Prince William and Kate ‘not shying away’ from cost of living crisis
The Prince and Princess of Wales are focusing on the cost of living crisis as they look to revamp royal visits to create a “lasting impact and legacy”.
Sky News has been told the rising economic pressure faced by many people has become a key focus for William, Kate, and the team at their Royal Foundation, with a source saying: “The cost of living crisis is a lens through which they’re now looking at their work.”
A visit to Scarborough later will see the Royal Foundation pilot a “Community Impact Day”, showing how it can use its profile to help organisations in deprived areas secure long-term funding.
The move has been prompted by the royal couple’s desire to have more of a long-term impact on the places they visit, with an intention to follow the progress made in helping some of the most vulnerable in society.
While it is understood William and Kate are mindful of their own privileged position, Sky News was told that “they are not shying away from the issue” of the rising cost of living and are keen to “support the hard-pressed” in “parts of the country that need a light shone on them”.
During their engagements in North Yorkshire they will hear how the Royal Foundation has been working with local organisations to increase funding for groups supporting young people’s mental health. Mental health, homelessness and supporting families have been the cornerstones of their work for some time.
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Two wards in Scarborough are among the 10 most deprived places in England, with many facing challenges in terms of unemployment, poverty and lack of opportunities for young people.
Jan Garrill, chief executive of the Two Ridings Community Foundation, has been working with the Royal Foundation and will meet the couple.
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She believes the impact of rising living costs will cause more damage than COVID-19 in the long term for many families.
She said: “Cost of living I think is – and I’ve talked to other charity leaders in our region – worse than the pandemic, and others are saying that.
“It’s going to last longer and it’s also worse because it’s coming on the back of the pandemic.
“And I think the biggest challenge now is that the organisations are still dealing with increased demand from COVID.
“People are still vulnerable as a result of that.
“Cost of living is bringing more demand, and there’s less of a funding response.”
‘It’s a poverty pandemic’
Emphasising the need for more help, she added: “There will be excess deaths as a result of this.
“You know, it’s as stark as that, and there will be children growing up in families who have the spectre of poverty over their heads, and that will have an impact both on their physical wellbeing but also their mental wellbeing.
“I mean, I’ve been using the phrase: it’s a poverty pandemic.”
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What next for William and Kate?
But she was keen to point out the boost that has come from working with the Royal Foundation to bring in more funding, and the importance of the royal visit for celebrating the positive work going on.
“That focus on place and people is great for us. It amplifies what we do in a way,” she said.
Since they took on their new titles as Prince and Princess of Wales, and Prince William became the direct heir to the throne, there has been an increased interest in whether it would change the way they work.
It’s understood the Royal Foundation is planning other “Community Impact Days” next year across other areas of their work. Those could include homelessness and supporting families with young children.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
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