NewsBeat
Man who died after falling down London Waterloo escalator ‘may have been pushed’ as police hunt for witnesses
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Police are looking for witnesses after a man who died after falling down an escalator at Waterloo Station may have been pushed.
Ian Airlie, 48, was found dead at his home in Greenwich on Thursday, 10 October. He fell down the escalator at the tube station’s Jubilee Line at 17.05pm on Sunday, 15 September.
After Mr Airlie’s death his family told the Metropolitan Police he was reportedly been pushed. It is understood that Mr Airlie spoke to a number of people after the fall.
The force are now appealing for any witnesses or people who spoke to Mr Airlie to come forward.
Mr Airlie is believed to have spoken to security at the station after his fall and told them he had fallen into a woman described as of South Asian appearance, who also stumbled on the escalator.
He also spoke to a woman on the bus from North Greenwich underground station, who handed him a tissue as he was bleeding from above his left eye.
At the time, Mr Airlie was wearing a black t-shirt and light grey jogging bottoms. He wore a turquoise and grey Mountain Warehouse rucksack on his back and carried a medium, black suitcase.
A post-morning examination on Tuesday, 29 October was inconclusive and police await the result of further tests.
Detective Inspector Chris Rogers said: “Mr Airlie’s death is tragic, and his family continue to mourn the loss of a loving son, partner, brother and uncle.
“We are determined to piece together the events, and give Mr Airlie’s family the answers they are searching for. You can assist us by coming forward with any information. However small it may seem to you, this could be the key we need to unlock the investigation.”
The force asked that anyone with further information contact them via 101, or anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 1111, quoting 01/942310/24.
Politics
Defence Manufacturers On Brink Of Administration While Waiting For Strategic Defence Review
4 min read
Small to medium sized defence manufacturers are close to falling into administration, as they wait for the publication of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR).
Defence companies had expected the government’s landmark review into the UK’s preparedness for war to be published around Easter. However, industry figures now fear the SDR will be published towards the end of the year, The Telegraph recently reported.
While the government denies there is a moratorium on procurement spend, defence manufacturers understand there to be a ‘de-facto’ freeze on the limits of capital and resource department spending until the next spending review. They believe the government is reluctant to sign off on new procurement expenditure because it wants to include announcements in its SDR.
Brad Hayward, head of commercial for a UK micro-SME defence manufacturer and chair of the ADS Defence UK SME Committee, said that the UK SME community has experienced “a highly challenging 12 months”, where the pipeline of UK defence procurement opportunities has “significantly reduced in scope and consistency”.
He added “continued pauses” brought on by events such as the general election, Autumn Budget and Strategic Defence Review have created a “continual delay in demand signals to industry”.
This has resulted in “an alarming number of organisations downsizing” in the UK, with companies either “removing themselves from the defence sector” or “liquidating entirely”.
Samira Braund, defence director of trade body ADS Group, said that a few small to medium sized defence manufacturers could “very likely” be facing administration due to cash flow issues caused by paused contracts.
Of the more than 900 British defence equipment manufacturers represented by ADS, “upwards of 30” have come to the body seeking support. Braund added that some SMEs have been awarded contracts, but these have been “put on hold” while the government waits to deliver its SDR.
“These concerns have been raised up to senior officials within the Ministry of Defence, noting a lot of our SMEs’ cash flow challenges could be three to six months, and therefore they are looking to potentially diversify or exit the market.
“That goes against all of the work that the new government and officials are trying to put in place in the SDR in creating long term demand signals.”
One defence manufacturer employing between 50 and 100 staff said that government’s decision to freeze procurement for two months last year saw “less opportunity for work”. They also claimed they are “not allowed to invoice” the Ministry of Defence for contract work immediately, but have to wait until they are told to, which can take up to four months.
“They might have 30 day payment terms, but it’s from the point we’ve been allowed to invoice,” they said. “That really hurts us badly.”
The SME added that it is resorting to “seeking finance in terms of business loans” to help the company grow, but that if they were paid on time, they would be able to use their cash reserves.
“If they don’t pay us on time, we may cease to exist. People have ceased to exist not because they’re not profitable, but rather because they’re not paid on time.”
Larger defence manufacturers have also been affected by the government’s delayed publication of its SDR, with some companies struggling to recruit staff.
Braund said that the lack of a “continuous cycle” of procurement means “highly talented people” are lost from the defence sector. “We already have at least 10,000 vacancies across our sectors, and this just exacerbates the problem,” she said.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these claims. We’re continuing to invest in British businesses, including through recent contracts such as enhanced support Navy ship deployments. The timeline of the Strategic Defence Review does not prevent investment and we continue to engage closely with industry partners, including the SME community, as we develop the new Defence Industrial Strategy.
“We have a cast-iron commitment to increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.”
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BBC News
PA Media/Merseyside PoliceAxel Rudakubana did not appear out of the blue.
By the time he carried out the brutal murders of three young girls, the teenager was well known to police, anti-extremism authorities and a number of other public agencies.
But despite repeated concerns about Rudakubana’s taste for violence, there was only ever limited intervention.
The government now says several opportunities were missed to stop him turning his dark obsessions into a reality. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the state had failed.
This is what we know about his journey to becoming a killer – and whether it could have been prevented.
Early warning signs
The first serious signs Rudakubana was capable of inflicting harm date back to when he was in year nine at Range High School in Formby, Merseyside.
At the age of 11, he had appeared in a BBC Children In Need campaign video, which he had been put forward for by an acting casting agency.
But over his adolescence, Rudakubana began to exhibit anger issues and a propensity for violence. Fellow pupils remember him being obsessed with figures such as Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan.
His time at Range High School ended in October 2019 when he took a knife into school. It would later emerge he told the Childline call centre that he did so because he had experienced racist bullying.
Rudakubana did not use the knife on that occasion but the incident was serious enough that he was permanently expelled from the school.
He returned to the school about two months later with a hockey stick and attacked another child with it. He had to be restrained by staff.
UncreditedFrom the point at which he was thrown out of Range High School, Rudakubana largely fell out of the formal education system.
Local health workers determined he had an autism spectrum disorder and he was later enrolled in two other schools for children with special needs: The Acorns School and Presfield High School & Specialist College.
He attended sixth form at the latter only for a few days and was largely dealt with by home visits. The school sometimes requested police accompany teachers when visiting his home, such were the concerns about his violent behaviour.
Lancashire Child Safeguarding Partnership said Rudakubana failed to “re-integrate” into education after his exclusion from Range High School, a situation “exacerbated by the pandemic”. His attendance, they said, was “limited”.
At around the same time it was noted Rudakubana experienced “anxiety which prevented him from leaving his home”.
On the radar
During the years in which he stopped attending school, several local agencies had various levels of contact with Rudakubana.
He was convicted of assault and referred to the youth justice service after the incident when he took a knife into school. He completed rehabilitation activities aimed at young offenders who have pleaded guilty to a first offence.
However, Lancashire Constabulary had “several” further interactions with the teenager between October 2019 and May 2022 – including four calls from his home address relating to concerns about his behaviour.
On each occasion, officers made contact with MASH – a local grouping of agencies tasked with overseeing vulnerable people in the area.
Children’s Social Care carried out an initial assessment into Rudakubana, which found social work support was not required. It recommended “early help”, which covers forms of less intensive intervention.
Contact was made with Rudakubana and his family and they were offered guidance on his “emotional wellbeing and behaviours”.
He had involvement with local mental health services but “stopped engaging” in February 2023.
A spokesperson representing local agencies said his “participation and engagement remained a challenge” throughout this period, despite the efforts of professionals to engage with him.
An independent review into whether more could have been done to intervene is under way.
Dark obsessions
Rudakubana’s twisted interest in violence began to emerge both before and after the attack in Southport on 29 July 2024.
He came to the attention of the government’s anti-extremism Prevent programme because he had expressed an interest in school shootings, the London Bridge attack, the IRA, MI5 and the Middle East.
He was referred to Prevent three times between 2019 and 2021 over concerns about his interest in violence.
The full scale of his obsessions became clearer after the attack when his home and digital devices were searched.
PA MediaPolice found his devices contained images from conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Korea, as well as copious academic material relating to war and genocide.
His search history revealed an interest in Nazi Germany, ethnic violence in Somalia and Rwanda, and slavery.
Detectives also found an American academic study of an al-Qaeda training document, which had been downloaded at least twice since 2021.
The attack
These twisted interests provide the backdrop to the horror that would unfold on 29 July.
On 7 July, an advert was posted on Instagram advertising a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop for young children. It sold out within 11 days.
The class got under way at 10:00 BST and photos taken at the scene and reviewed by police show 26 children laughing and playing at the start of the school holidays.
At 11:10, Rudakubana left his home. His face was obscured by a hood and a surgical mask.
He was carrying a 20cm-long kitchen knife purchased on Amazon on 13 July. Police say he used encryption software to conceal his identity when he bought it.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called it a “disgrace” that a teenager with a history of violence was able to easily acquire the blade. Amazon says it has launched an urgent investigation.
Shortly before leaving the house, Rudakubana deleted his IP address from his tablet, one of several pieces of evidence uncovered by police that revealed he took efforts to conceal his online movements. He also searched for material on the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney in April 2024.
PA MediaA taxi picked him up at 11:30 and he stayed silent throughout the journey.
He left the car without paying and made his way to a garage. The driver followed him and there was a confrontation.
When the garage owner told him to pay for his ride, Rudakubana replied: “What are you going to do about it?”
Fifteen minutes later, he was inside the dance studio and began to stab at will.
His target – the most vulnerable people in society, young children – appeared to have been chosen to create the maximum horror and disgust.
Rudakubana killed six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. He tried to kill others by stabbing them in the back as they fled.
By 11:59 he had been arrested but said nothing when formally questioned by police.
Missed opportunities?
In the days and weeks after the Southport attack, it became clear to investigators that Rudakubana was hell-bent on creating carnage and death, fuelled by his wide-ranging obsessions with human suffering.
When police searched his home, they found a cache of weapons, including a machete, a set of arrows and a sealed box containing an unknown substance. Tests at Porton Down, the government’s biological warfare laboratory, confirmed the substance was ricin, a poison for which there is no cure. There is no evidence he ever deployed it.
It has also emerged that one week before the murders, Rudakubana tried to return to Range High School, the scene of his expulsion five years earlier.
He was wearing the same hooded sweatshirt and surgical mask he would wear during the attack the following week, but was prevented from making the journey when his father pleaded with a taxi driver not to take him.
It is not known whether Rudakubana intended to attack people that day but his movements bear a striking similarity to the events of the following week. On that second occasion, he made sure to book the taxi after leaving the house.
The amount of information known before the murders about Rudakubana’s violent obsessions has prompted serious questions over whether more could have been done to stop him – in particular, whether Prevent could have acted.
Despite the three referrals over Rudakubana, it has been established concerns about him were never escalated up the chain, meaning he was not put under enhanced monitoring.
PA MediaAn urgent Prevent review carried out over the summer found this was because, while there was evidence he had an obsession with violence, he did not appear to fit the mould of a would-be extremist.
There were no signs of any allegiance to a single cause – which is why despite pleading guilty to downloading a terror manual, his case has never been treated as a terror investigation.
His case has prompted concerns over whether Prevent is equipped to identify dangerous people who fall outside the traditional view of what constitutes an extremist.
The urgent review found that, given Rudakubana’s age and complex needs, his case should have been escalated. It concluded Prevent put too much weight on his apparent lack of adherence to a single radical ideology.
The home secretary said the “cumulative significance” of Rudakubana’s three repeat referrals was “not properly considered” by Prevent, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was “clearly wrong” he was not deemed to meet the programme’s threshold for intervention.
A wider review of the Prevent programme is being carried out.
Rudakubana will be sentenced for his crimes on Thursday – but the questions posed by his descent into violence will be agonised over for years to come.
Hundreds of people are trapped inside a West Bank hospital surrounded by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian health officials.
NewsBeat
What have Prince Harry and NGN said about their settlement – and what happens next? | UK News
Prince Harry has settled his case against the publisher of The Sun – six years after he launched his lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Group Newspapers (NGN).
The Duke of Sussex and Labour’s former deputy leader Tom Watson were due to take their claims over alleged unlawful gathering to the High Court.
But on what should have been the second day of the trial, last-minute negotiations led to a settlement.
Lawyers for both sides have issued statements – and while they’ve agreed to call off the trial, there are still discrepancies in how each team views the case.
What has NGN said about the News Of The World?
As NGN has pointed out, phone hacking at the News Of The World was not due to be part of the trial – but its statement opens with an “unequivocal apology” to Harry for “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators” working for the Sunday paper.
Phone hacking allegations against the News Of The World were made public in 2006 when its then royal editor, Clive Goodman, and a private investigator were arrested. Both pleaded guilty to phone hacking and were jailed.
Tom Watson and Prince Harry’s barrister David Sherborne speak to the media.
Pic: PA
Across the following five years, numerous other allegations against the News Of The World came to light and its former editor Andy Coulson was jailed for conspiracy to hack phones in 2014.
The paper was shut down by NGN in 2011, after allegations its staff had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
As the News Of The World scandal unfolded, numerous public figures claimed they had been targeted by journalists at The Sun using similar, and they said illegal, tactics.
What has NGN said about The Sun?
Its apology for allegations against The Sun is more specific. Crucially, NGN has said sorry for unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the paper – but “not by journalists”.
“There was no voicemail interception on The Sun,” it adds.
News Of The World closed in 2011 – but The Sun remains popular in the UK. Pic: Alamy
Addressing the wider media landscape, NGN’s statement claims: “In the 1990s and early 2000s there was widespread use by the broadcast and news media of private investigators.
“In most cases, their use was for public interest journalism and to obtain information necessary for the purposes of journalism.”
The publisher has also given an insight into the argument its lawyers were preparing to put forward in court – directly contradicting one of Harry’s major claims.
It says: “It must also be stressed that allegations that were being made publicly pre-trial (and indeed post-settlement) that News International destroyed evidence in 2010-11 would have been the subject of significant challenge at trial.
“These allegations were and continue to be strongly denied [with] extensive evidence.”
What has Prince Harry said?
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Harry scores ‘monumental victory’ in trial
In a statement issued on behalf of Harry and Lord Watson, their barrister David Sherborne hails the settlement as a “monumental victory” as “News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices”.
He highlights how NGN has spent more than £1bn on settlements relating to accusations against both papers, adding: “News UK is finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law.”
“The truth that has now been exposed is that NGN unlawfully engaged more than 100 private investigators over at least 16 years on more than 35,000 occasions,” the statement continues.
While NGN has unequivocally denied destroying evidence relating to investigations, Mr Sherborne’s statement makes it clear Harry is not backing down on this accusation.
It alleges: “Senior executives deliberately obstructed justice by deleting over 30 million emails, destroying back-up tapes, and making false denials – all in the face of an ongoing police investigation.
“They then repeatedly lied under oath to cover their tracks – both in court and at the Leveson public inquiry.”
Mr Sherborne’s statement also directly contradicts NGN’s claim that “there are strong controls and processes in place at all our titles today to ensure this cannot happen now”.
It says: “Far from being relics of a distant past, many of those behind these unlawful practices remain firmly entrenched in senior positions today, both within News UK and other media outlets across the world, wielding editorial power and perpetuating the toxic culture in which they continue to thrive.”
How does Rebekah Brooks come into it?
Rebekah Brooks was the editor of the News Of The World from 2000 to 2003, before holding the same role at The Sun from 2003 to 2009.
When phone hacking accusations were made public, Ms Brooks herself was thrust into the spotlight. She stood trial alongside fellow ex-News Of The World editor Andy Coulson for conspiracy to hack phones in 2014 – but while Coulson was found guilty, Ms Brooks was cleared.
Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks in 2010. Pic: PA
She returned to News UK in 2015 and has been its chief executive since.
In the statement on behalf of Harry and Lord Watson, Mr Sherborne says: “At her trial, in 2014, Rebekah Brooks said ‘when I was editor of The Sun we ran a clean ship’.
“Now, 10 years later when she is CEO of the company, they now admit, when she was editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.”
What happens next?
Both sides have given clear explanations of what they’re hoping for in their respective statements.
Mr Sherborne’s reads: “The rule of law must now run its full course. Prince Harry and Tom Watson join others in calling for the police and parliament to investigate not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover-ups along the way.
“It’s clear now that this has occurred throughout this process, including through sworn evidence in inquiries and court hearings, and in testimony to parliament, until today’s final collapse of NGN’s defence.
“Today the lies are laid bare. Today the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived.”
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Harry and Lord Watson are calling for further action. File pic: Reuters
NGN, unsurprisingly, reads the situation differently.
Its statement says: “After more than a decade of litigation, and 14 years since the News Of The World closed down, today’s settlement draws a line under the past and brings an end to this litigation.
“Indeed the judge made it clear in remarks in court at the end of the hearing that these cases are likely to be the last liable to go to trial. Any cases now brought, years after the events, will be liable to be struck out.
“The Sun today can face the future and continue its proud record of award-winning public interest journalism, investigations and campaigning on behalf of its readers.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “We are aware of the outcome of the civil proceedings. It remains the case that there are no active police investigations into allegations of phone hacking or related matters.
“We await any correspondence from the parties involved, which we will respond to in due course.”
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New curbs on media misconduct are being considered by the Starmer government in the light of Prince Harry’s settlement with The Sun.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy praised the Duke of Sussex after he settled with the masthead’s publisher, News Group Newspapers, and said government action was vital to ensure people without his power and wealth were able to obtain justice in disputes with newspapers.
“It is important we have proper safeguards in place to make sure that people don’t have to resort to very expensive and lengthy court processes to get justice,” Ms Nandy told the BBC.
Prince Harry had alleged that journalists and private investigators working for NGN – which also published the now-defunct News of the World – had unlawfully targeted him.
His barrister David Sherborne said NGN offered a “full and unequivocal apology” to the Duke of Sussex for intrusions into his private life between 1996 and 2011, “including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.”
Part of NGN’s apology said: “NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.
“NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World.”
Ms Nandy said the government was determined to grip the issue – and would make sure The Sun fulfilled its promise to prevent such conduct in future.
She added the government would ensure “there are robust processes in place to make sure the illegal activities The Sun alluded to in their statement (made after the court case) cannot happen again. They say they have robust processes but it is really important that we as a government make sure that is the case.”
She said Prince Harry had “every right” to have taken action against The Sun, and said she believed the outcome of the court case was a relief for Harry and fellow litigant, Labour’s Lord Tom Watson.
“The impact of this sort of behaviour lasts a lifetime,” she said, adding “not everybody has the access to justice that would enable them to pursue a case through the courts.”
She said that point had been brought home to her in meetings with ordinary families who had complained about press misconduct but lacked the resources to obtain legal redress.
“Wealthy and powerful people in the public eye who have a platform have been able to shine a spotlight on what has been happening to ordinary people who wouldn’t otherwise have been able to get that into the public domain. That is clearly unsatisfactory,” Ms Nandy said.
She said that while the government was committed to protecting a “free and fair press” she also had to address “the very legitimate concerns of many of the families who have been through similar instances of intrusion.”
Politics
Scottish Labour MP Warns Oil Refinery Closure Under Starmer Risks Thatcher-Era Scale Devastation
Grangemouth petrochemical plant in Scotland is set to close this summer (Alamy)
4 min read
A Scottish Labour MP has compared the closure of Scotland’s only oil refinery to the “social devastation” caused by the closure of coal mines across the United Kingdom under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
Brian Leishman, Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, has been critical of the current government’s direction under Keir Starmer. He has recently urged ministers to step in and save Scotland’s sole oil refinery, which is expected to close by the summer at a cost of 400 jobs.
Petroineos, a joint venture between Ineos and PetroChina, has said the decision to discontinue Grangemouth was because of increased competition from industrial sites in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Leishman told PoliticsHome he believed the Government had not done enough to save an integral pillar of “national infrastructure”, which in turn would make the UK more reliant on hostile nations for oil and gas.
“The closing of the refinery is not just a constituency issue for Alloa and Grangemouth, it’s a Scotland-wide issue,” he said.
“This is a vital key piece of national infrastructure. The problem we’ve got as well is, it is not only in the hands of one foreign power, in the Chinese Communist Party, but also in the hands of a multi-billionaire private capital owner.
“It will decimate my community. There will be massive implications and knock-on effects for local businesses. The easy comparison is what happened to the mining communities; we have an unjust transition and it is a disaster for workers.”
The refinery was opened by BP in 1924 and is the United Kingdom’s oldest refinery. Petroineos claimed it had invested more than £900 million since 2011 and had recorded losses of £594 million over the last 14 years.
The Government, however, has previously said Petroineos “made it clear” to ministers that the site has no commercial future. Governments in Westminster and Holyrood have also promised to upskill the local workforce ahead of redundancies.
The Scottish Labour MP did not blame the UK Government’s mission of achieving Net Zero on the expected closure of Grangemouth. He said the UK was not cutting carbon emissions quickly enough, as the Government is obligated by law to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 100 per cent by 2050.
However, he also said the Government had not taken an environmental assessment and added that he believed removing the refinery would do nothing to reduce global emissions.
“There’s been no environmental impact assessment carried out by the UK government,” he said. “We’re basically going to be shifting emissions, because we’re going to have ARA (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp) as European Cash and Carry in Mainland Europe, to provide oil to Scotland.”
He urged the Government to find his constituents suitable work in the future.
“The whole point of a transition is that it’s not a turn off the taps and that is it. That means let’s invest in Grangemouth.
“What we’ve got to do, whatever pace it happens, at the essential thing we’ve got to do is we’ve got to take workers… and communities along for that ride,” he added.
Ministers have said the decision will not impact Scotland’s energy security, as Grangemouth imported more than 90 per cent of its crude oil in 2023.
Many Scottish MPs are already concerned they may not win their seats at the next election following unpopular decisions by Starmer’s government. Polling shows Anas Sarwar’s Scottish Labour has struggled to win support ahead of 2026 Holyrood election, with the SNP on track to win the next election by 10 percentage points.
“We’ve got central Scotland, but we’re in serious danger of giving it away. And I think that’s going to have a serious impact on Holyrood, but also… on future Westminster elections,” he said.
“Right-wing populism is seducing people, that’s why it’s so important as a Government we do improve living standards for people so we can show we have a credible left-wing solution to the societal problems which are really impacting the problem.
“When Reform moved to the right, they bring the Tories with them. We cannot as a Labour Party in government especially be dragged to the right. We’ve got to be bold and stick to our principles and our ethos as a party and say the left provide the solutions for the societal problems of inequality we have.”
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “We took immediate action following Petroineos’ confirmation on the closure of Grangemouth.
“Before July, there was no overall plan for the future of the Grangemouth refinery. Within weeks, we worked with the Scottish Government to put together an unprecedented £100m package to support the community and invest in the local workforce, along with tailored support to help those affected find good, alternative jobs.
“We are also jointly funding Project Willow with £1.5m, which is urgently engaging with trade unions and developing options for a sustainable industrial future at the site.”
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The publisher of the Sun newspaper has agreed to pay “substantial damages” and apologised to the Duke of Sussex to settle a long-running legal battle over claims of unlawful intrusion into his life.
Prince Harry alleged journalists and private investigators working for News Group Newspapers (NGN) used unlawful techniques to pry on his private life – and executives then allegedly covered it up.
NGN apologised for “serious intrusion” by the Sun between 1996 and 2011, and admitted “incidents of unlawful activity” were carried out by private investigators working for the newspaper, in a statement read out in court.
It also apologised for distress it caused Harry through the “extensive coverage” and “serious intrusion” into the private life of his late mother, Princess Diana.
The BBC understands the settlements to both Prince Harry and former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson have cost NGN more than £10m in pay outs and legal fees.
In total NGN has spent upwards of £1bn in damages and costs to those who claim their phones were hacked and their privacy invaded by the News of the World and the Sun.
When he launched his claim, the prince alleged that more than 200 articles published by NGN between 1996 and 2011 contained information gathered by illegal means.
He repeatedly said he wanted the case to go to trial so that he could get “accountability” for other alleged victims of unlawful newsgathering.
NGN was “surprised by the serious approach by Prince Harry for settlement in recent days”, a source told the BBC.
A source close to the Duke of Sussex responded that the apology “provides all the insight you need”.
Speaking outside court on behalf of Prince Harry, his barrister David Sherborne described the settlement as a “monumental victory”, and said NGN had been “finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law”.
Lord Watson, meanwhile, had alleged his phone was targeted around the time he was investigating newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch while an MP, at the height of the phone-hacking scandal almost 15 years ago.
NGN also issued an apology to Lord Watson for intrusion into his private life by those working for the News of the World, including “being placed under surveillance” by journalists and people instructed by them.
NGN said in a statement its settlement “draws a line under the past” and “brings an end to this litigation”.
It added: “Lord Watson’s phone was not hacked in 2009-11 and had this gone to trial, NGN would have called evidence from telecoms experts to demonstrate that hacking after 2007 was nigh on impossible due to security upgrades undertaken by telecoms companies.”
The apology also covers incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the Sun newspaper from 1996-2011, the statement said – but “not by journalists”.
The references to the Sun in the apology were key, as without it the prince would not have settled.
NGN has already apologised for unlawful practices at the now-defunct News of the World, but previously denied similar claims against the Sun – as well as Prince Harry’s wider allegation of a corporate-wide cover-up.
While it admitted no illegality, NGN acknowledged in its apology that its response to the arrests in 2006 of News of the World staff who hacked royal phones and those of celebrities – and its subsequent actions – were “regrettable”.
Journalist Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, were later jailed for intercepting voicemails on phones belonging to the princes’ aides.
After the settlement was announced, Lord Watson told reporters: “I wish they had left my family alone. Today, I’m glad they have finally accepted responsibility.”
Describing the snooping by NGN staff as “industrial in scale”, he said its owner Rupert Murdoch should offer “a personal apology” to Prince Harry, as well as any others affected.
Lord Watson added that the legal team behind the case would pass a dossier to the Metropolitan Police.
A Met spokesperson said it noted the outcome of the case, adding that there were “no active police investigations into allegations of phone hacking or related matters”.
By agreeing to a settlement, NGN has avoided eight weeks of slowly revealed allegations.
Now the court will not test the claims that senior executives deliberately obstructed justice by deleting emails and taking part in a cover up of evidence. This is “strongly denied” by NGN.
And there will not be damaging headlines about press intrusion into the royal family and the heart of government.
Former editor of the Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, said it would have been “massively damaging” had the company’s chief executive Rebekah Brooks been forced to give evidence at a trial.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s The World at One programme, he said he was “astonished” by NGN’s admissions in its statement.
“There was always going to come a day like this, and [Prince] Harry’s pursued it. [NGN] are on the back foot and there is probably nothing else they could do.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was “a significant day and a big relief” for the two claimants.
She told The World At One she did not believe a second-stage Leveson inquiry into press practices was “fit for purpose”, but said families from the Hacked Off campaign group were preparing a “thorough briefing” about the changes they believe are required.
She said the government had to work with the families and the media to make sure “we strike that right balance and we protect a free and fair press”.
Ireland has delayed choosing its new prime minister after a row over speaking rights sparked angry scenes in the parliament.
The Irish Parliament, called the Dail, had this morning convened to nominate a new prime minister, with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin poised to take on the position.
However, the process was pushed back hours – and eventually adjourned until tomorrow – after a dispute over the new government led to widespread disorder and clashes.
Mr Martin had been due to take on the role of PM, called the taoiseach, after his party made an agreement with another, Fine Gael, and a selection of independents.
Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fail leader, Michael Martin, whose parties are forming a coalition. Pic: Maxwells/PA
However, a disagreement over whether some of the independents would be given opposition speaking time led to today’s proceedings ending without the new Irish PM being officially chosen.
Five of the nine independents are due to given junior minister posts, while the remaining four are seeking to join a technical group – a mechanism designed to give opposition TDs (the Irish equivalent of MPs) speaking time.
This move has been widely rejected by opposition parties including Sinn Fein, Labour and the Social Democrats – who argue the independents supporting the incoming government should not be allowed to join technical groups.
When the Dail met to nominate a taoiseach at 11am, opposition members repeatedly interrupted proceedings.
Speaker Veronica Murphy suspended the Dail multiple times before it was agreed party whips would meet with the parliament’s clerk to seek a resolution – but the talks failed.
The Dail’s speaker Verona Murphy. Pic: Maxwells/PA
Addressing the chamber at 4.25pm, the government’s chief whip Hildegarde Naughton said the process should proceed and a Fianna Fail TD stood to begin the process of nominating Mr Martin as PM.
However, members of Sein Fein – including its leader Mary Lou McDonald – continued interrupting.
Ms Murphy then adjourned the Dail until 9am on Thursday.
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Politics
Lee Anderson demands legal action against Prevent bosses over Axel Rudakubana failings: ‘Morons!’
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has called for legal action against bosses of the government’s Prevent programme, branding them “morons” over their handling of Southport child-killer Axel Rudakubana.
Speaking on GB News, Anderson demanded that Prevent officials be “sacked, held to account, their pensions took off them and put in the dock and charged.”
“They are responsible. They are set up to prevent this sort of nonsense,” the MP said, following revelations that Rudakubana had been referred to the counter-terrorism programme three times before the attack.
Rudakubana was first referred to Prevent at age 13 in 2019 over concerns about his interest in US school massacres, which he researched using school computers.
Lee Anderson erupted over Prevent’s failings
GB NEWS / MERSEYSIDE POLICE
Two additional referrals followed in 2021 after he viewed material about Libya and past terrorist attacks, including those in London in 2017.
The material he accessed consisted mainly of news articles, and officials found no evidence he was viewing extremist content at the time of assessment.
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Lee Anderson spoke to Martin Daubney
GB NEWS
After one referral, it was recommended he be referred to other services, though it remains unclear if this occurred.
Despite extensive searches, police found no evidence of terrorist motivation for the Southport attack.
An emergency review following the stabbings found that Prevent’s policies, covering criteria for accepting individuals for de-radicalisation work, were correctly followed.
Sources told media there remains a “grey area” in cases where young people may pose a risk of violence without showing signs of terrorist ideology.
Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls in the Southport knife attack in July 2024PA
“There is a gap for those who are volatile, who need management, who may be dangerous. There is nothing for them,” one source said.
Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday to murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last July.
He also admitted to 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.
Additional charges he pleaded guilty to included producing ricin and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual, described as information useful for terrorism purposes.
The Crown Prosecution Service called him “a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence.”
Anderson told GB News that he had questioned the Home Secretary about 162 people referred to Prevent last year over suspected interest in school massacres.
“I asked her how many of the 162 are still in detention. Want to know the answer? She couldn’t give me one. I will tell you what the answer is, it’s zero,” he said.
The MP also referenced the killing of Sir David Amess, noting that his killer had also been referred to Prevent before the attack.
NewsBeat
Police had previous ‘contact’ with family of dad and daughter found dead inside West Calder house | UK News
Police have revealed they had previous “contact” with the family of a father and his six-year-old daughter found dead inside a house in West Lothian – but a top officer has claimed there’s “nothing connected to this incident that causes any concern”.
The force said emergency crews attended at a property in Harburn Drive, West Calder, on Monday afternoon following a report of concern from a family member that the girl had failed to attend school.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was mobilised to help gain access to the house, where the bodies of a 36-year-old man and his six-year-old daughter were discovered within.
Mark Gordon
Hope Gordon. Pic: Police Scotland
Sky News understands their names were Mark and Hope Gordon.
The deaths are currently being treated as “unexplained”, with post-mortem examinations set to take place this week.
The property has been taped off by police
A forensics tent has been erected at the property
Chief Superintendent Gregg Banks told Sky News’ Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies that Hope’s mum was “understandably devastated”.
The divisional commander for the Lothians and Scottish Borders added: “It’s a particularly tragic set of circumstances. To lose any child has a significant impact.”
Police remain in the area as enquiries continue
Pic: PA
At a police news conference on Wednesday, Chief Supt Banks said he was unaware of any prior concerns in relation to the schoolgirl.
However, the force has had previous contact with the family.
He stated: “The police are aware of the family, we’ve engaged with them at various points, but there is nothing connected to this incident that causes any concern.”
When pressed to explain further, he added: “Well, family would come into contact with the police for a whole variety of reasons and to other agencies as well.
“So, we know who the individuals are that come into contact, but [as I said], nothing connected to this incident and nothing that causes any concern relating to this incident.”
Pic: PA
Chief Supt Banks said investigating officers will be reviewing all information at this “extremely difficult and extremely sad time” for the dad and daughter’s family.
He added: “Enquiries are clearly still at a relatively early stage, therefore I’m unable to go into any detail around the cause of death at this time.”
Chief Supt Banks said the force was “working tirelessly to understand exactly what happened within the property” and further details will be provided as soon as the team has them.
The officer, who is a local resident himself, added: “I would ask that people try and avoid speculation at this time.”
The incident appears to have been contained to the one property with “no wider risk” to the community.
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While the house is located near to the village’s Parkhead Primary School, Hope was a pupil at Toronto Primary School in Livingston, around five miles away.
Headteacher Fiona Linfoot said: “Hope was a much-loved member of the Toronto Primary family, and will be hugely missed by all her friends and school staff.
“She was a bright, bubbly and affectionate girl who brought joy to everyone she met. We will really miss her infectious smile and kind heart.”
West Lothian Council leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick said support was being offered to the local school community.
He said: “Understandably the local community will be in shock and this shock extends across West Lothian.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the family of those affected by this tragic incident.”
Detective Superintendent Grant Hendry said both the man and schoolgirl’s relatives are continuing to be supported by specialist officers.
He added: “They’re understandably devastated. It’s vital we get answers for them.
“At this time, we have no information to suggest anyone else is involved and enquiries remain ongoing.
“I would ask anyone with any information, no matter how small or insignificant you think it is, get in touch with us.”
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