Former England captain will become ambassador for foundation that was embroiled in controversy when Charles was Prince of Wales

King Charles has turned to brand Beckham to help him rebuild the reputation of his main charitable foundation after a cash-for-honours scandal.

Former England footballer David Beckham is to become an ambassador for the King’s Foundation, formerly the Prince’s Foundation, to help promote its work. Beckham met the monarch at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire last month, where he was given a personal tour. The 49-year-old said he was looking forward to exploring a newly discovered shared interest with the monarch in rural skills, nature and the British countryside. They had also swapped beekeeping tips, said Beckham.

Group behind New Labour’s 1997 anthem say they don’t want song used again – and they are not alone

The pop group behind Labour’s 1997 victory anthem Things Can Only Get Better has joined many other artists in requesting political parties refrain from using their songs.

D:Ream said they would deny any request from Sir Keir Starmer to use the track in the upcoming general election.

An Australian discovery has added weight to a long-held theory about the painful condition – but relief for most patients is still elusive

After enduring years of experimental and unhelpful treatments in Australia to treat her chronic urinary tract infections, Grace* took the drastic measure of flying to the UK to seek help for symptoms so painful she “could barely walk down the street”.

While common and uncomplicated cases of the infections, known as UTIs, are usually easily treated with a short course of antibiotics, this often does not work for chronic, recurring cases like Grace’s. Left untreated, UTIs can cause permanent kidney damage and life-threatening infections.

Actor, who played campaigner Alan Bates in TV drama, calls Horizon scandal a ‘Hitchcockian nightmare’ at Hay festival

The post office operators prosecuted in the Post Office Horizon scandal have “extraordinary dignity” after living 20 years in a “Hitchcockian nightmare”, according to actor Toby Jones.

Jones played Alan Bates, a former post office operator and leading campaigner for justice for staff wrongly blamed for accounting shortfalls caused by faulty software, in the ITV drama that put the scandal back in the spotlight.

Twelve-year-old among eight now bailed after attack on teenage girl reported in Newark on 25 May

Four more boys including a 12-year-old have been arrested on suspicion of the rape of a teenage girl in Newark.

Nottinghamshire police received a report that a teenage girl had been attacked on Yorke Drive playing fields, Nottinghamshire, between 5.30pm and 7pm on 25 May.

Former Australian prime minister issues warning that young men’s thinking on the issue is going backward

Former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard has said global progress on gender equality is “really glacial and slow” as she warned that it is going backwards among young people.

Gillard cited recent polling by King’s College London’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, which showed that 51% of respondents believe that men are doing too much to support gender equality, while 46% think that men are now discriminated against.

Myra Coutinho-Lopez, 82, who had dementia became confused at bank counter, leading to altercation with Courtney Richman, 26

A 26-year-old woman who killed an elderly pensioner with dementia during a row over a long queue at a bank has been given a suspended sentence.

Courtney Richman had been waiting behind 82-year-old Myra Coutinho-Lopez when the argument began on 6 December 2021 at a branch in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, a court heard.

New poll gives Labour its biggest lead since Liz Truss meltdown as ‘Tory towns’ gain most from new funds

The Tory general election campaign hit more trouble on Saturday as Rishi Sunak faced accusations of using levelling up funds to win votes and Labour opened its biggest poll lead since the disastrous premiership of Liz Truss.

As Sunak tried to fire up his ­party’s campaign before the first crucial TV debate with Keir Starmer on Tuesday, it emerged that more than half of the 30 towns each promised £20m of regeneration funding on Saturday were in constituencies won by Tory MPs at the last election.

The Tories and Labour are forking out more than ever on social media ads, but going viral isn’t easy. We speak to influencers and strategists about the messages and memes

Why would you hold an election in November? The question came from digital marketing guru Mike Harris and was asked in a message to his friend, Labour’s campaign manager, Morgan McSweeney, earlier this year. Digital advertising is more expensive in October and November because the internet is swamped with ads for Christmas and Black Friday, said Harris, the founder of communications agency 89up. Why not pick a cheaper time of year?

McSweeney shot back: “How about June?”

Hay and Edinburgh forgo pragmatism in turning their backs on the Baillie Gifford fund

How gratifying to chuck dirty money back in the face of a would-be benefactor. Such moments mark literature. Pip refusing funds from Magwitch, a convict. Will Ladislaw disdaining the charity of George Eliot’s corrupted Bulstrode. The statement is this: scruples do not belong only to the rich. There is a price at which I, too, cannot be bought.

And yet. In these great works of fiction, tensions are drawn out, questions raised. Ladislaw accepts support from another flawed man, Casaubon, of whom he disapproves. Hypocrisy? Or the observation that in a hard world pragmatism has its place – that beggars can be choosers only on occasion? And is Pip right to cast away the reformed and grateful Magwitch? Are all paths to atonement thus to be closed?

As the number of abuse victims in England and Wales taking their own lives rises, pressure is mounting on coroners to acknowledge the role violence, control and coercion can play

Roisin, the only child of Dr Tony Bennett and Margaret Hunter, went to her bedroom in Darlington on 7 March 2022 and attempted to take her own life. She died in hospital nine days later, at the age of 19.

Roisin, known as “Roi”, excelled at sports; she was popular and had received high marks as one of the youngest students to study for ­dispensing optician exams. She had no record of self-harming, ­mental illness or attempted suicide. Her ambition was to go to university and qualify as an optician. Roisin had a warm, supportive family. So what prompted her to take her own life?

Former Tory minister admits at festival that he felt a fraud due to need to give the impression he was in three places at once

Former Conservative MP Rory Stewart found being a politician “very yucky” and felt like a fraud, he told an audience at Hay festival on Saturday.

Asked whether he would consider going back into politics, he said that he found being a politician “personally very, very unpleasant” and “didn’t like it”, adding: “I feel like a fraud all the time, in a whole series of ways.”

Lack of care and support leaves patients stranded on units when they are clinically ready to be discharged

The number of patients stuck in NHS mental health units in England despite being clinically ready to leave has reached its highest level in at least eight years.

“Delayed discharges” of patients from hospitals in NHS mental health trusts reached 49,677 days in March, according to an analysis – a higher figure than in any month since at least January 2016, when NHS Digital started publishing the data.

Unearthed notes owned by the renowned philosopher Jeremy Bentham reveal the roots of his influential ethics

One of the dangerous “fools” caricatured in a medieval printed satire called Ship of Fools is the Foolish Reader. He is shown in an illustration surrounded by his many learned volumes, but he doesn’t read any of them. This idiot, depicted with many others, including a Feasting Fool, a Preaching Fool and a Procrastinating Fool, was a warning to the wise by the German author Sebastian Brandt 530 years ago.

Now research at a London university has unearthed a rare English 1509 copy of this book once owned by the renowned English philosopher Jeremy Bentham. And the 1494 satirical allegory, which pokes fun at various kinds of public folly, sheds new light on Bentham’s influential ethics.

Forces outside the capital drawn on for Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid match and a Tommy Robinson march and counter-protest

More than 2,000 officers have been deployed across London, including more than 400 from outside the capital, to police the Champions League final, a protest by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and a counter-demonstration.

The final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid takes place at Wembley on Saturday evening. And, earlier, a protest organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, more commonly known as Tommy Robinson, set off from the Victoria area on Saturday, ending up in Parliament Square where speeches took place.

Family and friends pay tribute to British record-holder Bren Orton, 29, who disappeared in the Melezza River

A British man who went missing while kayaking in Switzerland has been found dead, Swiss police have confirmed.

Bren Orton, 29, went missing on 16 May. Authorities searched for the professional kayaker for two weeks before a body was discovered in Lake Maggiore, which straddles Switzerland and Italy. His body was discovered by a sailor who contacted emergency services.

Senior adviser who worked for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown says there is an ‘urgent imperative’ for a new government to address wealth inequality in Britain

A key New Labour adviser who worked for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in Downing Street says there is an “overwhelming economic and ethical case” for Keir Starmer’s party to impose higher taxes on wealth if it wins the general election.

Writing in the Observer Patrick Diamond, professor of public policy at Queen Mary University of London, and his colleague Colm Murphy, a lecturer in British politics, say a Labour government will need to look at radical ways to raise money, not least because the plans for higher economic growth that the party is relying on may never materialise.

The Brown-era adage ‘Prudence with a purpose’ could be the way to obtain the economic stability that has eluded every UK government since the 2008 financial crisis

Keir Starmer appears destined for Downing Street. Even so, as the election campaign rumbles on, his party will be challenged to articulate a compelling platform that secures not only the keys to Number 10 but also the economic stability that has eluded every UK government since the 2008 financial crisis. That will demand fiscal discipline delivered not only through a prudent approach to public spending but also fundamental reform of our tax system.

In headline policy, Labour is committed to fiscal rules on spending and debt. Rachel Reeves promises to move towards balanced current spending and to secure a falling debt-to-GDP ratio by the fifth year of the forecast. As her speech on Tuesday argues, Labour believes such rules will underpin “stability” and “growth”.

It’s a shame the cost of theatre tickets is out of the reach for so many people. Cinema is the cheaper option

A friend started working at the fancy cinema chain Everyman. One of his perks is that he gets free tickets, which can cost over £20 each.

I’ve never been, but apparently it’s a luxury experience: comfy chairs, food and drinks delivered to your seat. Still, £20 feels steep. There are London cinemas where a ticket costs less than a tenner. And surely the point of going to the cinema is to enjoy the film itself rather than the experience of watching it? But when I think about theatre tickets, my complaints dissolve. Some plays charge over £200 for a seat: £20 seems like peanuts.

Human rights charities condemn home secretary’s comments about MDP Wethersfield and say the site is ‘acutely harmful’

Human rights campaigners have criticised the home secretary for suggesting that asylum seekers at a controversial mass accommodation site are lying about being suicidal in the hope of being moved off the former military base.

ITV News on Friday night reported on a “severe mental health crisis” at Wethersfield in Essex, with many incidents of suicide and self-harm including five to 10 suicide attempts and 10 of self-harm in January this year alone – the highest level since the site opened.

Nasen Saadi also charged with attempted murder of another woman on beach in Bournemouth in May

A 20-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of Amie Gray and the attempted murder of another woman on a beach in Bournemouth.

Nasen Saadi, from Croydon, spoke only to confirm his name and address during the short hearing at Poole magistrates court on Saturday.

A family of four can pay £176 to see the latest immersive experience – one of many that is putting a strain on families hit by the cost of living crisis

As half-term drew to a close in England, families short on inspiration might have been grateful to learn of a new day out: on Friday, the Paddington Bear Experience opened its doors in London, promising a “unique and fun-filled interactive experience” spanning more than 2,400 sq metres (26,000 sq ft) and including themed rooms, character interactions – and marmalade sandwiches.

But the experience comes at a cost: with weekend ticket prices of £49 for adults and £39 for children, a family of four can expect to pay £176 for the 70-minute event – and a lot more should they wish to peruse the books, games and toys available to buy in Mr Gruber’s antiques shop afterwards.

The prime minister said if Starmer was elected then he would also pander to the left in power

SNP leader John Swinney has urged people to take part in a “Scottish national service” by using the general election to vote Tory MPs out of office, PA Media reports.

Scotland’s first minister said his party could “remove the remaining rump of Tory MPs”.

Party says policy is costly, unnecessary and part of a Tory war on the younger generation

The Liberal Democrats are to call for the abolition of voter ID at polling stations, describing the policy as part of a “Tory war on the younger generation”.

The Lib Dems will say in their election manifesto that they will “lead the charge” to ditch the policy in the next parliament because it is costly, unnecessary, is addressing a problem that does not exist, and makes it harder for young people to vote.

Leon Murray, 35, stabbed Keisha Christodoulou, 32, 17 times the day after she had ended their relationship

A man who stabbed his partner 17 times after she said she wanted to end their relationship has been found guilty of murder.

Leon Murray, 35, of no fixed address, murdered Keisha Christodoulou, 32, on 1 November 2022 a day after she said their relationship was over.

Student Henry Hassell, 16, confronts PM over policy which Labour says is ‘unfunded and desperate’

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Rishi Sunak was confronted by a student who asked him why he “hates young people so much”.

Henry Hassell, a 16-year-old singer-songwriter, who lives in west Devon, posed the question on Wednesday while the prime minister was on a campaign visit to a local pub.

Migrants seek redress for ‘immense distress’ from deportations now thrown into chaos by election announcement

Asylum seekers detained by the Home Office and threatened with deportation to Rwanda are set to take legal action against the government after Rishi Sunak admitted that no flights will take place before the general election.

The Home Office started raiding accommodation and detaining people who arrived at routine immigration-reporting appointments on 29 April in a nationwide push codenamed Operation Vector.

More than 200,000 fans will descend on Murrayfield, with new ice-cream flavour and evening classes part of buildup

The friendship bracelets have been woven, the chants practised and the outfits curated. Next weekend well over 200,000 Taylor Swift fans will descend on the Scottish capital as the star begins the UK leg of her blockbuster Eras tour in the city.

Before the crescendo of three sold-out concerts at Murrayfield on 7, 8 and 9 June, the buildup has encompassed online decoding of the singer’s now famous hidden song messages, in-person pre-parties and the inevitable shameless cash-ins.

West Norwood, London: Beyond the obvious vibrancy of attention-seeking flowers, there’s plenty to see in this modest haven

“No garden, however small, should contain less than two acres of rough woodland.” The words, if you believe the legend, of Nathaniel, 1st Baron Rothschild. But while he had 300 acres of parkland at his disposal, the south London gardener’s resources are more modest. The only woodland in our fenced-in rectangle is the Japanese maple dominating the corner by the shed, its canopy sheltering the pond – or “puddle”, as the baron would have it.

Some of the maple’s leaves are already red-tinged, but its time will come later in the year, russet colours heralding autumn. For now, the eye is drawn to jaunty orange geums, the papery delicacy of Welsh poppies, slender columns of purple toadflax catching the sunlight.

Wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, godfather to the princes’ sons, is ‘society wedding of the year’. Yet why will Harry not attend?

When Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster, marries at Chester Cathedral next week the 33-year-old will relinquish the status bestowed on him by society bibles of Britain’s “richest, most eligible bachelor”.

It is not just his £10bn inherited wealth and pole position in the Sunday Times list of 40 richest people under 40 in the UK that means his marriage to Olivia Henson, 31, is being billed as the society wedding of the year.

Keir Starmer will need broad support to undertake a ‘decade of renewal’ in office. This sordid episode suggests he won’t have it

It’s not every day that you see Keir Starmer’s increasingly ruthless electoral machine in a state of confusion and disarray. But its chaotic approach this week to the question of whether Diane Abbott, a Labour MP for the past 37 years with one of the biggest majorities in the country, could stand in the general election – a question seemingly finally resolved on Friday by Starmer saying that she was “free to go forward as a Labour candidate” – has been very revealing about the condition of the party and of our wider politics.

The whole messy episode could be significant in the election, but also in the longer story of the Labour party and its fractious but pivotal relationships with the left, London and Black Britain. If those relationships with three of Labour’s traditionally strongest bases of support break down – and this week considerable damage has been done – then it may become much harder for it to gain and hold on to power, and for these millions of voters to be properly represented in parliament. Abbott’s ordeal, and her apparent survival of it, matter to many more people than her angry, baffled and now relieved constituents in Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist. His book on Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour left since the 1960s, The Searchers: Five Rebels, Their Dream of a Different Britain, and Their Many Enemies, is out now

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

After week of campaign missteps, ‘reset’ is attempt to firm up base and beat back Reform UK, say observers

Rishi Sunak is heading to north-east England for a rare foray into the “red wall” after a campaign that has so far focused on shoring up the Conservatives’ older, more affluent southern base.

The prime minister has spent much of the first week of the general election campaign speaking to voters in the south of England who are considering Reform UK, targeting them with a range of policy announcements including the return of national service and tax breaks for pensioners.

Growing number are opting for private maternity services as inquiry finds poor childbirth care is common

People are paying thousands of pounds to hire private midwives amid frustration at the poor service many patients face in the NHS, with women left feeling fobbed off and ignored.

Growing numbers are paying up to £8,000 for maternity services, adding to a surge in people going private as the NHS struggles to provide swift and safe care.

Last month MPs found that women in labour had been mocked, ignored and left with permanent damage by NHS midwives and doctors. The UK’s first inquiry into birth trauma found poor childbirth care was so common, and its consequences so damaging, that ministers and NHS bosses needed to push through significant changes.

The 500kg Microlino is part of a new set challenging the ever-increasing domination of huge cars

Driving through central London in a tiny Microlino electric car, barely visible between the hulking SUVs, it’s surprising to be the focus of so much attention. “Yes, Lego car!” shouts a scaffolder.

Made by Micro, the family-owned Swiss company behind the mini-micro kick scooters, and modelled on the bubble cars that had a brief heyday in the 1950s, the two-seater is only 2.5 metres long – marginally smaller than a Smart car. The most unusual feature is its one and only door (there is also a rear hatch for accessing the boot), which is at the front. The windscreen and bonnet swing open to let you in.

After a troubling report on NHS care, the number of pregnant women seeking more control over their birth plans is growing

A growing number of patients are paying up to £8,000 to hire private midwives amid frustration at the poor service many face in the NHS. The UK’s only private maternity hospital, the Portland, has reported treating more women. It comes after a report from MPs this month found women in labour have been mocked, ignored and left with permanent damage by midwives and doctors.

Here, three women tell their story.

Exclusive: Co-author of analysis for WHO calls on government to control the food industry rather than being subservient to it

The sugar tax has been so successful in improving people’s diets that it should be extended to cakes, biscuits and chocolate, health experts say.

The World Health Organization wants the next UK government to expand coverage of the levy to help tackle tooth decay, obesity, diabetes and other illnesses.

With the Tories’ chances at near zero, Labour is concentrating on fighting an ideological ground war with itself

It’s just over a week since Rishi Sunak got soaked in the rain as he called the general election. Since then he has forgotten that Wales didn’t qualify for the Euros, paid a visit to Belfast’s Titanic quarter and been photographed under an exit sign. Richard Holden, the Tory party chair AKA Baldrick impersonator, has insisted that the campaign has been going exactly as planned. God knows what might have happened if it hadn’t. Then the Conservatives started pumping out policies as if there’s no tomorrow. National service, the pension triple lock, a ban on Mickey Mouse degrees, and driving penalty points for flytippers. If they’re all such good ideas, it makes you wonder why the Tories didn’t do any of them in the last 14 years.

Not that any of them are likely to happen, because the chances of the Conservatives winning the election are currently near zero. A sign of how bad Rish! thinks things are is that almost all his campaign visits have been to what used to be Tory strongholds, to try to shore up the vote. Meanwhile, Labour figures have been touring the country shouting “change” and not much more. They think it’s enough just not to be the Tories. So far that appears to be working. The polls have barely shifted in the last 10 days. It’s all been sound and fury, signifying nothing, and most people will end the week talking of little more than the Donald Trump verdicts. But here are the highlights you may have missed.

D:Ream members regret association with Tony Blair and do not want song played at July general election

The pop group that sing Things Can Only Get Better – which became an anthem for Labour at the 1997 general election victory – will deny any request from Keir Starmer to use the track at this year’s election.

D:Ream’s founding members Peter Cunnah and Alan Mackenzie said they were dismayed to hear their song play through a loudspeaker as the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, called a 4 July general election on a wet afternoon in Downing Street.

Rishi Sunak says the money, paid over 10 years, would help regenerate areas such as Mansfield, Rotherham and Hartlepool

The Conservatives have promised to give another 30 towns in the UK £20m each in levelling up funding over the next decade if they win the election.

Rishi Sunak said the 30 would be added to the government’s long-term plan for towns, which is intended to pay for the regeneration of underfunded areas.

Nasen Saadi, 20, also charged with attempted murder of another woman following incident on beach, Dorset police say

A 20-year-old man has been charged with murder and attempted murder over the stabbing of Amie Gray and another woman on a beach in Bournemouth, police have said.

Nasen Saadi, from Croydon in south London, was arrested by Dorset police on Wednesday and will appear at Poole magistrates court on Saturday.

Bodies of Tom and Richie Parry identified as Gemma Parry pays tribute to ‘caring and loving father’ and ‘energetic, loving boy’

A father and his 12-year-old son who were found dead after going missing in the Scottish Highlands probably died as the result of a fall, police have said. Tributes have been paid to Tom Parry, 49, and his son Richie, from Cheshire, who did not return home on Wednesday after visiting Glen Nevis and Glen Coe to go hillwalking.

Their car was found in the Three Sisters car park in the area on Tuesday, and at about 7.25pm on Wednesday rescuers recovered two bodies from Stob Coire nan Lochan, Glen Coe.

Latest three-month period to 24 April includes Israeli strike that killed three workers for British World Central Kitchen

UK government ministers have reviewed a further three months of the IDF’s presence in Gaza and found no reason to suspend arms exports to Israel.

The latest review of evidence examined Israel Defense Forces’ behaviour until 24 April, the Foreign Office said in a statement late on Friday.

Girl remains in critical condition after being hit by bullet in suspected drive-by attack

The young girl left in a critical condition after being mistakenly shot by a suspected gangland hitman was visiting relatives in London on her half-term holiday.

The girl, from Birmingham, was still in hospital on Friday after a bullet struck her as she ate at Evin restaurant, in Hackney, north-east London, on Wednesday evening.

Charity Commission says lessons have been learned after dispute involving Penelope Keith, Siân Phillips and ABF

The actors Dame Penelope Keith and Dame Siân Phillips have won a hard-fought apology from England’s charity watchdog after it admitted to blunders in its handling of a case involving a £40m actors’ hardship fund.

The pair, who with others were removed from the board of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund (ABF) two years ago in what they argued was an unlawful coup by rival trustees, had accused the Charity Commission of mismanaging its stewardship of the charity.

Labour leader says it was ‘most efficient form of transport’ from Wales and party has offset the carbon

Keir Starmer has admitted he used a private jet to travel to a campaign rally in Scotland where he promised to create “tens of thousands” of clean energy jobs with a new publicly owned energy company in the country.

Responding to media questions after speaking to activists in Greenock, Inverclyde, Starmer said: “We did use a private jet because we did need to get very quickly to Scotland from Wales yesterday and it was the most efficient form of transport in the middle of a very busy general election campaign.”

Damian Griffiths shares a witty response to an underpoured pint, while Robert Newton wants glasses with measure lines to be reintroduced. Plus letters from Rob Harris and Richard Luscombe

Are the short beer measures Imogen West-Knights refers to (Put your tape measure away – and enjoy your delicious underpoured pint, 28 May) made up for by the modern phenomenon of asking for a taste of beer before ordering? As one who misspent his youth in pubs in the north, I have gradually overcome the cringing this used to induce in me when my partner asked to taste one (sometimes even two) and now enjoy these free sips, despite knowing that my northern, male forebears are probably spinning in their graves. They would rather have backed the top-it-up approach, perhaps by an interchange with the bartender serving the underpoured pint such as the following: “Do you think you could fit a large whisky in there?” “Yes, certainly.” “Well, why don’t you fill it up with beer, then?”
Damian Griffiths
Buxton, Derbyshire

• May I be the first of many members of the “security council of beer-drinking” to suggest that the answer lies in the return of the lined measure glass instead of the brim measure that is now the norm. There would be less wastage in filling a pint glass with liquid beer to the line than in topping up a brim measure. Watching someone waste much more than a “thimbleful” of beer in trying to achieve the right balance between head and beer breaks my heart. What it does for the publican doesn’t bear thinking about.
Robert Newton
Uppermill, Greater Manchester

Readers respond to an article by Sebastian Doggart on being flogged at Eton and share their own experiences of corporal punishement at school

Sebastian Doggart’s article resonated with me (‘It gives me no pleasure, but I am going to have to beat you’: was I the last boy to be flogged at Eton?, 25 May). I had the dubious honour of being the first pupil to be beaten (or receive the “whacks” as we used to call it) by the newly appointed headmaster of my prep school, when I was also 13. Separately, the deputy headmaster was an enthusiastic administrant of the hairbrush whacks, but unlike the claim from the Eton teacher that he derived no pleasure, in my situation, on several occasions I remember having the distinct feeling that one of us was most definitely enjoying it (and it wasn’t me). Being the same age as the author, I know exactly what he experienced, in a very dark time of appalling treatment of children who were entrusted by their parents to these individuals and institutions.
Dr Julian Stone
Buckland, Oxfordshire

• I despaired at the response of Tony Little, questioned during his tenure as headmaster of Eton in 2002-15 about the school’s practice of flogging, which had ended years before. Sebastian Doggart gave an account of his brutal abuse, and asked Little if it was something the school should be ashamed of. “It was a different time,” Little said. “It’s hard to get back into the mindset of what happened 25 … years ago.” No, it’s not. Tap anyone over 50 on the shoulder and ask them.
Lynne Scrimshaw
London

Media groups claimed act criminalised investigative journalism and meant no one could say Jimmy Savile was a paedophile

A Northern Ireland law banning the naming of suspected sex offenders until they are charged has been revoked in a court judgment hailed as a victory for press freedom.

The law, which came into effect last year, granted anonymity for life and 25 years after death to anyone suspected of sexual offences who had not been charged.

RAF says Battle of Britain flight will not take place because of safety concerns arising from death of pilot Sqn Ldr Mark Long

No second world war aircraft will participate in tribute flypasts marking the 80th anniversary of D-day next week after the crash of a Spitfire in Lincolnshire last weekend that killed its pilot.

The RAF said the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) would continue to be grounded in its entirety because specialist crash investigators had not yet been unable to establish the cause of the accident that killed Sqn Ldr Mark Long.