Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,
In a parliamentary clash exposing deep failures in the justice system, Conservative MP Katie Lam confronted the Government over whether grooming gang perpetrators would serve their already lenient prison terms in full.
The minister's reply has sparked widespread fury, highlighting a complacency that victims and the public find utterly unacceptable.
When Lam asked for assurances on full sentences, Justice Minister Jake Richards pointed to prison capacity, stressing the need to ensure serious offenders "serve time at all" amid prison shortages and building programs.
Yesterday, I asked the Government whether grooming gang perpetrators would serve their full sentences.
The minister seemed to say that we should be grateful that these people are serving prison sentences *at all*.
What on earth?! pic.twitter.com/saNOaE5oGJ
Lam slammed the reaction: "He wouldn't even commit to that. In fact, he seemed to suggest that we should be grateful that these men are serving time in prison at all because of a lack of prison places. What planet are these people living on?"
She continued, "Even if we're facing a shortage of prison places, how can it possibly be the case that grooming gang perpetrators aren't amongst the highest priority offenders...?"
"Ensuring that these vile men serve out their sentences isn't a nice-to-have. It's the bare minimum," Lam stressed.
In a piece for GB News, Lam further outlined "This week, Parliament debated the early release of rapists and child groomers from prison. It's appalling that this subject was even up for discussion."
She continued: "It's clearly true that those who've committed such heinous crimes should, at the very least, serve out their full prison sentences. But under this Government's prison plans, vile criminals like these are having their sentences cut short. They're being allowed back onto the streets after just a few years behind bars."
I confronted Labour on grooming gang rapists being released from prison. Their answer should terrify you – @Katie_Lam_MP https://t.co/kG2CouYjSg
— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 1, 2026"Many Labour MPs still don't seem to have grasped just how horrific these crimes were and just how dangerous the men who committed them are. It's terrifying that people like this are in charge of making decisions about who goes to prison, who stays there, and for how long." Lam further urged.
This comes as one grooming gang ringleader - stripped of British citizenship - faces imminent release but cannot be deported back to Pakistan due to legal loopholes.
The inability to remove such individuals underscores deeper systemic issues with immigration enforcement, citizenship revocation, and prioritizing foreign offenders' "rights" over victim safety and public protection.
??"How can SCUM like that walk the streets?"
Jeremy Kyle EXPLODES at the fact Shabir Ahmed cannot be deported after being convicted for 30 child rape offences and leading the Rochdale rape gang.
"That VILE paedophile should be DEPORTED!"@jkyleofficial pic.twitter.com/MA26qq9AzN
Referencing a recent West Yorkshire case, Lam detailed: "In June, twenty perpetrators were convicted of the rape and abuse of three girls... One of the girls was just 12 years old when this gang began to prey on her. Abbas Kaji, one of the offenders, was sentenced to just seven years for rape; Mohammed Ishtiaq Hussain was sentenced to just eight. The idea that these men could be out on the streets even sooner is appalling."
The grooming gangs scandal represents one of Britain's gravest institutional betrayals. These groups terrorized communities across the UK, with authorities often ignoring, suppressing or downplaying the ethnic and cultural patterns - predominantly Pakistani Muslim men targeting white girls - out of fear of racism accusations.
When the UK Parliament were asked if they would vote for an inquiry into the mass rape of little girls
They voted against it
That's how evil these people are
pic.twitter.com/kBLF6zT95O
Lam has been vocal on the human cost. She referenced survivor Fiona Goddard, who received notice that her abusers - sentenced to 16-20 years in 2019 - could be eligible for early release: "The hard-won justice that she secured in court is being snatched away from her."
Calls for whole-life sentences, proper inquiries without blind spots on race and religion, and accountability for past cover-ups have grown, amplified by independent reports and public pressure.
The priority should be crystal clear: protect British children, enforce real justice, and reject any notion that jailing child rapists is an optional luxury.
Short sentences, early releases, and evasive answers only deepen the sense of betrayal that has defined this scandal for decades.
Britain needs a justice system that puts victims first and deters monsters - not one that debates basic incarceration as if it's a favor.
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Tyler Durden Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:00Europe capitulates at a moment Washington and Tehran (and possibly Oman) continue to be directly at odds over how future shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz energy chokepoint will be administered.
Bloomberg reports Thursday, "Some leading European powers now accept that ships transiting the vital Strait of Hormuz will have to pay fees to Iran and Oman, according to people familiar with the matter."
"The prospect of some sort of service fee in the aftermath of the US and Israeli war with the Islamic Republic was described as a given by two of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations," the report adds.
At the moment there's an uneasy pause in purported 'positive' indirect negotiations in Qatar, as Iran prepares for a multi-day funeral for the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this weekend - which as it so happens will kick off on July 4th.
A fresh Qatar-Pakistan statement has indicated, "The parties agreed to continue discussions over the coming period, with the next meeting to be scheduled at the earliest possible time following the funeral processions of the former Iranian Supreme Leader." Other sources say a diplomatic 'pause' is on for the moment, as is presumably military action.
Maritime Executive comments that "While a relative calm prevails, shipping is using both the Omani/IMO channel to the south, and a loosely-defined channel through Iranian waters to the north, with inbound and outbound shipping using the same channel, at a rate of about 60 transits a day. The volume of traffic is difficult to judge accurately, given that some ships are still traveling without switching on their AIS systems."
Still, more ships are making it through compared to before the start of Operation Epic Fury and the height of the US-Israel bombing campaign and Iranian retaliation, by all regional accounts. But last month proved this could shift at any moment, given the several tit-for-tat strikes between Iran and US forces, focused on the Hormuz and coastal Iran region.
And now Europe is admitting it will be 'inevitable' that 'some fees' will be collected under the Iran-Oman scheme for passage, Bloomberg confirms.
Oman's official position remains that it will not allow 'tolls' - instead it has opted for ambiguous language of necessary environmental and navigational administrative fees.
So Iran will still tout 'tolls' (at perhaps $2 million per ship) - as Europe seems eager to play along - the Omani/Gulf position seems open to simply calling it something else, or a quibbling over definitions, clearly loose definitions.
It must be remembered that the pre-war situation was one of no fees at all for vessels passing via legally recognized international waters.
Now, the NY Times admits where things are headed: "Iran and U.S.-allied Oman are moving forward with plans to collect payment for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, despite public American objections, according to an Iranian official and four diplomats with knowledge of the matter."
The NYT fresh reporting says that "If enacted, the plans would be a significant change from the prewar status in the strategic waterway, underscoring how the American-Israeli decision to attack Iran on Feb. 28 has changed the Middle East in far-reaching and unanticipated ways."
HORMUZ SHIPPING STABILIZES, UNCERTAINTY REMAINS
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has recovered to an average of 40 vessel crossings per day, according to Kpler.
Shipping rebounded after recent attacks disrupted transit, but uncertainty persists over who controls passage.…
Iranian leaders have made clear their position that a lasting result of Operation Epic Fury will be that strait passage will never remain the same. Europe is fast capitulating, and will likely call it some kind of necessary 'environmentally safe' passage scheme - as Iran is due to collect untold millions or even billions over time.
The question remains whether Washington will also eventually quietly accede for the sake of peace. For now the two sides are holding to rival absolutist demands, and the alternative will be a return to a fire-fight.
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/02/2026 - 11:40By Irina Slav of OilPrice.com
US companies are set to spend some $50 billion on power generation from coal and natural gas this year, the International Energy Agency has said, as quoted by the Financial Times.
This would be the first time in decades that US spending on coal and gas generation would be higher than what China is investing in the two fuels, with the difference at $3 billion.
The surge in spending will come mostly from much stronger demand for gas turbines amid a data center boom in the United States, the FT noted in its report. According to the IEA, US companies placed orders for some 20 GW in gas turbine generation capacity in just the first quarter of this year. Prices for gas turbines, meanwhile, have moved sharply higher on tight supply, contributing to the higher U.S. spending.
The report cited a Rystad Energy analyst as saying prices for gas turbines have gone up from $800 per kWh to over $2,500. In addition to data centers, whose owners have bet on baseload power supply from gas power plants—and coal, too—the expansion of wind and solar has also prompted stronger demand for baseload generation to keep the grid balanced when the weather is unfavorable for either wind or solar generation, or both.
While demand for electricity soars, gas turbine production has been flat over the past few years, resulting in a deficit. Siemens Energy, one of the world’s top three gas turbine makers, reported in February that its gas services business had seen a record quarter in orders, with a total of 102 new turbines in the backlog. As much as 40% of these new orders came from the United States, and another 35% came from Europe.
Even earlier than that, last year, Mitsubishi, the third Big Turbine manufacturer, said it would double its turbine production capacity in response to soaring demand.
The company’s chief executive noted that “We were working towards boosting production capacity by 30%, but that’s not enough to meet growing demand. Fulfilling those orders is our top priority.”
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/02/2026 - 11:20