Meet the 12-year-old leap-year quads who (technically speaking) are just three today!
ORGANISING a child’s birthday party is always a challenge – let alone when you have quadruplets to please.
But at least the parents of Reuben, Samuel, Zachary and Joshua Robbins only have to throw one every four years... technically.
The siblings, Britain’s first leap-year quads, are due to celebrate their ‘third’ birthday today a dozen years after their premature birth.
They were born over six minutes on February 29, 2012, defying odds of .5million to one.
Emma Robbins, 4 , and her husband Martin already had a son, three-year-old Luke, when they tried for what they thought would be their second child.
But the couple were shocked to discover that Mrs Robbins was carrying naturallyconceived quadruplets.
Speaking to the Mail in 201 , she said she had been told by a series of doctors to
‘Still sorting out their pecking order’
terminate two of the babies to save the others. She added: ‘But I knew each time I looked at my surviving babies I’d also be thinking about the ones I’d lost.’
Two months before her due date, Mrs Robbins went into labour. Reuben was the first to be delivered by caesarean section, followed by Zachary, Joshua and finally Samuel.
The brothers now live with their father Martin, 50, in Chepstow, south Wales, while Mrs Robbins has since returned to her native South Africa with the boys’ older brother.
Three of the boys are genetically identical, while Samuel looks like Luke. Mr Robbins said: ‘Competition is fierce. They are still sorting out their pecking order and do require space.’
already have, the laws that you have,’ he told them. ‘I am going to do whatever it requires to protect our democracy and our values that we all hold dear. That is what the public expect.
‘It is fundamental to our democratic system. And also it is vital for maintaining public confidence in the police.’
In a separate intervention last night, Mr Sunak told Jewish community leaders that he will also demand that university leaders clamp down on an outbreak of anti-Semitism on campuses following the October 7 attacks.
Yesterday’s summit in No 10 came amid mounting public unease about attempts by protesters to subvert the political process. Concern is not confined to the debate around Gaza, with Just Stop Oil facing condemnation over plans to occupy the homes of MPs who fail to sign up to their agenda.
But the anger and emotion surrounding the recent pro-Palestine demonstrations has catapulted the issue to the top of the political agenda.
Last week the Commons descended into chaos after Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle bowed to Labour demands to tear up parliamentary procedure during a high-profile debate on Gaza, in an apparent bid to defuse threats to MPs.
Home Secretary James Cleverly yesterday unveiled a £31 million package to boost security for MPs facing death threats and intimidation. Those deemed most at risk will be provided with private-sector bodyguards, while others will be eligible for cash and advice on improving security at their homes and offices.
Mr Cleverly is reported to be pushing police chiefs to conduct an extra 80 patrols a week in ‘hotspot areas’ where community tensions have been inflamed.
Ministers are braced for further ugly scenes following today’s Rochdale byelection, where Gaza has been a major issue. Labour, which holds the seat, withdrew support from its candidate, Azhar Ali, after The Mail on Sunday revealed he had falsely claimed Israel allowed the October 7 attacks to take place as a pretext for an invasion of Gaza.
But he remains on the ballot paper where he is locked in a two-horse race with former Labour firebrand George Galloway, who has also put Gaza at the heart of his campaign in a constituency which has a large Muslim population.
A new ‘defending democracy policing protocol’ requiring police forces to take the issue seriously was published by ministers yesterday. All forces will be expected to appoint a senior officer to provide security briefings to MPs and political candidates and to act as a point of contact for those facing death threats and intimidation.
The guidance tells police chiefs that protests at the homes of MPs and councillors ‘should generally be considered as intimidatory’. Protests at ‘democratic venues’, including town halls, MPs’ offices and Parliament, should not be allowed to prevent the use of the venue or intimidate those attending.
Despite the public concern, pro-Palestine campaigners yesterday vowed to continue with their mass demonstrations indefinitely. Ben Jamal, of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said the marches would continue even if a temporary ceasefire is announced next week, as US President Joe Biden has predicted. He claimed the demonstrations were being ‘demonised’ by ‘pro-Israel actors in the political establishment’.
‘Extra patrols in hotspot areas’