Then Surely, a Better Question Is ‘Why Are They Allowed To Stay In The UK?

A couple sued Waitrose for race discrimination after they came back from an illicit holiday with a tan.

They aren't black, so one wonders how deep this tan was that they thought they could get away with such nonsesnse. Luckily, the tribunal wasn't having any of it.

Peter Hedger and Katerina Dimitrova were sacked from the supermarket for going on an unauthorised trip abroad, an employment tribunal heard. They sued the upmarket retail giant, claiming that they were discriminated against because of their 'tanned skin'.

The tribunal was told the retailer's position was that the couple 'had been dismissed for gross misconduct namely, unauthorised absence'.

As would have been quite clear in their contract - let's hope no taxpayer money was used in this futile attempt, eh? 

Mr Hedger told the tribunal that the situation had come about because neither he nor Miss Dimitrova had anywhere to live. He added that 'neither he nor Ms Dimitrova had worked since their dismissal as it was difficult for them to get work on the same shift, their financial means were not good and they had no income'.

Then off you fuck back to Bulgaria, both of you!

When I Don’t Hear English Spoken On My Morning Commute, What Else To Call Them?

Because I don't. Dozens of Eastern Europrean dialects, African and Indian languages, but very rarely the language of my countrymen. Even the Tube driver's announcements are in heavily African accented tones.

Every government needs an immigration policy and the one led by Sir Keir Starmer is no exception. Laws are required to establish the terms under which migration to the UK is allowed, and to deal with the complexities surrounding irregular arrivals. But the decision to publish an immigration white paper a week after Reform UK made significant gains in local elections, when it is riding high in national polls, is hard to defend. Rather than defusing public concerns, the prime minister risks playing into the hard right’s hands – and undermining the community cohesion he says he wants to protect.

Ah, that fictional ‘hard right’ again. Are they in the room with us now, ‘Guardian’ editorial writer? 

Some of the proposed measures are reasonable. Others are not. Visa rules are complicated and ministers have identified real concerns about the way the system works. But the timing and language, particularly the prime minister’s references to an “island of strangers” and forces “pulling our country apart”, were awful choices. The danger is that such rhetoric ends up reinforcing divisions and xenophobia.

Actually, I think it’s the actions of the immigrant community that’s reinforcing that. 

The pledge to deport more foreign criminals smacks of tabloid politics.

Because we all want foreign criminals to stay here for…reasons, I guess. 

Granting counter-terrorism-style powers to the Border Force risks stoking, not easing, fear.

I don’t think anyone expects them to use them, since they struggle to use the ones they currently have properly… 

Sir Keir’s anger about the Tories’ track record is justified. It harms democracy, and helps opportunists like Nigel Farage, when parties tell voters one thing while doing another. But past mistakes do not justify present ones. Migrants have been and will remain a vital part of the UK’s labour force and student bodies. The government and its MPs must highlight these positives clearly and loudly.

Highlight the positives as much as you want, the negatives are all around us and speaking much, much louder. 

Not Much Introspection Here…

 

What could prompt this? Are the prospective voters and 'German' people asking themselves why? 

Yes. But they don't appear to have come to the obvious conclusion.

Flanked by market stalls selling everything from Turkish borëk pastries to bedazzled iPhone cases, Lina, 53, confessed that she was racked with worry about what may lie ahead for her three children once Sunday night’s election is over. She has lived in Germany for decades, carving out a life for herself and her family after moving from Lebanon.“It’s scary,” she said. Worse still, the torrent of anti-migrant rhetoric had seemingly done little to stem the rise of the Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD), with polls suggesting that the far-right party is poised to vault into an unprecedented second place in Sunday’s election.“They are against Islam, against Arabs,” she added. “Who knows if they will bring in laws against us? It’s really upsetting.”

But why are they against Islam? Why do they revile Arabs? It appears to be a mystery to Lina. And she's not the only one puzzled by the current mood: 

“It’s the first time, I would say, that I really feel like a foreigner in my own country,” said Cihan Sinanoğlu, a social scientist who works with the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research. “Racialised people and groups understand that the whole debate about migration is also a debate about us, about what it means to be German and who’s in and who’s out.”Nobody wants to talk about structural problems,” said Sinanoğlu. “So all of the bad things in the world are projected on to this figure of the migrant or asylum seeker; rents, economy systems, poverty. That’s crazy.”

Because having hordes of Third Worlders invade your country has absolutely no effect on those things..? 

“I’m super scared and many of my friends are scared,” said one 28-year-old, who asked not to be named. She had arrived in Germany from Syria in 2015, as a wave of “welcome culture” swept across the country, transforming Germany into a safe place for more than a million people fleeing conflict and persecution. Now she wondered how many people she knew were gearing up to embrace a far-right party whose ranks include neo-Nazis. “They are our neighbours, they are parents. And they are daring to again choose fascism,” she said.

How very dare they decide to exercise their right to vote in free and fair elections! My god, no wonder you want to remain anonymous! You've clearly no idea what the word 'fascism' really means.  

In September, Germany’s federal anti-discrimination commissioner, Ferda Ataman, linked the rise of the far right to a “discrimination crisis”, citing the more than 20,000 cases that had poured into her office between 2021 and 2023. “Millions of people are afraid for their future,” Ataman said at the time. “In view of the electoral successes of right-wing extremists, it is more important than ever to protect people effectively from hatred and exclusion.”

And that's the exact attitude that's caused this. Shouldn't you be worrying more about protecting people from murderers with cars and knives? 

Well, Clearly, You Married The Wrong Type Of Man, Sweetie

A singer with a Swedish disco band who performed at this year’s Eurovision has told of the “dehumanising” and “distressing” consequences of Brexit after her British husband’s application to remain in Sweden was rejected.

It's not a vendetta against Brits, love. Sweden has fallen out of love with immigration and obviously doesn't want to have to make a value judgement about who deserves to stay. 

Their ordeal began three years ago when Solomons, who had been living in the country since 2012, learned from one of his British employees that he should have applied to remain in Sweden by the end of 2021. He quickly applied but was this rejected in August this year on the grounds that he was late.

Merkel Solomons said she felt embarrassed to be Swedish and could not understand the approach of the authorities given that Solomons is a fully integrated member of society, a stepfather to her two children, paying taxes and a Swedish speaker.

Should probably have married a drug dealer instead, love. They went soft on those for years.  

All those things - that we think of as good things - never counted for much before, and Sweden has reaped the whirlwind of that particular policy in the past. 

In The Same Time Period As It’s Seen ‘An Explosion’ In Something Else…

The UK has seen an “explosion” in insecure, low-paid work in the past 14 years, according to a new report. The TUC said its study had found that the number of people in insecure work had reached a record high of 4.1 million.

The analysis of official statistics shows the number of people in “precarious” employment – such as zero-hours contracts, low-paid self-employment and casual or seasonal work – increased by nearly 1 million between 2011 and 2023.

Gosh! What else, I wonder, has expanded in that time period..? Could it be the sort of people who welcome this type of work?  

The growth in insecure work since 2011 has been fuelled mainly by lower-paid sectors of the economy, said the report.

 Bingo! 

Nowak said that Labour’s “new deal for working people” was an “opportunity for a reset”. The opposition party’s plan includes bringing in a ban on zero-hours contracts and “fire and rehire” tactics as well as “introducing basic rights from day one to parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal”. The plan also aims to strengthen the rights of employees from the first day of their employment with a company. “As well as preventing workers from being treated like throwaway labour, it would stop good employers from being undercut by the bad,” Nowak said. “We must end the Conservatives’ race to the bottom on employment standards.”

You're a good head out in front in that race, you utter hypocrite.  

It's Going To Help With More Than Just That, Judge...

CCTV footage shows killer Bardia Shojaeifard dressed in school uniform going after teenager Alfie Lewis before stabbing him to death in broad daylight. The murderer, who was 14 at the time, is thought to have kept the six-inch blade hidden on him as he went about his outday, preparing to seek out his victim at home time.

And now will never see the light of day and be free to walk the streets for the rest of his natural...? 

Shojaeifard, who is now 15, was today handed a life sentence, with a minimum term of 13 years before being considered for release.

*sighs* 

The murderer, who is of Iranian heritage and was described in court as 'outwardly normal', can be identified for the first time today after judge Mr Justice Cotter at Leeds Crown Court lifted reporting restrictions. He said naming him would help in the 'vitally important debate about the scourge of knife crime, among young people in particular'.

It'll also help in showing the handful of people in the UK who still believe the UK justice system is worth a bucket of cold spit how wrong they are. 

The teen denied murder, claiming he feared for his life when he pulled out the weapon, which police said had a black-painted handle. He was found guilty by a jury after a trial in April.

If I 'feared for my life', I'm pretty sure I'd avoid the threat, not stalk it. The jury clearly agreed.  

Lifting the restrictions which previously banned Shojaeifard from being identified because of his age, he said: 'The question has to be asked, how it can be that it has come to this? 'If a seemingly normal 14-year-old boy takes a knife and uses it against a boy of the same school year, how bad must things have become?'

Good question, judge, and an even better question would have been 'And how has the lax sentencing from me and my fellow members of the judiciary contributed to that?'... 

'Without your interest in knives Alfie would be here today.'

Without mass immigration from every Third World shithole, Alfie would be here today too. 

Do They Only Catch The Stupid Ones?

A woman’s £650,000 claim for injuries allegedly suffered during a car crash has been thrown out of court in Ireland after she was pictured winning a Christmas tree-throwing competition.

*boggle* 

Kamila Grabska (Ed: Surely not..?), 36, sued an insurance company and said injuries to her back and neck meant she was unable to work for more than five years or play with her children. She claimed she was left with the “disabling” condition after a car she was travelling in was hit from behind in an accident in 2017.

We really are being taken for mugs in this country, aren't we> 

The Rise Of Skynet Delayed Again...

Oh, no, is this the long-awaited machine uprising?

No, Reader, fear not - it's simply a breach of safety regulations. 

The worker, Remigiusz Cyrek, was choked unconscious after he was dragged into the machine by the hood of his jacket and trapped there by a giant roller.

Why was the machine working at the time of cleaning, and why have anything on that could get caught? 

Good grief, in my office, we're even warned - as part of induction and regular H&S updates - not to let anything dangle near the shredder when you're using it! 

Barry Smith, a lawyer for the company, said that Cyrek was a valued employee and that Kettle Produce “very sincerely regret this accident occurred”. He told the court: “There was a system, and had it been followed properly, it would have ensured safety.

“Clear instruction was not universally understood and followed. It is accepted the company fell short of the required standard.”

Why would any company hire people who cannot understand and follow routine safety procedures, I wonder? 

Integration? What Integration…?

Jurors were told the defendant was born in Somalia and moved to Kenya at the age of eight during the civil war in Somalia. She was 16 when she came to the UK and was later granted British citizenship. 

The defendant described what had been done to the girl as “Sunnah”, meaning “tradition” or “way” in Arabic, and said it was a practice that had gone on for cultural reasons for many years.

She's 39 years old. And it's as if she was still in her backward original country and not England....

Integration Into A Different Culture's Going Well...

The teenager, who came to England from Poland for a 'better life', leaves behind his mother Kamila, father Patryk and a little brother.

Unfortunately, it's not the 'scones and cream, cricket on the green and village life' of England. It's a rather different culture:

On Tuesday, Prosecutor Mark McKone, KC, read a statement from a friend of the victim to the court, as the young witness described what happened.

The boy said: 'I heard the suspect shout "I'm gonna wet you", it's slang for ''I'm gonna stab you''.

One that should be as alien to ours, but isn't... 

It's Not Our Responsibility...

Two weeks ago, Alani Iyanuoluwa fled Kyiv as the Russian invasion intensified. Making her way across Europe, the 24-year-old hoped to be reunited with family in London. Yet for 10 days she has been stranded in a French port – because she is Nigerian.

Iyanuoluwa is among a growing number of refugees who claim the British government is ignoring black people who fled Ukraine.

No, the UK government is - quite rightly - ignoring non-Ukranians. You've got another option, haven't you? 

Iyanuoluwa is staying with two other Nigerian students in Boulogne-sur-Mer. All three fear returning to Nigeria because of the dangers of kidnapping and trafficking...

Really? So, you planned to stay in Ukraine forever? Yet never applied for citizenship, I note...  

“We’re coming from war and they are telling us that without a Ukrainian passport we can’t come to the UK, but the UK should consider all residents living in Ukraine when the war started,” she said.

Why should it? And why should the situation in Ukraine provide you - and the others - with a convenient back door into a UK that wouldn't be likely to grant you a visa in peacetime? 

Think You Answered Your Own Question There...

Once one of the most peaceful countries in Europe, Sweden is plagued by the worst rates of deadly gun violence in Europe, 10 times higher than Germany.

...

As Sweden searches for solutions to its surge in gangland violence, an obvious question emerges: how did one of the world’s most open societies incubate such a vicious subculture?

Gosh, I don't know! Are there any clues? 

Hjällbo’s young gang recruits exist in an environment of exclusion; failing schools, joblessness and poverty. Integration into mainstream Swedish society appears minimal at best.

Hjällbo’s 9,000 residents are almost all immigrants: nearly three-quarters of them were born abroad.

Well, well, well... 

Hjällbo is the turf of the Ali Khan criminal network, Gothenburg’s most ruthless gang. Originating in Lebanon, the clan has fostered a reputation for retaliation. Murder, extortion and extreme violence are linked to family members.

Looks like diversity isn't a strangth after all, eh? But of course, to put the icing on the cake, you also need lax laws biased in favour of those dedicated to breaking them. And would you believe it, Sweden also has those in abundance: 

Sweden’s famed openness still presents barriers to policing. Issues such as privacy override calls for increased investigative powers. Nord’s detectives are denied ready access to the CCTV network, along with ANPR (automatic number-plate recognition) technology and even access to traffic cameras. Only recently have they been able to tap phones.

It's a perfect storm; floods of people from a strange land with a lawbreaking culture in a country ripe for ravaging.  

Well, Here's An Answer To Our Impending 'Promising Footballer' Shortage...

After all, we'll soon run out if this keeps up...

Dozens of Afghan girl footballers and their families have been told they will be resettled in the UK.

The group of 135 girls and young women, their families and coaches, are in Lahore after they were helped by a British aid group to escape the Taliban, who threatened to kill them for playing sport.

Though I'm not sure it's much of an improvement... 

Sui-Anne Marie Gill, CEO of the ROKiT Foundation who supported their escape from Afghanistan, welcomed the news.

“These young sportswomen and their families are so thrilled to have been given a second chance in life, here in the home of football. The next step is to settle them into their new home. We will do all we can to support them in this process, and the communities that welcome them.”

What about the communities that don't 'welcome them', Sui-Anne? 

Not that you'll be living in those communities, perish the thought... 

Only In The 'Guardian' Could This Be Judged A Bad Thing...

So are council snatch squads going street to street sweeping up all foreign rough sleepers? Reader, they are not:

New government guidance published in April 2021 states that migrant rough sleepers could have their permission to remain in the UK refused or cancelled if they have “repeatedly refused suitable offers of support and engaged in persistent antisocial behaviour”.

Who could possibly object to this? Well, of course, it's the usual suspects... 

Following the introduction of the new Home Office guidance in April of this year lawyers, charities and trades unions have raised the alarm that migrant rough sleepers might once again be rounded up and removed from the UK.

The lawyers, trades unions and charities are clearly concerned that they may lose some of their flock; got to keep that aid and grant money rolling in, after all! 

A report launched on Thursday by Public Interest Law Centre – Still Here: Defending the Rights of Homeless EU Citizens after Brexit and Covid-19 – has identified some groups of EU citizens who will be particularly vulnerable to removal now that the deadline for EUSS applications has passed.

Good of them to give the Home Office some pointers! 

Those at risk include working-class people from eastern and central Europe, people of colour and victims of domestic violence. The report calls for a culture change and a rights-based approach to protect these groups.

What about a rights-based approach to the UK citizens with a right to live here, and who don't hang around in shop doorways begging, for a change? 

Why Wasn't He Handed A Plane Ticket Back To Albania?

Following the police raid, it was estimated the street value of the drugs was anywhere between £88,000 and £266,000.

Hoxhaj made full admissions to the police and said he had been at the property for around two months prior to the raid. He admitted one count of producing cannabis.

Bang to rights! 

Mitigating, Shazia Malik highlighted that there had been a delay in the raid and court appearance but he had not offended again and had found himself stable accommodation. Ms Malik said there was an “element of exploitation” and he previously worked 14 hours a day in the car wash, earning just £13.

She added: “He is unable to return to Albania due to fears of the reprisals of the debts.”

Any actual proof of this? Did the court request any? 

Hoxhaj was handed a suspended 16 month sentence, 200 hours unpaid work and 30 days rehabilitation.

*sighs* What sort of idiot judge wou...

Oh. Of course: 

Judge Samantha Leigh told Hoxhaj: “You were working in a car wash in dismal conditions, you were offered an opportunity to earn more and have somewhere to stay.

“You were also receiving threats back in Albania made to your family to pay off a debt.”

Was he, Samantha? Was he really? 

What's 'Pussy Pass' In Polish?

A woman who crashed her car on a notorious stretch of road gave a roadside breathalyser reading more than three times the legal limit.

Blackburn magistrates heard Inese Glinska rolled her car several times after crashing into a field at the section of Clitheroe Road in Nelson known as the S Bends. She was taken to hospital where she assaulted two police officers despite being handcuffed behind her back.

Glinska, 52, of Cross Street, Brierfield, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol and two charges of assaulting an emergency worker.

Reader, you know what's coming, don't you? 

She was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, fined £150 and ordered to pay £120 compensation to each of the police officers. She was banned from driving for 16 months.

*sighs* 

Sardar Asghar, defending, said his client had been in the UK for nine years, had never been in trouble and had always worked.

He doesn't say what her job is, I note. Surely it's one we can do without? 

Sympathy Evaporating...

Hundreds of international students in the UK have turned to food banks after part-time work and funding from families dried up during lockdown.

Hmmm....

International students have to prove they have the funds to cover rent, fees and living expenses before being granted visas.

Well, that seems reasonable.

And surely some cognisance needs to be taken of the situation they find themselves in due to the actions of the government thanks to this pandemic?

"It's a very difficult time we are facing," says Rahemunnisa Shaik from Hyderabad as she piles groceries into a pram.

Wait, what? A pram...?

She is studying for a two year Masters in Business Administration at the University of East London (UEL).

She arrived in the UK for the start of her course last September with her husband who was her dependent for visa purposes.

She gave birth to their first child, a baby girl, in May.

*blinks*

"My husband is supporting me. He lost his job because of coronavirus."

His work at KFC was halted at the start of lockdown and he has still not been called back.

That's it. Send them back.

The Blood Is Once Again On The Hands Of The Usual Suspects...

A man has admitted killing a bus driver and injuring seven other people in a crash last Halloween in Orpington, south east London.

Kenneth Matcham, 60, died on Sevenoaks Road after Dorjan Cera's car collided with two single-decker buses on 31 October.

Cera, 20, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday to causing Mr Matcham's death by dangerous driving. Judge Wendy Joseph adjourned sentencing until 6 August at the same court.

Nor was dangerous driving his only offence:

Cera, of Hillingdon, also admitted seven further counts of causing injury by dangerous driving, being unlicensed and uninsured and possession of an identity document with improper intent.

Judge Joseph said everybody who had been affected by the crash "must be utterly devastated" by what happened.

They will be when they hear it could have been prevented. Just two years ago:

An 18-year-old has been jailed for two years after he was caught with 26 wraps of cocaine in Hersham . When he was stopped by police on June 28 this year, Dorjan Cera showed police officers a photograph of a Lithuanian driving licence in another name which he had used to hire the car he was driving, Guildford Crown Court heard.

Naomi Edwards, for the prosecution, said Cera had told police officers that he found the drugs in the Audi Q3 and had intended to hand them into the authorities. He was arrested and a further false Portuguese driving licence was later found at his home address during a police search.

Well, well, well.

So...why was he still here, driving like a manic and killing innocent people two years later?

Mr Ingle suggested Recorder Whitehouse should suspend his client's sentence because Cera, who arrived in the UK from Albania when he was 16, is seeking asylum and a custodial sentence could potentially jeopardise this.

We must be mad to keep putting up with this, mustn't we..?

What Happens In Sweden, Stays In.... Oh.

A man has been charged with murder after the fatal shooting of Swedish man Flamur Beqiri in Battersea on Christmas Eve last year.

22 year old Anis Fouad Hemissi, a Swedish National, was extradited from Denmark and returned to the UK this morning (June 8) following his arrest at Copenhagen Airport on 20 January under a European Arrest Warrant.

He was charged with murder and is due to appear in court tomorrow (Tuesday, June 9).

God bless Europe, whatever would our justice system do if we just had to rely on home-grown criminals? Some lawyers could starve!

Maybe We Should Hang Rustlers Again, Then....

Passing sentence, Judge Lucking said: 'A dedicated police operation was necessary to bring this organised offending to an end.

'The sheep were stolen from seven different owners. Not all of the sheep were farm livestock, some were in fact pets.

'On one occasion two very young children were completely traumatised finding their sheep slaughtered and butchered such that they were screaming at the sight.

'There must be an element of deterrence. The general public are dependent upon farmers to produce meat for food.

'Those who farm livestock often work on small margins and simply don't have the manpower to guard their livestock day and night.'

 Particularly from yet more imported criminals from the EU...

Prior to sentence, one of the men's defence barristers urged the judge to pass as short a sentence as possible in light of the 'uncertain times in respect of coronavirus'.

 Nice try.

Robert Iordan, aged 23, and Florin Nutu, aged 36, were both jailed for four years and four months on Friday by Judge Adrienne Lucking QC, who described the inhumane killing of sheep worth around £10,000 as gruesome and distressing.

Judge Lucking also sentenced Viorel Manu to a custodial sentence of two years and 11 months after hearing that the 39-year-old father-of-nine was involved in only one albeit serious offence.

One hopes they can be immediately deported on release, since free movement within the EU won't apply now we're (supposedly) on course to leave?