Free Republic

Patricia and Michael were bursting with pride that their 14-year-old daughter was in line for an essay-writing prize at her annual school awards ceremony. They arrived early to get seats with a good view of the event, held at the end of the summer term two years ago. The couple were already aware that the large secondary school in northern England was a proud champion of the trans-rights lobby charity Stonewall, with posters celebrating 'LGBTQ+ diversity' plastered over the entrance hall. But nothing could have prepared them for what happened that day. To their shock, the child who received the...

The publication this week of the Cass Review into gender-identity services for young people marks a welcome return to reason in an area of medicine which for the past few years has been driven by identity politics. No one is denying that there are those who deserve psychological — and in some cases physical — help to cope with their condition. But the explosion in the number of children treated on Britain’s National Health Service for gender-identity issues (and in many cases being given powerful drugs with severe side effects) should have set alarm bells. Medical professionals should have been...

The Iraqi suspects are accused of a litany of crimes including genocide and rape.. Two suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group have been arrested in Germany accused of enslaving and sexually abusing a pair of Yazidi girls in Syria and Iraq, prosecutors said today. The Iraqi suspects, identified only as Twana H. S. and Asia R. A., are accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and membership of a foreign terrorist organization... Twana H. S. repeatedly raped both children, with the help of Asia R. A., who prepared a room and put make-up on one of the...

A remembrance mural has become the target of "mindless vandalism" for a second time. Spray paint was used between Monday and Tuesday last week to deface the artwork situated on Witham's river walk. The initial incident was reported to Essex Police, but silver spray paint was then used at the weekend to create further damage. A spokesperson from Witham Town Council said it was "just mindless vandalism". Police have been contacted for comment.

Children have been let down by a lack of research and "remarkably weak" evidence on medical interventions in gender care, a landmark review says. The Cass Review, published on Wednesday by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, calls for gender services for young people to match the standards of other NHS care. She says the "toxicity" of the debate around gender meant professionals were "afraid" to openly discuss their views. NHS England says it has already made significant progress in making changes. The Cass Review, which looked at gender identity services for under-18s, was commissioned by NHS England in 2020 after a...

Guido understands that the conversion therapy ban has finally been killed off. The government committed to a draft bill for pre-legislative scrutiny last January, though now it will not be put forward a Joint Committee, cutting it off at the first stage. Banning conversion therapy for gay and trans people has been kicked down the road since 2018, and now Rishi has let it die… Like most things, it’s an issue that polarises the Tories, and it seems that Sunak doesn’t want the backlash from the Tory right if he were to go ahead with the ban. MPs raised their...

Australia is preparing for war in order to avoid it. Their historic new increase in defense spending and China’s dependence on them for iron ore make them an important ally. Australia’s defense funding for 2024 will be $35 billion USD, just over 2% of their GDP, and up from $20 billion in 2021. They’ve signed a new trilateral security agreement with the United States and United Kingdom that will give the Australian Navy a new weapon that only 6 other nations in the entire world have. Major upgrades are being made to their northern army, air and naval bases. But...

Nearly seven years after the Myanmar military killed thousands of Muslim Rohingyas, in what the UN called "textbook ethnic cleansing", it wants their help.From interviews with Rohingyas living in Rakhine State the BBC has learned of at least 100 of them being conscripted in recent weeks to fight for the embattled junta. All their names have been changed to protect them. "I was frightened, but I had to go," says Mohammed, a 31-year-old Rohingya man with three young children. He lives near the capital of Rakhine, Sittwe, in the Baw Du Pha camp. At least 150,000 internally displaced Rohingyas have...

Former prime minister Boris Johnson has said it is "shameful" to call for the UK to end arms sales to Israel. Three Britons were among seven aid workers killed in air strikes in Gaza carried out by Israel's army on Monday. It has led the Lib Dems, SNP and some Labour and Conservative MPs to urge the UK to reassess how it supports Israel. The Foreign Office said on Thursday it kept advice on Israel's adherence to the law under review, adding that this was confidential. Writing in his Daily Mail column, Mr Johnson said it would be "insane" for...

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf is a vocal proponent of his nation’s new hate crime law — which has placed “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling in the crosshairs — but that didn’t stop citizens from using its provisions to report him for hate speech. According to the BBC, thousands of complaints had been made under the new law’s provisions — namely one aimed to stop people from “stirring up hatred” based on certain protected classes — within hours of it taking effect. The news outlet also reported that a large number of the complaints were against Yousaf himself, mostly relating...

William Wragg, the Tory MP, has admitted involvement in a Westminster honeytrap sexting scandal after he shared colleagues’ phone numbers with a man he met on a gay dating app. Mr Wragg, the vice chairman of the 1922 committee, handed over contact details for Westminster colleagues to a man he met on Grindr, to whom he had sent intimate pictures of himself. The MP for Hazel Grove told The Times, which approached him after speaking to victims who suspected his involvement, that he was “scared” the man “had compromising things on me”. Those colleagues – including several MPs, members of...

Human Rights Watch said Thursday that an Israeli strike on an apartment building in Gaza City last October was an “apparent war crime,” citing no military rationale behind the attack after a months-long investigation. The Oct. 31 strike killed at least 106 civilians, including 54 children, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its report. The report “found no evidence of a military target in the vicinity of the building at the time of the Israeli attack, making the strike unlawfully indiscriminate under the laws of war,” the group said. “Israeli authorities have provided no justification for the attack.” The findings...

Lord Cameron has ruled out Western troops being sent into Ukraine to avoid giving Russian President Vladimir Putin "a target". The foreign secretary acknowledged that the "war will be lost if the allies don't step up" on the BBC's Ukrainecast podcast. But asked whether Western nations should send troops into Ukraine, Lord Cameron replied "no". He added Nato must be in the "best possible shape" by the US elections. Lord Cameron was speaking at a two-day North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) summit of 32 foreign ministers in Brussels. Nato boss Jens Stoltenberg has floated plans for a 100 billion euro...

Chaos erupted this week surrounding the introduction of a new draconian speech law in Scotland as Police received nearly 4,000 complaints within the first two days of it being in place, with far-left First Minister Humza Yousaf reportedly receiving more complaints than Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling over her transgenderism critiques. Former general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, Calum Steele revealed on Wednesday that Police Scotland received a hate speech report on an average of every two minutes since the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on Monday, LBC reports. This, he said, equated to...

Police Scotland was deluged with almost 4,000 complaints in the first 48 hours of Humza Yousaf’s controversial hate crime laws coming into force. Officers are said to have recieved a hate crime complaint every two minutes during the first days of the legislation.

Three British aid workers have been killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza. John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby were among the seven World Central Kitchen workers killed in Monday's strike, the BBC has learned. The charity has paused its operations and said the other victims were Australian, Polish, Palestinian and a US-Canadian citizen. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the deaths "appalled" him. Israel said they were killed by an "unintended strike". Australian national Lalzawmi Frankcom, Polish national Damian Sobol, Palestinian Saif Abu Taha and US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger were among the others killed in the strike. The team...

J.K. Rowling won a significant victory over Scotland’s new speech restrictions after daring the police to arrest her over comments criticising transgender ideology, as Police Scotland said they would not take criminal actions against the Harry Potter author after activists reported her statements to law enforcement. Successfully calling the bluff of the leftist government of First Minister Humza Yousaf, J.K. Rowling struck a stinging blow against the oppressive Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, after she goaded the police to arrest her as the bill came into law on Monday for insisting that transgender “women” are in reality still...

Social media comments made by JK Rowling challenging Scotland's new hate crime law are not being treated as criminal, Police Scotland has said. The Harry Potter author described several transgender women as men, including convicted prisoners, trans activists and other public figures. The new law creates a new crime of "stirring up hatred" relating to protected characteristics. The force said complaints had been received but no action would be taken. Reacting to the news, Ms Rowling posted on X: "I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be...

Some notes on the passing scene: ~Yesterday was another dark day for the west's fast-fading freedom of speech. Scotland's new "Hate Crime" law came into effect, formalising (among other things) my perennial gag that in the UK (or at least this miserable corner of it) everything is policed except crime: The wanker coppers will now be spending ever more of their worthless days sitting around monitoring your Twitter account. Oh, don't worry, Scotland's "First Minister" and the plods themselves have been at pains to assure you that they're going to keep a sense of proportion about their new thought-crime powers....

Prince Harry has said in interviews about his memoir, Spare, that he had enough material for a second book—so, will he put that material to good use? Opinions are split between two royal authors The Mirror spoke to. Royal author Tom Quinn said that Harry (and possibly his wife Meghan Markle, as well) have discussed the possibility of a second book, but this one with a much more “conciliatory” tone. “It wouldn’t include explosive allegations like his first book did, as the couple are reportedly keen to reunite with Harry’s estranged family,” The Mirror writes.