A year after I was surrounded in Birmingham, have community rifts healed?

Published

4 months ago

August 5, 2025

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As riots broke out across the country last summer following the Southport attack, fear spread in a majority Muslim part of Birmingham that far-right protesters were on their way.

Locals came out on to the streets, and as I was reporting live on air, I was surrounded by a small group of masked men, swearing and gesturing to the camera.

Afterwards, as we were trying to drive away from the area, a man with a knife followed us and attempted to slash a tyre on our broadcast van.

A year on, I have returned to the area to discuss what happened with some of those who saw their city descend into chaos.

“The local community had lost faith in the local elected members as well as the local policing units,” says Naeem Yousef, 48, who lives nearby. 

“They thought…the only way to protect themselves and the community was by coming out in force.”

‘You can’t control their behaviour’

Tanveer Choudhry, 56, agrees. “In every community we have our sort of, shall we call them… idiots, and you can’t control their behaviour,” he says. 

“I think there was a concern that the far-right group that was coming may well be armed… so I think it was just trying to counteract what they thought was coming.”

We are sitting in a cafe, not far from where the unrest broke out last summer.

‘They were looking for who they thought were the enemy’

The group I’m with were invited by community activist Naveed Sadiq, who was there that day.

As well as Naveed, there are three other local Muslim men, and two white residents, including Gerry Moynihan.

He recalls deciding to stay at home that day.

“They were looking for what they thought were the enemy – white people – and trying to find white people,” he says.

“Which is why I stayed in my house, because the intelligence I had was, don’t get involved, don’t walk around, and you know, it will pass.”

I ask the group if my team and I were targeted because we were white.

“It’s not because you’re white, it’s because they’re actually bored,” Naveed says. “They were wanting a bit of excitement.”

I ask if they think it would have happened if we were all British Asian.

“Of course,” Tanveer replies. “It wasn’t the fact that you were white… it was just the heat of the moment”.

Naeem believes it happened simply because the men involved “do not want anyone filming what they’re doing”.  

“You could have been Asian… they would still try to get you out of the area,” he insists.

‘Are we going to be accepted?’

I’m keen to understand how these men feel now and whether the sentiment that brought people out on to the streets to “protect” them has been reignited by the recent protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers.

The answer, from Joe Khann, a local Muslim man, would surprise many.

“I would like to go and join them,” he says, referring to the anti-immigration protesters who have gathered several times in Epping. 

“We have this problem within our own communities, and people don’t talk about it. We feel exactly the same and we understand how the English feel with the immigration,” he explains.

“We’re having people who are getting married back home, they get married for six months, get divorced…and the government gives them all their help to get accommodation, their national insurance numbers and all that,” he says.

“We’re getting fed up within our own community because we hear this constantly.”

However, he thinks if he did try to join in protests, people would “think I’m an immigrant”.

He says he is “born here, 58, and they look at me as a foreigner or a migrant”.

Naeem agrees. “The question is for us now, as people who are born and bred in this country, what is our identity? Who are we?” he asks. 

“As a white person born in this country, you are automatically accepted. Are we going to be accepted? How many generations will it take for us to be accepted?”

‘You have to blame someone’

Naeem is also concerned about immigration.

“We have an influx of people that we do not know about, and they have no loyalty to the area,” he says.

“I believe that the average white guy… isn’t racist, they’re just fed up,” adds Naveed. 

However, these men do have grievances, particularly with the media.

“We feel that we have a two-tier journalists system where when the colour is like mine we get different justice and when the colour is a bit paler it’s different,” Naveed says.

‘We have become the bogeyman’

“When there’s criminality, and it’s on the news, a Muslim has to be identified by his religion,” Naeem says. 

He believes Muslims have become the “bogeyman” in many people’s minds.

“Where you don’t have housing for example, where the crime has increased, you have to blame someone,” he says.

“Prior it was the Irish community, now it’s the Muslim community.

“It’s a distraction from the actual real issues and how you can resolve them but let’s just put it on to the Muslim community for now, let’s just distract the whole nation and say look it’s the problem with asylum, it’s a problem with Muslims,” he says.

After leaving, I head over to the spot on the roundabout where my team were targeted last year.

As I stand there, my colleague sees a man imitating pulling the trigger of a gun at me from his car.

This is Britain, in broad daylight. 

UK

UK ‘moving at glacial pace’ on national plan for defending foreign attack, say MPs

Published

3 hours ago

November 19, 2025

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UK 'moving at glacial pace' on national plan for defending foreign attack, say MPs

The UK lacks a national plan to defend itself from attack and is moving at a “glacial” pace to fix the problem despite threats from Russia and China, a report by MPs has warned.

With the whole country needing to understand what it means to be ready for war, the Defence Select Committee also said it had seen no sign of a promised “national conversation on defence and security” that was launched by Sir Keir Starmer in June.

Sky News and other journalists were even blocked on Monday from interviewing sailors aboard HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, in direct contrast to the prime minister’s stated aim of greater engagement.

Public needs to know ‘what to expect’ from war

“We have repeatedly heard concerns about the UK’s ability to defend itself from attack,” said Labour MP Tan Dhesi, chair of the committee.

“Government must be willing to grasp the nettle and prioritise homeland defence and resilience.

“In achieving this, government cannot shy away from direct engagement with the public.

“Wars aren’t won just by generals, but by the whole of the population getting behind the Armed Forces and playing our part.

“There needs to be a co-ordinated effort to communicate with the public on the level of threat we face and what to expect in the event of conflict.”

‘The Wargame’ made real?

The findings of the report support a podcast series by Sky News and Tortoise Media called The Wargame – released in June.

It simulated a Russian attack on the UK and played out what the impact might be for the country in the absence of a credible, resourced and rehearsed national defence plan – something Britain maintained rigorously during the Cold War.

Sky News first revealed in April 2024 that the previous government no longer had such a plan, though work was under way to develop one.

Report’s assessment of war-readiness

The Defence Select Committee report – based on a nearly year-long inquiry – found: “The UK lacks a plan for defending the homeland and overseas territories with little progress on the Home Defence Programme.”

It said this meant the government was failing to meet a fundamental commitment to the NATO alliance – the Article 3 requirement to maintain the “capacity to resist armed attack”.

The report quoted Luke Pollard, a defence minister, acknowledging that “we have been very clear that we are not satisfied with Article 3 in the UK”.

Read more: Is the Ajax any good?

Yet the MPs’ report added: “Despite this recognition from government… measures to remediate seem to be moving at a glacial pace.”

It said: “Cross-government working on homeland defence and resilience is nowhere near where it needs to be. The government has said repeatedly that we are in an era of new threat, yet decision-making is slow and opaque.”

The rebuke from the MPs was published as John Healey, the defence secretary, prepares to announce that 13 sites across the UK have been identified as possible locations for at least six new weapons factories.

“This is a new era of threat,” he will say at a speech in Westminster later.

“We are making defence an engine for growth, unambiguously backing British jobs and British skills as we make the UK better ready to fight and better able to deter future conflicts.

“This is the path that delivers national and economic security.”

Industry will be invited to submit proposals to produce ammunition and explosives, with the Ministry of Defence saying it hopes work on the first factory will begin next year.

UK

Ultra-processed foods leading cause of ‘chronic disease pandemic’, say experts

Published

4 hours ago

November 19, 2025

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Ultra-processed foods leading cause of 'chronic disease pandemic', say experts

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are a leading cause of a “chronic disease pandemic” linked to worsening diets, experts have warned.

UPFs include items such as processed meats, some ready meals and cereals, ice cream, crisps, biscuits, mass-produced bread and fizzy drinks.

They often contain a high level of saturated fat, salt and sugar – as well as additives such as sweeteners and preservatives.

UPFs leave less room for more nutritious foods and are also believed to negatively affect gut health.

Forty-three scientists and researchers have now sounded the alarm and accused food companies of putting “profitability above all else”.

Writing in The Lancet, they said the firms’ economic and political power is growing and “the global public health response is still nascent, akin to where the tobacco control movement was decades ago”.

They warned that while some countries have brought in controls on UPFs, policy is lagging due to “co-ordinated efforts of the industry to skew decision-making, frame policy debates in their interest, and manufacture the appearance of scientific doubt”.

Professor Chris Van Tulleken, from University College London, one of the authors, said obesity and diet-related disease had increased in line with a “three-decade history of reformulation by the food industry”.

“This is not a product level discussion. The entire diet is being ultra-processed,” he warned.

However, several experts not involved with the article urged more research, cautioning that existing studies had shown a link with poor health and UPFs but not established causation.

Kate Halliwell, chief scientific officer at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents the industry, said companies had made a “series of changes over many years to make the food and drink we all buy healthier, in line with government guidelines”.

She said FDF-member products now contained a third less salt and sugar and a quarter fewer calories than in 2015.

Previous studies cited by the British Heart Foundation have linked UPFs to a greater risk of heart disease, stroke, and early death.

A 2023 meta analysis in the PubMed journal said evidence suggested an association between UPF intake “and the risk of overall and several cancers, including colorectal, breast and pancreatic cancer”.

Get cancer symptoms checked, charity urges

It comes as Cancer Research UK warned too many Britons are putting off getting potential symptoms checked.

A poll for the charity suggested the top reasons people delay getting potential signs of cancer checked is because of a lack of GP appointments, or thinking their symptoms might not be serious.

More than half (53%) of the 6,844 surveyed said they were put off as they believed getting seen would be difficult, while 47% said they actually had found it difficult to get an appointment.

Some 44% put it off as they though the symptom wasn’t serious, 41% believed they could manage things themselves, and 40% didn’t want to be seen as making a fuss.

Cancer Research UK said it had now trained Tesco pharmacists to spot possible cancer signs – and that people can speak to them in private if they needed.

The pharmacists will be able to give advice on next steps and whether a GP appointment is recommended.

UK

Scotland secure men’s World Cup spot for first time since 1998 after beating Denmark

Published

6 hours ago

November 19, 2025

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Scotland secure men's World Cup spot for first time since 1998 after beating Denmark

Scotland secured a place at the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1998 as stoppage-time goals by Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean secured a thrilling 4-2 win over Denmark at Hampden Park.

Scott McTominay’s spectacular third-minute bicycle kick had given the hosts a half-time lead.

Rasmus Hojlund equalised for the Danes in the 57th minute shortly before Rasmus Kristensen was sent off, but Lawrence Shankland restored Scotland’s advantage.

When Patrick Dorgu brought Denmark level again with nine minutes remaining, it seemed they would claim the point needed to top the group and book their place at next year’s tournament in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

However, Tierney fired an unstoppable shot past Kasper Schmeichel in the third minute of stoppage time

And then, with the Denmark goalkeeper up in attack at the other end of the pitch, McLean hit a long-range effort from his own half to spark delirious scenes.

The victory saw Scotland top Group C and secure automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

Head coach Steve Clarke had already led his country to back-to-back European Championships.

He told the BBC: “Scott McTominay scored the best overhead kick I’ve ever seen, and it might not have been the best goal of the night!”

Scotland captain Andy Robertson dedicated the victory to his former Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota, who died earlier this year in a car accident.

He told the BBC: “We certainly put the country through it, but I’m sure it will be worth it.”

“I couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today,” he added. We spoke so much together about the World Cup. When he missed out in Qatar through injury and I missed out when Scotland never went.

“We always discussed what it would be like going to this World Cup. I know he’ll be somewhere smiling over me tonight.”

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place in Washington on 5 December.