Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he was "flabbergasted" by a fall in the number of defendants accused of knife and gun crimes being remanded in custody – which he claimed was leading to the accused being repeatedly charged and bailed over the same offences.
Despite saying stricter knife crime and firearms legislation had helped reduce serious crime over the last 25 years, Sir Mark said the country was now "seeing the consequences" of what he called an "overloaded justice system".
He said: "We are seeing rapidly reducing imprisonment for people sentenced for knife crime offences, knife crime possession, even repeat knife carriers, so that's going down.
"That is then anticipated at the start of the process, so far fewer are being remanded in custody.
"So routinely now we're seeing people charged again and again and again with carrying knives, and they're being bailed again and again and again, and that really concerns me."
Referring to a recent example of an individual attempting to take a blade around 18 inches long into Notting Hill Carnival, Sir Mark said it had been that particular individual's fourth knife offence of the year.
"He tries to take something that looks like a small sword into carnival, and he's been bailed again," the Met Commissioner added.
"That is deeply concerning to me, the message that sends, and that fundamentally undermines offender control."
Dozens of weapons were seized at the two-day event last weekend, including a handgun.
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Sir Mark said the force is also seeing a similar pattern with firearm offences.
He said there are currently around 34 cases of individuals charged with firearms offences in London who are all on bail pending trial, adding that in nine of those cases, the suspects had fired shots in confrontation.
Sir Mark insisted that a few years ago this "just wouldn't have happened".
Prison crisis
The Met chief's comments come just days after Justice Secretary Alex Norris announced plans to spend £110m on creating more prison places as part of the government's pledge to add 14,000 extra prison spaces by 2031.
The remarks also come as pressure continues to mount on Prime Minister Andy Burnham over the government's early release scheme, which comes into effect in October in a bid to help ease the prison overcrowding crisis.
The scheme has come under particular scrutiny in recent weeks over the potential release of two of PC Andrew Harper's killers, with a petition set up to keep Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers behind bars receiving more than one million signatures last month.
Mr Burnham asked Mr Norris to find a way to prevent the pair – who were handed 13 years for manslaughter in 2020 after the death of the Thames Valley Police officer – from being released early.
Agricultural goods from Israeli settlements, in areas like the West Bank, have entered the UK in violation of trade rules, according to a letter sent by law firm Leigh Day, representing the Global Echo Litigation Center.
Some products entering the UK were labelled Israeli but in fact came from occupied Palestinian territory, according to the July correspondence, seen exclusively by Sky News.
Settlement imports are supposed to be subject to tariffs, while Israeli products get preferential tax treatment and mostly enter the UK levy-free.
There had been a "failure" by HMRC to determine the true origin of UK imports, the letter read, citing Global Echo's four-year investigation, which suggests "current processes adopted by HMRC to verify the origin of Israeli products are flawed".
This has meant settlement products "unlawfully benefitted" from preferential tax treatment, the letter continued.
It outlined five companies, identified from 357 invoice declarations, which the non-profit said regularly source agricultural products from settlements but declare the origin as Israel.
This is done either by mixing settlement agriculture with Israeli products, by using a settlement postcode but saying the country is Israel, or using a "sham" proxy address within Israel, Global Echo said.
The letter also gives an example of what it says is a company listing its corporate headquarters as the origin of the goods, rather than a particular agricultural location, as required by trade rules.
Specific months when a producer's items were shipped to and arrived in the UK last year are given in the letter.
Aside from the five companies listed, Global Echo said it obtained documentary evidence suggesting a "widespread, systemic issue of origin obfuscation occurring across Europe and specific instances of misleading statements of origin occurring in the UK".
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A June report from the organisation said one in six shipments it investigated contained agricultural products originating in settlements in occupied Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights, at least 42% of which had been mislabelled as Israeli-grown.
What's it asking for?
As a result of the details outlined in the letter, Global Echo has called on HMRC to view imports said to come from Israel as high risk, which would require HMRC to "take reasonable steps" to ensure compliance.
It asks HMRC to put in place arrangements to closely scrutinise future claims from exporters of entitlement to preferential treatment based on items originating in Israel and review verification processes to ensure risk and intelligence-based enforcement for all Israeli agricultural imports.
What does HMRC say?
But the tax agency's response said the Global Echo's letter is not a formal written notice before starting court proceedings, according to an HMRC reply also obtained by Sky News.
It also said no specific HMRC decision was identified which would be subject to a legal challenge by Global Echo, and providing the kind of information sought by the non-profit would involve, to the extent it existed, the disclosure of confidential taxpayer information.
An HMRC spokesperson said: "We do not comment on potential litigation nor on the tax or customs affairs of individual customers."
What are settlements?
Israeli settlements have long been opposed by the UK government, which believes them to be a breach of international law and a threat to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
Settlements have rapidly expanded in recent years, with more planned by the Israeli government.
Israel officially recognises and administers some settlements.
Palestinians face increasing attacks and, in the past weeks, have had homes besieged.
It's in this context that the government is expected this month to announce a ban on imports from and exports to the outposts.
The world-first procedure was carried out by the US-based Mass General Brigham academic centres and hospitals, which said the transplant was intended to be temporary before a permanent human donor could be found.
It marks the longest dialysis-free survival after a pig kidney transplant in a living human, as well as the first transition from pig-to-human kidney transplantation.
Tim Andrews had end-stage kidney failure from Type 2 diabetes. He was 66 when he received the pig kidney in the US in January last year, the team said in the Lancet medical journal.
He lived successfully with the genetically edited organ for 271 days before moving to short-term dialysis and receiving a donor human kidney.
The animal-to-human transplant – known as a xenotransplant – started working immediately. Only after six months did damage develop in the kidney's blood vessels, which then progressed to organ failure, at which point it was removed.
Mr Andrews told a CNN documentary that his genetically modified transplant was a "miracle": "I was alive, and I hadn't been in a long time."
Researchers said no pig viruses or other pig pathogens were detected at any point.
Dr Leonardo Riella, the study's lead author, from the centre for transplantation sciences at Mass General Brigham, said that a shortage of donor organs "is the greatest crisis we have right now in transplantation".
"We know that the best treatment option for patients with end-stage kidney disease who have developed renal failure is transplantation," he added, "but we simply don't have enough human organs to transplant in a timely manner.
"Our vision is that xenotransplantation could help address this gap – initially as a bridge to get patients off dialysis while they wait for a human donor kidney, and potentially, as we establish long-term safety and durability, as a destination therapy in its own right."
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Dr Riella also praised patients willing to take on the experimental transplants as "the true pioneers", adding: "Without their trust and courage, we would not be able to do what we do."
Researchers added that the findings support pig kidney transplantation as potentially a bridge for people facing long waits for a human kidney, while highlighting the need for further research.
Another pig kidney transplant to a living human was undertaken in 2024 at Massachusetts General Hospital, where the patient survived 52 days before dying from heart issues unrelated to the transplant.
Dr Rommel Ravanan, chief medical officer for NHS Blood and Transplant in the UK and a consultant nephrologist, said the US and China have reported several similar transplants since 2022.
There are currently no clinical trials in the UK for a similar procedure, although regulators have looked into how they would work.
Mike Dean, who refereed in 553 Premier League fixtures across more than two decades, made the confession while on Jamie Vardy's Having a Party podcast.
The 58-year-old, who retired in 2022 before a brief spell as a VAR assistant, told former England striker Vardy he would entertain himself by attempting not to use his whistle for as long as possible or by limiting his movement on the pitch.
Dean recalled: "We used to say, something like 'we'll kick off now, right? See how long we can go without blowing the whistle'".
He added: "Done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR obviously. Went 20 to 25 minutes without blowing a whistle a few times. Let it go, let it go, let it go."
The ex-referee also described how he "used to stand in the centre circle and see how long I could stay in the centre circle before I had to leave".
He boasted on the podcast about how he once managed to not leave the centre circle for "about 15 minutes" in one game.
Vardy appeared to react with disbelief to the comments, saying: "Playing his own little games while the game's going on, it's brilliant".
"Why didn't they qualify? Mike stayed in the centre circle," Vardy joked.
It is understood Dean's claims have been met with bemusement by those with current involvement in officiating, with some noting a lack of factual detail in his stories.
Mark Halsey, who refereed in the Premier League between 1999 and 2013, told BBC Sport that Dean's comments damaged the reputation of all referees.
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Refereeing is currently overseen by the recently rebranded Pro Ref - formerly known as the Professional Games Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) - which has been approached for comment.
Former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor, reacting on talkSPORT, was angered by Dean's appearance.
"He's trying to be funny, but it's not funny. You're not funny, Mike Dean, that sums you up," he said.
"He's throwing himself under the bus. This is the Premier League. Are you a child?"
Last week, reports suggested that the US may oppose British sovereignty over the territory if the government does not boost funding for defence.
The Pentagon is reportedly reviewing allies' commitment to NATO and devising measures to incentivise meeting the 5% defence spending pledge.
Argentine President Javier Milei is due to make a national televised statement concerning the Falklands late on Thursday.
Asked if he would "come to the aid" of the UK over the Falklands, the US president told GB News: "Well look, I was there when they had the first war. That was a long time ago and I watched it so carefully, and you comported yourselves very well.
"You took it back pretty strongly, but it's a long way away. That's a big trip, it's a long way.
"So, your country's not doing well. Don't forget, you get a big percentage of your oil from the Strait of Hormuz, and you weren't there to help me.
"Your country was not there to help me. We didn't need help, but I did ask NATO, and I asked your former leader, 'why didn't you send a couple of ships?' He said we don't have any, and it was pretty sad, the whole thing."
An internal Pentagon email was leaked in April, suggesting that the US may review its position on the islands.
The US provided support to Britain after the Argentinian invasion in 1982, though it maintains a neutral position.
The government last week defended the UK's contributions to NATO and reaffirmed its position on the Falklands.
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A spokesperson said: "The UK position on the Falkland Islands is long-standing and unwavering: they are and will remain a British Overseas Territory in line with the wishes of the Falkland islanders.
"The UK is playing a central role in NATO and strengthening collective defence across Europe.
"We are NATO's third largest cash spender on defence and the only European NATO member to commit our nuclear deterrent to the alliance."