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From her office window, Elizabeth O’Neill could see young men on scooters prowling for victims almost every day. “You’d see people waiting at bus stops staring at their phones as these lads were about to snatch them,” she said. “You’d think ‘don’t do it, put your phone away’. And then it happened to me.” O’Neill, a charity worker, was waiting for a bus “looking at my phone, figuring out where I was going”. It was all over very quickly. “Two lads on a moped snatched it out of my hand and rode off. I felt really stupid. “There was just...

Important (for good or evil) as Brexit may be to the future of Britain, it is not without its importance for the European Union. Indeed, it was always essential for the Union that Britain’s departure should be an economic disaster for Britain: for if it were not, why have a union at all? It was therefore entirely predictable that the Union should drive a hard bargain with Britain, even a bargain economically harmful to itself, provided only that it was worse for Britain: for the self-preservation of the European political class is at stake. In the European Union politics always...

This sounds as surreal as it gets, but unfortunately, this is the world we live in. Today’s news is about a school teacher who lost his job for the crime of “misgendering”. Yest, that’s a real word used by the politically correct social justice warriors nowadays. The crime, you asked? Well, this is a math teacher, 27 year old Joshua Sutcliffe, who made the fatal mistake of saying “well done girls” to a group of his pupils, after presumably they did good on a test or something. The problem is that among the group of girls was a special girl...

New research has revealed a shocking number of Brits don't know much about the birth of Jesus. The History Channel survey found 20 per cent didn't know Jesus birth was remembered on Christmas Day and one in 20 thought Jesus was born over Easter. Around one in 10 were unable to name Bethlehem as Jesus' place of birth while another 10 per cent were unaware he was born in a stable, despite the prevalence of nativity plays and Christian teaching in schools. A spokesman for the History Channel, which commissioned the research to mark the launch of its new show...

The British government is set to keep the UK in both the Single Market and the Customs Union until at least 2021 in a move that will cripple any real political change for years to come. [snip] Remaining in the Single Market will mean that the UK will unable to end freedom of movement, the key motivation for the millions of Brits who backed Brexit on June 23rd 2016. Uncontrolled mass migration will now be able to roll on into the 2020s. Staying in the Customs Union means that the UK will not be able to sign up and enact...

A senior police officer has called for on-street testing of liquids to tackle acid attacks, as Britain struggles to cope with one of the worst rates of acid attacks in the world. Suffolk Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Kearton wants new legislation to criminalise the carrying of corrosive substances, similar to laws for carrying knives. Under the proposed legislation, suspects would have to prove they were carrying liquids, ranging from sulphuric acid to household bleach, for legitimate reasons.

The boss of Midland Expressway, which runs the 27-mile M6 Toll motorway, has left the company. Andy Pearson took over as chief executive in the summer of 2015, replacing Tom Fanning who had led Midland Expressway for more than 14 years. Mr Pearson's departure comes six months after the UK's only pay-as-you-go motorway was bought by Australian investment group IFM. Although it has never been revealed what IFM paid, the loss-making motorway had been up for sale with a price tag of almost £2 billion. In a statement Midland Expressway said: "Andy Pearson was recruited to perform the role of...

US diplomats have dropped plans for Donald Trump to conduct a visit to Britain in January amid a war of words between the two countries’ leaders. Mr Trump, the US president, had been pencilled in for a ‘working visit’ in the first month of 2018 to formally open America’s new London embassy.

A planned “working visit” to the United Kingdom by U.S. President Donald Trump has been cancelled following Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to publicly upbraid him over Twitter retweets. The prime minister said the president was “wrong” to share videos purporting to show Muslims committing acts of violence while on a visit to the Middle East, where she is attempting to curry favour with local dictators. President Trump did not hesitate to rebuke the British politician, telling her: “Don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing...

A promotional image from BBC drama 'Gunpowder' which focuses on the persecution of English Catholics during the Reformation (Image: Robert Viglaski/BBC/Kudos) Amid celebrations of the Reformation's 500th anniversary, we should remember the mass persecutions of 16thC EnglandMartin Luther was a theologian. If you read the Ninety-Five Theses he reputedly tacked up on the door of Wittenberg’s Schlosskirche in October 1517, it is clear his interest lay in the nature of sin, repentance, absolution, penance and salvation. Whatever else his wider agenda was – or became – his initial arguments were presented as scriptural debate on the revealed path to...

The age-old killer scarlet fever is on the rise in England and East Asia, according to research published Monday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, and investigators don't know why. "Whilst current rates (in England) are nowhere near those seen in the early 1900s, the magnitude of the recent upsurge is greater than any documented in the last century," said study author Theresa Lamagni of Public Health England, the agency that funded the analysis. "Whilst notifications so far for 2017 suggest a slight decrease in numbers, we continue to monitor the situation carefully ... and research continues to further investigate...

Westminster Abbey was stolen! As is the case with all ancient English churches, monasteries, or convents presently in the hands of the Anglicans, the famed Abbey where English monarchs are crowned and buried, was once the property of a Catholic institution. Westminister Abbey was a Benedictine monastery. While the Catholic origin of the Abbey may be well-known, especially in England, many people are unaware of who the Abbey’s heavenly patron.The Abbey dates back at least to the eighth century, but possibly before. During the time of King Saint Edward the Confessor (1003-1066), it had already been in existence as a...

These saints were killed for their faith during a dark time in England's history. After King Henry VIII proclaimed himself supreme head of the Church in England and Wales, a violent wave of anti-Catholic persecution began — and lasted over a century. It started with the executions of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, but didn’t end there. Hundreds were killed between 1535 and 1679; the Church recognized the heroism of 40 martyrs from England and Wales in a canonization ceremony on October 25, 1970. (Later, a separate feast on May 4 was created to recognize the 284 canonized or beatified...

LGBT charities and campaigners have welcomed the Church of England’s new guidance for schools urging them to refrain from making pupils conform to gender stereotypes. The updated guidance for the church’s 4,700 schools, titled Valuing All God’s Children, and timed to coincide with anti-bullying week, followed advice issued three years ago that covered homophobic bullying. It has now been expanded to include transphobic and biphobic bullying. The guidance met with outrage in some quarters, drawing sceptical newspaper headlines and furious commentary from some conservatives. But the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the guidance was “big progress for a church...

Complete title: Former Archbishop of Canterbury could face police probe into whether he broke the law by covering up for a paedophile bishop o Police are considering a formal inquiry into Church of England's former leader o Lord Carey, 82, could face being interviewed under caution in investigation o Rev Peter Ball indecently assaulted 18 boys and young men from 1977 to 1992 o Former leaders could face criminal charges for not passing on abuse complaints The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, could face a police investigation into whether he broke the law by covering up for a paedophile...

Ground-breaking research shows six in 10 Muslim wives in England and Wales are not legally marriedWhen Rukhsana Noor completed her online dating profile, she thought she had taken her first step towards finding love. In reality, she had set off on a path that would lead her to a lengthy legal battle that would cost her hundreds of thousands of pounds. Ms Noor had many good things in her life: a university education, a professional career and a good salary, but she had always dreamt of having children. As a single woman, she, like many other British Muslims, was...

FULL TITLE: 'You can't rewire evil': James Bulger's father says his son's killer Jon Venables should NEVER be freed after being dragged back to jail over child porn for a second time James Bulger's father Ralph has said his toddler son's killer should never be freed again after he was dragged back to jail over child porn for the second time. Jon Venables was arrested last week after officials making a routine visit to his home discovered the 'sickening' images on his computer and alerted police. It is the second time that the monster, now 35, has been put behind...

Crime involving guns is on the rise in England and Wales. There has been a 27 percent increase through June of 2017, compared to the previous year, according to the BBC. The response of the British police has been to declare a two week “gun surrender” that is a sort of amnesty to turn in illegally owned guns.People are assured that they will “not automatically be charged, but will be if they are later connected to a crime.”  It does not sound reassuring to me, but the British are known to be extremely law abiding and trusting of their...

A pair of World War Two machine guns were among over 140 firearms handed in to police on the first week of the National Gun Surrender. The two weapons, which had been deactivated, were among five automatic guns handed in to the Metropolitan Police along with 31 shotguns, 11 pistols, 10 handguns, nine revolvers and six rifles. Some 3,859 rounds of ammunition were also handed in, as well as 48 air weapons, to the Met. The national gun surrender drive was launched on November 13 and ends on Sunday. Detective Superintendent Mike Balcombe, of the Met’s Trident and Area Crime...