Teachers in the NASUWT will not strike in England and Wales after the union failed to hit the mandatory 50% turnout threshold for its ballot – even though those people who did participate voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of action. The NEU teaching union is still balloting members about a strike, the results of which will be announced on Monday. See 3.25pm. The government’s “golden visa” scheme, which was meant to lure super-rich investors, has been targeted by people with suspected criminal links as well as 10 Russian oligarchs to gain a foothold in the UK, a review has disclosed. A shake-up of disability benefits could allow people to keep claiming the payments after they return to work and include tax breaks for getting jobs, under plans being considered by ministers. Nearly 100 British Council contractors forced to live in hiding since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan have been given the green light to come to the UK. The Democratic Unionist party leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, has said the UK and EU are not “anywhere close to a deal” on the dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol. Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach (Irish PM), has criticised James Cleverly’s refusal to allow the Sinn Féin president, Mary Lou McDonald, to attend a meeting he was due to hold with Sinn Féin leaders in Northern Ireland yesterday. Because McDonald, who is based in Dublin and sits in the Irish parliament, was not allowed to attend, Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland and the first minister designate, did not attend. Speaking about the row on a visit to Belfast, Varadkar said: It is not something that was the case in the past. I know that deputy McDonald has attended similar meetings in the past organised by the British government and if it is a change, I don’t think it is a positive one. Generally, the approach we take in the Irish government is that if we ask to meet somebody, we don’t proscribe who is on their delegation. I think that is perhaps a better protocol. I don’t want to engage in criticism of the secretary of state. But the view I take is that the best protocol is to allow people to decide who is on their own delegation.