Latest news with #octogenarians
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
How long can overstretched Met Police cope if Palestine Action protests continue?
In 2024, a total of 248 people were arrested in Britain for terrorist-related activity. Within a matter of hours on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police arrested more than double that as 522 protesters were handcuffed under terror laws for holding placards declaring: 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.' Half of those arrested – who face up to 14 years in prison if they are convicted under the Terrorism Act for supporting a proscribed organisation – were over 60 years old, including 15 octogenarians. Many were applauded by onlookers as they were hauled away by officers. The scale of the challenge forced the Met to use a 'street bail' system to prevent police stations from being overwhelmed by what was described by organisers as a 'momentous act of collective defiance' in Parliament Square. The force used two processing points in Westminster to deal with 320 protesters, who were asked to confirm their details before being released and ordered to appear at a police station at a future date. A total of 212 were transported to police custody, likely because they refused to confirm their identity or were already on police bail. The Met said they were aware of online photos and footage suggesting some people returned to Parliament Square after being released on bail, but conceded it would be 'entirely unrealistic' to recognise these individuals. Over the coming weeks, officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command will work to put together case files and secure charges against those arrested. In some instances, charges will also require approval by the Attorney General Lord Hermer. But the threat of arrest and prison appears to be doing little to deter supporters who have vowed to continue to defy home secretary Yvette Cooper's controversial decision to ban the direct-action group with monthly protests, organised by Defend Our Juries, ahead of a High Court legal challenge November. The Met says they proved they can respond to 'significant protest' requiring many arrests, adding: 'We will do so again if we are required to.' However, the toll of hundreds of terror arrests on a force already grappling with a £260million funding shortfall, a staff recruitment crisis and regular large-scale rallies linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict, should not be underestimated. Paula Dodds, chairman of the Met Police Federation, warned 'tiredness is setting in' for officers. 'Officers are overstretched, rest days are being cancelled,' she told The Independent. 'Leave may be cancelled in the coming weeks as we try to ensure that we have resources to police protests as well as business as usual to keep London safe. 'We will need to call on more mutual aid officers to assist if these protesters continue to come out in numbers. It has just been relentless, and I think we are going to see that for a while yet.' She warned the workload of processing arrests, investigating offences and building files to be passed to the CPS increases demand across all departments at a time when the force is already under strain. In the coming weeks alone, officers face the threat of more anti-migrant protests at hotels housing asylum seekers, the restart of the football season and managing Notting Hill Carnival. She said 'only time will tell' if the resulting pressures result in increased levels of sickness or more officers leaving the force. Saturday's protest comes on the back of 221 similar arrests across the country, including dozens in London, in the weeks since Palestine Action was banned after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two military planes with red paint. Last week, the first three people were charged for flouting the ban. They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in September. Ms Cooper has continued to defend proscribing the direct-action group, repeating claims that an assessment found evidence of 'ideas for further attacks' which cannot be reported due to ongoing legal proceedings. 'Many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear - this is not a non-violent organisation,' she said. 'UK national security and public safety must always be our top priority.' Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori claimed the latest demonstration was 'humiliating' for Ms Cooper and would 'go down in our country's history as a momentous act of collective defiance of an unprecedented attack on our fundamental freedoms'. She said the fact most of those arrested at the protest were 'given street bail and allowed to go home' proved the current ban was 'unenforceable'. 'It's clear that more and more ordinary people appalled by this anti-democratic, authoritarian ban will defy it en-masse and it is simply not possible to arrest them all,' she added.
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
People in their EIGHTIES are using surrogate mothers to become parents, shocking new figures reveal
There's been an increase in people aged over 80 using surrogates to become parents later in life—sparking furious backlash from anti-surrogacy campaigners. Surrogacy is when a woman carries a pregnancy for a couple—or individual— who become the child's legal parent after the baby's birth. Figures released by the Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass) showed that between 2020 and 2025, a 'handful' of applications were made by octogenarians. When pressed by The Times, who obtained the data after placing a Freedom of Information Request (FOI), Cafcass refused to reveal exactly how many applications were made by people in their eighties. They said the figures 'could potentially identify the individuals involved', but clarified that there were fewer than six applications per year during that period. This means that there could have been a maximum of thirty applications. The Cafcass data showed there had been 1,991 applications for parental orders between 2020 and 2024. The data revealed an overall increase in older people applying for legal parent status of babies born through surrogacy. There were 416 parental order applications from males and females in their fifties between 2020 and 2025, and 43 from men in their sixties. There was also an upward trend in applications made by men in their fifties, with 44 in 2020 and 95 in 2025. Helen Gibson, founder of the campaign group Surrogacy Concern, said: 'We are appalled to see parental order applications for surrogate-born babies being made by people in their sixties, seventies and eighties — there can be no justification for such a selfish act. 'It is even more concerning to see that these figures are rising consistently year by year. 'There is no upper age limit for parental orders or pursuit of surrogacy in the UK or in the majority of countries British people are travelling to in order to have surrogate-born children. 'It is ludicrous that people can obtain parental orders for surrogate-born children decades after their natural childbearing years have ended. 'Government must strongly consider whether or not any of this is in the child's interests. 'Most surrogacy cases which come before our courts are now dominated by foreign cases, usually babies born to mothers in commercial surrogacy arrangements which would be illegal in the UK, and increasingly to older parents. 'The Government must act urgently to empower the courts to block these parental order applications and ban the pursuit of surrogacy abroad by Britons.' In May, a couple in their 70s were granted a court order to become the legal parents of a 14-month-old surrogate baby boy—despite a judge's concerns they could die before the child reaches 18. The husband and wife, both aged 72, applied to the courts for a parental order in July after the baby was born six months earlier to a surrogate in California using the husband's sperm and a donor egg. In a written judgment handed down in the family division of the High Court, it said the application by the couple - referred to only as 'Mr and Mrs K' - was allowed on March 28. Mrs Justice Knowles said that she had made her judgment public because it raised an 'important welfare issue and offers some advice for those who may, in future, engage in a foreign or other surrogacy arrangement'. She added that it was an 'undeniable fact' that when the child - referred to as 'B' - started primary school, Mr and Mrs K would be both aged 76. 'Put starkly, Mr and Mrs K will both be 89 years old when B reaches his majority [18 years old],' she said. Mr and Mrs K paid just over £151,000 to the surrogate mother and the agency, of which just £24,635 was deemed to be 'reasonably incurred' by the court, according to the judgement. There is no legal age limit for so-called 'intended parents' in surrogacy arrangements in the UK, but campaigners have condemned the trend of older people having babies through surrogates. Lexi Ellingsworth, co-founder at Stop Surrogacy Now UK, said this case demonstrates the 'flaws' in the current law when it comes to surrogacy arrangements in the UK. She added: 'There are no upper age limits for commissioning parents in the UK, or for surrogate mothers, and the 'parental order pathway' would continue to allow Britons to go abroad to buy babies. 'This appalling loophole which enables people to get around our domestic ban on commercial surrogacy practices must be closed by the Government immediately.' Surrogacy is legal in the UK, but the law prevents commercial arrangements, meaning it is illegal to advertise for a surrogate mother or pay her more than 'reasonable expenses'. Under British law, the surrogate mother is treated as the legal mother at birth and any husband or partner she has as the father. Couples in surrogacy arrangements can apply to a court within six months of the child's birth for a 'parental order' to acquire parenthood. These extinguish the status of the surrogate mother and grant parental status to the couple. A new birth certificate can then be issued. However courts in the UK must assess what has been paid to the surrogate mother, as part of the process. If more than 'reasonable expenses' were paid, the court has to authorise the payment — but one has never before refused to authorise a payment because it would ultimately jeopardise the wellbeing of the child. According to in the US - where commercialised surrogacy is legal - surrogate mothers can be paid $20,000 to $30,000. In the UK, which has an 'altruistic' system, surrogates are paid around £12,000 to £15,000.
Telegraph
17-07-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Over-80s applying to be surrogate parents
Over-80s are applying to become the legal parents of children born through surrogacy, figures reveal. Data from the Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass) show a handful of octogenarians were among the applications between 2020 and 2025. Rising numbers of people in their 50s, 60s and 70s are also applying to become surrogates through family courts. Surrogacy allows a woman to become pregnant and give birth on behalf of a couple, who then become the child's legal parents. Critics of the practice say it is unethical and exploits women's bodies. Cafcass did not tell The Times, which submitted a freedom of information request to the agency, exactly how many applications there were from people over 80 as there were fewer than six in each year during the period. The agency said the figures 'could potentially identify the individuals involved '. Applications from men in their 50s rose from 44 in 2020 to 95 in 2025, the figures show. There were 416 parental order applications from males and females in their 50s between 2020 and 2025. There were also 43 from men in their 60s. Cafcass said there had been 1,991 applications for parental orders between 2020 and 2024. Sarah Jones, chief executive of the support group Surrogacy UK, told The Telegraph: 'We are appalled to see parental order applications for surrogate-born babies being made by people in their 60s, 70s and 80s: there can be no justification for such a selfish act. 'It is even more concerning to see that these figures are rising consistently year by year. 'There is no upper age limit for parental orders or pursuit of surrogacy in the UK or in the majority of countries British people are travelling to in order to have surrogate-born children. 'Surrogacy does not centre the rights of the child or their needs, and we are in danger of a new public scandal unfolding where children are treated as commodities: trafficked across oceans before becoming carers for elderly parents who will not live to see them reach the age of majority. 'It is ludicrous that people can obtain parental orders for surrogate-born children decades after their natural childbearing years have ended. 'Government must strongly consider whether or not any of this is in the child's interests. Most surrogacy cases which come before our courts are now dominated by foreign cases, usually babies born to mothers in commercial surrogacy arrangements which would be illegal in the UK, and increasingly to older parents. 'The Government must act urgently to empower the courts to block these parental order applications and ban the pursuit of surrogacy abroad by Britons,' she added.
