Robert Jenrick Pictured With Former Nazi Terror Chief

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has attended a demonstration organised by a neo-Nazi party and posted a picture of himself with the founder of a terror organisation.

Jenrick went to a gathering hosted by the Homeland Party in Epping on Sunday night. Callum Barker, a neo-Nazi member of Homeland who has a history of supporting racism and terrorism, spoke at the event.

Jenrick later posted images of himself with demonstrators, which included Eddy Butler, one of the founders of the neo-Nazi terror gang Combat 18. The numerals in Combat 18 refer to the first and eighth letters of the alphabet, referencing the name of Adolf Hitler.

After the demonstration, Butler posted a photograph of himself standing directly behind Jenrick with the text, “At the Bell Hotel, riding shotgun for Robert Jenrick.”

The Epping Says No Facebook page, which is run entirely by Callum Barker, was used to coordinate the protest.

According to police, the demonstration began outside the Bell Hotel at 4 pm. Residents noted that Jenrick was present between approximately 5 pm and 6 pm, when he spoke to demonstrators and posed for photos.

Shortly afterwards, Jenrick posted a photograph showing him talking to a woman holding up a t-shirt with the words “Send them home” on it, while former Nazi terror chief Eddy Butler is pictured in the background. Jenrick’s post included the text, “Great to be with peaceful, patriotic protestors in Epping today.”

At 6.10 pm, the protesters marched into the centre of Epping, where Barker addressed the participants. It is unclear whether Jenrick joined the demonstration.

During his address, Barker claimed, “In Epping, we’ve been the spearhead of these protests. We’ve been leading the way and leading the charge.” The demonstrators responded by singing, “Callum is a hero! Callum is a hero!”

The involvement of Barker is known to the local Conservative Party, with leading local Tory Holly Whitbread previously criticising Reform councillor Jaymey McIvor for joining one of the earlier Sunday demonstrations and “standing next to a neo-Nazi”. Whitbread, who is a councillor and cabinet member on Essex County Council for Epping and Theydon Bois, said, “My grandad and my grandad’s generation fought in a war against these people.” She continued, “These people do not talk for Britain. They’re not British values. I think, quite frankly, anyone who stands side with side with them should hang their heads in shame. It’s disgraceful.”

Barker has posted images that reference the numerical code “1488”. This code was invented by the US neo-Nazi terrorist David Lane, who was involved in the killing of a Jewish radio host in 1984. The “88” denotes the phrase “Heil Hitler”, because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet. The “14” refers to 14 words: “We must secure a future for the white race and also for white children.”

Barker’s centrality to the organisation of the demonstrations became well known after Stand Exposed It Up To Racism in late July. Reporters from The Times went to the demonstrations in Epping to confront Barker on his involvement in Homeland, and the video of this interaction was later publicised by the newspaper.

Barker was also questioned over images he had posted online of himself sporting a leather mask and holding up the manifesto of Ted Kaczynski, a US terrorist who killed three people during a 17-year reign of terror.

Butler helped to establish Combat 18 as the security detail of the British National Party in the early 1990s. However, he was subsequently allegedly stabbed by Combat 18 members during an internal feud inside the BNP.

Butler was closely associated with a clique of senior figures in the BNP who organised around The Patriot, an internal magazine. The editor of The Patriot was Nazi terrorist Tony Lecomber, who was injured in 1986 while trying to use a nail bomb. Police subsequently recovered two grenades and seven petrol bombs from his house. He was jailed for three years, but had to go back to prison for an attack on a Jewish schoolteacher in 1991.

Butler went on to be National Elections Officer for the BNP after leading the party’s “Rights for Whites” campaign in 1993, which saw it win a council seat on the Isle of Dogs.

In January 2025, the government designated Combat 18 as an alias of the Blood & Honour group, saying there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect it of “being involved in terrorist activities through promoting and encouraging terrorism, seeking to recruit people for that purpose and making funds available for the purposes of its terrorist activities”.

Combat 18 has a lengthy history of involvement in murders and terror. Combat 18 leader Charlie Sargeant was convicted of the murder of Christopher Castle in Harlow in 1997. The organisation also has connections to the 1999 London nail-bombing attacks and the assassination of German politician Walter Lübcke in 2019.

The group uses the Totenkopf – the skull symbol associated with Hitler’s SS – as its logo.

Jenrick’s participation in the protest lends legitimacy to an expanding fascist movement that targets refugees in the South East and nationwide.

Numerous participants in Sunday’s Epping demonstration had been at a protest earlier in the day in Canary Wharf, where men in balaclavas fought with police outside asylum-seeker accommodation at the Britannia Hotel.

The demonstrators chanted “Free Channay”, a reference to a woman who was arrested outside the hotel earlier in the week on suspicion of threatening a security guard and possession of a meat cleaver.

The men then blocked a bridge in Canary Wharf and chanted “Spartans”, the name of a group of masked men who tried to force entry to migrant hotels and put English flags on lampposts under the cover of darkness in East London, Hertfordshire and Essex.

During the protest in Epping, several men also chanted “Spartans”, indicating they had been at both demonstrations that day.

The Epping demonstration was also attended by Liam Gillett – also known as Liam Tuffs – a far-right podcaster and close friend of Tommy Robinson. Gillett is the boss of a security firm and organises security teams for Tommy Robinson’s events.

Labour is ruining this country; thus, we need strong leadership and some sort of reform in the UK to stop this rot.

Starmer and his cronies are so busy tarting themselves up with freebies that they don’t have time for the good British people of England, and Starmer has no intention of ‘smashing the gangs.’ And it seems like it’s all planned – it’s not random.

We are being invaded purposely with our government’s full knowledge!

We don’t want Nazis in this country, of course, we don’t, but something has to give because this is not our country anymore. We should be worried about the danger of illegal migrants to our children, but that does not make us racist; it just makes us fearful.

We most definitely do not want our kids to live next door to men from a developing nation who entered the UK illegally and about whom we know very little.

In the UK, people are naturally afraid of strangers. We are only concerned about our kids, and with good reason. It’s not a phobia. Still, our lives are being profoundly impacted by these strangers, and the crossing of these migrants in the English Channel is a national security emergency.

This issue isn’t about migration. It’s about sexual violence, paedophilia, patriarchy and systematic police failures.

There’s nothing racist about caring for one’s family.

Angela Rayner said that she wanted to see communities coming together. The problem is that people who come to our land never want to integrate into the British way of life, and now everyone has to bend to their dogma.

Rayner is way out of depth. The same can be said of Starmer because he has now bitten off more than he can chew, and both are presently like wide-eyed rabbits in the headlights.

Sadly, our voices are in the wilderness, and it’s likely to remain that way for some time to come.

Whenever Rayner is asked a straightforward question about mass illegal immigration, her reply – there wasn’t one. She was questioned about decent ordinary members of the public being extremely concerned about mass immigration – her reply – there wasn’t one.

Like all politicians, when a question is asked, they never give an answer. I don’t condone the way some of these protests are carried out, but how else are the government going to take notice of how the British People are feeling at the moment? The vast majority of us are fed up with the way things are going. I’m not at all racist, and I believe that many ethnic British People are also fed up. The Labour government have got it all wrong, again. This time they only got in because the majority wanted rid of the lacklustre Tories. The 5 minutes they have been in power has shown their true colours. If I were 40 years younger, I would stick two fingers up at this country and immigrate to one of the few Commonwealth countries we’ve got left. This Country, of ours, has unfortunately gone to the dogs.

Caught In The Crossfire Of A Turkish Gang War

Shot in the head while eating dinner with her family, she was the nine-year-old victim of one of London’s most vicious gang wars. 

The girl had been sitting inside a Turkish restaurant in Dalston, east London, when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire on three rivals sitting nearby. One of the six bullets lodged in her brain, leaving her with potentially lifelong health complications.

Javon Riley, 33, who helped organise the drive-by shooting, has now been convicted at the Old Bailey of four counts of attempted murder in what prosecutors described as ‘a planned assassination of members of a rival gang, Mr Riley and others’. 

Those ‘others’ are the Tottenham Turks, sworn enemies of their Turkish adversaries, the Hackney Bombers. The three men, Mustafa Kiziltan, Kenan Aydogdu and Nasser Ali – who all survived – were allegedly affiliated with the Bombers, or ‘Bombacilars’. The gunman is still at large with a £15,000 bounty on his head.

While undoubtedly the most shocking outbreaks of London gangland violence in recent memory, the horrific events of May 2024 were just one episode in a long vendetta between the two gangs that has claimed at least eight lives in the capital.

And with the conclusion of Riley’s trial, the Daily Mail can now reveal a possible ninth victim, Erdal Ozmen, a father of two shot dead in Stoke Newington on August 5 – who a close friend quickly identified as a bomber’s member. 

The 45-year-old was described as one of the mob’s ‘top boys’, and was previously convicted of attempted murder for his role in the 2003 shooting of a Turkish man outside a petrol station in Tottenham.

Many members of the local Turkish community were ready to blame the Tottenham Turks for Mr. Ozmen’s death when the Mail asked who was responsible. How many more victims could this violent conflict claim, and what started it?

The long vendetta between the Hackney Bombers and Tottenham Turks has its roots in a fight for control over the UK’s lucrative heroin trade, which is dominated by Turkish criminals. 

While there have been more than 35 major flare-ups between the two gangs – including 20 shootings and three murders – those involved have mostly escaped the glare of publicity due to the perception that their crimes are ‘bad on bad’ (criminals attacking other criminals). 

However, this is now changing, when their fight destroyed the life of a helpless girl.

The Hackney Bombers have their roots in a drug empire established by Huseyin Baybasin, 67, who was dubbed the ‘Pablo Escobar of Europe’ after taking control of much of the heroin being exported from the poppy fields of Afghanistan in the 1970s.

He is presently serving a life sentence in the Netherlands after convictions for drug trafficking and conspiracy to murder in 2001.

Following his conviction, the family business was taken over by his younger brother, Abdullah Baybasin, 64, who is confined to a wheelchair after being shot in the spine by a rival.

According to reports, he worked as an informant for UK Customs and M15, providing information about senior Turkish politicians involved in the drug trade. 

In return for this, he was permitted to move to Britain in the mid-1990s along with other high-ranking associates and was finally given political asylum.

But embarrassingly for the British officials, their prized informer established himself within the north London Turkish community and waged a reign of terror, recruiting young thugs known as ‘The Bombacilar’ [bombers] to extort businesses and gain control of the drugs trade.

At one point, Abdullah and his brothers, who originate from south-east Turkey, were said to be controlling 90 per cent of the UK’s heroin market.

He conducted his operation from a shop in Hackney but lived in a grand detached home he together purchased with them in the wealthy Canons Drive Estate of Edgware, north London, which they still own.

Over the years, they have frequently clashed with the Tottenham Turks as part of a gang war that has extended across Europe – reportedly leading to more than 20 murders. 

One of the Tottenham Turks’ former leaders was Hayri Goztas, who, behind the facade of a hardworking cafe owner in Green Lanes, north London, served as the ‘godfather’ of one of Britain’s biggest drug smuggling operations. He was known as ‘Aga’, or Turkish for leader.

In 2012, he was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for importing up to £1 million worth of heroin per week following a National Crime Squad undercover operation. 

Turkish community sources say he has been released and is still in the UK, even though a judge ordered his deportation following his sentence.

Another leader, Kemal Eren, who is nicknamed Parmaksiz, which means ‘No Fingers’ in Turkish, escaped the UK in 2012 after the slaying of another Bombacilar mobster.

Izzet Eren, another prominent leader of the Tottenham Turks, was apprehended in Moldova two years ago after he escaped from a Turkish prison.

Eren was jailed for 21 years in 2015 for firearms crimes in London – but had been moved to a prison in Turkey in 2019.

Senior members of both mobs were targeted in the cycle of violence.

Tottenham Turks members shot and killed Ali Armagan in 2012, a high-ranking Bombacilar member, as he sat in his custom-built Audi A8 limousine outside Turnpike Lane underground station.

Just weeks earlier, Zafer Eren, 34, who had connections with the Tottenham Turks gang, was shot dead in Southgate, north London.

Oktay Erbasli, 23, a prominent member of the Tottenham Turks, was shot dead as he waited at traffic lights in his Range Rover when a hitman on a motorbike connected to the Bombacilar gang pulled up alongside him and opened fire.

On one occasion, armed thugs clashed with each other in broad daylight along Green Lanes in Haringey, resulting in the death of one gang member and dozens injured.

The brutal slaying of a Turkish radio DJ in 2023 is also thought to be connected to the vendetta.

Mehmet Koray Alpergin and his girlfriend, Gozde Dalbudak, were kidnapped in central London last October.

Mr Alpergin, 43, was beaten, throttled, burned and stabbed before his body was dumped in an Essex woodland.

Two men were found guilty of his killing last December, with the court told that ‘international organised crime’ was at the heart of the case.

Despite the ‘Mr Bigs’ of both gangs being pursued by police, their vast criminal operations remain intact with little sign that British justice has made any inroads into their activities.

Abdullah was incarcerated for 22 years in 2006 after admitting to blackmail and perverting the course of justice, and a further 10 years, to run consecutively, after being found guilty of drug smuggling.

His trial at the time heard that he was head of a £10 billion operation criminal organisation involved in extortion rackets, human trafficking, prostitution, loan sharking, money laundering and drug trafficking.

However, he was exonerated after a retrial at Woolwich Crown Court, where a judge determined that a conviction would be risky due to the absence of prosecution evidence.

He has recently been photographed in Spain. Another brother, Mehmet, 59, is presently serving a 30-year prison sentence after being sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court in 2011 for attempting to import a 40-tonne shipment of cocaine into the UK with a Merseyside gang.

Following Riley’s conviction, Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Ben Dalloway said: ‘Javon Riley’s actions traumatically altered the trajectory of a little girl’s life. While this outcome serves as a sliver of justice, the dangerous individual responsible for pulling the trigger remains on our streets.

‘Those who ordered this shooting are a highly sophisticated criminal organisation. We understand that people may be worried about talking to us because of this, but it is imperative we hear from anyone who can assist this investigation.

‘Justice must be secured for this little girl and her family.’

The girl’s mother said in a statement: ‘In a single moment, the future we had imagined for our daughter was torn away. She was once an energetic, adventurous child—everything that celebrated movement, energy, and life.

‘Now, weakness on her left side means she can only watch from the sidelines, living with a titanium plate in her skull and a bullet still in her brain. As parents, we are shattered—emotionally, physically, mentally, and financially.

‘Each day brings new challenges, from her slower growth on one side to the emotional and mental scars that cannot be seen. The world we once believed was safe for our child now feels frightening and uncertain.

‘This was not just an accident – even if our daughter was not the intended target, those responsible were still attempting to take lives, it is brutal and inhumane. We live with this pain every day, knowing nothing will ever be the same for our family.’

Our politicians don’t appear to like the UK or its people, and the country has a weak judiciary and a police force that welcomes foreign criminals.

These days, crime and drug use are rife in London and other cities, and we have become a soft touch in the UK with our human rights lawyers defending them – they all need to be deported, but that’s what happens when our government authorises mass immigration.

And why do both immigrant criminals and gang members escape deportation after their first offence? Human rights should be denied to them if they commit crimes like murder; if they act like monsters, they should be treated as such.

With their Turkish supermarkets, barbers, restaurants, and coffee shops, we now know where the majority of these migrants make their living. It’s known as legalising and cleansing the money.

How does our Prime Minister sleep at night? And how can he be proud of what this country has become? And what is he afraid of?

Angela ‘Two Homes’ Rayner

Angela Rayner has been accused of using national security laws to hide the fact that she has the option of three bathrooms in her taxpayer-funded grace-and-favour home.

The Deputy Prime Minister’s officials refused to answer a Parliamentary question about the number of bedrooms in her London residence in Admiralty House, for security and operational reasons’.

However, the Conservatives have discovered through Freedom of Information laws that she enjoys the use of three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The disclosure is part of a wider endeavour by the Tories to establish whether Ms Rayner is paying her own council tax surcharge on second homes at Admiralty House. 

She became known as ‘Two Homes Rayner’ last year after it was revealed she had shuttled between two Right-To-Buy council properties early in her marriage. It was claimed that she rented out her house while living in her husband’s property. 

No wrongdoing has been found against Ms Rayner.

Her current council tax payment location is unknown.

Records of MPs’ expenses demonstrate that when she entered government, Ms Rayner designated her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency home as her ‘primary residence’, and a London flat she used to rent as her second.

That allowed her to claim back the £1,621 council tax bill on the flat from the taxpayer as one of the housing costs reimbursed by Commons authorities. 

But, having moved into Admiralty House four months before her Local Government Department began imposing an additional 100 per cent council tax charge on second homes, if the Ashton-under-Lyne property is still her primary residence, the £2,034 council tax bill for her grace-and-favour home – and for which she is now liable – doubles to £4,068.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: ‘It’s a scandal that Rayner tried to use national security laws to prevent the public from knowing she has three bathrooms all to herself. 

‘She claims to be a woman of the people, but this exposes how out of touch she has become… Rayner must use this opportunity to come clean on her council tax bill on this residence.’

A spokesman for Ms Rayner said: ‘Angela has two teenage sons and the flat she has been allocated has enough room for them to be able to stay with her… That’s hardly surprising and most certainly isn’t unprecedented.’

Oh, how quickly ministers and MPs forget their roots once they get into government and experience the gravy train first-hand.

This woman didn’t make it by education or experience. She is only where she is because of being the loudest mouth in the room.

This hypocrisy lies here with Angela Rayner and her condescending philosophy, ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’

The UK is now like a communist country, where the peasants live in poverty while the elite make a fortune and live in luxury!

How easily they forget honesty and openness when they are receiving taxpayer funds. Rayner indeed has her snout deep in the trough.

She’s just another Labour politician who acts like a child in a candy store, grabbing two or three of everything because she believes it’s free. If she were to become the next prime minister, can you imagine what her hands could grasp?

The majority of the Labour Party is made up of nasty hypocrites, like Angela Rayner, who take advantage of any freebies and benefits they can while stifling, stomping on, and gagging the rest of us when they can.

Starmer and his clown party have made it abundantly clear that Labour is not a caring party. Voting for Labour would essentially be voting for someone else to have a better life, so if you’re British-born, don’t do it.

Fat Jabs Like Ozempic And Mounjaro Threaten Pensions

The spread of ‘fat jabs’ such as Ozempic could lead to a rise in the state pension age because obese employees will live longer than anticipated, Government advisers have warned.

With more than 1.5 million people now using weight-loss drugs in the UK, the number-crunchers say that actuarial calculations about life expectancy – and therefore the bill faced by the Department for Work and Pensions – will have to be adjusted.

Users of the drugs, which also include Mounjaro and Wegovy, generally lose about 15 per cent of their body weight, leading to knock-on health benefits such as lower cholesterol levels and lowered blood pressure.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting strives to broaden the availability of the drugs on the NHS to reduce the burden on the Health Service and boost employment, claiming that ‘our widening waistbands’ are ‘holding back our economy’.

 

On average, persons who suffer from obesity-related illnesses use four more sick days annually.

But a Government source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Obviously, everyone can see the health benefits. But some people in the Treasury are worried about the impact on the pension crisis. Obesity is a big killer.

‘And if people are starting to live a lot longer because they’re not overweight, that’s quickly going to become an issue. Especially if we’re going to see it regularly being prescribed on the NHS, as Wes is advocating.’

The state pension age will officially increase next year from 66 to 67, and then again to 68 between 2044 and 2046 – although increasing pressure on public funds means an impending pension review by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall could hike that age further.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing a £50 billion ‘fiscal hole’ in the public finances she will need to close in Autumn’s Budget: measures considered include tighter inheritance tax rules and an increase in ‘sin taxes’ on tobacco and gambling.

The triple lock protection for the state pension is also becoming a growing burden, with spiking inflation expected to push the total amount to £12,451 next year – a £478 increase from its present level of £11,973. 

According to the predictions, the state pension will cost the Exchequer £151.42 billion that year, £430 million higher than the £150.99 billion bill expected as a result of previous Bank of England inflation forecasts.

Mr Streeting hopes the weight-loss jabs will lessen the burden on the NHS’s budget, which will increase by 3.3 per cent next year to £192 billion.

So, there is concern about having to finance older British citizens, but nothing about financing migrants who come to our shores.

The UK is losing a lot of money because of migrants.

In the financial year 2023/24, the expense of operating the UK’s asylum system grew to £5.4 billion, mainly due to increased reliance on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers. 

The Home Office expected to spend £482 million on immigration enforcement in 2023-24.

What was the amount paid for the Rwanda Scheme before it was abandoned?

Payments were intended to support economic development in Rwanda. The total of £270 million was paid into the Exchange-Traded Investment Fund. This breaks down to £120 million in April 2022, £100 million in April 2023 and £50 million in April 2024 to 2 December 2024.

The Government’s impact assessment of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 estimated that the cost of providing public services to a UK national was about £12,000 per person, according to Hansard. This implies a substantial expense of supporting an expanding population.

But our government will use any excuse to dodge paying their own citizens a pension because they’re plunging to new levels of low.

RODENT RAMPAGE!

Horrific footage reveals how rats have invaded an entire block of flats in London and turned it into a ‘Victorian Britain hellhole slum’.

Frightened residents are fleeing the block and moving out after feeling neglected and abandoned by the housing association responsible.

The footage shows dozens of rats scurrying across the walls and fixtures of a bin and utility room in Crystal Court, Hackney.

Families living there say they ‘constantly’ see the vermin and hear them during the night, leaving them unable to sleep.

Families say they have spent more than four years begging the housing association, Notting Hill Genesis, to rid the block of the rats.

Destin Domokundi, a 22-year-old student who has lived there with his mother since 2012, said the ‘disgusting’ issue had been raised ‘over and over’ with the management.

He said: ‘It’s been an issue for years, not just recently.

‘This became an issue four years ago. It’s gotten really intense recently. People have been scared to go into the bin room.

‘Even myself, I’m not queasy around rats, but it’s too much for me. You have to give the door a little tap to spook them before you go in.

‘I feel they are making their way up the stairs. I can hear them in the ceiling.’

Another resident, who has lived in the property for 13 years and pays more than £900 a month for her flat, says she is kept awake at night by the sound of rats scurrying above her ceiling.

She said: ‘I can hear them in the walls. It’s mostly at night – but even in the day, you hear packs of them scurrying about. 

‘It has been affecting my mental health – I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in over a year. It’s awful.

‘Next door had a leak really bad because rats bit through the pipes. So they had to move out for a year.’

Crystal Court says it found no evidence of a link between pest issues and damage to pipework. 

The resident, who requested not to be named, showed emails about the rat issue to the block’s management officer from August 2024. 

She said that pest control attended last year to lay down traps, but the problem has become increasingly dire since then.

In order to set more traps and secure the bin room, pest control has now returned. Only on weekends could people use the facility to fill up their gas supply meters because it was locked throughout the week.

Mum Pauline Aldred, 46, who has lived there for two years, said: ‘It’s absolutely horrific. It’s like a horror movie. I cry myself to sleep sometimes at how bad it is.

‘I am terrified of rats and any vermin. This is the worst situation I have ever been through in my life. It’s utter hell. The housing association has not helped.’

Another local said, ‘It’s the pits. It’s like a Victorian Britain hellhole slum.

‘It’s third world. This should not be Britain in 2025. It’s disgusting.’

A housing manager visited the block earlier in the week – and blamed the rat situation on residents not properly disposing of their rubbish, according to residents.

One resident said: ‘They have said the other block’s bin room is spotless, and they have a rat problem too.

‘I think the problem is a vicious cycle. I think that people just open the door and throw the rubbish in because they are scared to go in.

‘Once a year, we have the housing officer come around. No disrespect, but she’s quite young. She doesn’t understand.’

Destin added that the rat infestation is just one problem of many facing the block’s beleaguered residents.

He said: ‘I feel that a proper renovation of the bin room would be a good first step. We haven’t heard anything from them. The whole estate is a mess. 

‘The lift barely works. Post turns up weeks after it’s supposed to have been delivered. We used to have a cockroach problem in the early 2010s.’

Notting Hill Genesis houses about 130,000 people in London and the south-east.

A spokesperson for Notting Hill Genesis said: ‘We are tackling ongoing pest issues at Crystal Court and apologise for the impact this has had on our residents whilst we have been working to resolve matters.

‘Household waste left in communal areas has now been cleared, and we have carried out extensive pest control and prevention work within Crystal Court. 

‘Work to clean and remove waste from the bin store has been completed, and cleaning will continue to keep the space sanitary.

‘We continue to work with residents and have advised them to take additional care when disposing of waste to prevent these issues from reoccurring.

We will continue regular communications with residents every two days and continue to support them as we resolve this issue.’

Rats are adept swimmers and frequently live in waterways like canals, which allows them to enter buildings from those regions. Crystal Court in Hackney is located just next to Regent’s Canal.

They can climb well and are known to use sewer systems, which can bring them into homes through drains and other openings. They are especially drawn to urban canals because of the easy access to food, so residents of Crystal Court need to make sure they keep it litter-free, and they don’t leave food around.

Regretfully, the widening wealth and poverty gaps, the pressure to pack as many people into HMOs as possible, the rise in crime, the prevalence of vermin and litter, and the inaction of the political class have made society resemble Victorian times.

City Streets Bare Of Union Jack And St George’s Flags (But Palestine Flags Remain)

A Labour-run council has sparked a significant backlash by ripping down St George’s and Union Jack flags from streets because they ‘could put lives at risk’ – despite Palestinian flags flying high across the city for several months.

Scores of British flags have sprung up on lampposts and buildings across parts of Northfield, Birmingham, in what organisers have described as a ‘patriotic outpouring’.

Before moving on to places like Bartley Green, Selly Oak, and Frankley Great Park, they initially showed up in Weoley Castle.

Weoley Warriors, who are behind the influx of flags, describe themselves as a ‘group of proud English men with a common goal to show Birmingham and the rest of the country of how proud we are of our history, freedoms and achievements.’

The protesters, who have raised £4,000 for flags, poles and cable ties, have defiantly hit back at accusations they are racist and insist they are ‘giving hope to local communities that all isn’t lost and they are not alone.’ 

One member said they had put up the flags because they have ‘had enough’. ‘This country is a disgrace and has no backbone,’ they said. ‘This isn’t racism, it’s frustration at being pushed into a corner and silenced.’ 

However, the row has also worsened after Birmingham City Council confirmed it will start removing flags from lampposts, saying that the additional weight could ‘potentially lead to collapse’ in the future.

The Labour-run council – which is already under fire over its handling of the five-month bin strikes – also claimed those attaching flags ‘could be putting their lives and those of motorists and pedestrians at risk’ despite being up to 25 feet off the ground.

Critics have also pointed out that Palestinian flags have flown across the city, where 29.9 per cent of residents are Muslim, for several months since the war broke out in Gaza.

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson told the Telegraph: ‘This is nothing short of a disgrace and shows utter contempt for the British people. We should be flying our flags with pride. Our nation has a rich history of hospitality, generosity and innovation – something to be celebrated, not condemned.

‘Any elected official who supports removing the British or English flags, restricting personal freedoms or silencing free speech should be removed from office for betraying the very country they serve.’

It coincides with escalating tensions in Britain, as anger over the government’s handling of the small boat issue has grown, leading to dozens of protests outside asylum seeker hotels in recent weeks.

‘Right-wing’ protesters and families – many waving Union Jack flags – have held protests over illegal migrants staying in their towns, with concerns growing after an Ethiopian asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a girl in Epping, Essex.

They have regularly been met by counter-protesters, often led by Stand Up to Racism, resulting in large numbers of activists attending demonstrations across the country.

Birmingham locals have responded to the recent initiative to display flags throughout the city by displaying their own or requesting that their streets be decorated next, sparking a new discussion.

‘We all like the flags. They brighten up the area and they’re not offensive in the slightest,’ one resident wrote on a local Facebook page.

However, the patriotism has also given rise to claims that people in charge are trying to sow discord between the local white British community and other communities.

Northfield is anticipated to be targeted by Reform and independent candidates in next year’s local elections. In the July 4 general election, Labour gained from the Conservatives, but Reform came third with a 21 per cent share of the vote.

Resident Nazia told Birmingham Live that she respected the pride Brits feel about the flag but added: ‘For others, especially minorities like myself, it’s become harder to separate that pride from the undertone of nationalism that sometimes comes with it.’

She said she wasn’t against people celebrating their identity during national events.

‘But I think we all have a responsibility to understand how those actions are perceived by others—especially in a city as beautifully multicultural as Birmingham,’ she added.

‘We’re lucky to live in a place where so many cultures, languages, and communities come together. That should be something we protect, not divide.’

Birmingham City Council has said they intend to remove ‘unauthorised attachments’ on lamp-posts as part of a ‘programme of works to improve street lighting’ in the city. 

They claim those putting them up are putting themselves and others in danger. But it’s understood they do not intend to carry out a mass removal amid fears it could trigger a protest.

A spokesman for the council said: ‘People who attach unauthorised items to lampposts could be putting their lives and those of motorists and pedestrians at risk.

‘Placing unauthorised attachments on street furniture, particularly tall structures like lampposts, can be dangerous.’ 

Jeremy Duthie, from Weoley Castle, supported the flags in his area, saying: ‘My personal opinion is that anyone who has a problem with our national flag being flown is living in the wrong country and should maybe consider living in the country represented by whatever flag they prefer to see flying.’ 

Meanwhile, former West Midlands Police officer Hayley Owens said she was ‘sick of having to apologise for being British’ and insisted there was ‘nothing political about it’.

She denied accusations of racism, adding: ‘People are choosing to live here, in England, and should be proud of that. The flags are not aimed at anyone in a negative way.’ 

One social media user on a Weoley Castle Facebook page added: ‘Every other country flies their flag with pride, but when England/British do it, it’s got to be for racist reasons. Why shouldn’t we be proud of England? It’s the country we live in. Those who have issue with it should leave England and dictate to the next country that they shouldn’t fly their flag either.’

Councillor Simon Morrall, who represents Frankley Great Park on the city council, said it was a ‘clearly peaceful moment’ that ‘residents love’.

He has also written to the council to suggest an ‘amnesty’ on removing any flags until at least the end of August. 

Birmingham City Council is already encountering enormous tension over its handling of the bin strikes, which have plagued the city. The dispute between the council and Unite the Union is still ongoing, with no solution in sight after more than six months.

Rats are now feeding on litter, and locals must live with the smell of decomposing waste.

Last month, another Union Jack row broke out when a 12-year-old schoolgirl was sent home from a culture day celebration for wearing a Union flag dress. The schoolmistress was called on to publicly apologise.

Courtney Wright, 12, was forced to spend a morning in seclusion at Bilton School in Rugby, after staff told her she couldn’t wear her Spice Girls-style dress or make a speech like other pupils.

The straight-A student, who had intended to talk about history and traditions in a discussion she had prepared, was told the dress was unacceptable, withdrawn from her class and left to remain in the school reception until her dad arrived from work to collect her.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer seemed to support Courtney’s choice of attire after his spokesperson said he had always been ‘clear that being British is something to be celebrated’.

The school offered its ‘unreserved apologies’ to the girl, saying it had caused ‘considerable upset to one of our pupils, her family and members of the wider community’.

Everything that is wrong with our nation is brought to light in this article, and anything that Labour touches, they make worse. This is, without a doubt, the most destructive government in my living memory.

I find it incomprehensible that we are unable to fly the British flag. Indeed, provided that you don’t fly it on someone else’s property or in a risky manner, you can.

We must be the only nation in the world that promotes guilt about our national pride and identity.

It’s fine to be accepting of other people, but it’s bad to be too accepting and to apologise for who we are.

When you consider the contributions the UK has made to the fields of science, the arts, engineering, and medicine, all of this is simply absurd. Despite winning global wars, we are not permitted to take pride in our British heritage.

Everyone who is British in the UK should fly their flags with pride because if we don’t, our Labourite councils and Trotsky government will demonise us.

It’s our national flag, be it the Union Jack, the St George’s Cross, the Uy Ddraig Goch, the Saltire or the St Andrew’s Cross, any or all should be allowed to be flown by the people. They should not be hidden away to satisfy people of other nationalities. It’s not about being open and considerate; it’s called having some pride in the country’s history.

These migrants who come to our country and fly their flag should stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, and if they don’t like it, they can always go back to their country, where they can fly their flag.

I have nothing against people flying their own flag, but I do object to being denied the opportunity to fly my own!

Dover Welcomes More Migrants Just Days After The ‘One-In, One-Out’ Deal

Dozens more migrants have arrived in Dover as the number to cross the Channel since Labour came to power approaches 50,000.

While the Ramsgate lifeboat stopped another group of migrants in the North Sea, two Border Force ships, Volunteer and Typhoon, were observed coming into the port to drop off migrants they had picked up in the Channel.

A total of 49,797 migrants have been picked up from the Channel since the General Election in July last year, with this figure including 281 who arrived amid perfect weather conditions for crossing the Channel. 

More than a thousand people have now arrived since the Government’s widely mocked ‘one in, one out’ agreement with France became active last Wednesday.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Labour cancelled the Rwanda deterrent plan before it started with no replacement, and numbers have surged.

‘This year so far has been the worst in history for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel. Labour has lost control of our borders. Every illegal immigrant needs to be removed immediately upon arrival. But this government is too weak to do that.’

On Sunday, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted a video which showed migrants chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ as they seemingly crossed the English Channel.

He said: ‘This is a national security emergency. Allowing these men to invade our country will not end well.’

Last week, Mr Philp accused Sir Keir Starmer of ‘gaslighting the British public’ and making ‘grossly exaggerated’ claims over the new migrant deal.

He said the returns agreement would see only 6 per cent of migrants sent back. The deal is also due to last just ten months.

Speaking about the first detentions under the deal, the Prime Minister warned migrants: ‘If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back.’

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said ‘every migrant’ will be ‘throwing away their money if they get into a small boat’.

Since the start of this year, a record 26,555 migrants have arrived – up 49 per cent on the same period last year.

Over the weekend, anti-illegal-immigration protests persisted nationwide. Outside of hotels housing asylum seekers in Bristol and the Gatwick area of West Sussex, protesters gathered.

There was also a demonstration near two migrant hotels in Bournemouth.

New arrivals follow claims by Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick that the small boats crisis has made British women and girls less safe.

The Tory MP said he fears for his own three young daughters against a backdrop of illegal migrants with ‘medieval attitudes’ crossing the Channel.

In an article for The Mail on Sunday, Mr Jenrick stated: ‘I certainly don’t want my children to share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally, and about whom we know next to nothing.

‘And I don’t want anyone else’s family to have this forced on them either.’

Mr Jenrick, whose daughters are 14, 12 and 10, says the Channel crossings are now a ‘national security emergency’.

Mr Jenrick references the incredible case where two Afghan asylum seekers were charged over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

Mr Jenrick called for more stringent action on deporting criminals back to their home countries, and said foreign aid should be suspended from those countries if they resist accepting them.

Pakistan should have its £133 million aid and visa access cut if it continues to block deportations, he argued.

Quite simply, the RNLI have become an Uber service for migrants, and then when they get here, they live in four-star hotels and work for Uber illegally while paying no taxes.

Keir Starmer said there should be one in and one out. Are you kidding me? It should be none in and all out! But, of course, that scam was intended to buy him time, and the Rwanda scheme was simply a gimmick; however, putting them up in hotels is apparently much better.

Starmer talks about smashing the gangs – he and his comic government couldn’t smash potatoes into mash – he’s just pathetic.

If you watch YouTube and the news, people are being beaten and kicked by raving Muslims shouting that the UK is their country and Sharia law trumps ours, and this is what we have imported.

I believe that a State of Emergency should be declared, as we are presently unable to defend our borders and our people, and our government seem to be unfit for purpose.

This is all ludicrous. Our great-grandparents fought in WWI, and our grandparents suffered in WWII – Frankly, what was the point?

Does this occurrence worry or annoy people? I think so. We have to fight for our children and grandchildren, and I’m concerned about their safety because this is occurring right now, right in front of our eyes.

There should be no benefits, no hotels, no free meals, no free money, no phones and no incentive to come to the UK, it’s that simple.

I mistakenly believed that the border force was meant to guard our borders and prevent illegal immigration, not to facilitate it.

The cross-channel is definitely living up to its new name. What we should be calling it is the ‘cross-channel free taxi service’ – just phone for a pickup.

The French Farmer Who Said ‘Non’ To Gypsies

The no-nonsense farmer who took matters into his own hands and sprayed travellers with putrid-smelling slurry after they squatted on his land says he was driven to breaking point – after police told him there was nothing they could do.

Pierre Richard, a fearless dairy farmer in northern France, became an accidental online celebrity after he covered the gipsies who had overrun his family property with foul-smelling liquid manure.

The incredible footage, now seen by millions, reveals he and another farmer spraying fertiliser towards the disfavored intruders, who, in turn, desperately give chase.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Richard, 37, told how he felt compelled to act after police waved away his desperate pleas for help.

Speaking at his farm near the village of Le Syndicat in the Vosges region of France, the fifth-generation farmer said: ‘I’d simply had enough.

‘They want us to simply shut our mouths and let them squat on our land. But this year I refused.

‘Every year, hundreds of gypsies come into our valley and take over our land. This year I decided I had to do something.’

Footage of Mr Richard’s fertiliser-led fightback on July 8 was uploaded to social media with the caption: ‘How to get rid of squatters on your property … farmer style’.

The viral video showed how scores of white caravans and cars had claimed part of his six-hectare field, including a red Ferrari.

Angry travellers gave chase, with one man clinging to the side of a tractor cab, shaking his fist as the rancid slurry sprayed around him.

Mr Richard, who took over the farm from his father nine years ago, claimed the travellers in 250 caravans – said to be on their way to a gypsy religious festival – had ignored an empty traveller site nearby to instead illegally occupy his farm.

He said: ‘They preferred to stay here on my land. It’s a beautiful place, in the mountains, next to a river, and with fresh green grass.

‘They arrived at about 8 pm on a Sunday night. When I heard they were there, I went down there, but it was too late.

‘They had broken through the barriers and set up camp, hundreds of them.

‘The following day, I went to the police, but they said there was nothing they could do.

‘So, on the Tuesday, we went out with the tractors and sprayed the rest of the prairie with slurry to make sure no more of them would come.

‘As you can see from the footage, we stayed a minimum of 10 metres from the caravans.

‘It was the gypsies who chased us and attacked us in our cabs. It was really dangerous what they did.

‘Fortunately, our tractors and strong and kept them out. But they broke one of my wing mirrors.’

Despite new laws in France which demand all communities with a population above 5,000 provide a traveller site, the squatters set up home on Mr Richard’s field, which was used to grow hay for his 50 dairy cows.

Instead of making use of basic council facilities at an authorised site nearby, the squatters enjoyed uninterrupted vistas over the picturesque Vosges mountain range.

Mr Richard, whose farm was previously targeted by travellers in 2023, denied being a ‘hero’.

He said: ‘I was just protecting my land from an even bigger occupation. Every year, there are more and more of them. This year, one even came with a Ferrari.

‘If we had not sprayed the field, I don’t know how many more caravans would have turned up.

‘Not only do they ruin the grass, they ruin the land and the river.

‘Their cars and caravans flatten the earth and make it harder for the grass to grow.

‘And they go to the toilet everywhere, everywhere, apart from in their caravans. It’s disgusting. The river is an important fresh-water resource, but they leave it polluted with human waste.

‘They open a water hydrant and leave it running day and night – using hundreds of litres of water, even if there is a drought.

‘My family have been farming this land for five generations and we are not going to stop.’

According to reports, the group of travellers was heading north to the yearly gipsy religious celebration in Grostenquin.

The week-long ‘Life and Light’ religious gathering entices 30,000 Roma travellers from across France.

However, locals reject the celebration, which is comparable to Britain’s Appleby Horse Fair, citing the disturbance, pollution, and annoyance it creates.

Dairy farmer Dominic Frenot, 52, told Mail Online: ‘Everyone in this area is sick to death of the gypsies coming en masse and taking over our land.

‘I have real admiration for Pierre for standing up to them. He was very courageous.

‘They took over one of my prairies a couple of years ago and caused a lot of damage.

‘I made a formal complaint, and it went to court months later. The gypsies were fined 1,000 euros. But I was ordered to instruct a bailiff myself to retrieve the money. I never saw a penny.’

Another farmer, Xavier Duc, 46, added: ‘The gypsies are a real nuisance. They took over one of my prairies and completely ruined it.

‘Not only do they destroy the grass that is growing, they also ruin the land with their heavy vehicles so that it takes years for the grass to grow properly again.

‘I’d say once they take over a prairie, it causes us 1000 euros in damages per hectare.

‘I’m right behind Pierre. I’m pleased someone has had the guts to stand up to them for once.’

Mayor Pascal Claude of Syndicat also conveyed his frustration.

He said: ‘They had no right to set up camp there, but they forced the barrier at the entrance of the land. The farmers and I are totally against this.

‘Not only did they set up camp on a protected natural land, it is also a protected water source.’

The travellers who invaded Mr Richard’s farm – named in French local media as the Parti d’Alsace – claimed that the nearby traveller site did not have adequate capacity for their 250-caravan convoy.

Similar incidents of tourists erecting illegal camps on soccer fields and farmland around France this summer have been reported.

Mr Richard said he feared ‘reprisals’ from the travellers after his slurry stunt.

‘You never know when they will come back. You don’t know what they might do. We have no idea who they are or what they have done in the past.’

He added: ‘I’ve got nothing against travellers. We just want this to stop. So that we can do our jobs and feed the people.

‘Everyone has the right to live with dignity, but not at other people’s expense.’

After a court in nearby Epinal issued an eviction notice, the tourists eventually vacated the location in the middle of July.

Their lawyer told the court that the group had asked the local authorities to provide a site for them this summer, but their demand had been ignored.

Maitre Laure Iognat-Prat said: ‘The trip was planned; they had contacted the Vosges [department authorities] at the beginning of the year to reserve a site. [But] They never received a response.’

Bravo to this man – I wish we had more backbone in the UK, and farmers in the UK are becoming a dying breed.

In the UK, this guy would have been imprisoned and required to compensate his squatters for the psychological harm his acts caused them, and why is that? Because we have freeloaders in our society who are against hard-working citizens.

While the sheep in the UK merely tut in the streets and let it happen, the French are unforgiving of governments and authorities, which is why you have to adore them.

It is quickly approaching that the people of the United Kingdom will take the appropriate action, and Starmer is foolish and unable to comprehend the big picture, but it’s also extremely sad when hard-working people have to take the law into their own hands – the police force is a farce.

It is up to the public to take action if the police fail to stop these criminals.  This unlawful conduct must no longer be given preferential treatment by governments and law enforcement, and if Starmer doesn’t take notice, he will see a revolution if they don’t start showing our farming community some consideration, instead of attempting to milk them (pardon the pun) at every opportunity.

Actions, meet consequences!

Rachel Reeves’ NI Tax Raid Could Increase Food Prices As Autumn Approaches

Hikes in National Insurance contributions (NICs) and the minimum wage were contributing to shoppers paying more for their food, the Bank said – and warned the situation will likely get worse.

Food inflation hit 4.5 per cent in June, higher than economists had predicted in May, and is predicted to rise to 5.5 per cent next month.

Retail industry leaders warned that grocery inflation will accelerate even further if the Chancellor goes ahead with tax hikes in the Autumn Budget. And the Bank flagged that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s upcoming Workers’ Rights Bill had piled more uncertainty on businesses.

It came as the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to four per cent after a knife-edge five to four vote, which required a second polling.

The move is alarming news for savers, who will now be paid a lower rate of interest on their nest eggs, but will delight mortgage holders.

It is now anticipated that overall inflation would reach 4 per cent later this year, exceeding the Bank’s earlier projections and double its objective of 2 per cent.

Bank governor Andrew Bailey said interest rates remain on a ‘downward path’ but cautioned ‘there is genuine uncertainty about the course of that direction’.

The Bank’s Monetary Policy report, published alongside the rates cut, said that ‘domestic labour costs are an important driver of food price inflation’, partially due to the 6.7 per cent rise in the National Living Wage.

‘Overall labour costs of supermarkets are likely to have been disproportionately affected by the lower threshold at which employers start paying NICs in part because a relatively high proportion of supermarket staff is employed part-time,’ the report read.

Food prices have already increased by 1 per cent to 2 per cent due to higher staffing expenses, and a new packaging tax is anticipated to put more strain on stores later this year.

Ms Reeves – visiting Port Talbot in South Wales to announce £143 million towards securing decrepit coal tips – said: ‘This fifth interest rate cut since the election is welcome news, helping bring down the cost of mortgages and loans for families and businesses.’

But Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride told the Daily Mail that Mrs Reeves’ choices would make it harder for people to put food on the table, adding: ‘Labour’s economic mismanagement is turning the screw on hard-working families. Many firms have no choice but to pass costs on to consumers.’

According to the Bank analysis, consumers have already made an effort to cut back on their grocery expenditure by purchasing larger value packs, cheaper meat cuts, and own-brand goods.

Grocers have also reported robust sales of ‘premium ready meals’ as Britons hold back on eating out in a bid to save money.

As well as hiking prices, businesses have endeavoured to preserve money by reducing staffing levels through redundancies and imposing hiring freezes, the report found. Bosses said they are looking at replacing workers with automation and artificial intelligence, as well as offshoring jobs.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said government policies would add £7 billion to retailer costs this year.

‘Food prices have already been climbing steadily, and the BRC has warned this is only the beginning,’ she said. 

‘If the Autumn Budget once again lands on the shoulders of retailers, then it will only serve to fan the flames of food inflation, with poorer families being hit the hardest by the Treasury’s decisions.’

Ms Dickinson added that retailers ‘ability to absorb further costs is extremely limited’.

‘It will be ordinary households who suffer the most,’ she said.

The Bank’s nine-person MPC was divided three ways before taking an unprecedented second vote on interest rates. Four voted for a quarter-point drop, four to keep the status quo and one for a half-point fall.

The end result was that five, including Bailey, voted to slash rates while four, including the Bank’s chief economist, Huw Pill, wanted to keep borrowing costs on hold. 

‘This group seems to be particularly concerned about the impact of recent higher inflation rates, particularly for food and fuel, on inflation expectations,’ Oxford Economics chief economist Andrew Goodwin said.

‘This suggests these members are unlikely to vote for cuts again until they see evidence of inflationary pressures cooling in these categories.’

Like all the previous Labour ministers, Labour lacks economic literacy. Do any of them have any prior experience working in the private sector? You know, the one that, at our expense, provides them with enormous pensions and earnings.

Rachel Reeves is quite honestly not fit to run a bath. She and her colleagues have done more damage in the last 12 months than the previous incumbents did in thirty years.

The British public now despises Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer, who are like a double comedy act.

People are now shopping on the bread line with no indulgences, only essentials.

All food has increased in price, with some items in supermarkets being kept under lock and key.

Years ago, you could go shopping and look at your shopping trolley and roughly speculate how much your shopping was going to be, but now I get to the checkout and have the shock of my life – I want to buy the items, not take out a damn mortgage so that I can have them!

Hate Mail Calls An AI CEO A ‘Clark Kent Knockoff’ With A Bloodied Pig’s Head

A Las Vegas tech CEO received a severed pig’s head and a threatening letter in the mail, thought to stem from his company’s use of artificial intelligence.

Blake Owens, founder and CEO of Agrippa – an AI-powered platform that connects commercial real estate investors and developers without the use of traditional brokers – received the bloodied pig’s head along with the fear-mongering letter on July 29.

The gruesome package was mailed to a family member’s home, accompanied by a handwritten note that criticised Owens’ use of AI and included personal slurs, calling him a ‘Clark Kent knockoff.’

The note concluded ominously, reading, ‘And don’t get greedy because pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.’

‘Perhaps this person watched too much of The Godfather,’ Owens told KLAS. ‘Needless to say, I still take it very seriously, but don’t feel like I’m being truly threatened. It was a message.’

The note was signed only with the initial ‘M’. It seemed to be motivated by a June television feature that profiled Owens and Agrippa’s AI tool, known as ‘Marcus,’ which automates real estate transactions by matching developers with investors and evaluating property bids.

‘AI is not going to replace brokers,’ the note read.

‘Clearly, you don’t understand real estate wasn’t built by developers or investors. And it sure as hell wasn’t built by tech guys in Lululemon. It was built by brokers. We did it the hard way. No shortcuts, no tech, just people.’

Owens said he believes the sender may be someone fearful of being displaced by automation.

‘I understand this person is probably just frustrated that business isn’t going well for them, and then they see AI replacement stories on top of that,’ Owens said. ‘And I just so happen to be someone they can focus their frustration on.’

An image of the package shows the sender labelled as ‘Marcus Agrippa’ – a nod to the company’s AI system.

Owens quipped, ‘Is this a message that you know your own AI is turning against you? I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret it.’

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has designated the event as a harassment investigation and verified that it is looking into it. The identity of the suspect is yet unknown.

Owens has since said that he does not feel ‘genuinely threatened’ and does not plan to press charges if the sender is eventually identified.

‘I don’t want to punch down on this person; they may be in a tough spot in life,’ he told KLAS. ‘I do see this as an opportunity to show people you don’t become a better person by making another man a lesser person.’

Owens also addressed potential anxiety surrounding AI’s growing presence in the workforce, particularly in fields like real estate that have historically relied on personal relationships.

‘You know, people are scared,’ he said. ‘They feel displaced. And when disruption moves faster than education, fear just fills the gap.’

Owens added that Agrippa is not designed to replace humans, but to empower professionals through AI.

‘[Winston Churchill] said to be perfect is to change often,’ Owens said. ‘I think a lot of people are afraid of change and what’s coming with AI, because it really is a tsunami of change that people are trying to resist. But the more you embrace it, the better you’ll do, the more skills that you’ll accumulate, more value you’ll bring to the table.’

Las Vegas is increasingly becoming a hub for AI innovation. MGM Resorts recently introduced 70 to 80 new AI systems across its departments, including front desk operations, and the newly opened Otonomous Hotel, which launched on July 1, and brands itself as the world’s first fully AI-powered resort, KLAS reported.

‘You look at Agrippa, TensorWave, look at Otonomous Hotel, everyone is trying to bring AI to the forefront, and it sheds some light on how great this city is and what we can do with the talent we have here,’ Owens said.

‘May ruffle some feathers in the process, but in the long run, I think that it’s the best thing to do,’ the tech CEO added.

Despite the ominous nature of the package, Owens says he is committed to encouraging dialogue.

‘If I knew who this person was, I’d say, “Hey, feel free to reach out to me – maybe not with a package, just send me an email – I’m happy to share whatever education I can on keeping up with AI,”‘ Owens told Inman.

The probe into the incident remains ongoing.

I feel more sorry for the poor pig, but mark my words, AI is here to stay!

I’m sure the pig’s head was just a warning – next time it might be Kryptonite!

Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be detrimental to humans, and the possible dangers are not just theoretical; they’re already being realised in some ways.

AI has many advantages, but it also has significant drawbacks that need to be carefully considered and addressed.

When artificial intelligence (AI) systems are trained on data that reflects prevailing cultural prejudices, the AI will pick up on and reinforce such biases, producing unfair or discriminatory results. For instance, if an AI recruiting tool is trained on datasets with a high proportion of males in particular jobs, it may prefer men for those roles.

There is worry that if AI systems develop further, they may become too complicated for people to comprehend or manage completely. Unintended consequences like autonomous weapons systems that decide for themselves during combat might result from this.

Automation driven by AI has the potential to displace labour across a range of industries, resulting in unemployment and economic disparity. This is especially problematic for jobs like data entry and manufacturing that are easily mechanised.

AI can be used to create compelling fake content (deepfakes), distribute misinformation, and influence public sentiment. This could undermine democratic processes, erode trust in institutions, and destabilise society. 

Advanced AI may endanger humankind, according to some academics, including those at the Centre for AI Safety. This might occur in a number of ways, including the creation of self-governing weaponry, pandemics triggered by AI, or the consolidation of power in the hands of a select few who manipulate AI.

Large volumes of data are frequently needed for AI systems to operate, which raises privacy and surveillance problems. Personal information can be gathered, examined, and applied in ways that are damaging or invasive.

Many ethical concerns are brought up by the creation and application of AI, including who bears responsibility for errors made by AI, how to maintain equity and openness, and how to strike a balance between safety and innovation.

To mitigate the dangers associated with AI, a multi-pronged strategy is needed: 

  • We need to invest in research to comprehend and manage the possible perils of AI.
  • We need to guarantee that AI systems are developed and deployed in a safe, ethical, and transparent way. 
  • We need to raise public understanding about the possible dangers and advantages of AI. 
  • We need to encourage international collaboration to set standards and regulations for AI development and use. 
  • We need to develop ethical frameworks and regulations to steer the development and use of AI. 

By implementing these measures, society can maximise AI’s potential advantages while lowering its hazards and making sure that technology advances mankind rather than hurts it.

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