Send army into Tunbridge Wells to fix water crisis, Starmer told

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to use the army to respond to an outage that has left thousands of homes without a proper water supply.

A major incident was declared on Monday as 30,000 properties in Kent and Sussex were affected by problems with their water supply. South East Water (SEW) blamed the situation, across 11 postcode areas, on Storm Goretti and cold weather causing burst pipes and power cuts.

People in Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, Maidstone, Whitstable, Canterbury and the surrounding areas faced issues with supply, with thousands of homes still experiencing problems on Tuesday. This is the second time in two months that outages have occurred, with 24,000 people in Tunbridge Wells affected in December 2025.

SEW said teams are working “around the clock” and has apologised for the outage, as bottled water has been handed out to residents. In an update on Tuesday morning, the water company said around 25,000 customers in Kent and Sussex remain affected by no water or intermittent supplies.

It said that water supplies are returning to Loose in Maidstone, Blean near Canterbury, Headcorn, West Kingsdown and parts of Tunbridge Wells.

Dry Wells Action, a community group set up in Tunbridge Wells to respond to the shortages, has called for the army to be sent into their town to deal with the logistics of restoring water.

SEW has set up a number of bottled water stations around the region and said in its update that the network “takes time to refill and build pressure”, with tankers being used to pump water into it.

Jonathan Hawker, running the campaign from Tunbridge Wells, told The Independent: “In terms of the short-term fix, what we really need is the government to intervene and bring outside help in from people with logistics nous and resources to ensure that the top-up after the pumping station and the reservoir is conducted, despite the inability of South East Water to do this themselves.

“We would welcome the professionals of the army, who are experts in logistics, giving guidance to South East Water on how to do their job.”

Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead has brought a water tanker onsite to keep its supply running until the situation is resolved, while a number of schools around Maidstone remained closed on Tuesday as a result of the ongoing problems.

On Monday, residents in affected areas told The Independent they face water shortages on a regular basis.

Joanne Lee, 53 and from Ulcombe in Kent, explained that the issues are so frequent she has been forced to change her routine and does not leave her home without filling up water bottles.

“Sometimes it can be for a couple of hours, sometimes it’s for days. I’ve never lived anywhere like it,” she said.

“I’ve got into the routine of filling up my bath, so I can use that to flush the toilet. It has become an everyday routine because the water supply is so intermittent, and that shouldn’t [be] normal for the UK.

“I never leave my house without a full kettle, my fridge water filled up, I always leave my house with everything full just in case when I come home I’ve got no water.”

Mr Hawker said more needed to be done to improve the water supply in Tunbridge Wells, beyond the short-term fix ongoing at the moment.

He said: “What we need as a second phase is an independent assessment by an expert appointed by government to explore the flaws within the infrastructure that SEW has to serve this town and what needs to be done to modernise it, so there is some resilience in the system. We simply don’t trust SEW doing it themselves.”

Multiple MPs from across the impacted area called for the government to remove the company’s chief executive, David Hinton, from his post.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said around 5,000 properties in her Faversham and Mid Kent constituency had been impacted.

She said: “It is not for the first time the chief executive of South East Water has shown us he is not up to the job. Can I urge the honourable lady to use any power she has to move him on?”

Mims Davies, Conservative MP for East Grinstead, Uckfield and the villages, said: “With multiple and repeated South East Water serious failings in just the last five years, does the minister agree with me this water company needs urgent new leadership capable of properly addressing emergency situations?”

Water minister Emma Hardy did not offer any support for SEW’s chief executive, saying the situation at the company “beggars belief”.

The Independent has approached SEW for further comment, as well as the government.

An Ofwat spokesperson said on Monday: “We are concerned that residents in Kent and Sussex are without water again, and are working closely with the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which is the lead regulator for this latest supply interruption, to ensure that regulation and enforcement is aligned.

“Ofwat already has an active investigation into South East Water related to its supply resilience, and we have met with the company to discuss these latest incidents as part of that investigation.

“We will review all of the evidence before taking a decision on what further action may be required into whether the company has met its legal obligations set out in its licence relating to customer care, including with further potential enforcement action.”

South East Water incident manager Steve Andrews apologised to customers and said the company’s focus was on “returning supplies to our customers as soon as possible”.

Labour MPs call for Chinese ‘mega-embassy’ in London to be axed

Labour MPs have urged the government to reject China’s controversial plan for a mega-embassy in London, ahead of an impending decision.

The move comes amid reports that Sir Keir Starmer is poised to approve the proposal, which was previously delayed until 20 January.

Nine MPs raised “security concerns” in a letter to communities secretary Steve Reed, seen by the BBC.

They warned the new embassy could be used to “step up intimidation” against dissidents.

The MPs, including Sarah Champion, who is a member of parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, said concerns about the proposal are “significant and unresolved”.

They cite “the recent track record of Chinese espionage cases, interference activities, and issuing of bounties against UK-based Hong Kongers”, as well as “the fact that this embassy would sit above sensitive infrastructure critical to both the UK’s economic and national security”.

The Times reported that the announcement to approve the embassy would be made ahead of a trip to China the prime minister is widely expected to make.

It would be the first by a prime minister since Theresa May’s visit in 2018.

MPs from across the political spectrum have urged the government to reject China’s application for a new embassy on the site of the former Royal Mint, citing security concerns.

Four NHS trusts declare ‘critical incidents’ amid surge of flu and norovirus cases

Four NHS hospital trusts in southeast England have declared a “critical incident” as they struggle to cope with a surge in admissions due to flu and norovirus.

Three trusts in Surrey and one in Kent said the escalations have come after a “surge in complex attendances to A&E departments” driven in part by soaring numbers of patients with winter illnesses.

Health secretary Wes Streeting has warned the NHS is “not out of the woods yet”, as flu cases spiked once again last week, following two weeks where admissions had fallen after high numbers of cases were seen before Christmas.

In a statement on Monday, NHS Surrey Heartlands added the situation had been “exacerbated by increases in flu and norovirus cases and an increase in staff sickness” as well as the impact of the recent cold snap on more frail patients.

The three Surrey trusts affected are Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) also declared a critical incident due to what it called “sustained pressures” at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

It said its hospitals are experiencing “exceptionally high demand, driven by a continued high admission rate and a large number of patients with winter illnesses and respiratory viruses”.

NHS Surrey Heartlands urged patients to ensure they are using services “appropriately” and only attending A&E in an emergency.

“Due to extreme pressures, today hospitals and the ICB in Surrey Heartlands have taken the decision to escalate to a critical incident,” Dr Charlotte Canniff, joint chief medical officer of NHS Surrey Heartlands, said.

“This allows us to take additional steps to maintain safe services for our patients and help us cope with the growing pressures.”

She added: “Making sure you use services appropriately and only attend A&E if you have an emergency is also essential at this time, allowing our emergency departments to focus on those who really need their care.

“Our teams continue to work exceptionally hard and we would like to reassure patients and the public that despite the challenges faced and some changes to non-urgent appointments, essential services remain fully open for anyone who needs them so if you do require urgent medical help, please continue to come forward.”

It comes after data in December suggested the UK could face the worst flu season in decades. In the first week of December 1,717 patients were admitted to hospitals in England with the infection, up 56 per cent on the same week in 2024, according to NHS England.

Figures reached a peak in the first week of December, but have since dropped and are now “slightly better” than expected for this time of year, according to Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund.

She added: “Many NHS staff and leaders have worked around the clock to protect patients as best they can, planning for months in advance, despite the additional disruption caused by industrial action and spikes in flu cases.

“There is no doubt these actions have prevented the system from becoming overwhelmed, with bed occupancy rates standing at 92 per cent for the first week of January – slightly better than we have come to expect for this time of year. But this should not be treated as a sustainable level of pressure and is certainly not one that is providing the best possible outcomes for patients.”

Home Office’s new TikTok migration account dubbed ‘laughable gimmick’

The Home Office has been criticised after launching a new TikTok account showing videos of illegal migrants being detained and boasting about the government’s record on deportations – a move which has been dubbed a “laughable gimmick” by critics.

Launched on Tuesday, the “Secure Borders UK” account currently has just one video.

With dramatic music playing in the background, the video cuts together clips of immigration enforcement officers raiding homes and businesses and arresting people thought to be in the UK illegally, while key immigration statistics play across the screen.

“Nearly 50,000 people returned or deported from the UK since July 2024. 83 per cent increase in illegal working arrests. 77 per cent increase in illegal working raids. And it’s just getting started,” the video boasts, as a clip of a plane taking off plays.

But responding to the new strategy, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “This is yet another pathetic gimmick that won’t work.

“The idea that putting some posts on TikTok will stop illegal immigrants is laughable – just like the government’s previous gimmick to smash the gangs.

“The Labour government is putting illegal channel immigrants up in hotels, allowing rampant illegal working and allowing 95 per cent of them to stay.”

He added: “The only way to stop this is to leave the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) so every single illegal immigrant can be deported within a week of arrival with no court cases and no messing around. Then the crossings would pretty soon stop.”

Meanwhile, Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, head of advocacy at Praxis, a charity that supports migrants and refugees, said the TikTok account “fuels fear, legitimises racism and makes life more dangerous for migrant communities”.

“This government is treating the public like fools”, she said. “Desperate to beat Reform in the polls, Labour is recycling their talking points on migration instead of showing real leadership at a time when racial tensions are dangerously high.

“This TikTok account parrots the far-right lie that migration itself is the problem, diverting attention from the real failures: years of political choices that hollowed out our economy, underfunded public services and left communities struggling.”

Ms Whitaker-Yilmaz added: “Broadcasting dehumanising footage that frames migrants as criminals does nothing to make ordinary peoples’ lives better. It fuels fear, legitimises racism and makes life more dangerous for migrant communities.”

The new account comes just months after the Trump administration faced criticism for using the voiceover of a British airline advert to seemingly mock a group of migrants being deported in a tweet on X (Twitter).

The UK Home Office video was published on the same day that new figures revealed a significant surge in enforcement actions against illegal working in the UK, with both visits to businesses and arrests reaching their highest levels since records began in 2019.

Data indicates that 12,791 visits were conducted in 2025 to establishments such as nail bars, car washes, barbers, and takeaway shops.

This marks a substantial 57 per cent increase from the 8,122 visits recorded in the previous year.

Arrests related to illegal working also hit a record high, with 8,971 individuals apprehended last year – a nearly 59 per cent rise compared to the 5,647 arrests made in 2024, which was previously the highest point in Home Office data.

Of those arrested, 1,087 people have so far been removed from the UK.

It comes as part of a broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration and tackle the threat posed by Reform UK amid surging approval ratings for Nigel Farage’s party.

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “There is no place for illegal working in our communities.

“That is why we have surged enforcement activity to the highest level in British history so illegal migrants in the black economy have nowhere to hide.

“I will stop at nothing to restore order and control to our borders.”

The Home Office also said visits were up 77 per cent and arrests were up 83 per cent since Labour came to power.

Some 17,483 visits and 12,322 arrests were recorded between July 2024 and December last year, up from 9,894 and 6,725 respectively across January 2023 to June 2024.

Of the arrests, 1,726 people have been returned so far, up 35 per cent on the 1,283 removed from visits in the previous 18-month period.

Among visits by immigration enforcement, officers arrested 13 people at a warehouse in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, on November 25, which led to 11 Brazilian and Romanian nationals being detained for removal from the UK.

On 16 December, officers arrested 30 Indian and Albanian men at a construction site in Swindon, Wiltshire, the Home Office said, nearly all of whom were detained for removal from the UK, including five released on immigration bail.

Immigration enforcement was given £5m to arrest, detain and remove migrants working illegally at sites such as takeaways, beauty salons and car washes.

Officers have also been wearing body-worn cameras since September to help with arrests and prosecutions.

Elsewhere, tighter right-to-work checks have also been introduced under the government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, forcing casual, temporary or subcontracted workers to have to prove their status.

Employers who fail to carry out checks could face up to five years in prison, fines of £60,000 for each illegal worker they have employed, and having their business closed.

Michael Carrick agrees Man United deal to become manager

Manchester United have verbally agreed a deal with Michael Carrick to become their interim manager for the rest of the season.

The Red Devils snubbed the option of bringing back Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the former midfielder now taking over from caretaker boss Darren Fletcher, who has been in the role for two games.

Former Chelsea and England assistant manager Steve Holland will join Carrick’s staff at Old Trafford.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was also in contention to oversee the remainder of the campaign, with United finalising plans in the aftermath of their FA Cup exit to Brighton.

United conducted face-to-face interviews with Carrick, their former captain, on Thursday and Solskjaer, the scorer of the winner in the 1999 Champions League final, on Saturday.

Carrick is believed to have interviewed well and went unbeaten in a three-game stint in caretaker charge of United in 2021, before having three seasons as Middlesbrough manager.

Solskjaer, who was appointed United’s caretaker manager after Jose Mourinho’s sacking in December 2018, fared so well that he got the job on a permanent basis, taking United to finishes of third and second in the Premier League and the 2021 Europa League final. He subsequently had a seven-month reign as Besiktas manager.

Carrick is expected to be in the dugout for the Manchester derby on Saturday lunchtime.

Wayne Rooney, who was a team-mate of Carrick’s for the majority of his time at Old Trafford, has backed the appointment.

Speaking on BBC Sport’s The Wayne Rooney Show, the 40-year-old former England captain said: “I was with him in Barbados last week! So obviously none of us saw this coming. Michael is a very clever person and he’ll command respect from the dressing room.”

And asked if he would join Carrick’s staff if asked, Rooney laughed. “Of course I would! I think it’s a no-brainer if that’s the situation.

“I think what the club needs is people around the place, whether Michael goes in, whether Fletch (Darren Fletcher), John O’Shea, myself, you need people around who know the football club, (people like) Roy Keane…

“Having people who know the club, who care for the club, people who understand what it takes to be a Manchester United player. I think that’s where the club needs to be.

“We spoke earlier in this season about how it’s lost that identity, that family feel. I think it’s a great opportunity to bring the spirit of Manchester United back into the club.”

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Why Farage could live to regret welcoming ‘loyal’ Zahawi into the fold

Nigel Farage would be well advised to take the gushing vow of loyalty to him from Reform’s latest Tory defector, Nadhim Zahawi, with a large pinch of salt.

“Britain needs Nigel Farage as prime minister,” declared smiling Zahawi in a joint press conference with the Reform leader. It sounded convincing. Self-made multimillionaire Zahawi is good at that.

Whether he can be believed is another matter – as I know from personal experience.

He had barely been unveiled as Reform’s newest Conservative recruit when it was discovered that 10 years ago the same Zahawi called Farage “racist” and said he would be “frightened to live in a country” run by him.

In addition, the Tories claimed Zahawi had recently “begged” Kemi Badenoch for a peerage only to be turned down: the implication being that he joined Farage’s bandwagon in a fit of pique.

Zahawi denied “begging” for a Lords seat – though conspicuously failed to deny discussing the matter with his old party.

I know who I believe. Writing in The Independent in July 2022, I was the journalist who broke the first story concerning the HMRC investigation into Zahawi’s tax affairs that led to him being fired as Conservative chair six months later.

He used every trick in the book – and a few more – to try to gag us. He texted me, falsely stating there was “no such investigation” into his tax affairs; he had paid “all due taxes and obeyed all financial rules and regulations”.

When we refused to let the matter drop, he texted again, threatening “legal action – 100 per cent” if we published the story. When we did so, he had the gall to claim he was the victim of a “smear”.

Of course, he never did sue. How could he? It was all true.

Following further disclosures, an official report into Zahawi’s tax affairs by Whitehall’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus was damning. It found him guilty of a “serious breach” of the ministerial ethics code.

He had failed to inform no less than three prime ministers, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, that he was under investigation by HMRC, as he should have done.

Nor had he owned up to – in line with Whitehall rules – having paid a tax penalty to settle the matter, which reportedly involved £17m held in an offshore account in Gibraltar linked to Zahawi’s family.

It later transpired that Zahawi paid the tax penalty in August 2022 – just one month after his heated denials to The Independent.

When, following Sir Laurie’s ruling, Zahawi was dismissed as Tory chair in January 2023, it seemed like the end of his career.

His reputation in tatters, he did not bother to attempt to retain his Stratford-upon-Avon seat in the 2024 election.

A political pollster by trade, he could see the writing on the wall: the Lib Dems won it with a thumping 7,000 majority.

However, it turns out that Zahawi espied a cushier path back to Westminster, bypassing the pesky electorate by securing a peerage from Badenoch. Doubtless, he pledged his loyalty to her. But the Conservative leader was having none of it. She knew all about his form.

Even by the low standards of political fidelity, Zahawi’s record stands out as a beacon of fickle self-interest.

As one of Boris Johnson’s most devoted supporters, it was only natural that when Rishi Sunak resigned as chancellor in July 2022, triggering a crisis in Johnson’s regime, he turned to Zahawi to rescue him.

He gave him the plum vacant post of chancellor. However, a mere two days later, when other ministers resigned, pushing Johnson to the brink, Zahawi joined them and said Boris must go.

Two days after that, Zahawi launched his own leadership challenge to replace Johnson in No 10.

When that flopped, he tied his colours to Liz Truss’s mast and, you guessed it, was given a job in her administration. In another credulous somersault, when Truss’s prime ministership ended in disaster, Zahawi called for Johnson to be restored to Downing St.

Echoing almost word-for-word his oath of allegiance to new best friend Farage, Zahawi declared: “Britain needs Boris back.” Hours later, Johnson backed out, making a fool of Zahawi.

Transactional Zahawi barely blinked, declared his undying support for Rishi Sunak and won yet another promotion, this time as Tory chair, when his candidate won.

It didn’t last long. Sunak was left ruing his trust in Zahawi when, three months later, Zahawi had to resign for not coming clean with him over his tax affairs.

Nigel Farage, you have been warned.

Spanish star Julio Iglesias accused of sexually abusing two women

Two women have accused Spanish star Julio Iglesias of allegedly sexually abusing them while they worked as live-in employees at his Caribbean mansions, it has been reported.

A domestic worker claims she was pressured into having sex with the Spanish singer, describing acts of slapping, physical and verbal abuse.

A physiotherapist, who also worked for the singer, claimed she was subject to inappropriate touching, insults and humiliation during her time, in an atmosphere of control and constant harassment.

The latest celebrity to be drawn into the MeToo scandal, Mr Iglesias faces allegations that he abused the two women in 2021 when the younger woman was aged 22.

The assaults were alleged to have taken place in his homes in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Lyford Cay in the Bahamas.

The allegations were published on Tuesday after a joint investigation by elDiario.es newspaper in Spain and Univision television.

The Independent has approached a representative for Iglesias.

One of the alleged victims, called Rebeca – not her real name – says the Spanish artist, then aged 77, would often call her to his room at the end of the evening.

“He used me almost every night,” she told elDiario.es and Univision Noticias. “I felt like an object, like a slave.”

She said the alleged sexual encounters almost always took place in the presence of another, more senior member of his domestic staff.

Another woman, Laura – also not her real name – claims that Mr Iglesias kissed her on the mouth and touched her breasts against her will.

elDiario.es and Univision claim they repeatedly tried to contact Mr Iglesias and his lawyer but received no response to questions sent by email, telephone messages, and letters delivered to his homes.

The news outlets also tried to contact the person in charge of managing the house where the alleged assaults took place, but did not get a response.

However, the woman whom Rebeca identified as her first supervisor at the mansion in Punta Cana dismissed the allegations as “nonsense”.

The former manager said she had only “gratitude, admiration, and respect for the great artist and human being that he is,” describing Iglesias as “humble, generous, a great gentleman, and very respectful to all women”.

Iglesias became a star in the UK when his song “Begin the Beguine” was a huge hit which went straight to No 1 in the UK charts in 1981.

Iglesias has sold over 300 million records around the world.