- “Hancock says jabs will be ‘paused’ for under-50s to mop up remaining over-50s” – MailOnline reports on Hancock’s press conference yesterday, the NHS warning about a reduction in vaccine deliveries, and the rollout shambles in Europe
- “Is Matt Hancock trying to spin a vaccine supply crisis?” – Isabel Hardman provides some trenchant analysis of Hancock’s press conference yesterday, for the Spectator
- “Ursula von der Leyen threatens to block Covid vaccine exports to UK” – The Telegraph reports on Ursula von der Leyen’s posturing about vaccine exports
- “Do we have informed consent for asymptomatic COVID-19 testing in schools?” – As asymptomatic mass testing in schools began last week, Jac Dinnes and Clare Davenport have written a piece for the BMJ about how well the potential benefits and harms are communicated to parents
- “Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman warns lockdown has created an ‘epidemic of demotivated children’” – Amanda Spielman addressed the Association of School and College Leaders, saying that some young children have lost skills as basic as “using a pencil” during months of home learning, according to MailOnline
- “Why did the Government bin its own pandemic plan?” – “If they hadn’t,” writes Lucy Wyatt in the Conservative Woman, “we might still have a functioning economy and young people might feel they have a future worth living for”
- “Trapped in a Covid dystopia… and we’re told to be grateful” – Gratitude is not Emily Sands-Bonin’s primary reaction to being locked down, according to her piece in the Conservative Woman
- “Laws must be general, equal and certain. And yes, that applies to lockdown gatherings too” – “It’s ok for people to gather in crowds or it’s not,” says Lord Hannan of Kingsclere in Conservative Home
- “Inflation and ‘taper tantrum’ now bigger fear than virus for investors” – Covid is no longer the biggest concern among fund managers, according to the Times
- “Britons will go on £50bn spending spree when Covid rules are lifted – report” – The Guardian reports on new research which suggests that Brits will spend 26% of accumulated savings once lockdown restrictions are lifted, giving rise to fears of inflation
- “Don’t bet on consumer spending for the Covid recovery” – Saving the economy might “not be as simple as just unleashing pent-up demand”, says Jack Barnett at CapX
- “Were we too ready to surrender our freedom?” – The past year has set a “worrying precedent for handling of the next crisis”, argues Daniel Finkelstein in the Times
- “PROTEST? You’re having a laugh!” – The latest episode of the Real Normal discusses goalpost shifting under the government’s “four tests”, Covid testing in schools and Meghan and Harry
- “New coronavirus variant found in France is undetectable by PCR tests” – The Brussels Times reports on the existence of a new variant from Brittany, France which PCR tests failed to detect
- “Has the EU lost its mind?” – In UnHerd, Peter Franklin tries to understand the EU’s increasingly erratic behaviour over vaccines and wonders if it might end up in a situation where the vulnerable are vaccinated and the rest are set free
- “Brussels embraces vaccine nationalism” – Steerpike at the Spectator has a go at working out what’s going on in Brussels
- “German ICU doctors call for ‘immediate return’ to lockdown as COVID-19 numbers rise” – The Local reports that a German doctor is calling for a return to partial lockdown
- “Coronavirus: Knesset okays electronic bracelet for returnees from abroad” – The Knesset has approved the bill requiring Israelis returning from abroad to wear an electronic bracelet which ensures they isolate at home, or be quarantined in a hotel, the Jerusalem Post reports
- “Israeli anti-vaxxers submit ethics complaint to ICC” – The Jerusalem Post reports that a group called Anshei Emet has filed a suit at the International Criminal Court contending that the Israeli Government’s administration of the coronavirus vaccine constitutes a “crime against humanity”
- “Disneyland to reopen on April 30th, Disney CEO Bob Chapek says” – CNBC reports that the Disneyland parks in California are to reopen, though with capacity much reduced and mandatory face masks
- “Travel Certificates Proposed in Europe in Hope of Saving Summer Season” – The New York Times reports on the EU’s proposed COVID-19 certificates
- “More ‘Covid suicides’ than Covid deaths in kids” – Micha Gratz presents some grim statistics at AIER
- “Moderna Is Testing Its COVID-19 Vaccine on Young Children” – A new trial will test the Moderna vaccine on children aged six months to 11 years, the Wall Street Journal reports
- “Australian health minister in hospital after vaccination but link ruled out” – Reuters reports that Australian Minister Greg Hunt’s hospital stay is not connected to his having been vaccinated two days previously
- “Five questions before you dare lock us down again” – Writing in Spectator Australia, James Allan lists five questions that must be answered “yes” for a lockdown to be justified: Question 1: Is the damage from lockdowns “ultimately less than the damage if you shunned lockdowns”
- “Dr. Scott Atlas – Stanford College Republicans – Science, Politics, and COVID-19: Will Truth Prevail?” – Watch Scot Atlas’s lecture to Stanford College Republicans
- Dr John Lee tells Julia Hartley-Brewer on talkRADIO that it isn’t just the EU that’s hamstrung by the precautionary principle
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Thursday Morning Spitfire Way & Comet Way, Woodley
Wokingham
No news round up for the 12th April?
Well done Kemi hitting back at the smug presenters.
Maybe she could have asked why all the Post Office workers have still not been paid compo after the TV show highlighting this issue.
Or maybe we could have a BBC series over the blood scandal where some of them still have not received compensation or even a TV show of the rape gangs and some’fictional police & other State paid workers standing back and letting it happen’.
Perhaps we could have a “fictional” series about ‘safe and effective,’ that should get the viewers interested.
😂
“Pseudoscience, a salad garden and a study on pregnant men: how Britain’s quangos spend your money”
Congratulations to the redoubtable Charlotte Gill for making the MSM. As a commenter on the Telegraph article states, “Interesting how many of these act as slush funds for Net Zero, DIE and other parts of the progressive agenda.”
Given that “Labour has also created dozens more quangos (including the Fair Work Agency and the Independent Football Regulator) since coming to power,” I somehow doubt Labour will be lighting many bonfires of the vanities, inanities and insanities.
“Oxford debate contest forces hundreds of children to declare pronouns”
Defund South Midlands Arts College!
“Welsh Government offers £5,000 more to student teachers from ethnic minorities”
And no human rights legal parasite anywhere to be seen.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-pows-war-crimes-putin-zelenskyy-a2185297338af410fb5122448e62db76
‘The Ukrainian soldiers clambered from the ruined house at gunpoint — one with arms raised in surrender to the Russian troops — and lay face-down in the early spring grass.
Two drones — one Ukrainian and one Russian — recorded the scene from high above the southern Ukrainian village of Piatykhatky. The Associated Press managed to get both videos.
They offer very different versions of what happened next.
The Ukrainian drone video, which AP obtained from European military officials, shows soldiers with Russian uniform markings raising their weapons and shooting each of the four Ukrainians in the back with such ferocity that one man was left without a head.
“Out of all the executions that we’ve seen since late 2023, it’s one of the clearest cases,” said Rollo Collins of the Centre for Information Resilience, a London group that specializes in visual investigations and reviewed the video at AP’s request.
“This is not a typical combat killing. This is an illegal action.”
The Russian drone video, which AP located on pro-Kremlin social media, cuts off abruptly with the men lying on the ground — alive. “As a result of the work done by our guys, the enemy decided not to be killed and came out with their hands up,” wrote a Russian military blogger who posted the video.
Two videos. Two stories. In one, the prisoners appear to live. In the other, they die.
‘evidence of potential war crimes continues to mount’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14597453/Britain-backing-plans-Nuremberg-style-trial-Vladimir-Putin-amid-calls-Russians-prosecuted-crimes-invasion-Ukraine.html
‘Britain is set to back prosecuting Vladimir Putin for war crimes in a move modelled on the Nuremberg trials of Nazis after the Second World War.
It is understood the UK will join most European nations to back proposals at the Council of Europe to put Russians on trial for ‘crimes of aggression’ during the invasion of Ukraine.
An ad hoc military tribunal would be set up to prosecute Russian generals and leaders for war crimes, according to plans Britain will back at a meeting of the European human rights organisation next month.
A UN study found in March last year that Russia was continuing to commit serious rights violations and war crimes in Ukraine, including ‘systematic’ torture and rape.
The high-level Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the rights situation in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, said that it had found fresh evidence of widespread abuses.
It also voiced concern about the continued use of explosive weapons in civilian areas, confirming ‘a pattern of disregard by Russian armed forces for possible harm to civilians’
‘The evidence shows that Russian authorities have committed violation of international human rights and international humanitarian law and corresponding war crimes,’
COI chief Erik Mose
You are wasting your time, sweetheart. Nobody is interested any more.
Although the ICC established jurisdiction over crimes of aggression…….this only applies to countries and nationals from countries that are party to the Rome Statute. Russia, like the US and China, is not a signatory.
This is why Western allies have explored the option of creating an ad-hoc tribunal that would be empowered to prosecute the specific case of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“Without the crime of aggression, there wouldn’t be any war crimes either,” High Representative Kaja Kallas said in early February.
“Therefore, it’s extremely important that there is also accountability for the crime of aggression. No one from Russia and no one from Russia’s leadership is untouchable.”
“It is also very important to send a signal that unpunished crimes only encourage further aggression,” she added, stressing the tribunal should be set up “before the war is over”.
“I’m personally convinced it’s not going to be a fake institution in the Hague with no impact but that it’s actually going to serve for years to come, and history will judge this tribunal very positively.”
The immunity that heads of state, heads of government and foreign ministers enjoy is considered an additional, and formidable, obstacle to the in-person prosecution.
“However, international law is evolving, and personal immunity is not a carte blanche for impunity,” the spokesperson of the Council of Europe said.
“The Council of Europe believes that the formula found for the Special Tribunal on this issue will suffice to ensure accountability and fight impunity.”
The last time the crime of aggression was brought to justice was during the Nuremberg trials held after World War II
The conditions are laid out in the draft agreement that would provide the legal basis to set up the special tribunal within the framework of the Council of Europe, a human rights organisation based in Strasbourg. The organisation is not part of the European Union but the bloc is closely involved in the process.
Technical work wrapped up in late March during a meeting of the so-called “Core Group” in Strasbourg, which produced three separate draft documents: a bilateral agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe, the statute of the special tribunal and the agreement detailing the management of the special tribunal.
The signature is pencilled to take place in Kyiv on 9 May, coinciding with Europe Day, although the exact timeline will depend on the political endorsement.
The limitations on the trial in absentia are seen as a “compromise” between countries, an EU official indicated. Following months of deliberations, the provision is now a “done deal”, with virtually no chance of being amended before the presentation.
“At the end of the day, it’s about politics and bargaining,” the official said.
Once Kyiv signs the agreement, the text will be put to a vote in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which gathers representatives of the 46 nations that are party to the organisation. Russia was expelled shortly after it launched the war.
A two-thirds majority will be needed to ratify the deal, and is all but guaranteed thanks to the broad support for the initiative among member states.
Some countries that have espoused Russian-friendly positions, such as Hungary and Serbia, might abstain or vote against it, although no individual vetoes will apply.
Democratic nations outside the continent, like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, are expected to join the initiative, broadening its legitimacy.
“The immigration lawyer fighting to legalise Hamas”
Arrest him for aiding and abetting a proscribed terrorist organisation!
“Trump’s tariffs might spell the end of China” – In the Telegraph, Benedict Rogers argues that President Trump’s targeted tariffs on China, if successfully leveraged by the global community, could cripple China’s economy and potentially lead to a domestic uprising.
Destabilising a country like that could easily lead to a shooting war. If the CCP feel threatened by
their own peoplethe people of China they will stir up jingoism and are quite capable of committing them as cannon fodder into a war with neighbouring countries.Reciprocal jingoism if you like.
“Lucy Connolly shouldn’t be in prison”
True. And neither should hundreds of others like father-of-three Bradley McCarthy, jailed for nearly 2 years:
UK riots: Man jailed for shouting at police dog and racist slurs – BBC News
“Bristol Crown Court heard he played a “prominent” role in trying to goad police, and had “aggressively” shouted at a police dog.”
[There was no mention of the “racist slurs”, added to the BBC headline to give further justification for throwing him in prison.]
I hope KING CHARLES III will issue A ROYAL PARDON to all those British Patriots unjustly imprisoned for protesting against the Horrific Rapes and Murders of CHILDREN by Third World Immigrants welcomed to the UK and supported by UK Taxpayers.