Tom Hanks Blasted For ‘Racist And Disgusting’ Portrayal Of MAGA Supporter On Star-Studded SNL 50

Tom Hanks has been criticised for portraying a Trump supporter as a dimwitted ‘racist’ during a performance on Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary celebration.

The Hollywood icon returned as Doug, a naive idiot who wears a Make America Great Again hat and does unexpectedly well on Black J, a spoof game show.

Hanks first appeared as Doug on Black Jeopardy! in 2016 to illustrate both the distinctions and similarities between Trump voters and black culture.

The character was brought back for the 50th anniversary of the NBC staple, which included comedy sketches from A-listers and SNL alums including Eddie Murphy, Kristen Wiig, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Bill Murray, David Spade and Jon Lovitz.

But, as MAGA fans pointed out, President Trump has since triumphed over a diverse electorate and secured the popular vote – turning Doug into an outdated stereotype.

In the new version of the sketch, Doug vehemently refused to shake hands with host Darnell Hayes played by Kenan Thompson.

Afterwards, Trump fans blasted SNL and the ‘Forrest Gump’ celebrity for what they viewed as an unfair characterisation.

Former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aide Link Lauren called the character ‘disgusting’ and accused SNL of pushing a tired, divisive narrative.

‘This show wonders why their ratings are in the gutter,’ he wrote. ‘Trump won the popular vote. This tired trope that MAGA is racist is disgusting. SNL is an unfunny show for snobbish liberal elites.’

Other Trump supporters shared his views, criticising the sketch in droves on social media.

Right-wing influencer Dominick McGee took direct aim at Hanks, accusing him of ‘just disrespecting every Republican on SNL as he was dressed up as a Trump supporter with a MAGA hat.’

Another critic pointed out what they saw as an awkward silence during the sketch, writing, ‘No one in the audience laughs as Tom Hanks appears on SNL as a racist Trump supporter that refuses to shake hands with a Black man.’

Trump supporters also used the moment to spotlight what they claim is SNL’s declining viewership. 

One Trump fan account wrote, ‘Tom Hanks and SNL thought it would be hilarious for him to put on a MAGA hat and act out a stereotype of half the country in a desperate attempt to cope with Democrats’ crushing defeat in November. Not surprising no one watches SNL or NBC anymore.’

During the remainder of the three-and-a-half-hour broadcast – featuring everyone from Cher to Bad Bunny, Adam Sandler and Scarlett Johansson – the star-studded cast could not help but take cheap shots at Trump.

In another sketch that poked fun at 50 years of drastic changes in New York City, the cast performed a parody of the well-known show tune I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables.

‘I dreamed a dream that King Kong died, then I remembered he’s in Florida,’ sang one cast member, in a thinly veiled swipe at the president who left Manhattan after his first term.

But the special marking 50 years on air poked fun at the Trump administration from the very beginning. 

It took mere seconds before actor and comedian Steve Martin, 79, made his first political jab quipping about how he had been on a boat in ‘The Gulf of Steve Martin’ – a joke about Trump’s recent renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

‘I can’t believe I made it here in time. It was only a few days ago that Lorne told me I was doing the monologue, and I was actually vacationing on a friend’s boat down in the Gulf of Steve Martin,’ Martin began.

Later in the monologue Martin’s fellow Only Murders In The Building Canadian co-star Martin Short, 74, strolled onstage.

Martin asked him, ‘Do you have your passport on you? ICE, get him!’ as performers dressed as ICE employees carried Short off the stage.

‘No! I’ll name names! Mike Myers! Jim Carrey!’, Short shouted as he was hauled away. 

Later during the famous Weekend Update segment, commentator Colin Jost quipped about how it could be the last season of SNL if Trump has his way.

‘It is an honour and a thrill to be hosting Weekend Update for the 50th, and if it was up to our president, final season of SNL,’ Jost said to laughter from the audience.

‘It is incredible that SNL is still going after all this time and I’m just talking about tonight’s show.’

Trump has often criticised Saturday Night Live and has been especially harsh on the comedy program. He is known to hardly ever laugh and has demonstrated animosity towards ridicule in general.

‘SNL is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!’ Trump wrote in January 2017.

In 2019 he threatened the show with a federal investigation for mocking him after he took a disliking to Alec Baldwin’s interpretation of him. 

Last year, SNL creator Lorne Michaels vowed the show would ‘reinvent’ the way it portrays Trump during his second term in office.

During Weekend Update Cecily Strong emerged as her character ‘Girl you never want to talk to at a party’ where she seemed to attract attention to the current political climate. 

‘Is it nice to be on the verge of the apocalypse? It’s devastating. It’s a constipational crisis, literally for me. Do I want to bring a baby into the world or should I keep her in here for another 3½ years.’

Michael Che, the co-host, enquired about Strong’s workplace.

‘I’m the press secretary at the White House,’ Strong replied. ‘People are so angry about DEI, well, stop drinking and driving,’ she quipped as she jokingly blurred the words DUI with DEI.

Driving Under the Influence, or DUI for short, is the crime of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both.

DEI, of course, stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

Last month, Trump signed an executive order to end DEI programs throughout the federal government, fulfilling a campaign pledge.

The programs, according to Trump and his supporters, discriminate against white Americans.

Two hours into the performance, the SNL special took a swipe at the politics of New York disparaging former Mayor Rudy Giuliani with Kate McKinnon reprising the role.

‘Rudy, you’re America’s mayor. You’re beloved all across the country, this is your big shot. What are you going to do with it?’

‘Simple. I AM throwing away my shots. I am throwing my shots!’ he said, to a rap from the Hamilton musical alongside creator Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton.

Just wait until the day when Hollywood celebs come to the realisation that they played an essential part in getting Trump elected in the first place. Perhaps there should be an Academy Award category for that. Tom Hanks would certainly be a contender.

The number of gifted performers and public personalities who choose to destroy themselves with antiquated and ineffectual speech simply because they have nothing fresh to offer is disheartening.

I once liked Tom Hanks, but like most of the other crazy people in Hollywood, he has since turned into a socialist freak.

I used to think that screaming ageing rockers, exploding out of their tight pants, with long grey hair that was thinning on top were the saddest spectacle to watch. Still, they’ve been superseded by these old, irrelevant, not-so-funny, so-called performers, and SNL has been on life support for many years now.

It doesn’t matter who is right or who is wrong – it’s your choice, but don’t try to use your lame Hollywood influence on me – that is just awful, but then, Americans are extremely weird when it comes to politics.

Their constant one-sided political insults simply sum up Hollywood, the film industry, the news media, talk shows et cetera. They all live in their own little bubble, along with left-wing politicians and globalist billionaires, patting each other on the back, and giving each other awards, all the while criticising the ordinary working people who they see as ignorant peasants for not supporting them on their latest virtue signalling bandwagon.

It has been demonstrated time and time again that people are sick of these celebs pushing their agenda when all we want is for them to entertain us. Why should we listen to a bunch of millionaires who don’t live in the real world, which also includes the UK as well as the US?

SNL is for five-year-olds. However, children watching it learn that mocking is bullying while still young and it’s funny. Actors are entertainers, like jugglers or people who do card tricks et cetera. Nothing unique beyond their circle of misguided friends and fans. Stick to acting Tom, not mocking others.

Whether we commoners are upset or not is irrelevant to Tom Hanks. That’s probably how he likes it.

Elon Musk Responds To Ashley St. Clair’s Claim That She Gave Birth To His 13th Child

Elon Musk is taking a break from X having broken his silence after a MAGA influencer claimed she has given birth to his 13th child. 

The 53-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO has not denied or confirmed 26-year-old Ashley St. Clair’s claim but issued a one-word response on X on Saturday evening, writing simply, ‘Whoa.’

His decision to go offline follows a string of wordy posts in the last few hours about unrelated matters, including the forthcoming release of Grok 3, which Musk called the ‘smartest AI on Earth’.

The tech billionaire made the extremely unusual decision to take a break from X to spend time sharpening the tool, writing: ‘Will be honing the product with the team all weekend, so offline until then.’

His previous one-word response to St. Clair’s incendiary claim was directed in reply to another post suggesting the influencer had ‘plotted for HALF A DECADE to ensnare Elon Musk’. 

But the young woman wasted no time in firing back, taking aim at Musk’s lack of attention on the issue.

‘Elon, we have been trying to communicate for the past several days and you have not responded,’ St. Claire wrote.

‘When are you going to reply to us instead of publicly responding to smears from an individual who just posted photos of me in underwear at 15 years old?’

Within the hour, St. Clair’s biting response was removed from X.

In a previous statement, she thanked everyone who showed kindness and acknowledged the tremendous response.

‘In all sincerity, appreciate the kind words. Wish I did not feel the need to make a statement. Kids should be off limits for journalists,’ she wrote, before hinting at a social media hiatus.

The revelation that Musk – who has been married three times – and St. Clair allegedly share a child was made public by her on Friday.

‘I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child’s privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause,’ she stated. 

Her spokesperson, Brian Glicklich, reiterated her claims, stressing that Musk and St. Clair had been ‘privately working towards the creation of an agreement about raising their child for some time.’

St. Clair alleges the romance began with a simple direct message on Musk’s X platform.

‘Musk was very funny. He was smart. He was very down to Earth. It started with X interactions and he slid into my DMs. I think it was a meme,’ St. Clair said as she described how the back and forth soon grew into a secret liaison.

In St. Clair’s stunning announcement, she disclosed how she was forced to go public after allegedly being asked to keep the pregnancy a secret.

‘I was told to keep it secret. I was being asked to keep it a secret forever,’ she admitted to the New York Post. 

Although she consented to omit the billionaire’s name from the birth certificate to protect his privacy, security, and confidentiality, St. Clair’s camp maintains that there has been continuous private discussion over Musk’s involvement in their child’s upbringing.

She alleges that Musk provided her with a grand apartment in New York’s Financial District. Along with the residence came a security detail – but no public acknowledgement.

‘I was completely isolated during my pregnancy. Every part of my career and everything I used to do I couldn’t do anymore. I was told not to tell anybody,’ she claimed.

‘I am a good mom. And that’s what drives most of my decisions and my kids are my whole world,’ she told The Post. 

The influencer, who once worked for the conservative satirical website The Babylon Bee, says she first met Musk in May 2023 after a sudden work trip to Twitter’s headquarters.

At the age of 24, she claims she was quickly swept into a world of secrecy and luxury. 

‘At one point, he asked, ‘Are you ever in San Francisco or Austin?’ And I said, ‘I am in Austin a good amount for work.”

According to St. Clair, the relationship only intensified from there culminating in her pregnancy, which she alleges Musk was adamant about keeping under wraps. 

‘It is very hard to understate how much I am processing right now. I am sad that my hand was forced by the media to do this now. But there is also a sense of relief because I have been forced to live in secrecy for almost a year of my life,’ she wrote on X. 

‘I cannot explain the kind of primary pain you feel as a mother and you’re talking to people and they ask you about the one kid, and you have to lie and carry this burden and secret. You have to lie to people you love.’ 

St. Clair also admits she has not spoken with Musk since posting her revelation, though she did notify his team beforehand.

‘He ignored it,’ she claimed but notes how she has no regrets and has chosen to keep the baby’s name and gender a secret.

‘My child is the most perfect thing that happened to me. I wouldn’t change anything,’ she insisted.

‘Almost every relationship in my life would be bastardised and disingenuous because I couldn’t tell them what was going on. My son has never taken a walk outside — in five months. I have never been able to take my baby for a walk. I was terrified that someone would see I had a baby and it would get out,’ she revealed.

St. Clair is hoping that Elon will publicly accept the accusations now that the secret is finally out.

‘We are waiting for Elon to publicly acknowledge his parental role… Ashley trusts that Elon intends to finish their agreement quickly, in the best interests of the wellbeing and security of the child they share,’ her representative stated.

Musk has 12 other children spanning numerous relationships.

His children include twins Vivian and Griffin and triplets Kai, Saxon, and Damian from his marriage to Justine Wilson. The pair divorced in 2008.

His high-profile relationship with musician Grimes led to the birth of three more children: X Æ A-Xii (known as ‘X’), Exa Dark Sideræl, and Techno Mechanicus. 

Musk also shares twins, Strider and Azure, with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis as well as a third child, a baby boy, announced last summer.

If current allegations are to be believed, a new child with conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair would extend Musk’s family to 13.

For multiple reasons, Elon Musk should utilise protection if he has a curious nature and enjoys intimate interactions with new admirers. Perhaps he should have a vasectomy because this man doesn’t need any more children.

He clearly wants to seed as many children as he can because he obviously thinks that his genes are exceptional, and he doesn’t mind dishing it out on X but he can’t tolerate it in reverse and he tries to exploit his power.

This man is incredibly rich and he can probably be courteous through a dinner date, but doesn’t he just love to be offensive, vulgar and elusive? That’s his real social and dynamic rush – women are just secondary, and perhaps this baby-making machine is his plan to conquer the world!

The father of her child seemingly won’t talk to her and has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep her isolated from the world – undoubtedly a control issue, so I don’t blame her for using his own platform in an endeavour to capture his attention.

Fathers need to contribute to their offspring, and in this case, Elon has a ton of money. Perhaps she shouldn’t have used his platform because now it’s stopped being about their child, and now it’s about the fling they had together.

She talks about wanting privacy, yet has told millions of people he’s shirking his obligations – what a fantastic future read for her child to find out that he/she was rejected, and could also be extremely damaging for the child.

This only forces kids to participate in activities they didn’t request. Even though it can be quite annoying, you should put your desire to dispute over your kids on hold once you have them. Or, better yet, don’t have any kids at all!

Death On Jet2 Flight From Tenerife To Nottingham

A Jet2 plane made an emergency landing after a passenger died onboard a flight from Tenerife to Nottingham yesterday. 

The plane, which was making its way to the UK, was diverted to mainland Spain on Friday afternoon after a man, thought to be in his 70s, died.

It is still unknown what country the passenger, who was declared dead upon touchdown, originated from.

Local news outlets reported that the LS676 aircraft started its journey from the Canary Islands at 7:05 p.m. before the emergency was announced on the Jet2 flight.

The crew alerted air traffic control that a man was in critical condition and required immediate assistance, according to Diario de Avisos.

The jet was forced to touchdown at Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport, so emergency services could attend to the person.

When the ambulance arrived at the terminal in the capital of Galicia, the guy was declared dead.

MailOnline has approached Jet2 and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for comment. 

This person was obviously still alive when they decided to divert the aircraft, and they managed to speak to a medical team down on the ground who would have instructed them on what to do. Flight deck and crew are not doctors, they can give CPR and attempt to do everything in their power to keep someone alive. Even if there had been a doctor on the aeroplane who was a passenger, they could have only done so much to keep the person alive.

This is extremely sad. Anyone can become unwell on an aircraft. The person has now passed away, and all I can say is condolences to his family and loved ones.

There is a lot of stress involved in jet travel, so people becoming unwell is not surprising. Travelling can be very shattering.

At present there is no indication as to what the person died of. For all we know, he could have had some highly infectious disease or it could have just been a heart attack. Whatever this poor individual died from, they would have had to have been medically examined after there was confirmation of death.

Chancellor And Executioner: A Recession Is Looming In Britain Today

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned by official forecasters that she is on course to break her own ‘fiddled’ Budget rules – paving the way for spending cuts or more tax rises.

It was reported yesterday that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded its UK growth outlook, resulting in the loss of nearly £10 billion in ‘headroom’.

In a fresh blow to the Chancellor’s flailing growth initiatives, official figures are predicted to show today that the UK is on the verge of recession.

The OBR has given preliminary projections to Ms Reeves ahead of its update on the economy on March 26.

Sources told Bloomberg News they would show the Chancellor breaking the ‘stability rule’ she introduced in October.

The rule states that within three years, daily government expenditures must be equal to tax revenues.

At the time of the Budget in October, OBR forecasts showed Ms Reeves had £9.9 billion in so-called ‘headroom’ – money the Government can use to spend more or slash taxes without breaking its fiscal rules.

However, as the cost of borrowing money on the financial markets has increased and the growth prospects have deteriorated significantly, the Chancellor is now facing a slight deficit.

To balance the books, Ms. Reeves will probably need to reduce spending or raise taxes once more.

Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said: ‘It takes particular ineptitude to fiddle your own fiscal rules, having pledged not to, and then miss even these looser ones. Who pays the price? Small businesses, any entrepreneurs still left in the UK – and everyone’s children and grandchildren.’

OBR declined to comment on the preliminary evaluation, but last night, the Treasury was scheduled to begin an investigation into leaks.

Ms Reeves would have no financial headroom, according to a prediction made yesterday by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Gross domestic product figures published today by the Office for National Statistics are expected to show the economy shrank by 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Two-quarters of shrinkage in a row would mean the UK was in recession.

Labour came into office last July promising to concentrate on growth, but the economy has stagnated.

Ms Reeves’s £40 billion tax-raising Budget saw confidence crumble further. It included a £25 billion raid on employer national insurance that firms warn will hit jobs and investment and increase prices.

Last week, the Bank of England slashed its growth perspective for this year from 1.5 percent to 0.75 percent – and anticipated inflation of almost 4 percent.

That inflated fears of so-called ‘stagflation’ – the catastrophic mixture of stale growth with spiralling costs that took hold in the 1970s.

In a speech today, Rupert Soames, chairman of the Confederation of British Industry, will call for decisive action from the Government to promote growth. He will say the Chancellor’s NI hike had hit ‘the confidence and trust of business’.

Yesterday, Bank of England rate-setter Megan Greene said economic developments over recent months had been ‘uncomfortable’, and the consultancy Capital Economics downgraded its growth outlook from 1.3 per cent to 0.5 percent.

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said Ms Reeves ‘needs to make urgent course corrections before the damage she is doing… becomes permanent’.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘The Government remains relentlessly focused on growth as the only way of sustainably raising living standards and delivering investment in our public services.’

Several employees will not receive pay increases this year as businesses attempt to strike a balance. Why did Rachel Reeves think this wouldn’t have an impact on us?

When Labour took control, the UK economy was already going ‘gangbusters.’

Starmer and Reeves couldn’t wait to impose their Marxist philosophy on the nation to demonstrate their dominance, but any reasonable politician in that position should have left things alone for a few months, and now, all due to the budget that was a disastrous mess, people are losing their jobs and can’t put food on the table because of this government’s actions, but then, what do you expect from someone with low intellect?

Labour is to blame for this. According to the OBR, they even agreed to inflation-busting pay agreements, which is what caused the fabled black hole, and Rachel Reeves’s budget hardly made a difference either way.

We would save billions of pounds if we prevented migrants from entering the UK, who have nothing to offer but receive everything, and it’s heartbreaking and infuriating.

The UK is extremely understaffed, and wages are so poor we are struggling to attract workers – but God forbid anything should go wrong, because it’s always the fault of us slothful folk!

Nearly everywhere I go, people are complaining about Labour, and how much they detest them.

Labour needs to get its finger out of somewhere and start doing a more satisfactory job because we are in such a mess. Some people might say that the bad mess has moved over from the Tories, but Keir Starmer knew he would be taking on this mess, and he should have been prepared for it. We UK working people are not his cash cows!

Albanian Crook Was Allowed To Stay In The UK

An Albanian criminal has escaped being kicked out of Britain because his son despises chicken nuggets served in other countries.

Klevis Disha’s petty reason for wanting to stay in the UK has left Britain’s Border Minister “astonished” that it worked – and she stressed the government is appealing a tribunal’s decision, and he should be kept here. Outrage has erupted after an immigration hearing said it would be “unduly harsh” for the 39-year-old to be sent back to Albania partly because his 10-year-old boy – known as ‘C’ in court documents – “will not eat the type of chicken nuggets that are available abroad”.

Disha entered the UK illegally in 2001, when he was 15, lying he was born in the former Yugoslavia. His asylum claim was denied but he was given citizenship in 2007.

He met his partner, an Albanian naturalised British citizen, a year before the couple had two children.

But in September 2017 Disha was condemned to two years’ imprisonment after being found in possession of more than £250,000 in cash – known to be the proceeds of crime. In 2019, then-home secretary Priti Patel ordered he be deported and stripped of his UK citizenship as it had been “acquired through deception”.

After hearing evidence from Disha, his partner and their junk food-loving son, a judge at a lower immigration tribunal said the boy had “additional needs” best catered to in the UK. Disha’s appeal against expulsion was upheld under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to respect for family life.

Documents showed the court was told there was no formal diagnosis of special educational needs for his son. But the lad did have an educational plan to deal with his “emotional regulation, independence, reading and writing”.

In an upper tribunal, Judge David Merrigan disagreed with the conclusion that Albania was unable to meet the boy’s additional needs.

He said the original decision was a “single example” of why the child could not go to Albania – which was that he would not eat “the type of chicken nuggets that are available abroad”. The judge added the boy could remain in the UK and be cared for by his mother.

Home Office minister Dame Angela said about the case, which is ongoing: “It’s not for me to second guess a judgement that we have appealed and we certainly hope that we can get deportation action going in that particular case.

“But that will be for the courts to decide.”

When pressed on whether she believed Disha’s human rights were being breached because of his son’s love of chicken nuggets, she admitted: “I’m fairly astonished.

“What we have to do is say we are serious about this, we have deported a lot of people regardless of whether they like chicken nuggets or not.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appealed the judgment in August last year, claiming there was not enough evidence to show Disha’s deportation would be “unduly harsh” on his son.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Foreign nationals who commit heinous crimes should be in no doubt that we will do everything to make sure they are not free on Britain’s streets, including removal from the UK at the earliest possible opportunity.

“Since the election, we’ve removed 2,580 foreign criminals, a 23 percent increase on the same period 12 months prior.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp fumed: “This case shows how bogus asylum seekers and foreign criminals are ruthlessly exploiting human rights laws and weak judges to stay in the UK.”

As part of its efforts to control border security in the UK, the government has ordered the arrest of thousands of migrants who are unlawfully employed in restaurants, car washes, and nail salons.

Figures show nearly 4,000 arrests have been made after 5,424 visits by immigration enforcement officers from July 5 – when Labour took power – to January 31.

The UK has turned into a farce, and we appear to have lost the plot. Our government has to do something about these migrants and international laws on rights. We need a government that is for British citizens.

These judges are paid far too much, and most of them are all woke and they give into criminals, and our hard-working citizens get booted to the curb. This is an insult to British society!

Our justice system is a shambles. They should have been sent home. The boy can eat something else when he gets hungry – I’m sure he won’t starve himself to death over chicken nuggets.

If this doesn’t show the corruption that is running this country then nothing will. For goodness sake, this lot has got to go and they have to go now.

Why L-Plate Moped Delivery Drivers Are Flooding Britain’s Streets

The rise of takeaway apps like Deliveroo and Uber Eats means fleets of moped-riding delivery drivers are now a familiar sight in Britain’s towns and cities.

But while they are certainly helping to meet our desire for convenience, one issue is concerning road safety advocates – why do almost all of them have learner plates?

Unlike car drivers who must spend months preparing for practical and theory tests to gain a full licence, anyone over 16 can ride a moped with no test whatsoever.

A provisional licence and a certificate attesting to the rider’s completion of a one-day training course—which does not even assess riders’ basic understanding of the Highway Code—are all that are needed.

The rub? You have to continue to display an L-plate on your moped.

While these relaxed rules have long been a boon for youngsters looking for a cheap way to get around, critics believe they have become a loophole that’s allowing full-time professional takeaway drivers to ply their trade on busy city streets without any ‘proper’ road safety qualifications. 

They claim that this ‘crazy’ situation is putting other road users at risk, not least because these drivers usually work long hours and have to rush around to meet tough delivery quotas – increasing the chance of an accident.

There doesn’t appear to be any disagreement with the assertion that full-time delivery drivers who aren’t even close to becoming learners are regularly using red and white L-plates.

Over two hours one midweek evening on Clapham High Street in south London earlier this month, MailOnline only saw two delivery mopeds without L-plates out of the dozens that whizzed past.

On Newcastle’s Grainger Street, all of the six mopeds that passed by in an hour had the plates – although they were considerably outnumbered by riders on electric bikes.

People without a driving licence who want to ride a moped have to attend compulsory basic training (CBT), a one-day course costing between £110 and £200 that does not include a test element.

While instructors can refuse to issue a certificate to anyone who has not completed all parts of the training or they consider unsafe, the pass rate is generally high – 84 percent according to the latest available statistics.

Vast numbers of moped drivers are being handed certificates after completing this training every year, with 188,125 issued in the financial year 2023 to 2024 and 104,900 in the financial year 2024-25 up to September.

Internet forums are full of people bragging about how easy they found the training, with one writing on Reddit: ‘I did mine in under two hours.

‘One hour riding around a car park and then 40 minutes on the road. Never ridden or even sat on a ped prior to that.’ 

Official figures show 248 serious injuries caused by crashes involving mopeds (categorised as having an engine under 50cc with a max speed of about 30mph) across Great Britain in 2023. Two of those led to fatalities.

Making a small change to the rules governing trainee drivers could address the issue. This is one of those circumstances where adequate enforcement of the current laws and regulations suffices; no new ones are required.

Campaigners and politicians are all too eager to try to fix issues by passing new legislation. Instead, they should simply enforce the ones that are currently in place.

At the moment delivery schedules are handed out between drivers and then they borrow each other’s mopeds – it’s like a free-for-all. Also, check their right to be in the country in the first place.

Freddos Now Cost £1 In Inflation-Crippled Britain

It is the small frog-shaped chocolate bar beloved by Brits and fondly remembered for selling for just 10p.

But now fans of Freddo have reacted after the iconic 18g chocolate was spotted on sale for £1. 

Although it is still available for less in numerous shops, the price represents a staggering tenfold increase since the bar returned to shop shelves 20 years ago.

It comes after the Bank of England warned that inflation is set to surge again this year – thanks in part to Rachel Reeves’ huge Budget tax raid.

The Bank now expects headline CPI to hit 3.7 percent in the summer, instead of the 2.75 percent rise that was expected in November.

The rise will heap misery on Brits who have endured eye-watering cost of living pressures since COVID, including a rise of 11 percent towards the end of 2022. 

In a dramatic announcement last week, the Bank halved growth forecasts for this year from 1.5 percent to 0.75 percent.

It also pointed out that inflation had eased more slowly than expected, and it is anticipated to rise ‘materially’ in the first half of this year to 3.7 percent. 

The finger was pointed at rising energy and water costs, plus Ms Reeves’ Budget decisions -including increasing employer NICs. 

Experts believe the abrupt downshift and increased borrowing costs have left the Chancellor facing a significant void in the government’s books, which will need to be filled with additional tax increases or spending cuts. 

The Treasury’s OBR watchdog pencilled in a far higher growth figure of 2 percent at the time of her fiscal statement in October.

A post of the popular lunchbox snack on Reddit revealed a Freddo marketing for £1 at a WHSmith store in Carlisle.

Fans of the small amphibian sweet were quick to vent their anger online, with one saying: ‘£1 for a Freddo is disgusting. Daylight robbery at its finest!’

Another angered fan fumed: ‘Name and shame where this atrocity has occurred.’ 

One outraged fan of the chocolate even rounded on Chancellor Rachel Reeves over Freddo’s ‘snackflation’.

‘Freddo’s are now a quid. Wtf is going on in this country? @RachelReevesMP, you should resign,’ they wrote on X.

Freddo was established in the UK by legendary British chocolatier Cadbury in 1973 but was withdrawn in 1974.

The bar, which first originated in Australia, was subsequently relaunched in 1994 for 10p, proving to be a smash hit lunchbox treat.

Even the original Cadbury recipe has been replaced, and I feel bad for the very young since they will never know how good it was. Now it’s just a chunk of sweet brown fat.

And they are charging a quid for literally a mouthful now, and because it’s being aimed at youngsters, and parents not wanting to upset their kids, they’ll still buy them.

Suppliers and retailers are indulging in greed-flation these days, seeking higher and higher returns to fill their boots while the ordinary punter has to pay. Supermarkets, petrol stations, food outlets, energy suppliers, airlines etc cetera, they’re all at it – there’s no control over them and they can do what they like.

It tastes of sugar and chemicals, it has a sheen to the chocolate and it doesn’t dissolve properly in the mouth – to be fair, doggy chocolates would probably taste better.

Everything is either shrinking or they’re transforming it in some way. From chocolate bars to yoghurts, even tea bags. It’s called shrinkflation and not only are you getting less, they’re spoiling what was, and they’re upping the prices too.

How Much Did Starmer’s Voice Coach Cost?

Sir Keir Starmer must ‘come clean’ over who paid for his voice coaching, MPs have said.

The Prime Minister received five years of voice coaching from Leonie Mellinger, a former Royal Shakespeare Company actress – including in-person meetings during the COVID lockdown.

Now Shadow Paymaster General Richard Holden has written to Sir Keir asking for transparency over the cost of the training, who paid for it, and whether it was properly declared.

In a letter seen by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Holden asks the PM: ‘What was the source of the funds used to pay for her services?’, adding: ‘This is essential for ensuring proper transparency and accountability across government and to ensure that you have followed the rules at all times.’

He also points out: ‘Your largest donor – Lord Alli – was found, in October 2024, to have breached four parliamentary rules over his registration of interests.’

Asked last night as to who paid for the voice coaching, Downing Street refused to comment.

For five years, Sir Keir had voice instruction from Ms. Mellinger, who had previously performed on the same stage as Sir Patrick Stewart. This helped him with media appearances and public speaking.

The work started in early 2017 when Sir Keir was Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Brexit Secretary. It continued until late 2021, after he’d done an interview with Piers Morgan for Life Stories on ITV and given a well-received party conference speech.

Controversially, No 10 has also said that Ms Mellinger was a ‘core part of a small team’ who helped Sir Keir in a meeting on Christmas Eve 2020, during strict Tier-4 Covid restrictions.

Mr Holden told the MoS: ‘With so many questions to answer about lockdown laws and his voice coach, it’s beyond time for Sir Keir Starmer to come clean.

‘He has been unwilling to reveal any more details regarding his voice coach and her Christmas Eve dash to Labour HQ, much less whether her services over a significant period were paid by Labour or indeed donated, and if so by whom, and where this was declared.

‘With Lord Alli as Sir Keir’s biggest personal donor, it’s only fair to ask if he paid – and if not Lord Alli, then who?’

A spokesman for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said it was ‘almost unimaginable to disagree’ that there had been ‘a clear breach of the COVID rules’.

Labour has said that Ms Mellinger had ‘key worker’ status during the pandemic, that the regulations were followed and that Sir Keir believed it was not reasonably possible for her to carry out the work with him from home.

So, we common folk couldn’t see our families, attend funerals, or go to work. Our children couldn’t go to school, folk couldn’t have a holiday or see a doctor. We had to wear face masks and were coerced into an experimental vaccination, yet it was okay for Starmer to have one-to-one voice coaching sessions.

Additionally, our late Queen had to follow the rules at the time and go to her husband’s funeral by herself. The fact that Starmer decided a vocal coach was necessary, however, says it all!

If I were her, then I don’t believe I would be citing the work as a success nor would I want to use Starmer as a reference, and long before the voice coach training numerous people knew just how wooden he was. The droning way he talks, and the way his delivery verges on rude by failing to address questions.

In Mid-Air, A Plane Vanishes

A small plane carrying ten people disappeared off the coast of Alaska Wednesday night, and an urgent search is in progress.

The tiny Bering Air Caravan took off from Unalakleet, a small community in western Alaska, and was flying to Nome when it unexpectedly vanished off flight radars over the Norton Sound inlet at 3:16 pm local time.

Rescue operations are being hampered by choppy seas and cold weather, and units from the Coast Guard and Air Force are being deployed.

Little is known about who was on board, but it comes just a week after 67 people were killed in the Washington DC crash of an American Airlines jet with a military Black Hawk helicopter.

On Thursday night, the tiny aircraft disappeared from radars while en route to Nome from Unalakleet in western Alaska.

Exact coordinates for the aircraft are still being established, with the Coast Guard deployed to the area to specialized equipment that can ‘locate objects and people through no visibility conditions’, officials said.

Authorities said their last known contact with the pilot was when he told Anchorage Air Traffic Control that he intended to ‘enter a holding pattern’ as he waited for the runway to be cleared.

It is understood the plane was 12 miles offshore when communication was lost.

According to data from FlightRadar, the aircraft – a Cessna 208B – left Unalakleet at 2:40 pm, and was last seen over the Norton Sound at 3.16 pm.

The Norton Sound entrance divides the small coastal communities of Unalakleet and Nome, which are located in Alaska’s western region.

Shortly before the plane was dropped off flight radars, the pilot of the missing Bering aircraft was talking to air traffic control.

He reportedly told air traffic control that he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for a runway at Nome Airport to be cleared, the Nome Fire Department said.

Rescue teams admitted Friday morning that they have ‘found nothing’ in their searches for the missing aircraft so far, as officials said treacherous conditions hampered their efforts.

White Mountain Fire Chief Jack Adams said his teams were facing a ‘tough job’ to locate the aircraft amid severe weather.

‘Basically, you can’t see anything from the air or the ground, and in the dark looking for something in zero visibility is a tough job,’ he told Alaska News Service.

Temperatures at Nome Airport, where the flight was intended to land Thursday evening, fell as low as 17F, with freezing drizzle and snow diminishing visibility to only half a mile.

How many plane crashes have there been in the last month? What is going on? Poor servicing, and maintenance. Poor flight training. Risk-taking in weather. Impaired Control Tower monitoring and directing. Something is wrong!

Flights from Alaska in the winter are never a good time to fly. Turbulence bounces them all over the place. GPS systems are primitive and nothing to keep the wings from icing over. However, tons of people go missing in Alaska and some of them are never found. Perhaps it’s a wormhole to another universe that pops up now and again!

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle, has intrigued scientists and conspiracy theorists alike with stories of disappearances without a trace.

But it’s not the only place in the globe that is surrounded by mystery. Even more terrifying are the tales of the Alaska Triangle.

Surrounded by sweeping mountains and heavy snowstorms and notorious for supposed alien abductions – Bigfoot sightings, and paranormal activity, this location has become so fascinating that the Travel Channel even made a series out of it, and while I’m slow to believe the paranormal explanations, it’s still a bone-chilling enigma that’s worth investigating.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started