United Kingdom

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/uk-world-news/your-using-wrong-wood-your-26140306 War on preppers in the UK .

 

I doubt they do. It's been so long since wood and coal fires were a regular feature of new UK houses that most people will not know. It became trendy to have a wood burner a few years ago, particularly during the "old house renovation" craze and I feel sure many of those who jumped on the bandwagon do not have a clue.

 

It is profoundly unlikely that the UK would go toe to toe with Russia, however the following information concerning military funding is an important indicator of overall military funding. One hopes the missile programs and navel programs are funded properly.

"ALL HANDS ON TECH Britain’s ammo stocks would run out in an afternoon of war with Russia, says top former general"

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/21257065/former-general-says-britain-ammo-run-out-russia/

"BRITAIN’S ammo stocks would run out in an afternoon of war with Russia, a top former general says.

"Writing today for The Sun, General Sir Richard Barrons, former Joint Forces chief, says years of cuts have left cupboards almost bare.

"The warning comes after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace yesterday said military spending may have to rise for two decades, owing to global threats, and as The Sun reveals Britain is buying ammo from South Asia to support Ukraine.

"Dr Jack Watling, at military think tank Rusi, said Ukraine had been firing about 6,000 shells a day.

"But we rely on imported explosives for tank and artillery shells.

"Our ammo plants, run by defence contractor BAE, would take a year to make a day’s shells for Ukraine, sources say.

"The Sun also revealed Britain has no working heavy artillery guns after giving all our serviceable AS90 self-propelled ones to Ukraine.

"Gen Barrons says the Army needs £3billion more a year to rejoin Nato’s top tier"

-----------------------------

I really hope that BAE gets better funding (BAE is British owned). One of their HUGE facilities is located in upper East Tennessee where I have friends. One good friend / former a co-worker, works at that plant in the realm of industrial automation engineering. That plant greatly benefits the people there in that region -- especially since other industries have moved overseas. Got some fascinating stories about that place, but I shouldn't talk about them on this forum. But, it's not like the Russians and Chinese don't already know. My friend told me that our enemies use the same manufacturing processes. There are other ammunition/explosives plants like this in Southern Appalachia, but with American ownership.

"... Britain is buying ammo from South Asia to support Ukraine."

Some of the absolute BEST 9mm ammunition, I bought out of Indonesia. Very, very accurate that, plus this ammo has lacquered primers. Each box of 50 is tied with a little blue ribbon. How cute! How deadly accurate (out of my old Browning Hi-Power). Shoots a little high at 50 yrds, but I know to correct for that. So, if anyone should run across that Indonesian ammo from the 1990s, buy it. The blue ribbon is what to look for and the gray undyed cardboard-paper boxes are labeled with their country of origin. Me, I've not seen any coming available for the longest time.
.
.

 

The Obamanator tried to kill our military. Then Trump tried to build it back up. Now the biden circus is back at chipping away at our military.

Puppet biden tears down America and builds-up the communist Chinese who own him. This biden -- traitor to America -- wouldn't even shoot down a 300 meter wide balloon that could have been either a surveillance platform or a device to deliver an EMP device to toast power grids -- couldn't do that with a missile, else our military would automatically take it out and retaliate with our intercontinental nuclear missiles. Biden's current story is saying he gave permission to shoot it down, but that it was the military who didn't want to. Montana is barely populated = no risk of shooting down this communist device in the sky. The corrupt biden and his drug-addled son are owned by at least Ukraine and communist China.

If you believe that all it was is what the communists say, a weather balloon, then I have some "waterfront property" in Florida you may be interested in buying. They are not weak in the White House, they are treasonous.

"Oil expert rips Biden's weaponization of Strategic Petroleum Reserve as 'blasphemy': 'Disaster for America'"

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politic...ization-strategic-petroleum-reserve-blasphemy

"Canary CEO Dan Eberhart condemned Biden for selling American oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, telling 'Varney & Co.' the 'untold story' is the government will be in the marketplace competing with consumers, putting a floor under gas prices, all so Democrats can have a political advantage.

"DAN EBERHART: 'If I had hair I would pull it out over this. A lot of the oil we sold last year China bought on the open market. We are selling American treasure, and China is buying it, beefing up its strategic petroleum reserve. It is a complete split-screen disaster for America. The untold story is in 2023 we are going to spend this year adding to the reserves.'

"So the government will be in the marketplace competing with you as a consumer buying gas, putting a floor under the price of gasoline. All this so the Democrats can have the advantage in the election with lower oil prices in November 2024. I think the weaponization of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is blasphemy and voters should not reward this kind of behavior. "
.

Old Gzr: So, on we go with this current "administration" doing its best to rape America dead. (Bringing in peasants from Mexico and Central America has done a great job of stomping on American trade unions -- unions now have zero bargaining leverage.)

.

 

They're not banning woodburners in the UK, they are saying all new woodburners have to burn cleaner thats all. Its not the smoke thats that important, its the PM (particulate matter) coming out your flue that is causing the pollution. A standard basic wood burner puts more crap-PM out a day into the air than 25 heavy goods vehicles so it makes sense to get that sorted.

In Spain I'm burning olive wood, its a very hard wood that burns hot and slow.

 

Wood burners put out soot which precipitates back down to the soil. In heavily-populated area, there are people who have asthma thus one should use well-cured wood if one has to.

If retired folk on pension or poor people can't afford power bills, then they have to try not to die from lack of heat.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...se-26073145?pure360.trackingid={~TrackingId~}

"News of the death of an elderly woman after she developed hypothermia - having told medics she couldn't afford her heating - has shocked Greater Manchester, laying bare, once again, the grim reality of the cost of living crisis.

"One doctor says we're in the midst of a 'scandal', with scores of elderly and vulnerable people sitting in freezing cold homes, too afraid to flick a switch because of eye-watering energy prices.

"Age charities have again warned of the tragic consequences of the cost of living crisis, while paramedics have spoken of heartbreaking scenes of elderly people using gas heaters to heat just one room as they're unable to heat their entire homes.

"Ms Bolton's death may have shocked people, but professionals feared such a tragic story was inevitable - and fear it will be repeated"
.

 

A lot of people bought woodburners, cost thousands including installation and now find they can't afford the wood. Woodburners are fine if your rural and or with access to free or cheap wood but you look at supermarkets and petrol stations these days, all selling nets of wood for between £5 and £8 a net and you burn through it in three or four hours. I'm working my way through a pile of olive wood which burns very well and I will buy a load of holm oak which is common round here and I'll lay that up for 2024/25, its the popular wood for authentic Spanish BBQs, popular with the locals and way way cheaper to buy than wood in the UK.

 

I'll go along with that to a degree you can buy wood from local adds etc but in the towns its expensive, you often don't know what wood your getting and of course the people living in a modern new build house which doesn't have room to swing a cat let alone store two or three cords of wood and installed a woodburner without thinking about it are stuck paying for nets of wood from Tesco et al and lighting it once or twice a week...'nowt so queer as folk' as the old saying goes.

 

Where I am in Aus (a rural area) probably around 90% have wood heaters. They are expensive to buy (anywhere from around $1,000 for a tiny one to $4,000-$5,000 for something that heats a decent area) and install for those who aren't able to do it themselves and the wood is around $110 a cubic metre to buy, which is equivalent to a 4 x 4 trailer load.

I've only been in this area for one winter but it seemed very similar to the last place I was living. Going through 7 or so trailer loads of firewood in a winter isn't much.

If you live on decent acreage and are able bodied enough to source your own firewood, which is really hard yakka, it's obviously not a financial headache. But to buy wood to supply enough for winter gets pretty pricey.

I don't know how people go with natural gas here, as it's not available in rural areas. I use bottled gas for hot water and cooking, which is getting very expensive now. In fact, it's just gone up yet again. They sprout it's because of the Ukrainian war. I have no idea how the gas companies deal with people who pay their bills late but would imagine they would have some way of disconnecting your supply, as they do with electricity if you don't pay your bill.

I've got a decent solar setup with a kick-arse reverse cycle system. This summer, I've literally used it 24/7. I set it on 20 degrees and let it do its thing. With temperatures over 30 and often mid to high 30's, it's a no brainer for me. So far this summer, there have only been a few days where I turn it off because the temperature is bearable. For winter and summer, it costs $5-$10 a month, which is as cheap as chips considering. Last winter I initially used the wood heater but after discovering how much cheaper it was to use the reverse cycle, I didn't worry about having to buy loads and loads of wood. Having a wood heater is far nicer as far as ambience goes but it's just not as efficient and cheap compared to solar and of course, it's hard work. Even if you buy the wood, you still have to cart it, stack it, etc. Having said that, you have to pay for the solar set-up, which although well subsidised by the government here, it is still a lot of money initially.

As far as buying wood at petrol stations - we have the same here. But that wood is really only meant to be used as kindling. It would be ridiculously expensive to buy to use other than for that purpose.

I remember the first winter after the really bad "Black Summer" bushfires in 2019, it was actually difficult to buy firewood, as the fires depleted wood normally felled for firewood. Naturally this reflected the prices, which went up in response. Not sure what the prices are like now. Where I currently live, we didn't fall victim to the fires (and hopefully won't!) so sourcing firewood isn't an issue.

 

Using gas is real common in rural Texas. You have a big silver tank in your yard and when it gets low you call the gas company and they come and fill your tank up. It is cheaper than electric heating here. Part of that is that what we call winter cold probably isn't very cold to a lot of people. Days that the temperature never gets above freezing are rare and it isn't unusual for it to be in the high 80s on any day of the year. I've gone swimming between Christmas and New Years a few times.

I was raised in a home that was heated and the cooking were natural gas. In part that may be because we have a lot of oil wells here and a lot of them also produce gas. The High School that I went to had a couple of oil and gas wells on it. I have seen homes with water wells that have enough gas in them that you can light a little fire on a faucet. It isn't a big fire and isn't dangerous but it is strange.

About once every 10 years or so we get a pretty big snow. That means that it lasts more than a day, LOL. Three or four inches is a freaking BLIZZARD here!!! When that happens it is an UNBELIEVABLE mess. Cars in the ditch all over the place and you are taking your life in your hands if you leave the house. My Granddaughter is 12 and never made a snowman.

 

I've been blessed to live in areas where coal was cheap and wood was near free.

When I was a kid lots of folk used coal heating -- Southern Appalachia / coal mines. Kids would walk the the railroad tracks of the coal trains and pick up coal that had fallen off the coal cars to heat their family's cabins.

In my home town, there was a factory that kiln-dried wood and use that wood in their products. Lots of rejected kiln-dried wood was available in a giant hopper of theirs. Lord only knows how many times I've backed a truck of mine under that hopper and have them dump that reject wood in my truck's bed. They sold this for a song -- your fee was to pay one of their employees to work the hopper gate. That kiln-dried wood was The Perfect kindling! It would burn so hot that you could set the coal alight. The latter I've done for heaven only knows how many hundreds of fires I've started to keep warm in my grandparents' home and then my own home. In my own home where we started our family (800 sq feet / 74 sq meters). Got a better job and moved to a larger home. First thing I did was to call our mason and build a better/larger chimney for that newer house (big yard, wood stove, 4 bedroom, 1200 sq ft, library, garage, billiards room, all for $65,000 -- never will get a deal like that again). We had a power shutdown for a few days at the newer place, so we cooked on the wood stove down in the basement den. With a family of five at that time, the wood stove cooking royally heated (even overheated) our primary floor. We simply opened the basement door and whoosh! the upstairs got warm. Our mason had created a perfect flue and the stove had a 12" metal flue leading into the masonry flue. The stove had two adjustable cast-iron air entry ports. One had to watch these ports when the stove got hot because the air entering started to sound like a hurricane wind. Ironically our first house the little house had a MUCH larger stove (all my stoves have been fire-brick lined) that had a second area above the primary to burn-off any burnable fumes left over from the primary chamber. That second burning chamber would get hell-hot -- pour water on the second chamber and the water would instantly boil; the water would form dancing droplets that would disappear in a moment. That puppy was dangerously hot -- wouldn't let the kids get near it. Only Daddy (me) went to the basement in winter.

Living near national and state forests, one can go to the forestry service and ask where they are clearing scrub trees and get a cutting permit. The permit is dirt cheap. The biologists just want to designate where you cut / where they need to cut. Most folk don't even get a permit. Now that icing conditions have broken-down SOOOOOOO many trees and big limbs, people don't bother to get permits, because they aren't cutting down trees, they are simply clearing the fallen wood that hasn't gone to punk. I live in the land of pickup trucks and chain-saws. If you want to buy firewood, NO problem! As a buyer, you can specify the type and quantity you wish to buy. Good'ol'boys make side-line money by just going in and clearing the fallen trees that haven't gone to punk. This also helps prevent forest fires. Most all trees are hardwood. There are few pine trees until you get up beyond 4000 ft in altitude (2020 meters). At my age, shoot, I'll just pay young men to do this. In my own youth, I pulled my time behind a chainsaw and ricking wood. As a kid, I worked for old people. Now that I'm old, I pay young people to do the back work -- my back, sacro-illeacs, hips, knees are all shot from decades of abuse. Surgeons have put my shoulders back on. One arm was so destroyed that the surgeon had to re-attach my biceps muscle. I literally worked my body into the junk yard. More surgeries? No. I'll just use my canes and braces. I have all manner of braces to hold what is left of me together. Irony of ironies, stress testing, echocardiograms, CAT scans, PET scans say that my heart and lungs are OK. Me, I don't believe it; but as I did a stress test, I watched my own ECG. I can readily read ECGs and low-and-behold, mine was OK at 140 bpm. God's sense of humor is often a bit too much. My skeleton / joints are kaput, but my heart and lungs are still working. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seems my Creator is into torture. I need something to kill me here in old age. What's that going to be?! A stroke? No, I had a brain scan a few years ago (due to migraine headaches) = no aneurysms. Beta blockers cured my headaches. I'm gonna have to find some means to die.
.

 

We have natural gas in South EastTexas. I've never even seen a coal fired furness in a home here. I've worked for people that had natural gas in their water well to the point that you could light a small fire on a running water faucet. What little coal we do have is evedently a very low quality and only used for power generation. They build the plant on the site and when the coal runs out they shut it down and move it.

 

I guess that England still has many coal mines. What with Russia cutting-off fuel shipments, gotta do something not to die.

Here's a new mine opening up in Jan 2022
https://www.forbes.com/sites/heathe...roves-first-coal-mine-in-30-years-in-cumbria/

Where I'm from, Southern Appalachia, there's lots of coal mines and strip mining (ugly) of coal. There's also gemstone mining and historically other types such as copper, tin, and lead. My father was born in an iron-mining camp.

 

Yes, that's right. Steel production needs high grade coal and, apparently, the new mine site has particularly high quality coal compared to the imported stuff.

 

UK now has three open cast and four deep mines left working as of 2021 figures.

Not coal but mining is opening up on the isle of Anglesey off the coast of Wales
https://www.angleseymining.co.uk/pa... hosts,and planning permission for operations.

 

Taxpayer money "well spent"; this is happening in the USSA also:

"‘Mocking Christianity’ — Govt-Funded Statue of Pagan ‘Amazonian Love God’ Planned Outside UK Cathedral"

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/20...zonian-love-god-planned-outside-uk-cathedral/

"A proposal to erect a pagan “Amazonian love god” statue near a cathedral in the English city of Wakefield has drawn the ire of residents who claim its placement mocks Christianity.

"At least three residents of the city have formally complained over the plan to place the sculpture, one of five pieces of art funded by the government with a million pounds of taxpayer cash, near the city’s medieval-era cathedral, which belongs to the Church of England."





-----------------------------------

"Taxpayers forking out on £125-a-night hotel rooms for Channel migrants, leaked data reveals"


https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17256355/channel-migrants-taxpayers-paying-hotel/

"Last night, Tory MP for Ipswich Tom Hunt said: “At a time when lots of people are struggling to get by, to heat their homes and to put food on their tables, they are going to deeply resent people who have come here illegally being put up in three and four-star hotels.

“'At the very least — if we cannot offshore-process asylum-seekers — we need detention centres, not nice hotels.'

" The number of migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats trebled last year, with at least 28,431 landing. More than 60 have already made the perilous crossing in 2022.

"Last night, Home Office sources insisted hotels were used only as a last resort.

"A spokesman said: 'Due to an unprecedented rise in demand, we have had to use temporary accommodation such as hotels across the UK to manage demands. We are working to end the use of hotels in the asylum estate.'”

-----------------------------------------------

Report: Illegal Immigrants Complain About UK Schools and Education System, MP Claims

https://savebritain.org/report-ille...ut-uk-schools-and-education-system-mp-claims/

---------------------------------

 

The hotel bill for the illegal's is now running at seven million pounds A DAY £7,000,000 or $US 8,400,000 and its affecting tourism in the smaller resort towns on the coast because there are no hotel rooms for the tourists to stay.

Friend of my brother retired from the police force and bought a home in Eastbourne on the coast, he said walk along the seafront these days and all you've got are groups of these illegals gathered in groups, hoodies up, chain smoking and looking at you or aggressively begging, the town is now a shite tip.

I love my birth country but I'm more than happy I've left.

Side note, as of about an hour ago I'm now off grid, day early and very happy

 

In the South, Appalachia particularly, squirrel was part of the diet. Pap and I used to hunt and eat squirrel. My maternal grandma would fry them up with their heads still on. Pap would crack their skulls with a spoon and suck their brains out. You'd mix pig brains with scrambled eggs. "Mountain oysters" are hog testicles. Every part of a hog was used for something. When a little boy, my dad and his friends used inflated pig bladders as kick balls. Poverty forbids waste.

Squirrel meat is stringy, but the gravy is divine. I do not like the taste of groundhogs -- too gamey. I'm not going to ever eat mountain oysters. Have never eaten brains.

 

"Anti-Free Speech Separatist Who Wants Fewer White People in Office Now Leads Scotland"

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/20...er-white-people-in-office-now-leads-scotland/

"Humza Yousaf, a left-separatist who has pioneered anti-free speech legislation and lobbied for fewer white people in high office, will be sworn in as the leader of Scotland on Wednesday.

"Yousaf has succeeded Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which leads Scotland’s devolved government — roughly equivalent to a U.S. State government — in coalition with the even further left Scottish Greens.

"The controversial politician is perhaps best known for championing anti-free speech laws which criminalise 'stirring up' so-called 'hatred' even in a person’s private home, declaring: 'Are we comfortable giving a defence to somebody whose behaviour is threatening or abusive, which is intentionally stirring up hatred against, for example, Muslims? Are we saying that that is justified because that is in the home?'

"Compared to Forbes, Yousaf curiously emerged as the candidate of choice for vocal transgender activists within the party and wider separatist movement, despite having allegedly skipped a vote on legalising same-sex marriage due, allegedly, to pressure from a Glasgow mosque.

"The first Muslim national leader in Britain, Yousaf has received warm congratulations from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the first Hindu national leader in Britain, saying he looks forward to working with the leftist on 'issues that matter to people' once he settles into office."

Liberal lemmings leaping



We can fly !!!

 

I don't like Humza Yousaf the new First Minister for Scotland. Him and his sidekicks are talking about independence, disassociating from the Monarchy, rejoining the EU, removal of our nuclear submarine bases etc

Dangerous man. At least the first minister for Wales is Welsh

 

Corbyn has done a lot of damage to the labour party and Starma is not strong enough to repair that damage. Labour have a strong lead in the polls over the tories but I'm guessing that if an election was called now the tories would get back in. To be honest I'm glad to be out of the UK and thats something I never thought I'd feel.

I've got three weeks off so I'm working in the garden and won't be looking at UK news, I'm sick of it.

 

All the talk about the small boats problem is just that, talk. I suspect that and the other waffle that is being rolled out, crackdowns on feral youth etc are just a smokescreen to boost votes in the local elections. If the Conservatives perform poorly then Rishi is likely to get the boot.

 

Seems the same all over Western nations. Politicians live in their own government bubbles.

During elections season, the go out handshaking and baby-kissing. Back in their offices, it is @$$-kissing.

 

Assimilation into the Borg:

"Hate Crime Experts to Rule Whether English Countryside Harbours ‘Rural Racism’"

https://www.amren.com/news/2023/03/...er-english-countryside-harbours-rural-racism/

"The English countryside will be studied by hate crime experts to establish whether it harbours 'rural racism'.

"Academics specialising in British colonialism and hate studies have been commissioned to record the 'lived realities' of ethnic minorities living, working, or hiking in the country.

"The study will gather evidence of “rural racism” in villages in England and the great outdoors, establishing how minorities might be excluded and which policies could prevent this in future.

"The project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust, a charity established by a plantation-owning soap magnate behind Unilever, which vowed following Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 to help 'rid the world of the systemic injustices of racism'.

"A statement on the new Rural Racism Project from the trust said it will 'explore the lived realities of those encountering racism within the English countryside whose experiences are routinely overlooked, minimised and unchallenged'.

"It added that this will 'play a key role in uncovering the nature, extent and impacts of racism experienced in rural towns and villages across the country'

"It is understood the project will examine how ethnic minority hikers may face open hostility when out walking, and how other visitors and recreational groups might feel excluded from enjoying the countryside.

"Plans for the study come after a 2019 report from Campaign to Protect Rural England, which found that people from ethnic minority backgrounds account for around one per cent of visitors to England’s national parks.

"The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has previously reported that minority groups often view the countryside as an 'exclusively English environment' – concerns echoed on the BBC’s Countryfile.

"Groups such as Black Girls Hike and Muslim Hikers have attempted to increase interest in the countryside among minority counties. In the latter’s case, that has included placing signs pointing to Mecca in sites across the Peak District.

"The research and subsequent commitment followed a promise following Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 to 'continue to offer Leverhulme grants to study these and other social inequalities and in this way help rid the world of the systemic injustices of racism'."
============================

Bow before your overlords!!! Western Culture is dead. Christianity is dead. Israel must be destroyed. Palestinians are oppressed. We are now the rulers of your infidel nations! Kneel before Mecca ... or else!!!!!!!
...................................................................................................
.

 

One wonders how anyone could be stabbed in a country that bans knives.

"Fatal stabbings in England and Wales at highest level since records began"

https://news.sky.com/story/fatal-st...at-highest-level-since-records-began-12806729

"The number of fatal stabbings in England and Wales is at its highest level since records began more than 76 years ago."

========================================

"UK may soon seize kitchen knives from suspected criminals' homes amid dangerous weapons crackdown"

https://www.foxnews.com/world/uk-proposes-ban-large-serrated-knives-seizure-police-suspect-crime

"Machetes and some serrated knives could be seized from the homes of suspected criminals under a new United Kingdom proposal amid a crackdown on dangerous weapons. Under the proposed law, criminals who buy or sell them could face up to two years in jail.

"The crackdown would ban the sale and possession of some machetes and unmarked zombie-style knives, according to a report from The Telegraph. Police would also be given powers to seize and destroy the weapons, while criminals would face tougher sentences for their sale and possession.

"While some machetes and similar knives can have 'legitimate uses', such as in gardening, criminals are using them 'simply to terrify and harm victims,' the UK's Home Office, which handles immigration, security, and law and order, said.

" 'Machetes and other large knives are a danger to our communities.' Home Secretary Suella Braverman said. 'Stabbings and murders are all too widespread. As thugs attack each other on our streets with these weapons, they pose a serious problem in some of our towns and cities.'"

===========================================

Drug gangs prefer handguns and military rifles, however the following article states that farmhouses in rural areas are being raided to obtain shotguns for "lower-level" gangs in the cities.

"UK drug gangs armed with terrifying military-grade weapons including submachine gun"

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/uk-drug-gangs-armed-terrifying-28188843

"A Daily Star investigation has revealed the enormous amount of firepower wielded by gangs in the north west, with the Telegram messenger app being used to buy guns, explosives and grenades

"Drugs gangs have access to a terrifying arsenal of firearms, a Daily Star Sunday investigation can reveal.

"Gun runners are smuggling in 'military grade' automatic weapons to arm top-tier crime groups.

"The deadly shipments – which also include grenades and explosives – are being brought in from America, Eastern Europe and Northern Ireland.

"Meanwhile lower-level street gangs are raiding farmhouses in rural areas and robbing licensed owners to steal shotguns to order."

=============================================

"Ukraine war guns likely to end up on UK streets, says weapons expert"

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-65063312

Begin quote

The war in Ukraine is likely to fuel gun crime on the streets of Merseyside for many years, a firearms expert said.

Paul James set up the National Ballistics Intelligence Service, which uses sophisticated analysis to identify and track weapons used by criminals.

Mr James said the Balkans conflict had been the main source of guns being trafficked into Europe since the 1990s.

Guns held by civilians in Ukraine could also end up in the UK, he said, warning of a "time bomb waiting to explode".

Mr James said millions of weapons could circulate when the Ukraine war ends, with many ending up in the hands of criminal gangs.

Even without weapons being trafficked from Ukraine, there are still a significant number of guns on the streets.

Ch Supt Mark Kameen of Merseyside Police said: "Handguns are the weapon of choice, but we are now seeing Skorpions coming into the force area.

"These sub-machine guns have a huge rate of fire, they're absolutely deadly."

Twenty years ago Sicarius McGrath was one of the criminals involved in supplying guns to Merseyside's gangs.

He said he ran a lucrative "gun factory".

Previously deactivated weapons are easy to transform into firearms capable of firing live ammunition, said McGrath, who was most recently released from prison in 2020 and now campaigns against violent crime.

He said the process used to take him less than half an hour and "the profit margin is massive".

McGrath warned of "a new breed of criminal" who are "reckless, fearless, and have a strong appetite for violence".

End quote


-------------------------------------------------

 

They could be. I cannot imagine that the Russians have not thought of this and already have plans in place should they need them.