UK
Top Tory MPs ask for £10,000 a day to work for fake Korean company

Jon Ungoed-Thomas

THE GUARDIAN
Sat, 25 March 2023 

In this article:

Kwasi Kwarteng
British politician (born 1975)

Matt Hancock
British politician (born 1978)

Graham Brady
British Conservative politician


The former chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and former health secretary, Matt Hancock, agreed to work for £10,000 a day to further the interests of a fake South Korean firm after apparently being duped by the campaign group Led by Donkeys.

Kwarteng attended a preliminary meeting at his parliamentary office and agreed in principle to be paid the daily rate after saying he did not require a “king’s ransom”. When Hancock was asked his daily rate, he responded: “It’s 10,000 sterling.”

Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, also attended an online meeting for the fake foreign firm from his parliamentary office. When asked about the limits on arranging meetings, he made clear he could not advocate on behalf of the interest but said he may be able to advise the firm on who to approach in government. He said a rate of about £6,000 a day “feels about right” and any payments would be on a public register.

A fourth MP, former minister Stephen Hammond, who had been approached, said this weekend he considered he had been the victim of a “scam”. He said he thought he was engaged in a preliminary discussion with a company but “it turns out this company was fake, with a fake website”. Hancock’s spokesperson said he had acted “entirely properly” and criticised what he described as the “illegal publication of a private conversation”.

The senior politicians have complied with all relevant rules and referred to their obligation to their constituents during preliminary meetings. The Led by Donkeys project, conducted with investigative reporter Antony Barnett, comes at a time when people face a cost of living crisis. The campaign group released a report on its investigation on Twitter on Saturday , with recorded undercover footage.

While they are not prohibited from such meetings and no arrangements were finalised, there is currently intense scrutiny of politicians’ outside earnings. Labour has said it will ban most second jobs for MPs if it wins power.

The purported firm that approached the politicians did not exist and had a rudimentary foreign website with fake testimonials. MPs have been warned by the Home Office to be on their guard against the “threat of foreign interference”, and the group’s investigation demonstrated the ease with which they seemed able to gain access to the MPs .

Led by Donkeys is understood to have approached 20 MPs from the Conservative party, Labour and Liberal Democrats after examining the outside earnings of MPs on the parliamentary register of interests. An email sent by the fake investment and consulting firm, Hanseong Consulting, said it wanted individuals for an international advisory board to “help our clients navigate the shifting political, regulatory and legislative frameworks” in the UK and Europe.

It said advisers would be required to attend six board meetings a year, with a “very attractive” remuneration package and “generous expenses” for international travel. Five MPs agreed to be interviewed on Zoom, with one who was clearly suspicious of the firm’s credentials terminating the call. The MPs were interviewed by a woman purporting to be a senior executive, with a backdrop of the skyline of Seoul, the South Korean capital, at her office window.

In February, Kwarteng attended an online meeting of about 40 minutes, informing the interviewer that he was “sitting in my office in parliament”. Kwarteng was sacked as chancellor last October by the then prime minister Liz Truss after his mini-budget precipitated a financial crisis.

During a discussion about what the renuneration might be, Kwarteng said he would not do anything for less than £10,000 a month. He said he would need to be compensated “particularly if I’m going to Korea”. When he was told the firm was looking at a rate of £8,000 to £12,000 a day, he responded that they were numbers he could work with. It was agreed that if he went to Korea he could invoice at £10,000 a day.

Discussing his credentials, he said he had significant experience from his roles as a former business secretary and “briefly as chancellor”. The prospect of Kwarteng citing his political track record for what appeared a lucrative role may anger homeowners who saw mortgage repayments rise because of his disastrous tenure at the Treasury. He discussed Brexit, the energy industry and Boris Johnson, with whom he said might be able to arrange a meeting.

In early March, Hancock agreed to an online meeting for the advisory role. The Telegraph had that week published his leaked cache of more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages, but he seemed relaxed for the meeting with the fake foreign firm. He said it had been “quite a busy week” but that March was the “start of hope”.

“We were wondering, do you have a daily rate at the moment?” he was asked by the interviewer, posing as a senior business executive. “I do, yes,” Hancock replied. “It’s 10,000 sterling.”

The footage showing his rapid response to a question over fees is likely to spark fresh controversy over concerns MPs may be bolstering their finances in ways that may be counter to the interest of the constituents they serve. Hancock is an independent MP after he had the whip suspended for taking part in I’m a Celebrity, for which he was paid £320,000, with Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson saying at the time that “MPs should be working hard for their constituents”.

Hancock said in the meeting that he followed the “spirit and letter” of parliamentary rules, and would also require additional approval for the role because he had been a minister, but outside interests were permitted. He said he was mindful of the responsibility to serve his constituents.

Brady, one of parliament’s most senior backbenchers, was interviewed remotely in his parliamentary office in mid-February. He said he could attend international meetings and may have more flexibility because of his degree of seniority in the party.

Brady said £60,000-a-year may be a reasonable fee, and it was agreed a rate of £500 an hour and £6,000 a day would be appropriate, but open to negotiation. He said he was always careful to follow the rules, but said he might be able to identify people in government to approach and “how to do it in the most appropriate way”.

Hammond, the Wimbledon MP and a former transport and health minister, also agreed to a meeting, saying he had a specific interest in South Korea because he had a number of nationals living in his constituency. He told the company he already had roles with two other firms, both of which are disclosed in the parliamentary register of interests.

Labour called the developments “shameful”. Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow leader of the House of Commons, said: “Being an MP is a full-time job. Tory MPs should not be using their taxpayer-funded offices to line their own pockets. This is shameful at any time but particularly during the cost of living crisis.

“Rishi Sunak promised a government of integrity at every level, yet his own MPs are seemingly breaching the rules. He must act and remove the whip from those involved.

“Labour will put an end to MPs raking in thousands of pounds on the side and act to restore trust in politics.”

MPs have faced repeated controversies over outside earnings. A new code of conduct for MPs was introduced on 1 March, and for the first time it prohibits members providing paid parliamentary advice to an outside employer.

Labour’s Commission on the Future of the UK, which was published last December and chaired by former prime minister Gordon Brown, called for a general ban on second jobs for MPs.

Led By Donkeys activists, from left, Ben Stewart, Oliver Knowles, Will Rose and James Sadri in a north London pub in 2019. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

Led by Donkeys was established in 2018 as a campaign in response to Brexit. Its high-profile projects and satirical stunts have since included a spoof episode of the BBC show Line of Duty with Boris Johnson being interrogated by the anti-corruption AC-12 unit and painting the colours of the Ukrainian flag outside the Russian embassy in London.

A spokesperson for Hancock said: “The accusation appears to be that Matt acted entirely properly and within the rules, which had just been unanimously adopted by parliament. It’s absurd to bring Mr Hancock into this story through the illegal publication of a private conversation. All the video shows is Matt acting completely properly.”

Brady said he was leaving parliament at the next election and had received a number of approaches concerning future opportunities, including the purported South Korean firm. He said: “I made it clear that any arrangement would have to be completely transparent and that, whilst a member of parliament, I would only act within the terms of the code of conduct. I also made it clear that while I could be flexible in attending international meetings in person, this would be subject to some important votes or commitments in Westminster.”

He said that, with regard to advice on approaching figures in government, he made clear he would always follow the rules. He said he was interviewed prior to a stricter code of conduct being introduced on 1 March.

He said he did “some internet research” on the firm but, given it was an exploratory conversation, considered it reasonable to proceed. He said he did not consider he was “doing business” in his parliamentary office and it was not a bad thing for MPs to have outside interests, providing they followed the rules.

Hammond said: “This was nothing other than what I thought to be a preliminary discussion with a South Korean company – a country that is close to my heart as I have a substantial Korean community in my constituency, and which is an important ally to the UK. It turns out this company was fake, with a fake website. The remuneration amount was suggested by the actor purporting to be an employee of the company, not by me. Scamming is an unpleasant activity undertaken with malicious intent. I believe it is a great honour to be an MP. I have always put my constituents first and will always try to act in their best interests.”

Kwarteng did not respond to a request for comment.

UN accuses Russia, Ukraine forces of 'summary executions' of prisoners
AFP
Fri, 24 March 2023 


The United Nations said Friday it was "deeply concerned" by what it said were summary executions of prisoners of war by both Russian and Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

The allegations came shortly after Kyiv accused Russian forces of killing a captured Ukrainian serviceman who was filmed saying "Glory to Ukraine" before being shot dead.

The head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, said that her organisation had recently recorded killings by both sides.


"We are deeply concerned about (the) summary execution of up to 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons hors de combat by the Ukrainian armed forces, which we have documented," Bogner said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

"This was often perpetrated immediately upon capture on the battlefield," she said.

"While we are aware of ongoing investigations by Ukraine authorities into five cases involving 22 victims, we are not aware of any prosecution of the perpetrators," she added.

Bogner also expressed "deep" concern over the alleged executions of 15 Ukrainian prisoners by Russian armed forces after their capture.

She said the Wagner mercenary group, which claims to be leading Russia's assault for Bakhmut -- the longest and bloodiest battle of the war -- was responsible for 11 of those killings.

Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of mistreating prisoners of war since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded a year ago.

In response to the UN report, Kyiv's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was "unacceptable" to hold the "victim of aggression" responsible.

- 'They broke us' -

One UN report issued Friday claimed Ukrainian military personnel had subjected prisoners of war to death threats, mock executions or threats of sexual violence. Some beatings were "purely retaliatory", it said.

"In some cases, officers beat POWs saying: 'This is for Bucha'," the mission reported detainees as saying, referring to a town near Kyiv where Russian forces were accused of widespread atrocities.

"Before questioning, they showed me an axe handle covered in blood as a warning," the report quoted a Russian POW as saying.

"The questioning lasted for about an hour and they used electricity six times, whenever they thought I was lying," the detainee said, according to the report.

Ukrainian POWs quoted in the report said they were subjected to torture, sexual violence, a lack of food and water and denied medical attention.

They said they were tortured and ill-treated to extract information or as a form of punishment, the mission said.

Ukrainian prisoners reported being beaten with shovels, stabbed, subjected to electric shocks and strangled.

"Some of them lost their teeth or fingers, had their ribs, fingers or noses broken," the report said.

"They did not just beat us, they broke us. They used their fists, legs, batons, tasers. There were POWs who had their arms or legs broken," one man was quoted as saying.

The Ukrainian parliament's human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said Friday that he was "surprised" by the allegations against Ukrainian troops and said he had not been informed of them in advance.

On Telegram, he wrote that he wanted to "know the facts and the indisputable arguments on which the conclusions" of the UN report were based.

In a separate statement on Friday, Kyiv's Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the UN monitors for their work but emphasised that Ukraine "expects that the UN mission will avoid any steps that may be interpreted as equalising the victim and the aggressor".

bur/imm/lcm/fb/lb/cwl

Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark struck a deal to run their 200+ advanced fighter jets as a single fleet, creating a new headache for Russia

Alia Shoaib
Sat, 25 March 2023 

Norwegian F-35 fighter jets pictured over Norway on March 22, 2022

.John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

The four Nordic countries agreed to operate their roughly 250 fighter jets in one fleet.

Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, have modern air forces that include F-35s.

They joined forces hoping to deter Russia.

The air forces of four Nordic countries agreed to operate their fleets of around 250 fighter jets as a combined force, hoping to deter Russia by working together.

Air force commanders of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark said Friday that they have signed a letter of intent to establish a unified Nordic air defense, Reuters reported.

"The ultimate goal is to be able to operate seamlessly together as one force by developing a Nordic concept for joint air operations based on already known NATO methodology," Denmark's air force said in a statement, per Bloomberg.

"Our combined fleet can be compared to a large European country," commander of the Danish air force, Major General Jan Dam, told Reuters.

Dam said the move was in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. The invasion also prompted Sweden and Finland to seek entry into NATO, an alliance which already includes Denmark and Norway.

The joint force will be a worry for Russia, boasting a significant number of top-tier fighter jets.

Norway, Denmark, and Finland have all committed to the F-35 jets which are the most advanced Western fighter planes. Norway operates some already, while Finland and Denmark are due to receive them in the coming years.

Sweden has its own model of fighter jet, the Gripen C and D, with modernized Gripen E planes on order.

NATO Air Command chief General James Hecker was also present at the signing of the letter at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, jolted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine into ending decades of their position of "non-alignment."

Their applications have been held up by Turkey and Hungary, who are yet to ratify the memberships.

One of the many reasons cited by Russian President Vladimir Putin as justification for his invasion of Ukraine has been NATO's enlargement since the Cold War.

However, Russia's war in Ukraine led to further expansion of the alliance, and increased co-operation and defense spending by its members.

RUSSIAN COLONY

Putin to send nuclear weapons to Belarus

James Kilner
Sat, 25 March 2023

Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, is a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin - AFP

Vladimir Putin has announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for the first time, shifting his most destructive weapons closer to Europe and Kyiv.

The move represents the first time Russia will store part of its nuclear arsenal in another country since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

"We agreed with Lukashenko that we would place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus without violating the nonproliferation regime,” he said in an interview for Russian TV broadcast on Saturday evening.

Mr Putin went on to suggest that his announcement was in response to news that Britain was sending depleted uranium shells to Ukraine with its Challenger-2 tanks.

"Russia has its own answer to ammunition with depleted uranium. We have similar weapons, but the Russian Federation has not yet used them,” he said.

Experts insist however that depleted uranium is standard use in British armour-piercing shells and holds no nuclear value.

Responding to Russia’s concerns around depleted uranium earlier in the week, the British ministry of defence said: “The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armour piercing shells for decades. It is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities. Russia knows this, but is deliberately trying to disinform.”

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko is a staunch supporter of Mr Putin and allowed Russia to use Belarus as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine.

He has resisted Mr Putin’s pressure to directly enter the war but has allowed Russian warplanes to use Belarusian airspace to fire missiles at Ukrainian targets.

Last year, the Russian military upgraded Belarus’ air force so that it was capable of firing missiles with nuclear warheads and in February, Belarus’ military said that it had taken delivery of Iskander missile launchers from Russia which are capable of firing nuclear-tipped missiles.

Mr Putin said that he wasn’t breaking any international treaties because we are “doing what the US has been doing for decades”.

“We agreed that we will do the same, without violating our obligations,” he said.

The US stations nuclear missiles in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Earlier this year, Russia pulled out of the Start Nuclear Treaty, the last remaining treaty with the US aimed at stopping a nuclear arms proliferation.

Mr Putin said that the storage facility to house tactical nuclear weapons would be completed by July and that Russia would remain in control of the weapons.

Russia is already suspected of stationing nuclear weapons in its European exclave of Kaliningrad, wedged between Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic Sea. It has also developed a missile called Satan-2 that can fire a nuclear warhead at any city in the world within minutes of being launched from Russia.

Kremlin officials threatened Russia’s enemies with nuclear strikes last year, although US intelligence has said that this threat has receded.

When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 it left parts of its nuclear arsenal in Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. A deal signed in 1992 meant that by 1996, former Soviet nuclear weapons outside Russia had either been destroyed or transferred back to Russia.

Mr Putin also used his TV interview to back up claims that either Ukrainian or US special forces blew up the Nord Stream oil gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea last year.

Initially, Western intelligence agencies had blamed Russia for blowing up the pipeline.

Earlier this week, Mr Putin hosted Chinese president Xi Jinping in Moscow, giving himself a major boost on the world stage, although he said that discussions about a Chinese peace plan for the war in Ukraine were only a part of their talks.

“The main focus of the talks was on the economy,” he said in his TV interview.

 Meet the motley crew of anarchists and anti-fascists fighting Russia in Ukraine 

By Joshua Askew  •  Updated: 10/06/2022

Anti-authoritarian forces have organised their own international units within the Territorial Defence Force of Ukraine.   -  Copyright  Resistance Committee - Telegram

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“In a world where rulers use all kinds of manipulation, compulsion and violence to wage bloody wars for their own interests, organised people must confront them with force.”

These are the incandescent words of Ilya, a self-styled Ukrainian anarchist.

He is part of a motley crew of "anarchists, anti-fascists and football hooligans", who say they have united under the black flag -- a key symbol of anarchism -- to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression. 

Although “security concerns” prevent them from sharing too much about their identity, their self-styled “anti-authoritarian” platoon numbers several dozen, with volunteers coming from all around the world.

"For us, this invasion reflects the imperialist policies of Putin's regime,” Ilya told Euronews. “It is clear that the Kremlin’s propaganda about 'fighting Nazis in Ukraine' is just a smoke screen to disguise greed for power and the desire to establish harsh authoritarian rule.”

                                                                           The squad are participating in the territorial defence of UkraineBlack Head Quarters - Telegram

Ilya’s anti-authoritarian platoon is part of Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces (TDF), a volunteer military reserve formed after Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea.

In keeping with the anarchist tradition of rejecting the state, Ilya said their platoon was not fighting for the Ukrainian government, but for Ukrainian society “which is the main resistance against this brutal aggression”.

"Both for the sake of justice and the basic survival of Ukrainian society this invasion should be fought boldly and defeated completely,” he said. “Society here is under deadly attack – it should defend itself."

‘What does Putin’s regime bring them?'

Even if Ukraine is at war with Russia, the anti-authoritarian platoon says they do not consider Russians as enemies. 

In a manifesto published by the Resistance Committee, which helps coordinate the anti-authoritarian resistance in Ukraine, Russians -- and Belarusians -- were called upon to join the war.

"Until the nest of tyranny in Moscow is removed, the whole region will constantly face harassment against its freedom,” the manifesto reads. “Every local tyrant, suppressing his rebellious people, will be assisted by the tsar of Moscow.

“We want to set ourselves and our neighbours free,” it added. “The struggle of Ukrainians gives hope for liberation to everyone oppressed by Putinism.”

In recent years, Moscow helped suppress protests in both Belarus and Kazakhstan against the country’s leaders, arguing intervention was necessary to maintain order.

Many volunteers come from Belarus.Black Head Quarters - Telegram

Much attention has been paid to the alleged role of the far-right within the Ukrainian armed forces, particularly surrounding the Azov Regiment, as well as neo-Nazis in Russia’s military.

The myth far-right zealots run Ukraine is Russian propaganda | View

But this group of soldiers, who have loosely aligned under the flag of anarchism, are unique to the Ukrainian side.

They are the latest incarnation of a small anarchist movement which has fought for their political ideals in a foreign war, following the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 39) and those fighting with the Kurdish YPG in Syria.

‘The epicentre of Ukrainian resistance is here’

Spared the frontline so far, the platoon has provided territorial defence in the central regions of Ukraine, patrolling to “detect and root out enemy infiltrators”.

They have also assisted those on the battlefield logistically and with intelligence, which they say has led to the “destruction” of enemy targets.

The platoon has also helped evacuate civilians from combat areas, often coming under mortar fire in the process.

Inside their unit, the fighters try to live out their politics, with a more democratic culture of free discussion and critique. Deputy commanders are elected for each section, while regular meetings allow fighters to relay feedback.

The logo of the Resistance CommitteeBlack Head Quarters - Telegram

Ilya hoped that the existence of their platoon would contest the allegations surrounding the far-right in Ukraine.

“The myth about the far-right dominating Ukrainian politics relies partly on very huge, well-financed and active propaganda by the Kremlin and partly on the actual, visible presence of the far-right in Ukraine,” says Ilya.

“But statements that the far-right shape Ukrainian politics, society or army are simply not true,” he added.

Moscow has repeatedly said its "special military operation" is to disarm and "denazify" its neighbour.

Ukraine and its allies call this a baseless pretext for a war that has killed thousands, flattened cities and forced millions of people to flee.

‘We were ready’

The platoon formed on 24 February, the very first day of the war.

"Of course, it did not start life from scratch," said Ilya. “Hearing rumours about the coming war, anarchists in Kyiv began planning what to do should our fears come true.” They contacted their "comrades" in the TDF, began training together and plotted how to find one another should something start. 

Shortly after, it did.

• How is the war in Ukraine affecting the cost of living crisis?

The “source and root of the platoon are the anti-fascist struggle,” says Ilya. Before the war, practically all of the fighters were environmental activists, in trade unions or part of Antifa, a radical left wing group.

Many had also fought in Syria with the Kurdish YPG.

'We need more democracy, more diversity, more ideas'

Faced with the challenges of war, many in the platoon are pursuing far-reaching goals, although they are far from united on what they should be.

In their manifesto, the platoon outlines some of the changes they want to see in Ukraine, including the cancellation of the country’s international debt and a credit amnesty for those inside the country.

Debt is a “noose around the country’s neck held by international financial institutions and wealthy states,” reads the document.

Volunteer fights pose with new equipment donated to their platoon  Black Head Quarters -

Since the outbreak of the war in 2014, international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and European Commission, have lent Ukraine some $40 billion (€37.4 billion).

This money, they say, has been necessary to keep Ukraine’s economy afloat and finance its war effort.

If they are to achieve their objectives both on and off the battlefield, the platoon says it needs more support from around the world.

"Solidarity plays a super important role,'' says Ilya. “Everyone speaks about the urgent importance of supplying weapons from aboard. But I would also stress the moral importance of solidarity from people worldwide against injustice and occupation."

Wagner boss openly defies Kremlin Ukraine 'Nazi' narrative

Joshua Askew
Fri, 24 March 2023 


The boss of the notorious Wagner mercenary force has openly contradicted key aspects of the Kremlin's narrative about the Ukraine war, according to the US-based Insitute for the Study of War (ISW).

Yevgeny Prigozhin denied claims Russia is fighting NATO and questioned whether there are actually Nazis in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has repeatedly justified its invasion of its neighbour as necessary to purge Kyiv of neo-Nazis, who threaten the peace and security of Russia, despite there being little evidence of this.

In parallel, it has increasingly pitched the war as an existential struggle against NATO, which they claim is butting up against Russia's borders.

Prigozhin said Moscow is fighting “exclusively with Ukrainians” equipped with NATO-provided equipment and some “Russophobic” mercenaries who voluntarily support Ukraine - but not NATO itself, said the ISW on Thursday.

He expressed doubt about “denazification” objectives in Ukraine, unsure “Nazis” were in the country, while "effectively rejecting" the long-standing Kremlin claims that Russia needs to defend itself against a NATO threat.

"It is ridiculous to think" that Russian officials did not know NATO would come to Kyiv's aid, the ISW quoted Prigozhin as saying.

Once a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin's, the paramilitary unit which includes former convicts in its ranks has become increasingly conspicuous on the battlefield in Ukraine, with Prigozhin appearing to challenge the conventional Russian army on several occasions.

Independent Russian outlets have speculated that Prigozhin might have political ambitions of his own in mind.

Wagner troops have been engaged in a gritty, tooth-and-claw struggle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, which is believed to have depleted its ranks, recently filled with as many as 40,000 prisoners.

In its Thursday assessment, the ISW said Prigozhin had "softened his rhetoric towards the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) likely out [of] fear of completely losing his mercenary force in Bakhmut."

He raised concerns about a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive, claiming 200,000 reserves were massing on the eastern front.

The ISW said these "exaggerated statements... [were] likely an attempt to secure more supplies and reinforcements from the Russian MoD to save his forces in Bakhmut."

Between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have been killed and wounded in the battle for the old salt mining town since it began last summer, Western officials say.

The seismic nature of the battle is out of all proportion to Bakhmut's strategic significance, they add.

However, the fight has become deeply symbolic, with Russia keen for clear battlefield victories after a series of setbacks and Ukraine wanting to prove its mettle to western backers.

In an implicit nod to divisions within the Kremlin, Prigozhin also called on the Russian military and media to stop underestimating Ukrainian forces and engaging in internal conflicts.

The killing of nine Chinese goldmine workers in the Central African Republic last Sunday has been reported to be tied to Wagner, and the fact that it coincided with a long-awaited meeting between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping has further soured the relationship between the group and Moscow.

The Russian MoD has been trying to diminish and reduce the role of Wagner forces in Ukraine, with Bloomberg reporting it will not allow the mercenary leader to get the credit for Bakhmut on TV.

Some 90% of Bakhmut's pre-invasion population have fled since the fighting started.

UK

Revealed: stress of Ofsted inspections cited as factor in deaths of 10 teachers

Anna Fazackerley
Sat, 25 March 2023

Ofsted - GOV.UK 

Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills. We inspect services providing education and skills for learners of all ages ...

Stress caused by Ofsted inspections was cited in coroners’ reports on the deaths of 10 teachers over the past 25 years, the Observer can reveal.

The research, by charity the Hazards Campaign and the University of Leeds, will intensify what Ofsted has called the “outpouring of anger” in the sector over the death of Berkshire headteacher Ruth Perry, who killed herself in January. Her family have attributed her death to the inspectorate having downgraded her school. Education unions called last week for all inspections to be halted.

It comes as an Observer investigation has found that the pressure of school inspections has led to headteachers suffering heart attacks, strokes and nervous breakdowns, and as a helpline for heads reports that the vast majority of crisis calls it receives are now about Ofsted.

Andrew Morrish, a former head and co-founder of Headrest, a resource for stressed headteachers, said that after being told by inspectors that their schools were being downgraded or graded inadequate, heads had “left school in an ambulance”, suffering panic attacks, heart attacks or strokes brought on by stress.

Carol Woodward, the award-winning head of Woodford primary school near Plymouth, took her own life in 2015, shortly after Ofsted downgraded her school. According to the coroner’s report, she contacted her GP prior to her suicide and told him that the school had failed its inspection and let everyone down. The police reported that she experienced “a swift mental decline” after the inspection, and the coroner said: “She just felt she was under so much pressure.”

The inquest into her death heard that the inspection had coincided with disruptive building work to expand the school and that Woodward had been under intense pressure. Police investigating her death said the inspection had been “completed in a fair manner but the timing, without assigning culpability, was wrong”.

If you’re told it’s inadequate, that can be devastating. But you can’t tell your staff or your family

Andrew Morrish, helpline co-founder

Frances Carr, who was both a teacher and a parent at the school, told the Observer that Woodward had been a “brilliant” head, who created a “real family feeling in the school”. She recalled: “As parents, we decided to tell our children that Carol had died of a broken heart. It’s not the whole truth, but one my seven-year-old could accept.”

Commenting on the death by suicide of another headteacher the day before inspectors were due to visit his school, the coroner leading the inquest said: “We can’t exclude the proximity of the Ofsted inspection to the date of his death.” He concluded that the impending inspection had “triggered off the action he decided to take”.

A third coroner’s report shows that a teacher who took her life had been suffering from depression and that an Ofsted inspection placed her under increased pressure. The coroner said it was an “absolute tragedy” that inspections should cause such a degree of stress.

Health and safety expert Hilda Palmer, who has been researching work-based suicides for the Hazards Campaign, said: “These figures are absolutely disgusting. When there are lots of suicides relating to one factor or one organisation, that needs to be investigated urgently.”

Morrish, who is a former inspector himself, said many heads were terrified of inspections that could be “inconsistent and flawed”, and that “virtually every single call we get now is related to Ofsted”.

He added that when, at the end of the inspection, the lead inspector summons the head, the chair of governors and usually another senior leader to deliver their verdict, they insist on it being kept confidential. “If you’re told it’s inadequate, that can be devastating,” he said. “But you mustn’t tell your [junior] staff or your family. It can be two or three months until the report is finalised.”

He added: “Ruth Perry had to go through the whole of Christmas and New Year knowing her school was going to be inadequate and not able to talk to even her sister about it.”

Former inspectors told the Observer that Ofsted teams had limited time to reach their conclusions. A director of education at an academy trust who resigned as an inspector because he felt the system was so flawed, described walking around a school making factual notes on an electronic form. Speaking on condition of anonymity he said: “You then have a block of five minutes at the most to evaluate that evidence. It’s not enough time to say, with any security, that a school is good or inadequate.”

A second former inspector and headteacher, who also asked not to be named, said: “It is a completely subjective judgment, dressed up as an objective one.” She said the lead inspector would typically make up their mind in the first 10 minutes, “and everything else is about justifying that”.

She recalled taking part in inspections where the head was “devastated” after being told they would be downgraded. “As a head your name is on that report for ever,” she said.

Paul Garvey, a former inspector who now advises schools on how to navigate Ofsted, said: “Time and time again I’ve heard from heads who say the inspector has come in with a hostile agenda.”

Amanda Spielman, chief inspector for schools in England, said on Friday that she was “deeply sorry” about Perry’s tragic death. But she said “stopping or preventing inspections” would not be in children’s best interests.

She said the debate about reforming single-word grades on inspections was “legitimate”, but added: “They give parents a simple and accessible summary of a school’s strengths and weaknesses. They are also now used to guide government decisions about when to intervene in struggling schools.”

ECOCIDE PENDING

Super tanker anchored off Yemen coast is likely to sink or explode at any moment, UN says


Sky News
Fri, 24 March 2023 


A super tanker anchored off the coast of Yemen and containing more than a million barrels of oil is "likely to sink or explode at any moment", unleashing an environmental and humanitarian disaster, a United Nations official has told Sky News.

The FSO Safer was all but abandoned in 2015 as Yemen descended into civil war and now the ship is starting to fall apart.

UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen David Gressly said: "We don't want the Red Sea to become the Black Sea, that's what's going to happen.


"It's an ancient vessel, a 1976 super tanker from that era, and therefore is not only old but unmaintained and likely to sink or explode at any moment.

"Those who know the vessel, including the captain that used to command the vessel, tell me that it's a certainty.

"It's not a question of 'if', it is only a question of 'when', so it is important that we act as quickly as we can or it will eventually spill one million barrels of oil into the Red Sea.

"We really have no way out except to solve the problem."

According to recent modelling by the Nature Sustainability scientific journal, an oil spill would take two to three weeks to spread all the way up to Saudi Arabia, across to Eritrea and down to Djibouti.

Within days it would close Yemen's key Red Sea ports of Hudayah and Salif, abruptly ending food aid relied upon by nearly six million people.

Most fuel imports would stop too, which matters because eight million people in Yemen rely on fuel-powered pumps or trucks to get their fresh water.

Further up the coast of Yemen an estimated two million people rely on desalination plants for their water, but these plants would also be contaminated by the oil spill and have to close.

The environmental effects would be profound, destroying or damaging healthy coral reefs and protected coastal mangrove forests.

Nature Sustainability predicts that within three weeks an unabated oil spill could kill almost all of Yemen's Red Sea fishing stock, upending the lives of millions of people living in coastal communities who rely on the ocean for their food and livelihoods.

Dr Hisham Nagi, professor of environmental science at Yemen's Sana'a University, told Sky News: "The oil tanker is unfortunately located near a very, very healthy coral reef and clean habitat, and it has a lot of species of marine organisms.

"Biodiversity is high in that area, so if the oil spill finds its way to the water column, so many marine sensitive habitats are going to be damaged, damaged severely because of that."

Read more from Alex Crawford inside Yemen:

The victims of the forgotten war that shows no sign of stopping

Donated UN food aid for Yemen's most needy sold in markets

The UN is so desperate to stop the oil spilling that it has just crowdfunded the purchase of a rescue tanker to go on a salvage operation.

But despite the potential $20bn (£16bn) cost of a clean-up, the UN is still $34m (£28m) short of the $130m (£106m) in funding it needs to complete the job.

The US, UK, German and Dutch governments have all contributed alongside generous private donors, but it is not enough.

Mr Gressly said: "There are many complexities but for most member states, the difficulty - and it's ironic - is there is plenty of money available in different member state budgets for a response to an emergency.

"I know if there was an oil spill, there would be tens of millions of dollars pouring in to solve this spill.

"But nobody seems to have budget lines for avoiding a catastrophe."

AUSTRALIA

‘Back and ready’: Chris Minns leads Labor to power after 12 years in opposition at historic 2023 NSW election

Michael McGowan and Tamsin Rose

Guardian Australia
Sat, 25 March 2023


Labor is on track to form majority government in New South Wales after 12 years in opposition, with the party leader, 43-year-old former firefighter and political staffer Chris Minns, declaring the party is “back and ready to govern in this great state”.

As counting ended on Saturday night, Labor had picked up at least nine seats, enough to govern in majority and a better-than-expected result for the party after big swings in many previously safe Coalition seats.

The result means Minns will become the first Labor leader to win government from opposition in NSW for almost three decades and sees the Coalition relegated to the opposition benches in every parliament on mainland Australia.

The election had been fought by Labor on a few key issues including a promise to end the sale of public assets, removing the controversial public sector wages cap and for investments in health and education.

In a late-night speech delivered to a packed room of party faithful in a function room in the beachside suburb of Brighton-Le-Sands, in Minns’ seat of Kogarah in Sydney’s south, he said the election was “a decisive vote against privatisation”.

“We know the challenges are huge, the responsibilities are awesome but NSW Labor is back and ready to govern in this great state of NSW,” he said.

“We started effectively two years ago with a promise to the people of NSW that we would run an election campaign asking people to vote a positive vote for NSW Labor and not just a negative vote against the government.

“I’m proud to say today the people of NSW voted for the removal of the unfair wages cap. They voted for our nurses, our teachers … our paramedics and police.”

For the Coalition, the result marks a devastating blow. Dominic Perrottet had sought to reset the government after becoming premier in late 2021 after former premier Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation, and won plaudits for his push to reform poker machines in the state.

But the baggage of 12 years in government proved too much to overcome. Speaking on Saturday night, former Liberal prime minister John Howard paid tribute to Perrottet for running an “heroic” campaign.

“He put forward ideas. He was bold,” Howard said, saying the outgoing premier’s stance on problem gambling – something he called a “social evil” – was “admirable”.

In his concession speech, Perrottet announced he would stand down as the state’s Liberal party leader while hailing the three-term Coalition government’s record.

“It is a time to reflect. It is a time to rethink and ultimately to renew. To renew as leader of the parliamentary Liberal party, I take full responsibility for the loss this evening,” he said.

“But we as a party, we as a government should be very proud of what we have achieved together.

“Make no mistake, we’ve made history of being in government for the longest time since our party was formed. And our government has achieved so much in so many ways. We’ve kept NSW strong, free and fair.”

In their speeches, both leaders paid tribute to one another for a campaign which had largely avoided going negative.

Perrottet said he believed Minns would make a “fine 47th premier … because I believe that he will lead with the same decency and the same integrity that he has led with so far,” he said.

Labor had been keen to play the expectation management game earlier on Saturday, pointing out that despite polls favouring the party it had a narrow path to victory. It needed nine seats to form a majority, with only four on margins of less than 5%.

It had not held Goulburn – held on 3.1% – since 1965, and by the end of counting on Saturday night it remained too close to call.

But it didn’t matter. Labor gains in regional seats of South Coast and Monaro – both seats previously held by the Coalition on safe margins – as well as in Sydney’s west in Parramatta, Riverstone, Penrith, East Hills, Ryde and Camden – meant it was in a position to form government.

Labor also remained in the hunt for the seat of Balmain, held by the Greens since 2011.

The Liberal party also lost Wakehurst and Berejiklian’s former seat of Willoughby to independents Michael Regan and Larissa Penn.

It is only the third time Labor has won government from opposition in NSW – most recently in 1995, when Bob Carr won with a one-seat margin.

Labor’s path to victory relied on a narrow message focused on the Coalition’s record on privatisation, scrapping its controversial public sector wages cap and promises to lift spending on health and education infrastructure.

But the party was criticised for refusing to back Perrottet’s push on gambling reform, instead offering only a trial of the mandatory cashless gaming systems on 500 poker machines across the state.

Their victory will mark a blow for anti-gambling advocates, who had hailed Perrottet’s push on the issue as a generational reform in the pokies capital of Australia.

UK
Union leader urges TUC to unite in defying planned anti-strike law

Rowena Mason Whitehall editor
Sat, 25 March 2023 

Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

A leading trade union has called for a concerted campaign of defiance and civil disobedience against the government’s planned anti-strike laws.

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), urged a coordinated campaign among trade unions of “mass non-cooperation and non-compliance” against the minimum service levels bill.

The legislation would make it compulsory for some employees to continue attending work throughout industrial action in a number of sectors.


Ministers would have the power to set levels of “minimum service” in the health service, fire and rescue services, education, transport, nuclear decommissioning and border security. The police, army and some prison officers are already banned from striking.

The FBU said non-compliance with the bill would be one of the most significant attempts by unions to defy employment law since the 1984-85 miners’ strike.

Related: Anti-strike bill ‘fails to meet UK’s human rights obligations’, MPs and peers say

Wrack called for an emergency meeting of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to launch a joint strategy to resist the legislation, arguing that demonstrations and sustained mass mobilisations could defeat the bill.

He said the strategy of non-compliance was needed because there was “no obvious route to challenge this attack through the courts”, describing it as one of the “most draconian attacks on the rights of working people in decades”.

“It’s a pernicious piece of legislation that’s in keeping with authoritarian regimes around the world,” he said.

“The government is deliberately attempting to strengthen the position of employers and severely weaken the position of workers. They are doing this for one purpose – to drive down wages … A mass movement of non-compliance can defeat this attack on working people by making the legislation unworkable.

“The TUC can lead this movement of resistance, first by calling an emergency congress, followed by a national demonstration, and a sustained campaign of non-cooperation.”

Unions are campaigning against the bill but many have stopped short of saying they would openly defy the legislation by continuing to strike in defiance of a minimum service requirement.

Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said: “The bill is unworkable and almost certainly in breach of international law. If this nasty legislation gets on to the statute book, the TUC will fight it all the way, including through the courts. And we won’t rest until this bill has been repealed.

“Government and employers should be clear. The TUC and our unions will not stand by and let any worker be sacked for exercising their fundamental right to strike and for defending their pay and conditions.”

Related: UK strike calendar – service stoppages planned for March and April

The legislation is being scrutinised in the House of Lords after passing through the House of Commons.

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “The purpose of this legislation is to protect the lives and livelihoods of the public and ensure they can continue to access vital public services.

“We must maintain a reasonable balance between the ability of workers to strike and the rights of the public, who work hard and expect essential services to be there when they need them.”

A wave of strikes have taken place in recent months, with some unions moving closer to solving pay disputes but others still engaged in stoppages.

The Public and Commercial Services Union said on Friday that more than 3,000 civil servants in four government departments had announced a programme of continuous strikes from 11 April, affecting the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Forestry Commission, the Rural Payments Agency and the Marine Management Organisation.

Separately, midwife and maternity support worker members of the Royal College of Midwives in Northern Ireland said they would take strike action on the morning of 3 April.