In Grodzinski, London’s oldest Kosher bakery, the attention is mostly on pastries over politics.
Yet, this is the heart of Stamford Hill’s Jewish community, and a new row about antisemitism in the Labour Party has got people talking.
Volvi Kuperstein, the general manager, said Sir Keir Starmer had successfully repaired relations with the Jewish community after the damaging Jeremy Corbyn years.
“Definitely, he’s changed a lot. Since he’s come in, things have been much better than Corbyn. He’s going in the right direction,” he said.
Sir Keir has made a big point of the fact that he has purged the party of antisemitism but this new, reformed Labour Party is now being tested.
Under his leadership, the party has been quick to come down heavily on any hint of antisemitism.
At times, it’s been criticised by those on the left of the Labour Party for being too heavy-handed.
However, over the past few days, some cracks have emerged.
First, there was the vacillation following the initial allegations about Azhar Ali, the Rochdale candidate who said at a meeting in Lancashire that Israel allowed Hamas to conduct the 7 October attacks to give it cover to enter Gaza.
Facing the prospect of a by-election contest taking place without a Labour candidate, the party stood by him.
Two days later, new information came to light.
Image: Volvi Kuperstein believes Sir Keir is moving in the right direction
Mr Ali is said to have blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for the suspension of Andy McDonald from the Labour Party in October last year. Labour dropped him.
That gave the Conservatives some ammunition but Sir Keir came out robustly, saying that his party had acted decisively when the new information came to light.
He was hoping that the issue would blow over but, hours later, the candidate for Hyndburn, Gareth Jones, was suspended pending an investigation – for making offensive comments about Israel at the same meeting in Lancashire.
It has now emerged that the leadership has been quizzing Munsif Daid, a Hyndburn Councillor, who was also at that meeting. It is not clear what he said, if he said anything at all.
The apparent indecision has frustrated community leaders, who are unclear about where Sir Keir stands.
Read more: Labour activists warned not to support abandoned candidate Starmer claims he took ‘decisive action’
Image: Rabbi Herschel Gluck says Sir Keir needs to act like a leader
Rabbi Herschel Gluck, chairman of the Arab-Jewish Forum, said: “If he cares about antisemitism, he should deal with it fairly and squarely, not toss and turn flip-flop. He needs to be a leader and do what he says and act in the consequential manner and not keep on changing his position.”
Muslims are also watching closely, and the party’s refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza has caused widespread discontent.
This is a strong Labour base that increasingly feel their vote is being taken for granted.
Sir Keir is sensitive to this.
The party haemorrhaged Muslim votes after the Iraq War and it has lost this group in local and mayoral elections before.
Independent parties are waiting on the sidelines.
Image: Mohamed Munaf Zeena says the Muslim community ‘don’t trust Labour’
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Mohamed Munaf Zeena, chairman of the North London Muslim Community Centre, said: “I would go up to 60 to 70% of people who voted Labour will not vote for Labour.
“I, being a Labour Party member, I found it very difficult to vote for Labour. The Muslim community don’t trust Labour. Full stop. It doesn’t really matter who the candidate is or was. The Muslim group is gearing up to support an alternative party.”
With Labour 20 points ahead in the polls, this isn’t yet an electoral crisis.
However, both communities are frustrated at how quickly their concerns seem to become a political football in Westminster every time there is a flare up in the Middle East.
Trust takes a long time to build, but is quickly destroyed.
Up to 10,000 people a year in the UK could die as a result of heatwaves if nothing is done, MPs have warned.
According to a report from the Environmental Audit Committee, the increased frequency of extreme heat events could also cost the economy £60bn a year.
The committee’s Conservative chair, Philip Dunne MP, urged the government to act, because “there is a lot of work that needs to be done”.
The UK Health Security Agency issued its first ever ‘level 4’ heat alert in July 2022 when 40C was recorded for the first time.
While globally, 2023 was confirmed as the hottest year on record by a significant margin.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Dunne said: “It’s here, it’s a present danger, and it’s coming at us quite quickly.
“We need a plan now.
“The longer we delay it, the more at risk we’re going to be.”
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Wildfires spotted in the Highlands
According to the Office of National Statistics, there were an estimated 4,500 heat-related deaths in 2022.
But MPs say the annual rate could rise to 10,000 by 2050 if there is no intervention.
Extreme heat increases blood pressure and heart rate, raising the risk of illness or death caused by dehydration and heatstroke.
Over-65s and those with existing conditions are most at risk, while there are impacts on mental health too.
The committee heard evidence that suicide risk in the UK is twice as high when the temperature is 32C rather than 22C.
The report recommends the Met Office should name heatwaves in the same way as storms to help raise awareness of the threats.
Climate change experts agree that public perceptions must be urgently changed.
“It’s clear that Britain still thinks of itself as a cold country that celebrates periods of heat by talking about going to the beach and eating ice cream, when in actual fact it’s an extreme weather event that leads to thousands of deaths,” Bob Ward, Policy Director at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute said.
Other recommendations include creating more parks and ‘green infrastructure’.
This is considered particularly important in urban areas, like London, which can be 8C warmer than surrounding areas.
The committee is also calling for a national strategy to retrofit homes and offices with passive cooling measures, like external shutters, to help save lives and boost productivity.
“The problems we have with heat are primarily because we have homes and offices that are not well designed for dealing with it,” Mr Ward told Sky News.
“Most people who die [in heatwaves], die in overheated homes. Most of the people who are less productive in heat are in offices that are overheating.
“There needs to be an urgent retrofit program to make our homes and offices much better at dealing with heat.”
Read more: 2023 was world’s hottest year on record – and 2024 could be worse UK weather: Warmest ever January temperature record rises to nearly 20C
A government spokesperson said: “We have set out a robust five-year plan to respond to the impacts of a changing climate and strengthen our national resilience – with action to improve infrastructure, promote a greener economy and safeguard food production.
“We are the first major economy to halve our emissions and have already taken steps to manage the risks of climate change – with new warning systems to alert the public to heatwaves and our Environmental Land Management schemes supporting farmers to make their land more resilient to the changing climate.”
“Nearly half of homes in England now have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C. This is up from just 14% in 2010 and we are investing billions to ensure homes and buildings are even more energy efficient.”
With a blood pressure cuff pumped tight around my arm, straps around my chest monitoring my breathing, and sensors on my fingers to pick up any traces of sweat, veteran polygraph test examiner Don Cargill says he can easily spot the signs I’ve told him a fib.
I’ve denied writing the number three on the piece of paper placed underneath my chair, in a simple exercise designed to show how my body reacts to lying. Even with nothing to lose, it’s an uncomfortable experience.
But while commonly associated with daytime television programmes like The Jeremy Kyle Show, the use of lie detectors is expanding within the criminal justice system.
And the answers people give could help determine whether or not they can see their children – or even land them back in jail.
Image: Lie detector tests featured regularly on The Jeremy Kyle Show. Pic: ITV
In an office above a branch of Carpetright in west London, Mr Cargill carries out private polygraph tests. His clients have included foreign politicians accused of bribery, bodybuilders who want to prove they haven’t taken performance-enhancing drugs, and people accused of stealing from their family or being unfaithful to a spouse.
More and more are trying to cheat the polygraph using instructions found online, he says. “There’s a lot of techniques they do but we spot 90% of them or more.”
I’m asked to jump up and down and open my mouth before my test. Some people have pressed drawing pins into the bottom of their shoes, or even superglued tacks in their mouths, to create a pain response in their brain to distort the chart, Mr Cargill says.
He asks for identification to make sure a stand-in hasn’t been sent and carries out other simple tests to spot signs of sleep deprivation or illegal drug use.
A camera is trained on the subject’s eyes to make sure they don’t cross them or “zone out”, while a seat pad is in place to catch out anyone clenching their bottom.
All of these methods have been used to try to cheat the test, Mr Cargill says.
Image: Sky’s Henry Vaughan takes a lie detector test
Can lie detectors be cheated?
It is possible to beat the polygraph, says Newcastle University Emeritus Professor Don Grubin, but it takes a lot of practice with the equipment and examiners are trained to spot the signs of anyone trying to trick the test.
Double child killer Colin Pitchfork – who was jailed for life after raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986 – was recalled to prison in 2021 partly due to concerns he was using breathing techniques in a bid to beat the lie detector.
The Home Office says the polygraph records physiological changes in a person, quoting research from the American Polygraph Association which found deception is accurately detected in 80 to 90% of cases.
Since 2014, probation services have carried out more than 8,800 polygraph tests, while police have conducted more than 4,600, says Prof Grubin, who explains around 60 to 70% result in disclosures – where someone reveals relevant information.
His company, Behavioural Measures UK, has trained and supervised dozens of police and parole polygraph test examiners over the past decade, and like other experts in the field, he doesn’t like the term lie detectors.
The technology detects the “cognitive process” (or the brain working harder) when someone tells a lie, he explains.
Image: The results of a polygraph test
The “real skill lies in the experience of the examiner”, says Mr Cargill, the chief executive of VAST Screening Technologies Ltd and the chairman of the British and European Polygraph Association.
“Nervous reactions are completely different from people telling lies,” he says. “Your heart rate physically increases because you’re triggering the autonomic nervous system, which triggers a fight, flight or freeze response. You want to run away.”
But critics, including University of Northumbria researchers Dr Marion Oswald, a professor of law, and associate professor Dr Kyriakos Kotsoglou, say much of the research is carried out by the industry itself and the accuracy can’t be tested in a real-life situation – because it is impossible to verify if someone has told a lie.
They say it is an intrusive “interrogation” technique used to illicit confessions, arguing the polygraph device itself is unnecessary and could be swapped for putting someone’s hand on a photocopying machine – a method apparently used by Detroit police and immortalised in cult American crime drama The Wire.
“If you can convince the subject that she or he is being monitored for lies and they believe it, then she or he will disclose more information,” says Dr Kotsoglou.
How are lie detectors used?
The results can’t be used as evidence in criminal courts but mandatory lie detector tests have been used as a licence condition for sex offenders since 2014, then rolled out to convicted terrorists in 2021 in the wake of the Fishmongers’ Hall attack.
They are also used by police and the security services to monitor the small number of terror suspects made subject to Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (Tpims).
There is currently a three-year trial for their use on domestic abuse offenders, while the new Criminal Justice Bill proposes to extend this to convicted murderers who pose a risk of committing a relevant sexual offence on release.
The tests provide “invaluable information we would otherwise not have had about offenders’ behaviour which helps us to better protect the public”, the Ministry of Justice says.
The Metropolitan Police is looking into using lie detection technology to vet new recruits or root out corrupt officers following a string of damaging scandals, including the cases of Sarah Everard’s murderer Wayne Couzens and serial rapist David Carrick.
Image: David Carrick and Wayne Couzens
But “this is still at an early research stage” and there are no imminent plans to use the technology in this way, the force says.
Others are turning to lie detectors to try to prove their innocence.
Kevin Duffy, 70, passed a polygraph test after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a child, but the results weren’t taken into account by the judge who jailed him for more than nine years.
His son Ryan Duffy, 44, says: “If there’s something that can be used when it’s one person’s word against another’s that can highlight some kind of evidence, why can’t it be used?
“If they are prepared to look at it after conviction for single case issues such as, ‘are you using public transport, hanging around schools’, and relying on data for probation services, then why can’t you use it beforehand?”
Image: Kevin Duffy took a polygraph test to try to prove his innocence. Pic: Ryan Duffy
People can’t be sent back to prison for failing a test, but they can face further sanctions, such as stricter licence conditions, and they can be recalled for making disclosures that reveal they have breached licence conditions or indicate their risk has increased.
The information gathered can be shared with police to carry out further investigations, which could lead to charges, while those found trying to trick the polygraph can also be recalled to prison.
A government report last year revealed four convicted terrorists were sent back to jail as a result of lie detector tests – three were recalled after disclosing “risk-related information”, while the fourth didn’t comply with their polygraph licence condition.
Image: Sensors pick up any traces of sweat during the polygraph test
An increasing number of police forces are using the polygraph, which is seen as a useful tool to monitor and assess the risk of people on the sex offenders’ register, allowing officers to concentrate stretched resources on those deemed the most dangerous.
At least 14 of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales are now using lie detectors, with 14 police officers and 11 staff qualified as polygraph examiners, according to figures obtained by Liberty Investigates.
The data shows 671 polygraph tests were carried out by the 13 forces who provided figures by calendar year, up from 458 in 2018, and a five-year high.
More forces are expected to start using the technology as the College of Policing makes available training through its “polygraph school”.
Image: Polygraph tester Don Cargill reviews Henry’s results
Suspects facing lie detector tests
Testing is “only mandatory by way of conditional caution or a positive obligation of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order or Sexual Risk Order” imposed by the courts, says the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and “any police use of polygraph will form part of a wider and detailed risk management plan tailored to the individual concerned”.
But the University of Northumbria researchers say a non-statutory regime of testing is being carried out by some forces, including on suspects during criminal investigation.
People arrested on suspicion of committing online child sex offences, for example, could be asked to take a test as part of a risk assessment to determine whether they can have contact with children, including their own.
Figures obtained by Prof Oswald and Dr Kotsoglou, using freedom of information requests, show that at least 228 such polygraph interviews were carried out over six years.
Other responses indicated use in “voluntary” risk assessments of convicted sex offenders, including those who apply for removal from the sex offenders’ register, and ambitions to use polygraph testing for more general offences such as violence.
History of the lie detector
The polygraph machine was invented in 1921 by police officer John Larson in Berkley, California, and has been used by US law enforcement agencies ever since and spread across the world.
His work was picked up by Leonard Keeler, who is widely credited as the inventor of the modern lie detector.
In the 1990s, the polygraph entered the computer age as statisticians at Johns Hopkins University developed an algorithm to analyse the data collected.
Jack Ruby, who shot dead Lee Harvey Oswald two days after he assassinated John F Kennedy requested and was granted a polygraph test to try to prove he was not involved in a conspiracy with Oswald – but then FBI-director J Edgar Hoover said the technique was not “sufficiently precise” to judge truth or deception “without qualification”.
Notable failures include CIA agent Aldrich Ames, who passed two polygraph tests while spying for the Soviet Union.
Prof Oswald says: “I think our concern is that should we really in this country be basing really serious criminal justice decisions in a legal system on a scientific technique that is highly contested, to put it mildly, and hasn’t, especially in the policing circumstance, been discussed by parliament?”
The College of Policing says: “The College is working closely with the NPCC to establish a Polygraph School so that policing in England and Wales has access to standardised learning and development in the use of the tool that is tailored to their operating environment.
“The College will develop operational advice so that forces using the tool have a consistent basis on which to do so whilst recognising the relevant legal provisions.”
Image: A new test known as ‘polygraph in a box’ has been developed
What is the future for lie detectors?
The technology has existed in some form for around a century and now Mr Cargill has invented what he calls a “completely revolutionary” Validated Automated Screening Technology (VAST) system – or “polygraph in a box”.
Programmed to find out anything from whether someone has massaged the qualifications on their CV to if they’re a member of an international terrorist organisation, he says the device is as accurate as any polygraph examiner and is already being used by police in the UK.
But the testing time is reduced to around 20 minutes from three hours and can be used with just 15 minutes training.
After filling out a questionnaire, the subject – attached to the device, wearing headphones and sensors on their fingers and palm – is instructed to silently answer “no” to the questions by a person in a recorded video on the screen. A human then grills them about any responses that indicate deception.
“I call it a truth verifier rather than a lie detector because what it’s doing is testing integrity,” explains Mr Cargill.
The technology, he says, would be ideal for use in police vetting and he wants to see it rolled out to areas such as Border Force, where officers could verify someone’s age or country of origin.
More than half a million people have signed a petition calling for the former Post Office boss to have her CBE taken away over the Horizon scandal.
Paula Vennells oversaw the organisation while it routinely denied there were problems with its Horizon IT system.
Demands for her honour to be removed have reemerged after ITV aired a new drama into the scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which tells how former subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were held liable by the Post Office for financial discrepancies thrown up by its computerised accounting system.
Their pursuit led to more than 700 prosecutions, criminal convictions and, in some cases, prison sentences.
A public inquiry into the scandal is ongoing.
Ms Vennells later said she was “truly sorry” for the “suffering” caused to sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted of offences.
From 1,000 signatures to 350,000 in days
The ITV show has led to a surge of sympathy for the victims of the scandal and a rapid rise in the number of people signing the online petition, which was set up in 2021.
On Monday, when the first part was aired, it had about 1,000 signatures. By the time the final episode was broadcast on Thursday, the total had leapt past 350,000. So far, more than 570,000 people have signed it.
38 Degrees, the campaign group behind the petition, said that “many signatories [were] saying they’d been inspired to join the call by watching the drama,” which “brought the long-running scandal to the attention of millions of people”.
Robin Priestley, the group’s campaigns director, said in a statement: “Paula Vennells keeping her CBE while many victims of the Horizon Scandal are still waiting for justice flies in the face of the fairer country we all want to see.
“The huge surge of public support for this campaign in the aftermath of Mr Bates vs the Post Office makes that very clear.”
Read more: The true story behind the drama on Horizon IT scandal What is the Post Office scandal?
The prime minister on Thursday declined to say whether she should lose her honour.
“There’s an independent process for honours forfeiture, which is done by an independent committee, so that’s a separate process from government,” Rishi Sunak said.
“But, more generally, my job is to make sure that we’re putting in place the compensation schemes and all those people who were awfully treated, suffered an appalling miscarriage of justice, get the justice that they deserve, and that’s what we’re delivering.”
Sir Keir Starmer told ITV News: “Whether she [Ms Vennells] hands back her award is really a matter for her.
“But I do think there’s a more important point in many senses here, compensation for these victims is overdue.”
Almost half of Britain’s youngest drinkers are turning down booze for low or no-alcohol alternatives, a survey has found.
The study, for industry body the Portman Group and carried out by YouGov, found 44% of 18 to 24-year-olds consider themselves to be either occasional or regular drinkers of alcohol alternatives, up from 31% in 2022.
Polling also found the age group were the most sober overall, with 39% not drinking alcohol at all, and showed that some who tried the substitutes said it helped them cut down on their drinking.
Some 23% said their intake decreased while opting for low or no-alcohol drinks, up slightly from 2022’s 21%.
Portman Group chief executive Matt Lambert said: “It is welcome to see a further rise in the popularity of low and no-alcohol alternatives as well as further evidence of how they are an important tool to help UK drinkers, particularly younger adults, to drink responsibly.
“The availability of alcohol alternatives has never been more abundant and we eagerly await the outcome of the recent UK government consultation on low-alcohol descriptors, which we hope will further facilitate the growth of the UK low and no-alcohol market.”
It comes after one in 10 UK drinkers shared they think they have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, according to an annual survey released in November.
Read more from Sky News: Controversial founder of Kids Company charity dies 16-year-old Luke Littler reaches World Darts Championship final
The figures were released as part of Drinkaware’s Annual Monitor, which also found that many more people believe their country has a drinking problem – 56% in England, 66% in Scotland, 63% in Northern Ireland and 38% in Wales.
Fewer drinkers think they are the ones with the issue, with 36% of respondents most likely to be concerned for a friend’s drinking habits.
Cash usage has grown for the first time in a decade as households look to balance their budgets amid the cost-of-living squeeze.
Across the UK, coins and banknotes accounted for nearly a fifth (19%) of transactions in 2022, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) annual Payments Survey.
Its report said: “This year’s Payments Survey shows an increase in cash usage for the first time in a decade, up from 15% (in 2021) to just under 19% of transactions (in 2022).
“Faced with rising living costs, cash was a useful tool for some people to manage their finances and track their day-to-day spending.”
The increase also reflects a natural return to cash following the contactless switch during the COVID pandemic, the report said.
The BRC said it is the first time since its reports started in 2013 that year-on-year cash usage has increased.
“However, the recovery in cash use in retail is fairly minimal, with only a relatively small increase as a share of total sales by value, up from 8.2% in 2021 to 11% in 2022,” the report stated.
“It appears that whilst a small percentage of people have returned to pre-pandemic habits, for a large portion of the population, the pandemic has had a lasting impact on how much we transact in cash.”
Read more Cost of living: Shoppers ‘overcharged’ for branded goods One in four adults to use buy-now-pay-later schemes this Christmas
Card payments were used for 76% of transactions in 2022, with debit cards accounting for around four in five of these transactions.
Retailers spent £1.26bn on card processing fees in 2022, the BRC said.
Alternative payment methods, such as buy now, pay later, increased in popularity in 2022, from 2% of transactions in 2021 to 5% in 2022.
People have also been making smaller but more frequent payments as they manage their budgets.
The number of transactions increased from 17.2 billion in 2021 (47.2 million per day) to 19.6 billion in 2022 (53.7 million per day) and the average transaction value fell from £24.49 to £22.43, as consumers shopped around.
Senior civil servants “wanted” people to get COVID like chickenpox to build herd immunity, according to messages read out during an inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Sir Christopher Wormald remains the most senior civil servant in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – as he was in early 2020.
Messages he exchanged with Mark Sedwill – then the head of the Civil Service – were shown to the inquiry.
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These were sent on 12 March 2020.
Lord Sedwill said: “I don’t think PM & Co have internalised yet the distinction between minimising mortality and not trying to stop most people getting it.
“Indeed presumably like chickenpox we want people to get it and develop herd immunity before the next wave.
“We just want them not to get it all at once and preferably when it’s warn (sic) and dry etc.”
Sir Christopher responded: “Exactly right. We make the point every meeting, they don’t quite get it.”
A lot of time during the inquiry has been taken up on when the government change from planning to mitigate people getting the virus, to preventing the spread of the virus and locking down.
Image: Messages between Mark Sedwill and Sir Chris Wormald shown to the COVID inquiry
Read more: Hancock wanted to decide ‘who should live and die’ Johnson blames ‘bed blocking’ on need for first lockdown Key WhatsApp messages from the COVID inquiry
On 14 March, the then-health secretary, Matt Hancock, wrote in The Daily Telegraph: “We have a plan, based on the expertise of world-leading scientists. Herd immunity is not a part of it. That is a scientific concept, not a goal or a strategy.
“Our goal is to protect life from this virus, our strategy is to protect the most vulnerable and protect the NHS through contain, delay, research and mitigate.”
On 23 March, Boris Johnson enacted lockdown.
Dominic Cummings, who was a political appointee by Mr Johnson, repeatedly criticised the Civil Service while he gave evidence to the inquiry.
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COVID: No 10 in ‘complete chaos’
On the same day as the civil servants were talking, Mr Cummings complained in a WhatsApp message that Lord Sedwill had been “babbling about chickenpox”, adding “god f****** help us”.
Speaking to the inquiry on Tuesday, Mr Cummings said Lord Sedwill told Mr Johnson: “PM, you should go on TV and should explain that this is like the old days with chickenpox and people are going to have chickenpox parties. And the sooner a lot of people get this and get it over with the better sort of thing.”
In a post on social media, Mr Cummings responded to the messages published today.
He said: “The reason the [Lord Sedwill] suggested to the PM on 12/3 to tell the country to hold chickenpox parties – and me/Ben Warner said ‘you must stop saying this’ – is [Sir Christopher], *in charge of ‘the plan’*, was telling him this was the f****** plan!!!
“Holy s*** this is truly atrocious and explains so much.”
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Sir Christopher, who was pushed by inquiry lawyers to explain the messages, said that it was a reference to herd immunity but argued it was “reflecting the state of the scientific advice at that point”.
He said he had been “very, very loose in my reply” and that he had at the time been following the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies – Sage – advice.
Five people have been charged, the Metropolitan Police said, following pro-Palestinian protests in London.
The force arrested a total of nine people – two on suspicion of assaulting police officers and seven for alleged public order offences – as tens of thousands took to the streets of the capital on Saturday to stand against Israel’s bombing of Gaza, along with counter-demonstrations.
Two other women were held on suspicion of inciting racial hatred on Sunday morning following an incident in Trafalgar Square.
The Met have faced criticism of their policing of the march, where more than 1,000 police officers were on duty.
The five people charged are:
• Kadirul Islam, 33, of no fixed address, has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence after allegedly shouting racist abuse.
• Emma Turvey, 51, from Grays, Essex has been charged with a public order offence after a can of beer was allegedly thrown at a protestor in Whitehall.
• Atif Sharif, 41, of Walthamstow, east London, has been charged with causing actual bodily harm after an officer was allegedly assaulted and suffered a head injury.
• Laura Davis, 22, of Barnet, north London, has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence relating to an incident near Piccadilly Circus where an allegedly racist and threatening placard was displayed.
• A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, has been charged with a public order offence after verbal abuse was allegedly directed at officers escorting protesters.
Ten people have been arrested as part of an investigation into an alleged kidnapping of a “number of people” in South Tyneside.
Police said some people had sustained “serious, but non-life threatening injuries” but there was “no risk to the wider public at this time”.
The arrests came after dawn raids were carried out by Northumbria Police at multiple addresses in South Shields.
The force said it followed an allegation of people being held against their will and seriously assaulted at an address on 20 September.
Northumbria Police’s Major Investigation Team said anyone with “concerns or information” should contact them.
Detective Inspector Mark Atherton said: “Following a concerning report made to us about a number of people being held against their will at an address in the area, an investigation was launched with a number of specialist detectives tasked with establishing exactly what happened.
“A number of people sustained serious, but non-life threatening injuries and have now been safeguarded.
“We have since identified a number of people we believe to have been involved and yesterday, carried out targeted action to arrest those people and bring them into custody.
“Seven people have since been charged with a number of offences and are due to face the courts today.
“Our investigation remains ongoing and is still at an early stage, but we do believe there is no risk to the wider public at this time.
“Officers will remain in the area and anyone who thinks they might be able to help or have information they want to share, should get in touch.”
Read more on Sky News: Storm with 165mph winds hits Mexican beach Actors’ strike holds up new Mission: Impossible
Police said six men and one woman have been charged with a number of offences and are due to appear before magistrates in South Tyneside on Wednesday.
One man remains in police custody. Another man and a woman have been released on bail.
Anyone with information should contact Northumbria Police by calling 101 or using the ‘tell us something’ page on its website, quoting log NP-20230921-0543.
Independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
A fresh deluge of rain is set to fall on parts of the UK days after Storm Babet caused widespread flooding and left seven people dead.
The warning for “heavy rain” will be in place between 3am and 4pm today.
It covers a vast swathe of England already hit by flooding and could lead to further floods in the East Midlands, including Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, as well as much of Yorkshire, including Sheffield, Leeds and York, and Humberside.
The Met Office has said there is a “small chance” homes and businesses could be flooded.
The forecaster has also warned that fast-flowing or deep floodwater could cause a danger to life and that some communities will be cut off by flooded roads.
It comes after the flood risk in England and Wales remained at medium yesterday as the number of dead from Storm Babet rose to at least seven people.
Image: Yellow weather warning in place for Tuesday Pic: Met Office
Rachel Ayers, Met Office meteorologist, said a few places, most likely Lincolnshire and Humberside, could see 30 to 50mm of rain, while southern England and Wales could experience 10 to 20mm.
She said there will be “some respite” across Scotland on Tuesday after its battering by the storm.
“The weather we are seeing on Tuesday is no longer associated with Storm Babet,” Ms Ayers said.
“We will see some heavy rain in areas affected by flooding during Storm Babet though the worst impacted areas in Scotland will remain mostly dry on Tuesday.”
She continued: “Within the warning area we could see some travel disruption due to spray and flooding on roads.
“There is a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life, or that some communities could be cut off due to flooded roads.”
Hundreds left homeless after storm
Reports of floods to the Environment Agency (EA) reached the highest level since 2015/16 at the peak of the storm, Rebecca Pow, an environment minister, told the House of Commons on Monday.
The EA issued more than 300 flood warnings and received more than 1,800 calls to its flood line, she said.
Hundreds of people have been left homeless in the wake of Storm Babet, with about 1,250 properties in England flooded, according to the EA.
Ms Pow said investigations are expected.
A total of 13 areas broke their daily rainfall records for October last week, including sites in Suffolk, South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Wiltshire, Kincardineshire, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Northumberland, Derbyshire and Humberside, the Met Office said.
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey visited flood-hit Retford in Nottinghamshire on Monday and said residents were asking “why stuff hasn’t happened” since the last major floods in 2007.
She told Sky News: “[Since 2007], between 2015 and 2021 we’ve invested £2.6bn in flood defences right across the country, that was over 300,000 homes. We’re partway through a programme of spending a further £5.2 billion over a six-year time period.”
Ms Coffey added that it may take “several months” for some people to move back into their homes after the flooding.
She said: “But let’s see what we can do to try and speed some of that along and that’s why our officials have already been in touch with insurers and similar.”
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2:39
‘You deal with it!’: Members of public confront environment secretary
Image: Members of the emergency services help local residents to safety in Brechin, Scotland, as Storm Babet battered the country
Tragedies throughout storm area
The number of deaths rose on Monday as police recovered the body of a man after reports that a person was trapped in a vehicle in floodwater near Marykirk, Aberdeenshire, on Friday.
Police Scotland said that formal identification is still to take place, however next of kin have been informed.
On Saturday, 83-year-old Maureen Gilbert was found dead in her flooded home in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
Mrs Gilbert’s neighbours said five feet of water had engulfed the inside of their properties “within minutes” of the River Rother bursting its banks.
Image: The scene in Rotherham where homes were evacuated
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2:21
Storm Babet: Son finds mother’s body
Wendy Taylor, 57, also died after being swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk, on Thursday.
Mrs Taylor was described as “the beloved wife, best friend and soulmate in life to George, mother to James, Sally and Susanna and Granny to India and George”.
Her family said she was “a ray of sunshine for everyone who was fortunate enough to know her” in a tribute issued through Police Scotland.
Image: Flooding in Midleton, Co Cork caused by Storm Babet
Two women also died after a five-vehicle crash on the M4 on Friday which is believed to have been weather-related.
Four cars and an HGV were involved in the crash on the eastbound carriageway between junction 17 for Chippenham and junction 18 for Bath.
A 56-year-old driver, John Gillan, died when a tree fell on his van near Forfar in Angus on Thursday and a man in his 60s died after getting caught in fast-flowing floodwater in the town of Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, on Friday.
Mr Gillan’s family said he was a loving husband, dad, grandad and son.
