Liverpool bomber exploited UK’s ‘dysfunctional’ asylum system, home secretary says
Priti Patel has said the suspected Liverpool terror attacker was able to exploit Britain’s “dysfunctional” asylum system to remain in the country.
On a three-day visit to Washington, the UK’s home secretary said the system was a “complete merry-go-round” with a “whole industry” devoted to defending the rights of individuals intent on causing harm.
It comes as new analysis shows that most migrants crossing the English Channel to the UK are refugees fleeing persecution.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has said the UK’s asylum system is a ‘complete merry-go-round’
Terror suspect Emad Al Swealmeen is understood to have arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014 and had an application for asylum rejected the following year, but was still in the country. He had reportedly suffered mental health issues.
The 32-year-old died in an explosion outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital in a taxi shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday.
The UK terror threat level has since been raised from substantial to severe since the incident – indicating an attack is “highly likely” rather than “likely”.
Ms Patel told reporters on her flight to the US capital that the case proved the government is right to reform the asylum system.
She was quoted as saying: “The case in Liverpool was a complete reflection of how dysfunctional, how broken, the system has been in the past, and why I want to bring changes forward.
“It’s a complete merry-go-round and it has been exploited. A whole sort of professional legal services industry has based itself on rights of appeal, going to the courts day-in day-out at the expense of the taxpayers through legal aid. That is effectively what we need to change.”
She added: “These people have come to our country and abused British values, abused the values of the fabric of our country and our society.
“And as a result of that, there’s a whole industry that thinks it’s right to defend these individuals that cause the most appalling crimes against British citizens, devastating their lives, blighting communities – and that is completely wrong.”
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UK terror threat level raised
However, new research by the Refugee Council indicates that just a third of migrants crossing the English Channel would not be allowed to remain in the UK, and that the “majority of people crossing the Channel are likely to be recognised as being in need of protection” at the initial decision stage.
The charity, using Home Office statistics and data obtained through freedom of information laws, found that between January 2020 and June this year, 91% of migrants came from 10 countries where human rights abuses and persecution are common – including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea and Yemen.
Almost two-thirds of migrants crossing the English Channel are genuine refugees, research suggests
For the top 10 countries of origin arriving by small boat, 61% of initial decisions made in the 18 months to June 2021 would have resulted in refugee protection being granted, the research also suggested.
However last month, Ms Patel claimed that seven out of ten of those travelling to the UK across the Channel were “not genuine asylum seekers” and the government was “concentrating” its efforts on “creating safe passage for genuine refugees”.
“In the last 12 months alone 70% of the individuals who have come to our country illegally via small boats are single men, who are effectively economic migrants. They are not genuine asylum seekers,” she told the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee.
“They are able to pay the smugglers… These are the ones who are elbowing out the women and children, who are at risk and fleeing persecution.”
Migrants in Dunkirk, northern France, hoping to make it across the English Channel
Al Swealmeen converted from Islam to Christianity and was not thought to have been known to MI5 – and there have been reports of growing concern within the Home Office at the role on the Church of England in converting asylum seekers.
An unnamed source quoted in The Sun said one issue being considered is whether he was motivated by an “unsolved grievance” with the Home Office over a bid to become a UK resident in 2014.
Malcolm Hitchcott, who along with his wife Elizabeth had taken al Swealmeen into their home to live with them, said the suspect came to Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral in 2015 and wanted to convert to Christianity.
He said the suspected terrorist had contacted them in 2017 when he was “desperate” for somewhere to stay.
Al Swealmeen converted from Islam to Christianity
“He arrived here on 1 April 2017. He was with us then for eight months, and during that time we saw him really blossoming in regards to his Christian faith,” Mr Hitchcott told BBC Radio Merseyside.
“He really had a passion about Jesus that I wish many Christians had, and he was ready to learn.
“He was keen on reading his Bible and every night we used to pray – my wife and him, and if there was anybody else in the house – we prayed for half an hour or so and studied the scriptures.
“He was absolutely genuine, as far as I could tell. I was in no doubt by the time that he left us at the end of that eight months that he was a Christian.”
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‘Controlled’ explosion after Liverpool terror incident
An Islamist plot is understood to be one line of inquiry being considered by police, though investigators are keeping an open mind and the motivation is yet to be established.
It is still believed that the hospital was the intended target of the attack.
Aerial view of police activity after an explosion at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital
Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, from Counter-Terrorism Police North West, previously told reporters that police believed al Swealmeen had “manufactured” the explosive device himself.
The investigation is also looking into other possibilities, including whether the main charge on the device failed to explode and if the homemade explosive TATP was used.
Police have searched properties in Rutland Avenue, where al Swealmeen was picked up in the taxi, as well as a second address in Sutcliffe Street where officers believe he previously lived.
Four men arrested in relation to the explosion have now been released from custody following interview, Greater Manchester Police said.
Police continued to appeal for any information about the incident or the suspected attacker.
Hundreds of UK online safety workers at TikTok have already signed agreements to leave the company, whistleblowers have told Sky News, despite the firm stressing to MPs that the cuts were “still proposals only”.
More than 400 online safety workers have agreed to leave the social media company, with only five left in consultation, Sky News understands.
“[The workers have] signed a mutual termination agreement, a legally binding contract,” said John Chadfield, national officer for the Communication Workers’ Union.
“They’ve handed laptops in, they’ve handed passes in, they’ve been told not to come to the office. That’s no longer a proposal, that’s a foregone conclusion. That’s a plan that’s been executed.”
Moderators gathered to protest the redundancies
In August, TikTok announced a round of mass layoffs to its Trust and Safety teams.
“Everyone in Trust and Safety” was emailed, said Lucy, a moderator speaking on condition of anonymity for legal reasons.
After a mandatory 45-day consultation period, the teams were then sent “mutual termination agreements” to sign by 31 October.
Sky News has seen correspondence from TikTok to the employees telling them to sign by that date.
“We had to sign it before the 31st if we wanted the better deal,” said Lucy, who had worked for TikTok for years.
“If we signed it afterwards, that diminished the benefits that we get.”
Three former moderators at TikTok have spoken to Sky News on camera
Despite hundreds of moderators signing the termination contracts by 31 October, Ali Law, TikTok’s director of public policy and government affairs for northern Europe, said to MPs in a letter on 7 November: “It is important to stress the cuts remain proposals only.”
“We continue to engage directly with potentially affected team members,” he said in a letter to Dame Chi Onwurah, chair of the science, innovation and technology committee.
After signing the termination contracts, the employees say they were asked to hand in their laptops and had access to their work systems revoked. They were put on gardening leave until 30 December.
“We really felt like we were doing something good,” said Saskia, a moderator also speaking under anonymity.
“You felt like you had a purpose, and now, you’re the first one to get let go.”
TikTok moderators and union workers protested outside the company’s London headquarters in September
A TikTok worker not affected by the job cuts confirmed to Sky News that all of the affected Trust and Safety employees “are now logged out of the system”.
“Workers and the wider public are rightly concerned about these job cuts that impact safety online,” said the TUC’s general secretary, Paul Nowak.
“But TikTok seem to be obscuring the reality of job cuts to MPs. TikTok need to come clean and clarify how many vital content moderators’ roles have gone.
“The select committee must do everything to get to the bottom of the social media giant’s claims, the wider issues of AI moderation, and ensure that other workers in the UK don’t lose their jobs to untested, unsafe and unregulated AI systems.”
Moderators and union representatives outside TikTok’s offices
What TikTok has said about the job cuts
In an interview with Sky News on 18 November, Mr Law again called the cuts “proposals”.
When asked if the cuts were in fact a plan that had already been executed, Mr Law said there was “limited amounts” he could directly comment on.
TikTok told us: “It is entirely right that we follow UK employment law, including when consultations remained ongoing for some employees and roles were still under proposal for removal.
“We have been open and transparent about the changes that were proposed, including in detailed public letters to the committee, and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.”
The three whistleblowers Sky News spoke to said they were concerned TikTok users would be put at risk by the cuts.
The company said it will increase the role of AI in its moderation, while maintaining some human safety workers, but one whistleblower said she didn’t think the AI was “ready”.
“People are getting new ideas and new trends are coming. AI cannot get this,” said Anna, a former moderator.
“Even now, with the things that it’s supposed to be ready to do, I don’t think it’s ready.”
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Is TikTok improving safety with AI?
Lucy also said she thought the cuts would put users at risk.
“There are a lot of nuances in the language. AI cannot understand all the nuances,” she said.
“AI cannot differentiate some ironic comment or versus a real threat or bullying or of a lot of things that have to do with user safety, mainly of children and teenagers.”
TikTok has been asked by MPs for evidence that its safety rates – which are currently some of the best in the industry – will not worsen after these cuts.
The select committee says it has not produced that evidence, although TikTok insists safety will improve.
“[In its letter to MPs] TikTok refers to evidence showing that their proposed staffing cuts and changes will improve content moderation and fact-checking – but at no point do they present any credible data on this to us,” said Dame Chi earlier this month.
“It’s alarming that they aren’t offering us transparency over this information. Without it, how can we have any confidence whether these changes will safeguard users?”
Dame Chi Onwurah speaks at the House of Commons. File pic: Reuters
TikTok’s use of AI in moderation
In an exclusive interview with Sky News earlier this month, Mr Law said the new moderation model would mean TikTok can “approach moderation with a higher level of speed and consistency”.
He said: “Because, when you’re doing this from a human moderation perspective, there are trade-offs.
“If you want something to be as accurate as possible, you need to give the human moderator as much time as possible to make the right decision, and so you’re trading off speed and accuracy in a way that might prove harmful to people in terms of being able to see that content.
“You don’t have that with the deployment of AI.”
As well as increasing the role of AI in moderation, TikTok is reportedly offshoring jobs to agencies in other countries.
Sky News has spoken to multiple workers who confirmed they’d seen their jobs being advertised in other countries through third-party agencies, and has independently seen moderator job adverts in places like Lisbon.
John Chadfield, national officer for technology at the Communication Workers Union
“AI is a fantastic fig leaf. It’s a fig leaf for greed,” said Mr Chadfield. “In TikTok’s case, there’s a fundamental wish to not be an employer of a significant amount of staff.
“As the platform has grown, as it has grown to hundreds of millions of users, they have realised that the overhead to maintain a professional trust and safety division means hundreds of thousands of staff employed by TikTok.
“But they don’t want that. They see themselves as, you know, ‘We want specialists in the roles employed directly by TikTok and we’ll offshore and outsource the rest’.”
Mr Law told Sky News that TikTok is always focused “on outcomes”.
He said: “Our focus is on making sure the platform is as safe as possible.
“And we will make deployments of the most advanced technology in order to achieve that, working with the many thousands of trust and safety professionals that we will have at TikTok around the world on an ongoing basis.”
Asked specifically about the safety concerns raised by the whistleblowers, TikTok said: “As we have laid out in detail, this reorganisation of our global operating model for Trust and Safety will ensure we maximize effectiveness and speed in our moderation processes.
“We will continue to use a combination of technology and human teams to keep our users safe, and today over 85% of the content removed for violating our rules is identified and taken down by automated technologies.”
*All moderator names have been changed for legal reasons.
UK
Four mayoral elections to be postponed – as Labour accused of ‘scandalous attempt to subvert democracy’
Four mayoral elections due to take place in May 2026 are set to be postponed by two years, Sky News understands.
Elections for the new mayoralties of Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Sussex and Brighton, and Norfolk and Suffolk will be pushed back until 2028.
The decision, first revealed by The Sun, is due to be announced by ministers on Thursday.
This is the second time elections are being delayed in these areas. Local elections due in May 2025 were delayed by then communities secretary Angela Rayner for a year in order to convert them into combined authorities led by mayors.
However, it is understood that these councils need more time to complete their reorganisation.
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Will Tories and Reform unite?
The news has sparked accusations Labour are delaying the elections for political purposes.
Reform UK’s head of policy Zia Yusuf said: “This is a blatant attempt to stop big Reform wins next May.
“It’s an act of a desperate government who are clinging onto power by any means necessary.
“Labour has proven time and time again that they’re not beyond denying democracy to millions of people in order to maintain their cosy status quo.”
Pic: PA
The Tories’ shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said it was a “scandalous attempt to subvert democracy by a Labour government whose credibility and popularity are already in tatters”.
“The Conservatives firmly oppose this decision to delay the mayoral elections, especially when candidates have been selected and campaigning is well under way,” he added.
“Democracy is being denied yet again after the council elections cancelled by Labour this year.
“There is no credible justification for this move. The Labour government must reverse it immediately.”
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Starmer denies misleading voters
The reorganisation is part of Labour’s manifesto commitment to widen devolution, which it argues will improve local economies.
The government wants to abolish the two-tier system of county and district councils and merge them together to create larger unitary authorities. It also wants more areas to have regional mayors, like Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham.
Read more:
Tory-Reform pact talks ‘not happening at any level’
Reeves hit by Labour rebellion
Reform UK enjoyed success in the local elections in May, winning more than 600 seats and taking control of 10 councils stretching from Kent to County Durham. The party also toppled a 14,000-strong Labour majority in a parliamentary by-election.
The Liberal Democrats’ local government spokesperson Zoe Franklin called the postponed elections “a disgrace”.
“Democracy delayed is democracy denied,” she added. “We are fighting to end this blatant stitch up between Labour and the Conservatives over local elections.”
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