Following on from my recent letter the escapee from Wandsworth prison has been recaptured. He was charged off a bicycle near the canal in Northolt, west London by a plain clothes police officer, from the anti-terrorism unit. In the aftermath of the recapture two prison officers have been suspended and are awaiting questioning and forty inmates have been moved to other prisons.
Serious questions are now being raised about how a person charged with terrorism offences can be remanded to a Category B prison and not a Category A prison, and how was he allowed to work in a high-privilege job in the kitchen.
More news is emerging about bankrupt local councils. Following on from the application of a section 114 notice for Birmingham council it was disclosed that the CEO was paid £244,820 in 2022/23. This was a 32 per cent increase from her previous year’s remuneration of £186,003. Apparently, there are five more major councils facing bankruptcy with their CEOs all earning more than the Prime Minister, with some earning (sorry, being paid) £250,000 plus.
In addition to the five councils seriously contemplating bankruptcy, using section 114, there are another 47 councils under severe financial pressure. Where this will end no one knows, but perhaps it will put an end to vanity projects and cycleways etc. (Yeah, right).
A British Parliamentary researcher had been arrested in March on charges of spying for China. It was reported that the male suspect, who is in his late twenties, is reported to be linked to a number of senior Tory MPs, including several who are privy to classified or highly sensitive information. Among them are Tom Tugendhat, the er, security minister, and Alicia Kearns, chairman of the influential Foreign Affairs Committee. Oops.
Counterterrorism police are reported to have swooped on the researcher and another man in his thirties on suspicion of espionage-related offences back in March. The researcher is British and held a Parliamentary pass. One Whitehall source is quoted:
“This is a major escalation by China. We have never seen anything like this before.”
Source The Spectator 9 September 2023.
The man in question had previously lived and worked in China, where security officials fear he may have been recruited as a sleeper agent and sent back to Britain to infiltrate Sinosceptic organisations. This raises major questions about the quality of vetting by the security services, the MPs who worked with him and the extent of China’s operation within the UK.
This raises the further question of why has this news only now emerged into the public domain. It is also interesting to note that reporting on this has very quickly slipped out of the news. It has gone very quiet, very quickly.
Finally, the London ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) hits snags during its first week of implementation. The “guerilla” action taken by protestors has intensified with nearly 900 cameras being destroyed or put out of action. In an attempt to counter this Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London) introduced mobile cameras situated in vans. Unfortunately for Khan, he upset many of the outer London boroughs who are against the ULEZ system. They have now started ticketing the camera vans whenever they are illegally parked, such as on double yellow lines or in clearways etc etc.
As Katie Hopkins is fond of saying, “Welcome to Batshit Bonkers Britain.”
