Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed the Labour Government will move to introduce legislation this year forcing criminals to attend their sentencing hearings.

Healey, who appeared on GB News this morning, made the announcement following the absence of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana during his sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday.

FULL STORY HERE.

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A group of indigenous Chagossian people have instructed lawyers to challenge the controversial Chagos deal, in yet another blow to the government’s beleaguered agreement.

It comes as the deal faces criticism from all sides, Donald Trump threatening to veto it, the new Mauritian government demanding further concessions from Britain and concerns being raised by the government’s own Labour MPs.

Now, The Independent understands that Chagossian Voices, a group representing people who originate from the Chagos Islands, has sought legal advice and is willing to take the government to court over the plans.

The government announced a deal to hand over the islands to Mauritius in October 2024, which is meant to secure the future of a secretive military base on the island of Diego Garcia.

But it is understood the group wants to pursue all options to ensure that the deal does not go ahead, rejecting Mauritian sovereignty over the archipelago, which is located some 1,680 kilometres north-east of the Indian Ocean nation.

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They have pointed out that the Chagossian people – who were forcibly removed from Chagos more than 50 years ago to make way for the military base – have their own language and culture entirely separate to Mauritius.

They also claim that they were not consulted on the agreement. Frankie Bontemps, a founding member of Chagossian Voices, said people who originate from the islands feel both “powerless and voiceless” in making decisions about their futures.

“[Chagossians] have endured fifty years of exile of suffering… but both the British and the Mauritian government are after their own interests”, he told a meeting of indigenous Chagossians to engage with MPs in Parliament on Wednesday.

It comes as the UK attempts to renegotiate the deal previously agreed with Mauritius after the newly elected administration raised objections to the original agreement and is reportedly seeking more compensation.

Mr Bontemps added: “The foreign secretary made a statement in parliament that they are interested to secure the deal for 99 years. And Mauritius is after how much compensation they can get for the 99 year lease. While in the middle of this tragedy there’s a people, the Chagossian people.

“It’s not the British or the Mauritians who suffered deportation, exile. It’s us, the descendants.”

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The foreign secretary has insisted the agreement is “a good deal” which secures the long-term future of the airbase. He has also pointed out that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the islands belong to Mauritius.

However, in a separate opinion delivered alongside the ICJ’s ruling in 2019, Judge Gaja said the will of the Chagossians should be taken into account.

“The General Assembly may have considered that, as the result of the process of decolonization, the Archipelago would become part of Mauritius. However, the General Assembly may revisit the issue and in particular take into account the will of the Chagossians”, he said.

Human Rights Watch have insisted that “the UK and Mauritius should prioritize the Chagossian people’s participation” in negotiations about the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.

Earlier this week Labour MP Peter Lamb accused foreign secretary David Lammy of misleading parliament over his engagement with Chagossians.

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, the MP for Crawley claimed there is “certainly evidence” that statements made in the Commons by the foreign secretary “do not appear to be true”, referencing claims that the government has engaged with the Chagossians throughout the process of striking a deal.

On October 7 2024, the foreign secretary told the House of Commons: “Of course we kept the Chagossians informed all along the way.”

But Chagossian Voices said they have not met with Mr Lammy, and that FCDO minister Stephen Doughty, who has met with the group twice since the deal was agreed, refused to discuss the negotiations.

The comments made by Mr Lamb – whose constituency is home to the largest community of Chagossians in the UK – highlight the fractious state of relations over the deal, the future of which is becoming increasingly uncertain.

The FCDO has been contacted for comment.

The government has launched its promised independent review into the loan charge but has been met with criticism from campaigners who dismissed it as a “sham”.

The loan charge was implemented to close a tax loophole and recover backdated taxes but has left many freelance workers facing large bills.

In a statement on Thursday, Treasury Minister James Murray said the review would look at barriers preventing those owing money from “reaching resolution with HMRC and to recommend ways in which they can be encouraged to do so”.

However, it will not reconsider the government’s position that the loan charge is fair.

This has led the Loan Charge Action Group to dismiss the review as a “sham” and a “complete betrayal”.

“What the government has announced today is not a review at all, as it actually astonishingly excludes reviewing the loan charge,” said group founder Steve Packham.

He said the review failed to look at how HMRC set up the loan charge and who operated and promoted the tax avoidance schemes.

In 1999, the then-Labour government introduced IR 35, a tax law which sought to class many self-employed freelance workers as employers, meaning they would have to pay National Insurance.

Thousands subsequently signed up to schemes, promoted by lawyers and accountants, allowing them to legally avoid paying National Insurance.

This usually involved the freelancers paying money to offshore companies, who loaned it back to them without expecting the loan to be repaid.

After the government shut this loophole, the Treasury used the loan charge to ask the freelancers to pay backdated tax.

HMRC estimates around 50,000 people are affected by the loan charge.

Announcing a review of the loan charge, Treasury Minister James Murray said: “The government believes that it is right that those who did not pay the right amount of income tax and National Insurance are required to resolve their affairs with HMRC.

“Accepting otherwise would be contrary to the decisions of the courts and would be unfair to the vast majority of taxpayers who have never used these schemes.”

However, he added that there was concern about the charge, particularly the size of some payments and whether people were able to pay “in a reasonable timeframe”.

He said the review would aim “to bring the matter to a close or those affected; ensure fairness for all taxpayers; and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the loan charge”.

It will be conducted by Ray McCann, a former President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, who is expected to report back by the summer.

Conservative MP Greg Smith, and co-chair of the Loan Charge All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), said the announcement of the review was “a farce”.

“This is not the review that was promised nor the review that is so desperately needed and the APPG will continue to push for a genuine inquiry into this scandal,” he said.

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Three judges that oversaw Sara Sharif’s family court cases before she was murdered by her father and stepmother, can be named in seven days, a court has ruled.

The Court of Appeal has accepted an appeal after several media organisations challenged Mr Justice Williams’ controversial ruling that those who oversaw a string of family court proceedings before the 10-year-old’s death could not be identified.

Mr Justice Williams originally cited a “real risk” of harm to them from a “virtual lynch mob” as he said that to suggest family court officials should be held accountable for Sara’s death was “equivalent to holding the lookout on the Titanic responsible for its sinking”.

In the Court of Appeal’s ruling, Sir Geoffrey Vos said: “In the circumstances of this case, the judge had no jurisdiction to anonymise the historic judges either on 9 December 2024 or thereafter.”

A shocking trial saw Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 42, and his wife Beinash Batool 30, found guilty for her traumatic murder, after she suffered a catalogue of 70 injuries, including 25 fractures, human bite marks and burns. Her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted for causing or allowing her death while living with them.

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Details later emerged from previous family court proceedings, which revealed that Surrey County Council had repeatedly raised “significant concerns” about Sara’s safety.

The council first had contact with Sharif and Sara’s mother Olga Domin in 2010 – more than two years before Sara was born – having received “referrals indicative of neglect” relating to her two older siblings, known only as Z and U.

Within a week of Sara’s birth in 2013, the authority began care proceedings concerning the children.

Between 2013 and 2015, several allegations of abuse were made against Sharif and Domin, which were never tested in court despite three sets of family court proceedings.

One hearing in 2014 told that the council had “significant concerns” about the children returning to Sharif, “given the history of allegations of physical abuse of the children and domestic abuse with Mr Sharif as the perpetrator”.

Sara and her sibling U were returned to the parents. Sibling Z remained in foster care where they made allegations of physical abuse perpetrated by both parents, as well as allegations of domestic violence.

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These allegations were denied by Sharif and Domin and the court did not determine the truth.

In 2015, Domin accused Sharif of hitting her and their children, as well as controlling, violent behaviour. He made counter-allegations against Domin and agreed to go on a domestic violence course, but these allegations were never tested in court.

Sara would briefly go into foster care and then join her mother in a refuge. While in foster care, a carer noted scars potentially consistent with cigarette burns on Sara and her sibling, which Domin and Sharif said were chicken pox scars.

By November that year, the family concluded the children should live with Domin, allowing supervised visits with Sharif.

In 2019, a judge approved Sara moving to live with her father at the home in Woking, after she alleged Domin had abused her, where she later died after a campaign of abuse.

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Freelance journalists Louise Tickle and Hannah Summers were two of many media figures who appealed the decision as they told a hearing on 14 January that the judges should be named in the interests of transparency.

Chris Barnes, for Ms Tickle and Ms Summers, called the judge’s decision “unfair, poorly reasoned and unsustainable”, calling it “out of step with the recognised need to promote transparency, and media reporting, in the Family Court”.

The children’s guardian, representing other minors involved in the case, opposed the appeal. Alex Verdan KC, representing the guardian, said the judge’s decision “would seem to be grounded on concern for the wellbeing of judges”.

“For many professionals working within the family justice system, particularly those in a judicial role, the risks are all too real, but all too infrequently acknowledged,” he added.

Cyrus Larizadeh KC, for Urfan Sharif, has also opposed the appeal, as he said in written submissions that he was “concerned that no harm should come to the judge(s) who presided in the historic proceedings”, citing that media reporting had led to “significant threats” being made to judges on social media.

More follows…

Labour MP Mike Tapp has backed calls for a national review into terrorism laws following the sentencing of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana.

Speaking to GB News, the Dover MP said: “These people, without clear ideologies, who are obsessed with murder, we’ve got to get on top of it.”

FULL STORY HERE.

Hamas is expected to hand over to Israel the names of four hostages to be released on Saturday under the Gaza ceasefire deal.

It is thought they will be soldiers and civilians, all female.

They will be freed in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

It will be the second exchange since the ceasefire came into effect last Sunday. Three hostages and 90 prisoners were released in the first swap.

The ceasefire halted the war which began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 47,200 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says.

Hamas is also expected to provide information about the remaining 26 hostages due to be released over the next five weeks.

This includes the Bibas family – two parents and two children, one of whom, Kfir, was 10 months old when taken captive and is the youngest hostage. It is unclear if this information will include the names or just the number of living or dead hostages.

The prisoners who will be released are of a more serious category than those freed in the first exchange. They will include those who have killed, some of whom are serving sentences of more than 15 years.

Israel has insisted that no-one who was involved in the 7 October attacks will be freed.

The ceasefire deal was reached after months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, led by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

It will be implemented in three stages, with the second stage due to begin six weeks into the truce. About 1,900 Palestinian prisoners will be released during the first stage in exchange for 33 hostages. Israeli forces will also begin withdrawing from positions in Gaza and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians will be able to return to areas they had fled or been forced from.

The ceasefire is meant to lead to a permanent end to the war in Gaza.

Ninety-one hostages taken on 7 October 2023 are still held in Gaza. Fifty-seven of them are assumed by Israel to still be alive. Three others – two of whom are alive – have been held for a decade or more.

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Thousands of schools have been closed on Friday as Storm Eowyn batters the country with winds of over 100mph.

The Met Office has issed two rare red weather warnings in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as Storm Eowyn is likely to damage buildings, uproot trees, cause power cuts, and bring a danger to life.

Elsewhere, every part of the UK is impacted by either a yellow or amber weather warning as many face disruption to their lives and journeys.

Pupils across the country have been told to stay at home, as Northern Ireland closes all of its schools and many in Scotland and Northumberland are forced to close.

The Met Office said winds would pick up rapidly during Friday morning’s rush hour, bringing peak gusts of 80-90mph, and up to 100mph along some exposed coasts.

A wind speed of 114mph brought by Storm Eowyn has been recorded in Ireland, the fastest since records began, forecaster Met Eireann said.

Police said no road users should travel in or to the red weather warning area, and motorists there were advised not to drive unless absolutely essential.

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Some 4.5 million people received emergency alerts on their phones warning of the incoming storm in the “largest real life use of the tool to date” on Thursday.

Parents are urged to check with on their children’s school websites in the morning, with information also posted on council sites and on local radio stations.

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Here is a list of likely affected council websites The Independent has compiled:

Northern Ireland

All schools in Northern Ireland are to close on Friday.

Scotland

All schools in the following areas are closed on Friday:

With Aberdeenshire under yellow and amber warnings for snow and wind, here is the link to their local council website to find out which schools are closed – https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/school-closures

Several schools in the Scottish Highlands were also closed, with a full list for Friday available here – https://www.highland.gov.uk/schoolclosures

The Scottish government also has an online directory here for you to search if your child’s school is closed – https://www.mygov.scot/school-closures

Wales

In Anglesey, dozens of schools are closed due to high winds. You can check the list on their website here – https://www.anglesey.gov.wales/en/Residents/Community-Safety/Weather-warning-24-January-2025.aspx

England

A number of schools are closed in Northumberland, which is under a yellow and amber warning on Friday. The full list of closures will be updated here – https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Alerts

In Cumberland, seven schools have been closed so far on Friday. With a full list for Friday available here – https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/schools-and-education/school-closures

Labour MP Mike Tapp has backed calls for a national review into terrorism laws following the sentencing of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana.

Speaking to GB News, the Dover MP said: “These people, without clear ideologies, who are obsessed with murder, we’ve got to get on top of it.”

Tapp defended the CPS’s decision to not charge Rudakubana with terrorism

GB News / PA

Speaking to the People’s Channel, Tapp stressed that the review would examine everything “from the first referral to the last” to understand how Rudakubana “slipped through the net”.

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“I think this started happening when he was a very young age. So possession of knives, obsession with murder, the vile things he’s been viewing online,” he said.

Defending the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service’s to pursue murder charges rather than terrorism offences in the case, Tapp noted that the CPS “have to charge with the offence they’re most likely to convict on”.

He explained: “If there isn’t that clear evidence of that motivation and ideology leading to those viral murders, they’ve got to go with the one that’s most likely to succeed.

Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to a minimum term of 52 years in prison on Thursday

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“So that was most likely the right choice here, and that’s why we’ve seen him convicted.”

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He explained that while Rudakubana “is clearly a terrorist,” prosecutors faced challenges with proving ideological motivation.

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“The complex part here is, yes, he killed people, and that was vile. He terrorised, he had an al Qaeda manual, he produced ricin,” Tapp said.

“But the CPS made a decision to charge on murder because there wasn’t that clear ideological motivation for carrying out the murders.”

The Labour MP emphasised that careful consideration of charges was essential to secure a conviction.

Tapp told GB News that there wasn’t a ‘clear enough motivation’ for the CPS to charge Rudakubana on

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Tapp emphasised the importance of careful language during legal proceedings to ensure successful prosecutions. “If we say the wrong things for political reasons that jeopardise a case like that, that would be disgraceful,” he said.

The Dover MP acknowledged the dedication of counter-terrorism officers, noting that many attacks have been prevented.

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“Having worked in counter terrorism, we’ve really committed counter officers, people are working tirelessly to stop attacks from happening,” he told GB News.

Tapp also stressed that while many attacks were prevented, this case represented one that “slipped through the net, which is an absolute tragedy”.