This man raped a schoolgirl at the back of his vape shop.

He told her his name was “Tony”.

Actually he is Iqbal Singh.

Part 2 of our vape shops investigation exposes the truth about “Tony” and concerns his crimes are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’.. 🧵 Erin, not her real name, was 14 when she was raped at the back of a vape shop in South London.

She is speaking out publicly for the first time to @Channel4News

Vape shops — I can share some disturbing new claims about rogue vape shops and an ‘epidemic’ of grooming.

Trading standards officers tell us
of complaints children are being handed free vapes in return for ‘sexual favours.’🧵 Given everything we think we know about the sinister figures who groom children, it is alarming to be sitting in a Trading Standards Office in Dudley and to hear about a new hidden frontline in the fight against child exploitation.

Just heard it reported on a news channel that the 'plan was to send failed asylum seekers to Rwanda'.

That was not the plan.

The plan was to allow Rwanda to decide whether or not an asylum claim was valid. The claim would be decided in Rwanda and successful claimants would remain in Rwanda.

They would not then be returned to the UK as some MPs appear to have believed.

Humza Yousaf tells me:

▪️he doesn’t know if his family in Gaza are dead or alive

▪️says UK Government abstention on UN truce resolution is ‘a shameful abdication of their moral responsibility.’ 🧵

@HumzaYousaf says the last few hours have been ‘horrendous’ as they have lost touch with his wife’s parents in Gaza.

One of the biggest cheers in Rishi Sunak's speech was his pledge to deliver an "A1 upgrade" (with scrapped HS2 funds).

Is this a new announcement?

No.

In fact, the story of the A1 upgrade under successive Conservative Prime Ministers truly is remarkable..🧵 It is best told by the @ChronicleLive who produced an astonishing timeline, outlining the number of times the project was promised, halted, promised and then halted again.

chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-eas…

EXCL: SNP Leadership candidate Ash Regan walks away when asked about comments from a key adviser who said Nicola Sturgeon was ‘up to her dark eyes’ in a ‘coverup’ in 2021. Ash Regan adviser Kirk Torrance said Nicola Sturgeon was 'up to her dark eyes' in a 'coverup' at the time of the Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish Government’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against Alex Salmond in 2021.

NEW: Nicola Sturgeon telephoned Humza Yousaf to give him a ‘heads up’ the night before her shock resignation.

Kate Forbes, who was on maternity leave, says she was ‘oblivious’ when the news broke and ‘quite happy in that way.’
@Channel4News In her resignation speech @NicolaSturgeon said:‘If you’re one of the small number who, merely because I wouldn’t have been able to tell you without crying over the last 24 hours, I didn’t phone but texted this morning just before the news broke, know you’re one of those friends.’

NEW: Kate Forbes tells @Channel4News she would have voted against equal marriage.

But as First Minister she will not 'row back on rights that already exist.' Kate Forbes, who hopes to replace @NicolaSturgeon as First Minister, says 'marriage being between a man and a woman' is what she practices.

She cites the example of Angela Merkel as a leader who voted 'with her conscience'.

NEW: DUP’s Sammy Wilson says progress ‘very slim’ on NI protocol deal. Says:
▪️only seen vague outline
▪️it’s tinkering around the edges
▪️DUP won’t compromise
▪️welcomes @BorisJohnson intervention
@Channel4News I asked if the DUP had a responsibility to compromise given their previous enthusiasm for @BorisJohnson who went on to deliver the NI Protocol they want scrapped?

“No.”

Edinburgh protest outside St Giles Cathedral where The Queen lies at rest. Protesters say they dare not write on the banner for fear of arrest.

There has been some support from members of the public walking past, others have objected to this protest taking place in such close proximity to The Queen’s coffin.

The Rwanda policy is widely misunderstood. So here’s a 🧵 to help, starting with this basic misconception:

‘Asylum seekers will return to the UK if their claim is successful.’

Not true. If their claim is successful, and most asylum claims are, they will remain in Rwanda.. Even some Tory MPs appear to have been confused.

Former party leader Iain Duncan Smith thought asylum seekers would be welcomed back to the UK if they won their claim. This is incorrect.

https://twitter.com/FullFact/status/1540349024561033216?s=20&t=0ptohuKzCrwWElhnAiOtMw

The energy price cap rises a record amount today.

▫️Mum Emma feels like a ‘failure’ because she only turns the heating on when it’s -1.

▫️And now her gas bill is going from £110 to £269 a month.

Emma can’t pay and she’s terrified. She’s not alone.. @Channel4News 🧵 Emma and her husband are out of work, on universal credit and have four kids. The youngest, Luna and Millie, are 3 and 2.

They live in the Highlands- it’s cold! Later the day we meet it snows. Her heating stays off.

She’s visibly upset.

These children fled when the Taliban captured Kabul.

▫️Their dad is a British citizen.

▫️They've been trying for seven months to join him in the UK.

Refugees fleeing other conflicts are asking for the same treatment as Ukrainian refugees. 🧵 Jan is a Glasgow taxi driver.

He is a UK citizen originally from Afghanistan.

His wife and kids were living in Kabul and when the Taliban took over, they ran.

Nando’s, McDonald’s.. now fish.

The fishing industry is warning of supermarket seafood shortages because of a Covid and Brexit-related staffing crisis. 🧵.. Scot Burgess is the factory manager at Whitelink, a major Scottish seafood producer.

Single biggest challenge? ‘Labour shortage.’

Single biggest reason? ‘Brexit’.

Experts. Remember them?

As there’s been so little discussion on what happens at the🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿border if Scotland left the UK, we’ve asked four experts for their views. Thread.. These experts have published more on the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿border recently than the relevant governments and political parties put together.

▪️Dr Kirsty Hughes, EU Politics
▪️Dr Thomas Sampson, International Trade
▪️Jess Sargeant, Brexit
▪️Prof Katy Hayward, Irish Border

FIVE times I asked @Douglas4Moray to spell out the democratic path to holding #indyref2
@Channel4News
1⃣Tell me this then once and for all: what is the democratic path to an independence referendum? Presumably you’d be the first to complain if Nicola Sturgeon tried to do this process undemocratically or unofficially. So what is the democratic path to a referendum?

NEW: Scottish Tories u-turn on NHS pay.

Douglas Ross tells me he would now match 4% offer made by SNP government after previously refusing to do so.
@Channel4News A few weeks ago I asked Douglas Ross directly: ‘Will you match the 4% pay increase for NHS staff the SNP are offering.’

Mr Ross said he would wait a few months for the outcome of the independent pay review body.

It’s no longer on the front pages, but you should know the elderly are STILL dying in tragic numbers in our care homes. There is a terrifying situation unfolding at Inchmarlo care home in Aberdeenshire. We understand:

▪️It has 51 residents
▪️38 have tested positive
▪️Of the other 13 at least five have died.

Can news make a difference?

▪️Tonight on #c4news: hospitality businesses who allegedly refused to furlough workers during latest shutdown.

▪️Some staff at @Westbeer claim they’re left with *£10 pay a day.*
 
▪️But before we go to air both companies in our report u-turn. It’s two weeks since many bars and restaurants in Scotland were forced to close entirely.
 
We’ve spoken to some low-paid workers who claim their employers were refusing to furlough them during the 16 day shutdown, dramatically reducing their pay.

REVEALED: These are the leaked documents showing the reams of information Scottish care homes must provide on COVID deaths to police. (Read on..)

https://twitter.com/C4Ciaran/status/1319274380682096648

37 detailed questions including which government guidance was followed and when..

EXCL: We can reveal a major police investigation into care home deaths is actively underway in Scotland.

▪️'Operation Koper' is gathering evidence on ALL notified care home deaths

▪️@Channel4News understands some care workers have already spent hours being questioned by police. @Channel4News has seen a leaked document of extensive questions police are asking care homes in relation to each inidividual COVID death.

There are 37 questions on everything from PPE supplies to infection control procedures and even floorplans.