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Category: UK

  • HS2 should be ‘cancelled altogether’ as it’s little more than an ‘overblown vanity project’

    There’s been more chaos around HS2, with a report from a parliamentary committee slamming the government and the project. However, the most scathing comments come from campaign group Stop HS2 – which says the ill-fated infrastructure development is an ‘overblown vanity project’ that should be cancelled altogether.

    HS2: a costly, watered down project

    HS2 is the UK’s second high-speed line after that to the Channel Tunnel. The government has consistently claimed that it aims to speed up travel between London and some of England’s major cities in central and northern England.

    But the government recently revised down its lofty ambitions, taking into account concerns of local people and the environment, which has meant more tunnels and more cost. Jon Thompson, chairman of the state-owned HS2 company, said in 2023:

    Here we do not ride roughshod over the environment, over planning law, over local authorities and local people.

    But that comes at a cost, driving up the price of the project.

    Combined, they have made HS2 one of the world’s most expensive rail projects per kilometre, according to economic growth association Britain Remade, which compared infrastructure projects in 14 countries.

    As a result, Downing Street made two cuts to the route to reduce costs, following heated debate about the costs and benefits of the project. The project will now terminate in Birmingham – far from the northern hubs of Manchester and Leeds originally envisaged.

    Now, a parliamentary committee has got involved – and issued a damning verdict on HS2.

    Scathing

    As BBC News reported, the Public Accounts Committee has released a report into HS2. It was critical of the programme, as well as government decisions over it. BBC News noted the report said:

    The cancellation of HS2’s northern legs means the project will be “very poor value for money”… [and] it was “sceptical” government would attract enough private investment to build a key new station at Euston…

    It says that there are “many uncertainties” in the government’s assessment that it was better to complete Phase 1 of the project, rather than cancel the whole high-speed railway programme.

    The Public Accounts Committee also said:

    cost overruns and delays have been a constant problem throughout the whole HS2 project. The estimated cost of the completion of Phase 1 with inflation range as high as £67bn. Poor cost management indicates a failure of governance and oversight at both HS2 Ltd and [the Department for Transport], and the report calls for answers within six months as to how these issues will now be brought under acceptable and properly accountable control.

    It’s chair Meg Hillier noted that:

    HS2 is the biggest ticket item by value on the Government’s books for infrastructure projects. As such, it was crying out for a steady hand at the tiller from the start. But, here we are after over a decade of our warnings on HS2’s management and spiralling costs – locked into the costly completion of a curtailed rump of a project with many unanswered questions and risks still attached to delivery of even this curtailed project.

    HS2: what an absolute mess

    Campaign groups have also hit back at the government in the wake of the report.

    Stop HS2 founder Joe Rukin said:

    The Public Accounts Committee have said that no-one knows what the final cost of HS2 will be, they don’t know what the benefits of building are, the bosses running HS2 are over-confident, and that HS2 is poor value for money and private investors won’t touch it with a bargepole. This isn’t news, this is exactly what the Public Accounts Committee and others have been saying for over ten years.

    Every time there is any independent study into HS2, it says the same things, there have been dozens of these reports from serious parliamentary bodies and government watchdogs, and every time they look into HS2 they say the same, that’s it’s a mess, that the people running it don’t know what they are doing, that the costs are going to keep on going up and it won’t deliver on the promises being made.

    HS2 has been a national scandal from start to finish, it has only ever existed to line the pockets of the construction firms, and it is well past time that there is a full scale fraud inquiry into what continues to be the world’s greatest train robbery.

    Penny Gaines, chair of Stop HS2, added:

    With just a rump of the overblown HS2 vanity project left, it is no surprise that the remaining plan offers the taxpayer very poor value of money.

    Rishi Sunak was right to cancel HS2 Phase 2 last year, even in the face of intense lobbying. But he should have stood up to those in the Department for Transport and the Tory party who wanted the construction industry to continue to devour billions of pounds of taxpayers money and cancelled Phase 1 too.

    HS2 should be cancelled in its entirety as soon as possible.

    It remains to be seen if HS2 will ever properly be completed. Labour, likely to be the next government, has so far been wishy-washy over the project. So, one of the world’s most notorious white elephants remains in perpetual chaos.

    Additional reporting via Agence France-Presse

    Featured image via Robin Stott – Geograph

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Corbyn is off to Margate in March – but not for a 99, nor for a dip in the sea

    The Peace and Justice Project’s Music For The Many campaign has just added another gig to its list of events – with the (hopefully but unlikely to be sunny) seaside resort of Margate the destination.

    Corbyn in Margate? Where Else?

    The Music For The Many event will be taking place in Margate on Friday 1 March at the Where Else? grassroots music and community art venue. There will be a “very special” live performance from Alt-Rock band SNAYX and more guests who will be announced very soon.

    Plus, as well as supporting an excellent grassroots music venue, ticket sales will go towards a donation to the charity Medical Aid For Palestinians and humanitarian aid on the ground in Gaza. As the Canary reported, since 7 October, Israel has killed over 27,000 Palestinians, injured more than 66,000, and displaced the majority of people in Gaza.

    The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn in 2021, launched the Music For The Many campaign to protect grassroots music venues and demand the government creates a support fund to protect the futures of at-risk venues.

    In 2022, 22 million people saw live music at grassroots music venues and brought £500m into the UK economy. However, operating costs ran at over £499m, leaving a profit margin of only 0.2%.

    This is unsustainable and has put thousands of jobs under serious threat. So, the Peace and Justice Project and Corbyn are determined to change things – and Margate is the next stop in this.

    Music For The Many

    As Corbyn himself recently wrote for Kerrang! magazine:

    It is absolutely no exaggeration to say that, without urgent action, we face the real risk of losing an entire generation of talent and artistry to cuts and austerity. Without grassroots music venues, up-and-coming performers, bands and musicians will not be granted the necessary space to harness and develop their craft, or build enough of a following to move on to bigger things such as record deals or the chance to play at larger concert venues.

    With that in mind, it is not unreasonable to say that the massive corporations, many of whom have reported massive profits in recent years, should pay their fair share into the delicate ecosystem of British live music.

    So, Corbyn has called on corporate sponsors of large music arenas to:

    pay a small levy on ticket sales that can be directly re-invested into a specific Grassroots Music Venue Fund to ensure the long-term security of grassroots music venues.

    You can get involved with Music For The Many by writing to your MP demanding the government act, here. Also, read Corbyn’s full exclusive for Kerrang! magazine here.

    Tickets for the Music For The Many Where Else? Margate gig will be on sale at 10am on Wednesday 7 February. Register to get yours here.

    Featured image via the Peace and Justice Project

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Yet another Just Stop Oil supporter is currently on trial for raising the climate crisis alarm on the M25

    Just Stop Oil supporter Cressie Gethin, who climbed a motorway gantry above the M25 in July 2022, faces trial at Isleworth Crown Court. Once again, she’s another activist who’s facing the Tories’ draconian anti-protest laws – simply for raising the alarm over the climate crisis.

    Just Stop Oil’s 2022 M25 heatwave action

    Cressie will appear before Judge Duncan from Monday 5 February, charged with causing a public nuisance for climbing a gantry above the M25 on 20 July 2022. She was arrested alongside four other supporters of Just Stop Oil who climbed gantries in two other locations on the M25. They were demanding the government halt licensing and consents for the development of any new fossil-fuel projects in the UK.

    The trial is expected to last a week. Two other Just Stop Oil supporters arrested on the day have pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance on the M25. They are due to be sentenced by 20 February.

    Cressie Gethin, a musician from Hereford, said:

    I empathise sincerely with everyone who was affected by this action, and I hope that some can understand that I acted for them and their children. The 40C heatwave which prompted my actions was a taster of the avoidable suffering being facilitated by the government. In a time of crisis it becomes a moral compulsion to sound the alarm.

    The day of action on the M25 came in response to the unprecedented heatwave in July 2022 that saw temperatures in the UK rise above 40 degrees for the first time, a milestone that scientists previously thought was impossible.

    On 18 July 2022, the UK Health Security Agency and Met Office issued the first ever level-four alert, as the government declared a national emergency.

    Rail services were severely disrupted due to tracks buckling in the heat and overhead cables sagging and Network Rail issued a ‘do not travel’ warning on 19 July. During the summer of 2022, an estimated 2,985 excess deaths were associated with the heat, the highest number ever recorded.

    Just a day prior to the hottest day on record, the high court ruled the Government’s Net Zero strategy unlawful.

    ‘Regressive’ new laws targeting climate protests

    Cressie is charged with causing a public nuisance, a statutory offence under the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.

    Earlier this month Michel Forst, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders released a statement, which severely criticises the UK Government’s increasingly draconian treatment of peaceful climate action, suggesting that Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain supporters are being subject to “persecution, penalization or harassment”.

    He made reference to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, saying:

    I learned that, in the UK, peaceful protesters are being prosecuted and convicted under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, for the criminal offence of “public nuisance”, which is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

    It is important to highlight that, prior to these legislative developments, it had been almost unheard of since the 1930s for members of the public to be imprisoned for peaceful protest in the UK. I am therefore seriously concerned by these regressive new laws.

    ‘Civil resistance’ will continue, like it did on the M25

    Just Stop Oil supporters say they are refusing to allow the breakdown of ordered society and a collapse of the rule of law as a result of the “selfish actions” of a few.

    The group said:

    The people of the UK have had enough of the corruption and lies of those running the country and are stepping into civil resistance in order to save our communities from the worst of climate breakdown. It is not a case of ‘if’ we will win, but ‘when.’

    Featured image via Just Stop Oil

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Palestine Action target another firm, CDW, directly profiting from Israel’s genocide

    Activists from Palestine Action have anonymously targeted the Peterborough offices of CDW, tech suppliers for Israel’s biggest weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. Windows were shattered and the site was covered in red paint, symbolising the bloodshed of the Palestinian people.

    CDW: targeted by Palestine Action

    CDW provide supply chain management, IT solutions, cyber security, and eProcurement services, making Elbit’s murder business more efficient and easier to run. This action served to remind the company of their role in the genocide of the Palestinian people, urging them to cut all ties with Elbit:

    Since 7 October, Israel has killed over 27,000 Palestinians, injured more than 66,000, and displaced the majority of people in Gaza. Elbit Systems supply the majority of Israel’s military drone fleet, land-based equipment, bullets, munitions, and missiles. Their weaponry is often marketed as “battle-tested”, after it’s deployed and experimented on the people of Gaza and before it’s sold on to other regimes across the world. The genocide of Gaza would not be possible without Elbit’s weaponry and those who facilitate and profit from their deadly business.

    After similar actions, four other companies have ended their association with Elbit’s deadly trade in the past two months. These include Elbit’s weapons transporters Kuehne + Nagel.

    Direct action to disrupt genocide

    As the Canary previously reported, this victory comes after an extensive direct action campaign.

    This first involved activists from Palestine Action breaking into the K+N’s Leicester offices, smashing windows and spray painting the inside on 12 May 2023. There have been numerous similar actions taken since:

    Following the first action, K+N attempted to disguise the lorries which it used for transporting Elbit’s weaponry from the premises of their Leicester subsidiary, UAV Tactical Systems. This attempt did not go unnoticed by Palestine Action, who listed the company as a target on elbitsites.uk, leading to a double action at the company’s Milton Keynes branch and their cargo insurance firm in London.

    This involved the smashing of their branches’ windows, buildings covered in blood-red paint, and messages left calling for K+N to “cut ties with Elbit”:

    K+N Palestine Action Elbit

    Other companies that have cut ties with Elbit after Palestine Action got involved include recruiters iO associates, property managers Fisher German, and website designers Naked Creativity.

    Palestine Action will continue to target all those who allow Elbit to continue their business of genocide, until they declare they’ve cut all ties.

    Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Keir Starmer’s support from Muslim people has collapsed – and serve him right

    A new Survation poll commissioned by the Labour Muslim Network has revealed a startling collapse in support amongst traditional Labour Party voters in the UK Muslim community nationwide.

    Labour Party: Muslim people are abandoning it

    The exclusive new poll has found that support for the Labour Party had halved, dropping by 43% amongst British Muslim voters since the 2019 general election. The drop in support comes after weeks of criticism of Labour’s positioning over Israel‘s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

    Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was also found to have a net favourability of -11% amongst British Muslims. The British Muslim community have traditionally been amongst the most loyal Labour voters with 86% supporting the party in 2019.

    A collapse

    The headline findings of the opinion poll are:

    • The Labour Party’s support amongst British Muslim voters has halved, falling from an 86% vote share in the 2019 general election to a projected 43% (-43) in 2024.
    • Identification with the Labour Party amongst British Muslims has fallen by a startling 23% points, from 72% in 2021 to 49% (-23) in 2024.
    • 38% of British Muslims polled said their view of the Labour Party had become more unfavourable over the past 12 months.
    • 62% of British Muslims polled said their view of the Conservative Party had become more unfavourable over the past 12 months.
    • 85% of British Muslims polled claimed that the position of political parties on Israel-Palestine will be important in how they choose to vote at the upcoming general election.
    • Sir Keir Starmer’s net personal approval rating amongst British Muslims is -11%.
    • Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s net personal approval rating amongst British Muslims is -58%.

    To view the results in full, please go here.

    The poll was conducted by Survation via telephone interview. A combination of landline and mobile data were called. Field work was conducted between 18th January and 3rd February 2024.

    Labour ‘risks losing support for a generation’

    The Labour Muslim Network said:

    The Muslim community has been amongst the most loyal Labour supporters anywhere in the United Kingdom. The findings of this new opinion poll shows a startling collapse of this electoral and communal relationship.

    This is a crisis point for the future of the relationship between the British Muslim community and the Labour Party.

    These findings come in the context of over 100 days of Israel’s continuous assault on Gaza. Over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than 10,000 of whom are children, and the Labour Party’s response has been unacceptable and deeply offensive to Muslims across Britain.

    Muslim voters have been watching and are now sending a clear message – they will not support any political party that does not fervently oppose the crimes committed against the people of Gaza.

    The Labour leadership must change paths now or risk losing the support of the Muslim community for a generation.

    Featured image via Channel 4 News – YouTube

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Wales is already gearing up for International Workers Day with a big rally planned

    Wales is already preparing for International Workers Day on 4 May 2024, with a campaign around housing. Beth Winter MP and Mabon ap Gwynfor MS are set to join “Property Act – Nothing Less” demands during a rally.

    ‘Wales is not for sale’

    Winter, Labour Member of Parliament for Cynon Valley, and Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, will be among the speakers at a Nid yw Cymru ar Werth [Wales is not for Sale] rally in Blaenau Ffestiniog on 4 May.

    The rally, which will take place on International Workers’ Day, will emphasise the need for a Property Act to ensure that housing is treated primarily as a community need, not a commercial asset, so that people can continue to live and work in their communities:

    The seven points of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Property Act are:

    • Establish the right to adequate housing locally.
    • Plan for local needs.
    • Empower communities.
    • Prioritize local people.
    • Control the rental sector.
    • Sustainable communities.
    • Invest in communities.

    Among the other speakers will be Councillor Craig ab Iago, who holds the housing portfolio on Gwynedd County Council, and local musician, Gai Toms. The rally will be led by Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Chair, Joseff Gnagbo, and local town councillor, Dewi Prysor.

    During the rally, the language campaigner Ffred Ffransis will introduce Cymdeithas’ “Property Act – Nothing Less” demand to the government, which will read:

    We call on the Welsh Government to introduce a Property Act to create a housing market suitable to the needs of Wales, and to empower our local communities. Our communities can’t wait any longer – it’s time to act.

    The speakers and local leaders will sign the statement at the end of the rally, which Cymdeithas yr Iaith will present to the government during the Urdd Eisteddfod later in May.

    A crisis engulfing Welsh-speaking communities

    Jeff Smith, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Sustainable Communities Group, explained:

    We expect hundreds to attend to demonstrate the extent of the crisis facing Welsh-speaking communities and to declare that nothing less than the Property Act will do. Welsh communities are dwindling as their residents fail to compete in the open housing market and are forced to leave.

    We are approaching the final months in which there is still a practical opportunity for the Government to introduce legislation and pass it before the end of the Senedd term. We look forward to seeing a wide range of people who believe in the future of Wales and in social justice join the call to demand a Property Act on International Workers’ Day weekend.

    The organisers of the rally, the first of two this year, hope that it will influence the Government’s eagerly-anticipated White Paper on The Right to Adequate Housing and Fair Rents and the report of the Welsh Communities Commission, both of which will be published in the Summer. The second rally in Machynlleth on 14 September will respond to the announcements.

    Welsh version

    Mae Cymru eisoes yn paratoi ar gyfer Diwrnod Rhyngwladol y Gweithwyr ar 4 Mai 2024, gydag ymgyrch yn ymwneud â thai. Mae Beth Winter AS a Mabon ap Gwynfor AS ar fin ymuno â gofynion “Deddf Eiddo – Dim Llai” yn ystod rali.

    ‘Nid yw Cymru ar werth’

    Bydd Winter, Aelod Seneddol Llafur dros Gwm Cynon, a Gwynfor, Aelod Plaid Cymru o’r Senedd dros Ddwyfor Meirionnydd, ymysg siaradwyr rali Nid yw Cymru ar Werth ym Mlaenau Ffestiniog ar 4 Mai.

    Bydd y rali, sy’n cymryd lle ar Ddiwrnod Rhyngwladol y Gweithwyr, yn pwysleisio’r angen am Ddeddf Eiddo i sicrhau bod tai yn cael eu trin yn bennaf fel angen cymunedol, nid asedau masnachol, fel bod pobl yn gallu parhau i fyw a gweithio yn eu cymunedau.

    Dyma saith pwynt Deddf Eiddo Cymdeithas yr Iaith:

    • Sefydlu’r hawl i dai digonol yn lleol.
    • Cynllunio ar gyfer anghenion lleol.
    • Grymuso cymunedau.
    • Rhoi blaenoriaeth i bobl leol.
    • Rheoli’r sector rhentu.
    • Cymunedau cynaliadwy.
    • Buddsoddi mewn cymunedau.

    Ymysg y siaradwyr eraill bydd y Cynghorydd Craig ab Iago, deiliad portffolio tai Cyngor Gwynedd, a’r cerddor lleol, Gai Toms. Bydd y rali’n cael ei chyflwyno a’i harwain gan Gadeirydd Cenedlaethol Cymdeithas yr Iaith, Joseff Gnagbo, a’r cynghorydd tref lleol, Dewi Prysor.

    Yn ystod y rali bydd yr ymgyrchydd iaith Ffred Ffransis yn cyflwyno galwad “Deddf Eiddo – Dim Llai” y Gymdeithas i’r Llywodraeth, sef:

    Galwn ar Lywodraeth Cymru i gyflwyno Deddf Eiddo i greu marchnad dai addas at anghenion Cymru, ac i rymuso’n cymunedau lleol. Ni all ein cymunedau aros rhagor – mae’n bryd gweithredu.

    Bydd y siaradwyr ac arweinwyr lleol yn arwyddo’r datganiad ar ddiwedd y rali. Bydd Cymdeithas yr Iaith yn cyflwyno’r alwad i’r Llywodraeth ar faes Eisteddfod yr Urdd fis Mai.

    Argyfwng yn llyncu cymunedau Cymraeg eu hiaith

    Esboniodd Jeff Smith, Cadeirydd Grŵp Cymunedau Cynaliadwy Cymdeithas yr Iaith:

    Rydym yn disgwyl i gannoedd fynychu i ddangos maint yr argyfwng sy’n wynebu cymunedau Cymraeg ac i ddatgan na wna unrhywbeth llai na Deddf Eiddo y tro. Mae cymunedau Cymraeg yn prinhau wrth i’w trigolion fethu a chystadlu yn y farchnad agored a chael eu gorfodi i adael.

    Rydym yn agosáu at y misoedd olaf lle bydd cyfle ymarferol i’r Llywodraeth gyflwyno deddfwriaeth a’i phasio cyn diwedd tymor y Seneddol. Edrychwn ymlaen yn ofnadwy i weld ystod eang o bobl sy’n credu yn nyfodol Cymru a chyfiawnder cymdeithasol yn ymuno â’r alwad i fynnu Deddf Eiddo ar benwythnos Gŵyl Ryngwladol y Gweithwyr.

    Mae trefnwyr y rali, y cyntaf o ddwy eleni, yn gobeithio y bydd yn dylanwadu’n gadarnhaol ar Bapur Gwyn y Llywodraeth ar Yr Hawl i Dai Digonol a Rhenti Teg ac ar adroddiad y Comisiwn Cymunedau Cymraeg, sydd yn cael eu cyhoeddi yn yr haf. Bydd yr ail rali ym Machynlleth ar Fedi 14 yn ymateb i’r cyhoeddiadau.

    Featured image via Cymdeithas yr Iaith

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • An interactive map is helping campaigners target Israel’s war machine

    Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has released a groundbreaking initiative that means protesters can directly target any company involved in the manufacturing of planes Israel is currently using to bomb Gaza.

    CAAT: now protesters can target every F35 site

    CAAT has released an interactive map of all the locations across the UK where F35 components are made. CAAT estimates the value of the components UK industry supplies for Israeli F35s to be worth at least £336m since 2016.

    Moreover, 15% of every F35 that Israel is using to bombard Gaza is made by British industry.

    The map will enable campaigners across the country to find out where the components are produced, and to protest the companies who are profiting from the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza on their doorsteps.

    Foreign secretary David Cameron recommended continuing arms sales to Israel on 12 December 2023, despite previous Foreign Office assessments stating there were “serious concerns” about breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Israel’s commitment and ability to comply with IHL. Cameron further accepted that Israel has a different interpretation of its IHL obligations.

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on 26 January, which stated that there is a ‘plausible’ case that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and imposed provisional measures on Israel to prevent genocide, has led to increased calls on the UK government to stop arms exports to Israel.

    The UK has a legal obligation to stop arms exports if there is a clear risk they could be used in violations of IHL, and under the Genocide Convention which places obligations on states to take action to prevent and punish genocide.

    Therefore, the fact that the UK is still allowing exports of arms – including components of F35s – is scandalous.

    A “great resource for campaigners”

    CAAT’s media coordinator Emily Apple said:

    This is a great resource for campaigners across the country. People do not want genocide profiteers on their doorstep, and this map will enable communities to take action against the companies that are complicit in war crimes in their local area.

    However, this isn’t something we should have to do. The legal position is clear. Israel is committing war crimes, including bombing hospitals and refugee camps and deliberately targeting medical workers. This government should immediately suspend arms exports to Israel.

    Instead it is prioritising the profits of arms dealers over Palestinian lives, and it is down to ordinary people to hold these companies to account for their murderous deals.

    Featured image via CAAT

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Palestine Action has just secured another victory against the genocidal Israeli arms trade

    Palestine Action has claimed another victory against Israel‘s weapons trade and supply – this time, forcing a transport company to stop working with arms firm Elbit Systems.

    Palestine Action: another victory against Elbit

    In an email to Palestine Action, transportation giants Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) declared it’s ended all ties with Israel’s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, and will not be working with the company again in the future. This victory comes after an extensive direct action campaign.

    This first involved activists from Palestine Action breaking into the K+N’s Leicester offices, smashing windows and spray painting the inside on 12 May 2023. There have been numerous similar actions taken since:

    Following the first action, K+N attempted to disguise the lorries which it used for transporting Elbit’s weaponry from the premises of their Leicester subsidiary, UAV Tactical Systems. This attempt did not go unnoticed by Palestine Action, who listed the company as a target on elbitsites.uk, leading to a double action at the company’s Milton Keynes branch and their cargo insurance firm in London.

    This involved the smashing of their branches’ windows, buildings covered in blood-red paint, and messages left calling for K+N to “cut ties with Elbit”:

    K+N Palestine Action ElbitPalestine Action were initially informed of the logistics and transportation company’s long standing contract with Elbit by a whistleblower from the company. This intel was confirmed by frequent sightings of K+N lorries entering and leaving Elbit’s UAV Tactical Systems factory in Leicester, proving the company’s involvement in the shipping of Israeli drone technologies.

    It is one of only six companies licensed for the secure collection, delivery, and disposal of firearms and weapons in Britain. So, K+N’s decision to cease its relationship with Elbit will significantly hinder the company’s ability to complete its weapons exports to Israel.

    This is what happens when you prop up apartheid

    Along with its former partnership with Elbit – the company supplying 85% of Israel’s drones and land based military equipment – K+N played a historical role in trafficking weapons to Apartheid South Africa, bolstering the regime in the 1980s.

    According to the Anti-Apartheid Movement, these shipments were sent to South Africa via Israel. That this £30bn company, long established in drawing profits from the arms industry, has decided that association with Elbit is too great an operational and PR risk is surely sore news for Israel’s weapons trade.

    K+N’s move to distance itself from Elbit Systems comes after the sole recruiters, iO associates, the property managers of Elbit’s Shenstone factory Fisher German, and the website hosts for Elbit’s Leicester factory also dropped all ties with the Israeli weapons maker:

    This pattern – of companies rushing to end their links with Elbit Systems after a targeted campaign by Palestine Action – further validates the group’s expansive direct action strategy.

    A Palestine Action spokesperson said:

    All companies associated with Israeli weapons makers Elbit Systems must follow suit and end their links with Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. Palestine Action will continue to target all those who facilitate the production of Elbit’s weaponry, which is “battle-tested” on the Palestinian people. In solidarity with Palestine, we will not stop until Elbit ceases to exist.

    Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Another day, another ‘ludicrous’ half-baked electioneering stunt from the desperate Tories

    The Conservative Party has launched yet another policy to prop up a mess of its own creation – this time, with experts slamming it as “ludicrous”.

    Throwing (hardly any) money at childcare

    As the Department for Education (DfE) wrote, it’s launched a “major new national recruitment campaign” for childcare workers. It said:

    The campaign will look to boost recruitment across the sector by highlighting the vast array of childcare career routes and progression opportunities offering on-the-job training, flexible hours, and, most importantly, the chance to shape and support young lives.

    A £1,000 sign-on bonus for childcare workers is also being launched today to increase capacity, tackle unemployment, and offer more childcare places.

    The trial – which will cover 20 local authorities across the UK – will give new-starters and returners a tax-free cash payment shortly after they take up post.

    So, the Tories want to recruit more childcare workers – by bunging each new one £1,000. What could possibly go wrong? Well, X (formerly Twitter) knew:

    One user noted how much a grand actually is in terms of pay:

    The “ludicrous” Tories strike again

    Plus, people were rightly skeptical whether or not this would change anything in the childcare sector:

    Moreover, one childcare industry expert told BBC News:

    Any suggestion that this campaign alone will be enough to drive up educator numbers in time to meet rising demand is ludicrous… [It] does little to retain both new and existing staff in the long-term.

    Trades Union Congress (TUC) analysis published in August 2023 found every English region was struggling to recruit childcare workers.

    Nearly all (95%) of English councils who responded to a Coram survey said that providers in their area were having difficulty recruiting childcare workers – and eight in 10 (80%) local authorities described it as “very difficult”.

    Childcare policy on the hoof

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak hit back. He said:

    This is too little, too late. It does nothing to address the retention crisis in childcare, or this Tory government’s chronic underfunding of the childcare sector over the last 13 years.

    Caring for and educating young children is skilled work, and the overwhelmingly female workforce deserves decent pay and conditions.

    Ministers must introduce a £15 an hour minimum wage for childcare workers, and work with unions to upskill staff and stop the race to the bottom on pay and conditions. And they should require childcare employers to end the use of zero-hours contracts and pay decent sick pay to all workers.

    Of course, none of this addresses the two main reasons the Tories are rolling out this performative nonsense:

    1. It’s a general election year.
    2. They’re increasing how much childcare people on Universal Credit get – firstly up to 15 hours in April this year – but it’s suddenly dawned on them there aren’t the workers to support this.

    So, more ‘policy on the hoof’ from the floundering government is unveiled. If you were wondering what desperation smells like – well, it’s this.

    Featured image via UK Parliament/Maria Unger

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Post-Brianna Ghey verdict, the media is ignoring its transphobic output – not least the Guardian

    In the final ruling, transphobia was judged to be a motive in the slaying of Warrington teenager Brianna Ghey. Many were unsurprised this happened in England given the steady transphobic output of our media. They’re equally unsurprised the same media is reporting on Ghey’s case without any attempt to question their own reporting over the past decade.

    Unsurprised but horrified, of course:

    The right-wing media

    Zoe Williams wrote in the Guardian:

    We know that when the rightwing media selects a hate group and constantly demonises it, it has real-world consequences. We can see so plainly how language gives licence to real-life violence – the judge highlighted the “dehumanising” language Radcliffe used to describe Ghey prior to the murder – and yet it is somehow still considered melodramatic to say so.

    And also:

    Trans people have been used instrumentally as a muster point for the right, and the far right, in media and in politics, and this has concrete, foreseeable results.

    There’s certainly a lot of shame to go around for the tabloids and broadsheets of the right:

    These outlets aren’t the only ones which should be ashamed, however.

    The Guardian

    The Guardian has also been criticised for rampant transphobia, with multiple trans journalists having flagged the issue, writing:

    For far too long, the UK’s supposedly most progressive mainstream media outlet has routinely monstered trans women, undermined non-binary people and misrepresented our desire to simply live in peace and safety. It has amplified conspiracy theories about trans healthcare and trans and gender non-conforming children and has contributed to attempts to smear those working to support trans people. On social media, it’s even worse, with prominent writers routinely amplifying and generating misinformation about trans women, trans men and nonbinary people.

    The issues have been obvious for a long time:

    UK media problem

    The mainstream British media in its entirety has an issue with its reporting on transphobia. As openDemocracy reported:

    “When the trans community is discussed in the British media, there is a particular word that crops up again and again,” said Niamh Simpson, a trans illustrator and community organiser from Oxford. “That word is ‘debate’.

    “Trans people cannot simply exist. We must justify our existence in the public arena – in a format that is inherently dehumanising because it assumes that a fundamental aspect of our personhood is up for discussion.”

    Simpson was one of more than a dozen speakers who addressed a crowd of trans people and allies outside the BBC’s London headquarters on Saturday (8 January), protesting against the broadcaster’s “agenda of hate and discrimination”.

    It’s good there’s now a glimmer of self-reflection, but we’re a long way off the issue being properly acknowledged – not least in the Guardian.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Slippery Starmer allegedly watering down plan to ‘restore trust in politics’

    Do you trust your politicians like Keir Starmer? According to polling, the answer is almost certainly no:

    One of the easiest ways for a UK prime minister to counter the abysmal state of affairs would be to abolish the unelected House of Lords. As such, it was a good thing Starmer proposed doing this to “restore trust in politics”. However, according to a report in the Observer, such plans will now be “limited”.

    While Labour hasn’t confirmed an intention to ‘water down’ the proposals, many are finding it easy to believe – probably because Starmer U-turns so often he could sue himself for whiplash:

    U-Turn approaching?

    The Observer has reported:

    Labour is planning only limited first-term reforms of social care and the House of Lords and a smaller green investment plan as part of a stripped-down general election manifesto, as it seeks to make its policies “bombproof” to Tory attacks.

    By “bombproof”, Labour means the manifesto will be so lacking in substance that you couldn’t hit it with a homing missile from a metre away. The Observer elaborated on the Lords plan:

    In addition, despite Keir Starmer’s previous promises to abolish the Lords in a first term, it is expected to commit only to limited changes. This is likely to mean legislating only for the abolition of the remaining 91 hereditary peers.

    If Labour gets in power, no one will be impressed at the next election when it points at the half-arsed half measures it implemented, and the party tells us it plans to half finish what it half started by the second half of the next term (economic situation permitting).

    The Observer had an explanation for all this:

    Labour’s cautious approach – which is frustrating some MPs and party members – is partly the result of uncertainty about the economic situation it will inherit and what can be afforded.

    A less-biased way of saying this would be to report ‘Labour claims its partly the result of uncertainty about the economic situation‘. The Observer’s wording makes it seem like Labour’s position is inarguable, whereas we all know that there’s always money for things like war and dodgy contracts – just never for things like democracy or social care (social care being the other big plan that Labour is allegedly watering down).

    Lords have mercy

    The House of Lords is a key source of mistrust in the UK political system. Unlike in other countries, the powerful lawmakers in the UK House of Lords are granted their power – either through birthright or by appointment from whatever floundering mess is currently prime minister. Polling shows you almost certainly don’t approve of this situation:

    When you remove the ‘don’t knows’ from that poll, 60% of people think the second house should be ‘mostly elected’. As noted, the Observer report suggests Labour will at least get rid of the hereditary peers – i.e. the aristocrats who are born into the role. That would still leave us with appointed peers like Alan Sugar – a man who’s in a position to influence and vote on laws which could benefit his own bottom line:

    There’s also Charlotte Owen – the former aide to Boris Johnson who was made a Lord at the age of 30 for no discernible reason (besides the fact she looks suspiciously like him):

    Then you’ve got Andrew Lloyd-Webber – the man who wrote Cats the fucking musical, and for some reason was deemed worthy of having the power to shape British law for the rest of his life:

    Predictable

    While Labour hasn’t confirmed the U-Turn, it’s worth reporting on because every other flip flop was preceded by months of speculation (much of it no doubt leaked from Labour HQ). You could certainly argue some change is better than none, but bear in mind:

    1. Does anyone believe Starmer will follow-through on fully democratising the house in the second term?
    2. How can anyone trust Starmer to deliver on any change at this point?

    While hereditary peers are certainly the most backwards element of the Lords, they’re arguably less of a problem than the business pigs stuffed into the House by successive prime ministers. And we all know ‘Sir Keir’ is exactly the sort of establishment stooge who’d like to upgrade to ‘Lord Starmer’ at some point.

    Featured image via YouTube

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • You’ll never guess who Jeremy Corbyn has written a brilliant article for…

    Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for government action to secure long-term sustainability for grassroots music venues – while calling out the big corporate venues, saying they have to ‘pay their fair share’ towards saving small, independent venues. However, Corbyn hasn’t just put out a statement. He’s written an article for legendary rock and metal magazine Kerrang!

    Corbyn: writing for Kerrang!

    The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Corbyn in 2021, launched the Music For The Many campaign to protect grassroots music venues and demand the government creates a support fund to protect the futures of at-risk venues.

    In 2022, 22 million people saw live music at grassroots music venues and brought £500m into the UK economy. However, operating costs ran at over £499m, leaving a profit margin of only 0.2%.

    This is unsustainable and has put thousands of jobs under serious threat. So, the Peace and Justice Project and Corbyn are determined to change things.

    Music For The Many

    In a written exclusive for Kerrang! magazine, Corbyn said:

    The latest annual report by the Music Venue Trust revealed that 2023 was the worst year for grassroots music venues yet, with as many as one a week shutting its doors permanently.

    It is absolutely no exaggeration to say that, without urgent action, we face the real risk of losing an entire generation of talent and artistry to cuts and austerity. Without grassroots music venues, up-and-coming performers, bands and musicians will not be granted the necessary space to harness and develop their craft, or build enough of a following to move on to bigger things such as record deals or the chance to play at larger concert venues.

    With that in mind, it is not unreasonable to say that the massive corporations, many of whom have reported massive profits in recent years, should pay their fair share into the delicate ecosystem of British live music.

    So, Corbyn has called on corporate sponsors of large music arenas to:

    pay a small levy on ticket sales that can be directly re-invested into a specific Grassroots Music Venue Fund to ensure the long-term security of grassroots music venues.

    You can get involved with Music For The Many by writing to your MP demanding the government act, here. Also, read Corbyn’s full exclusive for Kerrang! magazine here.

    Featured image via Wikimedia

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Extinction Rebellion and Greta Thunberg stop the Science Museum in its tracks over its fossil fuel sponsors

    On Thursday 1 February protesters from Extinction Rebellion, including medical doctors and scientists, targeted a panel debate organised by the Science Museum on scientific predictions for 2024. They were joined by climate activist Greta Thunberg who had just left the first day of her trial at Westminster Magistrates court:

    Science Museum: sponsored by climate-wreckers

    For the duration of the sold out event a member of Health for XR stood next to the panellists in silence, holding a banner saying:

    2024 – MORE DROUGHTS, FLOODS AND DEATHS FUELLED BY SCIENCE MUSEUM OIL AND COAL SPONSORS

    The event became chaotic when the science director Roger Highfield started talking about climate change and he was challenged from the floor by a restive audience over his hypocritical support of the museum’s coal sponsor, Adani.

    While the organisers tried to bring the event to an end, not allowing questions, Thunberg was forced to shout from the audience to challenge the museum’s partnership with coal giant Adani for their role in the escalating climate crisis. She said:

    The science is clear. During an escalating climate crisis, is it responsible for a public body like the Science Museum to invite Adani to sponsor its Energy Revolution gallery? Adani has just invested 16 Billion Australian dollars in a new coal mine and, as your own due diligence revealed, is accused of environmental crimes, human rights abuses and corruption.

    Greta Thunberg at the Science Museum

    Fossil fuel corporates bringing “death and extinction to the world”

    At the start of the event, Dr Katherine Fallon, a retired GP from Cheshire announced that the activists did not intend to stop the debate but intended to remind the audience and the panel of experts that the Museum’s sponsors BP, Equinor, and Adani were still investing in new oil, gas and coal projects, despite advice and warnings from climate scientists, the International Energy Agency, and the United Nations that this is incompatible with keeping global average temperature rise within the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°c.

    Fallon said:

    We love the Science Museum but we are here to protest against the museum accepting sponsorship from companies that are planning to continue new expansion of fossil fuels. You do not have to be a rocket scientist or a doctor to know that in 2024, fossil fuel induced climate change will bring more droughts, floods and deaths.

    Despite advice from climate scientists, the Science Museum sponsors, Adani, BP and Equinor carry on drilling for new coal, oil and gas, bringing misery, death and extinction to the world.

    Dr Kush Naker, infectious disease specialist from London who took part in the action said:

    As a doctor it is my responsibility to warn people when their health is being threatened. The sponsors of the science museum are the greatest threat to the health of my patients. They are polluting the air we need to breathe, driving famines, droughts, and the spread of deadly infectious diseases. Accepting money from these companies is totally unacceptable, and that is why I am part of this protest.

    Academics withdrawing consent

    A letter was sent to all the Science Museum panellists in advance, asking them to reconsider their participation. As a consequence, award-winning science presenter and associate lecturer in theoretical astrophysics at the University of York, Dr Emma Osborne, withdrew from the event “Time: all an illusion” taking place the same evening.

    By doing so, she joins a group of scientists and artists who have previously pulled out of events organised by the Science Museum, to protest against the management decision to continue accepting sponsorship from fossil fuel companies.

    This protest comes at a time when the UK is starting to feel the consequences of climate change, with more frequent and more severe flooding affecting thousands of homes, infrastructure, farmland, and wildlife; something that other less-fortunate countries have had to endure for years.

    As the impact of climate change intensifies, an increasing number of pressure groups are asking the Science Museum to cut ties with fossil fuel companies.

    Science Museum: ‘the public is starting to join the dots’

    Dr Tristram Wyatt, senior research fellow at the University of Oxford and member of Scientists for XR who also took part in the event, added:

    As we have seen this evening, the public is starting to join the dots. It’s not acceptable for the Science Museum to provide a space for fossil fuel companies to hypocritically claim to be clean energy producers, when the billions they still spend on fossil fuel extraction dwarf their investments in renewables.

    Featured image and additional images via Extinction Rebellion

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Houthis Say They’ll Target US and UK Warships in Self-Defense From Airstrikes

    The U.S. continues to launch airstrikes on Yemen in response to the campaign of missile and drone attacks on commercial ships along key global trade routes through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden led by Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis. The Houthi strikes have expanded from targets connected to Israel, in protest of the siege and bombing of Gaza, to ships affiliated with the U.S. and U.K.

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • 25 years on, and thanks to police institutional racism and corruption Jay Abatan’s killers are still at large

    The 25th anniversary of the racist murder of Jay Abatan has been marked by various events. However, police failures – marred by alleged corruption and institutional racism – mean Jay’s killers have never been brought to justice.

    Jay Abatan: 25 years on, and still no justice

    Jay Abatan, a black man of mixed Nigerian and British heritage, died on 29 January 1999. His death followed an unprovoked attack by a gang of white men in the early hours of 24 January in Morley Street, Brighton. He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with significant head injuries and never regained consciousness. He was placed on life support which was switched off five days later.

    29 January 2024 was the 25th anniversary of the death of Jay and still no justice has been served despite the killers being known to the police. This, combined with a catalogue of failures by Sussex Police and failures in the judicial system, mean that twenty-five years on, nobody has been convicted for Jay’s murder.

    New evidence that police officers that bungled the case holidayed abroad with suspects has come to light. Yet Sussex police have failed to act upon this.

    To mark the 25th anniversary, a well-attended vigil was held outside Brighton Police station on Sunday 28 January. A meeting in the House of Parliament took place on the anniversary, Monday 29 January. It launched a pamphlet about the campaign.

    MPs and others show solidarity with Jay and his family

    The event was attended by the Abatan family, members of Parliament, representatives from BARAC UK, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), and Brighton and Hove Stand Up to Racism, who are part of the Justice 4 Jay Campaign – plus representatives from various campaign groups and journalists.

    Sir Peter Bottomley MP chaired the meeting.

    Other MPs in attendance included Bell Ribero-Addy, Claudia Webbe, Jeremy Corbyn, Kim Johnson, Richard Burgon, and Annelise Dodd.

    Messages of solidarity were received from MPs who wished to attend but were unable to, due to other business. These included Caroline Lucas who has agreed to table an Early Day Motion (EDM), John McDonnell, Beth Winter, Barry Gardiner, Peter Kyle, and Sam Tarry.

    Speakers at the meeting included brother of Jay, who was also attacked at the same time, Michael Abatan, Zita Holbourne (Chair of BARAC UK), and Hector Wesley from the PCS NEC.

    Over the 48 hours, the campaign garnered mainstream national, local, and international news coverage.

    Taking the campaign for justice forward

    Going forward, Justice for Jay will be stepping up the campaign to ensure that justice is served.

    There will be an EDM and a series of parliamentary questions tabled. MPs will also be writing to Sussex Police.

    There will be formal complaints lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The campaign will be pursuing a public inquiry and an investigative inquiry, as well as legal action regarding the criminal aspects of the case which include the killing of Jay Abatan but also the physical assault on Michael Abatan.

    The Alliance for Police Accountability are supporting the Justice for Jay campaign. A fundraiser has been launched, administered by BARAC UK, to raise money towards legal fees.

    How can I support Justice for Jay Abatan?

    • Messages of solidarity and information relating to the case, can be sent to: justiceforjayabatan(at)outlook.com and barac.info(at)gmail.com
    • Join the Justice for Jay Facebook page here.
    • Donate towards the legal fundraiser here.
    • Write to the Sussex police and crime commissioner, calling for a new public inquiry into the killing of Jay Abatan – pcc(at)sussexpcc.gov.uk
    • Download the pamphlet in electronic form here.
    • Write to your MP asking them to sign the EDM (once it is tabled).
    • Invite a speaker from the campaign to your trade union/organisation AGMs, branch meetings, and conferences.

    Jay Abatan’s family ‘need answers’

    Michael Abatan, brother of Jay Abatan, said:

    The new witness coming forward shows that it is not too late to get justice for my brother. I have been humbled by all the support I have received and thank everyone mentioned in this statement.

    It has been a long fight for the truth which is yet to come out. I will continue to keep a clear and open mind and let the evidence speak for itself. I urge anyone with any information to come forward and do the right thing. Injustice for one is injustice for all.

    Zita Holbourne, national chair BARAC UK, said:

    Twenty-five years is too long for any family to have to dedicate their lives fighting for justice, it is too long to wait to grieve. The Abatan family need and deserve answers, they need justice, and we need to see the killers and those who helped cover up their crime, punished. Justice must be served and we will be working as a community to support the family in ensuring that it is.

    Featured image supplied 

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • 25 years on, and thanks to police institutional racism and corruption Jay Abatan’s killers are still at large

    The 25th anniversary of the racist murder of Jay Abatan has been marked by various events. However, police failures – marred by alleged corruption and institutional racism – mean Jay’s killers have never been brought to justice.

    Jay Abatan: 25 years on, and still no justice

    Jay Abatan, a black man of mixed Nigerian and British heritage, died on 29 January 1999. His death followed an unprovoked attack by a gang of white men in the early hours of 24 January in Morley Street, Brighton. He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with significant head injuries and never regained consciousness. He was placed on life support which was switched off five days later.

    29 January 2024 was the 25th anniversary of the death of Jay and still no justice has been served despite the killers being known to the police. This, combined with a catalogue of failures by Sussex Police and failures in the judicial system, mean that twenty-five years on, nobody has been convicted for Jay’s murder.

    New evidence that police officers that bungled the case holidayed abroad with suspects has come to light. Yet Sussex police have failed to act upon this.

    To mark the 25th anniversary, a well-attended vigil was held outside Brighton Police station on Sunday 28 January. A meeting in the House of Parliament took place on the anniversary, Monday 29 January. It launched a pamphlet about the campaign.

    MPs and others show solidarity with Jay and his family

    The event was attended by the Abatan family, members of Parliament, representatives from BARAC UK, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), and Brighton and Hove Stand Up to Racism, who are part of the Justice 4 Jay Campaign – plus representatives from various campaign groups and journalists.

    Sir Peter Bottomley MP chaired the meeting.

    Other MPs in attendance included Bell Ribero-Addy, Claudia Webbe, Jeremy Corbyn, Kim Johnson, Richard Burgon, and Annelise Dodd.

    Messages of solidarity were received from MPs who wished to attend but were unable to, due to other business. These included Caroline Lucas who has agreed to table an Early Day Motion (EDM), John McDonnell, Beth Winter, Barry Gardiner, Peter Kyle, and Sam Tarry.

    Speakers at the meeting included brother of Jay, who was also attacked at the same time, Michael Abatan, Zita Holbourne (Chair of BARAC UK), and Hector Wesley from the PCS NEC.

    Over the 48 hours, the campaign garnered mainstream national, local, and international news coverage.

    Taking the campaign for justice forward

    Going forward, Justice for Jay will be stepping up the campaign to ensure that justice is served.

    There will be an EDM and a series of parliamentary questions tabled. MPs will also be writing to Sussex Police.

    There will be formal complaints lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The campaign will be pursuing a public inquiry and an investigative inquiry, as well as legal action regarding the criminal aspects of the case which include the killing of Jay Abatan but also the physical assault on Michael Abatan.

    The Alliance for Police Accountability are supporting the Justice for Jay campaign. A fundraiser has been launched, administered by BARAC UK, to raise money towards legal fees.

    How can I support Justice for Jay Abatan?

    • Messages of solidarity and information relating to the case, can be sent to: justiceforjayabatan(at)outlook.com and barac.info(at)gmail.com
    • Join the Justice for Jay Facebook page here.
    • Donate towards the legal fundraiser here.
    • Write to the Sussex police and crime commissioner, calling for a new public inquiry into the killing of Jay Abatan – pcc(at)sussexpcc.gov.uk
    • Download the pamphlet in electronic form here.
    • Write to your MP asking them to sign the EDM (once it is tabled).
    • Invite a speaker from the campaign to your trade union/organisation AGMs, branch meetings, and conferences.

    Jay Abatan’s family ‘need answers’

    Michael Abatan, brother of Jay Abatan, said:

    The new witness coming forward shows that it is not too late to get justice for my brother. I have been humbled by all the support I have received and thank everyone mentioned in this statement.

    It has been a long fight for the truth which is yet to come out. I will continue to keep a clear and open mind and let the evidence speak for itself. I urge anyone with any information to come forward and do the right thing. Injustice for one is injustice for all.

    Zita Holbourne, national chair BARAC UK, said:

    Twenty-five years is too long for any family to have to dedicate their lives fighting for justice, it is too long to wait to grieve. The Abatan family need and deserve answers, they need justice, and we need to see the killers and those who helped cover up their crime, punished. Justice must be served and we will be working as a community to support the family in ensuring that it is.

    Featured image supplied 

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Nearly 90,000 disabled people are ‘missing’ from tech industry

    There are 88,000 chronically ill and disabled people ‘missing’ from the tech workforce, according to the professional body for IT.

    Disabled people in tech: why is the industry not recruiting them?

    Disabled people comprise 16% of the UK workforce but only account for 11% of the technology specialists, according to analysis by the Chartered Institute for IT (BCS), in its Diversity Report 2023: Disability. That means for representation in IT to be equal to workplace norms there should be an additional 88,000 disabled IT specialists employed in the UK.

    BCS recently published an additional report called The Experience of Neurodiverse and Disabled People in IT. It reviewed the latest government data and also sought feedback from over 50 IT experts, all of whom had additional needs, about their views on the tech sector.

    The gap persists despite an increase in the number of people working in the tech sector reporting disabilities – rising from 196,000 people in 2021 to 208,000 in 2022.

    Neurodiversity representation also an issue

    Matthew Bellringer, Chair of the BCS Neurodiversity Specialist Group, said:

    It’s clear that the IT profession itself can and should be an excellent place for disabled and neurodivergent people to work, and digital tools can be a great enabler.

    We have a severe skills gap in tech, which is a massive societal cost. Helping disabled people to utilise their expertise by providing the support they need is essential to boosting the talent pipeline in tech and other sectors.

    Some progress has been made. However, it’s disappointing — though not terribly surprising — that many barriers still exist.

    Cyber security expert Lisa Ventura MBE, who campaigns for diversity in the tech sector, said:

    More needs to be done to promote the positive side of employing people with disabilities and those who are neurodivergent – such as championing their resilience, and ability to look at issues and solve problems from a different perspective.

    It’s also essential to ensure accessible products and initiatives are evaluated as fit for purpose and not just imposed regardless – one size does not fill all of us.

    Introducing more inclusive practices can benefit all workers. Everyone’s physical, sensory and cognitive abilities vary, and improving matters for people with more significant requirements can help all who share that need to any extent.o

    Some neurodivergent people contributing to The Experience of Neurodiverse and Disabled People in IT report appealed for better understanding. One described their anxiety in the workplace:

    I feel like an alien trying to hide my neurodiversity.

    Another said:

    Not making eye contact seems to be seen as submissiveness, not just simply that I don’t want to.

    So much more needed for disabled people in tech

    Some hearing impaired and Deaf people spoke about the practical issues they encountered, such as enduring vastly different audio levels in online meetings. One respondent said:

    I miss much of what some people say. Being unable to keep up with the rate of speech and sometimes complete inaudibility in meeting rooms due to noisy air-conditioning means I can’t turn up my hearing aid volume.

    Recommendations from the BCS report include:

    • Greater education and awareness of disability in the workplace.
    • Ensuring clear communication in meetings that encompasses all needs.
    • Appropriate workplace adjustments.
    • An inclusive recruitment process.
    • Suitable assistive technology that works for the individual.
    • A supportive work environment where disabled employees have a voice, are listened to and have their views respected.
    • Better training for managers and coworkers to understand and rectify the barriers to work faced by disabled people.
    • Fostering a culture that discourages discriminatory behaviours.
    • Pro-active initiatives – for instance, consciously deploying neurodiverse individuals in teams.

    Featured image via seventyfourimages – Envato Elements 

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Great Thunberg in court along with four other activists over fossil fuel protests

    Five climate crisis activists including Greta Thunberg will appear for trial in court on Thursday 1 February, after being arrested whilst peacefully protesting against the Energy Intelligence Forum, formerly the Oil and Money conference, in October 2023.

    Thunberg and four others: on trial for peaceful protest

    A demonstration took place outside Westminster Magistrates Court in solidarity with those on trial. The protestors held placards of top bosses at fossil fuel corporations, including Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan, that read “the real climate criminals”, as they asked “who should really be on trial?”:

    A report by 350.org in 2020 found that some of the most severe corporate human rights abuses – such as corruption, extrajudicial killing and encroachment on indigenous rights – may be attributed to fossil fuel companies, like Shell’s operations in Nigeria and Chevron’s in Ecuador and Peru.

    Supporters showing solidarity with the five activists included members of Fossil Free London and Greenpeace. Greta Thunberg, Christofer Kebbon, Joshua James Unwin, Jeff Rice, and Peter Baker have all been charged with a public order offence. A further 21 people who took part in the same demonstration, including supporters of Extinction Rebellion, are also due to appear in court on later dates.

    The protest was part of Oily Money Out – a series of disruptions from the 17-19 October 2023 against the carbon emissions, political influence, and lobbying of the fossil fuel companies and banks attending the Energy Intelligence Forum.

    CEOs of the world’s largest oil and gas companies attended the conference. They met with financiers and politicians, including the UK government’s minister for energy security and net zero Graham Stuart.

    UK government: destroying the climate while cracking down on protest

    Global Witness recently found that between January and March of 2023 UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and climate and energy ministers met with fossil fuel companies 54 times. The government has since announced a new UK oil and gas licensing round in the North Sea, approved the controversial Rosebank oil field, and pushed through the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.

    Most of the defendants were charged with “failing to comply with a condition imposed under section 14 of the Public Order Act”, and pleaded not guilty.

    This legislation was controversially amended by the then-home secretary Suella Braverman. The legality of that amendment is due to undergo judicial review later in February in a separate case brought forward by human rights group Liberty.

    This, along with the controversial ‘Policing Bill’ (Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act), expanded police powers by changing the threshold at which police can set legally binding conditions on marches and assemblies. The UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders recently said he was seriously concerned about these “regressive new laws”.

    Joanna Warrington, an organiser with Fossil Free London, said of Greta Thunberg and the others’ trial:

    Super-rich oil bosses are corrupting our politics. They spend millions lobbying our politicians to double down on unaffordable and dirty fuels, locking us into a future of struggle. Their profit is our loss.

    Everywhere, temperatures are rising and repression is close behind. The UK criminalises peaceful climate activists like Greta whilst rolling out the red carpet for climate criminals in Mayfair hotels. Fossil fuel corporations are most responsible for the climate crisis, and we will continue to hold them to account no matter what the state throws at us.

    We have to. Because nothing is worse than losing everything.

    ‘Obscene and shocking’

    Maja Darlington, campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said:

    The disconnect is alarming. Greenpeace activists are on trial today for peacefully protesting against Big Oil’s pernicious influence on our politics. Meanwhile, Shell executives are celebrating making billions from selling climate-wrecking fossil fuels.

    The prosecution of Greta and other peaceful protesters reflects a government that cares more about bolstering the profits of oil bosses than fighting for a livable future for all of us.

    Instead of cracking down on climate activists, the UK government should force Shell and the rest of the oil industry to stop drilling and start paying for the damage they are causing to our planet and everyone who lives on it.

    Nicola Harries, lawyer and Extinction Rebellion supporter, said:

    Hosting an oil and money conference in the middle of the unfolding climate emergency was obscene and sickening. Our politics has been held hostage by these criminal banks and criminal fossil fuel companies who are holding back the transition we urgently need.

    Why do we allow them to rake in record profits while the world burns, people drown, lose their homes and go hungry? As usual our “justice system” is putting the wrong people in the dock.

    Featured image via Fossil Free London

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Cops are trying to disrupt this Saturday’s national Palestine march in London

    The Met Police has, as of 8pm on Wednesday 31 January, refused to approve parts of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s (PSC’s) national march for Palestine on Saturday 3 February – throwing the entire event into chaos.

    The Met Police: trying to disrupt the Palestine march

    3 February’s march is due to start outside the BBC in Portland Place. However, the PSC said in a statement late on 31 January:

    The Metropolitan police are threatening to put obstacles in the way of this Saturday’s ‘Stop the Genocide, Ceasefire Now’ demonstration.

    For over 3 months people have been attending protests in London calling for a ceasefire to end Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Those marching in unprecedented number have been vindicated by the decision of the ICJ to accept that there is a plausible case that Israel is committing genocide.

    This Saturday, as with previous protests, and because of the anticipated numbers, we informed the police on Monday that we would finish with two stages, one in Trafalgar Square and one in Whitehall.

    Despite the fact that this arrangement has worked well on several of our previous marches, the police have so far not given permission. No reasonable rationale was given.

    Not having a second stage risks serious overcrowding in Trafalgar Square and most protestors not reaching the endpoint of the demonstration, leading to heavy congestion in Regents Street and Piccadilly.

    If we are not allowed access to Whitehall, it would also mean that days after the British government defied the ruling of the International Court of Justice on Israeli genocide, people would not be able to protest outside Downing Street.

    We have written to the police urging them to reconsider, to agree to our request for a second stage and to accept that we have the right to march to the seat of government.

    ‘Surreal and enraging’

    As PSC director Ben Jamal tweeted, the cops have been increasingly hostile to the Palestine protests as the weeks have gone on:

    He also noted that:

    We met the Police today and had an increasingly surreal and enraging discussion where key points were: ‘Yes you have a right to protest but we are worried that you marching through Oxford Street will disrupt shoppers. We won’t agree a second stage because we haven’t had time to speak to businesses on Whitehall for their views and don’t have a dispersal plan’.

    Never mind that we have used the same dispersal plan for two stages in Whitehall and Trafalgar, successfully over many weeks.

    The police refused to meet again tomorrow (Thursday 1 February). The offer remains on the table.

    All this comes against a backdrop of Israel’s continued genocide in Gaza.

    Israel’s genocide

    Most recently, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Israel’s murderous bombardment of Gaza – leading to over 26,000 deaths, mass displacement, and a humanitarian disaster – amounts to a plausible risk of Israel committing genocide and ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide.

    However, the death and destruction continues to be wreaked on the people of Gaza with 215 Palestinians killed in just 24 hours. Yet, the UK government has suspended vital funding to UNWRA, the main UN organisation supporting Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and refugees in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan – a move supported by the opposition frontbench.

    Meanwhile, away from 3 February’s march, other protests are happening in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

    Further actions for Palestine

    On Wednesday 7 February, Stop the War Coalition and CND – supported by NEU, PCS and UCU – are calling for a workplace day of action. This is to help bolster organising efforts within our workplace and show that workers stand with the people of Palestine. Every collective act, big or small, sends a message to those who are suffering in Gaza that we are with them and puts pressure on our government to call on the Israeli government to stop bombing Gaza. Click here to find out more.

    Last weekend saw local actions in towns and cities across the UK targeting Barclays – a major investor in companies supplying arms to Israel – and helping maintain its apartheid policies. That’s why on Friday 9 February, hundreds of people will close their Barclays bank account in support of a free Palestine. Click here to join them and pledge to close your Barclays account. After filling in a short form, you’ll be sent instructions on how to do this.

    The Peace and Justice Project said in a statement:

    We are witnessing an annihilation of a people, a culture, and a history. We must not stop calling for a ceasefire, and for the only path to a just and lasting peace: an end to the occupation of Palestine.

    It seems fairly obvious what the Met is trying to do. By not agreeing to a crucial part of the march, cops are hoping PSC will call the entire demo off. However, if they think that’s what will happen – clearly, they don’t understand the resilience of Palestine campaigners.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Scottish government urged to ‘keep its commitment’ over a major animal welfare concern

    Animal welfare charity OneKind is urging the Scottish government to uphold its commitment to consult on a phase out to cruel farrowing crates for pigs in Scotland.

    OneKind: standing up for pigs

    The Scottish government has committed to consult this year on phasing out cages for laying hens and gamebirds. However, the consultation will not include farrowing crates for mother pigs. This is despite the government’s previous Programme for Government commitment to consult on phasing out the use of farrowing crates.

    The charity spent two days petitioning the Scottish parliament at Holyrood over the issue. It included a model life-size farrowing crate to encourage MSPs to ‘Stand Up for Pigs’ by calling on the Scottish government to consult as soon as possible on this, and by supporting policy measures that would incentivise and support farmers to transition to higher welfare systems.

    OneKind set up tent in Holyrood on 30 January:

    Specifically, the life-size crate demonstrated the unspeakable conditions mothering pigs have to endure:

    Plenty of MSPs were happy to lend their support to OneKind’s campaign:

    Scottish government: a ‘terrible cruelty’ that should “not be tolerated”

    OneKind’s director Bob Elliot said:

    Farrowing crates are terribly cruel and strip the mother pig of her ability to carry out natural behaviours or bond with her piglets.

    In the UK, most sows are kept indoors and endure multiple pregnancies during their miserable lives. A pregnant sow is placed in a crate shortly before giving birth and remains in this restrictive cage for up to 5 weeks or more. She can struggle to stand up and is completely unable to turn around. The crate is barely bigger than her own body.

    She cannot interact with, let alone care for, her piglets, beyond allowing them to suckle through the bars.

    Such deprivation should not be tolerated in the 21st century.

    On the support for a ban, Bob continued:

    The majority of Scots support an end to the use of farrowing crates and 63% support the government assisting farmers to move from using farrowing crates to cage-free methods.* Pig farmer producers in Scotland have also expressed willingness to phase out the use of farrowing crates if that transition is well planned, and they are supported to do so.

    The Scottish government must not let Scots down. They must uphold their commitment to consult on the phase out of cruel farrowing crates for pigs.

    Farmed animals deserve the same consideration we give our beloved cats and dogs. The very least we can do is stop confining them to cages.

    You can get involved with OneKind’s campaign by writing a letter to the Scottish government here.

    Feature image via OneKind

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • More evidence that the Tories ‘economic doom-loop’ has ‘sucked the life’ out of the UK

    The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has slammed the Tory government over what it calls its “economic doom loop” that has “sucked the life out of the UK economy”. It comes as the number of businesses going bust via insolvencies has hit a 30-year high.

    Insolvencies: through the roof

    As the Financial Times (FT) reported:

    Corporate insolvencies in England and Wales rose to their highest level since 1993 last year, according to official figures that lay bare the challenges facing companies amid slowing demand and high production costs.

    There were 25,158 registered company insolvencies in 2023, up 13.7 per cent from the previous year — the highest number for 30 years, the Insolvency Service said on Tuesday.

    The figures included 20,577 voluntary liquidations, 9 per cent higher than in 2022 and the highest number since the series began in 1960.

    Of course, the warning signs over businesses going bust were already there. In December 2023 alone, usually a quieter month for insolvencies, figures were up 2% year-on-year. At the time, investment manager at the Wealth Club Nicholas Hyett said:

    December is a seasonal low point in terms of insolvencies – with the smaller number of working days affecting the number of insolvencies that are registered. However, a 2% increase year-on-year suggests that companies are struggling with the higher interest rate environment.

    Where’s the proper plan?

    Hyett was correct. Moreover, at a time when houses are desperately needed, it’s construction companies which top the table of insolvent companies. The Construction Index noted that:

    According to an analysis by accountancy firm Mazars, 17% of all insolvencies were construction companies last year.

    The construction sector is experiencing the highest number of insolvencies of any industry in the UK, it says, with 4,370 companies failing in the year to 30th November 2023. This was a 7% increase on the previous year and a 76% rise from 2,481 in the year to November 2021.

    The TUC has slammed the Tories over the figures. Its general secretary Paul Nowak said:

    Businesses are struggling because the Conservative government has sucked the life out of our economy. We can’t afford to stay in this doom loop of cuts, falling living standards and stagnation. We need a proper plan for jobs and growth that can get living standards rising again.

    A “proper plan” from this government seems like a long way off. With the Bank of England expected to keep interest rates at 5.25% until at least the autumn, the economic outlet for businesses – and therefore, workers – is unlikely to improve any time soon.

    Featured image via UK parliament/Maria Unger

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • UK charities are funding the genocidal Israeli army – yet the regulator is not acting

    Over 20 civil society organisations and activists have written to the Charity Commission asking what action it has taken against two British registered charities that are supplying combat equipment to the Israeli army, in apparent contravention of its regulations.

    Charity Commission: supposedly investigating UKAWIS

    First, and the UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israeli soldiers (UKAWIS) is a London based organisation. It says it is “dedicated to enhancing the well-being of Israeli soldiers.” UKAWIS’s website previously showed a video of what appears to be a Palestinian throwing a projectile and being blown up immediately afterwards followed by a montage of air strikes on Palestinian targets. UKAWIS has since deleted the page, and has removed the video from YouTube.

    An article published in Byline Times on 8 Jan 2024 quotes the commission as saying that there is an “active case” against UKAWIS based on a historic complaint about fundraising activities.

    The letter to the Charity Commission, coordinated by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), states:

    Even if that is the case, we struggle to see how providing support to armed forces, especially one that is currently on trial for waging a genocide against an occupied and besieged population in Gaza can be consistent with any bona fide charitable aims.

    UK Toremet

    Then, the letter also criticises the commission’s failure to act firmly and decisively on previous complaints. The signatories say this has led to a situation whereby charities continue to exploit the financial advantages conferred by charity status to raise money from the public for the pursuit of the military objectives of a foreign force.

    This is in reference to a complaint made by IHRC in 2015 regarding the activities of UK Toremet. It is a UK charity that provides a portal that funnels money to a range of Israel-based organisations, including the Israeli army.

    The outcome of the Commission’s enquiries confirmed IHRC’s accusation but it appears that the commission has not taken strong enough action against UK Toremet and there are still question marks over how effectively it is being scrutinised.

    UK Toremet is still being used as a conduit for funds to be distributed to organisations helping soldiers in the Israeli army.

    ‘One People’

    One of these organisations is One People. It was set up after 7 October 2023 to, in its own words:

    provide IDF soldiers and rapid response teams with the bulletproof vests, helmets and other lifesaving equipment.

    One People’s website previously listed UK Toremet as a partner organisation through which people can donate to it. One People was also listed by Yad L’Olim, a non-profit organisation in Israel, as a conduit for funds to Israeli soldiers and their units, supplying lone soldiers with helmets, vests, armour, tactical glasses, knee pads, and tactical gloves.

    Last week IHRC submitted a fresh complaint to the charities watchdog about UK Toremet.

    The signatories of today’s letter say that the supply of military equipment to a state army that is currently on trial for genocide in the International Court of Justice barely meets the threshold of what is legal, let alone what can be considered a charitable purpose.

    Charity funding for military equipment?

    Moreover, the letter states that:

    continued fundraising for an army accused of committing a genocide brings the charities involved into disrepute and runs the real risk of tarnishing the reputation of the entire sector as people may view charities as a means to raising funds in the UK to break laws abroad.

    In recent years the Charity Commission has waged a crusade on Muslim organisations accused of infractions of charity regulations. Even when the infractions have been minor or the complaints dubious and/or malicious, the commission has brought down the full weight of its powers on the charities concerned.

    However, the regulator’s enforcement of regulations against Jewish charities has been toothless in comparison.

    The full letter can be read here.

    Featured image via the IDF – Flickr

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The Tories want to start introducing employment tribunal fees again to cover for budget-cuts chaos

    The government announced on Monday 29 January that it has opened a consultation on re-introducing fees in the employment tribunal and appeal system. Predictably, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has immediately hit back – saying the Tories are, of course, “taking the side of bad bosses”. Moreover, the government is clearly trying to claw back money after it has decimated the justice system.

    Employment tribunals: fees on the way back?

    Employment tribunal fees were introduced by the coalition government in July 2013. Before this, since the creation of the employment tribunal system in 1964, there were no fees for bringing claims or appeals.

    The Supreme Court quashed fees in July 2017 following a challenge by the union Unison. The court said at the time that charging workers a tribunal fee “effectively prevents access to justice, and is therefore unlawful.”

    It’s unsurprising that the Tories want to reintroduce charges – because employment tribunals dropped by 67% when fees were introduced.

    Workers paying for Tory chaos

    So, the government has launched a consultation on them. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said:

    This consultation proposes the reintroduction of modest fees in the Employment Tribunals (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), with the aim to contribute to the continuous improvement of His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and reduce the cost to the taxpayer to fund these services.

    The proposals discussed in this consultation are to introduce modest fees for claimants to bring a claim in the ET and appellants bringing an appeal in the EAT.

    Of course, what the MoJ is really doing is trying to cover the fact that it has decimated the wider justice system in England and Wales through years of under-funding.

    So, the TUC says that by seeking to reimpose fees the government is “taking the side of bad bosses” over workers exercising their rights.

    Employment tribunal fees: ‘taking the side of bad bosses’

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

    This is another example of ministers taking the side of bad bosses, not working people.

    Now, the government wants to make it even harder for working people to seek justice if they face discrimination, unfair dismissal or withheld wages.

    When P&O Ferries flouted employment law by sacking 800 workers without notice, they did almost nothing about it.

    All working people should be able to enforce their rights. But introducing fees for tribunals puts yet another hurdle in the way of those seeking justice at their most vulnerable moment.

    The Tories have already tried this and failed. Last time they introduced tribunal fees, claims dropped by two-thirds. And the Supreme Court threw them out – saying they interfered with access to justice.

    Working people shouldn’t be picking up the bill for exploitative employers’ poor behaviour. Employment tribunal fees are just an invitation for bad bosses to ride roughshod over workers.

    You can read and get involved with the consultation here.

    Featured image via photobyphotoboy – Envato Elements 

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Protesters to target swanky and “delightful” London arms trade dinner over complicity in Gaza genocide

    Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) will be targeting an arms industry dinner at a top London Marriot hotel – despite the location supposedly being a secret. It comes as multiple companies which will attend the event are complicit in Israel‘s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

    The “prestigious” dinner for those complicit in genocide

    Arms dealers will be have to walk through a gauntlet of protesters when they meet for their ADS Annual swanky dinner at the Marriot Grosvenor House Park Lane hotel on Tuesday 30 January. The full address is JW Marriott Grosvenor House London 86-90 Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7TN

    Ticket prices range from £250 – £510 per head for a “prestigious event” that “brings together companies from across the UK’s aerospace, defence, security, and space industries for a delightful evening of entertainment, dinner and networking.”

    Event sponsors include companies such as BAE Systems, Babcock, and Moog that are complicit in the genocide the Israeli government is perpetrating against Palestinian people in Gaza. BAE Systems is the lead partner in providing components for the F35 combat aircraft that are currently bombarding Gaza.

    Previous dinners have been attended by some of the world’s biggest and worst arms companies. Although ADS have not revealed its speaker or guest list, in previous years over 40 MPs, including senior government ministers, have attended to schmooze with arms dealers.

    Marriot: blah, blah, blah

    The Canary asked Marriot for comment. It said:

    We are a hospitality company that provides public accommodations and function space.

    Acceptance of business does not indicate support, or endorsement of any group or individual.

    In line with our guest privacy policies, we do not discuss details of our guests or the groups with whom we do business.

    Clearly, Marriot hasn’t heard of BDS. Nor is it concerned with the UK arms industry’s appalling track record Gaza and the Occupied Territories.

    The UK government: also complicit in Israel’s genocide

    Since 2015, the UK has licenced over £487m worth of arms to Israel in single issue licenses. However, this does not include open licenses where companies can export unlimited amounts of specified equipment without further reporting requirements. One of these open licenses is for components for the F35 stealth combat aircraft that Israel is currently using to bombard Gaza.

    UK industry makes 15% of each F35, and Campaign Against Arms Trade estimates the value of the F35 contract is at least £336m since 2016. These figures do not include licenses issued since October 7th due to a lag in reporting arms export data.

    Foreign Secretary David Cameron recommended continuing arms sales to Israel on 12th December 2023 despite previous Foreign Office assessments stating there were “serious concerns” about breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Israel’s commitment and ability to comply with IHL.

    Cameron further accepted that Israel had a different interpretation of IHL.

    On 26th January, the ICJ ruled there is plausible evidence Israel is committing genocide against Palestinian people in Gaza. The UK has a legal obligation to stop arms exports if there is a clear risk they could be used in violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and under the Genocide Convention which places obligations on states to take action to prevent and punish genocide.

    The protest, organised by London CAAT, will take place at 6pm outside the hotel.

    Marriot: “outrageous”

    CAAT media coordinator Emily Apple said of the Marriot-hosted dinner:

    This is a vile event aimed at enabling arms dealers to sell more weapons and fuel conflict across the world.

    Marketing this event as ‘delightful ‘is outrageous. There is nothing delightful about enabling genocide, and killing Palestinian children. The very people attending this dinner are complicit in war crimes. They are dining on the profits of genocide.

    However, the protest will ensure the evening is far from delightful for these merchants of death, and will remind them of the consequences of their murderous deals.

    Featured image via Hotels Catalogue – YouTube

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Laura Kuenssberg suggest habitual liar Keir Starmer is just someone who ‘changes his mind’

    Keir Starmer is infamous for dropping pledges. While it’s common that politicians don’t follow through, Starmer is noteworthy for abandoning his pledges before taking power. This has given rise to the opinion that Starmer is untrustworthy (or a liar, if you prefer), as this poll from YouGov demonstrates:

    What’s the situation here?

    Did Starmer deceptively present himself as a progressive politician to become Labour leader, or is he simply a bit wishy washy?

    By suggesting the latter without entertaining the former, the BBC‘s Laura Kuenssberg is doing Starmer a massive favour.

    Trust in Keir

    Kuenssberg was interviewing Labour shadow minister Jonathan Reynolds. If you’re unfamiliar with this absolute ghoul, we last covered him in a story with the following headline:

    Labour use crumbling schools to promote austerity as Reynolds smirks like a demon’s possessed him

    Here’s some text from that article to give you an idea of what sort of person we’re dealing with:

    For context, this is what Reynolds looked like when he was introduced as the returning shadow secretary for business (following this week’s reshuffle). Imaging being this smug when your job is to tell an audience of millions that their kids can get fucked:

    It would be hyperbolic to suggest that actual demons have infested this man; it would also be naïve, as Satan would at least have the sense not to smirk.

    How does a person turn into this? Maybe Reynolds has an awareness of all the freebies that Keir Starmer has accepted from wealthy interests – more than every Labour leader since 1997 combined according to openDemocracy – and he knows he’s on the same gravy train? Maybe he just hates young people because of their flagrant hairlines?

    Even after looking at the decades of evidence we have on austerity not working, some people will still be squealing that tired refrain: ‘but there’s no money‘. As people have pointed out, however, there’s loads of money – it’s just concentrated in the hands of the few:

    The man is an absolute toerag, which is fitting, because he literally looks like a toe.

    Lying = changing your mind, apparently

    With that context given, we’ll get into what Kuenssberg asked him – specifically:

    Keir Starmer has also dropped a whole host of pledges that he made in his leadership campaign; we’ve discussed them in this studio lots of times, and he’s changed his mind on how fast he would bring in that £28bn a year of [green] investment.

    Now whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing for him to change his mind, do you accept that it has created that perception – for some people – that he doesn’t quite know what he’s about; that he changes his mind all the time, and therefore they’re not quite sure.

    Some people might think that. Others are of the opinion that he’s a liar who told lies to attain power.

    Case in point for the latter, before Starmer became Labour leader, he wasn’t openly taking advice from Peter Mandelson – an arch-Blairite, neoliberal monster, who was also an associate of deceased international paedophile Jeffrey Epstein (more on that latter link here).

    What do you think is more likely – that post-leadership election, Starmer looked at a country blighted by neoliberalism and thought ‘what this country needs is more paedo-adjacent neoliberalism’, or that he actually held those opinions all along, and he simply lied through his teeth?

    Propaganda

    Indecisiveness is not something you could level against Starmer.

    What you can say is that Starmer in the leadership election had a very clear political stance, and Starmer after the leadership election had a very clear political stance. These two stances are a million miles away from one another, but each is internally cohesive, and any journalist with integrity would point these things out.

    Featured image via BBC

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Greta Thunberg was out riling up the corporate media and climate deniers again

    Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined local residents, Extinction Rebellion activists, and climate crisis campaigners outside Farnborough Airport on Saturday 27 January to protest against plans to increase private jet flights from 50,000 to 70,000 a year. The protesters also called for a total ban on private jets, which are up to 30 times more polluting than passenger airliners.

    Thunberg in Farnborough

    Thunberg said:

    The fact that using private jets is both legally and socially allowed today in an escalating climate emergency is completely detached from reality.

    There are few examples that show as clearly how the rich elite is sacrificing present and future living conditions on this planet so they can maintain their extreme and violent lifestyles.

    Hundreds of protestors gathered in Farnborough town centre at 11am to march alongside Thunberg to Farnborough Airport, setting off pink smoke flares and waving banners proclaiming ‘Flying to Extinction’, ‘Stop Private Flights Now’, ‘No to Airport Expansion’ and ‘Private Flights = Public Deaths’:

    XR protest Farnborough Thunberg

    The march, organised by Extinction Rebellion Waverley and Borders, accompanied by Extinction Rebellion’s iconic lightship, Greta Thunberg, the Red Rebels, and 60 drummers, gathered at the airport’s main gate where speakers addressed the crowd from the lightship’s helm:

    Lightship boat XR FarnboroughProtestors from Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Alton Climate Action Network, the Quakers, XR Scientists, XR Families, as well as local councillors and residents also joined them and Thunberg:

    ThunbergSpeakers included representatives from Extinction Rebellion, Safe Landing, anti-private jet campaign group Possible, No Airport Expansion Group, TV broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham – who sent a pre-recorded speech – and local campaigner Colin Shearn of Farnborough Noise group.

    Shearn has an antisocial behaviour injunction served against him by Surrey police for campaigning against the airport. The injunction is designed to silence him.

    Farnborough: the super-rich killing the rest of us

    This was the latest in a series of protests against the airport’s planning application, which seeks to more than double weekend flights and boost the use of heavier, more polluting private jets.

    In 2022, there were 33,120 flights to and from the airport, a 27% increase compared to 2021’s total of 26,007. Flights to and from Farnborough averaged just 2.5 passengers per flight. Currently 40% of flights to and from the airport are empty, according to research by campaign group Possible.

    Despite claiming the majority of flights are for business use, the research showed that most Farnborough flights are headed to holiday destinations. Last September a ‘pets on jets’ service launched to fly dogs and their owners from Dubai to Farnborough and back.

    The ‘fastest way to fry the planet’

    Todd Smith, former airline pilot and Extinction Rebellion spokesperson, said:

    Flying is the fastest way to fry the planet, and private jets are the most polluting way to fly. Surely it’s a no brainer to ban private jets and stop expanding these luxury airports in the midst of a climate crisis? Survey after survey, as well as several citizens’ assemblies have shown this would be very popular and has widespread support from the general public.

    For most people, life has become more difficult. The cost of heating our homes, buying food and paying our bills has increased massively. So imagine looking out our windows to see yet more private jets flying billionaires around.

    Is this a fair society that we live in, or is there one set of rules for the majority, and another for the elites? Plans to expand the UK’s largest private jet airport seem to make this clear.

    ‘Reckless, stupid, and selfish’

    Godalming resident Chris Neill said:

    We’re in a global climate and ecological emergency. We need to reduce carbon emissions fast and there’s no realistic plan for taking the carbon out of jet fuel. Until there is, we need to fly much less, not more.

    This plan to expand a luxury airport used exclusively by very wealthy people at a time when ordinary people are struggling to manage everyday life is reckless, stupid and selfish. We need a government which has the courage to stop this.

    Finlay Asher, aerospace engineer and member of aviation workers group Safe Landing, added:

    As aviation workers, we understand there’s a choice to be made about how we use our limited planetary resources. If we expand private jet flights, then this will consume a large slice of the pie, and leave nothing for anybody else.

    However, there is a positive way forward for society and for our industry: provide genuinely sustainable clean transport for the masses instead, rather than continuing to expand super-polluting private jet airports which cater only to a tiny minority of ultra-wealthy individuals.

    Thunberg versus Rushmoor

    Sarah Hart from Farnborough said:

    As a local resident and a mum of two I am utterly appalled at the airport’s plan to expand when we should be banning private flying completely. We need to be taking drastic steps to ensure a liveable world for all our children, not increasing our use in fossil fuels.

    The airport’s planning application has been met with widespread opposition by local residents and environment and climate campaigners, with over 2,700 comments received, the vast majority of which are opposed to the plans. Rushmoor Borough Council is set to consider the application in March.

    Featured image and additional images via Extinction Rebellion

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • BREAKING: PCS union taking the Tories to court over anti-strike laws

    The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union is to launch a judicial review against the government’s new anti-strike laws to stop strike action in the Border Force. It’s general secretary announced the news at a rally marking 40 years since a ban on strikes at GCHQ.

    Tories’ anti-strike laws: enough is enough

    On Saturday 27 January, unions marked the 40th anniversary of the GCHQ trade union ban with a rally in Cheltenham:

    At this, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka announced the union would use the Human Rights Act to challenge the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

    The new law allows employers to order staff to come into work during strike action. PCS will argue this contravenes the right to strike enshrined in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Opponents of the law say enforcing minimum service levels would prolong disputes and cause more frequent strikes.

    An “unprecedented attack”

    Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Paul Nowak was at the GCHQ rally:

    He said:

    The TUC and the whole union movement will stand with PCS every step of the way with this legal challenge.

    These new minimum service level regulations represent an unprecedented attack on our fundamental right to strike.

    Mark my words. This case is just the beginning. We will use every lever at our disposal to fight these cynical laws.

    These past few weeks have shown that these laws are unworkable. Any half-decent employer will steer well clear of minimum service levels.

    And it’s little wonder why. Ministers have designed these laws to escalate disputes – not resolve them. They’re undemocratic and likely illegal – and they’ve dragged us further away from European democratic norms.

    If any employer dares to use minimum service levels, they will face the full force of the union movement.

    Unions won’t stop until these spiteful laws are off the statute book for good.

    PCS: laws breaching “fundamental human right”

    Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary said:

    Forty years on from Margaret Thatcher banning unions at GCHQ, a Conservative government is once again attacking trade unions.

    So it’s fitting today, as we mark the courage and determination of those workers who refused to hand in their trade union membership, that I can tell you we will be fighting this new injustice in the courts.

    It is a fundamental human right of any worker to withdraw their labour to protect their terms and one we shall defend on behalf of our members in the Border Force.

    The union is being represented by Thompsons Solicitors, for whom partner Neil Todd said:

    Minimum service levels are very difficult to justify in a legal regime which is already so restrictive when it comes to trade union rights.

    The Border Security Minimum Service Regulations provide an unlimited freedom to undermine the right to strike, which we contend is unlawful as it exceeds powers under the Strikes Act. The government have been given 14 days to respond to our letter.

    Featured image via the TUC

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • A judge in Wales has ALLOWED a parking company to prosecute a man over the Welsh language

    A judge has allowed a parking company in Wales to continue its prosecution of a man over a parking charge – despite two previous courts throwing the case out. It’s over the fact that the company did not offer a Welsh-language version of the ticket. Moreover, courts previous threw the case out twice before. Now, the judge – while allowing the case – has essentially told the parking company it’s ridiculous.

    Wales: “beyond unfortunate” is an understatement

    After an appeal on technical grounds by the One Parking Solutions company was allowed in court on Friday 26 January, the company are able to continue to prosecute Toni Schiavone over a parking charge notice he received in Wales in 2020.

    However, the judge, Gareth Humphreys, said that the company should carefully consider the value of continuing with the “long, beyond unfortunate” case that has already cost the parking company over £10,000 to date.

    The judge said that the company had 28 days to decide whether or not to continue suing Toni, and recommended that the company consider the value of doing so. The judge said that the company had appealed the technical matter in order to avoid similar cases in the future.

    An “unnecessary threat” simply for revenge

    Speaking in court at the end of his trial, Toni Schiavone said the courts in Wales had been misused:

    This issue could have been resolved very easily and very quickly by providing a Welsh or bilingual Parking Charge Notice, which would have cost around £60 to translate. It is now clear that the claimant is more interested in revenge than in showing respect for the Welsh language. In my opinion the claimant has behaved in a disrespectful, unreasonable and vindictive manner.

    One Parking Solutions presented costs of £10,156.70 to me in a letter yesterday as well. That is completely inappropriate, an unnecessary threat and shows that the company’s aim is revenge.

    Confirming the costs of over £10,000, the judge said that the court would not have allowed such costs as they were beyond control, it was not Toni’s fault that another trial was taking place, and that he had not behaved “inappropriately”.

    Cai Phillips, deputy chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Welsh Language Group, added:

    We call on One Parking Solutions to drop the case against Toni, and on the Welsh Language Commissioner and Jeremy Miles to recognize that the Welsh Language Measure (2011) needs to be changed in order to include private companies, so that they cannot sue an individual for wanting to live through the medium of Welsh.

    This company has chosen to make an example of Toni rather than provide a very simple Welsh service. This case demonstrates how weak the Welsh Language Measure (2011) is, which does give us effective rights in a range of areas.

    Welsh version

    Mae barnwr wedi caniatáu i gwmni parcio barhau i erlyn dyn dros dâl parcio – er i ddau lys blaenorol daflu’r achos allan. Mae’r ffaith nad oedd y cwmni wedi cynnig fersiwn Gymraeg o’r tocyn. Ar ben hynny, mae llysoedd yn flaenorol wedi taflu’r achos allan ddwywaith o’r blaen. Nawr, mae’r barnwr – tra’n caniatáu’r achos – yn ei hanfod wedi dweud wrth y cwmni parcio ei fod yn chwerthinllyd.

    Cymru: “tu hwnt i anffodus” yn danddatganiad

    Wedi i apêl ar sail technegol gan gwmni One Parking Solution gael ei ganiatáu mewn llys heddiw (dydd Gwener 26 Ionawr) gall y cwmni barhau i erlyn Toni Schiavone dros hysbysiad cosb parcio a dderbyniodd yn 2020.

    Er hynny, dywedodd y barnwr, Gareth Humphreys, y dylai’r cwmni ystyried yn ofalus gwerth parhau gydag achos sydd eisoes wedi bod yn “hir, anffodus tu hwnt” ac sydd wedi costio dros £10,000 i’r cwmni parcio hyd yma.

    Dywedodd y barnwr bod gan y cwmni 28 diwrnod i benderfynu parhau i erlyn Toni ai peidio, ac argymhellodd bod y cwmni yn ystyried gwerth a budd parhau â’r achos. Dywedodd y barnwr bod y cwmni wedi apelio’r mater technegol er mwyn osgoi achosion tebyg yn y dyfodol.

    Mae “bygythiad diangen” yn syml ar gyfer dial

    Wrth siarad yn y llys ar ddiwedd ei achos, dywedodd Toni Schiavone bod y llysoedd wedi cael eu camddefnyddio:

    Gallai’r mater yma fod wedi cael ei ddatrys yn hawdd iawn ac yn gyflym iawn trwy ddarparu Hysbysiad Cosb Parcio Cymraeg neu ddwyieithog, fyddai wedi costio tua £60 i’w gyfieithu. Mae’n amlwg erbyn hyn bod gan yr hawlydd fwy o ddiddordeb mewn dial na mewn dangos parch at y Gymraeg. Yn fy marn i mae’r hawlydd wedi ymddwyn yn amharchus, yn afresymol ac yn ddialgar.

    Fe wnaeth One Parking Solutions gyflwyno costau o £10,156.70 i fi mewn llythyr ddoe hefyd. Mae hynny’n hollol amhriodol, yn fygythiad diangen ac yn dangos mai dial yw nod y cwmni.

    Yn cadarnhau’r costau o dros £10,000, dywedodd y barnwr na fyddai’r llys wedi caniatáu costau o’r fath gan eu bod y tu hwnt i reolaeth, gan nad oedd bai ar Toni bod achos llys arall yn cael ei chynnal a nad oedd wedi ymddwyn yn “amhriodol”.

    Ychwanegodd Cai Phillips, Is-gadeirydd grŵp Hawl i’r Gymraeg Cymdeithas yr Iaith:

    Galwn ar One Parking Solutions i ollwng yr achos yn erbyn Toni, ac ar Gomisiynydd y Gymraeg a Jermey Miles i gydnabod bod angen newid y Mesur y Gymraeg (2011) er mwyn cynnwys cwmnïau preifat, fel na allant erlyn unigolyn am fod eisiau byw yn Gymraeg.

    Mae’r cwmni yma wedi dewis gwneud esiampl o Toni yn hytrach na darparu gwasanaeth Cymraeg syml, iawn. Mae’r achos yma’n dangos pa mor wan yw Mesur y Gymraeg (2011), nad yw’n rhoi hawliau i ni mewn gwirionedd mewn sawl maes.

    Featured image via Cymdeithas yr Iaith

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • World Court or­ders Is­rael to take steps to pre­vent acts of geno­cide in Gaza

    Asia Pacific Report

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in South Africa’s case over the war on the Gaza Strip.

    But it stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in what is being seen as a historical ruling on emergency measures requested by the South African government which analysts say will put pressure on Tel Aviv and its Western backers.

    The ICJ, also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement of genocide, and also to take immediate, effective measures to enable provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the besieged enclave.

    Hailing the emergency measures, South African Minister of International Relations Dr Naledi Pandor said outside the court in The Hague that Israel would have to halt fighting in Gaza if it wanted to adhere to the orders of the United Nations’ top court.

    “How else is it going to comply with the ruling?” she asked, adding that it was up to the global community to ensure the measures were applied to “stop the suffering of the Palestinian people”.

    “How do you provide aid and water without a ceasefire?” Dr Pandor said.

    “If you read the order, by implication a ceasefire must happen.”

    In South Africa, government officials welcomed the ruling.

    “It’s a watershed judgment for all those who want to see peace in Palestine,” Fikile Mbalula, secretary-general of the ruling African National Congress party, told reporters.

    Years to decide
    The ICJ judges have not ruled on the merits of the genocide allegations, which may take years to decide. However, they ruled that South Africa had presented a “plausible case” with its genocide allegations that led to the emergency measures.

    Since October 7 when Hamas launched a deadly raid on Israel, Tel Aviv’s military campaign has killed at least 26,083 people and wounded 64,487 others, according to officials in Gaza. Thousands more are missing under the rubble, most of them presumed dead.

    Al Jazeera’s senior analyst Marwan Bishara told the network that “Israel is on trial for genocide”, saying that the provisional ruling would cause a seismic split between the Global North and South depending on which side people aligned, even if the ICJ had not called for an immediate ceasefire.

    He said Israel’s major backer, the United States, which had vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions seeking a ceasefire in recent months, now needed to “look in the mirror”.

    “The UK, Germany and other countries who supported Israel in the past three months unconditionally also need to look in the mirror and reconsider their decision because the World Court has taken up the case of genocide against Israel for its actions in the past three months,” Bishara said.

    The principle outcome was that the ICJ would take on the case and had put Israel “on notice” and demand that the state carry out a number of steps.

    “I think that legally and morally sends a strong message to Israel and its backers that they need to cease and desist — even if the court did not spell it out.”

    Plausible case of genocide
    Thomas Macmanus, director of international state crime initiative at Queen Mary University of London, stressed that the court had said there “is a plausible case of genocide in Gaza”.

    “So, we now have a serious risk of genocide,” he said, noting that the law stipulated that once there is “a serious risk”, then states needed to do “everything they can to stop enabling that genocide and to start taking all action in their capacity to prevent it”.

    Riyadh al-Maliki, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued a statement welcoming the ICJ’s provisional measures “in light of the incontrovertible evidence presented to the court about the unfolding genocide”.

    “The ICJ ruling is an important reminder that no state is above the law or beyond the reach of justice. It breaks Israel’s entrenched culture of criminality and impunity, which has characterised its decades-long occupation, dispossession, persecution, and apartheid in Palestine.”

    Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir mocked the ICJ after the court ended its reading.

    “Hague shmague,” the minister wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in the first comments by an Israeli official.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • A Dutch airport has gone rogue and called for air traffic polluters to pay for their CO² emissions

    Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport has published new research which shows the need for a strong reduction of air traffic in order to halt the ongoing climate crisis. In a move likely to shock other airport companies, Schiphol proposes the ‘polluter pays’ principle, with measures such as a worldwide kerosene tax and a tax for business class and private flights.

    Schiphol airport: going rogue

    Schiphol’s research showed that at least a 30% CO² reduction (when compared to 2019) is needed for Schiphol and European aviation to be on track in 2030. That’s more than the current Dutch goal of a 9% reduction.

    Welcoming the report, Magdalena Heuwieser from the global campaign network Stay Grounded said:

    This report is a ray of light on the aviation horizon. It is rare that the industry, in this case one of the five biggest European airports, actually acknowledges the need for degrowth. We hope this opens the eyes of further airports and policy makers to the urgency of implementing the proposed measures.

    The Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and research institute CE Delft were commissioned by Schiphol to investigate what is needed in order to bring Schiphol’s CO² emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

    The CE Delft report explains why “technological breakthroughs will come too late” and so-called “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” production has limits. It concludes that:

    management measures are necessary to align the aviation sector with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

    A series of measures

    The following measures are proposed by Schiphol Airport:

    • Convert the Dutch air passenger tax to a distance-based tax. 20% of flights (long haul) are responsible for 80% of emissions. This tax would be in line with existing distance-based taxation in Germany and the UK.
    • Additional tax for business class and private flights.
    • Divert flight tax proceeds back to help the Dutch aviation sector accelerate its move away from fossil fuels. This would also create a competitive advantage for the development of sustainable aviation initiatives in the country.
    • Expand the European emissions trading scheme to include intercontinental flights. This currently only applies to flights within Europe.
    • Introduce a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in Europe to prevent carbon leakage and maintain a level playing field.
    • Commit to a worldwide kerosene tax and blending obligation through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

    A “great deal more realistic”

    Heuwieser concluded:

    These measures are a great deal more realistic about the scale of change needed than most industry proposals are. Aviation is the pinnacle of climate injustice, with 1% being responsible for 50% of aviation emissions. It is mostly the global elite who are super-emitters, and they should pay for it via taxes, and extra charges for business class.

    Still, these are mostly market-based measures, which fall short of actually reducing flights in a fair way: instead of a tax on private flights, we need a ban on private flights as well as short-haul flights, a frequent flying levy and clear caps on flights at airports. And the tax revenues should be used to invest in reliable, sustainable train networks.

    Featured image via Schiphol airport

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.