Babak Belurs

Kamis, 04 April 2024

William Wragg: Tory gave MPs' numbers to dating app contact, report says - BBC

By Phil Kemp & Hannah Miller

BBC News

A senior Conservative gave the personal phone numbers of fellow MPs to someone he met on a dating app, The Times has reported.

William Wragg told the paper he shared the contacts, adding he was "scared" the individual would have "compromising things on me".

He apologised and said he had "hurt people by being weak".

It comes amid reports at least 12 men in Westminster have received unsolicited texts and naked pictures.

A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said they were investigating one of the cases, which was reported last month.

The BBC has contacted Mr Wragg for comment.

'Manipulated'

Speaking to the Times about the person he met through a gay dating app, the Hazel Grove MP said: "They had compromising things on me. They wouldn't leave me alone.

"They would ask for people. I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He's manipulated me and now I've hurt other people.

"I got chatting to a guy on an app and we exchanged pictures. We were meant to meet up for drinks, but then didn't. Then he started asking for numbers of people. I was worried because he had stuff on me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, which doesn't work now.

"I've hurt people by being weak. I was scared. I'm mortified. I'm so sorry that my weakness has caused other people hurt."

Mr Wragg became an MP in 2015 and acts as the vice-chair of the influential 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers.

In 2022, he announced he would not be running in the next election.

'Familiarity'

On Thursday one former MP told the BBC of his shock at being targeted with flirtatious messages and an explicit image in an apparently coordinated scam.

The ex-politician blocked the WhatsApp number from someone calling themselves "Charlie".

But it was only after he read a story on the news website Politico that he realised he had been the subject of an attempted honeytrap.

"My heart did start racing because I thought everything you're saying from the start, from the name of the individual, the familiarity, this is too close to be just a coincidence," the former MP told the BBC.

Twelve men have contacted Politico to say they had received near-identical messages to the one received by the ex-MP or similar messages from another number. Several of the 12 were sent naked pictures in an attempt to entrap them.

The former MP, who is gay, told the BBC he was first contacted via WhatsApp on the evening of 11 March.

The message was from a number he did not recognise from someone calling themselves Charlie who claimed to remember them from their time working in Parliament.

"The last part of that message was 'Westminster misses you…' and that was basically something that friends usually do say anyway to make me feel better," he told BBC News.

"I was starting to feel bad actually. I was embarrassed thinking I'm speaking to someone who knows who I am and I'm trying desperately not to come across as rude."

The next message said: "I've just become single so I'm hanging out with the Westminster gays."

The former MP explained he was in a relationship but further flirtatious messages followed.

After "Charlie" sent an explicit image, the former MP blocked him.

'Worrying'

BBC News has seen messages sent from the same number also from someone calling themselves "Charlie" to a political journalist.

These messages also talk about the recipient being "missed" around Westminster and asking whether the journalist is still single or not.

The ex-MP told the BBC of his concern on learning that others had been targeted.

"The fact that somebody tried to and that their intent behind it was probably to do harm is really worrying," he said.

"I was oblivious to it."

He hopes to raise awareness about what happened so others come forward.

A Parliamentary spokesperson said: "Parliament takes security extremely seriously and works closely with government in response to such incidents.

"We provide members and staff with tailored advice, making them aware of security risks and how to manage their digital safety. We are encouraging anyone affected who has concerns to contact the Parliamentary Security Department."

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The UK has licenced arms to Israel worth over £574m since 2008, when official country-level data was made available, according to pressure group Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

Business Minister Greg Hands has previously told MPs the figure for 2022 - £42m - represented 0.02% of Israel's military imports that year.

Arms export licences, which are granted by the business department, cannot be issued if there is a clear risk the weapons could be used in a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

The Labour Party has not called for a suspension, but is urging the government to publish internal legal advice on whether Israel is in breach of international law.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said there was "precedent" for suspending sales. Former PMs Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair both took the move, in 1982 and 2002 respectively.

The SNP is calling for Parliament to be recalled from its current Easter break, ending on 15 April, to debate the issue.

Conservative MP Paul Bristow said the idea British-made arms could be used in action that kills innocent civilians in Gaza "turns the stomach," adding that the deaths of British aid workers "must be a line in the sand".

But his fellow Tory MP and former home secretary Suella Braverman rejected the idea of a ban, telling the BBC "we owe it to Israel to stand with them".

Speaking during a trip to Israel, she said: "I think that it would be a tragic shame if we were to walk away from our closest ally in this region".

Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated during the Israeli military operations that began after Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.

About 130 of the hostages remain in captivity, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.

More than 32,916 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

Rabu, 03 April 2024

Former supreme court judges say UK arming Israel breaches international law - The Guardian

Three former supreme court justices, including the court’s former president Lady Hale, are among more than 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges warning that the UK government is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel.

In a letter to the prime minister, the signatories, who also include former court of appeal judges and more than 60 KCs, say that the present situation in Gaza is “catastrophic” and that given the international court of justice (ICJ) finding that there is a plausible risk of genocide being committed, the UK is legally obliged to act to prevent it.

The 17-page letter, which also amounts to a legal opinion, was sent on Wednesday evening and says: “While we welcome the increasingly robust calls by your government for a cessation of fighting and the unobstructed entry to Gaza of humanitarian assistance, simultaneously to continue (to take two striking examples) the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel and to maintain threats of suspending UK aid to Unwra falls significantly short of your government’s obligations under international law.”

It comes as Conservative MPs piled pressure on Rishi Sunak to act after seven international aid workers, including three British citizens, were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Monday. Party sources believe that the foreign secretary, David Cameron, has been pushing for the government to harden its approach to Israel but has been met with resistance from Downing Street.

Three Tory backbenchers and one former minister now in the Lords said that the UK should stop exporting arms to Israel after the airstrike, while the findings of a YouGov poll, conducted before the strike, suggested that the government and Labour are out of step with public sentiment, with a majority of voters – by 56% to 17% – in favour of an arms ban.

The letter calls for the government to work towards a permanent ceasefire and to impose sanctions “upon individuals and entities who have made statements inciting genocide against Palestinians”. It says that restoring funding to Unrwa – which was withdrawn after Israel’s yet-to-be-substantiated allegations that 12 staff at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees were involved in the 7 October attacks – is necessary for “effective entry and distribution of the means of existence to Palestinians in Gaza, and by extension the prevention of genocide”.

Head and shoulders photograph of Lady Hale

On arming Israel, it says: “The ICJ’s conclusion that there exists a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza has placed your government on notice that weapons might be used in its commission and that the suspension of their provision is thus a ‘means likely to deter’ and/or ‘a measure to prevent’ genocide.”

The Conservative MPs David Jones, Paul Bristow and Flick Drummond, and the Tory peer Hugo Swire, all called for the suspension of arms exports to Israel after Peter Ricketts, who was a government national security adviser during David Cameron’s premiership and now sits in the Lords, expressed similar sentiments.

Drummond, the MP for Meon Valley, said: “This has been concerning me for some time. What worries me is the prospect of UK arms being used in Israel’s actions in Gaza, which I believe have broken international law.”

Lord Ricketts told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think there’s abundant evidence now that Israel hasn’t been taking enough care to fulfil its obligations on the safety of civilians. And a country that gets arms from the UK has to comply with international humanitarian law. That’s a condition of the arms export licence.”

The Scottish first minister, Humza Yousaf, warned that by refusing to stop arms sales to Israel, “the UK is in danger of being complicit in the killing of innocent civilians”.

The letter’s significance lies not just in the number of signatories but the fact that it has been signed by senior retired judges, who normally shy away from commenting publicly on issues that are politically sensitive.

Prominent signatories include the former supreme court justices Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson, the former Lord Justices of Appeal Sir Stephen Sedley, Sir Alan Moses, Sir Anthony Hooper and Sir Richard Aikens, and the former chair of the Bar of England and Wales, Matthias Kelly KC.

They say in the letter: “The UK must take immediate measures to bring to an end through lawful means acts giving rise to a serious risk of genocide. Failure to comply with its own obligations under the genocide convention to take ‘all measures to prevent genocide which were within its power’ would incur UK state responsibility for the commission of an international wrong, for which full reparation must be made.”

The letter goes further – and has a more eminent list of signatories – than a previous one sent to Sunak in October, concerning the government’s obligations to avert and avoid complicity in serious breaches of international humanitarian law.

It says there have since been “significant developments” in relation to the situation in Gaza. These include the interim orders issued by the ICJ and the worsening situation in Gaza, with at least 32,623 Palestinians killed by the Israeli offensive, “imminent famine”, caused by Israel’s blocking of aid, the destruction of health facilities, killings of healthcare and humanitarian workers, and reports of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

One of the signatories, Phillippa Kaufmann KC, said: “That so many senior members of the UK legal profession are speaking with such force to urge the government to act upon its legal obligations, demonstrates the depth of our concern about the clear evidence of gross violations of international law in Gaza.”

The letter also calls on the government to continue to “use all endeavours” to secure the release of the Israeli hostages seized in the 7 October attacks in which Hamas and other militant groups killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel.

The UK government has refused to publish its own legal advice on the matter but a leaked recording suggests its own lawyers have advised that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza.

Sunak told the Sun on Wednesday night that arms licences were kept under “careful” review according to “regulations and procedures that we’ll always follow”.

Guardian Newsroom: Crisis in the Middle East
On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

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Teachers could strike in September, union says - BBC.com

Teachers in England and Wales could strike again over pay, in September, the National Education Union has said.

Members debating pay, on Thursday, are expected to vote on whether to hold a formal strike ballot.

But the NEU leadership could call such a ballot even without that backing. And a strike would then require a majority in favour, on a turnout of at least 50%

The Department for Education in England said further strikes would "cause more disruption to pupils".

Teacher across the UK went on strike last year, including eight days by NEU members in England.

Speaking at the NEU's conference, in Bournemouth, general secretary Daniel Kebede said there was "more and more frustration developing amongst" teachers.

"My view is if there is a decision to go for a formal ballot, we should conduct that over a fairly significant period of time, looking to take action in September," he said.

Members have already been asked if they would strike for a fully funded above-inflation pay rise, as part of an informal consultative ballot in recent weeks.

And in England and Wales, most responded, with about 90% saying they would be prepared to strike - a result Mr Kebede called "exceptionally significant", adding England's Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, "has to take that seriously".

NASUWT, the Teachers' Union, also held an informal consultative ballot, in England - but 78% of those who voted rejected a formal ballot.

General secretary Patrick Roach told its conference, in Harrogate, N Yorks: “Our members have weighed that up and their priority right now is not about causing more disruption to lives that are already in tumult, but actually saying we need a government that's on the side of teachers and on the side of children and young people.”

The union would be "looking carefully at how the government responds" to calls for a pay rise, he said, adding: "2023 was a year of action - this must be the year of change."

Retaining staff

Strikes in England ended last year, after all four teaching unions accepted the government's 6.5% pay rise, in July.

The starting salary rose to £30,000, last year - but experienced teachers' pay this school year remains 12% lower than in 2010-11, once rising living costs are taken into account, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research.

And unions have continued to call for a fully funded above-inflation pay increase this year, to help tackle difficulties recruiting and retaining staff.

No formal offer has been made for teachers' 2024-25 pay award in England or Wales.

In England, the School Teachers' Review Body is expected to give its recommendation this term.

'Austerity agenda'

In a letter to the STRB, last month, Ms Keegan said she supported a return of teacher pay awards this year "to a more sustainable level than the previous two historically high pay awards".

The DfE said the unions "should engage" with the STRB process "instead of striking before they even know what the pay recommendations are".

Overall school funding was rising to more than £60bn in 2024-25 and teachers had "already benefitted from two historic pay awards totalling over 12% in just two years".

A Welsh government official said “the UK government’s austerity agenda places significant pressure on all budgets” and “meeting the cost of the teachers’ pay award should be considered in this context”.

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2024-04-03 17:17:44Z
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Pouria Zeraati: Three accused of TV presenter attack have left UK - BBC

By Thomas Mackintosh

BBC News

Three men suspected of being involved in the stabbing of an Iranian TV host in south London have left the UK, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Pouria Zeraati, 36, was stabbed outside his home in Wimbledon on Friday afternoon.

He has since been discharged from hospital.

Cdr Dominic Murphy, said: "We have identified three suspects who we believe left the UK within hours of the attack."

The Met did not say where the men may have gone.

Detectives have established Mr Zeraati was approached by two men in a residential street and stabbed before the pair fled in a blue Mazda 3 driven by a third male.

The car was found abandoned in the New Malden area shortly after.

"We have established that after abandoning the vehicle, the suspects travelled to Heathrow Airport and have left the UK," Cdr Murphy said in an update.

"We are now working with international partners to establish further details."

He added the Met was not yet able to provide further information about any motive, but Mr Zeraati's occupation, coupled with recent threats towards UK-based Iranian journalists, meant the investigation continued to be led by counter-terrorism officers.

The Iranian regime has denied any involvement.

Iran International journalist Pouria Zaraati

On Monday, Mr Zeraati thanked well-wishers for their "sympathy, kindness and love in the past few days".

"Fortunately, I am feeling better, recovering and I have been discharged from the hospital," he posted on X.

"My wife and I are residing at a safe place under the supervision of the Met Police."

Mr Zeraati, the host of the Last Word on Iran International, claimed the suspects had purposefully planned the attack.

Iran International says it provides independent coverage of events in the country, but the regime in Tehran has declared it a terrorist organisation.

The channel's spokesman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had been targeting journalists and their families.

Adam Baillie said: "It was a shocking, shocking incident, whatever the outcome of an investigation reveals.

"But for him as a leading presenter, as with our other presenters and journalists, yes, it is a great shock.

"It's the first attack of its kind."

Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK, Mehdi Hosseini Matin, said "we deny any link".

Rowling's 'come and get me' retort to Hate Crime Act is direct challenge to Yousaf

Siobhian Brown, the SNP’s community safety minister, initially stated that misgendering would “not at all” fall foul of the legislation but then admitted it would be for the police to decide.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It could be reported and it could be investigated. Whether or not the police would think it was criminal is up to Police Scotland for that.”

However, she said there was a “very high threshold” of criminality in the legislation of being “threatening and abusive”, and people would not be prosecuted for expressing a “challenging or offensive” opinion.

Justin Webb, who conducted the interview with Ms Brown, was found in February to have broken impartiality rules by calling trans women “males” on air.

The BBC upheld a complaint against the Today presenter after he said “trans women, in other words, males” on the Radio 4 programme last August.

A listener complained that the comment amounted to Mr Webb giving his personal view on a controversial matter in breach of the BBC’s requirements on impartiality.

On Monday, protesters gathered outside the Scottish Parliament to demonstrate against the Act’s introduction, but Mr Yousaf claimed it was needed thanks to “a rising tide of hatred against the people because of their protected characteristics”.

“Unless your behaviour is threatening or abusive and intends to stir up hatred, then you have nothing to worry about in terms of the new offence that has been created,” he told Sky News.

Pressed on Rowling’s views, he said the police would investigate if a crime had been committed and the Crown Office would decide “if there is a sufficiency of evidence to charge”.

Jim Sillars, the SNP’s former deputy leader, has launched a campaign to “resist the Hate Crime Act and campaign for its repeal”. He said: “Humza Yousaf’s Hate Crime Act inflicts a deep wound on the face of Scottish society.”

Police Scotland did not reveal how many reports of crime it had received on the first day the act came into force.

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2024-04-03 07:30:00Z
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Butterfly study finds sharpest fall on record for small tortoiseshell in England - The Guardian

The small tortoiseshell butterfly has suffered its worst year on record in England, and has declined by 82% across the UK since 1976, according to the annual scientific count of butterfly populations.

The sharp decline in numbers of the once-common garden butterfly has puzzled scientists, but it is thought to be linked to climate breakdown. It had its worst year on record in England, its second worst in Wales and its joint-fifth worst in Scotland in 2023 but did well in Northern Ireland, logging its second-best year.

Results from the annual UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS), the largest and longest-running scientific butterfly dataset in the world, show a mixed picture for the UK’s populations. The scheme is run by Butterfly Conservation, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), the British Trust for Ornithology and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Half the 58 species monitored had a better than average year, while the other half were below average at monitored sites. Some showed encouraging signs that conservation efforts are working: the large blue, which was reintroduced to the UK in the 1980s after it became extinct in 1979, recorded its best year yet. The chequered skipper, which was returned to England in 2018 after becoming extinct in the 1970s, also recorded its best ever year.

Some species are still suffering the effects of the 2022 drought, such as the green-veined white and the ringlet, which both had a poor year. This is because the food plants that the caterpillars of the next generation feed upon died during the drought, leaving fewer caterpillars to survive and transform into the next generation of butterflies.

Climate breakdown appears to be damaging the small tortoiseshell’s prospects in southern Britain, while it has generally fared better in north-western areas in recent summers. Global heating is helping some species, such as the red admiral, which enjoyed its best ever year last year. It is a migratory species that has begun to overwinter in the UK as the climate has warmed, and its numbers have increased by 318% at monitored sites since 1976.

Dr Marc Botham, a butterfly ecologist at the UKCEH, said: “Butterflies are an indicator species, meaning they can tell us about the health of the wider environment, which makes the UKBMS data invaluable in assessing the health of our countryside and natural world in general. The mixed results this year emphasise the need for continued monitoring and conservation efforts to protect these important species and their habitats.

The UKBMS now records data on more than 3,000 sites a year, which is used for understanding changes in insect populations and provides indications about climate breakdown and the effect on species.

Dr Richard Fox, the head of science at the charity Butterfly Conservation, said: “Butterfly numbers fluctuate naturally from year to year, largely due to the weather, but the long-term trends of UK butterflies are mainly driven by human activity, including habitat damage and destruction, pesticide use, pollution and climate change. By monitoring long-term butterfly trends we can learn about the impact of climate change and other factors on our native wildlife.”

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Babak Belurs

Kamis, 04 April 2024

William Wragg: Tory gave MPs' numbers to dating app contact, report says - BBC

'Manipulated'

'Familiarity'

'Worrying'

Related Topics

Arms sales to Israel: Top judges urge UK to halt weapons trade - BBC

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Related Topics

Rabu, 03 April 2024

Former supreme court judges say UK arming Israel breaches international law - The Guardian

Teachers could strike in September, union says - BBC.com

Retaining staff

'Austerity agenda'

Pouria Zeraati: Three accused of TV presenter attack have left UK - BBC

Related Topics

Sunak backs JK Rowling in trans arrest row with Scottish police - The Telegraph

Rowling's 'come and get me' retort to Hate Crime Act is direct challenge to Yousaf

Butterfly study finds sharpest fall on record for small tortoiseshell in England - The Guardian