Britain/Palestine/Israel: Murder campaign continues and protesters are being repressed

Britain used to be part of the so called Free World. Not anymore. While the images of people being murdered as they try to reach for food continue to spread across the world, British authorites influenced by those we cannot criticize increase repressive measures. Now, protesting againts mass murder is classified as terrorism. Sooner than later there are going to be extremely serious consequences in Britain itself.

Dame Stella Rimington stated in the Houses of Parliament that the then Security Services did not have the necessary manpower to follow every lead. Today, in fact, no matter how many repressive measures are implemented to prevent people from protesting there will come the time when protests will become explossive and so widespread that British authorities will have created a lethal National Security crisis.

As trust in British authorities is going downhill, what we see saw some years ago after an incident inTottenham will be nothing compared to what is coming. As some Conservative comentators indicated, Civil War in Britain is just a matter of time. Poverty, discontent, sheer hatred, spreading criminality and lack of trust are a highly flammable mix.

England is starting to look like Northern Ireland and the rise of an English Republican Army is not inconceivable. Most elected representatives are like the French Aristocrats shortly before July 14th 1989. Those in privileged positions ignore the dangers that exist in feudal Britain. Politicans talk about numbers and "savings" with complete disregard for the desperate circumstances a growing number of peoples in Britain face. If this was not enough, they are standing for mass murder and in favour of repressing and silencing those who understandably stand against mass murder.

Is there a redrawing of the political world in the United Kingdom?

It is plainly visible that the Conservative Party and the Labour Party are no longer that they used to be. In many areas inside the United Kingdom, the two party system has literally collapsed. New political parties have arrived and others are being created because of the partition of existing political parties.

The Labour Party was created because of the Trade Union Movement and now the Labour Party is on a collision course with the Trade Union Movement.

A political migration movement is accelerating. Trying to accommodate a plurality of views, often contradictory, has lead to ambiguities and frustration and lack of trust in big political organisations and, perhaps, the day for Britain to abandon the two party system is long overdue, opening the door to coalitions of smaller parties that better reflect in Parliament the views of individual voters.

Demographics influences, more and more, political life in the United Kingdom, and this is happening especially because of geopolitical issues. In more than one way, the existence of coalitions instead of big political parties is a healthier option, limiting the power of lobbies.

From a geopolitical perspective, no political party on its own would be able to drive the country in a given direction, without the support of a bigger number of voters, thus preventing any military adventures or the start of conflicts based on false premises. There would be greater accountability.

In order to fund wars, the Labour Party is ready and willing to sacrifice the elderly and the disabled

 

The Labour government that started in July 2024 started what was presumed to be a period of austerity, but soon after elections in which the Reform Party won 10 out of 16 local authorities the tune changed. More than 10 billion Pound for Mauritious, an undefined amount of money for Volodomir Zelensky, the promise to buil 6 ammunition factories, to build 12 nuclear submarines, to acquire jets capable of launching nuclear weapons and the list goes on. 

Nor the British Prime Minister, or the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or any other member of the Cabinent has been willing to tell the British people where the money is going to come from.

Where is the money coming from? A new term has been coined. Following QE Quantitative Easing, now comes QT Quantitative Tightening. The Bank of England is selling expensive bonds of public debt for lower prices and the Treasury has promised to cover the losses of the Bank of England. So monies that could have been used to finance better living standards. So, not enough money for disabled people, no money for schools, no money for the health service that the Labour Party has classified as "a wasteful NHS". 

Tomorrow´s decision in Parliament is very much linked to so called QT. We do not know what is going behind close doors, but we do know the Electorate´s reaction. Both Labour and Conservatives were massacred in the polling stations during the 2025 elections and 2026 could be an even more disastrous defeat for both Labour and Conservative.

Business activity in the United Kingdom has gone down 40% and there is a list of food chains closing branches across the country, as the number of cases of shoplifting goes up steadily. More taxes? More borrowing?

UK Elections: Not since the days when Labour replaced Liberal Party as the other party has anything similar happened in Elections

In a Parliamentary By-Election fought due to the resignation of a Labour MP, the Labour Party in government lost a seat to Reform Party, a newly formed political party led by Nigel Farage MP who became Member of Parliament in July 2024. But not only that. In local elections, the Reform Party managed to win control of 10 Local Councils and turned the remaining Local Authorities to No Overall Control. Massive losses for both the Conservative Party in Opposition and for the Labour Party in government.

As reported by the BBC, the number of seats allocated to each political party, of the 1637 seats being up for election, was as follows:

Her Majesty´s Opposition, the Conservative Party, lost 674 seats. Her Majesty´s Government, the Labour Party, managed to retain barely 98 seats. The main issue is this elections was Immigration, although lack of trust and opposition to policies implemented since July 2024 played a very important role. To sum up, neither of the two main parties - Conservative Party and Labour Party inspire trust. There are conflicts within both major political parties. Keir Starmer, as Prime Minister and Labour Party Leader is facing increasing rejection from his own party. Kemi Badenoch, as newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, has not managed to make voters forget about 14 years of a Conservative Party that saw a succession of party leaders and Prime Ministers, due to internal upheaval. From Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party had to go through an election in which it was left with little more than 100 MPs, many of which do not see eye to eye. The local elections and Mayoral Elections and a Parliamentary By-Election were supposed to be litmus test for both major political parties.

There might be soon yet another Parliamentary By Election due to troubles affecting the Labour Party in Government. The Labour Party still holds a majority of more than 400 Members of Parliament but due to internal disagreement regarding policies being implemented by the Labour Cabinet, 2025 is bound to be a critical year. Industrial unrest could be on the cards, affecting the Civil Service, the National Health Service and Education. If Labour supporters choose to vote for other political parties - i.e. in a by-Election in Lambeth, Labour voters decided to support the Green Party that got a handsome majority with 48%, leaving the Labour Party in second place with 39% - or to abstein then the leadership of Keir Starmer will be increasingly challenged. The fundamental question to ask is "If there was a General Eleciton, would the Labour Party lose the General Election?"  

Britain: What happens after the General Election? The package of promises falls apart when confronted with reality.

 

A few days ago came the news that life for 4 million people in the UK will turn into a nightmare if they don´t manage to regularize their visas turning paper visas into digital visas. 4 million people? How much can the state apparatus do from now until 31 December 2024? 

How many people are needed to locate and process 4 millon visas in such a short period? But this is a minute dot in terms of things that will need to be done. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has formally committed a new Labour government to increase salaries across the entire public sector and Unions are already on a war footing to keep the now Shadow Chacellor of the Exchequer accountable.

The promise about getting rid of Zero Hour Contracts might erode even more public services in an attempt to improve working conditions in the UK and the effect in the private sector must not be underestimated. Faced with the prospect of having to issue regular contracts with all legal requirements, both the public sector and the private sector will struggle.

Grant Shapps as Defence Secretary has been struggling to explain where he is going to find more than 70 billion Pound to beef up the Armed Forces. The same questions will be asked to a new Defense Secretary since Grant Shapps has publicly acknowledged that he believes that the Conservative Party will lose the General Election.

The clock is ticking and many of the faces we see today as symbols of power and decision making will vanish and probably soon to be forgotten. Should announcements made about critical issues be postponed until we know who is going to be in command? Whatever the present authorities say today could be absolutely irrelevant in a few days time. It is a tradition that a new Parliament is not bound to follow what the outgoing Parliament decides.

With a new Parliament, today´s points of reference will vanish. There will be a new political reality. Rachel Reeves has already announced that there will be a new relationship with the European Union. Does this mean the end of Brexit? Reform´s campaign might have a lot to do not with destroying the Conservative Party but with assurances regarding the present relationship with the European Union. the irony is that freedom from any budgetary restrictions gives Britain the necessary flexibility to increase public deficits. We known what happened with the ERM, precursor of the EURO. Will a government headed by Keir Starmer want to fall into the same trap John Major and his government were in before finally deciding to step out of the ERM? What did Tony Blair and Gordon Brown avoid joining the EURO? Precisely because of what happened with the ERM?  

  

Argentina's difficult political balance, Mercosur and trade alliances beyond Latin America

With three digit inflation rates and decades of stagnation, forty years of democracy could mean absolutely nothing. In an election in which there were record numbers of voters, the incoming President Javier Milei got outstanding support accross the entire country with equally record numbers of provinces that came out to support him. 

It is not going to be an easy task. In fact, in Parliament opposition forces still have a commanding majority that could block every single attempt to change Argentinian politics and economics. The risk is that if more than 13 million voters that supported Javier Milei come to see Parliament as a sedicious force that stands on the way preventing changes then Parliament itself will be in trouble. Could government by decree become an alternative from the very beginning?

Argentinian Constitution extract

CHAPTER III Powers of the Executive Branch Section 99.- The President of the Nation has the following powers: 1.- He is the supreme head of the Nation, head of the government and he is politically responsible for the general administration of the country. 2.- He issues the instructions and rules necessary for the enforcement of the 16 laws of the nation, without altering their spirit with regulatory exceptions. 3.- He takes part in the making of laws according to the Constitution, promulgates them and has them published. The Executive Power shall in no event issue provisions of legislative nature, in which case they shall be absolutely and irreparably null and void. Only when due to exceptional circumstances the ordinary procedures foreseen by this Constitution for the enactment of laws are impossible to be followed, and when rules are not referred to criminal issues, taxation, electoral matters, or the system of political parties, he shall issue decrees on grounds of necessity and urgency, which shall be decided by a general agreement of ministers who shall countersign them together with the Chief of the Ministerial Cabinet.

The Constitution seems to indicate that only in exceptional circumstances the President can issue decrees and that 'The Executive Power shall in no event issue provisions of legislative nature, in wichi case they shall be absolutely and irreparably null and void.'. 

It is explicitly clear that the last and final word on legislative matters lies in Parliament and it is a Parliament in which the political party supporting the President directly will have 38 representatives in the House of Reprentatives of a total of 257 and in the Senate the number of Senators directly supporting the President will be 6 out of 72. Unavoidably, the President will have to seek support of other political parties to be able to pass any bills.

Given these numbers, all the scaremongering promoted by opponents of Javier Milei is totally unjustified. It is most probable that Mauricio Macri (Former President) and Patricia Bullrich (Former Minister under Mauricio Macri) of Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) will have a major say. 

The bone of contention will be that Javier Milei's electoral allies will have the seats that Javier Milei needs to govern and Javier Milei will be able to say that despite not having enough seats he has the popular mandate and that people supported his electoral platform.

If the President can manage to transform an electoral coalition into a governing coalition then there will be a peaceful working political transition. If the President does not manage to transform an electoral coaliton into a governing coalition then there will be political upheaval leading to dangerous political uncertainties.

In Uruguay, there are divisions in terms of supporting or not supporting Javier Milei. For example, Frente Amplio (Broadfront) in opposition was more inclined to support the losing candidate Sergio Massa. In Brazil, President Lula came openly in support of Sergio Massa. Javier Milei for starters indicated that he wanted to get rid of Mercosur - something he might not achieve given the fact that he will be effectively in coalition with Mauricio Macri and Patricia Bullrich.

Uruguay has expressed that it wants ever closer trade relations with China, independently of its membership of Mercosur. Argentina itself has plans to incorporate Chinese communications technology. Brazil is seeking a new alignement having become a supporter of new trade arrangements that will bring the country closer to economies linked to the Russian Federation and China.

In spite of the fact that there are other Latin American economies linked to Mercosur, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are the core of the trading block.

Conservative Party: 40,000 teachers left the profession. NHS is bleeding professionals that are leaving even for other countries

Conservative Party is in a crisis with MPs no longer willing to stand for re-election and even members of the Cabinet announcing that they will not be standing for re-election. In the meantime, problems are being piled up at all levels. 

In education, more than 40,000 teachers are no longer teaching. They have had more than enough. When asked, a school teacher said 'I could not take it any more. It was not just about 35 pupils in the classroom. It was also about dealing with children with mental health issues that made teaching impossible.' It is not about remuneration. It is about working conditions. Teacher are supposed to teach. They are not supposed to deal with psychiatric problems thrown in the classroom.

What has changed about the operation of Police stations in the UK. Politicians including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak make promises in the House of Commons that he really and truly knows that cannot be delivered. Police stations are not even receiving reports regarding property stolen, let alone theft of mobile phones. They are understaff and they don't have the resources to deal with that kind of crime.

How much times does a consultant in the NHS have to deal with patients? Not much. There are not enough consultants and not enough specialised staff. There is so much that can be done with lack of human resources and with lack of equipment.

And what happens in Job Centres? Unqualified staff and insufficient staff are leading to DWP staff quitting their jobs because they cannot deal with the workload they are forced to deal with. 

And what happens at the Home Office? Not enough staff to deal with mountains of applications and the natural consequence is that everything gets delayed and this has social consequences. A rising number of people are wandering around in limbo and more often than not local authorities, schools and social services have to deal with the outcome having to find non existing accommodation for families with children, many of which are facing mental health problems and situations of abuse including domestic violence.

This is a tale of massive government incompetence. Government secretaries of state and ministers spend an awful amount of time making political statements and seem absolutely oblivious to reality. What is the point of spending millions of Pound every ten years to carry out Censuses? Save the money spent on Censuses and spend it to really try to solve the myriad of problems Britain is facing. Whatever data can be gathered in censuses are completely unreliable.

You will never be able to keep up with inflation when trying to support families via the welfare state. Look at the cost of buying and look at the cost of renting. Private renting is a total waste of resources. The private market is not supposed to meet the needs of those in need. Private letting is a business. What is needed is the sort of letting that can be controlled by the state. If you have social housing, the monies can be kept by the state and re-invested in social services. Private renting should be left for those who can afford to rent without state support. The state should be both landlord and service provider.

Do you know what happens to families with children that are forced to be constantly on the move from one area to another, from one city to another? Do you know what happens when it comes to education, health, work, family cohesion and mental health? Instability, uncertainty, mental health problems, domestic violence, constant financial struggle and dependency and the list goes on.

 

William Hague: Pensioners, economy or complete disregard for older people?

When priviledged politicians like William Hague that are all too willing to find monies for white elephant projects talk against looking after pensioners that get three times less than the minimum salary in retirement, the said politicians show their true colours. I guess he did not protest or felt unhappy when he himself got huge increases as Member of Parliament or Cabinet Minister. 

Traditionally, old age people and pensioners have tended to support the Conservative Party. Maybe they should stop supporting the Conservative Party if individuals identified with the Conservative Party show such disregard for some of the most vulnerable people in society. But what does the Leadership of the Labour Party show? They could not care less. Regarding things that matter so much they keep their mouths conveniently shut because they merely playing politics and could not care less about the elderly.

If the so falled mainstream political parties don't care, somebody else has to care and so much is going on that mainstream political parties cannot or don't want to deal with. It was goes to the root of how the political system works. 

He is a runaway train. People like him are runaway trains. They have a license to abuse the system and they use it. They spend their lives milking the nation and with the hypocritical ways they criticize those who have less.

Nigel Farage and a golden opportunity to reform the banking system

 

We are going deeper and deeper into the Digital Era, but even in the Digital Era there are thousands upon thousands of people that do not have bank accounts.

On top of issuing legislation that prevents any banking institution from using its leverage to cancel bank accounts for political purposes, there is also the issue of those that for no fault of their own have fallen by the side.

In the egalitarian society there are so who have bank accounts and those who don't and this is something that must be remedied.

If private banking institutions don't allow everybody to open a bank account, legislation must follow to guarantee that everybody can have access to his or her bank account. 

The time is long overdue to have a fairer banking system, a more rational banking system and especially taking into account that taxpapers saved private financial institutions from collapse more than once.

It is also relevant to emphasize that people must also have the option of using digital money and conventional currency. In a society in which there is always emphasis regarding choice, individuals must have the choice of using cash or not using cash at every point in time. It is well known that some businesses have decided to accept only digital currency. How is this allowed? Why is this allowed? Cash should always be legal tender.

Gary Lineker: Using the BBC for political agendas

 

For a long time, there has been criticism regarding BBC Superstars and the fact that they are overlypaid when the coorportation has been downsizing and cutting down services.

Not a year goes by without hearing announcements regarding services being cut off to save money and it is not any money. It is about money gathered because people most of whom do not watch the BBC are forced to pay under duress.

Despite the fact the he made a name because of football, Gary Lineker has very well known political views and political allegiances. If we want a BBC that is seen as impartial, Gary Lineker is not the best exponent of such impartiality and perhaps, and without perhaps, this led the BBC to make the decision not to allow the presenter to host a very public football programme. His twitter comments led to confrontation and even division between peoples that hold similar political views. Exponents of the Jewish Communities in the UK have shown that they are not happy - in some cases that they are deeply unhappy - to hear or see that the experiences of 70 or so years ago are being used for party political purposes in the United Kingdom. Is this a watershed moment? Are people tired enough of seeing words like Nazi, Fascist, Racist, Homophobe, Transphobe used to prevent any qualified debate about many of today's issues and ills?

Gary Lineker is not a Member of Parliament. Perhaps he should consider leaving the BBC, stopping being a sports presenter, and engage in politics full on. Then he could talk about politics using his own steam instead of using his presence as presenter of a public broadcaster to promote his views. It is become apparent that many communities in the United Kingdom are not happy when they are flooded with illegal immigrant centres and their local economies that were already in trouble before their hospitality industry was used for purposes that have nothing to do with the reasons why the hospitality industry was created. Calling disgruntled and desperate local communities Far Right or Racist is in itself a form of abuse. Local inhabitants become hostages of circumstances beyond their control. They become victims of decisions made by political groups that are not to have to cope with the repercusions of their decisions. 

What is happening in many local communities across the United Kingdom shows, once again, the disconnect between the well-off and the poorer segments of society. The said centres are not set up in well-off areas. The said centres are set up in the poorest areas of Britain. Rich Liberals and Champagne Socialists are condemning the poorest in Britain to live in conditions that Rich Liberals and Champagne Socialist would not want to live in.  

Members of Parliament under stress: Stress as the rule

We read headlines about Members of Parliament i.e. Ministers that fail to keep their tax affairs in order, sexual misconduct, harassment, vacations abroad when they should be delivering on their promises, et cetera, and we tend to treat Members of Parliament as a class apart. There are in theory 650 Members of Parliament, although in fact elected Sinn Fein MPs fail to attend the House of Commons because of their stances on Ireland and Northern Ireland. Some are very wealthy because of their own professional and business careers outside Parliament and others simply have to make do with what they get from salaries, privileges ande exemptions.

For those who represent London constituencies or nearby constituenties, life should not be that bad or any different from many other jobs in the capital city. For others who represent constituencies far away from London, life is constant travel to and from their constituencies and London. In recent times, given even of public notoriety, on top of the workload comes a series of reasons to be stressed. We are not far from another General Election. This means the fears of not being re-elected and of the consequences of not being re-elected. After very public tragedies, there is also the fear of being harassed, attacked or killed.

For whatever reason, apart from the obvious political reasons, your life could be on public display and this includes unwanted attention or attention for all the wrong reasons. This is something that is bound to have an impact on you personally and on the lives of all those close to you and especially on members of your own close family.

Once you stand for public office, you are a marked man or a marked woman. Whatever you said or didn't say, whatever you did or didn't do will be on record for all to see and you will be constantly reminded about it. So, yes, there is a lot of stress involved and especially if you are trying to do what you are supposed to be doing. You might lose your job not because of being doing a bad job, but simply because of public perception, because of what something else has done or is believed to have done.

Would you like stand for Member of Parliament? Well, although in some cases there is no shortage of candidates, in certain constituencies local associations struggle to find suitable candidates. Some are genuinely afraid of facing the stigma of being associated with a given political party. Family relationships will change. Friends might no longer be friend. Working prospects might change. You could become unemployable. If you are single or looking for a relationship, you will no longer be yourself. You will be so and so of a certain political party. People who have never met you will talk about you, write about you, invent things about you and some will despise you merely because you are associated with a given political party.

So, yes, being a Member of Parliament or being identified with a given political party can be a certain source of stress for all  kinds of reasons.

10 Downing Street: If you talk the language of war, you need to prepare for war

 

Inconsistencies when dealing with geopolitical situations will get an unnecessary number of people killed simply because of complaisancy.

We heard harsh words coming out of the lips of Western European politicians including British politicians, but they do not reflect reality. It is absolutely shambolic.

Britain is open. It cannot even control the number of illegal immigrants entering the country. It has an NHS that almost collapsed under the weight of a Covid pandemic. None other than the Metropolitan Police Service is now run under special measures because of systemic failures that led, among other things, to the resignation of its chief commander Cressida Dick. Police officers are more interested in kneeling down and in joining every single cranky demonstration of political correctness than in doing their work properly.

For many years, both Labour and Conservative governments neglected the Armed Forces to the point when they were found wanting more than once and forced to play second fiddle. Pomp and Circumstance and posturing will not protect Britain let alone win any wars. 

We are now in an impasse. The country does not have a Prime Minister and does not have a government. We cannot call Prime Minister a man that has been backstabbed by his own political party and a government in which members of the goverment don't see eye to eye. Boris Johnson himself has said that no fundamental piece of legislation will be put forward until there is a clear definition of who is actually in control of the British government and there is a return to a debate of all issues that were already decided. This is like fighting a war on several fronts or to put it in very straightforward manner it is a recipe for disaster. In times of danger, politicians are simply driven by their own fatal habits and nothing good can come out of it.

A country facing war should not be divided. Nicola Sturgeon cares more about her own agenda than she cares about the survival of Britain. In fact, she does not give a damn about the survival of Britain and she is playing right into the hands of the enemies of Britain. The Americans, as usual, are poking their noses in internal matters of other countries and creating a mess. Northern Ireland, once again, does not have a working Assembly and at a time when 10 Downing Street is a mess and Parliament is a mess, short of having direct rule in Northern Ireland, the people of Northern Ireland are stranded with a non working Assembly and a British Parliament that is not just limited by Devolution. We are travelling on a rudderless ship. All Devolution has achieved is the creation of platforms to destroy the United Kingdom: a Northern Ireland without governance, a Wales controlled by the Labour Party, a Scotland controlled by SNP, a Westminster Parliament that has become a political circus and a Prime Minister defeated by his own political party.  

 

Liz Truss is wrong about British mercenaries

The British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss MP should be respectfully reminded of the fact that British mercenaries or any other mercenaries participating in a military conflict are not protected by international agreements designed to protect regular soldiers when they are captured.

She has made public statements regarding the situation of British mercenaries caught up in Ukraine and sentenced to death that contradict international agreements. She is wrong and perhaps she does not have proper advisers to tell her that she is wrong. This is becoming a national embarrassment.

She was initially wrong when she encouraged British citizens to join the fighting in Ukraine and she is wrong now when she talks about prisoners of war. Mercenaries are not regular combattants and therefore when captured they expose themselves to be executed and they were lucky to have survived so long and luck to have faced trial. They could have been executed on the stop with no questions answered because they Geneva Convention does not protect them.

A former British military commander and now Member of Parliament speaking candidly about Liz Truss and her role as Foreign Secretary clearly stated his views and said 'she is lightweight'. Lighweight is another way of saying she is not competent as Foreign Secretary and there are clear examples showing that she is not competent. As a politician she is prone to making colourful statements that are not supported by facts.

I do believe that Ben Wallace MP, presently Defense Secretary, would be a much better choice as Foreign Secretary and especially when dealing with military matters and there are no doubts whatsoever that the conflict in Ukraine is both a political issue and a military issue.

Democracy in Britain is being devalued and this is why politicians are afraid of 'extremism'.

Day after day, Democracy in Britain is being devalued. There is no real enthusiam in elections and the lack of enthusiasm is being reflected with low turnouts. It is almost inconceivable that we have reached the present state of affairs with one three out of four people entitled to vote not turning out to vote.

People are caught up between useless politicians that usually appear on the media for reasons that have nothing to do with real politics in a country in which inflation is going up and up without a hope regarding any rises of income for the vast majority of the population that has to put up with rising financial pressures without having the means to remedy what is going on.

Parliament is a circus, but there is no fun on the streets of Britain and there is no fun within political parties that are facing discontent within their own ranks and the discontent is becoming louder and louder putting into question party political allegiance.

Foreign conflicts are the way to divert attention from what is really happening at home and this is why mass media are so profusely used to maintain smoke screens around what is really happening inside the country itself.

Conventional democracy has been failing for decades and colourful speeches and false promises are becoming less and less effective and the judiciary has been increasingly used to prevent explosive situations that will ultimately occur in spite of all legislation issued by the British Parliament. 

Coming to the issue of by-elections and to the reasons why they are being fought, it comes to our attention that more often than not they are now due to criminal behaviour or presumed criminal behaviour of elected Members of Parliament. This is a time when public and private lives become entangled to the detriment of democratic institutions. There is always the presumption that corruption is widespread, but this is the time when corruption is in full display in the public domain.

Despite noisy scandals, how much of an impact do noisy scandals have in terms of the will of voters to support a given political party or a given candidate?How much influence do the mass media have to influence peoples' decisions? We are driven by assumptions, but we have little to support our assumptions in terms of what will be the outcome of the election.

I do assume that most of us are so busy dealing with our own particular problems and challenges and know so very little about what is being done on our behalf that we become mere spectators. We are represented but we do not choose those who represent us. This is the state of what we call democracy.

Rishi Sunak: EU embargo of Russian oil and gas will tip EU into recession

 

You couldn't make it up. On the one hand, Western politicians try to sound menacing and decisive and after speeches especially made with that purpose comes reality. Just a few days ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz raised the alert that such embargoes would seriously undermine the German economy. By extension if market prices go up, inflation will start to speed up in the EU and in the UK. Prices are no determined by particular countries. Prices are global. Only for this reason, there have been approaches to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela to seek oil and gas production increases.

The Bank of England has just put up the basic interest rate on Thursday this week and announcing increases of interest rates would become the norm rather than the exception in months to come. Taking money away from peoples' pockets will curb consumption and curbing consumption means reduced economic activity. Reduced economic activity in turn means that with less demand many jobs will become redundant and jobs are being made redundant as you read both in terms of public jobs and private jobs. Why did a major ferry operator lay off 800 staff today? Is it because the company expects to have big earnings in the coming months? What about spring and summer when people tend go on vacation? Is it because they expect a reduction or an increase of the number of passengers wanting to travel to and from the continent?

The coming summer season could be a lot hotter and not just because of rising temperatures. Keep checking rising utility bills, travelling fares, fuel at the pumps and grocery bills.

The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 is said to be coming to an end. This will make the political situation a lot more fluid. But putting aside national elections, let's see what happens to the British economy from now until the May 2022 elections. Ordinary people are living under enormous pressure and such pressure is bound to be stronger if unemployment and inflation suddenly pick up. The combination of the two will be deadly.  

Yet again Electoral Fraud in Labour Constituencies

Not long ago, it happened in Tower Hamlets where instances of electoral fraud and voter intimidation were investigated, leading to the removal from his post of the then Mayor Lutfur Rahman who was found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices by an Election Court in 2015. 

Lutfur Rahman

 

It was found that votes for rival parties had been intentionally lost at the count and Mr Rahman was removed from office and banned from standing for election for five years. 

But in spite of very serious issues that proved that the election was rigged, in the following election no proof of identification was introduced. Irregularities also included ballot tampering and postal vote fraud.

Now, yet another scandal has shaken the Labour Party that led to the suspension of East Ham and West Ham constituency parties represented by Stephen Timms and Lyn Brown. 

Stephen Timms

Lyn Brown

Troubled years for the Labour Party that indicated that until further notice no party meetings or business can take place, but Labour Party authorities refused to divulge the nature of the investigation. The allegations of electoral malpractice are said to be wide ranging and supported by a considerable amount of evidence. 

In places like Newham, support for the Labour Party has been massive with practically all seats being occupied by Labour Party Councillors. The borough also has a Labour Party Mayor. How confident can we be that in the coming London Assembly elections voting will be legal? Three separate scandals in constituencies controlled by the Labour Party.

In a few days time, the House of Commons will consider a bill demanding electoral proof of identification for voters. I reckon that such piece of legislation is long overdue to tackle manipulatioon and fraud in elections. 

After the anti-Semitism scandal, the Islamophobia scandal, and several other scandals involving misconduct including sexual misconduct, racism, misuse of public monies, false statements of parliamentary expenses and political intimidation and bribes leading to the arrest of the Labour Mayor in Liverpool, the Labour Party should grasp the opportunity of supporting a piece of legislation aimed at ensuring that voting is legal and that those voting are legally entitled to vote.

It was pretty extraordinary to see a Labour Party MP walking inside the Houses of Parliament wearing a Police electronic tag attached to one of her legs because she lied and falsely accused an innocent person who was overseas of an offense that she herself committed. 

With all that has happened in recent years, the Labour Party can hardly claim that it occupies the high moral ground. 

Changing a leader is easy, but getting of a bad reputation based on corruption, undemocratic practices and examples of incompetence publicly displayed by members of the Labour Party Shadow Cabinet is not going to be easy.

 

Much has been said about Huawei. What about the safety of ordinary communication links?

Much has been said about Huawei. What about the safety of ordinary communication links?

On a daily basis we learn about scams committed using ordinary communcation links in UK. It has gone beyond impersonation. Foreign gangs can now alter information registered by British servers operating links from overseas.

Using computers in India they can, for example, alter the information registered by British Telecom services. When you dial 1471, you are supposed to be told the number that actually called. Not anymore. The fraudsters can now alter at will the numbers registered by British Telecom servers and put in any number that they want as a way not to be tracked down.

We reported the matter to BT authorities, to Members of Parliament and to the Metropolitan Police as servers could be manipulated to extract vital information that could affect not just ordinary people and businesses but also public services including Police and Armed Forces.

How deep this goes is everybody's guess.Next time you receive a spam call think that it could well. be the tip of the iceberg, something involved not just your own personal security but also National Security.

Jeremy Corbyn doesn't want any deal

Jeremy Corbyn doesn't want any deal

The strategy is pretty simple: he wants to use Brexit to created enough instability in the belief that should there be a future election he will be able to win such election by destroying the Conservative Party.

The statement indicates that the Labour Party cares about Britain is the real and biggest lie. They don't give a damn about Britain. All they are doing is to try and score party political points keeping Britain hostage.

Margaret Beckett was pretty clear: she will not vote for any deal. This is Opposition for Opposition sake. She will not vote for a deal that benefits Britain. She will create as many obstacles as possible for the sake of ideological struggle.

This is not about Parliamentary rights. This is about using Parliament to keep Britain hostage of a foreign power. Even the head of the Supreme Court has been found out and exposed for what she really is and for what she is really trying to do. And what about John Major, the former Prime Minister. He is supporting the interests of a foreign investment company that pays his salary. He is not standing for Britain either.

The present situation is absolutely shambolic. But if Parliament forces the Prime Minister's hand the big loser will be the European Union. Do you fancy Nigel Farage as British EU Commissioner and every single action of the European Union vetoed by Britain? If the EU wants war, then let's have war.

Naga Munchetty: Not the only one to put the BBC in jeopardy

Naga Munchetty: Not the only one to put the BBC in jeopardy

Naga Manchetty

Naga Munchetty is part of a culture that has taken over the BBC, of presenters and journalists that believe that they can use the BBC to promote their own political agendas. 

Personally, I don't believe that people should be forced to pay the TV License to subsidize a propaganda machine.

The role of the BBC is to ask questions, to investigate and to present facts for its audience to form their own judgment about what is happening around the world. The BBC role is not to make political. statements.

Individuals like Kay Burley can get away with making political statements and showing extraordinary bias because she works for a private broadcaster. Whether shareholders of Sky News think that it is good idea to allow Kay Burley to behave the way she behaves destroying Sky News reputation in terms of impartiality is another matter. Channel Four, another public broadcaster, is not far behind in terms of bias and lack of impartiatlity. On this day and age when 75% of the population no longer trusts Parliament, the mass media have little credibility left. We must add now the Judiciary that is seen as party political. 

We are confronting a crisis of widespread lack of trust. Drastic action must now be taken to try to rescue British institutions and the credibility of mass media. Parliamentarians complain about rising anger that is leading to violence against MPs. Well, Sky News share huge responsibility for the creation of political instability. Constant demonising of political personalities and political organisations has formented political instability. Kay Burley has an issue with Nigel. Farage and she is not only outspoken on Sky News and other programmes but also on social media. Reporting is not just reporting. It has become poisonous, biased and potentially dangerous reporting because it fuel.tensions. She couldn't hide her delight and celebratory mood witnessing what she thought was the misfortunes of the British Prime Minister and of the Conservative Party.

Kay Burley

Brexit, Government, Parliament and the Courts: And now what?

Brexit, Government, Parliament and the Courts: And now what?

The solution implemented by David Cameron as Prime Minister to have a stable Parliament in coalition with Lib Dems - Fixed Term Parliament Act - has turned into a nightmare that has led to a political. crisis of major proportions. In a catch 22 situation, both sides of the argument have ended up in the courts to try and find a way out while at the same time whatever is left of a democratic system is simply falling apart. 

A Remain Parliament was always going to resort to legal tricks not to respect the will of the Electorate that voted to get Britain out of the European Union. Despite several attempts by the British Prime Minister to call a General Election, Parliament used the Fixed Term Parliament to prevent a General Election and this is the Parliament that calls itself Democratic.

The Scottish Court was always going to play the game in favour of SNP. It remains to be seen what will be the position of an United Kingdom Courts. The verdict is expected to be announced on Tuesday next week. The Fixed Term Parliament Act has destroyed separation of powers and is creating a climate of confrontation that at the moment is about heated arguments but could easily turn into violent confrontation.

Today, the reasons why Jeremy Corbyn doesn't want a General Election - although he talks about it but doesn't want to vote for it - became apparent once again when John Watson - Labour Party Deputy Leader - contradicted the Labour Leader and was attacked by from within the Labour Party. How many Labour Parties there are? Who knows? And this is the Labour Party that according to some of its representatives aspires to govern Britain.

A Labour Party that is anti-Semitic, supporter of terrorist organisations including the IRA, that despises Britain's greatest ally - the United States of America - and stands to defend and protect its foes is a recipe for disaster both nationally and internationally.

Just a few days ago, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Number 10 Downing Street. Can you imagine British/Israeli relations with Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister? British weapons for Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah? Partition of the United Kingdom and unification of Ireland? 

The SNP's only agenda is to cause as much disruption as possible - even Civil War - because the SNP couldn't care less about Britain. SNP wants to partition Britain to get Scottish Independence. It is going to take advantage of every British crisis to get its way.

What will happen next week? Well, we don't know what will happen tomorrow or the day after. Remember the old Yugoslavia.