Former Home Office minister Jess Phillips also condemned the "unduly lenient" sentence, saying it sends a "bad message". Southampton Crown Court heard two girls were raped in two separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, with the first attack taking place on 26 November 2024 and the second on 17 January 2025. The three teenagers, two aged 15 and one aged 14, were given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) and the two older boys were also made subject to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS). Ms Phillips, who served as minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls until earlier this month, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It seems unduly lenient to me and has wider public interest beyond just the case itself in the message that it sends. "For those young women going through a rape trial like this will not have been a simple thing to do, it will have been many, many months, if not years, to achieve any sort of justice and I am afraid to say it sends a bad message." Ms Phillips added: "These young people it seems were essentially raping for content in order to put it on social media and share it to their friends gloating about raping these poor young women." A government spokesperson said the attorney general's office had received "multiple" requests for the sentences to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Scheme. They said: "We share the public's shock at the details of this horrific case, and our thoughts are with the young victims during this distressing time. "The law officers are urgently reviewing the case with the utmost care and attention." Hampshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones has vowed to support the families of the victims if they wish to appeal the "leniency" of the sentences. She said: "Their sentences reflect a clear focus on rehabilitation rather than criminalisation. They are far too lenient. "As they stand, they offer little comfort to their victims as they try to rebuild their lives after such harrowing experiences." At the sentencing on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Rowland told the trio: "I have to remember that you are not small adults. I have to think how likely you are to do serious things again and I need to make sure you do not do serious things again in the future." Explaining his sentence, the judge added: "I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society." He added that "peer pressure played a large part in what went on". Read more from Sky News:Three dead in two-vehicle crashIan Watkins murder trial collapses The judge praised the "bravery" of the two victims for giving evidence to the trial and for providing impact statements on how the offences had affected them. Jodie Mittel KC, prosecuting, told the trial that the girl in the November incident, who was 15 at the time, had visited the first defendant after meeting him on Snapchat. The prosecutor said that after performing sex acts on the boy, who was then 14, she became "scared and anxious" when the second defendant and the pair raped her while the incident was filmed. Ms Mittel said that afterwards videos of the incident had been sent around and other people made jokes about her, and she received messages calling her a "slag". The complainant in the January incident, who was 14 at the time, was raped in a field near to Fordingbridge recreation ground while the incident was also filmed.

Like Rishi Sunak's state-funded discounts deployed in the first summer of the COVID pandemic, these measures are aimed squarely at families thinking twice about going out, and a hospitality industry desperate to receive them. This time, the reluctance is caused by a cost-of-living squeeze rather than a deadly virus, but the principle is the same. Use a little taxpayer money to ease the financial burden and perhaps lubricate local economies while you are at it. The Chancellor denies it is a gimmick at a hugely fraught political moment for her and Sir Keir Starmer, telling Sky News she supported the prime minister continuing in office, but appeared to stop short of giving unequivocal backing to him. She also insisted she will deliver the next Budget and reeled off the recent positive economic data - rising GDP, falling inflation - to support her case, a message that will not have been missed by Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting. Febrile politics aside, her desire to help families is doubtless sincerely meant, but GBSS, as no one will be calling it, comes with a hefty price tag - around £700m once you add in the easing of tariffs on more than 100 food imports. The branding for the scheme, channelling a 1950's seaside aesthetic, proudly proclaims it as "funded by the UK government", but the total bill to taxpayers does not stop there. Read more on Sky News:Supermarkets 'encouraged to cap prices'Tax-free mileage boost - Money latest Wrap in a £600m freeze to fuel duty and a holiday for road taxes on HGVs, £500m in long-awaited support for the chemicals and ceramics sectors - both industries long hobbled by facing the highest energy costs in Europe - and the total commitment runs to £1.6bn over six years. The Treasury says this will require no new borrowing. Instead, it will be covered by closing a tax loophole allowing UK-based multinationals to write off corporation tax on losses made overseas, a move that squarely targets the oil and gas industry. Add this new tax-raising measure to the spending package and this was a "happy meal" fiscal event - a cheerful, cheap-ish moment of Treasury largesse before the realities of the Iran war energy shock bite in the autumn.

The Starmer government has potentially made another blunder after it emerged that sanctions are being relaxed on Russian oil processed through third countries. As a political row unfolded, Sam and Anne discuss the fallout. Plus, Westminster is buzzing with rumours of a possible Labour coronation before the summer. If events move quickly, what might an Andy Burnham cabinet look like? Sam and Anne discuss the possible contenders for chancellor and whether Labour could end up with a new foreign secretary. And as speculation grows over what Mr Burnham's agenda as prime minister might be, two of Labour's most difficult dividing lines are back in focus: single-sex spaces and assisted dying.

Alan Milburn is due to publish an interim report next week that examines why almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds are not in employment, education or training (NEET). It will conclude that a "rising tide of mental ill health, anxiety, depression and neurodiversity" is a big factor in this economic inactivity. Speaking to The Times, Mr Milburn rejected claims that young people are "snowflakes" - and said the country is at risk "of just writing a whole generation off". According to the report, the rise of smartphones and social media has led to a "bedroom generation" that suffers from poorer sleep and lower levels of concentration. "Every one of a group of ten 12 and 13-year-olds told us they went to bed between midnight and 3am because they were scrolling on their phone," it will warn. The report will describe young people as different - and not worse, lazier or less intelligent than their peers in other age groups. "They have grown up in a digital world that has rewired how they communicate, form relationships and manage stress," it will say. "They have fewer experiences of workplaces, and they present with higher levels of anxiety and depression." COVID is also thought to have played a factor, as many 16 to 24-year-olds would have been in high school or college during lockdown closures. Mr Milburn believes the UK's one million NEETs could plug labour shortages in the British economy, as long as employers are willing to make accommodations for them. Speaking to the newspaper, he went on to warn that welfare reforms will be a "necessity" to help younger generations enter the world of work. Figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest youth unemployment reached 16.2% in the three months to March - the highest level in 11 years. Read more from Sky News:SpaceX launches high-stakes test flightRed Arrows to fly in reduced numbers A report published earlier this week also identified social media as a driver of a so-called quitting culture among this age group. The research, based on conversations with 400 young people, found some enjoyed "the dopamine hit of a new job but then get bored very quickly and want to move on". Authors also warned that many students don't believe that school adequately prepares them for life or work - with secondary years dominated by exam pressure, and a focus on university education rather than alternative routes.

In April last year, the Supreme Court ruled the definition of "woman" and "sex" in the 2010 Act refers to "a biological woman and biological sex". The government says the new, draft code provides guidance to make the law clearer for service providers and others, "protecting people's rights across England, Scotland, and Wales". It sets out when ⁠organisations can lawfully exclude transgender people ‌from women-only and men-only spaces - including toilets, changing ‌rooms, hospital wards, refuges and sports. Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson said the ruling had "made it clear that sex means biological sex" under the Equality Act, "and that trans people are still protected by the Act". Rosie Duffield, who became an independent MP for Canterbury when she quit Labour amid a row over trans rights in September 2024, has welcomed the guidance - while arguing the year-long wait has been "damaging" for organisations and individuals. Single-sex spaces could include settings such as gyms, swimming pools, changing rooms, toilets, hospital wards or domestic abuse refuges. Speaking to Sky News, Ms Duffield said the guidance will make it "easier going forward", but criticised the year-long wait. "I think it has been damaging to organisations, schools, government departments and people who've just been waiting," she said. "But also to people on either side of the fence here, women's rights organisations and trans rights groups. "Because no one's had that clarity written down, although we all knew what the law said." Read more:What's changed since court ruling?Trans girls told to leave Guides It is the first time since 2011 that the code - which covers services, public functions and associations for nine protected characteristics including age, sex, race and gender reassignment - has been updated in full. The 340-page document will face parliamentary scrutiny before being implemented.