Nature campaigners take over Southampton City Council meeting
It proposed policies to protect the city's flora, fauna and the River Itchen.Christelle Blunden, the group's chair who dressed as a river for the event, said: "Southampton is particularly unique - we have a chalk stream here which is a birthplace for Atlantic salmon. "We have some unique habitats and it's looking at how we can gather momentum around the idea of looking at our natural heritage in the same way you would a national park."She added that the event was about looking at "how other species contribute to our lives and how we can manage those relationships better".
Speaking from the Civic Centre, Councillor John Savage, cabinet member for Green City and Net Zero, said: "We're doing an awful lot to make sure that we maintain and keep the green infrastructure across Southampton and develop it more."He suggested interconnecting the greenways around the city, making it easier for creatures to travel. Councillor Dave Shields, the outgoing lord mayor, got involved with the performance and dressed as an owl for the occasion."We need to protect our environment, we need to be addressing net zero, we need to be taking more action to protect our wonderful biodiversity," he said.
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BreakingNews.ie
12 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Demonstrators detained by police in London during rival protests outside asylum hotel
Several demonstrators have been detained by police after rival groups gathered at a protest against the use of a hotel to accommodate asylum seekers. The Metropolitan Police has imposed conditions on a protest and counter-protest outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington, north London. Advertisement People believed to be migrants earlier watched the protests from the hotel's windows, with some waving and blowing kisses as demonstrators chanted and banged drums in the street below. A group of counter protesters formed up outside the conditioned area and marched to Central Street. Officers prevented opposing groups coming together but those in the junction remain in breach of the conditions. Warnings are being given. Those who don't move will be arrested. — Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 2, 2025 A man wearing an England football shirt was detained by police after a confrontation with officers. A group of anti-fascist protesters blocked a junction outside the hotel. Officers then pushed into the crowd to detain several people, dragging them out by their arms and legs. Advertisement The group was then moved from the road and officers told them they were in breach of the conditions put on the demonstration, before forming a circle around the protesters. At about 3.30pm, police said there had been nine arrests, including seven on suspicion of breaching Public Order Act conditions. A protest and counter-protest is also taking place in Newcastle outside The New Bridge Hotel. Anti-immigration protesters outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel(PA) The Metropolitan Police said the protest against the use of the Islington hotel was organised by local residents under the banner 'Thistle Barbican needs to go – locals say no'. Advertisement A counter-protest, organised by Stand Up To Racism and supported by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as other groups including Finsbury Park Mosque and Islington Labour Party, is also taking place. Police said the anti-asylum hotel protest had been 'endorsed by groups from outside the local community which is likely to increase the number of people attending'. Hotel residents watch from the windows (PA) Online groups that have voiced support for the protest include 'Patriots of Britain' and 'Together for the Children'. A counter-protester outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel said he wants migrants to 'feel safe' in the UK. Advertisement Student Pat Prendergast, 21, said: 'I want people to feel safe. I think the (rival protesters) over there are making people feel unsafe. 'I want to stand up in solidarity and say that, you know, we want people here. 'We want migrants. We want asylum seekers.' Police held masked protesters back in a line (PA) A noticeably smaller group of protesters waved union flags and held banners outside the hotel. Advertisement 'Get these scum off our streets', one man chanted in the direction of the hotel. A large group of masked protesters dressed in black chanting 'we are anti-fascist' appeared from a side street and marched towards the rival group outside the hotel. There were brief clashes before police rushed in to separate the two groups. The Metropolitan Police said plans were in place to 'respond to any protest activity in the vicinity of other hotels in London being used to accommodate asylum seekers'. Supporters of local protest group 'Thistle Barbican needs to go – locals say no' took part in the demo (PA) Conditions on the anti-asylum hotel protest include that anyone participating must remain within King Charles Square and that the assembly must not begin before 1pm and must conclude by 4pm. Police said conditions on the counter-protest include that participants must remain in Lever Street, near the junction with Central Street, and that the assembly must not begin before 12pm and must conclude by 4pm. Chief Superintendent Clair Haynes, in charge of the policing operation, said: 'We have been in discussions with the organisers of both protests in recent days, building on the ongoing engagement between local officers, community groups and partners. 'We understand that there are strongly held views on all sides. 'Our officers will police without fear or favour, ensuring those exercising their right to protest can do so safely, but intervening at the first sign of actions that cross the line into criminality. 'We have used our powers under the Public Order Act to put conditions in place to prevent serious disorder and to minimise serious disruption to the lives of people and businesses in the local community. Protesters waved flags (PA) 'Those conditions identify two distinct protest areas where the protests must take place, meaning the groups will be separated but still within sight and sound of each other.' There are also posts online advertising a 'for our children, for our future' protest in Newcastle on Saturday outside The New Bridge Hotel. A 'stop the far right and fascists in Newcastle' counter-protest has been organised by Stand Up To Racism at the nearby Laing Art Gallery. Pro-immigration protesters gather outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London (PA) In a statement, the organisers of the counter protest said: 'Yet again far-right and fascist thugs are intent on bringing their message of hate to Newcastle. They aim to build on years of Islamophobia, anti-migrant sentiment and scapegoating. 'In Epping and elsewhere recently we have already seen intimidation and violence aimed at refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. 'Newcastle, like the rest of the North East, has a well-earned reputation for unity in the face of those who seek to divide us. Whatever problems we face, racism and division are not the answer.' Northumbria Police have been approached for comment. About 100 people attended a protest outside the Stanwell Hotel in Spelthorne, Surrey, on Friday evening, during which a packet of lit firelighters was thrown at police, Surrey Police said. A man was arrested on suspicion of attempted arson and inquiries are ongoing to trace another suspect, the force said. Officers also arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and aggravated trespass following a protest at the same location on Thursday evening.
The Sun
12 minutes ago
- The Sun
Ed Miliband's dash for Net Zero could cost every UK household £389 a year by 2030, bombshell research warns
ED Miliband's Net Zero policies will cost every household £389 a year by 2030, Tory analysis today reveals. The Labour government has pledged to totally decarbonise Britain's energy grid within the next five years. 4 They plan to do this by splurging vast amounts on new wind and solar farms as well as banning new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Brits have already spent £700 million this year to pay wind farms to STOP producing energy because the National Grid cannot cope with energy surges. The government's dash to go green will send the cost of bills rocketing to a whopping £22.8 billion by 2030, Tory number crunchers say. This will leave the government's pledge to cut £300 from energy bills in tatters, according to the research. Instead it will end up adding another £389 to the cost of household bills for 27 million UK Brits. Tory MP Nick Timothy - who carried out the research - said: 'Energy becomes more expensive with each day Ed Miliband remains in office. 4 'While Miliband blames fossil fuels for higher bills, he is pumping up prices by throwing more government-imposed costs onto energy bills. 'Wind and solar are being propped up by a complicated web of hidden cash to hoodwink you into thinking they are cheap. But they are not. 'Renewables will cost billions more. This is Ed Miliband's world – and you're paying for it.' Sir Keir Starmer is under massive pressure to act on UK energy costs - which are some of the highest in the world. In stark contrast the US - which uses more fossil fuels - has far lower prices. Donald Trump used a meeting with the PM in Scotland earlier this week to launch a blistering attack on wind farms for pushing up prices and scarring the countryside. In toe-curling scenes, the PM sat ashen-faced as the US President unleashed both barrels on his wind farm push - branding them a 'con job'. Speaking at his Turnberry golf course, Mr Trump fumed: 'Wind is the most expensive form of energy, and it destroys the beauty of your fields and your plains and your waterways.' Urging the PM to lift the ban on new oil and gas drilling, he added: 'You can take a thousand times more energy out of a hole in the ground this big - it's called oil and gas.' The analysis carried out by Mr Timothy's office looked at the hidden cost of renewable energy by trawling through official figures and research papers. 4 It found that Brits pay billions of pounds to subsidise the building of renewable energy plants, like wind and solar. But the National Grid - which carries electricity from power plants to peoples homes - is very old and cannot cope with large surges of energy. This results in a barmy situation which means the government actually PAYS wind farms to stop turning when it is too windy. Some £700m has already been paid this year to turn wind farms off. Wind farms are also paid more for their energy than fossil fuel providers, the analysis found. Offshore wind will cost £113 per MWh under the latest contracts. The average cost of electricity last year was £72 per MWh. These direct subsidies for renewables inflate the cost of energy bills. There are also extra costs known as 'Balancing Costs' - the name given to the process the National Grid has to pay to ensure balance and supply of power is maintained daily. These charges end up being passed onto consumers in higher bills, researchers said. The study found the hidden cost of renewables on our bills was £12.3BN in 2023/24. This is predicted to hit £22.8BN by 2030. This is just the estimated cost to Brits's bills over the next few years - and the overall cost of going green by 2050 is far higher. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimated it will cost a massive £803 billion to hit Net Zero by 2050. 4 A spokesman for the department for Net Zero said: 'These claims are fundamentally misleading. 'They wilfully ignore the benefits of clean power and wrongly assume the required network infrastructure will not be built over the next five years. 'Only by sprinting to clean power by 2030 can the UK take back control of its energy and protect both family and national finances from fossil fuel price spikes.' IT was the most excruciating television I have seen in years. Sitting next to the Prime Minister, Donald Trump said Labour's taxes on North Sea oil and gas 'make no sense' and he called Ed Miliband's wind farms a 'con job'. Keir Starmer looked like a rabbit in the headlights, because he knew what Trump said was true. The eco policies this Labour government is pursuing simply make no sense. They are spinning us a lie. The government tells us we must urgently hit Net Zero targets because the cost of fossil fuels are unaffordably high. But renewables cost more money and push up bills. They say Britain must build more wind and solar farms so we can wean ourselves of foreign gas and become energy sufficient. But at the same time No10 bans new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea - leaving us more dependent on imports. And the government tells us this dash to go green will create thousands and thousands of new jobs. Yet the trade unions who actually represent energy workers say Labour's zealous eco policies could cause tens of thousands of well-paid British workers to be laid off. It is a mad Alice in Wonderland world where down is up and up is down. Ed Miliband has gone through the Looking Glass. His policies are the stuff of the Mad Hatter. And today I can reveal that Labour's Net Zero drive will cost an estimated £23 billion a year by 2030. That is the equivalent of slapping another £389 a year onto the cost of living for households. It is a cost this country cannot afford. Let me give you a few examples to show you just how barmy our energy policy has become under 'Red Ed'. First- the oil and gas industry. Just weeks after winning the election, Labour banned new licences to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea. Furious trade unions said that up to 30,000 UK jobs could be lost, but their dire warnings fell on deaf ears. But the most ridiculous thing is that Britain still imports oil and gas taken from the very same seabed from Norway. So, Norway gets to keep the taxes, profits and jobs, while the UK goes without. It is a grotesque example of self-harm. Second - the bizarre case of the Drax power station in North Yorkshire. It imports wood from halfway around the world to burn, yet the UK taxpayer has spent billions of pounds in green subsidies on the power station. This simply makes no sense. Third - the sky high cost of wind and solar energy. Labour has set the UK insane targets to quadruple offshore wind and double onshore wind in just five years. But energy produced by these wind farms is actually MORE expensive. Ed Miliband has promised wind farms a fixed price of £113 per MWh for the next 20 years. That is 50 per cent HIGHER than the average cost of electricity. The cost of building new wind and solar farms is also enormous. An estimated £40 billion a year will be spent upgrading the National Grid, and rolling out new pylons and battery storage sites. Worst of all, wind and solar are even paid NOT to produce energy. This is because our creaking National Grid cannot handle big surges of energy. So when it is particularly windy they have to pay wind farms to switch off. This year alone we have paid £700 million to wind farms to STOP generating power. It is bananas. Brits also have to pay for environmental levies. These are extra charges baked into energy bills to pay for the development of new greener energy supplies. Labour are sending environmental levies hurtling towards £14.8 billion in 2030. The PM promised he would cut energy bills by £300 by the next election. But the opposite is true. They are getting bigger and bigger. No wonder President Trump thinks we are mad. Our energy costs are twice those in America. As a result their economy is booming while ours is stagnating. The US President could see the truth and was unafraid to say it. Britain needs to completely change course. It's time to junk the clean power target and support energy policies that actually work. We should take the US President's advice and 'drill baby drill' in the North Sea. We should expand nuclear energy. And we should ditch our expensive green energy levies and subsidies. Otherwise we remain Ed Miliband's mad world – and we will all pay the price.
Telegraph
12 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Labour targets anti-migrant protesters with terrorist tracking software
A Whitehall 'disinformation' unit used tools created to hunt for jihadists to find critics of asylum hotels, The Telegraph can reveal. The secretive team was this week revealed to have flagged 'concerning' narratives about migrants to tech platforms during the Southport riots. The disclosure prompted the Trump administration and US congressmen to warn of a free speech crackdown in Britain. The Telegraph can now reveal that some of the tools used by the National Security and Online Information Team (NSOIT) were originally developed to hunt terrorists. In 2017, ministers commissioned Faculty, an AI firm, to help search for recruitment videos posted by Isil. At the time, use of the technology was strictly limited to stopping British social media users from encountering grisly beheading videos and calls to commit acts of terrorism. The firm developed tools that could automatically spot Islamic State content spreading online, so it could be flagged to tech companies by the Government. 'Counter disinformation data platform' The same firm has since been awarded a £2.3m contract to develop a 'counter disinformation data platform' to look for posts that pose a 'national security and public safety risk'. The Telegraph has established that the platform is a direct descendant of the tool used by the UK Government to hunt for terrorists in 2017, although it has since been improved and updated. A video released by Faculty shows Matt Collins, the current UK deputy National Security Adviser, explaining that the tool was required to prevent the spread of terrorist ideology. 'We had a concerted effort to basically encourage social media companies to do more to remove content which was radicalising individuals to either travel to Syria or to conduct terrorist attacks,' he said. Faculty is understood to have sold the software to the Government to monitor foreign interference in elections, but has no power to stop it from being used for domestic purposes. A second firm enlisted to monitor online trends was Global Strategy Network, an intelligence outfit established by Richard Barrett, the former MI6 head of global counter-terrorism. The company has been used to look for content that could pose a risk to public safety, which includes posts about migrant hotels during the riots. On Thursday, The Telegraph revealed emails between the NSOIT and TikTok, which showed officials in August last year raising concerns about posts that could incite violence. They included posts about asylum hotels and reference to 'two-tier' policing of protest, which later became a damaging political critique of Sir Keir Starmer's government. The revelation that the team was using terrorist-hunting software to monitor posts about immigration policy will raise further concerns about 'censorship' of the internet by Labour. Mr Trump's State Department said on Friday it was concerned about free speech in Britain, and would 'closely monitor' the situation to ensure American companies were not censored. A delegation of US congressmen met Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, this week to make their fears of online censorship known. Sir Keir is also facing significant backlash to new rules under the Online Safety Act, which require social media companies to verify the age of users to access adult content. The threat of huge fines for breaching the rules has led to companies censoring harmless material out of an abundance of caution. Free speech warnings On Friday X became the first platform to criticise the new rules, warning that 'free speech will suffer' if they are not changed. A spokesman for Big Brother Watch, the civil liberties campaign group, criticised the use of anti-terror software to find opponents of government policy on asylum. They said: 'It is alarming that the Government is aiming social media surveillance technology at law-abiding British citizens. 'The Government should abandon its intrusive and unaccountable monitoring of legal online content and urgently commission an independent review of its so-called 'disinformation' units.' A Government spokesman said: 'National security is not only our top priority but also our foremost duty. We will not compromise public safety by letting harmful narratives fester and multiply online, leading to real world harm as we saw in the wake of the horrific Southport attack. 'Put simply, these are widely used analysis tools and we do not use them to track individuals. They monitor trends safely, legally and transparently.'
