Rape investigation into Crispin Blunt dropped
However, in a statement, Surrey Police today told The Spectator that:
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Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
KEVIN MAGUIRE: 'Brextremists and Trumpists have proved their unfitness to govern Britain'
The Mirror's Kevin Maguire argues that Brextremists and Trumpists have proved they are unfit to ever govern Britain again, saying "they must never be trusted" They must never be trusted again, inviting infamy as the British fools who sold out heroic Volodymyr Zelensky and assaulted Ukraine by supporting Putin's puppet Donald Trump 's bid for the US Presidency. Lickspittle Nigel Farage campaigned for his 'good friend' Trump at rallies and fawned over America's tinpot tyrant. Chancer Boris Johnson undid the signature achievement that was backing Ukraine in an otherwise sleazy, incompetent and corrupt Premiership by ignoring alarm bells to endorse his fellow great deceiver. Deranged Liz Truss cemented her descent into idiocy after that short-lived disastrous No 10 spell in falsely asserting the world would be safer with Trump in the Oval Office. Naive Kemi Badenoch bought a Trump stunt in McDonald's as proof he understood ordinary Americans' lives because she once temporarily worked in one of the corporation's burger bars. Shape-shifting Farage tribute act Robert Jenrick, currently plotting to seize Badenoch's Tory tarnished crown, actually boasted in August last year, he would vote for Trump if he could. Foot-in-mouther Suella Braverman was similarly gushing, the twice sacked Conservative former Home Secretary and onetime Reform potential recruit publicly declaring too she wanted Trump to be President. Tory posh disciple Jacob Rees-Mogg was so besotted he gushed he'd love to emulate Trump and - seriously! - 'build a wall in the middle of the English Channel' before Somerset gave the prat the boot. And then there is 30p Lee Anderson, another Reform pickup from the Tories, who strutted as the England's shouty Midlands version of the US Fat Cat tycoon. As we shudder at a Trump putty in Putin's hands, let us remember Desperate Donald's British acolytes also missold the expensive tragedy that is Brexit with special mention for generic Jenryk, an opportunist vocal convert since the 2016 referendum. Yanking Britain out of the European Union, the economy diving and migration jumping alongside longer passport queues, should be enough on its own for the above to never be gifted power in future. The fate of Ukraine, US President demanding Kyiv surrender when America would rightly never, for example, sign away Alaska or California if Putin occupied its territory, seals the ill-judgement of Britain's Trumpists. Labour PM Keir Starmer playing a difficult diplomatic hand is stomach-churning whenever he lauds Trump to sustain a bromance in the hope the UK can be a minor restraint. But send any of the true believers into Downing Street and regrets we'd quickly have a plenty, reduced to a 51st state. The Brextremists and Trumpists have proved their unfitness to govern Britain. Don't get me started on feather-bedded £3m landowners Wealthfare beneficiaries are loudly bemoaning again they may no longer be able to pocket nice fortunes without paying their fair dues to our country, a rich something-for-nothing brigade upset this time over speculation Rachel Reeves might shut a £2.1billion inheritance tax loophole. The cash slipped to dodge the duty by giving it away at least seven years before the owner shuffles off this mortal coil has soared 40% over five years. That's lost tax that could improve health and education, enforce law and order or fill potholes instead of cascading inequality and privilege through generations. Life's lottery winners who pay inheritance tax are fortunate when a couple can leave a fat million before it starts applying and don't get me started on feather-bedded £3m landowners and farmers. The Chancellor of the Exchequer may do nothing, intimidated by a self-serving backlash. That would be a pity. Jaundiced Jenkyns all over the place There's nothing like a dame when it's clueless Reform reactionary Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the former Boris Johnson Tory fan woman now the ultra-Conservative party's Greater Lincolnshire Mayor. Surely playing herself in an adults-only pantomime in the Grimsby Auditorium is next after frightening shallowness was exposed in a horror performance on Channel 4 News with Krishnan Guru Murthy. Jaundiced Jenkyns was all over the place when challenged how she'd deal practically with asylum seekers then collapsed completely when her interlocutor factually pointed out the vast majority of sexual crimes are committed by British-born people. Right-whingers like Jenkyns want to single out the ethnicity of suspects to fuel fires, not douse flames. As a grandfather of Southport victim Bebe King observed, mental health issues and poor educational attainment correlate with criminal convictions. Releasing school records might be more relevant. You got to be squidding us They say that if you lie down with dogs you catch fleas but holy carp when poor David Lammy's on the hook after fishing with bottom feeding American extremist JD Vance before buying a legally required rod licence. I bet he's let off with a slap on the wrist with a shop-bought dead old carp rather than netting the max £2,500 fine yet for heaven's hake the hapless Foreign Secretary's organisational skills are plankton level. Next time he needs to mussel up and tell a US Vice President who ain't no fintastic catch you got to be squidding us. Going up Now Labour's conscience, former leader Neil Kinnock reminding voters what the UK Government should do by proposing the end of a poverty-creating vile Tory two-child benefit cap after earlier championing a wealth tax is top trolling. Starmer must hate him. Going down UK trade envoys are political Mickey Mouse jobs but Manchester Rusholme MP Afzal Khan is more Goofy, forced to quit his Turkey sinecure after visiting the Turkish occupied northern Cyprus pariah state. Talk about failing to use his noggin. Speaker's corner 'I was never really one for posters because why would you ruin the wallpaper?' And I'm never really one to knock the young yet £400million Warwickshire council's 19-year-old student Reform leader George Finch - still living with his mam - never putting up a footballer, pop star or even a map in his bedroom is a taste of Hard Right weirdos who'd fill Parliament should Farage win an election.
Metro
3 hours ago
- Metro
M23 closed after 'taxi driver' killed in crash on busy motorway
A man has died in a collision after being struck as he got out of his car in a layby. Officers were called to the M23 following reports of a collision involving the driver of an Audi and the driver of a VW. A man in his 50s, believed to be a taxi driver, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 6.30am this morning. His family have been informed. A man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Police said the victim was out of his vehicle at the time of the collision. The M23 northbound carriageway was closed for several hours between J8 and J7. There were also closures in place on the A23 northbound between Glebe Road and Dean Lane. A Surrey Police spokesman said: 'We are now looking for any information that could assist our investigation. 'We are particularly interested in the movements of a purple Audi Q4 immediately prior to the collision.' 'Were you in the area around the A23 and M23 between J8 and J7 this morning shortly before 6.30am? 'Did you witness the collision, or do you have any CCTV, dashcam or helmet cam footage that may assist our enquiries? Please get in touch with any information.' He added: 'Please avoid the area and use alternative routes where possible. We will provide an update as soon as we are able to.' MORE: Russia-linked DHL warehouse fire in Birmingham left Amazon container '100% destroyed' MORE: Gang bundled pregnant woman into van and threatened to cut her fingers off MORE: M25 delays expected overnight after tyre lorry goes up in flames near Lakeside
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
Dining across the divide: ‘It was like a communist interrogation'
Occupation Data engineer Voting record Usually Conservative, but didn't vote in the last two elections – 'The parties seem broadly the same. Nobody really stands by the manifesto' Amuse bouche This isn't Michael's first career – he started his working life as a history teacher Occupation Mainly a student, but works on social media and campaigns for the Workers party Voting record The Workers party; has also voted Green Amuse bouche Sophia can recite the full lyrics to Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire. Can also sing it, but only when she's been drinking Michael She was covered in a bunch of communist pins; it came off as a little bit of an intentional caricature. My first impression was: younger than I thought and wearing her politics on her sleeve, literally. Sophia I was expecting someone more rightwing, more Reform-like, but I found him pretty interesting, in regard to his abstinence from voting and his lack of interest in any of the key parties. Michael I ate some salt and pepper squid and a cod loin. Sophia I had the sourdough margherita pizza and a couple of glasses of rather nice Romanian red wine. Michael Governments' first duty of care is to their own citizens, which means migration needs to serve the interests of the people already here. Relatively unchecked mass migration doesn't seem to do that. Being someone who went through all the legal hoops – moving to the UK from Canada – the idea that I could have simply lost my passport, shown up and not had to wait in line for anything, that's not ideal. Not being able to do anything about foreign people who take advantage of the UK's astonishing generosity isn't great. Sophia He was essentially saying, 'We need growth but how are migrants going to generate that?' He felt that it would be detrimental to the migrants' own countries, in that they'd be losing their own assets. But they're leaving because they aren't seen as assets. They're leaving because of corruption, poverty, different human rights. It's not as simple as he thinks: migrants don't necessarily have a choice. Michael The situation we're in serves large corporations and keeps everyone addicted to low-wage labour. It makes our GDP look good, but it's reducing our standard of living, and that includes the people we're importing. If we want to help the whole world thrive, are we doing anyone else any favours by saying to other countries, 'Yes, we'll have all your doctors and nurses, thanks'?Sophia He looked at everything from his individual perspective as an economic agent. I think he lacked empathy, and I said that to him. He responded that I was being overly idealistic – but he was being idealistic as well, in terms of his own capital interests and what served them. If I had a penny for every time he called me idealistic, I could repair the economic conditions he's so worried about. Michael She was very keen to talk about Gaza. I don't think either side is very nice in this case. I don't have a strong opinion, except that it is atrocious. Sophia I don't see it as a war. I see it as unjustifiable violence for nationalist aims. Having a two-state solution is completely wrong, because it's only rewarding Israel for what it's done. It should be one democratically run state. Michael Everybody should have the right to be left alone. When we start having laws around misgendering, I think: look, I prefer people to be polite, but people are allowed to be impolite, and making special rules based on someone's whim is weird. Sophia I'm a gender abolitionist. He doesn't like jargon, whereas I quite like that people use labels, because that makes it feel more real, as opposed to people thinking they're abnormal. Michael I tried to be polite and stay for the duration, while she was eating. Looking back, I berate myself for not walking away sooner. It was the most communist interrogation a guy can have without ending up with bamboo shoots under his nails. Sophia It wasn't that the conversation dried up or that we hated each other; we just said goodbye. I think it was on good terms. I was probably not the sort of person he'd choose to interact with. Additional reporting: Kitty Drake Michael and Sophia ate at Riding House, London WC1 Want to meet someone from across the divide? Find out how to take part
