PG&E’s criminal probation to end amid ongoing safety worries

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

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FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2018 file photo, with a downed power utility pole in the foreground, Eric England, right, searches through a friend's vehicle after the wildfire burned through Paradise, Calif. The nation's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric is poised to emerge from five years of criminal probation amid worries that it remains too dangerous to be trusted. Over the five years, the utility became an even more destructive force. More than 100 people have died and thousands of homes and businesses have been incinerated in wildfires sparked by its equipment in that time. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric is poised to emerge from five years of criminal probation, despite worries that nation’s largest utility remains too dangerous to trust after years of devastation from wildfires ignited by its outdated equipment and neglectful management.

The probation, set to expire at midnight Tuesday, was supposed to rehabilitate PG&E after its 2016 conviction for six felony crimes from a 2010 explosion triggered by its natural gas lines that blew up a San Bruno neighborhood and killed eight people.

Instead, PG&E became an even more destructive force. Since 2017 the utility has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires that wiped out more than 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people.

“In these five years, PG&E has gone on a crime spree and will emerge from probation as a continuing menace to California,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote in a report reviewing his oversight of the utility.

While on probation, PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter for a 2018 wildfire that wiped out the town of Paradise, about 170 miles (275 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco. Now PG&E faces more criminal charges in two separate cases, for a Sonoma County wildfire in 2019 and a Shasta County fire in 2020. PG&E has denied any criminal wrongdoing in those fires.

Even more potential criminal charges loom. California regulators already have linked PG&E to the massive Dixie Fire last year, when a tree is believed to have hit the utility’s distribution lines in the Sierra Nevada — part of a sprawling, often rugged service territory covering 16 million Northern Californian customers.

During its probation, PG&E also plunged into bankruptcy for the second time in less than 20 years. Before emerging from bankruptcy last year, PG&E reached settlements of more than $25.5 billion, including $13.5 billion earmarked for wildfire victims that may fall short of doling out the amount initially promised.

PG&E’s conduct prompted its court-appointed monitor, Mark Filip, to raise alarms about the utility’s wildfire prevention efforts, though he applauded the “sustained and substantial” improvements in its natural gas operations.

“We doubt anyone would seriously contend PG&E’s performance has been adequate, or that substantial improvement is not still imperative,” Filip’s team wrote in a report filed with Alsup late last year.


PG&E, a 117-year-old company, generates about $20 billion in revenue annually while serving a 70,000-square-mile (181,300-square-kilometer) service area in the northern and central part of California that includes farmland, forests, big cities and the world’s technology hub in Silicon Valley.

Alsup, who repeatedly excoriated PG&E during its probation, last year signaled he was interested in keeping the utility under his watch. But he dropped the idea earlier this month after the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed documents saying it didn’t plan to seek an extension of PG&E’s probation, citing the “unique history and circumstances” of the case.

“We have tried hard to rehabilitate PG&E,” Alsup wrote in his final report. “As the supervising district judge, however, I must acknowledge failure.”

Alsup declined an interview request from The Associated Press to elaborate on his concerns about PG&E.

Catherine Sandoval, an energy professor at Santa Clara University and a former California power regulator, believes Alsup was far too hard on himself, although she agrees PG&E hasn’t proven it should be freed from supervision. She blames federal prosecutors for backing off an attempt to extend PG&E’s probation because “there appears to be no binding case law on this point,” according to the U.S. attorney’s report.

“If there was ever a test case for whether a company’s probation can be extended, PG&E is it,” Sandoval asserted during an interview. She also unsuccessfully fought to hold a hearing to extend the utility’s probation in 58-page brief filed with Alsup earlier this month.

Noah Stern, the federal prosecutor handling PG&E’s probation, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

While acknowledging its problems, PG&E claimed in a report to the judge that its electricity grid is “fundamentally safer” now than in January 2017. It also defended the roughly 40,000 employees and contractors who maintain its operations.

“Vilifying them and threatening to criminalize the exercise of professional judgment or the making of honest mistakes serves neither safety nor fairness, and instead severely detracts from PG&E’s efforts to bring the skills of the best and brightest to bear on stopping wildfires,” PG&E lawyers wrote. “We are all in this together.”

As signs of its progress, PG&E cited the more than 3.3 million trees near its equipment that were either trimmed or removed in the past two years.

The utility says it now spends $1.4 billion annually to trim or remove trees, up from $400 million annually in 2017. But Alsup estimated PG&E still has a seven-year backlog of high-risk trees that need trimming or removal.

The company also cited a sweeping overhaul of its board and management, including bringing in Patricia Poppe as its new CEO last year. Poppe, a former Michigan utility executive, became PG&E’s fifth CEO in five years, part of an unusually high turnover rate that the company’s federal monitor said makes reform more difficult.

“We know there is more to do,” PG&E’s lawyers told Alsup in their final probationary report. “These are not just words on a page or a poster, they are a commitment to make it right and make Californians safe.”

PG&E declined further comment about the end of its probation.

Sandoval, who was among the regulators overseeing PG&E as a commissioner for the California Public Utilities Commission from 2011 to 2017, accused PG&E officials of being mired in a pattern of “cognitive immaturity” and “lazy thinking” that should require its executives and board to submit to counseling.

“PG&E, the corporation, needs the training an individual criminal defendant would have received in prison to break the cycle of criminal thinking that endangers public safety,” Sandoval wrote in her in brief to Alsup.

In his separate report, Filip suggested California consider regulatory changes or new approaches to keep PG&E in check.

The federal monitor cautioned that in PG&E’s service territory, the consequences of a single misstep — a missed hazard tree, the failure to replace corroded hardware on power lines — can be “death and destruction.”

Could Automation of Jobs Replace 12 Million Workers in Europe by 2040?


David Paul
20 January 2022,


New research has found that millions of workers could lose out to autonomous robots over the next 20 years.

Workers across Europe could find that the automation of jobs will replace them by 2040, according to new research.

Around 12 million jobs will be automated over the next 20 years, with roles that consist of simple, routine tasks the most at risk of being replaced.

Forrester’s Job Forecast 2020-2040 found that the market will begin to decline because Europe’s biggest economies will have millions fewer people of working age.

The research also indicated that the automation industry would create nine million jobs in Europe’s five biggest economies over the same period.

In the analysis of European countries, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, Forrester found that the retail, food services, and leisure and hospitality sectors would see the most automation.

Commenting on the report, Forrester analyst Michael O’Grady said that the pandemic will also be a catalyst for this change: “Lost productivity due to Covid-19 is forcing companies globally to automate manual processes and improve remote working.

“The pandemic is just one factor that will shape the future of work in Europe over the next two decades, however.”

O’Grady added that EU firms can make use of robotics for job replacement as the working-age population begins to decline, and routine low-skilled jobs become more easily automated.

According to the report, Europe’s five biggest economies will have 30m fewer people of working age in 2040 than last year.

Mid-skilled jobs, which make up 38% of the workforce in Germany, 34% of the workforce in France, and 31% of the workforce in the UK, will see the biggest automation rates. Around 49m jobs in Europe were at risk from automation, Forrester said.

“As a result, European organisations will invest in low-carbon jobs and build employees’ skills. Soft skills such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility – something robots aren’t known for – will complement worker automation tasks and become more desirable,” said Forrester.

Discussions around the increase in automation to replace skilled workers have been a point of contention over the last few years as work on robotics and artificial intelligence continues.

As far back as October 2020, a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) indicated that millions of jobs done worldwide could be carried out by some type of machine by 2025.

WEF’s Future of Jobs Report 2020 commented that machines could ‘eliminate’ around 85m jobs usually carried out by workers by the quarter century, and highlighted the importance of reskilling of staff to ensure they are prepared for the future of work.

Sectors like oil and gas have already begun discussing plans to replace workers with robots by 2030.

A report from Rystad Energy in March 2021 said that the sector could saving billions of dollars on reduced labour costs if positions were filled by existing technology like robotics.

One of the main area for consideration was drilling, where companies could not only see enormous savings but protect workers from highly labour intensive and dangerous tasks.

50% Rise in Cyberattacks in 2021 Compared to 2020


Michael Behr
24 January 2022



Software vendors were hit by the greatest increase in attacks as hackers saw the benefits of hitting software supply chains.

Organisations around the world experienced 50% more weekly cyberattacks in 2021 than in 2020, a new study has revealed.

According to Check Point Research’s (CPR’s) upcoming 2022 Security Report, 2021 saw software vendors in hit by the largest year-on-year growth in cyberattacks at 146%.

It also found that cyberattacks against the top 16 industries increased by an average of 55%, with the education/research sector suffering the most attacks. It was hit with an average 1,605 weekly attacks, a 75% increase compared to 2020.

Other key industries targeted by hackers include government/military organisations, which saw an average of 1,136 weekly attacks (47% increase). Communications saw an average of 1,079 weekly attacks (51% increase).

“In a year that began with the fallout from one of the most devastating supply chain attacks in history, we’ve seen threat actors grow in confidence and sophistication,” a CPR statement read.

2021 saw some major cyberattacks, many of which hit third party software suppliers. Supply chain attacks like SolarWinds, Microsoft Exchange, Kaseya, and Log4j were able to hit organisations that used their software, putting thousands of organisations at risk.

Furthermore, attacks on critical infrastructure disrupted the lives of individuals. This includes the Colonial Pipeline attack, which led to fuel shortages on the East Coast of the US. Some, such as the attempted Florida wastewater attack, could have potentially put lives at risk.

In terms of the ransomware ecosystem, botnets were the leading attack category worldwide. They beat out infostealers and cryptominers.

In particular, notorious botnet Emotet returned in November. Despite multiple attempts to shut it down, the malware made a comeback, albeit reduced to at least 50% of the level seen in January 2021.

This rising trend continued throughout December with several end-of-year campaigns, and is expected to continue well into 2022, at least until the next takedown attempt.

However, CPR noted that cracks are appearing in the ransomware ecosystem. The major cyberattacks that took place in 2021 prompted governments and law enforcement agencies to change tactics for dealing with organised ransomware groups. They shifted from pre-emptive and reactive measures to proactive offensive operations against the ransomware operators, their funds and supporting infrastructure.

This year saw a REvil, a major ransomware group behind the Kaseya attack, effectively dismantled after US agencies provided Russian authorities with intelligence. This led to the arrests of multiple individuals connected with the cybercrime organisation.

“The recent arrests made in Russia of the REvil ransomware gang is a unique event in the history of cyber as it is the first time that the US Administration has collaborated with the Russian authorities to track down and arrest members of a ransomware group,” CPR said in a statement.

 

Cybercriminals use new tactics to attack industrial organisations – all in a hunt for corporate credentials, report

24-01-2022 08:17:00 | by: Nixon Kanali 

Kaspersky experts have uncovered a new, rapidly evolving, series of spyware campaigns, attacking more than 2,000 industrial enterprises across the globe. Unlike many mainstream spyware campaigns, these attacks stand out due to the limited number of targets in each attack, and the very short lifespan of each malicious sample. The study identified more than 25 marketplaces where stolen data is being sold. These and other findings were published in the new Kaspersky ICS CERT report.

During the first half of 2021, Kaspersky ICS CERT experts noticed a curious anomaly in statistics on spyware threats blocked on ICS computers. Although the malware used in these attacks belongs to well-known commodity spyware families such as Agent Tesla/Origin Logger, HawkEye and others, these attacks stand out from the mainstream due to the very limited number of targets in each attack (from a handful to a few dozen) and the very short lifetime of each malicious sample.

A closer analysis of 58,586 samples of spyware blocked on ICS computers in H1 2021 revealed that around 21.2% of them were part of this new limited-scope and short-lifetime attack series. Their lifecycle is limited to about 25 days, which is much less than the lifespan of a ‘traditional’ spyware campaign.  

Although each of these “anomalous” spyware samples is short-lived and not widely distributed, they account for a disproportionately large share of all spyware attacks. In Africa, for example, every seventh computer attacked with spyware was hit with one of the “anomalous” spyware samples (2.0% out of 15.4%).

Notably, most of these campaigns are spread from one industrial enterprise to another via well-crafted phishing emails. Once penetrated into the victim’s system, the attacker uses the device as the next-attack C2 (command and control) server. With access to the victim’s mailing list, criminals can abuse corporate email and spread the spyware even further.

According to Kaspersky ICS CERT telemetry, more than 2,000 industrial organisations worldwide have been incorporated into the malicious infrastructure and used by cybergangs to spread the attack to their contact organisations and business partners. We estimate the total number of compromised or stolen corporate accounts as a result of these attacks to be more than 7,000.

The sensitive data obtained from ICS computers often ends up in various marketplaces. Kaspersky experts identified more than 25 different marketplaces where the stolen credentials from these industrial campaigns were being sold. Analysis of those marketplaces showcased high demand for corporate account credentials, especially for Remote Desktop Accounts (RDP). Over 46% of all RDP accounts sold in analysed marketplaces are owned by companies in the US, while the rest originate from Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Almost 4% (almost 2,000 accounts) of all RDP accounts being sold belonged to industrial enterprises.

Another growing market is Spyware-as-a-Service. Since the source codes of some popular spyware programs have been made public, they have become highly available in online shops in the form of a service – developers sell not only malware as a product but also a license for a malware builder and access to infrastructure preconfigured to build the malware.

‘‘Throughout 2021, cybercriminals extensively used spyware to attack industrial computers. Today we witness a new rapidly evolving trend in the industrial threat landscape. To avoid detection, criminals shrink the size of each attack and limit the use of each malware sample by quickly enforcing its replacement with a fresh-built one. Other tactics include the vast abuse of corporate email infrastructure to spread malware. This is different from anything we’ve observed in spyware before and we anticipate such attacks to gain traction in the year ahead,’ comments Kirill Kruglov, security expert at Kaspersky ICS CERT.

More data from the report is available here. 

www.kaspersky.co.za

Tech salaries just hit record highs. So why do IT staff still feel underpaid?

Even though tech workers are happier than ever with their pay, nearly half feel they are not fairly compensated.

Written by Owen Hughes, Senior Editor
on January 24, 2022 | Topic: Developer

Salaries for tech workers have hit new highs, but many developers still feel underpaid.

Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto

A "widespread hunger" for technology professionals has see the average salary for technologists in the US hit a record high of $104,566 in 2021 – and yet, nearly half of tech workers feel they are underpaid.

The latest Dice Tech Salary Report found that 61% of technologists received a salary increase last year, up from 52% in 2020. Web developers saw the biggest increase in pay, shooting up by more than a fifth (21.3%) to $98,912, while the highest salaries were demanded by IT management, whose pay rose 6% to $151,983 between 2020 and 2021.

SEE: Developers say they're happier working from home. Managers should take note

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these pay increases translate into greater satisfaction amongst tech workers. Of the more than 7,200 technologists who responded to Dice's survey, 67% reported being either 'very satisfied' or 'somewhat satisfied' with their salary – up from 55.5% in 2020. At the same time, the proportion who reported feeling very or somewhat dissatisfied with their pay dropped from nearly a third (30.2%) in 2020, to just 10.2% last year.

Image: Dice.com

But despite rising salaries and greater satisfaction with their pay, tech workers do not feel they are being adequately compensated for their time: 47.8% of survey respondents felt they were underpaid – a marginal increase of nearly 2% compared to 2020.

SEE: Is the tech jobs boom is beginning to cool?

A few factors might be contributing to this, said Dice. For example, the low tech unemployment rate and the ever-increasing number of job vacancies may have led technologists to re-evaluate their current position. "Tech professionals are themselves or seeing their peers receive large compensation and other benefit increases as enticements to leave their current roles for another organization," Dice CEO, Art Zeile, told ZDNet.

"The close-to-historic low tech unemployment rate and the skyrocketing demand for technologists have created an environment in which technologists with varied levels of skills and experiences are being wooed by organizations that can afford to pay a premium, and that's likely driving some of the dissatisfaction in pay."

Image: Dice.com

There is also dissatisfaction among women about their salaries. Dice's 2021 Equality in Tech Report showed that some 35% of women reported dissatisfaction with their current compensation, and 49% of women reported feeling underpaid relative to their male counterparts.

Despite technologists feeling underpaid, most are not fighting for pay rises. When asked whether they negotiated their compensation at their most recent salary review, 69% of respondents to Dice's survey replied 'No'.

This compares to 48% of tech workers who negotiated their salary for a new job at a new company. The main reason given by 10% of respondents who reported receiving a salary decrease in 2021 was because they changed employers.

Image: Dice.com

Pay isn't everything, however: alongside staple benefits, such as paid vacation days, health and dental care, and paid sick days, tech workers also increasingly want employers to offer more flexible work schedules, training and remote-working stipends, and childcare support.

Zeile said these findings were "not only a reflection of an organization's adjustment to the future of work," but also highlighted areas where organizations could be competitive in attracting and retaining talent.

"For organizations to attract talent in an ultra-competitive market, one of the most important components is to take the time to truly understand what technologists want and need in their ideal work environments and cultures, and that means starting to close the gap between the benefits that are important to employees versus what they're being offered."

China warns of air pollution risk during Beijing Winter Games

Published: 24 Jan 2022 - 

People walk near the closed loop "bubble" surrounding venues

 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on a hazy day in Beijing, China, January 24, 2022. 

REUTERS/Thomas Peter

BEIJING: Chinese authorities will take action against polluters to ensure next month's Winter Olympics will be held in a "good environment", an environment ministry spokesman said on Monday, as particularly heavy smog shrouded the capital, Beijing.

The Feb. 4-20 Games will be held in Beijing and the surrounding province of Hebei, which are both prone to heavy smog, and Liu Youbin, spokesman for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, warned that winter weather was "very unfavourable" for efforts to keep the air clean.

"Beijing and Hebei … (can) take necessary administrative measures during the preparation and staging of the Winter Olympics to adopt control measures against enterprises and vehicles with high pollution levels," Liu told a regular briefing.

Since China won the bid for the Winter Olympics in 2015, authorities have tried to raise vehicle fuel standards, shut polluting firms and cut coal consumption in a bid to make the Games "green".

But according to environment ministry data, concentrations of hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5, a main measure of smog, stood at 205 micrograms per cubic metre in Beijing on Monday morning.

Liu said the two regions would act if there were warnings of heavy pollution during the Games but they would also try to minimise the economic impact of any measures, and would ensure full operations at companies involved in important sectors like energy or COVID-19 control.

Last year, Beijing's average concentrations of PM2.5 fell 13% to 33 micrograms per cubic metre, meeting China's 35-microgram standard for the first time.

The number still exceeds the official World Health Organization recommendation of 5 micrograms, and concentrations are significantly higher during the winter.

UK
Islamophobia is Endemic in the Conservative Party
Adam Bienkov
24 January 2022

New allegations made by the Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani are the latest evidence of endemic Islamophobia in Boris Johnson’s party, reports Adam Bienkov

Boris Johnson on Monday announced that the Cabinet Office will investigate allegations of Islamophobia made by Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani against the Government.

Ghani alleges that a Government whip told her that she had been sacked from Boris Johnson’s Government in 2020 due to colleagues feeling “uncomfortable” about her Muslim identity.

The Conservative MP and prominent supporter of Johnson, Michael Fabricant, deepened the row on Sunday by making further inflammatory comments about Ghani.

Fabricant, who has previously faced allegations of Islamophobia himself, suggested that Ghanis’s claims “stinks”. He told Sky News: “For her to say that someone had said it’s because she’s a Muslim – I mean she’s barely someone who is obviously a Muslim. I had no idea what religion she is.”

Ghani’s allegations are just the latest in a long line of claims of Islamophobia levelled at the party and the Prime Minister himself.

Here are some of the key incidents that show how Islamophobia has become endemic in the Conservative Party.
Boris Johnson Called Muslim Women ‘Letter Boxes’

The Prime Minister has a long record of making bigoted comments about Muslim people and Islam.

In 2018, the then Foreign Secretary wrote a piece for the Telegraph comparing Muslim women to “letter boxes” and “bank robbers”.

He wrote that “it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes”, adding that any female student who appeared at school or in a lecture “looking like a bank robber” should be asked to remove it.

There was a surge in hate crimes towards Muslim people in the UK in the weeks following his column, according to data compiled by the group Tell Mama.


‘A Sikh Man Standing Up for MuslimWomen Mattered in Exposing
Boris Johnson’s Divide andRule Dog Whistle Politics’
Hardeep Matharu


Boris Johnson said ‘Islam is the Problem’

In the wake of the London bombings in 2005, Johnson questioned the loyalty of British Muslims and insisted that the country must accept that “Islam is the problem.”

“It will take a huge effort of courage and skill to win round the many thousands of British Muslims who are in a similar state of alienation, and to make them see that their faith must be compatible with British values and with loyalty to Britain,” he wrote.

“That means disposing of the first taboo, and accepting that the problem is Islam. Islam is the problem.”

In particularly inflammatory comments he added: “What is going on in these mosques and madrasas? When is someone going to get 18th Century on Islam’s medieval ass?”
Boris Johnson said Islamophobia is ‘Natural’

In 2005, Johnson wrote in the Spectator magazine that he believed it was only “natural” for the public to be scared of Islam.

“To any non-Muslim reader of the Koran, Islamophobia – fear of Islam – seems a natural reaction, and, indeed, exactly what that text is intended to provoke,” he said.

“Judged purely on its scripture – to say nothing of what is preached in the mosques – it is the most viciously sectarian of all religions in its heartlessness towards unbelievers.”
Zac Goldsmith’s ‘Dog Whistle’ Campaign Against Sadiq Khan

In 2016, the then Conservative candidate for London Mayor Zac Goldsmith ran what some Muslim colleagues in his party labelled a “disgusting” campaign against Labour’s Sadiq Khan.

During the course of the campaign, senior Conservatives accused Khan of associating with supporters of ISIS, labelled him “radical” and even suggested that he supported Sharia law.

Goldsmith, whose campaign sent out leaflets to other ethnic minority groups falsely suggesting that Khan would put their family jewellery at risk, described the Labour candidate as a “real danger to London”.

On the eve of the election, an editorial by Goldsmith was published in the Mail with a headline urging Londoners not to hand victory to a party “that believes terrorists are its friends” – accompanied by a photo of a blown-up London bus.

This attempt to play on fears about Khan’s Muslim identity was pushed by senior figures in the party, including David Cameron and Theresa May.

Following criticism of the tactics, the current Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch dismissed them, posting on Twitter: “Why should Sadiq Khan get a free pass from hanging out with extremists just because he is a Muslim?”

Goldsmith was later made a life peer in the House of Lords by Boris Johnson.

Islamophobia Goes ‘Right Up to the Top’ of the Conservative Party

In an interview with me in 2018, the Conservative peer and former co-chair of the party said that Islamophobia goes “right up to the top” of the Tory Party.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who served in David Cameron’s Government, said that Islamophobia was “very widespread” in the party but was being deliberately ignored for electoral reasons.

In comments that echo those made by Ghani at the weekend, Baroness Warsi also said that she was told that her Cabinet colleagues felt “uncomfortable” with her presence in Government.

“I remember being told once in Cabinet [that] ‘colleagues are uncomfortable with the amount of notes you’re taking around the Cabinet table. You seem to take a lot more notes than anybody else’,” she said.

Later, when Baroness Warsi became a minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government, one of her aides was taken aside by an official working for the Conservative Party and told to “keep an eye” on her due to unspecified concerns the party had.

At the time, Baroness Warsi’s claims were dismissed by Theresa May’s Government.

‘An Extremely Dangerous Precedent’Are the Conservatives Institutionalising Islamophobia?
Hamza Ali Shah

Anti-Muslim Content Shared By Conservative MP

The Conservative MP Bob Blackman faced no action from the Conservative Party after sharing an anti-Muslim article on Facebook.

Blackman shared the article headlined ‘Muslim Somali Sex Gang Say Raping White British Children “Part of their Culture”’ back in 2018.

The MP, who previously said that he had retweeted another anti-Islam post “in error”, later deleted his post and said that he regretted “any upset” he had caused.
Conservative Party Members Believe Racist Myths About Muslims

Anti-Muslim bigotry is widespread among Conservative Party members, a poll conducted in 2019 suggested.

Among other things, the YouGov poll found that of those surveyed: 

 

43% of Conservative Party members “would prefer to not have the country led by a Muslim” 

 

45% believe that “there are areas in Britain in which non-Muslims are not able to enter 

 

67% believe that “there are areas in Britain that operate under Sharia law” 

 

39% believe that “Islamist terrorists reflect a widespread hostility to Britain amongst the Muslim community”

Responding to the findings, Hope Not Hate’s campaign director Matthew McGregor said: “From the grassroots to the great offices of state, Conservative members buy into racist myths”.

An Endemic Problem

The above claims are just some of those that have been levelled against the Conservative Party in recent years. However, rather than take them seriously and work to solve the problem, both Boris Johnson and his predecessors have dismissed the issue and sought to attack those making allegations.

In the hours following Nusrat Ghani’s revelations, Johnson’s Government also sought to do this. The Chief Whip, Mark Spencer, identified himself as the individual alleged to have made the comments to Ghani and denied the allegations as “defamatory”. Downing Street also released a statement seeking to undermine her claims by saying that she had failed to make a formal complaint when she first raised the issue.

However, the fact that Ghani chose not choose to make a formal complaint is unsurprising, given that she says she was also warned that doing so would see her career destroyed.

Of course racism and Islamophobia exists in all parts of the public sphere. However, it is exactly this sort of dismissive reaction at the highest levels of Government which suggests that there is an institutional problem within the Conservative Party.

At the time of writing, it is still unclear exactly what the terms are of the Cabinet Office inquiry that has been launched into Ghani’s claims or how rigorous it will be.

The results of previous investigations into the party are not encouraging however.

The Conservative Party’s own 2021 investigation was critical of its handling of the issue and identified remarks made by Johnson and Goldsmith that were problematic. The report, produced by Professor Swaran Singh into how the party deals with discrimination complaints, found that there was “evidence of discrimination” in the Conservative Party, but that it was “not systemic”. It also specifically dismissed claims that the party was “institutionally Islamophobic”.

It remains to be seen whether this latest investigation will go any further.

THUMBNAIL Boris Johnson at Prime Minister's Questions. Photo: Xinhua/Alamy

UK

Chief whip outs himself as person behind ‘Muslimness’ sacking allegation

Mark Spencer denied Nusrat Ghani's accusations, and accused her of defamation.

by Henry Goodwin
2022-01-23


Mark Spencer, the chief whip, has admitted a Tory MP was referring to him when she accused a member of government of telling her she had been sacked from a ministerial job because her Muslim faith was “making colleagues uncomfortable”.

Nusrat Ghani said when she lost her job as a transport minister in 2020, a Government whip told her “Muslimness” had been raised as an issue at a Downing Street meeting to discuss the reshuffle.

Her explosive claim in an interview with The Sunday Times brought immediate condemnation from Conservative MPs and opposition parties alike, with demands for an inquiry.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said there was no place for Islamophobia or any form of racism in the party, and that her allegations must be “investigated properly and racism routed out”.
‘Defamatory’

But in a dramatic move, chief whip Mark Spencer said that he was the individual who spoke to Ms Ghani – although he strongly denied using the words claimed.

“To ensure other Whips are not drawn into this matter, I am identifying myself as the person Nusrat Ghani MP has made claims about this evening,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“These accusations are completely false and I consider them to be defamatory. I have never used those words attributed to me.”

The row erupted at the start of a crucial week for Mr Johnson, with Sue Gray, the senior civil servant investigating lockdown parties in Downing Street, expected to deliver her report.

The conduct of the whips’ office has come under intense scrutiny following claims that tactics amounting to blackmail were used to pressurise Tory MPs seeking to oust the Prime Minister.

In her interview, Ms Ghani, the MP for Wealden, said she was shocked when the issue of her background and faith was raised during a meeting in the whips’ office after the mini-reshuffle in February 2020.

“It was like being punched in the stomach. I felt humiliated and powerless,” she told the paper.

“I was told that at the reshuffle meeting in Downing Street that ‘Muslimness’ was raised as an ‘issue’, that my ‘Muslim women minister’ status was making colleagues uncomfortable and that there were concerns ‘that I wasn’t loyal to the party as I didn’t do enough to defend the party against Islamophobia allegations’.

“It was very clear to me that the whips and No 10 were holding me to a higher threshold of loyalty than others because of my background and faith.

“In the following weeks, I was informed that if I persisted in raising this that I would be ostracised by colleagues and my career and reputation would be destroyed.”

Mr Zahawi said said it was essential that Ms Ghani’s claims were now properly addressed by the party.

“There is no place for Islamophobia or any form of racism in our Conservative Party,” he tweeted.

“Nus Ghani is a friend, a colleague and a brilliant parliamentarian. This has to be investigated properly and racism routed out. #standwithNus.”

The senior Tory who first raised the issue of the conduct of the whips office, William Wragg – the chairman of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee – also voiced his support for Ms Ghani.

“Nus is very brave to speak out. I was truly appalled to learn of her experience. She shows such strength and integrity supporting others,” he tweeted.
‘Rotten culture’

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds said there was a “rotten culture” at the hear of government and that Mr Johnson and Tory chairman Oliver Dowden must launch an urgent investigation into Ms Ghani’s allegations.

“This is just the latest allegation in a long list of appalling behaviour at the centre of government that the Prime Minister appears willing to overlook,” she said.

“This rotten culture starts at the top – the lack of respect in No 10 is embarrassing our country and letting people down.”

A spokesman on behalf of the whips office said: “These claims are categorically untrue. Ministerial roles are appointed on merit and rewards for hard work.

“The Conservative Party does not tolerate any form of racism or discrimination.”

Related: Nusrat Ghani: ‘I was sacked because of my Muslimness’

Boris Johnson pressed to launch probe after Tory MP Nusrat Ghani’s Islamophobia allegations

Several Tory MPs have called on the Prime Minister to set up an urgent inquiry into the allegations

Nusrat Ghani has accused a Government whip of telling her that she was sacked from her ministerial post because her Muslim faith was making colleagues uncomfortable (Photo: UK Parliament)

By Emily Ferguson

January 23, 2022 

Boris Johnson has come under pressure to launch a formal investigation into Tory MP Nusrat Ghani’s claims she was sacked from her ministerial post because her Muslim faith was “making colleagues uncomfortable”.

She claims her faith was raised as a reason for why she was sacked as a transport minister in 2020 in a conversation with an unnamed Government whip. Chief whip Mark Spencer has since named himself as the whip in question, describing the claims as false and defamatory.

Several Tory MPs, including the Education Secretary, have condemned the allegations and called for No 10 to launch a probe.

Nadhim Zahawi wrote on Twitter: “There is no place for Islamophobia or any form of racism in our Conservative party. Nus Ghani is a friend, a colleague & a brilliant parliamentarian. This has to be investigated properly & racism routed out. #standwithNus.”

Mark Harper, Tory MP for the Forest of Dean, called on the Prime Minister to set up an urgent inquiry, and said: “There is no place for prejudice in 10 Downing Street.”

Others have also spoken out, with influential backbencher Steve Baker among those objecting to the MP’s treayment.

He said: “That Nus could be treated like this is completely intolerable. I value Nus Ghani as a great colleague and I’m appalled. We must get to the bottom of it.”

Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the report “demands an inquiry” and reiterated the comments of other Tory MPs that racism has no place within the party.

A Downing Street statement on Sunday said: “After being made aware of these extremely serious claims, the PM met with Nusrat Ghani to discuss them. He then wrote to her expressing his serious concern and inviting her to begin a formal complaint process. She did not subsequently do so.

“The Conservative Party does not tolerate prejudice or discrimination of any kind.”

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has said there will be no “specific investigation” unless Ms Ghani submitted a formal complaint.

He told Sky News that the allegation is “incredibly serious”, adding that the Government has “absolutely zero tolerance for any discrimination of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party”.

But Mr Raab suggested it was up to Ms Ghani to make a formal complaint.

“He (Mr Spencer) has categorically denied it in what can only be described as the most forthright and robust terms indeed,” Mr Raab told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme.

“If there are any claims like this they should result in a formal complaint which allows a formal investigation to take place.

“As the chief whip has pointed out, Nus hasn’t made a formal complaint. She was asked to do so. In the absence of doing so there will be no specific investigation into this.”

Ms Ghani revealed the allegations in an interview with the Sunday Times, where she claims her faith was raised as a reason for why she was sacked as a transport minister in 2020.

She said when she lost her job, a Government whip told her “Muslimness” had been raised as an issue at a Downing Street meeting to discuss the reshuffle.

“I was told that at the reshuffle meeting in Downing Street that ‘Muslimness’ was raised as an ‘issue’, that my ‘Muslim women minister’ status was making colleagues uncomfortable and that there were concerns ‘that I wasn’t loyal to the party as I didn’t do enough to defend the party against Islamophobia allegations’,” she said.

Ms Ghani added: “It was very clear to me that the whips and No 10 were holding me to a higher threshold of loyalty than others because of my background and faith.”

The article did not name the Government whip, but Mr Spencer later identified himself on Twitter but strongly denied the allegations.

“To ensure other whips are not drawn into this matter, I am identifying myself as the person Nusrat Ghani MP has made claims about this evening,” he said.

“These accusations are completely false and I consider them to be defamatory. I have never used those words attributed to me.

“It is disappointing that when this issue was raised before Ms Ghani declined to refer the matter to the Conservative Party for a formal investigation.”

He added: “These claims relate to a meeting in March 2020. When Ms Ghani raised them she was invited to use the formal CCHQ complaints procedure. She declined to do so.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said Mr Johnson was first alerted to the allegations in 2020 and held a meeting with the MP.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “After being made aware of these extremely serious claims, the Prime Minister met with Nusrat Ghani to discuss them. He then wrote to her expressing his serious concern and inviting her to begin a formal complaint process. She did not subsequently do so. The Conservative Party does not tolerate prejudice or discrimination of any kind.”

How Boris Johnson was forced to order an inquiry into alleged Tory Islamophobia after Nusrat Ghani’s claims

Nusrat Ghani’s claims that she was told be a Government whip she lost her job as transport minister due to her “Muslimness” will be investigated by the Cabinet Office.

By Arj Singh

Deputy Political Editor

January 24, 2022 

Facing the prospect of being dragged into a fresh Islamophobia row amid an already make-or-break week, Boris Johnson on Monday morning decided to pull the trigger on a fresh investigation into incendiary allegations by Conservative ex-minister Nusrat Ghani.

What did Ms Ghani claim?

In an interview with the Sunday Times published late on Saturday night, the Wealden MP said she was told by a Government whip that she was sacked from her job as transport minister in February 2020 as her “Muslimnesss” made colleagues “uncomfortable”.

How did it become a row?

Very soon after the story was published, Chief Whip Mark Spencer dramatically outed himself as the whip in question and strenuously deny Ms Ghani’s claims as “completely false” and “defamatory” in tweets that were deleted, edited then reposted.

Ms Spencer also said Ms Ghani had raised the comments before and was invited to use the formal Conservative complaints procedure and declined in 2020.

However, two Cabinet ministers – Nadhim Zahawi and Sajid Javid – said the serious allegations needed to be investigated.

Several senior Conservatives including Jeremy Hunt, Tom Tugendhat and Steve Baker also called for an investigation.

But the Government maintained it could not carry out a probe and again invited Ms Ghani to use the Tory complaints procedure.

So did she?

No, instead Ms Ghani hit back, saying that after she spoke to Mr Johnson about what had happened in summer 2020, he wrote to her to say he “could not get involved” and also urged her to use the formal Tory complaints procedure.

But the MP, who had already revealed that she was warned at the time her career would be “destroyed” if she tried to complain, said a party process was “very clearly not appropriate for something that happened on Government business”.

“All I have ever wanted was for his Government to take this seriously, investigate properly and ensure no other colleague has to endure this,” she said.

That left Mr Johnson, whose premiership is hanging by a thread, with few options other than to order a Cabinet Office investigation, particularly when his Government is already facing claims of blackmail and intimidation of MPs to support him.

What does she say now?

Nusrat Ghani said she welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision to order an investigation.

“As I said to the Prime Minister last night, all I want is for this to be taken seriously and for him to investigate.
I welcome his decision to do that now, ” she said.

“The terms of reference for the inquiry must include all that was said in Downing Street and by the whip.
“I look forward to seeing the terms of reference.” 

Heavy Snow in Athens Causes Traffic Chaos

Once-in-a-lifetime weather event. Locals say that the last time this amount of snow fell on the Cyclades was decades ago

ByTasos Kokkinidis
January 24, 2022

The northern suburbs of the Greek capital are snowbound on Monday. Credit: Greek Reporter

Heavy snow in Athens on Monday forced authorities to shut down several streets in the northern suburbs of the Greek capital, including parts of the main Athens-Thessaloniki highway.

At the same time, trucks are not allowed on the old Athens-Thebes national road.

Pentelis Avenue jammed with cars. Credit: Greek Reporter

Snow falling in the center of Athens

Snow is falling even in the center of Athens, creating traffic chaos during the rush hour as commuters try to get to their jobs.

A 112 emergency alert was sent to residents in Attica on Monday morning to warn them of extremely heavy snowfall in the region over the coming hours, calling on them to avoid all non-essential travel and follow the instructions of the authorities.

The Hellenic Police on Monday advised Attica residents, and especially those in the northern suburbs, to avoid traveling around unnecessarily due to the heavy snow falling in the region, as well as in other parts of the country experiencing severe weather conditions.

The announcement also reminded motorists that information on the roads that are closed and useful road safety tips in wintry weather are provided in a special banner on the Hellenic Police website, www.hellenicpolice.gr.

The Hellenic Parliament suspended its operations on Monday, due to the extreme weather conditions in the Attica region. Public-sector staff were sent home at noon on Monday, after the Interior Ministry issued a circular permitting them to leave early due to the bad weather and heavy snow.

The health ministry announced that COVID-19 vaccination centers in the wider Athens region of Attica and on the nearby island of Evia would shut at 3 p.m. Monday and would remain closed on Tuesday because of the heavy snowfall. Appointments that had been arranged for Monday afternoon and for Tuesday would be rescheduled.

The second and most severe storm that is part of the new front, called “Elpis,” is in progress throughout Greece.

According to the National Meteorological Service (EMY), the main characteristics of the second wave of the front will be very low temperatures; heavy snowfall — even in lowland areas of northern and eastern Greece as well as in the Aegean islands — while northerly winds of 8 to 9 Beaufort are expected to blow in the area

.

The northern suburb of Vrillisia is nearly unpassable. Credit: Greek Reporter

The Greek islands have been are covered in snow since Sunday in a once-in-a-lifetime weather event. Locals say that the last time this amount of snow fell on the Cyclades was decades ago.

Syros, Naxos, Tinos, Andros, Mykonos, Santorini, and the other islands of the Cyclades are covered in a white veil of snow as the storm “Elpis” hits Greece, including the mainland.

The heavy snowfall has caused many problems in the islands that lack the infrastructure to cope with such weather events.

Heavy snowfall across Greece

Extreme weather conditions will affect Greece on Monday and Tuesday when snow is expected even in the plains of the country, including the Attica region.

Schools of all levels of education will remain closed throughout Attica on Monday and Tuesday, January 24-25.

Attica governor Giorgos Patoulis, after consulting with the political leadership of the Ministry of Civil Protection, the deputy governors, the mayors and all involved bodies, and evaluating the weather conditions, decided to keep schools closed on Monday and Tuesday for precautionary reasons and taking into consideration the safety of students and professors.

Schools will hold lessons via teleconference on these days.

Authorities have advised citizens to avoid any and all unnecessary travel.

China donates military equipment to the Philippine armed forces

POSTED ON SUNDAY, 23 JANUARY 2022 


According to information published by the Philippine Department of National Defense on January 21, 2022, China has donated $21 million of military equipment to the Philippine armed forces.

China donates military equipment to Philipppine armedd forces. (Picture source Philippine DoD)

The first batch of Chinese military equipment worth $1.5 million arrived in Manila on 16 January 2022. The second batch of military equipment worth $1 million will be delivered at a later date.

The donation comprises various military equipment such as rescue and relief equipment, drone systems, detectors, water purification vehicles, ambulances, firetrucks, Xray machines, EOD robots, bomb disposal suits and transport vehicles; and engineering equipment such as backhoes, dumptrucks, forklifts, and earthmovers.

This is not the first time that China has provided military equipment to the Philippines, indeed, in October 2017, the Philippine defense department had received military equipment that China donated to help the Philippines in the fight against terrorism.

The donation, which included rifles, ammunition and sniper scopes, was the second batch of armaments that China handed over to the Philippine government during the year 2017. In accepting China's arms donation, Philippine defense and military authorities lauded China's contribution to maintaining peace and fighting terrorist groups in the Philippines.

The continued support of China to the Philippines shows a new strengthens in the political relations between the two countries. This new donation paves for a broader and stronger Sino-Philippine security cooperation in the future.