It's racist to assume Aboriginals will vote 'yes' in rights referendum, says indigenous senator

Sarah Newey
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Ms Thorpe, who is of DjabWurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara descent, says Australia's First Peoples are 'seeing right through' the proposal - Sam Mooy/Getty Images

It is “ignorant and racist” to insist all Aboriginal people support a vote to give them more power, a leading indigenous campaigner has said.

Lidia Thorpe, Victoria state’s first indigenous senator, told The Telegraph that she believes the Yes campaign is wrongly suggesting all No voters are racist in the increasingly controversial poll.

The ruling Labor government is on course for a crushing defeat in its referendum, which asks Australians whether Aboriginal people should be consulted on major policies: a policy known as The Voice.


Ms Thorpe said of the divisive campaign: “Labor just points to the ‘racist no’ campaign, and says, ‘you don’t want to side with that.’

“I think that’s part of the ignorance and the racism coming out in this whole debate, that First People can’t say no because they are automatically put into this ‘racist no’ category. That in itself is racist.”

The Labor Party policy would lead to the first mention of Australia’s indigenous population in the constitution, and seeks to create a permanent body which would be consulted on issues affecting the lives of Aboriginal people.

Australia 'The Voice' referendum

Activists linked to the Labor Party in the Yes campaign have accused the No campaign of “racist tactics” in the national debate labelled “Australia’s Brexit”.

Although roughly two thirds of Australians backed the policy at the start of the year, the latest polls suggest only 36 per cent of people intend to vote “Yes”, and 56 per cent support “No”.

Ms Thorpe said part of the drop is because Aboriginal people and the country’s other Indigenous group, Torres Strait Islanders, are “seeing right through” the Voice proposal as “it has no power”.

“I am feeling in my heart that more and more First Peoples in this country are backing away from the Yes campaign,” she said. “There’s certainly nothing to be excited about – a powerless voice that may provide advice to the parliament? It’s a real kick in the teeth, when it comes to everything our people have fought for over 250 years.”

Debates around the referendum have become so emotionally charged that it has been described as the country’s “Brexit moment” by one Indigenous activist.

A 'Yes' campaign poster is modified with dissenting graffiti - James D. Morgan/Getty Images

For supporters, the move is a long overdue step towards addressing a colonial history more commonly ignored – known as “the Great Australian Silence”. They also argue that it will help to tackle huge inequalities that persist for First Nations people: including homeless rates nine times higher than the non-indigenous population, an incarceration rate 14 times greater and life expectancies around 10 years shorter.

The No campaign, led by the conservative opposition, argues it will create extra bureaucracy, embed “racial privilege” into the constitution and turn Indigenous people into victims.

Another vociferous group of “progressive no” campaigners, including Ms Thorpe, argue that The Voice does not go nearly far enough.

A descendant of the Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung people, Ms Thorpe grew up on a council estate in Melbourne. Now 50, her path to the senate has been unconventional – she had her first child aged 17, later escaped domestic violence and was declared bankrupt in 2013.

But in 2017 she made her national political debut as a Green MP in Melbourne, before becoming Victoria state’s first Aboriginal senator three years later. In February, she quit the Greens, partly because of their pro-Voice stance.

She has called for the referendum to be cancelled, warning debates over a “powerless” advisory body that is not actually needed to tackle issues have “torn [Indigenous] families and communities apart”.

People take part in a 'Walk for Yes' rally in Sydney on Sept 17 - Andrew Leeson/AFP

Ms Thorpe is also concerned that a vote for The Voice would set back efforts to negotiate a treaty with Aboriginal people.

As it stands, Australia is the only Commonwealth country that has not signed any treaty with its Indigenous peoples. Proponents say The Voice is a step closer to rectifying this – building on the 1967 referendum (which included Indigenous people in the census) and the Mabo Decision in the High Court in 1992 (which overturned the idea that the country was a “land belonging to no one” when the British arrived).

But in Ms Thorpe’s view, treaties must come first. “We need a treaty to unify this country. And through treaty, you then negotiate what constitutional recognition looks like. You don’t jump into the Constitution and then try and work out the settlement later. It doesn’t make sense.”

It’s a topic she’d like to discuss with King Charles – although her letters requesting for dialogue with the monarch have so far fallen on deaf ears.

“I’ve also written to his naughty son, hoping maybe his little activism will make him write a letter. But no response,” she said. “I would like to have a respectful conversation with the King of your country about a way forward.”

But for now, she is hoping the country votes “No” on Oct 14.

“A no result will start a revolution of First People’s around this country, to continue the legacy of our people who called for truth-telling and treaty,” she said. “And that’s the revolution we need to unite this country and mature as a nation.”

UK

HIGH SPEED RAIL 
HS2 boss resigns amid speculation of further cuts


Neil Lancefield, PA Transport Correspondent
Fri, 29 September 2023 

HS2 Ltd boss Mark Thurston leaves his role on Friday amid speculation the high-speed rail project will be cut further.

The 56-year-old, whose pay package was worth £677,000 in the last financial year, announced his resignation in July.

There has been widespread speculation in recent days that Prime Minister Risi Sunak is preparing to either scrap or delay HS2’s Birmingham to Manchester leg after being warned the price tag for the whole project may have soared past £100 billion.

The Government has already axed the Leeds leg.

The first estimate in 2010 for the high-speed railway between London and the North was £30 billion.

Mr Thurston is HS2 Ltd’s longest serving chief executive, taking on the role six and a half years ago.

When he announced he was stepping down, he said someone else should take over as the project transitions from construction to a “defining period” involving the installation of railway systems, such as track and signalling equipment.

The process for recruiting Mr Thurston’s successor has started.

HS2 Ltd chairman Sir Jon Thompson will become executive chairman for an interim period until a new chief executive is in place.

HS2 staff paid more than double national average wage, accounts show

Jack Simpson
Fri, 29 September 2023

HS2 advertising board

The average HS2 staff member is paid more than double the UK’s national average wage, the rail body’s accounts show.

According to its latest annual report, the median salary for all of HS2’s 2,000 staff members was £67,687, which crept up to £71,232 when benefits were included.

This is more than double the median annual wage for the UK, with the average UK worker receiving just over £33,000 a year.

The revelations come as the second phase of the HS2 line faces the axe amid ballooning costs.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was considering axing the line from Birmingham to Manchester, after more than £8bn was added to the costs of the line.

The latest figures on HS2’s staff spend will do little to extinguish concerns around costs, with the report also revealing that 500 of the highest paid staff at HS2 receive salaries of more than £85,000. This increased to £94,500 when benefits were included.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the median yearly salary across the UK was £33,280 as of April 2022, from the most recent Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Of these, more than 40 of HS2’s executives receive more than £150,000 a year. This includes Mark Thurston, HS2’s outgoing chief executive, who is the country’s highest paid civil servant who received up to £675,000 in 2022-23.

This included a £40,000 bonus across the year, which was received despite the organisation missing seven out of its 12 key performance targets in the year, including those around construction and costs. HS2 has stressed Mr Thurston’s bonus was not related to these targets.
£14m spent on salaries in August

Workforce data published by the Department for Transport on Friday revealed that HS2 spent more than £16m on staff in August, including £14m on salaries.

In a round of interviews yesterday with local media, Mr Sunak confirmed that he was currently considering the line’s value for money.

He also fuelled speculation around the axing of the line north of Birmingham by saying it would not be a betrayal to axe the line and ducking questions about the line.

Reports of the prime minister axing the line have received widespread backlash from trade bodies and politicians from across the political divide.

On Wednesday, Andy Street, Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, joined other Labour mayor’s to warn Mr Sunak against cutting the line. Mr Street said that the decision would undermine hundreds of millions of pounds of investment in the West Midlands.

LMK Commenting on the level of salaries, a HS2 spokesperson said: “HS2 is Europe’s biggest infrastructure project.

“As such, it is necessary to employ people with the right level of expertise in highly skilled roles such as engineering, construction, station design and railway operations to deliver it successfully.

“Average salaries at HS2 Ltd increased by just 1.4% in the last year, which is considerably below the rate of inflation. Furthermore, executive salaries are signed off by the Department for Transport and Treasury, with overall remuneration levels being managed in line with the government’s public sector pay policy.”

Sunak and Hunt can’t play shocked at HS2’s cost overruns

Nils Pratley

The Guardian
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

One piece of political spin about HS2’s spiralling costs is nonsense: the idea that ministers have a right to be shocked by the numbers. HS2 Ltd, the body building the railway and new stations, may be “arm’s length” for shorthand purposes, but it is not some faraway entity operating beyond government scrutiny. Rather, it is tightly meshed to the Department for Transport (DfT), which is involved in all big planning and spending decisions.

So when the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, says costs are “getting totally out of control” – a reasonable analysis as the bill heads towards a grotesque £100bn – he should explain why the government is seemingly surprised. Whitehall insiders talk about HS2’s bosses behaving “like kids with the golden credit card” but that ignores the fact that there is an “open books” relationship with the DfT. The government sees the monthly credit card statements, as it were. And No 10, incidentally, signs off on the megabucks salaries (departing chief executive Mark Thurston got £676,000 last year) on appointment.

Allan Cook, who was chair of HS2 Ltd between 2018 and 2021, characterises the relationship between the DfT and the delivery body as “strong and close”. He adds that in his time “budget and expenditure was approved in all cases by the DfT and, in some cases, by the Treasury too at regular monthly meetings”.

That is as one would expect given the governance setup. The DfT owns HS2 Ltd and has a representative on the board in the person of the experienced Ian King, who was chief executive of BAE Systems for a decade until 2017. King is also lead non-executive director at the DfT.

When King and two other non-executives were appointed to HS2 in 2020, the transport secretary at the time, Grant Shapps, pitched the move as part of closer and stricter involvement by the government. “When we gave HS2 the go-ahead, we made a clear commitment to draw a line under past problems and to move forward with a strong grip of the project and a laser-like focus on cost control and transparency,” he said.

On the transparency front, the DfT’s project representatives (plus officials from the National Audit Office) attend meetings of HS2’s audit and risk assurance committee, says the annual report. Spending above £10m is understood to go through the Cabinet Office for formal approval. Financial communication with the outside world has still been dreadful, but that’s a different type of transparency. In terms of governance structure, HS2 does not lack political oversight.

To see how things can go spectacularly wrong in practice, though, read the report by the Public Accounts Committee from July on the shambles that has been the planning process for Euston, the proposed London site of the HS2 station. The first plan was rejected as unaffordable, the second one arrived as even more expensive (£4.8bn versus a budget of £2.2bn), so work has started on a third with on-the-ground activity “paused” in March for two years.

The committee aimed most of its jabs at the DfT. “Despite being eight years into planning the High Speed 2 station at Euston, the DfT still does not know what it is trying to achieve with the station and what sort of regeneration it will support,” said the opening sentence. And the last conclusion: “The department has not yet learned lessons from managing major rail programmes.”

Euston, remember, is a critical piece of the HS2 jigsaw. If high-speed trains are ever to run north of Birmingham, a new station has to be built because Old Oak Common’s six HS2 platforms are too few to service a fuller fast-speed network. If there is no HS2 at Euston, with 10 or 11 dedicated platforms, there can be no line to Manchester. It is astonishing that the DfT has still to reconcile the competing demands of Transport of London, the Greater London Authority and Camden council.

None of which is to say that HS2’s management hasn’t contributed to the overall mismanagement over the years. The whole project has been biased towards overoptimism on costs – and part of that bias was surely generated from inside. But HS2’s defenders are right that the operation builds what it is told to build and that ministers could see the numbers in as much detail as they wished once work began in earnest in 2020. That was also the year Rishi Sunak became chancellor. He cannot claim to have been kept in the dark about risks.

Axing HS2 extension would be bad for Britain, says Hitachi Europe boss

Matt Oliver
Sat, 30 September 2023 

Andrew Barr, president of Hitachi Europe, says completing the full route from Euston to Manchester is ‘absolutely vital’ - Eddie Mulholland

Scaling back the troubled HS2 rail project “is not the right thing to do” and will make it harder for Britain to cut its carbon emissions, a top executive of Japanese manufacturing giant Hitachi has claimed.

Andrew Barr, president of Hitachi Europe, said the main benefits of the troubled scheme would only be realised if the line runs all the way into London and on to northern cities such as Manchester.

He added that high-speed rail services needed to become an attractive and credible alternative to domestic air travel if Britain is to successfully reduce its carbon footprint.

Hitachi has been awarded a £2bn joint contract with French train manufacturer Alstom to build and maintain the fleet of 52 trains that will eventually run on the HS2 network.

They will be partly based on Japan’s Shinkansen “bullet trains” – which Hitachi is involved in making – and have a top speed of 225mph.

Hitachi is also in the running to supply signalling infrastructure.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Barr said: “We should be getting on with it [HS2].

“The southern end is a key part of that, but you can only really enhance it by continuing to extend the network [into the North].”

His comments come as Rishi Sunak is weighing plans to scrap the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester and have the line terminate in the West London suburb of Old Oak Common – instead of Euston – to save money.

This has the potential to cause problems, Mr Barr warns, as Old Oak Common “isn’t set up to manage the volume of people that you’re going to have”.

The proposals, which Downing Street has not denied, face opposition from senior Tories as well as major businesses. The Government insists no decisions have been made.

HS2 was originally approved as a Y-shaped route going from London to Birmingham and then on to Manchester and Leeds, with a price tag of around £30bn.

But the cost has since ballooned officially to £45bn just for the London to Birmingham section alone.

The PM is said to be alarmed by Whitehall estimates that the entire scheme could now breach the £100bn mark.

Speaking this week at Hitachi’s European headquarters in Slough, Mr Barr highlighted the benefits of high-speed rail on the Continent, where it is much more widespread.

The executive, who previously ran Hitachi’s trains division, said HS2 would also deliver a much-needed boost to rail capacity – including commercial freight.

“HS2 isn’t all about getting people from London to Birmingham more quickly, it’s also capacity increases – particularly on the West Coast Mainline, which is a main corridor for container traffic,” he said.

“Moving some of that passenger traffic creates extra capacity for [container traffic] and commuting.”

Completing the full route from Euston to Manchester was “absolutely vital to enable that to happen”, he added.

At the same time, he argued HS2 should be just the start of a national high-speed network stretching to Scotland, which would allow Brits to eschew flying.

The independent Climate Change Committee has said more domestic travel by train is key to aviation emissions hitting net zero by 2050.

“I’d love to see a situation where it actually replaces domestic air travel,” Mr Barr said. “It’s right from a sustainability point of view and I think it’s the right thing to do.

“If you look at Italy, which is the classic case, they’ve invested heavily in high-speed rail and it’s now a very credible alternative to air.”

He added that the rollout of digital technology, electrification and soon batteries will revolutionise the way railways are run, making them more efficient, easier to maintain and cheaper to expand without costly infrastructure.

For example, Hitachi is trialling intercity trains in Italy which can switch between using overhead electric wires and battery packs for power – removing the need to rely on a diesel motor.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Great Western Main Line is testing sensors mounted on trains that can detect track problems by monitoring tiny bumps absorbed by the suspension.

This could allow engineers to make repairs before serious problems develop, while potentially removing the need for Network Rail to run its yellow track monitoring trains as often.

Greater digitisation of signalling and other train infrastructure will eventually allow small numbers of staff at rail operators to run entire networks remotely from one control room. “It’s a bit of a game-changer,” Mr Barr added.

Developing software that can manage these types of complex systems, along with the hardware that powers them, is a growing line of business for Hitachi – a once-sprawling conglomerate that slimlined its offering after posting the biggest-ever loss by a Japanese manufacturer (787.3 billion yen, about £6.55bn at the time) during the financial crisis.

The company now concentrates on green energy and mobility, digital services and industrial machinery. In 2022, it reported sales of 10.9 trillion yen (£60bn) and profits of about 671 billion yen (£4bn).

Though his background is originally in rail, Mr Barr now represents all of these Hitachi divisions in Europe. Energy is shaping up to be a significant boon, as the Continent scrambles to switch to renewables and ditch Russian gas.

Hitachi’s speciality is huge transformers and high-voltage cables.

It built the North Sea Link interconnector between the UK and Norway and its future projects include the link between mainland Scotland and the Shetland Islands and the subsea cables that will bring power ashore from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, off the coast of Yorkshire.

Hitachi was also once among the firms driving Britain’s nuclear power renaissance, with plans for projects in Wylfa, on the island of Anglesey, north Wales, and Oldbury, South Gloucestershire, but dropped proposals several years ago after failing to secure government funding.

Asked whether Hitachi would look at large-scale nuclear power again in the UK, Mr Barr said: “Unlikely. We still own those two sites though, and my view is that we need to release them to the industry for the best use.”

However, the company is a minority shareholder in a joint nuclear venture with General Electric, which has developed designs for a small modular reactor and is among those expected to enter a government competition for funding.

Separately, Hitachi is testing the use of green hydrogen in backup generators that could be used by data centres, many of which currently fall back on diesel.

Yet perhaps the most untapped potential, Mr Barr said, lies in digitising more services across both energy and transport.

In Italy, Hitachi is trialling bluetooth technology that could allow customers to automatically pay for bus and train tickets with their phones by simply stepping aboard public transport – rather than having to buy physical stubs or tap in using plastic cards.

“I’ve got a bugbear about buying a train ticket when you go to a station,” Mr Barr said. “You queue up at a machine to get a bit of card to prove you paid the money. It’s bonkers.

“Everyone’s got a smartphone in their pocket that could do that. So why don’t we?”

If they ever get to build it, perhaps it’s a suggestion the HS2 bosses can take up.

Union warns of further strike action by school support staff in Scotland

Lucinda Cameron, PA Scotland
Fri, 29 September 2023 

School support staff could take further strike action in a dispute over pay, a union has warned as it called for more clarity over the latest offer from employers.

Unison members in 24 local authorities in Scotland walked out for three days this week, leading to school closures across much of the country.

The union said the latest offer from council umbrella body Cosla was “too little, too late and too vague”.

In a letter to Cosla, it called for a copy of the revised pay scales which would apply to the latest offer, saying staff need the information to help them decide whether to accept it.

Mark Ferguson, Unison Scotland chair of the local government committee, said: “For Cosla to tell council staff to ‘sign up now and we’ll tell you how much you’ll get later’ just adds insult to the injury of the ongoing wait for a pay deal that should have been in wage packets in April.

“Most council staff want to know ‘what does this offer mean for me?’, but if the pay scales aren’t published, it’s impossible to know.

“Cosla must explain. And if it has any confidence its offer is fair, it would be putting pay scales on billboards rather than keeping them secret.”

Unison said its local government committee will meet early next week to discuss and agree the next stage of industrial action, with the details released in due course.

Unison members walked out of Scotland’s schools for three days this week

 (Jane Barlow/PA)

In the letter to Cosla, the union warned: “You will wish to note that future strike days are likely to be even bigger than the ones this week since we have welcomed several thousand new members to the Unison family over the last week.”

Unite and the GMB suspended strike action after the new deal was offered last week, opting to ballot their members, but Unison went ahead with a three-day walkout from Tuesday this week.

It emerged on Wednesday that money used to compensate the survivors of historic abuse and provide school-level funding will be “re-profiled” as part of Cosla’s £80 million pay offer to non-teaching staff.

Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said there will be “no detriment” to either scheme as money is moved around within Government budgets to cover the pay deal.

Unison Scotland’s head of local government Johanna Baxter said: “The union will consult its council workers on the latest offer.

“But Cosla must come clean about how the offer will affect revised pay scales and clarify precisely where the money will come from.

“There’s considerable concern that channelling money from the Redress Scheme and Pupil Equity Funds will affect jobs and the services provided to vulnerable children.”

Cosla has said the new offer represents a minimum wage increase of £2,006 for those on the Scottish Government’s living wage and a minimum increase of £1,929 for workers who are earning above the living wage.

The living wage of £10.85 an hour will rise to £11.89 under the new offer, equivalent to a 9.6% increase – but Unison has said that remains a “real terms pay cut” and “below the rate of inflation”.

A Cosla spokesperson said: “Cosla has made every effort to avert these strikes – we have listened to our trade unions, met their asks and worked with Scottish Government to put an incredibly strong half a billion pound pay package on the table.

“Strikes are in nobody’s interests and benefit no-one, least of all children and young people and their families.

“Two out of the three trade unions suspended their action and have agreed to put the offer to their members – I would ask Unison to reconsider pressing ahead with this damaging action and allow their members to consider this offer.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Local government pay negotiations are a matter for local authorities as employers and unions. The Scottish Government and Cosla have committed to respect this negotiating arrangement as part of the Verity House Agreement.

“We would encourage those involved to continue negotiations in the hope that a resolution can be found.

“We have worked constructively in partnership with Cosla and councils to find a solution, facilitated by an additional £80 million of funding and flexibility from the Scottish Government.

“As we have said, there will be no detrimental impact on jobs or services, including on Pupil Equity Funding levels or operation of the redress scheme, as a result of this additional funding.

“Despite UK Government cuts, the Scottish Government had already provided £155 million in 2023-24 to support a meaningful pay rise for local government workers, and provided assurances over funding in 2024-25.”

BBC journalists to vote on industrial action


Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Fri, 29 September 2023 

BBC journalists are to be balloted for industrial action in a dispute over jobs.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said all its members at the corporation will vote in a campaign opposing any compulsory redundancies.

The NUJ said its members in the World Service, the News Channel, and across England at BBC Local faced losing their jobs.

The union said it believes compulsory redundancies can be avoided with redeployment and flexibility.

Paul Siegert, NUJ national broadcasting organiser, said: “This dispute is resolvable and requires serious engagement.

“If the BBC refuse to engage properly, as befits a public body, NUJ members across the BBC stand prepared to widen this dispute including taking strike action if necessary.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We need to modernise the way we deliver the news while addressing the financial challenges many organisations, including the BBC, are facing, and this means having to make difficult decisions.

“We always do everything we can to avoid compulsory redundancies but we cannot rule them out.

“We are working hard with each of our colleagues to maximise redeployment opportunities for them, and we will continue to work constructively with the unions.”

UK
Wilko owed £625m when it collapsed, leaving pension fund £50m short

A PENSION IS A DIFFERED WAGE+%

WAGE THEFT!

Sarah Butler

THE GUARDIAN 
Fri, 29 September 2023

Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Wilko owed £625m when it collapsed, including £548m to unsecured creditors who will receive less than 8% of what they are owed, documents reveal.

The budget homeware retailer’s pension fund is left more than £50m in deficit and is unlikely to receive more than £4m back from the breakup of the company, which called in the administrators PwC in August.

The chain failed owing more than £400m, according to PwC’s report, which says the last of its near-400 stores will close on 8 October with almost 12,500 jobs lost.

Unsecured creditors, who include suppliers, employees and the pension fund, will receive between 4% and 8% of what they are owed by the group’s main Wilko Ltd entity, whose debts total more than £460m, and less than 1% of that owed by its sister group.

Suppliers, including the manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble and the logistics firm GXO, are owed more than £170m, while the tax authorities are owed more than £26m, the documents show.

Secured creditors, led by the restructuring specialist Hilco, which was owed nearly £40m and Barclays Bank, which was owed £2.4m, will be repaid in full. HMRC, which is described as a preferential creditor, is expected to be repaid almost in full.

The deficit for Wilko’s defined benefit scheme, which has 2,000 members, has narrowed considerably since 2019 as the company injected more than £4m a year to help support it and £8m last year. When a company fails, however, the calculation of the deficit rises on the basis of the costs of handing it over to an insurance fund because there will no longer be profits from a functioning company to provide support.

On that basis, the fund was just over £70m in deficit according to the administrators’ report, but had security over £20m of Wilko’s property, reducing the money required to plug the gap to £50m.

The scheme is now being assessed for entry to the industry-funded pensions lifeboat scheme, under which those of pensionable age and already collecting their cash will receive their full payout but other savers’ funds will be cut by 10%.

The Pensions Regulator, however, is scrutinising the handling of the company’s finances in the run-up to its collapse. The regulator has the power to pursue owners to plug pension shortfalls if their actions are deemed to have put savers’ benefits at risk.

John Ralfe, an independent pensions expert, said: “The Pensions Regulator has wide legal powers to force ‘connected parties’ to plug deficits when a company goes bust. There is no question that it will go after the Wilkinson family to claw back some of the dividends paid in the last few years.”

Wilko’s family owners have paid themselves £9m in dividends since 2019, according to administrators, as underlying profits halved from £33m to £16m and sales slid by more than 15% to £1.31bn.

The Wilkinson family has been approached for comment.

Home Office admits failings after Julian Assange’s friend dies in Belmarsh prison following deportation threat

Holly Bancroft
Fri, 29 September 2023

The Home Office has admitted failings after a Belmarsh inmate and friend of Julian Assange killed himself in prison after being kept behind bars, despite his custodial sentence coming to an end.

Manoel Santos, who came to Britain from Brazil in 1997, had been due for release from jail on 27 October but the Home Office ordered the prison to keep him in custody while they decided whether to deport him.

An inquest heard Santos, who said he was gay and had been disowned by his family because of his sexuality, became like a “man on death row” after he learnt he would be made to stay in prison while his immigration case was processed.

He took his own life days later on 2 November 2020.

Julian Assange’s wife Stella said at the time of Santos’s death that the Wikileaks founder was “devastated” by the death. “Julian tells me Manoel was an excellent tenor. He helped Julian read letters in Portuguese and he was a friend. He feared deportation to Brazil after 20 years, being gay put him at risk where he was from,” she said.

Santos, who had been in prison for six months for arson, had broken down in tears at the prospect of going back to Brazil, fellow prisoner Andrew Bayne told the court.

He had an ongoing human rights claim that was being heard at an immigration tribunal, with a case management hearing listed for 26 January 2021, the court heard, meaning he would not have been able to be deported until this court case was resolved.

Despite this, officials obtained an order for Santos’s ongoing detention in prison, saying he was likely to abscond if granted immigration bail and arguing that his release was “not conducive to the public good”.

The Home Office admitted to the inquest that there were a series of failings in the processing of Santos’s deportation case, but said these did not contribute to Santos’s death.

Stella Assange said Manoel Santos feared deportation to Brazil (PA)

Jane Sutton, head of foreign national offenders at the Home Office, told the court that it had missed two chances to process and serve Santos’s deportation notice; once in 2019 following an offence for criminal damage and breach of a restraining order, and another time in 2020 following his imprisonment for arson.

She also admitted the department should have asked for up to date medical information before deciding to keep Mr Santos in prison pending a deportation decision.

A charity worker who knew Santos told the court that he was “a happy individual, open to learning more, inquisitive about the world”. She recounted that during a visit on 14 October, “he was concerned about being returned to Brazil, which no longer felt like home”.

Another fellow prisoner said that after Santos was told he would be kept in Belmarsh under immigration powers “he was like a man on death row.” He added: “Santos just got down and down. He was OK until that letter, that letter come, and then he went down.”

Santos’s prison offender manager told the court that “throughout September 2020 the prison was under the impression that Santos would be released on 27 October 2020.”

Manoel Santos was held in HMP Belmarsh past the end of his sentence (PA)

Referring to the order keeping him in prison, the manager said: “I had no idea that this was about to be served on him. The prison was very limited in what they could do save help him complete the bail forms and check he was OK.”

Belmarsh staff also raised Santos’s “significant mental health issues” in emails to the Home Office, according to evidence presented to court. In another email from an immigration officer to prison staff, government officials acknowledged that Santos had taken the news of his detention badly.

He had been taking medication for psychosis and was afraid he would not be able to get his medication in Brazil, the inquest heard.

A jury found that Santos had died by suicide and that his understanding of his immigration position at the end of his custodial sentence had made a material contribution to his death.

They wrote: “The jury know that in the days immediately prior to his death, Santos told a fellow prisoner that he believed he was about to be placed in immigration detention and deported within days. Confusion amongst the agencies involved in communicating with Santos is likely to have played a vital role in this change in understanding.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The health and wellbeing of people detained under immigration powers is of the utmost importance. Our thoughts and condolences remain with the family and friends of Santos.

“Any death in immigration detention is subject to investigation by the police, the coroner and the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

“Recommendations made as a result of these investigations are thoroughly examined to see how they can be used to help learn lessons.”

Top US military officer steps down with 'dictator' swipe at Trump

W.G. DUNLOP
Fri, September 29, 2023

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin greets retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley (SAUL LOEB)

General Mark Milley stepped down Friday as the top US military officer with a parting swipe at his former boss Donald Trump, saying no soldier ever swore an oath to serve a "wannabe dictator."

The stunning rebuke from Milley on his last day as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff illustrated the way the US military has been dragged into the increasingly volatile political arena since the Trump era.

At an elaborate military ceremony for his departure -- attended by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden -- Milley did not name Trump, but there was no doubt about the target of his barb.

"We don't take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant or a dictator," Milley said of American soldiers. "And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator."

Milley will be replaced as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Air Force General Charles "CQ" Brown -- just the second African American to hold the top military job.

A barrel-chested army veteran of countless foreign deployments and high-level command posts, Milley served in uniform for four decades.

But he faced his highest-stakes challenge when Trump appointed him in 2019 to the career pinnacle of senior military advisor to the president.

During a four-year term -- continuing under Biden from 2021 -- Milley managed the harrowing exit of US troops from Afghanistan, special forces operations in Syria, and the enormous program to assist Ukraine's desperate fight against Russian invasion.

As chairman, "it was one crisis right after another," Milley told AFP last month.

Milley's years at the top, however, also saw the military involved in an unusual number of politicized controversies.

While the Biden administration has pressed for changes including renaming bases named after Confederate leaders in the Civil War, senior Republicans have repeatedly lashed out at what they claim are "woke" leftist policies in the ranks.

And that was nothing compared to the precarious situation Milley found himself in during the lead-up to and aftermath of the 2020 presidential election -- in which Trump, in an unprecedented political nightmare for the United States, refused to accept defeat.

At the height of tensions after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Milley secretly called his Chinese counterpart to reassure Beijing that the United States remained "stable" and had no intention to attack China, according to the book "Peril" by Bob Woodward.

That revelation has caused lasting fury for Trump, who just this month wrote on his social media network that "in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!" for Milley.

- Threats and attacks -

The barely veiled threat from Trump -- the clear frontrunner to be the Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election -- prompted Milley to take "appropriate measures" for his safety, he told CBS News.

Biden lashed out Thursday during a speech at Trump's "heinous statements" and attacked the "deafening" silence from Trump's fellow Republicans on the threat.

Milley's replacement, chosen by Biden, will become the second Black top Joint Chiefs officer after Colin Powell. Austin, meanwhile, is the country's first Black secretary of defense.

Brown -- who officially takes the reins from Milley at midnight (0400 GMT) on Saturday -- was commissioned as a US Air Force officer in 1984 and is an experienced pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours, 130 of them in combat.

Brown, known to most as "CQ," even once survived ejecting from an F-16 during training over Florida.

He has commanded a fighter squadron and two fighter wings, as well as US air forces under the Central Command and Indo-Pacific Command, and served as chief of staff of the Air Force.

Following the 2020 murder of Black man George Floyd by a white police officer in Minnesota, Brown recorded an emotional video about his personal experiences, including with discrimination in the American military.

He said he felt pressure to "perform error-free," and worked "twice as hard" to prove wrong those who expected less of him because of his race.


Milley in farewell speech: ‘We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator’

Eric Bazail-Eimil
Fri, September 29, 2023 

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo


Gen. Mark Milley used his final speech as Joint Chiefs chair on Friday to emphasize that troops take an oath to the Constitution and not to a “wannabe dictator,” days after former President Donald Trump suggested the nation’s top officer should be put to death.

In an impassioned speech during his retirement ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va., Milley spoke of the continued bravery of American service members and underscored that the oath they take to protect the Constitution encompasses “all enemies, foreign and domestic,” emphasizing “all” and “and.”

“We don't take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator,” Milley said. “We don't take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”

“Every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, guardian and Coast Guardsman, each of us commits our very life to protect and defend that document, regardless of personal price," Milley continued. "And we are not easily intimidated.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

Though the general did not mention Trump by name, the sharp rebuke came one week after Trump lashed out at Milley on social media over reports that the general had contacted his Chinese counterpart during the Trump administration to assure them the U.S. was not preparing to attack.

Trump last Friday called Milley “a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States.”

“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Trump continued.

Trump’s rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination called the former president’s comments “reprehensible” and “inexcusable”.

In an interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell this week, Milley confirmed he was taking “adequate safety precautions,” when asked about Trump’s comments.

“I wish those comments had not been made, and I’ll take appropriate measures to ensure my safety and the safety of my family,” Milley said.

Milley was not the only speaker at the ceremony to address the country’s political challenges. President Joe Biden, who spoke before Milley and his replacement, Gen. C.Q. Brown, slammed “a single senator” for holding up confirmation votes for more than 300 military leaders.

Biden was referring to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who is blocking the confirmations of flag and general officers in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy.

“It’s totally unacceptable that more than 300 military officers and reservists are held in limbo,” Biden said. “It’s an insult.”

Although the Senate this month confirmed Brown, along with the chiefs of the Army and Marine Corps, the nominees to take over the Navy and Air Force are still subject to the hold.

Biden also criticized House Republicans for failing to pass legislation that would fund the government, saying a possible government shutdown on track for this weekend will hurt service members.

“You can’t be playing politics while our troops stand in the breach,” Biden said.

Matt Berg contributed to this report.

Gen. Milley strikes back at Trump in farewell speech: "We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator"

Tatyana Tandanpolie
Fri, September 29, 2023 

Mark Milley Drew Angerer/Getty Images


In his final speech as Joint Chiefs chairman Friday, Gen. Mark Milley reminded the gathered troops that they take an oath to the Constitution, not a "wannabe dictator."

Milley's remarks came during his retirement ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va., and come just a week after former President Donald Trump suggested he should be put to death.

The nation's top officer lauded the continued bravery of American soldiers during his speech and described how the oath they take to protect the Constitution encompasses "all enemies, foreign and domestic," placing emphasis on "all" and "and," Politico reports.

"We don't take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator," Milley said. "We don't take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we're willing to die to protect it." He continued, "Every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, guardian and Coast Guardsman, each of us commits our very life to protect and defend that document, regardless of personal price. And we are not easily intimidated."

Though Milley didn't mention Trump by name, his impassioned comments followed Trump's social media tirade suggesting Milley's execution last Friday over reports that the general had contacted his Chinese counterpart during the Trump administration to assure them the United States would not take up arms against the nation. 

Despite being tight-lipped in his assessments of the former president while he was in office, as the Atlantic notes, Milley did tell "The Divider" authors he believed Trump to be "shameful" and "complicit" in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, and feared Trump's "'Hitler-like' embrace of the big lie about the election would prompt the president to seek out a 'Reichstag moment.'

Top US general Milley takes apparent jab at Trump as he retires
Phil Stewart, Nandita Bose and Idrees Ali
Updated Fri, September 29, 2023 







Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of General Mark A. Milley and Armed Forces Hail in honor of General Charles Q. Brown, Jr.

By Phil Stewart, Nandita Bose and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. general Mark Milley retired on Friday after a four-year tenure, saying in a speech that U.S. troops take an oath to the Constitution and not a "wannabe dictator," an apparent swipe at former President Donald Trump.

Milley was hailed by President Joe Biden as a sage advisor and as a warrior who served in combat zones from Afghanistan and Iraq to Panama and Haiti.

Milley's tenure included the killing of Islamic State head Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in 2019 and providing military assistance to Ukraine's defense against the invasion by Russia in February 2022.

But it also included the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan two years ago and a rocky relationship with Trump.

Milley said that troops take an oath to a constitution and not a "wannabe dictator", in an apparent reference to Trump that drew an audible reaction from some in the audience.

Trump has been criminally charged with trying to overturn Biden's 2020 election victory.

"We don't take an oath a king or queen or a tyrant or dictator. We don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We don't take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution," Milley during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall near Washington.

Trump later in the day lashed out at him with a series of insults, calling Milley, a Princeton University graduate, "Slow moving and thinking" and a "moron."

"Look at his words - STUPID & VERY DANGEROUS!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Biden called Milley "unflinching in the face of danger," and said he "once ran across a bridge booby-trapped with mines to stop two battle tanks evacuating wounded troops from driving across it."

"Mark, your partnership has been invaluable to me," Biden said.

Milley handed over command to Air Force chief General Charles Q. Brown in an event featuring marching bands and a red-coated fife-and-drum corps.

Brown is only the second Black officer to become chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after Colin Powell two decades ago.

Biden said Milley served in war zones as part of his long military service and had a "chest full of medals to show for it."

In his remarks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recalled a time during the Iraq war when he and Milley were serving in Baghdad and their vehicle was damaged when it was hit by an improvised explosive device while en route to a hospital to see a wounded soldier.

"'Has this happened to you before?'" Austin said he asked Milley. "And he said, oh yeah, I've been blown up about five times now.'"

ROCKY RELATIONSHIP WITH TRUMP

Milley took the reins in 2019 after being nominated by Trump, but soon found himself having to balance the need to maintain his relationship with him without appearing to be political.

In 2020, he publicly apologized for joining Trump as he walked from the White House to a nearby church for a photo opportunity after authorities cleared the way of protesters using tear gas and rubber bullets.

Milley said on Wednesday he would take measures to protect his family after Trump suggested he had colluded with China in an act he said would have once warranted death.

Brown is a self-described introvert whose public persona contrasts sharply with the outgoing Milley, a loquacious Boston native.

Brown told the audience that his goal will be to deter aggression and "fight when called upon." He said the U.S. military "must focus on modernizing" with new concepts and approaches.

The promotion of Brown, a former fighter pilot with experience in the Pacific, meant Black Americans will hold the top two positions at the Pentagon for the first time - a major milestone for an institution that is diverse in its lower ranks but largely white and male at the top.

Biden appointed Austin to become the first Black U.S. secretary of defense, the top civilian position at the Pentagon.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Nandita Bose, Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Don Durfee and Grant McCool)



In farewell speech, Gen. Mark Milley says military serves Constitution, not despots

Doug Cunningham
Fri, September 29, 2023 

On Friday, Gen. Mark A. Milley speaks during a ceremony in Arlington, Va., where his replacement on the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- Gen. CQ Brown -- was sworn in. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- As a new Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman was sworn in on Friday, outgoing Gen. Mark Milley said in a farewell speech that America's military serves the Constitution, not a "wannabe dictator."

His comments come after former President Donald Trump recently suggested that a president has total, unchecked power and that Milley is a traitor worthy of execution.

Milley delivered his farewell address as President Joe Biden paid tribute to him and swore in his successor, Gen. Charles Q. Brown. The ceremony took place at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va.

Biden said Milley was a trusted confidant and revered military leader, and the president commended his service to the nation.

"A combat infantryman, a master parachutist, a Green Beret, a warrior -- he served a total of five years in war zones," Biden said. "From Panama to Haiti to Bosnia to Afghanistan to Iraq, with a chest full of medals to show for it."

General Mark A. Milley shakes hands with President Joe Biden during a ceremony Friday at the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of General Mark A. Milley, 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

Biden said Milley was a patriot who is uncompromising in his duty, unflinching in the face of danger and unwavering in his service to the country.

Milley spoke, as well, and delivered a passionate farewell speech laced with strong reminders about the U.S. military's role in protecting the U.S. Constitution.

Vice President Kamala Harris (left) applauds as President Biden (center) shakes hands with incoming Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Arlington, Virginia on Friday. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

"We are unique among the world's militaries," Milley said. "We don't take an oath to a country, we don't take an oath to a tribe, we don't take an oath to a religion. We don't take an oath to a king, or a queen, or a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator."

That last line appeared to refer to former president Donald Trump, who recently suggested Milley is a traitor who deserves execution.

Lloyd Austin, United States Secretary of Defense, shakes hands with General Mark A. Milley during a ceremony at the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of Milley, the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Virginia on Friday. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

Biden took to task Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., for single-handedly blocking more than 300 military promotion confirmations in the U.S. Senate.

"I've been here a long time I've never seen anything like this. It's outrageous and must stop," Biden said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had high praise for Milley's service.

"Gen. Milley is a scholar and a warrior," Austin said. "We respect him for his wit, but we love him for his heart. And he's thrown his whole heart into leading this tremendous joint force of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, guardians."

Late Friday after Milley's comments, Trump responded on his Truth Social platform, calling the general a "moron" and "stupid."

"Slow moving and thinking Mark Milley should never have made those calls to China's Military Leadership," Trump posted. "Does this moron, together with WOKE FOOL Mark Yesper (Esper!), who said "yes" to everything, have any idea how dangerous a situation he put our Country in? Look at his words -- STUPID & VERY DANGEROUS!"

Before honoring Milley, Biden used the occasion to comment on the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whom he called an historic figure, a trailblazer for women and a friend who championed civil liberties and the environment.



Gen. Milley delivers defense of democracy and swipes at Trump in farewell address

TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Updated Fri, September 29, 2023








Retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks during the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of Milley at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Fort Meyer, Va. Also held was an Armed Forces Hail in honor of Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., who the Senate confirmed as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin applauds at left.

 (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. (AP) — Army Gen. Mark Milley delivered a full-throated defense of democracy and not-so-subtle swipes at former President Donald Trump during a packed ceremony on Friday as he closed out his four, often tumultuous years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Under cloudy skies at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Milley never mentioned the former president by name. But he practically shouted on two different occasions that the U.S. military swears to protect the Constitution “against ALL enemies, foreign AND domestic.”

“We don’t take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator," he said. "We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we're willing to die to protect it.”

Milley is retiring after more than four decades of military service, including multiple combat deployments and two often turbulent years as Joint Chiefs chairman under Trump. And it was those years, and the battles he fought against Trump, that formed much of the underpinning of his farewell address and also were sprinkled throughout other speeches in the ceremony.

As chairman, Milley pushed back against a host of Trump’s plans, including demands to pull all troops out of Iraq and Syria and his desire to put active-duty troops on Washington’s streets to counter racial protests. Several books have described Milley’s deep concerns about Trump’s fitness as commander in chief and his worries that Trump would try to use the military to help block President Joe Biden’s election.

Just a week ago, Trump railed against Milley in a post on Truth Social, condemning him as a treasonous, “Woke train wreck” whose actions have been “so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” The post, which some interpreted as a threat, has prompted Milley to ensure his family has adequate protection.

But seemingly in response, Milley said, his voice booming, the military will protect the Constitution, no matter the personal price, and “we are not easily intimidated.”

Biden, who spoke at the ceremony, continued the democracy theme, praising Milley’s staunch defense of the Constitution, which “has always been Mark’s North Star.” And he said the general has been a steady hand guiding the military during one of the most complex national security environments.

The farewell tribute on the base just outside Washington was both rousing and somber, with marching bands, troop salutes and speeches.

Milley’s four-year term as chairman ends at midnight Saturday, and Air Force Gen. CQ Brown takes over Sunday. Milley is retiring after nearly 44 years of service.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recalled Milley as a battle buddy, noting with a grin that he was always “eager to get into the fight. And I’ve seen that firsthand over our long history of working together, including one time when he got me blown up. Literally.”

When Austin was commanding the 10th Mountain Division during the Iraq War he visited Milley, one of his brigade commanders, who suggested they go to the hospital to see a wounded soldier.

“So we took Route Irish in Baghdad, which was known as the most dangerous road in the world. And we promptly got hit by an IED,” Austin told the crowd. “Afterwards, I asked, ‘Hey general, has this happened to you before?’ And Mark said, ‘Oh yes sir — I’ve been blown up about five times now.’"

The crowd of about 1,800 included past and current U.S. and international dignitaries and military leaders, families, friends, troops, veterans, wounded warriors and Gold Star families who lost loved ones in the wars.

Milley’s fellow hockey teammates from Princeton — where he got his military commission — were easy to spot, wearing the bright orange and black jackets they got at their 25th reunion. Many of them attended a reception Thursday night at Milley’s house, where his wife, Hollyanne, cooked lasagna for 65 people.

They all hollered out when Milley recognized them publicly from the podium, but he jokingly complained about their weak response, adding, “That’s all a result of last night.”

Also present were five female Afghan special forces whom Milley worked to get out of the country as Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021. Capt. Mahnaz Akbari said they wanted to come to Milley's retirement to thank him for what he did for their country and for the female troops now in the U.S.

One of the opening performances was a stirring rendition of “God Bless America” by Army Capt. Luis Avila, who was severely injured and lost a leg in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Milley’s choice of Avila was a tribute to wounded troops but also served as a pointed jab at Trump.

Milley has said Trump made disparaging remarks about Avila, who sang from his wheelchair at a ceremony for Milley in 2019. Milley said Trump asked him at the time, “Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded.”

Milley, 65, is a native of Winchester, Massachusetts. He commanded troops at all levels, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. He became Army chief of staff in 2015 and launched several initiatives, including the creation of Security Force Assistance Brigades, which train foreign forces, and the opening of Army Futures Command in Austin, Texas, to pursue new technologies.

___

Baldor reported from Washington.



Top US military officer General Mark Milley retires
AFP
Fri, September 29, 2023 

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley attends a press briefing at the Pentagon on March 15, 2023 (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

General Mark Milley steps down on Friday after a tumultuous term as the top US military officer that saw him face repeated crises at home and abroad.

General CQ Brown will replace him, becoming the second Black officer after Colin Powell to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a time when the Pentagon is headed by Lloyd Austin, the country's first Black secretary of defense.

As chairman, "it was one crisis right after another," Milley told AFP last month.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Donald Trump's refusal to accept his presidential election loss and nationwide protests against police brutality are just some of the events that defined his four years as the top US officer.

Milley is credited by his supporters with helping protect the country from Trump, but has been the target of intense criticism from the former president and his adherents.

His departure comes at a time when the US military -- particularly its leadership -- has been under repeated fire from conservative politicians and pundits, especially over the alleged imposition of "woke" policies on the armed forces.

Brown was commissioned as a US Air Force officer in 1984 and is an experienced pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours, 130 of them in combat.

He has commanded a fighter squadron and two fighter wings, as well as US air forces under the Central Command and Indo-Pacific Command, and served as chief of staff of the Air Force.

Following the 2020 murder of Black man George Floyd by a white police officer in Minnesota, Brown recorded an emotional video about his personal experiences, including with discrimination in the American military.

He said he felt pressure to "perform error-free" and worked "twice as hard" to prove wrong those who expected less of him because of his race.

Brown's nomination was one of more than 300 stalled by a dispute over Pentagon policies that assist troops who must travel to receive reproductive health care that is unavailable where they are stationed.

A single Republican senator who opposes those efforts has been preventing lawmakers from quickly approving senior military nominees in groups, and Brown was only confirmed in time through an individual vote on his nomination.

wd/st

Ocasio-Cortez Spots Biden Hearing Moment That Shows Republicans Know It's ‘Cooked’

Lee Moran
Updated Fri, September 29, 2023 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Thursday said it was “important to underscore the significance” of Republicans leaving the room during their first formal hearing in their impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.

“Your opposition is going to use every point of leverage possible and you have to stay in your seats for procedural votes,” Ocasio-Cortez explained to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.

“You really, in consequential hearings, it is ‘Hearing 101’ that all members have to be in their seats to prepare for any affront from the opposition,” she added.

During the hearing itself, Ocasio-Cortez accused Republicans of showing a “fabricated” screenshot of a text message.

To Hayes, she said: “At this point, we should be investigating the investigation for the ethical conduct that is happening on the Republican side of the aisle.”

“I think frankly the GOP knew this is cooked and done from the beginning,” she continued, noting Republicans’ own expert witnesses admitted there was not enough evidence to impeach Biden, who they accuse of corruption during his time as vice president.

“I’m not sure why they decided to embarrass themselves today,” she added. “I don’t know what was quite going through their minds.”

Watch the interview here:



AOC accuses Republicans of making up evidence in Biden hearing

Martin Pengelly in Washington

THE GUARDIAN
Thu, September 28, 2023 


Questioning witnesses in the first impeachment hearing staged by House Republicans, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prompted each to say they were not presenting “firsthand witness accounts” of crimes committed by Joe Biden.

The New York Democrat also accused Republicans of fabricating supposed evidence of corruption involving the president and his surviving son, Hunter Biden.

Republicans on the House oversight committee called three witnesses, Democrats one.

Ocasio-Cortez questioned the Republican witnesses first.

Turning to Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University and well-known conservative commentator, she said: “In your testimony today, are you presenting any firsthand witness account of crimes committed by the president of the United States?”

“No, I’m not,” said Turley, who had already made headlines by saying he did “not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment”.

Ocasio-Cortez asked the same question of Eileen O’Connor, a former assistant attorney general in the justice department tax division who worked for Donald Trump’s transition team and is a member of the rightwing Federalist Society.

“No, I’m not,” said O’Connor, who was also called out during the hearing for omitting the word “Hunter” when referring to the title of a piece she wrote for the Wall Street Journal in July, namely: “You’d go to prison for what Hunter Biden did.”

Ocasio-Cortez asked the same question of Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant:

“As the third and final Republican witness in this hearing, have you in your testimony presented any firsthand witness account of crimes committed by the president of the United States?”

“I have not,” he said.

Ocasio-Cortez said she would “assume the same” of the sole witness called by Democrats, Michael J Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor.

He said: “I’m not a fact witness. Correct.”

Widely known as AOC, the congresswoman has a passionate following among progressives and an equally passionate legion of haters among conservatives. Her questioning duly made a splash on social media.

Turning to an item of actual evidence presented by Republicans, she accused them of making it up.

Referring to Byron Donalds, she said: “Earlier today, one of our colleagues, the gentleman from Florida, presented up on the screen something that … appeared to be a screenshot of a text message containing or insinuating an explosive allegation.

“That screenshot of what appeared to be a text message was a fabricated image.”

Donalds showed text messages he claimed indicated that Hunter Biden engaged in fraud and money laundering, to the benefit of his father.

“I don’t know where it came from,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I don’t know if it was the staff of the committee, but it was not the actual direct screenshot from that phone.”

She added: “What was brought out from that fabricated image excluded critical context that changed the underlying meaning and allegation that was presented up on that screen, by this committee and by members of this committee.”

Ocasio-Cortez also noted that only the witnesses in the hearing were under oath and therefore bound to tell the truth. In contrast, members of Congress could say whatever they wanted.

Ocasio-Cortez slams Republicans for using ‘fabricated image’ in Biden hearing

Lauren Irwin
Thu, September 28, 2023 



Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed Republicans for using a “fabricated image” in the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden after Republicans alleged the president and his son, Hunter Biden, profited from foreign business deals. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held its first hearing Thursday.

During the hearing Ocasio-Cortez sat next to a computer screen that showed a clock, ticking down the seconds until the federal funding deadline.

The fabricated image Ocasio-Cortez referenced was a screenshot of a text message presented earlier in Thursday’s hearing introduced by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), she said.

“Earlier today, one of our colleagues, the gentleman from Florida, presented up on the screen something that appeared to be a screenshot of a text message containing or insinuating an explosive allegation,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the hearing. “That screenshot of what appeared to be a text message was a fabricated image.”

“I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know if it was the staff of the committee, but it was not the direct screenshot from that phone,” she added.

The New York congresswoman said the fabricated image excluded “critical context that changed the underlying meaning and allegation.”

Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged that members of the committee are within their rights to submit a fabricated image under the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution, which protects members of Congress from lawsuits over legislative speech.

Still, she said they were wasting their time and that the hearing was an “embarrassment.” Each of the three witnesses testifying before the panel told Ocasio-Cortez and the committee that there is not enough evidence yet to impeach Biden.

“This is an embarrassment to the time and people of this country, and I would ask that the chair and I would ask that this Committee elevate to the promise of our duties here and comport ourselves with the consistency and practice that is required of our seats and our duty and … our oath to our responsibilities here,” Ocasio-Cortez said.