Tag: united kingdom

UK porn watchers could have faces scanned

Porn users could have their faces scanned to prove their age, with extra checks for young-looking adults, draft guidance from Ofcom suggests.

The watchdog has set out a number of ways explicit sites could prevent children from viewing pornography.

The average age children first view pornography is 13, a survey suggests.

Explicit website Pornhub said regulations requiring the collection of “highly sensitive personal information” could jeopardise user safety.

Privacy campaigners have also criticised the proposals warning of “catastrophic” consequences if data from age checks is leaked.

A large chunk of the UK population watch online pornography – nearly 14 million people, according to a recent report by Ofcom.

But the ease of access to online pornography has also raised concerns that children are viewing explicit websites – with one in ten children seeing it by age nine, according to a survey by the Children’s Commissioner.

The Online Safety Act, which recently became law, requires social media platforms and search engines to protect children from harmful content online.

It will be enforced by Ofcom, who can issue large fines if firms fail to comply.

Ofcom has now outlined how it expects firms to become “highly effective” at complying with the new regulations, which come into force sometime in 2025.

Keep reading

Father who built four luxury holiday cabins complete with hot tubs at a beauty spot he owns has been ordered to demolish them

A father who built four luxury holiday cabins complete with hot tubs in a natural beauty spot has been ordered to demolish them following a planning battle. 

Owner John Phillips, 38, who opened his £200-a-night chalets in the Gower Peninsula in Wales over a year ago, built them without proper permissions.

Mr Phillips said he did not believe the buildings needed planning permission because of their size when he initially put them up. But after speaking to council workers, he was advised to apply for ‘change of use’ if he intended to rent them out. 

He later applied for retrospective planning permission, which was denied. 

Mr Phillips and his partner Kerrie Garrett saw the chalets as a chance to ‘cash in’ on the beauty of the surrounding area and provide for their two-year-old daughter Darcy-Mae. 

But furious locals claimed the chalets were a ‘blot on the landscape’ of Britain’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and should not have been built.

The cabins in the hamlet of Landimore, about 13 miles east of Swansea, faced objections from neighbours and even the National Trust – before planning officials ruled they detracted from the Landimore Conservation Area and Gower AONB.

Council officers issued enforcement action on eight grounds, including the lack of flood and ecology reports, and potential damage to the roots of trees at the rear of the cabins.

The enforcement notice requires Mr Phillips to remove all traces of the cabins and return the land to its previous condition.

The notice was due to take effect from next week but Mr Phillips has appealed the council decision with the Welsh Government department Planning and Environment Decisions Wales.

He argued the cabins would attract visitors to the area all year round and boost the economy in an area where tourist accommodation was limited.

He built the cabins in the grounds of his home as an investment.

Keep reading

England’s oldest Christmas market cancelled because it was ‘so popular that it was a safety risk’

One of the UK’s longest-running Christmas markets has been cancelled.

Lincoln Christmas Market will not be going ahead after a last minute motion to save it was rejected.

The market, which was first held in 1982, was axed earlier this year by the Labour-led council due to concerns about overcrowding.

City of Lincoln Council has replaced the event with a series of smaller offerings throughout the year.

However, residents and business owners said the new events lacked the “charm” of the event.

Rachel Whittaker, who runs a photography studio in the Uphill area, said: “It is so sad, people can’t believe it, they’re astonished.

“It’s bizarre. Other places would fall over themselves to have a December weekend where hundreds of thousands of people are walking around your city, eating, drinking, shopping, having a brilliant time – and spending their money.

“And we are saying we don’t want that? It makes no sense. This is the very thing that makes Lincoln so special at Christmas.”

Keep reading

Hackers who targeted the private hospital that treated Kate Middleton are threatening to release the Royal Family’s private medical information

Hackers who targeted the private hospital which treated Kate, Princess of Wales, are threatening to release private medical information belonging to members of the Royal Family.

The gang broke into the computer systems of the King Edward VII’s Hospital and warned they aim to release ‘data from the Royal Family’ on Tuesday unless they are paid £300,000 in the cyber currency Bitcoin.

The ransom demand was made on the dark web, where the hackers posted images of what they claim are stolen files including X-rays, letters from consultants, registration forms, handwritten clinical notes, and pathology forms.

GCHQ and police are investigating the attack by hacking gang Rhysida – named after a venomous tropical centipede.

The 56-bed private hospital in Marylebone has been used by the Royal Family for more than a century. The late Queen Elizabeth II was a patient and so was Prince Philip who spent almost a month being treated there before he died aged 99 in 2021.

The Princess of Wales was admitted there in 2012 with prolonged bouts of acute morning sickness during her first pregnancy. 

During her stay, two Australian radio DJs placed a hoax call and obtained private medical information about Kate – then the Duchess of Cambridge – which they then broadcast, forcing hospital bosses into an embarrassing apology. 

The nurse who unwittingly took the call later took her own life over the prank.

Last night, Philip Ingram, former British military intelligence colonel, said: ‘Given the highly sensitive nature of the patients, there will be a degree of pressure on the hospital to try to stop any of this data being released. 

And therefore I would expect them to explore the possibility of paying the ransom.

Keep reading

Could YOUR neighbour report your illegal Amazon Firestick? Warning to law breakers streaming content on ‘dodgy’ devices as experts say officers might turn up at your door

People using Amazon Firesticks and other illegal streaming devices could soon face a knock at the door from police officers warning them they could be prosecuted, experts have warned.

According to data from cybercrime specialists Fact-UK, there has been a significant increase in the number of viewers using their Firestick to illegally watch subscription TV.

The copyright-protection organisation says these illicit streams could be funding organised crime and allowing gangs to profit off their personal data – as retailers crack down on the practice. 

Some households use the devices to watch content from subscription services such as Netflix or Sky Sports illegally for a fraction of the price. 

Intelligence unit officers working with Fact-UK have sent out ‘Cease and Desist’ letters and are conducting nationwide ‘Knock and Talks’ with those who take part in the illegal practice, informing individuals they face further action or prosecution if they do not stop.

Keep reading

No proof face masks ever worked against Covid, claims UKHSA boss who warns they may have even had OPPOSITE effect on spread through ‘false sense of security’


There is no solid proof masks ever slowed the spread of Covid, England’s former deputy chief medical officer said today.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, who now heads up the UK Health Security Agency, said the evidence that coverings reduced transmission is ‘uncertain’ because it is difficult to separate their effect from other Covid curbs.

She also told the UK’s Covid inquiry that government advice on how to make a mask using two pieces of cloth was ‘ineffective’.

Studies showed at least three were needed for even a small effect on the spread of viruses, Dame Jenny said. 

Meanwhile, she warned advice for the public to wear masks during the pandemic may even have given people a ‘false sense of security’ that they could reduce their risk of becoming infected if they wore one while mixing with others.

Dame Jenny wrote in her witness statement that the evidence base for using face masks in the community ‘was, and still is to some degree, uncertain’. 

She noted that the evidence for mask wearing varied depending on what materials it was made from. For example, a ‘one or two layer cloth covering’ is ‘not particularly effective’, she said.

And if someone doesn’t wear it properly – fully covering the mouth and nose – ‘it won’t work’, Dame Jenny added.

The inquiry was shown guidance on how people can make their own face masks from the first wave of the pandemic.

In response to the proposals in May 2020, Dame Jenny wrote that advice to use one or two pieces of fabric was ‘ineffective’.

Keep reading

Preacher who sold £91 ‘divine plague protection kits’ he said could cure Covid after he was visited by God loses appeal against fraud conviction

A preacher who sold £91 ‘divine plague protection kits’ as a cure for Covid-19 has lost his appeal against his conviction for fraud today. 

Bishop Climate Wiseman, 47, offered a package, containing a small bottle of hyssop, cedarwood and olive oil along with a prayer card and piece of scarlet yarn. 

The head of the Kingdom Church in Camberwell, south London, said he had a visitation from God and told jurors he had performed miracles. 

Wiseman denied he was a conman and insisted he was a ‘man of God’, despite being convicted of fraud at Inner London Crown Court last December after telling members of his flock that the kits could ward off and cure infection.

Southwark Trading Standards officers were alerted to his scam on 24 March 2020 – the day after the country was plunged into lockdown. 

Wiseman was sentenced to 12 months jail suspended for two years and ordered to complete 130 hours unpaid work. 

He was also ordered to pay £60,072 in costs to Southwark Borough Council and given three months to pay.  

Wiseman appealed against his conviction on the grounds the trial judge directed the jury inadequately on essential questions of knowledge and dishonesty.

Hyssop is mentioned in the Bible as a means of warding off plague, specifically leprosy, and has a history of use in remedies for nose, throat, and lung afflictions. 

However, the only modern use for the aromatic garden herb is for the flavouring of foods and beverages due to its sweet scent and bitter taste. 

He also claimed an error in his defence counsel’s closing speech should have led the judge to discharge the jury.

Wiseman also renewed his application for leave to appeal against the costs order.

But Lady Chief Justice Carr, sitting with Mr Justice Goose and Mr Justice Foxton, threw out his appeal at the High Court.

Keep reading

Government Staff Asked To Check Pronouns Of Co-Workers Before Assuming Gender Identity

People working for the government in the UK have been told that they should check what pronouns their colleagues prefer and not assume they know the gender their co-workers identify as.

The Telegraph reports that civil servants were advised to take the measures in an internal memo that asked staff to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance, one of several calendar days earmarked for LGBTQ+ themed activities.

The report further notes that the director general of trade negotiations in the Department for Business and Trade told staff that the event “encourages us to pause to commemorate those whose lives have been lost due to intolerance”.

The memo also contained a diatribe from a non-binary staff member who expressed a desire for “actions that I’d like to see colleagues take to work towards removing stigma and build [sic] a culture where we are open and inclusive of our trans colleagues.”

The memo continues, “Checking people’s email signatures for their pronouns and not assuming colleagues’ pronouns, are both simple things that I know can make acknowledging gender diversity part of our daily discourse.”

It adds, “Joining DBTs LGBTQ+ Network is also a way to support your LGBTQ+ colleagues and keep up to date with current issues the community is facing.”

Keep reading

Thousands of students at Warwick University are ‘forced to go vegan’ after a handful of activists voted for a meat and dairy ban in the institution’s canteens

Thousands of students at one of Britain’s top universities will be forced to ‘go vegan’ after activists won a vote banning meat and dairy products. 

Students at the University of Warwick backed a motion forcing union-run catering outlets to adopt plant-based menus, with three now required to do so by 2027. 

But the move, pushed through by campaign group ‘Plant-Based Universities’, has ignited fury after it emerged that just 774 students – about 2.7 per cent of 28,600-stong campus – were behind the plan, while 516 voted against it. 

Vivek Venkatram, Plant-Based Universities Warwick campaigner and president of Warwick’s Vegetarian and Vegan Society championed the vote and said: ‘We want this change to benefit everyone.’

However, the Countryside Alliance condemned the decision backed by a ‘tiny minority’ and said the vote raised questions about whether the sweeping change was ‘made with the interests of the wider student population in mind’.

‘Students shouldn’t let such a small cohort get away with isolating the wider student population. Vegan campaigners are welcome to present their arguments in favour of plant-based diets, but should not impose a diet in university-affiliated buildings,’ said alliance spokeswoman Sabina Roberts.

‘Students should take on their democratic duty and place forward a counter-motion that keeps meat on the menu.’

Keep reading

Ministers accused of a cover up as it is revealed shadowy army unit DID spy on British critics of Covid lockdown policies

Ministers were accused of a cover-up last night after it was revealed that soldiers did secretly spy on British critics of the Government’s response to Covid.

The release of new documents contradict official assertions that a shadowy Army unit had only been monitoring foreign powers.

The Mail on Sunday revealed earlier this year that military operatives in the UK’s ‘information warfare’ brigade were part of a sinister scheme to keep a close eye on politicians and high-profile journalists who raised doubts about the pandemic response.

They compiled dossiers on public figures – such as ex-Minister David Davis, who questioned the modelling behind alarming death toll predictions, and The Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens – and reported their dissenting views back to No 10.

Documents obtained by the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch revealed the Government cells included the MoD’s 77th Brigade, which deploys ‘non-lethal engagement and legitimate non-military levers as a means to adapt behaviours of adversaries’.

Keep reading