Breaking the law and non-violent extremism

On Wednesday 9th October in Glasgow, a group of primary schoolchildren could be seen being paraded around an empty, wet George`s Square by their teacher chanting about climate change.

As one observer asked: "Should teachers be using young children like this for their own political agendas? " 

The spectacle was more dramatic in London over the weekend.

"Well speaking of destabilisation, of course, Extinction Rebellion have begun their protest in London today. Well, it led over the weekend with this." 

Referring to the recent demonstrations in London, Mike Robinson on UK Column News 7 October 2019 remarks: "Here`s a tweet from Damien Gayle: `Police use a battering ram to break into Extinction Rebellion warehouse `... Well they`re having a hard job getting in there it seems, the heavy door. If you read the rest of Damien Gayle`s tweets he`s been quite pro-Extinction Rebellion ... In fact the police was acting on behalf of the landlords who were wanting to get these people out and perhaps they were taking advantage of that to get some PR in; but no evidence today that the police are actually doing anything to get the Extinction Rebellion protesters off the streets."

"Or under control," adds Brian Gerrish.

"But we don`t need to worry because there`s a ... new Countering Extremism policy coming through because this is Sarah Khan who leads the commission on Countering Extremism and she`s carried out the first ever national conversation on extremism - I`m sure you know all about that."

Brian Gerrish says sarcastically: "Well I do now, yes. But I don`t think the average person does."

Mike Robinson: "Yes, so was there a national conversation then? I`m not aware there was. And she has apparently received the government`s current approach . So they have today decided to publish their findings and recommendations in their report which is called Challenging Hateful Extremism. And they have categorised a new kind of extremist behaviour outside terrorism and violent extremism which has been called `hateful extremism,` so that`s what we`re looking at now."

"So it says: `Hateful extremism is behaviour that can incite and amplify hate, or engage in persistent hatred, or equivocate about and make the moral case for violence; hateful extremism can also draw on hateful, hostile or supremacist beliefs directed at an out-group who are perceived as a threat to the wellbeing, survival or success of an in-group; that cause, or are likely to cause, harm to individuals, communities or wider society`."

"So the examples she gives are the spreading of hate filled views: LBGTQ+ people during the row over relationship teaching in Birmingham. Were you aware that there was hate filled rhetoric about LGBTQ over that?"

"Well of course there absolutely hasn`t been Mike. You wouldn`t believe that if you read the BBC report but if you follow through where the parents have protested in Birmingham, they are simply protesting that children`s innocence has been taken away too early with the RSE education and they are not directly focusing on anything to do with the LGBTQ community at all. It`s to do with the age of the children and the material that they`ve been given. So this seems like a back door effort to help clamp down on those parents, I would say."

"Amongst other things. So she also said, another example is: three quarters of those countering extremism on the ground have personally received abuse, intimidation and harassment because of their work; is what she`s claimed.. And she said that `unlike the government`s response to terrorism the current response to hateful extremism is inadequate and unfocused` so she`s calling for `a new focus and a robust victim centred and rights based approach to ensuring that we respond appropriately to the threat. And therefore she`s recommending a rebooted government strategy and a new taskforce led by the Home Secretary.` So they would `work with the Home Secretary, with government bodies and civil society to assess any ongoing or emerging situations and put a response in place`."

Brian Gerrish: "So this is `participatory democracy` - so called participatory democracy - because you`re not going to involve voters and the general public; you`re going to bring in the NGOs and the think tanks in order to get your desired policy across."

Mike Robinson: "Well indeed which is why this national conversation took place and nobody knows anything about it because, of course, the only people who took part in it were the NGOs and civil society organisations...."

"And charities."

 

"Yes, that she wants to encourage.... Well this was the Commission`s website when I took the screenshot of it this morning. Within ten minutes of me taking that they had put up the latest news story which is that the independent commission for countering extremism has published four new peer reviewed academic papers on Islamism and Sikh extremism. So they`re not talking about Extinction Rebellion, they`re not talking about anything other than Islamic extremism, and now Sikh extremism."

Four Academic Papers

`Mainstreaming Islamism: Islamist Institutions and Civil Society Organisations`
`Mainstream Islamism in Britain: Educating for the `Islamic Revival`
`What is to be Done about al-Mughajiroun? Containing the Emigrants in a Democratic Society`
`The changing nature of activism amongst Sikhs in the UK today` 

"And I thought that title was interesting because what they`re now doing is conflating activism with extremism. So if you`re an activist, you`re an extremist. But if you`re an activist for Extinction Rebellion, that`s not extremism."

Brian Gerrish: "Absolutely not."

Mike Robinson: "We`ll come on to that. So they`re saying that second generation street activism is getting too close to the far right, so really we`ve got to be concerned about that now."

"Right. So that`s fascinating. Actually if you have a look at Ms Khan on the internet, you`ll find a lot of people deeply concerned with her inability to do the job that she`s been given. But we`ll let you do your own research on that. But come to Extinction Rebellion because of course Extinction Rebellion has rapidly become the darling of the BBC. We`ve all seen the almost unlimited, free publicity, thanks to TV licence payers. So here`s one of the headlines: "

"`Who are Extinction Rebellion and what do they want? And they`ve gone from law breaking organisation to - we`ll show you why we`re saying that - to peaceful darling of the BBC. So these are the sorts of reports and what the BBC are saying. In London, it aims to `peacefully occupy the centres of power and shut them down.`We`ve got: What is Extinction Rebellion? And here it describes itself as an international `non-violent civil disobedience activist movement`." 

"This is another one that came out shortly before it became live. `Extinction Rebellion UK arrests as global demonstrations begin. They want governments to declare a `climate and ecological emergency` and take immediate action to address climate change`. Although interestingly Extinction Rebellion doesn`t say how, apart from a citizens committee. It describes itself as an `international non-violent civil disobedience activist movement`."

"So what can we say? Well this was an earlier report from the BBC and we highlighted it a couple of weeks ago... if you read this they had a journalist working for them..."

`2019 has marked a change in public attitudes to climate change driven in part by a huge new global protest movement.`

`In this timely and powerful documentary, reporter Ben Zand gains access to the most important of the protest groups, Extinction Rebellion. He is with them for four months, as they build towards `the rebellion` ll days of protest in April during which they take over and occupy four iconic locations in London.`

`The film follows three young people who have been inspired to join and lead the protests. Many are not only protesting for the first time in their lives but are also putting their liberty on the line to demand radical action from the government. We are there as they organise street protests and direct action - risking arrest for their commitment to the cause.`

`16-year-old Dan from south London has never been on a protest before. Since joining Extinction Rebellion in 2018, she has co-organised nationwide school strikes. Sam is 22 and a recent graduate, but now works full-time for Extinction Rebellion and is willing to get arrested again and again until something changes. Jack joined the movement recently at age 18. He is inspired by the tactics and research laid out by Extinction Rebellion and has an eye on organising controversial splinter actions for the movement`.

`Ben also spends time with the leader of the movement, Roger Hallam, who has spent years academically researching tactics for social change. He says you need 2000 people to get arrested and 400 people to go to prison if you want the government to meet your demands. Ben challenges him on his methods and asks whether it is justifiable to encourage young people to break the law.`

`This film is the first to get inside the new climate movements. It reveals how they have mobilised a generation to take radical action to help save the planet from climate change.`

"And he`s actually talking about young people under the age of sixteen. So the BBC knew the reality, knew Extinction Rebellion was grooming young people to break the law. All that`s now gone Mike. It`s now a wonderful peaceful organisation. And let`s have a look at this carefully manipulated BBC clip here. Here`s Roger Hallam himself: And if we have a look at the video and listen to what`s being said, fascinating stuff."

"Absolutely fascinating piece of BBC propaganda there. One of the clues as to what is going on here is the fact that the clip is two minutes and nineteen seconds long* . This means that it can be tweeted out. The limit is two minutes 20 seconds for a video clip. So what we`re seeing is the BBC taking an organisation which it has said has been calling for people to break the law - criminal activity, extremist activity- and it gives them a soundbite where now - oh no no no, the blame is not on Extinction Rebellion, the blame is going to be on the authorities as a result of peaceful Ghandi type action. This is disgraceful propaganda by the BBC in order to support Extinction Rebellion, and that clip absolutely crafted, for people essentially to copy and tweet out support for Extinction Rebellion."

 "Now we`re just going to remind you that we got a hold of this document. which is Extinction Rebellion planning for people to break the law. We know that includes essentially children, those under the age of sixteen. `We need people prepared to be arrested and go to prison`. And we also confirmed... this document with Extinction Rebellion themselves. They said yes it`s their document, albeit one that is out of date. "
"We`ve also shown you that this excellent report by Richard Walton, the former SO15 counter extremism officer with the MET says that not only is this a dangerous law breaking organisation but actually it`s going for overthrow of the civil order and liberal democracy in UK. So that`s what a senior policeman says, but basically what does the BBC do? They promote them. Now in the background Extinction Rebellion is using Department for Education school facilities to recruit. This is the Grove school in Totness in Devon where they`ve been holding recruiting meetings. It`s freely available in the public domain. And this is the school itself."

"Now we have tried to ask the Department for Education for their policy on Extinction Rebellion and its use of schools to recruit, and the result has been secrecy, arrogance and a dismissive fob off. Now if this was Tommy Robinson and his crowd up to something Mike, or it was an organisation which had got the slightest hint of being right wing, we can imagine that these people would have been rounded up yesterday, but not Extinction Rebellion."

 

"And this is where it gets very interesting; because if you look at the government`s own website here`s Educate Against Hate and that is sponsored by the government, the Department for Education and the Home Office. It`s got a number on there. It says `If you`re concerned, call us,` which is what U|K Column did and this is the sort of response we got, that staff on the other end of the line wouldn`t give their names. They said: `We`re anonymous and we don`t give out names.` So we`ve got a secret organisation working within the Department for Education.  They obfuscated, they blurred the discussion; they were dismissive of the information we passed, most of which was in the public domain, that Extinction Rebellion is breaking the law and they clearly had little if any interest in any of the concerns. So we were eventually told to take our request for `What is the policy on Extinction Rebellion?` to the Department for Education press team. And at one stage there was a not very subtle attempt to say that the conversation was aggressive because we didn`t back down and give in to the fob off. They ended up by saying, email us information. So we are going to do that and we`ll see what the response is."

"But to come back to your lead Mike,  this is the Independent here reporting the Commission`s report and of course what is the focus? It`s on Islamic and right wing extremism. They`re not interested at all in anything to do with Extinction Rebellion."

 

"Now just to end the segment here, we did a little bit of homework on Countering Extremism. The document that`s the Policy 2015, this goes back to David Cameron and Teresa |May. So who`s in charge at the moment? Well we`ve got Priti Patel as Home Secretary, she`s responsible for Countering Extremism. We`ve got the Minister of State for Countering Extremism. That`s a Baroness William... She recently got a degree in nutrition. That`s going to get her a long way I think. And we`ve got this lady, Victoria Mary Atkins, barrister, now British Conservative party member Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for crime, safeguarding and vulnerability, and that includes countering extremism. We`ve got a lady inside the Department for Education who`s responsible for due diligence and countering extremism. She`s Sophie Taylor. I can`t find a picture of her but at least we`ve pinned down one of the key people and then we bring in Sarah Khan and her commission."

"But the reality is these people don`t want to deal with Extinction Rebellion even though it`s boasting it wants people to break the law and it`s recruiting people under the age of 16 using school facilities. So why would that be Mike? A guess from myself would be that actually Extinction Rebellion is partly being promoted by the government because of its climate change agenda."

"It represents a policy that the government is supportive of ..."

"And the rest can go under the carpet. We don`t mind what you do because the government wants this false climate agenda to come in. So we will keep asking the questions; we will be sending the Countering Extremism department more information and we`ll keep viewers and listeners up to date with what responses we get."

The Green Party and 5G

"Well let`s just remind people that at the end of last week the Green Party conference in Newport Wales was going on. But something that the Green Party didn`t want to get involved with was protesters warning about the dangers of 5G. So we`ve got a remarkable situation that the Green Party of course is everything about protecting the environment, except when people say: `Well ok what are you going to do about 5G?` and they don`t want to know. And a motion to talk about the dangers of 5G was prevented from getting into the conference debate. But people were outside protesting, so this caused some embarrassment to the Greens. This was a bit more of the protest outside the building itself, but lots of questions to be asked as to why the Green Party supposedly protecting the environment, protecting people, protecting nature, but when it comes to the big business of 5G they simply don`t want to know. So we`ll continue to ask questions on that front as well. "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubv3x6fP04

* The copy of Hard Talk on the blog is from youtube and is over 20 minutes long in contrast to the version produced on UK Column

The UN global goals

The UK Column returned after its summer break and briefly mentioned the campaigning organisation Extinction Rebellion.
Mike Robinson referred to Ian R Crane`s remark that Extinction Rebellion `are absolutely campaigning for citizens assemblies to take over from parliament, and, in fact, they`re involved with an organisation which is aiming to replace the House of Lords`."

There were other examples of how representative democracy is being undermined by what has been called `participatory democracy`. These organisations include NGOs and charities which push forward their own political agendas outside of parliament. 

Brian Gerrish remarks: "The House of Lords deliberately collapsed, but don`t worry we`ve got the solution here. Right? "

"Right," agrees Mike Robinson.  "OK, so let`s move on to this then. So #100 Ways AidWorks and this is all about international aid and this is, apparently, according to the International Development Secretary Alok Sharma, `is all about developing infrastructure in emerging countries - emerging markets. So he has decided to set up a new commission which is going to bring together leading experts to turbocharge quality infrastructure projects in developing countries. The commission is going to be made up of UK and international business `- common purpose [?] - `the very best of British expertise and will make recommendations to improve the planning, delivery and financing of infrastructure projects`."

"Well, so why doesn`t Britain just join the Belt and Road initiative then? Because surely that`s what that`s doing, because that seems to be quite successful at building infrastructure projects in developing countries at the moment. But no, that`s the wrong type of infrastructure project, of course. What this is all about is the UN global goals and the 2.5 trillion dollar funding gap that there is to fulfill the global goals. So this commission which is being established is going to make sure that the UK gets involved in financing and developing infrastructure and promotes inclusive growth, while meeting the Paris climate commitments."  

"So that`s what it`s all about. And so he said an extra 2.5 trillion dollars is needed every year to end poverty in developing countries and the UK must mobilise private-sector investment to overcome this challenge. `Alongside the life-saving work of UK aid we need to boost infrastructure projects that form the backbone of economic growth.` That`s fantastic stuff," says Mike Robinson sarcastically.

"Well in the meantime then, the G7 has been going on and well let`s just have a brief look at some of the headlines from the media on this. This is the Guardian. `We need to cancel the next G7. Let`s resume them when Trump is gone.` [Michael H Fuchs] We`ve got Business Insider. `Trump`s G7 performance shows how he`s living in a totally different reality and isolating the US from the rest of the world.` And the Guardian again. `Birritz was an empty charade. The G7 is a relic of a bygone age.` [Simon Tisdall]. And what are the sort of views that are being expressed in these articles ?...Trump is a problem. The G7 is not equipped to work towards its goals and the biggest obstacle is the US president, Donald Trump."

"This is one of the Guardian articles. `The goal of G7 is to bring together some of the world`s most prosperous democracies to coordinate on the most important issues of the day whether on climate change or responding to Russia`s invasion of Crimea or making gender equality a reality. The G7 countries are supposed to lead, crafting policies that can foster global peace and prosperity in ways that uphold democratic values`."

"And if everybody has managed not to throw up in the nearest bin over that, then it goes on to say that Trump wants America to work alone to destroy the current global trading system/foreign assistance that helps address transnational challenges, ignore human rights and doesn`t believe climate change is real. `The G7`s an annual long weekend of toddler daycare for Trump` - it`s the language ... but in the meantime then the other focus was all about Emmanuel Macron, what a brilliant global leader he is, and, of course, he was leading the way to agree to help Brazil to fight the Amazon fires. This is, you know, the fact that the Amazon allegedly is burning and we`ve all got to get together globally and intervene in... Brazil ."

"So that was the Rio Times. `G7 Agrees to Help Brazil Fight Amazon Fires, Says French President Macron.` Well Brazil didn`t like that very much. They`ve rejected the 22 million dollar aid package and this is really what it`s about, Balsonaro saying `Other heads of state sympathised with Brazil after all respect for the sovereignty of any country is the least that can be expected in a civilised world.` So really what he`s complaining about is that G7 was attempting to ride roughshod over his decisions about... how he was going to deal with this problem and he went on to say this: `Thanks for Donald Trump. We are having great success in fighting fires. Brazil is and will continue to be an example for the world in sustainable development. The fake news campaign fabricated against our sovereignty will not thrive. The US can always count on Brazil.` So he`s seeing it as an attack on him. and on his government and so on."

"So the question I wanted to ask was, you know, what is the situation with these fires? And in fact if we look at NASA`s Earth Observatory website and their section on the fires in Brazil it says: `In the Amazon, fire season has arrived. In the Amazon region, fires are rare for much of the year because wet weather prevents them from starting and spreading. However, in July and August, activity typically increases due to the arrival of the dry season. Many people use fire to maintain farmland and pastures and to clear land for other purposes, typically activity peaks in early September and mostly stops by November. As of August 16 2019, an analysis of NASA satellite data indicated that the total fire activity across the Amazon basin this year has been close to the average in comparison`."

" Now anybody looking at the mainstream media coverage of this would think that the entire Amazon rainforest was burning down. But NASA here quite clearly saying that... `the level of fires at the moment is about average for the last 15 years. They say the
Amazon spreads across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and parts of other countries. Though activity appears to be above average in the states of Amazonas and Rondônia, it has so far appeared below average in Mato Grosso and Pará, according to estimates from the Global Fire Emissions Database, a research project that compiles and analyses NASA data`."

"And then we have this. This is Forbes which is attempting to put a bit more clarity on the situation and I recommend this article because it`s actually quite detailed and ...what`s interesting is that the main expert that they`re talking to is somebody from the International Panel of Climate Change. [United Nations, IPCC] and what he`s saying - well first of all, he`s talking about the claim that the Amazon is the lungs of the world and he says - this is his language - it`s bullshit. There`s no science behind that. The Amazon produces a lot of oxygen but it uses the same amount of oxygen through respiration. ... and the article goes on to say neither is the Amazon forest burning down"

"So this is Daniel Nepstad, the environmentalist they have got to, and he said `we don`t know if there are any more forest fires this year than in past years which tells me there probably isn`t. I`ve been working on and studying these fires for 25 years and our `on the ground ` networks are tracking this.`  So he`s quite clear about that and the sort of claims that are being made about the whole thing and it is clearly an attack on the sovereignty of Brazil."

Returning to Extinction Rebellion and its attack on the globe:    

"As Thunberg’s yacht rounded the Statue of Liberty, it was met by a flotilla of 17 support boats, each with its sail printed with a message spelling out a recommended sustainable development goal, as promoted by the United Nations. These included combating discrimination and promoting peace, as well as using less plastic, not wasting food or water, using public transportation and vaccinating children against diseases ."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/28/greta-thunberg-arrival-in-new-york-delayed-by-rough-seas?

Mental health connections

[UK Column 7th June 2019 ]

"This is a website which has this amazing story:  `UK University to monitor social media accounts to identify suicidal students` and it`s by a gentleman called David McCourt."

"`Northumbria University in the North East of England is set to take the radical step of using data collected from students` social media accounts in a bid to reduce climbing student suicide rates. The higher educational institution, located in Newcastle upon Tyne, will create an Early Alert Tool to offer aid to undergrads in crisis`."

"So this was a bit more of it. So the university is working in partnership with nine other organisations on the project and they`ve been awarded funding by the Office for Students (OfS). A total of £14.5 million has been put aside by OfS, £6 million of which will go to the social media scanning project, and another £8.5 million going to nine other collaborative projects."

"Now I find this quite extraordinary," says Brian Gerrish, "That these sums of money are being put into watching students` social media. "

"This is another paragraph: `Few details were given about what information exactly would be mined from students` social media accounts. The project will raise concerns about the invasion of privacy, but these issues could be eased somewhat by an opt-in policy that requires students to consent to being part of the program`."

"Now we spoke to the Office for Students and said: `Well, are students going to be able to opt in or opt out? And they said to us that: `Well they don`t know at the moment because the project hasn`t really been formulated`. So we`ve given money for a project which the donor of that public money doesn`t even know what these key details are about."

Mike Robinson comments: "So they`re going to hoover up all this data. Now twitter, facebook and so on, they provide apps to do that. So take part in those platforms, anybody can hoover up your data. But the question here for me is: is this going to end at identifying people that are at risk of suicide or perhaps will they be looking at other forms of thought crime?"

Brian Gerrish: "Well is this just going to be one arm of the Prevent strategy and project Channel, so that if you dare express anything the state believes is right wing extremist you`re going to be reported through to the Prevent system?"

"Let`s have a look at what the Chief Executive said. This is Nicola Dandridge and she said: `Whenever I talk to students, improving mental health support is consistently raised as a priority. Taking preventative action to promote good mental health is critical, as is taking a whole institution approach and involving students in developing solutions..."

"So apparently, we`re at the stage where students are not thinking about their education and how good that education is, they`re preoccupied with their mental health. If that`s true, we`re in a pretty serious position. I`m not sure what the truth is, but we`ll just follow this through a bit."

 

"Here`s the Office for Students. They`re independent, Mike, as always. They were appointed by central government, and they`re connected through to central government, but they are independent." 

"And we`ve got some interesting people here. Here`s Sir Michael Barber, the chair, and he started out as chief adviser to the Secretary of State for Education in 1997 and he was part of the Prime Minister`s Delivery Unit. So very much an establishment man but everything is independent of government here. And he did a little bit of work with consultancy McKinsey who, of course, has done a lot of work in most governments."

"We`ve got Gurpreet Dehal. He`s a trustee of the multi-school academy trust E-ACT. He also holds non-executive positions with the Ministry of Defence and Equity UK..."

"And we`ve got Martin Coleman, deputy chairman of the board and chairs the Provider Risk Committee. And I found this interesting... he`s a trustee of an organisation called Police Now. I had no idea what that was. So we followed through. Here it is."

"`Join us, change the story, and `Police Now is on a mission to `transform communities, reduce crime and increase the public`s confidence in policing by recruiting and developing outstanding and diverse individuals to be leaders in society and on the policing frontlines`. So you`re not a policeman any more. You`re going to be changing the whole of society."

Mike Robinson: "So this is Common Purpose for police."

"It`s Common Purpose for police; I would say so. And we`ve got some interesting people here. So we`ve got a David Spencer,  co-founder and chief executive officer. He was an officer in the Met Police. So I suppose that makes sense. But he`s done a lot of political degrees... If you have a look at the bottom."

`Dave has a Business degree from the University of Sheffield, a Masters degree in US Politics from the University of London, and is currently studying his research Masters in Politics from the University of London`. 

"We`ve got another police constable there, Tor Garnett... So Sir Ian Powell we`ve got, left Pricewaterhouse Coopers on 13th of June 2016 on completion of his second and final four year term as chairman and senior partner.  Pricewaterhouse, of course, very interesting company with lots of very big government contracts, but he then joined the board of Capita PLC on 1st September as chairman designate. So he`s chairman of Police Now and a member of the committee for the National Gallery."

"So interesting connections. And the other gentleman there, James Darley - well he`s been working in graduate recruitment and he`s got a background in credit Swiss bank. And it`s just interesting to say how does this relationship work? [It`s] where we`re really coming to. And I can`t explain it."

"No," says Mike Robinson.

"We could go on a little bit more. We`ll just do these. Director general for tax and welfare at HM Treasury, James Bowler. So he, according to this report, is the Director General for tax and welfare at HM Treasury."

Mike Robinson: "But he`s helping Police Now transform secure society."

"Yes."

"Good stuff."

"Yeah."

Mike Robinson: "I mean what can we say about this?"

"Not a lot."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6mt5H3aChk

No lessons for climate change activist

"Teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg will take a year out of school and travel to the US to continue her campaign to promote environmental protection."

"The teen kicked off the hugely popular ‘school strike’ movement last year for kids to push their elders into taking a serious stand to tackle the devastating effects of climate change and safeguard their future..."

"As part of her commitment to the cause of reducing carbon emissions, Thunberg does not travel by plane. Accepting an invite to the UN’s special climate change meeting in New York in September means a lengthy transatlantic voyage ahead, so she’s decided to take a sabbatical year to make the journey."

"Thunberg also plans to attend the UN Cop25 climate change summit in Santiago, Chile in December."

https://www.rt.com/news/460808-greta-thunberg-climate-change-travel/
 
 A comment under the RT article:

But the percentage of various greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is not the only fact that has been misunderstood by Greta.

Here is UK Column`s Mike Robinson, along with Patrick Henningsen from 21st Century Wire, who recount Greta`s good news towards the end of the programme:

"I just wanted to end on a positive note," says Robinson, "Because really `good news,` Patrick: Greta Thunberg, the teen climate change campaigner ... is taking a year off from school so she can go to the United States and, in fact, America in general to promote her policies to deal with climate change."

Patrick Henningsen: "Sacrificing her own education for the sake of the climate ..." 

"So you`ll be glad to know, of course, she runs this campaign about Flight Shame.  So, apparently, she is not going to fly to the Americas and the United States. She`s going to take a boat which is really a bit unfortunate because this organisation ... reported to the Guardian in 2016 that if you`re on a plane, aircraft use 0.257 kg of CO2 per passenger mile. But unfortunately ships use 0.43 kg of CO2 per passenger mile. So this is a little unfortunate for poor dear old Greta. She clearly hasn`t considered this..." 

Patrick Heningsen: "Well maybe it`s better, Mike, that young Greta takes the plane instead of the ship. And if she does that then she won`t need to take the year off school because she`ll be spending less time travelling by boat..." 　

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJLflt6FuhA

A peculiar death cult

In Glasgow:

"Environmental campaigners have staged a `die-in` protest under the skeleton of a dinosaur in a Glasgow museum."

"Extinction Rebellion Scotland said about 300 people took part in the protest at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum."

[If it wasn`t for the extinction of the dinosaurs, human beings would never have evolved. So what`s the symbolism here?]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-48078039

 

In London:

 

"It`s a bit odd isn`t it, that the protesters have chosen Easter holiday week  - because they`re urging the government to take action and meet with them - but the government are on an Easter break ?"  [Sam]

The Glastonbury experiment

"A 'weapons grade' phone technology that has sparked health concerns - and been linked with a spate of suicides at Bristol University - will be tested at Glastonbury Festival..."

"A 5G mobile network is to be trialled during Glasto as part of EE's ongoing trials of the technology. 5G is the next generation of mobile network and is expected to begin publicly rolling out later this year, offering internet speeds up to double that of current generation 4G. EE has said it will install five temporary masts across the Worthy Farm site, which will enable festival-goers to connect to 2G, 3G, 4G and - for the first time 5G - networks. The trial will be the first time the technology has been installed at a festival."

"While many scientists believe 5G is perfectly safe, some - including a public health professor at the University of California - have described 5g as `a massive experiment on the health of all species`."

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/glastonbury-festival-test-mobile-phone-2790807

================================


"A Silicon-valley engineer turned technology health advocate, Jeromy Johnson discusses our attachment to technology and the health hazards such an addiction may hold. "

Despite the health warnings, along comes an even more powerful wifi technology, as this commenter on the above video has said.

Knife crime on the increase

"Defence secretary Gavin Williamson says military `ready to respond` to knife crime crisis," Brian Gerrish reads on UK Column News, Friday 8 March 2019.

"So we can`t get ships to sea; we can`t respond to Russian ships off the Scottish coast but now the military are going to deal with knife crime that, of course,.... has been allowed to fester and increase due to a British government policy to enable it to do just that."

"But it gets worse. Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, had said she would be willing to bring in troops to support her officers, as they battle a spate of stabbings."

"So how is she going to do that? Are we going to have military patrols on the London streets or are we going to put troops on the underground? It`s very difficult to know particularly as we haven`t got enough troops to defend the country. But I`m sure Cressida, as a Common Purpose future leader, will be able to sort that out quite quickly."  

"Now back to the state of the nation and Mike yesterday you gave a very good breakdown of what had been taking place in Westminster with intelligence analyst Chris Donnelly from the Institute of Statecraft explaining the dangers of Russian expertise in the game `GO` at the Westminster Defence Committee hearing."

"This is a real picture; we haven`t created this in the UK Column; this is Westminster TV showing Chris Donnelly explaining the game `GO` to the Westminster Defence Committee because he says the Russians are very good at it."

"Well we`ve got a UK Column exclusive and that is that there`s been a response from Gavin Williamson."

"So Gavin Williamson is taking GO very seriously and those board games are going to go."

"Well that is the humour, pretty black. Let`s get into the reality of what Gavin Williamson and secretary of state are up to. Here`s a little bit more about Christ Donelly."

----------------------------------------------- 
"As a graduate of Manchester University and reserve officer in the British Army intelligence Corps, Chris Donnelly helped to establish, and later headed, the British Army`s Soviet Studies Research Centre at RMA Sandhurst. Between 1989-2003, as Special Adviser to four NATO Secretaries General, he was closely involved in dealing with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the reform of the newly emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. He left NATO in 2003 to set up and run the UK Defence Academy`s Advanced Research and Assessment Group. In 2010 he because co-Director of the Institute for Statecraft dealing with new security threats and responses - specifically, new forms of conflict and warfare and how to transform institutions so that they are fit for today`s rapidly changing security environment."

"Christ Donnelly has written three books as well as many articles on questions of defence, security, strategy and statecraft. He has held appointments as specialist Adviser to three UK Defence Secretaries (both Labour and Conservative) and was a member of PM Thatcher`s Soviet advisory team. He has also served as Specialist Adviser on the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee and currently serves in this role on the Defence Committee. He also is adviser to the Foreign Minister of Lithuania; is a Security and Justice Senior Mentor in the UK`s Stabilisation Unit; is Trustee of the London-based charities Active Change Foundation and Forward Thinking; serves as Honorary Colonel, SGMI; and sits on the official team responsible for scrutinising the current reform of the UK`s Reserve Forces for the Defence Secretary."
------------------------------------------
"And one of the things that we got interested in was that he was previously a trustee of the London based charity Active Change Foundation. He`s also involved in another one called Forward Thinking."

"Let`s have a look at Active Change. Here`s the funders, donors and partners and interestingly we see Institute for Statecraft there. We`ve got a lot of interesting people. We`ve got Boots involved and Barclays, a lot of local councils, Islington; we`ve got  the MET police somewhere there, all working to prevent violent crime and extremism." 

"Well we were fascinated to have a look at their team. Here`s Chris Donnelly, not quite as young as the photo there. But we also picked up on this gentleman, the chief executive of this charity and why were we interested in this man? Well let`s see what they say about this man. They say `A former foreign fighter himself, Hanif once joined Al Qaeda members in Afghanistan, but was deterred by the crimes he saw being committed against civilians and turned his back on them. Upon his return to the UK, he vowed to safeguard young men and women from similar experiences, losing their lives and harming their communities."

 "So we`ve got an Al Qaeda terrorist simply decides he`s going to come back into Britain and help teach the UK government how to stop violent crime. But we`ve just heard that violent crime, including knife crime, is on the increase. Is there any connection? I mean, who knows?" 

"But here we`ve got a terrorist, an Al Qaeda terrorist, coming back into the country and we`d like to ask the question: How does this happen? Let`s remember this young lady Shamima Begum - there`s a huge furore, that a teenager clearly went off the rails. We don`t know whether we can allow her back in because she`s been associating with ISIS."

"Sajid Javid has this to say: `My message is clear. If you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return..."

"So we`ve got a rather strange situation where a young girl who we can say, yes, she`s been involved with terrorists and she wants to come back in the country but we don`t really want her.  But we`ve got this gentleman who was an Al Qaeda terrorist who is freely operating and he seems to be operating alongside another man, supposedly advising the government about how to deal with terrorism, hybrid warfare and of course dangerous board games like GO."

==============

Continued below on UK Column News: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjw_1YgIaoY&t=995s

Innocent young people imprisoned in institutions

by Ian Birrell

"Imagine that it was your son, your daughter, your sister, your brother. Taken away by the state against their will to be locked in an institution hours from home. Forced to take drugs they do not need, turning them catatonic, unable to stop dribbling – and if they resist, held down by six guards, stripped and injected with strong sedatives. Stuffed in a tiny cell with just a mattress on the floor, fed through a hatch like a wild animal. Sometimes with no shower, no sink, no toilet paper – and always with no dignity."

"Your relative, of course, has rights as a citizen. Even if they carry out evil crimes, they are protected by rigorous laws. Yet such actions are being inflicted on innocent young people with autism and learning disabilities. They are being handcuffed, bruised, restrained face down by teams of adults, even having their spectacles removed. They must obey orders to access books, television, even fresh air. Some slump into depression and shed weight, others swell up through over-eating. Yet if families protest, they can be legally removed as protectors and publicly silenced with court orders that threaten to seize all assets." 

"These stories sound Dickensian. They remind us of pitiful footage from foreign orphanages or places where people with mental illness are chained to trees. Yet this is happening right here in our country. It is happening right now in secretive psychiatric institutions – both private and state-owned. These practices are a flagrant denial of the most basic human rights for British citizens – but they are permitted by politicians, sanctioned by doctors and funded at huge expense by taxpayers."

Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/the-care-system-remains-twisted-incarcerating-people-with-learning-disabilities-is-inhumane/?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR0kyNxq22Evn4bU2XCV82gwDZ1FK-xU0Vu9VM2qGLQnlmcjhCV0MIFDmUI

Transforming mental health with apps

Towards the end of this edition of UK Column News, Mike Robinson said there was good news from the government. It was going to be `supporting each and every child and young person to fulfil their potential by transforming mental health services in this country.`

`Hundreds of new mental health workers will start working in and near schools and colleges from next year.`

`Schools and colleges will train a dedicated mental health lead to ensure young people get the help they need.`

`The first teams to begin working in schools and colleges will be in `Trail Blazer Locations` by the end of 2019`...

"So this is fantastic news," says Mike Robinson sarcastically. "Apparently 8,000 counsellors are going to go into schools to protect, well, what some mainstream media were calling a generation crushed by digital pressures. And so this is all about dealing with children that are getting involved in unhealthy online behaviours. And who`s behind this? "

"But of course it`s the illustrious Matt Hancock. Here he is, the health and social care AI boss. And he`s urging parents and also technology companies to do more to protect the young from pressures of social media. And how`s he going to do that? Apparently when he was speaking to the BBC Newsbeat, the sort of teenage news service, this morning he said there needs to be more use of apps in the National Health Service. And so we`ve got to do loads more in that area. The use of technology and apps is the way to do it. So this is a quote from him."

"`One of the things I`ve done in different parts of government is make sure that it`s more tech savvy and digital... We need more apps. How else can we maintain the business model?`"

"Because of course he has his own app. He promotes his own app. And if we have more apps we can have more apps on children`s phones and therefore children can suffer more mental health issues and then they can put more people into schools to deal with those mental health issues. And then they can produce more apps. ... It`s a fantastic business model and for the taxpayer it`s a great deal and I must applaud Matt Hancock for his brilliant business head."

Brian Gerrish: "It gets even better, Mike, because we understand that Westminster has now got an online game targeted, of course, at children; so a child can log into that particular site and experience what it is like to be an MP, waking up and having coffee and toast while you answer emails and you then follow through your day with a game generating what happens..."

"Presumably when children are playing that game it`s helping them to be mentally ill !"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SScV9DRIpk

Teenager targeted by extremists

"The authors of a report investigating extremism in Greater Manchester after the bombing at Manchester Arena falsely suggested that anti-fracking activists `groomed` a 14-year-old boy featured in a case study, the Guardian understands."

"The 124-page report by the Greater Manchester preventing hateful extremism and promoting social cohesion commission included the story of a teenager referred to Channel, part of the government’s anti-extremist Prevent programme."

"Calling him Aaron, the report described him as an A* pupil who `was referred to the Channel programme by his school due to concerns about his extreme beliefs in relation to the environment, specifically issues around fracking`..."

"But according to Greater Manchester police, the boy in question was never involved in the anti-fracking movement. He had been targeted by an entirely different group of activists, the force said. The detail was then changed without their knowledge, ostensibly to protect his real identity..."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/30/anti-fracking-activists-falsely-accused-grooming-boy-14?CMP=share_btn_tw

Who`s behind government policy ?

"We suffer the consequences, but who makes the policy?" asks Brian Gerrish on UK Column News, Wednesday 18 July 2018.

"And as we`ve just heard at the start of our news today the British government is descending into chaos. But somebody behind the scenes is still pulling the strings and making the decisions." 

 

"Let`s have a look at this organisation which was flagged up to us a couple of days ago: the Horizon Scanning Programme team.  `Horizon Scanning is about exploring what the future might look like to understand uncertainties better`. And the UK government is crowing about this in quite a number of places. So apparently it`s not about making predictions, but systematically investigating evidence about future trends. Horizon scanning apparently helps government to `analyse whether it`s adequately prepared for potential opportunities and threats, and this helps ensure that policies are resilient to different future environments`."

"So we`ve got a Horizon Scanning Programme team `coordinating strategic horizon scanning work across departments, drawing on insights from experts in and outside government to challenge our thinking`. So note there that we`re bringing in experts from outside government. Who are these experts? It`s not easy to see but we`re going to work on this and see whether we can pin some of them down at least."

 

"But here`s the Horizon Programme team responsible for `coordinating work between departments and input from those experts outside the Civil Service; creating communities of interest around specific topics; improving cross-government horizon scanning; developing networks to gather and share information; bringing emerging issues to a senior-level audience`."

"So this is really incredible stuff. It`s working on government policy but they say `well it isn`t really`. Let`s have a look at the detail. How does this thing come about? Well prior to 2014 we had a Cabinet Office Horizon Scanning Secretariat and we had a Government Office of Science`s Horizon Scanning Centre. They merged March. That produced the Horizon Scanning Programme Team."

"We`ve got a Steering Group which is the Cabinet Secretary`s Advisory Group. And if you don`t know what these organisations are, I`m going to say we didn`t until recently. Research it yourself because there`s a lot of questions to be asked here."

 

"So here`s the overall chair. It`s our old friend Jeremy Heywood, immensely powerful individual within government and the Civil Service; and the overall minister the Rt Hon David Lidington CBE MP. Now he`s the Duchy of Lancaster, treasurer, so that`s a very important role. Previously he was [with] BP and another pretty high profile global company. So what takes place in these organisations? Well we`re hopefully now starting to get a glimpse. But what we can say with certainty is that they are closely tied in with what was the government`s Behavioural Insights team and this was the British government using applied psychology in order to change the way people.... think and behave."

"And apparently this organisation has had its own ten commandments and so we`ve got a Dr John Carney here, the Principal Scientist within the Systems Thinking and Consulting Group of the Defence Science and Technology lab but he`s previously been Team Leader for Horizon Scanning."

"He had this to say: `Don`t think that Horizon Scanning is about predicting the future - this is a common misconception. The value of Horizon Scanning is using it to change mind-sets.`  So that`s a pretty powerful statement there that. These people, not all of them are in government, certainly not put in positions of power by a democratic process, but they`re working to change our mind-sets. We`re not actually told how those mind-sets are going to be changed..."
 
"But this is the sort of stuff they`re getting up to. And the bottom one here caught my attention. `Social attitudes of young people`. We can find one of their papers here. The interesting thing about this paper is that there`s no authors mentioned on it. So they don`t seem to want to say who actually put the thing together in any detail but down at the bottom it says in capitals: `THIS IS NOT STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT POLICY`. Now this is a very interesting claim because of course this material is clearly being used as the basis of government policy ."

"So what sort of thing are they saying? They say `In some areas, we see little change in young people`s attitudes, behaviours and experiences compared to older generations. For instance, when we ask people of different ages what is important in life, we find remarkably little difference between generations. Similarly, we see little evidence of generational shifts in willingness to justify selfish behaviour, such as tax and benefit fraud`. What an amazing label to stamp on a future generation. `Or appetite for being involved in community engagement. These areas where there are few, if any, changes between generations remind us that we should not overstate the possible changes over the next 10 years in young people`s attitudes, behaviours and experiences`." 

"So clearly the government [is] working behind the scenes to change the way that young people think."

"And it goes on here. I found this staggering. `As well as shaping evolving attitudes, we would expect to see continued changes in the behaviours and experiences of young people in the next 10 years. One way that this could occur would be through an intensification of the trend towards longer routes and more complex routes to full adulthood and independence`."

Mike Robinson interjects. "What does that mean?"

"Well I`ve read it several times Mike. What I pick up from this is that they`re talking about delaying people becoming adult."

"But how can they delay people becoming adult when they sexualise them at ever younger ages and push more and more adult themes on to ever younger children?"

"Well that`s occurring at one end of the spectrum. Of course the other thing that`s actually happening is you`re seeing, for example, in social services documents that even when somebody`s got to the age of twenty one or twenty six they are still deemed to be under the control of the state. What I picked up from this is it`s almost like the state is expecting us to be children in the eyes of the state and anything they can do to increase the childish behaviour will continue." 

"If we go to the other extreme we could say that years ago we had people at the age of sixteen doing some really important work within apprenticeship. They had to turn up at work; they had to have the right tools, the right skills to do a skilful job. Many youngsters now at the age of sixteen are still effectively playing games."

"But who knows who devised the policy?"

"And on the back of that I`m going to thank this viewer for getting in contact with us. The email was this: `Dear Brian, Don`t know if this is of any interest ... The summer reading challenge in libraries this year is based on The Beano ... you know, Denis the Menace and Beryl the Peril ... but the staff have been told not to use the words PERIL or MENACE when speaking to the children! This disturbed me so I started to look into it`."

"It is all the work of The Reading Agency; and their partners include the British Council and the BBC. Funders include the Cabinet Offices` Social Action Fund and the Wellcome Trust .... There are evaluation forms and a family survey that staff seem to complete but details only available to staff`."

"Trawling around this site I found `The Public Library Universal Health Offer` from the SCL ... _{all very creepy ... SCL organise the `shelf help` books training young children in anxiety, depression, self harm, body image, eating disorders and bullying`."}

"And so it goes on. This is sort of part of the material this lady was looking at and I can see why she`s concerned about it. And let`s bring in the `Vision` of the Reading Agency."

"`Reading for pleasure enhances people`s literacy, life chances and quality of life. It is vital for our prosperity`. And number 2 here. `Libraries aim to be a force for social change through reading. They bring people recreation and pleasure, learning and literacy, health and wellbeing`. So we know this is linked up with the Cabinet Office and here we can now see that libraries themselves are aiming to be a force for social change."

Mike Robinson. "And they`re using childish material to do that."

"And they`re using childish material. And this was the second part of this presentation. I`ve just shown that first slide. And I couldn`t help but see this. `Libraries` reading work helps local authorities achieve key outcomes`. So this is nothing about assisting the individual. This is about assisting a local authority to achieve its outcomes and those outcomes have been set by the Cabinet Office and central government."

"And I`ll just end on this one, which was also sent to us. This is Rhonda Borough Council which is looking for somebody to fulfil a contract. They want a wellbeing game and the wellbeing game will be for 6 to 14 years. `This project will support school pupils to reflect on wellbeing. It will involve pupils reflecting upon their wellbeing profile and completing `real world` activities to help them develop within a wellbeing context. The main aim of the Wellbeing Game is through gamification to enable pupils to reflect on their personal wellbeing profile and to engage in the world of challenges that will help them build personal strengths and character. Pupils wellbeing challenges will then be linked to the virtual world to promote engagement. "

"With many young children committing suicide in South Wales I don`t get a warm feeling about that contract which is being offered particularly when we can see, or we`re getting closer to seeing, the real detail of the links back into the Cabinet Office itself and outside agencies that are helping the British government form policy."

See UK Column News HERE