Daily Archives: 8 January 2024

Greens to stand throughout England and Wales at next general election

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time. Carla Denyer is the Green co-leader, alongside Adrian Ramsay

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67914916

The Green Party is aiming to field candidates in every seat in England and Wales at this year’s general election, its co-leader has said.

Carla Denyer told the BBC it was already “good way through” selecting candidates to fulfil the aim, which would mark a first for the party.

She said her party was open to talks with other parties about possible electoral pacts.

But she ruled out withdrawing candidates unless other parties do too.

The Greens are aiming to translate the record gains they made at last year’s English local elections into increased representation at Westminster.

Their only current MP, two-time former leader Caroline Lucas, is due to stand down at the next general election, which is almost certain to take place this year.

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“The Green Party is collaborative by nature. We’re always keen to work with people on areas where we agree,” Ms Denyer said when asked about possible election pacts.

But she added: “We’re not about to roll over and hand over any unilateral gifts to other parties.

“Our position is that our door is open, it’s always open, and we are prepared to talk to other parties, but we’re not going to be standing down unliterally.

“If there is an opportunity to co-operate, we’re open to that, and we’ve always made that clear so I think the other parties know it.

“But in the meantime, we are standing candidates in every single seat, so that everyone has the opportunity to vote Green.”

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67914916

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NHS to investigate Palantir after spy tech firm plotted influencer marketing campaign to counter critics

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/nhs-investigate-palantir-spy-tech-firm-plotted-influencer-marketing-campaign

Health workers form a blockade in Soho Square during a protest outside the London headquarters of US tech giant Palantir, which was awarded a £330 million contract by NHS England last month to create a new data management system called the Federated Data Platform, December 21, 2023

THE NHS is set to probe potential contract breaches by US spy tech firm Palantir after the company plotted an influencer marketing campaign to shut down criticism from campaigners.

Palantir failed to seek prior approval from NHS England for a marketing campaign promoting its £330 million contract to run a data platform for the health service.

The contract sparked fierce criticism from campaigners who cited privacy concerns over sharing medical data with the secretive firm, which was first funded by the CIA.

According to leaked emails, Palantir hired PR agency Topham Guerin, which previously ran campaigns for the Conservative Party, and marketing agency Disrupt, to approach influencers.

The brief outlined a campaign to “clear up misinformation relating to some recent data privacy concerns that were shared in the UK press.”

It went on to accuse The Good Law Project, which flagged concerns over safeguarding data, of “spreading fear.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/nhs-investigate-palantir-spy-tech-firm-plotted-influencer-marketing-campaign

Continue ReadingNHS to investigate Palantir after spy tech firm plotted influencer marketing campaign to counter critics

Unions slam Sunak for false claims over health staff pay

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-slam-sunak-false-claims-over-health-staff-pay

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief executive Pat Cullen joins RCN members on the picket line outside University College Hospital, London, January 19, 2023

RISHI SUNAK came under blistering attack today after falsely claiming that nurses had “reached a resolution” on their pay dispute.

The Prime Minster made his false claim on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, forgetting that a 5 per cent pay rise was forced on them last year.

Nurses’ union the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) exposed the falsehood and reminded Mr Sunak that he “never reached a pay resolution with nursing staff in the NHS — our members rejected his pay offer and we remain in dispute.”

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen accused the PM of “forgetting basic facts.”

She said: “The government needs to get its act together — it must offer nursing staff a far better pay offer this year.

“Just this week, nursing staff in Northern Ireland announced they will be taking to picket lines over pay.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-slam-sunak-false-claims-over-health-staff-pay

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All the pesky, woke scientists and experts against Rishi Sunak’s catastrophic oil and gas bill

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https://www.bigissue.com/news/environment/rishi-sunak-oil-gas-bill-science-north-sea/


The government says new oil and gas projects will leave the country less reliant on foreign energy. Image: Unsplash

MPs will vote on Rishi Sunak’s Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill. But the scientific opposition is already overwhelming

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New oil and gas fields are incompatible with the 1.5C threshold

“No new oil and gas development is possible if the world is to stay with the Paris Agreement temperature limits,” said the International Institute for Sustainable Development last year.

“Governments should stop awarding licences and permits to explore for or develop new oil and gas fields or coal mines, or other long-term infrastructure to produce, transport, or consume fossil fuels,” the report said, highlighting what needs to be done to stay within 1.5C threshold of warming.

Every country must stop licensing new oil and gas, says the head of the UN

“Every country must be part of the solution,” said UN secretary general António Guterres after the release of last year’s IPCC report. “In short, our world needs climate action on all fronts – everything, everywhere, all at once.”

As part of this action, Guterres made “ceasing all licensing or funding of new oil and gas” a fundamental part of the “Acceleration Agenda” – and encouraged all nations to sign up.

New investments in oil and gas show governments aren’t serious about the climate crisis

In 2021, the International Energy Agency said new oil and gas should stop that year. Three years on, Rishi Sunak’s government is planning to go full steam ahead.

“If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year,” IEA director Fatih Birol told the Guardian at the time.

Fresh fossil fuel investments ‘undermine’ UK leadership on climate change

Successive governments have claimed the UK is a leader in climate change. But in a March 2023 letter from 700 UK-based experts, Rishi Sunak was warned: ”If the UK allows any new development of oil and gas fields, it will severely undermine those claims of leadership by contributing to further oversupply of fossil fuels, and making it more difficult for the world to limit warming to 1.5°C”

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https://www.bigissue.com/news/environment/rishi-sunak-oil-gas-bill-science-north-sea/

Continue ReadingAll the pesky, woke scientists and experts against Rishi Sunak’s catastrophic oil and gas bill

UK accused of hypocrisy in not backing claim of genocide in Gaza before ICJ

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https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/jan/07/uk-accused-of-hypocrisy-in-not-backing-claim-of-genocide-in-gaza-before-icj

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis on 7 January. Photograph: Mohammed Dahman/AP

Experts say submission to international court of justice on Myanmar six weeks ago makes stance ‘wholly disingenuous’

The UK is facing accusations of double standards after formally submitting detailed legal arguments to the international court of justice in The Hague six weeks ago to support claims that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya ethnic group through its mass mistreatment of children and systematically depriving people of their homes and food.

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Tayab Ali, the head of international law at Bindmans, said the significance of the UK’s submission on Myanmar “lay in showing the importance the UK attaches to adherence to the [UN] Genocide Convention and in showing the UK took a wide, and not a narrow, definition of acts of genocide, and the intent to commit genocide. It also made clear that the court should take into account risks to life after a ceasefire caused by disabilities, inability to reside in their homes and wider injustices.

“It would be wholly disingenuous if the UK, six week after advancing such a significant and broad definition of genocide in the case of Myanmar, now adopts a narrow one in the case of Israel.”

South Africa is likely to highlight the UK’s arguments about Myanmar, submitted in conjunction with Canada, Germany, Denmark, France and the Netherlands, when it makes its high-stakes accusation of genocide against Israel.

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https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/jan/07/uk-accused-of-hypocrisy-in-not-backing-claim-of-genocide-in-gaza-before-icj

Continue ReadingUK accused of hypocrisy in not backing claim of genocide in Gaza before ICJ