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Border Force teams are “prepared and ready” to evacuate British citizens trapped in Gaza.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday border officials are pre-positioned in Egypt so that if the Rafah border crossing opens, “we’re ready to get them in and bring them back”.

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, told Sky News on Friday morning this still needs to be negotiated but the border force teams were there “in preparation”.

She said: “We’ve been in intense discussions with partners in the region, but we want the Border Force to be there to be prepared and ready if and when we can get the hostages out.

“So it’s preparation so that we can be there, so we’ve got everything available if we can get them out.

“But right now we still need to agree that and it still needs to be facilitated.”

‘Calling for a pause’

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Asked if she was optimistic the Rafah Crossing could open, she said: “We’re still in the same position, we’re calling for a pause to allow for humanitarian aid in and we’re calling for the safe passage for British national passport holders to get out.”

Mr Sunak said he was pushing for a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow aid to reach Palestinians and also create a “safer environment” for UK citizens to leave the bombarded 25-mile strip.

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Plan is ‘to release all hostages’

“It is not something we can do immediately but when the moment arises, we’ll be ready to take it quickly,” he said during an event in central London about artificial intelligence.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza is the only border point in the territory not controlled by Israel.

Israel has only in recent days agreed to allow aid into Gaza through the crossing, having besieged the Hamas-ruled area to prevent essentials such as water, food and fuel from reaching more than two million Palestinians.

The border crossing into north-east Egypt is likely to be the main exit route for those trapped in Gaza but it is currently closed other than for the aid deliveries – with Cairo reportedly blaming Israeli bombings around the area for it not being open for foreign nationals to pass through.

Backing ceasefire could ‘cross a line’

The government is calling for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting but has stopped short of backing a ceasefire.

Asked about the difference, Ms Keegan said this morning that “we don’t want to cross that line” of telling Israel it has “anything but the right to defend itself”.

Labour has backed this position despite dozens of its MPs calling for a ceasefire.

Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed has said he understands and empathises with Labour colleagues who disagree with the party’s stance.

However he told Sky News that if the attack Israel suffered had happened in the UK, “our state would have sought to defend ourselves to protect our citizens by dismantling the capability of a terrorist organisation that carried it out, that applies to Israel too, they have the right under international law to do that.”

Israel is conducting air strikes and raids on Gaza in its fightback against Hamas’s assault on October 7 that saw at least 1,400 people, mainly civilians, killed on Israeli soil and hundreds of people taken hostage.

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Gaza: A ‘pause’ for aid delivery?

Fewer than five Britons are believed to be among the hostages as officials fear that some of those missing have been killed.

However many more, including the parents-in-law of Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, are trapped in the territory.

Welfare benefits ‘without delay’

As well as stationing border force officials in Egypt, the government has also announced that British citizens fleeing the conflict will be exempt from residency tests and able to get easier access to benefits and other services after arriving in the UK.

Those fleeing the war in the wider region of Lebanon and the West Bank will also be able to claim universal credit, as well as disability and child benefits, “without delay”, and access social housing and housing assistance if needed.

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All civilian hostages could be freed from Gaza in days if fighting paused, Qatari negotiators say
‘Excruciating decisions’ in Gaza as fuel runs out

The government said it would also ensure that money paid under the victims of overseas terrorism compensation scheme would not be counted when working out entitlement to income-related benefits.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: “We’ve been working quickly to ensure British nationals arriving from Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Lebanon can receive the support and security they need during a time of unspeakable turmoil.

“As the UK continues to step up its response to the fast-moving circumstances in the region, the regulations which come into force today will speed up access to benefits, ensuring those eligible can access the help they need.”

The government said that where arrivals do not have immediate accommodation available, local authorities may provide emergency overnight accommodation before supporting people into more secure accommodation.

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Collecting bodies on donkey carts

Those who meet the exemption will be supported more quickly but it will not impact who local housing authorities should prioritise for social housing, the government said.

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‘Shameful’ that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

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'Shameful' that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

It is “shameful” that black boys growing up in London are “far more likely” to die than white boys, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has told Sky News.

The commissioner told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that relations with minority communities “is difficult for us”.

Sir Mark, who came out of retirement to become head of the UK’s largest police force in 2022, said: “We can’t pretend otherwise that we’ve got a history between policing and black communities where policing has got a lot wrong.

“And we get a lot more right today, but we do still make mistakes. That’s not in doubt. I’m being as relentless in that as it can be.”

He said the “vast majority” of the force are “good people”.

However, he added: “But that legacy, combined with the tragedy that some of this crime falls most heavily in black communities, that creates a real problem because the legacy creates concern.”

Sir Mark, who also leads the UK’s counter-terrorism policing, said it is “not right” that black boys growing up in London “are far more likely to be dead by the time they’re 18” than white boys.

“That’s, I think, shameful for the city,” he admitted.

The Met Police chief’s admission comes two years after an official report found the force is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.

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Police chase suspected phone thief

Baroness Casey was commissioned in 2021 to look into the Met Police after serving police officer Wayne Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

She pinned the primary blame for the Met’s culture on its past leadership and found that stop and search and the use of force against black people was excessive.

At the time, Sir Mark, who had been commissioner for six months when the report was published, said he would not use the labels of institutionally racist, institutionally misogynistic and institutionally homophobic, which Casey insisted the Met deserved.

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who helped hire Sir Mark – and could fire him – made it clear the commissioner agreed with Baroness Casey’s verdict.

After the report was released, Sir Mark said “institutional” was political language so he was not going to use it, but he accepted “we have racists, misogynists…systematic failings, management failings, cultural failings”.

A few months after the report, Sir Mark launched a two-year £366m plan to overhaul the Met, including increased emphasis on neighbourhood policing to rebuild public trust and plans to recruit 500 more community support officers and an extra 565 people to work with teams investigating domestic violence, sexual offences and child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sunday.

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

Labour’s largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row.

Members of the trade union, one of the UK’s largest, also “overwhelmingly” voted to “re-examine its relationship” with Labour over the issue.

They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council’s leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for “bringing the union into disrepute”.

There was confusion over Ms Rayner’s membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended.

But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament’s latest register of interests had her down as a member in May.

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The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday.

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Unite is one of the Labour Party’s largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual.

The union condemned Birmingham’s Labour council and the government for “attacking the bin workers”.

Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made.

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Rat catcher tackling Birmingham’s bins problem

Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for “effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000”, the union added.

‘Missing in action’

General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: “Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table.”

She had earlier said: “Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.

“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.

“The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.

“People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers.”

SN pics from 10/04/25 Tyseley Lane, Tyseley, Birmingham showing some rubbish piling up because of bin strikes
Image:
Piles of rubbish built up around Birmingham because of the strike over pay

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the government’s “priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham”.

He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had “caused disruption” to the city.

“We’ve worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council […] as we support its recovery,” he added.

A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance co-founder CZ has dismissed a Bloomberg report linking him to the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin, threatening legal action over alleged defamation.

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