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Mayors to get powers to overrule local councils on planning decisions

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 03:10:51 GMT

PA Media

Kate Whannel

political reporter

1 hour ago

Mayors across England will be given new powers to overrule local councils on some planning decisions.

The change would apply to proposals with more than 150 homes, more than 15,000 square metres of commercial space or buildings over 30 metres.

Mayors in 13 areas including Manchester, Liverpool, the West of England and the West Midlands will gain similar powers to Sir Sadiq Khan in London, who is already able to "call in" planning decisions.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said the powers were an "essential part of the toolkit that mayors need to effectively deliver new homes and regeneration".

The Conservatives questioned whether it was right for councils to lose the "ability to make planning decisions in their own communities".

The powers will also be available to mayors in the Combined Authorities in North East England, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Greater Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, East Midlands, and Tees Valley.

Housebuilding has fallen in London in recent years, but Pennycook insisted the "call in" powers had helped the mayor "unblock strategic growth sites" in the capital.

In the 2024 general election, the Labour government promised to build 1.5 million homes in England by the end of the decade but housebuilders have warned the target could be missed.

Pennycook said the government was "absolutely determined to stick with that ambition".

He acknowledged the target was "really stretching" but said nearly 180,000 children were in temporary accommodation and "any smaller target wouldn't be commensurate with the scale of the challenge".

In addition to gaining the new "call-in" powers, mayors are set to be able to grant "up-front permission", which the government says will allow building to begin "without a developer having to apply".

A consultation on how the powers will work is due to be published next week.

The government has sought to stress that local councils will continue to decide the majority of applications and that all decisions must still follow planning rules.

It has also said mayors will get a "bigger say" over how housing funding is spent in their area, with the government directing national agency Homes England to focus on local mayors' priorities.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who served as mayor for Greater Manchester for nearly a decade, has repeatedly expressed his desire to transfer more powers to local mayors.

"Challenge does need to be made to local decision-making and actually it cuts both ways," he told the Sunday Times.

"Sometimes it's the other way round. It's the local authority putting forward something that's unacceptable in terms of the impact on the community. It's a two-way street."

Last month, Burnham promised to give all mayors a share of income tax revenue, saying he wanted to "bring power home" to "every postcode".

Earlier this week, he announced a secondment programme to send high-performing civil servants to work in mayoral offices.

The approach has faced criticism from some in his own party and the Liberal Democrats, who fear it could create a "two-tier system" that discriminates against those areas that do not have an elected mayor.

Planning bids for new homes rise in England but building remains low, data suggests
Affordable housing quota for London falls to 20%

Responding to the new powers for mayors, Sir James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, said the government was "simultaneously stripping councils across the country of their ability to make planning decisions in their own communities, while making it easier to build traveller sites against local wishes".

Sir James also suggested Labour mayors had failed to meet housing targets, adding: "The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to get Britain building and moving again with our plan to scrap stamp duty on the family home."

Gideon Amos, the Liberal Democrat housing and planning spokesperson, said "taking powers away from communities and local councillors is taking powers away from local people".

"Instead of silencing residents and handing mayors a blank cheque, the government should be empowering local councils with the resources to deliver genuinely affordable homes alongside the infrastructure to support them," he added.

Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Greens, said "more powers for mayors to direct local councils" was "more tinkering from the Labour government when local authorities continue to be forced by government into austerity budgets".

Reform UK accused Labour of "centralisation in disguise", saying: "Westminster is stretching its tentacles outward instead of giving real power, resources and decision-making capabilities to devolved authorities."

Cyber attack shut down small power plant

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 02:48:41 GMT

Getty Images

Tom Symonds

News correspondent

1 hour ago

A small power plant has been shut down during a cyber attack.

The government said that at no point was there a risk to the UK's energy system, but the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has contacted power companies to advise them about the risk of cyber attacks.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the attack, which took place last month, was carried out by hackers affiliated to the Iranian regime.

For security reasons, neither the government nor the National Cyber Security Centre, which deals with attacks on critical infrastructure, would give further details of the site affected. However this was not an attack on an essential service such as a large power station.

According to the Telegraph, external, the power plant was shut down for four days.

DESNZ said the incident had affected a small-scale generator and at no point had there been a risk to the wider energy system.

The UK's power network has a number of smaller gas generators which provide short-term power when needed.

Protecting the country's supplies is key challenge for the government. It is updating its regulations for cyber security, and working on a new energy resilience strategy for later this year.

Iran has long been regarded as a capable cyber power but while the Western cyber-security world is braced for attacks either from the state or hackers linked to the state as a result of its conflict with the US this year, there has been little activity so far.

Restriction zone scheme for offenders to start in October

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 02:37:03 GMT

Getty Images

Iain WatsonPolitical correspondent and Ottilie Mitchell

1 hour ago

A scheme that could see serious sexual and violent offenders confined to areas just a few miles wide after leaving prison will be launched in October, Justice Secretary Alex Norris has announced.

Government ministers say this is designed to give victims greater freedom and further reduce the possibility of unwanted contact

The intention to introduce "restriction zones" for violent offenders who leave prison and who are on probation was first announced by the government last year.

Probation officers will be able to limit where serious offenders can go for as long as it is deemed necessary. Those who breach their new boundaries could be recalled to prison.

This would go beyond the current practice of imposing "exclusion zones" which ban offenders from specific locations such as a victim's home or place of work.

Norris is expected to come up with proposals to further restrict the early release of some prisoners when Parliament resumes next month.

But the Conservatives say that the best thing Labour could do to protect victims is to bring forward emergency legislation which would stop the early release of thousands of criminals.

There is a risk that serious sexual and violent offenders and victims could encounter one another outside exclusion zones.

The new scheme will specify confined areas for offenders in plans tailored to them and developed in consultation with victims.

Norris said the scheme would use GPS technology monitored by probation officers so that "those who step outside the boundaries can be quickly identified and face being sent back to prison".

"Offenders should carry the consequences of their crimes, not their victims," he added.

Amy Glover, director of domestic abuse services at Advance, a charity supporting women and girls who have experienced domestic abuse, praised the "change in focus".

However, she also called for reform to the criminal justice system saying many survivors of abuse chose "not to pursue a criminal conviction, and for those that do only 5% reach conviction."

A domestic abuse survivor named only as Kristina called the restriction zones a "fantastic concept" but noted that a perpetrator had continuously breached her indefinite restraining order "without consequence".

"The biggest challenge would be to gain victims' confidence in authorities to follow through their promises of protection," she added.

The announcement of the restriction zone scheme's start date comes after a change to the government's early release scheme following a backlash.

Introduced to ease prison overcrowding, on 4 August the policy was updated so people sentenced for rape, serious child sex offences and grooming would not be eligible for early release.

The Prison Governors' association warned this change to plans at a "very late stage" put further pressure on prison staff.

The restriction zone scheme was criticised when it was announced last year for potentially putting pressure on probation staff, something the government says it hopes to alleviate with more staff and a greater use of technology.

If you are suffering from domestic abuse, details of help and support in the UK are available at BBC Action Line

Swedish sword attack victim was 17-year-old girl, police say

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 01:34:15 GMT

EPA

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson visit the makeshift memorial.

Claire Keenan

2 hours ago

The victim of a deadly sword attack at a high school in central Sweden was a 17-year-old girl, police have confirmed.

Two boys aged 12 and 17 were also seriously injured in the attack at Brinell School in Fagersta on Friday afternoon, according to local authorities, while a third person sustained minor injuries.

An 18-year-old man, who has not been named, was arrested and police said they were treating the case as murder and attempted murder.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson visited the school, where flower tributes have been laid to honour the victims, on Saturday morning.

Students at the school had only just returned to the classroom following the summer break when the deadly attack unfolded on Friday afternoon.

The police later confirmed they fired shots after being called to the scene but did not say whether the alleged attacker was hit before he was detained.

Sweden's public broadcaster reported that the suspect was wearing a helmet. Local media also said he was a former student.

The region went into a state of emergency on Friday, but it had ended by Saturday.

The school has just under 500 students on its roster, according to SVT, and is located 170km (105 miles) north-west of the capital, Stockholm.

Investigators have already carried out two house searches in connection with the suspect, police said.

On Friday, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the attack as a "serious incident," and said "we do not know what lies behind the act, but we know that police are working very intensively", in a post on X.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf said he received the news "with dismay and sadness".

Trump Mobile promoted a 'Made in the USA' phone - but the details kept changing

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:45:01 GMT

Trump Mobile promoted a 'Made in the USA' phone - but the details kept changing

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When Trump Mobile was launched by US President Donald Trump's eldest sons in the summer of 2025, the company advertised that a "T1" smartphone would be built in the US and shipped to customers within months.

Over the last year, key details about the phone's manufacture, design and delivery date have changed, and some customers are still waiting for their phones - as Thomas Copeland explains.

Produced by Aisha Sembhi. Graphics by Mesut Ersoz.

Subsection
US & Canada

4 hours ago

The Papers: 'Power to block nimby protests' and Meghan 'deal could be off'

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:40:39 GMT

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will give mayors the power to "block nimby protests," according to the Times. This will allow them to "force through plans to build houses, tower blocks and skyscrapers" and "overrule councils". Also on its front page, friends of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex tell the Times that the couple's move to the UK "may only be for a year".

4 hours ago

The Sun on Sunday continues reporting on Prince Harry and Meghan's return to the UK. It says an apparent deal for the duchess to star in Netflix series The Gentlemen is worth £1m but the "big deal could be off". The paper also reports on a "wrong-way crash horror" when seven people including two police officers were killed near Middlesbrough.

A poll carried out by the Mail on Sunday suggests "just 4%" believe the Prince of Wales "should make first move in peace talks" with his brother Prince Harry. It also says "Meghan's TV comeback has been canned", attributing the information to a "top royal author".

The Sunday People reports the "wrong way crash horror", describing how a car drove in the "opposite direction down dual carriageway". It carries a picture of a line of police vehicles at the crash site.

"I'm the Duke of Su$$ex" reads the Daily Star's front page headline, spotlighting a Prince Harry lookalike. The paper says Rhys Wittock is "delighted that the royal is returning to the UK" and that the "Harry double cashes in".

According to the Sunday Telegraph, "Iranian hackers shut UK power plant". The attack saw the plant closed for four days, it reports, in what is said to be the "most successful cyber attack of its kind". The paper writes that the outage had "no impact on the UK's wider power supply". In further reporting on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, it says there is "no guarantee of royal Christmas for Harry and Meghan".

The Sunday Express highlights "rural campaigners' fears" with the headline: "PM must come clean on homes for green belt." It says a video has emerged of Burnham while he was mayor of Greater Manchester, in which he said it was not possible to protect all of the green belt because "houses have to go somewhere". Now, the Express says he "must rule out" new builds on green belt land "or face the fury of campaigners and homemakers".

In a football exclusive, Trent Alexander-Arnold tells the Sunday Mirror of the online abuse he received after leaving Liverpool for Real Madrid which "crossed the line". The headline reads "Trent: My heartache".

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Why we can't look away from hoarder home clean-ups

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:22:10 GMT

Pocket Rockets

Victoria Gordon and a colleague kitted out for heavy-duty cleaning

Holly Phillips

East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

5 hours ago

When Victoria Gordon arrives at a client's house, she can be met with huge piles of clothes, stacks of unwashed dishes and badly blocked toilets.

The 44-year-old is not your average cleaner. She specialises in hoarder clearances, crime scene work and other extreme clean-up projects.

She loves her job as an extreme cleaner, but since starting to document her cleaning adventures online, she has found it fascinating how interested other people are in what she does.

The popularity of cleaning videos has grown rapidly in recent years. In 2023, Unilever partnered with TikTok to launch a dedicated CleanTok community after the genre had amassed 78 billion views on the social media platform.

So why are people so captivated by videos of hoarded homes, crime scene cleans and other extreme clear-outs?

Victoria Gordon

Victoria Gordon posts videos of her cleaning on TikTok

Gordon, from Lincoln, believes videos on her account have racked up thousands of views because people are "naturally inquisitive" and "nosey".

"We like to have a little delve into other people's lives – in particular where there's a shocking 'before and after', or they're able to watch the process," she says.

"People find it really interesting and actually quite satisfying."

Dr Wasim Ahmed, a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Hull, says it comes down to people craving a sense of control, curiosity and relatability.

"You're seeing something in the short-form video where it's creating tension, showing you a lot of mess, and there's a process and resolution that can be quite reassuring," Ahmed says.

"It's quite satisfying seeing a clear problem and a clear ending in just under a minute."

Long before this sort of content became a social media phenomenon, programmes such as Britain's Biggest Hoarders, The Hoarder Next Door and Hoarder SOS were attracting audiences on television.

Victoria Gordon

Victoria Gordon regularly posts "before and after" videos of the houses she cleans

TikTok said the CleanTok community had transformed the mundane task of cleaning into "one of the most-loved and entertaining genres" on its platform.

The trend has been driven by "cleanfluencers" – content creators who share cleaning routines, home organisation tips and everyday resets with their followers.

Ann Russell, a cleaner from Hampshire, amassed a global following of three million people on TikTok after she began posting videos of her day job online.

Speaking to the BBC previously, she said: "I still don't like cleaning my own house but cleaning someone else's house – you can go into absolute chaos, you can tidy it, clean it, you can render it beautiful and then you can leave and somebody says 'Thank you'.

"When it is your own house, just when you are getting to the end of it, somebody drops a bottle of squash and throws a pair of socks on the floor. It's disheartening and it's never-ending."

Ann Russell

Ann Russell has gained millions of followers on social media

Gordon is one of the more niche creators, showing "all the gory stuff that not many other people want to do".

"I obviously have to be really careful what I post," she says. "I don't post anything without permission and there are loads of clean-ups where I wouldn't even ask."

Earlier this month, she posted a video of a 35-year-old Mars bar that she had found while cleaning a hoarder's home.

"It's so fascinating what people find so interesting. I almost put it in the skip [but now] I might do a UK tour with it," she says.

Victoria Gordon

Victoria Gordon found the old Mars Bar during a clear-out of a house in Scunthorpe

Ahmed says the videos are going viral because social media platforms are "actively rewarding" this type of content.

His current research focuses on social media virality, including why people are so captivated by short-form video.

"A lot of these algorithms learn from how long users are staying on these videos," he explains. "All it knows is that the person hasn't scrolled past."

He adds: "So when there's a really filthy room and it's holding people's attention or it's a really shocking crime scene, the algorithm is reading that as a quality metric.

"It starts finding the user worse rooms, worse crime scenes, [and] allowing the content to be served up in greater numbers as well."

Ahmed says another reason the videos perform so well is the level of engagement they generate through likes, comments and shares.

"People are quite drawn to the comments section, to have a scan [of] other people's views," he says.

"There is this concept of relation. There could also be a sense of comparison as well."

Victoria Gordon

Victoria Gordon and her team, Pocket Rockets, work across the UK

Gordon says the main reason she posts online is to raise awareness, particularly about hoarding disorder and mental health.

According to the NHS, hoarding disorder is a mental health condition, external in which someone collects a lot of things and finds it difficult to get rid of them, even when they negatively affect their daily life.

"I think it's really easy to be quite judgmental," she says.

"People see footage of these homes online and in documentaries, and it's really easy to judge and think the person's lazy.

"There's a lot of stigma behind it and a lot of misunderstanding."

She says the stigma of being a hoarder can stop people from seeking help.

"This is real life. It's mental health. It's people who are finding themselves living in really unsafe, unsanitary conditions through no fault of their own.

"The more we can talk about it, the better. The less we judge, the more we can understand, [and that] is only going to be a good thing."

Gordon says many of her followers are hoarders themselves.

"I get a lot of messages in my inbox saying, 'Thank you so much for your content. That house that you did last week, mine's not dissimilar to that and you're making me feel like I'm not the only one that lives like this'.

"A lot of people have messaged me and said that, because they've seen my videos, they found the courage to ask for help or maybe hire a cleaner.

"So it is having a really positive effect."

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds and Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, and watch the latest episode of Look North.

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Did a goat herder's lucky $200 nugget spark a gold rush in western Kenya?

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:22:02 GMT

Manasse Lomachar would like the discovery of gold to improve life in his village

Akisa Wandera

5 hours ago

A goat herder from a remote area of western Kenya has told the BBC his discovery of a golden nugget has sparked a gold rush, overwhelming his small village over the last few weeks.

When people found out that 33-year-old Manasse Lomachar had sold his three grams of gold for 36,000 Kenyan shillings ($280; £205) several weeks ago, he believes this led to thousands of prospectors arrived in Cheporor.

And it is true that what last month was just bushland and rough grazing ground near the village is now scarred by pits, mounds of earth and makeshift mining camps.

It is not clear if was Lomachar's lucky find or other recent discoveries that sparked the excitement. But local authorities estimate that about 10,000 people arrived at the height of the rush.

Even a small amount of the precious metal can transform the futures of these men and women - from Kenya and neighbouring Uganda - many of whose precarious lives rest on an unreliable farming income.

Edwin Naitale / BBC

Large numbers of people have been searching through the earth and rocks for any sign of the precious metal

People do sometimes pan for gold in these parts - but rarely find anything significant.

Lomachar's says his discovery came about purely by chance. While he was searching for a missing goat he encountered a group of women panning along a riverbed.

"I joined them, and that's how [the village] realised there was gold in this area," he says.

Farmer and herder Patrick Lokolia, from neighbouring Napawoi village, joined the gold rush hoping to earn some extra money to support his family.

"I have children in school, and paying school fees has been a big problem for me," he tells the BBC wearing an old Chelsea football top and standing amid the mining activity.

Eighteen-year-old Abigael Chelengat says she had never mined before coming to Cheporor from a nearby district, but arrived hoping to find enough gold to pay her school fees and help keep her younger siblings in school.

Edwin Naitale / BBC

Abigael Chelengat hopes a gold find will help her pay for her education

Behind her hundreds of people work side by side, hacking into the rocky ground with hoes and shovels.

Others carry the earth to a nearby seasonal river, where mostly women crouch in the murky water, washing and sifting mud and sand hoping to detect a tiny trace of the element.

Some of the more experienced miners are deep in holes excavating the earth and drilling at rocks with the same goal.

Hope is kept alive by stories of those for whom the effort has paid off - like Lomachar.

Samuel Kiarie, the deputy commissioner of West Pokot county, says he thinks the rush began after two notable discoveries.

"Young men found what appeared to be a substantial amount of gold. The following day, women made another significant find in the same area," he tells the BBC.

Kiarie explains that women have been finding small quantities of alluvial gold along the same seasonal riverbed for years, typically earning $8-$23 a week.

Many of those who have come are not experienced miners

But the uncovering of larger quantities at the beginning of August is what caught the attention of many people.

Kiarie reckons as rumours spread, the number and size of the discoveries were exaggerated - drawing in ever larger groups of people with little or no mining experience who hoped to replicate the reported early successes.

Since the initial rush, the number of prospectors has gone down to around 2,500 as some have given up the search.

While there is little doubt that some gold has been found in the area, questions remain about the size of the deposit in the earth and its commercial potential.

"I can confirm that small-scale gold traders told us they received an average of about 100 people every day," the deputy commissioner says - though whether the finds were actually gold is not known.

Individual discoveries reportedly range from amounts worth a few hundred Kenyan shillings to one find valued at approximately 78,000 shillings ($600).

West Pokot county borders Uganda, and communities on both sides have long-standing social and family ties.

Mugisha Godfrey, an artisanal miner from Busia in eastern Uganda, travelled to Cheporor after hearing about the discovery from a friend.

He immediately set out for the village spending about 100,000 Ugandan shillings ($27) to get there.

However, the living conditions in Cheporor are not favourable, he says.

"We sleep under the trees, and when morning comes, we continue working. Sometimes we work both day and night," Godfrey tells the BBC.

So far, he has found nothing. But he is not discouraged.

"We can't return unless we find something. Only when we have found what we need can we go back home," he says.

Edwin Naitale / BBC

The authorities want to make sure that children leave the site come September when the school term starts

For others, the gold rush has created opportunities without requiring them to dig.

More than 200 businesses have emerged around the site, according to local officials, selling food, water and other essentials to the village's new population.

Irene Ameja travelled from neighbouring Baringo county to cater to the crowds. She sells bottled water, soft drinks, bread, milk and other foodstuffs.

"I am hoping that when I leave, I will have made enough money to continue with my business and expand it," she says.

But the rapid growth of the settlement has also exposed the area's lack of basic services.

"This is a forest and we are in the middle of the mountains," she says. "We don't have clean water to drink or even to bathe."

For women, she adds, the challenges become greater after dark: "You have to find somewhere safe to stay because most of the people sleeping here are men."

Local officials admit the influx has placed enormous pressure on an area with little infrastructure, no piped water and limited sanitation.

Public health officials have been deployed to monitor conditions and help prevent disease outbreaks.

The authorities say they have also increased security patrols amid concerns over sexual violence and the vulnerability of women and girls at the site.

Edwin Naitale / BBC

As the search continues miners are digging ever-deeper holes

Officials are also worried that children could be drawn into mining activities as schools prepare to reopen in September.

Measures are being put in place to discourage young people from remaining at the site once the new school term begins.

Those still searching are increasingly turning to deeper excavation.

Several truckloads of material have already been transported to nearby Ortum town for processing, with the authorities awaiting the results.

Until then, the size and commercial viability of any mining remain uncertain.

For Lomachar, the answer is not to stop the mining, but to make it more organised.

He wants the government to help local miners establish safer and more effective ways of finding and extracting the gold.

"We would ask the government to help us with things like metal detectors, which could help us find out whether there are other minerals here, so that our community can develop," he says.

He points to the homes nearby as evidence of the area's poverty.

"If you look around, there are hardly any houses with iron-sheet roofs; most are just thatched houses."

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How a new era of heatwaves could shake up the school calendar

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:16:43 GMT

Simon King

Lead Weather Presenter

Over the past two weeks, the sound of children has returned to Scotland's school playgrounds. Their summer breaks began in late June or early July and ended in mid-August.

It's an academic year replicated in other European countries too.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, however, children will not return until early September. Their holidays are a similar length to Scotland's but England and Wales schools did not break up until late July, something that meant pupils were in school during the peak of the early summer heat.

Or at least they were meant to be in school. While it was 30C or more outside, inside many classrooms it felt far hotter. With no air conditioning and limited ventilation, the heat became stifling and more than 1,000 schools across the UK either closed or sent pupils home early before the hottest part of the afternoon. Conditions were particularly challenging for GCSE and A‑level students sitting exams during extreme heat.

Baroness Brown, chair of the UK's Climate Change Adaptation committee, has warned that "we know high temperatures can significantly impair concentration and performance" of children in schools.

Back in February 2026, Ofsted's chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said the timing of the school holidays should be reconsidered: "It's pretty hot usually in May, June and July, just at the point you're asking children to sit down and take an exam… so I think there is a need to have a good old look at it [the school year]."

The recent hot weather has seen some parents join his call. Andrea Bigger, a parent in London, is "absolutely aware of the dangers" of extreme heat in classrooms. She says her daughter has previously suffered from heat exhaustion and was hospitalised after overheating at her primary school. She is "really concerned that the UK is not ready or prepared for this".

And this summer was not a one off. BBC analysis of temperature data shows a clear shift. In the 1960s, the first 30C day was occurring on average on 13 July. In the 2020s that figure has been 19 June.

So, is it going to be increasingly difficult for schools to operate in the summer months? And is moving the school summer holidays the solution to ensuring pupils are able to be taught for as much of the year as possible?

Longer summer season

This summer is likely to become the hottest on record, according to the Met Office. Multiple temperature records have been broken with five widespread heatwaves and four consecutive months where the temperature has exceeded 35C. This has never happened before.

June saw one of the UK's most intense heatwaves, with up to seven consecutive days where temperatures were well above the official heatwave thresholds of 25-28C - just as the exam period was in full swing. Temperature records were broken too: 38C was recorded in Lingwood, Norfolk on 26 June, the hottest June day ever measured in the UK.

The Met Office issued a red extreme heat warning at the end of June, while the UK Health Security Agency has issued multiple amber warnings over the last few months. The heat then continued into July, with heatwave conditions felt widely for most of the month.

Reuters

A recent study set 26C as the upper "comfortable limit" for temperatures in a classroom

Schools struggled to cope, with some closed declaring "heat days" as temperatures in classrooms became too high for children to concentrate. These kinds of disruptions, or heat days, could become more likely as human-induced climate change brings hotter summers and more frequent heatwaves.

Summer heat is arriving earlier. Will Lang, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, says the "de facto 'hot season' in the UK is lengthening, with increasing prevalence of hot weather - including heatwaves – in May and September in addition to the standard meteorological summer of June, July and August".

It's one sign of a warming climate reshaping the pattern and timing of UK summers.

Poorer performance in hotter schools

According to a study conducted by the Met Office and University College London, students could lose an estimated 8.2 days of learning a year on average due to extreme heat, if average global average temperatures rise to more than 2C above pre-industiral levels - as many scientists believe will happen on current trajectories.

In the meantime, teachers are left to deal with the consequences.

Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Academy, which runs more than 50 schools across England, says the heatwaves were a "real inhibitor" to teaching. One of the most difficult challenges came when the Met Office issued the red extreme heat warning at the end of June, suggesting potential "danger to life".

He says headteachers were forced into difficult decisions. "What do you do as a headteacher? How can they run a school safely if the national weather service is warning to travel only if essential and make every effort to stay cool. What if a student or member of staff collapses due to the heat and you're accountable for why you opened the school and didn't take your duty of care seriously?"

Getty Images

Schools in hotter countries like France follow guidelines that trigger timetable changes or closures in very high temperatures

And with Met Office predictions of more extreme weather, higher summer temperatures, and more frequent, prolonged heatwaves, these types of questions are likely to only become more prevalent.

Rebecca Martin is concerned about her son taking GCSE exams in a few years' time in potentially increasingly hot weather. She thinks there needs to be "some serious considerations to the school year to reflect the changing climate or better investment in schools to give them air conditioning".

And there is growing evidence to support her worries. The recent Well-Adapted UK report from the Climate Change Committee suggested that taking an exam on a 32C day leads to around a 10% lower likelihood of passing, compared to sitting the same exam at 22C.

Baroness Brown told the BBC that "as heatwaves become more frequent and intense, it is unacceptable that children are expected to sit high-stakes exams in halls that were not designed for these conditions".

Many of us are familiar with a "snow day" in the winter, when snow can make it very difficult for staff and students to get into school. While there is no legal minimum temperature, the National Education Union says classrooms should be kept above 18C. Heat days are a newer concept - and there are no specified maximum temperatures for a classroom.

A 2024 study published in the journal Climate Risk Management suggested that any temperature above 24C can compromise learning. It also found a decline in student performance ranging from 2% to 12% for each degree increase in classroom temperature.

Setting a temperature benchmark of 26C as the upper "comfortable limit" in a classroom, the authors of the study went on to suggest that the average school currently reaches this limit 59 days of the year in England. That would increase to 71 days with 2C of warming.

In "at-risk" schools where there is no suitable ventilation or where newer buildings have lower ceilings, there would be 75 days where the "comfortable 26C classroom temperature would be breached".

In hotter European countries such as France and Spain, local authorities have extreme heat guidelines that trigger timetable changes or school closures when conditions become too hot. It's a model some argue the UK may need to consider as the UK summer continues to change.

The impact of shifting holidays

While extreme heat or heatwaves can still occur in May and June - or indeed in late August or early September, by which time it's proposed pupils would have returned to class - breaking up for summer at the end of June could reduce the amount of disruption schools face from the hottest conditions heading into the peak of summer.

And while this August has also been hot and dry, some parents argue that an earlier break would be better aligned with the UK's typically warmer and drier mid-summer weather. Rebecca Martin says she'd like to be able to "make the most of the more guaranteed summer-like weather in July" planning to spend more time outdoors in a UK staycation rather than going abroad to parts of Europe where the "heat is getting even more extreme and unpleasant".

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average. Like the UK, European heatwaves are becoming hotter, more frequent and longer.

Staycations in the UK could become even more popular. According to 2024 research by Mintel, more than half of UK holidaymakers say they are likely to choose to holiday at home rather than abroad for climate-related reasons. Meanwhile, some 28% say higher UK temperatures are encouraging them to take domestic holidays.

What remains to be seen is how any changes to the school summer holiday could affect the price tag. Aligning the holiday period more closely with Scotland and other countries means there could be more demand in late June and July, potentially pushing the traditional price peak earlier in the year.

Other changing holiday habits - such as avoiding the peak of the summer heat and extreme temperatures in southern Europe - will also play a role.

In a recent national survey by InsureandGo, more than seven in 10 UK holidaymakers thought some European countries like Spain, Greece or Turkey would be too hot to visit in the summer months by the end of the decade.

As travel journalist Simon Calder has said: "A significant shift in holiday habits could push up the cost of a domestic holiday.

"If more people decide to stay in the UK, and others come to Britain because it is more climatically appealing, the rise in demand would trigger price increases. But there are always locations where you can get reasonable deals."

Long-term plans are required

In England, term dates are determined by school employers - for maintained state schools, that's their local authority. Other schools, including academies, free schools, foundation schools and voluntary-aided schools, can set their own term dates.

However, any changes to the school holiday or academic year would likely require national‑level discussion and leadership, rather than decisions made by individual schools.

Steve Chalke of Oasis Academy suggested there needs to be a national plan with clear guidance for schools facing increasingly hot conditions in our warming climate.

"We're all accustomed to 'snow days' but we now need to properly think and prepare for 'heat days' too," he says. And "without doubt we need to rethink the school year".

For some parents, though, the answer isn't about changing the school holidays but making the school buildings more climate-resilient for the future.

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Gemma Beake, a parent of two boys at a school in Bristol, suggests that if schools can be made cooler and have investment with air conditioning, they will be "safer places than a lot of homes and flats where we have the same problem of overheating".

British summers will always be variable, and no two years will be exactly alike. But the direction of travel is becoming clearer. Hot weather is arriving earlier, lasting longer and increasingly testing our school buildings that were designed and built in a past climate.

While headteachers can implement changes to uniform - as many did this year - so that PE kit could be worn instead of traditional uniform, for many it's the buildings that need adapting to the changing climate of today and especially the future.

But either upgrading infrastructure to climate resiliant schools or modifying the academic year would need institutional change with the possibility of a lot of investment. And both would take many years to implement.

For parents, teachers and school leaders however, changes are needed as soon as possible. As Steve Chalke puts it: "We need the government to come up with a short-term plan for the next few years."

This may simply mean better guidance during "heat days" and on when it is appropriate to shut schools, as with "snow days". Or just being more flexible - allowing schools to open earlier and finish earlier in the day to avoid a peak in temperatures.

BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. Emma Barnett and John Simpson bring their pick of the most thought-provoking deep reads and analysis, every Saturday. Sign up for the newsletter here

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Fear and fallout three months on from Northern Ireland's race riots

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:01:54 GMT

Crowds clashed with police in parts of Belfast during the riots earlier this year

Tara Mills

BBC News NI

5 hours ago

Daylight is still extending across the summer evening sky over Belfast when Maria looks out the window of the house she shares with her two teenage daughters and sees people across the road putting on balaclavas.

It is Tuesday 9 June and parts of Northern Ireland are engulfed in violence.

Buses are being hijacked and set on fire, with water cannon deployed by police to quell rioters, and people targeted because of the colour of their skin – these scenes will all be broadcast around the world over the next 48 hours.

Maria has lived peacefully in her home in a loyalist area of east Belfast for two years. Until now.

"I just panicked. I started to fill buckets of water. I even filled my [bath] tub," she said.

"That was my breaking moment.

"I thought: 'If a fire starts, how do I get out of this?'"

'The lions surround the sheep'

PA Media

A Glider bus was set on fire in east Belfast during the trouble

Henry, who has lived in Belfast for a year after leaving his home in Nigeria, remembers the night as "all of a sudden you're getting a hint that you're a stranger".

"How would I put it? It's like suddenly you see lots of lions surrounding the sheep.

"You know definitely the lions are stronger than the sheep. Definitely they would be devoured."

Why did the violence break out?

Getty Images

Water cannon were deployed by police at Sandyknowes roundabout outside Belfast

The rioting began after footage of a brutal knife attack was widely circulated on social media. The clip was shared by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, as well as by Elon Musk, racking up millions of views on his X platform.

A call for peaceful anti-immigration protests that evening gave way to violent scenes, mostly in loyalist areas.

Protesters were told to target the homes of refugees and asylum seekers, but any person of colour was at risk, with rioters shouting "foreigners out" as they broke down doors and windows in homes across Belfast.

Revisiting those dark nights almost three months later, it's clear the reverberations are still being felt among communities, particularly as officials continue to count the cost of supporting those displaced.

As the chaos spread, many were forced out of their homes with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing.

Northern Ireland's social housing authority, the Housing Executive, has said 76 households presented to it as homeless following 48 hours of violence, while community workers on the ground said that number was much higher, when including those who went to stay with friends or left the country.

PA Media

Locations of the violence in east Belfast

'There was hysteria from the kids'

But, at the same time as social media posts were circulating organising the riots, something else was happening online.

A network of groups normally helping migrant communities with things like food banks and interpreter support got together on WhatsApp.

They helped more than 200 people, often rushing into areas of violence to take those targeted to safety.

Anne works for one of the groups and described messages as "coming in as fast as people could pick them up".

"And even then, when we were down town collecting people, we were then also being asked to go somewhere else, you know, to pick somebody else up.

"There's a lift needed to take somebody to work, lift needed to take somebody into the hospital for a shift. There's somebody coeliac, no food in the house, pick up such and such at an address."

Ciara, another community worker, responded to a call from four Sudanese women fearing that their home would be targeted.

"I was trying to reassure them. I don't speak Arabic and they were just coming along. It was blind trust. But then I was on adrenaline thinking: 'I have to keep these people safe'.

"Imagine you were being brought somewhere and you didn't know where you were going. I just thought: 'God, these poor people might not even understand what I'm saying'."

Then there was Carolyn, a community worker of 35 years experience. Her effort was gargantuan.

She has a large home 60 miles away from Belfast and, with the help of a coach driver and his vehicle, managed to take 22 people out of the city to her house in County Antrim, where they stayed for a week.

"It was dark, nearly midnight, when they got here, and there was a lot of crying and hysteria from the kids and the families, just not knowing where they were and stuff like that. They were traumatised."

Some of them, she recalled, didn't have a change of clothes. A mum with a baby didn't have nappies or formula.

"It was crazy. To think of how you would just flee your home, not able to take anything with you and try and protect you and your kids."

Michaela Rafferty is a member of the Anaka Women's Collective

Michaela Rafferty, who works with the Anaka Women's Collective helping migrant women, said people arrive in Northern Ireland without an understanding of the complexity of division – or how housing is segregated along sectarian lines.

"They don't know that actually it's not safe for me to be in this street. And even when they do realise that they have no power to move out," she said.

A hotspot of violence

East Belfast, parts of which are loyalist, was one of the hotspots of violence.

Brian Anderson, a Methodist minister with the East Belfast Mission, said the narrative that loyalist communities are losing out to those in republican areas is deeply ingrained.

"It's perceived within loyalist communities that the other side are getting. And we are losing," he said.

"We're losing our culture. Houses are not being developed. We're losing our jobs. And, so, you put it into that context of them winning and the perception that we're losing. That's the green-orange issue."

"You then bring other colours of nationality into it," he added. "They, then sadly, have become the target for a small minority of people."

He said there had always been a "silent majority" against violence in Northern Ireland's recent history, but a "vocal minority who have been for violence, and they seem to hold sway".

"We still have a problem in loyalist communities whereby if we have something we're cross about or angry about or don't understand or feel threatened by, we seem to turn to violence," he said.

Has anyone been arrested?

PA Media

Cars were set on fire in Lendrick Street in east Belfast

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said its officers helped many people to safety, including a two-month-old baby. It said officers worked around the clock to protect life and prevent further harm. It has so far arrested 39 people in connection with the rioting.

After the riots, Maria stayed inside her home for seven days, too frightened to leave. Her daughters didn't emerge for almost three weeks.

She feels there's been a subtle shift with people "sticking to their corners".

"I've been asking: 'Where is home?' I had been convincing myself that here was my home."

She's grateful for the support she received but still has worries about the future.

"We don't need to destroy things, they can't burn the entire thing down."

Whatsapp Underground is on air at 13:30 BST on Sunday 23 August on Radio 4.

Struggling households need more help with bills, energy industry says

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:00:03 GMT

Getty Images

Lucy Hooker

Business reporter

5 hours ago

Higher energy bills this winter mean the government should step in to provide more help for households most in need, the body representing energy firms in the UK has said.

Stubbornly high prices over the last few years have left some people needing "emergency support" over and above the existing £150 Warm Home Discount, Energy UK said.

It added that bills were unaffordable for millions and a "better targeted and more agile" support scheme was needed.

On Wednesday, the energy price cap for October onwards will be announced by regulator Ofgem and is expected to hit a three-year high.

"Suppliers continue to do all they can to help their customers but as well as persistently high bills, record levels of debt show how the current system is failing to provide the right support to those in need," Energy UK chief executive Dhara Vyas said.

A new "social discount" scheme would result in "a system that works better for everyone", she added.

Ofgem reported at the end of last winter that customers who had fallen behind on their energy bills owed suppliers a record £4.7bn. Since then wholesale energy prices have risen, following the start of the Iran war in February.

Energy consultancy Cornwall Insight predicts Ofgem's cap on household price rises, which is set every three months, will go up by 4% when it is announced on Wednesday.

The rise will apply to household bills during the first half of the coming winter and follows a sharper 13% rise in July.

As well as the conflict in the Middle East, Cornwall Insight said prices had been affected by heatwaves across Europe that had increased demand for power generation to support air conditioning and other cooling.

The price rise would outweigh the impact of Prime Minister Andy Burnham's move to remove VAT on household electricity bills from October, it added.

Currently, people receiving means-tested benefits are entitled to the one-off £150 Warm Home Discount over the winter, something administered by the energy suppliers themselves. The rebate is paid for by a levy on all energy users that is collected and redistributed via bills.

Energy UK said the Warm Home Discount reached six million customers, but there were another 2.5 million who needed help because a medical condition or draughty home meant they consumed more energy.

It said if the government would allow the combining of information about customers' income, health and energy consumption, a discount scheme could offer targeted and adjustable support, and respond to changing needs and price levels.

The body said its proposed new scheme would cost £1.9bn - nearly double the cost of the current scheme - but could offer £450 in support to some households.

Energy UK suggested the new support scheme could continue to be part-funded through bills or shifted entirely onto the taxpayer, via government funding.

The last time the price cap reached a similar level was in July 2023, Cornwall Insight said, which was still below the peaks reached the previous year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

During that energy price spike the Conservative government committed a total of around £40bn , externalof government spending to support households with energy bills.

The challenge of combining sources of personal data, including income and health, and the proposal to find more taxpayer money to fund such a scheme are likely to raise questions.

However, Adam Scorer, chief executive of National Energy Action, said this was the sort of approach his charity was calling for, especially as the Warm Home Discount has risen by only £10 over the last decade.

"We desperately need a new approach," he said.

"There will be a lot of detail to get right, but if government genuinely wants to provide breathing space for people in fuel poverty, it needs to take this challenge on and work with energy companies and charities to design something truly fit for purpose."

Nobody can stop Fury-Joshua from happening - Hearn

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 22:57:04 GMT

Promoter Eddie Hearn says "no-one can pull out" of the proposed fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

Lucy Davis 'grateful' for support over cancer diagnosis

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 21:50:29 GMT

Shutterstock

Davis was at the convention to speak about her role in Shaun of the Dead

Alex Kleiderman

6 hours ago

Actress Lucy Davis has told fans she is "grateful" for their support as she made an appearance at a London sci-fi convention, following the recent revelation she has incurable breast cancer.

The 53-year-old star was appearing at the For The Love of Fantasy & Sci-Fi convention at Excel London on Saturday, less than two weeks after announcing her diagnosis in a post on Instagram., external

Davis, who was on a panel to talk about her role in the 2004 zombie-comedy Shaun of the Dead, told an audience of hundreds of people about the interactions she had enjoyed with the film's fans during the event.

"It's like this whole second family you never knew you had, everyone is like a community, friendly, supportive of not only us but you guys and each other," she said. "We need a bit more niceness in the world, so I'm grateful."

Lucy Davis urges women to check their breasts for cancer - here's how
The Office actress Lucy Davis says she has 'incurable' cancer

It was the first time Davis had appeared at a public event since announcing on 11 August that she has stage four breast cancer.

She said in that announcement that it had "metastasised" to her bones following a diagnosis a year-and-half-ago, meaning it was "too late" for chemotherapy.

Davis signed autographs and posed for photographs before appearing on Saturday's panel.

Some fans posing questions told the actress "I love you so much", but she was not asked directly about her health.

The Shaun of the Dead director, Edgar Wright, and Simon Pegg, who played the film's lead role were also on the panel. Davis played Dianne, an aspiring actress who was one of the core group of survivors of the zombie apocalypse, in the cult British movie and helps Pegg's character Shaun fight off the legions of the undead.

Her favourite memories of filming, she said, were "when we all pretended to be zombies and walked across the square; it was like being naughty schoolkids.

"It was a fun time, we went a bit mad."

The actress, who played receptionist Dawn Tinsley in the BBC sitcom The Office and whose father is comedian Jasper Carrott, was also applauded when asked for advice about getting into the film industry.

She said: "We all grow up with a different life with a different world telling us we all have limitations.

"None of us do, our only limitations are things that we think are limiting. We can do anything, or be anybody, and don't apologise for that."

David had thanked fans for their "kindness and support" in another post two days after revealing she had cancer.

"OK, so the last two days have been utterly overwhelming, in that I had zero idea my cancer post would have the attention it did," she said.

"Truly, I am in shock. That said, thank you to everyone for the tremendous amount of kindness and support you have sent me. Good grief it was emotional."

Syria says Israeli strike near Damascus violation of international law

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 21:42:42 GMT

Getty Images

The village of Beit Jinn is southwest of Syria's capital Damascus

Henry Moore

22 August 2026

Syria has condemned an Israeli attack on the village of Beit Jinn, southwest of the country's capital Damascus, which officials said hit a civilian vehicle and left several people injured.

The attack was the second known Israeli strike on Syria in the past week, with Syria branding it a "violation" of its sovereignty and international law.

In a post on X, the Israeli military said it had targeted a "terrorist" in the "final stages" of preparing attacks which posed an immediate threat to soldiers.

The latest incident comes days after reports emerged Israel had struck a military airbase close to the Turkish border, which Syria said threatened to escalate tensions in the region.

After the earlier attack, Washington issued a rare rebuke of Israel, calling it an "unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability".

In an interview on Friday, the US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, suggested that the strike could be "the Israelis baiting the Turks" in an attempt to draw Turkey into a conflict ahead of upcoming Israeli elections.

Barrack's comments led Israel's far-right defence minister, Israel Katz, to describe his account as "full of inaccuracies".

Writing on X, Katz added Israeli forces were acting "in light of clear intelligence information about Turkey's intentions".

Following Tuesday's strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a statement: "Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo."

Anadolu via Getty Images

Abu al-Duhur military base captured by anti-Assad forces in December 2024

After the strike Turkey did not confirm whether any of its troops moved to the Abu al-Duhur airbase, which sits 70km from the Turkish border. However, Ankara rejected Israel's suggestion that it posed a threat.

Abu al-Duhur airbase has been out of service as a dedicated military airfield since 2013. Rebel forces seized control of the base as they swept through the country in December 2024.

Israel occupies territory in southwest Syria it seized after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

Syria has been trying to rebuild its military facilities that were damaged during the offensive that saw Bashar al-Assad's government overthrown.

The Turkish military has provided assistance to Syria since the overthrow of Assad, while Israel continues to view both countries with deep suspicion.

Al-Sharaa has forged closer ties with the West since coming to power, particularly the US and in November 2025 he became the first Syrian leader to visit the White House.

Baby whose parents feared had just days to live is 'thriving' after life-saving heart operation

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 20:30:23 GMT

Family Photo

Baby Macs was facing death if he did not have a Berlin Heart fitted

Gwyn Loader

Newyddion S4C chief correspondent

7 hours ago

A baby, whose parents feared had just days to live, is "thriving" after having life-saving operations on his heart.

Macs Green, a previously "completely healthy baby" suffered two cardiac arrests and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy - which can lead to heart failure.

After a struggle to find suitable hospital beds, he has now had device called a Berlin Heart, external fitted, which takes over the function of his heart.

But he still needs a transplant and doctors have told his parents Catrin and Dylan they do not know how long the wait will be before he gets one.

But, after his operation in Newcastle's Freeman Hospital, Dylan said Macs was already "completely different" from how he was before.

Before surgery he had been in a specialist unit in Bristol Royal Children's Hospital on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, external (Ecmo) machine, which helped pump oxygenated blood around his body.

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Baby Macs 'thriving' after getting lifesaving treatment

Town planner Dylan, 35, told Newyddion S4C, external: "There was talk of end of life at that point. We're so pleased he's on the Berlin Heart.

"It means he can come off the drugs which have been sedating him. Since then, he's a completely different baby.

"He's smiling, he's responding to us. Before now, he's just been a small baby lying on a bed."

Solicitor Catrin said, since the operation, it was like "having our baby back" for the couple, who have two other children, Caio, five, and Gruff, and that Macs had been "absolutely thriving"

After multiple surgeries, Macs' Berlin Heart was fitted on 7 August after leaving Bristol for Newcastle.

A Berlin Heart is a type of ventricular assist device, external - an air-driven pump that sits outside the body and takes over the job of the heart by pumping blood around the body.

The NHS Blood and Transplant team said 17 of these had been fitted in children across the UK in 2024-25.

Family Photo

Mcs's Berlin Heart has taken over the function of his own heart, but he still needs a transplant

Catrin, 32, said the family, from Cardiff, were now waiting for a real heart for Macs.

"They've told us... he's likely to have to wait 18 months for a heart. It could be two years, it could be more than that.

"But a heart could also turn up tomorrow.

"If we knew we were just waiting and living in a hospital that would be fine, but there are a lot of potential risks that come with being on a Berlin Heart and a lot of things which can affect him.

"We just hope now he can remain stable."

Family Photo

Mum Catrin said it was like "having our baby back"

The family are now urging parents to consider organ donation should they lose a child and thanked the hospital staff and others who have supported them.

"We are extremely grateful," said Dylan.

De Zerbi learns cash alone cannot fix Spurs' losing mentality

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 20:16:00 GMT

Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi discovers cash is no cure for a losing mentality as they crash to a heavy defeat at Brentford, says chief football writer Phil McNulty.

Carney say Trump started trade war with fresh tarrifs 'attack'

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 20:10:00 GMT

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Watch: 'US asked too much and offered too little,' says Canada's PM Mark Carney

Nadine Yousif

Senior Canada reporterToronto

22 August 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said a fresh wave of US tariffs on Canada is a "miscalculation" designed to "hurt and divide us", after trade talks collapsed late on Friday.

"They asked too much and they offered too little," Carney said on Saturday, adding that that the US and Canada were now in a trade "war". "You're at war when you get attacked. We got attacked," he said.

The prime minister confirmed he would match US tariffs "dollar-for-dollar" from 8 September, including levies on steel, dairy, appliances and electronics.

The collapse of the trade talks upends a deeply integrated trading relationship, with no clear path to resolution. US President Donald Trump has yet to comment.

"We cannot accept what they've offered, and we will not give what they've asked," Carney said.

Both countries were optimistic of a deal earlier in the week, but talks fell apart after both sides accused the other of making last-minute changes.

Now that talks have broken down, Canada has been hit with new 50% US tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, in addition to existing US tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium, automobiles and lumber.

The new tariffs are limited in scope, covering about $20bn (£15bn; C$28bn) of Canadian imports, or about 5% in total, including wine, dairy, cement, clothing and hockey equipment.

The prime minister said Canada was retaliating "reluctantly" to protect its interests. Details of the counter-measures will be released in the coming days, he said.

Leaders of other federal parties in Canada, including the Conservative opposition, voiced support for the prime minister, as have the leaders of some Canadian provinces.

Tariffs - a tax placed on imports from other countries - have been a key component of Trump's trade policy, with the US president arguing they will boost American manufacturing and create jobs at home.

Critics, however, say tariffs have raised prices for American consumers and have disrupted and damaged the global economy.

Carney faces crucial test after walking away from Trump's deal

Carney's speech on Saturday was his first address to Canadians after he announced late on Friday night that a deal would not be reached, accusing the Americans of making "last-minute changes" that were "unfair" and "uneconomic".

US negotiators, meanwhile, accused Canada of making "new demands and walk backs" on terms which had been previously agreed.

On Saturday, US trade representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News there were no plans to resume talks.

He added that the US had been prepared to cut some of its tariffs on Canada as part of the ill-fated deal.

Carney, however, said the US presented "unacceptable" terms that were too restrictive, including curbing Canada's ability to strike new trade deals with other countries.

He also rejected the assertion that Canada had made last-minute requests: "We clarified what was on offer and were continually disappointed by the answers."

Doug Ford, the leader of Canada's most populous province Ontario, backed Carney and said Trump "can't be trusted".

British Columbia Premier David Eby said the US demand for restrictions on Canada's ability to have other trade deals "would reduce us to the economic equivalent of the 51st state".

"It was never acceptable to Canadians," Eby said.

The Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre also appeared to support Carney, calling the latest US levies "unjustified".

Quebec's premier, Christine Fréchette, warned jobs would likely be lost as a result of the new US tariffs.

"Behind these numbers are real people," she said, vowing to introduce measures to support impacted sectors.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, whose oil-rich province has worked to make inroads with the Trump administration, urged both sides to resume talks.

The collapse comes after more than a year of on-again, off-again trade talks, which intensified in recent weeks after a US-imposed deadline to strike a deal or face further tariffs.

The two countries were also engaged in a mandatory review of an existing North American free trade agreement, known as USMCA, with Mexico.

The pact was signed by Trump during his first term to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. It underpins $1.6tn (£1.2tn) in annual trilateral trade across Canada, the US and Mexico.

Earlier this summer, Canada and Mexico had formally requested for USMCA to be renewed for another 16 years. The US, however, declined to renew it in its current form.

Asked how Friday's trade talk collapse would impact the North American free trade pact, Carney said it was "certainly not good news".

Two police officers among seven killed in wrong-way car crash

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 19:28:14 GMT

Owen Humphreys/PA

A huge emergency response could be seen along the road

Tom MacDougall and Tom MullenNorth East

22 August 2026

Two police officers were among seven people killed when a car travelling the wrong way down a dual carriageway crashed into a force vehicle.

A Volkswagen Passat with five occupants said to be in their late teens struck an oncoming marked Cleveland Police vehicle on the A66 near Middlesbrough at about 03:39 BST.

The BBC understands a pursuit of the car had ended before the crash, with the police vehicle just happening to be in the South Bank area. The occupants of both cars were pronounced dead at the scene.

The officers have been named as PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38. Chief Constable Victoria Fuller said they were "brave officers protecting our communities".

She said it was an "incredibly sad day for Cleveland", adding: "No one should leave their home and not return safely.

"These were brave officers protecting our communities and serving our residents, who didn't return home to their families at the end of their shift."

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Watch: Cleveland Police names the two officers who died in crash near Middlesbrough

Fuller said she and her deputy chief constable had visited the officers' families to "offer our condolences, support one another, and begin to come to terms with this unimaginable loss".

The families of those identified had been informed and were being offered specialist support.

"This tragic incident will be felt across Cleveland, within our communities and throughout the entire policing family," Fuller added.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was "devastated" by the news and thanked emergency services for responding in "incredibly difficult circumstances".

Security footage from a house on Lime Road in Middlesbrough appears to show a car being pursued by police vehicles three minutes before the crash.

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Watch: Video appears to show police pursuit minutes before fatal crash

Fuller said the officers were in a marked armed response vehicle travelling on the correct side of the road.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it had opened an investigation.

The watchdog said: "At this early stage, we understand Cleveland Police sighted a suspicious vehicle and a pursuit began."

The A66 is the major artery through Teesside and the location of the crash is surrounded by industrial units and factories.

The road was closed in both directions between Normanby Road and Church Lane with the force saying it was set to stay shut for the rest of the day.

Owen Humphreys/PA

The crash occurred on the A66 at South Bank shortly before 04:00 BST on Saturday

The North East Ambulance Service, which sent 14 "ambulance resources", said: "We send condolences to all of those affected by such a tragic event and thank everyone for all they did to help."

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the force had her "support as they work to identify all those involved".

She said: "Police officers put their own safety on the line to protect their communities every single day.

"My thoughts are with all those affected, their families, friends, the emergency services who attended the scene and the wider police family."

The A66 is the major artery through Teesside

Cleveland police and crime commissioner Matt Storey called it an "unimaginable loss" and said "few words [could] bring comfort" to those affected.

Anna Turley, MP for the local Redcar constituency, said she was "deeply saddened" and also thanked emergency services.

Cleveland Police Federation chairwoman Lauren Somerville said the loss of the officers was "unfathomable", adding: "Words cannot describe the pain the Cleveland Police family are feeling today."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp shared his condolences, adding the IOPC "must be given the time and space to complete their investigations without speculation".

The Mayor of Tees Valley Ben Houchen said it was a "horrible and tragic incident" and police officers were "heroes".

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Stokes stars as leaders Durham hammer Derbyshire

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 19:09:08 GMT

Ben Stokes hits 66 not out and takes 5-17 as Durham wrap up a 338-run victory at Derbyshire inside three days in Division Two of the County Championship.

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The hotel booking mix-up that could free mushroom murderer

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 19:03:03 GMT

AFP via Getty Images

Erin Patterson is trying to overturn her convictions

Tiffanie Turnbull

Sydney

9 hours ago

Last July, hundreds descended on Australia's Gippsland region from around the country for the most exciting event on the annual table tennis calendar.

But as elite players vied for medals at the national championships, one of the biggest criminal cases in the nation's history - that of mushroom murderer Erin Patterson - was unfolding just a few kilometres away.

This tournament inadvertently became part of a perfect storm which the triple killer's lawyers are now arguing "fatally undermined" the fairness of her trial.

The jury which condemned Patterson to prison were supposed to be isolated - sheltered from the frenzy surrounding the case while they deliberated.

But accommodation shortages in the region, exacerbated by the table tennis competition, meant they shared a hotel with members of the prosecution, a key police witness, and journalists.

Now Patterson's legal team is trying to overturn her convictions on appeal.

"The only proper remedy is... the order for a re-trial," Patterson's barrister Richard Edney said.

Towns overwhelmed by frenzy

The fatal lunch was hosted at Erin Patterson's home in Leongatha in July 2023

When Patterson served her estranged husband's relatives a poisonous mushroom-laced lunch in 2023, killing three and gravely injuring another, she thrust the sleepy Gippsland region into the global spotlight.

The community of Korumburra, where the victims were beloved figures, became shrouded in grief. Leongatha, where Patterson lived, was gripped by shock. And Morwell, host of the lengthy trial, was overwhelmed by journalists, lawyers and spectators - as were towns nearby.

You couldn't walk down the main street without spotting some of the courtroom's stars, or grab a coffee without overhearing chatter about the case.

Mushroom murders and cancer lie: Nine weeks of evidence that gripped a courtroom
'Everyone knows somebody affected': The small towns in shock after mushroom murders

It was this frenzy from which the jury of 12 needed protection, the trial judge decided.

Jurors are required to consider only the evidence presented to them in court, and must only talk about the case among themselves. In Australia, these rules are so strict that discussion with outsiders is forbidden even after a trial wraps up.

To reduce the risk of contamination and the temptation of gossip, Justice Christopher Beale decided the jury should be sequestered once deliberations began - a relatively rare move which meant they would stay in supervised accommodation with little to no contact with the outside world until they reached a decision.

But finding the jury, and the jury keepers watching them, somewhere to sleep became something of a logistical nightmare.

As the trial dragged on, stays became longer than anyone anticipated and accommodation became a constant scramble.

And the week the table tennis tournament came to town - which by a stroke of bad luck was the one in which the jury finally retired - turned the accommodation drought into a famine.

Early morning email revelations

At 08:28 on Monday 7 July, an email from the judge's chambers popped into the inboxes of the lawyers in the case.

It revealed that the lead detective who investigated the murders - a key trial witness - and two prosecution solicitors had been staying at the same hotel as the sequestered jury.

Getty Images

Detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall led the murder investigations

The jurors had exclusive use of a separate floor of the hotel, the email said, and had eaten their meals in a conference room, away from all other guests.

Common areas like the lobby were used by everyone, but the jury keeper who reported the issue said there had been no interaction between his charges and anyone from the prosecution case.

"I understand that there is a shortage of accommodation in the district, but it is obviously undesirable," Justice Beale wrote.

About two hours later, the prosecution responded, admitting they had been aware of the situation for days.

The detective "took steps to avoid common areas from the point that he became aware that [the jurors] were there", their email read.

Upon learning their team would cross over with the jury for a single night, the prosecution had done its best to find other hotels for staff. But they couldn't get alternative rooms for two solicitors, though the email stressed the pair also took steps to avoid any "incidental contact".

However, another missive from the judge's chambers quickly overshadowed the hotel snafu that same afternoon: the jury had reached their verdicts.

They had found Patterson guilty on all counts.

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Moment Erin Patterson is sentenced to life in prison

'Most critical week of trial'

Patterson's lawyers are now arguing the hotel mix-up amounted to a "fundamental irregularity" which "fatally undermined" the integrity of the verdicts.

"We would describe... it as catastrophic," Patterson's appeal counsel, Edney, told Victoria's Court of Appeal this week.

"What occurred here was an inexplicable and perhaps still unexplained failure in the process."

The defence - which Edney pointed out had been kept in the dark several days longer than anyone else - didn't immediately move for a mistrial last July.

Instead, it twice asked the state's juries commissioner to investigate in the weeks following the verdicts. Both requests were rejected, the barrister said, and the reasons have not been made public.

A year on, there remains a "vacuum of evidence" around what occurred during "the most critical week" of the entire trial, Edney argued.

Reuters

Patterson's legal team, lead by Richard Edney (centre)

There is no CCTV from the hotel; no sworn statements from those who were sharing it with the jury - a group which also includes an unknown number of journalists; and nothing to say what happened except the two brief emails sent last July.

There was also at least one media report at the time - raised by Edney this week but rubbished by the prosecution lawyers as "unverified" and "seemingly inaccurate" - that the mix-up had led to "people hiding in doorways to avoid contact" and "skipping breakfast".

"My question is... so what?" Justice Peter Kidd bit back.

In any criminal trial, jurors see other parties all the time - in corridors, or even nearby cafes - but they're under the constant supervision of jury keepers who have sworn to ensure there's no improper communication, he said.

Edney conceded there was "no evidence" that the jurors had communicated with anyone else, but said innocent contact - even just seeing the detective or solicitors - could have resulted in "subconscious influence".

"This was a hotel with windows," Edney said several times - a likely thing for it to have, someone from the judge's bench countered.

Patterson's team cited two cases to support their argument: one in which jurors were discharged when one was offered a throat lozenge by a defendant's relative during a coughing fit, and another in which a retrial was ordered after jurors caught a taxi without being escorted by a jury keeper.

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Watch: 'Catastrophic' hotel mix-up at the heart of Australia's mushroom murderer appeal

The prosecution's response was simple.

"The system worked as it was intended to work," Director of Public Prosecutions Brendan Kissane KC said.

The jury was constantly supervised, and when a potential problem was identified, steps were immediately taken to prevent it becoming an actual issue.

The jury keeper, the lead detective, and the prosecution all say there was no contact.

"The evidence in this case is that there was no interaction between any other person and the jury," he said.

Other cases the defence pointed to in which jury errors resulted in retrials all had evidence of actual contact, he noted.

"That's not the situation here."

Patterson has seven appeal grounds - the others relating to rulings on evidence and alleged unfairness by the prosecution - but this one, by the defence's own admission, is unprecedented.

Just as important as actual interference is the perception of interference, said Edney, quoting the trial judge's own speech as he selected jury members on the very first day of the trial.

"Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done."

The trio of judges are now deliberating on Patterson's appeal, as well as an argument by the prosecution that her parole period should be scrapped.

They will announce their decisions at a later date.

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Watch: Moment humanoid robot beats Usain Bolt's 100m record

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 17:02:06 GMT

Watch: Moment humanoid robot beats Usain Bolt's 100m record

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A robot has outperformed humans by running faster than Usain Bolt's 100m sprint world record at the World Humanoid Robot Games in China.

The humanoid robot, developed by the Beijing Innovation Centre of Humanoid Robotics, ran the distance in 9.39 seconds at the event.

Eight-time Olympic gold medallist Bolt set the world record for humans in 2009, running 100m in 9.58 seconds.

The robot beat two others including one made by Chinese smartphone maker Honor - which the manufacturer says ran the distance in 9.32 seconds in a test run.

Other events at the robot games, which started on Saturday, include boxing and football, but also household tasks such as folding laundry.

The BBC's China correspondent Laura Bicker reports from Beijing.

Subsection
Asia

11 hours ago

US military newspaper editor voices censorship fears after being fired

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 16:57:19 GMT

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Watch: Stars and Stripes editor Erik Slavin speaks to the BBC after his dismissal

Jamie Whitehead and Paulin Kola

22 August 2026

The editor-in-chief of US military newspaper Stars and Stripes has told the BBC of his concern over censorship a day after being dismissed by the US Department of Defense (DoD) for "insubordination".

"This is a time when we really need to hear what's happening," Erik Slavin said, adding that Pentagon officials appeared to be "less and less inclined to speak on the record".

Slavin says he believes he was fired for having stated in an interview that "in a hypothetical situation, censorship would be a red line". A reporter and the paper's publisher were also sacked.

The Pentagon told the BBC it would not comment. But the sackings come amid tension between the Trump administration and the US media.

Getty Images

Stars and Stripes provides news to US troops around the world

Even though partially funded by the Pentagon, Stars and Stripes has been editorially independent - through a congressional mandate and DoD rules.

The newspaper's Middle East reporter Lara Korte said she had also been told she was fired.

Both Slavin and Korte say their dismissals - both for insubordination - relate to an interview they gave to CBS's Sunday Morning programme last month, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Stars and Stripes reported that publisher Max Lederer was also fired.

He had announced his retirement on Tuesday, saying his understanding of the paper's value and mission differed in "fundamental ways" from the Pentagon's plans for the publication.

Slavin, who has worked for the paper for 21 years, told the PM programme that he had not been given an official explanation for his dismissal - and was considering his response even though he was not allowed to appeal.

He said he did not know if it had to do with his paper's original reporting of conditions aboard USS Abraham Lincoln - the warship which has been deployed in the Gulf for months as the US-Israeli war with Iran continues.

The vessel has spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days and family members of sailors aboard have expressed concern about their mental health, with some sailors having reportedly attempted to jump overboard.

But Slavin said his dismissal came in a climate where the Pentagon had not had a press conference since May, and where journalists had refused attempts to interfere with their reporting.

For her part, Korte wrote on X: "It's a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press."

The president of the National Press Club, Mark Schoeff Jr, described Slavin's firing as "another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military and should be immediately reversed".

An average of 1.4 million people consume Stars and Stripes's content daily, mostly online, according to CBS.

The paper is still printed outside the US for members of the military in places with unreliable internet access.

In October, leading US news outlets rejected a new policy which barred journalists from entering the building unless they only reported information officially authorised by the DoD.

At the time, the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and the BBC were among the major outlets which said they would not agree to the new rules.

The Trump administration argued that the changes were needed to protect national security.

In April 2025, a US judge ordered the administration to restore the Associated Press's access to presidential events after it was blocked in a dispute over the term "Gulf of America".

A few months prior, the White House broke with tradition and took control of the press pool which covers the US presidency.

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Attorney General Todd Blanche won’t pledge to act “independently” from the White House.

Watch: Fishermen rescued after five days adrift in cool box

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:41:31 GMT

Watch: Fishermen rescued after five days adrift in cool box

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The Mexican Navy rescued two fishermen 150 miles off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico on 19 August, after they had been missing for 5 days.

Naval authorities began the search for the men, aged 53 and 32, after their fishing cooperative lost contact with them on 15 August and sent out a distress call.

The two men were found alive and floating inside a cool box, ordinarily used to store caught fish on a fishing boat.

Authorities said the men were medically evaluated before being reunited with their families.

'I can't do the things my friends do': Life as a teenage carer

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:49:25 GMT

Other

Ava-Grace Britton, 17, is a carer for her father Paul and says she worries about him "all the time"

Nick Triggle

Health correspondent

20 August 2026

Ava-Grace Britton is 17 and studying acting at college in north London. She likes going out, seeing her friends and wants to go to university next year.

Unlike most of her peers, however, she also cares for her father, Paul, who has significant mobility and memory issues after suffering a series of strokes eight years ago.

Along with her mother Karen, Ava-Grace monitors Paul's blood glucose levels, gives him medication and helps with dinner and jobs around the house.

"I worry about him all the time," Ava-Grace told the BBC. "Before I go to college I help him and most days I have to return home quickly to look after him."

She is not alone. Officially, census data suggests there are around 130,000 carers under the age of 18 in England and Wales.

But the true figure is thought to be much higher, with many young carers hidden from view. The Carers Trust estimates there could be as many as 1 million carers under 18, with another 500,000 aged 18 to 25.

For some the responsibilities are significant, amounting to more than 50 hours a week - with consequences on young carers' social and academic prospects.

'Life upside down'

Paul's strokes were brought on by a sepsis infection, which he caught after cutting his thumb at work. His health is further compromised by diabetes which needs careful monitoring.

His condition deteriorated so much he had to give up work as a borehole engineer. He is now cared for full-time by Ava-Grace and Karen, who runs her own charity which organises lunch clubs for the elderly and vulnerable.

"It turned our life upside down," said Karen.

"Paul spent three months in hospital and in rehab. I don't know how I would cope without Ava-Grace."

Ava-Grace says her caring responsibilities have demanded a number of trade-offs over the years.

"You have to make sacrifices. I can't do all the things my friends do," she said.

"At one point I was really enjoying dance and could have started competing, but it would have been a huge time commitment which wasn't possible.

While enjoying college now, she had to move schools several times after being bullied and struggling with attendance because of her caring responsibilities and epilepsy, which she has to manage.

"I worry about the future," she said. "I really want to go to university, but can't imagine going anywhere too far from home. I know my dad needs me."

Other

Ava-Grace helps her mum, Karen, care for her dad, Paul

More than half of young carers, like Ava-Grace, provide support to parents.

The rest mainly look after siblings and grandparents. The Carers Trust says there has been a big rise in non-parent carers in recent years as the cost of living crisis has meant parents have had to prioritise earning money, leaving children to care for other family members.

That can make socialising and pursuing hobbies difficult as well as lead to higher rates of bullying, school absence and even suspensions.

Young carers are 25% less likely to achieve five GCSE passes including English and Maths than their peers, according to Department for Education data.

As a result they are twice as likely to be out of education, employment or training for two years or more.

Support for carers

Some support is available. Young carers are entitled to assessments from their local council to look at the impact on their health, education and wellbeing.

"When young carers get these it can make a real difference," said Andy McGowan, the lead on young carers at the Carers Trust.

"But it takes many years of caring before they are actually identified. And then the support in place to help is patchy, it really depends on where you live."

McGowan, who was a young carer himself to both his parents, says even when help is given to the young in the form of respite breaks, peer support and counselling, the underlying issue – the caring demands being placed on them – is often not addressed.

"The threshold to get adult social care from councils to relieve the caring burden is so high, many don't get help. Until that is addressed, the inequalities young carers face will not be tackled."

The NHS could do more, he added, particularly in terms of preventative and early support for things like substance misuse and mental health, which are also contributory factors to the caring responsibilities young carers have.

"Often young carers are left to fight their own battles for too long - and so school and their own health come second," he said.

In July, the government published an action plan for unpaid carers which included measures to support young carers, including improved help in schools and joined-up support between the NHS, social care and education.

Other parts of the UK have their own policies – in Scotland, for example, there is a dedicated young carers' grant.

"Through our new national care service, this government is determined to build a system that recognises the extraordinary contribution of unpaid carers, supports them better and, in particular, helps young carers," a government spokesman told the BBC.

For families like the Brittons, more help cannot come soon enough.

"I worry about the impact caring has on Ava-Grace," said Karen.

"She has had to grow up very quickly – that has had benefits, she is calmer and more mature than many girls her age and she has a real strength about her. But Ava-Grace and others like her need more help and understanding."

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'Mum still believes she was right to fake my illness'

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 15:33:09 GMT

PA Media

Matthew Johnson said watching the documentary solidified his decision not to speak to his mother

Julia Bryson

Yorkshire

19 August 2026

As a child, Matthew Johnson was known as "Britain's sickest boy" - but in reality, his illness was just a fantasy made up by his mother to gain publicity and financial rewards.

For six-and-a-half years, Lisa Hayden-Johnson claimed Matthew had a long list of illnesses including diabetes, food allergies, cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis, but years later it emerged she had made it all up.

Hayden-Johnson, from Torbay, Devon, was jailed and Matthew went into foster care and started a new life in Sheffield.

Both were interviewed for a Channel 4 documentary called Love You To Death but after hearing his mother speak, Matthew said he had "mixed emotions" and it reinforced his decision not to speak to her.

Speaking to the BBC about how it felt to hear his mother's point of view, he said: "It was a lot of disappointment but I think also frustration as almost two decades on, there is still a lack of accountability from her side.

"When I could see, even after two decades... she still holds the same story and believes that she did the best by me... that obviously isn't right."

Hayden-Johnson was 35 when she was jailed for three years and three months by a judge at Exeter Crown Court in 2010.

The court heard her lies began when Matthew was born prematurely in 2001 and given a tube for feeding.

He recovered but his mother insisted that this was not the case.

Channel 4

Matthew Johnson said his mother "still holds the same story" after two decades

Hayden-Johnson lied about her son's health for years, claiming he had symptoms despite doctors being unable to find any.

She also told doctors the child had diabetes and spiked his urine samples with glucose in order to fool tests.

Doctors, friends, family and even the boy's father believed the child was unable to eat or swallow food.

Her actions led to Matthew being operated on and being fed through a tube in his stomach.

She introduced him in a wheelchair to the then Duchess of Cornwall, now Queen Camilla, appeared on television and amassed thousands of pounds in benefits.

She was given gifts from children's charities including a new car, a cruise in Tenerife, and also free X-Factor tickets.

It wasn't until 2007 that a paediatrician became suspicious that Matthew's health problems had gone on for so long without a clear diagnosis.

Hayden-Johnson was eventually arrested in October 2007 and jailed three years later.

PA Media

Matthew said he wants to focus on his life now and leave the past behind

Matthew said thinking back to the time his mother's lies unravelled was like a "fever dream".

"I was taken into foster care. I was looked after by a few different people, taken away from my dad and my sister, the family pets. It was quite difficult," he said.

"But as I look back, it was something that happened quite quickly and I was able to draw a fresh slate when I moved to Sheffield and that's how I've sort of managed to move on from it.

"I always like to say that my life mainly started when I was in Sheffield and I can just make the most of that part and leave the other part behind."

Irving of Exeter

Hayden-Johnson, from Torbay, Devon, said she acted in her son's best interests

He credits his family and friends for helping him through his ordeal.

"My sister Laura has been really supportive throughout the whole process. We've always been side by side."

Matthew's father was cleared of any involvement as he was also duped by Hayden-Johnson.

"My dad's always looked after me," Matthew said.

"His life got turned upside down at the same time, so I really appreciate everything he's done for me throughout the years.

"Also, I think you kind of just have to carry yourself through it because there's only really you that can decide what mindset you choose to have on it.

"I think that's the most important part. It's the decision to not dwell and the decision to look forward rather than in the past."

Love You To Death will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 21:00 BST.

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Missing cat found 100 miles away in feral colony

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:26:39 GMT

Provided/Lucy Roche

Ginge was found almost 100 miles from home

Kit Taylor

Yorkshire

14 August 2026

A cat rescue charity in Leeds has been praised after finding a cat who had been missing for almost a year, 100 miles (160km) from home.

Lucy Roche, volunteer branch leader for Cat Action Trust 1977, external, came across the ginger cat, called Ginge, while caring for a feral colony in Garforth, and noticed he was very tame.

She took him to the vets and managed to use his microchip to track his owner in Sunderland and reunite them.

Roche said the owner was in "flood of tears" when she called and could not believe he had been found.

Volunteers from the charity visit feral colonies across Leeds, providing food, water and shelters to keep them warm.

They also take cats in for veterinary care and neutering if needed.

If the area is unsafe, they will rehome them, either with new owners or in rural areas like farms.

Provided/Lucy Roche

Roche says she safely captured Ginge and took him to a vet

Ginge first appeared at the colony in Garforth a few weeks ago.

"I was stroking him and I thought he's so friendly he could be somebody's cat," said Roche.

She was able to safely catch him in a humane trap and take him to the vets.

There, they managed to find Ginge's microchip and locate his owner in Sunderland.

Ginge came home with Roche while she waited for his owners to come and collect him.

"He was snuggled up next to me and was flat out snoozing because he was so tired.

"I don't think he's had a good night's sleep in ages."

Provided/Lucy Roche

Ginge slept on Lucy's sofa while waiting for his owners

The next day, Ginge was reunited with his owner, Beth.

A video of the two reuniting was shared on social media, and Ginge is now famous around the world.

"We've had people from America, New Zealand saying what a wonderful story it is," Roche said.

"The support has been overwhelming."

She also highlighted that reuniting Ginge with his owner was only because he had been microchipped.

Provided/Lucy Roche

Ginge was reunited with his owners after almost a year

Microchipping for cats became a mandatory requirement in 2024, external, and Roche said it is crucial for helping rescue charities to return lost cats to their owners.

The rescue branch in Leeds is run entirely by volunteers, and Roche said their work is more important than ever before, with "non-stop calls for help" every day.

"So many cats are getting abandoned, lost or injured.

"We just want to make life better for all cats."

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An intense psychological thriller with Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 23:20:41 GMT

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Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:04:28 GMT

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