Latest / UK Column Radio / UK Column News — 10 December 2025

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UK Column News — 10 December 2025 · UK Column Radio

0:08
Good afternoon. It's Wednesday the 10th of
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December, just after 1:00. Welcome to UK column News.
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I'm your host Mike Robinson. Joining me by video link today
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are Charles Mallett and Vanessa Bailey.
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And later in the programme, we're going to be covering the
0:19
grooming gangs inquiry. BBC coverage of Jelani's first
0:23
anniversary as president of Syria and a host of other
0:27
topics, but we're going to get started today.
0:31
Charles with digital ID. We are and good afternoon, Mike.
0:35
Good afternoon all. And the reason for this is
0:37
because a petition which was signed by 3 million people and
0:41
sent to the Houses of Parliament has been dealt with.
0:44
Well, first of all, address what happened in October, which was
0:47
the government's response to the nearly 3 million people that did
0:50
sign it. And they said despite the
0:53
petition, we will introduce a digital ID within this
0:55
parliament to help tackle illegal migration, making
0:59
accessible, sorry, making accessing government services
1:02
easier and to enable wider efficiencies.
1:05
So effectively, the message being that you're going to have
1:07
it whether you like it or not. They went on in this response to
1:12
the petition by saying that it was really the complexity of the
1:16
supposed complexity of dealing with physical documents.
1:19
And they said this is both bureaucratic for the individual
1:22
and createspace for abuse and fraud.
1:25
So they were on very thin ice at the beginning.
1:29
But what we'll do is we'll just go back to listen to the words
1:32
of one of the chief architects of this initiative, going right
1:35
back to his term in office as Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
1:40
The benefits are clear. Digital ID will make our
1:44
interactions with each other and with the state faster, cheaper
1:49
and more reliable. It will allow us to judge who
1:54
has a right to be in our country and who doesn't, and so solves
1:58
one of the major challenges of immigration.
2:00
Facial recognition can now spot suspects in real time from live
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video, tracking organised criminals and borders in public
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spaces, even helping find missing people in London.
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Live facial recognition led to 360 arrests by the Met Police
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between January and October 2024, just in a pilot project.
2:24
It boosts response times and helps identify suspects quickly
2:29
in busy places like train stations and events.
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Live video from body cams and CCTVS can be used to provide
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real time advice to officers from a command centre or deploy
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resources to where they're most needed.
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AI will go even further, spotting crime patterns, guiding
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patrols and streamlining decisions.
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This is where technology like digital ID becomes critical.
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My institute's own analysis shows that introducing this in
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the UK would save at least 2 billion a year, and likely more.
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By reducing losses to fraud, improving tax collection and
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better targeting of state support, we can ensure that
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digital ID enhances rather than threatens personal privacy.
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The key is building trust and designing with thought and
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intention systems that are secure, fair, inclusive and
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effective at combating crime and making us all safer.
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Not the most convincing of salesman one might say, and
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certainly had he been taking part in the debate in
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Westminster Hall yesterday, sorry on Monday, he might have
3:41
found himself in a minority, but nonetheless he puts forward the
3:45
official narrative position. Now leading that debate was
3:48
Robbie Moore MP, Conservative MP and here he is just in an early
3:52
engagement and with another contribution from Neil Hudson,
3:55
also Conservative MP. And Sir Edward, there lies all
4:00
of the explanations and the reasoning as to why there is so
4:03
many in this House that are opposed to the plans that have
4:05
been brought forward by the Prime Minister.
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But here's the question they hope that nobody will ask.
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If the real target is people who are here illegally, then why on
4:16
earth do 67,000,000 British citizens who are already have
4:21
National Insurance numbers, passports, driving licences and
4:25
birth certificates need to be dragged into a brand new
4:28
compulsory database as well? What exactly is it about
4:32
stopping the crisis of inflatable dinghies in the
4:35
Channel that requires your son, your daughter, daughter, your
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dad, your 90 year old grandma to hand over her data to and facial
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geometry to the Home Office server?
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And I will give way. I'm grateful to my honourable
4:48
friend for giving way. My constituents in Epping Forest
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are deeply concerned about the prospect of digital ID cards.
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Many have written and spoken to me and over 5600 have signed the
4:58
petition. Rather than improving the
5:00
delivery of public services, this scheme actually risks
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wasting billions on a complex, intrusive and potentially very
5:07
insecure system that will not help anyone.
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Does my honourable friend agree with me that the Labour
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government must listen now, take on board the public concerns and
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scrap this flawed policy? And my honourable friend makes
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an absolute point because the reason is this is not about
5:22
stopping the boats at all. This is about more government
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state control. I will give.
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Moore and Hudson, they're expressing concern about state
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control. 11 might ask where the voices like those were in 2020.
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But going on to the the specific migration issue, this is what
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Damien Hines, another Conservative MP, had to say.
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One of them, Italy, has ID cards.
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It also has one of the highest rates of illegal arrivals by sea
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in the world. And here employers are obliged
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already to do identity and right to work Jacks.
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And by the way, if you sign up as a legally resident person to
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deliver food and then subcontract that job to somebody
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here illegally for cash, I failed to see how an ID card or
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a digital ID interferes with that at all.
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Now, ministers say there would be no penalty for not carrying a
6:20
car and there would be no stop and search.
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But it's very hard to see how digital ID or physical ID cards
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address illegal immigration unless it is possible to demand
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the card from somebody who you find in the street or in a
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workplace. And that is precisely the Papers
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pleas Society that we do not want.
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And he would appear to be absolutely right on that point
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about the papers pleas and and effectively has he caught the
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government in a lie there by when they declare that people
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would not be required to produce their identity.
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Now this did bring in voices from all across the spectrum and
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in fact we had former sparring partners Ian Duncan Smith and
7:00
Jeremy Corbyn in an exchange, again pursuing yet more
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dimensions to the to the very many problems with this.
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A very good case. I am utterly opposed to this, as
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are many of my constituents, but one of them has made this point
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to me that in actual fact, our great liberty, our great
7:17
treatment that the state has to prove you guilty before you are,
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have to make a charge that innocence before guilt.
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This reverses that such that almost everybody on an ID card
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is assumed to have guilt until they have discharged themselves
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as innocent. Doesn't that break against all
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our freedoms? I I thank the member for the
7:35
intervention. I think he's making an important
7:37
point there because the huge numbers that have signed this
7:40
petition indicate to me that there are many in this country
7:43
that are deeply concerned of the direction of travel in which
7:46
we're going. ID cards is one thing,
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restricting jury trial is another.
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Facial recognition at tube stations and now even in
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supermarkets is something that people find deeply disturbing.
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There's a whole vein of thought across the country where people
8:02
are feeling a quite reasonable sense of paranoia about the
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levels of surveillance under which they're under at the
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present time. And I think members of
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Parliament should would do well to try and understand that, that
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this attack on civil liberties, and that's what it is, means
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that vast amounts of information, vast amounts of
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information on all of us will be stored as they are already
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within the health service, which unfortunately the government is
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now making available to private healthcare interests at the same
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time. So there's a huge issue here
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about our data, our information and our privacy, which I think
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we would do well to remember. The last point I want to make is
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the last point I want to make is this.
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This debate is being pushed by commercial interests.
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Commercial interests, you will make a great deal of money out
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of providing the necessary technical equipment to set up
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this surveillance system that will do very well out of it and
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we are being pushed into agreeing it by them.
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I think it's time for members of Parliament to say listen to what
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people are saying, listen to the concerns, have a proper debate
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on the chamber, in the chamber about this and say no to the
9:09
government as we've said no before.
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Corbyn just making the point there that he did earlier on, in
9:17
fact, that it should have been in the main chamber.
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And this is what seems like a deliberate attempt by the
9:20
government to further marginalise.
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And also the critical point is that all these views represented
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or at least brought out by MPs have come directly from their
9:28
constituents. Now the other thing to point out
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is that it could should be seen as no coincidence that the
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Council of Europe today are meeting to discuss migration and
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the European Convention on Human Rights, which of course goes to
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the heart of the mass of that Jeremy Corbyn was concluding
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with there, which is the issue of privacy.
9:45
Now it was back in 2011 as the Identity Cards Act 2006 was
9:50
repealed by the 2010 Act and the National Identity Register was
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supposedly destroyed. And of course, that leaves
9:56
currently the situation that the minister may not issue identity
10:00
card, so it would be illegal to do so.
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But of course, we just have to conclude by pointing towards the
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government one login site, which is in effect creating a national
10:08
identity register by stealth because as they say, over time,
10:12
the one login will replace all other ways to sign into services
10:16
on gov.uk. So really of debate during which
10:22
many, many of the pitfalls and very obvious sort of red
10:27
herrings were brought out into the open.
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But there should be the continued pressure applied to
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this. But it, I mean, it must be seen
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despite the government's reaction to the petition itself,
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it should be seen as a, as a positive step in terms of
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engagement. Mike, I don't know if you've got
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any comments to sort of follow that that report?
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Not, not really at this stage. We'll talk about this an extra,
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I've no doubt. But let's let's move on then to
10:50
the news yesterday, which was that the the death of a British
10:56
special forces servicemen in what the Ministry of Defence
10:59
called a tragic accident. It's widely reported that
11:02
hostile fire is not thought to have been reported to be
11:06
involved and the term that was used in the media was not
11:09
thought so. I'm not sure whether there's
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absolute clarity on that. The question which hasn't been
11:15
answered precisely is, is what he was doing there.
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The statement said he was injured in a tragic accident
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while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability
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away from the front lines. So whatever that means, Charles,
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let me just ask you very briefly what your thoughts are on on
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that news. Well, with so little detail, I
11:37
should just clarify you said special forces, but I think, I
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think you meant to say armed forces.
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I don't think there's any evidence at this stage that
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there is a, a special forces. It was reported.
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In it was reported in the midstream press that it was
11:48
Special forces. But it was special forces, well,
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the, the, you know, the engagement with Ukraine on the,
11:52
on the training and mentoring basis goes back a, a number of
11:55
years. And by, by, you know, from the,
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the very small amount of information that has been put
12:00
forward, I think it's very difficult to say what the
12:02
circumstances could be. I mean, after all, DRIP
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personnel are killed in training incidents and accidents, I'm
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afraid, you know, all throughout the year.
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And so this may have been one such.
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It does seem unusual that there have been so few recorded and
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therefore, perhaps there is more to this than than we know now.
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But I mean, beyond that, I don't think I can really make much
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comment. Yeah, OK, Thanks for that.
12:23
Now Starmer on Monday hosted Zelensky, French President
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Macron, German Chancellor Mertz all at Downing St.
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Now the read out that they published says that they
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discussed the importance of the US LED peace talks for European
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security and supported the progress made.
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I'm just going to say that's rubbish.
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They're deeply worried that the US is leaving them to it.
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And it goes on to say that they instructed their national
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security advisor to continue discussions over the coming
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days. And they it said that they
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underscored the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,
12:59
which includes robust security guarantees.
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So look, let's have a quick listen to what Starmer said
13:06
during the press conference. The principles remain the
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principles that we've operated on for a very, very long time,
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which is that we stand with Ukraine and.
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If there's to be a ceasefire. It needs to be a just and
13:20
lasting ceasefire. And that's why it's so important
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that we repeatedly set out a principle that that matters
13:30
about Ukraine fully praying. And we stand here to support you
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in the conflict and support you in the negotiations and make
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sure that this is a just and lasting supplement, if we can
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get that far. If we can get that far.
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So in other words, no intention of heading towards peace at all.
13:51
But following that little meeting, Starmer hosted a call
13:54
with other European allies, as they described it alongside
13:58
Zelensky, to give them all an update and to get general
14:01
agreement on keeping the war going.
14:03
And Zelensky announced that they would be sharing a new agenda.
14:06
They described it as a 20 point plan with Trump, yes.
14:11
And that they were planning on doing that yesterday.
14:14
This seems to be a response to Trump's proposals for peace that
14:17
he sent to, to to them and also to Russia.
14:21
But they're absolutely not budging.
14:22
On giving up territory to Russia, Zelensky said once again
14:27
that Ukraine cannot give up any land.
14:29
He said the mood of the Americans and principles is for
14:31
finding and principle is for finding a compromise.
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Of course, there are complex issues related to territory, and
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a compromise has not yet been found there.
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So the other issue is that there's no general agreement the
14:43
the readout suggested that there was.
14:45
But let's bring on Slovak President Peter Pellegrini here.
14:50
He said that the European Union's military aids and
14:53
support for Ukraine is only prolonging the conflict in
14:56
Russia with Russia. And he said that the EU should
14:59
accelerate and support US efforts so that the
15:01
representatives can sit down at the negotiating table with Putin
15:05
as soon as possible and end the fighting.
15:08
But I would suggest that that's not what we're saying.
15:11
Um, so you could look at it that Trump is doing a good job in
15:14
appearing to warm up relations with Putin, particularly with
15:17
the recent release of the new national security strategy,
15:20
which Russia seems to be doing very positively.
15:24
But we need to remember what Trump's stated goal was.
15:28
This was stated before he was elected, that Europe needs to
15:31
deal with European affairs while the US moves on to other
15:34
theatres of operation. And I say this because although
15:38
Pete Hegseth is coming under massive pressure over possible
15:41
war crimes, as Patrick was reporting on Friday's news
15:44
programme, the Trump regime is moving ahead with the whole
15:47
Venezuela war effort. It seems that The Washington
15:50
Times series reporting that they have stood up AUS Army Western
15:54
Hemisphere Command, which they're saying is unifying the
15:58
domestic response missions currently currently performed by
16:00
the US Army N Latin America and Caribbean focused operations of
16:05
the US Army South and the large scale readiness oversight from
16:09
the US Army Forces Command. So this is all going to be
16:11
merged together. And I'll just want to to
16:15
highlight here an interview with The Guardian published,
16:19
published on Monday with the Brazilian chief foreign policy
16:24
adviser. And he was saying that he he was
16:27
afraid that the Venezuela conflict would worsen in the
16:30
coming weeks. The, you know, the potential of
16:32
US Venezuelan conflict. And he said he was speaking for
16:36
himself, not for Lula. But he said that the last thing
16:39
we want for South America is to become a war zone and a war zone
16:43
that would inevitably not just be a war between the US and
16:45
Venezuela. It would end up having global
16:47
involvement and this would be really unfortunate.
16:50
And he said if there was an invasion, a real invasion, I
16:53
think undoubtedly you would see something similar to Vietnam.
16:56
On quite what scale it's impossible to say.
16:59
But he also suggests that in the event of AUS invasion of
17:02
Venezuela, some nations that oppose Maduro, even those who
17:07
get involved, he said, I know South America, our whole
17:10
continent exists because of resistance against foreign
17:13
invaders. And the US invasion of Venezuela
17:16
would rekindle anti American sentiment around the continent.
17:20
So the situation then remains pretty volatile.
17:24
The war policy is absolutely in full swing in Europe, driven by
17:28
the UK and the US is clearly pivoting to other theatres of of
17:32
operation. That's how it looks to me
17:33
anyway. Vanessa, I wonder if you've got
17:35
any thoughts on that? Yeah, I actually had a
17:39
conversation with journalist Diego Sequeira yesterday, who
17:45
doesn't actually believe. He thinks that this is massive
17:48
amplification of this war narrative.
17:52
If war does go ahead against Venezuela, of course, Brazil and
17:56
Colombia become very vulnerable. And if they fall, if Venezuela
18:01
falls basically, which nobody thinks it's going to right now,
18:06
then the whole of Latin America is is threatened.
18:09
So I think it's more a policy of containment and encirclement of
18:13
Venezuela and and a similar hybrid war that's going on right
18:19
now in West Asia or the Middle East.
18:22
So this is a pretty, there's a pretty unpleasant scenario for
18:27
the people there and for South America.
18:29
It's, I mean, why would, you know, we've got to keep asking
18:33
why the, the, the, there would be support for this,
18:35
particularly when, you know, it's absolutely clear that
18:38
Maduro is not Venezuela is not a narco state, Mark Maduro is not
18:43
supporting the drug trafficking compare, you know, in contrast
18:47
to other South American countries.
18:51
Yeah, I mean, you know, these narratives like weapons of mass
18:53
destruction, narco state, we we know that they're generated
18:57
basically by the CIA and of course that the US is is
19:00
consistently profiting from any kind of drug cartel activity.
19:06
And not forgetting, of course, that they levered that
19:09
accusation against President Assad as the for the Captigan
19:14
smuggling and production and claimed that he was running a
19:18
narco state in the last 18 months of his governance of
19:22
Syria. Now, of course, we see that it's
19:25
exponentially growing as an industry in Syria, even though
19:29
Assad is no longer there. Indeed.
19:32
Well, let's let's move on to Syria then, because it's a year
19:35
since the Assad government fell. So what's the latest?
19:41
The latest is that the BBC is shoring up their 14 years of
19:46
wall to wall propaganda to bring about regime change.
19:51
But sort of in my view, this is quite extraordinary, the scenes
19:56
that we're seeing from inside Damascus.
19:59
Yes, it's one year, it's one year since I left Syria after
20:03
the terrorist groups took over Damascus and the BBC are back
20:07
there in force, which for me does raise questions as to why.
20:12
Umm, So let's have a look at the BBC reporting.
20:15
First of all, this is the front page of their website.
20:18
Umm, they of course, pretty much the massacres.
20:23
That are being carried out against Syrian minorities are
20:26
very much a sort of a a reduced narrative within the articles
20:31
themselves and they're very clearly supporting Jolani as an
20:36
unelected Syrian President with his al Qaeda route.
20:39
So victory only the start, Syrian President says the year
20:44
after the toppling of Assad. So they very much verbatim
20:47
repeat what Jolani is saying and give it credence and legitimacy
20:52
just as they have done, of course throughout the war
20:55
against Syria. And here again, just part of the
20:59
main page again, if if you freeze it and just read some of
21:03
the commentary there, all of it is pretty supportive of Jolani.
21:07
Very little of it is actually focused on the war crimes and
21:12
crimes against humanity that have been committed with
21:15
Jolani's green light since one year ago.
21:20
And if we look at who's actually on the ground in Syria, this is
21:25
what I found very interesting. So you have here Hugo Bachega,
21:29
Lease Doucet, Jeremy Bowen, Lena Sinjab.
21:32
Well, Lisa Doucet and Jeremy Bowen are two of the most senior
21:36
reporters at the BBC in my view. Having had a conversation with
21:42
Luis Doucet and Damascus some years ago, I would say very well
21:46
connected into the intelligence agencies in the UK.
21:51
Why would you have 4 senior correspondents in one place?
21:55
I mean, did we see this at the after the fall of Iraq or after
22:00
the fall of Libya? I don't think so.
22:02
So let's have a look at what they're actually saying.
22:04
So international editor Jeremy Bone, by the way, they're both
22:07
promoting a release of, of books.
22:11
So they're both on a on a book tour.
22:13
Also of the region in Damascus reported Syria's interim
22:18
president Jolani has found the going easier abroad than at
22:23
home, where people still live in skeletal buildings gutted by
22:26
war. These two set noted that Jolani
22:29
done the same kind of military fatigues he wore when his forces
22:33
last year stormed into the capital Damascus.
22:35
And while many Syrians say a weight has been lifted, he spoke
22:38
to a country still marred by sectarian violence.
22:42
This is this passive aggressive byline here.
22:45
So it's it's like saying 100 Palestinians were killed without
22:51
saying they were killed by by Israel.
22:53
And they're pushing effectively just as they were pushing for a
22:57
no fly zone during the regime change war.
23:00
Now they're pushing for the lifting of sanctions through the
23:02
narratives that they're producing.
23:05
And I just wanted to show this little clip of least USAT in
23:09
Damascus while there are ongoing massacres in Syria, looking very
23:14
jolly and not only talking about Jolani, the success of Jolanian
23:19
of the so called revolution, but also promoting the BBC.
23:22
So let's just have a quick look. Syrians are celebrating again in
23:30
the iconic Umayyad Square in the heart of Damascus.
23:33
They surged into this area a year ago to celebrate the end of
23:38
decades of dictatorship and a brutal civil war.
23:42
There are so many stories to tell and you can hear many of
23:45
them on the BB CS from our own correspondent.
23:49
It's celebrating its birthday on Saturday. 70 years.
23:57
I mean, a civil war that was entirely sustained by the likes
24:01
of Lisa Dusat and and Jeremy Bowen.
24:03
And then let's have a look very quickly at the continuing
24:07
narrative from Lena Senjab and Hugo Boshega.
24:10
So basically here some minorities remain frightened,
24:15
not 10s of thousands have been massacred by Jolani.
24:20
Bashaga makes the point that basically they also face huge
24:25
challenges. One man told him the main game
24:29
here is freedom, while a young boy talked about how the world's
24:32
perception of his country had changed.
24:34
So again, very little focus on the actual crimes that are, are
24:37
are now becoming commonplace on the streets of all cities and
24:43
and villages across Syria. Jeremy Bowen's main article,
24:48
Syria feels lighter without the Assad's crushing weight.
24:52
But now there are new problems. And again, he focuses very much
24:55
on the economic problems, pushing for the lifting of
24:59
sanctions. And I just wanted to show this
25:02
video of Jelani during the celebrations.
25:06
Someone pointed out on X, and I haven't been able to confirm it,
25:09
that the front man there carrying the machine gun was
25:13
actually a foreign intelligence operative.
25:17
But even the fact that Jelani has to be surrounded by these
25:20
heavily armed security guards, whereas all the footage
25:24
previously of President Assad mingling with his people, you
25:28
rarely saw any, any sign of a security at all.
25:32
Then you have Even so called independent media.
25:36
This is Mehdi Hassan of Zeteo Media that he's now established.
25:41
Of course, many people know him as perceptively being pro
25:47
Palestine, but in fact this Mehdi Hassan was responsible
25:51
also for supporting regime change in Syria, which has had a
25:54
catastrophic effect on the Palestinian resistance and and
25:59
the regional resistance. And then the return of Banner Al
26:06
Abed. Mike, you all remember this in
26:08
Aleppo 2016. She was five years old,
26:13
exploited by the regime change propaganda complex.
26:18
You'll remember the images of her in Aleppo.
26:20
Stand with Aleppo. She was heavily promoted.
26:25
I've just completely forgotten her name.
26:27
The Harry Potter Lady. Here she is now in 2025 again
26:34
promoting the so called revolution.
26:36
And of course when we talk about exploitation, here she is
26:40
receiving a prize from an organisation called Kids Rights,
26:46
the Children's Peace Prize. So of course, she's now been
26:49
fully absorbed into the soft power complex that will promote
26:55
Western agendas globally. Yes, thank you for that,
26:59
Vanessa. Thanks for that, Vanessa.
27:01
So JK Rowling, of course, is the name that you'd forgotten there.
27:06
So, but anyway, OK, thank you for that.
27:08
We'll talk much more about this a little later, an extra.
27:11
But before we get there, let's just say if you like what the UK
27:15
column does and you'd like to support us, you can head over to
27:18
the UK Column website. There is a link there to take
27:23
you to a page that explains how you can support us.
27:25
Join us As a member you get access to UK column News Extra,
27:29
you can make donations and so on.
27:31
But if you can't do any of that, then please do share material
27:34
you find on the UK Column website.
27:38
Now tonight, 7:00 PM, Jeremy is speaking to Chloe Carmichael on
27:42
the dangers of self censorship. That's at 7.
27:45
Khalsa is looking at Macron's visit to China.
27:49
That's at 9:00. And tomorrow at 1:00 PM, Sandy
27:53
is speaking to Rachel Matthews on Misadventures of an
27:58
Accidental Activist. So join us for all those
28:01
programmes over the next a little while, but we have just a
28:06
short message here from Patrick Hennigson.
28:10
We're here in Salisbury and I'm here with our speakers for the
28:15
event on Thursday night and we're just kind of having a walk
28:19
around, a sightseeing tour as it were, in this incredible
28:23
historic town of Salisbury. Soon we'll be visiting Salisbury
28:25
Cathedral with 123 metres Spire. I'm looking forward to that
28:30
personally. But.
28:31
UK columns having a fantastic specific event, but it's it's
28:35
about what didn't happen because we don't know what happened.
28:39
Nobody seems to know what happened, but I think we know
28:42
what didn't happen. That's what we're going to be
28:43
talking about on Thursday night. Hope to.
28:46
See you all there. So I hope everybody got the the
28:56
joke in that. If you didn't, have a look at
28:59
last Friday's UK Column News and maybe you'll you'll understand
29:04
it then. And of course the pan across to
29:06
Sergei Skripal's former property there at the end.
29:10
Now if you want the details of tomorrow night's event, it's on
29:13
Eventbrite. We'll put it on screen now and
29:17
the link will be in the show notes if you'd like to to
29:19
attend. There are still some tickets
29:21
left if you'd like to come to that. 7:30 PM.
29:24
If you can't make it to Salisbury then we will be live
29:27
streaming the event on the UK Column website, so have a look
29:30
for that. And then a final, well, not a
29:33
final reminder yet, but a reminder of Sunday this coming
29:37
Sunday, December the 14th beginning at 6:00 PM.
29:40
The latest, the 3rd Annual David Ray Gryphon Lecture on taking a
29:46
look at the 9/11 Truth Movement and where it's at with things.
29:49
So join us for that beginning at 6:00 PM on Sunday evening.
29:55
OK, let's let's move on then to the issue of grooming gangs.
29:58
And yesterday the Home Secretary made a statement in the House of
30:01
Commons on the appointment of a chair and panel to an inquiry
30:06
into grooming gangs or the inquiry into grooming gangs.
30:08
Let's have a listen to a little bit of what she said.
30:13
I know that for many, this day is long overdue.
30:17
For years, the victims of these awful crimes were ignored.
30:20
First abused by vile predators, they then found themselves
30:24
belittled and even blamed when it was justice they were owed.
30:29
In January, my predecessor asked Baroness Casey of Blackstock,
30:33
who's here with us today, to conduct a National Audit on
30:37
group based child sexual exploitation and abuse.
30:41
With devastating clarity, Baroness Casey revealed the
30:44
horror that lies behind that jargonistic term.
30:48
It is vital that we too call these crimes what they were to
30:52
multiple sexual assaults committed by multiple men on
30:56
multiple occasions. Children were submitted to
30:59
beatings and gang rapes. Many contracted sexually
31:03
transmitted infections, Some were forced to have abortions,
31:07
others had their children taken from them.
31:09
But it was not just these awful crimes that now shame us.
31:13
There was also an abject failure by the state in its many forms
31:17
to fulfil its most basic duty, protecting the young and
31:22
vulnerable. Worse still, some in positions
31:25
of power turned a blind eye to the horror, even covered it up.
31:30
Despite A shameful lack of national data, Baroness Casey
31:34
was clear that in some local areas where data was available,
31:38
and I quote, disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic
31:42
backgrounds were amongst the suspects.
31:45
Like every member of my community who I know, I am
31:48
horrified by these acts. We must root out this evil once
31:52
and for all. So Mahmoud went on to announce
31:58
that Barnes and Longfield CBE will lead a three year statutory
32:02
independent inquiry focusing on grooming gangs and looking at
32:05
ethnicity, religion and culture. Now Longfield is a former
32:09
children's commissioner who was appointed in 2015 under the
32:12
previous government and she'll be leading a three person panel.
32:17
And so these will investigate how young people were filled.
32:21
This is their language time and again by the very people who
32:25
should have protected them. So the other two on the panel
32:27
are Zoe Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE.
32:32
And the inquiry is going to have full legal powers under the
32:34
Inquiries Act to compel witnesses to give evidence and
32:37
to require organisations to hand over documents and records and
32:41
to make recommendations both locally and nationwide.
32:45
They say to make sure that nothing like this happens again.
32:48
Well, you'll excuse my cynicism. We'll explain why in a second.
32:52
Coming back to the final comment in the clip we just saw, frankly
32:56
Mahmoud has no intention of rooting out the evil of child
32:59
abuse in this country because I believe this is about using
33:03
victims of these gangs as pawns in a game designed to create
33:07
ethnic tensions in the UK. Because as we're going to see in
33:10
a minute, it's not just a problem of Muslims.
33:15
So the the fact that the inquiry is focusing on ethnicity,
33:18
religion and culture, I believe is deliberate obfuscation.
33:22
Now in saying that, I'm no way attempting to downplay the issue
33:25
or the injury which has been imposed on the people affected.
33:28
But if we focus on the issue of religion alone, we're doing a
33:32
huge or even this issue of grooming gangs alone.
33:35
We're doing a huge disservice to the 10s of thousands of people
33:37
affected by the broader child abuse issue in this country
33:41
because this is as much a Christian issue as a Muslim one.
33:44
The Church of England, for example, has never dealt with
33:47
its record. And if you aren't aware of its
33:49
past, have a look at this book by Teresa Cooper, Pinned Down
33:54
and the host of other information about what the
33:56
Church of England has been up to.
33:58
In covering this up in Northern Ireland as we speak, the
34:01
Presbyterian Church is trying to avoid its role in covering up
34:06
abuse within it. And here too, there is no effort
34:09
to add any kind of real inquiry. And of course, we should not
34:14
forget this man, Jeffrey Epstein.
34:17
And because this is not just about low level child abuse,
34:22
this is something that reaches the very height of the British
34:25
establishment. Now I want to show a very short
34:27
excerpt from a presentation giving given at Auk column event
34:31
held in Telford in 2015. Just have a look at this.
34:37
What you are looking at on screen is the elephant in the
34:42
room, The obvious problem. I am in this case referring to
34:49
the data relating to child abuse.
34:53
Those statistics obtained by the NSPCC cover rape, incest and
35:01
child prostitution across all 43 police forces in England and
35:07
Wales in 2011. One child sex attack was
35:14
reported every 20 minutes in 2011, equivalent to 444 attacks
35:22
a week, but fewer than 10% of cases ended in a conviction.
35:31
Four years later, it's abundantly clear that the
35:36
government have remained ineffectual.
35:41
The headline The PM dismissive of historic sex abuse claims
35:46
could of course mean that he is focusing on the present rather
35:51
than the past. However, the sub line is
35:54
telling. He wants to move on from
35:58
allegations of sexual abuse involving political figures.
36:06
So I've got to make these presentations available once
36:09
again. They haven't been on at least
36:11
publicly available since the YouTube channel was originally
36:14
taken down because they're more relevant now than they were at
36:18
the time, I think. And in spite of the potential
36:21
unpopularity of what I've just said in this report, I'm going
36:25
to continue argue that race and religion issue has to be taken
36:28
out of the discussion around this problem because the people
36:31
affected by grooming gang issue deserve justice, but so does
36:35
everyone else on the receiving end of child sexual abuse.
36:38
And that begins with the recognition of the scale of the
36:40
issue and the fact that this issue reaches into all sections
36:43
of British society, including Asian grooming gangs, but
36:46
including Christian churches, schools, nurseries, youth clubs,
36:50
politicians, the royal family. And remember, at the heart of
36:53
this is the children's home social services complex, which
36:57
enables it all. And that needs to be looked at
36:59
as well. So the focus on religion here, I
37:01
believe has an ulterior motive. Charles, do you have any brief
37:06
thoughts on on this? I think we're going to talk
37:08
about this an extra, but any brief thoughts?
37:11
Yeah, but I think you're quite right.
37:12
I mean the key phrase there from Shabana Mahmoud was where data
37:15
is available and that's reinforced by the NSNSPCCS
37:18
report on this. They they wrote a sort of
37:22
summary of what it is that Casey had said.
37:23
And of course in the vast majority of what was reported on
37:27
ethnicity was not even known. So this is, you know, an
37:32
unfortunate skewing, but as you say, there is a direct
37:35
consequence to that. The other thing to point out in
37:37
terms of Baroness Longfield just dealing with other issues that
37:41
we report on is that she is a firm and staunch advocate of
37:45
there being a register for children who are outside of
37:50
mainstream education. So, you know, it's very
37:53
interesting who, who gets brought in to deal with this
37:56
subject matter and indeed where this might go for children in a
38:00
wider context. Yes, indeed.
38:02
Thanks for that. Now, Charles, we have a report
38:04
here from Wilk also on the Derek Dimock case.
38:07
Would you just like to introduce that?
38:10
I will. I will prefix it with an apology
38:12
because sorry, with these Special forces referenced
38:14
earlier, I'd only read the initial report.
38:16
But actually I see that you're totally correct.
38:18
It was Lance Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute
38:21
Regiment, but specifically one para which is the Special Forces
38:25
Support Group. And that is relevant because the
38:28
Special Forces Support group, first of all, there was no
38:30
declaration they were in Ukraine and of course they wouldn't be
38:33
there if they weren't supporting Special Forces.
38:35
So that's, that is sort of an admission in the first instance.
38:38
Also, it's reported that he and some Ukrainian soldiers died
38:42
whilst testing an air defence system, which raises the very
38:45
real question, are British soldiers operating air defence
38:48
or other equipment that are being fired at, aimed at Russia?
38:53
Therefore, are we actually now seeing that we are directly
38:56
involved in the conflict? So that just to clarify that
38:58
point. But yes, Derek Dimock, we had a
39:01
report from Wills Cole, Will Cole Hill last week, and this
39:04
deals with the death of Derek Dimock in 2020 having been
39:09
administered midazolam among other things.
39:12
And so this is the enquiry into what actually did happen.
39:16
A further report from Will here. On Friday I returned to the
39:20
Coroner's Court in Suffolk for the last day of the Derek Dimock
39:22
inquest. Derek Dimock was an 86 year old
39:25
man who was admitted to Royal Trinity Hospice during June 2020
39:27
experiencing severe pain, including by touch.
39:30
Mr Dimock had a history of heart issues and had issues relating
39:33
to his kidneys. Mr Dimock died following the
39:36
application of midazolam by the NHS at Royal Trinity Hospice and
39:39
it's alleged by his family that this caused his death.
39:42
On Friday we heard testimony from palliative care expert
39:45
Professor Sam Ahmedzai, one of the star witnesses in this case,
39:49
as well as Doctor Daz, another apparent expert witness.
39:51
Professor Almazai was the Doctor Who oversaw the creation of the
39:55
NICE guideline Ng 31 and is one of the leading world experts in
39:58
his field of palliative care. Analysing the symptoms of DEL,
40:01
in particular the uric acid levels of over 800, the
40:04
Professor. That Dell was indeed suffering
40:06
from polyarticular gout. He highlighted how Dell's
40:08
sensitivity to even the stethoscope being placed upon
40:10
his skin was not merely hyperalgesia and oversensitivity
40:14
to pain, but the much more severe aleodesia when non
40:17
painful interactions lead to pain.
40:19
The professor argued that this severe pain was most clearly
40:21
explained by spinal expression of the gout, which can impact
40:24
nerves and occurs in roughly 1/4 of gout cases.
40:26
Despite being often undiagnosed. The professor criticised the
40:29
lack of hydration giving to Dell which would allow him greater
40:31
comfort and insist his body in being able to flush out toxins.
40:34
We heard but toxins being the side effect of the drugs as they
40:36
breakdown and potentially being a lethal combination.
40:39
To quote the professor, in an individual with renal failure
40:42
such as Dell when deprived of hydration.
40:44
Dell's lack of hydration was noted by a doctor Wright as
40:47
dehydrated plus plus, meaning very, very dehydrated and
40:51
professor raised alarmed that there was seemingly not offered
40:53
any pain relief for 58 minutes before going on to explain the
40:56
respiratory suppressant features of midazolam not present in some
40:59
other drugs. He questioned why midazolam and
41:02
not other drugs such as ketamine, labrometrosamine were
41:05
used which would not have suppressed his respiratory
41:07
system. The professor analysed evidence
41:09
and said imbalance needed to be struck between the heart and the
41:11
kidneys. Evidence was discussed as the
41:14
Dell state of mind, which devolved into drowsiness and him
41:16
becoming either comatose or barely rousable, which a
41:18
professor testified could be a product of the drugs he was
41:20
given. Returning to these drugs, Dell
41:22
was administered at least 17 1/2 milligrammes of midazolam.
41:25
Dell dose had been doubled during the night with questions
41:27
as to whether doctors were consulted as the escalating
41:30
doses given. An unclear amount was given by a
41:33
40 syringe driver with logs of the wastage of the drug erased.
41:36
The destruction of evidence, the controlled substances book,
41:39
despite the inquest being pursued and logs which were
41:42
backdated at the time at which Dell was in hospital, were
41:44
serious concerns raised by the professor who stated he was
41:47
shocked seeing the standard of record keeping.
41:50
There were also further issues regarding the final form prior
41:53
to cremation which mentioned the body was not examined after
41:55
death due to COVID procedures. Professor Almansar concluded
41:59
that Mister Dimmick's death was caused as follows.
42:01
First, hydrogenic acute intoxication with midazolam,
42:05
alfentanyl and oxycodone. Second, uncontrolled acute
42:10
polyarticulate gout with suspended vertebral gout.
42:13
And finally, acute renal failure aggregated by enforced
42:16
dehydration. Over the course of this case,
42:19
there've been a number of serious concerns with court
42:20
which have led to a number of reported complaints about the
42:22
court in this inquest. The inquest continued to be held
42:26
in court. BA small room, roughly 10 by 14
42:28
feet, reminiscent of a personal office within the court.
42:31
A lack of ventilation led to the room becoming hot and airless.
42:34
The court had rumour for only 6 individuals in the public
42:36
gallery, which in reality was nothing but a line of 6 chairs
42:39
awkwardly pressed into the back of the room.
42:42
Those kept outside were again expected to watch by video link,
42:45
which failed to show anything of the court except for the face of
42:47
the coroner or the witness giving evidence exclusively.
42:51
In addition, new restrictions preventing new attendees from
42:53
joining the case whilst it was ongoing, despite issues with
42:57
connection. On Tuesday, the live link cut
42:59
off, depriving those viewing of part of a witness testimony.
43:02
Meanwhile, the laptop used to operate technicals failed at
43:05
multiple points. Meanwhile, during Professor
43:07
Armizide's questioning by Miss Wright Kluger on behalf of Royal
43:10
Trinity, he was repeatedly referred to comment on items
43:13
without reference to the bundle, a practise to which Mr Bogle,
43:16
the family's representative, objected in person.
43:18
Hearings have now concluded without further delays being
43:20
allocated for witness testimony. Instead, many of the remaining
43:23
questions will be submitted in writing without the ability to
43:25
follow up as in court. Whatever the verdict, wider
43:28
implications will likely be drawn regarding the widespread
43:30
use of the Dazzle AM, whether during the lockdown period or
43:32
beyond the sum. This may mark just the tip of
43:35
the iceberg. They'll be returning in the
43:37
coming weeks or months for the verdict.
43:39
This is Will Colzel reporting the UK column.
43:45
OK. Thank you for to well for that.
43:47
So yes, we'll hear more on that in the coming weeks.
43:52
Vanessa, let me welcome you back and more on the propaganda
43:56
that's building around Syria. Yeah, there's there's been a
44:01
very odd building of a narrative, a kind of
44:07
recriminalization of President Assad.
44:09
And of course, we have to remember he escaped justice from
44:15
a Western perspective. In other words, he's, he's still
44:18
alive, unlike of course, Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein, both of whom
44:24
were done away with by the imperialist axis.
44:28
Assad is still alive. So the first, and there are
44:33
many, I've, I've picked out some of the most prominent ones, but
44:37
there are many, there is literally a whole tsunami of
44:40
recriminalization of Assad. First of all, this is from
44:44
Reuters, Assad's exiled spy chief and billionaire cousin,
44:49
which is Rami Mahlouf, who ran the kind of telecom industry in
44:53
Syria prior to the fall, and Kamal Hassan, his so called as
45:00
they call him spy chief. Plot Syrian uprisings from
45:05
inside Russia. This is talking about potential
45:08
for uprisings on the coast. You can read the article for far
45:11
more detail and I wonder if this is related to the fact that
45:16
there is a growing resistance in Syria basically pushing back
45:20
against the Jolania trustees and and lack of any accountability
45:28
or justice in Syria for the victims of the violence carried
45:32
out by the various foreign takfuries and and thugs that
45:36
belong to Jolani's security forces.
45:39
This might be that Reuters article might be setting the
45:43
narrative to justify further massacres based on the fact that
45:48
there is this brewing plot to overthrow the western imposed
45:53
president in Syria. That's just my interpretation of
45:56
that. This is something that has been
45:59
breaking over the last few days in Gulf media.
46:02
There has been the release of videos of President Assad with
46:07
Luna Shibil, one of his former advisers, basically denigrating
46:11
various figures in Syria and in the resistance.
46:14
And then in the last 24 hours this broke.
46:17
Almaydin, Damascus correspondent reader Al Bashar has made some
46:21
bizarre claims regarding Assad being involved in the 2024
46:25
assassinations of Hezbollah and IRGC figures in Syria.
46:31
He also claimed that Assad was involved in the assassination of
46:35
his own media advisor Luna al Shabal, who died in July 2024 in
46:40
a car accident. Again, this seems to be trying
46:43
to drive a wedge between really Syria and the resistance in
46:50
Lebanon and even in Iran, perhaps trying to discredit the
46:55
resistance in Lebanon for having participated in the war against
47:01
the collective W Israel, Turkey, to try and overthrow the Syrian
47:04
government. Then we bring in Walt Disney.
47:08
This is Derek Hadhad, who was a very popular figure based in
47:14
Canada, Syrian origin, allegedly left Syria in 2015.
47:21
So this is the most exciting project to date.
47:24
So honoured to share the incredible news that our family
47:26
story is becoming an animated feature film called Chocolate
47:30
produced in Hollywood by Rising Tides film.
47:33
Extraordinary global team of artists who've worked on some of
47:36
the most iconic animated films from Disney, DreamWorks and
47:40
Sony. So now the criminalisation of
47:43
Assad and the rewriting of history, of course is is going
47:47
to be Disneyfied. Just a quick look at Tarek
47:51
Haddad and how deeply embedded he was in Canadian and US
47:59
echelons of power. Here he is of course
48:01
photographed with President Obama, but he's very embedded
48:05
into the Canadian political circles.
48:08
He founded Peace by Chocolate. You can go and look that up, but
48:12
I, I don't have anything else to, to comment on that.
48:16
And then in the last few days this organisation, which I
48:22
haven't come across before, ICIJ has put out an entire thread on
48:28
X basically claiming that they have come into possession of
48:34
documentation. It's a collaboration from
48:37
ICIJNDR, which is a German media company, 24 Media Partners in a
48:44
number of countries across the globe.
48:46
And this was part of their sort of PR video to promote their
48:51
investigation. So let's have a look at this.
48:56
For over a decade, Bashar Al Assad ruled Syria through
49:00
violence and fear, ordering the disappearance, torture and
49:03
murder of 10s of thousands of people who opposed his regime.
49:08
Now, one year since Syrian opposition forces overthrew his
49:12
dictatorship, A-Team of journalists from around the
49:15
world has uncovered harrowing new details about his state run
49:18
killing machine, the Damascus Dossier.
49:22
An investigation led by the International Consortium of
49:24
Investigative Journalists and German broadcaster NDR sheds new
49:29
light on the daily operations of illicit surveillance and
49:32
detention system. Thousands of leaked intelligence
49:35
files obtained by NDR expose how the regime cooperated with
49:39
autocratic allies and pressured the United Nations to maintain
49:43
security contracts that served Al Assad's interests.
49:47
NDR reporters also obtained one of the largest troves of images
49:52
of Syrian prisoners tortured and murdered by Al Assad's forces.
49:59
So really, I mean, this is just a sort of a rehash of much of
50:03
the propaganda with that was levered against President Assad
50:07
and the government during the 14 year regime change war.
50:10
Very quick look that I had at the sponsors of ICIJ or or the
50:15
partners first of all, National Endowment for Democracy, which
50:18
of course is nothing more than a deep state outreach agent for
50:22
the United States Open Society Foundations, which of course is
50:26
sort of well known for interfering in in the state
50:31
affairs of sovereign countries. The UK post code lottery perhaps
50:36
might get some comment from you on that in, in extra.
50:40
But then if if we also look at and I'm, I'm going to conclude
50:45
with what I think is actually going on in Russian task media,
50:52
it's been reported again in the last 48 hours.
50:54
Netanyahu says his regular contacts with Putin are in
50:58
Israel's interests. What does he actually say?
51:01
So the actual quote from Netanyahu is that he says, I
51:06
speak with President Putin regularly.
51:07
There should be no surprise to anyone that has been closely
51:10
following the Russian involvement in Syria.
51:14
I think between 2015 and 2021 there were around 50 phone calls
51:20
between Putin and Netanyahu. These decades long personal ties
51:24
serve our vital interests. 4 powers that Israel has bolstered
51:29
relations with in the past two years.
51:31
Russia, the US, India and Germany.
51:33
An interesting conglomeration there which we can again discuss
51:37
more in extra then. The New York Times has basically
51:42
been running a witch hunt for a number of weeks now, trying to
51:46
identify and geolocate members of Assad's government and
51:50
military that fled one year ago. The vanishing act, How Assad's
51:55
top pench men fled Syria and justice.
51:58
Now I have to say I find these reports from NYT to be utterly
52:02
disgusting. They are condemning without any
52:05
due process, they're rushing to judgement and effectively
52:10
they're criminalising people that have not gone through any
52:13
form of trial. And of course, what does that
52:15
do? Again, it justifies the ongoing
52:18
massacres by Jolani inside Syria by effectively criminalising
52:23
those that perhaps still support Assad and and what Syria used to
52:28
be. And then interesting again in
52:31
the last 48 hours in relation to Netanyahu's statement in the
52:34
Knesset. This has been published in
52:37
Euronews, but it's also been picked up by Israeli media.
52:41
One year after Syria ouster, Al Assad lives under strict Russian
52:46
supervision in Moscow exile. Very different language suddenly
52:50
being used, particularly by Israeli media that are saying
52:54
they have sources claiming that Russia is increasing
52:57
restrictions on Assad and that effectively he's now under house
53:01
arrest. So I'm wondering, we talked
53:04
about this, Mike, yesterday, whether this is creating the
53:07
environment in which Russia can extradite Assad for justice,
53:13
such as it will be in Syria, because Jolani has been pushing
53:17
for this since communications began again between Russia and
53:22
the Takfiri regime in Syria. And again, I I think all of
53:28
these narratives are effectively giving the pretext for the
53:32
massacres and atrocities to continue in Syria.
53:36
Indeed, I think I think this whole situation is extremely
53:39
problematic because there is no prospect of there being any
53:43
justice for the individuals that you that were highlighted in the
53:47
New York Times article or for Assad.
53:50
In the current climate it's just not possible.
53:54
Let's come back to the UK Charles and move on to farming
53:57
related issues. Well, in fact, one that's going
54:01
to affect large swathes of the world and Le Monde reporting, as
54:04
have many mainstream outlets, on the retraction of a paper
54:08
studying the effects or the safety data around glyphosate.
54:11
And if you're wondering why that matters, it's because the
54:13
majority of people do ingest or absorb glyphosate several times
54:18
a day. Now, the journal in question is
54:21
the Journal of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, and
54:25
their editor took the decision to withdraw the paper that was
54:28
initially put out in April 2020. The safety evaluation and risk
54:32
assessment of the herbicide Roundup and it's active
54:34
ingredient glyphosate for humans, which is the that that
54:37
was the title of the original paper.
54:39
The editor wrote that concerns were raised regarding the
54:42
authorship of the paper, validity of the research
54:45
meetings in the context of misrepresentation of the
54:48
contributions by the authors and the study sponsor, and potential
54:51
conflicts of interest of the authors.
54:53
And he went on to explain exactly why that was the case,
54:56
saying that the conclusions regarding the carcinogenity of
54:59
glyphosate what were solely based on unpublished studies
55:03
from the manufacturer Monsanto. Further, that it appears from
55:08
correspondence that employees of Monsanto may have contributed to
55:11
the writing of the article without proper acknowledging as
55:15
Co authors and among many other points.
55:18
This is the last one I've got. The authors may have received
55:21
financial compensation from Monsanto for their work on this
55:25
article which was not disclosed as such in this publication.
55:29
So it is very significant. This should have been retracted,
55:32
as I say, because of the very, very widespread application of
55:35
the herbicide glyphosate. Now, coincident with this is a
55:41
declaration by United States lawmakers saying they are
55:44
backing Bayer Monsanto with the decision on exactly this issue.
55:49
John S, the US solicited solicitor general has filed A
55:53
brief supporting Monsanto's petition for a ruling on whether
55:57
federal law pre empts claims under state laws that the
56:00
company failed to warn users about round UPS cancer risk.
56:04
Now, in the middle of all of this is Robert Kennedy Junior,
56:08
the current Secretary of State for Health and Human Services.
56:13
And this is what he had to say about Roundup in a discussion
56:15
with Joe Rogan. And then in 2000, around 2006,
56:23
they discovered that if you sprayed it on wheat late in the
56:26
season, it would desiccate the wheat.
56:28
In other words, it would dry it out.
56:30
And one of the big losses for farmers is wheat is if it rains
56:34
during the harvest season, you can't harvest it because it gets
56:38
mouldy. And so if you can spray a desk
56:41
in on it and dries it out and kills it, you can harvest it
56:44
right away and it won't get mouldy.
56:47
So all the wheat in our country started being sprayed that year
56:50
in 2006 with glyphosate. And that's the year you saw this
56:53
explosion of celiac diseases and, you know, gluten allergies
56:58
and all of this stuff that people, you know, that you may
57:00
have noticed around that. But they also the.
57:03
First time they were and and excuse me, the first time
57:06
they're, they're spraying it directly on food because it used
57:09
to be they were spraying it early in the season and it
57:13
would, you know, it would wash off and the, and the corn would
57:16
get higher than the the weeds and you wouldn't have to do it
57:18
better. But now they're spraying it
57:20
directly on our food. Sorry, Joe, go ahead.
57:22
So. There's one of the critical
57:25
parts there is that it is spread directly onto what subsequently
57:28
becomes food. And of course, because maximum
57:30
maximum residue limits are set beyond points that are perhaps
57:33
realistic, this is of significant concern.
57:38
Interestingly, also, Kennedy was one of the attorneys for the
57:42
case of Dwayne Johnson, who was awarded $289,000,000 in a
57:48
lawsuit against Monsanto going back to 2018.
57:52
And this has prompted, or at least the, the sorry if we can
57:57
just go on one slide please. I seem to have lost my
58:00
connection. The, the breakthrough initiative
58:03
there reporting that they're saying that Kennedy is exactly
58:06
who they said he was. Effectively, this is the sort of
58:08
the corporate position in that whilst we are on the one hand
58:12
supposed to believe that by producing carbon dioxide, we're
58:14
destroying the climate and the environment, but somehow by
58:18
putting toxic chemicals into the ground, we're not harming either
58:22
soil, animal or human health. So the the sort of sense of
58:25
outrage and politically and commercially funded opposition
58:30
to this is significant. Now how do things lie in the
58:33
United Kingdom? The Pesticides National Action
58:36
Plan 2025 has been presented as a document that has all of this
58:40
in check, in control. The situation doesn't seem to be
58:44
quite like that. We've got the Pesticide Action
58:47
Network in there review suggesting that highly hazardous
58:50
pesticides continue to be used within the global supply chains
58:53
of. All of.
58:54
The U KS largest 10 supermarkets, including
58:57
carcinogens and hormone disruptors, B toxins and water
59:01
contaminants. So something that's likely to
59:04
continue to cause controversy, but nonetheless the the
59:07
retraction itself is an extremely significant
59:09
development for Monsanto and indeed and all those using the
59:13
herbicide and the onward processes.
59:17
Thank you for that, Charles. This is a massively interesting
59:21
topic, so we'll we'll talk about more in extra no doubt.
59:24
I just want to end on something that I personally found utterly
59:28
hilarious because it was this BBC article.
59:31
Trades cancelled over fake bridge collapse image So trains
59:36
for cancer were halted after a suspected AI generated picture
59:39
that seemed to show major damage to a bridge appeared on social
59:43
media following an earthquake, the BBC article reported.
59:45
Just put it back on screen there if we could, William.
59:48
The tremor, which struck on Wednesday night, was felt across
59:51
Lancashire and the southern Lake District.
59:54
Network Rail said it was aware of the image, which appeared to
59:57
show major damage to Carlisle Bridge in Lancaster.
1:00:02
Midnight 30 GMT and stopped rail services across the bridge while
1:00:06
safety inspections were carried out.
1:00:09
A BBC journalist ran the image through an AI chat bot, which
1:00:13
identified key spots that may have been manipulated.
1:00:16
So let's just sort of put it back on William.
1:00:18
Let's just, let's just zoom in on this and have a look at the
1:00:24
two images that the BBC published with the the bridge on
1:00:27
the left and the AI manipulated image on the right.
1:00:29
And this journalist had to go to an AI chat box to identify that
1:00:34
that the problematic areas of the of the image on the right
1:00:38
there. It's quite incredible.
1:00:39
Charles, I don't know. I don't know what you what you
1:00:42
know. Where do we start?
1:00:45
Well, I mean, don't we go back to the words of Tony Blair who
1:00:47
who says that AI is an absolute gift and it will make all our
1:00:51
lives better all the time? Perhaps, perhaps he was
1:00:54
involved. We, we do have to to leave it
1:00:59
there because that's all we have time to time for today.
1:01:02
I'm going to say thank you to Vanessa, Charles and Will and to
1:01:04
everyone that's watching. Don't forget Germ Warfare and
1:01:07
Silken Steel tonight and join us for the Salisbury live stream
1:01:11
tomorrow beginning at 7:30. Now just make the point that
1:01:14
Germs programme would normally be going out at 7:00 tomorrow,
1:01:18
but because we're doing the Salisbury event, that's going to
1:01:20
go out at six. So German warfare will be out at
1:01:22
6:00 tomorrow evening. Join us for that.
1:01:25
We'll see you on Friday at 1:00 PM as usual for another UK call
1:01:29
news and part of that we'll be covering more on the Filton 6.
1:01:33
We'll see you then. Thanks for joining us.
1:01:35
Bye. Bye.