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Kemi Badenoch, the new leader of the Conservative party, appointed a shadow cabinet. She made Robert Jenrick, whom she beat for the leadership, shadow justice secretary; Dame Priti Patel, shadow foreign secretary; Chris Philp, shadow home secretary; Mel Stride, shadow chancellor. Alex Burghart was given Northern Ireland and the Cabinet Office, with Laura Trott at education, Edward Argar at health and James Cartlidge at defence. Badenoch had been elected leader by 56.5 per cent of the 95,194 members’ votes (compared with the 57.4 per cent for Liz Truss in 2022), in a turnout of 72.8 per cent (compared with the 82.2 per cent in 2022). The Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford returned to Borneo a sun hat acquired in 1923 from the Brooke family, who ruled Sarawak. Sir Henry Keswick, the Jardine Matheson businessman who owned The Spectator from 1975 to 1981, died, aged 86.
Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, lifted the cap on university fees for the first time in eight years by £285 to £9,535 next year, an increase of about 3.1 per cent. Maintenance loans for students in England will rise by the same percentage. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, asked for a ‘full inquiry’ into how details were reported in the press before the Commons was told. Farmers were enraged by the Budget making inheritance tax payable on estates worth more than £1 million. GPs complained at their businesses having to pay increased employers’ national insurance. The government conceded that people could smoke in pub gardens and outside shisha bars but pressed ahead with a law against anyone now 15 or under ever buying cigarettes. An unpleasant and mysterious smell afflicted Leeds City bus station.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, in a speech to the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow, said: ‘We are going to treat people smugglers like terrorists.’ The budget of the new Border Security Command would be doubled to £150 million and the Crown Prosecution Service enabled to decide on cases more quickly. About 60 Tamil migrants stranded for years on the island of Diego Garcia were offered the right to come to the UK; in October they’d been offered a move to Romania. In the seven days to 4 November, 1,405 migrants in small boats arrived in England. More than 600 miles of power lines must be built to connect new renewable energy to the grid, according to the government’s own National Energy System Operator. The Queen cancelled some engagements because of a chest infection.
Abroad
Many world leaders congratulated Donald Trump on his election as US President, having beaten Kamala Harris, in a contest decided in half-a-dozen swing states. ‘We’re going to help our country heal,’ he said. ‘I look forward to working with you in the years ahead,’ said Sir Keir Starmer. The Republicans took back control of the Senate. Polish prosecutors said that a series of parcel fires in Poland, Germany and Britain were trial runs by Russia for sabotage to flights to the United States and Canada. Supporters of Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales seized a military post near Cochabamba, taking 200 soldiers hostage; the Bolivian government had denied an attempt on Morales’s life a week earlier. Quincy Jones, the American music producer responsible for Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, died aged 91.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, sacked defence minister Yoav Gallant, citing a ‘crisis of trust’. Israel said a senior Hezbollah operative was captured in a naval raid on the Lebanese town of Batroun. Hezbollah rockets killed seven in northern Israel. Iranian authorities detained a woman who walked in her underwear at Tehran’s Azad University. Only about 400 spectators watched the Women’s Tennis Association final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A footballer was fatally struck by lightning during a game between Juventud Bellavista and Familia Chocca in Peru.
The number killed by floods around Valencia rose to more than 217. Some people pelted the King of Spain with mud when he and the Queen visited affected areas. Heavy rain disrupted Barcelona airport. The concrete canopy at Novi Sad station in Serbia collapsed, killing 14. Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu was re-elected. Bangladesh increased payments to Adani Power (which provides 10 per cent of its electricity) after the Indian conglomerate cut supplies from its coal-powered station by half. In Japan, cyclists using a mobile phone could be jailed for six months under a new law. CSH
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