Showing posts with label Whitehall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Whitehall. Show all posts
Friday, May 13, 2022
Cutting Civil Service by 91,000 Requires 'Imagination' Admits Senior Whitehall Official | ITV News
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Islamic 'Radicals' at the Heart of Whitehall
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| Lady Warsi arrives in Downing Street on July 6, 2010 |
Entryism, the favourite tactic of the 1980s’ Militant Tendency, is when a political party or institution is infiltrated by groups with a radically different agenda. Since Militant’s Trotskyites were expelled from the Labour Party, the word has rather fallen out of fashion.
But now, according to one Muslim leader, Islamic radicals are practising entryism of their own — into the heart of Whitehall – courtesy of a woman who was until recently a government minister.
Baroness Warsi, the first Muslim woman to sit in Cabinet, handed official posts to people linked to Islamist groups, including a man involved in an “unpleasant and bullying” campaign to win planning permission for the controversial London “megamosque” proposed by a fundamentalist Islamic sect.
He sits – alongside other radicals or former radicals and their allies – on a “cross-Government working group on anti-Muslim hatred” set up by Lady Warsi and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister.
Some members of the group are using their seats at the table to urge that Whitehall work with Islamist and extremist-linked bodies, including one described by the Prime Minister as a “political front for the Muslim Brotherhood”. Some are also pressing to lift bans on foreign hate preachers from entering Britain, including Zakir Naik, who has stated that “every Muslim should be a terrorist”. » | Andrew Gilligan | Sunday, February 22, 2015
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anti-terrorism chief quits over failure to expel suspects: Senior official quits over fears scheme to deport terrorists isn’t working » | Robert Mendick and Robert Verkaik | Saturday, February 21, 2015
Sunday, February 08, 2015
Huge Crowd of Muslim Protesters Picket Downing Street to Protest at Charlie Hebdo Cartoons
At least 1,000 Muslim protesters gathered outside the gates of Downing Street to protest against the depictions of the Prophet Mohammed in Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine.
The protestors, many of whom were divided into groups of men and women, gathered just yards from the Cenotaph which remembers Britain’s war dead, and blocked half of Whitehall as they demonstated.
It comes weeks after two terrorists attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the Paris-based satirical magazine which had published images of the Prophet Muhammad, killing 12 staff and wounding 11 others.
The protest was organised by the Muslim Action Forum, which said that the Charlie Hebdo cartoons had helped “sow the seeds of hatred” and had damaged community relations.
One young child, who appeared to be under the age of 10, stood next to a placard displaying the message: “Charlie and the abuse factory”. A series of Muslim leaders addressed the crowd from a platform outside the Ministry of Defence, with the message “Be careful with Muhammad”. » | Christopher Hope, Chief Political Correspodnent | Sunday, February 08, 2015
Thursday, November 25, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: British foreign policy will change to reflect Arab concerns over the Middle East peace process as part of the Coalition's efforts to seal a strategic agreement with the Gulf during the Queen's visit to the region.
Whitehall officials said Foreign Secretary William Hague's decision to reach out to Gulf states in an effort to secure better diplomatic and trade ties meant Britain had to "take on board" Arab foreign policy goals.
Requesting better ties would be a two-way street, not just plea for more defence contracts and exports, they said.
"It will be a six lane highway with movement in both directions," said one diplomat. "We have to respond to what Gulf States want. If we want a long-term partnership on foreign policy, then changes in our stance have to be part of it."
The Queen arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, at the start of a five-day visit that will also take in Oman.
Both countries are long-standing allies, where the royal family also has strong personal ties with local leaders. The United Arab Emirates end of the visit was rearranged after a planned tour last year was cancelled at the last minute.
The visit to Oman is to join the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of Sultan Qaboos's ascension to the throne.
But the visit has taken on a more significant, and unusually political context both with the change of government in Britain and increasing tensions with Iran a short distance away on the other side of the Gulf.
Mr Hague set improving relations with the Gulf and India as his first policy goals, and both David Cameron, the prime minister, and Liam Fox, the defence secretary, visited Abu Dhabi within a month of taking office. >>> Richard Spencer in Abu Dhabi and Damien McElroy | Wednesday, November 24, 2010
This sends out one BIG message: ISLAMIC TERRORISM PAYS! This is disgraceful! To turn our backs on Israel in its hour of need, when the Muslim world is out to destroy it is a craven act indeed. Shame on David Cameron! Shame on Nick Clegg! Shame on the British government! Shame on Whitehall! – © Mark
© Cassandra1963's comment on this development is really worth reading:
So this is the new coalition government in action is it?
Our relations with the Gulf states has always been close and friendly HOWEVER it seems that the UK must now cringe and crawl and change our foreign policies and strategic partnerships to suit islam? What price does the UK have to pay for this new arrangement?
Are we really that desperate for Arab cash that they can now summon our Queen to go barefoot and covered into their mosque and make our fake foreign secretary crawl and creep to beg for money?
The UK is being islamised at an alarming pace now and the coalition are at the centre of it, not for them the dignity and pride of HM governments of old, these Quislings just have to abase themselves and us.
Isnt it funny how WE have to note and address THEIR concerns and adapt OUR policies and alliances and interests to suit THEIRS? Look on this visit with shame and humiliation as our government crawls and creeps and cringes and gives in to demand after demand. The truth is that these states need us more than we need them, they need our support in the face of their own regional threats and we do not need to creep and crawl to them at all.
A friendship that requires one side to change its other alliances or friendships or strategic goals is no friendship at all, a friend that bullies and threatens and demands obedience from the other is not a friend at all. We are either an equal partner where we stand up for our own interests or we are a stooge lackey lickspittle unfit to have a seat at the UN top table. Trade? They either wish to trade with us or they do not, they have NO right to dictate to us about our foreign policies and alliances and how we must change to suit their prejudices and hatreds. If that is the price of a trade deal then they should really go buy their stuff from North Korea or Russia. What would they say to us if we demanded that they change their policies and goals to suit us? Yeah! they would rightly tell us to piss right off and no mistake!
What next? What other national humiliations are going to be heaped upon the the UK by this gang of Quislings? I just cannot bear the shame of what this gang of Quislings are doing to our once great nation. We look on the actions of this coalition and it is looking like the worst government we have ever had, these Quislings are in the pocket of the unelected shadow government, bought and paid for yesmen who have no honour and no shame and no morals and no patriotism in their souls. – [Source: © Cassandra1963, commenting on The Daily Telegraph]
MAIL ONLINE: Shoeless and wearing a beekeeper-style shawl and hat, the Queen walked across the world’s largest carpet last night as she met Islamic students in Abu Dhabi at the start of her five-day state visit to the Gulf.
No sooner had the Queen and Prince Philip stepped off their chartered British Airways flight from London than they were taken straight to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, the country’s largest.
The floor of its main prayer hall is covered in a 35-ton carpet which took 1,200 Iranian women two years to stitch by hand.
In keeping with tradition, the Queen removed her shoes before entering and padded in in stockinged feet.
While other female members of the party wore a traditional 'abaya' or full-length cloak over their clothes and a 'sheela' or scarf, the Queen wore a gold brocade coat embroidered with Swarovski crystals over her matching dress, both designed by her dresser, Angela Kelly.
She tied a gold lame shawl over her pill box hat to cover her hair. Shoeless Queen dons 'beekeeper' hat as she visits Abu Dhabi mosque >>> Robert Hardman | Thursday, November 25, 2010
*Liberated women everywhere will be proud of you, Ffion, I feel sure!
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Queen's Gulf visit: What the Gulf means to the UK today – The visit has taken on an unusually political flavour both with the change of government in Britain and increasing tensions with Iran a short distance away on the other side of the Gulf. >>> Richard Spencer in Abu Dhabi | Thursday, November 25, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Queen's Gulf visit: Britain and business in the United Arab Emirates – For most Britons today, thoughts of the United Arab Emirates conjure up images of gaudy hotels and beaches favoured by the new rich. >>> Richard Spencer | Thursday, November 25, 2010
SKY NEWS: Queen Visits Mosque On First Day Of UAE Trip >>> Angela Barnes, Sky News Online | Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Conservatives have asked the former boss of BP, Lord Browne, a business ambassador for Gordon Brown, to be a Whitehall watchdog. [Source: Mail Online]
This is the same Lord Browne who had to step down as head of BP for very personal reasons. Interesting times!
Monday, November 10, 2008
THE INDEPENDENT: Britain's security agencies and police would be given unprecedented and legally binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall.
The Intelligence and Security Committee, the parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies which has a cross-party membership from both Houses, wants to press ministers to introduce legislation that would prevent news outlets from reporting stories deemed by the Government to be against the interests of national security.
The committee also wants to censor reporting of police operations that are deemed to have implications for national security.
The ISC is to recommend in its next report, out at the end of the year, that a commission be set up to look into its plans, according to senior Whitehall sources.
The ISC holds huge clout within Whitehall. It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy. Kim Howells, a respected former Foreign Office minister, was recently appointed its chairman.
Under the existing voluntary code of conduct, known as the DA-Notice system, the Government can request that the media does not report a story. However, the committee's members are particularly worried about leaks, which, they believe, could derail investigations and the reporting of which needs to be banned by legislation.
Civil liberties groups say these restrictions would be "very dangerous" and "damaging for public accountability". They also point out that censoring journalists when the leaks come from officials is unjustified. MPs Seek to Censor the Media >>> Exclusive by Kim Sengupta | November 10, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: Media Could Face Reporting Ban on Issues of National Security
Plans for the security services and police to be given new legally-binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security are being drawn up, it was claimed today.
The proposal is said to feature in a report due before the end of the year from the cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee, parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies.
According to The Independent newspaper, unnamed sources at Whitehall say that the ISC will urge ministers to set up a commission to look into the proposal.
The ISC is appointed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and reports directly to him.
Its membership is made up of long-standing and trusted members of the major parties and it is chaired by former Foreign Office minister Kim Howells.
It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy.
The existing DA-Notice system is operated on a voluntary basis and overseen by the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (DPBAC), which brings together officials and representatives of the media.
Under this code of conduct, the Government can request that the media does not report a story which could compromise UK military and intelligence operations or lead to attacks that would damage the critical national infrastructure or endanger lives. >>> By Charlotte Bailey | November 10, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>
Monday, February 04, 2008
THE GUARDIAN: Phrasebook designed to avoid blaming Muslims for extremism
A new counter-terrorism phrasebook has been drawn up within Whitehall to advise civil servants on how to talk to Muslim communities about the nature of the terror threat without implying they are specifically to blame.
Reflecting the government's decision to abandon the "aggressive rhetoric" of the so-called war on terror, the guide tells civil servants not to use terms such as Islamist extremism or jihadi-fundamentalist but instead to refer to violent extremism and criminal murderers or thugs to avoid any implication that there is an explicit link between Islam and terrorism.
It warns those engaged in counter-terrorist work that talk of a struggle for values or a battle of ideas is often heard as a "confrontation/clash between civilisations/cultures". Instead it suggests that talking about the idea of shared values works much more effectively. Whitehall draws up new rules on language of terror >>> By Alan Travis, home affairs editor
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Monday, January 14, 2008
DAILY MAIL: White flight - the retreat of the white middle classes from city centres - is getting worse, the Government's race relations chief said yesterday.
The admission by Trevor Phillips was the first time a senior Whitehall figure has used the phrase.
Mr Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, backed the decision last week of the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, to warn of the spread of "no-go areas" for non-Muslims. 'White flight' from city centres is getting worse, says equality chief >>> By Steve Doughty
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
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