‘Shoolchildren will be given better access to NHS mental health workers in a bid to stop depression and anxiety from becoming “entrenched” and “destroying” their lives. Prince Harry was praised for his bravery after revealing in an interview with The Telegraph that he had sought counselling to help come to terms with the death of his mother. Theresa May said hailed his intervention and said it will help “smash the stigma” surrounding mental health and make thousands of people realise that they are “not alone”.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Britain has sent more than £4million in foreign aid to North Korea in the past six years despite the communist regime’s threat to spark nuclear war, it emerged last night. Official figures reveal the UK spent £740,000 of taxpayers’ money on aid projects in the despotic regime in 2015 alone – a 167 per cent increase on the previous year. The Foreign Office, which is responsible for most of the spending, yesterday said it had no plans to axe the aid programme.’ – Daily Mail
>Today: David Alton on Comment: The clique which rules North Korea should be tried in absentia for crimes against humanity
>Yesterday: Nadhim Zahawi’s column: Why Trump should not simply strike out alone at North Korea
‘A year ago today, the then Chancellor George Osborne published a controversial ‘Treasury analysis’ of the risks of Brexit, claiming that quitting the EU would leave every family £4,300 worse off. Mr Osborne predicted an ‘immediate’ recession, with the Treasury suggesting half a million people would be thrown out of work. But although the former Chancellor quickly lost his Cabinet job in the wake of the referendum vote, unemployment has fallen and the British economy has powered ahead of most of its EU rivals. A new analysis by the Change Britain think tank today finds that just one in 10 of the gloomy warnings issued by Mr Osborne, David Cameron and other Government figures at the heart of the Remain campaign have turned out to be correct.’ – Daily Mail
>Yesterday:
‘Justice boss Liz Truss will vow to accelerate the removal of those with no right to remain in the UK such as a failed asylum seekers and foreigners locked up for crimes.And she pledged to save up to £2.7million clearing a backlog of more than 2,000 illegals who choke up Britain’s bursting prison system every year with lengthy appeals. But critics slammed the plans as “too little too late”. The new rules would apply to detainees who appeal against a Home Office decision to remove them from the country.’ – The Sun
Editorials
>Today: Christopher Howarth’s column: It would be wrong and unfair to stop counting international students in the migration numbers
‘For her, Easter — and by extension, Christianity — was best understood as something we can all unify around, somehow, so as to heal the divisions of the Brexit vote. I don’t think that’s my own misinterpretation. “These are values we all hold in common — and values that are visibly lived out every day by Christians — as well as by people of other faiths or none,” she said, after quite a lot of waffle about leaving the EU and people “coming together”. According to Campbell, this was her basically saying that “God would have voted Leave” which, in my view, was fairly absurd of him. (Campbell. Not God. Just so we’re clear.) I do not think it would be too absurd, though, to infer from the PM’s message a desire to find some solid ground in these swampy times, into which to plant the flag of Britishness.’ – Hugo Rifkind, The Times (£)
‘Analysis of Department for Education data by the Child Poverty Action Group and the National Union of Teachers has revealed that primary schools with the most deprived pupils are set to lose £519 per child on average, while the most deprived secondary schools will experience reductions of £757 per pupil. This compares to losses of £355 per pupil for the least deprived primary schools and £476 for the least deprived secondary schools. Calculations using a different measure of deprivation — the incidence of pupils receiving free school meals — shows a similar pattern: secondary schools with most children on free school meals will lose £794 per pupil on average, compared to £524 for the those secondaries with the fewest on free school meals.’ – FT
‘Russia’s claim that relations with the UK are worse than during the Cold War sparked a wave of ridicule yesterday. Allies of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson blasted the incendiary outburst from Moscow’s top diplomat in the UK. And hero PM Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicolas Soames dismissed it as “rubbish” misinformation from a “wretched” Kremlin hand. Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko warned that that Britain’s relationship with Russia is worse than ever before — despite spending 46 years in diplomatic deep freeze during the Cold War. And Mr Yakovenko accused No10 of “raising tension in Europe” by sending 800 British troops to Estonia to guard against Russian aggression.’ – The Sun
‘Theresa May faces questions over whether she approved moves to block the prosecution of Tony Blair for entering the Iraq war. Jeremy Wright, the attorney-general, has intervened in a case being brought against the former prime minister, it was confirmed yesterday. A spokeswoman for the government’s most senior law officer insisted that Mr Wright had stepped in because of potential consequences on the “scope of criminal law”. But Alex Salmond, the former first minister and SNP leader, said that it appeared Mr Wright had stepped in because the government feared the case could set a precedent.’ – The Times (£)
‘Labour is promising to scrap Tory inheritance tax cuts to pay carers looking after vulnerable relatives and friends an additional £10 a week in benefits if it wins the next election. Jeremy Corbyn plans to reverse a Tory policy allowing married couples to pass on estates worth £1million free of death duties in order to fund the 17 per cent hike in Carer’s Allowance. Payments would rise from £62.70 a week to £73.10 and Labour said the projected cost of the policy in 2020/21 would be £538million.’ – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Roger Evans on Comment: Corbyn can’t blame the media for his terrible photo op
‘European diplomats expect Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won a narrow victory in a constitutional referendum on Sunday, to consolidate his new executive powers by picking political battles with the EU. Fears are growing that the increasingly authoritarian leader will abandon EU membership ambitions by dropping judicial and democratic reforms and issuing an ultimatum on visa-free travel for Turks. The promise of a deal giving 75 million Turks the right to enter the EU’s Schengen area without a visa has been a key condition of Turkey’s implementation of an agreement that has helped to stem the biggest wave of mass migration to the Continent since the Second World War. In recent days the Turkish government has threatened to allow a new refugee crisis if the EU fails to honour its promise.’ – The Times (£)