Tag: parliament

Technology and the future of UK Foreign Policy – Our submission to the Foreign Affairs Committee Inquiry

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23 June 2021 — Drone Wars

Peter Burt

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In a timely and welcome move, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee has recently launched an investigation into ‘Tech and the future of UK foreign policy‘.  Recognising that new and emerging technologies are fundamentally altering the nature of international relations and the rapidly growing influence of private technology companies, the Committee’s inquiry intends to focus on how the government, and particularly the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) should respond to the opportunities and challenges presented by new technologies.

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Democracy in Focus: A post-austerity state

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8 January 2020 — Red Pepper
Illustration by Andrzej Krauze

Lowering the voting age. Restoring and entrenching the powers of local government, including the power to build public housing. Ensuring that people are able to fulfil their potential (including outlawing many of the practices of the gig economy that drive its workers to suicide). Establishing a proportional election system, so that voters have a real choice and their votes make a difference.

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The undemocratic tide in Britain is real – how Labour reacts is crucial By Nancy Platts

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27 September 2018 — Open Democracy
For the first time, lack of faith in politics, politicians and government has become one of the top ten issues for Britain, polls show. How should politicians respond?

In his keynote conference address on Wednesday, Jeremy Corbyn pledged to honour the martyrs of the Peterloo massacre – those brave 15 killed fighting for democratic rights some 200 years ago – by “carrying forward the struggle to protect and extend democratic rights.”

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The brutal past and present are another country in secret Australia By John Pilger

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5 November 2013 — John Pilger

The corridors of the Australian parliament are so white you squint. The sound is hushed; the smell is floor polish. The wooden floors shine so virtuously they reflect the cartoon portraits of prime ministers and rows of Aboriginal paintings, suspended on white walls, their blood and tears invisible.

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Police State UK: Guardian faces parliamentary investigation over Snowden revelations By Chris Marsden

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18 October 2013 — WSWS

Britain’s Guardian newspaper is facing an investigation by at least one parliamentary committee, in line with demands made by Prime Minister David Cameron, concerning the exposures of Edward Snowden, the whistleblower from America’s National Security Agency (NSA).

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French Colonial Dreams Linger as Raison d’être in Syria By Andrew McKillop

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2 September 2013 — 21st Century Wire

Great Power Pipe Dream

The simple question with a lot of answers is why did France boycott the 2003 Iraq war of the US and Britain, but remained heavily committed to a “punitive attack” with the US on Syria, following the shock of Cameron’s defeat for his war plan in the British parliament?

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Revealed: secret European deals to hand over private data to America

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29 June 2013 — The Guardian (this link takes you to the replacement story)

[This is the original version. Thirty-five minutes later a slightly edited version appeared and then three hours later the entire article was removed for “investigation”, whatever that means, possibly the fact that the Guardian used Wayne Madsen as his views are deemed “controversial”. See Newsniffer]

At least six European Union countries in addition to Britain have been colluding with the US over the mass harvesting of personal communications data, according to a former contractor to America’s National Security Agency, who said the public should not be “kept in the dark”.

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