Connect with us

Published

on

Interest rates are up, house prices are down, the small boats are still coming, and NHS doctors are striking.

Labour are still 20 points ahead of the Conservatives in the poll of polls.

As he contemplates his political future and the lack of progress on his five pledges, it is understandable that the prime minister might want a summer holiday break from the day job.

Rishi Sunak’s desire to get away can only have increased as he suffers personalised indignities.

Veteran campaigners from Greenpeace have given Just Stop Oil a lesson in how protest can be done, attracting attention without antagonising the public, by draping the Sunaks’ Yorkshire mansion in black.

Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's house in Richmond, North Yorkshire after covering it in black fabric in protest at his backing for expansion of North Sea oil and gas drilling. Picture date: Thursday August 3, 2023.
Image:
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house

Even the prime minister’s sartorial choices have come under attack with an arrows-point-to-defective-parts scrutiny of his made to measure suits.

“Sunak needs his suits to be nipped in – anything else would drown him,” the style editor of The Daily Telegraph concedes, “but the cropped proportions mean his trouser leg rides up to mid-calf.”

Crisis, what crisis?

Only a few miserable souls will begrudge the prime minister some time off, especially since we are told that he will be back at work, in Blighty, in only a few days.

The modest length of his holiday will not take targets off his back. Prime ministers struggle to hit the right note with their holidays and usually get it wrong.

Is it too flashy? Too boring? Too foreign? Bad for the environment? And who is really paying for it?

These delicate questions explain why Number 10 spokespeople made the mistake of refusing to give details of where the Sunak family were heading.

It was an error because denial will only perk up interest.

Past form shows that newshounds were bound to sniff out the location anyway and would then pap photos more enthusiastically than if they had been served up with a photo opportunity.

David Cameron learnt this lesson the hard way after having his man boobs snapped on a Cornish beach.

POLZEATH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23:  British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha have a coffee outside the Galleon Beach Cafe following an early morning swim in the sea during his holiday in the small seaside resort of Polzeath on August 23, 2015 in Cornwall, England.
Image:
British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha on holiday in Cornwall in 2015

From then on, Cameron holidays began with a posed picture, usually of the beshirted prime minister pointing at dead fish in a market.

It took less than 24 hours for Mr Sunak’s secret destination to be exposed.

The prime minister came clean in a rare extended radio phone-in which came across like a public request for permission to have a break afterwards. Sunak duly pleaded that this holiday is a “special trip”.

“We’re going to California, which is where I met my wife, so it’s very special to us,” he explained to listeners, “but the kids are very excited because I’m taking them to Disneyland”.

It later emerged that the Mickey Mouse visit may be as much for their father as for his daughters Krishna and Anoushka.

“They have sadly grown out of princesses,” the prime minister admitted – but “there’s a new, well not that new anymore, Star Wars bit of Disneyland which I’m very excited about”.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, his wife Akshata Murty and daughters Anoushka and Krishna
Image:
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, his wife Akshata Murty and daughters Anoushka and Krishna

Not much to complain about so far. Lots of Brits take their families Disneyward, though most opt for the shorter-haul flights to Disneyworld in Florida rather than Disneyland in California.

Sunak has long advertised his softer side as a Star Wars geek. He collects merchandise from the franchise including a toy lightsabre, and called in the cameras to film his visit to the last blockbuster episode, accompanying his then “boss” Sajid Javid.

A California beach holiday is a lot grander than Cornwall or the walks in the Alps and Snowdonia favoured by Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip.

The Sunaks are trying to muffle extravagance by flying “commercial” rather than indulging the prime minister’s predilection for private jets. That is canny of them – a “PJ” return trip for the family would cost around $300,000 (£235,000).

They’ll be more frugality because they’ll be no hotel or rental costs. The Sunak’s will be staying in the $5m (£3.9m) penthouse apartment they already own on Ocean Boulevard in Santa Monica.

Though whether it will be big enough to accommodate the prime ministerial entourage, funded by the taxpayer, is another question.

According to Cherie Blair, her husband’s prime ministerial vacations required the presence of “three garden girls (the Downing Street secretaries) to do shifts because he has to have a 24-hour office, the comms people to take in secure lines to the White House and No 10, the detectives who come every day with the red boxes”.

Mr Sunak may get by with a smaller team since he is only expecting “daily updates from his private office”.

The Blairs did not have the wealth of Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy.

Read more:
Rishi Sunak takes part in Taylor Swift-themed fitness class in LA
Sunak family stroll along California pier in holiday photos

Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, shelter under an umbrella at St Bees in Cumbria where they took a break from their holiday with their children to meet the media. *......They are expected to stay in the county, which is still recovering from the devastating effects of last year's foot and mouth disease, until Sunday before going to France for two weeks.
Image:
Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, on holiday in Cumbria in 2002

Cherie admits the family were “house bandits” inviting themselves as guests in other people’s property.

Blair’s image was damaged by the hospitality he accepted from Sir Cliff Richard, the Bee Gee Maurice Gibb, the Bamford JCB dynasty and the Italian aristocrat Prince Girolamo Strozzi, among others.

Having pitched her tent on a campsite in Cornwall, the Labour MP Caroline Flint was surprised to see the then prime minister walking by.

That year, following the foot and mouth outbreak, the Blairs fitted in an unconvincing “holiday at home” away from the sun.

Margaret Thatcher used to impose on a friend as well. She spent several summer breaks away from Number 10 at the Swiss lakeside schloss of Lady Elenore Glover, the widow of a Tory MP.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

By all accounts she did not enjoy her leisure time and packed in as many official trips and visitors as she could.

The surprising exception was when she turned up in Cameron territory on a Cornish beach with a spaniel called Polo on a lead, and her husband Dennis.

It was the day after she had surgery on her hand, and the purpose was to demonstrate that the Iron Lady still had an iron grip under the bandages.

John Major and Gordon Brown did not attract attention with their holidays because they did not amount to much.

Major watched cricket and bought a second home in Norfolk.

A glum looking Brown took off his red tie in Suffolk but rushed back to London at the first news of anything happening.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah walk through Whitlingham Country Park in Trowse
Image:
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah walk through Whitlingham Country Park in Trowse in 2008

Like much else during his premiership, Boris Johnson’s holiday diary was chaotic – including Perugia, Greece, Mustique and Margate.

It remains a mystery who picked up the tap for some of his luxury trips with Carrie.

He almost certainly did pay himself for their memorable budget trip to a remote Scottish cottage in 2020 with their new baby. That idyll was cut short when photographers took unauthorised pictures of the couple.

Prime Minister Sunak has not done himself any damage with this year’s family holiday.

He claims not to have had a proper one for four years. Efforts to get away last summer were certainly blighted by his leadership battle with Liz Truss and the death of the Queen.

He has not notched up any points as a man of the people either, with the well-heeled trip to California.

The choice confirms what the world already thought of the couple who met at the elite Stanford University, not far from Disneyland.

No score with the holiday can be seen as a win for this prime minister facing the live possibility that the next general election could free him “to spend more time with the family”, as ministers thrust out of office like to put it.

Otherwise, expressed in the cruder words to errant underlings of an old Sky News boss, “go on holiday permanently, mate!”.

Continue Reading

UK

Care whistleblower ‘who saw elderly resident being punched’ could face removal from Britain

Published

on

By

Care whistleblower 'who saw elderly resident being punched' could face removal from Britain

A care worker who reported the alleged abuse of an elderly care home resident, which triggered a criminal investigation, is facing destitution and potential removal from Britain after speaking up.

“Meera”, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, said she witnessed an elderly male resident being punched several times in the back by a carer at the home where she worked.

Sky News is unable to name the care home for legal reasons because of the ongoing police investigation.

“I was [a] whistleblower there,” said Meera, who came to the UK from India last year to work at the home.

“Instead of addressing things, they fired me… I told them everything and they made me feel like I am criminal. I am not criminal, I am saving lives,” she added.

Meera
Image:
‘Meera’ spoke up about abuse she said she witnessed in the care home where she worked

Like thousands of foreign care workers, Meera’s employer sponsored her visa. Unless she can find another sponsor, she now faces the prospect of removal from the country.

“I am in trouble right now and no one is trying to help me,” she said.

More on Migrant Crisis

Meera said she reported the alleged abuse to her bosses, but was called to a meeting with a manager and told to “change your statement, otherwise we will dismiss you”.

She refused. The following month, she was sacked.

The care home claimed she failed to perform to the required standard in the job.

She went to the police to report the alleged abuse and since then, a number of people from the care home have been arrested. They remain under investigation.

‘Migrants recruited because many are too afraid to speak out’

The home has capacity for over 60 residents. It is unclear if the care home residents or their relatives know about the police investigation or claim of physical abuse.

Since the arrests, the regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), carried out an investigation at the home triggered by the concerns – but the home retained its ‘good’ rating.

Meera has had no reassurance from the authorities that she will be allowed to remain in Britain.

In order to stay, she’ll need to find another care home to sponsor her which she believes will be impossible without references from her previous employer.

She warned families: “I just want to know people in care homes like these… your person, your father, your parents, is not safe.”

She claimed some care homes have preferred to recruit migrants because many are too afraid to speak out.

“You hire local staff, they know the legal rights,” she said. “They can complain, they can work anywhere… they can raise [their] voice,” she said.

Becky Johnson
Image:
Sky’s Becky Johnson spoke to ‘Meera’

Sky News has reported widespread exploitation of care visas and migrant care workers.

Read more:
More than 100 migrants face being in UK illegally
Immigration crackdown will fuel ‘exodus’ of nurses
New English language and UK citizenship requirements for migrants

Currently migrants make up around a third of the adult social care workforce, with the majority here on visas that are sponsored by their employers.

As part of measures announced in April in the government’s immigration white paper, the care visa route will be closed, meaning care homes will no longer be able to recruit abroad.

‘Whole system is based on power imbalance’

But the chief executive of the Work Rights Centre, a charity that helps migrants with employment issues, is warning that little will change for the tens of thousands of foreign care workers already here.

“The whole system is based on power imbalance and the government announcement doesn’t change that,” Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol told Sky News.

She linked the conditions for workers to poor care for residents.

Dr Dora
Image:
Work Rights Centre CEO Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol

“I think the power that employers have over migrant workers’ visas really makes a terrible contribution to the quality of care,” she said.

Imran agrees. He came to the UK from Bangladesh, sponsored by a care company unrelated to the one Meera worked for. He says he frequently had to work 14-hour shifts with no break because there weren’t enough staff. He too believes vulnerable people are being put at risk by the working conditions of their carers.

Migrant workers ‘threatened’ over visas

“For four clients, there is [a] minimum requirement for two or three staff. I was doing [it] alone,” he said, in broken English.

“When I try to speak, they just directly threaten me about my visa,” he said.

“I knew two or three of my colleagues, they are facing the same issue like me. But they’re still afraid to speak up because of the visa.”

Meera

A government spokesperson called what happened to Imran and Meera “shocking”.

“No one should go to work in fear of their employer, and all employees have a right to speak up if they witness poor practice and care.”

James Bullion, from the CQC, told Sky News it acts on intelligence passed to it to ensure people stay safe in care settings.

Additional research by Leah Adin

Continue Reading

UK

Donald Trump may be denied privilege of addressing parliament on UK state visit

Published

on

By

Donald Trump may be denied privilege of addressing parliament on UK state visit

Donald Trump may be denied the honour of addressing parliament on his state visit to the UK later this year, with no formal request yet submitted for him to be given that privilege.

It comes after President Macron’s successful state visit this week, in which he was invited to speak in front of both Houses of Parliament.

Sky News has been told the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, hasn’t so far received a request to invite the US president to speak in parliament when he is expected to visit in September.

It was confirmed to MPs who have raised concerns about the US president being allowed to address both houses.

Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, wrote to the speaker in April asking him to stop Mr Trump from addressing parliament, and tabled an early-day motion outlining her concerns.

“I was happy to see Macron here but feel very differently about Trump,” she said.

“Trump has made some very uncomfortable and worrying comments around the UK government, democracy, the Middle East, particularly around equalities and, of course, Ukraine.

“So, I think there are many reasons why, when we’re looking at a state visit, we should be looking at why they’re being afforded that privilege. Because, of course, it is a privilege for somebody to come and address both of the houses.”

But the timing of the visit may mean that any diplomatic sensitivities, or perceptions of a snub, could be avoided.

Macron addressing Parliament
Image:
France’s President Emmanuel Macron addressed parliament during his state visit this month

Lord Ricketts, a former UK ambassador to France, pointed out that parliament isn’t sitting for much of September, and that could help resolve the issue.

In 2017, he wrote a public letter questioning the decision to give Donald Trump his first state visit, saying it put Queen Elizabeth II in a “very difficult position”.

Parliament rises from 16 September until 13 October due to party conferences.

The dates for the state visit haven’t yet been confirmed by Buckingham Palace or the government.

However, they have not denied that it will take place in September, after Mr Trump appeared to confirm they were planning to hold the state visit that month. The palace confirmed this week that the formal planning for his arrival had begun.

With the King likely to still be in Scotland in early September for events such as the Braemar Gathering, and the anniversary of his accession and the death of Queen Elizabeth on the 8th September, it may be expected that the visit would take place sometime from mid to the end of September, also taking into consideration the dates of the Labour Party conference starting on the 28th September and possibly the Lib Dem’s conference from the 20th-23rd.

Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Mr Trump has said he believes the trip to the UK will take place in September. Pic: Reuters

When asked about parliamentary recess potentially solving the issue, Ms Osborne said: “It may be a way of dealing with it in a very diplomatic way… I don’t know how much control we have over Trump’s diary.

“But if we can manoeuvre it in a way that means that the House isn’t sitting, then that seems like a good solution, maybe not perfect, because I’d actually like him to know that he’s not welcome.”

A message from the speaker’s office, seen by Sky News, says: “Formal addresses to both Houses of Parliament are not automatically included in the itinerary of such a state visit.

“Whether a foreign head of state addresses parliament, during a state visit or otherwise, is part of the planning decisions.”

The King and Mr Trump raising a toast in 2019. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Mr Trump made his first state visit to the UK in June 2019 during his first presidency. File pic: Reuters

It’s understood that if the government agrees to a joint address to parliament, the Lord Chamberlain’s office writes to the two speakers, on behalf of the King, to ask them to host this.

It will be Mr Trump’s second state visit.

During his first, in 2019, he didn’t address parliament, despite the fact that his predecessor, Barack Obama, was asked to do so.

It was unclear if this was due to the fact John Bercow, the speaker at the time, made it clear he wasn’t welcome to do so.

However, it didn’t appear to dampen Mr Trump’s excitement about his time with the Royal Family.

Read more from Sky News:
Two women killed as BMW crashes into care home
Officers who confronted Southport killer win bravery award

Speaking earlier this year, he described his state visit as “a fest” adding “it’s an honour… I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William; we have really just a great respect for the family. And I think they’re setting a date for September.”

It is expected that, like Mr Macron, the pageantry for his trip this time will revolve around Windsor, with refurbishment taking place at Buckingham Palace.

Continue Reading

UK

Liverpool retires number 20 shirt at all levels in honour of Diogo Jota

Published

on

By

Liverpool retires number 20 shirt at all levels in honour of Diogo Jota

Liverpool have retired the number 20 shirt in honour of Diogo Jota – the first time it has made such a gesture.

The club said it was a “unique tribute to a uniquely wonderful person” and the decision was made in consultation with his wife and family.

The number 20 will be retired at all levels, including the men’s and women’s first teams and academy squads.

A statement said: “It was the number he wore with pride and distinction, leading us to countless victories in the process – and Diogo Jota will forever be Liverpool Football Club’s number 20.”

The club called it a “recognition of not only the immeasurable contribution our lad from Portugal made to the Reds’ on-pitch successes over the last five years, but also the profound personal impact he had on his teammates, colleagues and supporters and the everlasting connections he built with them”.

Jota's wife joined Liverpool players to view tributes at Anfield on Friday. Pic: Liverpool FC
Image:
Jota’s wife joined Liverpool players to view tributes at Anfield on Friday. Pic: Liverpool FC

Pic: Liverpool FC
Image:
Pic: Liverpool FC

Newly-married Jota died alongside his brother when his Lamborghini crashed in northern Spain on 3 July.

Police said this week that all the evidence so far suggests Jota was the one driving the vehicle.

Liverpool teammates joined members of Jota’s family, including his wife Rute, at a huge memorial site outside Anfield on Friday.

Read more from Sky News:
Mystery in space is most likely ‘oldest comet ever seen’
Trump may be denied privilege of addressing parliament

A fan looks at messages written onto a memorial wall created near Anfield Stadium. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A fan looks at messages on a memorial wall near Anfield. Pic: Reuters


Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool's player Andrew Robertson arrive on the day of the funeral ceremony of Liverpool's Portug
Image:
Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson were among players at the funeral. Pic: Reuters

The star’s funeral took place last weekend, with Liverpool colleagues and members of the Portuguese national team in attendance.

Reds captain Virgil van Dijk carried a shirt bearing the number 20 made from flowers.

Liverpool players returned to the club’s training ground for the start of pre-season on Tuesday.

Their first game since Jota’s death will be on Sunday when they play a friendly away against Preston North End.

Continue Reading

Trending