Tag Archives: Peter

After police abused the new Public Order Act, above-the-law politicians won’t change it

A reminder: here’s Republic chief executive Graham Smith being arrested for not breaking any laws, by at least eight police officers.

There can’t be any doubt now that the big story of the Coronation weekend is the abuse of the new Public Order Act by police, to arrest and detain people who had every right to protest against a monarchy they do not want.

Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarch group Republic, was jailed early on Saturday morning, on suspicion of conspiring to cause a public nuisance by disrupting the celebrations on London’s streets.

He has made it clear that neither he nor anybody else in his group had any intention to break the law.

Indeed, Republic has made it clear that it co-operated fully with the Metropolitan Police before the event even started:

Graham Smith, speaking for Republic on 3 May, said: “We have had two meetings with the Met police, and numerous phone conversations. They have repeatedly said they have no concerns about Republic’s plans.”

Mr Smith was released on Saturday but police retained his phone and luggage straps that they had claimed could have been used for “locking on” – attaching protesters to street furniture to cause disruption.

These items were returned on Monday evening, when officers admitted they were not able to find any reason to charge Mr Smith with a crime. Here are his comments:

Do you believe the claim of regret by the police? Richard Murphy, of Funding the Future, doesn’t:

I do not believe the police. Politely, they are asking us to believe in yet more fairytales if they expect us to think that these arrests were a mistake.

They announced zero tolerance of protest in advance of the coronation.

They got new powers enacted days in advance of the coronation to arrest without reason.

Republic had been completely open and honest about their intentions, I know. I get their emails. And so there was no new “intelligence” for the police to act on to justify their actions, as they and those seeking to excuse them (Ed Balls, I am looking at you) claimed. There was just a police conspiracy to appease Suella Braverman by showing zero tolerance that backfired spectacularly in both the UK and around the world.

And now they have not only had to eat humble pie, because their actions were so obviously unjustified and unjustifiable –  because not only was the protest peaceful but there was never a conspiracy that it should be anything else  – but they have now paved the way for rightful demands that use of this law be restricted until such time as it can be repealed.

The only impediment to that happening is Labour’s support for these laws – which looks most especially crass now.

I fear Mr Murphy’s hope for Labour may be forlorn. More on this below.

This morning (Tuesday, May 9), Mr Smith was interviewed by Kay Burley of Sky News, who did her level best to undermine his assertions – and he made mincemeat of her. Fair play to her for posting the clip, though!

This Writer cannot understand why Burley kept harping on about the cost of the Coronation. I had heard the £250m line too – and whether it cost that much or the more modest £100m figure that has been more widely-quoted, it’s still money that could have been put to better use in a country whose people are struggling financially because the government has sucked all the money out of it.

And she was unable to stop Mr Smith from making his point that “there was no evidence of any intent or capacity to commit any offence” and “no suggestion of wrongdoing… at all”.

While Burley was putting forward a pro-Establishment view, other journalists went very strongly the other way. Here’s Michael Crick – and I know he’s problematic too, but his words are worth hearing – on LBC:

Sadly, it doesn’t matter what the commenterati say about it; the political elite in Westminster have closed ranks to deny that anything untoward happened at all – and they certainly won’t consider revising or repealing the vague law that allowed this scandal to happen.

Here’s prime minister Rishi Sunak. First he said he supported what the police did:

“The police are operationally independent of Government, they’ll make these decisions based on what they think is best,” he told broadcasters in Hertfordshire.

“Actually I’m grateful to the police and everyone who played a part in ensuring that this weekend has gone so well, so successfully and so safely, that was an extraordinary effort by so many people and I’m grateful to them for all their hard work.”

Then he repeated his assertions to TV reporters:

It’s interesting that Sunak claimed the arrests were “operational decisions made by the police at the time”. I wonder if we can have that confirmed? I’ll try to contact the Met and see what response I get.

Meanwhile, here’s Tory MP Peter Bone, who supports his prime ministers point of view, having his derriere turned into burger meat and handed back to him by Marina Purkiss:

So much for the Tory point of view.

And what about Labour?

Lisa Nandy, on the morning media round, made it clear that her party sides with the Tories and repeated the assertion (although not in as many words) that Labour wants to be able to clamp down on protesters just as hard as the Tories appear to have done:

Even Barry Gardiner, usually excellent at presenting his party in a reasonable light, struggled in a discussion of the scandal on the BBC’s Politics Live:

And what does Labour think of Republic, and the right of anti-monarchists to be able to present their point of view?

Admittedly, party MPs have protested:

John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, questioned the rules this week, saying: “I can’t see that allowing local parties to participate in groups like these is going to bring down civilisation as we know it.

“A form of institutional paranoia has emerged in the higher echelons of the party’s bureaucracy which has led to a level of control-freakery in relation to the activities of local CLPs which borders on farce.”

Another MP and former shadow frontbencher, Clive Lewis, who will address anti-monarchy protesters staging a demonstration against the coronation in London on Saturday, said he had “serious misgivings” about the rule preventing affiliation with Republic, adding there was a long history of branches having relationships with democratic campaigning organisations.

Lewis said: “It feels wrong, and sits uncomfortably with me. I think a lot of people will find it problematic, even people who are going to be supportive of the coronation and the king. Many of them will also be people who believe in freedom of speech, freedom of expression and having an open, honest political debate about the future of this country.

“If you join the Labour party, you often joined because you want to make a difference to make your country better, and those are the kind of people who will want to ask questions about the kind of democracy we have.”

But Starmer seems to feel he has to act this way because it might win him some votes – despite the fact that it makes him (yet again) a hypocrite:

Labour under Keir Starmer’s leadership has attempted to underline its patriotism in order to reconnect with voters in “red wall” seats. In the past, Starmer had advocated abolishing the monarchy.

Meanwhile…

Yes, littering is indeed a crime, but it seems nobody has been punished for it.

Instead, the police concentrated their resources on persecuting people who had not broken the law at all.

It really is the big story of the weekend: supporters of the monarchy attacked, arrested, and imprisoned dozens of people on the day their icon was crowned – not for any crime, but simply for having a different point of view.

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The doctors and the Doctor: the Time Lord supports the strikers

The Doctor joins the doctors: Peter Capaldi on the picket line.

Acting legend Peter Capaldi, who used to play the lead character in Doctor Who, is celebrating his 65th birthday today – on the junior doctors’ picket line, it seems:

This Site can only applaud.

Mr Capaldi has long supported doctors’ pay struggle, as Vox Political recorded back in 2016:

In 2016, THE Doctor (Peter Capaldi) stood up to support junior doctors in their dispute over pay and conditions.

The sad part is that, seven years on from his original contribution, the junior doctors are no nearer parity with the pay they have lost since the Tories took over the UK government.

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Here’s why the Tory government’s response to strikes is economically illiterate

Junior doctors went on strike in 2016; now they are doing it again.

Peter Stefanovic of the Communication Workers’ Union is making sure his organisation lives up to its title, with a highly-informative short video clip explaining why the Conservative government’s attitude to strikes is wrong on several levels.

Here it is:

Remember his words when teachers go back on strike this month, alongside junior doctors, staff at the British Museum, Passport Office, Heathrow security, DVSA driving examiners, and civil and public services workers including Border Force agents.

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Peter Hitchens is wrong to say Nazis were socialists; they were fascists. Have some facts

Not socialists: Hitler just put that word into the name of his party and stole some innocuous policies in order to fool working-class voters – much as many people who, today, say Nazis were socialists are trying to do.

I see Peter Hitchens is pushing the falsehood that Hitler’s Nazis were left-wing:

This is a lie that rears its head periodically. I wrote an article about it a few years ago that provides the facts. If you want them, read on:

‘Nazi’ is the short name. The full name for the ‘Nazi’ party was the “National Socialist German Workers’ Party” (“Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei” in German).

The fact that the far-right party contained ‘socialist’ in the name was a rebranding gambit to draw workers away from communism and into populist nationalism.

Despite this, the populist nationalists that support the likes of Donald Trump, regualarly take the oportunity to remind modern day liberal or left-leaning critics of white-supremacists and neo-nazis that ‘Socialism’ was included in the Nazi party name.

Hitler’s party positioned as a left-wing organisation based on his rhetoric, rather than his actions, espoused in the 1920s and 1930s to disenfranchised workers frustrated with what they perceived as a two-tier society.

Neither left or right wing want to be known as the side of the political spectrum that Hitler was on, and both sides would argue he was on the other, politically speaking.

One such incident occurred recently on Twitter.

Mike Stuchbery, a teacher and writer whose passion is History, sought to correct the misconception.

This is quite a long dressing down and is a little foulmouthed. You’ve been warned.

https://twitter.com/MikeStuchbery_/status/898264524536414208

The above was from an article I published in 2017.

I wonder how long I’ll have to wait before publishing it again?

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Will the ‘Conservative Democratic Organisation’ splinter the Tory party?

Priti Patel and Boris Johnson.

A trio of Boris Johnson’s adherents have launched a new party-within-the-Conservative-Party, apparently to oust Rishi Sunak and put their idol back on top.

The Conservative Democratic Organisation (I fear the “democratic” in the title may be ornamental – like “socialist” in the title of the former National Socialist German Workers’ Party) claims to be seeking to restore influence to members’ views:

It has been launched by David Campbell Bannerman, Lord Peter Cruddas and Priti Patel – all firm supporters of Boris Johnson, for reasons that may be revealed in the video linked below.

Sky’s Sam Coates has published an article about it which he made available on Twitter – and check out the comment here:

What does it all mean?

Well, we presume it means a leadership challenge for Rishi Sunak – either after next May’s local elections if the Tories perform poorly, or in October when his year’s ‘grace’ period after he was crowned Tory leader is over.

And we may speculate on whether it will split the Tories; their party has already been described as a coagulation of five or more different groups, and this new element may drive a wedge between them.

Or it may be a damp squib.

Here’s Phil Moorhouse of A Different Bias with his take on it, which I don’t think I could better:

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Peter Oborne on Liz Truss – and he’s not holding back

Here’s former staunch Tory journalist Peter Oborne, talking about Liz Truss:

He’s not pulling his punches, is he?

He says:

The mini-budget was a way of helping the super-rich who have been contributing to think tanks that form policy for the Conservative government.

The Conservative Party has been bought wholesale by a very small, privileged group – and Liz Truss lives in a bubble constructed for her by these people.

She lacks any of the qualities necessary to be prime minister: judgement, empathy, understanding and humility.

She makes decisions she doesn’t understand.

She makes statements that are meaningless.

But she has the power to ruin the United Kingdom and has already started doing so.

She is in danger of pushing the war in Ukraine out of control.

She has collapsed confidence in the Conservatives as the party of sound financial management.

Interest rates will rise as a result.

Businesses will have to pay more interest on their overdrafts and may go bankrupt.

Homeowners will have to pay more interest on their mortgages.

The damage done by Truss and Kwarteng is unforgiveable.

The UK has never been worse-governed than now.

But how can we get rid of her?

The Conservative Party is finished as a political force if she stays – and may be finished if she is ousted.

People are now frightened of having the Tories in charge.

Truss has proved herself quite incapable of running Britain.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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‘It is not the function of the police to patrol our minds’ – Peter Hitchens on free speech

Here’s an interview that is well worth watching as right-wing columnist Peter Hitchens attacks the right-wing behaviour of UK police after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

That’s correct – he’s a right-winger but he absolutely opposes the arrest of people who were merely exercising their right to free speech by calling for the end of the monarchy.

His comments on attempts to reverse the relationship between the state and the individual are particularly interesting.

And he bemoans the failure to understand how authority is exercised in a free country – by consent. Doesn’t that indicate that the UK under the current crop of Tories isn’t free?

Also interesting is his comment on the way people have started to attack others – not on the basis of what those others have said, but on what they believe those others to have said (or what they can get others to believe).

The common thread? Intolerance of dissent.

Here’s the clip:

We’re living in dangerous times for media like This Site.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Stefanovic slaughters Sunak’s benefit-bashing falsehoods

Rishi Sunak: I like this shot because he looks nervous. If I was in his position, asking Tory backbenchers to raise taxes, I’d be nervous too.

I make no apology for returning to this issue. Why shouldn’t I? Rishi Sunak did!

Top take from this clip is the fact that so many people claiming Universal Credit actually have jobs – indicating that the UK’s government has engineered the shameful situation in which working people have to claim state aid in order to survive. This is an employer subsidy, funded with public money. Businesses should be able to pay every employee a living wage.

As for the rest – see for yourself:

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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Help this crowdfund for journalism to support human rights in Palestine

It isn’t easy to be taken seriously if you’re a journalist trying to report events in Palestine accurately.

The dominance of the pro-Israel lobby means coverage of human rights violations in occupied Palestine are played down or ridiculed – and the reporter involved may face attacks against their professionalism, along with those of a more personal nature.

One such journalist is Peter Bolton of The Canary, who has written extensively about the conflict in Palestine, human rights violations committed by the state of Israel, and the impact of the Israel lobby on British politics.

He’s currently involved in a lawsuit relating to this part of his work – and needs help to progress it.

Peter himself is currently being cagey about the purpose to which the funds will be put. This Writer knows what it is all about – and I can say that it will serve a very useful purpose.

But you can probably draw your own conclusions from Peter’s words on his CrowdJustice page:

This case could serve as a turning-point in the fight for a public space in which no one gets targeted for simply speaking up for the Palestinian people. I see this case as being as much about vindicating others who have been attacked as it is about my own circumstances.

So this is about protecting those who speak up for people in Palestine from being attacked unreasonably.

As another writer who has suffered such attacks, I strongly urge anybody reading this to support Peter’s CrowdJustice page. I will.

The reason those of us who support human rights – anywhere, but particularly in Palestine – are derided is the fact that the other side is vastly better-resourced than any of us individually.

But I know from personal experience that, together, we can achieve wonders.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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Guaranteed Minimum Pensions holders set to lose thousands due to DWP disdain

The Tory government has shafted pensioners – again.

Around 11 million people were contracted out of the State Earnings-Related Pensions Scheme by their employer, on condition that they would receive an index-linked guaranteed minimum pension.

This arrangement, for anyone in the private sector, was scrapped when the new state pension was introduced in 2016 – but remains in place for public sector workers.

The decision to scrap it was never mentioned in Parliament or in any Pensions legislation.

Women are the most seriously affected. Everybody involved is losing cash ranging from a few pounds a week to tens of thousands over the lifetime of their pension.

That’s the historical situation.

Now, after two people won £1,250 each in compensation after complaining to the Ombudsman, the government has decided not to ensure that everybody affected – who might also deserve payment – is told.

The Ombudsman recommended action “to ensure that affected individuals receive appropriate communication from the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] about their state pensions”.

But in response, all the DWP has done is publish a factsheet on the GOV.UK website. It has not informed anybody who is affected by the changes that the factsheet exists, or even put out a press release.

You can read the factsheet here – and by publishing the link, This Site has done more to inform those affected than the UK government.

Taking this into account, it should be no surprise that only 6,922 people have read the factsheet and only four people (according to DWP Permanent Secretary Peter Schofield) have made inquiries about it.

None received any compensation because Schofield said they were not eligible.

So, of a possible 11 million people affected by the GMP change, the DWP’s tailor-made strategy (in response to an Ombudsman’s recommendation, remember) has reached nobody.

As intended?

Read a deeper analysis of the implications here: Rip off: DWP to take no further action to compensate millions who lost thousands of pounds of extra pensions | Westminster Confidential

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