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For nearly 50 years campaigners have fought for recognition that a pregnancy test drug called Primodos, given to them by their GPs, damaged babies in the womb.  

Earlier this year High Court Judge Mrs Justice Yip ruled there was insufficient new evidence to support their claim, and the claimants did not have the funds nor legal representation to take their challenge further, after their solicitors dropped the case.

The case was struck out, leaving the claimants potentially liable for costs.

Now they have been sent a letter by lawyers representing the Department Of Health and drug manufacturer Bayer saying that, unless they commit to never making another claim, they will have to pay the legal bills of the lawyers used to block their joint action.

Marie Lyon, from the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests, told Sky News: “It constitutes bullying and intimidation.

“They want us to sign a form to say we will never ever initiate any legal action in the future no matter what kind of evidence emerges.

“Otherwise, they will slap that £10m plus on our families. I am absolutely disgusted with our government – not only did they damage us initially, but now they are actually asking us to pay for it.”

The drug was given out by GPs to pregnant women in the 1960s and 70s but withdrawn from the market in 1978 after concerns were raised in the scientific community about an association between the drug and malformations.

However, the first attempted legal challenge against the manufacturers in 1982 failed.

In 2017, an Expert Working Group of the UK’s Commission on Human Medicines published a report concluding that the available scientific data did not support the existence of a causal relationship between the use of hormones in pregnancy and an increased incidence of congenital anomalies in babies.

However, the then prime minister, Theresa May felt the body of the report also contained evidence that there might be an association.

She commissioned an independent review, led by Baroness Cumberlege, not just to look at the drug but also the way in which it was regulated in the UK.

The findings of that report, published in July 2020, were highly critical of the regulatory system – and suggested Primodos should have been withdrawn from the UK market 10 years earlier than it was.

It found Hormone Pregnancy Tests caused “avoidable harm” and said the government should apologise and set up a system of redress.

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May 2023: Primodos families lose legal bid

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The government did apologise, but shortly after, the Department Of Health hired lawyers, sided with the German manufacturer, and ensured that a new the legal claim from families was struck out of the courts.

All this led to a debate in Parliament on Thursday where Mrs May told the House, that mothers wrongly felt guilty about taking the drug and damaging their babies.

She said: “This drug was given to them by their GPs, and I hope the minister will stand up this afternoon and say very clearly the women who took Primodos, whose children suffered, were at no fault whatsoever, and should not feel guilty at all. The fault lay with the NHS.”

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: “This is in my view potentially one of the biggest cover-ups of a pharmaceutical outrage the world has ever seen.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg pointed to findings from a previous Sky News investigation saying: “This drug was used in South Korea, and in Germany, as an abortifacient.

“It was used to procure abortions. Well, what is a drug that will do that doing to a baby?”

Until now the government has said it has not been able to discuss issues of redress due to the legal claim against it.

The Minister for Women’s Health Maria Caulfield has offered to meet the families and in regard to the letter about legal costs said: “The letter that’s gone out to those taking part in court cases – I will look at that – because I don’t want to be in a position where people feel they cannot get justice simply because they cannot afford to do so.”

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Primodos: A Bitter Pill

The SNP’s Hannah Bardell blamed the failed legal action on the solicitors who pulled out of representing the claimants.

“They’ve been done over – and I am going to use my parliamentary privilege here – by a company called Pogust Goodhead,” she said.

“Now they approached the Primodos campaign, they approached them to take over the case, they then got cold feet and decided to drop the claimants and the victims when they didn’t fancy their chances of winning.

“Not only to compound that, they went on to withhold the documents that constituents like mine, Wilma Ord, had presented to them and given to them to pursue the case.

“That prevented the campaign from being able to find other legal representation and fundamentally has meant that the campaign was unsuccessful in court. That in my view is a hostile and odious move by any legal firm.”

When Sky News previously approached the legal firm with this allegation in April this year, Pogust Goodhead said: “We refute the suggestion that we are withholding information to damage this case.

“We are aware that the claimants have been provided with 1,256 pages of legal documents containing information which should assist with their search for legal representation and funding.

“We have not been notified that there is another law firm on the court record as acting for any of the individuals we represented. We are bound by a duty of confidentiality and must adhere to strict rules in relation to disclosure of any former client’s documentation.

“We poured extensive resources into this case because we care deeply about the injustice and harm caused to any victim of wrongdoing that has resulted in injury.”

The manufacturer Schering, now owned by Bayer, has always denied that their drug caused harm to babies in the womb and point to the findings of the 2017 Expert Working Group report.

It added: “Since the discontinuation of the legal action in 1982, Bayer maintains that no significant new scientific knowledge has been produced which would call into question the validity of the previous assessment of there being no link between the occurrence of such congenital anomalies.”

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Lucy Powell named Labour’s new deputy leader

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Lucy Powell named Labour's new deputy leader

Former Commons leader Lucy Powell has been crowned Labour’s new deputy leader in a closely fought race against Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

Ms Powell received 87,407 votes to Ms Phillipson’s 73,536 – a majority of 13,871 – in a contest that was widely perceived as a referendum on Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity with the membership.

Ms Powell was seen as the “anti-Starmer” candidate given she was sacked from cabinet just last month, and centred her campaign on being an independent voice for the backbenches.

Politics live: Follow for updates as Labour names new deputy leader

Ms Phillipson was seen as Number 10’s preferred option, and she had pitched herself as the “unity candidate”, warning that voting for her opponent would result in “internal debate and divisions that leads us back to opposition”.

However speaking to Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby following the result, Ms Powell insisted she would be a “friend” to the prime minister, adding: “I am confident we can work well together.”

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She said she was not here to “write an alternative policy platform” but rather “to make sure Labour values and beliefs are right at the heart of the conversation, and that we’re giving a really clear sense of who we’re for”.

Ms Powell’s earlier victory speech made clear where she thought Labour was going wrong, and what she would challenge the government on.

The Manchester Central MP said Labour “won’t win by trying to out-Reform Reform, but by building a broad progressive consensus”.

She said that started with “wrestling back the political megaphone” from Reform leader Nigel Farage, and “setting the agenda more strongly”.

“Let’s be honest, we’ve let Farage and his ilk run away with it. He wants to blame immigration for all the country’s problems. We reject that,” she said.

“Our diagnosis is different, that for too long the country and the economy has worked in the interests of the few, not the many.”

The reference to “for the many not the few” – the slogan during Jeremy Corbyn’s time at the helm, was not lost on his then shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

The veteran left-winger said on X: “The Labour Party members have spoken & the message is clear, they want change. It’s good to see a return to references to the Labour Party serving once more the many not the few & that Labour must not try out Reform, Reform. Our members realise a new start is desperately needed.”

‘Unwanted deputy imposed on PM’

The deputy leadership role is important as it’s the key connection between the Labour members and the upper echelons of the Labour Party.

The race was triggered by the sudden departure of Angela Rayner, after she admitted to underpaying stamp duty.

The scandal sparked a reshuffle in which Ms Powell was one of the only casualties. It makes the new partnership potentially very awkward for Sir Keir, especially as his new deputy will be free to speak out against his policies from the back benches rather than being bound by collective responsibility like Ms Phillipson.

However in a possible olive branch, Sky News understands Ms Powell will be asked to attend political cabinet meetings, even though she will not officially be a member of cabinet.

Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said “weak Keir Starmer” has had an unwanted deputy leader “imposed on him by the Labour Party”, adding: “The failure of the Keir Starmer candidate, Bridget Philipson, is another defeat of the prime minister’s authority.”

Turnout for the vote was low – just 16.6%, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm among party members and its affiliates.

Sir Keir congratulated Ms Powell after the results were announced, saying she “has always been a proud defender of Labour values, and that is exactly what we need at this moment”.

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PM: Powell is ‘a proud defender of Labour values’

He echoed some of her language around immigration, as he attacked the Tories for this week suggesting they supported a policy to deport people who have settled in the UK legally, something Reform UK has advocated.

“That is what we’re up against on the right of politics, a politics of division and grievance that wants to take this great country to a very dark place”, Sir Keir said.

PM warns of ‘battle for the soul of our nation’

The prime minister is under pressure as the party plummets in the polls, with many MPs on the left predicting he could be gone by May if the local elections go badly.

Sir Keir acknowledged Labour is having a difficult time after it lost the Caerphilly by-election to Plaid Cymru on Thursday.

He said it was a “bad result” and “a reminder that people need to look out their window and see change and renewal in their community, opportunities for their children, public services rebuilt, the cost of living crisis tackled”.

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Phillipson ‘disappointed to lose’

“We must unite. We must keep our focus on what is, in my view, the defining battle for the soul of our nation. I know that Lucy will do just that,” he said.

Saturday’s result is the culmination of a six week contest, with the pair having had to secure nominations from 80 MPs in the first round and then win the backing of 5% of local parties or Labour affiliated groups before making it to the final vote.

Initially six candidates entered, but it quickly became a two-horse race as only Ms Powell and Ms Phillipson reached the 80 threshold, following claims from the left of a “stitch up”.

Ms Phillipson said she was “disappointed to lose” but Ms Powell “has my full support”.

She added: “What we all need to do now is unite this party, beat Reform and secure that second term Labour government.”

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How many prisoners are released by mistake? Here are the stats as search for migrant sex offender continues

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How many prisoners are released by mistake?  Here are the stats as search for migrant sex offender continues

The manhunt for a migrant who sexually assaulted a schoolgirl, and was released from prison in error, is ongoing.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was jailed for 12 months earlier this year after he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping.

He had been staying in the Bell Hotel in Epping and his arrest triggered large-scale protests and disorder.

The Ethiopian national, who came to the UK on a small boat in the summer, is now being searched for by the police after he was accidentally freed on Friday.

Follow the latest updates on the manhunt

Hadush Kebatu, jailed for two sexual assaults in Epping. Pic: Essex Police / PA
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Hadush Kebatu, jailed for two sexual assaults in Epping. Pic: Essex Police / PA

How many prisoners are released in error?

According to government statistics published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the 12 months to March 2025 – a 128% increase from 115 the previous year.

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The report states: “Of the 262 releases in error, 233 of these releases in error occurred from prison establishments, while 29 were released in error at the courts.

“Releases in error from establishments could also be a result of errors by the court.”

This is out of a total prison population across England and Wales of roughly 86,000.

Sky News has contacted the HM Prison & Probation Service to know how many of the 262 prisoners have since been found and returned to custody.

In September 2024, Sky News reported how dozens of people released from jail under the government’s emergency prison scheme were freed by mistake.

The Labour government said it was forced to release hundreds of inmates early because prisons were at capacity.

William Fernandez. Pic: PA
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William Fernandez. Pic: PA

Kebatu, who is thought to be in the London area, was due to be deported when he was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.

Previous high-profile manhunts

William Fernandez, who was awaiting trial for sexual assault, was released from HMP Wormwood by error in March 2021. He then went on to rape a 16-year-old girl and sexually assault a young woman.

Joseph McCann. Pic: Police handout
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Joseph McCann. Pic: Police handout

In December 2019, the prisons and probation service “apologised unreservedly” after serial rapist Joseph McCann was freed to commit a series of sex attacks on women and children.

In July 2017, an inmate who was released from prison just months into a nine-year sentence due to a “clerical error” was arrested after weeks on the run.

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Murder investigation launched after teenager stabbed in south west London

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Murder investigation launched after teenager stabbed in south west London

A murder investigation has been launched after a 19-year-old was stabbed in south west London, earlier this week.

Police and the London Ambulance Service were called to the scene on Lavender Hill, close to Clapham Junction, on Tuesday afternoon following reports of a stabbing.

Rinneau Perrineau, 19 and who was known as Ren by his family and friends, was treated at the scene for stab wounds.

He was taken to hospital in a critical condition but died on Friday. One arrest has been made, the Metropolitan Police said.

In a statement, Rinneau’s family said: “Ren was loved by many, he was always around his family. He will be dearly missed.”

Read more from Sky News:
How many prisoners are released by mistake?
UK makes world’s biggest-ever seizure of fake weight loss jabs

‘An irrevocable loss’

Acting Borough Commander Amanda Mawhinney, who leads policing in the area, said: “Our thoughts are with the victim’s loved ones at this terrible time.

“This was a shocking crime committed in broad daylight. A teenager’s life was taken, and his family and friends have suffered an irrevocable loss.

“Our officers are making every effort to bring those responsible to justice. Residents may notice a police presence around the scene of the crime, as patrols have been stepped up in the local area.”

Officers are urging anyone who was in Beauchamp Road on Tuesday afternoon between 3:20 and 3:30 to call 101.

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