Tag Archives: Great Britain
UK to order welfare recipients “Back to the Workhouse”
Jobless Britons could be forced to do community work to keep their unemployment payments, Britain’s top economics minister said Monday, announcing the latest in a series of moves to tighten benefits rules and crack down on “welfare dependency.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/world/europe/britain-plans-to-require-community-service-for-jobless-benefits.html?ref=world Under the plan, those out of work for more than two years could be required to […]
Investigation into royal palace break-in uncovers conspiracy
Security is being reviewed at the palace after Monday’s suspected break-in, in which an intruder was able to scale a fence and get inside the palace. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24005811 Police said a man was arrested inside the palace on suspicion of burglary, trespass and criminal damage at about 22:20 BST. He was found “in an area currently […]
Cameron hears the people, Brits vote “no” on war with Syria
The stunning parliamentary defeat on Thursday for Prime Minister David Cameron that led him to rule out British military participation in any strike on Syria reflected British fears of rushing to act against Damascus without certain evidence. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/world/middleeast/syria.html?pagewanted=2&hp British legislators rejected a motion urging an international response to the chemical weapons attack by […]
UK bullies journalists: “there’s no need to write any more”
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian newspaper, said that two months ago he was contacted by “a very senior government official claiming to present the views of the prime minister,” David Cameron. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/world/europe/british-news-organization-has-advantages-in-secrets-battle-with-government.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world There were two meetings in which officials “demanded the return or the destruction of the material we were working on,” and in […]
Protesters oppose fracking by Cuadrilla Resources in UK
Opposition to shale gas extraction flared up in the tiny village of Balcombe, England on Sunday as hundreds marched on an oil exploration site in protest at the drilling process known as ‘fracking’. Activists are concerned the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process used to extract gas from rocks underground can trigger small earthquakes and pollute […]
UK internet spying requests result in faulty arrests
UK authorities increased the number of requests they made about the public’s use of texts, emails and other communications data last year, an official report has revealed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23367751 The report also revealed that mistakes made while using the information led to six members of the public being wrongly detained or accused of a crime. It […]
UK arms dealing at odds with human rights stance
The UK government has approved more than 3,000 export licences for military sales to countries which it believes have questionable records on human rights. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23336914 The House of Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls says the value of the existing export licences to the 27 countries in question exceeds £12bn. This includes significant sales to […]
UK: NSA and GCHQ spying on Brits perfectly legal
UK security services claimed not to break the law in accessing personal data through the US Prism programme. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23341597 The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) examined a list of ‘selectors’ (such as email addresses) that requested information on a list of UK nationals or individuals who were under surveillance. “The legal authority for this is contained […]
UK outlaws herbal stimulant used by North Africans
The herbal stimulant khat is to be banned by the UK government, against the advice of its own Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. In January the ACMD said khat should remain a legal substance, saying there was “insufficient evidence” it caused health problems. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23163017 Campaigners said they were “disappointed and concerned” at the […]
Dirty Babylon 