Politics LIVE: Yvette Cooper faces demands to apologise after ‘serious error’ over riot comments

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has been blasted after her department referred to those arrested – but not convicted – over this month’s riots as “criminals”.

A Home Office social media post announcing the arrests of 1,000 people “related to recent public disorder” said “these criminals will face the full force of the law”.

But campaigners have warned that the post risks violating the presumption of “innocent until proven guilty” – and have urged for it to be deleted.

In a letter to Cooper, Free Speech Union general secretary Toby Young told the Home Secretary she bore ultimate responsibility for the Home Office’s comments.

Young wrote: “We are concerned that this post referred to all the people who have been arrested in connection with the recent public disorder as ‘criminals’, including those who have not been charged, or who have been charged but have pleaded not guilty and have not yet been tried.

“For example, one of our members, the 55-year-old woman who was arrested last week for wrongly identifying the attacker in Southport as an asylum seeker on X, has not been charged or made any admission of guilt.

“If she is charged, and if she pleads not guilty, we fear that there may be a risk that her trial is prejudiced because some of the jurors in her case may be one of the 2.3 million people who have seen the X post.

“To be clear, we are not requesting any action against the individual who made the post, or any Home Office employees… We believe that responsibility for this serious error ultimately rests with you.”

Home Office sources said the post neither made reference to individual cases nor legal proceedings – and that social media posts from the department’s account complied with Civil Service guidelines.

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Labour urged to U-turn on Winter Fuel Payments decision

The Green Party has called for the Government to reverse its decision to restrict the winter fuel allowance to only the poorest pensioners following Ofgem’s energy price cap announcement.

Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: “Consumers are paying high prices for a crisis not of their making. This will be deeply worrying news for all those people already struggling to pay their bills.”

Arguing the Government’s aim of reducing bills required investment in insulation, she added: “We need a nationwide programme of government-backed, council-delivered home insulation starting immediately to help people keep their bills down for good.

“We also now need the Government to maintain the winter fuel payments for all pensioners and end means testing so that they know they can afford to keep warm.

“We could reduce bills for the long term and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by building new homes that are easier and cheaper to heat, and boosting insulation in existing homes.

“Insulating people’s homes means they can stay warm while using less energy, save money and produce fewer harmful carbon emissions.”

Energy bills hiked up for households across the country

Labour has blamed the previous Conservative government for Friday’s announcement that the energy price cap would increase.

Ofgem has announced the energy price cap will rise by 10 per cent from October 1 in a blow to Britons’ finances.

The average energy bill for a typical household in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will jump from from £1,568 to £1,717.

A spokesperson for Labour said: “This price increase is the harvest of 14 years of Tory neglect and failure to prepare and invest in British-owned clean energy.

“While they were quick to blame everybody but themselves during the energy crisis, the Tories dragged their feet on energy security and took a hammer to the renewable energy sector, with working families still paying the price.

“The Labour Government has hit the ground running to tackle the root causes of high energy prices. In under 50 days we have set up Great British Energy to cut bills for good, lifted the onshore wind ban, consented unprecedented amounts of solar power and have set the largest-ever budget for our renewables auction.

“Labour’s bold energy plans will warm homes across the country, cut energy bills for good and create thousands of high-skilled, well-paid jobs as we move towards cheaper, homegrown clean power.”

Read more HERE.

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