This is the fourth week in a row that @allthecitizens newsletter has majored in herd immunity.
This week the realisation of what the govt is doing finally broke through. And yet there's no way to stop it. Despite the collective horror of the international scientific community.
What we are seeing tomorrow is not Freedom Day. It's #UnFreedomDay. It's a day on which the powers of unreason & untruth will triumph. A triumph that will kill people you know. And leave 10s of 10000s with a debilitating, long-term condition.
It's what happens when a government has a reckless disregard for truth, facts, expertise. When it rides roughshod over norms & institutions. When there is no way of holding it to account.
This is not a separate problem from the 152k dead. It *is* the problem.
We've worked with @dgurdasani for 2 months to investigate the spread of the Delta variant in schools & the govt's cover-up.
A herd immunity by mass infection strategy in all but name.
This week, we literally staged an intervention. Britain, the addict destroying not only its own health, but that of everyone around the world. We brought together an amazing panel of international scientists who told us our govt's strategy is 'murderous'
It made headlines in Britain & around the world. The world is watching us with horror. But what now?
Even Prof Whitty says it's 'scary'. Scarier still when people who should speak up, don't.
We are entering the unknown. We're doing what we can. It's not enough. But if you're able to support our work, we can & will do more 🙏 crowdfunder.co.uk/the-citizens
NEW: Police knew a Kremlin spy ring recruited former leader of Reform Wales at least 3 years ago.
So why was Nathan Gill not charged till Feb this year?
Pls read part 2 of @thenerve_news special investigation into Nathan Gill. And please share! 1/
Meet Nadia Sass.
This is the wife of the man who bribed Nathan Gill.
Today @thenerve_news reveals how she was a key part of the Kremlin operation that targeted not just Gill but at least 2 other MEPs and a member of the House of Lords.
In Israel, Ellison’s Oracle partners with Rafael Systems whose weapons are being used in the Gaza genocide & implicated in the deaths of British aid workers.
The targeting & killing of journalists in Gaza & the failure of the media to show collective solidarity & to take collective action is…incomprehensible.
I feel a such profound sense of shame & failure. It’s not just the death of journalists. It’s the death of journalism. 1/
This is Mariam Abu Daka, one of 3 journalists killed in latest strike, warning that journalists are being deliberately targeted & killed.
‘The Israeli occupation targets journalists because they tell the truth’
She calls for urgent international protection. It did not come. 2/
It is not that there has not been efforts to mobilise a collective response by press freedom orgs, including @RSF_inter, but there has also been silence , denial & cowardice from the prestige legacy outlets.
There’s a reason trust in all media is plummeting.
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Nick Clegg made a reported £100m from Facebook. And now the reputation laundering begins.
Congrats to him on this magnificent PR coup. Nicely played, Clegg. A glossy magazine profile AND extract in the paper that created the Facebook PR crisis that led to his hiring.
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It’s an abject reminder of how mainstream outlets are played by Silicon Valley, by the cosy rules of access journalism & the genre framing of the celeb interview.
Clegg never submitted to a proper interview in his time at Facebook & now gets to spin & whitewash & conceal all while still under a FB NDA.
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I understand why this was commissioned. The need for a culturally relevant ‘name’. The fact that many people will ‘hate-read’ it. It will get traffic.
But it also reinforces an impression that so many people have that the media is broken. Clicks & traffic & holding power to account are such competing incentives.
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Earlier this year, I lost my beloved job at my beloved Observer when the Guardian, in its great wisdom, gave the newspaper away to a podcast company...who promptly sacked me.
So, forgive my delight today, in being nominated for FIVE awards in the British Podcast Awards!! 1/
Huge kudos to super producers @RuthAbrahams5 of Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring & @GeorgiaJCatt & @ByrnesyGsy for Stalked.
Plus the brilliant & brave Hannah Mossman-Moore & Sergei Cristo 👏 👏 👏. Both FEARLESS in completely different ways.
But mostly, thanks for listening... & in Sergei's case for crowdfunding it. Incredible to be nominated alongside all the big companies for our indie DIY affair. Thanks also to @peterjukes for galvanising & dramaturgy.
And to BBC Sounds for being so punchy in naming Hannah's stalker
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BUT it upheld 2/3 points inc that foreign interference (inc disinfo) *is* a threat to fair elections (which UK had denied!)
Lawyers say hugely significant judgement with far-reaching consequences. AND that an appeal should be considered
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Here's the meat of the judgement. The court upheld the first two points. It only refused the third and final point.
The legal team said they were amazed by how far the court had gone in upholding the bulk of their arguments, and that the ruling opens the door to many other potential cases.
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The court agreed there were 'shortcomings in the Government's initial response'.
But it bought the UK's defence that a) it had already investigated foreign interference and b) it has put in place new legislative protections since. 4/