Farage Claims Reform Candidate Said Britain Shouldn’t Have Fought Hitler

Nigel Farage today tried to downplay controversial views held by Reform UK election candidates – including one who backed appeasing Hitler – suggesting it was just ‘ordinary’ pub banter.

Ian Gribbin, one of the party’s presidential candidates, was questioned over comments he made, implying that the UK should not have fought Nazi Germany during World War II.

In a contentious LBC phone-in, he claimed that the inability to thoroughly screen candidates was the fault of his predecessor, Richard Tice, even though Tice had only held the position for nine days.

Asked why they had not been deselected by Reform, Mr Farage said: ‘I can’t, they are legally on the ballot paper. I can disown them, I might well do that… it’s ordinary folk down the pub speak.’

Mr Gribbin, who is standing for Nigel Farage’s party in Bexhill and Battle in Sussex, said that Britain would be better off today if it had taken up the German fascist dictator’s ‘offer of neutrality’.

In comments made in 2022, unearthed shortly after the 80th anniversary of D-Day, he criticised Britain for prioritising ‘weird notions of international morality rather than looking after its own people’ by staying out of the conflict.

In remarks made on the conservative Unherd website and unearthed by the BBC he said the UK had to ‘exorcise the cult of Churchill and recognize that in both policy and military strategy, he was abysmal’.

Mr Gribbin had previously written on the site that women were the ‘sponging gender’ who ‘only take from society’.

He tonight apologised for his comments, telling the BBC: ‘I apologise for these old comments and withdraw them unreservedly and the upset that they have caused.’

Mr Gribbin said that he himself had been ‘upset at the way these comments were taken out of context especially when my mother was the daughter of Russian Jews fleeing persecution.’

Mr Farage used the phone-in to claim his party was close to a ‘tipping point’ where it would eclipse the Conservative Party.

He cited a Sky News survey in which Reform trailed the Tories by only one point.

‘Do I think I’m capable of leading a national opposition to a Labour Party with a big majority, where I can stand up and hold them to account on issues? Yes.’

He added: ‘I would be prepared to lead the centre-right in this country, a centre-right that stands up for small business, a centre-right that believes in borders, a centre-right that isn’t scared of standing up for the British people.’

People will vote elsewhere if they don’t like the candidate, and that will be that. The fact is that most hate, division and intolerance are currently coming from everywhere.

It is not a good look at all to say that we should have joined the Nazis instead of resisting them! Characters like this guy shouldn’t be on the list in the first place, and I’m wondering why he is.

If they could, I’m sure all of the fallen service members and citizens who lost their lives along with their loved ones would look at the UK differently and they would disagree.

I disagree with this individual since our loved ones gave their all and battled for their life. I wonder whether he visited the concentration camps where innocent people were killed. He ought to keep his thoughts to himself since Hitler would have made it to the UK and killed and massacred everyone if it weren’t for our valiant military forces.

Keir Starmer to unveil manifesto vowing ‘nanny state’ crackdown on junk food, VAT on private school fees and a fudge on tax hikes

Keir Starmer will look to twist the knife on the Tories as he launches an election manifesto pledging to focus on ‘wealth creation’.

The Labour leader is bidding to capitalise after a poll showed he came out on top in a crucial TV showdown with Rishi Sunak.

Sir Keir was roasted during the Sky News programme in Grimsby over claims he will hike taxes and whether he can be ‘trusted’ after previously backing Jeremy Corbyn. He was also criticised for his ‘robotic’ manner.

However, YouGov research found viewers that he outperformed the PM by 64 per cent to 36 per cent – after Mr Sunak suffered an even more brutal 45-minute mauling. The premier was repeatedly battered over leaving D-Day commemorations early and endured mocking laughter as he tried to defend the Tories’ record on issues such as immigration.

In Manchester, Sir Keir Starmer will introduce the manifesto. It will supposedly have 34 shots of the leader, compared to the Tory offering on Tuesday, which contained none at all.

But with polls putting the party on track for a landslide, the content is being billed as ‘safety first’. It will include charging VAT on private school fees and a ‘nanny state’ crackdown on junk food – including banning energy drinks for under-16s.

The document is expected to include a pledge to cap corporation tax at its current rate of 25 per cent to give businesses long-term certainty.

It will not, however, preclude the Tories from reevaluating the council tax or cutting the capital gains tax.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to say: ‘Wealth creation is our number one priority. Growth is our core business – the end and the means of national renewal.’The mandate we seek at this election is for economic growth. This changed Labour Party has a plan for growth. We are pro-business and pro-worker, the party of wealth creation.’

Labour has already stated that it will not include any tax increases in the platform that have not already been published. This includes hiking the rates of income tax, national insurance, or VAT.

Those increases are charging VAT on private school fees, abolishing the non-dom tax status and closing ‘loopholes’ in the windfall tax on oil and gas firms.

In addition, the party has promised to create GB Energy, eliminate disruptive behaviour, create a Border Security Command, reduce NHS waiting lists by 40,000 new appointments each week, and employ 6,500 teachers as part of its initial initiatives. It is anticipated that the manifesto would pledge to construct 1.5 million new houses and change planning regulations.

I would never in a million years vote for Keir Starmer, but I could never give the Tories my support. But I know who will receive my vote, and it’s not going to be Reform! I want a party that will represent my interests as well as the worries I have for my nation’s future.

No party has a fixation on doing anything. They include things in their platform that they don’t intend to execute, then they accuse the previous administration of not having enough money, and they exclude ideas that would be controversial but yet go ahead and implement them.

They have ways of making us obey with a raised right arm, and feet together with a sharp click of the heels.

We need change, but when everyone seems the same, who should we vote for? I’m not able to advise you on who to vote for, but sadly, humans follow the herd like sheep. Cast your vote for the candidate you wish to support; if you’re unsure, don’t cast a ballot at all!

Pope Francis ‘Repeats Gay Slur’ Just Weeks After Being Forced To Apologise For Saying There Was ‘An Air Of F*****ry’ In The Church

The Pope has again used a homophobic term after apologising last month for saying gay men should not be admitted to church seminaries because ‘there’s already too much f*ry’ in closed-door meetings.

He used the word ‘frociaggine’, a vulgar Italian term roughly translated as ‘f*ness’, on May 20 during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops.

According to Italian news agency ANSA, Pope Francis, 87, repeated the term on Tuesday as he met Roman priests, saying, ‘There is an air of f*ness in the Vatican’.

He added that it was better that young men with a homosexual tendency not be allowed to enter the seminary, a college that trains students to become priests.

The Vatican press office responded to a question about the most recent allegation by citing a statement it had released about the pope’s meeting with the priests on Tuesday, in which he reaffirmed the need to embrace gay individuals inside the Church and urged care when it came to their enrollment as seminarians.

Following the initial reports of him using the slur, anonymous bishops present in the discussion were cited by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera as speculating that, as an Argentine, the pope might not have understood the Italian term he used was derogatory.

The Pope had been credited with making substantial moves towards being more welcoming of the LGBT+ community during his 11-year papacy. 

Some Vatican watchers claim that his recent transgressions cast doubt on his beliefs and the reform strategy he has in mind for the Church, undermining his authority.

In May, Italian news agency Adnkronos, citing sources, reported that the Pope said in his speech: ‘Look, there is already an air of f*ry around that is not good. There is today’s culture of homosexuality with respect to those who have a homosexual orientation [who] are better off not being accepted [into the seminary].’

The remark was met with ‘incredulous laughter’, bishops told newspaper Corriere della Sera, but represents a huge step back for campaigners after prolonged efforts to reform the church’s position on LGBTQ+ rights.

The Pope apologised the following week, with the Vatican releasing a statement that said: ‘The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologises to those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others.’

This was directly from his lips; it was not in a confessional. Being a well-known individual, whatever this man does or says is open to criticism.

The church should practice what it preaches, otherwise, they’re in trouble.

Now that the anti-Christ is on the loose and destroying the Catholic Church, all we can do is wait for it to go away or just pass away!

Does God not get to pick and prepare his priests? It appears that he has resumed his gossiping.

We don’t need a wolf in sheep’s clothing pouring acid on the servants of the church, and this is coming from someone who believes in an imaginary person in the sky. Walks around in a frock all day. Doesn’t believe in the sanctity of marriage and belongs to an organisation of deviants.

As A Child, Rishi Sunak Had To Live Without Sky TV

Rishi Sunak says he had to ‘go without’ Sky TV as a child so his parents could pay his expensive private school fees.

The premier said his GP father and pharmacist mother wanted to ‘put everything’ into their children’s education so having no satellite television was one of the things they sacrificed. 

Mr Sunak spent his teenage years at the now £52,000 a year distinguished Winchester College in Hampshire near his home in Southampton.

In the interview with ITV, which he left D-Day commemorations in Normandy early to attend, he is pressed on how he can stay in touch with the struggles of ordinary people when he is ‘wealthier than the king’. 

Journalist Paul Brand asks the PM if he ever had ‘go without something’ when he was a child, to which he replies: ‘I went without lots of things because my parents wanted to put everything into our education and that was a priority.’ 

Mr Sunak squirms and laughs as he is asked what sort of things his parents ‘sacrificed’.

‘Lots of things,’ he says. ‘There would have been all sorts of things I wanted as a kid.’

He appears uncomfortable as he laughs again before adding: ‘Famously Sky TV. That was something we never had growing up, actually. But there are lots of things. But again my experience is obviously going to be what my experience was. 

‘More important are my values and how I was raised. And I was raised in a household where hard work was really important. You had to work really hard. And family was important, service to your community was important.’ 

In another awkward moment, Mr Sunak apologised for keeping Mr Brand waiting explaining the D-Day anniversary event ‘all just ran over’. 

‘Yeah, it all just ran over… it was incredible but it just ran over everything,’ he says, before saying he ‘spoke to almost everyone [of the veterans in Normandy] there, I hope’.

The PM was grilled on a Tuesday BBC Panorama episode, during which he pleaded with the people to pardon him for leaving the D-Day celebration early. The interview with ITV will be shown tonight at 7 p.m.

The Tory leader told Nick Robinson that he hoped people could ‘find it in their hearts’ to forgive his blunder.

Amid rising Tory alarm about the fallout from the D-Day row, Mr Sunak said: ‘Well, the last thing that I wanted to do was cause anyone any hurt or offence or upset, which is why I apologised unreservedly for the mistake that I made.

Desperate times equal desperate measures. Rishi Sunak knows the Conservatives are in big trouble, and there will be many voters not voting for them in the next General Election. The Conservatives have been a disgrace. They promised that they would quell boat people from coming into our country, but that did not happen, and they have wasted hundreds of millions of pounds of hard-working taxpayers’ money.

I know who I will vote for, and it’s not going to be Labour or the Conservatives. Regarding Nigel Farage, he is completely disconnected from reality. He’s a showman, adept at making huge gestures. Heaven forbid that he should ever come in contact with any true power; he would be completely clueless.

Rishi Sunak is a typical money-grabbing banker and got rich at everyone else’s expense. Including his rich wife.

Rishi has become quite the poet. He started his campaign as the ‘Wally with the brolly’, and now he’s ‘Rishi without the dishy.’

The Parents Of A Student Who Went Missing 100 Days Ago Lodge A Formal Complaint

The heartbroken parents of missing 23-year-old student Jack O’Sullivan have lodged a formal complaint against the police force investigating their son’s disappearance.

Catherine and Alan O’Sullivan’s son, who was 22 when he vanished, has not been seen since he went to a house party in Bristol on March 2—some 101 days ago.

The family claims that Avon and Somerset Police have exacerbated their frantic search for answers by overlooking important CCTV and delaying adding Jack to the national Missing People’s Register until after he had been absent for over two months as a result of an administrative error.

Speaking on BBC News, Catherine said: ‘I wouldn’t want anyone on earth to be faced what we have dealt with in last 100 days, because it’s horrific. To think people who you would possibly depend on most in the world have totally let us down.’ 

She added: ‘It is hell; daily, it’s a challenge to get up through the day. We have to somehow keep going and find strength to get to the bottom of this.’

According to Jack’s family, the force erred from the beginning, missing CCTV evidence that showed the student in a different place at a different time.

Catherine didn’t realise it until she was allowed to view a portion of it for herself.

‘To have footage of my son in their possession the day after he was missing and for someone not to see that is just ludicrous,’ she added.

‘And we have to live with that, thinking what would have possibly been different here if, on that second day, the whole world knew that he was there—and we could have appealed to people.’

A GoFundMe fundraiser, set up by a family friend, says that Jack’s family have decided to offer a £20,000 reward for ‘information leading to the discovery of Jack is needed to help spark new leads and reignite the search efforts.’

Jack went to school in Bristol, graduated from Exeter University, and then went back to his hometown to finish his education.

When he disappeared after a night out, he was living again with his parents and close to his older brother Ben.

When Jack departed early in the morning, he had been at a house party with friends from his course.

Hours after he was last spotted on CCTV, the student’s phone was still in use, but his family claims they still don’t have answers.

The law graduate last spoke to a buddy a little after 3:30 in the morning, but according to the police, his phone was still using the Find My Friends app at 6:44 in the morning.

Catherine added: ‘The errors that have cast so much doubt in our mind about what was done, when it was done and whether it continues to be done has caused us untold damage.

‘We have to live with the fact that Jack’s not here, but to find that the people who could have been looking for him haven’t done it properly is just devastating.’ 

Jack was last seen on Saturday, March 2, starting his journey home following a night out with friends in Bristol’s Hotwells neighbourhood.

He had taken the bus from his town, Flax Bourton, to a Wetherspoons bar in the city at 8:20 p.m. on a typical Saturday night out, where he met up with pals.

At 10.45 pm, he texted his mother that they had moved on to a house party and safely arrived at the new location. ‘All good, keys are safe,’ he wrote.

Finally, at 1.52 in the morning, he texted her to let her know he was well.

Then, shortly before 3 am, Jack left the party alone, CCTV captured part of his journey through the city.

At 2.53 in the morning, he is seen crossing the Junction Swing Bridge. At 2.57 in the morning, he turns down Brunel Lock Road. At roughly 2.57 in the morning, he passes a parking lot close to McAdam Way. At 3.08 in the morning, he is seen walking across Plimsol Bridge. At 3.25 in the morning, he is seen walking up Bennett Way.

With the last formally verified sighting of Jack on CCTV being at 3.13 am, Avon and Somerset Police have stated that the final two sightings are “likely” to be of him.

He called a friend who was still at the party at 3.24 am. When the friend returned the call ten minutes later, Jack answered the phone and said ‘hello’ but nothing else. The call lasted for 58 seconds before being disconnected.

Catherine said the friend left the party soon after and added: ‘She tried and tried to get hold of him but couldn’t. She sent messages to him saying, ‘Please let me know where you are, please let me know you’re OK’ and ‘Please let me know when you get home’.

His family have now taken to walking his final route every day and at different times of the day just to try and experience what it might have been like for Jack, and any indication as to what could have happened.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: ‘We’ve received a formal complaint from the family of missing 23-year-old Jack O’Sullivan to our investigation into his disappearance, which remains ongoing. 

‘The complaint has been recorded by our Professional Standards Department and will now be thoroughly assessed by a trained investigator. We’ll be updating his family as this assessment progresses.

‘Detectives have carried out an extensive investigation over the past 100 days since Jack went missing. He was last seen in the Cumberland Basin area of the city in the early hours of Saturday 2 March after leaving a house party in nearby Hotwells. 

‘This investigation has included reviewing and re-reviewing more than 100 hours of CCTV footage, carrying out expert-led searches by land and water involving multiple teams, including the dog unit, drone unit and specialist dive team, proactively seeking and acting on advice from national policing specialists, and issuing multiple appeals to the public and media for information. 

‘Sadly, despite these efforts, we’ve been unable to find Jack to date. We fully recognise the distress and anguish this has had on Jack’s family and our thoughts remain very much with them. We’re determined to do all that we possibly can to find the answers they so desperately need.

‘We’ll continue to keep them updated on the investigation, as well as on the ongoing assessment being carried out by our Professional Standards Department.

‘We’d like to reiterate our appeal to anyone who was travelling in or walking around Cumberland Basin on Saturday 2 March, anytime between 2.30 am and 5.30 am, to contact us on 101 and give the reference number 5224055172.’

Jack has short brown hair, is Caucasian, is 5 feet 10 inches tall, and has a slender body. When last seen, he was sporting a beige woollen sweater, blue trousers, brown shoes with a white bottom and a quilted Barbour jacket in shades of green and brown.

These days, it is evident that the police force does not hire the best candidates for the position, and as a result of political ideology, all services are rapidly declining.

On the streets, I witness the most inexperienced police officers, both in terms of years of service and common sense, and the private sector is no better, and they think they’ve done well, even with taxpayer subsidies. This is the curse of inclusivity and diversity.

We should never give up hope, but this is a nightmare for any parent. It is terrible for this family that doesn’t feel supported, and it’s crucial to keep missing people in the press and other media outlets. Any knock on the door and every phone call is enough to make them tremble with terror.

When it comes to gathering CCTV footage, the police are blatantly indolent. The police wouldn’t have any interest in gathering information from CCTV footage, even if someone had been assaulted directly in front of one.

Although it is often believed that our police force is professional, this incident serves as a stark reminder that they are not. The days of doing door-to-door inquiries, etc., are long gone. These days, every inquiry is completed while seated at a desk. It is horrifying that the mother was the one who independently discovered important, missing evidence.

How has this not been a major story before now? This is somebody’s child. A young, healthy man with his whole future ahead of him. If this had been an attractive young woman from a certain type of family, it would have hit the headlines immediately, and as a mother, my heart breaks for these parents; they must be frantic.

Jack called a friend who was still at the party at 3.24 am. When the friend returned the call ten minutes later, Jack answered the phone and said ‘hello’ but nothing else. The call lasted for 58 seconds before being disconnected. Did the police not find this suspicious?

Cadbury Chocolate Now Comes In Security Boxes At Tesco

To deter stealing at Tesco, chocolate bars valued as low as £1.25 have been placed in security boxes.

Milkybars, Galaxy, and Dairy Milk have been sealed in plastic containers.

‘Ask the staff’ stickers are attached to the boxes.

Supermarket employees must obtain bars for customers; they cannot merely grab them from the shelves.

They are £1.25 for Tesco Clubcard holders or £1.55 without.

The Galaxy bars are £1.35 and the Daily Milk are £2 with a Clubcard or £2.25 without.

One of the sixteen Tesco locations in the borough of Newham, east London, is where they were sighted.

Former police officer Norman Brennan fumed: ‘Tesco now put chocolate bars behind plastic security barriers.

‘Shoplifting is so out-of-control that the cost of loss in the past year is two billion pounds.’

The ex-British Transport Police officer said: ‘And it will go up and up and up.’

Sharon Rae McGilvray joked: ‘Funny how they haven’t done it with fruit and veg.’

Luke Senior said: ‘How long before shops are forced revert to the old style with shop assistants, human or robotic?

‘Having to retrieve everything for customers like either Argos or a giant vending machine?’

Duncan Gray said: ‘At £2 they should be locked in a vault in the basement.’

Another added: ‘As a Londoner since birth, I can confirm that this place is going to the dumps.’

One said: ‘This is a whole another level of low.’

It comes after the cost-of-living crisis when there was an increase in store thefts due to excessive inflation.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has made shoplifting an issue during next month’s general election claiming the Conservative’s anti-crime policies were in effect a ‘shoplifter’s charter’.

Police will often not investigate shoplifting of items valued less than £200 under existing plans.

Addressing retail union Usdaw’s annual conference in Blackpool, Sir Keir said: ‘I am putting shoplifters on notice. You might get away with it under this weak Tory Government.

‘But if Labour takes power, we won’t stand by while crime takes over our streets.

‘We’ll put 13,000 extra neighbourhood police on the beat, tackling crime on your streets.

‘We’ll scrap the Shoplifter’s Charter – the £200 rule that stops the police investigating theft in your workplace.

‘And we will legislate to make sure assaulting and abusing shopworkers is a standalone criminal offence because you deserve to feel safe at work.’

Shoplifting rates are at their highest point in 20 years, according to recent research.

The cost of living problem is making it difficult for people to exist, which is to be expected given that the government is causing the wealthiest to become richer and the poor to get poorer.

Prices in the UK are criminally excessive, and UK manufacturers and retail giants charge inflated prices and use any excuse to do so. Shrinkflation is also rampant and before long, one mouthful of chocolate will cost you over a pound, and quite frankly I’m not surprised shoplifting is on the rise.

This has to do with corporate exploitation and greed. Supermarket costs have risen above even conservative estimates of inflation, and many are finding it difficult to provide for their families.

As millions of individuals invade our nation with little more than a tracksuit and flip-flops to their names, we look on and wonder why stealing is on the rise with fourteen years of Tory law and order that have now led us to use security tags on chocolate bars!

While I don’t support shoplifting, you have to wonder if supermarkets are providing customers with decent value for their money when they consistently report record-breaking profits.

Twelve-Year-Old Boys Shoulder-Barged A 19-Year-Old Stranger And Beat, Kicked, Stamped And Stabbed Him To Death With A Machete

Two 12-year-old boys were convicted of fatally stabbing an unknown person in a Wolverhampton park with a machete.

Both males attempted to place the blame for Shawn Seesahai’s murder on the other during the trial. The jury unanimously found both of them guilty of the crime.

They are thought to be the youngest boys in the UK to have killed someone with a knife.

The youths are also believed to be the youngest children to have been found guilty of murder since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both aged 11, were found guilty in 1993 of killing two-year-old James Bulger.

A month-long trial at Nottingham Crown Court was told Mr Seesahai was shoulder-barged by the smaller of the two defendants, who ‘often’ carried a machete with a 42.5 cm long blade, before being punched, kicked, stamped on, and ‘chopped’ at with the weapon.

The victim’s friend told the trial he was forced to run for his life, but 19-year-old Mr Seesahai stumbled as he tried to flee from the boys on Wolverhampton’s Stowlawn playing fields on November 13 last year.

The victim was hit with such vigour, according to what the court heard, that the machete nearly went through his torso in one strike.

Mr Seesahai was pronounced dead at 9.11 pm on November 13 last year after police were called to the scene at 8.37 pm. 

Mr Seesahai had travelled to the UK with friend Deron Harrigan, primarily because he needed cataract surgery, which was unavailable on Anguilla. He settled in Handsworth, Birmingham, and jurors heard the pair travelled to Wolverhampton that November evening with a third man, Jamal Clarke because Mr Clarke wanted to visit his girlfriend in the city.

Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said Shawn and his friend ended up in a confrontation with the two killers – who had been ‘roaming the streets’ with the machete – while killing time wandering through Stowlawn playing fields as Mr Jamal visited his partner.

Prosecutors say the two 12-year-olds, acted together to kill Mr Seesahai after he ‘shoulder-brushed’ them by a bench.

Mr Harrigan told jurors how he had run for his life after the two boys launched the attack with the blade, and turned around to see his friend on the floor and fatally wounded.

Having been left traumatised by the ordeal, he returned to Anguilla after the murder and gave evidence from the island via a video link. The witness said: ‘It was a big blade, something similar to a machete. He pulled it out of the sheath from his waist. Shawn told me to run.’

The witness said that as the pair ran, Mr Seesahai tripped and was attacked.

Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said the victim had ‘offered no violence and ‘done nothing to offend the two boys’. A girl at the scene with the youths said she saw the boys ‘punching’ and ‘kicking’ their victim as he lay on the floor. It was not ‘unusual’ that the boy who admitted possessing the knife had a machete as he ‘often’ carried it, she claimed.

The defendants said the confrontation began when Mr Seesahai told them to move from the park bench they were sitting on, then got the boy who owned the knife in a headlock.

As the jury convicted both boys guilty of murder and one guilty of having a bladed weapon, relatives of the victim and the defendants sobbed and embraced in the public gallery.

This is horrifying and does not bode well for our country.

Parents are not held accountable for their children’s behaviour, and we now treat all children with kid gloves. There is no punishment before it’s too late. Parents should have the right to punish their children in whatever way they decide, not the way the government decides. These children do not belong to the parents anymore, they have no control, and our nanny state has control of them – parents have no rights at all. This is why children are going off the rails and doing what they want, when they want.

When I was growing up and I did something wrong, and God forbid I was brought home by the police, my parents would give me a good hiding in front of the policeman. More disruptive children would get an hour in a police cell just so they could get a snippet of what it would be like locked up all day. For most, it would scare the living daylights out of our children, but some fell through the cracks. Now we are told to just say no to our children and that should be enough, but it’s not enough, and parents should be allowed to punish their children how they see fit, otherwise, things will get far worse.

How did these kids get their hands on such potentially harmful weapons in the first place? When will our government acknowledge that it has granted youngsters excessive latitude? Reintroduce the cane to schools and allow parents to discipline their kids as they deem appropriate.

I’ll go back to the late 1980’s. My children had gone off to school. They must have been about 5 or 6 years old at the time. I was off out to visit a friend and I noticed a young boy of about the same age who lived at the end of his road with his mother and her boyfriend. I came out of my door and he looked at me and promptly called me a ‘slut’. I promptly said that his mother should wash his mouth out with soap and he said ‘If she does that I’ll get the police and social services onto her’.

‘Watch this space’ I thought to myself. Things are going to get worse, and they have!

Children wielding machetes—who would have guessed? Even though the police are aware of this, they take no action, and if children are capable of this at such a young age, how much worse will they be as adults?

A Pakistani Man Tries To Open A Gay Club

A Pakistani man who tried to set up the nation’s first gay club has been thrown into a mental hospital after religious conservatives claimed he only did so after coming back from the UK.

The individual, who remained anonymous to the Telegraph, submitted an application to open the club in Abbottabad, a conservative northern metropolis that is home to around 240 million people.

The man said, in an application filed to city officials, said the proposed club, which would’ve balled Lorenzo, would be a ‘great convenience and resource for many homosexual, bisexual and even some heterosexual people residing in Abbottabad in particular, and in other parts of the country in general.’ 

However, homosexual activity is illegal in Pakistan and is punishable by up to two years in jail. Furthermore, being publicly homosexual might be challenging in societies with strong conservative cultural norms. So much so that on May 9, the guy was sent to the Sarhad hospital in Peshawar for mental treatment.

Both lawmakers and locals ridiculed him greatly for his application.

The leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) party, a conservative religious group in the region, claimed that the applicant tried to set up the club had recently returned from a visit to the UK.

One local MP from the far-Right Pakistan Awami Tehreek party said he would’ve doused the club with petrol and set it alight, while the leader of the party, Naseer Khan Nazir, said there would be ‘very severe consequences’ if the club was allowed to go up.

Unidentified friends of his said they were afraid for his safety and had been prevented from seeing him or finding out any information about him.

‘Everyone is afraid that talking about it will put them in danger,’ one said.

‘I do not know about his well-being for many days’ they said, adding that they had ‘tried to find out about him a couple of times but without success’.

Before he was sent to the mental hospital, he told the paper: ‘I talk about human rights and I want everyone’s human rights to be defended.’

‘I have started the struggle for the rights of the most neglected community in Pakistan and I will raise my voice in every forum,’ he said.

‘If the authorities refuse, then I will approach the court and I hope that like the Indian court, the Pakistani court will rule in favour of gay people.’

His application states that there would’ve been ‘no gay (or non-gay) sex (other than kissing)’ at the club.

The application added: ‘A clearly visible notice on the wall would warn: no sex on premises. This would mean that no legal constraints (even obsolete ones like [anti-sodomy] PPC section 377) would be flouted on the premises.’

I sincerely hope this man doesn’t hold dual citizenship with Britain because then we will end up being dragged into another diplomatic row.

What did this man expect? Pakistan is a Muslim country and there are no freedoms in Pakistan, especially for people of the LGBT community. I grant you, it’s not right, but when in Rome and all that! And he was very brave trying to change things, but some things just can’t be changed.

I’m surprised that there haven’t been any UK protests on this issue, but then most UK protestors are Muslim, and this man will be lucky if this doesn’t cost him his life, but he’s the very definition of being an optimist, and if we’re not careful Pakistani law will be the law of the UK within a few generations.

A 27-Year-Old Ambulance Driver Was Taken To Court For Speeding At 90 Mph

An ambulance driver who was taken to court for speeding – while on a blue light emergency call – has branded the proceedings as ‘a waste of time’.

Matt Wood was on his way to Southampton Airport to pick up an ‘unstable’ patient arriving from Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, when he was clocked doing 90mph.

The 27-year-old, who was driving an unmarked ambulance, provided evidence he was responding to a medical emergency but was still prosecuted in what he has slammed as ’embarrassing’ proceedings.

After receiving a notice of intended prosecution, he had to attend Southampton Magistrates’ Court, where the case against him was eventually dismissed thanks to the evidence he provided.

Speaking afterwards, he said the prosecution was a ‘complete waste of time’. 

When the event occurred in January 2023, Mr Wood was employed by Criticare UK Ambulance Service.

He said: ‘I couldn’t believe it even got taken to court. It’s very odd this has happened.

‘I am pleased the case has been dropped but it is a waste of everyone’s time.

‘It’s embarrassing it has even got this far. I am hoping this won’t happen again.’

Hampshire Constabulary said records indicated the vehicle used was ‘not equipped to transport people and was not marked as an ambulance’.

When Mr Wood, a resident of Nursling, Hampshire, received the call to pick up the patient, he was in Portsmouth.

The case was pursued even after he gave Hampshire Constabulary and Driving Standards paperwork proving he was an ambulance driver.

He did deploy blue lights, however the emergency car he was driving was an unmarked Volvo.

Mr Wood continued: ‘Our vehicles must be unmarked as they are kept at our homes.

‘We serve the emergency flights from Guernsey – we don’t know in advance what time they will be arriving.

‘It was argued it was not an emergency as we should’ve known what time the flight would be arriving.

‘The patient was deemed to be an emergency case.

‘When the NIP was served on me, I didn’t know whether to laugh or not. It’s quite embarrassing, especially as it is our job.

‘Working in this field, my colleagues and I know there is a risk of this happening, not when it is clear cut.’

He added: ‘In these cases, we always make it clear to Driving Standards and the police who we are and what we are doing, and they tend to leave it alone, but not this time.

‘I am hoping this won’t happen again.’

A UNISON spokesperson said: ‘NHS vehicles equipped with blue lights have arrangements in place for handling speeding tickets when dealing with emergencies.

‘Ambulance workers can claim exemptions for going over the speed limit, but issues may arise if they’re in unmarked cars.’

The Crown Prosecution Service said a reviewing lawyer took the view the case should be brought to trial after police submitted a file of Mr Wood’s speeding.

A spokesperson added: ‘The CPS have a duty to continually review cases, and in light of Mr Woods’ evidence, the lawyer in court took the decision to offer no evidence and stop the prosecution.

‘The CPS does not decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but makes a fair, independent assessment about whether the case should be considered by a criminal court.’

Unless there is an emergency, an ambulance must abide by all traffic rules, especially those pertaining to speed limitations. An ambulance is exempt from adhering to some traffic restrictions, such as the speed limit, in an emergency.

We want these ambulance drivers to step on it and drive like the clappers when there’s an emergency and someone needs help immediately. The event should never have gone to court, and this was an absurd waste of taxpayer money.

People might not agree that an unmarked ambulance using blue lights is right when speeding, but if it were your family in the back of the ambulance and they were being rushed to the hospital because their condition was life-threatening they might think differently. When it’s somebody that they have no connection to, then people don’t seem to care.

This individual provided the court with his proof. The judge agreed, and the prosecution was a shameful waste of government funds and precious space. Story over!

Nurse Who Made Patients Wash His Car

A mental health nurse who made four vulnerable patients wash his car as part of their ‘therapy’ has been struck off. 

Ian Brown, who worked at a care home for male offenders with mental illnesses in Ipswich, claimed the activity was ‘more constructive’ than ‘sitting outside smoking’. 

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) misconduct hearing heard his conduct was ‘deplorable’ and ‘breached the fundamental tenets’ of the nursing profession.

Mr Brown qualified as a nurse in February 2018 but concerns were raised about his ‘unprofessional behaviour’ towards both colleagues and patients at his first job.

An inquiry was conducted as a consequence, and Brown received one last written warning.

He was then redeployed to Foxhall House, in Ipswich in January 2019 and was required to undertake a development plan for six months – which focused on ‘values and behaviours’.

However, in August 2019, he took four residents – all of which were sectioned under the Mental Health Act – to clean his car.

A colleague: ‘I was on the late shift. In handover there was nothing to report that he [Mr Brown] was taking the patients out to wash his car, it wasn’t discussed.

‘[Mr Brown] said it was therapy.’

Another witness said: ‘He came into the handover room and while I was handing over said that he had a job for the patients that afternoon and would be having them wash his car.’

The disciplinary panel heard only two of the four patients had permission to leave.

The hearing was also told that Mr Brown responded to a disciplinary allegation by saying: ‘I believe it’s more constructive to wash a car than sit outside smoking.’

Mr Brown was also found to have left a gate open in September 2021, meaning a patient was able to ‘abscond’ before ‘luckily’ staff were able to get him back.

In November 2020, he was reported to the Nursing and Midwifery Council after he submitted his resignation in October 2019.

The panel concluded Mr Brown’s conduct amounted to ‘serious misconduct involving numerous vulnerable residents’ and potentially members of the public which occurred over some time.

‘[We] determined that this is conduct that showed a flagrant disregard to the Code and would be considered deplorable by fellow nurses as well as an ordinary informed member of the public,’ they said.

‘The panel finds that vulnerable residents, visitors, members of the public and colleagues were put at risk of physical and emotional harm as a result of Mr Brown’s misconduct.

To be fair, the car cleaning exercise was a good idea, but not for the reason that this nurse got the patients to do it. More needs to be done for mental health patients and they need to do meaningful activities when they can or even if they can. Not all mental health patients could even do life-building skills et cetera.

We wouldn’t anticipate a cleaning exercise for a patient with mental health issues, and a nurse shouldn’t decide what’s best for a patient. Each mental health patient needs different things, and this nurse did not seek permission from those responsible for the patient’s welfare.

Also, if this was thought of as a good idea, then it should be structured, and there should have been a reward system put in place for the patients to attend, and there should have been a second nurse present.

There is nothing like being used and abused when a nurse takes it upon themselves to have a patient clean his car because he can’t be bothered.

Mental health patients should be given the freedom to decide whether or not to do these duties, and they should have a secure environment in which to do so.

It does sound very patronising when patients are being given rewards, but they also need structure, but more often than not they’re not rewards or structure, they command which is very patronising to an adult patient who is being treated like a child.

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