A 13-year-old girl who was seriously injured in a tragic chairlift mishap during a school trip to a western Quebec ski hill is in hospital, according to a news release from Centre Vorlage.

Sgt. Martin Fournel, a spokesperson for the MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais, said the incident occurred as the student was riding a chairlift alone on Wednesday afternoon at a resort near Wakefield.

“The girl was alone on the chairlift. She had almost reached the summit and when it came time to get off, a piece of clothing got caught in the chair; the 13-year-old girl got tangled up in the chair and so wasn’t touching the ground,” Fournel said.

“No one got there quickly enough to get her out of that sad situation. I’ll spare you some of the details, but at one point, there was a decision to reactivate the lift and bring the girl back down to the bottom of the hill, where our officers and first responders took over.”

Fournel did not provide any additional updates on the girl’s condition.

In a statement, the ski hill said first responders were called to the unloading area of ski lift B at approximately 2:10 p.m.

“We have been informed that the victim was transported to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO),” the statement said.

“The Centre Vorlage team is deeply saddened by this accident that occurred today,” said Alexandre Gaboury, co-owner of the resort.

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“Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones.”

The resort said it is cooperating with police as the investigation continues.

In a statement to Global News, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board said supports have been put in place for students and staff.

“Our thoughts are with the student, their family, and the entire school community during this deeply difficult time,” said Diane Pernari, the board’s general manager of communications and public relations.

“Student well-being is always paramount, and we have taken immediate steps to support those affected, including ensuring mental health professionals were available to assist students and staff following the trip and in the days ahead.”

The incident is currently under investigation.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A new driver who killed two people in a crash less than a month after passing her test has been jailed for six years.

Liberty Mitchell had not long turned 18 when she caused the deaths of taxi driver Octavian Codreanu and his passenger Moyra Whelan in December 2022.

Mitchell, of Chipping Norton, was travelling at 96mph in a 60mph zone seconds before she hit Mr Codreanu’s taxi on the B4425 near Aldsworth in Gloucestershire.

Now 21, she sobbed openly in the dock at Gloucester Crown Court as she was sent to prison.

Mitchell was working as a cleaner at the time and had been travelling between holiday cottages in the area in order to clean them.

She had swung her Mini Cooper out to try and overtake three other vehicles at once, before aborting the manoeuvre and hitting the taxi.

Mr Codreanu and his passenger, school teacher Moyra Whelan, who was on her way to a wedding, died in the collision.

Mitchell was charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and two counts of causing death by driving whilst uninsured, due to her car insurance not including use of the vehicle for work purposes.

She pleaded guilty to all charges.

The court heard injuries suffered by those in the crash included a fractured hip, broken ribs, severe abdominal wounds and shattered bones protruding through the skin.

Nicola Cooper, one of the passengers in the taxi, said: ‘The crash itself was traumatic, the impact felt endless.

‘I live with survivor’s guilt and the trauma of losing one of my closest friends, Moyra, who was sitting just inches from me.

‘I lie awake at night thinking about the “what ifs”.’

Katy-Louise Whelan, Moyra Whelan’s younger sister, said: ‘She had so much left that she wanted to experience… but the opportunity was stolen from her and we are devastated.

‘I’m still absolutely incredulous that she is not with us any more.

‘It’s like the light of the world is dimmed and we will never be able to turn it back on again.

‘One aspect that haunts me is that my sister died violently… I’m truly devastated that my beautiful, innocent sister was subjected to that.’

Simon Stirling, defending, suggested Mitchell’s actions were a result of ‘inexperience rather than irresponsibility’.

He said Mitchell had only recently passed her driving test and would not have understood the risk of the manoeuvre she was attempting.

Judge Lowe said: ‘At the time of this collision, you had held a full driving licence for less than three weeks.

‘You were, at the time, a reckless and immature young driver suffering from the, frankly common, teenage delusion that you were invulnerable and free to do as you wished.

‘The lives of all the victims and their families have been irrevocably changed.’

Mitchell was sentenced to six years and eight months in jail and must serve half of this term in custody before being eligible for release on licence.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and KATRINA SCHOLLENBERGER, US HEAD OF LIVE NEWS

Updated: 11:22 EST, 13 February 2026

Перший віцепрем’єр­міністр — міністр енергетики Денис Шмигаль провів зустріч із послами країн G7 та Європейського Cоюзу. Головні питання розмови — відновлення енергетики та підготовка до наступного осінньо­зимового періоду.

Очільник Міненерго поінформував про складну ситуацію в енергетиці внаслідок постійних атак росії на енергооб’єкти України. Він наголосив на першочергових завданнях, серед яких відновлення генерації, підстанцій та мереж, а також формування резервів обладнання та потужностей. За словами Дениса Шмигаля, є потреба зокрема у великих генераторах та трансформаторах.

«Україна вже розпочала підготовку до наступного опалювального сезону. Формуємо запаси енергоносіїв, тож допомога партнерів тут особливо цінна. Наша мета — розвиток і розбудова когенерації», — зазначив Денис Шмигаль. Він подякував Групі Семи за гуманітарну підтримку й наголосив, що Україна зацікавлена зокрема в передачі партнерами виведеного з експлуатації, але придатного до використання енергетичного обладнання, повідомляє Міненерго.

The Arizona sheriff’s department leading the investigation into the disappearance of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother is blocking the FBI from gaining access to a glove and DNA found inside her home, a federal source has claimed. 

Investigators combing through the desert surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s $1 million home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona found a black glove on Wednesday that looks similar to the one her abductor wore in the doorbell camera footage.

Federal officials have since reportedly asked Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for the glove and DNA samples found inside Nancy’s home so they could be processed at the FBI’s national crime lab at Quantico, Virginia, a federal law enforcement official told Reuters. 

But Nanos has denied the request, instead sending the evidence for testing at a private lab in Florida, the source said.

‘It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute,’ the official said, claiming that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has already spent roughly $200,000 on sending evidence to the Florida lab, with which the department contracts.

He also derided the department for ‘earlier setbacks’ in the investigation, and criticized Nanos for not requesting FBI assistance earlier.

‘It’s clear the fastest path to answers is leveraging federal resources and technology,’ the official said. ‘Anything less only prolongs the Guthrie family’s grief and the community’s wait for justice.’ 

In the meantime, federal agents have revealed new information about the man who was caught on Nancy’s surveillance footage from the night she was taken in hopes that ‘this updated description will concentrate the public tips we are receiving.’

Federal agents said they Thursday more than 13,000 tips have been received since the mother-of-three went missing in the early morning hours of February 1. 

Chilling surveillance footage from that night showed a masked man wearing thick gloves as he tried to obscure a Nest doorbell camera on Nancy’s front porch.

Federal authorities now say the suspect is a male who is approximately five-foot-nine-inches to five-foot-ten-inches with an average build.

He was seen wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack at the time.

‘We hope this updated description will concentrate the public tips we are receiving,’ the FBI said in a statement, noting that it has already received more than 13,000 tips since the mother-of-three went missing. 

Anyone who provides tips that lead to Guthrie’s location or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her abduction can now receive a $100,000 reward, an increase from the $50,000 reward the bureau was previously offering.

At the same time, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is expanding its request for security video from Nancy’s neighbors in the Catalina Foothills, asking people to check for any video taken from 9pm to midnight on January 11 – nearly three weeks before Nancy went missing.

They have also requested footage from 9.30am to 11am on January 31, hours before Nancy’s abduction, saying a suspicious vehicle was spotted in the area around that time. 

On Thursday, four officers were seen arriving at Guthrie’s home in an unmarked black vehicle and carrying a bag into a tent set up at the property, while others brought in additional equipment.

The large tent, which blocked the entrance to Guthrie’s home and the front porch where investigators previously found blood that matched her DNA, was then taken down about an hour after being erected.

It now remains unclear what authorities were looking for, but forensic tents are typically erected when investigators want to conceal a body, weapon or other critical pieces of evidence.

Yet the front porch has been routinely trampled on by authorities and family members throughout the investigation. It was left exposed to outdoor elements, with the blood found splattered on the ground having been dried out by the sun.

One Pima County Sheriff’s source even told the Daily Mail: ‘This is amateur hour.’

Still, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department insists that it is combing through thousands of tips with hundreds of detectives and federal agents assisting in the investigation.

Some federal agents were seen on Wednesday carrying out an extensive search of the rugged scrubland around Guthrie’s home, while other investigators emerged from Guthrie’s eldest daughter’s home with a paper grocery stack and a white trash bag.

One, still wearing blue protective gloves, also took a stack of letters from Annie Guthrie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni’s, roadside mailbox. They then drove away without speaking to reporters. 

Annie and Cioni were the last people to see Nancy, who showed up at their house for dinner the night before. 

She was then reported missing the next day after she failed to show up to a friend’s house to watch virtual church services. 

Nancy has not been seen or heard from since as her children repeatedly pleaded with the public for any help finding their mother.

Her three children have repeatedly asked for the public’s help in finding their beloved mother ever since, and on Thursday, Savannah shared another heartbreaking video tribute to her mom.

‘Our lovely mom,’ the television host wrote. ‘We will never give up on her. Thank you for your prayers and hope.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for comment. 

By SABRINA PENTY, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Published: 11:47 EST, 12 February 2026 | Updated: 14:36 EST, 12 February 2026

The View hosts slammed Attorney General Pam Bondi and other members of President Trump’s cabinet after she testified before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files and other matters related to the Department of Justice, which she oversees.

During a spirited debate about Bondi’s “unacceptable” behavior during the testimony, Ana Navarro gave a somber assessment of Bondi and the rest of Trump’s cabinet.

“They sold their souls in order to be in the circle of power and they know that what they are doing is not right,” she said. “Members of this cabinet, they like the title, they like the frills, they like the perks.”

Sunny Hostin called Bondi out for taking shots at Rep. Jamie Raskin, who she called a “washed-up loser lawyer,” according to reports.

“The facts don’t mean anything to these people,” Whoopi Goldberg reminded her co-host.

Joy Behar noted Bondi’s decision to ridicule the lawmakers during the testimony seemed “very Trumpy.” She compared it to when President Trump once told a reporter, “Be quiet, piggy.”

“It’s the same mentality,” Behar said. “She’s mimicking Trump.”

Hostin complained Bondi’s behavior during the hearing was “beneath the dignity of the office,” prompting Goldberg to scoff in response.

“If we start talking about ‘beneath the dignity’ we’d be here all day,” she quipped.

Navarro claimed during the show that she has known Bondi “for many years.”

“This was so personally disgusting and disappointing to me,” she said of the AG’s behavior during the hearing. “I knew her in Florida as someone who worked with everybody and was nice and to watch her in this performance as like a high school performance of Lady Macbeth was just unacceptable and a show for Donald Trump.”

Navarro went on to criticize Bondi for refusing to acknowledge the Epstein survivors who were present during the hearing.

“The women have been failed by four different administrations for decades and decades and decades,” Navarro pointed out.

“But she is the one sitting there right now as attorney general ,so you can’t blame it on Merrick Garland,” she continued. “The very least she could have done is turn around and say, ‘You know what I’m sorry we haven’t contacted you. You can be at the DOJ this afternoon.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC. 

A teenage thug who stabbed a 12-year-old to death at random as he walked home from school can today be named as Kian Moulton.

In a legal victory for the Daily Mail, a judge ruled the 15-year-old could be identified as the killer of Leo Ross, who was ambushed in a park in the Hall Green area of Birmingham last year.

Moulton was jailed on Tuesday at Birmingham Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 13 years for Leo’s murder.

The Mail spearheaded a legal challenge with two other news organisations to argue Moulton should be named as the perpetrator of a shocking three-day rampage which culminated in Leo’s death.

Moulton – who was 14 at the time – dealt a single stab wound to Leo’s stomach and then callously pretended to be a witness by helping to raise the alarm on January 21 last year.

He even spun a fabricated account of how he had come across Leo’s body to police as paramedics desperately worked to save him a few feet away.

In one piece of bodyworn camera footage captured by officers, he said: ‘He was lay there like that when I got here…I didn’t touch him because that could put me in the case.’

He also viciously attacked three other lone women in the park, including an 82-year-old woman whom he pushed into a river and beat with her own walking stick, telling her: ‘I tried to drown you, but now I’m going to kill you’. 

Mr Justice Choudhury agreed on Tuesday to lift anonymity restrictions, telling the court: ‘This is a matter of substantial public interest.

‘Knife crime, particularly amongst youths, is a matter of grave concern. This was an unusual and disturbing pattern of escalating violence against random strangers.

‘The importance of a name (in media coverage) cannot be overstated.’ 

He rejected arguments from the defence that naming Moulton would hinder his rehabilitation, saying ‘the evidence of any progress made thus far by the defendant is scant’. 

Indeed, he said Moulton himself had been involved in repeated episodes of violence since being locked up in youth detention. 

‘There was a period last year when the defendant was involved in violence and serious acts every few days,’ he told the court. 

The judge did, however, agree to delay Moulton’s name being released for 24 hours to allow for any appeals against his ruling to be lodged.

Birmingham Children’s Trust, which is responsible for Moulton’s care, sought an extension of 24 hours to a stay on reporting his identity, but said its application had been refused.

The trust said it intended to apply for a judicial review of the decision to name the teenager, but on Thursday afternoon it said it had not made that application.

Alistair Webster KC, representing Moulton, had tried to oppose the Mail’s application to name Leo’s killer.

He said: ‘These were shocking offences which have caused a great deal of sadness and ongoing sense of loss to the family of the victims involved.

‘We recognise that the public and the press will be very interested in how the court deals with the sentence and what the sentence is.

‘But it is sometimes easy to confuse the public interest with an interest on behalf of the public.’

The Mail previously revealed Moulton had a reputation for violent delinquency in the Hall Green area of Birmingham where he lived and was well known to police.

He is understood to have been booted out of mainstream education and even a specialist pupil referral unit after breaking a teacher’s nose and bringing a knife into class.

His expulsion meant he routinely spent his days marauding around his neighbourhood – usually on a bicycle or a scooter – causing trouble and vandalising property.

Moulton’s sentencing hearing heard this week that he endured a difficult childhood which saw him exposed to domestic abuse, while his mother walked out when he was aged just four. 

The court was also told he had shown behavioural problems since the age of two.

A family friend told the Mail that, in the months prior to his arrest, Moulton had been terrorising a woman who had fallen out with his father.

‘There were a load of hoax calls going on because his son was phoning the police and sending them to her door for hoax calls,’ the friend said. 

‘This had been going on for about eight months. The police had to come out, they were knocking on her door.

‘They were going boot a door in.’

The family friend added: ‘I don’t think he’s a bad lad, I think he’s been raised in a bad environment.

‘There was quite a lot of abuse in that household. Personally, I think this was all his way of getting out of the house.’

The police were said to be in regular attendance at his house due to his anti-social behaviour. 

Exclusive CCTV obtained by the Mail showed the moment Moulton threw a brick through the window of a corner shop near his house in 2024. 

In the weeks before Leo’s murder, police removed Moulton from railway lines where he ‘had gone with the apparent intention of ending his own life’, the court heard this week.  

Another family friend said: ‘His mother disappeared at Christmas. There was a big argument on Christmas Day and she was gone.

‘Kian had been fighting at school, behaving badly to his dad. He’s been fighting in the park with other kids. He used to knock around with a few kids from Billesley but I think around here they all took a step back because he wasn’t the nicest of lads. He was a loner.

‘I last saw him the day the kid was killed, around an hour before it happened. He was walking up the road, talking to himself, shouting to himself, saying to himself what he was going to do and stuff like that. He was on his way out. He was just mumbling to himself.’

Moulton was told on Tuesday his sentence meant he will be considered for parole when he is just 27 years old. 

Speaking after the sentence was handed down at Birmingham Crown Court, Leo’s heartbroken mother Rachel Fisher said: ‘I think the sentence is ridiculous and the country is an absolute joke.

‘Nothing will bring my lovely Leo back, but with just 13 years it will just keep on happening.

‘This is why kids are killing kids – because the sentences are a joke. He’ll be out in his twenties and he’ll have a big reputation.’

The murder on January 21 last year was the sickening culmination of three days of serious violence perpetrated at random by Moulton against strangers in Trittiford Mill Park.

It emerged on Tuesday that, two days before the murder, he had pushed an 82-year-old woman into a river and told her: ‘I tried to drown you, but now I’m going to kill you’.

He went on to attack two other lone women before he fatally stabbed Leo – including one whom he targeted just half an hour prior to the killing. 

Police believe Leo was singled out that day because Moulton was ‘much physically bigger’ than him and the schoolboy represented an ‘easy target’. 

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Choudhury told Moulton: ‘What you did in the park last January was horrific and shocking. You went around the park looking for people to hurt. You chose people who were weaker and smaller than you. 

‘I hope you realise how cowardly your actions were.’

Opening the case for the prosecution, Rachel Brand KC described attacks Moulton had carried out against an 82-year-old woman and a 72-year-old woman on January 19 and January 20.

She said of the first attack, against Valerie Mann, 82: ‘(The defendant) approached her from behind and pushed her forcefully down and forward, she fell into the River Cole and into a ditch by the river.

‘He said to her “I tried to drown you, but now I’m going to kill you instead” and he struck her several times with her own walking stick.’

The teenage attacker then told her: ‘I would like to get some help, but you will tell on me.’

He went on to tell someone nearby: ‘There’s an old lady in the water and she needs help.’

She was left seriously injured and told police she thought she was going to die.  

The following day, Moulton attacked Christine Canty, 72, as she walked through the park, causing her to bleed ‘profusely’ from a head wound.

Then, on January 21, the delinquent teenager also attacked Diana Copplestone, 79, just half an hour before Leo was stabbed.

Leo had been walking home from Christ Church of England Secondary Academy School at around 3pm, wearing his school uniform with his jacket hood turned up against the cold. He planned to meet a friend of his by a tree in the park.

After attacking Ms Copplestone, Moulton was circling around the park on his bicycle ‘hunting’ for another victim to assault and spotted Leo. 

It is unclear precisely what happened next, but police believe Moulton pulled a four-inch kitchen knife out and stabbed Leo without much of a wider struggle.

Once he had inflicted the fatal blow, Moulton immediately pretended he had just come across Leo’s body and ran over to alert a member of the public who called the police.

He was arrested later that night on suspicion of assaulting Ms Copplestone, which led police to test his clothes for DNA – finding Leo’s blood on his t-shirt. The murder weapon, which was recovered near the River Cole, also had Moulton’s DNA on it.

Mr Webster, in mitigation, said Moulton, now 15, had ‘formidable mental health problems’.

He told the court that the teenager ‘shows recurrent episodes of self-harm’ and other ‘bizarre’ behaviour – such as hitting himself in the face and then storing his own blood.

The defendant was said to have been diagnosed with childhood conduct disorder and ADHD.

Mr Webster said: ‘The fact that Kian has these severe disorders is of no comfort at all to the family of the deceased and his victims, but it is important when looking to understand why this happened that it lay to a degree, even a significant degree, in the neurodevelopmental disorders from which he suffers.’

The court also heard emotional statements from Leo’s family and the foster family with whom he was living when he was killed.

Through tears, Leo’s mother set out the devastating effect his death had taken, telling the court: ‘Everyone has lost the most beautiful young soul – for what? We will never know why such an innocent young boy minding his own business, walking home from school, was robbed of his life for no reason whatsoever. It should never have happened.

‘To any mother, losing a child is the worst thing you can ever experience and losing my boy the way I did will haunt me forever.’

His father, Chris Ross, told Moulton to ‘look at me’ before reading out his own statement, saying: ‘You killed my son Leo Ross, I will never be the same again. It breaks my heart knowing Leo was alone and I wasn’t there to protect him, because of you.’

Amy Weston, one of Leo’s foster family, told the court the schoolboy loved crystals, Pokemon and animals. Referring to how Moulton had lingered at the scene pretending to be a bystander, she said it was evidence of a ‘complete lack of humanity and shows what a dangerous individual you are’.

Moulton previously pleaded guilty to Leo’s murder, as well as two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of possessing a knife. 

Перший віцепрем’єр­міністр — міністр енергетики Денис Шмигаль провів онлайн­зустріч із федеральним міністром економіки, енергетики та туризму Австрії Вольфгангом Гаттманнсдорфером. Міністри обговорили потреби України в умовах надзвичайного стану в енергетиці та домовилися переглянути всі нагальні потреби щодо передачі Україні резервного або вживаного обладнання з австрійських станцій.

Як зауважив Денис Шмигаль, Австрія вже оголосила про додаткові 3 млн євро гуманітарної допомоги для України. Наша країна високо цінує загальний внесок Австрії обсягом 15,5 млн євро у Фонд підтримки енергетики.

Перший віцепрем’єр подякував уряду та народу Австрії за системну підтримку енергетичної стійкості України.

«Вдячні за допомогу австрійського бізнесу, який надав обладнання для підземних сховищ газу, ТЕЦ та газовидобувних потужностей. Україні важлива будь­яка допомога для формування резервів та підготовки до наступного опалювального сезону», — наголосив Денис Шмигаль, повідомляє Міненерго.

Sir Keir Starmer has said it was ‘offensive and wrong’ for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to claim that the UK ‘has been colonised by immigrants’.

The Prime Minister has told the Manchester United owner to apologise ‘immediately’, declaring: ‘Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country’.

As well as criticising UK immigration levels, Sir Jim also questioned whether Sir Keir was the right man to lead the country in an interview yesterday.

He said that the PM ‘may be too nice’ for the job and that ‘difficult’ decisions were needed by those in power to rescue the economy, which grew by just 0.1% in the final quarter of last year, official figures revealed today.

Responding to his immigration comments in a post on X, the Prime Minister wrote: ‘Offensive and wrong. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise.’

Sir Jim is also facing a backlash from Manchester United fans. Protest group The ’58 called him ‘a total embarrassment’. The Manchester United Supporters Trust said he was ‘marginalising’ the club’s fanbase.

But there has been some support for his comments, with Nigel Farage tweeting: ‘Britain has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas in our country. Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t’.

Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe said: ‘Ratcliffe is right. And I respect him for having the balls to say it’, adding: ‘It [the UK] has been colonised by immigrants. That’s just a fact. No point pussyfooting around it’.

But Downing Street said Sir Jim’s remarks ‘play into the hands of those who want to divide our country’ and called on him to ‘immediately’ apologise.

A No 10 spokesman said: ‘Jim Ratcliffe should immediately apologise.

‘His offensive remarks are wrong and play into the hands of those who want to divide our country.’

In an interview with Sky News, the Ineos owner said: ‘You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. 

‘I mean, the UK has been colonised by immigrants really, hasn’t it? It’s costing too much money. The population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million people.’ 

The 73-year-old businessman also questioned whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is the right man to lead the country forward in a bombshell new interview, arguing ‘he may be too nice’. 

He added: ‘I don’t know whether it’s just the apparatus that hasn’t allowed Keir to do it or, or he’s maybe too nice – I mean, Keir is a nice man.

‘I like him, but it’s a tough job and I think you have to do some difficult things with the UK to get it back on track, because at the moment I don’t think the economy is in a good state.’ 

The population of the UK was estimated to have been 70 million in mid-2024, according to the Office for National Statistics, three million higher than that recorded during 2020. 

A massive 65,922 illegal migrants have reached the United Kingdom since Sir Keir’s time on Downing Street began in July 2024 – that’s more than under any other PM in history.  

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has been working closely with United on its stadium project, says Ratcliffe’s words ‘go against everything for which Manchester has traditionally stood’. 

‘Footballers who have arrived from all over the world to play in Greater Manchester have enhanced the life of our city region as have the many people working in Greater Manchester’s NHS and other essential services and industries’.

And Sir Keir’s Justice minister Jake Richards claimed this morning that the Ineos billionaire is ‘hypocritical’ to criticise the Government on migration, because he has ‘moved to Monaco to save £4billion in tax’.

‘One might question whether he is the patriot we need to comment on this issue’, he said.

Kick It Out – the anti-discrimination football campaign group – criticised Sir Jim’s comments, including the claim that the UK population has swelled by 12 million since 2020.

In a statement to the Press Association, Kick It Out said: ‘Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments are disgraceful and deeply divisive at a time when football does so much to bring communities together.

‘In addition to the inaccurate figures mentioned, it’s worth reminding him that Manchester United has a diverse fan base and plays in a city whose cultural history has been enriched by immigrants.

‘This type of language and leadership has no place in English football, and we believe most fans will feel the same.’

Sir Keir Starmer has come under mounting pressure and this week endured the toughest stint of his 18 months in office amid the scandal which saw Lord Peter Mandelson resign from government. 

He faced calls to resign from opposition leaders and, in a damning turn of events, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also pleaded with him to walk away on Monday. 

But at a meeting with his Parliamentary Labour Party later that evening, the Prime Minister affirmed that he has no intentions to give up. 

Earlier on Monday he had received backing from both Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves which strengthened his position. Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham has also since shared his support for the under-pressure PM. 

In his new interview, Sir Jim revealed that he has met with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who he describes as ‘an intelligent man’.  

He added: ‘I think he’s got good intentions. But, in a way, you could say exactly the same about Keir Starmer. 

‘I think it needs somebody who’s prepared to be unpopular for a period of time to get the big issues sorted.’ 

One of Britain’s richest men, Ratcliffe has been widely unpopular with Man United fans since purchasing his stake in the club on December 24, 2023. His group also owns Ligue 1 side Nice after completing a takeover deal in 2019.

He is estimated to be worth around £17billion, according to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2025, making him the seventh wealthiest person in the country. 

However, in the last year alone, the Lancashire-born business owner has seen his riches decline by some £6billion, likely due to the expenses of running United.

‘I’ve been very unpopular at Manchester United because we’ve made lots of changes,’ he admitted. ‘But, for the better, in my view. I think we’re beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that’s beginning to pay off.’ 

The 219 migrants who reached British shores on Sunday, February 8, saw the total who have entered Britain during Sir Keir’s leadership surpass that under Boris Johnson.

One of Sir Keir’s first acts in office after the 2024 general election was scrapping the previous government’s Rwanda asylum deal.

The programme had been designed to deter crossings – and save lives – by sending migrants to the east African country to claim asylum there rather than here.

Labour’s flagship policy is a ‘one in, one out’ deal with France which allows a small number of migrants to be sent back across the Channel. 

The Lord Mandelson scandal brought Sir Keir’s tenure in government to the brink of disaster and preceded the resignations of a number of his most senior figures. 

After the disgraced Mandelson walked away to ‘avoid further embarrassment’, the PM’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney handed in his resignation on Sunday. 

McSweeney had been influential in the appointment of Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US – a decision he admitted was ‘wrong’ in a farewell statement. 

Later, Sir Keir’s communications director Tim Allen quit on Monday to ‘let a new team’ take over in Number Ten, he said. 

Despite the Labour leader seemingly strengthening his position following a meeting with his party later that day, fresh doubts have since been cast over his judgment. 

Sir Keir’s woes deepened amid claims he went ahead with a peerage for Lord Matthew Doyle despite knowing about his ties to paedophile councillor Sean Morton.  

Doyle has apologised for campaigning for Morton in 2017 – after the latter had been charged over indecent images of children – saying he believed his friend’s assertions of innocence.

Party chair Anna Turley is calling for Lord Doyle to be kicked out of the Upper House, insisting he did not tell the truth before being elevated by Sir Keir.

No 10 is adamant Lord Doyle’s actions were not known when the peerage was announced on December 10 last year.

However, there are mounting questions about the timeline, with the Sunday Times having claimed that No 10 looked into the issues beforehand.

The situation has been likened to that of Mandelson, with the PM’s allies blaming the vetting system for letting him down. 

Asked about the situation during a tour of broadcast studios this morning, education minister Georgia Gould said: ‘I think the decision, the announcement was made on December 10. I think the story was later in the month.

‘But I think the Prime Minister has looked at this afresh, given the commitment that he has made to ensure the highest standards in public life.’

In an earlier statement, Lord Doyle apologised ‘unreservedly’ for supporting Moray councillor Morton before the case against him had concluded.  

He said he also had ‘extremely limited’ contact with Morton after his conviction.  

The Scottish National Party had objected to Lord Doyle’s peerage and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called on Sir Keir to publish ‘vetting advice and due diligence’ reports provided before his appointment to the Lords.

Labour had suspended Morton after he appeared in court in connection with indecent child images in late 2016.

Lord Doyle campaigned for Morton when he ran as an Independent in May 2017.

Morton admitted having indecent images of children in November 2017.