The man behind a viral petition demanding a General Election has revealed why he started – as it clocks over more than 2.5million signatures. Pub landlord Michael Westwood said he decided to launch the petition having seen Keir Starmer and his MPs go back on their manifesto promises and repeatedly talk down the prospects for the country. The poorly received budget from Rachel Reeves that saw employers hit with an increase in national insurance tax was a key factor in his decision to launch the petition.

Wealthy countries yesterday agreed to triple the amount of aid they pay to developing nations to tackle climate change in a last-minute deal at the Cop29 summit. Developed countries including the UK, US and EU nations agreed to pay $300billion (£239billion) a year – up from the $100billion they pay now. The sum was described by the United Nations as ‘an insurance policy for humanity’. But the action – which excludes the world’s biggest polluter China – was dismissed as ‘too little, too late’ by developing countries.

Britain’s highest-paid inmates are earning more on average than the prison officers who guard them, shocking data shows. Last year’s highest-earning prisoner had a net salary after tax of £36,715, while prison officers working outside London are paid £32,448. Nine other inmates had net earnings of more than £22,900 last year, Freedom of Information figures obtained by the Sunday Telegraph show.

A doctor who treated a teenage backpacker killed by poisoned alcohol in Laos has told how she went from confused to suffering a coma within just half an hour. Holly Bowles, 19, of Melbourne, Australia, died from suspected methanol poisoning on Friday during her travels, just one day after the death of her best friend Bianca Jones. Dr Yaher, from the district hospital in the town of Vang Vieng, was the first medical professional to treat Ms Bowles – one of six tourists who lost their life after consuming spirits contaminated with the chemical methanol.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is under fire after being accused of holding therapy ‘cry sessions’ for department staffers upset over Donald Trump’s election victory. Blinken, who is expected to be replaced by Marco Rubio in January, has frequently clashed with the Republican-controlled Congress, being held in contempt in September for skipping a hearing on the disastrous exit from Afghanistan. California Congressman and Trump ally Darrell Issa wrote an open letter to Blinken smashing the State Department for the rumored counseling sessions over Trump’s win, calling them ‘disturbing.’

Locals living in the shadow of Britain’s biggest Christmas markets claim the annual Bavarian tradition is being tainted by anti-social behaviour and rip off food and drinks which have priced them out of their high streets. Residents in Newcastle, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester have all reported seeing the cost of their annual trip to their local market soar this year in an un-festive continuation of the cost of living crisis. Meanwhile, visitors to London’s Winter Wonderland have said that the Hyde Park attraction – where a pint of beer can sell for as much as £12 – is now unaffordable.