Andy Burnham to consider BANNING disposable barbecues as he aims to send 'loud message'
Andy Burnham has said he will consider imposing a ban on disposable barbecues amid the risk of further wildfires as extreme heat continues to grip parts of the UK.
The Prime Minister will chair an emergency Cobra committee later on today in response to a prolonged spell of exceptionally hot and dry weather.
On a visit to Stevenage, he said single-use grills could be banned to help prevent fires.
He said: "There is obviously a significant problem of wildfires in the south. The New Forest fire is a great concern; we have seen them in northern areas as well as Suffolk recently."
The Prime Minister added: "This is a message for the public as well, because the wildfires I mentioned, many of them have been created by disposable barbecues."
Mr Burnham continued: "I do believe we need to get the message out loud and clear. People should not be using those barbecues outside at this moment in time.
“I don’t know yet what the remedy is, but I do want to leave the meeting today with a loud and clear message that we do want people to take the greatest possible care when they are out in the countryside, both in terms of cigarettes, but also those temporary barbecues that we know are causing risk of fires."
The extreme heat has caused widespread wildfires and plunged many parts of the country into drought.
Ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Home Office, and Department for Health will attend the Cobra meeting, alongside the Environment Agency.
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Nigel Farage: Andy Burnham 'doesn't have the guts to deal with small boats crisis'
Nigel Farage has said Andy Burnham "doesn't have the guts" to deal with the small boats crisis as the Reform UK leader took aim at the Prime Minister.
He told The Sun: "[Mr] Burnham has no more guts to deal with this than we had with Rishi, than we had with Boris Johnson.
"They tell the public what they want to hear. None of them have got the balls to actually deal with this. And I tell you what, I have."
When asked about potential resistance to his party's proposals from Emmanuel Macron's government, Mr Farage said: "Well, give us our billion quid back then. We’ve given them a billion quid to stop the boats.
"The French navy literally escorts the boats to the 12-mile line and hands them over to the British authorities.
"Under the international rule of the sea, if people are in peril, and frankly anyone on those insecure boats is in peril, we are perfectly entitled to take them back to the safest next place of land, and that’s France, the safe country that they’ve come from."
Mr Farage also suggested there would be more tragedies in the Channel if the boats were not stopped.
He said: "I want to stop the boats in the interest of national security. I want to stop the boats in the interest of the safety of women and girls.
"I also want to stop the boats to save lives, because people are dying, and those that come, many finish up working in criminal gangs, finish up, frankly, in the equivalent of modern-day slavery.
"We should be hanging our heads in shame over this."
Every police chief in Britain orders Andy Burnham to stop PC Harper's killers walking free
Andy Burnham has been urged by every police chief in Britain to block the release of PC Andrew Harper's killers.
Every police chief in the UK, alongside the head of the Jersey force, the NCA, military police and more have told the Prime Minister to consider "every lawful option" to prevent the release of the slain officer's killers.
In their extraordinary intervention, they also call for stronger protections for victims and communities when Labour's early release scheme comes into force.
The letter follows Mr Burnham saying he believed the Government could go "much further" to prevent killers Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole from being released after serving just half of their sentences.
It reads: "We welcome your intervention regarding the potential earlier release of those responsible for the death of PC Andrew Harper, and your instruction to the Justice Secretary to examine what can lawfully be done.
"When the state asks people to run towards danger on behalf of the public, they should be able to trust that the justice system will stand behind them when the worst happens."
Labour and Reform locked in double by-election battle as voters go to the polls
Labour and Reform UK will go head-to-head in two by-elections in England this week.
While most of this week's attention will be focused on the Clacton parliamentary by-election, where Nigel Farage is hoping to regain his seat, two separate battles are taking place in Devon and Yorkshire.
Andy Burnham's party is looking to hold onto a seat in East Devon while Reform is hoping to defend a Kirklees seat.
GB News has dived into the stats and what they could mean for the major political parties on opposite ends of England.
GB NEWS MEMBERS CAN READ THE FULL STORY HERE
MAPPED: The areas that could be forced to 'play their part' after Labour shuts 13 migrant hotels
Thirteen more migrant hotels are closing down, the Home Office said last night in its continued bid to reopen the sites to the public and save on the extortionate costs of keeping "asylum seekers" there.
The 13 closures are expected to save taxpayers £51million - and bring the total number of migrant hotels below 160, the Home Office said.
But the number of asylum seekers living in Britain is at its highest level ever.
Most of them are kept far from the wealthier South East - home to less than seven per cent of all asylum seekers in the country.
The North, Yorkshire, the Midlands, Wales and Northern Ireland account for 59.3 per cent of all Home Office asylum accommodation in the UK - with the North West accounting for nearly a fifth by itself.
Every single council area in the North and Yorkshire is home to asylum seekers, while fifth of councils in the South East and South West have no asylum seekers at all.
GB NEWS MEMBERS CAN READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Andy Burnham calls emergency Cobra meeting as Britain faces wildfires and 'extreme heat' warning
Andy Burnham will chair a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee today in response to extreme heat, which has caused widespread wildfires and plunged many parts of the country into drought.
The Prime Minister will meet with officials and agencies today afternoon as high temperatures continue across the UK, with 33C forecast and up to 38C tomorrow.
Ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Home Office, and Department for Health will attend.
The Environment Agency will also be present.
This is the second Cobra meeting this year on heatwaves, after a meeting in June.
A No 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister will chair a meeting of COBR - the government emergency committee - this afternoon on the UK’s ongoing response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought.
"We know how challenging this summer is proving, particularly for firefighters tackling wildfires, farmers working in drought conditions, and NHS staff in busy A&E units.
"We will continue to take the action needed to keep communities safe, protect water supplies and safeguard the environment."
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