Politicians have entreated each other to be ‘kind’ in the aftermath of the murder of one of their own. They seem to think that has something to do with Islamic terrorism . Judging by their past behaviour and that of BBC journalists we can guess how much will change ..
Midweek Thread 20 October 2021
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BBC Online News:
“Petrol station stocks back to normal”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58991951
So, BBC. Why did you create and support this panic?
BBC image shows a woman at a pump wearing a mask. Drip, drip, drip… Also, it’s a Getty image which our BBC have to pay for.
It is worth noting that the only female Primeministers have come from the Conservative party
hardly surprisiing maybe given the oppositions current members or those thrown out:
Angela Rayner has stood by her description of the Conservatives as “homophobic, racist, misogynistic … scum” after the Labour leader distanced himself from her words.
An MP who threatened a woman with acid will make victims “relive the pain and horror” of their experiences, a solicitor has said.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard former Labour MP Claudia Webbe made several calls to her partner’s friend and threatened her with acid.
Webbe, who is now an independent, was convicted of harassment on Wednesday.
Ayesha Nayyar, who has represented acid attack survivors, said the case was “serious on many levels”.
The court heard Webbe, who represents Leicester East, made an “angry” call to Michelle Merritt, a friend of her partner Lester Thomas, used a derogatory term and added: “You should be acid.”
She also threatened to send naked photos and videos of Ms Merritt to her family. Webbe, 56, has said she will remain an MP while appealing against her conviction.
An MP who was kicked out of her Peterborough seat after a spell behind bars is set to reveal her side of the story in a new book.
Fiona Onasanya, who was elected as the Labour MP for Peterborough in June 2017, lost her seat last year after a scandal
The MP was caught by a speed camera doing 41mph in a 30mph zone in the village of Thorney, just outside of Peterborough.
She served less than four weeks in jail.
While she was booted out of the Labour party, a petition with the signatures of 10 per cent of the population was still required to remove her as MP.
A whopping 19,261 people ultimately signed the petition and the MP was replaced after a by-election in June last year.
Labour MP has been charged with housing fraud after being investigated over how she obtained her flat.
Apsana Begum, who was elected to her seat in Poplar and Limehouse in east London last year, has been accused of three offences.
The MP, who is considered an ally of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and whose candidacy was backed by Momentum, is said to “vigorously contest” the allegations.
Begum faces three separate charges of dishonestly failing to disclose information in order to make gains for herself or another, or expose another to a loss with the offences dated between January 2013 and March 2016. She is due to appear at Thames magistrates’ court on 10 December. The charges are the result of an investigation by Tower Hamlets council, which as a local authority has the power to bring prosecutions.
Last month, the court accepted Begum’s account of events, in particular her claim that Haque, whom she characterised as emotionally abusive and controlling, had applied for council properties under her name without her knowledge. The verdict was the culmination of an 18-month battle for the British Bangladeshi politician, one that has overshadowed her first term as an MP.
Haque denies all the allegations against him. “I am innocent and the allegations made against me have no basis,” he says. “I look forward to any investigation or legal process to enable me to clear my name.”
Begum statement on her website
“Tower Hamlets has one of the highest average rents in London, while at the same time having some of the highest levels of poverty. It’s a toxic combination which means those on low incomes face an increased risk of homelessness. I support ambitious targets for social housing, council house building, requisitioning empty homes by Compulsory Purchase Orders and rent controls to protect private renters.
https://apsanabegum.com/
I could not possibly comment on the rank hypocrisy implied by the actions of her associates
Mrs Begum:
Migration
The government’s ‘hostile environment’ has damaged our society and fostered intolerance and racism. We urgently need to shut down detention centres, defend freedom of movement, end no recourse to public funds policies and extend voting rights to resident non-UK nationals.
Green Industrial Revolution
Diaspora communities understand the devastating impact of climate change on our families’ livelihoods in countries such as Bangladesh and Somalia. Climate change can only be addressed via public ownership of our energy system, mass investment in renewable energy to create new jobs and increased support for developing countries. I will champion Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution and campaign to build an environmentally sustainable society.
Brexit
Like most people in our constituency, I voted remain and am deeply concerned about the prospects of a catastrophic No Deal Brexit. I support our party’s position of negotiating a better deal and putting that back to the people with remain as an option on the ballot.
Opposing wars abroad,
challenging racism at home
It is over 80 years since our community fought the Battle of Cable Street and we have a long tradition of standing up against fascism, racism and antisemitism. I stand against intolerance, violence and division. In our foreign policy, we have to stand with Jeremy Corbyn’s principled opposition to military interventions which have caused so much havoc around the world.
Early life and career
Begum was born in Shadwell, Tower Hamlets to Bengali Muslim parents, Manir Uddin Ahmed and Syeda Nazma Begom. She has five sisters and a brother. Her ancestral home is in Ludorpur village of Jagannathpur, Sunamganj District, Bangladesh.[1] Ahmed, who died in 2012, was also a Labour Party politician (representing the Shadwell ward), the Tower Hamlets Community Housing Board Director (2002–2006) and the 2004 Mayor of Tower Hamlets.[citation needed] Begum completed her education at Queen Mary University of London, where she gained a BA (Hons) in Politics in 2011.[2]
From 2011 to 2013, Begum worked in the role of Executive Support and Admin for Tower Hamlets Council. She was a Workforce Diversity Project Officer for Tower Hamlets Homes from 2014 to 2015, and Equality and Diversity Officer for Queen Mary University of London from 2016 to 2018.[2]
Bangladeshi Muslim-how are we allowing such people to gain such positions of power no matter how small is beyond me-we shall have no right to blame ourselves when we are run by those that follow the teachings of Islam.
Bangladesh’s Awami League-led government doubled down on an authoritarian crackdown on free speech, arresting critics, and censoring media. Arrests under the abusive Digital Security Act (DSA) increased dramatically. Impunity for abuses by security forces, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, remained pervasive.
Host to nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar, Bangladesh kept its commitment under international law not to force returns and allowed ashore refugees stranded at sea who were pushed back by other governments. However, policies over the year violated refugee rights. Authorities arbitrarily detained over 300 refugees on Bhasan Char island, while refusing to allow a safety assessment or protection visit by United Nations experts.
The government took positive steps by restoring internet in the refugee camps, after a nearly year-long internet blackout, and promising to allow refugees to study under the formal Myanmar curriculum through secondary school.
A court ordered the first ever conviction under the 2013 Torture Act, which activists hoped would pave the way for investigations and accountability for the dozens of documented reports of torture by security forces.
Authorities released from detention nearly 3,000 people convicted of minor offenses and granted bail to over 20,000 people being held in pretrial detention in order to reduce crowding and protect against the spread of Covid-19 in prisons. However, those being held in detention for criticizing the ruling party were not included in these releases. Juvenile detention centers granted bail to nearly 500 children in the wake of the pandemic but, according to UNICEF, more than 1,000 children awaiting trial or sentenced for petty crimes remained in detention
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/bangladesh
Women’s rights activists and others protesting against gender based violence hold placards outside the Parliament in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
Bangladesh:
Freedom of Expression and Association
Authorities increasingly used the DSA to harass and indefinitely detain activists, journalists, and others critical of the government and its political leadership. Police even arrested a child under the act for “defaming” the prime minister in a Facebook post.
The international community, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN independent experts, and European Union, as well as journalists in Bangladesh repeatedly criticized the DSA for stifling free speech and violating international law. In May, 311 members of Bangladesh civil society issued a joint statement calling for the government to release those held under the DSA.
Authorities also used the Covid-19 pandemic as pretext to censor free speech and the media and threaten academic freedom, arresting artists, students, doctors, political opposition members, and activists for speaking out about the government’s handling of the pandemic.
The government silenced healthcare workers and cracked down on those who spoke out over a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and resources for treating Covid-19. In May, the government issued a circular banning all government employees from posting, “liking,” sharing, or commenting on any content which might “tarnish the image of the state” or the government’s “important persons.”
The government censored media by blocking news sites and dropping the media from the list of emergency services that remained exempt from lockdown restrictions. In August, the Cabinet approved a draft amendment to the 2017 National Online Media Policy, requiring all media outlets to obtain government approval to run their online media portals.
The government increased surveillance, including by creating two units to identify Covid-19 “rumors”—one under the Information Ministry and another under the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the country’s primary counterterrorism unit, notorious for abuse and flouting rule of law. In reality, these initiatives primarily led to the arbitrary arrest of individuals who spoke out against the government’s response to the pandemic or were otherwise critical of the ruling party.
Disappearances and Extrajudicial Killings
The government continued to deny its unlawful practice of enforced disappearances and ignored concerns raised by the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the UN Committee against Torture, and the UN Human Rights Committee. Authorities continued to forcibly disappear critics and deny justice for victims and their families.
Shafiqul Islam Kajol, a journalist, was forcibly disappeared for 53 days before he was “found” in a field, blindfolded and tied. Rather than investigating his disappearance, authorities arrested him under three separate DSA cases.
Security forces continued to commit extrajudicial killings with near-complete impunity. However, when police killed a retired military officer, Maj. Sinha Rashed Khan, authorities were forced to take action and “crossfires”—a euphemism for extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh—dropped precipitously, indicating that authorities can bring these killings to an end whenever they choose.
Right to Health
Bangladesh’s healthcare system was overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic, shedding light on massive disparities in healthcare access. Many people with symptoms consistent with Covid-19 initially reported being turned away from hospitals. Healthcare workers reported that they did not have sufficient PPE to safely provide medical care.
Doctors told Human Rights Watch that they were overwhelmed and under pressure to reserve limited intensive care facilities for patients with clout or influence. Delivery of essential sexual and reproductive health services fell to the wayside, putting women and girls’ health at increased risk.
Refugees
With Myanmar failing to create conditions for their safe and voluntary return, Bangladesh continued to host nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees. However, with their welcome wearing thin, the government’s policies violated basic rights, including by building barbed wire fencing around the camps and shutting off internet access for nearly a year, which violated rights to freedom of expression and access to information and hampered aid workers’ ability to coordinate emergency responses, conduct contact-tracing, and share critical information about Covid-19.
In August, the government reiterated a promise made in January to finally allow Rohingya children access to formal education under the Myanmar curriculum, but the initial “pilot” plan to reach 10,000 children, up to class 9, has yet to be implemented.
Bangladesh rescued two boats of Rohingya refugees in May after other governments pushed them back to sea for months. However, the government placed the refugees at risk by holding them on the remote silt island of Bhasan Char, initially saying that it was only a temporary quarantine to prevent the spread of Covid-19. However, over six months later, the government had refused to allow the refugees to return to their families in Cox’s Bazar or for UN officials to conduct a protection visit.
Refugees on the island described being held without freedom of movement or adequate access to food or medical care; some alleged that they were beaten and ill-treated by Bangladesh authorities on the island. The government ignored calls from UN Secretary-General António Guterres and humanitarian experts to safely return the refugees to the camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Labor Rights
Following massive order cancellations during the pandemic, more than 1 million garment workers—mostly women—were laid off, many of whom did not receive payment of owed wages. Retailers took advantage of the crisis by demanding discounts on producer prices, thus putting pressure on workers to return to work for lower wages, often without adequate PPE, reliable healthcare, or sick leave.
The government provided US$600 million in subsidized loans to companies to support payment of wages to workers in the garment sector. It is unclear, however, how the payments of back wages were made to workers, particularly women who may not have financial control or access.
Women and Girls’ Rights
Women and girls faced widespread violence. According to Bangladesh human rights organization Ain O Salish Kendra, 975 women and girls were reportedly raped in the first nine months of 2020, and 235 women were murdered by their husband or his family. NGOs reported a marked increase in reports of domestic violence during the nationwide lockdown instituted to stop the spread of Covid-19. Yet, survivors faced further reductions to already limited options for safe shelter or other protection measures as well as significant obstacles to legal recourse.
Despite promises, the government failed to pass a long overdue sexual harassment law or make amendments to the discriminatory rape law. Instead, the government hurriedly approved an amendment to allow for the death penalty for rape to quell protests that broke out after several gang-rape cases came to light.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina committed to end marriage for girls under 15 by 2021, but there was little meaningful progress during the year. Instead, a special provision remained in effect that allows for child marriage in “special cases,” with permission of their parents and a court.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Section 377 of the Bangladeshi penal code punishes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” by up to life imprisonment.
Though the government took an important step in recognizing hijras as a third gender, in practice, it remained difficult for hijras to access health care and other government services, a problem exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and advocates in Bangladesh continued to face violence and threats of violence without adequate protection from the police.
In positive steps, the National Human Rights Commission formed a committee to address issues for marginalized groups, including transgender people, and the National Curriculum and Textbook Board of Bangladesh agreed to incorporate third gender issues into the secondary school curriculum.
Indigenous Rights
Activists continued to call for the full implementation of the Peace Accord in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Two years after the disappearance of Michael Chakma, an Indigenous rights activist, the government has ignored appeals from his family, as well as inquiries from the High Court, the National Human Rights Commission, and the United Nations Committee against Torture. In January, the police finally responded to an order from the High court by simply stating that they “could not find anybody named Michael Chakma in any prisons in Bangladesh.”
You could summarise all of that by simply stating Bangladesh is a corrupt, Third-world sh*t hole.
Doesn’t this make all those islamist geezers at speakers corner screaming for kaffir blood guilty of hate crimes? Or is it a special no problem sort of hate they preach?
Spin that one BBC ..
Talking of vermin who should be dead – the brother of the Manchester Islamic mass killing suicide attack managed to escape from the UK and not be questioned by the ongoing inquiry .
Surely – at the very least – if he used his own passport surely that should be cancelled …?
It would be a shame if he had a fatal mishap back ‘home ‘…
Another Friday looms – another Islamic attack after a bit of mosque action ?
This morning Diane Abbott and the idiot tony ? Fahy ? Ex top cop were on R4 .
About was boasting she is top of the threat list – maybe she makes no connection with the terrorists she has sympathy for and punters who get angry . As for Fahy – one wonders where all the other pensioned off top plod are – to give a more recent view …
Put a Fatwa on the man-that’s what the preachers of Islam would do.
Trafalgar Day.
Thanks Dover – hey Frenchy – wanna talk about fishing in British waters? ….our external nearest enemy …..but we’ve imported more…
Sir David Amess: Ali Harbi Ali charged with murder of MP
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58997590
Mr Ali, from north London…
Not the North London terrorists again!
People moved from London to places like Southend to get away from immigrants…
Try Norfolk, plenty of pigs
Prohibitions in Islamic law
One example of verses from the Quran on pig consumption:
He (Allah -God- ) has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. — Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:173[9]
The only things which are made unlawful for you are the flesh of dead animals, blood, pork and that which is not consecrated with the Name of God. But in an emergency, without the intention of transgression and rebellion, (it is not an offense for one to consume such things). God is certainly All-forgiving and All-merciful.[10] (16:115)
I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything forbidden for anyone who wants to eat unless it is carrion, outpoured blood and the flesh of swine, all of which is unclean (Quran Al An’am 6:145)
Z, about forbidden food.
Isn’t that one of the things the ‘far right’ do.
We hear maybe 30% of terrorist convictions or acts are by the far right.
Blow up schoolchildren at a pop concert = 1 terrorism act.
Leave a pork pie near a mosk = 1 terrorism act.
Scores are equal at 1 . 1
Mishal has a chart.
Apparently.
A muddled report in the G about the BBC being concerned about the consequences of Amazon Alexa and the like gathering data on the listening habits of punters beyond anything the BBC has .
Well that’s good isn’t it ? Amazon will know what bbc stuff is really listened to and what is avoided – however much they push the woke crap at us ….
Alexa “why do I have problems with women ?
My name’s Siri
With the current manic push to get us all back into lockdown by the BBC and other MSM, I wonder why none of them are asking the pretty obvious question…
As the vaccine take-up has been pretty high, particularly in the older age groups why a sudden odd rise in cases?
Is it maybe because the vaccine isn’t as effective as we were all pressured to believe and if so why bother with a booster?
Keep up Digg! The new buzzwords are ‘waning immunity’. So yes, a booster every six months. Till we all get sick of it.
Digg.
Well, we are testing 10 times the number compared to Germany (for example)
That might explain how we get higher numbers.
A few weeks ago Tom Harwood tweeted that 47% of the black community had or hadn’t had the jab but near enough only half. The BBC a few days ago were proudly reporting 66% of footballers (not sure if it was Premier League) we’re vaccinated. Yesterday at the press conference Jenny Harries said there were 5 million not vaccinated. I wonder what the NHS is using for population figures. I understand the supermarkets use a U.K. population of 80 million.
If you look at the number of cases of the Chinese flu in the DM today they have a graph showing cases in age groups.
More than half of the cases are in schoolchildren.
They probably don’t even know they have it.
What are we ‘SAVING’ this week, is it Christmas, the nhs or what?
How long have we got to ‘SAVE’ the ‘….whatever it is…’
It’s usually something like 7 days to save …..or one month to save …..(the nhs for example) or it will no longer exist (although it always does)
Save the whale
Just ask Captain Ahab, he could tell you a thing or two about that
Wheres my f’cking leg gone, wheres the tv adverts for 3 quid a week to pay for my f’cking stump ? stuff the donkies this bastard sank my boat
Oddly the ex Anger and Protests Editor of the main state broadcaster political news magazine is less prevalent across all his previous close colleagues’ shows.
https://order-order.com/2021/10/21/tory-mp-derides-paul-masons-loony-fascist-accusations/?
The intrepid DOUGLAS MURRAY speaks out on islamic terrorism in today’s Sun. BBC, take note.
“Why are we so paralysed into NOT talking about Islamist terrorism?”
“It has not even been a week since the brutal slaughter of Sir David Amess. The frenzied stabbing to death of another of our MPs should have shocked our whole political system.
And yet in the days since his murder something very strange has happened.
To listen to the speeches from Amess’s colleagues in Parliament this week you’d have thought he died of natural causes. Sad as they were, MPs distracted themselves with talk about “online harm”.
Questioned on the BBC at the weekend, Home Secretary Priti Patel ended up talking about online anonymity.
None of which appears to have had anything to do with Sir David’s murder.
The suspect is a 25-year-old Muslim of Somali origin.
Ali Harbi Ali apparently has a history of Islamic extremism, having even been referred to the Government’s Prevent counter-extremism programme seven years ago.
(…)
So why are no MPs or other leaders in our national life talking about this? Why are they waffling on about online abuse of MPs when one of their colleagues has been murdered?
If the killer had been a far-right maniac, like the man who murdered MP Jo Cox in 2016, then MPs would have had no problem talking about the fact. Indeed back then, before the Brexit referendum, it sometimes seemed as though the whole Brexit movement was being blamed for “radicalising” Cox’s killer.
Though no such link existed it didn’t stop prominent politicians and others smearing half the country by association. So why is no one even talking about the possible causes of Sir David Amess’s murder?
The reason is because when faced with a possible murder in the name of Islamic fundamentalism, this country still struggles to find any way to respond to it. Look at the situation four years ago when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated himself at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena.
Twenty-two people were killed that night, most of them young, and many dozens more appallingly injured.
Had the attacker been driven by any other ideology the nation would have tried to work out what drove the bomber to do it, who his network was and who his influences were.
But from the first moments after the Manchester attack things went in a different direction. People seemed uninterested in the details about the mosque Abedi had attended. They never asked why his family were given asylum in the UK.
His brother even skipped the country this week before having to answer questions before the official inquiry.
All the time we were told one thing above all. In the words of the Oasis song claimed as the official response to the slaughter of 22 people, “Don’t look back in anger.”
But why not? Why the hell shouldn’t there be anger when children leave a pop concert in body bags? Because the attacker was an Islamist. And whenever it is an Islamist different rules apply. It was the same in June 2017 when three Islamists rampaged across London Bridge and Borough Market, slaughtering pedestrians as they went.
“This is for Allah” screamed one of the attackers as he slashed at a woman’s throat. What happened in the days after that? The then Prime Minister, Theresa May, alongside Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and others wanted to talk about anything other than Islamic extremism.
Indeed, within hours, the politicians all started talking about the responsibility of tech companies to crack down on online radicalisation. There certainly is some responsibility that the tech companies need to accept. But there was no evidence that any of the London Bridge attackers were radicalised online.
At least two of them should never have even been in this country. And they were hardly hiding online. One of them had appeared a year before on a Channel 4 documentary called The Jihadi Next Door.
It is always the same in this country. There are forms of extremism that we are happy to call out and tackle.
But even after all these years there is one that just terrifies most of our politicians and media.
That is Islamic extremism.
Security professionals, government ministers and TV stars all fear what will happen if they correctly call out these people. And so they dodge the subject.
They do it even when one of their colleagues is murdered.
A pattern keeps repeating itself. A pattern of cowardly avoidance and the increasing grip of wokeism on all areas of public life.
As a new report from think tank the Henry Jackson Society put it this week: “It is vital that the UK is not paralysed by political correctness and identity politics when it comes to holding hard-headed discussions on the prevailing threat of Islamist extremism.”
Quite. Unless we shake that off, these attacks will keep coming.
Because to defeat an enemy you first have to correctly identify it. In Britain that still seems light years away.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16486129/why-are-we-paralysed-into-not-talking-about-terrorism/
Isn’t it great that Douglas Murray gets space in The Sun to tell the truth – the likes of mark francious – who should know better – going on about censoring the internet because his mate got killed by an Islamic murderer ( allegedly) was unseemly …
Yes, the Establishment likes to sneer at the Sun, but it is a truly popular – and populist – paper, with the biggest circulation.
But the Sun is completely subservient to the Government when it comes to vaccinations, lockdowns, etc.. Not a note of independent criticism.
I was watching the American version of the BBC, PBS (Positively Biased Sh1te), the programme was about the Mayans, calendar’s, bloodletting human sacrifices, etc. Come the end of the programme they had to explain why the Mayans disappeared off the face of the earth. Why you ask, roll of drums 🥁 Climate Change! Apparently from 700 AD on to about 850 AD, there was nothing but droughts in Central America. Considering the Industrial Revolution didn’t start till the 1700’s, they didn’t try to explain that, left it up in the air. If you can’t explain, don’t, the motto of the BBC.
I sometimes wonder why they took out Saddam and his cohorts, it takes a monster to control vicious murderous violent other monsters many coming over the English channel day by day
10 years to the day? – anniversary porn
Zephir
“THEY” have useful “MONSTERS” whom “THEY” will support provided “THEIR MONSTERS” remain– well sort of –useful. Once said “MONSTERS” become inconvenient or an embarrassment “THEY” will seek out the “MONSTER” and encourage his/her enemies to annihilate him/her. It works – No questions asked.
“THEY” are NOT our elected representatives who, by and large spout the words of “EXPERTS” Experts? I am an expert in what is good for me and mine. NUFF SED!!
Even the bbc
Human rights groups in Pakistan have accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of being a “rape apologist” after he blamed a rise in sexual assault cases on how women dress.
During a live television interview, he advised women to cover up to prevent temptation.
Mr Khan added “in any society where vulgarity is prevalent, there are consequences.”
Hundreds of people have signed a statement demanding an apology.
Pakistan is ranked as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women in terms of safety and equality.
Sexual abuse, so-called “honour” killings and forced marriage are common, and criminal complaints are rarely reported to police, or seriously investigated.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-56660706
Funny how all muslim countries turn bad.
No mention then of strapping their d….s to their thighs, so its always the woman’s fault.
In a two-hour-long, question-and-answer interview with the public on live television, Imran Khan was asked what steps his government had taken to prevent sexual abuse.
After denouncing crimes against women and children, he said that sexual violence was a result of “increasing obscenity”, adding it was a product of India, the West and Hollywood movies.
The girl paraded naked for ‘honour’
How a rape was filmed and shared in Pakistan
The prime minister said women in Pakistan should remove “temptation” because “not everyone has willpower”. He said women should observe purdah – a term referring to women wearing modest clothes around men or segregation between sexes.
just imagine, for a moment, if Boris said this:
The prime minister said women in Pakistan should remove “temptation” because “not everyone has willpower”.
why they are a third world country and will remain so and all running over here with the same mindset
Think old imran has to do the medieval islam act to keep the suicide bombers away .
Its a shame millions of his nationals are in the UK busily draging it into the 3rd world and pumping out little mo s …
Both ITV & BBC opened with an outrage bus item
about a councillor using an expression beginning with “negro” in saying the unforseen problem had been dealt with.
There is a big difference in intending to hurt someone’s feelings
and doing it through being tactless/clumsy
Misrepresentation where you falsely imply someone did it deliberately is intensional and is worse than the offence itself.
The ITV report made no attempt to give any context
They just said Labour had called on a Conservative councillor to resign for using racist language.
The BBC report did mention the expression “in the woodpile”
so did try context
but they said he used a “worst racist slur” implying he used the N-word
whereas the tweets by anti-racist campaigners say he he said “negro”
I meant Both ITV & BBC LOCAL NEWS opened with an outrage bus item
I’ll repeat : Both ITV and BBC local news , thought the days most significant news was that a Conservative Party councillor had used an archaic expression.
They described it as a huge racial slur
The BBC implied the N-word had been used, before it gave more context.
ITV was even worse ..doing this stupid thing where they say something horrible was said ..and gave NO context.
Come on that is a school bully tactic ..They must know that viewers would assume the worst
that the councillor had run in the room and shouted “N-word, “N-word, N-word” at a BLACK councillor or something.
As it was the expression that was used, so fitted the situation, the councillors accepted i and moved swiftly on, without commenting or complaining, only later did Labour express outrage.
And of course he shouldn’t have used the expression, not cos it hurt anyone in the room , but cos it sets a precedent that someone might copy him and use it in a situation where does hurt someone.
The same media that won’t discuss proper hard crime like dozens of grooming gang rapes ..gets outraged at a slipped word in a meeting or tweet…It’s ridiculous.
“COP26: Russia’s Vladimir Putin will not attend climate summit”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58977993
Who is coming ?
Only us and a few other virtue signalling countries in the West.
Who needs leaders from Russia, China, India and Brazil when you have the EU bloc making up the 120 virtue signallers?
And it looks like they won’t get a ride on a Glasgow bus.
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/19663753.1000-bus-drivers-glasgow-vote-strike-poverty-pay-rise/
“Terror threat against MPs raised to substantial – Patel”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58989053
How about lowering the threat by defending our shores from illegal invasion for a start?
BBC Online News:
“Government should tell obese to eat less, says ex-minister Lord Robathan”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58996499
Our BBC are horrified. How can anyone be expected to take personal responsibility?
Oh dear, it seems all is not well in the BBC’s favourite dictatorship, as one EU government institution turns on another for not being dictatorial enough.
“EU Parliament threatens to SUE Ursula Von Der Leyen if she doesn’t withhold funding from Poland”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10115289/EU-Parliament-threatens-SUE-Ursula-Von-Der-Leyen-Polish-legal-row.html
(Boris should add to the EUSSR’s woes by offering Poland a trade deal in case of Pexit.)
Vlad
Perhaps we should send a fewc’ advisors’ to the poles to help with a referendum to get out of the ReichEU. …
I still can’t quite believe that the establishment/BBC/Left are still conspiring to get us back into the EU Prison. Even after five years! 🙁
They also prefer masks to freedom. All very odd if you ask me.
It is the battery hen/ veal calf syndrome: they have never experienced freedom, so it terrifies them.
Kuensberg retiring and becoming a Today presenter … suits the part time lifestyle …
There are a few others I could mention that have a face for radio.
I know from experience that the Met property “seizure” policy is “opaque” … had a generator “siezed” by Met in central London (10 min walk from the vid) …
It had a copy of the council event license on it – trying to get it back was a farce.
https://youtu.be/SKQift6QRAM
Couldn’t understand anything they said.
The Great Replacement continues apace.
I’m surprised the BBC missed this one, it’s right up their street.
“The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has today announced details of a £1million fund to help champion diversity in the capital’s public spaces and ensure London’s landmarks and monuments reflect the achievements of all who have contributed to the success of our city.”
Yep, the Emir is to throw away Londoners’ money on continuing to expunge all traces of whiteness in the Capital.
https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayors-commission-to-celebrate-londons-stories
If it was £100 million I’d be concerned, but this won’t even be noticed. Dr Johnson’s house is still proudly maintained where it stands and will continue to be so.
BBC tries a (very slight) logo rebrand. Yes, its SPOT-THE -DIFFERENCE!
The BBC ever worrying IF its ‘halo’ has become tarnished has gone for a logo rebrand. From a poll of two viewers on ‘strictly come prancing’ had noticed that their logo was looking drab and despondent. It had not changed since Jimmy Saville snuffed it. They had to do something with all the public money stashed since the last BBC TV licensee collection. (last year)
This is it. Gasp!
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/20/08/49404079-10108243-image-a-10_1634713485669.jpg
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10108243/BBC-announces-new-logos-say-make-corporation-appear-new-modern-distinctive.html
An industry source (friendly to the BBC) was quoted as saying that it cost Less than £1million,- or £2 million. For those struggling to see the difference, the one on the left is slightly smaller with larger gaps between letters. Not to be outdone by London Transport, they have commissioned their very own Typeface called REITH. But is exactly like another (type) called Gill Sans (named after Eric Gill who was also over friendly to children in his time). Not that it matters to the BBC. A re-brand will make them even more popular with the punters than before. On LBC this wednesday I heard a caller (into branding) quoting that the BBC re-brand would costs north of £20 million when you factor in all the signage, paper and whatnots the BBC have worldwide. And all because it looks slightly better on a mobile phone if you squint long enough. But its the best they can do for the money, I am told.
After all, the BBC did say they were short of money, not so very long ago.
This story done months back, MSM in July, ..https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15490764/bbc-new-logo-looks-same/
specialists in February
In July Beeboid supporters said
“The BBC logo change is so they no longer have to pay rights for the old font – the Reith font was designed in-house for just this reason – it will save money in the long run.”
.. None of them ever said how much rights money the BBC currently pays to use a font
So the BBC commissioned ( payed for ) someone else to design their logo previously and GAVE them the rights to it ?!
🟤 9pm ITV Another black TV personality did a documentary about her ancestory and slavery
ITV newsreader Charlene White
I see mention of a William Stanbury
but surely she would like most black people have black ancestors who had black slaves
Just as white people have ancestors from deep history that owned white slaves.
🟢 8pm BBC1 Shop Well for the Planet
“the BBC researchers of shop well for the planet on didn’t dotheir job.
Every member of the family featured were shown wearing Canadian Goose jackets with real coyote fur trim. 100% hypocrisy. “
Because medialand is very diverse, the prog featured
🟤 Ashley Banjo
you know THE SAME GUY that had a racebaity doco 9pm yesterday on ITV
FS green propaganda, black propaganda, green propaganda, black .. rinse repeat
Stew I`m glad you`re taking a gander at the propaganda .
Syria says it executed 24 people for starting 2020 wildfires
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-58997475
First thing I note is how we hear nothing about Syria now. Is it all peaceful and luvvy-duvvy these days ?. Or have the BBC lost interest because there are no victims left for them to egg-on as they all got wiped out ?.
But the thing which bugged me about this story which is what they tacked on the end:
‘The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.’
a) WTF has global warming got to do with fires started deliberately ?.
b) They are implying that if we follow their green agenda, the rises will stop. Fake news. Nobody has any clue if temperatures will stop rising whatever we do.
Who the f*ck do the BBC think they are ?. They seem to have appointed themselves as the worlds political reference.
11:15pm BBC2 repeat of the Romesh and BAME friends show, that was shown the other night
guesta are Guz Khan & Roisin Conaty
Guz Khan is also on Channel4 at 9pm
Do you see HOW DIVERSE TV is ?
BTW Channel5 have cancelled the Planet of The Apes film
and put on Dirty Harry again
.. it was on 5 days ago
I see that the BBC Points Of View Account is used basically to promote the wokest of BBC shows
But out of 65 million people in Britain
almost none pay any attention
” out of 65 million people in Britain ”
More like
out of 85 million people in Britain .
BBC pushing Vegan propaganda .that’s very unusual …NOT
At it’s very best, vegan food is ‘OK’. Almost always because of some tasty sauce spread over the tasteless chunks.
Eat vegan : make no difference to the planet whatsoever. Even if every single person in the UK did it, it would save a small fraction of just one of the new coal-fired power plants in China or India.
FFS pizza is bread and cheese
vegan pizza therefore is bloody bread
Its the only food (well, according to every film / drama) that Americans eat. I’ve had a couple in my lifetime, but why its the go to takeaway for two thirds of the world is beyond me.
It may be something to do with the aspiring middle class obsession with anything not British
Paying £40 for a plate of wallpaper paste (flour and water) whilst despising potatoes
and one of my favourite memories in conversation with one of these when asked if he saw the football at the weekend said “I dont really like it but watch the Italian football on Channel 4”
The most boring, cynical, negative purveyors of the game
and yet another nation where sexual harrasment is swept under the carpet
I’m just about on the last days of listening to Ken Bruce – the last remaining presenter who isn’t 100% agenda based. He clearly realises his future is woke and he’s become quite tiresome in his efforts to toe the BBC line. His bias towards female contestants on Pop-Master is getting embarassing. He was never very witty, just smooth and professional. He really doesn’t deserve a knighthood but I bet he gets one now as there is now no competition with any talent.
Anyway, the reason I called is that last time I moaned about all the ‘Tracks of my years’ being by females or BAME. Well the list in front of me today has:
Nina Conti (white female)
Anne-Marie (white female)
Cynthia Erivo (black female)
PHIL MANZANERA !!!!! – white male – HOORAY
Natalie Imbruglia (white female)
Does the gross over-representation of females come under the ‘diversity’ banner as well ?. Or is it just plain sexist ?.
I wonder, is there ANY representation group at all to monitor people like the BBC to make sure they aren’t racist or sexist against white males ?. Everyone else seems to have one.
it has been a while since he played any Motorhead
I do miss Mr Wogan and his endless arguments with fellow workmates
Especially the ongoing argument about the last words in Gone with the Wind and his insistence it was
“I’ll get you Butler”
I had an 8 hour drive yesterday. I played back-to-back ‘Wake up to Wogan’s all the way in my car. Laughed out loud many times.
fyi – manzanera is half colombian and grew up in south america. The beeb probably class this as “good enough” in terms of diversity tick box
10pm new Channel4 complaints show
..Tweeters seem unimpressed
Many point out that in the actual show the prog lied about a village being located in Buckinghamshire..it’s in Essex
And loudly complain that the show doesn’t mention that Channel 4 subtitles haven’t been working for 2 weeks
Yeah, yeah… It’s The Guardian *and* it’s Polly Toynbee
Net Zero Health Service next ?
Net Zero Health Service? That’s easy. Simply slash the amount of health care provided. For instance, get rid of treatment for such things as cancer, strokes, hip replacements and so on. Next, eliminate face-to-face meetings between GPs and patients. After all, those GPs have far more important things to do and my doctor recommends paracetamol for all problems anyway (“Just stick two to your broken leg and it will soon heal”). Any remaining requirement for health care can be satisfied by selling off bits of the NHS to American insurance companies.
There. Sorted it.
Try phoning them up and you will find what “net zero” means
most of the latter
I damaged my finger and after a week thought it was infected so took it to minor injuries. Without anyone looking at it, I was told it wasn’t a minor injury as I had had the original damage for a week. I had to go home and ring 111 to get an appointment at the same hospital the same day in another dept. Took 30 minutes on hold to get any answer at all, apart from really boring tinkly music and messages saying don’t hang up or you will go the back the queue, and you have been waiting for 5/10/15/20/25/30 minutes , which I had actually noticed.
Eventually had my particulars taken down and repeated three times and was told to wait for a phone call from the hospital. Then still without anyone looking at the finger, got given a prescription for antibiotics, which made me feel absolutely terrible and turned out to be four times the recommended dose, as presumably they thought I was worse then I actually was. Eventually reduced to twice the recommended dose but still felt like death (slightly) warmed up. Not impressed.
We already have that in Wales.
True
Favouritism = Equality … apparently
Just finished watching Question Time from Glasgow with luvvie Brian Cox as a panellist. What an ignoramus!
At one point, discussing the inevitable environmental question, he got angry and said, “We’re in deep s**t!”
It lowered the tone. It should have earned him a rebuke from Fiona Bruce.
I have never understood why this guy is asked for his opinion on anything and why he keeps getting invited back on QT.
I don’t watch the trash and don’t pay for it.
Simples.
I marked the card of this effete tosser many years ago during one of the Royal Institution Christmas lectures, after a flippant comment on science versus spirituality. His arrogance knows no bounds and you’d be hard-pressed to find a more myopic worldview. One of the worst kind of people.
Politicians too willing to turn blind eye to extremism, says ex-minister
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58998637
He’s telling us the ‘bleeding obvious’.
He needs to tell the MPs including our Home Secretary, about the ‘Dover Invasion’ before its gets too late.
What they need is a wogwatch committee, sorry, I meant watchdog
please don’t use offensive words that may get us banned from public wifi
I have sex daily, sorry, I meant dyslexia, fcku
“NHS Wales records its worst ever performance figures”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58981230
Welsh hospitals and The Welsh Assembly is full of ‘administrators’.
Get rid of The Assembly before it is too late!.
🟢 7:30pm ITV Air Pollution
Seemed less focused on cars and more on woodburners , and home chemicals
… That seems better science than the usual PR BS
https://www.itv.com/news/2021-10-20/air-pollution-what-you-need-to-know
eg featured Jon Grigg video about home chemicals https://twitter.com/ITVTonight/status/1451216719897190408
“The latest government data claims domestic fires create more than THREE TIMES the tiny particulate pollution than all of the road transport in the UK! ”
Professor Frank Kelly of @imperialcollege talks about wood smoke emission in #ITVTonight at 7:30
video : https://twitter.com/ITVTonight/status/1451194059859578880
Green TV progs don’t generate much Twitter interest, but a few activist orgs were tweeting
eg ClientEarth
eg BBC presenter @ConnorPhillips (yes on ITV)
The ITV presenters tweet is false and alarmist
Air is much cleaner than 40 years ago
UN limits are probably too low
and no country makes them
… https://twitter.com/joe_crowley/status/1451206589491421191
Strange that today’s Covid deaths were a sudden dip down
that’s not common on a Thursday
“COP26: PM warned over aid cuts ahead of climate summit”
Spend the “aid” here, we need it far more to pay for the new boilers we are being forced to buy.
Anyway, its our bloody money!
As the world’s most fragile state, Somalia presents an extremely challenging environment in which to deliver aid. Under a National Security Council strategy and within the framework of international cooperation agreements on aid to Somalia, UK aid aims to build a viable political settlement and a more stable, peaceful and prosperous Somalia. We found that aid programmes were well aligned to the UK strategy, and helped to address conflict and fragility in a range of ways. The UK has developed its ability to operate in Somalia by broadening its supplier base to include private sector companies and by developing special arrangements for monitoring and evaluating its investments. It has adapted its strategy and approach in response to experience and changing conditions, and the aid programme has adapted accordingly. It is difficult to be certain of the prospects of long-term success in such a challenging environment, but the UK’s strategy appears both credible and feasible, and has attracted strong international support.
The UK departments delivering aid, mainly DFID and the FCO, are working well together, although not quite yet as ‘One HMG’. Most programmes show a strong record of delivering at output level, though DFID is better able to evidence its high-level contribution than the smaller and shorter FCO-led aid programmes. There is mixed evidence of achievement of outcomes across the portfolios, due in part to weaknesses in identifying and tracking measurable outcomes. However, we heard credible and consistent accounts from a range of very senior stakeholders that UK aid programmes – and the diplomatic influence they generate – had made important contributions to achieving a viable political settlement. The government could, however, do better at articulating a consistent set of peace- and stability-related objectives and how UK aid programming will contribute to them, underpinned by a more developed understanding of the complex drivers of conflict which the aid is seeking to address.
https://icai.independent.gov.uk/html-version/uk-aid-conflict-affected-country-reducing-conflict-fragility-somalia/
https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/somalia/
Snapshot
Somalia ranks among the world’s most corrupt countries. Insecurity is also a major issue; the ongoing instability greatly restricts business. Corrupt government officials tolerate illegal activities in return for bribes. Dysfunctional institutions facilitate an environment of lawlessness, and the absence of any form of regulatory framework hinders prospects of economic competitiveness. Business is based on patronage networks, and tight monopolies dominate the market. Somalia’s Provisional Constitution criminalizes several forms of corruption (including abuse of office, embezzlement and bribery); however, implementation is non-existent. The governing elite is continuously involved in allegations of embezzlement of public funds from the already meager Somalian coffers. Finally, bribery is commonplace in all sectors, and procurement contracts frequently involve corruption.
Businesses face a high corruption risk when dealing with the courts. The institution is subject to political interference and suffers from high levels of corruption, rendering it ineffective (HRR 2015; FitW 2015). Civil courts in Somalia are practically nonfunctional; a combination of traditional and customary, sharia and formal law guide the institution and in some local courts depend on dominant local clans for establishing authority (BTI 2016). Court orders are not respected by Somalian authorities (HRR 2015).
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Police
Corruption is rife within the security apparatus. Impunity is widespread, and authorities do not maintain effective control over the police force (HRR 2015). In addition, the police are ineffective (HRR 2015). To stay protected from crime, companies in Somalia are forced either to cooperate with violent groups or to arm themselves against threats (BTI 2016).
The Somali National Army is the country’s most important security institution. It suffers rampant corruption: Army leaders have systematically inflated troop numbers to obtain greater funding. Furthermore, family and business ties link officials responsible for provisions and the companies contracted to provide the food rations (worth USD 8 million per year) (UN Security Council, Oct. 2015). Cases of corruption and misappropriation within the army led President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to order the replacement of the chief of the armed forces in 2015 (UN Security Council, Oct. 2015).
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Public Services
In 1991, Somalia’s state institutions witnessed a complete collapse, and efforts to rebuild the country’s public administrations since have been modest due to ongoing armed conflict and rampant corruption (BTI 2016). There are no legal or institutional frameworks regulating the market in Somalia, thus market competition is absent and the economy is controlled by patronage networks with close ties to the ruling elite (BTI 2016).
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Land Administration
Somali authorities are incapable of protecting property rights (BTI 2016). The construction boom the country is currently witnessing has further fueled conflict as title deeds are either unavailable or forged (BTI 2016). Forced evictions by both private and public actors, coupled with the absence of land deeds and corruption, will most likely further exacerbate land conflict in the future (BTI 2016). The country has no functioning land registry (BTI 2016).
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Tax Administration
The tax administration is absent in Somalia, and most businesses operate in the informal sector and thus go untaxed (BTI 2016). The government lacks the capacity both to collect taxes and to control the country’s territory, parts of which are under the rule of rebel groups (BTI 2016). This has allowed rebel leaders and warlords to establish their unique tax collection system from traders and businessmen operating in areas under their control (BTI 2016).
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Customs Administration
Businesses are likely to face extensive corruption in the customs sector. Bribery is common when clearing goods through the Mogadishu port (Hiiran Online, Jan. 2015). Generally, the diversion of revenue from ports is very common; for instance, revenue from the Mogadishu port totaled more than USD 5.5 million per month during 2013 (to put this in perspective, the Somali central bank in 2014 received an average of USD 4.6 million per month) (HRR 2014).
Trade in counterfeit goods is widespread at Somalia’s borders and has also served as a source of financing for armed rebels such as Al-Shabab (BTI 2016).
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Public Procurement
Public procurement in Somalia holds high corruption risks for business. The majority of public tenders are treated as confidential (BTI 2016). “Secret contracting,” where officials close public procurement deals in complete absence of transparency and oversight, is a common practice (HRR 2015). Reportedly, some regional entities have closed contracts with oil companies independently from the government (BTI 2016).
Public funds are found to be frequently diverted and misappropriated due to corruption (HRR 2015). In one major case, it was found that approximately 80% of payment transfers made by the central bank of Somalia was to private persons for non-business purposes (BTI 2016; HRR 2015). Government officials with close ties to the president also actively used the central bank to control overseas recovered assets including cash and gold held in banks during the Somalian civil war as well as government property abroad (HRR 2015, HRR 2014). The bank’s governor resigned after details of the case were revealed in 2013. His predecessor, appointed by the President, also resigned weeks later due to heavy political interference and corruption (BTI 2016). The case has triggered the government to set up a Financial Governance Committee to restore the trust of international donors. The committee is responsible for controlling corruption and securing transparency in the handling of public assets; however, only a small proportion of government contracts are shared with the committee (BTI 2016).
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Natural Resources
The natural resources industries are jeopardized by corruption and insecurity. The sector is almost completely unregulated; the petroleum industry is particularly problematic (UN Security Council, Oct. 2015). Several members of the political elite have signed extractive industry contracts with international companies in secret (BTI 2016). Furthermore, growing hostility over resource-sharing between the federal government and regional administrations has driven the latter to sign oil and gas contracts independently of the federal government (UN Security Council, Oct. 2015).
Licensing in the natural resources sector is also challenged by the absence of a regulatory system and widespread corruption. International energy companies have obtained oil exploration licenses from different local and national authorities (BTI 2016). Evidence also suggests that the Somalian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has been transferring money acquired from selling fishing licenses into a private ministerial bank account in Djibouti (UN Security Council, Oct. 2015).
In one ongoing corruption case, the British company Soma Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd. is being investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office for corruption in Somalia. The company allegedly made salary payments to Somali oil officials totaling USD 500,000. The company claims that the UN monitoring group has misunderstood the intention of the payments, which were meant for funding a capacity-building program in Somalia (Mail & Guardian Africa, Oct. 2015).
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Legislation
The country’s legal framework relies on the Provisional Constitution, which criminalizes abuse of office, bribery of national and foreign officials, embezzlement and trading in influence. However, the government does not implement anti-corruption laws effectively, and officials engage in corruption with impunity (HRR 2015). Governance in Somalia is, to a large extent, based on informal mechanisms and institutions, which are in turn, based on patronage and clientelistic networks serving personal interests and affiliations (BTI 2016). International funding has further consolidated the current structure of government, and senior officials are often involved in accusations of corruption and embezzlement of foreign funds (BTI 2016). Neither appointed nor elected officials are subject to financial disclosure laws (HRR 2015).
State-building is hampered by large-scale corruption and misappropriation of public funds (BTI 2016). There is no developed revenue system in Somalia. International funding and payments made at sea and airports are the main sources of revenue for the country, but there is no transparency in the collection or distribution of these funds (BTI 2016). The country’s institutions are dysfunctional, and there are no integrity mechanisms in place to curb corruption. Somalia has signed but not yet ratified or acceded to the African Union Convention on Combatting and Preventing Corruption. Somalia is not signatory to the UN Convention against Corruption.
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Civil Society
Freedoms of speech and press are protected under the Constitution, but these rights are completely violated in practice; Somalia ranks among the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists (HRR 2014; FotP 2015). Several journalists were killed both in 2013 and 2014 (BTI 2016).
Traditions of social engagement are strong in Somalia, and these have further prospered since the onset of the Somalian civil war as the state’s collapse made social network structures vital for survival (BTI 2016). Furthermore, foreign funding has also encouraged the creation of numerous NGOs (BTI 2016). Nonetheless, NGOs are not effectively consulted by the government. Further, armed opposition groups such as Al-Shabab undermine freedoms of association, and civil society activists are often the victims of attacks (BTI 2016).
Z,
Wow. Replace the first word with ‘UK’ and its a snapshot, increasingly, of this country shifting its stance toward accommodating the immigrants………….
In view of all in that comment, how marvellous that we can offer hospitality to so many Somalis in this country, and be so much enriched at the same time!
LONDON — The U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will cut its aid budget for programs in China by 95 percent.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab unveiled his department’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for 2021-22 in a written parliamentary statement Wednesday.
Britain will only spend £900,000 on human rights initiatives in China, he said, with some additional funding this year to meet former contractual agreements.
https://www.politico.eu/article/china-uk-foreign-aid-95-percent/
The People’s Republic of China has developed and possesses weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and nuclear weapons. The first of China’s nuclear weapons tests took place in 1964, and its first hydrogen bomb test occurred in 1967. Tests continued until 1996, when China signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). China has acceded to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1984 and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997.
The number of nuclear warheads in China’s arsenal is a state secret. There are varying estimates of the size of China’s arsenal. China was estimated by the Federation of American Scientists to have an arsenal of about 260 total warheads as of 2015, the fourth largest nuclear arsenal amongst the five nuclear weapon states acknowledged by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and one of 320 total warheads by the SIPRI Yearbook 2020, the third largest.[6] According to some estimates,[who?] the country could “more than double” the “number of warheads on missiles that could threaten the United States by the mid-2020s”.[7]
Early in 2011, China published a defense white paper, which repeated its nuclear policies of maintaining a minimum deterrent with a no-first-use pledge. China has yet to define what it means by a “minimum deterrent posture”. This, together with the fact that “it is deploying four new nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, invites concern as to the scale and intention of China’s nuclear upgrade”.[7]
Zephir
Well at least if china goes for it the new wonder weapon will be so quick that he won’t have to suffer the BBC news spinning it to demand for spending on defence ……
In the current climate I reckon Blighty would be a number one target for china as we are a vassal state of America and putting our big boats in the South China Sea . ….