The Met Office has issued a weather warning as Liverpool is set to be battered by rain.
Sunny conditions have finally arrived on Merseyside over the past few days after a gloomy few months. However, the weather is set to take a sharp downturn tomorrow as forecasters has issued a yellow alert.
The warning is in force from just after midnight at 12.15am and stretches to the early hours of Thursday morning until 6am. The alert stretches across large parts of the UK, including Merseyside, as the forecasting agency warned: "Heavy rain may cause some flooding and disruption to travel.
They added: "Some communities may be cut off by flooded roads. Spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures.
The alert is in force across Merseyside (Image: Met Office)
The Met Office continued: "Homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings. Fast flowing or deep floodwater is possible, causing a danger to life.
"Delays or cancellations to train and bus services are possible."
Forecasters are predicting Liverpool will be hit with more than 24 hours of rain. The torrential rain is predicted to begin at 9am tomorrow and continue until 1pm on Thursday.
But despite London Ambulance Service sending paramedics and a helicopter to her home in Cornwall Close, the woman – in her 50s – was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her family is being supported by officers, and the two registered XL Bullies were safely seized having been contained inside a room, the Metropolitan Police said.
From 1 February, it became a criminal offence to own the XL bully breed in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.
Anyone who owns one of the dogs must have had the animal neutered, have it microchipped and keep it muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.
The government moved to ban XL bullies came in response to rising concerns about the breed following a series of attacks on people..
Have you been affected by this? Email alexander.ross@independent.co.uk
Other XL Bully dog attack cases in the news this week
On Thursday, a man will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court after his XL Bully dog attacked an 11-year-old girl and two men.
Farhat Ajaz, 61, pleaded guilty to three charges of owning a dog which caused injury while dangerously out of control following an incident in Bordesley Green, Birmingham on 9 September last year.
The attack by the dog, named Tyson, resulted in shoulder and arm injuries for the girl.
And earlier this month, a 39-year-old arrested on connection with the death of grandmother Esther Martin, who was killed by XL Bully dogs in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, had his bail extended as investigations continue.
Essex Police will not say if the dogs were registered.
Neighbours have been speaking to reporters at the scene this morning.
One walking her dogs told LBC: “I don’t understand where these dogs came from, I’ve never seen them. I go every day with my dogs but I’ve never seen these ones. I’d notice these dogs because I’d avoid them.
“It’s horrible… so close to home. It’s a horrible, horrible, thing to happen.
Another told the outlet that she saw the dogs in the garden and that they would bark late into the night.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, an incident response officer and London’s air ambulance.
“We treated a person but sadly, despite our efforts, they were pronounced dead at the scene.”
The fatal dog attack took place in Cornwall Close, near Essex Gardens where residents brought out cups of tea and coffee to police officers who attended following the attack on Monday
One told the Mirror: “The dogs weren’t killed, they’ve taken them away.
“There’s been vans back and forth non-stop since lunchtime and we saw the helicopter come over and you assume the worst. Campion [a nearby school and sixth form college] isn’t far from here so you panic it’s kids or something. You never think a dog’s going to do that. It’s awful.”
Rishi Sunak brought forward a ban on XL Bullys after a series of high profile attacks.
The breed joined four others that are banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act. They are American pitbull terriers, Japanese tosas, dogo Argentinos and fila Brasileiros.
Critics say legislation should not target the breed, but the owners.
Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chope said the ban on XL Bullys was one of the worst pieces of legislation brought forward by the government, describing it as a knee-jerk reaction to newspaper headlines.
Dogs were two of 55,000 XL Bully dogs registered after ban
To keep an XL Bully dog after 1 February, owners had to register them with Defra.
By registering the dogs, owners compley with rules including having them microchipped, kept on a lead and muzzled when in public and, to ensure these dogs cannot continue breeding, they must also be neutered.
In February, Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said: “The ban on XL Bullies is now in place meaning it is illegal to own one of these dogs unless it has been registered.
“We have delivered our pledge to bring in this important measure to protect public safety, and we expect all XL Bully owners to comply with the strict conditions.”
Fatal dog attacks have surged to a record high - and why?
There were 16 deaths by dog bites recorded in 2023, more than double the six fatalities in 2022. Between 1991 and 2021, the number never went above five, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
The overall number of dog attacks has also soared. Figures obtained by The Independent from police forces in England and Wales show there has been an almost 60 per cent rise in the last five years.
Woman mauled by XL Bully dogs in Edinburgh last week, report claims
Monday’s attack reportedly comes just days after a woman was reportedly mauled by two XL Bully dogs at her home in Leith, Edinburgh.
The dogs were euthanised and the woman in her 20s left seriously injured after the dogs attacked her at a property on Leith’s Academy Street last Thursday, The Scottish Sun reported.
Human faeces in our rivers is putting the public in danger and the risk will increase without action, the UK's top engineers and scientists have warned in a report.
The report led by the Royal Academy of Engineering called for an upgrade of the UK's sewage system and more widespread testing of the country's waterways.
Prof Chris Whitty - England's chief medical officer - said it was a "public health priority as well as an environmental one".
The government said the largest infrastructure programme in water company history was currently taking place.
Despite improvements in the UK's water quality over the last thirty years, raw sewage overflowing into rivers and seas remains a persistent problem. Last year on average there were 1,271 spills a day in England - a doubling on the previous year.
Less than a week ago, thousands of residents in Devon had to resort to drinking bottled water after their supply was polluted with the parasite Cryptosporidium apparently because of a faulty valve in Southwest Water's network.
Prof Barbara Evans, chair of public health engineering at the University of Leeds and one of the study's co-authors, told the BBC: "One of the most dangerous things in our lives is human faecal waste."
She said: "We now know that more of [this waste] is going back into the environment. And we know that more people want to use bathing waters.
"So we have to say that there's an increased risk of an outbreak of infectious faecal oral disease."
Consumption of water contaminated with human faeces exposes people to bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli which cause diarrhoea and vomiting or viruses like hepatitis A which can lead to liver infection.
The report said testing was more important than ever as more people took part in leisure activities in the UK's seas and rivers
Melissa Compton, 44, a nurse from Shrewsbury, regularly swims in the sea near her home in Anglesey and in the River Severn.
She told the BBC it was really important for the public to be able to swim and enjoy the UK's rivers.
"I love it - it's a freedom that I get. Kids play in the river, people fish, and the wildlife really depends on it. It's part of life."
But she knows the risks of contact with sewage pollution after being brought to hospital whilst taking part in a 220-mile charity swim in the River Severn.
"What I was swimming through was just awful, sickly, slightly grey in colour and it just stank."
She now uses the Surfers against Sewage maps to know when sewage has been released.
Melissa Compton had hospital treatment after "swallowing raw sewage" whilst swimming the length of the River Severn
The report recommends that any data from more regular testing of the rivers should be made available to the public so they can keep themselves safe. Currently this is only undertaken regularly by the Environment Agency at designated bathing water sites.
The government announced last week that England will get 12 more official bathing sites along rivers taking the total to 15.
And a spokesperson for the water company trade association Water UK said: "Water companies have a plan with proposals to double the current level of spending between now and 2030 "with bathing areas heavily prioritised for investment".
The report puts forward 15 recommendations including to:
It also calls for the introduction of novel technologies to disinfect already treated sewage, such as UV radiation, to help further reduce the presence of faecal matter.
Charles Watson, chair of River Action UK, said it was a "brilliant piece of work, produced by some of the most authoritative people in the medical and engineering professions".
He particularly welcomed their call to expand testing for bacteria and viruses from faeces.
When asked what could be the impact of not implementing these recommendations he said: "someone will die."
The scientists said upgrading infrastructure such as the Thames Tideway Tunnel project is just one part of the solution
The authors were keen to stress that the government should not just focus on improving infrastructure - which would reduce the short-term health risk - but a longer-term vision for how the UK's cities are designed.
Since 1950 the UK's population has grown by a third and cities and towns have continued to expand, paving over natural landscapes. This has increased the volume of water running off into the sewage system - increasing the pressure on the old infrastructure.
Prof David Butler, chair of the National Engineering Policy Centre working group on wastewater, explained that the system would become only more strained.
"Growing urbanisation and forecasts for more frequent and intense rainfall events due to climate change will mean increasing pressure is put on our ageing wastewater system," he said.
The experts recommended increasing rainwater collection, expanding natural environments like wetlands and installing smart water meters. These would all help to reduce the amount of water and sewage going into the network.
In May the government announced it was awarding £11.5m to local projects to increase tree planting and restoring habitats like the Limestone Becks, which would help absorb excess rainfall and run off.
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A woman in her 50s has died after an XL bully attack at a house in east London, the Met Police has confirmed.
Officers were called to Cornwall Close, Hornchurch, east London at about 13:12 BST on Monday.
The woman was treated by medics from London Ambulance Service, but was pronounced dead at the scene.
Due to the threat posed, armed officers attended and safely seized two dogs, the Met said.
They were registered XL bully dogs and had been shut inside a room before they arrived.
The family of the woman, who was the owner of the dogs, are being supported by officers, the force added.
From 1 February, it became a criminal offence to own the XL bully breed in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.
Anyone who owns one of the dogs must have had the animal neutered, have it microchipped and keep it muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.
The government move to ban XL bullies followed a series of attacks on people.
Remember Hillsborough? Remember Grenfell? Remember the Post Office Horizon scandal? Of course you do. So you probably don’t have much faith in organisations and government to tell the truth. Because on every occasion, what you get from politicians is a lot of hand-wringing. Bucketfuls of faux piety. Verging on the lachrymose. Not forgetting the sincerity. Always the sincerity.
“This. Must. Never. Be. Allowed. To. Happen. Again,” they say. Talking extra slowly and over-emphasising each word. Because this time they think the public might be watching them. Because this time they expect to be believed. “Read my lips. I’m an honest broker.” Except we all know they’re not. That every time they say this mustn’t happen again, there’s another thing coming just round the corner they had said must never happen again.
Weird, isn’t it? What are the chances? It’s almost as if the politicians are just mouthing platitudes. The sort of banalities that get wheeled out on the death of a minor public figure whom no one really knew. More an expression of helplessness than genuine intent.
Something must be done. But no one’s really bothered enough to do it. Let it drop and leave it to someone else. It’s all a bit difficult. Embarrassing even. And what’s missing is the sense of shame. The acknowledgment that government or public institutions might in some way be complicit. Might bear some responsibility. The political class lives to fight another day.
No doubt the Theresa May government thought Brian Langstaff would be a safe pair of hands to head the infected blood inquiry when he was appointed in February 2018. An establishment man through and through. One of us.
Someone who could be relied on to do a thorough job. But not too thorough. Examine the causes but go easy on apportioning the blame. Especially to successive governments. Politicians always want to have someone else to blame. Never themselves.
But Langstaff is very much his own man. There’s nothing like spending five years listening to the testimony of patients and relatives to fuel righteous anger. Nothing like being talked down to and dismissed by politicians who you knew were lying through their teeth to turn you into a caped crusader. Give him a beard and he could be a Dumbledore for a new generation. The voice of ancient truths.
Come Monday afternoon, Langstaff had one last chance to make a difference. His report had been published that morning. The victims had given their press conference at lunchtime. Now it was left to Brian to make a splash. To make sure his report survived beyond one day’s news cycle. That everyone didn’t just go, “Oh that’s terrible” in the afternoon and have moved on by the following morning. Recommendations? What recommendations? Just shove them aside to join the pile of all the other things that are far too difficult to action now.
There was a standing ovation when Langstaff took to the stage of Methodist Central Hall to deliver his hour-long statement in front of an audience of victims and journalists. He was very much their man. They had spent long enough in the inquiry, they had read enough of his 2,000-page report, to know he was on their side. There was no whitewash. He was the real deal.
“You’re applauding the wrong man,” said Langstaff, with a bashful smile. You don’t get to have spent a career as a barrister without knowing how to work a crowd. “This report comes from you and your stories. Look to your right. To your left. In front of you and behind you. These are the people who have written this report. So please stand up to applaud yourselves.”
They did. The ovation was even longer second time round.
Then to the details. There had been 30,000 people treated with infected blood, 3,000 had died. More were dying by the day. Then there were the families and friends affected. Who had given up their careers, their lives to care for their loved ones. Dreams and ambitions lost.
There was the stigma. Many victims had been shunned or abused by their neighbours. Some of the early treatments for HIV and hepatitis C had been more traumatic than the conditions themselves.
And most of it had been entirely avoidable. The dangers of passing on infections in blood products had been well known since the 1940s and 50s. This hadn’t been an accident. Hospitals had covered up their errors and misconduct. As had all governments from the 1980s onwards.
Worse, they had actually lied to the victims. Told them that they had been warned of the dangers of HIV and hep C at the earliest opportunity. That they had always had the best treatment available. That everything was for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
There had been cover-ups. The current government had even tried to delay paying compensation. Hey, these victims had waited long enough. It wouldn’t hurt for them to wait a bit longer. Let Labour find the £10bn when they won the election. The Tories could then taunt them for not balancing the books.
Langstaff ended by saying his job was not done. The publication of his report was just a waypoint on the journey. The real work started now. Making sure the government implemented his recommendations. It was a bravura performance. His voice had been heard. As had the victims’ voices. For the first time in decades they were people again. They counted. We ended with yet more sustained applause.
Much later in the afternoon, Rishi Sunak came to the Commons to give a statement. This was less convincing theatre. The prime minister used his extra slow, extra serious voice. Empathy turned up to three. That’s about as far as he goes. No one cared more about the infected blood victims than he did. They had been let down by health professionals and governments. He was truly, truly sorry.
Though not sorry enough – as pointed out by Labour’s Diana Johnson, who has campaigned on the issue for years – to have done as Langstaff had recommended in his interim report and establish a compensation scheme. Doing so now just looked like he had been embarrassed into it. Amazing how you can find an extra £10bn when it’s convenient. Almost as though the figures in every budget were imaginary.
Sunak ended with the inevitable. “We must make sure nothing like this ever happens again.” Except it will. It’s all too easy for politicians to apologise for the guilt of their predecessors. But it’s odds on there’s another scandal bubbling below the surface right now in which the state is implicated. And in 10 or 20 years’ time, the prime minister of the day will be saying sorry.
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A post-Brexit border control system designed to “take control” of Britain’s borders has no clear timetable for completion, warned the National Audit Office (NAO) on Monday.
The public spending watchdog said repeated changes and deferrals to the government’s flagship plan for full import controls from the EU was leading to uncertainty for businesses and extra costs for government and ports.
The Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) is being brought in through phases, with the second for animal and plant exports coming in on 30 April. A third part of the model on safety and security declarations is due to be introduced in October - but it’s not clear when full controls will be in place.
Lorries at the Sevington Inland Border Facility in Ashford as the National Audit Office warns over uncertainty for a post-Brexit border controls system (Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
The scheme, hoped to make the “world’s most effective border”, lacks a clear timetable and an integrated cross-government delivery plan, said the NAO in a report issued.
The office said that since the transition period concluded at the end of 2020, the government had delayed its plans five times and spent money on infrastructure and staff that were ultimately not needed.
The overall cost of the system is set to be £4.7bn, estimated the NAO.
The government has no clear timetable to fully implement its post-Brexit border controls with the EU, the National Audit Office said on Monday (Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “The UK leaving the EU created a large-scale change in arrangements for the movement of goods across the border. However, more than three years after the end of the transition period, it is still not clear when full controls will be in place.
“The border strategy has ambitious plans to use technology and data to facilitate trade while managing risks. To achieve its objectives, government requires strong delivery and accountability – including a more realistic approach to digital transformation – together with effective monitoring to enable future improvements.”
The BTOM is a new approach to security controls (applying to all imports), and sanitary and phytosanitary controls (applying to imports of live animals, animal products, plants and plant products) at the border.
It sets out how controls will be simplified and digitised, and Britain’s ambition for the UK’s new single trade window - but it’s had critics. Many fear the system will add delays, red tape and costs to many imports, with small and medium-sized businesses to be the most impacted.
The second phase of the border checks system was rolled out on the Easter Monday bank holiday weekend, with Marco Forgione, director general of the Institute of Export and International Trade, claiming it a “smart” move to introduce the additional checks during a time when traffic was going to be reduced.
The report by the NAO did note that border processes, including the introduction of full customs controls, have largely operated smoothly since the UK’s exit from the EU, but said that businesses trading goods between the UK and the EU have faced additional costs and administrative burden.
Martin McTague, national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said that the group’s research shows almost one in 10 small firms that used to export or import goods have stopped doing so in the past five years, in part due to the volume of paperwork, costs and supply chain or logistical issues.
He said: “Government needs to ensure that changes are better planned, timetabled and tested to ensure that operations run smoothly. This will minimise damage to trade and indeed our international global reputation.”
