Connect with us

Published

on

“Action stations!” a voice barks.

The crew of a Royal Navy destroyer is on high alert for enemy drones – launched from the air and from the water.

“Maximum air threat,” the voice says.

The crew of HMS Dauntless practice their defensive drills

A helicopter, already airborne, uses a missile to take out an incoming drone from a distance, while the ship’s guns open fire on a small uncrewed vessel racing towards it.

The action, using live rounds, unfolded on Tuesday off the Welsh coast as HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, took part in an exercise to prepare for a major deployment to Asia in the coming weeks alongside one of the UK’s two aircraft carriers.

The voyage could take the carrier strike group through hostile waters, including within range of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. Pic: PA
Image:
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. Pic: PA

It means the heavily-armed destroyer – a key layer of defence for HMS Prince of Wales – may come under attack for real.

Luke Pollard, the armed forces minister, said the ship was well prepared.

“If anyone were to threaten our carrier, they should be in no doubt that we possess formidable capabilities to defend ourselves, to defend every ship in that task force,” he told Sky News, speaking onboard Dauntless, having watched part of the training.

Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard
Image:
Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard

Escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran may also impact the long-planned trip.

Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if the regime does not reach an agreement with Washington over its nuclear programme.

Asked whether the UK would divert its warships to support the US – if requested – should it attack Iran, Mr Pollard said: “The advantage of naval power is that it always presents options, so there’s always options in support of our national security objectives.

“That’s why, when the carrier sails shortly for the Indo-Pacific, there’s options for her entire deployment as to how we use that power.”

Read more from Sky News:
More potential victims come forward after ‘prolific’ rapist jailed
White House says ‘days of US being ripped off are over’
US prosecutors to seek death penalty for man accused of killing healthcare boss

The crew of HMS Dauntless practice their defensive drills

Practising their defensive drills, the crew of HMS Dauntless, commanded by Commander Ben Dorrington, used radars and binoculars to scan the area for enemy drones.

A large portion of the exercise involved simulated threats, such as pretend swarms of aerial drones and uncrewed vessels, cruise missiles and hostile jets

But there were also a number of real unmanned aerial systems and uncrewed attack boats for training. Drone vessels, packed with explosives, are an emerging maritime threat. Ukraine has used them to great effect against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

The crew of HMS Dauntless practice their defensive drills

Sky News watched as fixed guns on one side of the destroyer opened fire on an uncrewed vessel that was playing the part of the enemy.

The weapons included a cannon called Phalanx, which can pump out 3,000 rounds of armour-piercing shells a minute.

Rounds could be seen piercing the water. The gunners then took out the boat, with flames and smoke rising out of it.

Despite some cutting-edge capabilities, the Royal Navy’s fighting capacity is increasingly finite after decades of defence cuts.

The government has announced plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, but many defence insiders say the increase is too small and too slow.

Mr Pollard defended the policy, pointing to an extra £5bn in the budget this year.

“We know the world is more dangerous, we know threats towards the UK and our allies are increasing, and that’s why we’re investing in defence.”

Continue Reading

UK

Urgent letter to home secretary over violence against women and girls strategy – as it omits child abuse

Published

on

By

Urgent letter to home secretary over violence against women and girls strategy - as it omits child abuse

Ten child protection organisations have written an urgent letter to the home secretary expressing concern about the omission of child sexual abuse from the government’s violence against women and girls strategy, following a Sky News report. 

Groups including the NSPCC, Barnardo’s and The Children’s Society wrote to Yvette Cooper to say that violence against women and girls (VAWG) and child sexual abuse are “inherently and deeply connected”, suggesting any “serious strategy” to address VAWG needs to focus on child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The letter comes after Sky News revealed an internal Home Office document, titled Our draft definition of VAWG, which said that child sexual abuse and exploitation is not “explicitly within the scope” of their strategy, due to be published in September.

Poppy Eyre when she was four years old
Image:
Poppy Eyre when she was four years old

Responding to Sky News’ original report, Poppy Eyre, who was sexually abused and raped by her grandfather when she was four, said: “VAWG is – violence against women and girls. If you take child sexual abuse out of it, where are the girls?”

The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, which is funded by the Home Office and a signatory to the letter, estimates 500,000 children in England and Wales are sexually abused every year.

The NSPCC “welcome” the government’s pledge to halve VAWG in a decade, but is “worried that if they are going to fulfil this commitment, the strategy absolutely has to include clear deliverable objectives to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation too”, the head of policy, Anna Edmundson, told Sky News.

Poppy is a survivor of child sexual abuse
Image:
Poppy is a survivor of child sexual abuse

She warned the government “will miss a golden opportunity” and the needs of thousands of girls will be “overlooked” if child sexual abuse and exploitation is not “at the heart of its flagship strategy”.

The government insists the VAWG programme will include action to tackle child sexual abuse, but says it also wants to create a distinctive plan to “ensure those crimes get the specialist response they demand”.

“My message to the government is that if you’re going to make child sexual abuse a separate thing, we need it now,” Poppy told Sky News.

Read more from Sky News:
Why Donald Trump believes he ‘deserves the Nobel Peace Prize’
Bank holiday temperatures to climb close to 30C before rain arrives

Rape Crisis, which is one of the largest organisations providing support to women in England and Wales, shares these concerns.

It wants plans to tackle child sexual abuse to be part of the strategy, and not to sit outside it.

“If a violence against women and girls strategy doesn’t include sexual violence towards girls, then it runs the risk of being a strategy for addressing some violence towards some females, but not all,” chief executive Ciara Bergman said.

A Home Office spokesperson said the government is “working tirelessly to tackle the appalling crimes of violence against women and girls and child sexual exploitation and abuse, as part of our Safer Streets mission”.

“We are already investing in new programmes and introducing landmark laws to overhaul the policing and criminal justice response to these crimes, as well as acting on the recommendations of Baroness Casey’s review into group-based Child Sexual Exploitation, and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse,” they added.

Continue Reading

UK

Man and boy arrested on suspicion of arson after restaurant fire leaves two in critical condition

Published

on

By

Man and boy arrested on suspicion of arson after restaurant fire leaves two in critical condition

A 54-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy have been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life after a restaurant fire in east London on Friday.

Three people were taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition after the fire at the Indian Aroma in Ilford.

Two remained in a critical condition on Sunday morning, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The restaurant suffered extensive damage in the blaze.

Two further victims are thought to have left the scene before officers arrived, Scotland Yard said.

Woodford Avenue from above. Pic: UK News and Pictures
Image:
Woodford Avenue from above. Pic: UK News and Pictures

Police are still trying to identify them.

CCTV footage seen by the PA news agency appears to show a group of people wearing face coverings walk into the restaurant and pour liquid on the floor.

More from UK

Seconds later, the inside of the restaurant is engulfed in flames.

“While we have made two arrests, our investigation continues at pace so we can piece together what happened on Friday evening,” said the Met Police’s DCI Mark Rogers.

“I know the community [is] concerned and shocked by this incident.

The moment the fire broke out.
Image:
The moment the fire broke out.

“I would urge anyone with any information or concerns to come forward and speak to police.”

Hospital porter Edward Thawe went to help after hearing screams from his nearby home.

He described the scene as “horrible” and “more than scary and the sort of thing that you don’t want to look at twice.”

He said: “I heard screaming and people saying they had called the police.”

Read more from Sky News:
Pro-Palestine Australians protest after week of tension with Israel
‘I’m deprived of my UK citizenship but I’m not a convicted terrorist’
Ghislaine Maxwell was given ‘platform to rewrite history’

The 43-year-old said he saw a woman and a severely burned man who may have been customers.

Another witness, who did not want to be named, said he saw three “severely burned” people being doused by the emergency services and given oxygen.

“I can only imagine the pain they were going through,” he said.

On Saturday, the London Ambulance Service told Sky News: “We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, an advanced paramedic, an incident response officer and paramedics from our hazardous area response team.

“We treated five people for burns and smoke inhalation. We took two patients to a major trauma centre and three others to local hospitals.”

The police investigation is continuing.

Continue Reading

UK

Fast-track asylum appeals process to be introduced – as average time for decisions is more than one year

Published

on

By

Fast-track asylum appeals process to be introduced - as average time for decisions is more than one year

A new fast-track asylum appeals process will be introduced to speed up the process of deporting people without a right to remain in the UK, the home secretary has said.

As it currently takes, on average, more than a year to reach a decision on asylum appeals, the government plans to set up a new independent panel focused on asylum appeals to help reduce the backlog.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said “completely unacceptable” delays in the appeals process left failed asylum seekers in the system for years.

There are about 51,000 asylum appeals waiting to be heard.

The new independent body will use professionally-trained adjudicators, rather than relying on judges.

Ministers are introducing a new 24-week deadline for the first-tier tribunal to determine asylum appeals by those receiving accommodation support and appeals by foreign offenders.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Police clash with protesters in Bristol

But they believe the current tribunal system, which covers a wide range of different cases, is still failing to ensure failed asylum seekers can be returned as swiftly as possible, nor can it accommodate a fast-track system for safe countries.

More on Asylum

It comes amid protests about the use of hotel accommodation for migrants.

The home secretary said the overhaul would result in a system which is “swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place”.

Read more from Sky News:
UK set to bask in 30C sunshine over bank holiday weekend
Coca-Cola brews up sale of high street coffee giant Costa

She said: “We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end.

“That is why we are taking practical steps to fix the foundations and restore control and order to the system.

“We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels.

“Already since the election, we have reduced the backlog of people waiting for initial decisions by 24% and increased failed asylum returns by 30%.

“But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer.”

Official figures released earlier this month showed a total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

‘Waving immigrants through even faster will not fix the problem’

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “I think this goes nowhere near far enough.

“The underlying rights, which allows most illegal immigrants to stay here, are not changing. Simply waving illegal immigrants through even faster to full housing and welfare rights will not fix the problem.”

Chris Philp
Image:
Chris Philp

He added: “Immigration judges will still apply ever expanding common-sense defying definitions of ECHR rights to allow foreign criminals and illegal immigrants to stay here.”

But the Liberal Democrats have been more positive in their response, with shadow attorney general, Ben Maguire, saying: “A faster application process would mean that those with no right to be here are sent back swiftly and those who do have a valid claim can get a job, integrate and contribute to the community.”

Asked for his thoughts on the policy, immigration lawyer Harjap Singh Bhangal told Sky News that it “definitely sounds like some sort of solution”.

He pointed that the backlog of asylum seekers waiting for a decision is “huge”, around 51,000 people – and that during this time, they are not allowed to work.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

A new fast-track asylum appeals process will be introduced to speed up the process of deporting people without a right to remain in the UK.

He said: “The equivalent would be saying that imagine if A-level students this year sat the exams and were told ‘well, hold on, you’re not going to get your results for two years’ time. But in the meantime, you can’t go to university.’

“You’d have mayhem, and it’d be pandemonium in the street. You’d have broken people idle with nothing to do. Essentially, this is what’s happening to asylum seekers.”

He added that one of the reasons it takes so long for cases to be heard is because asylum seekers have to represent themselves in court, which can mean upwards of half a day is spent translating and explaining everything to them.

Mr Bhangal also said the immigration system is “broken”, because “they take ages to make a decision which could be made in one week”.

Continue Reading

Trending