Upgrade water system to protect humans from ingesting trace of poo, Sir Chris Whitty-backed report says
The UK’s sewage system should be upgraded to reduce the risk of people ingesting human poo when they swim in rivers and the sea, a new report backed by chief medical officer professor Sir Chris Whitty has recommended.
The evidence base that people have become ill because they ingested traces of sewage while swimming remains “thin”, Sir Chris said as he unveiled the report, which was produced by a group of engineers.
But Brits are increasingly taking to the water to swim, surf and paddle, and some have become ill afterwards.
This increased exposure, combined with “evidence of the underperformance of overloaded sewers”, may increase the risk of people orally ingesting human faecal organisms, the engineers said.
It comes as a fresh row over water quality broke out last week after confirmed cases of the waterborne disease cryptosporidium were identified in Brixham in Devon – though it may have come from cow faeces which leaked into damaged pipes.
It also follows recent reports that millions of litres of raw sewage had been pumped into Lake Windermere.
While sewers were originally designed to reduce health hazards, over time inspections and investments have tended to focus more on the cost and environmental impact of sewage.
Now human health “also needs to be taken seriously”, Sir Chris told reporters.
Human poo can contain salmonella, campylobacter, E. coli and norovirus, which cause diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and fever.
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Kelly Holmes joins anti-sewage protest
While emergency discharges of raw sewage have been the subject of widespread public attention and anger, they are only “half the problem”, Prof Whitty said.
That’s because some faecal organisms that can cause disease remain even in treated sewage, which is routinely released into the water.
And people are more likely to enter the water in hot, dry weather, when water levels are low and sewage is less diluted.
‘Major wake-up call’
The report, led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, suggested a range of solutions to the UK’s crumbling water system, including a review of the way officials protect designated bathing waters.
It raised concerns that current bathing water quality testing – of just once a week in summer – is too infrequent and that some viruses are going undetected.
Water companies, who have been accused of chronic underinvestment, should “improve maintenance and rehabilitation of our ageing wastewater infrastructure”, said Dr Andrew Thompson from Fingleton White, who worked on the research.
The report also called on regulators to monitor not just untreated sewage going into the water but treated water too, and to make data available quickly to help people decide whether to go for a dip.
Pic: PA
Charles Watson, chairman of the River Action campaign group, welcomed calls to improve water quality monitoring.
“Other than at the minuscule number of designated river bathing water sites, nothing is being done to provide river users with even the most basic information on the dangers they are facing.
He said politicians should treat the report as a “major wake-up call, given the past failures to protect the public from the rising tide of sewage pollution”.
The engineers also suggested introducing incentives to members of the public to remove impervious surfaces in urban areas – like patios or paved-over gardens, which would help green cities too.
Pic: PA
A Water UK spokesperson said: “There is an urgent need to invest in our water system. Water companies have a plan with proposals to double the current level of spending between now and 2030… Public health is a major part of the next phase of the programme, with bathing areas heavily prioritised for investment.”
The environment department (Defra) said it will consult later this year on new bathing water rules – though this may not be until after the general election.
They added: “Alongside the Environment Agency securing over £150m fines to date and quadrupling inspections, we are already driving the largest infrastructure programme in water company history of £60bn over 25 years, which will drastically reduce spills.”
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.
In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.
“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.
“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Pic: AP
Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.
“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.
“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”
Sexual assault claims
Prince Andrew has denied all claims of wrongdoing. File pic: Reuters
Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.
In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
‘An incredible champion’
Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.
“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”
“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.
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Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.
“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.
“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.
“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.
Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.
She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.
‘A survivor’
After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.
She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.
“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
The Pope’s funeral will take place today at St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
A pope’s funeral traditionally brings world leaders together, and some have already revealed they are attending.
Watch full coverage of the Pope’s funeral live on Sky News from 8am
Here’s a look at the list.
The Prince of Wales will attend the funeral of Pope Francis on behalf of the King, Kensington Palace has said.
The King was in Rome with Queen Camilla earlier this month, and met the pontiff at the Vatican.
Pope Francis meets King Charles and Queen Camilla during a private audience at the Vatican on 9 April. Pic: Vatican Media/Reuters
The trip came just a week-and-a-half after Buckingham Palace confirmed the King had been taken to hospital following side effects related to his ongoing cancer treatment.
Number 10 has confirmed the prime minister received an invite and will attend the ceremony.
Speaking on Tuesday, Sir Keir said there had been “an outpouring of grief and love” for the Pope.
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Sky News inside Vatican
He added: “I think it reflects the high esteem in which he was held, not just by millions and millions of Catholics, but by many others, across the world, myself included.”
Donald Trump and Pope Francis meet at the Vatican in 2017. Pic: Reuters
The US president was one of the first to confirm he would be flying to Rome, adding he would be joined by first lady Melania Trump.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, he said: “Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!”
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Trump: ‘Pope Francis loved the world’
The Pope had been critical of Mr Trump at times during his tenure.
In January, he said it would be a “disgrace” if the president went ahead with his crackdown on immigration, telling an Italian television station: “It would make the migrants, who have nothing, pay the unpaid bill.
“It doesn’t work. You don’t resolve problems this way.”
Zelenskyy shakes hands with the pontiff in May 2023. Pic: Vatican News/AP
The Ukrainian president, who met the Pope three times, is expected to attend, according to officials in Ukraine.
In his tribute, Mr Zelenskyy said his country was grieving the Pope and recalled how he often prayed for peace in Ukraine.
Pope Francis shakes hands with Emmanuel Macron in December 2024. Pic: Reuters
The French president told local reporters he would be going to the funeral.
In his tribute on Monday, Mr Macron said of the Pope: “In this time of war and brutality, he had a sense for the other, for the most fragile.”
Pope Francis and Javier Milei at the G7 summit in Italy last June. Pic: Reuters
The president of Pope Francis’s native Argentina will attend, despite having launched insults at Francis in recent years.
Before taking office in December 2023, the far-right politician called him “an imbecile, the representative of evil on Earth”.
Read more:
Inside the plans for Pope’s funeral
Full order of service
‘Unprecedented’ security operation for funeral
Who could be the next pope?
Mr Milei alluded to their “differences” in his tribute to the late Pope, writing: “It is with profound sorrow that I learned this sad morning that Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, passed away today and is now resting in peace.
“Despite differences that seem minor today, having been able to know him in his goodness and wisdom was a true honour for me.”
Lula da Silva and the Pope at the G7 summit last year. Pic: Vatican Media/Reuters
The Brazilian president and first lady Janja Lula da Silva will be at the funeral, the country’s government announced.
Brazil has also declared a seven-day mourning period for the Pope.
“Humanity is today losing a voice of respect and welcome for others,” the president said in his tribute.
“Pope Francis lived and propagated in his daily life the love, tolerance and solidarity that are the basis of Christian
teachings.”
Pope Francis meets Ursula von der Leyen at the Vatican in 2022. Pic: Vatican Media/Reuters
The EU Commission President confirmed she would be attending after calling Francis a worldwide inspiration.
“He inspired millions, far beyond the Catholic Church, with his humility and love so pure for the less fortunate,” she said in her tribute.
Council President Antonio Costa, Parliament President Roberta Metsola are also expected to attend.
Here are some of the other notable attendees:
• Ireland’s taoiseach Micheal Martin
• Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia
• Albanian president Bajram Begaj
• Angola’s president Joao Lourenco
• Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen
• Bangladesh’s chief adviser and interim leader Muhammad Yunus
• Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, along with prime minister Bart De Wever
• Canada’s governor general Mary Simon
• Cape Verde president Jose Maria Neves
• Croatia’s president Zoran Milanovic
• Cyprian president Nikos Christodoulides
• Czech Republic’s prime minister Petr Fiala
• Democratic Republic of Congo president Felix Tshisekedi
• Dominican Republic’s president Luis Abinader
• East Timor’s president Jose Ramos-Horta
• Ecuador’s president Daniel Noboa
• Estonia’s president Alar Karis
• Finland’s president Alexander Stubb
• Gabon’s president Brice Oligui Nguema
• German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz
• Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
• Honduras president Xiomara Castro
• Hungary’s president Tamas Sulyok
• Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella and prime minister Giorgia Meloni
• Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics
• Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda
• Moldova’s president Maia Sandu
• Netherlands’ prime minister Dick Schoof
• New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon
• Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit
• The Philippines’ president Ferdinand Marcos Jr
• Poland’s president Andrzej Duda
• Portugal’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and prime minister Luis Montenegro
• Romania’s interim president Ilie Bolojan
• Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia and prime minister Ulf Kristersson
• Switzerland’s president Karin Keller-Sutter
Who won’t be there?
Pope Francis walks next to Putin at the Vatican in 2015. Pic: AP
The Russian president will not be attending the funeral, the Kremlin has confirmed.
But the controversial leader paid tribute to the Pope, writing a message to Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is interim chief of the Catholic Church.
“Please accept my most sincere condolences on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis,” Mr Putin said.
“Throughout the years of his pontificate, he actively promoted the development of dialogue between the Russian
Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, as well as constructive cooperation between Russia and the Holy See.”
Pope Francis and Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the Vatican in 2013. Pic: AP
The Israeli prime minister is not expected to attend, with the country’s ambassador Yaron Sideman going instead.
The Jewish state and the Vatican have had strong relations in the past, with Israel sending a presidential delegation to the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, and Pope Francis visiting Israel in 2014.
But their relationship has deteriorated since the start of the war in Gaza.
A month after the conflict started in 2023, a dispute broke out over whether Pope Francis had used the word “genocide” to describe events in Gaza. Palestinians who met with him said he did, but the Vatican said he did not.
The Pope met relatives of Israeli hostages on the same day.
Israeli officials have since lobbied the Vatican to be more forceful in its condemnation of Hamas.
In January, the Pope called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “shameful”, prompting criticism from Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, who accused Francis of “selective indignation”.
Rabbi Di Segni says he will be attending the funeral, despite it taking place on the Jewish sabbath.
Is there a seating plan?
The seats are assigned in advance, with the heads of state sitting in French alphabetical order based on their country’s name, rather than on the individual’s.
This applies to everyone apart from the presidents of Italy and Argentina, who get the best seats because the Pope lived in Italy and was an Argentinian native.
UK
Vincent Nichols: British cardinal who will be in the conclave says picking the next pope is ‘intimidating’
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has told Sky News it’s “intimidating” to be one of those responsible for choosing the next pope.
Vincent Nichols is among four UK cardinals in Rome for the Pope’s funeral on Saturday.
Following the funeral, and after nine days of mourning, cardinals from around the world will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to cast their votes, with white smoke announcing to the world when a new pope has been elected.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols speaks to Sky’s Anna Botting
Cardinal Nichols told Sky’s Anna Botting: “I hope nobody goes into this conclave, as it were, with the sole purpose of wanting to win. I think it’s very important that we go in wanting to listen to each other… It has to be together, trying to sense what God wants next. Not just for the church.”
He described the procession that took Pope Francis to lie in state as “the most moving thing I’ve ever attended here”.
Describing the Pope as a “master of the gesture and the phrase”, he also recalled the pontiff’s last journey away from the Vatican.
Cardinal Nichols said Pope Francis had visited the Regina Coeli prison, telling the inmates: “You know, except for the grace of God, it could well have been me … Don’t lose hope, God has you written in his heart.”
Read more:
How Pope Francis’s funeral will unfold
The full order of service
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‘Pope touched the hearts of millions’
The Pope later told his doctor his last regret was not being able to wash the feet of the prisoners during that visit.
Becoming emotional, he also said the final message he would like to have given Pope Francis is “thank you”.
The 88-year-old died peacefully on Easter Monday, the Vatican confirmed.
Heads of state – including Sir Keir Starmer, Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron – have all confirmed their attendance at his funeral, which takes place on Saturday at St Peter’s Square.
Prince William will attend on behalf of the King, Kensington Palace has said.
You can watch full coverage of the funeral live on Sky News on Saturday
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Where will Pope Francis be buried?
Talking about the seating plan at the funeral, Cardinal Nichols said he understood it to be “royalty first, then heads of state, then political leaders”.
Cardinal Nichols explained event would be “exactly the same Catholic rite as everyone else – just on a grander scale”.
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3D map shows pope’s funeral route
In a break from tradition, Pope Francis will be the first pope in a century to be interred outside the Vatican – and will instead be laid to rest at his favourite church, Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood.
He will also be buried in just one simple wooden coffin, instead of the traditional three coffins which are usually used for pontiffs.
Born in Crosby near Liverpool, Cardinal Vincent Nichols hoped to be a lorry driver as a child – but as a teenager reportedly felt the calling to join the priesthood while watching Liverpool FC.
As cardinal, he is known for leading the church’s work tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, for which he received the UN Path to Peace Award.
He was criticised by the UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which said he “demonstrated a lack of understanding” of the impact of abuse and “seemingly put the reputation of the church first”.
Cardinal Nichols, responding to the findings, previously told Sky News he was “ashamed at what has happened in the context of the Catholic Church” and promised to improve the church’s response.
He has appeared to rule himself out of the running for pope, telling reporters he was “too old, not capable”.
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