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Glastonbury ~ Mr Vylan😡

Will he be arrested and charged and jailed for inciting violence like Lucy Connolly? Or will the Two-TierKeir justice system kick in? Rupert Lowe on FB this morning:“I heard you want your country back. Ha. Shut the f*** up” angrily yells Vylan, fresh from calling for “death to the IDF”, to a chanting crowd of white middle-class British liberals excitedly waving their foreign flags. All rather depressing, isn’t it?I note the intense border security at Glastonbury, which far outstrips that of Dover’s. Build bridges, not walls, they cry - apart from around their own filthy little sanctuary.How so very progressive of them, flying their Palestinian flags - they must all feel so very proud of themselves. Sipping their £8 iced lattes, posting on tiktok from the newest iphone. Really revolutionary stuff.A fatal blow struck against the capitalist system. Well done, everyone.All broadcast live on the BBC, our ‘national’ broadcaster. Fantastic work from them, as usual.None of this is Britain. Real Britain. Actual Britain. Decent Britain.Not the Britain built by generations of hardworking, patriotic British men and women.Who quite frankly, have had enough. I know I have.We will all be closely watching, as Lucy Connolly rots in jail, what action the police will take against this revolting man - the precedent has been set.So, yes Mr Vylan. You heard correctly, we do want our country back.But no. We will definitely not "shut the fuck up".Learn how to sing, take a shower and sod off.Watch the cretinous half-wit here:https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1APMABcqjF/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Sue Hammond ● 24d136 Comments ● 17d

Is a Glastonbury chant the real problem?

"On Sunday, the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire grilled Starmer’s health secretary, Wes Streeting, on remarks from the Israeli embassy in London condemning what it termed “the normalisation of extremist language” and the “glorification of violence” at Glastonbury.Unexpectedly, Streeting avoided jumping whole-heartedly on the media outrage band-wagon, led by the Mail on Sunday, whose front page demanded the arrest of the two band members for what the paper wrongly described as a chant demanding “Death to Israelis”. The Mail, apparently, believes that all Israelis, presumably including the country’s children, are currently serving in the Israeli military.There are four important points to make about the interview between Derbyshire and Streeting:1. The Israeli embassy in London, like the Israeli government it represents, has precisely no concerns about the “glorification of violence” when Israel is doing either the glorifying or the violence. Israel is currently celebrating its “success” in slaughtering and maiming hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, including huge numbers of children; attacks by its soldiers and state-backed Jewish settler militias on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank; its eradication of whole communities in Lebanon; and its bombing of residential tower blocks across Tehran, killing many hundreds.Violence has been Israel’s signature policy for the past 21 months – and long before that. Israel has revelled in the carnage it has inflicted on populations across the region.In a post on social media, the Israeli embassy additionally argued of Bob Vylan’s chant: “When speech crosses into incitement, hatred, and advocacy of ethnic cleansing, it must be called out – especially when amplified by public figures on prominent platforms.”And yet public figures from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to British prime minister Keir Starmer have incited against the Palestinians, with Netanyahu comparing them to “Amalek”, a people the Israelites were commanded by God to exterminate, and Starmer terming the wholesale starvation of the people of Gaza “self-defence”.Israeli officials from Netanyahu down have advocated the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. And, even more seriously, Israel has not just threatened but repeatedly carried out the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians under its belligerent rule.2. It is beyond ridiculous for the BBC to echo the Israeli government in prioritising a harsh crackdown on words at Glastonbury "glorifying violence" towards Israeli soldiers ahead of the actual violence of genocide being committed by those Israel soldiers.The BBC has avoided criticising the Israeli government for its actual violence – its bombing and active starvation of Palestinian civilians – and the Starmer government for colluding in that violence, or what the International Court of Justice termed more than a year ago a “plausible” genocide by Israel.As a recent report by the Centre for Media Monitoring confirmed, the BBC has dramatically skewed its language to present Israel, the aggressor, in a more favourable light than the victim, the Palestinians of Gaza. The BBC’s own whistleblowing journalists have warned that the state broadcaster has all but banned the use of the word “genocide”, even by experts on the matter.By arming Israel, by organising spy flights over Gaza from RAF base Akrotiri on Cyprus, and by providing diplomatic cover, Starmer has effectively glorified Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian children in the enclave. Bob Vylan’s chants of “Death to the IDF” have a far more dangerous counterpart in Starmer’s recital of Israel’s “right to defend itself” when that “defence” involves Israel mercilessly starving Gaza’s population of food, water and power.Bob Vylan are a punk band; Starmer is the British prime minister, the man who directs Britain’s foreign policy and directs its army.No one, least of all the BBC, has held Israeli or British officials accountable not just for glorifying violence but for actually carrying it out on an industrial scale for nearly two years.But the BBC is suddenly interested in holding to account two punk musicians for leading a chant – one that made a symbolic, hypothetical threat of violence – against an Israeli military carrying out the ultimate form of violence, an actual genocide. In a serious media, Israel’s supposed “concerns” about the glorification of violence and extremist language would be laughed off the stage rather than respectfully aired.3. Wes Streeting is being congratulated and condemned in equal measure on social media for refusing to be drawn into the Mail and BBC’s confected outrage. “I’d say to the Israeli embassy, get your own house in order,” he responded to Derbyshire. But hang on a minute. Streeting’s resistance to Derbyshire’s line of questioning was perhaps unexpected. But it also, let us not forget, serves the interests of both the Starmer and Israeli governments.Streeting’s insistence that Israel “get its house in order” had, as he made clear, nothing to do with its 21-month slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. Starmer is still defining the Gaza genocide as Israel’s supposed “right to defend itself”. In responding to Derbyshire, Streeting expressed concern only at what he called violent “settler attacks” in the West Bank. He said the Israeli embassy needed to “get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank”.This was intended purely as deflection, designed to serve Starmer and Israel, the West’s key client state in the oil-rich Middle East. It benefits the UK government to make an issue of West Bank settler attacks – and present them as disorganised, random violence by individual extremists that the Israeli government is not responsible for but needs to get a firmer grip on.By highlighting problems in the West Bank, the Starmer government can avoid addressing the genocide in Gaza and the Israeli state’s clear responsibility for that genocide. Which is precisely why in recent weeks Britain has made so much noise about imposing feeble penalties on a handful of extremist settlers and two fascist ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that represent those settlers.Starmer and Streeting’s prioritising of Israel’s West Bank violence over Israel’s Gaza violence is a switch and bait twice over.Most of the violence in the West Bank is not coming from settler extremists, even though they are the ones being punished by the UK. It is coming from the Israeli military, which has bulldozed thousands of homes there over the past year, driving 40,000 Palestinians off their lands.Further, settler violence is not random. It is coordinated with Israeli field commanders, many of them settlers themselves, to uproot Palestinians so that Israel can move in Jewish settlers to colonise the land – or, in the words of successive Israeli governments, “Judaise” it.None of this is new either. Israel has engineered and imposed a violent, apartheid system on Palestinians for decades to make life unbearable and encourage them to leave their homeland.Second, Glastonbury’s anger-fuelled chant against the IDF was not primarily motivated by Israel’s violent actions in the West Bank. It was against the Israeli military for committing a genocide in Gaza, which the British government has been supporting. Streeting’s aim was to drag the debate on to safer territory for him and Starmer: that Britain needs to deal not with a genocide in Gaza but with a handful of violent loons in the West Bank.Even in criticising the Israeli government for not doing enough to tackle settler violence, Streeting is still operating within the confines of a public discourse dictated by Israel, which prefers any criticism to be directed at individuals not at the Israeli state behind those individuals.4. The BBC, the Starmer government and the Israel lobby are all delighted to play their part in this game of deflection and deception because these kinds of moral panics obscure the real issue: that all these parties are actively colluding in Israel's genocide in Gaza. While the media and government can now have a long backwards and forwards about whether criticism of Israel's genocidal army needs to be defined in law as a criminal offence or "terrorism", Israel will get a free pass to continue with the real terrorism: a genocide in Gaza.Famously, the black civil rights fighter Malcolm X observed of the role of the media: “They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. … If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” Sixty years on, nothing has changed."https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/is-a-glastonbury-chant-the-real-problem

David Ainsworth ● 18d0 Comments ● 18d

Not Israel's fault - it is Netanyahu's

Times of Israel, 5th June 2025“Netanyahu confirms move: 'It saves lives of IDF soldiers'Israel providing guns to Gaza gang to bolster opposition to HamasSecurity cabinet wasn’t informed of plan to start arming Abu Shabab group, which was created in Rafah last year and has its roots in looting aid trucksBy Emanuel FabianIsrael has been arming a criminal gang in the Gaza Strip as part of an effort to strengthen opposition to Hamas in the enclave, defense sources confirmed on Thursday following remarks on the matter by former defense minister Avigdor Liberman.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed the report, saying the move helped save Israeli soldiers’ lives.Liberman, who heads the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, told the Kan public broadcaster on Thursday morning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had unilaterally approved the transfer of weapons to the Abu Shabab clan, an armed gang or militia that is opposed to Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip.“The Israeli government is giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons, identified with Islamic State, at the direction of the prime minister,” Liberman charged. “To my knowledge, this did not go through approval by the cabinet.”He claimed that Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was aware of the decision to arm the group, “but I don’t know how much the IDF chief of staff was in on it.”The group in question, which is sometimes described as a militia and sometimes as a criminal gang, is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of a large clan in southern Gaza. It has been linked in the past to smuggling operations with Egyptian Jihadist groups, but it was not immediately clear why Liberman branded it as linked to the Islamic State.His gang has been documented in recent days operating in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing under Israeli military control.In the footage, which was published online by Abu Shabab, members of the group can be seen wearing military-style uniforms with the Palestinian flag and the words “Counter-Terrorism Mechanism” emblazoned on them.The Prime Minister’s Office, in response to Liberman’s comments, did not deny the allegations but said instead that Israel was “working to defeat Hamas through various means, based on the recommendations of all the heads of the security establishment.”In a later statement, Netanyahu confirmed the move.In the latest installment in a series of short interviews with advisor Topaz Luk his office has posted in recent weeks, Netanyahu said that “in consultation with security officials, we made use of clans in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas.”“What’s wrong with that?” he continued. “It’s only good. It saves lives of IDF soldiers.”“It’s extremely serious,” Netanyahu said of Liberman revealing the move and predicting that it won’t be investigated. “Publicizing it only does good for Hamas.Liberman’s accusation was later confirmed by defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, and the details were cleared for publication by the Israeli military censor.The sources confirmed that Israel has been arming the gang with Kalashnikov rifles, including some that were seized from Hamas during the ongoing war.The decision to start arming the group was made without the approval of Israel’s security cabinet, forgoing normal procedure. It was instead led by Israeli security bodies, with Netanyahu’s approval, the defense sources said.The militia has been operating in Rafah, in an area under Israeli military control. Abu Shabab has claimed to be securing the humanitarian aid convoys entering Israel through the southern border crossings, although others have accused his gang of looting them.Targeted by HamasThe clan has caught Hamas’s attention. Hamas published an official video on May 30 showing a group of armed, masked men operating outside a building before being blown up.The terror group claimed the group in the video was working with the IDF to inspect buildings before Israeli troops moved in, without specifying whether they were Israeli or Palestinian. However, online comparisons to previous images of Abu Shabab’s gang suggested it was the same group.In a conversation with Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper earlier this week, anonymous Hamas sources shared more information about the group, which they admitted has been a thorn in their side.According to the sources, the militia comprises some 300 people, of whom Abu Shabab personally recruited around 50. They alleged that the remaining 250 members were recruited through the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence service.The Hamas sources did not offer proof of Abu Shabab’s alleged ties to the Ramallah-based PA, and Al-Akhbar did not verify any of the terror group’s claims.The group emerged in Rafah in May 2024, following the IDF invasion of the Strip’s southernmost city, the Hamas sources said. They told Al-Akhbar that the Al-Qassam Brigades have “already started carrying out direct assassinations” against members of Abu Shabab’s gang, and that its continued existence has fast become a “central issue” for the terror group.According to the sources, some members of the group belong to an extremist Salafi faction that had run-ins with Hamas prior to the war as well.This is not the first time that Netanyahu has been involved in or accused of propping up burgeoning militias and terror groups to undermine a common enemy.Various reports over the years have indicated that Israel’s policy under Netanyahu was to treat Hamas as an asset that could be used to weaken the Palestinian Authority.The premier reportedly told a Likud faction meeting back in 2019 that anyone who opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state should support sending funds to Hamas, the enemy of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made a similar claim in an interview in 2015.Amid the outrage generated by Liberman’s revelation on Thursday, the left-wing The Democrats leader Yair Golan pointed out the pattern of behavior.“Netanyahu, who transferred billions to Hamas in suitcases full of cash, based on the incorrect belief that Hamas is an ‘asset,’ is now promoting a new dangerous concept: Arming a Gazan militia with ties to ISIS,” the politician wrote on X.“Netanyahu is dangerous to Israel’s security,” he charged. “This is not a mistake. This is systematic. Netanyahu is selling Israel’s security for another day in office.””

David Ainsworth ● 21d24 Comments ● 20d

Testaments of Youth

I genuinely wonder which of the following is most representative of British 'youth' today. 1) "Police review footage of chants led by Glastonbury acts"'The government has "strongly condemned" chants from Bob Vylan who called for "death" to the Israeli military during their performance which was broadcast live on the BBC.Rapper Bobby Vylan led chants of "free, free Palestine" and "death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".Vylan is part of a black rap group and a good example of the racism that many blacks, especially 'rappers', show towards Jews.Though born in the UK Vylan claims to be 'very much influenced by his  Jamaican genres as a tribute to Bobby's Jamaican heritage'.Will he be charged with inciting racial hatred or incitement to violence ?Don't hold your breath.Blacks can't commit racism only whites.It's "'cos of slavery man".The crowd, who had paid £375 for a ticket, loved him.But to their credit and my surprise the Glastonbury organisers put out a statement -  "Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence."But what does it say about the type of society we are becoming.2) Meanwhile England win the the UEFA under-21 Championship Final 3-2 beating Germany (YEEEEES!)A wonderful and joyous occasion where a multi-racial team of true British working class lads put their hearts and souls into the game on behalf of their country, their teammates and their watching families. And ex-FFC local boy Harvey Elliott was made 'Man of the Tournament' and in his post match interview had nothing to say about Palestine !

John Hawkes ● 24d2 Comments ● 22d

Sudan - ‘world’s largest humanitarian crisis’

The vast majority of media comment from the BBC to the left-wing press such as the Guardian and even posts on this humble Forum has raged about and denounced what are claimed to be 'humanitarian atrocities' - military actions, civilian deaths etc, carried out by Israel in its war with the Palestinians.Posters on this Forum have stated their positions as to whether they believe Israel is perpetrating such, and if so whether in a time of war some explanation, if not the condoning of them, is possible.However what the continual focus on and denouncing of Israel's behaviour has done, perhaps deliberately, is to turn attention away from what is happening in other parts of the world and what atrocities Islamist Arabs are perpetrating on a far, far more massive scale against non-Arabs in Africa.Even the Guardian and the UN is beginning to take notice and show concern, diverting its attention from Gaza.Today's Guardian."NGOs and UN say country is ‘worse off than ever before’ with wide-scale displacement, hunger and attacks on refugee camps". 'Sudan is suffering from the largest humanitarian crisis globally and its civilians are continuing to pay the price for inaction by the international community, NGOs and the UN have said, as the country’s civil war enters its third year.The UK is hosting ministers from 20 countries in London on Tuesday in an attempt to restart stalled peace talks. However, diplomatic efforts have often been sidelined by other crises, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.Two years to the day since fighting erupted in Khartoum between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary (ISLAMIST - my comment) Rapid Support Forces, hundreds of people were feared to have died in RSF attacks on refugee camps in the western Darfur region in the latest apparent atrocity of a war marked by its brutality and wide-scale humanitarian impact.The consequences for Sudan’s 51 million people have been devastating. Tens of thousands are reportedly dead. Hundreds of thousands face famine. Almost 13 million people have been displaced, 4 million of those to neighbouring countries.“Sudan is now worse off than ever before,” said Elise Nalbandian, Oxfam’s regional advocacy manager. “The largest humanitarian crisis, largest displacement crisis, largest hunger crisis … It’s breaking all sorts of wrong records.”There were “massive-scale” violations of international humanitarian law in the conflict, said Daniel O’Malley, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Sudan. “All of the civilian population, irrespective of where they are in the country, have basically been trapped between one, two or more parties. And they have been bearing the brunt of everything. The sheer numbers are just mind-boggling.”It is also claimed that as a fall out from this intra-Islamic civil war is that Christians are also being persecuted. In January of this year the US formally declared that the RSF had committed genocide, marking the second time in less than 30 years that genocide had been perpetrated in Sudan.The United Arab Emirates has been accused of fuelling the conflict by arming the RSF. Emirati passports allegedly found on the battlefield last year point to potential covert boots on the ground.All of this does not make for pleasant writing or reading and of course any claims of genocide should not be ranked in order of wickedness.However it does put the claims made against Israel into some form of perspective.

John Hawkes ● 99d24 Comments ● 26d

Happy deluded Daniel Hannan day!!

Was anybody more wrong about something than Lord Hannan? https://www.reaction.life/p/britain-looks-like-brexitIt’s 24 June, 2025, and Britain is marking its annual Independence Day celebration. As the fireworks stream through the summer sky, still not quite dark, we wonder why it took us so long to leave. The years that followed the 2016 referendum didn’t just reinvigorate our economy, our democracy and our liberty. They improved relations with our neighbours.The United Kingdom is now the region’s foremost knowledge-based economy. We lead the world in biotech, law, education, the audio-visual sector, financial services and software. New industries, from 3D printing to driverless cars, have sprung up around the country. Older industries, too, have revived as energy prices have fallen back to global levels: steel, cement, paper, plastics and ceramics producers have become competitive again.The EU, meanwhile, continues to turn inwards, clinging to its dream of political amalgamation as the euro and migration crises worsen. Its population is ageing, its share of world GDP shrinking and its peoples protesting. “We have the most comprehensive workers’ rights in the world”, complains Jean-Claude Juncker, who has recently begun in his second term as President of the European Federation, “but we have fewer and fewer workers”.The last thing most EU leaders wanted, once the shock had worn off, was a protracted argument with the United Kingdom which, on the day it left, became their single biggest market. Terms were agreed easily enough. Britain withdrew from the EU’s political structures and institutions, but kept its tariff-free arrangements in place. The rights of EU nationals living in the UK were confirmed, and various reciprocal deals on healthcare and the like remained. For the sake of administrative convenience, Brexit took effect formally on 1 July 2019, to coincide with the mandates of a new European Parliament and Commission.That day marked, not a sudden departure, but the beginning of a gradual reorientation. As the leader of the Remain campaign, Lord Rose, had put it during the referendum campaign, “It’s not going to be a step change, it’s going to be a gentle process.” He was spot on.In many areas, whether because of economies of scale or because rules were largely set at global level, the UK and the EU continued to adopt the same technical standards. But, from 2019, Britain could begin to disapply those regulations where the cost of compliance outweighed any benefits.The EU’s Clinical Trials Directive, for example, had wiped out a great deal of medical research in Britain. Outside it, we again lead the world. Opting out of the EU’s data protection rules has turned Hoxton into the software capital of the world. Britain is no longer hampered by Brussels restrictions on sales, promotions and e-commerce.Other EU regulations, often little known, had caused enormous damage. The REACH Directive, limiting the import of chemical products, had imposed huge costs on manufacturers. The bans on vitamin supplements and herbal remedies had closed down many health shops. London’s art market had been brutalised by EU rules on VAT and retrospective taxation. All these sectors have revived.Financial services are booming – not only in London, but in Birmingham, Leeds and Edinburgh too. Eurocrats had never much liked the City, which they regarded as parasitical. Before Brexit, they targeted London with regulations that were not simply harmful but, in some cases, downright malicious: the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, the ban on short selling, the Financial Transactions Tax, the restrictions on insurance. After Britain left, the EU’s regulations became even more heavy-handed, driving more exiles from Paris, Frankfurt and Milan. No other European city could hope to compete: their high rates of personal and corporate taxation, restrictive employment practices and lack of support services left London unchallenged.Other cities, too, have boomed, not least Liverpool and Glasgow, which had found themselves on the wrong side of the country when the EEC’s Common External Tariff was phased in in the 1970s. In 2016, the viability of our commercial ports was threatened by the EU’s Ports Services Directive, one of many proposed rules that was being held back so as not to boost the Leave vote. Now, the UK has again become a centre for world shipping.Shale oil and gas came on tap, almost providentially, just as the North Sea reserves were depleting, with most of the infrastructure already in place. Outside the EU, we have been able to augment this bonanza by buying cheap Chinese solar panels. In consequence, our fuel bills have tumbled, boosting productivity, increasing household incomes and stimulating the entire economy.During the first 12 months after the vote, Britain confirmed with the various countries that have trade deals with the EU that the same deals would continue. It also used that time to agree much more liberal terms with those states which had run up against EU protectionism, including India, China and Australia. These new treaties came into effect shortly after independence. Britain, like the EFTA countries, now combines global free trade with full participation in EU markets.Our universities are flourishing, taking the world’s brightest students and, where appropriate, charging accordingly. Their revenues, in consequence, are rising, while they continue to collaborate with research centres in Europe and around the world.The number of student visas granted each year is decided by MPs who, now that they no longer need to worry about unlimited EU migration, can afford to take a long-term view. Parliament sets the number of work permits, the number of refugee places and the terms of family reunification. A points-based immigration system invites the world’s top talent; and the consequent sense of having had to win a place competitively means that new settlers arrive with commensurate pride and patriotism.Unsurprisingly, several other European countries have opted to copy Britain’s deal with the EU, based as it is upon a common market rather than a common government. Some of these countries were drawn from EFTA (Norway, Switzerland and Iceland are all bringing their arrangements into line with ours). Some came from further afield (Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine). Some followed us out of the EU (Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands).The United Kingdom now leads a 22-state bloc that forms a free trade area with the EU, but remains outside its political structures. For their part, the EU 24 have continued to push ahead with economic, military and political amalgamation. They now have a common police force and army, a pan-European income tax and a harmonised system of social security. These developments have prompted referendums in three other EU states on whether to copy Britain.Perhaps the greatest benefit, though, is not easy to quantify. Britain has recovered its self-belief. As we left the EU, we straightened our backs, looked about us, and realised that we were still a nation to be reckoned with: the world’s fifth economy and fourth military power, one of five members on the UN Security Council and a leading member of the G7 and the Commonwealth. We recalled, too, that we were the world’s leading exporter of soft power; that our language was the most widely studied on Earth; that we were linked by kinship and migration to every continent and archipelago. We saw that there were great opportunities across the oceans, beyond the enervated eurozone. We knew that our song had not yet been sung.

Michael Brigo ● 28d6 Comments ● 27d

Should we bomb ourselves?

Google was asked a question:-"which countries supplied israel with nuclear material""AI OverviewSeveral countries are known to have supplied Israel with materials or expertise that contributed to its nuclear weapons program. These include France, which provided a reactor and assistance in building a reprocessing plant, and the UK, which secretly supplied heavy water. Additionally, there is evidence suggesting the US also played a role, potentially through the illegal transfer of enriched uranium. Here's a more detailed breakdown:France:France was a key partner in the early stages of Israel's nuclear program, providing a reactor and training for Israeli scientists and engineers. There was even a secret agreement to cooperate on nuclear weapons, though this was later scrapped under U.S. pressure. United Kingdom:Britain secretly sold Israel 20 tons of heavy water, which is crucial for producing plutonium for nuclear weapons. This deal was concealed from the US. United States:While the US officially opposed nuclear proliferation, evidence suggests some US-made materials may have been acquired by Israel, potentially through a company called NUMEC, which handled nuclear materials. There are also reports of uranium being stolen from the US. Other countries:While not directly supplying materials, some countries, like Norway, were involved in facilitating the transfer of heavy water from the UK to Israel.AI responses may include mistakes."---------------------------"Hans, are we the baddies?"

David Ainsworth ● 34d2 Comments ● 34d

Another Screeching U-Turn By Hapless Starmer

Yvette Cooper made an 'unequivocal' apology to grooming gang victims today as a 'damning' report accused institutions of 'dodging' questions about the ethnicity of offenders.In a moment of shame for UK authorities, the Home Secretary finally triggered a national inquiry into the sexual abuse of underage girls, admitting those who suffered 'despicable crimes' had been 'let down'.  Ms Cooper said a national inquiry will be set up oversee local investigations - something Keir Starmer had been rejecting until his humiliating U-turn at the weekend.  The PM made a dramatic volte face at the weekend after reading the report. He previously suggested those calling for a national probe into the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of girls by gangs of mainly Pakistani-heritage men were 'jumping on the bandwagon' of the 'far-Right'.  Starmer must now publicly apologise to all the victims that he has ignored for so long; and to Nigel Farage, Rupert Lowe and Kemi Badenoch who have all put sustained pressure on him for months to do the right thing.  But of course he won't and it is interesting that his volte face occurred at the weekend when he was out of the country and did not have to face the media scrutiny. One of the rape-gangs most vocal victims Sammy Woodhouse, has written a bestselling book about her ordeal and I thoroughly recommend it if you want to know the raw truth.  I hope this national inquiry will expose all the cover-ups that have been perpetrated by the all the local authorities, social services and children's homes involved, the police and by Starmer himself who I believe tried to bury the scandal so as not to antagonise Labour's Muslim voters.  There were 364 Labour MPs who toed the party line and were also complicit in the cover-up, and guess who is one of them ...  There were 364 Labour MPs who toed the party line and were also complicit in the cover-up, and guess who is one of them ...  The list of shameThese are the 364 cowardly MPs who voted against a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation and Pakistani-Muslim grooming gangs.They deserve to be named and shamed.Never forget their betrayal.Jack Abbott (Labour)Debbie Abrahams (Labour)Shockat Adam (Independent)Zubir Ahmed (Labour)Luke Akehurst (Labour)Sadik Al-Hassan (Labour)Bayo Alaba (Labour)Dan Aldridge (Labour)Heidi Alexander (Labour)Douglas Alexander (Labour)Rushanara Ali (Labour)Tahir Ali (Labour)Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour)Mike Amesbury (Independent)Callum Anderson (Labour)Fleur Anderson (Labour)😡Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour)Scott Arthur (Labour)Jess Asato (Labour)James Asser (Labour)Jas Athwal (Labour)Catherine Atkinson (Labour)Lewis Atkinson (Labour)Calvin Bailey (Labour)Olivia Bailey (Labour)David Baines (Labour)Alex Baker (Labour)Richard Baker (Labour)Alex Ballinger (Labour)Antonia Bance (Labour)Lee Barron (Labour)Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour)Johanna Baxter (Labour)Danny Beales (Labour)Lorraine Beavers (Labour)Apsana Begum (Independent)Torsten Bell (Labour)Hilary Benn (Labour)Siân Berry (Green Party)Clive Betts (Labour)Polly Billington (Labour)Matt Bishop (Labour)Olivia Blake (Labour)Rachel Blake (Labour)Chris Bloore (Labour)Elsie Blundell (Labour)Kevin Bonavia (Labour)Jade Botterill (Labour)Sureena Brackenridge (Labour)Jonathan Brash (Labour)Phil Brickell (Labour)Chris Bryant (Labour)Julia Buckley (Labour)Richard Burgon (Independent)Maureen Burke (Labour )David Burton-Sampson (Labour)Dawn Butler (Labour)Ruth Cadbury (Labour)Nesil Caliskan (Labour)Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour)Irene Campbell (Labour)Juliet Campbell (Labour)Alan Campbell (Labour)Sam Carling (Labour)Sarah Champion (Labour)Bambos Charalambous (Labour)Luke Charters (Labour)Ellie Chowns (Green Party)Feryal Clark (Labour)Ben Coleman (Labour)Jacob Collier (Labour)Lizzi Collinge (Labour)Tom Collins (Labour)Liam Conlon (Labour)Sarah Coombes (Labour)Andrew Cooper (Labour)Beccy Cooper (Labour)Yvette Cooper (Labour)Jeremy Corbyn (Independent)Deirdre Costigan (Labour)Pam Cox (Labour)Neil Coyle (Labour)Jen Craft (Labour)Stella Creasy (Labour)Torcuil Crichton (Labour)Chris Curtis (Labour)Janet Daby (Labour)Nicholas Dakin (Labour)Ashley Dalton (Labour)Emily Darlington (Labour)Alex Davies-Jones (Labour)Jonathan Davies (Labour)Paul Davies (Labour)Marsha De Cordova (Labour)Josh Dean (Labour)Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour)Jim Dickson (Labour)Anna Dixon (Labour)Samantha Dixon (Labour)Anneliese Dodds (Labour)Helena Dollimore (Labour)Stephen Doughty (Labour)Peter Dowd (Labour)Graeme Downie (Labour)Rosie Duffield (Independent)Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour)Angela Eagle (Labour)Maria Eagle (Labour)Lauren Edwards (Labour)Sarah Edwards (Labour)Clive Efford (Labour)Damien Egan (Labour)Maya Ellis (Labour)Chris Elmore (Labour)Kirith Entwistle (Labour)Florence Eshalomi (Labour)Bill Esterson (Labour)Chris Evans (Labour)Linsey Farnsworth (Labour)Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour)Mark Ferguson (Labour)Patricia Ferguson (Labour)Natalie Fleet (Labour)Emma Foody (Labour)Catherine Fookes (Labour)Vicky Foxcroft (Labour)Daniel Francis (Labour)James Frith (Labour)Gill Furniss (Labour)Barry Gardiner (Labour)Allison Gardner (Labour)Anna Gelderd (Labour)Gill German (Labour)Tracy Gilbert (Labour)Becky Gittins (Labour)Mary Glindon (Labour)Ben Goldsborough (Labour)Jodie Gosling (Labour)Georgia Gould (Labour)John Grady (Labour)Lilian Greenwood (Labour)Nia Griffith (Labour)Andrew Gwynne (Labour)Amanda Hack (Labour)Paulette Hamilton (Labour)Emma Hardy (Labour)Carolyn Harris (Labour)Helen Hayes (Labour)Tom Hayes (Labour)Claire Hazelgrove (Labour)Mark Hendrick (Labour)Meg Hillier (Labour)Chris Hinchliff (Labour)Sharon Hodgson (Labour)Rachel Hopkins (Labour)Claire Hughes (Labour)Alison Hume (Labour)Patrick Hurley (Labour)Imran Hussain (Independent)Leigh Ingham (Labour)Natasha Irons (Labour)Sally Jameson (Labour)Dan Jarvis (Labour)Terry Jermy (Labour)Adam Jogee (Labour)Diana Johnson (Labour)Darren Jones (Labour)Gerald Jones (Labour)Lillian Jones (Labour)Louise Jones (Labour)Ruth Jones (Labour)Sarah Jones (Labour)Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour)Sojan Joseph (Labour)Warinder Juss (Labour)Chris Kane (Labour)Mike Kane (Labour)Satvir Kaur (Labour)Liz Kendall (Labour)Afzal Khan (Labour)Naushabah Khan (Labour)Stephen Kinnock (Labour)Jayne Kirkham (Labour)Gen Kitchen (Labour)Sonia Kumar (Labour)Uma Kumaran (Labour)Peter Kyle (Labour)Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour)Peter Lamb (Labour)Ian Lavery (Labour)Noah Law (Labour)Kim Leadbeater (Labour)Brian Leishman (Labour)Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour)Andrew Lewin (Labour)Clive Lewis (Labour)Simon Lightwood (Labour)Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent)Josh MacAlister (Labour)Alice Macdonald (Labour)Andy MacNae (Labour)Justin Madders (Labour)Shabana Mahmood (Labour)Seema Malhotra (Labour)Amanda Martin (Labour)Rachael Maskell (Labour)Keir Mather (Labour)Alex Mayer (Labour)Douglas McAllister (Labour)Kerry McCarthy (Labour)Martin McCluskey (Labour)Andy McDonald (Labour)Chris McDonald (Labour)John McDonnell (Independent)Blair McDougall (Labour)Lola McEvoy (Labour)Pat McFadden (Labour)Alison McGovern (Labour)Alex McIntyre (Labour)Gordon McKee (Labour)Kevin McKenna (Labour)Catherine McKinnell (Labour)Jim McMahon (Labour)Anna McMorrin (Labour)Frank McNally (Labour)Kirsty McNeill (Labour)Anneliese Midgley (Labour)Julie Minns (Labour)Navendu Mishra (Labour)Abtisam Mohamed (Labour)Iqbal Mohamed (Independent)Perran Moon (Labour)Jessica Morden (Labour)Stephen Morgan (Labour)Grahame Morris (Labour)Joe Morris (Labour)Luke Murphy (Labour)Chris Murray (Labour)Ian Murray (Labour)James Murray (Labour)Katrina Murray (Labour)Luke Myer (Labour)James Naish (Labour)Connor Naismith (Labour)Lisa Nandy (Labour)Kanishka Narayan (Labour)Josh Newbury (Labour)Samantha Niblett (Labour)Charlotte Nichols (Labour)Melanie Onn (Labour)Chi Onwurah (Labour)Simon Opher (Labour)Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour)Kate Osamor (Labour)Kate Osborne (Labour)Tristan Osborne (Labour)Sarah Owen (Labour)Darren Paffey (Labour)Andrew Pakes (Labour)Matthew Patrick (Labour)Michael Payne (Labour)Stephanie Peacock (Labour)Jon Pearce (Labour)Matthew Pennycook (Labour)Toby Perkins (Labour)Jess Phillips (Labour)Bridget Phillipson (Labour)David Pinto-Duschinsky (Labour)Lee Pitcher (Labour)Jo Platt (Labour)Luke Pollard (Labour)Joe Powell (Labour)Lucy Powell (Labour)Gregor Poynton (Labour)Peter Prinsley (Labour)Richard Quigley (Labour)Steve Race (Labour)Connor Rand (Labour)Andrew Ranger (Labour)Mike Reader (Labour)Ellie Reeves (Labour)Joani Reid (Labour)Emma Reynolds (Labour)Martin Rhodes (Labour)Jake Richards (Labour)Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour)Dave Robertson (Labour)Tim Roca (Labour)Matt Rodda (Labour)Sam Rushworth (Labour)Sarah Russell (Labour)Oliver Ryan (Labour)Jeevun Sandher (Labour)Michelle Scrogham (Labour)Mark Sewards (Labour)Naz Shah (Labour)Tulip Siddiq (Labour)Josh Simons (Labour)Andy Slaughter (Labour)John Slinger (Labour)Cat Smith (Labour)David Smith (Labour)Jeff Smith (Labour)Nick Smith (Labour)Sarah Smith (Labour)Karin Smyth (Labour)Gareth Snell (Labour)Alex Sobel (Labour)Euan Stainbank (Labour)Jo Stevens (Labour)Kenneth Stevenson (Labour)Elaine Stewart (Labour)Will Stone (Labour)Alistair Strathern (Labour)Alan Strickland (Labour)Lauren Sullivan (Labour)Kirsteen Sullivan (Labour)Peter Swallow (Labour)Mark Tami (Labour)Mike Tapp (Labour)David Taylor (Labour)Rachel Taylor (Labour)Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour)Fred Thomas (Labour) (Proxy vote cast by Chris Elmore)Gareth Thomas (Labour)Adam Thompson (Labour)Emily Thornberry (Labour)Marie Tidball (Labour)Stephen Timms (Labour)Jessica Toale (Labour)Jon Trickett (Labour)Henry Tufnell (Labour)Anna Turley (Labour)Matt Turmaine (Labour)Karl Turner (Labour)Laurence Turner (Labour)Derek Twigg (Labour)Liz Twist (Labour)Harpreet Uppal (Labour)Valerie Vaz (Labour)Chris Vince (Labour)Christian Wakeford (Labour)Imogen Walker (Labour)Chris Ward (Labour)Melanie Ward (Labour)Paul Waugh (Labour)Chris Webb (Labour)Michelle Welsh (Labour)Catherine West (Labour)Andrew Western (Labour)Matt Western (Labour)Michael Wheeler (Labour)John Whitby (Labour)Jo White (Labour)Katie White (Labour)Nadia Whittome (Labour)David Williams (Labour)Steve Witherden (Labour)Rosie Wrighting (Labour)Yuan Yang (Labour)Mohammad Yasin (Labour)Steve Yemm (Labour)https://mol.im/a/14817277

Sue Hammond ● 36d55 Comments ● 34d

The era of reductions in the number of nuclear weapons is coming to an end

"Era of nuclear disarmament 'coming to an end', SIPRI warns""The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) stressed in its annual assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament and international security, that although the number of nuclear warheads in the world continued to decline last year due to the US and Russia dismantling retired warheads, the pace of such dismantlements is slowing down.The rate at which new warheads enter global stockpiles could therefore soon outpace dismantlements, SIPRI said, as nuclear states pursue modernisation programmes."The era of reductions in the number of nuclear weapons in the world, which had lasted since the end of the Cold War, is coming to an end," Hans M. Kristensen, Associate Senior Fellow with SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme said in a statement."Instead, we see a clear trend of growing nuclear arsenals, sharpened nuclear rhetoric and the abandonment of arms control agreements," he added.Nine countries - the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Israel - have nuclear warheads in their arsenals with an estimated global inventory of 12,241 warheads, of which 9,614 were in military stockpiles for potential use."https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/16/era-of-nuclear-disarmament-coming-to-an-end-sipri-warnshttps://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2025/nuclear-risks-grow-new-arms-race-looms-new-sipri-yearbook-out-now

David Ainsworth ● 36d2 Comments ● 36d

What is Starmer's record on prosecuting grooming gangs?

"In 2012 The Times newspaper investigated Rotherham grooming gangs, which led to a major inquiry.At least 1,400 children were subjected to appalling sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, according to a 2014 report, written by Prof Alexis Jay.The report made headlines in the UK and around the world and led to major debates in Parliament.Similar scandals also occurred in other towns, including Oldham, Oxford, Rochdale and Telford, leading to a national inquiry into child sexual abuse, which was also led by Prof Jay.The cases sparked investigations into alleged failures to properly address the crimes and support victims.Was the CPS or Starmer 'complicit'?The CPS, an independent body, prosecutes criminal cases in England and Wales.After the police investigate crimes and present their findings, the CPS decides whether to prosecute based on evidence and public interest.Sir Keir was appointed head of the CPS in 2008 and held the role for five years. He became an MP in 2015.The CPS was criticised for a decision not to proceed with a prosecution in Rochdale on the basis that it viewed the main victim as "unreliable" following an investigation between August 2008 and August 2009.That decision was overturned later by Nazir Afzal in 2011 after being appointed by Sir Keir as the CPS chief prosecutor for north-west England.Speaking to BBC Verify, Mr Afzal said that the view of prosecutors not to proceed to trial at the time was "if the police aren't happy that she will give credible evidence then we're not happy either".He went on to say that he had reviewed and reversed the decision as "I believed what she [the victim] was saying".But this is not the only instance where the CPS has faced criticism.Prof Jay's report into the Rotherham cases said the police would often cite the CPS as being unwilling to prosecute alleged perpetrators, but they said that it had been "much more helpful" later on.A 2013 report from the Home Affairs Committee said that "unlike many other official agencies implicated in this issue", the CPS had "readily admitted that victims had been let down by them and have attempted both to discover the cause of this systematic failure and to improve the way things are done so as to avoid a repetition of such events".It added: "Mr Starmer has striven to improve the treatment of victims of sexual assault within the criminal justice system throughout his term as Director of Public Prosecution (DPP)."Maggie Oliver, a former Manchester detective who now campaigns for victims of child sex abuse, told BBC Verify that the CPS "bear a great deal of responsibility for the failures around this issue", including bringing inadequate charges and blaming victims.She added that while there was now much more awareness around the issue, "in my foundation we still see individual cases subjected to massive failures in the systems".We have been unable to find any direct criticism of Sir Keir personally in any of the reports on the scandal, nor can we identify any suggestions that he himself made any decisions not to prosecute.How has Starmer responded?The prime minister has robustly defended his record as the former head of the CPS, telling journalists he:Changed the prosecution approach to "challenge myths and stereotypes" that had stopped victims from being heardLeft office when the CPS had the highest number of child sex abuse prosecutions on recordReopened cases that had been closedBrought the first prosecution of an Asian grooming gangIt is correct that he revised the guidance on child sexual exploitation in 2013 to make future prosecutions easier.Previously, victims may not have been viewed as credible if they had not complained immediately, if they had used drugs or alcohol or if they had dressed or acted in particular ways.On child sexual abuse prosecutions, we found CPS figures dating back to 2007 but the early years are now only on archived web pages - as they are no longer on the CPS website.They show that the "number of prosecutions for child sexual abuse flagged cases" did rise from that year to reach 4,794 in April 2010 to March 2011 - a peak for Sir Keir's time in charge of the CPS.That total was subsequently surpassed - there were nearly 7,200 prosecutions in 2016-2017.BBC Verify has asked Downing Street for more detail on the data behind the prime minister's claim.On reopening cases, Mr Afzal said that the creation of a national panel to revisit cases under Sir Keir had been a success."That panel also included - for the first time ever - external representatives. It revisited dozens of cases that were then restarted," he said.How many child grooming cases were prosecuted under Starmer?In defending his record, the prime minister referred only to the broad category of child sex abuse prosecution data.When it comes to child grooming gangs, there is no single clear data set because no specific offence exists.Instead, offenders can be prosecuted for causing or facilitating sexual exploitation, or for committing specific offences such as rape and indecent assault.Information on child grooming-related prosecutions appear in Prof Jay's 2022 report into child sexual exploitation by organised networks, external - a government-commissioned report into institutional child abuse failings published in 2022.The report mentions several "significant prosecutions" between 2010 and 2014, including 35 convictions which took place while Sir Keir was DPP:November 2010 - five men convicted in RotherhamNovember 2010 - 11 men convicted in Derbyshire2008-2010 - three men convicted in CornwallMay 2012 - nine men from Rochdale and Oldham convictedJune 2013 - seven men from Oxford convictedA Times report from 2011 identified 17 grooming gang prosecutions, external since 1997.It said 14 of them took place during the previous three years and involved the on-street grooming of girls aged 11 to 16 by groups of men across 13 towns and cities.A report by the National Police Chiefs' Council last year concluded that 5% of child sexual abuse and exploitation crimes were group-based - but more specific figures weren't disclosed."https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgn2wvxx5qo

David Ainsworth ● 36d1 Comments ● 36d