President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron also discussed Iran’s alleged nuclear plan [Reuters] President Barack Obama has said the prospect of international military intervention in Syria is premature and could lead to a civil war. Speaking at a White House news conference on Wednesday, Obama said military intervention could lead to more deaths in Syria. [...]
Roger Waters is reported as telling Chilean TV that the Falkland Islands ‘should be Argentinian‘. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA One major problem with the Falklands is just where do you send snotty nosed royals to get maximum coverage for their presumed fighting capabilities. George Ikners ikners.com The Falkland Islands should belong to Argentina, the former Pink Floydbass player Roger Waters [...]
Who Did Give the Green Light to Torture? When they behave disgracefully, the military are imitating a contempt for human rights found higher up the chain of command by Paul Vallely There has been something artificially over-heated about the international reaction to the video of four American soldiers urinating on the bodies of [...]
Curry houses on Brick Lane, east London. There is now a shortage of chefs for Britain’s Indian restaurants. Photograph: John Carey/PhotoLibrary It’s a cold, rainy day in Bradford and the balti restaurants and fast food outlets offering “desi” [Asian] milkshakes, have yet to fill up. But close by, the industrial kitchen of the International Food Academy is already buzzing [...]
Remains of a helicopter shot down during Falklands War. Whilst the rest of the world speculates about the likelihood of a U.S. war with Iran in 2012, in Britain the New Year has been accompanied by some ominous news from their tiny overseas territory of the Falklands Islands. Led by Argentina, who continues to [...]
REUTERS Britain finds itself all alone in the EU. link http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,802933,00.html Was the outcome of the Brussels summit a bad one for the EU? Not at all. The British were never completely dedicated to European unity and the ongoing project of greater fiscal integration is better off without them. It was to be expected. And now it’s [...]
Germany, under Angela Merkel, emerges as the pre-eminent power in Europe, imposing a decade of austerity. Photograph: Koen Van Weel/EPA As a clear damp dawn rose over Brussels on Friday morning, the tired and tetchy leaders of Europe emerged, bleary-eyed from nine hours of night-time sparring over how to rescue the single currency and indeed the entire [...]
The survey of 1,000 employers predicts the jobs situation will get worse for the rest of the year. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA UK jobs market faces ‘slow, painful contraction’ Firms scale back recruiting decisions against background of global economic uncertainty, survey of employers finds reddit this Press Association guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 November 2011 08.13 GMT Article history [...]
British Military Chief: Hundreds of Troops to Remain in Afghanistan in 2016 by Jason Ditz, November 13, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum The clashes between British Prime Minister David Cameron and his military chief, General Sir David Richards, have been unusually public, but it seems that Cameron’s calls for a [...]
In English ‘Til I Die filmmaker Awad Joumaa examines the rise of the English Defence League. Here he explains why the growth of the far right in Europe can no longer be ignored. For several years I have been intrigued by the rise of the far right across Europe. In England, I have watched the emergence [...]
Police accused of allowing undercover officers to lie in court Undercover officer Jim Boyling gave a false name and occupation when giving evidence under oath False evidence claim arises from papers suggesting undercover officer Jim Boyling hid identity when prosecuted over protest reddit this Rob Evans and Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 19 October 2011 17.11 BST [...]
Severe but opaque: a very British verdict on Liam Fox Report into former defence secretary’s links to Adam Werritty is damning, but gently sidesteps awkward questions reddit this Liam Fox has already admitted most of the errors that the report confirms, but it fleshes out some details. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA Wire No misuse of public [...]
Iraq war inquiry report faces long delay as doubts on evidence persist Maxine Peake in Loyalty by Sarah Helm at Hampstead Theatre. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Observer Did an evening at the theatre prompt Sir John Chilcot to reconsider findings of his inquiry into the run-up to war? reddit this Jamie Doward guardian.co.uk, Saturday [...]
Liam Fox resignation exposes Tory links to US radical right Liam Fox, right, and David Cameron, who is being accused of allowing a secret rightwing agenda to flourish within the party. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA Labour and Lib Dem politicians have stepped up demands for the PM to explain ministers’ involvement with Atlantic Bridge reddit [...]
Labouring under an illusion By William Bowles Posted on October 10, 2011 by dandelionsalad by William Bowles Featured Writer Dandelion Salad williambowles.info September 30, 2011 Note: This is in the way of a continuation of my last essay ‘In the belly of the beast‘. Nothing could illustrate the paradox better than ‘the party of labour’, financially supported largely [...]
Liam Fox claims thrown into doubt by Dubai hotel records Adam Werritty (left) and Liam Fox at a meeting in Dubai in 2007. Adam Werritty said he was from defence secretary’s office when he booked into Shangri-La reddit this Robert Booth in Dubai, Jason Burke and Patrick Wintour The Guardian, Wednesday 12 October 2011 Article [...]
Britain’s One-eyed Justice 7 October 2011 The day British Foreign Secretary William Hague received former Israeli Prime Minister Tzipi Livni in his office at the Foreign Office and welcomed her cordially is a black day in the history of British justice and a terrible insult to the blood of more than 1,400 Palestinians from the [...]
The British government illegitimately agreed to give special temporary immunity to Tzipi Livni, argue writers [EPA] Changes to UK law didn’t protect Tzipi Livni A London judge ordered a former Israeli foreign minister’s arrest, but the UK is preventing this. Daniel Machover and Raji Sourani Last Modified: 10 Oct 2011 09:15 In December 2009, [...]
UK amends law to protect Israelis from prosecution Published yesterday (updated) 15/09/2011 21:55 Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni [MaanImages] LONDON (Reuters) — A British law limiting citizens’ rights to seek the arrest of foreign politicians for alleged war crimes took effect on Thursday, removing a thorn in British-Israeli relations. The law amends legislation [...]
UK children stuck in ’materialistic trap’ Unicef warns that children are being bought off with ‘branded goods’ because parents can’t spend much time with them. Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP Unicef blames the fact that Britons are working longer hours and as a result parents are buying off children with ‘branded goods’ The perceived need to ‘buy [...]
Former MI5 chief urges terrorist talks Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, attacked anti-terrorist laws passed under Labour. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/Getty Images Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller says dialogue with terror groups, including al-Qaida, requires courage but ‘is necessary’ reddit this Richard Norton-Taylor The Guardian, Tuesday 13 September 2011 Article history The former head [...]
Rebels surround a building in Tripoli, Libya. Documents alleging UK links to renditions to Libya have been unearthed by rebels as they take control of the country. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) A Libyan rebel leader who was rendered to Tripoli with the assistance ofMI6 said on Monday that he had told British intelligence officers he was [...]
David Cameron will give televised court verdicts the go ahead as part of a push for transparency in public services. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Judges’ sentencing of offenders is to be televised under plans to be unveiled by the prime minister shortly, the Guardian has learned. David Cameron is expected to make his [...]
Libyan papers show UK worked with Gaddafi in rendition operation Documents found in Tripoli suggest that MI6 enjoyed a close relationship with Gaddafi’s intelligence services. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian A secret CIA document shows that British and Libyans worked together to arrange the removal of a terror suspect to Tripoli reddit this Ian Cobain, and Martin [...]
A masked man in Hackney during the early August riots. The report by Tim Morgan, of Tullett Prebon, says our country’s consumerist ethos has ‘extremely damaging consequences. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images The recent riots in London and other big cities were the product of an “out-of-control consumerist ethos” which will have profound impacts for the [...]
Photo by EPA England‘s streets are calm again. But there’s still plenty of interesting debate going on as to the causes of the riots that swept across London, Birmingham, Manchester and several other towns, and have now resulted in well over 2,000 arrests. Here are three thought provoking articles. The first is by Lara Pawson [...]
Cases such as those of 18-year-old Chelsea Ives, an Olympics ambassador whose mother (above) left court in tears after her daughter was remanded in custody, have dominated media coverage. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA Only a small proportion of people appearing in court charged with offences committed during the riots are listed as being in work [...]
Riots: fears over violence as prison population swells to record level Police officers stand in front of a prison van. Prison chiefs appear to be concerned about the volatility of the jail population after the incarceration of hundreds of rioters. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/AFP/Getty Images Email from ‘gold commander’ warns governors to take steps to ensure [...]
Youths throwing bricks at police on 7 August during unrest in Enfield, North London. Photograph: Karel Prinsloo/AP England rioters: young, poor and unemployed Guardian data project reveals link between economic hardship and those taking part in last week’s riots Matthew Taylor, Simon Rogers and Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 August 2011 21.28 BST Article history [...]
Prince Charles meets residents affected by the riots in Tottenham. Photograph: The Sun/AFP/Getty Images Trouble never comes singly, even in Tottenham. Just when residents were starting to feel safe to come out after the riots, who should pop up but Boris Johnson, dishevelled embodiment of the lords of misrule. If the mayor of London and his minder, the communities [...]
Rioters convicted of first-time offences deserve leniency, says Simon Hughes, deputy leader of the Lib Dems. Photograph: Sarah Lee Two of the most significant figures in the British legal establishment have made urgent warnings about tough sentencing for riot-related offences as the split in the coalition over the response to last week’s violence dramatically widened. Lord [...]
Rather than peeling back the complex layers of the riots like an onion skin, the UK government has instead chosen to respond as though the riots were a spontaneous exercise in criminality [EPA] The riots that have engulfed London and other major cities in England over the past week have finally receded, but in the wake of the horrific [...]
Lord Carlile, the former government anti-terror adviser and Lib Dem MP has criticised ministers for trying to influence the courts on riots sentences rather than concentrating on policy. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian The government‘s former terror adviser has intervened in the row over the sentencing of people who took part in last week’s [...]
Youths loot a Carhartt store in Hackney during the recent riots in London. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images I keep hearing comparisons between the London riots and riots in other European cities – window-smashing in Athens or car bonfires in Paris. And there are parallels, to be sure: a spark set by police violence, a [...]
Jordan Blackshaw, left, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan were each jailed for four years for inciting disorder via social networking sites. Photograph: Cheshire Police/PA Criticism is growing of the sentences imposed on some convicted rioters after two men were jailed for four years for posting messages on Facebook inciting people to create disorder in their home towns. [...]
Defence chiefs must be called to account Cameron stifles much-needed debate on UK military as generals accused of failed operations and ‘Yes Minister’ attitude WikiLeaks cables: David Cameron is greeted by troops at Patrol Base 2 between Lashkar Gah and Gereshk in Afghanistan. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images “There are moments when I wake up and [...]
Nick Clegg has sought to slow down a fast and furious run of Tory policy suggestions, including plans to evict the families of rioters from council houses. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA Liberal Democrat politicians indicated on Tuesday that they have deep concerns over David Cameron‘s uncompromising post-riots law and order agenda, with the party’s home affairs spokeswoman [...]
David Cameron told the recalled House of Commons that anyone involved in the riots should expect to go to prison. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA In a capitalist system property is everything. Any interference with the relationship between the alleged owner and his or her property takes precedence when the political servants of the elite use the rule [...]
The UK riots and the criminality of Jack Straw By Robin Beste, Stop the War Coalition, WarIsACrime.org http://warisacrime.org/content/uk-riots-and-criminality-jack-straw Brothers in war crimes: Jack Straw, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Cartoon by Leon Kuhn Jack Straw, former foreign secretary in Tony Blair’s government, was quick to his feet, following David Cameron’s speech on the UK riots [...]
Despite what you may read in the Australian media there is really no blood lust at large in the UK. To the contrary there seems to be a reasoned approach in some quarters to address the issues before the shooting starts. It probably has a lot to do with the absolutely miserable Australian media outlets [...]
Bill Bratton, the former New York police chief, has expressed interest in becoming the commissioner of the Metropolitan police. Photograph: J. Emilio Flores/Getty Images The former US police chief Bill Bratton has said he is a “progressive” who can lead British policing out of “crisis”, reduce crime despite budget cuts, and bring about “transformational” change [...]
David Lammy, the Tottenham MP, in the wake of the riots Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian David Lammy is exhausted. He says he hasn’t slept for a week now. The member of parliament for Tottenham is still trying to make sense of the riots that started on his doorstep. “Complex” and “context” are words [...]
Riots and the Underclass By ALEXANDER COCKBURN What’s a riot without looting? We want it, they’ve got it! You’d think from the press that looting was alien to British tradition, imported by immigrants more recent than the Normans. Not so. Gavin Mortimer, author of The Blitz, had an amusing piece in the First Post about the conduct [...]
Chuck Enriques believes that UK youth like himself , irrespective of their background, can attain success. I never thought the next big international story I would cover would be on the streets where I live. Al Jazeera in London has not shied away from covering the underbelly of UK society, but this was different. Suddenly [...]
People who were abroad over the last 10 days will return to a different country from the one they left. England has been changed, perhaps permanently, by what has happened. The confidence we had in the basic success of our society was shattered, together with the idea that we could always muddle through, getting more [...]
UK Intifada 10 August 2011 For days now Britain has been overtaken by violent riots and looting. It started in the capital city, London, and spread to other large cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. Thousands of young people, most of them from the poverty-stricken class, took to the streets to express their anger [...]
Date: Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:22:43 +0300 From: a-infos-en@ainfos.ca Subject: (en) Britain, North London Solfed’s response to the London riots To: en <a-infos-en@ainfos.ca> Message-ID: <4E4150C3.7070500@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=”windows-1252″; Format=”flowed” With media sources blaming anarchy for the unfolding violence in London and across England, the North London Solidarity Federation felt a response from an anarchist organisation active [...]
UK: Protesting, Rioting and Looting Are Not All Equal This is a guest post by Hannah. Hannah is a writer and activist in sunny London town. She blogs about gender, disability, and whatever else is sticking in her teeth, over at give the feminist a cigarette. The top story here in the UK has been the [...]
Looters ransack a corner shop in Hackney, London. Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters The first day after London started burning, I spoke to Claire Fox, radical leftwinger and resident of Wood Green. On Sunday morning, apparently, people had been not just looting H&M, but trying things on first. By Monday night, Debenhams in Clapham Junction was empty, and in [...]
The grill of a looted shop in Manchester, where the rioting was described by a police chief as ‘senseless on a scale I have never witnessed before in my career’. Photograph: Jon Super/AP While there is a push to label the unrest in the UK as some sort of anarchist uprising that is not the situation. [...]
