Virgin Orbit’s modified Boeing 747 jet — dubbed ‘Cosmic Girl’ — launched on Monday from the English town of Newquay, Cornwall, 245 miles west of London in a first launch for the country from UK soil.
The modified Boeing 747 jet will fly to about 35,000 feet before releasing a rocket strapped under its wing.
The rocket will travel to between 310 and 745 miles (499 and 1199 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface and then release nine satellites into the Earth’s low orbit.
The launch marks a first for Virgin Orbit — a subsidiary of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group — of commercial satellites from western Europe, and the first launch for Virgin Orbit outside the United States.
Since January 2021, the American company has conducted four successful launches from the Mojave desert in California.
Virgin Orbit’s ‘Cosmic girl’ is set to return to base approximately between 7 pm ET to 8 pm ET on Monday.
Dan Hart, chief executive of Virgin Orbit, described the UK mission as a “historic endeavor.”
“This launch represents the opening of a new era in the British space industry and new partnerships across industry, government, and allies,” he said in a statement released Friday.
A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket.
Ben Birchall/Press Association/AP
The satellites are owned by seven customers, including private companies and government agencies. Among other things, they will be used for preventing illegal trafficking, smuggling and terrorism, the company said in Friday’s press release, as well as for reducing the environmental impact of production.
The mission, named “Start Me Up” after the Rolling Stones’ 1981 song, is a joint venture between Virgin Orbit, the UK Space Agency, Cornwall’s local government and the UK’s Royal Air Force.
‘A new era’
The launch marks a key milestone in the United Kingdom’s growing commercial satellite sector.
The country has been working on commercial spaceports for several years in a bid to capture a bigger share of the rapidly growing global space market, which Morgan Stanley estimates could be worth over $1 trillion by 2040.
The country’s £16.5 billion ($20 billion) space industry directly supported about 47,000 jobs between 2019 and 2020, according to the latest available government figures.
Ian Annett, the UK Space Agency’s deputy chief executive, said Friday that the launch signaled a “new era” for the UK’s space industry, “putting [it] firmly on the map as Europe’s leading destination for commercial small satellite launch.”
“The development of new orbital launch capabilities is already generating growth, catalyzing investment and creating jobs in Cornwall and other communities across the United Kingdom,” he added.
A teenager has admitted murdering a 14-year-old boy who was London's youngest stabbing victim in 2021.
Jermaine Cools was attacked in a fight involving a number of people near West Croydon station in south London on 18 November 2021. He took himself to hospital where he later died.
A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds.
A 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty to murder at the Old Bailey on Monday and is due to be sentenced on 24 February.
The victim's family was in court for the guilty plea although the facts of the case were not outlined.
The defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, previously admitted possessing a knife in London Road on the same date. He remains in custody.
Thousands of NHS patients in England will be moved into care homes as part of the government's plan to ease unprecedented pressure on hospitals.
The NHS is being given £250m to buy thousands of beds in care homes and upgrade hospitals amid a winter crisis.
The move aims to free up hospital beds so patients can be admitted more quickly from A&E to hospital wards.
Labour's shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the announcement was "another sticking plaster".
The plans will be included in an emergency package to be unveiled by Health Secretary Steve Barclay.
Later in the day, Mr Barclay will outline a series of measures to address pressures on the NHS, including long waits for emergency care and delays to discharging patients who are medically fit to leave hospital.
The government says there are currently about 13,000 medically fit patients occupying beds in England.
In the coming weeks, some of those patients will be discharged from hospitals into the community, where they will receive care as they recover.
"Getting people out of hospital on time is more important than ever," said Helen Whately, minister for care. "It's good for patients and it helps hospitals make space for those who need urgent care."
The package announced on Monday will include trials of other ideas to free up hospital beds in six areas of England.
The government says these ideas, which include dedicated dementia hubs and new options for rehabilitative care, could be rolled out across the NHS if successful.
The money, of course, is being welcomed by the NHS. But questions are also being asked why it has taken so long to release £500m of winter funding that was announced in September - the primary aim of which was to tackle delayed discharges.
The latest money is on top of that, but the NHS is still waiting for £300m of the original £500m pot.
As the Truss government fell apart in the autumn, the NHS was left waiting for that winter fund.
The first tranche finally arrived in early December with the reminder due by the end of this month, the government says.
But if it had been given earlier many in the NHS believe they would have had a better chance of managing some of the problems.
Responding to the announcement, Wes Streeting said the government's "failure to fix social care means thousands of patients who are medically fit to be discharged remain stranded".
"It is worse for patients and more expensive for the taxpayer," he said.
Breakdown
Of the new funding, £200m will go towards buying up extra care home beds, with £50m of capital funding to upgrade hospitals.
Plans to upgrade hospitals will aim to deal with ambulance queues by creating areas for vehicles to manoeuvre, and also funding discharge areas in hospitals so patients can be moved out of acute beds.
The package comes at a time when a spike in Covid and flu infections is putting severe pressure on the NHS, on top of a backlog caused by the pandemic.
A&E waits and ambulance delays are at their worst levels on record.
In a speech last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said bringing down NHS waiting lists was one of his top priorities this year.
Mr Sunak and Mr Barclay hosted health leaders in Downing Street for emergency talks on Saturday, as A&E units struggle to keep up with demand and trusts and ambulance services declare critical incidents.
But nurses are set to walk out on another two days this month without a breakthrough, which looks unlikely with Mr Barclay unwilling to negotiate on this year's pay settlement.
It's been suggested by some in Whitehall that the idea of a lump sum payment to health staff could be a way to end the impasse.
The idea was discussed last year in Govt, but didn't have the backing of Number Ten and the Treasury.
The Govt said it wouldn't comment on speculation, but the BBC has been told it is being talked about.
MPs have been accused of failing to provide "sufficient" transparency after a Sky News investigation struggled to uncover basic details about who is behind major donations.
Among the top donors to individual politicians are companies where little detail was provided in the MPs' declarations about who they are, who is in charge and where they are based.
When asked for comment, some of the MPs concerned were reluctant to discuss the details.
In one case, Sky News discovered that nobody had heard of a company donating hundreds of thousands to Labour MPs on a visit to its registered address, while the office of another company that donates to 24 Tory MPs was shut and apparently out of action.
Hannah White, the director of the Institute for Government, told Sky News that MPs should be prepared to answer questions about the donations they accept.
It follows an investigation as part of the Westminster Accounts that examines two companies ranked in the top 20 list of donors to individual MPs.
The declared donations provide the public with little information about the true source of the money.
MPM Connect Ltd is the third-biggest donor to MPs since the last general election. The only organisations that have given more to individual politicians in that period are the trade union giants Unite and GMB.
Advertisement
The company has no staff or website and is registered at an office where the secretary says she has never heard of them.
The £345,217 of donations that MPM Connect has made since the end of 2019 went to three Labour politicians.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, has received £184,317, former mayor of South Yorkshire Dan Jarvis £100,000 and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting £60,900.
Sky News asked each of the MPs to provide an explanation or comment in relation to who was behind the donations and why the money had been given to them.
Image:Wes Streeting said he had declared all donations in the proper way
How did the politicians respond?
Ms Cooper provided a statement that said it was not to be quoted, but her entry in the register of members' interests says the funding is used to "support my offices".
Mr Streeting said all the donations had been declared in the proper way, and his entry in the register of members' interests says the money goes "towards staffing costs in my office".
Mr Jarvis said all his donations support his work as an MP.
MPM Connect's entry in the Companies House register lists two directors - recruitment mogul Peter Hearn and Simon Murphy, the entrepreneur behind the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station.
The company's accounts do not disclose where it receives its funding, what it does or why it donates so heavily.
When Sky News went to the office in Hertfordshire, where the company is registered, the receptionist in the building denied any knowledge of MPM Connect.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:21
'You look confused…'
She told Sky News she did not recognise the names of the two directors.
"We'd rather not speak to you," she said, before closing the door.
Mr Hearn and MPM Connect were approached for comment, but no response has so far been received.
Electoral Commission records show that over the past 20 years, Mr Hearn has made a number of significant donations to political parties. These have almost all been to the Labour Party, though he made a £10,000 donation to the Conservative campaign for the seat of Poplar and Limehouse before the 2010 general election.
In 2015 he spent £100,000 on Ms Cooper's unsuccessful campaign for the Labour leadership, and Rushanara Ali's deputy leadership bid, before turning his attention to Mr Jarvis in an attempt to dethrone Jeremy Corbyn and his deputy Tom Watson.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:00
How you can explore the Westminster Accounts
Broadband provider donated money to Tories
Another large donor where the public declarations leave ambiguity over the ultimate source of the funding is a little-known broadband provider from Blackburn.
IX Wireless has channelled more than £138,000 of campaign donations to Conservative MPs since 2019, despite only having two staff members, one of whom lives in the United Arab Emirates.
One of those politicians who received money from IX Wireless was Christian Wakeford, who was a Conservative MP at the time before defecting to the Labour Party in January 2022.
Image:Christian Wakeford was a Conservative MP before defecting to Labour in 2022
He told Sky News he had no "understanding or details as to who they were, what they were doing or what they wanted" when the donation was made.
Mr Wakeford said he had been told by Sir Jake Berry, a senior Tory MP and former party chairman, that there was a block of money from a donor available and to write an application for the funding.
"We'd put those applications in," he said, "and we'd find out a month later whether those applications were successful and that the monies were going to our local Conservative association."
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
10:06
Who funds MPs?
"It was only at that time we were told the money had come from IX Wireless," Mr Wakeford said. "I'd never heard of them. The first I'd heard of them was the email telling us."
Mr Wakeford said he now knows more about the company.
Sir Jake was approached for comment but did not respond.
Image:Sir Jake Berry at the Conservative conference in Birmingham last year
On a visit to the headquarters of IX Wireless, Sky News found the office empty with flooded floors.
Standing outside the company's front door, Sky News called IX Wireless and spoke to someone who said they were a receptionist.
She confirmed that the address was correct, but would not say that she was inside the headquarters. After placing the call on hold for several minutes, she declined to answer any questions.
Founded by the entrepreneur Tahir Mohsan in 2017, the company was a successor to Time, a successful British personal computer brand in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2005, Mr Mohsan's computer empire abruptly collapsed with £70m in debts, making 1,500 people redundant.
Thousands of customers had to fight for refunds on products already ordered.
Shortly after the company failed, Mr Mohsan left Britain for Dubai in the UAE.
He has since turned his attention to installing broadband in the North West of England, receiving £675,000 of government funding to roll out high-speed internet in less connected areas of the country.
The company connected 500 premises between August 2018 and June 2020, according to government data seen by Sky News.
IX Wireless and Mr Mohsan did not return repeated requests for comment.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:19
Why do the Westminster Accounts matter?
Ms White, of the Institute for Government, told Sky News that MPs needed to be more forthcoming about the money they were taking.
"I think there's a bigger question here... is that transparency actually sufficient?"
Ms White questioned whether it was appropriate for politicians to avoid questions from members of the press and the public over the identities of donors.
"If an MP is asked for more information, should they feel that actually that is something that they're willing and able to give? Do they actually know the answer to some of these questions if they've taken money from a company that they don't necessarily know how that is funded? I think that's actually quite important," she said.
A man has been charged with murdering a man whose remains were found in a pond in Essex on New Year's Eve.
Phillip Lewis's remains were discovered in Oakwood Pond in Harlow and police said they were likely to have been there for "weeks".
Lee Clark, 52, of Wedhey, Harlow, has been charged with murder and will appear at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Monday.
A second man, aged 23, who was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, has been released on bail until March while inquiries continue.
Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby, head of Essex major crime, said police were continuing to drain the pond to allow them to investigate the scene.
"Over the last eight days, we have had a team of dedicated detectives and forensic experts who have pieced together what we believe to be the circumstances around Phillip's death," he said.
"Of course, that work does not stop at the point of charge and in many ways, this is still the beginning of complex investigation into the death of a 59-year-old man who was a son and a friend."
Police still want to hear from anyone who came into contact with Mr Lewis after 1 November, as well as people who saw anything suspicious at the pond in the past two months, and those living nearby who have doorbell cams or CCTV.
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
By Christy Cooney
BBC News
Rishi Sunak's openness to talks has offered a "chink of optimism" that a deal can be reached over nurses' pay, the head of the nursing union has said.
The prime minister told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg he was open to a pay deal that is "responsible" and "affordable".
Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "The prime minister talked about coming to the table. Now that's a move for me."
But she said strikes will go ahead as this year's pay was still in dispute.
The health secretary is due to hold a meeting with unions on Monday, but the government has so far only agreed to discuss a settlement for the next financial year.
Nurses are already set to receive a rise for the current year, 2022-23, an average of 4.75%. This is in line with a recommendation by the independent NHS Pay Review Body in July - but the RCN says the figure is not enough to cushion the rising cost of living.
In an interview on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr Sunak was asked if he would be willing to talk about nurses' pay for this year.
"The government has always been clear that it's happy to talk about pay that is responsible, that's affordable for the country. That's always been clear," he said.
"We want to have a reasonable, honest, two-way conversation about pay and everything else that is relevant.
"The most important thing is that we are talking."
Last month saw nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland stage a walkout for the first time in the RCN's 106-year history. The Royal College of Nursing Scotland says it is planning industrial action while the RCN has announced further strike dates in England on 18 and 19 January.
The RCN has said nurses should receive a pay increase of 5% above inflation this year, which at the peak rate of inflation would have equated to a 19% rise, although reports last week suggested it would accept 10%.
Mr Sunak said: "We are about to start a new pay settlement round... we're about to start that independent process, and before that process starts the government is keen to sit down with the unions and talk about pay and make sure they understand where we're coming from."
Speaking on the same programme, Ms Cullen repeated her call for the prime minister to meet her "halfway", and said the RCN had made a "significant move" by signalling a willingness to compromise.
"There was a chink of optimism and there was a little shift in what the prime minister was saying," she said.
"However, and this is really important, tomorrow's meeting... is not about negotiations, it's not about nurses' pay, and it's not addressing the issues that are our dispute.
"The prime minister talked about coming to the table. Now that's a move for me. But it must be about addressing pay for 2022-23."
Reuters
Ahead of Monday's meeting, Health Secretary Steve Barclay suggested health workers could get a bigger pay rise in the next financial year if they agree to "efficiency" savings in the NHS.
Mr Sunak was also asked about the growing numbers of people waiting for treatment and whether the NHS was in a crisis.
The prime minister, who hosted a forum of health leaders and experts on Saturday to discuss how key issues in the health service could be addressed, said: "The NHS is undeniably under enormous pressure.
"But actually I came away from all my meetings with a renewed sense of confidence and optimism that we can get to grips with this problem.
"We've got a plan that we've got in place that we're making sure that we can actually deliver."
He repeatedly refused to reveal whether he uses private healthcare, saying the question was "not really relevant" to his role as prime minister.
This video can not be played
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Speaking to Sky News, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the NHS was "not just on its knees, it's on its face".
He said a Labour government would implement a 10-year plan to reform the health service but defended his backing of the use of the private sector to lower NHS waiting lists.
MPs have earned £17.1m on top of their salaries in this parliament, with around two-thirds of the money going to just 20 MPs.
As part of Westminster Accounts, a joint project between Sky News and Tortoise Media to shine a light on how money works in politics, we found the majority of the extra earnings went to Tory politicians - a total of £15.2m - while Labour MPs earned an additional £1.2m.
Other high-profile cases of MPs staying within the rules but earning thousands for outside work emerged, and demands for reform began to ring from all corners of the Commons.
Some changes are due to come into effect later this year, with MPs to be banned from taking on work as political or parliamentary consultants from March.
Advertisement
One source involved in drafting the new rules suggested this could impact the second jobs of around 30 MPs.
But they will not prevent others from earning significant amounts for speeches, TV appearances and legal work.
As mentioned, Mrs May has accrued the most in the past three years with a lengthy list of speaking engagements.
Her single biggest pay cheque came from Cambridge Speaker Series, who gave her £408,200 for six talks in California, as well as flights and accommodation for her and a member of staff.
Mrs May was able to earn £38,000 from MPSF for a talk she gave virtually.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:00
How you can explore the Westminster Accounts
Perhaps most notable, however, is the money she received from the World Travel and Tourism Council for a speech she gave in November.
Her entry in the register of members' interests makes no mention of the fact this £107,600 speech was delivered in Saudi Arabia - a country she blocked ministers and officials from visiting for a period while she was prime minister following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Mrs May has said the money she earns goes into a company called the Office of Theresa May Limited, from which she pays herself a salary of £85,000 a year. The rest of the cash, she says, goes to support her charitable work, though it is not known how much, and to pay for other activities as a former prime minister.
MPs are not required to make public their charitable donations, but Mrs May does carry out extensive charitable work - including for diabetes groups.
Despite repeated requests for comment about her earnings, no response has been received from Mrs May.
The next highest paid MP for work outside of parliament was Sir Geoffrey Cox, who totted up £2,191,387 from nine different law firms and a local Conservative association.
Image:Sir Geoffrey Cox pictured when he was attorney general. Pic: UK Parliament
There was controversy last year when the former attorney general was found to have earned over £800,000 from the law firm Withers for his work on an inquiry into corruption in the British Virgin Islands.
His earnings from Withers have now risen to over £1.8m in the past three years.
In a statement, Sir Geoffrey said: "A barrister retained to advise in a case is no more to be personally identified with the purposes and views of his client than a plumber with the views of his customer or a doctor with those of his patient.
"Therefore, there is no conflict of interest between my work as a barrister and my role as a member of parliament. On the other hand, I frequently put my experience and understanding of the law at the service of my constituents in helping them to resolve their individual problems in my regular advice surgeries."
The former attorney general added: "Private practice as a barrister is certainly no more time consuming and demanding than the role of attorney general. If it is possible to carry out the role of an MP while also the senior law officer, it is certainly possible to do so while continuing selective practice at the Bar."
The third spot in the list of parliament's biggest earners is taken by another former prime minister, Boris Johnson.
Almost all of his declared earnings since the last election came from just four speeches in October and November last, one of which in New York was paid at a rate of around £32,500 per hour.
The fourth spot went to another Tory MP, Fiona Bruce, who earned £711,749 from her own law firm on top of her salary.
Image:Tory MP Fiona Bruce. Pic: UK Parliament
In a statement to Sky News, Ms Bruce said: "Much of the sum declared is in fact tax paid directly to HMRC on my behalf which, to be scrupulously correct, I have declared though not personally received."
She added: "Examination of my entries shows the limited hours I spend in the law firm; this limited time does not detract from my commitment to my constituents."
Fellow Conservative Sir John Redwood came in fifth, earning £692,438 with the majority coming from his "global strategist" role at investment firm Charles Stanley.
And sixth place is Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell with £464,232 - over £100,000 of which was paid from advising investment bank SouthBridge on "African matters". Mr Mitchell's earnings were accrued while he was on the backbenches. He resigned from all his outside interests when he returned to government in October.
Other notable names in the list include former chancellor Sajid Javid, who has earned £361,566 from advising banks on the global economy and giving speeches.
Conservative MP Sir Bill Wiggin has made over £250,000 as an asset manager - running four funds, all based in the tax havens of the Caymans and the island of Bermuda, while ex-transport secretary Chris Grayling, known for granting a £14m ferry contract to a company with no ships, is now making £100,000 a year advising a ports and shipping business.
Only two Labour MPs made it into the top 20 earners, one of which is David Lammy, who has declared income from more than 40 different sources - the most of any MP on our list.
Image:Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy
The shadow foreign secretary has listed at least 30 speaking and training engagements since December 2019, worth around £100,000, as well as more than £87,000 for a radio programme on LBC.
Sky News approached both Mr Lammy and the Labour Party to ask whether his work would qualify as an "exemption" from Sir Keir Starmer's planned ban on second jobs, but no response was received.
However, Mr Lammy has in the past made an impassioned defence of his work on his radio show, saying: "Why am I here? Why am I pleased to be here? One because I am the only black presenter on LBC. It's important for my constituents - I love the fact they approach me and can hear me putting views that they agree with out there into the public."
Jess Phillips is the only other Labour MP in the top 20, ranking at number 19 with £162,838 of external earnings that come from a range of places - including almost £65,000 for an advance on a book, £25,000 for appearing on Have I Got News For You, and just shy of £30,000 for columns in the Independent.
Outside earnings for the Liberal Democrats totalled £171,000 - but £159,758 of that has been earned by party leader, Sir Ed Davey, who is the 21st highest earning MP.
He earns £5,000 a month as a political consultant for Herbert Smith Freehills and £37,984 as an asset manager for solar projects.
Commenting on the Westminster Accounts findings on MPs' earnings, Hannah White, director of the Institute for Government, said the party affiliation of those receiving the most outside income showed why reform has been slow.
She told Sky News: "When you look at the data, it is very clear that there is a party pattern to which MPs are getting outside earnings."
"I think that points to one reason why there hasn't been a big incentive to sort this out in this parliament.
"[It explains] why it has been the case that although parliament decided that it wanted to put some restrictions on outside earnings, really the changes that have been made are pretty minimal, and there's no real incentive on the ruling Conservative Party to push their MPs to change something like that".
