Legal recognition for same-sex and surrogate parents proposed
Mr Vibert said: "This measure provides a meaningful and symbolic recognition of parenthood, supporting the child's sense of identity and belonging."
A parental order would also be included in the law to apply to children born in Jersey through surrogacy."A parental order transfers legal parenthood from the surrogate to the intended parents, extinguishing the surrogate's parental responsibility and granting the intended parents full parental responsibility," Mr Vibert said. "This ensures that the child is legally recognised as the child of the receiving parents alone."
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Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Huge 22-inch rat found in home
An enormous 22-inch rat, thought to be the UK's biggest, has been captured at a home in the north of England. The rodent was discovered in a property in the Normanby area of Redcar and Cleveland by a pest controller. Conservative councillors have blamed the Labour-run council for the supersize pest, as they no longer handle domestic rat infestations and expect residents to foot the bill themselves. It comes as Birmingham has been plagued by rats because of growing mountains of uncollected waste amid a months-long bin strike. The crisis reached the point where officials in England's second city introduced a new 'rat tax' for locals if they call out council pest controllers. Glasgow was also hit with a rat crisis in 2023 when giant rats the size of 'small dogs' turned a street in the city into a no-go zone for refuse workers. The biggest rat on record to have been caught in Britain was by a Bournemouth rat catcher in 2018. It measured 21 inches from snout to tail. It is understood that the huge rat in Normanby was nesting in the property at the time. Cllr Taylor, who was sent the image by a local constituent, claimed that the rat 'was almost the size of a small cat'. 'The rats are getting more brazen everywhere now. It seems they have settled into the neighbourhood,' he told The Telegraph. 'I have dealt with rats in the past; it's certainly the biggest I've seen. It's a big concern that it was found in someone's home.' Cllr David Taylor has now urged the Labour-run council to take urgent action to tackle the problem and called for a full vermin study to be carried out across the borough, as well as joint action involving businesses, landlords and social housing providers. He warned: 'The longer this is ignored, the worse it will get. It is a growing problem.' It is estimated that there could be around 250 million rats in the UK, and they can carry illnesses which can be passed to humans, including Weil's disease, which has flu-like symptoms initially but can lead to jaundice and kidney failure. A Redcar and Cleveland council spokesman said: 'The council has a dedicated pest control officer who manages pest issues on council-owned land. 'While we no longer provide a wider pest control service, we do offer advice to residents where possible. 'The council continues to work with Beyond Housing, Northumbrian Water and other partners to address complex issues and explore potential solutions. 'There is also helpful guidance and preventative measures on our website to support people in dealing with pests.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Senior judges reveal regret at handing out ‘unfair' indefinite jail terms and call for scandal to be ‘put right'
Senior judges who imposed 'unfair' indefinite jail terms, which have left scores of inmates locked up for minor offences languishing in prison for decades, have revealed their regret for their part in the 'injustice'. Former High Court judge Sir John Saunders said he would apologise to offenders he handed imprisonment for public protection (IPP) jail terms, which were scrapped in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving thousands already jailed incarcerated with no release date. Now the very judges who dished out the punishment have joined calls for the government to take urgent action to help more than 2,500 prisoners still trapped under the abolished jail term, which has been branded 'psychological torture' by the UN. Victims of the scandal, whose tragic cases have been highlighted by The Independent, include Leroy Douglas, who has served almost 20 years for stealing a mobile phone; Thomas White, 42, who set himself alight in his cell and has served 13 years for stealing a phone; and Abdullahi Suleman, 41, who is still inside 19 years after he was jailed for a laptop robbery. Sir John, 76, who served as recorder of Birmingham before he was appointed to the High Court, told The Independent that if he met an IPP prisoner he had jailed who was years over tariff, he would apologise. 'I should say I'm really sorry this has happened, it's extremely unfair,' he said. 'I didn't want to be party to unfairness. I would feel very bad about it, I would apologise to them.' He said that when the sentence was introduced in 2005 by New Labour in a bid to be tough on crime, it appeared there was a 'certain degree of sense' to plans to ensure offenders completed rehabilitation courses before they were approved for release by the Parole Board. But judges had no idea those prisoners would find themselves trapped in prison indefinitely, often without access to the courses they needed to be released. He added: 'I think the essence of the job of a judge is to be fair. And we really do all try to do that. So when we conduct criminal trials, we attempt to be fair. In passing sentences, we attempt to be fair. 'If we have been party to something which has been accepted by everybody as unfair and we have been part of it… it's a bit of an affront to the job.' He and Simon Tonking, the former recorder of Stafford, have lobbied prisons minister Lord James Timpson to help those still trapped under the jail term. Both have backed a package of proposals put forward by an expert panel convened by the Howard League for Penal Reform, calling for IPP prisoners to be given a release date within a two-year window at their next parole hearing. Mr Tonking recalled imposing an IPP sentence with a minimum tariff of just six months for a relatively minor offence after a man was caught following a woman in an alley. 'Now I wonder what happened to him,' he told The Independent. 'He was in his late twenties. For all I know, he may still be there [in prison]. 'And when I look back at that case, I think I should have tried harder not to impose it.' Although he was doing his best to administer the laws in place at the time, he is now determined to be part of the solution. 'I don't feel guilty, but I do feel, having been part of that, I should be doing all I can to put what has turned out to be an injustice right,' he added. 'And I am driven in part by the fact that I was part of the administration of justice at a time when these sentences were being passed. 'I have been a part of the system that is wrong. I feel that I ought to be part of the system to put it right.' Successive governments have resisted calls to resentence IPP prisoners, claiming they cannot risk letting prisoners out until they have passed the Parole Board's release test. However, at least 94 inmates have taken their own lives in custody after losing hope of being freed, according to campaigners, with many struggling as their mental health deteriorates in prison. Mr Tonking urged the Labour government to use its majority to finally end the injustice by taking up the Howard League's proposals, adding: 'Virtually everybody who has had any professional dealings with IPP knows that it's unjust and now is the time to act.' The proposed reforms also include providing a package of mental health support for released IPP prisoners and tightening up the criteria for recalling them. Currently, many find themselves hauled back to prison indefinitely for minor breaches of strict licence conditions, despite committing no further offences. Paul Glenn, who last year retired from his role as the most senior judge in Stoke-on-Trent, also backed the charity's proposals. He told The Independent: 'Nobody envisaged that 10 years after they should have been released, they would still be in custody. The injustice there is pretty obvious. 'It's undoubtedly right that we should be sentencing people for what they have done, rather than what they might do in the future.' Prisons minister Lord Timpson said: 'It is absolutely right that the IPP sentence was abolished. 'As the IPP annual report shows, we have significantly improved support for these offenders, with greater access to rehabilitation and mental health support. 'There is more work to do as we reduce the number of IPP offenders in custody, but we will only do so in a way that protects the public.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Peaceful ‘pink protest' outside migrant hotel hijacked by masked men
Violent masked men have hijacked a peaceful protest outside a migrant hotel in which women in pink danced a conga. More than 100 demonstrators gathered on Sunday outside the Britannia Hotel in London's Canary Wharf to oppose the use of the four-star accommodation to house asylum seekers. Video showed female protesters dressed in pink performing a cheerful conga as they waved England flags. But the demonstration was soon taken over by a gang of masked men who swarmed the crowd, set off smoke bombs and tried to charge the fence surrounding the hotel before arrests were made. They were also heard chanting 'Keir Starmer's a w----r'. Sunday's protest was the latest in a series of demonstrations over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, including protests and counter-protests outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington on Saturday which led to clashes with police. Smiling as they sang, the conga demonstrators held a banner which said: 'Protecting women and children. It's not far right, it's just right.' One of the protesters was dressed in a T-shirt that depicted the Prime Minister as 'Keir Stalin', with a hammer and sickle, the communist symbol. Lisa, one of the protesters who was dressed in pink, said the protest had been organised by the local community to 'protect our women and kids'. 'We don't want sexual assaults, rapes and robberies in our community. We need proper detention centres and to deport them,' she said. Arrests and chants of 'send them home' Another demonstrator, Kelly, said the reason for dressing in pink was to send a message about 'women and unity'. But then chants of 'send them home' broke out while one man rattled the metal fence outside the hotel in full view of police officers. Tourists, shoppers and guests at a nearby hotel stopped to take pictures of the demonstration. Protesters jeered at people going in and out of the hotel, while at least one man was detained after an angry confrontation with officers. Onlookers chanted 'shame' as he was carried away. Tower Hamlets council was recently informed by the Home Office that it intended to use the hotel to house asylum seekers. In the early hours of Saturday morning, a coachload of men entered the Britannia Hotel, but it is unclear if they were migrants. On Sunday, a food delivery believed to be from Nando's was made to the hotel, which led to a number of boos from protesters. The Home Office would not confirm the identity of the men on the coach, but said in a statement: 'Since this Government took office, we have taken immediate action to fix the asylum system, removing more than 35,000 people with no right to be here in our first year.' Hotel protests spreading On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police made nine arrests after rival groups gathered outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington, north London. A protest and counter-protest also took place in Newcastle city centre outside the New Bridge Hotel and four people were arrested on suspicion of public order offences, Northumbria Police said. Scotland Yard said plans were in place to 'respond to any protest activity in the vicinity of other hotels in London being used to accommodate asylum seekers'. Elsewhere, Essex Police placed a number of restrictions on a planned protest in Epping on Sunday evening. The force ordered that the demonstration should finish by 8.30pm and must take place in designated areas outside the Bell Hotel, which has been the focus of a series of protests over the last few weeks. Police have also banned face coverings until 3am on Monday and have the power to direct anyone committing or suspected of committing anti-social behaviour to leave the area until 8am on Monday.
