Connect with us

Published

on

The home secretary has said the deaths of migrants in the English Channel show how illegal crossings are a “lethally dangerous endeavour”.

A major search and rescue operation involving helicopters and lifeboats was launched at 3.05am on Wednesday after authorities were alerted to a small boat in distress in the Channel.

The search is ongoing, with 43 people rescued alive – some from the water, others from the vessel involved.

Four people have died, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.

Channel incident – latest updates: Migrants dead as helicopters and lifeboats scrambled to rescue vessel

Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the Commons: “These are the days that we dread. Crossing the Channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour.

“It is for this reason, above all, that we are working so hard to destroy the business model of the people smugglers, evil organised criminals, to treat human beings as cargo.”

More from Politics

She added that Wednesday’s tragedy “is the most sobering reminder” of why the crossings need to end as she highlighted the government’s recent agreement with France to have more patrols on French beaches to stop the crossings.

But she said it shows “we had to go much further” as she referred to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement on Tuesday that a new permanent, unified small boats operational command will be formed to bring together military and civilian capabilities and the National Crime Agency.

Read more: Rishi Sunak promises new laws to stop illegal migration

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Moment migrants rescued from dinghy

And she said the incident shows why new legislation, to be introduced next year, is needed which will make it “clear that if someone comes to the UK illegally, they should not be able to remain here” and will be “detained and swiftly returned to either their home country or to a safe country where their claim for asylum will be considered”.

“Late or spurious claims and appeals will not be possible, and once someone has been removed they will have no right to re-entry, settlement or citizenship,” she added.

The boat was carrying between 30 to 50 people when it ran into difficulties, according to a French source.

Exclusive footage obtained by Sky News shows a black inflatable dinghy being retrieved from the water by rescue teams.

Searches will continue all day, but at this stage, many more are feared dead given the freezing conditions of the water as the UK suffers from particularly cold weather, a separate source has told Sky News.

“There were people in the water,” said Sky’s Lisa Holland, adding sources have told her they believe the temperature would have been around -4C.

While temperatures had dropped last night, Holland said the weather conditions were calm – making it a “window of opportunity” for the migrants to make the crossing.

Migrants are rescued from a dinghy in the English Channel
Image:
At least 43 people have been rescued alive

Earlier, Mr Sunak started Prime Minister’s Questions by saying: “I’m sure the whole House will share my sorrow at the capsizing of a small boat in the Channel in the early hours of this morning and the tragic loss of human life.

“Our hearts go out to all those affected and our tributes to those involved in the extensive rescue operation.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer added: “Our prayers go out to those who capsized in freezing waters of the Channel last night.

“It’s a reminder that the criminal gangs running those routes put the lives of the desperate at risk and profit from their misery. They must be broken up and brought to justice.”

Continue Reading

UK

Mum diagnosed with cancer tells of the day her life changed ahead of assisted dying vote

Published

on

By

Mum diagnosed with cancer tells of the day her life changed ahead of assisted dying vote

There is a lot at stake this week for Sophie Blake, a 52-year-old mother to a young adult, who was diagnosed with stage four cancer in May 2023.

As MPs vote on whether to change the law to allow assisted dying, Sophie tells Sky News of the day her life changed.

“One night I woke up and as I turned I felt a sensation of something in my breast actually move, and it was deep,” she says, speaking from her home in Brighton.

“Something fluidy, a very odd sensation. I woke up and made a doctor’s appointment.”

Sophie underwent an ultrasound followed by a biopsy before she was taken to a room in the clinic and offered water.

“They said, ‘a hundred percent, we believe you have breast cancer’.”

But it was the phone call with her mother that made it feel real.

More on Assisted Dying

“My mum had been waiting at home. She phoned me and said ‘How is it darling?’ and I said ‘I’ve got breast cancer,’ and it was just that moment of having to say it out loud for the first time and that’s when that part of my life suddenly changed.”

Sophie says terminal cancers can leave patients dreading the thought of suffering at the end of their lives.

“What I don’t want to be is in pain,” she says. “If I am facing an earlier death than I wanted then I want to be able to take control at the end.”

Assisted dying, she believes, gives her control: “It’s an insurance policy to have that there.”

Read more:
Why is assisted dying so controversial and where is it legal?
UK on ‘slippery slope’ Justice Minister says ahead of vote

On Friday, the government is set to debate the issue before voting on it. Sophie hopes they’ll back the proposal.

“It should be my choice to be able to have a compassionate death,” she says.

There has been much debate about the bill since details about how it would work were published earlier this month.

On Friday, former prime minister Gordon Brown became the latest senior political figure to share his opinion on the matter, coming out as against the legalisation of assisted dying, based on his experience of his own daughter’s death.

Disability rights advocate Lucy Webster warns that for people like Sophie to have that choice, others could face pressure to die.

Lucy Webster, disability rights advocate
Image:
Lucy Webster

“All around the world, if you look at places where the bill has been introduced, they’ve been broadened and broadened and broadened,” she tells Sky News.

Lucy is referring to countries like Canada and Netherlands, where eligibility for assisted deaths have widened since laws allowing it were first passed.

Lucy, who is a wheelchair user and requires a lot of care, says society still sees disabled people as burdens which places them at particular risk.

“I don’t know a single disabled person who has not at some point had a stranger come up to us and say, ‘if I were you, I’d kill myself’,” she says.

The assisted dying bill, she says, reinforces the view that disabled lives aren’t worth living.

“I’ve definitely had doctors and healthcare professionals assume that my quality of life is inherently worse than other people’s. That’s a horrible assumption to be faced with when [for example] you’ve just gone to get antibiotics for a chest infection. There are some really deep-seated medical views on disability that are wrong.”

Under the plans, a person would need to be terminally ill and in the final six months of their life, and would have to take the fatal drugs themselves.

Among the safeguards are that two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and that a High Court judge must give their approval. But the bill does not make clear if that is a rubber-stamping exercise or if judges will have to investigate cases including risks of coercion.

Julian Hughes, honorary professor at Bristol Medical School, says there’s a very big question about whether courts have the room to take on such a task.

Julian Hughes, honorary professor at Bristol Medical School
Image:
Julian Hughes

“At the moment in the family division I understand there are 19 judges and they supply 19,000 hours of court hearing in a year, but you’d have to have an extra 34,000,” he explains.

“We shouldn’t fool ourselves and think that there wouldn’t be some families who would be interested in getting the inheritance rather than spending the inheritance on care for their elderly family members. We could quickly become a society in which suicide becomes normalised.”

Continue Reading

UK

Young people to lose benefits if they refuse work and training, says minister

Published

on

By

Young people to lose benefits if they refuse work and training, says minister

Young people will lose their benefits if they refuse to take up work and training opportunities, a minister has said ahead of announcing measures to cut the welfare bill.

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that “conditions” will be attached to new skills opportunities the government intends to create.

Politics live: MP proposing assisted dying bill responds to claims it’s a ‘slippery slope’

With a record number of young people currently unemployed, Labour promised in its manifesto a “youth guarantee” for 18-21 year olds to have access to training, an apprenticeship, or support to find work.

“If people repeatedly refuse to take up the training work responsibilities, there will be sanctions on their benefits,” Ms Kendall said.

“The reason why we believe this so strongly is that we believe in our responsibility to provide those new opportunities which is what we will do. We will transform those opportunities, but young people will be required to take them up.”

The Labour government has said it will stick to a commitment under the former Tory administration to reduce the welfare bill by £3bn over five years.

More on Benefits

The Public Accounts Committee's report says the DWP has relatively few programmes that directly target people from ethnic minority backgrounds

Ms Kendall said her party will bring in its “own reforms” to achieve that target, though did not elaborate further.

The Conservatives had planned to change work capability rules to tighten eligibility, so around 400,000 more people signed off sick long-term would be assessed as needing to prepare for work by 2028/29 to deliver the savings.

Asked whether these people would ultimately be denied their current benefits under Labour’s plans, Ms Kendall told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I’m saying we will bring forward our own reforms. You wouldn’t expect me to announce this on your programme.

“But my objective is that disabled people should have the same chances and rights to work as everybody else.”

The latest official forecasts published by the government show the number of people claiming incapacity benefits is expected to climb from around 2.5 million in 2019 to 4.2 million in 2029.

Last year there were just over three million claimants.

Ms Kendall will launch proposals on Tuesday designed to “get Britain working” amid concerns about the soaring unemployment rate.

Read More:
The 800,000 people who have fallen into ‘economic inactivity
Surprise fall in retail sales a sign economy is slowing

Thousands of jobs to go at Bosch

The white paper is expected to include the placement of work coaches in mental health clinics and a “youth guarantee” aimed at ensuring those aged 18-21 are working or studying.

Ministers are also looking at a subsidised jobs scheme, Sky News revealed last week.

The UK remains the only G7 country that has higher levels of economic inactivity now than before the pandemic.

Ms Kendall said the reasons are “complex” and include the fact that the UK is an older and sicker nation.

Asked whether she believes “normal feelings” are being “over-medicalised”, she said that while some people may be “self-diagnosing” themselves with mental health issues it is a “genuine problem”.

“There’s not one simple thing. You know, the last government said people were too bluesy to work.

“I mean, I don’t know who they were speaking to. There is a genuine problem with mental health in this country.”

Ms Kendall’s language was softer than Sir Keir Starmer, who this weekend promised a crackdown on “criminals” who “game the system” .

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said: “Make no mistake, we will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society.”

Continue Reading

UK

Man fighting for his life after stabbing on Westminster Bridge

Published

on

By

Man fighting for his life after stabbing on Westminster Bridge

A man is fighting for his life after a stabbing on Westminster Bridge, police have said.

Officers were called to the scene at around 10.45am on Sunday to reports of a fight and found a man with a stab injury. He was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Westminster Bridge is closed with investigations ongoing.
Image:
Westminster Bridge is closed with investigations ongoing.

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and another has been arrested on suspicion of affray.

Two of those arrested were taken to hospital with minor facial injuries, the Met Police said.

It is understood the incident is not being treated as terror-related.

The road remains closed, with the police investigation ongoing.

Continue Reading

Trending