The fans died in an overcrowded, fenced-in enclosure at the ground in Sheffield, northern England, at an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on a sunny spring afternoon

International News via Reuters:

A major investigation into the 1989 Hillsborough soccer stadium crush which led to the deaths of 97 Liverpool supporters concluded on Tuesday that 12 mostly senior former police officers would have had cases to answer for gross misconduct.

The fans, many of them young, died in an overcrowded, fenced-in enclosure at the ground in Sheffield, northern England, at an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on a sunny spring afternoon. It was one of the world’s worst stadium disasters.

Police at first blamed the incident on drunken fans, an explanation that was always rejected by survivors, relatives of the victims and the wider Liverpool community who spent years fighting to find out what had happened.

POLICE WERE TO BLAME

Later inquests and an independent inquiry absolved the fans of any responsibility, concluding the victims had been unlawfully killed and that the police were to blame.

However, no officer has been convicted in subsequent criminal cases with David Duckenfield, the police commander in charge at the match, found not guilty of manslaughter in 2019.

In a report which followed 13 years of investigation into 352 complaints, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) echoed previous findings that fans had not caused the disaster, and found that 327 officer statements had been amended in the aftermath as police tried to deflect blame.

A review of events by the West Midlands Police force shortly after the incident was also flawed, with officers biased in favour of their colleagues, the IOPC found.

The IOPC said 12 officers, including South Yorkshire Police’s Chief Constable Peter Wright, would have had a case to answer for gross misconduct if they were still serving, and that 92 complaints about police actions were upheld or would have required individuals to explain their actions.

However, among the complaints it examined it found no records that campaigners and victims’ families had their phones bugged or had been put under surveillance, nor that there had been a wider establishment conspiracy.

Victims’ families expressed anger that no action could be taken against any of the officers because they have all retired.

“We’ll never get justice. Nobody’s ever going to go to prison for killing them,” Charlotte Hennessy, whose father Jimmy died in the crush, told reporters.

They said one of the named officers, Norman Bettison, who later became Chief Constable of Merseyside Police covering Liverpool, should be stripped of his knighthood.

“The unlawful killing of the 97 at Hillsborough 36 years ago is a stain on our nation’s history and today serves as a stark reminder of one of the most significant failings in policing the country has ever seen,” interior minister Shabana Mahmood said.

Reporting by Michael Holden, editing by Ed Osmond, Aidan Lewis

White-collar jobs are viewed as more vulnerable to disruption by AI and automation than manual labour

International News via Reuters:

In a labour market where artificial intelligence is quickly transforming and sometimes replacing jobs, student Maryna Yaroshenko wanted to find a future-proof career that offered long-term stability.

Like a growing number of young people in Britain and beyond, 18-year-old Yaroshenko opted for a skilled trade and is now training to become a plumber.

“That’s something AI won’t take over,” said Yaroshenko, who is originally from Ukraine and is studying at the City of Westminster College (CWC) in London.

White-collar jobs are viewed as more vulnerable to disruption by AI and automation than manual labour. In Britain, one in six employers expect the use of AI tools to allow them to reduce their headcount in the next 12 months, according to a survey last month conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a professional human resources body.

Yaroshenko sees AI as a useful tool, but not one that could replace the hands-on nature of plumbing, which many shy away from due to its physical demands and a lingering stigma around trades such as electrical work, carpentry, and welding.

“We will definitely work with it (AI) but only a human can make those unique things AI cannot,” she said. “No AI can do plumbing, no AI can do real engineering, no AI can be an electrician.”

DEMAND FOR HANDS-ON COURSES GROWING

CWC, part of the United Colleges Group, is a further education and training institution rather than a university. Over the past three years, it has seen enrolments in its engineering, construction and built environment courses rise by 9.6%, a jump CEO Stephen Davis attributes partly to the growth of AI and also to student worries about the cost of university.

Some young people are opting against university to avoid the thousands of pounds of debt it can entail.

A survey of 2,600 adults carried out in August by the Trades Union Congress, the country’s biggest union umbrella, found that half of UK adults were worried about AI’s impact on their jobs, with those aged 25 to 35 particularly concerned.

“There’s a lot of anxiety among young people right now that their jobs are automated away,” said Bouke Klein Teeselink, a lecturer and AI researcher at King’s College, London.

Teeselink’s study at King’s College, published in October, found that AI-driven cuts in workforces disproportionately affect junior positions, making it harder for young people to get a foothold on the career ladder.

Other colleges are reporting similar trend shifts.

Angela Joyce, CEO of Capital City College, also in London, said it had seen strong growth in interest in construction, plumbing, hospitality, and other trades.

“This shows that more people are recognising the value of becoming skilled professionals,” Joyce said, adding that for some people, apprenticeships could offer better earning potential than degrees.

Davis said AI has pushed not only young people but also adults looking to switch careers to think more strategically. Many are seeking job security and higher wages, he said.

According to the Office for National Statistics, plumbers earn an average of 37,881 pounds ($50,169) per year, while skilled construction and building trades workers typically make around 35,764 pounds. This compares with an overall average salary of 39,039 pounds across all sectors.

Davis noted that skilled trades, however, often provide greater opportunities for people to run their own businesses, increasing their earning potential.

NEW BLOOD IN TRADES

Back in the plumbing workshop, Yaroshenko said another reason she sees herself staying in a skilled trade in the long term is that the current workforce is aging and demand for a new generation of skilled workers will stay high.

Yaroshenko added that she chose a college over university because she wanted to gain “real-life work” experience as quickly as possible.

Undergraduate enrolments at UK universities have slightly declined, falling 1.1% in 2023/24 from the previous academic year, the first annual decrease in nearly a decade, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Teeselink said it would be a while before robot plumbers took over, because it’s such “intricate work”.

Davis said that while robotics technology was evolving rapidly, students on courses such as plumbing were well-positioned.

“Sometimes plumbers have to put their hands down the toilet to unblock it … and I’m yet to meet a robot that does that for us,” Davis said.

($1 = 0.7551 pounds)

Reporting by Catarina Demony and Marissa Davison; Editing by Frances Kerry

Authorities must ensure early intervention in cases of predatory behaviour, and investigate offences swiftly and effectively, the inquiry’s report added

International News via Reuters:

Police in Britain must act urgently to prevent sexual offences against women and girls and have shown a “troubling lack of momentum and ambition”, an inquiry into the case of a police officer jailed for murder four years ago stated on Tuesday.

Wayne Couzens was jailed for life in 2021 for abducting marketing executive Sarah Everard on a London street as she walked home, then raping and murdering her. The case shocked Britain and stirred protests over violence against women.

Couzens had abducted Everard using his police credentials and was linked to several cases of indecent exposure, which were not properly investigated, meaning police missed the chance to apprehend him.

The inquiry warned of a “troubling lack of momentum, funding and ambition for prevention work” by authorities and called for a fundamental shift of focus to programmes aimed at stopping known predators from offending and offenders from re-offending.

Authorities must ensure early intervention in cases of predatory behaviour, and investigate offences swiftly and effectively, the inquiry’s report added. It slammed current efforts as “fragmented, underfunded and overly reliant on short-term solutions.”

“This report should mark a turning point … the need for change is pressing and the evidence is clear,” said Elish Angiolini, who led the inquiry.

Britain’s interior minister Shabana Mahmood said the government would consider each of the inquiry’s recommendations and pledged to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

“This is utterly unacceptable and must change,” Mahmood said in reaction to the report.

Around 900,000 people aged 16 and over in England and Wales experienced sexual assault in the 12 months to March, of which 739,000 were female, the Office for National Statistics said. The number of recorded sexual offences has increased over the last decade, it said.

The findings also highlighted a lack of progress on recommendations from the inquiry’s first report, published in February 2024, which called for a sweeping overhaul of police vetting procedures.

The inquiry had found serial failings in the vetting of Couzens meant that red flags were repeatedly missed, and he “could and should” have been stopped.

Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Alexandra Hudson