The father of a teenager who drowned in South Yorkshire says more people could die if there isn’t enough rescue equipment near open water.
Sam Haycock was saving up to buy a moped, and the 16-year-old wanted to be more independent when he started college. He was looking for a part-time job so he could earn some money.
“He was happy. He was going in the right direction,” says his dad Simon.
Image: Sam’s family hope that people will learn from their son’s death
When his school broke up for May half-term, Sam went swimming with friends at a local reservoir in Rotherham.
“He had no fear. He didn’t see the danger of jumping in, despite not being able to swim,” Simon adds.
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It was a hot day, but the water was cold. Sam went into shock and his friends lost him under the water.
“It was horrible waiting for news,” says Simon.
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“I found it hard to believe when that news came through. I still do now.”
An underwater search team found Sam’s body later that day.
Simon is angry that his son couldn’t be saved. He says there was a flotation ring at the reservoir but it was hidden underneath overgrown trees, so Sam’s friends didn’t see it.
Simon is fundraising for more life-saving equipment to be available near open water: “I want to get this campaign up and going so that money is not an excuse for not having this equipment around the water.”
Image: Sam’s father Simon is now campaigning for more rescue equipment near open water
The availability of rings and throw lines, which can be used to pull a drowning person to safety, is not Simon’s only concern.
People vandalise and steal equipment that could be used to save lives. Simon believes that an alarm system could help to stop the equipment from being taken.
Damaged and missing safety gear is common, says Matt Gillar from the South Yorkshire and Fire Rescue Service. He and his colleagues have also faced hostility and even violence when they patrol near open water.
“I think stone-throwing has been the extreme of what we’ve faced over the last few weeks. Some people don’t want to listen or engage, and we are there purely to make them safe,” says Matt.
Image: Sam had gone swimming at a local reservoir in Rotheram
The recent heatwave caused a spike in drownings as people tried to cool off in reservoirs and other open water spots.
A mother and her nine-year-old son drowned, along with a family friend, in Scotland’s Loch Lomond on 24 July.
Matt says – if people see warnings about swimming – they must not get in the water.
“It looks so tranquil and peaceful from the side. Unfortunately, when you get into the water, there’s debris underneath that you can’t see,” he says.
“But the biggest problem is cold water shock. The body doesn’t adjust quickly enough, you start gasping and you could drown.”
Even strong swimmers can suffer from shock.
The pandemic put a stop to swimming lessons for many children. The Swimming Teachers’ Association says more than two million children could have missed out on lessons.
Sam’s family hope that people will learn from their son’s death. Simon wants children and teenagers to be educated about the dangers of open water swimming. He says if he can save just one life in Sam’s name, then he’ll keep on campaigning.
It was expected that the three-day state visit would take place in September after Mr Trump let slip earlier in April that he believed that was when his second “fest” was being planned for.
Windsor was also anticipated to be the location after the US president told reporters in the Oval Office that the letter from the King said Windsor would be the setting. Refurbishment works at Buckingham Palace also meant that Windsor was used last week for French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit.
This will be Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK, an unprecedented gesture towards an American leader, having previously been invited to Buckingham Palace in 2019.
Image: Donald Trump and Melania Trump posing with Charles and Camilla in 2019. Pic: Reuters
He has also been to Windsor Castle before, in 2018, but despite the considerable military pageantry of the day, and some confusion around inspecting the guard, it was simply for tea with Queen Elizabeth II.
Further details of what will happen during the three-day visit in September will be announced in due course.
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On Friday, Sky News revealed it is now unlikely that the US president will address parliament, usually an honour given to visiting heads of state as part of their visit. Some MPs had raised significant concerns about him being given the privilege.
But the House of Commons will not be sitting at the time of Mr Trump’s visit as it will rise for party conference season on the 16 September, meaning the president will not be able to speak in parliament as President Macron did during his state visit this week. However, the House of Lords will be sitting.
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After reading it, Mr Trump said it was a “great, great honour”, adding “and that says at Windsor – that’s really something”.
Image: In February, Sir Keir Starmer revealed a letter from the King inviting Donald Trump to the UK. Pic: Reuters
In the letter, the King suggested they might meet at Balmoral or Dumfries House in Scotland first before the much grander state visit. However, it is understood that, although all options were explored, complexities in both the King and Mr Trump’s diaries meant it wasn’t possible.
This week, it emerged that Police Scotland are planning for a summer visit from the US president, which is likely to see him visit one or both of his golf clubs in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, and require substantial policing resources and probably units to be called in from elsewhere in the UK.
Precedent for second-term US presidents, who have already made a state visit, is usually tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.
A small plane has crashed at Southend Airport in Essex.
Essex Police said it was at the scene of a “serious incident”.
Images posted online showed huge flames and a large cloud of black smoke, with one witness saying they saw a “fireball”.
A police statement said: “We were alerted shortly before 4pm to reports of a collision involving one 12-metre plane.
“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours.
“We would please ask the public to avoid this area where possible while this work continues.”
Image: A huge fireball near the airport. Pic: Ben G
It has been reported that the plane involved in the incident is a Beech B200 Super King Air.
According to flight-tracking service Flightradar, it took off at 3.48pm and was bound for Lelystad, a city in the Netherlands.
One man, who was at Southend Airport with his family around the time of the incident, said the aircraft “crashed headfirst into the ground”.
John Johnson said: “About three or four seconds after taking off, it started to bank heavily to its left, and then within a few seconds of that happening, it more or less inverted and crashed.
“There was a big fireball. Obviously, everybody was in shock in terms of witnessing it. All the kids saw it and the families saw it.”
Mr Johnson added that he phoned 999 to report the crash.
Southend Airport said the incident involved “a general aviation aircraft”.
Four flights scheduled to take off from Southend this afternoon were cancelled, according to its website.
Flightradar data shows two planes that had been due to land at Southend were diverted to nearby airports London Gatwick and London Stansted.
Image: Plumes of black smoke. Pic: UKNIP
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said four crews, along with off-road vehicles, have attended the scene.
Four ambulances and four hazardous area response team vehicles are also at the airport, as well as an air ambulance, the East of England Ambulance Service said.
Its statement described the incident as “still developing”.
Image: Fire engines at the airport
David Burton-Sampson, the MP for Southend West and Leigh, posted on social media: “I am aware of an incident at Southend Airport. Please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work.
“My thoughts are with everyone involved.”
Local councillor Matt Dent said on X: “At present all I know is that a small plane has crashed at the airport. My thoughts are with all those involved, and with the emergency services currently responding to the incident.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Another hint that tax rises are coming in this autumn’s budget has been given by a senior minister.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was asked if Sir Keir Starmer and the rest of the cabinet had discussed hiking taxes in the wake of the government’s failed welfare reforms, which were shot down by their own MPs.
Trevor Phillips asked specifically if tax rises were discussed among the cabinet last week – including on an away day on Friday.
Tax increases were not discussed “directly”, Ms Alexander said, but ministers were “cognisant” of the challenges facing them.
Asked what this means, Ms Alexander added: “I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that at the budget, the chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out.
“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that.”
Ms Alexander said she wouldn’t comment directly on taxes and the budget at this point, adding: “So, the chancellor will set her budget. I’m not going to sit in a TV studio today and speculate on what the contents of that budget might be.
“When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle.”
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Afterwards, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Phillips: “That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn.”
He then went on to repeat the Conservative attack lines that Labour are “crashing the economy”.
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10:43
Chris Philp also criticsed the government’s migration deal with France
Mr Philp then attacked the prime minister as “weak” for being unable to get his welfare reforms through the Commons.
Discussions about potential tax rises have come to the fore after the government had to gut its welfare reforms.
Sir Keir had wanted to change Personal Independence Payments (PIP), but a large Labour rebellion forced him to axe the changes.
With the savings from these proposed changes – around £5bn – already worked into the government’s sums, they will now need to find the money somewhere else.
The general belief is that this will take the form of tax rises, rather than spending cuts, with more money needed for military spending commitments, as well as other areas of priority for the government, such as the NHS.