Tag Archives: UK

UK’s Tory government to explain to the UN why it violates disabled people’s rights

A cartoonist’s view of government sickness and disability assessments [Illustration: Andrzej Krauze].

This is a heads-up – and a diary marker:

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UK politicians wishing Muslims a “peaceful Ramadan” are hypocrites

Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak: they’re both quick to wish Muslim voters in the UK a peaceful Ramadan, while supplying – and supporting the supply of – weapons to Israel so it can continue killing Muslims in Gaza.

The hypocrisy of this.

The Conservatives…

… and Labour…

… are wishing Muslims a “peaceful” Ramadan.

Included in those wishes must be the Muslim people of Gaza, who have been subjected to five months of genocide – so far – by their Israeli neighbours, who are using weaponry supplied by the UK, and who are aided by UK naval support.

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A more honest message would have been: “Ramadan mubarak to Muslims everywhere except Gaza. Muslims in Gaza can all die.”

After all, that’s what they have been doing, thanks to the aid the UK gives Israel:

These two-faced fakers in the Conservative Party and Labour should all be kicked out at the next election. I mean, would you vote for any of these liars?


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Evidence from Parliament shows the UK is strongly supporting Israel’s genocide

The UK’s Tory government has practically admitted supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza unquestioningly:

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Hunt’s Budget cold-shoulders society’s poorest, says disability organisation

Jeremy Hunt’s Budget failed to offer support to millions of disabled people, despite mountains of evidence on their economic and social hardship, according to Disability Rights UK.

Perhaps he hadn’t been lobbied for it by Conservative MPs who had in turn been lobbied by groups (possibly of Tory donors).

The only exception – described as “meagre” by the organisation – was a six-month continuation of the Household Support Fund, money that allows local authorities to make discretionary payments to people in need. It is now set to close when next winter starts.

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The Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG), of which Disability Rights UK is a member, had called on the Chancellor to help Disabled citizens struggling with household bills and inadequate social support.

In a statement, the organisation said:

DPCG asked that action was taken to increase social security to meet the essentials of life including food, energy and medication and the extra costs of disability; invest in public services to enable Disabled people to receive health services, educational support, and social care; and to ensure that housing and transport were accessible and affordable.

We were, alongside others representing the poorest and most excluded in society, deeply concerned by the Government’s failure to acknowledge or address growing levels of poverty and to invest in grossly underfunded public services such as social care and educational support to Disabled children and young people.

With the Government set to be questioned by the United Nations on 18 March on its record on achieving equality for Disabled people, this Budget is yet more evidence of its lack of commitment to improving our life chances.

Source: DR UK Statement on Spring Budget: ‘Government Turns its Back on the Poorest in Society’ | Disability Rights UK


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More nonsense from Hunt: we’re not better-off than foreign countries

Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak: the prime minister seems to be telling his Chancellor, “Good one about us compared with Germany, Italy and France. Tell them another!”

Jeremy Hunt padded his Budget statement with a lot of feel-good nonsense that would be better-placed in a work of fiction than in an official government statement.

One of these was that the UK economy has grown faster since 2010 than those of Germany, France and Italy.

This might be claimed at a national level – but it falls down when one examines the economic benefits per person.

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According to BBC Political Editor Chris Mason,

Labour folk get in touch to say it is rather different if you look at GDP per capita – the size of the economy per person; how well off, on average, we each feel.

Labour say on that measure the UK has lower stats than Germany, France and Italy.

So – as far as you are concerned – he was lying, because you are not better-off than people from those other countries, in relation to your living standards in 2010.


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How Hunt’s Budget can affect you – according to someone you can trust

We’re learning that much of what Jeremy Hunt said in his Budget statement is not true – so it’s good to have a comment on it from someone we know we can trust: Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis.

Here he is:

The most important aspect of this is that employees earning between ÂŁ12,500-ÂŁ26,000 are likely to be slightly worse-off because of frozen tax thresholds; if you earn that much, you’ll pay more tax.

Also good is the Child Benefit threshold change, which Mr Lewis discusses in depth as he was instrumental in bringing it about.

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And debt relief orders: the charge of ÂŁ90 is being abolished, meaning people who wanted to deal with their debts but couldn’t find the money to do it will now be able to. That’s a Citizens Advice campaign that has been heard.

So there it is. You can refer to the video clip for other details. The rest of Hunt’s speech – as far as you’re concerned – was noise.


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At last some good news? UK quits climate treaty that penalises shift to Net Zero

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Jonathan Pie speaks for us all on Rishi Sunak’s recession

Rishi Sunak: he become prime minister in late 2022 and the economy – almost immediately – tanked. The government just got around to admitting it and now commentators like Jonathan Pie are putting the boot in.

I understand that, taking population rises into account, the UK was in recession for the whole of 2023 but we just weren’t told.

So Rishi Sunak’s premiership has been one of unremitting recession except for the first few months – when he was pushing us into the recession that followed.

It’s not a good record and, as usual, Jonathan Pie’s analysis hits all the important points:

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UK to demand Israel/Gaza ceasefire – but only after ‘chaos’ in the Commons

Lindsay Hoyle: his choices in the ceasefire debate led to considerably more contrition than you can see in this image.

What an unholy mess.

After Commons Speaker Lyndsay Hoyle broke convention to accept an Opposition amendment to an Opposition motion calling for a ceasefire in the Israel/Gaza conflict, the debate on the most serious issue facing the world today descended into a farcical row about procedure.

Hoyle left the Speaker’s chair while the debate was still ongoing, prompting Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, to demand that he return to the House of Commons to explain what had happened.

He said if the Labour Party’s amendment was carried, then the SNP vote would not be held. He said this amounted to telling the SNP “our views and our votes in this house are irrelevant to him”.

According to the BBC, Conservative and SNP MPs then walked out of the Commons chamber in protest at Hoyle’s handling of the debate. Concerns were repeated that he had been pressured into accepting Labour’s amendment with threats that, otherwise, he would not be re-elected as Speaker after the general election.

On top of all this, some smartass called for the remainder of the debate to be held in private – meaning all members of the public must leave, broadcasting of proceedings ends, and the official record Hansard does not produce a transcript of what MPs say – but decisions are still recorded.

If it had passed, this would have raised more concerns about a lack of democracy and accountability. It didn’t, though.

Labour’s amendment – and then the SNP’s amended motion – was then passed without a vote – while SNP and Tory MPs were still outside the Commons chamber.

Because they walked out in protest at the Speaker, they did not have the opportunity to register their votes on the calls for an immediate ceasefire. So Labour MPs were very nearly the only ones voting.

In the meantime, Hoyle was located and reappeared to claim that he had not been put under any pressure by Keir Starmer or any other Labour MP.

“I wanted to do the best by every member of the house,” he said.

“I regret how it’s ended up. It was not my intention. I wanted all to ensure they could express their views. As it was, in particularly the SNP, were unable to vote on their own proposition.

“It is with my sadness that it ended in this position. It was never my intention. I recognise the strength of feeling of this house and its members. I will reflect on my part in that. I do not want it to have ended like this.”

He said he would meet party leaders and chief whips to discuss the best way forward, and added: “I thought I was doing the right thing. I do take responsibility for my actions.”

That was not enough for Mr Flynn. He acknowledged Hoyle’s apology but said the Speaker was warned that his decision would lead to the SNP not having a vote: “I am afraid that is treating myself and my colleagues in the SNP with complete and utter contempt.”

To Hoyle, he said: “Your position is intolerable.”

He clarified his position to journalists outside, saying there could be no vote on the SNP’s motion because the Labour party put pressure on the Speaker so that “Labour’s show was the only show in town.”

“This was all about something so much bigger than us and yet here we are talking about all of the wrong things” he says.

He said he had wanted to call for a ceasefire in Gaza with his party’s motion, but “this place has turned it into a complete pantomime.”

It is easy to understand why the SNP should be unhappy with Labour’s amendment, which is far more sympathetic to Israel than their motion would have been.

The amendment calls for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, but does not mention the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” which was part of the SNP motion and amounts to a war crime.

The Labour amendment also “condemns the terrorism of Hamas” and notes “that Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence”. And it calls for the release of hostages and international aid to be allowed into Gaza.

Some have said the amendment amounts to demanding a ceasefire “when Israel feels like it” – which is no good at all because Israel will feel like it after Gaza is leveled and every last child, woman and man there is dead or has been expelled.

So, thanks to Labour’s saboteurs, a debate that should have condemned Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza became a silly squabble about procedure, with an amendment that makes Israel look like the victim passed almost unnoticed.

Benjamin Netanyahu must be laughing like the maniac he is.

On the day MPs vote on Gaza ceasefire, here’s why Israel must be stopped

MPs were set to vote today on whether the UK should demand a ceasefire between invading Israeli military forces and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Some people in this country may be confused about why their MPs are doing this. Israel was attacked and has a right to defend itself and seek the return of the hostages taken on October 7 last year, doesn’t it? That’s what leaders like Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have been parroting at us ever since, isn’t it?

Yes they have. And while Israel may be entitled to seek the return of hostages that were taken in a Hamas war crime, it did not have the right to invade Gaza and bomb the entire enclave into rubble; that is also a war crime (as an occupying power – Israel controlled all supplies of food, water and power into Gaza – it had a responsibility to look after the well-being of people there).

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It seems appropriate to remind ourselves of exactly why Israel needs to be stopped.

The invasion of Gaza is not about the return of hostages – and never was.

It was a useful excuse, but it seems clear that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu never intended to halt the slaughter of non-combatant children, women and men in Gaza once those Israeli/Jewish hostages were returned. In fact, he has now stated that his troops will invade Rafah and continue their genocide there, whether hostages are returned or not.

Sayeeda Warsi’s words on this matter are illuminating:

In fact, Israel is quite happy for its own forces to murder Israeli/Jewish hostages taken by Hamas, it seems:

The invasion of Gaza is about committing genocide against the people of Palestine.

These are all actions that Israel has taken and they are all war crimes because they contribute to genocide.

Remember: Israel never had to bomb Gaza indescriminately. Its military is capable of launching precision strikes that target individual people – but chose not to do so. For an example of such a precision strike, we need look no further than Lebanon, today (February 21):

Israeli Defence Force personnel are subjecting Palestinian women and girls to sexual assault, degradation and other human rights violations, including random executions:

Here’s a little more supporting evidence for this:

“At least two female Palestinian detainees were raped while others were ‘threatened with rape and sexual violence’ by Israeli soldiers”, along with all the other findings.

Israeli Defence Force personnel are stealing property belonging to the citizens of Gaza – presumably in the belief that the owners will never need it again, being either murdered or expelled in the genocide they are perpetrating:

This is just information I’ve picked up on the social media today (February 21). The weight of the evidence that has accumulated since October 7 last year must be enormous and I believe the International Court of Justice is to examine it in detail soon – if it has not already started.

But that is for another day. Today, it is the duty of the UK’s MPs to weight up the evidence they can see and reconcile the vote they make on the ceasefire motion with their own consciences. This Writer sincerely hopes they make the right choice.


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