Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 23 August 2022

1. Truss ‘has sewage on hands’

Greenpeace accused Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss of having “sewage on her hands” after it was revealed that she was responsible for cutting millions of pounds of funding earmarked for tackling water pollution during her time as environment secretary. Truss, who was in charge of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2014 and 2016, oversaw “efficiency” plans to reduce Environment Agency funding by £235m. “There are ways we can make savings as a department,” she had said at the time.

Is it dangerous to swim off Britain’s beaches?

2. Trump sues government

Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the US government, asking a federal judge to freeze the Justice Department’s investigation of files seized from his Mar-a-Lago home. The former US president’s legal team has asked that an independent “special master” be appointed to oversee the documents that FBI agents took earlier this month. In the suit, Trump argues that his constitutional rights were violated and that privileged materials may have been seized when 11 sets of classified files were taken from his Florida estate on 8 August.

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What could we expect from a second Donald Trump term?

3. Girl, nine, shot in Liverpool

A murder investigation has been launched after a nine-year-old girl was shot dead in Liverpool. Officers from Merseyside Police attended a house on Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, at 10pm last night following reports that an unknown male had fired a gun inside the property. The girl suffered a gunshot to the chest and was taken to hospital, but later died. A man also suffered gunshot wounds to his body and a woman was shot in the hand. Police described the girl’s death as “truly shocking”.

4. BA scraps more flights

British Airways will axe around 10,000 flights scheduled in the coming months due to the Heathrow Airport passenger cap and an expected reduction in demand over the winter, reported the i news site. Although the carrier has said it will protect key holiday destinations over the October half-term, the move could disrupt thousands of families’ holidays. Sources told The Times the airline was trying to “build resilience” into its programme to mitigate uncertainty in the sector. Earlier this month, the boss of Ryanair warned that holidaymakers face a year of travel disruption across Europe.

Is Brexit to blame for the travel chaos?

5. Sunak unlikely to work under Truss

Rishi Sunak has signalled that he would not accept a cabinet job if Liz Truss wins the Tory leadership race, saying that ministers “need to agree on the big things”. The former chancellor said it was difficult when those at the top had fundamentally opposing views, adding: “I wouldn’t want to end up in a situation like that again.” Speaking to Vanessa Feltz on BBC Radio 2, he said: “I am not focused on all of that and I doubt Liz is.”

How Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak would tackle a recession

6. Blair: scrap GCSEs and A-levels

GCSEs and A-levels should be scrapped in favour of a system that better prepares school-leavers for the workplace, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has said. A study conducted by the former PM’s think tank has recommended that the education system in England be radically changed so that students can thrive in a work environment that is becoming increasingly shaped by automation and artificial intelligence. Writing in The Telegraph, Blair said GCSEs and A-levels leave students “poorly prepared for work” and a better system should be put in place.

What is Tony Blair up to now?

7. Apple workers rebel over WFH order

Staff at Apple are rebelling against an order to return to the office by arguing they can do “exceptional work” remotely. Workers from the Apple Together collective are to present a petition to managers demanding that the world’s biggest company continues its flexible working policy. It insists there are “many compelling reasons” for staff to work remotely, including that doing so makes them “happier and more productive”. Apple boss Tim Cook had ordered staff located near the tech giant’s California HQ to return to the office for three days a week starting in September.

8. Cambridges moving to Windsor

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children will start at a new school next term as the family move from London to Windsor, Kensington Palace has confirmed. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will join the co-educational private Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire next month. Fees for the establishment, which sits on 52 acres of ground, will cost more than £50,000 per year. A royal source has said the decision to move to Windsor is to offer the three children “the most normal start possible”.

Lambrook: the private prep school fit for a king

9. Ukrainian hosts’ payments ‘must double’

Payments to families hosting Ukrainian refugees should double, said the minister in charge of the scheme. As the cost-of-living crisis worsens, around a quarter of the 25,000 households currently hosting refugees are expected to pull out after six months – meaning new hosts and homes will have to be found. After some families warned they can no longer afford to house Ukrainians because of soaring energy bills, Richard Harrington, the refugees minister, asked the Treasury for funding to double the “thank you” payment of £350 a month.

The problems with the Homes for Ukraine scheme

10. Musk subpoenas Twitter CEO

Elon Musk has subpoenaed the CEO of Twitter as part of his effort to fight a lawsuit from the company attempting to force the billionaire to proceed with their $44bn acquisition deal. Musk’s legal team seeks a wide range of information from Jack Dorsey, including all documents and communications “reflecting, referring to, or relating to the impact or effect of false or spam accounts on Twitter’s business and operations”. Musk backed out of the proposed merger after accusing the company of misrepresenting the number of bot and spam accounts on the platform.

Will Twitter succeed in suing Elon Musk?