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Category: UK

farage
December 11, 2023
UK

Farage Hints Return To Politics, But Says Joining ‘Conservative’ Party is Unlikely.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has stated he has little interest in joining Britain’s Conservative Party under the leadership of neoliberal immigration squish Rishi Sunak. Farage recently finished third-place on reality TV show ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here’. In a post-show interview, Farage criticized the Conservatives (aka ‘Tories’) for lying to the electorate about immigration numbers over four consecutive elections. He did not entirely dismiss the potential of aligning with the Conservatives under a different leader.

Rumors of Farage’s potential candidacy for the Tories have been circulating since his appearance at the party conference in Manchester in October 2021. While numerous senior figures from the party have shown interest in welcoming him on-board, the former UKIP and Brexit Party leader’s participation in the next general election would depend on his approval by the Tory selection board and local party adoption—an assurance yet unsecured.

Farage, who previously had seven failed attempts to become a Member of the British Parliament, is the current honorary president of Reform UK, the renamed ‘Brexit Party’ he pioneered in 2018. The party performed marginally lower than expected in special elections this year, averaging under  four percent of votes in six contests. Farage stressed his decision to participate in politics again will not be immediate.

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Brexit leader Nigel Farage has stated he has little interest in joining Britain's Conservative Party under the leadership of neoliberal immigration squish Rishi Sunak. Farage recently finished third-place on reality TV show 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here'. In a post-show interview, Farage criticized the Conservatives (aka 'Tories') for lying to the electorate about immigration numbers over four consecutive elections. He did not entirely dismiss the potential of aligning with the Conservatives under a different leader. show more
December 7, 2023
UK

Britain’s ‘Conservative’ Govt Is Raising the Price of the License You Have to Own to Watch TV.

The UK government confirmed the television license fee – a tax on owning a TV and consuming content created by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – will increase by £10.50, from £159 to £169.50, indicating a 6.6 percent rise.

This adjustment is less than the outlined £15 – around 9 percent rise based on the yearly inflation average the BBC and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) anticipated.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer disclosed this week that there will be a review of the BBC’s funding model, likely due to the increase of the license fee. The elevated fee is set to come into effect this coming April, after the £159 fee stayed stagnant for about two years. The BBC Board acknowledged the government’s move to tie the license fee to inflation after two years of no increase during a period of high inflation.

The government’s decision to raise the license fee by a smaller margin is alleged to lead to “no material difference” to those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, according to the Shadow Culture Secretary Thangam Debbonaire. The government also recently announced Samir Shah as its preferred candidate to assume the role of BBC Chairman following Richard Sharp’s earlier departure this year.

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The UK government confirmed the television license fee – a tax on owning a TV and consuming content created by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – will increase by £10.50, from £159 to £169.50, indicating a 6.6 percent rise. show more
December 7, 2023
William Upton
UK

Britain’s New Rwanda Immigration Deal Will Cost Over $150M to Deport A Few Hundred Migrants… Maybe.

The United Kingdom’s “Conservative” government announced a new deal with the war-torn nation of Rwanda this week. A deal which could see a pathetically small number of migrant asylum seekers currently in Britain sent to the African nation instead. In November of this year, the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled the government’s original agreement with Rwanda to relocate migrants was unlawful.

Addressing the court’s concern that those seeking asylum could be returned to their home countries by the Rwandan government, the new agreement will create a joint tribunal of both UK and Rwandan judges to review deportations from the African nation.

“We feel very strongly that this treaty addresses all the issues raised by their lordships in the Supreme Court and we have worked very closely with our Rwandan partners to ensure that it does so,” said Home Secretary James Cleverly at the signing of the new agreement in Rwanda on Tuesday. Addressing concerns the government would agree to send the Rwandan government additional financial support, he added: “Let me make it clear. The Rwandan government has not asked for and we have not provided any funding linked to the signing of this treaty.”

Rwanda received £140million from the United Kingdom as part of the original deal under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Billed as an “economic transformation and integration fund,” the money was in reality a pay-off to the Rwandan government to close the deal and the costs the country would incur taking in the migrants. No migrants were ever relocated to Rwanda under the original agreement before the UK courts ruled in unlawful.

Critics of the original Rwanda Policy argued it was more of a gimmick than an actual solution. Estimates for the number of migrants that would be sent to Rwanda range from 200 to a few thousand.

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The United Kingdom's "Conservative" government announced a new deal with the war-torn nation of Rwanda this week. A deal which could see a pathetically small number of migrant asylum seekers currently in Britain sent to the African nation instead. In November of this year, the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled the government's original agreement with Rwanda to relocate migrants was unlawful. show more
December 5, 2023
Jake Welch
UK

UK Cop Faces 6 Month Prison Sentence for ‘Implied’ Offense in Online Joke.

A retired British police officer is facing up to six months in prison after he made a joke in a private WhatsApp group that had an offensive “implication,” dramatically expanding the boundaries of hate speech laws in the United Kingdom.

Michael Chadwell, who retired from the Metropolitan police in 2015, wrote a comment below a private WhatsApp post featuring multi-colored parrots alongside children of different ethnic backgrounds. The caption questioned: “Why do we cherish the variety of colour in every species except our own?”

Chadwell replied: “Because I’ve never had a bike stolen out of my front yard by a parrot.”

The presiding justice in the case, District Judge Tan Ikram, failed to find the humor in the comment, stating the joke implied that “black people steal.” He also refused to accept Chadwell’s claim that the comment was a harmless joke akin to Monty Python.

As a result, Ikram charged Chadwell with writing a “grossly offensive” message online, which, despite the standard  being subjective and broad in scope, is an offense in the UK under the 2003 Communications Act.

“He thought it was funny, but it was grossly offensive, and he was aware of it at the time,” Judge Ikram declared.

Chadwell is due to be sentenced this month.

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A retired British police officer is facing up to six months in prison after he made a joke in a private WhatsApp group that had an offensive "implication," dramatically expanding the boundaries of hate speech laws in the United Kingdom. show more
masks
December 4, 2023
Jake Welch
Health
UK

Masking Kids Had Zero ‘Real World Effectiveness’ Says British Medical Journal.

Forcing children to wear face masks to protect against COVID-19 failed to have any “real world effectiveness,” according to a recent open-access study published in the highly-renowned British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The study, to which six scientists and researchers contributed, saw a “systematic review” of the available literature on the effectiveness of mask mandates and whether they inhibited either the transmissibility or severity of the virus.

A total of 597 publications were screened by the researchers, with 557 quickly excluded. Another 18 were then excluded as they failed to meet the researcher’s criteria, which included whether results were confounded, questionably selected and whether there were any missing data or poorly measured outcomes. The most reliable and well-sourced 22 were left.

After examining the findings of the 22 studies, the authors found that “Real-world effectiveness of child mask mandates against SARS-CoV-2 transmission or infection has not been demonstrated with high-quality evidence.”

“The current body of scientific data does not support masking children for protection against COVID-19,” added the researchers, who similarly suggested that there was no association between voluntary mask-wearing among adults and “lower odds of COVID-19 in the school…”

“Perpetual masking in early childhood is without historical precedent,” they continued before enumerating the tangible risks of wearing masks, including “affected speech, language and emotional development, and physical discomfort contributing to reduced time and intensity of exercise and learning activities…”

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Forcing children to wear face masks to protect against COVID-19 failed to have any "real world effectiveness," according to a recent open-access study published in the highly-renowned British Medical Journal (BMJ). show more
December 1, 2023
Jack Montgomery
UK

London Council Cancels Hanukkah Menorah Lighting In Case It ‘Inflames Tensions’.

Havering Borough Council, a municipal government within Sadiq Khan’s London, has capitulated to Islamists and anti-Israel activists by canceling a menorah-lighting ceremony scheduled to mark the beginning of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

“We appreciate this is a hugely sensitive issue but in light of escalating tensions from the conflict in the Middle East, installing the candelabra now will not be without risk to the Council, our partners, staff and local residents,” said a spokesman for the municipality.

“We would also be concerned with any possible vandalism or other action against the installation,” they continued.

“[D]ue to an increase in the number of hate crimes in Havering, both towards the Jewish and Muslim community, and after consulting with the Leader of the Council, we believe it would be unwise to move forward with the installation which could risk further inflaming tensions within our communities.”

Some have questioned the wisdom of attempting to prevent anti-Semitic vandalism and hate crimes by erasing Jewish symbols from public life. Rabbi Aryeah Sufrin, who had been due to lead the lighting ceremony, said that “by drawing the Jewish community out this equation, what does that really say? How is that really interpreted?”

Havering local mayor, Trevor McKeever, hails from the Labour Party, like city mayor Sadiq Khan.

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Havering Borough Council, a municipal government within Sadiq Khan's London, has capitulated to Islamists and anti-Israel activists by canceling a menorah-lighting ceremony scheduled to mark the beginning of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. show more
Reverse brexit
November 30, 2023
Jack Montgomery
UK

EU Prez Says Brexit Was a ‘Goof,’ UK Should Rejoin EU.

The President of the European Commission has said the next generation should reverse Brexit. Ursula von der Leyen, Angela Merkel’s failed defense minister, believes the 2015 vote to Leave the European Union was a “goof”.

“First of all, thank God, with the Windsor agreement, we had a new beginning for old friends. Very important,” said the German, referring to a sellout deal agreed with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which leaves Northern Ireland effectively still inside the EU.

“And then I must say, I keep telling my children, you have to fix it. We goofed it up. You have to fix it,” she continued.

“So I think here, too, the direction of travel, my personal opinion is clear,” clearly signaling Brexit should be reversed.

Von der Leyen is not the first eurocrat to push young people to undo Brexit. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s representative in the Brexit negotiations, said Brexit voters “deliberately and consciously desire[d] something that is downright harmful even stupid, even extremely stupid,” quoting Fyodor Dostoevsky.

“Those just old enough to vote at the time of the referendum overwhelmingly voted to [Remain in the European Union],” he added. “At some point, one way or another, they will find their way back to the European family.”

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The President of the European Commission has said the next generation should reverse Brexit. Ursula von der Leyen, Angela Merkel's failed defense minister, believes the 2015 vote to Leave the European Union was a "goof". show more
November 30, 2023
Immigration
UK

Britain Has ‘Lost’ 17,000 ‘Asylum Seekers’.

More than 17,000 asylum seekers, whose claims have been withdrawn, are unaccounted for according to Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry). The announcement came during an evidence hearing before the Commons Home Affairs Committee, which has been investigating the significant backlog of pending asylum claims.

The Home Office disclosed that 17,316 asylum applications were withdrawn between September of last year and this year, a fourfold increase from 4,260 the previous year. This comes in light of Prime Minister’s directives to clear “legacy” cases, or asylum applications submitted before June 28, 2022, by the end of December. In response to these figures, committee member Tim Loughton asked, “Isn’t it strange that… there has been a three-fold increase (in withdrawals) for undetermined reasons, people magically not going forward with their claims, and where are those people?”

Simon Ridley, the interim second permanent secretary at the Home Office replied, “In most cases, I don’t know where those people are.”

When pressed for clarification, Ridley further admitted, “I don’t think we know where all those people are, no.” As of October 29, the backlog of pending asylum applications, not individuals, was at 122,585, down 12 percent from a record 138,782 at the end of February. The “legacy” backlog stood at 33,253, nearly half of 62,157 on July 30.

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More than 17,000 asylum seekers, whose claims have been withdrawn, are unaccounted for according to Britain's Home Office (interior ministry). The announcement came during an evidence hearing before the Commons Home Affairs Committee, which has been investigating the significant backlog of pending asylum claims. show more
November 29, 2023
UK

Saudi Arabia Buys 10% of UK’s Heathrow Airport.

Saudi Arabia‘s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to acquire a ten percent stake in Britain’s Heathrow Airport from Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial and an additional 15 percent in the airport’s parent company, FGP Topco, from French-based private equity fund Ardian.

The £2.37 billion ($3 billion) transaction announced by Ferrovial is still subject to regulatory approval. If successful, this would conclude Ferrovial’s investment in the UK airports’ operator, which initially held a 56 percent stake in 2006, reduced to 25 percent by 2013.

The airport has been incurring financial losses this year due to high borrowing costs on its debt. The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s decision to reduce passenger charges — contributing to terminals, runways, baggage systems, and security expenditures — is a significant factor.

The reduction brings the average charge per passenger at Heathrow in 2023 from £31.57 to £25.43 in 2024, staying constant till 2026. Heathrow executives had hoped to raise charges to over £40, while airlines suggested a cap of around £18.50.

The PIF, one of the world’s most active sovereign wealth funds, with assets exceeding $700 billion, reflects Saudi Arabia’s continuing global investments across various sectors despite international concern over the kingdom‘s human rights record.

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Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to acquire a ten percent stake in Britain's Heathrow Airport from Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial and an additional 15 percent in the airport's parent company, FGP Topco, from French-based private equity fund Ardian. show more
November 29, 2023
UK

1 in 5 Britons Confess to Watching Porn During the Working Day.

Approximately 20 percent – or one-fifth of the 13.8 million people who watch adult content online in the United Kingdom – do so during work hours (between 9am and 5:30pm), spending an average of 55 minutes on adult sites. A report by communications regulator Ofcom indicates that men account for 73 percent of these daytime viewers. Most users visit adult sites during work hours, with the pre-dawn window of midnight to 8:59am coming in second-most popular followed by the least sought-after slot of 5:30pm to 7:59pm.

The expanded audience led to increased traffic for several leading adult content sites in 2023. The most-visited site, Pornhub – which has long been accused of sex trafficking – recorded 18 percent of all adults gaining access in May, with total UK visitors ranking second only to the United States. Five of the top 10 sites reported an audience growth of at least 10 percent, the most significant being OnlyFans with a 20 percent increase.

Gender discrepancy in adult content preferences was also highlighted by the report, with men three times more likely to consume porn than women. Curiously, younger men predominantly accessed Hentai – a sub-genre of sexually explicit oriental cartoons.

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Approximately 20 percent – or one-fifth of the 13.8 million people who watch adult content online in the United Kingdom – do so during work hours (between 9am and 5:30pm), spending an average of 55 minutes on adult sites. A report by communications regulator Ofcom indicates that men account for 73 percent of these daytime viewers. Most users visit adult sites during work hours, with the pre-dawn window of midnight to 8:59am coming in second-most popular followed by the least sought-after slot of 5:30pm to 7:59pm. show more