Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 3 October 2022

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1. Tories turn against Truss
2. Covid cases double in UK
3. Putin ‘may not be bluffing’
4. Hospitals in turmoil
5. Young people worry about food
6. Leading pollster predicts Labour win
7. Indonesian police under pressure
8. New fears over Credit Suisse
9. Brazilian vote goes to second round
10. More charges over Andrew ‘assault’

published 3 October 2022

1. Tories turn against Truss

Former cabinet minister Grant Shapps has said that Liz Truss would lose a Commons vote on cutting the top rate of income tax. The new PM’s plan to scrap the 45% rate has caused market turmoil, a collapse in the polls and a growing backlash from Tory MPs. “I don’t think the House is in a place where it’s likely to support that,” Shapps told the BBC. So far, 14 Tory MPs have come out publicly against the plan, said The Times, and Michael Gove has forecast that Truss will abandon it before it comes to a vote in the House.

Covid cases have doubled to 200,000-a-day and are expected to hit a new UK record around the end of the month, said the i news site. Daily symptomatic infections rose from 101,600 on August 27th to 202,738 on 30 September, according to the ZOE Health study. “It’s clear we’re now seeing an autumn wave of Covid-19,” said Tim Spector, the King’s College London professor. “We are likely to be hit with a combination of viruses,” he added, noting the rise in colds and expectations of a major seasonal flu epidemic.

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Vladimir Putin may not be bluffing with his threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Washington said yesterday. “There are no checks on Mr Putin,” Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, told CNN. “He made the irresponsible decision to invade Ukraine, he could make another decision.” Austin spoke after the Russian president was accused of “nuclear sabre-rattling” when he threatened to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal to protect Ukrainian territory annexed after illegitimate referendums.

Hospitals are cancelling more than 22,000 appointments every day, according to The Telegraph. The average number of daily cancellations this year, so far, was up 20% on pre-pandemic figures, “despite the government’s pledge to clear the NHS backlog”, said the paper. Jeremy Hunt, a former health secretary, said the numbers were “staggering” and patient groups warned multiple cancellations, delays and changes to appointments can cause “distress and frustration” and “feed into patients’ sense of being abandoned by the NHS”.

A study has found that nearly half of young people worry that they will not be able to afford food this winter, and more than a third plan to leave education or training to start earning. The Prince’s Trust research, which The Times said “painted a bleak picture for young people amid spiralling inflation,” found 46% of 16 to 25-year-olds in Britain were worried about not having enough money to buy essentials such as food, toiletries and clothing.

Labour are “very clearly the favourites” to form the next government, said the respected polling guru John Curtice. Speaking to Tory activists in Birmingham, he said that new prime minister Liz Truss was now as unpopular with voters as Boris Johnson was when he was ousted, adding that even if Labour’s current double digit poll lead reduced before the next election in 2024, Labour were still likely to take power. His analysis was greeted with dismay and cries of “wow” from activists, said the BBC.

There are growing questions about the role of the Indonesian police during the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster, where at least 125 people were killed and 320 injured in a crush of fleeing spectators. The stampede began after police used tear gas on fans who had invaded the pitch. Three witnesses told The Guardian, tear gas was fired not only at fans on the pitch, but also at crowds who had remained in the stands, and that no warning was given.

Executives at Credit Suisse are in talks with the bank’s major investors to reassure them as concerns grow over the Swiss lender’s financial health, reported the Financial Times. The Bank of England has been liaising with authorities in Switzerland after steps by Credit Suisse to settle the nerves of investors instead stoked fears of further turmoil in the financial system. Shares of Credit Suisse touched fresh lows last week with the stock down nearly 55% year-to-date.

The election in Brazil will go to a second round in which left-winger former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. With almost all the votes counted from the first round, the result was closer than expected: Lula on 48% and Bolsonaro on 43%. This means Lula fell short of the more than 50% of valid votes needed to prevent a run-off. Bolsonaro has often attempted to discredit the Brazilian electoral system and threatened to not accept its results.

Two men have been charged in connection with an alleged assault on a man who heckled Prince Andrew during the Queen’s coffin procession in Scotland. Footage showed a 22-year-old man shouting at the Duke of York on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh on 12 September. Two men, both 34, have been charged after allegedly dragging the heckler to the ground. Previously, the 22-year-old man was charged with breach of the peace over the incident.

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