Branson’s space tourism flight is a landmark moment – but out of reach for most people
There was at least one Englishman with something to celebrate on Sunday night.
It will go down in the life story of Sir Richard Branson as the day he was officially handed the title of astronaut after his successful trip to the edge of space and back.
And if the live feed of the England game 5,000 miles away put a dampener on the day for some, Sir Richard’s emotions were sky high at the achievement of him and his crew.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘I was once a child with a dream’
The 22nd Virgin Galactic test flight was the first to carry a full payload of passengers, all of them senior employees, and was a key moment in selling the idea of space tourism to the widest possible audience.
It was also meant to reassure the hundreds who have already stumped up a quarter of a million each to secure a seat in the future that it could be done. Many have been waiting a long time for the ride.
The likelihood is now that early in the new year Virgin will begin taking paying passengers up to the edge of space and give them the chance to experience what Sir Richard did.
“Indescribably good” was the only way the billionaire astronaut could relate the views and the sensation of weightlessness 50 miles above the earth’s surface.
The excitement at a safe and successful mission was certainly infectious and this was undoubtedly a landmark moment in the private space race.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Everybody would love to go to space’
SpaceX boss Elon Musk was there to witness history – Sir Richard said he stumbled upon his rival in his kitchen at 3am – and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sent his congratulations.
They, and a number of other companies, will take encouragement, Sir Richard told me, from the success of this mission. They all believe there are enough paying passengers to go around.
But, even with the raffle Sir Richard announced for ordinary people to possibly win a seat on a future flight, for most people on the planet the prospect is financially well out of reach.
After landing, Sir Richard talked about future astronauts not being limited by their gender, race or background but truthfully that day seems a long way off.
Perhaps some of the students who were there to witness the event will see it happen in their lifetime but it will take a huge upscaling of capabilities. Sir Richard had teased the children with the story of almost bringing an alien home.
For such a consummate showman, a man who has dressed as a bride for a PR stunt and, by his own estimate, survived 76 near-death experiences in his lifetime, there can have been little in his 70 years as satisfying as Sunday’s silky smooth performance.
If his granddaughter’s proud announcement that “papa went to the moon” was a little off-beam, you can forgive the family’s euphoria.
And at least one member of the family definitely won’t be following him into space. “My wife Joan is about the only person in the world who doesn’t want to go,” he told me.
Birmingham band UB40 say the city’s striking bin workers and their union should “keep fighting” in their dispute over pay.
It comes as the government and the council urged them to accept a “fair and reasonable offer”.
“We’re fully on their side,” drummer Jimmy Brown told Sky News. “I think they shouldn’t give up, they should still be fighting.
“Working people shouldn’t have to take a reduction in their incomes, which is what we’re talking about here.
“We’re talking about people being paid less and it seems to me with prices going up, heating, buying food, inflation and rents going up then people need a decent wage to have a half decent life… keep going boys!”
Members of the Unite union in Birmingham earlier this month. Pic: PA
Workers joined picket lines again on Thursday, with some fearing they could be up to £600 a month worse off if they accept the terms.
“We have total utter support for the bin men and all trade unions,” said guitarist Robin Campbell.
“The other side is always going to say they’ve made a reasonable offer – the point is they’re the ones who’ve messed up, they’re the ones who’ve gone bankrupt, they’re the ones now trying to reduce the bin men’s wages.”
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈
Lead singer Matt Doyle told Sky News: “It’s a shame that what we’re seeing is all the images of rats and rubbish building up, that is going to happen inevitably, but we’ve just got to keep fighting through that.”
About 22,000 tonnes of rubbish accumulated on the city’s streets after a major incident was declared last month by Birmingham City Council.
Rubbish has blighted the city’s streets for weeks . Pic: PA
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Bin situation ‘pains me’ – council boss
On a visit to the city, local government minister Jim McMahon said the union and local authority should continue to meet in “good faith” and the government felt there was a deal that could be “marshalled around”.
He paid tribute to the “hundreds of workers” who have worked “around the clock” to clear the rubbish.
Read more:
Bin workers urged to accept ‘fair’ offer
Military planners help with bin crisis
“As we stand here today, 85% of that accumulated waste has been cleared and the council have a plan in place now to make sure it doesn’t accumulate going forward,” said Mr McMahon.
Sky News understands talks are not set to resume until next week.
Trans women in British Transport Police custody will now be strip searched by male officers – not female – following Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling.
The force said it is introducing an “interim position” while it digests the Supreme Court’s decision that the definition of a “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 refers to “a biological woman and biological sex”.
A British Transport Police (BTP) Authority spokesman told Sky News: “Under previous policy, we had advised that someone with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) may be searched in accordance with their acquired sex.
“However, as an interim position while we digest today’s judgment, we have advised our officers that any same sex searches in custody are to be undertaken in accordance with the biological birth sex of the detainee.”
Politics latest: Badenoch responds to Jenrick WhatsApp mishap
In September last year, BTP, which is responsible for policing the UK’s railways and similar transport systems, published its “position” on transgender and non-binary officers carrying out strip searches.
It said officers would “only be able to search persons of the same sex on their birth or gender recognition certificate (GRC).
Officers who identified as another gender but who did not have a GRC were not allowed to, but if a trans woman had a certificate, they could strip search a female detainee.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gender ruling – How it happened
Strip searches involve the removal of more than a jacket, outer coat, gloves, headwear and footwear.
They “expose buttocks, genitalia and (female) breasts”, the BTP guidance says.
The Sex Matters campaign applied for a judicial review of that guidance with the High Court in December.
It said the policy “puts detainees at risk of sexual harassment and sexual assault”, and said it was a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Sex Matters said the policy “also puts female officers in a humiliating and dangerous position, as they may be pressured to search trans-identified men”.
Read more: NHS must stop trans people being allowed on single-sex wars
Campaigners celebrated outside the Supreme Court after Wednesday’s ruling. Pic: PA
One of the High Court judges who made Wednesday’s decision, Lord Hodge, said the ruling should not be read as “a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another”.
Government minister Karin Smyth told Sky News public bodies have been told to look at how equality laws are implemented following the ruling.
She said: “Obviously, public bodies have been asked to look at their own guidance.
“And we will do that very, very carefully.”
But she warned against public bodies making statements “that may alarm people”, telling them to take their time to look at their guidance.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said the ruling means there is “no confusion” now.
She said the NHS will “have to change” its 2019 policy, which says transgender patients are entitled to be accommodated on single-sex wards matching how they identify.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway