Daily Archives: 1 March 2024

Why were the red flags ignored?

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/why-were-the-red-flags-ignored

People in the crowd turn on their phone torches as they gather in Clapham Common, London, after the Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard was officially cancelled, March 13, 2021

Family hit out as report reveals Wayne Couzens reported 8 times to police before Everard killing

MURDERER cop Wayne Couzens was reported to police eight times before he went on to kill Sarah Everard, an inquiry found today.

The review, chaired by Dame Elish Angiolini, found the killer had been carrying out other attacks over the span of decades.

The inquiry traced the former officer’s offences back to 1995 when he allegedly tried to kidnap a woman at knifepoint.

It also found evidence that he committed a “very serious sexual assault against a child” in 2002, and joined Kent Police soon after.

A woman said Mr Couzens raped her in 2006 while he was a special constable, and that he raped a woman in October 2019 while he was an officer with the Met.

Although no allegations reached the police, he was reported to the force for indecent exposure eight times.

But little action was taken and Dame Angiolini said that multiple “red flags” were ignored.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/why-were-the-red-flags-ignored

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Devolved leaders reject shortlist for climate watchdog chair over Tory links

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/01/devolved-leaders-reject-shortlist-for-climate-watchdog-chair-over-tory-links

Lord Deben, the Climate Change Committee’s first chair, was environment secretary under Margaret Thatcher and John Major. Photograph: Dorset Media Service/Alamy

Refusal by Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish leaders to approve candidates means whole recruitment process may have to be rerun

Ministers in Westminster have been accused of trying to blunt the teeth of the UK’s net zero watchdog by appointing a Tory loyalist to the post of chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

The leaders of the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have refused to approve any of the six shortlisted candidates, saying they are all too close to the Conservatives and lack diversity.

The row has significantly delayed the UK government’s attempts to appoint a successor to John Gummer (Lord Deben), the committee’s first chair and a former Tory minister, who repeatedly challenged ministers for being insufficiently radical in their policies on combating global heating.

Since the CCC has a statutory duty to oversee climate policies for the UK government and all three devolved administrations, the shortlist requires consent from all four nations.

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In a row that mirrors allegations about cronyism over appointments to chair the BBC and Ofcom, he said the UK government knew that Deben’s successor would be in post for 10 years.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/01/devolved-leaders-reject-shortlist-for-climate-watchdog-chair-over-tory-links

Continue ReadingDevolved leaders reject shortlist for climate watchdog chair over Tory links

Israel has not yet provided evidence to back Hamas 7 October attack claims against UNRWA, UN says

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/01/unrwa-funding-pause-employees-october-7-hamas-attack-claims-no-evidence-un

Palestinian people queue for food distributed by a charity in Deir al Balah, central Gaza. Allegations against 12 employees led major donors to suspend funding to UNRWA. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Allegations against 12 employees led major donors to suspend funding to UN Palestinian agency despite hunger crisis in Gaza

A month after Israeli allegations that a dozen United Nations staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack, UN investigators have yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims though they expect some material to be forthcoming “shortly”.

The allegations against the 12 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) led 16 major donors to suspend contributions totalling $450m at a time when more than two million Gazans are facing famine. UNRWA says it is approaching “breaking point” and only has sufficient funds to continue functioning for the next month at most.

The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) launched an investigation on 29 January in the wake of the Israeli allegations initially presented to UNRWA in January, and delivered an update on its work to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Wednesday.

Diplomats who saw the OIOS preliminary report said it contained no new evidence from Israel since the initial presentation of the claims in January – which were not backed by any proof. In summarising the findings, the UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, confirmed that the investigation had yet to receive corroborating material from Israel.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/01/unrwa-funding-pause-employees-october-7-hamas-attack-claims-no-evidence-un

Continue ReadingIsrael has not yet provided evidence to back Hamas 7 October attack claims against UNRWA, UN says

Rwanda plan to cost UK £1.8m for each asylum seeker, figures show

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/01/rwanda-plan-uk-asylum-seeker-cost-figures

Disclosure, calculated on basis of 300 deportations, called ‘staggering’ by chair of home affairs committee

Rishi Sunak’s flagship plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will cost taxpayers £1.8m for each of the first 300 people the government deports to Kigali, Whitehall’s official spending watchdog has disclosed.

The overall cost of the scheme stands at more than half a billion pounds, according to the figures released to the National Audit Office. Even if the UK sends nobody to the central African state, Sunak has signed up to pay £370m from the public purse over the five-year deal.

The disclosures follow nearly three years of refusals by prime ministers, home secretaries and senior Home Office staff to explain the full costs of the deal, citing “commercial confidentiality”.

So far, no asylum seeker has been sent to Rwanda, because of repeated challenges to the scheme under European and UK laws.

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/01/rwanda-plan-uk-asylum-seeker-cost-figures

Continue ReadingRwanda plan to cost UK £1.8m for each asylum seeker, figures show

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UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claims “There is a growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule. And we’ve got to collectively, all of us, change that urgently." Sunak is recognised as a war criminal due to his complicity in genocide.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claims “There is a growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule. And we’ve got to collectively, all of us, change that urgently.” Sunak is recognised as a war criminal due to his complicity in genocide.
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