Babak Belurs

Jumat, 15 April 2022

Easter weekend: People advised to plan ahead before travelling - here's everything you need to know - Sky News

People have been advised to plan ahead before travelling this weekend amid concerns of Easter getaway chaos affecting traffic, flights, trains, and ferries.

The Department for Transport has said it is working to minimise disruption, but has told those expecting to travel to allow extra time for their journeys.

Holidaymakers have already faced flight cancellations, queues for cross-Channel ferry services and long queues of traffic over the last couple of weeks.

Here's everything you need to know before setting off this weekend.

Roads

Some 27.6 million car journeys are expected to take place over the Bank Holiday weekend, according to the AA.

Motorists were advised to travel on Thursday if possible, but Saturday's the next best bet for avoiding long queues.

The busiest day on UK roads is predicted to be Good Friday.

Kent is expected to be one of the worst affected areas, as Operation Brock continues to be in place along a stretch of the M20 and issues at the Port of Dover due to a shortage of cross-Channel sailings remain a problem.

The operation, which was initially created to help with post-Brexit queues, involves using a moveable barrier to create a contraflow system enabling lorries to queue and other traffic to keep moving in both directions.

By Friday morning, severe congestion was reported along the A20 after the Roundhill Tunnel in Kent was closed coastbound between the M20 at junction 13 and the A260 near Folkestone.

Drivers wanting to avoid as much congestion as possible are urged to set off before 9am or delay their journeys until after 7.30pm.

AA has also estimated that, with higher fuel prices, a 500-mile round trip will see drivers paying £20 more at the pumps than they did last Easter.

Transport minister Robert Courts said his department is "working closely with operators to minimise disruption" during the break, but advised people to "plan ahead and check for updates from operators".

Ports

Ferry crossings continue to be an issue over the weekend, with Dover-Calais sailings by P&O Ferries still suspended after it sacked nearly 800 seafarers without notice on 17 March.

This means there will be a shortage of capacity along the key route.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said there were "additional deficiencies" found during a reinspection on Wednesday of the Pride of Kent, while the Spirit of Britain vessel was detained on Tuesday after an inspection found "a number of deficiencies".

A spokesperson for the firm said: "We apologise unreservedly to all customers whose scheduled journeys with us between Dover and Calais have been cancelled whilst we are unable to sail."

It added that alternative arrangements can be made for customers, including transferring them on to the Hull-Europoort service to Rotterdam or booking them on to services with Brittany Ferries between Portsmouth and Caen.

It said this would come at no extra cost for customers, with mileage expenses reimbursed and a 25% discount on the original fee.

DFDS has said it has no availability for P&O customers over the Easter bank holiday.

"Please do not proceed to port without a confirmed reservation, contact P&O Ferries for alternative travel arrangements," it urged travellers.

Planes

In recent days, flight cancellations and long queues at UK airports have been blamed on difficulties recruiting new staff, the time it takes for their security checks to be processed, and increased levels of COVID-related sickness.

Aviation data firm Cirium said 9,212 flights with 1.6 million seats are scheduled to depart from UK airports between Good Friday and Easter Monday - 78% of the total for Easter 2019.

The busiest day will be Good Friday, when some 2,430 flights are due to depart.

On Thursday, dozens of British Airways and EasyJet flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick were cancelled.

Passengers and Birmingham and Manchester airports shared pictures on social media of lines stretching far away from check-in desks, and travel agency Tui apologising for long delays.

People are advised to check their departure times, leave with plenty of time to spare at the airport, and check for regular updates.

Trains

Rail passengers have also been warned of delays as Network Rail carries out 530 engineering projects costing a total of £83m.

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This includes the closure of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes for four days from Good Friday due to upgrades of the existing line and HS2 work.

Parts of the railway between Birmingham International station and Coventry will also be closed, as will lines around Crewe station.

Passengers were already facing long queues for services from London St Pancras to Europe on Thursday morning.

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2022-04-15 02:06:21Z
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Kamis, 14 April 2022

Imran Ahmad Khan: MP resigns after being found guilty of sexually assaulting 15-year-old boy - Sky News

Imran Ahmad Khan has resigned as an MP after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Khan, who represented Wakefield in West Yorkshire, had been resisting calls to stand down since he was thrown out of the Conservative Party when he was convicted on Monday.

But he said it was "intolerable" for voters in the constituency to lack representation while he appeals and said stepping down would allow him to "focus entirely on clearing my name".

Boris Johnson now faces a potentially challenging by-election in Wakefield.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Khan said: "While legal proceedings are ongoing, I do not believe that it would ordinarily be appropriate to resign.

"However, owing to long delays in the legal process, my constituents have already been without visible parliamentary representation for a year. Even in the best case scenario, anticipated legal proceedings could last many more months.

"I have therefore regrettably come to the conclusion that it is intolerable for constituents to go years without an MP who can amplify their voices in Parliament."

He said his constituents "deserve better than this" and therefore he was resigning as MP for Wakefield and "withdrawing from political life."

Labour held Wakefield from the 1930s until Khan's victory in the 2019 general election.

His resignation sets up a tough battle for the Tories, as the prime minister fights to remain leader after he was fined for breaching his own coronavirus lockdown laws.

Joe Pike

Political correspondent

@joepike

Labour had known for months a pivotal by-election battle could be on the cards as a result of Imran Ahmad Khan’s trial, and behind the scenes they have been preparing for it.

With Khan’s resignation as an MP, the fight for the marginal red wall seat of Wakefield is on.

It will be a key test for the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, offering the possibility of the first Labour by-election win from the Tories in a decade.

The constituency backed Brexit by 63%. This was one reason why the vocally pro-EU Labour incumbent Mary Creagh lost her seat in 2019 - its first time in Conservative hands since the 1930s.

Ms Creagh is not expected to stand in the city again, but is still understood to be keen to return to Westminster.

Sources in the Labour Party are optimistic about their chances of victory. Without Jeremy Corbyn's leadership or Brexit, and with a cost-of-living crisis, they argue Wakefield is winnable.

The Conservatives will be hoping their new campaign infrastructure and investment in the region will bolster their effort.

They also, however, face difficult questions about warnings Khan's victim claims he made ahead of the 2019 election, which seem to have been ignored.

Khan was only chosen to stand for the Tories in the West Yorkshire seat after the original candidate stood down over the emergence of racist and sexist Facebook posts.

During the trial at Southwark Crown Court, the jury heard Khan forced a 15-year-old boy to drink gin and tonic at a party before he dragged the teenager upstairs, pushed him on to a bed and asked him to watch pornography before the attack.

The victim, now 29, said Khan touched his feet and legs and the MP came within "a hair's breadth" of his privates as he tried to sleep in a top bunk bed.

He ran to his parents and a police report was made at the time, but no further action was taken because he did not want to make a formal complaint.

But he told the court "it all came flooding back" when Khan stood as a Conservative in the December 2019 general election.

He said he was not "taken very seriously" when he made the allegation to the Conservative Party press office days before Khan was elected as MP for Wakefield.

He made a complaint to the police days after Khan helped Mr Johnson win a large Commons majority by taking Wakefield.

Khan was found guilty by a jury after five hours of deliberations.

Janes Solicitors, the firm representing Khan, said he "maintains his innocence" and "will be appealing as soon as possible".

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2022-04-14 17:10:20Z
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UK strikes deal to transport rejected asylum seekers to Rwanda - Financial Times

Boris Johnson has announced plans to transport to Rwanda “tens of thousands” of migrants seeking asylum in the UK, in an attempt to deter clandestine boat crossings across the English Channel.

In a speech in Kent on Thursday, the UK prime minister said anyone who has entered Britain through irregular means since January 1 and not sought asylum in a safe third country “may” be transported to the African country and assessed there for eventual resettlement in Rwanda, under a deal struck with its government.

Johnson, who promised to tackle immigration levels when he co-led the successful Brexit campaign in 2016, said the British people had voted to “control” rather than close the borders.

“We must first ensure . . . that those who tried to jump the queue or abuse our system will find no automatic path to settlement in our country but rather be swiftly and humanely removed to a safe third country or their country of origin,” he said.

Johnson described Rwanda as one of the safest countries in the world and said the plan was an “innovative approach, driven by our shared humanitarian impulse”.

But charities condemned the announcement, which Sam Nadel, of Oxfam, said was “not only cruel and immoral but also impractical”.

Johnson’s government has been struggling to prevent people arriving in the UK via small boats, with 28,526 estimated to have done so in 2021, a record for peace time. In November, 27 would-be refugees drowned when their boat foundered off the coast of France.

Since the end of the Brexit transition period, the government deems that those coming into Britain from a safe “third state” — such as France — can have their asylum claims declared “inadmissible” with no right of appeal and sent to any other “safe” country.

The nationalities and borders bill, which is in its final parliamentary stages, will put those “inadmissibility rules” on a primary legislative footing.

Under the new Johnson plan, those with inadmissible claims would be transferred from the UK to Rwanda on planes chartered by the government. The exceptions would be those who have vulnerabilities or safeguarding issues.

The prime minister acknowledged on Thursday that the new policy would face legal challenges, even though he insisted it was fully compliant with international legal obligations.

He said the UK government would have preferred a deal with France and the EU but this had not yet been possible.

Figures for Australia, which has pioneered the use of offshore processing centres, show that the country spent £461mn dealing with just 239 refugees and asylum seekers held offshore last year.

Asked whether that kind of cost would be justifiable for the proposed UK scheme, Johnson responded that the current cost of housing all asylum seekers in hotels was £5mn a day and rising.

The Home Office refused to comment on speculation from charities that the scheme could cost £1.4bn.

The prime minister admitted the plan was not a “magic bullet” and that it was part of a broader strategy, including having the Royal Navy take over Channel patrols from the Border Force.

Boris Johnson in Kent on Thursday: ‘If they come across the Channel illegally in these vessels, then they risk ending up there and not in the UK, and that is something that I believe will over time prove a very considerable deterrent’ © Matt Dunham/PA

Ministers on Thursday also announced a plan for a new multimillion-pound migrant processing centre at RAF Linton, a base in North Yorkshire.

Johnson admitted the principal aim of the Rwanda policy was to be a deterrent. “If they come across the Channel illegally in these vessels, then they risk ending up there and not in the UK, and that is something that I believe will over time prove a very considerable deterrent,” he said, without specifying who might be sent to Rwanda.

Johnson added that the deal could end up as a “prototype” for other countries to address the likely movement of billions of people across the planet in the coming years.

But Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, a charity, called the deal a “grubby cash-for-people plan”, which he said would be a “cowardly, barbaric and inhumane way” to treat people fleeing persecution and war.

Rwanda said it would receive an “upfront investment” of £120mn under the deal, which would “fund opportunities for Rwandans and migrants”, including secondary qualifications, vocational and skills training, language lessons, and higher education.

It said migrants would be integrated into communities across the country and would be entitled to “full protection” under local law, equal access to employment, and enrolment in healthcare and social care services.

Rwanda has a tradition of welcoming refugees, and currently hosts about 130,000, mainly from neighbouring Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But its human rights record has been a subject of intense controversy. In July last year, Rita French, the UK’s international ambassador for human rights, criticised Rwanda’s record in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council.

Human rights activists also criticise Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president, for brooking little political dissent. He won the 2017 presidential election with 98.6 per cent of the vote.

Proposals to process asylum seekers overseas have caused controversy because they contradict longstanding interpretations of the UK’s obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

This has been seen as obliging countries not to penalise people who breach immigration law to reach their country to make an asylum application.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said on Thursday it could not comment on the deal but stressed it “does not support the externalisation of asylum states’ obligations”.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, described the proposal as “a desperate and shameful . . . attempt to distract from his own law breaking”, referring to the “partygate” scandal.

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2022-04-14 13:34:23Z
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NHS waiting times: Care delayed for more than three years for dozens of people due to backlog - Sky News

A woman left waiting nearly four years to have various NHS surgeries, says the impact of the delays has been "soul destroying".

Across England, some 6.1 million people are waiting for hospital care, including more than 23,000 who have been waiting for more than two years.

For Jo Goulding, who has lived with rheumatoid arthritis since she was seven, the wait for surgery has left her in "agonising" chronic pain and "relying on painkillers" to simply get by.

The 49-year-old has been on the list for two elbow replacements since 2018, a shoulder replacement since 2019 and only had a hip replacement, which she was waiting for since 2020, in March.

Due to the length of the wait, when she was finally seen she needed more extensive surgery because the artificial hip had caused problems with her pelvis.

"The pain was eating me up from the inside out, nothing took the pain away, and the limitations in my life have been soul-destroying," the mother-of-two explained.

"I don't know how I managed over the last two years. The most upsetting thing is that it's not just my life, but my family's lives too, which have been affected."

"My kids are only little, nine and 10, and I found my daughter crying the other day because she'd seen me wincing in pain, knowing there was nothing she could do to help me," the civil engineer told PA news agency.

She said that living with chronic pain "sucks the life out of you", adding that she had to remortgage and adapt her home to cope.

Mrs Goulding believes the patients who have been waiting for the longest "get lost" in the numbers and the NHS is "beyond breaking point".

Dozens waiting more than three years for hospital care

It comes as data obtained by PA shows that dozens of people have been waiting at least three years for hospital care in England due to a "shocking" NHS backlog.

At least nine have been waiting at least four years for treatment.

One patient, whose details have been kept anonymous, has been waiting nearly six years for treatment.

Other trusts with backlogs at the end of January, according to FOI data supplied by individual trusts, included a patient waiting for seven-and-a-half years (390 weeks) at Mid and South Essex NHS Trust for gastroenterology care.

A quarter of the longest waiting patients at the 69 trusts which supplied data are awaiting care for trauma and orthopaedic care - which covers hip and knee replacements.

Four of the longest waiters were waiting for gynaecology services and six were waiting for urology care.

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NHS leaders said they are doing "all they can" to dig into the backlogs but efforts have been hampered by pressures on the emergency care system, COVID cases and high rates of staff absences on top of severe workforce shortages.

The latest official figures from NHS England show that a total of 23,778 people were waiting more than two years to start routine hospital treatment at the end of January - around nine times the 2,608 people who were waiting longer than two years in April 2021.

Professor Neil Mortensen, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England described the waiting times as "shocking" and warned that it could "cause real emotional and physical distress".

An NHS spokesperson said: "NHS staff are working flat out to clear the backlogs that have inevitably built up throughout the pandemic with local teams using innovative approaches to reducing waits, such as one-stop shops and Super Saturdays, all while we continue to see busy emergency services and high numbers of hospitalised COVID patients."

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2022-04-14 01:11:32Z
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Rabu, 13 April 2022

Sir David Amess murder: Ali Harbi Ali given whole-life sentence - BBC

IS fanatic Ali Harbi Ali has been given a whole-life sentence for murdering Sir David Amess MP.

Ali stabbed the Conservative MP for Southend West more than 20 times after tricking his way into a constituency surgery in Essex last year.

Sir David's family said it broke their hearts that he would have "greeted the murderer with a smile of friendship".

At the Old Bailey, Judge Mr Justice Sweeney said: "This was a murder that struck at the heart of our democracy."

Sir David, 69, was killed at the surgery he was holding at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea on 15 October.

He was stabbed after 26-year-old Ali had gone into the meeting pretending to be an NHS employee moving to the area.

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Ali, from Kentish Town in north London, told the court he had plans to target various MPs, including cabinet minister Michael Gove.

He told his trial he was motivated by a desire to seek revenge against MPs who had voted for airstrikes on Syria.

Members of Sir David's family wiped away tears during the 40-minute hearing.

After sentencing, they said they felt "no elation" in a statement issued through the Metropolitan Police.

They added: "It breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted the murderer with a smile of friendship and would have been anxious to help.

"How sickening to think what happened next. It is beyond evil."

Scene at Belfairs Church where Sir David Amess was killed

Tracy Ayling QC, for Ali, told the court she had been instructed by her client not to say anything in mitigation.

Ali pursed his lips briefly but otherwise showed little emotion as the judge handed down his sentence.

"The defendant has no remorse or shame for what he has done - quite the reverse," said the judge.

He described Sir David's death as a loss "of national significance".

He added: "He had done nothing whatsoever to justify the attack upon him, let alone his murder.

"On the contrary, he had devoted 38 years of his life to the lawful service of the public, and was engaged in doing so when he was murdered."

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MPs who had once been on Ali's list of potential targets provided victim impact statements in which they described the effect it had had on their lives.

Mike Freer, Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green, said he and his staff would now wear stab vests and panic alarms for constituency surgeries.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said he had been at home in west London when Ali carried out armed reconnaissance outside in the months prior to attacking Sir David.

"Our security and that of our home was threatened and that has put a profound pressure on our lives," he said.

The jury took just 18 minutes on Monday to convict Ali of murder and preparing acts of terrorism.

During the trial, he said he had no regrets or shame, saying: "If I thought I did anything wrong, I wouldn't have done it".

The court was told he had planned to die as a "martyr", assuming he would be shot by police.

Julie Cushion, a long-standing aide and friend of Sir David who was at the church, shared her anguish about the killing and said she still felt guilt and anger.

In an impact statement read by the prosecution, she said: "I can still see and hear the sounds and images of the time, like the crashing of furniture.

"I remember the awful feeling of distress while we waited for help - feeling helpless and hopeless as there was nothing I could physically do to help."

Haunted

She said the look on Ali's face - "smug, so self-satisfied" - had stayed with her.

She said she was now working for the constituency's new MP and was haunted by the fear of a similar attack.

Conservative Anna Firth, who won the by-election in February, welcomed Ali's whole-life sentence.

She said Sir David's "incredible work and legacy will live on through the many charities and good causes he championed".

The judge imposed a whole-life sentence, as opposed to a life sentence with a minimum term, which means Ali will not be considered for parole and will never be released from prison.

Others serving whole-life sentences include sexual predator Wayne Couzens, who raped and murdered Sarah Everard in London, far-right extremist Thomas Mair, who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, and Ipswich serial killer Steve Wright.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk

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2022-04-13 16:32:50Z
1370090533

Preston fire: Two children die days after house blaze - BBC

Two children left critically injured in a house fire have died in hospital four days after the blaze.

The girl and boy, aged three and five, were rescued from the fire in Coronation Crescent, Preston, on Friday evening.

Their mother, aged in her 20s, was not seriously injured, Lancashire Police said.

A 24-year-old man held on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life was later released with no further action.

Emergency services were called to the house at about 20:00 BST after receiving reports of people trapped inside the home.

A joint investigation between police and the fire service to find the cause of the fire is continuing.

Det Ch Insp Rach Higson said: "This tragic incident has resulted in two children sadly losing their lives and my thoughts are with their loved ones at this time."

The children's family are being supported by officers and a file will be passed to the coroner, police said.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk

Babak Belurs

Jumat, 15 April 2022

Easter weekend: People advised to plan ahead before travelling - here's everything you need to know - Sky News

Other likely congestion hotspots

Kamis, 14 April 2022

Imran Ahmad Khan: MP resigns after being found guilty of sexually assaulting 15-year-old boy - Sky News

UK strikes deal to transport rejected asylum seekers to Rwanda - Financial Times

NHS waiting times: Care delayed for more than three years for dozens of people due to backlog - Sky News

Rabu, 13 April 2022

Sir David Amess murder: Ali Harbi Ali given whole-life sentence - BBC

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Preston fire: Two children die days after house blaze - BBC

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