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The Shadow Of Torture Behind Trump’s Britain Visit

July 16, 2018 Staff, Aclu.org , ,
As President Trump visits the United Kingdom, the focus has been on strained trans-Atlantic relations, his intervention in domestic politics, and massive public protests. A different, diplomatically-couched protest has received less attention but sends a consequential signal about the so-called “special relationship” between the two countries: U.K. parliamentarians are concerned that under Trump, America could return to a policy of torture — and they are warning British intelligence agencies to guard against it. Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee released a pair of reports at the end of June providing extensive detail about U.K. complicity in torture, rendition, and other abuses of detainees by the U.S. military and the CIA during the George W. Bush administration. The reports by the committee, which oversees the U.K.’s intelligence agencies, also focus on policy changes needed to avoid a repeat of such abuses.

UK Government Preparing For Anti-Trump Protests As “If London Was Burning Down”

July 11, 2018 By Jake Johnson, Commondreams.org , ,
Hundreds of thousands of Britons are expected to take to the streets nationwide on Friday in opposition to Trump, who is scheduled to arrive in the U.K. Thursday evening. The protests—which will include a 20-foot-tall angry Trump baby blimp flying over London—are expected to be so large that White House officials are reportedly concerned that the crowd-obsessed Trump could lash out at his British hosts. "We need to show the world what millions of people in this country think of the bigotry and the hatred that he represents," Owen Jones, a Guardian columnist who helped organize the anti-Trump demonstrations, told TIME on Monday. "We've seen the rise of the far right in Britain and Europe, and the one lesson we should learn from history is that when racists and the far right mobilize, you fight back, you don't let them march and rise to power."

Biggest UK Asset Manager Seeks Removal Of 8 Company Chairs Over Climate Change

June 12, 2018 Simon Jessop, Reuters.com ,
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s biggest asset manager wants to remove the chairmen of the board at eight companies worldwide, which it says have failed to confront the threats posed by climate change. Legal & General Investment Management, the fund arm of insurer Legal & General (LGEN.L), has been among the most vocal asset managers on the topic, recently writing to some of the world’s top companies calling for more action. On Monday, it said it would vote against the chairs of China Construction Bank (601939.SS), Dominion Energy (D.N) and Japan Post Holdings (6178.T), as well as Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N), Rosneft Oil (ROSN.MM) and Subaru (7270.T). The other two companies on its list were Loblaw Companies (L.TO) and Sysco Corp (SYY.N).

EU Anti-Torture Ruling Shows Need For UK Public Inquiry

June 2, 2018 Reprieve.org, Popular Resistance , ,
WASHINGTON - In a significant anti-torture ruling, the European Court Of Human Rights has held that Lithuania and Romania violated the rights of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri by allowing them to be detained at CIA ‘black sites’ on European soil. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was subjected to "inhuman treatment” at the secret prison in Romania, which operated from 2003-2005. Abu Zubaydah was tortured at a black site in Lithuania that the CIA ran from 2005-6. The new CIA director, Gina Haspel, oversaw the torture of Mr al Nashiri at a CIA black site in Thailand in 2002. Romania and Lithuania also allowed the CIA to transfer the men to other prisons, the judges found, exposing them to “a foreseeable serious risk of further ill-treatment”.

Conspiracy Emerges To Push Julian Assange Into British And US Hands

May 18, 2018 Mike Head, Wsws.org , ,
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who provided the world’s people with the truth about US war crimes in the Middle East and many of Washington’s coups and regime-change intrigues around the globe, is in escalating danger. Moves are afoot to force Assange out of Ecuador’s London embassy, where he sought political asylum close to six years ago and has been forced to live as an effective prisoner. If he is taken into custody by British authorities, he faces being handed over to the US government, which has long sought to place him on trial on espionage charges that potentially carry the death sentence. The British newspaper, the Guardian, originally published some of WikiLeaks’ devastating exposures in 2010. It then turned viciously against him, along with other international news outlets.

Ecuador Suspends Assange’s Communication Access At UK Embassy

March 29, 2018 Staff, Telesurtv.net , , ,
The WikiLeaks founder had been warned by the Ecuadorean government to avoid commenting on other countries affairs. The Ecuadorean government Wednesday restricted access to communications of the journalist and founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, who has been in Ecuador’s embassy in the U.K. since 2012, for violating an agreement in which he had pledged not to comment on the affairs of other countries. "The government of Ecuador suspended the systems that allow Julian Assange to communicate with the outside world from the Ecuadorian embassy in London," the Secretary of Communication said Wednesday in a press release, in which he affirms that the decision began to be applied a day earlier.

Theresa May’s Claims Of Russian Poison Attack Fall Apart

March 18, 2018 Moon of Alabama, Moon of Alabama , ,
The highly constructed drama around the alleged poisoning of a British double agent Skripal and his daughter has thus turned into a surreal play. The British government has so far given no evidence that the Skripal's were poisoned at all, or that they were poisoned by someone else. No detailed medical bulletin was published. The British accusations against Russia lets one assume that a suicide attempt has been excluded. Why? There is no independent evaluation of the alleged poison. The British government claims that its own chemical weapon laboratory at Porton Down, only a few miles from where the incident happened, has identified the poison as one of the 'Novichok' chemicals.

The UK’s Hidden Hand In Julian Assange’s Detention

February 15, 2018 By Jonathan Cook, Globalresearch.ca ,
Behind the scenes, Sweden wanted to drop the extradition case against Assange back in 2013. Why was this not made public? Because Britain persuaded Sweden to pretend that they still wished to pursue the case. In other words, for more than four years Assange has been holed up in a tiny room, policed at great cost to British taxpayers, not because of any allegations in Sweden but because the British authorities wanted him to remain there. On what possible grounds could that be, one has to wonder? Might it have something to do with his work as the head of Wikileaks, publishing information from whistleblowers that has severely embarrassed the United States and the UK. In fact, Assange should have walked free years ago if this was really about an investigation – a sham one at that – into an alleged sexual assault in Sweden.

Theresa May Faces New Crisis After Mass Walkout Over Social Policy

December 4, 2017 Michael Savage, theguardian.com , ,
By Michael Savage for The Guardian - Theresa May was plunged into a new crisis on Saturday night after the government’s social mobility adviser revealed he and his team were quitting, warning that the prime minister was failing in her pledge to build a “fairer Britain”. In a major blow to No 10, Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister who chairs the government’s social mobility commission, said that he and all three of his fellow commissioners were walking out – including a leading conservative, Gillian Shephard. The move will be seen as a direct challenge to May’s vow in Downing Street to place fairness and social justice at the heart of her premiership. In his resignation letter, seen by the Observer, Milburn warns that dealing with Brexit means the government “does not seem to have the necessary bandwidth to ensure the rhetoric of healing social division is matched with the reality. “I have little hope of the current government making the progress I believe is necessary to bring about a fairer Britain,” he tells the prime minister. “It seems unable to commit to the future of the commission as an independent body or to give due priority to the social mobility challenge facing our nation.” The resignations come with the prime minister already under pressure, as she faces crunch Brexit talks and questions over the future of her most senior minister, Damian Green. Milburn says failing to deal with the inequalities that fuelled the Brexit vote would simply lead to a rise of political extremes.

Landmark Study Links Tory Austerity To 120,000 Deaths

November 18, 2017 Alex Matthews-King, independent.co.uk , ,
By Alex Matthews-King for Independent - The paper identified that mortality rates in the UK had declined steadily from 2001 to 2010, but this reversed sharply with the death rate growing again after austerity came in. From this reversal the authors identified that 45,368 extra deaths occurred between 2010 and 2014, than would have been expected, although it stops short of calling them "avoidable". Based on those trends it predicted the next five years - from 2015 to 2020 - would account for 152,141 deaths - 100 a day - findings which one of the authors likened to “economic murder”. The Government began relaxing austerity measures this year announcing the end of its cap on public sector pay rises and announcing an extra £1.3bn for social care in the Spring Budget. Over three years the additional funding for social care is expected to reach £2bn, which Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said was “patching up a small part of the damage” wrought by £4.6bn cuts. The study, published in BMJ Open today, estimated that to return death rates to their pre-2010 levels spending would need to increase by £25.3bn. The Department of Health said “firm conclusions” cannot be drawn from this work, and independent academics warned the funding figures were “speculative”. However local councils who have been struggling to fund care with slashed budgets urged the Government to consider the research seriously.

Britain Wants Cycle-Friendly Cities. Here’s How We Get Them

November 15, 2017 Andrew Gilligan, theguardian.com , ,
By Andrew Gilligan for The Guardian - Cycle lanes reduce pollution, improve health and are incredibly popular. But forget common sense: getting the go-ahead on new schemes is all about politics. Almost four-fifths of people in some of Britain’s largest cities want road space taken away from cars and given to bikes, according to a new poll from Sustrans. I’m not at all surprised. Whenever we proposed the same thing in London, where I was cycling commissioner until last year, we got the same response. Every single one of the cycle superhighway schemes now open in the capital got between 60% and 85% public support, in our own statutory consultations and in independent, professional opinion polls. Once the new routes opened, that support translated into astonishing levels of usage. In the first six months, the number of cyclists on the roads served by the new separated lanes went up by more than half. The bike lane on Blackfriars bridge, which takes up a fifth of the roadspace, now carries 70% of the bridge’s rush-hour traffic. There’s an Eiger of evidence that cycling improvements are popular. Why, then, do they so seldom happen? Partly it’s because politicians confuse noise with numbers. Cycling schemes create a lot of noise. Our opponents would spend busy weeks organising petitions, holding demonstrations and comparing bike lanes to the Luftwaffe in their effects on the capital.

Britain Drops 3,400 Bombs In Syria & Iraq

October 28, 2017 Jamie Merrill, www.mintpressnews.com , , ,
By Jamie Merrill for Mint Press News - Royal Air Force drones and jets have dropped more than 3,400 bombs and missiles on Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, an investigation by Middle East Eye has revealed, yet the British government maintains that there is “no evidence” they have killed a single civilian. The vast quantities of ordnance dropped since the start of Operation Shader against IS in 2014 seriously undermines the claim by ministers that the RAF has not caused any civilian casualties in the three-year-long bombing campaign, and has prompted calls for an investigation. The Ministry of Defence does not routinely release statistics on the numbers of weapons used over Iraq and Syria, but an MEE analysis has combined weekly updates of operations in the region and information collated by campaign group Drone Wars. It shows that up to the end of September UK forces have dropped at least 3,482 bombs and missiles in the battle against IS, including 2,089 Paveway IV bombs and 486 Brimstone missiles dropped by Typhoon and Tornado jets. RAF Reaper drones have also fired 724 Hellfire missiles at IS targets.

Worldwide Protests Await Britain’s Celebration Of Balfour Anniversary

October 27, 2017 Staff, www.english.wafa.ps , , , ,
By Staff of Wafa - RAMALLAH, October 24, 2017 (WAFA) – As Britain prepares to celebrate the centennial of the infamous Balfour Declaration, which Palestinians say was the cause of their Nakba or catastrophe, protests are being planned in the Palestinian territory and around the world, according to officials. Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah on this occasion, Palestinian officials said the main protest rally is going to be held in Ramallah city center on November 2, marking the date when former British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour has promised Jews a homeland in Palestine in 1917. Protests are also going to be held in Jerusalem and around the world, but a major rally is going to be held in London on November 4 with the participation of British lawmakers and officials. The goal of these protests “is to send a message to the British government to apologize to the Palestinian people for the Balfour declaration and to compensate them,” said Nabil Shaath, an advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas on international affairs. However, he said, instead of apologizing, Britain is going to hold celebrations marking this occasion. He said that the Balfour Declaration was the cause of the Palestinian Nakba or catastrophe of 1948 whose effects are still felt until today through Israel’s ongoing settlement construction and expansion at the expense of the Palestinian people and land.

Thousands Protest Tories And Austerity

October 1, 2017 Staff, www.socialistworker.co.uk , , ,
By Socialist Worker. Manchester, UK - Thousands of demonstrators are gathering at the Castlefield's Arena in Manchester today, Sunday, to protest against Tory austerity. The Tories are beginning their annual conference in the city. The slogan of the protest, called by the People's Assembly, is, "Tories out". There is a sense that after seven years of brutal Tory rule, it's possible to kick them out of office. Jane from Manchester told Socialist Worker, "There's a change going on in people's general attitudes, people can see the affect that inequality is having on their lives.

Neighbors Form Human Chain Around House To Stop Eviction

September 25, 2017 Simon Robb, www.metro.co.uk , ,
By Simon Robb for Metro.co.uk - A woman facing ‘revenge eviction’ has been given a lifeline after her neighbours gathered to form a human chain around her home. Nimo Abdullahi, 39, claimed her landlord tried to kick her and her five children out of their home after she complained about the rising damp. But neighbours and campaigners turned out in force to stop bailiffs from forcing the family out of their home in Easton, Bristol. A newlywed couple living opposite even cut up their wedding cake for all the protesters. When the bailiffs arrived on Tuesday morning, they were unable to get past the 30 protesters who stood strong. Nimo claimed the landlord tried to evict them numerous times before and even threatened to get the police to do the job. She said: ‘It has a big problem with damp. This is bad for us, because my children have asthma and it is not a good place. ‘Until recently, the carpets everywhere were very old and dirty and we would ask the landlord to improve things, but he was difficult.
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