The justice secretary says the government wants to protect journalists and activists who ‘shine a light on corruption’

David Lammy has said the UK will go further to tackle abusive and spurious lawsuits aimed at silencing whistleblowers and journalists, raising the prospect of further legislation next year.

The deputy prime minister told campaigners and officials at the launch of the government’s anti-corruption strategy that he was determined to crack down on the practice known as Slapps – strategic lawsuits against public participation.

The justice secretary says the government wants to protect journalists and activists who ‘shine a light on corruption’

David Lammy has said the UK will go further to tackle abusive and spurious lawsuits aimed at silencing whistleblowers and journalists, raising the prospect of further legislation next year.

The deputy prime minister told campaigners and officials at the launch of the government’s anti-corruption strategy that he was determined to crack down on the practice known as Slapps – strategic lawsuits against public participation.

The justice secretary says the government wants to protect journalists and activists who ‘shine a light on corruption’

David Lammy has said the UK will go further to tackle abusive and spurious lawsuits aimed at silencing whistleblowers and journalists, raising the prospect of further legislation next year.

The deputy prime minister told campaigners and officials at the launch of the government’s anti-corruption strategy that he was determined to crack down on the practice known as Slapps – strategic lawsuits against public participation.

Attorneys for the victims struck deal with the church’s largest insurer, who had refused to join a proposal but then reversed

Roughly 600 survivors of the clergy molestation scandal that drove the New Orleans Catholic archdiocese into bankruptcy have secured the opportunity to collectively be paid $305m after attorneys for the victims and the church’s largest insurer struck a deal Monday, according to some of the lawyers.

The insurer in question, Travelers, had refused to join a proposal officially approved Monday to pay $230m to the abuse survivors to effectively wrap up a bankruptcy protection case that the US’s second-oldest archdiocese filed in May 2020.

Attorneys for the victims struck deal with the church’s largest insurer, who had refused to join a proposal but then reversed

Roughly 600 survivors of the clergy molestation scandal that drove the New Orleans Catholic archdiocese into bankruptcy have secured the opportunity to collectively be paid $305m after attorneys for the victims and the church’s largest insurer struck a deal Monday, according to some of the lawyers.

The insurer in question, Travelers, had refused to join a proposal officially approved Monday to pay $230m to the abuse survivors to effectively wrap up a bankruptcy protection case that the US’s second-oldest archdiocese filed in May 2020.

Attorneys for the victims struck deal with the church’s largest insurer, who had refused to join a proposal but then reversed

Roughly 600 survivors of the clergy molestation scandal that drove the New Orleans Catholic archdiocese into bankruptcy have secured the opportunity to collectively be paid $305m after attorneys for the victims and the church’s largest insurer struck a deal Monday, according to some of the lawyers.

The insurer in question, Travelers, had refused to join a proposal officially approved Monday to pay $230m to the abuse survivors to effectively wrap up a bankruptcy protection case that the US’s second-oldest archdiocese filed in May 2020.

US pressure over Ukraine has revealed Sir Keir Starmer’s limitations and a British state too hollowed out to shape events at home or abroad

The bullying of Ukraine by the Trump White House has exposed Sir Keir Starmer as a prime minister adrift in shifting geopolitics. Unable to describe Britain’s position, he managed only a hope of “lasting” peace. This reveals a British state that has been hollowed out, as well as the diminishing returns of a political order built for another age. For decades, UK leaders assumed that the US would underwrite Europe’s security; that, as Washington’s closest ally, Britain would punch above its weight; and that British institutions would stabilise order, if not justice, in turbulent times. That world has gone.

Monday’s Downing Street summit with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, threw the dilemma that Sir Keir faces into sharp relief. Mr Macron could speak of the cards in Europe’s hand; Germany’s leader could voice scepticism about American proposals. Even Mr Zelenskyy, fighting for national survival, could pithily articulate why he needed both Europe and the US. Each spoke from within a political system that, however imperfect, has begun adapting to a post-American world. Britain has not – and, under its present leadership, shows little inclination to even envision one.

US pressure over Ukraine has revealed Sir Keir Starmer’s limitations and a British state too hollowed out to shape events at home or abroad

The bullying of Ukraine by the Trump White House has exposed Sir Keir Starmer as a prime minister adrift in shifting geopolitics. Unable to describe Britain’s position, he managed only a hope of “lasting” peace. This reveals a British state that has been hollowed out, as well as the diminishing returns of a political order built for another age. For decades, UK leaders assumed that the US would underwrite Europe’s security; that, as Washington’s closest ally, Britain would punch above its weight; and that British institutions would stabilise order, if not justice, in turbulent times. That world has gone.

Monday’s Downing Street summit with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, threw the dilemma that Sir Keir faces into sharp relief. Mr Macron could speak of the cards in Europe’s hand; Germany’s leader could voice scepticism about American proposals. Even Mr Zelenskyy, fighting for national survival, could pithily articulate why he needed both Europe and the US. Each spoke from within a political system that, however imperfect, has begun adapting to a post-American world. Britain has not – and, under its present leadership, shows little inclination to even envision one.

US pressure over Ukraine has revealed Sir Keir Starmer’s limitations and a British state too hollowed out to shape events at home or abroad

The bullying of Ukraine by the Trump White House has exposed Sir Keir Starmer as a prime minister adrift in shifting geopolitics. Unable to describe Britain’s position, he managed only a hope of “lasting” peace. This reveals a British state that has been hollowed out, as well as the diminishing returns of a political order built for another age. For decades, UK leaders assumed that the US would underwrite Europe’s security; that, as Washington’s closest ally, Britain would punch above its weight; and that British institutions would stabilise order, if not justice, in turbulent times. That world has gone.

Monday’s Downing Street summit with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, threw the dilemma that Sir Keir faces into sharp relief. Mr Macron could speak of the cards in Europe’s hand; Germany’s leader could voice scepticism about American proposals. Even Mr Zelenskyy, fighting for national survival, could pithily articulate why he needed both Europe and the US. Each spoke from within a political system that, however imperfect, has begun adapting to a post-American world. Britain has not – and, under its present leadership, shows little inclination to even envision one.