Experts said lessons appeared to have been learned from previous incidents as teams scrambled into action after dinghy capsized
The emergency call came through at 2.53am. “Please help me bro, please, please, please. We are in the water. We have a family.”
The unidentified man, on a stricken dinghy, used WhatsApp to contact the French NGO Utopia 56, a humanitarian association, which works to support migrants in the camps in northern France.
Continue reading...Consular staff wanted for questioning by police over beating up of activists recalled to Beijing
China’s consul general in Manchester and five other diplomats have returned home and will escape questioning by police for their role in the beating up of a pro-Hong Kong democracy demonstrator outside the consulate in the city on 16 October.
The Chinese, citing diplomatic immunity, decided to recall the diplomats after the UK Foreign Office gave the embassy a week to make the diplomats available for questioning by British police.
Continue reading...Latest updates: prime minister faces Labour leader ahead of industrial action by nurses on Thursday
Yesterday Mark Harper, the transport secretary, claimed that public support for the rail strikes was declining. Today Ipsos has published some polling that backs up this claim, although support for the RMT has not collapsed, and public opinion is still divided. It puts support for the strikes at 30%, down from 43% in September. And opposition to the strikes is at 36%, up from 31%.
Yesterday Savanta published polling showing a similar trend. It said that net support for the rail workers on strike was +21 in October (those supporting them, minus those not supporting them), and that now it was down to +13.
Continue reading...Major search and rescue operation continues after HM Coastguard received reports of an incident at 3.40am on Wednesday
At least three people have died and 43 people have been rescued after trying to cross the Channel in freezing conditions overnight, according to reports.
A member of a rescue team confirmed to Sky News that at least three people have died, as a major search and rescue operation continues off the coast of Kent. “Many” were rescued from the water, according to BBC reporter, Simon Jones, adding a small number are confirmed dead.
Continue reading...Ambulance service blames demand, staff sickness, and patient handover times for elderly man being taken to hospital on plank
The health board for the area where an 89-year-old man was taken to hospital strapped to a plank because no ambulances were available has said the flow of patients through its hospitals is blocked because hundreds of medically fit people have nowhere safe to be discharged to.
They have urged people to stay away from emergency departments unless their need is dire.
Continue reading...Major search and rescue operation launched after incident off Kent coast
Four people have died after a migrant small boat got into difficulties in the Channel, a UK government spokesperson said.
A major search and rescue operation was conducted off the coast of Kent by British and French authorities after receiving a distress call at about 3am on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Watchdog to monitor force closely after damning report revealed deep-seated behavioural problems
London fire brigade (LFB) has been placed into special measures by the chief fire inspector after a report revealing incidents of misogyny, racism and bullying.
The watchdog moved the LFB into an enhanced level of monitoring on Wednesday, citing concerns about “culmulative evidence” from its last inspection and later of unacceptable behaviour within the brigade.
His Majesty’s inspector of fire and rescue services, Matt Parr, said: “We should recognise that London fire brigade’s recent cultural review was commissioned by the brigade, whose leadership has accepted its findings without reservation.
“However, it is clear that the behavioural problems we highlighted earlier this year are deep-seated and have not improved. We will now examine London fire brigade’s improvement plans more frequently and more intrusively, and work closely with the brigade to monitor its progress.”
Continue reading...Britain continues to struggle in freezing conditions, with power on Scottish islands not expected to be fully restored until end of week
Thousands have been without power in Shetland for a second night as Britain’s infrastructure continues to struggle with sub-zero temperatures.
The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice to Friday in northern Scotland and north-east England.
Continue reading...Skulls’ removal from island in 1890s was colonial-era violation, say campaigners
Under cover of darkness in 1890, two headhunters climbed over a gate and crept into a graveyard on Inishbofin, a remote County Galway island on Ireland’s Atlantic coast. In the ruins of a medieval monastery they found dozens of skulls. They selected 13.
“When the coast was clear we put our spoils in the sack and cautiously made our way back to the road,” Alfred Haddon later wrote in his diary. He and his accomplice, Andrew Dixon, smuggled the skulls on to a boat and sailed away.
Continue reading...Prime minister makes statement in Commons, saying he wants to abolish backlog of unprocessed asylum claims by end of next year
The Conservative MP Adam Afriyie has been made bankrupt after a judge in a specialist court heard how he owed around £1.7m, PA Media reports. A bankruptcy order was made against Afriyie, who represents Windsor, at an online hearing in the insolvency and companies court today by judge Nicholas Briggs.
This story, by my colleagues Heather Stewart and Rowena Mason last year, explains the background to this case.
We completed our enquiry into the impact of the ending of freedom of movement on the adult social care sector in April and submitted the report to government and parliament. We recommended that care workers continue to be eligible to apply for a health and care worker visa and made some additional recommendations for changes to the immigration system to ease the burden on social care employers and migrants.
However, our main recommendation was that a minimum rate of pay should be established for care workers at a premium to the statutory minimum wage where care is being provided with public funds. We suggested that this should initially be set at £1 per hour above the national living wage but expected a more substantial premium to be needed to properly address the crisis in social care recruitment and retention.
Continue reading...Large parts of national rail network grind to halt as RMT union members strike for increased pay
There is similar pessimism about the prospects for a deal to prevent later rail strikes from the other side of the table.
Asked if there is a glimmer of hope in the negotiations, Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines earlier this morning told BBC Breakfast (via PA Media):
It’s hard to see that today. I’ve learned, you know, through a long career, that sometimes the light is just around the corner.
But where I stand today, I’d have to say that with the level of disruption the RMT are imposing, the way forward isn’t obvious.
Well, we hope not. We want to get a deal but at the moment, there is no deal in sight.
So we’ve got the schedule down at the moment, which is running for the next four weeks. We will review that at the end of that if there’s no settlement on the table and we’ll decide what our next steps are, but at the moment there is no settlement to be had.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Cabinet Office to extend contract with law firm to defend claims ex-PM misled parliament, sources say
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Ministers have been accused of writing a “blank cheque” for Boris Johnson’s legal bills, as it emerged taxpayer-funded support was being extended to help defend him against claims he misled parliament over Partygate.
With just days left until a contract expires with the law firm Peters and Peters, which Johnson and the government have relied on to disparage an investigation by the privileges committee, the Guardian has learned the Cabinet Office intends to renew it.
Continue reading...Emergency services continue search after incident in which three children died in West Midlands
A six-year-old boy who fell through the ice into a lake in Solihull is fighting for his life in hospital, as emergency services continue searching the waters after the tragedy that claimed the lives of three children.
The community of Kingshurst was still reeling in shock after three boys, 11, 10 and eight, died after falling through ice into the lake on Sunday.
Continue reading...Crammed wards, burnt-out GPs, patients waiting hours for ambulances – the health service is at breaking point
Inside the dimly lit command centre at King’s College hospital, staff arriving for the first beds meeting of the day are greeted with a warning: the hospital is already under strain. “So, we are under pressure this morning,” the head of nursing, Naomi Hosking, informs colleagues stood around her in a semi-circle. No one registers surprise. “We’ve got a lot of patients in ED [emergency department] with little space to see new patients, so we need to get some early movement.”
It’s 8.32am and ED – maximum capacity 60 – is packed, with 61 patients inside. The oldest is 98; the youngest 30 days old. Later, that pressure will intensify: the number of ED patients – in beds, on trolleys or in chairs – will more than double to 137.
Continue reading...Rail bosses and unions also signal they will not budge, as RMT’s Mick Lynch says there is ‘no deal in sight’
Rishi Sunak has said the government is unable to shift its position on pay, effectively implying the only way for strikes across the railway and other sectors would be for unions to back down.
In comments to his cabinet on the first day of four weeks of disruption to train services, the prime minister said: “While the government will do all we can to minimise disruption, the only way we can stop it completely is by unions going back around the table and calling off these strikes.”
Continue reading...PM says he has signed deal with Albania and will resume ‘hostile environment’ checks on bank accounts
Rishi Sunak has insisted he can clear a backlog of nearly 100,000 asylum claims by the end of next year as part of a set of policies that include resuming “hostile environment” checks on bank accounts suspended after the Windrush scandal.
The prime minister outlined a five-point plan in the Commons including law changes to criminalise and then remove tens of thousands of people who claim asylum after travelling to the UK by small boats, and a deal with Albania to aid removals to the Balkan state.
A small boats command, with an extra 700 staff from Border Force, the National Crime Agency and other agencies, to combat people smugglers and the surge in arrivals across the Channel.
An end to the use of hotels for more than 40,000 asylum seekers. They will be sent to disused former military bases, holiday camps and student accommodation.
Continue reading...Royal College of Nursing leader criticises ‘belligerence’ in meeting with Steve Barclay at which ministers refused to discuss pay
Nurses’ strikes will go ahead this week after a meeting between the union and the health secretary ended in deadlock, with the Royal College of Nursing condemning ministers’ “belligerence” for refusing to discuss pay.
Six hundred military personnel from all three armed forces will start training to drive ambulances to cover for striking NHS workers across the UK later this month. A further 150 are being readied to act as logistical support, defence sources said, with training for both groups to start “shortly”.
Continue reading...Treasury officials tell select committee they set out impacts of £45bn plan for former chancellor
Kwasi Kwarteng disregarded warnings that his £45bn mini-budget could trigger a backlash on the financial markets, Treasury officials told MPs today.
The department’s permanent secretary, James Bowler, said he was “absolutely confident Treasury officials set out the right advice” to the then chancellor.
Continue reading...Labour highlights issue to back up pledge to invest heavily in addressing shortages
The number of operations cancelled by the NHS in England because of staff shortages may have doubled in three years, with an estimated 30,000 not proceeding because no staff were available to perform them.
At least a third of cancelled operations were those that were deemed urgent, according to the analysis by Labour. It suggested at least 2,500 cancelled operations for cancer patients and 8,000 on children.
Continue reading...Dr Kajal Sharma was only one of 12 senior academics not to be reappointed to her post
A university has been found to have discriminated against an Indian lecturer on the grounds of race after it failed to reappoint her for a job she had been doing for five years, replacing her with a white candidate with no experience of the role.
Dr Kajal Sharma was one of only two senior lecturers at the University of Portsmouth who were not reappointed to their jobs when their contract came to an end, while 11 out of 12 white colleagues were successful, an employment tribunal heard.
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