Videos of j’ ne regrette rien song

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Edith Piaf – Non, je ne regrette rien – lyrics – paroles

Videos of video family dogg singing way of life

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Man sues police for £1m after wrongful computer entry leads to five-year travel ‘ban’

Money in Misery May 31st 2021

EU Commission calls on UK to ditch ideology over Northern Ireland protocol May 30th 2021

Aubrey Allegretti Political Correspondent

A senior European Commission figure has defended the Northern Ireland protocol, calling on the UK government to ditch ideology in favour of pragmatism in order to transform problems arising from the Brexit deal.

Maroš Šefčovič said he was looking at “solutions” to iron out disruption to businesses caused by the protocol, a key part of the Brexit agreement designed to protect the bloc’s single market at its frontier with the UK on the island of Ireland, without a return to a hard border.

It means Northern Ireland has in effect stayed within the EU’s single market for goods, and a customs border was enforced on goods crossing the Irish sea. The resulting checks at the ports of Belfast and Larne have angered unionists and loyalists, who feel the region is being separated from the rest of the UK, and this anger has escalated into threats, violence and rioting.

Edwin Poots, who earlier this month succeeded Arlene Foster as the leader of the Democratic Unionist party, claimed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday that the EU Commission “don’t seem to care for the peace process in Northern Ireland and that really needs to change”.

The DUP is calling for the protocol to be scrapped, and Poots told Marr the checks were “doing demonstrable harm to every individual in Northern Ireland” and “having a devastating impact”, agreeing the violence could get worse as summer and the perennially tense marching season approaches.

Šefčovič, who is in charge from Brussels’ side of leading talks with the UK’s Michael Gove and David Frost to adapt the protocol, later defended the arrangement, saying it presented “opportunity” and would take care of daily problems in Northern Ireland.

He said he was investigating how to address issues arising from the protocol, but insisted it would be wrong to scrap it completely.

In response to Poots’ accusation that Brussels was treating Northern Ireland as a “plaything”, Šefčovič said there was “plenty of opportunity” to transform the protocol into “something positive, good for the future which would guarantee the peace, stability and prosperity for all”.

He promised to take soundings from the DUP and other political parties in Northern Ireland before his next meeting with Frost in London, expected to take place in several weeks.

Recalling his talks with Gove last December, when the post-Brexit trade deal was signed, Šefčovič said he had offered Swiss-style transition agreements on matters such as veterinary issues, which would prevent someone with guide dogs needing a certificate proving they were free of rabies to take the animals from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

He added he was ready to offer solutions to solve current problems, but added the UK “just need to get over, I would say, ideology into pragmatism and real politics and go for this type of veterinary agreement, which could be done just like this within a few weeks”.

‘Alcohol is too cheap and too often ends up in hands of children’: Calls for minimum unit pricing in England May 29^th 2021 Charlie Duffield

Campaigners have called for a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in England, following research which showed it has worked on reducing consumption in some of the heaviest-drinking households across Scotland and Wales.

© Provided by The i Campaigners have called for a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in England after research showed it has worked on reducing consumption in some of the heaviest-drinking households in Scotland and Wales (Photo: Ian West/PA)

In 2018, a 50p per unit price was introduced in Scotland, and an in-depth shopping survey has found the policy has had a lasting impact two years on.

Similarly, a minimum unit price in Wales, introduced around the start of lockdown last year, has led to positive change, according to the study which surveyed 35,000 British households.

Research by Newcastle University and published in The Lancet Public Health showed the greatest reductions overall were seen in the purchase of ciders and spirits.

The impact was mostly seen in homes that bought the most alcohol – with the exception of high purchasing, very lowest income households, who did not change their habits despite the increase.

The research came amid fears about increased alcohol consumption across the UK during lockdown.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “Westminster has said time and time again that it is waiting for evidence from Scotland and Wales on minimum unit pricing – meanwhile, 80 people a day are dying from an alcohol-related cause.

“The evidence is here – it’s time for the Government to introduce minimum unit pricing in England in order to save lives, cut crime and reduce pressure on our NHS and emergency services.”

Joanne Good, whose daughter Megan died in her sleep aged 16 after drinking strong white cider at a party, said: “Alcohol is too cheap and far too often ends up in the hands of children.

“I fully support any measure that increases the price of cheap alcohol and helps the young and vulnerable.

“I know the impact cheap, strong alcohol can have on people’s lives, because it has devastated ours.”

The mother from North Tyneside said: “It’s clear that minimum unit price is having a positive impact in Scotland and Wales.

“We really need it here too, now more than ever, after a record year of alcohol deaths and worrying numbers of people drinking more since the pandemic.

“MUP is targeted at the pocket money-priced alcohol which causes the most harm and won’t affect the price of alcohol in a pub.”

Professor Peter Anderson from Newcastle University, who led the study, said: “Our previous work suggested that the introduction of an MUP in Scotland during May 2018 was associated with an immediate reduction in the amount of alcohol that households purchased from shops or supermarkets.

“This latest analysis shows that the policy has continued to make an impact, with data showing a sustained drop in overall units of alcohol bought by some of the highest-consuming households, two years on.

“We can now see that the introduction of an MUP in Wales at the beginning of March 2020 has had a similar impact to the one we saw in Scotland in 2018.

“It will be interesting to see if this impact is sustained in Wales in the medium term, as it has been in Scotland.”

Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said the MUP should increase to 65p, adding: “This is hugely encouraging research from Newcastle University.

“Not only is MUP continuing to have the intended effect in reducing overall alcohol consumption in Scotland, it is those that tended to buy the most alcohol who are most likely to reduce the amount they purchase.”

A Government spokesperson said: “There are no plans to introduce minimum unit price in England at this time.”

“We are committed to systematically addressing the causes of preventable deaths and ill health, including the harmful consumption of alcohol, and this year we have outlined details of the new Office for Health Promotion which will spearhead these efforts.”

Comment When I stopped off in Glasgow , a few years ago , trucking back from Aberdeen, I discovered a very depressing world where the drink of choice was Iron Brew mixed with hair lacquer.

These smug patronising people have high salaries, and in my experience of drinking in the House of Commons Bar , subsidised alcohol. Better they consider the terrible problems they create along with those they refuse to solve.

The least obvious is that due to massive BAME & migrant covid demand, the NHS hs been crumbling for years. It’s whole structure with top ranking fat cats makes it even less fit for purpose. So they want to weed out those driven to drink by a vile system that victimises and scapegoats native working class men.

Alcohol is an escape from miserable lives. Minimum units prices won’t solve the problems of multi cultural Britain , which get worse every day. Pathetic worm like experts , like the State Psychiatrists with their DSM ,sex changes and piles of pills will solve nothing. If more expensive alcohol is the solution, make our elite pay £20.000 a bottle for Moet Champagne, commensurate with the kind of kick backs and salaries that the likes of dreadful David Cameron are used to. The minimum unit price is a tax and it should be what we trained economists and old tax men, call progressive.

As for Scotland , God save them from the Sturgeon & SNP. They should be an example to any honest fair minded person. They only exist because Labour and Tory are even more appalling.  Robert Cook

Inquest into London Bridge attack deaths finds police and MI5 failings May 28th 2021

Matthew Weaver Sterling on track for fourth week of gains despite dip against US dollar Forth One’s Boogie in the Morning wins award at ‘Oscars for UK radio’ the…

Failures by MI5, the police and the probation service all contributed to deaths in a terrorist attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in London, an inquest has concluded.

Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were unlawfully killed in the attack at a prisoner education event at the hall in November 2019, the inquest jury at the Guildhall in London found.

The jury also concluded that “missed opportunities” in the way the attacker, Usman Khan, was investigated by the security services and the police in the run-up to the incident probably contributed to the deaths of the victims.

The jury agreed there was a failure in the sharing of information and guidance by those responsible for monitoring and investigating Khan.

Explaining this conclusion the jury noted: “Missed opportunities for those with expertise and experience to give guidance.”

It also referred to “unacceptable management and lack of accountability” by those monitoring Khan in the community.

The seven-week inquest heard that Khan was under priority investigation by MI5 after he was released on licence in December 2018. He had served eight years in high-security prison for trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

There was intelligence in late 2018 to suggest that he intended to “return to his old ways” and to commit an attack after release.

This intelligence was passed to special branch police but it was not shared with those responsible for managing Khan in the community, including his probation officer Ken Skelton and Prevent officers at Staffordshire police.

Khan’s risk to the public was discussed at the regular multi-agency public protection agency arrangement (Mappa) meetings, some of which were attended by MI5. Khan’s invitation to the Fishmongers’ Hall event was raised at the meetings, but there was no record of any discussion about it, and none of the agencies involved raised any objections to his attendance.

Khan was allowed to attend the event unaccompanied, despite signs he was becoming increasingly isolated and frustrated at failing to find a job, the inquest heard.

The jury found that failings and omissions in way Khan was managed in the community was also a contributory factor in the deaths of Merritt and Jones.

Explaining this conclusion it said: “Serious deficiencies in the management of Khan by Mappa, insufficient experience and training.

And the jury concluded deficiencies in the security arrangements at the event, which was organised by Learning Together, a prisoner education organisation run by Cambridge University, also contributed to their deaths. The inquest heard that Khan was regarded as “poster boy” for the Learning Together programme and recorded a promotional video at an earlier event.

The jury said the authorities had a “blind spot to Khan’s unique risks due to ‘poster boy’ image and lack of psychological assessment posts released from prison”.

On the organisation and security of the Fishmongers’ Hall event, the jury said: “Lack of communication and accountability, inadequate consideration of key guidance between parties. Serious deficiencies in the management of Khan by Mappa and the failure to complete event-specific risk assessments by any party.”

The jury offered its “heartfelt condolences to the families of Saskia and Jack”.

In a statement read to the inquest a spokeswoman for the jury said: “We want to convey to families how seriously we have taken our collective responsibility, how important this is to us, how much your children matter.”

She also paid tribute to people who attended the event, including former and serving prisoners, who fought off Khan during the attack.

She said: “We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank the astonishing individuals who put themselves in real danger to help, and our incredible emergency services for their response both that day and every day, once again to the families, we are so incredibly sorry. The world lost two bright stars that dreadful day.”

The coroner, Judge Mark Lucraft, will now consider setting out further lessons from the case in a prevention of future deaths report in the coming months. Such a report would make recommendations aimed at improving public safety and is likely to be critical of the security services and probation.

On Friday Lucraft opened a separate inquest into Khan’s death.

Comment the British Police have other priorities , namely their own self interest and MI5 have their hands tied, with cowardly corrupt police getting in their way. There is also the matter of extreme political sensitivities in this area.

Robert Cook

With this logic , how can it possibly end ? Well at least they seem to have abolished flu and pneumonia. May 27th 2021

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the variant is spreading and the latest estimates show it makes up more than half – and possibly as many as three quarters – of all new COVID cases.

The B.1.617.2 variant of concern, which is believed to be more transmissible than the Kent variant which became dominant in the country after Christmas, has resulted in surge testing and vaccinations in numerous areas.

Public Health England (PHE) data shows that cases of the variant have risen by 3,535 to 6,959 since last week.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, speaking at a Downing Street news conference, said: “The variant first identified in India, so-called B.1.617.2, is still spreading.

“And the latest estimates are that more than half and potentially as many as three quarters of all new cases are now of this variant.

“As we set out our road map, we always expected cases to rise. We must remain vigilant.”

The most affected areas continue to be Bolton, Bedford and Blackburn with Darwen, which have seen 1,354, 366 and 361 confirmed cases, respectively.

The vast majority of people infected with the Indian variant are unvaccinated, according to the latest PHE data.

Of 5,599 cases of the variant since 1 February 2021, 3,367 hadn’t had a single dose. Just 177 of the cases were in people who were fully vaccinated with both doses.

Unvaccinated individuals accounted for 29 of 43 hospital admissions. Just one was fully vaccinated.

And 8 of the 12 deaths were in unvaccinated people.

Earlier, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the link between COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths was being “severed” but it was too early to say whether the 21 June lifting of social restrictions would go ahead.

Mr Hancock told MPs Wednesday’s figure of 3,180 new cases of coronavirus may have been “the highest since 12 April” but vaccines were working.

That figure has since been surpassed, with the UK today reporting 10 new deaths a further 3,542 cases of the disease and 10 new deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test.

Overall, case rates have been surging since the start of the month, but they’ve stalled at around 450 cases per 100,000 for the last 3 days.

On Wednesday, former senior scientific adviser to the government Neil Ferguson said it could be another“two to three weeks” before it’s clear whether the final step in lifting lockdown can safely go ahead.

The day before, Sky News analysis found that 121 local authority areas in England had seen a rise in growth rates for the Indian coronavirus variant of concern.

The rise in cases of the variant has led to travel restrictions being imposed on Britons wanting to go abroad, with France introducing mandatory quarantine for people arriving from the UK and other countries imposing other measures.

A surge in cases in some areas led to confusion among eight local authorities which, over the weekend, found government guidance had been issued advising against travel across their boundaries.

The uncertainty created by the extra guidance – which many of the authorities said they were not aware of – forced the government to change its advice for residents, telling them to minimise travel in and out of affected areas.

An award-winning BBC radio presenter died in hospital after suffering blood clots after she received the AstraZeneca vaccine, her family have revealed.

Lisa Shaw, who worked for BBC Newcastle, developed ‘severe’ headaches a week after having the jab and fell seriously ill a few days later, relatives said in a statement.

Ms Shaw, 44, died at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, on Friday afternoon having been treated in intensive care for blood clots and bleeding. 

A fact-of-death certificate lists the vaccine as one of the possible factors, but document does not determine a cause of death. It is expected that will only be released following an inquest into her death.

The presenter was not known to have any underlying health problems and her death came as a devastating shock to family and colleagues. 

An award-winning BBC radio presenter died in hospital after suffering blood clots after she received the AstraZeneca vaccine, her family have revealed.

Lisa Shaw, who worked for BBC Newcastle, developed ‘severe’ headaches a week after having the jab and fell seriously ill a few days later, relatives said in a statement.

Ms Shaw, 44, died at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, on Friday afternoon having been treated in intensive care for blood clots and bleeding. 

A fact-of-death certificate lists the vaccine as one of the possible factors, but document does not determine a cause of death. It is expected that will only be released following an inquest into her death.

The presenter was not known to have any underlying health problems and her death came as a devastating shock to family and colleagues. 

More than 330 cases of a rare clotting disorder have been spotted among 24.2million recipients of the jab — or around one in every 75,000 people. Fifty-eight patients have died. 

More than 330 cases of a rare clotting disorder have been spotted among 24.2million recipients of the jab — or around one in every 75,000 people. Fifty-eight patients have died. 

Super Hancock Busy Saving Lives

( sic ). May 26th 221

Mr Hancock was repeatedly attacked by the prime minister’s former adviser during a seven-hour-long committee hearing.

Mr Cummings said he believed the health secretary should have been sacked repeatedly, for “at least 15-20 things including lying to everybody on multiple occasions in meeting after meeting in the Cabinet room and publicly”.

He accused Mr Hancock of failing to protect people in care homes after saying he had a plan.

And Mr Cummings went on to say: “I certainly think Matt Hancock used Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance as shields for himself.”

During his evidence, he said he had told the prime minister: “If we don’t fire the secretary of state… we are going to kill people and it’s going to be a catastrophe.”

Earlier this evening a spokesperson for Mr Hancock said he “has worked incredibly hard in unprecedented circumstances to protect the NHS and save lives”.

The spokesperson added: “We absolutely reject Mr Cummings’ claims about the health secretary.”

Comment Handcock is a prima donna.

France to impose Covid quarantine on visitors from UK – May 26th 2021

Jon Henley in Paris

France will impose a compulsory quarantine on travellers arriving from the UK amid mounting concern over the rapid spread of the coronavirus variant first found in India, a government spokesman has said.

Gabriel Attal told reporters after a weekly ministerial meeting on Wednesday that the government would announce “in the coming hours” exactly when the decision, which was widely expected, would come into effect.

France currently requires travellers from 16 countries including Brazil, India, Argentina and Turkey, to undergo an obligatory 10 days of self-isolation either at home or at a nominated, approved address, with the right to go out only two hours a day and a fine of €1,500 in the event of non-compliance.

Attal noted that Germany had already imposed strict controls on visitors from Britain and said France was taking “similar measures”. It is not yet clear who will be affected, although transport industry workers such as truck drivers are likely to be exempt.

Germany banned all travellers from Britain from entering its territory from midnight on 23 May after the country’s national public health institute designated the UK as a “virus variant area of concern”.

German citizens and residents and their family members are exempt from the ban, as are those travelling for urgent humanitarian reasons, but everyone arriving from the UK must quarantine for two weeks even if have a negative PCR test.

The moves by France and Germany follow Spain’s decision last week to end all restrictions on British visitors from 24 May, with the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, saying the country would be “extremely delighted” to receive British tourists.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday the highly transmissible B.1.617 variant first identified in India, which experts have said could replace the B.1.1.7 strain first seen in the UK as Europe’s dominant variant, had been identified in 53 countries.

About 80 cases of the variant have been detected in 38 clusters since its first appearance in France on 11 May, most – but not all – related to people who had travelled to India, according to the most recent report by the public health authority.

France has already suspended direct flights from India and requires all travellers who have recently spent time in the country to self-isolate for 10 days and provide proof of the address where they will be staying, with officials carrying out spot checks.

France, Germany and Spain are on the British government’s amber list, meaning travellers arriving in England from those countries must quarantine at home for 10 days and take a pre-departure PCR test and two post-arrival tests.

Comment For reasons best known to itself , Britain’s government , fronted by a very shifty looking puppet Boris Johnson ( B.J ) , has gone out of it way to fiddle the Covid statistics to ensure panic by making people think they could all die like flies .

It has been important to keep attention off of BAME communities with attendant life styles and the doors open to India. Against this background , it seems that no person has had , let alone died , of flu or pneumonia.

The PCR tests have been deliberately repeated and expanded into surge testing. If I were a European leader I would quarantine the U.K for all sorts of reaons including this one. The population behave like sheep and are being sent to market.

Britain actually expects Europe to follow them with an endless lockdown rather than get to the truth of this absurd and appalling situation. Britain’s elite leaad the world in virtue signalling and are helping to damage the U.S -which is why the BBC backed Biden in a very weird election.. Robert Cook.

Hillsborough Tragedy – Another Dead End May 26th 2021

The trial of two retired police officers and a former solicitor accused of perverting the course of justice following the Hillsborough disaster has collapsed after the judge ruled there was no case to answer.

Former chief superintendent Donald Denton, 83, retired detective chief inspector Alan Foster, 74, and Peter Metcalf, 71, who was solicitor for the South Yorkshire force, were accused of amending police officer’s statements in the wake of the disaster in which 96 Liverpool supporters died. in 1989.

It was alleged that they had altered the statements in order to minimise the blame on the South Yorkshire force as part of a ‘black ops’ exercise in the wake of the tragedy.

But after four weeks of evidence, lawyers for the three applied to have the case against them dismissed.

In a ruling handed down at the Nightingale court at the Lowry theatre in Salford on Wednesday, judge Mr Justice William Davis said the amended statements were intended for a public inquiry into safety at sports grounds led by Lord Justice Taylor, but that was not a course of public justice.

He concluded there was no case fit for consideration by the jury based on any of the six counts on the indictment.

Directing the jury to find the men not guilty, the judge said there was no case they could properly consider for the defendants because the statements had been prepared for a public inquiry rather than a criminal case.

He said: “A solicitor acting for a party is not obliged to tell all in civil proceedings.”

He said a solicitor was entitled to “put his best foot forward” and the police were entitled to follow his instructions.

In the ruling, he said: “I repeat my observation about the anxiety and distress being felt by the families of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster.

“These proceedings have been very drawn-out following a lengthy trial process involving the match commander.

“I know the strength of feeling there was after his acquittal. I am aware that these proceedings also have been observed with interest.

“However, whatever the anxiety and distress, I have to determine whether there is evidence to support the particular criminal offence with which these defendants have been charged.

“In concluding that there is not, that is all I do.”

Christine Burke, whose father Henry died in the disaster, addressed the judge before the jury came into court.

She said: “I have got to live the rest of my life knowing my father was buried with a lie.”

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it would not appeal the judge’s decision.

Mr Denton, Mr Metcalf and Mr Foster were charged in 2017 following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into allegations of a cover-up by police following the tragedy.

It is the latest attempted prosecution in connection with the Hillsborough disaster to fail.

Sir Norman Bettison, a chief inspector in 1989 who went on to become chief constable of Merseyside and West Yorkshire, was charged with misconduct in a public office as part of the investigation but the charges against were dropped in August 2018.

The match commander on the day, David Duckenfield, was charged with gross negligence manslaughter in 2017 but he was cleared in 2019 at a retrial, after the jury in his first trial was unable to reach a verdict.

In May 2019, former Sheffield Wednesday club secretary Graham Mackrell was fined £6,500 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs after he was convicted of failing to ensure the health and safety of fans arriving at the ground on the day of the disaster.

GCHQ’s mass data interception violated right to privacy, court rules May 26th 2021

Human rights judgment follows legal challenge begun in 2013 after Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing revelations

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/25/gchqs-mass-data-sharing-violated-right-to-privacy-court-rules

Boris’s Britain 2B or not 2B May 24th 2021

No10 have denied the reason Boris Johnson missed five crucial Covid meetings was because he was writing a book on Shakespeare.

The Prime Minister skipped the COBRA summits on the pandemic last year until he chaired his first on 2 March 2020.

In that time he spent a lengthy period hiding from public view at grace-and-favour residence Chevening, while the virus crept into Britain in February. He also spent a weekend at Chequers with Carrie Symonds, where they announced their engagement.

Claims emerged yesterday that Dominic Cummings will accuse the PM of needing to deliver the book to fund his divorce.

But today the Prime Minister’s official spokesman insisted the book was not the reason for him missing five COBRA meetings.

Russia Hate May 24th 2021

Out of their minds -Paris Drug Culture – Robert Cook May 24th 2021

Regime Change World – Anglo U.S Hypocrisy May 23rd 2021

The regime change mentality knows no bounds. It is run by people of unbelievable wealth. You don’t get as rich as these people by being nice , honest or caring about the masses who are brilliantly divided along gender , ethnic and religious lines – packaged as multi ( faulty ) culture. Islam is their new religion of choice and is now being turned on Israel. The more they over populate for mythical God, the cheaper they are to exploit and the more easily they are controlled.

All war crimes on their part, even when killing expendable Muslims , are O.K. Obviously they have much more to hide which is why they must make an example of Assange. That is why the Anglo U.S elite don’t care about Julian Assange, nor do their comfortable egotistical media lackeys. He exposed serious war crimes in Iraq so they want him jailed for life. The following is just another example of that hypocrisy. The pampered elite fear communism. The taxpayer funds their insurance policies as they go on eating the planet. The Arctic is now their imperialist gal. The Russians are too close for comfort there. Robert Cook

Anglo U.S Hypocrisy May 23^rd 2021

European leaders and the US have strongly condemned the arrest of a Belarusian dissident journalist after the Ryanair flight he was travelling on was forced to land in the Belarus capital Minsk.

Roman Protasevich, 26, was arrested after his flight from Athens was diverted from its scheduled destination of Vilnius in Lithuania on Sunday.

Belarus state media said the aircraft was switched to Minsk following a bomb threat, and that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the flight to Minsk.

However, opposition groups have said it was an operation by Belarus special services to “hijack” the flight so they could arrest Mr Protasevich.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused President Lukashenko’s government of endangering the lives of those on board the aircraft and demanded a “full investigation”.

“We strongly condemn the Lukashenka regime’s brazen and shocking act to divert a commercial flight and arrest a journalist. We demand an international investigation and are coordinating with our partners on next steps. The United States stands with the people of Belarus,” he tweeted.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the incident was “serious and dangerous” and “requires international investigation”.

EU leaders will meet later today to discuss possible action following the incident.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said he would propose banning Belarusian planes from European Union airports and “serious sanctions” against Mr Lukashenko’s government for what he described as a “state-sponsored terror act”.

Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU’s executive European Commission, demanded that Mr Protasevich be released immediately and said that those responsible for “the hijacking must be sanctioned”.

Simon Coveney, foreign minister of Ireland, where Ryanair is based, warned that “EU inaction will be taken as weakness by Belarus”.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The UK is alarmed by reports of the arrest of NEXTA journalist Roman Protasevich and circumstances that led to his flight being forced to land in Minsk.

“We are coordinating with our allies. This outlandish action by Lukashenko will have serious implications.”

The US, EU, Britain and Canada have already imposed travel bans and frozen the assets of almost 90 Belarusian officials, including Mr Lukashenko.

That move followed Belarus’s election in August – Mr Lukashenko won but opponents have said there was widespread fraud involved.

Mr Protasevich, who now works for Telegram channel Belamova, is wanted in Belarus on charges including organising mass riots and inciting social hatred.

The charges relate to anti-government protests following the disputed election, charges which he denies.

The Ryanair flight from Athens had been diverted just a few minutes before it was due to cross into Lithuanian airspace, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

Ryanair said the plane’s crew was notified by Belarus of a potential security threat on board and was instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk.

After seven hours in Minsk, the plane took off and later landed in Vilnius safely.

Is this a joke , or what ? May 22nd 2021

A “triple mutant” Covid variant with a “strange combination” of genes is being probed by UK virologists as England’s R rate worryingly rises to potentially over one.

There have been 49 cases found so far of the new variant mainly in Yorkshire and Humber with people being told not to be alarmed by it.

The mutant form of Covid is a “variant under investigation” but there is no evidence yet to say it is more transmissible or resistant to vaccines.

Comment. Leaving aside that this refers to a high BAME and poverty area, the health risk is low, and tis is all about surge testing. If it is as bad as they want us to believe, then it proves lockdowns don’t work..

There are wider and deeper issues that the authorities and ‘scientists’ don’t want to talk about. It won’t end any time soon. Reasons , based on ‘the data’ are needed to extend restrictions regardless of consequences. Robert Cook

Power Corrupts & Makes A Mockery Of Britain’s Claim To Real Equality – their elite’s diversity con is second to none. Robert Cook May 22nd 2021

Pandemic Panic Prolonged May 22nd 2021

The percentage of people testing positive in England showed “early signs of a potential increase”, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday.

The coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, has also risen slightly in England to between 0.9 to 1.1, up from between 0.8 and 1 last week, according to the latest government figures.

Comment ‘Signs of a potential increase.’ What weird logic and just an excuse to keep people afraid and under control – oblivious of the real dangers of life in Britain and the global elite driven economy. Robert Cook

Stripping it down – May 21st 2021

Bristol councillors have voted to ban strip clubs. I have seen some terrible sights and hardships while delivering all over Bristol. I have frozen while my truck was being unloaded on Avonmouth Docks in the early hours. The city is a bleak failing Atlantic port.

One Christmas , I recall parking difficulties forced me to tow a heavy pallet some way through grim Bristol backstreets and run down shops , where ragged derelicts cowered and froze. It was a grim sight.

So now we have the council’s great and good , all fired up by feminists morality, rushing to ban strip clubs. I am no fan of striptease. I am amused how feminists are working for all women to be accepted as men’s equals in every respect. It is fun to see them throw away their power of image and illusion.

Only once I have I ever visited a strip club. It was sometime in 2016., in Limasol , Cyprus. The club was next door to the police station. I expect it still is. I was lured there by my ex partner’s eldest son It was a place where customers paid a fortune for drinks and private dances.

After a few minutes at the bar , we were surrounded by glittery scantily dressed , well made up and perfumed young women with East European women offering private performances. There were two swarthy middle aged men behind the bar , one watching the outside security camera images.

A pleasant dark haired girl, from Ukraine , had engaged me in conversation. I paid a lot for her mysterious favourite drink. I noticed my companion was also engaged with a young Russian drinking the same. My Ukranian friend offered me a private show. I told her there was no need because she looked very beautiful with her clothes on.

As we talked, one of the barman whispered ; ‘ 500 Euros for the girl for the night.’ I ignored him. The girl told me she was a qualified teacher. I told her there were teachers jobs in England. She should leave this. As a teacher for many years , I did not like to see youth so wasted and on the road to ruin.

So I understand why people don’t like strip clubs , but the ban everything on pseudo moral grounds mentality is worrying. It is a smokescreen to hide economic desperation , elite exploitation , feminist poison and male sexual frustration – the latter being the food upon which these clubs feed. Closing it all down is no solution to the economic desperation of the females involved. Such a drastic measure will drive the clubs underground rather than offer responsible supervision. It offers no better job prospects for the girls . Robert Cook

BBC’s Bashir gets a bashing and shares blame for Princess Diana’s untimely death – May 20th 2021

An inquiry found the BBC covered up “deceitful behaviour” used by journalist Martin Bashir to secure his headline-making world exclusive, and “fell short of high standards of integrity and transparency”.

The journalist was in “serious breach” of the BBC’s producer guidelines when he faked bank statements and showed them to Earl Spencer to gain access to the princess, a report by Lord Dyson said.

Earl Spencer told a new Panorama programme that the consequences of Diana’s decision to do the interview contributed to her death in a car crash in Paris on August 31 1997.

Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed died when their car crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel as they were being pursued by the paparazzi.

An inquiry found the BBC covered up “deceitful behaviour” used by journalist Martin Bashir to secure his headline-making world exclusive, and “fell short of high standards of integrity and transparency”.

The journalist was in “serious breach” of the BBC’s producer guidelines when he faked bank statements and showed them to Earl Spencer to gain access to the princess, a report by Lord Dyson said.

Earl Spencer told a new Panorama programme that the consequences of Diana’s decision to do the interview contributed to her death in a car crash in Paris on August 31 1997.

Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed died when their car crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel as they were being pursued by the paparazzi.

Earl Spencer told the programme: “The irony is that I met Martin Bashir on the 31st of August 1995, because exactly two years later she died, and I do draw a line between the two events.

Earl Spencer told the programme: “The irony is that I met Martin Bashir on the 31st of August 1995, because exactly two years later she died, and I do draw a line between the two events.

The Crown has come under fire from royal insiders who say the show inaccurately portrays Princess Diana, it has been reported.

Insiders have argued that the Netflix fictionalised show, which is broadly based on real events, gives a further platform to an “inaccurate” image of Diana first constructed around the time of the infamous Martin Bashir BBC interview.

A source told The Sun : “Diana was led astray to make statements and say things that otherwise were not true and it formed a narrative around her that she was unstable and a scheme.”

“This narrative has been there for 25 years – and it is still inaccurately told today in TV shows such as The Crown.”

Comment

Accuracy , as far as writing history in the U.K is concerned , is accepting the elite’s version. It is not like the BBC to get it wrong. However , William is being groomed as the new Royal front man. This is his gig. Harry has done a lot of damage. There is little social cohesion in Faulty Cultural Britain , so the posh patronising speech writers at the palace have been very busy.

Forget all the conspiracy theories and suspicious circumstances relating to Princess Diana’s untimely death. A major cause has been unearthed. It was BBC’s Martin Bashir’s unscrupulous approach to journalism , conning her saintly brother Earl Spencer with fake bank accounts. Poor naïve Princess Diana was thus lured into telling all about her husband’s affair with the woman he should have been allowed to marry in the first place.

Due to Prince Harry’s defection and Meghan Markle failing to make British Royalty ethnic friendly has created a crisis. Many of us realise that Royalty are an expensive absurdity.

But they are a huge vested interest crucial to an illusion of unity in a divided, hideously unequal , hypocritical fragmenting society, sold to us as multi culture – faulty culture. The big beasts and weighty ladies in the background of the Buckingham Palace machine are hard at work making Diana looking like an innocent martyr rather than calculating egotist . Robert Cook

Number of Indian variant cases recorded in UK up 28% since Monday May 19th 2021

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There are now almost 3,000 cases of the Indian variant in the UK, the health secretary has told MPs.

Matt Hancock said 2,967 cases of the COVID-19 variant have now been recorded, having stood at more than 2,300 on Monday – a 28% increase.

As a result, surge testing and vaccinations will be deployed in Bedford, Burnley, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester and North Tyneside.

Ministers are also supporting the Scottish government, which is taking similar steps in Glasgow and Moray, where First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delayed the easing of lockdown rules earlier this week.

“What this means in practice is we are putting in place more testing and more testing sites,” Mr Hancock said.

Testing Times – A Comment by Robert Cook May 19th 2021

Cases can mean anything because the way Britain records them is very misleading. Most who actually have the virus do not die. The PCR test cannot differentiate all variants and has a very high error rate. Nor does infection present similar risks. All the affected regions have high BAME populations, poverty and high age group profiles. The fact that high age and BAME groups are prioritised for vaccination proves that these are the high risk groups.

The scaremongering s important because of interest groups who do not want lockdown eased. Meanwhile the authorities refuse t explain why travel routes are still open to India. Covid was way below the main killer in 2020.

The fallot in terms of other health and poverty issues is not seriously measured – but thye rich ahve never been richer or safrer and we still have open doors to the poorest most health challenged peope in the world.. Information has to be biased and controlled accordingly.

The fact that viruses cannot be eradicated by lockdowns or any other known strategy is not admitted because the NHS cannot cope with rising demand, including from mass immigration . The truth must not be told , but we have an allegedly democratcic government that can lie and cover up as much as it wants to – witth massibve penalties to those who step out of line.

Robert Cook.

U.K India No Hope What Next ? May 19th 2020

Boris Johnson is being warned by scientists that a surge in vaccinations in COVID hotspots may not be enough to halt the spread of the Indian variant – and that he should not have relaxed lockdown rules this week.

Boris Johnson is being warned by scientists that a surge in vaccinations in COVID hotspots may not be enough to halt the spread of the Indian variant – and that he should not have relaxed lockdown rules this week.

The prime minister has said he is keeping the variant under close watch, adding “we’ll know a lot more in a few days’ time”, suggesting he will not wait until the next review on 14 June if he needs to take further action.

VThe prime minister has said he is keeping the variant under close watch, adding “we’ll know a lot more in a few days’ time”, suggesting he will not wait until the next review on 14 June if he needs to take further action.

Comment No hope of honesty as pointless quest to stop virus in global economy continues. You can’t stop a virus. You can use a virus to control people. It will be interesting to see what happens next. Robert Cook

Eurostar secures £250m bailout after collapse in demand May 18th 2021

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Eurostar has secured a £250 million rescue package after warning it was “fighting for its survival” due to the coronavirus crisis. © Gareth Fuller Eurostar has secured a £250 million rescue package after being badly hit by the coronavirus crisis (Gareth Fuller/PA)

The cross-Channel rail operator said it has reached a financing agreement with its shareholders and banks.

This includes French state rail company SNCF, which is the company’s majority shareholder.

The UK sold its Eurostar stake to private companies for £757 million in 2015, and the Government resisted pressure to contribute to the bailout. © Provided by PA Media Eurostar said in November it was ‘fighting for its survival’ (Victoria Jones/PA)

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs in February that the Government was “very keen for Eurostar to survive” but insisted “it’s not our company” and its difficulties were “the shareholders’ problem to resolve”.

Following the announcement of the rescue deal, chief executive Jacques Damas said: “Everyone at Eurostar is encouraged by this strong show of support from our shareholders and banks which will allow us to continue to provide this important service for passengers.

“The refinancing agreement is the key factor enabling us to increase our services as the situation with the pandemic starts to improve.

“Eurostar will continue to work closely with governments to move towards a safe easing of travel restrictions and streamlining of border processes to allow passengers to travel safely and seamlessly.

“Their co-ordinated actions and decisions are crucial to the restoring of demand and the financial recovery of our business.”

Comment Eurostar , the Channel Tunnel and HS1 were always high risk ventures. For Brexit to mean Brexit , it may as well be closed down. Why should there be bail outs when Britain’s rail system was privatised for the greedy ?

Britain still plays a leading role in the economic and social changes that have wrecked the European dream. The whole union’s leadership , including Britain’s leader ship , has played a leading role in stoking up the mysterious Covid 19 crisis. Robert Cook

India variant will be dominant UK Covid strain ‘in next few days’ May 18th 2021

The Covid variant first detected in India is set to be become the dominant strain in the UK within days, experts have said, with the government and health teams struggling to contain cases which have risen by more than 75% since Thursday.

With the rapid spread of the more transmissible B.1.617.2 variant threatening to reverse moves to ease lockdown, the government faced intense pressure to more fully explain the delay in adding India to the so-called red list of countries.

Comment This is all such utter nonsense: these numbers are so small. Bolton, Blackburn and Darwen: the population is almost 600,000. And there are 483 cases? That’s not 483 people in hospital or terminally ill; they might not even have symptoms. They’ve just tested positive. That’s about 0.07%. Anyone who says they’re scared by that is an idiot or a liar. F.S

Far Right & Wrong May 17th 2021

There have been anti Jewish protesters rampaging across Europe and the U.S where Islamic immigration has created an ongoing expanding Islamic power base. The associated mainstream media coverage is giving a very pro Palestinian view point. The west’s ruling elite clearly take the view that Islam is a benign peace loving inclusive religion with no eye on world government. They expect us to share their privileged cloistered patronising arguments that Islamic extremism has nothing to do with Islam’s underlying philosophy and basic teachings.

The comfortable ruling elite paved the way for this intolerance with hate speech legislation which has not been applied equally to all groups because of social engineering priorities. Germany , and even Britain’s wealthy elites turned a blind eye and even encouraged the rise of Nazism because they were afraid of Russia’s communists spreading west.

Across Europe, the heir’s to that elite are still afraid of the white working classes. That is because the elite have betrayed them and the global economy exacerbated by Covid lockdown, has destroyed so many of their lives. Hence the hysteria whipped up about far right terrorism and racist behaviour when there is so little evidence and ongoing police infiltration at the slightest sign.

Even Macron is being slandered as a racist for trying to dampen Islamic extremism. The problem with Islam is that it is not inclusive and is very rigid in outlook. It will grow rapidly due to natural high birth rates and ongoing immigration. If I went to France, I would speak French and enjoy traditional French culture. I would not attack their religion or churches. I would not want to tear down their statues and re write their history. In Britain , the new Indisan strain of Covid is hitting BAME area and the NHS cannot cope.

The elite are comfortable Their response is pathetic self righteous speeches. The lower classes are tired of this which is why so few vote for upper middle class Labour or anyone else. With the words comes their soothing and unctuous promise of more police to control our lives. There are so many reasons that the police can break into your house now that it is effectively public space. Even the neighbours will call them if they hear raised voices or see something suspicious.

Covid lockdown has made matters worse and driven many people mad. Meanwhile our posturing politicians have fingers in their ears, announce inquiries, or put their heads in the sand as a last resort. We have nothing to choose from. Britain is about as democratic as Islamic countries ever get. . Robert Cook.

Fewer people died during the pandemic from non-Covid causes than normal, and this could be why – May 17th 2021

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Fewer people were buried or cremated in Swansea during the pandemic year of 2020 than in four of the previous five years, according to figures from the council.

The numbers have baffled a Swansea resident who had asked for them via a Freedom of Information request.

The response shines a light on a curious aspect of the last 14 months – namely that non-Covid deaths have dropped noticeably.

Overall the number of deaths in Wales has been higher than the previous five year-average because of the coronavirus – but the fall in non-Covid deaths has reduced what public health experts call “excess” deaths.

Take Swansea, for example.

According to analysis of Office for National Statistics data by the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, at Cambridge University, there were 2,898 deaths in Swansea between the beginning of April last year and April this year. A total of 603 of them were Covid-related, but there were only 39 excess deaths compared to the previous five years. This is because there were 564 fewer non-Covid deaths.

This trend is generally replicated, to varying degrees, throughout Wales and the UK. In large part this seems to be because deaths from accidents and respiratory and infectious diseases fell as people spent more time at home and didn’t mix. © Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, Cambridge University Covid and non-Covid deaths in Swansea between the beginning of April 2020 and April 2021: note the fall in non-Covid deaths against the five-year average

In Carmarthenshire there were 2,529 deaths of all causes, including 463 Covid ones, but only 95 excess deaths. Again, this is explained by a sizeable fall in non-Covid deaths.

Neath Port Talbot, which has a smaller population than Swansea and Carmarthenshire, was hit harder by Covid and, with 466 deaths out of a total of 1,953. It also had a less pronounced drop in non-Covid deaths, which pushed its excess death tally to a relatively high 264.

Looking at Wales as a whole, there were 7,564 Covid-related deaths between April 2020 and 2021 out of a total of 37,612 deaths. But because non-Covid deaths were 4,700 less than the five-year average, the excess death figure was 2,864.

The Local Democracy Reporter Service asked the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) to explain why non-Covid deaths had fallen.

Dr Olwen Williams, RCP vice-president for Wales said: “It’s very difficult to know at this stage how and why mortality rates have changed in the past 14 months. We simply don’t have enough information. However, we do know that the pandemic has exacerbated existing health inequalities, and has disproportionately affected people who were already struggling.” © Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, University of Cambridge Covid and non-Covid deaths in Wales between the beginning of April 2020 and 2021, and the five-year average

Public Health Wales (PHW) said there were probably a number of reasons.

“The social distancing and hygiene measures will have been effective against a whole variety of infectious disease, including flu; the lock-downs will have reduced the number of people out and about and therefore the risk of accidents,” said Dr Kirsty Little, consultant in public health at the PHW Observatory.

“There is also, very sadly, the probability that a number of people who may have been vulnerable to something like flu may have also have been vulnerable to Covid.”

The data throws up a bit of a mixed picture on deaths in areas with significant health inequalities.

Areas with high levels of deprivation include Rhondda Cynon Taf, which had a lot of Covid deaths (856) between April last year and this year but also a noticeable decrease in non-Covid deaths, leaving 511 excess deaths.

However, neighbouring Merthyr Tydfil had fewer Covid deaths (208) but – unlike other areas – more non-Covid deaths than normal. This pushed up its excess death tally to 248.

Meanwhile, Blaenau Gwent actually had 103 fewer excess deaths during the pandemic year than the previous five years, because the fall in non-Covid deaths outstripped the Covid ones. © Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication Covid and non-Covid deaths in Blaenau Gwent between April 2020 and 2021: the fall in non-Covid deaths exceeded Covid deaths.

The Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication also examined where people died, and found that there were more deaths at home and in care homes than the five-year average, but slightly fewer in hospitals.

In Swansea, there were 2,491 cremations and burials in the 2020 calendar year, more than in 2019 but fewer than the four years before that.

Comment I suspect that a large number of non Covid deaths were written off as Covid because the system needed high numbers and the tests were pretty inconclusive to put it politely. Robert Cook

Free with words & Lives in Chains – May 17th 2021

Lawmaking during the coronavirus pandemic has been anti-democratic, sidelining parliament and handing huge control over people’s private lives to a small group of ministers without adequate scrutiny, a prominent human rights barrister has said. © Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Adam Wagner, described in the House of Lords as “perhaps the only person in the country who can make sense of this variety of [Covid] regulations”, urged MPs to “take back control” after a period in which laws have been passed “by the swish of a minister’s pen”.

Although the end of many restrictions is in sight, he worries that a dangerous precedent has been set. “The government has been allowed through a very small group of people – this is a tiny group of people who are creating these laws within government – to sort of have full control over our private lives,” he told the Guardian.

“It should have been a much more open and democratic process. When the government is appointed, they don’t just get to create laws, the executive doesn’t have carte blanche, it doesn’t have the power to do whatever it wants – democracy doesn’t work like that. When you have an executive having power over every other institution, parliament, the courts, we don’t call that democracy.”

Comment It is very simple. Britain like the rest of the world is not democratic. Britain is different in that it had the world’s largest empire and gave birth to the English speaking United States. Its’ ruling elite were derivative of the Norman invaders and the Hohenzollern Saxe Coburg Goethe’s who changed their name to Windsor so the masses would not realise that World War One was a family affair at the expense of the masses the family ruled over on both sides.

The British elite have poisoned the world. As cowards they are , they hide behind their masses who they blame for Imperialistic crimes. They talk a good talk of human rights. They have been a driving force behind the European police state. They were surprised by the now disgraced ex Tory Prime Minister , David Cameron, played the wild card of Brexit to get the expected moron electorate to underline support for the EU.

Unfortunately , they were duped by the Tory old Guard into believing they had their ‘country back.’ The elite are free with words , but step out of line and you will soon see the invisible chains you have been wearing since birth. Now they have brought God back , courtesy of mass Islamic immigration. They played the religious divide card for centuries , but like the rest of Europe, they are getting well out of their depth. Covid lockdown may be a step too far.

We must wait and see. At the moment , their answer to everything is more restrictive laws, heavier policing and surveillance. The presence of more black and feminist MPs is just an appeal to more sectional interests. The elite were always rather small minded , hypocritical and regressive

Robert Cook

Four Arrested For Racially Abusing Jews In North London May 16th 2021

Four men have been arrested by officers investigating a video which appeared to show antisemitic abuse being shouted from a car in north London, the Metropolitan Police says.

It comes after a video was posted and widely shared on social media showing a group of cars decorated with the Palestinian flag pulling up at traffic lights.

As the group of cars arrive in the video, one person with a megaphone appears to be shouting abuse.

The events in the footage are described as having taken place in north London’s Finchley Road.

The Met Police investigation into the footage comes amid continuing violence in Gaza, which has seen 192 Palestinians killed, including 58 children and 34 women.

Thousands of people marched through London on Saturday to the gates of the Israeli embassy, while protests took place in other cities across the UK and Ireland in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

The arrests come as a rabbi has said that members of the Jewish community are “very afraid” that “threats could turn into actions”.

Rabbi Herschel Gluck said: “People are very concerned and very afraid about where this will lead.

“There is always the fear that threats could turn into actions.”

He added: “It is very important to emphasise in London that the Muslim and Jewish communities stand shoulder to shoulder and in a great spirit of solidarity. There aren’t tensions locally, all these tensions are coming from people who have never seen a Jew and they are coming from outside London.”

Comment Press reports do not mention ethnicity of the abusers , but video footage clearly shows men of Arabic appearance waving the Palestinian flag from the open top car, while hurling abuse at Jews. London’s Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan has said that ‘there is no place for hate crime in London’. London has a large and growing Muslim population. The truth seems rather different.

Who , apart from a Muslim or new left agitator would recognise a Jew, the Palestinian flag and bother to do this ? We are supposed to believe they have travelled from outside London ? As in 1939 , the patronising elite are underplaying a very serious problem. It is a London problem , a British problem and so much more. Robert Cook

Do as experts tell you. May 16th 2021

People should ignore Monday’s easing of lockdown and avoid socialising indoors in pubs and restaurants to prevent the new Covid-19 variant first detected in India sparking a third wave of the disease, health experts say.

A former government chief scientific adviser, a leading public health specialist and the union representing Britain’s doctors are urging the public to stick to meeting outdoors to reduce the risk of catching or spreading the variant.

Read the latest news and updates on India’s Covid emergency.

Prof Sir Mark Walport, an former director of the Wellcome Trust and a chief scientific adviser until 2017, called on the public to be cautious. “My personal judgement is that I will do things outside as far as possible. My advice is that just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should,” he said.

Comment The world is full of professors , used to playing politics for promotion, asking and answering only the right questions. The world is also full of idiot lemmings who will take this self interested advice. If the Indian variant matters so much , why are air routes to India , Bangladesh and Pakistan still open ? Obviously we need to keep certain parties happy and maintain the threat . A lot of money is being made from all of this bull sh-t. Robert Cook

Why Fly ? May 16th 2021

Some British Airways cabin crew members are reportedly failing to show up to flights to India amid a devastating wave of coronavirus cases there.

The South Asian country has seen its health system buckle under the strain of a record-breaking wave of infections as it reported around 4,000 deaths each day for nearly two weeks as daily cases fell slightly on Friday to just over 326,000.

Comment One must ask why fly to and from India if we are to endure more restrictions due to Indian variant ? The answer is because we have such a high Indian and Muslim population who must not be inconvenienced, there are financial issues and there must be no end to the Covid controls.

Robert Cook

Balls by Robert Cook May 16th 2021

I used to watch football. I have mentioned my first ever school match elsewhere. I overcame my dislike of PE to eventually become teacher’s pet. My early teaching duties included half timetable on PE , the other was maths. I inspired my eldest son to love and play the game. But then came the Premier League. It was all about obscene wealth.

So I fail to understand why people from all over the British Isles are so fanatical. Women are seen as something new among fans. I have studied the game’s history while helping my ex partner’s son with his journalism degree. Women were apparently among the most fanatical and violent of supporters at the start of the twentieth century/

There has been a big drive to get women playing. Physically they are no match for men. However, I have supervised girls hockey and they don’t lack aggression. It is vital to get them as obsessed and distracted by this team supporting and identity tribalism. Which is why we had the Sports Minister at yesterday’s F.A Cup Final talking about getting more ‘fans back in the stadia , but much will depend on the data.’ It’s the dreaded science again. Yesterday was the first to admit a smattering, and my oh my weren’t the Leicester fans excited when ‘their team scored.’

This team identity is beyond me. But I understand human psychology and how the system works. So that’s why the minister was a VIP at the match. The future King was also there to sanctify an purify the event, handing over the cup. Prince William is being groomed as the new totem to hold British Faulty Culture together. This is a culture where the tough new British Democracy fire proof , earthquake proof wall paper covers all the cracks. Football fanaticism is part of the not so pretty pattern. Robert Cook

More Infectious – from MSN May 15th 2021

On Saturday, Public Health England said there were 1,313 cases of the Indian variant of concern in the UK – almost three times the number of the previous week.

The variant is thought to be over 50% more transmissible than the Kent variant, which has for some months been dominant in the UK.

On Monday, it is planned to allow socialising indoors in homes, pubs and restaurants, and physical contact with other households for the first time in England in more than a year, under the government’s roadmap.

But experts say that this – and possibly plans to end all remaining restrictions on 21 June – should be re-examined.

The BMA’s public health medicine committee co-chairman Dr Richard Jarvis has urged the public to take a “cautious approach” to social and physical contact.

“It is a real worry that when further measures lift on 17 May, the majority of younger people, who are often highly socially mobile and could therefore be most at risk of a more infectious strain, are not yet vaccinated,” he said.

Comment If those in charge really believe masks and lockdowns are vital to survival , then open door immigration and free movement must end. Otherwise accept that Britain cannot protect old people like me , the obese and BAME from special risk of Covid because , as we can see, it is not solved that way – and the social and economic damage is horrendous. Open doors mean we must accept health issues extant from abroad. Money rules here and is the real basis of inequality.

Of course the rich elite are having a great time. Poverty due to overpopulation, ignorance, religion and elite exploitation in the Third World are behind all problems , but suit the profiting elite. They are the ones who tell us it’s all about the science – knowing full well how badly educated their people are and so easily frightened. R.J Cook

Vested Interest – Masking the Truth May 15th 2021

The following case exemplifies the huge problem of the elite’s vested financial and political interests. There is already evidence of serious corruption in awarding of Covid contracts. Now we have the issue of how the opportunists will cope with financial over reach as they gamble on everlasting lockdown, albeit intermittent, ever more mutations across the greed driven global economy.

Hence Priti Patel pleads for her friend who expected to make a fortune from ongoing mask supply. This outlook is just another example as to why we will never escape useless masks and counterproductive lockdowns in open border Britain, where one takes a life changing risk speaking such dangerous truth. Robert Cook

Priti Patel accused of lobbying for ‘get-rich-quick’ £20m PPE deal – May 15th 2021

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Labour has accused Priti Patel of a “flagrant breach” of the ministerial code by lobbying Michael Gove over a £20m deal.

In a letter, signed by the deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner and shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds, the party urged the cabinet secretary Simon Case to investigate the home secretary over alleged efforts to sway the award of a contract.

Documents show that in May last year Patel attempted to secure a personal protective equipment (PPE) deal for the healthcare firm Pharmaceuticals Direct Ltd (PDL).

Her efforts failed after the health secretary, Matt Hancock, said the masks were “not suitable for the NHS”, according to disclosure in a legal case.

But PDL was awarded a £102.7m contract weeks later in July to provide a different type of mask. On both occasions, Samir Jassal was Patel’s contact at PDL.

Jassal has stood as a Conservative candidate at two general elections and has met Boris Johnson and David Cameron.

A spokesperson for Patel denied any wrongdoing. He said: “The home secretary rightly followed up representations made to her about the vital supply of PPE. During a time of national crisis, failure to do so would have been a dereliction of duty.”

However, Labour said there was “no evidence that the home secretary had any interest” in the PPE deal until contacted by Jassal, suggesting that she did it “as a favour to her friend”.

“This would represent a glaring and flagrant breach of the ministerial code,” the letter read.

Labour pointed to the principle that “ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise”.

Disclosure from the government – in response to a pre-action letter from the Good Law Project campaign group – revealed a letter Patel wrote to Gove in May last year. The Daily Mail, which first reported on the documents, said the possible deal was worth £20m.

In the letter, Patel expressed disappointment that the government no longer required supplies of KN95 masks from PDL, saying “they have committed stock and secured supply, exposing them to considerable financial risk and pressures”.

“The late stage in which the government has decided not to use them has caused these problems,” the home secretary wrote on 3 May last year.

She went on to say she would be “most grateful” if Hancock could review the matter urgently and urged him to “work with the company to distribute and supply these masks”.

Hancock wrote back 10 days later to say that “KN95 face masks are Chinese standards” and that UK officials have concluded that they are “not suitable for use in the NHS”.

On Saturday, Rayner tweeted: “In April 2020, Priti Patel should’ve been securing our borders against Covid – not working on get rich quick schemes for a Tory donor.

“The PPE didn’t even work, it was deemed unsafe for NHS staff. Patel needs to come clean and we need to know if she broke the ministerial code.”

Jolyon Maugham, the director of the Good Law Project, which is investigating how coronavirus contracts were awarded, said the judicial review into the £102.7m contract “may be the most important” that he has been involved in.

Jassal and PDL have been contacted for comment.

India variant could seriously disrupt lifting of lockdown, says Boris Johnson May 14th 2021

The final stage of lifting coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England could face “serious disruption” due to the India variant, the prime minister has warned, as he announced plans to accelerate the vaccine programme to curb its spread.

Boris Johnson said the gap between the first and second Covid jab would be cut from 12 weeks to eight for all over 50s and the clinically vulnerable, admitting “the race between our vaccine programme and the virus may be about to become a great deal tighter”.

He announced the army would be deployed to two variant hotspots – Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen – to help with vaccinations and urged residents in those areas to “think twice” before taking advantages of the freedoms allowed again from Monday.

Johnson said plans to ease restrictions on 17 May – allowing people to meet in groups of six indoors – would go ahead but that the variant “could make it more difficult” for the final stage of unlocking to proceed on 21 June.

He said the India variant appeared to be “more transmissible” than the dominant strain in the UK that originated in Kent, but that it was not yet clear by how much. If it is significantly more, then he warned, “we’re likely to face some hard choices”.

“I have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move to step four in June,” Johnson said.

Asked whether the lockdown easing would have to be paused during a press conference, he added: “The truth is, we cannot say for certain … the situation is very different from last year, we are in the throes of an incredible vaccine rollout … We just have to wait and see … we rule nothing out.”

The PM’s words came as new documents released from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) revealed just how worried scientists are about the variant.

Modelling by Sage suggested it was “a realistic possibility” that it could be up to 50% more transmissible than the Kent variant.

If that was the case, they said, progressing to stage 3 of the road map – due on Monday – would “lead to a substantial resurgence of hospitalisations (similar to, or larger than, previous peaks)“.

The variant’s spread will raise questions about perceived government delays in adding India to the “red list” of countries from which arrivals have to quarantine in hotels.

Johnson’s announcement came following calls from councils in Lancashire and Greater Manchester to let them roll out vaccines to all over-18s in some variant hotspots, including Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen.

Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said said the “majority view” of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) was that this approach would be a “net disadvantage”.

However, councillor Andy Morgan, Bolton council’s cabinet member for adult social services, insisted the council had been given some “flexibility” to vaccinate younger people, and would be offering vaccines to all over-18s in the three worst-affected wards from Saturday.

“Our interpretation of the guidance is that we can start to vaccinate 18s and over in BL3 [the affected postcode] tomorrow, subject to vaccination supply,” he said.

“We’ve got some flexibility locally to surge-vaccinate, but the biggest thing for Bolton is not being locked down, which would have been devastating for the town. David Greenhalgh [Bolton’s council leader] has been lobbying every man and a dog all day on that, so we are relieved,” said Morgan.

Despite the councillor’s confidence, local politicians have no jurisdiction over vaccination centres. Bolton’s clinical commissioning group runs the district’s eight sites and it is not clear which guidance they will follow.

Dominic Harrison, the director of public health for Blackburn with Darwen council, said he was extremely disappointed that the government had not given the go-ahead to vaccinating all over-16s in the worst-hit neighbourhoods.

He told the Guardian: “It just seems that failing to do all we can in the areas that have the highest rates now is a lost opportunity and we will be saying that to ministers on Monday. What we still haven’t got is a clear national strategy for managing importations and outbreaks of new variants at a local level. There just is no strategy.

“It feels like we are making it up on the hoof and you’ve now got Scotland and England giving two different plans of action on the basis of very similar data.”

Responding to the spread of the India variant in Scotland, the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced that infection rates in Glasgow and Moray meant the areas would remain on level 3 restrictions while the rest of the mainland dropped to level 2 on Monday, which means hugging loved ones and meeting indoors is allowed. She said she was “pretty sure” that the vaccination programme in Scotland would be accelerated, but that she was waiting for advice from the JCVI.

The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, also said he had decided against liberalising rules that would have let more people mix and some small public events go ahead.

The chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Danny Mortimer, on Friday called for the government to “look at measures around lifting lockdown”. He said ministers should consider whether allowing international travel from 17 May should be “rethought” and giving greater financial support to those who test positive to encourage them to self-isolate.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics on Friday showed the number of infected people across the UK continued to fall, but the R number – the average number of people someone with Covid is estimated to pass it on to – rose slightly in England to 0.8-1.1.

A Guardian analysis of Public Health England data shows overall Covid cases have risen in four out of 10 UK local authorities in the week to 8 May, with some areas seeing steep rises. The analysis found 151 of 382 local authorities had higher weekly case rates per 100,000 residents compared with the previous seven days, accounting for 39.5% of all areas. Of these, 97 councils had seen cases rise for two consecutive weeks.

Comment Now there’s a surprise. Robert Cook

UK to allow ‘surge vaccination’ in Covid hotspots hit by Indian variant May 14th 2021

A Conservative council leader , David Greenhalgh, has strongly hinted that the UK government will give permission imminently for the “surge vaccination” of all adults in areas hit by outbreaks of the Covid-19 variant first identified in India. Bolton , Lancs, is the worst affected area. Here , and with Blackburn and Darwen, are 15 million people where infection rates are over five times the national average, with possibility of the Indian variants spreading across the whole of U.K.

The Steal Industry – ‘All the criminals in their coats and their ties, are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise’ from ‘Desire.’ – Bob Dylan. May 14th 2021

Mr Gupta’s companies were among the main clients of Greensill before it collapsed in March this year. GFG’s reliance on Greensill caused many to worry that it might be at risk following the finance firm’s demise.

The SFO probe follows an announcement by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier this week that it is investigating Greensill, having received allegations relating to the firm’s collapse that were “potentially criminal in nature”.

The Financial Times has previously reported Mr Gupta’s companies handed suspicious invoices to Greensill. © Provided by The Independent

Greensill’s model worked by placing itself between business customers and their suppliers. It would immediately pay the invoices that suppliers gave to their customers, meaning the suppliers would not have to wait for months for payment.

The FT said one of Mr Gupta’s companies had sent Greensill invoices for business it had supposedly done with four European metal companies. But the companies told the newspaper they had not dealt with GFG.

In response, GFG Alliance said the invoices were for products it expected to perhaps sell in the future.

Greensill founder Lex Greensill and Mr Cameron, who lobbied for the company from 2018, were both questioned by MPs on parliamentary committees earlier this week. © Reuters Former British Prime Minister David Cameron leaves his home, as investigations continue into the collapse of Greensill Capital and his failed attempts, as a Greensill employee, to persuade the British Treasury and the Bank of England to include the firm in the UK’s COVID rescue programmes, in London, Britain May 13, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Mr Greensill denied suggestions from MPs on the Commons Treasury Committee that his collapsed firm was a “fraud” or a “Ponzi scheme”.

He said that the ultimate reason his company failed was because insurers withdrew cover, and declined to say how much was lent to companies operated by Mr Gupta.

On Thursday it was revealed that Mr Gupta recently pulled the plug on Wyelands Bank, a lender he is the biggest shareholder in. The bank’s board said it was looking for new owners after Mr Gupta told them he would not continue to prop up the ailing lender. In May last year Mr Gupta gave the bank a loan of £75m.

Women need to focus on bigger issues than their own gender. Feminism is a powerful distraction. May 14th 2021

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Elderly woman kidnapped “for her own good” (Ireland)Dystopia (v.redd.it)

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Domestic violence: 8 in 10 female prisoners in Scotland ‘previously endured substantial head injuries’ May 14th 2021

Around eight in ten women prisoners in Scotland previously suffered a substantial head injury, a troubling new report has found.

The study, conducted by the University of Glasgow, discovered two thirds of female inmates had sustained repeated wounds to the head over a period of many years.

Head injuries can have long-lasting repercussions on an individual’s cognition and behaviour as well as making people less able to cope with feelings of anger.

Researchers, whose findings were published in the Lancet Psychiatry, found most incidents had been perpetrated by domestic abusers, with around nine in ten prisoners who were subjected to recurrent head injuries saying it was the result of domestic violence.

Violent criminal behaviour was three times more likely in people who have previously suffered significant head wounds and women with such injuries spent three times longer in jail, the study discovered.

Professor Tom McMillan, the study’s lead author who works in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Glasgow, said: “It is already recognised that women in prison are vulnerable because of histories of abuse and substance misuse.

“However, this research shows that a history of significant head injury is also a vulnerability and needs to be included when considering mental health needs and in developing criminal justice policy given the relationships with associated disabilities, abuse and violent crime.

“Our findings suggest that interventions to reduce mental health morbidity, and assessment and management of risk of violent offending should include history of significant head injury. There is a need to recognise these vulnerabilities at an early stage, including at the first contact with the criminal justice system, to assess these women and provide long term support.”

The study was based on interviews with roughly a quarter of women in Scottish prisons which amounted to 109 women. Around seven in ten of those who had “a history of significant head injury” suffered their first wound before they were 15. Researchers noted head injuries sustained in children can impinge on how the brain grows.

It comes after The Independent previously reported brain injuries suffered at the hands of a violent partner could be leading women prisoners to commit more crimes.

The study, conducted by The Disabilities Trust and Royal Holloway University, discovered 64 per cent of incarcerated women had experiences or symptoms linked to brain injuries.

Rachael Mcnulty, the clinical supervisor for the study, said: “The brain does everything. If at some point your brain is disrupted, it has an effect on all elements of your life. People may be more prone to being impulsive and have less emotional resources to deal with anxiety or anger.

“The research clearly demonstrates the link between life trauma and offending, violence, and victimisation. It showed women with brain injuries were more vulnerable and had more mental health issues.”

A previous report by the Prison Reform Trust found 80 per cent of women in jail were serving sentences for non-violent offences. Other studies have found high numbers of female prisoners have suffered domestic abuse, while many suffer from mental health issues – with campaigners frequently warning women in prison are often victims of much more serious offences than the ones they have been convicted of.

Surge testing and shorter gaps between vaccines considered as Indian variant cases soar in UK May 14^th 2021

India is currently being devastated by a deadly second wave of Covid. You can support Oxfam’s Covid relief efforts in India, including reaching out to the most affected and vulnerable communities, distributing and installing medical equipment and accessories, and supporting the most marginalised households. You can donate here.

Soaring cases of the COVID Indian variant have forced the government to consider bringing forward vaccine second doses in some areas.

The moves came after fresh data showed that variant infections had more than doubled in the past week.

Public Health England (PHE) on Thursday said there are 1,313 cases in the UK, up from the 520 recorded the previous week.

In response to the rise, the government has announced a range of new measures – and is considering shortening the 12-week gap between vaccine jabs.

A statement from the Department of Health and Social Care said that “most cases are in the North West of England, with some in London”.

Surge testing, increased genomic sequencing and enhanced contact tracing have all been introduced in affected regions.

Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “anxious” about the variant, and was “ruling out nothing” to tackle it.

The strain was designated a “variant of concern” last week by PHE, when cases again more than doubled, from 202 to 520 in the previous seven days.

Some 100 extra nurses have been sent to Bolton to help with the situation there.

The COVID-19 strategic response director at PHE, Dr Susan Hopkins, said: “Cases of this variant are rising in the community and we are continuously monitoring its spread and severity to ensure we take rapid public health action.

“We need to act collectively and responsibly to ensure that variants do not impact on the progress we have all made to drive down levels of COVID-19 and the increased freedom that brings.

“That means you should pay attention to and act on the local health advice in your area. Testing and isolating when required not only limits spread, it helps us to better understand how the variant behaves in the community which is vital to taking effective and proportionate action moving forward.

“If you’re asked to take a test please do. The way to limit the spread of all variants is the same. Keep your distance, wash your hands regularly and thoroughly, cover your nose and mouth when inside, keep buildings well ventilated and meet people from other households outside.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We are monitoring the situation very carefully and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary.

“It is imperative we all continue to be vigilant, and if you live in one of the 15 areas where we’ve introduced surge testing, make sure you get a free PCR test. And everyone who’s eligible needs to come forward and get a jab.”

Boris Johnson said the COVID-19 variant “has been spreading” and the UK wants to “grip it”.

“We want to make sure that we take all the prudential, all the cautious steps now that we could take,” he said.

“So there are meetings going on today to consider exactly what we need to do.”

The PM’s spokesman said there were “no plans” to reintroduce the tiered system of virus restrictions used in England towards the end of last year.

Despite concerns about the Indian variant, the PM said he “can see nothing that dissuades me from thinking we’ll be able to go ahead on Monday and indeed on 21 June everywhere” in terms of easing coronavirus restrictions in England.

Next Monday will see step three of the country’s roadmap out of lockdown come into effect.

Pubs and restaurants will be able to reopen indoors and people will be allowed to mix indoors as two households or under the rule of six.

People will also have the choice whether to socially distance with close family and friends they meet up with.

On 21 June, step four, the government wants to end “all limits on social contact”.

Aylesbury Buckinghamshire – Crime Haven by Robert Cook May 12th 2021

Vested interests Speak, so why bother with expensive apparently useless vaccines ? May 11th 2021

A third wave in the summer or autumn could see an increase in hospital admissions and deaths, Imperial scientists said

Modelling by Imperial College’s COVID-19 Response Team also found there could be a “small wave” of hospital admissions and about 9,000 additional deaths by June 2022 if steps three and four of the roadmap continue as planned.

hey said the timing and size of a third wave will depend on the levels of transmission between 17 May, when step three happens, and 21 June, when step four is set to take place.

But, if variants of concern emerge that are comparable to the Kent variant, a third wave could be “substantially larger” – both in hospital admissions and deaths – than the spike in the winter of 2021, the researchers said.

“Given the high vaccine uptake observed so far, most deaths are predicted to occur in vaccinated individuals, because of imperfect vaccine efficacy,” the report said.

Dr Anne Cori, from Imperial College, said the predicted small third wave may be “considerably larger” if variants of concern are imported into the UK.

Comment Stop the world , I want to get off. Clearly the NHS cannot cope with massively increased demand resulting from mass immigration and imported health issues.

Not talking about this problem will not make it go away. If mass immigration is necessary, then the rich who are making money from Covid, should pay massively higher taxes so more hospitals can be built and fully staffed – because obviously Covid won’t go away and more health issues are coming. With global BAME population overflowing into the First World. these measures are necessary..

Robert Cook

British State Murder May 11th 2021

British State Murder Verdict May 11^th 2021

Ten people shot dead at Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 1971 were innocent and their deaths were without justification, a coroner has ruled.

She ruled out paramilitary involvement by any of those killed, and described them as “entirely innocent of any wrongdoing on the day in question”.

The families of those killed in Ballymurphy reacted with a mixture of fury and relief to the conclusion of the inquiry, and rejected calls for an amnesty on prosecutions.

Following the ruling, Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill described the killings as “British state murder”.

“The victims and the families of the Ballymurphy Massacre have been vindicated and the truth laid bare,” she tweeted.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the findings will come as “an immense relief and vindication for the families who have maintained for decades that their loved ones were innocent and their killings unjustified”.

He added: “Every family bereaved in the conflict must have access to an effective investigation and to a process of justice regardless of the perpetrator.”

Relatives of the nine men and one woman who were killed applauded when Mrs Justice Keegan exonerated them and found there had been a disproportionate use of force.

The coroner attributed nine of the 10 shootings to the British Army, saying there was not enough evidence to determine where the shot that killed the 10th victim, John McKerr, came from.

Comment Bit late now. British Justice or lack of it in corrupt elite run Britain says it all about this fake Faulty Cultural Society – the last word is used for want of a better word that is not rude. Robert Cook

Britain’s Demonocracy , a comment on the Queen’s Speech – Robert Cook May 11th 2021

One wonders what on earth the British people understand by the word democracy. The head of state is not elected , nor does she have the right to express her own opinion and would be put in care if she stepped out of line , as outrage at Prince Charles’ anti Thatcher utterances demonstrated. There has been a lot of drivel said about the late Prince Phillip, but he got some rough treatment for his non PC utterances.

The same goes for Britain’s upper house, which is a mix of unelected placemen and women and hereditary vested interests toffs . all getting nearly£400 a day attendance allowance. Dame Margaret Thatcher was drooling when she finished her days there – no disrespect to OAPs , I am pushing 71.

So I have heard quite a few Queen’s Speeches , none written by her . During this period I have seen dwindling benefits to working people. Now the so called multi culture thrives on LGBTQI and religious distractions while the only culture that matters is that of the super rich who make and or back the never ending production line of new laws. The inherent conflics in multi culture ensure excuses for ever more laws to contain us. We are free so longt as we obey the law.

Thse laws were used to jail Julian Assange who simply exposed Anglo U.S war crimes. So we should be worried about the espionage codicil listed in the governments prospectus below. I have highlighted items of concern to me. Social media rules are not about children who, if parenting was responsible, would never be near computers without supervison.

More attention should be paid to on line porn where sexually frsurated males look for fantasy sex and even use credit cards. That sort of thing could be shut down overnight. But then there would be sexual tension and a lot of unemplyed sex workers – and less easy work for the police monitoring and probably enjoying the monitoring duties.

People like Boris Johnson, a confessed cocaine ( a sex enhancement drug ) user , are typical of a generation stifling young people and tryig to engineer the social fabric to keep the masses divided and ruled, with totem Muslims like Sadiq Khan giving multi culture a seal of approval while using laws to stifle protest and debate.

These are mere observations as I do not exect anything to change. As for giving Britain’s very corrupt self serving police , who failed to deal with an officer before he appears to have murdered Sarah Everard, , when he was flashing more than his blues and twos. I get fed up with mainstream media pushing the myth that only blacks and BLM are victims of police brutality , lies and corrupt practice. They will harm anyone if they think they ca get away with it – closing ranks to fend of criticism or investigation.

The police cannot be trusted with the powers they already have and frequently abuse. They need reform , including restructuring to get rid of parasitical ranks who are a waste of money and stifle junior officer’s initiative, along with serious monitoring and accountability to a body with no links or interest in the institutionally corrupt British police. That won’t happen because the politicians dare not upset them and many like them just as they are. Robert Cook

Queen’s Speech: Action on obesity and mental health support – but no social care legislation May 11th 2021

The government has promised to tackle obesity and improve mental health support, but there is no sign of long-promised legislation to reform adult social care.

Boris Johnson has set out his legislative agenda for the new parliamentary session in the Queen’s Speech for “unleashing our nation’s full potential” as the UK emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have been given an historic opportunity to change things for the better, level up opportunities across the whole of the United Kingdom, and address the problems that have constrained us far too often before,” he said. © Reuters Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street for the State Opening of Parliament

Proposals on social care will be “brought forward”, but there is no specific bill mentioned to tackle an issue that has bedevilled successive governments.

Upon becoming PM in 2019, Mr Johnson said he had a “clear plan” to fix the system.

Read the latest news and updates on India’s Covid emergency.

Ministers have previously said that plans will be set out at some point this year.

A raft of bills were set out by Her Majesty, in what was her first major public ceremonial duty since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh last month. © 2021 Getty Images LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 11: Queen Elizabeth II ahead of the Queen’s Speech in the House of Lord’s Chamber during the State Opening of Parliament at the House of Lords on May 11, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The event, which is usually marked with pomp and ceremony, was scaled back because of COVID-19.

And rebuilding as the country emerges from the pandemic is a key focus for the government.

“My government’s priority is to deliver a national recovery from the pandemic that makes the United Kingdom stronger, healthier and more prosperous than before,” the Queen said.

“To achieve this, my government will level up opportunities across all parts of the United Kingdom, supporting jobs, businesses and economic growth and addressing the impact of the pandemic on public services.”

The Queen’s Speech also includes new laws allowing post-Brexit reforms to government procurement and state aid, a shake-up of the planning system, a bill to repeal the fixed-term parliaments act, new rules on asylum and measures to tackle voting fraud, including requiring people to provide ID when casting their ballot.

On obesity, adverts for food that is high in fat, salt and sugar will be restricted from April next year. This includes a ban on junk food adverts before the 9pm watershed and a total block online.

Businesses with 250 or more employees will also have to display how many calories are in the food they sell, but not on drinks.

Plans for long-delayed online safety laws were also set out.

The Online Safety Bill will require social networks to tackle illegal content on their services and clearly define what content is not acceptable.

OFCOM will have the ability to hand out fines of up to £18m or 10% of a firm’s annual global turnover, whichever is more.

A Health and Care Bill will better integrate the NHS and social care systems, a Higher Education (Free Speech) Bill will give regulators the power to fine universities or students’ unions in England if they fail to protect freedom of expression and a Counter-State Threats Bill will introduce a US-style register of foreign agents to counter espionage and influence from hostile governments.

There is also a commitment to bring forward measures to ban conversion therapy, the practice of trying to change someone’s sexuality or gender identity.

Meanwhile, a number of other bills have also been carried over from the last parliamentary session, including the Environment Bill – which will set new, legally-binding climate targets – and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which will give police in England and Wales more powers to curtail protests.

Mr Johnson has promised to put “rocket fuel” into his “levelling up” agenda with the introduction of new laws to build on his “lifetime skills guarantee” promise first made last year.

The new Skills and Post-16 Education Bill includes:

• A new student finance system to overhaul the current student loans system, which will give every adult access to a flexible loan for higher-level education and training at university or college, useable at any point in their lives

• Employers will have a statutory role in planning publicly-funded training programmes with education providers

• More government powers to intervene in colleges that fail to meet local needs

There was no specific bill to address the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

#BeKind and #StaySafe, or else!

How “Nudging” is damaging our society and why behavioural scientists must be held to account Artillery Row 10 May, 2021

By

• Patrick Fagan

https://thecritic.co.uk/bekind-and-staysafe-or-else/

I should know: I was formerly the Lead Psychologist at Cambridge Analytica. Yet the application of behavioural science is getting so concerning that even I have a problem with it.

For the uninitiated, nudging is the idea of using psychological principles to give people a gentle bump in the right direction, rather than forcing compliance. For example, we tend to stick with the status quo, since it is easy, and this is why the government has had so much success with auto-enrolment for pensions and organ donation.

These self-styled behavioural architects took it upon themselves to liberate us from the effort and risk inherent in making our own choices

The primary group behind all this is the Behavioural Insights Team. In essence, a bunch of Oxbridge types got together and formed a Ministry of Choice to decide the deciding for us plebs; these self-styled behavioural architects took it upon themselves to liberate us from the effort and risk inherent in making our own choices. With our decision-making outsourced, we can now all relax into our Netflix, Deliveroo and PornHub, and leave it to the state to do all that hard thinking stuff for us (phew).

The team is informally known as the Nudge Unit – and in fact, calling this practice “nudging” is itself a nudge. Framing is where something is made more attractive by focusing on the positives rather than the negatives – for example, sales are higher for beef labelled “80% lean” than “20% fat” – and people are more open to being nudged than they are to being subconsciously manipulated.

Similarly, while the team views its work as “libertarian paternalism” – as if it were kindly old Santa Claus himself, chiding us to be good boys and girls with lumps of coal – the reality seems to be the inverse: authoritarian maternalism, which has hitherto been known as the Nanny State and recently reinvented as a sort of Hugbox Bolshevism. This is the ideology that tells you to be #bekind and #staysafe – or else! It is the ideology that will put an entire nation under crippling house arrest for its own good; it has turned the world into a safe space, by threat of force.

In this way, the establishment has become Jung’s devouring mother archetype, infantilising the populace so that we will be forever dependent. Boris Johnson is Agnes Skinner, Norma Bates, and Dee Dee Blanchard. The average citizen, meanwhile, has become the smothered child, who, said Jung, “hopes to be caught, sucked in, enveloped, and devoured. He seeks, as it were, the protecting, nourishing, charmed circle of the mother, the condition of the infant released from every care”.

Indeed, in Inside the Nudge Unit, chief executive David Halpern justifies its uninvited measures thus: “We don’t ask our children if they would like to read and write, we just get on and teach them.”

In its view of citizens as children, the government’s coronavirus messaging has been reduced to as few characters as possible – Hands. Face. Space. – with accompanying kid-friendly icons lest the monosyllabic words get too confusing. Johnson, meanwhile, feels the grating need to put everything into visual metaphors and catchy ad-land slogans, from “squeezing the disease” to “wrestling an invisible mugger”. If his announcements were printed, one suspects they would be a scratch-n-sniff pop-up book.

In fairness, this reflects a well-recognised decline in comprehension skills among the public. In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman reflects on how the first Lincoln-Douglas presidential debate in 1858 began with a three-hour opening statement from Douglas. Such intellectual complexity would not fare well today: our adults watch Rick & Morty, read Harry Potter, and idolise Marvel superheroes. In its 2020 Christmas trends, the Associated Press dedicated a section to toys for adults, including grown-up colouring books, grass-scented Play-Doh, and Andy Warhol-themed Lego. The latter’s website sums it up: “Choose your favourite colour combination, plug in your headphones to listen to the unique soundtrack and forget about the rest of the world for a little (or a long) while”.

Yes, citizen: regress into eternal childhood and let Mummy Government take care of everything. Thinking bad, fun good. In this Faustian bargain, the state promises complete safety and comfort, and all it will cost is your soul.

It is hard not to suspect this is by design, considering where nudges are not applied. Barely two months into Boris Johnson’s premiership, the government dropped its plans to require credit card details to view pornography. It was argued that the intervention would be ineffective since people could easily circumvent it. Following this logic, there would be no point introducing pension auto-enrolment, since people could easily opt-out (a fallacy). Bearing in mind there is not one single benefit to pornography, and yet many well-established psychological harms (not to mention the grotesque exploitation of vulnerable people), why has the state done nothing to nudge people away from it?

The government’s behavioural scientists think they are doing the right thing. Righteousness was also the conviction of those applying disastrous nudges in the past

The fact is that the state would not nudge people away from porn any more than Roman emperors would nudge people away from bread and circuses. By keeping our passions inflamed, the state justifies itself: the less we can control our own behaviour, the more the state will nudge it for us. As Edmund Burke wrote, “Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without.”

The state accordingly seeks to build back better, and this is where the Nudge Unit’s behavioural architects flourish. Technological advances will make this new society a behavioural scientist’s paradise. All our behaviours – and eventually our thoughts and feelings – will be captured as concrete data points. The trace of everything you buy in the cashless society, every person your phone identifies you as interacting with, and every private conversation you have at home in front of the prying telescreen of your Facebook Portal, will be turned into data points, tagged against the centralised digital ID of your ‘freedom passport’, and analysed. Algorithms will predict your behaviour and send you the right nudge at the right time to change it.

Consider, for example, the IMF recently arguing that your browsing history should be used to determine your credit score; or a University of Sheffield study finding that Tweets can be used to predict someone’s likelihood of sharing so-called misinformation. Most people will not complain because the algorithm will know the exact combination of Amazon products, Deliveroo burgers, and Netflix shows to keep their dopamine receptors firing in just the right way.

The trend is towards massive state overreach on the scale of planned economies attempted throughout modern history – but this time powered by Amazon’s predictive analytics and the Ministry of Choice’s behavioural science.

The behavioural science community so far seems blasé. In November 2020, the Nudge Unit advocated that those who test negative for Covid-19 be given wristbands allowing them to move freely. In a New York Times article, Nobel-prize winning co-author of Nudge, Richard Thaler, advocated for a “health passport” that “could reliably be used to gain admission to airplane flights, restaurants, bars, concerts, schools and college campuses”. This authoritarian approach is nothing new: Thaler’s Nudge co-author, Cass Sunstein, argued in 2008 that nudges should be used against people believing so-called conspiracy theories.

The behavioural architects have anointed themselves the grand poohbahs of reason: in their view, the public is irrational and in need of nudging, and only the unfailingly rational Ministry of Choice is fit to decide how. As Inside the Nudge Unit boasts, they are “pushing us in the right direction”. But who gets to decide what is right? One of the key principles of behavioural science is that we can all be vulnerable to irrational thinking. One experiment, for example, found that doctors – who are, by most accounts, intelligent, educated, and experienced – are 19 percent more likely to prescribe medication when there is only option, rather than a choice between multiple (which becomes effortful).

The government’s behavioural scientists think they are doing the right thing. Righteousness was also the conviction of those applying disastrous nudges in the past. The British Raj, for example, offered a bounty for every dead cobra turned in in Delhi. The intervention seemed to work in reducing the cobra population, so the scheme was ended. In fact, the locals had been deliberately breeding cobras to get the cash and, when the payments stopped, the farmed snakes were set free.

This is the crux: are the British people emotional, impulsive lab rats to be coaxed with pieces of cheese and electric shocks – or do they have dignity, souls, and individual sovereignty? One of the early architects of nudging as we know it today was John B. Watson. Watson popularised the school of behaviourism, arguing that human behaviour was simply the sum of learned associations and environmental responses; that it could be reduced to discrete bits of behaviour (‘nudge units’, if you will). The discipline, he wrote, “recognizes no dividing line between man and brute”. Believing as he did that behaviour was nothing more than the sum of uncontrollable responses to external stimuli, at the age of 42 he had an affair with his 22-year-old student. He used a behaviourist approach to raise the resulting children; both attempted suicide, and one succeeded.

Are the British people emotional, impulsive lab rats to be coaxed with pieces of cheese and electric shocks – or do they have dignity, souls, and individual sovereignty?

Psychologists have – to put it mildly – a patchy history of ethics, from Harry Harlow subjecting monkeys to an experimental “pit of despair” to John Money foisting sex change surgery on a child to test his social gender theory. More recently, of course, questions have been raised about the use of personality-based targeted messaging. Yet these pale in comparison to what will be possible in the future when, as the WEF’s Klaus Schwab postulates, the state will be able to “retrieve memories directly from people’s brains” for the purposes of law enforcement; and already, research has shown that transcranial magnetic stimulation can reduce right-wing political beliefs.

With urgency, behavioural scientists must be held to account.

I once had the privilege of working with what would become the Behavioural Insights Team on a proof-of-concept study. In due course, I received a copy of Nudge signed by its now Nobel Prize-winning author, Richard Thaler. During the chaos of coronavirus, Thaler has advocated for “freedom passports”; but back when he signed my book, his message was different:

“Nudge for good.”

Church to consider removing or altering slavery monuments Posted May 11th 2021

New guidance calls for Church of England to review monuments for ‘contested heritage’ and relocate or remove them

Harriet Sherwood@harrietsherwoodSun 9 May 2021 06.30 BST

Last modified on Sun 9 May 2021 07.39 BST

• The Church of England is to review thousands of monuments in churches and cathedrals across the country that contain historical references to slavery and colonialism, with some expected to be removed.

Guidance to be issued this week encourages the C of E’s 12,500 parishes and 42 cathedrals to scrutinise buildings and grounds for evidence of contested heritage, and consult local communities on what action to take.

Although decisions will be made at a local level, the guidance stresses that ignoring contested heritage is not an option. Among actions that may be taken are the removal, relocation or alteration of plaques and monuments, and the addition of contextual information. In some cases, there may be no change.

The guidance comes after Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, called for a review of the C of E’s built heritage following the Black Lives Matter protests last summer and the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol. “Some [statues and monuments] will have to come down,” Welby said at the time.

An anti-racism taskforce set up by the archbishops of Canterbury and York last month urged the C of E to take decisive steps to address the legacy of its involvement in the slave trade. It said: “We do not want to unconditionally celebrate or commemorate people who contributed to or benefited from the tragedy that was the slave trade.”

Comment Where do you draw the line with this ? The whole Christian Church has much to answer for. It has traded on Jesus’s name from the outset. In reality it was a spin off of the Roman Empire, famous for all forms of slavery, the galley slaves were a most amazing phenomenon.

The Christian movement post dates Jesus’s murder, facilitated by the vengeful Jewish Church. Islam was a breakaway movement from Christianity. Violence and cruelty has been a hallmark of all offshoots because religion is about power based on fear.

Pandering to blacks and telling whites to put jobs before babies is an interesting elite philosophy and strategy in this age of globalisation, intriguing viruses, pointless masks, lockdowns and the ‘new normal’ which has made the rich multi racial elite ever richer. British Royalty has a history of involvement in slavery , starting during the reign of Elizabeth I st with Drake and Hawkins at her beck and call. Plymoiuth next , I assume. Robert Cook

All Doomed May 10th 2021 By F.S

The Observer yesterday:

1. ‘Italy’s birthrate is falling’. ‘Family policies’ are an answer, but 50% of 18 to 20 year olds can’t imagine ever having children.

Double page spread

2. ‘As the global family shrinks, migrants and the planet benefit’. Self-explanatory.

Half a page

3. ‘The world needs babies’. ‘The decision to have a child is a tough one for many women’, and ‘No wonder the population is falling’. ‘These are big social changes…’ (to make having children more attractive) – OR ‘we should prepare ourselves for a grim and gradual economic transition to a poorer society’.

Full page

4. ‘Are there too many people? All bets are off.’ The current birthrate is 2.47 and the UN predicts it will drop below replacement level in 2070. There will be ‘gradual deteriorations in the quality of life’ and ‘much of humanity will have “a terrible time” over the next few decades’.

Double page spread in science pages of the review section

That’s five and a half pages in one newspaper. Two apparently contradictory messages: depopulation is necessary, depopulation is terrible. We must either have children and save the economy but kill the planet or not have children and save the planet but kill the economy. The overarching conclusion is that we’re doomed if the population continues to grow and we’re doomed if it shrinks. This is, as far as I can see, unconnected to any specific news story – except speculation about Italy. F.S

A Virus of Convenience May 10th 2021 – Robert Cook

A special message from Microsoft News: India is currently being devastated by a deadly second wave of Covid. You can support Oxfam’s Covid relief efforts in India, including reaching out to the most affected and vulnerable communities, distributing and installing medical equipment and accessories, and supporting the most marginalised households. You can donate here.

The UK’s COVID-19 alert level should be lowered from four to three, chief medical officers have said.

A statement from the medical officers and NHS England’s national medical director said that people must remain “vigilant” of the virus, but added the decision to downgrade the alert level was “thanks to the efforts of the UK public”.

Art of Forgetting – Robert Cook May 9th 2021

Democracy ? May 9th 2021

Andy Burnham has dramatically broken ranks to criticise Keir Starmer’s response to Labour’s local elections disaster in England.

The Greater Manchester mayor hit out at the leader’s decision to sack Angela Rayner as party chair as Labour shed 250 council seats.

Ms Rayner will no longer serve as chair and campaign co-ordinator after Labour lost Durham council and the Hartlepool by-election.

It is the first move in a brutal reshuffle by Sir Keir, who said on Friday that he would take full responsibility for the results. More changes at the top of Labour are expected today.

But the man nicknamed ‘king of the north’ led a mutiny last night, tweeting: “I can’t support this.”

Comment Sir Kier Starmer headed Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service , a corrupt organisation that colluded with corrupt police to withhold and present fabricated evidence and ‘bad character files’ in order to hit prosecution targets and cover up for the police misconduct. Robert Cook

The Asylum – May 9th 2021

Not a single European country has decided to support the UK government’s controversial asylum plans, with the UN on Saturday night criticising the proposals as so damaging they risked Britain’s “global credibility”.

Six weeks after the home secretary, Priti Patel, unveiled a sweeping immigration overhaul that included deporting migrants who enter the UK illegally to safe countries such as “France and other EU countries”, sources have said the Home Office has been unable to persuade any European state to sign up to the scheme.

The UN’s refugee agency will soon publish its detailed legal opinion into Patel’s asylum proposals that is likely to conclude her plans infringe international legislation and are unworkable. Despite this, Patel’s asylum proposals are to feature in the Queen’s speech on Tuesday, which lays out the government’s legislative agenda for the next year. © PA Wire/PA Images A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by Border Force officers following a small boat incident in the Channel earlier this morning. Picture date: Tuesday April 20, 2021. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images)

Yet the complete lack of any bilateral European agreements to return migrants from the UK, alongside a warning from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that the Home Office proposals risk undermining longstanding global agreements to offer protection to refugees, already casts doubt on its future.

Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, UNHCR representative to the UK, told the Observer that the UK’s plans threatened the integrity of the UN refugee convention – which the UK government helped write in 1951 – and which seeks to protect individuals fleeing persecution or catastrophe.

Pagliuchi-Lor said: “If a country like the UK – still wealthy despite the Covid downturn and with relatively low numbers of asylum seekers – seeks to back away from its obligations under the convention, what message does it send to others hosting large numbers?

French Lessons used to be a euphemism for whore’s trade – Robert Cook May 8th 2021

I would like to dismiss the Woke generation as a Joke generation. But they are no joke and no joking matter.

As a former teacher , with 18 years experience, it was obvious that many of my pupils in an English school , where English was their first language, were very poor at reading and therefore at spelling. The fact that the school had the audacity to teach the pupils French , regardless of poor English was absurd.

I used to cover upper school French lessons, witnessing how the system had failed. As with my experience as a maths teacher, the issue was about making the subject relevant to the students. Had they been informed that English was actually 60 % French and 40 % German , due to Anglo Saxon and Norman French invasions , the students would have realised that they had a head start in understanding.

In my view, French is a beautiful language from a beautiful country. Of course we must now vilify and rewrite all European history with no mention of the class interests and brain washing feeding so much internecine war – the latest being all about scrubbing Napoleon et al from history.

As a teenager, I enjoyed reading French literature and poetry. Albert Camus ,John Paul Satre and Simone de Beauvoir were also great influences. Irish Poet and playwright Samuel Beckett made Paris his home, choosing to write in French.

Now we have the Woke generation campaigning to make French novel and playwrights to be inclusive – one wonders if that might reasonably lead to an inclusive rewrite of The Koran. In Britain , we are already down that road with children’s books and TV drama. There are clear stereotypes for heroes and villains.

It gets better. The Woke Folk want to ban noun gendering because they see it as sexist. Nouns in French are divided into two categories. With nouns in the first category, the word for the is le and for nouns in the second category it is la. The two categories are generally called masculine and feminine. The names masculine and feminine are conventional and probably stem from the fact that some masculine nouns refer to male people or beings, and some feminine nouns to female people or beings.

But in the vast majority of cases, there is no real relationship between a noun’s meaning and its gender. Consider, for example, that bureau and office can have similar meanings, but the former is masculine and the latter feminine; or that the noun personne is feminine but can refer to both men and women. As the language evolved, it became an issue of which gender prefix blended most smoothly with the noun. So it is a smoother sound to say le bureau than la bureau. Equally la office rolls off the tongue better than le office . It is about blending nouns and consonants, smoothly for ease of speech and understanding.

Controlling language is about controlling thought and people’s conversations. Ever multiplying laws also have the intention of allowing small minded people , as I have seen in public service, to take offence and avoid uncomfortable issues and conflict. Women are particularly prone to take offence. I don’t see this process having a happy ending. Robert Cook

Starmer ‘bitterly disappointed’ by results as MP says ‘woke warriors’ have taken over party

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Sir Keir Starmer has said he takes “full responsibility” for Labour’s defeat in the Hartlepool by-election, as an MP hit out at the “London-based bourgeoisie” he claims has captured the party with the “support of brigades of woke social media warriors”.

The Labour leader said he was “bitterly disappointed” with the result, adding: “I take full responsibility for the results. And I will take full responsibility for fixing things.” © Thomson Reuters Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and newly elected MP for Hartlepool Jill Mortimer pose for a photo at Jacksons Wharf Marina in Hartlepool following local elections, Britain, May 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lee Smith

The Hartlepool vote – as well as Thursday’s local elections, for which the results are continuing to be counted – represent Sir Keir’s first major electoral test after just over a year as Labour leader.

In a bad night for the party, Labour lost out to the Conservatives in Hartlepool by 6,940 votes.

____________________________________________________

More on this story:

Labour infighting erupts after Hartlepool defeat (Evening Standard)

Hartlepool defeat ‘a crushing blow to Starmer’ (The Independent)

What next for Labour after the humiliating defeat? (Press Association)

____________________________________________________

Labouring Under Delusion Of Grandeur As Hartlepool By Robert Cook May 7th 2021

For me ,having been on the receiving end of the manifestly corrupt Crown Prosecution Service and the U.K police who lie to get convictions, I cannot stand their old boss Sir Kier Starmer, He is repellent to me and not fit for public office. So I am not surprised others reject him and his Wok Labour Party , whichtook Hartlepool for granted,

The seat has been held by the Labour Party since its formation in 1974 – and the loss of the constituency has sparked recriminations about the direction of the party under Sir Keir’s leadership.

Key Labour delusions

1 ) In one of the most strident critiques of Sir Keir’s stewardship of the party, Khalid Mahmood took aim at the “London-based bourgeoisie” who, “with the support of brigades of woke social media warriors”, had captured the party.

2 ) The Birmingham Perry Barr MP said Labour had to recognise that it is viewed as “a party that has lost its way” in places that used to be “unfailingly loyal”.

3 )Mr Mahmood, who quietly quit his frontbench role last month, added: “My view is simple: in the past decade, Labour has lost touch with ordinary British people.”

4 ) Sir Keir said the party had “lost the trust of working people” in places like Hartlepool and added that he intends to do “whatever is necessary to fix that”.

He insisted the party had “changed” since its 2019 defeat under Jeremy Corbyn, but added: “We have not made a strong enough case to the country.” This another delusion. Working people know exactly what Labour with its strident woke feminists and he for she males are all about. Covid Lockdown and BLM , along with hounding any alternative views has made all things very clear. Step out of line and you have a criminal record for hate crime,

Sir Keir said he would be setting out a plan to “reconnect” Labour with voters in the days to come, with critics seizing on the result to call for a change in strategy.

Allies of Mr Corbyn were quick to point out Labour had twice won the seat under his leadership in the last two general elections.

The ugly truth is that British society is ultimately ordered by upper class toffs. Officially class doesn’t exist anymore . We are told it is now multi culture with freedom of worship in spite of there being no evidence for God – and you’d get no such right in countries like Saudi Arabia.

Labour hasn’t simply lost its way. It has lost its roots. Thatcher killed them in the 1980s. She destroyed so much industry. Muslim migrants streamed in , no matter whether legal or not. They have become the new underclass with no intention of assimilating.

Whites don’t want babies and white males increasingly want to be transsexual or gay,. BLM are another interest group and its racist to say white lives matter. Labour cannot connect with this conflict and chaos. Rightly or wrongly white working classes see glimmers of old England with – in the utterances and posturing of the Conservatives. Drowning people clutch at straws.

Meanwhile the heavy flow of economic migrants from North Africa and Muslim world will provide an expanding and ultimately dominant power base for a new kind of British Party. This will b commensurate with what will ultimately wipe out and replace what we oldies revered as Labour before the party was killed off by toffee nosed Visscount Sidmouth aka Tony Benn stabbing Dennis Healey in the back .

This made making way for dotty pacifist ancient academic Micheal Foot who paved the way for Labour’s reinvention as another version of Thatcherism.

New Labour Blair looked after the rich, bombed out the Middle East opening the way to mass immigration and that is what a lot or working clclass white people don’t like. Brexit was the con of all cons to address this problem, but the Tories won’t touch it. So new interest groups will look to change or replace the current parties.

Whatever happens, it will still be the ruling elite backstage who call the tune, probably making the most of more anti social lockdowns and ultimately another world war – they’ve done it all before, nuclear too. Robert Cook

There is no hope that Labour will ever relate to working clss whites ever again. But any new prty who ever sidled up to working class grievances , especially mass immigration which impounds on and costs them b -cause rich peope make and enforce the aws, paying the lowest taxes – would be vilifies and penetrated by MI5. In some ways I is all rather frunny , especially listening to the long wonded overpaid BBC TV pundis whose job is to cloud the issue.

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Police Are Recording Polite Letters As Hate Crime Incidents Posted May 7th 2021

• Richie Allen
• April 28, 2021
• 7:50 am
• 8 Comments

An 85 year-old retired teacher who wrote a polite letter to a woman in which he disagreed with her stance on abortion, was told by police that the “hate incident” would go on his record.

Douglas Kedge was defending parents rights to abort a foetus with Down’s Syndrome. Last November, Kedge wrote to a woman who was leading a public protest against an episode of Emmerdale in which a couple chose to abort their baby after it was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome.

In the letter he told the woman that he respected her feelings on the matter, but said that there were other perfectly decent people” who, when an early diagnosis was given, took the view that they did not wish to cope with “what could well be for them an appalling change in their lives”.

He wrote; “You disgracefully suggest that the reason for the inclusion of this situation in the script is a deliberate attempt to perpetuate prejudice against Down’s syndrome children”. He pointed out that the episode included another couple who rejoiced in their child with Down’s.

Kedge was horrified to receive a call from a police officer after the woman reported the letter as a hate crime. The officer accepted that the letter was cordial and in no way disrespectful, but told Kedge that a record would be created in line with hate crime guidance.

The retired teacher is worried that he may be unable to volunteer at his local school. He told The Times newspaper:

“I’m worried that I will have to explain to the school that I’m not a criminal. It is so serious if this can happen to anyone who writes a perfectly polite and reasonable letter disagreeing with someone else’s point of view.”

According to The Times:

He (Kedge) is one of 120,000 people in the past five years whose behaviour was reported to police and recorded as a hate incident when it did not reach the criminal threshold.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, has asked the College of Policing to review the policy which is based on Home Office rules, guidance and legislation.

In a letter to the college, Patel said that she was concerned that the recording of hate incidents could ruin lives if they show up on enhanced vetting checks.Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on linkedinShare on whatsappShare on telegram

Richie Allen

Richie Allen is the host of The Richie Allen Radio show, Europe’s most listened to independent radio show and is a passionate supporter of free speech. He lives in Salford with the future Mrs Allen and their two dogs. All Posts

Miss Fit by Robert Cook May 7th 2021

Ex-Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies says transgender athletes ‘with a male sex advantage’ should be banned from women’s sport – as Martina Navratilova apologises for calling trans stars ‘cheats’

• Speaking to BBC Sport, the 56-year-old said ‘it is not a transphobic thing’
• Davies is the latest high profile name to give her opinion on the divisive issue
• Tennis legend Navratilova controversially gave her opinion but apologised today

• Speaking to BBC Sport, the 56-year-old said ‘it is not a transphobic thing’
• Davies is the latest high profile name to give her opinion on the divisive issue
• Tennis legend Navratilova controversially gave her opinion but apologised today

Feminists and female sports people are angry and concerned by transsexuals , even without their male parts, competing against them. The concerns are a mix of sex assault fears and , above all, unfair competitive advantage because males are on average stronger , better co-ordinated, with better spatial awareness, lung capacity and stamina than women.

The first excuse is more of the females typical obsession and fixation with her physical attractiveness and vulnerability. The second excuse has more substance, depending on how early the transsexual began treatment.

The amusing thing is that while women’s group leaders cannot stop going on about being equal to a man , if not better , at everything, the truth comes out when female stars fear losing all the prize money that modern so called sports offer. Sport is money and women certainly equal , and maybe will one day exceed , the worst of men in this respect. Robert Cook

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/apr/16/experience-ive-had-the-same-supper-for-10-years

A Fishy Little Fishing War by Robert Cook May 6^th 2021

The E.U , even with U.K on board has done nothing to regulate fishing. It has become very big business , with damage to the future of fishing stocks compounded by pollution. Massive over population and economic and religiously motivated  immigration has compounded the problem.

Britain’s more intellectual Brexiteers believed leaving the E.U would take away the smokescreen the political and media elite were using to hide facts that said elite were using the E.U to promote laws that were in elite interests , not those of the British masses.

What we have now is clear evidence that Britain’s elite never expected Brexit to happen. It happened because a mass of poorly educated whites thought it would shut the door to Islamification. The reason for the apparently mystifying Islamic communities from areas like Birmingham and Leicester supporting Brexit was simply because they expected it to stem the flow of East European whites. Britain’s upper middle class elite don’t want that mentioned.

The problem is that poor people experience the misery of every day rainbow multi culture where you can never reach the end of the rainbow for the crock of gold.  So it is no surprise that Brexit has boiled over into a squabble between two groups of fishermen. I haven’t been to Jersey for many years. Fishing has gradually given pride of place to more and more of a rich person’s tax haven. Jersey occupied my the Nazis during World War Two , I will never forget my sense of wonder and disgust at the sight of the underground hospital, built by slaves.

It seems there are no depths to which human depravity and cruelty will not sink. Similarly there are no heights or limits to hypocrisy, especially among the religious bigots and ruling elite which they serve.

The last two world wars were utterly avoidable , but as with the current ‘war on covid 19’ , they served to divide and thin out the masses – profiting the elites. When their lackeys and mouthpieces tell you that over population isn’t the problem, they mean they don’t want you to know that it is because you might realise what is being done in your name. So we have this frenzied , apparently ridiculous Jersey situation. Britain’s elite will relish an opportunity to embarrass France which is why it is comfortable with the woke French et al rubbishing Napoleon.

These people are happy to destroy white Caucasian peoples culture wherever they see benefit. So we have a ridiculous new cod war, when what we always needed was a united Europe free from mystifying bureaucrats and all those international woke folk obsessed with skin colour, genitals and fake equality. Inequality is about none of those things. It is about wealth. All whites are not racist or descendants of slave owners – but there is a top EU official whose family had very strong historic links with slavery, just as BMW, much loved by posh aspirational Brits, used slave labour during the 1039-45  war. General Motors made a fortune from the Nazi regime – see ‘The Vauxhall Story’ by Robert Cook.

The Julian Assange affair tells you all you need to know about Britain’s elite and why it is pointless to vote for change. The demise and ongoing victimisation of Donald Trump – who should have add the guts to pardon Assange – says it all about our fake news world and fake democracies. So this fishy little fish war is yet another distraction from what really matters , including the Anglo -US led Nato calling Russia abnormal and its leader a murderer. Some pots just can’t stop calling kettles black – or should that saying now be bout white  pots & kettles – have to await new woke official rules on that one.  these people in charge of the west.

A Fishy Little Fishing War by Robert Cook May 6^th 2021

The E.U , even with U.K on board has done nothing to regulate fishing. It has become very big business , with damage to the future of fishing stocks compounded by pollution. Massive over population and economic and religiously motivated  immigration has compounded the problem.

Britain’s more intellectual Brexiteers believed leaving the E.U would take away the smokescreen the political and media elite were using to hide facts that said elite were using the E.U to promote laws that were in elite interests , not those of the British masses.

What we have now is clear evidence that Britain’s elite never expected Brexit to happen. It happened because a mass of poorly educated whites thought it would shut the door to Islamification. The reason for the apparently mystifying Islamic communities from areas like Birmingham and Leicester supporting Brexit was simply because they expected it to stem the flow of East European whites. Britain’s upper middle class elite don’t want that mentioned.

The problem is that poor people experience the misery of every day rainbow multi culture where you can never reach the end of the rainbow for the crock of gold.  So it is no surprise that Brexit has boiled over into a squabble between two groups of fishermen. I haven’t been to Jersey for many years. Fishing has gradually given pride of place to more and more of a rich person’s tax haven. Jersey occupied my the Nazis during World War Two , I will never forget my sense of wonder and disgust at the sight of the underground hospital, built by slaves.

It seems there are no depths to which human depravity and cruelty will not sink. Similarly there are no heights or limits to hypocrisy, especially among the religious bigots and ruling elite which they serve.

The last two world wars were utterly avoidable , but as with the current ‘war on covid 19’ , they served to divide and thin out the masses – profiting the elites. When their lackeys and mouthpieces tell you that over population isn’t the problem, they mean they don’t want you to know that it is because you might realise what is being done in your name. So we have this frenzied , apparently ridiculous Jersey situation. Britain’s elite will relish an opportunity to embarrass France which is why it is comfortable with the woke French et al rubbishing Napoleon.

These people are happy to destroy white Caucasian peoples culture wherever they see benefit. So we have a ridiculous new cod war, when what we always needed was a united Europe free from mystifying bureaucrats and all those international woke folk obsessed with skin colour, genitals and fake equality. Inequality is about none of those things. It is about wealth. All whites are not racist or descendants of slave owners – but there is a top EU official whose family had very strong historic links with slavery, just as BMW, much loved by posh aspirational Brits, used slave labour during the 1039-45  war. General Motors made a fortune from the Nazi regime – see ‘The Vauxhall Story’ by Robert Cook.

The Julian Assange affair tells you all you need to know about Britain’s elite and why it is pointless to vote for change. The demise and ongoing victimisation of Donald Trump – who should have add the guts to pardon Assange – says it all about our fake news world and fake democracies. So this fishy little fish war is yet another distraction from what really matters , including the Anglo -US led Nato calling Russia abnormal and its leader a murderer. Some pots just can’t stop calling kettles black – or should that saying now be bout white  pots & kettles – have to await new woke official rules on that one.  these people in charge of the west.

Robert Cook1

Robert Cook

‘Like an invasion’: French military ship heads to Jersey in fishing row as Royal Navy patrols waters Posted May 6th 2021

A fleet of French fishing boats has descended on Jersey after threatening to blockade the island’s main port over a post-Brexit fishing rights row.

The UK has sent two Royal Navy ships to Jersey “as a precaution” – HMS Severn and HMS Tamar are patrolling the waters around Jersey this morning.

And French authorities have confirmed to Sky News that a vessel, the Military Ops ship Athos, will be arriving “imminently” to carry out a “patrol mission” – while local reports suggest another is also en route.

_______________________________________________________________________

More on this story:

French threats ‘close to an act of war’ (The Guardian)

Why is there a row over fishing in Jersey? (Sky News)

A brief history of British fishing feuds (The Independent)

_______________________________________________________________________

The deployment, France says, is to “guarantee the safety” of people at sea and “accompany” the flotilla of around 50 French fishing vessels currently protesting off St Helier over a lack of access to waters around the Channel island.

An official from the French presidency said they were keen that the situation does not worsen.

France views the situation in Jersey as being calm, they said, but added that the UK’s language on the matter had aggravated tensions.

The European Commission, meanwhile, has said it is “engaging in good faith” with the UK as to how to solve the fishing dispute. © Other HMS Tamar is a new Royal Navy patrol ship. Pic: MoD

The map below, taken from marinetraffic.com just before 7am on Thursday, showed the French boats (in orange) heading towards the harbour then later massing near Elizabeth Castle, while the UK ships (light blue) appeared to be holding back.

French fishing boats were due to enter the harbour to prevent the Commodore Clipper, carrying cargo, from docking in Jersey, according to local paper the Bailiwick Express.

French officials also said they will be closing their Channel Islands’ offices and will stop importing Jersey products into France. © Other HMS Severn (far left, light blue) and HMS Tamar (bottom left, light blue) can be seen on the outskirts of Jersey on Thursday morning. Pic: marinetraffic.com

The Commodore Goodwill freight ship was initially “trapped” and unable to leave the harbour this morning, but was later allowed to pass, according to the Jersey Evening Post.

Although crews on the French vessels were seen setting off flares, the protest has so far remained peaceful.

However, footage showed one instance of a UK boat being rammed by a French vessel.

The Jersey Evening Post said several local residents had turned up to watch and police were at the scene. © Other Two Royal Navy ships have been sent to protect Jersey from a blockade by French fishing vessels. Pic: Michael Bewley

Jersey fisherman Josh Dearing described the scene at the port of St Helier as “like an invasion”.

The 28-year-old told the PA news agency: “There were probably about 60 boats. There were a few hand-held flares and smoke flares going off and apparently a few maybe bangers and stuff going off from the French.”

He said the French fleet – which started gathering from around 4.30am – was mostly made up of “big French dredgers and trawlers” of about 12 metres or more.

Paris earlier threatened to cut off power to the island – which receives 95% of its electricity from France through three undersea cables – accusing Jersey of dragging its feet over issuing new licences to French boats.

French fishermen said they would blockade the main port of St Helier to prevent supplies from being delivered.

Jersey’s external affairs minister, Ian Gorst, said the French had made clear their frustration over the new Brexit trade deal. He said “tensions are running high” and the “precautionary” action by the Royal Navy “has so far worked”.

He told Sky News: “We have had disproportionate threats emanating from Paris and a potential blockade of our main harbour – and those threats we take seriously to protect Jersey’s interests. © Other The scene on Thursday morning following the arrival of a number of French boats. Pics: Michael Bewley

“We want to give French fisherman who can prove they have fished in our waters historically, the rights they had previously – but evidence has to be provided.

“Now there is a little bit of a bureaucratic process because that evidence has to go from Normandy to Paris, to the EU and London and then to Jersey, and it has become apparent since we issued the first licences on Friday that not all of that evidence has been presented, and therefore talking and helping fishermen to be able to provide that evidence means we will be able to adjust their licences, and that is the way through the problems that we are currently experiencing.”

He said Jersey fishermen had “found it bureaucratic to land their fish” in French waters.

Mr Gorst added Jersey government representatives were due to meet with French fishing leaders this morning on boats alongside each other in the harbour “to resolve the current dispute and resume previous good relations”. © Other Jersey is involved in a row with France over post-Brexit fishing rights. Pic: Michael Bewley

Jimmy Hersent, of the Monaco du Nord 2, told Sky News: “We went to Jersey to tell them that we want to work as we were before.

“A boat like mine is no longer allowed to trawl and I only have the right to come for 34 days in the year.

“[If this continues], what will happen is that the amount of fishing boats in the Bay of Granville will be too large and we will be on top of each other, and the resource there will be impacted.” © Other French vessels have gathered to protest over post-Brexit fishing rights off Jersey. Pic: @PinelPhotos

Downing Street confirmed Boris Johnson spoke to the chief minister of Jersey, Senator John Le Fondre, on Wednesday evening “about the prospect of a blockade of Saint Helier” – the island’s main town.

“The prime minister and chief minister stressed the urgent need for a de-escalation in tensions and for dialogue between Jersey and France on fishing access,” a spokesman said.

“The prime minister underlined his unwavering support for Jersey. He said that any blockade would be completely unjustified. As a precautionary measure the UK will be sending two offshore patrol vessels to monitor the situation.

“They agreed the UK and Jersey governments would continue to work closely on this issue.”

In a statement, Mr Le Fondre and Mr Gorst said they expected a “peaceful demonstration by the French fishermen outside St Helier Harbour”.
© Associated Press French fishermen have threatened to blockade the port of St Helier

Speaking on Wednesday night, they said: “The responsible ministers and government officials have met this evening to ensure that the very best plans are in place to ensure Islanders’ interests are properly protected at all times. We remain confident in our ability to do this.

“We welcome the ongoing support from the prime minister and UK government to achieve a diplomatic solution to this dispute, and we are aware that the UK are sending two offshore patrol vessels as a precautionary measure to monitor the situation in Jersey waters.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed HMS Severn, described as being able to mount fishing vessels for inspection, and HMS Tamar, one of the Navy’s newest warships, were being deployed to Jersey “to conduct maritime security patrols”.

“This is a strictly precautionary measure and has been agreed with the Jersey government,” he added.

France accused the UK of using red tape to limit fishing around Jersey, in breach of the Brexit agreement made with the EU last year, and said it is “ready to use these retaliation measures”.

“With regards to Jersey, I would remind you, for example, of electricity transmission by underwater cable. So, we have the means,” French maritime minister Annick Girardin said.

The UK’s environment and food secretary George Eustice said the row was about 17 French fishing vessels that have failed to provide the data needed for Jersey to grant them a licence to fish in its waters. © Reuters George Eustice said 40 vessels have been given licences already – but France said they have come with conditions

Ms Girardin said the authorisation of 41 boats to fish in Jersey waters had been accompanied by new demands “which were not arranged or discussed, and which we were not notified about”.

The demands set out where ships could and could not go, how long fishermen can spend at sea, and what machinery they can use, she added.

Mr Eustice said the UK has been asking the European Commission for the data needed to complete the licence applications and will issue them “as soon as they have provided that data”.

“I think the threat that was made is completely disproportionate and unacceptable,” he said.

“We are working through the agreement, Jersey have already licensed over 40 vessels, they’ve been very pragmatic throughout this.

“They’ve also been clear that they’ll process the remaining 17 or so as soon as they put forward the data, so I think it’s unacceptable to make those sorts of comments.”

Mr Eustice said “a small number” of French authorities or individual French fishermen have been “difficult to identify” and get the data from – but Jersey has issued temporary licences as vessels gather the data.

Sending OPVs to Channel Island waters is, in itself, not controversial, but people I spoke to in the MoD and Royal Navy were not made aware of the announcement until late on. Fisheries post-Brexit were always going to be controversial, but it seems Downing Street is puffing out its chest and sending a strong message to Paris.

Gun Joke Diplomacy – The New Cod Wars May 5th 2021

The Royal Navy is being deployed to Jersey amid fears that French fishermen will blockade the island’s main port on Thursday as the row over post-Brexit fishing arrangements escalates.

On Wednesday night, Boris Johnson sent two patrol vessels to St Helier following a phone call with Senator John Le Fondré, Jersey’s Chief Minister.

Read the latest news and updates on India’s Covid emergency.

More than 60 French fishing vessels are expected to arrive in the port on Thursday to protest over access to the waters around the island.

The fishermen – angered by Jersey’s decision to place new restrictions on fishing licences permitting access to its waters – have threatened to bring the island “to its knees”.   © Provided by The Telegraph Offshore patrol vessels are heading to Jersey – LPhot Phil Bloor/Royal Navy

On Wednesday night, a Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and Chief Minister stressed the urgent need for a de-escalation in tensions and for dialogue between Jersey and France on fishing access.

“The Prime Minister underlined his unwavering support for Jersey. He said that any blockade would be completely unjustified. As a precautionary measure, the UK will be sending two offshore patrol vessels to monitor the situation.”

Lord Frost, the Cabinet minister in charge of EU relations, also held talks in Westminster on Wednesday night to co-ordinate the UK’s response should the fishermen carry out their threat.

The row began on Tuesday when Annick Girardin, the French Minister of the Sea, said her country was prepared to cut Jersey’s energy supply unless it relented over access to UK waters.

World War Two – Romanticised Mechanised Murder For The Rich & Powerful. May 5th 2021

World War Two was the first state of total war where every economic, scientific, and industrial resource and labour of the participating countries were dedicated to waging full-scale warfare, eliminating military and civilian resources. The war involved over 100 million military personnel from more than 30 countries resulting in 70 to 85 million fatal casualties.

Now we have an elite orchestrated world war on Covid 19 which has unexplained origins and lockdowns with masks for which there is no evidence of efficacy or usefulness other than the same old ‘divide and rule’ that gave humans their other great wars.

What is now called far right politics was an inevitable outcome of how working class people, in particular Germans , who were falsely accused of starting the in bred elite’s Imperial infighting that became World War One.

Now we have the same class of privileged moronic greedy interest groups patronising , lecturing and tyrannising as the lower orders take the blame for what is just another predictable outcome of greed led and driven globalisation.

As I have said before, democracy should be the name of a new style of wall paper , with the slogan : ‘Papers over all the cracks, earth quake and Tsunami resistant.’ I suspect that 9/11 was the Globalists’ Reichstag Fire moment. Robert Cook

May Day International Distress – Robert Cook May 3rd 2021

Good News For U.K From Cable – Robert Cook May 2nd 2021

‘Rushin’ to Conclusions’ – by Robert Cook May 2nd 2021

WATCH chaos gripping Paris as violence & vandalism mark May Day protest

1 May, 2021 16:12 / Updated 15 hours agoGet short URL

Lawlessness swept over the streets of Paris on Saturday, with left-wing protesters smashing windows and lobbing stones and fireworks at riot police. The cops have responded in kind, charging and clubbing the rioters.

May Day protesters took over the streets of multiple French cities, with the worst of the early clashes happening in the city of Lyon. By mid-afternoon, however, Paris was the epicenter of unrest, as ‘black bloc’ anarchists marching alongside the traditional trade unionists and workers’ groups started smashing banks and shops in the capital.

Heavily armored riot police were nearby and responded with force. Video footage shows a squad of cops charging with shields raised to drive a crowd of vandals away from a bank.

PARIS – Une banque est prise pour cible. Charge des forces de l’ordre et des BRAVM. Gaz lacrymogène utilisé. #1erMaipic.twitter.com/vfcuSumEwx— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) May 1, 2021

Protesters were seen shooting fireworks at the police, and pelting officers with bottles and stones. The same officers who dispersed the crowd from in front of the bank were temporarily driven back, and another group of cops were seen huddled together under a barrage of projectiles.

PARIS – La BRAVM charge sous une pluie de projectiles pour protéger une banque. #1erMai2021pic.twitter.com/h3PAIAn4D7— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) May 1, 2021

PARIS – Jets bouteilles, poubelles et pavés sur les policiers. Gaz lacrymogène en retour. pic.twitter.com/GkRgeTjL0w— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) May 1, 2021

Tear gas was used, but many rioters came wearing respirators and face masks. Protesters who came too close to police lines were treated to a hail of batons and pepper spray. Multiple videos show repeated and apparently indiscriminate police charges.

Taper sur des femmes… #1erMai2021#Parispic.twitter.com/viiBHtuooo— Laurent pour AB7 Média (@laurentbigfr) May 1, 2021

Charge gratuite de la police et coup de matraque dans mon téléphone#1erMai2021#Parispic.twitter.com/x0li2aDC2h— Laurent pour AB7 Média (@laurentbigfr) May 1, 2021

🇫🇷 FLASH – Les policiers chargent le cortège de la #manifestation du #1erMai. Plusieurs manifestants à terre. (@ybouziar pour mediavenir)#Fetedutravail#1erMai2021#Parispic.twitter.com/LDR8D1S7RM— Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) May 1, 2021

Beaucoup de charges subites. Médics et reporters parfois visés. #1erMaipic.twitter.com/nANdlPJpTR— Taha 📷 (@MTGphotographe) May 1, 2021

Police dispersed protesters from the Place de la Nation with water cannon. The powerful jets of water blew branches off trees and kept the crowd away from police lines.

PARIS – Canon à eau utilisé sur Place de la Nation. Tensions toujours en cours. #1erMai2021pic.twitter.com/s6oHlX0mMG— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) May 1, 2021

May Day, or International Workers’ Day, is traditionally a day of protest in France and throughout Europe. Some demonstrators in Paris protested their wages and working conditions, while others marched against new security bills that would dramatically extend the police’s surveillance powers and criminalize the sharing of pictures of officers. Still more protested the government’s perceived inaction against climate change and its response to Covid-19. 

With the demonstrations still ongoing, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that 34 people had been arrested in Paris by mid-afternoon.

The following piece is also recorded on the Rambling Robert page and will be extended in due course to offer more opinion , history and analysis of Britain’s appalling public transport system since the ‘The Greed Goddess ‘ Margaret Thatcher and her money grabbing cronies left their indelible and destructive mark on British Society and Economics. Robert Cook

Back of a Bus by Robert Cook– April 30th 2021

Buses have interested me since early childhood for various reasons. My first trips were with mum , pre school , on the old Red Rover and United Counties Buses in the early 1950s. Next came childhood visits to my parents roots in London, the excitement of seeing bright red London buses and trolley buses. I enjoyed all the vitality , diversity of life and chatter on a crowded bus.

The buses also appealed to me, their design and order made sense of city life, all the numbers, skilled drivers and reassuring bus conductors seemed always cheerful. When my mother wanted to speak badly of a of another woman, she had some interesting phrases, such as ‘She has got a face like the back of a bus.’ In those days, I thought backs of buses looked quite nice blending well with the rest of the vehicle. I am not so sure about modern vehicles.

( C ) Rule Britannia – April 29th 2021

The crew of Britain’s £3 billion warship HMS Queen Elizabeth are making last-minute preparations before it will set sail to Asia on its first global mission

The commander of the UK’s ‘Premier League‘ Carrier Strike Group which is set to sail on its first operational deployment next month has said the mission shows the Royal Navy’s ‘ambition to be active on the global stage’.

Commodore Stephen Moorhouse said that final preparations are being made as the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is readied to set sail on Saturday from Portsmouth Naval Base for exercises off Scotland before heading to the Indo-Pacific region.

The £3 billion warship, with eight RAF and 10 US Marine Corps F35B stealth fighter jets on board, will depart for Asia accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters and a company of Royal Marines. 

The Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which will carry out visits to India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, will include the US destroyer USS The Sullivans and the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen.

Mr Moorhouse said: ‘Morale is fantastic with a real sense of excitement, the deployment has been a number of years in planning, for youngsters setting off on their first deployment or more seasoned sailors like myself it’s a trip of a lifetime deployment that everyone is looking forward to.’ 

He added: ‘This is an amazing capability and pulling that all together with our international partners is a real statement that the Royal Navy is very much in the Premier League. 

Government ‘wasted’ £38.4m on test and trace contract with Dubai-based multinational Posted April 29^th 2021

Samuel Lovett

The government has been accused of wasting taxpayers’ money after a multinational company headquartered in Dubai was paid £38.4m for a test and trace contract that was dropped soon after it had been awarded.

Ecolog International, which offers supply chain services in a number of industries, was originally approached last summer to help the UK meet its testing targets.

The government issued a letter of intent (LOI) with Ecolog in September 2020, with the company due to provide “laboratory units to provide diagnostic testing for Covid-19 to meet targets for numbers of tests performed”.

An LOI is a written agreement under the terms of which a supplier will start to conduct certain work for a buyer – such as a private business or government – before a final contract is signed. 

However, according to an award notice published on 23 April on the government’s contracts finder website, the decision was later made to cancel the arrangement – which was formally ended on 24 March – and “reimburse Ecolog for costs incurred”.

The company, which provides services in almost 20 countries, was handed £38.4m for equipment that it had already delivered to the UK, laboratory tests that had been “undertaken pending the execution of the contract” and “mobilisation costs”.

It is not known whether the £38.4m figure covered the original costs agreed between the two parties on top of the reimbursement fees that were paid out by the government.

An NHS head of procurement, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he suspected the government made upfront purchases for equipment and services that it didn’t later require, some of which were never delivered by Ecolog.

“£38m of taxpayers money was just wasted,” he told The Independent. “Sloshed up the wall by very poor programme management and contracting.

“Looks like they gave a letter of intent to Ecolog, to cover upfront purchases which were then not needed. They gave £38m to a company which they then didn’t bother using, and at taxpayers’ expense.”

It is not known which of the services provided by Ecolog were integrated fully into the UK’s test and trace system, while the Department of Health and Social Care has refused to explain why it chose not to proceed in negotiating a finalised contract with the company.

It said it cannot provide specific breakdowns of government contracts and costs, for reasons of commercial sensitivity.

Ecolog was awarded the preliminary contract without prior publication of a call for competition, the DHSC said.

£38m of taxpayers money was just wasted. Sloshed up the wall by very poor programme management and contracting

NHS procurement head

It said: “There was undoubtedly a risk to public health and DHSC was reacting to a global emergency that was changing on a daily basis.

“The need for the tests was immediate, with scientific forecasts at the time warning of daily cases of Covid-19 rising to as many as 50,000 per day in the coming weeks.”

Throughout the pandemic, many contracts have been awarded without competition, some of which have been handed to companies with links to government ministers, leading to allegations of cronyism.

Critics have asked why such an approach was still being taken, six months into the pandemic, with regard to the procurement of test and trace services.

Labour said it was “another example of outrageous waste from a government that has completely lost a grip of the public finances”.

Shadow health minister Justin Madders told The Independent: “This contract was signed more than six months into the pandemic, so the government has no excuse that they didn’t know what they were getting into. 

This contract was signed more than six months into the pandemic so the government has no excuse that they didn’to know what they were getting into.

“Ministers need to urgently explain what this contract was for, who authorised it and and why it was cancelled almost straight away.”

The NHS procurement source also questioned the government’s decision to engage with Ecolog via a letter of intent, which is generally seen as a high-risk mechanism within the procurement industry.

If used properly, an LOI can be a useful solution where two parties are still concluding contract negotiations but certain work or services are required immediately. However, failure to make the terms clear can lead to uncertainty and expose those involved to risk. 

“In the very rare circumstance we need to issue a letter of intent, we always minimise our commercial and delivery risk prior to signing the final agreed contract,” the source said.

“I find it extraordinary that the buyers – the government – allowed themselves to be exposed to many millions in costs if the supplier successfully claimed the letter was a binding, contractual commitment.”

The DHSC said it is always looking at ways to mitigate financial implications and recuperate any costs for scaling down or not proceeding with contracts.

A spokesperson said: “To fight this global pandemic and save lives we built from scratch the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities in British history. The UK is now established as a testing juggernaut, with over 148 million Covid tests completed so far – more than any other country in Europe.

“In order to tackle the myriad challenges created by this crisis – including ramping up our testing capacity – we drew upon the diverse skills and experience of the public and private sectors. Our focus last year was to build a network of diagnostic testing facilities to support immediate demand.

“It is only sensible that we keep all of our contractual arrangements under continuous review to ensure we have the right system for the long term and proceed with contracts which fit the needs of service. We thank all of those who have made a valuable contribution to the programme so far.”

The Independent has approached Ecolog International for comment.