politics

Libyan politician to fight UK attempt to keep role in his rendition secret

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/libyan-politician-uk-role-rendition-secret

Lawyers for Abdel Hakim Belhaj to challenge government’s efforts to have his case thrown out or tried in secret

Image of Abdel Hakim Belhaj

Lawyers acting for a Libyan politician who accuses MI6 and the CIA of secretly sending him and his pregnant wife to be tortured by Muammar Gaddafi will on Monday fight a UK government attempt to prevent those responsible from being brought to justice.

Abdel Hakim Belhaj and his wife Fatima accuse the government, MI6 and the former foreign secretary Jack Straw of false imprisonment, conspiracy to cause injury, abuse of public office and negligence.

Belhaj’s abduction in 2004 with the help of MI6 came to light when documents were found in Tripoli after Gaddafi’s fall two years ago. They revealed that MI6’s Sir Mark Allen congratulated the Libyan intelligence chief Moussa Koussa on the safe arrival of the “air cargo”, and noted that “the intelligence [on Belhaj] was British”.

The government is expected to argue that the case should be thrown out because it would damage UK-US relations. It is also expected to argue the case is beyond British courts’ jurisdiction given the alleged unlawful acts took place with other states’ help, notably the US and Libya.

Government lawyers have indicated that if necessary they will seek to have the case heard in secret courts set up this year by the Justice and Security Act.

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How I disagree with Greg Dyke on Tony Bliar

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Image of Tony Blair and Ed MilibandInspired by this article about Greg Dyke on Tony Blair.

Tony Blair has been called “a shady figure” and a “very sad man” by former BBC director-general Greg Dyke.

In an explosive interview with the Financial Times, he also said the former Prime Minister had betrayed the very ethos of the Labour Party.

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In his 2004 autobiography, Inside Story, Mr Dyke, 66, condemned the former PM as “a man without real principle.”

He wrote: “He was either incompetent and took Britain to war on a misunderstanding or he lied.”

“We were all duped. What is really frightening is that Blair still doesn’t believe or understand that what he did was fundamentally wrong.”

Dyke is correct in stating that Tony Blair betrayed the very ethos of the Labour Party. That was intentional: Blair hijacked the Labour Party and used it to pursue his own NeoCon policies. I also agree that Blair is a man without real principle.

Dyke’s analysis of Blair over the dodgy dossier being “sexed up” is too simplistic and depends on an incorrect binary oposition when the truth is more complex.

We were not all misled (‘duped’). There were many people who appreciated Blair & Co fully well by then and realised that he would do anything to go to war. There were also whole sections of society – subcultures if you like – that were fully aware of Blair’s actions.

Similarly it’s not either he was incompetent and had made a mistake or he lied. He was and continues to be amoral, insane and a Neo-Conservative.

I’m not sure that he’s sad although I am certain that he’s insecure. That much is certain from the absolute nonsense peddled out at the time. It is clear that spin doctors massaged his ego repeatedly.

While there are suggestions that Blair provided boys to paedos at Selby Wright’s summer school that he helped organise, he is most definitely not the straight kinda guy he liked to portray.

Traitor Tony Blair receives the Congressional Gold Medal of Honour from George 'Dubya' Bush
Tony Blair receives the Congressional Gold Medal of Honour from George ‘Dubya’ Bush

Blair is a NeoCon through and through. That’s what drives him. That’s why – actually combined with not being … – he was so closely-coupled to Dubya Bush.

Image of Mutley getting a medalHe’s also absolutely barking mad – a part of that is being able to rationalise all of the atrocious things that he’s done.

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Lib Dem MPs targeted by campaign group over lobbying bill

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http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/20/lobbying-bill-liberal-democrats-targeted-campaign-group-38-degrees

Image of a rally against the lobbying bill in London on 8 October.

With the controversial lobbying bill having moved from the Commons to the Lords this month MPs might have hoped they would now be spared the protests of those worried the new law will curb the campaigning ability of charities and voluntary groups.

One organisation has redoubled its efforts, however, organising a rush of public meetings with Liberal Democrat MPs to remind them, it says, that their traditionally grassroots-based party should know better than to back such a measure.

The group, 38 Degrees, has set up 11 public meetings over little more than a week with MPs, 10 of them with Lib Dems and one with the Tory Chloe Smith, to demand continued attention over what is officially called the transparency of lobbying, non-party campaigning and trade union administration bill. Concentrating the MPs’ minds still further is the fact that several of them have distinctly slim majorities, several hovering around 1,000 and in the case of Simon Wright in Norwich South, a mere 310.

All the MPs at some point either supported or abstained on votes for the bill, which seeks to impose financial limits on spending “for election purposes”. A number of charities and campaign groups have warned this could affect even non-party political activities despite a series of amendments, said David Babbs, the executive director of 38 Degrees.

“We want to give the MPs a strong reminder that the lobbying bill threatens very popular institutions like charities and community groups, things that are generally held in much higher regard than they are, and their constituents will take a keen interest in how they voted on this,” he said. “Secondly, we want to remind MPs about what’s good about grassroots community campaigning, which this bill threatens to constrain. Most MPs at some point thought this stuff was important.”

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GPs condemn David Cameron’s open-all-hours surgery plans

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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/18/gps-condemn-cameron-surgeries-plan

Doctors say prime minister’s pledge is unachievable, as analysis shows only 1% of surgeries open all weekend

Image of Dr Clare Gerada
Dr Clare Gerada, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs said: ‘you do not find a solution by beating us around the head constantly, but by supporting and investing in us.’ Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

 

 

Senior doctors have condemned the prime minister’s pledge that GP surgeries will open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week as unrealistic and unachievable, as a Guardian analysis of existing opening times showed that just 1% of practices see patients on both weekend days and three-quarters are shut all weekend.

Only 100 (1%) of the 9,871 surgeries in England listed on the NHS Choices website are currently open for part of Saturday and part of Sunday, while overall just one in seven – 1,439 (14.6%) – open at all on a Saturday.

Those that are open offer access to a GP for on average only three hours and 25 minutes, far less than during an 8am to 6.30pm standard weekday. Three out of four (7,561 – 75.6%) surgeries are shut all weekend.

Even at surgeries that do see patients at the weekend, opening hours can be brief. Although four practices in Sheffield, Coventry, Wirral and King’s Lynn open for 14 hours on a Saturday, the Village Hall surgery in Nottingham is open for just 30 minutes that day. More than 30 others open for an hour or less.

The findings underline the scale of the task David Cameron faces in honouring his promise, which earned widespread media coverage when he announced it at the Tory conference. Millions who find it hard to see a GP at a suitable time would benefit from the dramatic extension of opening hours, he pledged: “We want to support GPs to modernise their services so they can see patients from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.”

But doctors’ leaders claim there are far too few GPs to staff such an expansion of opening times and the NHS is too cash-strapped to afford it. They have also questioned whether enough patients will want to see a GP outside normal weekday surgery hours, especially at weekends, to justify the move.

Family doctors’ organisations warn that a large majority of patients who visit surgeries during usual weekday opening hours could face longer waiting times and not be able to see their regular GP if ministers press ahead with the plan.

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Lords raise concerns with “rushed” Lobbying Bill

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http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/constitution-committee/news/lobbying-bill/

18 October 2013

The House of Lords Constitution Committee has today published its report on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill and has raised “significant concerns” about the content and handling of the bill.

The report comes ahead of the second reading of the bill in the Lords on 22 October. The report says that effective parliamentary scrutiny is of “manifest importance” for legislation of constitutional significance such as the bill, which regulates lobbying and sets rules on expenditure by persons or bodies other than political parties at elections.

The committee questions whether the significant lowering of the cap on expenditure at general elections by third parties is justified, given the fundamental constitutional right to freedom of political expression. The committee points to the lack of consultation by the Government on the proposals, including with the Electoral Commission, as well as the lack of clarity on how the changes will affect campaigning in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The committee raises questions about the narrow definition of lobbying in the bill, which excludes “in-house” lobbyists and covers only communications between professional consultant lobbyists and ministers or permanent secretaries. The committee encourages the House of Lords to consider whether this definition is appropriate.

Committee Chairman

Commenting, Baroness Jay of Paddington, chairman of the House of Lords Constitution Committee, said:

“The committee is concerned about the restrictions on the right to freedom of political expression that will result from the proposal to limit third-party expenditure at general elections. We think this constitutional right should only be interfered with where there is clear justification for doing so.

 

“We are also concerned that the lobbying bill will not achieve its objectives of increasing transparency and restoring public confidence. We have therefore recommended that the House of Lords considers whether the limited definition of lobbying in the bill, which excludes in-house public affairs work and covers only communication with ministers and permanent secretaries, will provide adequate transparency.

 

“We are critical of the hurried way in which this legislation has proceeded, which has resulted in a lack of consultation. Bills of constitutional importance such as this should not be rushed through Parliament.”

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