Latest / UK Column Radio / UK Column News Podcast 15th April 2024

Transcript

UK Column News Podcast 15th April 2024 · UK Column Radio

0:08
Good afternoon. Today is Monday, the fifteenth of April twenty twenty four,
0:13
just after one o'clock. Welcome to UK column News. I'm your host today
0:17
with me in the studio. I'm very pleased, says Mike Robinson, because
0:21
of this special events over the weekend. We are Who's joining us today,
0:27
Mike, Vanessa Bailey absolutely, thank you very much for that. Now I'm
0:32
just going to add that if you think the backdrop to us in Plymouth is
0:36
tropical today, having just been out, it's a lot colder than it looks,
0:40
so we'll just give that little instant weather report here from the southwest of
0:45
England. Well, Vanessa, really incredible things happening over the weekend. What
0:51
have you got for us? Yes, guys over Damascus, we're quite exciting.
0:58
Yeah, so let's just get to right into what has been happening.
1:02
This was ahead the Financial Times, as you said, Brian, just before
1:07
we came on, the juxtaposition of the images there kind of shouty Iran on
1:11
the left, the missiles getting intercepted and Netanyahu looking very serious and intellectual on
1:19
the telephone fight them. The night that Iran's missile spectacle rattled Israel, so
1:25
let's have a look at what it says in the Financial Times in Israel,
1:30
where the assaults had long been anticipated. This is a very important point.
1:34
Iran's attack had been made very clear for at least ten days, so that
1:42
the US and the UK had time to get into place with whatever air defenses
1:47
they would provide for Israel, and Israel also had plenty of time to prepare
1:53
itself for this attack. It wasn't a surprise attack. Around the same time
1:57
as Netanyahu's lane, the Wing of Zion took off for safety from Neverteam Airbase.
2:02
As the missiles approached, dozens of fighter aircraft and defensive systems were deployed
2:08
to fend off the attack, not just Israeli, but British, Jordanian and
2:14
Americans. So Jordan made it very clear on whose side it will be if
2:19
there is an escalation of conflict now according to the FT and this ties in
2:23
with many of the independent commenters that I commentators that I've been speaking to.
2:30
Iran's aerial assault on Israel one hundred and twenty ballistic missiles, thirty cruise missiles
2:37
and leading the way one hundred and seventy UAVs or drones now according to the
2:43
Financial Times, it says that these drones on the next slide, if we
2:49
can is some of which the Shah had won three six, are similar to
2:54
those Russia has unleashed in Ukraine have proven easy to take down. They weren't
3:00
really being used as attack drones. They were being used as advanced probe scouting
3:07
drones to toss out the Israeli air defense. Even Ukraine's limited air defenses have
3:15
taken them down. At the same time, and this is the important sector
3:20
in the ft, and Israeli official said that the swarm of drones was designed
3:25
to probe Israel's responses and track the locations and trajectories of its defensive assets.
3:34
They learned a lot about us, and we learned a little about them,
3:38
said the official. It was an education, very very important point. Let's
3:44
flip there by the ft. At the same time, in Western media,
3:46
we've barely seen any reporting on the unity the solidarity of the resistance access which
3:53
included Iraq, Yemen, Syria, the resistance factions inside Syria and Lebanon's Hezbollah
4:01
who attacked the air and missile defense headquarters in the Kuila Barracks and the occupied
4:08
Syria and Jolan with dozens of Katusha rockets as the Iranian missiles were incoming.
4:15
What was the reaction from the US and the UK. While Rishi Sunak,
4:19
of course came out immediately having not condemned the Israeli terrorist aggression against an Iranian
4:28
embassy in Damascus ten days prior, but condemned Iran's reckless effect on Israel in
4:32
the strongest terms, and we have the video relating to Rishi's comments. Well,
4:42
last night Iran launched a barrage of missiles and attack drones across the Middle
4:46
East towards Israel. This was a dangerous and unnecessary escalation which I've condemned in
4:54
the strongest terms. Thanks to an international coordinated effort which the United Kingdom participated
4:59
in, almost all of these missiles were intercepted, saving lives not just in
5:03
Israel, but in neighboring countries like Jordan as well. The RAF sent additional
5:09
planes to the region as part of our existing operations to counter dish in Iraq
5:14
and Syria. I can confirm that our planes did shoot down a number of
5:18
Iranian attack rones, and I want to pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism
5:23
of our pilots flying into the face of danger to protect civilians. So RIfS
5:28
did shoot down Uranian tactrones. Are you able to say what future involvement the
5:31
RAF the UK could have as this develops, and what was the process leading
5:35
up to that last night? Did you consult count as I said, the
5:40
RAF moved additional planes into the region as part of our existing operations to counter
5:45
dish in Iraq and Syria and achang fund that a number of Iranian attack rones
5:50
were shot down and we paid tribute to the bravery and the professionalism of our
5:55
pilots flying into the face of danger to protect civilians. I checked Cobra meeting
6:00
on Friday to agree a plan of action. So I think my comment on
6:06
this one straight straight off, is of course a modest response from the UK
6:13
there with planes in the area. Was there any real discussion in parliamentary terms?
6:18
He went into the Cobra meeting. Does what does that mean he was
6:23
already in a protected circle of people making the decision, so it didn't go
6:29
through a vote in parliament. We have a second club, we do,
6:32
Yeah, that's have look at the second one yet. Have you spoken to
6:36
mention in SNRHU and what is your message to him as he considers how is
6:41
Israel response to this. I would said yesterday it's clear that Iran is determined
6:47
to sow discontent and destabilize the region its own backyard. That's very clear from
6:55
its actions. If this attack had been successful, the fallout for regional stability
7:00
would be hard to overstate. And we stand by the security of Israel and
7:04
the wider region, which is of course important for our security here at home
7:09
too. And what we now need is for calm heads to prevail. We'll
7:13
be working with our allies to de escalate the situation, and I look forward
7:16
to speaking to G seven leaders later this afternoon. What practically can the UK
7:20
do to try and de escalate now? Is this predominately about dialogue or could
7:25
there be conditions set on military support as was last night, dependent on how
7:30
Israel response. Well, I'll be talking to G seven leaders later this afternoon.
7:33
It's important that we coordinate with allies and we'll be discussing next steps at
7:38
that moment. So Vanessa just say, of course he didn't answer the very
7:44
first question about a dialogue with Netsan Yako, that was just ignored. He
7:48
got back onto his press briefing, and I think he is deeply rattled.
7:54
I think the whole of the US and Western alliance is deeply rattled, because
8:00
we can see a little bit later things did not go as calmly as they'd
8:03
like us to believe. So Rashid just sorry, Vanessa, go ahead,
8:09
No sorry, I was just going to say absolutely, And I thought he
8:13
actually looked distinctly uncomfortable in both those clips, and interesting that of course they
8:18
will send defense for Israel against a retaliatory attack from Iran, that they can't
8:26
send defense for the millions of gardens that are well the million and a half
8:33
of gardens, fifty percent children that are effectively being massacred on a daily basis.
8:39
So back to Joe Biden his statement, of course, he completely condemns
8:46
the Iranian attack without any context whatsoever, and this was very much picked up
8:52
by the Russian Ambassador to the UN Vaselinaventcia in his address, which I've included
9:00
the clip of here to see. You know very well that an attack against
9:07
the diplomatic representation is a causas belly under international law, and if a Western
9:15
representation had been hit, you would immediately have rained down reprisals and would argued
9:20
that you were right about this in this very chamber. And this is because
9:24
for you, everything that has to do with Western representations in Western citizens is
9:30
sacred, it needs to be protected. But when it comes to other countries
9:35
their rights, including the right to self defense about their nationals, well that's
9:41
a different matter. As you like to say, what happens then is you
9:48
activate your favorite argumentation about lack of information, you start doing legalistic care splitting,
9:52
et cetera. And today the Security Council we're witnessing is a display of
9:56
hypocrisy and double standards. It's almost embarrassing to watch. Russia has warned on
10:05
many an occasions that the fact that many crises in the Milise are unsettled,
10:09
first and foremost in the area of Israeli and Palestinian conflict, which are frequently
10:13
fueled by irresponsible, unilateral and provocative acts, will lead to a growth of
10:20
tension in the whole region. We have stated on many occasions that no country
10:26
in the Middle East or Northern Africa should become an arena for regional or international
10:31
confrontation or an arena for settling political scores. What happened in the night of
10:37
the fourteenth of April did not happen in a vacuum. The steps undertaken by
10:43
Iraq became a reaction to a disgraceful inaction by the Security Council and a reaction
10:52
to an increagious attack by Israel against Damascus, and not the first one.
10:56
Because Syria is constantly being bombarded. I mean, you know, it's difficult
11:03
to argue with what he said. And this is the context to the attack
11:07
from Iran. It wasn't only the attack against the embassy itself, although that
11:11
was really the final straw, the red line. But if we look at
11:16
since October the seventh, the number of IRGC officers assassinated inside Syria is unprecedented.
11:28
Now, if we're going to look at what missiles did hit target,
11:31
according again to independent reports, the following two maps demonstrate that it was the
11:39
Ramon Airport to the south of Israel and the Never Team Airport sort of in
11:48
central near the Nazev Desert of Israel. And interestingly, although Israel and the
11:56
UK and the US are echoing those claims, Israel is claiming that ninety nine
12:01
percent of missiles and drones were intercepted. Apparently about an hour before I came
12:09
on. A US official told ABC News at least nine missiles Gorot through five
12:13
holistic missiles hit never Team Airport, causing damage to a SEE one thirty transport
12:20
plane to the runway in storage facilities, perhaps the most important. Both those
12:26
airports were considered to have been involved by the way in the targeting of the
12:31
Iranian embassy and Damascus, and in fact Mount Hermon, the intelligence and surveillance
12:39
space was also hit in the occupied Jalan territories. Again, that is considered
12:45
to have been responsible from many of the hits on IRGC military advisors inside Syria
12:52
since October the seventh. So let's have a look at this claim. This
12:58
was in the Times of Israel. Ninety nine percent of the three hundred of
13:03
three hundred and twenty or so projectiles fired by Iran Israel overnight their claiming were
13:09
intercepted. So let's have a see. Sorry, let's have a look at
13:13
what the IDF commander Hagari said. The Iranian threat met the aerial and technological
13:22
superiority of the IDF combined with a strong fighting coalition, which together intercepted the
13:28
vast majority of the threat. Now, this is an interesting point because in
13:31
my understanding, there were actually an outer circle of air defense which was effectively
13:39
US, UK and Jordanian fighter planes intercepting missiles, particularly in Syrian airspace.
13:46
I mean, I didn't manage to get a good video of it, but
13:50
it was quite exciting overhead at one point because we actually had warplanes from the
13:58
US and the UK particularly trying to intercept Iranian missiles, and then Syrian air
14:05
defense trying to intercept the interceptors. So we had mass explosions over Syria,
14:11
which was quite an extraordinary phenomenon. So he basically said one hundred and seventy
14:18
drones, not one entered Israeli airspace, thirty cruise missiles were launched, not
14:22
a single one entered Israeli airspace. Twenty five were downed out of thirty.
14:30
In addition, Hagari says Iran fired one hundred and twenty ballistic missiles, many
14:35
of them were down. Now this is a strange discrepancy. He's not being
14:39
very outright in how many were down by the long range Arrow air defense system,
14:46
although some of the missiles managed to bypass their defenses. He also claims
14:50
that the damage at never seem was negligible. So then let's have a loerk
14:56
press TV of course, as saying that all the hypersonic missiles used and they
15:01
were on strike against Israel hit targets. I mean, I think you know
15:05
we're going to have to take some kind of mean figure here or medium figure
15:09
here. But Brian, I think you've done some work on this. These
15:13
are just images that have been released in the last twenty four hours of missile
15:18
casing, seemingly undamaged that has been found in the occupied territories, and I
15:26
just wanted to play This is a little medley that I made of one of
15:28
my favorite US spokespeople, John Kirby, during an interview in which I think
15:35
he was asked at least six times whether the US was going to support Israel
15:41
if Israel decided to retaliate. Let's just play his responses, and I'm sure
15:48
you will agree with me. This is quite an extraordinary performance. I think
15:52
stand this morning is just an incredible military achievement by Israel and quite frankly the
15:58
United States and other part that helped Israel defend itself against more than three hundred
16:03
drones and missiles. I mean, it's just an extraordinary example of military superiority
16:07
that is real demonstrated to the whole world last night. And I think is
16:11
We're also demonstrated that it has friends, that it's not standing alone, that
16:17
it's not isolated on the world stages. And what Israel demonstrated last night was
16:22
an incredible ability to defend itself. Just their own military superiority was quite remarkable
16:29
yesterday. I mean, very little got through and the damage was extraordinarily light.
16:34
And also Israel demonstrated again as I said, that they're not standing alone,
16:38
that they have friends. So delivered to the Prime Minister. He congratulated
16:42
the Prime Minister and the IDF for the extraordinary job they did knocking things out
16:47
of the sky or another here. Since Israel hasn't made any decisions that I'm
16:52
aware of about what the next step is, they performed extraordinarily well last night,
16:57
and it really was a largely unsuccessful attack by Iran that is noteworthy and
17:03
that should be remembered. And again, as I said earlier, it wasn't
17:07
that they didn't do it alone. They had the United States. I mean,
17:15
I don't really think I need to comment further. It was an extraordinary
17:19
performance and I have to say the interviewer was incredibly persistent. So this was
17:27
in Middle East monitor countering Irans overnight attack costs Israel one point three five billion.
17:33
This is from the Israeli media. One arrow missile used to intercept across
17:38
three point five million. Well, the cost of one magic one missile is
17:42
one million. Now, what is interesting is that they obviously were not hearing
17:48
how much it costs the UK and the US to carry out the majority of
17:55
the interceptions. That has also been admitted by the IOF. And I just
18:00
also wanted to play an interview masterfully managed by Professor Mohammed Marandi from Iran on
18:07
Sky News where he also talks about the missiles that we use. The two
18:15
bases were severely damaged, but Iran has a huge stockpile of drones and missiles,
18:25
and Iran hasn't used its most advanced weapons. So if there's really what
18:30
would they be, Professor nuclear weapons? No, they are more advanced drones
18:36
and missiles. Iran is not like the United States, which has and uses
18:41
and has already used nuclear weapons. He run's peaceful program, as we've seen
18:45
over the years, has been peaceful and there's never been any evidence to show
18:48
otherwise. But Iran has more advanced drones and missiles, and the very fact
18:52
that the Americans don't want to be a part of any Israeli counter response shows
18:59
that they Americans know where the power lies. So the smart thing for this
19:03
Israeli regime to do would be to refrain from responding. They got their punishment
19:10
and they should live with it. They can say that two hundred percent of
19:14
the drones were down and three hundred percent of the missiles were down, But
19:18
as long as they keep quiet, they'll be safe. But if they strike
19:21
Iran again, it's going to get much worse. I think what's very interesting
19:27
the issue immediately was raised of nuclear missiles here, and yet Israel has one
19:33
of the most secretive clandestine nuclear warfare programs that, as far as I know,
19:38
has never been inspected. Another point to make about this attack by Iran
19:45
is that no civilians were hurt, except for one young girl, a Bedouin
19:51
girl unfortunately, was actually hurt by the shrapnel falling from an incepted missile.
19:56
Now, I also have to point out that every time is attacks Syria that
20:02
also is a regular occurrence that people are hurt by the trapnel of intercepted missiles
20:08
and buildings are damaged, et cetera. These images have been circulating since yesterday
20:15
of Israeli airports and what appears to be settlers in large numbers leaving and departing
20:22
from Israel. One presumes because of the security issues. And I just wanted
20:29
to end on what I believe Iran has gained from this attack. It now
20:34
has, as admitted by Israeli media, detailed knowledge of Israel's air defense and
20:41
strategy defense strategy. It has demonstrated the unity of the resistance exsis. So
20:48
in other words, if there is a future expansion of the conflict, then
20:53
it's obvious who its allies are in the region, and that, of course
20:59
they also were not collaborating to their full capacity. It was an unprecedented,
21:07
historic direct attack by Iran on Israel, which of course increases the the terrence
21:14
factor. And also I wanted to make one point, it was an only
21:18
one wave of attacks, not several. So when the drones, when the
21:22
layers of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles had broken through the defense,
21:30
it would normally be followed up by subsequent waves which would have completed the destruction
21:37
of the targets, so it was clear when that Iran was restrained, and
21:41
two that this was intended to be, as it was described, a slap
21:47
in the face for Israel after their egregious attack on Damascus. As I mentioned,
21:53
no civilian that's unlike when Israel attacks. Even on the attack the embassy,
22:00
there were at least eight civilian deaths during that attack. They used relatively
22:07
low grade UAVs and missiles to probe the Israeli air deferent. It was a
22:12
huge cost to Israel, the US, UK and Jordan. Jordan's reputation right
22:18
now will be in tatters even amongst its own population, and the cost to
22:22
Iran, according to Iranian officials, rests at about thirty eight to sixty two
22:27
million for the entire operation insecurity as I mentioned in Israel and settler exodus potential
22:37
outcome, and there was also an extremely two or three cyber attack prior to
22:45
the launch of the missiles. So I think all in all this was a
22:49
successful operation for Iran. Okay, Vanessa, thank you very much for that.
22:55
Well, I agree with your analysis there. I've got a little bit
23:00
to do myself. But let's start off by having a look at David Cameron
23:03
talking about events. We're living in a very dangerous world. We know that
23:10
because of what's happening in Ukraine, what's happening in the Middle East and elsewhere,
23:15
and what Iran did was a very very dangerous act in an already dangerous
23:19
world. And your report was completely right. But when we think about the
23:22
three hundred and one weapons that were fired at Israel, they weren't all drones.
23:27
There were one hundred and ten ballistic missiles, there were forty three cruise
23:32
missiles. This was a very significant attack, but fortunately it was a failure
23:37
because of the brave action of Israeli defenses and what the Americans did and our
23:44
limited role, which I can come on to. And so in many ways,
23:47
Iran has suffered a double defeat the almost complete failure of their attack,
23:52
and also by making this attack, they've revealed to the world their true nature,
23:56
has the malign influence in the region. So I think that's an extremely
24:02
worried David Cameron. He's looking very drawn and tired, and I think he's
24:06
having to absolutely stay a script. What is interesting, of course, he's
24:11
claiming it's an Israeli victory. I agree with your analysis. Vanessa on this,
24:18
but also he's mentioning figures and this will be my main point because he
24:22
talked about a total of three hundred and one missiles and as we'll see,
24:26
the figures around the number of missiles used is very interesting. Let's have a
24:33
look at this film clip by Professor Michael Clark, who Sky News in particular
24:37
is used to do analysis not only on what's happening in the Middle East and
24:45
the latest with Iran, but also in Ukraine as well. That's how look,
24:51
let's start with the Iranians. People talk a lot about a calibrated response.
24:57
What do you think the ira hoped to achieve last night? They certainly
25:02
hope to achieve some hits, and they got some. They seem to have
25:04
got seven hits on the Nevata Air Base, which is symbolically important to them
25:10
because the Nevata base is the base. It's the F thirty five base,
25:14
a big air base in the Negev Desert, which is where the thirty five
25:17
fighters exactly the F thirty fives took off from there to bomb the empty consulate
25:22
in Syria in Damascus on the first of April. So as far as the
25:26
Iranians are concerned. They've hit the base from which the strike against their consulate
25:32
was launched, so symbolically that's important. It is reported that they've done some
25:36
damage to outbuildings, but there is no no casualties. It has been reported
25:40
around the Arab world that the base has completely been wiped off the map,
25:42
which is clearly not true. So they got seven missile ballistic missiles through they
25:48
launched it seems this is from IDF figures, is Ready Defense figures. They
25:51
launched one hundred and ten ballistic missiles and seven of them got through. They
25:56
launched thirty six cruise missiles, none of them got through. They launched a
25:59
hundred eighty five drones, none of them got through. So statistically less than
26:06
one percent of their missiles got through. But the seven ballistic missiles that may
26:11
if all seven hit the air base, that gives them a symbolic victory.
26:15
So you know, any reasonable person might say, well, that's tit for
26:18
tat in terms of Damascus on the first of April, and now the base
26:22
from which the attack was launched, now maybe that should be an end to
26:26
it. Any reasonable person might say that, But we're dealing here with designa
26:30
who as prime minister and ale Khameni as the supreme leaders. So we are
26:34
not talking about reasonable neither. Particularly the situation doesn't make anybody reasonable, no
26:40
exactly, I mean. And this is this round of conflict, This particular
26:45
iteration started with the Israelis going after ILGC generals and you know in an embassy.
26:52
Now, going after IRCG r CG generals is acceptable in the sense that
26:57
they are attacking Israel and goes after them wherever they can find them, but
27:02
going after them in a consular building in Damascus is specifically against international law.
27:07
It's very provocative. The Israelis seemed to do it out of the blue,
27:11
almost as if they wanted to provoke Iran to see how much Iran would do
27:15
in response. And the Iranians are now saying that this is the end of
27:18
it. They have said this is our response. Seven out of three hundred
27:22
and thirty one missiles got through. That's a pretty low percentage. But if
27:26
the symbolism of hitting the air base is good enough, then maybe they'll say
27:30
that's it, we don't want anymore. So this is where it gets fascinating
27:37
from me, very defensive interview by the professor there, but he ends up
27:41
by saying that seven out of three hundred and thirty one got through. I
27:45
think we'll find that it's closer to two percent. And if you looked at
27:47
the comments under the interview itself, it was incredible what people were picking up.
27:52
They were actually making fun of this man because of course a lot of
27:56
his projections in Ukraine have been badly wrong over the last two years. But
28:02
if we just bring the map up on screen, this highlights what Vanessa was
28:06
talking about is that the attacks were not just from Iran. They were coming
28:11
from the Eastern Hemisphere, so Syria, Iraq and Jordanan flights from Yemen as
28:18
well, So this was causing big problems to the Israeli defenses. But this
28:25
was the headline that essentially only one percent that got through. But this is
28:30
not true, and if we have a look at the comments in more detail,
28:36
we can start to see how the figures were being massaged and manipulated as
28:41
the dialogue went on. So he said they got seven hits on the Nevertim
28:47
air Base, which is symbolic for them because that's where the F thirty five's
28:49
took from that attack. The Iranian consulate in Damascus, they got seven ballistic
28:57
missiles through they launched from this is from the IDF figures. He's saying they
29:03
launched one hundred and ten ballistic missiles and seven of them got through. This
29:07
I think would have been immensely significant to the US of the Allies. They
29:11
launched thirty six cruise missiles and none of them got through. They launched one
29:17
hundred and eighty five drones, none of them got through. Let's follow it
29:21
on. But the seven ballistic missiles that hit, it may have been all
29:26
seven hit and Everton Airbase they got through. That gives them, and he's
29:32
talking about Iran, a symbolic victory. But if we come back to his
29:37
comments, so statistically less than one percent of their missiles got through. But
29:42
of course if it's seven missiles out of the one hundred and ten ballistic missiles,
29:48
it's over six percent they got through. So now we start to see
29:51
that everything is getting very warply at the Western dialogue. So we're teasing him
29:56
here because he's a professor, so presumably should be good at basic maths.
30:02
But the truth is that seven missiles out of three hundred and thirty one itself
30:07
is over two percent. And as I've just said, if it's seven out
30:11
of the ballistic missiles, which is what he says, that is over six
30:15
percent. So is he having trouble staying to the script. But here's the
30:21
key point. But the ones that really bothered them, and he's talking about
30:25
Israel and a us UK allies. It was the ballistic missiles that got through.
30:30
And this is what really says to me that actually the allies, Israel
30:37
and their allies at the moment are going to be deeply disturbed. So the
30:41
claim is out of one hundred and ten, one hundred and three were intercepted.
30:45
That's not important. What's important is the seven that did actually get through.
30:52
And people can check the maths here, but it's pretty straightforward. So
30:56
here's the real killer, that over six percent sent to the Iranian ballistic missiles
31:02
got through combined defenses of the Israelis, the Americans, the British and a
31:08
few other people in the sidelines. Now, who is this man, Well,
31:14
we've talked about him before, but his key tribute is through RUSSI.
31:18
But he's now Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.
31:25
He's served on the Prime Minister's Security Forum and Chief of Defense Staff Strategic Advisor
31:32
Panel, so he should be reliable, but he's not at the moment.
31:36
So was it a success for Israel? Well, things that I've looked at
31:41
is the overall coordination of this type of air warfare very very complex. Israel
31:48
would not be taking the lead. The US would be taking the lead because
31:52
the US doesn't allow people to play with their toys their military equipment. So
31:56
although Cameron ticular praising the Israel's performance, the overall drive for the air defense
32:07
would have come from the Americans. America would have had to work directly alongside
32:12
Israel's air defense forces within Israel's national air defense zone. So this is not
32:19
about Israel defending itself. This is about Israel under an umbrella of protection provided
32:25
by the US, in particular the UK. Not the minor partners would be
32:30
given a minor participatory role in air defense surveillance, and they would have been
32:37
active in local air defense sectors commensurate with their air defense asset contribution. I
32:44
the more you put in, the bigger the say you get in the battle.
32:47
If you only put a few toys into the ring, the Americans are
32:51
not going to let you play with very much and if we add a bit
32:54
more to this, the US air defense got experience within the region, but
33:01
we've repeatedly seen American military bases demonstrating weaknesses and failures as they've been hit with
33:09
what has been an emerging missile, drone and electronic war technology. And I'll
33:15
also add to that that we need to recognize that air defense on this scale
33:20
amongst a multinational force is very difficult even with a well practiced military coalitions such
33:25
as NATO, and the cooperation with Israel was unlikely to be fully coherent because
33:32
Israel has already demonstrated on numerous occasions that they will follow their own path and
33:40
to hell with everybody else. So a success well, the suggestion that Israel's
33:46
Iron Dome and local suppawning air defense assets achieved success and Iran's attack was a
33:52
failure is complete nonsense. What we've got to look at is that Iran was
33:58
attacking the best US led air defense assets that the US could contribute from its
34:04
own resources pluses roilt Britain and others, and against this coalition, Iran achieved
34:09
multiple strikes against the prime Israeli target. And I think this is the reason
34:15
that we are seeing such wobbliness in David Cameron and the rest of the Boyden
34:22
and the rest of the globalist politicians. This has not gone as they thought
34:28
it would. So what is the wobbliness in the UK mainstream press? Like,
34:32
Let's have a look at Andrew Nil's absolutely unbelievable article in the Daily Mills.
34:37
So the headline is if three hundred missiles and drones had Britain, would
34:42
we be sitting on our hands? Israel has a right to retaliate, and
34:45
loose talk about World War three is designed to intimidate it into doing nothing.
34:51
So this is what he had to say within ours of Iran's mass missile and
34:53
dron attack at israel Overy night Sun on Saturday. The consensus of the global
35:00
commentariat, forming in newspapers and TV channels Israel should refrain from retaliation. If
35:07
so many weapons of destruction and rained down in Britain, would we be listening
35:09
to those urgent caution nodding thoughtfully at such sage advice and agreeing that it would
35:14
probably be best for all concerned if we just sat on our hands, as
35:19
we saw with the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands all those years ago, there
35:22
would be an overwhelming national demand for a robust response to show we cannot be
35:28
attacked with impunity. It's a bit ironic that he brings the Falklands into it,
35:30
because we should remember we just put that back on screen that it was
35:35
Israel that supplied or Israel certainly supplied Argentina with arms and weapons during the Falklands
35:40
War. So it's interesting that he brings that particular conflict into the conversation.
35:45
But anyway, he goes on to say it's being said that the attack was
35:49
only in response to Israel's bombing of an Iranian diplomatic mission in the Syrian capital
35:53
of Damascus. Tehran says it deems it's assault on Israel to be over,
35:58
so Israel should just on. But should it for a start, this was
36:01
the first attack in Israel launched from is from Iranian soil. That alone represents
36:07
a major escalation of hostilities. Well, the escalation was from Israel in the
36:12
first place, with what they did in Damascus. As many other people have
36:16
said, this was in breach of international law. But anyway, Neil goes
36:20
on. Moreover, the command center of Israel hit in Damascus was a major
36:22
base for the IRGC's Kuds Force, which arms, trains, and finances Iran's
36:29
proxy militia across the region, including Hamas on Hezbola, which has brought so
36:34
much misery to Israel. So that makes it all right then? According to
36:37
him, Iran to undermine Israel and humiliate America. It has had too much
36:43
success in both endeavors. Israel has every right to respond to the mass attack.
36:47
There's too much loose talk about it leading to World War three if it
36:50
does, is it designed to intimidate Israel into doing nothing? I find that
36:55
the entire article, Venasa, I just get some very quick comment from the
37:00
honest when I stopped laughing. Yeah, I mean, what is he?
37:07
I don't know what he's channeling, but it's not sane. No, it's
37:13
not saying And that is the point here, I think, Yeah, do
37:16
you agree? I've lost for words on much of it, Mike, because
37:22
it's just so incredible what we're being presented with. So we'll get into this
37:25
a bit more an extra time, but I'm just going to move on through.
37:30
Because of course, there was a lot of stuff rattling around on social
37:34
media. Somebody sent me this picture which was supposed to represent Iran's success.
37:40
So we've got a picture of some white plastic garden furniture. One of the
37:45
chairs has fallen over, and may R Tuci says the shocking level of damage
37:51
after Iran's attack last night. Now I'm calling this out as misinformation or give
37:58
him the benefit of the doubt. I don't think it's deliberate, but it's
38:00
misinformation. But it got me looking at who this gentleman mayor twoc is,
38:06
and according to his information, he's a pretty big sorry, let's bring the
38:09
slide on there. He's TV founder. What I noticed on his little headline
38:16
here, he's very big on free speech apparently, But is he? Because
38:22
when I went on to his Twitter page, I was fascinated to see him
38:25
praising the great work of the Shurian Collective. And I was intrigued by this
38:30
because I didn't really know what it was about, and so I did a
38:35
little look that led me somewhere, which I think is important for our viewers
38:38
and listeners. So he's the Shurian Collective, it's a surveillance network, news
38:44
opinions. It's pro democracy apparently, it's scraping digital fingerprints to aggressively track and
38:51
expose anti Semitism. Now I started to get a bit more curious because I
38:55
didn't see a lot of democracy in what they're doing. I saw something wrong
39:00
the different. But if we bring in what they say about themselves, the
39:04
Shurian Collective stands as a formidable Jewish surveillance group born from the necessity to combat
39:09
rising anti Semitism. In the wake of October seven revealing event, Surian has
39:15
taken a staunch stance against hatred and bigotry, employing advanced digital tactics to shield
39:22
the Jewish community, it says, renowned for its unyielding spirit. Embodied in
39:28
a rallying cry, the collective calls upon global allies to join in their defensive
39:34
crusade. With a communication style that is as direct as it is forceful.
39:39
Schurian is relentless in its mission to expose and neutralize anti Semitic elements. Now
39:47
I think this is a vailable threat. That's my opinion, or maybe wrong.
39:51
I'm sure it's two veiled, but well exactly. And it goes on
39:54
to talk about the Maccabee Project. We're back into priests in Israel pre Jesus
40:02
Christ. At the heart of Shurian's operation lies the Maccabee projects, a sophisticated
40:07
AI drivan tool designed for modern digital warfare against ANTICITI Semitism. Maccabee excels in
40:15
automated monitoring, reporting and awareness raising, especially in sensitive sectors, by harnessing
40:22
data for precise identification and targeted action. Maccabee operates on an omni channel basis
40:28
for maximum impact, and it says while navigating the complexities of legal frameworks,
40:34
Maccabee in Shaw's a lasting influence on identified targets and I don't get a warm
40:40
feeling for this. I think this is a very aggressive little organization. The
40:45
Guardian did have a look at it earlier in the year, but they failed
40:49
to ask any key questions about its identity, legitimacy or possible links to Israeli
40:55
state intelligence Unit eight twos or A zero And to mind people, the UK
41:00
column was very big on this back in twenty fifteen, where we pointed out
41:07
that Francis Mauder's Cabinet offs Minister was setting up these surveillance and intelligence links with
41:15
the Israelis and Unit eight too zero zero, israel cyber spy agency, featured
41:21
very deeply. We put together this little diagram showing all of the links that
41:25
he was setting up, and it didn't just include conservative friends of Israel,
41:31
of course, it was bringing in connections between Israeli and British universities, University
41:37
of Bristol coming on screen, but it was also tied in with Ministry of
41:42
Science Technology in Space in Israel, University of Kent, and that's Haund a
41:47
bit more over here his GCHQ working with Israeli Defense Force Unit eight to zero
41:54
zero digital companies there and also at the time Common Purpose or Old Friend was
42:00
in the background. So I don't know what this organization is, Mike,
42:05
but I don't get a warm feeling about it. And as we said at
42:08
the time that if a memorandum understanding was being put together with Israel, we
42:17
were voting effectively conservative begetting Israel. The key question in the small print is
42:23
did we ever vote for any of this? And the answer is we didn't.
42:28
But I find it extremely disturbing to see social media pushing these sorts of
42:34
organizations that if we say one word wrong against Israel, we've got some group
42:39
on our backs. I think this is very very dangerous stuff. Well,
42:45
Terehran Calling says policy Exchange and just by coincidence. I'm sure they had.
42:51
It was just by a coincidence. Policy Exchange has released this new report today
42:55
which is all about the egregious nature of of Tehran's interference in the UK.
43:01
Will come on to what they say here. They say the United Kingdom has
43:05
now experienced over three decades of Iranian influence and power projection within its borders,
43:08
from the Rushdi Fatwa in nineteen eighty nine to the twenty twenty two cinema protests
43:14
against the blasphemoust Lady of Heaven movie, to the current threats to Iranian dissidents
43:19
and journalists based in the United Kingdom. They say, as Iranian flags fly
43:23
at pro Palestinian protests in this country, this report details of the Islamic Republic
43:29
of Iran constitutes a multi dimensional threat to British society, one that requires urgent
43:35
government action. Iran is presently a hostile state to Britain, listed alongside China
43:40
and Russia as an opponent and security service statements. It seeks to interfere with
43:45
our online systems and takes British citizens hostage. Now, who are they talking
43:50
about here, Well, of course, if we're talking about one country's interference
43:53
in another country. We need to look at who they're talking about here,
43:57
because they're talking about Nazanine Zagari rak Cliff, who if we remember, had
44:02
spent time in prison in Iran and then ended up under house arrest in Iran
44:07
before finally being released. Now the Iranian government saying that and she was convicted
44:14
of subversive interference in Iranian society, and this was related to her work with
44:22
Thompson Rogers Foundation and BBC Media Action, who are media development organizations. So
44:29
if we remember at the time, this was the comment from Monique Villa,
44:32
the CEO of Thompson Rodgers Foundation, saying when Zagary Radcliffe was originally charged that
44:38
these charges are linked to her work at BBC Media Action and at the Thompson
44:44
Rogers Foundation. This is a complete invention, as a Thompson Rodgers Foundation doesn't
44:49
work in Iran and there's no program or dealings with Iran. Well, of
44:52
course it's not a complete invention because BBC Media Action certainly had activities in Iran
44:59
up until her arrest anyway, So this is from the Media Landscapes website talking
45:05
about Iran. BBC Media Action used to work in media and communication, I
45:08
ran although training and longed sorry, through training and long term mentoring. At
45:13
the moment it is no longer operative in the country and Nazanine Zagari Radcliffe at
45:16
Joe British and Iranianstitizen is currently in Jill and Turan because of her previous work
45:22
with the organization. This is historic, of course because she has been released
45:25
and is back in the UK. But if we remember wild Boris Johnson was
45:30
Foreign Secretary, he acknowledged what she was doing, although he wasn't supposed to
45:36
acknowledge what she was doing. So when we look at what Nazanine Zagari Radcliffe
45:39
was doing, he said she was simply teaching people journalism as I understand it
45:45
at the very limit. But Vanessa, the key point here is what these
45:49
people are doing in these countries. Isn't just teaching people journalism? No,
45:54
absolutely not. I mean we know this from who was it, Juliet Harken.
46:00
Well, we're going to come out to her in a second. Yeah,
46:00
I'm sorry, sorry, Yeah, I mean we know three. I
46:05
filled your surprise, but we know that. You know they're effectively scout and
46:12
infiltrators or to a planned beach stabilization campaign. Regime change, whatever it may
46:19
be, to basically influence or to pinpoint identify potential opposition and to work on
46:30
them basically with the society. Indeed, and so if we bring this consortive
46:35
news article on screen, then this is entitled Routers BBC in covert UK program
46:40
to push Western agenda. They're talking about Russia of course in this kiss,
46:44
but as we'll see, this goes well beyond Russia. The New League's illustrated
46:47
and alarming detail how Routers in the BBC, two of the largest and most
46:52
distinguished news organizations in the world, attempted to answer the British Foreign ministries call
46:55
for help and improving its ability to respond and promote our message across Russia and
47:00
the kind of the Russian government's narrative. And this was related to the Foreign
47:05
Offices kind of disinformation and media development program, not just Russia, not just
47:10
Iran, also Kazakhstan, many other countries as well. If you haven't seen
47:15
this article on the UK column website on BBC Media Action, please read it
47:19
and we'll bring the lovely Juliet Harkin on screen now, because she was talking
47:22
about her activities in Syria under BBC Media Action we BBC Media Action worked in
47:30
two thousand and four with individuals within the Syrian ministry who want to change and
47:32
tried to get them to be the drivers of that. All media development work
47:37
that's been done in Syria has, in my opinion, been predicated upon this
47:40
idea that there can be changed from within. So the point here is that
47:45
if Policy Exchange is suggesting that Iran has been active in this way in the
47:49
UK, UK has been active in this way in Iran and in many other
47:53
countries. It's absolutely part of the core of what British foreign policy is.
47:58
So coming back to the Policy Exchanged document, then Iran has spent several decades,
48:04
they said, curating a political religious infrastructure in Britain. This centers and
48:08
what is characterized here as the Islamic Republic's UK Nerve Center, the Islamic Center
48:13
of England Limited in mid of Ville, West London. So here is the
48:17
website for that, and they're claiming that this is the center of Iran's influence
48:23
operation in the UK. Indeed, but they then go on to criticize the
48:30
fact that five is m I five is no longer taking part in Kinnter subversion
48:34
activities and they say that indeed, subversion wants, a core task of m
48:37
I five appears to have been removed from the contemporary focus of the Security Service
48:43
until recently its websites did it. We're no longer. We no longer undertake
48:46
counter subversion work. This would only resume doing so if our monitoring of emerging
48:52
threats suggests an increase in the subversive threat. So this was the website as
48:58
it was, and that's where they admit that comment. In fact, the
49:00
current MI five website, when you look at what they do, discusses three
49:06
min areas countering terrorism, countering state threats, and protective security. And I
49:10
would argue that countering state threats absolutely is what has taken replaced the counter surveillant
49:21
what was the word counter surveillance, encountering states. No, that doesn't matter
49:25
anyway, there's too much here. We're going to be with our audience today.
49:30
There is so much here, Mike, in this subject, it's it's
49:34
difficult to keep up with it all. Yes, but anyway, the point
49:37
here is m I five stating that state threats are overt or covert actions by
49:40
foreign governments which fall short of direct arm conflict with the UK but go beyond
49:45
peaceful diplomacy and expected state craft to harmor threaten the safety or interests of the
49:51
UK or ally. So the implet the suggestion by the Policy Exchange and m
49:54
I five is suddenly off the pitch with respect to activities soft power activities from
50:00
foreign nations is completely incorrect and disingenuous and misleading. But in any case,
50:07
I would question their entire their entire basis of their report, and I would
50:13
certainly question any suggestion that Iran is doing anything unusual or different to anything else.
50:20
And in fact, it's doing it on a much small if it is
50:22
doing it at all, it's doing it at a much smaller basis than the
50:25
UK is, never mind the United States. So we'll leave that there.
50:30
Vanessa, you sent me this earlier, and I just wanted to highlight it.
50:35
So this is apparently, according to Israeli media, at least one of
50:39
the holes left in the ground by one of the rockets was fired by Iran.
50:44
And I just want to ask the question because that's quite a convenient pile
50:47
of earth over on the left hand side there, and I wonder if you
50:51
were to turn that pile of earth, I'd be interested in your views,
50:53
Fanessa, if you were to turn that pile of earth upside down and put
50:57
it into that hole, do you think it would fit? Well? There
51:01
were an awful lot of bulldozers lying around in the video of the whole also,
51:07
so I would suggest it's extremely possible that it would fit perfectly. Yes,
51:12
yes, indeed, Okay, thank you for that. And we're just
51:15
going to end this segment then with a bit of video from Julian usanj in
51:19
twenty eleven, and I think it might give a little bit of context for
51:22
what we what we're witnessing at the moment, not just in the Middle East,
51:25
but also in Ukraine in fact, because the goal is not completely subjugate.
51:34
The goal is to use Afghanistan to wash money out of the tax basis
51:39
of the United States, out of the tax basis of European but freed through
51:45
Afghanistan and back into their hands transits. That is the goal, Mighty.
51:51
The goal is to have an endless war, not more accept an endless war,
51:59
not a successful war. You agree with that absolutely. He was on
52:01
the money, no question of it. Okay. If you like what the
52:06
UK column does, you would like to support us, please head over to
52:08
support dot UK column dot org. All the options for helping us are there.
52:13
You could share anything you find on the various platforms, especially UK column
52:16
dot org and UK column Extracts Dockholder UK. But please also consider having a
52:22
look at what's on the UK column Shop. A number of different items there
52:25
for you to have a look at and perhaps pick up and help us out
52:29
that way as well. Now tomorrow at one pm we've got an interview with
52:34
doctor Charles Hoffer, who of course is experiencing some serious pressure from the Canadian
52:38
authorities over his activities during the COVID so called crisis. I just want to
52:45
join us for that at one pm tomorrow. But I just want to also
52:49
mention he has a legal defense fund going. The link for that will be
52:52
in the show notes. If you can possibly help out with that, that
52:55
would be great. I'd like to mention. And taking place in Norwich on
53:01
Saturday the twentieth April two pm to five pm What actually is five G?
53:07
Talk on the pros and cons of five G and the implications of AI by
53:09
in Jarvis. If you would like to get along to that, I'm sure
53:14
they would appreciate it. Another reminder of the Science Beautiful Festival taking place in
53:20
twenty twenty sorry of course, taking place in twenty twenty four in June twenty
53:24
seventh to thirtieth in Wimbourne in Dorset. We will be at that one,
53:29
and please join us for that if you can, and also stand in the
53:32
Light in May, which is taking place in Cumbria in May twenty fourth to
53:36
twenty seventh. Join us for that one as well, because we'll also be
53:39
at that. Okay, excellent clinking. Annoy'd just like to give a reminder
53:45
of the work going on by the for ne Nefie Ladies, the survivors of
53:49
abuse at for Nethi Residential School. I've just got some generic images on screen,
53:55
but obviously they've been foighting for four and a half years for access to
54:00
Scotland's Redress Scheme, which gives them recognition as survivors and also helps them and
54:07
also for some will allow compensation for problems that they've had. But this is
54:14
a very difficult battle for them. Now we've mentioned that they do need some
54:17
money. We've got a little video clip actually to play here because they had
54:22
a video embedded in their crowdfunder and I just want to play it but to
54:27
say to our audience, they're trying to raise one thousand pounds, which helps
54:31
them pay for coaches, for example, to travel, it helps them draw
54:37
the women together. This is not a huge amount of money and I would
54:40
very much like to see UK column audience helping the Fanethie ladies to raise that
54:45
one thousand pounds. Let's just look at the video embedded in the crowd funder
54:51
itself. If you have lots of people seeing that the same thing happened to
54:54
them, it's absolute quite unlikely. It's absolutely quite unli that something different happened.
55:01
Well, I'm not disputing what the women are seeing for a second.
55:05
Let me be really really clear. I believe absolutely what they're saying. What
55:08
I'm saying to you though, is it Readress Scotland require some evidence of someone
55:15
being placed into a setting and there is no record for anybody. So a
55:24
little bit abrupt, but it's very telling. The women know they were abused.
55:29
There's a lot of women, there's hundreds of them. They know where
55:31
they were abused. It was apt for Nehy, but according to the Deputy
55:37
First Minister shown A Robinson, she needs the evidence they were at the school.
55:43
It's horrific, Mike, I think is the right word. So if
55:45
there's any of the audience who feel they can help financially, please do.
55:51
Let's see whether we can raise that one thousand pounds. And I just want
55:54
to reatterate here. This is shown up Robinson, not Robinson, and she's
55:59
no relation. So I did try and stress that much before you. Okay,
56:02
Now, next Monday, on the twenty second, we will be premiering
56:07
Playing God. This is the new documentary from Jackie Devoi, and we'll be
56:13
premaring that immediately following the UK Column News at two pm next Monday. So
56:17
a reminder about that and please join us for it. But I just wanted
56:22
to bring us forward a little bit because last week we were talking about this
56:29
the opinion piece I think it was in The Times by Matthew Paris talking about
56:34
assisted suicide. You know, amongst other things, he was saying, within
56:37
a decade or more, assistant suicide will be seen as a normal road for
56:40
many to take and be considered socially responsible even finally urged upon people. So
56:45
this is a direction that we're heading in. And so this is an area
56:50
that we've been looking at again. And I just wanted to bring this up.
56:52
It's been doing the rounds of social media at the moment. This is
56:55
the palliative care funding review that took place in twenty eleven, just to give
57:00
an idea of some of the background about how we got to this place with
57:05
respect to the demicide and deaths and hospitals and so on, and so this
57:09
is entitled funding the right care and support for everyone. And the key thing
57:15
in this is the changing demo releast one of the key aspects of this is
57:20
changing demographics, and they're saying a new funding model must take into a kind
57:23
of the aging demographic, the skill and complexity of need generated by patient populations,
57:29
and the need to jointly commission health and social care efficiently. And they're
57:32
quoting the British Geriatrics a society there, and so they're I guess, basing
57:37
the expected number of deaths between twenty eleven and twenty thirty one based on population
57:45
rise. Of course, some of that popularation rises natural and some of it
57:49
is because of people being brought into the country, but nonetheless they're saying that
57:52
by twenty thirty one we can expect there to be five hundred and ten four
57:55
hundred and ninety six thousand, four hundred four hundred ninety six deaths each year
58:02
by twenty thirty one. So that's one report to have a look at.
58:07
The next one that I wanted to bring on was this developing a new approach
58:10
to palliative care funding. This is the final report for twenty fifteen and twenty
58:15
sixteen. There's a lot more research needed to be done on this, and
58:17
if anybody's willing to help with that, we very much preced it because I'm
58:21
very keen to understand what is mean meant by the term palliative care development currency.
58:28
Okay, So to get an idea of what this means us have a
58:31
look at hospice website e Hospice Sorry, and they published an article have your
58:37
say in developing a palliative care currency And just to take a quote from this,
58:43
NHS England is currently developing the currency for palliative care, essentially a way
58:47
of grouping patients according to their needs and likely cost of their care. The
58:52
aim is to provide a transparent, transparent basis for palliative care commissioning and they
58:57
say from April twenty fifteen a development currency will be available. This version of
59:00
the currency will be tested further during twenty fifteen twenty sixteen. It will not
59:05
be mandatory and will have no associated prices, and so it goes on.
59:09
It says a draft currency is planned for publication on the twenty third of October
59:14
to a lot of the paaliady of care community, including condition clinicians, commissioners
59:17
and providers, to help shake the shape the development of the currency. So
59:22
I have to say I'm somewhat confused about what this is. Are they talking
59:28
in currency in terms of money, in the sense of the cost of how
59:32
much it cost keeps someone alive, whether you use that to make a decision
59:37
on whether they die or not, whether they get pumped full of madaslam and
59:39
other stuff, or what is it? So this is just wanted to put
59:45
that out in this news program and ask for a bit of help from people
59:49
to understand what this means. Well, this language means yeah, I'm kind
59:52
thank you for that point. Well, we're just going to end some positive
59:55
note but with a twist of cools because we're in twenty twenty five. But
1:00:00
Andrew Bridgen and other MPs wrote to the Officer National Statistics basically to ask for
1:00:07
help with regard to public safety around deaths and so what they said in the
1:00:15
letter was that unfortunately the parameters chosen by the authority National Officer Statistics or insuvis
1:00:24
to maker disput is dis sorry helped me out here, Mike, I'm I'm
1:00:30
struggling here today. This is very interesting, dispositive, this buzzitive yes,
1:00:38
thank you determination as to whether the vaccines are safe and effective or not because
1:00:44
the interval sizes were too few and too large. The UK Statistics Regulator agrees
1:00:50
and said our view is that the death by vaccination status publication does not provide
1:00:55
information on vaccine effectiveness and vaccine safety in should be used. We're requesting that
1:01:01
the authority redo the analysis with the following parameters, and they suggested some additional
1:01:07
parameterives parameters which we believe will provide definitive insight as to whether or not the
1:01:14
COVID vaccines are safe and effective or not. This will help us to address
1:01:17
an important question we're currently facing in Parliament regarding excess mortality and what is causing
1:01:25
it. So this is a really important letter where these MPs Andrew Bridge and
1:01:30
and colleagues are saying we need some help to sort out where these figures are
1:01:34
coming for excess mortality. Let's look very quickly at the reply that they got
1:01:39
back from the UK Statistics Authority, and we have to do this quickly at
1:01:45
the end of the news but they say, as you observe in your letter.
1:01:50
The Office of Statistics Regulation has published a view on ONS deak by Vaccination
1:01:55
Status Analysis. OSR state the analysis was developed in response to user request during
1:02:01
the pandemic to understand the vaccination status of people who die from COVID nineteen.
1:02:07
As the ONS makes clear in its publication, this analysis is not intended to
1:02:12
be nor is it appropriate for understanding vaccine effectiveness. The OSR also stated we
1:02:19
would advise use of the weekly COVID nineteen Vaccine Surveillance Report published by the UK
1:02:25
Health Security Agency instead. This looks at a range of measures of vaccine effectiveness,
1:02:30
including effectiveness against infection, transmission, hospitalization and mortality. And I said
1:02:37
a very long and winding reply. I think actually I should have said a
1:02:42
smoke screen. I think you'll get the idea. Let's go into the second
1:02:45
page. You can see the amount of text in their reply. The attribution
1:02:50
of excess deaths is incredibly complex, and beyond the current scope of the ONS
1:02:54
methodology. The UKHSA have estimated the excess deaths due to acute factors such as
1:03:00
heat waves, cold snaps, COVID nineteen and influenza. I acknowledge that all
1:03:06
the driving factors behind excess deaths are not fully understood. The excess is likely
1:03:12
to be the net effect of many complex and potentially related factors, which ONS
1:03:17
is committed to exploring further with our partners across the government statistical system in health.
1:03:25
So this is much too complex, apparently for the ONS to deal with.
1:03:30
And if we go to the final one, here another full page of
1:03:34
bump. But they say this considering the above, ONS does not believe that
1:03:39
the analysis you've requested would add substantial, high quality insight to the existing evidence
1:03:45
base. In lighter the limitations to the analysis proposed, ONS does not judge
1:03:52
it to be a priority to undertake given current resource constraints. ONS needs to
1:03:57
ensure that we undertakes that contributes new robust insight and which quote offers the public
1:04:04
value for money unquote. So we're not going to investigate excess deaths because we
1:04:12
don't want to do it, because we're going to give the public better value
1:04:15
for money. Yes, it is impossible to deliver the news in the UK
1:04:23
in twenty twenty four in a coherent way because we are dealing now with what
1:04:28
is clearly madness and some of it extremely dangerous, like that response from the
1:04:32
Ons. So we'll be interested to see where Andrew Bridgen and his colleagues go
1:04:38
on that rather unhappy note. We're going to have to end today's news.
1:04:42
Vanessa, thank you very much for joining us. Do join us for extra
1:04:46
UK Column Extra if you're a member, and we'll be having a look at
1:04:50
more detail at what's been happening in Israel and the Iran attack. But otherwise,
1:04:57
to our international audience, thank you very much for joining us today,
1:05:01
and thank you to everybody that supports UK Column financially, because we can only
1:05:06
do what we do with your financial support. Thanks very much for joining us.
1:05:12
Bye bye,