'People are angry': Behind the wave of asylum hotel protests

57 minutes ago Share Save Tom Symonds Correspondent, BBC News Share Save

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"We are not happy with these men in this hotel because we fear for our children," Orla Minihane tells me. "If that makes me far right then so be it." Orla has lived near Epping since she was a child and describes herself as a "very boring woman who has worked in the City of London for 25 years". Last year she joined Reform UK and hopes to stand as a local candidate for the party. On a busy road leading to the Essex town, The Bell Hotel, now fortified, is one of more than 200 across the country where the government houses asylum seekers. In the last month, a series of protests, usually several hundred people at a time but sometimes thousands, have taken place against the use of hotels for asylum seekers. About 20 more were planned for Friday and Saturday this week. The latest round of demonstrations began at the 80-room Bell in July, after a man living in the hotel was arrested, and subsequently charged, with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and is in custody. The case has sparked a wider conversation about the effect of housing dozens of asylum seekers in hotels in communities across Britain. "Before there were women and children in the hotel - there was a little bit of crime, most people got on with it," Orla says. "But now it's the fact that it's all men. It's not a balanced culture."

Orla Minihane is involved in the asylum hotel protests in Epping

The protests have been promoted on social media under red, white and blue banner text with slogans such as "Protect Our Community", "Safety of Women and Children Before Foreigners" and "All Patriots Welcome". We have identified far-right activists at some of the protests and activists who oppose them are watching what is happening closely. The activist group Stand Up To Racism sees this as far-right organisations "stirring up racist violence" and trying to repeat the violence that flared after the murders of three young girls in Southport. However, the protests are often organised by people with little experience of street campaigning, including mothers with families and professional careers, like Orla. That they are getting involved suggests that in some communities, with hotels close by, there is a shift in the public mood about Britain's asylum hotels. Outside The Bell, which is surrounded by steel fencing and guarded by a 24/7 security team, one of its residents, Wael, from Libya, is a year into his asylum claim and waiting for his fourth Home Office interview.

Wael says he feels respected in Epping

"I spoke with one of the protesters," Wael says. "Everything's good. Epping is nice. We can sit and stay. People respect us. "I want to learn English and work. In a car wash or something. I will not stay here and take food. I have a dream - to make money and play football and have fun with my time. It's a small dream." Wael is happy to talk, give his name and have his picture taken. But two other young Iraqi Kurds who are staying at The Bell, and allowed to freely come and go, are more cautious and less positive. They tell me a gang of youths in masks and on motorbikes, has just shouted expletives at them. Shortly afterwards I catch sight of the bikers nearby. One of the asylum seekers says that living in a hotel room 24 hours a day is messing with his mind. When I ask about their dealings with the Home Office they hurry inside The Bell. Shortly afterwards a passing driver yells, "Burn it down". Last summer, in the wake of the murders of three young girls by a teenager in Southport, Merseyside, that is what some protesters tried to do at other hotels. This summer, there have been isolated clashes, when activists on each side of the argument, anti-fascists and hard-right, have faced each other, or the police. Often the migrants have watched from the sidelines, penned up behind the fencing, or filming from upstairs windows.

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Anti-fascists gathered outside the Barbican Thistle Hotel in London last weekend to support the asylum seekers inside

The police have largely kept control, sometimes facing criticism for their methods, including the false claim that Essex Police used buses to transport pro-migrant activists to a protest in Epping. For now, arrest numbers are way below those in 2024. I ask Orla, who made an impassioned speech at a recent protest, why she is so aggrieved by the asylum hotel. She says friends have described their daughters being "grabbed" by young, non-white men in the area. She has seen shoplifting, she says, in the local Marks & Spencer. "Everyone knows they are asylum seekers," Orla says, "Epping is very white." She adds of the hotel's occupants: "You know they are coming for freebies and when they come here they abuse the privilege. It's ridiculous." Asylum seekers would say they are seeking protection by coming to the UK, although some are ultimately judged not to be eligible for asylum status. Last month Stand Up To Racism claimed Orla had shared a stage with an alleged member of a neo-Nazi group at a hotel protest. She told BBC News she had "no idea" who he was, and he says he has since left the group.

Asylum seekers are not normally allowed to work in the UK. Successive governments have judged that paying for their accommodation and food is preferable to allowing them to compete with British workers in the jobs market, offering an incentive to come here. In June, the government warned some asylum seekers may be illicitly working as food delivery drivers. Sixteen miles south of Epping, residents in Canary Wharf, east London, live in gleaming glass towers and traditional East End houses alongside another asylum hotel. It is a very different place but many locals share similar opinions. Asylum seekers recently arrived during the small hours at the wharf-side four-star Britannia International - 610 rooms, but, according to a maintenance engineer, no longer the "luxury hotel" described in some reports. Rumours that they were coming triggered protests by local residents, many of them office workers in the Canary Wharf business district. Outside the hotel, Chengcheng Cul, who is Chinese, draws a distinction between his "legal migration" to the UK, and "illegal asylum seekers". "If people can come over the Channel illegally, and easily, what encourages decent people to come legally, pay their tax and get involved in this society? Is this setting a good example? This country has opened the border to illegal migrants." Lorraine Cavanagh, who works for charities on the Isle of Dogs, echoes the concerns in Epping. "I don't know who they are. "They are unidentified men who can walk around and do what they want to do with no consequences," she says. That comment, "I don't know who they are", lies at the heart of the opposition to asylum seekers in these communities.

Jack Taylor/Getty Images Rival protesters outside the Britannia International hotel, in late July

It can be very hard to establish basic facts about the young men in the hotels, the system that put them there, or the impact they might have on locals. While growing in number, asylum seekers who come by small boats across the English Channel are a small proportion of total immigration to the UK, and in 2024, just over a third of all asylum seekers. The government's contracted out the task of accommodating them to three companies: Serco, Clearsprings and Mears. They buy up rooms in houses and in hotels, usually taking them over completely. Ministers regularly talk about their ambition to "smash the gangs", but say less about the hotels. The government won't confirm where they are because of concerns they might be attacked. Madeleine Sumption from the Migration Observatory points out there is a problem publishing information about small groups of asylum seekers when it might identify them by age or sex, a long-standing approach for public bodies. We know how many hotel places are being used in each region - the vast majority are in the south of England. They cost £5.77m a day for the government to provide. The estimated cost over the decade to 2029 has spiralled from £4.5bn in 2019 to £15.3bn. But there are no specific figures for the age and sex of hotel occupants, no details about their countries of origin, or their claim for sanctuary in the UK.

So when local communities allege crime rates go up when asylum hotels are opened, or raise fears about the hotels being full of only single adult males, it is often impossible to prove the point either way. There were 35 sexual and violent offences reported in Epping town in May. In the same month, the year before, when there were no asylum seekers at The Bell, 28 sexual and violent offences were reported. In May 2023, the hotel was being used by the Home Office for migrant families. The number of reported offences was 32. But how many of these offences involved asylum seekers? The police do not publish statistics about exactly where crimes happen or who is reported to have committed them. So in many ways, we don't know "who they are". Orla believes more information would help reduce tension and is furious at the government's handling of the asylum system. "If you conceal the truth and you act as if you are hiding something, people are going to be angry," she says. "If they said there are 70 in the Bell Hotel, five are from Sudan, five from somewhere else, I think most people would feel better." Epping Forest District Council's Conservative Leader, Chris Whitbread recently said that "it is important to be transparent" about asylum hotel information. In a recent report, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, criticised how the Home Office deals with asylum hotels. "It is clear that the Home Office still has a long way to go to build trust and confidence in its willingness to be open and honest about its intentions and performance," he wrote. The Home Office says it removed 6,000 people from hotels in early 2025 and has already closed 200 hotels. In its manifesto, Labour pledges to close them all by the next election. On the other side of the political divide from the anti-migrant campaigners, in north London outside a meeting "to organise against the right wing", Sabby Dhalu from the protest group Stand Up To Racism wants the government to work more closely with councils so that their residents are better informed.

Elon Musk's AI accused of making explicit AI Taylor Swift videos

54 minutes ago Share Save Imran Rahman-Jones Technology reporter Share Save

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Elon Musk's AI video generator has been accused of making "a deliberate choice" to create sexually explicit clips of Taylor Swift without prompting, says an expert in online abuse. "This is not misogyny by accident, it is by design," said Clare McGlynn, a law professor who has helped draft a law which would make pornographic deepfakes illegal. According to a report by The Verge, Grok Imagine's new "spicy" mode "didn't hesitate to spit out fully uncensored topless videos" of the pop star without being asked to make explicit content. The report also said proper age verification methods - which became law in July - were not in place. XAI, the company behind Grok, has been approached for comment.

XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner". "That this content is produced without prompting demonstrates the misogynistic bias of much AI technology," said Prof McGlynn of Durham University. "Platforms like X could have prevented this if they had chosen to, but they have made a deliberate choice not to," she added. This is not the first time Taylor Swift's image has been used in this way. Sexually explicit deepfakes using her face went viral and were viewed millions of times on X and Telegram in January 2024. Deepfakes are computer-generated images which replace the face of one person with another.

'Completely uncensored, completely exposed'

In testing the guardrails of Grok Imagine, The Verge news writer Jess Weatherbed entered the prompt: "Taylor Swift celebrating Coachella with the boys". Grok generated still images of Swift wearing a dress with a group of men behind her. This could then be animated into short video clips under four different settings: "normal", "fun", "custom" or "spicy". "She ripped [the dress] off immediately, had nothing but a tasselled thong underneath, and started dancing, completely uncensored, completely exposed," Ms Weatherbed told BBC News. She added: "It was shocking how fast I was just met with it - I in no way asked it to remove her clothing, all I did was select the 'spicy' option." Gizmodo reported similarly explicit results of famous women, though some searches also returned blurred videos or with a "video moderated" message. The BBC has been unable to independently verify the results of the AI video generations. Ms Weatherbed said she signed up to the paid version of Grok Imagine, which cost £30, using a brand new Apple account. Grok asked for her date of birth but there was no other age verification in place, she said. Under new UK laws which entered into force at the end of July, platforms which show explicit images must verify users' ages using methods which are "technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair". "Sites and apps that include Generative AI tools that can generate pornographic material are regulated under the Act," the media regulator Ofcom told BBC News. "We are aware of the increasing and fast-developing risk GenAI tools may pose in the online space, especially to children, and we are working to ensure platforms put appropriate safeguards in place to mitigate these risks," it said in a statement.

New UK laws

Currently, generating pornographic deepfakes is illegal when used in revenge porn or depicts children. Prof McGlynn helped draft an amendment to the law which would make generating or requesting all non-consensual pornographic deepfakes illegal. The government has committed to making this amendment law, but it is yet to come into force. "Every woman should have the right to choose who owns intimate images of her," said Baroness Owen, who proposed the amendment in the House of Lords. "It is essential that these models are not used in such a way that violates a woman's right to consent whether she be a celebrity or not," Lady Owen continued in a statement given to BBC News. "This case is a clear example of why the Government must not delay any further in its implementation of the Lords amendments," she added. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Sexually explicit deepfakes created without consent are degrading and harmful. "We refuse to tolerate the violence against women and girls that stains our society which is why we have passed legislation to ban their creation as quickly as possible."

Faith, family and fish - the unlikely bond between JD Vance and David Lammy

41 minutes ago Share Save Kate Whannel Political reporter Share Save

PA Media JD Vance and David Lammy fishing together at Chevening in Kent

US Vice President JD Vance is taking his holiday in the UK - a trip which will include visits to the Cotswolds, Scotland and, to kick it all off, a few days staying with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at his grace-and-favour country home, Chevening House in Kent. It would seem an unlikely friendship on the face of it. One grew up in north London, the other in rust-belt Ohio. One is a left-wing advocate of multi-culturalism, the other a conservative who has, albeit jokingly, referred to the UK as "the first truly Islamist country" with a nuclear bomb. Yet, despite their differences Lammy and Vance appear to be the best of friends.

As he settled in for a brief chat with the media in the drawing room at Chevening alongside the foreign secretary, Vance spoke warmly of their relationship. "I have to say that I really have become a good friend, and David has become a good friend of mine," he said. "Our families enjoy each other's company very much, which always helps." Chevening is set in 3,000 acres of land, including a maze and lake, which was the first destination for the two families on Friday morning, for a spot of fishing. Vance joked this activity put "a strain on the special relationship" with his children all catching carp, while the foreign secretary came away empty-handed. Lammy didn't seem bitter, telling the vice president he was "delighted" to welcome him and his family to 115-room Chevening, which he described as "my home". Strictly speaking, the 17th century manor house belongs to the nation, but cabinet ministers, particularly foreign secretaries, are allowed to use it for family getaways or meetings with foreign dignitaries. The vice president seemed suitably impressed with his friend's weekend retreat.

Getty Images Chevening House, the 17th century stately home made available to foreign secretaries, comes with a lake and maze

Vance acknowledged the two men come from "different political spectrums" but said Lammy had been "kind enough to make time on a visit to [Washington] DC, we got to know each other a little bit then". Since that first meeting, when Lammy was in opposition and Vance had just been elected to the US Senate, they have met regularly including at the new Pope's inauguration in May. Last week, Lammy told the Guardian he, Vance and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner bonded over drinks in the Villa Taverna, the US ambassador's residence in Rome. "I had this great sense that JD completely relates to me and he completely relates to Angela. So it was a wonderful hour and a half," he said. "I was probably the shyest of the three." He said that, like Vance, Rayner and himself were "not just working-class politicians, but people with dysfunctional childhoods". Lammy's parents split up during his teens. His father went to the US and Lammy never saw him again. Vance told the story of his own upbringing - including an absent father and a mother with a drug addiction - in his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy. Despite their trickier starts in life, both ended up at prestigious US colleges. Lammy studied at Harvard, where he met and befriended Barack Obama. Vance went to Harvard's rival Yale - "not quite as good," Lammy joked at Chevening. The two men have also bonded over their Christian faith. Vance converted to Catholicism as an adult and took mass with Lammy when he visited Washington DC earlier this year. The pair have something else in common, although neither want to to draw attention to it: their previous less-than-flattering comments about Donald Trump. JD Vance's past verdict - "reprehensible", "an idiot", "I never liked him". And Lammy's? "A tyrant" and "a woman-hating, neo Nazi sympathising sociopath". Be it political expediency or a genuine change of heart, both have since revised their opinions.

But how far do personal relations matter, when there are so many other factors at play - be it national self interest in the case of tariffs, or differences of opinion such as over the situation in Gaza? Bronwen Maddox the CEO of the Chatham House international affairs think tank says they do, "particularly under this administration". "Trump has deliberately personalised these things," she adds. That is why Lammy - despite his natural affiliation with the Democratic Party in the US - was tasked with building bridges with their Republican opponents, even before the general election. Although that might have appeared a tall order, Chair of Republicans Overseas Greg Swenson says his party tend to feel fonder towards the UK than the Democrats. Vance and Trump have criticised the UK in the past, but Swenson says it "comes from a good place". "Both want what's best for the UK... you never want to see your friend make a mistake."

However, if Lammy thinks his friendship with Vance is exclusive he may be disappointed. The vice president is also meeting Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK's Nigel Farage has hinted that he may be as well.

The cottages and cobbles of the Cotswolds are attracting wealthy Americans

Prince Andrew book seals his fate for any return

57 minutes ago Share Save Sean Coughlan Royal correspondent Share Save

Getty Images Prince Andrew faces an unflattering portrait of his private life and finances

This searing biography of Prince Andrew crackles with scandals about sex and money on almost every page, two subjects that have always caused problems for the royals. Andrew Lownie's book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, is an unrelentingly unflattering portrait of Prince Andrew. It depicts him as arrogant, self-seeking and in denial about his links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The author's best-selling biographies have a habit of changing the reputation of famous figures, such as establishing the Nazi intrigues around the Duke of Windsor, the former Edward VIII. Although in the case of Entitled, he hasn't so much cemented Prince Andrew's reputation, as put it in concrete boots and thrown it in the river. It is hard to see how he might come back from this.

Getty Images Prince Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein and Melania Trump [L] at Mar-a-Lago

This account, more than 450 pages, is said to have taken four years to research, involving hundreds of interviews. And for anyone thinking they have heard much of this story before, it is the extra and sometimes unexpected, throwaway details that will make this a fascinating read. Like comedian Billy Connolly and Sir Elton John being at Prince Andrew's stag night. Or film maker Woody Allen being at the same dinner with Prince Andrew at Epstein's house in Manhattan. This detail tallies with a piece in the New York Times this week that quotes a birthday greeting written by Allen to Epstein, which references "even royalty" being at one of Epstein's dinners.

Getty Images Prince Andrew has stepped down as a working royal

To rapidly lose some mid-life weight, when he was going out with a younger woman, the book records that Prince Andrew lived on a crash diet of "stewed prunes for breakfast, raw vegetables for lunch and soup for supper". About their academic ability, the book says that Prince Andrew and Sarah passed two O-levels at their respective expensive private schools. Andrew had to re-take exams the following year before going on to take A-levels. Now in disgrace, Prince Andrew is claimed to spend his time, when not riding or golfing, cooped up watching aviation videos and reading thrillers, with The Talented Mr Ripley said to be his favourite. It is about a con-man taking on the identity of a wealthy playboy. There are some more gentle anecdotes about him, such as when he was a helicopter pilot and ferried a group of soldiers from a rifle range and decided to put down on the Sandringham estate. Queen Elizabeth II, who was in residence, was said to have looked at the guns being toted by these unexpected arrivals. "You can put those in there if you like," she said, pointing to an umbrella stand.

Getty Images Prince Andrew was known as 'Baby Grumpling' as a baby

But the biography is much more crowded with anecdotes about his rudeness and his acute lack of self awareness, not to mention a prodigious number of quick-fire affairs. It is claimed he swore at and insulted staff, bawling someone out as an "imbecile" for not using the Queen Mother's full title. Protection officers were despatched to collect golf balls and private jets seemed to be hired as casually as an Uber on a night out. The Paris-based journalist Peter Allen, among the sources for the book, says many of Andrew's problems reflect on his "flawed character". "He's been afforded every type of privilege, all his life, while displaying very poor judgement and getting into highly compromising situations." Known as "Baby Grumpling" in his early years, Andrew was claimed to have moved people from jobs because one was wearing a nylon tie, and another because he had a mole on his face. Diplomats, whose cause Andrew was meant to be advancing, nicknamed him "His Buffoon Highness" because of all the gaffes. There are details of his unhappy knack of getting involved with all the wrong people in his money-making ventures, from Libyan gun runners and relations of dictators to a Chinese spy. "This book appears to seal the fate of Andrew if he was ever hoping to be reinstated officially into the working royals," says royal commentator Pauline Maclaran. "The public will be wanting to see some clear action on the King's part I think - particularly as Andrew's connections to Epstein are raked over again," says Prof Maclaran.

Getty Images Sarah Ferguson at a charity event in the south of France last month

If this seems like a torrent of bad news, the book also raises some deeper questions about what lies behind Prince Andrew's character. There are suggestions of an often lonely and isolated figure, obsessed with sex but much weaker at relationships. Sources from his time in the navy saw his "bombastic" exterior as concealing a much more vulnerable and socially awkward figure, whose upbringing had made him unsure how to behave. He showed authentic courage when he flew helicopters in the Falklands war and he was remembered as being willing to "muck in" during that stressful time, when crews were living on canned food rather than fine dining. On his fascination for sex, an unnamed source claims Andrew lost his virginity at the age of 11, which the same source likens to a form of abuse. One of his former naval colleagues went from seeing Andrew as "immature, privileged, entitled" to having a more sympathetic view of a character of "loneliness and insecurity", a public figure who was uncertain about how he fitted in with other people, and had ended up with the "wrong sort of friends". Top of that list must be Jeffrey Epstein. Lownie's book offers meticulous detail of the connections between Prince Andrew and the US financier and sex offender, establishing links that went back to the early 1990s, earlier than had previously been established. It is also strong on the unbalanced nature of their relationship, with a friend of Andrew's describing the prince's dealings with Epstein as "like putting a rattlesnake in an aquarium with a mouse".

Getty Images The famous photo of Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell

Epstein's sleazy and abusive world, with its mix of easy money and exploitative sex, was ultimately a form of blackmail operation, claims Lownie's book. It gave him something to hold over the many powerful people who came into his orbit. The book is a reminder of the scale and seediness of Epstein's exploitation of girls. It is also an account of the destruction that followed. The famous photograph showing Virginia Giuffre with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in London was supposedly taken by Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew is the only one of them not to be either dead or in prison. And Lownie's sources cast doubt on whether Epstein did take his own life, questioning the medical evidence and the series of unfortunate gaps in supervision in the jail where he was being held. After his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview and the court case with Virginia Giuffre - which he settled with a rejection of any wrongdoing - Prince Andrew has been pushed out of public life, no longer a "working royal". Historian Ed Owens says it is almost six years since that Newsnight interview, but Prince Andrew is still appearing in news stories "for all the wrong reasons". "This isn't good for the monarchy," he says, even though "King Charles and Prince William have sought to limit the reputational damage Andrew can have on 'brand Windsor'," says Owens.

'JD Vance sends warning to UK' and 'Scam by me'

59 minutes ago Share Save Share Save

A mix of stories on the front pages of Saturday's newspapers. The i Paper leads with US Vice-President JD Vance's trip to Britain where he met Foreign Secretary David Lammy. It spotlights Vance's warning to the UK on the plan to recognise a Palestinian state: "I don't know what that would mean".

The Times follows with a cheery photo of Vance and Lammy fishing "across the pond" at the foreign secretary's official country residence, Chevening House, in Kent. Elsewhere, the paper reports British travellers going to Europe will need to prove they have a return ticket and medical insurance under new border rules due to take effect from 12 October.

"Scam by me" is the Sun's Oasis inspired headline. The paper says an investigation has been launched into hundreds of ticketless Oasis fans who are said to have used a security scam to get into one of the band's reunion concerts. The Sun says as many as 200 fans were asked for £350 each to be snuck in through a disabled entrance.

Police have told a shopkeeper to take down a sign calling shoplifters "scumbags" because it could cause offence, reports the Daily Telegraph. The paper says the incident has sparked a free speech row, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp calling it "madness". A photograph of Jeffrey Epstein and his butler Valdson Vieira Cotrin is front and centre of front page, with the Telegraph reporting that Mr Cotrin does not believe the sex offender killed himself.

"All kids must be safe in school!" declares the Daily Express as it features a plea from the parents of murdered schoolboy Harvey Willgoose. The paper says Caroline and Mark Willgoose are calling for airport-style knife arches in schools after their son was stabbed to death by another student in February this year.

The Daily Mail says an "eco-mob" is set to join supporters of the banned group Palestine Action in Gaza protests. The paper reports police are gearing up to make mass arrests on Saturday as hundreds are expected to descend upon London in solidarity with the outlawed pro-Gaza group. The Mail also teases Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz's "second wedding" without any other members of the Beckham family.

The Daily Mirror focuses on Queen Camilla who is pictured on holiday aboard a yacht off the coast of Greece.

A "McBoatfarce" leads the Daily Star. The paper reports that MP Rupert Lowe mistakenly alerted the coastguard to a dinghy of possible "illegal migrants" who turned out to be a charity rowing crew. Lowe has responded by saying he did not make a definitive identification of the people on the boat and his alert was made in direct response to reports of an unknown vessel approaching the Norfolk coast.

Finally, the Financial Times reports the White House has moved to quell turmoil in the US gold market after tariffs on imports of 1kg and 100-ounce bars sent gold futures to a record high.

An interview between a US journalist and an AI clone of a teenager who was killed during a school shooting in 2018 has prompted criticism online.

Experts say this is one of the first times that an AI avatar of a dead person has been used in this way.

BBC Verify's Jake Horton has been speaking to the father of the teenager - 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver - and looks at the ethical questions the interview raises.

Produced by Meiying Wu

Is super skinny back? UK sees rise in complaints over thin models

13 minutes ago Share Save Charlotte Edwards • @edwardsclm Business reporter, BBC News Share Save

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The banning of high street fashion adverts which featured models who looked "unhealthily thin" has led industry experts to warn of a return to the super skinny trend. The aesthetic characterised by models with hollow faces and protruding bones was seen in the 1990s and early 2000s but in more recent years been pushed aside to allow space for the body positive movement which embraced curves. However Zara, Next and Marks & Spencer have all had adverts banned in recent months over models who "appeared unhealthily thin". The advertising watchdog has told the BBC it has seen a "definite uptick" in complaints about such ads. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said in 2025 it had received five or six of these complaints a week but in the two weeks after July's M&S ad ban it had more than 20. In 2024 it received 61 complaints about models' weight but it only had grounds to investigate eight. The figures are tiny but it is something the watchdog is keeping a close eye on, along with cracking down on illegal adverts for prescription-only weight loss drugs. ASA guidelines state that advertisers should ensure that they don't present an unhealthy body image as aspirational.

Getty Images Charli Howard is a model and body positivity activist

Model and activist Charli Howard wrote a viral open letter after being dropped by her modelling agency for being "too big" despite being a UK size six to eight. A decade on she says: "I think we're on the cusp of seeing heroin chic return." The phrase heroin chic was used in the early 1990s, when some models were extremely thin, pale and had dark under eye circles reminiscent of drug use. Ms Howard says the high street adverts are as worrying as images being shared on social media as "thinspiration". In June, TikTok blocked search results for "skinnytok" - a hashtag which critics say directs people towards content which "idolises extreme thinness." "Some women are naturally thin, and that's absolutely fine. But deliberately hiring models who appear unwell is deeply disturbing," she said. The ASA in all its recent rulings, did not deem any models to be unhealthy. In the case of Next it acknowledged that in other shots of the same model she appeared healthy. Instead it said the pose, styling and camera angles made each of the models in the retailers adverts appear thinner. M&S said the model's pose was chosen to portray confidence and ease and not to convey slimness. Next said the model, while slim, had a "healthy and toned physique".

Next This Next advert was banned for portraying the model as "unhealthily thin"

Zara, which had two adverts banned last week, said that both models had medical certification proving they were in good health. The ASA said that shadows, poses, and a slick back bun hairstyle had been used to make the models appear thinner. "Lighting definitely plays a role - it can bring out cheekbones, collarbones, and ribcages," Ms Howard said. "After the body positivity movement of the 2010s, it was sadly inevitable fashion might swing back... and we know just how harmful it can be," she said.

'Not being thin enough'

Instagram/MissCharHolmes

For model and yoga teacher Charlotte Holmes, the demand for thinner models is nothing new. During her 20-year career she noticed "a brief moment of increased inclusivity" but was still turned down for jobs for "not being thin enough." "The body positivity movement raised awareness, but it didn't fully change the system. Now, it feels like we're back where we started," she says. The 36-year-old was crowned Miss England in 2012 and came fourth in Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model in 2010. She believes "ultra-thin" has always remained the "silent standard" for models. "Terms like 'heroin chic' and trends like 'skinnytok' show how quickly harmful ideals can resurface. It's not progress, it's repetition," she says.

'Many women are naturally very slim'

Zara This Zara advert was recently banned by the UK advertising regulator

Fashion journalist and consultant Victoria Moss does not think we are facing "heroin chic" but instead connects the trend to the rise of weight loss injections. "What's happening at the moment across broader culture is about thinness being held up as a moral health imperative, driven by the fervour over GLP-1 weight loss medication," she says. Ms Moss acknowledged many celebrities, like Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey, have visibly shrunk before our eyes. But she still thinks it is unusual to see very slim models in High Street fashion campaigns, saying it is "more a catwalk phenomenon". "I think in all these cases the models have been very young, it must be incredibly upsetting for them to become the focus of these banned adverts. Many women are naturally very slim and it is wrong to cast aspersions," she says.

'Body diversity is key'

Simone Konu-Rae stylist and senior lecturer in fashion communication at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London says while it is important to "appreciate that the human body comes in a range of shapes and sizes", being thin is not necessarily back in fashion "it simply never went away". "High Street brands use runway models to elevate their collections," she reckons. "The High Street is saying 'look, we have the same model as your favourite luxury brand, and our products look just as good at a fraction of the price'," she adds. Ms Konu-Rae says the problem is not that the models aren't healthy but that this is "not the norm for many people, and trying to achieve this body type can be harmful. "Showing more body diversity is key to showing people they can be fashionable and stylish without having to change who they are," she says.

'Return of 90's silhouettes'

Navigating hook-up culture: 'On Grindr you're an object, like picking clothes online'

For Lewis, hook-up apps such as Grindr offered a way to explore gay culture that had been missing in his upbringing in rural Dumfriesshire.

At first, he loved the excitement of casual sexual encounters being available at the swipe of a phone but soon it became addictive.

"You get the validation, that dopamine hit when people message you and hit you up, it is enjoyable but that is the problem," he says.

Lewis says it started to damage his self-esteem and he found himself chasing validation - equating his worth with his body.

He says low moods led him back to the app's loop of quick sexual encounters that often left him feeling "dirty and gross", fuelling his anxiety and depression.

"On Grindr you're an object to them, like picking clothes on Asos," he says.

Grindr, a social networking app for the GBTQ community, is the biggest app of its kind and it now has about 15 million active monthly users.

Many people, gay and heterosexual, use other apps for hook-ups too.

Some enjoy it and don't think twice, while others feel there is a deeper issue and it has become a fast-track to instant gratification and has normalised easy access to sex.

For Lewis, it has been challenging to establish more meaningful connections beyond sexual hook-ups in a world where many young gay men seem to be focused on one thing.

"When you don't just want that, you feel like the odd one out," he says.

Eddie Howe says it is "clear" that he "can't involve" Alexander Isak at Newcastle United as things stand.

Newcastle rejected a £110m bid from Liverpool last week after the striker wanted to explore his options.

Isak missed Newcastle's pre-season tour of Asia with a "minor thigh injury", but the 25-year-old went on to train alone at former club Real Sociedad.

Howe previously warned no player could expect to act "poorly and train with group as normal".

Howe has not closed the door on Isak one day representing Newcastle again - but the head coach stressed on Friday that the situation "had to be right for that to happen".

"We've had discussions and it's clear at the moment that we can't involve him with the group," he said after Newcastle's 2-2 draw in a friendly against Espanyol. "I don't know how long that will be for, but that's the latest."

Howe confirmed Isak, who has no current fitness issues, had not been disciplined.

But the Sweden international has been instructed to train at a later time to the rest of his team-mates in Newcastle.

"I'd want Alex to be playing today," Howe added just eight days before the season opener at Aston Villa. "I'd want him training tomorrow. We would love the player to be with us.

"Let me make that absolutely clear. There's no part of me that doesn't want that outcome, but I don't see the current situation changing for Aston Villa."

Head coach Ruben Amorim has his own office but chief executive Omar Berrada does not, though one can swiftly be made available should it be required.

The boardroom has windows -but a heavy curtain should it be required when matters of importance and secrecy are being discussed. Coaches, analysts, recruitment staff, scouting and club leadership work in the same area to make the exchange of information easier.

The 'cinema' room where players are shown slides and replays as part of pre-match preparation and post-match debriefs has seats with Italian leather, ensuring they will be comfortable even on days when what they are watching is not.

On the ground floor - which now definitely looks like an elite sporting environment and not nearby Wythenshawe Hospital - staff sit in the 'Hub' looking out on the first team gym. They can measure data in real time and load it on to big screens next to a bank of bikes to advise players of their physical condition and performance.

If there is a Big Brother element to this, then what about 'smart urinals' which offer instant analysis around hydration.

In the first-team dressing room - which still has allocated spaces for the unwanted quartet of Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Tyrrell Malacia and Jadon Sancho - each player has a touchscreen where individual messages can be sent by the coaches or sports science team and routines for the day can be outlined.

Next to that is a treatment room containing nine beds, with windows looking out on to the first-team training pitches. It could be argued a professional athlete watching colleagues do something they are prevented from being able to might not be ideal but the positives outweigh the negatives according to those who are paid to know such things.

There are MRI, CT and whole body scanners - an entire medical could be conducted at Carrington now, although there was no sign of impending new signing Benajmin Sesko on Friday.

There are four pools - one to swim in, a cold plunge, hot plunge and another with an underwater treadmill, the depth of which can be adjusted as required. The sauna and steam room in the same area have been made much bigger.

Between the gym and the pool area is a 'high altitude room' containing bikes and rowing machines in which the oxygen levels can be adjusted.

The first team go right when they walk though the players' entrance. Youngsters making the transition to the seniors go left, to their own dressing room, saving them from traipsing across from the academy building on the other side of the complex for training.

Not everything is quite complete.

The area housing temporary structures that last season were home to the women's team - who have returned to the building created for them now the men's first team don't need it - will be turned into a padel court. Four sleeping pods are due to be installed, while there will also be an area for red light therapy and also dry flotation tanks.

United want to encourage players to stay at the training ground longer. The days of arriving at 10 and leaving at 12 are long gone.

In his damning critique of his old club in 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo claimed United was "stuck in time" and "nothing had changed". It certainly has now.

Is this building Ronaldo's legacy, the legendary United and Real Madrid star's close friend and international colleague Dalot was asked?

"I'm sure he would love it if he was able to see it," he said.

"Overall, I think the message was clear, that this club deserved even more. All credit to Sir Jim and his team. They did a fantastic job."

A number of clubs are thought to have expressed an interest in Hojlund, 23, in the knowledge United are willing to negotiate over his release.

It is understood Milan are keen, although they would only want a loan initially as they, like United, are hindered financially by an absence from European competition this season.

Sources suggest the Serie A side are willing to pay an initial 4m euros (£3.47m) loan fee, with an additional option to buy next summer for 40m (£34.7m).

Whether that is acceptable to United is open to doubt, although it is anticipated there will be more clarity on the situation in the coming week.

Milan open their Serie A campaign against Cremonese on 23 August.

Chris Woakes says rehabilitation "could be a risk he's willing to take" to be fit for the Ashes, rather than having surgery on the shoulder injury sustained in England's fifth Test defeat against India.

The 36-year-old is waiting for the results of a scan after he suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder on day one at The Oval.

England had ruled him out of the rest of the Test, but he still stepped out to bat with his left arm in a sling as they chased what would have been a series-clinching victory on a dramatic final morning.

The first Ashes Test begins in Perth on 21 November.

"I'm waiting to see what the extent of the damage is but I think the options will be to have surgery or to go down a rehab route and try and get it as strong as possible," Woakes told BBC Sport.

"I suppose naturally with that there will be a chance of a reoccurrence, but I suppose that could be a risk that you're just willing to take sort of thing.

"From what I've heard from physios and specialists is that the rehab of a surgery option would be closer to four months or three to four months. That's obviously touching on the Ashes and Australia so it makes it tricky.

"From a rehab point of view you can probably get it get it strong again within eight weeks. So that could be an option, but again obviously still waiting to get the full report on it."

Tommy Fleetwood carded a six-under 64 to open up a four-shot lead before play was suspended in the second round of the St Jude Championship in Memphis due to severe weather.

Having shot 63 in the opening round, the 34-year-old Englishman followed up superbly with seven birdies.

A bogey on the 18th was the only blemish on Fleetwood's total of 13 under as he put himself in a strong position for a first ever PGA Tour victory.

After hitting a fine 65, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa is at nine under, along with his fellow American Akshay Bhatia in the opening event of the FedExCup play-offs.

England's Justin Rose was on the 17th tee and among 21 players still yet to finish when play was stopped due to lightning. He was also four shots adrift of Fleetwood.

Armando Broja's move to Burnley means Chelsea have made more than £250m in sales on players from their academy in just three years.

Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, influenced by the pressure of the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules (PSR), have accelerated a strategy that began under their predecessor as owner, Roman Abramovich.

In this case, Broja's departure to Burnley is worth up to £20m if all add-ons are met, taking the potential total banked from academy player sales this summer to £41.2m.

Defender Bashir Humphreys also moved to Turf Moor for £14.7m, while Ishe Samuels-Smith moved to Strasbourg for £6.5m this summer.

Further sales are possible, with forward Tyrique George and England international Trevoh Chalobah not ruled out. Josh Acheampong has also attracted interest from Bournemouth but is considered not for sale unless a substantial offer is made.

The £41.2m slice of incoming funds is part of the £225.5m raised from player sales this summer alone.

But because academy players count as 'pure profit' in the club's accounts, their departures have provided Chelsea with greater financial flexibility - helping fund £250m in new signings, with transfer fees amortised over the five-year span of long-term contracts.

Interestingly, Burnley have contributed over £55m to Chelsea through player purchases this summer, also signing midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu for a fee believed to be over £20m, despite being officially undisclosed.

Sales of Noni Madueke, Djordje Petrovic, and others have boosted Chelsea's bottom line, with the club set to surpass £300m on incomings this summer.

The club are in talks to sign Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho, while RB Leipzig's Xavi Simons remains a target ahead of the transfer deadline on 1 September.

Beloved by bands and bank robbers, the Ford Transit turns 60

45 minutes ago Share Save Theo Leggett International Business Correspondent Share Save

BBC Theo Leggett at the wheel of the oldest Ford Transit still in existence

Climbing into a 1965 Ford Transit is like stepping into a time capsule on wheels. Forget your modern high-tech nicknacks like satnavs and touchscreens. All you get here is a steering wheel, a big chrome-lined speedometer dial and a chunky heater control. There isn't even a radio. Out on the road, it rattles and bangs and occasionally jumps out of gear. Disconcertingly, there's no seatbelt, the seat itself has an alarming tendency to move around, and the brakes don't seem to do very much at all. Beautiful as it is, it's hard to imagine that this elderly machine was ever state of the art.

Yet when the original Transit first rolled off the production line at Ford's plant in Langley, Berkshire, on 9 August 1965, it was a revelation. By the standards of the day, it was remarkably spacious, powerful and practical. It was comfortable, had sharp handling, and put existing vans such as the Morris J4 firmly in the shade. Sixty years later, the Transit has been redesigned many times, but the brand itself is still going strong. It remains a staple for many small businesses, even in an age when "white vans" are ten a penny, and the market is rife with competition. It is the world's best-selling van - and more than 13 million have been built so far. "There are lots of iconic cars: the Morris Minor, the Mini, the Land Rover, the VW Beetle, but there's only one iconic van, and that's the Transit," says Edmund King, president of the AA. "It's probably the only van that people really know".

Erica Echenberg via Getty Images Punk ban The Damned were one of the groups to use Ford Transit's on tour, seen here in 1977

Originally a collaboration between Ford's engineers in the UK and Germany, and primarily aimed at the British and European markets, the Transit was designed to be as versatile as possible. It rapidly became a staple for tradespeople, including builders, carpenters, electricians and delivery drivers. But it also appealed to others looking for spacious, cheap transport - including aspiring rock bands. It was almost a rite of passage. Among those who spent time on the road in one were Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the Small Faces and Slade. "It was the freedom to go where you want, when you want. Petrol was a lot cheaper than it is now," says Peter Lee, founder of the Transit Van Club. "I ended up in Spain, lived in one for 13 months as a hippy on a strawberry farm, then came back and started a business. Before you know it, I had 180 workers in 28 Transit vans driving around London."

'Britain's most wanted van'

The Transit's speed and loading space also appealed to people on the wrong side of the law. In 1972, so the story goes, a Metropolitan Police spokesman claimed Transits were being used in 95% of bank raids, adding that its speed and loading space meant it had become the perfect getaway vehicle. This, he commented drily, made it "Britain's most wanted van". Meanwhile the stereotype of the bullying "white van man", defined by Sunday Times reporter Jonathan Leake in 1997 as "a tattooed species, often with a cigarette in his mouth, who is prone to flashing his lights as he descends on his prey", did not specifically target Transit drivers. But given how many of them were on the road by then, it is a fair bet they were implicated.

Made in Turkey

For nearly half a century, Transits were built in Britain - first at Langley, then at a factory just outside Southampton. But this closed in 2013, as Ford removed production to Turkey, where it said costs were "significantly lower". It was a controversial move that put hundreds of employees out of work. It was described by unions as a 'betrayal'.

Bloomberg via Getty Images Ford Transit production moved to Turkey in 2013

Today, Ford continues to highlight both the Transit's British heritage and the work that still takes place here, especially at its UK headquarters in Dunton, Essex. "Dunton is the home of the Transit," insists Ford of Britain's managing director, Lisa Brankin "It's where we manage all the engineering and design work for the new vans. But we also build our diesel engines in Dagenham, just down the road, and we make power packs for electric vans in Halewood, near Liverpool." Most of the company's European production remains in Turkey, and that looks unlikely to change. "It's about efficiency and just centring manufacturing into one place, rather than having multiple sites across Europe," Ms Brankin explains.

Bloomberg via Getty Images Ford promotes its electric vans at commercial vehicle fairs around the world