https://www.waterstones.com/author/robert-cook/435753/page

May 15th 2024

Boil water warning after parasite found

SWW van with water supply at car park — Image caption, South West Water has been providing affected residents with bottled water

Chloe Parkman

BBC News, South West

Georgina Barnes

BBC News, South West

Published15 May 2024, 10:32 BST

Updated 3 hours ago

People across south Devon have been advised to boil their tap water as 22 cases of a diarrhoea-type illness have been confirmed.

A further 70 suspected cases are also being investigated.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the parasite, cryptosporidium, was “predominantly a waterborne disease”.

Infections can be caused by drinking contaminated water or swallowing it in swimming pools or streams.

South West Water (SWW) said the Hillhead reservoir and the wider Alston area was being investigated as a potential cause for the outbreak.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of Public Health in Torbay, said about 40,000 people get their tap water from the reservoir.

“In terms of people who have actually been affected we have to date 22 confirmed cases and about 70 to 100 people have contacted their GP with similar symptoms over the last few days.”

Queuing cars for free water from SWW — Image caption, South Devon residents have been queueing for bottled water from South West Water

SWW has urged residents across Brixham, Boohay, Kingswear, Roseland and north-east Paignton to boil their tap water.

Chris Rockey, from SWW, said people should boil water to drink, cook and clean their teeth within the affected areas.

He said the firm would continue to work with “health professionals and monitor the water” and that it had started its investigation after it was contacted by the UKHSA on Monday.

The company said data from tests on Tuesday showed treated water leaving its treatment works was not contaminated, but further tests overnight found small traces of cryptosporidium.

SWW said it was confident boiled water was safe and had issued the advice as a precaution.

Mr Rockey said he was unable to provide a timeframe for how long residents should continue to boil water.

He said further advice would be issued when the water supply had “returned to normal”.

Laura Flowerdew of South West Water — Image caption, Laura Flowerdew said SWW “should have said something different” on Tuesday

Laura Flowerdew, SWW chief customer officer, said it was a mistake for the company to tell people to keep using the water on Tuesday.

She said: “With the benefit of hindsight and additional sampling we’ve taken we do realise that now perhaps we should have said something different yesterday.

“However we operated at that point with the best intentions and using the sampling and the water quality monitoring that we had available to us, and we were working with the public health authorities as well.”

Ms Flowerdew said SWW was “working as fast as we can to make sure we are supporting customers” and that it would set up two additional water stations.

“We have people working throughout the night to try and understand and find the route cause of the problem – as soon as we’ve done that we will give further information to customers.”

‘Enormously frustrating’

Conservative MP for Totnes and South Devon, Anthony Mangnall, said: “It is enormously frustrating that South West Water weren’t quicker to respond at the first point at when this was reported.

“It started with an initial denial that it was anything to do with their network and of course they have now found the cryptosporidium is in their network and they are responding.

“Residents were quick to actually point out there was something wrong with the water, they could taste it, and now they are suffering.”

Mr Mangnall said: “What I want to see is for them to address the problem, fix it as quickly as possible and make sure the support for residents is there both now and into the future so they can have confidence in their drinking water.”

Mr Rockey said the increased number of people who were unwell in the Brixham area had led to the water company undertaking additional monitoring.

SWW said, external “small traces of the organism” were identified overnight and on Wednesday morning in the Hillhead section of its network.

It said: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will continue to keep customers and businesses updated.”

The firm said unboiled water could continue to be used for washing, bathing and toilet flushing.

What is cryptosporidium?

The parasite, also known as crypto, causes an illness or disease called cryptosporidiosis affecting people and some animals, the UKHSA says, external.

It can be found in the intestines and faeces of infected humans and animals and can contaminate lakes, rivers, swimming pools, untreated or poorly treated water and food.

Symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach pains, nausea or vomiting, low-grade fever and loss of appetite which can last up to two weeks.

The bug is most common in children aged between one and five and also those with weak immune systems.

The UKHSA says most people with healthy immune systems will recover within one month.

South West Water map urges Brixham residents to boil water

Comment Just another example of TURD WORLD BRITAIN. It is a pity Britain’s Government doesn’t put as much effort and money into sorting out this country as it does about Ukraine. It is a pity people put up with it. The sanctimonious U.K Mainstream Media cannot hide their glee regarding the current Georgia Riots due to CIA infiltration as a repeat of ‘The Velvet Revolution.’ But the same sense of enjoyment does not apply to similar anti government outbursts in the U.S , U.K and EU. The U.K Government has agreed to charge the £15 million London’s Thames Water needs to clean up all the sewage in the Thames and tributaries. PM Sunak has agreed that Thames Water’s shareholders and management bonuses must come first.

R J Cook

May 13th 2024

How will John Swinney navigate divisions over identity politics?

Lynsey Bews

Political correspondent

Identity politics have proven divisive in the SNP and across the Scottish Parliament. Navigating the issue is one of the major challenges facing Scotland’s new first minister.

Both of John Swinney’s predecessors, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, spent much political capital in this area.

Ms Sturgeon pursued controversial gender recognition reform legislation, and Mr Yousaf persevered with a subsequent legal challenge after the UK government blocked the new laws.

So far, Mr Swinney has been cautious, saying he will “wait and see” what the political landscape is like after the general election when it comes to pursuing gender recognition.

He has described the Cass review into gender identity services for children as a “significant piece of work” on a “complex area of policy” that should be taken seriously.

He says the Scottish government is committed to legislating on conversion therapy but must now reflect carefully on the responses to a recent consultation on the proposals.

Swinney remains committed to gender reform bill
- Published3 days ago
Scotland’s under-18s gender clinic pauses puberty blockers
- Published18 April
Cass Review author calls for ‘holistic’ gender care
- Published6 days ago

But there is one particularly ideologically and politically-loaded question that’s hard for today’s politicians to avoid giving a definitive answer.

Nicola Sturgeon previously refused to be drawn and Mr Swinney himself avoided answering it during his leadership campaign launch.

But asked on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme if a transwoman is a woman, Mr Swinney ventured: “I believe a woman is an adult female born as a woman, and I also accept that transgender women are defined as women.”

His response is unlikely to be satisfactory to either side of the debate – and, with his answer being described by some as confusing, it’s likely the FM will face further exploration of his views on this topic.

Eventually Mr Swinney will also have to spell out his government’s position on gender policies – and deal with the consequences.

He may hope that by then the general election will have been and gone – an event that marks another major challenge for his premiership.

That challenge is not just about delivering a strong election result in itself but also defining what that result means for the SNP’s core aim – Scottish independence.

His strategy is to demonstrate he can deliver a thriving Scottish economy and good public services as a means of convincing more Scots of the case for leaving the union.

But he’s also committed to the SNP’s policy that winning a majority of seat at the forthcoming election would be a mandate for another push on independence.

What happens if they don’t get that majority? The first minister won’t countenance that right now but it could have a considerable impact on his own future, as well as that of the independence movement.

Mr Swinney has already made it clear that economic growth is one of his top priorities – and a visit to the ground-breaking for the new Ardersier Port is very much on message.

The project exemplifies investment in the transition from oil and gas to renewables, with government funding boosting private investment.

In that Good Morning Scotland interview, Mr Swinney said: “I want to make sure that the power of government, which is very significant if aligned properly and aligned effectively, can deliver those approaches that are good and attractive for investors.”

The focus on growth may be music to the ears of the business community but questions remain over exactly how the first minister intends to alter the Scottish government’s current approach.

And the devil, as always, is in the detail. Setting that out is another of his major challenges.

Will he address concerns over business rates?

Will ministers look again at tax policy after the Scottish regime was described as “bewildering” by the entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter?

And will the current presumption against new oil and gas projects continue?

The answers to those questions remain unclear.

Kurdish man pays smuggler to return him to France after failed asylum claim

Omar left Kurdistan and paid a smuggler $15,000 (£12,000) to get him to Britain. He was there for 20 months, suffered a stroke, failed to gain asylum and ended up paying a smuggler £500 to get him out of Britain and back to this squalid camp in France.

Adam Parsons

Europe correspondent @adamparsons

https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.640.0_en.html#goog_995374095 Migrant paid a smuggler £500 to get him out of Britain and back to this squalid camp in France.

Why you can trust Sky News

We are rushing down the beach. In the gloom just before dawn, people are waiting by the seashore, a few hundred metres away.

We can see a dinghy out at sea. And then a voice rings out, in Kurdish.

“Whose passengers are you?”

In the half-light, the people smuggler thinks we are customers here to clamber on to the boat, and wants to know who we had paid.

We tell him we’re journalists.

“Keep out of the way,” he warns.

There are several dozen people gathered together, standing on the shoreline, moving anxiously from side to side.

Migrants wait for a dinghy as they prepare to cross the Channel to reach the UK. — Image: Migrants wait for a dinghy as they prepare to cross the Channel to reach the UK

I can see some women and children, but most of the passengers are men.

Some are clinging to a bag of possessions; others have nothing but the clothes they stand in. A man has his child held up on his shoulders.

Just about everyone is wearing a life jacket.

Just beyond, the boat is coming near the shore, already half full of people.

It seems impossible that all the people on the land can really fit into the space left in the boat, but that’s what happens.

On a signal, the movement starts – the younger men clamber in first, and then help the women, children and older people to get into the boat.

It all happens remarkably quickly. From a distance, migrant boats may look ramshackle and chaotic, but when you get up close, there is method and practice.

Some people jump off; the men who didn’t have life jackets on.

It becomes clear that these are the smugglers – or, more accurately, the smugglers’ assistants who have been sent to sort things out.

On one side, we see a moment of tension as two passengers square up – one accuses the other of not leaving a space for him to get aboard.

A shoe left in the sand after migrants cross the Channel for the UK — Image: A shoe left in the sand following the attempted crossing

It is a faintly ridiculous squabble, like something between two drunk men in a pub, and it blows over. They end up sitting next to each other, brooding.

And then the engine is started and the boat sets off. At first, it’s a failure – the boat, low in the water with around 70 people on board, gets stuck on a small bar of sand and spins around.

But, with a push here and there, it gets going and slowly chugs away into the mist of the morning.

‘Migrants are desperate’

We turn around. The smugglers are leaving. We shout a question – are all these people Kurds?

“All of them,” he says. “These are the last Kurdish customers I have. There are no more.”

“Why not?”

And his answer is one succinct word: “Rwanda.”

The smugglers, dressed in black, disappear into the gloom.

We can just about see them clambering into the dunes, and then they are gone. It is a good ten minutes before we see the police – four officers marching down the beach.

They ask only two questions – firstly, did we see women and children on the boat (yes) and secondly, had the boat been launched from the beach (no).

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They’d only just started their patrol, one of the officers tells me. He looks at the calm waters and shrugs. It could be busy.

Over the course of that night, we had seen plenty of police officers. We’d been questioned on the beach, checked as we walked near the beach and then pulled over at a road block.

We’d chatted with a team of CRS riot officers on the beach, one of whom bemoaned the fact that so few people grasped the sheer complexity of what they took on.

“It is so, so complicated – the migrants are desperate, and they can get everywhere. We cannot have a team in every place, at every time.”

It turned out that the road block officers were exactly the same team who we’d met on a different beach the previous evening.

“Ah, Sky News you are back,” he said, with a smile and a handshake.

‘I cannot go to Rwanda’

We meet two young Sudanese men who tell us they are determined to get to Britain. When I ask if they’re worried about the Rwanda plan, they look blank. They’ve never heard of it.

And then we drop into a migrant camp that is growing in size and bump into another group of Kurds.

They are cooking food – this is the cafe for the migrants – and brewing tea that is strong, and scented with cinnamon.

They give me a cup. It’s delicious.

Omar is kneading dough, making crispy flatbread, and serving it with yoghurt. And he talks as he cooks, serving a remarkable story.

A migrant camp in France that is growing in size, with people who want to cross the Channel to the UK. — Image: At a migrant camp in France that is growing in size, people kneed bread

Two years ago, Omar left Kurdistan and paid a smuggler $15,000 (£12,000) to get him to Britain. He was there for 20 months, suffered a stroke, failed to gain asylum and ended up paying a smuggler £500 to get him out of Britain and back to this squalid camp in France.

Yes, you read that correctly. He paid to be smuggled out of Britain, and back to France.

“Here there is no washing or bath,” he says.

“You can’t clean yourself. Life is hard. But in Britain I had to give my fingerprints and signature regularly. Once every two weeks.

Omar left Kurdistan and paid a smuggler $15,000 (£12,000) to get him to Britain. He was there for 20 months, suffered a stroke, failed to gain asylum and ended up paying a smuggler £500 to get him out of Britain and back to this squalid camp in France. Here he is speaking to Sky News's Europe correspondent Adam Parsons. — Image: Omar, who paid to be smuggled out of the UK after a failed asylum claim, speaks to Adam Parsons

“Then I was told they had turned me down for asylum. I couldn’t cope with Britain anymore.

“They could arrest me and send me to Rwanda or Iraq. Rwanda – I cannot go there.

“So that’s why I came back here, to this place. But I have no money. I am 52 years old. It’s a terrible feeling to be back here, but what can I do?”

Listening to him is Barzan, who arrived in the camp five days ago after eight months on the road since leaving Kurdistan.

May 7th 2024

Queen Elizabeth II Ruled Too Long

***British Monarchy are no laughing matter.***

As much of Britain and the world waits on baited breath over King Charles’s cancer treatment, it is only natural that many look back to his mother’s time on the throne with a mixture of nostalgia and regret. It was Queen Elizabeth II’s unchanging nature, epitomized by her unbending adherence to the royals’ unofficial motto of “Never complain, never explain” that made her a constant fixture in the lives of millions of Brits and billions more around the globe. When she died in 2022, nobody under the age of 70 had known another British monarch; few younger than her son could remember George VI, let alone the ill-fated Edward VIII or George V.

For all intents and purposes, Elizabeth II was the British monarchy. But her reign—longer than any other British monarch in history—has set the stage for much of the predicament the royal family finds itself in today. Queen Elizabeth II has for years been by far the most popular British royal, a fact that remains true even now.

There are good reasons for this. She served as an unmistakable bridge between the last days of the British empire, which she was born into, and today’s era of instant technology. When she became Queen, communication by telegram was common; when she died, the Telegram app was in equally frequent usage. It is hard, if not impossible, to think of any comparable figure who exerted such influence—however symbolic it was—over such a period of immense transformation.

Outside of Britain, the Queen played a central role in building the soft power of the country throughout the second half of the 20th century. When, after the post-war years of austerity and misery, the country established itself once again in the 1960s as a world power to be reckoned with, thanks to the dual strengths of the canny Prime Minister Harold Wilson and the telegenic young Queen. Wilson’s virtues were political; Elizabeth’s those of being able to temper regality with apparent accessibility.

The late Queen undoubtedly had her flaws. She was not a woman of any artistic or intellectual interests (unlike her unfairly maligned husband), and was happiest when spending time with her corgi. She could be a poor judge of character; her open preference for her second son, the now-disgraced Prince Andrew, and continued loyalty to him was testament to that. And she could be slow at reading the public mood, too. She notoriously took days to publicly address the death of Princess Diana in 1997. She was by all accounts reluctant to do so even then, feeling that she had been bounced into doing so by then Prime Minister Tony Blair. And she could justly be criticized for sticking to conservatism rather than considering the idea of progress when it came to the monarchy; by the end of her reign, it was still recognizably the same institution, battered and shop-soiled but intact, that she had inherited, much to her shock and surprise, while in Kenya on Feb. 6, 1952.

Yet the Queen’s greatest flaw was one that she had no control over, and that was that she set an impossibly high expectation of what monarchy should be that her successors could never hope to live up to. Queen Victoria did much the same, dying in 1901 after nearly 64 years on the throne, and allowing four subsequent monarchs to flounder in her wake —from her son Edward “Dirty Bertie” VII to George VI. Only Queen Elizabeth II was able, half a century later, to wipe away memories of her great-great grandmother’s reign, by doing as little as she could to upset the monarchical applecart. (She never exercised a single meaningful veto throughout her reign.) There was much sentimental talk, especially late on, about “the new Elizabethan age.” But what her reign more closely resembled was a second Victorian age, even as British expansionism and concomitant exceptionalism was replaced by a slow, managed decline into a middling power.

None of this was the late Queen’s fault. She did everything that could be expected from her, sometimes even more. So many hands shaken, so many ribbons cut, so many “Have you come far?” enquiries. She—or at least those around her—had an undeniable knack for finding the appropriate phrase on public occasions. Her dismissal of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s accusations of royal racism after their Oprah Winfrey interview with “recollections may vary” appeared to end any serious threat to the monarchy. Her promise during COVID-19 that “we will meet again” comforted many at a time when hysteria and uncertainty dominated. She may, or may not, have enjoyed her portrayal in The Crownas an ingénue-turned-battleaxe.

But one thing that her lifelong belief in duty would never have allowed was to quit. Recollections of those dread days in late 1936 never disappeared, when her uncle Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor, abdicated the throne to marry the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson—passing the crown over to her father. Her decision to remain Queen until the last possible moment, frail but still shaking hands with the disastrous Prime Minister Liz Truss, was personally commendable but has left Charles III with the impossible task of inheriting a legacy too large for anyone to bear.

It’s interesting to wonder what would have happened had King Charles III inherited the throne years or decades earlier. A younger Charles would perhaps have been a more energetic, at times even interventionist monarch. Instead, Charles assumed the throne at 73, and will likely be remembered by posterity as a warm-up man in reverse, whether he reigns for two years or 20 more.

The world, or at least the parts of the world that still care about the British monarchy, may be be forced to look at the 41-year-old Prince William to revitalize the institution whenever he takes over. Yet a man who has no interest in the religious faith that he will be defender of, who has been beset by scurrilous rumors including adultery, and whose attitude toward the Commonwealth seems to be that it’s best wound up without delay is hardly the steady and dutiful custodian of the throne that his grandmother was.

Shakespeare’s Henry IV once described the crown as “troublesome,” and said that “it seem’d in me/But as an honor snatch’d with boisterous hand.” Elizabeth II dealt with the honor in rather more sober fashion, and succeeded, but she left an impossible inheritance in the process. And that, surely, is her lasting legacy: setting a standard that nobody else could live up to.

Success of UK rail drivers struggle means challenging ASLEF’s betrayal with fight for rank-and-file committees

The strikes testify to the determination of the drivers to oppose the erosion of their pay and conditions. But after almost two years, they also demonstrate the abject failure of Aslef’s leadership.

***Britain is among the most corrupt and hypocritical countries in the world.***

For rejecting the Communication Workers Union’s sell out of the dispute involving all postal workers, Fleet members have been left hung out to dry for the best part of a year.

Read more

May 6th 2024

Voter turnout was 40.5% for London mayoral election

The New Left Liberal Guardian reported :

Sadiq Khan’s election victory as London mayor has “bucked the trend” of Muslim voters turning away from Labour over the party’s stance on the war in Gaza, party figures said.

The 53-year-old won a third term as the capital’s mayor on Saturday, without seeming to have lost the support of large numbers of Muslim voters – unlike Labour candidates elsewhere in England last week.

But Labour candidates elsewhere in England last week saw a significant loss of Muslim voters. Richard Parker became West Midlands mayor after a knife-edge contest with Andy Street, but it would have been much easier for the Labour man had substantial numbers of voters not backed an independent candidate whose campaign focused on Gaza.

Labour’s Sadiq Khan secured just over 1,088,000 (43.8%) votes to be re-elected London Mayor, a majority of some 275,000 over Conservative rival Susan Hall, who secured just under 813,000 (32.7%) votes.

Under the GLA Act, the Mayor and Members set their own levels of pay, resettlement grant and pension benefits. This is done within a framework the Mayor and Assembly agreed following a review by the independent Review Body on Senior Salaries. The Mayor’s salary is £154,963.

Salaries, expenses, benefits and workforce information | London City …

The mayor’s main functions are: Strategic planning, including housing, waste management, the environment and production of the London Plan. Refuse or permit planning permission on strategic grounds. Transport policy, delivered by functional body Transport for London.

London mayor election: How Sadiq Khan won over London for the third time

By Tim Donovan

Political Editor, BBC London

For Sadiq Khan the worst fears did not materialise.

His record third mayoral victory came after the threat of a Tory surge in the suburbs simply evaporated. Mr Khan’s winning margin was 275,000 votes and his 44% share equalled what he achieved in 2016.

Yet there was bitterness in his victory speech, condemning the “non-stop negativity” of his Tory opponent. The campaign appears to have taken its toll.

In a contest criticised by some London media as lacklustre and without energy, Mr Khan’s safety-first strategy prevailed.

His promise of a “safer, fairer and greener” capital brought out his own supporters and also looks to have succeeded in persuading Green and Liberal Democrat voters to “lend” their support to him in the mayoralty while voting for their natural choices for the London Assembly.

This was evident in south-west London where the Lib Dems won their first ever constituency Assembly seat – but Mr Khan comfortably out-polled Ms Hall.

Graph showing the Mayor of London victory for Sadiq Khan

There was relief in the Labour camp after a campaign where it did not appear easy for Mr Khan to defend his record.

Official figures published a week from polling day showed knife crime offences in the capital up 20% in the last year. Over eight years the increase was greater still.

Then 48 hours before polling day, there was widespread shock and revulsion at the death of 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin – killed in a sword attack in Hainault.

Some thought it might have an impact on the election.

Among other pledges Mr Khan offered a fresh commitment to build 40,000 new council homes by the end of the decade – note, not the end of the next four-year mayoral term.

There was a big price tag attached to his central “retail” offer.

The government already funds free school lunches for the majority of primary school pupils but Mr Khan’s extension of this to seven-to-11-year-olds not currently entitled for the next four years will cost well over £1bn.

Sadiq Khan during a visit to a school in Stoke Newington with Ed Milliband

Sadiq Khan’s pledge to continue free school lunches for older primary school children for four more years will cost more than £500m

He also decided to freeze many transport fares this year, though with no guarantee beyond that. Voters apparently rejected his opponents’ attempts to present this as an irresponsible pre-election gimmick.

Mr Khan’s victory shows he successfully navigated the biggest controversy of his mayoralty so far – charging the motorists of polluting vehicles through the expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to cover all of the London boroughs.

In the anti-Ulez heartland of Bexley and Bromley, Ms Hall’s attempt to gain ground were thwarted by nearly 10,000 votes won by Reform UK’s Howard Cox.

A year ago, the mayor published a book heralding his focus on the environment and cleaning up London’s air.

Attending last year’s UN climate conference in New York he claimed to be “educating” people and taking them with him on the journey to Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Ulez sign in London — Image caption, Previously, Sadiq Khan called the Ulez expansion “necessary and effective” for London

It looked then as if tackling traffic congestion, air quality and climate change might form the centrepiece of a radical vision of a third term. That seemed clearly to be what he had hoped would be his legacy.

Then the brakes were applied after the dramatic loss of political capital he had experienced over the Ulez expansion.

That was something his own independent experts advised would not shift the dial in terms of improving air quality, and it enraged sections of outer London and led to Labour’s failure to win the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election last July.

That setback was not repeated when Londoners were asked to choose this time.

Environmental groups heralded Mr Khan’s win as a victory for clean air. However, he may now be hamstrung by the limited pledges he ended up making.

In his book he talked about pursuing a new system of road-user charging which would take into account the distance, time and emissions of journeys.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68959313

Sex Change U.K High Priority

Obvious;y U.K Women are devilishly atrractive. Men will do anything to rape and assault them – even voluntary castration,growng breasts and wearing silly clothes.. That is why it is so important to have ever more women in Parlaiment and Government to protect their interests with more and more laws. Good show Rishi Sunak and the Tories. You know what the nation needs right now. Labour will have every encouragement to out perform you so get your thinking caps on and put white working class men in their place for the good of all women.
***R J Cook***

It took female MPs from both parties to change Starmer’s …The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com › commentisfree › aug

13 Aug 2023 — We are all very familiar with the debate about sex-based rights and transgender equality. We know its roars, culture wars and bitter …

A senior Labour MP has been accused of ‘toxic’, ‘evil’ and ‘ …Mumsnethttps://www.mumsnet.com › talk › womens_rights › 49…

2 Jan 2024 — A senior Labour MP has been accused of ‘toxic’, ‘evil’ and ‘hateful’ transphobia – simply for daring to speak out in favour of women’s rights.

Green Feminists Women and Girls Declaration Submission …UK Parliamenthttps://committees.parliament.uk › writtenevidence › html

We urge the committee to be aware of the possible impacts of conflating the terms ‘sex’, ‘gender’ and ‘gender identity’ and we hope you will resist requests of …

Rayner stands by trans charter that attacked feminist ‘hate …The Telegraphhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk › news › 2024/04/11 › ang…

11 Apr 2024 — Angela Rayner has declined to apologise for endorsing a charter describing feminist organisations that raised fears about the treatment of trans …

Rosie Duffield: What has the Labour MP said about trans …PinkNewshttps://www.thepinknews.com › 2023/08/18 › rosie-duf…

18 Aug 2023 — Despite Rosie Duffield’s transgender stance, the politician has continuously claimed that she supports LGBTQ+ rights and that she has fought.

Impacts of Transactivism on the Human Rights of Women …Northern Territory Legislative Assemblyhttps://parliament.nt.gov.au › assets › pdf_file

PDF

This paper will explore some of the reasons for feminist concerns and opposition to conflating sex and gender, by considering the impacts of these changes to …

35 pages

Is Regressive Feminism a thing? : r/AskFeministsReddit · r/AskFeminists10+ comments · 4 years ago

Just FWI, I’m a cis male who identifies as a feminist. So one thing I’ve noticed with a few articles that claim to be feminist tend to …

Is modern feminism regressive? : r/AskFeminists – Reddit

15 Jul 2018

Tradition over regressive trends : r/Feminism – Reddit

18 Mar 2023

Is vocal fry regressive? : r/Feminism – Reddit

8 Feb 2024

anyone else notice that regressive sexist things are being …

What are the 4 principles of feminism?

Feminist Theory | Overview, Types & Importance - Lesson ...

Most feminists agree on five basic principles—working to increase equality, expanding human choice, eliminating gender stratification, ending sexual violence, and promoting sexual freedom.

Comment

If feminists want to expand human choice why are they anti trans ? What about female violence against men ? Oh, I forgot, that only happens in self defence and women never lie.

Trans teaching in schools, especially of the majority mtf, needs to put teenage trans girl Brianna Ghey and the toxic fascist femninism that did so much to motivate the two feral youths, a boy led by a very sick evil girl, on the curriculum. U.K Tories have now joined forced with feminism to step up the trans suspicion and hate crimes.

Parents need a say in what is happening to boys mainly from single parent female led families who grow up hating their own sex and fetishistic worshipping some abstract ideal of women and their clothing. Ironically fascist feminsim has created this nightmare trans world. They need it as fodder feeding their hatred of and obsession with controlling males of all ages who do not submit to their cause. I have explained this process perfectly well in my novel, published in 2003, ‘Man Maid Woman’ which has sold worldwide.

Men need to be more realistic and gender aware before more young, mainly white young males take the guilt trip road to what is euphemistically called sex change because toxic feminism teaches them guilt and hatred of their own genitals. The way things are going now in the U.K, transsexuals are going to become part of an isolated group and freak show.

R J Cook

R.J. CookAddALL book search and price comparisonhttps://www.addall.com › author

Man, Maid, Woman. Author: R.J. Cook. ISBN: 1904408044. ISBN13: 9781904408048. Binding: Paperback List Price: $11.99. Publisher: Bank House Books Published Date: …

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R. J. Cook

Man, Maid, Woman Paperback – January 15, 2003

by Rj Cook (Author)

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Achild from the 1950s, George Hills is beaten often, at home and school. With only his disillusioned mother to protect him, the boy learns to live with humiliation, coming to reject everything masculine or violent. George’s gradual release begins with the death of his father and the freedom to explore his feminine feelings. Escape into the gender-bending, protesting, drug-taking world of 1970s student life exposes him to conflict when he falls for the girl that he’d really like to be. Sister Lizzie had been daddy’s favourite. Without his affection, she is lost, pursuing her own escape in a world of boys, trapped by teenage pregnancy which leads her to years of abuse. The story is told by the voices of the three Hills family members, who have always been divided. The mother’s secrets must be given up before they can all find real freedom. As a student, George had read ‘Freedom is the recognition of necessity’ daubed upon a University of East Anglia walkway. Before he can be free he must face up to his sense of failure. While mourning his lost girlfriend, he realises what he has known for years. The story moves against the background of years from the 1930s until the watershed of 1979, when these old working class ways and hardships were supposedly washed away by the dawn of Thatcherism and a new beginning. Son of a former soldier and lorry driver, who died when his son was eleven, R.J. COOK graduated from the University of East Anglia and Goldsmiths College, London, experiencing the ‘gender bending, protesting, drug taking years’ first-hand. His varied working life has included such diverse employers as the Nitrate Corporation of Chile and the British Civil Service. Work as a stand-up comedian and female-impersonator has further enhanced his perspective in creating this fascinating novel.

R J Cook

What is the paradox of feminism?

The feminist movement aims to improve the conditions for women, yet only a minority of women in modern societies identify as feminists. This is known as the paradox of feminism.

New restaurants, public toilets, shopping centres and offices in England will be required to have separate male and female toilets under proposed legislation, the government has said.

The law will affect new non-residential buildings as part of a push “ending the rise” of gender-neutral toilets, Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said.

A consultation highlighted concerns from women, elderly and disabled people who felt “unfairly disadvantaged” by toilets being converted into gender neutral facilities sharing cubicles and sinks, the government said.

But transgender rights groups argue gender-neutral toilets can protect trans people from discrimination.

The rights groups say that, along with other people who do not conform to the gender binary, trans people can face intrusive challenges when using male or female toilets.

The government hopes to present the long-talked about legislation to Parliament in the next few weeks and, if approved, have it in force later this year.

The change to building regulations will also allow contained, universal toilets in addition to single-sex toilets where space allows, or instead of single-sex toilets where there is not enough space.

A universal toilet is defined by the government as a self-contained room with a toilet and sink for individual use.

The government said gender neutral toilets were leading to increasing waiting in shared queues and less privacy and dignity.

“These regulations will guide organisations to design unisex and single-sex toilets, ending the rise of so-called gender-neutral mixed sex toilet spaces, which deny privacy and dignity to both men and women, ” Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said.

“Today’s announcement will also create better provision for women so that our particular biological, health and sanitary needs are met.”

When asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain if gender-neutral toilets would persuade people to vote Conservative following poor local election results, Women’s Health Minister Maria Caulfield insisted: “This is an important issue for women.”

The new legislation will also apply to buildings going through major refurbishment. Exemptions include care homes, cells in custody suites and schools.

A consultation, which received 17,000 responses, found 81% agreed with the intention for separate single-sex toilet facilities and 82% agreed with the intention to provide universal toilets where space allows.

Mermaids, a transgender youth support charity, said in response to the government proposals: “In order to ensure everyone is served fairly and that everyone can feel comfortable using public toilet facilities, not only are gender-specific facilities in which trans people can feel safe in using vital, but gender-neutral facilities are also greatly necessary to ensure non-binary people’s experiences with toilet facilities are one of comfort.”

Last week the government also announced proposals to ensure hospital patients in England have the right to request treatment on single-sex wards, with transgender people placed in rooms on their own.

Patients will also have the right to request a person of the same biological sex delivers any intimate care.

No-one can forget Mikey’s stabbing at a party, even those who never knew him

Jon Kelly

BBC News

Sharon Gray never got to know Mikey, not while he was alive. But she still thinks about what happened to him before she goes to sleep at night. And when she wakes in the morning.

She had gone to bed when her daughter came into the room and told her someone had been stabbed. Sharon, 49, ran outside. A boy was unconscious on the tarmac, surrounded by a crowd of teenagers. One of them told her his name.

“I’m trying to help you, Mikey,” Sharon recalls telling him as she and another neighbour performed chest compressions. “You’re not on your own.”

On the lenses of her glasses, she says, she could see the reflection of an ambulance arriving. Then, she remembers someone putting a green bag down beside her. She says her memory has blocked out what happened next.

***Mikey’s death deeply affected Sharon Gray, who tried to save him***

The boy she had attempted to save was Mikey Roynon, a popular 16-year-old from Kingswood, near Bristol. Mikey was a livewire, according to his family – he loved music and riding his scooter, and he hated to disappoint his mum. On 10 June 2023, at a house party in Sharon’s road on the outskirts of Bath, he was killed by a single 9.5cm (3.7in) stab wound to the neck from a zombie knife.

Shane Cunningham, 16, was found guilty of Mikey’s murder and detained for life. Two other 16-year-olds – Cartel Bushnell and Leo Knight, who were 15 at the time of the stabbing – were found guilty of manslaughter. Last Friday, the judge, Mr Justice Saini, lifted an order granting them anonymity. Bristol Crown Court was told all three had drawn knives in what the judge described as “a group attack”.

This was one death among many. The latest police figures for England and Wales show that 247 people lost their lives as a result of knife crime from July 2022 to June 2023.

Mikey’s killing was devastating for his family, friends and all those who loved him. And as with every murder, the ripples of trauma extended much further. There was a profound impact, too, on many others – neighbours like Sharon, police officers, medics – who had never crossed his path before his stabbing.

He remained popular as a teenager, too, says his cousin Sophie McCallum, 21: “Everyone looked up to Mikey,” she says. “Any type of situation, he’d always lift the mood.”

Mikey had a part-time job helping out at a family friend’s rubbish clearance and demolition company, which he loved. “He was a hard grafter, a hard worker,” says Hayley. His enthusiasm for music developed into a passion for drill. He recorded his own tracks, rapping in his strong Bristolian accent. A track he had released, Oh Dear, had gone viral online.

Hayley didn’t like certain things about the drill scene – the balaclavas rappers would mask their faces with, the violent lyrics. But Mikey was good at rapping, and Hayley reasoned that if she banned him from doing it, he would just want to do it more; it was better they could be open with each other. Mikey would reassure her. “He’d say: ‘It’s just words, Mum.'”

More thunderstorms to hit UK as warnings issued

Several people are caught in heavy rain as they cross The Millennium Bridge over the river Thames in London. — ***The Met Office has warned that 1.5 inches of rain could fall in about two hours***

Tom McArthur

BBC News

Thunderstorm warnings covering large parts of England, Scotland and Wales have been issued by the Met Office.

Heavy downpours could lead to flooding and travel disruption, the Met Office said.

In some areas up to 40mm (1.5inches) of rain could fall in a couple of hours, it said, warning that flash floods could cut off communities.

This could also lead to difficult driving conditions, some road closures and public transport delays, it added.

A weather map of the UK shows two Met Office weather alerts. — Image caption, The yellow warnings cover a good portion of the UK

A yellow warning, external covering central Scotland and Tayside, much of the borders, northern England and part of Wales is in place from 13:00 to 21:00.

Another warning covers a large part of the south east of England, including London, Brighton, Portsmouth and Canterbury, between 12:00 and 21:00 today.

The Met Office said lightning strikes could also lead to public transport delays, and there was a “small chance” that homes and businesses could be flooded, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning, hail or strong winds.

The latest warnings come after thunderstorms rumbled across southern England and Wales last week – with many people woken in the early hours of Thursday by dramatic lightning strikes.

May 5th 2024

Kremlin calls Cameron statement on UK arms for Ukraine a …Reutershttps://www.reuters.com › world › europe › kremlin-cal…

2 days ago — The Kremlin called British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s statement that Ukraine could use British weapons against targets inside Russia Dangerous …

UK plans to ramp up weapons production for Ukraine and …Sky Newshttps://news.sky.com › story › uk-plans-to-ramp-up-we…

2 days ago — UK plans to ramp up weapons production for Ukraine and Western defence as Lord Cameron reveals envoy will oversee ‘national priority’

1:46

Cameron statement on UK arms for Ukraine ‘dangerous …

YouTube · FRANCE 24 English

May 4th 2024

YouTube · Guardian News

Bibby Stockholm: Protesters block coach in bid to stop asylum …

YouTube · Sky News

Bibby Stockholm protesters charged after trying to stop …The Independenthttps://www.independent.co.uk › UK › Home News

Only three people have been charged after protesters blocked a coach set to take asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge.

White liberal virtue signallers and ethnic vested interests are dragging the U.K down to the religious dominated level of the Third World. That is their solution to Africa, the Middle East and Indian Sub Continent. To argue is to be written off and ostracised as racist and far right. The police have an impossible job dealing with these people and the regular Palestinian protestors.

R J Cook

May 2nd 2024

Why the double standard ? R J Cook

Britain is now leading the world on transgender sanityThe Telegraphhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk › news › 2024/03/13 › brit…

13 Mar 2024 — Too many have suffered appalling levels of abuse for simply stating biological facts. NHS England are finally listening.

America should follow England’s lead on transgender care …The Economisthttps://www.economist.com › leaders › 2024/04/10 › a…

10 Apr 2024 — “There are few other areas of health care where professionals are so afraid to openly discuss their views,” argues Hilary Cass, a British doctor …

What do the British public REALLY think about trans people?

Stonewall Scotland https://www.stonewall.org.uk › about-us › news › what-…

19 Jul 2022 — According to some corners of our press and politics, trans people are the single biggest issue facing the British public today.

JK Rowling says she knew her views on transgender …The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com › books › mar › jk-rowli…

15 Mar 2023 — Harry Potter author JK Rowling has said she knew that when she spoke out about her views on transgender issues “many folks would be deeply …

Man, Maid, WomanAmazon UKhttps://www.amazon.co.uk › Man-Maid-Woman-Rj-Cook

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The King’s New Suit Of Clothes Principle – By R J Cook

Comment Ball breaking women wanted men to be more like women but they don’t like the consequences, especially when they expect men to march off as cannon fodder to keep them safe in World War Three, just lik they did in 1914 and 1939 .

My novel ‘Man Maid Woman’ is the story of young George Hills whose overbearing man hating and adulterous self centred mother – not modelled on my mother who was the absolute opposite – had her man friend kill the man George thought to be his father. George is actually the killer’s son.

Diffident and without a strong identity, George fails in his one and only heterosexual relationship, making the dangerous choice to change sex in order to regain his lost loves respect and affection. When he catches up with her,as a replica of herself, his former girlfriends mocks him as a grotesque ‘man made woman.’

Written and published in 2003, as my own ball breaking long marriage and inspiration for the book, was collapsing. The book ends with the warning that although George appeared to have found another love, someone with others would come along and ruin his/her fragile happiness because ‘normal people’ just don’t like that sort of thing. That is because it goes against nature. Mainstream thinking is that transwomen are ersatz and only perverts would fancy them.

It cannot be because so called cis women are aggressive ridiculing self righteous competitors and not in the least desireable. This is because a tenet of female so called ‘protected status’ is that they are never wrong. White men and boys must accept their toxicity and never dare argue or explain anything to a woman. White men and boys must understand that equality in the British model for the world ground breaking democracy, equality means positive discrimination in favour of women, girls and non ethnic whites. White boys are supposed to live with this. It outrages the liberal and chattering classes to suggest that this has everything to do with the mad rush of little boys from famiilies without fathers, wanting to be little girls long before puberty has told their brains what sex is all about. On the other side of the coinm too many little girls are reacting in the extreme in their quest for empowerment.Their young minds are overwhelmed by mothers and schools that boys have it all, so they join the rush for what is euphemistically called gender reassignment.

The term sex change is no longer used by professionals. The outburst of girls wanting to be little boys, so they can have the same alleged privileged white male status has caused panic among self styled liberals, the ruling elite and their mainstream media. That is where the Cass report comes in because the new world order can waste as many privileged white men as it likes on Anglo U.S NATO New World Order Imperial Wars, but it cannot waste women and girls. They are vital to the benign well painted disguse of that vicious hypocritical new world order.

However, it would be an offence against the protected status of women to suggest that feminists, especially TERFS and lesbians go against nature and are the reason for so many divorces, mental health issues, feral children, transsexuals and violent misogynists like the Sydney mass killer .J K Rowling has made it very clear that her attack on the female status and legitimacy of trans women is because they are a threat to women’s rights.

The myth is that men have any sui generis rights. That is the essence of some very large cancerous social and mental health problems across the generations and western world. The BBC are currently working to infect India’s election with the same mindset and in total conflict with their pious disingenous drivel about diversity and equality. This new western world of democracy has so many conflicting parts. If it was an airplane it would fall apart and explode on the runway as it tried to take off. But Western Ruling Elite Politicians follow the ‘Kings’s New Suit of Clothes Principle.‘ People are expected not to see the naked truth posing and posturing in front of them.

R J Cook

Ukraine chases draft dodgers amid war manpower shortageWashington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com › World › Europe

8 Dec 2023 — Men have squeezed themselves into secret compartments in vehicles, posed as clergy members and dressed as women to sneak past border checkpoints …

Images

***Why do men have to die in the front line carnage of rich men’s wars ? Why do women expect them to? R J Cook***

Ukrainian border guards claim to have stopped a male …

Daily Mail

***Picture says it all about the hyocrisy of war and myth of men’s equality and human rights. R J Cook.***

Ukrainian Officials Stop ‘Man Dressed As Woman’ To Avoid …

UNILAD

How sad is this in fake western democracy ? Men don’t only ape what is called female identity to escape military war. They do it to escape the civil , economic and moral battlefields they are born into. R J Cook

Ukrainian border guards claim to have stopped a male …

Daily Mail

Ukrainian officials claim to have discovered man dressed in …

Republic TV

May 1st 2024

Rwanda: too little, too late?

After much ado, the Rwanda Bill has made its way through Parliament, and Rishi Sunak, in his “enough is enough” mode, is promising to launch “multiple flights a month,” whisking away illegal migrants within a brisk 10-12 weeks. We shall see but we have our doubts.

We said two years ago, and repeated since, that the Rwanda scheme could have contributed to discouraging migrants from paying criminals huge sums for the illegal and dangerous trip across the Channel. We said it would not be the silver bullet that solved the Channel crisis. The legislation had to be passed and implemented quickly and it had to be court-proof. Those arriving illegally had to be detained, dealt with quickly and removed. Leaving the Human Rights Act (which embeds the ECHR in UK law) in place and intact was always going prove to be a major stumbling block. It remains in place and as Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick warned when the safety of Rwanda Bill was proposed, it would be largely symbolic in nature with only a handful of flights taking off. We shall soon see how accurate their predictions were. The government is no doubt bracing itself for the legal battles ahead as the human rights brigade, including activist lawyers and open-border NGOs, go into action in the courts.

Unless it is made abundantly clear that making your way illegally to the UK will mean immediate rejection and removal to a safe country like Rwanda, the boats will continue to come (at the current rate, perhaps it will be another record number of arrivals.) Sadly, more too will die.

Remember how immigration barely got a nod in the 2019 election – because Boris Johnson told us illegal arrivals would be sent back and the points-based system would control and reduce legal migration? While Labour focused more on weaponising the Windrush debacle. Fast forward, and immigration is a top three issue again: number one for many.

Boris Johnson’s Tories pretended to talk, sort of, tough on immigration but ended up letting in many more people, especially low-skilled workers. Indeed, there is a case for arguing that this was all intentional. Their plans to stop small boats from crossing the Channel have flopped, and the whole Rwanda scheme has so far delivered precisely zero. They’re now trying to talk big on immigration (again) and throwing out ideas they probably won’t act on (like leaving the European Court of Human Rights. Labour are saying very little, and what they have said on the Channel is, frankly, meaningless. Their plans, if implemented will more likely encourage illegal crossings. Most frustrating for us, and a majority of people in the UK, is that neither party wants to tackle the much more significant issue of the current eye-popping scale of legal migration.

The chorus and Cassandra
It is always worth listening to Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan’s “Planet Normal” podcast. But one of the must-listen podcasts this week was a discussion with former Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Her insights from her time in government were startling, even if expected. Braverman’s remarks on Rishi Sunak’s stance on legal migration shed light on the discrepancies between government promises and actions:

“The 2019 manifesto made a pledge to lower net migration, yet we were moving in precisely the opposite direction. So I was very frustrated in 2022 about what had gone on previously, and this was a condition of my support for the Prime Minister. But as time went on, it became apparent that he wasn’t really interested in this subject. It took me about a year to even get a face-to-face meeting with him.”

Braverman highlighted vested interests, governmental indifference to public opinion, and a lack of comprehension as fundamental causes of the immigration dilemma:

“In the end, under duress I would say, he [Rishi Sunak] did ultimately announce some measures at the end of last year, but only after unprecedented levels of net migration… There’s an institutional view in Whitehall that more migration is better for the economy, universities, the NHS, and it’s better for our country. There’s no acknowledgment whatsoever, within the Treasury or within government, about the costs of migration, about the impacts on our resources like schools and housing or on the impacts on social and cultural cohesion. And I think that’s why the British people have voted time and time again to lower migration. And it has been a failure of government to deliver on that promise so far.”

Regarding the possibility of a new leader ahead of a general election due to Sunak’s low personal ratings, Braverman suggested a shift in policy rather than a change in leadership:

“I think we need to change the policies. And at the moment, I think what’s very interesting about British politics is that there’s a real scramble for the centre ground… and in our desire to be so centrist and what I would say Cameroon, and adopt the formula of 2015 or 2010, we’ve made ourselves more indistinguishable from Labour when it comes to taxation or migration, for example… we’ve shifted to the left of British politics as a party. We need to shift to the right if we’re going to regain those voters who’ve become disillusioned with the Conservative Party, who are now thinking about voting for Reform or not voting at all.”

Migration Watch UK has long cautioned about the danger of political elites, comfortably ensconced and well-off, disregarding the will of the British people.

RIP Frank Field
Lord Frank Field was an exceptional MP. He was a thoughtful, caring and perceptive man, possessed of a remarkable intellect. He was also a devout Christian with whom Migration Watch had the good fortune to work closely when he co-chaired the Cross-Party Group on Balanced Migration alongside Lord Nicholas Soames. A brave and resolute parliamentarian with a deep understanding of the detrimental effects of mass migration, including the strains it imposed on public services and the threats it posed to the character and welfare of our society. Frank Field: a good man who will be deeply missed.

Migration Watch relies entirely on the generosity of our supporters who fund our work. If you would like to help us with our efforts, please click here to donate.

Lord Sumption, The Telegraph – Why Shami Chakrabarti is wrong about human rights

“It is of course true that most democracies, although not the United Kingdom, have written constitutions which serve as codes of fundamental law. There is nothing inherently wrong with fundamental laws. But there is a critical difference between domestic and international codes of fundamental law. Domestic codes can be amended domestically, but international ones cannot. When domestic courts arrive at unacceptable results, the law can be changed, but the decisions of international tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights are irreversible.

Chakrabarti dismisses these objections as “nationalism” as if that was a sufficient answer. The difficulty about that is that in a democracy, lines of constitutional responsibility are necessarily national, at any rate as the world is presently organised. The nation-state is the basic unit of political action. There is no international legislature with which people instinctively identify as an expression of their collective will. In the long term, it might be possible to create one. The European Union is making a courageous attempt to do this, but so far it has come up against the barrier of human nature. That may change. But as matters stand people’s instinctive allegiance is to the nation-state.”

Rank-and-file meeting discusses fight against mass job losses and reduced mail service at Royal Mail

Postal workers voiced support for building rank-and-file committees in their own workplaces: “It would certainly upset the Communication Workers Union, and their collusion with Royal Mail, if they knew masses of the workforce stood against their joint campaign.”

Read more

Generalised Orders & Need To Submit – by R J Cook

The combination of J K Rowling and supportive PM Sunak looks set to make transgender females a laughing stock and victim of harrassment, ostracism and violence. These are trans beauty contesstants at Totton Cinservative Ckub Southampton 2003.
***Image by R J Cook / Appldene Photographics 2003.***

Comment. This is a comment on yesterday’s report that Sunak will ban transwomen from being treated on female hospital wards. He wants voters to believe that he has his fingers on the pulse of what is wrong with the NHS. It is a blatant and deseperate bid for the female vote.

Women’s groups are fascists in their ongoing bid for total power and acclaim for simply being female, trading on a generalised history of oppression as if they are one homogeneous class. White men and boys must accept their generalised evil and orders to submit. Women’s grroups are a perfect match for Sunak. These people define the face of acceptable prejudice in modern Britain. Here equality means priority for social, ecnomic and employment support goes to ethnic non white and women. This mentality is not confined to the U.K. It is the world of western democracy.

The norms, rules and laws are made by a ruling elite who, along with the rest of their powerful white ancestors, profited from the ruthless exploitation of the white working classes, the black underclass of Africa and the lower caste population of the Indian sub continent which inlcuded Pakistan. The British ruling classes also gave China a hard time which is how they stole Hong Kong.

Finally we must not forget their extermination of native Australiaasian Indians to make room for transported white British lower class petty crimnals whose crimes included poaching on the British ruling elite’s great estates simply so their families could survive.

In my native North Bucks, local Swanboure landowner and magistrate Sir Thomas Freemnatle transported desperate people to work as white slaves on his family’s great estates in Austrialia. These people were the basis of the Freemantle media empire – see ‘The Book of Winslow’ (1989) by Robert Cook.

R J Cook

Book of Winslow (Town Books) – Robert Cook

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Buy Book of Winslow (Town Books) First Edition by Cook, Robert (ISBN: 9780860234470) from Amazon’s Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on …

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The Book of Winslow by Robert Cook – Jacques Gander

AbeBooks https://www.abebooks.co.uk › Robert Cook

Hardback edition, 144 pages, well illustrated with photos etc. maps on the endpapers. 6.25 X 9.25 inches. Near fine book in a near fine dustwrapper.

£24.00

April 30th 2024

Social worker awarded damages of £58k from council and …

Social worker suspended over gender critical views awarded £58,000

NHS charter to stress biological sex when placing patients in wards

Transgender women should not be put on single-sex female NHS wards, the government is proposing.

The measure is part of a raft of changes to the NHS Constitution for England, the charter of rights for patients.

The proposals stress the importance of biological sex for the first time when it comes to same-sex accommodation and intimate care.

In both cases, the rights are available only where possible.

For example, same-sex accommodation rights, which have existed for years, can and are breached where there is a clinically urgent need to admit and treat a patient and do not extend to areas such as critical care or accident and emergency.

The guidance also means that trans men should not be housed on single-sex male wards.

Under the proposals:

transgender people, whose gender identity differs from their biological sex, may be provided single rooms, where appropriate
patients will have the right to request a person of the same biological sex delivers any intimate care

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said it was about making it clear that “sex matters”.

“We want to make it abundantly clear that if a patient wants same-sex care, they should have access to it wherever reasonably possible,” she said.

“By putting this in the NHS Constitution, we’re highlighting the importance of balancing the rights and needs of all patients, to make a healthcare system that is faster, simpler and fairer to all.”

What does trans mean and what is the Cass review?

‘Trampled over’

Maya Forstater, of the Sex Matters campaign group, said the changes were “excellent news”.

“The confusion between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ in official policies like the NHS Constitution is what has enabled women’s rights to be trampled over in the name of transgender identities,” she said.

But Cleo Madeleine, of Gendered Intelligence, said robust policies were already in place and the government had its priorities wrong.

“After 14 years of austerity, medical professionals are crying out for more funding, more resources, and better conditions for staff and patients,” she said.

“The government seems hell-bent on pursuing its obsession with the transgender community instead of addressing these longstanding needs.”

Read More https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68923861

April 29th 2024

https://www.waterstones.com/author/robert-cook/435753/page/1

Contact rj.cook@btinternet.com

NI Troubles: British-Irish meeting overshadowed by asylum issue

The Troubles

Image caption, Micheál Martin and Chris Heaton-Harris arrive for the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference press conference

By Jayne McCormack

BBC News NI political correspondent

A British Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC) meeting has been overshadowed by tensions between the governments over asylum seekers.

The implementation of the government’s controversial legacy act will be on the agenda, but the UK’s policy on migrants was also discussed.

The Irish justice minister was also due to meet the home secretary, but that meeting was postponed on Sunday.

Helen McEntee then pulled out of the conference.

The Irish government has said it has seen an influx of people coming from Northern Ireland because they are fearful of being sent to Rwanda.

A government minister has said the UK is unlikely to take back asylum seekers who have crossed into Ireland until EU-wide asylum rules are changed

The BIIGC was set up by the Good Friday Agreement and meets twice a year.

Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris and Tánaiste (Irish deputy prime minister) Micheál Martin are among those taking part in the conference.

The last meeting of the BIIGC took place in Dublin in November and focused on efforts to get the power-sharing institutions at Stormont restored.

This time ministers from the two governments will meet in London.

Mr Martin said that he was “pleased” to be in London for the first meeting of the BIIGC since the restoration of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing institutions.

“As ever, there are numerous areas of mutual interest for the governments to discuss and I look forward to another productive conference,” he said.

Legacy clashes

The administrations have previously clashed over the legacy law, as the Irish government has repeatedly opposed the act.

The Legacy and Reconciliation Act was passed at Westminster last year, with the government arguing that it is an attempt to draw a line under the events of the past.

From Wednesday inquests into Troubles-related killings which have not concluded by then will close.

Soldiers running from a bomb in the Smithfield area of Belfast

An Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) has also been set up.

The aim of this new organisation is to help families find out more about the circumstances of how their loved ones were killed or seriously injured.

The Irish government is taking a case against the UK at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The part of the act which offered conditional immunity from prosecution for Troubles offences was struck out by the High Court in Belfast in February.

However, the ruling is being appealed by the government.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris had previously said he was committed to implementing the legislation.

What is the Northern Ireland Troubles Act?

The act, which became law in September, will end future civil litigation and inquests into deaths which occurred during more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles.

The government has repeatedly stated the new act is, in its view, human rights compliant.

Prosecutions that are currently ongoing will continue to conclusion.

But it introduced a ban on civil cases not lodged before May 2022 and inquests which have not reached the stage of findings by 1 May 2024 will cease.

Opponents believe it may also limit Troubles investigations, which in future would be undertaken by the ICRIR and not the PSNI.

The Irish Justice minister Helen McEntee was due to attend the British-Irish meeting, but pulled out, meaning Tánaiste Micheál Martin will represent the Irish government.

On Sunday night the Irish Department of Justice told BBC News NI that a meeting scheduled for Monday between the minister and Home Secretary James Cleverly had been postponed.

Ms McEntee had said she planned to raise migration with Mr Cleverly and the Irish government’s plan for new legislation that would enable asylum seekers to be sent back to the UK.

A spokesperson for Ms McEntee said: “The Minister will meet with senior officials in Dublin today and regrets she won’t be in attendance at the BIIGC, which will be attended by the Tánaiste.

“The Minister looks forward to her meeting with the Home Secretary being rescheduled soon.”

The Irish government has said 80% of recent arrivals to the Republic came from the UK across the Irish border, and that the UK’s Rwanda policy is impacting Ireland.

Comment It speaks volumes that Eire ( The Irish Republic ) wastes no time and sees no obstacles in getting rid of the impossible burden of more illegal migrants, while a U.K Tory Government has submitted to the EU Human Rights Regime they ostensbly left in 2016., U.K virtue signallers and those who crave a never ending supply of cheap labour, don’t like it. Migrants are now flooding Eire because of the Rwanda Plan and the liberals don’t like any of it.

R J Cook

Disability benefit system unsustainable and needs change, says government

Paul and, his wife Kim Masters and their dog, Leo — Image caption, Paul and his wife Kim moved to County Durham from Bedfordshire when he stopped working and started claiming personal independent payments

Alice Evans

Disability reporter

Munaza Rafiq

Disability producer

Plans to overhaul the disability benefits system are due to be unveiled by the government later.

It says the benefits bill is rising at an “unsustainable rate” and needs to be overhauled to ensure help gets to the people who need it most.

Reforms to personal independence payments (PIP) could include stopping cash payments and offering claimants one-off grants for things like home adaptations instead.

The disability charity Scope described it as a “reckless assault on disabled people.”

PIP is a non-means-tested benefit paid to working-age people to help with extra living costs caused by long-term disabilities or ill health.

The most recent statistics, external say more than 3.3 million people in Britain receive PIP to help with the extra cost of living with a health condition or disability.

How much people are given depends on how difficult they find everyday tasks and getting around. The maximum weekly payment is £184.30.

The cash can be used for things like special diets, clothing, additional laundry or cleaning and accessible taxis or fuel to get to hospital appointments.

The number of monthly new claimants in England and Wales, where the main condition was anxiety and depression, has soared from an average of 2,200 a month in 2019 to 5,300 a month last year.

The government has said spending on PIPs was expected to grow by 52% from 2023/24 to £32.8bn by 2027/28.

Paul Harris, from Barnard Castle, gets £72.65 a week in PIP payments to help with extra costs associated with his anxiety and depression, such as counselling, once NHS support had ended, and specialist therapy apps.

He stopped his job as a property manager in 2016 after developing panic attacks that got so bad he would burst into tears in the office and lock himself in the toilet.

He has not been able to work since then and says PIP is the “last stronghold” of benefits that can support him.

Mr Harris says, “I used to call myself zero, because I had zero money coming in. I had no job…so in a weird way, just a little bit of money coming in just sort of changed those thoughts.”

He does receive employment and support allowance, but cannot claim job seekers’ allowance because he says his mental health is a barrier to applying for jobs, despite previously seeking support from the Jobcentre.

He stresses the money he receives “does not solve the problems”, adding, “it’s not a miracle cure, it doesn’t mean we can go off on holidays and live this frivolous lifestyle.”

Mr Harris doesn’t believe there is enough long term support available for those with mental health issues.

“Some people might be able to do a few sessions of CBT, [cognitive behavioural therapy]… but when it comes to serious levels [of mental health] it would be like saying to a cancer patient you’ve only got 10 sessions of chemotherapy and then that’s your lot”.

The proposals – which come in the form of a 12 week consultation – include making changes to the eligibility criteria for PIP.

It would consider whether current descriptors – such as the need for aids and appliances – are good indicators of extra costs.

Other options include one-off grants for significant costs such as home adaptations or expensive equipment, and reimbursing claimants who provide receipts for purchases of aids, appliances or services.

They are also considering whether people with long-term conditions and disabilities would need to be assessed at all.

James Taylor, executive director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said the consultation doesn’t fix the underlying issues.

He said, “It’s hard to have any faith that this consultation is about anything other than cutting the benefits bill, no matter the impact”.

It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to strip GPs of their power to sign people off work as part of a plan to tackle what he calls the UK’s “sick note culture”.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said “We’re making the biggest welfare reforms in a generation – protecting those most in need while supporting thousands into work as we modernise our benefit system to reflect the changing health landscape.”

Comment U.K Politicians of The British Police State have a consensus. They have to pick on the weak to pay for mass immigration of devout poorly eduacated divided third world populations, and consequent cheap labour. So it is a wealth transfer from poorer downtrodden natives who pay most of the taxes to pay the ever increasing bill.

Governemnts also have to pass on the bill for massively increased demand and rising pay demands on the public services – the biggest migrant demand being for the NHS , hotel accomodation and legal aid to fight deportation.

Above all, Britain’s ruling elite, cheered on by the comfortable patronising white liberal chattering classes and mainstream media, has a big interest and investment in the NATO Ukraine Proxy War on Russia. Ukraine has suffered massive male population losses and falling birth rates.

The global elite will inevitably already be considering the vacated space as a refuge for more African and Middle Eastern migrants when NATO steps up its activities to defeat the Russia that they provoked into this show down.

The fact they are going to steal from the most vulnerable to contine this vile wealth grabbing series of regime change rolling wars, tells me exactly what their idea of democracy is and what despicable greedy arrogant egotistical self centred virtue sugnalling disingenuous people are in charge.

R J Cook

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