Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 27 August 2023

1. Dorries quits with Sunak swipe

Nadine Dorries has told Rishi Sunak that “history will not judge you kindly” as she finally resigned from her Commons seat. In her resignation letter, the outgoing Tory MP spoke of the “pitifully low level” that Sunak’s government has “descended to”. She claimed that the downfall of Boris Johnson and other recent Tory leaders is “the result of the machinations of a small group of individuals embedded deep at the centre of the party and Downing St”, as part of a “dark” and “disturbing” story.

2. Ukrainian hero dies in air crash

A celebrated Ukrainian fighter pilot and two other airmen have been killed in a mid-air crash. Andrii Pilshchykov won renown after taking part in “dogfights” over Kyiv during the early phase of Moscow’s invasion, said the BBC. The Ukrainian military described him as a pilot with “mega knowledge and mega talent”. Air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihna said of his fallen colleague that “you can’t even imagine how much he wanted to fly an F-16, but now that American planes are actually on the horizon, he will not fly them”.

3. Racist killings in Florida

A gunman in Florida killed three black people in a racially motivated attack then killed himself, said the authorities. The man, described as white and in his early 20s, entered a Dollar General store in Jacksonville and opened fire. Two men and a woman were killed by the gunman, who wore body armour and left behind manifestos which outlined his “disgusting ideology of hate” and his motive in the attack, said Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters.

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4. Labour rules out wealth tax

Labour’s shadow chancellor has ruled out any wealth tax if Labour forms the next government. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Rachel Reeves has insisted she will not introduce a levy to target wealth or expensive properties, and will not increase capital gains tax or the top rate of income tax. “I don’t see the way to prosperity as being through taxation” she said, adding that “we have no plans for a wealth tax”. The interview “signals a major shift for the Labour Party”, said the paper.

5. Met suffers major IT breach

The Metropolitan police said it is on high alert after a security breach involving the IT system of one of its suppliers. Scotland Yard said that any leaked data could do “incalculable damage” in the wrong hands. All 47,000 personnel have been warned of the risk their photos, names and ranks had been stolen when hackers breached the IT systems of a contractor printing warrant cards and staff passes. Undercover officers “may have to be pulled from the field”, said The Sun.

6. ‘Chaos’ on Letby ward revealed

A “damning” email told of “chaos” on Lucy Letby’s ward, said The Sunday Times. Dr Alison Timmis, a paediatrician, emailed Tony Chambers, the hospital’s chief executive, in 2015, reporting that the neonatal unit was chaotic, overstretched and unsafe for patients and staff, two years before the serial killer nurse was suspended. The senior doctor said staff were in tears because they were being forced to look after more babies than the unit could safely accommodate. Letby, “capitalised on the difficulties the neonatal unit faced to target her victims”, said the paper.

7. Sunak faces transparency headache

Rishi Sunak “faces a new conflict of interest row” over claims that his family could stand to benefit financially from a post-Brexit trade deal that he is negotiating with India, said The Observer. There are “concerns at the highest levels of government” over potential “transparency” issues relating to the PM’s wife shareholding – worth almost £500m – in the IT services and consultancy company Infosys. Labour has called for Sunak to be more open about his wife’s financial interests. The issue is a “major headache for No 10”, said The Observer.

8. ‘Ammonia’ attack in Gateshead

A man has died after he was sprayed in the face with a substance that police suspect was ammonia. Andy Foster, 26, was attacked by two people when he opened the door to a property he was inside in Gateshead. He died shortly after arriving in hospital, said Northumbria Police. His grieving family described Foster as a “kind and funny boy who was so loved”. A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was later released, pending further enquiries.

9. Expansion for whole-life orders

Ministers plan to make whole-life orders, with no prospect of release, the “default sentence” for murders deemed to involve “sexual or sadistic conduct”. After serial killer Lucy Letby was sentenced to a whole-life order, the government plans to change the law so that judges are required to impose whole-life orders on certain killers, “except in extremely limited circumstances”, said the inews site. Jail sentences with no prospect of release have “provoked human rights challenges in the past”, it added.

10. Fascism warning in east Germany

A state premier has warned that fascism is set to become normal in east Germany due to growing support for the hard-Right AfD party. Speaking in the Elephant hotel, where Hitler was once greeted by jubilant crowds from the balcony, Bodo Ramelow, the minister-president of Thuringia, said: “There are people who want to make history go backwards.” Ramelow’s rival, Björn Höcke, the leader of the AfD’s Thuringia branch, is “known for toying with Nazi language” and being “so politically extreme that a German court ruled he could legally be called a fascist”, said The Telegraph.