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!

Violent Thug Who Is On His ‘Final Chance’

A violent hooligan on a ‘last and final chance’ after leaving a student with brain damage in a vicious onslaught has been spared jail – again.

Michael Murray, 22, was three years ago given a last chance to change his ways after being part of a gang that savagely beat German exchange student Daniel Ezzedine in Canterbury, Kent, with a sack of bricks.

But he has dodged a prison term again despite being hauled before a crown court judge for glassing a man in a pub.

He was even given back his XL Bully dog at his sentencing hearing on Tuesday when his barrister successfully claimed that Murray was ‘a fit and proper person to own one.

The lenient punishment has enraged shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who has urged Attorney General Richard Hermer to intervene as he declared: ‘Career criminals must be locked up.’ 

Murray, from Canterbury, was part of a gang of nine people who in June 2019 brutally beat then-17-year-old Mr Ezzedine. 

He requires round-the-clock care and had to have part of his brain removed and metal plates inserted into his skull. 

His brother said doctors initially gave him a 30 per cent chance of survival after he was beaten in the city centre. 

Murray appeared at Canterbury Crown Court just before Christmas for the pub attack, as well as threatening a neighbour and damaging the home he shared with his grandparents. 

Despite his 13 previous convictions and his own grandfather raising fears about what his grandson might do when high on drugs and carrying knives, a judge gave him another chance to become ‘a useful member of the community’. 

Prosecutor Lucy McGarr described how on April 6 last year, Murray had glassed a man at the Seven Stars bar in Canterbury, reported Kent Online.

His home was raided by police ten days for an unrelated matter where officers discovered he did not have an exemption certificate for his pet dog.

On April 19 Murray appeared before magistrates for six offences relating to drugs, violence and driving matters. He was given a suspended sentence order. 

But within a matter of weeks, the yob threatened to ‘smash in’ his neighbour’s face while wielding two knives and broke two doors and a window at his grandparents’ home in St Gregory’s Road. 

On May 29 he tossed a five-litre can of paint across his grandparents’ garden, damaging tiles, with his grandfather saying he appeared to be on drugs. 

Murray was arrested and pleaded guilty to two offences of affray, one of criminal damage, one of possessing a fighting dog and breach of an SSO.

In a victim impact statement, his grandfather, Michael Murray Snr, said: ‘We do not want him to live here. He needs to leave home. We don’t want to put up with his behaviour.’ 

But his barrister James Burke recommended for Murray to be given a community-based punishment, claiming that he had matured while on remand in jail serving what was the equivalent of a 14-month sentence.

Mr Burke said Murray was now drug-free, had ‘some understanding’ of his problems with ‘positive future goals’, and was in a stable two-year relationship.

Judge Sarah Counsell agreed to spare Murray jail saying there was a realistic chance of rehabilitation ‘if you reduce your drug use and acquire problem-thinking skills’.

Setting a 12-month jail term suspended for 18 months, Judge Counsell said: ‘It is perhaps a tougher sentence for you to suspend the sentence and give you the opportunity of developing into the young man you are capable of developing into.’ 

Former Tory leader candidate Mr Jenrick, though, didn’t agree and said Murray should have been jailed.

He told The Telegraph: ‘He had 13 prior convictions, including causing brain damage. Three years ago he was given a “last and final chance” by a judge. Yet he’s spared jail, again. Career criminals must be locked up.’

When the public acts on its own initiative, we shouldn’t be shocked or offended since this is what will happen if the police and courts are unable to safeguard the people.

This man should have been jailed for life with no parole. After all, people have been banged up for less!

UK law is anarchic and we have far too many kangaroo courts with jaded, irresponsible judges who just see it as a 9-5 office job. They need sacking and replacing with competent, diligent professionals who are invested in upholding the law and ensuring that crime is punished appropriately.

To be fair I am speechless. Leaving someone requiring around-the-clock care is the same or worse than killing them, and 24-hour care requires so much manpower and is expensive. This man should have been condemned to life in jail, and the dog should not have been returned to him because it will just be used to intimidate people, yet this person who is a criminal has been rewarded.

Wes Streeting Set To Unveil ‘Revolutionary’ NHS App

Patients will be able to choose where and when they get treatment using a ‘revolutionised’ NHS app as part of Labour’s plans to cut waiting lists.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting will publish proposals to change how people choose health providers – including in the private sector as an NHS patient – book appointments and receive test results. 

And he bragged that bringing the analogue NHS into the digital age would give ‘working-class patients’ the same treatment options as the wealthy.

Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Streeting will disclose the most recent announcement in the government’s NHS Elective Reform Plan.

As revealed by the Daily Mail, there will also be plans to tell GPs to refer patients directly for scans and treatment to speed up access to care.

There is mounting concern among senior Labour figures that they must start delivering improvements to the health service – including cutting waiting lists.

And last night Tory health spokesman Ed Argar said: ‘Labour promised reform, now patients are clear, it’s time they actually delivered it.’

The impact of winter viruses and the flu is also putting a lot of strain on the NHS. According to NHS officials, the app will provide patients more control over when and how they receive non-emergency care when combined with other innovations.

The NHS app upgrades will allow patients to:

  • View and manage appointments at a time and place that is convenient to them, reducing missed appointments. 
  • Choose from a wide range of providers, including in the independent sector. 
  • Book diagnostic tests at convenient locations, such as Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in a local shopping centre. 
  • Receive test results quickly through the app before choosing the next step – whether that is a remote consultation or surgery – at a convenient time and location.

As a first step, in March, patients at more than 85 percent of acute trusts can view appointment details through the NHS app.

Government sources said that patients would be offered five treatment ‘providers’ or hospitals to choose from, including an independent sector provider where capacity allows.

Mr Streeting said last night: ‘If the wealthy can choose where and when they are treated, then working-class patients should be able to, and this Government will give them that choice.

‘Our plan will reform the NHS so patients are fully informed every step of the way through their care, are given a proper choice to go to a different provider for a shorter wait and put in control of their own healthcare.

‘This Government’s reform agenda will take the NHS from a one-size-fits-all, top-down, like-it-or-lump-it service, to a modern service that puts patients in the driving seat and treats them on time – delivering on our Plan for Change to drive a decade of national renewal.’

But last night, the Health Secretary was condemned by the Tories for his reference to giving ‘working-class patients’ the same treatment choices as well-off people.

Tory MP Greg Stafford, a member of the Commons health and social care committee, told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Wes Streeting should be improving the NHS for all those who need it rather than using class war rhetoric to sow division or put ideology at the heart of yet another Labour policy.’

Right now, people are lying in a hospital bed after spending 20 hours on a trolley in A&E waiting for a hospital bed to become available. The wards are completely full, and the weary staff are run off their feet because there are not enough beds to accommodate patients admitted from A&E, and also A&E is rammed because people cannot get a GP appointment.

And why is this? Could it be that the population has increased, and no new NHS app can hide the fact that the UK’s population is growing beyond its capacity and the NHS can’t cope? It’s not apps that we need, it’s sensible immigration control.

The Winter Of 1963

After many weeks of milder-than-normal weather, winter is finally arriving in Britain.

Across the nation, temperatures have dropped and snow has caused chaos.

But, whatever happens, it is doubtful that there will be a repeat of the Big Freeze of 1963 when Britons weathered the most brutal winter in living memory.

In what was the coldest winter for 200 years, even the Thames froze over in places – evoking memories of frost fairs that were held on the river in previous centuries.

During unusually cold weather that began on Boxing Day in 1962 and persisted until March, snow was non-stop in numerous areas, to the point where telephone wires were weighed down until they touched the ground.

Temperatures were an average of -2C (28F) for more than two months, whilst in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, they dropped as low as -22C (-7.6F).

Numerous schools were also closed. Power cuts hit thousands of homes, and football matches stopped for months.

The United States and the Soviet Union were on the verge of a full-scale nuclear conflict at the time, and Britain had just recovered from the horrific Cuban Missile Crisis.

At the time, the Beatles were a little-known Liverpool band that still made their living by touring northern ballrooms, but many were unable to attend their shows due to the persistent snowfall.

When two trains collided in a snowdrift on the first day of the Big Freeze, the dangers of winter were brought home to everyone.

The Mid-Day Scot crashed into the Liverpool to Birmingham Express on Boxing Day in 1962, leaving 18 people dead. 

Among those who perished were young children aged between two and 12.  

January of 1963 was the coldest month since 1814.

The following month, a massive snowstorm struck Northern Ireland, south-west England and Wales.

About 5ft of snow descended in Tredegar in Monmouthshire.

In Leigh-on-Sea, in Essex, the sea froze and dozens of lakes and rivers received a cover of ice. 

Mini icebergs even formed in the River Mersey, blocking vessels as they sailed towards the Irish Sea, and a few birds were stuck in the ice as the Solent iced over.

The Daily Mail sent a helicopter – after the RAF’s own aircraft had been beaten back by the bad weather – to drop food for 33 orphans living at a Church of England care home in the village of East Knoyle, Wiltshire.

It was also a terrible period for animals. Farmers were unable to reach their cattle in certain fields due to the heavy snow, causing the animals to starve to death.

People who encountered freezing winters back in the day, talk about small coal fires and ice on the inside of the windows. Most didn’t have warm garments that are available now and went to bed freezing. The milk that the milkman delivered was so cold the milk would expand and stick out above the glass bottles.

Winter garments were Wellington boots, trousers, cotton vests, a school shirt, a wool jumper and a duffle coat. No trendy apparel because it hadn’t been invented yet. Leather boots were out of most people’s price range and sash windows were extremely drafty so people would fill the gaps with newspaper. Most toilets were outdoors and freezing on the derriere.

The clothes were warm because the materials that they were made out of were mainly man-made and people wore layers and no one went out without a coat, hat and gloves just because it was fashionable!

People had layers of blankets on their beds because it was freezing, and children of larger families slept together to transfer the heat to each other.

Grooming Gangs: Elon Musk Ramps Up Attacks

Elon Musk has ramped up attacks on Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government as tension continues to build around calls for an inquiry into the Prime Minister’s handling of grooming gang cases during his time serving as the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The string of social media posts by the X owner criticising the PM came as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch demanded a public inquiry into Britain’s ‘rape gangs scandal’ after Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips was accused of obstructing an investigation.

Ms Badenoch said an inquiry into organised grooming gangs was ‘long overdue’.

Musk, owner of X, formerly Twitter, had singled out Ms Phillips over the problem – and shared more anti-Labour government posts on Thursday night, including describing as ‘good’ the resignation from the party of 20 Labour councillors in Hertfordshire.

Musk lashed out at the minister’s refusal of Oldham Council’s request to launch a Home Office-led public inquiry into child sex exploitation there – launched a rant of tweets, including sharing mocking memes of the PM and saying: ‘Britain needs Reform now’.

It came hours after he shared his support for far-right troublemaker Tommy Robinson who is presently locked up, condemned to 18 months in jail in October after admitting 10 breaches of a High Court injunction banning him from repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee.

Musk wrote that Ms Phillips ‘deserves to be in prison’ after she denied requests from Oldham Council to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the town.

The Minister said it was for the council to hold an inquiry, rather than for government to intervene. Telford and Rotherham councils commissioned and funded their own inquiries into grooming gangs in their areas.

The X owner used the platform to allege that the Prime Minister allowed rape gangs to ‘exploit young girls without facing justice’ when he was England and Wales’ top prosecutor.

He also alleged that Ms Phillips was refusing to investigate the gangs because it would lead back to the PM’s time as director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.

Musk wrote on X: ‘In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects.

‘Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013.’

He has encountered objection from numerous X users for allegedly ‘interfering’ in British politics and justice. Still, last night posted the words ‘The perfect question’ while sharing someone else’s message asking: ‘Why are some people more outraged by @elonmusk commenting on the state of the UK than they are by the mass rape of a quarter of a million British children?’ 

The Conservatives brought in millions of migrants over fourteen long years, despite their promises to safeguard our borders. No surprise there is a shortage of houses, and Keir Starmer is the most dangerous Prime Minister ever.

Elon Musk has completely destroyed Sir Keir Starmer’s credibility as a leader and made him appear much more pitiful than we already know him to be.

While our government despises, disparages, and deceives the indigenous people of our nation, it supports, promotes, and applauds the indigenous people of other nations.

It appears that not one of our politicians is fit to hold office. You could replace them with a plant pot and the country would still be better off!

Our vote has no value at all, but many of us hope that it does, and hope is all that we have got. One day there might be someone intelligent that is elected Prime Minister that might be lucid enough to do the job that they have been elected to do properly.

On Strike Day, A 55-Year-Old Woman Dies From Weight-Loss Surgery

A coroner’s court has heard that a lady passed away following problems during her weight-loss operation on the first day of a junior doctors’ strike.

Susan Evans, 55, returned to Queen Alexandra Hospital, in Portsmouth just two days after she underwent gastric bypass surgery – suffering from stomach pains.

The hospital has recently come under fire from a coroner who discovered that Ms Evans was not visited by a senior physician and that there was no dedicated weight-loss nurse on duty.

By the time Ms Evans returned, after first being discharged, she was ‘extremely unwell’ and her condition persisted to decline until she died the following month.

Now, an inquest into her demise has heard of several ‘failures’ by Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust which ‘contributed more than minimally to her death’.

Coroner Sally Olsen said Ms Evans underwent elective Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery on July 11 last year, which was the first day of industrial action by junior doctors.

The surgical procedure helps with weight loss by reducing the size of the stomach and rerouting the small intestine.

An inquest heard that the surgery ‘went to plan’ and steps were taken to avoid the possibility of an ‘anastomotic leak’, a recognised complication of gastric bypass surgery.

It was said that Ms Evans initially ‘recovered well’ but experienced stomach pain in the early hours of July 13, which was the first day of a junior doctors’ strike.

Ms Olsen, assistant coroner of Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, added: ‘Unrelated to this, the hospital only had the equivalent of one full-time specialist bariatric nurse, who was not on duty.

‘Contrary to Queen Alexandra Hospital’s written policy for gastric bypass patients, Ms Evans was not seen by a member of the specialist bariatric team on [that day] and was not seen by a senior doctor after reporting pain in order to rule out the possibility of an anastomotic leak.’

It was heard that the night nursing team, who administered pain relief, were ‘unaware’ of the latter requirement.

Ms Evans was also not seen by a member of the bariatric team – a group of medical professionals who work together to treat patients with obesity – before her discharge.

The patient left the Portsmouth hospital ‘in a degree of pain’ and was readmitted two days later.

By this time, she was ‘extremely unwell’ with sepsis and had to undergo corrective surgery on July 15 before a further operation some ten days later.

The coroner said: ‘Despite appropriate medical care following her re-admission, her condition deteriorated, and she died at Queen Alexandra Hospital on 12 August 2023.

This preventable fatality was the result of self-centred doctors who were on a political mission to overthrow the government and neglected their patients.

Doctors shouldn’t be given a continued employment contract if they strike. They are among the best-paid graduates in the UK and they whinge like their mother is still milking them.

Although their income is quite substantial and they have access to a very generous NHS pension, they nevertheless feel that their pay is inadequate, and I question why the hospital released the lady so quickly. Typically, you are in the hospital for a while at least because you have to have a scan to check that all looks well, like no leakage, and then you are allowed something soft to eat like a yoghurt.

You have to re-learn how to eat after surgery because you just can’t go back to everyday meals. It’s like being a baby all over again, having soft mushy meals to begin with. There was something extremely wrong going on here.

Earthquake Shakes San Francisco

Northern California residents started the new year with a rumble, as a 4.7-magnitude earthquake hit the region Wednesday night.

The earthquake came at about 6.34 pm Pacific time, with an epicentre approximately 70 miles north of San Francisco, the United States Geological Survey said.

It struck a depth of just over one mile beneath the Earth’s surface and was felt across the Sacramento Valley, according to the Merced Sun-Star.

Residents reported feeling the earth tremor underfoot, but no injuries were reported.

‘I did feel it actually,’ one X user wrote. ‘It was a rolling earthquake, lasted a few seconds.

‘Usually, the earthquakes around here are jolts, not rolling, so it was kind of cool to feel the floor roll under my feet.’

Another X user added that it was ‘pretty intense for a 4.7.

‘It was a shallow earthquake too, so that makes [it[ feel stronger, but [is] usually more locally felt.’

The USGS considers earthquakes in the magnitude spectrum of 4.0 to 4.0 light to moderate, though their effects can differ based on depth, proximity to cities and local geology.

But the northern California region is used to earthquakes and has built up its infrastructure to withstand heavy earthquakes, so a mild one like this is unlikely to cause any significant damage.

It comes less than a month after a huge 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Mendocino County, triggering a tsunami warning.

Four days after that, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck a remote region of the Nevada desert and was widely felt across Sacramento. 

But a lot of individuals said it was fake news and they didn’t feel anything.

King’s Honour Makes Sadiq Khan’s Children Think He Sold Out

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said his children believe he has ‘sold out’ by accepting a Knighthood and becoming ‘part of the establishment’.

Sir Sadiq was awarded the gong in the New Year Honours list – but has come in for serious criticism from his political adversaries as a consequence.

And it appears like the backlash also extends to Khan’s own daughters Anisah and Ammarah, as well as some of his nieces and nephews. 

The three-term mayor said it was ‘a huge honour’ to receive the title but has joked his nomination received a mixed reaction.

While Sir Sadiq said his mum is ‘chuffed to bits’ at his knighting, the 54-year-old said his two children have accused him of becoming ‘part of the establishment’.

Speaking on the Comfort Eating podcast, he said: ‘I’m not going to pretend it’s not lovely; it’s a huge honour. My mum is chuffed to bits (but) my kids think it’s a joke.

‘They think I’ve sold out – that I’m part of the establishment – all that sort of stuff. My nephews and nieces think I’m elite.’

But the Tooting-born politician has encountered real criticism from fellow politicians with Conservatives branding his inclusion on the Honours List a ‘reward for failure’. 

Following the announcement of Khan’s knighthood, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the nomination showed ‘once again that for Labour it is Party first, country second’.

He said: ‘Under Sadiq Khan, Londoners have faced a 61 percent increase in knife crime, a housing crisis and a 70 percent increase in council tax – they will rightly be furious his track record of failure is being rewarded.

‘By rewarding the failing Sadiq Khan, Keir Starmer has shown once again that for Labour it is Party first, country second.’

Meanwhile, Bob Blackman, the Tory MP for Harrow East and chairman of the 1922 Committee, said: ‘This is an absolute reward for failure.

‘He is a disaster in London. If you look at every single target he’s set himself – on housing, on crime – he’s missed them every time. He is a total failure, which is clearly a position he has in common with the Government.’

Earlier this month, suggestions that Sir Sadiq was set for a knighthood prompted a Change.org petition saying it should be blocked.

Tory London councillor Matthew Goodwin-Freeman started the petition, which drew more than 200,000 signatures.

He told the Mail: ‘To see Sadiq Khan be given a knighthood is a kick in the teeth for millions of Londoners.

‘He refuses to take responsibility for his failures and shows no remorse or accountability.

‘His track record of failure makes his knighthood even more confusing: crime is up, police in special measures, fire brigade in special measures, his share of council tax is up, the number of days of strikes is up, robberies are up… He’s a nightmare, not a knighted Mayor.’

This knighthood was so less deserved. This is an honoured failure!

The Mayor also said publicly that he didn’t feel safe in London – a metropolis where he is the Mayor, and which has seen a 50 percent increase in knife offences. This is a knighthood for failure, and it’s utterly despicable.

I am also certain that some British people also believe we’ve been ‘sold out’. This knighthood should never have been authorised, and if this gentleman had any integrity at all he should have refused it because I can’t think of one positive thing he’s done for London.

The only words this man does know are tax, congestion charges and ULEZ.

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