BC UK
Saved by @Leoismynamee

Yesterday, of course, Jeremy Corbyn launched his Peace and Justice Project, to much excitement on here. Laudable goals too:

Take on Murdoch ✅
Green New Deal ✅
Support for food banks ✅
Speed up vaccine delivery in developing countries ✅

That's all excellent.

 I'm not sure if anyone can argue with those four aims: they're irrefutable and all massively important. You bet I'd like to see Labour doing likewise; you bet I'm frustrated that it's so quiet on all of it.

HOWEVER...
Contained within the announcement was exactly the same selective blindness which makes the entire thing all too easy to shoot down - and again, means Corbyn is pretty unlikely to persuade anyone who's not already persuaded.

The sort of blindness which makes me tear my hair out.
Peace and Justice - sounds great, doesn't it? So why did the Peace and Justice project proudly announce the support of a corrupt criminal not remotely interested in either of those things?

https://t.co/YimyrjqhCO
Rafael Correa, former President of Ecuador. Let's run through his record, starting with the positives.

Slashed poverty from 36.7% to 22.5% ✅

Reduced inequality from 0.55 to 0.47 on the Gini index ✅

So far, so good. Except, um...
Rafael Correa is guilty of bribery. Sentenced to 8 years imprisonment in abstentia for corruption so vast, his political movement was financed in exchange for awarding state contracts to businessmen and his cronies.

Tremendous. How 'just'. 🙄

It gets worse too.
Correa was so personally interested in 'peace and justice' that:

- Ecuador defaulted on its national debt and international obligations

- He was accused of involvement in kidnapping a political opponent

- His government filed a criminal charge against a critical newspaper
- He doxxed a whole bunch of his critics on social media, leading to their being harassed

- When a 17-year-old gave him a middle finger gesture in Quito, Correa stopped his motorcade, berated the teenager, and he received 20 hours' community service.
Try imagining any of the above - except the government corruption - happening in any genuine 'peaceful, just' democracy.

When ordinary citizens and newspapers are threatened by the government for 'offending the President', that is not a democracy. It's an authoritarian state.
So why does Corbyn look the other way?

Exactly the same reason he looks the other way on Venezuela, on Bolivia, on anywhere in this continent where someone claiming to be of the 'left' is in charge.

He romanticises the place. He thinks the Latin American left is Robin Hood.
It'd be nice if he stopped for a single moment to consider just how offensive that is to untold numbers who suffer appallingly under corrupt, criminal, atrocious governments here.

But he doesn't. Because his whole world view is so ludicrously black and white.
He should be running a mile from the endorsement of someone like Correa. Instead, he flaunts it. Unbelievable.

And there's really no excuse for that. To say that it plays straight into the hands of his many enemies is a huge understatement.
On a similar note: his longstanding hostility towards NATO (tempered, I know, as he pursued the premiership) is so blind towards the whole of Eastern Europe, it drives me nuts.

These are countries which gained their independence only 30 years ago. They NEED our protection.
These are also countries which know, through painful and recent experience, what Russia would try and do to them if NATO - and the EU too - weren't there to protect them.

And that's where Corbyn's whole peace and love thing really starts to collapse. It doesn't deal in reality.
We ALL want a peaceful world of interdependence, co-existence and friendship.

We all NEED that sort of world if we're to avert climate catastrophe too.

But just as his supporters adore him for his views never having changed at all, that's also his giant, almighty flaw.
The reason other politicians don't say all the nice, instinctively agreeable things he does is because other politicians - especially, other leaders - deal with geopolitical reality.

In this continent, for example, Venezuela is a completely failed state.
One million per cent inflation. 5 million refugees. As the Inter-American Development Bank put it in July:

“There is nothing we can do for Venezuela. No country in the history of humanity has seen a contraction as deep as Venezuela without a war or natural disaster or both".
So what does Corbyn do? He only continues to support the man responsible.

That isn't supporting human rights at all. That isn't supporting peace and justice at all. It's inexcusable.

Before anyone interjects with "1973.. CIA..." - Venezuela was a rich, successful place once.
Then both right and left combined to screw it all up, and then some. As this article explains superbly.

https://t.co/58cJn2jNvz

This continent and its people deal with the appalling consequences of Venezuela's rogue regime every day.
That's their lived reality. About which, Corbyn appears to care precisely nothing.

By the way: in international affairs, he's been right on many many many things.
- A hero on apartheid (FAO Rachel Riley: get stuffed you absolute disgrace)

- An implacable fighter against Pinochet

- Absolutely correct on the Iraq war

- Quite right about US imperialism and its many evils too
He's also dead on about:

- Our horrendous coddling of and deals drenched in blood with Saudi Arabia

- The demonisation of Iran (but has he ever spoken out about its human rights record? I ask because I don't know)

- Israel's treatment of the Palestinians
But his absolute blindness on so many other issues loses him so much credibility. It makes him look completely unserious and is far too easy to highlight.

It saddens me, truly. Because he's a good man who wants to HELP PEOPLE.
That's why so many will be inspired by his announcement. Everyone on the left wants to help people wherever we can.

But his biggest failing as a politician was always that he's so damn stuck in his comfort zone. That's clearly not changed.
And if we don't persuade the unpersuaded, we'll never change anything.

More from Uk

Jason J Hunter (Not a noble Lord)
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BREAKING NEWS Thread: 1/6

From a very reliable source in the 'Tunnel... there will be a UK-EU trade deal agreed next week. I quote:

"Britain has CAVED. Unless someone in Westminster does something really stupid between now and then a deal will be signed."

2/6 this will give the UK access to the Single Market, tariff and quota free BUT with specific sanctions to be put on the UK if we lower standards or move away from the Level Playing Field on state aid etc. This means that

3/6 the UK becomes a rule taker inasmuch as when the EU implement new regulations or standards, the UK MUST also implement those new rules too but without being in the room or being able to vote on drafting the new regulations.

4/6 importantly this agreement does NOT keep the UK in the Customs Union meaning that the worst case scenario of thousands of stranded trucks in Kent is still on the table as are the 30 million customs declarations required between GB and Northern Ireland, not to mention the

5/6 hundreds of millions of new customs declarations required to ship from GB to EU customers.

Also: FISH. The UK will allow EU boats to continue to fish in UK waters, yes French ones too but the UKs quota will be gradually increased by agreement.

Based on history though,
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Matt Chorley
Matt Chorley
@MattChorley
Mood among Tory MPs is seriously bad. Even those who think this is the right thing to do now are dismayed that it’s come to this.

“Shambolic. Rudderless ramblings. constituents getting in touch furious or in tears.”

“Grim grim grim”

“I think it could be his Suez”

All a bit late and cobbled too.

Cabinet ministers didn’t know that furlough was being extended or that “Stay At Home” was back until they saw it on the TV.

💥 Conservative minister: “The incompetence is another level. Is this a deliberate destruction of the Tory Party? People only vote for us because they think we don’t care, but are competent. Lose the competence and we’re fucked. We’ve lost the competence. And we are fucked.”

Another minister says: “The science seems sound. The comms in the lead up to this was shocking. What’s the point in having a tight, intimate decision making group when it leaks like a sieve?”

There is also scepticism among Tory MPs about the scary charts from Whitty and Vallance. Is the data driving the decisions or are the charts being rustled up to justify decisions?
UK
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Adam Wagner
Adam Wagner
@AdamWagner1
A short thread on why I am dubious that the government can lawfully impose charges on travellers entering the UK for quarantine and testing (proposed at £1,750 and £210)

1/

The UK has signed up to the International Health Regulations (IHA) 2005. These therefore create binding international legal obligations on the UK.

The IHA explicitly prevent charging for travellers' quarantine or medical examinations.

https://t.co/n4oWE8x5Vg /2


International law is not actionable in a UK court unless it has been implemented in law.

But it can be used as an aide to interpretation where a statute isn't clear as to what powers it grants.

See e.g. Lord Bingham in A v SSHD https://t.co/RXmib1qGYD

/3


The Quarantine regulations will, I assume, be made under section 45B of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984

https://t.co/54L4lHGMEr

/4


That gives pretty broad powers but I can't see any power to charge for quarantine. Perhaps it will be inferred from somewhere else in Part 2A?

But...
UK
Barrister's Horse
Barrister's Horse
@BarristersHorse
SNP thread

1. Scotland's independence rested on the UK staying in the single market - that is why we saw repeated Brexit related litigation in the Scottish courts.

2. If an independent Scotland wished to join the EU, a hard border between Scotland & England would be required to protect the single market & prevent migrants using Scotland as a route into England.

3. Then there are the issues re currency & debt which would need to be settled before EU membership became a serious proposal.

Many in the SNP realise this, hence the divisions we're witnessing.

4. Just as the Brexit Party popularity waned after mission accomplished, the SNP's popularity rests on campaigning, rather than achieving what they're campaigning for.

Polls show that a hard border isn't popular in a country that relies heavily on tourism.

5. The SNP would have been better placed to set their sights lower & supported an Efta/EEA Brexit, but they went all out to stop the UK exiting the EU and ultimately lost.

A hollowed out cause is all that remains for the SNP, with no realistic prospect of success.
UK
Dr Anna Jerzewska
Dr Anna Jerzewska
@AnnaJerzewska
Better late than never. Here we go. What does this deal mean for borders, border formalities, customs & trade facilitation?

Long one. TL:DR very little at the moment but has potential

/1


Borders
When compared to no deal the deal changes very little in terms of border procedures. All formalities and checks will still be required.

Reminder - we're not starting from 0 here – both our container ports and our ro-ro ports are already congested

/2

On top of that, all the issues related to border readiness: lack of capacity and space, IT systems not ready, shortages of customs agents, treader readiness – have not been solved.

The deal doesn’t help with that.

/3


Here is where we are:
☑️The UK will phase-in border formalities over 6 months (customs and SPS)
☑️The EU will introduce full formalities in 3 days (customs + SPS)
☑️Irish Sea border also fully operational in 3 days with some short-term SPS easements

/4

Pre-notifications (safety & security declarations) not initially required on the UK side, needed for imports into the EU.

So what's in the deal?

/5
UK , LAW

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