- “Starmer quitting isn’t enough. Furious voters want an end to politics as we know it” – Our ‘Process’ Prime Minister represents a lawyerly elite that puts the foreign and the idle before hard-working British people, writes Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
- “Streeting to hold showdown meeting with Starmer” – Wes Streeting has lined up a showdown with Sir Keir Starmer this morning, according to the Telegraph.
- “No leader can bind fractured Labour now” – In the Times, Danny Finkelstein says Labour should recognise that its coalition of the working class and socialists is gone for ever and try instead to unite liberals.
“UK battered by markets as Labour chaos takes hold” – The UK’s borrowing costs have surged higher at the prospect of a lurch to the Left, reports the Mail. - “Starmer’s political death spiral is about to trigger financial chaos” – Britain’s fragile economy faces weeks of deepening uncertainty as the country waits to learn who might replace the PM – and whether a successor will lurch further to the Left, writes Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph.
- “Forget the Starmer-drama, Britain is slipping towards economic oblivion” – In Conservative Home, Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith warns Labour will keep borrowing vast sums because it has failed to grasp that someone has to buy all the debt it issues – and, as in the 1970s, markets will keep demanding more in return.
- “JP Morgan chief threatens to axe £3 billion UK investment if Labour lurches Left” – The Chief Executive of America’s largest bank Jamie Dimon says he will pull the plug on a £3 billion UK investment if Labour turns hostile to business, according to the Telegraph.
- “Taxpayer coughs up almost £30,000 for Climate Minister to go on a hike in Chile” – The British taxpayer spent almost £30,000 sending Labour’s Climate Minister to South America, where she enjoyed a hiking trip, reveals Guido.
- “This is the most insane migrant benefits story you’ll read all year” – Forget the two-child benefit cap. It seems we don’t even have a one-wife benefit cap, says Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
- “People-smuggler behind more than half of all Channel crossings unmasked” – A people smuggler whose network is believed to be responsible for most illegal Channel crossings in recent years has been unmasked as a 28 year-old Iraqi Kurd, reports the Telegraph.
- “The disturbing truth about Britain’s Islamopopulism movement” – One of the most under-reported stories of the recent local elections is the steady growth of Muslim independents, notes Andrew Gilligan in the Spectator.
- “Polanski referred to standards committee over failure to pay council tax” – Green Party leader Zack Polanski has been reported to City Hall’s Standards Committee after admitting he failed to pay council tax for his houseboat, reports the Telegraph.
- “Polanski ‘staying in £2 million house’ after admitting underpaying council tax on houseboat” – Zack Polanski has reportedly been staying at a £2 million property after admitting he may have failed to pay council tax on a houseboat, according to LBC.
- “Zack Polanski’s council tax blunder shows he isn’t fit to lead the Greens” – In the Spectator, Ross Clark argues that Zack Polanski is a chancer unfit for public office whose eagerness to tax others sits in glaring contrast to his own record of non-payment.
- “Green councillor posts himself driving Lambo days after his election” – A newly elected Green councillor has uploaded footage of himself at the wheel of a Lamborghini supercar alongside clips of his victory in Bolton, reports the Mail.
- “Chance of arrest for speech offences a ‘postcode lottery’” – the police in Cumbria have arrested 30 times more people for speech offences than the police in Staffordshire, says the Times.
- “Ireland will broadcast Father Ted instead of Eurovision” – Ireland’s state broadcaster will air Father Ted’s Eurovision-themed episode in place of the contest’s grand final as part of its boycott of Israel’s participation, reports the Daily Record.
- “Macron interrupts speakers to demand silence at Africa summit” – The French President angrily interrupted a diplomatic event at Kenya’s Nairobi University to demand silence from the audience, according to the Telegraph.
- “Full Hamas October 7th depravity revealed for the first time” – A harrowing new report lays bare the sexual brutality of the October 7th attacks, from rape and mutilation to torture and humiliation – and the refusal among some on the Left to believe it happened at all, report Natalie Lisbona and Andrew Jehring in the Mail.
- “Israel attacks New York Times over ‘systematic rape’ claims” – Israel has accused the New York Times of promoting a “blood libel” after the newspaper alleged widespread rape and sexual abuse by Israeli prison guards against Palestinian inmates, says theTelegraph.
- “UAE ‘carried out secret attacks on Iran’” – The United Arab Emirates is reported to have conducted clandestine military strikes on Iran despite publicly claiming it has played no part in the war, reports the Telegraph.
- “A huge win in Berenson vs Biden” – On the Unreported Truths Substack, Alex Berenson announces that the Trump administration has admitted the Biden White House breached the constitution and settled his lawsuit – with a six-figure payment and a formal acknowledgement of First Amendment breaches.
- “I don’t want to put another black man in jail” – The murder of a New Yorker could have been averted if not for the suicidal empathy that is spreading among victims, writes Kat Rosenfield in the Free Press.
- “New York’s socialist mayor abandons property wealth tax” – The Mayor of New York City has scrapped plans to raise property taxes by nearly 10% as he wages war on millionaires and billionaires, reports the Telegraph.
- “This is the evidence that should set Lucy Letby free” – In the Mail, Nadine Dorries sets out four new pieces of evidence she believes cast serious doubt on the conviction of Lucy Letby.
- “Tony Blair’s daughter-in-law to run £500 million government AI fund” – The wife of Euan Blair has been appointed to lead the investment committee of a new half-billion-pound Government AI fund, reports the Telegraph.
- “Labour blamed for delaying 100 million barrel North Sea oil project” – Labour has been accused of holding back development of one of Britain’s best remaining North Sea oil fields, says the Telegraph.
- “Net Zero’s high street takeover” – On Substack, the Rationals reveal how energy costs and business rates fuel organised crime and illegal migration – and how you pay for it.
- “2026 on track for ‘extraordinary extreme weather’, scientists warn” – Researchers say that a developing El Niño weather pattern is poised to make 2026 the hottest year on record, according to the Mail.
- “Renewables Obligation subsidies top £100 billion” – The cumulative cost of renewables subsidies – levied on electricity bills without any democratic mandate – has now hit £101.2 billion, with last year alone seeing renewable generators pocket £7.7 billion, writes Paul Homewood in Not a Lot of People Know That.
- “3.. 2.. 1.. Claim: climate change will cause more hantavirus” – Alarmists are blaming global warming for the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak, but the source port of Ushuaia in Argentina has a comparable climate to Prince Rupert in British Columbia – and warm-climate Australia has virtually no hantavirus at all, notes Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
- “Wrong, Guardian, climate change hasn’t taken New Orleans beyond the ‘point of no return’” – In Climate Realism, Anthony Watts takes a red pen to the Guardian’s alarmist claim that New Orleans must begin a population retreat because of rising sea levels.
- “Masculine behaviour bad for the planet” – Phys.org has framed a gender-theory editorial as ‘climate research’ blaming masculinity for carbon emissions. It’s yet more activism dressed up as science, says Charles Rotter in Watts Up With That?
- “Show us a single project not opposed by environmentalists, green lobby” – India’s Supreme Court has blasted environmentalists for trying to stall major infrastructure projects, saying activists should offer solutions, not blanket opposition, according to the Times of India.
- “We’ve heard your pleas… Lettuce reintroduce ourselves” – As Labour reels from losing nearly 1,500 councillors in disastrous local elections, the Daily Star has revived its famous Liz Truss challenge by sending an intern to buy a Lidl lettuce to see whether Sir Keir Starmer can outlast it.
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Discussion
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/12/people-smuggler-behind-more-half-all-channel-crossings/
Nothing more than a distraction story. Given that a former undercover cop has come out publicly to declare that the “people smugglers” are actually government employees something had to be done to take the heat out of the story. As the copper says… ‘people smugglers don’t GAF about elf and safety so why would these criminals supply their “passengers” with bright red life jackets, the “customers” pay up front. Delivery is optional.’
I might have mentioned government subbies in relation to the smugglers once or twice previously.
As well as the rise in Islamic independents as councillors, you’d be hard-pressed to tell a list of local Labour councillors apart from the names that crop up in grooming gangs cases.
“Show us a single project not opposed by environmentalists, green lobby”
Cobalt mining in the DRC
Country wide expansion of bird and bat killing wind and solar + associated destruction of local habitats
HS2!
Ripping apart Indonesia with the biggest mines in the world for its nickel rich minerals used for ev production
Covering acres of arable and pastoral farm land in chinese made solar panels
Seabed dragging for nodules containing cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese—used for electric vehicle batteries and green energy technologies.
The Line, Saudi Arabia, poses a significant threat to millions of migratory birds. Situated on a major migration flyway along the Red Sea, the 105-mile-long, 500-meter-high mirrored structure could cause massive fatalities due to collisions, impacting species that rely on this route annually.
Building of massive amounts of coal produced electricity in China
….etc etc!
I take your point but HS2 has been opposed by tree-huggers. A local group started knitting scarves to tie around trees that were going to be destroyed. A bunch of itinerant protesters also tried to stop the damn thing by nesting up in some of the older trees. Stupid protests but sadly inevitably ineffective.
Thing is: not many want Birmingham to come to London or vice versa – and certainly nobody who lives near the route.
It’s quite amusing that the loonies managed to get HS2 to build the bat tunnel/shed while all the while wind farms are knocking thousands of them out of the sky (edit: bats not loonies).
There’s a National Trust beauty spot on the edge of the Chilterns called Coombe Hill. My parents used to take the family there 60 years ago. I went there recently with my grandchildren. Now it gives a wonderful view of the destruction of the valley below.
HS2 was only ever intended as a massive money laundering scam and nothing more.
3.. 2.. 1.. Claim: climate change will cause more hantavirus
Hey Birmingham. Not emptying the bins and allowing a population explosion of rats will cause far more.
“Zack Polanski’s council tax blunder shows he isn’t fit to lead the Greens”
If we ordinary serfs were to default on our taxes it wouldn’t be referred to as a ‘Blunder’..
“Oh sorry, I must have blundered on my tax return”
“Oh right, that’s OK then Mr Polanski, carry on”
For us: Final warning then bailiffs !
The scale of his omission is incredible.
Tax returns are complicated. With the best will in the world mistakes are sometimes made. I hope I have not done so.
but if you have your own home in this country you know you should be paying Council Tax. I suppose if you have multiple properties like Rayner there might be a need for advice on which is your main home (and standard rated for Council Tax) and which is the second home with higher tax.
But no one can be in doubt about council tax being due.
Council Tax is “billed.” Is Paulden denying ever receiving a bill? If he wasn’t billed we have a local council failing to do it’s job.
I’ve had enough of the psychodrama of Starmer barring the toilet door while he flushes Britain down the bog. Off for a long walk without looking at any media today. Touching grass I think it’s called.
Good idea. And it’s nice to know that Starmer will spend the rest of his life touching cloth.
Allison gets a lot right about the Marxist elites that have infected every single aspect of our lives like a bad rash weeping stinking poison. But what she doesn’t even begin to tackle is how the proles do actually get to “end politics as we know it”. Allison appears to believe that simply changing the government will do it. I sometimes wonder if I live on the same planet as everyone else, because on my planet we’ve had successive governments in a supposed representative democracy not representing the people they’ve been elected to represent. That’s not a broken government, it’s a broken system. That’s not a failure of representative democracy, it’s a failure of any kind of democracy.
The system exists to maintain the system; it will not fix itself because it is not broken – quite the opposite. And if we can’t understand that very simple lesson then we deserve the Marxist utopia that awaits us.
The numbers speak for themselves, Lemming… this last round of ‘political earthquake’ results are predicated upon a turnout of just 32% of the electorate.
’Demos’ literally means ‘of the people’. If the people can’t be bothered, I don’t know what ‘democracy’ means…
But be bothered for what? That’s the question. To continue buying tickets to the Proles Theatre? Or to believe we should, and can, live entirely differently – a life that values true meaning, not materialistic worth, and a life that’s more transparent without an elite set that’s completely detached from the people? Because we’ve never lived it it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t imagine it or try to bring it into being.
Surely, if I traipse over to a ballot box every few years and write a letter X in box then plop it in a plastic box then I live in a democracy?
😉
Honestly, people believe
Voting = Democracy
and
Democracy = Voting
The real powers that be are happy that the majority have this simplistic view.
Democracy to me means frequently sitting/standing face-to-face with the rule makers and making it unambiguously clear when their rules are crap.
That’s why the tyrants don’t like local government, because it makes real manifestations of democracy easier.
Actual democracy is a lot closer to the actual meaning of anarchy than people realise. You need to have a very healthy scepticism of and disrespect for authority to get a true democracy.
If everyone operated according to si vis pacem para bellum, then we’d all be a lot fewer, healthier and wealthier. But people want to believe that preparing for war is only the government’s responsibility.
And no, most people can’t be bothered when they’re too distracted by concocted difficulties.
In Socialist Poland, they used to distract people by making essentials like toilet roll and toothpaste very hard to come by. People had to spend… Read more »
…then we’d all be a lot
fewermore free. I have no idea how autocorrect found “fewer”! Must be AI.Spot on. The whole system relies on four things: stupidity, naivety, trust, and distraction.
Regardless of how it is selected, with the government spending more than 40% of national output democracy is a meaningless concept, especially when so many people are happy to be bought with the fruit of other people’s labour.
Spot on. The whole edifice needs wrecking and replacing.
Our salvation will not arrive via the ballot box.