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A former inmate of HMP Wandsworth has said the jail is a place for “ruining human lives”.

David Shipley, who spent time at the Category B prison in south west London between 2020 and 2021, said inmates spend 22 hours or more laying on their bunks, staring at the wall or watching daytime TV.

He said many people often resort to taking drugs or drinking because “there is nothing else to do”.

Mr Shipley’s comments come after a report found “81 points of failure” at HMP Wandsworth, in the wake of an alleged prisoner escape.

Former soldier Daniel Abed Khalife is accused of breaking out of the jail on 6 September last year, after allegedly using bedsheets to strap himself under a food truck.

Former HMP Wandsworth inmate, David Shipley, speaks to Sky News.
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Former HMP Wandsworth inmate David Shipley said inmates often turn to drugs and drinking

He was arrested three days later and has pleaded not guilty to escaping from lawful custody. He is due to stand trial in October.

The report, by HMP Wandsworth’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), identified a raft of security failings including “antiquated” CCTV cameras that had not worked for over a year and contraband being “alarmingly easy” for prisoners to get hold of.

“It does just seem to get worse and worse and worse,” Mr Shipley said. “And for me, that’s the tragic thing about this.”

Daniel Abed Khalife has escaped prison, the Met Police say
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Daniel Abed Khalife allegedly escaped HMP Wandsworth in September 2023. Pic: Met Police

“This place has been chewing up people for years and years and years. It does nothing good. It doesn’t do anything to help people be less likely to re-offend. It does a huge amount of harm.

“Wandsworth is just a place for ruining human lives and potential.”

As a result of the report, the IMB called for HMP Wandsworth to be put into emergency measures over its “deeply concerning” findings.

It described the jail as a “failing prison” which was “constrained by staff absence and hindered by underfunding and lack of support from the prison service”.

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Starmer blames Tories over prisons

IMB chairman Matthew Andrews said: “For HMP Wandsworth and the men whose treatment we monitor, this year has been as bad as any in our memory and, by many measures, worse.

“The recently released report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons was highly critical but said little that surprised us.

“Many of the same issues had been raised in previous IMB annual reports and ignored by the Ministry of Justice.”

Analysis: IMB report a damning assessment of Wandsworth’s worst year in memory

By Mollie Malone, home news correspondent

This isn’t the first damning assessment of the state of Wandsworth prison. There have been several this year alone. And it almost certainly won’t be the last.

Its problems are well documented: dangerous overcrowding, high levels of violence and self-harm, security issues, and staff inexperience – with some often unable to account for the whereabouts of offenders. The list really does go on and on.

Today’s IMB audit report serves as yet another reminder of quite how bad it is. In fact, it’s been dubbed as Wandsworth’s worst year in memory.

In May, the chief inspector of prisons issued an “urgent notification” for the prison following an unannounced inspection. This is effectively putting it into special measures.

That used to be rare. But as the state of the prison system across England and Wales continues to deteriorate, it’s becoming more common.

What followed earlier this month was a promise of £100m for the prison to make improvements.

There is also a new governor in place, but the scale of the job is almighty. And it’s not even as if ministers new or old have the answers either.

What’s the alternative? Shut it down? Start from scratch? Not a chance. More than 80% of prisoners at Wandsworth are now sharing cramped cells designed for one.

Shutting it would lose 1,500 prison spaces at a time when the service is quite literally scrimping – with emergency measures announced earlier this week to use police custody suites to hold offenders because of chronic overcrowding after recent riot sentencing.

High-profile issues – the alleged escape of Daniel Khalife last summer for example – almost help the prison’s case insofar as the government knows how seriously they need to take it.

A recent promise of £100m is a start and will be welcomed. But there really is such a long way to go.

Khalife’s alleged escape also prompted multiple reviews and actions, including “previously unavailable funding” being made available.

The report noted a new CCTV system installed in May this year “immediately led to an increase in the number of illegal passes detected”.

Read more:
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It comes after an inspection of HMP Wandsworth in May revealed “chaos” and “appalling conditions”, stemming from “poor leadership at every level”.

The prison was also the focus of a police investigation into a prison officer filmed having sex with an inmate; Linda De Sousa Abreu, 30, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office at the end of July.

The government also confirmed a £100m funding package over five years, and additional staff, to deal with HMP Wandsworth, which it calls “one of the most troubled prisons in the country”.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said after the IMB’s annual report: “The new government inherited a justice system in crisis and has been forced to take action and get a grip of the situation across the prison estate, so we can lock up dangerous offenders, protect the public and make prisons safer for hard-working staff.

“Earlier this month, the new Lord Chancellor announced that the Prison Service is deploying extra specialist staff and will redirect £100m to be spent over five years at HMP Wandsworth to ensure immediate action is taken to improve conditions.”

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

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

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.

Protesters showed up after word had spread among the muslim community in Birmingham that the far right were planning a protest in the city.
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The moment Becky Johnson was confronted on camera last summer

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.”

Becky Johnson Birmingham anniversary

‘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.

still from Johnson VT
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Masked men surrounded the Sky team during the unrest

‘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.

Becky Johnson Birmingham anniversary
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Gerry Moynihan says he decided not to leave his home

“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.

Becky Johnson Birmingham anniversary
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Tanveer believes our team would still have been targeted if we were a different ethnicity

‘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.

still from Johnson VT on Birmingham unrest
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‘We feel exactly the same’ on immigration, says Joe Khann

“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?”

Becky Johnson Birmingham anniversary
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Naeem (left) says even those born in the UK question their identity

‘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.

still from Johnson VT on Birmingham unrest
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‘When the colour is like mine we get different justice,’ says Naveed (left)

‘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. 

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UK-France migrant returns deal comes into force

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UK-France migrant returns deal comes into force

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron’s migrant deal comes into force today, with detentions set to begin by the end of the week.

The “one in, one out” pilot scheme – which allows the UK to send some people who have crossed the Channel back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with ties to Britain – was signed last week, and has now been approved by the European Commission.

Politics Hub: Follow live updates

It comes as 2025 is on course to be a record year for crossings.

Approximately 25,436 people have already made the journey this year, according to PA news agency analysis of Home Office figures – 49% higher than at the same point in 2024.

The prime minister and the French president hailed the deal as a “good agreement” when it was first announced during the latter’s visit to the UK last month.

The scheme also means that anyone arriving in a small boat can be detained immediately, with space set aside at immigration removal centres in anticipation of their arrival.

Sir Keir said the ratification of the treaty will “send a clear message – if you come here illegally on a small boat you will face being sent back to France”.

Ministers have so far declined to say how many people could be returned under the deal, however, there have been reports that under the scheme only 50 people a week will be returned to France.

Analysis: Deal will need to go much further to work

Sky News political correspondent Rob Powell said while it was a “policy win” for the government, the numbers must eventually “go a lot higher” than 50 per week if it is to work as a deterrent.

“The average crossing rate is about 800 a week, so this will need to go up by a sizeable factor for that message to start seeping through to people trying to make that crossing,” Powell added.

The aim will be to make asylum seekers believe the “risk of going back to France is so big that they shouldn’t bother parting with their cash and paying smugglers” to make the crossing.

Read more:
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Migrants in Dunkirk, France, preparing to cross the English Channel
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Migrants in Dunkirk, France, preparing to cross the English Channel.

The Conservatives have branded the agreement a “surrender deal” and said it will make “no difference whatsoever”.

Under the terms of the agreement, adults arriving on small boats will face being returned to France if their asylum claim is inadmissible.

In exchange, the same number of people will be able to come to the UK on a new legal route, provided they have not attempted a crossing before and subject to stringent documentation and security checks.

The pilot scheme is set to run until June 2026, pending a longer-term agreement.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will face questions on the agreement on Sky News Breakfast this morning.

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Police warn of mass arrests if Palestine Action protest goes ahead

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Police warn of mass arrests if Palestine Action protest goes ahead

Police are warning of mass arrests if a protest in support of the banned group Palestine Action goes ahead on Saturday.

Hundreds of people are expected to turn out for the demonstration, which is understood to be planned for London.

However, the Metropolitan Police said “anyone showing support for the group can expect to be arrested.”

“We are aware that the organisers of Saturday’s planned protest are encouraging hundreds of people to turn out with the intention of placing a strain on the police and the wider criminal justice system,” said a spokesperson.

The organisers, a pressure group called Defend Our Juries, denied their protest will try to overwhelm the police and justice system.

“If we are allowed to protest peacefully and freely, then that is no bother to anyone,” said the group in a statement.

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What’s happening to Palestine Action?

Palestine Action was banned under terrorism laws after two aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton on 20 June.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the vandalism of the planes was “disgraceful” and accused the group of a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.

The ban means membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

More than 200 people supporting the group were arrested at Defend Our Juries protests across the UK last month, many of whom held placards with the message: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

Downing Street has urged people not to attend this weekend’s protest.

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Monday's protesters waved flags and banged pan lids
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Monday’s protesters waved flags and banged pan lids

It comes after around 40 people gathered outside Labour HQ on Monday to protest the party’s stance on Gaza.

They were watched by a small group of police officers as they chanted phrases including: “Shame on Keir Starmer, shame on the Labour Party, shame on David Lammy.”

Separately, the Board of Deputies of British Jews has also confirmed it will protest this weekend, with community organisations marching through central London to Downing Street on Sunday.

They are calling for the government not to recognise the state of Palestine without all hostages taken by Hamas being released.

Last week, Sir Keir Starmer said he planned to recognise Palestine by the UN General Assembly meeting in September, unless Israel met certain conditions including agreeing a ceasefire and improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

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