Latest milestones move Cedar LNG closer to getting a green light

The proposed US$3.4-billion Cedar LNG facility is looking more likely to become a reality in the wake of recent positive statements by the project partners.

RBC Capital Markets said Friday it expects Pembina Pipeline Corp. and its partner, the Haisla Nation of B.C., to green light the project with a final investment decision soon.

"We expect a positive final investment decision for the Cedar LNG project will occur assuming there is no deterioration in the project finance market," RBC analyst Robert Kwan wrote in a note to clients.

"Pembina has made progress on a number of key items."

Cedar LNG is a proposed floating liquefied natural gas facility that pipeline company Pembina is planning to build with the Haisla in Kitimat, B.C.

The facility, which would produce LNG for export to Asian markets, would be owned by the Haisla, making it the largest Indigenous-owned infrastructure project in the country.

Pembina announced Thursday that it has signed a long-term natural gas supply agreement for the facility with ARC Resources Ltd., a Calgary-headquartered company that has natural gas drilling operations in the Montney region of northeast B.C. and northwest Alberta.

Under the terms of the agreement, ARC will deliver approximately 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas for liquefaction to the facility, for a term of 20 years commencing with the start of commercial operations, which are anticipated in the second half of 2028.

Pembina also said Thursday it has issued a formal "notice to proceed" to its contractors for the engineering, procurement and construction of the LNG production unit.

Cedar LNG has already obtained all major regulatory approvals and is advancing an agreement that would connect the floating facility to Coastal GasLink, the TC Energy-owned pipeline that will also carry natural gas to the Shell-led LNG Canada facility.

Construction of LNG Canada near Kitimat nearing completion and it is expected to be the country's first liquefied natural gas export terminal.

Another smaller LNG facility, Woodfibre LNG, has also received regulatory approval for construction near Squamish, B.C.

Pembina said Thursday it expects to make its final investment decision on Cedar LNG by the middle of this year.

The company had previously said a decision could be made before the end of the first quarter, with onshore construction work starting as soon as the second quarter of this year. But it later deferred its decision, saying ongoing negotiations for natural gas supply, as well as the obtaining of certain third-party agreements and project financing, must first be resolved.

Proponents of a Canadian LNG industry say liquefied natural gas from Canada could help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by replacing coal in countries that still rely on the dirtier fuel.

But environmentalists argue that LNG creates its own emissions through the liquefaction and transportation process, as well as through the drilling and flaring of natural gas in Western Canada.

They argue that building massive LNG terminals that require huge upfront capital investments "locks in" future greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the world needs to be planning for a lower-carbon future.

The capital cost of Cedar LNG was originally estimated at US$2.4 billion, but Pembina said Thursday it now estimates capital costs at US$3.4 billion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2024.

Baltimore bridge rebuild is ‘too dangerous’ after deaths of six migrants, Latino workers say


Michelle Del Rey

The Independent
Sun, 7 April 2024 

Latino construction workers say they are scared about working on a project to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, citing dangerous conditions. Miguel Velasquez, 41, speaks about the dangerous conditions in the industry and his relationship with one of the victims 

(Julia Saqui/ The Independent)

Latino workers have said they are too afraid to take on jobs rebuilding the Baltimore bridge after six migrants died in its collapse last month.

José Luis Juarez, 41, from Guatemala, told The Independent that he wouldn’t work on construction of a new Francis Scott Key Bridge - even if he was paid a million dollars.

“I don’t know if that’s where I’m going to die,” the construction worker said as he visited a memorial to the late workers on Saturday, 6 April. “Yes we’re going to die, but we don’t want to die that way.”

Eight Latino migrant workers were filling potholes on the bridge in the early hours of 26 March when a huge cargo ship slammed into a column, causing its immediate collapse. The men were plunged into the Patapsco River.

Baltimore locals working on a memorial left for the six victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse - Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38; Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35; 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera; Jose Mynor Lopez, 35; Miguel Luna, 49, and one who had not been identified 

(Julia Saqui/The Independent)

Two men survived, with one rescued from the water. Six others perished.

Divers have been able to recover the bodies of Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38; Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35; and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera. Three men remain missing: Jose Mynor Lopez, 35, Miguel Luna, 49, and one who has not been identified.

The men were from a number of Latin American countries including Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala.

Mr Juarez, who has been working in construction for at least 10 years, said that he got a lump in his throat as he viewed the makeshift memorial. It is located at an intersection leading to the bridge, which police have closed off to the public.

Mourners have left bottles of Modelo, boots, prayer candles and have constructed crosses representing the lives of each of the men, each draped with a construction vest and a hard hat on top. The crosses form a circle around a grassy corner near the intersection. A sign reading “Find the missing” has been placed at the center.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was struck by a cargo ship called “Dali” on 26 March. Authorities, including the US Coast Guard and Maryland State Police continue working to reopen the bridge

 (Julia Saqui/The Independent)

“You come here, and you say maybe that could be me,” Mr Juarez said. He added that colleagues in the construction industry are also not interested in working to rebuild the bridge.

“Imagine all the days that have passed and they still haven’t found the bodies of the missing,” he said. “You imagine how the families are suffering…I have kids and I don’t want that to happen to them.”

Miguel Velasquez, 41, another construction worker at the memorial, said that some migrants who come to the US might be more willing to do the work because of a lack of options.

“The situation in this country is you don’t get to choose your job,” he said. “You have to take the jobs they put in front of you.”

Mr Velasquez, who lives in Baltimore but is from Latin America, said that he worked in construction for 10 years and now owns his own gardening business.

Baltimore construction worker Miguel Velasquez said he would not work on the rebuilding of the bridge (Julia Saqui/ The Independent)

He said that he would refuse the opportunity to work on rebuilding the bridge if it was given to him.

“My point of view is that for people who come from Latin America and are brand new, even if they don’t want to, they have to take the opportunity,” he said, explaining the need to survive and provide for family without many options.

Mr Velasquez said that he knew Miguel Luna, one of the victims. The two played in the same soccer league and he often went to the food truck that Mr Luna owned with his wife selling Salvadorian food.

“He was a good person,” he said.

In the wake of the disaster, labor experts pointed out that it will likely be migrant workers who rebuild the bridge.

The incident has also put the plight of migrant workers in the spotlight as concerns continue to be raised over how construction workers are treated, and what provisions could make their jobs safer.

Miguel Luna, 49, was on the Maryland bridge when it collapsed and is presumed dead. His body is still missing (Supplied)

According to the US Bureau of Labor, Latinos made up 30 per cent of construction workers in 2021. In the same year, 14 per cent of all work-related fatalities were of foreign-born Hispanic or Latino workers, the majority of whom worked in construction.

Gustavo Torres, director of CASA, a nonprofit organization that helps Maryland’s migrant workers, said he has spoken to people who are deeply worried about having to take jobs rebuilding the bridge following the disaster.

He said that he plans to meet with Julie Su, acting US Secretary of Labor, next week to discuss potential safety provisions.

“They’re going to rebuild the bridge but they require and demand better salaries and protections”, Mr Torres told The Independent.

CASA sent a letter to the Biden administration this week requesting work permits for long-term workers in the construction industry, including temporary protected status and humanitarian parole.

A friend and colleague of the men who died left his construction boots on one of the crosses at the memorial to honor the victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse. (Julia Saqui/The Independent)

The administration is committed to at least ensuring that the families of the victims have visas, Mr Torres said. The president met with the families on Friday during his visit to Baltimore to tour the wreckage.

CASA has called for a full investigation into the bridge collapse that took the migrant workers’ lives.

“What happened? Where were the mistakes? Who made the mistakes?” he said.

However, Mr Torres said that the organisation’s primary goal is to make sure that the bodies of the three remaining victims are returned to their families.

Muslims face dwindling representation in Modi's India

BJP FASCISM

Parvaiz BUKHARI
Sun, 7 April 2024 

Muslim representation in India's parliament has dwindled over the years, even in areas where they make up a majority of voters (-)

More than half the voters in the Indian city of Rampur are Muslim, but its member of parliament is a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's muscular Hindu-first agenda.

It is a situation repeated across Hindu-majority India, where many consider victory for Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in upcoming general elections a near certainty -- and see Muslim candidates as a recipe for defeat at the ballot box.

While India's 220 million Muslims make up a little under a fifth of its 1.4 billion population, Muslim representatives in parliament have almost halved to less than five percent since the 1970s.

"Everyone wants a connect with BJP," said Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who is confident of re-election as MP for Rampur in Uttar Pradesh state when the six-week-long elections begin on April 19.

Lodhi, a Hindu, replaced Rampur's Muslim MP in a 2022 by-election, jumping ship from the last lawmaker's party to become a BJP loyalist.

Muslim leaders worry at the lack of representation. There were just 27 Muslim MPs in the 543-seat lower house in parliament -- and none of them were among the BJP's 310 lawmakers.

Ziya Us Salam, author of a book on Muslims in India, says members of the faith had for decades placed their trust in secular parties, a process that created an "acute absence of Muslim leadership".

Today, an overtly Muslim leader would be challenged as stoking sectarian divisions, yet few question when Modi champions constitutionally secular India as a "Hindu Rashtra", or Hindu state.

"Nobody talks of (Modi) being the leader of only Hindus," Salam said.

He also argues that successive gerrymandering policies since independence in 1947 have redrawn electoral boundaries to split areas with substantial Muslim populations.

- 'Not able to vote' -

Rampur has elected Muslim MPs 15 out of 18 times since 1952.

But Kanwal Bharti, a 71-year-old activist and writer from the city, said the BJP's dominance means that it "doesn't seem possible anymore" for a Muslim candidate to win Rampur.

Rampur's last Muslim MP was veteran politician Mohammad Azam Khan -- but he quit after more than 80 legal cases were brought against him, ranging from land grabbing to intimidating government officials.

His supporters said many of the accusations were years old and that charges had only been belatedly brought after the BJP won state elections in 2017.

Khan was jailed for three years in 2023 for hate speech against BJP rivals.

Past elections were marred by allegations that security forces blocked Muslims from voting.

A legal challenge that a 2022 parliamentary by-election vote was manipulated "by using every unconstitutional means" to stop voters from Muslim-dominated areas was dismissed on a technicality.

Some Muslim voters in Rampur worry about casting a ballot later this month.

"If the conditions during the last election are repeated, I will again not be able to vote," said 75-year-old Mohammad Salam Khan, reading a newspaper in his son's electrical repair shop.

- 'Intimidation' and 'elimination' -

It is part of a wider shift, said Asaduddin Owaisi, one of two lawmakers in the last parliament from the All India Council for Unity of Muslims.

Owaisi believes even secular parties avoid selecting Muslim candidates because they fear they would not appeal to Hindu voters.

"They are afraid to even give a ticket to a Muslim candidate," Owaisi said, accusing the ruling party of stoking fear against Muslims.

"It is very difficult for the Muslim candidates from any political party to win".

The BJP denies "active discrimination" based on religion, pointing out that representation depends on candidates winning elections.

A handful of Muslim candidates the BJP fielded in the last two national elections all lost, with critics accusing the party of showing disinterest in their campaign.

"We have this aspiration, ideally, to have people from every community," BJP national spokesperson Mmhonlumo Kikon told AFP.

But Salam, the author, believes Muslims are being squeezed out of the democratic process.

"So, you don't give tickets to Muslims at one place, you redraw constituencies at another place... or you don't allow Muslims to vote," Salam said.

"It's not just intimidation," he added. "It's also elimination."

pzb/pjm/sn/smw

Australia did not list George Soros as a 'global terrorist'

Kate TAN / AFP Australia
Sun, 7 April 2024 

Australia has not declared George Soros a "terrorist", contrary to what social media posts shared thousands of times falsely claimed. A spokesperson for Australia's Attorney-General's Department also told AFP that the Hungarian-born American business and philanthropic mogul -- a frequent target of online misinformation -- was not on the country's sanction list.

"Australia declares George Soros a global terrorist!" a Facebook post published on April 2 read.

Screenshot of the misleading post, captured on April 4

The same false claim was shared on Facebook here in Australia. It also spread in the United States on social media platform X here and here.

Comments from some users on the posts indicated that they believed the claim was true.

"WOW - Awesome," a comment read.

"Why hasn’t America, he’s bought 90% of our government," another comment read.

AFP previously debunked separate false claims that Soros was arrested for interference in the 2020 US election and that he was detained by police in Switzerland in 2019.

The latest online claim about him is also false. Australia has no law or legal framework that lists individuals as "terrorists."

"Division 102 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Criminal Code) enables the Minister for the Australian Federal Police to list organisations as terrorist organisations... Individuals are not able to be listed under this framework," a spokesperson for the Attorney-General's Department told AFP on April 3.

She added that Australia "has no other frameworks to list individuals as terrorists."

There were 29 "terrorist organisations" listed in Australia when the false claim circulated online. Neither Soros' Fund Management company nor his Open Society Foundations were mentioned (archived links here, here and here ).

While it only lists terrorist organisations, Australia's law enables the foreign minister to "designate a person or entity who commits, attempts to commit, participates in or facilitates the commission of, terrorist acts"(archived link).

Such designation would result in the freezing of the assets of the said person or entity. It would also be considered an offence to use, move or sell said assets.

Resolution 1373 of the UN Security Council encourages Australia, as a UN member-state, to counter terrorism by imposing financial sanctions on people engaged in terrorist activities.

AFP checked the Australian government's consolidated list of the people and entities subject to sanctions as of March 29, 2024 and found no mention of Soros (archived link).

A spokesperson from the Attorney-General's Department also confirmed to AFP that Soros was not included in Australia's sanctions list.


Australia is also encouraged to implement the UN Security Council's sanctions regime which includes "comprehensive economic and trade sanctions" and "arms embargoes, travel bans, and financial or commodity restrictions" (archived links here and here).

As of April 5, 2024, Soros has not been included in the UN's sanctions list (archived link).

SCOTLAND 

New pro-Yes billboard campaign ahead of 'festival of independence'

Hamish Morrison
Sun, 7 April 2024 

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf (centre) takes part in a Believe in Scotland march from Edinburgh Castle (Image: PA)

NEW billboards will be set up across Scotland’s biggest city today to promote independence.

Believe in Scotland have launched a new advertising campaign in Glasgow helping to promote the cause.

Four billboards will be put up around the city as part of a wider campaign of activism led by the group.

Along with the advertising campaign, the group is hosting a march and rally for independence on Saturday, April 20, followed by a “mass campaign day” of leafleting in the south side of Glasgow on Sunday.

Yessers have already helped Believe in Scotland to smash its fundraising target to cover its costs, with £3,385 raised at the time of writing, out of a goal of £2000.

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf reveals his ‘one wish’ for SNP’s 90th birthday – and his own

The group said that excess cash would be used to “book more billboards across the country and put on more events”.

Believe in Scotland founder Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp said: “Earlier this year Believe in Scotland ran its annual big Indy Movement Survey receiving 4,623 responses.

“One of the questions asked indy supporters to prioritise Believe in Scotland’s campaigning activities and the top three responses were billboards, our days of action and repeating the success of the march and rally we ran last year.

The National:

“So we’ve combined all of those for Glasgow’s Big Indy Weekend, on April 20.

“Our march and rally aims to have less of a political protest feel and more of a festival of independence feel. We think independence is a means to an end. We are going to be talking about our hopes and dreams for an independent Scotland, not bombarding people with politics.

READ MORE: Young Scots for Independence announce major international event on path back to EU

“People that went to our Edinburgh march and rally last year told us it felt like the 2014 Yes Family was coming back together and that's what we are aiming for.

“In the run up to the event we will run a series of simple messages on billboards starting on Monday, some related to Glasgow and others more general indy messages.

“We have a great line up for the rally and still have a few more speakers to announce. On the evening of Saturday 20, we have an afterparty (partly to thank for all the volunteer stewards) featuring a performance from Trad Singer of the Year Iona Fyffe.

“Then on Sunday we are calling on all indy supporters in the Glasgow area to join us at Langside Hall at 10.30am for a mass leafleting session in Glasgow south side.

“Scotland has a highly organised and effective national campaigning umbrella group. It’s fully democratic, run by the elected representatives of 142 local and national Yes groups – it's called Believe in Scotland and everyone is welcome to join us.”

Ask Janice: 

Drunk tarot reader put a spell on me and now bad things are happening

BUNKO ARTIST

Janice Bell
Sun, 7 April 2024

Image taken from Pixabay (Image: Image taken from Pixabay)

Drunk tarot reader put a spell on me and now bad things are happening...

Dear Janice, I was coerced into a tarot card reading at a party, and was told that some doom and gloom would happen, which was unexpected because my life was great.

At the end of the reading, this drunk woman said she didn’t like my aura and that she’d put a spell on me.

We laughed it off, but since then I’ve lost my bank card, smashed my mobile and I’ve sprained my ankle. Surely all these things can’t be a coincidence?

I want to pay this woman a visit and ask her to take the spell off me, but my friend said I should wait and hope my luck changes.

What do you think?

 Charlene.


Dear Charlene, whether you believed the reading or not, it has certainly got to you, so you could say her spell worked!

At the end of the party everyone was drunk, and alcohol changes perspectives and mindsets, so take her dislike of you and her spell with a pinch of salt.

If you focus on negative things, negative things happen, but I bet if you look back there will have been good things too.

Ignore this intoxicated tarot reading stranger, who no doubt had a laugh at your expense and a kick out of playing the power card for the night.

Stay well clear and don’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she has upset you.

Instead, make your own spells (positive affirmations), and get on with your happy life.

UK Foreign Office ‘elitist and rooted in the past’, says new report

Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 7 April 2024 

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Whitehall, London. The report suggests modernising the premises.
Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy

A powerful new international department would help Britain adapt to being a middle-rank power and shed a Foreign Office identity that is “somewhat elitist and rooted in the past”, says a damning report by some of the UK’s leading diplomats.

The report, clearly directed at an incoming mission-based Labour government, has been written by the former cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill, the former No 10 foreign policy adviser Tom Fletcher and the former director general at the Foreign Office Moazzam Malik, among others.

It urges that 1% of gross national income is devoted to international engagement, including aid, to complement the commitment to 2% of GDP on defence spending.

The report, entitled The World in 2040: Renewing the UK’s approach to International Affairs, says the Foreign Office was “struggling to deliver a clear mandate, prioritisation and resource allocation”, adding: “The Foreign Office all too often operates like a giant private office for the foreign secretary of the day, responding to the minister’s immediate concerns and ever-changing in-tray.

“The merger of Foreign Office and the Department for International Development, to create the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), was presented as an opportunity to leverage the strengths of both departments: short-term diplomacy and a long term strategic focus on real world challenges. But it has struggled to deliver. A more effective approach requires a sustained focus on the international challenges that will shape the UK’s prosperity and security.”

The report continues: “The physical surroundings [of the Foreign Office headquarters] also hint at the Foreign Office’s identity: somewhat elitist and rooted in the past. Modernising premises – perhaps with fewer colonial-era pictures on the walls – might help create a more open working culture and send a clear signal about Britain’s future.”

It suggests a model similar to Canada and Australia, where a revamped international department has a strategic oversight over not just aid and diplomacy, but the climate emergency and trade.

The report says: “We cannot simply brush aside concerns around the UK’s historical legacy and questions of nationhood. The exit from the EU has opened many questions, including in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

“Former colonies are making increasingly vocal demands around the need for reparations from colonialism and compensation for the loss and damage arising from historical industrial emissions.”

The paper goes on to state that discrepancies “between our domestic and international conduct on issues such as climate change and human rights not only exposes us to accusations of hypocrisy on the world stage but also weakens the institutions and values essential to the UK’s interests”.

It suggests: “The UK has often sought to project an image of ‘greatness’ to the world that today seems anachronistic. We will be envied for what we are good at, not what we say that we are good at. This means the state working hand-in-hand with our universities, our creative sector, our sports bodies, news and civil society organisations, so they can serve as effective ambassadors for the UK and maximise the country’s considerable ‘soft power’.”

Calling for greater realism as a middle-rank off-shore nation, the paper says the UK “should not always see ourselves as the leader in efforts to tackle global challenges. UK convening power has achieved significant results. But effective solutions to global problems in a multi-polar world need a wider array of leaders. We should give space, be more of a ‘team player’, showing humility and respect, ready to follow and support wherever appropriate.”

In his foreword to the report, Sedwill says: “For the past decade, we have been wrestling with our national identity, to the bewilderment of our allies and the glee of our adversaries.”

He says the task is to harness the country’s strengths – including possessing the world’s sixth-largest economy, some of the best universities, world-class diplomatic, intelligence and security services, a formidable military and a leading international development network.

The report says: “As we move towards 2040 and beyond, the UK will not be able to rely on just its traditional alliances with the US and Europe to defend interests in the same way. Globally, economic and geopolitical power will be more diffuse as regionally strong countries – ‘middle powers’ – exert greater influence over international affairs.

“This does not mean that the UK will retreat from existing alliances, but we will need to build new issue-based alliances with states whose interests and values may be less closely aligned. We have historically under-invested in our relationships with Asia and are at risk of doing the same with Africa now.”

Medieval monks’ night staircase rebuilt at Furness Abbey


Mark Brown North of England correspondent

THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 7 April 2024 

Furness Abbey, on the outskirts of Barrow, was founded in the first half of the 12th century.Photograph: Stuart Walker/English Heritage

A staircase used by weary medieval monks when they had to file down from bed to their church services in the middle of the night has been rebuilt in some of the most atmospheric monastic ruins in England.

Exactly 900 years since it was first built and almost 500 years since it was destroyed, the night staircase has been reconstructed at Furness Abbey in Cumbria.

The project will give visitors extra insight into the daily lives of medieval monks, said Michael Carter, English Heritage’s senior properties historian.


Visitors can climb to what was the first-floor level of the monks’ dormitory and enjoy previously unseen views of ruins that have long captivated people, with JMW Turner and William Wordsworth having been two notable fans.

“Furness has some of the finest monastic ruins in England,” Carter said. Reinstating the night staircase recreates “an experience that was central in the lives of the medieval monks” as well as “giving visitors the unique opportunity to look back in time and see these remarkable ruins through the eyes of the monks themselves”, he said.

Furness Abbey, on the outskirts of Barrow, was founded in the first half of the 12th century by monks who had moved there from Preston, and it prospered, becoming the largest and wealthiest monastery in north-west England.

The night staircase was only ever used by the monks, to get from their cold, communal dormitory to the church for the daily matins service, which was usually between 1 and 2am.

They would have passed a statue of St Christopher strategically located to be the first thing they saw each day. “Seeing it provided them with protection from a bad death,” Carter said – as in one with an unconfessed mortal sin that would lead them to hell. It was also protection “against the tiredness brought about by daily toil”, Carter said. “The church would have been a very cold, dark space, so very easy to succumb to tiredness I think.”

The early morning service was one of eight that punctuated the monks’ day. After matins there was lauds at first light and prime at sunrise, all the way through to compline before bedtime, usually around 7pm.

A new timber structure has been put on the site of the original stairs, which were probably destroyed during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. The structure meets the original stone steps, allowing visitors to get previously unseen views of the ruins.

And it is the views that have drawn so many people over the years, notably Turner who loved scrambling over and drawing northern monastic ruins.

Wordsworth adored the abbey and did much to popularise it as a tourist destination in his Guide to the Lakes.

Other visitors have included Queen Victoria in 1848 – “so beautiful it was, and so extensive”, her lady in waiting recorded – and a young Teddy Roosevelt, the future US president, in 1869.

Carter said there was something special about Furness Abbey. “I remember the first time I ever went there, being blown away by the scale of the place and that beautiful red sandstone … it really is a dramatic site.”

He said so many monastic ruins in northern England were located in places where people had hard lives. They spoke to people in different and wonderful ways, he said. “OK, there have been the Turners and the Wordsworths at Furness loving the place, but equally it has been the docker, the shipbuilder, the miner, the factory worker on a day excursion … it has been somewhere which provides space to live.”

UK
Decriminalising abortion opposed by more than half the public, poll finds


Charles Hymas

THE (TORY) TELEGRAPH
Sun, 7 April 2024 

Diana Johnson's amendment means women would not be prosecuted if they end a pregnancy beyond 24-week legal limit 

- ER PRODUCTIONS LTD/GETTY IMAGES

More than half of the public oppose MPs’ plans to decriminalise abortion ahead of a major vote that could liberalise the law for the first time in a generation.

Exclusive polling shows 55 per cent of adults agree that it should remain illegal for a woman to abort a healthy baby after the current 24-week time limit. Only 16 per cent, fewer than one in six, agreed with the plans while 29 per cent said they preferred not to say or did not know.

More women than men believed it should remain a criminal offence, by a ratio of 57 per cent to 54 per cent. Seven in 10 adults (71 per cent) also agreed a year-long jail sentence for a woman last year who aborted her baby at between 32 and 34 weeks was “about right or too short”. Only 20 per cent thought it too long.

The ata, based on polling of 2011 adults, marks the start of what is expected to be a passionate debate over what could be the first major changes to abortion law in more than 30 years.

Two amendments – one liberalising the abortion law and one tightening it – have been tabled to the Criminal Justice Bill which is due to return to the Commons after the Easter recess. If they are allowed to proceed by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, all parties have said their MPs will be allowed a free vote as an issue of conscience.

One amendment, laid by Diana Johnson, Labour chair of the home affairs committee, would mean women would no longer be prosecuted if they ended their pregnancies beyond the 24-week legal time limit. It has so far gathered cross-party support from 35 MPs.

Women can be jailed under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act if they have an abortion outside set circumstances. As well as the mother of three jailed last year for an illegal abortion, about 100 women have faced police investigations since 2019.

Under the amendment, the 1861 law would no longer apply to women ending their pregnancies, although they would still have to abide by the requirements of the 1967 Abortion Act and the 24-week limit would remain intact. Doctors and nurses would still face prosecution if they assisted an abortion after 24 weeks.

It would bring England and Wales into line with Northern Ireland, where abortions were decriminalised in 2019. It is backed by the Royal Colleges of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, of GPs and of Midwives and the British Medical Association.

An amendment by Diana Johnson, Labour chair of the home affairs committee, has gathered cross-party support from 35 MPs - PA IMAGES/ALAMY

A YouGov poll showed 55 per cent of MPs also supported the change although the new polling by Whitestone Insight suggests MPs may be out of step with public opinion. It shows that more people are against than for decriminalisation across all age and social class groups.

The second amendment, put forward by Caroline Ansell, the Tory MP, and backed by 36 MPs, would cut the time limit from 24 to 22 weeks, on the basis that the survival rate for extremely premature babies born at 23 weeks has doubled from two in 10 to four in 10.

Twenty two weeks is now recognised by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine as the point of viability outside the womb. A poll by ComRes (now Savanta) found that 60 per cent of the public and 70 per cent of women support a reduction in the time limit to 20 weeks or below.

Critics of the decriminalisation proposal claim it would fuel late-term DIY procedures.

Catherine Robinson, a spokeswoman for Right to Life UK, said: “It would likely lead to a tragic increase in the number of babies’ lives being ended through late-term abortions performed at home, as well as the lives of many more women being endangered.

“This extreme and radical abortion law has no place in the UK. This polling clearly shows that the public do not support this change to the law. We are calling on MPs to reject Johnson’s amendment”.

Miriam Cates, co-chair of the New Conservatives group of MPs, who has backed a reduction to 22 weeks, said decriminalisation would “remove any consequence” for a pregnant woman who decided to terminate their baby after the current 24-week limit.

“Of course women who face unwanted late-term pregnancies should be offered help and support, but in a civilised and compassionate society we must not change the law to remove all rights and value from an unborn baby just a few weeks or days before birth,” said Ms Cates.

Ms Johnson has disputed the criticism, saying there is no evidence of a rise in late-term abortions since decriminalisation in countries including Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Australia or Canada.

“This amendment is only taking women out of the criminal justice system. If you look at somewhere like Texas which has very restrictive laws, they don’t criminalise women. They go after the abortion providers. We are out of step even with those countries that have stricter abortion laws,” she said.

Ms Johnson suggested that women who took abortion pills to have late miscarriages were women in the most vulnerable and difficult circumstances.

“It may be domestic abuse, coercive control. They may have been trafficked. The question is: do you believe they should be brought before the criminal law or should they be offered help and support,” she said.

UK

Sexual harassment survey reveals ‘appalling abuse’ of NHS staff


Michael Searles

THE TELEGRAPH
Mon, 8 April 2024 

Harassment of NHS staff

One in 10 NHS staff have been shown porn, offered money for sex or assaulted at work, a survey into sexual harassment has found.

The Unison union said 10 per cent of more than 12,200 health workers it surveyed had reported an unwanted incident, including being inappropriately touched or kissed, demanded sex in return for favours or received derogatory remarks.

A third of those who had suffered some form of harrassment reported it as sexual assault, while half said they were leered at or targeted with suggestive gestures.


One in four said they had suffered unwelcome sexual advances, propositions or demands for sexual favours.

Crude “banter” or “jokes” were the most common issue, reported by three in five workers who had experienced some form of harassment, according to the research.

More than half of the sexual harassment incidents experienced by NHS staff were at the hands of colleagues, while two in five were by patients, the survey found.

Despite the serious and even criminal nature of some of the incidents, half the staff had not reported sexual harassment to their employer, mainly through fear of being considered “over-sensitive” or a feeling that their employer would not act on their complaint.

Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, says: 'No-one should ever have to endure such despicable behaviour, and certainly not in their place of work' - Geoff Pugh for The Telegraph

Incidents included a 111 adviser, herself a survivor of sexual abuse, who described being regularly harassed on the phone by anonymous callers. The only response from her managers was to be told it is just part of the job, said Unison.

A pathology technician in Yorkshire and Humberside said they had “witnessed complete blurred boundaries, observed kissing, men grabbing colleagues from behind and pushing themselves into them”.

She added: “I’ve experienced someone inappropriately stroking my arm, someone sneaking up behind me and jabbing their fingers into my ribs, and someone slapping my bum. I even had someone pushing a lock of hair behind my ear when I was alone with them.”

A nurse from the West Midlands said they had received comments “about my hair, how I look and how they would love to have sex with me, which reminded me of when I was raped at a young age by a male patient”.

A separate 111 call handler from Wales said members of the public call the emergency number and try to use it as “a sex line”.

“We have a ‘three warnings’ policy before we hang up. Sometimes I have to go through an entire call and assessment with a patient about a personal issue whilst they are making sexual comments and crude jokes the entire time,” they said.
‘More must be done to protect staff’

Christina McAnea, the union’s general secretary, said: “No-one should ever have to endure such despicable behaviour, and certainly not in their place of work.

“But NHS staff often put up with this appalling abuse, not reporting it because they don’t believe they’ll be taken seriously.

“More must be done to protect nurses, healthcare assistants, cleaners and other NHS staff from sexual harassment, reassure them their complaints will be fully investigated, and action taken against the perpetrators.

“Employers must take swift action when workers flag up incidents, regardless of whether the sexual harassment has come from a patient or a colleague. Otherwise, this completely unacceptable behaviour will simply continue.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “Sexual violence or misconduct of any kind is unacceptable and NHS organisations have a responsibility to protect both staff and patients.

“We have a zero tolerance approach and will continue to work with the NHS to ensure that they are taking measures to stop sexual assaults from happening, and to ensure staff feel comfortable raising concerns.

“We encourage any member of staff who have faced these issues to report it within the NHS, and to the police.”