Mass rallies and strikes in France over Macron's pension reform

Tue, March 7, 2023 

More than a million people marched in France and strikes disrupted transport and schools on Tuesday during mass protests against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to push back the retirement age to 64.

Police used teargas in Paris and minor clashes also took place in the western city of Nantes, but the more than 260 union-organised rallies across the country were mostly peaceful.

Labour leaders had pledged to bring France "to a standstill" on the biggest day of action in a series of stoppages this year -- a goal that proved beyond their reach judged by the busy roads of major cities.

Only one in five regional and high-speed trains ran, however, and the Paris metro system operated with a skeletal schedule. Rubbish began piling up in the capital after garbage collectors walked off the job.

"The government has to take (resistance) into account when there are so many people in the street, when they're having so much trouble explaining and passing their reform," CFDT union chief Laurent Berger said as she stood at the head of the Paris rally.

- Unions plan more action -

The interior ministry said 1.28 million people marched across the country, making it one of the biggest protests in decades and slightly bigger than a previous round of demonstrations on January 31.

The CGT union put the figure at 3.5 million.

It appears unlikely that Tuesday's protests will influence Macron, 45, who has championed pension reform since coming to power in 2017 in order to tackle deficits forecast for the coming decades.

Analysts see the centrist as determined to press ahead, with parliament set to vote on the draft legislation as early as next week.

On Tuesday evening the unions called for an urgent meeting with Macron.

But they also announced to more days of action, including protests on Saturday.

- U-turn? -

Speeches on Tuesday by political opponents and union leaders sought to convince voters that only massive popular resistance and protests could force the government into a U-turn, a regular feature of French democracy.

"On the one hand there's (Macron's) will, on the other the will of the people," hard-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon told a demonstration in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille.

"Who should have the last word? Of course it should be the people," he added, calling for fresh elections or a referendum on the changes.

Although around two in three people are against the reform, around the same number believe it will be enacted, according to a poll by the Elabe survey group published on Monday.

Most people support the strikers, polls also show.

Ali Toure, a 28-year-old construction worker, was waiting for a delayed train north of Paris on Tuesday morning, but said it was "no big deal" if he arrived late to work for a month.

"They're right to be striking. Manual labour is hard," he said.

A blockade of oil refineries, underway since Tuesday morning, has the potential to cause severe disruption if it continues in the weeks ahead.

Around a third of teachers were absent on Tuesday, a quarter of civil servants, and half of workers at the state-owned EDF energy utility, according to ministry and company figures.

- 'Work longer' -

The government argues that raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, abolishing privileges enjoyed by employees in some sectors, and stiffening the requirements for a full pension are required to balance the pension system.

France lags most of its European neighbours, which have hiked the retirement age to 65 or above.

Its spending on pensions is the third highest among industrialised countries, at the equivalent of 14.5 percent of GDP, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

"If we want to keep this system going, we need to work longer," Macron said last month.

But unions contest that conclusion and say small increases in contributions could keep it solvent.

They also argue that the proposed measures are unfair and would disproportionately affect low-skilled workers who start their careers early, as well as women.

The bill is now being debated in the upper house senate, with a vote by both houses of parliament expected by the middle of the month or by March 26 at the latest.

Union leaders are set to meet Tuesday evening to decide on their next moves.

burs-adp/pvh

Major train strikes in France aimed at "blocking country"

Rory Armstrong
Tue, 7 March 2023 


This Tuesday, transport services join an undetermined strike that will see services severely reduced at local, regional and international levels. These will affect France's rail, bus and aviation services, with reduced services, except at peak working hours, and blockades to major cities expected.

March 7 will mark the sixth day of industrial action since January over government plans to reform pension rights in France and increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, which saw more than a million people take to the streets and this time, unions are hoping, will bring the country to a standstill.

Unlike previous strikes, major confederations of French trade unions – including the CFDT and CGT – have announced ‘’grèves reconductibles’’, meaning workers will vote at the end of each strike day on whether to continue industrial action. With no fixed end date, unions hope rolling walkouts have the potential to disrupt daily life and threaten the economy so severely that it forces the government into submission.

Which countries have the most strikes in Europe and what impact does it have on the economy?

In the transport sector, national rail company SNCF and Parisian public transport RATP are both expecting major ongoing strikes, with transport authorities warning of “major disruption” in Paris.

International journeys on trains and flights will also be impacted, with the French civil aviation authority recommending that airports in major cities across France reduce flight traffic by up to 30%. Delays and cancellations are expected.

Schools and power plants to close

Apart from transport, the education and industrial sector are also expected to join the strike.

On Friday energy production in France was reduced in multiple nuclear power stations bringing down the overall electricity supply. In the midst of a cost of living and energy crisis, union representatives said production would fall even lower as strikes continue, in order to negatively impact the French economy.

In education, the seven major teaching unions have called for the “total closure” of schools on March 7. High school and university students are expected to join protests alongside staff from Tuesday, with a peak of activity on March 9 with a dedicated “Youth Mobilisation” day.

Pension reform in France: Which countries have the lowest and highest retirement ages in Europe?

For gas and electricity workers, walkouts will continue “at the minimum until the 7th, and at the maximum until we win”, said the secretary-general of union confederation CGT Energie, Sébastien Ménesplier.

Impact on women

Protest actions focused on women and the retirement reform’s impact on working mothers are expected Wednesday to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Asked about the strikes on Saturday as he completed a tour of African countries, Macron said he had "nothing new to say" on the topic.

French Strikes Over Pension Reform Hit Power Utility, Trucking


Tara Patel
Sun, March 5, 2023 

Strikes in France to protest against government pension reforms hit power giant Electricite de France SA for a third consecutive day after workers cut output at a number of nuclear reactors.

The walkouts reduced production on Sunday by about 4 gigawatts across generators at four plants including Tricastin, Flamanville, Cattenom and Paluel, according to filings published on EDF’s website.

The labor strife is also spreading to the trucking industry, with freight haulers planning to block some logistics and industrial centers early Monday, Le Parisien reported.

The disruptions come ahead of nationwide protests planned to start Tuesday. Some unions including CGT have pledged to bring the country to a standstill by snarling planes, trains, metros and road haulage as well as affecting schools, ports, refineries and other industrial sectors. President Emmanuel Macron has promised to push through the changes to retirement in spite of opposition from workers and rival politicians.

“We’re moving to a whole new level,” CGT leader Philippe Martinez told the Journal du Dimanche.

Public support for the reforms stands at 32%, according to an Ifop poll published Sunday in the newspaper, while 34% of respondents believe the government will withdraw the plan in response to protests and strikes.

“It’ll be really chaotic for some people,” Transport Minister Clement Beaune said in an interview on France 3 television. While the walkouts mean there will be little public transport available, he said the government remains determined to overhaul the pension rules.

Pension Regimes

The walkouts at EDF come after the French Senate voted overnight on a plan to phase out specific pension regimes which allow some workers including those in the utility to retire years earlier than people in other jobs.

The power reductions at EDF affect available supply, but mild weather is expected to reduce the strain on the country’s energy systems.

France’s civil aviation authority, the DGAC, has asked airlines to cancel 20% to 30% of their flights at French airports on March 7 and 8 due to planned walkouts by air traffic controllers.

Air France said it plans to operate eight out of 10 flights on those days including all long-haul services. “Delays and last minute cancellations cannot be ruled out,” it said.

National railway SNCF has warned traffic will be disrupted on March 7 while the Eurostar rail service has canceled some links between Paris, London, Brussels and Amsterdam on March 7 and 8.

FAUCI OF THE UK
How Matt Hancock plotted to have ‘useless loudmouth’ Covid scientist sacked

The Lockdown Files Team
Sat, 4 March 2023 

THE PLAYERS

Matt Hancock
British Conservative politician 

Jeremy Farrar
Epidemiologist and director of the Wellcome Trust

Dido Harding
British businesswoman 




Ministers criticised by one of the world’s most eminent scientists tried to have him sacked from the Government’s Covid advisory committee, leaked messages reveal.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), was described as “worse than useless” by Matt Hancock, who demanded of his permanent secretary: “Can we fire him?”

He also described Sir Jeremy, now the most eminent scientist with the World Health Organisation (WHO), as “totally offside” and a “complete loudmouth” who “has little respect amongst the serious scientists”.

Sir Jeremy, who was also the director of Wellcome Trust, Britain’s biggest medical research charity, at the time, had publicly questioned the Government’s decision to shut down Public Health England (PHE) in August 2020, about six months into the pandemic.

Sir Jeremy, who took up his new post as the WHO’s chief scientist only last week, had condemned the proposal to scrap PHE in favour of a new organisation run by Mr Hancock’s friend, Baroness Harding, who had run the NHS Test and Trace programme.

The former professor of tropical diseases at Oxford University and one of the world’s leading experts on infectious diseases had also been highly critical of Test and Trace.

He posted on Twitter early on Aug 19, 2020: “Arbitrary sackings. Passing of blame. Ill thought through, short term, reactive reforms… Preempting inevitable public inquiry” and a link to a newspaper article reporting the axing of PHE.

The social media post so infuriated ministers that they orchestrated a ring-round of Sir Jeremy’s colleagues including Baroness Manningham-Buller, the then chairman of the Wellcome Trust and the former head of MI5.

Lord Bethell, the health minister and one of Mr Hancock’s closest friends, told the then health secretary: “He’ll now know I’ve done a comprehensive ring round. This will irritate him but also warn him. I wonder if there is some sort of official route to talking to him?”

The conversations are revealed among more than 100,000 messages exchanged between ministers, officials and others during the pandemic that have been obtained by The Telegraph.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser and the chairman of the Sage committee, also became embroiled in the row after Mr Hancock asked: “Does [Sir Jeremy] bring any value at all to SAGE? I've never once heard him say anything useful at all.”

Mr Hancock’s comments will raise serious concerns over the apparent attempts behind the scenes to undermine a senior scientist and member of Sage, the body that provided independent scientific advice on Covid to the Government.

It will also raise questions about ministers’ response to public criticism from eminent scientists who were concerned by the handling of the pandemic.

In his own book, published in July 2021, Sir Jeremy said of the then health secretary: “Matt Hancock shoulders a responsibility for the PPE shortages and testing fiasco, among other failings, that contributed to the dreadful epidemics in care homes and hospitals.”
‘Grave error’

In the book, Sir Jeremy also said Baroness Harding’s appointment as chairman of Test and Trace was a “grave error” and that the decision to put her in charge of the new body was “even worse” than PHE “being thrown under the bus”.

Mr Hancock appears to have been infuriated by Sir Jeremy from early on in the pandemic, even before his posts on the scrapping of PHE.

Four months earlier, in April 2020, Mr Hancock was already angry that Sir Jeremy had done an interview with Sophy Ridge on Sky News in which he had said: “I hope we would have a vaccine towards the end of this year,” but warned of the difficulty of making sure it was safe and then able to be manufactured in billions of doses around the world that “is truly effective”.

It is unclear what part of the Sky News interview so irritated Mr Hancock, but he sent a WhatsApp message to a special adviser at 9.18am on April 20, a day after the interview aired, questioning whether Sir Jeremy had been given permission to speak to the broadcaster. It is unclear whether there was any requirement of Sage members to do so.

Mr Hancock said: “We need a Jeremy Farrar handling strategy. He is totally offside, a complete loudmouth, has little respect amongst the serious scientists. Did he approach us before doing Ridge? He needs to be either inside the tent and onside, or outside and commentating. He adds no value internally.”
‘Frankly dangerous’

On the day that he gave the Sky News interview, Lord Bethell told Mr Hancock he had, “after massive toing-and-froing”, with Sir Jeremy and Prof John Newton, the Government’s testing tsar, agreed on proposals to conduct a survey to test the public on past and present Covid infections.

But Sir Jeremy had raised his concern that the antibody tests in April 2020 were unlikely to be accurate.

In a message circulated to Mr Hancock and Lord Bethell, Sir Jeremy wrote of the tests: “They should not be believed. I have seen no data that shows any currently available rapid test would be useful or informative. Some are frankly dangerous.

“I appreciate this is not a message that is popular. I wish this was not true. But the RDTs [rapid detection tests] are currently a distraction. In months to come there maybe good RDTs – there are none today in my view and reading of the data.”

Lord Bethell appeared to have been concerned at Sir Jeremy’s stance. “Farar is being a total spanner in the works,” he said in a message to Mr Hancock on April 19, adding: “But I think somehow he needs management. Either a Big Hug. Or a sharp talking to. But at the moment is q tricky.”

A month later, on May 29, Sir Jeremy posted on Twitter his concerns that Covid was “spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England” and that Test and Trace needed to “be in place, fully working” to deal with any surge in the virus.

He would tweet three weeks later, on June 19, 2020, that the “situation now changed” and the decision to lift lockdown restrictions was “entirely reasonable”.

But on May 29, Allan Nixon, another of Mr Hancock’s advisers, messaged his boss on WhatsApp: “Jeremy Farrar going off the rails again.” The then health secretary replied: “He is definitely no10’s problem not ours,” adding: “If asked about Farrar by No10, explain that we thought best to relieve him from his duties but were overruled...”

Mr Hancock’s anger and frustration increased, however, after Sir Jeremy posted criticism of the Government on Twitter following the axing of PHE.

That day, Aug 19, 2020, Mr Hancock sent a message to Sir Chris Wormald, the permanent secretary in the Department of Health and Social Care.

“We have to do something about Farrar. Can we fire him? This is completely unacceptable,” he wrote in a WhatsApp message. Prof Sir Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO), replied: “Would have to be Patrick V to fire him as it’s SAGE."

The next day, Mr Hancock raised his concern with Emma Dean, a special adviser, asking her to speak to Sir Chris.

“Can you talk to CMO and see what we can do,” asked Mr Hancock. Ms Dean replied: “Yes. What is your ask? Get rid or neutralise?” to which Mr Hancock responded: “Neutralise. Stop the defamation.”

Later, Mr Hancock, clearly still irritated, said: “Why don’t we kick him off SAGE? he brings nothing.” Ms Dean said removing Sir Jeremy “would make him a martyr and would dine out on it very noisily” and advised against it.

On Aug 21, the issue over Sir Jeremy is still rankling and Lord Bethell told Mr Hancock that he had spoken to an eminent scientist “about handling Farrar”.

Lord Bethell reported back to Mr Hancock he had been advised “dont talk to Manning Buller - she’s ferocious and self-important, and would contrive to interpret a call as somehow interfering with Wellcome independence. He suggests I speak to Farrar directly, nicely explaining the challenge of outspoken external criticism when operating as a trusted advisor. I’ve put a call in, he didnt pick up. will update”.

“Manning Buller” refers to Baroness Manningham-Buller.

Five days later, Lord Bethell messaged Mr Hancock telling him he had spoken to eminent scientists about Sir Jeremy.

He also spoke to Baroness Manningham-Buller: “Manning Buller said she agreed with him 100% and defended his right to say whatever he liked.

“I’ve called and texted JF but he hasn’t replied. He’ll now know I’ve done a comprehensive ring round. This will irritate him but also warn him. I wonder if there is some sort of official route to talking to him?”

Sir Jeremy remained a member of Sage throughout the pandemic.

The EU's new debate: Are e-fuels a viable and green alternative to the combustion engine?

Jorge Liboreiro
Tue, 7 March 2023 


Brussels is abuzz with talks and takes on e-fuels, a nascent technology that combines hydrogen and CO2 to produce alternative sources to power road vehicles.

The esoteric topic suddenly finds itself at top of the European Union's political agenda after a small group of member states, including Germany and Italy, pushed last week to delay the final vote on the phase-out of combustion engine cars.

The phase-out had already been agreed upon by the co-legislators, the EU Council and the European Parliament, with a cut-off date of 2035, the deadline by which all new cars and vans sold across the bloc should present a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions.

Brussels chose 2035 as the time limit because the average lifespan of vehicles is 15 years and the European Green Deal aims to make the entire economy climate neutral by 2050.

In practice, the measure means the end of the combustion engine as we know it, a major shift with vast implications for Europe's automotive industry and the 13 million jobs that directly and indirectly depend on the sector.

The German Ministry of Transport, led by the business-friendly FDP party, has mounted a campaign to spare e-fuels in a bid to keep the combustion engine alive after 2035. The ministry says the European Commission, which drafted the original legislation, had offered a verbal commitment during negotiations to table a separate proposal that would enshrine the e-fuel exemption in law.

"How the Commission intends to fulfill its promise is of secondary importance. We are not imposing any conditions on the Commission in this regard," a spokesperson from the ministry told Euronews.

"What is important is that the Commission quickly submits legally binding and legally effective proposals to enable vehicles that can demonstrably be fuelled only with e-fuels to still be registered after 2035. This was the explicit pre-condition for Germany to agree to the revision of the CO2 Regulation."

The European Commission declined to comment on any verbal commitment or the possibility of designing a brand-new piece of legislation to satisfy Berlin's demands but said it was working "constructively" with member states to push the law over the finish line.

"The proposed legislation is technologically neutral," a Commission spokesperson said.
What exactly are e-fuels?

The production of e-fuels, also known as synthetic fuels or electro-fuels, starts with the process of electrolysis, which splits water (H2O) into hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O). The hydrogen is then mixed with carbon dioxide (CO2) to create the e-fuel in liquid form.

This e-fuel is later refined into e-petrol, e-diesel, e-kerosene and e-methanol, among other derivatives, that have commercial purposes similar to those of the fossil fuels they seek to replace.

In the case of vehicles, e-fuels can be blended in with oil-based fuels and combusted in the same engine, which means a smaller but still considerable amount of pollutants are released into the air.

Germany argues these damaging emissions can be offset by decarbonising the entire manufacturing process. This would entail mixing fully green hydrogen with carbon dioxide directly captured from the air, as well as using 100% renewable electricity across the value chain.

"Provided they are produced with renewable energy, e-fuels are climate neutral," the German spokesperson said.

The current state of the market, however, suggests the goal faces an uphill struggle: over 96% of the hydrogen currently produced in Europe comes from natural gas, while carbon capture technology continues to fall short of expectations, despite decades of development.

These tight conditions put pressure on prices and supplies, relegating e-fuels to a niche, well-off audience and overshadowing one of their key assets: e-fuels can be stored and shipped at room temperature worldwide, contrary to electricity, which is generated for immediate, near-at-hand consumption.

The eFuel Alliance, a Berlin-based interest group, blames the adverse situation on the lack of political endorsement for e-fuels, which hampers the development of a genuine economy of scale.

"European production capacities are very limited," the Alliance told Euronews in a statement. "But scaling up is waiting in the wings. However, this is not due to a lack of demand, but to uncertainties of the political framework conditions at the EU level."

The Alliance complains the EU's combustion engine ban is based on CO2 emissions detected at the exhaust pipeline, a condition that rules e-fuels out, rather than on the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process.

"This means that only vehicles that do not emit any emissions in real-life operation are classified as climate-neutral," the Alliance said. "This is one of the biggest problems and counteracts the actual efforts to advance any technology that is useful for the climate."

Expressing similar views, Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA), the association that represents the German automotive industry, says the EU should offer tax advantages to incentivise the uptake of "climate-neutral fuels" – even if e-fuels hardly classify as such at the moment.

"The market ramp-up of e-fuels technology must no longer be slowed down politically," a VDA spokesperson told Euronews.

Low-carbon vs Low-cost

E-fuels are further beset by criticism for their poor energy inefficiency compared to their greatest rival in green transport: electric vehicles.

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), an independent research organisation based in Washington, has estimated that, on average, 48% of renewable electricity used to convert e-fuels into liquid is lost along the process, while up to 70% of the fuel's energy is lost upon combustion.

This leads to a 16% efficiency.

By contrast, in electric vehicles, the ICCT says, only 10% of electricity is lost in charging and 20% is lost by the motor, resulting in a 72% efficiency.

Transport & Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based NGO that advocates for cleaner transport, projected very similar efficiency numbers in a critical report published last October.

The study showed that, due to the disparate efficiency rates, an electric car could travel five to six times farther than its e-petrol counterpart using the same amount of renewable electricity.

"It is incredibly energy inefficient to create any synthetic fuel," said Alex Keynes, clean vehicles manager at Transport & Environment. "E-fuels should not have a place in decarbonising cars. It is simply a waste of investment, a waste of energy and is not a credible technology."

German Transport Minister Volker Wissing, left, and German Finance Minister Christian Lindner are leading the charge against the EU's proposed ban on the combustion engine. - Markus Schreiber/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved

Keynes believes e-fuels should be promoted in economic sectors that currently lack low-carbon solutions, like maritime transport and aviation, rather than in the automotive industry where a "cheaper and viable alternative" exists in the form of electric vehicles.

Asked about Germany's position, Keynes said a tailor-made exemption for e-fuels would open up loopholes and be "simply unenforceable."

"There is no way to control whether the driver of the vehicle is putting fossil petrol or e-petrol into the car," Keynes told Euronews in an interview. "This creates a significant risk of greenwashing."

The industry insists Europe's road to climate neutrality should be "technology open" and embrace nascent technology, even if their commercial potential and environmental prowess are yet to be proven.

"At the beginning of every transformation, there are many question marks and uncertainties," said the eFuel Alliance. "Radical changes require trust and courage."

The Alliance admits the efficiency of e-fuels is "still being debated" but has a notable recommendation to close the gap with electric vehicles: to set up production centres in countries with "ideal conditions for solar and wind power," such as those in Africa, the Middle East and South America.

Civil society adamantly opposes this strategy, arguing that in the context of the climate crisis and Russia's war in Ukraine, the last thing Europe needs is yet another dependency on imported fuel.

"The 2035 phase-out of internal combustion engines is the best way forward," Keynes said. "If this target is watered down, then Europe simply cannot even comply with its own Paris Agreement commitments."

Two strong earthquakes rock southern Philippines

Cecil Morella and Ron Lopez
Tue, 7 March 2023 


Two strong earthquakes jolted the southern Philippines on Tuesday, authorities said, with the second damaging buildings and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of villagers from their homes.

A 6.0-magnitude quake struck at about 2:00 pm (0600 GMT), a few kilometres from Maragusan municipality in the mountainous gold-mining province of Davao de Oro on Mindanao island, the US Geological Survey said.

Local authorities said there were no reports of casualties or significant damage.

But a shallower second quake, measuring 5.6 magnitude, hit nearly three hours later in the neighbouring municipality of New Bataan, triggering the collapse of some houses.

New Bataan disaster officer Lynne Dollolasa said nearly 300 people were forced to leave their homes in Andap village, where "a number of houses collapsed".

About 100 people inside a shopping mall in Tagum city, in the adjacent province of Davao del Norte, were hit by falling glasses and plates as they fled the building, said Jay Suaybaguio, the provincial information officer.

"I was in the third floor buying office supplies when the quake suddenly struck," Suaybaguio told AFP.

"When we reached the first floor we saw broken bottles of wine and condiments. The lights went out but emergency lights turned on, helping us to find our way."

Photos posted on the Facebook page of the Davao del Norte disaster agency showed collapsed ceiling sections inside another Tagum shopping mall, which it attributed to "the series of earthquake incidents".

The Davao del Norte government suspended work and classes on Tuesday and Wednesday to allow for inspections of public buildings and infrastructure to ensure public safety.

The first quake lasted about 30 seconds and was followed by aftershocks, said Corporal Stephanie Clemen, a police officer in Tagum, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Maragusan.

"We immediately went under our desks and when the ground stopped shaking we went straight outside," Clemen told AFP.

"We are still outside because a moderate aftershock just hit."

While the quake did not appear to have destroyed anything, Clemen said, it was strong enough to "cause fear".

Quakes are a daily occurrence in the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic and volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Most of the earthquakes are too weak to be felt by humans, but strong and destructive ones come at random with no technology available to predict when and where they will happen.

The nation's civil defence office regularly holds drills simulating earthquakes along active fault lines.

The last major quake was in the northern Philippines in October.

The 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the mountain town of Dolores in Abra province, injuring several people, damaging buildings and cutting power to most of the region.

A 7.0-magnitude quake in mountainous Abra last July triggered landslides and ground fissures, killing 11 people and injuring several hundred.

rbl-cgm/amj/pbt

UK government urged to consider changing law to allow gene editing of embryos

Robin McKie
Sat, 4 March 2023 


Ministers must consider changing the law to allow scientists to carry out genome editing of human embryos for serious genetic conditions – as a matter of urgency. That is the key message of a newly published report by a UK citizens’ jury made up of individuals affected by genetic conditions.

The report is the first in-depth study of the views of individuals who live with genetic conditions about the editing of human embryos to treat hereditary disorders and will be presented at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, which opens at the Crick Institute in London this week.

Scientists say that in a few years, they will be ready to use genome editing techniques to alter genes and induce changes in physical traits, such as disease risk, in future generations. In the UK, around 2.4 million people live with a genetic condition. These include cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, muscular dystrophy, various cancers, and some forms of hereditary blindness.

“Genome editing offers the prospect of preventing such conditions affecting future generations but there needs to be a full national debate on the issues,” said Prof Anna Middleton of Cambridge University, the project’s leader. “These discussions need to start now because genome editing is advancing so quickly. Many affected individuals want to debate the ethical issues and explore what implementation might look like.”

Genome editing acts like a pair of molecular scissors that can cut a strand of DNA at a specific site, allowing scientists to alter the structure of a gene, a form of manipulation that does not involve the introduction of DNA from other organisms. In the UK, as in most countries worldwide, it is illegal to perform genome editing on embryos that lead to pregnancy.

However, clinical trials of genome editing treatments are progressing in many countries, and a citizens’ jury recently gathered at the Wellcome Genome Campus, near Cambridge, to discuss under what circumstances the British government should consider changing that law. The 21 jurors all had personal experience of a genetic condition. Some were parents of children who died from a genetic condition and others had an inherited condition, such as cystic fibrosis .

After four days of presentations by scientists, lawyers and other experts, the group overwhelmingly voted to urge the government to consider changing the law to allow genome editing of embryos.

“The ethical discussions have been derailed by an abstract focus on designer babies when we have patients dealing with life-threatening diseases who want their voices heard,” Middleton said. “People affected by genetic disorders recognise it’s time to embrace a genuine discussion on whether embryo research should be enabled and what a pathway to implementation looks like. They have made it clear we should proceed down that road with urgency.”

UK
Anger grows over Afghan journalists still stranded by Home Office inaction

Mark Townsend Home Affairs Editor
Sat, 4 March 2023

Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Hundreds of Afghan journalists remain stranded in increasingly “dire” circumstances as frustration mounts over the UK government’s refusal to share the latest entry criteria for its flagship resettlement programme.

This weekend, a coalition of press freedom and free expression organisations, including Index on Censorship, the National Union of Journalists, PEN International and English PEN, have written to home secretary Suella Braverman asking why details of the next phase of the Afghan citizens’ resettlement scheme (ACRS) have yet to be revealed.

Germany, France and Kosovo are among the countries that have offered safe refuge to a number of journalists, with critics accusing the UK of failing to meet its obligations to the journalists who supported the west’s mission in Afghanistan.

Martin Bright, editor-at-large of Index on Censorship, said the organisation had received a “deluge” of relocation demands from Afghan journalists in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran who had been offered no reassurance, despite apparently being prime candidates for resettlement, because of the UK government’s unwillingness to offer clarity.

“Without clarification on progress for ACRS, there is little if any support that can be provided, and this leaves the journalists vulnerable to threats of disappearance, violence, arrest, imprisonment and assassination,” said Bright.

Estimates indicate that 200 Afghan journalists have fled to Iran and Pakistan, many of them women, where they report being targeted as their visas expire, with little sign of getting their paperwork renewed. Index is talking directly to 35 at-risk journalists in Afghanistan and Pakistan via an encrypted platform.

One case involves a female Afghan journalist who fled to Pakistan, itself a perilous place due to the presence of Taliban sympathisers – and was routinely harassed there due to her nationality and ethnicity, culminating in a street attack during which she was sexually assaulted.

Last month, reports emerged that a number of Afghan journalists had been arrested in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and their phones, laptops and cameras seized.

A Taliban fighter stands guard as a woman walks past in Kabul, Afghanistan, in December 2022. Photograph: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

Eight Afghan journalists who worked for the BBC have recently had their UK visa applications reopened after legal action against the Home Office.

In August 2021, then prime minister Boris Johnson announced the creation of ACRS with priority for those who stood up for democracy, women’s rights and freedom of speech – including a specific reference to journalists.

It officially launched in January 2022 for those already evacuated, with a second “pathway” later opened for refugees in neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Iran.

After giving priority to contractors who worked for institutions like the British Council, the third pathway is planned to fully open this year, with journalists expected to be among its priority groups, though no details are yet available.

A government source said more information “will be set out in due course”. Index, PEN and the NUJ are urging Braverman to explain how the scheme will help at-risk journalists.

Meanwhile, accounts are increasingly emerging of journalists, particularly women, who have escaped to Pakistan only to continue to face threats. One reporter and women’s rights activist, whose work led to her publicly denouncing the Taliban, is now living in poverty in Pakistan with a five-month-old baby boy.

Another, a prominent young Afghan broadcast journalist, also made it across the border, where she now survives in a slum and goes days without food.

“During this period, I have gone through hell. There is much discrimination, racism and prejudice in Pakistan society, and hostility towards Afghan women in particular,” she said.

Her Pakistani visa expired in August 2022, with the authorities yet to offer her an extension. Any Afghan in Pakistan without a valid visa could be jailed for three years or deported back home.

A spokesperson for the British government said that 24,500 people had so far been brought to safety from Afghanistan, including “campaigners for women’s rights, human rights defenders, scholars, journalists, judges and members of the LGBT+ community”.

They added that, since the evacuation of Kabul, the UK had helped “7,000 vulnerable people leave the country. Our work continues to help other eligible Afghans.”

‘You saw all your bones in your hands’: British veteran recalls atom bomb test horror

While successive British governments have denied troops were exposed to unsafe levels of radiation in the Pacific, the US has a dedicated compensation programme for its nuclear veterans.

Darren Calpin
Tue, 7 March 2023 

Mayor Alan Dowson - Suppplied by Darren Calpin

Councillor Alan Dowson was just 19 when he witnessed most people’s worst nightmare – a nuclear explosion.

After entering the RAF Catering Corps to carry out his National Service, the teenager from Sunderland was ordered to do his bit for Queen and Country on the other side of the world in the spring of 1958.

On a balmy hot day beneath clear blue skies, Dowson found himself on an idyllic beach on Christmas Island (now Kiritimati), one of more than 30 low-lying Pacific islands that make up the tropical nation of Kiribati.

Sitting within the grand, present day surroundings of the Mayor’s Parlour at Peterborough Town Hall, the now 84-year-old closes his eyes and takes us back to that day: April 22, 1958.

“When the blast went off, you saw all your bones in your hands,” he recalls. “The X-rays ran through your body.”

This was Operation Grapple – an H-bomb detonation which was part of the UK’s atomic weapons testing programme. The awestruck 19-year-old had just seen for himself an H-bomb airdrop with an explosive yield of around three megatonnes. It remains the largest British nuclear weapon ever tested.

Operation Grapple – an H-bomb detonation – was the largest British nuclear weapon ever tested

“There was a heat…” Dowson says painfully, tears appearing with the memory. “There was a heat coming through, and there was a whiplash of sound.”

Regaining his composure, he continues: “The blast went over you and after 20 seconds you were allowed to get up and watch. There was one person who was allowed to watch it [all]. He went blind, [but] he got his sight back a few months later.”

Dowson, who was an Acting Corporal at the time, remembers looking around and seeing “thousands and thousands of dead birds.”

In total, the British government dropped nine thermonuclear weapons on Kiritimati between 1957 and 1958. Around 22,000 British servicemen, along with soldiers from New Zealand and Fiji, took part in the tests.

Utilising all three branches of the armed forces, the controversial weapons testing programme was the largest British military undertaking since D-Day. Upon its completion, Great Britain declared itself the world’s third nuclear power, alongside the United States and the Soviet Union.

‘Things were not right with the airmen’

Dowson and his comrades were driven to the beach in a lorry on that fateful day. Despite being just 40 miles from the blast, the men were issued no personal protective equipment of any kind, Dowson claims.

Safety guidance on the day was, he recalls, scarce: personnel were advised to wear a hat and make sure their sleeves were rolled down. The men were then ordered to “sit down with your back towards the blast area and cover your eyes.”

Despite assurances given at the time that the tests posed little risk to health (via radiation exposure), a significant number of veterans went on to experience significant repercussions.

Former servicemen and veterans associations, such as the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNTVA), believe these nuclear tests ruined their lives, causing cancers and fertility problems, as well as birth defects that have been passed down through the generations.

Dowson, who was an Acting Corporal at the time, remembers seeing ‘thousands and thousands of dead birds’

The Ministry of Defence has declared that no link has been found between the tests and ill health. Dowson, who was last year elected as Peterborough’s mayor, disagrees fervently with the MoD’s findings.

“When we came back,” he says, “there started to be rumours that things were not right with the airmen.” Dowson believes his inability to conceive a child with his wife was caused directly by his presence on Kiritimati. “Most of us were infertile,” he says, visibly upset.

Of those veterans who were able to conceive, Dowson reiterates the issue of birth defects: “A number of them have had children and grandchildren who have been directly affected by the radiation.”

Nuclear test veterans have campaigned for decades to have their contributions to Britain’s ‘ultimate deterrent’ officially acknowledged. In November 2022, the Prime Minister finally decided to award medals to all those who participated in the UK’s atomic weapons testing programme.

Rishi Sunak described the medals as “an enduring symbol of our country's gratitude” for those involved in the test programme. “It is,” he said, “only right their contribution to our safety, freedom and way of life is appropriately recognised with this honour.”

Alan Dowson with a fellow serviceman

Dowson during Operation Grapple

Dowson welcomed the decision with mute enthusiasm: “It’s some acknowledgment, but I don’t think it goes far enough.”

Gazing out of the window over the busy street below, he muses: “Knocking out a medal for 1,500 people is little expense for the cost they’ve created in the past.

“The cost has been borne by the servicemen and their families.”

The mayor, who is a committed supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), is clear about what he and his former comrades really want from the government: “I think they’ve got to apologise,” he said.

The US Government has already paid compensation to British personnel who were present at Operation Dominic, a separate nuclear test program which the US and UK worked on together in the Pacific during the early 1960s

Yet the mayor acknowledges the chances of receiving a public formal apology are slim. It will, he admits, open the floodgates for compensation claims.

“If the British Government can ignore facts then they will, if they can get away with it,” he adds. “And they have got away with it – so far.”

The cost of nuclear fallout

Analysis, by Paul Nuki

Here’s a not-so-funny thing about the atomic tests that took place in the Pacific: if you were a US serviceman stationed there who has since developed cancer, you are compensated. If, on the other hand, you are a Brit like Mayor Dowson, you get a medal but nothing more.

“The MOD does not accept that participants at the UK atmospheric nuclear test and weapons experiments were, as a result, exposed to ionising radiation that adversely affected their health,” the Foreign Office told the Telegraph last week.

Quite the reverse in fact: “The findings … show that over the entire follow-up period of 1952-2017, overall mortality, and cancer mortality of the test veterans and military controls remain lower than the general population,” it added.

Can it really be that 20,000 British servicemen stood unprotected and at close quarters to a series of nuclear explosions and suffered no ill effects whatsoever?

And if that really is the case, why are the Americans compensating their people? Indeed, why worry about nuclear fallout at all?

While successive British governments have denied troops were exposed to unsafe levels of radiation in the Pacific, the US has a dedicated compensation programme for its nuclear veterans.

A mushroom cloud rises over the Pacific moments after the detonation of Britain's second Hydrogen bomb - Gilbert Carter/Mirrorpix via Getty Images

The scheme provides $75,000 for those who served in the Pacific and went on to develop one or more of 20 cancers known to be linked to radiation exposure.

In one case, the US government paid out to a critically ill British ex-serviceman who had been seconded to the US military on Christmas Island.

Roy Prescott died aged 66 of lung cancer, which he believed was caused by nuclear tests he witnessed. “I am a casualty of the cold war,” he said before his death in September 2006.

There is, of course, no doubt that exposure to radiation can cause a range of cancers.

After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, more leukaemias and solid cancers were observed among the survivors than expected, for example. Historically, nuclear workers have also been found to be at higher risk of leukaemia and many other cancers.

Then there are studies of soldiers who served in the Pacific. One US study of 3,020 nuclear veterans revealed increases in leukaemia; a study of 10,983 Australian veterans also showed an increase in leukaemia, as did a study of 528 men from New Zealand.

So how does the UK government justify its view?

The truth is the studies it relies on – ones it commissioned itself – are not as clear cut as it pretends.

Members of the press and naval ratings aboard HMS Alert 35 miles offshore of Malden Island, Kiribati. Seen here dressed in protective suits known as Goon Suits. The ships crew and passengers where there to witness the second test of Britain's Hydrogen bomb - Gilbert Carter/Daily Herald

Yes, it is true that Pacific veterans have better health than the general population but that is to be expected. It is true of all soldiers who are selected for their fitness and is known as the “healthy soldier” effect.

The long-term UK study tracking Pacific veteran's health actually finds they have a 2 per cent higher mortality rate than a control group of similar soldiers. They are also more likely to have contracted leukaemia as well as other cancers.

“The overall mortality rate in the [nuclear] test participants was slightly higher relative risk than that in the control group”, say the study authors. “This difference was driven by similar increased risks for both all cancers combined and all non-cancer diseases. Leukaemia … showed evidence of being raised relative to controls”.

Of course this link between watching nuclear bombs explode in the Pacific and a raised mortality and cancer risk is only an association. Proving one caused the other is a different question and would rely on the MOD having taken detailed and accurate radiation exposure reading at the time.

For Mayor Dowson and his colleagues who took part in Operation Grapple on Christmas Island this information hardly exists, with just 2 per cent of the men involved monitored for their exposure to radiation.

“Consequently… the power to detect any increasing risks with measured [radiation] dose was limited,” note the study authors.

Gas industry knew about indoor pollution from stoves 50 years ago, investigation reveals

Lottie Limb
Tue, 7 March 2023 


The gas industry has known that its stoves could be harmful to human health for more than 50 years, rediscovered documents reveal.

Back in 1972, the American Gas Association (AGA) wrote a draft report citing concerns over indoor air pollution caused by gas cookers. But this section completely vanished from the final report, which was designed to inform the US government’s anti-pollution efforts.

The evidence against gas stoves has been stacking up in recent months and years. In January, a report from the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and other organisations found that - without ventilation - the home appliance regularly exceeds safe air pollution limits.

The nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide and ultrafine particles that stoves produce have been linked to a range of health problems - including asthma in children.
The gas industry’s tactics

But the US trade group wasn’t operating totally in the dark about this, the draft and other documents show. Exposing the findings in DeSmog, research fellow at the Climate Investigations Center Rebecca John writes, “[AGA] knew much more, at a far earlier date, than has been previously documented.”

There’s a through line from AGA and the wider gas industry’s efforts to conceal (or self-sponsor) research, to its continued lobbying of MEPs.

The US releases by far the biggest bulk of CO2 emissions from fossil gas - emitting 1.6 billion tonnes of the greenhouse gas in 2021, followed by Russia, and the EU at 783.75 million tonnes.

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What do the AGA documents show?

Missouri residents use their gas stove to keep warm during a power cut in 2007. - Dan Gill/AP2007

Gas industry distancing itself from other fossil fuels

The gas industry has always been at pains to paint itself as being cleaner than coal and oil.

To avoid being tarred by the same brush as these other fossil fuels, the draft and final report from the National Industrial Pollution Control Council (NIPCC) - an old advisory council peopled by powerful industrialists - made much of a quote from William Ruckelshaus, a former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“Unhappily, no perfect accommodation is possible between the energy and environment,” he said. “Nuclear reactors give off radiation, coal produces sulfur dioxide [...] transport of oil causes spillage into fragile marine systems [...] and natural gas is in short supply.”

As John points out, this extremely non-exhaustive list of fossil fuels’ ills was leapt on by a gas lobby keen to portray its resource as having a supply problem, rather than a pollution one.

In the final report, NIPCC argued for a massive expansion of US domestic gas reserves and a rapid rollout of gas-based infrastructure, in order to wean the nation off coal and onto gas.

“In residential uses, gas for space heating, water heating, and cooking is vital to the comfort and health of these consumers,” the report stated, referring to the 150 million people then served by America’s national network of pipes.

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Exploring tech fixes and conducting ‘test home’ research

But behind the scenes, AGA was looking into the air pollution stemming from gas stoves, and exploring technical fixes.

In the January 1972 draft, a subsection on ‘Indoor Air Quality Control’ notes that the need to control the indoor home environment is “of continuing interest” to gas industry research.

“The unique and critical health requirements of millions of individuals has dictated the need for a [sic] cleaner air within [industrial] plants and dwellings,” it goes on.

Projects are now underway to conceive [...] devices [...] for the purposes of limiting the levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in household air.

“In recognition of this need to develop techniques for the maintenance of pollution-free indoor environment for the individual, projects are now underway to conceive, design, construct, and evaluate prototype devices to be used in conjunction with conventional residential heating and cooling systems for the purposes of limiting the levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in household air.”

An “absorptive-reaction” device was being developed, the paper states. And industry staff had for a few years been collecting “environmental control data” from “test homes” in Ohio to compare levels of indoor and outdoor pollution.

Though specially constructed research houses were used routinely by the gas industry in the 1980s, the DeSmog investigation says it’s not clear what data was collected in these earlier homes, and what it showed.

Carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in household air; absorptive devices; test homes: all were cut by the NIPCC’s Utilities Sub-Council after it received the paper from AGA.

Two other newly unearthed documents from 1981 - an AGA paper entitled ‘Putting Gas Range Emissions in Perspective’ and another from the industry-sponsored Gas Research Institute (GRI) - show Big Gas grappling with its “NOx problem.”

Gas stoves found to be constantly leaking methane into our homes, says US study

AGA still questions health impacts of stoves

A woman in Pennsylvania uses an electric stove to prepare dinner in 1954. - Anonymous/1954 AP

When contacted for comment by DeSmog, the outlet says AGA did not dispute the gas industry’s history and motivations for studying the indoor air pollution potential of gas appliances in the early 1970s.

In a statement, AGA CEO Karen Harbert said, “AGA supported a 1982 review of the available research that found no causative link between gas stoves and asthma, a conclusion shared by regulatory agencies.”

Harbert reportedly reiterated AGA statements questioning the conclusions of recent studies related to the health impacts of gas stoves.

The EPHA report with energy efficiency NGO CLASP and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), followed a December 2021 study by US-based environmental think tank RMI and others which made a bigger splash across the Atlantic.

It estimated that “nearly 13 percent of childhood asthma cases in the United States can be linked to having a gas stove in the home.”

UN to hunt sources of climate warming methane from space using satellites
How you can minimise indoor air pollution from gas stoves

Some 100 million people in the EU use gas cookers, including more than half of all homes in Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Hungary.

There are ways of minimising the indoor air pollution that cooking on gas causes. Most cookers come with range hoods, but if yours doesn’t actually extract air from the kitchen then it’s worth using a nearby extractor fan - in the bathroom, for example - or opening the window.

Though people are understandably reluctant to do so given the high host of keeping homes warm at the moment, this is the surest way of ventilating.

Researchers have also suggested that cooking on the back burners gives your range hood a better chance of capturing pollutants.

Ultimately, replacing a gas cooker with an electric one is the best way to actually tackle the indoor and outdoor pollution from methane-burning stoves - especially as they’ve been found to leak even when off.

Voices: We finally have proof: there’s no point working if you’re a mum

Joeli Brearley
Sat, 4 March 2023 


The Budget is coming, and parents across the UK are clamouring to find out if Rishi Sunak really meant it when he committed to making childcare more affordable, flexible and accessible. Today, new data from my campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed reveals that for three-quarters of mothers who pay for childcare, it no longer makes financial sense for them to work.

So, let’s talk about our childcare sector – why it’s in crisis, what this means, and why we should all care.

First, to be clear, this is not a new problem. For years, campaigners and providers have been warning that the sector will collapse without proper investment and care. Between March 2015 and March 2022, 20,000 early-years providers in England closed.

Unlike other countries, UK childcare has never been properly funded. In 2017, the government introduced 30 hours of free childcare a week for three- and four-year-olds during school term time. But through a freedom of information request, the Early Years Alliance found that the government purposely underfunded the scheme by almost £3 per child per hour. Shockingly, the minutes from the government meetings also reveal that they were aware this would increase costs for younger children forcing more parents out of the labour market.

Though it may not sound like a lot, £3 per child per hour is a massive financial shortfall, and over the years, that gap has grown wider as care costs more to deliver; but the subsidy isn’t keeping up with those rising costs. Inevitably this means that costs keep rising for parents. In 2017 costs had risen seven times faster than inflation. More recently, OECD data has shown we have either the most expensive childcare in the world or the third most expensive childcare in the world (depending on how you cut the data).

Our research with over 20,000 parents found that two-thirds pay the same or more for childcare as they do for their housing. One in five women who had an abortion in the last five years said that childcare costs were the reason they terminated a wanted pregnancy. And our latest figures show that more than half (54 per cent) of parents who use either formal or informal childcare say they have had to reduce the number of hours they work due to childcare costs or availability.

What’s particularly galling is how childcare is constantly ignored. Private schools receive an 80 per cent discount on business rates, but the struggling childcare sector pays full price. If you’re self-employed, you can claim for a game of golf, but you can’t claim your childcare costs – go figure.

The government keeps talking about helping those who are ‘’economically inactive’’ back into work, without ever making the obvious link that parents may not work due to childcare issues. They talk about the need to “bonk for Britain” as the birth rate slows, but fail to acknowledge that mothers are currently terminating wanted pregnancies because of the cost of childcare.

The increasing cost of childcare has meant that many people cannot afford to work. A shocking 84 per cent of the more than 1.7 million people who have given up work to care for their family are women. Forty-three thousand women have dropped out of the workforce to look after their family in the last year – a 3 per cent increase on the previous year.

Why might that be? Could it be because childcare costs are increasing faster than wages? While securing a childcare place can feel like digging for gold on Blackpool pier?

The Centre for Progressive Policy estimated that 1.7 million women are prevented from taking on more hours of paid work due to childcare issues, resulting in up to £28.2bn economic output lost every year.

According to journalist Lewis Goodall, the Norwegian government recently valued the contribution of working mothers to the country’s GDP, and found it equivalent to the value added by its oil reserves during the same period.

But childcare isn’t just about ensuring parents can financially contribute to their family and to the economy. It’s an investment in children. Report after report shows the first five years of a child’s life are the most critical to their future.

Good quality childcare that can be accessed by all children reduces the attainment gap between the richest and poorest kids, improves wellbeing, advances social skills, and improves life chances for all. And by good quality childcare, we mean the kind provided by early-years educators who are paid a decent wage, are given progression and training opportunities, are highly qualified, and have tight staff-to-children ratios. Not the system we currently have, where you are paid inadequately and treated like a babysitter.

This government has failed when it comes to the early-years education of our children. Their decisions (or lack of them) have led to a sector in crisis, pushing mothers out of work and families into poverty while fewer and fewer child can access a critical facet of their education.

And we are all poorer for it.

Unless we see a significant investment in childcare during the Budget on 15 March, we will lose thousands more providers, costs will increase even further, tens of thousands of parents (predominantly women) will leave the labour market, and child poverty will increase.

The question isn’t whether we can afford to invest in childcare; the question is whether we can afford not to.

Joeli Brearley is the founder of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed

UK
Aunt of murdered lawyer Zara Aleena joins march calling for end to male violence

Helen William, PA
Sat, 4 March 2023 

The aunt of murdered aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena has said she is “always hopeful” that a system, which is “broken across the board” and does not protect women, can change.

Farah Naz was speaking as she joined hundreds of people who marched to remember and grieve for women and girls killed through male violence and to call for action to tackle it.

Supporters of the Million Women Rise (MWR) collective who walked through central London’s West End shopping district to Trafalgar Square on Saturday claimed that the lack of action against male violence amounted to state inflicted or sanctioned abuse.

They drummed, chanted and carried signs saying “together we can end male violence” and “women are not the problem” during the protest ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday.

Farah Naz, the aunt of murdered aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena, holds up a banner (Helen William/PA)

Ms Naz told the PA news agency: “Zara’s loss is society’s loss.”

She added: “Zara has brought me, my sister and my friends here but we are here for all women, all girls, to make a change and to make some meaning out of the tragedy that has happened to us.

“We are in trauma but at the same time we are really heartened by the support in society of all sectors and leaders.

“We are hopeful that things can change for other women and girls.

Failings in the probation service were among the issues which meant a known perpetrator was free to murder Ms Aleena.

Jordan McSweeney, 29, was handed a life sentence and jailed for at least 38 years after admitting sexually assaulting and murdering the 35-year-old law graduate in Ilford, east London, in June last year.

Zara Aleena was murdered in east London (Family/PA)

With her voice breaking, Ms Naz said: “We lost Zara but we don’t want her death to be the end.

“Zara’s loss is society’s loss and we have, as victims, to become more than that. There has to be work with communities and leaders.

“The protest today is shining a light on the mistakes and on a system that is broken across the board.

“We know from Zara’s case that probation made a series of mistakes, huge errors, that are so deeply painful for us as a family, and for us as a society to be aware of, because it means that women are not safe.”

The number of women who are murdered is a sign that something is wrong, she added.

Ms Naz said: “We already know that domestic violence leads to so many deaths and, that as it is not treated as any other form of violence, we have seen a lack of convictions which then releases men to murder women.

“We know that probation has collapsed because of the privatisation that has happened and has then led to a system that is broken and has not been attended to.

“We know that reviews have been written from when other people have been murdered and the recommendations have not been followed up.

“We know that government leaders have failed us.

“We know that the systems have failed us but there are also people working to change that.”

Danyal Hussein was jailed for a minimum of 35 years after murdering sisters Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, in 2020.

Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis, a pair of Met Police constables who took photos of the murdered sisters and shared the images on WhatsApp groups, were later jailed.

In a video message of support, Mina Smallman, the mother of the sisters, told the marchers: “We have so much important work to do.

“The slogan I would like us all to adopt is that ‘it’s time’. We have had enough talk. We have had enough rhetoric. Now we are demanding that those in power put girls and women’s safety at the forefront.”

MWR also noted that serial rapist David Carrick kept his job as a Metropolitan Police officer despite multiple reports against him, allowing him to commit a string of offences over almost 20 years.

The disgraced 48-year-old Pc, who was described as a “monster” and “evil” by some of his dozen victims, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 years after carrying out a “catalogue of violent and brutal” sex attacks between 2003 and 2020.

The cost-of-living crisis is also trapping women with perpetrators and decimating vital support services, MWR warned.