HeadNun

Yes, I saw an incident van too, earlier, around 3.30 - never seen one before. It did look as if it was on its way to something major.

Yes I read that too, but also read yesterday that the gvt put pressure on the king to strip Andrew, with the threat of an investigation, which is interesting if true.

I think the family is a valuable soft power. When Zelensky was humiliated and bullied in the White House, he was at Windsor for tea the very next day, which sent a powerful message. Same when the king visited Canada. I think even republican states and their leaders do revere the idea of a royal family and all the pomp that comes with it. Being able to dangle a second state visit invitation to Trump, who requires subjugation by flattery, affords us a not insignificant amount of leverage. Their supposed apolitical stance does give them a valuable platform to advocate for causes, for example for climate change, domestic abuse, homelessness, etc and maintain visible relations in the UK with different religious and ethnic groups (charles has been v good at this). The more the family can visibly separate wealth from power, the better. I think some of the the ways the duchy of cornwall makes its money is repugnant. For eg, if it's going to lease land and property to the NHS and MOD it needs to be peppercorn, not for profit. There's a lot of sketchyness around the duchy, and any scandal seems to disappear in a matter of days, which demonstrates the frightening power the palace yields. If William really wants to make the family above reproach, his family and estate has to be squeaky clean and it simply isn't He and his father also needs to go one step further and pass a government act so the rogue's titles are truly stripped, not just in abeyance. There's still more scandal to come and they'll need to be even more ruthless

If he doesn't get it. Will he spit the dummy out and stop brokering peace deals? Or give up on current ones.

Yes Tom. And by assassinating several senior members of the Revolutionary Guard. It also means Palestinians are safer.

CPR Dave said "Our government doesn't make or sell any arms at all to anyone". His link highlights that the gvmt has issued licences to UK companies who manufacture and export components and software to other nations. It's not like the government has a bomb making department and is shipping them straight to Israel. His link also illustrates that UK sales to other nations make us complicit in plenty of other unpleasant conflicts. But this hasn't given rise to other mass demonstrations. I doubt anyone on here is a supporter of Netanyahu and his cronies, but it's always worth bearing in mind that Israel has been instrumental in keeping us safe from Iran, who orchestrated this wave of the middle east conflict. But there are, of course, no anti Iran protests, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc

There's so much bat-shit mad, upside down logic to unpack here, the mind just boggles... but if you want to use the Holocaust and centuries of pogroms to justify protesting alongside people who have placards which read "from the river to the sea", then you go right ahead. It's also telling that you suggest the Home Secretary, a Muslim brit, who asks for a little bit of grace for the Jews for a few days, is somehow spouting nonsense.

We buy oil from Russia (indirectly), we've been arming the Saudis in Yemen for years, where the civil war has brought about famine, we cut our aid abroad, which means less humanitarian help in places like Sudan, we sell whole swathes of our institutions and businesses to China and are letting them build a new embassy and overlook their spy network, so we can make deals, in spite of its persecution of the Uyghurs. So we could protest these atrocities, because we're complicit in them, but it's not fashionable. What do we get in exchange for issuing licences to companies which supply 15% of the parts that go into Israel's F35's? Intelligence from probably the best security service in the world, which helps foil terrorist plots on UK soil, like the one back in May. It's not like we're sending them RPGs in the mail. This isn't whatabouttery, it's just to highlight that it's never as binary as there being an all-out goodie and and all-out baddie. What is wrong is calling for the eradication of a race, whatever race that might be, and sharing a platform with those racist protagonists, whether it's pro palestine groups, or the EDL. If everyone on here is so distraught about Palestine, why has there not been a single march against Hamas? Everyone making their case for protesting here seems to think some of us are living under a rock or, worse still, aren't moved by the situation in Gaza.

An abridged version of the article I posted: The health secretary is preparing to overhaul medical regulators — the General Medical Council (GMC) and Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) — after being appalled by a series of cases in which doctors have escaped disciplinary action. Streeting told The Times: “It is clear that the current medical regulatory system is completely failing to protect Jewish patients and NHS staff.” Doctors have been let off after spreading antisemitic tropes including claiming that Britain is “controlled by Jewish supremacy”, and claiming the architect of the attack was a “legend”. Some medics have ramped up their activity in the days after the Manchester synagogue attack. A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Time and again, doctors who spew antisemitic bile online and in the streets are being allowed to continue practising medicine, as though calls for hatred and violence are compatible with the duty to care for others.” Doctor who called Jews ‘worse than Nazis’ cleared Dr Rahmeh Aladwan was investigated over her social media posts, including one that stated that Israelis were “worse” than the Nazis and a claim that the “Royal Free Hospital in London is a Jewish supremacy cesspit”. Since escaping suspension by the MPTS, Aladwan has posted incessantly about Jews and Israel. She suggested the media’s focus on the Manchester synagogue attack was an example of “Jewish supremacism”. The day after the attack Aladwan shared an image of Britain’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, with the words “rabbi genocide” emblazoned on his forehead. On Saturday, she tweeted: “Glory to the Palestinian armed resistance. Death to ‘Israel’.” Aladwan has been a member of the proscribed group Palestine Action, and has shared claims that Streeting is a “Zionist ghoul” funded by “the genocidal ‘Israel’ lobby”. At a rally earlier this year, she said that “Palestinian people who are fighting for liberation, including armed struggle” are “heroes, every single one of them”. “We are proud of our armed resistance and in Islam we call that jihad. That’s an honour. That’s how you defend your people,” she added. The MPTS ruled that no suspension was necessary, arguing her comments would not “alarm or concern” members of the public. On Monday night, the CAA announced that it had notified the GMC of its intent to challenge the decision not to impose the condition on Aladwan while she is under investigation. It said that her case was “one of the most egregious examples we have encountered of a regulator failing in its duty to protect the public”. One of Aladwan’s key supporters is Dr Rehiana Ali, a consultant neurologist who was reinstated by a medical tribunal this year after describing the architect of the October 7 attacks as a “legend”, calling for Israel to be “dismantled”, and claiming that 9/11 was conducted by Mossad. Ali has made several controversial comments in the wake of the Manchester synagogue terrorist attack, and has claimed that Streeting was an “Israeli puppet”. On October 4, she quoted a post calling for Israel to be abolished and claiming that Hamas had “done nothing to apologise for”, adding: “Agree 100%.” On October 2, about eight hours before the attack, she quoted the same post and said: “Armed resistance is the only solution.” Ali defended her comments and told The Times that she did not believe in Israel’s right to exist. She said: “It is outrageous that the CAA weaponises an unfortunate incident to continue its defamatory attacks on doctors with a moral conscience for political ends.” Hundreds of complaints over antisemitic doctors Nearly 500 complaints of antisemitism relating to 123 doctors have been submitted to the GMC since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. Of these, 84 per cent were closed at the triage stage, according to figures obtained by Jewish News in July. The rare cases where complaints have led to disciplinary action include that of Dr Manoj Sen, an NHS surgeon. Last month he was struck off for making a string of antisemitic social media comments, including referring to a Jewish man as “circumcised vermin”. The doctor, who was working as a surgeon at Northwick Park Hospital in London, commented on a Facebook post shortly after the October 7 attacks, using the word “untermenschen” — German for subhuman — as well as the phrases “Jewish c***” and “Jew boy”. Sen also referred to the Auschwitz concentration camp along with the German phrase “Die Juden sind unsere Ungluck”, meaning “the Jews are our misfortune”. Others have escaped serious sanctions after being reported for antisemitism. In February, Dr Kamran Ahmed, a Wolverhampton-based GP, was not struck off but given a formal warning after posting material described by the GMC as “objectively antisemitic and seriously offensive”. This included sharing a post which said: “The Israeli flag is modern-day swastika”. Dr Ellen Kriesels, a consultant paediatrician at Whittington Hospital, remains on the GMC register despite spending months making openly making racist claims. On her X account, Kriesels has claimed that “virtually every Jew has some feelings of supremacy”. The Whittington Health Trust has previously said that it was investigating and that Kriesels was not working. Jewish doctors ‘are afraid at work’ Jewish doctors have warned that the institutional failures to tackle antisemitism extend to the British Medical Association (BMA). Those attending the BMA’s annual conference in June warned that they “feared for their safety”. There have been widespread reports of antisemitic incidents in hospitals. In August, the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust issued an apology over posters claiming “Zionism is Poison”. A Jewish patient who was undergoing major tests at the hospital and felt “angry, distressed and upset” after seeing some of the posters, adding: “I shouldn’t have to remove my Star of David necklace to go to a hospital visit.” Concerns have been raised at at least two NHS trusts about staff wearing pro-Palestine symbols, such as lanyards in the design of a keffiyeh and badges that say “Free Palestine”. I don't have any skin in the game with what's happening in the Middle East (most likely like many on this forum) and I stand by my clearly stated opinion on other threads that neither Hamas, nor Israel, has clean hands. What I do care about is what happens on British soil and the idea of any ethnic group in this country - with its supposed history of tolerance and inclusion - being afraid for their lives. There can be little doubt that the rhetoric of many on these marches fuels the killing that we saw last week. Don't share a platform with anti Semites. If you care so much about a community being starved, abused, bombed and oppressed, why not march for Ukraine (where we do have skin in the game), or the 150,000 blacks murdered in Sudan as well? It makes no sense to me.

Yes, I hear people saying there are Jews on the march and it's not about Jews it's about Israel etc but I think that's a convenient truth for people who stand side-by-side with other protesters who are patently anti semitic. These are people who celebrate Oct 7th and last week's attack on Yom Kippur. Tell me there is not on single Jew hater on these protests. And why the protest when serious peace talks are underway? And did you read the article I posted? Do you honestly think that none of those medics have ever been on a pro Palestine march?

This is disgusting, given what happened last week. The link says "Israel is continuing to intensify its genocide"... there are major peace talks underway and it's possible they might result the end of this current conflict. But hey, why let that stop anyone indulging in a bit of Jew hatred on a Saturday afternoon? Sorry, Sue, I'm fond of you but I can't not say anything on this matter, my blood is boiling and my heart is hurting too much over all the 'nothing to see here' antisemitism in this country. https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/nhs-surgeon-struck-off-antisemitic-posts-zvwdlv7vq

Why is it you always assume the right to dictate the direction of threads? It all feels quite like the thought police.

It's probably safe to say that the cyclists on here who regularly complain about other cyclists' behaviour, but continue to cycle, do so because, on balance, they see the positives of cycling. But God forbid that they should express an opinion that doesn't align with the doctrine.

Ha! I was about to post this, Spartacus.

"Country before Party" is Starmer's motto. Lucy Powell, Burnham and other senior cabinet ministers briefing against Starmer, describing the situation as 'terminal', and publicly condemning him is not putting the country first. They'll be no better than the Tories if they enforce on us a new PM and the political dissatisfaction of the electorate will explode. Labour needs to get its house in order, but there are too many factions and, just like the Tories at the end, it doesn't know what it is anymore. I think the situation is unsolvable.