Grant Shapps has not ruled out bringing in the military to help deal with the fuel crisis.
Speaking on Friday morning, the transport secretary tried to dissuade drivers from panic buying petrol, after BP was forced to close down a handful of its forecourts.
“The advice would be to carry on as normal, and that is what BP is saying as well,” he told Sky News.
Asked in a separate interview with LBC if the military could be deployed, he said: “I certainly won’t rule anything out at all, we’ll look at all the various different contingency measures.”
On Thursday BP said it had closed a “handful” of its petrol forecourts due to a lock of available fuel.
A “small number” of Tesco refilling stations have also been impacted, said Esso owner ExxonMobil, which runs the sites.
Shapps promised he would do what is needed to ensure that petrol gets to drivers.
“I’ll move heaven and Earth to do anything that’s required to make sure that lorries carry on moving our goods and services and petrol around the country,” he said.
He denied that Brexit was the culprit in the UK’s recent shortage of lorry drivers, arguing that the split from the European Union has helped the government react.
At a meeting a week ago BP reportedly told the Government that the company was struggling to get fuel to its forecourts.
Its head of UK retail Hanna Hofer described the situation as “bad, very bad”, according to a report by ITV News.
BP had “two-thirds of normal forecourt stock levels required for smooth operations”, she said, adding that the level is “declining rapidly”.
via Associated PressBritish police investigating the killing of a 28-year-old woman in London say they are probing whether she was attacked by a stranger.
Sabina Nessa was walking through a park to meet a friend at a bar, on a journey that should’ve taken five minutes, when she was killed a week ago.
On Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said a 38-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of the murder of the 28-year-old teacher.
A vigil is being held for her on Friday night at Peglar Square in Kidbrooke Village, southeast London, close to where her body was found.
Sadly, Sabina’s death is not out-of-the-ordinary. Around 200 women were killed last year in Great Britain, according to official figures.
But what’s being done to make sure women are protected?
Violence against women and girls (known as VAWG) in the UK is a “shadow pandemic”, according to sexual harassment lawyer Deeba Syed. She is calling for drastic change to attitudes, policies and policing so women can feel safe.
via Associated PressPeople gather in Clapham Common, in memory of Sarah Everard.
A sense of ‘urgency’
Syed believes violence against women and girls is “much more common” than people think.
“So many women have died in similar circumstances, there’ve been the high profile cases of Sarah Everard, Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, and now this. But there have been so many cases in between that many people haven’t heard of.
“There’s not enough urgency in the way it’s being tackled and there’s not enough understanding of the ways that this impacts women. It impacts on all women, but particularly women of colour who are at a higher risk of violence.”
Syed questions whether measures such as more plain-clothed police officers and more street lighting – which have been proposed by the authorities – are really going to tackle the immediate issues women face.
“How many more women have to die before it’s seen as the urgent matter that it is?”
Women are being *killed* walking through the parks of London and the Government thought the answer was to install a bit more street lighting
Connecting strategies on violence and domestic abuse
“This is the shadow pandemic that’s just ignored,” says Syed.
Her thoughts are shared by Farah Nazeer from Women’s Aid, a charity fighting to end domestic abuse in the UK.
“We know that women’s experiences of violence and abuse are interconnected,” says Nazeer.
“Strategically the government needs to respond to this. We are concerned that disconnecting the VAWG strategy from domestic abuse by creating a separate strategy is a backward step.”
The treatment of Sabina’s death has not been on the same level as others, and time and time again we see how victims from Black and minority communities do not receive the same level of attention and support. It is simply not good enough, and it has to change.Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Women’s Aid
And she especially wants to see better mental health support for women who have experienced violence with “specific ring-fenced funding for services run ‘by and for’ Black and minority women.”
Improving police understanding of the dangers faced by women
Some of the work Women’s Aid carries out includes working with police forces to deliver training around the response to survivors of domestic abuse.
But Nazeer says the reality of police forces understanding the dangers women face is still “inadequate”.
Syed wants to see every case taken “more seriously” when it comes to women going missing and similar incidents.
“After the Sarah Everard outcry, what we saw was the police telling women ‘don’t go outside’. We’re still in this place where we are telling women to moderate their behaviour to keep themselves safe when women should be able to walk down the street without having to fear for their lives.”
They’re not the only group calling for the police to do more.
Following Sabina’s death, a spokesperson for the prime minister said the strategy would “drive long-term change” but many are sceptical.
“It’s taken grassroots activists and people on social media to demand that her [Sabina’s] story gets more attention,” says Syed.
She thinks the government’s strategy doesn’t go “far enough”.
“VAWG services have been underfunded for years, it hasn’t been seen as important, and it’s not been seen as a priority.”
Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, believes women are “being let down” because of the lack of reporting and potential crimes not being investigated.
“We have to take on the culture within the police and politics that doesn’t recognise the warning signs in perpetrators behaviour and so leaves women in harms way.”
Syed has used her own social platforms to raise awareness about stories like Sabina’s. Even though she feels a social media outcry shouldn’t be the only reason for the government to pay attention, she’s glad to see people online trying to help.
She said: “We saw in the Sarah Everard case how crucial social media was to raising awareness and creating a response.
“This is a long standing problem that needs an urgent kind of solution that shouldn’t just be based on social media outcry.”
Help and support:
If you, or someone you know, is in immediate danger, call 999 and ask for the police. If you are not in immediate danger, you can contact:
The Freephone 24 hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, run by Refuge: 0808 2000 247
In Scotland, contact Scotland’s 24 hour Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline: 0800 027 1234
In Northern Ireland, contact the 24 hour Domestic & Sexual Violence Helpline: 0808 802 1414
In Wales, contact the 24 hour Life Fear Free Helpline on 0808 80 10 800.
National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0800 999 5428
Men’s Advice Line: 0808 801 0327
Respect helpline (for anyone worried about their own behaviour): 0808 802 0321
Boris Johnson didn’t hold back when calling on the world to act against climate change – and his words definitely caused a stir on Twitter.
The prime minister spokes to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday and urged the world to “grow up” and stop “trashing” the environment.
He then pulled apart the famous saying, “it’s not easy being green” from the Muppets’ character, Kermit the Frog.
The Independent’s Tom Peck pointed out that Johnson himself did not support the idea of climate change for ten years after Al Gore’s 2016 film, An Inconvenient Truth which looks at how humanity have damaged the Earth.
Peck added: “And now, apparently, we’re meant to take this cartoon clown seriously.”
For ten years after the release of Al Gore’s film ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ @BorisJohnson carried on as a committed climate change denialist, and now, apparently, we’re meant to take this cartoon clown seriously, as he stands up there, dribbling words out of his mouth arse. pic.twitter.com/aMVk8SoV09
Satire website The Poke did not hesitate to take aim at Johnson either, noting that he told the world to “grow up” just hours after he had flown to the US and told France to “get a grip” of its anger over the new AUKUS pact.
“Boris said it’s time for leaders to grow up and take climate change seriously. What did he say, Roy?” “He flew in on his private jet and said ‘Eff off, Frenchies.'” pic.twitter.com/h8ABEXFVw3
Even Brexiteer and former MEP Patrick O’Flynn tweeted: “Perhaps someone on the team could have look at the draft [of the speech] and told the PM: ‘Some people may react to this passage by saying ‘speak for yourself mate’.”
This was then retweeted by Alastair Campbell, former prime minister Tony Blair’s spin doctor.
Perhaps someone on the team could have looked at the draft and told the PM: “Some people may react to this passage by saying ‘speak for yourself mate’.” https://t.co/0JFH9tY2R8
Johnson wrote several columns for The Telegraph over the last two decades which undermine the idea of climate change.
In 2012 he described fracking as a “miracle”, in 2013, he backed climate change denier Piers Corbyn and questioned the phrase “climate warming”, and in 2015, he rejected the idea that warm weather in December was down to a change in the climate.
This checkered past did not escape other Twitter accounts either last night as they mocked his speech.
Difficult to square @BorisJohnson’s aspirational words on climate action at the United Nations overnight with his government’s recent actions on food & trade. https://t.co/ApSTpI2paN
Some accounts noted that just the other day, he appointed former climate change denier Ann-Marie Trevelyan as his new international trade secretary.
Johnson says “the facts change”. Actually they don’t, @BorisJohnson, & unlike Tinkerbelle, they don’t stop being real if you don’t believe in them. 1/2 https://t.co/HAumjlGK19
Not everyone thought the prime minister’s words should be mocked, though.
Times Radio’s Matt Chorley tweeted that it was a “bad take” to criticise Johnson’s accurate remarks based on his past climate denialism.
Also: “he used to be a terrible climate denier but now agrees with me that we must act but I still don’t like what he’s saying because it’s him saying it” is such a bad take
Former leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas also took note of his speech – and demanded that the prime minister’s actions now reflected his words.
She tweeted: “Good to hear PM’s new enthusiasm for climate action.
“Since Govt failing its own climate targets, I look forward to imminent cancellation of Cumbrian coal mine, Cambo oil field, £27 billion road building plan, reversal of aid cut and a #GreenNewDeal.”
She added the hashtag #WalkYourTalk.
Good to hear PM’s new enthusiasm for climate action. Since Govt failing its own climate targets, I look forward to imminent cancellation of Cumbrian coal mine, Cambo oil field, £27bn road building plan, reversal of aid cut, & a #GreenNewDeal#WalkYourTalkhttps://t.co/RS7zql4Ne7
Former London MEP Lance Forman appeared exasperated just at the idea Johnson had referred to a character from the Muppets in a serious speech on the world stage – an opinion shared by plenty of others too.
In his big speech at the UN on climate change yesterday, Boris Johnson quoted from the Muppets.
Xinhua News Agency via Getty ImagesAfrican penguins on the beach at Boulders Penguin Colony, southwest South Africa, April 25, 2021.
Dozens of endangered penguins in South Africa were killed last week by a swarm of bees.
More than 60 of the protected birds were found on Friday on Boulders Beach, a tourist spot near Cape Town with multiple bee stings. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds said in a statement that it suspected a nest of Cape honey bees was to blame.
Many dead bees were also found on the scene.
At first, investigators thought a predator had caused the deaths, but postmortems revealed bee stings around the eyes of the birds, Katta Ludynia, research manager at the foundation, told NBC.
It was the first known attack of its kind.
Alison Kock, a marine biologist with South Africa’s national parks agency, told BBC that usually the penguins and bees co-exist.
“The bees don’t sting unless provoked – we are working on the assumption that a nest or hive in the area was disturbed and caused a mass of bees to flee the nest, swarm and became aggressive,” she said. “Unfortunately the bees encountered a group of penguins on their flight path.”
African penguins live on the coast and islands of South Africa and Namibia. Threatened by fishing, hunting, oil and gas drilling, mining and climate change, the small sea birds’ populations are rapidly declining.
The veteran broadcaster said his former employer “unilaterally” cancelled his exit deal and he “couldn’t be happier” to have severed ties following his departure from GB News earlier this month.
A GB News spokeswoman told PA the channel had no comment on the remarks.
The presenter, who was also chairman of GB News, tweeted on Wednesday evening: “After weeks of talks with @GBNEWS, resulting in exit settlement, the channel then broke it by briefing Mail on Sunday with load of smears/lies then unilaterally cancelling exit deal.
“Leaving me free to do, say whatever I want + never again be on GBNews. Couldn’t be happier.”
After weeks of talks with @GBNEWS, resulting in exit settlement, the channel then broke it by briefing Mail on Sunday with load of smears/lies then unilaterally cancelling exit deal. Leaving me free to do, say whatever I want + never again be on GBNews. Couldn’t be happier.
A report in the Mail on Sunday cited a leaked memo claiming Andrew was about to be sacked before he walked.
The former BBC presenter had been chairman of the fledgling channel and its most high-profile star when it endured a troubled launch in June.
He took a break two weeks after the launch. Reports of a difference of opinion between him and other senior executives soon followed.
Initially, it was said he would still appear on the channel as a commentator.
However, he appeared on Question Time last week and said he had been in a “minority of one” over the future direction of GB News, which has been accused of trying to import Fox News-style journalism to the UK.
Eddie Keogh via ReutersAndrew Neil
“More and more differences emerged between myself and the other senior managers and the board of GB News,” he said.
“Rather than these differences narrowing, they got wider and wider and I felt it was best that if that’s the route they wanted to take then that’s up to them, it’s their money.
“The route is what I think you can see on GB News at the moment, people should make up their own minds what they want to watch.”
It said: “During last night’s BBC Question Time, a number of demonstrably untrue remarks were made about GB News. We stand for fair debate, tolerance, free speech and factual journalism. There are always more than two sides to any story and we believe in listening to all of them.”
A number of big names joined the channel for its launch including ITV News journalist Alastair Stewart, BBC journalist Simon McCoy and former Labour MP Gloria De Piero.
Guto Harri quit the channel following a row over him taking the knee during a debate on the racism directed towards England football players, while other staff members have reportedly left.
President Joe Biden wasn’t impressed by the remnants of White House life left behind by Donald Trump when he explored the residence after the inauguration, according to Peril, the new book by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
“Trump’s existence permeated the White House, even the residence,” they wrote, per an excerpt cited by ABC News. “One night, Biden wandered into a room where a huge video screen covered the wall. To relax, Trump used to upload programs to virtually play the world’s most famous golf courses.”
Biden’s reaction to the former president’s “toys”?
“What a fucking asshole,” he said, according to the book.
Peril also noted that Bidden and his advisers try to avoid using Trump’s name. Biden has admitted as much publicly, saying at a town hall event in February that he was “tired of talking about Donald Trump.”
“Look, for four years all that’s been in the news is Trump,” Biden said. “The next four years, I want to make sure all the news is the American people.”
Later in the event, Biden refused to use Trump’s name when it came up, referring to him only as “the former guy,” a nickname that’s stuck on social media.
Wednesday’s interview got off to a shaky start when Susanna asked Liam to stop patronising her.
“You’re an intelligent journalist,’ Liam said. “And you haven’t understood what I said last week about what we do in the next three to four years will determine the future of humanity.
Susanna retorted: “Liam, try not to be so patronising when you’re talking to me.”
Things then went from bad to worse when Richard stepped in to say that blocking the motorways puts the lives of others at risk.
“You’re not accepting the responsibility of your actions,” Richard told him.
“Well, if you say something stupid, I’ll cut you off,” Richard added. “The way you’re putting your argument is fatal, it has fatal consequences.”
Getting increasingly irate, Liam then launched into rant, stating: “We’ve been writing letters for 30 years. We’ve been writing petitions for 30 years. This is our line in the sand. We are demanding the government makes a meaningful statement to save the future of this country and if they refuse to do it then they can put us in prison.”
Liam then stood up and yelled: “I’ve had enough of talking to people in this country about what we’re doing. This is the state of things.”
The Government is today seeking an injunction against the environmental group after police warned that their tactics on the M25 are likely to cause “serious injury or death”.
It comes as Home Secretary Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps vowed to ensure ‘guerrilla’ activists “cannot keep disrupting and endangering people’s lives”.
Former President Donald Trump sued The New York Times, several of its reporters and his niece Mary L. Trump on Tuesday following a series of bombshell reports about his tax records.
The Daily Beast first reported the court filing in Dutchess County, New York, on Tuesday. The suit alleges the Times worked with Mary Trump to “smuggle records out of her attorney’s office” as part of an “insidious plot” to obtain his private files.
Court records show that Mary Trump, the Times and three of its reporters who worked on the stories are named as defendants: Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russ Buettner (Barstow no longer works at the Times). The three journalists won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting in 2019 for their work probing Trump and his businesses’ long history of using suspect tax schemes to avoid paying millions of dollars to the government.
The suit names Mary Trump in part because she signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2001, although a previous suit related to that document declared the agreement too vague to stop her from writing a book about her uncle.
Trump is seeking damages of no less than $100 million.
The former president broke longstanding precedent during his tenure in the White House by refusing to make public his tax returns and filing many legal challenges to prevent their release. Those returns, however, are closer to being in the hands of Congress and are already with prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The DA’s office has spent months investigating potential fraud by Trump and his company, although no charges have been filed.
Mary Trump told the Daily Beast on Tuesday that the suit was an act of “desperation,” using some choice words to declare her uncle was “throwing anything against the wall that will stick.”
“I think he is a fucking loser,” she told the news site. “As is always the case with Donald, he’ll try and change the subject.”
Mike Marsland via Getty ImagesKatie Price at the National Television Awards earlier this month
According to The Sun, this was done to allow the police more time to continue their investigation and decide how it would be best to proceed.
Katie previously told the tabloid the day after the alleged incident: “I’ve got a big bruise, my face is all puffy, and I went to hospital. I’m still all dazed. I’m devastated. I’ve told police that I was assaulted, and am in shock that this happened.”
Ricky Vigil M via Getty ImagesCarl Woods and Katie Price
“I have remained quiet until now due to the investigation being carried out by the police,” he wrote on Instagram. “However, I have found it so difficult to keep quiet on social media due to the speculation and shocking abuse that I have received.
“Anybody who thinks I hit Katie, you’re completely delusional and have no idea of the reality of the situation
