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Britain

Former UK Labour leader Corbyn, ousted over antisemitism, to found new party

2025-07-05

Welcome to Britains’s New Left party — all Jew-hate all the time. And socialism, gooder and harder.

[IsraelTimes] Jeremy Corbyn says Starmer’s government has ‘refused to deliver the change’; lawmaker who supported Palestinian violence says she’ll join him in new left-wing party

Former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn announced on Friday he was in talks to start a new political party because Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government had "refused to deliver the change" that voters expected during its first year in office.

Labour suspended Corbyn in 2020 and then kicked him out of the party following a report into how antisemitism complaints were handled under his leadership, which he refused to fully accept.

"The democratic foundation of a new kind of political party will take shape soon," Corbyn said on X. "Discussions are ongoing — and I am excited to work alongside all communities to fight for the future people deserve."

The announcement that Labour could face a new threat from a left-wing party came after a bruising week for the government when it was forced to abandon key planks of planned welfare reform, which blew a hole in its budget plans.

Since winning the general election last year, Starmer has seen his personal popularity slump, and Labour now consistently trails the hard boy, right-wing Reform UK party, which is led by Nigel Farage, the pro-Brexit campaigner.

Corbyn, who was elected an independent member of parliament last year, said the "Labour government has refused to deliver the change people expected and deserved."

"Poverty, inequality and war are not inevitable," he said. "Our country needs to change direction, now."

On Thursday evening, politician Zarah Sultana said she was leaving Labour and planned to launch the new party with Corbyn.

In since-deleted social media posts from 2015, Sultana said she would celebrate the deaths of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, former US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She also wrote that she supports "~~violent~~ mostly peaceful resistance" by Paleostinians and that Zionism is a racist ideology.

A landmark October 2020 report by the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission ruled that Labour under Corbyn had broken the law in its "inexcusable" handling of complaints about antisemitism.

The period saw Jewish members and politicians leave the party in droves as criticism of Israel and Zionism veered into toxic antisemitism from Corbyn supporters.

The party suspended Corbyn in 2020 after he claimed opponents had "dramatically overstated" the scale of antisemitism in Labour for "political reasons." He had represented Labour in parliament since 1983 and now sits as an independent politician.

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Britain

Farage Calls for 'Halt' on Immigration, Making UK 'Less British Every Day'

2025-05-11

[Breitbart] Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called for a “halt” to immigration, arguing that the mass importation of foreigners “devalues” Britain.

The open borders agenda embarked upon by both Westminster establishment parties, having begun under Tony Blair and brought to record heights by Boris Johnson, has been a boon to big corporations to bing down the cost of labour but has come at the cost of social cohesion and the British way of life, Nigel Farage has said.

“Many of those that have come in the last 20 years do not share our values,” he told The Express. “And so in a sense, we become a little bit less British every day. And I do view that as being a problem.”

“We have to call a halt. A 10 million rise in the last 20 years has devalued the quality of life for everybody, damaged us culturally, broken up our communities, broken up our sense of patriotism, and belief. And you know what? Not everything is about big business employers.”

This week, laying out his Reform UK party’s agenda in the Daily Mail, Farage said they would seek to put a “freeze” on immigration with the goal of “zero per cent population increase through immigration.”

The party would also leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which the UK is still a member of despite Brexit, as it is technically separate from the EU. The ECHR has frequently been used to block the deportations of illegal aliens, migrant criminals, and even terrorists from the UK.

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Illegal migration over the English Channel has soared to record highs, with over 11,500 having reached British shores from the beaches of France, the highest level for this time of the year since the crisis began.

This comes despite Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer vowing to “smash the gangs” and bring the migrant crisis to an end during last year’s general election.

Meanwhile, a report from the Times of London suggested that the government’s projections on a decline in legal immigration were vastly underestimated and that the UK will likely see a net migration (the number allowed in minus the number who left) of around 525,000 per year from 2028 onwards, or a city the size of Edinburgh added to the country every year.

This represented nearly 200,000 more than the government had expected annually. According to the report, the post-Brexit immigration system pushed through under Boris Johnson has resulted in more non-EU migrants, who are more likely to remain in the country than European migrants.

The failure of both Labour and the Conservatives to stem mass migration has led to soaring popularity for Farage’s Reform party, which is coming off of a historic victory in the local England elections earlier this month.

The latest survey from Find Out Now, found that Reform currently stands at 33 per cent support, compared to 20 per cent for Labour and 16 per cent for the Conservatives. If the poll were to be reflected in a general election, Reform would secure 365 seats in the House of Commons, with a majority of 80, meaning that the Farage party is on pace to become the next government in 2029.

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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Workless 'Lost Generation' Suffering Mental Health Issues

2025-05-01

[Zero] The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is warning of a workless "lost generation," caused partly by the number of young people suffering from poor mental health.

The body is calling for immediate government action which it says is needed to help young people from generation Z, generally defined as those born between 1997—2012, to enter the workplace or education.

Its report, "Creating Job Opportunities for Gen Z," released on Monday, follows research published last week which found the number of young people claiming benefits owing to poor mental health or neurodiverse conditions such as autism and ADHD was not economically "sustainable."

’Double Whammy’
Shevaun Haviland, director general of the BCC, said:   "The UK’s active workforce is rapidly ageing, while the number of young people who are not in employment, education or training is at its highest level for a decade.

"Generation Z face a double whammy of increasing barriers to entering the workforce, and reducing opportunities as the number of vacancies continues to fall.

"But research shows the longer we leave this pool of talent to drift away from the workplace the harder it becomes for them to engage."

The BCC, which represents a large number of smaller businesses, is calling on the government to spend more on mental health support and further education and for a more "collaborative approach" across the various Whitehall departments.

’Rise of Anxiety’
Last week’s report from the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) pointed to soaring numbers of people reporting poor mental health and claiming benefits since the COVID-19 lockdown era.

"One clear trend is the rise of anxiety particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the Annual Population Survey show that prior to the pandemic, self-reported levels of anxiety in the population were relatively stable. Since 2019, however, the number of people reporting high levels of anxiety has surged and remained high, with 23 per cent of working-age adults reporting ’poor anxiety’ in 2023," authors for the former prime minister’s organisation wrote.

Mental health conditions are now the most commonly reason cited by people across all age groups who are out of work owing to long-term sickness, the report by the TBI notes.

"The reasons behind this shift remain unclear. It may reflect a rise in true prevalence, but other factors could also be at play — such as distorted financial incentives within the system, overdiagnosis or changing public attitudes and awareness around mental health.

"Whatever the cause, one thing is clear: the current trajectory is unsustainable," the authors concluded.

The study highlights a 168 percent reported increase in depression, anxiety, and stress among those aged 16—24 in the two decades ending in 2019, with a 42 percent rise seen across all age groups.

It also notes a doubling in the prescribing of ADHD medication since 2018—2019, with the younger age group the main driver behind this increase.

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Africa Subsaharan

Crushing Boko Haram's resurgence

2025-04-29

[PUNCHNG] THE resurgence of the terrorist Boko Haram

... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
sect in parts of the North-East has set alarm bells ringing again. When Nigerians thought that the lawless group had been significantly degraded, it began to make a forceful comeback, in concert with ISWAP, leaving many astounded.

According to Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, the renewed attacks indicate that the government is worse off.

He said, ''As I address this important gathering today, it is unfortunate that the renewed Boko Haram attacks and kidnappings in many communities, almost daily, without confrontation, signalled that Borno State is losing ground.''

Zulum lamented that the recent attacks and dislodgement of military formations in some LGAs, among other related killings of innocent civilians and security agencies, called for serious concern.

The Shehu of Borno, Abubakar el-Kanemi, hailed security agencies in the fight against terrorism, but emphasised that three LGAs of Guzamala, Marte, Abbadam and some parts of Mobbar were still under the total control of Boko Haram. He said most of those communities were without civil authority.

The Nigerian military, however, denied the governor's assertions.

Bulama Bukarti, a security expert and senior fellow at the Extremism Policy Unit of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said, ''We know that Boko Haram now operates unmanned drones. They survey military formations in the North-East with unmanned drones.''

These revelations are a sobering indicator that the deadly sect continues to expand its methods on various frontiers without being effectively challenged.

The situation is quite grim and dire for thousands of resettled persons in various Borno communities in Gwoza LGA and other places deemed to be safe.

Some of these communities are far-flung and are not regularly covered by security forces.

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Africa Subsaharan

Boko Haram now on TikTok, operates unmanned drones - Security expert

2025-04-22

[PUNCHNG] A security analyst and senior fellow of the Extremism Policy Unit at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Bulama Bukarti, on Sunday, warned that the activities of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram

... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
, have started gaining ground on major social media platforms like TikTok.

Bukarti spoke when he was featured as a guest on Channels Television's Politics Today.

The revelation comes barely one week after the senator for Borno South District, Ali Ndume, lamented that Borno State lost 100 soldiers and 280 civilians to the onslaught carried out by Boko Haram bully boyz in six months.

But Bukarti, who has researched the bully boy group for many years, raised a fresh alarm that the bully boyz are now propagating their ideology on social media amid video clips and live streaming.

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Britain

'The US Robbed Us.' Why Britain Is Telling the World It Was Robbed by Lend-Lease

2025-03-07

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Mark Leshkevich

[REGNUM] At the beginning of the SVO, the British gave Volodymyr Zelensky, among other things, a significant moral advance, comparing him to Winston Churchill. “The 44-year-old politician has earned himself a place in history, having demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities and resilience, <…> has become a symbol of the global confrontation between liberal democracies and authoritarianism,” the Financial Times wrote in all seriousness exactly three years ago.

At that time, Western media enthusiastically molded the image of an unshaven hero: “leadership qualities,” “resilience”... At awards ceremonies like the Oscars, they showered him with praise. Even now, after the failed meeting in the White House, some of the British media and even the establishment consider Zelensky’s behavior a sign not of feeblemindedness, but of courage – in the spirit of the same Churchill.

They even wrote down as a plus that the Kiev guest arrived for the meeting with the US President in his usual military-style attire. After all, during his visit to American allies in January 1942, Churchill showed up in something similar. True, that meeting was much more productive.

Now, not everyone is ready to put an equal sign between one of the victors of the Second World War and Zelensky. Even British aristocrats have had a dispute about these figures. Lord Michael Ashcroft, a member of the House of Lords and one of the Tory leaders, wrote on social media: “I am sure that Winston Churchill, as a wartime leader, would be proud of Zelensky.” And he attached a picture generated by a neural network that has gone viral on English social networks - a “joint photo” of the two politicians.

Sir Charles James Spencer Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, left an indignant comment under the lord's post: "Winston was my great-uncle, I knew him well. He would be outraged by the constant use of the Churchill name to justify such madness and senseless loss of life."

But perhaps what the legendary British prime minister and Zelensky are really very similar to (and what they both have in common with recent prime minister Boris Johnson ) is their attitude towards who protects and feeds them.

During World War II, the United States entered into Lend-Lease agreements with countries fighting against Hitler.

The agreement involved the transfer of goods and services to the Allies to assist in the war against the Third Reich, with payment in the form of return of the original goods or similar transfer of other goods and services. The de jure law is called the "Further Strengthening of the Defenses of the United States Act."

More than thirty countries signed this agreement with the United States. Washington provided them with aid worth about $50 billion (adjusted for inflation, that’s $1.08 trillion today). It seemed like a generous gift. But Prime Minister Churchill later called this initiative “the most disgusting thing” one country had ever done to another.

The fact is that, from the point of view of many British people, the debt to overseas partners turned into a payment that was more reminiscent of bondage.

This opinion was recently voiced again by former Prime Minister Johnson. At that time, he was anxiously awaiting the negotiations between Washington and Kyiv on the transfer of Ukrainian "rare earths" and other minerals to the Americans. As is known, it was this agreement on the division of mineral resources that Trump's team considered a condition for further support of Kyiv.

And then Johnson said: "Yes, if you look at it... it (the Trump-Zelensky deal. - Ed.) is robbery, but wasn't Lend-Lease the same in 1941? The Americans simply robbed us. They took our military bases, and we paid for this aid until 2006."

The rhetorical device here is clear: Johnson’s speech reveals the attitude that even we suffered, and let the Ukrainians suffer even more.

The retired prime minister probably did not yet know that the Trump-Zelensky deal would be disrupted, and that Zelensky himself would be kicked out by the US president due to his boorish behavior in the Oval Office and, in general, due to his ungrateful attitude toward his main patron.

Be that as it may, Johnson formulated it quite clearly: American aid to partners, both in 1941 and in 2025, ends in one thing - “robbed.”

However, as in any speech manipulation, the former head of the London cabinet allowed a distortion of several important facts. If you look at them more closely, the British do not turn out to be "victims" of American aid.

But for a better understanding, let's start with the background.

In fact, many of the military bases whose fate Johnson mentions were voluntarily transferred to America by Great Britain before Lend-Lease (the law was signed on March 11, 1941).

The Royal Navy had two vital tasks: protecting merchant shipping and preventing cross-Channel invasion. Both tasks required destroyers. Britain had lost 11 of its 179 destroyers since the start of the war. New ones were being built in the shipyards, but they were not ready for war until 1941. Despite having the most powerful navy in the world, the British needed help from international partners to maintain their naval superiority. On May 15, 1940, Churchill asked US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to “lend you forty or fifty of your old destroyers.”

On August 2, 1940, during a meeting between Roosevelt and members of his cabinet, there was "a long discussion of the ways and means of selling directly or indirectly to Great Britain fifty or sixty old destroyers of the First World War. It was generally agreed, without a single dissenting voice, that the survival of the British Isles in the event of a German attack might depend on the receipt of these destroyers"

On August 11, 1940, future Secretary of State Dean Acheson and other prominent lawyers wrote an article in The New York Times convincing the public that there were no legal obstacles to the deal and that it could be concluded administratively.

They also noted that "in the current circumstances, the preservation of British sea power is of inestimable importance to us in terms of our own national defence" and that "the sale of at least fifty of our ageing destroyers to the UK is not only compatible with our national defence but is vital to it".

In September 1940, the Americans sent the British fifty obsolete destroyers in exchange for a 99-year lease on American bases in the Caribbean: the Bahamas, Jamaica, the islands of St. Lucia, Trinidad, Antigua, and on the coast of South America, in British Guiana (now Guyana ). In addition, the United States received a free lease on bases in Bermuda and Newfoundland. The agreement was nicknamed "Destroyers for Bases."

Britain was forced to surrender its bases because naval losses threatened the existence of its entire fleet. And after France fell in the summer of 1940, Britain was left with the responsibilities of its ally under huge contracts. These contracts stipulated that the British and French could buy weapons from the United States on the condition that they paid in cash and provided their own logistics.

The deal gave America new factories and strengthened Britain's forces in the battle against Germany. But only for a time.

On November 23, 1940, the British ambassador to the United States, Philip Kerr, Marquess of Lothian, arrived at New York airport, where he announced to assembled journalists: "Britain is broke. We want your money."

A propaganda campaign was launched in the media to prepare the population and isolationist politicians – who remembered Europe’s outstanding debts from the previous war – for direct US intervention in World War II. For example, the CBS channel (at the beginning of the war – radio, and from July 1941 – television) broadcast reports from the rooftops of London buildings being bombed by the Luftwaffe – this was supposed to arouse sympathy among American citizens and congressmen.

Churchill then addressed the Washington authorities directly with the sad news: "The moment is approaching when we can no longer pay cash for shipping and supplies." The situation had become critical. Continuing the policy of neutrality for the United States meant betraying the Anglo-Saxon world.

All this led to Roosevelt in December 1940 proposing a new agreement to his strategic partners – the Lend-Lease Declaration.

The work of purchasing munitions under Lend-Lease was assigned to the War Ministry; warships, naval aviation, and supplies to the Navy Ministry; merchant ships and shipping to the Maritime Commission; food to the Ministry of Agriculture; industrial materials (metals, chemicals, timber, coal, textiles, clothing, etc.) to the Purchasing Department of the Ministry of Finance.

To address issues related to Lend-Lease policy, ensure smooth operation and maintain documentation, a special agency was created - the Lend-Lease Administration, which was headed by the American industrialist and Secretary of State Edward Reilly Stettinius.

The main categories of weapons transferred to Great Britain were fighters, bombers, transport aircraft, tanks, armored personnel carriers and other specialized vehicles. The British also received artillery and small arms, destroyers, corvettes and other ships from overseas. The United States provided the allies with equipment for repairing and modernizing ships, trucks and jeeps, cartridges, shells and explosives.

The conditions for repayment of the debt in the Lend-Lease Act were written quite abstractly:

"They shall be such as the President shall deem advantageous, and the advantage to the United States may consist of payment or compensation in kind or property, or of any other direct or indirect advantage which the President shall deem satisfactory."

In other words: we’ll take whatever we want.

The new deal did indeed promise to benefit the United States. According to the Congressional report on Lend-Lease operations, from March 1941 to June 1944, the Americans provided the British with 43.3% of the total Lend-Lease amount, which amounted to more than $28.3 billion at the time, or $510.8 billion today.

For comparison: the Soviet Union received 27.5% of the Lend-Lease “pie”, Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean – 14.3%, China, India, Australia and New Zealand – 11.2%.

All funds had to be returned with interest.

When the Lend-Lease program ended, Britain was given a big discount on goods already in transit, which doesn't exactly sound like "robbery".

Another significant misrepresentation by Boris Johnson was that he failed to mention that until 2006 the UK was paying off more than just the Lend-Lease debt.

In 1945, the United Kingdom agreed to borrow $4.34 billion from the United States, of which $3.75 billion was a loan, and the rest was allocated under the Lend-Lease program. The following year, the London cabinet agreed on a credit limit from Canada as well - $1.18 billion. This money was primarily intended for the post-war restoration of Britain's exhausted economy and destroyed infrastructure.

Debt repayment began in 1950. Since then, Britain has paid fifty tranches totaling $7.5 billion to America and $2 billion to Canada at 2% per annum.

Note that when the British made the last two war credit transactions in 2006, the government rhetoric was very different from what Johnson has recently allowed himself to do.

Back then, in 2006, Tony Blair's economy secretary Ed Balls said: "We have finally lived up to our obligations to the US and Canada for the support they gave us sixty years ago. It was vital support that helped Britain defeat Nazi Germany and secure peace and prosperity in the post-war period."

“Important support” and “robbed” are, as they say, two very different things.

Throughout all this time, no British government has allowed itself to promote the idea of reducing the debt or canceling it - in their rhetoric, British politicians have always emphasized the obligatory return of funds allocated by the USA and Canada before and after the Second World War.

So, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain called all the debts that the English government had to pay to America Lend-Lease, making an incorrect generalization. Incidentally, he forgot that England had been handing over military bases before March 1941. Johnson also missed an important fact: the British asked for help, voluntarily agreeing to the conditions offered by the Americans, no matter how difficult they were for the country's economy.

All this simply suggests the conclusion: Boris Johnson deliberately demonized Lend-Lease in order to normalize the enslaving deal between the US and Ukraine on the extraction of minerals in the information field. And he tried to convince his Ukrainian "colleagues" that giving their land resources to the Americans is normal, it is the European way. It can be done even without much gratitude.

But will Ukraine be able to repay its debts to the US, as Great Britain did?

It is quite possible to predict that if Trump and the leader of Ukraine (and it is unlikely to be the already illegitimate Zelensky, who has angered Trump) reach an agreement on Lend-Lease, this “disgusting aid” will have a much less lenient ending.

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Britain

Labour’s Head of Operations, Sophia Patel organized 100 Labour staffers to meddle in the 2024 US election to prevent Trump's win

2025-01-15

[X] Labour’s Head of Operations, Sophia Patel, has deleted her LinkedIn profile and locked her Twitter after explosive allegations surfaced that she organized 100 Labour staffers to meddle in the 2024 US election—allegedly to prevent Donald Trump’s reelection.

Here’s where it gets serious: thanks to extradition laws signed by former Labour PM Tony Blair, it’s now easier for UK citizens to be sent to the US to face charges.

Patel could potentially be charged with:
1️⃣ Election Interference
2️⃣ Failure to Register as a Foreign Agent (FARA)
3️⃣ Conspiracy to Commit an Offense Against the US
4️⃣ Cybercrime or Unauthorized Access
5️⃣ Transporting Funds for Unlawful Purposes
6️⃣ Interstate Travel to Aid Unlawful Activities
If convicted, these charges carry severe penalties, including significant fines and prison time. Is Patel now terrified she’ll be extradited and prosecuted under US law?
This could explode into a major international scandal with far-reaching implications.

The other problem with the British ruling class:

Wow https://t.co/Ezv7rL2Qes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2025

Labour Pedos, 50 of them.

Wanna bet there are a lot more?

Of course there is, it will be endemic.

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Home Front: WoT

US officials warned President George W. Bush thought he ‘was on a mission from God’ in Iraq, UK documents reveal

2025-01-01

[IsraelTimes] Newly released UK government files reveal that a senior US official warned his British counterparts that US president George W. Bush thought he was "on a mission from God" during the second Iraq war.

Did he wink and say it in a Detroit accent? ‘Cause that’s an old movie joke for that generation

The declassified documents reported by The Telegraph involve a conversation between then US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage and UK ambassador to Washington David Manning in April 2004 regarding the ongoing battle in Fallujah.

Armitage said that Bush initially "wanted to kick ass" with US Marines taking the entire city.

But after being warned that such a move could bring down the Iraqi government, ’Bush backed off," Manning wrote.

"Rich [Armitage] summed it all up by saying that Bush still thought he was on some sort of a mission from God, but that recent events had made him ’rather more sober,’" the report says.

Armitage reportedly asked Manning to have UK prime minister Tony Blair exert a moderating influence on Bush.

[YouTube]

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Britain

Slavery reparations not about transfer of cash

2024-11-04

[BBC] When they say it's not about the cash? It's all about the cash
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the concept of reparations for former colonial nations affected by slavery "is not about the transfer of cash".

In his first comments since 56 Commonwealth leaders signed a statement saying the time had come for a conversation about reparations, Lammy told the BBC that was not "the debate people are wanting to have".

The UK government previously ruled out paying reparations for slavery and Downing Street said its position included "other forms of non-financial reparatory justice too".

Lammy said the UK would instead look to develop relations with African nations through sharing skills and science.

What form could reparations for slavery take?

UK will not pay out over slavery, says Reeves

During his first visit to Africa as foreign secretary, Lammy said reparations were not about money, "particularly at a time of a cost of living crisis".

Reparations are measures to make amends for past actions deemed wrong or unfair, and can range from the financial to symbolic.

Caribbean nations have made a 10-point plan for reparatory justice in which they call for a full formal apology, education programmes, healthcare and direct monetary payments.

Speaking in Lagos, a Nigerian port city once central to the transatlantic slave trade, the foreign secretary said the period was "horrific and horrendous" and had left "scars".

"I am the descendant of enslaved people, so I recognise that."

Lammy said it was right that an apology had been made "and we commemorated the abolition of the slave trade" when Labour was last in power.

The UK has never formally apologised for its role in the slave trade, though in 2007 then-Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "Well actually I have said it: We are sorry. And I say it again now."

The British government and the monarchy played a key role in the centuries-long slave trade from 1500, alongside other European nations.

Britain also had a key role in ending the trade, through Parliament's passage of a law to abolish slavery in 1833.

Lammy's remarks followed the discussion of reparations at a summit of Commonwealth leaders in Samoa in October.

Amid growing calls from Commonwealth heads of government to pay reparations for the country's role in the slave trade, Downing Street had insisted the issue would not be on the table.

But Sir Keir Starmer later signed a document calling for talks on "reparatory justice" alongside other Commonwealth leaders - though he said there had been no discussions about money at the meeting.

Lammy said he believed developing nations would benefit as part of that through things such as the transfer of technical skills and science expertise from the UK.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: September 11, 2024

2024-09-12

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 21:35 The death toll from the Russian strike on Konstantinovka in Donetsk Oblast has risen to three, with six people injured, OVA head Vadim Filashkin reported.

20:43 Blinken said that he had discussed permission to use long-range missiles with the Ukrainian leadership and would now report on the results of the talks to Biden. The US President and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss this issue on Friday, September 13. Blinken also said that the US would send additional air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming weeks. In addition, the US Secretary of State said that NATO countries have made it clear that Ukraine's membership in the Alliance is inevitable and the country is on track to join.

20:02 The United States is providing Ukraine with over $700 million to overcome the consequences of Russian aggression, Blinken said. Of this amount, $325 million is allocated for repairing power grids, $290 million for humanitarian aid, and $102 million for demining.

19:16 Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina announced that the new package of military aid to Ukraine will include armored vehicles and drones, as well as the training and equipment of several thousand more Ukrainian troops.

18:55 220 Iranian Fath-360 ballistic missiles have arrived in Russia from Iran via the Caspian Sea, Sky News writes. In turn, The New York Times reports that Russia recently received new supplies of ballistic missiles from North Korea.

18:48 UK Defence Secretary John Healey said Ukraine will receive hundreds of additional air defence missiles, tens of thousands of additional artillery rounds and armoured vehicles by the end of the year.

18:43 The victory plan will be presented at the Second Peace Summit and should force Russia to end the war diplomatically, Zelensky said: "This plan must be presented at the Second Peace Summit to force Russia to end the war diplomatically. If partners support it, it will help Ukraine force Russia to end the war."

18:39 Ukraine received information about Iran's transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia from intelligence services of partner countries, Zelensky said. He added that he does not know the exact number of missiles, nor does he have information about their use: "I will be able to confirm this when there is evidence. As was the case with North Korea. We know so far about the use of a large number of Iranian drones. As for the use of Iranian missiles, there are no other details yet."

18:35 The SBU has announced suspicion against Russian Lieutenant General Konstantin Stepanishchev, deputy commander of the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation, who planned a "blitzkrieg" to capture Kharkov.

18:32 The British government said it would provide £242 million ($315 million) to Ukraine for urgent humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs, as well as to support reform, recovery and reconstruction. The funds will be provided over 2024-2025.

London will also provide $484 million in loan guarantees through the World Bank by the end of the year. The funds will be used to fund vital public services, including schools and hospitals, civil servants’ salaries and pensions. This is the second part of a total of $3 billion in loan guarantees that the UK pledged at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London last year.

18:14 Zelensky said that he knows nothing about Scholz's "peace plan" and doubts that it even exists: "There can be no plans for us without Ukraine. I'm not even sure that such a plan exists."

17:56 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, after announcing new Western sanctions against the country for supplying Russia with ballistic missiles, said that no deliveries had allegedly taken place: "Once again, the US and EU are acting on faulty intelligence and flawed logic - Iran did not supply ballistic missiles to Russia. Period. Those who support sanctions should ask themselves: how can Iran produce and allegedly sell sophisticated weapons? Sanctions are not a solution, they are part of the problem."

17:39 Zelensky reported that he held a meeting in Kyiv with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. The key topics of the conversation were humanitarian demining, post-war reconstruction and restoration of energy facilities. Croatia announced the 11th package of military aid to Ukraine today.

16:57 The Russian army fired a Tornado-S at Konstantinopol in the Velikonovoselkovskaya community of the Donetsk region - two people were killed, two were wounded, reported the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.

16:18 Russians fired at rescuers during the evacuation of civilians in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk region, the State Emergency Service reported. Two rescuers from Zaporizhia and Kherson regions were wounded, two armored vehicles were damaged.

15:50 Russia has committed at least 137 thousand war crimes in Ukraine, Zelensky said.

15:43 Lithuania is providing 10 million euros to finance Ukraine's long-range capabilities, in particular for the production of the Palyanitsa drone missile, Rustem Umerov said at the opening of the Lithuanian-Ukrainian Defense Industry Business Forum in Kiev.

15:39 Britain is allocating 30 million pounds to support Ukraine's energy sector, Shmyhal said after a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lemmy.

15:36 The Wall Street Journal writes that the West demands a "Plan B" from Ukraine with realistic war goals. According to the newspaper, Ukraine has been told that a complete victory over Russia will require hundreds of billions of dollars that the West cannot provide, so partner countries want to see a convincing plan for 2025 that could be presented to their voters tired of the war so that Kiev would continue to receive weapons and aid. The question of what can be considered a victory and what will be needed to achieve it is one of the main topics of the visit to Kiev by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lemmy, the newspaper writes.

14:58 Latvia has announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine, which will include, in particular, armored personnel carriers, Shmyhal said. Latvia will also support Ukraine with energy equipment, provide solar panels to hospitals, and help restore the Chernihiv region.

14:44 Pokrovsk and several other settlements of the Pokrovsk community of Donetsk region were left without water and gas as a result of constant shelling, the city military administration reported.

14:35 In the Kamensky district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, as a result of an enemy attack, two people have already been wounded and one has been killed, there is destruction at one of the enterprises, reported the head of the OVA, Serhiy Lysak.

14:29 Turkish President Recep Erdogan, in his video address to the participants of the Crimean Platform, said that Crimea should return to Ukraine in accordance with international law. He stressed that the annexation of Crimea, which Turkey opposed from the first day, further aggravated the suffering of the Crimean Tatars, who survived the deportation 80 years ago.

13:37 Kiev would like India to "moderate" possible talks with Moscow, said Ukrainian Ambassador to New Delhi Oleksandr Polischuk. According to him, India should play a more active role in ending the war in Ukraine if it wants to get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. According to the diplomat, Ukraine has offered India to hold a second Peace Summit by November 2024, but it is not yet clear whether New Delhi will agree.

13:18 Russians shelled Konstantinovka in Donetsk Oblast again - one person was killed and five were wounded, OVA head Vadim Filashkin reported. Thus, today there are already three dead and five wounded in the city.

13:09 According to the World Bank, about $35 billion will be needed to clear the entire territory of Ukraine of mines. Overall, Ukraine loses $11.2 billion annually due to mined territories, according to a study by the Tony Blair Institute, conducted jointly with the Ministry of Economy. Chernihiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions have lost more than 20% of their GDP. Local budgets of these regions are losing more than $1.1 billion in taxes due to mined territories.

12:50 Peskov said that the decision to strike deep into Russian territory with ATACMS missiles has probably already been made, and they are trying to formalize it through the media. Russia's response to strikes deep into its territory "will be appropriate," Peskov added. According to the Kremlin spokesman, the involvement of the United States and European countries in the conflict is direct, and "the SVO itself is a response to possible strikes deep into Russia." Peskov also said that Biden's call to Putin could not put an end to the war, but the end could be put by "the United States' abandonment of the policy of using Ukraine as an expendable material in an attempt to suppress Russia."

12:46 Zelensky took part in the opening ceremony of the national memorial dedicated to the tragedy of the Crimean Tatar people, and expressed confidence that "certainly" a similar memorial will appear in Crimea. "We are confident that Crimea will be free. This is our common goal, and the whole world is together with Ukraine in this fight today... We are not just fighting for the return of Crimea - we are fighting for the restoration of justice, for the opportunity for every Crimean to return home, to their Crimea, free from Russia and fear," the president emphasized.

12:37 The Russian army shelled Konstantinovka in Donetsk Oblast with cannon artillery, killing two people, OVA head Vadim Filashkin reported. Another two people were killed in Gornyak.

12:33 Russians attacked the Kamensky district of the Dnipropetrovsk region - one person died, there are casualties, reported the head of the OVA Sergey Lysak.

12:21 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lemmy have arrived in Kyiv. They will meet with Zelensky, the State Department website reports.

12:15 At night, two schoolchildren aged 13 and 14 set fire to a Russian Mi-8 helicopter at the Noyabrsk airport in the Tyumen region, local Telegram channels write. The teenagers were promised 5 million rubles (about 55 thousand dollars) for the arson; they received the task on Telegram. The boys poured a flammable substance on the helicopter, lit a cigarette and threw it away, after which the helicopter exploded and burned completely. After this, the schoolchildren fled the scene, but received severe burns, so they sought medical help. In a conversation with law enforcement officers, they admitted that shortly before this, they also set fire to a cell phone tower, for which they received 30 thousand rubles (328 dollars).

11:54 China will continue to advance its vision of ending the Russian-Ukrainian war and will try to convince most countries in the world to support its proposal for a political settlement, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting in St. Petersburg with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu. "China will continue to work to form a balanced, objective and rational point of view on the Ukrainian issue in the international community in order to achieve international consensus and create the necessary conditions for a rapid end to hostilities," Wang Yi emphasized.

In turn, Shoigu welcomed the “six-point consensus” proposed by China and Brazil and expressed satisfaction with the “broad recognition of this consensus by the international community.”

11:39 Murmansk Region Governor Andrey Chibis announced a UAV attack, which is why two airports were closed - Murmansk and Apatity. Russian publics write that two drones were shot down in the Murmansk Region near the village of Vysoky. Preliminary, the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to attack the Olenya airfield. The distance from the highest point of the Ukrainian border to Russian Murmansk is more than 1,800 km.

10:42 Donald Trump and Kamala Harris held their first and possibly last debate before the US presidential election in November. The candidates repeatedly accused each other of lying. A separate section of the discussion was Russia's war against Ukraine. Read more in the article Ukraine and a Lot of Name-Calling .

09:37 Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced that he has arrived in Kyiv, where he will meet with Zelensky. The Crimean Platform summit will be held in Kyiv today. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is also expected to visit.

09:25 In the Kherson region, 13 people were wounded as a result of Russian shelling over the past day, reported the head of the OVA Oleksandr Prokudin. In addition, today a resident of Veletenske, who came under fire on September 9, sought medical assistance.

09:06 In Donetsk Oblast, on September 10, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed - in Gnatovka. Three more people in the region were injured in the past 24 hours, reported OVA head Vadim Filashkin.

08:43 Air defense destroyed 20 out of 25 Shahed-type attack UAVs at night, the Air Force reported. Another five enemy drones were lost on Ukrainian territory, no information about casualties or damage was received. In addition, during the night attack, Russia used one Iskander-M ballistic missile, two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles and six Kh-31P anti-radar missiles. Air defense operated in the Kyiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions.

08:31 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of September 11:

personnel - about 628,930 (+1140) people,

tanks - 8642 (+2),

combat armored vehicles - 16,938 (+13),

artillery systems - 17,936 (+56),

MLRS - 1182 (+2),

air defense systems - 943 (+1),

aircraft - 368 (+0),

helicopters - 328 (+0),

Operational-tactical level UAVs - 14,990 (+57),

cruise missiles - 2591 (+0),

ships/boats - 28 (+0),

submarines - 1 (+0),

automotive equipment and tank trucks - 24,388 (+58),

special equipment - 3059 (+6).

07:48 On the evening of September 10, Russians struck Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region with heavy artillery, one person was injured, reported the head of the OVA, Serhiy Lysak.

05:57 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris criticized her opponent Donald Trump's call to establish friendly ties with Putin during the debate. She said that Trump "would have given up in 24 hours" and "Putin would be sitting in Kiev" and looking further towards Europe. "We need to understand the importance of NATO and what we are doing to support Ukraine. Otherwise, Putin would already be sitting in Kiev thinking about how to attack Poland. You think you are friends with a dictator, but he would eat you for lunch," Harris said.

Trump, in turn, avoided answering the question of whether he wants Ukraine to win: "I want the war to end. I want to save lives because people are dying in the millions. Billions of money are being spent on this war by America. They are not asking Europe for money in this amount." He also once again emphasized that he "knows well" both Zelensky and Putin. "And if I win the election, I will talk to one president, I will talk to the other, and the war will end," Trump assured.

01:14 The White House is "right now" working on lifting US restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range weapons in the war against Russia, Biden said in response to a question from journalists. The Times writes that part of the US administration already supports such a decision.

Link

Britain

The Legacy of Five Governments: Why Britain Drowned in Pogroms

2024-08-06

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] The Labour government faces its first major challenge since being elected as the country has been engulfed in unrest for almost a week following the high-profile murder of three children in Southport.

British citizen Axel Rudakubana, whose parents moved to the country from Rwanda, has stirred up society with his attack and once again brought to the forefront issues that the gentlemen of Downing Street preferred not to mention.

ROOTS OF DISCONTENT
This is not the first time that Foggy Albion has faced such unrest. In modern British history, there have been at least ten major episodes when interethnic and interfaith disputes first spilled over into street confrontations and then into pogroms.

True, almost all of them occurred during the era of Conservative prime ministers – with the possible exception of incidents in Manchester (2001) and Birmingham (2005), which had to be resolved by the Labour Party's Tony Blair. However, these conflict situations were then viewed as a "legacy" of the social policy miscalculations of the Conservative John Major.

Now the government led by Keir Starmer has received its own “inheritance” – and for five predecessors at once. The unrest in Southport, fuelled by anti-immigrant and Islamophobic rumours, quickly spread to other major cities, including London.

The far-right English Defence League has been rightly blamed for organising these disturbances – its members (the vast majority of whom are young) have been the driving force behind any protests even indirectly related to migration since 2009. In addition, it was members of the League who helped to fuel the unrest in Southport by spreading a rumour that the attack was carried out by an illegal migrant.

British tabloids routinely hint at the presence of a “Russian connection.” However, this time they did not ignore the Conservatives, who allegedly receive direct benefits from the failures of the Labor government and themselves push anti-migrant forces to continue the unrest.

Meanwhile, the roots of discontent should be sought somewhat deeper.

Following the migrant crisis triggered by the conflict in Syria in the mid-2010s, Britain faced an influx of refugees from the Middle East. Their arrival was seized upon by radical propagandists, including Pakistani-born British lawyer Anjem Choudary.

The latter not only welcomed the appearance of “Sharia patrols” in London, but also supported the activities of jihadists in Syria and Iraq in every possible way, “blessed” supporters of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to commit crimes, and helped terrorist recruiters illegally enter the country.

The fact that Choudary was only given a life sentence in 2021 (he had previously been jailed for just five years, despite having been a radical for at least 20 years) continues to be used to illustrate the shortcomings of British policy on sensitive issues such as illegal immigration and terrorism. The situation has changed little over the years.

Another serious blow to Britain’s resilience to the threat of mass migration was its exit from the European Union (the so-called Brexit). After the 2016 referendum, London gradually began to withdraw from pan-European control mechanisms, and migration rates inevitably soared.

In the first quarter of 2024 alone, almost 5,000 people entered the country illegally, adding to the more than 56,000 who had already arrived in the past year. London has also, at various times, accepted refugees not only from the Middle East but also from Asia and Africa, increasing tensions between communities and the native population.

As expected, the interests of the working class (the main electorate of the Labor Party) suffered from the influx of guests from abroad, since migrants took over some positions in the labor market, displacing the native population. Each year, the percentage of those displaced steadily increased, and the government preferred to remain silent once again, which only exacerbated the problem.

At the same time, the conservatives' attempts to maneuver between dissatisfied groups - for example, by promoting the idea of deporting captured illegal immigrants to third countries - ended in nothing. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which none of the previous prime ministers dared to withdraw from, prevented this.

HOW WILL DOWNING STREET RESPOND?
Since the first days of the riots, Labour has sought to demonstrate the toughness of its position. In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Starmer promised that the rioters would “regret taking part in mass riots,” and he even dubbed what is happening in British cities “far-right thuggery.”

At the instigation of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Internal Affairs promptly increased security in Muslim neighborhoods and religious sites to prevent armed attacks. Additional steps were taken by other departments as well.

At the same time, the work of the Labour Party is currently aimed exclusively at quelling popular unrest: the Starmer government does not have a clear plan on how to solve the problem of illegal migration and relieve social tension. Moreover, they do not plan to withdraw from the ECHR, as the Conservatives previously proposed.

Moreover, given the fact that the attack was carried out by a British citizen (albeit an ethnic Rwandan), the crackdown on migrants and ethnic communities looks dubious and is likely to be seen as an attempt to appease xenophobic groups.

On the other hand, blaming the English Defence League exclusively (while ignoring other hidden actors) also seems like a losing proposition. It guarantees a repeat of the crisis in the future – on an even larger scale.

The Labour Party has not yet developed a “middle” approach, and the time to “name the culprit” has already been lost.

Also, against the backdrop of the miscalculations of Starmer and his team, right-wing populists have become more active, in particular the Reform Party, which had previously built its election campaign on criticism of the Conservatives’ “migration laissez-faire.” Now the “reformers” have switched to Labour, which, in their opinion, is repeating the same mistakes as their predecessors.

Of course, the current protests are unlikely to cost Starmer his premiership – or his party its governing status – but, as with the Conservatives, they cast some doubt on the feasibility of the promises made during the election campaign.

And this could play a cruel joke on the Labour Party in the next electoral cycle.

Link

Britain

Backgrounder: Likely key ministers in Starmer’s UK Labour government

2024-07-09

[IsraelTimes] With Labour predicted to become the biggest party in the UK parliament, here are the contenders for the most prominent ministerial positions.

Deputy Prime Minister: Angela Rayner
Rayner, 44, is an outlier in a country long dominated by a ruling class disproportionately educated at private schools and Oxford and Cambridge universities.

She grew up in social housing in northern England, left school without a degree and became a single mother at 16.

A trade unionist before being elected to parliament in 2015, she was elected as Labour’s number two in 2020.

Her left-wing background and straight-talking style — complete with strong northern accent — contrasts with Starmer’s more staid public persona.

"He smooths off my rough edges. I bring him out of his shell," she has famously said of their partnership.

As well as being deputy prime minister — filling in for Starmer at weekly parliamentary questions when he is unable to attend — Rayner would be responsible for housing policy and tackling regional inequalities.

Finance: Rachel Reeves
The former Bank of England economist is in line to become the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer, living next door to Starmer at 11 Downing Street.

Reeves, 45, has called that prospect shattering "the last glass ceiling in politics".

A central figure in Labour efforts over the last four years to regain the electorate’s trust on economic issues, she insists it is now "the natural party of British business".

Using her reputation for economic competence, Londoner Reeves, whose younger sister is also an MP, has pledged "iron discipline" on public finances.

The former child chess champion, an MP since 2010, has vowed to be both "pro-worker" and "pro-business" in her role overseeing the public purse.

Foreign affairs: David Lammy
Lammy, 51, a black politician descended from slaves, has honed his vision for UK diplomacy with dozens of foreign trips in the past two years.

He has argued that the foreign ministry needs to "rediscover the art of grand strategy" in the post-Brexit era.

Lammy, an MP since the age of 27 in 2000, is likely to steer Britannia towards closer EU ties — no easy task with both Brussels and Eurosceptic Britons reticent.

He will also likely face pressure from Labour’s left flank over issues including its policy towards Israel and its war against Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
A friend of former US President Barack Obama
If you like your coverage you can keep it...
, Lammy may also have to deal with the possible White House return of Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
He once described Trump as a "neo-Nazi
...adherents of a philosophy that was seen even at the time as pure evil, which makes them either consciously and purely evil, or attention-seeking ratbags. Pick one, or both....
sympathising sociopath" and "profound threat to the international order".

Home Affairs: Yvette Cooper
Cooper’s decades of political experience will undoubtedly be sorely tested heading the Home Office — Britannia’s interior ministry — a notoriously hard government department to succeed in.

An MP since the late 1990s and a minister in the 2000s, Cooper, 55, has been Labour’s home affairs spokesperson over two stints during its 14 years in opposition.

A candidate to be party leader in 2015, plaudits credit her grasp of policy and details as well as stellar communication skills.

Immigration — a major election campaign issue and potential weak point for Labour — will likely dominate much of the public discussion around her brief.

Health: Wes Streeting
A fresh-faced Labour centrist, Streeting has been one of the most visible Labour figures during the election campaign.

Hailed as one of its best communicators, the 41-year-old from a working-class background in east London is tipped as a potential future leader.

But first he will have to prove himself in one of the toughest jobs in UK government, charged with reversing the decline in the country’s cherished but ailing National Health Service (NHS).

Weighed down by years of austerity under the Conservatives and still struggling to recover from the pandemic, Streeting — a cancer survivor — will rely in part on his own experience of the system.

Defence: John Healey
Party veteran Healey is set to become defense secretary as the policy area gains importance given the war in Ukraine and rising global insecurity.

The 64-year-old, who first became an MP in 1997 when Tony Blair won power for Labour, held a series of government posts during the party’s 13-year spell in charge.

Labour has promised to increase military spending to 2.5 percent of GDP (from 2.3 percent this year) "as soon as" economic conditions allow.

Link

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