The next time you hear Labour tell you that the Government’s measures to tackle illegal immigration are ‘working’, think of Piddington.

This tiny Oxfordshire village is mulling the extraordinary step of seceding from the United Kingdom, because the Government is about to dump 1,250 adult male asylum seekers in a nearby Ministry of Defence site.

If the idea of a leafy English village with a population of 400 becoming an independent country sounds absurd, it’s only slightly less absurd than the Labour Government seeking to force that same village to accept four times its population in illegal immigrants without any say in the matter.

But Piddington is only the start.

This week, our new Prime Minister announced that Britain’s small towns and villages should start preparing for Labour to drop thousands of unwelcome visitors on their doorsteps. Andy Burnham claims that it can’t just be the ‘poorest communities’ that are forced to house thousands of illegal immigrants, adding: ‘All parts of the country need to play their part.’

He won’t like me pointing this out, but Burnham is essentially copying a Reform UK policy, his only difference being the target. In May, Nigel Farage proposed putting migrant-detention centres in Green- voting areas while sparing places that elected Reform MPs.

Burnham has chosen to put illegal migrants in quiet middle-class villages that don’t vote Labour. Same rotten principle.

But then again, we shouldn’t be surprised. Burnham has arrived in Westminster with a more upbeat and chummy demeanour but he’s still leading the same old Labour Party.

Andy Burnham wants to punish the towns and villages that didn’t vote Labour, just as Nigel Farage wants to punish those who won’t vote Reform, writes Kemi Badenoch

The party that introduced VAT on school fees, meaning many children now won’t be going to the schools they love this September – keeps the spiteful class warrior Bridget Phillipson in the Cabinet.

The same Labour Party that said it wouldn’t raise taxes on ‘working people’ – then hiked employers’ national insurance, putting businesses under enormous strain with many having to close or move abroad, taking their jobs with them. The Labour Party has never understood how hard it is to run a business. In fact, most of the Cabinet have never worked outside of the public or charity sectors.

The message from Burnham’s Labour is clear: the people of Piddington, or Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire, or various other quaint villages near RAF bases, aren’t Labour people, so they are just going to have to lump it.

I know what it’s like for an unsuspecting community to suddenly have hundreds of illegal immigrants arrive unannounced. As an Essex MP, I was particularly annoyed by Labour reopening the Bell Hotel as an asylum hotel in Epping, which the Conservatives had closed. That annoyance turned to fury after one of the migrants sexually assaulted a local girl.

I spoke to people in Epping. I met some of the parents terrified for their children’s safety. No one should be forced to see their local area become a no-go zone overnight, where it’s not safe for young women and children. Yet this is what Burnham is telling large parts of the country they now have to stomach.

The last Conservative government has to share some of the blame for the number of illegals in Britain. We tried everything we could to stop the boats, but nothing got past the courts. We had some success in deterring migrants with the Rwanda scheme, but in an act of extreme stupidity, Labour cancelled it on the first day after the general election.

Only one thing will solve this problem – dealing with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). That is why I have changed Conservative Party policy, and we are now going to leave the ECHR so that everyone who arrives in Britain illegally is quickly deported. Labour’s policy is dispersal, ours is removal.

Unlike other political parties, who talk the talk but don’t do the hard work required to make sure that

their plans can actually be implemented, we have prepared a 200-page report explaining how we would leave the ECHR definitively.

This is my priority, while other party leaders waste time with pointless by-elections or, in Burnham’s case, trying to make Netflix cheaper.

Only the Conservatives believe that communities should not have to bear the consequences of the illegal-migrant crisis.

While Andy Burnham wants to punish the towns and villages that didn’t vote Labour and Farage wants to punish those who won’t vote Reform, I want to unite the country – and offer everyone a brighter future under the Conservatives.

Authorities in Ceuta will round up migrants and hold them in warehouses before sending them back to Morocco.

It is estimated that more than 70,000 people flooded into the Spanish enclave last month, taking advantage of lax security and swimming around a border fence that separates Ceuta and Morocco. 

Up to 100 people died during the mass influx which occurred over 48 hours, with Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas declaring a ‘humanitarian emergency’ as the enclave became overwhelmed with new arrivals. 

And authorities said at least five migrant girls under the age of 14 have allegedly been raped since arriving in Ceuta. 

Though most of the migrants who entered Ceuta have now left, up to 8,000 remain. 

The Telegraph reported that Spain‘s government will be using a warehouse in Tarajal, yards from the Moroccan border, and another in the enclave to temporarily house them. 

Officials are hoping to return the migrants within 72 hours of finding them, during which time they will be sent to the warehouses to be formally identified and processed. 

But there are serious questions yet to be answered about migrants who apply for international protection, whose applications have to be examined under EU and Spanish law. 

Though Spain’s foreign minister vowed to send ‘every last person’ back to Morocco on Tuesday, these plans do not override migrants’ rights to have an asylum claim processed. 

The 1,342 unaccompanied children who went into Ceuta last month also pose a problem. While children who went into the Spanish territory with an accompanying adult are expected to be sent back to Morocco with little to no problem, the cases of lone children have to be examined on their own merits.

Before minors can be deported, their age, family, identity and safety back home must be established, weighing up the best interests of the child. 

It comes after the revelation that several young migrant girls have allegedly been raped since arriving in Ceuta. 

The victims sought treatment at the University Hospital of Ceuta (HUCE) this past week, health services told the El Pueblo de Ceuta newspaper. 

Judicial sources said many of the alleged rapes were prevented by the direct intervention of residents of Ceuta.

Some residents of the autonomous city were also among the accused, however.

The Ceuta Prosecutor’s Office previously said it was aware of two of the cases of alleged sexual assault and had opened preliminary proceedings.

It confirmed that no arrests had yet been made. 

The legal procedures required for these allegations to result in convictions include medical reports, victim testimony, security camera footage, witness statements and police reports. 

Judicial sources said they had been made aware of ‘many cases’ of attempted sexual assault, and that the figures will be higher as the days go by. 

Authorities have confirmed that two educational centres in the city will be repurposed as shelters for unaccompanied minors.

Migrants queue to receive food staples from local NGO Media Luna Blanca in an industrial area where they are sleeping amid recent mass crossings by migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into the Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain, August 6, 2026

It is estimated that more than 70,000 people flooded into the Spanish enclave last month

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Though most of the migrants who entered Ceuta have now left, up to 8,000 remain

The first one to be opened is the CEIP Reina Sofía, in the Príncipe Alfonso neighbourhood, which was housing more than 110 girls and teenagers and operating as an exclusively female shelter.

Neighbourhood associations are using the La Reina football field, in the Sidi Embarek neighbourhood, as a night shelter so that women can sleep safely.

The CEIP Príncipe Felipe will act as another shelter for minors, although this educational centre will also be used to house young men.

The city is working on preparing two other spaces, one in the port area and another in Loma Margarita, where all children will be transferred from educational centres to ensure that the school year in September can begin as planned.

Spain’s Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego said Friday that 1,342 unaccompanied migrant minors had been registered in Ceuta following the mass influx from Morocco.

Aid groups have warned that the minors, many of whom are sleeping rough on the streets of Ceuta, are at risk of abuse and exploitation.

Neither the Tories nor Labour are impressed with Mr Farage’s antics.

You’ll remember that he triggered this by-election in June while he was being investigated by the Parliamentary standards commissioner.

This contest, he proclaimed, would prove that he’s been victim of an establishment stitch-up and that he still has the backing of the people.

If only Thomas Tuchel had been allowed to put the World Cup semi final to a vote rather than let the result play out.

But anyway, as polls closed Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said: “Nigel Farage spent 38 days fighting a bin in his most desperate attempt yet to deflect attention from the sleaze and scandals engulfing him and his Party.“Farage may succeed in his run-off against a bin, but he can’t run from the truth forever. The list of unanswered questions about the £5 million gift he hid from the public, his support from a convicted fraudster, and the mountain of other scandals he and Reform are facing isn’t going away. In fact, it’s getting longer by the day.

“It’s time to stop the excuses and desperate distractions and finally come clean with the public. If Farage has nothing to hide, he surely would have done so by now.”

And a Tory spokesman said: “Nigel Farage called this fake by-election in a desperate attempt to draw a line under the questions surrounding his fishy £5 million donation. Whatever the outcome on Friday, this stunt has not done that.”

Police were called to The Locale in the Charing Cross area of the city after the alarm was raised at around 4am on Thursday.

Brazen thieves smashed a keg through the window of a bar before making off with bottles of beer during an early hours raid in Glasgow. Police were called to The Locale in the Charing Cross area of the city after the alarm was raised at around 4am on Thursday, August 13.

Staff were alerted to the break in just hours after the bar had closed for the night. The thieves are understood to have entered the premises from the back of the bar after throwing a keg through a window.

When staff arrived to assess the damage, they found a number of bottles of alcohol had been taken.

Posting on social media, The Locale said: “We’ve been robbed! Some a***holes came in through the back and flung a keg through our window. They only made it off with a few bottles of booze but it’s going to cause some disruption today.

“We will be opening later this afternoon once the forensics have been. Thankfully [our staff] were nearby to attend and assess the damage. We’ll keep you posted for updates.”

Police have confirmed that their enquiries into the incident remain ongoing.

A spokesperson for the force said: “Around 4.10am on Thursday, August 13, we received a report of a theft by housebreaking from a premises on North Street, Glasgow.

“Enquiries into the incident remain ongoing.”

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Two people have been left seriously injured and a further 18 hurt after a train carrying around 150 passengers derailed in extreme heat in East Sussex. 

Now experts suggest that soaring temperatures may have caused the tracks or embankment beneath them to buckle.

The eight-carriage Southern service came off the tracks between Haywards Heath and Lewes at around 3.54pm on Thursday, with three carriages overturning and passengers forced to scramble out of the wreckage as temperatures climbed above 35C.

South East Coast Ambulance Service said around 150 people were on board the train, and 20 were injured. It said two people were rushed to the major trauma centre with ‘severe’ injuries, while a further 18 patients were also in hospital. 

Three air ambulances and at least 20 other emergency vehicles raced to the scene, while a number of passengers who did not require hospital treatment were taken to a local community centre to be triaged and supported.

Pictures from the scene show passengers standing on top of the overturned carriages, with emergency crews including Sussex Police, British Transport Police, paramedics and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service rushing to help those inside.

The cause of the derailment has not been confirmed, but transport experts have raised the possibility that the exceptional heat contributed to the crash by causing the rails to buckle or the dry ground beneath them to collapse.

The eight-carriage Southern service came off the tracks between Haywards Heath and Lewes at around 3.54pm, with three carriages overturning 

A passenger train has derailed near Lewes, leaving dozens of people trapped in overturned carriages

One passenger appeared to be being taken away by emergency staff on a stretcher

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Emergency responders stand on top of the overturned train 

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One suggestion from transport expert Christian Wolmar was that the prolonged heat and drought could have caused the ground beneath the train to dry out and crack, causing part of that bank to give way, leaving the rails without proper support. 

He told the Daily Mail: ‘Well, there are two possible reasons this has happened. 

‘Obviously, the train track might have buckled before the train arrived. But because the first carriages didn’t derail, it might be that the dryness from the heat has led to the embankment collapsing, and then the train made the rails buckle rather than the other way round.

‘I noticed yesterday when I was out on Hampstead Heath for the eclipse. There’s just great big fissures in [the ground], big openings like there’s been an earthquake, and that must be happening in many places.

‘So it could be that there’s something like that that caused the embankment to partially collapse, and then the rails buckled under the weight of the train because the rails were unsupported. Which could be the more likely explanation given that the first four carriages didn’t go down.’

He added: ‘From what one can see of the amount of damage, it doesn’t seem that the train was going very fast, and it appears to not have been very heavily loaded, so fewer people were thrown into each other.

‘It certainly doesn’t seem to be a kind of high-speed crash, just from the lack of damage.’

Norman Baker, a former Lewes MP and ex-transport minister, also suggested the derailment may have been caused by a section of track buckling in the heat.

He told Times Radio: ‘They’ll want to make sure that the railways are completely safe before any trains are allowed back on them and if it has been the case – that the rails have buckled – that will take considerably longer to repair.’

Passengers could be seen sitting at an angle in the overturned train 

There have been no reports of fatalities or serious injuries, although witnesses described passengers suffering cuts and bruising in the terrifying derailment

The cause of the derailment has not yet been confirmed

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People being tended to at the scene after the train derailed near Lewes, East Sussex

One passenger described the terrifying moment she was suddenly thrown from her seat after hearing a ‘loud bang’. 

Yana Ludwig, 56, from Washington State, USA said: ‘It was completely terrifying. I was coming back from London and Lewes is my stop.

‘There was a banging noise and everything went topsy turvy. There was lots of shaking, it felt like a really long time, but it was probably only about 10 seconds.

‘I landed on top of somebody. I’m just glad nobody was killed. It felt like it was maybe 20mins before the emergency services started showing up. It could’ve been faster, time is kind of warped.’

While Rob Bradley, who was travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne with his six-year-old daughter Mabel when the crash happened, said they were in the fourth carriage while the fifth overturned.

He told the BBC: ‘We are doing okay, we were very lucky we were on the fourth carriage. The fifth went on its side.’

He said his daughter had been dancing between the fourth and fifth carriages just 30 seconds before the derailment.

‘As she sat down we felt the train speeding up and started to rock. Then our carriage jumped vertically upwards and we could tell it was a derailment.’

‘The emergency brakes went on the train and everything got thrown forward.’

‘The train skidded for quite a while before it stopped. We turned around and we saw the whole back of the train was open and smoke and dust were pouring into the carriage and we saw the fifth carriage had gone on its side.’

Southern Railway said all lines through Lewes had been closed to allow emergency services to reach the scene

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An air ambulance was seen taking off from the scene at 5.58pm as the emergency response continued

Another passenger, dad-of-two Liton Miah from Eastbourne, said he had been travelling with his wife and daughters to visit relatives in London when the train overturned.

Mr Miah suffered heavy bruising to his side and said he had noticed a warning about a problem with the track before the crash.

‘I saw on the big board there as a problem with the track. I don’t know they didn’t take any precautions. I saved my family and tried to help another couple. The guy was bleeding heavily and there was not much I could do to help him.’

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was ‘deeply concerned’ following the incident.

‘Deeply concerned of reports of a derailment involving a Southern train in Lewes, Sussex,’ she wrote on social media platform X.

‘Grateful to emergency services who are on the scene supporting those impacted. We are working quickly with the rail industry and local partners to assist passengers.’

Southern Railway said all lines through Lewes had been closed to allow emergency services to reach the scene and warned passengers to expect major disruption until 10pm.

The operator said: ‘A train has derailed in the Lewes area. This has closed all lines running through this station.

‘As a result of this, trains are currently unable to run through the area to allow the emergency services to attend the incident.

‘Major disruption is expected until 10pm.’

The disruption is affecting services around Lewes, including routes between Brighton, Haywards Heath, Eastbourne and Seaford, with passengers advised to avoid the affected area while the emergency response and investigation continue.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is deploying investigators to establish how the Southern service came off the tracks.

Leeds regained their slender advantage via Connor’s boot five minutes into the second half but Charnley turned on the afterburners down the right again and was supported by Hanley on his inside to slide over and put Leigh back in front.

With 20 minutes left, Andrew Badrock was sent to the sin-bin for dangerous contact on Harry Newman. A fearless 12-man defensive showing meant Leigh did not give up a point while Badrock was off the field.

The hosts thought they were level with just over three minutes remaining when Hall barged over in the left corner but his trailing right foot was taken into touch by superb scramble defence from Hanley – and Leigh survived again.

After a monster 40/20 from Connor, Leeds had the ball deep in the opposition half with 30 seconds left but Liam Horne held on to another grubber attempt from Connor as Leigh claimed a league double over the leaders.

Leeds: Miller; Newman, Bird, Handley, Hall; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, O’Connor, Jenkins, Hankinson,Watkins, C. Smith.

Interchanges: Holroyd, Cassell, McCormack, Lloyd.

Leigh: Armstrong; Senior, Badrock, Hanley, Charnley; Cook, Lam; Ofahengaue, Horne, Liu, Hughes, Trout, Brogan.

Interchanges: Ipape, Mulhern, Alick-Wiencke, Davis.

Sin-bin: Badrock (61 mins).

Referee: Chris Kendall.

A lawsuit brought by the Trump administration alleging that Harvard University ignored the harassment of Jewish students was tossed out by a federal judge in Boston on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled that President Donald Trump‘s administration did not establish a continuous breach of federal civil rights statutes.

According to the ruling, the legal challenge lodged in March primarily highlighted occurrences during the 2023-24 school year alongside a small number from March 2025.

Stearns noted that the cited events were “too isolated and episodic” to demonstrate an ongoing civil rights infraction at the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“We disagree with the ruling and are assessing next steps,” stated Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice.

A statement from Harvard was not immediately available following the judgment.

The legal complaint had claimed Harvard failed to adequately shield Jewish students amid pro-Palestinian protests following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. Administration officials asserted university leaders remained passive while Jewish students were “harassed, physically assaulted, stalked, and spat upon.”

Responding after the initial filing, Harvard maintained that it “cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, respected, and can thrive on our campus.”

Harvard President Alan M. Garber highlighted measures taken by the school, including the creation of an antisemitism task force. Garber noted that the university appointed a new provost and deans while overhauling disciplinary procedures to render them “more consistent, fair and effective.”

Through the lawsuit, federal prosecutors intended to reclaim billions in research grant money disbursed to Harvard from October 2023 onward. Officials under Trump maintained that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination grounded in national origin or race, justified retrieving the funds.

The complaint represents one component of a broader federal push targeting Harvard after the institution rejected executive demands issued when Trump, a Republican, resumed office last year. Additional efforts by administration figures have focused on trimming research grants and restricting the university’s enrollment of international students and American service members.

In a separate legal case last year, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reverse more than $2.6 billion in federal funding cuts to Harvard. That decision found that the White House put unconstitutional conditions on federal funding, using antisemitism as a “smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault” on universities.

Although locked in a hostile legal standoff, Harvard and federal officials previously engaged in discussions, with Trump personally remarking that both parties were near a settlement. However, the Justice Department’s decision to pursue a civil rights suit in March underlined a severe breakdown in talks, as universities cited for civil rights noncompliance typically achieve resolution via voluntary settlements.

Nicole Kidman has revealed she was warned that marrying her first husband Tom Cruise could have a deleterious effect on her career.

She was 23 when she exchanged vows with Cruise in 1990, the year she achieved her Hollywood breakthrough acting alongside him in Days of Thunder.

At that point, he was 28 and already one of the most recognizable movie stars in the world, having led the cast of a string of hits like Top Gun, Risky Business, Born on the Fourth of July, The Color of Money and Rain Man.

Kidman, now 59, was told her own professional life might be eclipsed by her association with a celebrity who was so much more famous than she was.

‘I’m like: “I don’t care. I’m in love. I want to be married.” And then I was his “wife” and they were like: “See, we told you,”‘ she told British Vogue.

‘I’m like: “So what? I wasn’t meant to marry the man I love? Of course I’ll throw my career away. I don’t care,”‘ said Kidman, who separated from her second husband Keith Urban last summer after a marriage of 19 years.

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Cruise for comment. 

She was 23 when she exchanged vows with Cruise in 1990, the year she achieved her Hollywood breakthrough acting alongside him in Days Of Thunder

Kidman, 59, was told her own professional life would be eclipsed by her association with a celebrity who was so much more famous than she was

Kidman and Cruise adopted two children called Bella, 33, and Connor, 31, over the course of the decade they spent together before their divorce in 2001.

Cruise was Kidman’s first husband, but had himself previously been married to  actress Mimi Rogers, who reportedly introduced him to Scientology.

After her divorce from Cruise, Rogers memorably told Playboy he ‘thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument,’ while her own ‘instrument’ required ‘tuning’.

Kidman has now offered rare insights into her own failed marriage to Cruise, saying: ‘Yeah, I got married so young. Suddenly I was 22, 23 years old and I had this huge movie star husband.’

The Moulin Rouge! actress insisted that ‘it just seemed completely natural,’ adding that she and Cruise ‘just fell madly in love and it was that simple’. 

However, she recalled ‘people saying to me: “OK, well this is really going to affect your career.”‘

Cruise and Kidman became one of the most high-octane Hollywood power couples of the 1990s and were the instant center of attention on any red carpet they attended.

Onscreen, they starred together in Ron Howard’s 1992 western Far and Away and Stanley Kubrick’s swan song, the 1999 erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut.

When they divorced, Connor and Bella reportedly stayed with their father and, like him, remained in the Church of Scientology, to which Kidman does not belong.

Kidman separated from her second husband Keith Urban last summer after a marriage of 19 years, having welcomed two daughters with him

Kidman and Cruise adopted two children called Bella, 33, and Connor, 31, over the course of their more than decade-long marriage before their divorce in 2001

Cruise and Kidman became one of the most notable Hollywood power couples of the 1990s, and were the instant center of attention on any red carpet they attended 

Kidman said that marrying Cruise in her early 20s ‘just seemed completely natural’ to her

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The couple starred in Stanley Kubrick’s erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, which was the director’s final film

They have rarely been seen with their mother in the intervening years, although when Kidman married Keith Urban in the Sydney suburbs in 2006, Bella served as one of her bridesmaids and Connor acted as an usher.

In 2018, Kidman told the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that she was ‘very private’ about her relationship with Bella and Connor.

‘They are adults. They are able to make their own decisions. They have made choices to be Scientologists and as a mother, it’s my job to love them,’ she added.

At that time, Bella was said to be living in London with her husband, IT consultant Max Parker, while Connor was supposedly a resident of Clearwater, Florida, near his father’s penthouse and the global headquarters of the Church of Scientology.

Neither of Bella’s parents was said to have been present at her wedding in 2015, although Cruise was said to have bankrolled the ceremony. 

Kidman, meanwhile, is publicly close to her two daughters from her marriage to Urban – Sunday Rose, 18, and Faith Margaret, 15.

Sunday followed her parents’ footsteps into the public eye when she was 16 years old by launching a career as a runway model, drawing widespread mockery for her severe expression, ‘stomping’ gait and ‘nepo baby‘ status. 

Kidman and Urban finalized their divorce this January, having separated early last summer after a marriage that lasted 19 years.

Kidman has now offered rare insights into her failed marriage to Cruise

Kidman has insisted that she and Cruise ‘just fell madly in love and it was that simple’

In the wake of the divorce, past clips resurfaced of Urban’s cozy on-stage antics with guitarist Maggie Baugh, 26, fueling rumors of a romance between the pair.

One video showed him pointing to Baugh as he sang: ‘I was born to love you’ in Las Vegas, while another was of him changing his lyric: ‘Baby I’ll be the fighter,’ to: ‘Maggie, I’ll be your guitar player,’ during a show in Chicago. 

Meanwhile, Kidman was glimpsed last month sunning herself on holiday in Italy with private equity mogul Michael Reinstein.

Days later, she was seen beaming in Los Angeles while sitting in a car with Reinstein, who appeared to have picked her up at the airport after a flight from New York.

A source claimed Urban was ‘absolutely devastated’ that Kidman had struck up a romance with a new man, according to the magazine New Idea.

He was alleged to have nursed ‘hopes there might be a chance at reconciliation,’ and was said to consequently be ‘going through that feeling of deep loss all over again.’

Twenty people have been injured, two seriously, after a train derailed in East Sussex and a major incident was declared.

Network Rail said the 14:24 BST Southern service from London Victoria to Eastbourne came off the tracks close to Lewes railway station, shortly before 16:00 BST.

Photographs from the scene showed people standing on top of overturned carriages. A passenger who was in the fourth carriage said it derailed from carriage five.

British Transport Police said three carriages derailed, leaving several people trapped. All 150 on board have now been evacuated.

Several rail routes in the area were closed, as emergency teams rushed to the scene and people were advised to avoid the area.

Patients were assessed and treated at the scene, with some sent to local hospitals.

British Transport Police Chief Superintendent Dominique Ioannou said in a press briefing on Thursday night that a number of passengers were initially trapped but were all safely evacuated from the train.

She said while two people sustained serious injuries, a further 18 suffered less serious injuries.

“The train started rocking violently and then I remember clocking eyes with this guy and then there was a lot of screaming,” passenger Rachel Heath said.

“It felt like we flew in the air and the carriage landed on its side and it slid. I felt like it was going to completely flip over.

“There was a mum who was bleeding from her mouth and a dad and his son who had cuts. It was like a movie.”

Mr Farage wanted it to be a “people versus the establishment” showdown but, rather than Labour and Tory rivals, he is facing opponents including satirical candidate Count Binface, actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox, three from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and an array of independents.