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Donald Trump’s dreams of hosting golf’s Open Championship at his Turnberry course in Scotland will not be realised until the course is logistically and commercially viable, the game’s governing body has said.

Mark Darbon, chief executive of the R&A, told Sky News Turnberry is a “challenging” venue and, despite suggestions of diplomatic pressure from London and Washington, it has no immediate plans to schedule a championship at the Ayrshire venue.

Mr Trump has made no secret of his desire to return the Open to a course he bought in 2014, with his son Eric Trump leading efforts for it to stage a first championship since 2009.

Sources close to Mr Trump’s golf interests have told Sky News the Open would be a valuable bargaining tool in the UK’s trade negotiations with the US, and the King went as far as to mention Turnberry in the invitation for a state visit hand delivered by the prime minister last month.

Mark Darbon, chief executive of the R&A
Image:
Mark Darbon, chief executive of the R&A

In his first broadcast interview since becoming chief executive last November, Mr Darbon said logistics and finances currently rule out a course that may have been outgrown by the demands of a modern Open.

“The area where there’s a bit of challenge is around the logistical and commercial side. The last time we were at Turnbury in 2009 we had 120,000 people there,” he said.

“These days a modern Open caters for 250,000 people-plus, and so we need the road and rail infrastructure to get our fan base there. We need hotel accommodation for the 60,000 bed nights we need to stage our championship and it’s challenging at that venue.”

Mr Darbon did not deny there was pressure to consider Turnberry, and indicated that politics, and the prospect of Mr Trump overshadowing any event, would also be a factor.

“We need to be confident that the focus will be on the sport and we need to ensure that the venue works for our requirement,” he added.

Read more: Man charged over vandalism at Trump golf course in Scotland

Handout photo issued by Palestine Action of damage to Trump Turnberry, which has been vandalised by activists. Palestine Action described it as a 'direct response to the US administration's stated intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza'. Issue date: Saturday March 8, 2025. The golf course in South Ayrshire, owned by the US president, was targeted overnight, with activists painting Gaza Is Not For Sale in three-metre high letters on the lawn, and damaging the greens including the course's most prestig
Image:
A man was charged over the vandalism of a golf course owned by Mr Trump last week. Pic: PA

Competition for Turnberry is likely to increase from larger, less remote facilities.

The R&A draws Open venues from a rota of courses, with Royal Portrush staging this year’s championship following a sellout return after almost 70 years in 2019. Mr Darbon confirmed Portmarnock near Dublin is being actively considered for the first-ever Open outside the UK.

Maximising income from the Open matters because the R&A, which governs the game everywhere save the US, uses the revenue to fund a grassroots game still enjoying a post-COVID boom.

Donald Trump playing golf at his Trump Turnberry course. Pic: PA
Image:
Donald Trump playing golf at his Turnberry course. Pic: PA

“We work with over 140 countries around the world, and in those markets there are now more than 62 million golfers, more than ever before,” Mr Darbon said.

“Some 40-odd million are playing golf regularly on nine and 18-hole golf courses, another 20 million are playing what we would call non-traditional formats like driving ranges, adventure golf, simulator golf. So the game is actually in rude health and our job is to continue to foster that and support it over time.”

Read more from Sky News:
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Trump ‘p***ed’ off’ with Putin after Zelenskyy comments

He is optimistic too that an end may be in sight for golf’s own trade war, between the US PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian-funded LIV Golf league, a multi-billion dollar schism in the men’s professional game that has enriched scores of players while alienating many fans.

“There’s been too much talk about cash and not enough talk about competition and courses and all the other wonderful things that underpin our sport. So we’re optimistic for some positive change on that front. We’re not a negotiating table, but our job is to try and influence those discussions,” he said.

Donald Trump playing golf at his Trump Turnberry course. Pic: PA
Image:
Mr Trump’s ambitions to host the Open at Turnberry are still unfulfilled. Pic: PA

The Open and golf’s other major championships, including next month’s Masters, have benefitted from the dispute as the only platforms for all of the best male players, and Mr Darbon says the game retains its lucrative appeal to business & sponsors.

“I think golf is maintaining its commercial appeal and I think there are a number of things that support that,” he said.

“The game has a really rich history and heritage, the values of the sport are really strong, and brands of businesses can continue to tell really rich stories about the game of golf that links to their own products and services. On top of that, golf has a genuinely global audience.”

Among them is the world’s most powerful man, his ambitions to host the Open still unfulfilled.

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‘A constant game of cat and mouse’: Inside the crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

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'A constant game of cat and mouse': Inside the crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.

“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.

“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”

Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.

Police chase suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery drivers

The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.

“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.

“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”

Murad Mohammed from Immigration Enforcement
Image:
Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue

Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.

He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.

He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.

A man inspects the Just Eat food delivery bag of a suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver

We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.

Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.

This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.

Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’s retail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.

Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum
Image:
Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News

She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.

“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.

“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver being arrested

There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.

Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.

But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.

“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.

Read more:
Welfare bill passes final Commons stage after another concession
Ex-Tory chairman defects to Reform
Wealth tax could be coming to the UK – what is it?

The gig economy – so prevalent in every city – creates another incentive for those wanting to risk their lives coming to the UK illegally.

More than 20,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to the UK in 2025 – a record number at this point of the year.

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver holds his helmet

For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.

There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.

As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.

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This flimsy vessel carrying migrants could reach British waters in a few hours’ time

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This flimsy vessel carrying migrants could reach British waters in a few hours' time

We see the boat from a distance – the orange of the life jackets reflected in the rising sun.

And as we draw closer, we can make out dozens of people crowded on board as it sets off from the shore, from a beach near Dunkirk.

There is no sign of any police activity on the shore, and there are no police vessels in the water.

Instead, the migrants crammed into an inflatable dinghy are being watched by us, on board a private boat, and the looming figure of the Minck, a French search and rescue ship that soon arrives.

Picture to go with Adam Parsons' eyewitness of migrants crossing on 10/07/25
Image:
Minck, a French search and rescue ship, shadows the boat

The dinghy meanders. It’s not heading towards Britain but rather hugging the coast.

A few of the passengers wave at us cheerfully, but then the boat starts to head back towards the shore.

Picture to go with Adam Parsons' eyewitness of migrants crossing on 10/07/25
Image:
Sky’s Adam Parsons at the scene

As it nears a different beach, we see a police vehicle – a dune buggy – heading down to meet it.

Normal practice is for French police officers to slice through the material of any of these small boats that end up back on shore.

Two police officers get out of the buggy and wait. A police helicopter arrives and circles above, performing a tight circle over the heads of the migrants.

The police think they might be about to go back on to the beach; in fact, these passengers know that most of them are staying put.

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The boat stops a short distance from the shore and four people jump out. As they wade towards the beach, the boat turns and starts to head back out to sea.

We see the two police officers approach these four men and have a brief conversation.

They don’t appear to check the bags they are carrying and, if they do question them about why they left the boat, it is the most cursory of conversations.

In reality, these people probably don’t speak French but they were almost certainly involved in arranging this crossing, which is against the law. But all four walk away, disappearing into the dunes at the back of the beach.

Read more:
Why do so many from around the world try to cross the Channel?
Channel crossings rise by 50% in first six months of 2025

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Why do migrants want to come to the UK?

We follow the boat as it chugs off in the direction of Britain, carrying around 50 people.

The Minck returns to shadowing its progress, but its job is limited to offering help if the boat gets into trouble.

Otherwise, if the engine keeps working, then this flimsy vessel will reach British waters in a few hours’ time.

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‘A constant game of cat and mouse’: Inside the police crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

Published

on

By

'A constant game of cat and mouse': Inside the crackdown on illegal moped delivery drivers

The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.

“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.

“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”

Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.

Police chase suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery drivers

The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.

“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.

“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”

Murad Mohammed from Immigration Enforcement
Image:
Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue

Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.

He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.

He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.

A man inspects the Just Eat food delivery bag of a suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver

We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.

Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.

This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.

Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’s retail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.

Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum
Image:
Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News

She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.

“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.

“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver being arrested

There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.

Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.

But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.

“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.

Read more:
Welfare bill passes final Commons stage after another concession
Ex-Tory chairman defects to Reform
Wealth tax could be coming to the UK – what is it?

The gig economy – so prevalent in every city – creates another incentive for those wanting to risk their lives coming to the UK illegally.

More than 20,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to the UK in 2025 – a record number at this point of the year.

A suspected illegal immigrant working as a delivery driver holds his helmet

For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.

There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.

As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.

Continue Reading

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