So little money has been set aside by the NHS for the rollout of the Mounjaro weight-loss jab in GP surgeries that as few as one in five people with life-threatening obesity is likely to get treatment, new research shows.

The NHS estimates that around 220,000 people living with obesity will be eligible for treatment through their GP over the next three years.

But Freedom of Information requests by the British Medical Journal revealed that funding from NHS England has fallen well short of what is needed for the rollout.

Just nine out of 40 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England said they had enough funding to treat the 70% of eligible patients who are expected to come forward.

Four ICBs – which plan health services in local areas – said NHS funding covered just 25% or fewer of their eligible patients.

Coventry and Warwickshire ICB said funding would only stretch to treat 21% of its patients.

The findings confirm an investigation by Sky News earlier this summer that access to Mounjaro is a postcode lottery for people living with obesity.

Ellen Welch, Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) co-chair, told the BMJ: “These figures confirm the fear that the rollout is not fit for purpose.

“There is a huge discrepancy between national messaging and what patients are actually being delivered on a local level.”

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Five ICBs admitted they are already considering further tightening the prescribing criteria or rationing the treatment beyond the plan agreed by the NHS.

Any change would effectively move the goalposts for people who thought they qualified for NHS treatment.

Birmingham and Solihull ICB received funding to cover just 52% of its eligible patients. It admitted: “Difficult decisions are having to be made to ensure money is spent in the most effective and efficient way possible and for the greatest patient benefit.”

Dr Jonathan Hazlehurst, an obesity specialist and researcher at the University of Birmingham, said NHS England has only provided funding for just over 22,000 patients in the first year of the rollout.

“It shows that there’s a lack of political will to fund this adequately,” he told Sky News.

“NHS England says that obesity costs the NHS £11.4bn per annum as a pure NHS cost.

“Yet we can’t even afford to properly fund the rollout of a life-changing drug in year one. That just doesn’t make any sense.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “The NHS is fully supporting the phased rollout of tirzepatide for eligible patients, having issued guidance in line with the NICE guidance, and provided funding to local ICBs to support patient care in March 2025.

“These represent brand-new services in primary care that are being established and scaled up over time, starting with those who are in the most need – and in the meantime, eligible patients can get weight loss support from a range of other services, including the NHS Digital Weight Management programme.”

Sir Keir Starmer could be forced into a decision over Angela Rayner’s future as early as today, as the prime minister’s ethics adviser prepares his verdict on the Labour deputy’s tax affairs.

Ms Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, has been under mounting pressure since she admitted not paying the correct amount of stamp duty on an £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.

She has argued the mistake was made as a result of incorrect advice from a conveyancer and two trust law experts, who told her she did not need to pay the higher rate reserved for second home purchases.

Her case was thrust into doubt late on Thursday when the conveyancing firm – Verrico & Associates – said it did not provide advice and had been made “scapegoats” in the political row.

Its managing director, Joanna Verrico, told The Daily Telegraph while it had acted for Ms Rayner when she bought the property, no tax or trust advice was provided.

Any advice she may have received will form a key plank of an investigation by Sir Keir’s independent ethics guru, Sir Laurie Magnus, who Ms Rayner referred herself to earlier this week.

Downing Street has said the prime minister expects a “quick” verdict, and he has refused to rule out sacking his second-in-command.

“I will act on whatever the report is that’s put in front of me,” Sir Keir told the BBC on Thursday – and that report may well arrive on his desk today.

Sir Laurie has concluded investigations into ex-ministers Nadhim Zahawi and Tulip Siddiq within days – and Sky’s chief political correspondent Jon Craig reports he’s due to go on holiday on Saturday.

He is assessing whether Ms Rayner broke ministerial rules, which place an “overarching duty on ministers to comply with the law”, “behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety”, and “be as open as possible” with the public.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said Ms Rayner must go.

In a statement following the intervention by Verrico & Associates, she said: “This is yet more damning evidence that Angela Rayner has not been honest with the British public.

“She must resign or Keir Starmer must finally find the backbone to sack her.”

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The row began when The Daily Telegraph first claimed Ms Rayner avoided £40,000 in stamp duty on the flat in Hove by removing her name from the deeds of another property in Greater Manchester.

Ms Rayner said she sold her stake in her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne to a trust that was set up to provide for her teenage son, who has lifelong disabilities – meaning she did not technically own that home when she purchased the flat, and so was not subject to the higher rate of stamp duty that applies to second homes.

She has described it as an “honest mistake”, and tearfully revealed on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast she had already considered resigning.

She said she realised what had happened after seeking fresh legal advice, having spent weeks dismissing questions about the tax claims.

Were Ms Rayner to depart, it would make for a difficult end to a week which began with Sir Keir confidently declaring “phase two” of his government was now under way.

She is overseeing some of his key targets – notably building 1.5 million new homes this parliament, and a large expansion of workers’ rights.

A man whose arrest sparked a series of protests outside an Essex hotel housing asylum seekers, has been found guilty of sexual assault.

The Bell Hotel in Epping became the focal point of demonstrations after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was arrested, and later charged, on 13 July with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.

Ethiopian national Kebatu, 41, was alleged to have attempted to kiss the teenager, put his hand on her thigh and brushed her hair in July after she offered him pizza.

An adult member of the public also accused Kebatu of trying to kiss her, putting his hand on her leg and telling her she was pretty, days after he arrived in the UK on a small boat.

Kebatu, who was a “teacher of sports” in his home country, had denied two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and one count of harassment without violence near the Bell Hotel.

But at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, he was found guilty of all charges. District judge Christopher Williams took just 30 minutes to return the verdicts and his reasoning.

The three-day trial heard Kebatu had also told two teenagers he wanted to “have a baby with each of them” – but Kebatu had previously told the trial he was “not a wild animal”.

Mr Williams said he was not persuaded there was “any evidence to suggest the children fabricated any of the evidence they gave”.

The defendant, wearing a grey tracksuit and sitting with a translator, gave no visible reaction as Mr Williams told him he was guilty.

Kebatu is due to be sentenced at the same court on 23 September.

The judge told the defendant that he should expect an “immediate custodial sentence”.

Essex Police Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper paid tribute to the victims for ensuring the evidence put before the court was strong and true.

“It is because of their accounts of what happened, and the close co-operation with our Crown Prosecution Service colleagues, that we have been able to secure this conviction.

“We’re acutely aware that this incident has attracted widespread public interest.

“We have always said that we treat and investigate every report made to us without fear or favour.”

‘It must never happen again’

Conservative shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said the guilty verdict showed the risks of allowing asylum seekers “to roam around communities freely”.

“The crimes of this illegal migrant are shocking and heart-breaking and the victims have shown incredible bravery.

“This must never be allowed to happen again. Every illegal migrant should be detained immediately and swiftly deported.”

The incidents sparked protests and counter-protests outside the former Bell Hotel – as well as at hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.

Rebecca Mundy, deputy chief crown prosecutor with CPS East of England, said: “This was an incident which became a cause of deep concern for the local community.

“Our prosecutors worked carefully and impartially to bring this case to justice according to the law.”