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A British teenager who is missing in Tenerife had “cut his leg on a cactus” and did not know where he was, a friend has told Sky News.

Lucy Law said 19-year-old Jay Slater is “not a stupid boy” and would have flagged down any passing car or spoken to passers by.

Mr Slater, from Lancashire, has been missing on the Spanish island since Monday morning.

Jay Slater. Pic: Lucy Law
Image:
Jay Slater. Pic: Lucy Law

His mother, a team of mountain rescuers, and the local civil guard are searching for him after he disappeared while holidaying with friends.

Ms Law said he rang her to say he “didn’t know where he was”, that he “needed a drink” and had “cut his leg on a cactus”.

Despite his mobile phone battery being down to 1% he managed to send her a photo of his location.

When she told him to return to where he had walked from, he said he did not know where that was, Ms Law said.

He was without food and water, she added, and had been in a T-shirt and shorts. “It’s very warm in the day and very cold at night,” she told the UK Tonight programme on Sky News.

“So in the day he’s going to be really warm without a drink, and then at night he’s going to be very cold without any suitable clothing.”

Ms Law and others have printed off posters in both Spanish and English and have plastered them “everywhere”, she said.

Tenerife map for Jay Slater story
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Jay Slater’s phone’s last live location was Rural de Teno Park. The search has also focused on Los Cristianos

Soon after Mr Slater went missing, an American woman offered to drive Ms Law up into the mountains.

There was “literally no sign of him anywhere”, she said. “We drove around all day.”

Mr Slater had posted a picture online of some mountains next to a house he had been to.

Ms Law drove around looking for a lamp and some flowers seen in that picture.

“We managed to find the house,” she said. “I knocked on the door and there were two people there.”

They told Ms Law that Mr Slater had gone out for a cigarette before going back in and saying he wanted to go home.

Masca, Rural de Teno park, Tenerife. Pic: iStock
Image:
Masca, Rural de Teno Park, Tenerife. Pic: iStock

“They told me he’d spoken to the next door neighbours and they’d told him there was a bus every 10 minutes back down to Los Cristianos.

“The bus stop was right next to the house. So obviously if he’d gone to get the bus he wouldn’t have got lost because it [the stop] was visible from the front door.”

Read more:
What we know so far about Jay Slater’s disappearance

The trip back down from the mountains is an hour’s drive. “Everything looks the same – it’s just a road and hills,” Ms Law said.

“I can’t understand why he would come out of the house and then decide he was going to walk. I think he maybe set off walking with battery and had not realised how far the walk actually is.”

There are “so many questions that are unanswered”, Mr Slater’s friend said.

Jay Slater and his mother, Debbie Duncan. Pic: Lucy Law
Image:
Jay Slater and his mother, Debbie Duncan. Pic: Lucy Law

‘He’s not a stupid boy’

“The thing I find the most weird about this is the fact that there’s nobody that’s seen him.

“And he’s not a stupid boy – he’s got some nous about him.

“I’ve seen so many people up here and I’ve asked every single one if they’ve seen him – this is what I find weird.

“If he’d seen somebody, or a car, he would have flagged down the car – he would have said he needed a phone to contact someone.”

She added: “He would never have his family worrying like this – he would never have us worrying like this.

“If he saw someone, the first thing he would do is say ‘I need to ring my mum’ – I know that for a fact. He would never ever have his mum worrying like this.

“It’s just awful – I’ve never in my life been so worried.

“I’ve literally not slept at all since.”

The Spanish Civil Guard told UK media they are “doing everything possible” to find Mr Slater.

“A specialist mountain rescue and intervention group called the Greim have been mobilised.

“A police helicopter is also out and focusing on the area around the village of Masca.

“Other emergency services including firefighters have also been mobilised.”

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Southport stabbing victim reveals how she survived attack – and fears ‘it could happen again’

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Southport stabbing victim reveals how she survived attack - and fears 'it could happen again'

A girl who was stabbed in the Southport attack has told Sky News how she thought she was going to die that day.

Warning: Some readers may find this content distressing

It is exactly a year since Axel Rudakubana killed three girls and attempted to murder eight others at a summer holiday Taylor Swift-themed dance event in the seaside town.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was stabbed in the back and the arm after going to the class with her younger sister.

She is now campaigning for children to have mandatory first aid training at school in response to the growth of knife crime.

She said she clearly remembers what happened that day.

Flowers and tributes near the scene of the attack a year ago. Pic: PA
Image:
Flowers and tributes near the scene of the attack a year ago. Pic: PA

“Some of the girls were sat down in a circle making bracelets with the teachers, and a couple of them were getting up to get beads. I was standing between two tables and he came through the doors.

“He stabbed a little girl in front of me and then came for me and stabbed my arm. I turned and then he stabbed my back, even though I didn’t feel it at the time.

“There was a bunch of girls huddled around so I just started pushing them down the stairs, telling them to get out and run.

“I was thinking ‘Where’s my sister?’ and ‘We need to get out’.”

She and many of the other victims ran to the house of a neighbour for shelter. “I just thought that I was going to die,” she said.

Killer ‘looked possessed’

The girl said she can clearly picture Rudakubana that day.

“What I remember most about him is his eyes. They just didn’t look human, they looked possessed. It was kind of like a dream and you’re on a movie set and watching yourself go through it and make these decisions.

“It’s just kind of like adrenaline. People like to think they know what they’d do in that situation but, in reality, you don’t until you’re in it.”

Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were murdered in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class.
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Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were murdered in the attack

Six-year-old Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, who was seven, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar died in the attack. It is something she finds difficult to talk about.

“I don’t think I can express how I feel about it,” the girl said. “A lot of anger and sadness.”

In January, Rudakubana was jailed for life and must serve a minimum of 52 years before he can be considered for release.

The chairman of the public inquiry into the atrocity called the attack “one of the most egregious crimes in our country’s history”.

Carrying knives ‘disgusting’

The girl who survived has now launched a campaign, supported by a clothing range called “Go Anywhere, Be Anything” to raise funds, to improve the ability of schoolchildren to help in the event of knife attacks.

“Everyone that’s going out and carrying knives is getting younger and younger,” she said. “And to think that it’s people my age is like disgusting.

“I just want to try and do the best I can to let people know that it’s not okay to do that and that they need to think about what they’re doing and the risks and how they’re harming themselves and other people.”

Her sister, who was also there that day, helped design “Go Anywhere, Be Anything”.

Read more:
Missed chances to stop Rudakubana

‘Terrorism has changed’, says PM

A three-minute silence will be held in Southport at 3pm to mark one year on from the attack. In an open letter to the community, Sefton Council wrote: “This period is incredibly hard for the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie and all of those children and adults injured or who suffered lifelong psychological impact of witnessing the attack, and we acknowledge the huge impact on their lives, too.

“We must not forget the local people who rushed to support and to our emergency responders. They all remain always in our thoughts.”

It is a sentiment shared by the survivor.

“You live in fear every day that it could happen again,” she said.

“Physically I’m getting better every day and healing. Obviously, my scars stay as a reminder but everyone from that day is going to have mental scars forever.”

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Revealed: The scale of cheap Chinese imports flown into UK without paying any tariffs

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Revealed: The scale of cheap Chinese imports flown into UK without paying any tariffs

The scale of cheap Chinese e-commerce imports flown into Britain without paying any tariffs has become clearer following a Sky News investigation into this new multi-billion pound phenomenon.

We have uncovered the first official estimate of the value of so-called “de minimis” imports into Britain, ahead of an official inquiry into whether this legal clause – which excludes packages worth less than £135 from paying customs duties – should be allowed to continue.

Companies like Shein and Temu have become big players in British retail, not to mention elsewhere around the world, by manufacturing cheap products in China and then posting them directly to consumers, benefiting from the de minimis rules.

Inside the cargo plane

Clothing manufacturers in the UK claim that de minimis makes it nearly impossible to compete with these Chinese competitors, raising questions about the viability of domestic textile and apparel production.

However, economists argue that the main beneficiaries of the policy to exclude cheap imports from customs are lower-income households, since it allows them to spend less on their shopping. Removing it, they say, would disproportionately affect poorer families.

The government has committed to an inquiry into the rules, which are also being changed in the EU and the US, but up until now there has been no official estimate of its scale.

According to HM Revenue and Customs data released to Sky News following a Freedom of Information request, the total declared trade value of de minimis imports into the UK in the last fiscal year (2024-25) was £5.9bn.

That was a 53% increase on the previous year (£3.9bn), underlining the scale of growth of e-commerce imports into the UK.

While it is hard to gauge how much revenue this means the Treasury has forgone, an illustrative 20% tariff on flows of that order could raise more than £1bn.

De minimis trade is growing

While that sum alone would not fill the fiscal black hole faced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the coming budget, it would nonetheless be nearly enough to pay for the government’s recent U-turn on winter fuel allowances.

Sky has also obtained the first television access deep into the supply chain, helping bring those goods into the UK, as it boarded a flight that had just travelled from Chongqing to Bournemouth Airport.

We filmed inside the belly of a plane belonging to European Cargo, one of a number of air cargo firms booming as a result of these trade flows.

Read more:
The rarely examined trade clause about to become a very big deal
UK city’s clothing industry in crisis

The untold story about de minimis is that it hasn’t just had an impact on shopping habits in the UK, or for that matter, the textiles manufacturing sector – it has also changed patterns of distribution.

Struggling regional airports that never saw their passenger numbers recover after the pandemic are now re-establishing themselves as hubs for cargo.

European Cargo is now the single biggest airline at Bournemouth Airport, despite not carrying a single passenger.

Other regional airports like East Midlands Airport and Prestwick in Scotland are seeing rapid growth in flows of trade.

All of which raises the stakes for the government’s inquiry into the de minimis system.

At present, there is no timeline for its decision, but removing the clause would have far-reaching effects across the economy.

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Lionesses parade: The route and key timings as thousands of England fans to descend on central London

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Lionesses parade: The route and key timings as thousands of England fans to descend on central London

The Lionesses will celebrate with thousands of England fans in central London today as the players take part in an open-top bus procession.

The bus will carry the team through central London, allowing supporters to celebrate the team’s defence of their Women’s Euros title alongside the likes of Leah Williamson and Chloe Kelly and catch a glimpse of the silverware.

Here is all you need to know.

Where will the parade go and when?

The team’s open-top bus will travel along The Mall from 12.10pm.

It will end with a staged ceremony at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, which is expected to start at roughly 12.30pm and end at 1pm, the Football Association (FA) announced.

The Royal Marines Portsmouth band and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force will perform on the stage and highlights from the tournament will be shown on big screens.

England manager Sarina Wiegman will then lead her triumphant team out on stage to lift the trophy.

The event will be hosted by former Lioness and football pundit Alex Scott.

Fans will be able to attend the event for free, but the FA have warned that the capital is going to be “very busy”.

“People should plan their visits carefully, both coming into central London and travelling home,” the association said.

England players celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Women's Euro 2025. Pic: Reuters
Image:
England players celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. Pic: Reuters

How to watch

You can watch coverage of the entire event live on Sky News from 10am and follow all the action with our live blog.

Fans can also follow coverage of the event on the BBC, ITV and across England’s social media channels.

Celebrations with the deputy PM

The Lionesses landed back in the UK from Basel, Switzerland, on Monday, where celebrations continued with a reception at Downing Street.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and sports minister Stephanie Peacock hosted the team ahead of today’s bus parade.

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‘It’s very, very special’

Sir Keir Starmer said: “The Lionesses have once again captured the hearts of the nation.

“Their victory is not only a remarkable sporting achievement, but an inspiration for young people across the country.”

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Chloe Kelly saves England again

An extra bank holiday?

As the team have become the first senior England side to win a major tournament on foreign soil, some have called for an extra bank holiday to mark the occasion.

Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey was one of those who asked the prime minister if it was “time for that bank holiday”.

He was referring to comments made by Sir Keir in 2023. When, as leader of the opposition, he wrote on X that there “should be a celebratory bank holiday if the Lionesses bring it home”.

But with estimates suggesting an extra bank holiday would cost the economy £2.4bn, it’s understood such a move isn’t being planned by Downing Street.

‘There is no stopping them now’

The impact of the Lionesses second consecutive Euros title is already being felt across the UK.

At Bearsted Football Club in Maidstone, Kent, a mural of Alessia Russo, who levelled Sunday’s final with a goal in the 56th minute, has been unveiled.

Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Final - England v Spain - St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland - July 27, 2025 England's Alessia Ru
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Alessia Russo scoring the levelling goal. Pic: Reuters

The club is where Russo first started playing, and chairman Jamie Houston told Sky News the Lionesses have helped transform the women’s game.

“Five years ago we never had a girl’s football team,” he told Sky correspondent Mollie Malone. “Now we have five separate teams for girls, and boys are accepting of more girls in the game.

“There is no stopping them now.”

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What’s next for the Lionesses?

Read more:
In pictures: The story of the Euros final
Fans celebrate at club where Lioness began journey
Analysis: England showed resolve and relentlessness

Lynda Hale, who played in the England squad in the first ever international women’s match against Scotland in 1972, reiterated that women’s football has changed drastically since she played.

“When I first started playing there was hardly anyone that would watch,” she told Sky News Breakfast.

“To put on the England shirt and think what we started has grown to this magnitude, and it is still going to grow, is absolutely fantastic. I think the sky’s the limit in women’s football.”

Asked what advice she would have for the current England squad after their win, Ms Hale said: “The girls need to make as many memories as they can and take everything in their stride.”

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