''Barely Used'' in UK Test, Trace: Leaving Thousands
Unaware of COVID Risk
March 5th (FNA)
Data collected from millions of people who checked-in
to hospitality venues and hairdressers prior to the
reintroduction of lockdown, was barely used by
Test and Trace, according to a report seen by
Sky News on Thursday.
Upon the initial re-opening of the economy last year, the
app was introduced to alert anyone who may have
come into contact with an infected person.
The report adds that the failure of the £22-bln system to
track data and alert those at risk meant "thousands of
people" were not warned, "potentially leading to the
spread of the virus".
Moreover, when coronavirus data from venues was used,
public health officials told pubs and restaurants to
contact customers directly – which is a breach of data protection laws.
"This is a breach of the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR), and leaves businesses and venues open to
potential legal challenges," the report said.
Not only did Test and Trace fail to use COVID-19 data
accumulated by venues, but it also failed to use the
QR code alert system included in the contact
tracing app, which cost £40mln to roll out.
The document acknowledged that the system was "not fully"
utilised despite a national campaign promoting its use.
Instead, the report blamed "capacity issues at a local
level" for the mishap.
Local public health officials were assigned to contact venues
in order to obtain check-in data or identify locations
considered to be most at risk and issue alerts via
the app.
The report said that a "significant administrative burden"
was placed on local health protection teams that were
already working at full capacity, many of which were
also unaware of how to send data to the app.
Kate Nicholls, CEO of Hospitality UK, called
the revelations "incredibly frustrating."
"Our teams worked really hard to capture that data on
the understanding that it was going to be used,
should there be problems," she said.
"To hear that it wasn't used, and in fact we had further
restrictions without, really, any clear evidence that
there was a problem with hospitality, is a major
cause for concern," she added.
When asked about the potential breach of information
protection laws, Nicholls said that businesses were
working with "unclear" guidance from government
-- which changed the legislation in September --
making it compulsory for specific venues to
collect customers' data.
The Labour Party's Shadow Health Minister Justin
Madders slammed what he called "a staggering
level of dysfunctionality at the heart of the
Test and Trace system".
"It seems thousands of people may have been infected
unnecessarily, because there wasn't the capacity,
joined up-thinking, or direction, to ensure the
systems in place were being used properly," he told Sky News.
When the app notification system was introduced last
October, lawmakers said it would be part of a
trajectory towards certain venues having to
display official NHS QR codes, by law.
However, the Sky News report later revealed that two
weeks after its launch, just one alert about an out-
break in a venue had been issued, despite being
used by millions across the country.
Recent Test and Trace figures show that over 100 million
people checked in to venues using the app, but analysis
by software developer, Russ Garrett, reveals that just
284 alerts were sent out to 276 venues.
It has been suggested that the Test and Trace app could
be used as a new coronavirus "vaccine passport"
during the UK's easing of lockdown this year,
according to a Times report.
The UK government has also come under fire for out-
sourcing the track and trace operation to a private
contractor, rather than creating the system
in-house, under the NHS.
Serco, a private company that runs coronavirus testing
centres across the country, was found to have
continually missed its 80 percent target set
by the government's scientific advisors
for contacts traced, only managing to
reach 58.6 percent on average.
Despite this, Serco was awarded a £45mln
contract, to add further testing centres.
________________________________
Why Wales will split from the UK -
or simply not exist by 2030,says
one of the country’s leading
independence figures
by Chris Sweeney
February 23rd (RT)
RT spoke exclusively to Siôn Jobbins, chair of YesCymru,
an organisation advocating Welsh independence, who
explained why it will be now or never for his country
to go it alone, if Scotland decides to quit the union.
“I’m not trying to scare people. In 10 years’ time, we’ll either be part of England or independent.” Those are the straight-
talking words of Siôn Jobbins.
Both in Britain and further afield, the biggest threat to the future
of the UK is perceived to be Scotland’s bid for independence.
But in Wales, YesCymru has witnessed a 900 percent rise in
membership over the past year alone. The umbrella group
has two key goals:- for Wales to have an independent
constitution; and obtain international recognition,
via a seat at the United Nations.
While most of the coverage of independence movements focuses
on the legal aspects, in Wales, there is a powerful cultural
argument for the country to go it alone: the country has
its own language, which is spoken by 28.5 percent of
the population.
But in an ironic twist, Jobbins claims efforts to keep it alive have,
in some ways, stunted the argument for becoming a standalone
nation. Over hundreds of years, pride in the language has
promoted a feeling of identity that has taken precedence
over what passport Welsh people should use.
He said, “The sort of people who you would say were
independence supporters traditionally pushed for the
Welsh language and cultural things – not the
constitutional argument.
“For many, strengthening the language was more important
than independence. There is the example of Ireland, which
some see as a mistake. They went independent, but didn’t
revive their language. So, that was the main driver:‘we
haven’t been independent for 400 years, so we need
to focus on our culture’.”
That was also the case with the main political independence party,
Plaid Cymru. Jobbins explained: “Since 1970, Plaid Cymru had
an issue with the word independence. It felt no one is really
independent: all countries are inter-dependent. It’s about
the state not being all powerful. That went way back, to times under the Pope, when no one was
really sovereign.”
But despite this complicated history and differing opinions over
what independence really means, things are changing. Typically,
older people resisted the Welsh language, as they felt it would
take things backwards and be a threat to the speaking of
English. But the younger generation now, has a
different view.
Jobbins continued, “[Some] people over 65 and even those
over-50 don’t like independence and may have anti-Welsh
attitudes.Younger people, even those who don’t speak
Welsh, have a warmer attitude to independence.
“The argument was, all these Welsh speakers would come down
to our capital city, Cardiff, and take away jobs from English
speakers.Now, I will ask for a cappuccino in Welsh, in
Cardiff,but I would never have done that 20 years
ago, as you would have been sworn at.
“People born from the 90s onwards, their fear of Welsh is much
less. You have a generation in their 30s who are relaxed. They
might not speak it fluently, but they will, likely, understand some basics – and there is no way, English is leaving Wales.”
Children in Wales can speak English or Welsh at school. TV and
radio stations also broadcast in both languages. Even the
country’s footballers, also do interviews in Welsh, if they
can speak it - a significant step, as, traditionally, football
had been seen as an ‘English’ sport, with rugby viewed
as the Welsh game.
Jobbins continued, “Language could have been a divisive issue,
but it hasn’t been, by and large. A lot of the problems affecting
[the] independence [argument], 10 or 20 years ago, don’t
exist now.”
Another pressure point has been Brexit.
It has powered the drive for independence, even though a
majority of Welsh voters (52.5 percent) opted to leave the
European Union.
Jobbins explained, “The people who feel more Welsh than
British voted Remain. But in England, it was the reverse.
They voted Leave. Brexit has shaken things up. The
people who didn’t think much about independence,
and those who are proud to be British – but still
critical – had the feeling that things could be
worse [if we left the EU], so thought, ‘let’s
muddle through’. A lot of Welsh people
like [the idea of] muddling through
and being part of the union.
“But Brexit has shaken their confidence in that model. They
might not be totally turned off by Westminster, but the affinity
is gone. It’s not been the Brexit vote, but the after-effect, that
has brought over a chunk of voters to YesCymru.”
The economic argument for an independent Wales is also
not so well established as Scotland’s, which has oil
reserves and globally recognised products,
such as whisky, to call on.
But Wales, with a population of 3.1 million, does nonetheless
have its own earners, such as 15 percent of Europe’s tidal
power, and the fact that it generates twice the amount of
electricity it uses. It is also a net exporter of foodstuffs.
Jobbins added: “Southeast England is built on services. We’re
weak there,but proportionally strong in manufacturing. There
are poor people in Wales, but Wales is not a poor country.”
Jobbins doesn’t view concerns over what currency would be
used as an obstacle to independence. He argues that Wales
could continue using sterling, adopt the euro, or form a
new currency.
“I was in Slovakia the year after the break-up [with the Czechs],
and it was still using the Czechoslovakian currency. A year
later, it made its own currency. It’s a non-issue and it
would only make sterling stronger, if [independent]
Wales kept using it.”
Of course, all this only becomes relevant if a referendum is held
and the Welsh vote for independence. Recent polls suggest
support for a referendum is at around the 30 per cent mark.
Independence supporters are concerned they will have to move
quickly, if Scotland does break from the UK. Polling shows
record support there for Scottish independence, and the
pro-independence SNP is tipped to hold onto power in
May’s Scottish elections. If it does, it has vowed to
demand another referendum, following the failed
vote in 2014.
The worry is, if Scotland were to quit the UK, the Westminster
parliament would tighten the rules to block Wales leaving. As
Jobbins explained, “There is an existential threat to Welsh
identity. We are concerned that the logical progression of
Brexit is a unified British state, going back to the 1970s
and pre-devolution.''
“If Scotland goes, then that’s a crisis for Wales. We then have
to vote within 12 to 18 months. We will have a choice:
incorporation, or independence.It’s worse for us,
as we’re so close to England.''
“Welsh independence could come around much quicker than
anyone anticipated.And, if it doesn’t happen that quickly,
maybe it doesn’t happen at all.”
While Plaid Cymru is the main political party behind independence,
there are other groups pushing to break away too, including
Labour for IndyWales, Undod and Gwlad. Across the
movement, there’s a collective feeling that the drive
for it, is approaching a critical moment.
Jobbins highlighted the region of Brittany in northern France as
an ideal example of what Wales’ fate could be if it remains in the
UK in the long term. He said: “Their language, Breton, is similar
to Welsh. But the French treat them [the speakers] like sh*t –
they have no language rights. It’s the only language [in
France] other than French, apart from small pockets of
Basque and Catalan.''
“There’s an argument in Wales that it was lucky that Scotland
joined the union in 1707, as, if not, it would have been totally
incorporated into England. Then Ireland came, which again,
helped. Without all of that, we’d be like Brittany. So, if
Scotland leaves soon, we’re in trouble – and that will be a big motivator for our people.”
Elections are also being held Wales on May 6th. If Plaid Cymru is successful, it has vowed to push for a referendum. But, Jobbins acknowledges, it all rests on a knife edge.
He said, “2,000 votes in key parts of Wales could make a
difference either way. No one knows what’s going to
happen, but we’ve seen, with our huge surge in
membership, that people who were what we
would call ‘indy-curious’, have started to
ask questions and really come out, in
the last 12 months.”
May 6th, then, could give us a good idea of what
the future of the United Kingdom may look like.
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
Chris Sweeney is an author and columnist who has
written for newspapers such as The Times, Daily
Express, The Sun and Daily Record, along with
several international-selling magazines. Follow him on Twitter @Writes_Sweeney
___________________________________
International Trade Minister:
UK, Australia Begin Fourth
Round of Trade Talks on
Post-Brexit Deal
22.02.2021 (Sputnik)
The United Kingdom and Australia start, on Monday,
the fourth round of talks on a post-Brexit free trade
deal that will slash tariffs and “propel an exports-
led, investment-led recovery, across the UK,”
International Trade Minister, Liz Truss, said.
The international trade secretary said that the UK wants
to sign a deal with its commonwealth partner, that
strengthens the global consensus for free trade,
cuts tariffs for business and helps propel an
exports-led, investment-led recovery across the UK.
After leaving the European Union on January 31st,
2020, the UK embarked on trade negotiations with
the US, Japan, Australia, and other countries, in
an attempt to compensate for its departure
from the European bloc.
So far, the UK government has inked post-Brexit trade
deals with Japan, Canada, Vietnam, and Singapore,
among other countries, while negotiations with the
United States and New Zealand, still continue.
It has also formally applied to join the Comprehensive
and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership.
According to the City A.M. financial newspaper,
the UK-Australia free trade deal could be
finalised by Easter.
Citing sources from the UK International Trade Ministry,
the news outlet said that the deal will allow young UK
citizens & business travellers greater opportunities
to live and work in Australia and vice versa,
and open up Australia´s market to UK
telecommunications companies.
_______________________________
Poll: 62% Say
Third Political Party
Is Needed in US
February 16th (FNA)
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the US needs a third
major political party, because the GOP and Democrat
Party "do such a poor job representing the
American people", according to a new Gallup poll.
In the survey released Monday, 62 percent of Americans
said the third party was needed, while 33 percent said
the two existing major parties do an "adequate" job
representing the majority of Americans' political
views, The Hill reported.
It's the largest percentage of people to say the US needs
a third party, since Gallup began polling on the question
in 2003. The poll also marks the 2nd-lowest percentage
of people who said the existing parties are adequate,
after 26 percent of respondents said so, in an
October 2013 poll.
Both parties have favorable ratings below 50 percent. The Democrat Party is viewed favorably by 48 percent of Americans, while the GOP is viewed favorably by
37 percent.
Four in 10 Republicans say they want their party to become
more conservative after the end of former President Donald
Trump's term, while 34 percent hope it will stay the same
and just 24 percent want it to become more moderate.
Democrats are more split, with 34 percent wanting
their party to shift left, 34 percent wanting it to
remain the same and 31 percent wanting it
to shift right.
________________________________
China pulls BBC World News offtheair for --- serious content violation
February 12th (Xinhua)
China's broadcasting regulator, on Thursday, made an
announcement on pulling BBC World News off the air
in the country, for serious content violations.
The National Radio 7 Television Administration (NRTA)
said BBC World News was found to have seriously
violated regulations on radio and television
management, and on overseas satellite
television channel management, in its
China-related reports, which went
against the requirements that
news reporting must be true
and impartial & undermined
China's national interests and ethnic solidarity.
"As the channel fails to meet the requirements to broadcast
in China as an overseas channel, BBC World News is not
allowed to continue its service within Chinese territory.
The NRTA will not accept the channel's broadcast
application for the new year," the regulator said
in a statement.
(Rhondda Records adds: this comes after the BBC
banned CGTN, China's most popular news agency across the world, on February 4th)
_________________________
DPR worried about health of millions
of Ukrainians after Kiev’s rejection
of Russian vaccines
February 11th (DAN)
Kiev put under threat the health of millions of Ukrainian
citizens as it rejected the Russian vaccine, Donetsk
People’s Republic authorised representative to
the Contact Group talks, DPR Foreign Minister
Natalia Nikonorova said on Thursday.
On February 10, Alexey Reznikov, Ukraine’s Minister for
Reintegration of the “Temporarily Occupied Territories”
told the RBK-Ukraine news portal that the population of
the LPR and the DPR was shut off from urgent
medical assistance.
“Ukrainian authorities, after seven years of shelling of the
Republic, the humanitarian, economic and transport
blockade and infringement of rights and freedoms
suddenly decided to become concerned over the
health of our residents. Apparently, as part of
this concern, the minister for “reintegration”
of Donbass speaks to media outlets about
“medical genocide” in the Republic,”
Nikonorova said.
In her opinion, Kiev should focuse on the condition of
health care in Ukraine in the first place, and solve the
problem of vaccinating the population against
coronavirus.
“That country could have had the real opportunity to help
its citizens with deliveries of the effective & safe, Russian
vaccine. Instead, Ukrainian authorities prefer to continue
the absurd politicizing of the humanitarian sphere, and
the anti-Russian policy. The price of such solutions is
not only the breakaway Donbass, which no longer
wants to belong to that country, but the life and
health of millions of Ukrainian residents,” the
minister said recommending Kiev to soberly
assess the consequences of such
administrative decisions for
their country.
Russia began to produce a COVID-19 vaccine last summer.
It was registered on August 11, the first in the world. The
vaccine, Sputnik V, was developed by the Russian
Health Ministry’s Gamaleya Research Centre.
Russian vaccines are expected to be
delivered to more than 50 states.
The DPR launched vaccination using Sputnik V on February 1.
Ukraine is currently the only country in Europe which has not
begun vaccination against COVID-19.*jk
___________________________
WHO: Global Number of New
COVID-19 Cases Declining
February 10th (al Manar)
The number of new COVID-19 cases around the globe
is decreasing, the World Health Organization (WHO)
said in a statement.
“For the fourth week in a row, the number of global
new cases reported fell, with 3.1 million new cases
last week, a 17% decline compared to the previous
week,” the WHO said.
“This is the lowest figure since the week of October 26th
(15 weeks ago),” it said, Sputnik reported on Wednesday.
The WHO said that although there are still many countries
with increasing numbers of cases, the tendency at the
global level was encouraging.
“The number of new deaths reported, also fell for a second
week in a row, with 88,000 new deaths reported last week,
a 10% decline, as compared to the previous week. All
WHO regions reported a decline in new cases, with
five out of six regions reporting more than 10%
decreases,” the global health body said.
“Europe, and the Region of the Americas, saw the greatest
drops in absolute numbers, with together nearly 0.5 million
fewer new cases reported last week (153,000 and 320,000
fewer new cases reported, respectively). New deaths also
declined in all regions except the Western Pacific, where
mortality rates remained similar to the previous week,”
it said.
Source: Agencies
__________________________
UK could experience lockdowns
for 'SEVERAL YEARS' despite
vaccination program, SAGE
member warns
February 9th (RT)
A member of the UK government's Scientific Advisory Group for
Emergencies (SAGE) has claimed that lockdowns could be a
part of people's lives for "several years" as variants of
Covid-19 mutate.
Professor Sir Ian Boyd, who teaches at the University of St
Andrews' School of Biology, warned this week against the
frequent lifting of lockdowns because "it simply fuels a
new wave of disease" that can cause the virus to
replicate more and mutate into new strains.
"There are a lot of reasons for taking pain now, in order to
create conditions for controlled release from [restrictions]
a lot easier," he argued, adding, "Otherwise we risk just
passing through phases of various levels of lockdown
and release."
Boyd said that lockdowns "could go on for a long time," despite
the UK's mass vaccination program. "My suspicion is that we
will experience a damped oscillation of control-release for a
long time to come — perhaps several years."
Brits reacted negatively to the prospect of lockdowns
still being used in several years, calling it "madness."
"Ok. This is ridiculous now,"tweeted journalist James Melville,
while another social media user argued the country "won’t
survive" years of lockdowns.
"If you are waiting to live, love, and laugh with others again
until things get back to normal, that normal may never
come,"commented church pastor Regan Blanton
King. "Going forward, it is important that we
prioritise faith and family and lobby
for freedom."
Experts have frequently told Brits that the UK would start
returning to normal once the majority of the population is
vaccinated. Mutations of the virus, however, have led to
an increased concern over whether the vaccines will
work efficiently against new strains.
At least 147 cases of the South African variant, deemed to be
a faster-spreading strain Of Covid-19, have been recorded
in the UK, though officials fear the number could
be higher.
Brits seem to have become increasingly fed up with lockdowns,
which have been implemented in various tiers since March
2020, according to data which shows more people are
leaving their homes to go shopping. Most shops are
forbidden from opening, but stores deemed
essential like supermarkets, newsagents,
and pharmacies remain open, while
others remain open only for
click-and-collect services.
_______________________
Iran Unveils New
Coronavirus Vaccine
February 7th, 2021
al Manar news agency (English)
Iran, on Sunday, unveiled its second coronavirus
vaccine, administered via injection or inhalation.
The homegrown vaccine, developed by the Razi
Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, will
undergo human trials tomorrow, Tasnim
news agency reported.
Cov-Pars is a vaccine based on recombinant
protein that can be injected or inhaled.
In comments at the unveiling ceremony, Health
Minister Saeed Namaki said Iran is going to
become a main hub of vaccine production
in the world, in the coming months.
The first Iranian vaccine, financed by the Barakat
Foundation, has already been injected to several
volunteers, all of whom are in good health.
Officials say Iran will receive around 16 million doses
of vaccines through the World Health Organization’s
COVAX program, import more than 25 million doses
from abroad, and produce 25 million other doses
inside the country.
According to Iran’s Food and Drug Administration,
the country has purchased 2 million doses of
Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine, the first shipment
of which arrived in Tehran on February 4th.
The first group of Iranians to get the imported vaccine
this week, will be the healthcare and medical staff.
Source: Iranian media
___________________________________________
Europe facing
COVID-19 ‘catastrophe’
as 'vaccine war explodes'
February 6th (Press TV)
The European Union is said to be facing a “catastrophe”
over the delay in the supply of coronavirus vaccines
across the continent, which is grappling with the
epidemiological crisis that has so far claimed
hundreds of thousands of lives.
Diplomats from the 27-member bloc expressed desperation
about curbing the pandemic in a meeting in the Europa
building in Brussels — home of the European Union’s
political leadership — last week, & said the vaccine
squeeze was not just a public health nightmare, but also a political crisis.
"This is a catastrophe," French ambassador
Philippe Leglise-Costa said in the meeting
of EU ambassadors.
The comment was made, after the EU failed to live up to
a promise to vaccinate 70% of adults against COVID-19
by the end of summer due to the delays announced by
the companies producing coronavirus vaccines,
such as AstraZeneca PLC and Pfizer Inc.
The shortage in the procurement of vaccines risked
leaving millions of Europeans unprotected in the
winter at a time that new, more transmissible
variants were circulating and hospitals
were being overwhelmed.
Reports said vaccination centres from Madrid
to Paris, had closed, for lack of supply.
Competing pharmaceutical companies must unite their
efforts to drastically increase production capacities,
the WHO head in Europe said.
The European Commission lodged several lawsuits against
the drugmakers, in an attempt to win ground by legal means
but failed and faced sharp attacks from EU governments, as
the pandemic has killed over 700,000 people in Europe alone.
Leaked notes, cited by Reuters, on internal EU meetings over
the past month have revealed that the EU's top executives
knew of the delays in the procurement of the coronavirus
vaccines, exposing a climate of incompetence and chaos
at the heart of Brussels.
"EU negotiators were aware AstraZeneca was scaling back its
planned supply because of production problems," Reuters
said, citing the leaked notes. "The company had told the
EU’s steering group on December 4 that it would reduce
its targets for the first quarter to two-thirds of the 120
million maximum."
The notes also showed that the bloc initially kept no track
of the companies' vaccine doses leaving the union, only
realizing after its own supplies were delayed --- and it
couldn't trace the millions of doses already exported.
As the impact of the vaccine shortfall became clear, the bloc
embarked on a campaign to shame drugmakers hit by
production delays into releasing more supply, but
the tactic fell through.
Since then, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
has attempted to regain the trust of EU leaders, by
admitting to her mistakes, saying Brussels
"underestimated" the challenges of the
coronavirus vaccine rollout, across
the bloc.
She has also stated that Brussels expects to receive about
100 million vaccine doses in the first three months of this
year, with deliveries increasing month by month.
The Commission also turned up the heat on the United
Kingdom - which AstraZeneca said was preventing
British-made vaccines from reaching Europe -
only to swiftly step back after realizing it
risked disrupting a border agreement
in the Brexit accord.
The damage to the EU’s image has splashed on the front
pages of Britain’s euroskeptic popular press, with headl-
ines declaring "EU vaccines war explodes” and "EU
chiefs behaving like the mafia.”
According to a report published by AFP on Friday, the
pandemic has killed at least 2,285,334 worldwide and
more than 104,848,470 cases of infection have been
officially diagnosed.
Of these, at least 63,863,800 are now
considered recovered.
_______________________________
Labour Leader Keir Starmer'Must Give Evidence' to Inquiry,
Say Activists 'Fitted Up by Spycops'
by Mohamed Elmaazi
15:22 GMT 05.02.2021 (Sputnik)
A collection of activists who were found to have been
wrongfully prosecuted and convicted in 2009, are
demanding that the former chief prosecutor
answer questions before the ongoing
Undercover Policing Inquiry.
Environmental activists who were wrongfully convicted
have called upon UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer
to answer questions at the Undercover Policing Inquiry
(UCPI), for his role in an alleged coverup of the use of
undercover police when he was Director of Public
Prosecutions. The activists in question were
arrested, whilst planning a protest against
Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station,
in Nottinghamshire, England, in April 2009.
The open letter, which has received scant media coverage
since its publication on 4 February 2021, alleges that
Starmer, "may have been involved in a cover-up of
police and prosecutors orchestrating wrongful
convictions".
"A decade ago, this month, the world learnt that Mark Kennedy
was a Metropolitan Police officer spying on environmentalists.
This information led to the collapse of a trial where six
environmental campaigners were accused of
conspiring to occupy a coal-fired power
station", the letter published via the
Campaign Opposing Police
Surveillance (COPS)
website explains.
In a separate trial, "the convictions of 20 campaigners for
conspiring to occupy the same coal-fired power station
were quashed by the Court of Appeal, because the
prosecution failed to disclose information about
Mark Kennedy’s involvement that would have
helped their defence", COPS add.
Starmer, as chief prosecutor at the time of the trial,
commissioned a report headed by former Court of
Appeal judge Sir Christopher Rose Report into the
withholding information about the role of under-
cover police in the two cases. The Rose Report
ultimately determined that the, "failings were
individual, and not systemic". However, the
findings of the Rose Report appeared to be
contradicted by further evidence of activist
groups being infiltrated by police with the
latter's role not being disclosed to
the defendants.
"Why did Keir Starmer ask for three reviews into CPS
failings relating to undercover policing that were kept
from public view, before commissioning the Rose
report?", the signatories to the letter asks.
"What action was taken by Keir Starmer after the Rose report
was shown to be wrong, to uncover other miscarriages of
justice?", the letter adds.
Crucially, the letter points out that a report commissioned by
then-Home Secretary Theresa May into possible miscarriages
of justice identified "83 activists who were convicted in trials
involving an undercover officer, over three decades", and
ask how it is, that the CPS inquiry, "has, to date,
discovered nobody whom the media and
campaigners hadn't already identified".
Labour's current leader has, as of yet, not responded to the
letter signed by 18 men and women who were, "arrested
and charged with conspiracy, or arrested, charged and
wrongfully convicted of conspiracy", with the former
undercover officer, Mark Kennedy.
The UCPI was initiated by Theresa May when it was discovered
that the police had been secretly recording the lawyer-client
conversations of the family of Stephen Laurence, who was
murdered in a racist attack, in 1993. Stephen Lawrence's
family continued to push for their son's killers to face
justice after a botched police investigation resulted
in a separate inquiry to determine that the
Metropolitan Police were "institutionally
racist". After the UCPI was set-up, the
Metropolitan Police admitted to
infiltrating and surveilling over
1,000 political, environmental
and social justice groups,
since 1968.
____________________________
UK Regulator Ofcom
Revokes Broadcast Licence
of China's CGTN
February 4th (FNA)
Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has revoked the China
Global Television Network's (CGTN) licence to air its
programming in the UK, according to a statement
issued Thursday.
In a statement, Ofcom reiterated that "licence holders cannot be controlled by political bodies".
Its investigation found that CGTN is controlled by CCTV
which, as part of the China Media Group, is "controlled
by the Chinese Communist Party and therefore
disqualified from holding a broadcast licence under the UK".
The regulator claims that it was unable to transfer the
license to CGTN directly as "crucial information was
missing from the application", adding that, even if
said information had been provided, the fact that
CGTNC is controlled by the Chinese Communist
Party would preclude it from holding a licence in the UK, anyway.
The broadcaster will, likely, also face
separate sanctions over its coverage.
"We expect to conclude separate sanctions proceedings
against CGTN for due impartiality and fairness and
privacy breaches, shortly," the statement said.
The regulator acknowledged that "the revocation of a
broadcast licence is a significant interference with a
broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression" and
claims it afforded CGTN sufficient time to come
into compliance, but it failed to do so, after a
September 2020 application failed.
Ofcom concluded its statement by criticising CGTN's
coverage of the Hong Kong protests which were
found to be in "serious breach" of fairness and
privacy rules, for which it is now considering
the sanctions it alleges are separate from
Thursday's decision to revoke the
agency's broadcasting license.
CGTN has yet to issue a statement
in response to Ofcom’s decision.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed it
had made "stern representations" to the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over what it
described as "fake news" coverage of the
COVID-19 pandemic - and called on the
British state broadcaster, to apologise.
A spokesperson stated the BBC had "linked the
pandemic to politics" and "rehashed theories
about covering up by China", shortly after
the Ofcom decision was announced.
_______________________________
Beijing hopes Washington will follow
China’s lead& invite WHO to the US
in search for origin of Covid-19
February 2nd (RT)
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has urged Washington
to invite the WHO to conduct traceability testing in
the US, citing the fact the American authorities
found Covid-19 antibodies in blood donations
as early as December 2019.
Speaking on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Wang Wenbin, told reporters that Beijing has always
maintained close communication and cooperation
with the World Health Organization (WHO) on
Covid-19 traceability, and he said it was
time the US followed suit.
“I hope that the United States will adopt a positive, scientific,
and cooperative attitude on traceability issues -- as well as
maintain transparency, like China -- & invite WHO experts
to the United States to conduct traceability research and make positive contributions to international anti-epidemic cooperation & scientific traceability.”Wang said.
The spokesman told reporters that traceability testing was a very complex issue, with many clues, reports and studies needing to be taken into account.
“I will give you an example. According to a research report
by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention...
there were antibodies to the new coronavirus in some
American blood donations in December 2019. This
means... that the new coronavirus may have
appeared in the United States at that time,
earlier than the official US report,” Wang
stated, reinforcing Beijing’s call for
Washington to invite the WHO
to America.
Wang continued to point out that China has conducted
multiple rounds of in-depth exchanges and shared
a lot of information and research results with
international partners, including the WHO.
WHO experts are currently in China investigating the source
of Covid-19, and they visited a wet market in Wuhan on
Sunday. It has been widely suggested that a Chinese
wet market was the environment where Covid-19
first passed to humans.
Scientists are still exploring a number of
theories relating to the origins of the virus.
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____________________________________
Social Distancing May
Remain in Place All Yearin UK:
Experts SayVaccineWouldHave
to Be 85 Percent Effective to Stop A Surge in DeathsUnderLife asNormal
January 31st FNA)
Social distancing may remain in place until the end of
the year - while coronavirus vaccines would have to
be 85 percent effective to prevent a surge in deaths
if restrictions were totally relaxed, scientists
warned on Saturday.
Modelling passed to Downing Street warns that the UK
would see a large spike in deaths if inoculation fails to
significantly cut transmission.
A paper commissioned by SAGE subgroup SPI-M and
produced by modellers at the University of Warwick
showed a "high uptake" was also vital to get the
country back to normal without risking a third
wave of coronavirus.
It also warned that even with Britain's breakneck vaccine
rollout underway, the decline in deaths is slow - and finds
that even in a best-case scenario, lockdown would have
to be kept in place until June to prevent another
significant spike in deaths, according to
the Telegraph.
The paper said, "Only vaccines that offer high infection-
blocking efficacy with high uptake in the general
population, allow for the relaxation of non-
pharmaceutical interventions, without
a huge surge in deaths."
Experts think efficacy is currently at 60 percent
but it is still an unknown.
SPI-M's other modelling groups at Imperial College London
and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
have reportedly reached similar conclusions.
Even in the best case scenario - where vaccines stop 85% of
transmissions - lockdown will have to stay in place until May.
If lockdown was lifted mid-February, a third surge of
infections would follow by April, the modelling found.
While efficacy at 85 percent would mean deaths peak at 1,000
deaths a day, at 60 percent daily deaths would rise by an
average of 500 to 1,500 a day.
Dr Sam Moore, one of the paper's authors, said, "If we get
very high infection blocking then this could almost be
what delivers us from it, but it would have to be very
high. Even vaccines with 85 percent infection
blocking, are insufficient to drive 'R' below
one on their own."
Because the R rate is now above three social distancing
measures have to stay in place for longer for the
vaccine to take effect without risking
more deaths.
If the vaccine does provide a 60 percent block against
coronavirus transmission, as experts have suggested,
lockdown could end at the end of May, according to
the Warwick model.
But a ban on large events and other social distancing
restrictions would still need to be in place until the
end of the year.
A Government spokesman said, "At this early stage in
the vaccination programme, scientists do not have
sufficient data to advise how the vaccine may
affect onward transmission."
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson forced the
EU into an extraordinary double climbdown during a
dramatic late-night intervention to protect the UK's
record-breaking vaccine rollout.
During two phone calls just 30 minutes apart, the prime
minister made European Commission President Ursula
von der Leyen ditch plans to stop 3.5 million doses of
the Pfizer jab from reaching the UK from a factory in
Belgium and abandon the "nuclear option" of
imposing a hard border on Northern Ireland
to prevent them reaching the UK.
Following his diplomatic victory, Britain on Friday
recorded a daily record for first-dose jabs –
487,756 – to bring the total to almost
8.4 million.
In his phone calls, Johnson warned von der Leyen that
her actions risked denying millions of UK pensioners
their second Pfizer injections.
She immediately capitulated in a tweet sent
out shortly before midnight, on Friday.
As part of an implicit "peace deal" with the EU, No 10 Friday
adopted a conciliatory tone. Cabinet Office Minister Michael
Gove said the EU recognised that it had "made a mistake"
and both sides agreed on the need for a "reset".
Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster was less
diplomatic, branding the EU's move an "incredible act
of hostility".
TORIES ARE STRIPPING & PRIVATIZING the NHS and Taking Away OUR RIGHTS: with a never- ending lockdown that Labour MPs support!
Neil Clark, journalist, writer and broadcaster:
''The sad and rather shocking truth, is that the
current UK Parliament could quite happily
keep us locked down indefinitely.
Remember, MPs get their £81K
annual salaries (plus perks)
paid in full, each month,
whatever happens.
And... there is no
general election
due until 2024.
''The only way the restrictions will end, is if the public have had enough of them and
stop complying in large enough numbers.
Otherwise, what incentive is there for the well-heeled, power-crazed, lock down-addicted political class to lift them, especially with the next general election so far away?''
_______________________________________
Halfway through this winter of Covid,
overall mortality is around normal
for this time of year.Something
doesn’t add up
January 21st (RT)
by Peter Andrews, Irish science journalist
and writer based in London. He has a
background in the life sciences, and
graduated from the University of
Glasgow with a degree in genetics
Although the numbers of deaths attributed to the virus
in the UK are higher than they’ve ever been, in total,
not many more people are dying than in any other
cold season. Is the mainstream media finally
waking up to this?
A recent article in the Telegraph is one of the first in a
mainstream outlet to even suggest a challenge to the
official coronavirus narrative. These days, that
narrative claims that the ‘second wave’ is
actually deadlier than the first. (Recently,
some Branch Covidians have been
claiming a ‘third wave’, but there is not yet a united front on that.)
The basic reasoning of the article is sound, even if it is
long overdue. It laments how, every day, the media
solemnly reports the latest Covid deaths' figures.
Presenting this figure in isolation results in graphs
that do, indeed, seem to show that we are at the
height of a second, worse phase of a pandemic.
But, like any statistics, daily death numbers are
meaningless without context, which the media
rarely provides.
They do not provide context because, if they did, the public
might see a graph such as the one from a Telegraph article.
It quite clearly shows the spring spike in overall mortality,
which was caused by Covid (plus lockdowns). After that
ends in summer, we see… nothing. Overall mortality
ever since, even through this winter, hovers at
around the five-year average. And overall
mortality, as I’ve repeatedly pointed out,
is the only true way to know whether
you are in a pandemic or not – all
other figures can easily be fiddled.
Out of whack
So, why are the excess death data & the Covid deaths data
so out of whack? And why isn’t Covid killing lots and lots of
people this winter, as it did in spring? Even if you ascribe all
excess deaths to Covid and none to lockdown, there really
does not seem to be anything out of the normal variation
in total deaths from year to year. And surely, by now, the
toll of unnecessary deaths caused by untreated cancer,
heart disease, depression and so on, has at least
begun to register.
One reason coronavirus might not be slaying all around it this
winter is because, well, this is not its first winter. Remember: it
is called Covid-19, as in 2019. Of course, the official version of
history states that the virus didn't reach Western civilisation
until the spring of 2020, but evidence for this assertion is
based on dodgy polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests
and a profound rejection of common sense. (By the
way, how many people do you know who had a
severe bout of pneumonia-like symptoms
last winter?)
But the main reason for the disparity is obvious: mass PCR
testing. Under the current regime (science is the wrong word),
a ‘Covid death’ is someone who dies having tested positive for
Covid within the previous 28 days. When you test all hospital
patients, as the UK does, then some of them will turn out to be
positive – how many depends largely on the way you do the
tests. And the more tests you do, the more ‘Covid deaths’
you will generate. It is that simple. Dr Mike Yeadon has
written extensively on this, which he calls the PCR
false positive pseudo-epidemic.
Too little, too late
In another time, it might have been shocking that it took so long
for the science editor of a broadsheet newspaper to wonder
why, in the midst of a killer pandemic the world’s not seen
for a century or so, the number of people dying in the
country is ordinary. Better late than never I suppose,
but do not take this as a sign that reinforcements
are coming. Even this article makes absolutely
sure to pledge allegiance to Covid orthodoxy,
stating without evidence: “severe restrictions
were … clearly essential to control the growing pandemic’’.
Most people do not get their information by sifting through
government-issued statistics on websites designed to
hinder you. But there used to be a word for someone
who got paid to do exactly that and then tell the
public, in plain English, what they found. Oh,
that’s right – we used to call those people
‘journalists’. There don’t seem to be many
of them about these days, not even at
the Telegraph.
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________________________________
UK police tipped off about‘illegal rave’
show up to find cold pensioners
queuing for Covid vaccine
January 21st (RT)
Police officers in the UK who were tipped off about
an alleged “illegal rave” showed up to find that it
was actually just a group of old-age pensioners
queuing for their Covid-19 vaccinations.
“Three police cars” arrived at a hall in Southend, England
after receiving the false tip about a rave taking place, but
instead found the queue of old people waiting outside
for the vaccine, the local Echo News reported.
The chairman of the hall, Dennis Baum, told the website
that instead of a “rave,” officers only found "80 and
90-year-olds on wheelchairs, zimmer frames and
walking sticks, patiently queuing for their
vaccinations."
Essex Police, however, didn’t mention any tips about an
illegal rave in their own statement, claiming that they
had received “reports of congestion at the v
accination centre.”
Rave or no rave, the vaccination centre was plagued with
plenty of other problems on the day, including the cold
weather, one elderly person turning up an hour and
20 minutes early, shortages, and even a different
vaccine turning up than expected (while the
AstraZeneca shot had been expected, it
was the Pfizer one that appeared).
“It was absolute chaos and very cold. The car park became
chock-a-block with 80-year-old-plus drivers,” Baum said.
Illegal raves have, however, been a huge problem in the UK
since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with groups
of hundreds – and even thousands – of young partygoers
ditching social distancing in favour of a night out all
across England, Scotland and Wales. Covid-time
raves have also been reported in Ireland.
The UK has already vaccinated millions of people, with the
rollout plan prioritizing health and social care workers,
along with the elderly and vulnerable.
______________________________
Futile:LA ambulances told not to
carry coronavirus patients with
little chance of survival
Wednesday, January 6th, 2021 (Press TV)
Ambulances in Los Angeles have been instructed not to
carry patients who have little chance of survival from
Covid-19, as experts warn of a “human disaster”
getting worse in the US city of angels.
Dr. Jeffrey Smith, the chief operating officer of Cedars-
Sinai Medical Center explained that the order was
“very specific to patients who suffered from a
cardiac arrest and are unable to be revived
in the field.”
“Those patients have a very low rate of survival each
if they are transported to the hospital. So at this time,
it is deemed to likely be futile.”
The onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic was, meanwhile,
devastating the community with the number of cases and
fatalities, on the rise.
“Hospitals are declaring internal disasters and having to open
church gyms to serve as hospital units,” County Supervisor
Hilda Solis said. “Our health care workers are physically
and mentally exhausted and sick.”
Solis called the situation a “human disaster.”
As of Tuesday, some 7,900 people were hospitalized with
Covid-19 in the county, 21% of whom were in intensive
care units.
More than 11,000 people have died in
Los Angeles so far, due to Covid-19.
The Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services
(EMS) Agency also issued a memo last week to
ambulance workers.
“Effective immediately, due to the severe impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic on EMS and 9-1-1 Receiving
Hospitals, adult patients (18 years of age or
older) in blunt traumatic and nontraumatic
out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA)
shall not be transported [if] return of
spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is
not achieved in the field,” the
agency said.
Over 21 million cases of coronavirus have been
reported in the United States, causing some
357 thousand deaths.
____________________________________
UK Judge Denies Bail for Julian Assange During USExtraditionAppeal
by Mohamed Elmaazi
06.01.2021( Sputnik)
Judge Baraitser has repeatedly refused to grant the
WikiLeaks publisher bail, declined to intervene with
prison authorities to improve Assange's access to
his legal team and case files, and won't address
his alleged mistreatment at the hands of
prison officials.
Judge Vanessa Baraitser has refused to grant Julian
Assange bail, while sitting at Westminster Magistrates'
Court, on January 6th, 2021. The request was denied on the grounds that the Australian publisher had
previously violated his British bail conditions.
The editor of the whistleblower website WikiLeaks said
that he was "disappointed" by the judge's decision,
adding that the public should expect Assange's
bail denial to be overturned.
The WikiLeaks publisher has spent 15 months in Belmarsh
maximum security prison purely on the basis of pre-trial
detention, as he challenged his extradition to the US on
charges of espionage related to his role in obtaining
and publishing classified documents, which
revealed, among other things, war crimes
committed by US forces.
The decision to refuse to grant bail follows Judge Baraitser's
refusal to extradite Assange to the United States to stand trial
on espionage-related charges, on the grounds that she was
convinced that there was an insurmountable risk that he
would commit suicide, should he be subjected to the US
prison system, both pre-trial and post-trial, should he be
convicted. Her judgement was nonetheless heavily
criticised for casting "a shadow over investigative
journalism" worldwide.
Judge Baraitser based her decision on the fact that the US
government was appealing her refusal to grant extradition
to Assange. She said that she was satisfied that there were
"substantial grounds for believing" that Assange would
still seek to abscond and could make use of a "vast"
support network to do so.
The US government, represented by Clair Dobbin, argued
strongly against granting the co-founder of Wikileaks bail, higlighting that the "appeal would be frustrated if Mr. Assange was not remanded into custody”.
Ms Dobbin also detailed Assange's role in helping NSA whistle-
blower Edward Snowden "escape justice" by assisting him in
avoiding the arrest by the US, a claim which Judge Baraitser
cited in her judgement, refusing to extradite the publisher.
The prosecution has also stressed that they planned on
appealing the judge's decision to refuse to extradite on
the basis that she applied an exceptionally stringent
test regarding the risk of suicide.
In arguments for the defence, Edward Fitzgerald QC said that
there should now be a presumption in favour of bail, now that
the extradition request was discharged. He also pointed out
that the offer for asylum from the Mexican president was
misquoted and conditional upon discussions with the
UK government.
Judge Baraitser refused two prior bail
applications filed by the defence.
Preivous Bail Applications
The first bail application was made in 2019, after Assange
completed his sentence for absconding whilst on bail
when he found a refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy.
His 50-week sentence, nearly the maximum, was
criticised at the time for being disproportionate
and for ignoring the internationally protected
right to seek and attain asylum.
A second request for the bail was refused by Judge Baraitser
in March 2020, despite medical evidence that Assange was
at risk of contracting a more severe form of the coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID-19). The judge defended her decision
on the basis that prison authorities would look out for the
inmates. She also pointed out she could not be satisfied
that Assange would not attempt to abscond while on bail,
despite the fact that he would be staying with his fiancé
Stella Moris and their two children.
Since taking over Assange's case, Judge Baraitser has
refused to intervene in any way regarding the WikiLeaks
co-founder's conditions in prison.
Assange's legal team repeatedly said they were prevented
from accessing their client, and that their client was being
denied proper access to his legal papers. Lawyers also
said that, in a single day, Assange was handcuffed 11
times, strip-searched twice and had his legal papers
confiscated from him.
Midway through December, Stella Moris tweeted out that
her fiancé remained deprived of any warm clothes,
despite the freezing temperatures.
Calls For Proper Medical Assistance
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer, along with
two other independent medical experts, concluded two
years ago that Assange showed clear symptoms of
"psychological torture". Melzer also reproached
the US, UK and Swedish authorities' continual
refusal to properly investigate their findings.
Doctors for Assange, a collection of physicians from
around the world, repeatedly called for the embattled
publisher to be released from prison so that he could
received proper medical treatment & avoid the risks
posed by COVID-19, at a time when prisoners were
released early all around the world, including, to a limited extent, in the UK.
The US government has signalled that it plans on
appealing Judge Baraitser's decision to refuse
to extradite Assange.
___________________________________
‘Bail him NOW!’ Roger Waters says
after judge rejects extradition for
Assange, calls ruling a ‘delaying
tactic’ as US preps appeal
January 5th, 2021 03:31 (RT)
Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has demanded the
immediate release of Julian Assange after a UK judge
declined a US extradition request, telling RT the
WikiLeaks founder’s battle is far from over, as
Washington eyes an appeal.
“Let the man begin to live,” Waters said in an interview
with RT on Monday, insisting Assange must be freed
from custody at London’s maximum security
Belmarsh Prison without delay, hours after
a judge, Vanessa Baraitser, ruled against
extradition for the anti-secrecy activist.
''We, [Assange’s] supporters, have to be saying‘Bail. You
have to bail him now.’He’s suffered way beyond any
suffering that should’ve been meted out to him for
his one small bail infringement, which is his only
crime under UK law. So bail him now.''
While Waters said he was heartened by the “scenes of
jubilation” outside the Old Bailey courthouse following
the decision, he noted it was “equally sobering” to see
that the United States had already filed an appeal
“within minutes of the judgement.”
“This is clearly a delaying tactic,” he said, of the ruling,
adding that lawyers representing Washington
“obviously” knew of the judge’s plan to
deny extradition “because they have
coached Judge Baraitser all the way through the entire kangaroo court
in London.”
Further cautioning against optimism, the rockstar said a US
appeal could drag out Assange’s case for “at least another
couple of years,” while predicting that Baraitser would not
grant him bail.
“She claims he’s a flight risk… She’ll give all the usual reasons.
The real reason is, of course, is they want to keep him confined
until he dies. That’s what they’re hoping for,” Waters said,
adding that while Baraitser declined extradition, she
nonetheless “judged that the whole US case
against Assange was correct, legally, that
the United States won the argument.”
So let us not run away with the idea that somehow she found
that Julian Assange was innocent of the charges brought
against him by the United States.
Waters said the implications of Assange’s case extend far
beyond one journalist’s freedom, saying it symbolizes a
“battle for the survival of the human race” and the
future of the Fourth Estate around the world.
“If we allow the United States government to crucify a journalist
on the grounds that he revealed war crimes by them, then we
give up our access to the real world. We say ‘OK, we will
believe what you tell us,’” he said, adding that corporate
media outlets continue to wage “a very, very powerful
propaganda campaign” to “smear Julian Assange.”
After spending some seven years under political asylum at
Ecuador’s embassy in London – where he stayed amid fearsWashington would charge and extradite him over WikiLeaks’ publication of classified material - Assange’s protected status was revoked in 2019 following a new president's rise to power in that country.
He was arrested by UK authorities almost immediately afterward
on a years-old bail-skipping charge, prompting the US Dept of
Justice to unseal an 18-count indictment alleging that Assange
conspired to “hack” military computers in order to obtain
confidential records, including the 2007 ‘Collateral Murder’
video, which shows a US Apache helicopter gunning down
a crowd of civilians in Baghdad, among them two Reuters
journalists. He has since awaited extradition in Belmarsh
Prison, where he remains even after the US request was
shot down. A bail application is expected to be made
on Wednesday.
_______________________________
US 'Extremely Disappointed' WITH UK Judge's Ruling on Assange, Vows
to Keep Seeking Extradition
by Lilia Dergacheva
4.01.2021 (Sputnik)
Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States
to face charges of espionage and conspiracy to commit
digital intrusion, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser
ruled on the morning of 4 January 2021.
The US Justice Department has expressed its disappointment
over a London court's ruling on Julian Assange, saying in
a statement:
"While we are extremely disappointed in the court’s ultimate
decision, we are gratified that the United States prevailed
on every point of law raised. In particular, the court
rejected all of Mr. Assange’s arguments regarding
political motivation, political offense, fair trial, and freedom of speech".
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser announced the court's
decision to block the potential extradition of the jailed
WikiLeaks founder on 4 January, in a development
deemed by Assange's supporters, as the most
important one in his 2-year long extradition
hearing proceedings.
"I am satisfied that Mr Assange has the intellect and
determination to circumvent suicide prevention
measures [in the US]", the judge said, after
rejecting every other argument made by
the defence in the case.
The decision was made solely based on the judgement
that the WikiLeaks publisher was at too high a risk of
suicide or self-harm if he were to be extradited to the
US. The judge notably rejected the rest of the
arguments raised by the defence
against extradition.
The judge accepted that Assange, who is now incarcerated
in HM Prison Belmarsh, would likely be subjected to high
levels of isolation, as well as Special Administrative
Measures, both before and after a trial in the US,
that would severely impact his mental health.
The defence will now decide whether they will launch a bail
application without delay, as the bail option is believed to
now be available to Assange, or whether they would like
to prepare more thoroughly.
It is currently unclear whether the US government will seek
to appeal the decision. The prosecution must request
permission to appeal it in the High Court within seven
days of the date of Judge Baraitser's verdict.
The US indictment against the award-winning author centres
on his role in 2010-2011 in receiving & publishing classified
logs from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Guantanamo Bay
detainee files, and US diplomatic cables. The documents
revealed war crimes, as well as other criminality and
abuse, allegedly committed by the US government
and American-backed forces across the world.
If convicted of all of 18 charges brought against him in the US,
Assange faces 175 years in prison. There is no public interest
defence for any charge brought under the 1917 Espionage Act.
17 out of the 18 charges against Assange fall under legislation
dating from the World War I period.
_____________________________
WHO calls coronavirus death toll in US 'shocking'
December 8th 2020 (Press TV)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the
coronavirus death toll in the United States as shocking,
warning that the US is "facing a critical situation" now.
“The epidemic in the US is punishing. It's widespread.
It's, quite frankly, shocking to see one to two persons
a minute die in the US, a country with a wonderful,
strong health system and amazing technological
capacities," executive director of WHO's Health
Emergencies Program, Mike Ryan said.
Ryan said the US has accounted for a third of all
world cases over the last number of weeks.
He also encouraged Americans to keep maintaining
social distancing “even if it sounds terrible.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
the agency has not yet contacted with President-elect Joe
Biden’s transition team.
Earlier this year, Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal
from the WHO, saying the body was too deferential to China,
and called it corrupt. Biden has expressed an interest in
reversing that decision.
US health officials are worried that the epidemic situation will
become even more aggravated than it was during the Thanks-
giving holiday as the year-end holiday season is approaching.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious disease
expert, warned that the pandemic could worsen after the year-
end holidays, saying on Monday that he has the same
concerns about Christmas, that he did about
Thanksgiving.
“Without substantial mitigation, the middle of January
can be a really dark time for us,” said Fauci.
Millions of Americas ignored public health advice and
traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday in November.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
chief, also said that the COVID-19 epidemic situation in the US is
expected to worsen over the next four to six weeks --- with
infections, deaths and hospitalizations continuing to rise,
and with the number of hospitalizations expected to
reach 150,000 to 175,000 in a single day.
Another lockdown in California as hospitals overwhelmed
People in the most populous US state faced heavy new
restrictions on Monday aimed at slowing the spread
of COVID-19.
California’s order has affected about three-quarters of the nearly
40 million people in the state. It will last at least three weeks and
shuts all but critical infrastructure and retailers.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s order allowed some schools to
continue to hold classes. But the Los Angeles Unified School District,
the state’s largest, closed campuses that had been partially open to
offer in-person services and tutoring, affecting many special-needs
students.
Newsom’s directive applied to places where fewer than 15% of
intensive-care hospital beds remain available, so far affecting
Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley near
San Francisco.
Dr. Fauci said on Monday the state’s action would “rescue
them from possibly getting their hospitals overrun.”
California set a record in new cases with 30,000 on Saturday and
recorded nearly 25,000 more on Sunday. Hospitalizations also
hit records. In the San Joaquin Valley, just 6.3% of intensive
care unit beds were available, the state said Monday.
According to a Reuters tally, the COVID-19 infections are at their
peak in the US, with an average of 193,863 new cases reported
each day over the past week.
There have been 14.7 million confirmed infections and more than
282,000 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the United States
since the pandemic began, the most in the world.
New York’s governor threatened to ban indoor restaurant dining
in New York City if hospitalization rates keep climbing this week.
Trump to order priority access to US vaccines for Americans
The US president will sign an executive order on Tuesday to ensure
that priority access for COVID-19 vaccines is given to the American
people before assisting other nations, senior administration
officials said on Monday.
The Trump administration is confident it will have enough vaccine
to inoculate everyone who wants a vaccine by the end of the
second quarter of 2021.
The New York Times had said the US government declined, when
vaccine developer Pfizer Inc offered, in late summer, to sell more
vaccine doses to the United States.
The New York Times reported that Pfizer may not be able to provide
more of its vaccine to the United States until next June. because of
its commitments to other countries.
Trump, who has faced sharp criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, is eager to take credit for the speedy development and distribution of a vaccine.
US Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, said the
US government had the option to purchase an additional 500
million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but declined to say
whether the Trump administration was pursuing
that option.
‘We messed up,’ a senator said, of the US approach
to the pandemic, before his death --- caused by
covid-19.
A US lawmaker complained about the country's approach
in tackling the coronavirus pandemic, before dying, due
to covid-19, this week.
____________________________________________
Labour suspends two activists for backing Corbyn
in anti-Semitism row - and accusing Starmer of
‘colluding with Tories’
December 3rd, 2020 (RT)
Britain’s Labour Party has suspended two leading members of
a local organisation, one of whom is Jewish, after they publicly
accused Keir Starmer of using an anti-Semitism probe to
crack down on former party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Those sanctioned are the chair of Chingford and Woodford
Green Constituency Labour Party, Gary Lefley, and its
vice-chair, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi.
The suspension came after the two staged an online meeting
with fellow party members earlier this week, criticising the
way the Labour leadership has handled the Equalities
and Human Rights Commission's (EHRC) report on
anti-Semitism in the party and expressed support
for former party head Corbyn.
In his speech, Lefley attacked Starmer, accusing him of “collusion”
with the Tories and plunging the Labour Party “into internecine
warfare.”
By suspending Corbyn and removing his parliamentary whip,
Starmer himself was “in breach of party rules,” Lefley insisted,
according to British media reports.
Lefley also complained about the policies within the party,
which forced dissident members to “button our lip at risk
of being expelled.”
During the same meeting, vice-chair Wimborne-Idrissi supported
another member’s speech, in which the current Labour leader-
ship was accused of having “weaponised” the issue of anti-
Semitism. “There are many Jews in the party, including me,
who endorse 100 percent” this point of view, she insisted.
“The cynical manipulation of Jewish fears and concerns is
unforgivable and undermines all our work against racism
of all kinds,” she allegedly said.
Wimborne-Idrissi is a rather controversial figure in the party, due
to her involvement with the Jewish Voice for Labour group. The
organisation stands against racism and discrimination of Jews,
but also backs the Palestinian cause and resists attempts to
widen the definition of anti-Semitism beyond its original
meaning. The activist confessed that due to her views
she had been labeled “not a proper Jew; the wrong
sort of Jew; self-hating Jew” all her life.
A report by the EHRC in October found the Labour Party
“responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and
discrimination” of Jews under Corbyn’s
leadership between 2015 and 2020.
Starmer, who became Labour leader in April, has called the report
“a day of shame” for the party. But Corbyn reacted to it by saying
that anti-Semitism claims were “overstated” and ended up being
suspended from the party himself. He was soon reinstated, but
Starmer didn’t return his parliamentary whip to him.
Corbyn’s suspension has led to a split in the party, which Labour's
leadership has tried to overcome, seemingly by making discussing
the issue a taboo. General Secretary David Evans said that motions
in support of Corbyn undermine the party’s ability to provide “safe
& welcoming space” to members, including those of Jewish origins.
Just days ago, Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner, warned that the party was willing to suspend “thousands and thousands” of members over alleged anti-Semitism if necessary.
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___________________________
Deputy Leader Says Labour Could
Suspend ‘Thousands’ of Members
over 'Antisemitism'
December 1st, 2020 (FNA)
The Labour Party will suspend “thousands and thousands” of
members unless they “get real” about antisemitism, Angela
Rayner warned, as an internal row rages over the
removal of the whip from Jeremy Corbyn.
Following Keir Starmer’s decision not to allow Corbyn to sit as a
Labour MP over his reaction to the Equality and Human Rights
Commission (EHRC) report, dozens of constituency parties
are reported to have passed motions in support of the
former leader – despite the party’s General Secretary
David Evans banning them from doing so.
Earlier this week, a meeting in Nottingham East with such a motion
on the agenda left a Jewish attendee “feeling they had no choice
but to leave”, according to local MP Nadia Whittome, who later
issued a statement describing the “atmosphere and tone” of
the meeting as “wholly unacceptable”.
Responding to the incident during an address at the Jewish
Labour Movement’s One Day conference, the party’s deputy
leader reportedly told delegates, “I want people to know that
there has been suspensions and we’re on it and we are
supporting Nadia, the MP there who spoke out and
I completely commend her for doing that.
“Our members need to get real about this, our Labour members.
If they don’t think antisemitism is within the Labour Party and
that there’s problems now, then there’s really no place for
them in the Labour Party," she said.
“If they think making people feel unsafe or unwelcome in our
meetings is a response to the EHRC report, then they need
to be out of our party immediately. People need to
understand what our Jewish community have
been through,” she added.
According to LabourList, Rayner added, “I feel really, really
angry actually that there’s been scenes like that in our
CLP meetings."
“If I have to suspend thousands and thousands of members,
we will do that. Because we cannot and we will not accept an
injury to one, because an injury to one is an injury to all.
That’s what we say in our movement,” Rayner added.
A Labour spokesperson clarified that Rayner’s comments
addressed a wider context of denialism and the safety of
Jewish members, rather than specific motions.
The threat of mass suspensions could serve to further inflame
tensions within the party, with left-wing members of the National
Executive Committee (NEC) already having accused the leader-
ship of trying to “censor debate and ignore our processes”.
The row first erupted with Corbyn’s respose to the EHRC’s report,
which stated that “one antisemite is too many” but also said the
scale of the problem had been “dramatically overstated for
political reasons” by opponents and the media.
Corbyn later said he did not intend to “belittle concerns” about
antisemitism and regretted the “pain this issue has caused the
Jewish community and would wish to do nothing that would
exacerbate or prolong it”.
He was eventually readmitted to the party by an NEC panel, but
was immediately banned by his successor Keir from sitting in
the parliamentary party.
According to LabourList, Keir told delegates at Jewish Labour’s
event on Sunday that Corbyn’s response to the EHRC report
was “just about as bad as you could get”.
The Labour leader was reported as saying that, while he believed
the party had been “making good progress” in tackling anti-
semitism, Corbyn’s response “undermined me and what
I was trying to achieve”.
And Rayner – who had defended Corbyn on the issue of antisemitism
while serving in his shadow cabinet in 2019 – said, “I truly hope he
reflects. I understand that he thinks he’s always tackled issues of
antisemitism. I understand he thinks he’s always tackled issues
of racism."
“But on this, he’s wrong. He has to accept as a leader that
we failed,” Rayner said.
However, pro-Corbyn figures have suggested that the current
discussions around members’ suspensions could contradict
the report’s findings – which stated that while the party leader-
ship may decide how to respond to decisions on complaints,
“it is not legitimate for the leadership to influence, make
recommendations, or make decisions on complaints
outside of the formal complaints process”.
Former Corbyn aide Matt Zarb-Cousin tweeted, “Since the EHRC
report was published the leadership’s made no progress on the
recommendations at all, while contravening the very guidance
contained within it to make a series of rhetorical and political
gestures amounting to hot air.”
However, the 'Jewish Labour Movement' chair ,Mike Katz,
welcomed Rayner’s “commendably strong words”,
telling The Independent, “If anything shows the
need for a cultural change, as well as better
processes in the Labour Party, the last
few days have done.
“There’s been some really, really ugly scenes in CLP meetings
across the country as offices and constituencies choose to
ignore direction from the Labour Party and pass motions
about Jeremy Corbyn. The conduct in the meetings
make them clearly not a safe space for Jews. And
thinking about Jewish Labour members, this
has to change,” Katz said.
He called for a “bottom-to-top reform” of the party’s culture and
processes, adding, “We really want to be in a position where
suspensions aren’t necessary, and thinking about whether
you’re going to okay going to a meeting isn’t necessary
because the culture of the party has changed."
Katz said there must be “the commitment to follow up suspensions
with expulsion”, adding that “the process has to be done not under
the broken, factionally-aligned process that we currently have, but
under the process recommended by the EHRC”.
Keir has pledged to uphold the recommendations of the
EHRC report in full, in a move supported by Corbyn.
__________________________
US Justice Department amends federal execution rules
to allow death by hanging, electric chair, gas chamber
& FIRING SQUAD
November 28th, 2020 (RT)
The US Department of Justice has expanded rules governing
executions to permit a wider rage of methods - including
firing squads and electrocution - as five federal inmates
are set to face the death penalty before Inauguration Day.
The amended rule was entered into the Federal Register on Friday,
permitting the government “greater flexibility” to carry out capital
punishment using any method “prescribed by the law of the state
in which [a] sentence was imposed.” While lethal injection
remains the most common means of execution — and
previously the only one permitted under federal
regulations — the new rule will accommodate
states that allow for alternative methods,
including death by electrocution,
nitrogen gas, hanging or
firing squad.
The proposed rule change was initially floated in August — with the
DOJ accepting public comments for only 30 days, half of the period
typically allotted — and passed a White House review earlier this
month, according to ProPublica, which was first to report on the
amended regulation.
While 5 federal prisoners are currently slated for execution before
President Donald Trump leaves office in late January, the rule
change is not expected to affect their cases, as each is
already set to receive lethal injection.
Before Trump took power, the last federal execution was carried out
in 2003 — Louis Jones, was convicted of murder and kidnapping —
but the current administration has revived the custom.
The government has authorized capital punishment for 13 inmates
so far in 2020, including the 5 still in custody, all of them approved
in the last six months. Though state governments routinely
sentence inmates to death each year, executions have
been far more rare on the federal level, seeing a total
of just 45 since 1927, according to the Bureau
of Prisons.
Presumed President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to end capital
punishment for federal crimes, saying his administration will
not approve any executions, meaning Friday’s rule change
may never be put into practice. That stance reflects
growing calls from fellow Democrats to abolish
the death penalty outright, arguing the
practice is cruel and archaic.
________________________________
Georgia's Floyd County 'Ousts Chief Elections Clerk
After Untallied Ballots Discovered Amid Audit'
by Svetlana Ekimenko
21/11/2020 (Sputnik)
Georgia earlier on Thursday certified the results of the 2020
presidential election, upholding Democratic candidate Joe
Biden’s win, with Governor Brian Kemp calling for another
audit of the votes, saying it was “completely unacceptable”
that thousands of uncounted ballots were discovered
during the manual hand recount, after the initial results.
The discovery of thousands of uncounted ballots has spurred
the Board of Elections in Georgia's Floyd County to vote in
favour of ousting Chief of Elections Clerk Robert Brady,
according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had requested
that Brady step down earlier, in the wake of two incidents in
Floyd County, with local officials meeting to discuss the
decision before firing the clerk, the outlet reported.
Reportedly, there was consensus among both Republicans and
Democrats on the need to fire Brady, despite the belief that the
error was not made purposefully.
Uncounted Ballots
Georgia, where Governor Brian Kemp certified the presidential
election results on Friday in favour of projected President-elect
Joe Biden, had discovered 2,750 ballots that had not been
included in the original count in Fayette County amid the
state’s audit of the 2020 presidential election.
"There was an issue where we noticed there were more people
on the absentee ballot filed for voting in person in Fayette
County than was in the actual reporting," Georgia election
official Gabriel Sterling had said at the time.
According to Sterling, the issue occurred because several
individuals failed to follow proper procedures. In a separate
incident, some 284 uncounted ballots were found in Walton
County, with the local Board of Elections chair, Lori Wood,
suggesting the error occurred after votes had previously
been uploaded from only one of the two ballot scanners
in a precinct.
The findings followed the discovery of more than 2,600
untallied ballots in Floyd County --- forcing election
workers to rescan more than 8,000 ballots, with
Floyd County Republican Party chair, Luke
Martin, referring to the incident as a
“concerning” mishap that “doesn’t
appear to be a widespread issue”.
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blamed
the problem in Floyd County on failure of election officials
to upload votes from a memory card in a ballot-scanning
machine.
Statewide Audit
The Peach State had embarked upon a hand recount of all
votes on 13 November after the Republican Party and the
Trump election campaign requested a statewide audit.
Trump’s legal team filed several challenges in the wake of
the November 3rd elections, citing alleged voter fraud,
despite major US media outlets announcing that the
of the Democrat-run cities in key battleground states, of
carrying out a co-ordinated, "centralised" campaign
of voter fraud, to rob Donald Trump of victory.
"As we started investigating... what emerged very quickly is there's
not a singular voter fraud in one state. This pattern repeats itself
in a number of states. Almost exactly the same pattern. Which, to
almost any experienced investigator, prosecutor, would suggest
that there was a plan from a centralised place to execute these
various acts of voter fraud, specifically focused on big cities,
and specifically focused on (as you would imagine) big cities
controlled by Democrats. And particularly focused on big
cities that have a long history of corruption," Giuliani said,
speaking to reporters in Washington, DC on Thursday.
One of the key battleground states where Donald Trump demanded
a recount, Georgia, was called in Biden's favour by the Associated
Press earlier on 20 November, giving the Democrat candidate Joe
Biden a total of 306 votes in the electoral college.
Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, said Friday that
he was, like all other Republicans, “disappointed”, but added:
"I live by the motto that numbers don't lie. As secretary of state, I
believe that the numbers that we have presented today are correct."
Meanwhile, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who certified the state's
presidential election results Friday in favour of Biden, called for
another audit of the votes, writes Fox News.
Kemp was cited by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying it was
“completely unacceptable” that thousands of uncounted ballots
were found in several counties during the manual hand recount
in the wake of the initial results.
While acknowledging Donald Trump’s frustration over the
outcome, Kemp said:
“He’s a fighter… But, at the end of the day, I’ve got to follow the
laws of the constitution of this state and that’s exactly what I’m
doing.”
After the results are certified, the Trump 2020 Campaign has
until Tuesday to request another recount, said Kemp,
pointing to the vote being within a half-per cent.
“I would just say I’m formalising the certification. Now that
Secretary Raffensperger certified, it triggers the ability of
the Trump campaign to ask for the recount," said Georgia
Governor Brian Kemp.
______________________________________
Britain died for me this week. It’s become
a Covid-obsessed police state, and I don’t
understand what it stands for anymore
by Chris Sweeney. November 7th, 2020
Chris Sweeney is an author and columnist who has written
for newspapers such as The Times, Daily Express, The
Sun and Daily Record, along with several international-
selling magazines.Follow him on Twitter
@Writes_Sweeney
I’ve always been proud to say I’m British – until now. The
authorities’ bloody-minded determination to implement lockdown rules at the expense of people’s wellbeing
is not what our great country should be about.
Sometimes you can be too close. You are looking, but you
don’t see it. That’s where I found myself this week with
the current state of Britain --- amid another round of
ever tighter restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Don’t get me wrong. There are loads of things I’ve always
loved about my country – our traditional British good
manners for example. Rather than see it as a sign
of weakness, I pride myself on our reputation
for queuing in an orderly fashion. I also like
that we hold the door open for the person
behind us.
I admire our outstanding National Health Service, which
allows everyone to access medical treatment without
having to dig out a credit card or an insurance plan.
And I enjoy flying British Airways over far-flung
lands, offering me some form of attachment
– even if it is superficial.
I won’t apologise for tea being regarded as the boring
and bland equivalent to freshly ground coffee – it’s
our drink, and I love it. And the way we honour
our war heroes with the humble poppy, is
thoroughly respectful.
But this week, some of that pride in being British
died for me. It’s a very different sentiment I’m
feeling. Beyond disillusionment. Fury even.
How could Britain have fallen so far
in the way it treats its own people?
It began with the horrifying detention of a 97-year-old
grandmother by police in the Yorkshire town of Market Weighton. Her daughter, a qualified nurse, wanted to
bring her home from a care home, to look after her
during lockdown, and quietly wheeled her out of
the home.
However somewhere along the line, a jobsworth felt
the need to justify their existence & reported what
had happened. The episode ended with her grand-
daughter in tears filming a video, showing her own mother in handcuffs inside a squad car, while the old woman sat in another car, completely bewildered.
The police’s response? They were responding
to “a report of assault.” Incredible.
The horror continued, as students at the University of
Manchester’s Fallowfield ''halls of residence'', awoke
to find workers erecting fences around their facility
to ensure they couldn’t leave. They were being
installed, following government guidelines
asking students not to return to their
permanent homes.
One student said: “They're huge metal barriers, they're
connected to one another and there's literally no gaps
….it makes it feel like we're in a prison.”
In what version of the United Kingdom do we keep our
bright, young people caged like dogs? Unsurprisingly,
some of the outraged students began to rip them
down, causing even more angst.
ALSO ON RT.COM
Protests of more than two people
will be ILLEGAL under updated
rules for UK national lockdown
Another university using its power to force students
to bend to its will, is world-famous Cambridge. It
announced that anyone who leaves its halls
of residence, won’t be able to graduate or
progress to the next year. That’s despite
each paying at least £9,250 per
academic session.
Then there was the Ripped Gym in Harlow, Essex. It
opted not to close --- in breach of the government’s
latest lockdown. The morality of that is debatable,
but the gym claims it didn’t sell any long-term
memberships and offered only day passes.
Whatever you think of the decision, what
is beyond argument is that it didn’t need
four police cars and approximately 20
officers to descend in a raid-style
scenario.
Were they expecting John Gotti? Rather, it was a well-
meaning business owner & some locals on treadmills.
The owner ended up being dragged away & was still
in police custody, at the time of writing.
Contrast this with the most tragic occurrence, the death
of Corey Liversedge. This 16-year old from Aberdeen-
shire took his own life, as anxiety overcame him as
a result of the suffocating nature of lockdown.
His grieving parents summoned the bravery to raise
awareness of his plight, with his mother saying, “It’s
not just children with diagnosed mental health
conditions — it can happen to any child, and
Corey was any child.”
Britain used to be a nation that cared. But now, it seems
that the priority is treating any slight infraction of lock-
down rules like a terrorist attack, while vulnerable
people are left to struggle along on their own,
without help from the wider community.
The complete lack of emotional intelligence from
our authorities was evidenced by London police
arresting 104 people in a single night for
breaching regulations.
What happened to community engagement? Aren’t we
all supposed to be on the same side? Incredibly, it’s
now even illegal for anyone to enter or leave Wales
--- unless it is covered by the contentious term of
“essential travel.” The police, of course, are
monitoring the roads and pulling over cars
to conduct checks.
Yes, the pandemic is a serious situation and we
should not be complacent about 48,000 people
dying. Precautions have to be taken.
But what is happening across the UK is nothing short
of barbaric. Our police have turned into robots,
carrying out whatever they are asked to,
no matter how cruel or wrong.
The government has forgotten what a wonderful
population they are tasked with representing,
and are treating us all like North Korea
does dissenters.
They say you never really truly appreciate something
until it’s gone. And I’m petrified that the courteous,
courageous sprit that defines Britain, is on the
point of disappearing for good, crushed by
the uncaring iron first of the Covid-
obsessed authorities.
We deserve better than this.
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__________________________________
Corbyn Suspended for Telling the Truth – A New Socialist Party Is Required
by Tommy Sheridan
31/10/2020 (Sputnik)
The other day a thoroughly decent and honest man
suffered a grave injustice. A man who has a peer-
less record in opposing racism and anti-Semitism
was suspended by the political party he has been
a member of for over fifty years, has represented
it in the British Parliament since 1983 and was
its leader from 2015-20.
Irony died in Britain yesterday when Jeremy Corbyn was
suspended by the Labour Party with the consent and
probable collusion of the man who succeeded him
as leader, Sir Keir Starmer.
We now have a Tory leader in 10 Downing Street who is
famed for his racist views including referring to black
Africans as “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”.
A racist Prime Minister nostalgic for the days of slavery
and brutal exploitation and ownership of black people
was elected by the people of England in preference
to a man whose whole life has been dedicated to
fighting racism and injustice.
Corbyn Was Betrayed by His Own Party Bureaucracy in 2017
Jeremy Corbyn would have won the 2017 General Election
if his campaign had not been sabotaged from within by
Labour opponents. They hated him more than the
Tories and refused to accept the democratic will
of the Labour Party masses who elected Corbyn
leader, not once but twice with a bigger majority
the second time round in 2016.
He led a remarkable 2017 election campaign which inspired
millions and confounded all the opinion polls and political
pundits as he came within a whisker of winning. He
smashed the Tory majority and rocked the British
Establishment. A genuine socialist was almost
elected to lead the UK. Millionaires and
billionaires were petrified that they
would be forced to pay their taxes
and public services would no
longer be up for sale.
Corbyn would have won if staff at the heart of the
Labour Party had not actively undermined him.
Paid Labour Party staff expressing disgust for the
elected leader of their party and hoping for a bad
election result and undermining the effectiveness
of the campaign wherever possible is what the
right wing did with gusto. And - after the close
call of the 2017 general election - the powerful
and rich who make up the British Establishment
and mainstream media declared war on Corbyn
from every angle, but specifically colluded to
weaponise the scourge of anti-Semitism and
throw every slur and empty accusation
against Corbyn that was possible
to muster.
After 2017 Close-Call Anti-Semitism
Was Weaponised Against Corbyn
An incredible narrative was created whereby a man that
had done more in his life to confront and combat racism
and anti-Semitism than anyone in British politics, was
cast as an anti-Semite. It was bizarre, ridiculous, and
obscenely unfair and inaccurate but it was effective
in creating a wholly false perception. An inordinate
number of Labour anti-Semitism stories, headlines
and even documentaries were produced and by
2018 polls of Jewish voters indicated an
incredulous number believed the Labour
Party was anti-Semitic while the problem
in the Tories and Lib-Dems was perceived
to be minor.
Labour Became Huge Under Corbyn –
Over 500,000 Members
Jeremy Corbyn attracted hundreds of thousands of new
members to the Labour Party and transformed it into the
biggest membership party in Europe with well over
500,000 signed up to his brand of socialism. The
number of party members ever subjected to
accusations of anti-Semitic behaviour never
surpassed more than 300, so the anti-Semitic
‘problem’ in Labour amounted to 0.1% of its
membership at most but the coordinated
media led campaign aided and abetted
by Labour right wing MPs, created a
deeply warped and distorted picture
that almost 62% of party members
were anti-Semitic.
This was the result of a well-coordinated media
campaign led by the BBC to traduce the
character of Corbyn and the Labour
Party under him.
Feeding from the false narrative and whipped up
hysteria created by the media the Equality and
Human Rights Commission (ECHR) decided to
launch a formal investigation into claims of
anti-Semitism within Labour to establish if
they had breached the Equality Act 2010
and were guilty of acting unlawfully in
relation to anti-Semitic actions. This
decision was taken in May 2019 amid
the Brexit crisis and talk of an early
general election. The fact the ECHR
acted on the basis of complaints
from vehemently anti-Corbyn
organisations indicates just
how loaded the dice was
from the outset.
Anti-Semitism is Abhorrent --- but
Jeremy Corbyn is Not an Anti-Semite
All anti-Semitic behaviour and opinions should be
condemned and confronted unreservedly. Of that
there should be no doubt or debate. But the
accusations of anti-Semitism against the
Labour Party have been overstated and
used politically to undermine Labour
and Corbyn. Anti-Semitism is a problem
in society as a whole. An ugly repulsive
problem. But to suggest Labour has a
bigger problem than other parties or
that Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite
is patent nonsense and lies.
Unlike the Corbyn detractors, Labour’s 2020 ‘No
Place For Antisemitism’ Report provides hard
facts refuting media and ECHR allegations
that Labour under Corbyn did not address
anti-Semitism complaints.
The Labour Party expelled 45 members in relation to
antisemitism in 2019, compared to 10 in 2018 and
1 in 2017.
After rule changes passed at Conference in September
2019 gave NEC panels the power to expel, twice the
number of people were expelled in two months than
had been expelled during the whole of 2018.
NEC Disciplinary Panels heard 274 cases relating to
antisemitism in 2019, a tenfold increase on the 28
cases heard in 2017.
In 2019, 149 members were removed from the party as
a result of disciplinary processes relating to anti-
semitism, either being expelled or quitting the
party as proceedings progressed.
The Labour Party suspended 296 members in relation to
antisemitism in 2019, compared to 98 in 2018 – itself a
big increase on the previous year”.
Once you have read the facts contained in this Report and
considered that the lengthy ECHR Report which took
almost 18 months to compile concludes that Labour
is guilty of “unlawful acts of indirect discrimination
and harassment for which the Labour Party is
responsible” based on the conduct of TWO
Labour Party members, Ken Livingston and
a Councillor called Pam Bromley, you can
reasonably conclude that when Corbyn
said the allegations of anti-Semitism
against Labour were “overstated”
he was stating a fact.
Corbyn was a clear and present danger to the rich and
powerful British Establishment and his sympathy with
the Palestinian people and willingness to call out
Israel’s human rights abuses made him dangerous
on an international plain also. America and Israel
could not tolerate a pro-Palestinian British Prime
Minister. The anti-Semitism campaign was a
conscious and dishonest scheme to under-
mine his electoral credibility and the BBC
played a blinder in promoting the lie at
every available opportunity.
A New Trade Union Supported
Socialist Party is Now Urgent
The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn from Labour is an
attack on him and every single socialist still in that
party. Jeremy is now suffering the consequences
of being popular on the one hand but being far
too pliable on the other. The day Jeremy stood
back & allowed socialists like Chris Williamson
to be suspended was the day he succumbed to
the right-wing bullies within the Labour Party
hierarchy. Chris was a loyal lieutenant of
Corbyn. A very capable and popular
crusader for socialism.
When the right wing went after him with the anti-Semitism slur
Jeremy should have resisted and stood with Chris. Instead he
sought to avoid an internal battle and that was his ultimate
undoing. Jeremy had the backing of the members but not
the comfortable and right-wing bureaucracy who used
their influence to stifle Corbyn and undermine his
2017 election campaign.
The new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is determined to turn
the party back into a Tory second eleven like in the red Tory
Tony Blair days.
The challenge to other socialist Labour MPs and the trade union
leaders who support socialist policies which will actually
improve the lives of their members is clear. If you can’t
fight for the former leader of your party who raised the
hopes of millions & came so close in 2017 to winning,
then you are not worthy of the description of socialist.
The time has come for a party of workers that promotes
socialism with guile, enthusiasm, and pride. Instead of
funding Starmer’s Tory Party Mark II, the trade union
movement should fund a real socialist party ---
committed to changing the lives of millions
for the better.
The suspension of Corbyn must be the crossing of the Rubicon
for the socialist and trade union movement. Labour is already
irrelevant in Scotland. It will become irrelevant in England
as well soon. The time for a new force backed with trade
union organisation and resources, is now.
Police chief mocked after declaring British ‘civic duty’
is snitching on neighbours who violate Covid-19 rules
(RT updated October 30th, 2020)
A UK Chief constable has been deluged with mockery
and Hitler memes, after arguing it’s every resident’s
duty to turn in neighbours and local businesses for
breaking lockdown rules and complaining about
how British culture reviles snitches.
UK residents who report their neighbours and local
businesses to the police for violating the country’s
increasingly stringent Covid-19 control measures
are just doing their “civic duty” and should be
praised, not ostracized, Merseyside chief
constable Andy Cooke told the Daily Mail on Wednesday.
“People are doing a civic duty in contacting us for the
right reasons,” he stated, insisting “the vast majority
of people across the country are really concerned
about this” and “any information that you can give
us, in relation to breaches, will save lives, and that’s why people are [reporting to the police].”
Lamenting that the practice of turning one’s neighbour in
to the authorities for minor infractions wasn’t more widely
accepted among respectable Brits, Cooke blamed a
“sneering culture” for placing rats at the bottom of
the social hierarchy.
His remarks weren’t received well on social media, where
users were quick to pull out the Nazi pics & Orwell quotes.
“This is what Hitler and Stalin demanded
of their people,” one user pointed out.
Others suggested the cops focus on fighting real crime.
Merseyside saw a 6.3 percent increase in violent crime
over the past year, according to statistics released
in July.
A few played along, tweeting that they could “hear voices
of people having fun and not living in fear” and “even
saw two people hugging, no face masks they were
even smiling.”
Several suggested the strategy of enlisting civilians to police their neighbours would backfire, both by
destroying trust in the police and by creating
suspicion in communities.
Cooke’s paean to the common snitch came on the heels
of similar comments by West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioner David Jamieson, who said in a Tuesday
interview that police would not hesitate to break up
Christmas and other holiday celebrations if they
“flagrantly” violated the government’s rules
on gatherings.
National Police Chiefs Council chair Martin Hewitt also promised
“quicker enforcement” of “blatant” rule violations earlier this
week, urging members of the public to report “egregious
breaches” - like pubs being open past the 10pm cutoff -
that “put everybody at risk.” As of Wednesday, the
NPCC had issued 20,223 fines for violations of the
Covid-19 restrictions, including 980 spot tickets
for breaking lockdown.
Unlike Jamieson, however, Hewitt declined to speculate
on whether his officers would be breaking up Christmas
parties, instead merely urging the public to take heed
of the rules in whatever part of the country they
opted to spend the holiday.
Despite a steep fall in the number of deaths with Covid-19
from the pandemic’s peak earlier this year, the UK has
introduced a strict three-tier lockdown nationwide,
barring people from congregating in groups larger
than six and prohibiting home visits.
______________________________________
COVID19 in the UK the story so far... please see our Health page.
United Nations Universal Declaration on Bioethics and
Human Rights, Article 6 - Consent: Any preventive,
diagnostic and therapeutic medical intervention
is only to be carried out with the prior, free and
informed consent of the person concerned.
Article 3 - Human dignity and human rights:
The interests and the welfare of the
individual should have priority over
the sole interest of science
or society.
ROGER WATERS TO MUSICIANS:- "BOYCOTT ISRAEL"
Roger Waters formerly of Pink Floyd, in an open letter, calls on his fellow musicians to boycott the Zionist Israeli regime and follow the example of the cultural boycott against the ex South African Apartheid regime.
“Given the inability or unwillingness of our governments [to act] …. I write to you now, my brothers and sisters … to ask you to join with me, and thousands of other artists around the world, to declare a cultural boycott on Israel,” Roger Waters says in his letter.
Waters says the Zionist regime has been found guilty of major breaches of human rights and international law by international organizations, UN officials and the International Court of Justice.
He touches on two such cases, saying the regime has been identified as perpetrating the “crime of Apartheid”, including in a statement on March 9th, 2012 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the “crime of ethnic cleansing” including in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).
Waters adds that he has been a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the Israeli regime’s occupation of the Palestinian lands and Tel Aviv’s violations of Palestinian human rights for 7 years, and now wants other musicians to also join the anti-Israeli front.
“Please join me and all our brothers and sisters in global civil society in proclaiming our rejection of Apartheid in Israel & occupied Palestine, by pledging not to perform or exhibit in Israel or accept any award or funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”
The former Pink Floyd Musician also says he has recently faced a boycott by the US media after his November 29th, 2012 address at the UN on behalf of the Russell Tribunal.
In the address, he sought accountability for the Zionist regime’s violations of the international law and the lack of United Nations resolve that prevents the Palestinian people from achieving their inalienable rights, especially the right of self-determination.
____________________
AT THE FACTORY
Tickets from
www.wegottickets.com/thefactory
www.ticketweb.co.uk
browse venues in Wales
www.ticketlineuk.com
02920 230130
Cash tickets from:
The Factory, Porth Instrumental Music, Penygraig Spillers Records, Cardiff
Indulge in a delicious cake and a cup of tea while enjoying music and sing-along songs from fantastic Welsh musicians.
Ticket information:
The Cultural Services Booking & Information Line:
08000 147 111 or book online at
www.rct-arts.co.ukÂÂ
*************************************************
Mid Rhondda Modelling Club...
7pm - 9pm
Tonyrefail Comprehensive School Mid Rhondda Modelling Club
has been running for over 30 years.
We meet on a regular basis
& enjoy making models for display.
We encourage both Gentlemen
and Ladies to attend, and also young people aged 12+.
However, Young people under 16, must be accompanied by an adult.
Ticket information
£1 contribution every week. Under 16's free
Telephone Mr. Davies on 01443 686658
************************************************
Comedy In The Laughter Lounge
The Park & Dare Theatre, Treorchy.
COMEDY IN THE LAUGHTER LOUNGE
Join us once a month in the intimate setting of the Laughter Lounge for some top notch comedy with some of the biggest and brightest rising comedians on the circuit.
Laugh? You'll snort like a pig!
Hilarious - TimeOut.
www.rct-arts.co.uk
Cash Spent On Privatising NHS ‘Doubled’
Friday 13th January 2017 by Lamiat Sabin
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has revealed how the huge amount of cash spent on privatising parts of the NHS has more than doubled under the Tories.
Mr Corbyn said: “The Conservatives are privatising our NHS by stealth, despite the repeated failures and costs of private provision.
“It saddles us with an expensive and unnecessary internal market. It puts tax avoidance, not patient care, at the heart of its management. It also promotes excessive boardroom pay and grotesque inequality.
“Health privateers are earning huge sums at taxpayers’ expense, yet health workers are faced with a pay freeze.
“When health services are privatised, the brakes come off the pay - of the executives in charge.”
Health Emergency campaign director, John Lister, told the Star that it was “bizarre” how local clinical commissioning groups choose to divert cash into private companies, when investment needs to stay within the NHS.
He added: “Companies only want to pick up profitable services such as elective care and are not interested in taking the load off under-pressure departments such as A&Es.
“Despite the financial freeze, none of these firms are making much money -- because the margins are small. It’s a pointless fracturing of the NHS. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 was brought in by the Tories to facilitate this.”
Mr Corbyn says his new proposal would require that no public-sector department or government contracted firm, could pay top executives over 20 times the salary of the lowest-paid worker.
Patients and health workers are denied quality of care and sufficient resources -- because the pay of bosses in the sector skyrockets. He said that the policy “will apply to the private health companies who bid for NHS contracts and pay their top executives indefensible & sometimes obscene amounts.
“Shrinking the widening pay gap in health will aid Labour’s plans to end health privatisation and bring services into a secure, publicly provided NHS.”
(source - Morning Star)
________________________________ How to select or reselect your MP
New edition by Dave Osland. £4 from left-wing bookshops, or Five Leaves Bookshop, Notts.
Post free to mail order customers via 0115 8373097 or via PayPal on bookshop@fiveleaves.co.uk
Rhondda Records exists to express the Rhondda's vision --- when it was confident, powerful, caring, and socialist.
A Rhondda very aware of the media's poisonous tricks -- how they con working class people into attacking each other, or racial groups, or, often, even their best allies and friends... instead of seeing their real enemies:--- an elite who hate the very idea that working people can think, create, or achieve a fairer society.
Thatcher said her proudest achievement was Blair and New Labour - who parachuted in careerists and expenses fiddlers - to stop local Labour members having a say, and who made genuine socialist MPs leave the Labour party in disgust and many members and voters to despair... and the young to stop voting.
Jeremy Corbyn was always attacked because he was trying to reverse all that New Labour corruption --- that's why membership was flooding in all over the UK - watch this video in Kilburn, London: don't believe the dripping poison of the media and the corrupt MPs -- and understand Jeremy's role !
______________________________________
press
March 22nd, 2018 Karl Rogers Analysis, UK Spread the word: Facebook Twitter
On 20 March, the Labour Party appointed Jennie Formby as its new general secretary. The right-wing press immediately attacked her appointment.
Ignoring her formidable record as a union organiser and work in the NEC, Formby has been represented as Jeremy Corbyn’s puppet - and as evidence of his “hard-left” seizure of the Labour Party machine. But it’s obvious why the press barons are running scared.
Media red scaremongering
Formby barely had time to update her Linkedin profile and Twitter feed... before the right-wing press came gunning for her. Predictably, the billionaire-owned propaganda machine, spun the news of her appointment, as a sinister seizure of power by Corbyn & Unite leader Len McCluskey.
The Telegraph ran the headline: Corbyn and McCluskey tighten grip on Labour party as ally Jennie Formby appointed party’s new general secretary. The Express went with: Corbyn cements grip on Labour as hard-left union boss Formby named general secretary. The Sun also framed the appointment as an imposed “hard-left” takeover of the Labour Party. And The Times declared “moderates are no longer welcome” in the Labour Party.
Heather Stewart, political editor of The Guardian, termed the appointment a “coronation” and declared it the culmination of Corbyn’s “two-year battle” to gain “complete control of the party machine”.
She has been a member of the Labour Party for 40 years.
She was regional officer in the UK’s largest trade union – Unite – for 17 years. In 2004, she became the national officer for Unite’s Food, Drink, and Tobacco Sector.
Between 2013 and 2016, she was political director of Unite, before becoming the southeast regional secretary. She has been on the NEC for seven years.
In other words, her appointment to general secretary of the Labour Party, is the result of her experience and abilities as a trade union organiser.
As Corbyn said, when he congratulated Formby:
''Her talent, experience and commitment to the Labour and Trade Union movement, makes me confident shewill play a crucial role in building on last year’s inspiring General Election advance and taking our party forward to victory.''
Her predecessor, Iain McNicol, said:
''As someone who has dedicated her life to fighting for workers’ rights, equality and social justice, I know Jennie will put all the commitment, drive and organising talent, into getting Labour into government and Jeremy into Number 10.''
Running scared
The press is scared of Formby...... because she will be good at her job.
Jewish Labour Movement Chair & exec block call for investigation into Israeli interference 5th of February 2017 by Mike Sivier
This is deeply disturbing information from the Skwawkbox. Read:
Riverside Labour MP Louise Ellman is Chair of the JLM (Jewish Labour Movement) and vice-Chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI). The former organisation is highly controversial because of its affiliation with the openly pro-apartheid Israeli Labour Party ‘Havoda’ and the latter as it was specifically mentioned by the Israeli embassy operative filmed by an undercover Al Jazeera reporter, in connection with his actions: in setting up pro-Israeli groups inside the Labour party.
Supporters of both groups have been prominent in the discredited, but persisting, antisemitism smear against the national party.
And it appears that Ms Ellman and her allies in Riverside CLP – in spite of the obvious conflict of interest – have no intention of allowing members to add their voices to the calls for a full Labour investigation into the infiltration of the party by a foreign government.
Source: JLM Chair and exec block CLP call for investigation into Israeli interference:
REVEALED: NUS official colluded with Israeli embassy to oust student leader Middle East Eye 11/Jan/2017 by Mike Sivier of Vox Political
The worms are coming out of the woodwork now.
Shall we pencil in the Union of Jewish Students as one of Shai Masot’s “front” organisations for the Israeli government?
A senior official from the UK’s National Union of Students, has been covertly filmed conspiring --- to oust the NUS president Malia Bouattia as part of a sting involving the Israeli embassy.
An undercover Al-Jazeera reporter – known only as Robin – posed as a political activist with links to the now disgraced Israeli diplomat Shai Masot - to investigate the influence the Israeli embassy exerts on British politics.
“Robin” is heard discussing how to oust Ms Bouattia from her position as NUS president with NUS Vice President Richard Brooks --- after Masot introduces him as the Chair of the Young Labour Friends of Israel.
___________________________
RIGHTING THE McNicol INJUSTICES
Ms Walker, a lifelong anti-racist campaigner and socialist, was suspended from the Labour Party in May, amidst allegations of anti-Semitism. She was reinstated but has been suspended again, after apparently being “set up” at a training event organised by the Jewish Labour Movement during the party’s national conference in September.
She writes: “I was suspended from the Labour Party in May of this year, amidst what appears to have been a breach of Data Protection law, by Iain McNicol, as General Secretary of the Labour Party.
“I was suspended for the alleged (subsequently cleared) charge of antisemitism. As a Jewish person, whose partner is Jewish, this was heart-breaking.
“Since May I have continued to be targeted by the media, in print, online and in other places.
“Currently I am suspended for questions asked at a training session on ‘Confronting Antisemitism & Engaging Jewish Voters’ at this year’s Labour Conference, after being unethically filmed by a Jewish Labour Movement campaigns officer who is also a Labour councillor. It seems this training was not a ‘safe space for all Jews’ by any means.
“As soon as the first article was released before my notification had even arrived, trolls circled for the kill, posting spooky blacked up faces (and worse) to my Facebook account. The community & national newspapers led the attacks, querying my Jewish identity (a racist move in itself), my work as an anti-racist activist and my political commitment.
“When my suspension was lifted, things got worse. Indignation at my alleged breach reached the heights of irony, when Nigel Farage, anxious not to miss out on the fun being had by among others, the Spectator, a number of Labour MPs and officers of the Party... dedicated an article in Breitbart, and a good dose of righteous indignation on national TV, to publicly calling me out as a racist.
“The widespread hate campaign against me, led to public abuse, strangers shouting ‘racist’ as I walked to the tube. With the murderous racist political discourse now taking the place of debate, I became conscious I was recognisable on the street.
“My story is just one of many where Labour members have found themselves in a similar position. While this may not be the only case where a breach has occurred, as I was abroad at the time, it may well be the most provable.
“We invite anybody who has a personal interest in this case, or the wider public, to contribute.”
Solicitor Martin Howe, representing Ms Walker, added: “Jackie Walker has faced a barrage of hurtful, threatening & nasty abuse since the private details of her investigation by the Labour Party over alleged anti-Semitism was leaked to the press before she even knew of her suspension by the Party.
“This apparent breach of her private data has had a devastating impact on her public and private well-being and has led directly to her being pre-judged & unfairly cast as a racist -- before she was given any opportunity to tell her side of the story.
“Data Protection laws are there to protect all of us and any breach is a very serious matter.”
If you would like to contribute to her fund, details are on the web page.
Source: CrowdJustice – Crowdfund public interest law
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
______________________________________
Get Involved!
– If you feel you’ve been ‘purged’, take this online survey:
“Any member who is suspended & intends to appeal the decision should throw in a ‘Subject Access Request in accordance with the Data Protection Act’ --- for ALL data that the Labour Party hold on them.
The Labour Party are Data Controllers and therefore have to, by law, provide you with all material/information they hold on you.”
If anyone is in contact with anyone who was barred from voting --- please can you pass this info on:
The Labour leadership election was under the jurisdiction of the electoral reform services.
If you were unfairly deprived of your vote you can call them on 0208 365 8909 and lodge your complaint, and inform them of your Data Protection request.
https://www.electoralreform.co.uk
The notification letters barring new members did not give a clear reason, or information on how to appeal, so Vox Political suggests that anyone in this situation, could also contact Liz Davies here: http://www.whycantivote.com
She is a barrister --- who can advise members on what to do.
**************************************
CHILCOT REPORT: SOME MAIN POINTS:
1) "Military action was not a last resort".
2) UK government "undermined the authority" of the UN security council.
3) Weapons of Mass Destruction presented "with a certainty that was not justified".
4) UK forces were "ill-prepared".
5a) "The government failed to achieve its stated objectives."
5b) Post-war planning: Blair "should have known what might happen".
6) Chilcot says Blair also "overlooked the threat the invasion would pose to Britain."
____________________________________
Blair to Face Law
The former prime minister has been put on notice by families of dead servicemen, that he will face legal action, for his part in the illegal Iraq war.
They are being crowd-funded now, and have raised so much money, that Blair is probably heading for a big fall...
Shadow Commons leader Paul Flynn: the Iraq Inquiry's findings are an "utter condemnation" of his terrible decision --- and his prosecution should now be given "serious consideration".
Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond: "I would like to see Blair investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for the crime of a war of aggression, and face parliamentary action to stop him holding public office ever again."
A former British ambassador to the UN: "The UK was pushed into entering this military action, too early."
Stop the War Coalition Convener Ms German: “This is an incredibly damning report for Tony Blair. It will not call for legal sanctions, but it says that Blair is culpable for the war, in many ways.
“He needs to be driven out of public life. He is still part of the Labour Party. We need to make sure that truth & justice prevails. There must be legal action against Blair, & he should no longer be considered fit for any office.”
CND general secretary Kate Hudson: “The report shows that Tony Blair had no respect for cabinet procedure, no respect for Parliament, & no respect for international law.
“Chilcot reveals the evidence that must now be used to bring Tony Blair to justice. This is our demand. Only when justice is served, can we prevent disasters like the Iraq war from ever happening again.”
Iraqi journalist Juma al-Quraishi: "Everyone who took part in the war against Iraq should be condemned, either Britain, or others."
Baghdad resident Ali al-Saraji: "Ex-UK prime minister, Tony Blair, destroyed our country. From 2003, to now, our country has been the scene of destruction, killing, massacres, explosions and sectarianism."
A defiant Blair refuses to accept accusations from service families that he was wrong and reckless, and he insists that he would make the decision again, 'come what may'.
Families of some of the 179 military personnel killed in Iraq, say the former PM is "a terrorist".
Jeremy Corbyn has offered an apology, on Labour's behalf, for the"stain on our party and our country".
____________________________________
Tony Blair: Guilty In The Eyes Of The Public August 1st by Steve Sweeney
Teflon Tony Blair escaped justice yet again yesterday - after High Court judges blocked a private prosecution against the former PM for war crimes over the invasion of Iraq.
Campaigners accused the Establishment of a “concerted and coordinated effort” to exonerate Mr Blair for his role in the Iraq war, in which one million people were killed.
Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German branded Mr Blair as “the most protected war criminal in the world.” However, she said: “In the court of public opinion he has long been found guilty.”
Iraqi General Abdul Wahed Shannan al-Rabbat had sought a private prosecution against Mr Blair, along with then foreign secretary Jack Straw and attorney general Lord Goldsmith.
He accused Mr Blair of committing a “crime of aggression” by invading Iraq in 2003 and his lawyers asked permission from the High Court to seek judicial review to get the Supreme Court to overturn a 2006 House of Lords ruling that there is no such crime under the law of England and Wales.
Gen al-Rabbat brought the case after Westminster magistrates refused to issue summonses in November last year claiming the trio had immunity from prosecution for decisions taken while in government.
However the appeal was dismissed yesterday by the Lord Chief Justice as having “no prospect” of succeeding.
But Michael Mansfield QC said that the findings of the Chilcot Report justified the prosecution of Mr Blair.
He said that the inquiry showed Saddam Hussein did not pose an urgent threat to British interests and that the intelligence regarding weapons of mass destruction had been presented with “unwarranted certainty.”
The QC said that as the international crime of a war of aggression had been accepted at the time of the Nuremberg trials of nazi war crimes, it was the duty of British courts to follow the example and prosecute those responsible for the Iraq war.
The Nuremberg judges had said that war “is essentially an evil thing. Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but affect the whole world.
“To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Kate Hudson branded the decision as “hugely disappointing” and said that “justice had been left undone.”
She said: “Last year’s Chilcot report showed that Blair had no respect for Cabinet procedure, no respect for Parliament and no respect for international law.
“Iraq was devastated by the war Blair led Britain into, millions of innocent Iraqis were killed, British soldiers were killed and terrorism has spread across the Middle East.
“Chilcot revealed the evidence that must now be used to bring Blair to justice. Only when justice is served can we prevent disasters like the Iraq war from happening again.” (Source - Morning Star)
_______________________________
PONCY LABOUR MPS PROBLEM?
A huge drop in working-class Labour MPs, caused a massive drop in support among voters with similar backgrounds, reveals research seeking to explain why support has dwindled in the party’s heartlands.
The study says past leaders like Kinnock and Blair made a concerted effort to pick “more and more middle-class candidates to run for office, during the 80s and 90s, as part of an effort to rebrand” -- which had initial successes at the ballot box.
But this “conscious electoral strategy” stored up problems, as working-class voters who initially, just didn’t vote in response, now seek an alternative.
The solution?Trust each constituency to put forward its own candidates, and don't impose ‘party-approved’ choices who can't do the job.
Now, unfortunately, there are "entryist" MPs who, for decades, have been groomed by CIA cold war relic organisations -- like the Atlantic Council -- and are now trying to misdirect the Labour Party towards cuts, a militarised police, and a US war agenda... - and their anti-Corbyn slant is hobbling Labour.
‘How Can I Deselect My Labour MP?’ A Short Guide to Reselection and Democratic Accountability by Eric Sim, excellent free advice here:
http://novaramedia.com/2016/07/13/how-can-i- deselect-my-labour-mp-a-short-guide-to- reselection-and-democratic-accountability/ CHRIS BRYANT - SUPPORT THE MEMBERS' LEADERSHIP CHOICE & POLICIES - OR GO!
Chris Bryant, the Rhondda's dodgy MP, was on TV -- as soon as the PLP coup started -- telling us that Jeremy MUST go, because it was the ONLY way to act in the Labour Party's interest...
Chris Bryant's voting record: from TheyWorkForYou.com
On Tuition Fees:
On 27 Jan 2004: Chris Bryant voted in favour of university tuition fees increasing from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year, to up to £3,000 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted for the introduction of variable university tuition fees (top-up fees) of up to £3,000 per year in place of the previous fixed fee of £1,250 per year.
On 31 Mar 2004: Chris Bryant voted to allow university tuition fees to increase from £1,125 per year to up to £3,000 per year, and to make other changes to higher education funding and regulation arrangements.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted against: the immediate abolition of all tuition fees, the re-introduction of maintenance grants of up to £2,000 for students from low-income homes, and changes to the country's higher education system.
On 14 Sep 2004: Chris Bryant voted to reject the Liberal Democrat policy of abolition of tuition fees.
On 25 May 2016: Chris Bryant was absent for a vote on Queen's Speech - Forcing Schools to Become Academies - Further Rises in University Tuition Fees
On Human Rights:
Consistently voted for introducing ID cards
Almost always voted for requiring the mass retention of information about communications
Generally voted for mass surveillance of people’s communications and activities
On the Environment:
Generally voted against greater regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract shale gas
On Special Interests:
Almost always voted against limits on success fees paid to lawyers in no-win no fee cases
Generally voted against a statutory register of lobbyists
On War or Peace:
Generally voted for use of UK military forces in combat operations overseas
Consistently voted for the Iraq war
Consistently voted against an investigation into the Iraq war
Generally voted for replacing Trident with a new nuclear weapons system
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On 2 Dec 2015: Voted to support UK airstrikes in Syria [without UN authorisation]
On Independence:
Generally voted for more EU integration
____________________________
Chris Bryant Labour MP From Wikipedia
(aka 1962-1986: Mr Christopher John Bryant 1986-1991: The Reverend Christopher John Bryant, 1991-2001: Mr Christopher John Bryant, 2001-: Mr Christopher John Bryant MP.)
Born in Cardiff, to a Scottish mother & a Welsh father, Bryant grew up in Cardiff, Wales (where his father worked for 5 years), and Cheltenham.
He was educated at Cheltenham College, an independent school for boys in the spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, where he was captain of the school swimming team, and Mansfield College at the University of Oxford, where he graduated in 1983, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English. This was later promoted to a Master of Arts degree (MA (Oxon)), as per tradition.
After completing his first degree, Bryant began training to be a priest in the Church of England at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in Oxfordshire. There, he obtained a degree in theology.
Although a member of the Conservative Party, and an elected office-holder in the Oxford University Conservative Association, he joined the Labour Party in 1986, after leaving Oxford.
He was ordained deacon in 1986 and priest in 1987. He served as a Curate at the Church of All Saints, High Wycombe, from 1986 to 1989; then as a Youth Chaplain in Peterborough, as well as travelling in Latin America.
In 1991 Bryant left the ordained ministry, after deciding that being gay and being a priest, were incompatible. Statements made by Richard Harries, then Bishop of Oxford, also influenced his decision.
After leaving the priesthood in 1991, Bryant worked as the election agent to the Holborn and St Pancras Constituency Labour Party, where he helped Frank Dobson hold his seat in the 1992 general election.
From 1993, he was Local Government officer for the Labour Party; he lived in Hackney and was elected to Hackney Borough Council in 1993, serving until 1998. He became Chair of the Christian Socialist Movement.
He is both a member of the Labour Friends of Israel and Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East. From 1994 to 1996 he was London manager of the leader-grooming "charity", Common Purpose.
He was Labour candidate for Wycombe, in the 1997 general election (he lost by 2,370 votes), and Head of European Affairs for the BBC, from 1998.
His selection for the very safe Labour seat of Rhondda, South Wales in 2000, shocked many people given Bryant's background – gay, an ex- Anglican vicar, and someone who was a Tory, while studying at Oxford, and a member now, of the Henry Jackson Society 'think tank' --- described by The Guardian newspaper as 'neoconservative'. It is pro-US, pro-NATO and pro-military intervention, as well as being fundamentally anti-socialist.
Fifty-two people applied for the candidature and a local councillor was hot favourite to win, before Bryant was parachuted in.
In 2004, a photograph of Mr Bryant in his underpants, which he had posted to a gay dating website, was published in 'papers.
When an interviewer suggested he was a 'disgrace to the Rhondda', he replied: "They can't get rid of me."
His pay, allowances and some expenses:
The basic annual salary for an MP, from April 1st, 2016 is £74,962. MPs also get expenses: to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having some- where to live in London, plus, in their constituency and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.
His MP's expenses story:
Chris Bryant changed second home twice to claim £20,000: the deputy leader of the House of Commons, "flipped" his second home twice, in 2 years, allowing him to claim almost £20,000 for renovations and fees.
Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, split over £92,000 of expenses between 3 properties in Wales and London --- within five years.
In 2004, he attempted to claim £58,000 to overhaul his second home in Wales, after allegedly complaining that properties in his constituency were "terrace or mine owners' houses".
Mr Bryant, a former Church of England clergyman, wanted the money for a new bathroom & kitchen, and to demolish his conservatory. He'd bought the detached house for £97,500, under a year earlier.
He submitted a claim to the Commons fees office for £58,493.26 --- almost 3 times the annual maximum. He noted that the claim exceeded his allowance.
His alleged justification was disclosed... in correspondence between Commons officials. By email, an official wrote: "He had problems finding a suitable property because in the Rhondda there is a choice mainly of terraced property or mine owners' houses." When approached by the Daily Telegraph, Mr Bryant said: "I have never said or thought anything of the sort".
In all, he successfully claimed over £13,000 for renovations, repairs & appliances, in 2004. Along with other bills, his annual claim was £20,902.
In April 2005, he flipped his expenses to his flat in west London, which he bought for £400,000 in April 2002. He also claimed £630 a month for mortgage interest, along with other bills. After claiming over £3,600 over 3 months, he sold the flat in July 2005 for £477,000.
Mr Bryant used his profits to buy a more expensive flat in west London, which was valued at £670,000. He immediately flipped his second home expenses there, claiming almost £6,400 in stamp duty, legal fees and mortgage fees, incurred in the purchase.
He then began claiming interest of £1,000 a month on the mortgage. He also claimed a further £6,000 a year for the flat's service charge and ground rent.
In all, he claimed £92, 415 in second home expenses, from 2004 to 2009.
Mr Bryant said at the time: "I moved flat in London, so as to be closer to Parliament."
Research by Channel 4 News in 2015 found that at least 46 MPs had this kind of system in place – a move one Labour backbencher described as “a new fiddle”. Channel 4 reported then:
“Our investigation found that many of the MPs bought their London properties with the help of the taxpayer, when a previous expenses system allowed them to claim back mortgage payments. But when those claims were banned, following the expenses scandal, they switched to letting out their properties, in some cases for up to £3,000 a month. They then started claiming expenses for rent and hotels in the capital.”
Among those identified was Chris Bryant, shadow leader of the House of Commons. He had already bought a penthouse in London back in 2005 and claimed around £1,000 a month in mortgage claims under the old system.
But after the expenses scandal, he started renting the property out. It’s since been advertised by estate agents as having a private lift and a porter, with rent at about £3,000 a month. Meanwhile, Bryant moved into a new flat;- claiming his own rent on expenses.
Today, March 5th, in 1886,
Freddie Welsh,
boxer, is born.
Frederick Hall Thomas, a.k.a. Freddie Welsh,
was the World lightweight boxing champion.
Born in Pontypridd, Wales, Freddie grew
up in a tough, coal-mining community...
but left his working-class background
to make a name for himself in the USA.
He turned professional as a boxer in Philadelphia
in 1905, and spent the better part of his boxing
career, fighting in the United States.
Welsh spent much of his career chasing the world
championship title, held in turn by Battling Nelson,
Ad Wolgast, and Willie Ritchie, failing, through a
series of events, to meet each, until he had a
successful encounter with Ritchie, in July
1914, when he finally became the world
lightweight boxing champion.
Welsh held the title until 1917, when he lost to Benny
Leonard, though he continued to fight, sparingly,
until 1922. During his career, he fought in over
160 professional bouts, suffering defeat, just
5 times.
A keen follower of Bernarr Macfadden's physical culture,
Welsh believed in exercise and healthy living and was a
non-smoker and a vegetarian.
In the years following the end of his career, bad business
choices cost him his fortune, and after numerous health
problems, he died in poverty, in 1927.
“I can't say that I ever worried much about
what people thought, or said of me. I like
to be liked, and have often wished that
I could be as much loved, as Jim
Driscoll, say, but I have never
been able to bow down to
rules and regulations”
Figures released by The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that UK pensioners are 4th worst off.... out of all of the countries in the European Union.
_______________________________________
'IndependentWales'
by Rebecca Naden
20.02.2021 (Sputnik)
Earlier this week, Plaid Cymru's leader Adam Price said
that more and more Welsh people were supporting
independence -- in the wake of recent economic
challenges. He argued that the level of support
for self-governance, is even more than it was
in Scotland, a decade ago.
____________________________________
Hello darkness my old friend ...PeterMandelsonisback
advising Labour, why not
just go the whole hog & bring back TonyBlair?
by Chris Sweeney
February 15th (RT)
Chris Sweeney is an author and columnist who has written
for newspapers such as The Times, Daily Express, The
Sun and Daily Record, along with several international-
selling magazines. Follow him on Twitter @Writes_Sweeney
Keir Starmer is so devoid of original ideas he is bringing back
the Prince of Darkness to help him crowbar his way into
Number 10, but if the plan is Blair 2.0, why settle for an
impersonator when the original is still available?
Lord Peter Mandelson is not a name that will resonate beyond
the UK, but he is one of Britain’s most infamous spin doctors.
The type of character who has seemingly exerted an extended
sphere of influence without it ever being clear exactly what he
does. He arrived into the Labour Party in 1985 and it’s now
been revealed he is still pulling strings today, 36 years later.
Tony Blair adored his style but some of the left-wing union
devotees had no time for the man who became known as
‘The Prince of Darkness’. So, to appease them, and to
keep his involvement in Blair’s leadership campaign
secret, he was issued a code name – 'Bobby'.
Since then, he’s inhabited a range of roles; minister without
portfolio, secretary of state for Northern Ireland, European
commissioner, business secretary --- and then Baron
Mandelson as he entered the House of Lords. After
Blair left - and was replaced by Gordon Brown -
Mandelson retained an iron-grip on the levers
of power. In that period, he was a member of
35 cabinet committees, and some referred
to him as the “unelected prime minister.”
Mandelson likes a frontman, a lead singer to shield him while
he writes the lyrics. So it’s business as usual now that’s he
back in alongside current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
There is only a decade or so in age between the two, but
the level of experience in the dark arts of politics, is
heavily tipped in Mandelson’s favour. The notoriety
is why he chooses to remain in the shadows, as a
lot of voters detest him. He represents the back-
room dealmaking and media manipulation that
turns so many off politics.
Mandelson is like a lightning rod, he takes the surge and
allows his ‘stooge’ to carry on. He ended up in the public
court of shame, for spending a New Year’s Eve, on Paul
Allen’s yacht, while Microsoft was at the centre of an
EU investigation.
Another yacht trip got him in hot water, this time, with oligarch Oleg Deripaska, as Mandelson had been part of a decision to cut aluminium tariffs. At the time, Deripaska owned United Company Rusal, one of the world’s biggest producers of the metal.
Mandelson was also friendly with Jeffery Epstein,
and has been pictured with the disgraced financier.
So for Keir Starmer to bring in a man with that amount of
baggage, proves how desperate he must be. Starmer
replaced Jeremy Corbyn - the most socialist main-
stream figure seen in British politics for decades -
but has as yet done nothing of substance. He's a
more centrist figure, but Boris has that sewn up:
he won the last election, with an affirming 80-
seat majority. The so-called Red Wall, fell to
the Conservatives, proving that the working
class heartlands, no longer had faith in
their old ally Labour. And still there’s
no spark or idea from Labour, to
turn that around.
Since Blair left office, the party hasn’t won an election. Their
last victory was in 2005 and before Blair led them to victory
in 1997 they hadn’t won an election since 1974. Blair is the
only person who has led the Labour Party to victory in the
last 47 years, and it seems they’ve simply decided to
revert to what worked then and hope it does now.
So welcome back Mandelson, who is right in his sweet spot,
without an official position but is there to “broaden the party’s
appeal.” It seems a redundant mission, as you’re asking
Mandelson to recreate the old magic. For that, he needs
his protege and the man who brought those ideas to life
– Blair. Why bother trying to copy him, when he is still
out there, sitting around not doing very much? Blair
has been quite vocal and made quite a few public
interjections into the Covid-19 effort. It was his
idea to stagger the two vaccine doses, which
Britain and other countries are now
actually doing.
If Labour's desperation is so great they need to face facts.
Starmer is keen to paint himself as a paragon of the good
and just. He created a big spectacle over the investigation
into anti-Semitism within Labour and also fired a member
of his shadow cabinet for making a remark that was
judged to slight the Jewish faith.
Starmer’s previous profession was as a barrister where he
worked on human rights cases before becoming a QC and
the Director of Public Prosecutions. He also spoke out
and protested against the Iraq war.
Yes, the same war that Blair led Britain into, after years of
working with Mandelson. So if Starmer is so willing to
embrace Mandelson, is he really as principled and
motivated by integrity as he’d like to have us think?
All of this also reflects an extremely depressing facet to
British politics. The country has suffered the most
deaths in Europe due to incompetent leadership.
The list of ludicrous decisions has been recounted many
times and if the opposition cannot muster up a feasible
counter after all these months, they really are
beyond hope.
The vaccination rollout is the only thing Boris has handled
well, but it won’t erase the number of families left to rue the
unnecessary loss of loved ones. There is also the much-
covered resurgence in support for independence in
Scotland and a growing movement in Wales. Brexit
was another shambles, with a deal agreed days
before everything went into meltdown. How is it
possible that an allegedly well-run, professional,
perceptive political party ,can’t muster up a
credible opposition?
Winding the clock back 20 years and hoping that the same
things will work is, in my view, a fantasy. Society and
attitudes have changed, there was no social media
in 1997 and simply looking plausible and playing
'Things Can Only Get Better' on a loop isn’t
going to win you 80+ seats. But let us
suppose, for a minute, that it might,
if the Labour party & it’s leadership
really believe that’s their greatest
hope and the best plan they have
for the British people is New
Labour 2.0, then why isn’t
Blair involved?
Starmer talks a bit like him, has a similar presence, they were
even both barristers before entering politics, but trying to
‘out Blair’ Blair is futile. If Starmer isn't able to lead and
create his own vision, then why did he put himself up for the job? Trying to get Peter Mandelson to
Svengali you into some sort of Blair tribute act is never going to work. As Queen fans know, Adam Lambert, is no substitute for
Freddie Mercury.
Step up or step aside, don’t be a down- market copy of your predecessor.
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_________________________________
Boris Johnson Defends AstraZeneca,
Pfizer Jabs After Study Reveals Jabs
Provide 'Minimum Efficiency
by Demond Cureton
08.02.2021 (Sputnik)
The comments comes as South Africa announced it would
place its AstraZeneca vaccine rollout on hold, following a
study, which revealed the jabs were ineffective against
the South African variant of the disease, media
reported this week.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson told reporters on Monday
he was confident the Oxford-Astrazeneca and Pfizer
coronavirus vaccines were effective against death
and grave illnesses amid the pandemic,
Reuters reported.
According to the British Prime Minster, the COVID-19 jabs
were effective at tackling the novel strain of the virus.
"We think that both the vaccines that we're currently using are
effective in, as I say, in stopping serious disease and death.
We also think in particular in the case of the Oxford Astra-
Zeneca vaccine that there's good evidence that it is
stopping transmission, as well, I think 67%
reduction in transmission," he said at
a press conference.
When asked about the vaccine, Johnson said they
had remained a "massive benefit" to Britain and
the nation's population.
"I've no doubt that vaccines generally are going to offer a
way out. And with every day that goes by, you can see
that medicine is slowly getting the upper hand over
the disease," he concluded.
But the comments come after data from a South African study
found the vaccine provided "minimum efficacy" against mild
COVID-19 cases in adults and would "recalibrate thinking
about how to approach the pandemic virus", Shabir
Madhi, chief investigator and professor of
vaccinology at the University of the
Witwatersrand said.
"The results that we now describe against the variant, the
point estimate is 10%. Clearly, that is far off the 60% mark
and, even if you had a larger study, you are unlikely to
get to a vaccine efficacy readout of even 40 or 50%,"
he told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme.
South Africa would shift to administering Pfizer-BioNTech
and Johnson&Johnson vaccines, the government added.
Portugal also advised against the British and Swedish-made
vaccines for people aged over 65, according to a statement
from the nation's directorate-general on Monday.
"The AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved as the preventive
measure against COVID-19 among people aged 18 and older ...
Until new data is available, the AstraZeneca vaccine against
COVID-19 has to be used primarily among people aged 65
and younger," it said in a statement at the time, echoing
statements from Norway, Poland, Spain and Italy.
______________________________________
Quebec officials launch probe -
after 97yo with dementia given
both Pfizer & Moderna Covid
jabs, violating guidance
January 24th (RT)
The daughter of an elderly woman in Montreal, Canada, has expressed outrage --- after her mother was accidentally
injected with two different jabs, breaching guidelines that forbid mixing vaccines, unless absolutely necessary.
Antonietta Pollice inadvertently became the first person in
the province of Quebec to receive two doses of the Covid-
19 jab, but the mixture of drugs has raised safety concerns,
as well as questions about whether care home residents
who receive the vaccine fully understand and consent
to the medical procedure.
The 97-year-old took the Moderna jab on January 7 while
living at a seniors’ home in a suburb of Montreal. Days
later, the facility closed and she was transferred to a
different residence. Apparently unaware that she
had already been immunized, staff at Pollice’s
new home, injected her with another dose ---
but this time, with the Pfizer/BioNTech one.
Her daughter, Patrizia Di Biase, told the CBC that her mother
suffers from dementia and didn’t understand what was
being done to her.
“Shocked. I was upset,” she said. “How can that happen?
‘Mistakes happen,’ well, it's not a small mistake.” She
described the situation as “unacceptable” and
demanded accountability from healthcare
workers and officials.
“I don't want this to happen again. It's happened now, we
can't go back for my mom, but we need to go forward
and have everybody know,” Di Biase added. She said
that she had contacted Quebec Public Health
demanding answers. The regional health
authorities are currently probing the
case, the CBC reported.
The decision to jab Pollice, apparently without her full
understanding of the procedure, is particularly
worrying, since the elderly woman reportedly
contracted Covid-19 last spring and would
presumably already have antibodies.
It is unclear whether she experienced any adverse
reactions after being administered the second jab.
The safety and efficacy of mixing the two vaccines has
yet to be established. Although both drugs are two-
dose mRNA vaccines, no data exists on their inter-
changeability. Previously, medics suggested the
use of different vaccines should happen... only
where there is no other option to administrate
the patient with the second dose of the
same type.
The recommended wait between receiving the first and
second dose of each drug is also different. The second
Pfizer/BioNTech shot should be administered 3 weeks
after the first dose, while the wait time between
Moderna injections is one month.
The accidental shot also goes against Quebec’s own
vaccination scheme.... The province’s PM, Francois
Legault, decreed earlier this month that all second
doses of the Covid-19 vaccine should be delayed
so that more people can be immunized.
According to the guidance, people should wait
90 days, before taking the second shot.
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______________________________
UK: Almost 2,000 COVID-Related Attacks
on Emergency Services in Six Months
January 21st (FNA)
Almost 2,000 assaults on emergency workers were
prosecuted in the six months following the UK’s
first national lockdown, new figures showed.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the attacks,
often seeing police officers coughed and spat on, were
the most common coronavirus-related crime between
April 1 and September 30, The Independent reported.
The 1,688 offences also include incidents where officers
were kicked, bitten and hit with heavy objects --- after
stopping people suspected of breaking restrictions.
Max Hill QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said
the figures were “appalling” and that attacks were
still taking place.
“I will continue to do everything in my power to protect t
hose who so selflessly keep us safe during this crisis,”
he continued, adding, “We are also determined to see
wider criminality during lockdown periods reflected
in court, which is evident in the charges seen in
this data.”
In one recent incident, a police officer believes he was
infected with COVID by a suspect who spat on him
while being arrested in Bournemouth on January 6.
The 47-year-old officer, who had been wearing a mask,
said he developed symptoms two days later and has
since tested positive for coronavirus.
“You can’t get control of somebody without necessarily
getting hands-on with them - especially when they are
not compliant, you have to contact them physically,”
he added.
“COVID has changed things … you have to enter into
that sort of zone of transmission. There is no way of
avoiding that. We can use all the PPE and hand
sanitiser in the world, ultimately, we are at
higher risk,” he noted.
The police officer stated he and his colleagues should
be “much nearer the front of the queue for vaccines”.
Another officer has been admitted to hospital after
policing an anti-lockdown protest in Bournemouth
earlier this month, Dorset Police stated, this week.
Senior police leaders have lobbied the government ---
for frontline officers to be prioritised when the vaccine
roll-out moves beyond the current 4 vulnerable groups.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
(JCVI) has said it would consider exposure risk and
occupation in the next phase, and on Wednesday
Boris Johnson told MPs he wanted police,
emergency service workers and teachers
to be vaccinated “as soon as possible”.
The CPS recorded 6,469 offences flagged for a link to
coronavirus between April and September, involving
2,106 defendants. 90% of them were convicted.
The total included almost 1,200 prosecutions under the
Health Protection Regulations, which initially enforced
the national lockdown and have been adapted for
different levels of restrictions, local lockdowns,
mask wearing and other COVID laws.
The CPS added the cases included: a man caught
travelling illegally between different areas of Wales
to find a prostitute, and a Manchester man who
tried to claim attendees at a house party were
his support bubble.
Some of the lockdown charges were against people
prosecuted for other crimes, such as criminal
damage and public order offences, and were
breaking COVID laws at the same time.
Other coronavirus-flagged crimes were 480 public
order offences, 466 criminal damage incidents,
464 common assaults, & 2,234 other offences.
They included people threatening to “infect” victims
with coronavirus, the theft of essential items during
shortages early in the pandemic, and fraudsters
taking advantage of the crisis.
____________________________
UK Now Has World's Highest
Daily Coronavirus Death Rate,
Oxford Research Reveals
by Oleg Burunov
19.01.2021 (Sputnik)
Britain, which is now in the grip of a national
coronavirus lockdown, has Europe's highest
COVID-19 death toll that currently stands at
more than 90,000, according to Johns
Hopkins University.
Right now, the UK has the highest daily coronavirus
death rate in the world, figures collated by an
Oxford University research platform
have revealed.
According to Our World in Data, an average of 935
daily fatalities in the past week was the equivalent
of more than 16 people per one million dying each
day from COVID-19.
The figures were published after UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson stressed that even though he
"completely" understands Britons want to
return to normal life as soon as possible,
"it does depend on things going well".
"It depends on the vaccination programme going well,
it depends on there being no new variants that throw
our plans out and we have to mitigate against, and it
depends on everybody, all of us, remembering that
we're not out of the woods yet", Johnson stressed.
The statement followed Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
saying late last week that the government hopes to ease
some lockdown restrictions before the end of February
as London presses ahead with the early rollout of a
COVID-19 vaccine.
"What we want to do is get out of this national lockdown
as soon as possible. By early spring, hopefully by March,
we'll be in a position to make those decisions. I think it's
right to say we won't do it all in one big bang. As we
phase out the national lockdown, I think we'll end
up phasing through a [regional] tiered approach",
Raab noted.
He spoke after Johnson called for vaccinating a total of
14 million people in the UK by mid-February. According
to the prime minister, they should include the oldest
age groups, as well as the clinically vulnerable and
frontline workers.
The UK has been under a national coronavirus lockdown
since 5 January, restrictions that stipulate the closure of
schools and non-essential businesses, as well as people
being ordered to work from home if possible.
As of Monday, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain had
climbed to 3,443,350, with 90,031 fatalities, according
to the latest update from Johns Hopkins University.
_________________________
Post-Brexit 'Loophole'
Lets UK Keep Sending
PlasticWasteto Poorer
Countries,Report Says
12.01.2021 (Sputnik)
The United Kingdom is facing a backlash from environmentalists over a post-Brexit "loophole" that allows it to ship plastic waste to developing countries --- in disregard of its previous pledges, The Guardian reported Tuesday.
From January 1, the European Union banned exports
of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries outside
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development.
The UK, which left the EU’s single market and customs
union on December 31, will continue the practice,
despite Tory commitments that post-Brexit
regulations would not undermine
environmental standards, the
British newspaper said.
The country, which is the 2nd-biggest producer of plastic
waste after the United States, will now reportedly export
plastic waste, under a procedure of prior informed
consent, in accordance with which the importer
can agree or disagree to take in
such shipments.
Greenpeace political campaigner Sam Chetan-Welsh,
quoted by the newspaper, slammed the UK
government for creating a "loophole to allowthe dumpingofourplastic trash
