All right, it is time for the UK Report, Gavin Gray waiting to bring us the latest news from the UK and Europe.
Morning Gigi, Good morning, Sja. How are you this morning?
Very very good, very very good. Indeed, okay, let's start with your top story. And following a warrant issued by the ICC, the International Criminal Court, of course, a man from Libya who is suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity has been arrested in Germany.
Yes, that's right. So the name of the man is Khaled Mohammad Ali l excuse me, Hisshiri, and he's commonly
known as Albuti. But he was alleged to have been a senior official at a prison complex in Tripoli, Libya, where thousands of people were detained, and while there, he's suspected of having committed or ordered or overseen crimes including murder, torture and rape over a five year period from twenty to fifteen, and there is no record of him commenting on these alleg So eleven arrest warrants have been issued by the ICC in connection with alleged war crimes and
crimes against humanity committed in Libya since the killing of Muhma Gadaffi, the long term leader there of course, plunging Libya into civil war, and since the overthrow are there with Gadaffi in power for six years, six decades. Rather, Libya split into areas controlled by different militias and is
currently divided by two rival governments. And the accused Hashiri is part of the Special Deterrence Force aligned to the Interior Ministry of the internationally recognized government, So he is part of the international recognized government and therefore this arrest warrant is extremely of interest. But certainly what goes on in this jail, what goes on in this prison complex, sounds to be very very unpleasant. Indeed, I suppose we
shouldn't be surprised about that. The country is in a massive state of flux, and it looks like he's going to remain in detention until arrangements are made for him to be surrendered into the custody of the International Criminal Cord and then extradited to face justice in the Hague. I dare say it'll make fascinating reading but also deeply unpleasant reading at the same time.
Next up, the Ministry of Defense, British Ministry of Defense isn't expected to give any compensation to some thousands of Afghans whose personal details were leaked. Just give us the background to this.
This has been dominating the news agenda, not just in the UK but across Europe. In a data leak by one unnamed official from the Ministry of Defense who has probably made the most costly mistake in terms of email leaks of all time, he thought he or she thought they were sending about one hundred and fifty lines of data about people who were in Afghanistan who had said that they had helped British forces in Afghanistan during the war there and were now trying to get to the UK,
saying they were in fear of their life. However, instead of sending just a few dozen lines, he accidentally sent several thousand lines of data and information, and it included the names and addresses of those Afghans who were trying to claim asylum who now fear, of course that they will be killed by the Taliban for colluding with these
allied forces. Many were translators, many had helped the British forces in their battle of course against the Taliban, but also had we then discovered a couple of days later released information about Security Service personnel, the identity and their names some of the most carefully protected identify tease here in the UK, and had also given out the names and addresses of some of those in the SAS, again
another highly secretive organization. So then we learn that now the government is ruling out here payments to those whose lives might have been put in danger by this leak, but have not received any help coming to the UK. So a real mess here. It's estimated to possibly have caused twenty billion South African randsworth of legal suits in this. We don't know who the person is we leaked it. We don't know if they are still in a job or not. Either way, this has shown absolute incompetence at
the top level. I'm afraid of the Ministry of Defense and it's made some very very depressing headlines this week.
Next up put a prison in North London, Pentonville Prison, which allegedly held some prisoners for longer than their release release date had stipulated and was found to be cockroach infested, has been put into special measures. I know what that means when it comes to kind of ofsted and schools. What does it mean from a prison perspective. Gg.
Yeah, The Minister for Prisons will now set up a team to work urgently on the concerns addressed. Pentonville Prison in North London, Islington is one of the most the oldest, one of the oldest prisons that we operate here in the UK. It is therefore some would argue, not fit for purpose and despite investment, needs really radical overhor to bring it up to date, because of course the standards we used to keep prisoners in is no longer the
standards deemed to be acceptable for today's prisoners. But worse perhaps than that, the data showed that one hundred and thirty inmates have been held beyond their release date in the past six months. Why well, because the release dates have not been calculated properly. And you might say, well, what do you mean. Surely the judge says ten months.
It's ten months, but of course for good behavior for other types taking part in learning courses, instruction courses, trying to get them a job afterwards, it makes that calculation a bit more difficult. But not only have some been held longer than they should have done, about one in five held longer than they should have been in the last six months, but also some have been released earlier
sj than they should have been as well. So the Minister for Prisons, Lord Timpson, who runs a company basically copying up keys, and he's a big voice in the industry for employing former prisoners and trying to get them reintegrated in society. He's the minister in charge. I think many people think this is exactly his role in life
that he should be. And there he is discovering that some prisons have been kept longer, some prisoners haven't been kept as long as they should have done, and described the state of the prisons from this watchdog report as really pretty awful, so frightening conditions and of course let's not forget in all countries when prisoners live in these terrible conditions and feel bad, they often take that anger out on prison staff. So something they're desperately looking into here in London.
Next up, and something that's likely to put a smile on the face of the British taxpayer, well say, a smile on the face. The UK government spent nearly a third less on hotels to house asylum seekers in the year up to last March.
Yes several more hundred arriving yesterday, We've had this extended fine weather and another several hundred arriving and it just doesn't stop across on the small boats. And that's, as I've reported before, led to all sorts of concerns about the infrastructure able to cope here in the UK. But whoever thought about putting them up in hotels, Well it has been incredibly expensive. The number of people now in hotels they're the ones coming across in small boats illegally,
was thirty two thousand, three hundred. It's now below thirty thousand, so some interest, some improvement in the last six months, but not massive amount. But they're also as well finally getting room sharing underway. I mean, can you believe some migrants were just given a wonderful room on their own And we often are talking, you know, quite nice hotels, I mean hotels that would be beyond my price bracket. You think, you know, and you think, wow, what's going
on here? Anyway? The average cost is now about one hundred and ten million South African rand aer day, but that has gone significantly on what it was, which had been roughly one hundred and seventy five million South African rand per day the previous year. The sad thing about is ESJY is not just the money. The sad thing is not just the fact that I think many migrants say, oh, hotel, free food, a living allowance. It makes it more attractive
for them to come over. The really sad thing is this money is coming out of our international aid budget, aid that would have gone to good causes, starving people in Africa and around the world, and sadly that is not now happening as much as it was because we're paying for people coming across illegally.
The government is also planning to lower the voting age, which currently stands at eighteen. If I'm not wrong, I remember being able to vote from the age of eighteen in the UK. Sixteen and seventeen year olds in the UK would also be able to vote if these plans are given the green light.
Yep, and I think they will be given the green light. It's a government plan and the government has a big majority, so I can see happening in term for the next general election and another three bit years on. And what does it mean. Well, here in the UK it had been eighteen years old to vote. However, you can get a job at sixteen, You can therefore pay taxes, You can join the army at sixteen. Eighteen is our minimum
age for voting at the moment. Eighteen is our minimum age for getting married, drinking alcohol, and standing as a member of parliament. So by reducing the age of voting to sixteen, we'll have people voting for something that they actually can't take part in themselves, if you like, but because they're too young to be somebody to be elected. So I think there's a little bit of muddle thinking here.
But also, SJ, there's a great deal of fears of skullduggery, shall I say, because younger people in this country tend to vote left of center. A what is the nature of our government car currently left of center? And therefore plenty of people beginning to think, hmmm, is this a little way in which they're hoping, perhaps to spend longer in government than they might ordinarily be allowed to a sixteen and seventeen year olds only make up three percent
of the population, SJ. But you know, this could have a reasonable vote share in some areas where there's a very tight margin of majority. So let's see what happens if it goes through. There's certainly a bit of opposition, but at the same time many people think, no, they're sixteen, they're young adults, they should be allowed to vote.
It's an interesting one for me as somebody, as a person who grew up in the UK. I've never thought and maybe this has changed. I haven't lived there for fifteen years. But more I'd never have thought of UK youth as being particularly politicized. And I think that's because when I then came back to South Africa, our youth is very politicized for very obvious reasons, comparatively very politicized.
So I can't I don't know. I mean, it's it's interesting and as you say, given where the current government sits politically, yes, maybe there is a reason why they're
trying to bring this in. But yeah, I'm just not sure that I can't envisage that there's a large group of young people champing at the bit for this to happen, because I've just never viewed that the UK youth is being politicized, and honestly, I don't think they've had to be in the way that youth and other parts of the world are now in very good Yeah, all right, fair enough. Felix Baumgartner. That is a name that I don't know. Tell me about him.
Well, I think you would remember somebody who once broke the world record for the highest skydive. He jumped in a sort of webbed suit from the edge of space, right, and he did that. He's done some extraordinary stunsing flying across the English Channel with an oxygen tank strapped to his back and a parachute for landing. That was back
in two thousand and three. In twenty twelve, he broke the world record and the sound barrier for the highest ever sky dive, jumping from a balloon thirty nine kilometers in the stratosphere. And he was known as a real daredevil. But sadly, the fifty six year old has now died. He fell to the ground near the swimming pool of a hotel while flying over a village, and that was in Italy, and the reports immediately suggest actually this isn't
a stunt that's gone wrong. He actually may have suffered a medical issue mid air, and that's why he died. The extreme sportsman, known as Fearless Felix for his adventurous stunts, has done all sorts in the same years at the world record for the highest parachute jump when he launched himself from those famous petronous towers in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Did all sorts of amazing things, some of them I frankly don't fancy at all, including one of the world's lowest base jumps from the hand of Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue just ninety eight feet. Launching yourself from that I wouldn't fancy. But anyway, Yes, sad that he's died, no doubt. More details about why he died, but talk of a medical issue mid air.
How terribly sad he I'm just reading here he broke the world record for the highest sky dive by jumping from the edge of space, jumping from a balloon more than thirty nine kilometers in the stratosphere. That can't be right, can it, Kevin?
Yes? Yes, I remember I was actually live reporting for the BBC and we delayed the feed by seven seconds. No, in case it all went very wrong. No really, Yes, yes, he.
Jumped nine kilometers in the air.
Yes, he took this huge balloon. I mean we're not talking an ordinary balloon, talking you know, right to the edge of space where he would have struggled to breed. He couldn't breathe, so he had this massive thing. And of course the speed he picked up when he threw himself out and by the time he got back down towards the Earth service amazing. I mean, it was an amazingly dramatic stump. Many people thought it was just a suicide mission, but no, he was. He was successful.
I need to I need to look up more of that when we come off there. That has blown my mind. I didn't even think that was going to be possible. And then finally, the operators of one of Europe's most famous outdoor bathing ponds, I don't know what that is a facing court action over allowing trans swimmers into the lady section. First off, what's a bathing pond? Is that like a lido?
Well it sort of isn't It isn't so. In Hampstead Heath in North London there are a selection of water ponds, so ponds, not swimming pools, but they allow swimming in them, sort of freestyle swimming, a wild water swimming. As of course, they monitor the quality of the water very carefully. It is split into a lady's pond, a men's pond, and a sort of kids play you know area, and a
mixed one. However, a group calling Sex Matters, they say they're a human rights charity, are now saying they will take legal action against the owners, the operators of this pond that's the City of London corporation or the council over their stants because they are saying anyone who identifies as a woman can swim in the ladies pond. That's
been their guidance since twenty nineteen. However, earlier this year, the Supreme Court in the UK ruled that actually they said a legal definition of a woman should be based on their sex at birth, and of course that's different
from you know, thinking you identifying as a woman. So this group, this pressure group, is saying, look, we are swimming in these waters and we don't think that these transgender bases should be allowed in and equally legally, I think now they shouldn't be allowed in because of that legal ruling. So they are saying, right, we're going to prosecute the operators. They're saying fifty pounds, what's that? A million South African around They're going for and trying to
force the counsel into change in their hands. It's certainly something which has been extremely hotly debated in this country over toilet use as well, of course being another thing, public toilet use being something that many women in particular feel very angry that transgender people are allowed to use
their toilets. Transgender people very angry that they are being They feel they're being excluded from both the men's and the women So it is a very very good talking point and one that's drawn a lot of problems for politicians here in the UK.
There's so much I want to say on this. First of all, the fact that there's even a men's swimming pond and a women's swimming pond is ridiculous and bizarre. Imagine if every single swimming bath or lido or tidal pool in the world you had to have a men's one and a women's one. The world's gone mad. Just have one.
Just get people.
People are so obsessed with sex and weird stuff that they need to not be obsessed with that they get their knickers in a twist and to this lady's group, get a life. It may in what world are you worrying about who's getting into a pool to swim lengths, and this argument that people use of, Oh but men are trying, men are trying to access our spaces to come and attack us. They're not doing that. That's not
what's happening. That the instances of trans people using their trans status to go and sexually assault or in other way harm the people, It's not happening. It's a total figment of your imagination. Be more worried about men who are attacking you than trans people minding their own business and going for a swim. Or I've got on my high horse there, Gavin. But it does my head in, Oh, it does my head in. Get a life, do something, Go and go and plant some daffodils in Hampstead Heath.
And on that frantic note, we're gonna leave it there. So thank you very much. Indeed, we'll chat you again next week