3 days agoNew York StateComments Off on Sex pests like flasher Labour councillor Sam Gould to be sacked immediately under urgent law change, vows Angela Rayner
CONVICTED sex pests will be sacked immediately from elected office under an urgent law change, ministers have vowed.
Ray CollinsSex pests like Sam Gould will be sacked immediately from elected office under an urgent law change[/caption]
GettyThe plan is being drawn up by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner[/caption]
PAShe held talks over slashing the red tape blocking the councillor’s removal with Health Secretary Wes Streeting[/caption]
She held talks over slashing the red tape blocking his removal with Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who had employed the 33-year-old as a senior caseworker.
Gould has been sacked as a senior aide but is refusing to quit as a Redbridge councillor, despite pleading guilty to two counts of indecent exposure.
The teen banged on doors for help as she was pursued and is now scared to leave the house.
An ally of Mr Streeting last night said: “Wes is disgusted that unless Gould resigns he remains a councillor as there are no powers to remove him. He’s spoken to Angela who’s already on the case.”
Shamed Gould was pictured breaking cover yesterday for the first time since his sexual offences were uncovered by The Sun.
He left home hiding under his hood — despite it not raining.
Later, Gould scurried inside when asked whether he would apologise and whether he would resign from Redbridge Council.
Despite his guilty pleas, Gould is still an elected member of the council in East London, where he is eligible for £10,138 of taxpayer cash a year in allowances.
Fresh legislation to stop perverts continuing in elected roles will form part of a wider package on improving standards in public life.
A source stressed Mr Streeting was on standby to meet the mother of Gould’s victim if she would want to speak with him.
Outrage at Gould’s refusal to stand down showed no sign of abating yesterday.
Kam Rai, leader of Redbridge Council, said: “The law needs to be changed so that people who commit serious crimes while in office, especially ones like this of a sexual nature, are able to be removed from their role immediately.
“It is a privilege to be entrusted to represent your community and in this case it has been shattered.”
An ex-colleague of Gould, who worked with him in Mr Streeting’s office, said: “I’m shocked and appalled, and it’s disgraceful that there’s no mechanism in law for him to be removed from his elected role.
“His constituents deserve far better.”
The past five years has seen the Commons tarnished by a string of sex pest cases in which the perpetrator has refused to resign immediately from taxpayer-funded roles.
Tory MP Peter Bone and Tory Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher were among those who refused to go.
A spokesperson for Ms Rayner’s Ministry of Housing and Local Government said: “Councillors committing serious misconduct must be held to account.
“This government is taking robust action with new plans being drawn up to introduce powers of suspension for serious code of conduct breaches.”
MPs WHO DIDN'T GO
Peter Bone: In October 2023, the veteran Tory was suspended for bullying and sexual misconduct with an aide but stayed an MP until recalled two months later.
Chris Pincher: The Tories’ Deputy Chief Whip groped two men at a club in June 2022 but did not quit as an MP until September 2023, receiving a taxpayer-funded salary of almost £100,000.
David Warburton: The married Tory snorted cocaine, stripped naked and groped a woman’s breasts in April 2022 — but stayed an MP until June 2023.
Imran Ahmad Khan: The Tory MP was charged with the sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy in June 2021 but did not resign as an MP until May 2022 — weeks after being convicted in court.
3 days agoNew York StateComments Off on From George Clooney’s ‘clompy lace ups’ to Beckham’s £850 h-tops – the new tribe of celeb Middle Aged Men In Trainers
SILVER fox George Clooney revealed a dramatic new look this week, ditching his salt and pepper hair for box-dye brown.
But aside from the Just For Men botch job – which we’re assured is just for his role in Broadway show Good Night, And Good Luck – the 63-year-old actor was sporting £90 Adidas Forum Classic trainers.
GettyGeorge Clooney stepped out this week in £90 Adidas Forum Classic trainers[/caption]
Clooney usually opts for inconspicuous white plimsolls, but instead went for these clompy lace-ups with what looks like his golf kit.
I’m all for a supportive sole and being comfortable, but A-listers with bulging bank balances can afford both style and substance.
Poor old George isn’t alone.
In fact, in celeb land there’s a growing army of MAMITS – that’s Middle Aged Men In Trainers.
From the red carpet to the Cabinet, MAMITS are hiding in plain sight.
Not only do you look like you’re on work experience (despite having years of experience), it’s just not a good image.
Cast your mind back to past generations of men who would have shoes immaculately shined, trousers with pin-sharp centre creases and a perfectly ironed shirt. Swoony, yes?
Now think about shuffling along in your two-piece with a garish pair of trainers on your feet. It just doesn’t have the same effect.
If you are intent on wearing them past a certain age, it’s important to stick to the classics and the simplest forms, so you don’t look like a mid-life crisis on legs.
Here, Fashion Editor Clemmie Fieldsend brings us the stars whose footwear gave them a hip vibe – and those who looked more like they were ready for a hip replacement.
GettyBeck’s looks great in these monogrammed Dior high-tops that retail for £850[/caption]
WHEN it comes to looking good, Becks rarely puts a foot wrong.
And as a sportsman turned model, he didn’t get his trainers wrong, either.
The 49-year-old wore a sleek suit to Dior’s autumn fashion show in 2019, and finished off the look with a pair of the brand’s monogrammed high-tops costing £850, which are less trainer and more fashion shoe.
The PM looks like a wannabe trendy, pitch side Dad in his Adidas GazellesPA
THE Prime Minister did his best impression of a footie dad by wearing Adidas Gazelles, £90, much to the horror of millennials.
But his dark jeans and jacket blurred into his dark trainers and made him look like a wannabe trendy, pitchside dad who is likely to be talking gibberish about the offside rule.
Obama’s Adidas Stan Smiths are ruined by his drainpipe trousersGetty
Whilst former President Barack Obama, 63, sticks to the simple style of trainer with Adidas Stan Smiths, his drainpipe trousers ruin his attempt.
Hunky Obama could pretty much pull off anything with his laid back and cool appearance but if you want to look cool then skip the Love Island skinnies.
GettyJason’s black trainers are stylish and discreet[/caption]
Actor Jason Isaacs attended the TV BAFTAs in 2023 in a head to toe black look that didn’t turn any heads.
But the 61-year-old Harry Potter star’s discreet look is exactly what you want to be aiming for when wearing trainers, you can barely tell he’s wearing black kicks – magic.
The Samba community were outraged when the former PM wore them with his ankle swinging suit trousers and tight shirt in No.10, but on this occasion it wasn’t the trainer that was the problem, more the Tory trotters that wore them.
Instagram/nigel_farageNigel has boasted about his preference for Adidas Gazelles over Rishi’s Sambas but it’s still a fashion miss[/caption]
TikTok star, I mean MP, Nigel Farage took to the social media platform in 2024 to boast to his 1.2million followers about his preference for Adidas Gazelles, and challenging Rishi’s Sambas.
Breaking the number one style rule when it comes to wearing sneakers he wore a suit, shirt and tie in an attempt to look down with the kids but failed miserably.
Bond’s glittery Converse are more teen girl than suave spyGetty Images - Getty
AS James Bond, you’d think Daniel could pinch a pair of black shoes from the wardrobe department before hitting the red carpet.
But no, the 57-year-old attended the premiere of film Knives Out in 2019 wearing glittery Converse, which made him look more like an 11-year-old Swiftie than 007.
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3 days agoNew York StateComments Off on Fury as iconic West End musical slapped with 15 trigger warnings because it includes ‘violence and death’
WEST End theatre chiefs have slapped 15 trigger warnings on a The Phantom of the Opera show — because it features violence and death.
His Majesty’s Theatre posted a guide giving timings for alerts, such as “loud sounds” and “haze”, despite the musical being deemed suitable for children as young as eight.
GettyIconic West End musical Phantom of the Opera was slapped with 15 trigger warnings because it includes ‘violence and death’[/caption]
PAThe Andrew Lloyd Webber show — one of the best known and highest-grossing of all time — runs for 2½ hours at the theatre[/caption]
Its decision, which follows similar over-the-top moves by other theatres, was branded “beyond parody”.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber show — one of the best known and highest-grossing of all time — runs for 2½ hours at the theatre.
The production is already in full swing until September, with tickets starting at £25.
It tells the tragic love story of beautiful singer Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a disfigured musical genius living beneath the ParisOpera House.
The theatre’s guide warns that those who are watching can expect “smoke” and “bangs”.
It adds: “This show contains loud sounds, gun shots, flashing lights, haze, fire, pyrotechnics and depictions of violence and death at certain points.”
But Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, said: “This is beyond parody. It won’t be long before theatres ask audiences not to applaud at the end in case they trigger people who are sensitive to noise.”
The Phantom of the Opera is the latest show accused of patronising its audience by warning of obvious content.
Earlier this week, ticket-holders for Murder on the Orient Express were told to expect depictions of murder.
Matt Newbury, creative director of the Agatha Christie Festival, said: “Plot spoiler . . . the clue is definitely in the title.”
Meanwhile, the Chichester Festival Theatre was mocked after stating the Three Little Pigs fairy tale included “a passing reference to Father Pig being gobbled by the Big Bad Wolf”.
And The English National Opera warned its comic work The Pirates of Penzance at the London Coliseum included “alcohol misuse and mild violence”.
Among stars who reckon the practice has gone too far is Dame Judi Dench, who asked: “Isn’t the whole business of going to the theatre about seeing something that you can be excited, surprised or stimulated by?”
LW Theatres, which owns His Majesty’s Theatre, has been approached for comment.
3 days agoNew York StateComments Off on Jew-hating Islamist savage arrives in UK on a small boat & is rightly arrested – but guess what happens next?
SOME good news, then. A bloke called Abu Wadee has been arrested for attempting to enter the country illegally. Abu is a Jew-hating Islamist savage from Palestine.
TiktokJew-hating Islamist savage from Gaza Abu Wadee has been arrested for attempting to enter the country illegally[/caption]
Wadee has posted videos of himself praying for the deaths of ‘all Jews’GettySir Keir Starmer, and all of our political parties, know the law needs to be changed[/caption]
He referred to himself as being part of the “Tyre Burning Unit”. That’s a group of extremist Palestinians who launch unprovoked attacks upon Israel.
Anyway, we know all this because, luckily, Abu isn’t just a Jew-hating Islamist savage — he’s also thick as mince.
He has taken great care to film himself howling abuse about Jews and posted all the evidence on Youtube.
Gotcha, as a great newspaper once memorably put it. He was spotted by a group of activists who specialise in identifying Jew-hating Islamist savages. Old Abu made it nice and easy for them.
He came here last Thursday with 234 other migrants. I don’t know how many of the others are Jew-hating Islamists, and how many are charming, would-be brain surgeons and rocket scientists.
My suspicion is that the number in one of those categories greatly outweighs the number in the other, if you catch my drift.
The refugee charities may well argue that some of those arriving can play a vibrant part in our economy. If so, triffic, trebles all round, bring it on.
But my worry is that we are importing a rather large number of Jew-hating Islamist savages into the country right now. Not all of whom are brain surgeons and rocket scientists.
People we would much prefer stayed in the country from which they’ve fled. But sadly, we don’t get a say in the matter.
So what’s going to happen to Mr Wadee now, then?
And it is here things get even stranger. More bizarre and more surreal.
Because, we may all want him gone, but I will bet my bottom dollar that Wadee is still here come Christmas.
All the cards
And that’s because it is Mr Wadee who holds all the cards — not the rest of us.
Because it doesn’t matter how mental Mr Wadee might be, or how much he hates Jewish people.
It wouldn’t make much difference if he was caught with explosives, a bunch of machetes used for a spot of head-chopping and a selection of nooses for hanging gay people. He still holds all the cards.
The thing is that we can’t seemingly deport anyone, no matter how foul they might be. Nor how criminal they might be. Because to do so would infract upon their human rights.
Because to do so would infract upon their human rights. Because the country to which we would be deporting them isn’t very nice.
And we’re not allowed to send anyone to places which aren’t very nice.
Mr Wadee and his weaselly lawyers will be able to argue that he cannot possibly be sent back to his home in Gaza because it’s an absolutely awful place and his safety cannot be guaranteed.
Wadee and the thousands like him do not deserve to be settled in any civilised democratic country
And the fact that Gaza is an absolutely awful place precisely because of people like Abu Wadee doesn’t come into it.
He has his rights. And they must never be denied.
We, meanwhile, don’t have any rights to be protected from savages like Wadee.
Nor do the members of our Jewish community who have faced more and more attacks in recent years. Almost entirely as a consequence of us importing people like Abu Wadee into the country.
The plan was to try to deport him to one of the European countries he travelled through to get to the UK.
But that idea is dead in the water because those countries all said, “um, thank you very much, but we’d rather not have you here, Abu”.
And in any case it’s not really the point. Because Wadee and the thousands like him do not deserve to be settled in any civilised democratic country.
So here’s my prediction: we’re stuck with him.
And his presence here will be a constant reminder — as if we needed one — that the current laws on who we can and cannot deport are an utter absurdity, and must be changed.
And all of our political parties know that the law needs to be changed.
But nobody ever does anything meaningful about it. And so the charade continues.
That tanker was carrying jet fuel for the US Navy. The authorities are still saying that there is no evidence of foul play.
But given that Putin’s merchant ships have deliberately cut underwater cables before, what do you think the likelihood is that this crash was deliberate?
And if it was deliberate, what are we going to do about it?
SNOW WHITE? NO, YER ALRIGHT
AlamyAs a result of wokeness, nobody, anywhere, wants to see Disney’s stupid Snow White[/caption]
DISNEY has decided not to roll out the red carpet for the premiere of its filmSnow White.
Celebrations have been put on hold. An event in London has been cancelled.
That’s because nobody anywhere wants to see the stupid film. The company was still in its woke phase when Snow White was commissioned.
Instead of seven dwarfs, there are seven diverse “magical creatures”.
Snow White’s love affair with Prince Charming has been downplayed.
Instead, it’s a story about a Strong Vibrant Female, in a very real sense. And as a result nobody, anywhere, wants to see it.
This once venerable quiz show has dumbed down to such an extent that it is scarcely worth watching. I think I may go on it with the specialist subject: The Life And Works Of Myself.
It’s hardly more laughable than Friday Night Dinner, is it?
WEIRDO LABOUR
THERE’S some weird buggers in the Labour Party. Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s aide has just been sacked.
With Labour you get a bit of financial greed, but also a bunch of perverts.
I’VE AD IT WITH SLOGAN
Dominos‘Domino hoo hoo’ is awful Domino’s pizza catchphrase[/caption]
WATCHING TV, I sometimes have this daydream. I’ve tied the creative director of an advertising company to the barrel of a howitzer.
I’m just about to pull the trigger, or whatever you do with howitzers, when I ask him: “Do you have any last words?”
And he says, “Yes, could you tell my wife . . .”
But I interrupt him.
“No, not those words. Say the words you have been inflicting on me every bloody day of the week and which make me want to tie an advertising exec to a howitzer.
“Come on, you know what they are.”
And just before he’s blasted into the ether, he looks ashamed and whispers: “Domino hoo hoo.”
VOTER STORM
WESTERN Europe’s poorest nation is heading to the polls – again.
The Portuguese just can’t get enough of elections. They’ve been having them almost every year.
And that’s because, just as with the rest of Europe, voters are sick of the mainstream parties.
The country is caught up in exactly the same whirlwind of populism we’ve seen recently in Germany.
So keep an eye out for the performance of Chega! – a new populist party whose name means Enough! Don’t be surprised if they form part of a new Portuguese government.
One by one the countries of Europe are ditching their liberals.
