What a disgrace. What a waste.

The Independent's Morning Headlines email [The Independent]( April 03, 2023 [View online](   [Morning Headlines]( 1 / [Government U-turns on crackdown to stop repeat of £100m apprenticeship rip-off]( The government has backtracked on its pledge to crack down on the use of [taxpayers’ money to fund university courses for high-flyers]( earning six-figure salaries, despite the minister in charge previously describing it as “gaming the system”. Last month, Robert Halfon, the minister for skills and apprenticeships, promised to “take appropriate action if there is evidence that the levy is being spent on ineligible courses, such as to fund an MBA”. His vow followed an [investigation by The Independent]( into misuse of the [apprenticeship levy](, which revealed that £1bn of public money had been used to fund masters courses, with £100m of that going specifically to part-fund MBAs, between 2017 and 2022. But in follow-up emails, the Department for Education performed a sharp U-turn, saying that the levy can be used to part-fund MBAs “because of overlap with the senior leader apprentice standard”, and stating that there would be no further investigation. Now, The Independent can reveal that in 2020, when Mr Halfon was chair of the education select committee, he called on the apprenticeships minister at the time, Michelle Donelan, to put a stop to the “gaming of the levy system” that he said had led to “more than £100 million of apprenticeship levy funds [being] spent on masters degrees for managers”.   2 / [Dover officials dismiss Suella Braverman’s claim that queues ‘not caused by Brexit]( Things have been ‘very smooth’ at border since Brexit, claims home secretary 3 / [Bear Grylls backs our campaign to stop Afghan war pilot from being deported to Rwanda]( ‘It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that so many people don’t have the luxury of avoiding a catastrophe,’ says TV adventurer 4 /[British men detained by Taliban ‘in touch with families’]( Kevin Cornwell, a second unnamed man, and ‘danger tourist’ Miles Routledge are currently being held in Afghanistan 5 / [Pro-Putin military blogger killed in St Petersburg cafe explosion]( Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had more than 560,000 followers on Telegram   The Big Question Prenups are routine for the super-rich… are we next? They might share their happy news through an Instagram photoshoot, they might pose for an OK! cover or, like nonagenarian groom-to-be [Rupert Murdoch](, they might give an exclusive interview to a newspaper they just happen to own. However a celebrity chooses to announce their engagement, though, you can safely bet that behind the scenes, teams of lawyers will be hard at work assembling a prenuptial agreement – a legal document laying out exactly how the new couple’s assets will be split in the event of, well, their split. “With ultra-wealthy clients... there will be such complex legalities and trust affairs that it’s unimaginable not to have a cast iron prenup in place,” explains Charlotte Leyshon, director of [Lux Family Law](; as a trainee solicitor, she was part of the team employed by Meg Mathews in her [divorce]( from Noel Gallagher. A couple must be upfront about all their financial arrangements (the impetus, no surprise, usually comes from the wealthier half) – and, when they’re getting ready for their big day, must think about where their relationship might end. [For the full story click here]( £99 £20 for 1 year ✓ Full access to Premium news analysis ✓ Advert-free reading across web and app ✓ The Independent Daily Edition newspaper ✓ Puzzles, virtual event tickets and more [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   WATCH / [Moment ‘cannabis jungle’ raided by police in Welsh village]( NUMBER OF THE DAY £100,000 – Millions of pounds in taxpayers’ money is being used to part-fund [university]( courses for top executives earning more than £100,000 a year, an investigation by The Independent can reveal. Read more here]( Quote of the day “We’ve seen institutions and state agencies, whether it’s social workers, teachers, the [police]( turn a blind eye to these, to these signs of abuse out of political correctness, out of fear, of being called racists, out of fear, of being called bigoted.” – Home Secretary [Suella Braverman]( has claimed “political correctness” is to blame for child sexual abuse signs being overlooked. [Read more here](     Other stories you might like [Olivier Awards 2023 winners: The complete list in full]( [Menopause symptoms could be treated with testosterone patch in world-first]( [Why Chelsea sacked Graham Potter and what comes next](   Articles available exclusively to subscribers [Christian Shepherd]( and [Pei-Lin Wu]( - [An ‘experiment for peace’? 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