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People trafficking: The truth
The truth of people trafficking is that it’s tough. It’s tough on its victims. It’s tough on its hosts. It’s tough on those of us who fight it. It really is.
I’ve met folks who’ve fought off people traffickers at the get-go and they find it to be extremely difficult work.
It’s emotionally draining to do it. It doesn’t fit in the mindset of those who believe our world is essentially safe and secure. It changes their way of seeing the world. It presents endless operational difficulties.
It’s fair to say it’s one of the most difficult jobs in the world.
It’s genuinely tough work.
They have to see the pain on a victims face firsthand and in this instance a law enforcement agent has a sordid night ahead of him or her. It’s not easy to shake off the look of someone having believed their life was over and you’re their only source of hope.
It’s also a dark and shady business and so much more to it that’s disturbing. It takes a lot to shake off an encounter. There’s no use getting rid of knowing its details because it has to be dealt with.
A job’s a job in most of our eyes but for others it’s beside a coastline or further in land where trouble erupts. It’s a wet, dirty, and spit-filled job because the cretins that do it are not civilised and they’re unwieldy.
It isn’t the choice of the police to bring out guns to a firefight. It’s just what happens when criminals fight back and our law enforcement agencies have done such a brave job in doing it. Let’s just hope it works.
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Caught: People trafficking lead
As part of an ongoing investigation a man has been spotted who is believed to be the originator and ‘lead’ of the entire operation in the UK. He was photographed at around 3pm on a train bound for Edinburgh earlier today.
Although youthful in appearance he figures highly in people trafficking circles as a point of contact and of local knowledge. He is also known to be highly mobile, skilled in conversation, and also known to people trafficking gangs all over the world.
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Exposed: Disloyal service
It isn’t a polite story or a good tale to tell the grandchildren. To believe that disloyalty once worked at the heart of the nation’s Palace is unsettling.
We expect loyalty in those who serve. If it doesn’t seem real at times there is still importance attached to being known if not being great. This is the predicament the late Queen Elizabeth 2nd found herself in.
It happened on a quiet evening one week in a year that was relatively calm for her late Majesty.
A monarch goes through years that are tumultuous on the high seas and others that are relatively calm on the expanse of diplomacy that also takes up her time.
In this instance it was discovered a servant cum aide had been plotting against her. It wasn’t a plot to assassinate or to depose her.
It was more nuanced than such plots may be.
The person in question had been at the heart of her household of service for many years. He wasn’t a key figure or partner in the operations of the household but he certainly knew proximity and enjoyed a few short conversations with her here and there.
He knew his boss as much as he knew his masters business.
He had a different sort of ‘payroll’ agreement with others who wanted him to gain leverage with her late Majesty over a particular issue.
He wasn’t to threaten her but just insinuate that a loss of reputation may result if she did not comply with his request. It was something her late Majesty was able to deal with completely.
However, it was still a shock.
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Joe Biden ends his campaign
Joe Biden has written his resignation letter and dropped out of the race for the American presidency. It leaves the door open for Trump to assume a second term or for an insurgent Democrat candidate to take the reins.
It isn’t clear who it is yet.
The fact is Biden is walking away from his first and only term in office with a few records behind him but a tumultuous election campaign that has been cut short. Trump was shot at and he got Covid.
It’s not a good look for America at this time.
At the end of his letter Biden signed off with a short message to the American people. It doesn’t strike a despondent tone but it does suggest he feels disillusioned with any distraction that takes focus away.
“I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do – when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.”
Perhaps this election cycle has been too much for him this time around.
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Sex trafficker spotted
A sex trafficker well-known in Europe was spotted in London this afternoon. The suspect has been due in court multiple times but has managed to slip through polices’ hands on such occasions.
He is known for trafficking girls for sex and has a particular approach that is personal and invasive and is known to be violent towards his victims.
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UK national debt
The UK’s public purse is in dire straits. The graph below indicates where the national debt is right now. In the coming years it may get much worse if enough isn’t done to stem its rapid growth.
UK National Debt totals graph -
Gov debt at critical level
The UK’s finances are under a microscope following Sir Keir Starmer’s election victory. His Chancellor Rachel Reeves has also come out swinging with a number of high profile policy announcements.
However the national finances continue to show a steep decline into an abyss.
In a report published last Friday the UK’s national debt has reached a level equivalent to 99.5% of GDP (ONS). This is a result of accumulated borrowing by successive governments over a longer period of time.
It’s as bad as it was previously in the 1960’s. It really is time for change.
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Immigration and control
A picture of breezing through arrivals at an airport and only just missing customs is outdated. It doesn’t suit our current picture of international travel or even immigration arrivals.
The fact is the UK suffers with a lack of joined-up thinking in our current approach to dealing with basic state matters that further novel innovations are pipe dreams waiting to burst and leak all over the place.
If it’s taken into account in the long view we see there’s a problem.
The fact of illegal immigration at scale makes it clear already a job isn’t a job in hand. It’s a discussion, or a disagreement, or a debate for a later date.
The truth that people want it to work anyway is not included in this reality.
The ‘anyway’ sort of people shouldn’t have to make up an argument as to why. They’ve voted for it before or said it before in so many words. It’s just part of the deal that illegal means illegal for a reason.
In 2005 Michael Howard MP made an assertion the UK lacks a single figure responsible for control at the heart of our borders. These aren’t regional borders but maritime borders on our coastlines.
He said;
“We will have one face at the border. One police force. With one chief constable. With just one job: securing Britain’s borders.”
In other words he promised what we needed but allegedly didn’t have.
The trouble is you’d think we’d have it already.
Yvette Cooper (the new Home Secretary under Sir Keir Starmer) has announced a new ‘Border Security Command’ with a single figurehead called a ‘Border Security Commander’ to report back to her in future.
It isn’t as much an innovation as mentioned before as a delayed response.
We’ve had successive leaders – and Prime Minister’s – try to rejig a system that should’ve had these roles already. The trouble is we’ve put up with a lot of them and with few measurable results.
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People traffickers caught
In a stunning turn of events two people traffickers have been caught in Dover today.
The individuals in question are at large due to their illegal activities and it remains to be followed up by law enforcement, maybe also including border control authorities.
Picture #1 
Picture #2 The photos are evidence of their whereabouts and also the public nature of their activities. They were both found in reasonably public places and this draws concern as well.
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Iraq and travel advice
The UK government has updated its travel advice to Iraq.
In a recent update to a government portal – accessed via gov.uk – it says travel to Iraq may be restricted due to recent laws to crack down on the promotion of prostitution and also homosexual identity.
It still counts as “current” on 20 July.
The issues raised bring up our prior involvement in Iraq and also the matter of LGBT rights. It isn’t easy to coexist with such restrictive laws in certain states and it raises questions of liberty and also morality.
Also, according to general advice travel restrictions exclude Kurdistan but relate to all of Iraq. This is because of ongoing tensions such as terrorist activity in the region.
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Farage vs the Conservative Party
A look at the results for Nigel Farage MP in his previous electoral runs since 1994 reveals an interesting upward trend. If compared to the incumbent Conservative Party front-runner that same year (excluding two by-elections), however, it doesn’t show such a confident upward streak.
Farage/Conservative Party vote share The fact is Nigel Farage needs to win against a Conservative leader in future to take the reins of conservatism. He would need to look beyond Rishi Sunak’s result this year and see he falls far short by thousands. This is based on a showing of his own constituency results and no other’s.
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Criminal sighted in Westminster
A known criminal was sighted and documented on the streets of London today. At about 16:30 this man was sighted loitering in the City of Westminster. He is a known criminal and drug addict in the city.
In the past he has pursued people as a stalker and used tactics that are described as disturbing. He is not known to be spontaneous in his criminal activity or a threat to the public good in general.
