NHS tells wheelchair user to go to Pets at Home to be weighed

An NHS trust has apologised after staff told a wheelchair user she would have to go to a pet shop to be weighed.

Sarah Rennie said that at first she laughed when health bosses in Shropshire advised her to go to Pets at Home because the suggestion was so absurd.

However, she told The Independent it later dawned on her that the situation was not acceptable and showed that “services everyone else can access aren’t possible for disabled people”.

Ms Rennie, 39, from Shrewsbury, who has muscle-wasting, needs to be weighed to monitor her medication and exercise and to ensure her weight remains stable.

Her difficulty began after she moved to Shropshire from Birmingham last year. Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust told her it was no longer commissioned to run its weighing clinic, which closed after the Covid pandemic.

“The rehabilitation service has now been utilised by other services and clients can be weighed when attending a clinic appointment only,” an email reply to her from the trust read.

The Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries later said it encouraged her to do the same as its patients on discharge – “access community-based weighing options, including facilities such as Pets at Home, where they can roll onto the scales”.

However, Ms Rennie, a freelance transport consultant, said she would not put herself through the dehumanising experience of going to Pets at Home and would continue to battle for disabled people who are “invisible in the system”.

The trust was forced to apologise for offence caused by the incident, but Ms Rennie called for it to be honest about its lack of facilities.

“I can’t go to my GP surgery for a cervical smear because they don’t have a hoist and I’m OK with that, but I’m not OK with pretending services are there that don’t exist,” she told The Independent.

“Weight is a key indicator of health for people who are immobile, so to be able to access that information about our bodies is really important.”

She cannot stand or walk, so is unable to transfer to a different type of seat.

“I don’t blame individuals; it demonstrates the institutional lack of regard for the quality of our lives. I blame the policymakers”, she added.

Before moving, Ms Rennie bought a set of scales designed for weighing animals for about £50, but stopped using them because they were not designed for use with her equipment, and her personal assistant would have to be insured to use them.

She says hospital wards may have weighing facilities, but she doubts whether they would allow the public to walk in and use them.

“I don’t think any private facilities would be comfortable with that,” she said. “There’s a privacy issue and insurance to consider.

“This is an example of wider institutional health inequalities for disabled people, particularly women.

“In hospital, the number of older people unable to transfer is higher than you think. Families are helping them transfer so they’re not a visible part of the community, so we’re just constantly being forgotten.”

In a TikTok video, she said: “A very nice lady connected to my surgery suggested I go on local radio and see if any factory owners could help me.”

She added: “Do I look like a chipmunk?”

A spokesperson from NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, on behalf of the local health and care system, said: “We would like to apologise to Ms Rennie for any upset or offence caused.

“Although we are unable to comment on individual cases, we are continuing to look into her experience to fully understand the wider issues and identify what can be done for her and others in similar situations.”

How Starmer’s impromptu glass of wine reveals G7 has become G6 plus 1

Summits are usually very formal, almost scripted events where leaders of the world’s biggest democracies meet to discuss all the issues their officials have already negotiated before. But on the odd occasion humanity breaks out from the robotic formal proceedings.

Such a moment came as Keir Starmer – a man normally famed for his aversion to the spontaneous – came out of an apparently agreeable bilateral meeting with the Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.

Across the hotel lobby he spotted German chancellor Friedrich Merz and the two immediately were drawn to one another and sat down to have a chinwag off the books. Soon Ms Meloni had joined them followed by the host Canadian PM Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron.

After the initial water, glasses of wine arrived.

Highly unusually there were no notes, no officials present, just “five mates having a glass of wine and a chat.”

For all the criticism of him at home it was further proof that after 11 months in office Sir Keir is a highly respected international leader who draws others to him and has genuine friendships with many of his counterparts.

Not much is known about what they talked about but the Middle East crisis was certainly part of the conversation.

There was though more than a feeling that they were also having a pre-summit huddle to work out how they would deal with the awkward guest soon to arrive.

As they were chatting on Sunday evening, US president Donald Trump was landing in Alberta, Canada on Air Force 1.

The informal get together in the middle of a hotel lobby was very reflective of the sense that this is a G6 + 1 summit rather than a G7.

The rest all are in agreement on how to deal with Russia (more sanctions) and the Middle East crisis (please de-escalate the conflict Israel and Iran), but Trump is unlikely to sign up to any of these.

There will be a session on global free trade at a time when Trump is imposing global tariffs.

Roll on Monday morning and the divisions were plain to see from the offset.

Mr Carney is a man known for his diplomacy and tact wherever he has been. Including as a former governor of the Bank of England having to deal with Brexit.

But as Mr Carney welcomed Donald Trump to the first bilateral meeting at the summit he appeared to be summoning every ounce of his diplomatic experience.

As he stood for questions with Trump, he had the look of a host who has been given the unfortunate task of looking after an embarrassing uncle at a wedding who nobody can upset for fear of losing the inheritance.

Carney handled the situation masterfully though. After the questions ra,mbled on a bit he took control and stepped in saying he thought the president had answered enough.

It is fair to wonder whether behind his strained face Carney was thinking “don’t do a Justin Trudeau!”

Back in 2018 the then Canadian PM Mr Trudeau finally lost patience over Trump when he was hosting the G7 in Quebec, the last time Canada had the dubious honour. It caused the US President to go on a rant as he flew off to meet Kim Jong Un and demanding his officials unsign the joint communique.

This time everyone is playing down the idea of any sort of joint communique. There may be a G6 without the 1 communique instead.

But as five pals having a glass of wine reveals, outside the bombastic eccentricities of Trump, other allies are coming much closer together. Maybe because of Trump.

Will Smith’s seedy new single ‘Pretty Girls’ seems like a cry for help

I like pretty girls,” raps 56-year-old Romeo Will Smith in his pungent new single, “Pretty Girls”. The song, released last week, represents the latest step in the Men in Black star’s ill-fated return to music after an absence of nearly two decades. In it, Smith raps bluntly about his omnivorous lust for the opposite sex. In the equally dismal music video, he can be seen blissfully dancing with – or simply ogling – an assortment of women, some decades younger than him.

It’s a video that calls to mind Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s infamous smash hit “Blurred Lines” – now more than 12 years old – not only in its seedy vibe, but the look of it: dancing women before a plain, white, void-like background. Some moments in the video see Smith reduced to a tiny size, while beautiful women tower over him a little fetishistically. (Call it “Honey, I Shrunk the Lothario”.) Lyrically, it’s just as off-putting, and witless to boot: “Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, lemon/ Alright, f*** it, I like women,” he raps.

The music video has already drawn the scorn of plenty online, with some people branding Smith’s single “creepy” and indicative of a “midlife crisis”. Really, though, it’s hard to feel anything other than sorry for Smith, who looks to have, in an inadvertent way, laid his struggles with his own masculinity bare for the world to see. “Pretty Girls” feels not so much a single as a cry for help.

To give credit where credit is due, Smith’s entry into the unabashedly leery canon of straight pride anthems is at least somewhat tongue in cheek (that is, when his tongue isn’t dangling out of his mouth like the lascivious wolf in a Tex Avery cartoon). “I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout just the pretty you see/ Uh, but the pretty you be,” he raps, in a kind of vague concession towards the rudiments of romantic depth.

The video is framed with a scene in which Smith (playing, presumably, himself) visits a therapist to open up about the “problem” he’s had “ever since he was a little boy”. (The problem is, we find out, that he likes “pretty girls”.) But there’s an element of self-puncturing mockery to it. There’s something deliberately emasculating, too, about the image of a pint-sized Smith clambering around the giant women, and his woefully un-chic dance moves.

It’s jarring, perhaps, because Smith built his career on a sort of turbocharged charm: in something like Hitch, he seems like he’d be able to chat up a post box. In the video for “Pretty Girls”, he seems not just ambiently lecherous but actively uncool – and the extent to which this is a deliberate choice is never entirely clear.

The song is informed, too, by Smith’s recent history, including the exhaustively discussed incident at the 2022 Academy Awards, in which he walked on stage and slapped host Chris Rock in retaliation for a joke about his wife, the actor Jada Pinkett Smith. The slap can easily be read as an outward manifestation of Smith’s troubled relationship with his own masculinity, and it’s probably not for nothing that the scandal followed years of potentially embarrassing headlines regarding his marriage, and his wife’s romantic entanglement with another man (rapper August Alsina) during a period of “amicable separation”.

In the years since the slap, Smith has spoken often about a newfound introspection. He described his recent album, Based on a True Story, as the result of his “self-examination”. It is “the most full musical offering that I’ve ever created,” he told AP. “I’ve come to some really beautiful answers for myself.” Critics didn’t see it that way: Pitchfork described the album as “excruciatingly corny, a cringe ringer of therapy platitudes, youth-pastor smarm, and showtune production that reeks of Hamilton”, while The Independent’s Tara Joshi decried the “vague, hackneyed platitudes” and “half-baked, corny lines”. But it’s still confounding that Smith’s ambitions should fail him so drastically, that he would pivot so quickly to something as seemingly facile and sexually regressive as “Pretty Girls”.

Ultimately, I suppose, none of this would matter if Smith’s track was any good: the whole thing feels a lot seamier for the fact that the music itself is as crude and outdated as the message. For the erstwhile Prince of Bel-Air, the shtick couldn’t be less fresh.

‘Pretty Girls’ is available to stream now

Suspect arrested after ‘largest manhunt in state history’

Vance Boelter, 57, is in custody, suspected of fatally shooting Minnesota Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.

A two-day manhunt for Boelter, described as the largest in Minnesota’s history, ended with his arrest late on Sunday.

Boelter has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two of attempted murder by the state, while federal charges are for firearm offenses, stalking, and murder, potentially making this a death penalty case.

Authorities found “voluminous” written material in Boelter’s car and home, including plans, lists of names, and surveillance efforts targeting elected officials, but no clear manifesto as earlier reports suggested.

Acting US Attorney Joseph Thompson stated that Boelter had a list of 45 Minnesota state and federal elected officials — all Democrats — and had researched them and their families.

Boelter allegedly impersonated a police officer and wore a “hyper-realistic” silicone mask during the shootings, and also went to two other lawmakers’ homes.

Thompson described video evidence of Boelter’s arrival at state Sen. John Hoffman’s home as “truly chilling.”

Influencers say tap water is bad – here’s what the experts think

Concerns about the safety and purity of UK tap water are no longer confined to the comment sections of influencers with conspiratorial or fringe ideas. An increasing number of British consumers are now filtering their water, worried that it might be unsafe to drink.

Investigations by The Guardian, Watershed Investigations, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) have revealed the presence of potentially harmful substances – specifically PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals”) – in drinking water sources used by 17 out of 18 English water companies. The findings have raised significant questions about long-term exposure to such contaminants and prompted renewed scrutiny of the UK’s water infrastructure.

From countertop filtration systems and under-sink reverse osmosis units to purifying showerheads and portable bottles, there are now several ways to filter your tap water at home. Some of these solutions are expensive – costing more than £2000 – but they claim to transform potentially harmful water into safe, drinkable, even health-boosting H2O.

But is the concern around our tap water justified, and do these domestic filtration products offer any meaningful protection?

I grew up in an old house, with my mum telling me never to drink from the hot tap in case there was a dead pigeon in the tank in the loft, or in case the hot water dislodged some slime in the Victorian pipes. We had a filter installed, and I assumed all people had these concerns around tap water – I was met with blank stares when I warned the room about the pigeon risk at a sleepover when I was 14.

I love to drink water, but I’ve always been sensitive to its flavour – the mineral content, the provenance; as a health writer, these things interest me. For years, I used a Brita filter, but after reading a study about microplastics found in UK tap water – despite claims that treatment facilities are able to remove more than 99 per cent – I switched to some heavier-duty technology: the Skuma countertop water filter. The Skuma uses three-stage reverse osmosis to remove microplastics, chemicals, and heavy metals, and then infuses the water with the helpful, health-giving minerals it stripped out.

I’m not so obsessive that I would start arguing with my dentist if handed a cup of tap water to rinse with, like I have seen some American wellness influencers do on Instagram. I wouldn’t turn down a drink if it had been made with tap water, but I am more mindful about what I’m drinking when I can help it.

Though the UK maintains some of the highest regulatory standards for drinking water globally, a growing body of research points to the presence of emerging contaminants – including microplastics, industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and pharmaceutical residues – in our water supply. Many of these substances are still not yet regulated under UK or EU law, despite growing evidence of potential links to hormonal disruption, developmental issues, liver toxicity, and certain cancers.

“I was really focused on microplastics, PFAS, and other substances that weren’t being widely reported on,” says Charles Robinson, founder of water filtration company Water2. “I remember asking scientists at UCL whether, if they were in charge, they would allow this – and the answer was a clear ‘no’.”

Robinson funded independent research through labs in Italy and the UK to develop a filtration system capable of removing contaminants at the sub-micron level. His first-generation filter launched in 2023 and was subsequently backed by survivalist and TV personality Bear Grylls.

“A standard filter jug may filter particles down to around 200 microns,” Robinson explains. “A human hair is about 70 microns for comparison. Our filters work down to 0.1 microns, capturing most microplastics, which typically range from 1 to 10 microns.”

A team of research scientists behind The Water Professor – an organisation offering laboratory water testing kits for home use – explain: “Smaller particle size may be important for the blood-brain defences against microplastics. In the study on the cognitive decline of mice contaminated with microplastics, the particle sizes were between 0.1 and 2 microns.

“The current understanding of toxicity associated with microplastics suggests that size does matter; smaller microplastics will find it easier to pass through tissue layers and could be absorbed through the stomach and lungs, entering deep into the body.”

They also point to early studies suggesting that particles below 25 microns can pass through biological barriers and accumulate in organs, causing adverse effects. Larger particle sizes are less likely to have toxic effects since they are unable to pass through biological membranes.

Logic then follows that high-tech filters able to sift out smaller microplastics will be better for you than something like a filter jug. The Water Professor’s research also suggests that bottled water, on average, contains a higher concentration of smaller microplastics and could be worse for humans than previously thought, which is why opting for glass or metal bottles might also be the healthier choice.

However, filtration is not without trade-offs. It might sound like a perfect solution, but some high-powered systems, such as reverse osmosis units, can also strip water of essential minerals like magnesium and calcium. These nutrients are linked to bone health, cardiovascular function, and even skin health, so their presence in water is important.

“It would be easy to assume that pure H2O is the gold standard,” says Robinson. “But distilled or over-filtered water can actually be less beneficial if it lacks mineral content. The challenge is reducing harmful contaminants while preserving key elements.”

Many people choose to add electrolytes to filtered water to ensure at least one glass contains a recommended daily allowance of vitamins and minerals. It’s a smart workaround – and one that I personally employ every morning. However, there are concerns around these kinds of products too. Nutritionists frequently warn of the dangers of taking too many supplements and overloading the body, so be mindful of whether you actually need electrolytes and how much of a product you’re using.

Public health authorities continue to assert that UK mains water is safe to drink. But as Robinson and The Water Professor point out, “safe” does not necessarily mean optimal, particularly given the pace at which chemical pollutants, synthetic compounds, and microplastics are entering the global water cycle.

The Water Professor researchers explain that the most common plastic materials contributing to micro- and nanoplastics in water are polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE), along with toxic chemicals such as per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS ) and BPA. PFAS are commonly associated with non-stick cookware, as well as cosmetics, food packaging and outdoor clothing.

These chemicals are also known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily and can build up in the environment, leading to potential risks for both wildlife and humans.

Last year, researchers at Birmingham University found that the combined effects of PFAS with microplastics led to greater harm. After studying their effects on water fleas, they noted delays in sexual maturity and stunted growth. Their study paves the way for future research on how these chemicals might affect gene function, providing crucial insights into long-term biological impacts not only on aquatic species but on humans too.

Menstrual health brand Asan recently reported that 2.4 million tampons are flushed down UK toilets each day, some of which end up in wastewater systems. Trace fibres and fragments from hygiene products, pharmaceuticals, and plastics are increasingly being detected in tap water, and while the long-term health impacts of these exposures are still under investigation, their ubiquity is raising alarm among environmental scientists and public health researchers.

Stephanie Metzger, policy advisor at the Royal Society of Chemistry, has said: “Here in the UK, we monitor for a long list of PFAS, but we’re lagging far behind the US and the EU when it comes to the amount allowed in our drinking water and what is considered healthy.

“We know that PFAS can be filtered from drinking water – the technology exists – so increasing the level of filtration is just a matter of expense and political will.

“In [the regulator] Drinking Water Inspectorate’s own words, levels above 10 nanograms per litre pose a medium or high risk to public health. We’re seeing more and more studies that link PFAS to a range of very serious medical conditions, and so we urgently need a new approach for the sake of public health.”

A 2024 study of London boroughs showed that in Harrow, a water sample had a PFOS (a type of PFAS) level of 14 nanograms per litre (ng/l) – 1.4 times the maximum limit for its presence in tap water under proposals put forward by the RSC.

The answer as to whether you should be filtering your water largely depends on the level of risk you are willing to accept. For many, the regulated standard of UK tap water is sufficient. But for those concerned about cumulative exposure to emerging contaminants – or managing specific health conditions – additional filtration may be worth considering.

“It’s about making informed choices,” says Robinson. “Not everyone can afford an expensive system, but a well-made filter that costs under £100 a year can reduce your exposure significantly.”

That said, experts caution against assuming that all filters are created equal. Filtering technologies vary significantly in their efficacy. While standard pitcher filters can improve taste and remove some chlorine, only high-performance filters operating below one micron are likely to capture smaller contaminants such as microplastics and certain PFAS. Consumers should look for independently verified performance data, consider the filter’s lifespan and replacement costs, and weigh potential losses in mineral content against reductions in harmful substances.

Of course, some people resort to filtration to soften hard water, which contains elevated levels of calcium and magnesium. These minerals not only cause the build-up of limescale on appliances and surfaces, but may also affect skin and hair.

According to Karlee Oz, founder of Hello Klean, showering in unfiltered water may “leave residue, contribute to dryness, and exacerbate conditions like eczema,” she explains. “In addition, hot showers can vaporise chlorine and other disinfectant byproducts, increasing the risk of respiratory exposure and irritation.”

Hello Klean’s shower filters use KDF (Kinetic Degradation Fluxion) technology to convert chlorine into gentler compounds. Oz emphasises the importance of using filters that are clinically tested and certified for efficacy. “Filtering reduces the burden on the skin and hair barrier and may improve tolerance over time.”

Of course, not all areas in the UK have a hard water problem – and in some cases, softer water may be better for skin and hair – but a filter can still remove heavy metals like lead and cadmium and traces of harmful bacteria like E. coli.

For the consumer, it can be complicated. UK tap water meets legal safety standards: it undergoes multiple filtration rounds and was ranked joint first for drinking water quality and sanitation in Yale University’s 2022 Environmental Performance Index, along with Finland, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

However, that doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement. Research suggests that trace levels of PFAS, microplastics, and other contaminants are present in some supplies. Filtration can reduce exposure to these substances, but must be balanced against the potential loss of essential minerals.

Research is still ongoing, but personally, I’ll always reach for filtered water, glass bottles, and avoid ice if I can. A filter in my shower has made a noticeable difference too. It’s a personal choice – but with microplastics now found in human blood, remote Antarctica, tea bags, and at the bottom of the ocean, I’ll do what I can to avoid them in my morning glass of H2O.

Win a Wilderness Festival luxury package for two

Music fans can win a luxury package for two to this year’s Wilderness Festival, all courtesy of Audi.

Wilderness returns this year to the picturesque nature reserve at Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, and will be headlined by rock band Supergrass, Nineties rave duo Orbital, and Brit Award-winning, Grammy-nominated indie-rock duo Wet Leg.

Completing the headliner lineup are Basement Jaxx, who are making their return to live shows for the first time in over a decade, as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of their groundbreaking album, Remedy.

The winner will receive a pair of complimentary festival tickets and boutique accommodation in a luxury cabin for two. They will also be treated to an Audi Kitchen experience and, for the ultimate luxury, your own private chauffeur to take you and your guest to the festival and return journey.

Enter the prize draw here.

Wilderness Festival is known for its eclectic music lineup, which this year includes performances from pop singer Lapsley, singer-songwriter Bess Atwell, Scottish musician Jacob Alon and DJ Craig Charles.

At The Sanctuary and Spa, guests will discover an oasis of calm, whether that means taking part in disco yoga or a workshop to explore your sensuality. Highlights include boating, massage treatments, sauna rituals, hot tubs, a wild sauna, Wim Hof method ice baths and wild swimming.

Gourmet food offerings can be found at Ben Quinn’s long table banquet in the woods, a once-in-a-lifetime experience set in the woods and lit by chandeliers. There, Quinn and his team will serve up a feast of flavour cooked right in front of you five courses of carefully curated, responsibly sourced, local and seasonal ingredients.

Elsewhere, attendees can join a number of talks, comedy sets and conversations, from Food Stories with Jay Rayner to a live recording of Jamie Laing’s podcast, Great Company.

Comedian, writer and NHS doctor Matthew Hutchinson will share a sharp and moving look at life on the frontline of British healthcare, while cultural historian Tiffany Watt Smith will uncover a bold and fascinating alternative history of female friendship.

The prize draw will open for entries at 3pm (BST) on 7 May 2025 and close at 3pm BST on 17 June 2025. Only one entry per person is permitted for the Prize Draw. Terms and conditions apply.

Chelsea open Club World Cup campaign with win against LAFC

Chelsea open their Club World Cup campaign with a meeting with LAFC in Atlanta.

With a trophy in tow after Conference League success capped a solid first season under Enzo Maresca, Chelsea will now hope to build and mount a more realistic title challenge in the Premier League next season. First, though, they will look to negotiate this competition, beginning with an encounter with an LAFC that will feature Olivier Giroud up front against his former club.

Flamengo and Esperance de Tunis are the other pair of teams in Group D, with the top two advancing to the knockout rounds. The expanded competition is being held at 12 venues across the United States, with 32 entrants ranging from some of Europe’s biggest clubs to semi-professional Auckland City.

Follow all of the latest from Mercedes-Benz Stadium with our live blog below. Watch every Fifa Club World Cup game free on DAZN. Sign up here now.

Starmer vows not to ‘massage the figures’ and shut all migrant hotels

Keir Starmer has insisted that the Home Office will not be buying up hotels and changing their use to “accommodation centres” in a bid to ensure he keeps his pledge to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029.

Speaking to journalists accompanying him to the G7 in Canada, Sir Keir insisted that there would be no attempt to “massage the figures” on the pledge to stop using taxpayer-funded hotels to house asylum seekers.

The issue was raised after the promise to stop paying for hotels was made in the spending review by chancellor Rachel Reeves.

It comes as the prime minister held talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni to discuss imposing sanctions on people smugglers.

Despite increasing numbers of asylum seekers making the dangerous journey across the Channel in small boats, the move to ban migrant hotels is expected to save at least £1bn, according to Treasury estimates.

Sir Keir said: “On the question of hotels, what I want to do is to reduce the number of hotels and get rid of the use of hotels.

“I’m absolutely clear why we’re in this problem – it’s because the last government didn’t process the claims. So it left people in limbo where they couldn’t be removed because they hadn’t been processed, so they couldn’t leave the country or be removed from the country. There were tens of thousands of people in a pool that was ever-expanding.

“That’s not good – certainly not good for the taxpayer – and I intend to change that. And that’s why we’re working so hard on processing the claims as quickly as we can. Because when you process the claims you can then remove people who shouldn’t be here hence the 30,000 that have been removed which is the highest number for the best part of a decade now. That’s the way to drive this down.”

He went on: “We are determined to get those hotels shut, and properly shut, and not massaging the figures. I’m not interested in that. Shutting the hotels is what I’m absolutely focused on.”

The prime minister also revealed that he planned an unofficial mini-summit at the G7 with French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Mertz and Ms Meloni over the continued issue of illegal migration across Europe.

A readout from his Sunday evening meeting with Ms Meloni noted: “They had a lengthy discussion on migration, confirming that they would continue working together on innovative solutions to break the criminal model of irregular migration.

“The Prime Minister raised the UK’s world-leading work on people smuggling sanctions, adding that he looked forward to working with other European countries on this approach.”

On the flight over he insisted that he was not frustrated with the French over their failure to prevent thousands of migrants from getting into small boats to cross the Channel.

This comes despite anger expressed on the issue by defence secretary John Healey over French inaction despite the UK paying £400m to France to help tackle the problem.

Sir Keir said: “One of the things we’ve worked hard at is improving the relations with the French in relation to the work we both need to do to stop these boat crossings, which I’m determined we will absolutely bear down on. Nobody should be making that journey.

“As a result of that we are seeing a much greater cooperation in northern France – I want to see more cooperation in northern France, and it’s an issue that I have raised and will raise again with President Macron. We have good relations between the Home Secretary and the Interior Minister now that we’re working on jointly.

“It’s one of the issues I’ll be discussing – not just with Macron, actually, but discussing it with Georgia Meloni, Freidrich Merz, and others.”