The PM has brought in Darren Jones, whose superpower is ‘relentless delivery’. If that won’t save the world, what will?

“If I hear one more of our people saying that deckchairs are being shuffled on the Titanic,” a government supporter of Keir Starmer confided to the Daily Mail, “I will scream.” No need for shrieks. The prime minister’s No 10 hokey cokey on Monday wasn’t so much shuffling the deckchairs as restructuring the deck crew and announcing that some fresh faces will enable the team to work with new focus towards their ultimate goal of reshuffling. Expect the first strategy whiteboard to be broken out 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.

For now, hold on to your aperitifs and continue to dress for dinner, because the erstwhile chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, becomes something called chief secretary to the prime minister. To Starmer, Darren is a Mr Fixit; to many of his cabinet colleagues, he is a Mr Fuxit. That’s not the official line Downing Steet is going with, preferring instead to claim that yet another reset means Starmer is focused on “relentless delivery”. Delivery of what? They’ve barely passed any legislation. Hand on heart, meanwhile, I’m not sure the word “relentless” means what Starmer reckons it does. All he ever does is relent, on both staff and policy. The role of his comms chief, for example, is now essentially a gig economy job, while doing a monthly U-turn is the only thing he hasn’t U-turned on. We are watching a movie in which it’s not clear what the main character wants. Unsurprisingly, it has turned out to be box-office poison.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Veganism is still on the rise, but many popular venues and chains are shutting down. Are they victims of a terrible era for hospitality or part of a growing shift in cultural values?

When London’s Unity Diner wrapped up 2024 with the announcement that it would soon be shutting its doors for good, it expected some sadness from its customers. After all, the not-for-profit restaurant had been an innovator in the city’s vegan scene, serving up 3D-printed “vegan steak” (made of plant protein with the fibrous feel of the real thing) and disarmingly realistic “tofish” (tofu fish) alongside the classic burgers and chips. Throw in its animal sanctuary fundraising, and the restaurant had been faithfully embraced by vegans.

But, from the reaction it received, you would think its supporters were genuinely grieving. “We had people coming in and crying and hugging the staff,” says its co-founder, Andy Crumpton, his surprise audible. There was another element to the devastation, he says. For its plant-based punters, Unity Diner was yet another meat-free establishment that had outwardly appeared to be prospering, only to suddenly shut down.

The new party leader is not afraid to say what he thinks, and that is pretty much anything to get attention

The invitation promised that the results of the Green party leadership election would be one of the most consequential political events of the autumn. That might be pushing it, but they were certainly more consequential than Kemi Badenoch’s “drill, baby, drill” keynote speech in Aberdeen. Not a single broadcaster could be bothered with that one. It might as well not have happened. Shame. Because as well as receiving a scholarship to Stanford University to study medicine at 16, it’s a little-known fact that Kemi was also invited to be a visiting professor in climate science at Harvard at the age of 11. One day her true talents will be revealed.

But not today. Tuesday morning was all about the Greens, and Harriet Lamb, the party’s chief executive, seemed rather overwhelmed by the attention. Standing room only at the Coin Street neighbourhood centre in central London. A phalanx of news cameras and journalists. It’s been a while since there’s been this much interest in the Greens. Lamb bobbed up and down behind the lectern, gulping nervously.

We assess how each top-flight side fared in the search for quality and value during the summer window

• Transfer interactive: all the deals from across Europe

Andrea Berta’s first transfer window since taking over as sporting director has been busy. Headline moves for Viktor Gyökeres and Eberechi Eze have given Mikel Arteta the firepower and creativity he asked for, while Martín Zubimendi has added class to midfield. The arrival of Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Nørgaard, Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga has also added depth to Arsenal’s squad that is already being called on after a series of early season injuries, while the late signing of the exciting Ecuador defender, Piero Hincapié, should prove to be a shrewd addition. Ed Aarons

Festivals are increasingly seen as a family holiday and many have kids’ areas – even nannies. We brave the hot tents and random ravers to see what they’re like

As a DJ plays MJ Cole’s UK garage classic Crazy Love, adults across London’s Cross the Tracks festival lift up little children in brightly coloured ear-defenders to dance. A smile spreads across my baby son’s face as he bounces his body, finding something that looks like rhythm. Later that day, my daughter snuggles into my chest in her carrier as I dance to songs by Ezra Collective that she has heard in the car many times.

My mum took me to Reading festival when I was 16 and as I’ve grown up there have been new ones to match the seasons of my life. Then came motherhood: last year I became a single parent to a pair of delicious, curious, boisterous twin babies. But I don’t want to stop indulging my inner child alongside my actual children, and I’m determined to keep music festivals in my life.

Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from different communities tried to find a way to survive

On the night of 6 March, Munir, his wife and their two sons, both in their 20s, got no sleep. They huddled together in a small bedroom in their apartment as government troops and militiamen entered their neighbourhood of Qusour in the coastal city of Baniyas and went from house to house. The fighters seemed to be moving through the streets with little coordination. One house might get raided by five separate groups, while others were left untouched. “There was no plan,” Munir said, “just violence and looting.”

The first question the fighters were asking when they stormed into an apartment was: “Are you a Sunni or an Alawite?” The answer decided the fate of the residents. Sunnis were spared – although in some cases their apartments were looted. When the raiders found an Alawite home, some stole what they could carry and left; others had come for revenge and would steal first and then shoot. “If one didn’t kill you, the next one might,” Munir said.

Exclusive: Home secretary warned by Tory predecessor not to repeat ‘hostile environment’ mistakes of Conservatives

Yvette Cooper risks another Windrush-style scandal by repeating the mistakes the Conservatives made in implementing a hostile environment for migrants, a former Conservative home secretary has warned.

Amber Rudd, who was home secretary under Theresa May, urged her successor not to rush her response to the asylum controversy, as Cooper rolls out a series of new policies to quell public anger over irregular migration.

Yield on 30-year gilts hit highest level since 1998, indicating it will cost UK more to borrow from markets

• Rising bond yields leave Reeves with no choice but to plan a ‘muddle-through’ budget

Rachel Reeves was hit by a fresh sell-off in government bond markets on Tuesday, underlining the formidable challenge facing the chancellor in the run-up to the autumn budget.

The yield, or interest rate, on 30-year UK government debt hit its highest level since 1998, at 5.723%, indicating that it will cost the UK more to borrow from the markets.

Exclusive: PM hopes list of Labour allies promoted to upper house will rebalance numbers and drive through legislation

Keir Starmer is finalising a list of dozens of new peerages to strengthen his hand in the Lords, with his outgoing policy chief, Liz Lloyd, to be made a minister in the upper house after leaving No 10 in his major shake-up.

The prime minister has drawn up a list of Labour allies to be elevated to the House of Lords to help drive through legislation such as the bill scrapping hereditary peers, which has been obstructed by the Conservatives.

MPs on Commons committee describe figures as a waste and say money should have been used to fix infrastructure

English water companies have spent £16.6m fighting legal action against regulators and campaigners over environmental breaches such as illegal sewage spills.

Correspondence from the companies to the Commons environment, food and rural affairs (Efra) committee published on Tuesday reveals that millions of pounds of billpayers’ money has been spent over the past five years on expensive external lawyers enlisted to reduce liabilities for regulatory breaches.