An Illness Surge Hits Britain As Carrie Johnson Is Hospitalised

Carrie Johnson has revealed that she spent a week in hospital after suffering from flu and pneumonia, as England’s emergency services struggle with their ‘busiest winter ever’.

Sharing a picture of her in a hospital bed, the wife of ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that she spent the first few days of 2025 at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxfordshire after enduring a ‘nasty’ chest infection for nearly 18 days. 

‘It just got out and I was struggling to breathe properly’, she wrote in an Instagram caption. 

‘Hospital confirmed I had flu and pneumonia. I was there nearly a week and I’m still not recovered. It could take another few weeks until I feel like myself again.’

Carrie went on to praise the team of staff who supported her through her recovery, calling NHS doctors and nurses ‘the best people on earth’. 

‘I say it a lot but they have looked after me and my family when we’ve needed it most and I will never not be enormously grateful. They are the absolute best of us.’

‘I was at the John Radcliffe and I cannot thank them enough. When I was particularly low, one nurse even serenaded me by my bed’, she shared.

Carrie also urged people to get the flu jab, saying: ‘I really, really wish I had. It totally slipped my mind this year.’

‘No guarantee, but I very possibly wouldn’t have spent the last 3 weeks horribly, horribly ill had I got it’, she added.

The former PM’s wife also shared a second image of a green dinosaur and a heart-shaped princess key ring, which she said belonged to her young children Wilfred and Romy.

‘The second picture is Wilf’s favourite dinosaur toy “Greenie” and Romy’s princess key ring which they gave me to take to the hospital with me and lived by my bedside. Health and family are everything.’

It comes amid warnings that England’s emergency services are battling their ‘busiest winter ever’ as flu cases continue to soar.

More than 2.3 million patients visited A&E in December while ambulance teams tackled over 800,000 incidents—the highest number ever recorded in a single month.

Additionally, hospital admissions are up a fifth in a week and almost five times the amount recorded in early December, according to separate monitoring data that tracks England’s flu pandemic.

Twelve hospitals have already reported catastrophic occurrences as a result of the crisis, indicating that they are having difficulty offering patients safe care.

If general practitioners opened their offices over the weekend during this hectic period, it may be beneficial since these patients might be able to receive treatment at their office rather than having to visit A&E.

In order to relieve some of the pressure on A&E on weekends, it should be mandatory for them to open when assistance is needed, like right now with the flu and other infections. Mind you, it would help if you could get an appointment in the first place!

Many people have to call their GP surgery at 8.30 am and then have to join a gigantic phone queue or wait for a callback. For a face-to-face, you typically have to wait three weeks or more, and that’s for a doctor whose name you normally can’t pronounce.

But I don’t think Carrie Johnson had to wait for an appointment for hours, and I’m willing to wager that getting her a room wasn’t an issue! At least she had a bed, some people have to wait in hospital corridors for 18 hours, and some patients have to wait on a trolley in a corridor for 36 hours with a bowel obstruction – what has this country come to?

Stage 4 Colon Cancer Missed By Doctors

A mum-of-three who claimed her GP mistook signs of bowel cancer for a urinary infection three times has urged others to be mindful of the tell-tale signs of the disease. 

Last August, Zoe Gardner-Lawson, a resident of Bracknell, Berkshire, first called her family physician after experiencing a sudden, dull, and persistent discomfort in her lower back.

However, the 36-year-old was repeatedly prescribed antibiotics for over a month, despite the pain worsening. 

Then, in September, after complaining the pain had extended to her abdomen leaving her bedridden, she was advised by her GP to head straight to A&E. 

Initial tests indicated she may be suffering from kidney stones.

It was only after a full-body CT scan that doctors confirmed she had a 5cm tumour on her bowel and the HR manager was diagnosed with stage four cancer—the most serious kind that means it’s spread elsewhere in the body. 

Now undertaking her fifth round of chemotherapy Ms Gardner-Lawson is calling for the bowel cancer screening minimum age to be lowered to ‘at least’ 30.

Recalling her horrifying ordeal, she said: ‘My professor Jamie Murphy, told me that I could’ve been living with this tumour for up to four years before my diagnosis — that’s terrifying.

‘If all goes well, I still have a chance at achieving a “no evidence of disease” status, but it all depends on these next couple of years.

‘I’m young enough that they’re not considering it a terminal diagnosis just yet.’

‘The plan is, once I’ve had my sixth round of chemo, they’re hoping I’ll have responded well,’ she added.

‘All being well, I’ll need to be booked in for a second surgery—to remove remaining stomach lymph nodes and two tumours on my liver.’

There are about 44,000 cases of bowel cancer every year in the UK and 142,000 in the US, making it the fourth most common cancer in both countries.

But cases are increasing in young people, an alarming trend that professionals have connected to modern diets, chemical exposure and lifestyles.

Constant and fresh diarrhoea or constipation, the urge or sense of wanting to poop more or less regularly, and blood in the stool are all signs of colon cancer.

Stomach pain, a lump in the stomach, bloating, unexpected weight loss and fatigue are among other common signs. 

For guidance, anybody exhibiting these symptoms should speak with their general practitioner.

Having always felt ‘fit and healthy’ and seldom worried about her health, Ms Gardner-Lawson said she was shocked when she started experiencing lower back pain and booked a phone appointment with her GP.

‘There was just no change and by my third dose [of antibiotics], I’d really deteriorated,’ she said.

‘I was basically bedridden—I felt so unwell, and the back pain had spread to my abdomen.’

It was only after a fourth appointment with her GP on September 19 that she was advised to go to A&E.

‘My blood was checked for infection markers, called creatine reactive protein,’ she added.

‘They were rising, until they reached 364n/mol—a normal range for women is 52.9n/mol and 91.9n/mol.

‘A general surgeon came to see me, and he said it looked like I had fluid build-up on my abdomen.

‘I threw my toys out the pram then, I told them I wasn’t going to leave until I had a full-body CT.’

Results revealed she had a lime-sized tumour on her bowel that had spread to her liver, peritoneum—a membrane that surrounds the abdominal organs—and stomach lymph nodes. 

After being moved to the Cleveland Clinic in central London, she underwent a four-hour operation in October to remove as much of the tumour as possible and was told she’d need chemotherapy. 

‘I’ve tolerated it as well as anybody can, it’s pretty hardcore,’ Ms Gardner-Lawson said.

‘I’m on round five of eight in total—it’s three chemo drugs per round.

‘I’ve basically just taken the approach to throw the kitchen sink at it, improve my prognosis as much as possible.’

Earlier this month her sister Lisa also set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise funds for other potentially life-saving treatment and day-to-day help such as cash for extra child care, to lift the financial weight off Ms Gardner-Lawson’s shoulders.

To date, it has raised nearly £7,000. 

Ms Gardner-Lawson also believes if she had been offered a faecal immunochemical test [FIT] earlier, doctors may have caught her cancer years ago.

People aged 60 to 74 years who are registered with a GP practice and live in England are automatically mailed a FIT kit every two years.

But as part of plans to lower the age of people that receive the test to age 50 by 2025, the kits are also presently rolled out to those aged 54 and over. 

A tiny sample of faeces is taken from the toilet using a small stick that is given, and it is then sent back to an NHS lab in a plastic container.

Scientists then check for small amounts of blood in the poo—that would not be visible to the naked eye—as this could be an early indication something is amiss.

Now, Ms Gardner-Lawson believes the standard testing age should be lowered to at least 30 if not 25.

‘If my disease was caught earlier, it would’ve been easier to treat… I think the minimum age for testing needs to be reduced,’ she added.

Her ordeal comes as experts continue to warn of a troubling rise in bowel cancers in under 50s, which has puzzled doctors around the world.

The disease, the third most common cancer in the UK, is the same type that killed Dame Deborah James at age 40 in 2022. 

Although the vast majority of diagnoses affect those aged over 50, rates in older age groups have either declined or held steady while diagnoses in younger adults have increased by 50 percent over the last 30 years.

Cancer Research UK estimates that over half (54 percent) of bowel cancer cases in the UK are preventable.

Obesity, excessive use of antibiotics, radiation from cell phones, and even undetectable plastic particles in drinking water have all been proposed by doctors as possible causes.

But an increasing number of specialists are also blaming ultra-processed meals for the problem.

FIT tests may be purchased online. It might save someone’s life and isn’t costly.

Unfortunately, it’s a never-ending circle with these second-guessing GPs. They should not be guessing or playing Russian roulette with people’s lives. If they’re not confident that they diagnosed the patient correctly, then they should refer to a consultant.

Doctors will always guess the least serious option and treatment, rather than a referral to rule out the worst scenario because referrals cost money which in turn affects their profits, and primary care is not working. They were given more money for doing less. The caring aspect has long since gone.

Once the issue is recognised and addressed, the NHS is excellent. The issue is that scheduling an appointment with a general practitioner is very hard, and when you do, you are dismissed.

Swastikas Decorate The Southern Sydney Synagogue At Allawah

A Synagogue in Sydney has been spray-painted with at least a dozen Swastikas in the latest anti-semitic attack to plague the metropolis.

The Southern Sydney Synagogue in the suburb of Allawah was the latest target of anti-semitic defacers who smeared an enormous red Swastika symbol at the entrance to the place of worship alongside the words ‘Hitler on top’.

According to reports, two males wearing masks and black clothing were observed wandering around the synagogue early in the morning.

President of the Jewish Board of Deputies David Ossip told Daily Mail Australia ‘Enough is enough’.

‘It isn’t normal or acceptable that Australians are having to wake up every morning filled with apprehension about whether or not there’s been another antisemitic hate crime overnight,’ Mr Ossip said.

‘This illegal behaviour is reprehensible and undermines the social harmony and cohesion which we all treasure. 

‘We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitised to acts of Jew-hatred and allow illegal conduct such as this to become normalised. 

‘The alleged offenders must be swiftly identified and prosecuted and receive penalties sufficient to ensure that such conduct is deterred and not normalised.’ 

George Foster, President of the synagogue, said that he had received a call from police at 4.30 am that they had driven by and seen the place of worship had been attacked.

‘Looking at the CCTV it seems there were two men in black hoodies and masks who were spraying the walls of the synagogue,’ Mr Foster told The Daily Telegraph.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin called on the alleged offenders to ‘face the full force of the law’. 

‘As long as these people evade justice for trying to terrorise Australian citizens, it will continue,’ Mr Ryvchin added.

‘We’re also calling on our fellow Australians, particularly those in positions of influence across society, to end the silence and publicly denounce this behaviour as repugnant to our national values and a threat to us all.’

Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, branded the alleged crime ‘unforgivable outrage that should make every Australian’s blood boil’. 

‘To defile a synagogue—a place of worship, hope, and sanctuary—with the ultimate emblem of genocide and evil is nothing short of an attack on the very heart of our nation,’ he said. 

‘It’s an assault on every value we hold dear, and it screams that antisemitism is no longer hiding in the shadows—it’s out in the open, brazen and unashamed.

‘These swastikas, painted in malice, are not just symbols—they are bullets aimed at the soul of the Jewish community.

He added: ‘Let’s be clear, this act is nothing less than an attempt to terrorise and dehumanise, a desecration meant to spread fear and intimidation.’

‘What kind of society are we becoming when Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in this country now have to witness the symbols of their tormentors defacing their places of worship?

‘This isn’t just graffiti—it’s a gut-wrenching reminder that the same hatred that fuelled the extermination camps is still alive and kicking. 

‘And make no mistake: this isn’t just a Jewish issue. This is an Australian issue. Because an attack on one community is an attack on all of us.’

The Australian Jewish Association said that ‘social cohesion has been destroyed’.

‘Every day, we wake up to news of a new antisemitic attack,’ the organisation posted on X. 

‘Australia has changed significantly under the Albanese Government.’

A spokesperson for NSW Police said that officers were ‘investigating after offensive graffiti was spray painted on a synagogue in Sydney’s southwest’.

But from a weak administration that has brought in hate, what do you expect?

In addition to observing, the police have safeguarded and helped this type of activity, as well as promoted and encouraged it.

We now have governments that side with terrorists, and as crazy as that sounds, it’s reality. They have encouraged this kind of behaviour and transformed the culture of Australian society, but I’m not surprised – people are not known for their intelligence!

These criminals need to be locked up for a long time, and if they are not native to the country, they should be deported immediately.

Curried Pies

A woman was left shocked after ordering a £700 laptop from a high street retailer only to find she was the recipient of three mouldy pies instead. 

Gemma Worley, 39, from Cornwall, thought she had bagged a bargain after deciding to treat herself to a new Lenovo Yoga laptop bought online from Currys over the weekend, but her excitement soon waned after the sizeable package was delivered on Tuesday.

The charger cable, accessories, stylus and even instruction booklet were all there – but so were a trio of baked goodies from Yorkshire Handmade Pies stuffed into the space where her new computer should have been.

Despite reporting the incident to customer services straight away, Mrs Worley said she has been left waiting to hear whether she will receive a refund or a replacement laptop.

After MailOnline approached Currys, she was told this process could take up to 14 days.

The circumstances suggest that Mrs Worley could have fallen victim to a scam known as refund or return fraud.

In some cases, the fraudster will buy something, take it out of the box, and then swap it out for something of comparable weight but lower worth.

After that, they’ll try to return the item and get their money back.

The returned shipment may then inadvertently be shipped to a legitimate consumer while the lower-value products are still inside.

Speaking to MailOnline, Mrs Worley expressed her surprise at seeing the decomposing pies inside the box instead of the new laptop she had paid for.

‘When I opened it there was like a really weird sensation. I opened it and the charger cable was there and the accessories were there, including the stylus and the instructions. 

‘But in the space where the laptop should have been there was a box of pies. It was originally a selection box of six pies. They had taken out three and squished the box into the gap where the laptop was.’

Disturbed by the discovery, she said she contacted Currys customer services almost immediately after opening the box, but claims that she was not given a clear timeframe for how long it might take to resolve the situation. 

‘I’m not an unreasonable person. I know things like this happen, but they just seemed to fob me off. I was very surprised because I’ve used Currys a lot in my life buying various laptops and other electronic things and have never had a problem.

‘They said they have referred it to a back office and that I’ll receive an email, but they didn’t say when. I’ve called them every working day since, just to get an update. 

‘At the end of the day, £700 is a lot of money just to hear them say, “We’ve launched an investigation. You’ll hear at some undefined point in the future”.’

Mrs Worley said she has also not been told whether or not she should dispose of the unwanted pies which are meant to be kept frozen.

She claims the pies are ‘beginning to smell’ as well as ‘sweat and weep’ as they slowly decompose in the box.

‘I’m £700 out of pocket, no laptop and no idea of the resolution,’ she said, adding that she felt ‘sick’ at the thought of having been impacted by scammers.

‘I’ve been looking up the slang definition of “pied” and I do feel abandoned. Like, I say, £700 is a lot of money just to say, “Oh, we’ll be in touch”.

‘I do feel aggrieved by being a victim of the scam in the first place and by the service they have provided.

‘I am a reasonable person, I just want my laptop or a refund – but I’d prefer to have a laptop. I spent a long time choosing the type of laptop, and I would just like that one.’

A Currys spokesperson said: ‘We are urgently investigating this case to get it resolved for the customer. 

‘We understand the customer’s frustration and apologise for the time it’s taken to reach a conclusion. 

‘Our teams have been in touch with the customer to provide the latest update. 

‘Rest assured, we hope to resolve the case as quickly as possible.’ 

We learn three things from this story:

  1. That Currys don’t check their returns. They simply shove them back into stock along with brand-new items yet to be sold.
  2. They sell returned items as new. This is dishonest. If I buy something as new I expect it to be new, not something that has been returned, and if I wanted to purchase graded products I’d expect it to be at a lower price, and also that the item has been thoroughly checked.
  3. Currys customer service is useless and does not communicate or act in the interest of the customer.

Companies like Currys are extremely quick to take your money, but very slow to return it.

Currys should just apologise and send out a new laptop. This is Currys fault, they should check all returning boxes.

The BBC SACKS The Man Who Wrote The Anti-Starmer Song Freezing This Christmas

A BBC freelance newsreader has been sacked by the broadcaster after creating an anti-Keir Starmer charity Christmas song. 

Chris Middleton, 33, unmasked himself as the brainchild behind Freezing This Christmas, which was released under the fake band name Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers.

The parody song of Mud’s 1974 hit Lonely This Christmas is about the government’s slashing of winter fuel payments for pensioners and the resulting ‘hardship’ and has raised more than £50,000 for Age UK. 

Mr Middleton, who was a freelance newsreader for BBC Newcastle, revealed that he had been ‘let go’ by the corporation because of a ‘conflict of interest’. 

He had intended to release the tune anonymously but said he had ‘no choice’ but to go public when it started gaining media attention.

Mr Middleton told GB News: ‘Do I stay anonymous and maybe the song won’t do as well? 

‘Or do I put my face out there, put my name out there, and try to push the song as much as possible and raise awareness, knowing that potentially it would cost me my freelance job with the BBC?’

He told bosses that he was going to appear on Martin Daubney’s GB News programme to chat about his song to which Mr Middleton said they replied: ‘OK, basically you can’t work here any more.’

‘I was told, because it was a conflict of interest, it would be against the BBC’s impartiality rules to allow me to continue my job as a newsreader while also putting out a song which of course was political, but the main goal of it was to raise money and raise awareness for pensioners,’ he said.

Mr Middleton had freelanced at the BBC for six years and said he ‘mulled over’ the decision as ‘it’s quite a big thing in my life’.

With the BBC income only being a small part of what he earns, he said he made the ‘right decision’ to go public knowing what would happen in order to raise as much cash as possible for Age UK. 

‘Had the BBC been my full income, as it is for a lot of freelancers, then I would have probably been in a position where I wouldn’t have been able to do it, because I wouldn’t have had money to pay rent or for food or for heating,’ he said. 

‘That goes to show the position that some people are in – if your whole livelihood is reliant upon your job, you’re not going to speak out.’

The BBC has been approached by MailOnline for comment.

The track, which reached number 37 in the Christmas charts, was sung by Frank Sinatra impersonator Dean Ager, 51, from Worthing, who recorded it in just 15 minutes. 

The song features the lyrics: ‘It’ll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home, it’ll be freezing this Christmas, while Keir Starmer is warm. It’ll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas.’

Mr Middleton said he was inspired by ‘something on Twitter a couple of months ago about trying to do a Christmas song for pensioners’ and that the hook of the chorus then ‘just came’ to him.

Speaking to the Telegraph in December, Ager said that Mr Middleton had stumbled across him online when he was looking for a singer for the record and offered just £50 for him to perform the track.

Ager explained: ‘Chris contacted me and said ”I’ve got this song – can you do it?” He paid me £50 and I recorded it in about 15 minutes. I already knew the tune, well-ish, and so I sent it and scurried off on my way. I thought that would be the end of it.

‘When Chris asked me if I wanted recognition I looked at the lyrics again and thought ”Wow, that’s something”, but when he told me we were number one on the iTunes download charts, I was jumping around in excitement like a little kid.’

Mr Middleton was raised by his grandparents for several years and says he has seen first-hand how damaging Labour’s fuel payment policy had been.

He said: ‘Older people do feel the cold more.

‘My gran had a heart attack and her medication makes her blood vessels constrict so she is always freezing. Even in summer, she’s bundled up by the fire. 

‘After 14 years of the Tories we were all fed up, and we thought things would be different under Labour, but it’s way worse than anyone thought.’

This guy should get a knighthood ‘for services to the elderly’ as he did this off his own back. He has helped others and has sacrificed his income as a consequence, and clearly, the BBC are Labour supporters, and run by champagne socialists!

Comes to something when you’re sacked for telling the truth and raising money for a worthwhile charity. I’m surprised he’s not yet been arrested for some far-right lame reason, that’s what usually happens – watch this space!

Elderly people are freezing this winter, but I bet it’s been lovely and warm in the Commons.

I was really hoping that the song would reach number one, and it appears that if you show any conflict in Starmer’s Britain you will be cancelled. Commit a crime or worse, then you’ll be okay.

We believed that things would be different under Labour, but they’re far more sinister than anyone thought, and they will continue to get worse.

An Escalating Crisis In Britain’s A&E Departments

Britain’s intensifying winter flu situation is crippling hospitals with patients encountering 50-hour waits as more trusts could declare critical incidents over the coming days.

At least 11 hospitals including in Birmingham, Liverpool, Hampshire and Cornwall have already raised the alarm amid unbearable pressure on their services as the flu outbreak deteriorates and health chiefs warn the NHS is facing ‘exceptionally high demand’.

Patients have been advised to attend A&E alone while some hospitals have restricted visitors amid calls for people to wear surgical masks to limit the spread of viruses amid the ‘quad-demic’ of flu, norovirus, respiratory illness and Covid affecting Brits.

The number of cases is already around double last year’s peak with about 5,000 beds a day taken up by patients contaminated with the virus – and officials expect the situation to worsen as children return to school after the Christmas break.

Patients have endured lengthy waits in A&E before eventually being admitted to wards, while lines of ambulances up to 18 deep have formed outside hospitals as they wait hours to drop off arrivals, leaving them unable to respond to other 999 calls.

Critical incidents have been reported due to ‘exceptionally high demands’ in A&E units, with about 5,000 hospital beds in England occupied by patients with flu.

People have shared stories of long waits, with one woman tweeting a photo of beds at Royal Blackburn Hospital, saying: ‘Patients left out in cold corridors to be gawped at like exhibits in a zoo. No patient dignity and poor patient care. Shameful at best.’ 

Another wrote: ‘Currently in West Mid. Horrible place to be. My sister went into A&E last week and is now staying on a ward awaiting surgery. Took seven hours to get a bed whilst she was in severe agony. The noise on the ward, even at night, people playing music etc. Pure lack of consideration.’

And a third tweeted: ‘I spent 12 hours at Barnet UTC yesterday to not get any results, kept being pushed to the back of the queue…. can’t get into my doctor’s to get a prescription so I’ll just let my pneumonia get worse and worse until I need to take up a bed in a hospital shall I?

A father called Derek told how his ill daughter had to endure a ‘horrible 30-hour wait in a chair’ in A&E at Warrington Hospital in Cheshire. She arrived at 9 pm last Friday and finally got a bed at about 3 am on Sunday.

It appears that Britain and all of its citizens are at the bottom of the list of priorities our government has set for expenditure. Our administration doesn’t seem to care that the absence of heating payments would undoubtedly lead to more people becoming sick.

The focus of our prime minister and members of parliament is on themselves, not Britain.

Starmer might have taken over from the Tories, but he has lied to the people. Perhaps he thought it was better to be thought a fool, and now he has opened his mouth and removed any doubt!

Japan Is On Course For ‘Extinction’

A Japanese professor has predicted the year Japan will become extinct if the country doesn’t grapple with its rapidly ageing population.

The year is 2720 and away from science-fiction fantasies of flying cars, robots and intergalactic travel to far-away stars one Tokyo visionary has made a damning projection.

Hiroshi Yoshida, a professor at Tohoku University’s Research Centre for Aged Economy and Society, claims that after centuries of population decline Japan will be left with just one child under the age of 14 by 2720.

Mr Yoshida has conducted demographic simulations since 2012 and his latest finding is that, according to his current projection, his home will probably cease to exist 695 years from now, according to The Times.

Incredible data, released by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, prompted Mr Yoshida to bring his estimate forward by 100 years after it revealed a steep decline of 2.3 per cent in the number of children.

The number of births in Japan has steadily decreased since the 1970s until in 2005 the number of deaths surpassed births.

In 2022 there were nearly one million more deaths than births in Japan and the percentage of people over 65 now stands at 29.9 per cent of the population – that is an increase of 24.1 per cent since 1960.

Mr Yoshida told Japanese media the country’s long-term slump means that young people cannot get married or have children due to low earnings.

He said: ‘Unless the decline in the number of births stops, the hand of the “clock” will go back.

‘Japan may become the first country to become extinct due to a low birthrate. We should create an environment where women and the elderly can work, and aim for a society where everyone is actively involved.’ 

Japanese politicians have been trying to find answers to the country’s demographic problem with some policymakers warning it only has until 2030 to reverse the trend.

The problems that arise from having more old people to care for but fewer younger people in the workforce pose a greater threat to Japan than extinction.

To tackle this Newsweek said that Japan is planning to relax its tough immigration policies to allow more foreign workers to enter the country.

The government hopes to triple the number of workers from abroad by 2040.

It is even planning to hand out more cash incentives with 5.3 trillion yen (or £27 billion) dedicated to helping couples start families. 

Officials believe that couples may be more inclined to have children if they see more money in their pockets.

The Japanese people are extremely happy and extremely well-mannered. Of course, they have no foreign religion to contend with.

A lot can happen in a century, and I’m sure that the people of Japan will have sorted it out by then. At the moment they might have a population problem and it is extremely distressing for them, but not as disturbing as the issues we have here in the UK. Too many people and the population is increasing at an unsettling pace.

Visit Japan and you will probably discover that it is still Japan. The people are still Japanese and they are enjoying Japanese culture. Visit Britain and you will find much of it unrecognisable, and that its people are being replaced, and there is disquiet stemming from mutually conflicting cultural expectations. One could easily be excused for thinking that it’s the British and not the Japanese who are facing looming extinction.

Due To Pension Rule, DWP Pays £500 Million To Dead People

More than £500 million of taxpayers’ money has been handed out to dead people in just five years because of a pension rule – and families do not have to give it back.

In response to requests for an immediate systemic change, a government minister acknowledged the magnitude of incorrect payouts in previous years.

The Department for Work and Pensions has doled out £511.8 million in state pensions and pension credits since 2019, Parliament has been told in a written answer.

DWP minister Andrew Western was responding to a question from Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who is now demanding changes.

Less than half of the money has been recouped by the government, with only £255 million returned and £257 million still owing – losses which would be enough to cover scrapped winter fuel payments for up to 1.3 million pensioners. 

Mr Lowe, who has been praised his week by X-owning billionaire Elon Musk in contrast to party leader Nigel Farage, described the payouts as ‘a shocking waste’. 

A record-high figure of £159 million was sent out last year to dead people – and there is no legal obligation on families to return wrongly awarded money. 

Although it is still voluntary, the DWP may write to recipients requesting the return of state pension or pension credit distributions.

Mr Lowe’s question submitted for Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall to answer asked if she would ‘make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of pension payments made to deceased recipients in each of the last ten years’.

Mr Western, parliamentary under-secretary for transformation in the DWP, issued the response in which he said only data from the past five financial years could be given.

He insisted that direct payments into the accounts of people who have died represent ‘only around 0.1 per cent of total annual expenditure on pensions’.

Mr Western added: ‘Although these are treated as non-recoverable and are not enforceable by law, we can request the money back as a voluntary payment.

‘So far, we have recovered around half of the overpayments, to avoid this becoming a long-term cost to the taxpayer.’

A total of £458 million was overpaid in state pension, with only £233 million claimed back to leave a net loss of £225 million.

And a further £54 million was mistakenly doled out in pension credit, with just £22 million voluntarily returned and £32 million overall missed out on.

People must register loved ones’ deaths within five days of them passing away or a body being found, or else eight days in Scotland – yet a final state pension payment can often include payments for further days afterwards.

While the state pension is always paid in arrears, people on the old state pension get pension credit in advance, while it is paid in arrears to those on the new version.

Responding to the newly revealed figures, Mr Lowe told the Telegraph: ‘This is a shocking waste that underlines the contempt with which the Government treats taxpayers’ money. Why is it tolerated? Why is the return of this money not enforceable?

‘This is wide open to fraud and abuse. It needs to be clamped down on as part of a wider Government effort to slash down on misspending. We must keep pushing for transparent data to uncover the true extent of the waste.’

Former Liberal Democrats pensions minister Steve Webb, who now works for investment consultancy LCP, said: ‘With pensions routinely paid four-weekly in arrears, it is common that part of any final payment will cover a period after the person has died, even if the family contact DWP promptly.

‘With everything else that the family is dealing with, letters from DWP trying to recover overpayments are unwelcome and should only be sent out if there is a legal basis for them.’

“Voluntary repayables.” A letter that was sent to me years ago did not say that. I seem to recall that I was instructed to repay the excess amount. These letters that the DWP send out make it sound as if you’ll end up in court if you don’t pay.

If one of my family members who had worked hard all their lives had been paid too much. Would I pay it back willingly? No, I would not! Would I care, no! And the reason being, it is the fault of the DWP who obviously couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery, and since when did the tallyman work for the DWP?

Within weeks of a loved one’s death, they want their money returned. While some individuals would have little trouble repaying the debt, the DWP lacks humanity; at the very least, they should allow the bereaved family time to grieve.

Prince Andrew Reported To The POLICE

Prince Andrew has been accused of registering a corporation under a fictitious identity and has been referred to the police.

The Duke of York, 64, used the alias ‘Andrew Inverness’ when in 2002 he set up the business Naples Gold Limited with sports retail mogul Johan Eliasch. 

The chief executive of Republic, a campaign organisation opposed to the monarchy, Graham Smith, has now complained to Scotland Yard, accusing the prince of using misleading information in paperwork submitted to Companies House.

To decide whether any more action is necessary, the Metropolitan Police are now reviewing the report.

Mr Smith told The Telegraph that Andrew ‘must be held to the highest standards’ and ‘the royals appear to believe they can act with impunity’.

Andrew has used the alias for four companies registered at Companies House.

It is believed to have emanated from one of his less well-known titles, the Earl of Inverness, which was given to him by Elizabeth II in 1986 when he married Sarah Ferguson.

Mr Smith said: ‘The apparent filing of false information with Companies House may seem trivial, but the UK faces serious issues of fraud committed in this way. While no such fraud is alleged here, surely Andrew must be held to the highest standards.’

The Duke of York has been approached by MailOnline for comment.

On Sunday it appeared that the firm managing Andrew’s private investments had closed down.

Urramoor Limited, which Andrew had ‘significant control over’, has applied to be struck off and dissolved, documents filed to Companies House last week show.

Only a year has passed since a mysterious donor saved the investment firm.

Urramoor somehow secured £210,000 worth of funding in the form of non-redeemable shares in December 2023, documents filed at the time revealed.

The company was £208,000 in the red before it received the money from an unknown source.

Prince Andrew originally set up the investment fund under the name HRH Andrew Inverness in 2013.

It was established about 18 months after his trade envoy role was taken off him due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein.

However, the company failed to make any returns in the nine sets of accounts it filed since its creation.

The decision to close Urramoor down was signed by the company’s director Arthur Lancaster on January 3. 

The announcement comes just days after it was revealed that more than £230,000 had been pulled from Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style initiative Pitch@Palace – which is also run by Mr Lancaster.

I can’t stand the man, but then I can’t abide anybody in the Royal Family, but saying that, he did file his name as HRH Andrew Inverness, under his title HRH Earl of Inverness, so it’s a bit of a stretch to say that it’s a crime.

Companies House should perhaps instead concentrate on requesting actual documentation of people setting up companies and their current addresses because at present people set up bogus companies all the time and nothing is done about it.

Of course, one of the ways the wealthy stay wealthy is to evade taxes. Of course, it’s all a fiddle, but seemingly legal. All this has done is waste money and given a bitter man a little press – like Andrew or not, there’s no case here, and the police are now using resources that could be used elsewhere.

Millions Signed A Petition Calling For A Fresh Election

More than three million people have signed a petition calling for a new general election, which MPs will discuss.

The petition, which accuses Labour of having ‘gone back on the promises’ the party made before July’s election, will be debated in Westminster Hall.

From 4.30 pm, MPs will gather in the secondary debating chamber to discuss the e-petition that drew enormous support.

Michael Westwood, who owns three pubs in the Black Country, set up the online petition on Parliament’s website on 20 November.

Elon Musk, who is said to be the richest man in the world and is an ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, pushed it on social media and it swiftly went viral.

The billionaire businessman shared the petition on X, the social media site he owns, claiming ‘the people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state’.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch used Prime Minister’s Questions in late November to ridicule Sir Keir Starmer over the millions of people who were asking him ‘to go’.

But the Prime Minister shot back that there was a ‘massive petition on 4 July in this country’ that saw millions of voters support Labour at the voting box.

Mr Westwood voted for the Conservatives at last summer’s general election and predicted ‘tough times’ ahead following Labour’s Budget in October.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first fiscal package to hike national insurance for employers, which sparked a massive backlash among businesses.

In their manifesto ahead of July’s general election, Labour vowed to ‘not increase taxes on working people’ – including national insurance, income tax or VAT.

Explaining why he set up the petition, Mr Westwood told the BBC: ‘The people that are currently in charge of the country, in my opinion, lied to get there.’

He added: ‘To have my opinion and my thoughts put out there and to find out actually, quite a lot of people agree, I think it’s fantastic. It just shows that you’re not on your own.’

Previously questioned about the petition, Sir Keir ruled out calling another general election but said he was ‘not surprised’ some people who did not support Labour in July might want a second poll.

The PM told ITV: ‘Look, I remind myself that very many people didn’t vote Labour at the last election.

‘I’m not surprised that many of them want a re-run. That isn’t how our system works. There will be plenty of people who didn’t want us in the first place.

‘So, what my focus is on is the decisions that I have to make every day.’

In its official response to the petition, the Government said: ‘This Government was elected on a mandate of change at the July 2024 general election.

‘Our full focus is on fixing the foundations, rebuilding Britain, and restoring public confidence in government.’

If a prime minister goes back on what he promised in his mandate, then he/she has lied to the people and there should be an immediate general election because you can’t pledge something and then take it back, it’s a contract, saying that you will do something.

And of course, people are now more conscious of politics and comprehend things a lot better than they ever did before, and we the people deserve to be heard. Not only that by going back on a pledge, our prime minister is hurting the people that voted him in.

Keir Starmer gets away with these ridiculous answers because no one, not even the Opposition seems to be allowed to question him.

However, after 14 years of Tory rule, the damage is done and it will take a lot of stamina to fix it, but it doesn’t seem like anybody is good enough to look after this country. It is a mess and will continue to be so until someone with a spine comes along. There is no doubt, we are in a recession, and it will take a very special person to fix it!

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