The Divided State of Europe

[nivek]

Ignore the Left-wing outrage. Millions agree with Ratcliffe. Parts of Britain have been 'colonised' by migrants​

Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has apologised after his remarks about the UK being ‘colonised by immigrants’ sparked a predictable furore of confected outrage. The Prime Minister seized on Ratcliffe’s comments as a convenient distraction from his own current political problems. So too did the beleaguered Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Everyone from Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to the BBC and the Guardian gleefully joined in the condemnation. The Football Association said it was launching an investigation into whether Ratcliffe had brought the game into disrepute.

You can always trust the FA to leap on any passing woke bandwagon. No doubt there’ll be a minute’s silence and Taking The Knee all round this weekend. One Left-wing pundit on Sky News, which broke the story, deliberately missed the point and wondered if Ratcliffe would now tell his foreign Man Utd football stars they were no longer welcome.

Inevitably, in this age of the ubiquitous knee-jerk social media pile-on, some of the reaction was hysterical. But hurling ignorant abuse is about the level of debate to which we have descended. Talking about ‘colonisation’ was always going to be a red rag to the Left-wing bull. Colonisation is right up there with ‘racism’ in the Left’s lexicon of hate, regularly used to falsely portray Britain’s proud history as one of global pillage and slavery. It was recently rolled out to justify Starmer’s shameful decision to give away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and by extension, the Chinese.

To be fair, it has to be admitted that those who accused Ratcliffe of hypocrisy over immigration had a point. He is after all a multi-billionaire who has relocated to Monaco to avoid British taxes. But with the caveats and the noisy, self-serving virtue-signalling out of the way, it is worth paying attention to what Ratcliffe actually had to say, no matter how clumsily he may have said it. He is after all a spectacularly successful businessman who has created tens of thousands of jobs in Britain and poured billions of pounds into the Exchequer. The main thrust of his remarks was aimed at the state of the economy.

First, though, let’s consider his apology. He actually said he was sorry if his choice of words ‘offended some people’ but the not the substance. There were millions more people who will have agreed with every word. First out of the blocks were Reform leader Nigel Farage and ex-Reform, now an independent, MP Rupert Lowe, himself a former chairman of Southampton FC. Farage tweeted: ‘Britain has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas.’ Lowe said: ‘Ratcliffe is right. And I respect him for having the balls to say it’, adding: ‘[The UK] has been colonised by immigrants. That’s just a fact. No point pussyfooting around it.’

Ratcliffe may have mangled his figures but the underlying facts are indisputable. If he’d have said the population has risen by 12 million since the year 2000, not 2020, he’d have been bang on the money. And they are just those who turn up in the official statistics. As long as 25 years ago, then Commissioner of the Met, Captain (now Lord) Beaujolais, told me there were between 250,000 and 300,000 foreign nationals in London about whom the police knew nothing.

A quarter of a century later, how many migrants are living here illegally? Your guess is as good as mine.

That’s before you get to the tens of thousands of small boat arrivals who arrive here illegally every year and are given food, lodging, free health care and pocket money by the Government and face less than zero chance of ever being deported.

No one with eyes in their head can deny that mass migration has changed the face of parts of Britain irrevocably. For example, look no further than my colleague Robert Hardman’s brilliant despatch from Birmingham this week. When I worked in Brum in the late Seventies the city was genuinely multi-cultural. Today, in areas like Sparkhill, it’s monocultural – almost overwhelmingly Muslim.

So, too, are many of the old mill towns in the North of England, where elections for councils and Parliament are being fought over Gaza, not potholes and the state of the pavements.

Farage and Lowe are right. Many areas of our towns and cities have been colonised by migrants. It’s how the Pakistani rape gangs were able to get away with it for so long. The police were afraid of upsetting the local ‘community’.

A few years back, my old friend Trevor (Now Sir Trevor) Phillips, then head of the Equalities Commission, warned that Britain was sleepwalking towards segregation. Surkeir himself said we were becoming an ‘island of strangers’ before bottling it and doing another of his world-famous U-turns.

Ratcliffe also said migrants were costing the country too much money. Well, last October it was reported that 1.9 million foreign nationals were claiming a variety of benefits, along with 1.49 million people born abroad who are now British citizens. As of last November, that number was rising by 500 a day.

This week we also learned that migrants make up one in ten of all new GP patient registrations, at a time when the health service is stretched to breaking point and burning through billions of pounds every week. Look, this has always been about numbers. Nobody is arguing about legal, controlled migration and granting visas to skilled workers such as medical professionals and, yes, Premier League footballers. The real problem is the vast influx of low-skilled and unskilled workers, bringing with them dependants who put further strain on the benefits and welfare system.

Yes, we are grateful to migrants who come here to work in the care system and elsewhere. But there are only here because millions of our fellow citizens are claiming out of work benefits for pretend illnesses. Ratcliffe’s statistics may have been muddled but his analysis was spot on. We can’t go on importing migrants to do jobs British citizens refuse or consider themselves too ‘disabled’ to do.

Nine million people of working age are now considered ‘economically inactive’– 6.5 million on out-of-work benefits, the rest not even looking for work. It’s the road to ruin. Yet Starmer has run away from reforming welfare and in the last Budget, Reeves ladled even more billions at the occupants of Benefits Street, while yet again clobbering the productive, wealth-generating sector.

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[nivek]

Charles must abdicate. It's sensational, but William and Kate are the real King and Queen now. Read what my royal insiders are saying... it's the only way​

If the monarchy is to survive, there is only one solution: King Charles must go. That might sound excessive, unprecedented even. But the current crisis engulfing the Crown is grave indeed. Andrew's arrest — the police, unannounced, rousting the disgraced former prince from his bed at 8am — is surely not the end of this scandal. It may only be the beginning. The revelations to come, the sordidness, the potential criminality — and who else might be implicated — pose an existential threat to the future of the British Royal Family.

It's what William is said to have been warning about, to nearly no avail. Convincing his father to strip Andrew of his titles, which was formally announced on October 30, 2025, took an ultimatum. 'William absolutely loathes Andrew and has for years,' a well-placed source says. If the Prince of Wales had his way, 'he would have Andrew banished,' the source continued. 'He told his father: "It's either him or me." So, Charles had to step up and ice Andrew out.'

To a point.

The King has still allowed his brother to live, rent-free, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk — which is where he was at the time of his arrest. And all in the wake of newly released emails from Andrew's equally greedy, disgusting ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, calling the dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein 'the brother I have always wished for'. Along with other pleas to 'just marry me'. Or sharing the grubby detail that her daughter Eugenie was off on a 'shagging weekend'.

Does Sarah seem ashamed in the wake of her ex-husband's arrest? No. Not in the least. She is, by all reports and in typical fashion, most worried about where she'll find her next sugar daddy to bankroll her utterly pointless lifestyle. 'Fergie has behaved like an absolute tramp throughout,' my source says. 'She's taken thousands from Epstein. She's up to her totters in it.' As for Andrew, this royal insider says the photo of the former prince taken Thursday night, looking traumatized after he was released from police custody, was a very real reading of his emotional state. 'Andrew is on watch,' the source says. 'He's an international pariah, and this [arrest] is just the trade envoy stuff.'

And so the next question, the question that must be asked: What did the King know, and when did he know it?

(More on the link)

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[Dejan Corovic]

Charles must abdicate. It's sensational, but William and Kate are the real King and Queen now. Read what my royal insiders are saying... it's the only way​

If the monarchy is to survive, there is only one solution: King Charles must go. That might sound excessive, unprecedented even. But the current crisis engulfing the Crown is grave indeed. Andrew's arrest — the police, unannounced, rousting the disgraced former prince from his bed at 8am — is surely not the end of this scandal. It may only be the beginning. The revelations to come, the sordidness, the potential criminality — and who else might be implicated — pose an existential threat to the future of the British Royal Family.

It's what William is said to have been warning about, to nearly no avail. Convincing his father to strip Andrew of his titles, which was formally announced on October 30, 2025, took an ultimatum. 'William absolutely loathes Andrew and has for years,' a well-placed source says. If the Prince of Wales had his way, 'he would have Andrew banished,' the source continued. 'He told his father: "It's either him or me." So, Charles had to step up and ice Andrew out.'

To a point.

The King has still allowed his brother to live, rent-free, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk — which is where he was at the time of his arrest. And all in the wake of newly released emails from Andrew's equally greedy, disgusting ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, calling the dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein 'the brother I have always wished for'. Along with other pleas to 'just marry me'. Or sharing the grubby detail that her daughter Eugenie was off on a 'shagging weekend'.

Does Sarah seem ashamed in the wake of her ex-husband's arrest? No. Not in the least. She is, by all reports and in typical fashion, most worried about where she'll find her next sugar daddy to bankroll her utterly pointless lifestyle. 'Fergie has behaved like an absolute tramp throughout,' my source says. 'She's taken thousands from Epstein. She's up to her totters in it.' As for Andrew, this royal insider says the photo of the former prince taken Thursday night, looking traumatized after he was released from police custody, was a very real reading of his emotional state. 'Andrew is on watch,' the source says. 'He's an international pariah, and this [arrest] is just the trade envoy stuff.'

And so the next question, the question that must be asked: What did the King know, and when did he know it?

(More on the link)

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That's a bit far fetched. Charles didn't have crystal ball, nor does anybody else.

 

[nivek]

That's a bit far fetched. Charles didn't have crystal ball, nor does anybody else.

He was warned...

...

Email proves Charles was warned about his brother's 'secret deals': Whistleblower told Palace that Royal Family's name was being 'abused' by Andrew​

King Charles was warned as long ago as 2019 that the Royal Family’s name was being ‘abused’ by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s business associations, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. In a bombshell email, a whistleblower told the Palace that the former Duke had secret financial links to controversial millionaire financier David Rowland, who was abusing his royal links. Messages seen by this newspaper also appear to show that Andrew – who was sensationally arrested on Thursday over suspicions of misconduct in public office – allowed Mr Rowland to effectively join in with his official duties.

The cache of emails threaten to draw Charles further into the crisis, triggered by Andrew’s links to Jeffrey Epstein, and allegations he passed potentially confidential and sensitive documents to the convicted paedophile. Andrew once told Epstein that Mr Rowland was his ‘trusted money man’. The banker and his son Jonathan joined Andrew on trips he made in his official capacity as a taxpayer-funded trade envoy between 2001 and 2011, visiting places such as China and former Soviet states. Over a period of several years, Andrew repeatedly alerted Mr Rowland to business opportunities arising from his work. Mr Rowland once gave Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson £40,000 to help clear debts and, in 2017, paid off a £1.5million loan for Andrew.

In August 2019, a whistleblower who had detailed knowledge of Andrew’s business dealings with Mr Rowland sent an email to Charles, then Prince of Wales, via the royal lawyers Farrer & Co, warning of ‘David Rowland’s abuse of the Royal Family’. It said: ‘HRH the Duke of York’s actions suggest that his Royal Highness considers his relationship with David Rowland more important than that of his family.’ The whistleblower then sent a second email to Mr Rowland himself, copying in Clive Alderton, Charles’s private secretary, and Mark Bridges, the late Queen’s solicitor at Farrer & Co. That message said: ‘The evidence provided unequivocally proves that you have abused the Royal Family’s name.’ The email further alleged that Mr Rowland ‘paid HRH The Duke of York to procure a Luxembourg Banking Licence’ for his private bank, Banque Havilland, and included what were claimed to be Andrew’s bank account details.

The whistleblower email forms part of a raft of new MoS revelations about Andrew’s business activities, including:

- Andrew told Jonathan Rowland he’d ‘had a very supportive chat’ with PM David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband, apparently at Prince William’s wedding in April 2011, when questions were being raised over his trade envoy position following this newspaper’s publication of the now infamous photograph of him clutching 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre.

- Andrew secretly used an official trade mission to help strike a multi-million-pound deal for his business associates to sell oil to China, with the hope of making ‘tons of money’ with Epstein.

- A British ambassador warned the Government more than two decades ago that Andrew’s behaviour as trade envoy was damaging his country and the Royal Family.

The MoS can also reveal that Andrew invited Jonathan Rowland to a meeting at Buckingham Palace attended by the UK’s ambassador to Montenegro to help boost the Rowlands’ business ambitions. The ambassador put government staff at the Rowlands’ disposal, while Andrew gave David Rowland his schedule for a trip to Montenegro as UK trade envoy. Emails show that a British diplomat in Moscow told the Rowlands the Palace event was ‘a great success’ and connected them with the British embassy in the Serbian capital Belgrade, which covered Montenegro at the time. ‘If there is anything the commercial team… can do to help, please do not hesitate to contact’ them, he wrote, copying in the relevant official.

On Saturday, MPs called for the police to study the evidence acquired by the MoS. Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing. A Buckingham Palace source said that given the ongoing police investigation into Andrew it would not be possible to give any comment on the whistleblower’s email, adding that any relevant material in the possession of the MoS should be shared with the appropriate authorities. There are growing calls for the Government to introduce legislation to remove Andrew from the line of succession, where he remains eighth in line to the throne. Defence minister Luke Pollard said stripping him of his right to succession was the ‘right thing to do’, regardless of the outcome of the police investigation.

Gloria Allred, a lawyer who has represented 27 Epstein victims, urged the King and the Prince and Princess of Wales to give statements to police.

(More on the link)

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[nivek]

Small boat migrants are being waved through UK ports and onto British soil after just 30-minute security checks, reveals SUE REID​

Channel boat migrants are being waved on to British soil without strict security checks when they disembark, a Daily Mail investigation can reveal. In a glaring lapse, hundreds of migrants arriving illegally on the Kent coast from France in the past month have been whisked through less than half an hour after stepping ashore. Our investigation has found a lack of rigorous vetting by Border Force and the intelligence services which is designed to weed out suspected foreign criminals or potential terrorists coming in on trafficking gangs' boats.

The Home Office has temporarily switched the Kent arrival port for boat migrants from Dover to Ramsgate, 20 miles away, opening what whistleblowers have suggested is a 'dangerous' gap in security. The Daily Mail timed the movement of migrants who arrived in Ramsgate after being picked up mid-Channel by the Border Force vessels Typhoon, Defender and Volunteer since the beginning of February. From there, hired coaches take them three miles to a processing centre in Manston.

On Tuesday, the time between their disembarkation from Typhoon to arrival at the Manston camp was 38 minutes. The migrants were at the port, where they handed in their lifejackets, for 27 minutes before being let into the UK. They were given fresh clothes, medical wipes, a check for weaponry with a hand scanner and were then packed off to Manston.

On February 9, Defender brought in migrants at 9.50am. At 10.20am they left the port, arriving 13 minutes later at Manston processing centre – a total of 43 minutes. The Volunteer berthed later that day, with migrants disembarking at 10.58am, before leaving on a coach 24 minutes later and arriving in Manston at 11.42am – 44 minutes in total. The new arrivals at the camp, almost all illegal entrants, stay for up to three days for fingerprinting, identification and security interviews. The interviews, we were told by those recently arrived, can last for just 45 minutes. They are then sent to migrant hotels or Home Office properties around the country.

Manston is said by the Home Office to be a secure camp. But a whistleblower warned: 'We know of cases where migrants have disappeared, been picked up by relatives and even visited the local McDonald's. It is not a prison, nor meant to be.' By contrast, those at Dover got dry clothes, were screened for illnesses and faced questions about their identity, according to the Home Office – a process that could take each contingent hours before they were taken to Manston. It was designed to root out those with knives, guns, criminal records, or links to terrorism.

A whistleblower said: 'Many were undocumented, completely anonymous. They often throw away their passports in France or during their journey. No one really knows who they are or what their intentions might be. It is potentially hazardous.'

(More on the link)

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[Dejan Corovic]

This is why Han Chinese think of Westerners as savages:


View: https://youtu.be/QcGUgFODUak

 

[nivek]

While allowing single male illegal migrants from muslim countries to flood their borders and towns, those who will change western European culture forever...Hypocrites, Europe is doomed...

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Fingerprint and photo scans to be fully enforced for American travelers headed to one continent​

European vacation destinations will begin requiring all travelers to have prints of their fingers taken, as well as photos, upon arrival in a new screening process.

France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom and 25 other countries began implementing a new Entry/Exit System (EES) on Oct. 12 — and come April 10, it will be fully enforced.

The program will be introduced "in phases," officials say.

(More on the link)

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[Dejan Corovic]

While allowing single male illegal migrants from muslim countries to flood their borders and towns, those who will change western European culture forever...Hypocrites, Europe is doomed...

...

Fingerprint and photo scans to be fully enforced for American travelers headed to one continent​

European vacation destinations will begin requiring all travelers to have prints of their fingers taken, as well as photos, upon arrival in a new screening process.

France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom and 25 other countries began implementing a new Entry/Exit System (EES) on Oct. 12 — and come April 10, it will be fully enforced.

The program will be introduced "in phases," officials say.

(More on the link)

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Yes, now we are all criminals. Welcome back to Soviet Union.

 

[AD1184]

While allowing single male illegal migrants from muslim countries to flood their borders and towns, those who will change western European culture forever...Hypocrites, Europe is doomed...

...

Fingerprint and photo scans to be fully enforced for American travelers headed to one continent​

European vacation destinations will begin requiring all travelers to have prints of their fingers taken, as well as photos, upon arrival in a new screening process.

France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom and 25 other countries began implementing a new Entry/Exit System (EES) on Oct. 12 — and come April 10, it will be fully enforced.

The program will be introduced "in phases," officials say.

(More on the link)

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Well, the US has pushed for biometrics to be required for foreign entrants after the 9/11 attacks, and introduced them in 2004. The EU is behind the US by 20 years on this. For the vast majority of that intervening period the US was letting millions of illegals cross its own southern border without those same biometric checks.

 

[nivek]

Well, the US has pushed for biometrics to be required for foreign entrants after the 9/11 attacks, and introduced them in 2004. The EU is behind the US by 20 years on this. For the vast majority of that intervening period the US was letting millions of illegals cross its own southern border without those same biometric checks.

Tis true, the US government has always been hypocritical but we have more of an adaptive culture than many European cultures have...

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[pigfarmer]

At one time a trip to London was on my bucket list but lately I'm not so sure. Like people visiting here I wonder what I'd really see and if I'd be surprised by it not living up to the media hype. Would it be overrun by migrants? Certainly that was plainly visible here for a while.

In any case, I'm safe and sound on a nice big continent and intend to stay here, preferably away from the edges.

 

[Dejan Corovic]

At one time a trip to London was on my bucket list but lately I'm not so sure. Like people visiting here I wonder what I'd really see and if I'd be surprised by it not living up to the media hype. Would it be overrun by migrants? Certainly that was plainly visible here for a while.

In any case, I'm safe and sound on a nice big continent and intend to stay here, preferably away from the edges.

Ohhh, you must see London if you haven't so far. There are so many exceptional places to see, and its so loaded with history that's most likely going to be a experience of lifetime.

Although its 100% true that most likely you'll see very few English people in central London. For that you need to go to coutryside.

 

[nivek]

Outrage at Guardian article calling store opening of Jewish-founded Gail's an 'act of heavy-handed high-street aggression' against Palestinians​

The Guardian has been accused of using antisemitic tropes to describe the opening of a Gail's as an 'act of heavy-handed high-street aggression' against Palestinians. The opinion piece has prompted furious backlash from critics, who said the newspaper had published 'centuries-old stereotypes' about Jews.

It suggested the presence of a new Gail's bakery near an independent Palestinian cafe was 'symbolic' of the war in Gaza because the Israeli-founded 'luxury' brand's parent company allegedly 'invests heavily in military technology, including Israeli security companies'. However the article has created a social media storm with accusations that 'the simple establishment of a Jewish businesses is now seen as a hostile act'.

The Israeli embassy's spokesperson in the UK, Alex Gandler, said the piece, published on Saturday, was 'an astonishing exercise in bigotry disguised as moral commentary'. 'Beneath its surface lies a familiar and ugly trope: the re-packaging of antisemitic prejudice in fashionable political language. One cannot help but wonder what Palestinian intellectual Edward Said would have made of this curious revival of the "noble savage" narrative,' he said.

The article features an interview with the Palestinian owners of Cafe Metro, Faten and Mahmoud, in Archway, north London where a new branch of Gail's was recently established. Mahmoud said that 'we compete with them (Gail's) legally', and went on to say they had nothing to do with the attack on Gail's before it opened.

(More on the link)

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[AD1184]

I can't find any information to say that Gail's bakery is "Israeli-founded" as described by the Daily Mail. I did find this though:


View: https://twitter.com/SarahLudford/status/2024620051609874888

 

[nivek]

New terror group with reported Iran ties claims 4 attacks across Europe​

A new terrorist group with suspected links to the Iranian regime emerged in Europe last week. Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya (The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right) has claimed responsibility for four attacks on Jewish targets across the continent.

A synagogue in Liège, Belgium, was the first target of an explosive attack on Monday. An arson attack on a Rotterdam synagogue followed overnight on Friday and an explosive device was set off at a Jewish school in Amsterdam the next evening.

Several sources have linked an additional attack at a Jewish site in Greece on Wednesday with the group, though no specifics were given about the target or method of attack.

(More on the link)

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[nivek]

How telling that Meghan's joined the ranks of those peddling wellness and fake lifestyles to the gullible​

To all those mourning the demise of the Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix series With Love, Meghan – fear not! For the modest sum of £1,400 per person (plus the cost of a flight to Australia) you can recreate the unique joy of that event by signing up for a ‘girls’ weekend like no other’, a three-day retreat in Sydney organised by the creators of Her Best Life podcast at which the Duchess will take part in a ‘fireside chat’ Q&A. Promising an ‘unforgettable weekend for women ready to reconnect, recharge and have some serious fun’ (nothing like the prospect of ‘serious fun’ to make the heart sink), a select few prepared to stump up £1,700 for ‘VIP’ tickets will have a front-row seat for this momentous occasion, as well as a chance to be in a group photo with the Duchess and take home a goodie bag possibly containing – gasp – Meghan’s famous jam and flower-sprinkles.

Not for the first time I find myself mourning the passing of the great Dame Edna Everage. As Australia’s most iconic and incisive interviewer, who knows what nuggets of wisdom she might have enticed from the Duchess’s fair lips had she been engaged to lead the conversation. After all, Dame Edna was on close personal terms with many members of the British Royal family, having often reminisced about her friendship with the late Queen (‘Some nights, the little corgis and the Sovereign, wearing a somewhat stained brunch coat, would visit’) and her even more intimate relationship with Charles himself, which she ascribed to his Highness’s deep appreciation of the more ‘mature’ woman.

Alas, Dame Edna is no longer, and neither is the great Mrs Merton. ‘So, Duchess,’ the latter might have inquired in those soothing North-Western vowels of hers: ‘What was it that first attracted you to the son of the future King?’

Instead, the interview is slated to be conducted by the podcast’s co-founder Gemma O’Neill, who describes herself as ‘just a mum from Sydney with a podcast that started as a passion for those trying to live their best lives’. The humility is touching. The Q&A is slated to be conducted by the Her Best Life podcast’s co-founder Gemma O’Neill... however, yesterday it transpired that her ‘talent management’ business, Gemmie Agency, had collapsed owing over half a million Australian dollars (more than £250,000)

Indeed, when O’Neill was initially approached by the Duchess’s long-time fixer, Markus Anderson (who famously organised that first date with Prince Harry at Soho House back in 2016), she was unsure whether to accept because, as she puts it: ‘I felt like I didn’t deserve her.’ I dare say there are some members of the Royal Family who feel similarly about the Duchess, although perhaps for rather different reasons. Either way, having overcome her misgivings, O’Neill gave in, saying: ‘She’s risen above everything and I have so much respect for that.’ But now it seems O’Neill may have her own struggles to overcome, as yesterday it transpired that her ‘talent management’ business, Gemmie Agency, had collapsed owing more than half a million Australian dollars (more than £250,000), most of it to the taxman.

O’Neill says she cannot pay her debts due to a lack of savings and her ‘limited income’.

Oh dear. The best-laid plans of mice and Meghan, eh? Personally, with or without the Duchess’s gracious presence, I can’t think of anything worse than spending three days inhaling the scent of fake tan and HRT while being instructed on how to clear my yoni or take part in a ‘sound healing’ experience or whatever new wellness fad is trending on TikTok. It’s not that I object to a bit of Pilates or yoga; it’s just that if I’m going to take time out to spend a weekend with other women it’s not going to be some random group whose only commonality is the ability to spend thousands on woo-woo but my own actual friends, whose company I can enjoy for free.

Personally, with or without the Duchess’s gracious presence, I can’t think of anything worse than spending three days inhaling the scent of fake tan and HRT while being instructed on how to clear my yoni or take part in a ‘sound healing’ experience, writes Sarah Vine

I’m always amazed at how many women fall for this stuff. I’m often urged – sometimes by people who should really know me better by now – to take part in this or that ‘retreat’, inevitably at vast expense in some inconvenient location where some smug hippie (usually some retired acid casualty with a threadbare ponytail who’s clocked that there is more money to be made selling snake oil than there is from actually working) wangs on about the importance of gut biome and kombucha infusions while secretly sneaking off for a quick vape in between Himalayan nose-flute workshops.

As to sisterly support, it’s always just a bit more White Lotus than you anticipate. If you think men can be a bit competitive, you’ve clearly never been to an all-woman hot yoga class. Put it this way, most women would rather dislocate a hip than admit they can’t keep up (and have done).

In recent years this stuff has migrated online, spawning an army of unregulated ‘wellness influencers’ who’ll promote anything for the right price. The vast majority are, like most influencers, peddling fake lifestyles to gullible – and often rather vulnerable – punters. Events like this one in Sydney are an opportunity to further monetise the insecurities of women fuelled by a culture of vanity, in this case dressed up as ‘health and well-being’. Truth is, the only people this stuff benefits are the ones taking down your credit card details - and the only person who can heal you (assuming you need healing in the first place) is you. After all, wellness begins at home, not at the box office.

With a new James Bond film due to start shooting at the end of the year, speculation is once again rife as to who might take over from Daniel Craig. Various names are in the mix, including Saltburn star Barry Keoghan, who tells the Radio Times he would rather play a Bond villain. Unsurprisingly, the bookies’ favourite is Jacob Elordi – but if it were up to me, there would be no contest: Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie, who as well as being far too sexy for his shirt (as seen here) is also extremely well versed at playing seduction scenes – both attributes essential for the role.

A while ago, attentive readers may remember, I was fuming because I had been locked out of my Vinted account. Well, it’s happened again! Turns out I have fallen foul of EU money laundering regulations on account of being a PEP – a ‘politically exposed person’ (guys, we’re divorced, don’t you read the papers?) I could understand if I were trying to sell Kalashnikovs – but all I’m doing is having a wardrobe clear-out. I hardly think a lady from Ramsgate buying one of my old H&M blouses for £3 makes me Pablo Escobar.

As someone who frequents my local branch of Gail’s, I have no complaints about its alleged politics. But I do take issue on one front: its hot-cross buns. Not just the exorbitant cost – £14 for a box of six – but the fact that they’re served cold. Horror! A hot-cross bun MUST be toasted and covered in slabs of melting butter, otherwise it makes ME hot and cross. At a talk by Sir Anthony Seldon for his book, The Path Of Light, a man asked a question. His granddaughter, he said, was deciding which universities to apply for. Being Jewish, her choices were based on where she might be safe. Since 20 per cent of students would not share a house with a Jewish student, you can understand her concerns.

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[AD1184]

How telling that Meghan's joined the ranks of those peddling wellness and fake lifestyles to the gullible​

[...]

Not for the first time I find myself mourning the passing of the great Dame Edna Everage. As Australia’s most iconic and incisive interviewer, who knows what nuggets of wisdom she might have enticed from the Duchess’s fair lips had she been engaged to lead the conversation. After all, Dame Edna was on close personal terms with many members of the British Royal family, having often reminisced about her friendship with the late Queen (‘Some nights, the little corgis and the Sovereign, wearing a somewhat stained brunch coat, would visit’) and her even more intimate relationship with Charles himself, which she ascribed to his Highness’s deep appreciation of the more ‘mature’ woman.

Alas, Dame Edna is no longer, and neither is the great Mrs Merton. ‘So, Duchess,’ the latter might have inquired in those soothing North-Western vowels of hers: ‘What was it that first attracted you to the son of the future King?’

It is possibly not clear to American readers, but Dame Edna Everage was not a real person, but the alter ego of the male Australian comic Barry Humphries.

(Nor was Mrs Merton a real person, for that matter, but she was at least played by the comedienne Caroline Aherne).

 

[nivek]

Sweden brands Christian parents 'extreme' for attending church, keeps their kids​

A Christian couple’s years-long fight to regain custody of their daughters from the Swedish government was dealt a major setback last week after a top European court rejected their plea for help. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled the case brought by Daniel and Bianca Samson "inadmissible" on March 10, a final decision that cannot be appealed. According to Alliance Defending Freedom International, which is supporting the family’s legal effort, the children have been separated from their parents since December 2022.

ADF International said the case began after the couple’s eldest daughter, Sara, then 11, made a false abuse report at school following a fight with her parents over not being allowed to have a smartphone or wear makeup. ADF said the girl quickly retracted the allegation and that prosecutors found no evidence of abuse, but the Swedish state refused to return the children.

According to the legal group, the state cited the family’s habit of attending church three times a week and their parenting choices as evidence of "religious extremism" and justification for keeping the children. The girls have pleaded to be reunited with their parents and have suffered worsening mental and physical health, according to ADF International. Their parents reported that both girls attempted suicide while in state care.

The parents have completed state-mandated parenting courses and were later deemed fit to parent, according to the legal group, but they still have not been reunited with their daughters. They have also allegedly sought to move the girls into foster care in their home country of Romania, but have been denied. The European Court of Human Rights "deemed the case inadmissible on the grounds of failure to exhaust legal remedies in Sweden," ADF International said, despite the Swedish Supreme Court refusing to hear the family's case in 2025.

"We love our children. We trusted Sweden to protect them — and when the truth emerged, we expected our daughters to come home," Daniel Samson said in a statement. "Yet they remain away from us, and their mental health continues to deteriorate."

ADF International told Premier Christian News that social services in Hässleholm are now moving to permanently sever the family's ties and place the girls for adoption. "We deeply regret the Court’s decision to reject this case, considering that this family has been torn apart for over three years despite a full investigation that cleared Mr. and Mrs. Samson of any abuse and the fact that the Social Services certified their capacity and fitness for parenting after they successfully completed an official training," said Guillermo A. Morales Sancho, legal counsel for ADF International. "Families should be free to live according to their convictions without fear of losing their children to the state."

Sweden's Social Services did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. The European Court of Human Rights told Fox News Digital it considers cases on a "case by case basis" and does not provide comment "on general events or matters." The court also said a single judge declared the case inadmissible, according to its guidelines.

.

 

[nivek]

With Meghan buried in humiliations and nowhere to run, embarrassing new whispers are leaking from Montecito.​

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

On the heels of a blistering Variety report claiming that Netflix chief Ted Sarandos is done with Harry and Meghan — and an awards season that saw them nowhere near the Golden Globes, the Oscars or the Vanity Fair Oscar party — comes word that some of their Montecito neighbors want nothing to do with the Gruesome Twosome.

'No one wants to be seen with them,' a source told Page Six. 'It's not hate. It's just a growing awareness that they're takers with zero self-awareness. Everyone's exhausted by them.'

Imagine. A prince of the blood and his American wife, a former actress, once the toast of California — and they've burnt just about every bridge.

Tyler Perry loaned them his private jet and his personal estate. Oprah welcomed them and gave them a very gentle, gauzy primetime interview — one in which she hardly pushed back against any of their more questionable claims. Gwyneth filmed with Meghan for social media. And, of course, Netflix signed them to that reported $100 million deal.

All seemingly consigned to history, in the span of five years. Now that's an accomplishment.

It does not seem to me that Harry and Meghan are greatly wanted in Montecito, or Hollywood, or the UK, or Canada, or Australia — where Meghan is due to speak at a symposium for women charging $2,000 a ticket.

Meghan and Harry's imminent arrival Down Under has sparked a petition, currently signed by over 35,000 Australians, demanding that no taxpayer money be used on their latest faux-royal trip.

Where could they possibly turn next?

(More on the link)

.

 

[pigfarmer]

How the EU pushed ahead with controversial 'deportation camps'

Friday, 27 March 2026
By Ugo A Realfonzo

European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) Director Hans Leijtens (C) speaks to members of European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex along the border fence at the Bulgaria-Turkey border on February 29, 2024. Credit: Belga
Migrants and asylum seekers will be deported from the EU with greater ease after a right-wing and far-right alliance in the European Parliament passed controversial new rules on Thursday.



To speed up the removal of migrants from EU territory, a majority in the European Parliament voted on Thursday to facilitate the return of non-EU nationals staying irregularly in the EU with a common system.



When the vote was approved, a round of applause broke out among right-wing MEPs, angering centrist and left-wing counterparts in the room.


The proposal was passed despite loud protests from rights groups, who denounced it as an inhumane policy which denies the ability for EU countries to uphold migrants' and asylum seekers' fundamental rights.



Once again, centre-right (and pro-EU) EPP teamed up with far-right (and Eurosceptic) groups, ECR, ESN and PfE, to push it through. This included organising secret meetings and WhatsApp groups to negotiate the final text, according to an explosive report by German media agency dpa from last week.

However, Belgium's EPP members, Wouter Beke and Liesbet Sommen from the Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V), were the only members in the entire conservative group to abstain on this vote. The text will now be negotiated with EU leaders at the European Council and the European Commission before final approval.

Two ECR MEPs, Nicola Procaccini (Italy) and Patryk Jaki (Poland), stand up to applaud the deportation of migrants passed in the European Parliament in Brussels, Thursday, 26 March 2026. Credit: EU

So what was agreed?​

Under the new plans, the EU would force members to hand out a "return decision" – or deportation order – to any non-EU nationals found staying irregularly inside the EU.
These individuals would then receive a European Return Order, which is then added to a unified system enforceable across the Schengen area.
Special protection will be given for unaccompanied minors, and a proposed obligation to actively detect irregular migrants, like the United States under the Trump administration, was voted down.
The EU will trigger an entry ban across the bloc in the case of non-compliance, forced removal, or security concerns.

Controversially, deportations would also be carried out to countries in which the individual has no prior connection, in addition to regular deportations to the country of origin or transit country. In other words, undocumented migrants would be removed to safe third countries or other countries willing to accept the person (under an agreement with the EU or a member) – known as "return hubs".

Jet Airways taking off near the closed asylum centre 127bis. Credit: Belga

"It is turning Europe into a deportation machine where policy is dictated by violence and coercion," says Tine Claus, director of Refugee Work Flanders, in a joint statement with 11.11.11. "This deportation regulation is extremely dangerous. It raises serious questions about its compatibility with international obligations."
On Wednesday, a letter from Doctors of the World and hundreds of healthcare professionals also warned that vague and far-reaching surveillance measures in this proposal could turn hospitals and public services into "hotspots" for immigration enforcement.
However, the "return hubs" or "deportation camps", as critics call them, are what have sparked the indignation of opposition parties, civil society groups and human rights experts. Even migration experts question the viability of this law.

'Raises questions'​

"At this stage, it remains unclear how return hubs would be operationalised, both legally and in practice," senior adviser on migration at the European Policy Centre, Virginie Jacob, told The Brussels Times on Thursday.
There are still differences between the positions of different EU institutions on responsibility, Jacob explains. While the approach of EU leaders at the European Council places it on Member States – like the Commission's first proposal, the European Parliament envisages a role for both Member States and the EU.
"The outcome of negotiations will therefore clarify the model," she explains. "This uncertainty, of course, raises questions, particularly in relation to fundamental rights, but also regarding responsibility, accountability, and the availability of effective judicial oversight."
Five countries – Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Greece – have expressed interest in building the return hubs.

Meloni model​

In 2024, the European Commission President Von der Leyen said she would "draw lessons" from the Italy-Albania protocol to strengthen undocumented migrant expulsions.
This was a controversial and widely criticised deal, which enables Italy to transfer people arriving on its territory directly to detention centres in Albania to process their asylum cases, but has faced serious legal and operational hurdles.
"The Italy-Albania experience illustrates how complex such arrangements can be to implement, and how they may be subject to judicial oversight at the national level," Jacob says. "However, it is important to note that this model differs."

Albanian Prime Minister Edil Rama and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the deal on Tuesday 8 November 2023. Credit: Governo Italiano

Political tensions around the role of the judiciary and the ability of EU countries to deport migrants will also influence whether the current rules will be implemented.

This week, the former director of the EU border agency, Fabrice Leggeri, who today is a far-right MEP with France's National Rally (PfE), is under investigation by a top French court for complicity in crimes against humanity during his time as director of the EU border agency, Frontex.

Attacks on ECHR​

The rule of law and fundamental rights have come under attack by anti-immigration leaders, notably Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever, whose party sits in the hard-right group the ECR.
Last December, a coalition of countries asked to reinterpret the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and be allowed to deport convicted criminals even when they have family ties in the host country.
"We are indeed seeing increasing political pressure on the European Human Rights framework in the context of migration," Jacob says. "At the same time, it is important to distinguish between political narratives and legal reality."
She explains that, while the ECHR could be described as limiting certain return policies, available evidence suggests that the number of migration cases remains relatively limited and that its case law does not systematically prevent returns.

An illustration picture shows a visit of the Defence Minister to the Belgian Naval Component Godetia during a Frontex operation in the Mediterranean Sea, Monday 08 June 2015. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck

"That said, there is nonetheless a growing tension between policy objectives in the field of migration and the existing legal framework. It is not new, but it has become more visible in recent years."
For the European Policy Centre's expert, Thursday's approved proposal reflects a shift in the balance between enforcement and safeguards on migration.
A number of provisions have led to concerns about a weakening of safeguards, particularly regarding detention, access to effective remedies, and the use of return hubs, she continues.
"In that sense, whether the policy can be considered fair is already being contested for its legislative design, not only its future implementation."