Canadian Coast Guard Contracts to Remove Oil from Long-Forgotten WWII Wreck

In the 1920s the undistinguished little cargo ship sailed as Ace (courtesy of Ocean Ecology)

Published Oct 11, 2024 9:24 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

As part of its efforts to protect Canada's oceans and waterways, the Canadian Government is bringing back to life the story of a long-forgotten wreck from the World War II era which continues to haunt the Inside Passage between Canada and Alaska. The Canadian Coast Guard reported on October 10 that it has awarded a C$4.9 million (US$3.6 million) contract to Resolve Marine to remove oil from historic shipwreck USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski.

It is an interesting tale shedding light on the forgotten past. The vessel was built in 1919 in Ohio known as Lake Frohna for operation as a Laker on the Great Lakes. She measured 251 feet (77 meters) and approximately 3,500 gross tons. Her career was undistinguished operating in the 1920s as Ace and finally in 1941 being acquired by the U.S. Government.

Renamed Brigadier General M. G. Zalinski no records survive of a distinguished war career. What is known is she set off in September 1946 on a resupply mission from Seattle to Whitter, Alaska. She had a crew of 48 aboard and was loaded with 700 tons of Bunker C fuel oil, gasoline, bombs, grenades, and small arms. 

Heading north on the Inside Passage she encountered a strong rainstorm and initially anchored. Later heading north she approached the Grenville Channel, an area known for a very strong current, tides, and weather patterns. At 0300 on September 29 she grounded and with a gash in her hull began taking on water. The crew along with an Irish Setter dog made their way into two lifeboats and were rescued by a commercial fishing boat while the cargo ship slipped below the water with all assuming it was the end of her story.

 

 

In September 2003, 57 years after she sank, however, USCG cutter Maple sailing in the Grenville Channel spotted an oil slick and began to investigate. The Canadians surveyed the site and in October to everyone’s surprise they found the USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski. Instead of having sunk to the depths she was sitting upside down on a rock ledge just 112 feet below the surface. (Her full story is recounted in a 2019 article in Haikai Magazine and by Ocean Ecology which is following the efforts.)

As she continued to leak, a dive was mounted to the vessel in 2013 to remove the oil. Porter Marine Salvage details the 2013 operation including its surprise to find the ship was home to a two-and-a-half-meter Giant Pacific Octopus. They removed what was accessible, but reports are that a later survey said as much as 27,000 liters is likely still aboard. 

The Canadian Coast Guard believes that the ship’s structure has continued to deteriorate, causing previously inaccessible fuel tanks to collapse. They report currently only a minimal amount of oil is “upwelling” from the wreck but it has been decided to proceed to clean the wreck to prevent long-term damage. They said the new state of deterioration poses a significant risk for the release of a large amount of oil.

Resolve Marine will use a process called "hot tapping" to reduce the volume of fuel in the tanks. First, drainage valves are attached to the hull, then a hose will be connected to the valves and the fuel will be pumped out into holding tanks on a barge. The hot-tap method has been used successfully on shipwrecks for many years, including during the Canadian Coast Guard's response to the historic Nootka Sound shipwreck, the MV Schiedyk, in 2021. 

Work is scheduled to begin in mid-October and is expected to take several weeks. Given the nature of the operation, the Canadian Coast Guard reports there is a small risk of a release of oil while draining. It will have personnel on-site and ready to respond if needed.

How creativity and community is helping to tackle poverty in Scotland

Paul Sullivan
Sun 13 October 2024 

Kids take part in Big Noise (Image: jeffholmes)

As we approach the end of Challenge Poverty Week, Sistema Scotland’s Director for Children, Young People & Communities Paul Sullivan explains how creativity and community are helping to overcome the impacts of poverty throughout Scotland.

This week has seen people and organisations across Scotland come together to shine a light on poverty and what we can do to tackle it and its impacts.

Arranged by the Poverty Alliance charity, Challenge Poverty Week inspires communities every year to work together, support each other and find new solutions.

However, while we have made huge strides in tackling poverty, there remain true and enduring poverty in communities across Scotland.
Places like Govanhill, in Glasgow, which despite being a fantastic, vibrant community in so many ways, was still recently highlighted as one of the most deprived places in the whole of the UK, and where more than 88% of all children under the age of 15 are living in poverty.

Sistema Scotland is one organisation that is working in the area – and five other places targeted as having the highest need – to help people overcome the significant impacts of growing up in poverty and make a long-term difference for children, families and communities.
We use the power of creativity and community to change lives and transform parts of Scotland that had, for a long time, been excluded.

The impact we are having is palpable. That isn’t down to any magic on our part, but instead the logical impact of an immersive and long-term approach to investing in communities.

Big Noise, our music education and transformational social change programme is intensive, place-based, and embedded in communities facing significant challenges: Govanhill in Glasgow, Wester Hailes in Edinburgh, Torry in Aberdeen, Douglas in Dundee and Raploch and Fallin in Stirling. We provide free music lessons – and wraparound support – to children and young people, working with them on a daily basis to boost their confidence and attainment.

Participants in Big Noise (Image: jeffholmes)

We provide free food and make sure they are safe and nurtured so families can access work and training.
It is a simple idea but one that has had life changing impacts over the past 16 years for the young people and the wider community.

Music itself as a tool for social change within communities. Throughout history, the process of creating and making music together helps us to forge identity, aspiration and human connection. But Big Noise is about more than music.

READ MORE 

• Starmer and Swinney's lip service on poverty won't feed millions of struggling Scots

• Support for legally binding poverty reduction targets

• Kevin McKenna: Scotland's poor and vulnerable have been failed by Holyrood

In Raploch and Govanhill, we are now watching the children who took their first steps with us as primary school pupils grow up and leave school.

What they are going on to achieve is wonderful. They are going to university, to college and into work with confidence and a sense of purpose.

One participant, now 18, is at college and has her sights set on becoming a radiographer. She has performed at countless concerts and has travelled to India to perform.
Yes, the music education element is important – but it is the social change that really matters.

Anna told us she has had opportunities she never would have had, and it changed her life. Doors that might have been closed without being part of Big Noise are very much open. She told us that the nurturing, regular support gave her foundation of self-belief that she carries with her in everything she does.

Poverty is more than simply not having enough money to make ends meet – although that is obviously a big part of it. Poverty is compound and multi-faceted – and its impact can be lifelong. One of the main problems that poverty brings with it is uncertainty. That’s why we aim to be a consistent, supportive presence. We know that it takes flexibility and individual approaches to support families experiencing that instability. We have a flexible and tailored approach for families who require further support for any reason. One family in Govanhill, for example, are new to Scotland. They have achieved wonderful things as part of Big Noise and are both performing music at a really high level now.

Their mother told us how Big Noise helped them settle into the community, make friends and move forward. She has completed a degree, and her children are bubbly and outgoing – far from the shy children they were when they started.

Many of the families we work with might experience stigma, and so it is important that we are always working alongside each other. Music is such a perfect leveller in that respect; showing that anyone can achieve excellence when systemic and cultural barriers are removed.

Music is our tool to supporting wider social change, but there are many elements that help make that change possible.

Participants in Big Noise (Image: Stewart Attwood)

The first is the direct involvement of those communities. Challenge Poverty Week is right to reflect on the importance of volunteers. Our Big Noise programmes are only made possible through the support of a dedicated team of local volunteers, who give up their time to provide to fantastic experiences for young people. We are fortunate to benefit from a number of committed local volunteers – some of whom have been involved with Big Noise for more than ten years– as well as welcome young musicians, many of whom have progressed into joining our staff teams. Volunteer opportunities also open pathways to work, giving people skills and experience to take a step on the career ladder, or get back to work after having children.

The transition from school has been rightly identified as a key moment for young people, we create clear pathways to help young people navigate this tricky time. As well as help with university and college applications, we also provide bespoke career pathways to help our young people onto a bright future – no matter what they want to do. We have set up Modern Apprenticeships at our centres, where older school leavers can get on the job training, and summer internships, helping young people get workplace skills and experience. The immersive and long-term nature of the programmes makes being able to provide those pathway opportunities possible.

Providing whole family support is also another core element of what we do. At Big Noise, we also run holiday clubs across each of our six centres. This summer, 463 children and young people took part in the camps. Alongside music lessons, we served up 4,500 free healthy meals and snacks and ran a wide range of activities to give children and young people a safe and social space, enabling parents to work or study over the holidays. Parents tell us this support is a lifeline during the school holidays, where they need support to keep working to support their families.

Poverty cannot be tackled in isolation. While we look to do everything we can within our power to support families, we know it takes close partnership between third sector agencies, schools, social work and other statutory services in order to provide the right supports for people at risk of poverty.

All communities deserve opportunities to be creative, and we see every day the impact of our programmes. This Challenge Poverty Week, we can celebrate the impact of community-based work – and ask that the crucial role of long-term and immersive community work is recognised and supported on a national scale.

The politics of masculinity

13/10/2024

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The web's premier resource for political betting.

I read a truly awful book the other day. JJ Bola’s (apologies if you’re a reader of PB) Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined can be perfectly summed up by a translation of its German title: Don’t be a man: Why masculinity is a nightmare for boys. The idea that the solution to toxic masculinity is to implore boys not to be men is, to put it mildly, self-defeating.

I’m not trying to deny that we have a problem with masculinity. Feminists have rightly been shining a light on power imbalances in relationships, the workplace and elsewhere for decades. And more recently we have been seeing a surge in men (particularly young men) in the USA saying they will vote for Trump and not Harris. There are similar polling imbalances in Canada, South Korea, Germany and UK* (in the UK this effect is less pronounced in actual voting patterns, although Reform attracted the votes of 17% of men and only 12% of women).

Why this surge in what I would characterise as a protest vote amongst men? According to CNN:

“In a striking new Pew Research Center national survey, for instance, fully two-fifths of the men younger than 50 who are supporting Trump agreed that women’s gains in society have come at the expense of men.”

Whatever the rights and wrongs of this view, add in the rise in incel culture in the UK and the popularity of Andrew Tate amongst teenagers and it seems clear that this is an issue that has the potential to skew our politics in unhealthy ways, not least the very real chance of a second Trump term next month.

So what’s the solution?

With further apologies to JJ Bola, were I sufficiently well connected to attract the attention of a publishing house I’d write a book called: Be a man: Why masculinity is an opportunity for boys. If there are any publishers reading, it’d be great; it’d go something like this:Whilst it is undoubtedly true that, structurally and in many cases individually, men have used power for both sexist and misogynist ends on a rampant scale, there are many, many men who currently have little power and as with any group, express legitimate resentment that they are being lumped in with those who have benefited from those structural inequalities.
The vulnerabilities of these men caught on the wrong side of the much needed and incomplete rebalancing of society leave them at risk of radicalisation by hate figures such as Trump, Tate or online communities such as incels.
To protect against this, we need to offer a more positive model of masculinity. I’d offer the following as a start (adapted from here, here and here):Be bold but adaptable: don’t be afraid to show your masculinity; be bold in your words and actions but if a woman calls out something you do or say as sexist or misogynist, don’t get defensive, take them seriously, thank them and reflect genuinely on whether you need to adapt your behaviour. Call out sexism, misogyny, homophobia or transphobia yourself when you see it and be prepared to put in the effort to educate someone without cancelling them.
Swap emotional independence for emotional openness: young men often report feeling societal pressure to hide feelings of sadness or anxiety, with obvious effects on their mental health, for which they are then reluctant to get treatment. A better approach is to learn to recognise your emotions, share those emotions with those you trust and build up the self-control to manage them without lashing out (or voting Trump).
Be present if you’re a father: the drive towards equal pay and opportunities in the work place offers men a quid pro quo – more equal opportunities in parenting. Kids need fathers that are emotionally and physically present, not distant. And being so offers rewards in your relationships with the kids’ mother or other parent as well as the kids themselves.

What are the politics of this?

In the present moment, I fear we may have brewed a toxic cocktail that could tip the balance in favour of Trump next month. It is bizarre that the orange man-child might be any sort of role model among young men; contrasting the popularity of his petulance with Obama’s confident masculinity neatly encapsulates the cul-de-sac we have driven into on this issue.

(A betting market I’d like to see is Trump winning the popular vote amongst men but Harris doing so amongst women.)

Longer term, reinvigorating masculinity would have significant positive mental health effects, stem the rise of the impotent rage that manifested in the summer riots, and blunt the seductive appeal of figures such as Tate. As a teacher I can see that a model of masculinity for teenagers to aspire to is badly needed and would be welcomed by (most) boys trying to work out how to navigate a changed society.

Max H

*Thanks to stodge and Foxy on a recent thread for some of these links.
Betting

 

Microsoft chief executive to chair UK Government’s industrial strategy council

13 Oct 2024

NATION CYMRU

Microsoft CEO Clare Barclay. Photo by HM Treasury is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The chief executive of Microsoft UK will chair a new body to advise the UK Government on its industrial strategy.

Clare Barclay will head up the industrial strategy advisory council, which will act as an interim advisory body until legislation is passed to put it on a statutory footing.

The first meeting and full membership is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Ms Barclay said: “As chair of the industrial strategy advisory council, I will ensure the council provides a clear and strong voice on behalf of business, nations, regions and trade unions as we invest for the future to ensure that our prosperity is underpinned by robust growth in key sectors right across the country.

“Whilst we fully embrace the industries of today, we must also have a clear plan for future growth and the advisory council will play a central role in shaping and delivering this plan.”

Green Paper

On Monday, the Business Secretary and Chancellor will publish a green paper, which businesses across the country will be invited to respond to to inform the strategy, which aims to “create a pro-business environment”.

That will come on the same day as a high-profile investment summit which will be used by the Government as a chance to champion firms who have already committed billions of pounds to the UK and attempt to woo others who are considering new deals.

The industrial strategy will focus on eight areas: advanced manufacturing, clean energy industries, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services.

Taskforce

The Government will also launch a supply chains taskforce to assess where supply chains critical to the UK’s economic security and resilience could be vulnerable to disruption.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “Our modern industrial strategy will hardwire stability for investors and give them the confidence to plan not just for the next year, but for the next 10 years and beyond.

“This is the next step in our pro-worker, pro-business plan which will see investors and workers alike get the security and stability they need to succeed.

“Clare’s wealth of talent and experience will help ensure the industrial strategy delivers its mission of unleashing the potential of high productivity sectors to spur growth, spread wealth and drive up employment across the UK.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “I have never been more optimistic about our country’s potential. We have some of the brightest minds and greatest businesses in the world. From the creative industries and life sciences to advanced manufacturing and financial services.

“This Government is determined to deliver on Britain’s potential so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off.”

The chief executives of Make UK and WPP as well as the chairman of Airbus welcomed the industrial strategy.

‘Stability’

Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI, said: “A modern, long-term industrial strategy can provide firms with the stability and certainty to unlock the innovation and investment needed to grow the economy.

“Given the size of the UK economy, a successful industrial strategy cannot seek to be everything to everyone. By focusing on eight highly productive sectors, the Government is identifying where the UK can compete to win on the global stage.

“But with businesses of all sizes and sectors vital to the Government’s growth ambitions, the industrial strategy must also be the vehicle for creating a thriving investment environment for the wider business community.”

George Dibb, head of the IPPR’s centre for economic justice, said the planned announcements are an “important first step to securing long-term, green growth for the UK economy”.

He said: “Seizing the green growth opportunities of the future requires a strategic role for the state, actively shaping markets and working in partnership with businesses.

“Adopting a clear-sighted industrial strategy is all the more important as the USA and EU have outflanked the UK in developing their own strategies to deliver green growth.”

 

UK 

Ministers set to axe hereditary peers 'by Easter' with Labour poised to force through bill

13 October 2024, 08:23

Ministers set to axe hereditary peers 'by Easter' as Labour forces through bill. Picture: Alamy

By Danielle de Wolfe

@dannidewolfe

Ministers are set to abolish hereditary peers in the House of Lords "by Easter" it's been revealed

MPs will vote this week on the government’s plans to abolish 92 hereditary peers who current reside in the House of Lords.

The legislation will reportedly be forced through even if members block the proposals, The Times revealed on Sunday.

The "cleaning up" of the peerage system forms part of a key manifesto pledge by Labour, who vowed to reform the way in which the House of Lords operates.

The House of Lord's Chamber Palace of Westminster in London before the State Opening of Parliament, Tuesday May 11, 2021. (Chris Jackson/Pool via AP). Picture: Alamy

Hereditary peerages - held by individuals who inherit their titles through their families - have faced widespread criticism in recent months.

The peerage system as a whole came under intense scrutiny under the Tory government, after a number of peers - including Scottish life peer Michelle Mone - found themselves caught up in scandals linked to PPE contracts during Covid.

It comes within weeks of Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing an investigations into £600m worth of Covid contracts handed out by the Tory government.

Read more: Michelle Mone admits she stands to benefit from £60 million Covid equipment profit

Read more: Kick Michelle Mone out of the Lords, government minister says after baroness admits lying over PPE firm connection

According to The Times, the clean-up could see hereditary peers being removed from the Lords by Easter.

The move by Labour represents the biggest shake-up of parliamentary rules in nearly a quarter of a century.

The key roles of peers, who sit within the House of Lords, centre around law making and governance.

According to reports, the forcing through of the legislation will finish reforms first introduced by the last Labour government.

Baroness Michelle Mone ahead of the State Opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II. Lady Mone has admitted she did not tell the truth about her links to PPE firm Medpro, Sunday December 17, 2023. Picture: Alamy

In 1999 the party revoked the 700-year-old right of all hereditary peers to sit in the Lords.

This shake-up left just 92 hereditary peers in the House - a move that acted as an olive branch to the Conservatives.

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) bill is expected to pass through its second reading on Tuesday.

It comes as Lord Strathclyde, a Conservative peer and former leader of the Lords - who is one of the 92 set to be booted out of the Lords - condemned the move by Labour as a “high-handed, shoddy political act”.

UK

The controversial book the government never wanted to see the light of day

Josh Milton

Published Oct 13, 2024

METRO UK

From state secrets to accusations of underhandedness, Spycatcher didn’t exactly give MI5 the best rep (Picture: PA/Getty)

A book by a retired British counter-intelligence agent on how he helped unmask a Soviet mole in MI5 sounds like an instant best-seller.

Well, it was in the US at least. Spycatcher, published in 1987, had been banned from being sold in the UK after legal action by the British government.

Courts even blocked newspapers from covering the memoirs, contending that its author, Peter Wright, violated the Official Secrets Act.

Magaret Thatcher, the then-prime minster, had been especially desperate to stop people from reading Spycatcher.

‘I am utterly shattered by the revelations in the book. The consequences of publication would be enormous,’ Thatcher scrawled on a briefing note, as unclassified files would later reveal.

But 36 years ago, the UK government lost a major legal battle that paved the way for Wright’s book to finally be read by millions of Britons.

Margaret Thatcher read the unpublished manuscript of Spycatcher in 1986 (Picture: AFP or licensors)

Spycatcher was, it’s safe to say, controversial.

Wright had served in MI5, the UK spy agency, for more than two decades before he retired in 1978 and moved to Australia.

His memoirs accused MI5 officials of all kinds of skulduggery; plotting against fellow spies, defaming the former prime minister Harold Wilson and top agents being communists.

All claims were largely discredited by the government but, at the time, fuelled speculation and criticism about MI5’s activity. After all, the government had long denied M15 even existed, despite the agency being founded in 1909.

The government did not want the book as anyone’s summer holiday read. Ministers succeded in blocking Spycatcher’s publication in the UK (though technically not in Scotland, as it has a separate legal system) in 1985.

Newspapers were handed gag orders – violating them would see journalists tired for contempt of court. Libraries were told stocking Spycatcher would similarly land them in legal hot water.

Wartime powers were employed to stop people from effectively smuggling the book into the UK. Trade and industry secretary Lord Young of Graffham warned the government that: ‘The use of these powers in the Spycatcher case could well be challenged.

Peter Wright (left) and Malcolm Turnbull at the launch event of Spycatcher in 1988 (Picture: Fairfax Media Archive)

‘I am also advised that, even if the book were banned, it would not in practice be possible to catch all copies of the book brought in from the United States either by mail or by individual travellers.’

Indeed, there was no trouble flogging the book across the pond given the First Amendment right to free speech; Spycatcher had sold 400,000 copies by late 1987.

And the government’s woes weren’t over yet. Officials took Wright to court in a bid to prevent his book from being sold in Australia only to be struck down – Downing Street then took its appeal to Australia’s highest court.

As Spycatcher was sold in Scotland, and Scottish papers were able to ‘substantially’ cover the UK’s legal proceedings in Australia, Thatcher’s private secretary Nigel Wicks worried how this situation looked to outsiders.

‘There is therefore much talk in the press about one law for the English, another for the Scots etc,’ Wicks said in a released document.

House of Commons Speaker Bernard Weatherill faced pressure from Solicitor General Sir Nicholas Lyell to ban MPs from discussing the contents of the Spycatcher.

Spycatcher had been banned in the UK, but a loophole meant it could be sold in Scotland (Picture: PA)

‘The speaker expressed concern about the “credibility” of his position given that “practically everyone he met” had already read the book,’ Sir Nicholas said.

‘I replied that most people in the country had not read the book and that every newspaper, bookshop and library was at risk of contempt proceedings if they published extracts, quoted from, or sold or stocked the book.’

In the end, however, in 1987, the government lost its desperate fight to prevent Spycatcher from being sold in Australia.

On October 13, 1988, Law Lords, who carried out the judicial functions of the House of Lords, at first seemingly handed the government a win when ruling over whether or not ministers could bar the press from reporting on Spycatcher.


Judges ruled that Wright’s text constituted a serious breach of confidentiality, given he wrote about the comings and goings of the nation’s secret service.

They condemned the author as a traitor but found the government violated freedom of speech because of gagging orders against the Observer and the Guardian.

They said that the press could publish extracts from Spycatcher – the damage to MI5’s reputation was already done as Spycatcher was freely available abroad.

Wright died in 1995 (Picture: Fairfax Media Archive)

‘At long last our democratic system has reached the obvious conclusion that these were genuine matters of public importance that the public should be allowed to know about,’ said Donald Trelford, the editor of The Observer, outside court.

A secret note slipped to Tory MPs only a month after the ruling said that the Security Service Act, which for the first time saw the government MI15 existed, was introduced to ‘bolster public confidence and support’ in the secret intelligence agency.

Part of the ruling, however, barred Wright from cashing in royalties from sales of the book in the UK.

Yet the writer died a millionaire aged 78 on April 26, 1995, thanks to international sales of Spycatcher.

‘No British intelligence officer other than Kim Philby caused more mayhem within Britain’s secret services and more trouble for British politicians,’ an obituary in The Independent newspaper wrote, ‘than Peter Wright.’

How a Harris win in US election could depend on Democrats in London

Ben Quinn
Sun 13 October 2024 

THE GUARDIAN

Matt Klaber with Tim Walz on the morning after his speech to the party's convention in Chicago on 22 August. Klaber, now in London, is a campaigner for the Democrats.Photograph: Matt Klaber

On a chilly afternoon in central London, the battle for the US presidential election is being waged with no less fervour than if the campaigners were on the other side of the Atlantic.

Surrounded by posters for the Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, volunteers at an office organised by Democrats Abroad have been hitting the phones, calling Americans living abroad, including wavering Republicans, to urge them to register to vote.

The event was just one that took place on a Day of Action at locations around the UK, estimated to be home to as many as 200,000 Americans.

By evening, the London activists had a surprise visit from Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the House of Representatives, who had originally been billed to join a zoom rally which was joined by other chapters based in locations ranging from Scotland to English university cities.

“Many of us have been living abroad for years, even decades, but we care deeply about what’s at stake back home and we also want it to be a place that we still recognise when we return, whether that’s a country where democracy has been preserved or even one that is still safe when it comes to the rights of women, our sisters and our daughters,” said Kristin Wolfe, Chair of Democrats Abroad UK and a resident in London since 2007.

The potential role of overseas Americans voters – who do not appear in national polls – should not be underestimated. In 2020 their votes made all the difference when it came to delivering the key swing states of Arizona and Georgia to Joe Biden.

With the race so tight and the stakes this high – Wolfe’s voice cracks as she insists that US democracy is imperilled in a way not seen since the American civil war – Harris supporters in the UK have raised their game.

At bus shelters in parts of London with higher concentrations of Americans you’ll find adverts placed strategically by the group. For the first time too, digital advertising aimed at the community is being deployed on Google.

There are also efforts to reach out and encourage voter registration face to face, such as at freshers’ fairs in Oxford. On other recent weekend afternoons, activists set up open-air tables in Hyde Park and at Marylebone Farmer’s Market in London to catch any passing Americans.

Among curious passersby who stopped at the market table was the British pop star, Harry Styles, although the singer is not known to have a US passport.

That said, Democrats in the UK have suddenly found a local celebrity of their own in the form of Matt Klaber, who was a student at the high school where Tim Walz once taught and who recently spoke in London at a “re-watch” of the vice-presidential debate.

Klaber – a London-based software engineer and Democratic activist – also played a role in Walz’s own political “origin story” when he took students to see a George W Bush campaign rally in 2004, only for some of them to be turned away by organisers who believed they were Democrats. The experience led Walz to seek public office.

One of those students was Klaber, who insists that Walz’s wholesome public persona is exactly true to the one he and others have long known in person.

“My earliest recollection of Tim is of being in the school library and seeing him rush out with his jacket and briefcase because he was being activated as a national guardsman who was going to help lead the response to some flooding,” he says.

“The whole campaign metaphor of being a coach might have been a bit foreign to me as I wasn’t necessarily into sports, but actually they’ve nailed it. He is everybody’s coach, whether it’s what he was doing when he was a teacher, what he did in 2004 when there was the incident at the rally, or what he’s doing now by stepping up.”

Efforts by Democrats Abroad UK to mobilise US voters in the UK and elsewhere are taking on a new urgency as registration deadlines loom for states including Wisconsin (16 October) and Pennsylvania (21 October).

So too are efforts to counter misinformation in the form of misleading claims by Donald Trump that Democrats were somehow preparing to “cheat” and that ballots were being sent overseas without proper checks.

“That’s just so blatantly false because the truth is that processes of the most rigorous kind are in place,” said Wolfe, who accuses Trump of seeking to intentionally confuse and mislead because he is concerned about the potential impact of overseas voters.

‘Keirmala – Could a US election win for Harris yield a new special relationship?’

Ed Owen   

13th October, 2024

Kamala Harris. Photo: Sir. David / Shutterstock.com

If the current polls are right and the swing states break to the Democrats, Keir Starmer will be calling Kamala Harris on the morning of November 6 to congratulate her as the 47th President of the United States.

Such a scenario – and one that few dare to predict at this stage – raises the intriguing prospect of two newly elected progressive leaders, one in the White House and the other in Downing Street, together in power for at least four years or more.

The implications, both for the transatlantic relationship and for wider, global economic and security issues the two countries face, are potentially significant. Many are speculating it could herald the beginning of a deeper engagement between Democrats and Labour as in the 1990s driven by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair’s shared commitment to “Third Way” politics.

Special relationship, personal relationship

As was the case three decades ago, the nature of the personal relationship between the two leaders will be crucial. Yet, oddly, given the roles Harris and Starmer have held for the last four years, the two have still to meet in person.

As leader of the opposition from 2020, Starmer, did not visit the US at all, and his three trips since the UK election in July have not included a meeting with the Democrat candidate – even though he dined with her Republican rival, Donald Trump, when in New York last month. As Vice President, Harris has only touched down in the UK once, almost a year ago, for Rishi Sunak’s AI summit.

So, if the stars align next month, the prospective President and newly installed Prime Minister will need to get know each from scratch. They will, however, have lots to talk about, not least their shared backgrounds as distinguished public prosecutors and political late developers.

Born within two years of each other in the first half of the 1960s, both graduated in law in their early 20s. Harris spent 12 years as an elected prosecutor, first as District Attorney of San Francisco and then as California’s Attorney General, while Starmer served as head of the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales between 2008 and 2013 after two decades as a renowned human rights barrister.

Both then transitioned into national politics in their 50s, a relatively late age in the UK and US. Starmer was elected as an MP for his home seat of Holborn and St Pancras in London in 2015, while Harris entered the US Senate to represent her home state of California a year-and-a-half later. 

Finding common ground

This shared professional experience has had a profound impact on both, shaping two political leaders who possess remarkably similarly motivations, outlooks and leadership styles. It tells us much about their strengths, and their shortcomings too.

“Kamala Harris is by nature and instinct a lawyer and prosecutor,” says Jamal Simmons, who served as her communications director in 2022. “She’s driven by facts and the evidence, and interested in understanding what practical steps are needed to make change.”

It is an approach shared by Starmer, according to his former chief of staff, Sam White.

“Keir’s a pragmatic, evidence-led politician focused on outcomes,” says White, who worked for the Labour leader while Simmons was in the White House. “He’s analytical and cerebral rather than someone led by his gut.”

READ MORE: Government set to name and shame employers more regularly for failures to pay

But is this deliberative, even judicious, style suited to a fast-moving political environment that often requires politicians to lead by instinct?

“That’s not the Vice President’s natural state but she’s an incredible learner who listens to advice. She has brought in excellent people from more traditional political backgrounds to advise and support her,” says Simmons.

Starmer is a “good learner” too, says White, but is suspicious of woolly, ill-defined political visions divorced from people’s lives. His five missions were his attempt to bridge the gap.

Yet, as Simmons acknowledges, “many people like to dream and to shoot for a big goal” and political leaders do need to be able to articulate that and to use it to effect change. Certainly, Harris has shown over the last three months she can move the needle in that direction when she needs to.

Without question, Harris and Starmer are bound, too, by a deep commitment to public service born from a deep-seated desire to improve the lives of people without a voice or power. So, while they are unlikely to spend much time exchanging airy notions of political ideology, they will be keen to share experiences and collaborate for shared benefit.

Close collaboration

The Harris campaign has already taken advice from some of the key figures behind Starmer’s election victory in July, and the Prime Minister’s new chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, was one of a clutch of senior Labour advisers at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

On foreign policy issues, too, there will be clear alignment. Harris has been resolute in her support for Ukraine and has pledged her steadfast loyalty to NATO and the US’s wider multilateral commitments.

There is also the real potential for new areas of areas of collaboration to open up between the UK and US on trade, clean energy transition and artificial intelligence. A Harris Presidency will be supportive of UK seeking to build a closer relationship with the EU too.

Of course, similarities in political leanings and personality are not sufficient in themselves to outweigh big strategic national interests, particularly those of the US. The long-term American shift in focus from Europe to the Indo-Pacific will continue, and an intensified competition with China will remain a challenging issue for the UK and Europe.

Even so, as well as the overwhelming sense of relief that would mark the avoidance of a Trump White House, the morning of the 6th November could be the start of something important. It will not necessarily be spectacular or extravagant because that’s not the style of either leader.

But a new “special relationship” between Harris and Starmer could provide a powerful boost to democratic politics across the West and help deliver real impact at home and abroad.

Will Australia ditch the King and vote to become a republic?

Sunday 13 October 2024
Chris Ship
Royal Editor

ITV

King Charles III during a visit to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.Credit: PA

The Republic movement in Australia is in a buoyant mood.

Days away from the King’s historic visit to Australia, they have released new research claiming 40 per cent of Australians don’t actually know Charles is their head of state.

Calling King Charles and Queen Camilla’s trip “The Farewell Oz Tour”, the Australian Republic Movement (ARM) says its research shows that nearly two in three people would prefer Australia to sever ties with the British monarchy.

However, other polling in Australia suggests Charles' popularity has increased since he became King.

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NewsCorp’s Pulse of Australia found fewer people (33%) support becoming a republic and just under half (45%) thought Australia should remain a constitutional monarchy.

In other words, according to this survey, the republican cause has gone backwards since the change of reign, defying expectations that it would surge following the death of Queen Elizabeth.

It’s also been revealed that ARM has been sent a letter from the man they want to replace as their head of state.

In gently declining the campaigners’ offer to meet in person during his visit, the King effectively wished the group well in its bid to become a republic.

One of the King’s senior aides wrote to the Australian Republic Movement from Buckingham Palace saying the King will not stand in their way if the Australian people do wish to chart a different constitutional course.

Dr Nathan Ross, an assistant private secretary to the King, said that ARM’s views on the debate “have been noted“ and wrote: “His Majesty, as a constitutional monarch, acts on the advice of his ministers, and whether Australia becomes a republic is, therefore, a matter for the Australian people to decide.”

Buckingham Palace did not respond to the leak of the letter, first published in the Daily Mail, but senior royal sources told ITV News the King would never refuse to accept the results of a democratic mandate, should one happen in Australia.

The King of Australia, as Charles is known here, will embark on a five-day trip, full of historic comparisons and surprising medical permissions.

King Charles, who will be 76 next month and still has cancer, will travel to the other side of the world to fulfil a promise he made to visit Australia.

His cancer treatment will be paused while he is in Australia and then Samoa straight afterwards for a Commonwealth summit.

King Charles III speaking with Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese at Buckingham Palace in London in 2022.Credit: PA

Doctors gave Charles permission to travel only if he agreed to scale back the number of engagements each day and reduce the amount of travelling.

Despite clocking up several trips abroad as King, Charles has yet to go to a Realm – one of the 14 countries outside the UK where the British Monarch remains the head of state.

So, while Germany was his first overseas trip as King, and Kenya was Charles’ first visit as King to a Commonwealth country, he hasn’t been to a Realm since his accession upon the death of his mother in September 2022.

And while we are on historical comparisons, Australia’s never had a visit from a British King – not ever.

None of Queen Elizabeth’s male predecessors made it Down Under.

But like many of the King’s 14 Realms, including New Zealand, Papa New Guinea, Belize, Antigua, and The Bahamas, Australians do live a long way away from their UK-based, British-born, head of state.

And many of the realms, like Jamaica, think it’s time to cut ties with the colonial past and elect their own heads of state.

Law and Liberation: Perspectives of young Black Social Justice Lawyers

Published by Christianah Babajide at October 13, 2024

THE STUDENT LAWYER


This year, I wrote a few articles regarding Black History Month in 2024. In February of 2024, which Black History Month is celebrated in the United States. The messages uploaded throughout the content, still impact the current shape and space of Black British History. Black British History is to recognise, tell, celebrate and commemorate the work our forefathers have put in and to be our ancestors’ wildest dreams.

Please refer to the following post I made this year during Black History Month: https://thestudentlawyer.com/2024/03/06/celebrating-black-history-month-2024/

What is Black History Month?

Black History Month in the United Kingdom is celebrated and observed annually in October, commemorating, recognising and acknowledging Black British history. This year’s theme of Black History Month is ‘Reclaiming Narratives.’ To me, ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ as a young black woman of African descent is all about retelling the very history of black history. Oftentimes, our stories are racialised, stereotyped and our pain is trivialised. It is imperative to tell my story and not have that right taken from anyone. According to blackhistorymonth.org.uk, the significance of this theme is to ‘’take control of our stories, celebrate our heritage and ensure our voices are heard.’’ By doing so, we can, ‘’discover how we can get involved and make a lasting impact on how Black history is told and taught.’’

Please refer to the further posts regarding diversity in law and stories from black legal professionals: https://thestudentlawyer.com/2024/09/30/why-diversity-in-law-matters-more-than-ever/ and


https://thestudentlawyer.com/2024/07/26/were-fighting-to-exist-angela-francis/

Law and liberation: perspectives of young Black social justice lawyers

On Friday 4th of October 2024, I had the opportunity to attend a panel event organised by One Pump Court Chambers at Hogan Lovells’ London office. One Pump Court Chambers covers areas of law such as Civil Actions Against Public Authorities, Court of Protection (CoP), Crime, Prison and Family Law, etc. Chaired by One Pump Court Chambers’ Andrea Awoniyi (whom I had the pleasure of meeting in person after seeking her advice on numerous occasions), this panel event was to highlight the work of young Black lawyers working in social justice. The panellists included barristers, paralegals, legal representatives and trainee solicitors from firms such as Leigh Day, Bolt Burdon Kemp, and Wilson Solicitors LLP. The underrepresentation of Black lawyers in the legal world has often been discussed. Therefore, on this year’s theme of ‘reclaiming narratives’, it is imperative that the perspectives of black lawyers are heard.

As a member of the audience and hearing the panellists detail their journeys into law, I felt at home. Growing up black, I never felt alone whenever I had my brothers and sisters by my side. I was very touched by hearing the esteemed professionals’ answers on why social justice, law, and who their social justice heroes are. Social justice is recognising that society is unequal and we are fighting to eliminate it. According to some members of the panel, the law is not as neutral as we assume it is and it is a very two-tiered system. From the stories of Stephen Lawrence, Mark Duggan, Chris Kaba and many more, the law does not appear to at times, protect those who are seeking protection from matters.

Read this article to find out about firms setting the standard for inclusion in the workplace: https://thestudentlawyer.com/2024/05/28/embracing-diversity-setting-the-standard-for-inclusion-in-the-workplace/

For the panellists, the best part of working in social justice law is being an advocate for people. The legal professionals deal with clients from different walks of life on a day-to-day basis. Hearing from an immigration trainee solicitor that they have to read more than 100 pages of judgments of clients coming from a war-stricken country, diagnosed with a mental health problem and unable to defend their rights by themselves due to their limited knowledge of English, it is crucial to be at the centre of decisions being made and increasing proactivity.

We must also acknowledge the challenges of working in social justice law, whilst being black. The legal industry for so long has been overshadowed by elitism, class division and accent discrimination. The uncomfortable conversations will allow the legal industry and aspiring legal professionals like myself, to desire to dream and achieve big things.




Christianah Babajide