Police Must Stop Engaging in “Woke” Culture Wars, Says Major Government-Backed Report

 Police must stop engaging in “woke” culture wars and “preferencing certain groups” and focus instead on catching criminals, a major Government-backed review has concluded. The Telegraph has more.

The damning report into failings in police leadership said bosses must be “resolute” in “refusing to take sides” and not be diverted from “focusing entirely on the prevention, detection and prosecution of crime”.

Amid renewed scrutiny over ‘two-tier policing‘, police leaders are accused of “preferencing certain groups” in the review, which is one of the most thorough examinations of the force ever undertaken.

Lord Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary who co-chaired the report, said there was “no room for culture wars or woke” causes in policing. “The idea that people should be diverted onto other issues is entirely wrong,” he said.

A commission was set up by the College of Policing with the support of the Home Office, in the wake of a series of scandals, including the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Metropolitan Pc Wayne Couzens.

Its report, published on Monday, called for a “reset” of police culture after finding evidence of ineffective and corrupt leadership, nepotism, poor training and a lack of support for front-line officers.

The murder of Henry Nowak, a student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying because his killer, Vickrum Digwa, who is Sikh, lied about being racially abused by the teenager, has renewed the debate around two-tier policing in Britain.

Amid the public outcry over the treatment of Nowak, police chiefs announced a review of their guidance that suggested “racial equity” did not mean “treating everyone the same or being colour blind”....<<<Read More>>>....

Fear is Overwhelming Us

No-one’s disputing that very hot weather can be challenging, even dangerous, for some people. But I’ve been fascinated by the news coverage of the heatwave over the last week or so, largely because I’m currently touring in the American West, as I often am. Reading the British news one could be forgiven for thinking the country was on the brink of destruction.

However, it also links into an accumulating culture of fear which is having a paralysing effect on wider society. It’s been developing for years, driven not only by a news media craving stories, but also government seeking ever more control over our lives, and a vast industry capitalising on promoting fear to sell solutions, reassurance and ‘peace of mind’.

Out here the weather is seriously dangerous in ways most of we Brits have little or no idea. About two weeks ago I was driving across South Dakota into North Dakota through epic downpours that were like carwashes for the gods, and in 80mph winds. But the place carried on, as we did. I drive around 10,000 miles in the American West annually and I have developed a healthy regard for the weather, without letting us stop what we’re doing. We simply adapt.

You might remember that in 2023 there was a heat dome over Texas. Since we were due to fly into Dallas Fort Worth, we were a little worried, thanks in no small part to the tireless BBC that left us and everyone else with the impression that all Texas was about to be obliterated in a conflagration.

Naturally, when we rolled up, we found Texas was hot but in a 100% operational state. Everything was working as normal. We went about our road trip as planned. In southeastern Texas we visited a forest, lush with leaves and long green grass. We found a couple of nonagenarians, who in Britain would have been locked in a freezer to save their lives, out walking as they always did. We told them about the news in Britain. They laughed and carried on.

The interesting thing is not then the heat, or in my case the torrential downpour across the northern Great Plains on a remote and almost entirely empty road, but the fixation in the media and government to turn everything into something to be terrified of....<<<Read More>>>...

Too Young for TikTok, Old Enough to Vote?

 There are few sights more comic than a modern minister pretending to be the stern parent of the nation.

We know the routine. The concerned expression. The voice lowered half an octave. The carefully arranged background of flags, earnest young people and laminated safeguarding jargon. Then comes the announcement. The government is going to protect children online.

At which point every parent in the country is expected to breathe a sigh of relief, put down the gin and thank the Department for Being Sensible on Our Behalf.

This would be comic enough at any time. It is even better when the Government now proposing to supervise teenagers online gives the impression of being unable to supervise itself. Sir Keir Starmer wants to childproof the internet while presiding over a state that cannot produce a defence policy that convinces its own side, let alone our allies or enemies.

Still, never mind the Russian threat. Has anyone thought about Chloe scrolling Instagram?

To be fair, there is a problem. Social media is not exactly a moral health spa. Much of it resembles a Victorian freak show redesigned by behavioural psychologists and funded by advertising executives. It is addictive, vain, cruel, stupid and often deranging. The idea that a 14 year-old girl with a smartphone is simply exercising ‘choice’ while being stalked by an algorithm designed to exploit insecurity is absurd.

So no, this is not a libertarian hymn to TikTok.

The problem is not that politicians worry about the effect of social media on young people. The problem is that they worry about it selectively.

The same political class that increasingly tells us young people must be protected from online manipulation is also very keen to tell us that those same young people are mature enough to vote.

This is where the argument begins to wobble like a drunk on a paddleboard.

Apparently, a teenager may not have the judgement to scroll through Instagram without state supervision, but does have the judgement to help choose the next government.

This is not a principle. It is a convenience....<<<Read More>>>....

Rayner’s Workers’ Rights Reforms Trigger Surge in Legal Claims

 Britain is facing a surge in people taking their employers to court, with claims up 55% year on year, following Angela Rayner’s sweeping workers’ rights reforms. The Telegraph has the story.

Employment claims increased by 55% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year, new official figures show.

It comes after Labour’s Employment Rights Act obtained Royal Assent in December. It represents the biggest expansion of workers’ rights in over a decade, giving employees new protections over statutory sick pay, unfair dismissal and zero-hours contracts.

The overhaul – which was championed by the former deputy prime minister – has been praised by unions, with the Trades Union Congress claiming that Labour is delivering “vital common-sense reforms for millions of people across the country”.

However, it threatens to pile more pressure on employment tribunals which are already facing an influx of claims.

Jo Mackie, Employment Law Partner at Michelmores, said: “The increase in claims will happen as employment rights are spoken about more openly as they have been in the last two years during preparation for legal changes.”

Many of the reforms under the Employment Rights Act are still in secondary legislation.

Mackie said growing discussion of these reforms meant that “more people [will] become aware of practices that may be in breach of employment law”.

Imogen Finnegan, Senior Consultant with workplace and commercial disputes law firm Bellevue Law, warned that the recent explosion in employment claims risked resulting in “longer timelines, increased costs and prolonged uncertainty” for employers.

She said this could also delay tribunal decisions for employees with genuine claims....<<<Read More>>>...

Psychological Bioterrorism: When fear of infectious diseases is weaponised to shape government policies and public behaviour

 Fear is one of the most powerful drugs ever invented, Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Jill Glasspool Malone say. And when it is weaponised, it is psychological bioterrorism.

The latest example of psychological bioterrorism is the current media frenzy surrounding Hantavirus.

To protect yourself, learn to recognise when fear has become the product that is being marketed.

Unlike antibiotics or antivirals, it requires no FDA approval, no manufacturing plant, and no cold-chain shipping. Fear spreads itself. All it takes is a headline, a few experts on television, ominous music behind a news segment, and suddenly millions of people begin scanning their bodies for symptoms they did not know they had ten minutes earlier.

Psychological Bioterrorism is the weaponisation of fear about disease in order to manipulate individuals, populations, markets and governments. Sometimes the objective is political. Sometimes financial. Sometimes bureaucratic. Often, it is all three at once.

This is not a conspiracy theory. It is a recognised form of psychological warfare.

A virus or some other pathogen emerges somewhere in the world. The media shifts into apocalyptic mode. Experts appear to be predicting catastrophe. Computer models project millions dead, if the right circumstances coalesce. Politicians declare emergencies. Pharmaceutical companies announce new products. Social media turns into a digital panic attack. And ordinary people, who just wanted to buy eggs and walk the dog, suddenly feel like civilisation is one cough away from collapse.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

The latest example is the current media frenzy surrounding Hantavirus.

Now, to be clear, Hantavirus is a real disease. It can be serious. It deserves appropriate medical attention and surveillance. Rodent control around homes and barns matters, particularly in areas where the virus is endemic. Nobody sensible is arguing otherwise....<<<Read More>>>...

The Coming Food Crisis: Why You’ll Find Gravel in Your Grain and Wood Chips in Your Bread

 I’ve spent 12+ years analyzing food quality in my laboratory, and what I’m seeing today terrifies me. Viral videos are now surfacing that allegedly show wood chips embedded in commercial bread loaves, and produce that would have been tossed a decade ago is now filling grocery shelves. The coming food crisis isn’t a distant threat; it’s already starting.

As a food scientist, I believe we are witnessing the systematic degradation of the world’s food supply. Fertilizer shortages ignited by ongoing wars, combined with the deliberate lowering of quality standards, mean that consumers will soon find inedible debris in their staples. This is not about a single bad batch -- it’s about a broken supply chain that prefers volume over safety. Here’s why this matters, and what you can do about it.

The root of the problem lies in the energy and fertilizer crisis. War in the Middle East and Eastern Europe has disrupted global fertilizer supplies, driving costs through the roof. Farmers, squeezed by rising input prices and stagnant crop prices, are forced to cut corners. One common shortcut is to run harvesting equipment at maximum aggression, which sometimes pulls up rocks, dirt, and debris along with the grain. As Dale Allen Pfeiffer documents in Eating Fossil Fuels, the decline in energy availability directly impacts agricultural productivity and forces unsustainable practices.

Meanwhile, quality control mechanisms are being quietly dismantled across the supply chain. Buyers who once rejected contaminated shipments now accept them because there is no alternative stock. The 21WIRE news report on 2026 trends warns that “trade turbulence and economic instability will persist,” and that the US, European, and UK economies face a difficult year . When every link in the chain is compromised, the end result can be frequent contamination of food staples with unusual matter (to say the least)....<<<Read More>>>...

Another Blow to the Heat Pump Agenda

 Amid the many complaints about the deficits of modern life, grumbles about gas-fired central heating are extremely rare. For sure, radiators are not as cosy as an open fire. But the convenience of warming a home at the push of a button on a device that can fit in a kitchen cupboard is unmatched. Yet banning the gas boiler has been at the top of recent governments’ policy agendas. But their determined efforts to make the world – but not our houses and flats – a better place were dealt another blow this week by an analysis from the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA). Among the EUA’s findings is that there were fewer than 300,000 heat pump installations in the six years 2019-2024.

Worst still for the Gaia-botherers of SW1A, people are increasingly turning their noses up at the inferior appliances – the rate of household’s adoption of heat pumps is falling, despite new regulations. 1.5 million gas boilers are replaced each year in Britain’s 28 million or so homes, at an average cost of around £2,500 each. With just 50,000 or so opting for a heat pump, it would seem that the Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) or ‘boiler tax’ of £36 per unit, which requires an increasing proportion of heat pumps to be sold, is having little effect. Mike Foster, CEO of EUA, explained: “Instead of stimulating demand, the CHMM has delivered higher costs with declining installations — the opposite of what ministers promised.”...<<<Read More>>>...

The Coming Economic Collapse Will Be Three Times Worse Than COVID… And It Can’t Be Stopped

 I am watching the numbers flicker on the screen -- Brent crude near $92, WTI pushing $97 -- and I feel a profound sense of dread. This isn't just a market fluctuation; it's the leading edge of a systemic failure so vast it will make the COVID lockdowns look like a mild rehearsal. The mainstream economic models that guide our world are dangerously broken, treating the lifeblood of our civilization -- energy -- as a mere optional input, interchangeable with capital or labor. This is not an academic error; it is a catastrophic lie that has set the stage for a collapse I believe will be three times more devastating than the pandemic.

In my view, we are being lied to on a scale that defies comprehension. The current paper price for oil is a government-constructed narrative, a desperate fiction woven by authorities to maintain a false sense of stability while the physical foundations of our world crack beneath us. This manipulation isn't just an economic tweak; it's a symptom of a fundamental disconnect between the models our leaders trust and the biophysical reality that actually powers our lives. The coming energy shock, driven by geopolitics and ecological limits, will cause a GDP contraction far beyond anything our 'experts' are predicting, leading not to a recession, but to a genuine societal unraveling...<<<Read More>>>....

Is Disclosure Day a preview of a forthcoming NWO staged event?

Disclosure Day is an upcoming blockbuster science fiction movie about an alien invasion. Very little information has been released in relation to the actual content of the film. 

However, well ahead of its release on June 12th, the movie has a lavish promotional website and has enjoyed plenty of advanced publicity – both in the media and more widely.

This promotion campaign has included a half time showing of the promotional trailer in the January 2026 US Superbowl. Aside from plenty of symbolism, this publicity drive has revealed very little by way of narrative and storyline, although the tagline promises that: ‘the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to…Disclosure Day’....<<<Read More>>>...

Serve Warmer Beer to Save on Bills, Miliband Tells Pubs

 Pubs should serve warmer beer and turn off ovens to save money on their energy bills, Ed Miliband has said, amid a crisis in the sector set to be made worse by spiking energy prices. The Telegraph has the story.

The Energy Secretary has launched an advice tool aimed at hospitality businesses, which he hopes will ease the burden of rising costs in the struggling sector.

The tool encourages firms to reduce unnecessary electricity use by turning off bottle fridges overnight and to monitor hotspots such as extraction systems, ovens and lamps.

It comes as fears mount that more pubs are being pushed to the brink, as the conflict in Iran sends energy prices soaring.

Analysis by the Telegraph last weekend suggested that the spike in energy bills will heap an extra £169 million a year onto pubs’ costs, with Wetherspoons chief Sir Tim Martin saying businesses would have no choice but to push up prices.

Businesses claim they are being quoted energy rates around 30% higher than in February, before the US and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran. Oil prices have risen from $73 (£55) a barrel before the strikes to hover around $100.

Industry leaders on Tuesday said the Government tool would not save pubs from the “eye-watering bills” that were crippling hospitality businesses, with landlords ridiculing the suggestions as “groundbreaking stuff”.

Emma McClarkin, the Chief Executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “There are a host of appliances that you simply cannot turn off, many for health and safety reasons, so it is not just help with reducing eye-watering energy bills that the beer and pub sector needs the Government to help with, but the overall cumulative costs of doing business, including disproportionate tax bills.”

However, she said: “With the typical pub making just 12p profit on every £5 pint, it’s essential for landlords to save money on their energy bills wherever they can, with the added bonus of reducing their carbon footprint.” …

Pub owner Andy Lennox urged ministers to slash VAT rates for British hospitality firms rather than offer them simplistic energy-saving suggestions.

Lennox ran a campaign last year to ban Labour MPs from hospitality venues across the country, which ultimately forced Labour to announce an emergency support package for pubs.

He said: “To be told to turn the lights off overnight really is groundbreaking stuff. Thank goodness someone in Whitehall finally cracked it. Decades of hospitality experience across the country, and the answer was sitting there all along.

“In reality, this is yet another short-sighted, bureaucratic, headline-grabbing load of rubbish. Any half-decent operator already runs an efficient kitchen, manages energy properly and watches costs like a hawk. That is Hospitality 101.”...<<<Read More>>>....

Labour’s Islamophobia Definition “Will Curb Free Speech”

 A new official definition of Islamophobia could “inhibit” free speech about Muslims and their religion, the Government’s own counter-terrorism tsar Jonathan Hall KC has warned. The Telegraph has more.

Jonathan Hall, KC said Sir Keir Starmer’s proposed definition, to be unveiled on Monday, could stop people from freely criticising Islam or issues affecting its followers.

Hall, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, told the BBC: “The worry will be with loose language, people will feel inhibited about talking about things that they do think which are genuinely important today.”

He also warned that it could fail to stop anti-Muslim attacks. He said a similar definition for antisemitism had failed to prevent a rise in attacks on Jews and that he was sceptical a similar new definition for anti-Muslim hatred would be any different.

Ministers have already watered down the definition by avoiding the use of the term ‘Islamophobia’, after concerns that it could limit free speech and lead to the creation of a blasphemy law by the backdoor.

The non-statutory definition is aimed at providing guidance for behaviour codes that public bodies, councils and businesses could adopt to combat prejudice, discrimination and hostility towards Muslims.

An advisory working group – which Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, headed – produced the initial draft and submitted it to the Government in October.

It is understood that ministers have struck out references to the “racialisation” of Muslims amid concern it is a vague term that could be weaponised to silence critics of the religion.

However, it still states that anti-Muslim hatred will include “the prejudicial stereotyping of Muslims, as part of a collective group with set characteristics, to stir up hatred against them, irrespective of their actual opinions, beliefs or actions as individuals”.

Hall questioned the entire premise of a definition. “The IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition, which is the antisemitism definition – which has been adopted since 2016 – has not, in practice, reduced antisemitism or indeed terrorist attacks,” he said.

“And you could say, what is the upside of an anti-Muslim hate definition? It hasn’t worked for Jews. I do wonder whether it will work for Muslims. There is no doubt about it, Muslims are targets of terrorist attacks and attack planning.”

Hall said it was important that the definition should include examples of free speech that were not anti-Muslim hatred as people would otherwise be worried about discussing “uncomfortable” topics around Muslim culture, migration and Islamism.

He said his second concern was that it could lead to the same problems as had been experienced over non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) where offensive language online had resulted in police investigations such as the arrest of Graham Linehan, the comedy writer, over trans comments.

“Will the definition look at the intention of the person who’s speaking, or will someone be able to say, I perceive what you’re saying as hatred,” he said.

“We’ve already gone through this rather foolish cycle about non-crime hate incidents, the arrest of Graham Linehan, and where people don’t intend to be hostile to me, but I perceive what you’re saying as hostile.

“So will the definition look at the intention of the speaker, or will these allegations of hatred be allowed to be made whether the person actually was hating or not?”...<<<Read More>>>...

The Real Story of Gorton is Empty Ballot Boxes

 I am writing this from Granada. Out of my window sits the Alhambra, glowing in the Andalusian sun. A reminder that history has teeth.

It was built at the height of Islamic power in Europe. A civilisational statement in stone. Geometry, poetry, water, order. Then the tide turned. Catholic Spain pushed south. The Reconquista ended. The Cross replaced the Crescent. History moved.

Empires rise. Civilisations compete. Cultures dominate, then retreat.

Which brings us, improbably, to Gorton and Denton.

Last week wasn’t some glorious Green triumph that will go down in the political history books. In fact I suspect the UK Green movement will go the same way as Greta Thunberg: a burst of teenage certainty followed by adult irrelevance.

The real story in Gorton and Denton is not the Green victory, but the collective yawn. Turnout limped to 47.6%, indistinguishable from the last General Election, which now passes for respectable. More than half the constituency said “sod your politics” and declined to participate in the great democratic ritual.

Run the numbers and it looks even thinner. The newly elected ‘representative’ commands the active support of roughly one in five adults in her patch. That is not democratic legitimacy. It is arithmetic masquerading as authority – otherwise known as electoral larceny.

This is a symptom of terminal political ennui. For decades those in charge have hollowed out politics so completely that the very idea of democratic legitimacy is now a comedy sketch.

For generations Britain has told itself a comforting story: that liberal democracy is culturally neutral. That it floats above religion, heritage, historical memory. That you can dilute the cultural foundations of a society and the political structure will remain untouched.

It won’t....<<<Read More>>>...

UK government has been spying on electric vehicle drivers and passengers using mobile phone data

For two years, the UK’s Department for Transport was spying on electric vehicle drivers and their passengers, both children and adults, using their mobile phone data to get insights into their behaviour.

Vehicles are a core component of the Internet of Things (“IoT”). Together with the AI and other technologies, IoT is part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Modern connected cars are equipped with sensors, software and communication technologies that enable them to exchange data with other vehicles, infrastructure, devices and the internet. With 5G connectivity and advanced data analytics, vehicles are evolving into mobile data hubs, making them essential nodes in the broader IoT system. And the integration of IoT in vehicles contributes, in particular, to the development of autonomous driving and smart cities.

As Global Data explains, “While sensors and connectivity are essential enablers for IoT, the real value that is derived from these processes comes from the data. In today’s automotive landscape, data has become a strategic asset … Data has moved from being a byproduct to a core driver of innovation, becoming essential for the progress of autonomous driving, connected cars and AI-enabled features.”...<<<Read More>>>....

Labour Has Been Bitten By its Own “Monster of Mass Harvesting Muslim Votes”, Says Badenoch

Labour has been bitten by its own “monster of harvesting Muslim community bloc votes” in last night’s by-election, Kemi Badenoch said today following the shock Green victory in a campaign blighted by sectarianism. The Mail has more.

The Tory leader lashed out at beleaguered Keir Starmer amid a growing row over claims of coercive “family voting” in Gorton and Denton raised by independent observers of the shock Green victory.

Nigel Farage lashed out at “cheating” and Reform’s candidate Matt Goodwin blasted “dangerous Muslim sectarianism” in the wake of his crushing defeat after Democracy Volunteers said there were potential breaches of electoral law.

‘Family voting’ is where a voter is accompanied by another person, often a relative, into or near polling booths with the intention of influencing their vote.

Tougher legislation, known as the Ballot Secrecy Act, was introduced in 2023 in a bid to clamp down on the practice. That made clear it was an offence.

There were growing calls today for the Electoral Commission and the police to get involved in examining the claims.

In a lengthy statement issued this morning, Badenoch lashed out at all three parties who led the voting in Gorton, where the Tories came a distant fourth.

Addressing Sir Keir’s splintering party she said: “Labour created the monster of harvesting Muslim community bloc votes and yesterday that monster came back to bite them.

“As I have said many times before we are a multi-racial country, not a multicultural country.”

After a campaign in which Labour, Reform and the Greens were accused of fighting dirty she added: “If you stir up grievance politics between groups based on religion or race… you start to unravel the culture of tolerance that makes Britain great.”...<<<Read More>>>...

The Prevent Video Game That Treats Every Teenager Like a Far-Right Extremist

 A state-funded computer game is warning teenagers that they risk being referred to Government counter-terrorism programme Prevent if they question mass migration, with even researching immigration statistics online portrayed negatively. The Telegraph has the story.

Pathways is an interactive game designed for 11 to 18 year-old pupils and funded by Prevent, a Home Office programme for tackling extremism.

Young players are directed to help their in-game characters – a white teenage boy and girl – to avoid being reported for “extreme Right-wing ideology” after discussing migration online.

Characters can face extremism referrals if they choose to engage with groups that spread “harmful ideological messages”, or join protests against the “erosion of British values”. Even researching online immigration statistics is portrayed negatively.

Other in-game pitfalls include sharing a video that claims Muslim men, rather than homeless veterans, are being given emergency accommodation.

An in-game meter monitors how extreme the character’s behaviour is. Those who “lose” may be given counselling to deal with “ideological thoughts” or referred to an anti-terrorism expert.

The game was developed with Government backing by councils in East Yorkshire over growing concerns about immigration and tensions about migrant accommodation in their communities....<<<Read More>>>....

British Parliament rejects call to roll back Online Safety Act

 The British Parliament debated repealing the Online Safety Act (OSA) after a 160,000-signature petition but rejected calls to roll it back, instead advocating for even stricter controls on VPNs, age verification and AI chatbots.

Critics argue the OSA, designed to protect children from harmful content, has become a broad censorship tool, suppressing lawful political speech and forcing the closure of small online forums due to heavy compliance burdens.

In response to the OSA, VPN usage in the U.K. surged by 700%, leading some MPs to propose regulating the privacy tools themselves as a way to enforce the Act's restrictions.

The parliamentary debate revealed significant concern that the law is eroding privacy and free speech, with critics drawing parallels to historical censorship and warning it sets a dangerous global precedent for digital control under the guise of safety.

Despite acknowledging problems, the government is moving to expand the OSA's scope, targeting encrypted messaging and AI, while opposition from the public and international figures like U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance highlights a growing divide over digital freedoms.

The British Parliament recently debated the repeal of its controversial Online Safety Act (OSA), responding to a public petition that garnered over 160,000 signatures. Yet rather than addressing concerns over government overreach, Members of Parliament (MPs) doubled down on calls for stricter internet controls like expanding age verification, cracking down on virtual private network (VPN) usage and demanding artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots be policed like digital trespassers.

The debate was held in a sparsely attended Westminster Hall on Monday, Dec. 15. It revealed a widening chasm between public demands for digital freedom and political insistence on tighter regulation – raising alarms about censorship, surveillance, and the erosion of privacy in one of the world’s oldest democracies.

The OSA, enacted to shield children from harmful content such as pornography and violent extremism, has instead morphed into a sprawling censorship apparatus, forcing lawful political discussions and independent forums offline while empowering tech giants to act as arbiters of truth. Civil liberties groups warn that the law has effectively "childproofed" the internet for adults, requiring invasive age checks just to access basic content.

VPN usage surged by 700% in the UK following the OSA's implementation, as citizens scrambled to bypass restrictions. This prompted MPs like Jim McMahon (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) and Julia Lopez (Hornchurch and Upminster) to suggest regulating the privacy tools themselves.

Critics argue the OSA's vague language invites overzealous enforcement. Small forums, including fan communities and local message boards, have shuttered under the weight of compliance burdens, with one administrator of a message board for the soccer club Sunderland AFC nearly closing shop after struggling to navigate the British Office of Communications' (Ofcom) labyrinthine guidelines....<<<Read More>>>...

Families on Benefits ‘£18,000 Better Off’ Than Working Neighbours

New analysis by the Centre for Social Justice finds that families on modest incomes will be £18,000 worse off than parents on benefits after Rachel Reeves scrapped the two-child cap in the Budget. The Mail has more.

A salary of around £71,000 a year is now needed to match the benefits income for some bigger families, a think-tank has warned.

Calculations from the Centre for Social Justice have laid bare the impact of Labour’s decision to axe the two-child cap.

Rachel Reeves has been trumpeting the £3 billion a year move in the Budget, insisting it will slash child poverty.

A family with one adult full-time and one part-time worker would take home roughly £28,000 after tax, according to the estimates.

But that is £18,000 less than the welfare income now available to an equivalent three-child family outside work on combined benefits.

The CSJ – chaired by Tory former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith – said: “Matching that level of support through earnings alone would require a pre-tax salary of around £71,000.”

The split for single parents is even starker, the think-tank’s report said.

A parent with children on combined benefits would be expected to receive roughly £38,000 per year. That could rise to £43,000 if the adult themselves is receiving health benefits, according to the CSJ.

That is some £22,000 more than the take-home pay from a full-time job on £20,600....<<<Read More>>>...

The Ban on Controlled Burning of Moorland is Making Wildfires Worse

 Newly amended regulations are set to effectively ban the burning of vegetation on peatland with a peat depth greater than 30 cm anywhere above the moorland line. This will ban burning on around 1.6 million acres of the uplands. The Minister listed some alleged benefits of the ban, ranging from more wildlife to the unmanaged vegetation miraculously becoming immune to fire.

It is easy to ridicule the Minister, but whatever we think of her odd claims, it can’t be denied that this is a massive decision. She has brought to an end a form of land management that has been practised since time out of mind. A system that a Saxon Thane would have known, and which was old when the Brigantes ran Durham, will have gone from the land. Does it matter? Wasn’t it just a minor spat between selfish grouse shooters and nice conservationists? Isn’t fire always bad these days? I think that it does matter....<<<Read More>>>...

Scientists Demand Ban on Bacon, Claiming Link to 54,000 Cases of Cancer

A certain ideology that exists within the UK bans pork and pork derivatives in their diet ... this link to cancer seems like a cover story for something else ... the government being pressured by followers of this ideology to ban pork. The same ideology that is forcing Halal and religiously prepared food on the UK. Just saying. 

++++++++++++++++ 

Scientists are calling for a ban on supermarket bacon and ham after the chemicals used in their production were linked to more than 50,000 bowel cancer cases. The Mail has more.


A coalition of leading scientists says the refusal to ban nitrites – preservatives used to keep processed meats pink and long-lasting – has come at a devastating human and financial cost, with the NHS footing an estimated £3 billion bill to treat preventable cancers over the past decade.

Their analysis, based on figures from Cancer Research UK and the British Journal of Cancer, estimates that around 5,400 bowel cancer cases each year in the UK are caused by eating processed meats. Treatment costs for each patient average £59,000.

The warning comes exactly 10 years after the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen – placing it in the same risk category as tobacco and asbestos.

Despite this, ministers have done “virtually nothing” to reduce Britons’ exposure, according to Professor Chris Elliott OBE, founder of the Institute for Global Food Security and a former government adviser.

He said: “A decade on from the WHO report, the UK Government has done virtually nothing to reduce exposure to nitrites – the curing agents that make these products pink and long-lasting but also create nitrosamines, compounds known to trigger cancer.

“Every year of delay means more preventable cancers, more families affected and greater strain on the NHS.”

The scientists who worked on the original WHO report have now written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting urging him to ban nitrites in processed meats.

Their landmark report, published in 2015, analysed data from more than 800 studies and found that for every 50g of processed meat eaten a day, the risk of colorectal cancer increased by 18%.

Experts say it is specifically the combination of nitrates and processing methods used in meats such as bacon, ham and sausages that generates carcinogenic compounds when consumed.

Currently, up to 90% of bacon sold in the UK is thought to contain nitrites, which have been linked not only to bowel cancer but also breast and prostate cancers....<<<Read More>>>...

The ‘Covid’ Inquiry is Determined to Repeat School Closures

 Watching Gavin Williamson and Boris Johnson squirming in front of the Covid Inquiry this week, I couldn’t help but feel an unexpected dose of sympathy. For two gruelling and intensely infuriating days, they were grilled and at times attacked, delinquent school boys summoned back to the headteacher’s office for an exam style interrogation, the outcome of which had already been decided against them.

In what was the key week for Module 8, Williamson was called last Thursday, followed by Chris Whitty on Monday and then Johnson on Tuesday. As it happened, the hearings were of interest less for the salacious titbits emerging from witness testimony (that Johnson was left in a “homicidal” mood following the exams fiasco, that Williamson, poor chap, felt “completely fucked over by decisions on January 4th that I took the shit and abuse for”), and more for what the hearings said of the mindset of those overseeing the inquiry.

Whilst we barely needed a three-year long, quarter of a billion pound public inquiry to tell us that lockdown rules were a bit strict (Whitty) or that children paid a disproportionate price for the pandemic (Johnson), this module, like those that came before it, has been eye-opening in revealing an inquiry intent on proving its own predetermined view: that the pandemic response of blanket lockdowns and prolonged school closures was the right one, albeit exercised too little and too late....<<<Read More>>>...