Markus Andrews

Esther Ghey has revealed that she now considers the mother of her daughter’s killer “a friend”.Brianna Ghey was murdered by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe in a premeditated attack in Cheshire in 2023.But Ms Ghey says she has developed a close bond with Scarlett’s mother, Emma, because she “had lost a child too”.She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I really appreciate Emma. I would call her a friend now.”​She added that Ms Jenkinson is “just a normal mother” who was unaware of her child’s online activities, highlighting “the danger with smartphones”.​Reflecting on their shared grief, Ms Ghey said: “It’s helped me to see that we are both navigating something extremely difficult – and she’s lost a child too.”​Jenkinson and Ratcliffe, both 15 at the time, lured Brianna to Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington where she was fatally stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in February 2023.Jenkinson was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court in December 2023 to a minimum sentence of 22 years in prison, and Ratcliffe to a minimum term of 20 years.In the same interview, Ms Ghey also called for stronger measures to protect children in schools.She supports a “blanket ban” on smartphones in schools across the country, citing concerns over how these devices can be misused by students.She explained: “We need to support teachers in a blanket ban across England. If a school has banned phones in one area and in the same area another school hasn’t – it becomes an issue with parents.“It needs to be done across the board to make it easier.”Ms Ghey has met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his predecessor Rishi Sunak to discuss the issue and has criticised the Online Safety Act, saying it does not go far enough.She has campaigned for an age limit on smartphone use, stricter controls on access to social media apps, tougher action on knife crime and for mindfulness to be taught in schools. More

Sir Keir Starmer will declare the end of globalisation and admit it has failed the public amid the growing fallout of Donald Trump imposing global trade tariffs, including 10 per cent on the UK.The prime minister will argue in a speech on Monday that the shock from the US president’s trade war means Britain must “move further and faster” cutting red tape to boost economic growth. And, in an article on Sunday, Sir Keir said “the world as we knew it has gone”. “We must rise to meet the moment,” he said.Sir Keir Starmer will say globalisation has failed More

Two Labour MPs who were denied entry to Israel have said they are “astounded” by the decision.Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang have said it is “vital” that parliamentarians are able to “witness first-hand” the situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.The current war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas fighters launched an attack inside Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says more than 50,000 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military offensive.The MPs were refused entry because they intended to “spread hate speech” against Israel, the nation’s population and immigration authority claimed.Abtisam Mohamed More

Wes Streeting defended Labour’s controversial national insurance hike as the health secretary accused Reform UK and the Conservatives of plotting to pull billions of bounds of funding from the NHS.As the tax rise comes into effect today, Mr Streeting has challenged critics including Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch to explain how they would pay for a reversal of the policy change. The 2p increase to employer national insurance has been criticised by opposition parties, business chiefs and top economists, who have linked it to the stagnant economy, since it was unveiled by Rachel Reeves back in October. Wes Streeting is being rolled out by Labour as an anti-Reform attack dog More

One of Reform UK’s local election candidates accused Queen Elizabeth of “scrounging” and “sponging” and called for her to be jailed, The Independent can reveal.Mark Wade, council candidate in Chorley Rural West, marked Her Majesty becoming the longest-reigning British monarch with a post on Facebook saying she had spent “a long time scrounging”. He also commented on the late Queen’s visit to Crumlin Road Gaol in north Belfast: “The Queen has just entered an old jail in Belfast, let’s shut the gates and get the rest of her sponging family to join her.” Critics said the comments raise questions about Reform UK’s partiotism More

Jaguar Land Rover is pausing shipments to the US as it works to “address the new trading terms” of in the wake of Donald Trump‘s 10 per cent tariff on British goods coming into force.Sir Keir Starmer was expected to spend the weekend making back-to-back phone calls to world leaders about the tariffs, after talking with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Italian PM, Giorgia Meloni, on Friday. In those calls the leaders agreed that an “all-out trade war would be extremely damaging”.Sir Keir was “clear the UK’s response will be guided by the national interest” and officials would “calmly continue with our preparatory work, rather than rush to retaliate”, a No 10 spokesperson said.On Saturday afternoon, Jaguar said it was “taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans”. Jaguar Land Rover has paused shipments to the US (JLR/PA) More