Recent Articles



Did Muslims in Oldham ‘celebrate’ the Woolwich attack?

by Sunny Hundal     May 23, 2013 at 2:30 pm

The latest rumour, following the Woolwich attack, is that Muslims in Oldham are out on the streets and ‘celebrating’ the Woolwich attack.

The claim is being spread by the official EDL account and EDL activists, has kicked off on Twitter and Facebook.

But it is untrue.

Update: I now have a screenshot of most of these Tweets.

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But Greater Manchester Police confirmed no such thing.

In fact they denied any such ‘celebrations’ were taking place.

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So now the English Defence League have been caught actively spreading lies in order to cause more tension and violence.

And confirmation from others

[Tweets that don't show up have been deleted]

6 Comments   ¦   23rd May

Possibly the best tweet in response to Woolwich

by Sunny Hundal     May 23, 2013 at 8:45 am

This active soldier smacks the nail on the head.

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This tweet in response was spot on too.

9 Comments   ¦   23rd May

Muslims face retaliatory attacks; isn’t this terrorism?

by Sunny Hundal     May 23, 2013 at 8:01 am

Kent Police confirmed last night that they are investigating reports of ‘criminal damage’ at a Mosque in Gillingham.

It was treated as being racially aggravated and likely connected to the attack in Woolwich earlier yesterday.

Around the same time, a spokesperson for Essex Police confirmed: “Police have arrested a 43-year-old man from Braintree following reports of a man in possession of a knife outside the prayer centre in Silks Way, Braintree.

Plus

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And there were comments on Twitter like

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So why isn’t any of this classed as ‘terrorism’?

23 Comments   ¦   23rd May

UK newspaper front pages after Woolwich attack

by Sunny Hundal     May 22, 2013 at 11:32 pm

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(via @suttonnick)

42 Comments   ¦   22nd May

MP preaches gay equality to Uganda; votes against here

by Sunny Hundal     May 22, 2013 at 3:12 pm

Meet Henry Bellingham MP. He is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

He believes in LGBT rights and for the need to treat homosexuals equally.

At least, that’s what he told the House of Commons two years ago:

I want to say a few words about our policy more generally in Uganda. We are committed to combating violence and discrimination against LGBT people as an integral part of our international human rights work. We realise that sexual orientation is a sensitive issue in many communities, but we firmly believe that any illegality of consenting same-sex relations is incompatible with international human rights law, including the international covenant on civil and political rights.

Laws should guarantee the same rights to everyone regardless of sexuality, and if LGBT people choose to exercise those rights, they should be free do to so.

The Foreign Office has a clear programme for promoting the human rights of LGBT people that focuses on the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the fight against discrimination. It includes taking action on individual cases where discrimination has occurred, lobbying for changes in discriminatory practices and laws, and helping individuals on a case-by-case basis. Although the debate focuses on Uganda, similar prejudices against LGBT people unfortunately exist in many parts of Africa, and in many other places around the world.

[Emphasis mine]. Good words, and they were welcomed by Labour MPs at the time according to the Hansard report (ht @ed_son).

And yet, in the House of Commons yesterday, Henry Bellingham voted to deny gays and lesbians in the UK the same rights (to marriage) as heterosexual couples.

Why would other countries take moralising seriously from this government?

12 Comments   ¦   22nd May

Govt u-turns to offer Afghan interpreters right to asylum

by Sunny Hundal     May 22, 2013 at 2:06 pm

The government has decided to offer around 600 Afghan interpreters a chance to settle in Britain, it is being reported today.

The move will be a welcome u-turn for the government, and will still be subject to caveats and conditions that campaigners will now focus on.

According to press reports today, all interpreters who have been in the job for more than 12 months and put themselves in physical danger would be offered a resettlement package.

To be more specific, to be eligible they will need to have worked between December 2012 and December 2014, when British troops are due to leave.

But British forces have been there a lot longer, and there are worries this will exclude interpreters who had earlier worked for British forces and are still in danger.

Interpreters outside this criteria would be given a five-year training and education package with Afghan security forces.

The Times newspaper and the campaign group Avaaz.org had been campaigning hard on the issue, and both will welcome today’s announcement.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper issued a statement today saying:

This is a welcome about turn by the Prime Minister. We called for a settlement scheme for Afghan interpreters last December and called for it again in the Queen’s Speech. Ministers have repeatedly told us the number of interpreters was too many and they should simply be given money to stay and face threats from the Taliban.

We will scrutinise the scheme carefully, as the details don’t appear to be worked through. But we welcome this u-turn, albeit after Ministers had said the opposite over many weeks and months.

This blog had also started a campaign on the issue, and we were working with several newspapers to highlight the issue.

One Afghan interpreter gave this interview to BBC R4′s World at One today, saying the government’s offer did not going far enough

listen to ‘"The British government needs to give us the same rights Iraqi interpreters were given"’ on Audioboo

3 Comments   ¦   22nd May

What Labour plans to do on the gay marriage vote

by Sunny Hundal     May 20, 2013 at 2:51 pm

“Our driving force is to ensure Cameron cannot undermine the gay marriage bill with this amendment” – a senior Labour source told Liberal Conspiracy this afternoon.

That sentiment underlines what is likely to be a day of complicated manoeuvring in Westminster.

Here’s why it is complicated. Tory MP Tim Loughton has tabled an amendment calling on civil partnerships to be extended to opposite-sex couples too. Scores of rebel Tory MPs are expected to support it.

The government opposes this and calls it a ‘wrecking amendment’ because, they claim, it would delay legalisation of same-sex marriage and incur extra costs (of up to £4bn they say).

So what is Labour doing?

Remember this is a free vote. I asked senior sources how much pressure was being put on Labour MPs, but they declined to offer more detail. I have clarification on how Yvette Cooper and Ed Miliband are voting. The rest of the party are likely to follow but it’s not guaranteed.

First, Labour are tabling their own amendment to the same-sex marriage bill. The amendment will not delay the bill but demand an immediate consultation into extending civil partnerships to opposite-sex partners, and take a closer look at the cost projections.

Labour say this offers the government a way out, by committing to move on extending civil partnerships while having no excuse to delay the bill. Yvette Cooper told BBC’s World at One that said she did not want the government to “use this amendment as an excuse to delay or wreck the bill.”

Second, they will not vote against Tim Loughton’s amendment as a matter of principle. The leadership say they will most likely abstain instead. But Miliband/Cooper are leaving on the table a threat to support the Loughton amendment if the government does not support Labour’s own offer.

The aim, Labour sources say, is to pressure the government to keep the same-sex marriage bill moving while looking closely at extending civil partnerships.

Yvette Cooper on R4′s WATO

listen to ‘Yvette Cooper on The World at One, BBC Radio 4’ on Audioboo

UPDATE

14 Comments   ¦   20th May

Farage ad for Tories urging them to defect makes sense

by Sunny Hundal     May 20, 2013 at 1:46 pm

Nigel Farage published this ad in the Telegraph today, urging Tories to defect to Conservatives

The Telegraph also reports that Local Conservative party campaigners, including the chairman of one constituency association, will this week pledge their support for Nigel Farage after one of David Cameron’s allies described grassroots Tories as “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.

As I’ve written before, Farage would be better off trying to usurp the Conservatives as the main party of the right than going into an alliance with them.

This ad escalates that coming war. IT’ll be interesting to see how the Tory leadership respond if more activists and members defect to UKIP.

12 Comments   ¦   20th May

Cameron’s gambit over EU Referendum backfires

by Sunny Hundal     May 17, 2013 at 11:20 am

If David Cameron expected voters to respect him for firming up his commitment to a referendum on the European Union, YouGov’s latest polling for The Times will disappoint him.

Most Britons, including a majority of those who voted Conservative in 2010, think he is acting out of tactical calculation rather than because he feels deeply about the issue.

That’s the copnclusion offered by Peter Kellner today.

And this chart shows it.

Peter Kellner adds:

Voters, and especially floating voters, tend to decide which party to support on character more than policy. Parties and their leaders attract more support if they are regarded as principled and competent. If they are thought to be driven by tactics rather than belief, they risk being seen as weak and losing respect and votes.

That is the risk that Cameron now faces over Europe. He could end up losing more votes by appearing unprincipled than he gains from adopting a stance on the EU that appears to be closer to the public mood. In contrast, the popularity of UKIP and Farage is being driven not just by his stance on the EU, but also by respect for being thought to restore principles to politics

Ouch!

This entire EU Referendum episode has been a disaster for Cameron.

29 Comments   ¦   17th May

Greek MP shouts ‘Heil Hitler’ in Parliament

by Sunny Hundal     May 17, 2013 at 10:59 am

An MP for the ultra-right Golden Dawn party was ejected from Parliament today he shouted Heil Hitler during session.

Panayiotis Iliopoulos condemned fellow MPs as ‘wretched sell-outs’ and ‘goats’, swearing as other Golden Dawn MPs also walked out.

At the :36 mark in this video you can hear a member of the party shout “Heil Hitler.”

via ekathimerini.com

9 Comments   ¦   17th May

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