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Military operatives were part of an operation that targeted politicians and high-profile journalists who raised doubts about the official pandemic responseREAD MORE: Critics slam £14.9bn of 'extraordinary waste' on overpriced, faulty or unused pandemic-era equipment A shadowy Army unit secretly spied on British citizens who criticised the Government's Covid lockdown policies, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.Military operatives in the UK's 'information warfare' brigade were part of a sinister operation that targeted politicians and high-profile journalists who raised doubts about the official pandemic response.They compiled dossiers on public figures such as ex-Minister David Davis, who questioned the modelling behind alarming...

Furious campaigners warned proposals to hike up the state pension age 11 years earlier than planned would leave the retirement plans of older workers in tatters.Employees aged 54 and under would be forced to delay quitting their jobs under plans floated by the Treasury. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s team has examined bringing forward a planned rise in the pensionable age 68 by more than a decade to save billions. But Age UK said making 50-somethings wait longer for their pension would leave many struggling to make ends meet in later life. Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “We feel strongly that there...

The British healthcare system is collapsing, and it couldn’t come at a worse time for the governing party of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party is already reeling from multiple political crises that saw the exits of Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is staring a massive social calamity in the face amid sinking poll numbers for his party. The next British general election isn’t until 2025, but Sunak is already trailing Labour by at least 20 points in the polls. Yet, he can’t worry about that now since the National Health Service will...

The UK’s grid operator asked three coal-fired power units to be ready to generate on Monday as it boosts electricity supplies during a cold snap. It would be the first time this winter National Grid Plc uses the reserve. The units are warming up and will be ready to generate electricity early Monday if needed. Demand is set to surge during a spell of freezing weather in the UK just as wind speeds drop — curbing supply. It will also use a new tool that pays homes to reduce consumption between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday, when forecasts show...

(Video) Two of WW2's most famous Polish generals ended up living in poverty in postwar Britain, performing manual labour just to survive. Who were they, and how did this happen? Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA, is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several...

‘I got £10,000-plus of food for free’: the bin diver making the most of thrown-away groceries As supermarket prices soar, some Britons are hunting out food that would otherwise go to waste. We talk to one of themTim Barratt* lives on a diet of organic steak and ethically reared £25 roast chickens, asparagus and fresh pasta costing £7 a pack. But the 22-year-old hasn’t spent any money on food – with a few exceptions such as ground coffee, spices and rice – for a year and a half. He has eaten the equivalent, he thinks, of upwards of £10,000...

Queen Elizabeth II’s former chaplain issued a warning that King Charles III’s multifaith and multiculturalism threatens to be the end of his own house and the end of the British monarchy as a whole. Gavin Ashenden, who served as chaplain to the queen from 2008 to 2017, spoke to British outlet GB News on Sunday, saying, “I think that if this slow movement into multiculturalism and multifaith goes on, we’ll lose the monarchy, because in the end, I don’t think it will be true to itself.” Ashenden’s comments came after the king’s first royal Christmas message since he assumed the...

Multi-storey and underground car parks could collapse under the weight of electric vehicles, engineers have warned. Electric cars, which are roughly twice as heavy as standard models, could cause ‘catastrophic’ damage, according to the British Parking Association (BPA), which wants local authorities to conduct urgent structural surveys. Most of the nation’s 6,000 multi-storey and underground facilities were built according to guidance based on the weight of popular cars of 1976, including the Mk 3 Ford Cortina. But the electric cars currently on the UK market are far bulkier. For instance, the best-selling Tesla Model 3 weighs 2.2 tons fully loaded,...

As temperatures in the UK plummet, National Grid, the transmission system operator, asked two contingency coal-fired power plants to be ready to send more electricity to the grid on Monday if needed. "We've issued a notification to warm two winter contingency coal units. This measure should give the public confidence in Monday's energy supply," National Grid said today, as temperatures dropped and snow fell in London, creating traffic chaos. ... With low temperatures and low wind speeds, wind generated just 7.6% of Britain's electricity on Saturday, National Grid ESO said on Sunday. Natural gas generated 62.0% of electricity, more than...

For decades, American leftists have been insisting that the way to beat America’s soaring health costs is through socialized medicine. England, Europe, and even Cuba, they assure us, are the models we should look to when it comes to bringing affordable healthcare to everything. However, healthcare in these countries isn’t looking so healthy lately. In England, for example, a 61-year-old man with a cancer diagnosis was just told that he must wait three years (not a typo) to be seen at a hospital. When it comes to socialized medicine, there are myriad factors involved, all of which dovetail to say...

Be our guest—at the unemployment bureau. Restaurants are failing faster in the United Kingdom than they did during the economically devastating COVID-19 pandemic, leading experts to predict over a third of UK “hospitality businesses” will close by 2023. I guess inflation wasn’t transitory there either. The Guardian blamed a “‘toxic mix’ of surging energy costs, staff shortages and falling bookings” for the crisis, as restaurant closures rose 60% this past year. And it’s not just restaurants affected, according to Steve Bannon, who posted on GETTR that “50% of all British small business said they would in all likelihood close shop...

LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The United Kingdom's top court ruled on Wednesday that the Scottish government cannot hold a second referendum on independence without approval from the British parliament, dealing a hammer blow to nationalists' hopes of holding a vote next year. In 2014, Scots rejected ending the more-than 300-year-old union with England by 55% to 45%, but independence campaigners have argued the vote two years later for Britain to leave the European Union, which the majority of Scottish voters opposed, has materially changed the circumstances.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised 125 anti-aircraft guns and other air-defense technology as he made an unannounced visit Saturday — his first — to Ukraine’s snow-blanketed war-time capital for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The air-defense package, which Britain valued at 50 million pounds ($60 million), comes as Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s power grid and other key infrastructure from the air, causing widespread blackouts for millions of Ukrainians as the frigid cold of winter draws near. The package includes radar and other technology to counter Iran-supplied exploding drones that Russia has used against Ukrainian targets. It comes...

Just Stop Oil today blamed 'rich men's profit' for the climate catastrophe as they evaded police to climb motorway gantries again - despite choosing the same time, locations and the exact same method for their protest. Fed-up drivers ignored smart motorway markings to go into closed lanes in a desperate attempt to get to work. They targeted the M25 gantries at junctions 1b, 8/9, 12/13, 7/8, 11, 12/13, 14/15, 20, 21a, 22, 27 and 31. Many of them were the same locations hit yesterday, sparking disbelief police were today not better prepared.

Now Moscow claims that Britain's ROYAL NAVY blew up Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines as Ministry of Defence says 'invented' slur 'says more about arguments going on inside Russia's government' Russian defence ministry said UK's Navy helped plan and implement the 'attack' Also claimed the same troops were responsible for a drone attack this morning British Ministry of Defence said Moscow has 'resorted to peddling false claims' Nord Stream pipes exploded last month, leading to four gas leaks in Baltic Sea Russia's army has accused the British Navy of being 'involved' in explosions on the Nord Stream gas...

Rishi Sunak happens to be Hindu by faith, but this fact is unlikely to make him pro-India With Rishi Sunak becoming the third Prime Minister in two months, there are great expectations from him, especially because he has experience, as a former finance minister, to tackle the economic crisis that Britain faces. Just like his immediate predecessor, Liz Truss, he is a Thatcherite. “My values are Thatcherite. I believe in hard work, family and integrity. I am a Thatcherite, I am running as a Thatcherite and I will govern as a Thatcherite,” he wrote in a newspaper. But there is...

The Palace's confirmation came after The Sunday Times reported that conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss objected to Charles attending the conference, known as COP27, when she met with the king last month at Buckingham Palace. The Times' report suggested that Truss' advice had influenced the king's plans. King Charles has attended the conference in the past. But a member of Truss' Cabinet said the government and palace were in agreement about the decision. Clarke also rejected suggestions that Truss didn't want Charles to attend the summit because she intends to water down Britain's climate goals. The government remains committed to...

London (AFP) – British wildlife groups and campaigners have hit out at government's plans to ditch legislation covering pesticide use, as part of a drive to remove EU laws after Brexit. The government in London said it will scratch 570 environmental laws from the statute book, after they were rolled over from Britain's time in the European Union. On Wednesday, popular wildlife television presenter Steve Backshall joined a chorus of opposition, warning that overturning laws on pesticides could have a deadly effect on bee populations and river pollution. In recent times increasing pesticide use has caused localised extinctions of bee...

A women's rights campaigner has called for a review into the justice system after Sussex Police defended a legally male transgender paedophile by declaring it would not 'tolerate any hateful comments about gender'. The constabulary made the extraordinary statement online after it was criticised for referring to serial sex offender Sally Ann Dixon, 58, as female. It railed 'Sussex Police do not tolerate any hateful comments towards their gender identity regardless of crimes committed. This is irrelevant to the crime that has been committed and investigated. Sussex Police.' But Maya Forstater, who famously won a test case ruling gender-critical views...

Vindolanda (translated as “white field” or “white moor”) was a Roman auxiliary fort, situated on the fringes of the Roman Empire near Hadrian’s Wall to guard a major highway called the Stanegate.No less than nine Roman forts were built of timber or stone at Vindolanda from around AD 85 to AD 370, creating one of the most complex archaeological sites in Britain and a unique cultural legacy of frontier life.Today, Vindolanda is an active archaeological site (open to volunteers), with excavations previously uncovering thousands of perfectly preserved shoes, textiles, wooden objects, and the Vindolanda tablets (the oldest surviving documents in...