First hour News Review With former communities minister and LibDem MP for Bristol West, Stephen Williams: Stevenâs experience as Communities Minister; Grenfell Tower Inquiry;
Bristol MP Stephen Williams was warned over tower block fire safety four years before Grenfell Tower tragedy - but said changes were not urgent - Mr Williams told those warning him not to "wait for another tragedy" before reviewing regulations that he hadnt seen or heard anything to suggest that changing them was "urgent"... In March 2014, the parliamentary group wrote: âSurely⦠when you already have credible evidence to justify updating⦠the guidance⦠which will lead to saving of lives, you dont need to wait another three years in addition to the two already spent since the research findings were updated, in order to take action? "As there are estimated to be another 4,000 older tower blocks in the UK, without automatic sprinkler protection, can we really afford to wait for another tragedy to occur before we amend this weakness?" The correspondence continued between the group and ministers before Mr Williams wrote back: âI have neither seen nor heard anything that would suggest that consideration of these specific potential changes is urgent and I am not willing to disrupt the work of this department by asking that these matters are brought forward.â The group of MPs then fired back to Mr Williams, saying they were "at a loss to understand how you had concluded that credible and independent evidence, which had life safety implications, was NOT considered to be urgent". They even warned him they would go public with the Governmentâs inaction if there was another "major fire tragedy," saying: "As a consequence the group wishes to point out to you that should a major fire tragedy, with loss of life, occur between now and 2017 in, for example, a residential care facility or a purpose-built block of flats, where the matters which had been raised here were found to be contributory to the outcome, then the group would be bound to bring this to others attention."...Â
Labour Mayor Marvin Rees was hoping the disastrous Bristol Energy report would come out after the May 2020 election that never happened, so now he has to keep a lid on it. £35m upwards of public money wasted on Bristol Energy; Call for independent inquiry into Bristol Energy voted down - Opposition groups united to support the motion, but were âbitterly disappointedâ when it was voted down by Labour members -âA bombshell about to explode in this cityâs financesâ - Conservative group leader Mark Weston described the company as âhaemorrhaging moneyâ as he brought his motion to the extraordinary full council meeting. Cllr Weston said it was time for the administration to accept Bristol Energy was a âdead weightâ on council finances that should be âreleasedâ. âWhat we want is an inquiry,â he said. âLet us investigate exactly what happened, when it happened, the funding that goes with it, because I fear we have a bombshell about to explode in this cityâs finances that is going to cost us millions.â Seconding the motion, Lib Dem group leader Gary Hopkins said it was obvious more than two years ago that Bristol Energy was in trouble and accused the mayor of a âcover upâ once he realised the company was beyond rescue. Speaking on behalf of the Green group in support of the motion, councillor Jerome Thomas said the council had acted with âinappropriate secrecyâ in relation to Bristol Energy and the public knew more about the finances of British Gas and Scottish Power than they did about the energy company their council tax had paid for. âGreater openness would have meant that problems with Bristol Energy would have been identified and communicated earlier and suitable corrective action could have been taken,â he said. Labour member Estella Tinknell called for the opposition councillors to withdraw their âcompletely counterproductiveâ motion and instead work together to ensure Bristol Energy has a âpositive and constructive futureâ...
Lakota nightclub proprietor Marti Burgess agrees to become the first black Merchant Venturer, a notorious former slave trading group. Does she stand any chance of opening its accounts to public scrutiny? Marti Burgess appointed first black member of Bristols Society of Merchant Venturers. The secretive society known locally as The Bristol Mafia was founded in 1552. The Merchant Venturers have been the dominant force in Bristol civic life since at least the 16th century. The organisation effectively ran the city for hundreds of years, its members set up the Bristol part of the transatlantic slave trade and the forced transportation of hundreds of thousands of the poor from Britain, while it represented the interests of businessmen and the rich merchants. Now, the organisation runs many of the cityâs state-funded primary and secondary schools, as well as fee-paying schools, and also has many of the cityâs nursing homes as part of the St Monica Trust charity and the Cote Charity, as well as having a role in things like the Downs Committee. Its members include multi-millionaires and business leaders from across the city and wider region, and is largely now a charitable organisation with a behind-the-scenes role in funding numerous major third sector organisations in Bristol. Marti Burgessâ appointment is the first of 2020, and is the first time the organisation has ever included a black person in its ranks...
Covid 19 - Boris explaining up to six people can now meet outside; Boris Johnson announces new lockdown rules allowing six people to gather from Monday. FAMILIES and friends will be allowed to reunite following months apart after Boris Johnson eased lockdown rules. The Prime Minister announced that outdoor gatherings of up to six people will be permitted from Monday as long as social distancing rules are still observed. Barbecues and garden parties got the green light, as well as get-togethers in parks, beaches and other outdoor venues. And grandparents will finally be able to see their grandchildren again, although shielding advice for the most vulnerable to coronavirus remains in force. The PM said: "I know that for many this will be a long-awaited and joyful moment." Mr Johnson also confirmed that primary schools and nurseries will start some classes for the children of non-key workers from Monday. Secondaries will follow a fortnight later. NHS dentists will be encouraged to reopen from June 8. Outdoor markets and car showrooms have been permitted to start trading on Monday with other non-essential shops reopening from the middle of the month...
Ex-Ambassador Craig Murray suggests Dominic Cummings may have gone to Durham to see GSK who are bidding for vaccine production; Why Barnard Castle? - Dominic Cummings specifically stated now in the press briefing that he had been eager to âget back to work to get vaccine deals through, move regulations asideâ and that is why he drove to Barnard Castle to test his driving ability. Now it may be entirely a coincidence that the place to which he chose to drive for his eyesight test happened to be the site of the major factory of GlaxoSmithKline. It may be an entire coincidence that two days later, on the very day Cummings actually started work back in Downing Street he has stated was âto get vaccine deals throughâ, GlaxoSmithKline announced an agreement to develop the vaccine. It is however plainly not crazy to ask the question...
Emily Maitliss taken off Newsnight for breaking impartiality guidelines â she said Cummings broke the lockdown rules; Emily Maitlis replaced for Newsnight episode after Cummings remarks. Katie Razzall stepped in after BBC reprimanded host over âbreach of impartiality rulesâÂ
SAGE âwe will use the media to increase the sense of personal threatâ; but this is terrifying some of the most vulnerable and sensitive people in society - Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said Use media to increase sense of personal threat in their Options for increasing adherence to social distancing measures  22nd March 2020
The final Thursday clapping for the NHS <<BUT>> 13,000 unexplained deaths due to lack of NHS treatment; Almost 13,000 unexplained deaths in England and Wales since coronavirus crisis began, figures show - Fears grow that thousands died of non-virus causes at home or in care homes because they could not access medical treatment - Nearly 13,000 more people than expected have died in England and Wales since mid-March from causes other than coronavirus amid fears that a lack of medical care is responsible. Data compiled by The Telegraph shows that there have been more than 23,000 excess deaths in care homes or at home, not linked to Covid-19, since March 13. During that time, hospital deaths fell by more than 10,000 as many dying patients were sent back into the community to free up beds ahead of the pandemic building to a peak. But even after allowing for the numbers who would ordinarily have died in hospital, some 12,818 deaths are left unaccounted for...Â
George Floyd - black man killed by police in US; Federal Agents sex with enslaved prostitutes; Federal agents engaged in sex acts with victims - PHOENIX -- The women were forced to live and work in filth and near darkness, the federal agent said, surviving on only the tips they received from performing massages and sexual favors. - Lon Weigand, deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona, described them as âAsian femalesâ who may be sex-trafficking victims. He praised the joint operation between federal agents and local police in western Arizona that led to their rescue and credited âinvestigative techniquesâ with helping to crack a âtransnational criminal organization.â What Weigand didnât say at that September 2018 press conference â although HSI documents show some supervisors knew â was that federal undercover agents repeatedly paid for and engaged in sex acts with suspected victims...
Protests against the lockdown in US;  Hundreds demand justice in Minneapolis after police killing of George Floyd Protesters clash with police, who deploy teargas and stun grenades, following death of black man at hands of white officer       Shocking moment effigy of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is hanged from a tree outside his mansion by Second Amendment supporters during Covid-19 lockdown protest -A group of people first gathered outside the Kentucky Capitol building - They were said to be celebrating their Second Amendment rights in Frankfort The gathering soon turned into a protest against Kentuckys Covid-19 measures - Organizers led the group to the governors mansion where the hanging took place as a crowd of people, including children, watched on..   Anti-lockdown demonstrators trade guns for scissors at Michigan haircut protest - Demonstrators in Michigan gathered for "Operation Haircut," the latest in a string of protests against the states stay-at-home order.  Husband of âReopen North Carolinaâ leader says he is âwilling to killâ in fight against lockdown Adam Smith says America must stand up to ânew world orderâ - The husband of a leading protester campaigning to âreopenâ North Carolina has said he and his fellow protesters are âwilling to kill peopleâ as they fight to overturn their stateâs lockdown order.  Coronavirus: Madrid Anti-lockdown car protest draws thousands
Zara Saltana MP â maiden speech of Labour MP for Coventry;Â
Open letter to socialist â¦. STORY LINK**; David Miller suspended; Israel Lobbyâs influence in politics: Open Letter to the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs - Reject the New McCarthyism â Reject the Board of Deputies 10 Pledges - ... For over four and a half years there was a sustained campaign of vilification and defamation alleging that the Labour Party was overrun by âanti-Semitismâ. It was a campaign initiated by that well known opponent of racism, the Daily Mail in an article written even before Jeremy Corbyn had even been elected, alleging that he had associated with a holocaust denier. This campaign was fronted by the Jewish Chronicle under far-Right editor and founder of the Henry Jackson Society, Stephen Pollard. In the words of its editorial of 8 November 2019 âThroughout his career, he [Corbyn] has allied with and supported antisemites.â When Israelâs Education Ministry bans a book depicting a teenage romance between a Jew and Arab from the High School syllabus it does it because it undermines studentsâ understanding of their âJewish identityâ. Opposition to sexual relations between the races was fundamental to South Africa, the Deep South and Nazi Germany.  We are asking you to:   1. Join us in opposing the continuation of the anti-Semitism witch-hunt. It is aimed at anti-racists and anti-imperialist supporters of the Palestinians not anti-Semites.  2. Oppose the Board of Deputies 10 Pledges whose aim is to close down discussion and debate on Palestine and Zionism.  3. Recognise that Keir Starmer represents the hard-Right in the Labour Party. His attempt to bury the leaked Labour Report with a Whitewash by appointing a panel of Progress supporters confirms that. He has made it clear that he is returning Labour to the austerity-lite politics of Ed Miliband.  4. That we should do what the Right did for the duration of Jeremy Corbynâs leadership. We should oppose the attempt by Starmer to return us to the era of New Labour.   We believe that no member of the Campaign Group should serve in the Shadow Cabinet and provide Starmer with âleftâ political cover. Starmer is a member of the British Establishment and the Trilateral Commission alongside such luminaries as Henry Kissinger. Starmer is the darling of the Tory press. He has even been endorsed by George Osborne...
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