(Thanx Claudia!)
Monday 2 April 2012
Petrol crisis 'is our Thatcher moment', Tory MPs reportedly tell party members
'In order to defeat the coming fuel drivers' strike, we want supplies of
petrol stockpiled,' Tory MPs reportedly told party associations.
Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian
Tory MPs have compared the panic over fuel supplies to the 1980s
miners' strike and urged party members to "humiliate" the unions by
stockpiling petrol, it has been reported.In a private message from MPs to constituency associations, seen by the Daily Telegraph's Charles Moore, members were told: "This is our Thatcher moment."
The message reportedly continues: "In order to defeat the coming miners' strike, [Thatcher] stockpiled coal. When the strike came, she weathered it, and the Labour party, tarred by the strike, was humiliated. In order to defeat the coming fuel drivers' strike, we want supplies of petrol stockpiled. Then, if the strike comes, we will weather it, and Labour, in hock to the Unite union, will be blamed."
Labour immediately demanded an apology from the government.
Maria Eagle, the shadow transport secretary, said: "These allegations are outrageous. It is unacceptable that the Tory-led government have attempted to play politics with fuel supplies.
"People will be angry that David Cameron has inconvenienced millions in an attempt to create his own 'Thatcher moment'. The prime minister should apologise to the country for the chaos his government have created this week."
Number 10 described the claim as a matter for the Conservative party.
A Conservative party spokesman did not deny the existence of the memo and added: "The government has always been clear this is about doing everything possible to protect the country from a potentially crippling strike, and not about playing politics.
"We urge Unite to negotiate with the employers, and to make clear there will be no strike."
In his blog, Moore comments: "There is a key difference which ministers have not spotted. When Mrs Thatcher piled up the coal at power stations until the strike began in 1984, she was not inconveniencing the public.
"In 2012, the coalition is trying to press-gang the public, without saying so, into its political battles. All those people queuing on the forecourts were pawns in a government-organised blame-game."
He added: "No doubt many people reading this column are happy that Ed Miliband's and Ed Balls's dependence on a large trade union should be exposed, but very few, I suspect, appreciate being made into mugs. (And the political effect, of course, is the opposite of that intended: Unite now looks virtuous, and is much better placed to win its demands.)"
Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, said the government's "posturing" was scuppering chances for an end to the tanker drivers' dispute, which has caused motorists to queues at petrol pumps across the UK and stockpile fuel in order to pre-empt any strike that could lead to a fuel shortage. "We call on the government to come clean on its whole approach to this dispute," said McCluskey. "Is it acting as an honest broker, or is it spoiling for a fight in order to get itself out of the political hole its class-focused economic mismanagement has put it in?
"Over the last few days its every move has been designed to whip up unnecessary tension at the expense of the public. Ministers knew all along that a strike could not possibly be less than seven days away even were it to be called – that is the law. Yet they panicked the nation all the way to the petrol pumps because they imagined it would boost them in the polls.
"The British people know that this posturing and positioning is poisoning the prospects for an early resolution to the dispute."
The government stands accused of mishandling the crisis by Labour MPs, who called for the resignation of Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, who has faced a barrage of criticism from fire experts ever since advising motorists earlier this week to store jerry cans of fuel in their garages.
Calls for his resignation came after a woman suffered serious burns while transferring petrol into a jerry can in her kitchen.
The government has since changed its advice to motorists after Unite, the union representing 2,000 fuel tanker drivers, ruled out the threat of strikes over Easter. After days of urging motorists to fill up if their tanks dropped below two-thirds full, the Department for Energy and Climate Change said there was no need to queue on petrol forecourts.
"There is no urgency to top up your tank, a strike will not happen over Easter," it said.
But with Unite stressing it retained the right to call industrial action if talks, expected to start next week, break down, No 10 stressed the threat was not yet over. "It remains vital we take the necessary steps to keep the country safe in case there is a strike," a spokesman said.
The move followed more panic-buying at garages across the country on Friday, with petrol sales rising by almost 172% on Thursday and diesel sales up by 77%.
David Cameron said his heart went out to the woman in York who was burnt, describing it as a "desperate" incident.
Speaking at No 10 shortly after he chaired another meeting of the Cobra emergency contingencies committee, the prime minister welcomed Unite's decision and called on the union to engage constructively in talks expected to start next week at the conciliation service Acas.
Damien Pearse @'The Guardian'
'I am very real'
On the 16th of November, Kurt Vonnegut sent McCarthy the following letter. He didn't receive a reply.
@'Letters of Note'
Email and web use 'to be monitored' under new laws
The government will be
able to monitor the calls, emails, texts and website visits of everyone
in the UK under new legislation set to be announced soon.
Internet firms will be required to give intelligence agency GCHQ access to communications on demand, in real time.The Home Office says the move is key to tackling crime and terrorism, but civil liberties groups have criticised it.
Tory MP David Davis called it "an unnecessary extension of the ability of the state to snoop on ordinary people".
Attempts by the last Labour government to take similar steps failed after huge opposition, including from the Tories.
'Unprecedented step'
A new law - which may be announced in the forthcoming Queen's Speech in May - would not allow GCHQ to access the content of emails, calls or messages without a warrant.
But it would enable intelligence officers to identify who an individual or group is in contact with, how often and for how long. They would also be able to see which websites someone had visited.
In a statement, the Home Office said action was needed to "maintain the continued availability of communications data as technology changes".
"It is vital that police and security services
are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to
investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public," a
spokesman said.
"As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review we
will legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows to ensure that the
use of communications data is compatible with the government's approach
to civil liberties."But Conservative MP and former shadow home secretary David Davis said it would make it easier for the government "to eavesdrop on vast numbers of people".
"What this is talking about doing is not focusing on terrorists or criminals, it's absolutely everybody's emails, phone calls, web access..." he told the BBC.
"All that's got to be recorded for two years and the government will be able to get at it with no by or leave from anybody."
He said that until now anyone wishing to monitor communications had been required to gain permission from a magistrate.
"You shouldn't go beyond that in a decent civilised society, but that's what's being proposed."
'Attack on privacy'
Nick Pickles, director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, called the move "an unprecedented step that will see Britain adopt the same kind of surveillance seen in China and Iran".
"This is an absolute attack on privacy online
and it is far from clear this will actually improve public safety, while
adding significant costs to internet businesses," he said.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, added: "This is more
ambitious than anything that has been done before. It is a pretty
drastic step in a democracy."The Internet Service Providers Association said any change in the law much be "proportionate, respect freedom of expression and the privacy of users".
The Sunday Times quoted an industry official who warned it would be "expensive, intrusive [and] a nightmare to run legally".
Even if the move is announced in the Queen's Speech, any new law would still have to make it through Parliament, potentially in the face of opposition in both the Commons and the Lords.
The previous Labour government attempted to introduce a central, government-run database of everyone's phone calls and emails, but eventually dropped the bid after widespread anger.
The then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith did pursue efforts similar to those being revisited now, but the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats continued to voice their concerns.
The shadow home secretary at the time, Chris Grayling, said the government had "built a culture of surveillance which goes far beyond counter terrorism and serious crime".
Chris Huhne, then the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said any legislation requiring communications providers to keep records of contact would need "strong safeguards on access", and "a careful balance" would have to be struck "between investigative powers and the right to privacy".
@'BBC'
Sunday 1 April 2012
UK: Web monitoring expansion proposed [and texts, phone calls and emails - all in real time]
Ministers are preparing a major expansion of the Government's powers to monitor the email exchanges and website visits of every person in the UK, it has been reported.
Under legislation expected in next month's Queen's Speech, internet companies will be instructed to install hardware enabling GCHQ - the Government's electronic "listening" agency - to examine "on demand" any phone call made, text message and email sent, and website accessed in "real time", The Sunday Times reported.
A previous attempt to introduce a similar law was abandoned by the former Labour government in 2006 in the face of fierce opposition.
However, ministers believe it is essential that the police and security services have access to such communications data in order to tackle terrorism and protect the public.
Although GCHQ would not be able to access the content of such communications without a warrant, the legislation would enable it to trace people individuals or groups are in contact with, and how often and for how long they are in communication.
The Home Office confirmed that ministers were intending to legislate "as soon as parliamentary time allows".
"It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public.
"We need to take action to maintain the continued availability of communications data as technology changes," a spokesman said.
"Communications data includes time, duration and dialling numbers of a phone call, or an email address.
"It does not include the content of any phone call or email and it is not the intention of Government to make changes to the existing legal basis for the interception of communications."
Via Liverpool Daily Post
Under legislation expected in next month's Queen's Speech, internet companies will be instructed to install hardware enabling GCHQ - the Government's electronic "listening" agency - to examine "on demand" any phone call made, text message and email sent, and website accessed in "real time", The Sunday Times reported.
A previous attempt to introduce a similar law was abandoned by the former Labour government in 2006 in the face of fierce opposition.
However, ministers believe it is essential that the police and security services have access to such communications data in order to tackle terrorism and protect the public.
Although GCHQ would not be able to access the content of such communications without a warrant, the legislation would enable it to trace people individuals or groups are in contact with, and how often and for how long they are in communication.
The Home Office confirmed that ministers were intending to legislate "as soon as parliamentary time allows".
"It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public.
"We need to take action to maintain the continued availability of communications data as technology changes," a spokesman said.
"Communications data includes time, duration and dialling numbers of a phone call, or an email address.
"It does not include the content of any phone call or email and it is not the intention of Government to make changes to the existing legal basis for the interception of communications."
Via Liverpool Daily Post
Welcome back...
A number of people e/mailed me to ask 'what had happened' so maybe we have lost a lot of our readers who took it as genuine that we had our blog taken down down by the FBI!!!
If you missed it you can see the redirection page HERE.
Though based on this (now infamous image here and elsewhere) I would have thought that the words and images we used would have given the game away that although we were very serious in our message to you - it wasn't exactly genuine :)
(An extra BIG shout out to The Unknown Solderer who supplied the superb artwork from the original idea. Thank you!!!)
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