Portrait of the Week: Kate’s chemotherapy, Waspi pensions and Moscow’s terror attack

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Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, told parliament that China was behind a cyber attack on the Electoral Commission in August 2021, getting access to 40 million voters’ details. Three MPs, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Stewart McDonald and Tim Loughton, said they had been hacked and harassed by China. The government sanctioned two individuals and a company. A Chinese battery manufacturer, EVE Energy, had been in talks about building a gigafactory near Coventry airport. Scott Benton MP, from whom the Conservative whip had been withdrawn, successfully applied to be Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead in place of Chris Pincher, thereby provoking a by-election in Blackpool South.

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that the Conservatives, if elected, would keep the Triple Lock for the state pension. Women born in the 1950s affected by the rise in state pension age should receive compensation from the government of between £1,000 and £3,000, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 to keep rates at 5.25 per cent. Domestic energy prices could in future depend on the time of day, Ofgem said. The 2.7 million smart meters not working properly in July 2023 rose to 3.98 million by the end of 2023, the Department for Energy said. On his way to Barrow-in-Furness, where Dreadnought nuclear submarines are being made, Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said: ‘Safeguarding the future of our nuclear deterrent and nuclear energy industry is a critical national endeavour.’ Train drivers for Avanti West Coast will get £600 (up from the current £125) for working a rest day under an agreement with the Aslef union.

In a video, the Princess of Wales, on a bench beside daffodils at Windsor, explained that, after her abdominal surgery in January, tests found that cancer had been present, and she was now having preventative chemotherapy.