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Spectator
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
The lanyard class is imploding – and it can't blame Musk
I was surprised to read a report by Sunder Katwala's thinktank British Future saying the UK is a 'powder keg' of community tensions and warning of further unrest this summer. In a foreword by Sajid Javid and Jon Cruddas, who are co-chairing a commission looking into last year's riots, Britain is described as 'fragmented' and 'fragile', seemingly only one newspaper headline away from descending into civil war. Aren't these the same public intellectuals and politicians who, until ten minutes ago, were cheerleaders for multiculturalism? I thought the arrivalof hundreds of thousands of immigrants a year was enriching our street life, improving our cuisine and revitalising our art and literature? Isn't the absorption of millions of foreign nationals, many from countries with very different customs to ours, a great British success story? Diversity is our strength, don'tcha know. Now, suddenly, our cities are hellscapes, riven with ethnic and religious tensions that could erupt into violence any minute. Enoch Powell was a prophet all along. This loss of faith by our metropolitan overlords seems to have happened overnight. Have they all had their iPhones ripped from their hands by gangs of marauding cyclists? Their rose-tinted view of mass immigration has been replaced by a pathological fear of social disorder: anarchophobia. That was brought home to me when it emerged that one reason the government suppressed the news about rehousing 24,000 Afghans was the fear that it would light the blue touch paper and… kaboom! Our lords and masters really do think that ordinary people are a bunch of angry troglodytes milling about on street corners looking for the slightest excuse to start setting emergency vehicles ablaze. Needless to say, there's only one solution to this combustible state of affairs: more censorship. Forget about stopping the boats or doing anything about the grooming gangs. No, the reason the proles are on a hair trigger is 'misinformation'. It's all Elon Musk's fault! That was the conclusion of a cross-party group of MPs on the Science, Innovation and Technology select committee who issued a report two weeks ago claiming the Online Safety Act is basically useless because it hasn't given Ofcom the power to force platforms to remove fake news. 'The viral amplification of false and harmful content can cause very real harm – helping to drive the riots we saw last summer,' said the chair, Dame Chi Onwurah. No wonder Lucy Connolly has been banged up for 31 months. It was her tweet after the Southport attack saying people could set fire to asylum hotels for all she cared, and implying an illegal immigrant was responsible for the murders, that was single–handedly responsible for the worst outbreak of social disorder since 2011. If only Musk had trained his algorithms to delete such dangerous 'misinformation', we'd have had a summer of multicultural street parties with Progress Pride flags and big banners saying: 'Refugees Welcome.' I've been trying to work out the mental gymnastics behind such an 'analysis' and I think it goes something like this: 'We have no regrets about promoting mass immigration despite the electorate repeatedly telling us not to. That policy has absolutely nothing to do with the growing cynicism about politicians, collapsing trust in institutions and fraying social cohesion. Our vision of a rainbow Britain would have come to pass were it not for that pesky Musk and his hateful algorithms.' I'm exaggerating, but only slightly. Listen to Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a pro-censorship lobby group. 'One year on from the Southport riots, X remains the crucial hub for hate-filled lies and incitement of violence targeting migrants and Muslims,' he told the Guardian. Incidentally, Imran has fled to Washington, so great is his anarchophobia. At some point you'd think it would occur to these geniuses that the aggressive policing of social media posts – more than 30 people a day are being nicked for speech crimes– isn't having the desired effect. Last time I checked, Reform UK was riding high at 34 per cent in the polls. Maybe the real reason these people don't like their policies being attacked online is that, deep down, they've lost faith in them themselves and don't want to be forced to defend them. It's not British society that's on the verge of imploding. It's the lanyard class.
Daily Mirror
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Who is Reform's George Finch? The teenager now in charge of a multi-million pound council budget
Alarm has been raised after 19-year-old George Finch was named leader of Warwickshire County Council weeks after a public spat over a Pride flag - and Reform was immediately accused of hypocracy Alarm has been raised after a 19-year-old Reform politician was put in charge of a cash-strapped council - and immediately agreed to splash £150,000 on advisors. George Finch was appointed at the helm of Warwickshire County Council after his predecessor quit having been in post for 41 days. Voters voiced concern about giving a teenager with no relevant experience so much power - particularly after he started a public spat over a Pride flag at the council. Labour MP Preet Gill said: "This is not work experience." Mr Finch, who served as interim council leader before his hotly-contested appointment, hit the headlines in June when he demanded a Progress Pride flag - showing support for the LGBTQ+ community - was removed. The council's chief executive, Monica Fogarty, refused to do so. The row prompted Nigel Farage to attack the public servant, suggesting she "should look for a new job". Following Mr Finch's appointment at a meeting picketed by protesters, Warwickshire's Reform group was accused of hypocrisy after agreeing to hire political advisors. This was despite pledging to cut wasteful spending. The council, which has an overall budget of £2billion currently faces an £87million defecit. Lib Dem councillor George Cowcher told The Guardian: 'These proposals are all about spending some money so they can have a chum in their group and I think that is not particularly helpful given the financial state of this council." And the Green Party's Sam Jones said: 'Reform have had a sniff of power, they're making it so clear that they never cared a jot for the will of their supporters. No to overpaid, unelected bureaucrats before the election, but yes to up to £150,000 of unfunded spending on political assistants now the campaigning is over.' Mr Finch, who told the BBC he had wanted to be a teacher but was put off by "socialist wokeism", said the leaders of all three big parties on the council - Reform, the Tories and the Lib Dems - would get a political assistant. This was because council officers had not shown enough imagination in past years, he claimed. He hit out at those anxious about his young age, saying: "All I see is age… I don't care about my age. Would people be questioning if there was a 70-year-old at the helm? Probably not. " Joe Biden, Donald Trump, presidents that are older – no-one questions it. But they're questioning someone who is 19." Ms Gill said voters in Warwickshire "frankly deserve better'. 'This is not work experience,' she told the BBC. 'This is not about learning on the job.' His appointment drew a mixed reaction from locals. One woman told Channel 4 news it was "ridiculous". She said: "Too young, no experience, big budget to deal with, a wide range of issues to cover. I just can't see that he would have the experience to do it." Another said: "I think 19-year-olds can be supported. They can be chaperoned and shepherded in those roles. But I think that also takes resources as well. Have we got the time and the money for that in this country? I don't think we have." However not everyone was against it. One young woman told the broadcaster: "I think it's good. I think we need new people to lead and I think it's going to be great for the country and the council."
BBC News
06-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Warwickshire Reform's Pride flag focus is pathetic, says Green MP
An MP has accused Reform UK of "getting its knickers in a twist" over a Progress Pride flag flown outside a council headquarters - and also told the party to focus on more important issues rather than "posturing and performative politics".Ellie Chowns, the Green Party member for North Herefordshire, was referring to a row in Warwickshire where Reform UK requested the county council it leads to remove such a told BBC Politics Midlands that Reform's focus on flags was "pretty pathetic" and voters were more interested in potholes and bin on the same programme, Reform UK's Ian Cooper, leader of Staffordshire Council, said: "We are defending the public interest." He added: "We were elected on a mandate and we intend to do it."Also among the guests for Sunday's broadcast were Conservative MP for Kenilworth and Southam Sir Jeremy Wright who said the flag row in Warwickshire was a "distraction" and was not what most people cared about."For heaven's sake, are we really going to discuss what flag flies outside Shirehall in Warwick as a priority for the people of Warwickshire?" he row began when the county council's acting leader - Reform UK's George Finch - wrote to the authority's chief executive, asking for the flag to be removed during Pride chief executive refused, stating in an email response that such decisions rested with her - a stance described as a coup d'etat by Zia Yusuf, head of the national party's department of government efficiency. It later emerged that the authority did not have the technical advertising consent required to fly a Progress Pride flag outside HQ. The flag's design differs from the standard Pride rainbow flag which is not subject to permission. The flag has since been removed following the end of Pride said there was "nothing whatsoever" wrong with the Pride flag, but council buildings should "represent the people of the county and of the United Kingdom"."If you want to fly a Pride flag or any other flag, go and find a flag pole and fly it," he said. Another guest, Sureena Brackenridge, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton, said that in her constituency "not many people are really concerned about what flag flies outside the council buildings".Her comments were echoed by Chowns and Sir said she believed "people care about potholes, about bin collections, people care about social care and looking after vulnerable adults and children in the community".Sir Jeremy said Warwickshire County Council had huge challenges which should be taking up the council's time, instead of flag policy."I really do worry that this is a demonstration of what many of us are concerned about, which is that Reform is all about slogans and not much about delivering things that people really care about," he added that if Reform wanted to set a flag policy, it needed to be debated by councillors. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Newsweek
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Church Doubles Down After Preacher Encouraged Prayers for LGBTQ Deaths
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An independent Baptist church in Indianapolis has defended a sermon in which church members called for the deaths of people in the LGBTQ+ community. On July 3, preacher Justin Zhong said in a post on the Sure Foundation Baptist Church's Facebook page that the church would not apologize for the sermon. "The Bible is crystal clear that sodomites (homosexuals) deserve the death penalty carried out by a government that actually cares about the law of God," Zhong wrote. In an emailed statement to Newsweek, the Sure Foundation Baptist Church said: "The Bible puts the death penalty on the LGBTQ people. We as Christians must believe and preach what the Bible says. The reason people are so shocked about all this is not many 'Christians' and even 'pastors' actually believe the Bible. To be clear, we only called for the government to execute those people. We are against vigilantes." Why It Matters The church's unapologetic endorsement of violent anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric reflects a worrying rise of open homophobia in the United States. According to the Human Rights Campaign, citing FBI data, there were 2,402 reported hate crime incidents targeting individuals based on their sexual orientation in 2023—up 23 percent from the previous year. What To Know On June 29, the Sure Foundation Baptist Church held "Men's Preaching Night," where multiple church members used homophobic slurs and called for violence against the LGBTQ+ community while speaking from the pulpit. In a sermon titled "Pray the Gay Away," Stephen Falco addressed the LGBTQ+ community, saying: "You ought to blow yourself in the back of the head. You're so disgusting." "How shall we then properly pray for gay people?" he continued. "We should pray for their deaths, plain and simple." A photo showing a Progress Pride flag on a flagpole in Taylor Square, Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney. A photo showing a Progress Pride flag on a flagpole in Taylor Square, Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney. After Falco spoke, another church member repeated similar violent and homophobic rhetoric. "You got another Pride Month here. I mean, obviously, I think they should be put to death," Wade Rawley said. "These people should be beaten and stomped in the mud, and then they should take a gun and blow the back of their heads off," he continued. After the sermon, which was broadcast live on Facebook, gained widespread criticism, the church took to its Facebook page to double down on the message. Zhong, who signed the message, wrote: "I will not apologize for preaching the Word of God. I will not apologize for stating facts. I will not negotiate with terrorists, among whom the LGBTHIV crowd is full of domestic terrorists." The church is no stranger to courting controversy. Zhong said in a sermon last year that he would like to see then-President Joe Biden and presidential candidate Donald Trump put to death. What People Are Saying The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, a community activist group, condemned the sermon in a statement: "The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis stands firmly against the harmful rhetoric recently preached that condemned all LGBTQ individuals to hell and instructed people to stay away from them. Such messages are not only theologically irresponsible but pastorally dangerous." What Happens Next Sure Foundation Baptist Church appears to be unfazed by criticisms of its homophobic rhetoric and is likely to continue with its inflammatory sermons.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Warwickshire council boss vetoed Reform's Pride Flag removal request
Reform UK has accused Warwickshire County Council's chief executive of a "coup d'etat" in a row over removing a Progress Pride Yusuf, head of Reform's department of government efficiency, made the claim after Monica Fogarty refused to remove the flag before the end of Pride month from outside the council's Shire Hall headquarters in Reform Warwickshire leader, George Finch, wrote to the council's chief executive asking for the flag, which includes the colours of the trans rights movement and traditional rainbow colours, to be the chief executive refused the request, stating in an email response to Finch that she was responsible for such decisions. Finch made the request after the 18-year-old replaced Rob Howard who stepped down after just over five weeks in the Fogarty said: "I am afraid I will not be taking the action that you are requesting" adding that she "saw no reason" to diverge from the council's policy of flying the flag annually during Pride added: "This council does not have a formal policy around decision-making on the flying of flags" and suggested the leader should look for the council to vote on one should he wish to introduce one. Her view has been backed by the leader of the Green Party in leader Jonathan Chilvers said: "Leaders, let alone interim leaders, can't make a decision on a whim based on what they ate for breakfast that morning - that's what dictatorships are made of." Mr Yusuf accused Ms Fogarty of acting like the "monarch of Warwickshire" and "subversion of democracy".He added his belief that "unelected bureaucrats" had "seized control of the country."Following the local elections in May, Yusuf said: "Reform-controlled English councils will move at speed to resolve that the only flags permitted to be flown on or in its buildings will be the Union Jack and St George's flag." Reform does not have overall control of the council in Warwickshire, although it is the largest Progress Flag has since been removed from Shire Hall following the end of Pride Councillor Finch and Ms Fogarty have been approached by the BBC for comment.A new Reform group leader is expected to be chosen by the party in the coming days, with the formal appointment as council leader due to take place at a meeting of the full council on July 22.
