A new HMRC system used incomplete travel data at airports and ports and flagged up residents in the UK as suspected emigrants. Photograph: Robert Evans/Alamy
UK tax agency apologises after flagging people as having emigrated, often when they return via different routes
Parents who went from Liverpool to Amsterdam with their autistic children are among thousands who have had their child benefit wrongly stopped as part of a crackdown on benefit fraud, it has emerged.
It has now come to light that HMRC sent out letters questioning the residency of almost 35,000 of the 6.9m in receipt of child benefit across the UK.
Also among those whose benefits were frozen are a woman who went to France for five days after her husband died there; a Lithuanian man, living and paying taxes in England for 24 years, who was “caught” after he went on a five-day holiday with his son to Italy via Stansted airport; a family from Hove who flew in and out of Gatwick on a trip to Australia; and a woman who flew to Bristol from Belfast for her grandmother’s funeral but returned via Dublin airport.
HMRC apologised to the families and admitted it had sent letters to 0.5% of the 6.9m claimants with “payments suspended” while inquiries continued. It said it expected “the majority had been suspended correctly”.
Hanne Bosselaers on the “Conscience”. Source: People’s Health Movement
Physician Hanne Bosselaers, from Medics for the People (MPLP-GVHV) and the People’s Health Movement (PHM), was among dozens of health workers aboard the “Conscience” – one of the vessels that recently sailed to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza and draw attention to the targeting of medical and media workers during the genocide. People’s Health Dispatch spoke with Dr. Bosselaers about her experience following her kidnapping by Israeli occupation forces and about why continued mobilization, especially within the medical community, remains essential to the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
People’s Health Dispatch: Let’s begin with your experience on board the “Conscience”: what it was like to travel as part of that mission, and then to go through the violent interception and kidnapping by the Israeli occupation forces.
Hanne Bosselaers: It was a great honor to join the “Conscience”, a large ship with 92 participants. We were mainly medics and journalists because we wanted to emphasize that these are the two professions most targeted during the genocide in Gaza. We wanted to show solidarity with our colleagues there.
Almost all participants had direct links with people in Gaza through humanitarian work or Palestinian NGOs like Awda Association. Several doctors on board had worked in Gaza during the genocide, and many journalists were in touch with Palestinian citizen journalists and local news agencies. We wanted to reach Gaza to report and to offer medical assistance: that was the core message of the “Conscience”.
Normally, in any conflict, humanitarian workers and journalists have access to document conditions and preserve the right to health. Gaza is really an exception, with Israel’s illegal blockade preventing any such access. So we sailed this large ship together with eight smaller sailing boats from the Thousand Madleens mission. This was a second wave of boats, following the Global Sumud Flotilla, the 47 boats that left from Barcelona, Sicily, and Tunis at the end of August.
It was a very positive experience on board. We had a strong sense of team spirit. Life on a large ship had to be organized: we took turns at chores, cleaning, cooking, and doing safety drills several times a day. We were led by four experienced women from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, including Palestinian-American lawyer Huwaida Arraf, Vigdis Bjorvand, an activist from Norway who had previously sailed on the “Handala”, Zohar Regev a Palestinian-German activist, and Madeleine Habib from Australia, who steered the ship. These four women had all participated in earlier flotillas and prepared us very well. They knew what violent interception and imprisonment could look like because they had already experienced it, and they talked us through every step. Thanks to them, we were ready and united for what was ahead.
We kept our spirits high and held onto the hope of reaching Gaza. At one point, we had a call with my colleagues for Al-Awda. They told us: “This is exactly what we expect from you as Westerners, that you use your privilege to draw attention to our situation and to go as far as you can to reach us.” They deeply appreciated what we were doing.
I felt quite guilty not to make it to the shores of Gaza, but of course that was not in our hands. I think we did everything we could. The objectives of the flotillas were really met – the attention they drew, the participation of thousands, the local actions, the strikes in Italy, the massive demonstrations across many countries – all of this created significant pressure on Israel. I believe this helped bring about the ceasefire. Even if that ceasefire remains insufficient, it’s still a victory for the flotillas and the global movement that stood behind them.
PHD: You mentioned that the “Conscience” had a specific focus, its crew made up mostly of journalists and health workers. As a health worker, how did you experience the conditions during your imprisonment in Israel?
HB: In our case, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) boarded our ship very violently. They came with three helicopters and a large navy frigate. More than 30 armed soldiers stormed our ship against 90 unarmed journalists and medics. It was clearly a show of force. We were still 200 kilometers from the Israeli coast, about 15 hours of full steam sailing from the port of Ashdod. So the interception itself was completely illegal and disproportionate.
During the whole voyage to shore, we were held in a small, confined, and very hot space. Some participants were elderly, the oldest was Isaline Choury, an 83-year-old French woman, the niece of Danielle Casanova, who was a well-known member of the French Resistance. She was experienced but had health problems, and she wasn’t allowed access to her medication for the entire 15 hours. She had to beg just to go outside for a few minutes of fresh air, which was sometimes refused. So even before imprisonment, our treatment amounted to captivity.
Once in prison, it became worse. What we experienced is only a fraction of what Palestinians face, but it was still meant to humiliate. Guards insulted us all the time. They used minor physical violence on me and other women – twisting arms, pulling hair – not severe beatings, but completely unnecessary since no one resisted. You could really feel that this is a society built on hate, racism, and violence.
We were taken to Ktzi’ot prison, the largest in Israel, because between our group and the Global Sumud Flotilla, there were around 500 detainees. The prison itself looks like a concentration camp: massive concrete walls, five to ten meters high, reminding you of the wall in the West Bank, topped with barbed wire, and surrounded by an army of guards.
Access to medical care was extremely limited. You could request to see a medic, but they always made you wait. Some participants who depended on medication didn’t get it until their consular representatives managed to intervene, and sometimes they were only able to visit their citizens after hours of waiting, which is completely illegal. The prison authorities behave as if they are above the law and can do whatever they want.
If this is how they treat Europeans and US citizens, I don’t dare to imagine how Palestinians are treated. The food was scarce and very poor, and we didn’t receive bottled water, only tap water that looked brownish. Some people were isolated. We stayed for 48 hours, but if someone had to stay for months or years, the effects on both mental and physical health would be devastating.
PHD: You mentioned the psychological impact of imprisonment. Could you speak a bit more about what prolonged imprisonment means for Palestinians, what kind of mental health consequences it has, and how health workers like yourself react when hearing about the experiences of Palestinian political prisoners?
HB: They regularly use these tactics to break people mentally. Nothing is regular, nothing is certain. For Palestinians, this begins from the moment of arrest. They are often kidnapped – at work, at home, in the middle of the night – without trial or due process. There’s no chance to say goodbye to family members. Once they’re taken, everything becomes uncertain: the duration of detention, whether they’ll be charged, whether they’ll ever be released. The occupation authorities can prolong imprisonment whenever they want.
What they did with us, I imagine they do with Palestinians all the time: sleep deprivation, psychological manipulation. Every two hours the guards would bang on the door shouting: “You’re going home!” The first time we believed them, so we got up, went to the toilet, waited, but nothing happened. Two hours later, the same again. At this point we knew it was just about making us have less sleep. And when they finally came for real, we didn’t believe them anymore and stayed in bed until they shouted at us to get up. It’s a tactic to exhaust you, to destroy your sense of reality.
I actually had an exchange with the guard who made us enter our cell. She said: “Welcome to your new home. Welcome to hell.” I told her: “No, you are the one staying here. I’m going home soon. You’re the one trapped in this system of violence. I really pity you.” Because that’s what it is – industrial-scale violence.
Imagine the young Palestinians, some as young as fourteen, living under constant threat from these violent, vicious guards. You can see how this leads to psychosis, depression, and other severe mental disorders. There are already many reports documenting this.
To me as a health worker, it’s deeply concerning. We have to keep campaigning for the release of these people – these hostages, because that’s what they are. They’re not prisoners, they haven’t committed any crime, and they should not be in prison at all.
PHD: Before boarding the “Conscience”, you were also preparing to join the Global Sumud Flotilla with Aziz Rhali and James Smith, comrades from the People’s Health Movement. Why is it so important for health workers to take an active role in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine and to express solidarity? How does this connect to your mission as a health worker?
HB: I see a health worker as someone who defends the right to health for everyone, everywhere. And if you look at what has happened to health in Gaza, it’s the worst situation in the world. Every right related to health has been denied: the right to housing, to education, to clean water, food, and of course healthcare itself. These were the first targets of Israel’s attacks.
After October 7, several hospitals were bombed. But even before that, in every Israeli assault on Gaza, hospitals were hit and healthcare workers were targeted. The number of medical workers killed during the genocide is unprecedented: more than 1,500 have been killed, over 300 imprisoned, and many more injured while at work, inside hospitals. Patients have been killed in their hospital beds, and entire hospitals burned to the ground. It’s a genocidal strategy aimed at erasing the entire healthcare system.
Then there’s the blockade. No medicine, medical equipment, or supplies are allowed in. Even humanitarian workers face extreme restrictions. Only a few foreign health workers can enter, and when they do, they can’t bring medical materials, just a few kilograms of personal luggage and a small amount of money enough to sustain themselves, not to share with anyone else. These inhumane restrictions are illegal under international law. There is no other conflict where the destruction of health infrastructure reaches this scale. Of course, there are other very cruel conflicts – in Sudan, in the Congo – but there, at least some minimal humanitarian access and healthcare structures exist. Gaza is different. The healthcare sector has been a primary target.
And yet, when you look at the response of Palestinian health workers, it’s extraordinary. In Al-Awda, they continue to build and sustain field hospitals, expand capacity, and help their people. They’ve grown from 400 to over a thousand volunteers working in makeshift hospitals and camps. Their courage and resilience are deeply inspiring.
So as a defender of the right to health, standing with Palestine is not only a moral obligation, it’s also an act of professional solidarity. Palestinian health workers show us what it truly means to uphold dignity, even in completely inhuman conditions. They refuse to abandon their patients. They’ve said: “We will stay until the last unit of blood, until the last pill.”
These health workers are unique. They’re my greatest source of inspiration, and I feel honored to dedicate much of my activism to them. They deserve liberation, rights, and the full realization of the right to health for their entire people. For me, standing by them is not difficult, it’s the easiest and most natural thing to do.
PHD: It was really moving to see Dr. Ahmed Muhanna return to Al-Awda the other day, and to hear the speech he gave. It’s been impossible to ignore the incredible work Palestinian health workers have done over the past two years, it’s truly inspiring.
HB: Absolutely. That video made me cry with joy. Honestly, I had feared he wasn’t alive anymore, we hadn’t heard any news for such a long time. I wasn’t expecting to see him again. When I did, he looked physically exhausted, he’d lost so much weight, but the strength of his words, his spirit, was incredible. It was deeply inspiring.
PHD:At the same time, we see the mainstream media and much of the political establishment in Europe talking about Donald Trump’s so-called peace plan. But even in the first hours and days after it was announced, Israel violated the ceasefire. For health workers, for Palestinians, and for those standing in solidarity with them, the struggle clearly continues. As someone who has been involved in this movement for a long time, what do you see as the most important priorities for activists in Europe and around the world in the coming weeks?
HB: You’re right, Israel is already violating the ceasefire agreement. I asked this morning [October 17] whether any of the supplies that entered Gaza had actually reached people, and the answer was no. There has been no scaling up of humanitarian aid, and the crossings are still closed. So Israel is already violating the most important parts of the agreement.
On the other hand, the fact that Gaza still stands and that there are talks about reconstruction is itself a kind of victory. It may seem small, and the situation remains a massive violation of rights, still colonization, but we shouldn’t underestimate it. We can’t expect anything good from Netanyahu, Trump, or Blair, but their plan was to create a “Gaza Riviera,” to completely cleanse the Strip, and they failed. They didn’t manage to empty Gaza of its people, and that’s also because of the global movement, the resistance, and partly the flotillas, which showed that we would not let that happen.
Gaza will stay, and this is the moment to scale up mobilizations and to fight for Palestinians’ right to self-determination over their land and to lead their own reconstruction. There’s a big danger now that all kinds of colonial NGOs will move in and take control of reconstruction efforts. Yes, there will be funding from Arab countries and others, but this process must be led by Palestinians, according to their own priorities.
We want to listen to our partners there, the grassroots Palestinian NGOs and community groups who know best what their people need. They must lead decisions about what is rebuilt and how. So right now, direct solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and their organizations is absolutely essential. We’ll continue to speak about this, to show what they’re doing, and to raise support and mobilization in Belgium and across the world.
That’s also what we, as participants of the flotillas, agreed on: this ceasefire is not an end. It’s the beginning, a small but real moment of hope. And we need to nurture that hope and keep going.
PHD:You’ve already touched on what lies ahead, but maybe there’s more to add on how we can help ensure reconstruction and health justice?
HB: Yes, there’s an unimaginable amount of work to be done. Even just clearing the rubble and unexploded devices to make space for people to return to their land will be an enormous operation that takes a lot of time. But as I’ve said, this work must be in the hands of Palestinians. They are the ones best equipped to rebuild. They don’t need Western paternalism – and it’s Israel that must pay for what it destroyed.
That’s something we really need to fight for: accountability. You can’t just destroy the homes of two million people without any consequence. Israel must be held responsible and pay reparations for the devastation it caused. It hasn’t happened after previous assaults, but this time it must be part of the conversation within the solidarity movement. And of course there will be a need for international support, but we have to avoid a new wave of NGO colonialism. Organizations that stand in true solidarity with Palestinians should take the lead, not by flying in to “rebuild” or by constructing fancy projects nobody asked for, but by supporting Palestinians’ own initiatives and priorities. We can fund, assist, and advocate, but the leadership has to remain local.
So when we speak of health justice, it means full justice: ending Israel’s impunity and the ongoing violations of all rights. There can be no right to health under apartheid and occupation. We have to break both, or any talk of health in all Palestine will remain meaningless. Because we have to remember that the West Bank is also severely affected by settler colonial violence, home demolitions, and mass arrests. We often focus on Gaza, but we must not forget the daily displacement and repression in the West Bank. It’s all part of the same system.
PHD:Thank you, Hanne. Is there anything you’d like to add before we close?
HB: Just that the flotillas have been incredibly inspiring for people all over Europe. You could really feel how this collective effort awakened and motivated so many who had never been involved before. For Medics for the People (MPLP-GVHV), joining the “Conscience” was a collective decision. We felt it was important for our organization to take part directly, to build international connections and send a clear message of solidarity. And it worked: people in Belgium who had never thought much about Palestine suddenly started to care and to learn.
Interview slightly edited for length.
People’s Health Dispatchis a fortnightly bulletin published by thePeople’s Health Movementand Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and subscription to People’s Health Dispatch, clickhere.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
A flooded village in the low-lying island nation of Kiribati. The UN secretary general says Indigenous communities must be better represented at Cop climate summits. Photograph: Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty Images
Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30
Humanity has failed to limit global heating to 1.5C and must change course immediately, the secretary general of the UN has warned.
In his only interview before next month’s Cop30 climate summit, António Guterres acknowledged it is now “inevitable” that humanity will overshoot the target in the Paris climate agreement, with “devastating consequences” for the world.
He urged the leaders who will gather in the Brazilian rainforest city of Belém to realise that the longer they delay cutting emissions, the greater the danger of passing catastrophic “tipping points” in the Amazon, the Arctic and the oceans.
“Let’s recognise our failure,” he told the Guardian and Amazon-based news organisation Sumaúma. “The truth is that we have failed to avoid an overshooting above 1.5C in the next few years. And that going above 1.5C has devastating consequences. Some of these devastating consequences are tipping points, be it in the Amazon, be it in Greenland, or western Antarctica or the coral reefs.
A wildfire in an area of Brasília national park in 2024. Heads of government will meet in Brazil next week to discuss the climate crisis before the Cop30 summit in November. Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters
Recent plans submitted to UN by more than 60 countries would cut carbon by only 10%, a sixth of what is needed
Recently drafted climate plans from scores of countries fall drastically short of what is needed to stave off the worst effects of climate breakdown, analysis has shown.
More than 60 countries have so far submitted national plans on greenhouse gas emissions to the UN, setting out how they will curb carbon for the next decade.
Taken together, these plans would cut carbon by only about 10% by 2035 compared with 2019 levels. This is only about a sixth of the drop in global emissions needed to limit global heating to 1.5C.
Simon Stiell, the UN’s top climate official, said: “Countries are making progress and laying out clear stepping stones towards net zero emissions. We also know that change is not linear, and some countries have a history of overdelivering.”
But progress was not happening fast enough, he added. “We have a serious need for more speed and for helping countries take stronger climate actions. That acceleration must start now.”
The UN published its assessment of national plans – known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the 2015 Paris climate agreement – on Tuesday, but those of several significant countries were missing. China and the EU have yet to detail their NDCs, though they have made announcements indicating their emissions-cutting targets.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem [hamas.ps]
The Palestinian group Hamas said Thursday that it is entering a national dialogue with all Palestinian factions, Anadolu agency reported.
The announcement coincided with a meeting in Cairo between delegations from Hamas and Fatah, under Egyptian mediation, to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and the future of the enclave.
In an interview with Anadolu, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the movement is “heading into national dialogue with open hearts and extended hands to the Palestinian Authority and other national forces,” stressing that the authority “is one of the Palestinian institutions that cannot be bypassed.”
Qassem urged that the authorities “align with the prevailing national consensus in Gaza and come to the dialogue with an open mind,” recognizing that “this is a time for national unity and prioritising the national interest over narrow partisan interests.”
He warned that “the current period is dangerous not only for Hamas but for the entire Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.”
The Hamas spokesperson reaffirmed the movement’s full commitment to implementing the Gaza ceasefire agreement “in all its details,” urging mediators to pressure Israel to ensure compliance.
He said Hamas has been holding “around-the-clock discussions to complete the agreement and taking major field steps to implement what has been agreed upon.”
According to Qassem, Hamas received clear guarantees from Turkiye, Egypt, and Qatar, as well as direct assurances from the United States, that “the war has effectively ended” and that implementing the agreement’s terms “constitutes its full conclusion.”
He added that Hamas had completed the first phase of the agreement by handing over living captives and some remains and was working to deliver the rest.
Regarding the second phase, Qassem said it “requires further discussions and clarifications with mediators,” explaining that “this stage involves broad issues and complex matters that need detailed approaches.”
He stressed that Hamas’ central objective “is to reach a complete and lasting end to the war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
Qassem also said the movement continues to inform mediators of Israeli violations, noting that Israel has killed 90 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect and “still keeps the Rafah crossing closed, blocking sufficient aid.”
He accused Israel of using “humanitarian conditions as a political bargaining chip,” something Israel “has practiced for years under the Gaza blockade,” and called for urgent action to allow aid into the Strip and prevent renewed starvation.
The first phase of Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire deal was reached on 10 October.
Phase one includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.
Since October 2023, the Israeli genocidal war has killed over 68,200 people and injured more than 170,300, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
