The words “Crack Pickup” and “Drug Dealers Only” have been spray painted onto roads in response to the “brazen” drug dealing outside people’s homes in Tower Hamlets in East London.
Resident Penny Creed tweeted the images “to embarrass the Met Police and Tower Hamlets into doing something about the brazen drug dealing in my neighborhood.”
Residents of Shoreditch, famous for its street art, have commissioned artists calling themselves the “Columbia Road Cartel” to start the campaign to highlight the problem of drug dealing in their neighborhood. However, the signs were promptly removed by council workers.
Penny Creed, resident and vice-chair of the Columbia Road Tenants’ and Residents’ Association, said the situation on her street had deteriorated.
“Eight to 10 users congregate on a street waiting for dealers to come past and buy from their car window,” she told the BBC.
Penny Creed says people living there have been “continually dialling 999” to report the problem described by Mayor of Tower Hamlets John Biggs as “unacceptable.”
“Too often criminal activity including drug dealing is not being stopped, and like the residents I think this is unacceptable,” Mayor John Biggs Tweeted.
Resident Jonathan Moberly told The Telegraph, “our corner of our street is used as a drug collection point 24 hours a day.”
“Heroin and crack addicts gather in small groups waiting for deliveries which arrive by a speeding car.”
Guerrilla street art is no stranger to politics, with many artists using the medium to score political points.
Spray painting, stenciling and graffiti by street artists has long sought to present alternative perspectives and highlight social injustices, from Banksy’s early graffiti in Bristol highlighting police violence, to the use of tear gas on refugees at the height of the crisis in Calais.
When I was in Calais refugee camp, the legendary street artist Banksy painted Steve Jobs portrait to highlight Syrian refugee crisis.
The satirical art commissioned to shame the police and their inaction on one residential road in London carries a serious message; Britain’s capital city has witnessed a surge in crime since the start of 2018.
“This is Shoreditch where street art is a thing we’re known for,” Penny Creed told London Live. “I think using street art was obviously a good idea to use our identity to highlight our own issue.”
Scotland Yard has recorded its 100th homicide, with drugs and social media cited as reasons for the rise in knife, gang and moped related incidents.
A Sikh from Leicester who became the first Coldstream Guard to wear a turban during the Trooping the Color, rather than the regiment’s iconic tall fuzzy hat, faces being booted out after he allegedly tested positive for cocaine last week, the Sun reported, citing an unnamed source.
Sikh men hold sabres, known in Punjabi as “talwar”, as they prepare to lead the annual Vaisakhi parade. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The insider told the publication that the accused had purportedly registered “high levels” of the Class A drug, adding that, if true, “the Guards carry out public duties at the Palace, it’s disgraceful behavior. It is for a commanding officer to decide if he gets the boot – but anyone caught talking Class A drugs can expect to be dismissed.”
According to the source, he and two other soldiers are said to have failed the drug test last week.
Sikh Fans pose before the match. Leicester is one of the most diverse cities in the UK
Meanwhile, Head of Army Personnel Services Group Brigadier Christopher Coles said: “I can confirm that a number of soldiers from the Coldstream Guards are under investigation for alleged drug misuse. Drug abuse is incompatible with military service and those caught taking drugs can expect to be discharged.”
The soldier hit the headlines in June after he made history by taking part in the Trooping the Color parade to mark the Queen’s official birthday, becoming the first of his regiment to wear a turban during the ceremony.
(AIWA! NO!) Britain’s immigration system will stop giving preferential access to European Union citizens after Brexit, ministers agree. The agreement ensures post-Brexit migration overhaul ending special treatment of EU workers which has been in place for decades.
The Cabinet backed the immigration overhaul despite reported objections from the Chancellor and Business Secretary.Credit: PA
Matt Foster//The Cabinet signed off on proposals tabled by Home Secretary Sajid Javid which will shift the UK’s immigration system in favour of highly-skilled workers from around the world.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Cabinet agreed that, once free movement is brought to an end, the Government will be able to introduce a new system which works in the best interests of the UK – including helping boost productivity.”
The plans – which would kick in after the UK’s “implementation period” with the EU ends in December 2020 – were approved despite objections from some Cabinet ministers.
Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark are said to have raised concerns that the new system could cause disruption to businesses if it is introduced suddenly.
A Whitehall source told the Times: “Philip Hammond did not argue to continue free movement, nor did he argue against curbs to low-skilled migration.
“What Greg Clark pushed for yesterday — and Philip Hammond agreed with him — was to avoid a cliff-edge policy which involves a sudden big change for business. They lost that argument.”
That reportedly prompted a dig at Mr Hammond from Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey.
According to The Guardian, she told him: “On the one hand, we’re told that when we leave the EU we will go into a recession.
“On the other, we’re going to need mass migration. They can’t both be correct.”
Mr Javid meanwhile made clear that the proposals will include some leeway for low-skilled migration to avoid shortages in industries heavily dependent on migrant labour.
The Home Secretary also confirmed that regions that strike a free trade deal with the UK – including the EU itself – could be given preferential access to the UK labour market under the plans.
The proposals are set to be fleshed out in a new immigration white paper in the autumn – and could feature in Theresa May’s speech to the Conservative party conference next week.
BREXIT DEADLINE
Cabinet ministers meanwhile stepped back from urging the Prime Minister to ditch her Chequers Brexit plan in favour of a Canada-style free trade deal.
Mrs May’s proposals – which aim to agree a “common rulebook” with the EU on goods – were ridiculed by her European counterparts at a meeting in Salzburg last week.
But she told the Cabinet to “hold our nerve”, at a “critical point” in the talks.
Brexiteers in the Cabinet were reported to be swinging behind a Canada-style deal currently being talked up Tory Eurosceptics.
But senior ministers have now given the Prime Minister extra time to try and sell her plan to the EU.
A Cabinet minister told The Sun: “There was a feeling that the PM did well on Friday with her No10 statement on Brexit, and she has earned some breathing space.
“But we are still left with the fact that the EU has said no to Chequers, and that is a problem that is not going to go away. So we will have to move on from Chequers if there is no movement from Barnier in two weeks.”
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab meanwhile told reporters the Cabinet had had “a good, healthy discussion”.
He added: “The Prime Minister made clear we are going to keep our calm and press the EU on some of the criticisms they have made. But also to be clear that there are no credible alternatives the EU has come up with.”
AIWA! NO!//Homeless man who lives in woods given a new job and fresh start after a chance meeting with Premier Waste Services Boss Craig Perry at the headquarters of Manchester’s Sandwich Angels – which feeds the homeless in Tameside, Greater Manchester
(Image: Eddie Garvey)
Colin Drury//“Homeless man who lives in a tent in the woods, is given a contract to work at Premier Waste Services in Hyde.”
A homeless man whose tent was burned by youths, has been offered a new job.
“I was in a very low place, my life fell apart,” said Tony Newman , who was forced to live in woods in Tameside, Greater Manchester after losing his job as a truck driver.
The moment the 51-year-old was offered a new post has now gone viral online. Mr Newman appeared lost for words and starts to well up as he realises he is being given a potential fresh start.
Bosses at Premier Waste Services, based in Hyde, asked Mr Newman to take a post as yard operator after meeting him at a homeless charity.
Manager Craig Perry told The Independent he took the chance because “everyone deserves a break in life”.
He said: “We had the opportunity to help Tony turn his life around and we wanted to pursue that. He’s got a good attitude. I’m sure he’ll fit right in.”
Reflecting on the new chance, Mr Newman said: “I’m excited, I’m nervous. It’s so lovely. I don’t want to get it wrong. I just can’t believe it’s happened. I feel blessed.”
The pair were first introduced at the headquarters of Manchester’s Sandwich Angels – which feeds the homeless.
The former truck driver was volunteering after the charity had helped him get a new tent when his first was destroyed.
Founder Christina Howard said: “When I first met Tony, he was really down and out. I started giving him food parcels. I said to him ‘what is your dream?’ Dreams can come true. Without a dream we have got nothing at all.
“I was crying when he was given the news, all of us were. We were crying with happiness. He’s so wonderful.”
The number of rough sleepers in Greater Manchester has gone up by 40pc in 12 months. Just seven people were recorded as sleeping rough in the city centre in 2010 – compared to 94 this year.
Tameside has also seen a particularly dramatic increase, however, with figures more than doubling from 19 last year to 43.
No special treatment for Britain in Brexit negotiations – German minister
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany and its European Union partners cannot afford to make special rules for Britain on their single market, Germany’s European Affairs Minister Michael Roth said in a letter, warning that Berlin had taken measures to prepare for a no-deal scenario.European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans (L) and German Minister of State for European Affairs Michael Roth (R) chat prior to a European general affairs council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 27 February 2018. The council is expected to focus on a presentation by the Commission of its reasoned proposal under Article 7(1) TEU concerning the rule of law in Poland. The European Parliament will vote on Article 7 during a plenary session later this week. [EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET]
“We will not undo the single market or create special rules which could result in competitive disadvantages for our companies,” he wrote in a letter to the German government dated Sept. 19.
Reporting by Holger Hansen; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Maria Sheahan
bY EMILY APPLEUK//An eight-year-old girl has taken Tesco to task over the gender messages it’s sending out to children with its clothing ranges.
And, in a week where a recruitment company has been slated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for specifying what bra size a potential employee should have, it is a much-needed message.
The girl, Daisy, is filmed being asked what she thinks of the clothes on sale.
Well, the girls’ clothes say: ‘Hey’, “Beautiful’, ‘I feel fabulous’. The boys’: ‘The desert adventure awaits’, ‘Think outside the box’, ‘Hero’.
She is asked what she thinks about this:
It’s unfair because everyone thinks that girls should just be pretty and boys should just be adventurous.
She continued her commentary:
I think that’s wrong because why should boys and girls’ clothes even be separated? Because we’re just as good as each other.
Daisy then examines the meanings being promoted by the different t-shirts:
‘Think outside the box’. What does this mean? It means go on your adventures, let nothing stop you, go for your own dreams. And ‘Hey’, what is that even supposed to mean? …I don’t find that inspiring. What part of ‘Hey’ is great? I don’t get it.
With an infectious, cheeky smile, Daisy then takes part in a brilliant bit of direct action, moving some of the ‘boys’ shirts to the ‘girl’s’ section:
I think the girls ought to be adventurous. I think the girls ought to be heroes. So I’m going to put them in the girls’ section.
The recruitment company
The sexism unmasked by an eight-year-old is echoed in a job advert put out by Matching Models, which claims to be “an international temp agency for beautiful and talented people”.
The company’s advert, for a personal assistant, states it is looking for someone with:
a classic look, brown long hair with b-c cup.
The EHRC condemned the advert as “appalling, unlawful and demeaning to women”.
The agency’s founder, Nathalie Jansen, attempted to defend the advert:
The client who wants the specific cup size is an older gentleman – he has a specific outfit he designed with Christian Dior. He wants a “Jackie O” look. And he wants a lady with a smaller cup size to fit into the outfit.
Yes, in 2016, a recruitment agency thinks it’s acceptable to pander to the fantasies of “an older gentleman”. The response makes the company look like an escort agency rather than a modelling one.
But disturbingly, Matching Models has a long list of famous clients, including Coca-Cola, Heineken, and Cartier. The fact that these companies all use an agency which displays such an overtly discriminatory and demeaning attitude towards women is appalling. But equally, it speaks volumes about the messages these influential companies are prepared to present to the world.
Everyday sexism
Sexism is alive and kicking, and it’s evident everywhere we look – from cases such as the receptionist who was sent home for not wearing heels, to the news that the gender pay gap is rising in the civil service. It is reflected in our everyday interactions on social media, where misogyny is rife.
Women cannot comment about sexism in public without being fearful of being hounded by thousands of hurtful comments. Writing about the abuse she received after appearing on BBC Question Time, Professor Mary Beard said:
It would be quite enough to put many women off appearing in public, contributing to political debate.
But Daisy is right to be pointing at the messages Tesco (and pretty much every major retailer) is pushing on children and parents. These attitudes start and are learned in childhood, as is shown in this Facebook postcomparing boys and girls’ magazines:
Girls are being told about “fashion you’ll love”, “dream hair” and “wake up pretty”, while boys can “explore your future” and “be what you want to be”.
If we are serious about tackling sexism, we have to start looking at the messages we are giving our children, and we need to be teaching them ways to boycott and deconstruct what they are bombarded with on a daily basis.
Should we fail to do this, it’s likely that we’ll still be having this same conversation in 2066.
SERA at Scottish Labour Party Conference 2018 in Dundee this year. The event is outside the secure zone so is accessible for all to attend. SERA’s event venue is the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre.
“What are you doing in November — because I think we are going to need an election.” Theresa May’s aides plan a snap general election in November to save Brexit; save the Premier.There is war of words between EU leaders and May at present as they negotiate Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. On Thursday the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, claimed that the Conservative’s Chequers plan “will not work” with May saying in a public statement on Friday that “neither side should demand the unacceptable of the other.”
PA WIRE/PA IMAGES
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (left) and deputy leader Tom Watson attend the start of their party’s annual conference at the Arena and Convention Centre (ACC), in Liverpool.
By Rachel Wearmouth(AIWA! NO!)As Labour conference got underway in Liverpool on Sunday morning, it was already shaping up to be another dramatic day in the world of UK politics.
Downing Street was forced to deny an early general election was a likely prospect amid a flurry of reports that senior No 10 officials were “wargaming” a November poll and Labour was preparing to table a vote of no confidence in Theresa May.
It followed a turbulent week in which the EU rejected the Prime Minister’s Chequers plan and May gave defiant response in which she demanded respect from Brussels.
Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, has confirmed that the Labour Party could make the controversial decision to back a re-run of the Brexit referendum should party delegates back the idea.
Here is a complete run-down of what happened in the Sunday politics shows.
Ridge On Sunday
First up to speak to Sky’s Sophy Ridge was a panel which included Labour MPs Lisa Nandy and Alison McGovern.
As Labour looks likely to change its rules and introduce a co-deputy leader who will be a woman, Nandy said Labour should also consider a joint leadership with a man and woman holding the post in a job-share arrangement.
Nandy said, given Labour had never had a female leader, she would like to see Labour go further and follow the example of the Greens in electing a joint male-female co-leadership team.
“I don’t really think this is enough,” the Wigan MP told Sky News. “I really welcome this announcement from the NEC today, I think it’s absolutely essential that we have got a woman somewhere near the top of the party.
“But I don’t think that should stop at deputy leader. I think we should have this sort of system for leader as well.
“I would like to see these positions open to job-sharing, a bit like the Green Party.”
The decision by the party’s ruling National Executive Committee prompted speculation over female MPs like Emily Thornberry, Angela Rayner or Rebecca Long-Bailey seeking the deputy post as a springboard for an eventual bid for the leadership.
Ridge on Sunday
✔@RidgeOnSunday
Shadow Business Secretary @RLong_Bailey says Labour would “of course respect” a second referendum on #Brexit if Labour members at conference called for one.
Shadow business secretary Long-Bailey insisted she had “not even thought about” running for the proposed new deputy role.
“I honestly haven’t thought about it,” she told Ridge, adding: “I’m very busy dealing with business, energy and industrial strategy and I like that very much and I’m sure that’s going to keep me busy for a long time.”
In a separate interview, Long-Bailey, who represents Salford, warned that people would be “concerned” by a second EU referendum after the Labour leadership said they would back a vote if activists at the party’s conference called for it.
She said she wanted an election if Theresa May could not get her Brexit plan through Parliament, but added: “Jeremy (Corbyn) was elected to democratise the Labour Party and, although it’s not our position policy-wise, if members decided at this conference that they wanted to have a People’s Vote or second referendum of course we would respect the membership.”
On Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday, she said she had “reservations” about another vote because the Government “might be able to skew it in particular directions to secure the result they wanted”.
She would not say another vote would lead to “civil disobedience” – as shadow cabinet colleague Barry Gardiner has suggested – but “people would find it quite concerning and it needs to be looked at very carefully”.
Ridge on Sunday ✔@RidgeOnSunday
‘I’d probably vote Remain – but I’d look at what the question is on offer.’@tom_watson is asked how he would vote if there was another #Brexit referendum #Ridge
Next up was deputy Labour leader Tom Watson, who said he would probably vote to remain in the EU if there was a second referendum.
He stressed it was not yet Labour’s policy to hold a second vote: “That is not the view Jeremy and I take, what we have said and still want the conference to support is that there is a meaningful vote in Parliament on the Brexit deal and if we can’t get a meaningful vote then there should be a general election.”
Asked if a second vote would be in Labour’s manifesto for the election, he said: “It seems to me inconceivable that if the Labour Party conference decides that it wants a manifesto pledge on a people’s vote that we would defy that decision.”
The Labour heavyweight said he voted to remain in the EU in 2016 and “I think it’s highly likely I would probably vote remain in the next one”.
“But I would look at what the question is on offer and I would want to know what the deal is that comes out of the negotiations, if that happens.”
Watson acknowledged there was “always a danger” that a conference resolution could be a fudge but “when it comes to a second referendum I’m sure there will be words on offer that will allow the party to come to a fixed view on that”.
Ridge on Sunday ✔@RidgeOnSunday
Senior @Conservatives MP @NickyMorgan01 says she does not “support a second referendum” as it is the responsibility of MPs to “step up and sort out” a #Brexit plan otherwise democracy will be in “big trouble” #Ridge
Pro-EU Tory former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan also gave an interview to Ridge.
She warned that a leadership challenge to Theresa May would not be in the interests of the Conservative Party or the country.
“Having a leadership election now would not be in the country’s interest. There are particularly a lot of the hard Brexiteers who want to bring the Prime Minister down,” she told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday.
“This is not a move that would help the country in order to get to the best position after Brexit which does least damage to the economy. That is what we as Conservatives should be focused on.
“Europe has always been a big faultline in our party. But the majority of the parliamentary party and, I think, the membership want us to focus on getting a good deal that supports the economy and then moving on.”
The BBC Andrew Marr Show
BBC Politics
✔@BBCPolitics
On the idea of a second referendum, @jeremycorbyn says: “Let’s see what comes out of conference and then obviously I am bound by the democracy of our party.” #marr
The BBC One show’s big interview this week was with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
He said his party is “ready to put our case to parliament” and that an early general election “could well” be on the cards.
He also suggested that the Prime Minister’s Chequers plan was being rejected because the Government appears to be “looking in two ways at the same time” – towards America and deregulation and the EU’s higher standards.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, the Labour leader also said a re-run of the Brexit referendum could make the manifesto as he would be “bound” by delegates’ vote should they back the idea at the party’s conference in Liverpool this week.
And, after a summer in which Corbyn and his party has been dogged by allegations of anti-semitism, the Labour leader insisted he would “die fighting racism in any form” and hit back at Rabbi Sacks’ comparison of him with Enoch Powell.
Also appearing on the show was Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who said that the government would make progress on Brexit talks.
When asked about the idea of a November general election, he said it was “for the birds” and “not going to happen”.
Raab also insisted Salzburg had been no more than a “bump in the road” in the negotiations.
“We will hold our nerve, we will keep our cool and we will keep negotiating in good faith. What we are not going to do is be dictated to,” he said.
“We have come up with a serious set of proposals. We are not just going to flit from plan to plan like some sort of diplomatic butterfly.
“We are going to be resolute about this and really press the EU to treat us with some respect.”
He said that Britain had shown flexibility in its negotiating position and called on the EU to do the same.
“If we just get this sort of ‘computer says no’ response from the EU we are not going to make progress,” he said.
“We need some flex, some give and take if you like, from the EU and I am confident that, as the fall-out from Salzburg ebbs, we will make further progress.”
Raab said the Government was continuing to prepare for a no-deal break, with the next tranche of technical papers due to be published on Monday.
AIWA! NO!//Drug dealing in a borough of London has become so bad that people living there have resorted to satire and street art to shame police inaction.
AIWA! NO!
![Watch an amazing 8-year-old demolish everyday sexism in under three minutes [VIDEO/OPINION]](https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/daisy-733x403.jpg)
bY 
AIWA! NO!
