“Kemi Badenoch has called for the deportation of an Egyptian dissident, declaring: ‘I do not want people who hate Britain coming to our country.’ Writing in the Daily Mail, the Tory leader says Alaa Abd El-Fattah – whose arrival in the UK was celebrated by Keir Starmer – should be stripped of his dual British nationality and booted out. It follows the emergence of vile social media posts in which El-Fattah advocated the murder of Jews and boasted of his hatred for white people, saying: ‘I seriously, seriously, seriously hate white people, especially those of English or Dutch or German descent.’ El-Fattah has since issued a grovelling apology over the comments, admitting how ‘shocking and hurtful they are’. It comes just 48 hours after the Prime Minister welcomed El-Fattah’s arrival in the UK following years of detention in his native Egypt. In a gushing welcome, Sir Keir said he was ‘delighted’ that the dissident had landed in Britain, adding that his release had been ‘a top priority for my Government since we came to office’. Government sources suggested the PM was not aware of El-Fattah’s social media posts during the years in which he pressed for his release. Mrs Badenoch called on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to pull out all the stops to have El-Fattah deported. ‘The comments he made on social media about violence against Jews, white people and the police among others are disgusting and abhorrent – they were also anti-British,’ she said. ‘British citizenship is more than a passport. Our country is our home, not a hotel.’” – Daily Mail
Comment:
> Yesterday:
“Month-long waits to see a GP have hit a record high under Labour. More than seven million patients faced waits of four weeks or more between September and November, making it the worst autumn since records began in 2019. The figures come after weeks of intense pressure on the NHS, which has endured one of the worst flu seasons in history and strikes by resident doctors. Labour has pledged to make the health service a priority and “fix the front door to the NHS”, with a promise to end the “8am scramble” for GP appointments among a raft of reforms announced by Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary. GPs are likely to receive a fresh wave of demand on Monday following the Christmas and Boxing Day bank holidays, with health officials warning that an impending cold snap over the New Year will fuel an increase in demand for services. Stuart Andrew, the shadow health secretary, said: “Labour promised to get NHS waiting lists down, but instead people are waiting longer to access basic services – all while paying higher and higher taxes for the privilege.”” – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
“Hairdressers are following in the footsteps of publicans by banning Labour MPs over what they are calling the Government’s business rates betrayal. More than 1,000 pubs have already barred the party’s parliamentarians from their premises in a growing backlash against Rachel Reeves’ Budget. Now barbers and salons are doing the same. Firms are fuming after the Chancellor promised to pay for a reduction in bills for smaller firms by hiking taxes on larger properties to ‘level the playing field between the high street and online giants’. But small businesses will only receive a 5p discount on the ‘multiplier’ used to calculate a final bill – despite pleading for a 20p reduction. And this discount will be wiped out by increases to businesses’ rateable values. Collette Osborne, who runs two Hairven salons in Nottinghamshire, has put up a ‘No Labour MPs’ sign because she feels businesses like hers are ‘desperate and hanging on by a thread’. Ms Osborne, whose local Labour MPs are Juliet Campbell and Michael Payne, is facing an increase in her business rates bill of more than £10,000 a year. She said: ‘[Ms Reeves] promised she would act to protect small businesses and high street salons. I am furious that the Government now seem to have their fingers in their ears. There is no spare capacity to absorb business rate increases on top of rising wages, utilities, finance costs and Covid debt repayments. So no Labour MPs are allowed.’” – Daily Mail
Comment:
> Today: