Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 4 May 2023

1. Sunak’s first big test

Millions of people are expected to head to the polls today in local elections across England. About 8,000 councillors are being elected in 230 councils and voters in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough will also elect mayors. Labour “will be looking to capitalise on its strong national polling lead to reverse the heavy losses it suffered in 2019 under Jeremy Corbyn” said the Telegraph. While “it will be Rishi Sunak’s first big test, with both parties viewing it as a ‘dry run’ ahead of the general election next year”, said The Spectator. The results will be announced tomorrow.

Local elections 2023: the seats in contention and who might win

2. Homicide on NY subway

The New York City medical examiner has ruled that a subway passenger was killed by a chokehold. Officials said Jordan Neely’s death was caused by homicide, from “compression of neck (chokehold)”. Widely-shared video of the incident shows Neely, 30, struggling as another man grabs him and holds him on the ground. Police have questioned and released the 24-year-old US Marine who restrained the passenger. The incident comes “as the city grapples with how to reduce both crime and the number of people with mental illness living on the streets”, said the New York Times.

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3. Ukraine attacks after drone row

Explosions have been heard in several Ukrainian cities, a day after Moscow accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone attack on the Kremlin. Attacks were reported in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa after Russia accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine denies the claim. Meanwhile, emergency services said they have extinguished the fire at a large oil refinery in Russia two hours after it was hit in a drone attack, TASS news agency reported this morning.

4. Charles to ‘heal Europe relations’

King Charles will play a “leading role in healing the UK’s toxic relations after Brexit”, said the ipaper. Queen Elizabeth’s inability to travel abroad in her final years meant the “strained relationship” between the UK and EU after Britain voted to leave in 2016 “could not benefit from some royal smoothing of diplomatic wrinkles”, it said. A diplomatic source told the paper that the recent visit to Germany by the King “marked a positive stamp of approval on the UK’s relationship with Europe”.

How German is the royal family?

5. British Gas sacks bailifs

British Gas has sacked the debt collection agency it used to force-fit prepayment meters in customers’ homes. However, the company insists it found “no systemic issues” with the practice, which received widespread condemnation after it was revealed by an undercover reporter for The Times. The force-fitting of prepayment meters was suspended and has led to investigations by Ofgem, the government and two parliamentary committees. Among those targeted were a woman described as having “severe mental health bipolar” and a mother whose “daughter is disabled and has a hoist”.

Why energy firms are sending in bailiffs during cost-of-living crisis

6. Branson feared for business

Richard Branson has said he feared he was going to lose his entire business empire during the Covid pandemic. The businessman claimed he personally lost around £1.5bn during the pandemic and the struggles to save his businesses left him “a little depressed” for a couple of months. Speaking to the BBC, Branson added that he found media criticism “painful” after the Virgin Group asked the UK government for a loan to save the company. In July 2021, Forbes listed Branson’s estimated net worth at $5.7 billion.

7. Falklands veteran calls for refugee help

No one will want to risk their lives to support British efforts abroad in future if an Afghan pilot is deported to Rwanda, warned a Falklands war veteran. “What message are we giving to people around the world if we do not help this pilot?” Simon Weston, who suffered 46% burns during the conflict in 1982, told The Independent. “We don’t know where the next conflict will be or who we will need help from.” The Afghan pilot, who came to the UK on a small boat, fled Afghanistan after spending months in hiding from the Taliban.

Stop the boats: will immigration define the next election?

8. Eton linked to slavery

Eton College and other leading schools in Britain benefited from slavery through substantial donations and endowments worth the equivalent of tens of millions of pounds today, said The Guardian. Christ’s Hospital school and Liverpool’s Blue Coat grammar are also among the 29 schools with significant documented links to donations from people who profited from slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries, found academics at Durham and Cambridge universities. “Those questions get to the fundamental issue of whether the private school system should exist,” said one researcher.

SEPT 19: Should private schools be banned? The pros and cons

9. Ministers warned on house targets

MPs have warned that the Tories risk losing the next general election and becoming the “party of nimbyism” after dropping housebuilding targets. Rishi Sunak dropped compulsory housebuilding targets for local areas in December and Tory backbenchers have been criticising the government in their WhatsApp groups, accusing it of “short-termism” after Keir Starmer said he would reinstate the targets if his party won the next election, reported The Times.

Has the Conservative Party made the housing crisis worse?

10. McDonald’s linked to child labour

A US government investigation has uncovered two 10-year-olds working at McDonald’s franchises. The children were working, unpaid, sometimes until 2am at McDonald’s locations in Kentucky. The three McDonald’s franchisees were found to employ 305 children working more than legally permitted hours and performing job tasks banned by law for their age. “These reports are unacceptable, deeply troubling and run afoul of the high expectations we have for the entire McDonald’s brand,” Tiffanie Boyd, a senior vice president at McDonald’s, told the New York Post.