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Category: UK

  • Julian Assange’s medical condition could lead to an early death. He must be released.

    Earlier in December, it was revealed that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had suffered a mini-stroke in prison. Assange is being held in Belmarsh, a high security facility, while awaiting extradition to the US. There he will face prosecution on 18 charges – all but one under the Espionage Act.

    More recently, it’s been reported that Assange has contemplated suicide.

    Clinical sources state that a mini-stroke should never be looked at lightly and that medical intervention is needed to reduce the potential of either another mini-stroke or a full blown stroke.

    Warning sign

    A transient ischaemic attack (TIA) is the medical term for a mini stroke. Symptoms include “speech and visual disturbance, and numbness or weakness in the face, arms and legs”.

    Stella Moris, Assange’s partner and mother of his two children, commented how at the October court hearing she observed that “his eyes were out of sync, his right eyelid would not close, his memory was blurry”.

    NHS advice is that if someone is showing signs of a stroke or a TIA, the emergency services should be contacted immediately. This is so the patient can be properly assessed in a hospital setting. A computed tomography (CT) scan or a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan will look to see exactly what happened. It’s understood that Assange was examined by a doctor and that he had an MRI. He was also prescribed blood thinners.

    The NHS adds that a TIA: “is a warning sign that you may be at risk of having a full stroke in the near future”. About 1 in 3 people who have had a TIA will “eventually have a stroke, with about half occurring within a year after the transient ischemic attack”.

    Moris commented:

    Doctors who’ve been assessing him for years have been warning of this: that his health is in decline and that he may suffer a rapid downwards spiral at any point. Obviously we’re extremely concerned now – he’s on anti-stroke medication but if he has another one it could be more serious or have a more permanent effect.

    Disabilities and death

    The consequences of a full-blown stroke vary from individual to individual, and they can include cognitive impairment and aphasia – a language and communications disorder. A stroke can also affect limb movement and vision.

    One study found that for stroke survivors there was twice the risk of a major cardiac event compared to those who hadn’t had a stroke a year after the event.

    According to the World Stroke Organization, stroke is the “leading cause of death and disability globally”, with 5.5 million people dying from the condition annually. According to a paper in Seminars in Neurology, stroke is the “second leading cause of death and a major cause of disability worldwide”.

    An execution in slow motion

    Pulitzer prize winning journalist Chris Hedges has reported that Assange contemplated committing suicide:

    He takes antidepressant medication and the antipsychotic quetiapine. He has been observed pacing his cell until he collapses, punching himself in the face and banging his head against the wall. He has spent weeks in the medical wing of Belmarsh. Prison authorities found “half of a razor blade” hidden under his socks. He has repeatedly called the suicide hotline run by the Samaritans because he thought about killing himself “hundreds of times a day.”

    Hedges described what is happening to Assange as an execution. He regards those individuals who are key to his prosecution as executioners and lists them as:

    Joe Biden. Boris Johnson. Scott Morrison. Teresa May. Lenin Moreno. Donald Trump. Barack Obama. Mike Pompeo. Hillary Clinton. Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett and Justice Timothy Victor Holroyde. Crown Prosecutors James Lewis, Clair Dobbin and Joel Smith. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser. Assistant US Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia Gordon Kromberg. William Burns, the director of the CIA. Ken McCallum, the Director General of the UK Security Service or MI5.

    Repatriation

    Meanwhile, Australia’s deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has said that Assange should either face trial in the UK or be repatriated to Australia. In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, he explained:

    Assange was not in breach of any Australian laws at the time of his actions. Assange was not in the US when the event being deliberated in a court now in London occurred. The question is then: why is he to be extradited to the US? If he insulted the Koran, would he be extradited to Saudi Arabia?

    He also said:

    If we are content that this process of extraditing one Australian to the US for [allegedly] breaking its laws even when he was not in that country is fair, are we prepared, therefore, to accept it as a precedent for applying to any other laws of any other nation to any of our citizens?

    Other Australian MPs are calling for an end to Assange’s prosecution.

    As this 42 tweet thread shows, the demand for Assange to be freed is global and massive.

    Grounds for appeal?

    Assange’s only ‘crime’ is exposing details of war crimes and illegal acts committed by the US government.

    Given the TIA Assange has suffered and the dangers forewarned, there may be grounds to have the US extradition denied. Otherwise, it’s not improbable that he won’t live to see the outcome of the prosecution. Or if he does, he may not be in a fit state, physically or mentally, to fully comprehend that outcome.

    It’s time Assange went home.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons

    By Tom Coburg

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • We need infrastructure to support each other for the long haul, not just through emergencies like coronavirus

    The UK has been experiencing its highest ever rates of coronavirus (Covid-19) infections in recent weeks. As communities brace themselves for another wave of the pandemic, it’s a good time to take a look back at the different grassroots initiatives that have been set up to help deal with the many crises caused by the virus.

    When the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, thousands of grassroots groups were set up at a street level, aimed at supporting people through the lockdown. Solidarity funds were created to give people financial support, and community food cooperatives were set up around the UK.

    For a short time, ‘mutual aid’ became a household buzzphrase.

    Looking back, a lot of these emergency responses to the coronavirus pandemic were – let’s be honest – a flash in the pan. Short lived projects, which ran out of steam as the lockdowns went on. Others – such as Bristol’s BASE & Roses mutual aid food distribution project – have developed into longer term pieces of infrastructure.

    The mutual aid groups that have proved the most resilient are those which were not – in fact – an emergency response to coronavirus but were intended as long term responses to the oppressive society we live in. Projects like Cooperation Kentish Town, Cooperation Birmingham, and UK Mutual Aid are all grassroots initiatives that existed before the pandemic but were able to respond effectively to the emergency situation posed by coronavirus.

    Shoal Collective – a cooperative of radical writers that I’m part of – interviewed Ella about her experience of a UK mutual aid group, and about how she received support from the group during the pandemic. She’s asked us not to mention the name of the group to help protect the privacy of the people mentioned in this article.

    Mutual aid helps us survive through crises

    Shoal Collective asked Ella why the group was set up:

    The group is not specifically an anarchist group, but it’s kind of – it’s a group run by disabled queers. And it actually got set up when the Tories got in the last time [in 2019]. So it wasn’t set up specifically for the pandemic, it was set up kind of in the knowledge that with the Tories getting such a huge majority and continuing to go down the path that they’re going down, a lot of people were going to need support through mutual aid, particularly disabled people.

    People can post requests and offers to the [Facebook] page. For example, people might ask for financial support if their benefits have been stopped, or for advice. Sometimes people need or offer practical support, other times it’s emotional. People also give away things they don’t need.

    Ella explained:

    Often people who’ve been in a similar situation themselves will reply and say “I was in that situation and I did this” or “have you tried this?”

    So it’s a different feel to the newer more mainstream mutual aid groups because there is no division between the people offering support and those being supported.

    “An ableist culture”

    The group is specifically a forum for mutual aid for disabled people. According to Ella:

    I think it’s a very specific mutual aid group because it’s run by disabled people. So it’s a bit different from the ones that popped up around the pandemic, which had a bit more of a charity feel. Don’t get me wrong [all of the mutual aid groups that were set up at the beginning of the pandemic were] very positive and much needed. But I noticed that people had this binary in their head that either you were a ‘helper’ or you were ‘being helped’.

    More people seemed to engage as a ‘giver’ of help rather than a receiver. This worried me in terms of Covid safety. I also found it interesting that a lot of us get our sense of self worth from feeling that we are invulnerable and we can help others who are more vulnerable. We have an ableist culture where we don’t feel comfortable asking for help.’

    Young disabled people are more used to thinking of themselves in need of support but that this isn’t a negative thing, and they also support each other. And I think that’s why disabled people were really well placed at the start of the pandemic to coordinate support, because they had so much experience of it already.

    Using mutual aid

    Ella described the confusion caused by the government for vulnerable people:

    I thought I was vulnerable to the virus particularly in the beginning because I’m asthmatic. People who were clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) were shielding, they were not supposed to leave the house at all. And those of us in the clinically vulnerable group were in between, we were supposed to be very careful, but the government didn’t explain what that meant. Because we were all supposed to be social distancing anyway.

    Ella’s household was also affected financially during the lockdown.

    I had a part time job as a PA, a personal assistant, for someone who was extremely vulnerable, and my flatmate Dominique was a sex worker, so during the first lockdown neither of us were able to work. My employer, who was the person I did personal assistance for, was really nice, so I was still being paid. But of course Dominique wasn’t. I was able to access money through family and the benefits system to support us through those few months.

    When Ella and Dominique were due to return to work, the situation became more complex:

    At the end of June 2020 I wanted to go back to my work and my flatmate wanted to go back to her work. But it wasn’t safe for me to go and do housework for someone who was CEV while Dominique was doing sex work.

    I reached out to someone in the mutual aid group who I vaguely knew. They had mentioned in the group that they had a spare room and that they and their partner work from home. So I stayed there for a few months and it was really helpful. I wanted to be with other people but to be safe and to be able to do my job safely. Dominique’s work is important to her as well and she had a friend who was looking for a room, so it worked out OK.

    “I still have a lot of anger”

    Ella felt that the UK government shouldn’t have allowed people like her and her flatmate to be put in that situation to begin with. According to Ella:

    I still have a lot of anger about the way we’ve all been treated during the pandemic by the government. Neither of us should have had to change our living situation.

    The way the government didn’t accommodate marginalised people… it’s inhumane to expect disabled people to stay at home alone and not leave the house for an extended period of time. It’s also just not practical because we live interdependent lives. Huge numbers of disabled people have personal assistants or carers, or live in households with others who go out to work, and many of them have a lot of medical appointments. The epidemiologist Devi Sridhar said that keeping cases low in general through a better Test and Trace system would have been a better way of protecting people. For me that also means paying people properly when they need to self-isolate, and giving out good masks to everyone, like they did in some Asian countries where deaths were much lower.

    Ella pointed out that sex workers were not supported financially during the pandemic:

    It’s probably quite common for someone who is a PA or in a care role to be living with someone who’s doing Covid-risky jobs [like sex work] because they are both quite low paid jobs that people who are marginalised tend to do. And it’s probably not uncommon for disabled people to do sex work themselves, because it’s flexible work.

    Ella also pointed out that the government hadn’t set up any sort of priority vaccination scheme for sex workers, unlike some other countries like Bangladesh.

    Unnecessary deaths

    Ella said that she is still angry about how the government has handled the pandemic. She said:

    We’re governed by these neoliberal extremists who are so loath to restrict business in any way that they’re willing to sacrifice 130,000 people [this figure has risen to 147,000 since the interview took place]. And that’s just the people we know have died from Covid. It doesn’t include all the people who died because they couldn’t get treated for other health conditions, or from suicide or interpersonal violence which increased during the lockdowns. The lockdowns were needed but they wouldn’t have been needed if the government had prepared properly and funded the health service properly to begin with.

    Ella went on:

    It also annoys me that it’s divided people from different marginalised groups because we had different needs during the pandemic, but it didn’t have to be like that. And I think that was deliberate.

    Both a disaster and an opportunity to create something new

    Ella felt that the mutual aid response to the coronavirus pandemic in the UK had been an opportunity for real radical change:

    At the start of the pandemic, I was very scared and worried. But I was also excited, because I thought this is a moment we’re going to have real radical change. The public sector and capitalism is collapsing and the people are taking over. The idea of mutual aid suddenly became very mainstream.

    The group that Ella was in gained a lot more followers when the pandemic started, but this has since petered out and gone back to a similar level to before the pandemic. Ella explained why she thought the group had been resilient enough to carry on:

    Maybe the group has outlasted the pandemic because there’s more of a shared political affinity. There was already a prior commitment to mutual aid because of people’s fear and horror of another term of the Tories. Mutual aid is a foundation of queer and disabled politics as well as anarcho communist politics.

    You can read about the black roots of mutual aid here

    I also heard about local councils sucking the life out of some Covid mutual aid groups, but there was no local government involvement in this group or anything like that.

    Mutual aid is something we need to build long term

    The interwoven crises caused by coronavirus are not isolated emergencies; in fact, our society is constantly in crisis. This crisis is caused by the dominant ideology of our society, which tells us that profit is more important than people, and that the only solution to our problems comes from Westminster.

    We need to challenge this ideology and create a new narrative that centres on people, communities, and the Earth instead of power and profit. We also need to understand that – if we are not going to be powerless victims of capitalism’s never-ending crises – we need to build resilient grassroots infrastructure that begins to address and meet the needs of our communities. Only then can we build our own autonomy, instead of relying on a state that is always going to fail us.

    Tom Anderson is part of the Shoal Collective, a cooperative producing writing for social justice and a world beyond capitalism. This article is part of Shoal’s ongoing work focusing on mutual aid.

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Chairman of Police Federation suspended amid sexual touching claims

    The chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales has been suspended amid an investigation into alleged sex crimes.

    Suspended

    John Apter, who leads the organisation that represents more than 130,000 officers from the rank of constable to chief inspector, has also been suspended from duty by Hampshire Constabulary. The Police Federation (PFEW) tweeted on 21 December:

    We have been informed that the National Chair of the Police Federation has been suspended from duty by Hampshire Police whilst an investigation is undertaken. As a result he is also currently suspended from his current PFEW role.

    PFEW has acted as swiftly as possible in conjunction with the force. The investigation is being undertaken by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). We are unable to comment on this matter until the investigation has concluded.

    National Vice-Chair Che Donald will be fulfilling all PFEW commitments in this area until further notice.

    The allegations relate to four alleged breaches of professional standards between October and earlier this month, the latest of which was reported by the Daily Telegraph to be at a bravery awards ceremony on 9 December. A criminal investigation is also being carried out into claims of sexual touching on two of those occasions.

    An IOPC spokesperson said:

    We can confirm that, on Friday December 17, we received a referral relating to a police constable from Hampshire Constabulary and we have started an independent investigation.

    On Monday December 20, the officer was served with a notice of investigation for potential breaches of police professional standards relating to four separate alleged incidents.

    They were also advised they are subject to criminal investigation, for sexual touching contrary to section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, in relation to two of those alleged incidents.

    Misogyny

    Apter had spoken out against the use of sexist nicknames as the part of a canteen culture in the police earlier this year, after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer. He wrote in the Sunday Times in October:

    Misogyny is not just a problem for women, it’s a problem for us all. Far too often there is silence when this takes place, and through this inaction we are failing each other and wider society.

    We need to consign to the history books some of our canteen culture where sexist nicknames and derogatory remarks are made. When banter crosses the line to become sexist, derogatory or homophobic, that’s when it ceases to be banter.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • SNP blasts government plan to replace human rights laws as ‘ill-judged and irresponsible’

    The UK government’s plans to replace human rights laws are “ill-judged and irresponsible”, the SNP’s John Swinney has said.

    Human rights

    UK justice secretary Dominic Raab last week unveiled plans for a new Bill of Rights which would “revise and replace the framework provided under the Human Rights Act”. Deputy first minister Swinney said the proposals amount to an attack on human rights and there should be no changes to the law.

    Human rights laws reforms
    Dominic Raab unveiled the proposals last week (Aaron Chown/PA)

    Human rights laws are devolved and responsibility for overseeing obligations in Scotland rests with the Scottish Parliament. In a letter to Raab, the deputy first minister said the Human Rights Act is “woven directly into the fabric of the current constitutional settlement” so changes would require legislative consent from Holyrood.

    Swinney said:

    The Human Rights Act has a 20-year track record of delivering justice, including for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

    Expert evidence gathered by the UK Government’s own independent review demonstrates beyond argument that replacing the Act is not just unnecessary, but undesirable.

    The UK Government’s plans are ill-judged and irresponsible.

    The Scottish Government has repeatedly emphasised that there must be no changes to the Human Rights Act that would undermine or weaken existing human rights safeguards in Scotland, or indeed elsewhere in the UK.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Protester in Colston statue trial asks ‘how long must you ask to be heard and not be listened to?’

    “Democracy had well and truly broken down” over the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, a protester accused of toppling it has said.

    The memorial to the 17th century slave trader was ripped down during a Black Lives Matter march in the city centre on 7 June 2020.

    It became an iconic moment in the wave of anti-racism protests staged around the world in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in the US.

    Rhian Graham is one of four people on trial at Bristol Crown Court facing a charge of criminal damage.

    Petitions and previous protests failed

    Giving evidence on Monday, Graham pointed out that there have been campaigns to have the statue of Colston removed from the town centre going back to the 1920s.

    Multiple petitions and protests and even support from a Bristol MP had failed to bring about any change, she said.

    A plan to affix a new plaque on the statue detailing Colston’s role in the slave trade had petered out when the Society of Merchant Venturers – a local philanthropic organisation – intervened.

    The group, which administered much of Colston’s £70,000 legacy to the city after his death, wanted the proposed wording changed to ensure his philanthropy was mentioned before his role in the slave trade.

    It also wanted any mention of the trafficking of children removed.

    Black Lives Matter protests
    The statue of Edward Colston was thrown in Bristol Harbour (Ben Birchall/PA)

    Broken democracy

    Marvin Rees, Bristol’s Mayor, decided to halt the plan because he disagreed with how far the text on the new plaque had been diluted.

    Graham said Colston had “perfected” the slave trade, adding: “No amount of philanthropy excuses you from that amount of hurt and suffering.”

    She described the Society of Merchant Venturers as “an undemocratic body of people, wealthy people, who have a lot of power and influence in the city”.

    Graham added:

    It is that abuse of power that causes so much frustration – the abuse of power and their stepping in and not allowing the truth of history to be told.

    She continued:

    At that point, what do you do? How long must you ask to be heard and not be listened to?

    I believe the council should have done something earlier, I do know that our MP, Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) had been calling for it to come down since 2018 and nothing was happening.

    I believe democracy had well and truly broken down around that statue.

    “Over 100 years of dissent – someone should have listened.”

    Graham said that she had signed petitions to have the statue removed, but did not see any point in writing to her MP seeing as Debbonaire had already spoken out about it.

    “(The council) had long enough to recognise how much harm a monument to a slave trader does in a very multi-cultural city – it doesn’t take much to realise that harm,” Graham said.

    “Over 100 years of dissent – someone should have listened.”

    Graham has admitted going to the protest with a rope in her bag, and helping to pull the statue down, but denies the damage done was criminal.

    ”By removing that statue we were removing a great symbol of oppression that towers over our community and is an offence to so many,” she said.

    “That was an act of solidarity and compassion, not violence.”

    ‘The Colston statue: What next?’
    The statue of Edward Colston is now on display at the M Shed Museum (Ben Birchall/PA)

    Graham told the court she did not have a background in politics or activism but had become much more aware of racism and inequality after moving to Bristol five years ago.

    “From 2019 I started to make more friends who had more of a passion for history, politics and equality,” she said.

    “I felt a bit embarrassed about my own knowledge and felt I needed to try and engage more with the world.”

    Graham continued:

    Having grown up in a predominantly white neighbourhood in Norfolk I experienced a lot of casual racism and homophobia and sexism.

    I didn’t think of myself as racist but the more I understood the experience of a black person on a daily basis, I felt I had been a terrible ally and I feel like I could have been more supportive.

    The realisation of the privilege I have because of the skin colour I have made me feel like I needed to stand in solidarity for black lives.

    The trial, which is due to conclude at the end of this week, continues.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Ministers meet for Covid talks amid fears for NHS from Omicron spread

    Boris Johnson’s senior ministers are meeting to discuss the rising tide of Covid cases amid warnings the NHS could be overwhelmed without further action to stop the spread of the Omicron variant.

    The government’s chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance and England’s chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty will brief an unscheduled meeting of the Cabinet on Monday.

    Downing Street denied it was an emergency meeting, saying ministers were being updated on a fast-changing situation.

    It comes after the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) warned daily hospital admissions could reach 3,000 without further restrictions.

    Downing Street did not deny reports that a number of ministers – including chancellor Rishi Sunak – have pushed back against calls for action without more evidence of the impact the virus would have.

    The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said it was part of the job of ministers to scrutinise any advice they were given:

    We need to strike the right balance between protecting lives and livelihoods. That is what we are focused on. This is a fast-moving situation. There are significant gaps in the data we have relating to this variant.

    HEALTH Coronavirus
    (PA Graphics)

    We are working to get more clarity on what impact it has on things like severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths.

    It is one roles of ministers to scrutinise any advice and evidence provided, and consider it in the round. That is the function of Cabinet.

    Earlier, deputy prime minister Dominic Raab refused to rule out the possibility that additional measures could be required before Christmas – now less than a week away.

    “I just can’t make hard, fast guarantees,” he told Sky News.

    HEALTH Coronavirus
    (PA Graphics)

    He added: “The Prime Minister has got some very difficult decisions to take and I’m sure he’ll be thinking very hard at them.”

    Damaging lack of credibility

    However, both his previous track record and images allegedly showing Johnson partying while the country was under lockdown, means that any new proposals will lack credibility:

    But as one Twitter user pointed out:

    Action is needed

    Once again, the government is being accused of doing too little, too late. Independent SAGE member professor Christina Pagel described the SAGE minutes from last week as “chilling”:

     

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Extinction Rebellion block Home Office building to protest Nationality and Borders Bill

    An Extinction Rebellion (XR) protest has blocked the front entrance to the Home Office building in Glasgow.

    The activists locked themselves to each other and to the property’s gates from about 7am on Monday.

    The protesters, from XR Scotland and XR Glasgow, are calling on the UK government “to end its hostile environment policy towards migrants​​​”.

    They said the demonstration has been organised in response to home secretary Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill passing through the House Of Commons.

    The bill came after 27 people lost their lives trying to cross the English Channel in November – a journey that has resulted in 166 people being recorded as either dead or missing since 2014.

    “State-sanctioned murder”

    Patel’s bill – which cleared the Commons last week – seeks to curb these crossings and also change how asylum claims are processed.

    A spokesperson for XR Scotland said:

    The Nationality and Borders Bill must be stopped

    It’s beyond cruel to criminalise people seeking asylum.

    It’s state-sanctioned murder to grant immunity to border force staff if refugees die after being pushed back into French waters.

    The demonstration comes after several organisations rallied together in a mass protest against the bill on Sunday in London outside 10 Downing Street.

    Extinction Rebellion
    Extinction Rebellion activists demonstrating outside Glasgow’s Home Office building in response to the UK Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill (Extinction Rebellion)

    In Glasgow, banners read: “Refugees Welcome”, “End the Hostile Environment” and “Climate Justice = Migrant Justice”.

    A retired social worker who took part in the protest said:

    The UK’s heartless hostile environment policy routinely denies migrants their human rights, preventing access to employment, healthcare, housing and other basic services.

    The world’s richest 10% are responsible for half of global emissions compared with the poorest half emitting only 10%, yet it will be the communities least responsible that are forced to flee their homes on a scale never seen before as the climate crisis escalates.

    The hostile environment must end, there can be no climate justice without migrant justice.

    Extinction Rebellion
    The protesters have locked themselves to each other and to the gates of the Home Office building in Glasgow (Extinction Rebellion)

    Scotland and Wales against the bill

    Ministers in Scotland and Wales jointly condemned measures in the UK government’s Nationality and Borders Bill as “barbaric” last week – as well as warning the legislation may need approval from the parliaments in Edinburgh and Cardiff.

    Scottish social justice secretary Shona Robison and her Welsh counterpart Jane Hutt wrote a joint letter to Patel to demand the UK reconsiders its “hostile environment strategy” and develops “sufficient safe and legal routes” for asylum seekers.

    The letter outlined that the Scottish and Welsh governments have “far-reaching concerns about the impact of the provisions” in the bill.

    Robison and Hutt stated:

    This legislation contains measures that will prevent migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, including the barbaric suggestions for ‘push-back’ exercises involving enforcement officials seeking to repel small boats.

    Rather than help matters, these measures will delay rescues and endanger lives.

    The Home Office has been approached for comment.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Angela Rayner demands the PM ‘tells the truth’ over garden party photos

    Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has urged Boris Johnson to “tell us the truth” about gatherings at Downing Street as a photo emerged of the PM and staff gathering in the No 10 garden reportedly during the first national lockdown.

    The Guardian and the Independent previously reported that Johnson was present for 15 minutes at the gathering following a coronavirus (Covid-19) press conference on 15 May 2020. According to the newspapers’ sources, around 20 staff drank wine and spirits and ate pizza following the press conference at which then health secretary Matt Hancock told the British public to stay at home “as much as is possible” and stressed the rules in force meant “you can meet one other person from outside your household in an outdoor, public place” as long as you kept two metres apart.

    One rule for us. One rule for the elite.

    In a photograph published by the Guardian, Johnson can be seen sitting around a garden table with his then-fiancee Carrie and two members of staff. On the table are bottles of wine and a cheeseboard. Four other members of staff are sat around a second table a distance away. Nine people are then gathered on the grass, with another two sat on the floor to the right.

    Downing Street has insisted the gathering was within the rules, and a spokesperson previously said:

    On May 15 2020 the Prime Minister held a series of meetings throughout the afternoon, including briefly with the then health and care secretary and his team in the garden following a press conference.

    The Prime Minister went to his residence shortly after 7pm.

    Coronavirus – Thu Dec 16, 2021
    Prime minister Boris Johnson during a visit to a vaccination centre in Ramsgate (Leon Neal/PA)

    A small number of staff required to be in work remained in the Downing Street garden for part of the afternoon and evening.

    On 19 December, a spokesperson told the Guardian:

    As we said last week, work meetings often take place in the Downing Street garden in the summer months. On this occasion there were staff meetings after a No 10 press conference.

    Downing Street is the Prime Minister’s home as well as his workplace. The Prime Minister’s wife lives in No 10 and therefore also legitimately uses the garden.

    Not impressed

    Medical professionals shared what happened in the month when the PM was in the garden:

    Another person described the scenes as “infuriating”:

    Some social media users described the situation as “gaslighting”:

    The prime minister is alleged to have told one aide that they deserved a drink for “beating back” coronavirus.

    Government gatherings
    Sue Gray, second permanent secretary at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Gov.uk/PA)

    Some aides reportedly carried on drinking into the evening, although there was no suggestion Johnson or Hancock had any alcohol or stayed late. The alleged gathering is one of a number that have been reported across Whitehall during coronavirus restrictions.

    Senior civil servant Sue Gray has been tasked with investigating the reports after cabinet secretary Simon Case was removed from the probe after it was revealed he had known about a quiz held in his department.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Prominent Tories call for a more right-wing PM following Brexit minister’s resignation

    Boris Johnson’s “boosterism” will not see him through the crisis currently engulfing No 10, a senior Tory has said, as the resignation of a key ally prompted more questions about the prime minister’s future.

    Johnson – not right-wing enough

    Brexit minister lord David Frost resigned with “immediate effect” on the night of Saturday 18 December, having previously agreed with the prime minister he would leave his job in January.

    Citing “the current direction of travel” of the government, as well as fears over “coercive” coronavirus (Covid-19) measures and the wish for the UK to become a “lightly regulated, low-tax” economy, Frost’s departure was described as a “watershed moment” in what had already been an extremely damaging week for the PM.

    Some have suggested that Frost may actually have gone because of his and the government’s inability to make Brexit work as they would like it to:

    Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East), who chairs the Commons Defence Select Committee, said many Conservative colleagues shared the desire for there to be “a consistency of where we want to go”.

    He told Times Radio:

    I think this is what perhaps unites more and more of the wider party, and we’ve seen this since the Owen Paterson debacle, is that it needs to be clarity of our vision, there needs to be a consistency of where we want to go, people need to be included, the decision-making in No 10 needs to be improved.

    We need an, almost like, a wartime leader, we need a strong No 10, and the machinery of No 10 around Boris Johnson, that’s what needs to be improved.

    The boosterism, the energy, is not enough in these current circumstances alone.

    Peter Bone, the MP for Wellingborough, spoke to Trevor Phillips On Sunday on Sky News. Despite the UK’s high coronavirus death count, Bone said:

    Boris has led this country exceptionally well

    He then said:

    But what comes next? And that’s what I think Lord Frost is talking about.

    I think part of that rebellion of 100 Conservative MPs was partly due to the fact that we want to see the Prime Minister move to a more conservative agenda in future.

    Lord Frost resignation
    Lord Frost said he was concerned by the Government’s ‘direction of travel’ (Peter Byrne/PA)

    Bone also said he agreed with Frost’s concerns over the prospect of “coercive measures” to control coronavirus. The MP said:

    I’ve cancelled all in-person meetings and the get-together with staff, I cancelled. I won’t be going to crowded places, but leave that up to the individual to make that decision, don’t have the state telling me what I have to do every day, and so in that regard, yes, I’m with Lord Frost on that.

    Health Secretary Sajid Javid – who owes his job to the PM – defended Johnson as he told Trevor Phillips:

    I think Boris Johnson is the best person to take us through the challenges the country faces.

    He said he also understood the reasons Frost had resigned and called him a “principled” man.

    Brexit
    Peter Bone said he agrees with Frost on coronavirus measures (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

    Tory in-fighting

    Meanwhile, Nadine Dorries has reportedly been kicked out of a Tory WhatsApp group for defending “hero” Boris Johnson:

    In the message chain, Dorries said:

    The hero is the Prime Minister who delivered Brexit.

    I’m aware as someone said today that regicide is in the DNA of the Conservative party, but a bit of loyalty to the person who won an 83 majority and delivered Brexit wouldn’t go amiss.

    A notification then said ‘Steve Baker removed Nadine Dorries’. Following this, prominent Brexiteer Baker said:

    Enough is enough

    Baker then said:

    The majority was won for many reasons. Among them, two were critical:

    1) the [Brexit] deal he voted for was rejected

    2) someone (ahem) but not him persuaded Farage not to run against incumbents.

    If Boris had not benefitted from both, we would be on the other benches.

    True story. And yes Conor, some memories are indeed very short.

    Baker seems to be suggesting that Labour working against the Brexit deal is what lost them the election. Labour also switched to backing a second referendum in a move that saw it lose several leave voting constituencies.

    “They need to find solutions”

    Frost resigning piles more pressure on the PM, who has already suffered potentially his worst week in terms of his political career since becoming prime minister with the rebellion, the loss of a former Tory safe seat in the North Shropshire by-election, and continued allegations over parties in Whitehall during lockdown restrictions.

    Ellwood suggested it was now an opportunity to “press the reset button with the EU”. Former minister Ellwood said:

    We’re still not out of the woods with the Northern Ireland Protocol and we have some rather larger decisions and challenges, which actually unite both the EU, Europe and Britain.

    He added:

    As much as I think this is going to be seen as a hit for the Government, he was a critical character that’s been with Boris Johnson from the very start when it comes to Brexit, this is a chance for us actually to sort of move forward on our relationship with the EU.

    Stormont’s deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill said that whoever replaces Frost as Brexit minister will “need to find solutions” to make the protocol work. O’Neill told the BBC Sunday Politics programme:

    This is the same David Frost who negotiated Brexit and he has worked to undermine it every day since.

    I am less concerned about what is going on in the Tory party and the dismay and the disruption.

    What I am more concerned about is that the protocol is made to work, that pragmatic solutions are found, that certainty and stability is achieved for all of our business community here who have been left high and dry in terms of uncertainty because of the Brexit mess.

    David Frost will be replaced by another minister and, whoever that minister is, they need to find solutions, work with the EU, make the protocol work and provide that certainty and stability that is desperately required.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • New pre-Christmas measures to tackle Omicron spread not ruled out

    New coronavirus measures before Christmas have not been ruled out by the health secretary, who said there are “no guarantees” following a “sobering analysis” from scientific advisers warning about the threat from Omicron. He also said it was “not quite right to say the Government’s not doing anything at all”.

    Christmas cancelled?

    Sajid Javid said while there remains uncertainty about the new variant, it is time to be “more cautious” amid the rapid spread of the strain. His comments came as it was reported stricter measures could be imposed in light of the warning from experts that there are likely already hundreds of thousands of new infections every day.

    Modelling from scientific advisers, published on 18 December, showed that if ministers stuck to the current Plan B measures, there could be a peak of 3,000 hospital admissions in England per day. Advisers also said hospital admissions with the variant in the UK are “probably around one tenth of the true number” due to a lag in reporting.

    Despite the ramping-up of the booster programme, experts said it would not help in terms of hospitals admissions in the near future, as many would be people who are infected now before immunity has had time to build.

    Javid said Omicron is “spreading rapidly” and now accounts for around 80% of infections in London and about 60% in England. Asked about ruling out new coronavirus measures before Christmas, he said there is “a lot of uncertainty”, but that it is “time to be more cautious”.

    He told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One:

    There are no guarantees in this pandemic, I don’t think. At this point we just have to keep everything under review.

    Of the advice from scientists, he said:

    It’s a very sobering analysis. We take it very seriously. We do have to challenge data and underlying assumptions, I think that is appropriate, and take into account a broader set of facts.

    Speaking to Trevor Phillips On Sunday on Sky News, he said ministers are monitoring the data and discussing it with scientists “almost on an hourly basis”. He confirmed that if new measures were to be proposed, Parliament would be recalled to approve them, describing that approach as “only right and proper”.

    Last Christmas

    A Cobra meeting was expected to be held on 19 December with the devolved nations.

    The gloomy outlook comes exactly a year after Boris Johnson cancelled Christmas for almost 18 million people across London and parts of England, in the face of the spread of the Alpha variant which had been first identified in Kent. Javid insisted that factors including vaccinations, antiviral medication, and other treatments for coronavirus (Covid-19) mean “the situation today in terms of our defences is very different”.

    Professor Mark Walport acknowledged this is the second Christmas which could be “significantly ruined” for people, but that he believed new measures are needed as infections are “rising fast”. Echoing advice in recent days from England’s chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty, he said people should “be prudent and only have the social contacts which are really important to you”.

    Walport, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), told Sky that action needs to be taken “to hold down the rate of hospital admissions, reduce the pressure on the workforce”, noting many people are off sick due to infection. He added:

    Most importantly of all, give people the chance to get vaccinated, to get boosted, and allow time for those vaccinations to have effect.

    (PA Graphics)
    (PA Graphics)

    Boxing Day lockdown?

    Stricter measures could be imposed after Boxing Day, according to a report in the Sun newspaper, which said the contingency plan had not yet been presented to ministers.

    London mayor Sadiq Khan, who declared a major incident due to the “hugely concerning” surge in cases across the capital, said it was “inevitable” that new coronavirus measures would be brought in. He told Marr there “must, must, must be a major package of support for our hospitality, culture, and retail”.

    Javid, defending the government’s recent approach, said it was “not quite right to say the Government’s not doing anything at all”. He told Marr:

    I completely understand businesses now coming forward to say ‘I’m hard hit’, and they have every right to make those representations to Government.

    The Chancellor and his team are listening, I think the Chancellor has done an excellent job throughout this pandemic in dealing with this and no doubt he will keep things under review.

    The prospect of new rules comes less than a week after Boris Johnson suffered a rebellion from a large number of Conservative backbenchers who defied him to vote against the mandatory use of coronavirus health passes for large venues. Brexit minister Frost, who quit on 18 December, gave an indication of his belief as to the prime minister’s mindset, saying in his resignation letter that “we also need to learn to live with Covid and I know that is your instinct too”.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Save lateral flow tests until just before meeting others, scientist says

    The apparent infectiousness of the Omicron variant should push people to wait to use lateral flow tests until just before meeting up with others, a public health expert has warned.

    Irene Petersen, a professor of epidemiology at University College London, said official advice should be updated as those infected with Omicron “may switch from being non-infectious to infectious within hours”. Government guidance currently recommends taking a test “if you will be in a high-risk situation that day”.

    Petersen told the Sunday Telegraph:

    That’s not good enough. We’re seeing so many examples now where people have taken a test a day before and then when they take one the day after they are positive. Omicron is very, very fast, so the test result expires very quickly. It is hours that we are talking about now.

    (PA Graphics)
    (PA Graphics)

    The latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency showed there had been 10,059 additional confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus (Covid-19) reported across the UK, bringing the total confirmed cases of the variant across the four nations to 24,968.

    The variant’s rapid spread means tougher restrictions could soon be introduced after experts warned there are likely already hundreds of thousands of new infections every day. Stricter measures could be imposed after Boxing Day, according to a report in the Sun newspaper, which said the contingency plan had not yet been presented to ministers.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Police assessing video of Piers Corbyn ‘encouraging public to burn MPs’ offices’

    The Metropolitan Police say they are assessing a video which appears to show Piers Corbyn calling for MPs’ offices to be burned down.

    ‘Burn them down’

    The video shared on social media shows the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn criticising politicians who voted for coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.

    After decrying “those scum who have decided to go ahead with introducing new fascism”, the 73-year-old Corbyn tells a crowd in the video:

    You’ve got to get a list of them … and if your MP is one of them, go to their offices and, well, I would recommend burning them down, OK. But I can’t say that on air. I hope we’re not on air.

    A Met Police spokesman said in a statement:

    We are aware of a video on social media in which people were encouraged to burn down MP’s offices. It is being assessed and enquiries are ongoing.

    Piers Corbyn is a prominent anti-vaxxer and recently released a song in which train passengers repeatedly sing “wearing a mask is like trying to keep a fart in your trousers” [0.04]:

    The son of Jeremy Corbyn has previously disavowed any statements made by his uncle:

    Prime minister Boris Johnson has previously been criticised for quoting Piers Corbyn’s non peer-reviewed climate scepticism:

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Countries tighten restrictions on UK travellers as Omicron runs rampant

    Germany is tightening restrictions on travel from the UK in an attempt to curb the spread of the Omicron variant, the country’s public health authority said on 18 December. France has imposed similar restrictions.

    The sick man of Europe

    From midnight on Sunday 19 December – or 11pm UK time – carriers such as airlines are banned from transporting British tourists to Germany. Only German citizens and residents, their partners and children, and transit passengers will be allowed to travel to the country from the UK.

    Anyone entering Germany from Britain will need a negative PCR test and is required to quarantine for 14 days, regardless of vaccination status. The Robert-Koch-Institut announced the new rules as it classified the UK as a virus variant area of concern, the highest Covid risk level.

    It said the restrictions could last until at least 3 January.

    It comes amid mounting concerns over the soaring rates of coronavirus (Covid-19) driven by the spread of Omicron variant in the UK. France has imposed similar restrictions, which came into force at 11pm on Friday 17 December.

    The Christmas rush

    A rush of passengers travelling to France to beat the country’s ban on UK tourists led to a knock-on effect on freight traffic, resulting in long queues of lorries. There were lengthy tailbacks on the M20 motorway in Kent heading to Dover and at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel on 18 December.

    It followed queues at the Port of Dover a day earlier after many people brought their Christmas travel plans forward to avoid the new rules.

    Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent on Saturday (Gareth Fuller/PA)
    Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent on Saturday (Gareth Fuller/PA)

    A spokesperson for Eurotunnel said:

    Congestion in Dover overnight and on the A20 into Dover this morning has led to a transfer of freight traffic to Eurotunnel. There is currently slow-moving traffic on the approach to J11A (Eurotunnel exit) on M20, but freight is flowing through the tunnel at normal rates and so this will disappear in the coming hours.

    She said all passengers who wanted to get to France through the Channel Tunnel before the deadline had been able to do so.

    Under the new rules brought in due to the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, UK citizens now need a “compelling reason” to enter France, with trips for tourism or business banned.

    Hauliers, transport workers, and French nationals are exempt from the new rules.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Bristol ‘rioter’ sentenced to 14 years in prison, while violent police walk free

    On Friday 17 December, Ryan Roberts was sentenced to 14 years in prison for fighting back against police violence at Bristol’s 21 March Kill the Bill demonstration.

    Grassroots prisoner support group Bristol Anarchist Black Cross called the sentence “brutal”:

    Ryan Roberts was sentenced on the 17th December 2021 at Bristol Crown Court to a total of 14 years in prison. He was convicted of riot and four counts of arson. Three of the sentences run consecutively and only one concurrently, hence the brutal sentence of 14 years. As it is over seven years, it means he has to do two thirds of the sentence. He will do just under a decade in prison.

    This weekend, mainstream media outlets are full of the pompous words of judge Patrick decrying Ryan’s actions. Precious few words have been spent, however, discussing the police violence meted out against demonstrators.

    I was there on 21 March, and I sat through Ryan’s week-long trial. I am writing this article today in defence of Ryan Roberts, and as a call for people to support him through his sentence.

    Ryan – along with his fellow demonstrators – fought back against the police’s violence, racism, and misogyny. The actions of the demonstrators on 21 March were part of the same struggle as the actions of people fighting back against state violence around the world, and we should be proud of them.

    So I am calling on you to ignore Patrick’s words of condemnation, and stand with Ryan and the other Kill the Bill defendants. Because in standing together, we will find strength, power, and the will to struggle on with a renewed determination.

    What really happened on 21 March

    On 23rd March, The Canary wrote:

    On Sunday 21 March thousands of people joined a #KillTheBill demonstration in Bristol, part of a weekend of action that saw protests held in many UK cities. By the end of the day in Bristol, at least three police vehicles were on fire, while a hundreds-strong crowd laid siege to a police station.

    The Canary‘s Sophia Purdy-Moore witnessed the police violence on 21 March. She said at the time:

    I saw police in riot gear hitting protesters round the head with batons. I did also see people at the front throwing bottles at police, but the response seemed disproportionate. The power imbalance felt completely off. At one point it looked as though their horses were going to charge into the crowd of peaceful protesters. The atmosphere was horrendous. There was a real sense of unpredictability and danger in the air after what had been an uplifting day. This all happened while there were still hundreds of people in the crowd (including children)

    An October statement in support of Ryan and the other defendants from grassroots groups Bristol Defendant Solidarity and Bristol Anarchist Black Cross wrote:

    Protesters sitting in the road were violently attacked [on 21 March]. People were pepper-sprayed, and hit with batons and shields. 62 people were injured in the KTB protests that took place in Bristol in March.

    Police repression

    82 people have been arrested so far – most of them for riot – following the 21 March Kill the Bill demonstration in Bristol.

    Ten of those arrested have pleaded guilty so far. They’ve now received sentences totalling over 49 years in prison. Grassroots groups in Bristol, meanwhile, have condemned the police violence against protesters on 21 March, and have said that they’re proud of the defendants for fighting back against the police.

    Ryan has been on remand in HMP Horfield since his arrest in April.

    “A fight for the freedom of our speech”

    I was in Bristol Crown Court during Ryan’s trial this October.

    Ryan joined the protest to demonstrate against the government’s draconian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. He told the court – in his evidence back in October – that he thought the Bill:

    would be an end to the right to protest

    He went on to say that the struggle against the Bill was:

    a fight for the freedom of our speech

    The court heard that Ryan was a van dweller. People who live in vehicles are one of the many groups of people who will be criminalised by the police bill.

    Ryan also spoke about the murder of Sarah Everard. When asked about why he was chanting “Whose streets, our streets!”, he said it was about the need to:

    Reclaim our streets basically, it relates to the Sarah Everard case, and other incidents that have happened with other police forces throughout the country.

    The March protest happened against the backdrop of Sarah Everard’s murder by a serving Metropolitan Police officer. Footage of police brutalising women a week earlier at a vigil for Sarah Everard spurred more people to take to the streets against the bill in the days before its second reading. As protests erupted in London and across the UK, the government announced that the bill’s progress through parliament would be delayed. But that didn’t stop people’s anger from spilling onto the streets.

    Ryan explained to the court that the turning point in the protest was the police putting on their riot gear and pushing the crowd. This was backed up by Kathryn Hobbs – a defence witness – who was part of an independent group of legal observers on 21 March, and who gave first aid to those injured during the police violence.

    Ryan told the court that after the police donned their riot gear what followed was:

    pushing, shoving, and hitting with shields and batons

    He went on to recount how a close friend was injured by the police, and how he saw several people being hospitalised.

    Nicholas Lewin – the barrister defending Ryan – showed the jury footage from the Ruptly news agency – taken on the 21 March – showing a line of police officers in riot gear knocking two people to the ground while repeatedly hitting them with riot shields and kicking them.

    Lewin asked detective constable Withey – the officer in charge of the case – whether violence was used on demonstrators. Withey responded:

    you can call it violence or you can call it lawful force.

    But PC Foster – a prosecution witness – admitted under cross-examination that the violence shown in the Ruptly footage wasn’t “appropriate”.

    Defund the police

    During his evidence, Ryan explained to the jury why he thought it was necessary to defund the police. He said the police needed to be defunded “because of their actions in Bristol and elsewhere”. Ryan said that government funding that was not channelled towards policing could be spent on:

    suicide prevention, protecting people on the streets… child safety, there are lots of other areas that aren’t funded correctly.

    The charges

    At the end of the trial, Ryan was convicted of riot – a serious offence which carries a maximum ten year sentence. He was also convicted of arson with ‘intent to endanger life’ and several other counts of arson against police vehicles. He was additionally found not guilty of a second charge of arson ‘with intent to endanger life’.

    Ryan was – as part of the riot charge – accused of throwing several missiles at the police and kicking at a police riot shield. However, during cross-examination he maintained that his actions were in self-defence.

    During the demonstration, Ryan picked up a police baton and used it to smash the windows of Bridewell police station and attack police vehicles. He told the court that he had wanted to cause damage to them.

    One of the charges that Ryan was found guilty of was of attempted arson ‘being reckless as to whether life was endangered’. This charge related to a video where Ryan can be seen waving a lit piece of cardboard under a moving police vehicle as it drove away. The court heard evidence from the officer who was driving the vehicle, who said that he was unaware that this had happened until he watched footage from the demonstration later on. The prosecutor in the case implied that Ryan had intended to endanger the life of the seven police officers inside.

    The assertion that waving a piece of lit cardboard under the chassis of a moving police vehicle – in wet conditions – could lead to it bursting into flames is – in my opinion – absurd.

    The Canary reported what Ryan said during his trial about the other arson charges:

    Ryan admitted setting light to rubbish and cardboard underneath police vehicles. When asked why, Ryan said it was:

    “to make space between the police and the protesters, seeing as the violence that had occurred before – I didn’t want to see any more.”

    Similarly, when questioned about pushing bins up against an already half burnt Ford Cougar police vehicle, Ryan said that it was because the police:

    “were going to push us back.”

    Footage seen by the court showed that the police did advance on protesters only a short time later

    ‘They only call it violence when we fight back!’

    Judge Patrick has said that Ryan will have to spend two thirds of the sentence in prison. This means he is likely to spend almost a decade in prison for his actions resisting the police on 21 March before being released on license.

    In stark contrast, none of the police officers who injured protesters have been punished in any way. At least 62 people were injured by police during Bristol’s Kill the Bill protests in March, but no action has been taken by the police to punish the officers responsible. During Ryan’s trial, DC Withey said that none of the complaints of police violence had been substantiated. This is a small wonder, however, seeing as most complaints are investigated by the police themselves.

    The footage shown during Ryan’s trial showed extreme violence against protesters, including the practice of blading – a police tactic which involves striking people with the bottom of a rectangular riot shield. The use of blading in Bristol has been condemned by an All Party Parliamentary Group as “unjustified, entirely excessive” and possibly amounting to “criminal offences against the person“. Despite this no officer has been charged with an offence.

    The unevenness of Ryan’s situation reflects the unjust society that we live in.

    Anger

    People responded angrily at the news of Ryan’s sentence. London Anti-Fascist Assembly tweeted:

    After hearing the verdict, people took to the streets of Bristol – marching from the steps of the Crown Court:

    Ryan’s actions were part of our common struggle against state violence

    What happened on 21 March wasn’t just about a group of police officers pushing a crowd, or even about officers kicking and punching people on the ground.

    What happened concerned an authoritarian bill that would criminalise Travellers and van-dwellers like Ryan; a bill that would see more people sent to prison for longer, and would massively restrict people’s ability to take to the streets and protest.

    More broadly, the Kill the Bill demonstration should be seen in the context of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police office who was part of a misogynist police force, and against the background of the global Black Lives Matter movement, which – less than a year earlier – had risen up against racist police violence.

    In the months preceding the demo, two young People of Colour – Mohamud Hassan and Mouayed Bashir – had died after being in Police custody in Newport and Cardiff.

    What happened on 21 March was about all of this. It was about the daily acts of repression and violence carried out by the police in all of our communities. It was also about the 1,802 people (at least) who have died in police custody since 1990, about racialised police violence, and about racist policing.

    Non-white people are twice as likely to be shot dead by the police in the UK, and a Person of Colour is more than twice as likely to be killed in police custody. In Bristol – if you’re Black – you’re seven times more likely to be stopped and search by the police than if you’re white (according to figures recorded in 2017-18).

    In the face of all this, the actions of Ryan Roberts – and the other Kill the Bill demonstrators of 21 March – can be seen for what they are: a brave act of resistance against police and state violence.

    Ryan’s actions are just one example of how people struggle against power globally. I have watched many times as people defended themselves against police attacking political demonstrations. I have seen these things playing out here in the UK, but also in Germany, France, and Italy. Further afield I have seen Palestinian protesters using rocks to fight back the Israeli police and army, and Egyptian revolutionaries preventing the police from entering Tahrir Square in 2011 after they torched police and government buildings. In 2015, I saw Kurdish youth barricading their neighbourhoods to prevent the Turkish police and army from entering.

    Don’t get me wrong, these situations are all very different, but – on another level – they are all part of the same struggle. In my opinion, what happened on 21 March was simply another manifestation of this global struggle against power, this time on the streets of Bristol.

    Police repression is also a global phenomenon. Wherever there are rebels, the state acts to stifle rebellion.

    Its up to us to support Ryan through his time in prison, and to take inspiration from the fight which the Bristol Kill the Bill protesters showed on 21 March.

    Now – in the face of this authoritarian Policing Bill – we need to carry on the struggle of those arrested after 21 March, and organise to defend our communities against police violence.

    Featured image via screenshot/TheBristolActivist

     

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Circuit-breaker lockdown after Christmas would be too late, expert warns

    The most effective way to stop the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus would be to have a circuit-breaker lockdown before Christmas, a leading government adviser has said.

    Omicron

    Stephen Reicher, professor of social psychology at the University of St Andrews and member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said it was clear that Plan B measures alone would not be enough to stop the spiralling numbers of cases. Reicher, who was speaking to Times Radio in a personal capacity, argued the time to act was now.

    It comes amid reports officials have been drawing up draft plans for a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown after Christmas.

    The Financial Times reported that Boris Johnson was presented with a number of options on 17 December under a so-called Plan C, ranging from “mild guidance to nudge people, right through to lockdown”.

    The newspaper quoted allies of the prime minister who claimed Johnson still wanted to go down the guidance route, but that he also had to be realistic about the threat of Omicron. Leaked minutes from Sage, seen by the BBC, said scientists had told ministers that tougher measures need to be brought in “very soon”.

    Coronavirus – Thu Dec 16, 2021
    Medical staff and volunteers prepare shots of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Ramsgate, Kent (Leon Neal/PA)

    The BBC reported the advisers had recommended moving to restrictions seen in step one and two of the easing of lockdown restrictions in the spring. This included a ban on indoor mixing and indoor hospitality. They reportedly warned against delaying further interventions until 2022.

    The Times reported that draft regulations were being prepared which could ban meeting others indoors except for work purposes and that pubs and restaurants would be limited to outdoor service only for two weeks after Christmas.

    Call to act now

    On 18 December, Reicher told Times Radio that “all the science suggests that (Plan B is) not going to be enough”. He said:

    The only way really, or at least the most effective way, we can have an immediate effect is to decrease the number of contacts we have. In many ways, the most effective way of diminishing contact is to have a circuit-breaker.

    Now, you could have it after Christmas, the problem is after Christmas it’s probably too late, it’s probably by then we will have had a huge surge of infections with all the impact upon society.

    When people say ‘look, we don’t want to close down’, of course, we don’t want to close down. But the problem is at the moment, things are closing down anyway, because of the spread of infection.

    So I think we need to act now.

    Lord Victor Adebowale, chairman of the NHS Confederation, voiced support for a circuit-breaker, warning that a cautionary approach should be taken.

    Coronavirus – Thu Dec 16, 2021
    Boris Johnson was reportedly presented with a number of options on 17 December (Leon Neal/PA)

    He told Times Radio:

    I would support the circuit-breaker. My members would support the circuit-breaker.

    We’ve been calling for Plan B for some time now and we’re glad that it was voted through. I think the Government has to be prepared to recall Parliament if further interventions are needed.

    He added:

    The fact of the matter is we should be taking the precautionary principle. We should be protecting our NHS and our public services. We have no economy without health.

    The UK reported more than 90,000 new coronavirus cases in another record daily total on 17 December. A government spokesperson said:

    The Government will continue to look closely at all the emerging data and we’ll keep our measures under review as we learn more about this variant.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Unions demand increase as “miserly” statutory sick pay hits lowest levels in 20 years

    Unions are stepping up calls for an increase in statutory sick pay, after new research suggested it was at its lowest level in almost 20 years.

    “Miserly”

    The TUC said its study showed the last time statutory sick pay (SSP) was lower was in 2003, adding it was worth £3 per week less in real terms now than it was at the start of the pandemic. The union organisation warned that hundreds of thousands of workers could be self-isolating without decent sick pay this Christmas, relying on “miserly” SSP or receiving nothing at all.

    The TUC claimed the UK has the least generous SSP in Europe, worth  £96.35 a week, only available to employees earning £120 a week or more, meaning two million workers, mostly women, do not qualify.

    Ministers were urged to extend SSP protection to every worker by removing the lower earnings limit, and increase the amount to at least the value of the voluntary “real living wage” of £346 a week. According to the Living Wage foundation, this is the amount people need to meet “everyday needs – like the weekly shop, or a surprise trip to the dentist”. The Real Living Wage is calculated using “the cost of living, based on a basket of household goods and services”. It compares to the government’s so-called ‘national living wage’, which currently pays 99p less per hour – £2,059 less per year for a worker on 40 hours per week.

    “This is the reality”

    TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said:

    No-one should be forced to choose between doing the right thing and self-isolating or putting food on the table. This is the reality for millions of workers up and down the country who rely on our miserly statutory sick pay, or get no sick pay at all because they don’t earn enough.

    With the cost of living ticking up, statutory sick pay is worth its lowest in almost two decades, leaving millions of workers who fall sick struggling to pay the bills and get by.

    It’s a monumental failure that nearly two years into the pandemic, this vital public health tool has been ignored time and time again by the Government.

    As the Omicron variant rages and coronavirus cases sweep across the country, it’s time ministers came to their senses and finally delivered decent sick pay for all.

    A government spokesperson argued:

    Statutory Sick Pay is just one part of the support available to people who have to self-isolate.

    In addition to SSP, people who can’t work while self-isolating may also be eligible for a £500 support payment.

    If an individual’s income is reduced while off work, they may also be able to claim Universal Credit or New Style Employment and Support Allowance.

    Labour has also spoken about the issue, although in September the party didn’t seem to support raising statutory sick pay to the national living wage:

    Unions are also calling for “a proper public inquiry” inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic:

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Government ponders plan to ban sale of peat compost to gardeners by 2024

    The use of peat for gardening could be banned by 2024 to protect the climate and nature under plans being put out for consultation by the government.

    Peat

    Under new proposals, the sale of compost containing peat would be phased out in the amateur horticulture sector in England and Wales by the end of this parliament, to cut carbon emissions and conserve wildlife habitats. Peatlands is a key carbon store – the largest in the UK – and extracting peat for use in horticulture releases carbon emissions, as well as damaging key wildlife habitats, and reducing the landscape’s ability to absorb water and curb flooding.

    While a ban is said to be the government’s preferred option, it’s also consulting on alternatives including a sales charge on bags of compost that contain peat and mandatory labelling detailing the environmental reasons to avoid it. Options being put out for consultation also include possible exemptions, for example for scientific uses, and a maximum amount of peat allowed in certain products.

    Conservationists said the plans by the government only scratched the surface of the problem of peat in horticulture and called for an immediate ban on use by amateur gardeners and the wider industry, which uses it to grow plants in.

    The horticultural industry claimed that neither a ban nor a sales tax would address fundamental problems with the availability of alternatives to peat and called for government support for the sector to make the move away from it.

    MP portraits
    Environment Minister Rebecca Pow says peatlands are a crucial, natural resource (Chris McAndrew/PA)

    Launching the consultation, the government said composts with comparable quality to peat-based products were available, such as wood fibre, green compost, wool and coir, or coconut fibre. Ministers said curbing peat sales, as well as efforts to restore peatland landscapes, would help towards the UK’s targets to cut climate emissions to zero overall by 2050, known as net zero, and restore nature. With much of the peat sold to gardeners in the UK imported from abroad, curbing its use will also protect peat bogs further afield, officials argue.

    Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said:

    Our peatlands are an incredibly valuable natural resource. They play a crucial role in locking up carbon, provide habitats for wildlife and help with flood mitigation.

    The amateur gardening sector has made huge strides in reducing peat use and there are more sustainable and good quality peat-free alternatives available than at any other time, so I am confident now is the right time to make the shift permanent.

    The horticulture industry said peat use had fallen to 35% of ingredients in bagged compost sold by garden centres and other retailers, and it was committed to removing it from retail operations by 2025-28 and for professional nursery plant production by 2028-30.

    Dragging their heels

    With a voluntary target being missed to end peat’s use by amateur gardeners by 2020, set by ministers in 2011, Ailis Watt from the Wildlife Trusts said the government had dragged its heels on the issue for a decade:

    We need to see an immediate ban on use of peat by individuals and the wider horticulture industry, an immediate cessation of peat extraction in the UK and an immediate ban on import of peat and peat materials.

    Though this new consultation on the ban of peat composts and other products in the amateur sector is a step in the right direction, the measures proposed only scratch the surface of the problem.

    We need to end the use of peat in horticulture entirely, with immediate effect, not wait until 2024 as the Government proposes, if we are to restore these damaged habitats, allow nature to return and enable them to store carbon rather than emit it.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Officer sacked after racial slur revealed during murder photos investigation

    A police officer has been dismissed after regulators investigating the sharing of photographs of the murder scene of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman found him to have used a racial slur in a text chat.

    Racism in the Met

    PC Harry Chandler, who was based in North-East London, used “the P-word” in a WhatsApp message to another police officer about which area of London to rent a flat in, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said. The slur was revealed during an investigation into photographs taken at the scene of the sisters’ murders in Fryent Country Park in Wembley in June 2020, the watchdog confirmed.

    The IOPC said Chandler had been dismissed without notice after allegations of gross misconduct were proven at a two-day disciplinary hearing which concluded on 17 December.

    Fryent Park deaths
    Deniz Jaffer (left) and Jamie Lewis were jailed after sharing crime scene photos of the murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman (Victoria Jones/PA)

    The independently chaired disciplinary panel found the case proven that Chandler had breached the standards of professional behaviour relating to equality and diversity, and had shown discreditable conduct, the IOPC said.

    Chandler, who admitted the allegation, will also be placed on the barred list preventing him from future employment within the police service.

    IOPC regional director Graham Beesley said:

    Chandler’s offensive use of language in his WhatsApp messages came to light while we investigated the photographs taken at the scene of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry’s murders, by former Met officers Jamie Lewis and Deniz Jaffer.

    His dismissal today sends a clear message that the use of offensive language, whether on or off duty, is wholly unacceptable.

    The former Met officers Lewis and Jaffer were sentenced to two years and nine months for taking and sharing photos of Smallman and Henry as they lay dead.
    The IOPC confirmed that messages from Chandler were found on a phone belonging to Lewis during its initial investigation into the murder scene photos.

    The watchdog said it then received a separate referral from the Met in July 2020 and completed its investigation in May 2021.

    Lewis’s failure to challenge the messages was among the allegations put to a recent accelerated hearing organised by the Met when he was dismissed from the force following his conviction for misconduct in public office.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • The navy splurged at least £73 MILLION on flagship’s dictator-visiting, arms-selling 2021 trip

    HMS Queen Elizabeth’s 2021 world tour saw the flagship aircraft carrier visit some of the world’s most grotesque dictatorships while showing off British military equipment. It came at a cost of £73m to the taxpayer   – not including one lost fighter jet. The figures emerged from a parliamentary question put to Tory defence minister James Heappey by Labour’s John Healey.

    On 16 December, Healey asked:

    what countries the carrier strike group has had (a) engagements and (b) military exercises to date; and what those engagements and military exercises were.

    Heappey replied:

    The table below sets out the countries and/or overseas territories that the UK Carrier Strike Group has interacted with during the 2021 deployment. This also includes activity undertaken by our Integrated Partners, the Netherlands and United States.

    Bucket list

    The list is a virtual Who’s Who of Western-backed dictatorships, authoritarian regimes, and human rights abusing states. These included countries on the UK’s own human rights priority list. Among them were Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh. In the latter case, UK marines trained special forces as part of the carrier group’s trip. Brunei, which recently passed new anti-LGBTQI+ laws, and Turkey all featured.

    The carrier group also stopped off in Haifa to work with the Israeli Navy, despite Israel also featuring on the human rights priority list. Some UK interactions with Gulf autocracies and Iraq were as part of the so-called Dragon Group, a regional and international military alliance.

    Arms deals, strategic alliances

    The itinerary also included Diego Garcia – an Indian Ocean island leased to the US as a strategic base. The native Chagossian Islanders were forcibly expelled by the British from the late 1960s to make way for American forces.

    A visit to Ukraine to sign contracts for new military ships resulted in a controversial incident. Russian planes ‘buzzed’ a British warship as it sailed through contested waters. Handily, UK media teams were on board to record the incident. A leak later revealed the journalist’s presence had largely been orchestrated by the military for propaganda purposes.

    Conservative estimate

    The £73m figure may be conservative. General running costs for the carrier group which would accrue whether or not it was deployed were not tallied. Additionally, the loss of an (estimated $115m) F-35 fighter jet which crashed into the sea in November isn’t included.

    Some in the MOD-adjacent press suggested that £73m seemed like “good value for money when considering the number of countries visited”. However, it’s more difficult to gauge the views of people in places like Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, or Palestine.

    Featured image – Wikimedia Commons/David Jenkins

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Racist borders bill

    The Nationality and Borders Bill is the latest piece of authoritarian legislation that shows the Tories’ slide towards outright fascism. We must stop this before it’s too late. 

    Video transcript

    The Nationality and Borders Bill that passed through the Commons last week is incredibly reactionary and the biggest threat to our basic human rights we have seen for decades.

    The bill was first introduced in July this year, and is currently in its second reading in the House of Lords.

    What exactly is this bill, and why is it so dangerous?

    The biggest concern of the bill is Clause 9. Within it, the government can strip citizenship from individuals without informing them first.

    According to the New Statesman, nearly six million people would be in a position in which they could be stripped of citizenship as the government sees fit with people who have come from India being the largest group. That’s just under 635,000 people of Indian heritage at risk of being deported.

    Also at risk are 408,000 people who were born in the UK.

    This essentially creates a two tiered society with those potentially affected becoming second class citizens.

    The government has claimed that no-one can have their citizenship taken away if it renders them stateless, but this… is a lie.

    The home secretary has been able to do this since 2014.

    On the government website, it’s claimed that decisions are made in accordance with international law including the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 

    The 1961 convention “aims to prevent statelessness and reduce it over time”. 

    Yet, if the government has been able to make an individual stateless since 2014, and this new bill gives the secretary of state even more powers to do so, then it clearly flies in the face of the UN ruling.

    In-fact, this bill may breach international and domestic law 10 times! Raza Husain, who is a QC human rights lawyer, led a team of four barristers who looked into this piece of legislation.

    In their 95 page document, they conclude that the “bill represents the biggest legal assault on international refugee law ever seen in the UK”.

    Former Brexit secretary David Davis has expressed concern the bill could create a “British Guantánamo Bay”. He highlights the fact asylum seekers would be sent to a foreign country when they are being processed. His worry is that this could potentially create a detention center that parallels the notorious US-run facility in Cuba.

    Why is the government doing this?

    Well of course the easy answer is because this government is becoming increasingly reactionary and authoritarian in it’s style of governance in order to generate populist appeal with voters. The Tories believe they can carry on whipping up fear and hatred as they continue to fail to manage the pandemic and bounce from scandal to scandal.

    There’s also the case that Priti Patel has an unhealthy hunger for stripping us of our basic human rights.

    But let’s be incredibly charitable here, and take on their claims as to why they are doing this.

    Number one: Stop the practices of people smuggling.

    By increasing criminal sentences, and adding more border controls, ministers claim the stricter controls would be a deterrent to those seeking financial gain by smuggling people across borders.

    This doesn’t address the problem of said practices, and according to Amnesty International this will have an opposite effect. All it will do is create more dangerous conditions  which smugglers will use to exploit desperate people.

    This is similar to the way the harsher drug laws have failed to reduce the use of drugs, and instead have had an overwhelmingly negative impact on users and wider society. 

    Number two: Better protect those in need of asylum.

    Once again, Amnesty claims the bill will have the opposite effect. There is nothing in the bill that talks about making it safer for those seeking asylum. The policy makers say that criminalising those that risk their lives getting here will simply stop or ameliorate the issue. This couldn’t be further from the truth. People are willing to risk their lives for a reason, therefore trying to deter people who are in a desperate situation won’t stop them. A better way is to make it safer to get here; that is how you protect them.

    Number three: The Bill is in accordance with international law 

    As I explained before, the stripping of citizenship breaches international and domestic law according to human rights lawyers.  The UNHCR states that, “The Bill would create a two-tier asylum system that undermines international co-operation and delivers unjust penalties to refugees in need of protection”.

    Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, a representative of UNHCR says: The bill is based on the notion that asylum-seekers should seek sanctuary in the “first safe country” they arrive in – however the UNHCR said there was no such requirement under international law, and the principle was not in the 1951 Refugee Convention.

    The case of Shamima Begum was a precursor to this. Regardless of your personal view of her, as soon as the government broke international law to strip Begum of her citizenship, with no repercussions, it was only a matter of time until they would do it again on a wider scale.

    The slide into authoritarianism always begins with the pretext of national security. Once successfully orchestrated, governments will radically change laws that clamp down on our civil liberties.

    We have seen recently the government attacking free speech with the assault on our right to protest; now they are gunning for more of our hard-fought for human rights. We must stop this slide toward fascism before it’s too late.

    By Curtis Daly

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • NICE is at the centre of another growing scandal

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is at the centre of another growing scandal. This time, it’s over its guidelines for treating people living with chronic pain. NICE has removed various pharmaceutical treatment options to the dismay of patients and charities alike – because they can be effective for some people.

    So, one campaigner has launched a petition. And it’s sorely needed. Because the situation has echoes of a scandal over NICE’s guidelines for another chronic illness: ME – this time where some medical professionals tried to corrupt and subvert NICE’s processes and those in charge of them.

    NICE: chronic pain guidelines

    Millions of people in the UK live with chronic pain. There are varying estimates on the approximate number – ranging from 15.5 million to 28 million. Whatever the number, the debilitating life that accompanies being constantly in pain is widespread. So, in April NICE published its finalised guidelines on treatment for chronic pain. It redefined what it considers pain to be breaking chronic pain into two areas. It defines the first – chronic primary pain – as that which has:

    no clear underlying cause, or pain (or its impact) that is out of proportion to any observable injury or disease.

    NICE also says it’s pain “that lasts for more than 3 months”. It has also included some conditions associated with chronic primary pain, including:

    fibromyalgia (chronic widespread pain), complex regional pain syndrome, chronic primary headache and orofacial pain, chronic primary visceral pain and chronic primary musculoskeletal pain.

    Conditions like fibromyalgia have no known cause (or patient’s pain is out of proportion), and therefore NICE considers them primary.

    It defines chronic secondary pain as that which:

    an underlying condition adequately accounts for the pain or its impact.

    Contention

    These two definitions are contentious. For example, the Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) noted that:

    The guidelines state chronic primary pain has no clear underlying condition and that the mechanisms underlying it are only partially understood. This does not mean that this [chronic primary pain] is a single entity [one thing causing it] and current understanding needs to develop to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms.

    It continued:

    There is also a real risk that those classed as having “chronic primary pain” will include large numbers of people with a different, ultimately identifiable cause of pain, to whom this guidance should not apply.

    NICE’s updated guidelines for treatment have cemented the controversy.

    Pain meds: gone

    The guidelines have removed various options – namely the pharmaceutical ones. As the Pharmaceutical Journal wrote:

    The new NICE guidance… recommends against the initiation of opioids, paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for those patients

    Opioids are controversial because of the possibility of patients becoming addicted to them. In the UK, the amount doctors have prescribed to patients has rocketed since 2006. Research by the University of Manchester found a:

    • Five-fold increase in codeine prescriptions from 484 prescriptions per 10,000 in 2006 to 2,456 per 10,000 in 2017.
    • 30-fold increase in oxycodone prescriptions from 5 per 10,000 in 2006 to 169 per 10,000 in 2017
    • Seven-fold increase in tramadol prescriptions from 101 per 10,000 in 2006 to 690 per 10,000 in 2017

    But currently, many patients have little other options to help manage their pain. For example, research by the Pharmaceutical Journal found NHS waiting times in 2019 for pain clinics ranged from 6 to 117 weeks.

    So, what are patients left with?

    “Barbaric”

    Claire Swain lives with chronic pain. She has launched a petition over the guidelines. You can read and sign it here. Swain told The Canary:

    Under the new guidelines, people like myself are only being offered anti-depressants, exercise, acupuncture and therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as chronic pain management because NICE no longer approves vital pain relief medications and treatments, even though these have been shown to work for many patients. These treatments are fine as part of a toolkit of options but as the only resource they are frankly barbaric.

    While the alternatives on offer may help some people with chronic pain, they will not provide the quality of life and ability to function normally that many gain from appropriate pain killers. When you are in such agony that all you can do is curl up into a ball, exercise is not really a realistic option. Neither are therapies such as CBT, ACT and acupuncture, which usually have very long waiting lists if they are available at all on the NHS.

    What’s more, the evidence for things like exercise therapy being used in conditions like fibromyalgia has been called “insufficient” by one renowned medical organisation.

    “Insufficient” evidence

    Healthcare professional Craig Elmer analysed NICE’s evidence base for aerobic (‘cardio’) exercise for The Canary. Some of it was cited by NICE as being in research charity Cochrane‘s review of aerobic exercise for fibromyalgia in 2017. This is where researchers for Cochrane pool together studies into this and put all the results together. When Elmer looked at Cochrane’s review, he found that some of the studies’ control group of patients (where ‘treatment as usual’ continued) were already receiving some form of pain relief. Ultimately, Elmer found that Cochrane had said:

    Evidence is insufficient to reveal the effectiveness of one aerobic exercise intervention compared with another, or of anaerobic exercise intervention compared with education, stress-management training, or medication, for adults with fibromyalgia.

    ‘Low quality evidence’

    Cochrane’s review also noted that:

    Aerobic exercise does not seem to improve fatigue. The quality of the evidence was considered to be low or moderate because of the small numbers of people included in the studies, some issues involving study design, and low certainty of results.

    Given that NICE includes fibromyalgia as one of the chronic primary pain conditions, it’s concerning that Cochrane’s review of the evidence (some of which was used by NICE) found that one of its recommended treatment’s evidence base was “insufficient”.

    NICE’s recommendations of exercise and psychological therapy have also been contentious in another chronic illness.

    ME: here we go again?
    One of the studies that NICE used as evidence was for graded exercise therapy (GET), although it is not named as such. Here, it made patients do walking and resistance circuit training, increasing them in increments. Another study did the same with aerobic exercise. 

    GET was NICE’s recommended treatment for the neuroimmune disease myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This was up until it changed its guidelines this year. NICE was effectively forced to remove GET because of the harm it caused patients. One study found that over 50% of ME patients who doctor’s prescribed GET to were harmed. Moreover, CBT has also been found to be ineffective. Given this, it is of concern that NICE would use GET as evidence on how to treat chronic pain – which, like ME, it defines as having no known cause.

    NICE: hiding the evidence?

    It also seems NICE is reluctant to fully explain its decision making processes behind changing its chronic pain guidelines. Swain sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to NICE in April. She told The Canary:

    We are asking for the unpublished data that was used in the decision making as we are unable to access it. In addition, many of the academic/medical journals that were used to make the decisions in the chronic pain guidelines require a huge cost to access them. Even my medical friends are unable to access them all through their work place.

    It took NICE until October to assign a caseworker to the FOIs. Then, it refused them. So Swain has gone to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to lodge a complaint. It stepped in and has forced NICE to make a submission to it by 17 December. This appears to be a systemic issue for NICE.

    Corruption and subversion?

    Because with the ME guidelines, some also did an FOI. NICE at first refused to release all the information the FOI asked for, about exactly what went on behind the scenes with its processes. So, the FOI requester had to ask NICE to do an internal review before it would publish everything. The FOI revealed, as The Canary reported:

    text messages and emails where individuals from not only the NHS but also supposedly prestigious Royal Colleges were trying to interfere and exert influence over decisions at the non-departmental, independent public body… (NICE). The revelations… paint a picture of attempted subversion of NICE procedures and potentially even corruption.

    One of the individuals lobbying NICE was from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). It’s worth noting that the RCP was involved in developing NICE’s chronic pain guidelines – which, in terms of treatment options, have ended up being similar to what the RCP tried, but failed, to get NICE to implement for ME.

    Speaking out

    The Canary asked NICE for comment. It had not responded at the time of publication.

    Swain is not a lone voice in her objections to NICE’s new chronic pain guidelines. For example, the charity Pain Concern expressed similar sentiments to the FPM. It also said:

    As we feel the guidance is based upon crafted-together evidence rather than scientifically-strong evidence, then to remove much of the current toolbox seems to be poor timing in our view.

    So, Swain’s petition for parliament to debate the new guidance seems crucial. She told The Canary:

    My goal is to get 100,000 signatures so the petition will be debated in parliament. We want the government to consider the evidence and hear the statements of relevant stakeholders and campaign groups, including people with long-term pain issues.

    All we are asking is that parliament will take our views into account and convince NICE to reconsider its guidelines. We know that prescription pain killers and surgical interventions are not the answer for every chronic pain sufferer – we just want them to be included in the toolbox of treatment options available to us again.

    NICE: systemic problems?

    On first glance, it would seem bizarre to remove treatment options that if properly managed by a medical professional can help chronic pain. But delve deeper into the NICE guidelines, and it seems there are more factors at work here than meets the eye. It seems NICE has focused heavily on exercise and a psychological treatment path for chronic pain. This is exactly what certain medical professionals were pushing for it to do for ME. In that instance, they partly failed. But with chronic pain, it looks like they haven’t. The Canary will be looking into this further.

    For patients, NICE has now left them with very few options. Already their physical suffering is poorly understood. Now, NICE has advised doctors to essentially tell them to exercise and ‘think themselves better’ with CBT. This psychologisation of a physical problem will be all-too familiar to ME patients. But with a parliamentary petition now underway, hopefully Swain and everyone who has to live with debilitating pain day in, day out, can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

    Featured image via NICE – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Toppling of slave trader’s statue was ‘act of love’, protester tells court

    A protester who helped to rip down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol city centre has described it as “an act of love”. The bronze memorial to the 17th century merchant was pulled down on June 7 last year during a Black Lives Matter protest, and was later dumped in the harbour.

    Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, Sage Willoughby, 22, and Jake Skuse, 33, are on trial at Bristol Crown Court accused of criminal damage. Graham, Ponsford and Willoughby are accused of helping pull down the monument, while Skuse allegedly orchestrated it being rolled to the water and thrown in.

    Constant campaigner against the statue

    Willoughby, a carpenter who knew Ponsford and Graham through working in the same unit of workshops, told the court on Thursday he’d been signing petitions to have the statue removed since he was just 11. When asked if the three of them had planned to topple the statue, he replied:

    If you can call a very vague conversation the night before while we were having a few drinks a plan, then yes.

    Black Lives Matter protests
    Sage Willoughby, right (Ben Birchall/PA)

    Willoughby said:

    I have been signing petitions since I was 11 years old to have that statue removed,

    I spoke to my elders about it, I was quite frankly laughed at – they said they had given up signing petitions because nothing was ever going to happen.

    Willoughby told the court he had grown up in the St Pauls area of Bristol, which has a large Afro-Caribbean population. He said:

    Imagine having a Hitler statue in front of a Holocaust survivor – I believe they are similar,

    Having a statue of someone of that calibre in the middle of the city I believe is an insult, and I will continue to believe that what ever the outcome of this (trial).

    Willoughby continued:

    You have a huge Windrush population who have a history of being enslaved going further back in their families and if that’s not an insult, I don’t know what is.

    In footage of the incident Willoughby, a keen climber, can be seen scaling the statue and passing ropes around it. He said he had not known if it was possible to topple it and the only time he had seen another statue of a similar size pulled down was that of Saddam Hussein in Iraq when vehicles were also used as leverage. Willoughby added:

    It is not something I expected was possible – when it happened I was as much surprised as thrilled and happy,

    “This is a time of conflict”

    William Hughes QC, prosecuting, remarked that Hussein’s statue had been toppled during a time of war and conflict, and not during a peaceful march. Willoughby replied:

    This is a time of conflict, racial inequality is a time of conflict,

    He then added:

    Until equality is reached, it is a time of conflict.

    Willoughby denied acting violently, saying:

    That was not an act of violence, that was an act of love for my fellow man.

    The march was part of a wave of demonstrations around the world in response to the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by police officers in the US. Hughes said:

    That whole march was about people coming together to make a difference for black lives, so there was no need to take any further action.

    Willoughby replied:

    I disagree,

    He added:

    I don’t think I was thinking about the legal repercussions, I know the difference between right and wrong and that’s all that was going through my mind at that point.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • If you’re a disabled person the UN needs to hear from you

    As reported by The Canary in October, the UN is getting ready to investigate how the UK government treats chronically ill, deaf and disabled people. It comes five years after its last report which accused successive governments of “grave” and “systematic” violations of people’s human rights. Now, before the next report a disabled people’s organisation (DPO) wants to hear from people. And the evidence gathered will be given to the UN. But you only have until 5pm on 23 December to take part.

    The UNCRPD

    The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is a human rights branch of the UN. It oversees the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Many countries like the UK have signed up to it. The convention has a series of “articles” that the UNCRPD says countries should abide by to protect chronically ill, deaf and disabled people’s human rights. These are areas like accessibility, health, living independently and adequate standard of living and social protection.

    Every so often, the UNCRPD monitors countries to see if they are sticking to these articles or not. The last time the committee looked at the UK was in 2016. And the report was damning. It accused successive governments of “grave” and “systematic” violations of disabled people’s human rights. In August 2017, the UNCRPD followed up on its report; this included its chair accusing the government of creating a “human catastrophe” for disabled people. You can read The Canary‘s full analysis here.

    In 2018, the government effectively whitewashed the report. Now, the UNCRPD is getting ready to investigate it again. And chronically ill, deaf and disabled people need to have their say.

    Documenting people’s lives

    The Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance is a group of DPOs. It’s organising a shadow report to send to the UNCRPD documenting how well people think the UK government is sticking to the convention. As group member Inclusion London stated on its website:

    The Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance is working with partners in the DPO Forum, Disability Rights UK’s Our Voices and Disabled People Against Cuts to collect evidence and draft a shadow report for England. Disability Wales, Inclusion Scotland and Disability Action Northern Ireland are working on reports for their respective nations.

    Previously it made a call out for people to submit evidence – like research or reports. But now, one of the DPOs involved has launched a survey for chronically ill, deaf and disabled people.

    Getting your views

    Inclusion London says it has set up the survey:

    because we want YOUR views on how we should put together the different examples you have sent us.

    That is, it wants chronically ill, deaf and disabled people’s opinions on the best way to present its shadow report to the UN. Also, it asks questions like:

    In your view, since 2017 have things for Deaf and Disabled people overall:

    • Got better?
    • Stayed the same?
    • Got worse?

    It then also asks people to write an explanation of their answer. Then, there are a series of statements. It asks people to agree or disagree with them. All the questions have British Sign Language (BSL) videos to accompany them:

    A crucial year?

    So, with the UNCRPD preparing to investigate the government, and chronically ill, deaf and disabled people being actively involved – 2022 may be a crucial year in the lives of millions of people. But for this survey, you need to do it by 23 December. It’s vital as many people take part as possible. Because the broader range of evidence the UNCRPD has, the better.

    Featured image via YouTube screenshot – flagsoftheworld5 

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Unions say the government’s lack of leadership could cause a jobs crisis

    Unions are calling for immediate support for workers in the hospitality and entertainment industries amid warnings of a jobs “crisis”. The Omicron wave has caused a growing number of theatres and live events to cancel performances, alongside reports of a downturn in bookings, with pubs and restaurants facing similar problems.

    Boris Johnson is causing uncertainty

    Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite union, said:

    The Government must bring forward a package of support for hospitality workers today.

    The uncertainty the Prime Minister is causing is devastating – workers don’t know if they will even have a job to go to next week. This is an appalling position to put people in.

    Hospitality workers did not cause this crisis and they should not be the ones who pay for it.

    They still have rent to find and bills to pay but are seeing their incomes disappear before their eyes. They need help now.

     

    Lack of Tory leadership

    Bectu, the theatre workers union, has written to the chancellor, urging him to provide urgent support for the industry to prevent a “jobs crisis”. Head of Bectu, Philippa Childs, said:

    We now face a New Year theatre crisis with a lack of leadership from Government, a rising wave of Omicron cases and an anxious public. This started as a public health crisis but it could quickly become a jobs crisis as well.

    With the recent tightening of Covid restrictions, there has been little commentary on the significant impact these will have on self-employed workers working in theatres and live events.

    Bectu is concerned that self-employed workers again appear to be at the back of the queue when it comes to planning for any further financial disruption to our everyday lives.

    We need to give business stability and the support for the creative industries to be open and trading safely, but we must also contemplate what happens if the Government imposes restrictions that actually or effectively closes them.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Scotland is first UK nation to give extra vaccine dose to half of all adults

    Scotland has become the first UK nation to give a booster or third dose of Covid-19 vaccine to more than half of its entire adult population. A total of 2,250,118 extra doses had been given to over-18s as of December 14.

    This is the equivalent of 50.7% of this age group, according to Public Health Scotland.

    HEALTH Coronavirus Vaccinations
    (PA Graphics)

    A milestone is reached

    The milestone comes as a record 656,711 booster and third doses of vaccine were reported in the UK on Tuesday. The government has said all eligible adults in the UK will be offered the chance to get a booster jab before the end of the month. People can have a booster dose if they are three months on from receiving their second dose of vaccine.

    Third doses – the other type of extra dose – are available eight weeks after a second dose to people aged 12 and over with severely weakened immune systems. Scotland’s figure of 50.7% adults with an extra dose is up from 44.2% a week earlier and 39.6% at the start of December.

    How the rest are doing

    England is likely to be the next nation to pass the 50% mark. A total of 20,668,846 booster and third doses had been delivered to people aged 18 and over by December 14, according to NHS England.

    This is the equivalent of 46.5% of this entire age group – up from 40.0% a week ago.

    HEALTH Coronavirus
    (PA Graphics)

    In the north of Ireland, 586,487 booster and third doses have now been given to people aged 18 and over, according to its Department of Health. This is the equivalent of 40.3% of the entire adult population.

    Wales does not publish a full breakdown by age group of the take-up of extra doses, instead giving the figures only for booster doses. These show that 1,094,611 boosters had been given to those aged 18 and over as of December 14, according to Public Health Wales – the equivalent of 43.1% of the age group.

    Percentages are based on the latest official population estimates for the UK, which are for mid-2020 and are used by the Government and the UK health agencies for reporting levels of vaccine take-up. Around 46% of all people aged 18 and over in the UK are now likely to have received either a booster or third dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • NHS workers wrote a letter to Boris Johnson. It’s damning.

    A group of NHS workers have written an open letter in response to Boris Johnson’s message to healthcare staff. And it makes for uncomfortable reading – if you’re the PM, of course.

    Johnson: bare-faced cheek

    On Tuesday 14 December, Johnson released an open letter to NHS workers. In it, he was asking them for help with the coronavirus (Covid-19) booster vaccination programme. Johnson said:

    I would like to thank each and every one of you for your incredible efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. I know it has placed extraordinary strain on all NHS staff… On behalf of the whole country, I want to acknowledge and praise your extraordinary hard work.

    But some NHS staff were not happy with Johnson’s words. So, a group of them wrote a reply. It published the letter on Twitter. And the response to it has been huge.

    NHS Workers Say FU

    NHS Workers Say No is a grassroots campaign group. It’s been at the forefront of action against the Tory-created NHS crisis this year: from protests outside parliament, to huge petitions, via campaigning videos. NHS Workers Say No has been relentless in its fight for a safe NHS that pays it staff properly and works for everyone.  Now, it’s written an open letter to Johnson. It mimics the style of his letter. And it’s blown up on Twitter:

    The letter says, mocking the PM’s own words:

    Firstly, we would like to ask each and every one of you why, despite our incredible efforts, you continue to exploit us. The COVID-19 pandemic placed extraordinary strain on an already demoralised, devalued and depleted workforce, having spent ten years paying for your austerity measures. On behalf of the whole NHS workforce, and the rest of the country using our services, we want you to acknowledge the damage you have caused, apologise, and let someone else fix your mess.

    It then goes on to talk about the issues with staff shortages (nearly 100,000 to be precise); NHS pay (the dire government increase of 3%), and the physical, mental, and emotional impact all of this – plus the pandemic – has had on staff.

    “Please resign”

    The letter was written by Kirsty Brewerton, one of the founders of the group. She told The Canary:

    I wrote the letter because nobody seems to be listening, and nobody seems to care. Who is supporting frontline workers? Our government? No. Our employers? No. We can’t carry on like this, but we aren’t being given any other option.

    The letter ends by saying:

    We so wish we could thank you for all that you’ve done to support us through this, but in fact you’ve made it far more difficult for most of us. On behalf of the whole nation, please resign

    We all need to act

    Holly Turner from NHS Workers Say No told The Canary:

    There was a sense of outrage amongst NHS workers when we saw the pitiful ‘thank you’ letter from Johnson. We have been left in a vulnerable and dangerous position due to over ten years of austerity utterly decimating our services. We are sick to death of gestures, we need action.

    It’s now up to opposition politicians and the public to firstly support NHS workers – but also to force change in the NHS before the Tories do any more damage.

    Featured image via NHS Workers Say No and 10 Downing Street – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Energy price cap could be reviewed every three months under Ofgem reforms

    Britain’s energy price cap could be reviewed every three months or replaced altogether by a six-month fixed tariff under plans unveiled by regulator Ofgem following a flood of supplier failures. It’s been argued that rather than more regulations, what Britain needs is a re-nationalised energy sector.

    Changes

    The watchdog has set out three possible changes to the cap as part of a major overhaul in response to the collapse of 25 firms since the start of September. The cap, which limits increases in standard variable tariffs for more than 15 million households, is currently reviewed every six months, but Ofgem is proposing quarterly updates to help suppliers in times of extreme price volatility.

    Ofgem is also mooting the possibility of scrapping the cap in favour of a new fixed term default tariff, which would charge exit fees in a similar way to a fixed term mortgage. Under a third option, it would keep the cap in its current form but introduce a new “circuit-breaker” that could allow it to be updated in times of extreme price movements.

    It’s also looking at temporary measures that would allow it to address the current crisis, including allowing suppliers to charge consumers exit fees on some standard variable tariffs (SVTs) and ensuring suppliers make all new deals available to existing customers.

    The proposals come alongside plans unveiled by Ofgem to test the resilience of gas and electricity firms in regular health checks as it looks to strengthen the sector after swathes of suppliers have gone bust.

    The cost of gas in wholesale markets has risen by more than 500% in less than a year, which has put pressure on smaller suppliers. While its price cap has shielded Britons from some of the steepest rises in energy costs, suppliers have also blamed this for sending many under as they have been left supplying at a loss.

    A better way?

    On 2 December, an employee of energy company Bulb said:

    Since the privatisation of the energy sector back in 1990, energy companies have funnelled billions of pounds back to private shareholders. Since then, the price people pay for their energy bills has continued to increase despite the argument that a privatised energy sector would be more efficient and therefore cheaper

    Arguing the case for re-nationalisation, they said:

    If the taxpayer can absorb the cost during a crisis, the taxpayer should also reap the rewards once the current crisis subsides.

    They also said:

    The decisions made in the last week, where Bulb’s continued operations will be paid for by the UK government – via a “special administrator” – shows how straightforward nationalisation could be. We can look to the temporarily nationalised Eastern Railway as an example of how this could work. In the five years that the railway was nationalised and run by the Department for Transport, the railway generated £1 billion for the UK taxpayer. A nationalised Bulb, run by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, could focus on ensuring Bulb members aren’t negatively affected and have an initial aim of becoming profitable. If a nationalised Bulb continued to operate for the next 10 years, how much could it earn for the taxpayer? Initially, it could repay any debts accrued throughout this winter. Any further income generated could be re-invested to upgrade cold, drafty homes, making them both warm and affordable.

    The problems of private energy

    Ofgem admitted that while it protects consumer from price spikes, it “exposes suppliers to risks that are harder to manage at times of high energy price volatility”.

    It added:

    There is a risk that, if not tackled, this could lead to higher costs for consumers

    Any changes to the cap could be brought in next October, although suppliers have the chance to provide feedback on the plans by January, before a formal consultation is launched in the new year. Ofgem is also looking to bring in regular so-called stress tests from January, which will measure supplier resilience against a range of scenarios. If weaknesses are found, it will draw up improvement plans and even enforcement action if necessary to protect consumers.

    Similar stress tests were launched by the Bank of England for large lenders following the financial crisis when the taxpayer also bailed out private businesses. This situation – in which companies are free to enjoy profits but are protected from losses – has been described as “socialism for the rich”:

    Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, said:

    I’m setting out clear action so that we have robust stress testing for suppliers so they can’t pass inappropriate risk to consumers. I want to see more checks on staff in significant roles, and better use of data to help us regulate.

    Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said the current energy price crisis has highlighted that “tougher protections are – and were – always needed”.

    Other proposals include a ban on customer growth when certain milestones are reached – such as 50,000 and 200,000 accounts – until Ofgem is happy with supplier balance sheet strength.

    Ofgem also wants to launch financial licence requirements and improve the “fit and proper” rules for energy firm directors, while ensuring boards have proper oversight and control of management.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • ‘Public transport’ is about to become more of a monopoly

    Two of the biggest transport companies in the UK just revealed they’re merging into one. The move smashes the idea of a ‘public transport’ system even further. And, assuming the competition authority doesn’t intervene, it’ll have repercussions for staff and possibly passengers

    A huge merger: Stagecoach and National Express

    As PA reported, bus and coach group National Express has agreed an all-share takeover of rival Stagecoach. But the government might have something to say. This is because of the potential of a market monopoly. As Sky News reported:

    the deal… was also likely to attract the attention of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as the enlarged company would control 40,000 vehicles and 70,000 staff.

    In other words, National Express would end up having huge control over bus services. This could mean, for example, increased fares due to the lack of competition. Sky News continued:

    CMA concerns would be likely to centre on whether the deal weakened competition in certain regions and routes or raised the prospect of higher fares.

    But the merger comes against a backdrop of entrenched problems across bus services.

    Transport chaos

    A report by former UN poverty rapporteur Philip Alston slammed the UK’s bus network as a “deeply fragmented system that would shock those not accustomed to it”. Meanwhile, as The Canary previously reported, the RMT union has been taking industrial action against Stagecoach. It’s over pay and working conditions. Some drivers earn less than £23,000 a year.

    But Stagecoach isn’t a first-time offender when it comes to staff pay and conditions. It lost the bids on three rail franchises in 2019 because it wouldn’t comply with government rules over pensions. The RMT has also historically taken strike action against National Express, too. So, the merger is likely to cause unrest among workers.

    Stagecoach and National Express: a billion pound deal

    As PA reported, the deal will bring together two of the UK’s biggest transport firms. It will create a combined firm worth around £1.9bn. Under the terms of the tie-up, National Express shareholders would own around 75% of the combined group. Stagecoach shareholders will own the remainder. The deal values Stagecoach at around £437m.

    PA said that the merger will cut 50 jobs under plans to slash annual costs by at least £45m. The cuts will be at the two firms’ head offices, IT and corporate departments. But the companies’ stressed there would be no front-line job losses, like drivers, or depot closures due to the deal. Also, Stagecoach has said it will now sell-off the Falcon South-West coach service and its 35% stake in Scottish Citylink Coaches.

    Monopoly?

    Unite the Union general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement:

    This takeover must not be paid for by attacks to workers’ terms and conditions…

    We expect the newly expanded National Express company to work with us to respect existing agreements, and must warn that failure to do this or any attempt to make our members worse off will be forcefully resisted.

    So, it’s unclear how this new monopoly will improve the situation – except for the two companies’ bosses and shareholders.

    Featured image via – Flickr – Glen Wallace

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Grenfell bereaved and survivors demand charges against those responsible for fire

    Bereaved and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire are demanding charges against those responsible for the disaster, amid a warning that patience is running out more than four years on from the deadly blaze. A silent walk organised by campaign group Grenfell United is being held for the first time in 18 months, as those affected join together near the site to remember the 72 lives lost and countless others caught up in the events of June 14 2017.

    Demonstrators will gather outside Kensington Town Hall in west London on Tuesday evening, on the four-and-a-half year anniversary of the fire, to call for prosecutions to be brought against those responsible, and walk to the base of the burnt-out block of flats.

    The government’s apology is “meaningless”

    Resident Edward Daffarn, who lived on the 16th floor and had been a long-term campaigner about issues at the tower, described a government apology as “meaningless”, coming so long after the event, adding: “We need to see action and change.”

    The government apologised as part of the public inquiry into the fire, for past failures in oversight of the system regulating safety within the construction industry and the supervision of building control bodies. Daffarn said there is a renewed urgency for justice.

    He told the PA news agency:

    I think that we’ve been very vocal around change and around the truth. I think that we’ve been less vocal around justice.

    I think that justice is probably what is most important to most people.

    And we’re using the four-and-a-half year anniversary to let those with power and in authority know justice delayed is justice denied.

    And we need these people to start taking action against the perpetrators of the crimes committed against us.

    Daffarn, who famously predicted a fire in a blog post seven months beforehand, said:

    We’ve been very patient.

    We’ve been very dignified, but our patience is running out now, and we need the Crown Prosecution Service and the Met Police to start taking action against the perpetrators.

    He added:

    We’re expecting criminal charges to be laid against the organisations that were responsible, the landlords for Grenfell Tower, those charged with the management of Grenfell Tower, those responsible for the construction works to Grenfell Tower, and those who were responsible for the manufacture of the cladding and insulation.

    The public inquiry

    The walk comes exactly a week after the government apology at the public inquiry. A lawyer representing the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities told a hearing that mistakes and missed opportunities to learn from previous fires created the environment for the blaze to happen. Phase two of the inquiry is examining how the tower came to be coated in flammable materials that contributed to the spread of flames, which shot up the building.

    Module six of the second phase is concerned with building regulations and the published guidance on fire safety, including detailed consideration of Government policy.

    The inquiry has previously heard from a lawyer for the families of survivors and relatives of the bereaved who stated that the fire occurred partly as a result of an “unbridled passion for deregulation”, with a desire to boost housing construction having led to the industry being allowed to exploit regulations.

    Protests against Kingspan

    The walk also comes a week after Mercedes ended its controversial sponsorship deal with Kingspan, saying it was “not appropriate” to continue the partnership. Kingspan’s logo appeared on the helmet of Lewis Hamilton at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, sparking protests due to the use of Kingspan products in the tower.

    Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s event, Daffarn said it would be “very emotional” to walk again with the group for the first time in so long. He added:

    What we’ve missed is that sort of ability to commune, to actually come together to see our friends, to see our neighbours, to see community members.

    And that coming together offers a balm and a healing that we’ve really, really felt an acute pain in not being able to do.

    He said it has been “so difficult being apart for this length of time”.

    A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said its investigation into the fire “continues at pace”, adding that to date there has been one arrest for perverting the course of justice and a number of interviews under caution for gross negligence manslaughter, corporate manslaughter, fraud and health and safety offences.

    The force said:

    The police and the CPS agree that the criminal investigation must take into account any findings or reports produced by the inquiry, including its final reports for both Phase 1 and Phase 2.

    If the police investigation concludes there is sufficient evidence to consider criminal charges in relation to the fire, a file will be submitted to the CPS for a decision. We have had regular engagement with the CPS since the beginning of the investigation and continue to do so.

    We can only imagine the impact on families of a long and complex investigation and public inquiry and we do understand their frustrations.

    We have always explained to families and survivors this is large and complex criminal investigation and the anticipated timeline for the police.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Keir Starmer’s video address was peak Blue Labour

    Keir Starmer’s televised address to the nation just cemented his right-wing credentials. Because the speech was filled with so-called Blue Labour posturing. And this coupled with his previous actions confirm Labour’s direction of ideological travel.

    Caving-in over Covid passports

    As the Mirror reported, the BBC broadcast a pre-recorded address by Starmer on Monday 13 December. It was in response to Boris Johnson’s one the previous day. During his speech, Starmer said Labour would support the government over its coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine booster programme and the contentious Covid passports. But with around 75 Tory MPs set to vote against the government, Starmer could have inflicted a humiliating defeat on the government.

    Moreover, Labour had previously said it was against Covid passports on the grounds they’d be “discriminatory”. The issue is clearly controversial as Jeremy Corbyn has also spoken out against them. And as Big Brother Watch tweeted:

    So, it seems Starmer is passing up a golden opportunity to annihilate the Tories. Unsurprising, really, when you look at his televised speech.

    Intentional stage-setting

    The stage-setting was intentionally done: the now omnipresent union jack; a photo of his family in the background; Christmas cards; the formal folder and pen holder and a book on Barack Obama. It all points to Labour’s attempts to brand Starmer as politically modern but with traditional British values.

    But crucially, he was once again pushing patriotism. The Mirror reported he said:

    We are a patriotic party. And it is our patriotic duty to vote for these measures to ensure that they go through.

    So, as political strategist and arch Blairite John McTernan summed up on Twitter:

    Blue Labour

    “Flag, family and patriotism” is peak Blue Labour. As The Canary wrote in 2020, this ideology is about:

    taking more socially conservative policies and combining them with left-wing economics. This is all a bit “Blue Labour”, a concept founded by Maurice Glasman based on socially conservative values of ‘family, faith and flag’ but more socialist economic policies. It is rooted in the values that Glasman perceived existed in the party pre-WWII.

    This is exactly what Starmer presented to the nation, and what McTernan summed up in his tweet. And, it’s partly the direction Labour has been going for a while. From pro-war support for the military to Starmer’s muted opinions on Trans rights, the party is becoming socially conservative. Recently, Starmer’s lack of support for MP Zarah Sultana in the face of racist abuse sums this up, too.

    But it still seems unclear how economically left wing Labour will be. For example, there was confusion between Starmer and Miliband’s stances on energy renationalisation. Plus, the Financial Times (FT) said that Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves have been “wooing” business; hardly ‘Corbynomics’.

    Two cheeks

    The problem with all this is, as one Twitter user alluded to, you’ve essentially got two cheeks of a very similar arse leading the country – with a binary choice at any election:

    So, while Starmer’s party may lead in the polls at present – how long his Blue Labour approach will wash with voters remains to be seen. Because no one does ‘Tory’ better than the Tories – and the public may soon start to see through this.

    Featured image via BBC iPlayer – screengrab

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.