Displaying items by tag: Politics

Germany’s last three nuclear power plants were closed on 15 April. Its car industry has been the market leader for decades. Now production of diesel and petrol engines will end, and gas and oil heating systems will not be installed in homes. Current prosperity, welfare, and economy are being run down and replaced with higher-grade technologies for which technical and personnel replacements are not readily available. Increasing chaos on the railways illustrates the incompatibility of political demands with the current state of infrastructure and the available staffing levels. The political agenda also fuels disruptive actions by climate activists and strikes in the public sector and in state-owned companies. Germany has been entrusted with much historically: the gospel of Jesus Christ, a country of poets and philosophers, a nation with economic stability. Pray for God’s purposes for Germany, not based on history's materialism but on #its God-given identity as a nation.

Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Jerusalem in a show of support for the controversial judicial overhaul plan by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Local media estimated that the event, which organisers had dubbed ‘The One Million March’, drew only about 80,000 people. It was sponsored by the Premier’s conservative Likud Party and its far-right coalition ally Otzma Yehudit faction. Among many who chanted ‘The people want judicial reform’ was justice minister Yariv Levin, who spearheaded the push for the overhaul. The nation has been gripped by unprecedented nationwide demonstrations against the deeply divisive plan since its unveiling 16 weeks ago. Mr Levin told demonstrators that ‘more and more people understand the need for the legislation. We are in an unusual situation. There is an atmosphere where people try to paint a picture of the elected government not representing the people. Today we are protesting to show that it does.’

Rishi Sunak is being investigated by Parliament’s standards watchdog over a possible failure to declare an interest and if a declaration he made was ‘open and frank’. His wife Akshata holds shares in Koru Kids childcare agency, which could benefit from a new policy unveiled in the spring Budget. It is a pilot of payments for childminders, with more for those who sign up through agencies. Akshata was listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids as recently as 6 March. On 28 March Mr Sunak did not mention her links to Koru Kids when he was questioned over the childcare policy at a parliamentary hearing. When he was asked whether he had any interest to declare, he replied, ‘No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way’. After the hearing, Mr Sunak sent a letter to the committee saying an updated statement of ministers' interests would be released shortly.

The SNP is reviewing party management after finance controversies. Colin Beattie was reappointed as treasurer in 2021 after previously holding the position for 16 years. Police arrested him on 18 April in an investigation into SNP finances. First minister Humza Yousaf said this arrest was a very serious matter but Mr Beattie was not suspended from the position as people are innocent until proven guilty. The next day Beattie resigned as treasurer, saying he would also step back from his role on the public audit committee until the police investigation had concluded. His arrest had come just hours before Mr Yousaf set out his government's priorities for the next three years. He said that he decided to resign to avoid further distractions to the important work being led by Mr Yousaf to improve the SNP's governance and transparency. Nicola Sturgeon’s husband was arrested two weeks ago but released without charge, pending further inquiries into this investigation.

Whether you're waiting for a hip operation, a new passport, wondering what you're going to do with your children when their teachers are on the picket line, or are a university lecturer worried about losing pay when you protest, walkouts aren't anywhere close to coming to an end. The nurses’ union leader told her members a 5% pay rise and a one-off payment of at least £1,655 was worth accepting. But they disagreed. So strikes continue, with staff being withdrawn from emergency departments for the first time. Junior doctors are set for further industrial action and could end up on strike at the same time as nurses in England. Civil servants are likely to walk out too, having missed out on a one-off payment for 2022/3, which other workers had been granted. Dave Penman, leader of the FDA civil service union, warns the consequence will be a ‘prolonged and damaging dispute’.

MP Scott Benton was stripped of the party whip after reporters posing as investors secretly filmed him saying he was prepared to leak market sensitive information to their bogus investment fund and ask parliamentary questions on its behalf, in breach of parliamentary rules. Under those rules, MPs are forbidden from advocating a particular matter in the House or raising it with ministers in return for payment. They are also prohibited from serving as paid parliamentary advisers or consultants or guiding firms on ways to influence Parliament. In a meeting, Mr Benton said he could support the fund, which he believed was set up by an Indian businessman looking to make investments in the UK betting and gaming sector, by attempting to water down proposed gambling reforms. This scandal comes as the Government carries out a major review of gambling laws, considering stricter regulations which could affect operators’ profits.

The shift in tone and mood was unmistakable as US president Joe Biden visited the Republic of Ireland, having spent a short time in Northern Ireland. Baseball cap on, and into a pub. ‘It feels like I'm coming home,’ he said in Dundalk, County Louth. The NI politics tightrope negotiated, it seems it is now time to unwind a little. His sister and son were in tow: it was not diplomacy but a return to family roots and a sense of belonging. 30 million Americans also have Irish ancestry, and Biden hopes for a political dividend the year before a presidential election. Meanwhile his visit to Northern Ireland, although talked about for months, only lasted 17 hours. There is no such thing as a low-key trip for an American president, but this came close. Quick, short, with Rishi Sunak's input minimal, not even appearing at Biden's only public appearance - raising some eyebrows in government.

The House of Lords debated a bill on 11 April, and if wise amendments are not made before it receives royal assent it is regarded as the gravest threat to our wildlife in decades by a number of wildlife and conservation charities. A new bill, officially called the Retained EU Law Bill, threatens to wipe out thousands of crucial laws which protect wildlife by the end of the year. This will lead to even more pollution poisoning rivers, more wild places at risk of being damaged - and potentially destroyed - and more wildlife threatened with extinction. It is an attack on nature, and environmentalists are urging the Government to bin it before it’s too late. The Government wants to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2030. If this bill is passed without change, it will undermine any possibility of achieving that goal. A Rocha believes the bill should be abandoned in its current state.

Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, was arrested, questioned for eleven hours and then released pending further investigation into the SNP’s fundraising and finances. Searches were carried out at a number of addresses including his home and SNP offices. The inquiry was launched after complaints about the SNP’s handling of £600,000 in donations raised by the party, ostensibly to campaign for and hold a second independence referendum. It is alleged that the money was used instead to help with the party’s day-to-day running costs. As the investigation is ongoing the police are unable to comment further. A report will be sent to the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service. On 19 March Murrell resigned after misleading the media about party membership numbers. He had been chief executive since 1999 and was responsible for running the SNP. On 1 April the SNP decided to review its governance and transparency. See

Humza Yousaf has a history of meeting with Hamas and has called for an arms embargo against the state of Israel. He is the first Muslim and at 37 the youngest person to hold the leadership position. But his meeting with Hamas has prompted concerns over his selection. In May 2021, when Israel retaliated to thousands of Hamas rockets he tweeted, ‘Wife in floods of tears all evening, her brother living in Gaza telling us it’s raining rockets’. Yousaf has also said, ‘People are starving and dying a slow death in the Gaza Strip.’ The Jewish Chronicle reported him having attended the high-level meeting with Hamas leader Mohammad Sawalha. The BBC has named Sawalha as having masterminded much of Hamas’ political and military strategy. Scottish parliamentary questions reveal that he attended the Holyrood meeting as a representative of Islam Expo, which was funded by a £2 million grant from Qatar.