Tag: united kingdom

Starmer’s Regime Just Lit The Fuse On The U.K.’s Free Speech Crisis

Robin Wright, longtime member of the Hollywood glitterati, tells The Times that she feels “liberated” in fleeing the United States for the “freedom” of England. 

“America is a s—show,” the leftist House of Cards star told the London publication, declining to fully go into what she believes to be the present state of American politics.  

Wright, who says she’s found Mr. Right after three failed marriages, including her ill-fated union with “Marxist moron” Sean Penn, loves the “freedom of self” she has found in the United Kingdom. 

The Times’ gushing profile was published on Saturday, just two days before five Metropolitan Police officers arrested Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan at London’s Heathrow Airport on charges of expressing an opinion.

Linehan, co-creator of the popular sitcom Father Ted, was returning from the U.S. to the land of “freedom of self” when the speech police grabbed him “on suspicion of inciting violence via his posts on X.” What violence did he incite? The violence of thought, which in no small part has effectively become outlawed in leftist Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Jolly Old England. 

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Britain’s Car Industry: From World Leader to Net Zero Casualty

Britain was once a giant of car manufacturing. In the 1950s, we were the second-largest producer in the world and the biggest exporter. Coventry, Birmingham, and Oxford built not just cars, but the reputation of an industrial nation; to this day, it is a source of great pride that Jaguar–Land Rover, a global automotive icon, still stands between Coventry and Birmingham. By the 1970s, we were producing more than 1.6 million vehicles a year.

Today? We have fallen back to 1950s levels. Last year, Britain built fewer than half our peak output—800,000 cars, and the lowest outside the pandemic since 1954. Half a year later, by mid-2025, production has slumped a further 12%. The country that once led the automotive revolution is now struggling to stay afloat, and fighting to remain relevant.

This is why the news that BMW will end car production at Oxford’s Mini plant, shifting work to China, is so damning, bringing this decline into sharp focus. The Mini is not only a classic British car; Alec Issigonis’s original design made it an international icon. For decades, the Mini has been the bridge between British design flair and foreign investment. Its departure leaves 1,500 jobs at risk at a time when the government is desperate to fuel growth and convince a wavering consumer market that there is no tension between industrial production and Net Zero goals.

It’s a bitter reminder that we in Britain have been here before: letting an industrial crown jewel slip away.

The usual explanations will be offered: global competition, exchange rates, supply chains. All true, in the midst of a global trade war that is heating up and damaging major British exports. But such a diagnosis is incomplete. The truth is that Britain’s car industry is being squeezed by a mix of geopolitical realignment and government missteps.

The car industry has become the frontline of a new trade war. Washington has already moved aggressively to shield its own firms: the Inflation Reduction Act offers vast subsidies for US-made EVs and batteries, an unapologetic attempt to onshore production, and something that became a flashpoint of tension in Trump’s negotiation with the EU in the latest trade deal. On the production side, the Act has poured billions into US manufacturing: investment in EV and battery plants hit around $11 billion per quarter in 2024.

Ripples have been sent across the world in the US’s wake: Europe, faced with a flood of cheap Chinese EVs, has imposed tariffs of up to 35% after an anti-subsidy investigation. Talks have even turned to a system of minimum import prices instead of tariffs. Unsurprisingly, China has threatened retaliation against European luxury marques, while experts warn the tariffs may slow the EU’s green transition by raising prices.

This is no longer a free market: cars are treated as strategic assets, the 21st-century equivalent of shipbuilding or steel. Whoever controls the supply chains, particularly for EV batteries and the mining of lithium, controls not only the future of the industry but an important lever of national power.

The results are visible. In July 2025, Tesla’s UK sales collapsed nearly 60%, while Chinese giant BYD’s deliveries quadrupled. Europe responded by talking up new tariffs. Britain did nothing. In this asymmetric contest, our market risks becoming a showroom for foreign producers—subsidizing both sides of the trade war without defending our own.

The real danger is not simply that Britain loses factories—that would be lamentable, but new industries crop up all the time. The danger comes if Britain misreads the geopolitics of the moment. Policymakers assume that globalization still works on liberal lines, when in reality industrial competition has become nakedly political.

If the government continues to approach this as a morality play about “green obligations” rather than a contest of state-backed strategies, Britain will find itself outmaneuvered by rivals who are willing to fight dirty. The naivety of this government in the geopolitical realm is already on show—all it takes is an unscrupulous actor to take advantage.

Meanwhile, Britain’s car industry is being crushed under the weight of its own government’s Net Zero agenda.

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UK sucking resources out of Ukraine – Moscow

The British establishment views Ukraine as a source of cheap resources that can help alleviate the UK’s ongoing economic problems, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

Such a predatory attitude is typical of London, Zakharova said in an exclusive interview with RT on Wednesday.

Moscow considers the UK one of the main actors fueling the Ukraine conflict, claiming it collaborates with the EU to undermine diplomatic efforts made by US President Donald Trump.

“Britain has a history of aggressive colonialism and imperialism toward resource-rich countries,” she stated. “Ukraine holds significant potential in this regard, and Britain views it as a means of enrichment – or rather a lifeline given the current state of Western European economies.”

“London perceives Ukraine as merely a feeding trough, both now and in the future, from which it can extract essentially free minerals and refine them,” she added.

The Ukrainian leadership is not acting in the interests of its citizens, Zakharova claimed, but instead follows directives from “NATO, Western European elites, and local self-interested groups.”

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Graham Linehan Arrested by Armed Police Over X Posts as UK Free Speech Crisis Deepens

There are many ways to return to Britain after a long-haul flight. Maybe you get a cup of tea, a mildly annoyed customs agent, and a taxi driver who tells you London’s gone to hell. Or, if you’re Graham Linehan, you’re met at Heathrow by five armed officers who then take you into custody over things you wrote on the internet.

The man who created Father Ted and The IT Crowd, shows that helped define British humor, was arrested, detained, and taken to hospital, all because of three tweets.

He wrote later: “I was arrested at an airport like a terrorist, locked in a cell like a criminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me, and banned from speaking online.”

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that Linehan was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence, related to posts he made on X. Armed officers from the Met’s Aviation Unit escorted Linehan off of a flight from Arizona and into custody.

The tweets in question included one joke suggesting that if a “trans-identified male” is found in a women-only space, people should “make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”

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UK Council Offers Emotional Support To Staff “Discomforted” By Seeing The National Flag

A council in the county of Essex, close to London, has been ridiculed for offering emotional support to employees they claim are feeling unsettled by seeing so many people raising the national flag in the streets of towns and cities across the country.

As we have highlighted, the action is being taken by everyday people in Britain who are sick to the back teeth of mass illegal immigration and the fallout it’s having on their communities.

An email sent to staff by Essex County Council states that it is “aware of the increasing visibility of St George’s and Union Jack flags displayed on road signs, bridges and trees in parts of Essex”.

The email continues, “While these symbols may hold different meanings for different people, we recognise that for many – particularly our colleagues of colour – they can evoke feelings of discomfort and be associated with anti-immigration rhetoric”.

Anti-illegal immigration, yes. Go on.

“We stand firmly against all forms of racism and discrimination, and we are committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for everyone,” the email ridiculously states, as if being perturbed about boat loads of illegals washing up in dinghies and being put up in four star hotels at taxpayer expense and allowed to wander freely around local communities is “racist”.

As we highlighted yesterday, it’s the centrist position of most British people now.

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UK free speech crackdown sees up to 30 people a day arrested for petty offenses such as retweets and cartoons

Bernadette Spofforth lay in jail on a blue gym mattress in a daze, finding it difficult to move, even breathe.

“I just closed down. But the other half of my brain went into Jack Reacher mode,” she said, referring to the fictional action hero. “Every single detail was in this very vivid, bright, sharp focus.”

She remembers noticing that you can’t drown yourself in the toilet, because there’s no standing water in it and the flush button is too far to reach if your head were in the bowl.  

She’d end up being detained for 36 hours in July 2024. Three girls had just been murdered in Southport, England, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party. But Spofforth was not under suspicion for the crime.

Instead, horrified, and in the fog of a developing tragedy, she’d reposted on X another user’s content blaming newly arrived migrants for the ghastly crime — clarifying in her retweet, “If this is true.”

Hours later she realized she may have received bad information and deleted the post — but it had already been seen thousands of times. 

The murders resulted in widespread civil unrest in the UK, where mass migration is a central issue for citizens. Four police vehicles arrived at her home days later. Spofforth, 56, a successful businesswoman from Chester, was placed under arrest.

“We’re a year on now and I can honestly tell you that I don’t think I will ever recover,” she told The Post. “I don’t mean that as a victim. Those poor children were victims. But I will never trust anything the authorities say to me ever again.”

Her story is one repeated almost hourly in the UK, where data suggests over 30 people a day are arrested for speech crimes, about 12,000 a year, under laws written well before the age of social media that make crimes of sending “grossly offensive” messages or sharing content of an “indecent, obscene or menacing character.”

Social media continues to be flooded with videos of British cops banging on doors in the middle of the night and hauling parents off to jail—all over mean Facebook posts and agitated words on X.

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4chan and Kiwi Farms Sue UK Regulator Ofcom Over Online Censorship Law, Citing First Amendment Violations

Two of the internet’s most free-speech supporting platforms, 4chan and Kiwi Farms, are taking their fight for online free speech to court, targeting the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, for what they describe as an unconstitutional attempt to enforce British censorship laws on American websites.

In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the plaintiffs argue that the UK’s controversial Online Safety Act is not only an unlawful extraterritorial power grab but a direct attack on foundational American liberties.

Read the complaint here.

The suit calls Ofcom’s enforcement tactics a clear violation of the First Amendment and a dangerous attempt to establish global jurisdiction over online speech.

The complaint lays out how the UK’s censorship regime is being pushed onto American soil, despite the fact that both platforms operate entirely within the United States and are in full compliance with US law.

“Parliament does not have that authority. That issue was settled, decisively, 243 years ago in a war that the UK’s armies lost and are not in any position to relitigate,” Kiwi Farms stated bluntly in a letter responding to Ofcom’s demands.

Ofcom, under the new Online Safety Act, is demanding that platforms like 4chan and Kiwi Farms conduct written “risk assessments,” install content moderation systems, remove speech deemed “illegal” by UK standards, and verify the identities of their users.

The platforms face criminal penalties and steep fines of up to £18 million ($24M) or 10% of their global revenue if they refuse.

The plaintiffs argue these demands are not only legally unenforceable but blatantly unconstitutional. “Where Americans are concerned, the Online Safety Act purports to legislate the Constitution out of existence,” the lawsuit states.

Central to the challenge is the claim that Ofcom, a British corporate regulator funded by the very companies it polices, is attempting to impose UK-style speech control on a global scale.

According to the complaint, Ofcom has no lawful authority to regulate US platforms, let alone to compel speech or force the removal of content that is protected under the US Constitution.

The filing asserts that Ofcom’s threats of imprisonment and massive fines, coupled with demands for speech censorship and compelled disclosure of sensitive company information, constitute “egregious violations of Americans’ civil rights.”

The UK regulator has already targeted both platforms with a series of legal notices and threats, despite lacking jurisdiction or proper legal process.

These include multiple emails and letters declaring 4chan and Kiwi Farms in breach of UK law, none of which were served under the required UK-US Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

The plaintiffs argue that these attempts at enforcement are not just improper, but “repugnant to United States public policy.”

“Ofcom purports to regulate content and interactions on platforms and services with which Plaintiffs’ users are voluntarily interacting,” the complaint says. “Ofcom seeks to control those interactions in order to satisfy the whims of Ofcom employees or the UK law enforcement or political apparatuses.”

Notably, both platforms have limited or no access for UK users in response to the threats. Kiwi Farms, for instance, blocked UK IPs entirely after receiving what it interpreted as an impending Section 100 order demanding compliance.

The lawsuit requests the court to block Ofcom from issuing further demands without going through proper international legal channels and to declare the Online Safety Act’s enforcement efforts unenforceable in the United States.

It also seeks a permanent injunction against any future attempts by Ofcom to impose UK regulations on the plaintiffs.

The case stands as a direct confrontation between two visions of the internet: one based on the US constitutional tradition of free speech and open access, and another that embraces government-mandated safety regimes that can be weaponized to silence speech on a global scale.

For the plaintiffs, the message is clear: they will not yield to foreign censors. As the suit puts it, “Delaware and West Virginia are not part of the UK. Their citizens, both natural and corporate, do not answer to the UK.”

Preston Byrne of Byrne & Storm, P.C., who represents the plaintiffs, told Reclaim The Net the platforms are refusing to comply with Ofcom’s demands because “American citizens do not surrender our constitutional rights just because Ofcom sends us an e-mail.”

He praised the decision by 4chan and Kiwi Farms to stand firm against the foreign regulator, stating, “In the face of these foreign demands, our clients have bravely chosen to assert their constitutional rights.”

Byrne characterized the UK’s censorship law as a calculated attack on the American tech sector, warning that “the UK Online Safety Act is a brazen attempt by a foreign country to hobble American competitiveness and suffocate American freedom by exporting the UK’s censorship laws to our shores.”

He made it clear that the legal team would not allow such interference to go unanswered: “The First Amendment bar is prepared to hale any foreign censor into federal court at any time to defend any American.”

In a statement to Reclaim The Net, Ronald Coleman of the Coleman Law Firm, P.C., co-counsel in the suit, framed the case as a broader defense of national sovereignty and individual liberty.

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UNREAL- British pub owner refuses entry to people wearing the flag of their country

UNREAL- British pub owner refuses entry to people wearing the flag of their country

An unprecedented incident shook daily life in England when a British pub refused entry to customers carrying their own country’s flag. What might seem trivial has become a focus of debate about national identity, freedom of expression, and the growing imposition of arbitrary rules by certain local administrations. Witnesses and affected patrons reported that the ban is clear and direct: carrying the English flag in a pub located in England may result in being denied service, regardless of whether the visitors’ intent is simply to show national pride.

The pub owner claimed it was a “simple rule by management” and that not allowing entry with national flags is part of an internal policy that must be followed strictly. However, for many citizens, this represents an abuse of authority and a clear contradiction: how is it possible that in one’s own country, a basic symbol like the national flag can be prohibited? The incident quickly went viral on social media, where thousands expressed outrage over what they see as censorship and discrimination within Britain itself.

During the confrontation, a tense exchange took place between the customer and pub staff. Video recording was prohibited inside the establishment, while the visitor insisted on understanding the reason for the ban. Despite the owner’s persistence and administrative justification, the situation sparked public debate about the limits of private authority versus citizens’ rights. Additionally, the comparison with other foreign flags, such as the Palestinian flag, highlighted a double standard many find unacceptable: the English flag is banned, while others can be displayed without issue.

This case occurs amid a broader context of demographic changes in England due to increasing immigration pressure. Cities such as London, Birmingham, and Manchester have experienced significant growth in migrant populations, creating cultural and political tensions over preserving traditional British values. Many citizens feel that national identity is at risk and that imposing rules like banning the English flag reflects an increasing fear among establishments of cultural conflicts or political confrontations. For conservatives, the pub situation is a microcosm of a larger problem: mass immigration has altered social balance and incentivized administrative decisions that prioritize neutrality over protecting national identity.

The case has alarmed those who defend national pride and traditional British values. Conservative analysts argue that situations like this reflect a troubling trend of restricting patriotic symbols and silencing expressions of identity while ignoring the challenges of mass immigration. The controversy also raised questions about business owners’ freedom versus the obligation to respect customers’ fundamental rights, particularly in contexts where there is no conflict or real threat, only the display of a national emblem.

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England Anti-Mass Migration Protests Get Heated as Open Borders Far-Left Clash With Police

Numerous of protests took place on Saturday throughout England against the government scheme of housing alleged asylum seekers in hotels in towns and cities across the country, sparking local concerns over the safety of women and girls.

Up to 30 protests were scheduled to take place over the weekend, the majority of which under the banner of “Abolish Asylum System” and opposing open borders counter-demonstrations also being swiftly organised by heavily funded leftist groups like Stand Up to Racism.

While the protest movement against migrant hotels has in fact, been largely peaceful since it broke out in Epping last month following the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl allegedly at the hands of an illegal from Ethiopia housed in a local hotel, several clashes were seen on Saturday involving police and the far-left counter-demonstrators.

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Sequins, feathers… and a groundbreaking arrest using facial recognition cameras: The Daily Mail sees police deploy slick new technology at Notting Hill Carnival

Even the harshest critics of the Metropolitan Police admit the force has its work cut out with the Notting Hill Carnival.

Describing Europe’s biggest street party as a policing challenge would be a bit like referring to the Second World War as an unfortunate diplomatic incident.

Of course, it is not just the crowds of more than two million that put a strain on police resources every year on the August bank holiday. In recent years, it has also been the criminality – drugs, violence, knife crime, sexual offences, even murder – that all too frequently overshadows the celebrations.

So even with around 7,000 officers on duty, it is perhaps unsurprising that Met chiefs have introduced the use of live facial recognition (LFR) – previously deployed at the King’s coronation as well as Premier League matches – for the 2025 carnival.

Festivities officially began yesterday morning with the Children’s Day Parade. Thousands of revellers – many wearing ornate costumes of sequins and feathers – danced through the west London streets as drummers pounded unrelenting rhythms. Elsewhere, more than 30 sound systems blared out Caribbean and electronic dance music.

Meanwhile, officers were putting in place the final touches to their LFR system, which records images of people via sophisticated cameras. It uses biometric software to assess head size and other facial features, then converts these details into digital data. According to experts, any individual whose image scores 0.64 or higher (on a scale of zero to one) is highly likely to be a match for someone whose photo is on file.

At 6.23am yesterday, several hours before the parade got underway, specialists at the Met finalised a ‘watchlist’ of 16,231 individuals of interest to them. They included people wanted by the courts or being sought for alleged criminal activity that would merit jail time of ‘a year or more’.

Others on the list included those who have been freed under certain restrictions – including former prisoners released on licence from life sentences – to ensure they are sticking to the conditions imposed on them by the authorities.

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