Arrests after protest in support of Palestine Action
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Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Welcome to Crack Alley: Desperate locals call high street a 'no-go zone' with 'more tents than Glastonbury' as homeless drug addicts leave them terrified
It was once the the wool capital of the world and the richest UK city outside London. Now, parts of Bradford have become Britain's latest no-go zone, where drug-fuelled chaos and violence have left locals scared to walk the streets and businesses are going to the wall. Fed-up traders and shoppers say parts of the once-thriving city centre are overrun by rough sleepers camped out in tents, using the street as their personal drug den and toilet. One of the worst-hit spots is Rawson Square, where heroin and crack cocaine are smoked openly and fights break out daily. Tattoo shop, The Crow & Cartridge, said their staff face aggressive behaviour, public vomiting and broad daylight drug use outside their door. Manager Philippa Leach, 32, said: 'We see them smoking drugs, injecting themselves. Drinking, fighting, urinating. You name it, we've seen it. 'There are ambulances called quite often because they're passed out on whatever they're on. 'There's up to 20 or 30 of them there at a time, just doing what they like and seemingly with very little consequence. 'We've got female staff members who are quite young and they don't want to go outside on their own. 'It is really intimidating and it's round-the-clock. It's when you come to work, it's when you leave work. 'It's hurt our trade because people just don't want to walk up here because they don't feel safe'. Trainee tattooist Jasmin Stevens, 21, added: 'I'm usually the second person here in the morning and I hate waiting outside. 'You get accosted by the crackheads and it's really intimidating.' Signs of drug abuse were everywhere when MailOnline visited the square this week. Outside a former Wilko store, two men were huddled in a fire exit clearly dealing drugs with little concern of who was watching. Another man kept lookout as addicts queued up for their next fix. Nearby, a used crack pipe was obvious among the littered cans of high-strength lager and pool of vomit on the pavement. And a woman could be seen paying for pills with pound coins as children walked by. Subhan Abnan, 21, who runs barbers Hairology, said Bradford council's efforts to move on the rough sleepers were not working. He said: 'The council's been coming and taking the tents, but the next morning there's five or six more. 'By the evening, they're all back again. It's full of tents - it's like Glastonbury but without the fun. 'There'll be 30, 40 of them gathered here. It's like their community centre. People avoid the area. They see it and just keep walking. 'We've had one of them screaming, "I'm going to burn the shops down." Why should we have to hear that? We're just trying to run a business. 'It's affecting our business. People are scared to come down here. We've actually cleaned up the litter ourselves, but by the next day, it's worse. It feels pointless. 'You don't even feel safe leaving the shop in the evening. We literally stay inside because we don't want to get caught up in something. 'We promote our business on social media, but new customers always ask: "What's going on outside? Who are they?' How do you even explain it?" 'You see young girls, 24 or 25, sat on benches surrounded by men touching them up, doing all sorts. Who wants to see that? Especially when you're bringing kids around here.' The chaos, locals say, was made worse by a recent city centre revamp which displaced many rough sleepers and addicts - pushing them into the northern area of the city centre. A workman in a high-vis jacket, who recalls Bradford's status as Britain's 2025 City of Culture, said: 'Twenty years ago, it was beautiful around here. Now look at it. 'City of Culture? It's shocking.' Shooing off a beggar, Sheryn Leech, 36, told how she had been scalded when a drug-addled man turned violent when she refused to add extra food to his order at her chip shop in the city. She said: 'He ordered a scallop but then demanded that I give him the chips for free. 'When I said no, he threw the scallop at me, burning my wrist. It was piping hot with oil. This was six weeks ago and it's still healing. 'I've been threatened with a knives so crackheads can get food for free. I've come home with bruises. I've had a tub of salt thrown at my eyes. I've had all sorts and I'm fed up with it.' 'It really is disgusting. The businesses are dying. Nobody's coming down here anymore. 'I only come to this part of town because I've got work. It's just become a complete no-go zone.' Sheryn's mother-in-law, Marilyn Atkinson, 52, added: 'I feel so anxious when Sheryn is coming home from work. I panic until I know she's safe. 'It's scary coming to town. You're scared of getting robbed.' 'Look at me - I'm hiding my bracelets because you've got junkies just walking about like zombies. 'I can't run if someone tries to rip my bracelet off. 'I've grown up in Bradford. I remember when it was safe. Now, I fear for my kids coming to town.' Jamie Telford, 36 pointed to a two-year 'pocket park' built with Lottery funding opposite his Northgate Bistro coffee shop. He said: 'When they were redeveloping it, all the druggies and drinkers had to move on. 'As soon as it was built, they were back. Now they've got a nice new place to loiter at the expense of everyone else. 'There's a camera there that goes straight to the police, but no one ever seems to do anything. 'Don't get me wrong, the homeless need help. Everyone needs help, but when they're up here, they are just permitted to do what they want. 'Which isn't helping anyone and certainly not them.' West Yorkshire Police said it was 'committed to making Bradford city centre a safe and vibrant place to live and work.' Chief Inspector Nick Haigh insisted: 'Those who are committing offences will be dealt with appropriately.' A spokesperson for Bradford Council said 16 people were reviewed for causing 'serious nuisance' in 2024. This led to interventions such as acceptable behaviour contracts and final warnings. Seven of the most serious offenders received criminal behaviour orders from the courts. A council spokesperson added: 'We work very hard to tackle anti-social behaviour by collaborating with police, partners, and stakeholders to address issues while supporting individuals to make positive changes. 'These challenges are common to big cities and Bradford is no different in that regard. 'We are aware of the issues in Rawson Square and are visiting the site daily to progress case files against ASB perpetrators and offer relevant support.'
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE How much is immigration going to transform YOUR area in the next two decades? Search tool reveals the astonishing population projections of every council
Nearly 30 councils are set to welcome at least 200,000 immigrants each over the next two decades, projections reveal. That is, for context, enough people to fill Norwich or Reading. Government data laying bare how mass migration is going to transform Britain shows that in Birmingham alone, another 543,000 foreign nationals are expected to call the city home by 2047. This figure is the equivalent to 47 per cent of the local authority's current population, thought to be around 1.15million. But looking at the immigration statistics this way excludes hundreds of thousands of residents who will emigrate between now and then. Doing so also fails to factor into account internal migration, births and deaths. This makes it impossible to predict exactly how many residents will be immigrants in all of England's 330-plus local authorities. The population projections, published by the Office for National Statistics this week, gave a stark glimpse of the future. Nationwide, England's population is set to increase from 57m to 64m by 2047. But the overall numbers laid bare sharp differences in fortunes between local areas. According to the ONS projections, South Derbyshire will grow by 38 per cent over the time period to accommodate 153,000 people. No other council, with the exception of the City of London, is expected to undergo a bigger expansion in terms of percentage growth. In contrast, Gosport's population is projected to fall by 4 per cent to 79,000, mainly because of deaths outstripping births. This is the largest decline in the country. In terms of raw figures, Birmingham is set to see the greatest number of immigrants (542,957), followed by Manchester (462,486) and Newham (456,342) between 2022 and 2047. But when compared against current populations, Westminster tops the table – when excluding City of London. In that London borough, almost 50,000 immigrants are set to arrive in the next two decades. By comparison, only 11,500 people live there at present. All but seven authorities will see a net increase in international migration – defined as more people from overseas arriving than leaving. The councils which buck the trend are Fylde, South Hams, Isles of Scilly, Ribble Valley, North Kesteven, Amber Valley and Rutland. One of the country's most esteemed voices on immigration believes the public has had enough over the past few years. Professor David Coleman, emeritus professor of demography at the University of Oxford and co-founder of pressure group of Migration Watch, said: 'Some focused immigration, preferably without dependents is desirable. 'But it is well known that immigration cannot "solve" population ageing, only moderate it. Otherwise more and more migrants are needed, leading to astronomical population growth. 'But it is absurd to speak of more immigration after the huge recent inflows. Surely the public will not endure it? 'We have nothing to show by way of prosperity from the very large number of immigrants in recent years.' Alp Mehmet, of Migration Watch UK, said: 'Immigration is now the sole driver of unprecedented of population growth. 'The pace of demographic change is ever more rapid while the reshaping of our society as deaths exceed births will soon be irreversible. 'The solution is not more immigration, which has for decades been a net cost to the exchequer. All that will do is add to our future problems. Much better to create conditions that encourage families to grow.' As well as high levels of immigration, England's changing demographics are set to be supercharged by falling birthrates in the UK. Deaths are set to outnumber births in two-thirds of all authorities, the ONS estimates also show. Demographers claim the free falling figures mean we may need to become reliant on immigration to prop up our economy and avoid the threat of 'underpopulation'. Otherwise, the nation could be left with too few younger people to work, pay tax and look after the elderly. Keir Starmer unveiled a crackdown on immigration last month, warning that failure to control the system risked turning Britain into an 'island of strangers'. Downing Street was forced to deny angry comparisons from MPs that it was an echo of Enoch Powell's infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech. Scrambling to blunt the threat of Reform, Sir Keir vowed to give Brits what they had 'asked for time and time again' as he announced a package to 'take back control of our borders'. Under Number 10's long-awaited blueprint to curb immigration, skills thresholds will be hiked and rules on fluency in English toughened. Migrants will also be required to wait 10 years for citizenship rather than the current five and face deportation for even lower-level crimes. Policymakers estimate the government's package will bring down annual inflows by around 100,000. Methodology The projections were produced by the ONS for the sake of informing policy and planning, using past trends to inform how populations might change in the future. But it comes with caveats and warnings, including a section which explains that the demographic behaviour used to develop assumptions for projections is 'inherently uncertain'. It, therefore, warns that the projections become increasingly unreliable the further they are carried forward, particularly for smaller geographical areas and detailed age and sex breakdowns. At the local level, population change is influenced by economic development and housing policies, factors not included in these projections. It also warns that there is already a margin of error in the underlying input data used in the projections, for example, estimates of the current population and past migration flows. In addition, the ONS states that its assumptions about the future cannot be certain, as patterns of births, deaths, and migration are always liable to change and can be influenced by many factors. In a blog accompanying the release, head of population and household projections James Robards stressed that the projections 'don't take into account potential future policy changes'. He also highlighted that 'drivers behind the projected population increase vary significantly by area'.
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Nigel Farage 'in touching distance' of being PM as new mega-poll puts Reform UK on course for 290 seats in the Commons... as Keir Starmer's ratings slump to an all-time low
Nigel Farage is on course to become PM with his Reform UK party within 'touching distance' of forming a majority government, a new mega-poll has suggested. The More In Common survey found, if a general election was held today, Reform would become the largest party in the House of Commons with 290 seats. Although this is below the number of MPs needed for an outright majority, meaning a hung parliament, it was more than twice as many as any other party. And the pollster said Reform is now 'close to the level where they could command an outright majority'. More In Common's new MRP (Multilevel Regression and Post-stratification) model, based on polling of more than 10,000 Britons, put Labour on 126 seats. This is a loss of 285 seats from Sir Keir Starmer 's general election landslide just a year ago, and leaves them with fewer than half as many seats as Reform. The research put the Tories on 81 seats, down 40 seats from last year, with the Liberal Democrats on 73 seats (up one seat) and the SNP on 42 seats (up 33 seats). Meanwhile, as Sir Keir marks one year in Downing Street this weekend, the poll found the Prime Minister's personal approval rating had slumped to an all-time low of -43. More In Common's projection showed a majority of Cabinet ministers would lose their seats in the face of a Reform surge. This includes Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Labour's main losses were found to be to Reform, with 223 seats directly flipping from Sir Keir's party to Mr Farage's outfit. This includes many long-standing Labour constituencies in the North of England and in Wales. Reform was also shown to be growing support in Conservative areas, with the MRP projecting they would win 59 seats that the Tories held in 2024. The main reason that voters gave for turning away from Labour - regardless of who they would vote for instead - is broken promises and U-turns on previous pledges. More than a third (36 per cent) selected this as a reason, while also high on the list was failing to deliver on the cost of living (31 per cent), and Labour's changes to the wiinter fuel payments (27 per cent). Luke Tryl, UK director of More in Common, said: 'It is an unhappy birthday for the Prime Minister. 'His personal approval has hit an all-time low, while Britons blame him rather than his Chancellor for the welfare mess and think he has lost control of his party. 'Meanwhile our new MRP shows Reform UK as the big winners from the Government's failures. 'Although we are a long way from an election and much will change between, Nigel Farage's party are demonstrating that they are now close to the level where they could command an outright majority. 'Britain's political landscape has transformed entirely from just a year ago.'
