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Published
45 minutes ago

A boy who died in a hillwalking accident was a ray of sunshine, his school said.

Twelve-year-old Richie Parry and his father Tom, 49, were killed in a fall on a mountain in the Scottish Highlands.

The pair from Alsager in Cheshire were reported missing after failing to return home. Their bodies were found on Wednesday night.

Alsager School said it was devastated by their deaths and that Richie was a kind, thoughtful and gentle boy.

"We send our thoughts and condolences to Richie’s family and friends. We will miss him dearly," it said.

Richie had also recently joined AFC Asalager's under 13s football team.

The father and son had been in Glen Coe when their bodies were found on the mountain Stob Coire Nan Lochan. They were described as experienced hill walkers.

On Friday wife and mother Gemma Parry said her husband was a loving father, and their son Richie an energetic, loving boy.

She thanked the Scottish and Cheshire police as well as the mountain rescue service and all the emergency services involved in finding her son and husband.

“We would also like to thank the community of Alsager and all of our family friends who have helped us and supported us throughout this time," she said.

Mr Parry, a keen hill walker who colleagues said would meticulously plan his walks, worked at The Senate Group in the town. Chief executive Paul Keeling said his loss was immense.

Published
4 minutes ago

Pharmacies in Northern Ireland say they are dispensing prescription medicines at a loss as they are not being reimbursed the full cost.

Siobhan McNulty, who runs Melvin Pharmacy in Garrison, County Fermanagh, says she relies on sales of makeup and gifts to “keep the ship running” and subsidise the cost of dispensing prescriptions.

A spokesperson for the DoH said the department has developed a strategic plan which includes increasing core funding for pharmacies.

Community Pharmacies NI say the funding crisis has led to the closure of almost a dozen pharmacies over the past 18 months.

The organisation says there has been no agreed contract in more than 14 years and have called on the Department of Health (DoH) to put in place a drug tariff specific to Northern Ireland.

Ms McNulty said she had to limit supplies to patients of a life-saving drug for cholesterol after the cost increased from £1 to £2 per box of 28 tablets to £17.

“The department will usually eventually catch-up with the price increase but at a time of their suiting so I may have already dispensed 100 boxes of that before I get reimbursed the increased price.

“In that situation we were actually giving patients seven days supply and asking them to come back in another seven days in the hope that the price would have gone down.”

She added that her shop was "propping up" the dispensary.

“I find myself at home at night researching beauty products, making TikToks and Instagram videos, things that a community pharmacist should not have to do,” Ms McNulty told BBC News NI.

Joe McAleer runs pharmacies in Belcoo and Enniskillen and says the funding crisis is having an impact on patients.

“We can’t afford to stock the volume of medicines we had before, we haven’t the money to actually invest in the stock.

“A lot of pharmacies now can only order in as a prescription comes in, we’re just living day-to-day," he said.

“Patients are having to make multiple journeys to come in and collect their medicines because the pharmacy hasn’t got it.”

Mr McAleer said increased costs of running the business, such as rates, utility bills and staff wages, meant he had cut back on staff hours and increased his overdraft.

“I know other pharmacies have increased their overdraft, they’ve increased their loans, they are maxed out on their credit cards trying to pay the bills, they’re juggling the wholesalers, they’ve introduced private funds," he said.

“They depend on sales on the shop floor of shampoos and shower gels to actually pay for the medicines for the patients and that’s an unacceptable situation.“

In Ballyclare one of three pharmacies in the town has closed.

Local resident Colin Gilliland says the loss would have an impact on older people in the community.

“If they keep closing them, then what are we going to do?" he said.

“I feel sorry for the older ones. I think the ones who can’t drive and are dependent on a pharmacy really do need it.”

Pharmacists say they want to be able to offer more services to help ease pressures on GPs and Emergency Departments, but that can only happen alongside increased investment and resources.

The DoH said it continued to invest in the community pharmacy sector despite "severe budgetary pressures".

A spokesperson said the level of government funding provided to community pharmacies "compared favourably" to other parts of the UK.

They added that there were more pharmacies per person in Northern Ireland than elsewhere in the UK.

"The Department’s ‘Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan 2030’ aims to fully realise the potential of community pharmacy services to support better health outcomes from medicines and prevent illness," the spokesperson said.

"Implementation in 2024-25 is associated with an increase in community pharmacy’s core funding of £19m compared to 2023/24 but full delivery will require additional funding, given the current financial constraints this will require a phased approach."

Published
1 hour ago

Mexicans are going to the polls on Sunday in an election which is almost certain to see the country's first female president elected.

Both the front runner, Claudia Sheinbaum, and her main rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, are far ahead in the polls of the only male candidate, Jorge Álvarez Máynez.

Voters will also elect all members of Mexico's Congress and governors in eight states, as well as the head of Mexico City's government.

The campaign has been overshadowed by violent attacks, which have resulted in more than 20 local candidates being killed across Mexico.

Ms Sheinbaum, a 61-year-old scientist who served as mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023, has the backing of the outgoing president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Mr López Obrador, who has been in power since 2018, cannot run for the top office again as under Mexico's constitution presidents are limited to a single six-year-term.

The popular leader - recent polls suggested he had an approval rate of close to 60% - has instead thrown his weight behind Ms Sheinbaum, who his part of his Morena party.

While many of the promises President López Obrador made upon taking office have remained unfulfilled, his efforts to reduce poverty and help elderly Mexicans have been popular with beneficiaries of these social programmes.

Having the backing of the president may have considerably widened Ms Sheinbaum's base of voters, but it has also raised questions how independent she is of the sometimes overpowering leader.

Ms Sheinbaum has stressed that she is very much her own woman, while at the same time promising to continue building on what she says are Mr López Obrador's many achievements.

Their party, Morena, boasts about how millions of Mexicans have been lifted out of poverty during the past six years.

Morena says the number of people living in poverty is dwindling thanks to its policies, such as more than doubling the minimum wage.

But economists have pointed out that there are also other factors at play, such as a rise in remittances being sent by Mexicans living abroad to their friends and family at home.

Taking on Ms Sheinbaum at the polls is senator and businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez.

Ms Gálvez, 61, was chosen by a broad coalition of parties who share a desire to put an end to the rule of the Morena party.

She and the Strength and Heart for Mexico coalition she is running for have been critical of the rise in violence the country has experienced in the run-up to the election."

Speaking at her closing rally, she told Mexicans that if they voted for her they would have "the bravest president, a president who does confront crime".

And while she has repeatedly derided the strategy Mr López Obrador laid out at the start of his presidency, when he promised "hugs not bullets" in the battle against crime, Ms Gálvez has provided little detail as to how she would combat the powerful criminal groups which are behind much of the violence which is blighting the country.

She has said that she would offer better pay to the police and invest more in security in general.

But what has arguably made her more popular with voters critical of the outgoing president is her promise to strengthen institutions she says Mr López Obrador tried to weaken, such as the constitutional court and the National Electoral Institute.

Ms Gálvez has accused Mr López Obrador of being authoritarian and of undermining Mexico's democratic institutions, calling his government "arrogant and overbearing".

Whoever wins will take office at the end of September.

Published
3 hours ago

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to cut levels of net migration to the UK if his party wins the general election.

The Labour leader said he would introduce new laws to train British workers to plug skills gaps in the job market and strengthen anti-exploitation laws.

He did not put a timeframe or a target figure on his promise, but told the Sun on Sunday, external: "Mark my words, a future Labour government will bring down net migration."

The Conservatives, who recently introduced measures designed to cut the number of arrivals to the UK, said "no one believes Keir Starmer is serious about tackling immigration".

Announcing the new policy to the paper, Sir Keir declared: "If you trust me with the keys to No10 I will make you this promise: I will control our borders and make sure British businesses are helped to hire Brits first."

The aim would be for the country to be "less reliant on migration by training more UK workers", Sir Keir added.

He said "the Tories have repeatedly broken their promises to bring down net migration".

Last year, net migration - the number of people coming to the UK, minus the number leaving - was 685,000, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

Earlier this year, the government introduced new laws designed to cut immigration numbers.

They included increasing the minimum salary requirement for some skilled work visas by nearly 50%, as well as increasing the salary requirement for skilled workers to bring family dependents with them.

When that policy was announced, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said while net migration "should come down", the Conservatives were "failing to introduce more substantial reforms that link immigration to training and fair pay requirements in the UK, meaning many sectors will continue to see rising numbers of work visas because of skills shortages".

Sir Keir has previously described net migration levels as "shockingly high" and this fresh commitment is likely to be seen as an attempt to appeal to traditional Conservative voters.

Under the proposed policy, bosses who breach employment law, such as by paying below minimum wage, could be banned from hiring foreigners.

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said the new Labour policy announced on Sunday was a "U-turn" on Sir Keir's principles.

"This is the man who called all immigration laws racist and voted against tougher border controls 139 times," the spokesperson said.

Alison Thewliss, from the SNP, said: “Instead of coming forward with policies based on Scotland’s needs, Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are both amping up the far-right belief that migrants are to blame for all of our problems - but it’s not migrants, it’s Westminster."

"From our care sector and our NHS to our economy, the cruel immigration policies that both the Tories and Keir Starmer’s Labour have now adopted directly harm Scotland," she said.

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said: "It’s clear the Conservatives have failed on immigration and broken every promise they’ve ever made."