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Britian's postal service has rejected "Benny Hill" for a stamp because his girl-chasing ways are no longer politically correct. Royal Mail, as the post office is called there, had been considering a stamp to honor the famously naughty British comic as part of group of stamps to mark the 40th anniversary of his network, ITV, according to a report yesterday in London's Daily Telegraph. But, according to the minutes of a committee making the decision, the PR arm of the Royal Mail raised an objection saying Hill's antics were "in direct opposition to [the] company's policies on harassment in the...

A heavily pregnant woman and her fiance have gone on the run after social workers threatened to take away their baby at birth. Kerry Robertson, 17, and Mark McDougall, 25, had been told that she was not bright enough to raise their child and that they would have to give him up. It was another blow for the couple, whose wedding this year was halted just 48 hours before the ceremony in a row over whether Miss Robertson was intelligent enough to marry.   Miss Robertson, who is 29 weeks pregnant, has since been told the couple will be...

A disturbing new report by the Centre for Social Cohesion, a British think tank, makes a strong case that Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) is not the "peaceful" Islamist group it purports to be. In a study published Monday, the center - quoting extensively from the statements and writings of HT leaders and party organs – shows that the group actually advocates hijacking planes and other forms of jihadist violence in order to annex all Muslim-majority nations and colonize non-Muslim-majority ones. Representatives of HT, which seeks to establish a global Islamic state (a Caliphate), have long claimed that they oppose violence.

A woman 'rescued' from an attack by a group of girls, by London mayor Boris Johnson, has spoken about the incident. Franny Armstrong called for help as she was surrounded and pushed by the girls, one of whom had an iron bar, in Camden, north London, on Monday night. The mayor, who was cycling past, stopped and chased the girls down the street, calling them: "Oiks".

Someone is attacked by a complete stranger every 30 seconds in Binge Britain, figures revealed last night. When Labour came to power, only a third of violent crimes were carried out by an attacker the victim did not know. That has now jumped to half as random violence - fuelled by alcohol and round the clock opening - has become commonplace. There were 1,057,000 violent attacks by strangers last year - the equivalent of 2,895 a day or 120 every hour. Opposition MPs said it was the latest proof the Government's relaxation of licensing laws had failed. Some 21 per...

British film icon Sir Michael Caine has abandoned his support of the Labour party and announced he will vote Conservative at the next general election. The actor, 76, a former Labour supporter, condemned the “terrible state” that has been allowed to develop in Britain and said he planned to change his allegiance at the next election. For his latest film, Harry Brown, about violence on Britain’s streets, Sir Michael spent time with a gang from a tough inner London estate, who were hired as extras.

A U.S. plane that featured in a European Parliament report into the 'extraordinary rendition' of terror suspects was met by two SAS helicopters in a secret operation at one of Britain's biggest airports. The Gulfstream jet landed at Birmingham International Airport on Friday, October 2, having flown in from an undisclosed location, and was seen by a member of staff being met minutes later by the Special Forces regiment aircraft. Records show that the jet is owned by a subsidiary of L-3 Communications, a multi-billion-dollar defence corporation based in New York, whose clients include several American government departments, among them...

The Queen forced to wear a burkha and Buckingham Palace turned into a mosque - that was the vision of Britain under Sharia law proposed by a Muslim firebrand today. Preacher of hate Anjem Choudary even showed mocked-up photographs of the palace sporting a golden dome and Nelson's Column as a minaret. He was speaking ahead of a demonstration calling for Sharia law planned for Central London tomorrow, which it is feared could descend into violence. Police are working to avoid a clash between moderate Muslim groups and far-right mobs who have organised rival demonstrations.

President Obama must show leadership over Afghanistan, and soon. His delay in announcing his plans looks less like deliberation and more like dithering A remarkable headline on an opinion piece about Afghanistan in The New York Times, following an interview with David Miliband: “Britain resolves, US wavers”. If the American press can look to policy on Afghanistan on this side of the Atlantic and see relative determination, vision and clarity of purpose, then things in Washington must be dire indeed. It is now two months since General Stanley McCrystal, the commander of US and allied forces in Afghanistan, told President...

Primary school pupils and toddlers in nurseries are being punished for making racist insults, according to a report, even if they don’t understand the terms they use. Teachers are being treated like counter staff in police stations as they have to fill in forms detailing name-calling and jokes. Meanwhile diversity “missionaries” are said to be increasing the divide between white and black children by forcing them to see everything through the prism of race. Adrian Hart, the author of the report published by the Manifesto Club...said: “The obligation on schools to report these incidents wastes teachers’ time, interferes in children’s...

Santa Rosa resident Nancy Roberts lived in England for five years in the 1970s and got her master's degree there. She wrote this note in the wake of a recent Chronicle article and SFGate blog posting about the underemployment rate -- a measurement that adds people forced to work part-time and discouraged job-seekers to the unemployed. California's unemployment rate is 12.2 percent. Its underemployment rate is 21.9 percent. -- Tom Abate Thank you for raising this question, which has been much on my mind. Here's the situation for some of my American friends. (Their names have been changed.) -- Todd:...

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali pirates holding two Britons captive aboard a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation warned Britain not to try to rescue the couple. The pirates seized the vessel on Friday morning hundreds of miles out to sea near the Seychelles archipelago. They have taken it to the Somali coast with a view to demanding a ransom for their captives. "If warships surround us, we shall point our guns at the British tourists. They are old and we will take care of them -- that is if we are not attacked," said a pirate...

I know we've got some FREEPers from Britain, and probably some IN Britain. Would like to carry on a bit of a conversation, probably via FREEP mail regarding some specific questions about the country and law enforcement. anyone out there?

A man who stabbed a burglar to death after catching him in the act was charged with murder yesterday. Omari Roberts, 23, was remanded in custody. Roberts had found two teenage burglars in his mother's house when he arrived to visit her. After chasing one of the youths, aged 14, from the property, he returned to find 17-year-old Tyler Juett still there. There was a struggle and Juett was fatally stabbed in the chest, Nottingham Magistrates Court was told. The Crown Prosecution Service said the decision to charge Roberts months after the incident in March had been taken after 'careful...

Scotland Yard has abandoned plans for armed foot patrols and marksmen on motorbikes in gun crime hotspots in the face of mounting political criticism. Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, was forced to withdraw the proposal before a meeting of his police authority on Thursday, where he would have faced fierce criticism. The plan to deploy armed officers on the beat as a response to rising gun crime in the capital was announced last week when Sir Paul was out of the country. A team from CO19, the unit that shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005,...

So now the cat is well and truly out of the bag. For years, as the number of immigrants to Britain shot up apparently uncontrollably, the question was how exactly this had happened. Was it through a fit of absent-mindedness or gross incompetence? Or was it not inadvertent at all, but deliberate? The latter explanation seemed just too outrageous. After all, a deliberate policy of mass immigration would have amounted to nothing less than an attempt to change the very make-up of this country without telling the electorate. There could not have been a more grave abuse of the entire...

Navy surrenders one new aircraft carrier in budget battle Michael Smith The Royal Navy has agreed to sacrifice one of its two new aircraft carriers to save about £8.2 billion from the defence budget. The admirals, who have battled for a decade to secure the two new 65,000-ton carriers, have been forced to back down because of the soaring cost of the American-produced Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft due to fly off them. The move is a blow to the navy’s prestige and has come on the heels of Gordon Brown’s announcement last month that he was axing one of...

(edit)Accounts filed at the Charity Commission show that the Government paid a total of £113,411 last year to a foundation run by senior members and activists of Hizb ut-Tahrir — a notorious Islamic extremist group that ministers promised to ban. (edit) Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, last night described the disclosure as “astonishing and outrageous” and accused the Government of “sleeping on the job”. Hizb regards integration as “dangerous” and says that British Muslims should “fight assimilation” into British society. It wants to create a global Islamic superstate, or “caliphate”, initially in Muslim-majority countries and then across the rest...

Huge increases in immigration over the past decade were a deliberate attempt to engineer a more multicultural Britain, a former Government adviser said yesterday. Andrew Neather, a speechwriter who worked in Downing Street for Tony Blair and in the Home Office for Jack Straw and David Blunkett, said Labour's relaxation of controls was a plan to 'open up the UK to mass migration'. As well as bringing in hundreds of thousands to plug labour market gaps, there was also a 'driving political purpose' behind immigration policy, he claimed.

A British nuclear expert has fallen to his death from the 17th floor of the United Nations offices in Vienna. The 47-year-old man died after falling more than 120ft to the bottom of a stairwell. He has not been named. He worked for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, an international agency charged with uncovering illicit nuclear tests. A UN spokesman in the Austrian capital said there were no "suspicious circumstances" surrounding the man's death. Police said no other person was believed to have been involved. No suicide note has been found. Four months ago another UN worker also believed to...

...or maybe not. Faced with increased violence, Britain deploys permanently armed police in London

“This Is As Sick As It Gets!” Islamic Pedophilia Plagues England bythelastcrusade.org British parents are forcing the schoolgirls into prostitution and selling them to Saudi and other Arab millionaire pedophiles. Members of the UK’s Vice Squad collared three women and one man from Manchester after secretly filming them offering to pimp six girls aged between 14 and 23 at a five-star West London hotel. They also taped the gang bragging how they were prepared to peddle even younger, prepubescent girls. The gang - - described by the British police as “something out of TV's Shameless" - - also had...

The BBC came under siege as Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, used his appearance on Question Time to attack Muslims and homosexuals while defending the Ku Klux Klan. Mr Griffin said Islam was not compatible with life in Britain, while describing homosexuals as "creepy". However, he admitted sharing a platform with the Ku Klux Klan, which has carried out racist attacks across America’s Deep South, and defended leaders in the organisation as "non-violent". Related Articles Arrests as anti-BNP protesters clash with police The BNP on Question Time: live-blog Griffin booed as he walks into Question Time studio Mark...

A white pupil was battered with a hammer at a school where politically correct teachers were afraid to deal with racial tensions, the High Court heard yesterday...

An 18-year-old ran off with his stepmother after being reunited with his father for the first time since he was a baby, a court has heard. Benjamin Smith met his father Andrew Smith in the summer of last year and moved in to his house to begin the family life both men had never enjoyed. But the emotional reunion went disastrously wrong for the father. His 34-year-old wife Dawn began an affair with her teenage stepson and eventually the marriage collapsed, York Magistrates’ Court was told. The unlikely couple left to begin a new life together 60 miles away in...

Doctors fighting to save the life of the world's heaviest man are considering calling in an RAF Chinook to move him 150 miles to a specialist centre that will treat him. Paul Mason, who weighs 70 stone, needs the help of weight-loss doctors and possible surgery to lose tens of stones. But the treatment will have to take place in Chichester, West Sussex, a considerable distance from his home in Ipswich. The Health Service has introduced a number of the specialist ambulances designed to transport massively overweight patients but it is not clear if one can be made available to...

SNIPPET: "Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war...When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them....If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off...

Britain has hit its reality moment. The Brits are ahead of us when it comes to public indebtedness and national irresponsibility. Spending has been out of control for longer and in a more sustained way. But in that country, the climate of opinion has turned. There, voters are ready for a politician willing to face reality. And George Osborne, who would become the chancellor of the Exchequer in the likely event that his Conservative Party wins the next election, has aggressively seized the moment. In a party conference address earlier this month, Osborne gave the speech that an American politician...

The image of a drunk student urinating on a war memorial has provoked a furious backlash from relatives who had laid wreaths of poppies in tribute to their loved ones. John Ievers, the grandson of a World War I soldier who died in 1917, branded student Philip Laing, 19, a 'drunken idiot' for desecrating the memorial in Baker's Pool, Sheffield. The 49-year-old software sales consultant said: 'I am annoyed - he's a drunken idiot. 'He should be made to clean the streets of Sheffield or do some kind of community service.'

A RADICAL Muslim group sparked outrage last night as it launched a massive campaign to impose sharia law on Britain.The fanatical group Islam4UK has ­announced plans to hold a potentially ­incendiary rally in London later this month. And it is calling for a complete upheaval of the British legal system, its officials and ­legislation. Members have urged Muslims from all over Britain to converge on the capital on October 31 for a procession to demand the full implementation of sharia law. On a website to promote their cause they deride British institutions, showing a mock-up picture of Nelson’s Column surmounted...

Motorists should be forced to pay to drive on the busiest roads to slash greenhouse gas emissions, the Government's climate change watchdog says today. The Climate Change Committee, led by former CBI chief Lord Turner, wants ministers to introduce compulsory road pricing to prevent global warming. Under the controversial scheme, cars would be fitted with electronic tags and tracked either by satellite or roadside beacon. Charges would rise at times of peak congestion to around £1.50 a mile. In a report to MPs, the advisers called for a carbon revolution - with thousands of wind turbines, nuclear power stations...

David Cameron must reject the folly of the Obama doctrine and follow the example of Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. With every major poll pointing to a Conservative victory at the next election, it is highly likely that David Cameron, and not Gordon Brown, will represent British interests on the world stage in eight months’ time. However, as Cameron prepares for power he would do well to look across the Atlantic for a lesson in how not to lead in international affairs. The Tory leader, like the mayor of London, is unashamedly an admirer of Barack Obama,...

Forget all the pizza and doughnuts -- the British government wants fans of "The Simpsons" to ditch junk food and eat more healthily. The Department of Health is spending 640,000 pounds ($1 million) to sponsor episodes of the long-running U.S. cartoon series broadcast on Channel 4, as part of its Change4Life campaign. Before the start of the sponsored shows, cartoon characters pretending to be the members of the dysfunctional animated family are shown sitting on a sofa tucking into ice cream and chips which then morph into more healthy alternatives. The government hopes that viewers will realize they should follow...

Until now, however, one plan has remained unknown: an 18th-century plot to invade with an American army during that country’s War of Independence. Drawn up by a French general, the scheme was to bring over an American force of 10,000 that would find a Britain so distracted by the war on the other side of the Atlantic, that victory would seem certain. Just to make sure, however, the general suggested that the force include a corps of Native Americans, or “sauvages”, as he termed them, who would strike such fear in British troops that any resistance would collapse immediately. The...

Today's Olympic loss wasn't the first time Europeans didn't just melt in the hands of President Obama. Last week at the United Nations, French President Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Brown had a major row with President Obama over the timing of the announcement of the additional Iranian nuclear facility. The two Europeans wanted the news announced when Obama was chairing the Security Counsel or tight after. Obama got his way, which was to wait till the leaders reconvened in Pittsburgh. The narcissistic Obama did not want to "spoil the image of success" of his disarmament session, which passed a...

Britain's vaunted nationalized healthcare system is bankrupting the nation and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning that if the UK doesn't start charging for healthcare and raise the retirement age above 65 the country will not be able to get out from under the widening fiscal disaster. The IMF is telling the British government that she must instigate a wholesale revamping of its pensioner and healthcare system to "help keep a lid on the debt." Treasury officials admitted recently that the deficit is expected to rise "£200billion this year - £25billion more than the Chancellor predicted in the Budget."...

Gordon Brown was warned last night to raise the retirement age above 65 and introduce NHS charges to tackle the soaring state deficit. In a devastating intervention, the International Monetary Fund called for radical changes to the pension system and spending cuts that go far beyond the plans outlined by the Prime Minister this week. The global watchdog said root and branch changes to public sector spending would be necessary to 'help keep a lid on the debt' and restore financial stability.

  Ex-cop’s shocker for yobs   Keep out ... electric wire running along inside of Ralph's fenceSOUTH WEST NEWS By JOHN COLES Published: Today     A RETIRED cop is defending his home against yobs - with an ELECTRIC fence. Now a beat bobby has warned Ralph Harvey, 63, he may be sued if louts are injured by the live wire. The former RAF police sergeant says his bungalow is "under siege" from thugs throwing bricks, paving slabs, breeze blocks - and even acid.   Victim ... Ralph was burgled SOUTH WEST NEWS  The final straw came after all...

LONDON (Reuters) - A British government minister asked California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday to shut down a U.S. website that allows men to rate prostitutes, including many working in London. Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality, told the ruling Labor Party's annual conference that "Punternet" fuels the demand for prostitution -- a vice she said degrades women and puts them at risk. She said the web site was a "very sinister development" in the trade and exploitation of women and allows guests to compare and rate services in the same way as they would a restaurant, a hotel...

After the latest week’s worth of British press reports that there’s no love lost in the White House for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, even his one-on-one meeting Friday with President Obama only provided the papers across the pond with a reason for another round of stories. Since Obama burst onto the international scene last year, newspapers in the United Kingdom have spilled gallons of ink on his perceived slights of British leaders, and especially Brown. To be sure, the “Special Relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K. has long been a favorite topic for the notoriously sensational British papers,...

An army general who is reported to have criticised aspects of the war in Afghanistan has resigned. Reports said Maj Gen Andrew Mackay, General Officer Commanding Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England, was unhappy about strategy. Prince Harry spent 10 weeks from December 2007 in Afghanistan under the command of Maj Gen Mackay. The Ministry of Defence has insisted that the general's departure was a "personal matter". Maj Gen Mackay's operational tour to Afghanistan was notable for the re-capture of Musa Qaleh, a strategic town, from the Taliban. He was subsequently awarded a CBE for his role in the mission....

Couples struggling to have a baby in the UK are turning to Danish sperm donors, after the removal of anonymity halved the number of British contributors. The world's largest sperm bank, Cryos Denmark, has targeted IVF clinics in Britain where top quality sperm can be sold for as much as £1,000. The company has 50 non-anonymous donors whose sperm has been frozen and will be ready for shipping over the next few months. A spokesman said Danish men would be ideal donors because they share genetic heritage due to three centuries of Viking raids and settlements along the east coast...

The largest haul of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found has been discovered by a metal detector enthusiast on farmland in Staffordshire, it was revealed today. Experts say the hoard, which is at least as significant as any other treasure from the Anglo-Saxon era ever unearthed, is worth millions and could have belonged to a king. The discovery of at least 1,345 different items, thought to date back to the seventh century, is expected to redefine perceptions of the period. Terry Herbert, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, came across the collection as he searched a field near his home with his trusty 14-year-old detector...

"EU funding 'Orwellian' artificial intelligence plan to monitor public for "abnormal behaviour" The European Union is spending millions of pounds developing "Orwellian" technologies designed to scour the internet and CCTV images for "abnormal behaviour"." SNIPPET: "A five-year research programme, called Project Indect, aims to develop computer programmes which act as "agents" to monitor and process information from web sites, discussion forums, file servers, peer-to-peer networks and even individual computers. Its main objectives include the "automatic detection of threats and abnormal behaviour or violence"." SNIPPET: "Project Indect, which received nearly £10 million in funding from the European Union, involves the Police...

"Bold and even savage" cuts in government spending will be necessary to bring the public deficit down after the next election, Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, says today. As all three main parties begin the conference season with competing proposals for how they would make spending cuts, Clegg used a Guardian interview to set out plans including a longterm freeze in the public sector pay bill, scaling back future public sector pensions, and withdrawal of tax credits from the middle class. He is even prepared to examine means-testing universal child benefits, though he is cautious of destroying "middle-class solidarity"...

Many elitist American leftists like to go about claiming that it is only Americans that are dunces on foreign matters. There is some truth to the accusation that Americans are not knowledgeable about the rest of the world but if a column in the UK Telegraph is any indication it isn’t much better for Britain’s understanding of American politics. Worse, it is plain that even a British journalist hasn’t a clue what he’s on about when attempting to discuss the differences between a Democrat and Republican in today’s climate. At issue is the incredibly garbled take on American Democrats and...

A BOY aged 12 turned up at school as a GIRL - after changing sex during the summer holidays. Teachers called an emergency assembly to order fellow pupils to treat him as female. The lad, whose parents have changed his name to a girl's by deed poll, arrived in a dress with long hair in ribboned pigtails. He is preparing for sex-swap surgery. Angry parents told yesterday how their kids were left tearful and confused after school staff announced the boy pupil was now a girl. They said the head teacher should have informed them in advance of the "sex...

A mother who killed herself and her disabled daughter in a blazing car had faced constant abuse and threats from a gang of youths, an inquest heard today. Fiona Pilkington made dozens of calls to the police and council officials to complain about the way her daughter, Francecca Hardwick, was being picked on. The single mother was told to ignore the 16-strong gang. When Miss Pilkington called to complain that youths were trampling her hedge, police told her to close the curtains in her front room. The 38-year-old set light to her car with Francecca, 18, and herself inside.

Row over Tory plans to axe £30bn defence projects Michael Evans, Francis Elliott and Philip Webster Three of Britain’s biggest defence projects with a combined value of nearly £30billion could face the axe if the Conservatives win the general election next year. George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, said in a speech on the economy that he would hold a Budget within weeks of a victory. Afterwards, he was asked to identify specific savings that an incoming Conservative government might make. In comments that surprised and dismayed his own colleagues, he cited the £20billion Eurofighter/Typhoon project, the £4billion project to build...

In the British National Health Service, which has been in place for 60 years, not only are rationing and 'death panels' happening, they are policy.