… On the one side, you had the Normans, led by their Duke, William. Normans — aka Northmen — were partially Franco-fied Vikings, invited to settle in France in 911 at the behest of the West Frankish king, Charles the Simple.
On the other side, you had the English — descended from Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from northern Germany — led by the just-crowned King Harold Godwinson.
OK, so now you can give your flip answer. Here’s mine: those armies were whiter than an all-albino Osmonds tribute band.
But not to the BBC, whose new miniseries — “King and Conqueror” — features “a diverse group of actors” telling the story of Harold and William’s fight for the English throne.
“Adding diversity to a high medieval period setting follows the BBC’s ‘colour-blind’ casting of non-white stars as Tudor courtiers in another upcoming historical drama,” according to The Telegraph.
That isn’t color-blind casting — it’s historical revisionism, full stop. They’re remaking history to suit a particular agenda. It’s the same agenda introduced by Tony Blair’s New Labour government a quarter century ago to remake the British electorate.
Today’s report also goes right back to a conversation with my wife last week.
When ministers announced major changes to welfare, many were left in shock that such deep cuts would be enacted by a Labour government, despite the urgent need to address the spiraling cost of benefits. But thanks to strong opposition from disabled people, organisations and rebel Labour MPs, many of the proposals were amended or removed before the bill passed through parliament.
The Guardian spent time with dissenting voices in the run-up to the vote, to learn what was at stake for disabled people, already disproportionately affected by rising poverty in the UK. You can watch the video report here:
‘Voting Labour is my biggest regret’: UK government’s betrayal of disabled people – video
LONDON — LONDON (AP) — King Charles III led commemorations Monday on the 20th anniversary of the 2005 London transit bombings, the deadliest attack on the British capital since World War II.
Fifty-two people died and more than 700 were wounded when four British men inspired by al-Qaida blew themselves up on three subway trains and a bus during the morning rush hour on July 7, 2005. They were the first suicide bombings on European soil.
Two weeks later, four other bombers attempted a similar attack, but their devices failed to explode. No one was hurt.
The bombings remain seared into London’s collective memory, and the anniversary will be marked with a ceremony at the 7/7 memorial in Hyde Park and a service of commemoration at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
In a message, the king said his “heartfelt thoughts and special prayers remain with all those whose lives were forever changed on that terrible summer’s day.”
He said the country could take heart from the bravery of the emergency services and others who responded to the attack, and “the countless stories of extraordinary courage and compassion that emerged from the darkness of that day.”
Charles also hailed the “spirit of unity that has helped London, and our nation, to heal.”
“As we remember those we lost, let us, therefore, use this 20th anniversary to reaffirm our commitment to building a society where people of all faiths and backgrounds can live together with mutual respect and understanding, always standing firm against those who would seek to divide us,” he said.
The culture of death is taking hold of the United Kingdom.
A mere two days after the UK House of Commons voted to decriminalize late-term abortion ‘up to birth’, the Labour party of failing Prime Minister Keir Starmer has approved a bill legalizing assisted suicide.
Starmer was glad to vote for the bill, and – as proof of just how committed the UK has become to the culture of death – a good deal of Tories (including failed Globalist, former PM Rishi Sunak) and even Reform UK MPs also backed the bill.
The ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’ was approved in the House of Commons by 314 votes with 291 against, a majority of 23 (down from a majority of 55 in the last reading of the bill).
The Bill now goes to the House of Lords for further scrutiny, and if approved in the upper house it will ‘pave the way for assisted dying services to be introduced by the end of the decade’.
UK VOTES TO LEGALIZE ASSISTED DYING
The UK will not go the way of Canada and we will see old people feel pressured into being killed by the state because they worry they are a burden
We are lead by morally bankrupt, sick, psychopaths
“Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said: ‘This should not be treated as a conscience issue. It is assisting a person to kill themselves. We need political parties and leaders to rise up who will speak clearly on this point and refuse to implement a state suicide service’ […] Ross Hendy, CEO of the charity, CARE, described the result as ‘a blow to human dignity and people whose legitimate fears have been dismissed as irrelevant’.”
China has criticised a British warship’s passage through the Taiwan Strait as a deliberate move to “cause trouble”.
The Royal Navy said its patrol vessel HMS Spey was conducting a routine navigation through the contested waterway on Wednesday as part of a long-planned deployment in compliance with international law.
In response, the Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the exercise was “public hyping”, adding that its forces followed and monitored the ship.
“The British side’s remarks distort legal principles and mislead the public; its actions deliberately cause trouble and disrupt things, undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” it said in a statement on Friday.
“Troops in the theatre are on high alert at all times and will resolutely counter all threats and provocations.”
Revealed: Thousands of UK university students caught cheating using AI
Thousands of university students in the UK have been caught misusing ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools in recent years, while traditional forms of plagiarism show a marked decline, a Guardian investigation can reveal.
A survey of academic integrity violations found almost 7,000 proven cases of cheating using AI tools in 2023-24, equivalent to 5.1 for every 1,000 students. That was up from 1.6 cases per 1,000 in 2022-23.
Figures up to May suggest that number will increase again this year to about 7.5 proven cases per 1,000 students – but recorded cases represent only the tip of the iceberg, according to experts.
The data highlights a rapidly evolving challenge for universities: trying to adapt assessment methods to the advent of technologies such as ChatGPT and other AI-powered writing tools.
In 2019-20, before the widespread availability of generative AI, plagiarism accounted for nearly two-thirds of all academic misconduct. During the pandemic, plagiarism intensified as many assessments moved online. But as AI tools have become more sophisticated and accessible, the nature of cheating has changed.
As part of the UK’s commitment to NATO’s defence, it has moved both aircraft and personnel to the enhanced air policing mission, including the fourth-generation jet.
The first aerial showdown took place on June 7 when RAF pilots were sent to identify an aircraft departing the Kaliningrad region, later confirmed to be an Antonov An-30, a Soviet-era reconnaissance craft used to map terrain via aerial photography.
The UK has sanctioned two far-right Israeli ministers over “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities” in the occupied West Bank.
Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich will both be banned from entering the UK and will have any assets in the UK frozen as part of the measures announced by the foreign secretary.
David Lammy said Finance Minister Smotrich and National Security Minister Ben-Gvir had “incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.
In response, Israel said: “It is outrageous that elected representatives and members of the government are subjected to these kind of measures.”
The sanctions are part of a joint move by the UK, Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand announced on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the move, writing on X: “These sanctions do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war”.
As Keir Starmer approaches his first anniversary in Downing Street, there will be several things he wishes he had done differently. But before he can contemplate that July milestone, he faces a busy month strewn with political bear traps.
June has proven a difficult time for successive prime ministers: Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak all had to contend with deeply unhappy parliamentary parties reeling from heavy local and European election losses.
While the mood among Labour MPs is nowhere near as mutinous, they too are bruised from a difficult set of local election results in England in May and the surge of Reform UK. “There is more than the usual amount of grumbling and discontent,” a government source said.
One unexpected ray of light was the result of the Holyrood byelection in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse on Friday. Labour secured a surprise victory, knocking the Scottish National party into second place and restoring some hope in Labour’s fortunes ahead of next year’s Holyrood elections. One MP said the result was “humiliating” for the SNP.
It is certainly a welcome win for Downing Street as Labour MPs brace for more bad news and a series of contentious debates this month. “They know that the spending review is going to be really hard,” a government source said.
It marked Kyiv’s longest range operation of the conflict so far with at least 40 aircraft being attacked as part of the expert operation codenamed “Spiderweb”.
In an embarrassing result for a raging Vladimir Putin 34 per cent of his cruise missile carriers at the targeted airfields were blasted, Zelensky said.
A £260million AWACS aircraft and bombers capable of dropping nuclear weapons were also struck.
Ukraine said the sneak attack was worth $7bn (£5.2bn) in damage to Russia.
Rally is held as British PM Keir Starmer calls Israel’s actions ‘intolerable’, addressing lawmakers in Parliament.
Pro-Palestine campaigners have rallied against Israel’s punishing war on Gaza, gathering outside the British Parliament in London and demanding a full arms embargo and that hard-hitting sanctions be imposed on the Israeli government.
Wednesday’s march, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), came as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took weekly questions from parliamentarians.
Thousands of protesters created a “Red Line for Palestine”, wearing red while encircling the building.
Starmer told Parliament that Israel’s actions in the besieged and bombarded enclave are “appalling” and “intolerable”.
“It is right to describe these days as dark,” Starmer said. “We have strongly opposed the expansion of Israeli military operations, and settler violence, and the blocking of humanitarian aid.”
The UK is pressing France to change how it polices small boat crossings, British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said.
Her comment in the House of Commons on Monday came after more than 1,100 migrants reached the UK on Saturday — the highest number to have crossed the English Channel in a single day this year.
Cooper has faced criticism from opposition politicians, who say that criminal gangs are exploiting a loophole in French law that prevents the authorities there from intervening once migrants are afloat.
Conservative MP Chris Philp, who is the shadow home secretary, said the “French prevention rate on land is lamentably under 40%”.
“The French are not stopping these boats at sea, as the Belgians do,” Philps wrote on X.
Cooper said the UK government has urged the French authorities to allow police to intervene when migrants are in shallow waters.
“The French interior minister and the French cabinet have now agreed their rules need to change,” Cooper said in the House of Commons.
British prosecutors have approved multiple charges against social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, including rape and human trafficking. The brothers, who face similar charges in Romania, have denied any wrongdoing.
The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Wednesday that it had authorized 21 charges related to offences allegedly committed between 2012 and 2015, according to multiple media outlets. British authorities issued a warrant in 2024, but full details were released only on Wednesday.
Andrew Tate, 38, is accused of ten offences involving three alleged victims, including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain. His brother Tristan, 36, faces 11 charges, including rape and human trafficking, related to one alleged victim.
“It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings,” the CPS was quoted as saying.