Smuggling of migrants

The smuggling of migrants is indeed an international problem, with a considerable number of countries impacted by it as origin, transit or destination points.

Profit-seeking criminals smuggle migrants across borders and between continents, and assessing the actual size of this crime is a complicated matter, owing to its covert nature and the difficulty of identifying when irregular migration is being facilitated by smugglers.

The smugglers take advantage of the enormous number of migrants willing to take risks in pursuit of a better life when they can’t access legal channels of migration. Therefore, smuggled migrants are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Their safety and even their lives are constantly put at risk because many have suffocated in containers, died in deserts or drowned at sea while being smuggled by profit-seeking lawbreakers who treat them as goods, and as the crime is a clandestine one, accurate global figures are hard to come by.

However, it’s estimated that two of the main smuggling routes, leading from East, North and West Africa to Europe and from South America to North America, generate around $6.75 billion a year for criminals, although the global figure is likely to be much higher.

The smuggling of migrants is the facilitation of crossing borders illegally or living illegally in another country with the aim of making a monetary or another material gain.

This crime is usually committed by organised criminal networks, which take the opportunity to make enormous profits from an illegal activity involving little risk of detection.

The profits of the smugglers vary widely, and full-time professional criminals are involved in smuggling migrants around the globe – some of those criminals are specialised in smuggling people and some are not.

There’s evidence of both smaller and larger, more organised groups and networks operating as smugglers in all areas, although this differs by region and route.

There are also many smugglers who operate legitimate businesses and are involved in the smuggling of migrants as opportunistic carriers or hospitality providers who prefer to look the other way in order to make some additional cash. Crooked officials and other people may also be involved in the process.

Human trafficking and migrant smuggling are low-risk, high-profit criminal enterprises that utilise increasingly sophisticated methods and technological means to expand their reach.

They’re also linked to other crimes including illegal money flows, corruption, document fraud, trafficking in illegal goods, cybercrime and terrorism, and human trafficking and migrant smuggling are two different crimes yet they can overlap as they both profit from vulnerable people.

Victims of this widespread form of trafficking come mainly from developing nations, and some are forced to work in labour-intensive jobs such as agriculture, mining, fisheries or construction work, or kept in domestic captivity.

Some victims are even forced to carry out a range of criminal activities, which in turn yield more revenue for criminal organisations.

Those activities can include theft, drug cultivation, selling fake goods, and recently also fraud which is usually conducted through the misuse of technology. The victims often have quotas and can face harsh punishment if they don’t perform satisfactorily.

In numerous countries, waiting lists for transplants are extremely long, and criminals have taken this opportunity to manipulate the distress of patients and potential victim donors.

In the last decade, the process of globalisation, and the multiple crises affecting other parts of the world through, economic hardships, armed conflict, terrorism and climate change, have caused the most vulnerable people to migrate to look for safer living conditions.

And with this, we’ve seen an upsurge in the activities of organised criminal networks that facilitate irregular migration, by supplying fraudulent travel documents, organising transportation and circumventing official border controls because criminals like to make an enormous profit.

The Delay In HS2 Construction Will Cost Taxpayers More Than £360 Million

According to internal estimates, a planned delay to HS2 by ministers will cost taxpayers more than £360 million.

In March, ministers announced they were delaying by two years the construction of a high-speed section between Birmingham and Crewe in a bid to save money.

It’s the latest controversy to hit the high-speed rail project, which has been beset by delays and spiralling costs ever since being announced.

It’s been dogged by criticism over its finances. A budget of £55.7 billion for the entire project was set in 2015.

But the target cost has ballooned to up to £71 billion, excluding the eastern leg which was axed in 2021.

This would have taken trains from Birmingham to Leeds and pushed the project’s cost to potentially more than £100 billion.

The finished line will eventually link London with Birmingham and Manchester, but the latest delays mean high-speed trains won’t reach Manchester until at least 2040.

The Department for Transport said that large infrastructure projects had to be funded sustainably.

They said that over the next two years, spending would remain within the annual budgets and some targets of the projects would be re-phased to ensure they’re delivered in the most cost-effective way for taxpayers, as the government set out in Parliament in March.

However, the funds being used were funds that were supposed to go to our local authorities to fund the community, hence why everything has risen exponentially year after year.

Most people can’t afford train fares now and now this is being built to save 20 minutes to get to London, why? Any thoughts if anyone will be able to afford a ticket?

Seventy-one billion which instead could have gone to the NHS – what a complete waste of taxpayers’ money.

This is an astonishing waste of money for a vanity project when it could be used on something more useful, and we the taxpayer are paying for these vanity projects, and if the rail unions continue to strike, what’s the point of having an extremely costly rail line with no trains to run on them?

Our Government keep saying they’re short of money, but then they give us this unwanted white elephant railway and this should be stopped immediately.

And who’s responsible for these delays? And why does the taxpayer have to suffer the additional costs if the contractors are at fault?

Of course, they will use some cockamamie excuse or they’ll blame it on COVID or some other failure as the contractors and consultants cream off their slice of a bigger money cake.

However, they dare not stop the construction because if they do it will be political suicide, and it will also demonstrate that it was never that great to start off with.

They created a monster that no one dare talk of. However, someone from the media should do a freedom of information request so that we can conclude this debacle so that the money can then help British citizens instead in this land of ours.

Once again, it’s politicians frittering away taxpayers’ hard-earned money and acting like headless chickens, but then they can’t be trusted to do anything properly, but you guessed it, they’ll do their best to reward this failure as well.

This is the biggest white elephant in history – unnecessary, rather useless and definitely meaningless, and it was a major government project which is going to be late and way over budget, and this is a project which should never have seen the light of day, and it’s a black hole for taxpayer money.

Not Very Dis-Crete!

The Obama family has been spotted visiting the Acropolis in Athens, with the former president cosying up to his missis.

Barack Obama, 61, was pictured fondling his wife’s buttocks during the visit to the ancient site on Wednesday.

The former first lady sported a flattering khaki jumpsuit and white cardigan, with her husband looking comfortable in white chinos, trainers and a simple blue shirt.

The loved-up couple were joined by their two daughters Malia, 24, and Sasha, 22.

Malia was wearing a long brown dress and black ankle boots, and Sasha trainers, jeans and a purple top paired with hoop earrings.

The Obama family was in Greece for an Obama Foundation event and seems to have taken some downtime to see the popular attraction.

The Foundation was hosting 100 changemakers from across Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe for a week-long leadership and cultural experience in Athens.

The Foundation’s website states that during the week, leaders were trading ideas, workshopping solutions, and building meaningful connections.

It said that from Athens, Greece, to the South Side of Chicago, they were committed to investing in the next generation of emerging leaders, and that President Obama was too.

Barack Obama has spent time with the attendees, listening to the challenges leaders face and learning about the opportunities to advance their work.

Another downtime has included an evening of traditional Greek experiences at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre.

In a tweet posted to his account on Tuesday, the former President said that Michelle and himself began the @ObamaFoundation to support the next generation of leaders creating sustainable change in their communities, and he said that this week he’ll be joining their Obama Leaders in Greece where they’ll share ideas and dive deeper into the work they’re doing.

Barack Obama and Michelle first met in 1989 when working for the same law firm.

The couple has both talked at length about their enduring marriage and the challenges their relationship has endured over the years, especially in relation to living high-profile public lives.

The couple was in the White House from 2009 through to 2016. Since then, the couple has authored books, created documentaries for Netflix and trekked the world.

This is no big deal, most hubbies have fondled their wife’s derrière, but most of them aren’t followed by the press. However, some people might find it shocking that a man with two adult children still cares about his wife, and would express his feelings like this.

His love for his wife is extremely sweet indeed and why should he save this for private moments? It just means they have a life and they’re living it. Mrs Trump wouldn’t even let her husband hold her hand.

And as long as Michelle doesn’t mind, then it’s acceptable, plus it’s none of our business, and it’s always satisfying to see a couple who have been together a long time to still be affectionate because sustained romantic affection and feeling are a rare thing these days, and it’s good to see the warmth they still feel for each other.

EU Set To Approve The Use Of Spyware To Uncover Confidential Journalist Sources

The European Union is set to approve new laws that would let governments spy on journalists in the name of national security.

Press freedom campaigners warned that the legislation would expand legal loopholes that would let governments install spyware on journalists’ phones and computers, including British journalists operating in the EU.

The draft legislation, which has now been agreed upon by Brussels ambassadors, extends the national security exemptions beyond those covered under terrorism and threats to national security.

It would let EU governments use a broad array of crimes, ranging from murder to theft to music piracy, as a legal reason for using intrusive surveillance software on journalists.

Press freedom advocates warned the last-minute changes demanded by France could unlock the doors to all types of abuses.

All 32 crimes listed in the EU arrest warrant, alongside any offence that could lead to a prison sentence over five years, could be used under the new draft law.

It would also let EU governments exempt themselves from spying on reporters if it was an overriding requirement of the public interest.

Campaigners lashed out at the draft law as they warned it could pose a threat to the freedom of the press and have a chilling impact on whistleblowers.

Julie Majerczak, Brussels director at Reporters without Borders, said that the possibility of monitoring journalists in the name of national security was an open door to all sorts of abuse.

Renate Schroeder, director of the European Federation of Journalists, condemned the dangerous loopholes and said the exemptions dealt a blow to media freedom.

She said it put reporters even more at risk and would create a chilling impact on whistleblowers and other sources.

EU ambassadors will now take the draft legislation to the European Parliament, with a view to pounding out the final text.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, welcomed the agreement by the bloc’s member states and called for the draft legislation to become law shortly.

Commission official Vera Jourova, who proposed the law last year said it was a major step towards 1st ever EU rules to protect media pluralism and freedom, and that we should all do more to protect journalists, and she said that she hoped the Parliament could work quickly and that they get a final deal soon.

This only tells us one thing. Perhaps the EU has dirty little secrets and doesn’t want them exposed to the masses, as the United Kingdom becomes more communist by the day!

And where is the line drawn between national security and the suppression of dissenters and freedom of the press?

Eventually, there will be spying everywhere, on your phone, on your computer, if it’s not being done already. There will be no need for warrants, no need for a judge to approve it. Just random spying on the people. They will record what you say, what’s on your PC and text messages on your phone.

George Orwell was on the right path. He might have been a bit of an optimist, but he certainly knew something was amuck.

They call it national security, but in fact, it’s an EU dictatorship. Can you hear the jackboots parading through the streets of Brussels?

Don’t think for one moment that we in the United Kingdom are safe from these dystopian measures, and our slavish administration will readily adopt them.

Big brother is watching you!

It’s A Battle Of The Titans (Of Technology)!

Twitter owner Elon Musk has challenged jiu-jitsu-trained Mark Zuckerberg to a cage match.

Elon Musk, 51, offered up the match after commenting under a post about Mark Zuckerberg’s most recent suspected project, which will reportedly be called Threads and rival Twitter.

Elon Musk commented that he was sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options, and at least it would be sane, although he was worried there for a moment.

After another user reminded the Tesla CEO that the Facebook creator, 39, ‘does jiu-jitsu now’ Elon Musk brushed it off and said that he was up for a cage match if he was.

Mark Zuckerberg responded on his Instagram story, sharing a screenshot of Elon Musk’s challenge, writing: ‘Send me location’.

Elon Musk has trained in Kyokushin karate, taekwondo, judo and ‘Brazilian jiu-jitsu briefly throughout his life, he disclosed on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and he shared a picture of himself fighting a sumo wrestler in the past.

However, Elon Musk might not find the match to be as easy as he believes as the Meta CEO, who recently placed in a jiu-jitsu tournament in May.

Mark Zuckerberg said on a podcast earlier this year that maybe to some degree, your ability to keep doing interesting things is your willingness to be embarrassed again and go back to step one and start as a beginner, and get your arse kicked.

Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg bashed a New York Times report that he was knocked out during a Jiu-Jitsu fight after a referee ended the bout early and gave the win to an opponent.

A clip of him wrestling on the floor and attempting to break free from an opponent who pinned him down on the mat went viral.

They struggled for more than a minute before Mark Zuckerberg was locked in a submission before the referee called the match and gave the win to his opponent, and the official said he stopped the fight because he heard the tech CEO snoring and thought he’d passed out during the chokehold.

However, Mark Zuckerberg and his coach Dave Camarillo told the publication he’d not lost consciousness and the referee misunderstood his grunting for snoring.

Mark Zuckerberg wrote in an email that it never happened.

Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox commented on the company’s upcoming text-based app, referring to it as their response to Twitter, the Verge reported earlier this month.

My money would be on Elon Musk winning, but then as Mike Tyson said: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’.

This could even be the birth of a new sport – billionaire boy fights – pillows at 10 paces.

It would be like the rhinoceros versus the salamander, and they’re acting like bored rich kids with self-inflated egos.

Boys will be boys, but these two just have bigger and more expensive toys.

This is all very sad – don’t they both have more pressing matters to attend to? Perhaps they’re just trying to ‘mark’ their territory with ‘musk’.

It Is Imperative That The Government Releases Secret Files On The Royal Family

A few weeks ago, someone wrote in a newspaper outlet in the Royal section about the problems they’d had as a historian and biographer in trying to access historical royal records.

Time after time they found themselves barred from peeking into even the most mundane files, including documents which had been brought with public money specifically for the purpose of opening them to the public.

They’d been told that many royal files had been destroyed with no record kept. Others recorded in the catalogue then appeared to have been lost while some that were previously open had been mysteriously removed from the National Archives.

There appears to be a frustrating pattern to all of this.

And in the past few years, this has led this person to conclude that the Monarchy and our government are, together, permitting history to be falsified.

However, these problems are not uncommon, especially when it comes to matters relating to the discredited Duke of Windsor.

Barrister and former immigration Judge, Andrew Rose, the author of The Prince, the Princess and the Perfect Murder: An Untold History, wrote to say that an intriguing Special Branch file on the cover-up of a murder by an ex-girlfriend of the future Duke of Windsor had been closed without warning.

Andrew Rose, always looking to update his book, had already made vast notes from the file in question, MEPO 38/151 (HRH The Prince of Wales: Protection File: 1924-1935) in July 2011.

However, when he asked to see it more recently, he was told it wasn’t available.

He also heard from Professor Adrian O’Sullivan researching a book on Charles Bedaux, the millionaire industrialist and close friend of the Duke of Windsor.

Charles Bedaux was a person of significant interest who committed suicide in strange circumstances while in FBI custody.

As Professor O’Sullivan explains that he phoned the FBI and spoke to someone (anonymous) who assured him that they had lots of stuff on Charles Bedaux and encouraged him to submit a formal FOI request to them.

This he did promptly, and several months later during the autumn of 2009, received a response from the FBI advising him that his FOI application to the FBI for the release of the Charles Bedaux records had been rejected on the grounds that, after a search of the indices to their central records system at FBI Headquarters and all FBI field offices, the Bureau was unable to identify responsive main records. Which was essentially a long-winded way of saying they didn’t have anything, after all.

The United Kingdom seems to be in the grip of rewriting all its history to appease the minorities and this is no different.

History and accounts of it should all be there for all to see and it should be made public knowledge, the good, the bad and the ugly – we don’t just want all the exemplary bits so that we can clap to them.

Edward VIII, later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emporer of India until his abdication.

After his abdication, Edward married Wallis Simpson in France after her second divorce became absolute, and later that year, the couple toured Nazi Germany, which fed rumours that he was a Nazi supporter.

Their visit was against the advice of the British government and while there they both met Adolf Hitler – the visit was much publicised by the German media, and during visits to Germany Edward gave full Nazi salutes.

In Germany, they were regaled like royalty and members of the elite would bow and curtsy towards Wallis Simpson. She was treated with all the dignity and status the duke always wanted.

Britain’s Cuckoo Population Faces Uncertain Future

New research warns that climate change is endangering cuckoos as the iconic migratory birds’ body cycles can’t adjust to global warming. 

Scientists say that it could put them as out of fashion as the 18th-century mechanical time-keeping instruments.

Lead author Dr Chris Hewson, of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), said that many other species are thought to be able to bring forward their arrival by adjusting their internal clocks to leave their wintering grounds sooner, but this doesn’t appear to be an option for the UK Cuckoo population.

Spring is arriving earlier each year but cuckoos can’t shift their annual hike in response.

They travel the Sahara after the arrival of West African spring rains, which have remained constant.

It means they reach European breeding grounds out of sync with the peak availability of hairy caterpillars, their favourite snack.

Dr Hewson said that migrating birds are, in general, arriving back to their breeding grounds earlier to adjust to the changing climate. Some, however, are not and their population trends are less favourable than those that do.

He said that using data from 87 satellite-tracked common cuckoos from the United Kingdom, they found the spring arrival of one such species was constrained by seasonal changes in conditions at a stopover site in West Africa.

He added that they also found evidence attempting to keep up with the demands of earlier springs at the breeding grounds results in costly trade-offs, increasing the mortality rate in early migrating birds.

The phenomenon may have implications for the survival of the globally endangered bird. Most species that breed in Europe, but spend the winter in sub-Saharan Africa have made the necessary adjustments.

Prior research has established a connection between migratory birds with fixed arrival dates and more severe population declines.

Now, Dr Hewson and colleagues have used data from the long-running BTO Cuckoo tracking programme to demonstrate why cuckoos are so vulnerable.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, also shows the possible impact on the struggling UK population.

Cuckoos migrating to the UK leave their wintering grounds in the rainforests of central Africa in late February.

They spend a month or so fattening up in West Africa ahead of their difficult non-stop Sahara crossing.

Data collected on 87 Cuckoos tagged since 2011 show the birds must wait for the explosion in invertebrate prey brought each year by monsoons.

The Cuckoo is presently Red Listed as a Bird of Conservation Concern in the United Kingdom, due to its population decline.

Since 2011 they’ve been satellite-tracking Cuckoos to discover why they’re declining.

Common cuckoos spend their winters in Africa and migrate to the United Kingdom in the spring to breed, normally arriving in late April and early May, but the familiar birds have become much scarcer in recent decades.

To better understand why cuckoo populations were declining the BTO launched the Cuckoo Tracking Project in 2011 to tag and observe the birds during their intercontinental migration.

The team put a satellite marker as part of the tracking project. Since then, they’ve observed the cuckoo’s travels over the Sahara desert and the Ivory Coast of Africa, through France and Spain, and eventually back to Suffolk, England, where the cuckoo was first discovered.

Now, as of April 23, it’s the first bird in the Cuckoo Tracking Project to complete five migrations back to his English breeding ground.

In the past five years, it’s crossed the Sahara 10 times, soared through Africa’s Atlas Mountains and navigated Europe’s Pyrenees.

In Just Three Days, More Than 1,000 Migrants Cross The Channel

More than a thousand migrants have travelled the Channel in three days, official figures revealed, showering enormous stress on Rishi Sunak’s vow to end the arrival of small boats.

The Home Office said that some 333 people were detected crossing the English Channel in small boats on Sunday.

There were 374 people seen on Saturday and 486 on Friday, meaning 1,193 people have been seen in three days.

The crossings have been aided by favourable weather and calm winds in the Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

The total number of small boat arrivals so far this year remains below the equivalent number at this point last year, but they’re getting closer.

More than 11,600 people had made the crossing by June 18, 2022, while the figure for 2023 so far is 10,472.

Crossings have picked up in recent days after a quiet period earlier in the month, with 2,862 people said to have arrived between June 10 and 18.

Seven boats were seen on Sunday, which suggests an average of about 48 people travelled the Channel per boat.

Total crossings last year were 45,755.

Dover Town councillor Rebecca Sawbridge said there were mixed responses in the Kent port town to the new arrival of migrants by small boats, but that Dover has always been a transient and multicultural town because of the docks.

The former seafarer said some residents have raised concerns about services, housing and poverty in relation to migrants arriving on the shoreline.

But on the increase of people arriving over the last few years, Ms Sawbridge said that she didn’t think more people had noticed it but there’s definitely been more attention and publicity around it.

She added that unless you live next to a hostel that houses migrants, you wouldn’t have that face-to-face contact.

One Dover resident, who wished not to be named, told the PA news agency that she’s sometimes seen boats arriving while walking her dog and reported it to the coastguard who arrive too late.

The woman said that she was fed up with it, particularly on how she felt it was straining public services supporting new arrivals and wanted the Government to do more to tackle the small boat crossings, and she added that it was a really tricky one, and that not all of those coming across the channel were genuine asylum seekers, but that some were, and that they could go through the appropriate channels.

Seems like the United Kingdom is a free for all, well until welfare, education and the health system break down, but saying that, aren’t we already broken as a country?

If our Government actually wanted to stop the migrants from crossing over the channel into the United Kingdom, don’t you think that they would? But it seems that not one political party has any intention of stopping this – not one.

The Conservatives said that they would control our borders, guess what, we were conned! And this is just unbelievable incompetence by our Government on a monumental scale.

Rishi Sunak keeps banging on about his pledges but now he’s become a broken record, and it doesn’t affect billionaires like Rishi Sunak, it affects the honest hardworking of this country, and it appears that Rishi Sunak is a do-nothing man.

And really, what was the point of Brexit? They said that they would secure and control our borders, again we were conned.

Rishi Sunak is completely clueless and he clearly wants to lose the next election, and why is our Government not even trying to be credible, let alone competent?

The Met Police Are Considering New Partygate Footage

The Metropolitan Police said they were considering newly released video footage showing Conservative Party staff partying, dancing and drinking during the lockdown.

The force said it was aware of the video, which shows a Christmas party involving at least 24 revellers at the party’s campaign headquarters in London in December 2020, when social distancing restrictions were in place.

Michael Gove tore into those at the rowdy party organised by the campaign team of the then London Mayor hopeful Shaun Bailey, branding it terrible and their actions inexcusable.

Two dancing officials were shown twirling each other signs saying to keep their distance and stumbling into a table filled with buffet food, and as they do so, other Tory staff members are heard chortling, with one joking that he hoped that they weren’t exposed for bending the rules.

Talking to Sophy Ridge, a frenzied Michael Gove said he hope that all those filmed were contrite, adding that it was terrible and that it was completely out of order, and that he wanted to apologise to everyone who, looking at that image would now think that people were flouting the rules put in place to protect everyone, and he said that the fact that this party went ahead was indefensible for the people who were there.

The Metropolitan Police had previously investigated the event, which took place on December 14, 2020, but only had a still photo of the revellers, and Michael Gove refused to tell the force if it should reopen its investigation.

He said Mr Bailey and Ben Mallett should keep the honours they were awarded in Boris Johnson’s resignation list.

Officers will now assess the new video, raising the possibility that the Conservatives could face yet another highly damaging police partygate investigation.

The video, acquired by a newspaper outlet, is the first time footage has emerged of a rule-breaking party in Westminster.

It shows a karaoke machine with flashing lights, as revellers quip about how they’re breaking the rules.

One man, sporting a brightly coloured Christmas jumper, is seen ballroom dancing with a woman attired in a red dress.

The unsteady pair bump into a table loaded with party food and wine glasses as they spiral around to the sound of The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York.

When one man sees he’s being recorded, he says: ‘Oh Christ’. Then another asks: ‘Are you filming this?’ Someone else responds: ‘Er, it’s for the party use’.

The entire thing was a joke, and I’m sure there will be plenty of people that will never vote Conservative again, and no government or political party has ever sickened me more, and if this demonstrates anything, it shows undoubtedly the contempt that the Conservative Party has for the electorate, deliberately doing this sort of thing, knowing the situation people were encountering at the time.

It was a shameful act whilst everyone else was locked down, but unfortunately, numerous people fell for the scaremongering by the Government.

However, it was incredibly heartbreaking that people lost loved ones during the lockdown, and what’s sad is that our government were laughing at us all – those people that say they’re running our country. The only thing that they’re running is a p*ss up in a brewery! But of course, this is yet another example of our self-entitled establishment believing they’re above the law, but what they really are is narcissistic, smug oppressors!

The honours list should be repealed because they’re certainly not honourable.

But there were breaches by many. Some went on holiday when they were told not to, and numerous people never got vaccinated.

The Conservatives should do the right thing – call an election and then we can put a line under all this nonsense, which has been unprofessional and extremely insulting.

Labour-Run Council Splashes Out Nearly £50,000 On LGBT-Friendly Rainbow Junction, Sparking Fury

It’s emerged that a ‘rainbow junction’ in support of the LGBT community cost taxpayers almost £50,000.

The four crossings, painted in the coloured stripes of the Progressive Pride flag was rolled out in Chiswick High Road in February by the Labour-run Hounslow council.

According to a newspaper outlet, disability campaigners were left furious when it was revealed to be the most expensive rainbow crossing in Britain, at the cost of £48,174.

The National Federation of the Blind of the UK said ‘inclusion must mean inclusion for all, including blind people’ and instead the money could instead have been spent on safety and accessibility for the visually impaired.

Meanwhile, Tory peer Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne suggested the crossing would inevitably cause migraines and trigger epilepsy.

The scheme was developed alongside the West London Queer Project, which aims to ‘connect, support and give voice to’ the LGBT community in the area.

The newspaper outlet found that over the course of a year, the crossing itself cost more than £34,000, while the town hall also splurged £9,000 on road markings and resurfacing, £1,900 on traffic management and £4,500 on road safety audits.

By comparison, £46,000 was the combined cost of developing rainbow crosses on hospital grounds by 20 NHS trusts in 2019.

Hounslow, which supports Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion and recently increased council tax by the maximum amount of 4.99 per cent rejected the suggestion that it was a poor allocation of resources.

Council leader Shantanu Rajawat told the paper that important day-to-day services were not affected by new community endeavours like this.

He said that due to their prudent financial management over many years, Hounslow was in a relatively strong position among local authorities and their balanced budget would ensure they would continue to deliver the quality of services and support residents expect and deserve.

It comes after a newspaper outlet announced last year that councils have spent more than £200,000 on woke pedestrian crossings.

MPs voiced their outrage at how taxpayer’s money has been wasted on the absurd pet projects while frontline services including bin collections have been cut.

The £200,000 outlay includes £43,000 splashed out by Kensington and Chelsea Council on three ‘creative crossings’, including a Japan-themed one, while Richmond Council in South West London spent £4,400 on a crossing featuring poppies.

Freedom of Information data shows that in total, 21 local authorities spent £205,084 on what are described as ‘pointless paint jobs’.

It all boils down to councils squandering taxpayers’ money just like the government does.

This is a waste of money, but then Labour are good at wasting money, but then we mustn’t forget that the Conservatives are excellent at tunnelling money to millionaires. It’s official, the world’s gone mad!

How many schoolchildren could have benefited from school meals? How many pensioners could have benefited from having money for food or heating? How many families could have benefited from additional food and garments for their children?

Of course, other funding has been affected and this was money redirected for unnecessary ego-boosting assignments and are no doubt probably not legal under road traffic management laws.

It’s now time for Council Tax rebellion because you’re not getting what you pay for, and it’s certainly not value for money.

These lines aren’t identified in the Highway Code, so how can this be legal? And worse still, not recognised by drivers, wait for the casualties to happen!

That amount of money would have filled a ton of potholes on the roads, but amazingly, the person that authorised this work likely believed they were doing a fabulous job, and in order to authorise this amount of expenditure they must be getting well-paid, what a waste!

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