Starmer doesnt want to "Turn the clock back" any further than Blair.

 So Labour leader Keir Starmer  wraps himself in the "Union Flag and  tries to take Labour back to the days of Tony Blair only6 to be largely ignored as his rival in Westminster steals his thunder by announcing furher lockdowns due to the Corana virus

As the Guardian which laughably is regarded as in the only Left of Centre daily newspaper by some says.

The speech won a generally favourable reception from those within Labour and the unions, although Momentum, the Jeremy Corbyn-linked campaign group called it “a missed opportunity to show substance”.



It was pointless complaining about the result, Starmer said, adding: “Let’s be brutally honest with ourselves. When you lose an election in a democracy, you deserve to. You don’t look at the electorate and ask them: ‘What were you thinking?’ You look at yourself and ask: ‘What were we doing?

What kind of "election in a democracy" is fought with virtually all of the media hostile to you? Forget the Anti-Semitic slurs it was Jeremy Corbyn's socialism they objected to.

"The Labour party has lost four general elections in a row. We’ve granted the Tories a decade of power. The Tories have had as many election winners in five years as we’ve had in 75. It’s a betrayal of what we believe in to let this go on. It’s time to get serious about winning.”

Starmer stressed his efforts over combating antisemitism in Labour, saying the party was “becoming a competent, credible opposition”.

He continued: “But that’s not enough. I didn’t come into politics to be in opposition, and neither did you. I came into politics to change lives.

“Never again will Labour go into an election not being trusted on national security, with your job, with your community and with your money. That’s what being under new leadership means.”“I'm not the sort of leader who wants to turn the clock back.

“Times change - and so do political priorities.”

What he  means however is precisely  that ie back to Blairism  and neo-liberalism courting right wing newspaper bosses and hoping they will tirn against Boris Johnson as they did John Major.

What  of his "Patriotic Nationalism"He said during his speech:

 

“We must once again be the party of the whole United Kingdom.

“The party of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“We must make the case much more persuasively that we achieve more together than we do alone.

“To stop the nationalists ripping our country apart by design and to stop the Tories dismantling it by neglect.

Does Mr Starmer know that Labour does not even stand in Northern Ireland its Sister Party the SDLP does but it advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom. 

Prehaps Mr Starmar does know and that thereere has  been a debate in the party on the prospects of amalgamation with Fianna Fáil. and in n February 2019, at a special party conference, the members approved a partnership with Fianna Fáil.

Maybe the Westminster Unionists in Labour  might push to stand in Northern Ireland .

Indeed not to do so with the aim of preserving the  Union would be hypocritical I repeat Mr Stammer.

“We must once again be the party of the whole United Kingdom.

“The party of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“We must make the case much more persuasively that we achieve more together than we do alone.

“To stop the nationalists ripping our country apart by design and to stop the Tories dismantling it by neglect.

A referendum on the reunification of the Island of Ireland , would be most illuminating . Labour might try and wave the Ddraig Gogh or Saltire with the Union flag in Wales or Scotland at the same time , but it cant do the asme with said Union Flag and Irish Tricolor .

Many of us in Wales have already rejected Labour's Unionism and its Blairist (Starmerist?) wing we need to ensure that more do so.

A supreme court may not necessarily be the guardians of democracy.

 Some 30 years ago in a Left Wing Book Shop in Dublin,  i bought a copy of the Constitution of the USSR..

I looked very much like thos ose adopted in the West even superior to that of the USA , however  Soviet constitutions declared the "leading role" of the CPSU in government and society. Many constitutional rights were not respected and the CPSU openly violated them due to the widespread political repression in the Soviet Union. Citizens had no legal remedy to pursue if the state failed to respect their rights because Soviet law emphasized economic and social rights over civil and political rights. 

It may even unlike the USA appear to give states the right of succession , but  supposedly independent member of the Warsaw pact like Hungary and Poland were  given sharp lessons in what happens if you try to go your own way.

The whole concept of a constitution has been thrown into question Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg a member of the US supreme court

The Supreme Court is part of the founding fathers Seperation of powershe principle or system of vesting in separate branches the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of a government.

The Court holds the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law.^[] However, it may act only within the context of a case in an area of law over which it has jurisdiction. The Court may decide cases having political overtones, but it has ruled that it does not have power to decide non-justiciable political questions.

With the President al election due in November , it has been argued that her replacement should wait to be appointed only after aTrump is reelected or Joe Biden takes control of the Whitehouse in January

"We'll make a decision probably Saturday – but Friday or Saturday," Trump told reporters at the White House, and he would like to see the Republican-run Senate vote on his nominee by Election Day on Nov. 3.

"We have plenty of time to do it," Trump said as he left the White House for a campaign trip to Ohio.

Trump also said he may meet with one of the finalists – appeals court Judge Barbara Lagoa – when he stays overnight in Miami on Thursday on a two-day trip; Lagoa is from Florida, a key battleground state.

The decision will probably trigger a political firestorm in the heat of Trump's election battle with Democrat Joe Biden, and both parties pledged to make the future of the high court a major campaign issue.

Following the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, the Court currently consists of five justices appointed by Republican presidents and three appointed by Democratic presidents. It is popularly accepted that Chief Justice Roberts and associate justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, appointed by Republican presidents, compose the Court's conservative wing. Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan, appointed by Democratic presidents, compose the Court's liberal wing. Gorsuch had a track record as a reliably conservative judge in the 10th circuit. Kavanaugh was considered one of the more conservative judges in the DC Circuit prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court Prior to Justice Ginsburg's death, Chief Justice Roberts was considered the Court's median justice (in the middle of the ideological spectrum, with four justices more lwith four justices more liberal and four more conservative than him), making him the ideological center of the Court.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was probably the most liberal leaning of the court  and it would be scandalous if she was replaced by someone appointed by a Far Right President who may soon be  out of office.

However it does show the problem of both a Constitution or Human Rights legislation in which a supreme court make a decision not base on the actual law but their ideological  interpretation of it.

Judges are not neutral and there's no "Goldilocks" Constitution, when we consider  a future Independent Wales we may chose to have some form of supreme court to prevent a dictorial goverment , however the old question of Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?s  remains a supreme court may guard the guardian but who guards us fromthem.

Labour hypocrisy over power grab is staggering.

Labour's shadow Welsh secretary Nia Griffith hmay be right that claims  of UK ministers spending more in Wales is "delusional", but it is clearly dishonest th criticise anew draft law that would give UK ministers the power to spend on areas otherwise devolved. When it was a Welsh2 Labour Government  that handed these powers back to Westminster in the firasst place.


BBC Wales report that

MPs have been debating a new draft law that would give UK ministers the power to spend on areas otherwise devolved.

Ms Griffith said it was "laughable to see Tory MPs talk about spending" and raised concerns this would lead to Welsh Government budget cuts in future.

But Welsh Secretary Simon Hart insisted these powers would mean "more money coming into Wales".

The Internal Market Bill would transfer powers from the EU to the UK government to spend on areas such as economic development, infrastructure and sport.

The Welsh Government has accused its UK counterpart of "stealing powers" from devolved governments.

But UK ministers said the law would allow them to replace existing EU funding programmes.

This aspect of the bill has divided Welsh MPs in the House of Commons where it has been debated this week.

Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones called it a "weak attempt at ripping up the devolution settlement", but Conservative MP Stephen Crabb said the UK government using these powers to spend in all parts of the United Kingdom "certainly isn't a controversial thing, if you're a unionist".

Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake said UK ministers had "failed to make the most of the powers they already have" in Wales.

 

Ms Griffith told BBC Politics Wales there were "a fair few projects, like electrification in Wales, where we just haven't seen the Tories get on and spend the money" as previously promised.

"If you look at the devolved budget, what has actually happened over the last 10 years is the Tories have cut and cut and cut.

"This is absolutely delusional. It's laughable to see Tory MPs talking about spending when we know that's actually not what they've been doing.

"What this bill would actually allow would be for UK government ministers to interfere in something that is clearly devolved.

"It would allow the UK government to decide if they wanted to spend money on something and then, of course, what they'd turn around and do is say 'we've done that bit of spending, so we're going to take that out of the budget'.

"What would be left for us to choose how to spend in Wales would be considerably less.

"It'll be utter chaos not knowing from one year to the next what money is going to be available. Councils need to plan, people need to know what budgets are."

It is over two years ago that the National in Scotland told us of their concerns.

SO is Scotland isolated now that Wales has accepted a Brexit deal with Theresa May? Maybe. But we are where we always are within the Celtic sisterhood – leading from the front for a proper not a patsy agreement about the division of powers post Brexit. And since the powers and divvy up are vital for the proper functioning of the Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast parliaments, you could say the Scottish Government is fighting for the future of devolution. Ironic, eh?

Wales’ Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford says the deal his government has signed means powers in areas “currently devolved remain devolved”. That’s grand. But unless Cardiff has a guarantee Edinburgh’s not yet seen, the crucial little word “consent” is missing and the deal they’ve agreed with Westminster means Theresa May can dabble in Welsh affairs for the next seven years.

Now that’s a scary enough prospect – but there’s a worse one. Theresa could soon be elbowed out of the way by Boris or the Barking Rees-Mogg. Imagine how much time either of them would lavish on areas of shared responsibility with Edinburgh.


Anyway, the Welsh Government will now repeal the Continuity Bill, leaving the Scottish Government to stand alone defending its own version before the judges of the UK Supreme Court, probably in June. Plans are for a Joint Ministerial Committee in London next week where Mike Russell will propose another compromise, but Whitehall sources say their current offer is now final, since further change would only jeopardise the deal just struck with Cardiff.

So what is occurring in Wales?

With no offence to our Welsh cousins, their constitutional clout and their enthusiasm for home rule have never hit the same levels as the Scots. The referendum that established their Assembly in 1997 was won by just 0.6 per cent – and from the start the Welsh didn’t have the tax-raising powers won by the Scots.

Despite every conceivable wheel falling off the cart at Westminster, Plaid Cymru has only recently started to advocate independence – for many years they’ve settled for greater devolved powers. That’s because the size of the Welsh population and its close integration with England poses big practical problems.

The Welsh Assembly presided over a Leave vote in Wales – the only one of the devolved nations or regions (including London) not to vote Remain. That’s testimony to the way in which Welsh politics and society still shadows England. According to Daniel Evans of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research: “Hardly any of the people we speak to in our research know anything about the EU dividend to Wales or the implications of Brexit for Wales.

“Instead they focus primarily on British issues such as immigration. This reflects the diet of media in Wales, which is the same as England. Scotland of course has its own media, a left-wing party in charge, and revived engagement in politics since the independence referendum.”


And there’s a final point. The man who made the deal with David Davis, Mark Drakeford, has just announced his intention to stand for the job of Welsh Labour leader, days after the veteran Labour leader Carwyn Jones (the architect of the defiant Continuity Bill strategy) said he was going to quit. Drakeford is a man with a mission – to make headlines in Wales. He’s done that – but he may soon regret not taking a tougher stand and a longer view.


So Wales basically lacks the smeddum, history and democratic mandate to stand up to London. Maybe that explains their decision to take an early bath.

Unionist-dominated Northern Ireland has also pulled its punches in arguments with Westminster, and whilst the current First Minister Arlene Foster looks well capable of flattening any louche London Tory that gets in her way, she’s somewhat constrained by being a Brexiteer herself as well as the woman who sold her party’s soul for £1 billion investment in the province.

Now Welsh Labour seem to have woken up to the repercussions of their failure to put on a united from with the other devolved powers two years ago.

I don't agree with Ms Griffiths that the Tories won't increase spending in Wales or rather, they will spend money on projects  that are either the wrong choice like the M4 bypass or  don't need like new prisons and reduce the Senedd budget accordingly.

Of course there are still voices in Welsh Labour who would like the Senedd to be reduced in power or even abolishes fearing that we could see a repeat in Scotland where they are replaced, by a party that not only uses its powers but demands more on the road to independence.

There are many even maybe a majority in Welsh Labour that wish for parity with Scotland , but even they are concentrated on getting a Labour Government in Scotland than obtaining the change they want now.

The news that hundreds of Scots miners who received criminal convictions during the bitter strike of the 80s are set to be pardoned following an independent review established by the Scottish Government has proposed the move, which would also cover miners who have since died.

This led to this tweet from a "Welsh" Labour MS

Alun Davies MS / AS 

 

 

@AlunDaviesMS

·

Sep 19

And when justice is finally devolved the

@WelshLabour

@WelshGovernment

will also pardon our miners.

Quote Tweet

MickAntoniw MS

@MickAntoniw1

· Sep 19

“These people were innocent and victims of a political war waged by the Thatcher government. This is an opportunity to right a historical wrong and deliver justice.” twitter.com/LabourRichard/…

Does this mean a call for devolving justice to the Senedd will be in the 2021 Labour Manifesto for the Senedd.

Don't hold your breath.

 

Kernow would be better off in a "Celtic Conflagration ",

 The leader of Mebyon Kernow has blogged his poignant memories of the vote for a Welsh Assembly he writes.

"23 years ago today, the people of Wales voted in favour of a Welsh Assembly. MK leader Cllr Dick Cole was in Cardiff, along with a number of number of MK members. Looking back, he writes:

"I have wonderful memories of this particular night, because I was in the Welsh capital for a Channel 4 programme about the outcome of the referendum, which was broadcast from Cardiff Castle.

"For me, it was the first time that I had been invited to take part in a live television debate, but it did not work out as I had anticipated. I was there to comment on the implications of a YES vote for the rest of the United Kingdom but, as it was looking like a NO vote, they did not bother to use me. The programme then ended, ridiculously, before the last regional results were announced and the final outcome known.

"At that time, it would be accurate to say that I was less than happy to have travelled all the way to Wales and not even participated in the debate.

"But Channel 4 had booked me a room at the Park Hotel, where the YES camp was based and had planned their celebratory party.

"When I got there, the mood was dark and sombre, as the campaigners – many of whom had dedicated their lives to the goal of greater self-government for Wales – feared their dream of devolution would not be realised.

"I was present when the final result came in, along with a few others from Cornwall, complete with flags of St Piran. I will never forget the raw emotion of that night, the explosion of sheer joy when everyone realised that they had indeed won the vote, and I am grateful that I was able to be there. Thank you Channel 4 for my night in Cardiff.

"The campaign for Welsh devolution continues to be an inspiration for me. I just hope that we can replicate their success here in Cornwall and win a Cornish Assembly of Parliament."

Diolch Dick  who has longed  campaigned for Plaid Cymru since his days at the University of Lampeter.

It is al to easy for us in  the National Movement in Ireland Wales and Scotland to overlook the claims of Kernow , in our quests for our nations, but we never should forget that it is part of our "family" and we should seek to support the aims of Kernow.

The needs of Kernow for recognition autonomy or full blown independence has never been starker as they face seeing the Tories enforce boundary changes , that would see a  new constituency merged with part of Devon ignoring the long established boarder Tamar.

As we in Wales seek to establish Senedd control over the thrat of holiday home , Kernow  has faced a similar problem , and the treat to its culture and the impossibilty of young people finding affordable housing.

There has been some speculation of an Independent  Wales , Scotland and Ireland forming some kind of Celtic confederation  perhaps sharing things like costal protection both geographically and  through a joint defence force.

In such a scenario and with Wales and Scotland rejoing the EU , and leaving England to come to its senses , and drop its form of often racist John Bull Nationalism. The idea of an Independent Kernow  rather than simply an autonomous region looks far more possible.

So as I said we need to count Kernow in our "YES" family, and when we in Cymru get together again for our next Independence  march lets invite Dick Cole  hopefully wit a group carrying St Piran flags along.

We deny we are not too, poor or small  and we should not deny that of Kernow as well

Mass involuntary sterilisation in US mirrors that in China

 The claim that  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) idetention center in Georgia is reportedly the site of a mass involuntary sterilisation project is disturbing to say the least.

The Guardian reports that 

"A whistleblower report published by the non-profit Project South alleges that large numbers of migrant women held at the Irwin county detention centre, a privately run facility that imprisons undocumented immigrants, received hysterectomies that they did not want and which were not medically necessary.

The allegations reported by Project South were first made in a formal complaint by a nurse working at the detention center, Dawn Wooten, who describes the conditions there and conversations she had with imprisoned women in detail. The hysterectomies were all allegedly performed by the same outside gynecologist, Mehendra Amin, of Douglas, Georgia. Wooten says that one migrant woman referred to Amin as the “uterus collector”. Amin told The Intercept that he had only done “one or two hysterectomies in the past two [or] three years.” Responding to the allegations, he said “Everything is wrong” and urged Intercept reporters to “talk to the hospital administrator” for more information.

The women say they were not told why they were having hysterectomies, with some saying that they were given conflicting reasons for the procedures or reprimanded when asked about them. Wooten’s account in the Project South report was corroborated by two lawyers, who told NBC News that four women in the facility whom they represent, had been sterilized without medical cause and without their consent. According to the Project South report, a detained woman at the Irwin county center said: “When I met all these women who had had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp. It was like they’re experimenting with our bodies.

As horrific as the allegations are, it’s not likely that either the Irwin county officials or Dr Amin were experimenting. More likely, they knew exactly what they were doing. If true, the allegations of forced sterilizations would make the Irwin county detention center only the latest in America’s long history of eugenics, which has disproportionately targeted women of color.

In the early 20th century, white American intellectuals were pioneers of race science, advancing the idea that “undesirable” traits could and should be bred out of the population with government planning and selective, involuntary sterilization programs. Everything the Nazis knew about eugenics, they learned from the United States. The 1927 Buck v Bell supreme court case, in which the court ruled that the state of Virginia had the right to sterilize a 20-year-old named Carrie Buck against her will, led to an era of enthusiastically racist population engineering by state governments. Federally funded eugenics boards were established in 32 states, through which tax dollars were spent to sterilize approximately 70,000 people, mostly women. These programs were used to enforce via state law the racist fiction of America as a white country, and forced sterilization disproportionately targeted Black women".

The accusation has an echo of Chinese policies against minorities.

 Two Uighur organizations  who filed a complaint against China in the International Criminal Court alleging crimes against humanity and repression of minorities.

The International Criminal Court complaint represents the first time members of the Muslim minority group have attempted to hold the Chinese government accountable for repressive policies, NBC News reported. Uighurs are a minority group of Muslim Turkic ethnicity numbering 11 million who mainly live in China’s Xinjiang region, according to BBC News.

“I didn’t see, but I could hear the unbearable screams coming from both sides of the corridor,” said Mamattursun Omer, a Uighur whose account of being detained in Xinjiang is one of many that NBC News reported are included in the International Criminal Court complaint.

“They should be punished for the crime they have done to us,” he told NBC. “It is my responsibility to give my testimony.”

he complaint specifically claims that China enforced birth control, carried out mass surveillance, and committed massacres on the Uighur population inside the Xinjiang region.

The Associated Press detailed China’s practices of forced birth control policies in Xinjiang in a July report that referred to the policies as “demographic genocide.”

Hundreds of internal Chinese government files, leaked in 2019 and published by The New York Times, purport to expose China’s mass incarceration policies in Xinjiang.

In July, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on multiple Chinese Communist Party officials over the government’s treatment of Uighurs. It specifically condemned “forced labor, arbitrary mass detention, and forced population control, and attempts to erase their culture and Muslim faith.”

“The United States is taking action today against the horrific and systematic abuses in Xinjiang and calls on all nations who share our concerns about the CCP’s attacks on human rights and fundamental freedoms to join us in condemning this behaviour,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said of the Chinese Communist Party in a formal statement.

So If the "ICE" allegations have any foundations the US is carrying out a similar abuse of Human Rights on a minority and reeks of hypocrisy.

Now these are "accusations" and not prof  but they both should be taken seriously and the failure to do so might well be because the US and China are so big and powerful that they can easily flaunt world human rights relegation , whilst smaller less powerful countries  would be treated like a world pariah.