Mr @christiancalgie has been busy putting out a partial version of events these last few days, amplified by yourselves.
I think it’s time all your readers had the whole story. They were all out of order and, if they had any decency, would now hold their hands up and apologise.
EXC: Andy Burnham sets out "path for Britain" in his first full interview.
* Says by-election is battle for soul of Labour party and country
* Still backs proportional representation
* Will donate 15% of salary
* Wants to serve at "highest level"
* Reveals his campaign slogan
I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election.
I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics.
Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster. Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours. I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic.
Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures.
However, there is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again. This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people.
Millions are struggling and they need the Labour Government to succeed. It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the Prime Minister and the Government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place.
I want to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making. I have worked closely with him as Mayor on issues like flooding and illegal waste dumping and have seen first-hand how effective he has been. He has put the communities of Makerfield first, made a real difference for them and should take great pride in that.
Finally, I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times. We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again.
ENDS
Italian United Nations-partner organisation Emergency has confirmed that staff on board its search and rescue ship witnessed attacks on the Global Sumud Flotilla last night, involving drones, sound bombs and pepper spray.
“We strongly condemn any acts of violence or attacks on the flotilla,” Anabel Montes Mier, head of the boat’s mission, said in a statement.
The charity emphasised the importance of protecting the largest-ever civilian maritime humanitarian attempt to deliver aid to Gaza.
Life Support has been accompanying the flotilla since it left Sicily last week, acting as an observer and providing medical and logistical support.
A nurse on board, Luca Radaelli, said the boat had restocked food and water and was helping the flotilla as usual today.
“Despite what happened last night, we are continuing to do our job. We are currently distributing water, food, and basic necessities to the flotilla's vessels, and one of our RHIBs [small boats] is in the water responding to a medical request unrelated to last night's attack. Furthermore, we are available to intervene with our second RHIB to provide technical or medical support to any boats in need, as we have done in recent days."
Emergency has run two health projects in Gaza since 2024. "In Gaza, the population is experiencing a dramatic situation that violates international law and continues to worsen day by day,” Montes Mier said. “Our staff working in the clinics in Al-Qarara and Al-Mawasi in the Strip bear witness to this daily. This is why Emergency had to participate in this mission - perhaps the largest humanitarian maritime mission ever promoted by civil society in the face of political inertia and inadequacy."
The Italian government announced today that it will also send a ship, from its navy, to assist the flotilla.
Wow.
This is absolutely huge.
After the attacks, Spain is offering direct military protection to the flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
So what now, Israel?
Are you going to risk acts of war against a European nation so you can attack humanitarian vessels?
Italy has said it is sending a navy ship to the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto strongly condemned the overnight drone attack on the flotilla, which is trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
In a statement, Crosetto said he had redirected an Italian navy ship to head towards the flotilla to offer assistance to Italian citizens on board - and Israel had been informed.
"Regarding the attack suffered in recent hours by the Sumud Flotilla vessels, which also include Italian citizens, carried out using drones by currently unidentified perpetrators, we can only express the strongest condemnation. In a democracy, even demonstrations and protests must be protected when they are conducted in compliance with international law and without resorting to violence,” he said.
“To ensure assistance to the Italian citizens on the ‘Flotilla,’ this morning at 3:50 a.m … I spoke with the Prime Minister and authorized the immediate intervention of the Italian Navy's multi-purpose frigate Fasan, which was sailing north of Crete as part of Operation Mare Sicuro. The frigate is already en route to the area for possible rescue operations.
"The Israeli Military Attaché in Italy, our Ambassador and the Military Attaché in Tel Aviv, and the Crisis Unit of the Farnesina have been informed of this decision.”
It is over for the genocide deniers.
Even the BBC is now splashing on the UN commission of inquiry concluding that Israel has committed genocide.
Those who supported Israel's onslaught:
You backed a genocide.
You will never scrub the shame away.
There is no more time for excuses: as the evidence of Israel’s genocide continues to mount the international community cannot claim they didn’t know.
As Israeli authorities and forces intensify their brutal campaign of annihilation, particularly in Gaza City, the UN Commission of Inquiry's damning new report provides further confirmation of what Amnesty International and others have been concluding for months: that the Israeli authorities and Israeli forces have committed and are continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
This isn't just any report by a fringe organization: this is the United Nations - which, lest you forget, under the Charter signed by the entire world is supposed to represent the ultimate international legal authority - now officially saying that Israel is committing genocide.
And not in a small way: while the Genocide Convention requires proof of just ONE "prohibited act with genocidal intent" to establish genocide, they found Israel guilty of FOUR separate categories:
- killing Palestinians
- causing them serious bodily and mental harm
- deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy them
- imposing measures to prevent Palestinian births
- they also found that Israeli President Herzog, PM Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Gallant personally incited genocide - meaning the genocidal intent goes straight to the top
In other words, this is textbook, systematic, intended genocide according to the UN's own investigation.
We all know however that, while all nations - including the U.S. and Israel - have signed up to the UN Charter, the actual world order is VERY different from what's written on paper. What's happening in Gaza is making this eminently clear: a UN investigation can meticulously document genocide using the very legal standards the world agreed upon after the Holocaust, and yet said genocide will continue unabated.
Heck, without a doubt the states legally obligated to prevent genocide will instead work overtime to discredit the UN. The very institutions created to prevent another Holocaust will ironically be demolished for identifying one.
“It is clear there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”
UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry's report shows #Israel has committed #genocide in #Gaza.
https://t.co/UGjepPwmwo
So the list of humanitarian institutions who accuse Israel of genocide now includes:
1. The UN
2. International Association of Genocide Scholars
3. B'Tselem (Israeli)
4. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (Israeli)
5. Amnesty International
6. Doctors Without Borders
7. European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights
8. Human Rights Watch
9. International Federation for Human Rights
10. Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention
The list of humanitarian institutions who say Israel is NOT committing genocide in Gaza includes:
1. Nobody
2. No one
3. Zero
4. Nothing
5. Nada
6. Zilch
7. Fuck all
8. A complete absence
9. Diddly squat
10. Bupkis
A UN inquiry has confirmed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
The Foreign Secretary must come to Parliament, now, and explain why the government is still - shamefully - providing military support to Israel.
Not only was this an attack on the flotilla, it was an attack on Tunisian territory and an attack on Portugal.
The ship ‘FAMILY’ travelled under a Portuguese flag.
It feels like every day I discover a new tax break that landlords receive. Why on earth shouldn't landlords have to pay national insurance like the rest of us who actually work for our living?