A man has admitted manslaughter after the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in a lorry container in Essex.
The men, women and children were discovered in a refrigerated trailer on 23 October in Grays.
Haulier Ronan Hughes, 40, of County Armagh, Northern Ireland, admitted manslaughter and conspiring to assist unlawful immigration at the Old Bailey.
A second man, Eamonn Harrison, 23, of Mayobridge, County Down, denied 39 charges of manslaughter.
He also pleaded not guilty to conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and faces a trial in October.
Hughes, whose conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration charge spanned 1 May 2018 to 24 October 24 2019, was described as "a ringleader of a people smuggling ring".
The bodies of the Vietnamese nationals were discovered at an industrial estate soon after the lorry arrived in the UK on a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium.
Ten teenagers, two of them 15-year-old boys, were among the dead.
An inquest heard their medical cause of death was asphyxia and hyperthermia.
Earlier this year, lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 25, of Craigavon, County Armagh, pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
People will again be encouraged to go back to their workplaces as part of a government campaign starting next week.
Employers will be asked to reassure staff it is safe to return by highlighting measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Business leaders have warned of damage being done to city centres as people stay away from offices.
And Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said some things were "impossible" to do remotely.
But Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he cared more about how employees performed than where they were working.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union, which represents civil servants, said ministers needed to accept the "world of work has changed" and millions of employees were working from home successfully.
Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are still advising people to work from home if possible.
The campaign, which will launch as most schools in England and Wales reopen, will predominantly be promoted through regional media, BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said.
Meanwhile, nine in 10 UK employees who have worked from home during lockdown would like to continue in some form, according to a survey.
The research by academics at Cardiff and Southampton universities - which involved thousands of people between April and June - suggests the majority of people working from home are as productive, if not more.
Whitehall sources insist the campaign will not suggest those who continue to work from home are at any greater risk of losing their jobs.
Labour's shadow business minister, Lucy Powell, said no one should be forced "to choose between their health and their job" and the government should "categorically rule out" any campaign suggesting people could be out of a job if they refused to return to the office.
Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: "The prime minister needs a credible plan to help more people travel and work safely, not a scare campaign."
She called for a fast and reliable test-and-trace system, better enforcement of transport and workplace safety and more childcare support.
The employers' organisation the CBI has warned city centres could become "ghost towns" if the prime minister does not do more to encourage staff back, with businesses relying on passing trade from office workers.
Some prominent Conservative MPs share these concerns and have urged ministers to deliver a clear and consistent message that it is safe to return.
But Mr Hancock said getting staff back to work was a "matter for employers" and, when asked about the Department for Health, that his main concern was how employees performed.
"Some of them have been working from home, some come in sometimes, some are in full-time - and what matters to me is that they deliver and, frankly, they've been delivering at an unbelievable rate," the health secretary told Times Radio.
Mr Shapps told BBC Breakfast his own department was encouraging people to return to the office but it was "a gradual process".
Where it is safe to do so, the transport secretary said people should go back to their workplaces, adding that there were some things which were "impossible" to do remotely.
"But I suspect we'll see more flexible working than we've seen in the past and it will be for employers and employees to work out the right balance in their particular cases," he said.
Mr Shapps said employees with "legitimate concern" over whether their workplace was "Covid-secure" could raise this with the Health and Safety Executive but most employers had worked hard to make them safe.
He acknowledged the return of pupils to school and parents to work tended to "create pressures" on the public transport system.
"We'll be watching those very carefully and looking to, for example, in some cases run additional services where we see those problems bubble up," he said.
However, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said people returning to offices as normal would put pressure on public transport and create "too high a risk of the virus spreading very quickly".
Can employers force staff back to the office?
In the overwhelming majority of cases the return to office work - or the continuation of home-working - will be a matter of discussion between employers and employees. Businesses will heed public health and government employment guidance, carry out risk assessments, meet employees' concerns and make any reasonable adjustments to facilitate a return to a safe office.
Much will depend on the nature of the business and the specific employee role, but there are two principal grounds on which employees can challenge an employer's demand that they return to the office.
Firstly, if the employee is disabled or has a condition which puts them at a higher risk of contracting Covid-19, or suffering more severely if they do contract it, they could challenge the demand as discriminatory under the Equality Act. Age could also play a part here as older workers could argue they are more vulnerable to the virus.
Those workers, who tend more often to be female and are caring for others who are especially vulnerable to the virus, could bring indirect sex discrimination claims if compelled to return.
Secondly, the Employment Rights Act protects employees who reasonably believe there is a "serious and imminent" risk of danger in returning to work. This could include risks in getting to and from the workplace.
If meaningful work has been carried out at home during lockdown, it will be difficult for employers to resist requests for flexible working. However, employees must be mindful of their duty to carry out any demands from their employer which are legal and reasonable.
The industries with the largest proportion of employees working remotely were education and information and communication, where the figure was more than 70%.
Figures from investment banking company Morgan Stanley suggest the proportion of UK office workers operating in their normal workplace is less than half that of other major European countries.
One of the main reasons given was that firms could not see a way of accommodating large numbers of staff while social distancing regulations were still in place.
In May, Boris Johnson said people who could not work from home - such as those in construction and manufacturing - should return to the workplace.
Then in July, he told people to "start to go back to work now if you can" and has repeated the plea since then.
This week Sir Ed was confirmed as the new Lib Dem leader, seeing off rival Layla Moran in a one-sided race to take over the party reigns from Jo Swinson, who stood down following the party's horror general election last year. With both candidates vowing to energise the Lib Dems, the polls opened at the end of July, before Sir Ed was crowned the winner with 63.5 percent of the vote. But in a desperate blow, it has since emerged that only around 57 percent of Lib Dem party members opted to vote in the election, the worst among the last leadership contests for the UK's three main parties.
According to Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson successfully secured his win in the Conservatives' leadership race, a whopping 87 percent of Tory members turned out to vote.
In the recent Labour contest, which saw Sir Keir Starmer take over from Jeremy Corbyn, approximately 73 percent of members cast their vote in the poll.
Despite claiming to enjoy record numbers of members, which the party reported was up to more than 120,000 in July 2019, the number voting fell dramatically by 15 percent, when compared to the last Lib Dem leadership race just over 12 months ago.
Upon hearing of the poor polling numbers, LBC host Iain Dale questioned both candidates' mandates, with the Brexiteer calling out "wokery" as a potential pitfall.
Writing in Conservative Home, he said: "So we now have two party leaders who we have to call Sir. (Can it really be long before we all have to imagine the words, ‘Arise, Sir Ian Blackford’?)
"After an interminable leadership campaign, the Liberal Democrats announced yesterday that Ed Davey has been elected their new leader, walloping Layla Moran by 43,000 votes to only 25,000.
"It’s interesting to note that while 88 percent of Conservative members voted in the 2019 leadership contest, only 57 percent of Lib Dems could be bothered to vote for either Davey or Moran.
A seven-year-old boy and his mother have been found dead at their home in east London.
The bodies of 35-year-old Yulia Gokcedag and her son Timur were discovered after police officers forced their way into the property in Tower Hamlets following concerns about their welfare.
The pair, who lived on the Isle of Dogs, were reported missing the day before by family members.
The mother and son were found unresponsive and were pronounced dead at the scene in the early hours of 13 August.
A post-mortem determined the boy had died from drowning.
Advertisement
The Metropolitan Police have said they are not seeking anyone else in connection with the deaths, and an investigation has been launched by their specialist crime command unit.
Inquests into the deaths have been scheduled for 16 December and will be held at Poplar Coroner's Court.
More from London
The Met's directorate of professional standards has been informed of the deaths.
A referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which referred it back to the local professional standards unit which is currently investigating.
Sir Ed Davey won the race to become the new leader of the Liberal Democrats on Thursday. However, his tenure as leader has already suffered a rough start after BBC Breakfast viewers ruthlessly mocked the new party leader during his appearance this morning. Sir Ed faces a tough challenge in rebuilding electoral support, with the party only achieving single digit support in the the latest opinion polls.
The Liberal Democrats have just 11 MPs, and recent opinion polls have put them on between 5 and 10 percent of the vote.
Viewers mocked Sir Ed's repeated claim on the BBC that the Liberal Democrats would now "listen" to the British people.
The BBC's Naga Munchetty asked the new leader about his time in the coalition: "You have said you will listen. I am going to ask you then, as you are listening, and we all learn through experience, do you regret your voting choices in the coalition?"
He replied: "Not everything was got right. However we did do a huge amount. We stopped the Tories cutting welfare benefits by another £12million. We introduced free school meals. We took millions of low paid out of tax."
However Sir Ed added: “We’ve not been seen, by the British people, as on their side. I am determined that by the next election, the people know that we are their voice. We are standing up for ordinary people."
Naga Munchetty said: "You've said you will be listening. As you are listening, do you regret voting choices you made in coalition with the Conservatives?"
He responded: "We were in a coalition with the Conservatives, which was very difficult. I agree with that.
"We had very difficult decisions and not everything we did was right.
"We stopped the Tories cutting welfare benefits by £12bn and we introduced free school meals.
"This current government has made so many mistakes. Our economy has shrunk faster with more job losses than any other G7 country."
In an email to party members on Thursday, Sir Ed claimed he would launch a "national listening project" to help make the Lib Dems "relevant again".
One viewer remarked: "Ed Davey saying he is going to listen to the British people and then never stops talking."
Another added: "Unable to answer simple questions just waffle, waffle, waffle."
One person simply asked: "Is this man serious?"
The result comes eight months after the Lib Dems' former leader, Jo Swinson, stepped down from the role after losing her seat in 2019 election.
Sir Ed secured 63.5 percent of the vote, compared to 36.5 percent for his competitor, fellow MP Layla Moran.
Polling guru professor John Curtice recently said that the Liberal Democrats' popularity "remains at rock bottom".
Leading MEP Guy Guy Verhofstadt tweeted his congratulations to Sir Ed, saying: "The radicalised Tory party of 2020 chooses isolationism & anti-European dogma over cooperation.
"As an internationalist with conviction, I know you & your party have the chance to change this!"
Missing boy, 7, is found drowned alongside his hanged banking analyst mother, 35, in suspected murder-suicide after police forced their way into their £687,000 home in east London
Yulia Gokcedag, 35, and son Timur, 7, were both reported missing on August 12
Met Police officers forced their way into Tower Hamlets home the following day
Mother and son found dead with causes of death given as hanging and drowning
Detectives say they are not looking for anyone else in connection with tragedy
Anyone seeking help can call Samaritans free on 116 123 or visit Samaritans.org
A missing seven-year-old boy has been found drowned at home alongside his hanged mother in a suspected murder-suicide.
Banking analyst Yulia Gokcedag, 35, and her son Timur had been reported missing to the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday 12 August.
Police grew increasingly concerned about their welfare and broke into the £687,000 flat in Lockesfield Place, Tower Hamlets the next day at 3.20am.
Ms Gokcedag and her son Timur were found dead inside the property, with a post-mortem giving their causes of death as hanging and drowning.
She was married to an investment banker, according to online profiles.
They wed in 2011 and Ms Gokcedag had shared Facebook photos of days out with her husband in London. It is not clear if they were still together prior to her death.
Yulia Gokcedag, 35, (pictured) and her seven-year-old son Timur had been reported missing to the Metropolitan Police on 12 August
Timur is pictured in a Facebook album under his name that was posted on Ms Gokcedag's Facebook page after he was born in 2013
Ms Gokcedag was a banking analyst who had won awards while working at Barclays. She shared pictures of her and her husband enjoying life in London
Ms Gokcedag worked in banking as a data analyst at Moody's Investors Service and had won awards while working as a community banker at Barclays, according to her Linkedin account.
She gained a finance and economics degree at the Moscow Financial University before doing an academic English course at the London School of Economics.
Ms Gokcedag, a British national, had previously worked at two financial services companies in south-east Russia.
She was listed on Companies House as a director of an educational services company and another involved in renting Housing Association properties.
Inquests into the deaths are set to be held at Poplar Coroner's Court on December 16.
The Metropolitan Police said that its directorate of professional standards (DPS) was informed.
A referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) which referred it back to the local professional standards unit which is currently investigating.
A Met spokesman said: 'As is routine, the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) was informed.
'A referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who referred it back to the local professional standards unit who are currently investigating.'
An inquest has been scheduled and a file prepared for the coroner which will take place at Poplar Coroners’ Court on Wednesday, 16 December.
Anyone seeking help can call Samaritans free on 116 123 or visit Samaritans.org
Ms Gokcedag and her son Timur were found dead inside the property, with a post-mortem giving their causes of death as hanging and drowning
Police grew increasingly concerned about their welfare and broke into the flat in Lockesfield Place, Tower Hamlets at 3.20am on Thursday (file photo)
