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Burnley MP speaks out:


Oliver Ryan MP
@OliverRyanUK

Things are getting serious now.

It's time for some facts about local Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and asylum hotels, to stop the nonsense. Lets have it right - concerns about illegal migration are valid, but people in our area are being targeted & its got to stop.
🧵 1/2

https://x.com/OliverRyanUK/status/1958203397963714910

That vid is worth a listen. A building in Gannow, Burnley, 100m from a primary school was set on fire, after rumours circulated, including being pushed by a Ref UK Councillor (vid included), that it was going to be an HMO. In reality there is no application to be an HMO, and it will be supported social housing.

Make you r own evaluation.

To me it smacks of Lee Anderson inventing a non-existent asylum hotel here in 2024; the not-an-asylum-hotel he pointed to was even over the border in Derbyshire.

We need to work to fix the issue, and have police crack down harshly on those seeking to exploit it for their own gain.

It's classically what happens with inflammatory local campaigns. Whispers and rumours provoke action by those with no information and particular concerns which turns into obsessions.

Lots of concerns, some valid, some folk tales, which then land in the wrong place - in this case on a social housing project.

As the father of mixed race children I found this story chilling.

Family in fear after Tommy Robinson shares video of black man with white granddaughters

Exclusive: Olajuwon Ayeni racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile as far right weaponises clip of family in park

A family say their lives have been ruined after a video of a black man and his brother playing in the park with his white granddaughters was shared by Tommy Robinson and weaponised by the far right.

Olajuwon Ayeni, a musician from Redcar, North Yorkshire, has been racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile in the week since the family video was stolen from the TikTok account of his wife, Natalie, whom he married five years ago, and shared by extremists online.

On Tuesday, the couple’s local MP, Anna Turley, was forced to write a letter providing a reference of good character for Ayeni when he was suspended by his management after the online disinformation.

“I’m devastated to receive the email from my management,” Ayeni said. “Music is my life. My social media will be damaged, my career will be tarnished … but I am determined to show the truth and hopefully clear it up.”

He and Natalie say they have been living in fear since being threatened in the street after Robinson shared the video with his 1.4 million followers. The far-right activist wrote on his X account: “Wtf is even going on here? Where are the parents?!”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/20/family-in-fear-after-tommy-robinson-shares-video-of-black-man-with-white-granddaughters

Deeply worrying that such baseless, racist trolling from a known mendacious criminal finds a credulous audience.

Another example of why social media needs to be regulated. Make them responsible as publishers for what they distribute around the world

The true problem is the algorithms. Which promote content that enrages people. Because enraging most people increases their engagement.

If you said that sites that only list by conversation and time (such as PB) are not classed as publishers, but those that use algorithms are, you would strike at the heart of the problem.

I was mildly astonished by the number of St George Crosses and Union Jacks when I drove to Ely and back, yesterday

"A professor of Black Studies at Birmingham University has called the St George's flag "racist" and says it should be changed, as Operation Raise the Colours sees the flags flying across the country."


https://x.com/toadmeister/status/1958227653535690875

It's a real thing, and it is visible in rural/smalltown Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

Really? I run, walk, cycle and drive extensively in that area, and it's really rare. I wonder what route you took?

Up from the M25, M11, A11, to Grimes Graves and then Ely

Noticeable most in the small towns and villages. Weirdly, did not seem related to relative affluence, which is what I expected

You'd be more likely to see Palestinian and/or Ukrainian flags. Particularly flying from churches for the latter.

I only noticed because I took almost exactly the same route (a part of England I rarely visit (my bad)) a week ago when I drove to Suffolk to buy some antiques

On the basis of this latest trip I’d say the number of patriotic flags has doubled?

In lots of places - none. Or one. But then suddenly town or a bridge with loads

I suspect this “campaign” will continue and increase, because it’s a low level, low risk way of expressing disgust at the government/woke/migration etc. And so the Ulsterisation of the UK will proceed

If it's only in one town, are you sure there isn't some sort of festival on?

I ask, because I spend a lot of time in that sort of area, and your depiction is really very different to what I've noticed.

I drove to and from Southwold last week, by two different country routes, and cannot say I saw a single union jack prominently displayed on route. I might have missed some, as I was driving for the journey there, but there was certainly not the sort of display you are breathlessly excited about.

“Midly astonished” is how I described my own reaction. Not “breathlessly excited”

And the only reason I noted the rise in flags is because I did the very same trip one week ago

That said, given the general lack of patriotic flags in rural/small town England it doesn’t take much for the number to “double” - which, again, is how I described what’s happening

LOL.

So you know admit it was a tiny change, and you don't even know if it's associated with the 'campaign' to which you associated it.

A local village, on the country route to my swimming pool, recently had a scarecrow festival. Since that journey passes through two villages, I expect you'd say that the people in Cambridgeshire had developed a sudden scarecrow fetish.

I expect you to be 'mildly astonished' when the sun rises tomorrow morning.

( Some of the scarecrows were really quite inventive, and better than the ones seen in this article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg53kpyl5lo )

You’re too boring to argue with

Let’s see where we are in a year

Trump and Gabbard are doing to the intelligence community what they did to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

My understanding is that the list of people whose clearances have been revoked by Gabbard includes a career civil servant who was until recently the most senior Russia analyst in the CIA, and remains a senior official in the organisation. (The NYT previously reported that the list included a senior CIA analyst; see below).

They—like the NSA's Vinh Nguyen—were presumably targeted because of their prior association with the 'Intelligence Community Assessment [ICA] on Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent Elections', the report which described Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.

I think that would constitute one of the most significant Russia-related purges we have seen to date & with potentially severe consequences for US intelligence analysts' ability to report honestly and candidly on Russia related issues.

https://x.com/shashj/status/1958239330897662171

If Gabbard isn't a Russian asset, she's doing a remarkable impersonation of one.

Peter Zeihan has been saying for some time that she specifically is.

I was mildly astonished by the number of St George Crosses and Union Jacks when I drove to Ely and back, yesterday

"A professor of Black Studies at Birmingham University has called the St George's flag "racist" and says it should be changed, as Operation Raise the Colours sees the flags flying across the country."


https://x.com/toadmeister/status/1958227653535690875

It's a real thing, and it is visible in rural/smalltown Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

Really? I run, walk, cycle and drive extensively in that area, and it's really rare. I wonder what route you took?

Up from the M25, M11, A11, to Grimes Graves and then Ely

Noticeable most in the small towns and villages. Weirdly, did not seem related to relative affluence, which is what I expected

You'd be more likely to see Palestinian and/or Ukrainian flags. Particularly flying from churches for the latter.

I only noticed because I took almost exactly the same route (a part of England I rarely visit (my bad)) a week ago when I drove to Suffolk to buy some antiques

On the basis of this latest trip I’d say the number of patriotic flags has doubled?

In lots of places - none. Or one. But then suddenly town or a bridge with loads

I suspect this “campaign” will continue and increase, because it’s a low level, low risk way of expressing disgust at the government/woke/migration etc. And so the Ulsterisation of the UK will proceed

If it's only in one town, are you sure there isn't some sort of festival on?

I ask, because I spend a lot of time in that sort of area, and your depiction is really very different to what I've noticed.

I drove to and from Southwold last week, by two different country routes, and cannot say I saw a single union jack prominently displayed on route. I might have missed some, as I was driving for the journey there, but there was certainly not the sort of display you are breathlessly excited about.

As you know we have a house in Southwold. Not seen any outbreak of flags at all.

.

Burnley MP speaks out:


Oliver Ryan MP
@OliverRyanUK

Things are getting serious now.

It's time for some facts about local Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and asylum hotels, to stop the nonsense. Lets have it right - concerns about illegal migration are valid, but people in our area are being targeted & its got to stop.
🧵 1/2

https://x.com/OliverRyanUK/status/1958203397963714910

That vid is worth a listen. A building in Gannow, Burnley, 100m from a primary school was set on fire, after rumours circulated, including being pushed by a Ref UK Councillor (vid included), that it was going to be an HMO. In reality there is no application to be an HMO, and it will be supported social housing.

Make you r own evaluation.

To me it smacks of Lee Anderson inventing a non-existent asylum hotel here in 2024; the not-an-asylum-hotel he pointed to was even over the border in Derbyshire.

We need to work to fix the issue, and have police crack down harshly on those seeking to exploit it for their own gain.

It's classically what happens with inflammatory local campaigns. Whispers and rumours provoke action by those with no information and particular concerns which turns into obsessions.

Lots of concerns, some valid, some folk tales, which then land in the wrong place - in this case on a social housing project.

As the father of mixed race children I found this story chilling.

Family in fear after Tommy Robinson shares video of black man with white granddaughters

Exclusive: Olajuwon Ayeni racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile as far right weaponises clip of family in park

A family say their lives have been ruined after a video of a black man and his brother playing in the park with his white granddaughters was shared by Tommy Robinson and weaponised by the far right.

Olajuwon Ayeni, a musician from Redcar, North Yorkshire, has been racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile in the week since the family video was stolen from the TikTok account of his wife, Natalie, whom he married five years ago, and shared by extremists online.

On Tuesday, the couple’s local MP, Anna Turley, was forced to write a letter providing a reference of good character for Ayeni when he was suspended by his management after the online disinformation.

“I’m devastated to receive the email from my management,” Ayeni said. “Music is my life. My social media will be damaged, my career will be tarnished … but I am determined to show the truth and hopefully clear it up.”

He and Natalie say they have been living in fear since being threatened in the street after Robinson shared the video with his 1.4 million followers. The far-right activist wrote on his X account: “Wtf is even going on here? Where are the parents?!”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/20/family-in-fear-after-tommy-robinson-shares-video-of-black-man-with-white-granddaughters

Deeply worrying that such baseless, racist trolling from a known mendacious criminal finds a credulous audience.

It was in Redcar that I first discovered that the racist overtalkative taxi driver stereotype is not entirely made up, when I found myself in a 15 minute trip with one a few years back.

For balance, a few years ago I got stuck in a taxi with a Muslim driver who spent the ten minute journey shouting at the top of his voice about how Muhammed was going to wipe out all the white sinning infidels with their alcohol and extramarital affairs and so on at some final climatic battle or other.

I declined to tip as I wanted to talk about the weather.

We had one who close passed a cyclist and started kicking off about the "cycling lobby". He got a bit of shock when we asked him to pull over and let us out under threat of a report to the licencing team at the council. I guess he didn't expect me in my suit to be a member of the wokerati.

(Otoh, I've had a taxi driver cheerily take my bike home when I couldn't fix a mechanical. A mixed bunch.)