RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: The Labour morons are happy to damage Britain to support their half-baked virtues. Their treatment of Donald Trump tells us exactly why they can't be trusted
You don't have to agree with the President's policies, or admire the cut of his jib, to acknowledge that as leader of our most important military ally and trading partner he is worthy of respect.
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Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Boost to socialist NYC mayor hopeful as the Big Apple's most conservative borough swings his way
Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has received a huge boost as Democratic leaders in even the city's most conservative borough publicly backed the controversial nominee. Staten Island Democrats announced this week they are supporting the 33-year-old in the general election after previously backing his moderate rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during the primary in June. The former governor is now running in the general election on an independent along with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, while Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa runs on the Republican line. Explaining why the Staten Island Democratic Party has swung for Mamdani, Chairwoman Laura LoBianco told the New York Post: 'Zohran is the Democratic nominee. The voters have spoken.' 'We want to work together. I want to make sure Staten Island has a seat at the table,' she added. The announcement comes weeks after Brooklyn Democrat chairwoman Rodneyse Bichotte, who also endorsed Cuomo during the primary election, shared her support for the '100 percent communist' following his primary victory. Mamdani has also been in contact with party leaders in Queens, particularly those who represent black neighborhoods that largely went for Cuomo during the primary. 'While Zohran builds real support across all five boroughs, Cuomo's campaign is withering as New Yorkers learn he stands for absolutely nothing but his own ambition, dogged by scandal, corruption and a record of sexual harassment and humiliation,' a spokesperson for Mamdani's campaign has said. Mamdani has campaigned on a series of woke policies that would drastically reshape the City that Never Sleeps. He has said he wants to raise taxes on millionaires and corporations by $9 billion to subsidize his plans for fare-free buses, free child care and housing. Mamdani, who is currently serving in the New York State Legislature, also wants to spend $65 million on transgender care and has pushed populist ideas including grocery stores that would be owned by the city. Additionally, the controversial figure has advocated for defunding the city's police department - but vowed to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to set foot in the Big Apple. Mamdani seemed to double down on those remarks by expressing his support to 'globalize the intifada' - and defending the controversial phrase, which many see as a call for violence against Israeli and Jewish people around the world. Yet LoBianco Sword said Mamdani's messaging is clearly getting through to the public as she praised the socialist candidate for bringing new voters into the Democratic Party. She then went on to argue that Mamdani has correctly identified the problems plaguing the city, claiming that whether or not voters agree with his plan for government-run grocery stores it is evident that there are 'food deserts' in the city. When she was then asked about Mamdani's plans to raise taxes, LoBianco Sword said she agreed that the wealthy 'should pay their fair share.' In an effort to further his base, Mamdani is now planning a large general election campaign launch on August 17 on Staten Island. He is apparently hoping to close the gap between him and the former governor, who narrowly beat Mamdani in the primary - with 46.5 percent of the vote compared to 37.5 percent during the initial round of ranked-choice voting. But Staten Island Republican Chairman Michael Tannousis said he still does not see the island going for Mamdani in the general as he blasted the Democrat's support for the socialist candidate as a 'shotgun wedding.' Instead, Tannousis said he believes many moderate Democrats will vote for Sliwa, who won 65 percent of the vote in the borough against Adams in 2021, when Adams ran as a Democrat. 'There is no appetite for socialism and the socialist agenda,' he argued. 'Curtis will win Staten Island,' the state assemblyman added. 'He may get a bigger vote than four years ago.' 'Staten Islanders will have a choice: either the Mamdani socialist Democrats or the Republican ticket.' Sliwa also told the Post: 'If I lose Staten Island, shame on me. It's a real battleground but I've been there forever.' He then went on to suggest Staten Islanders would never forgive current Mayor Eric Adams for bringing migrant shelters into the borough and argued that Cuomo is running on his legacy - making him the only viable rival to Mamdani. Meanwhile, a representative for the Cuomo campaign called Mamdan the second coming of former Mayor Bill de Blasio - and not in a good way. Spokesman Rich Azzopardi said the socialist 'reeks of insecurity' and has a 'history of anti-cop, anti-capitalist rhetoric that will go over as well on Staten Island as Bill de Blasio eating pizza with a fork and a knife. 'Ladies and gentlemen: Bill de Blasio 2.0,' he argued. But late night host Bill Maher has seemed to suggest Mamdani may be worse, as he warned that the Democratic Party is headed for collapse if it continues to appease radical leftists like the New York City mayoral hopeful. Speaking during the Overtime segment of his show Real Time with Bill Maher on YouTube, the comedian said Democrats are gripped by an 'identity crisis' and running out of time to choose a side. 'The world is a complicated place and it's not just about oppressor and oppressed,' Maher argued. 'They have a thought in their head that white people did some very bad things and white people did some very bad things, BUT so did everybody else in the world. 'But they don't know that, they see the world through this one prism. And until they do, I don't think you're going to get them off this issue and I don't think the Democratic Party is going to go forward until they make a decision: whose side are you on here? 'Are you on the side of Western civilization and Western values or are you on the side of the terrorists?' He then pointed to Mamdani as an example of how extreme the party's fringe has become. 'There's a lot of opposition [to Mamdani] because we've never had someone this radical,' Maher said. 'Some of the things he says, you know he quotes Marxists, "each according to their need." I mean, that's straight up communism.' Maher was backed in his argument by his guest, Secret City author and columnist James Kirchick, who accused Democratic leaders of showing 'cowardice and spinelessness' by failing to denounce Mamdani. He likened their silence to how Republicans failed to stop Donald Trump's rise.
BBC News
8 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Manvers asylum seeker hotel riot will not stain our town'
On 4 August 2024, TV screens across Britain were filled with violent scenes unfolding in Manvers, a usually quiet suburb of Wath upon Dearne, near Rotherham in South watched live as fires were set outside a hotel housing 200 asylum seekers, with a mob chanting "burn it down" as bricks and bottles were hurled at windows and police officers. One year on, barely any visible signs of damage remain at the Holiday Inn Express on Manvers Way. But last year's riot left behind more than scorched walls and shattered glass - it exposed deep fractures in public trust and a town's quiet determination to rise above fear and division."I live about a mile away," Patrick tells the BBC. "I could see it burning, I could see the smoke coming from it."Patrick is one of about 17,000 people who live in Wath. That day, he watched as riot police scrambled to the scene, sirens and shouts echoing through the streets. A police helicopter circled overhead, mounted officers lined Manvers town, nestled in the triangle between Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham, was once the beating heart of the region's coal many former mining communities, the area has a complex relationship with authority - including the police and media - a tension deepened in the wake of the Rotherham child abuse scandal. On the morning of 4 August, members of anti-immigration and pro-immigration organisations gathered outside the hotel in Manvers for a peaceful early afternoon, the atmosphere had turned volatile. Pro-immigration protesters were led to safety by who is from Wath but now lives in Batley, says: "I remember seeing the images and I know the place well."I was a bit shocked by it all."He does not support what happened in Manvers but says the country has "an immigration problem that needs to be solved"."I don't know how we go about that, to be honest," he says."We're too full." On the day, dozens of anti-immigration protesters wore balaclavas, while others had England flags and Union Jacks draped around their shoulders. Some stood topless, drinking from cans of beer, and some had even brought their children. Bins were set alight and pushed against fire exits, preventing those inside - including 25 hotel staff - from fence posts, furniture and rocks were thrown at hotel windows and police officers. Smaller groups tried to tip over an occupied police van, while others made repeated attempts to breach the building, eventually managing to get it was all over, the cost of the damage had mounted to an estimated £1m. More than 100 people - mostly men from Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham - have since been convicted in relation to the Manvers riot. More than a dozen youths, aged between 13 and 17, received referral 64 police officers were injured - several seriously - as well as three police horses and one police Kent, chair of the South Yorkshire Police Federation, says many officers are still dealing with the physical and psychological effects."Some of the cops were at the (2001) Bradford riots and the (2011) London riots and they've said they've never known anything like the level of aggression and just viciousness of some of the behaviour that was put towards them on the day," he says."We had a flurry of officers (coming to us) at the time, but it's also since officers have been triggered by going to other disorder events at football." Stand Up To Racism campaigner, Phil Turner, says his group was forced to retreat on the day for safety reasons."The level of violence on the day last year was such where I think they could and certainly would have wanted to kill people inside the hotel," Mr Turner, a former journalist, the shocking scenes, Mr Turner says the support and "outpouring of solidarity" that followed the riot was encouraging."Forty years ago this was the heart of the mining strike, a very solidly working-class area where people stuck together," he says."I think it's something that we can rebuild." The Manvers riot, described as one of the worst cases of civil disorder in the UK in recent history, was part of a wave of unrest across the UK last summer, which broke out following the mass stabbings in perpetrator, who could not be named initially due to his age, had targeted a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, circulating on social media claimed the 17-year-old killer was Muslim; an asylum seeker who had recently arrived to the country by boat. In reality, he was born and raised in Wales to Rwandan Christian parents who had migrated to the UK in 2002. Terri, who runs The Little Curiosity Shoppe in Wath, says misinformation and a lack of transparency over who was housed in the Manvers hotel escalated already growing tensions."I think that causes unrest," she says. "I think if people don't know, they then jump to their own conclusions."The Holiday Inn Express in Manvers was contracted to provide accommodation for refugees on behalf of the government in 2022, prompting protests in February 2024, about 200 asylum seekers were being housed in the building. None of the people who the BBC spoke to condone the summer violence but say they "can understand why it happened"."We're all fed up with having nothing," Pam says."You work all your lives and you can't get in to see a doctor, you can't get in to see a dentist. These people are coming over - who are all men - are walking around Wath."According to the Home Office, 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2025. More than half were adult men and 11% were males aged 17 and seekers are not allowed to work and usually get an allowance of £49.18 per person per week for food, clothing and toiletries (or £9.95 per person if their accommodation provides meals) as well as access to free cannot choose where they live and are housed in either a flat, house, hostel or bed and breakfast. Pam, like many others, feels the country is at breaking point. With proposed benefit cuts and the cost of living crisis, she believes the UK can no longer afford to support asylum seekers in the way it once did."We've just got to look after our own and I feel very sorry that it's got to this, but this country needs to have a complete overhaul," she says."It's just continually 'you can't afford this, this has gone up, cost of living, your benefits are coming down' - and then they're walking round in new clothes and it's not right."South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard agrees more must be done to tackle "the immigration crisis", calling for greater government support for regions like his that have hosted asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. "I want those places to get support from the government to make sure that we have access equally in our communities, to opportunities, to jobs, to doctors' appointments, to school places," he says."We need a transport network that connects people up so that they can access opportunities outside of their community, and we need good homes, good houses for young people and education."To rebuild community trust, several grassroots initiatives received targeted funding, including Voluntary Action non-profit organisation's strategic cohesion coordinator, Jonathan Ellis, says the charity currently offers weekly walks to celebrate Rotherham's green spaces and is planning to host several celebrations over the next few months."I think people feel more connected now than perhaps they did 12 months ago and this project is about keeping that cohesion going, keeping those community links developing," Mr Ellis says. Saeed Sayed and Raja Khan, members of non-profit charity Rotherham Friends in Deed, say the riot was not a "real reflection" of the them, the true character of the town lies not in the headlines, but in the acts of people's kindness and their shared belief that Rotherham can - and will - move forward, together."I have been in this town for about 50 years and I found it very, very welcoming," Mr Sayed says."Where I live I am perhaps one of the only two Asian families and there's a lot of love, respect and care for each other."I feel very confidently that whatever the challenges we'll rise through them."Mr Khan, who was born in Kashmir, says that while he enjoys returning to his birthplace, Rotherham is where his heart is."My home is Rotherham and the home of my children and grandchildren and hopefully great-grandchildren is Rotherham," he says."We love Rotherham. It is a great town and it's not going to be stained by what happened at Manvers." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Telegraph
9 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The greatest threat to our universities isn't funding or AI, it's China
I've been thinking a lot about a particular intestinal parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. Its goal is to enter the stomachs of cats. To achieve this, it infects rats, causing them to develop a 'fatal attraction' to the feline predators, which kill and consume them. Job done. This could be taken as a metaphor for much that is wrong with Britain. In the sybaritic decades since the Cold War, we have developed an infatuation with the very people and things that will devour us. It is a kind of cultural pathology. Consider universities. From Marxism to jihadism, every dogma that opposes Western values is seemingly not just indulged, but actively promoted by academics and embraced by students. I read English in the early noughties. The trend was underway then. Under the rubric of 'critical theory', we were taught to interpret all of literature as an allegory for postcolonialism, queer theory, deconstruction, feminism and Marxism (never conservatism or liberalism). Fast-forward to today and the Pride Progress flag flutters above my old college. Keffiyeh-clad students – frequently lecturers, too – demand the toppling of statues and raise hell in venerable quads in support of the very ideologies that would deprive them of their freedoms. This cultural Toxoplasma gondii was particularly in evidence this week, when new university free speech rules were announced by the Department for Education. These aim to bar overseas regimes from vetting staff employed at British universities, in an effort to fight 'any attempt by a foreign state to intimidate, harass or harm individuals in the UK'. The measures are understood to particularly affect Confucius Institutes, which are partnerships between British and Chinese universities. Funded by an arm of the Chinese state, they offer tuition in Mandarin and cultural activities at 20 universities, including Manchester, Coventry and Liverpool. They have long been accused of acting as a sinister Trojan horse for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). According to the charity UK-China Transparency, Chinese Confucius Institute staff are vetted by CCP apparatchiks for their 'political attitude' before being appointed to work in Britain. Once on our shores, they are said to 'impose state-sponsored discipline' on Chinese students and 'conduct harassment'. Is it a coincidence that the engine of Chairman Mao's cultural revolution was China's youth, with the Red Guards paramilitary movement led by a vanguard of students? Given these concerns, the new regulations would seem long overdue. But how did the Toxoplasma university officials respond? To defend the Confucius Institutes, of course. To be fair to them, the Middle Kingdom is a cash cow. Astonishingly, more than a quarter of our students are now Chinese, and they pay far higher rates than British youngsters. But this only proves that the problem extends to generations of government, which created the financial model that encouraged such dependency. Last year it emerged that, after becoming apparently compromised by an alleged Chinese spy, Prince Andrew got rather too close for comfort to the regime in Beijing, even sending an annual birthday letter to President Xi. At the time, there was a great appetite for the story. Not only was it scandalous, but it concerned the member of the Royal Family that – after that Emily Maitlis interview – the public loves to hate. The true implications of the revelations, however, were less widely appreciated. Prince Andrew was not simply an anomalous case, distinguished by his gullibility and desperation. He was symbolic of growing Chinese influence over many aspects of British officialdom. Future generations will surely marvel at the enthusiasm with which we enabled our destruction. If they still have the freedom to do so, of course.
