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“God Save the King” – four words unlikely to be on the lips of many Jamaicans at the weekend during the Coronation of King Charles. “Happy and glorious” – also a long stretch.

In a world exclusive, a senior Jamaican government minister has told Sky News that the Coronation of the King has accelerated the country’s plans to become a Republic – as soon as next year.

Sky News can reveal that an “urgent” referendum could be held “as early as 2024”, which means Jamaica could become independent of the British monarchy and have its own president by next year, according to Marlene Malahoo Forte, Jamaica’s Minister for Legal and Constitutional Affairs.

She said: “While the United Kingdom is celebrating the coronation of the King, that is for the United Kingdom. Jamaica is looking to write a new constitution (…) which will sever ties with the monarch as our Head of State.

Jamaica
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Marlene Malahoo Forte

“Time has come. Jamaica in Jamaican hands. We have to get it done, especially with the transition in the monarchy. My government is saying we have to do it now.

“Time to say bye bye!”

Ms Malahoo Forte has described her timeline as “ambitious”, as it requires public consultations and a Bill being brought to Parliament – which she hopes to introduce this month, after the King’s Coronation.

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Passing the Bill could take up to nine months, which would subsequently need to be passed by the people in a referendum – effectively “a general election”.

Why now?

The Former Attorney General said: “A lot of Jamaicans had warm affection and identified with Queen Elizabeth II. When Jamaica became independent, Queen Elizabeth was already on the throne.

“But they do not identify with King Charles. He is as foreign as it gets to us. Plain and simple.”

File photo dated 16/02/23 of King Charles III waving during a visit to the Milton Keynes food bank, as millions watching the coronation around the world are to be asked to cry out and swear allegiance to the King, with the public given an active role in the ancient ceremony for the first time in history.
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Malahoo Forte told Sky News that Jamaicans do not identify with King Charles

Ms Malahoo Forte told Sky News that her government’s desire for Jamaican self-determination has, in part, been influenced by the Royal family’s “own set of issues internally”.

“Issues,” she added, “which have been playing out in the news. Jamaicans are saying this is a time for Jamaica to sort itself out – and doing so means we want another form of government.”

An apology – or lack of – for the slave trade

According to Ms Malahoo Forte, Jamaica has a “complex” relationship with the United Kingdom.

“(Republicanism) is about us saying goodbye to a form of government that is linked to a painful past of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.”

According to the National Library of Jamaica, during the transatlantic slave trade, around 600,000 captive Africans were forcibly sent to Jamaica – making Britain one of the largest slave traders in the Atlantic in the 18th century.

This historic event is still a major issue in the present.

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Prince William: Slavery ‘forever stains our history’

Last year, during the Prince and Princess of Wales’s controversial tour to the Caribbean – Prince William acknowledged the issue, but fell short of an apology.

In his speech, Prince William lamented that “slavery was abhorrent” and that “it should never have happened”.

However, for the descendants of those once enslaved, his words were simply not good enough.

“A step in the right direction, but not far enough at all,” Ms Malahoo Forte told Sky News.

“If you acknowledge that it is wrong… I wonder, why not a full apology? It is because you may have to give back the wealth of the monarchy, taken from the people? Taken from the places that were colonised? Taken from the places where the people were enslaved?”

March 2022: A royal tour beset with poor optics and echoes of colonialism, say critics.
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March 2022: A royal tour beset with poor optics and echoes of colonialism, say critics.

The Question of Reparations

The Minister’s nod to reparations did not stop there. “If there is any sincerity in the acknowledgement, it has to go further,” Ms Malahoo Forte told Sky News. “Nothing short of a full apology, plus concrete steps to repair the wrong, will suffice.”

“[Reparations] are what the people of Jamaica want, and it is something that the government will do.”

She added: “I think it is something that the monarchy should think long and hard about as they themselves are grappling with their relevance today. I’ve looked at the polls!”

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said that King Charles takes the issue of slavery “profoundly seriously”, and that the matter of Republicanism, “is purely a matter for each member country to decide.”

HMT Empire Windrush arrived in Tilbury, Essex, in 1948 carrying people from the West Indies to settle in the UK to fill post-war job vacancies.
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HMT Empire Windrush arrived in 1948 carrying people from the West Indies to settle in the UK to fill post-war job vacancies

The Windrush Scandal Hitting Home

However, it’s not just the Royals swaying public opinion in Jamaica.

Political decisions made four-and-a-half-thousand miles away in Britain are also responsible for Jamaica’s acceleration towards a Republic, Ms Malahoo Forte told Sky News.

“Jamaicans living in the United Kingdom have experienced the worst of policies that can be regarded as racist.

“Windrush was personal for our people. Personal. Many [affected] are our families, our friends, our people.

“Unfortunately, the UK government got it so wrong. For people who went there to build up the wealth (of Britain). The policies are racist and unjust – by virtue of nationality, ethnic background, and the colour of your skin.

“It’s just not right.”

A government spokesperson told Sky News that the UK is “committed” to its relationship with Jamaica “regardless of its constitutional status”, and that it remains “determined to righting the wrongs of Windrush… to make sure such an injustice is never repeated.”

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Going Republic – ‘The unfinished business of decolonisation’

Professor Rosalea Hamilton, co-chair of the Advocates Network pushing for constitutional reform, told Sky News that the drive for republicanism is “the unfinished business of decolonisation and emancipation”.

She said: “Nobody has been able to put to me – or to anybody – a convincing, tangible benefit for the King as the Head of State.

“Many young people are especially asking what’s the relevance? How does a King affect the price of bread?”

But are Jamaicans ready to sever ties?

“There are Jamaicans who will sit very glued to their television and will enjoy the pomp and ceremony. The older generation… saw Britain as a motherland,” Professor Hamilton said.

Jamaica
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In capital Kingston, there are remnants of colonial architecture in almost every street

In Downtown Kingston, Sky News came across a group of elderly Jamaican men playing a heated game of Dominoes.

Banton was among them – he disagrees with the 2024 timeline, and strongly believes that the status quo – with King Charles as the island’s monarch and head of state – should remain.

He said: “The Crown is protection for Jamaica.

Banton
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Banton strongly believes the King should remain head of state in Jamaica

“I want to tell you sumtin. Stick to the evil that you know. I’m not saying they’re good. They are evil. But I will stick to the evil that I know.”

His friend John added: “It’s not a good idea. We don’t think we are ready for it. We don’t have the resource. We don’t!

“We are like a child. You cannot leave a child like that!”

A Jamaican Republic is far from a done deal – and the Jamaican government have their work cut out for them if they are to stick the timeline they shared with Sky News.

However, if the government’s plan succeeds, 2024 could be a major year with huge ramifications – not just for Jamaicans, but the monarchy, and the Commonwealth as a whole.

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Southport stabbing victim reveals how she survived attack – and fears ‘it could happen again’

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Southport stabbing victim reveals how she survived attack - and fears 'it could happen again'

A girl who was stabbed in the Southport attack has told Sky News how she thought she was going to die that day.

Warning: Some readers may find this content distressing

It is exactly a year since Axel Rudakubana killed three girls and attempted to murder eight others at a summer holiday Taylor Swift-themed dance event in the seaside town.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was stabbed in the back and the arm after going to the class with her younger sister.

She is now campaigning for children to have mandatory first aid training at school in response to the growth of knife crime.

She said she clearly remembers what happened that day.

Flowers and tributes near the scene of the attack a year ago. Pic: PA
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Flowers and tributes near the scene of the attack a year ago. Pic: PA

“Some of the girls were sat down in a circle making bracelets with the teachers, and a couple of them were getting up to get beads. I was standing between two tables and he came through the doors.

“He stabbed a little girl in front of me and then came for me and stabbed my arm. I turned and then he stabbed my back, even though I didn’t feel it at the time.

“There was a bunch of girls huddled around so I just started pushing them down the stairs, telling them to get out and run.

“I was thinking ‘Where’s my sister?’ and ‘We need to get out’.”

She and many of the other victims ran to the house of a neighbour for shelter. “I just thought that I was going to die,” she said.

Killer ‘looked possessed’

The girl said she can clearly picture Rudakubana that day.

“What I remember most about him is his eyes. They just didn’t look human, they looked possessed. It was kind of like a dream and you’re on a movie set and watching yourself go through it and make these decisions.

“It’s just kind of like adrenaline. People like to think they know what they’d do in that situation but, in reality, you don’t until you’re in it.”

Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were murdered in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class.
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Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were murdered in the attack

Six-year-old Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, who was seven, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar died in the attack. It is something she finds difficult to talk about.

“I don’t think I can express how I feel about it,” the girl said. “A lot of anger and sadness.”

In January, Rudakubana was jailed for life and must serve a minimum of 52 years before he can be considered for release.

The chairman of the public inquiry into the atrocity called the attack “one of the most egregious crimes in our country’s history”.

Carrying knives ‘disgusting’

The girl who survived has now launched a campaign, supported by a clothing range called “Go Anywhere, Be Anything” to raise funds, to improve the ability of schoolchildren to help in the event of knife attacks.

“Everyone that’s going out and carrying knives is getting younger and younger,” she said. “And to think that it’s people my age is like disgusting.

“I just want to try and do the best I can to let people know that it’s not okay to do that and that they need to think about what they’re doing and the risks and how they’re harming themselves and other people.”

Her sister, who was also there that day, helped design “Go Anywhere, Be Anything”.

Read more:
Missed chances to stop Rudakubana

‘Terrorism has changed’, says PM

A three-minute silence will be held in Southport at 3pm to mark one year on from the attack. In an open letter to the community, Sefton Council wrote: “This period is incredibly hard for the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie and all of those children and adults injured or who suffered lifelong psychological impact of witnessing the attack, and we acknowledge the huge impact on their lives, too.

“We must not forget the local people who rushed to support and to our emergency responders. They all remain always in our thoughts.”

It is a sentiment shared by the survivor.

“You live in fear every day that it could happen again,” she said.

“Physically I’m getting better every day and healing. Obviously, my scars stay as a reminder but everyone from that day is going to have mental scars forever.”

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Revealed: The scale of cheap Chinese imports flown into UK without paying any tariffs

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Revealed: The scale of cheap Chinese imports flown into UK without paying any tariffs

The scale of cheap Chinese e-commerce imports flown into Britain without paying any tariffs has become clearer following a Sky News investigation into this new multi-billion pound phenomenon.

We have uncovered the first official estimate of the value of so-called “de minimis” imports into Britain, ahead of an official inquiry into whether this legal clause – which excludes packages worth less than £135 from paying customs duties – should be allowed to continue.

Companies like Shein and Temu have become big players in British retail, not to mention elsewhere around the world, by manufacturing cheap products in China and then posting them directly to consumers, benefiting from the de minimis rules.

Inside the cargo plane

Clothing manufacturers in the UK claim that de minimis makes it nearly impossible to compete with these Chinese competitors, raising questions about the viability of domestic textile and apparel production.

However, economists argue that the main beneficiaries of the policy to exclude cheap imports from customs are lower-income households, since it allows them to spend less on their shopping. Removing it, they say, would disproportionately affect poorer families.

The government has committed to an inquiry into the rules, which are also being changed in the EU and the US, but up until now there has been no official estimate of its scale.

According to HM Revenue and Customs data released to Sky News following a Freedom of Information request, the total declared trade value of de minimis imports into the UK in the last fiscal year (2024-25) was £5.9bn.

That was a 53% increase on the previous year (£3.9bn), underlining the scale of growth of e-commerce imports into the UK.

While it is hard to gauge how much revenue this means the Treasury has forgone, an illustrative 20% tariff on flows of that order could raise more than £1bn.

De minimis trade is growing

While that sum alone would not fill the fiscal black hole faced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the coming budget, it would nonetheless be nearly enough to pay for the government’s recent U-turn on winter fuel allowances.

Sky has also obtained the first television access deep into the supply chain, helping bring those goods into the UK, as it boarded a flight that had just travelled from Chongqing to Bournemouth Airport.

We filmed inside the belly of a plane belonging to European Cargo, one of a number of air cargo firms booming as a result of these trade flows.

Read more:
The rarely examined trade clause about to become a very big deal
UK city’s clothing industry in crisis

The untold story about de minimis is that it hasn’t just had an impact on shopping habits in the UK, or for that matter, the textiles manufacturing sector – it has also changed patterns of distribution.

Struggling regional airports that never saw their passenger numbers recover after the pandemic are now re-establishing themselves as hubs for cargo.

European Cargo is now the single biggest airline at Bournemouth Airport, despite not carrying a single passenger.

Other regional airports like East Midlands Airport and Prestwick in Scotland are seeing rapid growth in flows of trade.

All of which raises the stakes for the government’s inquiry into the de minimis system.

At present, there is no timeline for its decision, but removing the clause would have far-reaching effects across the economy.

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Lionesses parade: The route and key timings as thousands of England fans to descend on central London

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Lionesses parade: The route and key timings as thousands of England fans to descend on central London

The Lionesses will celebrate with thousands of England fans in central London today as the players take part in an open-top bus procession.

The bus will carry the team through central London, allowing supporters to celebrate the team’s defence of their Women’s Euros title alongside the likes of Leah Williamson and Chloe Kelly and catch a glimpse of the silverware.

Here is all you need to know.

Where will the parade go and when?

The team’s open-top bus will travel along The Mall from 12.10pm.

It will end with a staged ceremony at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, which is expected to start at roughly 12.30pm and end at 1pm, the Football Association (FA) announced.

The Royal Marines Portsmouth band and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force will perform on the stage and highlights from the tournament will be shown on big screens.

England manager Sarina Wiegman will then lead her triumphant team out on stage to lift the trophy.

The event will be hosted by former Lioness and football pundit Alex Scott.

Fans will be able to attend the event for free, but the FA have warned that the capital is going to be “very busy”.

“People should plan their visits carefully, both coming into central London and travelling home,” the association said.

England players celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Women's Euro 2025. Pic: Reuters
Image:
England players celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. Pic: Reuters

How to watch

You can watch coverage of the entire event live on Sky News from 10am and follow all the action with our live blog.

Fans can also follow coverage of the event on the BBC, ITV and across England’s social media channels.

Celebrations with the deputy PM

The Lionesses landed back in the UK from Basel, Switzerland, on Monday, where celebrations continued with a reception at Downing Street.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and sports minister Stephanie Peacock hosted the team ahead of today’s bus parade.

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‘It’s very, very special’

Sir Keir Starmer said: “The Lionesses have once again captured the hearts of the nation.

“Their victory is not only a remarkable sporting achievement, but an inspiration for young people across the country.”

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Chloe Kelly saves England again

An extra bank holiday?

As the team have become the first senior England side to win a major tournament on foreign soil, some have called for an extra bank holiday to mark the occasion.

Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey was one of those who asked the prime minister if it was “time for that bank holiday”.

He was referring to comments made by Sir Keir in 2023. When, as leader of the opposition, he wrote on X that there “should be a celebratory bank holiday if the Lionesses bring it home”.

But with estimates suggesting an extra bank holiday would cost the economy £2.4bn, it’s understood such a move isn’t being planned by Downing Street.

‘There is no stopping them now’

The impact of the Lionesses second consecutive Euros title is already being felt across the UK.

At Bearsted Football Club in Maidstone, Kent, a mural of Alessia Russo, who levelled Sunday’s final with a goal in the 56th minute, has been unveiled.

Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Final - England v Spain - St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland - July 27, 2025 England's Alessia Ru
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Alessia Russo scoring the levelling goal. Pic: Reuters

The club is where Russo first started playing, and chairman Jamie Houston told Sky News the Lionesses have helped transform the women’s game.

“Five years ago we never had a girl’s football team,” he told Sky correspondent Mollie Malone. “Now we have five separate teams for girls, and boys are accepting of more girls in the game.

“There is no stopping them now.”

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What’s next for the Lionesses?

Read more:
In pictures: The story of the Euros final
Fans celebrate at club where Lioness began journey
Analysis: England showed resolve and relentlessness

Lynda Hale, who played in the England squad in the first ever international women’s match against Scotland in 1972, reiterated that women’s football has changed drastically since she played.

“When I first started playing there was hardly anyone that would watch,” she told Sky News Breakfast.

“To put on the England shirt and think what we started has grown to this magnitude, and it is still going to grow, is absolutely fantastic. I think the sky’s the limit in women’s football.”

Asked what advice she would have for the current England squad after their win, Ms Hale said: “The girls need to make as many memories as they can and take everything in their stride.”

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