Manchester Arena: "Don't look back in anger"
Southport: "Far right protests"
Rape gangs: "Dog whistle"
Henry Nowak: "Unite!"
We'd better start behaving if we want the government to start approving of us.
The replacement of serious journalism with Facebook archeology will lock a whole generation out of public life. My column this week for @TheCriticMag
https://t.co/bBUBnLzmiI
I wonder how many readers have ever heard of the name Kriss Donald?
The young Glaswegian was just 15 years old in 2004 when he was kidnapped by a local gang of Pakistani men. The group selected him because he was white and they had some beef with a group of white men with whom Donald had no connection at all.
After driving around for hours, the gang – led by one Imran Shahid – stabbed Donald repeatedly before dousing his body in petrol and setting him alight.
I also wonder how many readers have heard of the name Tony Timpa? The white, unarmed Texan was 32 in 2016 when he suffered some sort of mental breakdown in public.
Instead of assisting him, police arrived at the scene and restrained him in such a way that he died. Bodycam footage released three years later – thanks to pressure from local journalists – showed officers kneeling on Timpa as he complained that he couldn't breathe and mocking him as he lay dying.
✍️ Douglas Murray
Article | https://t.co/YuUEBVqIrT
I stumbled across this video of a volunteer in Kherson pulling someone's charred body out of a house after a strike. It triggered a massive flashback for me, obviously. Back in '22, part of my job was body recovery, but this one case stuck with me hard because it was pretty much the only time I ever broke down. When you work in that kind of environment around the KIA and severely wounded, you usually bury all your emotions deep down inside, but that time, something just clicked.
They were bringing in the casualties from the front lines. Back then we were stationed right in Avdiivka, and most of the time you couldn't even drive out to the positions. During the brief windows when we actually could, either we’d haul ass out there, or, more often, they’d drop them off at the transfer point. The guys run in, say they have wounded and KIA, and hand me a military ID. I’m like, "What for?" Because usually, we didn't bother with that kind of paperwork. I look at it - the kid was born in 2004... I go to grab the body, they hand me a standard body bag, but visually it’s practically empty. I pick it up, there’s maybe 40 pounds in there, max. I’m like, "Where's the body?" - "That’s him." I look at him, completely losing it, and go, "What do you mean?" - "Direct hit on the dugout, that’s all that’s left..."
It completely fucked me up. Whether it was the built-up burnout, or the fact that an 18-year-old kid’s life ended just like that, or the fact that my younger brother was the exact same age. I don't know, but my heart just broke for him, for his family, and for all of us.
Why am I even sharing this? Probably because Russia is a piece-of-shit state that brings nothing but death. And no matter how much we crave peace and quiet, as long as that country exists with its current leaders and ideology, there will be many more charred bodies like that. Young guys, women and men, grandparents, kids...
Today I have met Lucy, Mark and Katie, Henry Nowak’s mother, father and stepmother. Their courage is extraordinary.
They have endured the most appalling loss, it is a life sentence for them.
They have also faced the agonising decision to release the harrowing body-worn camera footage, knowing how painful it would be and how strongly people would react. They did so because they want truth, accountability and change.
They have asked that we work across political parties and religions to rebuild trust in the police. That trust has been broken because of what happened, and I agree with them on that.
We must also be prepared to examine, carefully and seriously, religious practices or exemptions that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public, and other activities that are not conducive to the public good. We also need to examine where the law needs to change.
Henry’s family do not want anger to tear communities apart. They are a family who have friends across faith and race, and so did Henry. His family want his memory to help bring our society together.
Everyone knows I have strong views about how we should deal with equality under the law. What the family agreed with me on is that we need to bring common sense back, and that is what we should all be fighting for.
I promised the family that we will work to ensure there is a positive legacy for Henry out of this tragedy.
That is my focus now.
Yes @Steve_Laws_ wants to deport Polish people as they are one of the largest migrant groups in the U.K.
Henry Nowak is not Native British he’s half, just like many mixed race people are half.
So what would you want to do with all of the halves Stevie boy?
'Britain’s Right doesn’t need another Messiah. It needs grown-ups who understand that we hand our opponents victory whenever we allow internal division to outweigh our common purpose.
'Time to choose – country or ego. A desperate nation is watching and there is far too much at stake for self-inflicted defeat.'
Read Camilla Tominey's full column on the battle between Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe ⤵️
https://t.co/Nj5zTexkJs
🚨 Reporting restrictions lifted:
Asian paedophile gang jailed for a combined 188 years.
‘The men involved have taken more away from me than I can ever describe. Looking back, I feel sad for my 12-year-old self.’
When will this end?
The degree of censorship makes political life very difficult.
There could be another set of grooming gangs trials ongoing. We wouldn’t know.
There could be another scheme to import thousands of Afghans. We wouldn’t know.
We cannot have normal debate as in these condition.
At the height of Black Lives Matter in 2020, Kemi Badenoch turned down the opportunity to lead a daily briefing from 10 Downing Street.
As a junior minister, she felt it risked giving an unhelpful impression of tokenism.