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The number of people waiting for NHS hospital treatment could reach 13 million in the months to come due to the COVID backlog, the health secretary has said.

Sajid Javid claims “shocking” government modelling indicates the current waiting list of 5.3 million people could more than double by the end of the year.

This includes up to seven million people who failed to attend hospital during the peak of the crisis for fear of catching coronavirus, he said.

“What shocked me the most is when I was told that the waiting list is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

“Hearing that figure of 13 million, it has absolutely totally focused my mind, and it’s going to be one of my top priorities to deal with because we can’t have that.”

Current NHS waiting lists in England are the longest they have been since 2007.

Experts in cancer, stroke and heart disease care have consistently warned their fields are being ignored, while COVID-19 takes precedent.

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But Mr Javid told the Telegraph he is “not just the COVID secretary of state” and that he plans to outsource treatment to private hospitals and increase the use of virtual appointments to help deal with the backlog.

He warned the lists will “take some considerable time to clear”, partially because of the “very British” attitude of those who didn’t want to burden the health service by presenting with symptoms during the first and second waves.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid
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Mr Javid warned of the consequences of people not attending hospital

Mr Javid also confirmed reports that the NHS COVID app could be tweaked to reduce high numbers isolating after being ‘pinged’.

The minister said the government is looking at the possibility of “treating people differently based on whether they are vaccinated or not”.

It comes as separate reports claim ministers are trying to half the gap required between vaccine doses.

The Times reports that Number 10 has asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to launch an urgent review into the current eight-week gap.

Politicians and scientists are desperate for as many jabs to be administered as possible amid the spread of the more-contagious Delta variant.

At Wembley ahead of the England-Italy Euro final on Sunday, the NHS is urging fans to get vaccinated at the same time if they haven’t already.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said: “The vaccine is England’s best defence, protecting yourself, your family and your loved ones against COVID, so be a team player and get both your vaccinations in what is a game of two jabs.”

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Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

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Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

US House lawmakers have been urged by 65 crypto organizations to pass the CLARITY Act, which would hand most policing of crypto to the CFTC.

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Reform UK poses ‘very serious threat’ to Labour, Welsh first minister warns

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Reform UK poses 'very serious threat' to Labour, Welsh first minister warns

The threat from Reform in Wales is “very serious”, the country’s Labour leader said as exclusive polling revealed Nigel Farage’s party is the first choice for Welsh voters.

Speaking to Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan said: “We think the threat from Reform is a very serious threat.

“I think it is important people recognise that things that we see every day in our lives in Wales may be snatched away from us, and the kind of stability that we’ve had for a long time.”

Eluned Morgan
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Eluned Morgan spoke to Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast

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Ms Morgan admitted “we’ve got a lot of work to do to get voters back” ahead of the May 2026 Senedd (Welsh parliament) elections – something backed up by exclusive polling that reveals Reform is beating Welsh Labour, who have been in power in the Senedd since 1999.

A More in Common poll for Sky News found 28% of people in Wales would vote for Reform if an election for the Senedd was called tomorrow.

That was followed closely by nationalist party Plaid Cymru on 26%, Labour with 23%, the Conservatives on 10%, Lib Dems with 7%, the Green Party with 4% and 2% for other parties or independent candidates.

Eluned Morgan said she would never go into a coalition with Reform
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Eluned Morgan said she would never go into a coalition with Reform

Of those who voted for Labour at last year’s general election, less than half (48%) would vote for them again, while 15% would go to Plaid Cymru and 11% to Reform – although 13% were undecided.

A total of 883 people representative of the Welsh population were asked from 18 June to 3 July.

Last month, Mr Farage told an event in the steel town of Port Talbot, he would reopen Welsh coal mines to provide fuel for blast furnaces.

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Beth Rigby spoke to Welsh First Minister and Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan
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Beth Rigby spoke to Welsh First Minister and Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan

Ms Morgan said she will not be “chasing Reform down a path… because those aren’t my values”.

“What we’ll be doing is offering a very clear alternative, which is about bringing communities together,” she said.

“I think it’s really important that we’re authentic and we’re clear with people about what we stand for.

“I think we’ve got to lead with our values so we’re about bringing communities together not dividing them and I do think that’s what reform is interested in is dividing people and people do need to make choices on things like that.”

She admitted “there is a possibility” Reform could be the largest party in the Senedd “and that is really concerning”.

Nigel Farage
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Nigel Farage in Wales

However, she said the way voting in Wales works means it would be “difficult for them to rule by themselves”.

Would she go into coalition with Reform?

“I wouldn’t touch Reform with a barge pole,” she said.

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‘A threat to national security’: Fears drones could be used to lift inmates out of prisons

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Drones are sending 'overwhelming amounts' of drugs into prisons - and could help inmates escape, report warns

Sophisticated drones sending “overwhelming amounts” of drugs and weapons into prisons represent a threat to national security, according to an annual inspection report by the prisons watchdog.

HMP chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has warned criminal gangs are targeting jails and making huge profits selling contraband to a “vulnerable and bored” prison population.

The watchdog boss reiterated his concerns about drones making regular deliveries to two Category A jails, HMP Long Lartin and HMP Manchester, which hold “the most dangerous men in the country”, including terrorists.

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Ex-convict: Prison is ‘birthing bigger criminals’

Mr Taylor said “the police and prison service have in effect ceded the airspace” above these two high-security prisons, which he said was compromising the “safety of staff, prisoners, and ultimately that of the public”.

“The possibility now whereby we’re seeing packages of up to 10kg brought in by serious organised crime means that in some prisons there is now a menu of drugs available,” he said. “Anything from steroids to cannabis, to things like spice and cocaine.”

“Drone technology is moving fast… there is a level of risk that’s posed by drones that I think is different from what we’ve seen in the past,” warned the chief inspector – who also said there’s a “theoretical risk” that a prisoner could escape by being carried out of a jail by a drone.

He urged the prison service to “get a grip” of the issue, stating: “We’d like to see the government, security services, coming together, using technology, using intelligence, so that this risk doesn’t materialise.”

The report highlights disrepair at prisons around the country
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The report highlights disrepair at prisons around the country

The report makes clear that physical security – such as netting, windows and CCTV – is “inadequate” in some jails, including Manchester, with “inexperienced staff” being “manipulated”.

Mr Taylor said there are “basic” measures which could help prevent the use of drones, such as mowing the lawn, “so we don’t get packages disguised as things like astro turf”.

Responding to the report, the Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) said: “The ready access to drugs is deeply worrying and is undermining efforts to create places of rehabilitation.”

Mr Taylor’s report found that overcrowding continues to be what he described as a “major issue”, with increasing levels of violence against staff and between prisoners, combined with a lack of purposeful activity.

Some 20% of adult men responding to prisoner surveys said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, increasing to 30% in the high security estate.

Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This report is a checklist for all the reasons the government must prioritise reducing prison numbers, urgently.

“Sentencing reform is essential, and sensible steps to reduce the prison population would save lives.”

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May: Male prison capacity running at 99%

The report comes after the government pledged to accept most of the recommendations proposed in the independent review of sentencing policy, with the aim of freeing up around 9,500 spaces.

Those measures won’t come into effect until spring 2026.

Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said Mr Taylor’s findings show “the scale of the crisis” the government “inherited”, with “prisons dangerously full, rife with drugs and violence”.

He said: “After just 500 prison places added in 14 years, we’re building 14,000 extra – with 2,400 already delivered – and reforming sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again.

“We’re also investing £40m to bolster security, alongside stepping up cooperation with police to combat drones and stop the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.”

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