Connect with us

Published

on

More than 1,100 migrants have crossed the Channel in the past week, a record for the year so far.

In total, 26 small boats made the journey from northern France to England between 4 April and 10 April, according to the latest Home Office statistics. Some 1,106 people crossed the perilous waters.

Last Wednesday also saw the highest number of migrants travelling across in a single day in 2023, with 492 refugees in 11 vessels.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Record-breaking week for crossings

It comes as the Italian coastguard rescued 1,200 people aboard two boats in the Mediterranean Sea over the Easter weekend.

On Tuesday, Italy declared a six-month national state of emergency to help it cope with a surge in migrants arriving on the country’s southern shores.

The number of migrants arriving in the UK over the past week is more than double the capacity of a barge the government has recently leased to house refugees.

The barge, which will be docked just off Portland in Dorset, is being hired by the Home Office from Bibby Marine and will be used from this summer.

It comes as the government is believed to be looking at further sites to accommodate migrants across the UK.

The Home Office has already announced three, including two ex-military bases and a former prison, that will be used as housing: RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire, an MoD site in Essex, and HMP Northeye, in Bexhill, East Sussex.

Bibby Stockholm
Image:
The barge will be docked just off Portland in Dorset

The latest figures on crossings point to what charities are describing as “unrealistic” policies by the UK government aimed at trying to deter illegal journeys.

The Rwanda deportation plan to relocate illegal migrants is still being held up pending a Court of Appeal decision this month.

Natalie Roberts, executive director for MSF in the UK, said these plans “won’t work as a deterrent policy”.

Read more:
More than 400 migrants cross Channel in one day
Suella Braverman could face legal challenge over migrant barge plan

She said: “The idea that these deterrent policies put people off, we’ve seen through long histories, our organisation has worked with refugees and migrants since we started and there are other organisations who work with refugees and migrants, and it doesn’t play into their thinking about national policies in the country that they’re aiming to get to.

“That really doesn’t play a huge factor in their choice to flee for a start, or their choice of where they are going to, so we don’t anticipate that realistically it will make any difference whatsoever.

“Putting a few hundred people on a barge is not going to make a huge difference to the numbers of people who want to claim asylum in the UK.

“An awful lot of effort and money is being put into some of these schemes which are not going to make a difference.”

This weekend also saw hundreds of migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea by the Italian coastguard.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

PM defends plans to house migrants on barge

Two large-scale operations to rescue 800 people in a fishing boat were launched, with another 400 refugees on another vessel.

Migrant crossings to Italy from North and East Africa have risen sharply compared with the same period last year.

That is despite attempts by the Italian right-wing coalition government to clamp down on migration.

It is predicted that both Mediterranean and Channel crossings will rise in the months ahead, above the numbers seen in 2022.

Continue Reading

UK

More criminal charges being considered over baby deaths at Lucy Letby hospitals

Published

on

By

More criminal charges being considered over baby deaths at Lucy Letby hospitals

The Crown Prosecution Service has said it is considering whether to bring further criminal charges over the deaths of babies at hospitals where Lucy Letby worked.

The CPS said it had received “a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital”.

“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” it added.

“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”

Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital and is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.

She is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student, between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that three managers at the Countess of Chester hospital had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

Police said the suspects, who occupied senior positions at the hospital between 2015 and 2016, have all been bailed pending further inquiries.

There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.

A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.

In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.

Earlier this year, Letby’s lawyers called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.

In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.

Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.

Continue Reading

UK

‘Catastrophic failure’ led to Heathrow power outage – with chances missed to prevent it

Published

on

By

'Catastrophic failure' led to Heathrow power outage - with chances missed to prevent it

A power outage that shut Heathrow Airport earlier this year, causing travel chaos for more than 270,000 passengers, was caused by a “catastrophic failure” of equipment in a nearby substation, according to a new report.

Experts say the fire at the North Hyde Substation, which supplies electricity to Heathrow, started following the failure of a high-voltage electrical insulator known as a bushing, before spreading.

The failure was “most likely” caused by moisture entering the equipment, according to the report.

Two chances were also missed that could have prevented the failure, experts found, the first in 2018 when a higher-than-expected level of moisture was found in oil samples.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Moment Heathrow substation ignites

Such a reading meant “an imminent fault and that the bushing should be replaced”, according to guidance by the National Grid Electricity Transmission.

However, the report by National Energy System Operator (NESO) said the appropriate responses to such a serious issue were “not actioned”, including in 2022 when basic maintenance was postponed.

“The issue therefore went unaddressed,” the report added.

The design and configuration of the airport’s internal power network meant the loss of just one of its three supply points would “result in the loss of power to operationally critical systems, leading to a suspension of operations for a significant period”, the report added.

Heathrow – which is Europe’s biggest airport – closed for around 16 hours on 21 March following the fire, before reopening at about 6pm.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Heathrow bosses were ‘warned about substation’

Around 1,300 flights were cancelled and more than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted.

Tens of millions of pounds were lost, thousands of passengers were stranded, and questions were raised about the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure.

More than 71,000 domestic and commercial customers lost power as a result of the fire and the resulting power outage, the report said.

NEOS chief executive, Fintan Slye, said there “wasn’t the control within their [National Grid’s] asset management systems that identified that this [elevated moisture levels] got missed.

“They identified a fault, [but] for some reason the transformer didn’t immediately get pulled out of service and get repaired.

“There was no control within the system that looked back and said ‘oh, hang on a second, you forgot to do this thing over here’.”

Sky’s science and technology editor, Tom Clarke, pointed to the age of the substation’s equipment, saying “some of these things are getting really very old now, coming to the end of their natural lives, and this is an illustration of what can happen if they are not really well maintained”.

The report also highlights a lack of joined-up thinking, he said, as “grid operators don’t know who’s critical national infrastructure on the network, and they don’t have priority”.

Responding to the report’s findings, a Heathrow spokesperson said: “A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid’s failure to maintain its infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.

“We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn’t repeated.

“Our own Review, led by former Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly, identified key areas for improvement and work is already underway to implement all 28 recommendations.”

In May, Ms Kelly’s investigation revealed that the airport’s chief executive couldn’t be contacted as the crisis unfolded because his phone was on silent.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who commissioned the NESO report, called it “deeply concerning”, because “known risks were not addressed by the National Grid Electricity Transmission”.

Read more on Sky News:
Starmer ‘faced down his MPs and lost’
Partial verdict in Diddy trial
Concern for player safety at Euros

Mr Miliband said energy regulator Ofgem, which opened an investigation on Wednesday after the report was published, is investigating “possible licence breaches relating to the development and maintenance of its electricity system at North Hyde.

“There are wider lessons to be learned from this incident. My department, working across government, will urgently consider the findings and recommendations set out by NESO and publish a response to the report in due course.”

The Metropolitan Police previously confirmed on 25 March that officers had “found no evidence to suggest that the incident was suspicious in nature”.

Continue Reading

UK

The PM faced down his party on welfare and lost. I suspect things may only get worse

Published

on

By

The PM faced down his party on welfare and lost. I suspect things may only get worse

So much for an end to chaos and sticking plaster politics.

Yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer abandoned his flagship welfare reforms at the eleventh hour – hectic scenes in the House of Commons that left onlookers aghast.

Facing possible defeat on his welfare bill, the PM folded in a last-minute climbdown to save his skin.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Welfare bill passes second reading

The decision was so rushed that some government insiders didn’t even know it was coming – as the deputy PM, deployed as a negotiator, scrambled to save the bill or how much it would cost.

“Too early to answer, it’s moved at a really fast pace,” said one.

The changes were enough to whittle back the rebellion to 49 MPs as the prime minister prevailed, but this was a pyrrhic victory.

Sir Keir lost the argument with his own backbenchers over his flagship welfare reforms, as they roundly rejected his proposed cuts to disability benefits for existing claimants or future ones, without a proper review of the entire personal independence payment (PIP) system first.

PM wins key welfare vote – follow latest

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Welfare bill blows ‘black hole’ in chancellor’s accounts

That in turn has blown a hole in the public finances, as billions of planned welfare savings are shelved.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves now faces the prospect of having to find £5bn.

As for the politics, the prime minister has – to use a war analogy – spilled an awful lot of blood for little reward.

He has faced down his MPs and he has lost.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘Lessons to learn’, says Kendall

They will be emboldened from this and – as some of those close to him admit – will find it even harder to govern.

After the vote, in central lobby, MPs were already saying that the government should regard this as a reset moment for relations between No 10 and the party.

The prime minister always said during the election that he would put country first and party second – and yet, less than a year into office, he finds himself pinned back by his party and blocked from making what he sees are necessary reforms.

I suspect it will only get worse. When I asked two of the rebel MPs how they expected the government to cover off the losses in welfare savings, Rachael Maskell, a leading rebel, suggested the government introduce welfare taxes.

Meanwhile, Work and Pensions Select Committee chair Debbie Abrahams told me “fiscal rules are not natural laws” – suggesting the chancellor could perhaps borrow more to fund public spending.

Read more:
How did your MP vote?
Welfare cuts branded ‘Dickensian’

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Should the govt slash the welfare budget?

These of course are both things that Ms Reeves has ruled out.

But the lesson MPs will take from this climbdown is that – if they push hard in enough and in big enough numbers – the government will give ground.

The fallout for now is that any serious cuts to welfare – something the PM says is absolutely necessary – are stalled for the time being, with the Stephen Timms review into PIP not reporting back until November 2026.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Tearful MP urges govt to reconsider

Had the government done this differently and reviewed the system before trying to impose the cuts – a process only done ahead of the Spring Statement in order to help the chancellor fix her fiscal black hole – they may have had more success.

Those close to the PM say he wants to deliver on the mandate the country gave him in last year’s election, and point out that Sir Keir Starmer is often underestimated – first as party leader and now as prime minister.

But on this occasion, he underestimated his own MPs.

His job was already difficult enough – and after this it will be even harder still.

If he can’t govern his party, he can’t deliver change he promised.

Continue Reading

Trending