan, claims a poll in the Sunday Telegraph. The Mail On Sunday describes Cameron’s plan as a move to “upstage the Labour conference”, which started on Friday. However, Ed Miliband says Labour is “incredibly wary of back-of-the-fag-packet solutions”.

3. ISIS CAPTIVE ‘PLANNED ISLAM CONVERSION’

British hostage Alan Henning was considering converting to Islam before he was kidnapped, according to a friend. Aid worker Henning, who is being held by Isis, had stopped celebrating Christmas, given up alcohol and wanted to learn Arabic, says the friend. Henning’s wife Barbara has made her first public statement, calling on Isis to release her husband.

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4. ARMED INTRUDER ENTERS WHITE HOUSE

The White House is reviewing security after an intruder wielding a knife gained entry into the building on Friday. Omar Gonzalez, who was carrying a 3.5inch knife, scaled the fence and ran across the White House lawn. He was stopped after entering the North Portico doors. The following day, a different man drove up to a vehicle gate in the complex and refused to leave.

5. GCHQ RECRUITING DYSLEXIC SPIES

GCHQ is recruiting more than 100 dyslexic and dyspraxic operatives whose conditions give them skills that other employees lack, reports The Sunday Times. The surveillance agency said it is hiring the “neuro-diverse” intelligence officers for their ability to analyse complex information in a “dispassionate, logical and analytical” way.

6. ANGER OVER THATCHER MURDER TALE

Author Hilary Mantel has sparked outrage with her short story about an IRA terrorist killing Margaret Thatcher. Mantel has been described as “vile” and her story, entitled The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, as “seriously sick” after it was published in The Guardian yesterday. Tim Bell, who was a friend and PR adviser of Thatcher, tells The Sunday Times: “Mantel needs to see a therapist”.

7. TUTU: LET’S BOYCOTT FOSSIL FIRMS

Desmond Tutu has called for the tactics that were used to beat apartheid to be adopted in the fight against climate change. The Nobel peace prize-winning activist says mining companies, oil corporations and other businesses profiting from fossil fuels should face an international boycott. Writing in The Observer, he says “nobody should profit” from environmental disaster.

8. MILIBAND PLEDGES £8 MINIMUM WAGE

Labour will raise the minimum wage to £8 an hour if they win the next general election, Ed Miliband has pledged. The party leader said it is “not good enough” that one in five people in the UK are on low pay. "Too often people think that politics doesn't care about them," he told the Sunday Mirror. However, the Tories say they will not take “lectures” from the party that “crashed the economy”.

9. BRANSON TOPS 50-YEAR BUSINESS POLL

Sir Richard Branson has been voted Britain's most admired business leader over the past five decades, in a poll of top bosses in The Sunday Times. The runners up were vacuum cleaner designer Sir James Dyson and the late Lord Weinstock. "He has his critics, but this is a tribute to his longevity, and his impact across a big number of industries,” said the newspaper of Branson.

10. GUNNERS RISE AS LIVERPOOL SINK

Arsenal moved into the top four of the Premier League after beating Aston Villa 3-0. Mesut Ozil was at his influential best, scoring one goal and creating another for new boy Danny Welbeck. Liverpool slipped to 10th after losing 3-1 at West Ham. Leaders Chelsea travel to Manchester City today, while resurgent Manchester United are at Leicester.