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Shocking Britain

194 replies

ShockingBritain · 30/04/2026 08:22

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxplq92rx1o

The crime wave from overseas gang led, drug dealing, money laundering, fake cigarettes, etc dominating our High Streets.

Mandy has short dark hair, is wearing a dark textured jacket and small drop earrings, and is turned slightly to one side with the face in profile.

'We will kill you and burn your house': Council staff under attack from High Street gangs

Dozens of Trading Standards officers describe intimidation from criminals running mini-marts and vape shops.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxplq92rx1o

OP posts:
Forthesteps · Yesterday 16:03

ShockingBritain · 30/04/2026 08:24

"We will kill you and burn your house': Council staff under attack from High Street gangs"

They are not being controlled. Illegal tobacco under the counter, spice laced vapes sold to kids, cash only barbers, money laundering.

Investigators are met with violence and threats.

"THEY DON'T PLAY BY THE SAME RULES AS EVERYONE ELSE"

Yes it's all terrible and dear uncle Nige will come and sort it all out.

🥱

climbintheback · Yesterday 16:04

Backedoffhackedoff · Yesterday 15:53

What are you talking about? The whole point is the barbers aren’t money laundering. they are working in a shop which is a front for money laundering which isn’t the same thing.

it’s got nothing to do with the level of crime i think someone (someone who actually did it) should be deported for.
Deporting foreign barbers because they work in a money laundering shop won’t stop the money laundering

Bonkers

climbintheback · Yesterday 16:07

If imports don’t follow the rules then off they pop!

Backedoffhackedoff · Yesterday 16:11

climbintheback · Yesterday 16:04

Bonkers

You are suggesting some really daft things

MaybeThisTimeILlbeLucky · Yesterday 16:46

How are they getting in if they are Turkish etc ? .

A really good focus for a few years raiding them ,doing immigration checks and so on ,tax ,fraud

Crime goes where it's easy to be a criminal.

Ive heard many travel on dodgy passports ,and get into UK by.nefarous means then open up shops then it's an uncle or brother taking charge ,stop paying bills and so on.

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · Yesterday 16:49

Oh sorry!

It posted in the wrong place!

Apologies!

Backedoffhackedoff · Yesterday 17:27

MaybeThisTimeILlbeLucky · Yesterday 16:46

How are they getting in if they are Turkish etc ? .

A really good focus for a few years raiding them ,doing immigration checks and so on ,tax ,fraud

Crime goes where it's easy to be a criminal.

Ive heard many travel on dodgy passports ,and get into UK by.nefarous means then open up shops then it's an uncle or brother taking charge ,stop paying bills and so on.

What do you mean how are they getting in? Turkish people can just get a flight here a standard tourist visa allows them to stay 6 months.

but as I said above they’re not necessarily Turkish, it’s just called a Turkish barber 😂 much of the organised crime in those shops is coming from Albania, Vietnam,

MaybeThisTimeILlbeLucky · Yesterday 17:28

And I believe Kurdistan

GimmieABreakOr3 · Yesterday 17:38

My local town is absolutely littered with Barbers, Vape Shops, small convenience stores and nail shops. They are absolutely a front. There is no way they are making enough money from trading these things alone….

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · Yesterday 17:41

GimmieABreakOr3 · Yesterday 17:38

My local town is absolutely littered with Barbers, Vape Shops, small convenience stores and nail shops. They are absolutely a front. There is no way they are making enough money from trading these things alone….

This is scary though.

There are so many of these shops everywhere that even if only a fracture of them are a front can you just imagine the sums of money controlled by organised crime in the country?

Stagering.

GimmieABreakOr3 · Yesterday 17:43

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · Yesterday 17:41

This is scary though.

There are so many of these shops everywhere that even if only a fracture of them are a front can you just imagine the sums of money controlled by organised crime in the country?

Stagering.

100%
it really pisses me off that it’s happening right in front of our eyes and nothing is being done about it. It’s ruining our communities and economy.

HeadDeskHeadDesk · Yesterday 17:43

Backedoffhackedoff · Yesterday 15:53

What are you talking about? The whole point is the barbers aren’t money laundering. they are working in a shop which is a front for money laundering which isn’t the same thing.

it’s got nothing to do with the level of crime i think someone (someone who actually did it) should be deported for.
Deporting foreign barbers because they work in a money laundering shop won’t stop the money laundering

Well if you close down all the money laundering shops then those barbers won't have jobs anyway, will they? So they'll still have to go home if they are not British nationals. How many of these places do you see employing British staff? How many of these Turkish/Kurdish/Balkan men were even in this country more than 15 years ago? I'll bet hardly any.

If the government got its act together and closed these places down, then the employees simply aren't needed. We don't owe them a chance to go self employed. There are obviously far too many of them and they could not feasibly all make an honest living. Every man in the UK would be having to have haircuts weekly for that to make sense. Somehow, in the past, we always managed perfectly well with just one barber in each small market town, not five...

It's the same with the Vietnamese nail bars and the Albanian car washes and the Romanian Big Issue sellers. These people knowingly allowed themselves to be trafficked to the UK to work in these money laundering places, or somehow linked to organised criminal gangs and scammers of the system. They are not naive, they know EXACTLY what they are doing, most will have paid a fee for the privilege of being 'trafficked.' I am not interested in whatever 'difficulties' they allege they might face against the local 'mob' if they are sent back. It's not my problem, it's not my country's problem. They got £££ signs in their eyes, took a punt on something dodgy, it didn't work out. They should have done their own risk assessment before they signed up.

Close the places down, send the staff home. Every honest, hard working, legitimate barber and nail technicianin this country who now struggles to stay afloat because of this dodgy competition will thank you for it.

2dogsandabudgie · Yesterday 17:44

Forthesteps · Yesterday 16:03

Yes it's all terrible and dear uncle Nige will come and sort it all out.

🥱

The problem is we don't have politicians with a backbone anymore. They're all too scared to say or do anything.

Love or hate Farage you have to admit he's not scared to say what he thinks.

cocoaero · Yesterday 17:46

It is depressing but not surprising. I've noticed shops near me that present like duel vape / American candy shops but which seem to have very little stock just a few shelves of things here and there. Obviously a front for something and I have no idea why they aren't shut down.

climbintheback · Yesterday 17:57

well Mr Starmer has done feck all about it or any of the myriad PMs over the last 20 years - now it’s been on the National news people are waking up but it’s going to need a massive change in Government and it seems only Farage and Rupert Lowe are talking about doing something radical!

SpaceRaccoon · Yesterday 18:03

Backedoffhackedoff · Yesterday 15:53

What are you talking about? The whole point is the barbers aren’t money laundering. they are working in a shop which is a front for money laundering which isn’t the same thing.

it’s got nothing to do with the level of crime i think someone (someone who actually did it) should be deported for.
Deporting foreign barbers because they work in a money laundering shop won’t stop the money laundering

I don't think the UK should be handing out visas for barbers anyway.

5MinuteArgument · Yesterday 18:04

GimmieABreakOr3 · Yesterday 17:38

My local town is absolutely littered with Barbers, Vape Shops, small convenience stores and nail shops. They are absolutely a front. There is no way they are making enough money from trading these things alone….

Yes, also the BBC video showed that the problem isn't just money laundering, it's about mini mart shopkeepers providing illegal drugs. I'm sure there's a lot going on that should be investigated and acted upon.

5MinuteArgument · Yesterday 18:06

SpaceRaccoon · Yesterday 18:03

I don't think the UK should be handing out visas for barbers anyway.

Absolutely, we seem to hand out visas like confetti. Thousands of visas were issued to people to work in social care, and then they ended up not going into that sector anyway. Crazy situation.

SpaceRaccoon · Yesterday 18:09

5MinuteArgument · Yesterday 18:06

Absolutely, we seem to hand out visas like confetti. Thousands of visas were issued to people to work in social care, and then they ended up not going into that sector anyway. Crazy situation.

It's actually gutting for me as someone who immigrated to the UK a long time ago. I had a STEM degree and relevant experience and it was a really tough, expensive process.

5MinuteArgument · Yesterday 18:17

SpaceRaccoon · Yesterday 18:09

It's actually gutting for me as someone who immigrated to the UK a long time ago. I had a STEM degree and relevant experience and it was a really tough, expensive process.

Agreed. Our visa system has become a joke, British citizenship only valued as a meal ticket, importing thousands of low skilled people who care nothing for this country and not deporting people even when they have committed crimes.

HeadDeskHeadDesk · Yesterday 18:32

5MinuteArgument · Yesterday 18:06

Absolutely, we seem to hand out visas like confetti. Thousands of visas were issued to people to work in social care, and then they ended up not going into that sector anyway. Crazy situation.

I approached a security guard in a shopping centre the other day to ask him directions to somewhere. He was Bangladeshi or possibly Indian I think, and barely spoke any English. I mean barely.

Why we need to import someone with minimal English to do a basic, low skill job like that I have literally no idea. It's not as if we don't already have enough unemployed British men of immigrant heritage who have nothing to do all day, is it? Or men of indigenous British heritage for that matter.

ShockingBritain · Yesterday 18:38

Forthesteps · Yesterday 16:03

Yes it's all terrible and dear uncle Nige will come and sort it all out.

🥱

Grow up.

I.dont support whom you refer to as 'Uncle Nige'. I want this government to sort it out. I want police to be given resources to crack down on this crime.

OP posts:
GimmieABreakOr3 · Yesterday 19:47

I want the government to sort it out too. I might write to my local MP about it, it makes me really cross as someone who works full time and pays taxes.

climbintheback · Yesterday 19:52

SpaceRaccoon · Yesterday 18:03

I don't think the UK should be handing out visas for barbers anyway.

Are you a Turkish barber or is one your partner? If neither why are you defending criminals?

5MinuteArgument · Yesterday 21:12

climbintheback · Yesterday 19:52

Are you a Turkish barber or is one your partner? If neither why are you defending criminals?

I don't think the above post is defending criminals. The post is saying visas shouldn't be handed out for barbers.

We issue visas far too readily and now it's starting to impact negatively on our society.

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