In the headlines
Rishi Sunak has pledged to clear the backlog of 140,000 asylum claims by the end of 2023. The PM’s five-point plan includes a deal to return thousands of Albanians home on weekly deportation flights, and for the 40,000 migrants living in hotels to be moved to empty holiday camps and disused military sites. UK inflation has “probably passed its peak” after dipping to 10.7% in November, says the FT. Cheaper petrol helped lower the rate from its 41-year high last month, despite prices rising in restaurants and pubs. A border collie in Wales has crashed his owner’s Jeep after jumping into the driver’s seat and knocking the handbrake off, says the Daily Star. “Bloody bark-seat drivers!”