Campaigners are urging ministers to tighten a disability car-leasing scheme after claimants with tennis elbow and food intolerance were awarded taxpayer-funded vehicles.
Under the Motability scheme, people receiving certain mobility benefits, including the highest level of personal independence payments (PIP), are able to use part of their allowance to lease a vehicle.
But the scheme is under renewed scrutiny ahead of this month’s Budget after figures showed tennis elbow was recorded as the primary condition for 40 people who leased cars under the scheme, while 20 claimants were recorded as suffering from a food intolerance.
A man’s body has been recovered, with two others still unaccounted for, after a fishing vessel went missing off the Outer Hebrides.
Everything we know so far
HM Coastguard have said they were made aware of the missing ship, which was sailing off Port Ness on the Isle of Lewis, at around 9.20pm on Tuesday.
- Police Scotland were notified at about 11.35pm. The force said three men were aboard.
- The body of one man has been recovered. The men’s family have been made aware and are being supported by officers.
Search ongoing
A coastguard aeroplane, two coastguard helicopters, six coastguard rescue teams, two RNLI lifeboats, a local vessel and Police Scotland are involved in the search, which is being carried out amid a yellow weather warning for high winds in the region.
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Pope Leo diagnosed with lung cancer after surgery
Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with cancer following a “successful” operation to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican has announced.
A common type of lung cancer
Doctors confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, a common type of lung cancer, after pre-planned surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Dr Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora said cancer had been suspected by pre-operative tests.
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What else do we know?
- The surgery lasted around 90 minutes and had no complications.
- Pope Leo had a “peaceful night” in hospital, where he is expected to remain for about a week.
- The 71-year-old pontiff cancelled all public events until 20 October to give him time to recover.
Hope for quick recovery
- The Vatican did not give more details of the operation, but Margaritora is an expert in robotic surgical techniques and Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (Vats).
- Using small incisions by endoscopic instruments equipped with a high-definition camera, Vats reduces surgical trauma and can result in faster recovery.
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Reactions from religious leaders and supporters
Archbishop Richard Moth, leader of the Catholics in England and Wales, said: “I have sent a message on behalf of all in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, assuring him [the Pope] of our prayers.”
- Large crowds gathered outside the hospital to wait for the Pope before his surgery. One well-wisher, Carla, told the BBC she was “taken aback” by the news, adding: “It turns out he’s vulnerable too.”
New dinosaur species discovered from ‘overlooked’ fossil
A new species of dinosaur has been identified from an “overlooked” fossil which was found on the Isle of Wight more than 100 years ago, researchers have said.
The history of the fossil
The fossil, which was a piece of the back of a skull, was originally found at the foot of a cliff on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight by amateur palaeontologist Reginald Walter Tooley. It was procured by the Natural History Museum in 1924.
Dr Cassius Morrison of University College London said it was a “real mystery” why the fossil had been overlooked.
A megaraptoran
The new dinosaur, named Invictibellatrix amberina (with the former meaning “unconquered female warrior”), has and is about the size of a large tiger.
It is part of a group of agile, two-legged carnivores called . These were closely related to tyrannosaurus but had more slender heads and used their claws to attack prey rather than their jaws.
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A mysterious species
- Megaraptors are seen as the most mysterious of the large carnivorous dinosaurs, with few fossils found.
- Until this discovery, no megaraptorans had been found in Europe.
- Researchers suggest invictibellatrix would have been three to four meters long and just over a metre and a half tall.
- They also speculate it would likely have had feathers and 10-20cm long claws.
- Its diet is thought to have consisted of small dinosaurs, lizards and mammals.
Rules, London’s oldest restaurant, given to National Trust
The home of Rules, London’s oldest restaurant which has been there since 1798, has been donated to the National Trust.
The charity said the donation of the £11m site by J-P Mayhew, its owner of 40 years, would secure the future of a building where “kings dined and writers and politicians plotted”.
The freehold acquisition included visitor books, menus, caricatures, photographs, stained glass and signs. Annual rent from the restaurant business will also go into conservation work.
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Famous diners
Rules is no stranger to celebrity, having welcomed figures from and – who would rendezvous with his mistresses there – to and over the past two centuries.
The restaurant, located at 34-35 Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, central London, has outlasted empires and overcome challenges including the Blitz during the Second World War as well as plans for a dual carriageway.
A long future ahead
This place is an outstanding piece of living history… it has defied the odds to be standing here today, doors still open and treacle sponge still on the menu. Mr Mayhew’s extraordinary generosity, and the care he has poured into Rules over many decades, mean this beloved place has a future measured not in years but generations.
Hilary McGrady, director-general of the National Trust
‘Heartbreaking’ shot wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The winner has been crowned for the Natural History Museum’s annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, ahead of an exhibition of the photos opening to the public later in the week.
The title went to Federico Veronesi, from Italy, for his image, “The Aftermath”, showing an elephant lifting the body of her dead calf. The chair of the judging panel described it as an emotional “gut punch” and “heartbreakingly poignant”.
An elephant-themed image also triumphed in the ‘Animals in their Environment’ category with James Lewin’s shot, one of five British photographers to win a category.
Telling animals’ stories
The winning entry from Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year featured a dung beetle pushing its cargo, which judges praised for revealing “an entire story”.
Loren Elliott from the USA won the Photojournalist Story award with a shot of a coyote walking above the Bay of San Francisco.
Families forced to spend thousands on travel for sick kids
Children’s health specialists have recommended extra funding to help families get to hospitals for treatment, after one family spent £12,000 travelling to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Travel costs burden families
Experts from the hospital, which sees around 81,500 children and young people a year, are calling for funding to cover travel costs for all children with serious illnesses.
Laura Grimwade, whose 12-year-old son Woody has a rare autoimmune disease, estimates her family will have spent £15,000 travelling to and from Plymouth to hospitals in London by the time he is 18.
She said a fund would make “such a difference”.
Scheme should be extended, say doctors
- The Government has already committed £10m of travel funding to families of children with cancer.
- Doctors say this is a good start but other families should not miss out.
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The shocking human cost of UK’s killer kitchens revealed
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors found hundreds of breaches of health and safety law at more than 160 firms, with workers exposed to “billowing” silica dust, and issued an immediate ban to 50 firms.
What is silicosis?
The threat posed by the man-made stone comes from so-called “dry cutting” whereby particles are emitted in a fine dust as slabs are cut.
Engineered stone often contains as much as 95 per cent silica quartz – far higher than natural stone such as granite (about 30 per cent).
When engineered quartz dust is inhaled, it lodges in the lungs, triggering an aggressive immune response from the body.
Over time, scar tissue forms and spreads, slowly killing the lung. Many sufferers of silicosis remain asymptomatic until it is too late.
Hundreds of breaches
Unannounced visits by the HSE to workshops producing kitchen counters made from in-demand quartz have revealed hundreds of breaches of regulations designed to protect workers from inhaling toxic dust responsible for silicosis, an incurable and often fatal lung condition.
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Cases of deadly lung disease could reach 1,000
Almost 60 stonemasons in the UK have so far been diagnosed with silicosis, with many falling ill or dying in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Doctors believe the true number of silicosis cases is much higher and could reach as many as 1,000 people in a workforce of 7,000.
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The verdict from the HSE
Safety bosses said the inspection regime had revealed a “very mixed picture” of safety standards in the kitchen worktop industry.
Harvey Wild, HSE’s head of operations, said: “Where we’re finding things that are wrong, there isn’t just one thing wrong – there’s multiple things wrong. We’re taking a very strong enforcement line and people are getting multiple notices.”
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Other conditions listed in the data included asthma (4,870), coronavirus (900), dyslexia (320), dizziness without a specified cause (270), speech or language disorders (470), and unspecified forms of back pain (6,760), according to data released as part of a ministerial question last year.
But disability campaigners argue that public transport is often “inadequate and inaccessible”, including for those who suffer from such conditions and experts have pointed out cases of fraud on the scheme are rare.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has called on Government to review the scheme’s eligibility criteria.
Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance argued the scheme should be a “lifeline for people with serious mobility needs, not an open-ended perk funded by taxpayers”.
“The Motability scheme has gone far beyond its original purpose with access now being granted for highly questionable conditions,” Lee said.
“Ministers must urgently review the eligibility criteria for Motability and PIP and ensure fairness for the taxpayers footing the bill.”
But Tania Burchardt, professor of social policy at the London School of Economics, warned against presumptions about the requirements people with different conditions might have.
She told The i Paper: “I would avoid second-guessing what people’s needs are – all of which have been assessed through two eligibility checks, first for disability benefits and then for Motability – and focus instead on why public transport is still so inadequate and inaccessible in most parts of the country.”
Nigel Fletcher, chief executive of the Motability Foundation, said the company does “not set the eligibility or assess applications for Government mobility benefits” which make claimants eligible for the scheme – that is done by the Department for Work and Pensions.
“However, I find it extraordinary that someone would qualify for the enhanced mobility allowance solely because they have acne or tennis elbow,” he added. “Government does not share information with the Motability scheme about customers’ individual disabilities.”
The scheme, run by Motability Operations, currently supports 915,000 people, accounting for 14.7 per cent of all new-car registrations in the UK in the six months to September 2026.
Figures show that due users of the scheme work an additional 14 hours per week, equating to £546m in additional wages.
Leases granted under the Motability scheme cover insurance, servicing, maintenance and breakdown assistance.
Luxury car models were removed from the scheme last year following backlash over vehicle brands including Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW being available to claimants.
A series of reforms to the scheme also came into force earlier this year in a bid to save £1bn by 2030, with Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden vowing to ensure “fairness for the taxpayer”.
The reforms included the introduction of 20 per cent VAT to advance payments on new orders.
Under the changes, new Motability leases will also include a 30,000-mile cap over three years, with steeper penalties for drivers who exceed the limit.
Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King’s College London, cast doubt on the scale of fraud among people claiming PIP or using the Motability scheme.
“As has been repeatedly pointed out, we spend about the same [percentage] of GDP on working age benefits, including incapacity and disability, as we did 15 years ago,” he told The i Paper.
Portes said that “any large government programme has some fraud”, highlighting that estimates of fraud rates for PIP and Motability are about 1 per cent.
“So while there is fraud, there is no evidence that is widespread,” he continued.
The remarks were echoed by Anna Stevenson, welfare benefits specialist at Turn2us, who warned that exaggerating fraud levels could increase stigma amongst claimants who face difficulty driving due to an underlying mental or physical condition.
“Exaggerating very low levels of fraud increases stigma, making it harder for people to receive the support they are entitled to,” Stevenson said. “We know that 1 in 5 people delay applying for benefits for over a year due to stigma.”
The DWP declined to comment on whether the Motability reformed at the Budget, saying such decisions are a “matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events”.
“We are committed to ensuring the scheme continues to deliver for the people it was designed to support, and we’re reforming Motability to save the taxpayer £1bn over five years,” a spokesperson for the department said.