An explosive legal filing reveals evidence showing the network is crooked from top to bottom.
Source: The Corruption at Fox News Is Worse Than You Assumed – Mother Jones
Tag: UK
This should have been a legitimate question for a politician to ask the British prime minister in the House of Commons. But no sooner had Labour’s Kim Johnson asked it of Rishi Sunak last Wednesday afternoon, during an edition of Prime Minister’s Questions, than she was summoned to the office of her party’s chief whip and ordered to apologize.
Source: Israelis are calling their leaders fascists. Why can’t British politicians?
Considering this British history of inflicting suffering on the Palestinians, it would have been more appropriate for a British Prim Minister to apologize to the Palestinians for Britain’s crucial role in causing the endless suffering. Instead, Truss chose to support illegal occupation and annexation and gave history another episode of western hypocrisy, double standards and violation of human rights. My conversation with the former British soldier shows that those who know the truth are less likely to side with injustice which demonstrates the importance of raising awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people and their history.
With their confidence shattered and the economy plunging into recession, people in the UK were today thinking how good it would be if there was some sort of network of local economies that they could join, in Europe say, to help them weather the upcoming storm.
Truss is, as the 2021 essay forecast, entirely immersed in the world and personnel of the billionaires’ ultra free market lobby groups masquerading as thinktanks. Her Chancellor is an ideologue and true believer in the message. The “thinktanks” face the moment of testing: who was the liberty for that they championed? Only the Ultra High Net Worth class and their High Net Worth enablers? Both the UK and the US stand on the brink of something unthinkable a decade ago. Australians must fight to ensure that our radicalised right (and the “thinktanks” that foster the internationally-networked radicalisation) don’t take us back down that path. We have a chance to rebalance the playing field. Will our right resume playing the game as a contest, or continue to try to trash the field?
A new cache of leaked Labour documents shows how Israel lobby operatives worked against former leader Jeremy Corbyn from within the UK’s main opposition party.
Israel lobbyist Luke Akehurst intervened to help save suspended right-wing Labour activist Luke Stanger from expulsion – despite a series of complaints of harassment and intimidation.
The leaked files also detail how Palestine solidarity activists and left-wingers were investigated, suspended and expelled from the party, while right-wing pro-Israel members were protected by senior party figures.
The documents were revealed on Thursday in the first episode of The Labour Files, a new three-part series by Al Jazeera’s investigative unit – the same team behind the 2017 series The Lobby and the censored 2018 series The Lobby – USA.
The Qatar-based satellite channel describes the trove of internal Labour Party materials as “the largest leak of documents in British political history.”
During the Corbyn years, the files show, the generally left-voting city of Brighton became a focus of clashes between the party’s left and right wings.
The UK isn’t the only one “looting” trained professionals from third-world countries Australia is too,
Meanwhile, the voice of Andrew Bolt can be heard crying ” don’t allow our medical professional’s to volunteer” in the case of Ebola in Africa.
While Cuba at times of need sends their professionals to where they are needed most. While our Australian Medical Association retains a post-WW2 attitude that cries out ” don’t let these Imports into practice because how do we know they are sufficiently trained?
Self-interest is reflected over and above the “common good” in our not so “Free Market Place” What’s left is fear, confusion and disrespect for practitioners.
The looting of artistic and religious objects from Africa and Asia by British invaders in the 19th century causes much rancorous debate about whether the artefacts should be returned to the countries they were originally stolen from. But the discussion is much more muted about equally acquisitive expeditions launched by Britain today that may ultimately cause more suffering than those imperialist ventures long ago.
Source: Luring Doctors From Poorer Countries is the UK’s Quiet Scandal – scheerpost.com
During Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign, the UK witnessed immense social transformation. Throughout this tumultuous period, the monarchy served one purpose: suppressing Britain’s political divisions in the name of unity and deference to the Crown.
Source: Queen Elizabeth II’s Reign Glamorized Britain’s Political Backwardness
and
Rather than doing away with the old aristocracy, capitalism has found its own uses for the British monarchy. The two now function in tandem to preserve the status quo in Britain — and should be opposed together.
The British Monarchy Has Woven Itself Into the Fabric of Capitalism
Britain’s Met Office weather forecaster has declared a national emergency, with temperatures early next week predicted to approach – and possibly exceed – record highs.“Exceptional, perhaps record-breaking, temperatures are likely on Monday, then again on Tuesday,” the Met Office said on their website.
National emergency in Britain as the mercury soars to near-record levels | The New Daily
Boris Johnson Was a Creation of the British Media
They may have criticisms of him today, but the British media was all in for Boris Johnson when they saw him as a necessary alternative to Jeremy Corbyn’s socialism. And despite everything, they would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Boris Johnson Was a Creation of the British Media
Australia’s solutions over the last nine years leads one to doubt not just the humanity but the sanity of those who implemented the Morrison solutions. The United Kingdom under the apparently intellectually challenged and spoilt man-child Boris Johnson is merrily heading down the path that Australia created.
The same self-serving populist speak and a rather bizarre solution, sending refugees and asylum seekers to Rwanda. What would we find if we followed the money trails, both in Australia and the United Kingdom? There are still many questions left unanswered and the mainstream media is complicit by giving race baiting and populist propaganda oxygen.
Why the Murdochs should become the next Sacklers.
Source: Will Corporate America Turn Against the Murdoch Family?
Australia is at a critical point. A government that would cling to power to impose unpopular policy threatens the very nature of our democracy.
It is common to refer to countries that were “consolidated democracies” as corroding to “illiberal democracies”. Hungary is the most notable example. If, however, the term “competitive authoritarianism” is employed to describe regimes instead, it becomes clear that the danger for Australia is just as strong as it is for the USA and the UK, as well as for Hungary.
Murdoch Practice. In the UK criminal phone taps anything to get ahead of the competion. In US largely PR staging Interviews & promoting Republican interests while trashing the Dems. In Australia, simply being the largest private player in the nation’s quid pro quo cash for comment business.
On Friday, CNN reported that Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo supplied former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows with questions in advance of interviewing former President Donald Trump.
Dutton’s feelings might be hurt he wants the right to sue for Defamation and us the taxpayers to pay to shut Binoy and other critics up. Scott and Michaela are preparing the Bill to do just that and keep themselves safe.
Give the man credit where it’s due. Few could possibly be congratulated for selling the sovereignty of a country in full view of its citizenry, but Peter Dutton, former Queensland copper turned sadistic Home Affairs minister turned Defence Minister, is very capable of it. Australia promises to become a throbbing bordello for the strategic affairs of other states (to a large extent, it already is), awaiting submarine insertions, naval manoeuvres, and more troop rotations. With the AUKUS arrangements being firmed up, US and UK sailors, personnel and miscellaneous staff are being readied for more time Down Under, ensuring that Australia becomes a staging ground for future forward military operations. Canberra has relinquished much say in this; the song sheets and blueprints are coming from elsewhere.
A U.K. court is set to rule Friday on whether WikiLeaks publisher and journalist Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States, an impending decision that led press freedom advocates and human rights campaigners to redouble their calls for his immediate release. “We fully believe that Assange has been targeted for his contributions to journalism.” “Freedom should be the only possible outcome for Assange,” Kristinn Hrafnsson, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said Thursday.
Source: Demands to ‘Free Assange Now’ Surge Ahead of Ruling on US Extradition
So much for AUKUS, CHUKUS seems a more apt term for this immediate agreement where China the UK, and the US are in step, Why? It’s patently clear. But not so for the A in AUKUS. However, given China hasn’t invaded anyone recently and the LNP has why are they acting as if China has? How embarrassing for Morrison whose been left out of the loop not advised of 30 secret meetings his besty has had. He will feel the sting of his do-nothing climate policy in the near future well before he gets any submarines. Because America China, and the UK will invest in climate cooperation which translates into much wider cooperation and they will leave the climate laggard, Morrison’s Australia, out in the wilderness.
The US-China competition is much more like European rivalries in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, as between France and Britain or Britain and Germany, where capitalist countries competed for entry into foreign markets on the most favorable terms and for diplomatic and military spheres of influence. Despite President Xi’s sabre rattling, China isn’t at the point where it has taken over other countries (as the US did most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan).
It’s amazing how our mainstream media seems to be reportion through the prism of Scott Morrison whereas the US, France and the UK seem to see it and Morrison very differently.
Lord Deben says there is ‘no indication’ Scott Morrison has a plan to deliver the net zero commitment ‘we’ve squeezed out of him’
The UK government’s climate change adviser has launched a scathing attack on Australia’s net zero commitment on the eve of critical talks in Glasgow.
Lord Deben, the Climate Change Committee chair, told the BBC on Saturday there was “no indication” that the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, had a plan to deliver on the commitment to net zero that was “squeezed out of him”.
“It’s very sad that a great country like Australia should change our climate,” he said.
Australia’s 2050 net zero emissions plan relies on ‘gross manipulation’ of data, experts say
The United States also says it will not object to Assange serving any custodial sentence he may receive in Australia. Summers cited a case in which the U.S. reneged on its assurances that Spanish drug trafficker David Mendoza Herrarte could serve his prison sentence in Spain if he was first extradited to the U.S. for trial. The U.S. retorted that the prosecutor had just assured that Mendoza could apply for a transfer to Spain and the DOJ denied the application. Moreover, the U.S. cannot guarantee that Australia would consent to host Assange’s incarceration. It will be several weeks before the High Court issues its ruling on Biden’s appeal. The losing party can ask the U.K. Supreme Court to review the case. More than two dozen press freedom, civil liberties and international human rights groups, and people around the world, are protesting the persecution of Assange. This case is a bellwether for the future of investigative journalism and the survival of the First Amendment right to freedom of the press.
Source: Biden’s DOJ Downplayed Suicide Risk for Assange in Appeal of Extradition Denial | The Smirking Chimp
“Almost comical”. Experts lambast Scott Morrison’s “crazy” AUKUS deal to buy nuclear submarine tech from parlous UK and US programs. Marcus Reubenstein finds a real prospect Australia will be used to “underwrite” the foundering foreign submarine industry.
Morrison wants to “Open Up” like the UK
Nearly 5000 people who attended a music festival in Cornwall have tested positive for coronavirus. Health officials are investigating 4700 cases after the Boardmasters event, headlined by Foals and Gorillaz. The event, which ran in the Newquay area from August 11-15, was attended by about 76,000 people.
Source: Cornwall festival, headlined by Gorillaz, ends with 5000 coronavirus cases
London: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been savaged for allegedly sucking up to China and turning her back on the Five Eyes alliance during a historic debate in which British MPs unanimously declared that China was carrying out genocide and crimes against humanity.
Source: Jacinda Ardern savaged as UK Parliament declares treatment of Uighurs genocide
There has long been an alignment of interests between those who despise the EU and those who despise the BBC for its publicly funded journalism. This confluence has also been demonstrated by British newspaper owners and their editors; now two new television ventures are providing a fresh outlet.
Is Britain’s TV news at risk of being dominated by those who shout loudest? | TV news | The Guardian
Britain is in the grip of an assault on its public sphere by the state of Israel and its advocates.
We must resist Israel’s war on British universities | The Electronic Intifada
The US Justice Department has appealed a British judge’s ruling that prevents Wikileaks founder Julian Assange being extradited to the United States to face espionage charges.
Biden administration appeals Assange’s non-extradition ruling
Never has the prospect of an independent Scotland seemed more plausible. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s approval ratings in the region have dropped to all-time lows. Brexit, deeply unpopular in Scotland to begin with (the region voted 62 percent to 38 percent to remain), has become even more so. Independence campaigners comfortably lost their 2014 referendum. But fourteen polls in a row have shown a plurality of its residents now support independence.
What Next for Scotland? | Washington Monthly
A new coronavirus variant has been detected in four travellers from Brazil’s Amazonas state, Japan’s Health Ministry says, the latest new mutation of the virus discovered. Studies were now underway into the efficacy of vaccines against the new variant, which differs from highly infectious variants first found in Britain and South Africa that have driven a surge in cases.
Japan finds another coronavirus variant, Health Ministry says
The UK, having adopted a position as Washington’s proxy jailor, is not about to quit its sordid role. Assange’s wellbeing and health continue to be jeopardised by his stay in Britain’s most notorious prison, where determined despair, as Baraitser herself has acknowledged, can take their toll.
Proxy Jailor: Denying Assange Bail – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Abbott’s chasing his Knighthood he can no longer get one in Australia (ODT)
And amid the current round of negotiations between Australia and Great Britain, there stands good reason for the reunited strange bedfellows of Abbott dealing with the Morrison government, according to the ACTU, for the following anti-worker characteristics: • No adequate protections for local workers and their jobs • Unregulated exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers • Deregulation of public services • and Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions that allow foreign corporations to sue governments for changes to domestic law.
Internationally, unions fearful of Abbott’s past trade reputation – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Britain was reported to be considering whether to impose a new lockdown across the country, after new COVID-19 cases almost doubled to 6000 per day, hospital admissions rose and infection rates soared across parts of northern England and London.
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson says UK ‘now seeing second COVID-19 wave coming in'”
Hunting for a Knighthood? A way back? (ODT)
Labor has demanded the Morrison government explain how former prime minister Tony Abbott will manage conflicts of interest as he advises the United Kingdom on trade deals with countries including Australia. Mr Abbott confirmed his appointment as an unpaid adviser to the UK Board of Trade on Saturday morning after a firestorm of criticism over his past comments on women and gay people.
Tony Abbott: Labor questions former PM’s conflict of interest in new UK trade role
It’s not as if our standards are wonderful. But by comparison to the revolting practices in the US, our food rules, laid down by the European Union, are a haven of sanity. As well as washing chicken flesh with chlorine to compensate for the filthy conditions in which it is raised and processed, and injecting dangerous substances into cattle and pigs, Big Farmer and Big Food in the US use 72 pesticides that are banned in the UK and food colourings that have been linked to hyperactivity in children, impose no limits on the amount of sugar in baby food and permit cow’s milk to contain twice the amount of pus that the UK allows.
In the week ending April 17, 22,351 people died in England and Wales – double the five-year average for that time of year and the highest weekly death toll since comparable records began in 1993.
Of the 11,854 deaths above the five-year average, 8758 were related to coronavirus. This leaves 3096 unexplained ‘excess’ deaths. Experts warned these deaths could be the result of people being reluctant to seek treatment in hospital for conditions unrelated to COVID-19.
Coronavirus: Britain’s true death toll 40 per cent higher than official figures
The problem no addressed here is the involvement and irresponsible incitement by Murdoch Media to incite back to work demonstrations in the English speaking world. The demand to go back to the normal rather than progress to a very different economy. The talk of 28 years of GDP growth doesn’t begin to address the increasing income and wealth gap that helped generate it and the public austerity measures that accompanied it leaving us ill-equipped to deal with emergencies we face. Yes, Australia has fared better but I’d suggest it’s more a sake of good fortune than intent. We have always been some years behind first following the British and now the Americans last in line but nevertheless over that cliff. We aren’t our own masters we do have a level of solidarity but when the Oligarchs, LNP IPA and News Corp hold the wealth and power and are now assisted by the ALP what chance is there of a progressive peoples bailout and not just a corporate one in the future? (ODT)
Morrison government setting itself for an aggressive pro-business plan for our post-pandemic economy. Specifically, that means tax breaks for businesses and even a big swing at industrial relations. It’s the road that leads to lower wages, worse conditions and limited tax revenue. And while some of that might end up being an economic necessity, if that’s not done perfectly, it’s a road of austerity and increasing inequality that has proven so destructive elsewhere.
Obviously, all that will depend on the detail. But we should take this chance to heed the warning from those nations that are presently unravelling. Sacrifice a basic level of equality for economic growth and you risk social and political fracture. There will be much we can’t afford after this, but one of them is losing the threads of social solidarity we still have left, because we’ll need them desperately when the next crisis hits.
via Coronavirus Australia: The US and UK response should make us heed warnings about COVID-19
A new analysis of British media’s coverage of foreign policy has found that, by and large, the UK press acts as “an appendage of the state” and has been “misinforming the public” and “failing to report” completely on key issues.
The statistical analysis was carried out by Declassified UK, a new “public service journalism” project investigating Britain’s foreign,military and intelligence policies and run by journalist and historian Mark Curtis.
Why does Trump tweet such blatant falsehoods?
Britain is about to decouple itself from a continental economy beginning to get things right, and hook up with one that is palpably beginning to fail.
As former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes tweeted Tuesday: “Conservative MPs in UK finally standing up to Boris sadly underscores how much conservatives in the US have been cowardly in the face of Trump.”
“Cowardly” might be an understatement. Quivering Republicans have turned the party of Lincoln into a cult of Trump. They are the president’s supine enablers — and history won’t be kind to them.
via Revolt Against Boris Johnson Exposes Republican Complicity in the Cult of Trump
In the UK, television news is governed by impartiality rules but our press is fiercely partisan, predominantly towards the right, and it is important that people understand this.
Sign up to the Media Briefing: news for the news-makers
Read moreBut the current undermining of public trust in media, fuelled by President Donald Trump’s attacks on “fake news” and now mimicked by the UK government, goes far beyond scepticism or challenge. When research shows 72% of people in Britain believe television news to be accurate, it is right to be angry that Mr Johnson spurns it in favour of a union-flag-bedecked turn on Facebook.
Incredibly, the European press is speculating whether the US Navy will intervene, without any warrant of international law.
Trump and his warmongers have not only failed to increase US prestige among key allies in Europe, but have actually so diminished the US superpower that now small European courts are defying it.
via Another Country Defies Trump in Latest Blow to Iran Warmongers
As for the UK economy, on the macro-economic scale (external business) obviously when you are part of a large trading block you surf the wave of the clout that a block of 28 nations has when it does its deals, but you can also do your own, which people in the UK do not understand apparently, because all the “benefits” the Brexiteers crow about, the UK already has, only the people are too stupid or misinformed to know it. On the macro-economic scale with micro-economic effects (internal business) if you are part of a large trading block with which you do half your trade for free (paying the administrative costs as in any business) when you leave the block, lose the benefit of collectiveness (called synergy) and start paying to do trade, then you pay more for what you import (meaning higher prices, meaning inflation); your exports, being more expensive, are therefore less attractive so you sell fewer goods, which means you make less money. It means less revenue in taxation for the kitty, which means fewer resources available for the delivery of public services. Less money for schools and hospitals.
On a purely micro-economic scale, this is all translated into already tight margins squeezed to the point of no return, which means factories closing, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises failing, which means massive unemployment, which means within a few years technologies will have moved on making the unemployed chronically unemployable, which means higher costs in social benefits payments, which means fewer resources for public services. Less money for schools and hospitals.
olddogthoughts 