Latest news with #Foulkes
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
New poll shows R.I. Governor Dan McKee's approval rating at 19 percent
The bigger picture: McKee announced plans to Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up So what now? Advertisement If you're Foulkes, you do you. You keep raising money, and you cross your fingers that McKee stays in the race and any other top tier contenders take a pass. If you're Shekarchi, this is when you ramp up behind-the-scenes talks with union leaders to suggest that it's time to nudge McKee into retirement with the old 'for the good of the Democratic Party' argument. Translation: Your point is, 'If you don't want Foulkes, you need me.' Advertisement If you're Neronha, you capitalize on your moment. Your But campaigns don't magically come together, so you have to start raising money and building a team. If you're McKee, you brace yourself and buckle in. You and your team have always known this campaign was going to be a slog. Yes, but: The poll asks relatively generic questions that offer voters the ability to vent their frustrations, but it doesn't demonstrate the decision they'll have to make between the candidates, which McKee has consistently won during three successful campaigns for statewide office in the past. Still, McKee is in desperate need of a UNH poll shows President Trump's job approval at 37 percent – nearly twice McKee's. He might get a boost in the next week or so because This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, Dan McGowan can be reached at
Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Buena Park takes aim at air pollution from idling delivery trucks
Prompted by resident complaints, the Buena Park City Council considered drafting an anti-idling law to curb commercial trucks from leaving their engines on while parked for a set period of time. Councilmember Susan Sonne requested the study session at Tuesday's council meeting. 'Pollution is certainly a big concern here, because in my district, there's a number of commercial areas that back up against homes,' she said. 'There's also a noise consideration, and I've had residents who've reported large commercial trucks that have idled, not just for a few minutes, but for hours in the middle of the night.' According to a city staff report, vehicle idling is a major source of local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In California, an estimated 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide is spewed into the atmosphere from idling every year while chugging 270 million gallons of fuel, the report stated. A handful of cities across the state have passed anti-idling laws. Palo Alto defines 'idling' as leaving a vehicle running for three minutes while parked. The Bay Area city has emphasized education over enforcement of its law, but includes penalties for egregious offenders. Santa Cruz limits vehicles to just 90 seconds before they are considered idling. In Cupertino, anti-idling efforts are folded into the city's climate action plan. Cupertino partners with schools and its local chamber of commerce to spread awareness about the environmental impacts of idling to encourage compliance, from parents picking up their children at school to delivery trucks parked outside of businesses or parks where people congregate. With Buena Park developing its own Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, Sonne saw an anti-idling law as compatible with it, but didn't want to fully emulate Cupertino's model. 'I really don't want to go after parents who are sitting and waiting to pick their kids up from school,' she said. 'I don't have any interest in that, at all.' Matt Foulkes, Buena Park's community and economic development director, told the council members that if they wanted to craft their own law, they would have to define 'idling' while also determining exemptions for issues like emergency vehicles or drivers keeping the air conditioning on to prevent a health hazard on a blistering hot day. Foulkes also said that state law already prohibits commercial vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds from idling after five minutes. 'Any delivery truck is going to exceed that [weight],' he said. Sonne backtracked on pursuing an anti-idling law after learning about existing state law, as she felt more awareness of it could directly address the complaints of her constituents. Councilmember Connor Traut also highlighted complaints about commercial trucks aired at a recent council meeting and asked what the city would inform residents to do. 'Obviously, it's not [call] 911, but [should they call] non-emergency line to report excessive idling by large trucks?' he asked. Foulkes responded that residents can call the police department's non-emergency line or code enforcement during working hours. 'If there are specific businesses or specific residents that you guys have in mind, we would do a very directed enforcement,' he said to Sonne and Traut. 'And then we can kind of spot check around the city where we have similar situations, where those residents might be having those same frustrations, but just might not have brought it to an elected official's attention.' Buena Park Mayor Joyce Ahn asked that information about the state law prohibiting idling and what numbers to call be placed on the city's website. 'That sounds more targeted and effective,' she said.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Suella Braverman: Arrest of ex-special constable over tweet is national embarrassment
Credit: Andy Mackenzie for The Telegraph The arrest of a retired special constable over a tweet warning about rising anti-Semitism is a 'national embarrassment', Suella Braverman has said. Last weekend, The Telegraph revealed that Julian Foulkes, 72, from Gillingham, Kent, was handcuffed at his home by six Kent Police officers in November 2023 after replying to a pro-Palestinian activist on X. Mr Foulkes, who volunteered with the force for a decade, had his home searched, and was detained for eight hours, interviewed and cautioned. He had replied to a tweet from a pro-Palestinian activist who had threatened to sue Mrs Braverman for calling anti-Israel protests 'hate marches'. It was only on May 6, 18 months later, that Kent Police admitted the caution was a mistake, removed it from his record, and apologised. With support from the Free Speech Union, he is now crowdfunding to take legal action against the force. On Friday, the former home secretary invited Mr Foulkes to Westminster to commend him for speaking out. Sitting across from him in her Parliamentary office, Mrs Braverman told Mr Foulkes that she wished she had been able to prevent his ordeal. 'The police seriously erred in this instance, and I think it's caused a national embarrassment because their overreach, their overzealous approach, is a symptom of a deeper problem within policing, which is political correctness,' she said. 'The shorthand is 'woke policing', and this is a real attack on free speech,' she told the former special constable, 'and unfortunately, you're not the only case'. During her time as home secretary Mrs Braverman attempted to crack down on these practices, her concern was – and still is – that police were being distracted from fighting crime. In September 2023 she ordered an investigation into officers who were 'pandering to politically correct causes' such as taking the knee at Black Lives Matter protests. This intervention came just two months before Mr Foulkes was arrested, an event she said showed that her attempted reforms had failed. 'I do think that the police have still got a major problem when it comes to being overly politicised, and chief constables are directing their rank and file officers to pursue cases which are totally unmerited and shouldn't warrant police action,' she explained. 'So it has been because I wasn't able to go further, I do think, yes, the problem still exists.' The MP for Fareham and Waterlooville said she had entered the Home Office with a plan to fix 'woke policing' but that Rishi Sunak, the then prime minister, and police chiefs had been obstructive. 'I tried many ways to try and fix it. It's a very deep, deeply entrenched problem right up to the top of policing,' she said. 'I don't actually think it's rank and file. It's the police chiefs who have signed up to a Left-wing agenda, frankly, and that informs a lot of the police instructions and actions that they take on the ground.' Other measures Mrs Braverman imposed included guidance to limit the investigation of non-crime hate incidents, which have been criticised for restricting free speech. But speaking to The Telegraph, Mrs Braverman admitted that 'none of that worked'. 'It's very hard for ministers and indeed police and crime commissioners to get a real and substantial change in policing, as my experience bears out,' she said. 'I was very vocal about my intentions. The police still did what they wanted to do because they didn't get the message from the Home Secretary of all people.' She accused the National Police Chiefs' Council, the College of Policing and a 'large majority' of chief constables of adopting a 'virtue-signalling agenda'. Mrs Braverman said she would have 'very much liked' to go further in her reforms but was blocked by No 10, leaving her feeling 'powerless'. 'I've got to take responsibility, but no minister can act unilaterally. And you can have the best plans. You can have the best argument for your plans. You can be the most charismatic, intelligent minister. If the Prime Minister doesn't want it to happen, it's not going to happen,' she said. 'I wanted to scrap the College of Policing. I wanted to scrap non crime hate incidents. I wasn't allowed. I wasn't given permission to do that.' She continued: 'I remember feeling quite powerless actually as Home Secretary, I used to tell my officials this very often, 'I'm Home Secretary, I'm getting the questions, and I'm getting the challenge for poor performance, but I have no levers whatsoever, really, to try and change direction. So there's a fundamental weakness in the system.' While 'very much' supporting the operational independence of police, she said that the current arrangement needed a rethink because forces use it as protection 'from challenge or scrutiny or accountability'. Mrs Braverman was ultimately sacked in 2023 following a public row with Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Commissioner, over his refusal to ban a pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day. She told Mr Foulkes that it was ironic the police were 'very, very eager' to arrest him over his social media post warning about anti-Semitism, 'but when thousands of people were marching through the streets on Armistice Day, chanting anti-Semitic slogans, celebrating terrorism, they suddenly became very meek and mild and didn't have enough resources or powers'. Mrs Braverman said her struggle to reform the system from within had convinced her that real change may now only come from people like Mr Foulkes speaking out. 'It is high-profile cases like yours, which will have an effect, because it's so shockingly unacceptable the way you were treated that dispassionate, objective observers will, I'm sure, come to the conclusion that there's been a real mistake here by the police. And if you pull that thread, you can see the broader problem.' Mr Foulkes told Mrs Braverman that he was one of many disillusioned Tory voters who had switched to Reform UK. He said he always sensed her initiatives were being 'thwarted' from within as home secretary, and it was the fact that in 14 years 'nothing seems to have got done' that led him to defect. 'You probably know we want you on board in Reform,' he told Mrs Braverman, noting the fact her husband Rael had already made the switch must make for 'interesting conversations around the dinner table'. But Mrs Braverman politely dismissed any suggestion she might switch allegiance , saying: 'I've been voting with the Conservatives this week and I'll continue to do so.' Lord Herbert of South Downs, chairman of the College of Policing disputed Mrs Braverman's portrayal of the organisation, saying: 'This is a grievously distorted view of the college which has been shared by no other Home Secretary. 'The college was set up by a Conservative government, has the support of police chiefs, and is now strongly focused on leadership, standards, and performance in policing. A professional body for the service to deliver on these critical issues is needed now more than ever.' A Kent Police spokesman said: 'A review, led by the force's Professional Standards department, is under way. The force has apologised to Mr Foulkes for the distress caused and for the way it was investigated.' The NPCC and Mr Sunak have been approached for comment. 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.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Our cretinous police must answer for their tyrannical behaviour in court
After I wrote about the VE Day celebrations last week, rather a lot of people said how glad they were that their fathers, their mothers, their wonderful Uncle Joseph who fought so bravely and died aged 22, did not live to see what Britain has become. A prime example of that dear country changed beyond recognition popped up just a few days later in the story of Julian Foulkes. As you may have read, wiping the disbelief from your eyes, 71-year-old Mr Foulkes was arrested and handcuffed at his home in 2023 by six officers from Kent Police – the same force Julian served for 10 years as a volunteer. His 'crime', ahem, was to post a lightly satirical response to a pro-Palestine protestor on Twitter who was complaining about Suella Braverman's characterisation of 'hate marches'. Mr Foulkes had, quite rightly, become concerned that his Jewish friends no longer felt safe since the October 7 Hamas massacres and he was simply drawing attention to the danger of rising anti-Semitism in the UK. You would have to be very stupid or politically motivated to see Julian Foulkes's tweet as in any way threatening, I think. It most certainly did not approach the threshold for a criminal investigation, as far as I can see, let alone justify half a dozen officers barging into his pleasant Gillingham home. (Ironically, Kent Police thought Mr Foulkes's tweet was attacking the Jews, when it was doing the exact opposite.) 'It felt to me like probably how I would feel if my house was burgled. That my home and my castle had been violated,' said Mr Foulkes, who started to cry at the memory of an officer rifling through treasured mementoes of his daughter who was tragically killed 15 years ago by a hit-and-run driver. After being taken to the police station and held for eight hours, Mr Foulkes accepted an unconditional caution. Although he knew he hadn't done anything wrong, he was terrified that, if he refused, he would end up with a criminal record which might prevent him travelling to visit his other daughter in Australia. Losing access to his surviving child would have been too devastating, he said. I'm afraid this is part of a sickening pattern whereby, after a total absence of common sense in decision-making, the police nudge an accused person to accept a caution so they can log a result without the effort of a court case. Here we go again, folks. Yet another in the long-running series of 'thought crime' farragos. Readers will know about my own visit from two Essex Police officers on Remembrance Sunday in connection with a tweet deleted a year earlier. My tweet, not by coincidence I think, had also drawn attention to anti-Semitism and what I perceived to be the two-tier sympathies of police. Compared to Julian Foulkes I got away very lightly. Officers did not enter my home or arrest me, although the experience was still humiliating and deeply upsetting. You feel like your character is being assassinated while you are trapped in a sticky web of police investigation that manages to be both bonkers and sinister. In response to my article about what had taken place, Essex Police doubled down, triggering something called Gold Command, which is normally used for terrorist incidents and other national emergencies which don't generally include national newspaper columnists, although we can be annoying. In Mr Foulkes's case, we have the bodycam footage which police recorded as they searched his home, including his wife's underwear drawer. (Solicitors for Essex Police have demanded I agree not to tell anyone if I see the video of my visit. I cannot accept that block on my freedom to speak so I have refused to look at it. My solicitor will challenge this.) Most revealing is seeing the Kent officers's arrogant conviction that there is nothing remotely over the top about them all being there in force (as if it was some kind of drugs bust), even when the accused (accused of what exactly?) has rightly pointed out it is ridiculous. Disgracefully, a female officer mutters darkly about the contents of Julian's bookshelves, which feature a hardback by the international bestselling author Douglas Murray (highly recommended!), some copies of The Spectator (ditto) and what she calls 'very Brexity things'. Now, that I find deeply suspicious. How did the youngish police officer know who or what Douglas Murray and The Spectator are? Most people her age wouldn't have a clue. Had she perhaps received training about 'far-Right' material in which mainstream Conservative reading habits are considered evidence of extremism? Either way, that WPC had no business making an impertinent and judgmental remark about the largest democratic vote in British history. Such bias is profoundly worrying in a police force which only retains public confidence because it is sworn to conduct itself without fear or favour. At the very least, this search which caused such distress to Mr Foulkes appears to me to have broken the police's own rules. PACE Code B outlines the restrictions on premises searches. 'Searches must be proportionate and only conducted to the extent necessary to achieve the purpose of the search, and the search must not continue once the object of the search has been achieved or the officer in charge is satisfied that what is beng sought is not on the premises... the number of officers involved should be reasonable and necessary.' Is there anyone outside the numbskull precincts of Kent constabulary who believes that sending six – count them! – officers to arrest a mild-mannered pensioner was in any way proportionate, reasonable or necessary? Given the non-offence nature of the offence, a letter through the door might have been a bit much. After The Sunday Telegraph made the Orwellian treatment of Julian Foulkes front-page news, Kent Police issued an apology saying that a subsequent review of his case had concluded that 'the caution was not appropriate in the circumstances and should not have been issued. Kent Police apologises to Mr Foulkes for the distress caused and how the report was investigated. We have expunged the caution from his record and are pleased to facilitate this correction... a further review of the matter will now be carried out to identify any learning opportunities.' This may come as a shock to Tim Smith, Chief Constable of Kent, but blameless members of the general public are not there to provide 'learning opportunities' for his unthinking subordinates. No apology could begin to atone for the frankly sinister, state-sponsored assault on Mr Foulkes's right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act. Yes, even we 17.4 million Brexity people are legally entitled to hold our own opinions and to express them without government interference! One of the biggest shocks since my encounter with Essex Police has been finding out how officers are often entirely ignorant of Britons's crucial rights in this area. They are unfamiliar with the case law which, again and again, sees the higher courts find in favour, not only of free expression, but of the right to cause offence 'without which free speech is not worth having,' as one wise judge remarked. 'Free speech is clearly under attack,' Julian Foulkes told The Telegraph. 'Nobody is really safe… the public needs to see what's happening and be shocked.' He's right. It is deeply shocking that the free country that hundreds of thousands of mainly young men gave their lives to preserve 80 years ago has fallen under this dark shadow of authoritarianism. (As I told the two police officers at my door back in November.) But we need to do more than be scandalised. This latest victim of outrageous police over-reach is showing the way. With the invaluable help of the Free Speech Union (currently performing a vital role protecting the public from the police), Julian Foulkes will now sue Kent Police for wrongful arrest and can expect a substantial payout. In the course of that legal action, we hope to learn more about the chain of command that led to his cruel and unfair arrest while unmasking the warped ideology, sanctioned at the highest level, that lay behind it. I hope that Mr Foulkes will also make formal complaints about the chief constable, his officers, and anyone else involved in his case. A custody sergeant will have been presented with the grounds for arrest and made the decision to authorise detention. A custody sergeant can legitimately say 'No' if the grounds are flimsy – so he or she will have some explaining to do. The case of Pal v the United Kingdom (concerning an unnecessary police action against a freelance journalist) highlighted the need for an investigating officer to record the grounds and justification for interfering with a person's human rights under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act and the privacy intrusion under Article 8. Were such decisions documented in the shameful harassment of Julian Foulkes? Over to you, Chief Constable Smith. Kent Police may have to hand the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct where, I am told, they could be investigated for possible misconduct. Only when chief constables and those under them start being punished and sacked will they think twice about behaviour which is abhorrent to most of the decent people who pay their salaries. In general terms, policing the law, as one senior officer told me, is increasingly secondary to a form of progressive social engineering which prioritises 'protected characteristics' at the expense of the majority British population. By virtue of religion and race, the Jews whom Julian Foulkes championed but was so wrongly accused of attacking, should be a 'protected characteristic'. Unfortunately, my source tells me 'they're widely regarded among too many police forces as white supremacists'. Well, at least that explains why a Jewish reader who complained to Essex Police about a virulently anti-Semitic tweet was told to go away because 'feelings were running high at the time' of his tweet, while mine, also posted at a time when feelings were running high but in support of Jewish people, was afforded no context and police came to my door. If this induces feelings of helplessness, there is cautious cause for optimism, I think. Recently, we saw how trans activists, who demanded free speech be cancelled and society re-arranged in their image, were stopped in their tracks by a court judgment. If it is true that police have become a law unto themselves, and a threat to good men like Julian Foulkes, then the law itself must be used against them. Let justice prevail. 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.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kent PCC questions force over X post case
The "ordeal" of a retired special constable who was arrested and handcuffed after a post on X was "unacceptable", according to Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner. Kent PCC Matthew Scott said he was "taking the matter extremely seriously" and had asked Kent Police chief constable Tim Smith for an explanation, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Julian Foulkes, from Gillingham, was handcuffed by six officers and had his electronic devices seized two days after he was alleged to have accused a pro-Palestine social media post of being antisemitic in October 2023. Kent Police told the BBC it had apologised to Mr Foulkes, removed a caution from his record and would hold a review. Mr Scott said in a statement: "The ordeal that Julian Foulkes has been through during the last 18 months is unacceptable. "I am pleased that Kent Police has apologised to him and removed the caution from his record." He thanked Mr Foulkes for his service in policing and said he was "truly sorry" for his experience. He added: "I am taking this matter very seriously and I am raising these concerns with Kent Police and the chief constable." The Telegraph reported how Mr Foulkes, 71, was arrested for challenging a pro-Palestine supporter on the social media platform. It said that on 30 October, 2023, an individual had tweeted threatening to sue former home secretary Suella Braverman, who had called pro-Palestine protests "hate marches", if she called them an antisemite. The paper said Mr Foulkes had responded: "One step away from storming Heathrow looking for Jewish arrivals…" Mr Foulkes said he was taking legal action against Kent Police over his alleged treatment. Speaking on the doorstep of home in Gillingham, Mr Foulkes, who spent a decade as a special constable, said: "It's all very disappointing. "It has got to end and that's why someone has to take stand." Mr Foulkes' legal action is being backed by the Free Speech Union which has raised £35,000 of a £50,000 through an appeal. Kent Police said it had examined the caution and on review of the circumstances, expunged it. A spokesman added: "The chief constable telephoned Mr Foulkes on Sunday to personally apologise on behalf of the force for the distress caused and the way the matter was investigated. "He has ordered that a review take place, which will be led by the force's Professional Standards department." Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Kent Police Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Local Democracy Reporting Service
