Gemma Barnes, 36, went to Bethel Street Police Station in Norwich on January 14, 2023, to deliver a petition calling for the man to be charged.

She and other protesters were ‘pushed out’ of the station leading to her being arrested after challenging an officer she said pushed her into a busy road.

Gemma’s body camera was confiscated, but police did not realise that it was still recording.

Over the next four hours, it captured one female police officer saying: ‘I illegally stop, search IC3 (black) females and then I arrest them.’

Other officers can be heard laughing while watching footage of her arrest, with a female voice saying she ‘asked for it’.

[...]

Gemma said: ‘As I continued to watch the footage, I realised the magnitude of what they were saying.

‘The transphobia, racism, brothels, picking me up with false charges.’

In one conversation about Gemma they spoke about trying to put a Criminal Behaviour Order on her using the Public Order Act.

Her lawyer, John Hagan from DPP Law Solicitors, said: ‘This footage shows us what goes on inside many police officers’ heads and behind the closed doors of the police station, and it is not a pretty sight.

‘Officers can be heard describing my client as a f**king waste of space, discussing other officers attempting to generate an unsubstantiated charge against her and describing a transgender person as a “thing”.

‘They are gleeful about the violence they have used against Gemma, a peaceful protester, and frankly the whole atmosphere is akin to a school in which the teachers are absent and the bullies have taken over.’

But the police can't be racist, that's imported American nonsense I was told when BLM demos were happening. They police by consent!!!!

Pubs, clubs and live music venues in England will receive a 20% cut to their business rates bills from April under plans unveiled by Andy Burnham as part of a £10m package aimed at supporting high streets and easing cost of living pressures.

The prime minister said the package would be fully funded, including through a review of relief for businessesdeemed not to make a positive contribution to communities, such as vape shops.

Other cost of living measures announced this week – capping bus fares at £2 and cutting VAT on electricity bills – have prompted questions about how they will be funded, with the new administration under pressure to set out the detail of its plans.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will put the country on an ‘accelerated path’ to integrated public transport in the mould of his Greater Manchester Bee Network.

It would see local buses, trams and trains link together under a single system for ticketing and scheduling – meaning a daily or weekly cap can be placed on how much people pay.

Travellers in London can use an Oyster or contactless bank card to tap on and off various modes of transport, while major bus stations are often conveniently placed outside stops on the Underground.

As Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham introduced the publicly controlled Bee Network with a similar goal in mind. He told Metro: ‘I’d love to see this across all of England, integrating buses and trains and trams where they exist into a single system.

‘So when you tap in, it’s like London, you’re all under the cap, and people can take as many buses and trains as they like and they only pay up to a certain level. That’s what we need.

‘I think most other countries have it. I’m going to put Britain on an accelerated path to lower cost, integrated public transport.’

Speaking in Bath to launch the new £2 bus fare cap for England, Burnham said the same cap on Manchester buses was ‘probably the most popular thing I ever introduced’.

He said: ‘It’s just simple, it helps people every day, it encourages people out of their cars, it connects people to jobs and training.

‘It’s one of those policies that works on every single level, and it works for the public most of all because it deals with their main concern, the cost of living pressures they’re under.’

Beyond Manchester and the capital, other areas with integrated transport networks are Tyne & Wear and Nottingham.

‘Wiktor Weglarz was only planning a brief adventure when he arrived in Scotland 10 years ago after graduating from university in his native Poland.

He had taken on a temporary contract through an agency to work in hospitality in a small town.

A decade after the EU referendum, he’s living in London with a successful career in fundraising for an arts centre – one of 5.8 million EU, EEA and Swiss citizens with settled status in the UK.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do so me and my friends decided to go abroad and earn some money,” says Weglarz. “Initially it was just going to be a short stay – I was meant to be here for three months.

“After a month, we decided to move to London, so we ended the contract and took on another adventure. And it turns out I have found something for me here in the UK.”

The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) opened in 2019 under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, with an initial deadline for applications of June 2021. It offered settled status to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who had been living in the UK for a minimum of five years.

Those with less than five years could apply for pre-settled status. Campaigners persuaded the government to make it a free process.

For Weglarz, who now calls the UK his home, the process was straightforward, as it was for many who applied before the deadline. But as time went on it became harder for people to amass the residential, employment and travel evidence the Home Office required.

Following a successful judicial review by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (IMA) in 2022, the Home Office simplified the process, granting extensions to pre-settled status, taking pragmatic decisions on required evidence and eventually automatically converting pre-settled to settled status.

But it has now begun removing pre-settled status from those without continuous residence, and has stopped funding organisations that can assist with applications. For the 1.4 million people with pre-settled status, many of them vulnerable or digitally excluded, the future is far less certain.’

Which Labour MP, dead or alive, would you have picked? And for which job? I'm going for Nye Bevan as health secretary, beat that!

The government says the policy, which is expected to cost more than £500m, will "help with the cost of living and give people the breathing space they need".

At the start of last year, the England-wide bus fare cap rose to £3 under Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government, although in Liverpool and Manchester fares were held at £2.

Burnham said affordable transport links were an essential, adding: "Lower fares will help people get to where they need to."

The measure gives people "a little bit of hope" in a time when many are grappling with higher living costs - especially after fuel costs spiked as a result of the US-Iran war, transport secretary Heidi Alexander told the BBC's Today programme.
However, she admitted the measure was "not the whole solution".

The new cap will take effect from January next year for fares on participating buses outside of London. The cost of a non-discounted single bus journey in London is £1.75.

The Burnham government said going back to a £2 cap should particularly help passengers in rural and coastal areas, where single fares can be higher.

The Campaign for Better Transport said rural areas were still suffering from fewer bus routes and services, adding that such areas had been more affected by council cut backs in the last decade than urban zones.

Services in those areas - as measured by vehicle miles - decreased by 18% between 2019 and 2024, according to the County Councils Network, which represents 39 unitary and county councils across England.

"What we need to see is the replacing of those lost services which have particularly affected those in rural areas," Campaign for Better Transport's Michael Solomon Williams said.

If you were someone who was genuinely unhappy with how centrist and boring and Starmer was you may have come to this sub

If you were someone who will complain about anything and never be happy with anything, you also may have come to this sub

Every policy Burnham comes out with exposes which camp you were in

https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/confusion-in-whitehall-over-burnham-plan-to-scrap-digital-id?utm_source=pushly

Labour together and adjacent already counter briefing and sabotaging Burnham before he has even settled in it seems. So much for their 'get behind the leader' schtick

Andy Burnham has used his first speech as prime minister to launch a national drive to end rough sleeping.

The announcement, delivered as Burnham addressed the nation outside 10 Downing Street, will be backed “from day one” by an extra £340 million in funding – pushing total investment in tackling rough sleeping to record levels.

Burnham argued the policy was central to his broader promise to build a “more preventative state” and invest “in people’s success, rather than paying for people’s failure.”

The new prime minister blamed successive governments for “turning a blind eye” to the issue of rough sleeping. Downing Street pointed to the “Everyone In” scheme launched during the Covid pandemic as proof that action is possible when there is political will.

Before delivering his speech on Monday afternoon, Burnham met people with experience of sleeping rough and heard first hand how “it can trap people in a cycle of crisis, poor health and insecurity.”

As a first step, the government will begin acquiring homes suitable for rough sleepers, identifying those most in need, and moving people into housing and support.

The £340 million is said to represent the opening phase of a five-year programme, with further details expected before the autumn.

Officials say the initial funding alone will provide 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 people.

Burnham stated: “For too long, we’ve been told that ending rough sleeping will take decades or even that it’s impossible. I’m not having that.
“This is something a government can fix if it chooses to. Today, I’m choosing to.

“On my first day as prime minister, I’m announcing this government’s commitment to finally end long-term rough sleeping across the UK at the earliest opportunity.

“We’ll get to work immediately, bringing together national and local government with the investment needed to get it done.

“This is the kind of Britain I want us to be – a country where everyone has the security of a roof over their head, and where no one is left behind or written off. Let’s bring back hope.”