Vile TikTok trend that leaves animals with horrendous injuries 'must be stopped'
Ministers have been urged to tackle a vile TikTok trend that sees animals killed and seriously injured by catapults.
Labour MP Jim Dickson said he had been made aware of "deeply unpleasant" footage being shared on social media. The MP for Dartford questioned whether catapults should be banned to prevent it happening.
He said sick clips have been posted by younger people who are often encouraged by "older men". Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said she was aware of similar cases and said the Government is looking at ways to combat it. Mr Dickson told the Commons: "Near my constituency there's been a troubling spate of recent incidents where younger people, sometimes encouraged by older men, are filming themselves catapulting wildlife.
"They're doing damage to that wildlife and then placing the footage on TikTok. The footage is deeply unpleasant, I don't recommend anyone looks at it."
Grooming gangs report's disturbing reality highlighted by two word demand
He went on to ask the Labour frontbencher: "Would my honourable friend the minister agree that behaviour goes well beyond anti-social behaviour and may perhaps at some point require a ban on catapults?"
Dame Diana said the Home Office and colleagues from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are looking at ways of tackling it.
She said: "Sadly that's not the first time I've heard about this appalling behaviour, attacking and injuring animals using catapults. I'm certainly raising that with my counterparts in Defra to see what we can do.
"This is certainly something we need to look at."
Animal charity the RSPCA has warned the trend is "unspeakably cruel". National wildlife coordinator Geoff Edmond said previously: 'Day after day, our frontline officers and animal centres see the sickening consequences of weapons being used on animals - severe injuries often leading to death. And what we deal with is probably only the tip of the iceberg as not all cases will be reported to the RSPCA directly and there may be situations where animals injured and killed by these weapons are sadly never found - especially in the case of wildlife."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
an hour ago
- Western Telegraph
‘Cruel' criminalisation of women over abortion must end, says MP ahead of vote
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi said her amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill would remove women from the criminal justice system in relation to their own pregnancies, ensuring they could not face investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment. She said the UK's 'Victorian' abortion law is 'increasingly used against vulnerable women and girls' and that her amendment is the 'right change at the right time' and a 'once-in-a-generation' opportunity to bring change. Abortion in England and Wales remains a criminal offence but is legal with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, with very limited circumstances allowing one after this time, such as when the mother's life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability. It is also legal to take prescribed medication at home if a woman is less than 10 weeks pregnant. Efforts to change the law to protect women from prosecution follow repeated calls to repeal sections of the 19th-century law, the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, after abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019. Ms Antoniazzi said her proposed 'narrow, targeted' measure does not change how abortion services are provided or the rules under the 1967 Abortion Act. She said: 'This piece of legislation will only take women out of the criminal justice system because they are vulnerable and they need our help. As I have said it before, and I will say it again, just what public interest is this serving? This is not justice, it is cruelty and it has got to end.' She added that her amendment is backed by 180 MPs from across the Commons and 50 organisations including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). Tonia Antoniazzi has tabled an amendment to decriminalise abortion (Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament/PA) The MP assured her colleagues the current 24-week limit would remain, abortions would still require the approval and signatures of two doctors, and that healthcare professionals 'acting outside the law and abusive partners using violence or poisoning to end a pregnancy would still be criminalised, as they are now'. A separate amendment has also been put forward by Labour MP Stella Creasy and goes further by not only decriminalising abortion, but also seeks to 'lock in' the right of someone to have one and protect those who help them. Ms Creasy's amendment will also be debated but 'will fall' if Ms Antoniazzi's is passed by MPs, the Commons heard. Referring to Ms Creasy's amendment, Ms Antoniazzi said while she agreed 'more comprehensive reform of abortion law is needed', such change of that scale should take place through a future separate piece of legislation. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who is not present for Tuesday's vote, outlined her opposition to both amendments in a letter to constituents, saying while she believes safe and legal abortions are part of female healthcare, the amendments 'unnecessary' and 'dangerous'. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood will not be at the vote but stated her opposition (Ben Whitley/PA) The issue of women investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions has come to the fore in recent times with prominent cases such as those of Nicola Packer and Carla Foster. Ms Packer was cleared by a jury last month after taking prescribed abortion medicine when she was around 26 weeks pregnant, beyond the legal limit of 10 weeks for taking such medication at home. She told jurors during her trial, which came after more than four years of police investigation, that she did not realise she had been pregnant for more than 10 weeks. The case of Ms Foster, jailed in 2023 for illegally obtaining abortion tablets to end her pregnancy when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant, eventually saw her sentence reduced by the Court of Appeal and suspended, with senior judges saying that sending women to prison for abortion-related offences is 'unlikely' to be a 'just outcome'. MPs had previously been due to debate similar amendments removing the threat of prosecution against women who act in relation to their own pregnancy at any stage, but these did not take place as Parliament was dissolved last summer for the general election. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has urged MPs to vote against both amendments, saying they would bring about 'the biggest expansion of abortion since 1967″. Alithea Williams, the organisation's public policy manager, said: 'Unborn babies will have any remaining protection stripped away, and women will be left at the mercy of abusers. 'Both amendments would allow abortion up to birth, for any reason. A separate amendment, tabled by Conservative MP Caroline Johnson proposes mandatory in-person consultations for women seeking an abortion before being prescribed at-home medication to terminate a pregnancy. She said her amendment aims to make sure women and girls are safe when they access abortion services. She told the Commons: 'I'm not trying to limit people's access to what is clinically legally available. I'm trying to make sure that people are safe when they do so.' She said the change she has proposed would be to protect women who have been trafficked and forced into sex work or those who have been sexually abused and where a perpetrator is attempting to cover up their crimes by causing a termination. But Ms Antoniazzi said remote access to abortion care was 'safe, effective and reduces waiting times', and that such a change would 'devastate abortion access in this country'. The changes being debated this week would not cover Scotland, where a group is currently undertaking work to review the law as it stands north of the border. On issues such as abortion, MPs usually have free votes, meaning they take their own view rather than deciding along party lines. The Government has previously said it is neutral on decriminalisation and that it is an issue for Parliament to decide upon.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Government recognises financial challenge in mitigating two-child cap
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said applications will open for mitigation of the welfare policy on March 2, with payments being made 'as soon as possible' afterwards – meaning it will likely take place just ahead of the Scottish Parliament election. She said the move will lift 20,000 children out of relative poverty, according to Scottish Government estimates. However the minister also told MSPs she is 'deeply disappointed' that Scotland's interim child poverty targets have not been met, saying there is no single reason for them being missed. Plans to mitigate the two-child cap were first announced last year but First Minister John Swinney said his Government needed time to set up the system. Introduced under the Conservatives, the two-child cap limits benefits in most cases to the first two children born after April 2017. Labour has cited fiscal constraints for keeping the cap, but in May the Prime Minister said he will be 'looking at all options' to tackle child poverty. Ms Somerville said Scotland cannot wait for a decision at Westminster and implementing it in March – 15 months after the initial announcement – will be the fastest a new social security has even been introduced in Scotland. Following an announcement on Tuesday morning, Ms Somerville addressed MSPs on the Government's 'tackling child poverty delivery plan'. She said it is 'deeply disappointing' that interim child poverty targets have not been met, but rates are nevertheless coming down, and she pledged to 'build on that progress' ahead of 2030 targets. Conservative MSP Liz Smith pressed the minister on how the mitigation policy will be funded, saying the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) has noted a 'widening gap' between the Scottish Government's welfare spending and its funding. She said: 'Can I ask where the other cuts will be made to pay for that mitigation?' Ms Somerville said her Government is 'resolute' in tackling economic inactivity, saying people should not be punished for having children. Decisions from the UK Government have pushed more people into poverty, she claimed. Discussing the SFC's forecasts, she said: 'Those are choices that we have taken – to ensure that we are protecting disabled people and children. 'Because we need to protect them from the effects of poverty. 'Those are decisions which will obviously be set out in the work that is being taken forward by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance as we look to the sustainability of our finances. 'We recognise that challenge.' She said the 'easiest way to deal with that challenge' would be for the UK Government to scrap the two-child cap and proposals to cut disabled benefits. Scottish Labour's Paul O'Kane said: 'For all the rhetoric we've had from the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary after 18 years in office, relative child poverty after housing costs has only fallen by 1%. 'When the Cabinet Secretary says rates are broadly stable, what she means is that the dial hasn't shifted.' The Scottish Fiscal Commission said the mitigation will cost around £150 million next year, before rising to nearly £200 million by the end of the decade. Ms Somerville said around 43,000 children would benefit initially, rising to 50,000 by the end of the decade. In March, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned the policy could harm incentives to work because some of the lowest-paid workers could earn more on welfare than in employment. The move has been welcomed by anti-poverty charities, who have urged the UK Government to scrap the cap, with the Child Poverty Action Group saying the move would lift 350,000 children across the UK out of poverty.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Halton Council faces hefty bill to balance books
A council in Cheshire could end up repaying almost double the £10m it is set to borrow from the government in order to stay Borough Council is one of 30 local authorities in England to be granted exceptional financial support in order to stabilise its payment is not a bailout, but a loan from the government's Public Works Loans Board to be paid back over the next 20 Local Democracy Reporting Service understands Halton Council would have to pay back £19m at the current rate of interest on the loan. The Labour-run council applied for the loan after going £19m over budget with just £11.6m left in reserves.A previous report found the overspend had been largely driven by the cost of employing temporary agency staff, such as social workers and care workers, and expensive residential placements for £10m loan's current rate of interest is 4.5%, which equates to £450k a year in interest, totalling £9m in interest payments alone over the next 20 the original loan figure and interest combined, this would see a total repayment of £19m, all paid back at £950,000 a year for the next two interest rate on the loan is fixed, but borough finance chiefs hope that when the time comes to actually borrow the money – which is expected to be this autumn – the interest rate will be lower, reducing the overall payment. Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
