
Keaton Slater: MP's extradition plea after hit-and-run death
An MP has written to the Latvian ambassador to the UK to seek the extradition of a man suspected of killing a 12-year-old boy in a hit-and-run. Keaton Slater died after being hit by a black BMW in Coventry while on his way home from school on 14 June last year. Police believe Dolars Aleksanders, 21, who is wanted on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, is in Latvia. Taiwo Owatemi, MP for Coventry North West, met with Keaton's parents on Tuesday to discuss road safety measures and the latest extradition efforts.
Louise and Clint Slater have been campaigning to have Mr Aleksanders extradited ever since he was named by police as a person of interest shortly after the crash last summer. Their petition calling for him to return to the UK has received nearly 70,000 signatures. Ms Owatemi, Labour, said she was hoping to meet with the Latvian ambassador Atis Lots to discuss an extradition agreement.
Ms Owatemi said that the extradition process was unlikely to take place at the moment because a treaty was never agreed between the two countries following Brexit. But she said given the circumstances of a boy's death, the process "shouldn't be a political issue".Otherwise, she said, it would send "the wrong message" over matters of justice and "that shouldn't be the case". She said authorities should be given the chance to engage with those suspected of offences. She said she was "pleading to the ambassador to work with us".
Mr and Mrs Slater met the MP at a road safety event where they launched another petition calling for more road calming measures in the Radford area of Coventry where their son was hit. Speaking at the meeting, Mrs Slater, said: "Nothing's happened since on road safety, so we just want to put a petition in place just to get more facilities to make people safer in this area. "Ever since my son passed away, people are still getting hurt from being hit by cars. "It's so frustrating because we don't want any family to go through what we went through - this nightmare for the rest of our lives."
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Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer urged to do just one thing every day to fix the Nuked Blood scandal
As millions see a viral video of Labour's broken promises to nuclear veterans, the PM is being asked every day to do the one thing that would fix it Keir Starmer was already gacing a £5bn lawsuit and police investigation over a cover-up of human experiments on British troops. Now a video of Labour's broken promises to survivors has gone viral, with 2 million people seeing proof of Cabinet ministers demanding compensation schemes they've failed to come up with in office. And after 327 days of Downing Street ignoring requests to resolve what has become known as the Nuked Blood scandal, campaigners have vowed to repost the clips every day until they get a sit-down with the PM. Starmer risks further humiliation in the months to come, with publication of an estimated 750,000 classified documents packed with juicy details of what really happened to 40,000 troops ordered to take part in nuclear weapons trials over more than a decade. Alan Owen, founder of campaign group LABRATS, said: "Keir was the first party leader to sit down with members of the nuclear community and we believed him when he said 'your campaign is our campaign'. But after almost a year in government we are no nearer the truth or justice. Veterans are dying every week, and families are suffering chronic illness and psychological harm. "We can start to fix that if we can show him our evidence of an official cover-up of biological experiments with radiation. It is fairer to the taxpayer to resolve it now, rather than wait for a judge's order. All we want is for him to look us in the eye and hear what we have to tell him." The Ministry of Defence has denied for seven decades that troops were deliberately put in harm's way during the Cold War race to create nuclear weapons. But in 2022 the Mirror uncovered a memo detailing the blood tests of Group Captain Terry Gledhill, conducted before, during and after he led a squadron of planes through the mushroom clouds to gather samples. It led to more than 30 separate orders for blood tests, covering thousands of men in all three armed forces, plus Commonwealth troops and indigenous people, between 1952 and 1967. Most were locked on a top secret database, codenamed Merlin, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, which is about to be declassified and published following cross-party pressure from parliament and the Mirror. A partial release has already revealed hundreds of named servicemen called up for testing, confirmation that thousands were involved, and analysis of the results by weapons scientists. Yet veterans who remember giving blood and urine specimens have found their medical records are missing, denying them accurate diagnosis for the high rates of cancers and blood disorders they report, as well as blocking war pensions and compensation. In Opposition, Labour bigwigs who now hold influential government roles said "it shames us as a country" that nuclear veterans did not have justice, and demanded financial compensation from the Tories. Deputy Leader Angela Rayner sent campaigners a video she had scripted herself, calling for the Tories to "set up an appropriate financial compensation programme for veterans and their descendants". Defence Secretary John Healey told the Labour Party Conference that the lack of a scheme "shames us, it shames us as a country". And Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard told the Mirror's News Agenda podcast that it was "really dumb" for the Tories not to have paid out already. Peter Stefanovic, lawyer and CEO of the Campaign for Social Justice, edited the clips together and has been sharing them on social media, gathering more than 2m views in just a few weeks. He said: "They all backed compensation for our nuclear test veterans while in Opposition, and Keir Starmer himself told them 'the country owes you a huge debt of honour. Your campaign is our campaign'. I will repost my film every single day until the PM agrees to meet with them to discuss how his government will honour the commitment his party made to these national heroes." LABRATS asked the PM for a meeting within days of his taking office, but has had no response for 327 days. The Mirror has also asked Mr Healey for a meeting, but none has been arranged. The Met Police are assessing a 500-page dossier of evidence about allegations of criminal misconduct in public office, while lawyers are preparing to issue a legal claim for the missing medical records that is predicted to lead to a 10-figure payout. Last month, the MoD admitted the monitoring "may have been" conducted without proper medical supervision.


Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
Dominic Cummings has run out of answers
On Wednesday, The Spectator dispatched me to Dominic Cummings's Pharos lecture in Oxford. Packed into the Sheldonian theatre were an interesting crowd. I spotted several X anons, my A-Level politics teacher and Brass Eye creator Chris Morris. For many in the audience, this was a rare opportunity to see their hero; for one or two hecklers, it was a unique chance to harrumph at the villain of Brexit, lockdown, and Barnard Castle. You can read a transcript of it here. I'm a Cummings fan. Having first discovered him via our political editor's books, I began reading his blog as a teen. I worked through the reading lists, defended his eye test in my student magazine, and heralded him as the future of the right in an article only last year. Throughout my career, he has been a unique guiding light. Which is why, I'm sorry to report, Wednesday was a disappointment. With the speech being entitled 'What is to be done?' – a nod to the originator by Britain's premier Leninist – one was expecting a call to arms. We sat in the audience sat ready to be given our marching orders. But this was no declaration of revolution. Instead, for those of us habituated into shelling out £10 a month for his Substack, it was dispiritingly familiar. This was Dom's Greatest Hits – David Bowie at Glastonbury, but with more references to the European Court of Human Rights. For 'Starman', take a condemnation of deranged MPs addicted on the old media. For 'Ashes to Ashes', try Whitehall ignoring Cummings over the pandemic and Ukraine. For 'Rebel Rebel', take parallels with post-Napoleonic Europe and the idiocy of a permanent civil service. But unlike with Bowie, one was hoping to hear a few new tunes between the earlier works. There were the usual spicy turns of phrase. The Home Office was said to be waging a 'constant jihad' against talented would-be migrants; Whitehall was condemned for hushing up 'the industrialised mass rape of white English children by Pakistani and Somali gangs over decades' while importing 'people from the exact same tribal areas responsible'. Speak for England, Dom. But as eye-catching as this was – and several other attendees texted me cheering him on – it wasn't new to any habitual X user. We have always known the rape gangs were there; we have always known the state was covering it up; we are now braced for the inevitable whitewash when Keir Starmer's inquiry reports in 2037. Even his concluding recommendations – replacement of senior officials, closing the Cabinet Office and Treasury, reforming procurement, more focus on science and technology, decentralisation, and a wider reading of nineteenth-century Russian literature – were well-trodden. The talk could have been packaged as A Very Short Introduction to Dominic Cummings in the style of the handy, generalist tomes one can pick up at Blackwell's across the street. Yet my trip to Oxford was far from fruitless, and not only because I revisited a couple of my favourite student hostelries. A Q and A with Steven Edginton followed. The US Video Editor of GB News has made a name for himself by asking prominent figures on the right questions the left-leaning media never would. I particularly enjoyed his exchange with Liz Truss, exposing the ex-PM as the clueless, over-promoted and self-obsessed charlatan she is. His approach to Cummings was no different. At times in his speech, the former Number 10 adviser had almost seemed to have forgotten he had been in government: more 'here is what I would do' than 'here is what I should have done'. Edginton pinned him down on his own record, especially on the central and most spectacular failure of the last Conservative government: immigration. Cummings was quick to distance himself from the Boriswave. He was out of government by the time numbers exploded, he argued. Instead, a combination of Boris Johnson's desire to make up with the Financial Times and powerful bureaucratic forces – the Treasury's addiction to human quantitative easing in particular – meant a new immigration system designed to prioritise high-skilled workers was hijacked to take numbers three times higher than the levels that when Britain voted to Leave. Combined with the ECHR preventing the Royal Navy from stopping the 'stupid boats', this meant a total betrayal of the promises Johnson made in 2019. Edginton also asked for Cumming's views on how mass deporations and other remigration policies – citing the US and Sweden as examples – would be with voters. Having tied both Nigel Farage and Richard Tice in knots over this, it was refreshing to hear Cummings explain or why Reform UK are squeamish. Farage formed his views 'in the 1990s and 2000s', and it is 'very hard for [him] to adjust to a world where the conventional ideas of that time are broken down'. Farage and Tice are in their 60s. They are surrounded by a distinctly unimpressive coterie of hangers-on, media personalities and court eunuchs. Are they serious about confronting the institutional resistance and media uproar a sensible centrist approach to immigration would require, or will they fail just as the Tories and Labour have done? The latter, on the available evidence. Will he embrace the vibe shift, or only gesture towards it? They are yesterday's men. Yet seeing Cummings in conversation with Edginton, I couldn't help but get the sense I was watching a new right confronting the old. Edginton ended by asking his interviewee if, after the failure after failure of government after government do what they promised, whether democracy was overrated. Cummings replied by suggesting his hope was to 'find a way of reviving the regime' rather than seeing it 'replaced'. But what does that look like? Another attempted takeover of the Tories? The much-heralded but little-seen Start-Up party? Or a new mass movement, like the 'Looking for Growth' group from academic Lawrence Newport that Cummings has promoted? I've met with Newport and agree with much of his analysis. But Britain's future will not be saved by a few over-eager young men scrubbing the Bakerloo. Who are the coming generation? They have grown up absorbing the analysis of Cummings. They are conscious of living in a Britain blighted by his failure to deliver the reforms of which he has spoken for so long. They live in the Britain of Scuzz Nation, of Yookay Aesthetics, of Nick 30 Ans. Their hope is exhausted. They have enormous respect for Cummings and Vote Leave. But they will not compromise with a regime that they despise. Cummings may still struggle to use the language of mass deportations; to tomorrow's right, they are but a necessary first step. Cummings is still a prophet. Most Brits say the country is in decline, feel poor, hate politicians, and have little hope for the future. For those of us familiar with Cummings, this is all unsurprising. We are a country falling ever further into stagnation and inter-ethnic violence, labouring under a performatively useless political class. A crisis point is being reached. Welcome to Weimar Britain, where politics doesn't work, everyone is getting poorer, and the streets are filled with violence. Can the country be turned around by reviving the existing regime? Or is a different form of government required? And if Cummings was – and is – the man to turn Britain around, why did he allow himself to be outwitted by a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation? Why did he topple Johnson without a clear plan to replace him? Will he embrace the vibe shift, or only gesture towards it? He is a Lee Kuan Yew afficionado. Does he still have that iron in him? He has spoken about stepping back. That would be a waste. Robert Jenrick is only a phone call away. Commentators as disparate as friend-of-The–Spectator Curtis Yarvin, Tory MP Neil O'Brien, and my former colleague Henry Hill have all spoken of the need for an Anglo Meiji Restoration – a hard reset of our governing institutions, political class, and economic geography. It is a project requiring the sort of dedicated revolutionary vanguard that I hoped Cummings would call for on Wednesday. His talk was a missed opportunity. The burning questions of our movement remain to be answered.


Wales Online
3 hours ago
- Wales Online
Nigel Farage's vow to reopen mines in Wales 'a backward-looking vision'
Nigel Farage's vow to reopen mines in Wales 'a backward-looking vision' The Reform UK leader was in Port Talbot on Wednesday where he vowed to reopen the town's steelworks and bring coal mining back to the Welsh Valleys Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne ) Reform UK chief Nigel Farage has outlined a series of proposals including the abolition of the default 20mph speed limit, prioritising "Welsh people" for housing queues and reinstating coal mining in Wales. Wales Online readers are, on the whole, not convinced. Moreover, he has declared his party's aim to "reopen Port Talbot's steelworks". Despite Tata Steel currently owning the operational steelworks, the remaining blast furnaces were shuttered in 2024 with plans to construct an electric arc furnace for steel recycling. This transition is resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs. At a press conference in Port Talbot, when pressed about the funding for reigniting the blast furnaces - an idea deemed unfeasible by industry specialists - he acknowledged that the total cost would be "in the low billions", meaning it would need substantial investment from the UK Government. Farage, in a WalesOnline article, mentioned that Reform UK's would "allow coal, if suitable, to be mined in Wales". When asked if people would actually want to work down mines, he responded that they would if they were paid enough. The latest opinion poll in Wales indicates that his party is on track to secure its first seats at the Senedd in the forthcoming May 2026 election. Currently, the party's presence in Wales is limited to councillors, yet a recent YouGov/Barn Cymru survey for the election for the Welsh Parliament next May places Reform UK as runner-up with 25% of the vote. They are trailing narrowly behind Plaid Cymru, who are forecasted to receive 30%, and passing Labour which stands at 18%. Moreover, Reform said they would stop any properties from being used as accommodation for asylum seekers, will end funding for the Welsh Refugee Council, and will abolish the Welsh Government's "Nation of Sanctuary" policy. Article continues below He further pledged to establish an Elon Musk-inspired department aimed at reducing costs. He said: "A Reform UK Senedd will also save hundreds of millions each year by cutting bureaucracy, waste and bad management. The establishment of Welsh DOGE will help us uncover where there is woke and wasteful spending and we will make sure those funds are redirected to frontline services." Commenter Shane1976 says: 'I cannot believe how gullible people are. Where is the money coming from to [reopen] the steel works and the mines? Where are the miners coming from? This man promised the world with Brexit and Welsh voters believed him and Wales is worse off for it.' Ironside agrees: 'It was Mr Farage's idea to leave the EU in the first place when he was with UKIP and the Brexit Party. He fooled the British people, including myself, that leaving the EU would make things better instead Brexit has been a total disaster for the UK and Wales." Thebear2025 adds: 'I honestly do not believe him. He is just saying what he thinks the people of Wales want. While I think Labour definitely have to go, I don't think Reform is the answer to our prayers and will backtrack once in power the same as the other parties do.' Tigerbay replies: 'Reform will do well in Wales, but only because of the mess the other parties are making!' Exess60 wonders: 'As far as the steel works goes, do the good long suffering people of Port Talbot really want to revert to the filthy fog that blemished their environment and caused so much ill health for over a century? Surely that was yesterday, not the future!' DaisyDD writes: 'We want mining again in the Valleys. Our lads need work and it kept our communities together. Face it we are getting ready for war and need to be more self-sufficient for our steel. Opening Port Talbot's blast furnaces with coal again is a great idea. It should never have been allowed to close.' Numbersontheleft replies: 'I am not a Reform supporter but there are a lot of really good points in Farage's speech. It's simply wrong that steel will no longer be made in Wales. "Getting rid of the nation of sanctuary, blanket 20mph and the extra 36 MSs are policies any sane party should be supporting. And who wouldn't support improved efficiency and reduced waste in our public sector. The other parties are trying their best to rubbish Reform, but they are clearly worried that Farage is saying the things their voters want them to be saying.' Robo78 believes: 'It sounds like Nigel Farage wants to give us the jobs that no one else wants to do; this will enlarge our brain drain, not tackle it. What we need in Wales is a coherent, long-term strategy that links skills training to meaningful local employment. "Proposals like Farage's often present a narrow, backward-looking vision: one focused on recreating large-scale, traditional industrial jobs that are no longer economically viable, rather than planning for how these vital skills can be integrated into a modern, diverse Welsh economy.' Numbersontheleft retorts: 'So you think steel making, welding, plumbing, robotics, electrical trades, and industrial automation are jobs nobody else wants to do? Whilst in the real world, Wales and Britain desperately need construction trades to build homes and infrastructure. Also manufacturing the things we use, instead of importing goods manufactured in other countries.' Article continues below Would you like to see heavy industry back in the South Wales Valleys? Is Reform the answer to Wales' woes? Have your say in our comments section.