Free Republic

What I learned from debating at Oxford and CambridgeWhen I was growing up, people often said British politics were where America’s would be in five, ten or 20 years. What this meant was that Britain was more to the left of America: more secular, more socially liberal, more environmentalist, more globalized. The assumption was that, over time, the left would always win out, so wherever Britain was now, America would soon be. I traveled to the United Kingdom in May to debate the students and faculty of Cambridge and Oxford Universities in large part because that old assumption is dead...

Israel News Pulse @israelnewspulse Hamas Kill 5 Gazan Civilians Who Stormed Aid Warehouse in Gaza. Earlier today, hundreds of Gaza residents broke into a large warehouse in central Gaza, used by Hamas to stockpile vast amounts of food, including sacks of flour. The warehouse had been storing supplies that had not been distributed to civilians for months. In response, Hamas opened fire on the civilians, killing five of them on the spot. IDF Arabic Spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee released footage of the incident and harshly condemned Hamas: “For months, Hamas tried to spread the lie of famine, only to...

British taxpayers are funding Hamas. That’s the bombshell revelation exposed in this week’s episode with legal expert Anne Herzberg from NGO Monitor. We dive deep into: The UK’s role in Gaza’s cash aid system and how Hamas controls who gets paid How “humanitarian” agencies like UNICEF and UNRWA became laundering mechanisms for a jihadist regime The willful blindness of international aid organizations and why they’re terrified of transparency How the West's cash pipeline empowers Hamas and keeps Gaza dependent on terror-linked welfare The staggering admission: reputation not terror financing was Britain’s top concern Why the aid sector’s hive-mind ideology has...

Smoke it if you’ve got it. That pretty much sums up the approach of London Mayor Sadiq Khan to personal drug use as he backed calls Wednesday for small quantities of cannabis to be decriminalised and “negate problems between the police and ethnic communities.” He was endorsing a report by the London Drugs Commission, chaired by former Labour cabinet minister Lord Falconer, which makes 42 recommendations, including removing natural cannabis from the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA). Lord Falconer told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, “continuing to have possession as a crime meant continuing have problems between the police and...

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said he wants to make it easier for people to have children, as he confirmed his party would back more generous tax breaks for married people and scrap the two-child benefit limit. In a speech in central London, Farage said he wanted to lift the cap "not because we support a benefits (welfare) culture" but because it would make things easier for lower-paid workers. If his party wins power, Farage said he would also reverse the government's cuts which saw the winter fuel payment withdrawn from 10 million pensioners. Responding to the speech, Labour...

In his speech to the Canadian Parliament, the King sent a stronger-than-expected message to Donald Trump today. In the face of the US President’s goading, imposition of tariffs, and threats to annex his northern neighbour, Charles III warned Canada was facing unprecedented challenges in the postwar era in a world that has never been more dangerous and unstable. But he insisted Canada would protect their self-determination, forge new economic relationships with allies based on free trade, strengthen their military, and in a pointed signal to his old friend in the White House, a big fan of the Royal Family, he...

By all accounts, King Charles III’s major address on Tuesday in Ottawa was meant to be a rebuke to Donald Trump and all his taunts about Canada becoming a 51st state if it had to depend on money from the U.S. in order to survive. Yet when Charles finally delivered his highly anticipated address, he ended up undercutting Canadian sovereignty more than supporting it. Letting Trump have it was the whole point of Charles’ trip: AP reported Friday that Charles was “coming to Canada to deliver a message: Canada is a sovereign nation distinct from the United States. U.S. President...

Liverpool, England, has a rich, consequential, and sometimes controversial history. More recently, it may be known to many as home of the Beatles. It is also where one of the world’s most famous soccer clubs play. Liverpool F.C. just won the vaunted English Premier League title. Commence celebrations with a joyful street parade. Stop! End celebrations in tragedy as a vehicle mowed down bystanders, injuring dozens.The investigation is ongoing, but in record time (compared to other mass-casualty crimes) the police have identified the driver as a white male, British, from Liverpool. The apparent motivation for releasing these details so promptly...

The British far-right activist Tommy Robinson—an alias for his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon—thanked Elon Musk as he walked free from prison on parole after a judge granted him early release. Robinson, 42, was partway through an 18-month jail sentence for violating a court order barring him from repeating libelous allegations against a teenage Syrian refugee, whom he had falsely accused of being a violent bully in school. He made a documentary film titled Silenced about the boy and the legal consequences Robinson faced for repeating his claims, which he shared on X, formerly Twitter, owned by the billionaire Musk.

Briton 'shot dead' in Amman Monday September 4, 2006 A gunman has killed a British man and injured five western tourists and a local guide, at a Roman amphitheatre in Amman, according to the Jordanian government. Reuters is reporting that the gunman chanted as he fired at the tourists visiting the popular site, which is in the centre of the Jordanian capital. Nasser Joudeh, from the Jordanian government, said the wounded were three Britons, one Dutch, one New Zealander and the Jordanian guide Jordanian police have cordoned off the site. "I was walking when I saw someone pull out a...

A gunman opened fire on tourists at the Roman Amphitheater in Jordan's capital on Monday, killing a British man and wounding six other people, including a police officer, officials said. Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez said a British man was killed, while two British women, a Dutch man, an Australian woman, a New Zealand woman and a police officer were injured. The man, clean-shaven and appearing to be his mid-30s, shouted "God is great!" before firing several shots at them, said an Iraqi witness, Mohammad Jawad Ali. The worst attack, a triple suicide bombing at hotels in Amman in November, killed...

Lucy Connolly, a mother jailed for a tweet about the Southport attacks, should not be in prison, Nigel Farage said. Connolly, a former childminder and the wife of a Conservative councillor, was jailed for 31 months in October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. Mr Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said the sentence was “absolutely excessive”. “I want to make it absolutely clear: Lucy Connolly should not be in prison,” he told a party event in central London on Tuesday. “The sentence that was given to her was absolutely excessive and while she should not...

The Trump Administration has ordered US embassies to halt all student visa applications as the president cracks down on America's higher education business. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed officials to stop scheduling appointments with student visa applicants as they prepare to implement a social media vetting process, according to a cable obtained by Politico. 'Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming...

A secret recording, leaked to the BBC, reveals a senior police officer had serious concerns over the controversial arrest of a woman who took abortion pills when about 26 weeks pregnant - when she believed the pregnancy was only about six weeks along. Nicola Packer was arrested in hospital at the height of the Covid pandemic, a day after delivering a stillborn baby at home. The day after her arrest she was taken into custody in the back of a police van, still bleeding, having had major surgery. In April this year she went to court accused of having an...

There seems to have been a full-scale war mob attack there, including an attempt to get to the U.S. Embassy, but no one outside of social media is covering it. We’re all familiar with the old philosophical question asking, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” In other words, do things actually happen if we don’t notice them? For infants, they don’t, which is why peek-a-boo is such a fun game. If they don’t see you, you’re gone, making your visual return magical. But does the same...

Car plows into crowd during Liverpool victory parade The incident took place as fans gathered in Liverpool City to celebrate the club’s Premier League victory. Several people are believed to be injured. Authorities have confirmed that one man is in custody.

Sir Keir Starmer has sent his thoughts to those injured and affected by a car ramming incident in Liverpool and is being "kept up to date" with developments as they come in. Merseyside Police confirmed a 53-year-old man has been arrested after a car collided with pedestrians in Liverpool city centre during Liverpool FC's Premier League victory parade. Emergency services rushed to Water Street after Merseyside Police were contacted just after 6pm on Monday with reports of the incident. The car stopped at the scene and a man was detained by police. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "The scenes...

Author Sir Salman Rushdie has said he is "pleased" the man who tried to kill him in a knife attack in 2022 has received the maximum possible prison sentence. Hadi Matar, 27, was jailed for 25 years earlier this month for attempted murder after repeatedly stabbing Sir Salman on a New York lecture stage. "I was pleased that he got the maximum available, and I hope he uses it to reflect upon his deeds," Sir Salman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The attack left the award-winning writer blind in one eye, with damage to his liver and a paralysed...

Trans folks went topless outside Downing Street during a protest calling out the oppression of the community across the UK. The protest action – which took place on Sunday (25 May) in London – was organised by activism group STRIVE (Standing for Trans Rights, Inclusion and Visibility Everywhere) as a means of “bringing our voices to the very place where too many harmful policies and decisions have been made” about the “safety, dignity, and rights of trans people across the UK”. Trans people and their allies came out in force for the demonstration and marched from Marble Arch to Downing...

Prominent British anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon has been charged with harassment causing fear of violence to two men around the time of the nationwide riots last year, prosecutors said on Wednesday. "We have authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 42, with harassment causing fear of violence against two men," a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said in a statement. Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, is currently in prison over a separate contempt of court issue but is due to be released next week after winning a bid on Tuesday to trim the 18-month sentence. The CPS said the...