Lord Sugar Says Britain Should ‘Get Down On Bended Knees’ And Beg To Be Allowed Back Into The EU

Lord Sugar has branded Brexit the ‘biggest disaster of my lifetime’ and insisted the UK should beg to be let back into the EU.

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of leaving the bloc, the business magnate and Apprentice celeb condemned the decision for crushing economic growth.

He told BBC Breakfast that if he were PM he would go ‘on bended knees’ to Brussels and ask to rejoin.

The Brexit referendum in 2016 was followed by years of wrangling over the terms of the UK’s withdrawal.

Boris Johnson eventually struck a deal that permitted the divorce to go forward in early 2020, just before the COVID pandemic battered the world.

A poll issued this week indicated that just 30 percent now think the UK was right to leave the EU.

Immigration – widely regarded as a fundamental reason for the Leave vote – has since surged to new record highs.

Lord Sugar said: ‘The full ramifications of us not being in the EU are starting to really take its toll.

‘If I were the PM I would be coming along on my bended knees and asking to be allowed back in.

‘It’s all to do with trade, free trade, small people, small traders can’t ship goods abroad now… it’s a terrible situation.

‘How do we get out of it? My honest opinion – get back in the EU.’

Keir Starmer has made a ‘reset’ with the EU a core aim for the Labour government, although he has stressed the UK will not go back into a customs union or the single market. 

According to YouGov research carried out earlier this month, 55 percent of Brits now believe Brexit was the wrong decision. 

That sentiment was shared by 18 percent of those who voted Leave – although 66 percent stand by their original choice.

Some 7 percent of previous Remainers have switched to say it was right for the UK to leave, while 88 percent had not changed position.

Leaving the EU has not helped us in the slightest – we can’t work or travel freely. UK citizens can only spend 90 days in any EU country. UK citizens now have to have visas to travel to the EU. Immigration is at an all-time high. How has this helped the average UK citizen?

Regaining power and doing what was best for the UK was the goal of Brexit, but the Tories and Labour have so far disregarded popular will, lied in their manifestos, and have no intention of prioritising the needs of the UK people.

Lord Sugar is right. Leaving the EU was the stupidest act of national failure in the history of the UK. We were all sold a lie, and more migrants are coming to the UK than ever before. Our manufacturing is in collapse and we are all poorer. Trade is down, and our government sold snake oil to the unsuspecting Joe Public.

Our leaders need to resolve the issue since people voted for it, but they don’t want the people who supported it. They are bone idle, unwilling to work for their nation, and far too content to overpopulate it with foreigners in an attempt to bankrupt it.

Our government have forgotten how to govern a country. The bottom line is, that they want a comfortable life at the expense of the taxpayer but all for minimum effort.

I think many would agree that the political elite no longer work for the people. They only work, if you can call it that, to line their own pockets.

Round Off The Kitchen Knife, Says Idris Elba

Idris Elba has called for kitchen knives to have their ends rounded off in a bid to tackle the UK’s violent gang situation.

Talking ahead of the release of his documentary Idris Elba: A Year Of Knife Crime later this year, the 52-year-old actor made a number of recommendations to help bring an end to knife crime.

The Luther star said that whilst banning the sale of zombie knives was a positive step in tackling the issue, he also believed ninja swords should be outlawed and suggested kitchen blades have their sharp point removed.

He told the BBC: ‘Not all kitchen knives need to have a point on them, that sounds like a crazy thing to say. But you can still cut your food without the point on your knife, which is an innovative way to look at it.’

Mr Elba’s new documentary sees the British actor spend 12 months investigating the reality of the UK’s knife crime situation.

During the programme, the man famed for playing Stringer Bell in The Wire met with victims’ families, police officers and teenage offenders for an in-depth dive into the issue.

Britain’s knife crime emergency has seen a total of 507 children treated in English hospitals for knife injuries in the 12 months to April 2024, according to the latest figures analysed by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF).

To combat the situation, England and Wales banned zombie knives and machetes in September, making it illegal to make, transport, sell, or possess them.

Following the sentencing of the teenager who murdered three young girls in Southport, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Government would bring in tougher checks for people trying to buy knives online.

Mr Elba described the September ban as a ‘massive step in the right direction’, but believed schools could intervene in young people’s lives earlier to stop them ‘going towards a dark place’.

He emphasised that teachers might focus more on preteen and early teen students by using disciplinary measures like school exclusions.

The award-winning screen star even believes young people in London gangs are ‘not big and scary’, adding it is ‘sad’ that society has ‘turned our back on them’.

Mr Elba said: ”We are still in crisis. Numbers fluctuate and the types of crime vary. But I still think this country is in a crisis point. We need to intervene or it’s going to get worse.

Knife crime is a serious problem, not only in London, but in outer counties as well. The police could use the stop-and-search approach, and there needs to be more rigid penalties in court, but we simply don’t have the room in prisons anymore.

Anyone caught on the street with a knife ought to be taken into custody right away. The problem is that they play the racial card when it’s a person of colour, but we must be able to stop and search these guys wearing gloves, balaclavas, and hoodies.

The problem is that our government has permitted it to happen. Kids are allowed to do as they please because parents have no control over them anymore. Parents are not allowed to discipline their children anymore; that was taken away from them a long time ago.

These kids are allowed to roam the streets in groups, and they are bored, there is nothing for them to do, and many turn to alcohol or drugs. We need to channel their inner creative minds, but there are no youth clubs anymore, they have almost all been taken away.

There’s nothing out there to suppress their boredom, and more needs to be done for these youths. I am not saying it would take away all criminality, but at least some of it. What we do need to do is reach out to these kids and be a positive role model for them.

Police Leave Father Of Four Without Money Or Phone

The family of a man who died after police dropped him off at a tram stop miles from home has said he was failed “massively” by authorities.

Benjamin Connor, 30, from Warrington, Cheshire, was left at a Metrolink stop near Old Trafford, Manchester, where he was “unsafely” de-arrested by police in the early hours without his phone, money or bank cards, his family said.

Hours later, the father of four was struck by a taxi almost two miles away on the M602 in Salford and died in hospital. Eyewitnesses conveyed seeing him walk into oncoming traffic, according to the Manchester Evening News.

An inquest jury ruled he died as a consequence of a road traffic collision contributed to by negligence on the part of police.

Billie-Jo Connor, Mr Connor’s sister, said Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had a duty of care towards her brother that night but “unfortunately failed to care”.

She said: “Ben was such a character. He was the biggest wind-up on the Earth, with the funniest and most bubbliest personality. Anyone that had the pleasure of knowing him will know that.

“He was such a laugh to be around and if he wasn’t annoying you, there was definitely something wrong. But he also would have done absolutely anything for anyone and had a heart of pure gold.”

Ms Connor added that her sibling’s four children meant the world to him and he was always talking about them. She continued: “They were always on his mind. They were the light of his life and are definitely what kept him going. Not only was Ben a daddy, but he was also the most amazing brother, uncle, son and friend to many.”

Police had been summoned to a flat in the Rusholme region of the city on December 27, 2021, where the owner told officers Mr Connor needed mental health support.

The property owner told the inquest Mr Connor had threatened him with a knife and smashed a plate. Jurors at the inquest heard Mr Connor gave police an address north of the city, but officers released him at Cornbrook Metrolink stop at approximately 1 am on December 28.

Ms Connor explained her brother was meant to have been removed from the flat for breach of the peace and he had been told he would be taken to the address he had given police.

She said Mr Connor was under the impression he was going to the address he’d given the police officers, but instead was “unsafely de-arrested” at the tram station at gone 1 am in the morning with no phone, no money, no bank cards and no way of getting anywhere.

These police should be penalised for treating him so poorly. Their job is to keep us safe. This should be a wake-up call and they should start caring about the citizens they’re employed to protect.

To be sure he was safe, they might have at least called a family member to come get him and stayed with him until they got there.

They arrested him from a residence with no money or phone and dropped him off miles from where he lived.

Dropping someone off miles from where they live with no money or phone is disgusting, and this should have been a fireable crime for these policemen – just criminal negligence.

They might not be a taxi service, but they do have a duty of care.

Jack The Ripper Descendants Seek New Inquest

It is a mystery which has lasted for more than 130 years.

Now the descendants of Jack the Ripper’s victims hope to ultimately confirm the validity of one of the most notorious unsolved crimes of all time.

Following the discovery of information that pointed to Aaron Kosminski as the murderer, they are supporting a court motion for a new inquest into Catherine Eddowes’ death.

The Polish barber, who emigrated to the UK in the 1880s, was a suspect at the time of the five murders in Whitechapel, east London, in 1888.

But he was never arrested because police had no evidence of his involvement – until now.

A bloody shawl said to have been discovered on Ms Eddowes’ body, which was bought at auction in 2007 by author and Ripper investigator Russell Edwards, was subsequently seen to have the DNA of both the victim and Kosminski.

In October, the Mail revealed that Mr Edwards had found new proof of Kosminski’s ties to the highly secret Freemasons which may have encouraged his barbaric slayings and protected him from law enforcement, ensuring he was locked away in an asylum, where he died.

Since there is more information for a coroner to review regarding the circumstances of the death and, most importantly, who was responsible, Mr Edwards has now engaged a legal team to argue for an inquest.

The campaign has been supported by the descendants of both Ms Eddowes and Kosminski, who say it is time to unmask the true killer and get justice for the women involved.

Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, and Mary Jane Kelly were the other four victims.

Karen Miller, 53, who is Ms Eddowes’s three-time great-granddaughter, supplied her DNA, which matched her ancestor’s blood on the shawl.

She said: ‘The name Jack the Ripper has become sensationalised, it has gone down in history as this famous character.

‘It has all been about him, this iconic name, but people have forgotten about the victims who did not have justice at the time.

‘What about the real name of the person who did this? Having the real person legally named in a court which can consider all the evidence would be a form of justice for the victims. 

‘We have got the proof, now we need this inquest to legally name the killer.

‘It would mean a lot to me, to my family, to a lot of people to finally have this crime solved.’

Calls for a new inquest have also been supported by the descendants of the other victims of the Ripper.

Sue Parlour, whose husband Andy is distantly related to Mary Ann Nichols, known as Polly, said: ‘There was no justice for these victims at the time. It was all such a long time ago. 

‘But it would mean a lot to finally be able to name the killer, to get some closure on this.

‘These women have been dismissed as just prostitutes like they did not matter, but they did.’

The action has also received support from Kosminski’s descendants.

His three-times great-niece Amanda Poulos said: ‘I’m more than happy to finally establish what really happened.’ 

When the original inquest was held on October 4, 1888, a verdict of ‘wilful murder’ was returned. But police were still hunting for the serial killer at the time.

According to the legislation, every application for a further inquest to the High Court must be approved by the Attorney General.

Two years ago, Sir Michael Ellis, then the Attorney General, refused permission, saying there was not sufficient new evidence.

But barrister Dr Tim Sampson said that this set ‘a terrible precedent in relation to requests to reopen inquests involving the violent deaths of women and gives the impression that such matters are better brushed under the carpet or simply left to sensationalist reporting, rather than being exposed to dispassionate judicial scrutiny’.

He has written to Attorney General Richard Hermer claiming there is new proof to consider which if it had been available at the time ‘would have been justifiable for the coroner to charge and then seek to have Aaron Kosminski prosecuted for both the murder of Ms Eddowes and the other four victims’.

A judge of the High Court would hear the matter if permission was given.

Nadia Persaud, the coroner for East London, has indicated that she would be willing to preside over any inquest if asked to.

She has previously written to Mr Edwards’ solicitor, saying: ‘I would not oppose your application… it appears to me that a fresh inquest would be unlikely to reach any different outcome, the only new factor being the suggestion that the perpetrator might now be identified.’

Mr Edwards said: ‘A second inquest is the only way of confirming what happened. As we now have identified the true murderer with a wealth of evidence putting the man we named as the Ripper in the frame, we want justice to be served.’

Though I’m sure a lot of individuals will profit greatly from this mystery, justice is justice, and identifying a killer regardless of how old the case is—cold cases are just as essential as new ones.

Murder is not something to be disregarded, although it did happen an extremely long time ago and the perpetrator has long since died, and some people might not see the point of squandering money on this topic. However, the families of the victims out there want to know, and I’m sure a lot of Jack the Ripper aficionados out there want to know as well – I sure do!

More than a century after the incident, a portion of the shawl was purchased for auction. All that time, where had the shawl been? How many hands had touched it during that period, and how do they know it was the victim’s shawl? How can we determine whether the barber they are accusing had sex with the poor woman before the Ripper got hold of her and his DNA was on the shawl?

This just indicates that the shawl was in contact with both the victim and the suspect at some point. It might have happened months before. This doesn’t prove anything because he might have been a former client.

Haitian Migrants Panic After Mass Deportations

Haitian migrants have turned to religion amid the imminent threat of deportation under the presidency of Donald Trump – who accused them of eating their neighbours’ pets on the campaign trail.

The First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield, Ohio was jam-packed with parishioners on the first Sunday service since President Trump’s inauguration as immigration raids take place across the country.

‘I asked God to protect my people,’ Reverend Reginald Silencieux said after the service.

‘I prayed especially for the Haitian community, and I prayed for U.S.A. too, because Trump is our president. As a church, we have an obligation to pray for him because he’s our political leader right now.’ 

The town was forced into the national spotlight during the presidential campaign when Trump accused Haitians in Springfield of eating their neighbour’s cats and dogs.

Now, migrants in the community are worried that they will be targeted and sent packing, as Trump authorizes ICE raids across the country. 

Many had come to receive a blessing and hear advice on dealing with federal agents in case of raids arising from President Trump’s crackdown on immigration.

Fearful and increasingly uneasy, several congregation members stayed at home.

Community leaders say many of Springfield’s estimated 15,000 Haitians are overwhelmed by fears Trump will end or let expire the Temporary Protected Status program that permits them to stay in the U.S. legally.

‘The community is panicking.’ Viles Dorsainvil, leader of Springfield’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center, told AP. 

‘They see the arrests on TV in other parts of the country and they don’t know what’s going to happen.

‘The majority of immigrants in the U.S.A. are not criminals, and they’re hard-working people.’

Jacob Payne, a leader in the Haitian community, has been helping residents with their TPS applications, employment authorisation cards, and immigration paperwork.

‘Before, we had a different type of fear – it was a fear of retaliation, whether it was the far right, the Proud Boys,’ Payne said.

‘Now, there’s a fear of deportation. That keeps a lot of people from going out and has caused a lot of people to have left,’ he said.

But anti-immigrant sentiment has been on the rise in Springfield after untrue rumours circulated that cats and dogs were being stolen – and eaten – by Haitian migrant communities.

The rumours circulated like wildfire following a social media post in September 2024 that a local cat had been mutilated and exacerbated fears in the predominantly white, blue-collar metropolis of about 59,000.

During his debate with Kamala Harris, Trump reiterated the rumour and added that dogs were also being eaten. Bomb threats were made against political leaders’ residences, government facilities, and schools in the weeks that followed.

Living in Florida and Little Haiti, which is one of the most unsafe metropolises in the USA. It doesn’t get better and the crimes just increase due to the culture.

The key word here is ‘temporary.’ They have temporary protective status, not permanent protective status. They were never supposed to stay permanently!

These Haitians were flown in by the Biden administration and given TPA’s – those are temporary. If they are deported, it’s because the TPA was over, but they obviously thought Kamala Harris would win, thus securing their stay.

If they’re in the US illegally, then they must go. If they truly want to be in the US they should get their papers and then travel there legally – it’s remarkably straightforward.

America now has a new President, and delivering on his pledges is what Americans like to see – load the cargo containers, and get the barges ready because there are no free rides in the US.

Five People Are Stabbed Near An Asda Supermarket As Wounded Are Taken To Hospital

A man has been arrested after five people were allegedly stabbed near an Asda supermarket.

The victims were reportedly attacked at a Sainsbury’s Argos distribution hub near the store in Beddington, London. 

Paramedics and the air ambulance hurried to the location soon after 10 am on Thursday.

Five people were taken to hospital, the London Ambulance Service said.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: ‘At 10:15 hrs on Thursday, 23 January, officers responded to reports of a stabbing at a commercial address on Marlowe Way, Beddington.

‘Officers are on scene with the London Ambulance Service to treat [five] injured people.

‘The suspect has been arrested.’

Photos from the scene reveal first responders outside
the Sainsbury’s Argos distribution centre. 

A police cordon is in place.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 10.21 am this morning (Thursday 23 January) to reports of a stabbing incident in Marlowe Way, Croydon.

‘We sent a number of resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer, members of our Tactical Response Unit and London’s Air Ambulance.

‘Our crews treated five patients at the scene, before taking one to a London major trauma centre and four to other hospitals.’

An Argos spokesperson said: ‘We’re doing everything we can to support the teams on site and gathering as much information as possible to support the police with their investigation.’

Crimes of this nature are now almost always in the headlines. Why are the police and other pertinent authorities not able to stop this from happening when so many of the accused have prior convictions for assault, stalking, or harassment, or are on watch lists?

This was going on before the Labour Party was elected, so we can’t hold them responsible.

In September 2010, the police workforce in England and Wales had 243,143 officers and staff. After four years of austerity, in September 2016, this number had shrunk by almost 45,000.

To be fair, this was taking place under the Conservatives, who did this behind the pretence of multiculturalism because our government is terrified of being perceived as racist.

And now Starmer keeps releasing them so that people who post on social media can be jailed instead. You can’t breathe, you can’t speak and you can’t fart without being told that you’re a racist, and of course, no new prisons were built under the Conservatives either, way to go – I don’t think so!

This is no longer even a major headline. These horrible crimes have grown so commonplace in Lawless Britain that they are listed farther down the page, along with the Oscar nominations.

Even while the general public doesn’t feel safe, these boat people do, especially now that Labour is in power.

Since this government is so good at hiding things, the one thing they will never do is get wet in the rain.

Additionally, we should acknowledge that these diversity stabbings are merely another fantastic manifestation of the incredible and lively diversity that exists on Diversity Island.

Nobody in the UK feels safe now, and we need a strong leader, but we also know that won’t happen since we have so many woke leaders who are always watching over their shoulders and too afraid of their own shadow.

As we sit back and watched the daily invaders walk in, our group commander assured us that we would be safe, allowing them to kill at random.

To be honest, when does enough become just enough? If one of their own had been slain, I wonder how long it would take our administration to take action. Did the murder of Davis Amess not teach them anything?

ADL Calls For Calm After Elon Musk’s Awkward Hand Gesture

Elon Musk has slammed his critics for needing ‘better dirty tricks’ as he defended an ‘awkward hand gesture’ that some have compared to a Nazi salutation.

Musk has come under fire over a gesticulation he made Monday while addressing a gathering of MAGA fans during a celebration of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Chewing his bottom lip, the Tesla billionaire drummed his right hand over his heart, fingers spread wide, then extended his right arm out, emphatically, at an upward angle, palm down and fingers together. Then he turned and made the same hand gesture to the gathering behind him.

After the gestures were immediately examined online, detractors claimed they were an overt allusion to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Musk took to his social media platform X to defend himself, saying that his opponents needed ‘better dirty tricks’ and that ‘the ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired’.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization established to fight anti-Semitism and has condemned Musk in the past, also rushed to his defence, saying it appears that he ‘made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute’.

The ADL also noted that Trump’s inauguration was a ‘delicate moment’ and that ‘politics are inflamed’ but urged ‘all sides’ to offer each other a ‘bit of grace’ and ‘perhaps even the benefit of the doubt’.

Musk’s debatable gesticulation comes after he made several statements in recent weeks in support of Germany’s far-right AfD party.

At the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, where supporters of the recently elected president had assembled for a rally, Musk made an appearance on stage on Monday.

He took to the podium to tremendous cheers, pumping his arms and yelling, ‘Yesssss.’

‘This was no ordinary victory. This was a fork in the road of human civilization,’ he said. ‘This one really mattered. Thank you for making it happen! Thank you,’ he said.

Musk then tapped the left side of his chest with his right hand and raised his arm with his palm open, repeating the gesticulation for the gathering sitting behind him.

Claire Aubin, a historian who specializes in Nazism within the United States, said Musk’s gesture was a ‘sieg heil,’ or Nazi salute.

‘My professional opinion is that you’re all right, you should believe your eyes,’ Aubin posted on X, aligning with those who found the gesture was an overt reference to Nazis.

However, the ADL defended Musk, who denied the online comments.

He is fully aware of what he did. He was attempting to annoy a certain contingent, and it was cynically and purposefully inflammatory. That gesture is wrong since it is inherently associated with one of the darkest periods in human history.

The Musk narrative is unconvincing. On the one hand, he reminds us repeatedly that he’s a brainiac, but then when he does something calculated, controversial and socially inappropriate, it just demonstrates why he’s just awkward, a bit embarrassing and someone to be fearful of.

Maybe he was saluting Tump, the fuhrer.

The hand gesture Musk made was not considered unusual by the ADL. Antisemitism is ingrained in this organisation. I’m curious to know how people would react if they were gathered outside the closest synagogue and instructed to do exactly what Musk did.

Whether Elon Musk did the gesture intentionally or not, he wasn’t thinking with his brain. People are sensitive to this type of gesture and he should have had more sensitivity and consideration for the millions that were gassed and those living in occupied countries during Hitler’s aggression. It’s called respect and if Elon Musk has an issue with it, then he should get off his podium.

Our Council Shames Us For Our Wood Burners, So We Ask Chimney Sweeps To Park Down The Street

A council clean air campaign has led to ‘a climate of fear and intimidation’ for owners of wood-burning stoves, it has been claimed.

Locals say they have been named, shamed and verbally abused in the street for using their wood-burning stoves this winter.

Some say they have been branded ‘polluters’ and have been ‘stigmatised’ for using them.

Chimney sweeps in Brighton and Hove say they have been asked to park away some distance from the homes of their customers for fear of alerting neighbours to the presence of a wood-burning stove.

It follows a campaign against open fires and wood-burning stoves that was started by Brighton and Hove City Council last month.

Bus stop adverts for the Cosy Killer campaign claim wood burning produced a particularly dangerous form of air pollution.

The pollutants – PM2.5s – are said to be worse than all of the UK’s road traffic put together.

However, wood burners are still legal everywhere in this country and some 1.5 million homes across the UK are estimated to have them installed. 

Even in those parts of our towns and cities covered by Smoke Control Areas, which includes much of Brighton, as well as almost all of London and most of Birmingham and Manchester, wood may be burned in stoves that satisfy regulations brought in three years ago.

Councillor Tim Rowkins, cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said: ‘Our campaign is not designed to demonise anyone; I strongly believe most people who burn at home simply aren’t aware of the harm they’re doing, and this campaign is aimed squarely at raising awareness.

‘It is important our residents are fully aware of the health risks associated with wood burning in the home and our campaign is underpinned by robust academic research and public health data from multiple sources.

‘We have also installed a network of real-time air quality monitors throughout the city, providing us with vital additional data and insight.

‘For example, on cold evenings when log burners are most commonly in use, we see significant spikes in residential areas – including near schools and pre-schools – at levels way beyond those deemed safe by the World Health Organisation.

‘We know for some people a wood burner is essential for them to be able to heat their homes – and we are certainly not attempting to unfairly target anyone experiencing fuel poverty with this campaign – but for the majority, it is more of a luxury.

‘It is only right that as a council we raise local awareness of what is an important public health issue.’

Jeez, I wonder how we all survived all those years ago when all we could do was burn wood – coal was a real delight, and I wonder how we have such an elderly population when everything we did back then was so full of danger.

I don’t have a burner, but for some, it’s worth mentioning that it’s their primary source of heating.

Not everyone survived though. Life Expectancy was lower, and in the 1953 Great Smog of London thousands died – that’s why we have the Clean Air Act, but for the small amount of burners that still exist, it’s not too much of a concern.

It’s all nonsense at the end of the day. Due to the fact that certain power plants continue to burn wood, millions of people continue to smoke, and millions more vape, millions of people are not concerned about their lungs. In the end, nobody can predict when we will all die. Good times—I need a drink now!

As Pauline Quirke, 65, Struggles With Dementia, Experts Reveal Easy-To-Miss Signs

Birds Of A Feather star Pauline Quirke is to ‘step back’ from all professional obligations due to struggles with the memory-robbing disease dementia, which she was diagnosed with in 2021.

The actor, now 65, plans to spend time with her family, children and grandchildren during this ‘difficult period’, her husband Steve Sheen said.

A diagnosis of the disease under the age of 65 is deemed young-onset dementia, which is caused by genetics in about one in 10 cases, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK.

According to experts, the disease’s first brain alterations take place decades before symptoms appear.

However, some red flag signs may occur far earlier than others—and should be looked out for, especially in those with a family history.

According to Dr Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist based in California, one indicative sign is a significantly shortened attention span.

He says of this characteristic in a recent TikTok video: ‘[It is] not like ADHD, that you’ve had it your whole life, but it seems to be accelerating.’

Touching on why this happens Ruth Drew, the director of client and information services for the Alzheimer’s Association in the US, explains: ‘Alzheimer’s disease attacks the brain, and it tends to start in the hippocampus where new memory and new learning are stored.

‘So anything that disrupts that could certainly make it more difficult for a person to hold on to a train of thought.

‘It is different for each person. Certainly, by the middle stages [of the disease], focus is definitely going to be impacted.’ 

Another easily missed sign is what appears to be depression, Dr Amen says. 

Watch out for ‘low mood’, he warns.

‘Depression doubles the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in women and quadruples the risk in men.’

The Alzheimer’s Society says it is hard to know what causes depression in dementia. 

It adds: ‘For many people, the challenges of living with dementia can lead to feelings of deep sadness or hopelessness. 

‘In addition, the diseases that cause dementia may damage parts of the brain involved in emotions and behaviour.’

A discernible deterioration in your memory is another more overt indication that dementia may have taken hold.

He explains: ‘Eighty percent of people who say their memory is worse than it was 10 years ago have an 80 percent chance it will continue to get worse.’

The National Institute of Aging says memory problems associated with the early stages of Alzheimer’s include ‘a decline in non-memory aspects of cognition, such as finding the right word, trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships, and impaired reasoning or judgment.’ 

It adds: ‘As the disease progresses, symptoms become more severe and include increased confusion and behaviour changes.’ 

Dr Amen’s next early alarm bell is ‘poor judgment and impulsivity’. For example, this could include making poor financial decisions or engaging in excessive arguments.

This is because the frontal lobes—the largest lobes of the brain found directly behind the forehead responsible for behaviour and emotions—are ‘decreasing in activity’ due to the disease, which is ‘sort of like your brain going offline’, according to Dr Amen.

Only around 1 in 50 people with Alzheimer’s disease find their frontal lobes are affected early on.

After describing the major warning signs, Dr Amen ran through some factors that can increase the chance of your developing the disease.

He said: ‘Being overweight or obese [increases the risk]. As your weight goes up, the size and function of your brain goes down.

‘That’s why I’m trim. I do not want to purposely do anything that damages my brain.’

He also points out a few more conditions that could lead to poor brain health, including erectile dysfunction – ‘because if you have blood flow problems anywhere, it means they’re everywhere’ – chronic insomnia, and sleep apnoea. 

Memory problems, thinking and reasoning difficulties and language problems are typical early manifestations of the condition, which then deteriorate over time. 

A separate Alzheimer’s Research UK study found 74,261 people passed away from dementia in 2022 compared with 69,178 a year earlier, making it the country’s biggest killer. 

In 2022, Marvel actor Chris Hemsworth, 40, found out he was likely to develop the disease, after going through genetic testing.

He has gained notoriety in the battle against dementia.

He urges others to go to the doctor regularly and freely offers information about his well-being and health practices.

Dementia is such a vicious disease and it deprives people of their families, even long before they’ve passed away, and it’s cruel what they have to endure.

Since I was a child, Pauline Quirke has been on my television screen. She was witty and direct, and I hope the best for her and her family.

Care homes must be rubbing their hands together, but then I guess foresightedness for those who spotted an opportunity.

I do hope that they discover a cure for this evil disease.

Hearing about Pauline Quirke’s dementia makes me very sad because my mother tragically suffered from vascular dementia, which isn’t mentioned in the piece at all.

All forms of dementia are extremely severe, and further research and comprehension are needed.

The public coffers have long been burdened by this sickness, but Margaret Thatcher and all subsequent leaders have reduced spending while ignoring the ageing of our population.

They have cut funding to our councils and in numerous regions of the UK, which means good quality council-run homes do not exist. They have even ignored the fact that even privately run homes are in short supply and there is a bed crisis. So, we have to rely on stressed-out family members to care for our elderly and dementia-suffering patients.

If you are given care by Social Services, you’ll be lucky if you get 2 or three calls a day from private care companies.

What is the purpose of research and development if there is new medication to slow the progress yet it is generally too costly to provide to NHS patients? I’m furious about it!

Additionally, it is abhorrent to have to sell your parent’s house to pay for the care expenses, and the law needs to be amended right away.

If you get early-onset Alzheimers, don’t expect any financial support.

Try applying for Personal Independence Payments (PIP). You have to leap through hoops with numerous complex questions, it would be challenging enough for a person whose brain is still intact, but for a person whose brain isn’t, it’s traumatic and confusing. Basically after the age of 50 years old, you’re thrown on the scrap heap.

I truly believe that the government should cover all costs of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Numerous patients are just left to get on with it and families cannot always assist because they either live too far away or have young children of their own. In addition to the fact that nursing these patients is demanding and relentless, and may need specialist care.

While any illness can be awful, I believe dementia or Alzheimer’s to be the worst because it is cruel and heartbreaking to all those affected.

Asylum Seekers Shoplift Designer Goods

Two asylum seekers were caught stealing to order while waiting for their refugee claims to be processed by the Home Office. 

Frans Epentrius, 29, and Tobias Iileka, 33, went on a spree targeting the John Lewis department store at the Bluewater shopping centre, near Stone, Kent.

The duo were busted on December 23 after eagle-eyed staff at the shopping mall spotted them behaving suspiciously and detained them. 

Iileka was discovered with a pair of wire cutters, while Epentrius was caught attempting to stash a £550 Coach handbag in a brown paper bag he was carrying. 

After discovering he had been clocked by staff, Epentrius went behind a column and put the bag on a different display. 

‘They refused to wait for the police and they both ran off but were subsequently caught and taken to North Kent police station,’ prosecutor Lauren Kenny told Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court.

Iileka acknowledged stealing additional things from John Lewis during a previous visit after being charged. He stated that he had committed the thefts to purchase clothing and food.

The court heard that Iileka had said that a friend had given him an order for things to steal, including designer perfumes, handbags and sunglasses.

Iileka, from Crawley, was charged with shoplifting items worth £1,356 from the Bluewater’s John Lewis outlet on December 4.

He was also charged with going prepared for robbery by having wire cutters during the foiled shoplifting endeavour on December 23.

Due to the unsuccessful ransacking on December 23, Epentrius, a father of two from St Leonards, East Sussex, was charged with attempted stealing.

The court heard Epentrius has two convictions for seven prior crimes but none of a comparable nature, while Iileka had one previous violation for failing to pay a fare on the railways.

Simon Patrick Pettican, representing Epentrius, said his client’s children were in Africa with the 29-year-old’s family as the thief awaits the results of his UK asylum request.

‘He is an asylum seeker at the moment and his claim is currently being processed. He has an excess alcohol (conviction) on file and he’s not working at the moment,’ he told the court, reported Kent Online.

‘He was getting cash from the Salvation Army but that has stopped and the friend he lives with is supporting him now.

‘It was a shot at getting some money (the thieving) and he has £419 outstanding on his fine’s account and that was for train evasion (not paying for the fare).’

District Judge Nadeem Holland placed Epentrius on a 12-month community order, with a requirement to complete 60 hours of unpaid work.

Why on earth would we want people like this in our country? If someone violates the law while waiting for an immigration decision it should be an instant decline and straight back on the plane home. It shouldn’t be our problem!

Only once they arrive and are welcomed on our shores will they stay and become a part of our culture. This is where the concept of human rights comes in.

However, they have already demonstrated their beliefs and the reason they are here. Our foolish administration will eventually figure out a method to get rid of them, but it won’t be for some time, and by then it will be too late—they are here to stay!

Naturally, a court will always find a justification for their actions, but keep an eye out since these individuals will go on to conduct more serious crimes in the future. Their asylum application should have been automatically denied.

After committing a criminal violation, that should have been the end of any claim they have to stay in the UK, but now they will likely be offered a home to live in a location of their choosing, and guess what, the taxpayers will have to pay for that!

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