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A distraught mother-of-two who is infuriated by the cost of feeding her baby has backed the idea of a price cap on all infant formula milk.

Hertfordshire mum Kerry Redmond, 27, spoke to Sky News about the dread she now feels walking into a supermarket to buy formula.

Kerry Redmond
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Kerry Redmond

It comes as:

  • British brand Kendamil calls for more transparency on pricing
  • A leading MP proposes a price cap on baby formula
  • Charities and baby banks demand further action
  • Calls for a UK Government inquiry continue

Ms Redmond told Sky News: “You feel uncomfortable even walking down the baby aisle looking at the baby milk because the staff think ‘oh they are going to nick that’.”

“It happened recently… I paid for my milk, and I went out the shop and the security guard followed me to the car because he thought I had nicked that milk and I had the receipt in my hand.

“You are treated as a criminal just because you want to go and buy baby milk.”

The mum-of-two is so infuriated by the situations where some families are resorting to unsafe feeding that she has started a petition calling on the government to intervene to help UK parents.

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“When your child is hungry,” she said, “I would go to the end of the world and back to feed my kids but with everything going up it’s just not physically possible.

“It’s disgusting, I’m appalled by it. They have to do something.”

baby formula
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A Sky News investigation into the effects of price rises for formula milk found that parents are taking more extreme steps to feed their babies – including watering down feeds, substituting formula with condensed milk, stealing from the shops or buying open second-hand tubs of formula online.

Charities and infant feeding specialists warned that the UK is on the “brink of a public health crisis”.

Alison Thewliss MP, the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infant Feeding, told Sky News: “The net effect is children growing up with developmental issues because they haven’t had the proper nutrition that is needed.

“That’s the kind of thing you see in countries where there has been famine or malnutrition or war. That should not be happening in the United Kingdom in 2023.”

The Glasgow Central SNP MP called for the UK government to conduct an immediate review into formula price increases and said: “I think it’s also important to see if the government could do something around a ceiling on the cost of infant formula because it is rising – rising significantly.

“The government have a role here and their role should be to make sure that babies get fed.”

She added: “There’s no reason why one (formula tub) should cost £10 and one should cost £15. And £10, I would say, is already too much for many families.”

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The ‘crisis’ in baby formula prices will lead to ‘consequences’ – Alison Thewliss

The baby formula industry finds itself under scrutiny and Kendamil, the only manufacturer based in the UK, has told Sky News companies could be doing more.

Every manufacturer we’ve spoken to blames significantly higher production costs for the price rises.

Kendamil’s commercial director, Will McMahon, spoke to Sky News inside their Cumbria factory.

He said: “We can’t ignore the macroeconomic shocks that we’ve had and the COVID disruptions to supply chains, the war in Ukraine and the massive impact on raw material inflation, energy price inflation. It is real.

“It’s been toughest on parents and it’s devastating to see… but it is the result of consistent cost price inflation led by the multinational conglomerates that control this market.

“Where we would like more transparency is about the enormous price discrepancies between very similar baby formulas.”

Read more:
What can you do if you’re struggling to buy baby formula?
The supermarket products which have doubled in price year on year
Soaring cost of baby formula leading to unsafe feeding practices

When pressed on whether the industry is truly trying to keep cost rises to a minimum, Mr McMahon said: “I don’t think that they are pricing those products as cheap as they could price them for families.”

New data from First Steps Nutrition shows average prices have risen 24% over the past two years.

The cheapest brand of formula milk, Aldi’s Mamia, has risen by 45% in the same time period.

Other brands have risen between 17% and 31% over two years.

The latest on the cost of living crisis

In response, Danone – the company which makes Aptamil and Cow&Gate formula – told Sky News it is trying to minimise price rises.

The firm added: “To help parents, we are working with key retailers to offer bigger format value packs, which we have also committed to keep at the same price to retailers throughout 2023.

“Ultimately, individual retailers set the selling price in their stores for all products.”

Nestle, which makes the SMA formula brands, said: “We are open to a discussion with government about how best to ensure that parents have reliable and safe access to formula for their babies.”

Aldi did not respond to our request for comment.

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When Sky News asked the prime minister about the prices of baby formula, Rishi Sunak said: “I know the cost of living is the number one challenge facing British families at the moment.

“With food in particular, which of course, is something we want to help with, we’ve got to recognise right now there are challenges across Europe, inflation rates in most European countries similar to ours.

“We have particular support for young families, something called Healthy Start vouchers, which provide money to young, young families with the costs of fresh food.

“But also the household support fund is £1bn that we’ve given to local councils that families can go and talk to their council about to get that extra support that’s specific there to help them.”

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‘I know it’s theft, but I think it’s criminal how much they charge for this stuff’

Campaigners and charities say the value of a Healthy Start voucher no longer covers the cost of a tub of formula milk and have called for it to be raised.

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‘Physical threat’ from Iran on people living in UK has ‘increased significantly’, watchdog says

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'Physical threat' from Iran on people living in UK has 'increased significantly', watchdog says

The threat of physical attacks by Iran on people living in the UK has increased “significantly” since 2022, according to a new report by parliament’s intelligence watchdog.

Iran poses a “wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat” to the UK, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee.

It also said Iran’s intelligence services were “willing and able – often through third party agents – to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK”.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pic: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters

The report said there have been 15 murder or kidnap attempts against British citizens or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022 and August 2023.

Sky News has approached the Iranian embassy for a comment.

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Millions of Iranians unite in mourning

The report authors add: “Whilst Iran’s activity appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China, Iran poses a wide-ranging threat to UK national security, which should not be underestimated: it is persistent and crucially – unpredictable.”

The committee also says that while the threat is often focused on dissidents and other opponents to the regime, there is also an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK.

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The report warns that while Iran has not developed a nuclear weapon, it has taken steps towards that goal.

It found that Iran had been “broadly compliant” with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), aimed at limiting its nuclear ambitions.

But since Donald Trump withdrew from that deal in 2018, the report said the nuclear threat had increased and Tehran “had the capability to arm in a relatively short period”.

The UK government is also accused of “fire-fighting” rather than developing a real understanding of Iran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and military commanders watch as military equipment passes by during the National Army Day parade
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Iran’s president oversees a parade in Tehran in April showing off the country’s military hardware. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters

An Iranian missile is seen during the National Army Day parade ceremony in Tehran
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Missiles are paraded through the capital during the recent National Army Day ceremony. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters

The report says: “The government’s policy on Iran has suffered from a focus on crisis management, driven by concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, to the exclusion of other issues.

“As one of our expert witnesses told the committee: ‘Strategy is not a word that I think has crossed the lips of policy makers for a while, certainly not in relation to Iran’.”

The committee concluded its evidence-taking in August 2023, the result of two years of work, but the report authors say their conclusions “remain relevant”.

But the report authors questioned whether UK sanctions against individuals would “in practice deliver behavioural change. Or in fact unhelpfully push Iran towards China”.

The committee also said the British government should consider proscribing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), although some argue it would limit the UK’s ability to talk to and influence Iran.

Read more from Sky News:
Who is Iran’s supreme leader?
Defiant Khamenei makes appearance
Anger in Iran over US and Israeli strikes

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Responding to the report, a UK government spokesperson said: “The government will take action wherever necessary to protect national security, which is a foundation of our plan for change.

“We have already placed Iran on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme and introduced further sanctions against individuals and entities linked to Iran, bringing the total number of sanctions to 450.”

British security services say Tehran uses criminal proxies to carry out its work in Britain.

In December, two Romanians were charged after a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London was stabbed in the leg. In May, three Iranian men appeared in court charged with assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service and plotting violence against journalists.

Earlier this year, the UK government said it would require the Iranian state to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK, because of what it called increasingly aggressive activity.

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‘A constant game of cat and mouse’: Inside the crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

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'A constant game of cat and mouse': Inside the crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.

“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.

“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”

Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.

Police chase suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery drivers

The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.

“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.

“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”

Murad Mohammed from Immigration Enforcement
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Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue

Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.

He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.

He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.

A man inspects the Just Eat food delivery bag of a suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver

We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.

Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.

This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.

Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’s retail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.

Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum
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Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News

She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.

“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.

“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver being arrested

There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.

Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.

But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.

“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.

Read more:
Welfare bill passes final Commons stage after another concession
Ex-Tory chairman defects to Reform
Wealth tax could be coming to the UK – what is it?

The gig economy – so prevalent in every city – creates another incentive for those wanting to risk their lives coming to the UK illegally.

More than 20,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to the UK in 2025 – a record number at this point of the year.

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver holds his helmet

For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.

There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.

As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.

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This flimsy vessel carrying migrants could reach British waters in a few hours’ time

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This flimsy vessel carrying migrants could be hours away from reaching British waters

We see the boat from a distance – the orange of the life jackets reflected in the rising sun.

And as we draw closer, we can make out dozens of people crowded on board as it sets off from the shore, from a beach near Dunkirk.

There is no sign of any police activity on the shore, and there are no police vessels in the water.

Instead, the migrants crammed into an inflatable dinghy are being watched by us, on board a private boat, and the looming figure of the Minck, a French search and rescue ship that soon arrives.

Picture to go with Adam Parsons' eyewitness of migrants crossing on 10/07/25
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Minck, a French search and rescue ship, shadows the boat

The dinghy meanders. It’s not heading towards Britain but rather hugging the coast.

A few of the passengers wave at us cheerfully, but then the boat starts to head back towards the shore.

Picture to go with Adam Parsons' eyewitness of migrants crossing on 10/07/25
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Sky’s Adam Parsons at the scene

As it nears a different beach, we see a police vehicle – a dune buggy – heading down to meet it.

Normal practice is for French police officers to slice through the material of any of these small boats that end up back on shore.

Two police officers get out of the buggy and wait. A police helicopter arrives and circles above, performing a tight circle over the heads of the migrants.

The police think they might be about to go back on to the beach; in fact, these passengers know that most of them are staying put.

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The boat stops a short distance from the shore and four people jump out. As they wade towards the beach, the boat turns and starts to head back out to sea.

We see the two police officers approach these four men and have a brief conversation.

They don’t appear to check the bags they are carrying and, if they do question them about why they left the boat, it is the most cursory of conversations.

In reality, these people probably don’t speak French but they were almost certainly involved in arranging this crossing, which is against the law. But all four walk away, disappearing into the dunes at the back of the beach.

Read more:
Why do so many from around the world try to cross the Channel?
Channel crossings rise by 50% in first six months of 2025

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Why do migrants want to come to the UK?

We follow the boat as it chugs off in the direction of Britain, carrying around 50 people.

The Minck returns to shadowing its progress, but its job is limited to offering help if the boat gets into trouble.

Otherwise, if the engine keeps working, then this flimsy vessel will reach British waters in a few hours’ time.

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