Editorhttps://fediverse.blog/@/mark@writeworks.uk/atom.xml2023-08-21T12:43:43.923902+00:00<![CDATA[Political Persecution?]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/CriticalThinkingAndYou/Political%20Persecution%3F/2023-08-21T12:43:43.923902+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2023-08-21T12:43:43.923902+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto">We now know that <em><strong>Trump’s allies knew he lost</strong></em> and told him so in the wake of the 2020 election.</p>
<p dir="auto">To try to stay in power anyway, Trump’s strategy started with pushing the idea that the election was a fraud, a strategy he floated in <em>2016 but then dropped after he found out he won</em>.</p>
<p dir="auto">Screaming “fraud,” Trump’s legal allies sued many times in many states … and they lost across the board, because they had <em><strong>no evidence</strong></em>.</p>
<p dir="auto">But the point of suing was to make it seem like there was a case for fraud, in order to put pressure on Republican politicians to question the election and change the results. There were numerous recounts in many states.</p>
<p dir="auto">Also, Trump and his allies set up <strong><em>fake (electoral college) electors</em></strong> in swing states he had lost, to try to cast votes for him even though he lost.</p>
<p dir="auto">On Jan. 6th, Trump provoked the mob to try to intimidate congress into delaying confirmation of Biden’s win.</p>
<p dir="auto">Trump’s overall aim was to sow enough dissent, delay, and confusion to throw the election back to the states, while convincing or coercing the Republican legislatures to change the results to re-elect Trump.</p>
<p dir="auto">All of this was highly illegal – the fake electors, pressuring politicians to throw out election results, trying to forcefully delay confirmation in Congress.</p>
<p dir="auto">Trump was attempting to throw out the election so he could stay in power. He was <strong><em>attempting a soft coup</em></strong> – that is, a coup without the military, since the military refused to join him.</p>
<p dir="auto">Trump MUST BE prosecuted. If he is not held accountable, <strong><em>a future coup becomes inevitable</em></strong>, since it will be understood to be a strategy that can be used without negative consequences.</p>
<p dir="auto">If successful, the soft coup strategy would end voting democracy in the United States.</p>
<p dir="auto">If democracy ends, it ends for everyone, not just libs and Dems. If you’re a Trump supporter, you might actually like it for a while, but dictatorships eventually crush everyone, including you, unless you’re one of the few on the inside and with a lot of money and power.</p>
]]><![CDATA[UK Sanctions Will ‘Flop’ Because City of London Is Compromised by Russian Money]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/UK%20Sanctions%20Will%20‘Flop’%20Because%20City%20of%20London%20Is%20Compromised%20by%20Russian%20Money/2022-03-02T15:17:21.156960+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2022-03-02T15:17:21.156960+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://bylinetimes.com/2022/02/24/uk-sanctions-will-flop-because-the-city-of-london-is-compromised-by-russian-money/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story from the Byline Times</a></p>
<p dir="auto">A top American Russia analyst has warned that targeted advanced sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime are likely to be a “total flop” <em><strong>due to the abject dependence of the British economy on finance from Russian oligarchs</strong></em>.</p>
<p dir="auto">News of the comments comes just as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced “a massive package of economic sanctions designed in time to hobble the Russian economy” <em>[simply another of Johnson’s many, many lies]</em>, as well as efforts to “collectively cease the dependence on Russian oil and gas that for too long has given Putin his grip on western politics”.</p>
<p dir="auto">According to Paul B Stephan – a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, it is <strong>Britain that is likely to be the biggest drag</strong> on any Western sanctions initiative against Russia.</p>
<p dir="auto">According to Prof Stephan, the most likely sanctions will be targeting individuals in positions of leadership in Russia, as well as “people in close contact with Putin” including “their families and their firms”.</p>
<p dir="auto">This – the easiest form of sanctions – would be extremely difficult to implement <em><strong>due to Britain’s intimate financial relationships with Russian oligarchs</strong></em>.</p>
<p dir="auto">“I think that the US would have difficulty, for example, getting the British to go along with that,” he said in an interview with the University of Virginia.</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p><em>“The <strong>British services economy is so dependent on Russia</strong> – from educating their kids, to providing litigation and British courts for disputes among Russian business leaders, to processing investments. I just am <em><strong>really sceptical that the City of London would permit such targeted advanced sanctions</strong></em> to happen. I think an attempt to ban the export of Russian oil and gas would not be successful.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto">Both Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party have played <em><strong>a key role in facilitating the influence of Russian money on the British services economy</strong></em>. Prof Stephan’s comments provide important context for the Prime Minister’s invitation to City of London executives to Downing Street on Wednesday <em><strong>to reassure them about the impact of sanctions</strong></em>.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://bylinetimes.com/2022/02/24/uk-sanctions-will-flop-because-the-city-of-london-is-compromised-by-russian-money/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at the Byline Times</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[UK government has Abandoned its Own Covid Health Advice]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/UK%20government%20has%20Abandoned%20its%20Own%20Covid%20Health%20Advice/2022-02-26T12:38:05.706828+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2022-02-26T12:38:05.706828+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/25/government-has-abandoned-its-own-covid-health-advice-leak-reveals" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story from The Guardian</a></p>
<p dir="auto">Public health advice is no longer being followed under Boris Johnson’s “living with Covid” strategy to end mass testing, senior civil servants have acknowledged in a leaked account of a cross-Whitehall briefing.</p>
<p dir="auto">The briefing by a senior member of the Covid taskforce was delivered to civil service leaders across Whitehall on Thursday afternoon, making clear that <strong><em>following public health advice was no longer the sole priority</em></strong>.</p>
<p dir="auto">The senior official said <em><strong>public health advice would not be met in NHS or social care</strong></em> settings in relation to the testing of staff, and that was a “decision that the PM, chancellor and indeed the cabinet have agreed to”.</p>
<p dir="auto">On the call, he said:</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p><em>“It will be the case from 1 April that testing in DH own settings including the NHS and adult social care will <strong>not fully match the public health advice because of spending considerations</strong>. We will not be testing adult social care staff or NHS staff at the frequency recommended by clinicians because there is not the funding to pay for it.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto">Johnson has repeatedly stressed throughout the pandemic that he would “follow the science” and listen to his public health experts. [Johnson lied. Again.] However, that appears to have ended with the “living with Covid” strategy, which set out a timetable for winding down testing and scrapping mandatory isolation.</p>
<p dir="auto">The government has <em><strong>not published its public health advice</strong></em> from the UK <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/health" rel="noopener noreferrer">Health</a> and Security Agency but it is understood its advisers <strong>did not recommend winding down testing</strong> unless the prevalence of Covid was at a low level in the UK and that the pandemic was in a “steady state” near to endemicity. The government’s experts do not believe that state has currently been reached.</p>
<p dir="auto">The strategy to end mass testing was published after a row between Sajid Javid, the health secretary, who wanted up to £5bn more for testing, and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, who insisted there would be no more cash after spending £15bn over the last year.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/25/government-has-abandoned-its-own-covid-health-advice-leak-reveals" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at The Guardian</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Tory Ministers to Stop Supply of Free Covid Tests to Universities in England with just 48 Hours Notice]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/Tory%20Ministers%20to%20Stop%20Supply%20of%20Free%20Covid%20Tests%20to%20Universities%20in%20England%20with%20just%2048%20Hours%20Notice/2022-02-18T00:09:06.722266+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2022-02-18T00:09:06.722266+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/17/ministers-stop-supply-free-covid-tests-universities-england" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story at The Guardian</a></p>
<p dir="auto">Universities are currently advised that students and staff on campus should <em><strong>take lateral flow tests (LFTs) twice a week</strong></em>, even if they do not have coronavirus symptoms. But the contract to supply the kits, through NHS test and trace and the UK Health Security Agency, will be terminated on Friday and not renewed.</p>
<p dir="auto">The cabinet is said to be split over Covid strategy and the future of testing, with the <em><strong>Treasury pushing to end mass testing as a cost-saving measure</strong></em> <em>[no consideration of human health]</em>, while the health secretary, Sajid Javid, wants to retain some free testing to aid community surveillance of the virus.</p>
<p dir="auto">Higher education leaders were informed of the surprise decision only on Wednesday [<em>16 Feb 2022</em>]. Universities also appear to have been <em><strong>told they cannot distribute any remaining stocks of LFTs past the end of this week</strong></em> [<em>18 Feb 2022</em>].</p>
<p dir="auto">Alistair Jarvis, the chief executive of Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors and college leaders, said:</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p><em>“We are asking government for urgent clarification that universities can continue to distribute test kits from the supplies they have on campus. This makes sense when <strong>universities have kits which would otherwise go to waste</strong> and while there is still demand from students and staff this term.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto">Jo Grady, the general secretary of the University and College Union, accused the government of <em><strong>“playing fast and loose” with the safety of staff and students on campus</strong></em>, and said <em>the decision could jeopardise in-person teaching</em>.</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p><em>“</em><strong>This approach is reckless</strong>_ and may lead to Covid outbreaks being undetected until it is far too late to limit infections. It is also <strong>completely irresponsible for the government to make this change at such short notice</strong>,” Grady said._</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p><em>“Ministers <strong><em>must explain how employers are supposed to ensure campuses remain safe</em></strong> when testing is a key health and safety control measure. <em><strong>They must also commit to not abandoning free PCR testing</strong></em> for symptomatic cases. University staff and students need these reassurances urgently.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/17/ministers-stop-supply-free-covid-tests-universities-england" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at The Guardian</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Tory Prime Minister's Office Pressured Me to Drop Anti-money Laundering Measures, says Ex-minister]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/Tory%20Prime%20Minister's%20Office%20Pressured%20Me%20to%20Drop%20Anti-money%20Laundering%20Measures,%20says%20Ex-minister/2022-02-16T17:00:01.830668+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2022-02-16T17:00:01.830668+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/15/no-10-pressure-money-laundering-measures-lord-faulks" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story from The Guardian</a></p>
<p dir="auto">A former Conservative minister, once at the heart of efforts to <strong><em>clamp down on money laundering in London</em></strong>, has revealed that during Theresa May’s premiership, <strong><em>No 10 “leant on him”</em></strong> when he tabled amendments to introduce a public register of overseas property owners.</p>
<p dir="auto">Lord Faulks said he had first tried to put the register into the criminal finances bill in 2017 and then again into a government bill on money laundering in 2018. <strong>He had described the overseas ownership of “dirty money” in London as an obscenity</strong>.</p>
<p dir="auto">Faulks, a distinguished barrister and now an independent peer, told the Guardian he was rung by Downing Street during May’s tenure and told to go to a meeting where he met civil servants from four government departments including the Foreign Office, business officials and the Home Office. <em><strong>They told him to drop the amendments</strong></em> – for which he had a voting majority in the Lords – because they assured him Whitehall had the issue in hand.</p>
<p dir="auto">He told the Guardian:</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p><em>“I was obviously misled because nothing has subsequently happened. I can only think a deluded desire to protect the City of London has led to all these delays.</em>`</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p><em>“It is a real irony that our reputation for protecting the rule of law is one of the things that attracts people who have very little regard for the rule of law themselves and come from countries which ignore it almost altogether.</em>`</p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/15/no-10-pressure-money-laundering-measures-lord-faulks" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at The Guardian</a> </p>
]]><![CDATA[New Tory Housing Minister Voted Against Rented Homes ‘Fit for Human Habitation’]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/New%20Tory%20Housing%20Minister%20Voted%20Against%20Rented%20Homes%20‘Fit%20for%20Human%20Habitation’/2022-02-10T15:04:01.496258+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2022-02-10T15:04:01.496258+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/stuart-andrew-housing-minister-rented-homes-311347/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of article from The London Economic</a></p>
<p dir="auto">It has emerged that Stuart Andrew previously <strong><em>voted against</em></strong> a 2016 amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill, which would have obliged landlords to <strong><em>provide appropriate living conditions to their tenants</em></strong>.</p>
<p dir="auto">Andrew was one of 72 Tory MPs who voted down the amendment and <strong><em>were also landlords</em></strong>, as he has a house in the Leeds area which reportedly <strong>provides him with over £10,000 of annual rental income</strong>.</p>
<p dir="auto">Tory ministers said at the time of the vote that the change would have triggered “unnecessary regulation and cost to landlords”, and argued local authorities “already have strong and effective powers” to police poor-quality homes.</p>
<p dir="auto">But Labour’s Teresa Pearce said at the time that it was not acceptable to have people up and down the UK <strong><em>living in housing “unfit for human habitation”</em></strong> in 2016.</p>
<p dir="auto">“This clause would change the lives of many tenants and provide a more robust, secure and safe private rented sector, which surely we all desire,” Pearce argued.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/stuart-andrew-housing-minister-rented-homes-311347/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full article at The London Economic</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Another Country - Not the One I Represented as a Diplomat for 30 Years]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/another-country-not-the-one-i-represented-as-a-diplomat-for-30-years/2022-01-19T19:10:44.142403+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2022-01-19T19:10:44.142403+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://bylinetimes.com/2022/01/11/the-country-i-represented-as-a-diplomat-for-30-years-no-longer-exists/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story at Byline Times</a></p>
<p dir="auto">The nagging feeling that the UK was perhaps <em><strong>not the bastion of democracy, human rights and good governance</strong></em> that it had always claimed to be had been creeping up on me for a while.</p>
<p dir="auto">Issues such as the questionable basis for the Iraq War and Britain’s potential complicity in the abuse of detainees; reports highlighting poverty, inequality and other systemic problems were all certainly worrying. I was aware that our system was not perfect. But I never fundamentally questioned its core structures.</p>
<p dir="auto">My confidence was seriously shaken by Brexit, on which many politicians – including Government ministers – <strong>made shameless misrepresentations about the costs and benefits of staying in versus leaving the EU</strong>, and the implications of the various options before us. </p>
<p dir="auto">Eventually, this prompted <strong>my resignation from the Foreign Office</strong> in 2019, when I realised that <em><strong>I could no longer promote the Government’s half-truths</strong></em> with a straight face.</p>
<p dir="auto">Since then, I have watched our country’s trajectory with dismay, as the Government has continued to:</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto"><strong>Downplay</strong> the costs of Brexit</li>
<li dir="auto"><strong>Overlook</strong> its impact on individual citizens and businesses</li>
<li dir="auto">Make ever more <strong>contorted rationalisations</strong> for its approach</li>
<li dir="auto">Grapple <strong>inconsistently</strong> with COVID</li>
<li dir="auto"><strong>Lurch</strong> from scandal to scandal. </li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">But I was triggered last week by news of the Kazakh President’s shoot-to-kill policy of protestors demonstrating against his regime. Sure enough, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, was quick to denounce the violence. Yet, it immediately reminded me that this violence was taking place in a country in which kleptocratic leaders were using British financial services and institutions to launder their ill-gotten gains.</p>
<p dir="auto">We were, of course, not actively encouraging suppression, but arguably <em><strong>we were indirectly complicit</strong></em>. This led me to reflect on other areas where there is a gap between our words and deeds:</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">We promote electoral reform in other countries, even as <em><strong>our own system produces highly skewed results in which less than 50% of the vote consistently produces governments with large majorities</strong></em>; and includes an unelected upper chamber.</li>
<li dir="auto">We criticise cronyism in other countries, while <strong><em>major donors in Britain are awarded knighthoods, juicy contracts</em></strong> and other sinecures.</li>
<li dir="auto">We campaign for corruption to be eradicated overseas, as the <em><strong>money of kleptocratic regimes washes through our system</strong></em>.</li>
<li dir="auto">We lecture on foreign standards of governance, though <em><strong>no truly independent mechanism exists to hold our own ministers to account</strong></em>.</li>
<li dir="auto">We advise other countries on their constitutions, though <em><strong>we do not have a written constitution of our own</strong></em>.</li>
<li dir="auto">We urge other countries to work constructively with political opponents, but <em><strong>operate a ‘winner takes all’ approach in our Parliament</strong></em>.</li>
<li dir="auto">We support a global arms trade treaty, yet <em><strong>sell arms to countries with dubious human rights records</strong></em>.</li>
</ul>
<h4 dir="auto">The Reality of Hypocrisy</h4>
<p dir="auto">The problems have become worse and the <strong>hypocrisy more apparent under Boris Johnson’s Government</strong>.</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>We encourage respect for minority concerns in other countries, but this Government <strong>drove through Brexit despite its rejection by majorities</strong> in Scotland and Northern Ireland.</em></p>
</li>
<li dir="auto">
<p dir="auto">We demand other countries respect <em><strong>international law, though our Government threatens to renege on its own deal</strong></em> with the EU.</p>
</li>
<li dir="auto">
<p dir="auto">We promote conflict resolution, and frequently offer to share ‘best practice’ from the Good Friday Agreement, while the Government pursues a form of Brexit described recently by the agreement’s negotiator, Jonathan Powell, as <em><strong>“political vandalism”</strong></em>, for the damage it does to the delicate balance in Northern Ireland.</p>
</li>
<li dir="auto">
<p dir="auto">The Government urges other countries to treat migrants with dignity but <em><strong>does its best to prevent refugees from coming here</strong></em>.</p>
</li>
<li dir="auto">
<p dir="auto">The Government demands other nations abide by rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, <em><strong>but seeks to reduce the same court’s influence in the UK</strong></em>.</p>
</li>
<li dir="auto">
<p dir="auto">The Government supports independent judiciaries, respect for the rule of law and human rights overseas while: </p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">Proposing new laws here allowing it to <em><strong>reject court rulings it dislikes</strong></em>, <strong><em>reduce the power of judicial review</em></strong>, and <strong><em>water-down the Human Rights Act</em></strong>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li dir="auto">
<p dir="auto">It says that it deplores suppression of protests overseas but is <strong><em>introducing measures to restrict protests at home</em></strong>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">Critics will say that I am making ludicrous comparisons. They will say that in no way can the UK be compared to some of the autocracies we like to criticise. That, of course, there is no danger of this country sliding into authoritarianism: we are the country of the Magna Carta, we fought two world wars to uphold freedoms, British experts helped create and run many of the world’s leading institutions, that ‘Global Britain’ is a force for good.</p>
<p dir="auto">But, if that was ever once true, <em><strong>I question if it remains so now</strong></em>. Complacency and apathy are the death of democracy.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://bylinetimes.com/2022/01/11/the-country-i-represented-as-a-diplomat-for-30-years-no-longer-exists/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at Byline Times</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Boris Johnson Staff Held Lockdown Party on Eve of Prince Philip Funeral]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/boris-johnson-staff-held-lockdown-party-on-eve-of-prince-philip-funeral/2022-01-14T12:16:44.032098+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2022-01-14T12:16:44.032098+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/boris-johnson-staff-held-lockdown-party-on-eve-of-prince-philip-funeral/a-60421532" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summery of story from Deutsche Welle</a></p>
<p dir="auto">Fresh allegations arose on Friday about lockdown parties at the residence of United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson — with two separate gatherings <strong>on the eve of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip</strong>.</p>
<p dir="auto">Just two days ago, <em><strong>Johnson was forced to apologise</strong></em> for attending a garden party in 2020, after it was revealed that he and his staff at his Downing Street office and residence <em><strong>breached lockdown restrictions</strong></em>. The revelations prompted public outrage in the UK.</p>
<p dir="auto">The latest media reports suggest his staff held two more parties at Downing Street in April last year, during a period of national mourning.</p>
<p dir="auto">The allegations about parties ahead of the royal funeral were published in the conservative <em>Daily Telegraph</em>, for which Johnson was previously a regular columnist.</p>
<p dir="auto">While Johnson was not present at the latest events, he was said to have attended at least one party in May 2020, when lockdown restrictions were at their tightest.</p>
<p dir="auto">Martin Reynolds, the prime minister’s principle private secretary, <strong>invited some 100 staff</strong> to the event that Johnson himself attended. Some 30 to 40 people did attend, <em><strong>despite strict legal restrictions on social mixing</strong></em> — including a limit of 10 at funerals.</p>
<p dir="auto">In an <strong>email marked “<em>Sensitive</em>,”</strong> he told them to <em><strong>“Bring your own booze.”</strong></em></p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/boris-johnson-staff-held-lockdown-party-on-eve-of-prince-philip-funeral/a-60421532" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at Deutsche Welle</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Tory Pledge to Bolster GP Surgery Staff to be Broken]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/tory-pledge-to-bolster-gp-surgery-staff-to-be-broken/2022-01-10T12:09:52.411953+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2022-01-10T12:09:52.411953+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/09/tory-pledge-bolster-surgery-staff-to-be-broken-health-leaders" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story from The Guardian</a></p>
<p dir="auto">A Conservative Party manifesto pledge to hire 26,000 extra health professionals to work in GP surgeries is <em><strong>set to be broken by the Tory government</strong></em>, health leaders have warned, leaving family doctors straining under a heavier workload.</p>
<p dir="auto">About 9,500 of the promised physiotherapists, pharmacists, mental health therapists and other clinical staff so far have been recruited to help GPs and practice nurses.</p>
<p dir="auto">Senior doctors have warned that <em><strong>patients will pay the price for the slow delivery of extra personnel</strong></em> by facing persistently long waits for an appointment.</p>
<p dir="auto">But in November the health secretary, <em>Sajid Javid, admitted that Johnson’s often-repeated <strong>6,000 extra GPs pledge would be missed</strong></em>.</p>
<p dir="auto">Official NHS workforce statistics highlighted by the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) show that by September only an estimated 9,464 extra clinical staff had been recruited – <strong>far short of the 13,000</strong> that should have been in post by then at a rate of 5,200 a year for five years, given the ARRS scheme had begun in March 2019.</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>“The impact of not having enough staff in general practice is being felt acutely both by GPs and our team members who are working to their limits, and our patients, who are facing longer waits for the care they need. Meeting this [extra staff] target – and the GP target – will be vital to addressing this.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto">NHS workforce statistics show that in September there were still only …</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">14 <strong>podiatrists</strong></li>
<li dir="auto">38 <strong>dieticians</strong></li>
<li dir="auto">79 <strong>mental health therapists</strong></li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">… <em><strong>working across the 6,600 GP surgeries</strong></em> in England. There were also just 47 health support workers and 252 health and wellbeing coaches, who advise on lifestyle.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/09/tory-pledge-bolster-surgery-staff-to-be-broken-health-leaders" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at The Guardian</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Brexit - "The Biggest Disaster any Government has ever Negotiated"]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/brexit-the-biggest-disaster-any-government-has-ever-negotiated/2021-12-29T13:07:30.609890+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2021-12-29T13:07:30.609890+00:00<![CDATA[
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/dec/27/brexit-the-biggest-disaster-that-any-government-has-ever-negotiated" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story in The Guardian</a></p>
<p dir="auto">British cheesemaker who predicted Brexit would cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds in exports has called the UK’s departure from the EU single market a disaster, after <em><strong>losing his entire wholesale and retail business in the bloc</strong></em> over the past year.</p>
<p dir="auto">Simon Spurrell, the co-founder of the Cheshire Cheese Company, said personal <strong>advice from a government minister</strong> to pursue non-EU markets to compensate for his losses <em><strong>had proved to be “an expensive joke”</strong></em>.</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>“It turns out our greatest competitor on the planet is the UK government because every time they do a fantastic deal, they kick us out of that market – starting with the Brexit deal,” he said.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto">His <em><strong>online retail business was hit immediately after the Brexit</strong></em> negotiator David Frost failed to secure a frictionless trade deal addressing sales to individual customers in the EU.</p>
<p dir="auto">Spurrell said he had <strong>lost 20% of sales <em>overnight</em></strong> after discovering he needed to provide a £180 health certificate on each order, including gift packs costing £25 or £30. He said the viability of his online retail had come to a “dead stop”</p>
<p dir="auto">After he embarked on a personal crusade to draw attention to the plight of UK exporters involving almost 200 media interviews around the world, he was invited to an online meeting with Victoria Prentis, a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She suggested that emerging markets could compensate for the Brexit-related hole in the Cheshire Cheese Company’s finances.</p>
<p dir="auto">Spurrell said <em>he had pursued new business in Norway and Canada</em> but post-Brexit trade deals sealed by the government had put barriers in place.</p>
<p dir="auto">“We no longer have any ability to deal with the EU as our three distributors in Germany, France and Italy have said we have become too expensive because of the new checks and paperwork.</p>
<p dir="auto">“And now we’ve also lost Norway since the trade deal, as <strong>duty for wholesale is <em>273%</em></strong>. Then we tried Canada but what the government didn’t tell us is that <strong>duty of <em>244%</em></strong> is <em><strong>applied on any consignment over $20 [£15]</strong></em>.”</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">Gift pack <strong>product</strong> cost (including transport) = <strong>£50</strong></li>
<li dir="auto"><strong>Duty</strong> on the £50 gift pack = <strong>£178</strong></li>
<li dir="auto"><strong>Total cost</strong> for a £50 gift pack due to Brexit = <em><strong>£228</strong></em></li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">That meant Canadian customers who ordered a gift pack worth £50, including transport fees, were asked to pay £178 extra in duty when the courier arrived at their door,</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/dec/27/brexit-the-biggest-disaster-that-any-government-has-ever-negotiated" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at The Guardian</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Who will Stop Human Rights Abuses if this Tory Government puts Itself Above the Law?]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/who-will-stop-human-rights-abuses-if-this-tory-government-puts-itself-above-the-law/2021-12-23T13:07:18.569843+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2021-12-23T13:07:18.569843+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/14/human-rights-abuses-law-dominic-raab-judges" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story from The Guardian</a></p>
<p dir="auto">Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, announced plans to “overhaul” the Human Rights Act, bring in a new British bill of rights and, as he put it, “restore common sense” to our laws. In reality, <strong>he is making real his long-held dream to weaken vital human rights protections</strong>, make justice conditional on good behaviour and insulate the state from accountability.</p>
<h4 dir="auto">Raab’s plans make for grim reading.</h4>
<p dir="auto">They include:</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">Stripping away the right to family and private life. </li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">This is being done under the guise of the <em><strong>deportation of “foreign criminals”</strong></em>, a proposal that goes hand in hand with the government’s determination to use the <em><strong>revoking of citizenship as a punishment</strong></em>, creating instead <strong>a tiered system of rights protection based on your immigration status</strong>. </p>
<p dir="auto">But <strong>human rights are universal</strong> – take them from one group and you take them from all of us. And of course the right to a private and family life goes a lot wider than immigration.</p>
<p dir="auto">When the government hollows out these protections, <em><strong>we won’t be able to protect</strong></em>:</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">Our private data</li>
<li dir="auto">Fight evictions</li>
<li dir="auto">Demand LGBT equality</li>
<li dir="auto">Resist mass surveillance.</li>
</ul>
<h4 dir="auto">Raab is also coming after so-called positive obligations.</h4>
<p dir="auto">These are the <strong>legal obligations on public bodies to protect rights</strong>. </p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">It was positive obligations that allowed the families of young soldiers at <em><strong>Deepcut barracks to expose the toxic culture that had led to their deaths</strong></em>.</li>
<li dir="auto">It was positive obligations that allowed <em><strong>survivors of the rapist John Worboys to challenge the Metropolitan police for their failure</strong></em> to bring him to justice.</li>
<li dir="auto">It was these obligations that enabled the <em><strong>Hillsborough families to expose police failings and corruption</strong></em> at a proper inquest.</li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">Take away these obligations and <strong>you give licence to the police, the army and other state bodies to neglect their duties</strong> – with <strong>no</strong> possibility of justice.</p>
<p dir="auto"><strong>Let us remember that it is these very state bodies that are responsible for some of the gravest human rights abuses that happen in the UK.</strong></p>
<h4 dir="auto">Raab also claims his reforms will “protect free speech”.</h4>
<p dir="auto">Free speech is a vital right that <strong>already</strong> receives special protection in the Human Rights Act. So it is clear that <strong>this government does not want to protect the principle of free speech</strong> – it <em><strong>wants instead to protect the kinds of speech it likes to hear and gag those it doesn’t</strong></em>. Just look at another bill going through parliament at the moment – the <em>police, crime, sentencing and courts bill</em>, which attempts <em><strong>to criminalise protest</strong></em>. There are also <strong>plans to take away whistleblower</strong> protections in the Official Secrets Act.</p>
<p dir="auto"><strong>As it attempts this crude power grab:</strong></p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">The Tory government is also attempting to <em><strong>put itself above the law</strong></em> by taking away the power of the courts to declare whether laws passed by parliament are compatible with human rights. </li>
<li dir="auto">It wants to <em><strong>tie the hands of judges</strong></em> by stopping them from giving remedies – payment of damages, for example – for human rights abuses if the remedy would be particularly onerous at the time for the public body.</li>
<li dir="auto">If that wasn’t worrying enough, <strong>human rights would be conditional on good behaviour</strong>, because judges will be <em><strong>required to take account of someone’s past conduct when deciding</strong></em> what remedy to award them.
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">So <em><strong>the state could commit a hideous human rights violation but escape punishment</strong></em> by trawling through someone’s past to argue they do not deserve justice.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">That is <strong>if</strong> their case even makes it to court. </p>
<p dir="auto">Raab’s plans include a new <em>“permissions stage”</em> for all human rights cases, requiring people to <strong>show that they have faced “significant disadvantage”</strong> as a result of the abuse of their human rights <em><strong>before they can even argue their case</strong></em>. Evidence of this disadvantage would need to be shown before a trial, therefore needing you to get evidence of the said abuse from your opponent – the British state.</p>
<p dir="auto">As a human rights lawyer, I have worked on many cases of terrible human rights <em><strong>abuses that became clear only when we cross-examined witnesses or managed to get disclosure of evidence</strong></em>. </p>
<p dir="auto">There was a case about the <strong>death of a young woman</strong> in psychiatric care, in which the hospital said in witness statements that it had checked on her regularly as she had been assessed as being of high risk of suicide. <strong>When we managed to get the CCTV evidence on disclosure</strong> <em><strong>we found that this was a lie</strong></em> – she had been left completely alone in her room, and took her own life. Under Raab’s plans, <em><strong>these kinds of cases would never even see the light of day in court</strong></em>.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/14/human-rights-abuses-law-dominic-raab-judges" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at The Guardian</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[A Populist Demagogue - Boris Johnson]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/a-populist-demagogue-boris-johnson/2021-12-21T18:43:01.270970+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2021-12-21T18:43:01.270970+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://bylinetimes.com/2021/12/11/a-populist-demagogue-johnsons-government-most-extreme-ive-seen-says-former-tory-attorney-general/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story at the Byline Times</a></p>
<p dir="auto">Dominic Grieve told <em>Byline TV</em> that the Government’s:</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">Disregard for the rule of law</li>
<li dir="auto">Its xenophobic rhetoric</li>
<li dir="auto">It’s cronyism </li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">All show why the <em><strong>Conservative Party’s problems go beyond one leader</strong></em>.</p>
<p dir="auto">The Prime Minister is a “shambles” who was always going to be forced down the route of becoming a “populist demagogue” – but <strong>simply getting rid of him will <em>not</em> end the Conservative Party’s deeper problems</strong>, says former Conservative Attorney General</p>
<p dir="auto">Dominic Grieve told <em>Byline TV</em> that the removal of Johnson as Prime Minister in itself would not lead to significant change for the party, which is under the grip of a warped and <em><strong>weaponised sense of “parliamentary sovereignty”</strong></em> as its guiding principle.</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>“I don’t think it would completely cure the problem,” the barrister said. “We seem to be living in a period with <strong>an obsession for this thing called parliamentary sovereignty</strong>. It does mean ultimately in our constitution that Parliament’s will is going to prevail. But, the attitude of the Government… is that parliamentary sovereignty means that a government with a majority can do absolutely whatever it likes. And then, if people disapprove, they chuck that Government out at the next general election, and that is democracy with parliamentary sovereignty.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>“But parliamentary <strong>democracy works, in part, because minorities are prepared to accept majority decisions</strong>. And, <strong>once you remove the legitimacy of minority viewpoints, you are starting to erode the very foundations on which our society is based</strong>. And that’s extremely dangerous.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>“It is the <strong>difference between the rule <u>of</u> law and rule <em>by</em> law</strong>. Rule by law means you pass a law on anything you like, and then that is how <strong>you coerce people into doing things</strong>. Rule of law carries with it an implication that it’s being done within a historic constitutional framework, where there are limits to the way governments will behave even when they have full power, potentially, to behave differently. <strong>This Government is the most extreme example</strong> I’ve seen in all my time in politics for <strong>having a disregard for principles of the rule of law</strong>.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto">Responding to <em><strong>Johnson’s plan to reportedly allow ministers to throw-out legal rulings that the Government does not agree with</strong></em>, and restrict the power of judicial review – a key check on the executive – Grieve, a QC, said that the move seems predicated on keeping judges in the frame as “enemies of the people”.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://bylinetimes.com/2021/12/11/a-populist-demagogue-johnsons-government-most-extreme-ive-seen-says-former-tory-attorney-general/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at Byline Times</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Boris Johnson Skips Cobra Meeting, thus Decision over Christmas Protections Goes Unmade]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/boris-johnson-skips-cobra-meeting-thus-decision-over-christmas-protections-goes-unmade/2021-12-20T18:20:33.878104+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2021-12-20T18:20:33.878104+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-skips-cobra-meeting-25739780" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story from the Mirror</a></p>
<p dir="auto">Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hit out at the <em>Prime Minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak</em> for <em><strong>skipping the Covid Cobra meeting</strong></em>, on the day more cash was pledged to combat the Omicron ‘tsunami’.</p>
<p dir="auto">New coronavirus measures before Christmas have not been ruled out by the Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who said there are “no guarantees” following a “sobering analysis” from scientific advisers warning about the threat from Omicron.</p>
<p dir="auto">Ms Sturgeon added: “As infections soar and businesses suffer, we still need much more urgency in action/support from UK Gov – so that devolved gov hands are not tied.</p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>“To that end, it was disappointing and frustrating that <strong>neither the PM nor the Chancellor attended this evening’s COBRA (Covid meeting)</strong>.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto">There has been no further government comment of a potential lockdown before the end of 2021.</p>
<p dir="auto"><strong>Modelling from scientific advisers</strong>, published on Saturday, showed that if ministers stuck to the current Plan B measures, there could be a <em><strong>peak of 3,000 hospital admissions in England per day</strong></em>.</p>
<p dir="auto">Advisers also said hospital admissions with the variant in the UK are <strong><em>“probably around one tenth of the true number”</em></strong> due to a lag in reporting.</p>
<p dir="auto">Despite the ramping-up of the <strong>booster programme</strong>, experts said it <em><strong>would not help in terms of hospitals admissions in the near future</strong></em>, as many would be <em>people who are infected now before immunity has had time to build</em>.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-skips-cobra-meeting-25739780" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at the Mirror</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Boris Johnson Violated Law when He Joined No 10 Pizza Party During May 2020 Lockdown]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/boris-johnson-violated-law-when-he-joined-no-10-pizza-party-during-may-2020-lockdown/2021-12-16T18:30:32.576409+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2021-12-16T18:30:32.576409+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/16/boris-johnson-joined-no-10-party-during-may-2020-lockdown-say-sources" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story from The Guardian</a></p>
<p dir="auto">The prime minister spent about 15 minutes with staff at the alleged social gathering on 15 May 2020, <em>telling one aide inside No 10 that they deserved a drink for “beating back” coronavirus</em>, a joint investigation by the Guardian and Independent was told.</p>
<p dir="auto">Sources claimed <strong>about 20 staff drank wine and spirits and ate pizza</strong> following a press conference on that day, some in offices inside No 10 and others going into the garden. Some staff stayed drinking until late into the evening, they alleged.</p>
<p dir="auto">Rules <em><strong>at the time allowed only two people from different households to meet outside, at a distance of 2 metres</strong></em>. Earlier that evening, Matt Hancock, then health secretary, had urged people to “stay at home as much as is possible” and asked them to “please stick with the rules, keep an eye on your family and don’t take risks” during the period of good weather.</p>
<p dir="auto">The claims follow <em><strong>a string of reports about similar alleged events in Downing Street and elsewhere</strong></em> during the subsequent lockdown last Christmas, and suggests rules might have been broken over a series of months.</p>
<p dir="auto">The claims are a further blow to <em><strong>Johnson, who is reeling from reports detailing a series of apparent lockdown-breaching parties</strong></em> last winter, and has been widely mocked for insisting no rules were broken.</p>
<p dir="auto">Among these was an alleged party on 18 December 2020, a time when all indoor social mixing in London was prohibited, involving wine and cheese and staff swapping “secret Santa” presents.</p>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/16/boris-johnson-joined-no-10-party-during-may-2020-lockdown-say-sources" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at The Guardian</a></p>
]]><![CDATA[Lack of Tory action on Covid-19 Pandemic cause Schools to Warn of Omicron Chaos in English Schools - Staff & Pupils Absent]]>https://writeworks.uk/~/ToryLies/lack-of-tory-action-on-covid-19-pandemic-cause-schools-to-warn-of-omicron-chaos-in-english-schools-staff-pupils-absent/2021-12-14T18:02:06.288720+00:00Editorhttps://writeworks.uk/@/mark/2021-12-14T18:02:06.288720+00:00<![CDATA[<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/13/heads-warn-of-omicron-chaos-in-english-schools-with-staff-and-pupils-absent" rel="noopener noreferrer">Summary of story at The Guardian</a></p>
<p dir="auto">Headteachers are warning of <strong>“chaos” in England’s schools</strong> as Omicron sweeps across the country, with <em><strong>high levels of staff and pupil absences</strong></em> and reports that <strong>parents are planning to keep children home to avoid the virus before Christmas</strong>.</p>
<p dir="auto">School leaders and unions <strong>urged the government to introduce more protective measures, including</strong>:</p>
<ul dir="auto">
<li dir="auto">Masks in classrooms</li>
<li dir="auto">Better ventilation</li>
<li dir="auto">Tougher isolation rules to try to slow the spread of the virus before the holidays.</li>
</ul>
<p dir="auto">In areas with high infection rates, <em><strong>some year groups are being sent home to study remotely</strong></em> because not enough teachers or supply teachers are available, and a <em>small number of schools have been forced to move online until the end of term</em>.</p>
<p dir="auto">In some schools <em><strong>up to half the teaching workforce is unavailable for work due to Covid-related absence</strong></em>, according to the NASUWT union, which is calling for a staggered start to the new term and additional on-site testing facilities in January.</p>
<p dir="auto">Dr Patrick Roach, the NASUWT general secretary, wrote to the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, on Monday calling for immediate action. </p>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>“We ask you to avoid a repeat of the confusion and chaos which last year impacted negatively on public and parental confidence and hampered the hard work of teachers and school and college leaders in their preparations at the start of 2021,” he said.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote dir="auto">
<p dir="auto"><em>“An immediate announcement from the government on additional measures for schools and colleges is, we believe, essential before the majority of schools and colleges close for the Christmas break.”</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="auto"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/13/heads-warn-of-omicron-chaos-in-english-schools-with-staff-and-pupils-absent" rel="noopener noreferrer">Full story at The Guardian</a></p>
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