UK News

Britain's first police unit for tackling supposed online hate crime has brought charges against less than 1% of the cases it has investigated.

Scotland Yard's online hate crime hub has logged 1,851 incidents since its launch in April 2017 and 17 cases, or 0.92%, resulted in charges. And of those seven have led to prosecutions, Freedom of Information figures show. There are three more cases pending a charging decision from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The £1.7million scheme, launched by London mayor Sadiq Khan, has however resulted in 59 being given youth referrals, harassment warnings or have been noted as apologising.

The Metropolitan Police said the £326,344 needed for the pilot year of the hub was funded by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). Following the trial, a unit of five officers led by a detective inspector was given a £323,829 budget for 2018/19 and £363,000 in 2019/20 by the police force.

Scotland Yard said the unit now deals with both online and offline cases, reviewing every hate crime reported to the Met on a daily basis.

The low number of charges is thought to be due to the high CPS charging threshold for online hate, and the difficulties investigators face in obtaining information from social media companies.

Blue Story is a 2019 UK crime drama by Andrew Onwubolu.
Starring Stephen Odubola, Micheal Ward and Khali Best.

Blue Story is a tragic tale of a friendship between Timmy and Marco, two young boys from opposing postcodes. Timmy, a shy, smart, naive and timid young boy from Deptford, goes to school in Peckham where he strikes up a friendship with Marco, a charismatic, streetwise kid from the local area. Although from warring postcodes, the two quickly form a firm friendship until it is tested and they wind up on rival sides of a street war. Blue Story depicts elements of Rapman's own personal experiences and aspects of his childhood.

Vue Cinema bosses have decided to pull the controversial gang film Blue Story from all its venues after gangs with machetes terrified families when the film was being screened at an inner city cinema in Birmingham.

Two schoolgirls, a boy and a man were arrested and seven police officers suffered minor injuries as dozens of officers swarmed the area just after 5.30pm on November 23. People were evacuated as Vue cinema managers decided to close the venue.

Showcase Cinemas later announced that it was following suit and cancelling all screenings at its cinemas, but soon changed its mind and resumed screenings. Odeon is continuing to screen the film but with extra security staff on hand.

The cinema film was passed 15 uncut by the BBFC for very strong language, strong violence, threat, sex, drug misuse.

Update: Resuming

28th November 2019. See article from bbc.com

The boss of the Vue cinema chain that banned a London gang film after a mass brawl in Birmingham has told the BBC he plans to resume screenings by the weekend. And indeed the film was once again being screened by the weekend.

Vue banned Blue Story after saying there had been 25 serious incidents in 16 of its cinemas. But its chief executive, Tim Richards, said it was now looking at beefing up security to restart screenings.

Two anti-Brexit campaigners have been left outraged after Essex Police officers pulled them over and forced them to remove a 'Bollocks to Brexit' slogan from their car.

A passenger of the Mini that was pulled over on the M25 near Brentwood, said that the officer bordered on deranged due to their anti-Brexit slogan. He claimed that the officers said the slogan was against section 5(1) and (6) of the Public Order Act 1986 and asked it was removed immediately.

He called 999 with concern for his personal safety, but was promptly informed that calling 999 was another offence.

The professional body for UK directors has released its first set of guidelines for directing nudity and simulated sex in TV and film.

Directors UK has advised a ban on full nudity in any audition or call back and no semi-nudity in first auditions, and have instead suggested performers wear a bikini or trunks and bring a chaperone.

The group also suggested that if a recall requires semi-nudity, the performer and their agent must have 48 hours' notice and the full script.

And that the production must also obtain explicit written consent from the performer prior to them being filmed or photographed nude or semi-nude.

The release of guidelines follows the #MeToo movement, and the revelation that some in the industry demanded sexual favours for work.

It all seems reasonable enough, but a feminist columnist in the Guardian is rather hoping that the rules will lead to the end of the nude scene. Barbara Ellen writes in an article from theguardian.com :

All of which is commendable, but shouldn't audiences also change their attitudes? As it is, certain men weirdly seem to presume that they have a right to see women naked. Guys, calm down -- you bought a television subscription or a cinema ticket, not a VIP seat at a lap-dancing show.

Let's face it, most nude scenes are gratuitous -- even when integral to the story, nudity could usually be suggested without anyone actually being naked. Yet here we are, two years since #MeToo, and actresses are still not only having to strip but being denounced for hating doing it. While on-screen nudity is a choice, and some are fine about it, too many others feel uncomfortable and obliged.

Perhaps the new guidelines will help people such as Clarke in the simplest, most effective way possible -- making it a damn sight more difficult to justify asking them to get undressed in the first place.

The unfair and unjust way that police record non-crime hate incidents has been challenged in the High Court.

Former police officer Harry Miller was contacted by Humberside Police in January following a complaint over supposedly transphobic tweets.

The court heard he was told he had not committed a crime, but his post was being recorded as a hate incident.

He is taking action against the College of Policing and Humberside Police. Miller argued that the guidelines breached his human rights to freedom of expression.

His barrister, Ian Wise QC, told the court his client was deeply concerned about proposed reforms to the law on gender recognition and had used Twitter to engage in debate about transgender issues. Wise said Humberside Police had also sought to dissuade him from expressing himself on such issues in the future.

This, he said, was contrary to his fundamental right to freedom of expression. Miller has never expressed hatred towards the transgender community, he said. He has simply questioned the belief that trans women are women and should be treated as such for all purposes. His views, he added, form part of a legitimate public debate and cannot sensibly be regarded as 'hate speech'.

The hearing was schedule overr two days.

Offsite Comment: Putting the thought police on trial

23rd November 2019. See article from spiked-online.com

The head of Middlesbrough Town Hall resigned in protest at the town's mayor lifting a ban on controversial comedian Roy Chubby Brown.

Mayor Andy Preston made the heroic decision in August, and free speech denier Lorna Fulton, who had run the council venue since May 2018, resigned September as a result.

On Tuesday, Mayor Preston said the comic, from Middlesbrough, could come home. Last year, Middlesbrough Town Hall said there was currently no place in the programme for this show. 'Defend his right to perform', but in a Facebook post on Tuesday, Preston said Brown would perform there in the New Year. He explained

Many big comedy names are controversial - in fact, that's really part of what comedy is. Many comedians say things that some people may find offensive.

Personally, Chubby Brown's act isn't my cup of tea - but I respect and will defend the right of Chubby to perform his act and for those who do find him funny to spend their hard-earned cash on tickets to see him.

If you find Chubby Brown's act offensive, there's a simple answer - don't go to see him.

Brown's manager Tony Jo told Teesside Live :

I'd like to thank the mayor for his support in clearing the situation up and Roy is looking forward to his return. He's absolutely delighted. It will be a very emotional night for him and he can't wait.

Offsite Comment: That Terrible Moment When You Have To Defend Roy Chubby Brown

18th November 2019. See article from reprobatepress.com

A gig by comedian Roy Chubby Brown has been cancelled because Swansea Council said it was unlikely to reflect our values and commitments.

It said it would refund 52 tickets sold in advance of April's gig.

But Brown's management criticised the decision, saying not everybody likes Marmite but it doesn't mean the people that eat it are wrong.

The council's censorship attracted more than 500 comments on Facebook, with a further 300 messages on Brown's Facebook page after his management said the gig had been unceremoniously cancelled. They said:

Roy is one of the most popular artistes ever to appear in Swansea and the crowds love him. Who has made a minority decision for the majority? Everybody seems to be frightened, to be honest, in case they upset some militant minority soap box protagonist. Everybody's got different tastes.

A drill rapper has been banned from using specific slang words in music videos in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.

Ervine Kimpalu, who goes by the artist name Rico Racks, was issued with a special five year Criminal Behaviour Order when he appeared at Blackfriars Crown Court on Friday preventing him from referring to several drug-related words in his online rap videos. The words were bandoe, trapping, Booj, connect, shotting, whipping and Kitty .

It also bans him from possessing articles linked to drug dealing and from owning more than one mobile phone.

Racks, of Kings Cross, central London, features in several music videos posted on social media in which he is said to glamourise drug dealing.