Wednesday, 28 June 2017

Artist colleagues of Khadija Saye demand swift justice for her and all Grenfell victims | Letter published in The Guardian

How many days have now passed since the horrific night of Wednesday 14 June, when at least 79 were killed in London’s Grenfell Tower fire? In that time, how many incriminating emails and documents may have been deleted or shredded? We are concerned that, up until now, and as far as we are aware, there have been no arrests, seizure of documents, sealing of offices or freezing of accounts. It took two days for arrests to be made in the 2004 Morecambe Bay disaster, and one day only in the 2012 Costa Concordia sinking. Both led to successful prosecutions.

We artists and curators, colleagues of the gifted photographer Khadija Saye, who worked with her in the Diaspora Pavilion in Venice this year, were devastated to learn that our treasured and beloved sister was killed in the Grenfell fire (Report, 17 June), along with her mother Mary Mendy. We were heartened by the bravery and skill of the emergency services, as well as the outpouring of love and support from citizen volunteers...

Read full article and sign the petition: Artist colleagues of Khadija Saye demand swift justice for her and all Grenfell victims | Letter | UK news | The Guardian

Friday, 23 June 2017

BPAS "Please ask your MP to stand up for Northern Irish women"

As you know, abortion is currently illegal in Northern Ireland except in the most extreme circumstances, and as a result hundreds of women are forced to travel to England every year to end a pregnancy they feel unable to continue. Despite being UK citizens and UK taxpayers, the government has refused to provide NHS-funded abortion care for NI women, and therefore they must personally meet the cost of not just their travel but also the treatment they need. 

But today, MPs have tabled an amendment to the Queen’s Speech to allow NI women access to NHS-funded abortion care in England – and we need your MP to join the fight. 

Tell your MP to support calls for Jeremy Hunt MP to reverse the current policy. You can email here – it takes just 1 minute and all you need is your postcode.

Hundreds of Northern Irish women are forced to travel for abortion care, at a huge personal and emotional cost, every year. Tell your MP to do all they can to ensure that, until women are able to access the care they need in NI, they can access NHS-funded abortion care in England.

Thank you for your support,

The bpas team
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Wednesday, 7 June 2017

Nick Clegg on Theresa May and Human Rights

Following on Theresa May repeated threat to repeal human rights legislation using the pretext of fighting terrorism, an email signed Nick Clegg (former LibDem leader) just arrived.
Theresa May has vowed to tear up the Human Rights Laws. That's scrapping your rights, my rights, our rights.

That's what this divisive Tory Party would do if they win another five years of power with no proper opposition.

I have sat around the cabinet table with Theresa May and other Tories and I can tell you from personal experience that they are capable of doing it without blinking[1].

We must stop them. Not only for our sake, but for the sake of future generations. Currently, too many of our marginal Tory-facing seats are on a knife-edge, and we can only win with your help. Will you help me win?

We are the only ones who can take seats off Tories and stop this group of internet-banning, Human Rights-bashing, Brexit headbangers from vandalising our communities across our beloved country.

To stop them, we need to win seats and to do that, we need more money to target swing voters in our marginal Tory-facing seats.
Of course, it's not always the LibDems who are best-placed to oust a Tory throughout the country, so consult the Tactical voting guide to see how best to vote out the Conservative in your constituency.

Support your favourite party, even if it's not the one you're voting for, with a small donation. Party funding is skewed in favour of the Conservatives at the best of times, but this difference is exacerbated during a General election. Get an eyeful of this:



That's for the 3rd week of the campaign. If you think that's a little one-sided, then you can chip in (even a small amount helps) to one of the other parties' fighting fund:
I haven't included any Scottish, Irish or Welsh parties, because they seem to be doing fine and it's the English constituencies that vote overwhelmingly for the Right.

If anyone starts scaremongering with cries of "coalition of chaos", laugh at them. If they claim we need a "strong and stable" government, remind them that's what dictatorships paint themselves as.

And if they try to sow doubt with words like "hung Parliament" then tell them that yes, we do need a Parliament with the balls to stand up to stupidity and bluster, with MPs who'll vote for what they believe to be right for their constituents and the country, not what some offshored business magnate wants.

Vote for your NHS, for your pension (it takes a lifetime to earn one), for your future.

[1] They blink?