Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 8 August 2022

1. Public wants inflation tackled before tax cuts

Two thirds of voters believe it would be wrong for the government to prioritise tax cuts over tackling the cost-of-living crisis, a poll has found. The YouGov research for The Times found that 64% of voters thought the next prime minister should prioritise inflation, compared with 17% who wanted tax cuts. The news is uncomfortable for Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss, who has said she would prioritise tax cuts. The same study found that voters do not think Truss or Rishi Sunak would make a better PM than Boris Johnson up against Keir Starmer.

How Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak would tackle a recession

2. Gaza ceasefire holds

A ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and Palestinian militants held overnight, following three days of fighting. Although there was isolated weapon fire from both sides in the minutes before and just after the deadline, the truce has continued. At least 44 people have died in the most serious flare-up since an 11-day conflict in May 2021. The latest fighting began with Israeli attacks on Gaza, which its military claimed was in response to threats from a militant group. However, observers told Al Jazeera that Israel’s attack was “a deliberate act to gain legitimacy with its public” as the nation braces for new elections in November.

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3. ‘Sprint’ to avert NHS emergency

The health secretary has warned that it will be “a sprint” to avoid an NHS winter emergency this year. Speaking to The Telegraph, Steve Barclay said hospitals were facing “very serious challenges coming down the track in the autumn”. The challenges include seasonal flu, another Covid wave and the fallout from the cost-of-living crisis. Civil servants are predicting long waits at hospitals this winter, with as few as six in ten patients expected to be dealt with at A&E departments within four hours.

The boom in private healthcare: a two-tier system?

4. Petro: war on drugs has failed

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called for a fresh global strategy to combat illegal drugs trafficking, declaring the “war on drugs” a failure. Speaking at his inauguration, the country’s first ever left-wing leader told supporters that it is time for a new global convention that “accepts the war on drugs has failed”. It has “left a million dead Latin Americans during 40 years”, he said, and it leaves “70,000 North Americans dead by overdose each year”. It is 50 years since US President Richard Nixon launched the global strategy that became known as the “war on drugs”.

5. Second heatwave expected in UK

Temperatures are set to soar again this week as a second heatwave hits the UK. Although temperatures will not reach July’s record-breaking high of 40.3C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, they are expected to reach as much as 35C at the weekend. Millions more Britons are facing the threat of a hosepipe ban as officials move towards declaring an official drought. Environment Secretary George Eustice has encouraged more water firms to impose restrictions – also known as temporary use bans or TUBs.

Why do heatwaves in the UK feel hotter than abroad?

6. Victims to be consulted on bail

Police officers will have to seek the views of victims when releasing suspects on bail, The Times reported. As part of an initiative aimed at reducing repeat violence, victims will be asked about their “perception of future risk of harm”. The College of Policing, the national standards body, said the new rules would “create a web of protection to keep people safe”. In 2017, Theresa May introduced measures aimed at restricting bail, after celebrities accused of sex crimes were left under investigation for long periods before being cleared.

7. Attack on nuclear plant ‘suicidal’

The UN secretary general has called for international inspectors to be given access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. After Ukraine and Russia each blamed each other for the shelling of Europe’s largest atomic plant at the weekend, António Guterres said that “any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing”. Meanwhile, Russian forces are massing in the south of Ukraine in what the UK Ministry of Defence claimed could be preparation for a fresh assault.

Gas supplies: will Vladimir Putin turn off the taps?

8. Study finds police failure on theft

Police have failed to solve a single theft in more than eight out of ten neighbourhoods in England and Wales over the past three years. An investigation by The Telegraph found that of nearly 21,000 neighbourhoods that suffered at least one theft in the past three years, none had been solved in 84% of them. The “shocking” data showed that theft from the person had been “effectively decriminalised”, said victims’ watchdogs. Vera Baird, the victims’ commissioner, said: “Theft should be the bread and butter of neighbourhood policing.”

9. Raab plans condemned by Liberty

Dominic Raab plans to curb judges’ powers in a move likely to make it harder to bring successful legal challenges against the government, The Guardian reported. A leaked document from the Ministry of Justice suggested the justice secretary wants to limit ministers’ accountability in judicial reviews brought by claimants concerned about the way decisions have been taken by public bodies. Charlie Whelton, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, said the document “suggests that the government plans to make it even harder for people to challenge them and make themselves even less accountable to the public”.

10. Museum returns Nigerian artefacts

A museum in London has agreed to return 72 objects looted from Benin City in 1897 to the Nigerian government. The Horniman Museum and Gardens said it will return the objects, which were taken from the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now the capital of Edo State in southern Nigeria, during a British military operation in February 1897. Eve Salomon, chair of the museum’s trustees, called the transfer “moral and appropriate”. Several other museums in Europe and the US have returned their looted Benin bronzes to Nigeria.