By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-24 12:21:32 | Updated at 2026-09-03 08:03:27
1 week ago
Andy Burnham has spoken out on the glorification of dangerous driving following the fatal A66 crash.
During a visit to Kyiv in Ukraine, the Prime Minister described people who share the footage as “doing something that’s truly reprehensible".
In total, seven people died in the collision after a VW Passat drove the wrong way down the busy A-road near Middlesbrough, including two police officers.
PC Matthew Blades, 38 and PC Tom Clough, 37, were killed in the head-on collision.
The two officers and five men were pronounced dead at the scene after colliding in the early hours of yesterday morning near South Bank.
The other five people were identified as Michael Ray, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Worthy, 16, Jakub Matusiak, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18.
It emerged that at least two of the young men in the vehicle had previously posted videos on the platform showcasing reckless driving and high-speed police pursuits.
Social media posts from the teenagers have revealed their joyriding activities leading up the fatal accident yesterday.
Andy Burnham has waded into the 'truly reprehensible' glorification of dangerous driving following a fatal A66 crash
PA
The Prime Minister's comments come after a statement from a Downing Street spokeswoman that said glorification of dangerous driving "for clips and entertainment is utterly disgraceful".
TikTok and other social media firms have been urged to remove wrong-way driving videos from their platforms.
The spokeswoman said: "The glorification of dangerous driving for clips and entertainment is utterly disgraceful and that is why we have raised the issue of this appalling content with social media companies since the tragedy, and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy) is clear that it should be removed in line with their legal obligations.”
She added that Ofcom has the Government’s "full backing to take tough action" against platforms which fail in their legal duties.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard told GB News earlier today: "It's right that the police have time to investigate what's happened, but I think there are steps that we can take immediately.
"The government has already spoken to the social media companies, telling them to take down that horrendous content that you rightly say is celebrating dangerous driving on our roads.
"It's already illegal to drive down the wrong side of the road in the United Kingdom, and we'll learn the lessons from the police investigation, but we want that content removed online.
"I think it should be for social media companies, who have often argued that they can police themselves. Turn off the algorithm that incentivises and shares this type of illegal content."
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