Monthly Archives: February 2018

Arts, History, Poland, Scotland, Second World War

Scotland: Tribute to Polish war hero

EDINBURGH

This is how the memorial to General Stanislaw Maczek will look. It will be located on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and in close-proximity to the Stone of Remembrance.

WINSTON CHURCHILL appointed him to protect Scotland’s east coast from invasion.

Now Polish war hero General Stanislaw Maczek is set to get a fitting memorial on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, where a permanent home for it has been found.

He fought tirelessly in the Second World War, playing a key role in the Battle of Normandy, and helping to liberate parts of France, Belgium and Holland from German forces.

But when the war ended Poland was absorbed by the Soviet Union as part of an Allied agreement, and the ex-commander of the 1st Polish Armoured Division was unable to return to his birthplace.

Instead, he made Edinburgh his home and after being refused a war pension, took a job as a barman at a city hotel.

Campaigners have been pushing for a permanent memorial to him since 1994, when he died aged 102. Now, they have a site for a life-sized bronze statue of him outside City of Edinburgh Council Chambers.

The General Stanislaw Maczek Memorial Trust has raised £50,000 towards the project, but it needs a further £35,000.

Trust spokesperson Katie Fraser, whose father the late Lord Fraser of Carmyllie launched the project, said: “We have been so grateful to all those who have supported this project thus far. In recognition of that support, we want to ensure that all funds go directly to the memorial and also wish to see it established during the lifetime of some of those men to whom it is intended to honour.

“We are very pleased to announce that the memorial will be on the Royal Mile at the heart of our capital city.

“Located within a few yards of the Stone of Remembrance, where wreath-laying takes place every November, we think the setting is not only appropriate by suitably prestigious.”

Lord Provost Frank Ross said: “We are delighted this fitting tribute to General Maczek and his men is to be placed in such close-proximity to the war memorial at the City Chambers.

“Many people will pass by and have the opportunity to reflect on the general’s heroics and the many other war heroes who risked their lives.”

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Donald Trump, Foreign Affairs, Government, Russia, United States

13 Russians charged with meddling in US election

UNITED STATES

A 37-page indictment filed by the special counsel Robert Mueller names 13 individuals indicted on conspiracy and election fraud charges.

THIRTEEN Russians have now been charged with meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

They used fake Twitter and Facebook accounts, prosecutors said, as they revealed the extent of Russia’s interference aimed at destabilising American democracy.

Three Russian companies have also been indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington for being part of a campaign run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Vladimir Putin.

The companies include the Internet Research Agency, which runs a troll factory based in Putin’s home city of St Petersburg.

The breath-taking claims of meddling in the 2016 election have been revealed by US prosecutors for the first time, exposing an alleged multimillion-dollar conspiracy which employed hundreds of people.

US deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstien said the federal grand jury indictment exposed a campaign of “information warfare”.

He described how the Russians sought to sow discord in America both before and after President Trump’s election.

By mid-2016 the campaign was spreading disinformation about the Democratic White House candidate Hillary Clinton and supporting Republican Donald Trump.

In other mischief, shortly after the election the Russians were responsible for organising two protests – one in support of Mr Trump and one against – on the same day in New York.

Posing as Americans – in some cases using stolen identities of real US citizens – the alleged conspirators sought to interfere “with the political and electoral processes, including the presidential election of 2016”. A 37-page indictment filed by the special counsel Robert Mueller named 13 individuals, believed still to be in Russia, and three companies for alleged interference from 2014 onwards. According to the indictment, they had a ‘strategic goal to sow discord in the US political system’. An unnamed Texas-based American political operative is said to have instructed them to focus on so-called ‘purple states’ which swing between Republican and Democratic control.

‘Defendants posted derogatory information about a number of candidates and, by early to mid-2016, defendants’ operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J Trump… and disparaging Hillary Clinton,’ the indictment says.

Hundreds of people were said to be involved in the operation, working in shifts and with a budget of millions of dollars. They allegedly used bogus social media postings on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

After it emerged that Facebook was cooperating with Mr Mueller’s inquiry, investigators found some of the Russians discussed how they were covering their tracks, the deputy attorney general has said.

Two of the firms are said to have also held Russian government contracts. Charges on the indictment include conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Mr Rosenstein maintains that no evidence exists the Russians’ activities had affected the election result.

 

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Britain, Business, Defence, Government, National Security, Politics, United States

Defence Secretary to be quizzed by MPs over hostile bid for GKN

TAKEOVER BID OF GKN THREATENS NATIONAL SECURITY

GOVERNMENT ministers face a grilling in the House of Commons this week over the hostile £7.4billion takeover bid for engineering giant GKN.

Theresa May is under pressure to intervene amid mounting concern about the impact the buyout could have on industry and national security.

Redditch-based GKN makes parts for the F-35 Anglo-American fighter jet, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the US’s B-21 stealth bomber, as well as car parts such as driveshafts for the automotive industry.

Its future has been thrown into doubt after the City turnaround group Melrose lodged a £7.4billion offer last month. GKN’s board is attempting to fight the deal. Melrose is known for asset stripping which often leads to large numbers of people losing their jobs through restructuring.

It has emerged that the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is set to be questioned about the bid when he appears this week before the defence select committee. Its chairman Julian Lewis said: “The committee have had correspondence strongly against and in favour of the hostile takeover bid and I therefore wouldn’t be surprised if the topic came up [during the committee hearing].”

There is growing concern across Whitehall about the impact this aggressive takeover of GKN would have, especially the long-term defence and security implications it may have for the UK.

The takeover already faces the prospect of wider investigations, with the business, energy and industrial strategy committee expected to scrutinise it further after initial questions were raised by chairman Rachel Reeves.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is understood to be monitoring the situation closely, and a senior civil servant has been appointed to examine the impact of a takeover.

The US’s own committee on foreign investment will also have to examine any takeover, as will the authorities in France and Germany.

GKN dates back nearly 260 years and made cannonballs for the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

It now has around 6,000 employees in the UK among 58,000 worldwide. It is a key supplier to aerospace firms including Airbus, with bases in towns including Redditch, Luton and Telford.

Melrose specialises in buying underperforming firms and selling them on at a profit within three to five years. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has urged the Government to block the bid for GKN, calling Melrose an “utterly unsuitable owner”.

Speaking in the Commons earlier this month, the Prime Minister said: “Of course the Business Department will be looking closely at, and has been following closely, the issue. I and the Government as a whole will always act in the UK national interest.”

Concern about a GKN takeover has also been raised in the United States, where Congressman Neal Dunn has written to the committee on foreign investment urging it to block the bid.

He said: “In addition to concerns over who may ultimately acquire GKN, Melrose’s business strategy will undermine long-term investments in research and development and secure supply chains, which are critical to the major defence platforms GKN currently supplies.”

Any takeover would have to be considered by Germany’s federal ministry of economic affairs and energy and the French ministry of economy, according to documents made available by Melrose.

Melrose’s executive officers say that they “welcome any and all opportunities to explain to government why we [Melrose] believe a merger with GKN will create an industrial powerhouse of which the UK can be rightly proud”.

They added: “Melrose builds businesses to long-term health and prosperity and has an impeccable pension track record.”

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