Why I'll continue to give a voice to those with little choice
Welcome to the ITV News digest bringing you the best of our original journalism, insight and analysis from across the nation, regions and the world.
Hi, I’m Daniel Hewitt, ITV News Investigations Editor. I received a message this week after we chose to lead News at Ten with our ongoing care investigation into the appalling treatment of people with learning and physical disabilities in supported living. The message said the story was “a worthwhile report, but it’s hardly a lead news item”.
Everyone is entitled to their view and news organisations handle their editorial priorities differently. For me, I think it’s vital we lead the agenda with voices we do not hear, living in situations we do not know about. I believe the alleged neglect we have exposed is in part due to the lack of scrutiny that those with power and wealth receive when it comes to treatment of the most vulnerable.
Mikey is blind, autistic and has learning disabilities. He lives in a supported living home with 24-hour carers. His care costs thousands of pounds a week, paid to a private company through a taxpayer-funded care contract.
He sits in a chair hour after hour, day after day, and his family fear he is fading away. They were so alarmed about his deterioration that they put cameras in his room, and found him being left alone while a fire alarm rang, and being ignored as he violently wretched.
I met Jonny, who has severe muscular dystrophy. He needs a ventilator to breathe and cannot walk. He is looked after by the same company but so often they ignore him when he presses alarm in the middle of the night to use the toilet.
On one occasion, they left him for two hours and he had to go to hospital - it transpired he had a kidney infection. “It could be a life or death situation,” he said. “If my ventilator disconnected I would be OK for about a minute, but then I wouldn’t manage.”
The stories go on and on. We have been inundated with harrowing examples of alleged neglect since we began this investigation. The company in question received £300 million last year, mainly in council and NHS contracts. You can read their statement and responses here.
There is a lot going on in the world right now, our lives littered with more and more obstacles, but we must not forget those who have no voice, and such little choice, in how they navigate theirs.
You can watch my latest report into the allegations on ITVX.
‘Ironclad’ Starmer rejects rules revision in response to Trump’s tariffs
Sir Keir Starmer has told ITV News the government's self-imposed fiscal rules are "absolutely ironclad" and "non-negotiable" - despite mounting pressure on global economies in the wake of Donald Trump's tariffs.
Speaking exclusively to Political Editor Robert Peston, Starmer said: "They're not going to change. We're acting in the national interest - those fiscal rules are foundational to the stability that we brought to our economy."
You can keep across the latest on the tariff turmoil on our website, plus:
Talking Politics podcast: Starmer addresses awkward Trump comments
Talking Politics USA: Why Trump’s tariffs are winning some friends
Benefit cuts: Viewers tell ITV News what they’d say to ministers
If you've ever wondered why 10 Downing Street's door (and the bricks around it) are painted black, you'll find the answer in this week's Talking Politics Q&A podcast, which you can watch here or listen here. If you've got a question for our political experts, email talkingpolitics@itv.com...
‘My son only stopped attacking me when my husband came home’
A mother who was subjected to an hour-long attack at the hands of her teenage son says she is "scared of him" and the threat he poses on her family.
The mum, who has spoken anonymously, adopted two boys at a young age, but the elder of the two started showing violent tendencies from the age of five.
ITV News Granada spoke to three mums, each of whom tell how despite the violence, they love their children but are struggling to manage them.
Watch their harrowing stories on ITVX.
Also:
Man arrested in UK over Swiss assisted suicide says he’s being investigated for 29 deaths
Sean Davison is currently on police bail and has previously said publicly that he has helped people when they want to travel to Switzerland to take their own lives.
ITV News understands that his arrest was in relation to a 79 year-old British woman who flew to Switzerland last year, but Davison has said that police are now looking into 29 deaths in wich he was allegedly involved.
Officers in Dorset arrested him last summer, with the details only now coming to light.
Exclusive: Counter terrorism boss on rising threat of far right groups
Tackling the rising presence of far right groups now accounts for 25% of counter terrorism policing, the national coordinator at the Met has told ITV News.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said: "This is hateful, harmful rhetoric and actions that lead to criminal offences, whether that's public order, inciting violence and sometimes counterterrorism offences."
She also revealed there had been an arrest following ITV News’ expose of the far right Active Club England.
Women to launch legal action over pregnancy drug linked to cancer
An ITV News investigation has heard from more than 100 women who believe they were exposed to a controversial drug linked to cancer - which was prescribed on the NHS for nearly four decades.
The anti-miscarriage drug Diethlystilbestrol, commonly known as DES, was given to hundreds of thousands of women, some of whom have developed rare cancers - and the harm has been "passed down generations”.
Now some of those women are to launch legal action - as Social Affairs Correspondent Sarah Corker reports.
Exclusive: Sir Elton John on his most challenging album yet
We arrive at the London palladium to one of those pinch me moments, says Nina Nannar, ITV News’ Arts Editor.
Sir Elton John is on stage at his piano rehearsing, and singing his heart out to Tiny Dancer.
There is no doubt the Elton sitting in front of me is bursting with energy.
You can watch Nina’s exclusive chat with the Rocket Man on our YouTube channel.
An Evening with Elton John and Brandi Carlile airs on ITV1 and ITVX on April 19
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‘I was left to file down my own teeth’
Painful implants, missing teeth and unfinished treatment costing thousands - that’s what some dental patients say they have been left with after a longstanding dental clinic suddenly closed.
Former patients of Myclinique in Northampton have told ITV News Anglia they had no warning from staff that the clinic would shut its doors by November 2024. Some only realised when their calls were left unanswered.
Many patients have been left mid-way through treatment. Some have their teeth in sandwich bags as they wait to find an alternative dentist.
Experts 'concerned' by ITV polling which shows scale of young people getting Botox
Experts working in non-surgical cosmetic surgery have told ITV News they are 'concerned' by polling for ITV which showed one in five 18 to 25-year-olds surveyed had had some form of filler of botox.
The survey findings, from the latest ITV Youth Tracker poll conducted for ITV News and ITV’s Peston, showed 19% of the 1,000 young people surveyed said they'd had a non-surgical cosmetic procedure.
It's prompted campaigners to warn many don't realise the risks involved, as popularity of these non-surgical cosmetic procedures soars.
Watch more on our TikTok page.
What’s coming up…
Monday April 14: Commons Home Affairs select committee publishes report into last summer’s riots following the Southport murders
Tuesday April 15: 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster in which 97 football fans died
Tuesday April 15: 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Thursday April 17: The King and Queen to attend the Royal Maundy Service at Durham Cathedral
And finally… the TikTok teacher turning assembly songs in festival bangers
“Dance, dance, wherever you may be…” Who remembers those songs sung in school assemblies? Well, teacher James B Partridge has taken some of those classics from TikTok to Glastonbury.
ITV News London’s Sally Williams grabbed her recorder and went to meet the man who’s turning assembly songs into sing-along sensations…