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Britain

British army Psyops battalion monitored US UK citizens

2023-01-30

[Hot Air] The Sunday Mail lifted the lid—a bit—on how the COVID "emergency" prompted the government to expand domestic surveillance on politicians, journalists, and ordinary UK citizens—using their military psyops Brigade. In effect, the program was a military operation targeting domestic dissidents, although from what we know the military component was using surveillance technology, while whatever active measures were taken to manipulate information were taken through other channels. Most of those measures remain shrouded in mystery. A shadowy Army unit secretly spied on British citizens who criticised the Government’s Covid lockdown policies, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Military operatives in the UK’s ’information warfare’ brigade were part of a sinister operation that targeted politicians and high-profile journalists who raised doubts about the official pandemic response. They compiled dossiers on public figures such as ex-Minister David Davis, who questioned the modelling behind alarming death toll predictions, as well as journalists such as Peter Hitchens and Toby Young. Their dissenting views were then reported back to No 10. The tale is troubling—for obvious reasons—and made even more so by the revelation that there was little pretense about rooting out foreign cyber operations. It was straight up targeting domestic skeptics of government COVID policies. In the US, the intelligence community concocted take tales of foreign-directed cells to justify their efforts to monitor and censor Americans, accusing average Americans of being Russian bots. The blossoming "Hamilton 68″scandal is clearly part of this effort, in which a 3rd party cutout was used by the intelligence community to justify silencing dissent. In the UK the excuse was Chinese cyber operations. However, the 77th Brigade (psyops) didn’t actually target Chinese-linked propaganda, but dissenting politicians and journalists. Anybody who questioned government policy was monitored, and the surveillance was forwarded to the Prime Minister’s office for further action. The revelations come via a UK civil liberties watchdog called "Big Brother Watch." They used whistleblower accounts and government transparency laws to cobble together the information. Their key findings were: Related: WIRED - Inside the British Army's secret information warfare machine. They are soldiers, but the 77th Brigade edit videos, record podcasts and write viral posts. Welcome to the age of information warfare

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Britain

UK to let ISIS brides and their kids return home from Syria

2019-10-30

[NYPost] Britannia is secretly planning to let dozens of "jihadi brides" and their kids come home from Syria, according to a report Sunday. Bad mistake Aid organizations believe up to 60 children with British citizenship are still in the war-torn country, mostly living with their mothers, with government officials until now ruling out their return. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson ...pro-Brexit British prime minister, succeeding no-Brexit Theresa May. BoJo is noted as much for his sparkling personality and his hair as for his Conservative policies.... and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab are now actively trying to work out how to repatriate them, according to The Sunday Times of London, citing official correspondence. The move goes against the advice of the country’s Ministry of Defence and Home Office, which fears it will have to keep jihadi brides ‐ women who have married krazed killer fighters ‐ under surveillance if they accompany their children, the report states. "The PM made a decision and we will all work some way to sort it, but it is very difficult given the security situation," a minister who confirmed Johnson’s order to bring home some of the children told the paper. Another government source insisted, however, that the shift does not mean everyone is guaranteed a return ‐ they will instead be considered "on a case by case basis," the paper said. It is a marked reversal for the government, with Home Secretary Priti Patel saying just last month that she was "simply not willing to allow anybody who has been an active supporter or campaigner of ISIS ...embracing their inner Islamic Brute... in this country," according to The Sun. Officials have already started contacting relatives of some of those trying to return home ‐ with the suggestion that some will be prosecuted on their return to Britannia, the Sunday Times states. Ministerial sources told the paper that repatriated mothers could be charged with child abuse or neglect ‐ removing the need to prove they were actively working as jihadists. "There is no excuse whatsoever to abandon these children. Indeed they are the legal responsibility of the British state," former cabinet minister David Davis wrote in an op-ed for the Times. He spoke of the hellish conditions, including one teenage girl who said she was "raped, forced to marry, and saw my father beheaded." "I don’t think I’ve ever seen conditions as appalling and undignified," one Save The Children charity worker told him. "There are reports of a four-year-old boy drowning in a fecal pit and a seven-year-old burning to death after his tent was set alight." Davis stressed that the children "should not be punished for their parents’ mistakes." "Many have been born in the region to British parents who made the grotesquely misguided and irresponsible decision to go to Syria," he wrote, saying that if left in Syria the children would become "our enemy on the battlefields of the future." "The safest way to handle these youngsters is for them to be reintegrated into British society," the MP insisted.

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Britain

Teresa May's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Brexit Day

2018-07-11

h/t Instapundit Just kept getting worse. Only hours after Brexit Secretary David Davis tendered his resignation Monday, Boris Johnson, UK Foreign Secretary, piled on with a scathing resignation letter of his own. The cheerio-oh PM tried to hold the line, but then a momentous gauntlet was thrown from the sidelines. The phrase that springs to mind? "I’m BACK!" Disgusted by the Prime Minister’s seeming repudiation of every tenet in the original Brexit referendum, Nigel Farage exploded on the airwaves today with his declaration that he would, indeed, return to lead UKIP, and will immediately begin agitating for May’s removal if the betrayals continue.

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Europe

Europe: Things Fall Apart

2018-07-10

h/t Instapundit [Powerline] German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hanging on by her fingernails in Germany right now, as the backlash against migrants reached a critical mass in recent weeks. The cabinet minister who confronted Merkel and forced immigration concessions, Horst Seehofer of the "conservative" CSU party based chiefly in Bavaria, has seen his own poll ratings collapse in the aftermath of the political crisis. But this is just as likely to be the result of his not having gone far enough with his attempts to get Merkel to reverse course on her disastrous immigration policy. The supposedly Trumpian "Alternative for Germany" party is now expected to rack up big gains in upcoming regional elections. Merkel’s chances for survival in office don’t look very good at the moment. Meanwhile, what is happening in Britain right now? First, over the weekend David Davis, the cabinet minister in charge of the Brexit process, resigned over his disagreements with what he thought was a too-weak Brexit plan embraced by Prime Minister Theresa May, and this morning Boris Johnson, the foreign minister, has also resigned, calling May’s Brexit plan as "polishing a turd." (I knew there was a reason I like this guy.) It appears there is a full-on cabinet crisis now under way in Britain, and May might not be long for office. Stay tuned: Merkel and May could well be turning up soon with a lot of time on their hands at Aspen Institute panels, telling us all about "what went wrong." Why do bad things happen to good people?

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Britain

UK Brexit minister says parliament vote cannot reverse Brexit

2018-06-12

[Reuters] LONDON - Britain’s Brexit minister David Davis said on Tuesday there would be no reversal of the decision to leave the European Union whatever the outcome of divorce talks with the bloc. British Prime Minister Theresa May faces a showdown in parliament with lawmakers later on Tuesday who want a "meaningful vote" on an eventual Brexit deal and to set the government’s "direction" if the house rejects the agreement. "Whatever we do, we’re not going to reverse that (decision to leave the EU)," David told BBC radio. "A meaningful vote is not the ability to reverse the decision of the referendum." When asked if May would lead the conservatives into the next UK election, Davis also said "I think so ... actually I hope so"

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Britain

Pommie Deep State Surrenders to Brussels - Brexit Essentially Means Nothing

2018-03-19

The United Kingdom will agree to follow all European Union rules after Brexit and keep the nation’s borders open for the duration of the transition period to 2022, with further bad news for fisheries and communities in Northern Ireland as a new agreement was reached in Brussels Monday. The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier made the announcement in a joint press conference with Britain’s David Davis in Brussels, where the pair presented what was introduced as a "legal text which constitutes a decisive step" towards a final agreement. Revealing the enormous extent to which Theresa May’s government has sold out the Brexit-voting British public, Barnier and Davis spoke on a number of key policy areas including immigration, British control over British laws, and regaining control over British fishing waters. Speaking first at the meeting with journalists, French politician Barnier said Britain had agreed to continue following all Brussels laws for years after the offical Brexit date of March 2019 under the guise of a transition period, but would not be able to challenge or make decisions on that law itself.

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Britain

UK opponents of Brexit seek to form new political party

2017-08-12

[Iran Press TV] Opponents of Britannia's departure from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... have expressed interest in the idea of forming a centrist party aimed at blocking Brexit. James Chapman, a former top aide to Brexit Secretary David Davis, is calling for a new centrist political party since both the governing Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party say they will go through with the decision to departure from the 28-nation bloc. Chapman said that two members of Britannia's Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet have contacted him to express support. "Two people in the cabinet, a number of people who have been in Conservative cabinets before now ‐ better cabinets, I might say, than the current one ‐ and a number of shadow cabinets ministers have also been in touch.

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Fleeing Burglar Shoots Back Into Home, Kills Accomplice Running Behind Him

2017-06-20

[Breitbart] Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said a burglar fleeing a female resident turned around and shot "back into the house," striking his burglary accomplice in the head and killing him on the spot. Bibb County, Ga. of course, where else ? According to The Telegraph, the two suspects were running one behind the other. The one in the lead had the gun and the one following had a television set that he dropped after being startled by the female homeowner. The suspect who was shot "died in the threshold of the woman’s front door."

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Britain

Britain migrant colonist briefs

2016-12-17

From Breitbart: Gang ‘Smuggled Islamists into UK’ with Fake Passports 13 Dec 2016 Hundreds of illegal Iranian migrants, including suspected Islamist terrorists, were smuggled into Britain by a gang selling fake passports for up to £12,500, Greek investigators have said. From the Daily Mail: 'We must control immigration!' Even Jeremy Corbyn's allies don't agree with him as 'Red' Len McCluskey says UK must END free movement to protect British workers 16/12/16 In a split from his key ally Jeremy Corbyn (right), 'Red' Len McCluskey (left), the general secretary of Unite, said Labour and the unions must 'listen to the concerns of working people'. Ironically Mr McCluskey, 66, called an early leadership election at his Unite union in a plot by the hard-left to cling on to power so they can continue bankrolling Mr Corbyn's leadership of the Labour party. But as he launched his re-election campaign today, one of his three main policies puts him at odds with Mr Corbyn on immigration. The Labour leader has defended freedom of movement despite June's Brexit vote and opposes calls for restrictions on Britain's open borders policy. In an article on Huffington Post today, Mr McCluskey wrote today: 'Unions understand that workers have always done best when the labour supply is controlled and communities are stable. Britain's migration rules will NOT be part of the Brexit negotiations with Europe and will be set entirely in the UK, David Davis tells MPs 14/12/16 In one of the clearest signals yet on the direction of the talks, the Brexit Secretary said it was vital to respect the referendum demand for lower migration. Thirteen suspected migrants including three children who were stuck in a refrigerated lorry on the M25 are rescued after calling police and begging for help 14/12/16 Surrey Police said 10 adults and three children were removed from the HGV in Chertsey at around 3.10pm on Tuesday The Grand Tour is slammed after broadcasting a 'how to guide' for smuggling migrants into Britain in an Audi TT 13/12/16 Jeremy Clarkson introduced the stunt on the Amazon show, which was filmed in Whitby, North Yorkshire. He joked that he was about show 'a better way for immigrants of getting into Britain 'Right on' critics are ignoring problems caused by immigration, government tsar warns after Muslim groups condemn her 'inflammatory call' for newcomers to take a vow of allegiance 12/12/16 Dame Louise Casey says Ghettos have formed in areas like Bradford (pictured) because the pace and scale of immigration has been 'too much'.

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Britain

Britain's "vital" emergency surveillance law ruled unlawful

2015-07-18

[Ynet] Britannia has been given nine months to produce new surveillance legislation it says is vital to national security after London's High Court ruled on Friday that emergency measures rushed through parliament last year were unlawful. The court backed a judicial challenge from two prominent politicians and other campaigners that powers which compelled telecoms firms to retain customer data for a year were inconsistent with European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... laws. Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... had said the measures were vital to protect the country, which is on high alert because of the threat posed by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... gunnies and from Britons who have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with them. "The court has recognised what was clear to many last year, that the government's hasty and ill thought through legislation is fatally flawed," said politician David Davis, a long-time campaigner against state intrusion who was defeated by Cameron in the race to become Conservative Party leader in 2005.

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Britain

Feel free to insult me: campaigners

2012-05-17

Calls to scrap Public Order Act in UK An unlikely coalition of lawmakers and activists came together in Britain on Wednesday to urge people to "feel free to insult me" in a campaign for the repeal of a law banning public insults. Groups including the Christian Institute, the National Secular Society and a noted gay rights campaigner, led by a lawmaker from the ruling Conservative Party, called for the relevant section of the Public Order Act to be scrapped. They said it has been used to arrest a teenage boy who held a placard reading "Scientology is a dangerous cult" and a student who joked that a police officer's horse was "gay," though both were eventually released without charge. The wording, which bars people from using "insulting words or behaviour" in the hearing of someone likely "to be caused harassment, alarm or distress," has also been used against protesters and street preachers. Conservative lawmaker David Davis said the ban, known as Section 5, was having a "terrible, chilling effect on democracy," while a poll commissioned by the campaign said 62 percent of lawmakers would support its repeal. But 17 percent thought repealing it would undermine the ability of the police to protect the public, and one in five thought it would penalise minorities. "We've sunk our differences to defend free speech," gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell wrote in the Times newspaper. He said he was arrested and charged under Section 5 in 1994 when he protested against the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. "Members of this Islamist group had endorsed the killing of Jews, gays, apostates and women who have sex outside marriage," he wrote. "I displayed placards that documented the persecution of gay people by Islamist fanatics... "I fought the charges and won, but not before spending many hours in police cells and standing trial." He added that great thinkers such as Galileo and Darwin had caused "great offence and distress in their time." The Public Order Act became law in 1986 in the wake of the miners' strikes across Britain, a key standoff between trade unions and authorities. The campaigners said Wednesday that separate British laws protect people against discrimination, incitement and violence.

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Britain

No terror arrests in 100,000 police counter-terror searches, figures show

2010-10-28

More than 100,000 people were stopped and searched by police under counter-terrorism powers last year but none of them were arrested for terrorism-related offences, according to Home Office figures published today. The statistics show that 504 people out of the 101,248 searches were arrested for any offence – an arrest rate of 0.5%, compared with an average 10% arrest rate for street searches under normal police powers. The figures prompted the former Conservative home affairs spokesman David Davis to call for the controversial policy to be scrapped. "This astonishing fact of no terrorism-related arrests, let alone prosecutions or convictions, in over 100,000 stop and searches, demonstrates what a massively counter-productive policy this is," said Davis.

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