Labour Shadow Minister Tried To Recruit Unpaid Volunteers To Work In His Office “Long Term”

Posted on 29/04/2021 by Boris Clair

Jessica TaylorPA

Labour MP Tan Dhesi in the Commons

Labour shadow minister Tan Dhesi has been warned to “pay people what they are worth” after trying to recruit unpaid volunteers to carry out “long term” work in his office.

A job advert on Working For An MP asked for “committed” people “passionate about helping others” and who “take satisfaction from getting stuff done” to volunteer for the Slough MP for no pay.

Tasks for the role included answering the phone, opening post, updating Dhesi’s website, writing to constituents, monitoring media coverage and other basic admin.

Most are jobs which would normally be carried out by a caseworker or parliamentary assistant, positions which would attract a salary of around £30,000.

The ad was removed minutes after HuffPost UK contacted the Labour Party.

A source close to Dhesi said the advert was placed due to an administration error and the Slough MP had been unaware. It is said Dhesi’s staff have been overwhelmed with casework due to the impact of the pandemic.

Zamzam Ibrahim, vice president of the European Students’ Union, warned Dhesi that “nobody should work for free”, adding: “Unpaid labour is far too often masked as volunteering and used to exploit young people. And far too often those unpaid volunteers are given same responsibility as salaried staff.

“Everybody from staff to interns to those on temporary contracts have a right to a living wage and a full array of employment benefits such as sick pay and holiday pay.”

One Labour staff member, who asked not to be named, told HuffPost UK: “It’s a shame really that a Labour MP would try to offer what is quite clearly a proper job role under the guise of ‘volunteering’, and even worse that it’s for long term.

“I’d like to think that MPs from our party would pay people what they are worth, even more so in this current economic climate.”

A note on the ad penned by W4MP, not Dhesi’s office, warned the work was voluntary, saying: “As such, there are no set hours and responsibilities and you should be free to come and go as you wish.

“If the post demands set hours and/or has a specific job description you may be deemed to be a ‘worker’ and be covered by national minimum wage/national living wage legislation.”

The ad said the MP was “looking for committed volunteers to assist his team over the coming months, and perhaps on a longer-term basis”.

It added: “If you’ve ever wanted to volunteer your time to help people in need, to support a fantastic local community and its elected MP, or experience what it’s like to be part of an MP’s busy team, then this volunteer role might be just for you.”

But the ad underlined “this is not an internship position or a job, and should not be viewed as such”, and said: “This position is very unlikely to lead to paid employment with Tan Dhesi MP and is not suitable for anyone seeking more than a voluntary role.”

HuffPost UK has approached Dhesi for comment but he has not responded.

The Labour Party, which backs a number of campaigns for fair pay, declined to comment and it was not clear if Dhesi had received any sanction.

Tories Urged To Expel Election Candidate Who ‘Endorsed’ Far-Right Leader

Posted on 28/04/2021 by Boris Clair

TOLGA AKMEN via Getty Images

Founder and former leader of the anti-Islam English Defence League (EDL), Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, arrives at the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, in central London on July 5, 2019

The Conservatives have been urged to expel a local election candidate who “endorsed” far-right leader Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, on social media.

The Tories were also asked to explain whether it was “incompetence or malice” that led to the candidate being readmitted to the party after reportedly resigning in 2018 when the post was first flagged with the party’s central office.

In the Facebook post first reported by the Lancashire Telegraph, Andrew Walker, a Tory candidate for Blackburn with Darwen Council, appeared to share a “meme” featuring a photo of Robinson which was headlined: “Tommy Robinson has done nothing but expose the truth behind radical Islam.”

Above the post, Walker wrote: “Cant be easy preaching what we all think !!!” [sic]

The Lancashire Telegraph also published screenshots showing Walker had once said on Facebook that “stabbing [Jeremy] Corbyn would get you knighted in my book”.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner urged the Conservatives to “reassure the public” that far-right supporters are not standing for the party in local elections.

“The Conservatives must explain whether it was incompetence or malice that led them to not only readmit this person into the party but then to select him as a candidate,” she told HuffPost UK.

“They must also set out what steps they are taking to reassure the public that no other far right […] supporters are standing for them in the local elections.”

Rayner said the Tories were facing “serious questions” over a “failure to tackle racism in their party”, pointing out that its inquiry into Islamophobia has still not published a report and in any case was “watered down before it even began”.

Anti-racism campaigners Hope Not Hate also raised concerns over the Islamophobia report and said there was no doubt that “endorsing” a convicted criminal like Yaxley-Lennon was “utterly unacceptable”.

The English Defence League (EDL) founder is currently being sued for libel by a Syrian teenager Jamal Hijazi, 17, over comments he made when the boy was attacked at his Huddersfield school in October 2018.

In 2019, Robinson was jailed for contempt of court after live-streaming on Facebook a video that featured defendants in a sexual exploitation trial and put the case at risk of collapse.

In the past, he has been convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, mortgage fraud and travelling on another man’s passport to the United States, among other offences.

A Hope Not Hate spokesperson said: “During the Conservative Party leadership contest, Boris Johnson and all other candidates committed to holding a specific inquiry into Islamophobia affecting the party. Many months later and that commitment has been watered down, we’re still waiting for the results of the resulting Singh inquiry, and we still have Conservative Party candidates sharing far-right memes and hatred against Muslims.

“In this day and age, no one can be in any doubt about the far-right rabble rouser ‘Tommy Robinson’, a multiply convicted violent criminal and fraudster, and it’s utterly unacceptable for any member of a political party – yet alone the party of government – to be enthusiastically endorsing his extremism.

“The Conservative Party must remove this candidate immediately, and expedite publishing the results of the inquiry into prejudice in the party.”

Walker’s election agent for the Darwen South seat said they could not comment as the matter is under investigation by Tory central office.

HuffPost UK has contacted Tory central office for comment.

The local elections take place on May 6.

Two Officers Charged Over ‘Inappropriate Photos’ Of Sisters Killed In Park

Posted on 28/04/2021 by Boris Clair

Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman, who were stabbed to death at Fryent Country Park in Wembley in the early hours of June 6.

Two Met Police officers have been charged with misconduct over the circulation of inappropriate photographs of two sisters who had been stabbed to death in a north-west London park.

Pc Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Pc Jamie Lewis, 32, of the Metropolitan Police, have been charged after an investigation into pictures of sisters Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46.

The two women were stabbed to death at Fryent Country Park in Wembley in the early hours of June 6 last year.

Social worker Henry, from Brent in north-west London, and photographer Smallman, from Harrow in north-west London, had met friends the previous evening to celebrate Henry’s birthday.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog carried out a criminal investigation into allegations that the officers took “non-official and inappropriate photographs” of the crime scene before sharing them on WhatsApp.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Wednesday that both men would appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 27, charged with one count each of misconduct in public office.

Following their arrest in June, both officers were suspended from duty.

Commander Paul Betts, of the Metropolitan Police’s directorate of professional standards (DPS), said: “These are extremely serious charges and we thank the IOPC for their work to get to this point.

“Throughout their investigation we have remained resolute in our efforts to provide every support to their inquiries.

“Our thoughts go out to the families of Bibaa and Nicole, as we recognise the renewed grief and pain this development will bring.

“We know the public will share our outrage, but I would ask that space is now given to allow the judicial process to run its proper course.

“It is not appropriate for us to initiate any internal investigations against the officers at this stage as this could impact on that process.”

After the incident came to light, the Met said the IOPC made recommendations to ensure all officers within a police station in the North East Command – where the two officers were based – conformed to the code of ethics and “are aware that failure to do so could severely damage the public’s confidence in policing”.

It also called on the force to review whether supervisors and senior management at that police station are taking personal responsibility “to identify and eliminate patterns of inappropriate behaviour”.

Work is under way to enforce these recommendations throughout the force, the Met said.

The IOPC also launched a separate investigation last year into six other officers who allegedly knew about, received, or viewed the photos.

Five other officers were told their conduct is under investigation over allegations stemming from the original probe, including that an officer took a picture at the scene of a sudden death before sharing it.

The watchdog is also carrying a separate inquiry into how the Met handled calls from worried relatives and friends of missing Smallman and Henry before their bodies were discovered on June 7.

One officer was told their conduct is under investigation over potentially failing to progress the reports properly.

Danyal Hussein, 18, of Guy Barnett Grove, Blackheath, south-east London, is facing trial in June, accused of the sisters’ murders.

Richard Okorogheye: Watchdog To Investigate Whether Racism Hampered Police Search

Posted on 26/04/2021 by Boris Clair

The police watchdog is to investigate whether racism played a role in the way the Met handled Richard Okorogheye’s disappearance.

On Monday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it would investigate complaints made by Okorogheye’s mother, Evidence Joel.

She has said she was “disappointed” about the way she was initially treated by police, and how her reports about her son’s disappearance were handled.

Joel told Sky News that police had asked her: “If you can’t find your son, how do you expect police officers to find your son for you?”

“Maybe it’s the culture, my language barrier,” Joel told Channel 4 News, adding that she believed officers considered her to be “one of those African women who was being frantic” and did not immediate take action to find her son.

The 19-year-old, who had sickle cell disease, went missing from his home in Ladbroke Grove, west London, on the evening of March 22.

His mother contacted police the following day, but he was not officially recorded as missing until 8am on March 24.

Okorogheye’s body was found in Epping Forest, Essex, on April 5.

The IOPC will also look at the Met Police’s overall handling of the missing person report.

IOPC regional director Sal Naseem said: “Our thoughts are with Richard’s family and friends and all those affected by this tragic loss. We have spoken to his family and explained our role.

“Our investigation will establish whether the police responded appropriately to the concerns raised that Richard was missing.

“We will examine whether the force appropriately risk assessed those reports, and if the amount of resources the Metropolitan Police dedicated to its enquiries were suitable based on the information known by the police and the risks posed.

“As there is a mandatory requirement for police forces to refer to us incidents which result in a death or serious injury, we will examine the actions and decisions of the police when dealing with the missing person report made in respect of a vulnerable young man.

“We will also consider whether Richard’s or his mother’s ethnicity played a part in the way the initial reports of his disappearance were handled.”

Okorogheye left his family home at around 8.30pm on March 22 and headed in the direction of Ladbroke Grove.

Police said further inquiries have established that he then took a taxi journey from the W2 area of London to a residential street in Loughton, Essex.

He was last seen on CCTV in Loughton, walking alone on Smarts Lane towards Epping Forest at 12.39am on March 23.

South Africa Variant: Surge Testing For Parts Of Birmingham After Cases Found

Posted on 21/04/2021 by Boris Clair

Kirsty O’ConnorPA

People take part in coronavirus surge testing on Clapham Common, south London.

Surge testing is to begin in parts of Birmingham after a case of the Covid-19 variant first identified in South Africa was confirmed there.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the patient had “self-isolated and their contacts have been identified”.

Health officials added in a statement: “Initial investigations indicate that this case is not linked to a case previously identified in the Birmingham and Sandwell areas.”

The testing will be targeted at households in the city’s Alum Rock, Glebe Farm and Tile Cross areas.

Officially, 600 people in the UK have contracted the South African coronavirus variant according to the government website – but that was based on figures up to April 14.

This is unlikely to be an accurate portrayal of how far the mutation has spread since hundreds of thousands of people have been swabbed during previous rounds of surge testing elsewhere in the country, on top of which it can take days for samples to have genomic sequencing carried out. The process is the only way to detect which variant of coronavirus someone is infected with.

Other areas where cases of the South Africa variant have been found include the London boroughs of Barnet, Harrow, Hillingdon, Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth.

The South Africa strain is classed as a “variant of concern” – the most serious classification issued by Public Health England – because there are fears it may be less susceptible to vaccines and could spread more easily.

The DHSC said everybody aged 16 years and over who is contacted from the new areas would be “strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 PCR test”, whether or not they are symptomatic.

For anyone testing positive for a key variant, enhanced contact tracing – looking back over an extended period in order to determine the route of transmission – will be used.

Meanwhile, anyone with symptoms is urged to book a free test online or by phone.

And the government is asking people to continue using twice-weekly rapid lateral flow testing alongside any PCR surge testing they do.

Last week surge testing was introduced in the city’s Ladywood, Jewellery Quarter and Soho ward, after a single positive case of the same variant.

Speaking at the time, the city’s public health director Dr Justin Varney said: “Testing is an important part of containing the spread of the virus.

“This new variant from South Africa presents a new risk so it is essential that all adults in the affected areas take up this offer of PCR testing to help us contain the spread quickly and identify any further local cases.

“There is financial and practical support available for those who test positive and have to isolate, and their contacts, and it is vital we all play our part in controlling this new challenge.”

Viruses by their nature mutate often, with more than 18,000 mutations discovered over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, the overwhelming majority of which have no effect on the behaviour of the virus.

Boris Johnson Announces Plan To Find Covid-19 Tablets You Can Take At Home

Posted on 20/04/2021 by Boris Clair

Boris Johnson has announced a new taskforce designed to identify tablets people can take at home to help them recover from Covid-19.

The prime minister said on Tuesday it would be modelled on the “success of our vaccination programme”.

Johnson said medicines could be available as early as the autumn, designed to stop the infection spreading and speed up recovery time.

“Our new antivirals taskforce will seek to develop innovative treatments you can take at home to stop Covid-19 in its tracks,” he said.

“These could provide another vital defence against any future increase in infections and save more lives.”

Antiviral drugs are a type of medication used specifically for treating viral infections, and act by killing or preventing the growth of viruses.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the taskforce’s aim was to have at least two effective treatments this year, a tablet or a capsule, which people can take following a positive test or exposure to someone with the virus.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said medicines were a “vital weapon” in combating the disease.

“The UK is leading the world in finding and rolling out effective treatments for Covid-19, having identified dexamethasone, which has saved over a million lives worldwide, and tocilizumab,” he said.

“I am committed to boosting the UK’s position as a life science superpower and this new taskforce will help us beat Covid-19 and build back better.”

Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said tablets would be a “key tool”.

“They could help protect those not protected by or ineligible for vaccines. They could also be another layer of defence in the face of new variants of concern,” he said.

“The taskforce will help ensure the most promising antivirals are available for deployment as quickly as possible.”

A chair of the new taskforce has yet to be identified, but a recruitment process will start shortly, DHSC said.

Government Pledges To Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ To Stop Football ‘Super League’

Posted on 19/04/2021 by Boris Clair

The government has promised to do “whatever it takes” to stop six English football clubs breaking away from mainstream competition for form a so-called European “super league”.

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden condemned the clubs as “tone deaf” and said he would not stand by and “watch football be cravenly stripped” of what the fans love about it.

He said the government would give “full backing” to the Premier League and other football bodies, which are considering sanctions to stop the clubs breaking away.

But he made clear: “If they can’t act we will.

“We will put everything on the table to prevent this from happening.

“We are examining every option, from governance to competition law and mechanisms that allow football to take place.”

He added: “I want to reassure this House of a very robust response.

“We will do whatever it takes to protect our national game.”

Dowden also said he was “formally triggering” a fans-led review of football promised by the Tories in the party’s 2019 election manifesto, which will be led by former sport minister Tracey Crouch.

He also hinted that the government could change the law to allow the football authorities to take strong action, and that a windfall tax on the clubs involved was under consideration.

“We will do whatever it takes to protect our national game.”@OliverDowden says the government is “examining every option” – including governance reform and competition law – following the announcement of plans for a European Super League.

Latest: https://t.co/n5EMbPOGyR pic.twitter.com/P2cT3UIgkx

— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 19, 2021

It came after Conservative Damian Collins warned that under existing powers for the Premier League and FA “there’s nothing that can be done to stop these six clubs joining the ‘super league’”.

He went on: “Is the government prepared to consider amendments to the law in order to give those bodies the powers they need – in particular to prevent clubs joining competitions that have not been sanctioned by either the FA or Uefa?”

Dowden replied: “On competition law, we’re already engaging with Beis (department for business, energy and industrial strategy) in terms of our response to it. We rule out absolutely nothing.

“I know from my conversations with the Premier League and with Uefa they’re already proposing to take some pretty draconian steps to stop this, but we stand ready and we will not allow anything to stop us from doing this in terms of timing, we’ll get on with it as soon as we need to.”

The decision of Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs to create a “closed shop” European competition without promotion or relegation has been met with a fierce backlash from fans, players, politicians and the football authorities.

Critics believe it would fundamentally distort competition in Europe for the benefit of the richest few clubs.

Among the sanctions under consideration by the football bodies are kicking the teams out of the Premier League and banning their players from playing for international teams.

Downing Street earlier said a “range of options” were being considered by the government in response, with a German-style system of fan ownership of clubs and clawing back coronavirus support loans included as possibilities.

Football fans opposing the European Super League outside Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium on — Football fans opposing the European Super League outside Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium on Monday

The European Super League plans also involve Spanish sides Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona and Italian clubs AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan.

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, as well as French champions Paris St Germain have refused to join the league.

The proposal has support from investment bank JP Morgan, which will provide around £4.3bn in debt financing for the competition.

Shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens called this “a watershed moment for our national game” and said Dowden’s statement was “short on detail and the urgency that this situation merits”.

The Labour frontbencher went on: “Football governance is broken, football finance is broken, and football fans whichever club we support, are ignored.

“The hedge-fund owners and billionaires who treat football clubs like any other of their commodities have no care for history of our football, for the role it plays in villages, towns and cities up and down our country and especially for the fans who are the beating heart of it.

“They should understand their role as custodians rather than cartel chiefs.The future of our national game and all our clubs depend on it.”

India Added To UK’s Covid Travel ‘Red List’, Announces Matt Hancock

Posted on 19/04/2021 by Boris Clair

India will be added to the UK’s “red list” for travel, Matt Hancock has announced.

It means from 4am on Friday April 23, only British, Irish and third-country nationals with residency rights travelling from India can enter England.

Anyone arriving in the country will be required to self-isolate in a government-approved hotel for ten days.

Hancock told the Commons on Monday: “We’ve recently seen a new variant first identified in India.

“We’ve now detected 103 cases of this variant, of which again the vast majority have links to international travel and have been picked up by our testing at the border.”

The health secretary said the samples have been analysed to see if the new variant has any “concerning characteristics” such as greater transmissibility or resistance to treatments and vaccines.

He added: “After studying the data, and on a precautionary basis, we’ve made the difficult but vital decision to add India to the red list.”

Boris Johnson cancelled his visit to India next week, as the coronavirus crisis deepened in India and concerns grew over the new variant.

The already-curtailed trip was postponed indefinitely on Monday, but the prime minister said he planned to hold a call with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi ahead of a rescheduling “as and when circumstances allow”.

Johnson had until that point resisted demands to hold the talks, aimed at fostering closer ties with the nation, on a virtual basis amid calls to impose greater restrictions on travel to and from India.

The cancellation came as New Delhi entered a week-long lockdown to tackle a surge in cases and prevent a collapse of the capital’s health system, as India reported 273,810 new infections – the highest daily rise since pandemic began.

Rishi Sunak’s Role In Greensill Lobbying Scandal To Be Probed By MPs

Posted on 14/04/2021 by Boris Clair

Rishi Sunak’s role in the Greensill lobbying scandal will be investigated by MPs.

The cross-party Commons Treasury committee will examine the response by the chancellor and his team to lobbying from David Cameron, who tried to secure Covid rescue funding for Greensill Capital.

The former prime minister, who was working as an adviser to the firm, last year repeatedly sent text messages to Sunak to try to secure support through the government’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).

It came as Commons public administration committee chair William Wraggg said Cameron’s activities were “tasteless, slapdash and unbecoming”, and said his group of MPs would also be “giving these matters proper consideration”, suggesting a separate inquiry could be launched.

Text messages released last week following a Freedom of Information request revealed Sunak eventually rebuffed Cameron’s demands, but only after he “pushed” officials to explore an alternative plan that could have helped Greensill.

Greensill has now collapsed into insolvency, rendering Cameron’s reported millions of share options worthless.

The Treasury committee said its inquiry would “focus on the regulatory lessons from the failure of Greensill Capital and the appropriateness of [the] Treasury’s response to lobbying in relation to Greensill Capital”.

Conservative MP Mel Stride, who chairs the committee, said: “The Treasury committee had previously decided to carefully consider these issues as part of its regular and upcoming evidence sessions with HM Treasury and its associated bodies, including the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England.

“In addition to this, we have now decided to take a closer look by launching an inquiry to investigate the issues that fall within our remit. We will publish further details when we launch the inquiry officially next week.”

Earlier, Tory MPs voted down Labour plans to set up a wider-ranging new committee to investigate the Greensill scandal, and the wider lobbying rules.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves argued a bigger probe was needed and that Boris Johnson’s proposed review was “wholly inadequate” as it was being led by a “good friend” of the Tory government in City lawyer Nigel Boardman.

It came after Keir Starmer said the row over Cameron’s lobbying marked the “return of Tory sleaze”.

The Labour leader said financier Lex Greensill was brought into the government as an adviser by Cameron, before then hiring the former prime minister to act as a lobbyist contacting Cabinet ministers including Sunak and health secretary Matt Hancock.

The row has intensified this week after it emerged that the former head of civil service procurement, Bill Crothers, became an adviser to Greensill Capital while still working as a civil servant, in a move approved by the Cabinet Office.

Responding at PMQs, Johnson said he shared the “widespread concern about some of the stuff that we’re reading at the moment”.

“I do think it is a good idea in principle that top civil servants should be able to engage with business and should have experience of the private sector,” Johnson said.

“When I look at the accounts I’m reading to date, it’s not clear that those boundaries had been properly understood and I’ve asked for a proper independent review of the arrangements that we have to be conducted by Nigel Boardman, and he will be reporting in June.”

Downing Street meanwhile defended Boardman, describing him as a “distinguished legal expert”.

“He was asked to lead this review independently. He has been asked to do it thoroughly and promptly and we trust him to do that,” Johnson’s official spokesperson told reporters.

Shirley Williams, Lib Dem Peer And Former Cabinet Minister, Dies Aged 90

Posted on 12/04/2021 by Boris Clair

The former cabinet minister and Lib Dem peer Baroness Shirley Williams has died aged 90.

In an announcement on Monday, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said it was “heartbreaking for me and for our whole Liberal Democrat family”.

Williams was one of the disenchanted ex-Labour cabinet ministers who became the gang of four founders of the breakaway and short-lived Social Democratic Party (SDP).

As a Labour minister, Lady Williams, served in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 1970s rising to become education secretary.

Throughout her political career, both in the Labour Party and subsequently the SDP and then the Lib Dems, Williams was a passionate pro-European.

Davey said: “Shirley has been an inspiration to millions, a Liberal lion and a true trailblazer. I feel privileged to have known her, listened to her and worked with her. Like so many others, I will miss her terribly.

“Political life will be poorer without her intellect, her wisdom and her generosity. Shirley had a limitless empathy only too rare in politics today; she connected with people, cared about their lives and saw politics as a crucial tool to change lives for the better.

“As a young Liberal, Shirley Williams had a profound impact on me, as she did on countless others across the political spectrum. Her vision and bravery, not least in founding the SDP, continues to inspire Liberal Democrats today.

“Rest in peace, Shirley. My thoughts and prayers are with your family and your friends.”

WellnessMaster

Get The Latest News on Holistic Wellness

Category Archives: UK