The Labour Party has been accused of “disgusting” behaviour towards a Palestinian man who lost his family in Gaza, after refusing to reveal what information the party has gathered on him.
Police dragged Dalloul Neder out of a Labour fundraising event attended by the party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, in January, after he held up a picture of his late mother and told the audience: “I lost my family in Gaza… I want to show you my mum.”
Brixham, a Devon harbour town, has been struck by an illness caused by a microscopic parasite - cryptosporidium - in the water!
About 16,000 households and businesses in the Brixham area have been told by South West Water (SWW) not to use their tap water for drinking without boiling and cooling it first.
Not an expert but it does strike me as symptomatic of the state of our water companies and water system. #Water#Sewage#ukpolitics
The government is starting a pilot to allow local councils to force the rental of High Street shops vacant for more than a year, for the lowest rent achievable.
Some 80% of vacant shops in the UK have been empty for more than two years, while over one in five has stood vacant for longer than four years.
Of course, landlords aren't happy as they keep them empty to maintain artificially high valuations. Sad.
Arts Council England (ACE) issued a warning that “political statements” could break funding agreements after discussions with the government about artists speaking out over the Israel-Gaza war.
A Freedom of Information request revealed the issue was discussed in a meeting between ACE and DCMS on 12 December 2023. The meeting, titled “ACE/DCMS Liaison Meeting” included the agenda item “Reputational risk relating to Israel/Gaza conflict”.
Heavens, I do hope the Shareholder's profits won't be affected, that's all that matters on Shit Island.
All those lucky Brits who have been given the opportunity to have parasites, they should be grateful to their masters, not angry. For sure, what will getting angry do, it's not like the peasants will change anything! /s
Odd fact of pop music history and UK politics: Roy Wood, a founding member of The Move and Electric Light Orchestra, was a member of UKIP för many years and then joined the Brexit Party.
"Britain’s debt-laden water utilities are being encouraged by the regulator Ofwat to set up new privately financed companies to deliver billions of pounds worth of critical infrastructure such as reservoirs, treatment works and pipelines, which will be paid for through customer bills"
Outrageous. Nationalise them without compensation and abolish Ofwat, which is totally compromised.
John Woodcock, whose review proposes bans for protest groups, has lobbying links to firms in arms and fossil fuel sectors.
Conflict of interest? Really? No doing the wishes of the #Conservative#maladministration and their corporate sponsors. New party slogan ‘bugger the environment’.
Another example of the appalling treatment of British ‘citizens' by the government that gets voted in. Justice and recompense is a long long long time coming.
Culturally, The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 was the epitome of the 90s in Britain and pre-dated, perhaps even laid the foundations for the media revolution that predicated Cool Britainnia and with it, Blair's political popularity.
It was live, anarchic, bright, irreverent and very Channel 4. It's place in media history is often overlooked, but I suspect it has more influence on the socio-political zeitgeist than it's given credit for...
Oh look. #Section28 has just returned via the backdoor, which is how a lot of unpleasantness takes root in the #UK these days.
"...Government sources told BBC News about plans to ban sex education for under-nines in [#England], as well as teaching about gender identity, on Wednesday.
"Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the new guidance would ensure children were not 'exposed to disturbing content'..."
This is possibly one of the best Substack blogs around. Father & Son - Prof Lawrence Freedman (War, Foreign Policy) & Sam (detailed UK policy analysis). It rises above the click-bait & quick takes - they write lengthy, thought out, detailed stuff.
This particular piece by Sam I almost filed away for later. But glad I made the time for it.
Keir Starmer has issued his sic pledges to the country.
The approach - if not the actual list of promises - is similar to Tony Blair's tactics, with his "Pledge Card" pre-1997 election which brought a Labour landslide.
The glaring difference is that Blair was charismatic, politically adept and most importantly didnt have a very long history of blatant lies and evasions
Starmer is unlikeable, politically a one trick pony (punch left, move right) and is widely viewed as shifty and untrustworthy
Starmer has also had his "iraq" disaster before even getting into office with his disgusting statements and manoeuvring on #gaza
Jesus. The bottomless, neverending shame of living in this fucking country.
Middle East Eye :"The UK government has revoked the student visa of Dana Abuqamar, a Palestinian law student at the University of Manchester, following her speech in a demonstration. Her visa was revoked on the grounds of 'national security', with authorities citing her as a risk to public safety.
She revealed that she had lost at least 15 relatives in Gaza."