And Another Government Rachel Proves Herself To Be A Moron....

And really, one is more than enough!

The government needs to stop children using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass age checks on porn sites, the children's commissioner for England has said. Dame Rachel de Souza told BBC Newsnight it was "absolutely a loophole that needs closing" and called for age verification on VPNs.

And just how are they supposed to do that? Given every WFH civil servant and local government drone will be using one? 

VPNs can disguise your location online - allowing you to use the internet as though you are in another country. It means that they can be used to bypass requirements of the Online Safety Act, which mandated platforms with certain adult content to start checking the age of users.

And as a result, lead to the closure of perfectly harmless sites like the Eastleigh online discussion forum and a hamster enthusiasts forum!

A government spokesperson said VPNs are legal tools for adults and there are no plans to ban them.

Leaving out the word ‘Yet’ I note….. 

Dame Rachel told BBC Newsnight: "Of course, we need age verification on VPNs - it's absolutely a loophole that needs closing and that's one of my major recommendations." She wants ministers to explore requiring VPNs "to implement highly effective age assurances to stop underage users from accessing pornography."

Government needs to tell Rachel to get back in her fucking box! 

It Truly Is The ‘Land Of The Free’

Luckily for us, in the land of Starmer:

The US director of national intelligence says the UK has withdrawn its controversial demand to access global Apple users' data if required. Tulsi Gabbard said in a post on X, external the UK had agreed to drop its instruction for the tech giant to provide a "back door" which would have "enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties". The BBC understands Apple has not yet received any formal communication from either the US or UK governments. "We do not comment on operational matters, including confirming or denying the existence of such notices," a UK government spokesperson said.

You don’t comment, because what could you say, other than ‘Oh shit, we tried it on with the Yanks and they told us to get fucked again’? 

In December, the UK issued Apple with a formal notice demanding the right to access encrypted data from its users worldwide. However Apple itself cannot view the data of customers who have activated its toughest security tool, Advanced Data Protection (ADP), which prevents anyone other than the user from reading their files.

It beggars belief that the morons in government ever thought they stood a chance at strong-arming Apple - until you look at the morons in government that is!

This Is How To React To Government Overreach!

People who keep chickens in their garden now face prison and large fines if they fail to register them all under strict new rules brought in to tackle bird flu.

But within hours of the new Government database going live on October 1, protesters and pranksters managed to crash its website by listing as ‘pets’ everything from rubber chickens to chicken nuggets.

The controversial clampdown, which also applies to keepers of pigeons, ducks, geese and birds of prey, has been introduced as part of a UK-wide effort to prevent the spread of bird flu.

I'm proud of you, Britain!

Last night the site was still suffering technical problems. One smallholder in Easington, County Durham, who asked not to be named, said: ‘This is just petty bureaucracy gone mad. ‘I keep a small flock of chickens on my allotment for their eggs. I moved them indoors, at great expense, during the recent bird flu outbreak, and there’s never been a problem with this.

‘I know other keepers who say they’d be prepared to move the few birds they own into their loft to avoid detection rather than register them.’

This is the situation we have in England now - chicken resistance!  

Jane Howorth, founder of the British Hen Welfare Trust, based in Devon, agrees with the need to keep a register but added: ‘Unfortunately Defra held a consultation and then ignored the results, imposing what many see as unnecessary bureaucracy. I’m unsurprised at the reaction.’

I guess they didn't get the result they wanted, and thought 'well, people will just meekly comply anyway'. Found out it doesn't work like that. Now whose goose is cooked, DEFRA? 

Another SNP Success Story!

It is understood up to 40 police officers have been called in to do extra hours every day since Monday in a bid to wade through all the reports submitted. Each officer is being paid time and a third, sparking fears the overtime costs could end up taking hundreds of thousands of pounds out of an already overstretched budget.

Is anyone surprised? Didn't we predict just this? 

Around 3,600 reports were made in the first 48 hours of the law coming into force on Monday. It is expected that figure could now have almost doubled.

At least! And some of those doing so will, of course, be those encouraged to do so by those for whom this bill was written. While the opposition proves useless, and the fightback is led by private citizens. 

Officers say they must check every online complaint individually in case they contain covert messages from victims of domestic abuse or people trafficking.

Of course they do, got to keep that overtime rolling in, eh? 

Mr Kennedy added: 'The hope is that once the public realise where the bar sits for a hate crime that it might change the number of people submitting inquiries, but you can't tell what the public is going to do. If someone thinks a crime has been committed and reports it online then officers have to look at it.'

Ah, yes, blame the public for 'misusing' the law. Not the idiots who ignored all the warnings and brought in an unjust law in the first place.  

And you might want to reconsider that last sentence.

There's Nothing Government Legislation Can't Make Worse...

...case in point:

Who could have predicted that?

A law change to increase organ donation has resulted in fewer patients receiving transplants, The Mail on Sunday has learned.

Of course, since when doe a government initiative actually improve anything? 

The new rules in England, which came into force in May 2020, mean everyone is presumed to be an organ donor when they die unless they have 'opted out'. Officials said the change would lead to at least 100 extra donors and 230 more transplants every year, also ensuring fewer patients would die waiting for an organ.

I immediately opted out and I bet lots of other people did. So do we get a mea culpa from government? Reader, we do not...

But NHS Blood and Transplant figures reveal nine per cent fewer transplants took place last year than before the change. The number of donors has fallen by ten per cent since 2019/20 and the waiting list for a new organ has rocketed 28 per cent. Experts have pointed to a drop in consent rates from families, who still have the final say over whether a loved one's organs can be used.

But politicians and charities say officials have failed to employ enough specialist transplant nurses, or address problems in over-stretched transplant units, meaning donor organs that become available are turned down if there is no theatre space.

It might also be because the guy heading up the process looks like a ghoul:  

 "Braaaaaiiins..."

But…But…

People are used to seeing stark warnings on tobacco products alerting them about the potentially deadly risks to health. Now a study suggests similar labelling on food could help them make wiser choices about not just their health, but the health of the planet.

...if people have 'grown used to seeing them' doesn't that imply it's not working? And so, won't work on this either?

Researchers believe their findings could help encourage changes in gastronomic choices that could ultimately benefit the environment. “Reaching net zero is a priority for the nation and the planet,” Hughes said.

No, it isn’t. 

Chalk Another One Up To Covid...

Launderettes have provided a lifeline for millions of Britons in need of freshly washed clothes and bed linen for almost three quarters of a century. But they are disappearing fast – the victim of rising energy costs.

Not just energy costs, though.... 

The pandemic has played a role. Launderettes were one of the few high street businesses that remained open during lockdown, but this meant that they could not claim grants that sustained other businesses.

But they are the ones in the firing line, of course, since nothing can be allowed to intrude on the fantasy that lockdown was the savior of mankind: 

However, Bruce Herring, director of the National Association of the Launderette Industry, said that soaring energy bills ‘have been the real killer’.

‘Many launderettes had long-term contracts with the utility companies,’ he said. ‘These contracts have come to an end and prices are going up enormously. Most premises now pay about 12p per kWh for their gas-heated tumble dryers compared with 3p previously.’

And that we can lay at the door of another government policy disaster, can't we, Reader? 

'It's Only Taxpayer Money' Pt 79248563217851

The Home Office is still unable to say when a planned communications system for Great Britain’s blue light services will be operational, despite spending almost £2bn on the project, the Whitehall spending watchdog has said.

Blimey, you could have built a few miles of a new railway line for that money! 

The proposed emergency services network (ESN), first announced in 2015, was supposed to have replaced the ageing Airwave system for police, fire and ambulance services in England, Scotland and Wales by 2020.

However, the National Audit Office (NAO) says despite the turn-off date for Airwave having been extended twice, first to 2022 and then to 2026, the Home Office now admits it is likely to be later, although it cannot say when or how much it will cost.

It is to laugh, isn't it..? 

The Path To Net Zero Is Longer Than They Think...

...and is strewn with potholes.

A scheme to encourage UK households to upgrade their gas boilers to heat pumps and other low-carbon alternatives is failing to deliver after suffering a “disappointingly low” take-up, a parliamentary report has said.

People don't want them. And whose fault is that, exactly? 

The committee said that public awareness of low-carbon heating systems was “very limited” and promotion of the scheme had been “inadequate”. It also blamed a shortage of heat pump installers and “insufficient independent advice for homeowners” for the lack of take-up.

Yes, of course, it's the fault of the people, and the government. Not the fault of the people driving this, oh, dear me, no! If they were just told more about it, of course they'd agree to the upheaval and the expense and the after-installation problems...

Lady Parminter, chair of the environment and climate change committee, said: “The transition to low-carbon heat is fundamental in the path to net zero, given that 17% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from our homes.

“The government must quickly address the barriers we have identified to a successful take-up of the boiler upgrade scheme in order to help grow the take up of low-carbon heating systems. It is vital they do so if we are going to meet our net zero ambitions.”

And if people still don't want them? We know what comes after the carrot, don't we? 

"It is understood human rights issues played a key role in Abdulrahimzai's case."

But not the human rights of the UK people not to find themselves clutching a viper to their bosoms. The human rights of a suspected murderer who lied about his age to pose as a child asylum seeker. 

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick replied: 'As you'll know sentencing is yet to take place, but we will be investigating the full circumstances surrounding the case so that we can ensure we learn all the lessons.

'One that we will certainly be taking forward is a more robust method for assessing the age of those coming into the country, taking advantage of modern scientific methods.'

Too little, far, far too late. This is yet another case where red flags were raised by members of the public and ignored. 

Compassion kills, when it's falsely applied.

The Backtracking Begins...

Britain didn't need to roll out Covid booster jabs to the entire population, one of the country's top virus experts said today.

Sir John Bell, who served as Boris Johnson's testing tsar and an early member of the vaccines taskforce, said he's 'not entirely sure' the nation needed top-up doses, which health chiefs said were vital for all adults to boost protection amid the Omicron wave last winter.

Who's next..? Because you know that once one does it, they all do it... 

Pretty soon, you won't find anyone willing to admit they had a hand in this.

What Were You Thinking..?

His Majesty's Treasury has been brutally mocked online after the Government department launched...

A new policy? Something some bright-eyed, bushy tailed SPAD thought would earn them brownie points wiv da yoof? 

Reader, yes. 

...a new server on gaming chat app Discord.

And we know how those tend to go, don't we? 

Although the government blocked all comments on the gamer-focused chat app - making the server read-only - trolls were able to find a way to have a laugh at the expense of the Government as 7,000 new users flooded in over just a few hours.

I'm proud of you, gaming community. 

At one point thousands of users managed to coordinate reactions so that emoji letters spelled out the C-word and 'GAY'.

Ahahahahahahaha! Maybe the kids are alright, after all! 

"Ah, Plucky Little Ukraine..!"

Wait, what..?

A list passed to this newspaper by a Kyiv government source identifies 29 such retribution killings, with 13 more assassination attempts that left some targets wounded.

Well, hopefully the Ukrainian government will get a grip on such war crimes. After all, they won't want to show they are just like their Russian enemy, will they? 

‘A hunt has been declared on collaborators and their life is not protected by law,’ said Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the interior ministry.

‘Our intelligence services are eliminating them, shooting them like pigs.’

Oh... 

Well, hopefully they won't do it with anything we've sent them? Because they would make us complicit, wouldn't it?