Category Archives: Politics

Tony Blair On The Rack Over Iraq

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Tony Blair is to be heavily criticised for his role in leading the UK to war in Iraq, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The paper points to a number of damning points, saying:

    • The Chilcot inquiry will criticise Mr Blair for failing to admit a secret pact he made with former president George Bush in 2002.
    • Mr Blair apparently withheld vital information from cabinet colleagues, preferring instead, a ‘sofa style government’ with a close knit group of allies.
    • He was also be heavily criticised for failing to come up with a post war plan for Iraq.
    •  The inquiry is thought to be most damning regarding Mr Blair’s claim to parliament that Saddam Hussein’s possession of WMD was ‘beyond doubt’. Blair claims to have misunderstood the infamous 45 minute claim dossier, in which it was argued that Saddam Hussein could launch WMD in 45 minutes. This claim was later found to be nonsense.

A spokesman for Tony Blair said: “This is a deliberate attempt to pre-judge a report that hasn’t even been written yet. We’re not going comment until it has been published.”

Spin doctor Alistair Campbell and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw are also thought to come in for heavy criticism.

If the allegations prove to be true, what justice will the British public now demand? Some of the criticisms are the result of incompetence or lack of foresight. However, others, such as failing to disclose the secret war pact and the WMD claim, raise a vitally important question. Was there a deliberate attempt to mislead the British public?

We will have to wait until Autumn for the full Chilcot inquiry to be published.

Republicans Close In On Obama

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By this time next summer, the Republican candidate to challenge President Obama will be known, but at this point the list of candidates and potential candidates for the nomination is still far from finalised. With the “will-he-or-she-run-questions” still being asked and answered, some of the names with the highest familiarity among the general public are still not even declared candidates.

Obviously, because of her run for Vice President with John McCain, almost nine in ten Americans (86%) are familiar with Sarah Palin and 75% of U.S. adults are familiar with Rudy Giuliani – both of whom are still undeclared, but possible candidates for the nomination. Majorities of Americans are familiar with declared candidates Newt Gingrich (72%), Mitt Romney (67%), and Ron Paul (52%) while half are familiar with Michele Bachmann (50%). All other potential candidates are at 30% or under in terms of familiarity.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,183 adults surveyed online between July 11 and 18.

Even among Republicans, many declared candidates do not have majorities familiar with them. Tim Pawlenty (33%), Rick Santorum (31%), Herman Cain (29%), and Jon Huntsman (15%) all have one-third of Republicans or less familiar with them.

With this in mind, it’s not surprising that among Republicans, over one-quarter (28%) say they are not at all sure who they would vote for if they were voting in the Republican primary. Rudy Giuliani (14%) and Mitt Romney (14%) rise to the top among Republicans followed by Sarah Palin (12%). All the other candidates presented are under 10% including Rick Perry (8%), Michele Bachmann (6%), and Ron Paul (5%). Among Independents, there is a three-way tie for first place between Rudy Giuliani (10%), Mitt Romney (10%) and Ron Paul (10%). But over two in five Independents (42%) say they are not at all sure who they would vote for in the Republican primary election.

Looking ahead to November, it seems there are three possible candidates who could give President Obama a difficult time. President Obama would lose his re-election if Rudy Giuliani (53% to 47%) or Mitt Romney (51% to 49%) was the Republican nominee. Each candidate would receive 50% of the vote if the President was running against Ron Paul. Right now, President Obama would win re-election against the 10 other candidates presented.

The Republican are yet to figure out who they are and begin the process of coalescing around one candidate. In the study of politics, there is always a debate regarding electability and this election may show that clearly. Should Republicans nominate a candidate who stands for certain values or policies important to a sub-section of the party, even though that candidate may not be electable in the general election? This is a question the Republican party needs to answer if they want to win next November.

Murdoch Update: News of the World Tapped Sara Payne's Phone.

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Another awful twist to the phone hacking scandal today as Sara Payne found out that her phone had been hacked. The phone that had been hacked was given to her as a gift by Rebekah Brooks so she could stay in touch with her supporters.

The extraordinary access that the Murdoch family had to Cabinet ministers was revealed yesterday, more than two dozen private meetings between the family and senior members of Government were granted in the 15 months since David Cameron entered Downing Street.

Cabinet Ministers had over 60 private meeting with the Murdoch’s and the figure rises to 107 if you include social events. James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks were given confidential defence briefings on Afghanistan and Britain’s strategic defence by Defence Secretary, Liam Fox.

George Osborne had 16 separate meetings since May 2010 with News International editors and executives, he also invited Elisabeth Murdoch to his 40th birthday party last month.
The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, dined with Rupert Murdoch within days of the Government coming to power, the minister to see Rupert Murdoch most frequently is Michael Gove, a former News International employee.

The list was released by government departments yesterday (Wednesday) and highlight the unhealthy relationship between News International and senior members of the Cabinet.

David Cameron said he met News International executives on 26 occasions since entering Downing Street.

To put it in perspective Mr Osborne met with representatives of The Daily Telegraph group on six occasions and The Independent, London Evening Standard twice. Mr Hunt met Telegraph and Independent figures twice each and the BBC 11 times.

Last night a spokesman for Mr Gove insisted that his meetings with the Murdoch’s were of a personal nature. “Michael worked for the BBC and News International and his wife works for News International now,” he said. “He has known Rupert Murdoch for over a decade. He did not discuss the BSkyB deal with the Murdoch’s and isn’t at all embarrassed about his meetings, most of which have been about education, which is his job.”

A spokesman for Mr Fox said that the briefings given to the Murdoch’s were given because of the “interest in defence matters” shown by News International papers.

The Chancellor had said he would be happy to talk about the meetings.

It was revealed today that the phone hacking inquiry might take longer than a year.

James Murdoch received unanimous backing today from the BSkyB board despite pressure to step down.

What’s next?

Endurance Campaign Demonstrates the Cruelty of Human Trafficking

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In Aid of Emma Thompson’s Helen Bamber Foundation

Launching on July 2011 at 5pm, campaigner and musician Phil Knight will undertake one of the most challenging anti-human cruelty campaigns ever carried out. In aid of Emma Thompson’s Helen Bamber Foundation the campaign, known as ‘The Everyday Project’, will aim to firmly expose human trafficking in the UK and see Knight endure two weeks of solitary confinement outside of Euston Station in Euston Square Gardens. Knight’s fundraising single ‘Everyday’ will also be released the same day to coincide with the launch of the campaign.

From 5pm Monday 25th July until 5pm Monday 8th August, The Everyday Project will see the Helen Bamber Foundation’s most prominent ambassador hidden and locked inside a 10’ x 8’ iron clad shipping container, located in Euston Square Gardens. Suffering two weeks of solitary confinement and captured via live video streaming on www.justenoughfortherealworld.com, Knight will face extreme isolation and deprivation, having only a portaloo, journal and a pair of his trusty drumsticks for company, with some basic provisions provided for his survival. Illustrating only a small part of what those being trafficked and tortured endure every day, the campaign aims to fully expose this modern-day form of slavery. Already familiar with undertaking extreme challenges in a bid to stop human trafficking, Knight broke a world record in 2009 by drumming for four and a half consecutive days in Leicester Square, raising over £4000 for the Foundation.

Knight’s fundraising single ‘Everyday’ will be simultaneously released on Monday 25th July to mark the launch of The Everyday Project. Written & co-produced also by Knight and sung by one of London’s most talented and rising stars, Chris Kalli, Everyday is an upbeat and lively retro blues track. Taken from the critically acclaimed charity album ‘Just Enough For The Real World’, the track is available through download at www.iTunes.co.uk.

‘This is great music by great writer-performers who were inspired by great suffering. Weirdly, it is full of humour and hope and breathes life into its listeners, not sadness. Joyful and timely, it reminds us what ARTISTS can do when they’re in the right place at the right time.’ Emma Thompson, Chairperson of The Helen Bamber Foundation.

‘My mission in life is to stop human trafficking and I will do whatever it takes to make this happen.’ Campaigner and Music Producer, Phil Knight.

‘Isolation like solitary confinement is a form of torture and Phil is setting himself a serious challenge in solidarity with the victims. Like the shipping container, Phil will be locked in at Euston Station, just as trafficked victims remain hidden often in plain sight of the public.’ Dr Michael Korsinski, Helen Bamber Foundation.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, second only to the illegal arms trade. The Freedom of Information Act revealed that 957 children were trafficked in just eight months in 2008, whilst there has been a 90% increase in the number of victims between 2006 and 2009. The Council of Europe states,

‘People trafficking has reached epidemic proportions over the past decade, with a global annual market of about £27.7 billion.’

Debt Talks Collapse as Republicans Walk Away

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Debt talks in Washington reached a crisis point today as negotiations collapsed ahead of the August 2nd deadline. House speaker Republican John Boehner walked out of negotiations accusing president Obama of moving the goal posts by demanding bigger tax increases.

An angry Obama has said he and other Republicans are puzzled as to why a deal couldn’t get done. The president was offering to slash a $1 trillion in discretionary spending as well as cutting $650bn from Medicare and other entitlements.

People will be disappointed to hear Boehner just walked away at this time of crisis. Walking out at this stage cannot be constructive. It’s also extremely irresponsible with the spectre of a potentially disastrous US debt downgrade looming, to say nothing of a possible default. Republicans generally are starting to look increasingly rash as they unrealistically refuse to except tax increases.

If US debt were to be downgraded, even slightly, this in itself could have huge consequences. Many pension funds worldwide are required to only hold AAA securities and many currently hold large amounts of US government debt. In the event of a downgrade they would all have to sell this debt which could have a huge impact on the US dollar and the price of US debt, possibly causing a downward spiral, as yields rise and the US has to pay more interest on its debt in the future. The effects on the global economy and jobs could be huge.

A default is of course unthinkable and would lead to a worldwide financial meltdown.

It’s time for the politicians to stop thinking about themselves for once and to start thinking about the man in the street. It’s time to get this thing sorted. Each US taxpayer now owes almost $130,000

 

Les Hinton and Rebekah Brooks Resign. Murdoch Latest

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Following on from the last article Frost did on the phone hacking scandal, Rebekah Brooks has finally resigned after Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of the press baron, launched a rant that Brooks had ‘fucked the company’. Les Hinton, who has been at News Corporation for over 50 years has also resigned saying that he ‘had no other choice’. Apparently, Brooks had offered her resignation a week ago.

 

Rupert Murdoch has taken out a full page advert in the national press to say apologise despite saying previously that ‘we only made minor mistakes.’ The FBI have launched an investigation into the claims that the phones of 9/11 victims were hacked.

 

Carl Bernstein, the former Washington Post reporter who exposed Watergate and helped depose a US president, says it is evident that the events of the past week “are the beginning, not the end, of the seismic event”.

 

News Corporation has hired Edelman, a global communications company to manage the crisis on both sides of the Atlantic and it looks like James Murdoch being the heir apparent it now a pipe dream.

 

UK parliamentary hearing start next week and the future is looking grim for Murdoch, he personally met the family of Milly Dowler to apologise to them, but the damage has all been done. It will interesting to see what happens next. It is ironic to see the hounder hounded, a lot of the photographers taking pictures of Murdoch, actually work for him. Tom Mockridge has been appointed to run News International. Will Chase Carey be heading up global corporation soon.

 

News Corp Withdraw BSkyB Bid

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News Corporation have withdrawn their BSkyB bid amid the ‘Hackgate’ scandal.

The move follows further claims as the fallout into phone hacking continues. With news stories about the now defunct News of the World getting worse by the day and spreading to the other Murdoch papers, the media mogul now faces fresh accusations. It would seem News Corp has forgotten the first rule of journalism: Never become the story.

People on the News of the World payroll are said to have illegally accessed Gordon Brown’s son’s medical records and, after hacking Milly Dowler’s voicemail, deleted the messages when her mailbox was full – a move that made her family, and police, believe she was still alive.

News Corporation own 39% of BSkyB and announced last year that it intended to buy the remaining 61%.

Chase Carey, Deputy Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation, commented: “We believed that the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation would benefit both companies but it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate. News Corporation remains a committed long-term shareholder in BSkyB. We are proud of the success it has achieved and our contribution to it.”

BSKYB chief executive Jeremy Daroch added: “We are delivering on our clear, consistent strategy and are building a larger, more profitable business for the long term. We remain very confident in the broadly based growth opportunity for BSkyB as we continue to add new customers, sell more products, develop our leading position in content and innovation, and expand the contribution from our other businesses.”

The announcement comes as online petitions against News Corporation increase. Actor Hugh Grant got the ball rolling when he wore a wire and in a case of ‘the biter, bit’, taped a former News of the World journalist confessing that their paper “bugged everyone.” The piece was for an edition of the New Statesman which was being guest edited by his ex-girlfriend Jemima Khan.

Hugh Grant for Prime Minister….

The Moratorium: Homeless Veterans

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Not often, but every-so-often subjects are broached and the country unifies in their opinion and it is such that the powers that be have to act accordingly. The problem is, is that it happens so rarely that the people to blame get away with it more often than is actually acknowledged!

The Moratorium is here to air those topics and the first one starts with one that is close to my heart and one that is a hot topic at the moment for kinds of reasons. The Armed Forces! Now it’s not them that is taboo, but aspects of how they are treated, so I think that the treatment of Veterans should be the key point of topic, as they appear to have disappeared from the lives of so many until a scandal hits the headlines and then it’s all up for a week, or two then it disappears from the eyes of the public once more.

Most people know that many of the homeless in London are veterans and as many as 70% of the males that are homeless in London are Vets, or have served in one of the forces. On leaving the forces they either fall by the wayside, or don’t know where to look for help, or even who to ask when they need direction, as many doors are shut when leaving.

The “Us” and “Them” attitude extends further than most people understand, as the mannerisms are very loyal and willing, so when all those realities are shattered on the “outside” it becomes a stigma to trust people, or even comprehend why civilians have little trust and camaraderie amongst themselves. Most of the problems stem from the fact you cannot untrained the trained! It’s that which plays the biggest factor in military veterans becoming a forgotten statistic and considered a nuisance at best.

When you’re representing the country for what it stands for and you get shot at, spat on and are alone in a strange place, the only difference from serving and being homeless is location! I have seen people urinate on people as they sleep in any space they can find and then the same people who do it run off when the victim wakes up! Granted, no person should be submitted to that regardless. This doesn’t detract from the fact that the veteran paid their taxes, accommodation and council tax like any other worker and is left fend without preparation after their service has ended.

There are funds, which people know as charities, that all military people pay into whilst serving. However, trying to get help from them when times are hard is like getting a piggyback ride from a Hippopotamus… Highly unlikely! I know that those that work in the likes of Royal British Legion (RBL), Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA), Benevolent Fund AND whichever service charity is relevant will all have their side of the story to put across, but the stats speak for themselves and the money is still in their accounts whilst Vets are still on the street!

So why are there so many Vets on the streets and not being tended to? The answer is simple! Even more simple than it is to explain. The people that were once security cleared, numbered, monitored and trusted to die for their country get lost in the outside world and the outside system! Once a person comes out of the military, their rights change and they become a different number. No ID and uniform to show who they are, they are swallowed up and left to fend in civilian life.

Many of the Vets that turn to crime are not delinquents, but people who have no focus and are frustrated. They want to be somewhere where they can work, be appreciated and not have to worry where they will be sleeping come night time. A simple thing that eludes many of them and they are considered a profile for police and hostels to look out for. Sadly it’s not to guide them in the right direction, as many of the Veterans do not make it to an ex-military hostel for appropriate help.

The current government put out an announcement for a Covenant for Armed personnel, Veterans and their family, which may take around 2 years to be finalised, let alone implemented. In the time it takes to get that to any kind of working mandate, it may take as long as 10 years. And I wish it was an exaggeration. The amount that will be homeless, dead, or imprisoned after service between now and then will not make for good statistics.
On the fallout of the News Of The World scandal, many service families will be put through the trauma of going through losing their loved ones all over again and many of those families have more than one family member serving; so that will be something that will take its toll in the homeless stakes as many serving/veteran siblings go off the rails and end up being a statistic with all the other homeless. It is considered the tour of duty that no medal is awarded for and none will be relevant for the type of conflicts that are endured.