Make Lime bikes free for teenagers
Aged nine, I wrote to Queen Elizabeth II and John Major, then prime minister, suggesting that weapons factories be used to make toys (My four-year-old has invited King Charles over for ice-cream. Can someone please make it happen?, 16 July). I was astounded to get a positive reply from Buckingham Palace. At least they had read the letter; Downing Street gave me advice on becoming prime minister.Frances WillmottLiverpool
I am not sure whether to bless Owen Wells for his robust attitude to bacteria – which I share – or curse him for making me aware that sterilising light switches was even a thing (Letters, 20 July).Pamela GuyattGunnislake, Cornwall
Can we please ditch the term 'vaccine hesitancy' (Letters, 20 July)? What we're talking about here is vaccine refusal. If a restaurant worker refused to wash their hands after using the toilet, would they be 'hygiene hesitant'?Roger FiskenChair, HealthSense
One day everyone will have been against the Gaza genocide, just like everyone was always against apartheid and everyone was in the French resistance.Phil BrandLondon
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
BBC is forced to apologise to Robert Jenrick after he was branded 'xenophobic' on Thought For The Day over article he wrote for the Mail On Sunday
The BBC was forced into an embarrassing climbdown on Wednesday after Robert Jenrick was branded 'xenophobic' on a flagship radio news programme. Corporation bosses apologised to the Shadow Justice Secretary and had Radio 4's Today taken down from its streaming services and edited. Guest Dr Krish Kandiah prompted fury when he used the Thought For The Day segment of Today to criticise this weekend's Mail on Sunday front page in which Mr Jenrick said he worried for his young daughters and defended protests against asylum hotels. With no reference made to his role as the founder of a refugee charity, Dr Kandiah was allowed to accuse the top Tory of fuelling 'fear of the stranger', telling listeners: 'The technical name for this is xenophobia.' Mr Jenrick hit back, tweeting: 'On BBC Radio 4 this morning listeners were told that if you're concerned about the threat of illegal migrants to your kids, you're racist. Wrong. You're a good parent.' He later told the Daily Mail: 'Illegal migration is obviously fuelling crime and the public are right to be concerned about it. 'It's extremely disappointing the BBC thought it was acceptable to smear millions of worried citizens as 'xenophobic' for their completely understandable fears about undocumented men entering illegally.' Within hours of the breakfast broadcast, Today was pulled from the BBC Sounds app to be edited. It was only reinstated on Wednesday evening. Radio 4's head of editorial standards Roger Mahony wrote to Mr Jenrick to say he had removed two references to xenophobia from the programme and admit that the language went 'beyond' the segment's scope. The furore raises serious questions about how the programme ended up on air in the first place and about editorial standards at the BBC. First broadcast in 1939, Thought For The Day is intended as a forum for sharing 'reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news'. The programme is pre-recorded and is supplied by the corporation's religion department rather than the Today production team, the BBC said. Support for Mr Jenrick came from across the political divide, with Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice writing on X: 'Delusional lefty filling R4 Today as usual. Trying to smear and label anyone who stands up for British women and girls. 'We should be proud of Britain, our traditional values and affirm that our culture is superior to the anti-women misogynistic culture of some other nations.' Robert Bates at the Centre for Migration Control, added: 'Jenrick echoed the legitimate concerns of millions of people across our country. 'It is no longer up for debate that there is a clear link between open borders and an increasing threat to British mothers, daughters and sisters. 'The BBC has been loath to admit, or even discuss, the undeniable fact that young undocumented men from culturally distant societies are breaking into Britain and committing heinous crimes against women and girls. 'Instead it chose to broadcast these utterly disparaging comments in a last-ditch attempt to demonise the vast majority of the country who share these views.' The row erupted after Dr Kandiah, who runs the Sanctuary Foundation, a charity to resettle refugees, said: 'A front-page story in The Mail on Sunday quoted shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick talking about his fears for his young daughters. 'He said, 'I certainly don't want my children to share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally and about whom we know next to nothing'. 'These words echo a fear many have absorbed. Fear of the stranger. The technical name for this is xenophobia… over the past year, xenophobia has fuelled angry protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, deepening divisions in our communities.' Dr Kandiah was speaking a day after the number of Channel migrant crossings passed 50,000 since Labour won power last year. He then quoted figures saying the majority of those arriving in small boats are 'found to be genuinely fleeing war, persecution and famine'. He did not say that the boats cross from France – a safe country. In his letter to Mr Jenrick, Mr Mahony wrote: 'Following discussion of the programme with the production team, I have concluded that, while its reflection on fear in society from a faith perspective is broadly in line with expectations of Thought For The Day, some of the language it used went beyond that. 'I have asked for the two references to xenophobia to be edited from the programme on BBC Sounds. Please accept my apology for their original inclusion.' A Tory source added: 'Thought For The Day has long descended into a bunch of nobodies wittering on about their mad-hat socialist ideas. If the BBC are not prepared to broadcast serious religious voices they should at least ensure the second-rate ones they do find are balanced. 'There are serious questions for the BBC as to how this was allowed under editorial guidelines.' A BBC spokesman said: 'Today's episode of Thought For The Day contained reflections from a faith perspective on fear in society but has been edited to remove some of the language used and we apologise for its inclusion.'
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
After mass arrests, what happens next with Palestine Action ban?
The pictures from last week's sit-in protest in Parliament Square over the banned group Palestine Action were demonstrators held up placards reading, "I support Palestine Action", some 522 of them were arrested on suspicion of breaking terrorism laws - more than double the total such arrests in average age was 54, said the police. Some 112 of them were over 70 years old. The battle over the ban on Palestine Action (PAG) - last month, proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK - now feels as much a political and PR battle as a legal the organisers of the campaign are trying to capitalise on perceived sympathy among some of the public by organising another demonstration in September - hoping to force the state, through numbers, to lift the does it end?Does it risk becoming an "I am Spartacus moment"? - the words of Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, the Labour peer and civil rights campaigner? That depends on three courtroom battles that will each, in turn, influence how Palestine Action is publicly perceived and legally start with the protesters arrested since July for showing support for the group - more than 700 so lawyer says it has been awkward so far for police officers."I've seen police look incredibly uncomfortable with the fact that they are having to treat these elderly people as criminals," said solicitor Katie McFadden, who advised many protesters, after their arrests, last Saturday."I've seen them in police custody and they've certainly been considerate and looked, frankly, quite shocked and horrified that this is what they were having to do as part of their job when they've signed up to go out and protect the public from dangerous criminals."The real challenge for the police and prosecutors is how many protesters do they need to charge with support of a banned terrorist organisation to send a message to the public. And what message do they send if they don't charge them all? So far, three people have been charged with displaying an item showing support for Palestine Action during the first demonstration on 5 July. They will all appear in court next director of public prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, had to consult the Attorney General's Office before he could go ahead with the charges because of additional safeguards in some terrorism means that Lord Hermer, the Attorney General and also a cabinet minister, or his deputy, may have to be involved in each of the files that police send to in turn, means the vast majority of the 700 may not know for months if they are going to end up on trial - in cases that could be more than a year away from a assuming they do get charged, history suggests the risk of a maximum of 14-year sentence is low. Palestine Action can challenge UK ban, court rulesPalestine Action protest arrests rise to more than 500Some don't know 'full nature' of Palestine Action, says Cooper Conventionally, a conviction like this would leave careers in tatters and have other life-changing equation for some Palestine Action protesters is are older people who have graduated from involvement in climate change activism and believe the ban breaches free speech safeguards. It seems many have fewer fears about the impact of arrest on their day-to-day is the ban on Palestine Action a legal and PR disaster in the making for Home Secretary Yvette Cooper?Huda Ammori, Palestine Action's co-founder, has said on social media: "The system can't cope when thousands resist." But ministers hope that the difference between the organisation she founded and other forms of protest over Gaza will become clear thanks to the second of the three linked legal battles soon to take centre August 2024 alleged PAG supporters broke into Elbit Systems UK in Bristol, an Israeli defence firm that has long been a key target.A repurposed prison van smashed through a security fence and crowbars and a sledgehammer were allegedly used to smash up people were injured: a security guard and two police Action promoted video of the damage - but not any pictures of the alleged allegations begin to come to trial in November. Some 18 people deny charges including criminal damage, assault causing actual bodily harm, violent disorder and aggravated incident prompted national security officials and the police to look at whether a terrorism ban on PAG could be justified, after having previously concluded that the vast majority of its highly disruptive activities amounted to minor criminal damage. Documents disclosed to the BBC in the High Court show how the thinking on a ban had evolved. Palestine Action was becoming more militant, said officials. It had allegedly produced an "underground manual" that it was claimed detailed how to plan a "break-in", referring to face masks, burner phones and fake car number plates."With an efficient sledgehammer in your hand, you can cause quite a bit of damage," the manual read, before than detailing how to do this is where the UK's wide definition of terrorism comes in. It includes not just the threat or use of violence to advance a cause - but also the use of serious criminal because in the 1990s the IRA began causing economic damage through bombs, without taking when Cooper banned PAG, her decision was largely informed by what the Home Office has described as millions of pounds of criminal damage, not an assessment that it was a group of murderous militants."Proscription is about one narrow group that has been involved in violent attacks including injuries, including weapons, smoke bombs causing panic among innocent people, major criminal damage," the home secretary said following last Saturday's arrests."There may be people who are objecting to proscription who don't know the full nature of this organisation due to court restrictions on reporting while serious prosecutions are under way but it's really important that no one is in any doubt that this is not a non-violent organisation." Ms Ammori has contested this characterisation, saying the government's own papers show that Palestine Action did not advocate for brings us to the third of the three big legal challenges that will decide this affair: was the Home Secretary right?The High Court will consider in the autumn if the ban was a rational and proportionate response to PAG's Hall KC, the independent watchdog of terrorism laws, has previously told BBC News that the ban is legally workable because the group had moved from protest into what is effectively "blackmail" - suggesting it was exerting pressure to get what it Ms Ammori's legal team have a range of significant arguments around freedom of Turk, the United Nations' human rights chief has got involved too, saying the ban is so wrong it places the UK outside international outcome of that case will define whether Palestine Action remains banned. If the ban falls, then the 700 arrested so far are free - their cases would collapse. As for the group itself, it may feel emboldened - but would know that it could still be banned again if its actions cross the terrorism laws the ban stands, then the advantage will be with the government - and arrests and charges will is the counter-terrorism policing way: slowly but surely, step by step, seek to contain and, ultimately, crush the threat.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Thought for the Day pundit who accused Robert Jenrick of 'xenophobia' runs refugee resettlement charity and helps them find homes in the UK
Dr Krish Kandiah, who caused so much controversy on yesterday's Today programme, runs a refugee resettlement charity. He calls himself a social entrepreneur, broadcaster and speaker and says he is a 'regular adviser' to the Government. His Sanctuary Foundation describes itself as a charity supporting refugees to 'find welcome, work and worthwhile housing in the UK'. The Charity Commission says it raised £122,000 last year while he draws a wage of up to £70,000 from the organisation. The author has not been shy to wade into other controversies, accusing blonde US actress Sydney Sweeney of 'flirting with the idea of eugenics' over a clothing advert that said she had 'great jeans'. In 2017, he wrote in the Church Times: 'I'm not saying that everyone who voted to leave [the EU] is racist, but I do believe many have seen Brexit as an excuse to express negative opinions about immigrants.' In 2014, he wrote in Christian Today that he feared he could have been radicalised like homegrown British jihadist Ibrahim Kamara if he hadn't found Jesus. Dr Kandiah, who is married with three children and also fosters children, grew up in Brighton and is a committed Christian.
