Monthly Archives: August 2017

Britain, European Union, Government, Politics

The UK’s Brexit negotiating position is to be hardened up

BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS

BELGIUM-EU-BRITAIN

It is hoped ‘position papers’ will unify a fractious Cabinet towards a more agreeable position. This comes amid criticism that the UK is woefully underprepared for talks with the EU.

The UK Government is to start publishing a series of ‘Brexit position papers’ ahead of the next round of talks at the end of August in a bid to show the British prime minister is “getting on with the job” and that the Cabinet is unified around a collective position.

At the time of writing it is understood that a number of position papers have been sent to Cabinet ministers for sign off as No 10 prepares to publish the documents outlining its stance on some of the most pressing Brexit matters.

Some of those papers could be published in the next two weeks.

“These papers are meant to facilitate collective decision-making based on facts and evidence,” a senior source has said.

Position papers have been prepared on a range of issues from digital economy and data protection, to Northern Ireland, customs agreement and goods and services arrangements once Britain quits the European Union.

No 10 hopes the position papers will unify a fractious Cabinet on an agreed position; counter the perception that the British Government is unprepared for Brexit; and ease the burden of workload on the civil service.

“I know there is a desire to narrow the set of options and that is coming from departments rather than DExEU. It is a lot of work to keep open five or six scenarios, so there is a desire to make some decisions now, regardless of negotiations,” the source said.

Ministers and officials have been working flat out to draw up the position papers, aware that the Brexit deadline is fast approaching.

“Position papers may determine whether or not we can move to the second stage of negotiations, work in recess is vital,” the source added.

The Government is planning a ministerial write round – where relevant ministers beyond the Cabinet are given sight of the position papers – for the week beginning 21 August, suggesting papers could be published from that week onwards.

Britain and the EU cannot move onto talks about Britain’s future relationship with the EU, the second stage of negotiations, until the European Commission is satisfied “sufficient progress” has been made on the top three priorities: citizens’ rights, Britain’s Brexit bill and the Irish border.

The border issue is proving difficult. The Irish government has rejected a proposal from the British to use technology – cameras, pre-registered cargo – to avoid a hard border, and is instead pushing for the UK to join a new bilateral customs union with the EU.

Mrs May’s renewed focus on Britain’s Brexit position comes after a chaotic few weeks, with her cabinet split over a possible transition period after the UK quits the European Union and what a post-Brexit immigration policy might look like.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said in recent weeks there is now “broad acceptance” among the cabinet that a transitional period will be needed after Britain quits the EU and has said “many things will look similar” for up to three years after leaving.

That position is expected to be formalised in the position paper, with the government seeking a transitional customs arrangement to avoid a hard cliff edge for business.

 

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Europe, European Union, Germany, Government, History, Poland, Society

The billions that Poland is demanding from Germany in wartime reparations 

ESSAY

Poland

The devastation and destruction of Warsaw in 1945 following the Nazi occupation of Poland.

FOR many in Britain, World War II is a story of unparalleled heroism, and there are many stirring films such as the new blockbuster Dunkirk. For the people of Poland, however, the war was a nightmare so black and so bloodstained, that no film could even remotely capture the depths of its horror.

Consider the incident in a German town called Gleiwitz close to the Polish border. On the night of August 31, 1939, a small group of Nazi intelligence agents, dressed in Polish uniforms, burst into a radio station. They then broadcast anti-German messages in Polish before dumping the bodies of prisoners they had just hauled out of the Dachau concentration camp, who had been made to resemble Polish saboteurs then shot and mutilated to make identification impossible.

A few hours later, Adolf Hitler rose in the Reichstag and proclaimed that the Gleiwitz incident was the final straw. He deceitfully blamed the incident on anti-German saboteurs.

By the summer of 1945, some six million Polish citizens, one in five of the pre-war population, had been killed. The great cities of Warsaw, Krakow and Lublin were in smoking ruins. Millions of books had been ruined; hundreds of libraries, schools, museums and laboratories had been destroyed.

In effect, the Germans had done their best to eradicate an entire nation, erasing its culture, murdering its middle-classes and reducing the rest to slavery. And though the Nazis were defeated, the Polish people’s ordeal was far from over. Following Hitler’s tyranny, Poland was then occupied by Stalin’s Red Army, who turned it into a brutalised Soviet satellite.

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Aid, Britain, Government, Politics, Society

The UK gave £2bn a year in foreign aid to nations with the worst human rights

UK FOREIGN AID

BRITAIN ploughs almost £2billion of aid each year into countries with dire human rights records.

The Foreign Office has put 30 countries on its human rights watch-list for overseeing rape, torture and extrajudicial killings.

But despite this, it can be revealed the UK’s aid department last year funnelled development cash into more than half of these countries.

It means hundreds of millions of pounds are being poured into 17 of the worst human rights offenders, such as Zimbabwe, Burma and the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

Shockingly, the total amount spent in these countries increased by 7 per cent in one year to £1.87billion in 2016/17.

The findings will raise further questions about how effective the £13billion a year that goes on international aid really is – as well as the wisdom of keeping David Cameron’s target of spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid.

It comes after a recent report by the National Audit Office said aid cash was being dispatched overseas in a last-minute frenzy each year to meet spending targets.

The Department for International Development pointed out that British taxpayers’ money does not necessarily go to foreign governments themselves, but often goes to charities and other organisations.

Critics, however, have hit out at the farce of the Foreign Office warning about countries’ human rights records while DFID was pouring cash into them.

Conservative MP Peter Bone, said: ‘It seems extraordinary that we would be giving money to countries whose regimes we regard as failing on human rights. I would have thought we would be concentrating our aid on countries where the government is trying to … improve matters.’

A 2015 report by the Independent Commission on Aid Impact warned ministers risked bring the aid budget ‘into disrepute’ by spending millions on training the police forces of regimes with poor human rights records. In 2015/16, DFID sent £1.74billion to 17 nations on the Foreign Office’s ‘human rights priority’ list – rising to £1.87billion a year later.

This included £417million to Pakistan, up from £328million the year before. This is despite the Foreign Office warning it was concerned about serious violations of women’s rights.

The Foreign Office also warned that the lack of recognition of women’s rights in Afghanistan had left girls ‘susceptible to violence, poverty and exploitation’.

Nevertheless, DFID sent £168million to the war-torn country in 2016/17 – up from £120million.

A Government spokesperson responded by saying: ‘The UK speaks candidly and frankly to all countries in which we work, and firmly holds governments to account on issues of human rights. We will not hesitate to use UN resolutions and sanctions to focus international attention and action on any country where we have concerns.’

DFID says it works closely with the Foreign Office to raise concerns with governments. An official said: ‘UK aid is spent where it is most needed and is subject to rigorous internal and external checks and scrutiny at all stages to ensure it helps those who need it and delivers value for money.’

The Foreign Office said the 30 countries named were not necessarily the worst human rights abusers, but were ones where the UK felt it could have some influence on regimes’ conduct.

Some of the shocking abuses by regimes the UK helps to fund:

. Afghanistan – The country has been accused of a lack of democracy, with many child casualties and women and girls susceptible to violence, poverty and exploitation.

Aid: £168million

. Bangladesh – Concerns over the treatment of women and allegations of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture and enforced disappearances.

Aid: £158million

. Burma – Claims civilians have been shelled, as well as allegations of torture, extrajudicial killing, arson and mass rape by security forces.

Aid: £90million

. Democratic Republic of The Congo – A shocking 80,000 are said to be trapped in modern slavery, state attacks on freedom of speech and extrajudicial killings.

Aid: £138million

. Pakistan – Allegations of serious violations of women’s and children’s rights and of freedom of religion, as well as modern slavery. Movement of aid charities is restricted.

Aid: £417million

. Somalia – Serious violations and abuses are perpetrated by state and non-state actors and sexual violence is endemic. Somalia has also seen a rise in child soldiers.

Aid: £166million

. South Sudan – Serious human rights violations carried out by the state, with government forces perpetrating unlawful killings and arbitrary arrests on basis of ethnicity.

Aid: £171million

. Syria – Human rights systematically denied – including torture – largely by Assad regime.

Aid: £217million

. Yemen – Vast number of human rights abuses, with women and children particularly affected. Minorities also face discrimination.

Aid: £110million

. Zimbabwe – Reports of intimidation, rape and vote buying by the ruling party have marred two elections.

Aid: £96million

Foreign Aid Expenditure: How Britain Compares

14A_AID BUDGET TABLE.1

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