UK
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UK referred to International Criminal Court for war crimes in Iraq By Jean Shaoul
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has accepted the complaint lodged in January alleging that UK military personnel committed war crimes against Iraqis in their custody between 2003 and 2008. She has ordered a preliminary investigation. Continue reading
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British Government Coverup and Whitewash of Iraq War Crimes: The Chilcot Inquiry By Felicity Arbuthnot
Amidst howls of “whitewash” from media commentators and interested observers of all political hues, it seems the findings of the Chilcot Inquiry in to the Iraq war are finally to be published by the end of this year. Continue reading
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Sixteen-year-olds recruited to British Army By Julie Hyland
More than 1 in 10 new recruits to the British Army are just 16 years of age, according to figures released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). It makes Britain one of the few countries in the world, and the only country in the European Union, to recruit child soldiers. Continue reading
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One year after Snowden drops NSA bomb, UK citizens demand more privacy
A year after the National Security Agency’s spy program was uncovered, a UK poll reports that more than 8 out of 10 internet users want their browsing history to remain confidential, while 12 percent say they don’t mind government’s prying eyes. Continue reading
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Britain: Behind the strong vote for far-right UKIP By Dave Kellaway
Despite a strong support for the far right, the radical anti-austerity left maintained and increased its votes in some countries such as Greece, but also Spain and Portugal. Continue reading
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Unease in UK’s political elite after Prince Charles compares Putin to Hitler By Julie Hyland
The row over Prince Charles’s comparison of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Adolf Hitler continues to rumble. Charles is not the first to make the comparison. The false and provocative analogy was also used by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, among others. In fact, the modern-day equivalent… Continue reading
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Major UK parties given drubbing in local elections By Robert Stevens
The local council elections in England saw an overwhelming rejection of the UK’s three major parties, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour. Many abstained from voting, with turnout estimated to be around 36 percent. In many wards turnout was around 20 percent and less. Continue reading
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The new aristocracy in Britain By Jordan Shilton
Remarking on social conditions at the end of the 18th century, Thomas Paine wrote, “The contrast of affluence and wretchedness continually meeting and offending the eye is like dead and living bodies chained together.” More than 200 years later, Paine’s scathing critique of social inequality can be applied even more forcefully to modern day Britain,… Continue reading
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The No2EU electoral alliance in the UK: An enemy of the working class and socialism By Michael Barnes
No2EU seeks to exploit the impact of the global economic crisis and the EU’s hated austerity measures to direct growing opposition in the working class into a nationalist dead end. Continue reading
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‘Zombie parliament:’ British MPs set for 223 days off work in 2014
MPs have just started a 19 day early summer holiday, right after they had an 18 day Easter break, RT’s Sara Firth reports. They’ll then sit for seven weeks before a six week fully paid summer holiday. And if that’s not enough they get a month off in the autumn for party conferences. Continue reading
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Sunday Times rich list: “Astonishing year” for Britain’s most wealthy By Jordan Shilton
In its entirety, the list reveals that the richest 1,000 people in Britain possess combined wealth of £519 billion, equivalent to a staggering one third of the country’s GDP. This is a rise of 15.4 percent from the 2013 list, when the super-rich held total wealth of £449 billion. Since 2008, the year of the… Continue reading
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Barnardo’s and G4S, partners in the child detention business By Frances Webber
Four years ago the coalition government promised to end child detention for immigration purposes. But they didn’t. Instead, the UK’s biggest children’s charity and security giant G4S created a prettier prison. Continue reading
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Renationalisation of the rail services? Why not start with the NHS? By David Zigmond
Labour is flirting with the idea of renationalising the railways – but it should start by renationalising the NHS. Continue reading
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Britain’s richest 1% own as much as poorest 55% of population By Phillip Inman
Britain’s richest 1% have accumulated as much wealth as the poorest 55% of the population put together, according to the latest official analysis of who owns the nation’s £9.5tn of property, pensions and financial assets. In figures that also lay bare the extent of inequality across the north-south divide, the Office for National Statistics said… Continue reading
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Labour support collapses in the polls – socialist policies needed! By Daniel Morley
Some recent opinion polls have put the Tories ahead of Labour for the first time since 2012. Does this mean that the public has made an historic shift to the right, at a time when the right wing is presiding over possibly the biggest ever fall in living standards and rise in inequality? Is the… Continue reading
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Bilderberg’s silent takeover of Britain’s $60bn defence budget By Tony Gosling
Democracy had another near-fatal stroke, and the military industrial complex further tightened UK defense spending with the appointment of ex-army officer and Tory hothead Rory Stewart MP as the new chairman of Westminster’s Defence Select Committee. Continue reading
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UK parliament attempts to restore confidence in intelligence agencies By Paul Mitchell
A report published last week by the UK parliament’s Home Affairs Committee (HAC) declares the current system of monitoring the British intelligence agencies MI5, MI6 and GCHQ “not fit for purpose.” Continue reading
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Labour turn spotlight on GP shortages By Caroline Molloy
Yesterday Miliband pledged a GP appointment for all within 48 hours, today Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham visits inner-city GP practices facing the axe. Continue reading
