Pro-Palestine protestors calling for an arms embargo on Israel have doused the Labour Party’s headquarters in red paint in a protest against the party’s stance on the war in Gaza.
Demonstrators from the Youth Demand group insisted both the government and official opposition should commit to preventing the supply of weapons to the country.
The group wrote on social media: “Labour has blood on their hands. They are complicit in the murder of Palestinians, and millions of people around the world, as they continue to drive genocide.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed 12 people had been arrested over the protest.
📢 Labour has blood on their hands. They are complicit in the murder of Palestinians, and millions of people around the world, as they continue to drive genocide.
“Wes Streeting says that if the NHS doesn’t change, it will die. But it is inadequate funding that has left our NHS in a poor state of health, not lack of reform.
“Between 2010 and 2019 the UK had a lower level of capital investment in health care and 18% lower average health spending than 14 EU countries.
“So to say that the public is paying a heavy price for failure is an insult to hard-working NHS staff, who are doing their level best despite being overworked and underpaid. It is the failure to invest adequately and pay staff properly that is at the root of dissatisfaction with the NHS.
“The public agrees. They don’t want endless reforms; neither do they share the Conservative or Labour appetite for creeping privatisation. They want the current model to work and to see the NHS available to everyone free of charge and primarily funded through taxes. A tax on the super-rich billionaires and multi-millionaires can provide the funds needed to fix our cherished NHS.
“The Green Party has never had any truck with the profit motive in health care and will continue to push for a fully publicly funded NHS.”
Demonstrators march through London, during an Al-Quds Day rally organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission in support of Palestinians, April 5, 2024
Campaigners call on government to halt complicity in war crimes
CAMPAIGNERS accused the British government of “flouting their own rules” by exporting arms when there’s a risk of them being used to commit war crimes.
Labour’s David Lammy urged Foreign Secretary David Cameron to face MPs in the House of Commons and address concerns about arms export licences directly.
In January, documents filed in High Court showed that Lord Cameron recommended British arms sales to Israel despite “serious concerns” in the Foreign Office that it had breached international law.
More than 600 lawyers have since signed a letter warning the government to suspend the sales, or risk breaking international humanitarian law.
Lord Cameron has been urged to reveal whether he has received legal advice on continuing the licences, amid warnings that he could be breaching the ministerial code by not publishing the advice if he received it.
A Palestinian man cries while holding a dead child who was found under the rubble of a destroyed building following Israeli air strikes in Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023
600 legal experts warn Sunak of Britain’s complicity in Gaza bloodshed
MINISTERS involved in arms exports to Israel could be criminally liable for war crimes, legal experts warned today.
More than 600 lawyers, including three former Supreme Court justices, have signed a letter telling Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that Britain risks breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel in its assault on Gaza.
It said that the International Court of Justice’s conclusion that there is a “plausible risk of genocide” oblige Britain to suspend the sales.
They called on the government to immediately halt arms exports given the clear risk that they might be used to commit serious violations “in breach of the UK’s domestic Strategic Export Licensing Criteria […] including its obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty.”
The letter said: “We recall that UK nationals responsible for aiding and abetting international crimes, as well as those committing them as primary perpetrators, are liable for prosecution in the UK pursuant to the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 and the International Criminal Court Act 2001.”
Response to Rishi Sunak’s extremism speech at Downing Street 1 March 2024. Second version of this image with text slightly altered. Zionist Keir Starmer supports Israel’s Gaza genocide.
England’s privatised water companies are an example of vulture capitalism
Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward.
England’s privatised water companies are an example of vulture capitalism unleashed by neoliberal obsession with privatisation of essential services. Its poster child, Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, wants a 40% price increase and guaranteed returns. Its investors based in China, Abu Dhabi, Canada and the Netherlands are holding the government, regulators and people to ransom by stating that unless their demands are met they won’t invest and let the business collapse. Any concession to Thames will enable other water companies and corporations to do the same. It is time to tackle vulture capitalism head-on, let Thames go bust and bring water back into public ownership.
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The industry was privatised in 1989 for a net price of £6.1bn, £7.5bn price minus a dowry of £1.5bn to give companies a debt free start. So far water companies have paid more than £75bn in dividends, and neglected investment. Customer bills have increased by over 350%, double the rate of inflation. Companies operate through complex opaque corporate structures and are adept at shifting profits to low/no tax jurisdiction. They pay little or no corporation tax. In 2023, sewage was dumped into rivers/seas for 3.6 million hours, compared to 1.75m hours in 2022. Some 3bn litres of water is lost every year due to leaks from a dilapidated infrastructure. No new reservoirs have been built since 1989.
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Privatisation has failed and water industry needs to be brought back into public ownership. However, acknowledging that privatisation has failed would be a bitter pill to swallow for the Conservative government. In an election year, the government will try to prolong the life of Thames Water. During his leadership campaign, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer promised to nationalise water, but has since reversed his position. A crisis looms for both parties.
Profiteering is the root cause of the crisis, and that can’t be addressed by handing the company to another profit seeking operator. The profit element needs to be removed and surpluses need to be ploughed back into building the infrastructure. Public ownership whether through a not-for-profit, a community owned, or a mutual organisation is the best way forward.
dizzy: 350% seems far more than double the rate of inflation so there may be an error there. I wonder if there is a case of criminal neglect here since water companies’ conduct affects pollution and health.
