Why Britain's police hardly solve any crimes
W HEN STAN GILMOUR started out as a 'regular street bobby' in 1993, he remembers picking up 'multiple burglaries a day'. It was nearly all 'traditional crime' back then: 'you know, the whodunnit, broken window, property gone, search for the suspect'. There were no mobile phones or CCTV cameras, which meant lots of knocking on doors and learning to 'manage the crime scene' to yield clues.
Our survey finds that Britons are pessimistic about the country's cohesion
The police are better; the politicians are worse
The LIBOR saga reflects badly on the courts
Compromise rarely leads to contentment. But it nearly always leads to costs
Matthew Holehouse, our British political correspondent, asks what might happen if Britain made voting compulsory
Their main union has become a platform for activists' causes
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ITV News
10 minutes ago
- ITV News
PM's plan to recognise Palestinian state could 'harm' hostages, families say
British families of hostages taken by Hamas have urged the prime minister to change course on the governments plans to recognise the state of Palestine, saying the policy could "even hurt" those still being held in Gaza. Earlier this week, Starmer said the UK would take the step of recognising Palestine in September ahead of the UN General Assembly unless Israel meets certain conditions. Members of four British families met with Foreign Office officials on Thursday night seeking clarification on whether conditions would also be placed on Hamas, their lawyers said in a statement. 'However, it was clear from the meeting last night that the British government's policy will not help the hostages, and could even hurt them,' they said. 'We do not say this lightly, but it was made obvious to us at the meeting that although the conditions for recognising a Palestinian state would be assessed 'in the round' in late-September, in deciding whether to go ahead with recognition, the release or otherwise of the hostages would play no part in those considerations. 'In other words, the 'vision for peace' which the UK is pursuing… may well involve our clients' family members continuing to rot in Hamas dungeons.' Starmer said the UK would only refrain from recognising Palestine if Israel allows more aid into Gaza, stops the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, agrees to a ceasefire, and signs up to a long-term peace process over the next two months. While he also called for Hamas to immediately release all remaining Israeli hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and 'accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza', he did not explicitly say these would factor into whether recognition would go ahead. The families have a range of views on what the future political settlement should look like but their priority is to keep the hostages 'above political games,' their lawyers said. They are now urging the prime minister to 'change course before it is too late'. 'At a minimum, the British hostage families request that the government confirm that without the hostages being released, there can be no peace, and that this will be an important part of its decision as to whether to proceed with recognition and its current plan.' The families of Ms Damari and freed hostage Eli Sharabi were among those who met with the Foreign Office. Also present were relatives of Nadav Popplewell, who died while held captive, as well as those of Oded Lifshitz, who died, and Yocheved Lifschitz, who was released. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said that the UK will not get into a 'to and fro' with Hamas over the recognition plans and that 'we don't negotiate with terrorists, Hamas are terrorists'. US President Donald Trump disagrees with Starmer plans, as well as those of France and Canada, which have also pledged their countries will recognise Palestine. 'He feels as though that's rewarding Hamas at a time where Hamas is the true impediment to a ceasefire and to the release of all of the hostages,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has been contacted for comment.
Metro
40 minutes ago
- Metro
Woman in her 60s found dead at bottom of cliff just hours after couple's bodies
A woman in her 60s has been found dead at the bottom of cliffs below Whitby Abbey. It is the third death in the area in the space of 24 hours after a couple in their 40s died after falling from the cliff. The woman's body was found yesterday just hours after the couple's bodies were found. Her body was found by a member of the public just after midday on Thursday. Emergency services including police, ambulance, coastguard, mountain rescue and lifeboat teams were all called to the scene. Rescue crews were called in to help with the recovery of her body due to the location and she was taken to the lifeboat house. It is believed the woman fell from the cliff shortly before her death. A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: 'We are investigating the sudden death of a woman aged in her 60s whose body was spotted by a member of the public below Whitby Abbey at 12.53pm yesterday. 'Police, ambulance, coastguard, mountain rescue and lifeboat teams were called into assist with the incident, which is believed to have involved a fall from the cliff. 'Due to the rocky location and high tide, mountain rescue assisted in recovering the woman's body to the lifeboat before being taken to the lifeboat house. 'Enquiries are ongoing to investigate the circumstances for a coroner's report. 'The sudden death is not believed to be suspicious. The woman's family have been informed and are receiving support. More Trending 'Witnesses to the incident or anyone with information that could assist officers, are urged to call North Yorkshire Police on 101 quoting reference number 12250142097.' The police investigation is ongoing before a report will be sent to the coroner. On Wednesday, a couple died after they fell from the cliff by Whitby Abbey. The bodies of the man and woman, believed to be in their 40s, were airlifted from the beach in Whitby as the tide came in. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: You could have the cutest job in the world and become a duck-crossing warden MORE: Influencer found with her 'throat slit by boyfriend' after attack outside cinema MORE: British man dies in Turkey after hair transplant goes wrong
North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Fact check: Recognising a Palestinian state, misleading tsunami video and deportations vs returns
Is the Government on track with its pledge to recognise a Palestinian state? On July 29, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would recognise Palestine as a state in September, ahead of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, unless Israel meets certain conditions. Labour's manifesto committed to formally recognising a Palestinian state 'as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution'. A 'two-state solution' refers to a proposed framework to resolve the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which a sovereign Palestinian state is established alongside Israel. Previous efforts at a peace process did not result in a sovereign Palestinian state. UK governments have long been in favour of a two-state solution, as well as recognising a Palestinian state as part of a process towards that goal. All members of the G7 group of countries have pledged support for a two-state solution, as has the EU and China. Palestine is currently designated by the UN as a 'permanent observer state', a form of non-member state, meaning it cannot vote on decisions made by the UN's main organs and bodies, such as the General Assembly. However, the majority of UN member states have formally recognised Palestine. According to media reports, as of July 2025, some 147 UN member states formally recognised Palestinian statehood, not including France, which in the same month committed to recognising Palestine at the General Assembly in September. The UK is not included in this figure, although it does have a Consulate General in Jerusalem to assist British nationals in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It has been reported that a number of UK peers have questioned the legal basis for any recognition of a Palestinian state. Full Fact has contacted the Government for comment on this. How fact checkers helped set the record straight on PM's viral video When 31-year-old Abby Raworth first realised her photo and name were being shared online – falsely linked to a viral video involving the Prime Minister – she assumed it was a mix-up. Posts on social media claimed that the woman in the video was not mum-of-three Nicola but was really a 'paid actress' or 'actress and agent' named Abby Raworth. Full Fact's investigation brought to light how much was being written about her online 'without any regard for if it was correct or not.' Abby has spoken to Full Fact about her experience, telling us: 'What shocks me is how little people bothered to do regarding checks before they used someone's name and accused them of something. There is a lack of accountability for what comes out of peoples' mouths and if it had happened to any of those people they would have a different opinion on it.' We're grateful to Abby for sharing her story to help show exactly why Full Fact exists to counter the harm caused by misinformation. Old tsunami video circulates amid Pacific evacuations A video circulating online amid major evacuations across the Pacific is claimed to show a tsunami which has taken 'thousands of lives'. But this is misleading. The footage shows three people, including the person filming, narrowly escape huge waves that crash into some small boats on a shore. It was shared online following news of an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia, which triggered the evacuation of almost two million people across Japan. Warnings were also put in place in other locations including Hawaii, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru and China. A caption shared with the video said: 'Massive Earthquake triggers Tsunami taking thousands of lives in seconds with little to no warning.' But this footage is not current, or related to the earthquake in Russia or the subsequent tsunami warnings. It actually showed a tsunami which occurred on the west coast of Greenland in 2017, triggered by a landslide. That tsunami did not kill 'thousands', as stated in the social media posts. Four people were killed, and nine others were injured. The same footage has been wrongly shared in the wake of other earthquakes before. Has Labour carried out 'record deportations'? Labour MP Mike Tapp recently claimed that the Government has carried out 'record deportations'. We've frequently seen MPs and ministers using the word 'deportations' when referring to all immigration returns. Not all immigration returns are 'deportations'. We don't actually know how many meet the official definition of a deportation, which the Home Office defines as 'a specific subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good'. We do know, however, that enforced returns – the category of returns which includes deportations – account for a minority (26%) of all returns carried out under Labour during its first year in office. According to ad-hoc figures published by the Home Office, during Labour's first year in office a total of 35,052 returns were recorded. We don't have the data to compare this exact period to the same period in previous years, but official immigration statistics show that this figure is not a record for the number of immigration returns over a 12-month period, going back to 2004 when this data series began. These figures show that immigration returns over a 12-month period were consistently above 40,000 between 2010 and 2016, for example. It does appear, however, that the 35,052 returns in the first year of this Labour government represents the highest 12-month figure since 2017. While we don't know how many of these returns were official 'deportations', the figures show that the 9,115 enforced returns carried out between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025 also do not represent a record. While this figure is the highest number of enforced returns carried out over a 12-month period since 2018, prior to 2018 enforced returns were consistently above 10,000 over a 12-month period. MPs should use statistics transparently and with all relevant context and caveats, and quickly rectify oversights when they occur.
