Katie Hopkins looked at me during a Weekend Truth Festival and said: ‘I smell a virgin’
“I smell a virgin…” Katie Hopkins said, looking straight at me. “I smell lefty, pressy scum!”
The far-right commentator was addressing an audience of 500 people in a soggy tent in a rural corner of northwest England.
I was standing at the back but that didn’t stop her singling me out. The crowd theatrically booed me, as if I was a pantomime villain. I blushed.
This was one of many strange moments I witnessed at the three-day event, officially called the Weekend Truth Festival (WTF), that some may call a conspiracy theory gathering.
As well as being called out by Hopkins, I saw children chanting anti-vax slogans and had a magnet applied to my arm to prove my COVID vaccinations are the antenna of a bioweapon.
This was the first WTF and its organisers hailed it as a success.
Its programme featured talks from speakers, including celebrities of the movement like Hopkins and former Southampton footballer Matt Le Tissier, as well as workshops and other activities with dozens of RVs and tents arranged around a giant marquee.
The first Weekend Truth Festival took place in a rural corner of north west England
The festival attendees, who describe themselves as part of the “freedom movement”, paid a £100 donation to see their “truth heroes”.
There are many political and ideological dividing lines in British life, but perhaps the deepest, and most damaging, is that which was on show here – when one part of the population rejects the others’ view of reality.
Attendees paid a £100 donation to see their ‘truth heroes’
This summer a number of similar truther gatherings are being held across the country from Glasgow to Dorset, with the biggest having a capacity of several hundred.
That’s why I found myself in a muddy field on the first May bank holiday: to understand why a movement born in lockdown appears to be evolving out of the dark corners of the internet into real-life meet-ups like this.
My presence there was the result of careful negotiation with the organisers, who agreed to let me come and report. They wanted the world to see what it was really like.
“It’s a gathering of like-minded people who basically think alternatively to the mainstream,” said organiser Kevin Dowling, a man in his fifties with a dry sense of humour.
He and Nicola Mayoh organise regular meet-ups in Buxton, near Manchester, in the top room of a pub.
Nicola and Kevin hailed the event a success
But this was much bigger, and they’d spent a long time preparing.
I asked whether this movement had longevity beyond the headline-grabbing pandemic protests.
“I think COVID woke people up to other things that go on,” Nicola said. “We’ve gravitated towards each other because we’re all very similar.”
I got lucky with where I pitched my tent – next to Theresa Clark and Andy Ryan, friends from Stockport, who met through the movement. They make unlikely conspiracists and their journey from COVID scepticism to WTF attendees was revealing.
Friends Theresa and Andy met during lockdown
Both were in their sixties. Theresa, a former civil servant, was wrapped up in a parka coat with a woolly hat covering her hair, while Andy was similarly attired in a padded black jacket.
They were warm and friendly, and offered me endless cups of tea from Andy’s stove.
On the first night, I found myself sitting around a blazing fire, sharing a glass of wine with them.
Theresa explained she wasn’t originally an anti-vaxxer; she made sure all her children and grandchildren had their recommended vaccinations. But then came COVID.
Living alone during lockdown, Theresa connected with online groups that led her here. “It’s been a great journey for me because I’ve met such wonderful people,” she told me.
Her path first crossed with Andy, and many of the other people who have come to Cumbria, through an activist group called Rebels on Roundabouts.
At the height of lockdown, they gathered on roundabouts and held yellow signs up to passing motorists with slogans such as “Please don’t jab kids” and “Media masking truth”.
This summer will see a number of similar truther gatherings held across the country
Since the pandemic, they’ve expanded. Their Telegram group now has more than 3,000 members.
Their website currently lists events from Newcastle to Tunbridge Wells, and explains their belief that COVID was “ruthlessly exploited by a global elite through their puppet politicians and the mainstream media” and is part of a “sinister CONTROL and DEPOPULATION agenda”.
What does that all mean?
Let’s take Theresa as an example. She went from lockdown and vaccine scepticism to thinking there was a bigger conspiracy at play.
Central to that view is a concept called the Great Reset, originally a short book from the World Economic Forum (WEF) outlining the post-COVID recovery.
But many of those in the movement see it as a blueprint for a totalitarian world government headed by the WEF.
“That scared me,” Theresa said. “Is that the world that we’re aiming for?”
The Great Reset is arguably not the smartest name – it does have an air of the conspiratorial. And those at the festival were willing to connect all sorts of unconnected things – net zero, Ultra Low Emissions Zones (ULEZ) or Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) – as proof that the WEF was trying to take away our freedoms.
I pushed back on the idea that the WEF is able to control the world to that extent, suggesting it was an influential lobby group but not a shadow government.
“It’s not a fiction book, is it,” Theresa pointed out, in reference to the Great Reset.
Her views, like many others who gathered round the campfire, were deeply held.
They relished the chance to set me – the embodiment of the loathed mainstream media – straight. Behind much of their thinking, it seemed, was strong emotion.
Not least for Theresa.
Her father moved into a care home just weeks before lockdown, something she only mentioned after we had been talking for more than an hour.
“It wasn’t nice to go and visit your father and see him through the glass,” she said, tearfully.
“Those last few months, to not be able to give him the love that he deserved… You just don’t get over that.
“These are the harms the COVID lockdown did.”
Crowds gather for an event at WTF, which took place over the bank holiday
That said, there were some limits to her beliefs. For instance, she was sceptical about reptilians, the idea pushed by conspiracy theorist David Icke that suggested shape-shifting lizard people control the world.
Many consider the theory antisemitic, although Icke has always strongly denied this.
Theresa admitted that it was a “bit far-fetched” for her. “But then who am I to say to somebody what you’re saying is utter rubbish. That’s their belief,” she added.
The next day, the sun was shining as Gillian England showed me the ley lines in the field behind the festival site and explained that the weather had improved because she “thanked the elementals”.
“I’m a being from a realm beyond planet Earth,” she said, as we walked through the field.
“My job is to assist the developing consciousness of humanity… I believe in the higher Galactics. I’ve got my star family that I connect to, but this is the fifth dimension and beyond.”
“And where is that?” I asked.
“Well, it’s beyond this reality.”
The Freedom Movement is a broad church that includes people like Gillian, a former NHS psychotherapist turned mystic healer. As we approached a stone circle, the divining rods in her hands started to twitch, then crossed. We had found our ley line.
The divining rods in Gillian England’s hands as we reached a stone circle
You might wonder what Gilian’s new age vibe had in common with anti-lockdown protests on a roundabout, or the Great Reset, or what ley lines had to do with ULEZ.
But when COVID prompted people to do their own research, they found a world of conspiracies ready and waiting to draw them further in. People like Gillian who already had their own alternative understanding of reality and were willing to help those along the same journey.
It doesn’t mean signing up to all the exact same beliefs. Another attendee told me: “I hate that woo woo stuff. There’s loads of that here.” But they were all on the same side, against the mainstream.
“COVID woke people up,” Gillian said. “They were stuck at home, got off the rat race for a little while and started questioning.”
Down at the festival site a little later, Gillian and other adults gathered the children – mostly primary school aged – in a tent near the food stalls. They had dragon puppets, glitter and music and were teaching them to chant the freedom movement slogan: “I do not consent”.
This was the most troubling part of the festival, where legitimate free speech perhaps crossed into something darker.
Among the more troubling claims made by speakers were that COVID was an attempted genocide and a Satanist cult was planning to murder everyone. But just as quickly, a party mood returned.
Matt Le Tissier gave an entertaining talk with occasional anti-vax comments. Then it was time for drinks and dancing.
The DJ played fairly hardcore techno. The crowd ranged from young adults to pensioners and the fashion was hemp hippies meets cyber ravers. Theresa waved as she boogied away.
My tent at the three-day gathering, WTF
This is perhaps the true counterculture of the UK now. It may not have its own music or fashion, but it does have its own Podcasters, Twitter users and YouTubers who reach hundreds of thousands.
On the final day, I wandered down to the main tent. A man had put up a large placard advertising the formation of a “people’s party”. Many people here insist they are neither on the left nor right, but many of the talking points echo the far-right.
Mark Steele, a self-styled “weapons expert”, was one of the speakers. He served time in prison back in the 1990s for shooting a teenage girl in the head.
He believes that ULEZ cameras can be used in conjunction with vaccinations to turn people into literal zombies and cast doubt on Rishi Sunak’s Britishness.
As we spoke, he held a magnet to my arm to prove my COVID vaccination was the antenna of a bioweapon. If a ULEZ camera activated a beam at the right pulse it would be “carnage”, he warned.
The magnet supposed to prove my COVID jab is the antenna of a bioweapon
After packing up my tent, I caught up with Nicola and Kevin who were delighted with how it had gone.
When I said I found some elements surprisingly aggressive, Kevin’s response was that there “has to be a bit of edginess” because as a society we are facing “difficult conversations and difficult times”.
He also reminded me that I wanted to use my visit to test the “political climate and how people are feeling about things”.
That’s true. And what I found was a wider sense of alienation from the main parties, with several attendees talking of finding candidates to stand as independents in the general election.
Hopkins was the final speaker and I followed the rapturous crowd into the main tent to watch her.
Theresa and Andy were there, enjoying the show, although Theresa said she felt sorry for me when Hopkins called me a virgin.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
After saying my goodbyes, I watched them walk up the hill in the twilight, hoods up, carrying their camp chairs, readying themselves for another evening by the fire.
While they had lives and families outside, in that moment this was their people, and this was their place.
UK
Air India plane crash victim’s son says he’ll relive his mother’s last moments ‘to the day I die’
The son of an Air India plane crash victim, who was sitting one row behind the man who survived, has told Sky News he will relive “her last moments” until the day he dies.
Manju Mahesh Patel, 79, was on the London Gatwick-bound plane when it crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on Thursday.
She was sitting in seat 12D on flight AI 171, the row behind the only person to survive the crash who was sitting in 11A.
In an interview with Sky News, Chirag Mahesh Patel, Manju’s son, said he hopes his mother’s death was “instant” and “painless”.
“To the day I die I will think, ‘what were her last moments?’,” he said.
Pointing to a framed family photograph of Ms Patel at the family home, he added: “I want to remember mum like this.
“I don’t want to have to go and identify a burnt corpse, your own parent. How does someone, how do you ever get over that? That will be with me, that’s with me for life.”
Ms Patel had been staying in Ahmedabad for the past few months doing charity work at a temple. She was due to be picked up by her son at Gatwick on Thursday night.
A family photo of Chirag Mahesh Patel with his mother
Read more on Air India crash:
Air India’s lone survivor is nothing short of miracle
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In tears, Mr Patel described his mother as “very strong” and a woman “who really loved her family”.
“The thing about my mum,” he said, “is her bond with her faith. It’s unbreakable.
“She had ultimate faith… and in times of stress she would always say God’s name… So, I know that upon take-off, I know that she was saying his name.”
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What could have caused the India plane crash?
Mr Patel said that when he realised his mother was on the flight it was just “a normal day” and “it didn’t seem real”.
He said the last time he had spoken to her he had reminded her to take her diabetes medicine and had then missed a call from her at 4am to say she had arrived at the airport.
He described “the most heartbreaking thing” was how much Ms Patel was looking forward to seeing her grandchildren, saying “it was everything to her”.
She had told him she packed her suitcase with lollipops for her six-year-old grandson, and special crisps for her 15-year-old older grandchild.
Ms Patel with her six-year-old grandson
“It’s unimaginable even in my worst nightmare,” he said. “And the thing that kills me… is she was so looking forward to seeing us… she kept saying I bought this for you, I bought that, I bought the things for the kids.”
Mr Patel and his wife are due to fly to India on Saturday night to provide a DNA sample to help identify his mother’s remains.
He expressed his anger at what he called a “disgusting” and “appalling” lack of communication from Air India – which he said passed his details to a hospital but never contacted him personally.
He described feeling “neglected” by the airline, which he said would only offer him an Air India flight – and no help organising accommodation.
Mr Patel said he refused to get on the Gatwick flight back to Ahmedabad and has booked with another provider to travel to India instead.
Ms Patel with her elder grandchild
“I said [to the airline] all of this happened on Thursday, you’re telling me on Friday afternoon, do you want that flight this evening? That one crashed? The one coming back where 172 goes out? They asked do you want Air India 172? I said how can you ask me that. My mum just died on Air India.”
Mr Patel said he wanted “answers” and transparency in any air accident investigation.
Air India said in a statement: “Air India stands in solidarity with the families of the passengers who tragically lost their lives in the recent accident. Our teams on the ground are doing everything possible to extend care and support during this incredibly difficult time.
“As part of our continued efforts, Air India will be providing an interim payment of ₹25 lakh or approximately £21,000 each to the families of the deceased and to the survivor, to help address immediate financial needs. This is in addition to the ₹1 crore or approximately £85,000 support already announced by Tata Sons.
“All of us at Air India are deeply saddened by this loss. We mourn with the families, loved ones, and everyone affected.”
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Families in India wait for bodies of relatives
The company’s chief executive and managing director Campbell Wilson said in a video message posted on social media that over 200 “trained caregivers” were now in place to offer dedicated assistance to families, along with counselling and other services.
He said Air India was in the process of completing precautionary safety checks on Boeing 787 aircraft as directed by regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which would “be completed within the timelines prescribed by the regulator”.
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Mr Wilson said he had also visited the crash site and said other members of the management team would remain present “for as long as it takes”.
The aircraft’s data recorder, often referred to as a black box, has been recovered and will form part of the investigation into the worst aviation crash in a decade.
‘He was too young’: Families grieve those lost in Air India crash
By Lisa Dowd, Midlands correspondent, in Derby
It was an emotional service at Derby’s Geeta Bhawan Hindu temple, as dozens of friends, colleagues and neighbours gathered to remember Dr Prateek Joshi, his wife Komi, their daughter Miraya, and twin sons Nakul and Pradyut.
Some wiped tears from their eyes, as a colleague was asked spontaneously to pay tribute to Dr Joshi, who had been bringing his family to live in the city, when the Air India flight they were on crashed seconds after take-off.
“He was too young, too much still to give, too much still to be done, too much to offer,” his friend told worshippers.
“He was taken from us in a very cruel and abrupt way, and his family as well, and we all think about his family back in India who is missing a son, missing a daughter-in-law and missing all their grandchildren who they’ll never see growing up.”
Derby South MP Catherine Atkinson said Dr Joshi, who was a radiologist at the Royal Derby hospital, had been “contributing to our NHS and the health of so many in our city and beyond”.
She said his wife was a pathologist who had resigned from her job in India.
“I won’t forget the photograph of them on the plane, full of optimism about their new adventure,” she said, as her voice broke.
“The losses make us all hug our families and loved ones a little closer and remind us how precious our time together is.”
Dr Joshi was described as a “warm, smiling man, full of joy” who enjoyed walking in the Peak District and who had discovered “a love of fish and chips”.
His neighbour and colleague Manoj Ramtohal told Sky News Dr Joshi always had time for people.
“He was very caring and very polite, very friendly, you couldn’t meet a better man than Prateek,” he said.
“We lost a very, very talented doctor.”
Sir Keir Starmer is to launch a new national inquiry into grooming gangs.
It comes after a government-requested audit into the scale of grooming gangs across the country concluded a nationwide probe was necessary.
The prime minister previously argued a national inquiry was not necessary, but has changed his view following an audit into group-based child sexual abuse led by Baroness Casey, which is set to be published next week.
“[Baroness Casey’s] position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry over and above what was going on,” he told reporters travelling with him to the G7 summit in Canada.
“She has looked at the material… and she has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen.
“I have read every single word of her report, and I am going to accept her recommendation. That is the right thing to do on the basis of what she has put in her audit.
“I asked her to do that job to double check on this; she has done that job for me, and having read her report… I shall now implement her recommendations.”
Grooming gangs timeline: What happened, what inquiries there were and how Starmer was involved
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Grooming gangs: What happened?
The near 200-page report is to be published next week and is expected to warn that white British girls were “institutionally ignored for fear of racism”.
One person familiar with the report said it details the institutional failures in treating young girls and cites a decade of lost action from the Jay Review, set up in 2014 to investigate grooming gangs in Rotherham.
The report is also expected to link illegal immigration with the exploitation of young girls.
The government had initially resisted a new inquiry, insisting that it first wanted to implement recommendations from previous inquiries, such as the Jay Review, into child sexual exploitation.
It also allowed five councils to set up their own investigations into their communities rather than hold a national inquiry.
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From April: Will all grooming gang inquiries go ahead?
The grooming gang scandal came back into the headlines at the beginning of the year after Elon Musk attacked Sir Keir and safeguarding minister Jess Philips for failing children.
The prime minister and Ms Phillips hit back, with Sir Keir citing his record of prosecuting abusers as director of public prosecutions, while Ms Phillips has long been a campaigner against domestic violence.
At the time, she told Sky News that Mr Musk’s claims were “ridiculous” and that she would be led by what victims have to say, not him.
Following the row between the tech billionaire and the UK government, the prime minister asked Baroness Casey to conduct an audit of all the evidence to see if a national inquiry was required.
Read more on this story:
Telford child abuse victims speak out
What we know about grooming gangs, from the data
The women who blew whistle on Rotherham
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said: “Keir Starmer doesn’t know what he thinks unless an official report has told him so.
“Just like he dismissed concerns about the winter fuel payment and then had to U-turn, just like he needed the Supreme Court to tell him what a woman is, he had to be led by the nose to make this correct decision here.
“I’ve been repeatedly calling for a full national inquiry since January. It’s about time he recognised he made a mistake and apologise for six wasted months.
“But this must not be the end of the matter. There are many, many more questions that need answering to ensure this inquiry is done properly and quickly.
“Many survivors of the grooming gangs will be relieved that this is finally happening, but they need a resolution soon, not in 10 years’ time. Justice delayed is justice denied.”
UK
Weather warnings: 30,000 lightning strikes hit UK – with roads flooded and landslip disrupting trains
Roads have been flooded and a landslip has disrupted trains as the UK was hit by tens of thousands of lightning strikes during thunderstorms – with severe weather warnings in place for large parts of the country.
It follows the hottest day of the year on Friday, which saw a high of 29.4C (84.9F) in Santon Downham in Suffolk.
The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning until 6pm across the South West, North East and North of England, Wales and much of Scotland.
Check the weather forecast where you are
It said there had been more thann 30,000 lightning strikes during the night, with the “vast majority” over the sea.
The Met Office has warned some areas could see 30-50mm of rain in a few hours, while a few locations could reach up to 80mm.
At the same time, strong wind gusts and hail accompanying the storms could potentially bring road flooding, difficult driving conditions, power cuts and flooding of homes and businesses.
The Environment Agency urged the public not to drive through flood water, reminding drivers that “just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.”
A further yellow warning is in force in the eastern half of Northern Ireland from 6am to 6pm on Saturday, while a similar warning has been in place across the South East of England overnight following an amber alert on Friday.
Thunderstorm warnings are in place until Saturday evening. Pic: Met Office
Kent experienced heavy rainfall overnight, with flooded roads in parts of Dover, while a fire in a residential building in St Leonards-on-Sea on Friday night was likely caused by a lightning strike, the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service say.
Devon received five flood warnings overnight by the Environment Agency, alongside 46 flood alerts in the South West, South East and Midlands.
A further six flood alerts have been put in place by Natural Resources Wales in South Wales.
National Rail said a landslip had stopped all services between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton, with the weather conditions meaning it is not safe for engineers to reach the site. Disruption is expected until around 1pm.
Other rail operators also warned customers to check for updates on services on Saturday morning.
Heathrow Airport apologised to passengers late on Friday night for flights delayed by “adverse weather conditions”.
Sky News weather producer Steff Gaulter said: “The most active thunderstorms are over parts of Wales, Northern Ireland, Northern England and Scotland, and some are still bringing localised downpours and strong winds.
“The storms will continue northwards, becoming largely confined to Northern Ireland and Scotland by the afternoon. Elsewhere will see a mixture of sunshine and showers, with the showers tending to ease during the day.
“Then from tomorrow an area of high pressure will start to stretch towards us, and the weather next week is looking far calmer and quieter.”
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Despite the risk of heavy showers and thunderstorms, not everyone will see rain during the day, with the driest and brightest weather expected in the South East, which will remain very warm.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued its first yellow heat-health alert of the year, active until 8am on Sunday in the east of England, East Midlands, London, and the South East.
Under the UKHSA and the Met Office’s weather-health alerting system, a yellow alert means there could be an increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people.
A yellow alert warns of a possible spike in vulnerable people accessing healthcare, and health risks for the over-65s and those with conditions such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
While scientists have not assessed the role of global warming in this short-term event, in general they expect more heavy downpours as the climate changes.
That’s largely because hotter air can hold more moisture and so releases more water when it rains.
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