The British Government Is Playing A Very Dangerous Game

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted for the first time that nine Israeli Air Force planes have taken off and landed in the UK since the bombing of Gaza began.
The UK also admits that the RAF has sent 48 military aircraft to Israel since it began bombing Gaza.
( Matt Kennard, 08.02.2024 )  ..  declassifieduk.org

Child income poverty rates in the United Kingdom were the highest among the world’s richest countries, a report by the UN Children’s Agency UNICEF said, ranking bottom of the table for changes in those rates in the past decade.
The UNICEF report looked at relatively well-off countries to assess the rate of child income poverty combined with child poverty reduction rates.
Britain ranked 37th out of the 39 nations in the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) based on the income poverty rate for children and their success in reducing child poverty in a time of prosperity.
Only Turkey and Colombia ranked below Britain, based on a statistical average of the two indicators.

When measuring percentage changes in child income poverty rates in 2012-14 and 2019-21, the United Kingdom lay bottom of the table of 39 high- and upper-middle-income countries, with a 20% rise in child poverty rates.
At the other end of the spectrum, Poland, Slovenia and Latvia topped the rankings with a reduction in child poverty rates by more than 30%.
The United Kingdom also ranked 28th out of 39 countries on the most recent relative child income poverty levels in 2019-21.
“While some countries in this group have taken steps to increase support, in the UK we have seen a reduction in spending on child and family benefits and more children growing up in poverty as a result,” Chief Executive of UNICEF UK Jon Sparkes said.
( Reuters, 07.12.2023 )  ..  tbsnews.net

The Soviets, the Red Army, were responsible for defeating the Nazis in World War Two.
Of all German military troops killed, the Red Army killed 80% of them.
The Red Army moved into Germany and fought a ground war.
There was no dropping bombs on cities that would have killed huge numbers of German civilians.
A ‘war’ fought between two armies can be fought on the ground, avoiding the deaths of innocent civilians and minimising the destruction of buildings.
( Fred O. Wilson )

Desperate Stuff From A Desperate Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been slammed by the UK statistics watchdog for wrongly claiming that government debt is falling.
The prime minister made that one of his five pledges to voters at the start of the year.
He claimed in a social media video, and also in the House of Commons, that debt was falling.
But Sir Robert Chote, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, said that was misleading.
Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney, said: “Rishi Sunak knows he has no good story to tell on the UK economy so he has resorted to making one up. The least this no-growth Prime Minister could do is be honest about it with the British public. Instead, he has reached for the Boris Johnson playbook and is undermining trust in politics. This is desperate stuff from a desperate prime minister and it is right that he has been called out on it”.
( Kevin Schofield, 19.12.2023 )  ..  huffingtonpost.co.uk

Palestinian Women And Children Have Gone Missing After Contact With The Israeli Army.
UN experts have expressed alarm over credible allegations of egregious human rights violations to which Palestinian women and girls continue to be subjected in the Gaza Strip and the illegally-occupied West Bank.
Palestinian women and girls have reportedly been arbitrarily executed in Gaza, often together with family members, including their children.
The experts expressed serious concern about the arbitrary detention of hundreds of Palestinian women and girls, including human rights defenders, journalists and humanitarian workers since 7 October.
Many have reportedly been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, denied menstruation pads, food and medicine, and severely beaten.
On at least one occasion, Palestinian women detained in Gaza were allegedly kept in a cage in the rain and cold, without food.
The experts expressed concern that an unknown number of Palestinian women and children, including girls, have reportedly gone missing after contact with the Israeli army in Gaza.
( United Nations, 19.02.2024 ) ..  ohchr.org

In August 2023, BT offered my neighbours “Full Fibre 100” broadband with a claimed speed of 150mbps and a guaranteed speed of 100mbps for £45.74 a month, the same amount they were already paying, but without a landline telephone, and plus a one-off charge of £9.99.
My neighbours were told that their existing contract would end and a new 24-month contract would begin.

While my neighbours were considering this offer, it was brought to my attention that BT, on their website, were offering new customers the same deal for £29.99 and with no additional up-front charge.
After informing my neighbour of this, he contacted BT and was told they could reduce the monthly amount to £40.99 but there would still be a one-off charge of £9.99.
In September 2023 my neighbour cancelled his BT contract and was charged £155.63 by BT for terminating his contract early.My neighbours now have a guaranteed 150mbps broadband service from Community Fibre and are paying just £20.00 a month on a 24-month contract.
The one-off installation charge was £14.95.
It’s now February 2024, my neighbour says he is very pleased with his new broadband and has had no problems, and is getting permanent speeds in excess of 150mbps for both download and upload.
( Rose Winfold )

Israel has dropped almost 30,000 bombs and shells on Gaza in 100 days, eight times more than the US aimed at Iraq in six years of war.
It’s not war. It’s genocide.
( Mohamad Safa, 20.02.2024 )

Satan’s army has revealed itself to the world.
The army of cowards, psychopaths, simpletons, perverts, serial liars and sociopaths.
Their spineless, corrupt supporters are clear to see.
Domination, occupation, oppression, and the destruction of peace and humanity is their aim.
The scriptures warned us all that the Devil will walk the earth until the end of days, seducing the greedy, the weak-minded, the corrupt, and the stupid.

From all that we have witnessed in the last few months, it has now become very clear to intelligent, thinking people.
The UK and the EU are puppets of both the USA and Israel, and the USA are the puppets of Israel.
( Rose Winfold, 23.02.2024 )

Our Government And Media Refuse To Use The Word “Genocide”.
Has there ever been a conflict where one side was so openly attacking hospitals, schools, residential property, and targeting journalists and aid workers while our government and media refused to use the word “genocide”?
Has there ever been a genocide this blatant that they’ve remained in denial about, even as they’ve admitted atrocities are taking place?

Children have been shot in other conflicts I have covered, but never before have I watched as soldiers (IDF in Gaza) enticed (Palestinian) children like mice into a trap and murdered them for sport.
( Christopher Hedges )

The object of terrorism is terrorism.
The object of oppression is oppression.
The object of torture is torture.
The object of murder is murder.
The object of power is power.
Now do you begin to understand me?
( George Orwell )

A Shocking Rise In Shoplifting And Cases Of Violence And Abuse Against Shopkeepers.
Shocking new figures revealed by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show around 1,300 cases of violence and abuse against shop workers were reported EVERY DAY in 2023.
This was a 50% increase in just 12 months.
The BRC has slammed the “woefully inadequate” action taken by the Government to address the “crisis”.
The BRC found 8,800 assault cases against shop workers resulted in injuries in the year to September 2023.
Their investigation found retail staff faced a barrage of violence and abuse from racial abuse and sexual harassment to physical assault and threats with weapons.
It found that customer theft doubled to 16.7 million incidents a year, up from eight million.
Shoplifting cost retailers about £1.8 billion in 2023, the highest recorded amount and the first time it has surpassed the £1 billion mark.
The Tory government rejected calls for assault and abuse of retail workers to be made a specific crime with fines of up to £1,000.
Labour has committed to bringing in the measure if it comes to power.
( Anna Wise and Dave Burke, 14.02.2024 )  ..  mirror.co.uk

What’s happening in Gaza isn’t a war, it’s a genocide.
It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers.
It’s a war between a highly trained army and women and children.
( Lula da Silva, President of Brazil )

Education is not memorising that Hitler killed six million Jews.
Education is understanding how millions of ordinary Germans were convinced that it was required.
Education is learning how to spot the signs of history repeating itself.
( Noam Chomsky )

I’m tired.
Not like sleepy tired.
I’m tired of lying, greedy, corrupt politicians.
I’m tired of the government spending our money on “wars” against overseas nations that have done us no harm and killing their innocent men, women and children.
I’m tired of the government propaganda and spending our money on “defending” us from imaginary enemies.
I’m tired of the government being able to find money for weapons and war but not for the homeless, the sick and the elderly that need care, the children living in poverty, and the crumbling school and hospital buildings.
I’m tired of the uncaring, selfish, and dishonest politicians that make decisions to help themselves and not the people.
( R S Hutchison )

The UK government has offered dozens of Rwandans refuge in the UK after they were deemed to be unsafe in their home country, new figures have shown.
With ministers locked in a bitter court battle to salvage their controversial deportation scheme, official data shows over 40 Rwandans have applied for asylum in the UK since 2020, casting doubts over it being a “safe third country”.
The UK is believed to have already paid Rwanda £140million under a deal that would see it accommodate asylum seekers who have made their way to the UK via illegal means (no legal routes currently exist).
But no planes have yet got off the ground after the Court of Appeal ruled the scheme to be unlawful.
( Jack Peat, 22.08.2023 )  ..  thelondoneconomic.com

Palestinian authorities have demanded an international investigation after a mass grave was found in Gaza with the decomposing bodies of Palestinian detainees who were blindfolded and handcuffed.
At least 30 bodies were found in black plastic bags near the Hamad school in northern Gaza, with Palestinian officials accusing Israeli soldiers of killing the civilians “execution-style”.
( Al Jazeera, 01.02.2024 )  ..  aljazeera.com

Annual profits at British Gas have soared more than tenfold after it tried to recoup costs from the energy crisis, while its parent company announced another £144million payout to shareholders.
Centrica released figures showing that British Gas, which supplies energy to UK households and businesses, showed its profits jumped to £751million in 2023, up from £72million a year earlier.
The price cap rise, and subsequent increase in British Gas profits, pushed Centrica’s pre-tax profit to £6.5billion for 2023, compared with a loss of £240million a year earlier.
( Kalyeena Makortoff, 15.02.2024 )  ..  theguardian.com

The Propaganda Activities Of The Pro-Israel Network Can Be Quite Crude.
Big players in that lobby recently arranged for Richard Kemp, a retired British Army colonel, to visit the European Parliament.
Kemp presented an argument about the ratio between the civilian to combatant death toll in Gaza.
Taking that ratio into account, he contended that Israel is now killing fewer civilians than the US and their allies killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Given that his calculations are largely based on dubious Israeli data, everything he said should be treated with skepticism.
Besides, claiming that Israel is less violent than the U.S. and its allies isn’t the cleverest tactic.
Britain was America’s junior partner during the invasions of both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kemp himself became commander of the British troops in Kabul during 2003 and later assisted the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
His argument can, therefore, be interpreted as a confession that he was directly involved in the mass slaughter of civilians.
He has hinted at that previously by admitting in 2015 that “on some occasions, I have disobeyed the rules of engagement.”
Kemp’s recent visit was co-hosted by the Brussels office of the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
A leading pro-Israel group, the AJC has been encouraging lawmakers to take a position in favour of the genocidal war against Gaza (while denying that a genocide is taking place).
If the European Parliament took its own policies seriously, the AJC would be shunned.
( David Cronin, 07.02.2024 )  ..  electronicintifada.net

You can’t call it “self defence”, and you can’t say you “have the right to defend yourself”, against a region of a country whose people you oppress and control, and whose land you steal and illegally occupy.
( Rose Winfold )

Britain is providing training to Israeli military officers in the UK, the government has admitted.
“Israel is represented by Armed Forces personnel in its Embassy in the UK, and as participants in UK defence-led training courses”, defence minister James Heappey has told parliament.
The UK government has admitted that nine Israeli military aircraft have landed in Britain since October 7, 2023.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refused to say what those planes are carrying or what they are doing.
The Royal Air Force has sent 48 military aircraft to Israel since it began bombing Gaza.
Britain has conducted 65 spy missions over Gaza from its vast military and intelligence base on Cyprus.
Almost none of this extent of UK military support for Israel is being reported in the British national media.
( Mark Curtis, 12.02.2024 )  ..  declassifieduk.org

Israeli forces disguised as medical staff and civilians shot dead three Palestinians inside a hospital in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
The killings were carried out while the men were sleeping at Ibn Sina Hospital.
( Al Jazeera, 30.01.2024 )  ..  aljazeera.com

The world’s five largest listed oil companies have made profits of more than a quarter of a trillion dollars since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
BP, Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies – have made £223billion since the war began in February 2022.
The UK-based pair, BP and Shell, have made a combined £75billion in profits since the conflict began.
This is enough to cover all Britain’s household electricity bills for 17 consecutive months.
The profits of international shipping companies and foodstuff suppliers have also soared over the last two years.
( Mark Sweney, 19.02.2024 )  ..  theguardian.com

At least nine UK Conservative MPs have accepted donations from the pro-Israel lobby since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza.
The lobby organisations in question are parliamentary group Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) and the European Leadership Network (ELNET) which describes itself as a “leading NGO dedicated to strengthening Europe-Israel relations”.
With a total value of £19,857, the donations have been used to finance a series of trips to Israel, which have been described as “solidarity” missions.
( John McEvoy, 29.01.2024 )  ..  declassifieduk.org

The British Government Is Playing A Very Dangerous Game.
UK ministers, far from contributing to negotiations and peace in the Middle East and elsewhere, are making a volatile world even more unstable than it already is.
Ministers and military chiefs are indulging in war fever, backed up not by credible threats but by empty rhetoric.
They appear to enjoy the prospect of escalating conflict, and by doing so threaten Britain’s own security, rather than protect it as they claim.
It is as if they hope it will divert attention from Britain’s economic and social ills.
Judging by the state of the country’s armed forces, they are unlikely to frighten the enemy.
Ratcheting up the threats without the means to back them up does not deter.
Quite the opposite.
Delays, breakdowns, overspending, and chronic mismanagement have for years infected Britain’s hugely expensive and misconceived military projects – including its arsenal of unusable nuclear weapons and its two large and vulnerable, aircraft carriers.
More conventional, smaller, more useful, faster, ships are mothballed because of the lack of a crew while deplorable state of living quarters contributes to a recruitment crisis in all three branches of the armed forces.
( Richard Norton-Taylor, 06.02.2024 )  ..  declassifieduk.org

We are living in a time when the Devil doesn’t even hide anymore, and many blind souls in the world still can’t see him.
( R S Hutchison )