Today is the day! I am so honoured and proud to be speaking in London today amongst you all as we demonstrate to the UK and the world that we are stronger together and that with unity and British pride we can make our country a better and safer place for all! See you there and thank you for your support! Stay safe and enjoy your day…🫡🇬🇧
BREAKING: CCTV footage has been released of the incident that led to a man being kicked in the head by a police officer while he lay facing down at Manchester Airport on Tuesday.
I just signed the petition calling on Paula Vennells, the former CEO of the Post Office to be stripped of her CBE. Will you sign too? #MrBatesVSThePostOffice https://t.co/bze2xZ3aNg via @38degrees
Hi folks. Please watch and please please get angry at this vile miscarriage of justice. Shame on everyone who kept quiet, shame on everyone who didn't step up & admit what was happening, shame on the Post-Office then & now!
Mr Bates vs The Postoffice 9pm tonight on @ITV
Britain’s first asylum camp is to open next week with gyms, jogging machines, canteens and free mobile phones for Channel migrants
The disused RAF Wethersfield base near Braintree, Essex, will accept its first 120 migrants directly from crossing the Channel before expanding to its capacity of 1,700 men
It is the first camp of its kind before an asylum barge is towed to Portland, Dorset, within two weeks, and RAF Scampton opens in mid-August
Home Office officials are understood to be laying on sport and leisure activities in an attempt to deter the migrants from leaving the remote camp, risking their lives and those of drivers by wandering along the unfamiliar, narrow, rural lanes around the former RAF base
The migrants are free to leave for up to seven days at a time or for 14 days within any six-month period. Residents say they are worried they will try to walk the two miles to Finchingfield, the nearest village with shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants
Picturesque Finchingfield has been described as the most photographed village in England, beloved by residents for its duck pond, hump-backed bridge, windmill and tea rooms
It is best known as a setting for the popular BBC detective series Lovejoy.l
The Home Office will instead try to direct the migrants to larger towns and cities such as Braintree, Chelmsford and Colchester by providing shuttle buses to take them to and from the camp
At noon on Saturday, 200 residents will stage a protest at the camp’s entrance over what they claim in their fly posters will be an impending “disaster” because of the lack of local infrastructure to support them
They are opening a High Court challenge next week alongside Braintree council in a last ditch effort to block the camp.
Overloaded
Telecoms engineers have been working on the phone masts in the area amid concerns that the airwaves could be overloaded by up to 1,700 additional mobiles being used by the migrants
Residents also fear that the camp’s old sewage piping will become overloaded by the influx of 1,700 people, risking a repeat spill of raw sewage in 2021 which damaged ancient woodland on a neighbouring farm
The Home Office attempted to bring in three large Portakabins to create a medical centre to ease pressure on local hospitals, but the lorries carrying them had to turn back because they were so wide - at 14ft - they could not fit through the narrow streets of a local village. They have been replaced by smaller versions.
As well as a medical centre, there will be gyms with jogging machines and other equipment, outdoor sports activities such as football, prayer rooms and canteens. Residents have been told five migrants will share a room originally designed for two servicemen in the converted barracks.
Cooped up
I would feel cooped up and I would be walking down to Finchingfield with my mates,” said one local resident who is campaigning against the plans
The camp is part of an attempt by the Government to reduce the £6 million-a-day cost of housing 51,000 asylum seekers in hotels and other contingency accommodation such as hostels
The Wethersfield migrants will be bussed from the Manston processing centre in Kent after health and criminality checks following their Channel crossing
A total of 11,483 migrants have reached the UK in 257 boats so far this year. The number is 10 per cent down on last year but June saw a record 3,824 cross the channel
Unfortunately we have seen a repeat of an earlier issue which is causing intermittent broadband connectivity problems for some Virgin Media customers. We apologise again to those impacted, our teams are continuing to work flat out to find the root cause of the problem and fix it.