AS BELEAGUERED customers faced further price hikes today, the scale of Britain’s energy rip-off was revealed.
The energy firms have collectively reaped profits of £420 billion since 2020, according to research by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.
For comparison, the annual budget of the Department of Health & Social Care, which includes the NHS, was £181.7bn in 2022-3.
Though the Ofgem-imposed price cap, limiting what customers pay for each unit of gas and electricity that we use, fell today to £1,690 a year for a typical household, the average standing charge rose from £303 a year to £334.
These charges, which have to be paid even if no gas or electricity is used, have risen by 147 per cent since the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine.
Those cashing in on the profits dividend include not only the energy providers but also the firms that own the wires and pipes through which electricity and gas supplies travel, all publicly owned prior to privatisation in 1990.
42 MPs have signed an Early Days Motion calling for the government to immediately publish the legal advice findings
The UK government has failed to make public legal advice that Israel “has broken humanitarian law”, a senior Tory MP has claimed, which would require the UK to cease all arms sales to Israel.
In a leaked recording at a Tory fundraiser, Conservative chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Alicia Kearns, said she remained “convinced” that the government has completed its updated assessment on whether Israel has breached international law, but has not announced the findings.
If the government has received advice from its own lawyers that Israel has breached international law, legal experts have said the UK must cease all arms sales to Israel immediately or risk putting the UK in breach of international law itself, as the country would be seen aiding and abetting war crimes.
Kearns told the gathering in London: “The Foreign Office has received official legal advice that Israel has broken international humanitarian law but the government has not announced it.
…
42 MPs from eight parties have signed an Early Day Motion started by Richard Burgon MP calling on the government to immediately publish the legal advice it has received.
An Israeli tank is pictured on February 6, 2024 near northern Gaza. (Photo: Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Israel’s military says it has killed around 9,000 militants in Gaza since October 7—and adamantly denies targeting civilians.
But new reporting published Sunday by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz casts serious doubt on the IDF’s estimate and details how the U.S.-armed military has established combat zones that have become death traps for ordinary Gazans.
The boundaries of such “kill zones” are not clearly marked, making it almost impossible for Palestinian civilians to know whether they are entering one. An Israeli reserve officer told Haaretz that “as soon as people enter” a kill zone, “orders are to shoot and kill, even if that person is unarmed.”
“To a large extent, the tragedy in which three hostages were killed by the IDF is such a story,” the newspaper reported, “since in fleeing from their captors the three entered a kill zone in the middle of the Shujaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City.”
Significant discretion is given to Israeli commanders to decide whether to open fire on people near a kill zone. Unnamed Israeli soldiers told Haaretz that “there are commanders who will shoot at a building with a suspect in it even if there are civilians in the vicinity, while other commanders will act differently.”
“For our commanders, if we identified someone in our area of operation who was not part of our forces, we were told to shoot to kill,” said one soldier. “We were explicitly told that even if a suspect runs into a building with people in it, we should fire at the building and kill the terrorist, even if other people are hurt.”
One Israeli commander described to Haaretz “incidents in which civilians tried to reach areas they thought the army had left, possibly in the hope of finding food left behind.”
“When they went to such places, they were shot, perceived as people who could harm our forces,” the commander said.
“One reason why the Israeli government, media, the Biden administration, et al. have been trying to undermine the credibility of Gazan casualty figures is to deflect from the fact that the IDF’s own figures are almost certainly bullshit.”
The new reporting points to a recent example documented by Al Jazeera in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it attacked “a terrorist” who was allegedly behind a rocket attack on southern Israel.
“Ostensibly, this was another statistic in the roster of dead Hamas militants,” Haaretz reported. “However, over a week ago, other documentation of the incident surfaced on Al Jazeera. It showed four men, not one, walking together on a wide path, in civilian clothing. There is no one nearby, only the ruins of houses where people once lived. This apocalyptic silence in the Khan Younis area was shattered by a loud explosion. Two of the men were killed instantly. Two others were wounded and tried to continue walking. Perhaps they thought they had been saved, but seconds later, a bomb was dropped on one of them. You can then see the other one falling to his knees and then, a boom, fire, and smoke.”
A senior IDF officer told the Israeli newspaper that the individuals who unwittingly entered a kill zone “were unarmed” and “didn’t endanger our forces in the area in which they were walking.” It was also not clear they were involved in the rocket attack.
“It’s quite possible that Palestinians who never held a gun in their lives were elevated to the rank of ‘terrorist’ posthumously, at least by the IDF,” Haaretz noted. As one officer who served in Gaza told the newspaper, “In practice, a terrorist is anyone the IDF has killed in the areas in which its forces operate.”
Last week, Al Jazeera published video footage showing Israeli forces gunning down two unarmed Palestinians in northern Gaza, one of whom was waving a piece of white fabric. They are believed to have entered an Israeli “kill zone.”
.@ajimran on reports of 'kill zones' being operated by the IDF in Gaza – if unarmed Palestinian civilians enter these areas Israeli soldiers kill them and then label them as 'terrorists' to justify their murder. pic.twitter.com/XtQyXAAljU
Israeli forces have killed more than 32,600 people in Gaza since October 7, according to Gaza health officials. One human rights monitor recently estimated that 90% of those killed were civilians, contradicting the Israeli military’s estimate of the civilian-to-militant death ratio.
“One reason why the Israeli government, media, the Biden administration, et al. have been trying to undermine the credibility of Gazan casualty figures is to deflect from the fact that the IDF’s own figures are almost certainly bullshit,” foreign policy analyst Derek Davison wrote Sunday in response to the Haaretz story.
Brianna Rosen, a senior fellow at Just Security, argued that the “kind of indiscriminate killing” detailed in Haaretz‘s reporting “is illegal and falls far short of any gold standard for civilian harm.”
Hundreds of people gather in front of Radio City Music Hall to protest President Joe Biden’s support for Israel in New York City on March 28, 2024. (Photo: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We will continue to raise our voices of dissent until Palestinians are free,” said one activist with Jewish Voice for Peace.
Palestinian youth and descendants of Holocaust survivors were among those who protested a record-breaking fundraiser for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall late Thursday, repeatedly interrupting the glitzy event with shouts of opposition to Israel’s U.S.-backed war on Gaza.
“You are all complicit in genocide!” one activist yelled as security escorted her from the venue. As Biden spoke, another demonstrator shouted: “Palestinians are dying because of your actions… Blood is on your hands!”
The president said during his remarks that there have been “too many innocent victims, Israeli and Palestinian.”
“It’s understandable Israel has such a profound anger and Hamas is still there,” Biden said. “But we must, in fact, stop the effort that is resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians, particularly children.”
BREAKING: Palestinian youth, descendants of Holocaust survivors, doctors, and climate activists disrupt the biggest fundraiser in the history of the Democratic Party at NYC’s iconic Radio City Music Hall calling on @POTUS to Stop Arming Israel pic.twitter.com/qcIKOtxhbj
The disruption was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Palestinian Youth Movement, and other advocacy groups. JVP said some ticketholders were denied entry to the fundraiser. In recent weeks, the Biden campaign has worked to shield the president from Gaza-related protests by holding smaller rallies and carefully vetting attendees.
“We refused to be silenced,” Jay Saper of JVP said Thursday. “We will continue to raise our voices of dissent until Palestinians are free.”
In a statement late Thursday, the Biden campaign didn’t acknowledge the protests, calling the gathering of celebrities and high-profile Democratic figures—including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama—”the most successful political fundraising event in the history of American politics.”
The event raised a staggering $26 million for the incumbent president’s reelection bid against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, Biden’s campaign said. Ticket prices ranged from $225 to $500,000.
“More money got donors more intimate time with the presidents,” according toThe Associated Press. “A photo with all three was $100,000. A donation of $250,000 earned donors access to one reception, and $500,000 got them into an even more exclusive gathering.”
Outside the venue, Palestinian rights advocates marched in the streets to condemn Biden’s unwavering support for Israel’s military as it massacres and starves Gazans.
“Joe Biden has been enabling the genocide,” Jacob Sierra, a 27-year-old protest attendee, toldThe New York Times. Sierra said he is a registered Democrat and voted for Biden in 2020.
A Gallup poll released earlier this week showed that an overwhelming majority of Democratic voters, including young people and other key elements of the Democratic base, oppose Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip. The survey found that just 18% of Democratic voters currently approve of Israel’s war, down from 36% in November.
Scenes from Biden's fundraiser in NY.
This previews what will happen at the Democratic Convention in August.
While running on a platform of saving American democracy from Trump, Biden is tearing the Democratic party apart with his blind support for Israel's slaughter in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/u0w2JypBEF
Widespread outrage over Biden’s diplomatic and military support for Israel’s assault has sparked mounting concerns among some Democratic donors and activists.
Last week, more than 100 of them signed a letter warning that “because of the disillusionment of a critical portion of the Democratic coalition, the Gaza war is increasing the chances of a Trump victory.”
“We are asking the Biden administration immediately to change course,” the party donors and activists wrote. “Conditions need to be placed and monitored on any further military, financial, or diplomatic aid. All indiscriminate bombing and demolition must stop.”
This is yet to be finalised but looks as though it’s likely to happen. I’m hoping to bring you an audio podcast on 1 May – Mayday – at 7pm BST (GMT +1). It will be me and a prominent climate activist discussing the climate crisis and talking about a revolution. I expect to do a test run a week earlier to see that I have the podcast tech working properly.
3/4/24 9.05am. This intended podcast is now looking unlikely. I’m getting no response to emails after an initial encouraging response. I’m disappointed too.
4/4/24 8.15am. I am very pleased to announce an audio podcast featuring renowned climate activist Roger Hallam and myself on 1 May 2024 at 7pm BST (GMT +1).
The podcast is titled ‘Talking about a Revolution’ and to include addressing the following themes: What is a revolution – historically and in the 21st century?, that revolution means exiting the system and being in resistance to it, why that is necessary as we face social/eco collapse and concrete pathways to action at the present moment.
The podcast is likely to last at least 30 minutes. Roger has a reputation for sometimes being abrasive and I have been known to call a cnut a cnut so it is probably wise to accept that there may be some profanities. Further audio podcasts may follow.
