A British politician is charged with taking bribes to boost Russia's agenda in Ukraine
LONDON — A hard-right British politician has been charged with accepting bribes to make favorable statements about Russia in the European Parliament.
Nathan Gill, 51, appeared in a London court on Monday. He did not enter a plea to eight counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
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Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kansas prairie inspires couple to foster connection and civic dialogue
A recreation of the spaceship from "Doctor Who," made by artist Sheila Roberts, sits on a Kansas prairie trail owned by Laura Mead, who opens up the trail to help people find a deeper understanding of self. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector) DOVER — A recreation of a TARDIS — the blue British police box and time-traveling spaceship from 'Doctor Who' — sits on a Kansas prairie with one purpose: fostering connection, both with oneself and with others. Other art installations along a walking path in Laura Mead and Dave Kendall's backyard in Dover form a meditative journey and, like their well-attended virtual town hall in February for an absent U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, represent the couple's mission to reignite dialogue. There are a few other literal and figurative bells and whistles — the TARDIS leads to an artistic interpretation of the spaceship, complete with a console, for example. Mead hears a common response to their work: 'I feel less alone.' 'People are longing to feel connected. They're longing to feel a part of something, and shared values,' Mead said. 'As we become more isolated in these bubbles, it becomes harder to even talk to people who think differently. It's hard to find them.' The virtual town hall they hosted lasted two and a half hours, which signaled to them that Kansans are looking for a space to talk. As a next step, they're producing a forthcoming podcast about how government changes affect people's lives. At the town hall, both Republicans and Democrats shared their lived experiences. Mead sees the value of diverse opinions and perspectives reflected back in the prairie — but also the harm of negativity. During a walk through the prairie, she pointed to a small patch of land with about a dozen types of plants. Farther down the path, closer to the highway and before the art installations, an invasive species had taken over a stretch. The couple consulted with specialists and sprayed the grass with chemicals, which stopped the spread. 'This just blows my mind,' Mead said. 'There are seed banks underground where these seeds can last for 50 or more years. And if the conditions are right, they just bloom. And unfortunately, metaphorically, I think the conditions are right right now for some of the less established parts of human nature to bloom.' Their property is a registered agritourism site, and they offer free appointments to walk the trails. Mead has seen people who were initially resistant to the walk, usually brought there by an eager partner, return more connected with themselves. Mead gestured toward a white bench nestled between two trees. She recalled an older man who had been unsure about joining the walk but was eventually persuaded by his wife. Mead said the man sat on the bench for about 30 minutes and upon return shared that he had been able to truly listen to himself. 'In this liminal space we're in, there's an opportunity for some of our best qualities to bloom,' Mead said. 'I think there is a basic human goodness. And if we can create the right environment, that will arise.' Kendall, who has written opinion columns for Kansas Reflector, grew up on a Kansas farm. After some time in California, he returned. Mead grew up in Vermont, then moved to the prairie — a part of the world where both Kendall and Mead feel a connection. Kendall is especially worried about the Trump administration's approach to climate change. 'You can't care about the climate until you're in it,' Kendall said. They believe stability, both emotional and political, can be achieved through connection. Their forthcoming podcast series will provide a platform where people from all backgrounds can answer the questions: How have changes in the federal government affected your life? What kind of America do you want to live in? What is important to you? 'This dehumanizing and othering is a difficult thing for people. It makes me unpopular in some circles, but we can't other even the people that are following the policies of this administration,' Mead said, referring to President Donald Trump. 'We can disagree, which I do.' Mead said that connection has allowed her to see that people on the other side of her politically are wanting safety, security, and respect. The couple run Prairie Hollow Productions, a documentary production company, for which they interviewed former Republican U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum. 'I learn every time I talk to Senator Kassebaum, because she's intelligent. She's thoughtful. Even if we don't necessarily agree with certain budget items or whatever, I like that kind of exchange with people. It's healthy,' Mead said. 'So my hope is that our society will deescalate some of this vitriol, deescalate some of this othering and find a way to talk again.'
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Britain's biggest steelmaker warns it faces Trump tariffs hit
The Indian owner of the Port Talbot steelworks has warned that a carve-out from Donald Trump's tariffs is 'critical' to its business. Tata Steel's UK operations are at risk of falling foul of American import tariffs even if a pending agreement between London and Washington is formalised, because of a reliance on steel made in India and elsewhere. This is because of American demands that UK steel products can only be exempt from tariffs if they used metal that was 'melted and poured' domestically. Ministers are trying to secure an exemption for Tata, which is Britain's largest steel producer, but the business otherwise faces being hit by Mr Trump's 50pc tariffs on foreign steel. The company closed the last blast furnaces at Port Talbot, south Wales, last year and is currently in the process of building an electric arc furnace at the site, which will recycle domestically-sourced scrap metal. In the meantime, Tata has resorted to importing steel melted in India and Europe for processing into products that are then shipped onwards to America. The temporary measures mean the company risks running afoul of Mr Trump's 50pc tariffs on foreign steel, which are currently scheduled to be imposed on the UK from July 9. British steel products already face tariffs of 25pc, like those from much of the rest of the world, but the trade deal in principle struck by Mr Trump and Sir Keir Starmer would see the tax rate fall to zero. However, despite four weeks of talks, the deal has yet to be implemented. When Mr Trump imposed 50pc steel tariffs on the rest of the world, he gave Britain a reprieve until July 9 – and negotiators are now racing to conclude something before then. Even this poses a problem for Tata, as the deal's framework stipulates that steel products sent from the UK to the US must use steel that was 'melted and poured' domestically to qualify for tariff relief. The Government is seeking to obtain a temporary carve-out for Tata and has reportedly said it is confident of success, but the warning from Tata signalled nervousness within the company on Friday. It is understood that being hit by 50pc tariffs would force Tata to either try to pass some costs on to customers or absorb them itself. If it could not absorb them, production cuts may have to be considered. Rajesh Nair, the chief executive of Tata Steel UK, said: 'Tata Steel UK will need to import steel substrate until Electric Arc Furnace steelmaking is operational in Port Talbot from late 2027 onwards. 'It is therefore critical for our business that melted and poured in the UK is not a requirement to access the steel quotas in any future trade deal. 'Even though we are not currently melting steel in the UK, we remain the largest steel producer in the country and our mills continue to transform imported steel coil and slab into high-value, specialist products which are not available from US producers and are therefore essential to our US customers. 'We urge the Government to secure a deal as soon as possible, and we would be happy to provide the US government with any needed assurances on the provenance and processing of the steel we supply.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Epoch Times
34 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
White Brits Will Be a Minority in UK Within 40 Years, Report Predicts
White Brits will become a minority in the UK by the year 2063, according to a new report which predicts that at least one in five people living in the country will be Muslim by the turn of the century. Authored by Professor Matt Goodwin, an academic and political commentator, the report uses data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the census to analyse the rapidly shifting demographics in the UK amid growing concern about immigration and the falling birth rate in the British-born white population. In conjunction with the University of Buckinghamshire, Goodwin's analysis of migration, birth, and death rates up until the end of the 21st century predicts that the proportion of white British people will decline from 73 percent to 57 percent by 2050, before becoming the minority by 2063. Majority Feel 'Unsettled' Goodwin, a presenter for GB News, told The Epoch Times that the findings of his report point to 'the dramatic scale and pace of change that is now going to unfold in the UK. Some people will not see this as an issue, but a much larger majority of people will feel very unsettled by the fact that white Brits are set to become a minority.' He added that it is not only white British people who will be disconcerted by the rapidly shifting demographics and the accompanying cultural shifts. 'Minority Britons will also feel concerned about the change because we know that they too identify with the dominant group, and they like the idea of Britain being defined by a set of institutions and a way of life, and a particular set of values, so this isn't really a trend that's only going to concern white Britons, and more fundamentally, what we see in the data is the way in which the country is going to be transformed culturally,' he said. 'Much of the inward migration will come from outside of Europe from countries that I would argue are culturally different, if not incompatible, and over the next 30 to 50 years, we're going to see changes that are so profound that it's going to dwarf anything we've seen until this point.' Related Stories 12/18/2024 12/5/2023 Goodwin acknowledges that population data can be difficult to predict, but explained his methodology on his 'And what we find is that unless there is a radical change of policy, unless the country changes its current direction of travel, then the share of the population that is White British —defined as people who tick 'White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, or British' in the most recent census— will collapse over the next seventy-five years, from over 70 per cent today to below 34 per cent by the year 2100.' In the UK census of 1991, when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, some 94.6 percent of people described themselves as 'white British.' Pedestrians walk past Union Jack flags at Oxford Circus in London on May 25, 2023. Daniel Leal/ AFP/Getty Images 'Tipping Point' The report forecasts that white Brits will be an overall minority within 38 years but Goodwin predicts the 'tipping point' for under-40s will come within just 25 years, meaning that a white British child born today will be in the minority in their peer group by the middle of the century. The report suggests that by the beginning of the next century, the white British could make up only around one third of the population, with more than six in 10 people either not having been born in the UK or having at least one immigrant parent. The Muslim population, currently at around 7 percent, is predicted to increase to more than one in 10 (11.2 percent) within the next 25 years and to account for almost one in five (19.2 percent) of all people in the UK by the turn of the century. Goodwin also modelled for a potential higher level of Muslim immigration, because of the volatile situation in the Middle East and parts of Africa, and said that under this scenario, one in four people living in the UK could be of the Islamic faith by the year 2200. Under this scenario, one in three young people could be Muslims by the end of this century. The report finds that the changing demographics are not based only on race or religion, but on country of origin, with fewer and fewer British-born people in the population following soaring levels of immigration under successive Labour and Conservative-led governments. Since the UK voted out of the European Union in 2016, the percentage coming to the country from outside of Europe has climbed, and now accounts for 81 percent of immigration. Goodwin wrote: 'The underlying ties to our nation —to its sense of history, culture, ways of life, identity, collective memory, and inheritance, in other words— will become much weaker in the years and decades ahead. 'While Britain's identity will increasingly be reshaped, by its ruling class, around the celebration of 'diversity', a rapidly dwindling number of people will actually be rooted in the distinctive identity, history, culture, and collective memory that is ultimately what make these islands distinctive to begin with.' 'Island of Strangers' Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said last month that the UK risked becoming an 'island of strangers' as Labour outlined a fresh strategy in a Following criticism from pro-immigration lobby groups and MPs, Starmer denied that his new, seemingly tougher approach, had come in response to Reform UK's recent strong showing at the polls, with Nigel Farage's party having consistently taken a clear stance against mass, uncontrolled immigration. While he paid tribute to the positive contribution made by many immigrants to the UK, Starmer took aim at the previous Conservative government for its immigration policies, saying, 'It was a choice, a choice made even as they told you, told the country, they were doing the opposite.' 'A One Nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more. Today, this Labour government is shutting down the lab. The experiment is over,' he added. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announcing new immigration policy in the briefing room at 10 Downing Street in London on May 12, 2025. PA Media The four nations of the UK will be impacted at different rates, Goodwin predicted, with foreign-born people and their offspring set to become a majority in England in 2079, in Wales by 2081, in Scotland by 2093, and in Northern Ireland at some point after 2122. The pace of change is happening far more quickly in major cities, with the 2021 census revealing that London and Birmingham had already become minority white cities. Falling Fertility Rate Goodwin made his predictions by applying age and sex-specific fertility, mortality, and migration rates to a base population derived from the latest census data and calibrating these figures to the 2022-based ONS population projections. Since the fertility rate is Philip Kiszely, an academic from Leeds University who is opposed to critical race theory, commented on the study, saying on 'Identity discourse builds a pathological grudge culture which legitimises racial violence.' Referring to the phrase used historically by 'black power' movements, Kiszely added: ''Any means necessary?' We ain't seen nothing yet.' 'Great Replacement' a 'Fact' Editor of the Daily Sceptic and founder of the Free Speech Union, Lord Toby Young, also Goodwin said that he published the report not to be 'alarmist,' but rather so that people to pay attention to the profound effects of government policies over the past 30 years, and what this means for the future of the UK. He said in terms of trying to manage the change, the government must 'dramatically slash' both legal and illegal immigration, and 'invest much more seriously in social integration and cohesion.' Alongside this, he said that in order to try and unify the country, rather than championing diversity, the government must, 'Try and assert the the identity, history and cultural values of what is still the dominant, majority group.'
