Labour 'new shops bonus' aims to tackle American candy stores on UK high streets

Labour has vowed to tackle rogue American candy stores - and has urged the government to help restore the British high street.

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Will London’s Ulez expansion be scrapped in 2024? We can only all hope - analysis by Howard Cox

There can’t ever have been a more despised scheme in modern road user political history, than the putting into practice of the odious Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez). This senseless venture came into effect on April 8, 2019, and was expanded even further on October 25, 2021, to cover the area bounded by central London’s ring roads, the North and South Circulars.

And on August 29, Sadiq Khan unilaterally, ignoring two out of three in a public consultation against it, added this needless purely money-grabbing project right across Greater London. It now covers an area of 607 square miles containing a population of over nine million people.

Greater London's 9,000 miles of roads are critical to the UK economy because 80 per cent of journeys in the capital take place on the roads. No doubt the millions of extra wallets in this expanded territory were too good to be true, for a financially bungling Mayor to ignore. He needs the extra dosh to pay off his self-generated £14billion of debt.

Let’s be clear though. All drivers want outstanding air quality and the cleanest of environments, but not by hitting the lowest income drivers and small businesses, hardest. These deep-seated honest sentiments from hard-working taxpayers, who have no choice but to use their vehicles, continue to be ignored by myopic green supporters of an emotional Greta Thunberg and an ego-driven arrogant Sadiq Khan.

The falsehoods, that both virtue signallers sermonise to their easy-to-fool cult followers, ignore scientific facts. They rely on sinister indoctrinations to implement their punitive mantras and policies.

Fact! The use of the internal combustion engine here in the UK is not destroying the planet or killing thousands of people. And for the record out of the top 110 cities in the world, our capital city is the 14th cleanest in terms of air quality (source IQAir.com). And to put this into true perspective Rome is 88th, Munich 72nd, Madrid 64th and Paris 49th.

Under the current Government, air quality on most measures has continued to improve, dramatically so. In 2022, for example, the average number of hours when Particulate Matter (PM2.5) concentrations was 'high' at roadside monitoring sites was five, compared with nine in the pre-pandemic year of 2019 and 28 in 2012. And the air quality in London continues to improve, but not because of Ulez.

And in TfL’s underground rail network, polluted air averages at least 2,000 percent worse than at roadside levels. Worryingly passengers and staff are being put at risk, because of little, if any, preventative measures in place to reduce the contamination of the air we breathe in the Tube.

It sticks in my craw, how Sir Keir Starmer allows the current Mayor of London to remain as a member of the Labour Party. The likely next Prime Minister has allowed Sadiq Khan to use lie after lie to implement policies that are hurting the very people Labour purports to represent.

Khan was found to have lied about Ulez on several occasions: For example, he misled the public about the “benefits” of Ulez in radio and newspaper advertisements, a draft report leaked to The Sunday Telegraph. The Advertising Standards Authority found two of his adverts were “misleading” because they “did not clarify” claims NO2 levels had “reduced by nearly half” as a result of Ulez and were based on “estimates or modelled scenarios” and not “actual figures”.

He claims that 4,000 people die each year from poor air quality. The science however clearly states that there is insufficient evidence to establish a causal link between exposure to air pollution and mortality. There is only one death certificate in the last decade in London that records a sad death due to air pollution.

Khan claims the original Ulez zone covering central London has reduced nitrogen dioxide pollution by 29 per cent. The Imperial College report that has received £800,000 worth of funding from taxpayers via the Mayor, reviewed the methodology of Khan’s data. These well-financed academics say Ulez had reduced nitrogen dioxide by a mere three per cent and had a negligible effect on particulate pollution. They concluded 'Ulez on its own is not an effective strategy in the sense that the marginal causal effects were small'. Don’t forget TfL had already shown that expanding Ulez to Greater London would make a negligible difference to air quality.

There are so many other examples that show Sadiq Khan is not fit for office and how disturbingly, the Tory opposition has allowed this dictator to get away with destroying the economic and social fabric of our proud Capital city for nearly eight years. Shamefully, it was Noel Willcox, a small businessman that got a court of law to prove existing LEZ and Ulez signs are unlawful. The Conservatives in City Hall talk a good game but have done nothing to prevent the damage caused by the Labour Mayor. A few visits to a Judge could have made the difference.

The existing Ulez has a massive negative impact on the London economy too. According to the Cebr, the total Ulez scheme cost to London’s GDP is circa £807million per year. Moreover, these calculations only estimate the direct effects. The commercial and economic cost to London of Ulez is more than dire, it is catastrophic. How has the Treasury let this happen?

The Next Mayor of London, which many hope is yours truly, will have to balance billions of debts with pragmatic policies that will get London prosperous, safer, and moving again. A tall order of tasks that frankly I, as Reform UK’s candidate, will not shy away from. But all Londoners must have the courage to vote for real change and not succumb to more of the same by voting for Labour or Tory in London. That is the risk, being scared to vote for real change that will benefit all Londoners, not just the privileged elite.

Howard Cox - Reform UK’s London Mayoral Candidate and Founder of FairFuelUK.

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European Union blasted for 'undermining sense of nationhood' as migration spirals

The EU has been criticised for "undermining" a sense of "nationhood" within its member nations.

Former MEP Ben Habib said that spiralling migration in the EU could lead to the end of the union, as a result of countries reimposing border checks.

As many as 11 EU countries have rebelled against EU policies on border checks in the face of growing concerns about illegal migration.

Former MEP Ben Habib said the new checks might signal the end of EU freedom of movement, adding: "the realisation that it is deeply damaging will also spell the end of the EU".

Countries including France, Slovakia, Sweden and Germany have re-instated border restrictions including identity vetting, passport checks, police interviews, static checkpoints and vehicle inspections.

Such restrictions on movement were abandoned many years ago as part of the Schengen Treaty.

Speaking to GB News about the new border controls, former MEP Ben Habib said: "The removal of borders in Europe with the creation of the Schengen zone was daft.

"The EU sought to remove countries’ borders to undermine the sense of nationhood across Europe and enhance its own relative importance and control.

"What it created was, amongst other things, a massive security risk.

"Western nations and their borders exist generally as a result of a social construct which took hundreds of years to settle. Their removal exposed these countries.

Recently, the Schengen zone has reminded us how important it is to have borders.

"330,000 illegal migrants entered the EU last year. Once in Europe, because of the Schengen zone, they could travel wherever they liked.

"It is because of the Schengen zone that it is so difficult to monitor movement and people smugglers."

He added: "Thank goodness a handful of countries, including France, have reinstated border checks. There is now hope illegal migration might be checked.

"There is now also hope that the idiocy of ever closer union under the jackboot of Brussels will be seen for the threat it poses to European nations and our security.

"Freedom of movement is a fundamental pillar of the EU. With any luck, the realisation that it is deeply damaging will also spell the end of the EU."

Earlier this year, Italy escalated its internal border checks with neighbouring Slovenia as part of an attempt to reduce the "increased threat of violence within the EU", which the country believes has escalated since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

Italy said the changes were necessary as a result of the growing risk of terrorists arriving due to "constant migratory pressure from land and sea".

In the wake of Italy's border checks, Slovenia did the same with its borders with Hungary and Croatia, claiming it faces the same issues as Italy.

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Slovenia also claimed to be facing "threats to public order and internal security".

Meanwhile, Sweden has warned it is conducting checks at all its border points to combat terrorism.

Andrej Plenkovic, the prime minister of Croatia, backed the move by other European countries.

He said: "The EU is surrounded by a series of very big crises... bigger than any time in the past 30 years. bb

"We have Putin's aggression against Ukraine, Hamas's attack on Israel, all this in the context of intensified flows of illegal migration."

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Things may be bad, but there are reasons to be cheerful in 2024 | Adam Boulton

If you think this has been a pretty tough year, you are not alone.

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Christmas offers 'promise of a brighter future', Sunak says - as party leaders deliver messages

Rishi Sunak has urged people to focus on "the promise of a brighter future" - as party leaders delivered their Christmas messages.

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Home secretary apologises after joking about spiking his wife's drink

James Cleverly has apologised after joking about putting a date rape drug in his wife's drink in comments made at a Downing Street reception within hours of the Home Office announcing plans to crack down on spiking.

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Tory right criticise Sunak's 'weakness' over family visa salary threshold 'delay'

Rishi Sunak is under fire from his own MPs after rowing back on plans to lift the salary threshold for a family visa – with some Tories accusing him of “weakness”.

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Biden accused of wasting US energy potential as '3 million barrels wasted every day'

Joe Biden has been blamed for wasting "3 million barrels of oil every day" as a US economist blasts the federal government.

Expert Casey B. Mulligan suggests at the beginning of the Biden administration oil production "went backwards."

Speaking to GB News, he said: "Before the pandemic we jumped into the leading country in the world, believe it or not, we had really had dramatic change in the industry, a lot of discoveries.

"Not just finding new resources but figuring out how to get them out of the ground into the consumers hands cheaply.

"We were progressing very strong and that everyone expected that progress to continue.

"But then beginning in the Biden administration, we actually went backward with with our production and we really failed to go forward.

"I believe only last month or maybe two months ago, we were able to even get even where we were four years ago and we really were marching ahead at such a fast pace, we should be way ahead of that.

"So by our estimates, we're missing maybe 3,000,000 barrels every day, 365 days a year because of that lack of production.

"And we think that has a lot to do with there's a lot of regulations coming out of the federal government. There's also even the federal government acknowledges this.

He added: "The ESG movement, which the government has definitely greased the wheels for, meaning making it hard for investors to invest in promising energy companies and in companies have trouble financing their new research, their new production plans.

"And then there's a serious concern that taxes on businesses are going to go up.

"And that's a very big deal for oil companies."

A report by Mulligan and Stephen Moore revealed that Biden's "anti-American" policy is set to cost the country roughly $100 billion a year for as long as the Democratic president's policies continue.

An investigation has revealed that Biden’s new anti-energy policies, “Environmental, Social and Governance” (ESG) and rising business tax rates means US oil production has fallen 1-5 million daily barrels short of previous trends.

The experts suggest that in comparison, President Trump’s regulatory and tax policies would have allowed US oil and gas industries to produce more, at lower cost per barrel and cubic foot of gas.

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UFO watchers claim to have spotted mysterious floating orb above Joe Biden's Air Force 1

Airplane enthusiasts claim to have seen a UFO hovering above Joe Biden's Air Force 1 as the President traveled to Tinseltown for a campaign fundraiser.

Footage shows a floating object above the plane in Los Angeles during Biden's December 10.

Multiple witnesses spotted the white or silver object over LAX airport.

People have disputed what the object appears to be with some claiming it was a balloon while others suggest it could have been a UFO.

Social media users discussed the object online as some argued it resemblance to "metallic orb" UFOs.

Airplane enthusiasts Joshua and Peter Solorzano were filming at LAX airport on Sunday December 10, hoping to catch Air Force 1.

The duo caught a glimpse of two F-35 fighter jets in the sky enforcing a Temporary Flight Restriction for the Commander-in-Chief.

While livestreaming the event on YouTube, a white object appears on the screen at 10.18am.

Three minutes later, the object appeared again in the top right of the camera view.

It appears for a third time at 11.08am directly over cameraman Joshua Solorzano.

During the live stream, Joshua can be heard saying: "It’s directly above us. It is moving, it’s not a star. I’m telling you they’re flying in from the ocean. Very strange right now."

Another witness, screenwriter Chris Cullari, saw what appeared to be the same object at around 12.30pm that day, while he was walking through Culver City to catch a train.

"I didn’t see it move. I watched it for about 15 minutes to see if it zipped off or anything and it just floated," he told the Daily Mail.

"It just looked like a distant white orb. The fact that it was stationary drew my attention.

"And the fact that there was an LAPD helicopter circling drew my attention. But from where I was, I couldn't tell if the chopper was circling because of the object or something on the ground."

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Sunak says family visa salary threshold will rise in 2025 following anger from Tory MPs

Rishi Sunak has said the higher threshold for a family visa will rise in 2025 after he came under fire from Tory MPs for rowing back on plans to introduce it next spring.

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Home Office rows back on plans to hike family visa salary threshold

The Home Office has rowed back on plans to increase the salary threshold for Britons wishing to bring a family member to the UK following a backlash.

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Braverman savages Sunak's new sentencing plans with demands for automatic jail for worst offenders

Suella Braverman has warned that new sentencing guidelines by Rishi Sunak will put public safety at risk.

The former home secretary has now called for automatic jail terms for prolific offenders.

The former home secretary said plans to let offenders facing jail terms of less than 12 months serve their punishment in the community were “misguided”.

She added the plans failed to tackle prolific offenders who were responsible for a disproportionate number of crimes, yet who often escaped justice.

Writing in The Telegraph, she said: "The Sentencing Bill aims to ease pressure on the prison estate, but in my opinion will put public safety at risk, place an undue burden on the police and probation service, and potentially lead to an increase in crime.

"In particular, clause 6 of the Bill effectively bans short sentences, that is sentences under 12 months. The Bill, as a whole, also misses the opportunity to bolster penalties for repeat offenders. This is misguided for several reasons.

"Firstly, most crimes are committed by a relatively small proportion of offenders. They wreak havoc and blight communities. As a recent Policy Exchange report found, citing Ministry of Justice data, “prolific offenders” made up more than half of all convictions between 2000 and 2021 despite representing only nine per cent of the nearly six million people convicted of committing a criminal offence.

"Their impact on communities is hugely disproportionate to their number but for 52.7 per cent of convictions they were not sentenced to a term of imprisonment at all. We need to toughen up the law to deal with these career criminals."

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Braverman has now proposed criminals who have hit 45 crimes should face a mandatory two-year custodial sentence each time they are convicted of a further serious offence.

A “five strikes and out” amendment has also been tabled by the former home secretary would require immediate jail sentences to be the starting point for any criminal who committed a fifth successive offence.

She added: “Jail time must be used to deter would-be criminals and public safety must come first."

The Bill, announced by Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, in October, brings with it a legal presumption that offenders on facing sentences of under 12 months will have them suspended.

Instead, they will be made to do unpaid community work as their "punishment".

Offenders will be fitted with electronic, GPS, alcohol or drug tags and placed under curfews of up to 20 hours a day at weekends.

Anyone who breaches their suspended sentence would then return to court where they would then have to serve their full term in prison.

Braverman also said that short term sentences were imperative in dissuading criminals to reoffend.

She said: "Secondly, short sentences are an important deterrent against criminality. Without the stint of a few months in prison, many of these criminals will no doubt go on to reoffend. The deterrence of custody will be removed entirely, the incentive to desist from criminality will evaporate and victims will be failed."

An MoJ impact assessment report shows that an average of 3,700 low-level criminals will be spared jail time due to the new plans.

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Colorado attorney who helped oust Trump opens door for Biden scrutiny: ‘NO ONE is exempt’

A Colorado attorney who argued in favour of a ruling removing Donald Trump from the state’s ballot has suggested Biden is open for scrutiny.

Speaking on GB News, Eric Olson was asked by Patrick Christys about the US President’s perceived cognitive issues.

The GB News presenter asked whether the court will examine whether the US President is fit for office given his apparent mental decline.

Olson said there is a “mechanism” in place for people unfit for office to be removed, should it ever be needed.

He added there is no political bias in the constitution and while Trump has suffered from its guidelines on this occasion, it could be a Democrat in the future.

“Our constitution applies to everyone”, he said.

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“There is a mechanism for people to remove a sitting president if they are incapable of doing their job.

“That mechanism applies to Democrats and Republicans alike. There is no party that can exempt itself from that Constitution.”

Olson added that the ruling sets an “important legal precedent” for anybody standing for office.

“No one is above the law”, he told Christys.

“Our constitution applies to all of us. That is what makes our country great.

“If Joe Biden engaged in an insurrection, absolutely he should never hold office again.”

Tuesday’s decision has been placed on hold pending appeal until next month.

The ruling only applies in Colorado, but similar attempts to boot Trump off the ballot in New Hampshire, Minnesota and Michigan have failed.

The court ruled 4-3 that Trump was not an eligible candidate because he had engaged in an insurrection over the US Capitol riot nearly three years ago.

Trump remains able to run in other states while his campaign have labelled the decision “completely flawed”.

The justices wrote in their ruling: "We do not reach these conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us.

"We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favour, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach."

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‘I was SICKENED!’ Sadiq Khan blasted by Howard Cox as London Mayor scuppers plan to let Ukraine benefit from Ulez

Sadiq Khan deeming a scheme to send non-Ulez compliant was to Ukraine is “sickening”, Reform Party London Mayoral candidate Howard Cox has claimed.

The London Mayor was facing calls to allow polluting 4x4s to be donated to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

While a spokesman for Khan said the mayor “utterly appalled” by Russia’s actions, exporting vehicles to Ukraine is “not possible within the currently limits of the GLA [Greater London Authority] Act.

Speaking on GB News, Cox told Martin Daubney that Khan is guilty of nit-picking as his office scuppered the plan.

“It is time up for Sadiq Khan”, he said.

“Whether it’s the Conservatives winning or Reform UK, that man has got to go.

“Most of these vehicles just don’t meet the targets that Khan has put in dishonestly.

“As far as I’m concerned, what a great idea. Very creative.

“I think every single one of those vehicles should be filled with medical supplies and driven over to Ukraine to help.

“But that man used a stupid little legal detail to say ‘it’s not going to benefit London issues’, it sickens me.

“My emails are overflowing with people saying, ‘for God’s sake, get rid of that man’.”

Khan’s spokesman said in a statement: “The mayor is utterly appalled by Russia’s ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine and the capital stands in solidarity with the millions of Ukrainians affected by this awful war.

“The mayor’s team have been in contact with their counterparts in Kyiv since the start of the war and the mayor remains determined to help in any way he can.

“Unfortunately, altering the Ulez scheme for the purpose of exporting vehicles to Ukraine is not possible within the current limits of the GLA [Greater London Authority] Act.

“However, Sadiq has asked his officials to work directly with Mayor Klitschko’s team to see how we can help promote this initiative from Ukrainian charities and the GLA also continues to work with its functional bodies and will support them in any vehicle donations that they can make through national donation schemes.

“The GLA will also continue to monitor opportunities which may arise through such schemes.”

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, is said to have written to Khan in September and suggest the vehicles be donated, adding the act could have “live-saving” values.

According to the Telegraph, Khan responded this week to say the plan does not meet the “legal threshold” that requires the scheme to benefit Londoners from an “economic, social and environmental perspective”.

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'Desperate' Sunak slapped down by statistics watchdog for wrongly claiming debt is falling

Rishi Sunak has been chastised by the UK's statistics watchdog for claiming to have reduced public debt - despite not having done so.

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