Sunday Funnies...

 Any day now, HS2 will surely make the cut. 

They Always Turn On You In The End

No, not another dangerous dog post:

Actor and director Andy Serkis, famously the motion capture artist and voice behind Gollum in the original Lord of the Rings film trilogy, always seemed like a fine dude. And he has done a lot of charity work in his life. Yet in the last few years, he’s seemingly turned into an anti-cancel culture, AI-apologizing doofus who recently responded to criticism about his upcoming Lord of the Rings movie having an all-white cast by saying he isn’t concerned about “politically correct” casting.

The absolute monster! How dare he not genuflect at the altar of woke! 

People had criticized the original Peter Jackson-directed films for similar reasons, so some were surprised to see such a white cast for the new movie. Serkis is aware of the criticism of the past films and his new project, but seemed oddly indignant about it all.

As well he might, says anyone of a normal outlook. But this is Kotaku, which like most of the US based scifi review sites has been swallowed by the woke movement and is hopelessly in thrall to it.

“Yes, there have been criticisms,” said Serkis. “This particular film is somewhat acknowledging that. But I don’t think we will be doing a politically correct just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film. So, it’s where relevant basically.”He also suggested that the Hobbits’ home, The Shire, feels “very, very white” and added: “They’re not very concerned about what goes on beyond the borders of The Shire, but they know they don’t want people coming in.”

Sounds familiar... 

This is an especially odd thing to say considering some of the people of color cast in Amazon’s The Rings of Power were harassed so brutally online that Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan (who played Hobbits in the Jackson films) made an effort to defend the cast and calm people down. So Serkis using some of the same language that angry people online used about Rings of Power‘s non-white casting seems gross.

But in recent years, Serkis has repeatedly done and said stuff that has made me go, “When did you turn into a dick?”

Perhaps he hasn't turned into anything? 

Serkis’ 2018 comments about Scarlett Johansson planning to play a trans man (before she dropped out of the project) were resurfaced. And instead of sharing that he had listened to people and learned that, hey, maybe we should try to have better representation, he doubled down on his stance.

I'm guessing the reviewer, one Zack Zwiezen and yes, he looks exactly how I'd pictured him, can't see the trap in that sentence.

“Regardless of the color of your skin, regardless of how tall you are or short you are or what sex you are, regardless of how you identify, you should have the ability to play anything,” said Serkis in that interview.

C'mon, Andy, we all know what would happen if a studio was to cast a white actor (or a woman!) to play Martin Luther King. We all know this only goes one way. 

Serkis also made it clear that he would love to play Voldemort in the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series, joking that he would cut his nose off to play the villain.

HE'S IN LEAGUE WITH THE EVIL ONE*!  And he supports stuff we (the Royal 'we' of course) hate:

But it’s clear he is fine with AI becoming a part of filmmaking. He even recently starred in Young Washington, a movie that features scenes touched up and modified with genAI.

Odly enough, the commenters don't agree, he's getting absolutely bodied in the comment section, so maybe there's hope after all. 

 *JK Rowling of course

Yet Another....

It seems they come more frequently than buses these days...

A man has been arrested after a dog caused serious injuries to two people on Saturday. Sussex Police said officers were called to Sunningdale Court in the Southgate area of Crawley, West Sussex, at about 13:00 BST, following reports of a dog dangerously out of control.

Another XL bully? No, Reader, its successor as the four-legged weapon/penis substitute for social inadequates on the streets of Britain. 

Armed and neighbourhood policing officers were sent to the scene and the Cane Corso breed dog was secured and assessed before being "humanely put to sleep in the interest of public safety and animal welfare", said the force.

And the mutt's owner? 

A 27-year-old man, believed to be the animal's owner, was arrested in connection with the incident and remains in custody, police confirmed.

Sussex Police said it was investigating the circumstances and urged anyone with relevant information to get in touch.

One hopes the CPS won't drop the ball this time. The antisocial owners of these things need to be brought to heel. 

No Consequences Britain...

Daniel Dickons knocked the victim off her bike 'for no reason' - causing her to suffer multiple injuries, including a gash to her chin and an exposed kneecap. The 39-year-old was detained at Culver Parade in the Isle of Wight following the attack, while the woman - who had fallen onto the beach below - was taken to hospital.

Just another day in lawless Britain, where no-one is allowed to carry the means to defend oneself, because that is the purview of  the State.

The Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court heard the assault was unprovoked and happened ‘for no reason.’ The woman’s bike landed on top of her, and she was initially unable to move one of her legs. Emergency services attended the scene, including an air ambulance crew. The victim was taken to the hospital and discharged later that night.

Dickons, from the Isle of Wight, was detained at the scene by a member of the public before being arrested by police. The prosecutor told the court it remains unclear why Dickons carried out the attack, although he told officers he ‘thought it would be funny, so he did it.’

Just another Morlock wandering the streets of Britain… 

Dickons pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was handed a 52-week jail term, suspended for 24 months, to include a six-month alcohol treatment requirement and 35 rehabilitation days. Dickons was also ordered to pay £1,000 compensation.

That would be a pathetic sentence for a first time offender. 

Dickons has six previous convictions for six offences dating back to 2008.

Details aren’t given, but I suspect are all the same low impulse control offences which the justice system has so far failed to correct him of, and doesn’t see fit to even try this time. 

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Rosie said she had approached a woman in a car who looked to be struggling with a dog, but the dog turned and lunged for her, and bit her on her left hand. 

"It just went from bad to worse after that," she said.

Except for the arrival of a man, it would have been potentially fatal… 

As Rosie turned to run away, the dog, which had no collar or lead, got hold of the backs of her legs, resulting in puncture wounds to her legs, shins, ankles, torso, and knees. 

"I smashed my head on the road because the dog dragged me down to the floor and I've got extensive bruising everywhere. It's pretty horrific," said Rosie. 

A passing lorry driver stopped to save the screaming victim, hitting the dog, which was on top of Rosie, with a makeshift weapon.

"That lorry driver saved my life without question," she said.

 Yes, he did.

A young man and a woman were attacked earlier in the day.

Oh. No lorry driver around for them, then. Where were the cops?

Lancashire Police said it had received numerous reports of a dog attacking people, but no arrests had been made and no animal has been seized.

Why not? 

Melanie says the dog should be "seized and destroyed" to stop it from attacking others. 

"You're supposed to be protected in this country. You can't just leave it to be a dog that's free to do it again. It's shocking."

It is, undoubedly. It's nonetheless unsurprising.

And I Bet You Don't Feel As If You Played Any Part In Breaking It?

To call this Saturday the nation’s 250th birthday is to indulge a comfortable fiction. 1776 was a declaration, not a birth certificate – and the founders wrote its claims of human equality while this nation enslaved human beings

Says who? well, 'Jamil Smith is a Guardian US columnist' So you know what you’re in for.

So I’m not in the mood to celebrate “America 250”, and I’m not alone.

The affection is thin this summer: the Pew Research Center found that 69% of Americans were dissatisfied with the country’s direction early this year. That is not ingratitude. Sometimes a sour mood is simply clear vision.

Without the context, this statement is worthless. There's no definition of 'the country's direction' to say exactlt what they were dissatified with - it might as well have been the march of progressive ideas as the return of conservative ones.

Nearly 250 years later, the US is not a finished monument, but a structure still under repair, still contested – and in places being quietly stripped for parts.

Wait for it, wait for it… 

The president tried, by executive order, to read the children of undocumented and temporary residents out of the 14th amendment. The court blocked him, six to three – though only five justices joined the chief justice’s full constitutional reasoning. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, concurring, called the Reconstruction amendments “an anticaste, antisubordination reset”, not “a mere spot treatment for the dark stain of slavery”. The citizenship clause was not a gift the founders left us; it was a repair, built after Dred Scott, slavery and war to overrule a court that had made blood the measure of belonging.

Birthright citizenship is proof that the founding promise did not preserve itself; it had to be rebuilt into the constitution after the country’s own highest court exposed the lie beneath the celebration.

Does this man realise that the Founding Fathers were facing a much different world when they wrote that into the Constitution? 

The victory did not last the afternoon. Within hours, the president called the ruling “too bad for our Country” and told Congress to “start TODAY” on ending birthright citizenship, insisting no amendment was needed. That is not how the constitution works – ordinary legislation cannot rewrite a constitutional guarantee. But he is reaching for a door a sixth justice left ajar: Brett Kavanaugh wrote that Congress could carve out exceptions by statute. A repair can be upheld in the morning and marked for demolition by nightfall.

Repair also means seeing people as people. The court upheld state laws barring transgender girls from girls’ sports, and in the West Virginia case it let the category decide without asking whether excluding one child – who socially transitioned in grade school and took puberty blockers before she ever competed – actually served the state’s stated interests. That isn’t equal protection. It’s permission to discriminate.

The court upheld state laws banning BOYS from girls sport as the voters in that State evidently wanted...but discrimination is a 'bad' word, even when it's the right thing to do to protect the integrity and safety of female sport. 

Celebration will not house people, protect voters or repair what power is trying to break. A country can be taken apart slowly, lawfully, one ruling at a time – and the people taking it apart are not vandals but officials: a president who cancels a housing signing by lunchtime, a court that clears the way for the largest checks, all of it done in the name of patriotism. The answer is not fireworks, and it is not despair. It is to name plainly what is being damaged, and by whom – then to get busy fixing it.

Trump has named it - it's people like you, with an extreme progressive agenda - and he's getting busy fixing it.

White Woman 'Savior Syndrome ' Goes Wrong

A woman was left needing surgery after being mauled by her dog - which she had adopted on Facebook three weeks earlier. Charlotte Potts, 32, adopted the one-year-old Cane Corso cross American Bulldog from a breeder on Facebook.

Adopting a powerful breed from Facebook, what could possibly go wrong?  

Initially, the dog - called Blue - settled in well and Charlotte says he didn't "show any aggression" towards her and her family. But on her routine walk on Saturday morning, July 4, Blue turned on Charlotte and attacked her, sinking his jaws into her legs after ripping through her trousers.She called for her younger brother, eight, to run and leave the enclosed dog park and call for help whilst Blue continued to attack her. The dog then went for Charlotte's right arm which she allowed him to do whilst she used her left arm to tie his lead to a fence.

The kid is lucky it didn’t turn on him. She would never have fought it off. 

The whole ordeal lasted around eight minutes, and Charlotte was taken to hospital by ambulance whilst the dog was euthanised by the police.

With extreme prejudice, I hope!

"It felt like a really long time - I didn't think I was going to get out of there. There's six levels of dog bites, and six is fatal - this one was level five. I love dogs, but I want to raise awareness around making sure dogs are fully assessed before being rehomed."

Thanks a lot, sweetie but most of us are sensible enough not to acquire a misbegotten mutt of unknown background from social media in the first place! Certainly not one of a bloodsport heritage that probably outweighs us.

"I'd still be in hospital if it wasn't for my partner Rachel, and without my kick boxing background I don't think I'd have been strong enough to fight him off."

*bites tongue* 

In the weeks before the attack, police visited Charlotte after receiving an anonymous tip off that she owned an XL Bully. They determined that Blue was an American Bulldog by Vegetable taking a photo of his head and as a result, did not take him away.

Isn't it about time there were restrictions on dog ownership no matter the breed? Didn’t any of the cops take a look at the hulking brute and suggest to her she wouldn’t be able to control it if it went berserk?

Niche Interests

“We left Warrington at 5.15am this morning to get here,” Emma tells me, standing in a queue that stretches down Walton Street. It is just after 9am on a Saturday in Oxford, the students are still in bed and the tourists have yet to descend on the city, but this corner of Jericho is already buzzing.

It’s a queue for a new bookshop. That’s a good thing right? 

Oxford is rarely short of literary pilgrims. Every year, visitors flock to the colleges and libraries that shaped writers including JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and Iris Murdoch. But this crowd is here for something a little different. Instead of queueing for the Bodleian, they’re swapping recommendations for dragon riders and faerie kingdoms.  

Oh dear. 

The bright pink doors they’re waiting outside belong to Bad Girl Books, the UK’s first romantasy bookshop. The subgenre, blending fantasy and romance, has gone from niche online obsession to one of publishing’s biggest commercial success stories.

Yes my Kindle offers are usually stuffed with these, poorly written barely illiterate smut, but dragons are popular now so slapping a dragon on everything ensures it sells. 

Readers are immersing themselves in sprawling fantasy worlds of “enemies-to-lovers” storylines, where “fated mates” discover they were destined for each other all along, and brooding “shadow daddies” – dark, morally ambiguous male protagonists with supernatural powers – inspire devoted online fandoms.

Well, I have a taste for Laurel K Hamilton myself, but that tends to be rather better written than most of these. But at least it’s getting people reading.

“Last year I read about 100 romantasy books, and I’ve already read 60 this year,” says 22-year-old Izzy, who has been waiting in the queue with her friend since 7.30am. “I used to hate reading when I was in school, but then I discovered romantasy, and realised that there is a whole world of books out there that I really enjoy. It’s an escape from reality.”

And that's got to be a good thing, right? 

Inside, shelves are divided into categories including “Monster Smut”, “Unhinged” and “LGBTQ+”. T-shirts and caps proclaim “I Heart Fictional Men” and “Dibs on the Villain”; tote bags read: “I Like My Books Like I Like My Margaritas – Spicy”, and “My Favourite Colour Is Morally Grey.”

Oh, well, maybe not! 

More Undue Leniency

Charles Wood, Head of the Bench, said the CCTV footage placed the offence in the most serious category under sentencing guidelines. 

He said: 'The CCTV footage is very clear, and having seen it we determine this is a category A1 offence, the most serious offence. 

'The traffic light you went through was red for a significant period of time, as much as eight seconds. 

'Nine times out of ten this wouldn't happen, but it's precisely because of the possible consequences that we have such things in place. 

'The fact is: it did happen.'

And despite that, and the fact the crash she caused involved a police car on an emergency call, the courts merely patted her on the head and said 'there, there..' 

As well as the suspended eight-month jail term, Wright was banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay £272 in costs.

So much for keeping death off the roads, we'll just have to hope she'll never be able to get insurance in the future. 

No compensation was ordered for Merseyside Police or Constable Thompson as those are covered by insurance and would constitute a civil matter.

🤬 

What The State Did To These Women Was Far Worse Than Anything The Father Did..

Mark walked away with no criminal record or any form of monitoring. He was not placed on the sex offender register and there is nothing he has to disclose to an employer or a partner.

Because he hadn't broken any law, he's written some fiction. That this fiction involved the sexual abuse of his daughter is neither here nor there.

All images of children being abused are grounds for arrest, even when the men are not physically abusing anyone. Yet Emily’s case turned out to be not so clearcut in the eyes of the police. Were written fantasies about child abuse, shared on a legal site, against the law?

In short, no. Not even when an undercover police officer is watching.

This question would lead Emily all the way to parliament to try to toughen the law on sex chat sites.

Of course it did. 

The sexual assault charges against Mark were dropped and changed to the sending by public electronic communication messages of an indecent, obscene or menacing character under the Communications Act 2003. A court date was set and Emily and Fiona expected Mark to plead guilty as he had never denied the horrendous way he had described abusing Emily online.

But that was before he sort legal advice clearly. 

Within days of the arrest, Fiona took radical steps to completely reshape the life that Mark had blown to pieces. “I had a job interview a couple of days later and I just went to it in a daze. I barely remember it but I got the job, and at that moment I decided I would move house and start the new job as soon as I could.”

While Fiona was preparing to move, Emily was going down a rabbit hole into the darkest recesses of the internet. She began to read all she could about sex chat sites and was horrified to learn how easy it is to step straight into sexual chats about children.She wanted the police to know Mark hadn’t touched her, but she wanted him to be prosecuted for sharing his child abuse fantasies online. And she wanted to be recognised as a victim, something the police didn’t seem to understand.

Of course, victim status, what every teenager desires most these days. 

But one day in the run-up to the court hearing, Fiona got a text from Mark saying he was not going to plead guilty. “He said, ‘I’ve found a loophole.’ With help from his lawyer, he had found a way to plead not guilty.”

Just days before the court hearing, the police got in touch. They were dropping the case. “They told us that, after discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service, they didn’t think there was a realistic chance of conviction. The officer I spoke to told me that in the eyes of the law, Emily was not a victim and therefore no crime had been committed. He actually said that in this situation the ‘victim’ was the undercover officer as they were the ones who read the messages.”

Once again the CPS dropped the ball, but shouldn’t they have realised that there was no law broken here before it got this far? 

Fiona has seen Mark only once since the case was dropped: when she met him to get his signature on divorce papers. She saw then how happy he was to have escaped prosecution. “He made it clear that he considered it a prudish response, the public disapproval of a private fetish. We were prudes, the police were as well. It might have been embarrassing to have the messages revealed, but it wasn’t anything that should involve the law.”

Nor should it be. We don't criminalise people for writing fiction. Even if it's distasteful fiction.

For both Fiona and Emily, there is a feeling that people looking in at their situation might be judging them, questioning why they didn’t spot the signs.

They might well ask... 

She and Mark had had their ups and downs. “He was controlling of me. I had discovered in the past he had been chatting to women online. We went to therapy to work on our relationship and I thought we were both putting in effort. Just before this happened I had been feeling he had a swagger to him. Now I know it is because he was still getting fulfilled by a secret online life.”

And like vengeful women everywhere, she cannot tolerate the thought. And is being used by people who do not have her or her daughter's wellbeing ay heart to push their own agenda.. 

McGlynn wants to see “a specific criminal offence to advocate, counsel or glorify child sexual abuse in text”, which would cover discussions in chatrooms and beneath videos on porn sites.

The State should not be encouaging women or men to believe that something they find distateful falls within its purview for the dead hand of the State to resolve. 

Tough! Live With It....

 

...especially if you are going to tell us a nobody from Rotherham drove 300 miles to kill her, but you have 'no information' that it was a politically motivated killing. Well, you have it now, don't you, and counter-terror has the investigation as a result.

CCTV shared with police from the day of Widdecombe’s death showed a man leaving a Rotherham address linked to the suspect at 7am and driving off in a Vauxhall Corsa, the Times reported.

Who shared it with them, and why?

Sir Peter Fahy, the former chief constable of Greater Manchester police, said there had been a “very noticeable trend” for politicians, including government ministers, to comment on police incidents and murder investigations while they were still unfolding.

They no longer trust you either! And they are right to...giving you access to the media is like giving alcopops and matches to a ADHD toddler and expecting the house not to burn down.

'But Since That's The Plot Of Every James Bond Film, They Didn't Think It Mattered'

A secret inquiry by MI5's watchdog concluded the security service knew an abusive agent it defended in court was a misogynist who was "obsessed" with violence, the BBC can reveal.

Hard to see why they’d feel they had to care about that… 

The inquiry took place after BBC News originally exposed how MI5 had covered up for the man - a neo-Nazi informant known publicly as agent X. The government took the BBC to court in 2022 in a failed attempt to block our investigation, but it won agent X legal anonymity.

Useful in a spy, but didn’t he already have it? 

Following the BBC story, the office of the investigatory powers commissioner (IPCO) Sir Brian Leveson launched an inquiry, which - like much of IPCO's work - was secret. Details of the inquiry can now be reported for the first time.

• IPCO - which oversees the use of covert investigatory powers, including the UK's intelligence agencies - concluded: "Strong indications" of agent X's interest in violence, including video footage of him threatening his girlfriend with a machete, did not lead to an MI5 review of his suitability of as an agent.

•  IPCO said it "should have done" (sic) agent X was "openly misogynistic" with his MI5 handlers, who knew he was involved with a "pick up artistry" movement that seeks to exploit women for sex, but "none of this attracted much attention" from the handlers MI5 knew agent X was "obsessed" with violence, because he told them, and there were indications he might be a threat to others "arising from his general interest in extreme violence". 
• But IPCO said there was a "lack of sufficient professional curiosity" about him by MI5.

Frankly, if he was a good agent, should it have mattered at all?

I Must Have Missed The News That Hungary Was A War-Torn Nation

A Hungarian teenager broke into the bungalow of an elderly couple in a terrifying raid that left their beloved dog dead.The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted charges of robbery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Is he a refugee? There's no war in Hungary, is there? Why is he here?

The boy was not charged with any animal cruelty offence and police treated the dog's death as unexplained.

More lazy policing. 

The teenager fled with Mrs Thompson's mobile phone and purse but was soon arrested in a park.

In a statement issued at the time, South Yorkshire Police said: 'Violence and abhorrent acts of this kind have no place in our communities and will not be tolerated. 'An elderly couple has been physically and mentally affected by this incident, and we will do all we can to ensure justice is served.'

Well, you didn't in this case, dis you? And the rest of the so-called 'justice system' didn't do any better. 

The boy was handed a two-year detention and training order at Sheffield Magistrates' Court on July 1.

Pathetic, but surely to be followed up by a deportation order? 

Oh, and that police promise? A lie, like every statement they make these days:

Police refused to disclose his nationality, claiming doing so was not in the public interest.

What would they know of the public interest, since it's clear they no longer serve it? 

Cruel, Maybe...

 

...but apposite! Matt always has his finger on the pulse

Sunday Funnies...

 "House of the Dragon" costumiers had to get inspiration from somewhere...

Well, Yes, 'Trying To Wipe Away The Evidence Of Their Mistakes' Is What They Always Do!

Children who were groomed, sexually abused and then prosecuted for crimes, including prostitution, are still being failed, the author of a landmark report has said. Baroness Louise Casey, who led the national investigation into grooming gangs, called on the government last year to quash any convictions of victims who were criminalised when they should have been protected.

We really shouldn't have expected anything else of this failing government, should we? 

"Everybody told me that I was this problem - that I was guilty and I had committed a crime," she said. Her criminal record of more than 40 prostitution convictions has prevented her from applying for jobs, going to college, travelling abroad and even volunteering at her children's school. Joanne and thousands of people like her are due to be pardoned for loitering or soliciting, following the new legislation. However, she said the law change does not go far enough.

She has soliciting convictions from when she was aged 18 and was still being trafficked. However, the change in the law does not recognise adult convictions, so those will remain.

They had to draw a line somewhere. And they chose to draw it here.

Baroness Casey said, one year on, the government had made "huge progress in many areas" but on the issue of quashing the convictions of child sexual exploitation victims, "they haven't gone far enough, quickly enough". She said she wanted to hold the government to account.

That's our job, the voters, and we do it by kicking the bastards out. Why don't you concentrate your fire on the people we have no recourse for, the unelected civil serpents who made the decisions?

Fiona said the government's decision to only remove convictions for child prostitution offences feels "like they're trying to wipe away the evidence of their mistakes and their incorrect labelling rather than actually trying to fix an issue".

It feels like it because that's always what they try to do. 

Not With Any More Taxpayer's Money, You've Had Quite Enough

The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak now being fought across the region shows again what Africa already knows. When an emergency arrives, the continent cannot wait on distant supply chains or other people’s goodwill. It must make and move the things that keep its people alive. The fight to end Aids by 2030 runs on the same truth.

When is it going to start standing on its own two feet then? Instead of whining about people expecting them to do just that?

Africa has earned the right to set the terms of that fight. Over two decades the continent helped turn the epidemic around. Aids-related deaths have fallen by 59% since 2010 and new infections by 68%. Nearly 22 million Africans are alive today on daily treatment. Keeping them alive is a permanent commitment.

Only because the Western taxpayer was paying, and not voluntarily either!

That obligation now meets a hard fact. External health aid to Africa was estimated to have fallen by 70% between 2021 and 2025. The model that brought the response this far, in which Africa delivered while others financed and directed, is ending whether or not anyone plans for it.

And not a moment too soon. 

The Common Africa Position for this week’s 2026 High-Level Meeting at the UN in New York on HIV/Aids is Africa’s answer. Agreed across member states, experts and institutions, it speaks with one voice. It is built on the Africa Health Security and Sovereignty agenda, which heads of state adopted to treat health as a matter of sovereignty rather than charity.

It’s bad news for Mercedes & BMW, but every silver lining has a cloud… 

Really? In A Female Dominated Workplace?

Gender-based prejudices carry disturbing echoes of historical patriarchal assumptions and myths about the mysteries of female bodies. They lead to women being perceived as anxious, hysterical or irrational, and can result in their symptoms being dismissed as psychological rather than physical, if they are taken account of at all.

And that’s not all… 

This gender bias is compounded for Black and other ethnically non-white women by racial stereotypes. One of these, the belief that women from particular ethnic groups have higher or lower levels of pain tolerance, has the same outcome – inaccurate, mistimed or missing pain relief in labour.

People who have recently used maternity services, or visited an NHS hospital, may find this surprising, because the make-up of staff is invariably nearly 100% ethnic minorities. As well as usually overwhelmingly female!

It is vital now to implement ways to regulate for safer care in a learning healthcare system which recognises the valuable contribution to safe and compassionate care that women’s voices can make.

Better start recognising some home truths instead! 

So Shame Does Still Exist...

Four councillors who voted to allow a rapist taxi driver to keep his operator's licence have quit Highland Council's licensing committee.

Good!  

David Brown, 50, was jailed for six years and nine months in May after attacking an 18-year-old female passenger in December 2023. Last month, following a request from Brown's family, the committee's six male councillors voted to allow his operator's licence to continue, while its four female councillors voted against it.

 What were they thinking?

After criticism of the decision, the chairman Sean Kennedy along with John Grafton, Duncan Macpherson and Willie MacKay have resigned from the committee. Independent councillor MacKay has also resigned as a councillor, while Grafton has been suspended by the Scottish Liberal Democrat group on Highland Council.

SNP councillor Chris Birt, another one of the six male councillors, has been asked by his party's leader on the council, Raymond Bremner, to resign from the committee.

Asked? He should have been fired! 

Visceral Loathing Sums It Up Nicely

On a bone-chillingly cold morning in January, it felt as if I had suddenly found at least part of the reason for Keir Starmer’s chronic unpopularity. I was in the Mancunian constituency of Gorton and Denton, where the prime minister and his people’s decision to block Andy Burnham from standing was about to hand victory to the Green party. More specifically, I was in a forlorn covered market about to be regenerated into a “food and drink cluster”, talking to a sixtysomething man nursing a mug of tea.

What a strange thing to go looking for, but that’s the Guardian for you! 

What, I wondered, did he think of the man at the top? He gave me roughly the same answer that I’d heard from a lot of my other interviewees: “I really don’t like him at all.” But like most other people I met that day, he couldn’t quite explain what fired his antipathy, which seemed to make it worse. His face scrunched into a mixture of scepticism and exasperation. “I don’t know why – I just don’t,” he said.

It’s visceral. It defies description.

The most specific answer I got from anyone else was: “He hasn’t done what he said he’d do.” So there it was: as well as a modern tendency to loathe politicians that regularly seems arbitrary, whipped-up and way over the top, a sense that Starmer’s sheer blankness – his painful lack of clarity and the absence of a halfway coherent story about his own government – was making a lot of people dislike and mistrust him all the more.

It is not unreasonable, I think, to see the entire Starmer project as one gigantic volte-face, given what he promised to the 275,000 Labour members who gave him the job of leader: a 10-point leftwing shopping list that included everything from multiple nationalisations to the defence of migrants’ rights.

And in the end, how many of them did he actually provide? 

When Starmer was the leader of the opposition, moreover, the public got a sharp flavour of his seemingly limitless flexibility. In June 2020, he and Angela Rayner were photographed taking the knee in support of Black Lives Matter; by 2022, Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum jubilee had begun Starmer’s passage into an increasingly bizarre world of flags and zealous patriotism. By that point, I could not help but think of a pearl of wisdom beloved of the market traders of the West Midlands: “Never make a mug of your punter.”

He stood for nothing, so he fell for everything. 

His government – and yes, it did quite a few good things, from gradual rail nationalisation to the Renters’ Rights Act, improved rights at work, more NHS funding and finally taking a step back towards Europe – was seemingly locked into regular bursts of confusion and absurdity: witness a reference on the Labour List website to “six milestones, five missions, [and] three foundations”.

And of course to the average Guardian reader, those do look like positive things. Back to the rest of us, and they don’t.

From such murk emerged the endlessly unfolding Peter Mandelson affair, and that was pretty much that. “No 10 symbolises the principles of public life in this country: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership,” Starmer said in 2022. If you were now to read those words out to the average member of the public, they would surely collapse in contemptuous mirth.

Such qualities, of course, are more important than ever. But in the era of TikTok, Instagram and all the rest (if you are old enough), people now favour leaders who are flamboyant, outspoken, capable of delivering surprises and able to look as if they enjoy what they do. Surreal modern levels of scrutiny also mean that basic consistency – or a talent for faking it – is usually an absolute must.

We’ll see how good bodybags Burnham does in the popularity stakes soon.

How Many More Of These Do We Have To Tolerate?

Two people have been arrested after a pit bull-type dog attacked a woman and seriously injured her pet.The unaccompanied dog attacked the victim's pet, near Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough on Sunday, leaving it requiring emergency veterinary treatment.

The puppy, a German Shepherd, did not survive. 

Cleveland Police said the woman received hospital treatment after being bitten and due to the "potential risk to other people in the immediate area" a specially trained officer had to put the pit bull-type dog down near the scene.

And by ‘specially trained officer’ they been an ARV occupant, who shot the vicious mutt dead, causing howls of anguish from the usual suspects… 

The force said a man and a woman in their 30s were arrested in connection with the incident and have since been bailed.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Sutherland said: "We understand anyone who witnessed the initial attack or the aftermath may have experienced shock or distress, however, the safety of the public is always paramount." The force has launched an appeal for information and is in contact with experts who will carry out tests to establish the breed of the dog which carried out the attack.

Tests that can be carried out on a dead animal, so why the need to take others alive? 

How Dare You Tell Me I Have To Change My Behaviour!

'We would like to see more emphasis on suitable calming measures to alert cyclists of the need for a change in behaviour, to slow down and give way to pedestrians. 'There are points in the guidance where it almost seems that cyclists should not be inconvenienced by such measures.'

This is the revelation that the government tried to squash a review into 'floating' bus stops by their own disabled persons transport advisory committee (DPTAC).

The DPTAC's report from 2025, which was marked as 'official - sensitive', was the group's response to draft government guidance on floating bus stops. However, it was uncovered last month through a Freedom of Information request - and has been seen by the Daily Mail.

Last November, the Government ordered a pause on the installation of stops, where people getting off a bus have to step onto a live cycle lane. However, Sarah Gayton, of the National Federation of the Blind of the UK, which uncovered the report, has called for an immediate halt to all floating bus stops. 'This is supposed to be the Labour party but they treat disabled people with contempt.'

Oh Sarah, you're not special, they treat everone with contempt. 

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has called for the roll-out of all forms of floating bus stop to be halted until they can be proven safe. It previously found through testing that trained guide dogs are naturally predisposed to avoid floating bus stops because they don't think they are safe for their handler.

The dogs figured it out, why can't the people with all the qualifications in government? 

Translating Modern Plod Statements

Allow me to read between the lines to discover the real story behind what seems to have been, at first glance, a tragic car crash.

The driver of the Vauxhall, a man aged 43, was taken to hospital for treatment following the collision and was initially arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving while unfit through drink or drugs. However he has now been held by police on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Walker, who is leading the investigation, said: 'Following initial enquiries, I can confirm this collision is now being treated as a murder investigation and the suspect has been re-arrested on suspicion of murder.

 'We treated this as a simple collision, because jumping to conclusions is what we do now, but then it turned out we'd been aware of trouble with this man before, so now the IPCC is startuing to turn up the heat'

'My thoughts continue to be with the victim's family and all that knew her. Her next of kin have been informed of this latest development in the investigation and they continue to be supported by specially trained officers.

 'And their main task is to prevent anyone raiding concerns and tipping off the press that we might have dropped a bollock here.'

'I appreciate this update may increase community concern, however please be reassured that there is no risk to the wider public and we are working to piece together the events which led to this tragic incident.

 'We are sweating cobs that nothing surfaces to get us criticised for failing to do anything before this man murdered someone'

'We remain keen to hear from any witnesses or anyone who might have dash cam footage from the area of the collision at the time.

 'Please help us do our jobs even though we won't thank you for it' 

'In addition, any witnesses who have dash cam footage of a black Vauxhall Astra from Cricklade High Street, Purton High Street, and surrounding areas on Tuesday June 30th.'

'Yes, I know every tiny high street in the land is bristling with CCTV but going through them all is boring and we'd rathere you did it for us' 

Hardly A Representative Sample!

Villagers say they have "no concerns" over proposals to turn a former RAF base just outside Norfolk's border into housing for asylum seekers.

Really? 

The Justice minister Jake Richards acknowledged the Government would face local opposition as officials look to house migrants in UK hotels.

Were they wrong then? 

On the streets of Barnham, those who spoke to this paper said they saw no concern or problems with the proposal.

Aha! How many? 

Sid Bullock said the majority of asylum seekers were no trouble.He added: "Not a problem with it. Not really."

Emma Moss said: "I'm impartial. If people need help then we should give it to them. The location has good links to Thetford and the village is quite diverse anyway." 

Another local, who wised (sic) to remain anonymous, said: "I have no objection to it. Anyone who comes here seeking support it should be the British way to help them. "No concern whatsoever. I feel sorry for the refugees because it’s a bit out the way and and the gates are right on a busy road."

Three, out of a village of how many? In the end, 200 protestors turned up! And people wonder why local journalism is dying… 

H/T: Dave Ward via email

Here Comes The Whitewash

A council is investigating the care given to a disabled man accused of throwing a three-year-old boy into a crocodile pit over suspected neglect concerns.

Yes, he is alleged to have thrown a toddler into a pit of crocodiles, but he's potentially the real victim here... 

Norfolk County Council has opened a safeguarding inquiry into the support provided to the 30-year-old after he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder on June 18.

A spokesperson for the local authority said it was working with 'partners in the health and care system to identify and review all those individuals receiving care from this provider and to ensure the care they are receiving is of the quality and consistency they expect and deserve'.

In case carers from the same agency are in the habit of taking potential public dangers to zoos that might have enclosures of dangerous creatures?

While the suspect was from Norfolk, it is understood his care was not commissioned, provided or paid for by Norfolk County Council.

Interesting...will we ever find out why? I suspect not. 

They Aren't Dubbed 'Carnage Corsos' For Nothing...

A man has been banned from owning a dog for seven years and has had four of his pets taken away after he pleaded guilty to having a dog dangerously out of control in a public place. Leyion Charles-Bain, 64, of Military Road, Northampton, was also given a one-year community order by the town's magistrates.

Yes, it’s the replacement mutt for the bloodsport breed enthusiast who doesn’t want an XL bully any more, because of the hassle of compliance with restrictions.  The sort that a man half his age would find it difficult to control.

Police said Charles-Bain had been walking two cane corsos - a large, muscular, mastiff-type breed - on The Racecourse, a park near the town centre, on 6 March 2025 when they had attacked two other dogs. Charles-Bain's four dogs were handed over to the police for rehoming.

For ‘rehoming’ in a vet’s incinerator one hopes… 

Meanwhile, in another county:

A dog owner was found dead days after his two pets were put down after being visited by police. Arminas Jakubauskas, 34, was discovered dead at his home on Northgate in Lowestoft on Saturday. Lowestoft Police had said before Mr Jakubauskas’ death that officers attended his home in the town on Monday, June 22 “due to safety concerns raised by the owner of two dogs”.

Suffolk police said the dogs “were assessed to be dangerous and a risk to public safety” and were sedated by specially trained officers before being taken to a vet.

The statement added: “The dogs, with the permission of the owner, were then euthanised.”

And the family dispute this, of course, scenting compo the way a cane corso scents a delicious toddler… 

The Lithuanian national who lived alone was described by his sister, Eglè Jakubauskaitė, as “a lovely man who always had a smile on his face”.However, Ms Jakubauskaitė, who lost contact with Mr Jakubauskas on June 24, believes her brother wouldn’t have allowed his dogs, Brisius and Merė, to be killed. 

“We have also been told that it was publicly stated that he had requested for his dogs to be euthanised. 

“Our family believes this is not true. He loved his dogs deeply and could never have wanted this to happen. 

The claim is going to be that the cops bullied him into it, no doubt. That’s already the claim from the ‘ae, poor doggies’ crowd on social media, naturally.

“The loss of his dogs had a profound impact on his mental state.” 

Ms Jakubauskaitė explained that the family believed that the events surrounding their euthanasia contributed to his poor mental health, which ultimately led to his death.

He sounds just like the kind of unstable, easily-led individual who shouldn’t travel been put in charge of powerful and aggressive mutts! 

A Device That Could Only Be Thought Up in Britain In 2026

cannot believe the uselessness of these hooks in the toilets at st. thomas's hospital pic.twitter.com/Uqd7aSwRgF

— Carrie Walsh (@carrie_walsh_) June 30, 2026

Commenters have suggested that they are specially designed to prevent suicide by hanging, and I can believe it, because it’s typical of the NHS to install something so utterly useless, rather than simply have no hook on the doors at all. 

I shudder to think how much they cost! 

That Tune's Familiar: Parody Songs

This is a really popular one to parody, and this one in particular is just sublime, as well as handy if you're struggling through the book!

The North/South Divide Will Continue....

 

...if Matt has anything to say about it!

Sunday Funnies...

 Typical American-centered site, they left out Fred and Rose West!

A Failure Of Training? Or Just 'Wales'?

Not to tread on Longrider's turf here, but this story caught my eye in the week...

A fatal train crash could have been avoided if a driver had used an emergency system designed to reduce speed, an investigation has found.

They stated it had “not occurred to them” to use their train’s manually operated sander, according to a report into a head-on collision between two trains in mid Wales on October 21 2024.

Eh? 

It happened near Talerddig in Powys on a rural section of the Cambrian line, which is predominantly single track with loops to allow trains travelling in opposite directions to pass each other.Despite braking, a westbound Transport for Wales (TfW) train failed to stop as intended inside a loop and rejoined the single line too soon, crashing into an oncoming train run by the same operator.

Slippery leaves on the line was the main cause, but not the only one. 

The RAIB revealed in an interim report in April last year that the westbound train’s automatic system did not work in the moments before the crash because of several failures, including blocked hoses, electrical faults and incorrectly installed plates measuring the flow rate of sand.

Oh dear... 

The RAIB said a rule book for TfW drivers states they should deploy the emergency sander “when a train is unable to stop in the usual distance” and its use may avoid a collision.

But the driver – who was not identified in the report – did not recall “any training” on the system and had not previously used it, according to the report.

I tend to think that at the moment you realise a crash is inevitable, you'd be pressing/pulling anything you felt might help! 

An RAIB survey of other TfW drivers after the accident “revealed a lack of clarity” about the circumstances requiring the system to be used, investigators said.

And this is the country that demands people take training courses before buying a pet rabbit. 

Abomination!

A few years ago, my family and I went on holiday to Denmark. In between Legoland and the airport, we stopped at roadside services for lunch. As we ate our chicken and chips, I spotted a man eating what appeared to be an enormous burger covered in gravy – using a knife and fork, as to do otherwise would have been logistically challenging.

I find a lot of the so-called 'gourmet' burgers to require a knife and fork or careful dismantling to eat, especially if they come with a little stake through the middle to hold them together. Covering them in gravy is a new form of diner inconvenience though... 

I had always thought that gravy was a uniquely British invention and holidays to France, Spain and Italy had done nothing to change that view. However, after some quick Googling, I discovered that the man was eating a bøfsandwich, colloquially known as a “gravy burger”.

I didn't have to google, there's a picture of this gatronomic disaster in the article, and as someone who loathes gravy, I cannot understand it's popularity at all. 

This creation is local to Jutland, although is now spreading around Denmark and probably dates back to the 1950s.

It's a firm 'no' from me. 

You Actually Think You're 'Saving Democracy'?

The Guardian puzzles over US politics again...

Try as we might, we could not close the deal at every door. I still think regularly about a Bucks County man I met in the fall of 2024 who told me that he could not imagine his state supporting Donald Trump, but he refused to cast a vote for Kamala Harris. I wish I had done more to convince him to hold strong for democracy.

He was 'holding strong for democracy', though - he just wasn't prepared to listen to some stranger who wanted him to change his vote. 

Does the door-to-door approach still work when Republicans are successfully using digital strategies that seem to bypass the doorbell entirely? Free votes is a cornerstone of democracy.

It's a credit to the political situation that you are allowed to canvass, but it's pointless crying 'foul!' when people use technology to avoid you... 

Those questions feel valid, particularly in a country where so many have fallen prey to the lures of Trumpian authoritarianism.

Of course, they’ve been ‘lured’, it can’t possibly be because they weighed up the alternative and found it wanting… 

For those of us who have been feeling unmoored by the state of the country and the future of US democracy, those doors are where our ideals meet unforgiving reality. If we want to build a better future, we will have to do it right here, surrounded by unfriendly dogs and intrusive Ring doorbell cameras.

The only legitimate  reason to own a pitbull, to keep people like this away!

Headline Of The Year!

 

Pet ferrets kept as therapy animals at the UK’s largest children’s prison have been co-opted by managers to kill rats, resulting in a bloody incident and concerns over child and animal welfare.

Sensible use of resources, give them a medal! 

The unorthodox method of vermin control was waved through last month at HMYOI Wetherby in West Yorkshire following a surge in rat numbers in prison offices and grounds.

According to a union complaint seen by the Guardian, the decision resulted in a boy who looks after ferrets witnessing an “inappropriate and potentially distressing” savaging of a screaming rat.Another complaint suggests the gored (!) rodent was then “stomped to death” by a senior staff member in front of prison officers. 

I wonder what the witness had done to be incarcerated, probably something a lot worse, so I am not convinced he’s a shrinking violet around violent acts. 

The incident once again highlights the vermin-ridden conditions in which children and adults are detained within the prison estate across England and Wales.

Permission to use ferrets to hunt rats was given by a named member of the senior management team, the HSE complaint said.

Prison Service sources blamed the influx of rats at Wetherby on building work disturbing a rats’ nest. A Youth Custody Service spokesperson said: “This was an isolated incident relating to maintenance works. HMYOI Wetherby has since strengthened its pest control procedures to keep vermin out.”

So long as it similarly strengthens its security to keep vermin IN too, I could care less. 

This Is Not Justice!

Zoe Graham, 38, broke down in court as she told a judge she was sorry after smashing her Range Rover into mum-of-three Samantha Keen on August 9, 2023. Graham said she was late to pick up her own kids from school when she overtook a line of cars, illegally crossing a double white line.

The video of the crash is horrific and the perpetrator’s description as ‘the wife of a singer’ set my teeth on edge, I knew straight away, before I googled, we wouldn’t be talking about opera, here. 

Mrs Keen was turning right, crossing the carriageway in front of Graham, who crashed into her at at least 50mph near Ringmer.

After the crash, summer plans were cancelled and the family had to move in with Mrs Keen’s mother.

It's only through modern car design for safety that she isn’t dead, along with her children! 

I have permanent physical and mental difficulties," she said. She suffers from anxiety caused by 'ugly scars on my face' and will need medication for the foreseeable future. Mrs Keen also had to give up kickboxing and experiences increased anxiety in cars.

But this isn’t a court of law, apparently, it’s a circus of competing victim statuses. You’d imagine there’s only one victim here, but no…

Crying in the dock, she said: "I’m so sorry. "My children and I went through nine years of domestic violence."My ex used to make me really late or wouldn’t let me pick them up which made them really anxious. 

"I have an autistic child. 

"When I saw the double white lines. 

"I thought there was a break in the lines. 

"I was a little bit late to pick my boys up. 

"They suffer with anxiety and I felt the need to get there.

I would have thought their ‘anxiety’ would only be heightened by being in a car with someone who drives like this.  But, Reader, it worked:

Lewes Crown Court in Hove heard Graham was originally charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving. The Crown accepted her guilty plea to the lesser charge of causing serious injury by careless driving

.Once again, the lazy bastards in the CPS dropped the ball!

His Honour Judge David Rennie told Graham: "The pre-sentence report has given me a wealth of information about you, your family and your background. 

"I’ve read references from people who know you very well and they speak very highly of you. 

"I’ve read and considered the report from the consultant psychiatrist. 

"I regard what you did on this occasion as wholly out of character. 

"I have no doubt you are deeply, deeply sorry for what you did to - as you say - another mum."

She was spared jail after admitting causing serious injury by careless driving.

Graham was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months and banned from driving for a year.

Not even banned for life! So much for keeping death off the roads!

Yes, I Think It Will Be Necessary...

 The travellers who the police described as 'generally good, if left alone' have moved on.

"They were instructed to clear up any mess and were provided with bin liners.A clean-up of the site will be scheduled if necessary."

Travellers clean up? It is to laugh...

A new padlock and chain have been fastened to the gate at Maise's Meadow.

Won't take them long to break it.  

H/T: Dave Ward via email

Is It OK If They Aren't Fresh Off A Dinghy, Then?

Seven Afghan refugees are to stand trial next year accused of 32 offences of raping two girls in Norwich, after appearing in court amid heightened security and tense scenes.

The defendants - who appeared in the dock and spoke through interpreters - all denied 38 offences against the girls, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said to have taken place between August 2023 and May 2025.

That thing they tell us never happens appears to have happened again! 

Judge Katharine Moore (Ed: oh )said the trial, due to start on January 11, would be in front of a High Court Judge.

Hopefully not a female member drawn from the lanyard classes! 

The court heard from prosecutor Felicia Davy KC that an eighth suspect is currently in the Republic of Ireland awaiting extradition to the UK when it is likely he will also be charged with related offences.

Appearing in court on Friday were: 

Jamil Khalil, 20, of High Street, Dumbarton, Scotland, represented by Will Carter, charged with seven counts of rape and one count of human trafficking. He is also jointly charged with one offence of conspiracy to rape. 

Ahmadin Ahmadzai, 21, of Pottergate, Norwich, represented by Andrew Oliver, charged with nine counts of rape, one count of human trafficking, two counts of conspiracy to rape, and one count of doing an act to pervert the course of justice. 

Qais Kaker, 20, of Black Horse Opening, Norwich, represented by Ed Renvoize, charged with four counts of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape and one count of human trafficking. 

Fazal Auryakhel, 20, of Eleanor Road, Norwich, represented by John Morgans, charged with one count of rape. 

Mohammed Farooq Sinwary, 20, of St Benedicts Street, Norwich, represented by Stephen Spence, charged with two counts of rape. 

Ali Ahamad, 21, of Barnards Yard, Norwich, represented by Oliver Haswell, charged with one count of rape and three counts of human trafficking. 

Sayed Wahid Daviodzai, 20, of St Benedicts Street, Norwich, represented by Ian James, charged with four counts of rape and one count of conspiracy to rape.

 That’s a lot of men with no English who’ve spent a long time in this country. Why?

The press bench in Court One was also packed with two journalists from the BBC's Pashto service, Al Hussaini and Nadeem Ashraf, joining local BBC colleagues as well as ITV reporters.

 Of course we should expect it…

Norfolk Constabulary has confirmed that none of the suspects had lived in asylum hotels in the county and that none of the alleged offences took place at those locations.They have been in the country for between three and six years and the alleged offences are said to have occurred between August 2023 and May 2025.

And that makes it better does it? 

H/T: Dave Ward via email

Sounds About Right For Essex Police…

The incident has been reported to Essex Police, who are investigating the attack. Mr Ahmed said: "I think the group was from another city - they don't have expensive things like computers and phone so they try to steal.

"Dealing with underage people is especially hard for us because the police told us they could not punish them as they are still minors.

There’s a picture of the miscreants at the news report trying to batter their way into the shop, and if you had an image of cheeky schoolboys in short trousers, catapult sticking out of a back pocket, thanks to the description of ‘minors’ it will soon disabuse you, and might in fact have you humming ' Men of Harlech' instead.

Tweet Of The Month

 

Post Title Of The Month

 The inimitable David Thompson, on how every silver lining holds a cloud for someone....

Quote Of The Month

Longrider on the former Prince Harry's petulant whinging:

"This ridiculous man-child has a total lack of self awareness. He quit the job. He chose to spend the last few years trashing not only his family but the country. He and his harridan of a wife accused us of being racists. So, damn right we shouldn’t have to foot the bill for his security. We owe him nothing. If that makes him distraught, then in the fine words of BSM Williams, oh dear, how sad, never mind."

Post Of The Month

Fahrenheit211 on what he'd like to see on emigrating to the US, and what those mistaken souls who move here should see.

What's Most 'Concerning' Is The Very Presence Of These Men In Our Neighbourhoods

.. and the left-wingers who encourage them in with their placards have more blood on their hands.

A man has been charged with murder following the discovery of the body of a two-year-old girl at an address in Chertsey.

Kerjean was described by police as a French national who was born in the Central African Republic.

Det Ch Supt Jon Groenen said: "This is a tragic incident, and our thoughts are with the child's family, as well as all those who knew her. "Our teams are working hard to build a picture of what happened, and a significant police presence will remain in Pyrcroft Road over the coming days," he added.

"We appreciate that the incident itself, as well as the significant police presence, will be concerning for residents," said Groenen.

Much more events like this, in this unseasonal weather, and we might see lynch mobs forming. 

It's No Myth..

..officers prove that on an almost daily basis.

Policing in Britain has “adopted the language of activism” and official guidance has “over-corrected” to combat accusations of racism, one of the UK’s most senior officers has said. Sir Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester police, said he did not believe that “two-tier policing” existed or that forces were biased against white people.

As a famous movie lawyer once said,  it doesn’t matter what he believes what matters is what he can prove, and the evidence is all against him. 

Police had, however, allowed that perception to take hold in part as a result of anti-racism guidance that advised officers to treat suspects differently depending on their ethnicity.

“Particularly in the light of the tragic murder of Henry Nowak, I do understand that this idea that two-tier policing takes place is now widespread,” he said. “I don’t think it’s justified, but I can understand where it’s coming from.”

Well, let me help; it's coming from incidents like this one (now seemingly removed since I first saw it, but it’s an incident where a black guy attacked a white man and the police rolled up and arrested the victim, again. I’ll leave it in in case the poster appeals and it returns):

This is disgusting, @metpoliceuk. The black guy was the aggressor, but it's the white man who the police go after & restrain. pic.twitter.com/8imFKezC4k

— David Atherton (@daveatherton) June 22, 2026

And this one:

This was declared a terror attack right away, even though no one died

Southport was not declared a terror attack when 3 children were executed

See how it works https://t.co/u3waPaq5TC

— Dux (@DuxVul) June 21, 2026

And this one:

I've seen widespread criticism of how this interaction between police and these teenage girls was handled.

For me, one officer appears to escalate the situation by pushing and then drawing his baton. From there, everything spirals out of control.

Watching police officers using…

— Ben Graham (@BenGrahamUK) June 22, 2026

Especially when compared to this one:  

Police had their hands full in WOLVERHAMPTON by a group of youths as they attempted to make an arrest.

But there were no batons or tasers as we saw used on the white teen girls recently.

Two-Tier policing as per usual. pic.twitter.com/Yhyg0GbnTF

— Kiera Diss (@KieraDiss) June 24, 2026

We can all see how police in this country now police 'without fear or favour' and its not at all!

Watson, who is tipped as the potential successor to Sir Mark Rowley as the head of the Metropolitan police, said forces must be “a little less timid about making sure we emphasise our impartiality”.

Practicing some would be a good start! 

“I think we have some lessons to learn … Perhaps we have been uncritical in adopting certain elements of language. We’ve adopted the language of activism,” he said. “We’ve sometimes taken on board what are challenged concepts and we’ve written those into policy and intent – all with the best of reasons – but these issues then get held up almost as exhibit X, as the proof that we do not treat people equally.”

And this man is being tipped as a successor to the head of the Met, when Rowley's gaffes get too numerous to tolerate! 

Watson has been called Britain’s “anti-woke” police chief after he instructed officers not to take the knee during Black Lives Matters protests in 2021 because it would undermine impartiality. He said he would “probably kneel before the queen, God and Mrs Watson, that’s it”.

That won't last, not when he gets a sniff of the top job. 

Do They Just Not Understand The English Language?

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car hit with several people (Ed: maybe the BBC could use some English lessons too) on a busy shopping street in West London.

The Metropolitan Police said a 34-year-old Somali-born driver fled the scene but was stopped in nearby Grange Park a short time later, where he was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and attempted murder.

Earlier reports insisted he was 'a Britsh born man of Somali background'...

While counter-terrorism police were involved in the initial investigation, it is not being treated as terror-related. The Met said it was "keeping an open mind as to any potential motive".

Then it's not that open at all, if you have rejected the inconvenient possibility straight away.

What A Pity Sir David Attenborough Doesn't Read The News...

 ...bevause he would stop you from embarassing yourself with this headline.

Kevin Murphy, who runs Norfolk Wildlife Rescue, told the BBC he would attempt to capture the feline, believed to be a Savannah cat, first spotted on Tuesday night in the Bramerton area, near Norwich.A Savannah cat is a hybrid breed created by crossing a serval, which is native to sub-Saharan Africa, with a domesticated cat breed.

Even if it turned out to be a serval, it wouldn't be classed as a 'big cat'. Yes, it's large, but the term doesn't relate to size. 

Geography According To The 'Mail'....

 

I always thought Greece was in the Med. Not the Caribbean! 

Sunday Funnies...

 I'm not sure any endorsement would have helped No 4...

A Law Designed For Two-Tier Justice From The Start.

Parents risk prosecution for trying to stop their children having gender treatment under a new Labour law, MPs and campaigners fear. The conversion therapy ban means those convicted of trying to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity could be jailed for five years.

But won’t somehow also apply to the psychiatrists and doctors pushing trangenderism? That's some sloppily written law, then.

It has prompted concerns that the law will criminalise parents for trying to talk to children about their desire to identify as the opposite sex or undergo gender treatment, such as taking puberty blockers and having surgery. Counsellors and priests could also fall foul of the legislation, it is feared.

 Working as intended, I suspect. But even the nutter’s support groups are raising concerns:

The Bayswater Support Group, for parents of trans or non-binary children, said: 'Accusations of psychological or emotional abuse are rife when it comes to transgender identity. ' 

If this bill becomes effective, parents will fear accusations could escalate into a threat of criminal offence.'

everyhing this wretched government touches it somehow makes worse. That’s quite a talent! 

It's As Effective As Attempts To Halt Any Other Crime, Then...

Two young men convicted over the cyber-attack that crippled Transport for London (TfL) in 2024 had long histories of cyber-offending and were both known to law enforcement bodies, the BBC has learnt.

What a shocker. 

Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, and Thalha Jubair, 20, from east London, pleaded guilty on Monday to carrying out the attack. The breach disrupted TfL services for months, affected the personal data of millions of people and left all 28,000 TfL employees needing to reset their passwords in person.

It left me unable to top up my Oyster card online for a fortnight, it could only ne done at the machines in Tube stations, and I was unable to check the balance.

The BBC has discovered the authorities made frequent attempts to curb Flowers and Jubair's offending - raising questions over the effectiveness of such interventions with young cyber-criminals.

Locking the little shits up where they had no access to computers should have been the first option. not the last, 

Experts have told the BBC the case also indicates that perpetrators of cyber-attacks often do not appear to understand the real world consequences of their actions.

Or could it be that they just don't care, like all criminals? 

The National Crime Agency (NCA) says it highlights the need for its officers to be given additional powers.

Of course they do.  

... the BBC has learned Flowers initially came to the attention of police shortly after he turned 16 years old. In October 2023 he was caught carrying out low-level cyber-crime and visited by West Midland's Regional Cyber Crime Unit prevent officers. Police say that during the visit Flowers did not engage with officers and was given a cease and desist order to deter him from further offending.

Why the soft touch?  

During the investigation, NCA officers uncovered evidence that computer systems belonging to two US healthcare organisations, SSM Health and Sutter Health, had also been infiltrated and damaged. Flowers later pleaded guilty to offences relating to those hacks. He is still wanted in the US. After being charged, Flowers was released on bail under strict conditions. He breached those conditions twice, in March 2025 and May 2025.

Jubair has 22 previous convictions in total and began offending at 14 years old. He is also wanted in the US in connection with cyber-crimes that allegedly stole and extorted $87m (£66.1m) from victims.

They should just let the Americans have them both, they have no patience with this sort of thing and sentences are far more realistic. 

Both Jubair and Flowers have been diagnosed with autism and the court heard that Jubair has depression and a severe mood disorder.

How convenient. 

And It's Not Because Of The Furniture!

A migrant from Afghanistan who stabbed a man to death in central London lost control because he is a 'traumatised refugee', a court heard.

Oh, bless… 

Farmanullah Sherzad, 26, was found with multiple knife wounds in Abbey Orchard Street in Westminster on March 27 this year before being pronounced dead in hospital. Today, Sulaiman Tajzai, 18, denied murder and knife possession in a public place.

Sums up modern Britain - invader killing invader, defended by invader, of course: 

Tajzai appeared at the Old Bailey via videolink from HMP Belmarsh wearing a white T-shirt and spoke only to confirm his name, aided by a Pashto language interpreter. Defending Tajzai, Haroon Khattak said: 'A psychiatrist's report was obtained to deal with whether he is fit to plead.'

And so the majesty of the Great British justice system was set in motion: 

The judge said: 'Firstly, any psychiatric or psychology reports relied upon by the defence have to be served no later than July 21 on the prosecution and the court. 

'By the same date, July 21, the full post-mortem report and the download relied upon by the prosecution must be served. 

'There will be a further case management hearing on July 24 - this is not a direction, more of an indication for the prosecution, because there is a degree of uncertainty about the date now. 

'If the trial date stands on September 2, then trial documents should be served by August 14.'

All that work and taxpayer money going into resolving this, followed by another reminder someone up their is laughing at us all… 

At this point one of the court's desks suddenly collapsed, making a loud bang that startled the usher, who frantically tried to piece it back together. Judge Dennis added: 'I think that brings to an end the hearing, the court is falling to pieces!'

Yes it is, your honour, and the bloody furniture is the least part of it! 

But You Have Such Awful Values And Standards..

The BBC has said it has "no plans" to broadcast a BBC Three documentary series hosted by Ashley Cain after he was accused of using explicit sexist and misogynistic language in historic social media posts. A second series of Ashley Cain: Into the Danger Zone was commissioned and filmed earlier this year, but had not yet been scheduled for broadcast. The BBC said it has "no future projects" with Cain planned.

Ah, well, it's only licencepayer's money, plenty more where that came from, eh? 

In a statement issued on Thursday night, a BBC spokesperson said: "The posts by Ashley Cain, albeit from many years ago, are completely unacceptable. 

"The BBC has clear requirements around vetting and social media checks, which are undertaken by the production company. In this instance, the process clearly failed and we are investigating why. We are continuing to strengthen our processes to ensure everyone working for, and on behalf of, the BBC meets our values and standards.

Your values and standards?  But they are far worse than anything this bloke is accused of! Tolerating smut on the radio if it pulls in listeners, employees playing Miss Marple on the clock, the slavish focus on progressive hobby-horses, and don't get me started on the nonce issue....