RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Will the sick cowards who covered up the rape gang scandal ever be punished? Don't hold your breath

Another day, as the well-known phrase or saying goes, another public inquiry. This time into the rape gangs, which Surkeir has been dodging up until now on the risible grounds that the unvarnished truth will lead to a 'far-Right' backlash.
This one is long overdue and, for once, welcome. Let's hope that it throws a retina-scorching searchlight on those responsible. Not just the vile Stone Age sexual predators, but the evil politicians, social workers and police who deliberately turned a blind eye to the industrial-scale abuse of young white girls because they were terrified of being accused of 'racism' and 'Islamophobia'.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Sky News

an hour ago

• Sky News

'Don't kill the ill' vs 'What a relief': Two terminally ill people on the assisted dying vote

Over the past year, Sky News has been following the journeys of two people who are terminally ill and on opposite sides of the assisted dying debate. Philip, a Christian pastor, views it as suicide and says supporters of the bill need more faith. Clare, a former counsellor, thinks it should be a personal choice, which for her could offer a good death. Philip died two days before Friday's historic vote, which saw MPs vote in favour of assisted dying. "Kill the bill, don't kill the ill," he told Sky News days before he died. Philip said better palliative care can make all the difference. "I still believe it's because of money. It would save millions and millions if they bump off people like me and Clare and others." Philip was resting in a bed in his living room when we spoke to him. Doctors had told him he had just days left. He was struggling to eat and experiencing hallucinations. "Just now, I went to kiss [my wife] Pauline and she's not there." He pointed to a corner of a biscuit he'd been eating over the last three days that's "not even as big as my thumb". "That's the maximum amount of food I can eat because I'm blocked with cancer." "Logically, I should be screaming and ranting and shouting. But I've been organising things like the funeral," he said, explaining that his belief in Jesus means he's at peace with death, however it comes. At times he cries and very often, he winces in pain. Asked what it would mean if the vote was passed, Philip said it would be "a terrible step downwards". Assisted dying would desensitise the British public to death, he explained. "I personally am totally against it, because you're missing out on what God's planned for you. "Because even now, he knows what's going to happen in me, he knows what's going to happen in the other people." He added: "You'll miss the support of people who love you. Because there are people who love you. If you just reach out to them." Philip died on Wednesday morning, two days before the bill's third reading and ascension to the House of Lords. Clare is sitting in her friend's garden in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, surrounded by nature and absorbing the news that the vote has passed. She tells Sky News: "Oh what a relief! Thank goodness. Thank you to all those people who were brave." Clare has breast cancer which has spread to her bones. Her doctors say her lungs have hardened, making it more difficult for her to breathe. "I'm breathless all the time especially if I'm talking. I can't walk very far without being breathless. Now my heart has to work very, very hard to keep my oxygen levels up." Clare has supported the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill from its inception and calls it a "difficult subject". "People are very fearful," she says, before acknowledging that concerns remain for vulnerable people at risk of coercion. "Lots of people have been in controlling relationships, and I really understand how that works. "I've got daughters and I can understand situations where people are thinking, 'oh, I don't want to be a burden on somebody else' and all of that. But I think it's [worth] remembering that this is one choice out of many." Clare is aware it is unlikely the law will change before she dies. "It won't for [be there] me and it hasn't come in time for lots of people, has it?" she says. "All the people that have gone before that would've liked this choice to avoid suffering and indignity." Clare turns 60 this year and is marking her birthday with 60 memorable days. "I'm enjoying life," she says with a big smile. "I don't want to die, but we all have to go."

Telegraph

2 hours ago

• Telegraph

The whole free world has an interest in derailing Iran's nuclear schemes

SIR – Allister Heath is correct in his condemnation of Sir Keir Starmer and Labour for their failings over Israel and Iran ('Trump and Netanyahu are saving the decadent West from its demons', Comment, June 19). I have been impressed by the Israelis' operations against Iran so far, and hope they will be supported to finish the job. Those who value Western freedom should be backing them, and Britain should be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with its allies. Yet Sir Keir, David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, and Lord Hermer, the Attorney General ('Hermer: War on Iran may be illegal', report, June 19), have proved an embarrassment. It is also worth remembering that the weakness of multiple European and American leaders allowed Iran to reach the point it is at now. Huw Bell Wetherby, West Yorkshire SIR – Has there ever been an occasion when Lord Hermer's interventions and advice have reflected what most of us consider to be the national interest? Bob Hart Newark, Nottinghamshire SIR – With our Government in the hands of international lawyers, our enemies may rest assured that we are more likely to prosecute our own soldiers than a war against them. Michael Staples Seaford, East Sussex SIR – Charles Moore (Comment, June 17) is absolutely right that we owe real debts to Ukraine and Israel. Ukraine deserves full-hearted support against the tyranny of Vladimir Putin, which menaces all of Europe. Israel has been on the front line fighting Islamist tyranny for almost 50 years. Western calls for 'de-escalation' in Israel's astonishing and understandable offensive against that tyranny are misplaced. Never forget that the Ayatollahs of Iran have spent almost five decades trying to murder the Jewish people of Israel. By contrast, the Israelis seek only to destroy Iran's genocidal regime, and hope then to live in peace with the Iranian people, as they did until the Islamists overthrew the Shah in 1979. William Shawcross London W2 SIR – After the G7, which Donald Trump left early, Britain and its European allies must realise they can no longer be sure of American support in the defence of Ukraine or their own borders. We've seen the vulnerability of Ukraine, Israel and Iran to attacks from the air, and have nothing like their air-defence capabilities. Arbitrary percentages of GDP, which include all manner of non-defence-related expenditure, are blatantly insufficient. Now is the time to cut the rhetoric and prepare adequately for the threats we know are out there. Gp Capt Ron Powell (retd) Barry, Glamorgan

Sky News

2 hours ago

• Sky News

US warplanes transit through UK as Trump considers striking Iran

Flight tracking data shows extensive movement of US military aircraft towards the Middle East in recent days, including via the UK. Fifty-two US military planes were spotted flying over the eastern Mediterranean towards the Middle East between Monday and Thursday. That includes at least 25 that passed through Chania airport, on the Greek island of Crete - an eight-fold increase in the rate of arrivals compared to the first half of June. The movement of military equipment comes as the US considers whether to assist Israel in its conflict with Iran. Of the 52 planes spotted over the eastern Mediterranean, 32 are used for transporting troops or cargo, 18 are used for mid-air refuelling and two are reconnaissance planes. Forbes McKenzie, founder of McKenzie Intelligence, says that this indicates "the build-up of warfighting capability, which was not [in the region] before". Sky's data does not include fighter jets, which typically fly without publicly revealing their location. An air traffic control recording from Wednesday suggests that F-22 Raptors are among the planes being sent across the Atlantic, while 12 F-35 fighter jets were photographed travelling from the UK to the Middle East on Wednesday. Many US military planes are passing through UK A growing number of US Air Force planes have been passing through the UK in recent days. Analysis of flight tracking data at three key air bases in the UK shows 63 US military flights landing between 16 and 19 June - more than double the rate of arrivals earlier in June. On Thursday, Sky News filmed three US military C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft and a C-130 Hercules military cargo plane arriving at Glasgow's Prestwick Airport. Flight tracking data shows that one of the planes arrived from an air base in Jordan, having earlier travelled there from Germany. What does Israel need from US? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on 15 March that his country's aim is to remove "two existential threats - the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat". Israel says that Iran is attempting to develop a nuclear bomb, though Iran says its nuclear facilities are only for civilian energy purposes. A US intelligence assessment in March concluded that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon. President Trump dismissed the assessment on Tuesday, saying: "I think they were very close to having one." Forbes McKenzie says the Americans have a "very similar inventory of weapons systems" to the Israelis, "but of course, they also have the much-talked-about GBU-57". The GBU-57 is a 30,000lb bomb - the largest non-nuclear bomb in existence. Mr McKenzie explains that it is "specifically designed to destroy targets which are very deep underground". Experts say it is the only weapon with any chance of destroying Iran's main enrichment site, which is located underneath a mountain at Fordow. Air-to-air refuelling could allow Israel to carry larger bombs Among the dozens of US aircraft that Sky News tracked over the eastern Mediterranean in recent days, more than a third (18 planes) were designed for air-to-air refuelling. "These are crucial because Israel is the best part of a thousand miles away from Iran," says Sky News military analyst Sean Bell. "Most military fighter jets would struggle to do those 2,000-mile round trips and have enough combat fuel." The ability to refuel mid-flight would also allow Israeli planes to carry heavier munitions, including bunker-buster bombs necessary to destroy the tunnels and silos where Iran stores many of its missiles. Satellite imagery captured on 15 June shows the aftermath of Israeli strikes on a missile facility near the western city of Kermanshah, which destroyed at least 12 buildings at the site. At least four tunnel entrances were also damaged in the strikes, two of which can be seen in the image below. Writing for Jane's Defence Weekly, military analyst Jeremy Binnie says it looked like the tunnels were "targeted using guided munitions coming in at angles, not destroyed from above using penetrator bombs, raising the possibility that the damage can be cleared, enabling any [missile launchers] trapped inside to deploy". "This might reflect the limited payloads that Israeli aircraft can carry to Iran," he adds. Penetrator bombs, also known as bunker-busters, are much heavier than other types of munitions and as a result require more fuel to transport. Israel does not have the latest generation of refuelling aircraft, Mr Binnie says, meaning it is likely to struggle to deploy a significant number of penetrator bombs. Israel has struck most of Iran's western missile bases Even without direct US assistance, the Israeli air force has managed to inflict significant damage on Iran's missile launch capacity. Sky News has confirmed Israeli strikes on at least five of Iran's six known missile bases in the west of the country. On Monday, the IDF said that its strategy of targeting western launch sites had forced Iran to rely on its bases in the centre of the country, such as Isfahan - around 1,500km (930 miles) from Israel. Among Iran's most advanced weapons are three types of solid-fuelled rockets fitted with highly manoeuvrable warheads: Fattah-1, Kheibar Shekan and Haj Qassam. The use of solid fuel makes these missiles easy to transport and fast to launch, while their manoeuvrable warheads make them better at evading Israeli air defences. However, none of them are capable of striking Israel from such a distance. Iran is known to possess five types of missile capable of travelling more than 1,500km, but only one of these uses solid fuel - the Sijjil-1. On 18 June, Iran claimed to have used this missile against Israel for the first time. Iran's missiles have caused significant damage Iran's missile attacks have killed at least 24 people in Israel and wounded hundreds, according to the Israeli foreign ministry. The number of air raid alerts in Israel has topped 1,000 every day since the start of hostilities, reaching a peak of 3,024 on 15 June. Iran has managed to strike some government buildings, including one in the city of Haifa on Friday. And on 13 June, in Iran's most notable targeting success so far, an Iranian missile impacted on or near the headquarters of Israel's defence ministry in Tel Aviv. Most of the Iranian strikes verified by Sky News, however, have hit civilian targets. These include residential buildings, a school and a university. On Thursday, one missile hit the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, southern Israel's main hospital. More than 70 people were injured, according to Israel's health ministry. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran had struck a nearby technology park containing an IDF cyber defence training centre, and that the "blast wave caused superficial damage to a small section" of the hospital. However, the technology park is in fact 1.2km away from where the missile struck. Photos of the hospital show evidence of a direct hit, with a large section of one building's roof completely destroyed. Iran successfully struck the technology park on Friday, though its missile fell in an open area, causing damage to a nearby residential building but no casualties. Israel has killed much of Iran's military leadership It's not clear exactly how many people Israel's strikes in Iran have killed, or how many are civilians. Estimates by human rights groups of the total number of fatalities exceed 600. What is clear is that among the military personnel killed are many key figures in the Iranian armed forces, including the military's chief of staff, deputy head of intelligence and deputy head of operations. Key figures in the powerful Revolutionary Guard have also been killed, including the militia's commander-in-chief, its aerospace force commander and its air defences commander. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that US assistance was not necessary for Israel to win the war. "We will achieve all our objectives and hit all of their nuclear facilities," he said. "We have the capability to do that." 3:49 Forbes McKenzie says that while Israel has secured significant victories in the war so far, "they only have so much fuel, they only have so many munitions". "The Americans have an ability to keep up the pace of operations that the Israelis have started, and they're able to do it for an indefinite period of time." Additional reporting by data journalist Joely Santa Cruz and OSINT producers Freya Gibson, Lina-Sirine Zitout and Sam Doak.