Tag: united kingdom

US billionaire dubbed ‘the most powerful man on Wall Street’ denies neighbours’ claims he’s plundering Wiltshire’s underground water to fill his nine-million-gallon lake

A US billionaire’s dream of creating a grand English country estate in the tradition of 18th Century landscape designer Capability Brown is facing a backlash from neighbours convinced he is tapping into their water supply.

American financier Stephen Schwarzman bought the magnificent Conholt Park in Wiltshire – described as one of the finest shooting estates in southern England – for £82million three years ago. 

He has funnelled millions of pounds into transforming the 2,100-acre estate’s parkland by building a huge lake that will hold more than nine million gallons of water.

But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Mr Schwarzman, dubbed the most powerful man on Wall Street, is under fire from neighbours who believe he is using a borehole to extract groundwater to fill the lake. 

This, they allege, could lead to water shortages at their own properties because they rely on a shared aquifer.

There is also anger at plans to ‘enhance’ the estate’s pheasant shoots, with local sources claiming Mr Schwarzman is preparing for up to 500 birds to be shot a day.

‘I don’t like what he is doing,’ one local shooting enthusiast told the MoS. ‘That’s not sport.’

Last night a spokesman for Mr Schwarzman, 78, the boss of Blackstone, one of the world’s largest private-equity funds, denied the lake is being filled by a borehole and said the estate was instead using a ‘highly sophisticated water collection system’ that carries rainfall into the lake.

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UK Leads Global Push For Notification Data Requests

Back in 2023, we reported on how US agencies have used push notification metadata on smartphones for surveillance, pressuring tech companies like Apple and Google to hand over user information. Prompted by Senator Ron Wyden’s inquiry, Apple revealed it had been legally barred from disclosing this practice, which raises serious concerns about civil liberties and government overreach.

Cut to today and government demands for user information tied to Apple’s push notification system continued into the first half of 2024, with the United Kingdom submitting 141 requests, despite the nation’s relatively small size, and the United States following with 129.

Germany also obtained data during this period. Singapore, despite making inquiries, received none. These figures come from Apple’s most recent transparency report, shedding light on global government interest in a lesser-known surveillance vector.

Even some privacy apps can be undermined by surveillance at the push notification level. Many apps have to rely on Apple or Google to deliver notifications; services that can expose critical metadata such as which app sent the notification, when it was sent, and how often.

This metadata can be used by governments to infer user activity, and social connections, and even de-anonymize users. It bypasses app-level encryption entirely, exploiting a layer outside the user’s or developer’s control.

Apple’s report outlines what’s at stake with these requests. When someone enables notifications for an app, the system generates a “push token” that links the device and app to a specific Apple account.

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UK pledges 100,000 new drones for Kiev

he UK has pledged to supply 100,000 new drones to Ukraine by April 2026, in addition to the 10,000 UAVs it sent last year. The announcement coincides with Britain’s newly unveiled Strategic Defense Review, which proposes steps to rearm its military in light of what it paints as a threat posed by Russia.

London has allocated £350 million ($470 million) from its £4.5 billion Ukraine military package to fund new drone deliveries to Kiev, according to a government statement on Wednesday. UK Defense Secretary John Healey is expected to detail the initiative at the upcoming Ukraine contact group meeting in Brussels.

“Ukraine’s Armed Forces have demonstrated the effectiveness of drone warfare,” London stated, admitting that Kiev’s demand for UAVs has provided a boost to the UK’s economy.

It also unveiled plans to use Ukraine’s drone experience to train its own military. In order to “learn the lessons from Ukraine,” the UK would allocate over £4 billion for autonomous systems and drones for its armed forces.

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Britain Imposes Islamic Blasphemy Law as Man is Convicted of Burning a Quran

Britain’s transformation into an Islamic state is almost complete.

The case in question relates to a man who has been convicted of a “religiously aggravated public order offence” after he burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London.

The Spectator magazine reports:

This law has been created by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and District Judge John McGarva. Between them they have prosecuted and found a man guilty of a ‘religiously aggravated public order offence’ because he burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate.

The CPS mounted a prosecution conflating the religious institution of Islam, with Muslims as people, and a British judge has accepted this. Islamic blasphemy codes are now being enforced by arms of the British state, via what the National Secular Society describes as ‘a troubling repurposing of public order laws as a proxy for blasphemy laws’.

Hamit Coskun burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in February, before being attacked by a man named Moussa Kadri who has since pleaded guilty to the assault. Mr Coskun was initially charged under the Crime and Disorder Act with ‘intent to cause against the religious institution of Islam harassment, alarm or distress’.

On sentencing Coskun, the left-wing activist Judge John McGarva said Coskun’s conduct was “provocative and taunting” and accused him of harboring a “deep-seated hatred of Islam and its followers.”

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British Police Investigate Mysterious Fires at Prime Minister’s Residence

British counterterrorism police are now reportedly  investigating a series of suspected arson attacks targeting properties associated with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, though authorities reported no injuries resulting from the incidents, which occurred over the past week.

The fires were set at two locations: a four-bedroom house in north London that Starmer currently rents out, and an apartment building where he once owned a residence. Additionally, a vehicle caught fire near one of the properties.

The Metropolitan Police have stated that, due to the connection to a high-profile public figure, the investigation is being led by their Counter Terrorism Command.

Starmer, who has served as Prime Minister since 2024, resides with his wife and children at the official residence on Downing Street.

The house in north London, which he rented out after moving to government housing, was the site of a fire in the early hours of Monday morning.

Earlier, on Sunday, flames were reported in the doorway of the apartment building linked to Starmer. The vehicle fire occurred in proximity to the house, prompting police to investigate potential links between all three incidents.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister expressed gratitude for the police’s efforts but refrained from offering further comments on the ongoing investigation.

The police have emphasized the seriousness of the situation, particularly given the implications of targeting a prominent political figure.

Local residents have expressed concern over the fires, noting the potential risks associated with such violent acts. “It’s alarming to think that something like this could happen so close to home,” said one neighbor, who requested anonymity.

“We expect our leaders to be safe, and it’s unsettling to see this kind of threat.”

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British Attacks on Free Speech Prove the Value of the First Amendment

Political activists occasionally propose a new constitutional convention, which would gather delegates from the states to craft amendments to the nation’s founding document. It’s a long and convoluted process, but the Constitution itself provides the blueprint. Article V allows such a confab if two-thirds of Congress or two-thirds of the state legislatures call for one.

These days, conservatives are the driving force for the idea, as they see it as a means to put further limits on the federal government. Sometimes, progressives propose such a thing. Their goals are to enshrine various social programs and social-justice concepts. Yet anyone who has watched the moronic sausage-making in Congress and state legislatures should be wary of opening Pandora’s Box.

I’d be happy enough if both political tribes tried to uphold the Constitution as it is currently drafted. It’s a brilliant document that limits the power of the government to infringe on our rights. Without the first 10—the Bill of Rights—this would be a markedly different nation.

For a sense of where we might be without it, I’d recommend looking at Great Britain and its approach to the speech concepts detailed on our First Amendment. Our nation was spawned from the British, so we share a culture and history. Yet, without a specific constitutional dictate, that nation has taken a disturbing approach that rightly offends American sensibilities.

As Tablet magazine reported, “74-year-old Scottish grandmother Rose Docherty was arrested on video by four police officers for silently holding a sign in proximity to a Glasgow abortion clinic reading ‘Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.'” Thousands of Brits are detained, questioned, and prosecuted, it notes, for online posts of the type that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow here. The chilling effect is profound.

This isn’t as awful as what happens in authoritarian countries such as Russia, where the government’s critics have a habit of accidentally falling out of windows. But that’s thin gruel. Britain and the European Union are supposed to be free countries. Their speech codes are intended to battle disinformation/misinformation, but empowering the government to be the arbiter of such vague concepts only destroys everyone’s freedoms.

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Retired UK Constable Detained for Social Media Post Receives Financial Compensation for Wrongful Imprisonment

Under leftist Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the United Kingdom is sinking ever deeper in the censorship quagmire, signaling an authoritarian future where free-speech will be completely criminalized.

But that is not to say there has been no pushback from the British society.

Now, a retired police constable has been awarded some measure of justice in the form of compensation of £20,000 [US$ 27,000] after a wrongful arrest over one social media post in which he warned about rising anti-Semitism.

The Telegraph reported:

“Julian Foulkes, from Gillingham, Kent, was handcuffed at his home by six officers after replying to a pro-Palestinian activist on X. Kent Police officers searched his home and commented on his ‘very Brexity’ book collection. The force detained the 71-year-old for eight hours, interrogated and issued him with a caution after officers visited his home on Nov 2 2023.”

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Migrants In The UK Are Receiving £1 BILLION PER MONTH In Welfare Benefits: Report

Migrant households are siphoning almost £1 billion in welfare benefits every month in Britain, a report has claimed.

The Telegraph highlights government figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) which reveal that registered households with at least one foreign national in March received £941 million in universal credit.

The welfare scheme allows low-income or unemployed people in Britain to claim government subsidies 

The figure just three years ago was £461 million, meaning it’s on course to double in just half a decade.

It’s hardly surprising given the massive increase in mass migration to the country under the so called Conservative government.

2023 saw migration climb to a record of 906,000. The latest data shows that 948,000 people came to Britain in 2024.

Migrants are eligible to apply for universal credit as soon as they acquire residential or refugee status in the Britain. 

The report notes, however, that the total cost to the taxpayer of foreigners is way higher, when healthcare, education, and housing are factored in.

A recent study conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) discovered that housing asylum seekers, a great deal of whom are in the country illegally, has increased to approximately £4.7 billion a year.

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Britain Is Sleepwalking Into Total State Control of Our Daily Lives

In a gloomy piece for the Telegraph, Sam Ashworth-Hayes warns that Britain is blindly sleepwalking into total state control, sacrificing individual freedom to an ever-expanding, intrusive government that now dominates every aspect of daily life. Here’s an excerpt:

Thank God we won the Cold War. For a while there, it was touch and go, the future of the world on a knife-edge.

On one side, we had a system permeated top to bottom by an official state ideology. Employment and freedom was made contingent on adherence, an extensive network of censors and informers was established to maintain the illusion that dissenters were a minority, harsh punishments were meted out to political prisoners and the state took control of vast swathes of the economy.

On the other, the promise of freedom: freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and association, freedom to do as you would with your private property.

It was, as I said, close. But in the end, despite Thatcher’s brief, doomed fightback, the Socialists won.

It’s a tongue-in-cheek reading of British history, but it doesn’t take a great deal of exaggeration to see how it could be true.

As AJP Taylor once wrote, “until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the state beyond the post office and the policeman”.

That is emphatically not the case today. Having won the wars, the advocates of freedom comprehensively lost the peace. They lost to such a degree that those of us born and raised afterwards find it hard to comprehend the scale of the change.

It’s easiest to start with the size of the state. To be sure, socialism in Britain has receded from its high point. The nationalisation of coal, iron, steel, electricity, gas, roads, aviation, telecommunications and railways has been mostly undone, although steel and rail are on the way back in.

But by comparison to our pre-war starting point, we live in a nearly unrecognisable country. In 1913, taxes and spending took up around 8% of GDP. Today, they account for 35% and 45% respectively. To put it another way, almost half of all economic activity in Britain involves funds allocated at the behest of the government, and over half of British adults rely on the state for major parts of their income.

And if anything, this understates the degree of government control. Outcomes which are nominally left to the market are rigged by a state which sees prices as less as a way for markets to clear, and more as a tool for social engineering.

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China Has ‘Aggressively Penetrated’ Whole of UK Economy, Admits Govt.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has successfully penetrated every sector of the United Kingdom (UK)’s economy as a result of the government’s willingness to accept Chinese money without asking questions, so says the UK Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee in a report published Thursday.

The CCP has “prolifically and aggressively” targeted Britain’s industrial and energy sectors as a means of gaining control and influence over the British nation and its interests. It has also been “particularly effective” at using its money and influence to buy up universities and academia to ensure criticism of the party is suppressed and that Chinese values and narratives are pushed “at the expense of the West,” the report states.

The UK is one of China’s main targets due to its close relationship with the United States as well as the UK’s position as an “opinion former,” claims the Intelligence and Security Committee’s chairman, Julian Lewis.

The UK government has done little to counter the threat, instead choosing to take Chinese money while turning a blind eye to “China’s sleight of hand.” The report explains:

“The lack of action similarly to identify and protect UK assets from a known threat is a serious failure, and one that the UK may feel the consequences of for years to come.”

The UK is now “playing catch up,” but “[t]here is no evidence that Whitehall policy departments have the necessary resources, expertise or knowledge of the threat to counter China’s approach,” the report adds.

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