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John Healey, the Defence Secretary, visited Cyprus after criticism of Britain’s response to drone attacks on the RAF base there. The Cyprus High Commissioner said: ‘The people are disappointed, the people are scared, the people could expect more.’ The destroyer HMS Dragon sailed for Cyprus from Portsmouth on 10 March. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, told the Commons that inflation was likely to rise; the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated an extra percentage point increase on prices by the end of the year. The Prince of Wales aircraft carrier would not head for the Middle East. President Trump of America said: ‘That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer… We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!’
The government published the first tranche of material relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington. David Taylor, the husband of a Labour MP, Joani Reid, was one of three men arrested on suspicion of spying for China; Ms Reid’s party membership was suspended. Four men suspected of carrying out surveillance of the Jewish community were arrested in Barnet, Harrow and Watford on suspicion of spying for Iran. Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, agreed to a request from the Metropolitan Police to ban the annual Al Quds Day march on 15 March. Families of failed asylum seekers would be paid up to £40,000 to leave Britain in a scheme announced by Ms Mahmood. In the seven days to 9 March, 1,200 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats. Steve Reed, the Communities Secretary, outlined a long non-statutory definition of ‘anti-Muslim hostility’, which included ‘prejudicial stereotyping of Muslims’. Asian hornets were reported to have advanced up the M3 from Portsmouth and reached Basingstoke.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill, which would abolish many jury trials, passed its second reading. Peers passed the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill abolishing hereditaries. The German publisher Axel Springer agreed to buy the Telegraph for £575 million. A former Syrian intelligence officer living in Britain was charged with crimes against humanity. Ian Huntley, who killed Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, died a week after being attacked with an iron bar in Frankland prison; a man was charged with his murder. A huge fire destroyed Union Corner in Glasgow, closing Central Station. British wildlife will replace historical figures on banknotes.
Abroad
Mr Trump said: ‘There will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender.’ The US Senate and House of Representatives voted against limiting his military powers regarding Iran. America said it had hit 3,000 targets in the first week of the war. Israel continued its attacks and the bombing of targets in Lebanon, where the UN said 700,000 had been displaced. The state funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was postponed. The Assembly of Experts appointed his son Mojtaba Khamenei as his successor. On television, President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran said: ‘I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions.’ But attacks on them continued. A US submarine sank the Iranian frigate Iris Dena in the Indian Ocean; it had been carrying about 180 men and Sri Lanka rescued 32 from the water.
Russia had been providing Iran with intelligence to attack American forces in the Middle East, US officials told the Washington Post. But when Mr Trump spoke on the telephone to President Vladimir Putin of Russia, he was told that this was not true. Oil rose above $100 a barrel. When Mr Trump said, ‘I think the war is very complete, pretty much,’ the price went down again, but the war continued more fiercely. France was to deploy eight frigates, two amphibious helicopter carriers and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Middle East. About 20,000 seafarers were trapped by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. America destroyed 16 mine-laying vessels there.
Mr Trump sacked Kristi Noem as his homeland security secretary and replaced her with Markwayne Mullin. Country Joe McDonald, best known for his anti-Vietnam-War number, ‘I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag’, died aged 84. In continued bombing of Ukraine, a Russian airstrike hit a block of flats in Kharkiv, killing ten. China introduced a law against any act damaging to ‘ethnic unity’. China cut its annual economic growth target from 5 per cent to a range of 4.5 to 5 per cent – the lowest since 1991. CSH
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