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Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has rejected language used by the home secretary describing the increase of asylum seekers to the UK as an “invasion”.

Suella Braverman told MPs yesterday that the public needs to know which party is serious about “stopping the invasion” of migrants on the southern coast of the UK.

Mr Jenrick, when asked if he would characterise the situation in the same way, told Sky News: “In a job like mine, you have to choose your words very carefully. And I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life.”

Politics latest: ‘People sleeping on camping mats’ in migrant centre

However, he said describing people crossing the Channel as an “invasion” was a way to show the scale of the challenge “and that’s what Suella Braverman was trying to express”.

He said fifty thousand people have arrived in the UK on small boats this year and that number is likely to increase.

He also claimed that Ms Braverman was speaking for people who live on the south coast “who day in, day out are seeing migrant boats landing on their beaches”.

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“There was a report just yesterday from a lady who found a young migrant from Albania in her kitchen seeking support, asking for money,” he said.

“I know that that’s not acceptable in this country.”

However, Labour said that Ms Braverman’s “incendiary” language has put communities and security services at risk .

Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell told Sky News “I think the language that she used yesterday in the House of Commons was deeply irresponsible, coming just 24 hours are we saw a firebomb attack on a migrant centre in Kent.”

Ms Braverman made the comments as she gave a statement to the House of Commons about overcrowding at the Manston immigration processing centre in Kent, where outbreaks of MRSA and diptheria have been reported.

The site is operating at double capacity, with more people there than in any UK prison and many being detained for longer than the 24 hours intended.

Mr Jenrick revealed the government is procuring more hotels to accommodate asylum seekers waiting for their applications to be processed.

Why is Suella Braverman’s appointment to home secretary controversial?

He accepted “conditions are poor” with people sleeping on mats and staying longer than the 24 hours intended.

“This is not a satisfactory situation. I’m not here to defend that,” he said.

However he insisted the root cause is not the government, adding: “The problem is that thousands of people are crossing the Channel illegally every day.”

He also insisted Manston was fit for purpose,

“The issue is there are far too many people staying there. We’re procuring more hotels at pace.”

He added: “More hotels have been coming online almost every month throughout the whole of this year. So Suella Braverman and her predecessor, Priti Patel, were procuring more hotels. What I have done in my short tenure is wrap that up and procure even more.”

The Home Office has been told to “get a grip” over the issues after a new report revealed detainees were not allowed to close toilet doors fully and had to sleep on the floor.

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.

The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.

Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Image:
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Image:
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.

Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”

Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.

The Huszti sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
Image:
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland

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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.

Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.

The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.

Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.

CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”

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Britain’s gas storage levels ‘concerningly low’ after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

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Britain's gas storage levels 'concerningly low' after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

Britain’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low” with less than a week of demand in store, the operator of the country’s largest gas storage site said on Friday.

Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power stations are the main factors behind the low levels, Centrica said.

The UK is heavily reliant on gas for its home heating and also uses a significant amount for electricity generation.

As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full,” Centrica said.

“This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.”

The firm’s Rough gas storage site, a depleted field off England’s east coast, makes up around half of the country’s gas storage capacity.

Gas storage was already lower than usual heading into December as a result of the early onset of winter.

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Combined with stubbornly high gas prices, this has meant it has been more difficult to top up storage over Christmas.

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UK’s first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

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UK's first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics. 

We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.

“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.

It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.

Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.

But there is a new concept in town.

From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.

A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
Image:
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre

It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.

Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.

One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.

Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
Image:
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility

It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.

The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.

There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.

Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
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Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment

One of the eight bays users can inject in
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There are eight bays users can inject in

We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.

The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.

The aftercare area
Image:
The aftercare area

Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’

Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.

The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.

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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.

One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.

The question is what does success look like?

The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.

It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.

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