So Rishi Sunak's ex-boss Richard Sharp not only "gave" the @Conservatives £400,000, & helped arrange an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson just before Johnson appointed him, but Sharp was also a #TuftonStreet think tank Director, resigning just a month before he became @BBC Chair...
Like the UK Govt's Rwanda Plan, the Nazi's Madagascar Plan aimed to forcibly relocate a minority population of Europe to East Africa. The plan was not viable due to a British naval blockade, but it functioned as an important psychological step toward the Final Solution.
The US State Dept '2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices' reveals Rwanda to be one of the most autocratic, authoritarian, & repressive regimes on earth, currently ranked 126th out of 167 countries for democracy.
'Harass, mislead, & polarize: An analysis of Twitter political bots’ tactics in targeting the immigration debate before the 2018 U.S. midterm election'.
This research analyzed the strategies of influential bots seeking to affect the immigration debate. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
Researchers analyzed the strategies of influential bots seeking to affect the immigration debate before the 2018 US midterm elections. Findings reveal that the 10 most influential bots in our dataset all presented an anti-immigration viewpoint.
These bots both posted tweets & RTd other bot accounts’ tweets to give a false sense of authenticity & anti-immigration consensus. Bots’ messages relied on negative emotional appeals by spreading harassing language & disinformation likely intended to evoke fear toward immigrants.
“Following the outpouring of support for Gary Lineker & his compassionate stand on behalf of refugees, this government knows it is on the back foot & is once again ramping up the cruelty to distract from their own failures.”
- CEO, Freedom from Torture.
"We are concerned to hear that journalists from organisations judged to be critical of the government’s immigration policy have not been invited... Democracy depends on an open & transparent relationship between government and the media."
- Martin Bright, Index on Censorship.
“Index on Censorship believes that access to government ministers, both domestically and as part of international visits, should not be treated as a reward for favourable coverage.”
I've been researching twenty-first century UK non-broadcast 'news' articles featuring #TuftonStreet's ideologically extreme (deregulatory, anti-welfare, anti-union, low tax, free-market) 'think tank' (lobbyist) the 'Institute for Economic Affairs' (#IEA).
Counting articles is a relatively crude measure, but it's clear that the overwhelming majority present the the #IEA as disinterested/neutral, often using IEA reports & spokespeople to help frame or initiate stories. With very few exceptions, the IEA's funders are never revealed.
From 2000-2023, across all print & online non-broadcast UK news outlets, the #IEA is mentioned a staggering 9,175 times - predictably, mainly in Murdoch's, Barclay's, & Harmsworth's "newspapers":
The Times: 1,278
Sunday Times: 424
Times online: 457
"It is false to argue that only those who support war support our troops. It is entirely legitimate to support our troops while seeking an alternative to the conflict that will put those troops at risk."
Below, I'll just give the later part from Robin Cook's resignation speech - still one of the most important, ethical, truthful & moving speeches ever given in the UK parliament.
"Only a year ago, we & the USA were part of a coalition against terrorism that was wider & more diverse than I would ever have imagined possible. History will be astonished at the diplomatic miscalculations that led so quickly to the disintegration of that powerful coalition".
We know *precisely* what the reaction of the @Conservatives & the right-wing media would be to a @UKLabour PM making an ex-Goldman Sachs banker & one of its biggest donors, with zero media management experience, the Chairman of our @BBC - because it happened in 2001.
Here's what Raymond Snoddy, writing in Murdoch's Times on May 4th, 2001, shortly before the appointment of New Labour donor & ex-Goldman Sachs banker Gavyn Davies said about his proposed appointment:
"A few eyebrows were raised when Davies became @BBC vice-chairman, but moving up to Chairman would be a step too far. The reason is that he is irredeemably attached, privately & publicly, to New Labour."