Angela Rayner praises ‘amazing’ Independent campaign as family fleeing abuse get safe haven

Angela Rayner has praised The Independent’s “amazing” Brick by Brick campaign after the first family fleeing domestic abuse moved into a home it built.

The deputy prime minister said she was heartened by the success of the campaign and urged backers to continue supporting it to go from strength to strength.

Construction on two purpose-built safe houses was completed earlier this year, and now a survivor of abuse has been handed the keys to their new home – and a fresh start.

The hugely successful campaign, launched in partnership with leading domestic abuse charity Refuge, was backed by readers, politicians, royalty and celebrities when it launched in September last year.

Speaking to The Independent on Thursday, Ms Rayner said: “Because the feelings of relief I read about from those first movers encapsulates what a house can mean to people – it’s not just a home but a sanctuary.

“Supporting vulnerable families and their children into safe and secure housing is a matter that I hold close to my heart. That’s why this government is injecting millions of pounds of funding so domestic abuse survivors can access lifesaving support when they need it the most.

“Just today I announced that we’re rewriting the rules to ensure domestic abuse survivors do not face unfair barriers when trying to access social housing when they have had to move to a new area.

“I will continue to work day and night to make sure more families can have a safe roof over their head and I am proud this campaign is leading by example.”

The first occupant, who must remain anonymous for safety reasons, said: “As soon as I walked in, it felt warm, safe and homely. It’s the first time I had slept properly in months.

“The children are the happiest they have been for a long time.”

The new semi-detached houses, built by Persimmon Homes, are in a secret location to protect survivors.

They have two double-sized bedrooms, open-plan kitchens and built-in cupboard storage space, as well as solar panels on the roof and a private drive with off-road parking.

The homes also include a number of safety features, including CCTV, a fireproof letterbox, and enhanced locking on windows and doors.

Geordie Greig, editor-in-chief of The Independent, said: “This is significant because it helps the most vulnerable people who are in danger of their lives being severely damaged by abuse.

“It’s permanent because we aim to build a house that will be there for generations as a sanctuary to safeguard these people who are on the run, from situations which are dangerous and life-threatening.”

After the 10,946 bricks were laid, an all-female team of decorators added the finishing touches to the property to make it a true home for those seeking refuge.

Every new family will receive a welcome pack with a variety of items such as essential toiletries. Children will also receive new toys and books to help them settle in.

To help the house feel more welcoming, the team used bright, airy colours to help “ignite that feeling of wellbeing, freedom and moving on”.

Refuge staff will provide emotional support and legal advice to the families, and will aid women with safety preparations, budgeting, debt planning, benefits applications and finding nurseries and schools.

As the house will see many survivors pass through it, Refuge will carry out maintenance and a deep clean between each family.

The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign was launched in September 2024 in response to the UK’s domestic abuse crisis.

Thousands of women across the UK face danger in their own homes, but a woman is turned away from a refuge every two hours due to a lack of space.

The Queen, Sir Keir Starmer, Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Joanna Lumley, Olivia Colman, Victoria Derbyshire, Andi Oliver, David Morrissey and Sir Patrick Stewart were among those who backed the campaign.

The Independent heard testimony from a range of survivors, including women who were beaten and lost children, friends and jobs.

The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327

Putin claims he will meet Zelensky for ‘final’ talks

Vladimir Putin has claimed he is willing to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky but only for a “final phase” of talks.

He told international news outlets in St Petersburg that he would only join the talks to finally “put an end” to the conflict.

It is not the first time – nor will it be the last – that Putin has supposedly signalled a desire to end the war. Ukraine and its western backers say he is simply playing for time, appealing to Donald Trump while continuing to relentlessly bomb Ukraine in the meantime.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Ukraine in recent weeks following a surge in Russian aerial attacks.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said this morning it had been 100 days of Russia “manipulating … opportunities to end the war”, referencing Kyiv’s acceptance of a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire back in March and Moscow’s refusal to agree to it.

“100 days of Russian manipulations and missed opportunities to end the war. 100 days of Russia escalating terror against Ukraine rather than ending it,” Mr Sybiha wrote on X.

Wildfire warning issued for London as temperatures soar across UK

Firefighters have issued a warning over wildfires in London after two blazes broke out on green spaces in the capital in the past 24 hours.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) urged people to act responsibly during the heatwave as temperatures are expected to exceed 30C on Friday and Saturday. As just under half ofg London is made up of green spaces, which become popular in the heat, the fire service asked Londoners “to do all they can to prevent fires from starting accidentally.”

LFB assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne said: “With temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius and the driest spring in over a century, the risk of fires spreading rapidly is high.

“With so many of our open spaces close to homes and livelihoods, it is vital we all play our part to reduce the chance of grass fires breaking out in the first place and to protect our communities from incidents.”

The Brigade responded to two grass fires in Rainham on Wednesday, which required the attention of at least four fire engines.

The fire chief warned people against using disposable barbecues in parks and open spaces as they post a “significant fire risk as the heat can be retained for many hours” even once put out.

“If you’re having a BBQ at home, avoid doing so on a balcony and ensure your BBQ is away from flammable materials like fences and sheds. You should also avoid having your BBQ on any decking you may have in your garden,” the assistant commissioner added.

“It’s also important to make sure that smoking materials are discarded of properly and either dispose of your rubbish in the appropriate bins or take it home with you if none are available.”

Between 2022 and May 2025, the Brigade recorded 332 callouts, 17 of which resulted in casualties, where a barbecue was recorded as a cause or contributing factor to a fire.

The Brigade’s warning comes as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued the amber heat-health alert for the entire country from 12pm Thursday to 9am Monday. This is an upgrade from the yellow heat health alert that had been issued across parts of England; amber is the second highest, behind red, on the UKHSA system used to warn of the possible impacts on health and social services.

The UKHSA’s weather health alert system provides early warning to the health and social care sector when adverse temperatures are likely to impact the health and well-being of the population.

The Met Office announced on Wednesday that UK heatwaves could become longer and hotter due to escalating climate trends.

Scientists have said that the chance of temperatures exceeding 40C in the UK is accelerating at a rapid pace due to climate change, with a new report from the forecaster’s senior scientist Dr Gillian Kay underlining the need for organisations to prepare for new heat extremes in the near future.

Dr Kay said: “The chance of exceeding 40C has been rapidly increasing, and it is now over 20 times more likely than it was in the 1960s. Because our climate continues to warm, we can expect the chance to keep rising. We estimate a 50-50 chance of seeing a 40C day again in the next 12 years. We also found that temperatures several degrees higher than we saw in July 2022 are possible in today’s climate.”

The Brigade have called on landowners and local authorities to take action to protect communities from wildfires by cutting back or ploughing grass, especially where close to properties, to create fire breaks that slow the spread of flames.

28 Years Later feels like being hit on the head by the metaphor hammer

The zombie has never been a particularly subtle metaphor, in its brainless, slobbering wave of mass consumerism and mass hysteria. It was a good fit for director Danny Boyle, who almost always takes the path of bravado and noise, because he knows it will eventually lead him to an image as striking as Cillian Murphy, in scrubs, walking around bewildered on a desolate Westminster Bridge.

That moment was the crown jewel of 28 Days Later (2002) and, now, 23 years later, we have 28 Years Later, in which Boyle and his co-writer Alex Garland circle back to the genre they helped re-invent. It’s fairly standard for your zombies, now, to run fast, attack intelligently, and to never actually be referred to as “zombies”: just look at The Last of Us. Boyle and Garland were key to cementing that new standard.

The question here, then, is what more there is to say. The original conceit was punchy but simple – that our quickness to anger is in itself a sign of society’s collapse, and that the difference between monster and man is not as defined as we’d like to think. 28 Years Later is a post-Brexit, Covid-conscious take on this world, with ideas about nationalism, isolationism, and weaponised culture added to the mix. But it’s punchy and simple once again.

To explain away the ending of 28 Weeks Later, the initial 2007 sequel that this new entry largely disregards, we’re told that the British “rage virus” did indeed reach France, but was promptly taken care of. (I like to imagine the French simply shrugged it away with a, “bof, pas de problème”.) The UK is all on its own. On the island of Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, a small community have returned to traditional practices: the men are sent off to pick off the infected like bunny rabbits as a right of passage, while the women stay at home to prepare the town hall for dancing and folk tunes (it’s actually Tom Jones’s “Delilah”, which they play like an ancient ballad, a clever detail).

Spike (Alfie Williams) is off on his first mainland trip with dad, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Talk of a reclusive survivor, Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), leads the kid to have a few reckless thoughts about what he might be able to do for his ill and bed-bound mother Isla (Jodie Comer). There are some new categories of infected to deal with, including “slow-lows”, who crawl around and suck worms, and “alphas”, the bigger and stronger leaders of the zombie packs.

We start with the image of blood splattered across a television set showing the Teletubbies and, later, fix on a shot of a burning English flag: there’s nothing ever too on-the-nose for Boyle. The staccato-cut footage of infected, the splashes of infrared, the audio of Rudyard Kipling’s 1903 poem “Boots” (as already heard in the film’s viral trailer), and the clips from Laurence Olivier’s Henry V (1944), all start to feel like too many variations on the same idea. Watching a zombie pull a Mortal Kombat finisher on somebody is cool once, a little repetitive the third time.

But even if 28 Years Later feels like being repeatedly bonked on the head by the metaphor hammer, Boyle’s still a largely compelling filmmaker, and the film separates itself from the first instalment by offering something distinctly more sentimental and mythic than before. Comer proves to be the key counterbalance, and there’s an openness and a vulnerability to her performance that helps turn 28 Years Later into, ultimately, the story of a mother’s love.

You assume Fiennes, too, rocking up with his shaved head, is about to pull a Colonel Kurtz, but he leads the character in some surprising directions. Even less predictable still is the way Jack O’Connell (still basking in Sinners’s success) turns up to tease the film’s already completed sequel, The Bone Temple. That one was shot by Nia DaCosta. Murphy is set to return. The real test will be to see if these movies can shift the genre into a new direction once more.

Dir: Danny Boyle. Starring: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Edvin Ryding, Chi Lewis-Parry. Cert 15, 115 minutes

Woman, 66, arrested over death of director linked to missing Rolex

A 66-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection to the death of a film director police had linked to a missing Rolex watch.

The Metropolitan Police said the suspect was arrested on Wednesday over the death of Jennifer Abbott, also known as Sarah Steinberg.

Ms Abbott, 69, was found wrapped in a blanket on her bed with tape over her mouth by her concerned niece at her north London home on 13 June.

She was last seen walking her pet corgi in Camden, north London, on 10 June, with a post-mortem examination giving her cause of death as sharp force trauma.

An ambulance crew was called to her home in Mornington Place, Camden, at around 6pm on 13 June and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Her pet Corgi had been shut in the bathroom for three days but survived.

Photographs from her social media show her posing with a range of different celebrities, including socialite Paris Hilton and actress Kate Hudson.

Originally from Arizona, she had studied Arts and Sciences at Merton Technical College in southwest London before moving to Los Angeles to become a film producer.

Her LinkedIn states she was the chief executive of Atlantis Rising Productions, and has also authored several novels.

A woman living nearby described Ms Abbott as “a woman of taste”, while William Currie, 63, a hairdresser, said: “I just used to see her walking around with her little corgi.

“We just said hello, waved to each other and smiled. She used to walk the dog every couple of days. She kept herself to herself, she wasn’t too sociable but kind, polite and well-mannered. The dog was fat and chubby and barked a lot.”

Detective Inspector Barry Hart, of Homicide Command, Specialist Crime North, said: “Our deepest sympathies are with the victim’s loved ones who are being supported by specialist officers at this time.

“We thank the local community for their patience as we continue to investigate this shocking crime. This arrest marks a significant step forward.

“There are several lines of enquiry ongoing, and we are working hard to establish the exact circumstances of this incident. Locals can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while we conduct our enquires.”

What’s the secret to a truly stress-free holiday?

High-end cruising has entered a new era. Today’s luxury travellers aren’t looking for big flashy experiences. They want slow-paced, intimate travel and authentic cultural immersion. More than anything else, they’re looking for ease: that feeling of being genuinely cared for, safe in the knowledge that they’re experiencing the best of the best.

That means excellent quality food and drink, of course – it’s got to be restaurant standard and cater to all tastes – but also onboard enrichment experiences of the highest calibre. The great beauty of cruising has always been that not a second is wasted. Savvy travellers get to explore a rich and rewarding variety of exotic, off-the-beaten track locations, but instead of spending half their holiday stuck in motorway traffic, they’re honing their swing in the golf net, or sipping on a cocktail on the upper deck as they travel from destination to destination.

When they’re onshore they want genuinely immersive experiences that get them under the hood of a destination: think cellar tours of local vineyards or speedboat cruises to hidden beaches. Done right, a high-end all-inclusive cruise is the ideal form of slow travel, offering a perfect balance of adventure and indulgence, proper pampering and a thrilling sense of discovery.

The world’s most luxurious fleet

First among equals when it comes to the new era of luxury cruising is Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which offers more than 170 different itineraries visiting over 550 ports of call worldwide. Each of the six ships in their fleet is opulently appointed with beautifully designed communal areas and a huge array of amenities, but none of them has a capacity of more than 746 guests, ensuring space and freedom for all aboard.

The all-suite accommodation means that the private spaces are similarly roomy, each having a private balcony and marble bathroom. And service is always impeccable with a crew-to-guest ratio that’s nearly one-to-one, meaning that the team can always go that mile extra for all travellers.

Across the ships, the food is uniformly excellent. As well as Regent’s signature Compass Rose restaurant, with its daily changing menu of bistro classics like lobster bisque and New Zealand lamb chops, the different ships also feature a range of speciality dining venues. These include Prime 7, a New York-style steakhouse, Pacific Rim with its pan-Asian menu (be sure to try the miso black cod), and fine-dining destination, Chartreuse, where the chefs turn out sophisticated plates of upscale French cooking like Beef Tenderloin Rossini and Seared Foie Gras.

With a number of long cruises on their roster, Regent has made sure that each of its ships is akin to an ultra-luxury, boutique floating hotel with an incredible variety of things to do during the day and top-level entertainment at night. There are courts for paddle tennis and bocce, and the onboard spa offers a range of exclusive bespoke treatments. The ships host talks by experts in their field and cooking lessons are also available on some of the ships at the culinary arts kitchens where visiting chefs guide guests in how to make wow-factor dishes that relate to the ports of call. In the evening, the Constellation Theatre hosts lavishly staged productions from a team of Broadway choreographers and artists.

Destinations that match the onboard luxury

Of course, none of this onboard luxury would mean much if the destinations weren’t up to scratch, but Regent’s superbly curated itineraries are up there with the very best. Its week-long trips include culture-packed European tours like Glories of Iberia which sails from Barcelona to Lisbon, and thrilling frontier explorations such as the Great Alaskan Adventure from Whittier to Vancouver.

Longer trips include four-week Legendary Journeys from Athens to Montreal, and fully immersive explorations of the Arctic. Long or short, these itineraries are all underpinned by a commitment to taking guests right to the heart of a destination with the kind of bespoke onshore activities and expert-led insights that mean on a Regent Seven Seas Cruises voyage, adventure is guaranteed.

Visit Regent Seven Seas Cruises now to uncover the true meaning of luxury and start booking your ultimate stress-free getaway

It’s time every police force atoned for its homophobic witch hunts 

At the height of the Aids crisis in the 1980s, when hundreds of gay men were suffering slow, agonising deaths, the then-Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), James Anderton, denounced gay people as “swirling in a human cesspit of their own making”.

His words were not mere rhetoric. Homophobia informed operational policing. GMP officers were directed to illegally harass gay venues, including the notorious raid by 23 police on Napoleon’s bar in 1984. The membership list, including names and addresses, was illegally seized, and patrons were lined up against the wall and unlawfully photographed. Some had their feet deliberately stamped on.

Regular police raids on the New Union pub, Rembrandt Hotel and the Clone Zone shop were acts of vindictive police harassment. Manchester police openly boasted: “We’ve been trying to close these queer places for years.”

However, in response to my Peter Tatchell Foundation’s #ApologiseNow campaign, 21 out of the 45 chief constables in the UK – including the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside and Police Scotland – did just that, with many also implementing new LGBT+ supportive policies. They recognised the injustice done.

In contrast, the GMP’s chief constable, Sir Stephen Watson, refused to apologise – as did his counterpart at West Midlands Police (WMP), Craig Guildford. They suggested that either there was no evidence of anything that justified an apology or that any claimed wrongdoing happened too long ago to matter.

Their refusal is even more shocking given that GMP and WMP were historically two of the most viciously homophobic forces in the country, with gay arrest rates much higher than average. WMP compounded their insult by their double standards. They rightly apologised in 2020 to the black community for their long history of police racism, but they refuse to do the same to the LGBT+ community.

On top of that, WMP had me forcibly removed from the recent Birmingham Pride parade after I criticised their refusal to apologise. They falsely claimed I did not have permission to be there and that the organisers asked for me to be removed. The latter has confirmed that both these claims were fabrications.

The GMP and WMP chief constables have snubbed their own National Police Chiefs Council lead on LGBT+ issues. Northumbria Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine wrote to all chief constables over a year ago, urging them to review our request for an apology for historic anti-LGBT+ persecution.

She had a good reason. In the decades before the full decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales in 2003, police across the UK went out of their way to target and arrest thousands of gay and bisexual men for consenting, victimless behaviour. They went far beyond merely enforcing anti-gay laws and did so in a manner that was often illegal and sometimes violent.

Couples were arrested for kissing, which was not a crime. Officers burst into private birthday parties whose partygoers were shoved and called “f***ing queers” and “dirty poofs”. At closing time for bars and clubs, police would harass men chatting on the pavement outside. Those who hesitated to disperse or questioned the lawfulness of police harassment were threatened and sometimes arrested and beaten up.

It’s little wonder that the police were reviled by many as “queer-bashers in uniform”. In a raid on a bar in 1971, I was made to strip to my underpants in the street on a freezing cold October night. An officer squeezed my testicles until I screamed. I remember being stopped at a train station and quizzed and sneered at because I was wearing a gay badge.

This was typical of the everyday petty police harassment that we endured. Police waged witch hunts motivated by personal, and sometimes religious, prejudice against gay and bisexual men. They selected young, good-looking officers and got them to dress in a gay style, with tight-fitting jeans and leather jackets. These so-called “pretty police” were deployed as agent provocateurs in parks and public toilets to entrap men into committing offences before a hidden squad swooped in and made arrests.

Some forces had a policy of releasing the names, addresses and workplaces of arrested men to the newspapers – sackings and evictions often followed. With the stigma of a criminal conviction for a homosexual offence, many victims outed by the police had great difficulty in getting new jobs and housing. Some were beaten up, their homes and cars vandalised by homophobic mobs. Others turned to drink or endured mental breakdowns and suicide attempts. It is not an overstatement to say that lives were wrecked by the police.

Twenty-four of the UK’s chief constables have turned down my request for an apology. As well as disputing the existence of this persecution, some have claimed that these abuses happened a long time ago and that an apology would be a pointless gesture.

The victims think otherwise. A formal apology would demonstrate moral leadership, humility and humanity. It would send a powerful message to those who endured oppression at the hands of the police, showing that their suffering has been heard, and that the police of today reject the abuses of the past.

Apologies are not symbolic gestures. They are acts of justice. They affirm change and that the police now stand alongside the communities they once harmed. For many LGBT+ people, hearing their chief constable acknowledge historic mistreatment would be profoundly healing.

The apologies issued so far by 21 forces have not undermined current officers but have strengthened community trust. They have helped to rebuild bridges with marginalised people, showing that policing today is informed by compassion, accountability and truth. This has boosted confidence in the police and encouraged more LGBT+ people to report hate crimes, domestic violence and sexual assaults.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, head of the Met Police, had no hesitation in saying sorry. He acknowledged that the Met had harboured “systems and processes … which have led to bias and discrimination … over many decades” and apologised unreservedly to those “we have let down.” Rowley showed true leadership and won huge respect among LGBT+ people.

When will GMP, WMP and the 22 other chief constables show the same contrition – and leadership?

Peter Tatchell is a human rights campaigner (petertatchellfoundation.org)and features in the Independent Pride List 2025

Met officers who put spit hood on 90-year-old with dementia investigated for gross misconduct

Two serving Metropolitan Police officers and one former officer will face a gross misconduct hearing after a 90-year-old woman with dementia was “red-dotted” with a Taser, the police watchdog said.

The woman was also handcuffed and put in a spit hood during the incident in Peckham, south London, on May 9 2023, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

One officer initially responded to a disturbance at an address in the area after a call from the woman’s carer.

The officer found the woman holding kitchen utensils and she was subsequently red-dotted, or targeted, with the Taser when she refused to drop them.

The Taser was not discharged.

More officers then attended the property and the woman was handcuffed, before the spit hood was applied after she spat at the officers, the IOPC said.

She was not arrested and was taken to hospital where both items were removed.

It was determined there was a gross misconduct case to answer for one officer over their treatment of the woman, including their use of force regarding the Taser and their communication towards the woman, following an investigation by the watchdog.

Another serving officer and former officer, who left the force in August last year, will also answer their own cases over the time the woman was kept in the handcuffs and spit hood and failing to take into account her age and disability during the incident.

The IOPC investigation was launched in June 2023 after a voluntary referral from the Met and a complaint from the family over use of force and alleging discrimination due to her age, race, sex and disability.

While the three misconduct cases were brought, the watchdog found no evidence the woman was discriminated against based on race or sex.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided in November 2023 that none of the officers should face criminal charges over the incident after receiving evidence from the IOPC.

It confirmed its original decision would stand following a review in June last year.

The IOPC investigation concluded in January.

Both serving officers are currently on restricted duties, the Met confirmed.

Three further officers will undergo a reflective practice review process following their behaviour during the incident.

IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: “This was a concerning incident particularly given the woman’s vulnerabilities.

“It was important that we investigated the full circumstances surrounding this incident to determine exactly what occurred.

“As a result we have decided that three officers who attended the incident should face a police disciplinary hearing which will ultimately determine whether the gross misconduct allegations are proven.”

The watchdog said the Metropolitan Police would now organise the proceedings in due course, with no date yet set.