Rishi Sunak

Morning Star: Smearing protesters as a threat to MPs is an excuse to suppress democratic rights

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-smearing-protesters-threat-mps-excuse-suppress-democratic-rights

People take part in a Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally outside the Houses of Parliament, London, February 21, 2024

THE Prime Minister’s decision to frame the Speaker’s anti-democratic antics this week as “giving in to extremism” obscures reality.

Lindsay Hoyle’s claim he prioritised a Labour amendment over the SNP ceasefire motion because he was worried about MPs’ safety is a damage limitation bid.

But it chimes with ongoing Establishment propaganda painting peace demonstrators as extremists.

Every crisis of ruling-class legitimacy in recent years has prompted attacks on our democratic rights. Britain is racing towards an authoritarian future, with successive laws empowering police to make arrests on the vaguest grounds (such as causing a “nuisance”) and shut down protests before “disruption” even begins.

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Now the idea that protest leaves MPs unsafe is used to justify curtailing democratic processes in Parliament itself. Keir Starmer did not browbeat Lindsay Hoyle into trashing procedures because he was worried about MPs’ safety.

He was trying to avoid the embarrassment of a revolt exposing divisions in his party.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-smearing-protesters-threat-mps-excuse-suppress-democratic-rights

Stop the War Coalition statement on democracy and the right to protest

Continue ReadingMorning Star: Smearing protesters as a threat to MPs is an excuse to suppress democratic rights

Campaigners insist draconian limits on right to protest will be resisted

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-insist-draconian-limits-right-protest-resisted

PLANS for even more draconian limits on people’s right to protest — including outside Parliament — will be resisted, campaigners insisted today.

Government “violence adviser” Baron Walney, who was Labour MP John Woodcock before his elevation, has recommended that “threatening” protests outside Parliament, MPs’ offices and council buildings be banned and dispersed by police.

The clampdown adds to existing new limits on protests including for being “too noisy” or causing inconvenience.

The Stop the War Coalition pledged to mobilise against any new laws or regulations banning protests outside Parliament, and humanitarian campaign group Liberty condemned the proposals as “knee-jerk and deeply concerning.”

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Peaceful protests have been condemned by reactionary politicians and the media as “hate marches” and calls for Palestinians to have freedom “from the river to the sea” have been dubbed “anti-semitic.”

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Sam Grant, advocacy director at human rights campaign group Liberty, said: “When people care deeply about an issue, it’s natural for them to make their voices heard at the place where decisions are made.

“For centuries, protesting outside Parliament has been how people have campaigned for positive change in society, from the right to vote to equal marriage.

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“We’ve already seen a tightening on how people protest outside Parliament through the Policing Act 2022, and these plans could extend that much further.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-insist-draconian-limits-right-protest-resisted

Continue ReadingCampaigners insist draconian limits on right to protest will be resisted

UK energy bills could rise under government plans to fund nuclear

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https://www.politico.eu/article/energy-bills-rise-under-uk-government-plans-fund-nuclear/

A final investment for the plants is planned before the next election | Carl Court/Getty Images

LONDON — The U.K. government is mulling plans which would hike household energy bills to help pay for a new nuclear energy plant.

Ministers are considering tweaking the funding deal for Sizewell C, a proposed £20 billion nuclear plant in Suffolk, as they scramble to attract investors.

Under one proposal being looked at in Whitehall, the development would be part funded by electricity suppliers — and those firms “would be expected to pass these costs onto consumers through their electricity bills,” according to a consultation paper on the plans.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is set to publish its response to that consultation later this week, according to two industry figures granted anonymity to discuss the process.

Officials insist potential additional charges to consumers would be low. But any move leading to higher bills would be controversial during a cost-of-living crisis driven by two years of rising energy costs.

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https://www.politico.eu/article/energy-bills-rise-under-uk-government-plans-fund-nuclear/

Continue ReadingUK energy bills could rise under government plans to fund nuclear

Green protesters to be charged with criminal damage over demonstration at Rishi Sunak’s home

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https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/climate-activists-rishi-sunak-damage-home-b2499247.html

Three people are set to be charged over a protest at Rishi Sunak’s home (Danny Lawson/PA Wire)

Three people will be charged with criminal damage following a Greenpeace protest at Rishi Sunak’s home in North Yorkshire, prosecutors have said.

Mathieu Soete, 38, Amy Rugg-Easey, 33, and Alexandra Wilson, 32, will each be charged with one count of criminal damage over the protest last August in the prime minister’s Richmond constituency, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Mr Soete, of Hackney, and Ms Rugg-Easey and Ms Wilson, both from Shiremoor in North Tyneside, are due to appear at York Magistrates’ Court on 21 March, according to the CPS.

A fourth suspect is due to answer bail at a later date.

Activists were pictured last year atop the roof of Mr Sunak’s grade II-listed manor house in Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton, which they draped with oil-black fabric in protest over what they called a new fossil fuel drilling “frenzy”.

The prime minister was on holiday in California at the time of the demonstration.

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https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/climate-activists-rishi-sunak-damage-home-b2499247.html

Continue ReadingGreen protesters to be charged with criminal damage over demonstration at Rishi Sunak’s home

Embarrassment for GB News after their own poll shows 90% of voters choose to ‘rejoin the EU’

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/02/embarrassment-for-gb-news-after-their-own-poll-shows-90-of-voters-choose-to-rejoin-the-eu/

GB News won’t be happy…

GB News was left embarrassed after the right-wing channel’s own poll showed that an overwhelming majority of respondents want to rejoin the EU, not a result that the channel would’ve been happy with.

Over the weekend, eight years after Britain left the EU, GB News decided to carry out a poll to gauge public opinion on Brexit. They would’ve done well to remember that a number of polls over recent months have shown that a majority favour rejoining the EU, with the demand to reverse Brexit reaching is highest ever level in one poll.

However, GB News decided to put their poll behind a paywall, meaning that only paying readers could participate. Author Edwin Hayward then decided to tweet a link to the poll which bypassed the paywall, allowing others to join in on the voting.

With a wider sample now participating in the poll, the overwhelming majority of votes went to rejoin, with over 90% of voting to rejoin the EU.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/02/embarrassment-for-gb-news-after-their-own-poll-shows-90-of-voters-choose-to-rejoin-the-eu/

Continue ReadingEmbarrassment for GB News after their own poll shows 90% of voters choose to ‘rejoin the EU’