Connect with us

Published

on

Police officers searching for missing British teenager Jay Slater have come to the recue of a “tired and disorientated” Scottish hiker who got stuck in a ravine.

The 51-year-old had got into difficulty in the same region of northwestern Tenerife where Mr Slater was last seen on Monday 17 June.

The Scottish hiker was reported missing by people in Los Carrizales in Buenavista del Norte after he left for a hike but did not return to the starting point for “several hours” on Friday, police said.

Officers added that he would not have managed to get out of the ravine “by his own means” due to the “difficulty and lack of communication” in the area where he was found.

Mr Slater, 19, had been holidaying with friends on the south of the Spanish island before he went back to a property in the northwestern mountain village of Masca in Buenavista del Norte on Sunday 16 June.

Teenager still missing

The apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle near Blackburn in Lancashire, had travelled to the village with two people he met at the NRG music festival.

More from UK

The teenager told a friend over the phone the following morning that he had missed a bus trying to get from Masca to his holiday accommodation in the southern town of Los Cristianos.

During the short phone call he said he would walk instead – a journey that would take 11 hours on foot.

He also said he was lost, in need of water, and only had 1% charge on his phone.

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

Two days after the search for Mr Slater entered its second week, police in Buenavista del Norte said officers trying to locate the teenager were informed of the Scottish man who had not returned from a hike in the Asomada Canyon on Friday.

The force said in a statement: “Neighbours of the place, observed as said hiker entered from very early on through an area of difficult access not suitable for transit and after several hours passed without returning to the starting point, alerted the agents who were at those moments in the search for the missing young man, Jay Slater.

“Tired and disoriented he was located by the officers and rescue team who helped him get out of the ravine.”

The Asomada Canyon is roughly a 6km (3.7 mile) walk away from Masca.

Read more:
Online sleuths wade into hunt
Picture being painted of Slater is ‘not true’, employer says
Slater’s mother ‘spends eight hours in police station’

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Where are rescuers looking for Jay Slater?

Family hopes CCTV image will help trace Slater

Mr Slater’s mother, father and brother have all flown to Tenerife to help with the search.

His father Warren Slater said on Monday that while some officers had been “brilliant”, he had been left frustrated at the lack of communication from others.

The family has also shared a blurry CCTV image of what they believe could be the missing teenager in a town nearby to Masca around 10 hours after he was first reported missing.

Mr Slater's family have shared a blurry image of what they believe could be the missing teenager
Image:
Mr Slater’s family have shared a blurry image of what they believe could be the missing teenager

The last person to see Mr Slater was Masca resident Ofelia Medina Hernandez who spoke to the teenager at 8am on Monday 17 June.

Ms Hernandez said she told him a bus was due at 10am as he seemingly hoped to get back to his accommodation.

However, he set off walking – and she said she later drove past him as he was “walking fast”.

? Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts ?

Last week, photographs emerged showing the Tenerife property where Mr Slater had reportedly been before he went missing.

Rumours and conspiracy theories about his disappearance have since circulated online, with social media users speculating on platforms including TikTok and Facebook.

Some online sleuths have even travelled out to Tenerife to try and find Mr Slater.

Continue Reading

UK

NHS league tables and cancelled pay rises for managers among government health reforms

Published

on

By

NHS league tables and cancelled pay rises for managers among government health reforms

NHS league tables revealing failing NHS trusts and cancelled pay rises or dismissal for managers who don’t turn things around are to form part of the government’s plans to improve the health service.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is confirming new measures he hopes will boost failing hospital trusts and encourage successful ones.

The changes form part of the Labour government’s strategy to reduce waiting lists “from 18 months to 18 weeks”.

Politics latest: ‘Eye-watering’ climate target announced by PM

Health and the state of the NHS were consistently among the most important issues for voters at this year’s general election – with Labour blaming the Conservatives for “breaking” it.

As health is a devolved area, any reforms proposed in Westminster would only apply to England.

Chief among Mr Streeting’s proposals is a “league table” for NHS trusts.

More on Nhs

An announcement from the Department for Health and Social Care said: “NHS England will carry out a no-holds-barred sweeping review of NHS performance across the entire country, with providers to be placed into a league table.

“This will be made public and regularly updated to ensure leaders, policy-makers and patients know which improvements need to be prioritised.”

It also promises to replace “persistently failing managers” – with “turn around teams” being sent in to improve trusts running sizeable deficits or offering poor service to patients.

The government says “senior managers” who fail to make progress will not be eligible for pay rises.

There will be “financial implications” for more senior figures such as chief executives if their trust does not improve.

On the flip-side, those trusts that are deemed to be “high-performing” will get “greater freedom over funding and flexibility”.

Senior leaders at these trusts will also be “rewarded”.

The government says the current system is not incentivising trusts to run a budget surplus, as they cannot benefit from it.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

NHS reform: ‘Be careful what you wish for’

Read more on the NHS:
Reform will not begin right away – Streeting

Govt ask for ideas to ‘help fix our NHS’
NHS must ‘reform or die’, warns PM

Mr Streeting said: “The budget showed this government prioritises the NHS, providing the investment needed to rebuild the health service.

“Today we are announcing the reforms to make sure every penny of extra investment is well spent and cuts waiting times for patients.

“There’ll be no more turning a blind eye to failure. We will drive the health service to improve, so patients get more out of it for what taxpayers put in.

“Our health service must attract top talent, be far more transparent to the public who pay for it, and run as efficiently as global businesses.

“With the combination of investment and reform, we will turn the NHS around and cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks.”

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Concerns from health representatives

Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “While NHS leaders welcome accountability, it is critical that responsibility comes with the necessary support and development.

“The extensive package of reforms, developed together with government, will empower all leaders working in the NHS and it will give them the tools they need to provide the best possible services for our patients.”

Further plans on how monitoring will be published by the start of the next financial year in April 2025, the government said.

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation – a body that represents all NHS trusts – said healthcare leaders welcome the “government’s ambition”.

However, he said he was concerned league tables and reducing pay may “strip out” the nuance of what’s going on.

👉 Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your podcast app👈

Mr Taylor said: “NHS staff are doing their very best for patients under very challenging circumstances and we do not want them feeling like they are being named and shamed.

“League tables in themselves do not lead to improvement, trusts struggling with consistent performance issues – some of which reflect contextual issues such as underlying population heath and staff shortages – need to be identified and supported in order to recover.”

Continue Reading

UK

Princess of Wales’s annual carol concert to focus on ‘how much we need others in difficult times’

Published

on

By

Princess of Wales's annual carol concert to focus on 'how much we need others in difficult times'

The Princess of Wales will host her Christmas carol concert this year, reflecting on “how much we need each other, especially in the most difficult times of our lives”.

The service, which has become an annual festive event for Kate, will take place on the 6 December at Westminster Abbey, as part of her return to public duties after finishing her chemotherapy treatment earlier this year.

In September, the princess said her focus is “doing what I can to stay cancer-free”.

Last week, Prince William described how the past year had been “brutal” and probably “the hardest year in my life”, with his father, the King, also receiving cancer treatment.

Both the King and Kate joined other members of the Royal Family for the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London on Sunday.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Princess of Wales at Remembrance Sunday

Announcing the date of the Together At Christmas carol service, Kensington Palace said: “This year’s service provides a moment to reflect upon the importance of love and empathy, and how much we need each other, especially in the most difficult times of our lives.

“The service will shine a light on individuals from all over the UK who have shown love, kindness and empathy towards others in their communities.”

EMBARGOED TO 0001 WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 13 File photo dated 8/12/2021 of the Duchess of Cambridge's family, inlcuding her parents, Michael (right) and Carole (second right), and her sister and brother, Pippa Matthews and James Middleton (both left) take their seats ahead of the Together At Christmas community carol service at Westminster Abbey in London. The Princess of Wales will host her annual Christmas carol concert this year, with the service reflecting on "how much we need each other, especia
Image:
The Princess of Wales’s family at the service in 2021. Pic: PA

It will be the fourth time Kate has staged the carol service, which is supported by her and her husband’s Royal Foundation.

Around 1,600 people will be invited to sing carols and see musical performances by stars including Paloma Faith, Olivia Dean and Gregory Porter.

Those who have supported others, either on a personal level with friends and family or through their work or volunteering, have been nominated to attend.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Kate ‘doing really well’

The palace added that this year Kate “wanted to celebrate the many people supporting those in need – individuals who have inspired, counselled, comforted, and above all else shown that love is the greatest gift we can receive”.

The theme takes inspiration from the Christmas story, “which encourages us to consider the experiences of others and the important human need of giving and receiving empathy”.

Read more from Sky News:
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns
Magic Circle on the hunt for first female member

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Across the UK, 15 Together At Christmas community carol services will also be held, including at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro and Blackpool Tower Circus.

The event will be filmed as part of a special programme which will air on ITV and ITVX on Christmas Eve.

Continue Reading

UK

£10,000 fine for social media bosses who don’t remove knife adverts proposed

Published

on

By

£10,000 fine for social media bosses who don't remove knife adverts proposed

Fines of £10,000 for social media bosses who don’t remove illegal knife adverts are being considered by the government.

The proposals are part of attempts by Labour to fulfil their promise to halve knife crime levels in the next decade.

The Home Office wants to introduce the measures to stop the “unacceptable use of social media and online marketplaces to market illegal weapons and glorify violence” and ensure content is quickly removed.

Under the plans, police would be empowered to issue warnings to senior officials at online companies and demand specific adverts and content be removed – potentially within two days.

A second notice could then be given if action is not taken – with senior executives “personally liable” for a “significant fine” if nothing is done.

While the exact scale of the financial penalty has not been confirmed, a consultation suggested £10,000 for the worst offenders, according to the PA news agency.

Sir Keir Starmer previously spoke of his desire to make buying knives online harder.

In September, he hosted a meeting of a new anti-knife crime coalition including actor Idris Elba and bereaved families, among others.

Elba told the meeting: “Talk is good, but action is important.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Idris Elba: ‘Talk is good, action is more important’

As well as reducing the sale of knives online, the government also wants to change the law around ninja swords.

Work is currently ongoing to decide a definition of the weapons.

It comes on the back of campaigning by Pooja Kanda, the mother of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda.

Ronan was killed in Wolverhampton by two 17-year-olds in 2022, who used a weapon purchased online under an alias and collected from a Post Office.

Read more:
Cutting knife crime ‘moral mission’ for Labour

Elba joins Starmer for anti-knife coalition meeting
Mum of murdered boy ‘feels heard’ with new laws

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said perpetrators “must face the full force of the law” as she announced the “tough new sanctions”, adding: “The epidemic of knife crime that has grown over the last decade is devastating families and communities right across the country.

“That’s why this government has set out an unprecedented mission to halve knife crime over the next decade and today we’re taking determined action to get lethal blades off Britain’s streets.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Home Sec vows to halve knife crime

Commander Stephen Clayman, who leads the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s work on knife crime and is also heading a review of online sales of the weapons for the Home Office, said: “For far too long, deadly weapons have been far too easily accessible online, with content promoting their use for protection and combat rife on many platforms and seemingly little being done to remove it.

“We welcome the chance to take part in the consultation and explore the most effective means of achieving this, including using the findings of the ongoing online sales review.”

Continue Reading

Trending