[Music]
It's 10:00. This is Sky News at 10. Our
top story, a promise to close asylum
hotels for good as the government
unveils plans to tackle the migration
crisis.
[Applause]
We report from a town where simmering
tensions over asylum seekers is pulling
the community apart. The prime minister
insists he completely gets public
concern over migration as he rejigs his
Downing Street team after a summer of
discontent.
Also tonight, the Taliban says more than
800 people have been killed in an
earthquake in Afghanistan.
Russia is accused of jamming the GPS on
board a plane carrying the president of
the European Commission.
Liverpool pay a record fee after signing
striker Alexander Isac on transfer
deadline day. And we'll take a first
look at tomorrow's front pages. That's
coming up in our press preview from
10:30 right through to midnight.
Hello there. Good evening. The prime
minister has insisted that he completely
gets public concern about migration and
says he wants to accelerate plans to
empty asylum hotels before the next
election. The government has also
confirmed that it's pausing new
applications for refugee family reunions
and will begin the first returns of
migrants who have crossed the channel
later this month. The announcements came
as secure Starmer rejigged his Downing
Street operation in the wake of a summer
which has seen protests on the streets
over migration and a labor slump in the
polls. Our deputy political editor Sam
Coats has this report.
The faces of his closest aids on the day
after the election. Or at least that was
then. In the five years since he's
become leader, Karma has had four chiefs
of staff, two cabinet secretaries, and
five directors of communication. And
today again, he changed that team around
him.
On the left is Darren Jones, the
Treasury number two who oversaw
government spending. He's being sent
next door to help the prime minister.
>> Old faces back, too. Tim Allen helped
Labour prep for power in 1997 and after
a spell in lobbying is now in charge of
the political message back for phase two
of this government.
>> The urgency and the frustration I
completely understand. I want to go
further and faster. Um and that's
amongst the reasons I've done some
changes here in number 10 today to make
number 10 more powerful to drive through
the changes that we need
>> to deliver pointed promises like this.
When it comes to the asylum hotels, I
want them emptied. I've been really
clear about that.
>> Most moves seem designed to boost number
10's economic firepower as they wrestle
with a massive budget black hole. But
one appointment matters most. The prime
minister has brought in a Mr. Fix It to
sort out his problems. Mid-ranking
cabinet minister Darren Jones has been
parachuted into Downing Street with a
brief to stick his nose in other cabinet
ministers affairs and report back to the
prime minister about what works and what
doesn't. Maybe there's a reason that job
and job title chief secretary to the
prime minister has never existed in the
past.
>> Delivery for these protesters is hard.
The home secretary clear that closing
hotels forever won't happen at once. We
need to close all asylum hotels and we
need to do so for good. But that must be
done in a controlled and orderly manner
and not through a return to the previous
government's chaos that led to the
opening of hotels in the first place.
>> The tries say this is a damp squib.
>> What I would actually like to see the
home secretary talk about is how she's
going to close down the asylum hotels.
What they have done with their recent
court case is actually show that they
believe that illegal migrants have more
rights than our local communities and we
completely disagree with that.
>> This morning we've got all the number 10
staff together.
>> Fresh start new team but will it solve
old problems? Sam Coat Sky News
Westminster.
>> Well, let's go live to Downing Street
now and our political correspondent
Serena Barker saying so an asylum focus
today certainly Serena amid this rejig
or reset. Will it work?
Well, this fight back, this reset,
whatever the government wants to call
it, there's a clearly there's a sense
inside number 10 that the message they
are trying to get across, isn't cutting
through with voters. And they've used
their first day in parliament. They had
the home secretary speaking about
immigration, something that over the
summer they feel a bit on the back foot
about. They've seen other political
parties step into that political void.
And this is all part of a new uh reset
as they say, changing the top team, uh
changing the sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh
sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh
sh sh sh sh sh shift of focus and you
also saw a change of language. So gone
were the uh bold slogans of smash the
gangs used quite sparingly today in the
home office statement and actually um
there was some consiliary language about
striking the right balance of who uh and
who you let into this country. Now there
was nothing new in terms of uh policy
but there was a lot of detail and that
also seems to be a change of strategy.
So there are changes to the asylum
policy in terms of uh family
requirements who's allowed to come over
if asylum is granted to you but also um
um English language uh capacity and
requirements there. They're actually
going to freeze uh family schemes until
they've worked out those details. But I
think that the fact that we've got so
much detail today also shows where we
are with this um that we have heard
other political parties big uh platforms
and what they would do on immigration.
You had reforms stating they would do
mass deportations last week. The
government clearly feel that over this
summer they need to get ahead of this.
One thing that was quite surprising was
a shift in the policy of our
relationship with the ECR. Now this is
something the tries have said they want
to leave. Reform have said uh only last
week they will definitely uh abandon
international treaties and for the first
time the government today was sort of
saying we'll reassess our relationship
with that having previously stated how
important international treaties were
and that we would uh not uh step outside
them at all. I think it's a clear
contrast uh to uh reform but also
showing their popularity um but it also
shows that how these other political
parties are now pushing the government
uh into quite uncomfortable policy areas
live for us there in down street. Thank
you. Well, in the towns affected by the
immigration crisis, deep divisions
remain. One place that has felt it more
than some others is none. Our Midlands
correspondent Shaman Freeman Powell
spent time there and has this special
report.
>> Here in the Neon, tensions around
immigration are running high.
>> That's the issue we have using our in
our country.
>> Anti-immigration protesters have taken
to the streets several times and even
clashed with police.
>> The protest started after two men were
accused of raping a 12-year-old girl.
The men deny the charges and are due to
face trial. The leader of the
reform-ledd council, George Finch,
claimed that they were asylum seekers,
although their immigration status hasn't
been confirmed.
>> I don't think I'd want to live next door
to
not being funny, not being racist at
all, an asylum seeker, knowing what's
been going on on the news. 20, 20 year
olds getting married or partners,
they're struggling to get on the
property ladder and these similar
hotels, like you said, these HMO places,
you know, I think it's unfair.
>> I I've seen the amount um of um im
immigration into the local area
recently, as long as there's no trouble,
I don't think that there's an issue
really.
>> Do you think race plays a part in any of
this at all? Uh,
I'm not sure. Maybe because obviously
quite a lot of people are racist and can
be racist.
>> No, I don't think it's got anything to
do with race. I mean, we've got Chinese
people here. We've got Indians, we got
Africans.
>> Were you born in England?
>> I was born in England. Yeah.
>> Yeah. So, you're English
and England is from the English.
>> But my grandparents came from Jamaica.
Well, I got nothing against Jamaica,
>> but they were immigrants.
>> I probably got one of the best cricket
teams I've ever seen.
>> It was during this interview with
Zaheen, a local businessman, that things
took a turn.
>> And how old are you?
>> Uh, 32.
>> 32.
>> Yeah.
>> That's the issue we have using our court
in our country. You got to use raping
our kids.
>> This is our country. How about becoming
your country? Your kids.
>> That's what that's what that's what.
>> To avoid an escalation of the
confrontation, I attempted to move
Zaheen away.
>> Are you okay?
>> Yeah. Cuz I'm used to this conflict.
>> No, but that's
>> that's my
>> No one should be used to that. A woman
who worked at the local bookshop had
heard the commotion and came to speak to
us.
>> Have you ever seen anything like that?
>> No. Well, there have been protests.
>> Um, and of course, you know, Wish County
Council has gone to reform. So, I think
it's given certain people a license to
be aggressive and to be racist.
>> Wow. Uh, to hear that actually um is is
saddening. And I think what I've just
heard is not the case at all. Reform
actually and Nigel Farage as the leader
has done the most out of any political
party out of any person to take down the
far right to protect young girls. They
think that you going out protesting
that's racist and that's that that's the
world going mad. As more
anti-immigration protests pop up across
Britain, councils like Eping have taken
legal steps to block asylum seekers
being housed in hotels. But if asylum
seekers aren't housed in hotels, they
may be housed next door, like here in
Neton. We've just been invited into a
house where asylum seekers live. This
used to be a three bed house on a
terrace road. It's now a house that
sleeps eight people. I spoke to one of
the residents here, Jav. We're not using
his real name as he asked to stay
anonymous. He's from Iran and could only
speak Farsy. We used a translation app
to speak to him and then had a
translator review what he told us.
>> Did you come here on a small boat? And
if so, what was that journey like?
>> I didn't know how to swim, and I was
very scared. But they forced me to get
on the boat. I had to come here
illegally. I had to. I had no other
choice.
>> So why are asylum seekers here in the
Neon living in residential properties
and how did we get to this point? A few
years ago, asylum seekers in Lenon were
few and far between in single digits.
But by June of this year, that number
had surged to 247.
None of them in hotels. They're living
in dispersal accommodation in the
community side by side with locals. That
works out to 19 asylum seekers per
10,000 people, placing Neton 87th in
terms of concentration.
It's data that paints the picture of
pressure, of change, of a town adjusting
to a new reality.
>> If they want to protest, by all means
protest. Um, but there has to be a
solution. Uh, and I think that solution
comes through dialogue, not ranting off,
swearing at each other.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the
Home Office told Sky News, "This
government inherited an asylum system in
chaos. We have taken urgent action to
fix the system, more than doubling
asylum decisions and cutting the backlog
by 41% and the cost of asylum hotels was
reduced by almost a billion pounds in
2024 to 25.
After the incident in the town center,
Zaheen decided not to press charges. We
have to feel accepted in it, included
>> and be part of it.
>> At least 800 people are reported to have
died and almost 3,000 others injured
after an earthquake hit Afghanistan. The
earthquake hit Afghanistan's eastern
Kunal province. The epicenter was near
Jalalabad about 120 km or 75 miles from
the capital Carbal. It struck overnight
at 11:47 p.m. local time with a
magnitude of 6.0. The worst hit areas
then are in the eastern provinces of
Kunar and Nangahar, but the earthquake
was felt all the way from Kbal to
Islamabad in neighboring Pakistan. The
earthquake was shallow, striking at a
depth of 8 kilometers or some five
miles, making it more destructive. Our
international correspondent John Sparks
has more.
Here in the dead of night, people dig
through the rubble with their bare
hands. The earthquake had struck and
their loved ones were missing.
It would take some hours to reveal the
true scale of this disaster.
Roads had been cut and entire
communities destroyed. Insubstantial
buildings made of brick and mud and wood
had fallen inwards, burying their
occupants inside.
Villagers in this spot called Mazard
Dara said dozens of people were buried
below.
>> The entire village has collapsed.
Children are trapped under the rubble.
The elderly are under the rubble. Young
people are under the rubble. We need
help here.
>> In Mazard, injured residents were moved
to a nearby field. a field that's been
turned into an impromptu hospital where
young and old must wait for help. But
it's an isolated area and emergency
assistance is going to take time.
>> We're hearing families and children are
sleeping outside in the open air,
terrified of more aftershocks. Children
are crying through the night in fear.
And essentially, this is a community
that went to bed one night and woke up
to find their world in ruins in the
middle of the night.
>> The only way to access many districts is
by helicopter, and they've been fing
hundreds of casualties to nearby towns.
And the UN and partner agencies will
assist with food and emergency medical
aid. But the governing Taliban will
struggle to cope with this crisis. The
country is desperately poor, receiving
little assistance from the international
community.
>> That's a country that is already um
suffering from a multiplicity of crisis.
There's a big drought and of course it's
extremely difficult to mobilize
resources because of the Taliban. So,
it's a it's a perfect storm and this
earthquake likely to have been quite
devastating is going to just add to the
miseries.
>> With little hope of immediate
assistance, some communities have begun
to bury the dead.
>> Another catastrophe in a crisis country
where many hope for little more than
survival. John Sparks, Sky News.
The Kremlin has denied accusations that
it interfered with the GPS system of a
plane carrying the president of the
European Commission, Ursula Vander Lion.
Well, the EU Commission's president's
plane was hit by interference yesterday
as it prepared to land in Bulgaria.
Pilots reportedly resorted to paper maps
to bring the aircraft down safely. The
European Commission says Bulgarian
authorities suspect the jamming was
carried out by Russia.
We are uh of course aware and used to
somehow to the threats and intimidations
that are regular uh that our regular
component of Russia's hostile behavior.
Uh of course this will only uh reinforce
even further our unshakable commitment
to ramp up defense capabilities and
support for Ukraine.
Well, let's go live to Moscow then and
our correspondent Iva Bennett. So, uh,
what has Russia had to say about this
then, Iva?
>> Well, the Kremlin hasn't replied to our
request for comment, but they have given
a response to the Financial Times.
Spokesman Demetri Pescov told the
newspaper, "Your information is
incorrect. The information we have from
the EU is that this incident happened
yesterday on Sunday. Ursula Vanderelion,
who is one of the EU's most senior
officials, was on her way to Bulgaria.
As you say, the plane was on its
approach into the city of Plavde when it
lost its GPS signal and its electronic
navigational aid, which basically means
the pilots don't know where they are.
And in this case, the plane reportedly
had to circle for an hour before landing
uh using paper maps. So, not disastrous
here, but clearly very alarming
nonetheless. Um, the EU doesn't know for
sure what caused this, but as you heard
there, they suspect Russian
interference, citing information they've
got from Bulgarian authorities. Now,
this isn't the first time that Moscow
has been accused of this kind of thing.
In March last year, the then British
defense secretary Grant Shaps was on
board a plane that experienced exactly
the same kind of thing when flying over
Poland near to Russian airspace in
Kinenrad. Moscow is accused then and
Estonia and other EU member states have
made similar accusations multiple times
over the past 12 and 18 months. In this
case, the timing is certainly curious.
Ursula Vandereline was on a tour of the
EU's eastern flank to look at ways of uh
bolstering and improving the block's
defense uh capabilities and readiness in
the face of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine. Whether or not this indeed was
a case of Russian interference, I'm not
sure we'll ever know. But one thing's
for sure, it certainly raised tensions.
>> Iva in Moscow. Thank you. Well, Vladimir
Putin has been given the red carpet
treatment in China as he joined Xi
Jinping and the Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for an economic summit. As
our Asia correspondent Helen Ansmith
reports, the meeting will be seen by
many as a challenge to the current
global order led by the United States.
There's a sense this city knew the world
was watching.
Roads blocked, barriers up.
A glimpse into how this needed to be
perfect.
But for all the careful staging, these
are the images that will stick. Hands
held, jokes shared.
>> China, India, Russia, aware of the power
they wield. For Vladimir Putin, this is
the backdrop that matters. his brutal
war in Ukraine. Barely two weeks since a
summit with Trump to talk peace, his
bombs have continued to drop.
>> Few here want an outcome that favors the
West. China a longstanding lifeline.
Strong hints it will have a stake.
>> We already spoke about this with
Chairman Xi Jinping. This work has
begun. I informed him in detail about
what we achieved during the negotiations
with the US president.
>> There is much divides those who sat at
this table. What they share is distrust
of America. Overt critiques kept subtle.
But make no mistake, they were there.
>> Currently, changes and turbulence are
interweaving in the world, and all
member states are facing more arduous
tasks on security and development.
We must continue to unequivocally oppose
hedgemenism and power politics.
>> The 2025 Shanghai Cooperation
Organization Summit.
>> Much of this was about China, a vision
for what it can do. From robotics to
suggested reading and tight control of
the press watching on.
>> Everything about this summit has been
carefully controlled and stage managed.
They even cut the audio of the visiting
leader speeches. Such is the paranoia
about anything that hasn't been
prevetted. But all this meticulous
choreography has been designed to tell
an unambiguous story. It is a story
about nations disillusioned with
America, about the potential for a new
type of global leadership, one with
China at the helm.
>> For observers here, the trend under
Trump is clear. I think the damages he
has done to Americans credibility and
image is more than all the done by his
predecessors combined. I believe Chinese
way is totally different from from
American way. I would say the United
States is in decline.
>> Trump's peace for Ukraine may not be
dead. But today his influence felt far
more flimsy. If optics matter in
politics, then this was a good day for
China. Helen Smith, Sky News in Tanzhin.
>> So, as the leaders of China, Russia and
India meet, are we seeing a big shift in
the power balance between East and West?
Our economics and data editor, Ed
Conway, has been looking at how changing
geopolitics, including the war in
Ukraine is reshaping global trade.
>> What are the long-term consequences of
war in Ukraine that might well stretch
beyond the borders of Europe? Because
there are potentially some of them. And
if you look at the nations that are
meeting here, so obviously, you know,
we're familiar with the big groupings of
nations around the world, you know, you
got the G7 which includes the UK and
France and the US and Canada. Uh you've
got other nations like other groupings
like NATO for instance. Well, this is
one that most people, well, many people
certainly in Europe haven't necessarily
heard of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization. And if you look at the
members of it, so you've got China, uh
not unexpectedly, they they really kind
of led on this, but also Russia, uh
places like Mongolia and Afghanistan uh
are observant nations and then you've
got India. So that's kind of perhaps the
most interesting thing, India joining
this grouping recently. And if you look
at the global map, you see that, you
know, for a lot of people in in this,
this is seen as an alternative economic
grouping uh that brings together some of
these big ascendant economic forces. Um,
and they're obviously meeting in
Tanzhin. One of the backdrops to this um
is that before Ukraine was invaded, if
you look at exports from the G7 to
Russia, that's the dark blue line, and
exports from China to Russia, they were
more or less rising in lock step with
each other. But since that invasion,
there's been a real divergence. So,
Chinese exports to Russia have gone
through the roof. G7 exports have
basically gone to the floor because
they've been sanctions. They don't send
stuff uh as much to Russia. And if you
look at stuff that's coming out of
Russia and going to other nations, well,
there's another striking disparity since
the invasion of Ukraine, which kind of
where that line is at the moment. So,
this is where India gets its oil from.
Uh, previously it was Saudi, it was
Iraq, it was the US, Russia, which is
the red bit there, was basically nowhere
to be seen. And look at what happens
after the invasion of Ukraine. So,
places like Europe said, "We're not
taking any Russian oil anymore." Then
India says, "Okay, we're going to snap
that up." and a lot of Russian oil now
going to Indian refineries. In fact,
Russia is one of the biggest suppliers
of oil uh the single biggest in terms of
nations uh to India. So it's a massive
shift in economic relationships there.
And the US has said as a result of this
well we're thinking of imposing extra
tariffs on on India. And what would that
look like? Well, this is showing you the
tariff levels across the world. So
there's Japan, South Korea, this tariffs
imposed by the US on other countries.
There's India 25%. There's China uh
higher than that. And then you've got
Lao and Myanmar. If you're going to
impose secondary tariffs on India, so
raising that tariff level, look at what
happens to this bar. It goes up to 50%.
And actually India ends up being the
most tariff nation or one of the most
tariff nations in the world. Um and that
is perhaps part of the explanation for
why you're seeing India and President
Shei there and Prime Minister Modi from
India. while you're seeing India which
has long been at loggerheads with uh
with China while you're seeing these
countries coming together economically
it is a massive seismic moment uh for
the global economy if that turns out to
be one of the consequences unexpected
consequences of war in Ukraine
>> the daughter of a man who was killed by
two children in Leicester has told Sky
News there is a possibility he could
still be alive if police had taken
antisocial behavior reports more
seriously. Bim Kohley was racially
abused and attacked by a 14year-old boy
while a 12year-old girl filmed the
assault. Both were convicted of
manslaughter. Mr. Kohley was attacked
two weeks after he intervened in an
attack on another man by two teenage
boys. They weren't involved in Mr. Co's
death, but his daughter told Skye's
Sarah Jane Mi that if police had taken
action against them, her father might
not have been killed.
>> If they had arrested these two boys
prior to that incident on the 1st of
September,
there is a possibility my dad could
still be here.
>> You feel it would have been a deterrent,
a message to kids in this community.
>> Yes. So to reiterate, these two boys
that were involved in the incident in
August were not related to my father's
um death.
>> But it was a chance for police to lay
down a marker, send a message.
>> Well, Leicester police have told us that
because of its prior contact with Mr.
Coney, the force referred itself to the
independent office for police conduct.
The resulting investigation found that
proportionate and reasonable lines of
inquiry were followed and no misconduct
or missed opportunities which could have
prevented Mr. Koh's death were
identified.
The foreign secretary says Gaza is
experiencing a man-made famine and he's
announced further money for medical
assistance in the region. David Lammy
told MPs he was outraged by Israel not
allowing sufficient aid into Gaza and
the foreign secretary condemned the
continued building of illegal
settlements in the West Bank.
A retired Church of England vicar has
been sentenced to three years in prison
after admitting his role in an extreme
body modification ring. Jeffrey Balcom
had admitted causing grievous bodily
harm with intent after performing a
procedure on a man in January 2020. He
had previously admitted seven charges,
including possessing extreme pornography
and making and distributing images of
children.
The Met Office has confirmed that this
summer was the UK's warmest on record.
Average temperatures were 16.1 Celsius,
higher than the previous record back in
2018.
Now, it is transfer deadline day and a
new record has been set by Liverpool
with their latest signing. Let's bring
in our sports correspondent Royal Paris
is here. So, it's a record-breaking day
on a number of uh areas, Rob, including
the big one confirmed in the last hour.
>> Yes, Newcastle United will be receiving
125 million pounds from Liverpool for
Alexander Isach. It has been the saga of
the summer transfer window. An initial
bid was rejected by Newcastle, but the
strike himself pursued a deal, went
public on social media criticizing the
magpies. But on the final day of the
window, he secured this move. And it is
a sign of strength from Liverpool
against Newcastle, whose Saudi ownership
had been trying to resist this deal. But
Liverpool have been the big spenders.
£450 million building on their Premier
League title win last season
contributing to an overall spend across
the Premier League reaching £3 billion.
It is more than the rest of European
leagues combined really showing the
strength of the Premier League as the TV
rights in particular helping to fuel
this boom amongst clubs and in part as
well Liverpool helped by selling a
player Darwin Nunes to Saudi Arabia with
the shared um ownership of Newcastle
United. to many different uh movements
in terms of the money flow across this
transfer window. Some of the big moves
elsewhere, Manchester United signing a
goalkeeper Senna Le Man from Belgium.
They certainly need reinforcements.
They've had a really difficult start to
the season, but Liverpool in terms of
their spelling will put themselves as
now favorites to defend their title.
>> Yep, we see that all over the front
pages, don't we, Rob? Thanks very much
indeed. Well, that was Sky News at 10.
Coming up, we will take a first look at
tomorrow's newspapers in the press
preview tonight. joined by the political
commentator Adam Bolton and the
Telegraph's comment editor Annabal
Denim. Well, among the stories we'll be
discussing this on the front page of the
Daily Mail, the headline for them, one
in one out fiasco. Uh we'll be right
back with more on that.