A Muslim healthcare worker sued the NHS for racism because she did not ‘get her own way’ and was told she had to wear uniform instead of an Islamic dress.

Naziya Ayub was told that her Islamic dress, which covered her from the neck down to the ankle, was a health and safety risk.

But an employment tribunal heard the British Pakistani refused alternative clothing options – such as trousers – and told her boss: ‘I will not be negotiating on what I wear to work.’

Her complaints of religious discrimination and harassment were all dismissed.

A tribunal judgment said: ‘In answer to direct questions from the Tribunal, she confirmed that trousers of any sort would not be considered modest even if the trousers were baggy or loose fitting. For her, a long skirt or dress was a requirement.’

The employment tribunal, held in Manchester, heard that Miss Ayub worked as a healthcare assistant for Northern Care Alliance (NCA) NHS Foundation Trust from March 2021.

She provided care to children who required long-term ventilation.

It heard that she ‘dresses modestly’ as part of her faith as a Muslim, which means wearing a headscarf and an Islamic dress, a jilbab.

This dress covers the body from the neck down to the ankle and ‘disguises the shape or outline of the wearer’s figure’.

In May 2023, Miss Ayub had a meeting with her line manager Wendy Bacon in which Ms Bacon pointed out she was wearing a long black dress under her work tunic instead of her uniform trousers.

The tribunal heard Miss Ayub asked Ms Bacon if she ‘had a problem with Muslim dress’.

The manager said she had no problem at all with it but she had a duty to point out if she was not in the right uniform.

The following month, Ms Bacon emailed all the team members reminding them of the Trust’s workwear policy.

Following another meeting with Ms Bacon, Miss Ayub raised concerns that she was being discriminated against because of her modest clothing choices.

In July 2023, she met with the assistant director of nursing services Lisa Fern and told her she ‘didn’t want her body shape/outline to be visible’ and said she ‘feels bullied’.

Ms Fern contacted a health and safety adviser about the uniform problem the following month, who warned that Miss Ayub’s workwear could pose potential ‘slip/trip/fall’ hazards when moving or handling a patient or equipment or when negotiating stairs.

In a meeting with Ms Fern in September 2023, Miss Ayub alleged that Ms Bacon was discriminating against her because of her uniform and rejected an offer of mediation aimed at improving the pair’s relationship.

She submitted a grievance saying ‘There is no alternative to an Islamic dress’.

At an investigation meeting, Miss Ayub said Ms Bacon ‘has no respect for religion’.

Later in the year, she emailed Ms Fern to say she would not wear the summer dress and scrub pants uniform because she was not comfortable with the combination.

She said: ‘I will not change my identity to please others who show signs of racism and religious discrimination.’

She said her clothing would be assessed as posing a ‘low’ health and safety risk, adding: ‘I will not be negotiating on what I wear to work, and I’m not having any more discussions about this.’

Ms Fern then sent a formal letter to Miss Ayub about her compliance with the workwear policy, and said that if she did not comply with the workwear policy by the end of November that year, that could constitute misconduct.

Miss Ayub went on sick leave on November 15 because of stress and anxiety.

The investigation into her complaints recommended that there be mediation between Miss Ayub and Ms Bacon, as well as with two staff members who the tribunal heard had been caught on camera discussing the uniform policy at a patient’s home, when one of them said Miss Ayub used the ‘race card’.

Miss Ayub was told there was no case to answer regarding her grievances against her colleagues, and an appeal against that decision was dismissed.

Miss Ayub indicated that she wanted to be redeployed elsewhere, and after turning down the option of mediation once again, was added to the redeployment register in July.

She joined a teaching agency and handed in her resignation the same month.

On the uniform issue, Employment Judge Rebecca Eeley found that Miss Ayub’s dress ‘presented a significant health and safety risk’ and she would only be satisfied if the Trust ‘essentially gave up on insisting on workwear which carried only an acceptable level of health and safety risk in the workplace’.

The judge said: ‘(Miss Ayub)’s real concern was that she was not being given her own way in relation to the uniform requirements.

‘She was angry that she was not being allowed to wear the Islamic dress and that her practice had been challenged by management.’

The judge said she was ‘not persuaded’ that Miss Ayub ‘genuinely and subjectively found the comments on the recording created an intimidating hostile, degrading, humiliating (etc) environment for her’, and said her ‘outrage appeared somewhat artificial’.

Other claims she made were also dismissed.

Miss Ayub today said the tribunal ruling was ‘unfair’ and she had lodged an appeal.

Speaking at her terraced home in Oldham, Greater Manchester, she added: ‘They said my style of dress was a health and safety risk but there was no evidence to back that up.

‘When I started I was told that there would not be a problem as long as the dress was above my ankles and I rolled up my sleeves when doing anything clinical.

‘I had worked there for two and a half years without any problem whatsoever and they were fine about me wearing Islamic dress.

‘What they wanted me to wear were like leggings and I told them that I would not wear that at home, so why should I wear it at work?

‘ I am not using my religion as an excuse – I just wanted justice. This is not about religion, it is about equality and diversity for everyone, whatever their religion.’

Ms Ayub said she now has a new job.

The NCA trust runs four hospitals in Greater Manchester: Salford Royal, the Royal Oldham, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield General in Bury. 

Katie Price has expressed her fears for Perez Hilton following his hospitalisation for self-harming during a TikTok livestream.

The US celebrity blogger sparked widespread concern on Tuesday, with viewers alerting emergency services, who then attended his Miami home and used crisis intervention techniques.

Hilton, real name Mario Lavandeira, was transported to hospital for medical evaluation, after which his family thanked the public for their ‘overwhelming outpouring of love, support, and prayers’ as they focus on his recovery.

In the aftermath, several celebrities and public figures have spoken out on the distressing incident, with Price vowing to ‘reach out’ to him, having been friends with the media personality for years.

Price and Hilton, both 48, first met in Los Angeles in 2008 during filming for her reality show, Katie and Peter: The Next Chapter, with then-husband Peter Andre.

They then shared the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2015, with Price going on to win the series and Hilton (whose provocative antics sparked controversy with other housemates) evicted on day 29.

Speaking about her long-time friend’s mental health crisis, Price told The Sun: ‘I am really concerned for Perez and his mental health. It’s so sad to see him like this.

‘I’m shocked by what has happened. I’ve always liked Perez.’

‘I’ve spoken to him so much over the years, including about surrogacy,’ added the mum-of-five; Hilton has three children born via surrogacy.

She added: ‘I will reach out to him and his family.’

Price went on to liken her public persona to Hilton’s, with the columnist famously embroiled in numerous lawsuits over the years for his use of sensitive celebrity content.

‘I’m a celebrity like him – controversial,’ stated the former glamour model. ‘He’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but then again, neither am I.’

Price has made no secret of her own struggles throughout her career, including severe depression, two breakdowns in 2018 and 2021, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a suicide attempt.

Over the years, she’s stayed in private mental health hospital The Priory and had therapy to help her understand her conditions and navigate triggers.

Ahead of her recent Sky documentary airing, the I’m A Celebrity star admitted: ‘When I had my breakdown, I don’t think people really knew how bad it was and how it affected people in my life.’

Meanwhile, Hilton, who rose to prominence in the 2000s with his gossip website, spoke highly of Price after becoming friends.

Writing on his site after their first encounter, he said: ‘They were good fun. We had a lovely time chatting with Jordan and Peter.

‘Their self-deprecating humour is definitely appealing. In fact, Jordan is totally cool if we continue to slag her off. And you know we will! We chatted about tons of juicy stuff.’

The latest on his medical state is that he’s ‘able to communicate’, with his family issuing an update via his blog amid the ‘incredibly difficult’ time.

‘This has been incredibly difficult and emotional for us, made even harder because very little information has been made available to our family,’ they added.

‘While we continue to wait for further updates, we remain hopeful.’

Their message concluded: ‘We respectfully ask for your continued prayers, understanding, and grace as Perez continues to recover.

‘We will share additional updates as we receive confirmed information and are able to do so.

‘For now, we’re taking things one step at a time and keeping our focus where it belongs, on Perez and his recovery.’

Social media platform TikTok issued its own statement after being condemned for allowing Hilton’s graphic stream to remain live for 15 minutes.

The company told Deadline that a ‘moderator error’ caused a delay in taking down the video.

Hilton’s account has now been suspended.

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Reform UK says it would pay members of the public for tip-offs that lead to successful prosecutions of High Street shops employing illegal workers if it gained power.

The party’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said financial rewards under a “Turkish barbers tip line” would be paid from larger fines it would impose on firms using illegal employees.

It has pledged to fine larger firms up to 10% of their global revenues, and imprison the bosses of companies employing illegal migrants.

The Home Office said it was already increasing penalties for companies hiring illegal workers. A source within the department called some of Reform’s proposals “empty posturing”.

Reform said that if it won the next general election, it would make chief executives and directors of large companies profiting from illegal workers personally and criminally liable.

That would be regardless of their knowledge of workers’ legal status.

The party said this would be similar to the personal liability of senior managers for the financial misconduct of their firms under Financial Conduct Authority rules.

Reform said it would also introduce a tip line for the public to report suspected illegal working or organised criminal activity.

Speaking at a news conference to unveil the policy, Yusuf said Reform would make it a legal duty for local authorities to investigate every “credible report” they receive.

He said the reward scheme would emulate a system in the United States that rewards whistleblowers with a share of fines imposed after successful prosecutions of serious financial crime.

He added: “In terms of the exact percentage, that would be in the final legislation that we pass.”

US indie musician Bridgers, 31, and Irish actor Mescal, 30, began dating in 2020, having first connected over Twitter when Bridgers shared praise for Normal People. The couple, who were reportedly engaged, split in December 2022, with Bridgers now in a relationship with comedian Bo Burnham, 35.

A three-bedroom home in Wymondham didn’t meet the expectations of Homes Under the Hammer star Jacqui Joseph.

Homes Under the Hammer star Jacqui Joseph didn’t hold back as she shared her take on a three-bedroom property which included a “disappointing” feature.

During Thursday’s episode of the popular BBC show, the long-running presenter visited the historic market town of Wymondham, located 10 miles from Norwich.

The town is known for its rich history and features one of the UK’s oldest pubs, which is believed to have opened in the 1300s.

While visiting the three-bedroom semi-detached property, which was up for auction, the presenter was impressed by its location, which was so close to transport links and essential amenities.

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However, while inside the house, Jacqui shared her thoughts on the unfashionable decor. Standing in the hallway, she said, “Straight into your hallway, very neat.

“You’ve got textured ceilings, dated electrics. To my left, there is a full bathroom. That’s dated, that needs to go.

While in the kitchen, she expressed exhaustion: “The place is so dated. It really is. The size is not too bad, rip it all out and start again.”

With the bathroom being downstairs next to the front door, when Jacqui finally went upstairs, she shared her dissatisfaction. She said: Into the third bedroom, the final bedroom, a tiny compact double. But you have your boiler here – and actually, the boiler doesn’t look like it’s in a bad condition.

“Boiler in the bedroom, I’m not a fan of. I would like to see that down in the kitchen area.”

She then added, “But what is disappointing is that there isn’t a bathroom up here.” Sharing her ideas, the presenter suggested that maybe whoever gets their hands on the property could potentially put in a bathroom upstairs.

Property developer Joshua and his brother Marcus purchased the three-bed property for £170,000. Marcus, who was working on the renovations, later shared what updates they made to the property.

Although Jacqui was concerned about the layout, they still decided to keep the bathroom downstairs but replaced it with a brand new suite and tiles. They also included a new en-suite bathroom upstairs.

Marcus said, “With the space, it works. It really adds something to the room.”

Homes Under the Hammer airs weekdays at 11:15pm on BBC One.

A stark new assessment has revealed that a mere 14 per cent of England’s rivers, lakes, and coastal waters are currently in good ecological health.

The findings come from the Environment Agency’s first update in six years, conducted under retained EU legislation governing water quality.

This comprehensive evaluation scrutinised 4,658 of the country’s rivers, lakes, estuaries, canals, and coastal waters, measuring their health against a range of standards including wildlife populations, overall water quality, and the condition of physical habitats.

The report indicates that just 14.3 per cent of surface water bodies achieved an overall good ecological status in 2025, with widespread issues attributed to sewage spills, agricultural nutrient runoff, and pollutants emanating from urban areas and roads, such as litter, petrol, and garden pesticides. Alarmingly, only 15 per cent of rivers meet or exceed good ecological status, according to the figures.

They also reveal England’s water bodies are falling far short of the government target to restore 75 per cent to good ecological status by 2027.

In response to the latest data, campaigners warned “nothing has changed” despite repeated government promises, and said England’s rivers were among the filthiest in Europe, poisoned by sewage and industrial-scale agriculture.

The 2025 figures are slightly down from the 16.3 per cent achieving good status in the last assessment in 2019, although the Environment Agency said they were not directly comparable as it had updated its methods, used a wider set of data and focused on places it suspected had problems.

But the EA said the analysis showed that “too many water bodies are not achieving the standards we want to see” and it would use the data to direct action from companies, farmers, businesses and councils to improve the state of England’s waterways and lakes.

And every single surface water body continues to fail to meet a “good” chemical status, largely due to persistent chemicals in the environment including former flame retardants and “PFOS”- a former stain repellent and firefighting chemicals.

These substances are now banned or heavily restricted in the UK but break down very slowly and persist in the environment for decades.

The rules mean that classification of water bodies is done on a “one out, all out” so that if a river, lake or estuary fails to meet good status in one of the elements it is assessed on – from fish, invertebrate and plant life to phosphate, ammonia and oxygen levels – it will fail to meet good ecological status overall.

The data show more than four-fifths (82 per cent) of individual indicators were good or high status, which the EA described as “encouraging”.

The 2025 dataset shows two-thirds (65.4 per cent) of water bodies achieve moderate ecological status, while 17 per cent are poor, 3.1 per cent are bad and just 0.1 per cent achieve high status.

The assessment also looks at groundwater and finds that 41 per cent achieve good status, compared to 37 per cent in 2019.

Chair of the Environment Agency Alan Lovell said the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) classifications helped officials understand where water bodies were improving and where further action was needed.

“The results show that too many water bodies are still not achieving the standards we want to see.

“We share the public’s ambition for faster progress which is why we are transforming our enforcement work with better data, stronger powers and our largest ever enforcement workforce.”

He added: “We are using all our evidence to direct sustained improvement action from water companies, farmers, businesses and councils.”

The agency pointed to improvements in phosphate levels in the River Roch to a “good” classification, following a catchment permit that required sewage treatment works upstream of the Manchester Ship Canal to remove more phosphate, improving the canal and other connected waters.

The EA also said it had stepped up its inspections of water company sites, and would be further increasing farm inspections from 4,000 to 6,000 a year over the next three years.

Environment secretary Angela Eagle said the results underlined the need for “wholesale change” across the water sector.

“Our local communities deserve to have clean local rivers and lakes,” she said.

“We’ve already introduced landmark legislation to hold water companies to account, secured record investment to help fix infrastructure, and are laser focused on long term reforms that will prevent future failures.

“We will drive forward a system that puts the public interest first with higher standards, better performance and cleaner waterways.”

But chief executive of environmental charity River Action James Wallace said, “Despite successive governments’ promises, nothing has changed.

“Our rivers remain among the filthiest in Europe, poisoned by sewage from polluting, profit-driven water companies and by industrial-scale agriculture, including chicken manure runoff from intensive poultry units that rear tens of millions of birds for fast-food chains and supermarkets.”

And he said: “If the government is serious about restoring our rivers, it must use the upcoming Clean Water Bill to take back control of water companies from private profiteers and ensure they are owned and operated for public benefit, environmental protection and public health.

“It must also tackle agricultural pollution with the same urgency, holding the biggest polluters to account, supporting the transition to nature-friendly agriculture and ending the regulatory failures that have allowed our rivers to become open sewers.”

A spokesperson for industry body Water UK said: “As the Environment Agency has made clear, the health of rivers, lakes and waterways is shaped by many different factors, including agricultural nutrients and urban and transport run-off, as well as sewage.

“Water companies are investing a record £22bn in environmental improvements by 2030.

“This will be the largest amount of money ever spent on the natural environment, and will help to secure our water supplies, support economic growth and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.”