Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 7 January 2023

1. McCarthy finally elected as Speaker

Kevin McCarthy has finally been elected Speaker of the House of Representatives at the 15th attempt. The Republican won after key rebels from his party did not vote against him. “That was easy, huh?” he quipped, to laughter from the chamber. He takes hold of the gavel after “appeasing” members of the House Freedom Caucus with concessions including promises to cap spending at 2022 levels and expand the House Rules Committee to include more members of the Freedom Caucus, said the New York Post.

2. Questions over Abramovich assets

Trusts holding billions of dollars of Roman Abramovich’s assets were “amended to transfer beneficial ownership to his children” shortly before sanctions were imposed on him last year for his ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin, claimed The Guardian. The leaked documents “raise questions about whether the changes to trusts were made in an attempt to shield the oligarch’s vast fortune from the threat of asset freezes”, said the paper.

3. Sunak’s ‘talking shop’ dismissed

Rishi Sunak and several ministers are due to meet health experts to address the crisis in the NHS in England. Following reports of patients spending days on trolleys because of shortages of beds in some hospitals and estimates that as many as 500 people could be dying each week because of delays to emergency care, an all-day NHS Recovery Forum has been organised by the government. However, Labour said patients deserve “more than a talking shop”.

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4. Military chiefs condemn Harry

A distinguished British army colonel has accused Prince Harry of “betraying” the military and a former assistant chief of the defence staff said the Duke has broken “an unwritten code”. Their comments came after it emerged that he wrote in his memoir that he killed 25 people while serving as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, reported The Sun, Harry was allowed to leave his Apache helicopter base after it was put in lockdown when random drug testers arrived in 2011.

5. ‘Ceasefire’ broken in Ukraine

Ukrainian officials have accused Russians of opening fire in several areas despite the unilateral ceasefire called by Vladimir Putin. Moscow ordered a 36-hour unilateral ceasefire, to coincide with the Orthodox Christmas, but Ukraine rejected it, describing it as a “ploy”. Putin’s order came after Patriarch Kirill, head of the Orthodox church in Russia, called for a ceasefire and a Christmas truce in Ukraine to enable Orthodox people to attend services.

6. Lenders slash mortgage deals

A “mortgage price war” has broken out after two of the biggest high street lenders announced significant cuts to their fixed rate deals. Nationwide and TSB both slashed the cost of borrowing in response to a property sales slump, house price falls and a fall in mortgage approvals. According to analysts, other lenders will “aggressively” follow suit in a bid to attract the customers who remain in the market. Speaking to The Telegraph, Jane King, an independent mortgage adviser, said: “The bottom has fallen out of the purchase market.”

7. Manure-fuelled tractor unveiled

The first ever manure-powered tractor has been unveiled by a British firm and could “prompt a green revolution on farms”, said The Telegraph. The New Holland T7 tractor is fuelled by farm slurry that would see farms become “energy independent” and “carbon neutral”. The vehicle is powered by capturing the methane that would otherwise escape from cow manure and treating and compressing the gas for use as liquid fuel. The technology also has the potential to combat climate change by removing large amounts of methane from the atmosphere.

8. Covid spiked over Xmas

Covid infections rose over Christmas to their highest level since the summer, according to the Office for National Statistics. Cases are estimated to have more than doubled in less than a month – with nearly three million people believed to have had the virus in the week ending 28 December. The news comes as an Omicron subvariant blamed for a surge in Covid cases in the US has been detected in the UK. The rapid spread and “growth advantage” of Omicron XBB.1.5 is a “concern”, said the World Health Organization.

9. Food bank bans Monroe book

A cookbook that advised poor people to open cans with an old knife and hammer has been banned by food banks as dangerous. In Thrifty Kitchen, Jack Monroe advises readers that if they cannot afford a tin opener they can use a “small sharp knife that you are not particularly attached to, a hammer or mallet, a bit of vigour, some patience and a very steady hand”. The Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest network of food banks, said: “We will not be distributing any books via our food banks in the current form.”

10. Brighton is ‘gay capital’

The census has confirmed that Brighton has the highest proportion of LGB+ people in England and Wales. Analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics found that Brighton and Hove had the highest proportion of people identifying as LGB+, at 10.7%. Also in the top 10 LGB+ neighbourhoods was Aberystwyth, the Welsh university and seaside town, and the Manchester Piccadilly area, home to the city’s gay village. The areas with the lowest proportion of LGB+ people were Castle Point and Rochford in Essex and the Ribble Valley, Lancashire.