About 500 people turned up to Trafalgar Square this morning for the start of Extinction Rebellion’s latest protest as police warned that the group’s actions would divert resources and hinder efforts to tackle violent crime.
The climate change activists had claimed last week that thousands would take part in what it said would be two weeks of protests mainly targeting the City of London.
Police officers lined Whitehall, guarding the front of government departments. Territorial Support Group vans were also on hand. The unit is typically deployed to deal with major incidents such as terror attacks and riots.
Extinction Rebellion is demanding that the government halts new investment in fossil fuels
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL
The protest began with activists saying a Creole prayer to mark the 230th anniversary of the Haitian revolution that overthrew French colonial rule.
"Every minute counts" when it comes to evacuating people from Afghanistan, the UK's armed forces minister has said.
James Heappey said the UK was working to get people out by 31 August, when US troops withdraw - though the prime minister is expected to ask President Joe Biden to extend that deadline.
Mr Heappey said evacuations had been made possible by the presence of US troops and Taliban co-operation.
But he said the UK was "taking nothing for granted" with the militants.
Boris Johnson will ask Mr Biden to extend the deadline in order to allow evacuation flights to continue when they meet at an emergency gathering of world leaders from the G7 countries on Tuesday.
Mr Heappey told BBC Breakfast that 6,631 people had been evacuated in the past week, and there would be nine flights over the next 24 hours.
He said this would not be possible without the US, which "has effectively taken over the full operation" at the airport.
"If there is no opportunity to extend [the deadline] - either because there's not the international appetite to do so, or perhaps more likely the Taliban are unwilling to allow us to - then we need to continue with our plans to be out by 31 August," he said.
"If that is to be the case, every minute counts to get as many people out in the meantime."
The victims of a double murder at two separate addresses in Westminster were both stabbed in the neck, police said today, as officers stepped up their 'urgent' hunt for a 49-year-old man.
Scotland Yard believes the murders of 59-year-old Clinton Ashmore and 45-year-old Sharon Pickles were linked.
Officers were called at 9.30pm last Thursday to a flat in Ashbridge Street where they found the body of Ms Pickles.
Scotland Yard believes the murders of 59-year-old Clinton Ashmore (left) and 45-year-old Sharon Pickles (right) were linked
At 2.15am on Friday police were called to an address in nearby Jerome Crescent after reports of a stabbing. There they found Mr Ashmore's body.
The Met said in a statement the two incidents were being treated as linked and both died from a stab wound to the neck.
Detectives have issued an 'urgent' appeal for information about 49-year-old Lee Peacock who they wanted to locate and speak to about the murders.
Police believe he knew both Ms Pickles and Mr Ashmore. The Met asks anyone who sees Peacock to phone 999 but not approach him.
Scotland Yard said of the two victims: 'Their families have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.'
On Friday, detectives issued an 'urgent' appeal for information about 49-year-old Lee Peacock (pic) who they wanted to locate and speak to about the murders.
Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, from the Met's Specialist Crime Command, said: 'Firstly my thoughts are with the families of Sharon and Clinton. This is a shocking crime and we will not rest until we bring the person or persons responsible to justice.
'Key to that is finding Lee Peacock. We believe he knew both victims and urgently need to locate him to talk to him about their murders.
'We have a team of detectives working around the clock to find him, but so far they have been unable to locate him.
'I would urge anybody who knows his whereabouts to contact police immediately by calling 999.
'If seen, we would urge the public not to approach him, but to contact police as soon as possible.'
Information can also be provided to Crimestoppers, anonymously, by calling 0800 555 111.
A couple of evenings ago with Afghanistan unravelling into chaos, I was thinking about a piece I want to do to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11. And so I went on a trip down memory lane and listened back to George W Bush's joint address to Congress following those attacks on American soil (don't tell me I don't know how to have fun).
One particular member of the audience was singled out for huge praise and even greater applause at this sombre moment in US history - and that person was the then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mr Blair was - is - a great believer in the special relationship.
Often, he is criticised for being too slavish in the importance he attaches to it. He was deft (or supine, depending on your viewpoint) in moving from his warm embrace of liberal Bill Clinton to Christian conservative, George W Bush. And too acquiescent (or pusillanimous, depending on your viewpoint) in going along with American ventures, notably the invasion of Iraq.
Even after he had left office, when Barack Obama and then Donald Trump were in the White House, if Mr Blair had criticism to deliver, it would be layered in so much code you would need the World War Two geniuses of Bletchley Park to decipher it.
So I nearly choked on my Sunday morning granola bowl when I saw that he had used the word "imbecilic" to describe the justification for Joe Biden's Afghanistan policy. He didn't actually call the US president an imbecile, but someone as media cute as Mr Blair would have known it would be written up as though he had. And sure enough the headlines were: "Blair calls Biden imbecilic."
Of course, he stopped being prime minister 14 years ago, and so can say whatever he likes. But you can be sure that if he had been prime minister he would never have dared go into public prints with such a verdict. Not a chance. That's not how the special relationship works. But I bet that is what Boris Johnson would love to be able to say. Indeed, there are reports circulating - strongly denied by Downing Street (of course) - that that is pretty much what he has said about Mr Biden's handling of this shocking US-made Afghan crisis.
There are arguably many reasons to complain about the UK prime minister's handling on any number of issues, and I have read from a distance of 3,000 miles the brickbats that have been aimed at Boris Johnson over Afghanistan - but frankly, on this one, he never stood much of a chance.
Now this isn't me going soft, or in any way being an apologist for Mr Johnson. But from Washington, where I am writing, it is just a statement of realpolitik. It is a statement of the reality of the "special relationship", which when push comes to shove - and when America is feeling cornered - isn't so very special.
America acted unilaterally over Afghanistan - actually maybe that should be Joe Biden acted unilaterally. The administration was not much interested in what the UK thought. Mr Biden, from what I have been told, was not much interested in the red flags being raised by his intel community and military top brass, or by the warnings delivered from London. He wanted out. The warnings of HM Government - and my understanding is they were made strenuously - fell on deaf, indifferent ears in Washington.
In those circumstances - and let me depersonalise this - what is a British prime minister to do? If the 800lb gorilla is going to leave the room, what is the much smaller primate meant to do? The idea that the British armed forces could have swarmed in to fill the vacuum left by a US withdrawal is unrealistic.
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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) with the number of British servicemen and women in situ would have little option but to withdraw - or face heavy casualties that would have in all probability failed to stem the Taliban advance. In American football terms, the US had called the play; there was little for the British to do but fall into line.
And as I say, this isn't about the current incumbent of Downing Street, it's about any occupant of that famous address. Isn't it just a bit hubristic, vainglorious, to think that a British prime minister is going to stop a determined American president in his tracks? What was Boris Johnson meant to say? "I'm sorry Joe, I simply refuse to let you do this."
It has also been suggested in some sections of the British press that this would never have happened during the supposed acme of the "special relationship" when Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Margaret Thatcher was at Number 10. Are you kidding me? Does anyone remember what happened in the Caribbean island of Grenada, in 1983?
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Then, the Cold War was at its height, the "domino theory" was still in place, and in America's backyard - there'd been a bit of a coup. Marxist plotters had captured and killed the prime minister. This required a response and the full force of US military might was unleashed in Operation Urgent Fury.
In Downing Street there was also urgent fury, and it was coming from Mrs Thatcher, ready to give a hand-bagging to anyone who got in her way. Ronald Reagan had not bothered to give her any kind of warning, even though Grenada was a Commonwealth country. It was humiliating for Britain and the Crown, and it gave the Labour opposition a field day. And the Americans were not much bothered.
It brought the memorable dig from the shadow Foreign Secretary, Denis Healey, in the Commons to Sir Geoffrey Howe (then the foreign secretary): "When America says jump, he says 'How high?'" The reality is that there is a deeper truth to that jibe.
Britain can be a restraining force, a moderating force, but rather like the complex constitutional relationship between the - elected - House of Commons and the - unelected - House of Lords, it is probably for the best to understand the junior partner power relationship between the mighty United States, and the far less mighty British.
And since World War Two there are endless examples: the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 skewed massively in America's favour when Churchill (and Britain) paid a heavy price for buying clapped out US warships; the Suez crisis, when the US - in effect - threatened to bankrupt Britain if it carried on with the military adventure with France and Israel in Egypt.
I could list countless other examples where America has ridden roughshod over British sensibilities. In the seven years I have been in Washington I have watched it up close - and it doesn't matter whether the president in the White House is Republican or Democrat: how much the British spend on defence as a proportion of GDP, whether we buy technology from Chinese telecommunications firms, what the Trump administration is going to do about Iran - and on and on.
A WOMAN and man found murdered within five hours of each other had their throats slashed, cops say - as they urged the public not to approach a wanted man.
Police have named two people found dead within hours of each other last week as Sharon Pickles, 45, and Clinton Ashmore, 59Credit: Metropolitan Police
Both Sharon and Clinton had their throats slashed before they died - and police have launched a manhunt for Lee Peacock, 49Credit: Metropolitan Police
Sharon was found dead at a home in Ashbridge Street, Westminster shortly before 9.35pm on Thursday.
Hours later, at 2.15am on Friday, paramedics called police to report a stabbing in Jerome Crescent, north-west London.
Officers rushed to the scene - but despite the efforts of blue light workers, Clinton died at the scene.
Officials have now confirmed that both Sharon and Clinton were knifed in the neck.
Families of both victims are being supported by specially-trained PCs.
And despite a huge search for Peacock, he hasn't yet been found.
Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “Firstly, my thoughts are with the families of Sharon and Clinton.
"This is a shocking crime and we will not rest until we bring the person or persons responsible to justice.
“Key to that is finding Lee Peacock.
"We believe he knew both victims and urgently need to locate him to talk to him about their murders.
“We have a team of detectives working around the clock to find him, but so far they have been unable to locate him.
"I would urge anybody who knows his whereabouts to contact police immediately by calling 999.
"If seen, we would urge the public not to approach him, but to contact police as soon as possible."
And he urged anyone who saw something suspicious in Ashbridge Street or Jerome Crescent on the night of the killings to come forward.
This is a shocking crime and we will not rest until we bring the person or persons responsible to justice
DCI Wayne Jolley
“No matter how small or insignificant you think your information might be, please do get in touch," he said.
Detective Chief Superintendent Owain Richards, who is based in Westminster, said residents will be "shocked and troubled by this news".
“Anyone who has concerns is encouraged to approach patrol officers," he said.
To speak to police, call 101, giving the reference 7227/19AUG.
Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.
Members of the public have been urged not to approach PeacockCredit: Metropolitan Police
Sharon's body was found at a home in Westminster on Thursday nightCredit: LNP
Police have urged anyone with information to come forward urgently
All those aged 12 to 15 and considered at-risk in England have also been invited for a vaccination, the government said.
According to the latest figures, more than 47.6 million people in the UK - about 87% of over-16s - have now received at least one vaccine, with more than 41.6 million - 76% - having had both jabs.
On Sunday 32,253 new Covid cases were reported across the UK, as well as a further 49 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
While the younger a person is the lower their overall risk from coronavirus, young adults can still get long Covid - which is when symptoms of the disease persist for an extended period.
The latest figures for England show people aged 18 to 34 now make up more than a fifth of those admitted to hospital with the virus, four times higher than at the peak last winter, and most of those are unvaccinated.
Megan Higgins, 25, and Ella Harwood, 23, were both previously healthy and active but are now suffering with extreme fatigue due to long Covid.
Ms Higgins, a special needs tutor from London, said that eight months on she still "can't even walk around the shops without getting exhausted".
"Long Covid is debilitating, so please, get vaccinated. I wouldn't want anyone else to go through what I have," she said.
NHS
Ms Harwood, an illustrator from London, said she was bed-bound for seven months and fears she will "never be the same again".
In the clip, support worker Quincy Dwamena, 31, described himself as a "healthy young guy" but said he delayed getting the vaccine and became seriously ill.
"I ended up being hospitalised and thought I was going to die," he said.
Having two doses of the vaccine approximately halves the risk of experiencing symptoms which last more than 28 days after infection, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: "Regardless of whether you're young, fit and healthy, these harrowing stories really show that Covid-19 can affect anyone.
"I encourage everyone to come forward for both their jabs as quickly as possible as vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious illness."
The government has been pushing to increase vaccine uptake among young people, with companies such as Asda and Deliveroo offering incentives to those who get a jab.
Meanwhile, pop-up vaccine sites have been opened across the country at sites such as London-based nightclub Heaven, as well as football stadiums and festivals.
Joe Biden has defended the US military pullout in Afghanistan, saying that the mass evacuation of refugees would have been "hard and painful no matter when we started".
The US president said "my heart aches" for the thousands who are stranded outside Kabul airport in desperate scenes, but added that it was "just a fact" that the evacuation would have been difficult no matter how or when it was planned.
Tony Blair is among many who have criticised Mr Biden for the chaos seen in Kabul and across Afghanistan, with the former prime minister saying that the decision to withdraw troops was "imbecilic".
At a White House news conference, Mr Biden said he had a "basic decision to make" and was "convinced I'm absolutely correct in not sending more men and women to war".
Image:Conditions are fraught for evacuees at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Pic: AP
He said: "If we do not leave Afghanistan now, when do we leave?"
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Mr Biden added that he would not like to extend his 31 August deadline for evacuations and withdrawal of US forces, but that talks were ongoing over this.
Afghans are becoming more desperate as the end of August approaches, with the last civilian flight to leave some time before that.
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Mr Biden reiterated that his first priority is getting American citizens out of Afghanistan "as quickly and safely as possible", adding that 11,000 individuals were evacuated over the weekend.
But UK ministers want Mr Biden to keep American forces on the ground beyond that date, with Labour calling for an extension.
Boris Johnson will convene G7 leaders, including Mr Biden, on Tuesday for "urgent talks" on the situation in the country.
And in a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the group would discuss "continuing our close co-ordination on Afghanistan policy" as well as ongoing evacuation efforts.
Image:Members of the UK Armed Forces say taking part in the evacuation effort is becoming increasingly fraught
Image:The Ministry of Defence confirmed that seven Afghan civilians had died in chaotic crowds outside the airfield
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had a "productive" phone call with his US counterpart, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, to discuss allied efforts in the Afghan capital.
The MoD added that the evacuation process would "run as long as the security situation allows in joint co-ordination with our US partners", with "no firm date set" for the end of civilian flights.
A further 1,700 people have been evacuated as part of the UK rescue mission in the past 24 hours, meaning 5,725 people have been repatriated since 13 August - with 3,100 of them Afghan individuals and their families.
Nevertheless, Mr Wallace has said that "absolutely nobody can say we'll be able to get everybody out" of the country.
The MoD confirmed on Sunday that seven Afghan civilians had died in chaotic crowds outside Kabul airport, however reports have suggested as many 20 people have been killed in the past week while trying to get into the airfield.
Brigadier Dan Blanchford, the most senior UK military officer on the ground in Kabul, said British armed forces personnel had "witnessed some harrowing scenes" trying to process eligible civilians.
Former chief of the defence staff Lord Richards said UK forces securing the airstrip are in a "very precarious situation", with little protection from security threats posed by the likes of so-called Islamic State.
"I've done a few of these non-combat evacuation operations in my time and this is the worst possible scenario, when you are unable to clear a space between the airhead and your possible threat, which is exactly what is happening now," he told Times Radio.
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Blair says Afghanistan pullout will backfire
Armed forces minister James Heappey said British troops are "seeing things that are unimaginably hard to deal with", with reports of overcrowding, violence and shortages in the Kabul heat.
However, he said there have been "very encouraging" improvements at the Baron Hotel in the city, where Britons and Afghans eligible for repatriation are being processed, following reports earlier this weekend that it had been blockaded by the Taliban.
He said the "flow" outside the hotel is "significantly" better following changes to crowd control by the militant regime, with 731 people processed for UK flights on Sunday morning alone.
Image:Passengers on board a Royal Air Force C-17 evacuation flight out of Kabul airport
Brigadier Blanchford said UK armed forces have been supplying aid - including food, nappies and baby milk - as part of their efforts to get people to the UK.
He said: "The horrific difficulties which families and individuals have in getting to the airport are clear and my men and women on the frontline have seen and witnessed some harrowing scenes.
"I am proud of the work which our armed forces, who have shown professionalism and compassion in challenging circumstances.
"We are redoubling our efforts to speed up the processes and support the most vulnerable."
