Home News

An MP has accused the Metropolitan Police of racial profiling after officers stopped her and her family as they headed to a restaurant in central London last month.Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said that she, her son and his friend – both black men in their 30s – and their two wives were all surrounded as they enjoyed an evening out in Covent Garden.Officers told the group that one of the men matched a description of someone they were looking for but “turned on their heels” after Ms Johnson informed them she was an MP.She said: “We were getting out of a taxi to go to a restaurant… which was just a few feet away. All of a sudden there were all these police officers around us.“They wanted to know what we were doing. My son’s friend is a black man and he was wearing a bright yellow jacket. They said they had received reports of a man wearing a yellow jacket.“I said to them, ‘Why are you stopping us? We have just got out of a taxi. I am an MP and I want to know why you’re stopping us?’ They turned on their heels then.”The incident happened on 18 June, the day England played Scotland in the Euro 2020 football tournament and Ms Johnson raised the question of why “rowdy fans” were left unbothered by officers, while her family was targeted.Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Ms Johnson – who became the first black MP to represent Liverpool when she was elected in 2019 – added: “You are still three times more likely to be stopped and searched as a black male.”She said that “racial profiling and stop and search” remained prevalent issues that needed to be addressed.The Metropolitan Police force said it was “unable to comment on this specific incident” but added that if a person matched the description of someone involved in a suspected crime, “we would expect officers to pursue all lines of enquiry, including speaking to individuals who match the description”. It added: “The Met remains committed to ensuring that every encounter is conducted professionally with respect and courtesy.” More

Tennis star Andy Murray has joined condemnation of the government for the “pathetic” 1% pay rise given to NHS workers, moments after winning an exhausting five-set second-round win at Wimbledon.Answering questions after the game, he said it was “fantastic” many frontline health workers and other key figures of the pandemic had been recognised by being invited to the championships.“I think the whole country kind of realised how important they all are, and maybe hadn’t got the recognition that they probably deserve up until now,” Murray said.“So, yeah, it’s fantastic that they have been able to come along and watch some of the tennis. Hopefully they can enjoy it and, yeah, hopefully the politicians can realise that they deserve more than what they are getting paid just now.“I think, what is it, they got something like a 1% pay rise? It was pathetic. So, yeah, they obviously deserve a lot more than that. They have done an amazing job getting us through the pandemic.”Prime Minister Boris Johnson in March insisted the 1% payrise allocated to NHS staff was as much as the Government could afford amid the financially tight times of the pandemic, although Labour said it went against a Government promise made last year for a 2.1% pay rise.With Wimbledon resuming this summer after being cancelled last year, tournament officials have been applauded for inviting various people who have been at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic.Inside centre court on Monday, Oxford University’s Dame Sarah Gilbert – co-creator of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine – was given a standing ovation by the crowd when her attendance was announced. Oxford colleague Sir Andrew Pollard, another co-creator of the vaccine, was also present on Monday.An ovation was also given for Hannah Ingram, daughter of Captain Sir Tom Moore, who last year raised £33 million of pounds for the NHS.The centre court announcer said NHS critical care staff were also in attendance, along with key workers at Transport for London and other “inspirational workers” who have contributed to Britain’s pandemic battle, while more figures would be recognised through the Wimbledon fortnight.Murray, the injury-plagued dual champion of the tournament, reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in four years through his five-set win over Germany’s Oscar Otte.Asked about the nation’s other current obsession – Euro 2020 – the 34-year-old Surrey-dwelling Murray put his Scottish roots aside to wishEngland well.“It’s a great opportunity for England to win a major competition for the first time in a while,” he said. “Hopefully they can do it.” More

Both Boris Johnson and Prince George watched England’s victory over Germany in suits, while Rishi Sunak shared a photo of himself putting on a three lions shirt.The prime minister tweeted a picture of himself cheering on the team with his wife Carrie Symonds as they watched on TV.Mr Johnson later posted another image that showed him celebrating as Harry Kane scored to put England 2-0 up in the Euro 2020 quarter-final qualifier.“We’re all behind you – bring it home!” he tweeted, apparently from a different location than his earlier post.Joining the prime minister in formal attire for the game was seven-year-old Prince George, who in the stands at Wembley alongside his parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton, wearing a navy blue suit and striped tie.However, the chancellor shared a photo of himself appearing to put on an England shirt. The photo, which showed Mr Sunak’s face covered by the shirt as he pulled it over his head, was met with some confusion on social media.“Are you stuck?” one userasked, while another replied: “You’re wearing a shirt and tie under a football top?”Other politicians also tweeted about the football, with Priti Patel, the home secretary, sharing a GIF of an England flag with a roaring lion after full-time.Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, posted a photo of himself holding an England shirt next to his German counterpart, who was holding his own national team’s shirt. More

Police are investigating an incident in which “thugs” grabbed Professor Chris Whitty in a London park and jeered, after video of the episode circulated online.A clip of the chief medical officer for England being put into a headlock was posted to Twitter on Monday night and was quickly condemned.At least two young men are seen grabbing the scientist as they ask him to stop for a photo in the park, near Westminster.Another voice can be heard saying: “Leave the gentleman alone.”It was not immediately clear when the incident took place or who had made the video.Prof Whitty was verbally abused in a London street in a similar video in February.The Metropolitan Police said it was aware of the footage and is investigating the circumstances.Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi tweeted: “This is disgusting and these thugs must be found and charged. Zero tolerance for harassing a public servant.”A Met Police spokesperson said: “We’re aware of a video being shared online showing an incident in St James’ Park.“Officers spoke to all those involved at the time and their details were taken. We are in contact with the victim and the circumstances continue to be investigated.” More

Tens of thousands of children and babies in the UK could be left in limbo within weeks amid mounting delays in the processing of their EU settlement scheme applications, lawyers and charities have warned.Experts warn of a “disaster waiting to happen” as over 80,000 youngsters are still waiting for a decision, while many others are said to have not yet applied due to difficulties meeting “rigid” evidential requirements or parents simply being unaware they need to apply for their children.All EU nationals and their family members in the UK, including children of all ages, must apply to the EU settlement scheme by 30 June, with those who do not automatically becoming undocumented.The only exception is babies born after their parents have been granted EU settled status. But those born to parents with pre-settled status must still apply, and they must do so within three months of the baby’s birth.Charities have reported a surge in requests for help from parents having difficulty applying for EU settlement for children and newborn babies or those waiting long periods for an outcome for their child’s application.Campaign group the3million has written to immigration minister Kevin Foster expressing “concern” that many parents with EU settled status have not realised their children are not automatically covered under the scheme, or are finding it difficult to prove their children’s residence.An analysis of government figures, seen by The Independent, shows that as of March 2021 children made up 26 per cent of the current backlog of applications, despite only accounting for 15 per cent of applicants overall. More than 84,700 children were still waiting for a decision in March.While the overall backlog reduced between December 2020 and March 2021, the proportion of children crept up from 22 per cent to 26 per cent – indicating that these claims are taking longer than average to process.

This is putting tens of thousands of children at risk. That they run up such a backlog for a group they recognise as vulnerable, and that they made it harder to clear such cases, is a scandalDr Kuba Jablonowski, research fellowAnd more recent figures published by the Home Office this week, which provide no breakdown of children, show the overall backlog has risen again since March, from 323,730 to 334,500 – suggesting that the number of children waiting will have also increased.Lawyers say the delays are likely to be due in part to the Home Office’s requirement, introduced on 1 January, that children must show evidence they were in the UK prior to the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December.Caseworkers are said to be requesting this evidence after a child’s application has been submitted, creating further delays, as it is often difficult for parents or guardians to obtain the relevant documents, such as school or employment records, for a young child or a baby.Luke Piper, head of policy at the3million, accused the Home Office of focusing too heavily on “rigid requirements” on proof of residency rather than applying discretion on a case-by-case basis. “If an applicant is the child of people with settled status the caseworkers should just pick up the phone and talk to the parents. They shouldn’t refuse the child or cause delays,” he said.Dr Kuba Jablonowski, research fellow at Exeter University, who carried out the analysis, said: “This is putting tens of thousands of children at risk. That they run up such a backlog for a group they recognise as vulnerable, and that they made it harder to clear such cases, is a scandal.”The Home Office has said that any applicant who has not received a decision by 30 June will continue to have their rights protected until their application is concluded.However, charities are concerned that agencies required to check immigration status, such as the NHS and employers, will not be aware of this and could deny people access to basic services while they are waiting for a decision.Marianne Lagrue, of Coram Children’s Legal Centre, said a verbal assurance was “not enough” to ensure that one’s rights would be protected.“Their access to education, healthcare and services that they need in crisis are dependent on these services understanding those individuals’ rights. There’s so much scope for human error,” she added.Marieke Widmann, of the Children’s Society said the charity had seen a “huge rise” in enquiries about EU settlement over the past few weeks, with most asking for help with children’s applications.“We are getting emails and calls from parents confused as to whether their children need to apply to the scheme, some asking how to make an application from the start. Others who have applied, but have not yet had a decision, are worried about the impending deadline,” she said.“We are concerned that support services are at full capacity and so many parents have no idea where to turn for help. Even worse, there are no doubt many out there who haven’t yet realised they need to apply for their child.”

The government needs to, urgently, improve the backlog and make sure cast iron guarantees are in place to guarantee eligible citizen won’t lose their rightsBambos Charalambous, shadow immigration ministerMs Lagrue warned that many children were likely to end up not receiving EU settlement either because their parents or guardians were not able to complete the application process or did not apply at all.“For newborn babies it often it won’t be felt until years later. It will come as a shock. It feels like a disaster waiting to happen,” she said.“Children will suffer needlessly and there might not be an obvious route for support for them to rectify the situation. They’re totally at the mercy of the adults in their lives taking the responsible action, but they are the ones who will feel the full force of any consequences.”She called for faster decision-making and “clear and unequivocal” information to be provided to agencies such as the NHS and employers about the rules.Shadow immigration minister Bambos Charalambous warned that children were being “left behind” due to the Home Office “failing to have control of the scheme”.“The government needs to, urgently, improve the backlog and make sure cast iron guarantees are in place to guarantee eligible citizen won’t lose their rights,” he said.Mr Foster said: “It is completely inaccurate to suggest children who have applied to the EU settlement scheme will be left in limbo.“Through our targeted campaigns to encourage parents to apply for their children, we have seen a rise in applications from under 18s, which accounts for higher numbers of applications being processed.“Since the scheme launched in March 2019, there have been more than 5.6 million applications and more than 5 million grants of status and I would encourage anyone eligible who hasn’t applied, or has not done so on behalf of their children, to apply now.” More

Scotland is “unlikely” to ease coronavirus restrictions further at the end of the month as had been planned, Nicola Sturgeon has said.Speaking in Holyrood, the first minister did not rule out the further relaxation of rules – moving to Level 0 – on 28 June but said the Scottish government wanted to “buy ourselves sufficient time” to allow the vaccination programme to continue its work.She suggested that Scotland would not return to “much greater normality” until later in July at the earliest. “Given the current situation – and the need to get more people fully vaccinated before we ease up further – it is reasonable to indicate now that I think it unlikely that any part of the country will move down a level from 28 June,” Ms Sturgeon said.“Instead, it is likely that we will opt to maintain restrictions for a further three weeks from 28 June and use that time to – with both doses – as many more people as possible.“Doing that will give us the best chance, later in July, of getting back on track and restoring the much greater normality that we all crave.”Ms Sturgeon said it was a “difficult and frustrating” development but “while this setback is not easy, it is worth remembering that we are living under far fewer restrictions now than was the case a few weeks ago”.She added: “The current situation is not what any of us want – but equally it is not lockdown. And vaccination is – with every day that – helping us change the game.”Level 0 is described as “near normal” but a number of restrictions still exist, including limits on the number of people individuals can meet socially in groups, and people are still advised to work from home where possible.Earlier, government figures indicated Scotland has recorded two coronavirus deaths and 974 new cases in the past 24 hours.The daily positivity rate was 5 per cent, down from 5.2 per cent the previous day, according to figures published on Tuesday.There were 137 people in hospital on Monday with recently confirmed Covid-19, up from 128 on Sunday.Seventeen people were in intensive care, no change on the day before.The Scottish government’s announcement follows confirmation on Monday by Boris Johnson that England would see a four-week delay to Covid rules easing, buying more time for people to receive vaccinations.Additional reporting by PA More

The fourth and final part of Boris Johnson’s roadmap from winter lockdown planned for all limits on social contact to be lifted on or after 21 June, paving the way for the way for the reopening of nightclubs and full audiences at events and performances.However, the prime minister announced on Monday that the four tests — success of the vaccination rollout, vaccine efficacy, the continuous dropping of infection rates and emergence of new variants — had not been met and that the fourth step must be delayed, until 19 July.He also said people may wish to continue social distancing after that date.“This is a virus that’s going to be with us forever,” Sir Patrick Vallance told the same news conference.Limits on numbers for sports events, pubs and cinemas will therefore remain in place, nightclubs will stay shuttered and people will be asked to continue working from home where possible.Downing Street left open the option of ending restrictions on 5 July if the data proves drastically better than expected but conceded this is “unlikely”.Mr Johnson did, however, announce a limited easing of restrictions to take place from June 21 as he faces the prospect of a rebellion from Conservative MPs who are furious about the delay.The 30-person cap for wedding ceremonies and receptions, as well as wakes, will be lifted, with limits to be set by venues based on social distancing requirements.We can expect masks, two-metre distancing and hand sanitiser to be with us for some time, as the vaccine rollout continues over the coming months to take in the less “at risk” groups.Mr Johnson spent the early weeks of February urging extreme caution regarding the lifting of lockdown restrictions.He has been placed under considerable pressure from within his own party after the Covid Recovery Group led by MPs Steve Baker and Mark Harper issued a letter signed by 63 backbenchers hailing the “tremendous pace” of the UK’s vaccine rollout – with 15m jabs already administered – and calling for the swift easing of restrictions. More

As the G7 summit draws to a close, here’s a look at some of the most memorable moments from the past few days:Boris-Biden beach walk love-inBoris Johnson and Joe Biden met as leaders for the first time on Thursday on the eve of the summit, swapping gifts and handshakes for elbow bumps as they posed for photographs before sitting down for talks. Jill Biden and Carrie Johnson joined their husbands hand-in-hand on a stroll along the Carbis Bay promenade before later dipping their toes in the water as baby Wilfred watched in the sand. The US president joked: “I told the prime minister we have something in common. We both married way above our stations.” Mr Johnson hailed Biden as a “breath of fresh air” and played down their differences over Northern Ireland, instead he emphasised the closeness of the partnership between the two countries. “It’s wonderful to listen to the Biden administration and to Joe Biden because there’s so much that they want to do together with us – from security and NATO to climate change,” the PM said. “It’s fantastic, it’s a breath of fresh air. There’s a lot of things they want to do together.”US announces 500 million Pfizer jabs donationFollowing his initial meeting with Johnson on Thursday, President Biden announced his administration’s plan to donate 500 million doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to lower-income countries. He stressed the donation would come with “no strings attached”, comparing the US involvement in the global fight against the pandemic with its role as “the arsenal of democracy in World War 2.” The White House said it was the largest-ever donation of vaccines by a single country and the donation will be managed through the World Health Organisation-led Covax effort. The vaccines will be distributed to about 100 lower-income countries and the African Union. On Sunday, Boris Johnson said the G7 had pledged over 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses for poorer nations – far short of the 11 billion doses sought by the WHO. Last month, Biden broke with European allies to throw his support behind a move at the World Trade Organisation to waive intellectual patents for coronavirus vaccines.Sea shanties to woo world leadersOn Saturday night to wrap up the second day of the summit, Mr Johnson hosted a beach barbecue on Carbis Bay for some of the world’s most powerful figures. As scallop and crab claw canapés were passed around and guests enjoyed hot buttered rum and toasted marshmallows around fire pits on the beach, they were serenaded by the local sea shanty group, Du Hag Owr, who describe themselves as “Cornwall’s South Coast Shantymen”.  Guests were also treated to a fly-past from the famous RAF Red Arrows, roaring through the sky trailing white, red and blue smoke. Downing Street was later forced to insist attendees behaved in a Covid-secure way after images from the event appeared to show no social distancing and guests not wearing masks.Jill Biden’s jacket with a messageThe first lady made a pointed fashion choice on her first overseas trip since moving into the White House in January, appearing in front of reporters wearing a simple black jacket which on the black was a message adorned with sparkle: “LOVE”. The choice seemed an apparent nod to her predecessor Melania Trump’s infamous “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO YOU?” jacket, worn on a visit to an immigration detention centre in Texas amid a scandal about children being separated from their families at the border. When asked if she could explain her choice of jacket, Dr Biden simply said that she was bringing “love from America”.Boris swimming in the seaThe prime minister was seen taking a dip off the Cornwall coast on Saturday morning, before walking hand-in-hand with his wife along the beach near their luxurious hotel ahead of the day’s talks. Mr Johnson vowed to lose weight last year after ending up in intensive care with coronavirus and has been frequently pictured jogging and cycling since. Further along the Cornish coast, hundreds of demonstrators also took to the sea and streets to protest against the lack of climate change action from world leaders attending the summit. Campaigners from Extinction Rebellion marched through Falmouth while cleaner seas campaigners Surfers Against Sewage paddled out into the bay from Gyllyngvase beach in Falmouth with banners declaring an “ocean and climate emergency”. The group Ocean Rebellion have also projected a protest message onto a ship in Falmouth harbour housing police officers. More