Minister tells social media firms to take down dangerous driving content in wake of fatal A66 crash in Middlesbrough – UK politics live

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Social media firms told to take down dangerous driving content in wake of fatal A66 crash

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The government has told social media companies to take down content showing people driving the wrong way down roads following a fatal crash over the weekend.

Two police officers were among seven people killed when a car travelling the wrong way down a dual carriageway crashed into a force vehicle on the A66 near Middlesbrough.

There have been reports that at least one of the young men who died in the collision early on Saturday had been involved in filming dangerous driving in TikTok videos.

Asked about these reports this morning, the defence minister, Luke Pollard, said social media platforms must remove content glorifying dangerous driving or else the government will use powers under the Online Safety Act to compel them to take the videos down. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live this morning, Pollard said:

We’ve communicated to those social media platforms that have been hosting content that celebrates this type of dangerous behaviour on our roads to take down that content.

I think we all need to give the police time, but there’s also things we can be doing in the meantime to make sure that the internet is a safer place for everyone, that doesn’t celebrate and load views and therefore financial incentives on people to generate such awful content. I want to see social media companies step up.

It’s one of the reasons they’ve argued against some of the regulations, saying they can police themselves. Well this is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate it. Remove the content that celebrates dangerous behaviour on our roads.

Five people were killed and four seriously injured after the collision on the M9 in County Kildare on 16 August 2026.

The issue of lax social media regulation of dangerous driving content came to prominence amid a public outcry in Ireland after five teenagers were killed in a head-on crash involving a car driving in the wrong direction on a motorway in County Kildare last weekend.

The Garda commissioner, Justin Kelly, described the head-on collision between the two cars as “horrific” and said “in some cases” vehicles were being driven on the wrong side of motorways for social media likes. TikTok declined an invitation to appear before an Irish parliamentary committee on media to discuss videos, citing the ongoing police investigation, according to Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ,

Key events

Green party working group calls for police to lose Tasers and pepper spray

The Times is reporting that the Green Party will consider adopting an official policy to remove Tasers and pepper spray from police officers.

The proposal, drawn up by the party’s crime and justice working group before the October conference, says the Greens should pledge to “withdraw lethal tools and tactics, eg tasers, pepper spray” from police officers.

Only specially trained officers can carry Tasers, which deliver a high-voltage electric shock and is meant to temporarily incapacitate a suspect by interfering with the body’s neuromuscular system. Home Office statistics have shown in the past that Black people were much more likely than white people to experience a Taser being drawn on them or discharged.

The Green’s internal proposal also says the party should move funds away from “policing, prisons and surveillance” and, according to The Times, calls for the scrapping of programmes – such as Prevent, the UK government’s anti-terror scheme, that “over-police marginalised communities”.

The Prevent programme, which identifies those feared to be falling for terrorist ideologies and attempts to turn them away from carrying out violence, has faced scrutiny for police heavy-handedness, spying and disproportionately targeting and stigmatising British Muslims (although there has been a recent rise in referrals for extreme rightwing ideology).

The Green’s policy proposal also reportedly calls for the end of police presence in schools and the “closure of all prisons through systemic obsolescence”.

Government vows to make business rate valuations for pubs and hotels fairer

Lauren Almeida

The government has promised that business rate valuations will be “made fairer” for pubs and hotels in England and Wales, as Andy Burnham faces growing calls to help the UK’s struggling hospitality sector.

An independent review for England and Wales will look at improving the system for hospitality venues, which were hit by higher business rate bills this year after the end of pandemic-era relief and when new revaluations took effect.

It comes after Burnham announced last month that he would cut business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England by 20% from April next year.

The government has faced calls to reduce the tax burden on hospitality businesses, which have also struggled to cope with rising energy and food bills in recent years.

The review, which will be led by Jerry Schurder, an independent business rates specialist, will report back to the Treasury by the end of March 2027. It will consider valuations before the next revaluation date in 2029. The rise in valuations this year will not be affected. You can read the full story here:

The prime minister will use the trip to Kyiv to announce that the UK government will allow the European defence company MBDA to declassify information about UK-made components of the Anglo-French Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles to help Ukraine build its own version.

While the announcement will probably take years to have an impact on the war, it is likely to escalate tensions with Moscow at an already fraught moment in UK-Russian relations.

Andy Burnham will announce in Kyiv that the UK will help France set up assembly lines in Ukraine for long-range missiles, which the French president, Emmanuel Macron, promised last month.

The British announcement is a small step in a much larger and longer-term project that could lead to Ukraine making its own long-range versions of the Storm Shadow cruise missile in several years’ time.

Andy Burnham and Volodymyr Zelensky talking at HM Naval Base Portsmouth last month. Burnham’s visit to Kyiv on Monday is his first as prime minister.

But the move is likely to trigger further criticism from Moscow at a time when tensions between the UK and Russia are already high.

Last week, Russia accused the UK of deliberately escalating the conflict by allowing Ukraine to launch attacks with British-made drones, warning that the deeper Britain’s involvement, “the higher the price it will pay”.

This weekend it emerged that Russia had withdrawn its ambassador in London without naming a replacement, prompting speculation it was downgrading its diplomatic presence in the UK.

Burnham has insisted that Russian threats will not weaken British support for Ukraine, saying last week: “We are not fair-weather friends. We will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need, and that won’t change.” You can read more from my colleagues Kiran Stacey and Dan Sabbagh here:

Andy Burnham arrives in Ukraine with promise of boost for Kyiv’s long-range missiles

Vivian Ho

The prime minister, Andy Burnham, arrived in ⁠the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday alongside a number of European leaders ⁠to mark the ‌country’s independence ‌day.

Burnham was photographed at Kyiv railway station shaking hands with Ukrainian foreign ‌minister Andrii Sybiha, who said Burnham was to be joined by António Costa, president of the European Council; Luc Frieden, the prime minister of Luxembourg; Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova; and Alar Karis, the president of Estonia.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, prepares to greet Andy Burnham upon his arrival by train in Kyiv on 24 August 2026.

“For Ukraine, independence is not an abstract idea. We defended it against all odds. In times like these, nations learn how important it is to have allies by your side,” Ukrainian foreign ‌minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X announcing their arrival.

“And today, we know for sure who our true friends are.”

Burnham plans to announce during his visit that the UK government will allow the European defence company MBDA to declassify information about UK-made components of the Anglo-French Storm Shadow/Scalp long-range missiles to help Ukraine build its own version – a major boost to the country’s capacity in weapons development at a crucial time in the war. You can read the latest developments in our Europe live blog:

Cleveland police and crime commissioner Matt Storey was on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning to take questions on the fatal A66 crash.

Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak died when their Volkswagen Passat, believed to be using cloned plates, collided with a marked armed response vehicle early on Saturday near Middlesbrough.

Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, who had been driving in the correct direction, were killed in the collision. They have been hailed as heroes by their families.

PC Tom Clough (left) and PC Matthew Blades, who died when a car going in the wrong direction hit a police car on the A66 near Middlesbrough.

It has been reported that Saddington was involved in filming dangerous driving in TikTok videos before the fatal crash took place – although this has not been confirmed by police. Storey acknowledged the reports about the TikTok videos, but urged people to avoid speculation. He said:

Without being able to say whether that was anything like involved in this case, it’s absolutely idiotic for anybody to be doing anything other than being completely 100% focused on the road when they’re behind the wheel of a vehicle.

And for somebody to be filming themselves or doing anything like that is absolutely ridiculous, and of course nobody should be doing that. And it is a worrying situation if that’s becoming more prevalent because it is incredibly dangerous.

Social media firms told to take down dangerous driving content in wake of fatal A66 crash

Two police officers were among seven people killed when a car travelling the wrong way down a dual carriageway crashed into a force vehicle on the A66 near Middlesbrough.

There have been reports that at least one of the young men who died in the collision early on Saturday had been involved in filming dangerous driving in TikTok videos.

We’ve communicated to those social media platforms that have been hosting content that celebrates this type of dangerous behaviour on our roads to take down that content.