Chief Rabbi calls 'vile Jew-hatred at Glastonbury' a 'national shame'

The UK's Chief Rabbi has strongly criticised "the airing of vile Jew-hate at Glastonbury" after a live broadcast of Bob Vylan's performance at the festival went out on the BBC, during which the band's singer led the crowd in chants of "death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".

Writing on X, Sir Ephraim Mirvis wrote: "This is a time of national shame. The airing of vile Jew-hatred at Glastonbury and the BBC's belated and mishandled response, brings confidence in our national broadcaster's ability to treat antisemitism seriously to a new low.

"It should trouble all decent people that now, one need only couch their outright incitement to violence and hatred as edgy political commentary, for ordinary people to not only fail to see it for what it is, but also to cheer it, chant it and celebrate it. Toxic Jew-hatred is a threat to our entire society.

In a statement issued on Monday, the BBC said: "The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen."

House prices see biggest monthly fall for over two years

However, Nationwide said it expected activity in the housing market to pick up in the months ahead.

Over the year, prices were up 2.1%, although that was the slowest annual growth rate for nearly a year.

Prices fell by 0.8% last month, the biggest monthly decline since February 2023, which the building society said may reflect weaker demand following the changes to stamp duty in April.

UK house prices saw their biggest monthly fall for more than two years in June, according to mortgage lender Nationwide.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said the situation for many potential homebuyers remained "supportive".

He noted that the unemployment rate remains low, earnings are still outpacing inflation and borrowing costs could become cheaper if the Bank of England makes further cuts to interest rates.

Changes to stamp duty that came into effect in April mean that housebuyers in England and Northern Ireland now pay the tax on properties over £125,000, instead of over £250,000, as was the case previously.

First-time buyers also have to pay stamp duty on homes costing more than £300,000, whereas before the April change, there was no charge unless the property was above £425,000.

Matt Swannell, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, noted that monthly house price changes "can be quite volatile and this has been exaggerated by April's change in stamp duty thresholds".

This change distorted the market over the first half of the year, he said, as deals were rushed through at the end of March.

"[Since April] the housing market has been in a soft patch, but we think this will prove temporary, with the rise in May's mortgage approvals for new home purchases, which lead housing transactions, already indicating it's starting to fade."

Nationwide's house price data is based on its own mortgage lending, which does not include buyers who purchase homes with cash, or buy-to-let deals. Cash buyers account for about a third of housing sales.

Animal cruelty reports rise by a third in a year

3 hours ago Share Save Alix Hattenstone & Jonathan Fagg BBC News Share Save

Family handout/BBC Bernie has found a home with Amanda after a difficult start in life

Reports of animal cruelty rose by a third across England and Wales last summer, according to figures shared exclusively with the BBC. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) received 34,401 cruelty reports between June and August 2024, up from 25,887 in the same period the year before. The charity said longer days meant more people were outdoors and likely to witness cruelty, contributing to the spike in reports it usually sees in the summer months. The government said it was committed to upholding the highest animal welfare standards and "all cases of animal cruelty are unacceptable".

Warning: This story contains descriptions of animal cruelty On average, the RSPCA received 374 reports of animal cruelty every day in June to August 2024. It received 88,770 reports of cruelty across the whole year in 2023, which rose to 105,250 in 2024 - up 19% compared to 33% when looking at summer months alone.

Amanda Hunt, 45, from Nottingham, knew straight away that rescue dog Bernie was going to be the one for her family. "He looked like a bear," she said. "He had big fat paws. He was really young. "I knew he'd come from a difficult background and we were up for the challenge of making sure that we could ensure that he had the life he deserved." At 11 months old, Bernie had been rushed to an animal hospital. He was struggling to stand, had a bloodshot eye and a bruise to his head. X-rays showed he had fractures to his cheek and multiple historic broken ribs, and had sustained bone fractures on at least three separate occasions.

RSPCA Amanda has had Bernie for about eight months

The charity said Bernie's injuries had been consistent with his previous owner punching him a number of times for at least 10 minutes. Cats highlighted in RSPCA summertime cruelty study

Reports of summer animal cruelty up in South East The man was prosecuted by the RSPCA and banned from keeping all animals for life. He was sentenced to 12 weeks in custody, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out unpaid work as well as being fined. Amanda said: "It's devastating because you can't comprehend that a human being could do something so awful to an animal. All he wants is to be to be loved."

Family handout Bernie was rescued by the RSPCA after being beaten by his previous owner

After recovering in foster care, Bernie became "the heart" of Amanda's family but it took time for him to overcome his fear of men. "He'll put his paw out to you and you'll have to roll him over," Amanda said. "You have to hold him like a baby and scratch his tummy - he is like a baby bear in your arms and he loves all the kisses and cuddles. "He just wants to be with you all the time, he's like my little shadow."

Ian Briggs, chief inspector for the RSPCA, said summer should be a season of joy for animals but there was a side to it that many people did not see. "For thousands of animals, it's a season of pain, fear and suffering, when cruelty peaks," he said. Cara Gibbon, 32, from Birmingham is the RSPCA officer who helped with Bernie's rescue. She believes the pandemic has played a part in the overall rise in cruelty reports. She said: "People were home more, they were bored, they were getting animals and now that everyone's kind of gone back to work, they don't know what to do with them. So we are seeing more animals being abandoned and more animals being at risk of cruelty."

Cara Gibbon from the RSPCA helps to look after animals that have had difficult starts in life

Dr Rowena Packer, senior lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College, raised concerns that some inexperienced owners struggled with additional pressures in the summer, such as having children and dogs at home together. Her research suggests dogs bought in the pandemic have higher rates of problem behaviours, with new owners more likely to use aversive training methods. She warned against using techniques learnt "via the uncontrolled world of social media", adding that professional help may feel out of reach to those struggling financially. "Owners are becoming less likely to seek veterinary care in an appropriate time frame, which is a challenge because some problems can exacerbate quite rapidly," she said. She advised that "many major animal welfare charities have free behaviour hotlines or free behavioural advice".

A spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said the government was committed to upholding the highest animal welfare standards. They said: "All cases of animal cruelty are unacceptable and should be investigated thoroughly. Offenders can face a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine if found guilty."

Will Lewis Hamilton have any authority to change the engineering structure around him at Ferrari? It seems like he's overruled strategically in almost every race, and very rarely (in his eyes at least) for the better. - Alex

This is a topic that keeps coming up a lot with regard to Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari - the perceived tension between him and his engineer Riccardo Adami on the radio.

But whenever Hamilton is asked about it, he dismisses it.

In Spain last month, Hamilton said: "Our relationship is great, no problems. We're constantly learning more and more about each other. We're constantly adapting to the way both of us like to work.

"He's worked with lots of different drivers before. We don't have any problems whatsoever."

Of course, you would expect him to say that, but it is also what is being said by Ferrari, and by insiders behind the scenes.

Team principal Frederic Vasseur characterises what is sometimes broadcast from the team radio as the standard to and fro between driver and engineer.

And Hamilton feels his messages are regarded differently from those of other drivers - he has pointed out how stroppy Max Verstappen sounds from time to time with Red Bull, for example, but that people don't react the same way to that.

As for the specific situation in Austria on Sunday and Hamilton saying he wanted to stay out longer rather than pit when he was called, deputy team principal Jerome d'Ambrosio said there was no fundamental disagreement over strategy.

"It was more a matter of setting, so staying a few more laps," D'Ambrosio said. "It's nothing out of the norm. What we tried to do was our optimal strategy. Try to optimise your race time. That's what we did with both drivers.

"There was no incentive to do anything different because the McLarens were clearly far ahead and George quite far behind. So we just did the standard optimum strategy and that was the best thing to do.

"The drivers question, 'Is this the best? Can we do something else?' They're racers, they're F1 drivers. That's what they do. That's what they should do. And I just saw Lewis right now and he looked at the numbers and said, 'Yeah, that's what made sense.'"

Chris Mason: Labour still has a big persuasion job ahead on welfare cuts

"I've not had as much quality time with my colleagues since the Brexit wars," a minister told me with a wry smile.

A remark that gets to the heart of the row over changes to the benefits system within the Labour Party: this is a government with a big majority, that has already performed a big U-turn and yet is still involved in a big persuasion job.

Attempting to defuse a backbench rebellion is not something that's meant to happen, one year into government, with a working majority of 165.

But ministers were forced to offer concessions last week after more than 120 Labour MPs threatened to derail their plans.

Stricter eligibility criteria for getting personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability benefit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, will now only apply to those claiming after November 2026, rather than existing claimants.

Ministers have also promised a review into the assessment process in partnership with disability organisations, due to be completed by autumn 2026.

The prime minister himself will be getting stuck into some persuading today, making the case that these changes are, as he sees it, not only in keeping with Labour values but essential to ensure the long-term stability of the welfare state.

But if Monday's Commons statement from Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall - in which she laid out concessions to the bill - was intended to reassure Labour MPs, it is an open question as to whether it worked.

"It turned a fair few colleagues off. I think it will get through, but it'll be close," said one backbencher.

There has been plenty of talk of there being 40 to 50 Labour MPs who are opposed, but things remain fluid.

Given the size of the working majority, rebels would need to amass around 80 of their colleagues to vote against the government to defeat them, everything else being equal.

But a key factor could be how many choose to abstain in the vote on Tuesday evening.

Incidentally, Prof Philip Cowley of Queen Mary University of London notes that the biggest backbench rebellion Sir Keir Starmer has suffered so far is 16.

The largest rebellion in Tony Blair's first year in Downing Street was 47 and also on the welfare state - over lone parent benefit.

The largest backbench rebellion for any governing party in 200 years was in 2003, over the Iraq war.

At the heart of plenty of the concern over these benefits changes is what is being proposed for the Personal Independence Payment (Pip) at the end of next year.

From November 2026, the plan is the eligibility criteria for the main disability benefit will be tightened.

Some Labour MPs and ministers had hoped a review of Pip, conducted by Work and Pensions Minister Sir Stephen Timms and involving disabled people, would reassure colleagues the government's intentions were something they could back.

But over and over again in the Commons concerns were raised that the timeframe of the review - itself due to report in the autumn of next year - would mean it would be too late to have an influence on the eligibility criteria for Pip beginning that November.

And beneath that there is an underlying critique: that the reason the plans for late next year remain in place is because that way it makes it (a bit) easier for Chancellor Rachel Reeves' numbers to add up - and, to use the jargon, for the measures to be "scored" by the Office for Budget Responsibility when it produces its forecasts, which are so central to the government's management of the economy.

For plenty of Labour MPs this is wrong-headed, topsy turvy and an increasingly hard-to-defend approach to government.

But it is also worth emphasising, as it always is when there is a debate dominated by noisy people, that there are quieter Labour MPs, many keeping their heads down right now, who find this whole row gratuitous and fundamentally naive - and, they argue, it is Labour's duty to grapple with a spiralling benefits bill.

And Sir Keir and Reeves have long argued that Labour being seen as credible custodians of the economy is the building block upon which everything else is constructed.

The Chief Whip, Sir Alan Campbell, in charge of winning the vote for the prime minister, has issued a plea for unity - something that only happens when there isn't a surplus of it - and told Labour MPs they should "act as a team".

The party, he said, would have to come back together after this difficult vote for them.

MPs will debate the plans all over again later today, and the vote is expected early this evening.

And even if the government does win, that won't be the end of the matter.

More arguments and votes are expected in the next few weeks.

Chief rabbi says 'national shame' that BBC aired Glastonbury chant

The UK's Chief Rabbi has strongly criticised "the airing of vile Jew-hate at Glastonbury" after a live broadcast of Bob Vylan's performance at the festival went out on the BBC, during which the band's singer led the crowd in chants of "death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".

Writing on X, Sir Ephraim Mirvis wrote: "This is a time of national shame. The airing of vile Jew-hatred at Glastonbury and the BBC's belated and mishandled response, brings confidence in our national broadcaster's ability to treat antisemitism seriously to a new low.

"It should trouble all decent people that now, one need only couch their outright incitement to violence and hatred as edgy political commentary, for ordinary people to not only fail to see it for what it is, but also to cheer it, chant it and celebrate it. Toxic Jew-hatred is a threat to our entire society."

In a statement issued on Monday, the BBC said: "The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen."

It's easy to see why Gemma Grainger gets mistaken for a Norwegian. Sitting in the sunshine outside a coffee shop near her Oslo flat, she looks very much at home. It's only when she speaks and you hear her north-east accent do you realise, she is distinctly English.

"I always thought that I was tall in height until I came here," 5ft 10in Grainger tells BBC Sport. "Then I realised these are my people because I'm average height here, which is nice."

The 42-year-old from Middlesbrough took over as head coach of Norway's women's team 18 months ago. And since then, she has had to adapt to a new kind of culture off the pitch and build a new one on it.

This week she will take on the biggest challenge of her career when she leads the national side into the Euros. It also makes her the only English head coach at the tournament.

But for Grainger, who was previously assistant coach to the Lionesses under Mark Sampson and head coach of Wales, there are no mixed allegiances here.

"This is something I've worked for my whole career. So, I'm incredibly proud and privileged to work with this group of players.

"They've given me this opportunity because they see something in me. And for me, I want to repay that. So, when we go into this tournament, I want to be the coach that can bring this team success.

"I want Wales and England to do well," she says, before adding with a laugh - "except for when they're playing Norway".