(Text-only) Rhondda Records Home Page

ENJOY TODAY: THIS MIGHT
BE AS GOOD AS IT GETS !!!

_________________________________________________________

Belarus to halt Russian energy flow

to Europe: amid tensions with Poland

December 1st, 11:01am (PressTV)

Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko says his

government will suspend Russian energy flows to

Europe --- in response to Poland's closure of the

border with his country amid a migrant crisis.

Citing the president, RIA news agency reported on

Wednesday, that Minsk was ready to halt one of

the largest gas pipelines supplying natural gas

to Europe.

He made the remark... after Poland extended its

controversial emergency measures restricting

access to its border with Belarus, at midnight

on Tuesday.

The Polish Interior Ministry announced the extension

of a controversial state of emergency: that bars all

non-residents - including journalists & aid charities

- from the border area. The ban will be applied to

183 populated areas..... and enters into force....

on Wednesday.

For weeks, thousands of migrants have been

stranded in the freezing forests and swamp-

lands of the Poland-Belarus border, as

Warsaw has closed the frontier and

prevented them crossing over.

The refugees, mostly from West Asia, Afghanistan,

and Africa, are trying to enter the European Union.

Under the state of emergency declared in the

border region in September, the media and

aid charities --- were completely banned
from entering the border zone.

Warsaw says the restrictions were necessary for

security reasons... but the opposition says the

ban was intended to cover up rights abuses.

Poland's Human Rights Ombudsman --- has

criticized the new law, saying -- it gives the

interior minister the right to limit freedom

of movement and to limit access to

information --- about what is

happening on the border

... indefinitely.

At least 12 migrants have lost their lives since the

crisis began in the summer, aid groups say,

calling for a de-escalation and a

humanitarian response to

the problem.

Last month, Polish police fired tear gas and
water cannons at people trying to cross
the border.

Belarus then began moving hundreds of the

refugees to shelters, offering them their
first humanitarian aid in weeks.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said this week that

Poland shared responsibility for the migrants'

"acute suffering" in the border area.

The West accuses Belarus of coordinating an

unprecedented wave of asylum seekers, in

retaliation for existing sanctions imposed

by the bloc on his country. Lukashenko

has denied the allegation.

________________________________

Scottish schoolgirls

‘boycott gender-

neutral toilets’

November 27th, 1:57pm (RT)

The introduction of gender-neutral toilets in Scottish

schools hasn’t panned out as activists hoped, with

girls in one school reportedly refusing to use the

facilities due to misbehaviour and vandalism

by boys.

Gender-neutral bathrooms are becoming increasingly

common - in Scottish educational institutes. Schools

in Angus, Dundee, East Renfrewshire, and Edinburgh

have all introduced the facilities, and all new school

buildings - primary and secondary - in Edinburgh will

soon have unisex toilets, & communal hand-washing

facilities by default. The move to gender neutrality is

supported by Scottish National Party politicians and

by a Scottish Equality & Human Rights Commission
--- which warned schools in 2019, that they leave
themselves open to lawsuits.... by not

providing such facilities.

However, the implementation of ‘gender-blind’

bathrooms hasn’t been a smooth one. Scottish

Borders Councillor Harry Scott told a council

meeting on Thursday that in one school,

“there have been instances of boys

waving sanitary products like flags

and urinating in sanitary bins,”

according to the Southern

Reporter.

Girls at the school have “gone days without using

toilets on campus due to sharing facilities,” the

report claimed. The school in question added

afterwards that it was “unaware” of these

incidents, and noted that... within the

shared bathrooms... some individual

cubicles were reserved for each sex.

Yet students of both genders still share common

areas within these bathrooms. “Why is it not

possible to have male, female and gender-

neutral toilets which would cater for the

needs of everyone?” Scott said at the

meeting. “Why can that not be

achieved in our schools?”

Parents across Scotland have pushed back against

gender-neutral toilets in secondary schools, which

can see 12-year-old girls using the same facilities

as 18-year-old men. The facilities are unpopular

with the Scottish public too, and a recent poll

showed 56% of Scots opposing them, and

only 21% in favour.

Some 22% said they supported gender-neutral toilets,

but only alongside traditional single-sex bathrooms.

“I would like to know... who is pressing for gender-

neutral toilets because it’s not parents,” feminist

campaigner, Marion Calder, told The Times on

Friday. “I suspect it is coming from LGBTQ

guidance award schemes.”

________________________________

Interpol elects Emirati general

accused of rights abuses

as president

November 25th, 11:15am (PressTV)

An Emirati general accused of torture has been

appointed as the head of the International

Criminal Police Organization, commonly

known as Interpol, despite widespread

opposition from human rights activists.

“Mr Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi of the United Arab

Emirates has been elected to the post of

President (4-yr term),” Interpol tweeted

on Thursday.

Raisi, who is, currently, the inspector general at

the UAE's Interior Ministry... was elected as the

new Interpol president during the international

law enforcement body’s General Assembly in

the Turkish city of Istanbul.

The controversial appointment follows generous

funding by the UAE, for the Lyon, France-based

organization.

Two British men, who were formerly imprisoned

in the UAE, have recently accused Raisi of

torture and filed legal complaints

against him.

“He is absolutely responsible for torture. The

message his candidacy sends, is that, not

only can you do this... and get away with

it, but be rewarded,” Matthew Hedges,

one of the ex-inmates, told

The Guardian.

Earlier this month, three European Parliament

members wrote a letter to EC President,

Ursula von der Leyen, to warn of the

impact the Emirati general's

appointment would have

on Interpol.

"The election of General Al Raisi would undermine

the mission and reputation of Interpol and
severely affect the ability of the
organization to carry out its

mission effectively,"
they wrote.

In October, a coalition of 19 organizations

condemned the UAE’s “poor human rights
record, including the systematic use of
torture and ill-treatment, in state

security facilities.”

They also said Raisi is "part of a security apparatus

that continues to systematically target peaceful

critics, rendering civic space virtually

non-existent."

The appointment would... “damage Interpol’s

reputation and stand in great contradiction

to the spirit of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights and the organization’s

mission,” they warned.

_________________________________________________

IAEA Chief Calls for Supervision

over Israel’s Atomic Program

November 24th, 12:28pm (FNA)

Director-General of the International Atomic Energy

Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi underlined the need

for Israel to join the Non Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) to provide the UN nuclear watchdog’s
access to its clandestine nuclear program.

“What I can say is that we believe that every country

should subscribe to the nuclear Non Proliferation

Treaty. This is something that is very important.
The General Conference of the IAEA, has

approved several resolutions insisting

that every state in the world adheres

to this treaty, which we believe is

very important,” Grossi told

presstv on Tuesday.

He said the IAEA General Conference... had
“repeatedly approved resolutions exhorting”
Israel, among others, to be part of the NPT.

Israel has long been possessing nuclear arms,

refusing to join the NPT, and attempts to pile

pressure on NPT signatory, Iran.

The IAEA chief was then questioned about its

position on the Israeli regime’s possession

of a nuclear arsenal... and the regime’s

simultaneous refusal to subscribe to

the Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Treaty (NPT).

_____________________________

In praise of worker’s songs

by Ben Lunn

November 1st, (Morning Star)

Culture... has been a vital element of all classes and

cultures throughout humanity. With the development

of the working class or proletariat, came into being
a musical and artistic expression which reflected
the character of their existence and was able to

express their concerns.... highlight injustices

against them, as well as find ways to bring

their kin closer together, through art,

culture, or music and song.

Within the 19th century cultural voices and institutions

began to emerge, in the form of choirs, like Clarion,

brass bands, and other groups. Many of these

were born out of employers finding a
creative outlet for their workers –
particularly common among
the collieries.

Others were born out of cultural outreach from religious

institutions, like the Methodist church, or the Salvation

Army. Though this had a creative and cultural benefit

...because of its connection to employers, or the
church... anti-establishment, or general
radicalism, was, likely, squashed.

With the birth of the Labour Party, discussions of how

culture could be used by the workers, began to be

more popularised.

William Morris’s discussions are quite fascinating, as
you can see where the concerns and worries were:
that working people... should have nice things at
home, that culture and art are ways to enrich

our lives, that bourgeois appreciation

of art as art, will push art into

something only enjoyed by

collectors, and not

by humans.

With the turn of the 20th century there was a push by

numerous individuals and groups... to find ways to

take the creative tools that working-class people

had developed and use them as an avenue to

galvanise the working class to be

more militant.

This was quite a particularly curious period as figures

like Edward Carpenter, Hanns Eisler, Ethel Smyth,

Alan Bush, Rutland Boughton, and numerous

others, began to come to the foreground.

This was also accompanied by the formation of groups

like the London Labour Choral Union, the Workers’
Music Association, and the Clarion Singers,
to name a few.

From the ’50s onwards, workers’ songs fell by the wayside

as pop music and all its sub-genres, from R’n’B to Death

Metal and Dubstep, fell into the hands of capitalism,

despite many groups continuing to come from

working-class backgrounds.

Today, workers’ music is a bit of a niche, which I feel is a

real shame – as there are so many things we could learn.

Throughout November, once a week, I will focus on a

figure or two and discuss their life, and show off a

song that deserves particular mention.

I'll look at arguably the most famous workers’ songs
--- Jim Connell’s Red Flag, and Eugene Pottier’s

Internationale. Pierre de Geyter, who turned

the Interationale into song, and The White

Cockade, the original, intended melody

for the Red Flag was a pub song, then

put to use to improve workers’ lives.

Ethel Smyth was a militant suffragist, imprisoned for her

militancy, and much like Carpenter or Morris, was born

into a middle-class life... but committed her life to

fighting for the advancement of women

in society.

The “Karl Marx of music,” Hanns Eisler, was a composer

who utilised numerous idioms, to help fight for the

working class in Germany and internationally,

by writing propaganda songs, with

Bertolt Brecht.

A personal favourite of mine is the Pitman Poet, Tommy

Armstrong. A man who wrote poems and songs

expressing life in the coalfields – discussing

things from the silly - like Hedgehog Pie -

mourning the loss in a mining accident,

like Trimdon Grange, or singing about

the noble efforts of striking pitmen

across north-east England.

Then there is Paul Robeson, a man who promoted

workers’ songs in numerous languages and from

numerous cultures including a Yiddish partisan

song, Zog nit Keynmol, the Chinese March of
the Volunteers, the Polish Warszawianka,
Joe Hill, and the Peatbog Soldiers.

The hope is that these sessions could help rejuvenate

interest in this tradition, but there is also a hope ---

to create a workers’ choir in the west of Scotland.

These sessions are open to everyone and so

I really hope you can come join us – hope to

see you there!

For more information visit:

facebook.com/UniteCommunityScotland

___________________________________

Report Finds... One in Three

Gangland Murders in London

Linked to Drill Rap

October 11th, 12:23pm (FNA)

One in three London homicides in 2018 was linked

to drill music, a Policy Exchange report found.

The report analyses a decade of knife crime data,

pointing to the role of drill music, social media,

revenge attacks... and the failure of police

strategy in the rise of gang violence,

The Independent reported.

Analysis by Policy Exchange found that of the 41 gang

related homicides in 2018, drill music played a role in

at least one third (36.5 percent) of them. This was

where either the victim or perpetrator was an

aspiring drill rapper, or drill music videos

were used as evidence in the trial. This

figure was 23 percent in 2019.

Knife crime reached its highest level of the decade in 2019

as 44 knife offences were committed a day with 94 fatal

stabbing victims. Additionally, at least 25% of cases in

2018 and 2019 are directly linked to retaliation, the

report says.

Additionally, of the gang related homicides in London, 80

percent of the victims and perpetrators were black or

from an ethnic minority background... with black

people in the capital five times more likely to

be stabbed, than white or Asian people.

The report’s author, Sophia Falkner, took aim at social media

and big brands for “glorifying, encouraging and legitimising”

gang culture. The report called out Adidas in particular for

launching a social media campaign with the drill rapper

Headie One, three weeks before he was imprisoned

for six months, for carrying a knife.

“Despite the rise of ‘woke capitalism’ and many of these

companies’ explicit stance against racism, we have
to ask... why there is continued support for the

perpetrators of violent gang related crime
in London, whose victims are over-
whelmingly black and ethnic
minority,” Falkner said.

The Policy Exchange researcher added that brands risk

encouraging young people to buy into the idea that

criminal behaviour is “fashionable” by promoting

artists who are imprisoned for carrying knives.

Drill is a music genre characterised by violent
lyrics, ominous beats, and gang affiliations.

The bakers’ disaffiliation

from Labour --- a wake-up
call to the whole movement

September 29th, (Morning Star)

The decision by the bakers’ union to disaffiliate

from Labour ends an historic relationship older

than the party itself.

President Ian Hodson notes that Keir Starmer

should “hang his head in shame”, at having

provoked the end of ties that stretch

across three centuries.

With motions opposed by the leader’s office... passing

every day, the resignation of his shadow employment

rights minister, exposing his role in blocking support

for raising the minimum wage and statutory sick pay

and now the disaffiliation of a union that helped to

found the party -- conference 2021 is looking less

like a car crash for Starmer, than a multi-

vehicle pile-up.

Labour apparently made numerous promises to the bakers

that it would take steps to resolve the crisis provoked by

its threat to “auto-exclude” their president. Its failure to

deliver on these promises, in time to prevent today’s

momentous decision, indicates incompetence or

duplicity; with Starmer’s team, it is difficult
to know which.

The reasons the union gives for disaffiliation touch

on two key features of Keir Starmer’s leadership.

The first is the targeting of Hodson in the first place.

The decision to ban membership of four left organisations

this summer, reflects the extreme intolerance and

authoritarianism that characterise Labour’s

“new management.”

Transparently a bid to hound out socialists, the party

machine’s behaviour since --- excluding members

for having had dealings with these groups before

they were banned... demanding that members

prove a negative, by providing evidence that

they did not support these organisations —

are a travesty of justice... which

demonstrates the contempt in

which Labour officialdom

holds Labour members.

In picking on Hodson, Labour threw a gauntlet to the bakers.

As general secretary Sarah Woolley says, BFAWU members

saw the attack on their president as an attack on them.

“When you pick on one of us you pick on all of us,”

the union statement reads; “that’s what

solidarity means.”

The BFAWU here is grappling with a fundamental question

for the whole left: how do we respond --- to the smearing

and persecution of thousands of committed socialists

& trade unionists, by the current Labour leadership?

How do we stand with them?

The second is the question on so many trade

unionists’ lips: what is the Labour Party

doing for us?

Why is it opposing pay rises for key workers who have

kept the country running through an unprecedented

crisis? Why is it opposing higher sick pay, in a

global pandemic — when union after union

has reported its members being terrified

even to get tested for Covid, because

they can’t afford time off sick?

The two aspects are of course interlinked. Labour’s

current leadership are, to quote Hodson, “in the

bosses’ pocket.” And it is engaged in an all-

consuming campaign to smash the radical

left, that gave hope of real change to so

many in the party’s very recent past.

Its purges of a left that was easily routed at the last

leadership election, like its desperation to change

rules around reselecting MPs... that posed no

threat to any sitting MP, might smack

of paranoia.

But they reflect a Labour right that understands the left

is popular.. and that its socialist programme commands

wide public sympathy. No chance, however small, of
a left resurgence can be allowed. We must never

underestimate the ruthlessness of the right -

but its very extremism is testament to the

potential it knows the left still has.

The bakers are a fighting union. Their McStrike campaigns

have given them one of the highest profiles of any union

among the young, and the delegates who have voted to

disaffiliate are poorly paid workers, mostly from old

“red wall” seats.

If Labour loses people like these, its chances of electoral

recovery shrink still further. All affiliated unions have

good reason --- to make the bakers’ departure
a wake-up call.

______________________________________________

UK Labour leader says it’s ‘not right’

to claim only women have cervixes

September 26th, 11:25am (RT)

Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party,

claimed on Sunday that people should not say only

women have a cervix, calling it “not right,” after

one of his MPs received threats online for

making the statement.

When asked by BBC presenter Andrew Marr whether it

was “transphobic to say only women have a cervix,”

Starmer replied, “It’s something that shouldn’t be

said. It’s not right.”

Pressed on whether someone who does think only women

have a cervix, would be welcome in the Labour Party,

Starmer said, “We need to have a mature, respectful

debate about trans rights and… bear in mind that

the trans community, are among the most

marginalised and abused communities.”

“Wherever we’ve got to in the law, we need to go further,

and we want to go further,” he continued, concluding,

however, that the Labour Party conference would be

“a place which is safe for that debate to take place.”

Starmer made the comments, after the Labour MP for

Canterbury, Rosie Duffield, received threats online

for saying “only women have a cervix”. In

response to the threats, she said she

would feel unsafe attending this

week’s conference. Starmer

told Marr he had assured

Duffield she would be

safe at the event.

Many social media users criticised Starmer’s
comments, accusing him of “denying the
biological truth and existence of
the female sex”.

“Keir Starmer has blown it. He’s not getting my vote,”

tweeted one woman, while another predicted the

stance would “haunt” the Labour Party leader

for the rest of his career.

“I am afraid that it is the case that only women have a

cervix. Not altogether sure how this biological fact

ever became remotely controversial,” opined

Mark Seddon, the ex-media adviser to
former United Nations General
Assembly president María
Fernanda Espinosa.

_______________________________________

Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary

Lisa Nandy: Claims Iran Building

Nukes and Backs Arming Israel

by James Tweedie

September 2nd, 1:40pm (Sputnik)

Israel has long accused Iran of covertly developing

its own nuclear weapons, in breach of the Nuclear

Non-Proliferation Treaty and the JCPOA nuclear

deal with the US, Russia, China, and the

European Union.

Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy has

said she opposes a ban on arms sales to Israel -

claiming Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

The Wigan MP made the comments at a Jewish

Representative Council (JRC) meeting, in her

hometown of Manchester, on Wednesday.

She said neither she, nor Shadow Middle East Minister

Wayne David, "support the blocking of the sale of

weapons to Israel that helped it deflect rocket

attacks" during May's Israeli offensive on the

besieged Gaza Strip, adding: "Israel has a

right to defend itself and Israel's citizens

have a right to live in peace

and security".

"We have to be very cautious in relation to Iran", Nandy

said. "This is a state that is still using... developing

nuclear weapons, that has shown no signs of

dropping their hard-line approach".

Nuclear Deal

Claims by Israel — the only country in the Middle East that

reportedly has nuclear arms - that Iran is trying to get the

bomb, have proven a political obstacle to US President
Joe Biden's stated intent to return to the 2015 Joint

Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal

with Iran... which his predecessor Donald

Trump officially withdrew from, in 2018.

The JCPOA saw sanctions on Iranian oil exports imposed in
2006, lifted, in return for access to International Atomic

Energy Agency inspectors to Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwah

or religious judgment against nuclear weapons in the 1990s,

and has restated that position several times since 2003. But

in January, the government began enriching uranium to 20

percent fissile material content — not pure enough for a

nuclear weapon, but above the level used in most

power stations.

Iran's new conservative President Ebrahim Raisi has taken a

much harder line with Washington's readmittance to the

JCPOA, than his predecessor, Hassan Rouhani.

Nandy also backed the Conservative government's decision

to boycott this September's 20th anniversary reconvening

of the World Conference Against Racism held in the South

African city of Durban, in 2001, saying: "We shouldn't be

supporting the promotion of anti-Semitism".

The Israeli and the US delegations walked out of the 2001

conference... in protest... even after they had forced the

removal of criticisms of Israel from the final declaration.

Solidarity Denied

The frontbencher also accused unnamed individuals of

exploiting the Palestinian struggle for statehood, to

"spout hate and divide people".

Britain's Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is

organising protests against next week's annual

Defence and Security Equipment International

(DSEI) arms fair at London's ExCel convention

centre, under the slogan: "Stop Arming Israel".

Young Labour chair, Jess Barnard, tweeted, on Tuesday,

that party officials had informed her PSC was effectively

barred from the Labour conference in Brighton, at the

end of September — along with former leader and

Islington North MP, Jeremy Corbyn.

— Jess Barnard (@JessicaLBarnard) August 31, 2021

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer ordered Corbyn's suspension

from the party and its parliamentary group, last November...

after he challenged an Equality and Human Rights

Commission report, alleging Labour was riddled

with anti-Semitism.

Nandy told Wednesday's meeting that Luciana Berger, one

of six Labour MPs who defected to the now-defunct anti-

Brexit Change UK party, should be readmitted and

promptly selected as a parliamentary candidate.

"I want her in parliament, because she is one of the best

MPs we have ever had", she said, of the Jewish former

party member.

_________________________________

Poor Ken: Corbyn-Ally

Director Loach Expelled

From Labour Party...
in Starmer's 'Purge'

by James Tweedie

August 14th, 4:39pm (Sputnik)

The 85-year-old director said he had been expelled

for... failing to "disown" other targets of Sir Keir

Starmer's "witch hunt" against left-wingers,

and that the Labour chief would never

lead a "party of the people".

British left-wing film director Ken Loach has been

expelled from the Labour Party, for backing other

targets of leader Sir Keir Starmer's "witch hunt".

Loach, a prominent supporter of suspended

former party leader, Jeremy Corbyn,
tweeted the news on Saturday.

The "Kes" director hinted that he had joined

Geronimo the Alpaca on Starmer's hit list,

for his refusal to "disown" members of 4

left-wing factions banned last month by

the party leadership — and said former

director of public prosecutions, Sir

Keir, was no man of "the people".

"Well, I am proud to stand with the good friends and

comrades victimised by the purge. There is indeed

a witch hunt", Loach charged. "Starmer and his

clique will never lead a party of the people.

We are many, they are few. Solidarity".

Labour's top administrative body, the National Executive

Committee (NEC), agreed, in July, to collectively

proscribe the groups: Socialist Appeal, Labour

Against the Witch Hunt, the Labour in Exile

Network, and Resist — potentially leading

to the expulsion of some 1,000 party

members.

At the same time, it emerged the party was laying off

long-serving staff at its HQ, due to a cash shortage

caused by the mass exodus of members, while

also hiring scores of short-term employees,

to help identify new targets for

disciplinary action.

Corbyn's former shadow home secretary, John

McDonnell — who is closely associated with

Socialist Appeal — denounced the

expulsion of "such a fine

socialist" as a

"disgrace".

Yet McDonnell also recently welcomed the defection

to Labour... of former Conservative MP and

Parliamentary speaker, John Bercow,

who was chair of the Conservative

Students when that organisation

produced "Hang Nelson

Mandela" t-shirts.

Loach also drew support on Twitter from left-wing

Labour MPs, trade union leaders, and the former

Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis,

of the Syriza party.

Loach gained fame in the 60s for his "kitchen sink"

social dramas, such as "Cathy Come Home",
"Poor Cow", and "Kes".

But his 1995 film "Land and Freedom"... set during the

Spanish Civil War, was controversial for its sectarian

claims of atrocities by Soviet-backed Republican

forces resisting the fascist takeover, led by

General Francisco Franco - yet glorifying

the six-day May 1937 Trotskyist POUM

insurrection in Barcelona, against
the Socialist-led government
of the republic.

Loach's last two films "I, Daniel Blake" and "Sorry We

Missed You" deal with the lives of a benefit claimant

and package delivery drivers.

The latest polls show Starmer's Labour still trailing

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Tories... by around

ten percentage points.. despite a string of recent

government rows and scandals.

____________________________________

Jeremy Corbyn’s Supporters

Drawing Up Proposal... to

Reinstate Former Labour

Leader as Party MP

by Oleg Burunov

August 8th, 4:39pm (Sputnik)

In October 2020, Jeremy Corbyn was suspended from

the UK Labour Party after insisting that anti-Semitism

in the party, had been “dramatically overstated for

political reasons by our opponents …as well as

by much of the media”.

Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters have hammered out a plan

that may provide UK Labour Party members with the

power to reinstate Jeremy Corbyn as a Labour MP.

According to The Guardian, a proposal made by activists

from the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy...

stipulates that an urgent rule change is needed

to close a “gaping hole in the Labour Party

rule book” and hand more authority to

party members.

The newspaper cited the proposal as saying that “the PLP

[Parliamentary Labour Party] is not accountable to [the]

annual [Labour] conference” and that the new plan

“would require the PLP and chief whip to report

directly to the conference, including on MPs’

discipline, with the conference able to

confirm or reject disciplinary

decisions... that are of

concern to delegates”.

The Guardian reported that the possible rule change is seen

as a way to reinstate Corbyn, a move that was criticised by

Charlotte Nichols, the Labour MP for Warrington North.

“The last thing we need is a rule change that could lead

to the second guessing of the outcome of bullying and

sexual harassment cases or the debate of individual

disciplinary cases. This is not how our complaints

system should run and should be rejected if it

goes to conference floor”, she told
The Guardian.

With the rule change-related proposal already circulating

across the Labour Party, its local branches are facing

calls to support the rule change during the upcoming

Labour conference, something that is expected to

embarrass the party’s leader Keir Starmer.

Corbyn’s Suspension

As far as Corbyn is concerned, the former Labour leader

was suspended from the party in October 2020 over

comments he made following the publication of
a report by the Equality and Human Rights

Commission (EHRC), which revealed

that its investigation “into anti-

semitism in the Labour Party”

had found “unlawful acts of

discrimination and

harassment”.

Corbyn responded by claiming that while "one anti-Semite

is one too many" in the party, "the scale of the problem

was also dramatically overstated for political reasons

by our opponents inside and outside the party, as

well as by much of the media”.

In November 2020, he was re-admitted to the party --- but

Starmer at the time refused to restore the parliamentary

whip to Corbyn, vowing to continue disciplinary action

against the former leader through channels outside

the party.

Starmer stressed that as leader of the PLP he had the right

to withdraw the whip from MPs regardless of the decisions

of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), on which

he sits, along with representatives of the PLP and the

shadow cabinet.

"Since I was elected Labour leader I have made it my mission

to root out anti-Semitism from the Labour Party”, Starmer

stated. He added that Corbyn's response to the

published report had "undermined and set

back our work in restoring trust and
confidence... in the Labour Party’s
ability to tackle anti-Semitism”.

In mid-December 2019, Corbyn said that he would not lead

the party “in any future general election campaign”,

remarks that he made following the UK’s 2019

general election, which saw Labour’s worst

performance since 1935. This triggered a

leadership election, in 2020, that was

finally won by Starmer, Corbyn’s

shadow Brexit secretary.

__________________________________

UK Labour Party losing

250 members a day -

since Sir Keir Starmer

became leader - media

July 25th, 3:07pm (RT)

The UK Labour Party has lost 120,000 members – or a

rate of 250 members per day – since Keir Starmer

was elected leader last year, sending the party

into a financial crisis, according to a

new report.

The Labour Party now has just 430,000 members – a huge

drop from the 550,000 who were in the party under the
former leader Jeremy Corbyn – after numbers started
to drop when Starmer was elected leader in April
2020, the Times has learned.

According to the article, Labour has lost up

to £500,000 per month, from the exodus.

Because of the drop in members, plus other costs

such as the Covid-19 pandemic, and the millions
of pounds that Labour has spent in legal costs

during its campaign against anti-Semitism,

Labour Party General Secretary, David

Evans, reportedly announced to party

staffers this week ---- there was only

one month’s worth of employee pay

left in Labour’s reserves, and that

jobs would have to be cut.

It is estimated that the amount left in Labour’s
reserves is just £1.5 million, leaving the party
desperate for donors.

Despite Labour’s loss of members and its subsequent

financial crisis, the Times noted that the party has

been “attracting wealthy backers” under Starmer,

including Sir Trevor Chinn, the president of the

Movement for Reform Judaism and a financial

supporter of the Labour Friends of Israel.

Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party has been defined

by its more centrist turn following the socialist leadership

of Corbyn, and an attempt to crackdown on perceived

cases of anti-Semitism in the party.

In October 2020 – just months after he stood down as leader

of the party following its 2019 election defeat – Corbyn was

suspended from Labour. Though Corbyn was reinstated to

the party the following month after protests by members,

left-wing politicians, and the former US presidential

candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, Starmer did not
return the Labour whip to him.

____________________________________

Inept Labour’s week from hell

shows why England now feels

like a one-party state

July 23rd, 8:46am (RT)

Paul A. Nuttall is a historian, author and a former politician.

He was a Member of the European Parliament between

2009 and 2019 and was a prominent campaigner

for Brexit.

Internal purges, cash woes, redundancies, and now self-isolation

for its leader. It’s been a disastrous week for the Labour Party,

illustrating exactly why the Tories are impregnable, no matter

how ‘useless’ Boris Johnson is.

If you think Boris Johnson has had a torrid few days, spare a

thought for poor Sir Keir Starmer. His week started when the

Labour Party’s National Executive Committee governing

body voted to ban a number of hard-Left organisations.

The controversial decision had the backing of Starmer. The

groups banned were Resist, Labour Against the Witchhunt,

the Labour In Exile Network, and Socialist Appeal, which

describes itself as a Marxist voice of Labour and youth.

It is estimated that around 1,000 members will be

removed from the party, as a result of

the decision.

The move was criticised by John McDonnell, the former

Shadow Chancellor, who said, “standard Blairite fare
to try show how strong a leader you are... by taking
on your own party, but bizarre to do it by expelling

people, most of whom have left already.”

McDonnell is of course right, as Labour’s membership has

plummeted under Starmer’s leadership, losing over 50,000

last year alone. Moreover, those who remain members are

not entirely sold on Starmer. A recent poll found that 67%

have a favourable opinion of their leader, but 31% have

an unfavourable opinion. This is far from a unified

party, never mind an effective opposition.

The decision to provoke a fight with the hard Left has been

criticised by the powerful Momentum organisation, which

played an integral role, during the leadership of Jeremy

Corbyn. Momentum complained that “at a time when

the Tory government is allowing the pandemic to rip

through the country, the Labour leadership has

once again turned inwards.”

It is evident that this battle for the heart and soul of the party

is far from over, especially as Momentum has influence

over a number of large local Labour associations.

Then came the news that the party is losing cash like water

passing through a sieve. David Evans, Labour’s General

Secretary, claims that the party’s finances have suffered

because of the fall in membership and the use of funds

to deal with anti-Semitism cases. He allegedly told
staff that the financial reserves are so low, that
they only cover one payroll. As a result, the
party is being forced to lay off a
quarter of its workers.

Labour’s idea, of reducing its staff through ‘voluntary

redundancies’ has also gone down like a lead balloon

with the trade unions, who are the party’s largest

donors. A co-authored letter from the Unite and

GMB trade unions, concluded with a scathing

attack on party management. It stated that

''we note that the lack of clarity, trust, and

openness with staff is breeding a climate

of anxiety and fear amongst staff ---

impacting on their mental health.''

'' It is simply not the way we would expect
an organisation like the Labour Party,
to undertake work of this nature.''

It is never a good idea to
upset your paymasters.

To top off this disastrous week for Starmer, he now has to

self-isolate for a fourth time, as one of his children tested

positive for Covid. Former Labour PM Harold Wilson once

said that “a week is a long time in politics” but, for poor

Sir Keir, it must have felt like an age, & Saturday surely

cannot come quickly enough. Indeed, the recent

surprise victory in Batley and Spen... must

already seem like a lifetime ago.

Now, before we go any further, I want to make it clear that I

am no fan of the Labour Party. I have had too many run-ins

with it over the years, particularly over Brexit. I do believe,

however, that the country requires a strong opposition. In

its absence, what we have in England is virtually a one-

party state -- where the Tories are allowed to emerge

from crises, relatively unscathed. Take, for example,

the Matt Hancock affair and the Dominic Cummings

revelations. In years gone by, the Labour Party

would have benefited from these squalid

incidents, yet, in its current state, it is

unable to make any headway.

Much of the mess Labour finds itself in must be laid at

Starmer’s door. In backing the NEC in its confrontation

with the hard Left, Starmer obviously wants to imitate

former leaders Neil Kinnock and Tony Blair, who both

benefited from taking on the militants. Indeed, in the

long term, the actions of the NEC are probably in the

interest of the party; but they are not in the interest

of the country, in the short term.

What the UK needs right now is an effective opposition

and Labour cannot be that if they are fighting each

other. You would - usually - have more chance of

seeing a flying pig, than have me agreeing with

Diane Abbott, but I have to admit that she was

right, when she said that Labour must start

“fighting the Tories” and “not each other.”

They owe it to the country,

and to voters of all stripes.

_________________________________

Labour Muslims ''infuriated'' by

insinuation that Keir Starmer’s

opposition to anti-Semitism

caused ‘haemorrhaging’

of their votes

June 21st, 11:32am (RT)

An anonymous Labour official has stirred Muslim anger

by implying the community is inherently anti-Semitic.

A loss of Muslim votes may cost the party its long-
held seat in the Batley and Spen by-election.

On Sunday, the Labour Muslim Network (LMN) sent a letter

to the party leadership -- decrying a comment made by an

unidentified Labour official to the Daily Mail. The source

said the party was “haemorrhaging votes among

Muslim voters, and the reason for that, is what

Keir has been doing on antisemitism.” Keir

Starmer, the official said, “challenged

Corbyn on it, and there's been a

backlash among certain

sections of the

community.”

LMN called the remark “patently vile, Islamophobic”
adding “this racism needs to be challenged urgently
& publicly, by the Labour leadership & the party as
a whole.” The sentiment was shared by several

Labour politicians, including Kim Johnson,

Zarah Sultana and Anneliese Dodds.

Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, responded by calling the

comments “completely unacceptable” and saying they

were “not condoned or sanctioned in any way by the

Party”. The identity of the “senior official” however,

was not immediately revealed.

The remarks were part of a story about Labour’s struggle

to hold on to its West-Yorkshire stronghold of Batley and

Spen, and how the late intervention of former Glasgow

MP – host of his own show at RT – George Galloway,

in the by-election campaign.. may give a win to the

Tories. If Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater loses,

the constituency is likely to have a Conservative

representing it, for the first time since 1997.

Leadbeater, the sister of slain MP Jo Cox, is on the receiving

end of growing discontent among Muslim Labour voters,

with what they see as Starmer taking them for granted.

“Keir took the time to condemn 2 idiots for being antisemitic

last month but he won’t condemn the Israeli government for

killing innocent people,” a 33-year-old Muslim man in

Batley and Spen, told the Guardian. “I’ve voted

Labour my whole life, but I won’t be blindly

giving them my vote any more.”

Starmer assumed his leadership position on the back of a

campaign against his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, who

was accused of condoning anti-Semitism. Ousted from

power, Corbyn was, later, effectively suspended from

party ranks in October last year for failing to accept

a report on the same issue. Corbynistas believe

anti-Semitism issues were blown out of

proportion, to stage a party coup.

Galloway, who like Corbyn has been championing various

Muslim causes for decades, is cherishing an opportunity

of leeching Muslim voters, from Starmer’s Labour. He is

also exploiting the dwindling support for another group

of traditional Labour supporters – the white working

class. They “despise” the party, which has been

pushing things like “LGBTQI agenda” and

“identity politics”, that are irrelevant to

those people, he explained to the

Daily Mail.

Galloway runs from the Workers Party of Britain and is polling

at 6% in the West Yorkshire constituency, behind 47% for

Tories and 41% for Labour. He hopes that on the ballot

day, on July 1st, Labour will finish third.

The backlash to the “Islamophobic” remarks is the latest

example of a growing rift between Labour and Muslim

voters. Last week, five local Muslim organizations in

Batley and Spen warned in an open letter, that the

party “has not been proud of our support.” In

particular, the letter said, the party has to

“resolve the issue of Islamophobia”

within its ranks -- and take a firm

stance: in support of Palestinian

rights, which would “go beyond

the usual political rhetoric.”

Like this story? Share it with a friend!

_______________________________

UK Labour Party's Ex-Head

Calls Current Leadership

'Weak' Over Poor

Election Results

May 16th, 11:12pm (Sputnik)

Former leader of the United Kingdom's main

opposition party, Jeremy Corbyn, slammed

the current Labour leadership as being

"weak" following the party's record
low election performance.

"The loss was enormous last week. And the loss

was also to third parties such as the Green

party --- of disillusioned Labour voters

because they felt, I believe, that the

opposition is not strong enough,

to win against the government.

Do I take responsibility for it?

No," Corbyn told the Calling

Peston political podcast.

He also noted that the loss had nothing to do with

the party's policies, since Labour proposed "a

set of popular policies in the last manifesto —

green industrial revolution, investment in
the economy, equality legislation,
national education services,
all of those things."

According to Corbyn, the party showed a stable

performance in elections during his tenure from

2015 to 2020, snatching an impressive win in

2017 with over 40% of the votes - the highest

since 1997. He stressed that some losses

were later expected over the Brexit issue

and after the introduction of the first-

past-the-post voting system.

Corbyn has been blamed by the media and the new

leadership, headed by Keir Starmer, for tarnishing

Labour's image, which ultimately led the party to

a disastrous loss of 300 house seats.

The UK held local elections in the first week of May,

during which Labour lost control of eight councils

and more than 300 seats. One of the councils the

party lost, County Durham, was the first one the

party ever ran - and had been under its control

for more than 100 years.

____________________________________

BREAKING: Starmer's

''approval'' rating

has fallen to

minus 48.

YouGov poll on whether Starmer

is doing well or badly:

Well: 17% (-9)

Badly: 65% (+15)

[Net rating: -48]

Worst-ever rating

for Starmer

*by far*.

Corbyn's lowst point ever, was minus 40
...and most Labour MPs rushed to stab
him in the back.

__________________

Labour’s humiliating defeat

signals its death & Keir

Starmer, not Jeremy
Corbyn, is the man
with its blood on
his hands

by Neil Clark

May 7th (RT)

Neil Clarkis a journalist, writer, broadcaster and
blogger. His award winning blog can be found at

www.neilclark66.blogspot.com. He tweets on
politics and world affairs @NeilClark66

The blame for the crushing loss in Thursday’s by-election,

in a northern ‘Red Wall’ seat Labour has held since 1974,

lies with Blairite ‘centrists’, who set out to destroy
Corbyn – and have ended up destroying the
party itself.

Hartlepool is a coastal town in N. Eastern England with

a fascinating history. Out on its headland, the Heugh

Battery Museum bills itself as the only World War I

battlefield in Great Britain. A nearby plaque marks

the spot... where the first shell from a leading

German battle cruiser struck at 8:10am on

December 16, 1914, and also records the

place where, during the bombardment,

the first soldier was killed on British

soil by enemy action in the war.

Close by, looking out over the North Sea, there’s a

Russian cannon, which was captured by British

forces at the Battle of Sevastopol during the

Crimean War in the 1850s, and sent up to

Hartlepool by ship from London.

Perhaps - after this Thursday - there needs to be

another historical plaque installed in Hartlepool.

One commemorating the death of the UK

Labour Party.

Labour’s defeat in Hartlepool wasn’t a ‘bad’ result,

it was utterly catastrophic. The party attained
just 28.7% of the vote, a full 23 points behind
the Tories, doing far worse, than even the
worst opinion poll had suggested.

Even before polling day, Labour ‘centrists’ were

getting their excuses in. Predictably, they’re

blaming Jeremy Corbyn, the man who

stopped being the party’s leader

more than a year ago.

It’ll take much longer to rid the party of his ‘toxic’ legacy,

the dominant neocon/Blairite narrative goes. The

people who supported a ‘chicken coup’ against

Corbyn -- after just nine months -- now tell us

Starmer, who’s been leader for 13 months,

and up against the worst UK government

of all time, needs more time. Or... to
quote a former MP, if Labour loses

Hartlepool, it’ll be a case of

‘Long Corbyn’.

What tommyrot.

Just four years ago - in June 2017 - Labour, under Corbyn,

not only held Hartlepool, but did so with its highest share

of the vote (52.5%) since 2001. But for the Corbyn-hating

‘moderates’, who, funnily enough, all seem to be strong

supporters of the far-from-moderate Iraq War, it’s as if

the 2017 general election never happened. In fact, the

way that election – which Corbyn came very close to

winning – has been airbrushed out of history reminds

one of the late Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize lecture in

2005, when he condemned US foreign policy crimes

...before saying: “It never happened. Nothing ever

happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t

happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest.”

The 2017 election is never referred to, because it goes

against the dominant narrative. Labour was supposed

to have been thrashed out of sight four years ago, but

to the horror of the neocon Establishment it wasn’t. In

fact, under the ‘unelectable’ Corbyn, Labour achieved

their biggest increase in the popular vote since 1945

(a whopping 9.6% up from 2015), and came to within

a whisker of a shock victory.

Enthused by his message of positive change, and by

popular policies such as bringing the railways back

into public ownership, millions of Labour voters,

who had stayed at home in previous elections,

came out to put their cross in the Labour box.

Of course, the Establishment set out with

renewed vigour --- to make sure it would

never happen again. Part of the reason

Labour did so well in 2017... and held
on to its Northern strongholds, was

because it had pledged to respect
the 2016 EU referendum result.

So an operation was mounted, with the Trilateral

Commission member, Sir Keir Starmer, playing

a key role, as Shadow Brexit Secretary, to get

Labour to change its policy --- and adopt an

electorally suicidal stance of supporting

a second referendum. It was electorally

suicidal, because 78% of Labour’s 45

target seats in England and Wales

voted Leave in 2016, many of

them quite strongly.

Not only that, but there was a ratcheting up of the

political weaponisation of anti-Semitism, which

again, was about ruining Corbyn’s chances.

To his own --- and his party’s --- detriment, Corbyn

didn’t fight back against the wreckers. He should

have done more to resist the change in policy on

Europe and should have sacked Starmer (in fact,

he should never have appointed him in the first

place). He should have pushed back harder,

much harder, against those smearing him.

With the mass membership on his side, he

should have gone on the front foot against

his Blairite enemies. But Corbyn did none

of those things.

Instead, having come so close to victory in 2017, he

led Labour to a heavy defeat in 2019 with most of

the damage being done in pro-Brexit Northern

‘Red Wall’ seats. But even in 2019, Corbyn

managed to hold on to Hartlepool... The

party’s share of the vote nationally, was

still higher than in 2010 and in 2015.. It
was a bad result, but not the absolute

disaster it was portrayed as.

Things have got a whole lot worse, since then. Starmer,

a man described as so wooden, birds try to nest in him,

inspires no one. His disapproval rating in April, rose to

50% in April, and was 44% among Labour voters. The

witch hunt against Corbyn, and his supporters,

cheered on by vindictive, elitist, anti-populist

Blairites who loathed the way party member
-ship had soared under Corbyn, has left

Labour short of activists to do the
hard work of election
campaigning.

The ‘Bitterites’ set out to politically assassinate Corbyn,

believing that once he had gone and all his supporters

had been purged, ‘normal service’ would be resumed;
but their internal sabotage from 2015-19, ended up
killing the party, too.

Labour is in a right mess, and although the Tories

don’t deserve to win for what they’ve done to the

country these past 13 months, ‘HM Opposition’

-- whose only ‘opposition’ to the government

this past year has been to berate Johnson

and co. for not locking us plebs down

earlier and harder – most certainly

don’t deserve to win either.

In fact, the best thing that could happen is that Labour

- as it’s currently constituted - is formally put out of its

misery. Destroyed - not by Corbyn - but by those who

simply couldn’t stomach the prospect of an anti-war

UK prime minister who would threaten the hawkish

foreign policy consensus.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!

_____________________________

UK Trade Union Leader Warns -

Keir Starmer Is Turning Labour

Into 'Party of Establishment'

by Jason Dunn

21.03.2021, 8:21pm GMT

Sir Keir Starmer has become the subject of criticism

by the left-wing of Labour -- as he is accused of

leading the party in a right-wing trajectory and

away from the socialist policies of his

predecessor.

A leading British trade unionist has accused Sir

Keir Starmer of trying to turn Labour into an

"establishment" party --- and risking his

chances at the next general election.

Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, said

that the opposition leader could be "ditched into

the dustbin of history" unless he changes his

current approach and reaffirms Labour's

dedication to radical politics.

Speaking to LBC radio on Sunday, Mr McCluskey, an ally

of the former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and large donor

to the party, criticised Sir Keir for missing "the

opportunities” of the ongoing coronavirus

pandemic.

“The truth of the matter is, at the moment, the direction

we are travelling - that he seems to be taking us down -

is to turn Labour into a party of the establishment",

he said.

McCluskey warned that if that were to happen "he will not

become prime minister in 2024, he will be ditched into the

dustbin of history".

“I am urging Keir to look at his pledges, to reject the siren

voices of the ghouls of New Labour and to stick to the

radical policies that will win back the Red Wall seats",

the Unite leader said.

Mr McCluskey highlighted Sir Keir's treatment of the left

such as the removal of the whip from Mr Corbyn last

year, as causing a rift between the leadership and

his largest donor.

He stressed that the leader had stood in his election

campaign on a left-wing programme, similar to

Labour's 2017 and 2019 manifesto, but claims

he has now dropped those promises, during

his leadership tenure.

These included commitments to free movement,

as well as opposing increasing corporation tax.

“At the moment nobody quite knows what Keir stands

for, nobody quite knows what Labour stands for",

Mr McCluskey told the outlet.

McCluskey predicted that Starmer could be the next

prime minister in 2024, "not an overall majority, but

a hung parliament - if he wins back the red seats

by arguing on the radical platform that he was

elected on".

“He was elected to make the moral case for socialism,

he was elected on ten pledges that people said were

Corbynist", he added.

His comments follow an acknowledgement by Sir

Keir that the Conservatives have seen a "vaccine

bounce" in opinion polling, as an explanation for

why Labour is losing ground to the Tories, in

recent voter intention surveys.

Sir Keir has received criticism by some Labour members

--- for being too ready to abstain or support government

motions, police spies, and Boris Johnson's Brexit deal,

and for not pushing for a convincing alternative to the

Conservatives handling of the pandemic.

Others have pointed to Sir Keir's purging of left-wing

members from the party such as the suspension of

Jeremy Corbyn and the removal of Rebecca Long-

Bailey from the shadow cabinet.

The Labour frontbench claims that these moves were

part of the party's commitment to deal with incidents

of antisemitism, which plagued his predecessor.

Electoral Chances?

While Starmer's 10 election pledges were largely

consistent with the values of the Corbyn leader-

ship, he has been criticised for moving the

party towards the centre.

While some of his supporters have hailed his ascension

to the top job as an improvement in terms of voter

approval ratings, Sir Keir has seen his support

among the public decline, as his positioning is

seen to drift away from Labour's radical

stances in recent years.

Corbyn was historically unpopular as a party leader,

seeing net satisfaction ratings of as low as -60 and

ultimately resigned after losing the 2019 election.

However, the 2017 general election saw the Labour Party

receive its biggest increase in the vote since 1945, and

secure a hung parliament.

It was also the only time any Labour Party platform -

which included the renationalisation of rail and an

end to austerity - had resulted in an increase in

both the overall vote and the number of seats

in parliament, since Tony Blair's landslide

victory in 1997.

_________________________________

Deputy Leader Says Labour Could

Suspend ‘Thousands’ of Members

over 'Antisemitism'

December 1st, 2020 (FNA)

The Labour Party will suspend “thousands and thousands” of

members unless they “get real” about antisemitism, Angela

Rayner warned, as an internal row rages over the

removal of the whip from Jeremy Corbyn.

Following Keir Starmer’s decision not to allow Corbyn to sit as a

Labour MP over his reaction to the Equality and Human Rights

Commission (EHRC) report, dozens of constituency parties

are reported to have passed motions in support of the

former leader – despite the party’s General Secretary

David Evans banning them from doing so.

_________________________________________

TORIES ARE STRIPPING & PRIVATIZING the NHS
and Taking Away OUR RIGHTS: with a never-
ending lockdown that Labour MPs support!

Neil Clark, journalist, writer and broadcaster:

''The sad and rather shocking truth, is that the

current UK Parliament could quite happily

keep us locked down indefinitely.

Remember, MPs get their £81K

annual salaries (plus perks)

paid in full, each month,

whatever happens.

And... there is no

general election

due until 2024.

''The only way the restrictions will end, is
if the public have had enough of them and

stop complying in large enough numbers.

Otherwise, what incentive is there for
the well-heeled, power-crazed, lock
down-addicted political class to
lift them, especially with the
next general election so
far away?''

________________________________

Wales makes Covid health pass

compulsory for all over-18s

attending large events

or nightclubs

October 11th, 10:33am (RT)

The Welsh NHS Covid pass comes into effect on Monday -

with over-18s required to show proof of vaccination or a

negative Covid test to enter large events and nightclubs

...in an effort to protect [Ed: What's left of] the health

service, over the winter.

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford stood by the decision

to proceed with the introduction of the Covid measure...

despite concerns from individuals within the

nightclub industry, that they are being

“singled out” by the government.

Speaking as the new scheme comes into effect, Drakeford

accepted that it could be “vulnerable to abuse,” with

some faking lateral flow test results, but said he

hopes citizens will abide by the rules to help

the nation recover from the pandemic.

To prevent potential abuses, Wales' government is looking

to pass a law that will make it illegal to fake a Covid test,

although Welsh politicians have questioned... how such

a law would be enforced, given that lateral flow tests

are self-certified.

Drakeford rejected the opposition from nightclubs saying

that there is a “cost issue”, as “nightclubs already have

to check people for their age.”

With anyone over 16 able to get fully vaccinated in Wales,

the scheme will require all over-18s to show they have

been double-jabbed, or have tested negative for the

virus in the previous 48 hours, before entering

nightclubs or larger gatherings.

Wales' Education Minister Jeremy Miles stated that the

country needs the Covid pass scheme to prevent the

health service from facing “significant pressure”

over the winter, when the UK is expecting to

battle the dual threat of the pandemic and

the annual flu season.

The scheme was backed by the Welsh parliament... known

as the Senedd, last Tuesday, passing it into law by a one-

vote majority, after a Conservative Party politician was

unable to participate, as they were attending the
Tory conference in Manchester.

_______________________________

Published without fanfare, the

proposals that show vaccine

passports ARE on the way

in the UK

October 1st, 8:03am (RT)

By Kit Klarenberg, an investigative journalist exploring

the role of intelligence services in shaping politics

and perceptions. Follow him on Twitter
@KitKlarenberg

After months of flip-flopping and contradictory statements,

the British government has finally come clean and

revealed the scenarios where Covid vaccine

passports could become a reality in the

months ahead.

Anyone by this point accustomed to the UK government’s

endless policy reversals and broken promises over the

course of the pandemic, will be entirely unsurprised
to learn that officials have at long last very quietly

revealed that “mandatory Covid certifications”

– a circumlocutory, Orwellian euphemism for

vaccine passports – are on the way.

It was only two-and-a-half weeks ago that Health Secretary

Sajid Javid stated unequivocally that vaccine passports

would not be necessary for attendees of crowded

establishments and events... as “we shouldn’t be

doing things for the sake of it.” Later that same

day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated

the minister’s declaration, stating he was

determined to end all “necessary but

intrusive measures” instituted

during the pandemic... due to

the UK’s “vaccine defences.”

This, in itself, represented a complete volte-face from just a few

days prior, when Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi suggested

that passports would be mandated at the end of September,

as they were the “best way” to keep the night-time industry’s

lights on. His proposals sparked significant outcry, for it

was only in May that UK citizens had been assured there

was “no chance” legislation facilitating passports’

implementation would be passed... and plans to

that effect had been permanently scrapped.

Under Zahawi’s draft scheme, Britons would have been

compelled to show proof of full vaccination, negative

PCR test result, or that they’d finished self-isolating

after testing positive, in order to gain entry to

nightclubs, bars and other popular gathering

spots. Nonetheless, it’s clear plans to go far

further have been on the drawing board for

some time. They’ve now been published in

an almost 5,300-word-long whitepaper,

obliquely titled.... ‘Proposal for

mandatory Covid certification

in a Plan B scenario’.

It outlines how the measure would be put in place in the event

‘Plan B’ is activated after Covid cases overwhelm the NHS, in

conjunction with social distancing directives and face

mask mandates in certain settings.

If adopted, “mandatory vaccine-only certification” would be

introduced for 18-year-olds and above, at all: nightclubs

and other venues open after 1am “with alcohol, music
and dancing”; indoor events with 500 or more

attendees “where those attendees are likely

to stand and mix to a significant degree”;

crowded settings, with 4,000 or more

attendees... “where those attendees

are likely to stand.. or move around

during the event,” such as outdoor

festivals, and any settings with

10,000 or more attendees,

“such as large sports

and music stadia.”

Negative test results, or proof of natural immunity after

having recently recovered from the virus --- won’t be

accepted. Whitehall reportedly “hopes that it would

not be necessary” to impose vaccine mandates on

other settings, but this “cannot be entirely ruled

out,” which hardly inspires confidence. Further-

more, Whitehall is specifically soliciting public

feedback on the plans, particularly in respect

of whether citizens feel the current list of

settings that will be made subject to
the mandate is “too narrow.”

In justifying the wide-ranging changes, the proposal notes

that vaccine mandates “could allow settings that have

experienced long periods of closure to remain open,”

which is “preferable to closing venues entirely or

reimposing capacity caps or social distancing.”

Moreover, it alleges that as vaccines “reduce

the likelihood of someone becoming infected,”

vaccine certification therefore reduces the

risk of onward transmission if an infected

person does enter a venue.

The specifics of the proposal were reportedly determined

“based chiefly on public health evidence,” and also

informed, by the government’s official review of

vaccine certificates published in July: it found

that the measure “could provide a means of

keeping events going... and businesses

operating if needed, over the autumn

and winter.”

Which sounds fair enough... until one considers that same

review ruled Whitehall “will not mandate the use of Covid-

status certification as a condition of entry for visitors to

any setting,” on the basis that the “burden” of such a

mandate would be “disproportionate” to any public

health benefit accrued.

This seismic policy shift is even more baffling considering

the withering contents of a parliamentary committee report

issued in June, which conspicuously attracted very little

mainstream media attention. Asserting firmly that “Covid

passports are not the answer” to effectively managing

the pandemic, the cross-party group of MPs were said

to be... “entirely unconvinced by the case for their

introduction,” and warned... they had the potential

to “cause great damage socially & economically.”

“As vaccine uptake statistics indicate, any covid certification

system will be a discriminator along the lines of race,

religion and age… It would be established at great

cost for rapidly diminishing returns,” committee

chair and Conservative MP William Wragg

commented. “Frankly... the government

needs to scrap ''any idea'' of introducing

covid passports. They are unnecessary

and there is no justification for them
in the science, and none in logic.”

The committee’s concerns are entirely understandable. After

all, a piece of paper or QR code noting that the bearer has

been double-vaccinated tells you nothing about whether

they’re infected, let alone whether they could

dangerously spread the virus. A study from

Imperial College. issued in August. found

currently available vaccines are around

50% effective in preventing infections.

The same month, Oxford University researchers
published a paper, that found the risk of an
individual spreading the virus, was

roughly the same, whether they
had been double-vaccinated

or not.

In countries such as France, the imposition of vaccine passports

serves the unambiguous purpose.. of coercing a reluctant

citizenry into receiving their jabs, by imposing impossibly

onerous restrictions on daily life for anyone who resists.

Such strongarming would potentially contravene the law

in the UK, given that under the Public Health Act 1984,

forced vaccinations are illegal – yet, 82.5% of the

country’s population aged 16 and over, have

electively received both injections. In fact,

excessive pressure on citizens to get

vaccinated could be dangerously

counterproductive.

A quantitative assessment conducted by the London School

of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.. found vaccine passports

would in fact... “lower inclination to accept a Covid-19
vaccine,” particularly.. “if passports were required for
domestic use rather than for facilitating international
travel,” --- and especially among “sociodemographic
groups that are less confident in Covid-19 vaccines.”
As these groups... “tend to cluster geographically in
large urban areas,” the assessment urged the
authorities to exercise “extreme caution”
in pursuing such an intervention.

Mainstream condemnation of ‘anti-vaxxers’ has steadily reached

fever-pitch over the past year, culminating on September 29 with

YouTube announcing that it will ban any & all “harmful vaccine

content” from its platform, including alleged “false claims”

about the inefficacy of vaccines in reducing disease

transmission.

However, not a single one of the politicians, journalists, pundits, or

government officials who have so aggressively hurled brickbats at

vaccine hesitant people and lockdown scepticssince the pandemic

began has apparently stopped to consider whether it is precisely

the hostile environment they advocate and seek to enforce in

respect of such individuals that may account for their dissent.

Such an interpretation is amply borne out by the London School of

Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s assessment – but one needn’t

take their word for it. In the UK, between 1840 and 1898,

Parliament passed a series of Acts regarding the

country’s vaccination policy. The second

instalment, in 1853, made vaccinations,

and resultant vaccination certificates,

for new-born children mandatory

--- with severe penalties for any

parents who failed to comply.

The Act was so viscerally hated, it has been compared to a

prophylactic, in that Britons were purportedly willing to

avoid sex altogether to avoid flouting its stringent rules

– a dedicated National Anti-Compulsory Vaccination

League also emerged, with objectors wilfully

getting themselves imprisoned in protest,

and hundreds of thousands taking to the

streets to voice their discontent.

So it was, that in 1896, a Royal Commission was formed,

to examine the issue: it ultimately recommended that all

coercive penalties related to vaccination be abolished,

with parents allowed to choose whether they

vaccinated their children, and whether or not

they sought a certificate proving it. This was

enshrined in law two years later, and within

a decade, the League had faded into

virtually total irrelevance.

Such history begs a very obvious and potentially

grave question – if vaccine certification failed so

miserably in Victorian times, why on Earth is it

back on the table now?

_____________________________________________

UK health minister says govt

will NOT introduce Covid

vaccine passports,

lockdowns over

Christmas unlikely

September 12th, 11:16am (RT)

UK Health Minister Sajid Javid announced on Sunday

that the government would not be introducing Covid

-19 passports after a review on the matter and that

it was not anticipating any more lockdowns.

During an appearance on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show,

Javid told host Nick Robinson that Brits would “get

Christmas” this year – unlike in 2020, when

families across the UK were told to stay

apart from each other over the holiday

season and celebrate virtually.

Javid declared he was “not anticipating any more lock-

downs” over the autumn and winter period.. claiming

he could not “see how we get to another lockdown.”

The minister added, however, that it “would be

irresponsible for any health minister around

the world to take everything off the table.”

Javid also announced on Sunday that the government

would be ditching its plan to introduce a domestic

Covid-19 vaccine passport... for the time being.

“We just shouldn’t be doing things for the sake of it or

because others are doing it,” Javid argued, noting

that “most people instinctively don’t like the idea”

of having to show documentation to do every-

day errands.

“What I can say is that we’ve looked at it properly, and

whilst we should keep it in reserve as a potential

option, I’m pleased to say that we will not be

going ahead with plans for vaccine

passports,” he said.

After Robinson pointed out that several ministers –

including the Covid-19 vaccine minister, Nadhim

Zahawi – had said just several days ago that

vaccine passports ''would be'' implemented

in the near future, and that it was the right

thing to do, Javid rejected the suggestion

that a U-turn had happened in response

to rebellious, anti-restriction

Conservative Party back-

bencher MPs.

“Many countries at the time they implemented it was

to try and boost their vaccination rates and you can

understand why they might have done that,” Javid

explained. “We’ve been very successful with our

vaccination rates so far.”

There are 43.89 million people in the UK fully vaccinated

against Covid-19, while 48 million... have received at

least one dose, according to government statistics.

According to The New York Times’ calculations, 66%

of the UK is fully vaccinated, making it the 17th

most vaccinated country, overall.

The above item is now ''under review''

___________________________________

Demonstrators Clash With Police

During Protest Against Teen

Vaccination in London

by Sofia Chegodaeva

September 4th, 11:24am (Sputnik)

The move comes as UK cabinet ministers are reported

to have been considering COVID-19 vaccinations for

everyone between the ages of 12 and 15 although

the Joint Committee on Vaccination and

Immunisation (JCVI)... has already

refused to endorse coronavirus

jabs for healthy teenagers.

A UK protest against COVID passports and the government's

plans to roll out coronavirus vaccination to children aged

between 12 and 15, turned violent, in London, on

Friday evening.

Activists came to the headquarters of the UK vaccine regulator

in Canary Wharf, east London, and tried to get inside the

building, but were prevented by the police. Some of

the protesters got into a scuffle with law-

enforcement officers.

The Metropolitan police shared a video of the clashes on Twitter.

One of the activists also shared a video of the scuffle, warning

the government to be prepared for further protests of this kind.

Her position, however, was not echoed by many... with people

wondering why standing up for your right should go this way.

Earlier this week, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and

Immunisation... refused to endorse coronavirus vaccines

for healthy children aged between 12 and 15. The JCVI

said that: "despite acknowledging health gains from

inoculating the entire age group were greater than

the risks, the margin of benefit is considered too

small to support universal vaccination of
healthy 12 to 15-year-olds at
this time”.

Meanwhile, daily newspaper The Guardian reported that UK

cabinet ministers could disregard the recommendations of

the JCVI and pursue mass COVID-19 vaccinations for all

12 to 15-year-olds.

________________________________________

‘Looks like thousands!’

Protesters clog London

...in march against

vaccine passports

August 28th, 4:29pm (RT)

Protesters have packed into central London... in a

demonstration against the government’s ongoing

plans to introduce so-called vaccine passports.

Though largely ignored by the media,

“thousands” of people reportedly

took part.

The protest march kicked off at Hyde Park on Saturday

afternoon and set off across Vauxhall Bridge and

towards Clapham Common. London’s Police
reported road blockages and bus delays
along the route and officers remained

in close proximity to the marchers,
at all times.

Video footage showed a dense crowd of people in

attendance. Some waved religious banners, some

held placards opposing vaccination full stop, and

others demanded the government drop its plans

to require patrons of certain venues to be

vaccinated against Covid-19.

No official crowd size estimate is available, but

protesters posting on social media claimed “it

looks like thousands” took part. As of later on

Saturday afternoon... no mainstream British

news outlets had reported on the protest.

Taking place simultaneously was a rally

by climate change group... Extinction

Rebellion, who have staged a week

of straight demonstrations in the

city, grabbing newspaper head

-lines every day.

The anti-vaccine passports rally was not a once-off

event either, and similar rallies have taken place

throughout the summer.

As the British government’s plan currently stands,

proof of vaccination will be ''required'' to enter

nightclubs and other venues: “where large

crowds gather” as of next month, with
the NHS’ Covid Pass mobile app.,
likely to be used as proof.

However, there is still some confusion as to how the

system will be implemented. Industry spokespeople

told the Guardian this week, that they have not

received 'any advice' from the government on

the system... and a leaked letter from Health

Secretary Sajid Javid’s office last weekend

stated that “no final policy decision has

yet been taken" on the issue.

Meanwhile, though nearly 80% of Britons have been

fully vaccinated against Covid-19... new cases are

still rising, with an average of more than 33,000

cases reported each day, over the last week,

per NHS data. By contrast, daily cases in

late April and early May, were below

2,000 each day.

_____________________________

Lawyers Warn:

‘No Jab, No Job’
Policies in UK
Set to Spark Deluge of
Employment Tribunals

August 2nd, 1:33pm (FNA)

Lawyers expect a wave of legal action against UK

companies over attempts to make sure staff are

double-vaccinated against COVID, amid

growing fears of draconian “no jab,
no job” policies in the workplace.

Trade unions have criticised the government for

encouraging the idea of mandatory vaccination

for office staff: after transport secretary Grant

Shapps, said it was a “good idea”... for

companies to insist staff are double-

jabbed, The Independent reported.

Tech giant Google, has said mandatory jabs for US employees

will later be rolled out to staff in 40 countries where it operates,

and Mr Shapps said he expected some British firms will soon

“require” full vaccination.

Employment lawyers told The Independent that British companies

had been in touch to explore their options on putting COVID

vaccination requirements in place.

“We’re definitely going to see a lot of employment tribunals on this,”

said Elissa Thursfield, head of employment lawyer and a director

at Gamlins Law – predicting a wave of vaccine-related

discrimination claims in the months ahead.

Lawyers and union chiefs warned that a blanket approach to

making jabs mandatory could breach the Equality Act by

discriminating against some groups, including those

with disabilities or certain religious beliefs.

“Having a blanket policy is almost always dangerous – it’s

fraught with legal difficulties,” said Thursfield, adding,

“For existing staff, if you don’t have a clause in your

contract that says you can receive mandatory

instructions on health, which is rare, that’s

potentially a breach of contract... as
well as the discrimination claims.”

She added, “If the government pushes any further on this,

in terms of encouraging employers, they are going to

start getting into hot water.”

Charlie Thompson, an employment partner at law firm

Stewarts, also predicted legal action against

companies that don’t consider their

vaccine policy carefully enough.

“If you’re not able to go back to your existing job, or
you’re denied a job, and the employer’s justification
[for vaccination] doesn’t stack up, then I can see

legal claims,” he said.

Responding to Shapps’ encouraging remarks about companies

asking staff to get the jab, Labour leader Keir Starmer said he

did not think “no jab no job” policies were wise.

“I don’t agree with that,” said Starmer.

“For day-to-day routines, access to the office, access to health

services or dentistry or even food – I don’t agree with vaccine

passports for day-to-day access,” said the Labour leader.

Downing Street has made clear the government has no plans to

bring legislation to make full-vaccination mandatory for entry

into offices.

Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea said the government

should not be encouraging any form of “coercion” when it comes

to employees getting the vaccine before returning to work.

“Only with widespread take-up can the virus be defeated,” she

said, adding, “Achieving this requires persuasion and

encouragement – not compulsion and coercion.

Forcing people can only lead to needless

confrontation at work and legal cases

that could drag on for years.”

Unite’s National Health and Safety Adviser Rob Miguel said COVID

vaccine compulsion would be a “bad” way for companies to

encourage a return to work, and is “embroiled with issues

such as equalities, human rights, privacy and

ethical breaches”.

Goldman Sachs raised alarm bells last month when it sent a memo

to UK staff saying the company “strongly encouraged” them to

report their COVID vaccination status before returning to the

office – before clarifying vaccination was not compulsory.

In the US, companies are beginning to be more severe in their

demands. Google and Facebook, along with Delta and United

airlines, have said full vaccination will be mandatory for staff.

The Independent understands leading UK companies are

examining how they can make sure staff are double-

jabbed, despite potential legal difficulties.

Some keen on getting offices fully-staffed say employees have

told them they are uncomfortable about returning to the office

until all their colleagues are vaccinated.

Others have said they would not try to enforce

any rules about the COVID vaccine.

Imran Hussain, director at Harmony Financial Services, said

it would be “ridiculous” to try to draw up a policy about

vaccination.

“The whole idea is highly undemocratic and draconian,” he said,

adding, “People should be allowed to make their own decisions

and if they wish to take the jab, that’s great.”

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), warned

against blanket mandatory policies on vaccination.

A spokesperson for the CBI said, “The bar for compulsory

vaccination is high, and there will be few industries
where this approach would be appropriate."

“However, in some sectors it could prove necessary.

Wherever possible, businesses will be approaching

questions like this trying to bring their staff with

them,” the spokesperson added.

_____________________________

Planning ahead? Firms land

Covid passport contracts

that could last until 2023

...even as UK govt hints
plan could be dropped

July 30th, 3:06pm (RT)

The British government has awarded potentially years-long

contracts to help develop a domestic vaccine passport, as

Downing Street simultaneously hints that the whole idea

could be abandoned... if enough people get the jab.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published

information earlier this week on two new contracts with

private tech firms hired to work on the country’s

“Covid-19 certification programme.”

US-based Entrust will receive close to £840,000 ($1.2 million)

for the development of the NHS health pass. The deal will

last until at least July next year but pricing for a two-year

contract is already detailed in official documents,

suggesting that the UK government may be

eyeing a long-term arrangement.

While the contract was made available to the public online,

information about specific services that Entrust will be

providing has been completely redacted, with several

pages of the document blacked out.

The US tech company was awarded £250,000 earlier this

year as part of its ongoing work on the health pass

program. The contract raised eyebrows, after it

was revealed that Entrust had openly boasted:

about how Covid-19 vaccine passports could

be retooled to create national IDs as part of

the “infrastructure of the new normal.”

The DHSC also signed a 2nd vaccine passport contract

this week, worth up to £873,000, with Cambridge,

Massachusetts IT firm, Akamai Technologies.

Like the agreement with Entrust, the one-

year deal is designed... so that it can be

seamlessly extended for an additional

12 months. The US firm pocketed

£50,000 in May, as part of its

involvement in the creation

of the digital vaccine ID.

Akamai, which specializes in cybersecurity
technologies, purchased online identity
management company, Janrain,
in 2019.

In total, the government has now spent nearly
£23.6 million ($32.9 million) on its Covid
certification programme,

iNews reported.

The new contracts coincide with the introduction of new

features on the NHS app', that will allow it to serve as a

digital vaccine certificate.

In a controversial reversal of its position on domestic

health IDs, the government revealed last week that,

starting from the end of September, proof of

vaccination will be required... in order to

enter nightclubs and attend events

involving large crowds.

With around 70% of adults in the country already vaccinated,

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab suggested on Thursday

that the threat of the vaccine passport may be enough to

“cajole” young people into getting the shot.

“Once we’ve done that, the wider questions of vaccine

certification become much less relevant and salient,”

Raab said, suggesting that the whole plan could be

dropped if vaccine uptake increases over the next

two months.

But the newly inked contracts seem to be sending mixed

messages about the government’s intentions for the

controversial health certificate. A spokesperson for

the health department insisted back in June that

the NHS app used to certify vaccination status

would not be used as a national ID system,

describing the scheme as a “simple and

secure means” to allow for

international travel.

____________________________________

100,000+ Britons sign petition to
outlaw discrimination against

unvaccinated as govt moves

forward with Covid

vaccine passports

July 20th, 11:32am (RT)

More than 100,000 people have called on the British

government to review its plans to bring in vaccine

passports and prevent discriminatory policies

against people who have refused to be part

of the national inoculation programme.

A petition which started in February has gathered pace

on Tuesday, with thousands adding their names to the

growing list of people, calling for the government

to do more to prevent legalised ‘discrimination’

against people who aren’t vaccinated against

Covid-19.

“The Government must specifically outlaw discrimination

based on vaccine status, this includes access to private

businesses, jobs and public life. No individual should

ever feel coerced into having a vaccine,” the

petition states.

Tens of thousands of people signed the petition on Tuesday

morning, following a day of unrest in the capital, in which,

hundreds of angry protesters clashed with police, having

called for the arrest of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Links to the petition have been widely shared across Twitter,

with English band Right Said Fred receiving more than

1,200 retweets on their call for people to sign.

Others vented their anger in other ways on Twitter, calling

once again, for the prime minister to be arrested. Many

went as far as comparing the Covid-19 restrictions to

Adolf Hitler’s Germany, with ‘Nazi’ trending on the

social media platform.

On Monday, people gathered outside the Palace of Westminster

to protest measures aimed at preventing the continued spread

of Covid-19 virus. While Monday, termed ‘Freedom Day’, saw

the last of the major restrictions lifted, the government has

laid out plans to mandate the use of vaccination

certificates at crowded venues in England.

Despite having one of the world’s highest vaccination rates

against Covid-19, many young people have elected not to

get jabbed. Under the government’s current plans,

unvaccinated individuals will be prohibited from

entering venues - such as nightclubs - from

September. Johnson’s government had,

previously, ruled out the idea of
making the entry to venues be
dependent on vaccination
status.

The government’s U-turn came just hours after nightclubs

were allowed to open for the first time in 16 months.
Amid the condemnation of Johnson’s plans, some
have suggested, that mandatory vaccination
passports will help provide peace of mind
to some Covid-wary clubbers and others

attending large gatherings.

______________________________

UK government document

quietly introduces vaccine

passports by the back door

and points to a third lock-

down this winter

July 13th, 2:53pm (RT)

By Kit Klarenberg, an investigative journalist exploring
the role of intelligence services in shaping politics &

perceptions. Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg

For all the government’s bluster about ‘irreversibly’ reopening

Britain after July 19, official documents paint a very different

picture, suggesting lockdowns could well return and Covid

passports may become the norm.

Sajid Javid’s elevation to UK Health Secretary ushered in a new

tone on the part of all government ministers in respect of

coronavirus. In a flash, the ambiguity and equivocation

that had typified official statements about lockdown

for so long vanished, and swaggering confidence

about a full and permanent reopening of the

country in the very near future.. became de

rigueur across every Whitehall department.

“We must learn to live with Covid,” Javid forcefully asserted on

June 28, the same day he assumed the post. This bullishness

hasn’t faltered since, despite a backlash from some sections

of the scientific community, and a not insignificant amount

of public support for certain restrictions enduring, perhaps

permanently. On July 12, he confirmed that the country

was pushing full steam ahead with its unlocking road

-map, with all businesses free to reopen and all

limitations on human contact over... in a

week’s time.

“We’ve all been yearning to get there, and we all want this to

be a one-way journey,” Javid told the House of Commons.

However, an official guide to “moving to step four of the roadmap”

– i.e. a full cessation of pandemic restrictions –quietly published

the previous Saturday– is far less strident and optimistic.

For one, it reveals that, in September, the government will “under

take a review to assess the country’s preparedness for autumn

and winter, which will consider whether to continue or

strengthen public and business guidance” in the lead

-up to December, “including on face coverings and

test, trace and isolate,” and with “remaining

regulations” also to be assessed.

In other words, it’s sensible to expect

another lockdown before 2021 is over.

There have of course been numerous insinuations over the past

six months that a true return to normality isn’t in the offing

anytime soon. For example, in explaining the postpone-

ment of “freedom day” in June, Prime Minister Boris

Johnson suggested the UK could be in for a “rough

winter for all sorts of reasons,” as there might be

“some new diseases, some new horror that we

simply haven’t budgeted or accounted for” on

the horizon as yet unforeseen.

Still, black-and-white confirmation that whatever freedom is

achieved on July 19th will be short-lived, and subject to

change further down the road, can only be considered

a perturbing disappointment. Even more disquieting,

though, is the section of the document relating to the

NHS COVID Pass, or “vaccine passport.” It states

Whitehall will be “encouraging and supporting

businesses and large events” to use the Pass

in “high-risk settings” to “help to limit the
risk of infection.”

“The government will work with organisations that operate large,

crowded settings --- where people are likely to be in close

proximity to others outside their household to encourage

the use of the NHS Covid Pass,” the passage continues.

“If sufficient measures are not taken to limit infection,

the government will consider mandating the NHS

Covid Pass in certain venues at a later date.”

It was only in May that citizens were told in no uncertain terms

there was “no chance” UK laws would be changed to mandate

the use of vaccine passports, with plans to that effect having

been unambiguously scrapped. This new protocol could,

however, make vaccine passports a fait accompli,

achieved via the backdoor, with culpability for the

volte face deposited squarely on the shoulders of

“businesses and large events” and their patrons

for not responsibly taking “sufficient measures”

to “limit infection.”

A similar carrot-and-stick approach was evident in an announce-

ment made by French President Emmanuel Macron the same day

Javid spoke of a “one-way journey.” He outlined how, as of

August, anyone over the age of 12 entering a café, cinema,

cultural centre, hospital, museum, restaurant, theatre,

theme park, or train in France will need to possess a

special Covid health pass. Perversely, Macron was

also keen to stress that “vaccination is not

immediately obligatory for everyone.”

Essentially, no one’s forcing you to get vaccinated – it’s just that

most spheres of daily life and activities, both indoor and out, will

be entirely off limits until you do. The Catch-22 situation the UK

government is subtly contriving in order to impose vaccines,

and vaccine passports, on the public seems particularly

insidious, given official data indicates that 87% of

England’s population aged 18 and over have

received their first vaccination, without the

clear threat of not being able to enjoy

drinks with friends in a pub, among

other mundane exploits, hanging

over them.

Moreover, the experience of Israel shows that vaccine certificates

quickly become redundant – in fact, it was just three months after

Tel Aviv made a “green pass” mandatory for accessing indoor

spaces that they were scrapped. After all, as the policy had

served as such a stirring incentive to get vaccinated... all

Israeli adults had received both doses by April, meaning

there was no need to inspect anyone’s pass.

One needn’t be a cynic to suggest that darker motives lie behind the

push for vaccine passports. The dire surveillance implications of

such a resource were starkly outlined in an April briefing note

from civil liberties organization Big Brother Watch, which

cautioned that COVID certificates “would become de

facto identity cards if they were introduced, and

would likely be retained and expanded in

purpose and data over time,” marking

“a profound impact on citizens’ right

to privacy in the modern context.”

“The UK has a proud history of opposition to identity systems and

personal checks. COVID-status certificates would turn the UK into

a two-tier, checkpoint society and mark a serious break from our

long-guarded democratic traditions, of which respect for privacy

is key,” Big Brother Watch warned. “The combination of apps

with sensitive health data and the subversion of everyday

businesses and events into checkpoints, could constitute

the biggest expansion of surveillance ever seen in

the UK.”

Evidently, for all Downing Street’s newfound cheerfulness and

libertarian rhetoric, the nine most terrifying words in the

English language very much remain, “I’m from the

Government, and I’m here to help.”

Think your friends would be interested?

Share this story!

__________________________________

UK govt gave contract to IT firm

that is ‘openly plotting’ to turn

vaccine passports into
a UK national ID card,
privacy group warns

June 21st, 3:48pm (RT)

The British government has been accused of aiming

to covertly implement a national ID programme,

after it partnered with a company that has

advocated turning vaccine passports

into a multi-purpose document.

Entrust, an IT firm that bills itself as a “global leader

in identities, payments, and data protection,” was

awarded a contract by the Dept of Health and
Social Care last month, to work on the UK’s

Covid-19 vaccine certificate system.

The company was given £250,000 ($346,000) to provide

cloud-computing services for the government’s Covid

-status certification scheme, iNews reported. The

contract is due to expire in March 2022, but the

government has the option of extending it for

an additional year.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock stated last month that

proof of vaccination will be “necessary”... for inter-

national travel, and in recent weeks, reports have

emerged, claiming that the UK government may

require the documents - of people attending

sporting events or other large gatherings.

Judging from Entrust’s own stance on the issue, it’s

possible that the government may have even more

ambitious plans for the digital certificate.

In a February blog post published on the company’s

website, Jann Markey, Entrust’s product marketing

director, argued that the advent of vaccine pass-
ports could be used as an opportunity to roll out
a national ID as part of “the infrastructure
of the new normal.”

“Consider a national ID strategy: With the infrastructure

and investment necessary to ensure a viable vaccine

passport, why not redeploy this effort into a national

citizen ID programme that can be used for multiple

purposes including the secure delivery of govern-

ment services, secure cross-border travel, and

documentation of vaccination,” the blog,
which explores vaccine passports in
the “post-pandemic world,” states.

Notably, the US-based company has already helped

Albania, Ghana, and Malaysia, deploy national ID

systems, iNews said.

Entrust’s partnership with the UK government has

already raised alarm among civil liberties

organisations and lawmakers.

Tory MP David Davis, a member of the anti-lockdown

Covid Recovery Group, demanded an explanation

from the government. He told iNews that it was

“extraordinary”... that the health department

could ink deals with such companies -- with-

out first getting permission from Parliament,

adding that it was particularly worrying that

a contract could be given to a firm “with this

sinister attitude to surveillance of citizens.”

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith

echoed similar displeasure, claiming that the

contract contradicts the “stated position of

the government” and should be nixed.

Big Brother Watch, a privacy and civil liberties group,

said the Entrust contract represents an attempt by

the government to issue ID cards “by the

back door.”

“The fact that the government has done a deal with Entrust,

a company which is openly plotting a route from vaccine

passports to digital identity cards, only underlines what

a serious threat Covid passes would be... to our civil

liberties and our privacy,” the organisation’s head

of research, Jake Hurfurt, warned.

A health department spokesperson insisted that the NHS

app used to certify vaccination status will not be used
as a national ID system, describing the scheme as a

“simple and secure means” to allow for inter-

national travel. Entrust declined to
comment, when contacted
by iNews.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!

______________________________

I’m not given to hyperbole, but

the coming week is one of the

most important in UK history

– if not the most important

by Neil Clark

June 10th, (RT)

Neil Clark is a journalist, writer, broadcaster and

blogger. His award winning blog can be found at

www.neilclark66.blogspot.com.

He tweets on politics and

world affairs @NeilClark66

I’m not given to hyperbole, but the coming week is

one of the most important in British history – if not

the most important

If Covid-19 ‘Freedom Day’ on June 21 is postponed,

as seems likely, and the public complies with it,

Britain will never return to normal. If curbs

can’t be lifted when deaths ‘with’ the

virus are near zero, when will they

ever be?

Don’t say you weren’t warned. Having predicted correctly,

before Christmas, the very day (January 4th) when Boris

Johnson would announce the next lockdown, on January

1st, 2021, I tweeted: ‘My inside source says that there'll

be no significant easing of restrictions until July at the

earliest. Govt mentioning Easter, as they need to take

backbenchers with them & want public compliance.’

The tweet received some abusive replies. “Drivel,” wrote

Pete Hayward. “What a load of rubbish,” said Phil Moor.

How ludicrous to say restrictions will still be in force

deep into 2021!

Now, however, here we are in June, and we are still living

under restrictions. And in terms of overseas travel, more

restrictions than we had last summer, before anyone

was vaccinated!

We can talk about the government moving the goalposts,

but in truth, they’ve uprooted the goalposts and taken

them off the pitch altogether. ‘Three weeks to flatten

the curve’ has proved to be the longest three weeks

in history. Currently, it’s 63 weeks and counting.

Back in January, we were told by Health Secretary Matt

Hancock that once the “most vulnerable” had been

vaccinated, our freedoms would be restored. But

then we had to vaccinate the over-50s. The

over-40s. The over-25s.

Now we’re told that we should delay the June 21st unlocking

until everyone has had their second jabs. After that – rest

assured – it’ll be ’until the children are vaccinated’. And

then ‘we need to wait until everyone has had their

booster jabs’.

The much-maligned ‘conspiracy theorists’ who predicted that

this thing was never meant to end and that every time

restrictions are supposed to end, they’ll find new

excuses to keep them (with the latest being

‘variants’), have been proven right. The

question everyone needs to be asking

is - If restrictions aren’t lifted in high

summer when deaths ‘with’ Covid-19

fall to close to zero, as they've done

this month, then when will they
ever be lifted?

I’m not given to hyperbole, but the coming week will,

I believe, be one of the most important – if not the

most important – in British history.

Because if Johnson does, as expected, announce a

postponement of ‘Freedom Day’ on Monday and

there is not a major (and I mean major) public

backlash, the delay will not just be for two

weeks or even a month. It will be forever.

If people – and businesses – simply ‘take it on the chin‘,

even if it means the destruction of their livelihoods and

everything they have worked and strived for, then the

government will take it as a green light to maintain a

level of restrictions throughout the summer, before

more lockdowns/increased restrictions are

imposed in the autumn, and once again

we’ll be told it's “to protect
the NHS”.

Public acquiescence will mean it’ll be full steam ahead

for the next phase of the ‘Great Reset’ – which means

an extension of domestic vaccine passports (already

being used for England’s home games in the Euros

football tournament), and a genuine, permanent

end to ‘free movement’ for the masses.

If you’re enraged by the sight of Johnson arriving in

Cornwall in a large jet for the G7 bash and tweeting

about how he was going to ‘Build Back Better’ and

‘greener’, while ordinary Brits are not allowed to

go abroad on holiday, well, get used to it,

because this is the ‘one rule for us, one

rule for you’ future that the Davos set

is planning for us.

That the UK political elites had no intention of voluntarily

restoring the basic freedoms we all enjoyed prior to

March 2020 – and have been pursuing a sinister

and very authoritarian anti-human globalist

agenda that had nothing to do with fighting

a virus – was clear to anyone who paid

close attention to what they

actually said.

In April 2020, Home Secretary Priti Patel said, “The fact

is we will not go back to how we were in early March

– there will be new norms that will inevitably come

off -- the way social distancing is dominating our

lives and has affected society. We would expect

''social distancing',' in every single work area,

whether it’s an office or a construction site,

and on public transport, going forward.”

A couple of weeks later she declared: “I think we all

recognise now: social distancing is here to stay”,

adding, “Our lives are going to be very different”.

On May 22nd, 2020, Scottish First Minister Nicola

Sturgeon tweeted about a path to ‘a new normal’,

not to normal.

This week, we learned the Scottish government is

planning to extend ‘emergency’ powers until at

least March 2022, with the option of a vote to

extend them still further, until the end of

September 2022.

We also have lockdown hardliner Susan Michie, a

member of both SAGE and ‘Independent SAGE’,

saying on television... that we’ll have to be

wearing masks and socially distanced

from our fellow human beings ‘forever’.

To add insult to injury, she laughed, when she said it, too.

In openly admitting there is no plan to return us to the

world of early March 2020, a world without anti-social

distancing, travel curbs & mandatory face coverings,

Patel, Sturgeon et al are only echoing the words of

World Economic Forum’s founder, Klaus Schwab,

co-author of the book ‘The Great Reset’, who
has made it very clear the ‘New Normal‘ is
meant to be permanent.

“The people assume, we are just going back to the good

old world which we had - and everything will be normal

again: how we are used to, in the ''old fashioned'' way.

This is, let’s say, fiction, it won't happen, the cut which

we have now, is much too strong, in order not to leave

traces,” he has said.

The chances of the Great Reset being derailed don’t look

good. Furlough – always a very good guide to what the

government has planned – has been extended until the

end of September. With plans to vaccinate school-

children, it’s worth remembering that the Covid-19

vaccines only have emergency approval, and if

the ‘emergency’ is declared ‘ended’, what

happens then?

However, all is not yet lost.

Opposition to restrictions is growing by the day – and many

people who have up to now accepted lockdowns are saying

“enough is enough”. Andrew Lloyd Webber, the impresario,

has announced he will open his London theatres, without

social distancing on June 21st, come “hell or high water”

and said he is prepared to be arrested. There are also

reports that the nightclub sector may open its doors

on June 21st too --- regardless of what Johnson

announces on Monday. Such defiance is what

we need to see a lot more of – providing that

the full reopening does not involve the use

of vaccine passports.

Freedom in Britain hasn’t been lost for good just yet,

but, make no mistake, it is in terrible danger. The

next seven days will prove absolutely crucial.

If you like this story, share it with a friend!

__________________________________

More than half of the people living in
democracies believe their freedoms

have been overly restricted during
the Covid-19 pandemic

May 5th, 8:30am (RT)

A survey has shown that 53% of citizens living

in democracies feel their freedoms are being

infringed upon by their government’s

response to Covid-19, and the

dissatisfaction has grown

since last year.

The study, conducted by the Alliance of Democracies

Foundation & brand tracking firm Latana, published

Wednesday, claimed that in democratic countries,

citizens have become less satisfied by their

government’s response to the pandemic,

over the course of the past year.

Polling over 53,000 individuals in 53 democracies,

the survey shows that while 70% of people were

satisfied with their government’s response in

spring 2020, satisfaction had fallen to 51%

in spring 2021.

Concern that governments are doing too much to

limit personal freedoms has increased too, with

53% saying their freedoms had been overly

restricted in spring 2021, versus 45%
in spring 2020.

“We now need to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic,

by delivering more democracy & freedom to people

who want to see their country become more

democratic,” said Anders Fogh Rasmussen,

Chair of the Alliance of Democracies

Foundation.

The survey, which also looks at other issues relevant

to many democratic nations, suggests that people

believe economic inequality to be the biggest

threat to democracy. Foreign interference

was seen as a lesser threat, with nearly

half concerned by the impact of US

interference on their democracy.

If you like this story, share it with a friend!

_________________________________

UK govt tenders suggest London

could secretly be preparing
for lockdowns to last
until at least 2022

by Kit Klarenberg

April 27th, 10:20pm (RT)

Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist

exploring the role of intelligence services

in shaping politics and perceptions.

Follow on Twitter @KitKlarenberg

UK citizens are prepared for a “great British summer”

due to the progress of the UK’s vaccination program.

However, quietly-published government contracts

reveal the promised roadmap out of lockdown

could, in fact, be a red herring.

On April 26th, the UK government published a tender

in search of 60 new “covid marshals” in the district

of Hertfordshire. The contract, offered to “public

security, law and order [and] compulsory social

security services” providers, is set to run from

July 2021-January 2022, costing £3 million.

Marshals were introduced in October 2020 to help

businesses manage queues, to ensure adherence

with social distancing measures, remind people

to wear face coverings, where necessary, and

regularly clean frequently-touched surfaces.

As Britain’s BBC state broadcaster has acknowledged,

though, they don’t actually have any legal mandate

to enforce rules. Officials merely “hoped” they’d

make life at least slightly easier for those

authorities – such as police – actually

invested with such powers.

According to the new tender, these individuals are

expected – using “an intelligence led approach”

– to “provide practical support, to aid and

encourage compliance,” help “introduce

measures to aid public and business

awareness and understanding of

regulations and guidance,” and

disseminate Covid-19 guidance,

“including.... where additional

local restrictions are in place.”

While the job description sounds like something to

expect in the Covid-era, the timing may raise quite

a few eyebrows. According to Whitehall’s official

roadmap, due to the “success” of London’s

national vaccination program, “no earlier

than June 21st, the government hopes
to be in a position to remove all legal

limits on social contact.”

In March, Health Secretary Matt Hancock was reportedly

“more optimistic than ever” of a “great British summer”

imminently impending. Not long after, Transport Sec.,

Grant Shapps, said, with much fanfare, that: “for the

first time, people can start to 'think about' visiting

loved ones abroad, or perhaps a summer holiday.”

Where Britons could head to, what encumbrances on

their liberty they would face upon returning, and how

much restrictions – such as PCR tests – would add

to their trip bill, was unstated.

That a “great British summer” wasn’t on the cards,

contrary to official pronouncements, was in any

event, hinted in mid-April, when the Association

of Independent Festivals – which represents

approximately 40 percent of the country’s

festival calendar – revealed over 90% of

its members were 'unable' to convene

events in 2021 without state-backed

insurance, which remains

unforthcoming.

However, a document stating that Covid marshals

will be required to... “encourage compliance”,

among members of the public until the start

of next year ,at least, appears to be the 1st

black-and-white confirmation, coming

directly from the UK government.

The tender strongly implies, what ministers have, so

far, been unwilling to concede: the global pandemic

isn’t anywhere near over yet, resultant lockdowns

are likely, and citizens’ lives will continue to be

adversely affected far beyond the

foreseeable future.

An even longer period of uncertainty is even more

heavily insinuated, by a separate tender for a

“COVID Public Information Campaign” in

Northern Ireland, which calls for “an
advertising contractor, to build on
and continue to deliver, a
multimedia advertising
campaign on

COVID-19.”

Published not long after Hancock’s munificent prophecy,

the contract is set to run for two years from April 2021,

and to cost £2 million.

Residents of the UK should, by this point, be thoroughly

''accustomed'' to optimistic ministerial forecasts in

respect of Covid, leading only to disappointment.

When the country first entered lockdown in

March 2020, Johnson pledged it would last

just three weeks.

That period of confinement eventually ended four months

later, and the Prime Minister unveiled plans to return the

country to “normal” by Christmas. A 4-week lockdown

was “temporarily” reimposed in November, rules were

relaxed for Yuletide, then partially reimposed, before

a full lockdown was, again, applied in January.

Johnson has since alleged that lockdowns, not vaccines,

are the key driving force behind the country’s much-