Cost of living crisis: About 1.4 million families unable to get help due to visa restrictions
Britain’s welfare state provides a vital safety net to millions of people, particularly as their incomes are strained by the rising cost of living. But what is it like to live without that security?
That is the reality for an estimated 1.4 million people in the UK whose visa conditions give them no recourse to public funds (NRPF).
On a wintry day in east London, a queue of people stretches a hundred metres or so down the road.
Huddled against the cold, they wait their turn to access a food bank, run by the Newham Community Project, specifically for those with no recourse to public funds.
NRPF is attached to a variety of student, family and work visas, and means the individual cannot access support such as universal credit, child benefit, and some recently announced cost of living support schemes – although others, such as help with energy bills, were made universally available.
The number of people using the service has doubled in the last few months alone.
“Being a mother, I feel very upset because I have to choose from putting the heating on or putting food on the plate,” said one woman in the queue.
“Costs are rising. Everything me and my husband earn goes towards rent and bills. After that, there’s nothing left.”
‘They can’t afford day-to-day expenses’
Chief executive Elyas Ismail said his service is struggling to cope with the demand.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “It’s worse for them because they don’t get any help. They’re on their own. Many of them have two jobs, and even then they’re not able to afford normal day-to-day expenses.”
This month, a report by the Food Foundation and the University of Hertfordshire found that not only were NRPF families struggling to access healthy food, but that they were struggling to access a sufficient amount of any food whatsoever, with “devastating effects on quality of life”.
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The government defends the system on the basis that it expects migrants to be able to support themselves and their families without relying on benefits.
It says that should anyone face sudden hardship, “strong and important safeguards are in place to ensure the vulnerable can receive support”.
Those safeguards, known as “change of conditions” applications, allow people to apply to access public funds in an emergency.
However, the process is complex, often little understood, and takes time: a luxury that many simply don’t have.
Newham Community Project chief executive Elyas Ismail
‘It makes you feel almost useless’
One young mother spoke to Sky News on condition of anonymity.
She and her two-year-old daughter recently became homeless whilst awaiting a change of conditions decision.
Her daughter is a British citizen, through the father, but he is no longer around, and the mother cannot claim child benefit to support them.
“It makes you feel almost useless, like you can’t provide for your child,” she said.
“You have nowhere to turn to, and you can’t get the help you need right away. Getting a change of condition is not something that happens overnight, and when you need that help now, there’s just no one that can initially help you.”
One organisation that helps people with change of conditions applications is the Unity Project.
Co-founder Caz Hattam says the system needs to change.
“The average amount of time an application takes is six weeks, which is a huge amount of time to be waiting, but we’ve seen applications take months and even over a year to decide.
“It means that people have to go through a very long and gruelling application process before they can access the most basic support.”
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Earlier this year, the cross-party House of Commons work and pensions committee called for reform, including by reducing waiting times and making child benefit available to all parents of British children.
So far, the government has resisted such calls.
The Home Office said in a statement: “The provision of No Recourse to Public Funds has been upheld by successive governments and maintains that those coming to the UK should do so on a basis that prevents burdens on the taxpayer.”
The 19-year-old woman who died after she was attacked by a dog at a flat in Bristol on Wednesday has been named as Morgan Dorsett from Shropshire.
Two people – a man and a woman both aged in their 20s – have been arrested over the attack and have been released on conditional bail.
Initial reports suggested the dog may be an XL bully, but confirming the breed will form part of the police assessment process, according to Avon and Somerset Police.
It was sedated and seized by officers.
An XL bully. File pic: PA
Ms Dorsett’s family thanked the public for their support and those who have left flowers near the scene.
Officers were called to an incident in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol at 7.19pm on Wednesday.
Paramedics and police officers attended but Ms Dorsett died at the scene.
Ms Dorsett. Pic: Avon and Somerset Police
On Thursday, Inspector Terry Murphy said: “Our thoughts, first and foremost, are with the family of the young woman who’s tragically died as a result of yesterday evening’s incident. They have been updated and will be supported by a family liaison officer.
“I’d also like to thank the officers and paramedics who attended yesterday evening and tried to save her life. Support is in place for them.
“A full investigation is now well under way to establish the full circumstances of the events that led to her death.”
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Flowers left near the scene. Pic: PA
A neighbour also paid tribute to Ms Dorsett, saying she “seemed a lovely girl” and had only lived in the property for a few weeks.
“I was up all night awake trying to process this,” the neighbour, who did not want to be named, said.
“I am shocked. I just can’t believe it’s happened and she hasn’t been there that long.”
The neighbour said she had seen the dog on a lead with its owner and was certain it was an XL bully.
“I do feel so sad for the dog owner,” she said.
“She did mention the dog wasn’t great with men, fine with women and children.
“I feel for her so, so much. It wasn’t her fault.”
She added: “I genuinely feel that this was one of those freak accidents and wasn’t her fault – that’s how I feel.”
In February 2024 it became a criminal offence to own the XL bully breed in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.
Anyone owning one of the dogs must have had the animal neutered, microchipped, and kept muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.
The government move to ban the breed followed a series of attacks on people and other dogs.
UK
Bargain Hunt auctioneer Charles Hanson cleared of coercive control and assault allegations related to his wife
Bargain Hunt auctioneer Charles Hanson has been cleared of coercive control and assault allegations relating to his wife.
The 46-year-old was accused of being violent towards Rebecca Hanson over an eight-year period.
The charges were brought after he was arrested in June 2023.
The TV auctioneer, from Mackworth, Derby, denied controlling or coercive behaviour spanning from 2015 to 2023, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and assault by beating. The two assault charges related to incidents in 2015 and 2023.
During the trial, Hanson claimed his wife had controlled him. He told the court he was “almost a slave” to her, saying she left him “a beaten and broken man” by controlling him and making him subservient towards her.
She had claimed her husband was violent towards her and put her in a headlock in 2012, while she pregnant with a baby she later lost.
Mrs Hanson also alleged her husband repeatedly “grabbed” her, scratched her as she tried to snatch a mobile phone and pushed her twice during a row.
Hanson outside the court with his parents today. Pic: PA
The auctioneer told the court his wife was allowed “to do what she wanted” but had experienced “moments and episodes” including one which saw her claim his legs being crossed amounted to abuse.
Jurors deliberated for around four and a half hours before delivering not guilty verdicts on all charges.
As the verdicts were returned, Hanson smiled at his parents, who were sat in the front row of the public gallery at Derby Crown Court, and gave them a thumbs-up.
After thanking the jurors for their care in considering the case, Judge Martin Hurst told Hanson: “You have been found not guilty. That is the end of the case. You will hear no more about it and you are free to go.”
The TV star’s parents wept and hugged their son after he was discharged from the dock.
Hanson ‘relieved this is all over’
Hanson speaks to media after the verdict. Pic: PA
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Hanson said: “I’m delighted that after a year and a half the truth has finally come out.
“I can finally live my life again. I feel this burden has finally been lifted.”
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“It has been a tormentuous time and all I want now is to readjust to what has been such an ordeal,” he continued. “I am so relieved that this is all over.”
As well as regularly featuring on Bargain Hunt, Hanson has appeared on Flog It! and Antiques Road Trip.
A self-described “monster” who beat a top chef to death near Notting Hill Carnival has been jailed for life.
Omar Wilson repeatedly punched and kicked Mussie Imnetu during an altercation outside a restaurant in Queensway, west London, on 26 August last year.
Wilson, 31, then left the scene to go clubbing.
Mr Imnetu, 41, who worked under star chefs Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing, died in hospital four days later, without regaining consciousness.
Mussie Imnetu. Pic: Metropolitan Police
Sentencing Wilson to a minimum 18 years, Judge Philip Katz said Mr Imnetu’s “brutal” killing was “abhorrent”.
“Mussie and those who loved him are the victims in this case and the impact on them of his murder has been severe,” he said.
“Mussie was defenceless on the ground when you punched and kicked him to death.”
He continued: “You could not control your temper. Only a few seconds after punches were aimed by both of you you tripped Mussie and he fell to the ground and you could have walked away.
“As he knelt you rained further punches down on his head. You could have walked away.
“However, you stood up, raised your leg and kicked him hard to the head. Kicking someone to the head when they are defenceless on the ground is abhorrent.”
CCTV footage of Omar Wilson at a security point after the assault. Pic: Metropolitan Police
Mr Imnetu’s wife, Linda, described her husband as “respected, admired and loved” in a pre-recorded victim impact statement played in court.
“Mussie didn’t just leave behind a legacy for his family, he left an indelible mark on his workplace and community,” she said.
“Nothing can undo what has been taken from us. I ask the court to remember the man Mussie was: his character, his integrity and the life he built; not just the circumstances of his passing.”
An audio recording of Mr Imnetu’s six-year-old son wishing his “daddy” goodbye was also played in court, which the judge called “heart-rending”.
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CCTV footage was played in court during the trial showing Wilson approaching Mr Imnetu and headbutting him.
Around a minute later, Wilson punched Mr Imnetu five times in the head, continued to repeatedly punch him while he was on his hands and knees, and then kicked him in the head.
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Wilson of Napier Road, east London, told the Old Bailey he was acting in self defence, telling jurors: “I just regret that somebody’s life was taken while I was trying to defend mine.”
He claimed Mr Imnetu had a broken bottle – something Judge Katz described as “a deliberate lie”.
The court heard after the attack that Wilson had told an associate he “crossed the line”.
In a message, he said: “There’s a monster in me, man, and it’s just like sometimes it comes out.
“And I think I’ve messed up now, I’ve messed up, everything’s finished.”
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