Horror as train smashes into tractor at UK level crossing leaving multiple passengers injured
The train was travelling from Manchester to Cardiff before crashing on the track just before 10:45 this morning.
Six people have since been taking in for medical treatment.
Transport for Wales have urged commuters to check before they travel with disruptions expected on all lines between Hereford and Craven Arms until 7pm.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Tourism minister: Britain must boost visitors from home and away
'I've been cleaning toilets and changing beds, pulling pints, making a very bad cup of cappuccino and cutting up onions badly.' Should Sir Chris Bryant ever wish to switch career and move into the hospitality industry, he might want to work on his CV. Yet the tourism minister gets an A for effort. On Wednesday afternoon, I caught up with him at Mylor Sailing School in Cornwall. He had just completed a stint of work experience that had included a hotel in Falmouth and a watersports enterprise just north on Mylor Creek. 'First of all, I'm trying to champion British tourism,' Sir Chris told me. 'As you know, the number of domestic visitors to UK tourism venues has fallen and has not reached pre-Covid levels yet. 'Secondly, I want to listen to the industry about the challenges they face.' That is a brave invitation to businesses who feel bruised by employers' national insurance rises, angry at what they see as unfair competition from short-term lets on platforms such as Airbnb and who are unimpressed by the level of support the tourism industry gets from the government. More than one business leader has complained to me about Sir Chris's job title. He is minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, and therefore has plenty on his professional plate besides the crucial business of persuading more British holidaymakers to stay at home – and luring more foreign visitors to the UK. Oh, and he also serves as MP for Rhondda and Ogmore. But on Wednesday, the focus of the multitasking minister was strictly tourism. 'I was in a hotel room here today in Falmouth,' Sir Chris told me. 'It could have been a room in an Airbnb – exactly the same. But the Airbnb wouldn't have paid any tax. They wouldn't have to abide by any of the legislation that a hotel would have to abide by. And that's simply unfair. So we need to level that up. And I want to make sure that in areas that have a lot of short-term lets, the local authority has an idea of exactly what's going on locally. So that should be in place by next April. 'We've got to get much better at enabling people not just to visit London. It's a depressing fact: something like 60 per cent of international visitors only come to London. So we need to do better with that.' A reminder that inbound tourism is the closest a community, county or country can get to free money. International visitors spend at local enterprises, creating jobs and helping to fund amenities that the citizens could not sustain on their own. They also pay a fortune in taxes and fees: starting with £16 for an Electronic Travel Authorisation, continuing with 20 per cent VAT on practically everything they spend and finishing with air passenger duty at anything from £13 (returning home to Europe in economy class) to £224 (heading back to Singapore or Sydney in business class). A nation whose public finances are in worse shape than a minister's chopped onion needs foreign tourists desperately. Sir Chris understands this. He has set an ambitious target of attracting 50 million international arrivals by 2030, which will require a compound increase of four per cent each year until the end of the decade. I put it to him that a really easy way to get a huge tourism win is simply to reverse the petulant post- Brexit decision to exclude all Europeans with national ID cards but without passports. I calculate that this is the status of 300 million citizens, who can go to dozens of countries – including some outside the EU – with their identity cards. But the UK wants to keep them out, unless they sort out a passport. Given the huge strides in improving the security of ID cards, this seems a good time to unlock a tourism dividend. The tourism minister does not agree. He says: 'I think there's a strong argument for, in particular, school trips. Obviously we've sorted that out with the French and I think there's an agreement coming with the Germans as well to be able to do that. 'But I don't think we want to completely abandon the requirements to have proper passport controls. Not least because ID cards in different European countries perform different functions, and are therefore constructed in different ways and have different security arrangements around them. 'I think we would want to make sure that everyone coming here is coming here validly.' As you will realise, I am contractually required when speaking to any tourism minister at the start of the summer where they will be holidaying. 'Thus far this year I've had a bit of a holiday in Loch Lomond at the Cameron House Hotel. Very beautiful, very cold on the water. And we went to a place in the Cotswolds for a weekend a few weeks ago. 'I'm going to Chepstow with my mother-in-law and my husband in a few weeks' time. I've got a week in the south of France when I'm probably going to burn to a crisp.' After a hyperactive Wednesday, he deserves to be on the guest side of the hospitality industry.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Asylum seekers refusing to leave hotels risk homelessness
Single adult male asylum seekers who refuse to move out of hotels into "suitable alternative accommodation" will risk becoming homeless, the Home Office has said. The government - which is legally obligated to house destitute asylum seekers - says its new "Failure to Travel" guidance would establish "clear consequences for those who game the system".According to Home Office sources, hundreds of migrants are refusing to be transferred from hotels to other forms of accomodation every comes as the government is coming under pressure to reduce the number of hotels being used for asylum accommodation. The past week has seen a series of demonstrations in Epping close to a hotel housing asylum seekers. Ministers have said the government wants to end the use of hotels for housing asylum seekers by 2029 and has been trying to move people into cheaper types of accommodation. The numbers in hotels had been increasing since 2020, and reached a peak of more than 50,000 in 2023. In March 2025, the asylum hotel population stood at 32,345. New guidance issued on Friday to Home Office caseworkers and asylum accommodation providers stated that some asylum seekers' "failure to travel to appropriate accommodation" was undermining "the overall efficiency of the asylum support system".Under the rules, individuals being moved from hotels would be given at least five days' notice in who persistently fail to move would be evicted from their accommodation and could see their financial support general, asylum seekers are not allowed to work while they are waiting for the government to process their application to stay in the UK. To help with costs for food, clothing and toiletries, they are usually given around £49.18 per week per person. The previous Conservative government took a similar approach when it threatened to take away support from those who refused to board the Bibby Stockholm, a barge that had been used for accommodation. Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said the guidance was "another example of this government's action to transform the asylum accommodation system and crack down on those who abuse our system, so it operates fairly and saves the taxpayer money".Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Lisa Smart MP said it was "right that the government is taking steps to end the use of asylum hotels".But she added: "To more effectively tackle the scale of the problem, the government should be focused on stopping dangerous Channel crossings through improved cross-border cooperation and reducing the need to pay for asylum accommodation altogether by scrapping the ban on asylum seekers working."
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Police at Prestwick Airport and Turnberry ahead Donald Trump's arrival
Cops were spotted on foot, quadbikes and horseback, guarding the South Ayrshire property as the US President is set to begin his five-day private trip to the country tomorrow. Following his stay there, the politician is expected to head over to his Menie golf course in Aberdeenshire before opening up a new course dedicated to his Scottish mother, who grew up on the Isle of Lewis. READ NEXT: Trump to land in Scotland on Friday for start of five-day private trip (Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: PA) Police also surrounded Prestwick Airport, where Mr Trump is scheduled to arrive tomorrow afternoon. Members of the force, along with onlookers, await the arrival of the president. While in the UK, he is set to sit down with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to discuss the UK-US trade deal. He will also meet First Minister John Swinney, who previously said he would have the opportunity to raise various issues with Mr Trump, including tariffs, Gaza and Ukraine. READ NEXT: Trump's visit to Scotland is in 'public interest', says Chancellor (Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: PA)
