Londoners Over 60: Scrap Free Travel?

Travel passes for the over-60s are still in abundance. Should it be, even for the rich?

Why not? We don’t get much for free while we’re here on Earth, but I’m not sure if it should be given to everyone. But those who are on a low income should be allowed a free pass.

The Freedom Pass is given to the over-60s and disabled travellers, and it costs TfL and the London Councils more than half a billion pounds each year.

One would say that this is unaffordable and extremely unfair, but when we have immigrants coming to our shores, and our government is dishing money out for them, then no, it’s not unaffordable or deeply unfair.

As a taxpayer, I would prefer to pay for bus passes rather than help a migrant who comes to our nation with nothing to support themselves.

And don’t forget that people have been paying their entire life for their pension, only to then be told it’s a benefit. I mean, how much more do they want to take from us? It’s not a benefit, it is a contribution that we paid into so that we could get a return when we become of pensionable age, but now our government are making us look like scroungers, and that we are stealing it. But we didn’t steal it, our government did, similar to a Ponzi scheme, which I might add is illegal. It is illegal and considered a form of investment fraud that lures you in with the promise of money.

Putting it into idiot terms, if you pay into something with the assurance of a return, then that is illegal, especially if that said money has been used for something else, other than what it was supposed to be used for.

One has to apply for their Freedom Pass to travel; it’s not automatic. I believe that it should be because the elderly need passes to get around – doctors’ appointments and shops, especially if they live in rural areas, and to have to pay out of their pensions is a lot, and they don’t get a lot to begin with.

Don’t assume that if a person is a pensioner, that they are well off; that is the furthest from the truth.

Retirement, I’m pleased that I reached it, but without a bus pass I wouldn’t be able to enjoy all the benefits like going for hospital appointments and seeing friends – I would just be stuck at home looking at four walls. So, before anybody chews my a*se off for speaking out. Let me tell you, there’s no joy in staring at four walls all day, and it’s definitely not good for your mental health.

We have served our time, paid our taxes, worked our entire lives, and so on, but now our government wants to take away everything from us.

Our government treat us like their old toys, and when they don’t want us anymore, they just toss us out – they just don’t care.

Lots of people die before they turn 60 years old, and a large portion of people over the age of 60 have some kind of health issue. Whether it be bad knees, back pain or arthritis, but our government and NHS are slow to react to support these people.

Despite not being classified as disabled and the fact that the majority of them would prefer not to apply for this status, they persevere and don’t raise any red flags, but how are they supposed to get around, do their shopping and go to medical visits when there is no bus pass?

Many of these people have paid tax all their lives, but the sad thing is, some of them won’t make it past 67, which means that a fair number of them won’t even see their pension for which they have contributed all their lives, and this is totally unfair.

To take money from the elderly is despicable, and I know there are a lot of people who still work after retirement age, but you also need to look around you and see how many people over 50 are not in good health or have underlying issues, so they should be leaving the free bus passes alone.

Primary School Teachers Go On Strike

After students bit and kicked teachers and carried knives into the classroom, teachers at two elementary schools started going on strike.

Staff at Lily Lane Primary School and Ravensfield Primary School in Manchester say they have been physically attacked, and some pupils are too scared to attend class.

Teachers also say there have been instances of pupils being hit, kicked and even spat at.

Both schools are part of the Changing Lives in Collaboration Trust (CLiC), and following the announcement of strike action, the trust stated that the safety and well-being of pupils and staff were its ‘highest priority’.

The trust said teachers were ‘suffering high levels of stress and anxiety, which are affecting their entire lives.’

Rachel Knight and Jac Casson, National Executive Members for Greater Manchester, said: ‘Working conditions at these CLiC Trust schools are devastating the teachers. They are desperate for change. Alongside their physical injuries, teachers are suffering high levels of stress and anxiety, which are affecting their entire lives.

‘All they want is to go to work in a safe environment and to be able to keep their pupils safe.’

CLiC said it was ‘disappointed’ to see the walkout ‘so soon after the ballot without adequate opportunity to respond to members’ concerns’.

Picket lines at both schools are scheduled to take place at 8:45 am on January 7 and 8. Both schools will stay open during industrial action.

Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said: ‘This strike represents an unprecedented event for our union: two primary schools from the same academy trust taking action over worryingly similar concerns. It is fair to say that this strike constitutes a declaration of emergency from the teachers. The health and safety of everyone at these schools is at risk.’

Leaders at the trust say they are keen to work with NASUWT and respect the right of its members to take action. But added that the union chose not to accept a ‘collective conciliation’.

Strike action at Lily Lane Primary School and Ravensfield Primary School is scheduled for January 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22. 

Jo Ashcroft, CEO of CLiC Trust, said: ‘The safety and well-being of pupils and staff in all our schools is of the very highest priority to us and we work closely with every one of our schools to ensure they maintain the very highest safeguarding standards at all times.

‘We also support our schools to ensure the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs, are fully met.

‘We completely respect the right of union members to take strike action where they believe it to be necessary, however it’s disappointing in this case that strike action is taking place so soon after the ballot without adequate opportunity to respond to members’ concerns, and despite the Trust having engaged ACAS to offer collective conciliation, which the union chose not to accept. We remain keen to work in partnership with the NASUWT to discuss their members’ concerns.

‘In the meantime, arrangements are in place for both schools to remain open to all pupils during any strike action that ensues.’

It appears that parents are to blame for the lack of discipline and boundaries at home, which clearly extends to the classroom. However, parents are not permitted to discipline their kids, and in the absence of discipline, our nation is full of thug kids who think it’s acceptable to act in this manner.

Smacking a child is not being violent, and that is the problem. Parents have now been led to believe that it is brutality, and now parents are rewarding bad behaviour with a new toy instead of a time-out or a quick smack.

There is a distinction between a quick smack and a punch; we all know that, and discipline should be brought back before it’s too late, although I fear that it’s already too late. Parents should know the boundaries of smacking, and children should also know their boundaries.

An American-style boot camp and the reinstatement of punishment in schools, where teachers are permitted to administer it, are currently the only viable solutions.

We have families out there where the father is never to be seen, and women have little authority at home, or it’s simply children having children, and then we have the scourge that is social media, influencers and wannabe gangsters and the dross that now passes for something bordering on intelligent humanity.

Bring back corporal punishment. The slipper, the cane, and the ruler, because pain focuses the senses and teaches right from wrong. A smack, some tears does stop the disruptiveness. Of course, some children don’t need it; not all children are bad, but some are, and they do need it because some children have become feral and need taming.

Children should not be permitted to access any form of electronic device such as a mobile phone, pc, or tablet, until they are 18 years of age unless it is for school work in school, not outside of it because now most parents just shove a tablet or phone in a child’s face for a quiet life, and just leave them to it.

So, how is gentle parenting and no physical punishment working out for you then?

Two Women Jailed For Posting Hitler Rants

Both a Scots Neo-Nazi mother and her daughter were imprisoned for posting extreme anti-Semitic, racist, and transphobic content on social media.

Shirley Craughwell described non-whites as ‘a different species’ and posted comments including ‘Hitler was trying to save us’ and ‘The need for a new holocaust is never more urgent than now’.

The 51-year-old used emojis connected to the Neo-Nazi movement, had links to publications including the Anarchist Cookbook and regularly used demeaning words.

She also encouraged and recorded a young child enacting Nazi salutations before publishing the troubling footage online.

Daughter Hannah – who used the online name ‘Hannah Hitler’ – labelled the Jewish race as ‘the devil’s children’ and circulated posters publicising a Neo-Nazi white power film in her local neighbourhood.

She was found to have shared racist and transphobic videos on her social media accounts.

The mother and daughter also linked the Israeli state to conspiracy theories, including the 9/11 terror attack and COVID, and denied that the Nazi Holocaust had taken place.

The duo pleaded guilty to hate crime offences heightened by racial and religious discrimination executed between 2021 and 2024 when they appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in November last year.

They returned to the dock for sentencing on Tuesday, where Sheriff Charles Walls was shown further video evidence of the racist and anti-Semitic material the pair had published online.

In sentencing Shirley Craughwell, Sheriff Walls said: ‘The level of hatred, racism and anti-semitism expressed by you is deeply disturbing.

‘You espoused conspiracy theories about white genocide and spoke repeatedly about your admiration of Adolf Hitler and other Nazis and called for another Holocaust.

‘However, your messages were not just offensive, they are violent and threatening in relation to people of the Jewish faith.’

The sheriff said involving the child in her offending was ‘a significant aggravation’.

Shirley Craughwell, of Galashiels, Selkirkshire, was condemned to a 20-month custodial term backdated to November 27.

The sheriff noted Hannah Craughwell had continued to ‘minimise’ her offending, had made ‘racist, anti-Semitic, transphobic and homophobic’ remarks online and circulated ‘highly inflammatory ‘ flyers in public.

The 27-year-old, who has two children, was incarcerated for 16 months.

Lawyer Simon Collins, for Shirley Craughwell, said his client was a grandmother and had ‘a long involvement in conspiracy theories leading her to act on them’.

He said she had experienced isolation during the COVID period and ‘expressed remorse and accepts responsibility’ for her offending.

Richard Soutar, for Hannah Craughwell, said she had ‘gone down a wormhole’ on the internet and had been ‘socially isolated’ and suffered from poor mental health at the time.

Previously, the court was told police received intelligence in May last year that both women had been posting ‘racist, anti-Semitic and threatening’ material on their social media pages.

Prosecutor David Gallagher said officers raided their homes, and Shirley Craughwell was found to have a Telegram account where she had posted thousands of extremist comments while in contact with others.

Mr Gallagher said the material showed Craughwell used emojis in the shape of the Nazi salute, along with the slang term 88 – online slang for Heil Hitler.

She made claims to be ‘a proud racist’ and published comments such as ‘we must unite as a race’.

Craughwell also operated a Facebook page under the alias ‘Goyim AH’ where she posted racist and anti-Semitic memes and web links.

She used the account to distribute material supporting the alt-right group Highland Division – a breakaway from the white nationalist organisation Patriotic Alternative (PA).

The page featured a post from PA’s James Costello, who was condemned to a five-year jail term for provoking racial hostility in 2023 but was released early on licence in December last year.

Police discovered Hannah Craughwell, of Gilmerton, Edinburgh, had an account on the US right-wing extremist chat site Gab where she used the online persona ‘Hannah Hitler’.

She regularly shared extreme right-wing content on the site.

The court was told racist and transphobic material was openly shared on her Facebook and Instagram pages, and she had distributed flyers in her local area publicising the Neo-Nazi propaganda film Europa – The Last Battle.

I do not condone what they were doing, but we have a right to free speech, well, I thought we did. However, what they did was a bit over the top, but on the other hand, perhaps it’s not when we have migrants roaming our streets and raping our women and children. But then, who am I, just another person, and I bet our government are loving having this control over us all!

That’s the trouble when the state determines what is free speech and what is not; everyone suffers the consequences. The law should be applied fairly and equally, but it’s not.

I’m sure everyone has an opinion, but then they don’t all publish it over social media. However, if Muslims are allowed to preach and do what they like, why shouldn’t the white British people be allowed to do the same, because at the moment, this is two-tier at its finest?

This pair were holocaust deniers – that’s fine, they are allowed to their view, but another holocaust, well, that is another thing altogether, and that is what they should have been jailed for, not their beliefs, but to incite another holocaust makes them the most mindless, most unattractive morons that have been scraped from the lower end of the intellectual food chain.

Reform Council To Remove Cast-Iron Lampposts

It is the cathedral city so dear to Charles Dickens, and where he set David Copperfield.

Yet a wonderful assemblage of cast iron lampposts, which have illuminated the streets of Canterbury since Victorian times, is set to be ripped out and swapped for modern alternatives – by a Reform-run council.

Residents and heritage campaign groups have fiercely fought this shift. A petition has been signed by more than 750 people demanding that the council reconsider, but it is standing firm.

Campaigner David Kemsley, of the Alliance of Canterbury Residents Associations, said: ‘These lamp columns are as much a part of Canterbury’s story as its walls or gates – they are tangible links to a Canterbury firm whose craftsmanship literally helped light cities across the world.

‘To replace them with mass-produced steel poles is cultural vandalism.’

A key Unesco World Heritage site, Canterbury boasts about 270 of the cast iron lampposts – many of which were cast in the city’s own HM Biggleston and Sons foundry, a leading supplier of streetlight fittings across Britain and worldwide.

The foundry operated from 1835 to 1963. According to the conservationist campaign group The Canterbury Society, replica columns have continued to be installed and repaired up to as recently as three years ago.

However, only months after Reform took control of Kent County Council in May last year, the plan to replace the heritage lighting with more affordable, contemporary designs was launched.

Reform UK, in its manifesto, says it will ‘stand up for British culture, identity and values’. The Canterbury Society stated that the historic lampposts could be saved by Canterbury City Council and preserved through regular repainting.

Kent County Council said the decision to replace the lampposts had been made following safety inspections last August – three months after Reform took control of the authority. But the Society’s president, Ptolemy Dean, has called proposed new designs ‘clumsy and crude… banal and ugly… grotesque disfigurements’.

Their petition asks the councils to ‘treat heritage street furniture as an asset rather than an inconvenience’ and will be presented to Canterbury City Council.

A county council spokesman said that while it ‘appreciates the historic value and the affection residents have for them … public safety must come first’. They said the lampposts ‘failed structural tests, confirming internal corrosion’.

The spokesman added: ‘Recreating the moulds, or refurbishing the existing lampposts, would not be the most effective use of limited budgets.

‘Creating a mould alone would cost tens of thousands, and each column in excess of £5,000.

‘Installing a modern steel lamppost costs about £168, and adding a heritage-style decorative kit brings the total to around £810. These kits are made from durable, non-metal materials, which makes future safety checks easier, safer, and more cost-effective.

‘Importantly, the existing ornate lanterns will be reused to maintain the character of Canterbury’s streets… Our approach ensures Canterbury retains a heritage look while meeting safety standards.

‘We have been working closely with Canterbury City Council to find a solution.’

It seems that this is not entirely accurate.

Peter Osbourne said that they would not be tearing down Victorian streetlamps in Canterbury. He said that they were not tearing down anything, and this is misinformation. When asked if it was fake news, he said, ‘Absolutely.’

They are going to be replaced, especially if they have been damaged by, say, an RTA with a modern alternative, which will be a quick fix while Canterbury City Council gets its head around it and determines what they’re going to do.

These are age old cast iron lamposts that require some form of repair and Peter Osbourne categorically said that if they have to be replaced they will be replaced with posts that are the same, but made out of different material, but once painted you won’t know the difference, and he said that they are definitely not going to pull out 250 plus lamposts, but if they fail the structural test, they will remove them and replace them with an indentical copy, but it won’t be cast iron, it will be a composite material, and unless you get a microscope to it, you won’t be able to tell the difference.

So, evidently, this is not accurate that they are tearing out Victorian lamposts, but we shall watch this space to see what really happens.

However, putting in new lamp posts that look the same is like building cheap homes, then fitting plastic embellishments on them to look Victorian. Not really the same thing, and probably not as aesthetically pleasing, but at least some thought has gone into it to make it look similar.

This seems like simple logic to me from where I am sitting. The old cast iron ones wouldn’t endure forever, and what should the council do if the testing result indicated that they were dangerous due to corrosion?

Naturally, we should always do all in our power to preserve our cultural legacy, but there are instances when this is simply not feasible.

If this is the top story for that council, then they appear to be on top of things because, in some areas, councils have not emptied their bins for over a year now!

Coroner Demands Answers From Sadiq Khan

After a pensioner was crushed to death by trains, a coroner wrote to Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, expressing concerns about safety on the tube.

Brian Mitchell died on the Jubilee Line at London Underground station Stratford in East London on Boxing Day afternoon in 2023.

An inquest heard the 72-year-old was seen on CCTV getting off a train and sitting down before standing up, lurching towards the edge of the platform and falling onto the tracks.

East London senior coroner Graeme Irvine said Mr Mitchell moved and tried to climb back onto the deserted platform, but five minutes later, he was struck by a train – and then was hit by several more.

CCTV images caught his last moments at 2 pm as he had sat on a platform bench at the station for 48 minutes before standing up and stumbling onto the line.

Five minutes later, a train that had halted at the Jubilee line station struck Mr Mitchell.

A further three trains went over his dead body before Transport for London staff suspended services.

The coroner said of the first train that struck Mr Mitchell: ‘The impact went unnoticed.

‘The train reversed out of the station over Brian. Two further trains entered then left the platform, each moving over Brian twice.

‘A member of staff unsuccessfully tried to prevent a fourth train moving over Brian as it entered platform 13.’

The coroner deemed that in the two years since Mr Mitchell’s death there was ‘no clear evidence to demonstrate that risks of fatal harm have been mitigated’.

The coroner believed that in the two years since Mr Mitchell’s death, there was ‘no clear evidence to indicate that risks of fatal harm have been mitigated’.

The coroner has now sent his Prevention of Future Deaths report to Sir Sadiq Khan and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.

They have 56 days to respond, with details of the proposed action.

The coroner said Mr Mitchell, from Edinburgh, was drunk at the time of the incident.

He also told how Jubilee Line trains used Automatic Train Operation, which means drivers do not drive them, and the acceleration and braking are automated.

Mr Irvine said drivers were expected to keep a close eye on the tracks and brake if they see an object on the line.

However, in this instance, a man on the tracks was overlooked by three different drivers.

The inquest said the initial collision with Brian should have been avoided by an alert driver braking in time as the train entered the terminus.

Multiple blunt force injuries caused Mr Mitchell’s death, which was reported as an accident.

The Daily Mail contacted the Mayor of London’s office, Transport for London and the Department for Transport for comment.

Claire Mann, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer, said: ‘Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr Mitchell, who sadly died at Stratford Tube station.

‘We are committed to learning from this tragic incident and assisted the coroner during the inquest.

‘We will respond to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report and are taking action to prevent incidents like this from happening again.’

A Rail Accident Investigation Branch report criticised TfL last January over Mr Mitchell’s death.

The rail safety regulator said there were no other passengers or staff on the platform when Mr Mitchell fell, and the driver of the first train did not see him.

This was ‘possibly’ because the use of an automatic system to control Jubilee line trains reduced their level of attention, the report stated.

Emergency personnel discovered that Mr Mitchell, who had been residing in Hanwell in west London, had suffered fatal injuries.

A post-mortem examination discovered he had a blood alcohol concentration of 272 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, which is more than three times above the drink-drive limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The report stated a driver could also have been ‘distracted’ by the presence of another staff member standing on the platform as they arrived.

The RAIB said the ‘consequences of the accident were made more severe’ because the driver of the second train also did not see Mr Mitchell.

After running over the passenger, the third train’s driver left their cab as normal and entered a staff area for a ‘personal needs break’.

They reported seeing an inflatable doll on the tracks to the control room six minutes after the train had stopped.

A customer service assistant on the platform failed to stop the fourth train despite seeing Mr Mitchell.

The train driver also realised there was a person on the tracks.

The RAIB recommended that London Underground consider the use of technology that can warn trains if it detects a passenger is in a dangerous position.

Additionally, it demanded that the organisation evaluate the potential impact of trains with automated systems on drivers.

In another event, a mother was struck by two Tube trains on her way home and lost both her right arm and leg.

PR executive Sarah de Lagarde slipped on a wet, uneven platform at High Barnet station in north London in September 2022 and fell down the gap between the train and the platform.

She broke her nose and two front teeth in the fall, but nobody heard her frantic cries for help.

After being struck by two trains, she was rushed to the hospital, where her limbs were amputated.

After TfL conducted an inquiry into Mrs. de Lagarde’s accident and alerted the Office of Rail and Road Accident Inquiry Branch, it was determined that no additional investigation was required.

Sadiq Khan sees himself above such things, so good luck getting an explanation from him, and could anyone please remind me how much these drivers are being paid for a job they apparently can’t do very well?

And this will be Sadiq Khan when challenged, ‘Eh, eh, eh… could you be more specific, I didn’t understand the question.’

This man died in the most horrific way imaginable. All platforms should have barriers with doors, but that would be far too costly – weighing up the pros and cons, preventing death is less important – saving money will always win hands down.

Evidently, drivers and staff were doing nothing. They should have been monitoring the line for any objects on it, yet no one noticed one man on the line trying to climb off it onto the platform. What were they all deaf, dumb and blind?

Pensioners Could Lose Free Tube Travel Perk

Pensioners could lose their free London Underground travel perk as costs for the freebie soar to £372 million.

Freedom Passes reduce daily expenses for millions of people in the capital by enabling pensioners to utilise London’s whole transport system at no cost.

The scheme has always included Underground and Overground travel, but London Councils – the body that organises the passes – is undertaking a review which could effectively turn it into a bus pass, eliminating the rail travel element.

Other options include increasing the age at which Londoners can claim the pass from 66 or excluding national rail services within Greater London from the pass’s scope.

The yearly cost of the scheme, funded by taxpayers in the capital’s 32 councils, is set to increase by more than 11.8 per cent in 2026, The Standard reports.

Councils are expecting to pay for more than 279 million free journeys from April.

All of this is happening at the same time that London’s local authorities are facing budget cuts in other areas, such as social care and special needs services.

Lowering the Freedom Pass’s scope could reduce this financial pressure by about £148 million per year, according to London Councils chief operating officer Stephen Boon.

The adjustment would need parliament to amend the Greater London Assembly Act 1999.

London’s scheme is one of the most comprehensive in the country, whereas many towns and cities offer free bus travel only during off-peak times.

It differs from the 60+ London Oyster card, which only provides free travel during off-peak hours and is issued by Transport for London (TfL).

These cards are written off by TfL as lost revenue, and the organisation is believed to have missed out on £125 million in fares from 60 to 65-year-olds in 2025 alone – a figure expected to rise to £180 million by 2027.

The Freedom Pass’s only restriction applies to the morning rush hour in the capital. 

Prices have increased, thanks to Freedom Pass users taking more journeys on the network, as well as adjustments to how Elizabeth Line fares are calculated.

TfL will also charge the cost of the Oyster cards the passes are attached to directly to London Councils for the first time this year.

Each card costs £1.50, and there are about 400,000 of them.

Mr Boon also told a meeting of the London Councils’ transport and environment committee that the Society of London Treasurers, an organisation of the boroughs’ chief financial officers, ‘expressed concern about the growing cost of the Freedom Pass scheme’. 

He added that his officers ‘will continue to work…to identify what other policy options might be used to control the cost of the scheme in future’.

As councils continue to struggle financially, budget reductions are planned for some of London’s wealthiest boroughs.

Richmond is bracing itself for a 16.2 per cent increase in the cost of financing the pass, while Brent is expecting its share of the invoice to soar by more than £2 million.

TfL and London Councils declined to comment.

Perhaps what they should do is stop all the staff, tube drivers and their families from getting free travel.

Labour seems to despise pensioners, and the people who sustain them seem to forget that they will one day become pensioners, and I don’t blame anyone for fare dodging because I wouldn’t want to contribute to the driver’s ridiculous salaries either.

For some pensioners, this is the only way they can afford to get out and about, but now our government want to isolate these people as well.

Our government should be looking after pensioners and the vulnerable, and they should be leaving our hard-worked pensioners alone, but our government are happy to give freebies to migrants who come over and haven’t paid a penny into the system.

If people like pensioners have their passes restricted, there won’t be many travelling, which means there will be empty seats and spaces that pensioners would have filled on their way to stores, cafes, theatres, cinemas, sports venues, and then the greater economy suffers because it loses out on revenue. Get the picture?

It’s called a Freedom Pass for a reason!

Starmer Prepares To Rip Up Brexit

Sir Keir Starmer said he is prepared to align the UK even more closely with the EU, including the single market, if it is in the UK’s ‘national interest’.

In some of his strongest comments yet about Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with Brussels under Labour, the Prime Minister said he would look at rules governing border checks.

However, at a time when the number of migrants is already close to an all-time high, such a step would spark a significant political controversy.

The single market is built on the premise of free movement of goods, services, capital, and people, with the latter one of the key drivers behind the Leave campaign a decade ago.

Speaking to the BBC, Sir Keir Starmer insisted there would be no return to free movement beyond a ‘youth mobility scheme allowing thousands of EU and UK citizens aged under 35  to work and travel freely.

However, the EU will undoubtedly include more freedom of movement in any discussions about single market access.

Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: ‘I think we should get closer, and if it’s in our national interest to have even closer alignment with the single market, then we should consider that, we should go that far.

‘We’re already aligning on energy, reconnecting to energy in Europe on emissions, but I think the single market further alignment, as I say, if it’s in our interest to do so, we should take that step.’

Asked whether he would be willing to revisit freedom of movement, allowing EU citizens with no limit to come to the UK, he said: ‘No, but we are looking at a youth mobility scheme which will be for young people to travel, to work, to enjoy themselves in different European countries, to have that experience.’

It came as he was warned he faces a ‘civil war’ inside Labour if he attempts to reverse Brexit in an endeavour to shore up his embattled leadership.

The row erupted after Health Secretary Wes Streeting called for a ‘deeper trading relationship with the EU’ – a move which was interpreted as both a call to rejoin the Customs Union and an attempt to gain the support of Europhile Labour MPs ahead of a leadership bid against the Prime Minister.

Mr Streeting’s possible main rival in any contest, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, has also been agitating against Brexit, saying that he hopes that the UK will rejoin the EU in his lifetime.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has told Labour not to try to boost its flagging poll ratings by ‘re-opening old Brexit wounds’.

Now Labour MP Dan Carden has warned Sir Keir Starmer – and those aspiring to succeed him – not to rejoin a Customs Union, saying: ‘We hear suggestions that this is being seriously contemplated by some at the very top of the Government.

‘Moreover, we hear that it appears to be the aim of people who now have designs on the PM’s job. 

‘Andy Burnham has declared how he wants to see us back in the EU in his lifetime, while Wes Streeting wants us to have a deeper trading relationship with Europe.’

Mr Carden’s reference to the mayor comes after Westminster sources disclosed his Liverpool Walton seat was on the list of constituencies which Mr Burnham had targeted in the expectation that the sitting MP would stand aside to permit him to fight a by-election, return to the Commons and then challenge the Prime Minister.

Mr Carden added: ‘The European Union (EU) is… a low-growth bloc with a declining share of global GDP. Joining a Customs Union would mean scrapping our post-Brexit trade deals with places that are the 21st-century growth centres, such as the US and India.

‘Shifting closer to Brussels would mean giving up our hard-won national freedoms. 

‘I urge Sir Keir not to seek to tie the UK into a new Customs Union or any other such arrangement which may carry a disguised name but amount to the same thing.’

Labour MPs in the pro-Brexit ‘Red Wall’ seats of the Midlands and North are extremely concerned about the threat posed by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which would make political capital out of any Brexit backsliding by Labour.

Labour MP Graham Stringer said the PM would face ‘a rebellion of scores of Labour MPs if he sought to take us back into any sort of Customs Union’.

He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It will lead to civil war inside Labour. Starmer’s Parliamentary colleagues know they stood on a clear manifesto pledge to do no such thing.

‘It would be especially difficult for Labour MPs in the so-called Red Wall to support such a flagrant manifesto breach, as many have Reform breathing down their necks. They would be committing electoral suicide.’

Mr Streeting said in an interview last month that Britain should pursue closer economic ties with the EU. ‘The best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,’ he said. ‘We’ve taken a massive economic hit, leaving the European Union.’

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy also claimed that countries such as Turkey were enjoying economic benefits from Customs Union membership.

Their remarks came after the Government encountered claims it was watering down Brexit after announcing the UK would rejoin the Erasmus system of student exchanges in 2027, at a cost of £570 million per year.

Ms Badenoch accused Labour of embarking on a desperate ploy to shore up its core vote. She warned the move would mean Britain giving up the trade deals it has struck since leaving the EU, including with the US and India, while opening the door to more demands for concessions from Brussels.

She said: ‘The only people advocating for such a policy – and here I include the trade union bosses who have also proposed it – do not understand what a Customs Union actually is.

‘This is why the renewed chatter about dragging Britain back into the EU’s Customs Union should worry us all.

‘It is not a sign of pragmatism – it is a symptom of Labour’s weakness. Now that the Government is weak and has no plan or new ideas, it has reopened old Brexit wounds in the vain hope that doing so will make it more popular. It won’t.’

Sir Keir Starmer has previously ruled out rejoining the Customs Union, describing it as a ‘red line’.

Another senior Labour MP said privately: ‘Remainiacs around Starmer may be pushing this, but it would cause mayhem in the Labour Party.

‘It would mean British businesses having to take rules from Brussels without the UK Government having a say on them. It would be unacceptable.’

There were a lot of people who voted for Brexit to their shame, and if there were another vote, I would vote to rejoin. Brexit has not helped us in any way, and we have lost millions from our economy. We are vulnerable, and people are delusional if they can’t see this.

The UK was in the EU for 47 years, and for 47 years it worked. You know what they say, ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’

All-powerful people are absolute dictators, but Labour lied its way into power and has been adamant about pursuing its own agenda, and he has no right doing this without taking it to the British people first.

Many people voted out and regret it, while others would argue that we left and that it shouldn’t be reversed, and it seems that we now have a neurodivergent Prime Minister with Tony Blair’s fist shoved up his puppet hole, making his lips move.

Keir Starmer is a Judas and a liar. Will the Labour Party ditch him? Well, I would say it’s just a matter of time and not when, and hopefully, he will take a few others with him.

The most honest and respectable thing for any current UK prime minister to do would be to call for a fresh referendum if the prime minister wishes to dismantle Brexit, but we all know that this man is not honourable, so we shouldn’t hold our breath.

Brexit has caused nothing but misery to the British economy, and it has been a catastrophe, voted in by the gullible.

I myself didn’t want Brexit, but then I don’t want this man touching anything before he breaks that as well, and even though I was opposed to Brexit, the country had a referendum and voted to leave, so why is he going against what was voted for? We live in a democratic country, not a dictatorship.

His obvious aim is to destroy this country, but then, is anyone surprised? NO! Because all that Labour do is lie, gaslight and then lie again, and his interests are not with the British people, which makes him a weak doormat.

The trouble is, how many referendums can we possibly have? And if we do, then we are just squandering money.

Keir Starmer is destroying the UK, and mark my words, he’s not finished yet.

Baby Boy Dies After Circumcision

A coroner has raised concerns over circumcisions being carried out ‘without any prior training’ after a six-month-old boy died days after undergoing a procedure.

Mohamed Abdisamad underwent a non-therapeutic male circumcision on February 12, 2023, performed by a circumciser recommended to his parents upon their request, the West London coroner’s report read. 

But the baby started exhibiting signs of illness three to four days after the procedure and was taken to Hillingdon Hospital by ambulance a week later, on February 19. However, Mohamed tragically went into cardiorespiratory arrest and was pronounced dead on the same day at 11.55 pm.

A jury inquest, which ended on October 8 2025, found the medical cause of death to be an ‘invasive streptococcus pyogenes infection following male circumcision’.

Assistant coroner Anton van Dellen wrote a prevention of future deaths report in which he called for action over the lack of safety and regulatory measures surrounding non-therapeutic male circumcisions.

‘During the inquest, the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern,’ Dr van Dellen wrote in the report dated December 28, 2025.

‘In my opinion, there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken. 

‘The matters of concern are as follows: any individual may conduct a non-therapeutic male circumcision without any prior training or any Continuing Professional Development (CDP).

‘There is no system of external accreditation and/or registration for individuals who conduct a non-therapeutic male circumcision.

‘There is no requirement for any record keeping for individuals who undergo a non-therapeutic male circumcision.

‘There is no requirement for any infection control measures for a non-therapeutic male circumcision.

‘There are no requirements for any aftercare for a non-therapeutic male circumcision (NTMC), including but not limited to dressing the wound, analgesia and/or worsening care advice,’ he said.

The coroner also pointed to the lack of a system for getting permission prior to the procedure being carried out.

The report is being sent to the Department of Health and Social Care and to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

They will have 56 days from the date of the report being issued to respond, the coroner said. 

Copies of the report are also being sent to Mohamed’s mother and father, his maternal grandmother, his uncle, and the London Ambulance Service. 

Many would say that circumcision is a barbaric procedure and that it has no place in modern culture, unless it’s medically required.

Many parents have their infants circumcised for religious or other reasons. Circumcision is an ancient practice that originated in religious rites.

Parents may choose to circumcise their child for a variety of reasons, including hygiene and the prevention of diseases like cancer, STDs, and urinary tract infections, but it should only be performed by a professional surgeon.

A Dentist Gave NHS Patients An Ultimatum

Patients who queued for hours to get their dental care on the NHS were forced to pay for a hygienist appointment before being allowed to register, a BBC investigation has revealed. 

Prospective patients said they were handed an ‘ultimatum’, which saw hundreds pay £69 to sign up, despite policies stating that a healthcare provider cannot refuse an NHS patient if they don’t want to pay for a private service.

On being made aware of the alleged agreement, chair of the British Dental Association, Eddie Crouch, said: ‘We know there are 14 million people, sadly, at the moment who want access to an NHS dentist, but those 14 million need to be supported by government, and not abused by any bad practice within our membership.’

Lodge Causeway Dental Centre, in east Bristol, held an open day on 6 September, which saw thousands of people, including pregnant women and senior patients who hadn’t been seen in years, queuing to register with an NHS dentist.

However, when they reached the front of the queue, they were told they had to pay a hefty fee for a hygienist appointment if they wanted one of the coveted places.

Alice Worthington, from south Bristol, told the BBC that she ‘didn’t actually need a hygienist appointment at all’, but because it’s ‘impossible to find an NHS dentist,’ she paid the fee. 

The dental centre maintains that the appointments were simply ‘offered’ alongside a check-up and has apologised for any confusion.

Since the open day, the practice has allegedly seen 2,591 NHS patients and only offered 108 hygienist appointments, with systems set up to automatically take payment in advance. 

Ms Worthington began queuing long before the practice opened its doors at 8 am and was in the line for over three hours with no mention of having to pay.

‘We got into reception, and they told us that if we wanted to register as an NHS patient, we would have to pay £70 for a hygienist appointment,’ she said. 

‘I’d recently had one with the private practice that I was going to, but we were told that until we’d paid the £70, we were not going to be registered with the NHS.’

Ms Worthington added that despite being able to afford this herself, others around her became extremely distressed when they found out about the fee.

Sam Mellor, from Bedminster, likewise arrived early to secure himself a place on the list, but he was given the same ultimatum, with the opportunity to pay for the appointment at a later date.

After scheduling the appointment, he later emailed the office to express his displeasure with the requirement.

In a response seen by the BBC, the practice claimed that the hygienist appointment was ‘just an offer’. 

Many, however, maintain that this was untrue.

Crouch added: ‘If (prospective patients) are being told they have to have a private hygienist appointment before having some NHS dental treatment, then I don’t think that’s correct.’

Lodegwat Causeway Dental Centre admitted that for the five per cent of patients who did not need urgent care, an offer of a hygienist appointment was made alongside a routine check-up.

It has since apologised ‘unreservedly’ for taking payments for such appointments in advance and has encouraged patients to contact them to discuss the issue. 

A spokesperson for the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board explained that whilst NHS dentists are allowed to offer hygienist appointments, patients ‘should not be obliged to pay for an appointment at the time of registering.’

As a country, we appear to have completely assimilated into the norms of Eastern Europe and other regions.

The NHS in Britain had values and trust, and its standards were among the best in the world. Unfortunately, that is now a thing of the past, and in the near future, our NHS hospitals will be the same. If you need to be seen, you won’t be seen unless you pay or have insurance, and if you don’t and you’re really sick, they will just let you die.

It’s just a racket, and dentists are the biggest rip-off. Years ago, your dentist used to do a clean and polish; now they just check your teeth and refer you to the hygienist for an added fee. It’s called exploitation, and they can exploit you as much as they want because they know you need to get your teeth checked, and now, if you don’t go regularly, they will strike you off their list.

Anyone who profits from the suffering of sick people or animals, for that matter, has no soul. Both dentists and vets should have stringent government rules regarding their charges. Have you seen the cars and homes those so-called caring professionals own, and all of the backs of people’s pain – it’s actually shameful.

It’s all about the money; nothing else matters.

The Country Is Being Hit By ‘Cancer-Like’ Fungus

As authorities fight to contain it, a deadly, treatment-resistant fungus that functions similarly to cancer is spreading quickly throughout hospitals across the nation.

Candida Auris, a type of yeast that can survive on surfaces for long periods of time, was first detected in hospitals in 2016, with 52 infections reported across four states.

In the years since, cases have increased exponentially, with at least 7,000 people infected in 2025, according to tracking data by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

The CDC had already declared the fungus an ‘urgent threat’ in 2023, when 4,514 infections were detected across the country that year.

Dr Timothy Connelly, at Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia, told WJCL in March that being infected with the disease is similar to having cancer.

‘The fungus will just keep getting bigger and bigger, obstruct certain parts of the lungs, and can cause secondary pneumonia. Eventually, it can go on to kill people,’ he said.

C. Auris poses a particularly significant threat in hospitals, where it can colonise the skin of individuals through physical contact with contaminated medical equipment.

And the fungus is resistant to many standard disinfectants and cleaning products used in hospitals, as well as antifungal drugs, making it extremely difficult to treat. 

Because it is so treatment-resistant, people who contract the fungus must rely solely on their immune system to fight off the infection. Those who are already sick and have compromised immunity are at the greatest risk.

It is more likely to be lethal if the fungus enters a person’s bloodstream through wounds or medical devices, such as breathing tubes or catheters.

The CDC has estimated that 30 per cent to 60 per cent of people with a C. Auris infection have died, though most of them also had other serious conditions that raised their risk of dying. 

Those who have prolonged stays in the hospital or need invasive medical devices are particularly at risk of infection, doctors say.

Warning signs include a fever and chills that persist after treatment with antibiotics for a suspected bacterial infection. There may also be redness, warmth and pus at the site of infected wounds.

A study published by Cambridge University Press in July examined patients infected with C. Auris, primarily in Nevada and Florida, and determined that more than half of them needed admission to an intensive care unit. 

Additionally, the study discovered that over half needed a blood transfusion and one-third needed artificial ventilation.

The fungus has proven difficult to contain due to its medication resistance. This year, instances have been documented in more than half of the US states.

Nevada alone has reported 1,605 cases in 2025, followed closely by neighbouring California, which reported 1,524 cases.

A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control in March warned that cases at Florida’s Jackson Health System, which treats approximately 120,000 patients every year, have surged more than 2,000 per cent in half a decade.

There were just five infections diagnosed in the system in 2019, the study said, but that number quickly ballooned to 115 cases in 2023. 

Overall, they discovered blood cultures were the most common source of infections, although there was a big increase from 2022 of infections in soft tissue.

Some scientists believe the rapidly growing number of cases can be at least partly attributed to climate change. 

Because of our high interior temperatures, fungi typically have a hard time infecting and growing in human bodies.

However, fungi are rapidly evolving and developing heat resistance as the planet warms.

Microbiologist Arturo Casadevall, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, told the Associated Press: ‘We have tremendous protection against environmental fungi because of our temperature. 

‘However, if the world is getting warmer and the fungi begin to adapt to higher temperatures as well, some … are going to reach what I call the temperature barrier.’

So, it seems that in 50 per cent of cases, this fungus was found in Florida and Nevada. Sounds more like the CDC should be looking into the hospitals in those states to find out why they’re not being cleaned properly. Both the hospitals and the medical equipment.

This is presumably another deadly pathogen brought into the US via their open borders policy. Don’t let them in, and you won’t get their diseases, and if they are going to let some in, they need a system like that of Ellis Island, where nobody gets in who’s sick or looks sick.

And they just had to get the climate change baloney in. They never seem to want to let go of this climate change.

They always blame everything on climate change. The planet heats up, it cools down, so the Earth is always going through a constant cycle of climate change, and if you go back to 1850, people burnt coal; it was the only way to keep warm back then, so if we destroyed our planet, we destroyed it long ago.

And here we are again. First, it was COVID, and now it’s fungus – nothing like a little bit of abject terror to start the New Year off.

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