Latest news with #DanCarden
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Combat sports review after death of kickboxer, 15
A review of the safety of children who compete in combat sports has been ordered by the government following the death of a 15-year-old world kickboxing champion. Alex Eastwood, from Fazakerley in Liverpool, died on 29 June 2024, three days after he collapsed following an unsanctioned charity fight against a 17-year-old opponent in Wigan, Greater Manchester. Advertisement Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock told MPs that Sport England would work with the martial arts sector to identify safety improvements and present a plan "in the coming months". She was responding to calls for better regulation of martial arts competitions from Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden, who is supporting Alex's parents. 'Safeguarding failures' Carden said he had called the debate in the House of Commons with "a heavy heart" and that "Alex's death was not simply a tragic accident but a preventable loss" which had "highlighted a dangerous gap in our duty to protect children". Advertisement Alex's father Stephen Eastwood and step-mother Nikita were in the public gallery to hear the debate. Speaking outside Parliament while holding a photograph of his son, Mr Eastwood said several safeguarding failures had come to light during Alex's inquest. He said parents often "assumed" sporting events were sanctioned and regulated, but that had not been the case with the charity fundraiser fight at TKMA Gym in Platt Bridge, Wigan. Mr Eastwood said he and his wife had fallen "victim" to the assumption "that everything was above board - we assumed that everything was in place". Advertisement He said it was only during last month's inquest that the family had discovered "that wasn't true". Alex Eastwood's death has been described by an MP as "not simply a tragic accident but a preventable loss" [Family handout] Mr Eastwood said he would not like to see kickboxing banned for children since "it helps keep them off the streets, it helps tackle obesity, it's good for mental awareness [and] it gives them a springboard going into future life". But he said there needed to be better safeguarding, first aid facilities and medical care available. Mr and Mrs Eastwood are due to meet Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy on Monday and will ask her to implement "a minimum standard for gyms that have children in", including "proper DBS checks and proper safeguarding". Advertisement Mrs Eastwood urged other families involved in kickboxing to ask questions of the venues where their children train and compete. She said: "Ask, is this a regulated gym? Where are your DBS checks? Who's your health and safety officer? Who's your safeguarding coach?" She suggested that gyms could also display this information on their walls. Peacock said her department and Sport England would work together to develop guidance for the martial arts sector and review safeguarding codes to ensure they were fit for purpose. She said Sport England would also work with the children's charity NSPCC to help educate parents and carers on what to look for when considering martial arts tuition. Advertisement Peacock said her department was also exploring ways to strengthen safety standards in clubs and competitions that are not affiliated with national governing bodies. She said conversations were also being had with the martial arts sector to understand how to help parents and carers be confident that their children are safe when participating. 'Unsanctioned and unregulated' Carden told the Commons the inquest into Alex's death heard that standards around safety, medical oversight and safeguarding varied widely, and in many cases were absent. He added: "If a match is unofficial or unsanctioned, there is no guideline minimum standard that must be met to provide safeguarding for a child participant, no minimum standard of medical support that might be required, no maximum rounds, no periods of rest, no welfare checks on participants, and no risk assessment and critical incident plan. Advertisement "It should stop us all in our tracks to learn that in this country, children can be placed in combat situations without clear, enforceable national protections." Carden said Alex's family had "done everything right - everything a loving family would do. They encouraged him to get involved in a range of sports and activities and supported him when it became clear that he had a talent for kickboxing". But he said "they and Alex were failed by a lack of safeguarding, responsibility and regulation". He told MPs: "Every single day, children up and down the country take part in activities like Alex did. They lace up gloves, put on headgear and step into training halls and rings, with no minimum standards in place to ensure their safety." Advertisement He said parents like the Eastwoods would be oblivious to some of the risks of unsanctioned and unregulated bouts. Peacock said: "The coroner's report on the case of Alexander Eastwood highlighted specific issues around clubs and competitions that are not affiliated with a national governing body. We are now looking into that as a matter of urgency." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230. More on this story Related internet links
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Combat sports review follows death of Liverpool kickboxer, 15
A review of the safety of children who compete in combat sports has been ordered by the government following the death of a 15-year-old world kickboxing Eastwood, from Fazakerley in Liverpool, died on 29 June 2024, three days after he collapsed following an unsanctioned charity fight against a 17-year-old opponent in Wigan, Greater Minister Stephanie Peacock told MPs that Sport England would work with the martial arts sector to identify safety improvements and present a plan "in the coming months".She was responding to calls for better regulation of martial arts competitions from Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden, who is supporting Alex's parents. 'Safeguarding failures' Carden said he had called the debate in the House of Commons with "a heavy heart" and that "Alex's death was not simply a tragic accident but a preventable loss" which had "highlighted a dangerous gap in our duty to protect children".Alex's father Stephen Eastwood and step-mother Nikita were in the public gallery to hear the debate. Speaking outside Parliament while holding a photograph of his son, Mr Eastwood said several safeguarding failures had come to light during Alex's said parents often "assumed" sporting events were sanctioned and regulated, but that had not been the case with the charity fundraiser fight at TKMA Gym in Platt Bridge, Eastwood said he and his wife had fallen "victim" to the assumption "that everything was above board - we assumed that everything was in place". He said it was only during last month's inquest that the family had discovered "that wasn't true". Mr Eastwood said he would not like to see kickboxing banned for children since "it helps keep them off the streets, it helps tackle obesity, it's good for mental awareness [and] it gives them a springboard going into future life".But he said there needed to be better safeguarding, first aid facilities and medical care and Mrs Eastwood are due to meet Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy on Monday and will ask her to implement "a minimum standard for gyms that have children in", including "proper DBS checks and proper safeguarding".Mrs Eastwood urged other families involved in kickboxing to ask questions of the venues where their children train and compete. She said: "Ask, is this a regulated gym? Where are your DBS checks? Who's your health and safety officer? Who's your safeguarding coach?"She suggested that gyms could also display this information on their said her department and Sport England would work together to develop guidance for the martial arts sector and review safeguarding codes to ensure they were fit for said Sport England would also work with the children's charity NSPCC to help educate parents and carers on what to look for when considering martial arts said her department was also exploring ways to strengthen safety standards in clubs and competitions that are not affiliated with national governing said conversations were also being had with the martial arts sector to understand how to help parents and carers be confident that their children are safe when participating. 'Unsanctioned and unregulated' Carden told the Commons the inquest into Alex's death heard that standards around safety, medical oversight and safeguarding varied widely, and in many cases were added: "If a match is unofficial or unsanctioned, there is no guideline minimum standard that must be met to provide safeguarding for a child participant, no minimum standard of medical support that might be required, no maximum rounds, no periods of rest, no welfare checks on participants, and no risk assessment and critical incident plan. "It should stop us all in our tracks to learn that in this country, children can be placed in combat situations without clear, enforceable national protections."Carden said Alex's family had "done everything right - everything a loving family would do. They encouraged him to get involved in a range of sports and activities and supported him when it became clear that he had a talent for kickboxing". But he said "they and Alex were failed by a lack of safeguarding, responsibility and regulation".He told MPs: "Every single day, children up and down the country take part in activities like Alex did. They lace up gloves, put on headgear and step into training halls and rings, with no minimum standards in place to ensure their safety." He said parents like the Eastwoods would be oblivious to some of the risks of unsanctioned and unregulated said: "The coroner's report on the case of Alexander Eastwood highlighted specific issues around clubs and competitions that are not affiliated with a national governing body. We are now looking into that as a matter of urgency." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
The Guardian
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Blue Labour leader Dan Carden to vote against assisted dying bill
The leader of the Blue Labour group has said he will vote against the assisted dying bill – one of the most high-profile switchers – as both sides make their final pleas to MPs ahead of Friday's crunch vote. It comes as campaigners and bereaved relatives joined the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater ahead of the third reading vote to urge parliament to back the reforms, saying it would be at least a decade before another chance to change the law. The bill would legalise assisted dying for mentally competent adults in their final months of life. Dan Carden, who previously abstained, said it was core Labour vales that drove him to vote against the bill. 'Legalising assisted suicide will normalise the choice of death over life, care, respect and love,' he said. 'I draw on my own family experience, caring for my dad who died from lung cancer three years ago. 'I genuinely fear the legislation will take us in the wrong direction. The values of family, social bonds, responsibilities, time and community will be diminished, with isolation, atomisation and individualism winning again. The MP for Liverpool Walton, whose group seeks to promote culturally conservative or what it says are blue-collar values within the party, added: 'For people who live with the reality of rundown public services, particularly palliative end-of-life care, poverty, hardship and broken down communities are a fact of life. They will be impacted very differently. And that's something the political class doesn't dare discuss.' At a press conference on Thursday morning, MPs backing the bill said a failure to pass legislation could condemn thousands of terminally ill people and their families to years of more trauma, secrecy and fear of prosecution. 'It has gone through hours and hours of scrutiny, and colleagues have had this bill since November,' Leadbeater said on Thursday. 'If we don't pass this law tomorrow, it could be another decade before this issue is brought back to parliament. And in that time, how many stories [of suffering] will we hear?' About 15 MPs who backed the bill or abstained at its second reading have now said they are likely to vote against it. MPs previously backed the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55 in November. Should it pass its third reading on Friday, it will go to the House of Lords. Keir Starmer has indicated he will continue to back the bill, saying his position on assisted dying is 'longstanding and well known'. But the former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has described Leadbeater's bill as fundamentally flawed and urged MPs to reject it. In the office of the Conservative MP and former minister Andrew Mitchell on Thursday, campaigners shared raw testimony of being failed by the current law. Anil Douglas told the story of his father, Ian, who died by suicide after ordering opioids on the dark web. He was suffering from secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, and no longer able to face the pain, Douglas said. 'On the night he died, I found him still alive. I cracked and called the GP, she had a legal obligation to call an ambulance, and soon paramedics arrived.' They tried to resuscitate his father. 'A couple of days later, a police investigation hung over our heads for more than six months. Nothing can prepare you for that experience of grief in real time, that kind of trauma.' Pamela Fisher, a Church of England lay preacher with terminal breast cancer, said she supported the bill not in spite of her Christian faith but because of it. 'I don't want to die now, but I'm in terror at the prospect of how my final weeks may turn out to be,' she said. 'Even the best palliative care has limits.' Fisher rejected religious objections to assisted dying as misrepresenting Christian values.'My god is not a harsh and controlling god,' she said. 'My god is a god of love who invites us to work with him to create conditions of greater compassion [in] society. Religious arguments against the bill also sometimes overlook the Christian concept of free will.' The Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols – who is opposed to assisted dying – has previously argued that the suffering of human beings is 'an intrinsic part of our human journey, a journey embraced by the eternal word of God, Christ Jesus himself'.
Rhyl Journal
16-06-2025
- Business
- Rhyl Journal
Parliamentary group ‘demand action' over online tax threat to racing
Timothy, whose constituency of West Suffolk includes Newmarket, is co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock, which will release a report on Monday that warns the industry could be deeply affected by proposals to raise online betting taxes, added to existing concerns around affordability checks and a failure to deliver a more sustainable central funding model. Ahead of the budget, the Treasury is also seeking views on replacing the current three-tax structure of online gambling duties with a single remote betting and gaming duty, which would tax bets on racing at the same rate as more profitable online casino and slot games and possibly lead to a reduction in bets on racing, which would affect the sport's funding. Timothy said: 'Horse racing is one of the crown jewels of British sport and culture. Newmarket, in my constituency, is the centre of racing and breeding in Britain. Some of the most important racing operations in the world are based in Suffolk, and these businesses invest huge sums of money into the local economy. 'This is a story we could tell across the country, from rural villages to towns like Cheltenham and Doncaster, where horse racing is part of the social fabric and has been for centuries. 'The public recognise this. Nobody will forgive ministers if their decisions lead to the decline of the nation's second-biggest spectator sport. The time for warm words has ended – we now demand action. The government must listen to the public and take immediate measures to secure the future of horse racing in Britain.' Fellow co-chair Dan Carden counts Aintree in his Liverpool Walton constituency and he added: 'The message from this report is clear: British racing needs this Labour Government to be on its side. 'Racing is part of our national story, and its enjoyment and support extends all the way from rural to urban working class communities. 'I'm calling on the government to listen and to act in order to secure a fair funding model, protect jobs and allow horse racing to thrive for future generations.' Brant Dunshea, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, believes racing is a 'cherished national institution, loved by people across every part of society, across every type of community, across every political party' and it should be 'allowed it to survive and thrive instead of risking its future'. He said: 'The cultural, social and economic value of racing is huge for towns and rural areas across Britain. It is those communities that will suffer the job losses, the decline in community pride and the loss of identity that will come if racing is allowed to fail. 'British racing cannot – and must not – be allowed to fail. All of us who love and depend on this iconic sport call on the government to recognise the depth of the feeling and act now to back British racing.'
South Wales Guardian
16-06-2025
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Parliamentary group ‘demand action' over online tax threat to racing
Timothy, whose constituency of West Suffolk includes Newmarket, is co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock, which will release a report on Monday that warns the industry could be deeply affected by proposals to raise online betting taxes, added to existing concerns around affordability checks and a failure to deliver a more sustainable central funding model. Ahead of the budget, the Treasury is also seeking views on replacing the current three-tax structure of online gambling duties with a single remote betting and gaming duty, which would tax bets on racing at the same rate as more profitable online casino and slot games and possibly lead to a reduction in bets on racing, which would affect the sport's funding. Timothy said: 'Horse racing is one of the crown jewels of British sport and culture. Newmarket, in my constituency, is the centre of racing and breeding in Britain. Some of the most important racing operations in the world are based in Suffolk, and these businesses invest huge sums of money into the local economy. 'This is a story we could tell across the country, from rural villages to towns like Cheltenham and Doncaster, where horse racing is part of the social fabric and has been for centuries. 'The public recognise this. Nobody will forgive ministers if their decisions lead to the decline of the nation's second-biggest spectator sport. The time for warm words has ended – we now demand action. The government must listen to the public and take immediate measures to secure the future of horse racing in Britain.' Fellow co-chair Dan Carden counts Aintree in his Liverpool Walton constituency and he added: 'The message from this report is clear: British racing needs this Labour Government to be on its side. 'Racing is part of our national story, and its enjoyment and support extends all the way from rural to urban working class communities. 'I'm calling on the government to listen and to act in order to secure a fair funding model, protect jobs and allow horse racing to thrive for future generations.' Brant Dunshea, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, believes racing is a 'cherished national institution, loved by people across every part of society, across every type of community, across every political party' and it should be 'allowed it to survive and thrive instead of risking its future'. He said: 'The cultural, social and economic value of racing is huge for towns and rural areas across Britain. It is those communities that will suffer the job losses, the decline in community pride and the loss of identity that will come if racing is allowed to fail. 'British racing cannot – and must not – be allowed to fail. All of us who love and depend on this iconic sport call on the government to recognise the depth of the feeling and act now to back British racing.'
