“The late Queen would “never have believed” the sight of the queue to see her lying in state, the Prince of Wales has said as he praised the unity and new friendships forged through mutual grief. The Prince, who joined his father for a walkabout with members of the public queuing in Lambeth, said seeing the number of people wanting to pay their respects was “quite emotional”. “She would never have believed all this,” he told wellwishers of his grandmother. “It seems to be uniting everyone and bringing everyone together.” Saying he hoped people were making “friends for life” while waiting in line, where they had been moving almost constantly for 12 hours at that point, he shook hundreds of hands and repeatedly told people he hoped they were not too cold and tired.” – Sunday Telegraph
“The grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth II made history on Saturday night as they walked step by step to honour her memory in a visibly emotional vigil which matched the most formal of royal duties with love. The eight grandchildren of the Queen chose to pay public tribute in the first vigil of its kind in British history, led by the Prince of Wales with his brother behind him. With an age range spanning 30 years, the cousins maintained their composure through the most moving of occasions, as members of the public filed past them in tears. Taking their turn at what has, until now, seemed a formal military occasion, 44-year-old Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Lady Mountbatten-Windsor and Viscount Severn wore the black clothes of mourning to walk in unison.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Liz Truss’s National Insurance cut will take effect in workers’ November payslips, Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to announce this week, as he ditches the Coalition-era focus on “sharing the proceeds of growth”. In a statement to Parliament on Friday, the Chancellor will seek to deliver on the Prime Minister’s pledge during the Conservative leadership contest that her tax cuts would provide “immediate” help to families and businesses – with the scrapping of the health and social care levy now due to benefit employees and employers within weeks. Mr Kwarteng is expected to be unapologetic about scrapping the levy, despite criticism of the benefit of such a move to wealthier people. Mr Kwarteng’s statement on Friday will follow a separate business support package due to be unveiled on Wednesday by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Business Secretary.” – Sunday Telegraph
“One of the biggest crises facing the country is in the health service and as secretary of state for health Thérèse Coffey has a huge task ahead of her. But her success or otherwise — and I hope she’s very successful — has nothing at all to do with her smoking and diet habits, despite recent criticism. I was minister of state for health for two or three years [1982-1985], reshuffled away, and then in 1988 I came back as secretary of state, the number one in the department. And nobody actually confronted me or put pressure on me to stop smoking, from the chief medical officer downwards. My permanent secretary and senior civil servants accepted that they had a minister who smoked. And I did, throughout both my terms of office. Of course, this was in the 1980s — I suspect quite a lot of ministers smoked, and it never crossed my mind not to.” – Sunday Times
“Labour will come under pressure to support inflation-matching pay increases, joining picket lines, renationalisation and the return of Jeremy Corbyn as a party candidate, in a crucial annual conference for Keir Starmer. The Labour leader will use next weekend’s conference to set out key dividing lines after the government’s mini-budget on Friday, with announcements on tax cuts, bankers’ bonuses and borrowing set to dominate the political debate for months to come. However, the party will also be confronted with some of the issues that have caused divisions among the membership and MPs over the summer.” – Observer
“Ukrainian soldiers have broken through Russia’s frontline along the Oskil River, exposing an important supply route and swathes of territory that the Kremlin has promised to defend. Fighting has focused on Kupiansk since Russian forces fled a surprise Ukrainian offensive around Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine last week, but now military bloggers from both sides have said that Russia’s defence has crumbled once again. “Kupiansk has surrendered. The enemy is on the left bank of the Oskil,” the pro-Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky told his 450,000 subscribers last night. Western commentators confirmed the development. Russian forces fled across the Oskil River, which runs north-south from central Russia into Ukraine, after a surprise Ukrainian offensive recaptured roughly 2,500 square miles of territory, an area nearly equal to the size of Devon.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Liz Truss’s most senior adviser has been interviewed by FBI agents about an alleged criminal plot to bribe an American politician and influence a US election. Mark Fullbrook is the Downing Street chief of staff — the prime minister’s main aide with a leading role in shaping government strategy. He ran Truss’s leadership campaign and has advised foreign governments and prime ministers including Boris Johnson, Margaret Thatcher and Sir John Major. Fullbrook, 60, was made a formal subject of a US Department of Justice (DoJ) and FBI investigation this year, meaning that federal investigators were interested in his conduct. In April the FBI asked Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Metropolitan Police to help secure his attendance at a formal interview. He agreed after being approached by Scotland Yard.” – Sunday Times