'I have nightmares about potholes' - Kent Council roads boss
As part of the multi-million pound investment, the Reform-run council says £25m would be used on renewing and reconstructing roads, while £14m would also be sought from the Department for Transport to fund a dedicated pothole patching programme.In March, the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey found that fixing the backlog of repairs on roads in the South East would cost about £2.5bn.Mike Sole, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group in Kent County Council, said residents want to "see those potholes being repaired with their own eyes".
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Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Starmer under new pressure over migrants after 700 protestors stage angry demo at Scots asylum hotel that housed rapist
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faced mounting pressure over the housing of illegal immigrants last night after 700 people were involved in angry clashes outside a migrant hotel in a Scots town. Police had to call in reinforcements as local residents and anti-racism groups hurled bottles and insults at each other outside the hotel in Falkirk which can hold more than 50 asylum seekers. Community tensions had reached fever pitch after Afghan asylum seeker Sadeq Nikzad, 29, – a former resident in the hotel – was jailed in June for raping a local 15-year-old schoolgirl. Yesterday, one of Sir Keir's own Labour MPs said he believed that migrants should be removed from Falkirk's Cladhan Hotel. Euan Stainbank, the MP for Falkirk, said: 'These hotels don't work for host communities or those who stay there and their use will be ended by this government.' And a senior Tory MSP demanded Sir Keir's government find an alternative way to house migrants as soon as possible – and said locals had 'legitimate safety concerns for themselves and for their children'. Yesterday's demo is the first large-scale asylum hotel protest in Scotland following similar demonstrations in England, notably outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex. On Friday, Epping Forest District Council managed to secure a temporary block on The Bell accepting any further asylum seekers due to an increase in community tensions. If a judge rules in the council's favour on Tuesday it could open the door to a flurry of similar applications to the courts to dismantle asylum hotels at a community level, including from Falkirk. But last night Scottish Conservative Community Safety spokeswoman Sharon Dowey called for Labour to intervene as a priority. She said: 'Robust action is needed from Labour ministers if they're serious about keeping Scots safe. 'They can start by heeding the concerns of local communities and look into closing these hotels by delivering an alternative solution to housing asylum seekers.' Recent Norstat polling suggests the vast majoity of voters in Scotland, 77 per cent, want immigration to either decrease or remain at current levels. The survey published in February 2025 appeared to mirror a UK-wide trend in voters seeing immigrantion as an issue of concern. Ms Dowey believes this weekend's protests 'reflects the widespread outrage felt by those in the community' following the rape conviction of Nikzad. The migrant, who had entered the UK illegally on a small boat, subjected a vunerable 15-year-old to an 'appalling, opportunistic attack' in Falkirk in October 2023. He was later handed a 12-year extended sentence at the High Court in Livingston. The Afghani claimed he'd not been educated on 'cultural' differences and repeatedly shouted 'liar' at judge John Morris, KC. Nikzad – who had uploaded a picture of himself onto his Facebook posing in one of the chairs inside the Cladhan Hotel – is due to be deported after serving his prison term. Hundreds of people turned out to protest alongside Save Our Future and Our Kids' Future outside the hotel yesterday, including Darren, a local father, who claimed he feared for the children's safety in the area. He said: 'There are kids getting followed home and it all leads back to here. And it's not just young lassies, it's boys as well.' Father-of-two Connor Graham took to a megaphone to tell protesters: 'Here's my message: We are not going away. We are not going to be intimidated into silence. And we are certainly not going to be written off as extremists. 'We want a safer Falkirk... we want answers and we want action and we want the same thing every decent person should want, a community where our children can grow up safe.' On the opposite side of the protests was Claire Love, a 42-year-old social worker from Bonnybridge, who joined Stand Up to Racism counter-protestors. She told The Mail she feared there had been an 'increase in racism, homophobia and xenophobia in recent times'. Falkirk MP Mr Stainbank said the former Conservative Government was to blame for a 'broken asylum system' and insisted his party will get to grips with the issue. Referencing the Tory scheme that aimed to send failed asylum seekers to Rwanda which Labour scrapped when it won power last year, he said: 'We must fix the broken asylum system for communities such as Falkirk and those fleeing conflict across the world. 'Refocusing resources away from Rwanda and onto processing will allow us to end the use of asylum hotels, which were set up by the Tories and many of their rebranded Reform colleagues. 'This approach has already seen the asylum backlog reduced by over 59,000 by the start of 2025 compared to if we had kept the Tories broken system. 'These hotels don't work for host communities or those who stay there and their use will be ended by this government.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Since taking office, we have taken immediate action to fix the asylum system and have started closing down hotels and returning more than 35,000 people with no right to be here. 'From over 400 asylum hotels open in summer 2023, costing almost £9 million a day, there are now fewer than 210, and we want them all closed by the end of this Parliament. 'We will continue to work closely with community partners across the country, and discuss any concerns they have, as we look to fix this broken system together.'
The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Starmer to speak with coalition of the willing ahead of Zelensky-Trump meeting
Sir Keir Starmer will speak to western allies on Sunday ahead of Volodymyr Zelensky's White House meeting with Donald Trump. The Prime Minister, France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz will host the meeting of the coalition of the willing on Sunday afternoon. The coalition, made up of 30-plus nations, is prepared to deter Russian aggression by putting troops on the ground in Ukraine once the war is over. The meeting, which is expected to take place at approximately 2pm UK time, comes on the heels of US President Mr Trump's summit in Alaska with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Mr Trump hoped to secure a peace deal from the talks at a military base in Anchorage, but both he and Mr Putin walked away without agreement on how to end the war in Ukraine. The US leader, however, insisted 'some great progress' was made, with 'many points' agreed and 'very few' remaining. Several news outlets have cited sources which claimed that during the negotiations Mr Putin demanded full control of Donetsk and Luhansk – two occupied Ukrainian regions – as a condition for ending the war. In exchange he would give up other Ukrainian territories held by Russian troops. Other outlets reported that Mr Trump is inclined to support the plan, and will speak to Mr Zelensky about it on Monday when they meet in the Oval Office. After the Alaska summit, the US president told Fox News it was now up to Mr Zelensky to 'make a deal' to end the war. Sir Keir commended Mr Trump's 'pursuit of an end to the killing' following a phone call with the US president, Mr Zelensky and Nato allies on Saturday morning. But he insisted Ukraine's leader must not be excluded from future talks to broker a peace in Ukraine.
The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Police arrest 13 people at Palestine Action protest in Norwich
Police arrested 13 people at a protest in Norfolk on Saturday on suspicion of showing support for the proscribed group Palestine Action. A group assembled outside City Hall in St Peters Street, Norwich, holding placards referencing the organisation, Norfolk police said. The force said they were arrested on suspicion of displaying an item in support of a proscribed organisation, contrary to section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. It added: 'Five of those arrested have been taken to Wymondham police investigation centre for questioning, where they remain. The remaining eight people were spoken to by officers and provided their details for further investigation. They were therefore de-arrested. 'A 14th person had their sign seized by officers during the protest and provided their details when requested.' Norfolk police superintendent Wes Hornigold said: 'We will always work to facilitate peaceful protest and protect the democratic right to assembly, however the actions of this group were unlawful. 'Our officers' role is to prevent disorder, damage and disruption in the local community and they will use their powers to do this. Any breaches of the law will be dealt with.' The arrests came a day after the Metropolitan police said a further 60 people will be prosecuted for alleged support of Palestine Action. The force said this followed the arrest of more than 700 people since the group was banned on 5 July, including 522 in central London last Saturday. More prosecutions are expected in the coming weeks and arrangements have been put in place 'that will enable us to investigate and prosecute significant numbers each week if necessary', the Met said. The Met last week confirmed the first three charges in England and Wales for offences under the Terrorism Act relating to Palestine Action. On Friday, organisations including Greenpeace and Human Rights Watch wrote to the attorney general for England and Wales arguing that protesters arrested for supporting the organisation should not be prosecuted until a legal challenge to a ban on the group has been heard. [ Palestine Action was proscribed last month by the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, after the group claimed responsibility for damage to jets at RAF Brize Norton and was also linked to allegations of a serious assault on staff and police officers at a business premises in south Gloucestershire.
