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Another Bad Decision By Starmer

Mandelson was always a weird choice in my opinion. Donald Trump is considering rejecting Sir Keir Starmer’s nominee for UK ambassador to the US in what would be an extremely rare move.Sources within the Trump team have told The Independent that it is still not certain Peter Mandelson’s credentials will be accepted by Mr Trump after he becomes president.While the threat of rejecting Lord Mandelson could be sabre rattling, strains between the Labour government and the incoming administration are being blamed. However, there also are concerns about Lord Mandelson’s perceived links to China.Labour has told the Trump transition team that “it is a huge compliment” that Sir Keir wants to send such a senior Labour figure, but a source noted: “We are not buying that.”It was noted that Lord Mandelson did not attend the pre-inauguration party on Friday hosted by Nigel Farage in Washington DC, even though he had been invited in an effort to help build bridges with key members of the Trump team.The outgoing UK ambassador Dame Karen Pierce, who has impressed the transition team, was there.For an ambassadorial nominee to formally take up their role, the head of state of the country they have been sent to has to accept the “letters of credence”.In the UK this is done via the Court of St James’s where letters are presented to the King and in the US letters have to be presented to the president.One source said that strained relations with Mr Trump and the British government continue to be a problem which has “been made worse” by the nomination of Lord Mandelson.However, it is connections with China which are most alarming to the incoming Trump administration.“It is quite possible that Mandelson’s credentials could still be rejected,” a source said. “There are serious concerns about his links to China.”Lord Mandelson has been a strong advocate of close trading and other ties with China, even penning an article in 2018 warning that Mr Trump’s antipathy to China was “putting free trade at risk”.https://www.aol.co.uk/trump-considering-rejecting-lord-mandelson-162908190.html

Sue Hammond ● 10d49 Comments ● 7d

Trump wants UK to take back groomed Shamima

"Britain MUST take back Shamima Begum and other Isis members from Syrian prisons, Trump's terror chief says""The UK should take back British members of Islamic State who are languishing in Syrian prison camps, Donald Trump's incoming terror chief has said. Sebastian Gorka, a British-American, called on Sir Keir Starmer to bring the citizens home as part of his 'commitment' to the international fight against the jihadist group. His comments come after ISIS bride Shamima Begum last year lost her final appeal against the government's decision to rescind her British citizenship.It is thought she would be one of the members of the terror group who would be repatriated under his plans. There are currently around 20 British women, 40 children and 10 men detained in prison camps in northeastern Syria, according to charities working in the region.Gorka, who has been appointed a deputy assistant to the president-elect, told The Times countries needed to act in a way that reflects their desire to be a US ally. And when asked whether Britain should be forced to take the ISIS prisoners back, he said: 'Any nation which wishes to be seen to be a serious ally and friend of the most powerful nation in the world should act in a fashion that reflects that serious commitment.'That is doubly so for the UK which has a very special place in President Trump's heart and we would all wish to see the "special relationship" fully re-established.'""Since ISIS was defeated in 2019, the US has been piling on the pressure for its partners to repatriate their citizens many of whom have been detained for years.The American Justice Department has argued it is their 'moral responsibility' to solve to bring the prisoners home and try them there. Britain has so far taken a hard line on the matter and has refused most repatriation requests- with the most notorious being the Begum case."https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14265157/Shamima-Begum-Isis-members-Syrian-Trump.html

David Ainsworth ● 16d63 Comments ● 10d

Axe murderer?

Must be true."Tough-on-crime crusader Elon Musk claims that there was an axe murderer on the loose in the city of San Francisco who tried to kill several of his employees, with the authorities doing nothing to catch the assailant. The key word in all of this being "claims.""About a year ago, a guy tried to kill three X employees with an axe outside the former Twitter HQ in SF. They reported it to the police, but nothing was done," Musk tweeted, responding to the account End Wokeness (a favorite of his). "He later killed someone with that axe."If this is true, the city has become so utterly lawless that the cops never got wind of the grisly murder. On Monday, local police said they could find no records supporting Musk's story, the San Francisco Chronicle reports — evidence that, once again, Musk may be simply be fibbing or falling victim to preposterous rumors."Based on the information provided, we cannot find any incident that matches this description in that location in 2023 or 2024," Evan Sernoffsky, a San Francisco police spokesperson, told the Chronicle.Tall FailsYes, it would be remiss to take the authorities at their word. But Musk can't even get his own story straight here. As we'll show, he's made these claims before, changing key details literally every time he's done so.When Musk shared a similar account last April, he stated that "several" employees were threatened "by a guy with a machete" outside a Walgreens — not with an axe, and not outside Twitter headquarters."They didn't report it," Musk claimed, "because that doesn't constitute an arrestable crime in California. That guy later killed 3 people." His most recent version of events, however, purports that the employees did report the crime — and that the assailant only killed one person.In an interview with Tucker Carlson last October, Musk threw in another variation in body count: the hatchet man, back to menacing employees outside Twitter HQ rather than a drugstore, killed two people, according to the Chronicle.Facts vs FeelingsMusk has frequently lied and spread conspiracy theories in his railing against crime, foreigners, and anything else that can be pinned on the "woke" agenda. Last year, for example, he chimed in the conservative moral-panic-of-the-moment by accusing Haitian immigrants of being "cannibals," while spreading other unfounded claims. He's even suggested that most homeless people don't exist, and that the word "homeless" is "usually a propaganda word for violent drug addicts."Given his conflicting reports and his history of fabulism — whether as part of the culture war or to prop up his enterprises — it's hard to take this axe-slash-machete murderer tale of his seriously.The real axeman of San Francisco may in fact be Musk himself: after taking over Twitter, he annihilated 80 percent of its workforce, or more than 6,000 employees." (The Byte, 16/1/25)https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-axe-murdererhttps://x.com/elonmusk/status/1878319143860253042

David Ainsworth ● 11d4 Comments ● 10d

'Let's name the guilty men'

David AinsworthDate/Time: 10/01/25 18:06:00It's all very well for some people to turn accusations of what are obviously major sex crimes against children into a defence against so called politically (by the Conservatives) motivated racism against groups of Pakistani Muslims.To many the 'crime' of racism seems to be more heinous than the crime of child rape.However I have not seen such accusations made against other ethnic or religious groups.Now I know many will stop reading here for below are descriptions of these crimes and their perpetrators taken from today's MailOnline - a well known extreme right wing publication. (boo ! hiss !).What I cannot really understand is why these criminals cannot be deported to to their place of birth and origin.Can anyone explain ?"Violated all over again and haunted by the paedophiles who raped us: How the evil Rochdale Nine have been handed a fortune in legal aid so that a decade on only ONE has been deported - to the anguish of victims" 'Few people outside the town of Rochdale would recognise Abdul Rauf if they saw him. But for those in the know in this Greater Manchester town, the sight of the 55-year-old paedophile, a key figure in one of the UK’s most notorious child grooming gangs, is an utter outrage which strikes at their hearts.By rights this abusive monster should have been deported to his native Pakistan years ago but today, thanks largely to bureaucratic red tape and taxpayer-funded legal filibustering, he’s out of jail and back at home in his red-brick semi with his wife, five children and grandchildren – free to come and go as he pleases.Rauf himself was convicted in 2012 of trafficking a teenage girl and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child after driving one 15-year-old victim to different locations where he and some of his monstrous cronies had sex with her up to 20 times.The men, mainly British Pakistanis, often plied the girls with drink and drugs and passed them around for sex but police initially failed to investigate amid fears of being accused of racism.Mohammed Sajid was found guilty of conspiracy, trafficking, one count of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child.Hamid Safi was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking.Taxi driver Abdul Aziz, known as 'The Master' was found guilty of conspiracy and trafficking for sexual exploitation.Abdul Qayyum, known as 'Tiger', was found guilty of conspiracy.Kabeer Hassan was found guilty of conspiracy and rape.Adil Khan renounced his Pakistani nationality days before the Court of Appeal ruled he could be stripped of his UK citizenship.Shabir Ahmed was the ringleader of a Rochdale child sex grooming gang who cited human rights laws to appeal against deportation.Mohammed Amin was jailed for five years'.  

John Hawkes ● 17d2 Comments ● 16d

Musk's 'disinformation' endangering me, says Phillips

"Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has told BBC's Newsnight that "disinformation" spread by Elon Musk was "endangering" her but that it was "nothing" compared to the experiences of victims of abuse.The tech billionaire and adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump labelled Phillips a "rape genocide apologist" and said she should be jailed.Asked if the threat to her own safety had gone up since his social media posts and whether protections were in place, Phillips replied "yes".She said the experience had been "very, very, very tiring" but that she was "resigned to the lot in life that you get as a woman who fights violence against women and girls".She added: "I'm no stranger to people who don't know what they're talking about trying to silence women like me."The row between Mr Musk and the UK government concerns cases of groups of men - mainly of Pakistani descent - being convicted for sexually abusing and raping predominantly white girls around the UK.Mr Musk's intervention came in response to Phillips rejecting a request for the government to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham - which sparked calls from the Conservatives and Reform UK for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.Phillips decision was taken in October but first reported by GB News at the start of the year, and then picked up by Mr Musk on his social media platform X.Phillips defended the government's decision not to hold a national inquiry, arguing that local inquiries, such as one held in Telford, were more effective at leading to change."What I saw happen in Telford is the exact opposite of what I have seen happen because of the national expert inquiry for the last two years since it came out - I saw change happen," she said.She said she would be getting council leaders together to learn the lessons from Telford."When people say it's the council marking their own homework, it isn't."It is an independent inquiry led locally and it's the only model I've seen work, and I've worked in this field for 15 years."The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which lasted seven years and reported in 2022, made 20 recommendations - however, none has yet been implemented.Speaking to the Today programme earlier Prof Alexis Jay, who led the inquiry, said: "We've had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions... we have set out what action is required and people should just get on with it locally and nationally.""BBC Jan 8th

David Ainsworth ● 18d0 Comments ● 18d