Nowhere IS Safe In London...

Reform UK’s London mayoral contender Laila Cunningham has told how her children are “petrified” of going to Shepherd’s Bush after a fatal stabbing there.

The mother-of-seven launched fresh criticism of Sir Sadiq Khan’s record on crime after recent shootings and stabbings in the capital including the murder of a bus driver in Clapham.

“My heart goes out to the family of the person killed in Shepherd’s Bush...and to those injured. In a matter of seconds, families’ lives are changed forever,” she posted on X.“My own kids swim in Shepherd’s Bush. They’re now petrified of going there. And as their mum so am I. “We were there last weekend. It increasingly feels like nowhere is safe. 

Nowhere is, but your children don't really fit the demographic in most danger from stabbing attack, do they?  

“Week after week it’s another stabbing, another shooting, another family getting the phone call every parent dreads.”

“Sadiq Khan can keep telling us London is safe, but that means very little to families living with this fear,” she added. 

Most of the families getting this call will only be surprised their spawn is a victim instead of a wanted perpetrator. 

But Sir Sadiq has rejected claims of a “lawless London” with high numbers of shootings and stabbings.

That's the Labour way - flat out denial of what the public can see with their own eyes. 

Earlier this week, he hit out at Donald Trump and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK who have sought to argue that the capital is plagued by crime.

He posted on X: “The loudest voices online aren't always the most accurate. 

“New data shows our homicide rate is lower than every US state, while murder rates are at record lows. 

Because our figures are massaged by Labour's liars, perchance? Still at least our cops aren't shooting donkeys, just running over cows. I'm not sure what's better, frankly. 

“The evidence is clear: our approach to tackling crime and its causes works. It’s driving down violence right across the capital.”

But then along came Carnival... 

Hurrah, The Last Truly Useful British Police Officer Will Be On Duty!

...PC Rain, of course!

Notting Hill Carnival is almost here, with the streets of W10 just days away from being transformed for Europe’s largest street festival. However, forecasters are warning of a spate of rain showers that could dampen the festivities. BBC Weather is forecasting thundery showers from Friday, August 28, with rain expected in Notting Hill from 9am on Saturday.

Never has a threat of bad weather on a British bank holiday been so welcome! 

Temperatures will hover around 20C - significantly cooler than the blistering temperatures of this summer so far - with thunderstorms forecast between 5pm and 6pm. The thundery showers are set to return when festivities ramp up on Sunday, with heavy rain and lightning forecast between 1pm and 5pm, and again between 7pm and 8pm.

Will it be enough to prevent the usual effects of this wretched event? We shall have hope so, since the weather doesn't answer to Sir Mark Rowley and won't therefore treat these people as untouchables.

We Know What The Real Fears Are

Civil liberties and anti-racism groups have called on Met Police to abandon plans to deploy Live Facial Recognition (LFR) at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, warning of “racial bias.”

What they are actually afraid of is justice finally coming for black criminals who thought they had got away with it. 

In a letter to Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, 11 organisations, including Liberty, Big Brother Watch, and the Runnymede Trust, described LFR as “mass surveillance” that “treats all Carnival-goers as potential suspects.”

It's a large gathering of black people - where else would you ecpect the police to look for wanted black criminals and black runaway children? 

The letter states: "There is no clear legal basis for your force's use of LFR. No law mentions facial recognition technology and Parliament has never considered or scrutinised its use,” according to the BBC."Notting Hill Carnival is an event that specifically celebrates the British African Caribbean community, yet the [Metropolitan Police] is choosing to use a technology with a well-documented history of inaccurate outcomes and racial bias."

Are they really saying that they all look alike even to technology? If someone is stopped after an indication and isn't the ewanted person, they can always show ID, can't they? 

Police will deploy around 7,000 officers each day during the August Bank Holiday weekend event, focusing heavily on public safety, particularly preventing knife crime and violence against women and girls.

So it Liberty, Big Brother Watch and the Runnymede Trust in favour of violence against women and girls then? Sure seems like it!  

 

Why Would Terrorists Bother, After All?

Thousands of police officers are braced for three days of carnage at the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend amid concerns over escalating violence and potential crushes. Scotland Yard said 7,000 officers and staff will be deployed each day from Saturday to Monday as they attempt to keep up to two million revellers safe in West London.

The Met clearly didn't manage to do what would have been far more sensible, and move the wretched thing to another, safer and more appropriate location. 

So we will now pretend that the threat to safety that mandated expensive and ugly anti-terrorist barriers on the streets has been abated for two days so a bunch of immigrants can have a knees up:

A series of 31 anti-terror concrete barriers were installed on Portobello Road last month by Kensington and Chelsea Council to help deter vehicle attacks in the popular market area of Notting Hill following counter-terrorism guidance issued by the Met. But the council said these 'hostile vehicle mitigation measures' will be removed for two weeks from today to ensure 'people can move freely and safely during the event'.

Quite why terrorists would bother attacking the Carnival, when they couldn’t possibly cause more terror and disruption than it does every single year, is I suppose the council’s ‘thinking’ here…

Great News! Now Stop Them Dancing At The Notting Hill Carnival Too...

 The forces of woke are in full rout as chickens finally come home to roost:

On Wednesday, the High Court ruled that Northumbria Police, one of Britain’s largest forces, breached impartiality by marching at an LGBT+ event.

 And the news is slowly filtering out as risk-averse Chief Cons fight to throw the lanyard class within their forces under the bus.

On Friday Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said no uniformed officers would march at Pride in Glasgow today - in contrast with the situation last year, when dozens of officers were paid to take part. It is understood that a decision had been taken not to participate prior to the court ruling - but plans for minor ‘engagement’ were dropped after the High Court judgment.

They could see the way the wind was blowing - never let them tell you they didn’t! And now the alphabet mob are being shoe’s out of police stations everywhere, how about the Met Police looking to next month  and considering if having a police officer pictured standing there while some dusky maiden gyrates around him clad only in feathers really says ‘We are impartial’?

Delayed Deaths...

Two people have died from injuries sustained in separate Notting Hill carnival attacks.

Well, at least they had suspects in custody quickly. 

Shakiel Thibou, 20, was charged with attempted murder, possessing a knife and violent disorder. He attended court alongside his older brothers Sheldon, 24, and Shaeim, 21, who were also charged with violent disorder and assault by beating of an emergency worker. In the case of Mussie, Omar Wilson a 31-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody at a south London police station.

If only this year's weather had been different. 

Commander Charmain Brenyah, the Met's spokesperson for Carnival, said: 'Carnival is about bringing people together in a positive celebration. That it has ended with the tragic loss of life, among other incidents of serious violence, will sadden everyone involved.'

That the Met Police have a dedicated spokesperson for this wretched even tells you all you need to know about why it will continue to go on and on, doesn't it? 

Why Would It Be Viewed With ‘National Pride’?

Every year as Notting Hill carnival (NHC) winds down, naysayers demand the event be banned. This year is no different. Carnival is viewed through a prism of crime in a way that no other large festival or major sporting event is. Is it because a very large gathering of black people is automatically seen as a potential crime hotspot?

Well, no. It's because a very large gathering of black people automatically becomes a crime hotspot. 

This view is unfortunately held not just by some sections of the public and media, but also by police officers at all ranks involved in policing it.

Well, yes. I expect long distance lorry drivers have a view on the aesthetics of motorways too, it's one of the things that comes with the job. 

In my 30 years in the Metropolitan police, I have carried out a number of roles associated with the policing of NHC. I have observed that officers often view it as a yearly event that is imposed on the capital. It’s not viewed with national pride, similar to something like policing England playing at Wembley – even though such matches often involve violent incidents, and police being assaulted.

Because what it's celebrating is another nation, and another culture. Not England.  

Also, I have never known a government minister or member of the royal family attend NHC in their official capacity, as they would with a national football game.

I wonder why?  

This association with crime, the lack of national pride and the feeling that carnival is an imposition influence public perceptions. At the same time, policing plans for the event appear to have a very strong enforcement approach, which often comes at the expense of community engagement.

It's a hotbed of crime, so how else could it be policed? 

Compared with European festivals of a similar size, the festival is held in a particularly dense section of the city, and so gangs are attracted to NHC to commit crimes and/or settle feuds before disappearing into the crowd. Consideration should be given to changing the location to Hyde Park, or somewhere that is more open, to assist in policing it more effectively.

Or we could just scrap it altogether? That would be my choice.  

If Only PC Rain Had Turned Up...

...and not WPC Glamour Shot:

The 90 arrests made so far are for the following offences: four sexual offences, 10 assaults on emergency workers, 18 possessions of an offensive weapon, eight possessions of class A drugs, 13 possessions of class B drugs, five possessions of other drugs, four possessions of nitrous oxide, eight possessions of drugs with intent to supply, one theft, six assaults, four robberies, one public order offence and eight 'other offences'.

And it was only Day One. 

What's That Definition Of Madness Again..?

Isn't it 'doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result'?

Police officers have said they “dread” working at Notting Hill Carnival amid calls for it to be moved to Hyde Park and become a ticketed event. Seven people were stabbed at the event on Monday evening, in what organisers called “horrifying behaviour”.

And what everyone else calls 'what other sort of behaviour did you expect?'...

“Every Tuesday after the August bank holiday, I have the same conversations about Notting Hill Carnival,” Ken Marsh, chairman of the Met Police Federation which represents rank and file officers, told The Times.

“I’ve done it year after year after year after year. It’s beyond absurd what’s going on.”

Correct! So what do you plan to do? 

Mr Marsh, along with many other police officers, believes that the event should be moved to a private open space, which would mean the police are no longer responsible for its security.

Gosh! I wish if I found part of my job really challenging, I could demand to have some other poor sod do it instead....  

Iraq? Mogadishu?

A police statement said: “They were able to extract him through significant crowds in challenging circumstances to a waiting ambulance.”

Some other Third World hellhole where injured peoples' rescue is hampered by people behaving like animals? 

No. Ladbroke Grove in London. Oh, of course, forgot to mention. It's that time of year.

Police said 209 arrests had been made by early Tuesday, including 46 for assault, 36 for possession of drugs, 33 for possession of an offensive weapon, 27 public order offences and eight sexual assaults.

And they call it 'Carnival'... 

About Time The Police Bared Their Teeth...

Ken Hinds has launched a legal challenge against the Metropolitan police after the force told him he was not qualified to call a demonstration under coronavirus health protection regulations because he was not “a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution, a public body, or a political body. What this means is that you are encouraging anyone attending to commit an offence contrary to [Health Protection] regulations 5 and 8,” said a trainee commander in an email to Hinds last Thursday.

So what was his planned demo about? Well, you'll never guess... 

Hinds is one of a number of campaigners who had called for people to gather in Notting Hill on Sunday, the first day of the west London district’s eponymous carnival, which is cancelled this year.

“It is to tackle systemic racism – institutional racism – and it’s simply to address that, because all too often we are having inquiries and commissions that are saying the same thing but are seldom followed through … there is no change,” Hinds said.

“But what we are trying to say here is that this time it’s different. For the first time we’ve got a significant amount of white people supporting a black cause and joining up and calling for change. That’s a beautiful spirit.”

But the sort of white people that are supporting this wretched 'cause' aren't really saying anything the vast majority feel like listening to either, Ken ol' chum. 

Update: Predictably, when faced with opposition from activist lawyers, the Met promptly folded like a pack of cards. And so any violence their rank and file officers will now face will be on them.

We Have Finally Gone Mad...

LBC has learned that Transport for London and the Met Police are working to protect Grenfell Tower from selfie-takers, as two million people pass through Notting Hill for the carnival this weekend.

Wait, what?

Their work includes using barriers to block off streets around the site, with extra police officers in place to make sure only residents can access the area close to the tower, as well as preserving the many tributes which have been left out on railings and walls.

Locals tell us it’s to stop thousands of what they call ‘grief tourists’ from making detours during Carnival to get close to the building and take pictures and selfies.

Now, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to do so but...it's a free country. And it's also one supposedly in 'austerity measures' (Ed: *hollow laughter*) isn't it?

So why can we apparently spend money on this sort of mawkish twaddle?

TfL, meanwhile, are doing even more. LBC’s been shown an email that shows they’ve started putting up barriers along the railway line at Latimer Road station, and will be keeping tubes on the platform for longer to obscure the view of the tower.

So if your journey takes longer, you know why. Because we've lost all sense of proportion in this country.

There will also be automated messages at stations and on the trains between Hammersmith and Paddington, reminding people to move quickly when they get off at Latimer Road station, to be respectful and not take pictures of the ruins.

When does Teresa May make her horse a consul?

H/T: @MaraudingWinger via Twitter

Perverse Incentives...

Youngsters at risk of being caught up in crime and disorder at Notting Hill Carnival are being removed from the area...

Hurrah!

...and taken on a £20,000 water sports holiday.

*blinks*

The Alternative to Carnival Engagement (ACE) scheme, which is organised by the council’s former youth service Epic CIC, was set up five years ago.

Good god! 'Act like a little thug & you'll get a holiday'. What could go wrong?

He added: “In the months leading up to Carnival, the young people are supported with one-to-one mentoring, independent living skills, healthy eating, as well as knife and gang awareness sessions.”

Aren't those all things their parents should be teaching them?

Commenting on the project, Emma Dent Coad, Labour MP for Kensington, said: “a lot of our young people have been failed by our society and we must do anything we can to try to keep them on the straight and narrow.

“This scheme may not work for everybody but it may work for some.”

No, love. They've been failed by their useless, couldn't-care-less parents, not by society.

And what's the cost benefit of this scheme? How much is each of these 'few' costing the taxpayer?

H/T:  @VOTEfascistCOW via Twitter