The British American Project – Searching for the Successor Generation – The US Embassy’s International Visitor Program Gordon Brown and the Labour Party in the 1980s

The IV Program (US Embassy’s International Visitor Program) is a subtle exercise that trades heavily on America’s considerable cultural and social capital, in other words its soft power.

The altruistic aspect of providing the trip is always balanced with the intention of some kind of return.

An invitation offered at the start of a young, talented politician’s career can pay off later if, as expected, that politician rises through the ranks in the following years.

An IV trip has the potential; thanks to the extra information sources or contacts it can provide, to be career enhancing, particularly for those in the media or academics but also for MPs.

It is not a case of undue influence but of pragmatically attempting to establish favourable, constructive relations early on with someone expected to achieve greater influence in the future.

 

 

 

In 1984 the IVP showed the first signs of this approach, with an invitation offered to Gordon Brown.

Selection of candidates for the IVP was not easy due to the lack of talent available within the Labour Party.

Indeed comment was made that the majority of the 209 Labour MPs in the Commons after the 1983 election were, distinctly unimpressive.

Of the party’s 32 new MPs, Gordon Brown certainly stood out as among the pick of the intake.

A US Embassy telegram from early 1984 described how Brown was;

“already being seen as a leading light among the new members. He is an articulate, hard working and dedicated MP who is likely to go places within his party .  As he has never been to the US the IV Program will give him an ideal opportunity to learn first-hand about the US political system and meet his American counterparts early in his career, which could have immense value to both sides of the Atlantic”.

Brown’s programme in the United States was dominated by three issues:

1.  The American political process at federal and state levels.

2. US defense policy, and regional and urban redevelopment schemes.

3. Defense policy and NATO missile deployment at the Departments of State and Defense.

 

 

 

 

On redevelopment questions, the Embassy was aware that Brown’s constituency of Dunfermline East was suffering from high unemployment and was also deeply involved in the miners’ strike.

This was the background to his visit to Pittsburgh to view its urban renewal schemes, and his meetings with union officials.

But, the main focus was on the apparatus of the political parties.

Brown was interested in the organization, fundraising, campaigning and the role of political action committees in both major parties.

Brown was definitely fascinated by the United States.

While he went back at every opportunity in subsequent years, it was his IV trip that initially opened the door.

Reference: Searching for  the Successor Generation – Public Diplomacy- The US Embassy International Visitor Programme and the Labour party in the 1980’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

British – American Project for a Successor Generation (BAP)

An American-funded network which promotes American interests among British political opinion formers in support of the foreign policies of the United States of America

The BAP journalistic membership includes senior BBC journalists and leading figures from The Independent, The Economist and  News International. What better for the international status quo than a well-heeled freemasonry of politicians and journalists setting the news agenda?

Other members come from a wide variety of backgrounds and include rising stars from the world of business, government, the voluntary sector, the media and the armed forces.

Scotland had no chance of winning a Yes vote in the referendum. Can anyone remember any of the under-noted media presenters voicing even a morsel of support???

 

 

 

They Even Held A Meeting In Edinburgh During The Referendum campaign

The next event was in April in the midst of the Scottish Referendum where we debated “Scotland’s place in the World”.

Chaired by Jim Naughtie, (presenter of BBC’s Today programme) the discussion covered what an independent Scotland would mean for the transatlantic relationship and how far the Special Relationship automatically extends.

The panellists included, representatives from all political parties, journalists, business and civil society and succeeded in conveying a real understanding of the complexities of the issues involved.

http://www.britishamericanproject.org/essentialrelationship.asp

 

 

 

 

British American Project Members

 

 

 

Evan Davis. Recently appointed anchor of “Newsnight” . Took over from Jeremy Paxman.

Davis began work as an economist at the Institute of Fiscal Studies, and while there he was seconded to help officials work on early development of the Community Charge system of local government taxation (better known as the Poll Tax).

As the BBC’s economics editor, Davis was responsible for reporting and analysing economic developments on a range of programmes on BBC radio and television. He also had a role in shaping the extensive BBC coverage of economics across all the corporation’s outputs, including online.

He is a member of the British-American Project

 

 

 

 

Jeremy Paxman senior member of the British American Project (BAP).

From the safe confines of the Newsnight studio, Jeremy Paxman introduced his Russell Brand interview in archetypal world-weary mode like some kind of venerable patrician inviting a precocious, innocent upstart to join an exalted circle, just for a few moments. The trivial diversion to the topic of Paxman’s beard meant that Brand’s question, ‘Well how come I feel so cross with you?’ was left hanging in mid-air.

This is the point where Brand could, and should, have gone on the offensive about Paxman’s privileged position as a supposed fearless interrogator of power, the BBC man’s connection with the British-American Project once described as a ‘Trojan horse for US foreign policy’, and then extending to a critique of the BBC itself. There is no shortage of examples of BBC propaganda that could have been raised.

 

 

 

Jane Hill. Senior Political reporter and newsreader.

Hill is openly Lesbian. She lives in North London with her partner Sara, a camera operator. They have entered into a civil partnership.

She is a member of the British American Project, an organisation which exists to promote Anglo-American relations.   The organisation has been criticised for its links to the military establishment and neocon politicians.

 

 

 

Senior BBC producer (Newcastle) Murphy Cobbing. (left)

 

Diane Coyle. is an economist and former advisor to the UK Treasury.  She is Vice-Chairman of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the BBC

Long time member of the BAP. Joined at same time as Mandelson and Naughtie

 

 

 

 

Rona Fairhead.  Chair of the BBC trust. 2014

Very close friend of Chancellor George Osborne and Lord Stevenson, (a key figure in the BAP network and in the 2008 banking collapse.)

A former executive at Pearson, she was appointed BBC Trust chair in 2014 and has since run into a series of controversies that have weakened her position.

In the aftermath of the tax avoidance scandal involving HSBC, where Fairhead is a non-executive director, Margaret Hodge, chair of the public accounts committee,  called for her to go. Harriet Harman, the acting leader of the Labour party, has also said BBC Trust independence appears to be lacking.

 

 

 

Senior Political Commentator/Presenter. James Naughtie. A VIP of the (BAP)

James Naughtie was born and brought up in Milltown of Rothiemay near Huntly Aberdeenshire. He is a Fellow of the British-American Project

In July 2015 he announced, via the BBC, that in early 2016 he would retire from regular presenting duties on the “Today” programme and would, instead, be its ‘Special Correspondent’ with ‘responsibility for charting the course of the constitutional changes at the heart of the UK political debate’. The notorious Nick Robinson has been parachuted in taking over the “Today” programme.

 

 

 

 

Laura Kuenssberg. BBC Political Editor BBC News..

 

 

 

 

Sarah Smith BBC political presenter

Sarah is the daughter of the late John Smith, ( Bilderberger)  and former leader of the Labour party.

Her sister is married to Malcolm,  son of Labour Party royalty, Lord George Robertson ex-NATO Secretary General, UK Defence Secretary and founding figure of the British American Project

Those familiar with BBC Scotland bias will be aware that much of the criticism is because it is riddled with figures connected to the labour party in Scotland.

The mistress of  the delivery of  rehearsed written questions Sarah is incapable of intelligent response when answers are clearly codswallop.

She is also too entrenched in the British establishment to be able to give any non-unionist politician a fair hearing.

 

 

 

 

The New World Order Is Decided

Gordon Brown 10 November 2008 “As America stands at its own dawn of hope, so let that hope be fulfilled through a pact with the wider world to lead and shape the 21st century as the century of a truly global society.”

 

 

 

The New World Order – The dogma that Drives the labour Party

 

 

Gordon Brown and His Vision Of A new World Order

The Isle of Iona

Close followers of the Scottish political scene will have noted recurring links between the Labour Party and the Isle of Iona.

The late John Smith, Labour Party Leader is buried there. His widow is Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill, is a political figure of note in her own right.

One of John Smiths daughters, Sarah was married there. Another daughter married Labour Lord Robertson’s son on the Isle of Islay.

The Reverend Douglas N Alexander, a long time member of the Iona Community and lifetime friend of John Smith conducted all of the events.

Reverend George Macleod

The charismatic founder of the Iona Community was the Reverend George MacLeod, who once stood as Labour candidate in an election for rector of Glasgow University.

The Iona Community and was regarded by some in the Kirk as a Jesuitical conspiracy pushing the Kirk simultaneously towards Catholicism and Communism.

Consequently Iona Community members found the doors of many parishes in Scotland closed to them: they were seen as dangerous men. Divinity students contemplating joining the Community were warned about their career prospects. MacLeod never made excuses for his involvement in politics, citing Knox and the Covenanters as precedents. He once said:

“If churchmen are not politically involved, you soon get the spectacle of RCs and Communists dominating our trade unions – as now they do,” he wrote in reply to one critic. “As to Labour choice, it is not a bad thing to introduce the Faith into Labour policies, which, left to secularists, could indeed veer into Communism. What matters even more is the continuance of democracy as a living cause in our midst and not the Labour, or any other party in permanent ascendancy. But to achieve this Christians must be involved.”

MacLeod’s manifesto was received warmly by the Alexander family and others deemed to become dominant UK political figures over the next 60 years. MacLeod, was their “hero.”

His experiences of war persuaded him to the view that Nuclear weapons were a blight on mankind and should be banned. It followed that membership of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was a must for followers of his doctrine.

The Alexander Family

The Iona Community & Glasgow University Set

Douglas Alexander (senior) joined the labour party whilst studying at Glasgow University in the early 60’s and enjoyed a lifetime friendship with many members of the University (Labour Party) clique. The environment in which the Reverend Douglas N Alexander’s children and the children of other members of the community were nurtured was heavily politicised in favour of socialist policies. He had two children:

Wendy. Sponsored and mentored by the British American Project (BAP), enjoyed a rapid rise to fame at the start of the devolved Scottish Parliament. She was responsible for the introduction of a number of progressive policies.

She took time out to enjoy life with her newly born twins but returned to politics not long after.

The early death of Gordon Dewar resulted in some turmoil in the Party and a number of leadership campaigns culminated in Wendy making a bid for the leadership. She failed and retired once more from politics taking up a career in education.

Douglas. Sponsored and mentored by the British American Project (BAP), he was elected to Westminster and gained rapid promotion to high office in the Labour Party.

More of the Glasgow University Clique

Donald Dewar

The late Donald Dewar married Alison Mary McNair who deserted Donald and their two children to be another member of the group, one of his best friends, solicitor, Derry Irvine. Later to become the infamously influential Lord Irvine, courtesy of his protégé Tony Blair. He of the taxpayer charged expensive wallpapered offices in London).

Baron Derry Irvine, (Lord Chancellor with New Labour)

His son Alastair took up body-building during his late teens and became a professional personal trainer in a joint business with a former soft porn model, Carole Caplin. The business failed. Alistair went off to America and lived the high life for a time  and became a crack cocaine addict. He was imprisoned in the US for stalking an ex girlfriend and threatening to shoot her boyfriend.  It was Alistair who introduced his bisexual friends, Dwina Murphy-Gibb (wife of the Late Robin Gibb) and former topless model, Carole Caplin to Cherie Blair.

Carole Caplin

Tony and Cherie Blair (nee Booth) were given vital pupillage (practical traineeship in law) by Derry Irvine assisting them to become Lawyers. At their wedding he dubbed himself “Cupid QC”.

Not long after the unexpected death of John Smith king-maker, Derry Irvine, in conversation told Peter Mandelson, head of Labour Party strategy that Tony would need to be the next Labour Party leader. Peter Mandelson then made it happen. Much to the chagrin of Gordon Brown PhD and all the other hopefuls for the Labour Party crown.

The Late John Smith, leader of the UK Labour Party and his close friend Denis Healey (Founder Member) were members of the Steering Committee of the influential ultra right wing Bilderberg Group. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/1994/may/13/obituaries.past http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_28 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/12/john-smith-labour-britain-prime-minister

Eldest daughter Sarah Smith attracts the ire of those who wish Scotland to be free of Westminster’s control. The Unionist supporting chief of BBC Scotland News and Current Affairs joined it in Spring 2014 in the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum on 18 September 2014.

Daughter Jane married Malcolm Robertson, (son of Labour peer, John Robertson) head of Scottish public affairs for the British Airports Authority (BAA).

Youngest daughter Catherine is an practicing advocate.

Elizabeth Margaret Smith (nee Bennett), Married the late John Smith.

She is the Lords Chair of The Labour Friends of Israel.

A fluent Russian speaker, she is also a leading member of the British Intelligence and Security Committee, which provides parliamentary oversight of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6, (GCHQ) and the Security Service (MI5).

She is an advisory council member of the foreign-policy think-tank, the Foreign Policy Centre.

Baroness Margaret Ramsey,(MI6 agent) and foreign policy advisor for the late John Smith. 

Another example of infiltration into the Labour Party, MI6 officer Margaret “Meta” Ramsay was elected President of the Scottish Union of Students. In 1962, she became associate secretary of the CIA-front the International Student Conference at Leiden, Holland.

From 1965 to 1967, she was secretary of the Fund for International Student Co-operation, which was later identified as another recipient of CIA funds. She became an active member of the Labour Party, attending conferences.

In August 1992, she was promoted to the position of foreign policy adviser for her university friend, Labour leader John Smith. As well as raising a few eyebrows, this appointment begged the question: What was the leader of the Labour Party doing employing a known high-ranking MI6 agent in such a senior position? We now know!!!

A fluent Russian speaker, she was heavily involved with the American backed and funded “Institute for Jewish Policy Research” and the “Zionist Labour Friends of Israel.”

Sir Menzies Campbell, (former leader of the UK Liberal Democrat Party 

James Stuart Gordon (Baron Gordon of Strathblane). Closest friend at university and best man at John Smith’s wedding.

James was Chairman of the secretive, “Glasgow Common Purpose” organization and in a chequered career has been the holder of many influential posts in the Scottish Media, business and Public bodies. A staunch Labour Party supporter throughout his lifetime.

John Vincent (Vince) Cable, Secretary of State For Business, Innovation and Skills in the  2010 2015 Tory/Lib Dem Coalition government. Although not at university with him Vince Cable was very active in the Labour Party, and was SPAD to John Smith in 1978 when he was Industry Secretary in the Labour Government.

The Rise to Power – The Piper Decides the Price

Labour politicians, including Donald Dewar, John Smith, Gordon Brown, George Foulkes, George Robertson and the late Robin Cook were precisely the types the intelligence services longed to see take control of the Labour party and it is believed that contemporaries and acquaintances of these leading Scottish Labour figures took active roles in organisations sponsored and endorsed by MI6 and the CIA.

George Foulkes (now his lordship) was the organiser of the CIA sponsored “Funds for International Student Co-operation (FISC) of which British secret agent Meta Ramsey was a senior member. Ramsey, a specialist in the Scandinavian states joined MI6 in 1969.

Hakluyt A British Intelligence front

The firm was formed by MI6 officers and  enabled (still is) to front many “deniable” operations working in close harmony with the CIA for the British state.  The 2002 Iraq fiasco and the Putin/Trump scandal of recent times are example. Baroness Smith held a senior post with the company.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakluyt_%26_Company

The American CIA cultivated Blair, Mandelson and Brown in the nineteen eighties. Blair was too promising, and manipulable, for them to pass up.

When John Smith became leader of the Labour Party he was a member of the steering committee of the Bilderberg Group: the steering committee, the inner core. He got Gordon Brown invited to the 1991 meeting, incidentally…

Who was John Smith? A genial, whiskey-drinking Scots lawyer from the traditional Labour right. But also life-long chums with a senior MI6 officer, now Baroness Ramsay. Lady Smith, his widow, later to be a member of the board of management of the Mi6/CIA front company Hakluyt.

John Smith also took on a SPAD – Ed Balls, a Financial Times leader writer – an ideologist for globalisation, in effect – who learned some of his economics at Harvard . Like other Labour personnel, including Yvette Cooper MP, whom Balls later married, and David Miliband, head of Blair’s policy unit, Balls had spent a year in America as a Kennedy Scholar.

The Balls 

Virtually all of Labour people have some connection to America and American money…Tony Blair took the US government’s free tour of the States in 1986 and told his hosts that while officially a member of CND he supported the nuclear deterrent. He joined the CIA front, Labour Friends of Israel in 1983.

There’s no such thing as Scottish Labour Read the sign

While Shadow Home Secretary in 1994 Tony Blair took an Israeli government freebie holiday in Israel. On his return the number two at the Israeli embassy in London introduced him to Michael Levy – now Lord Levy – one of the top fund-raisers for Jewish charities.

 

 

1999: A Promise Betrayed- A Scottish Parliament with Full Home Rule

New Labour under the leadership of Tony Blair fell under the spell of the USA and Press baron Murdoch. The lurch to the right brought with it new thinking about Scottish devolution, to which he had been forced against his will, to commit to by John Smith politicians within the new government as part of the leadership campaign. The difference agreed to by Blair was the emphasis to be placed on Scottish devolution and the amount of powers to be transferred to it.

Donald Dewar, good friend of John Smith and keen supporter of Scottish Home Rule reluctantly agreed to devolution with minimum powers with a promise that, over time the authority of the new parliament would be expanded to full home rule effectively creating a UK federal State with a central governing body taking charge of concerns with an external bias. He died before the commitment would be honoured. New Labour reneged on their commitment.

Scot’s have long memories and provided with the opportunity through the ballot box removed the Labour Party from power over Scottish political affairs and on 7 May 2015 the rout will be complete with the rejection of the Labour Party in Scotland.

It could all have been so different. Had John Smith lived Scotland would have benefitted from full Home Rule and the Labour Party would have retained the trust of the Scottish electorate.

 

 

April 2014: John Smith – Scotland’s lost leader

In a remarkably prescient 1992 speech at Strathclyde University John Smith questioned the nature of British democracy, warning that people were losing faith in the democratic process; arguing government had become remote and overly centralised.

He objected to the clawing of power back to the centre, the stifling of voices of dissent and the closing down of channels of open and accountable government.

He argued that democracy needed reform and the process of centralisation needed to be reversed and he wanted to restore people’s faith in their system of government.

Key to that reform was, he believed, the conscious devolution of power to the nations and regions of the UK, and the first step was the establishment of a Scottish Parliament, effectively committing the Labour Party to establish that parliament as the “settled will” of the Scottish people.

Smith was a convert to devolution in the Seventies, not because he saw it as a means of killing “nationalism stone dead” or to buy time for a Labour government, but because he saw it as a means of addressing a democratic deficit, bringing politicians closer to the people and making them more accountable for their actions.

While administrative powers were increasingly ceded by Whitehall to the Scottish Office, answerable only to the secretary of state, there was no corresponding devolution of political control over Scottish affairs to the Scottish people over areas of policy that had a direct impact on the lives of Scots. That had to change.

A Scottish Parliament, he believed, was essential to the democratic governance of “our nation”, by which he meant the United Kingdom not just Scotland and in Smith’s view “unfinished business”. Devolution was in the interests of the UK, not just Scotland, and a key part of the democratic renewal of the British constitution and its civil institutions.

It would be a parliament to legislate on matters unique to Scotland but with a government in Westminster to address the wider concerns of the UK as a whole. Mike Elrick:  Press Officer to Labour leader John Smith

 

 

 

Murphy at it again with his GE leaflet lies. These need to be challenged in public so that Scots attention is drawn to the misinformation policy of the Red Tory Party

 

 

February 2013: The Living Wage

The living wage, designed to reflect the actual cost of living, is paid voluntarily by some employers. The SNP Scottish government has guaranteed the living wage to its own staff and says it would like to extend its application. EU employment law does not provide for a universal living wage.

In a recent statement Nicola Sturgeon said “We don’t disagree with the objective of making payment of the living wage a mandatory requirement of public contracts. We’re the first Scottish government to adopt the living wage for all of our employers and we encourage all other employers, public private, third sector, to pay their staff the living wage.”

The Chair of the Scottish Living Wage Campaign Peter Kelly said “With the problem of in-work poverty continuing to increase, the Scottish Government’s continued support for the Living Wage must be congratulated. Today’s announcement will ensure that some of the lowest paid workers in the public sector will receive a wage increase that will provide real help in these difficult times. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government to ensure that more employees across Scotland can get the benefit of the living wage.”
http://wayback.archive-it.org/3011/20130201193655/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/11/Livingwage051112#

 

 

 

May 2014: Zero Hours Contracts

The SNP government position: “Zero-hours contracts are not always appropriate and present many people on benefits with real challenges in managing their income. While the UK government is encouraging the use of zero hours contracts, the Scottish SNP Government has been looking at options available to tackle the issue within its limited powers. As employment policy is reserved to Westminster, this is yet another example of how we can do things differently, and better, with independence.”
http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2014/may/jobseekers-forced-work-zero-hours-contracts

February 2015: Press release from Jim Murphy announced that Scottish Labour will abolish exploitative zero hours contracts and make work pay for Scottish families.

He said “In this May’s election, Scotland can choose to end the scandal of exploitative zero hour contracts by sending Scottish Labour MPs to kick out the Tories and form a UK Labour Government. There are 84,000 proud Scots who are too often forced into zero hour contracts. Too many are left worried about whether they will have enough work and wages to be able to put food on the table from one week to the next. Many are blocked from getting credit they can afford and turn to extortionate pay day loans. It’s no way to treat people who want to work hard and get on in life. When working families prosper Scotland prospers, when people have decent pay and conditions they spend more and Scotland’s economy grows. That’s the way to build a fairer Scotland. Too many Scots who want to work rather than be on benefit are caught in a cycle of poverty pay. They have no idea what they will earn from one week to the next. In 2015 too many Scots are still exploited for their labour. I am determined to change that once and for all. In May we can replace the Tories with a Labour Government who will ban exploitative zero hour contracts. The SNP had their chance to ban zero hour contracts last year and they let people down. It’s time to bin these exploitative contracts once and for all.” https://www.politicshome.com/document/press-release/murphy-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Cwe-will-call-time-zero-hour-contracts-make-work-pay%E2%80%9D

April 2015: Ed Miliband pledged that workers on zero-hours contracts will have the right to regular employment after 12 weeks. The policy, will be included in Labour’s election manifesto. So Murphy is at it again. Employment rights are not delegated to the Scottish Parliament as such he will need to conform to the will of the English Labour party.
https://www.politicshome.com/economy-and-work/articles/story/labour-crack-down-zero-hour-contracts

 

March 2015: Rent Controls

Rent controls were in place from 1915-1989 in the UK after legislation was passed in the House of Commons in response to the Glasgow rent strike of 1915. Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government got rid of the controls in 1989.

Since that time, private rent prices have skyrocketed, and campaigners say a cap on rents would save billions in housing benefit payments which, they argue, is effectively a subsidy for landlords.

Nicola Sturgeon said the Scottish Government is consulting on the introduction of rent controls to address high prices in the private-rented sector in Scotland.

During a questions session after her lecture at the London School of Economics (LSE), she was asked by a member of the audience about what the Scottish Government would do to tackle “the housing crisis” in Scotland, and specifically whether she would consider the introduction of rent controls, which is a cap on the prices landlords can set rents at.

She replied the most fundamental issue was “to build more houses”, adding that the Scottish Government scrapped the right-to-buy scheme because it didn’t make any sense to lose that investment into social housing.

She further added that the government “were consulting” on the issue of rent controls, saying that there was a “strong argument for it. But, she stated it must be balanced with a need for “a good and high quality supply of private sector housing.” https://commonspace.scot/articles/731/scottish-government-considering-introduction-of-rent-controls-first-minister-says

 

 

Browns Bottom – Sale of Britains Gold

Newspaper headlines, at the time summarised Gordon Brown’s decision to sell off Britains gold reserves at the bottom of the market as “the worst economic judgement ever made by a chancellor.”

Ed Balls, Shadow Chancellor and Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party, were close aides to Brown when, between 1999 and 2002, he ordered the sale of almost 400 tons of the gold reserves when the price was at a 20-year low. Since then, the price has increased manyfold meaning the decision cost taxpayers an estimated £20 billion. A huge amount which would have eased the burden of austerity which has been borne by the taxpayer in the period 2010-15 and is expected to continue until at least 2020.

It is understood that Brown pushed ahead with the sale despite serious misgivings at the Bank of England. It is not thought that senior Bank experts were even consulted about the decision, which was driven through by a small group of senior Treasury aides (Balls & Miliband) close to Brown.

After a public outcry and many aborted “freedom of information” requests the Information Commissioner was finally forced to hold a series of “private” meetings with the Treasury following which he agreed for much of the paperwork to remain hidden from the public so there has only been a “limited” release of information.

 

Where did it go wrong?

* The price of gold has increased markedly since Brown sold more than half of Britain’s reserves.

* The Treasury pre-announced its plans to sell 395 tons of the 715 tons held by the Bank of England, which caused prices to fall.

* The bullion was sold in 17 auctions between 1999 and 2002, with dealers paying between $256 and $296 an ounce. In January 2015 gold was selling at $1400 an ounce.

* The taxpayer has lost an estimated £20 billion, five times the amount lost when Britain left the ill-fated Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sale_of_UK_gold_reserves,_1999%E2%80%932002

 

                       

 

11 February 2013: The Labour Party Has Not ruled out a referendum On EU Membership

The Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said the party could not afford to be painted as against letting people have their say and it would be “stupid” to rule out a referendum on Europe. He said Labour should be arguing for reform in Brussels without being against a referendum in principle.

Mr Balls’s remarks came as David Cameron today attacked Labour’s position on a future referendum. He said leader Ed Miliband could not criticise him for creating “uncertainty” – without saying if Labour was in favour of a poll or not.

Mr Balls insisted Labour had “absolutely not” ruled out a referendum. He said: “As long as we don’t allow ourselves to be caricatured as an anti-referendum party, which we’re not – we’ve absolutely not ruled out a referendum – I personally think that for now this is quite a comfortable position for us. “If we allow ourselves either to be the ‘status quo party’ on Europe, or the ‘anti-referendum party’ on Europe, then we’ve got a problem. “But I think we would be pretty stupid to allow ourselves to get into either of those positions.”

Mr Balls’s remarks appear to contradict Labour’s original position on holding a referendum. After Mr Cameron announced his plan to hold an in-out referendum by 2017, Mr Miliband said Labour’s position was: “We don’t want an in/out referendum.”

He said such a move would put “Britain through years of uncertainty and take a huge gamble with the economy”. A Labour source said it was “ridiculous” to suggest there was a difference between Mr Miliband and Mr Balls’s remarks.

The source said Labour was against announcing a referendum that would take place in four years time. The source added: “As Ed Miliband set out in his speech at the CBI in November, Labour believes our priorities should be to promote growth at home and secure influence abroad. “Both Ed Miliband and Ed Balls believe announcing an in/out referendum at the moment will not help either of these priorities.”  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/eu-referendum-labour-stupid-rule-1704313

 

                             

 

 

29 October 2014: Cameron rejects giving Scotland veto in EU referendum

Prime Minister David Cameron rejected on Wednesday a proposal by the Scottish National Party (SNP) that the United Kingdom should only quit the European Union after a future referendum if a majority in each of its four constituent parts vote to do so.

Cameron has promised a referendum in 2017 on Britain’s continued EU membership if his Conservative Party, which has grown increasingly Eurosceptical, wins a 2015 national election.

Incoming SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said earlier on Wednesday the United Kingdom’s EU exit should only go ahead if approved by majorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as in England, home to 85 percent of the UK population.

“We are one United Kingdom. There will be one in/out referendum (for the EU) and that will be decided on a majority of those who vote. That is how the rules should work,” Cameron told the Westminster-based UK parliament in response to Sturgeon’s proposal.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have varying degrees of autonomy but the British government in London controls foreign policy and is not legally required to consult the regional administrations over issues such as EU membership.

However, the SNP criticised the stance, saying that London’s promises of real constitutional change after Scots rejected independence were being broken. “This knee-jerk rejection by the Prime Minister to a perfectly reasonable and balanced proposal to reflect Scotland’s interests in Europe flies in the face of what he and the No campaign promised during the independence referendum,” said Pete Wishart, an SNP member of the British parliament.

Polls show that Scots, are more likely to back EU membership than the English. The SNP have said that they are not seeking another referendum on Scottish independence, but that this depends on circumstances such as continued EU membership.

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon said it would be wrong to force Scotland’s five million people to leave the EU against it’s own wishes. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/10/29/uk-britain-eu-scotland-idUKKBN0II1EV20141029

 

                                     

 

 

18 February 2015: UK’s Labour under pressure over EU referendum as senior official quits

Britain’s opposition Labour Party came under pressure to offer voters a membership referendum on leaving the European Union on Wednesday after a senior official quit over the issue and a major donor prepared to call for a policy U-turn.

Unlike Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour has resisted offering such a referendum in the run-up to a close May 7 national vote, arguing it would hang a “closed for business” sign over Britain and that an EU exit would be disastrous.

It has said it would only offer a referendum if it deemed there was a substantial further shift of powers from London to Brussels, something that’s neither imminent nor likely.

But some in the left-wing party, parts of which have a tradition of Euroscepticism, argue it’s undemocratic to deprive voters of a say on something polls show many feel uneasy about.

There’s also disquiet — from a tactical viewpoint less than three months before the election — that Cameron’s Conservatives are the only ones offering to renegotiate Britain’s EU ties before holding such a referendum if re-elected.

On Wednesday, a former head of Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, said she was leaving the party and switching her support to the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) because she was “disillusioned” by its Europe stance.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, former NEC chair Harriet Yeo said she had been told many senior Labour lawmakers favoured a referendum but had been asked not to speak out. “I cannot support this approach,” she wrote. “It is time to decide whether we remain in the EU. The only party I trust to offer us that choice is UKIP.”

Her resignation came as a major Labour donor prepared to urge Ed Miliband, the party’s leader, to commit to hold a referendum. “If Ed Miliband becomes prime minister in May and renegotiates without committing to a referendum, he will inevitably weaken the UK’s bargaining position,” businessman John Mills, who donated 1.65 million pounds to Labour in 2013, will tell a conference in London.

In remarks prepared for delivery to the event on alternatives to EU membership, he will say that other EU members will be more likely to take renegotiation seriously if there’s a substantial risk of Britain leaving the EU. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/18/uk-britain-politics-europe-idUKKBN0LM00A20150218

 

                         

 

10 March 2015: Brown warns against making Scottish referendum mistakes with Europe

Gordon Brown has warned that those in favour of the UK’s membership of the European Union are running the risk of losing an referendum on the issue. In an article for this morning’s Guardian, he writes that Eurosceptics are using the same tactics of the pro-independence campaign in the Scottish referendum, which was closer than many predicted.

The former Prime Minister wrote:

“A poll that started off as a contest between two patriotic visions of Scotland’s future – one inside Britain one outside – descended into a choice: are you for Scotland or against Scotland? Thousands were persuaded that a yes vote was the only way to show themselves to be patriotic Scots.

“Anti-Europeans are slowly, and with surprisingly little public acknowledgement, pulling off the same trick by framing Europe – the subject of what could be the next referendum – in the same way. What should be a choice between two patriotic futures for Britain – one as part of Europe and one outside it – is already descending into a more basic emotional choice: are you for Britain, or are you for Europe?”

It is interesting that the premise of Brown’s piece seems to be an acceptance that an EU referendum is, if not inevitable, then at least likely. This would be at odds with Labour policy, as the party is heading into the election with a firm opposition to a referendum.

Brown says that if untackled, UKIP would engender widespread feeling that “blames foreigners, targets immigrants, engenders a siege mentality against the outsider and says that Britain is barely recognisable to those who believe in it.”

He is not the first major Labour figure to lend his support and advice to the pro-EU cause; Better Together chair Alistair Darling said on announcing his retirement from the Commons that he wanted to be more active campaigning for EU membership, while Alan Johnson is understood to share similar sentiments from inside Parliament.

Brown, who is standing down from Parliament this May, argues that there is a danger of “fighting with the wrong weapons” and that a “fact-based campaign” could alienate those who already feel left behind by politics:

“Sadly we pro-Europeans are in danger of fighting with the wrong weapons: a worthy, London establishment-led corporate-financed fact-based campaign of “the great and the good”, whose commitment to Europe is admirable but whose prominence will be used by anti-Europeans to justify the allegation that Europe is for an elite who don’t understand the real Britain.”

While all of this is an intriguing intervention from the former Chancellor, it has been largely overshadowed by his belief that Britain leaving the EU would make the country like North Korea, “out in the cold with few friends, no influence, little new trade and even less new investment.” http://labourlist.org/2015/03/brown-warns-against-making-scottish-referendum-mistakes-with-europe/

 

 

                                                           

 

 

31 January 2015: What are we going to do about the EU?

It would be reasonable to expect that austerity measures would be top of the 2015 GE agenda but the truth is that there is little difference between the big Westminster parties on austerity.

Sure the Conservatives are looking to claim Labour will raise the deficit with un-costed policies, but Labour also seem to be keen to show themselves as strong on the economy by denying that they will tax and spend.

Normally the parties would look for a unique selling point such as the SNP’s “Stronger for Scotland” but the Westminster parties have no substantial points of difference on key policies.

The exception being UKIP, the party that David Cameron really has to beat to win a majority, and that is why the UK General Election arguments will largely focus on the EU.

Last year Ipsos – Mori stated that 53% of Scots would vote to stay in the EU and 34% to leave, and Survation found that Scots were 5% less likely to support leaving the EU than the average for the rest of the UK.

I believe that if Labour doesn’t also offer a referendum on EU membership they won’t win outright, so I predict that regardless of who wins in May we will have an EU referendum.

That support for EU membership will rise in Scotland, especially given the SNP Government’s popularity and its full on commitment to EU membership, and that the rest of the UK will, through UKIP’s influence, move towards the exit door but it is too tight to call.

But will the Labour referendum include a veto for Scotland & Wales. If the Labour Party line is the same as the Tory and Lib/Dem Party’s will the Scottish Labour Party conform with the London labour Party or will it support the will of the Scottish electorate? http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/what-are-we-going-to-do-about-the-europeans/

 

                                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

Ruth Davidson – Ardent supporter of remaining in the EU Sees her future with the UK

Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson said she was strongly against a second referendum in a hastily arranged speech outside her party’s headquarters following Sturgeon’s address.

Davidson said: “I do not believe a second independence referendum will help us achieve that stability nor is it in the best interests of Scotland.

“The 1.6 million votes cast in this referendum in favour of Remain do not wipe away the two million No votes that we cast less than two years ago.

“Also, we do not address the challenges of leaving the European Union by leaving our own union of nations, our biggest market and our closest friends. I believe in Scotland’s place within the United Kingdom today as much as ever.

She added she believes the “strength, security and durability” of the United Kingdom will endure. http://stv.tv/news/politics/1358515-sturgeon-second-indyref-is-on-the-table-following-brexit/

 

 

 

 

24 June 2016: Cameron resigns (in October 2016) as Prime Minister following referendum defeat

The secretary of state for Scotland David Mundell has offered to meet the Scottish Government to discuss the country’s “next steps”.  Mundell said: “David Cameron has been a great leader of my party and of our country. I was proud to be one of his first supporters during the 2005 leadership election and I have never regretted that decision for a moment. “His achievements in rescuing our economy and in social reform will stand the test of time. Today he has once again put country before self.  “As the Prime Minister made clear this morning, the UK Government is absolutely committed to working closely with the Scottish Government to ensure they are fully involved in the negotiation process. The Prime Minister has already spoken to the First Minister and I have today offered to meet with the Scottish Government in Edinburgh to discuss next steps. The United Kingdom has fundamental strengths and this is a time for calmness and deliberation – not pushing other personal or political agendas.”

http://stv.tv/news/politics/1358491-cameron-to-stand-down-as-prime-minister-following-referendum-defeat/

 

 

Report on alleged Russian interference in UK politics

The Tory Government has nobbled Westminster’s powerful Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) by loading it with right-wing apparatchiks.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53349212

 

 

 

 

Russian Influence on Boris Johnson’s government and the Tory Party

Boris Johnson’s Tory Party delayed publication of a report by the UK secret services into claims that the Russians adversely influenced the  EU referendum and the 2017 General Election.

The Tory’s stated that the primary reason for deferring publication until after the 2019 General Election was to ensure a level political playing field.

But the report was with Boris Johnson on 17 October 2019 and the process of approval of publication was usually around 10 days.

The Chairman of the investigating committee, Tory, Dominic Grieve accused Johnson of “sitting on the report” because it contained damaging allegations about the conduct of Tory politicians.

And the claims were that a friend of Boris Johnson, Alexander Temerko, one-time Russian defense ministry official had recently donated in excess of £1.5m to the Tory Party and that another eight Russian businessmen had also given significant sums of money to the Party.

And the Russians just kept turning up. A female Russian Tory Party donor, Lubov Chernukhin, former wife of  Putin supporter, Vladimir Putin ally, Vladimir Chernukhin, donated around £0.5M  and gifted another £160K to play tennis with Boris.

Grant Shapps, Tory Transport Minister defended the decision to delay publication offering that the government of the day was not allowed to publish anything politically controversial during an election “Purdah” period. But “purdah” was not in force in October for a General Election not due until December.

 

 

 

Cameron asked Putin and other world leaders to speak out against Scottish independence

In 2014 Russia retained the role of the presidency of the influential G8 group of industrial nations placing President Putin in a position of increased influence over world affairs.

The Westminster government’s anti-independence civil service team also bragged that they had employed underhand tactics and orchestrated the “Project Fear Campaign” globally.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13140055.camerons-plea-to-putin-help-me-stop-salmond/

 

 

 

Holyrood targeted by British spooks at GCHQ

SPOOKS have changed top-secret rules so they are free to spy on MSPs. Explosive documents show that the UK’s electronic eavesdropping agency last month dumped guidelines that had constrained spies from tapping MSPs’ phones or hacking their emails.

The revelations about GCHQ will spark fury at Holyrood and reignite conspiracy theories about the role of the security services in fighting the growth of pro-independence feeling.

They are also likely to bolster fears the intelligence community was monitoring politicians’ and activists’ communications during the referendum campaign.

The fact that the change to existing guidelines was made in the aftermath of the September 18 vote might be viewed as an action taken to cover previous activities.

Internal policy documents obtained by the Record show GCHQ – responsible for mass surveillance in Britain – had extended the decades-old Wilson doctrine to MSPs until March of this year.

The convention is named after former prime minister Harold Wilson, who pledged in 1966 that MPs’ and peers’ phones would not be tapped.

In December 1997, then PM Tony Blair said it extended to electronic communication, including emails.

However, the policy was never officially extended to cover the devolved parliaments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland once they were set up in 1999.

And while GCHQ said it had voluntarily treated MSPs in the same way as MPs until March this year, it can be revealed that they have now changed the policy so MSPs are no longer included.

 

 

 

 

 

GCHQ taps fiber-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications

Britain secretly gained access to the network of cables which carry the world’s phone calls and internet traffic and processes vast streams of sensitive personal information which it shares with its American partner, the National Security Agency.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa

 

 

 

The Five Eyes Alliance

The United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand participate together in an electronic eavesdropping cooperative called “The Five Eyes Alliance”

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/is-the-five-eyes-alliance-conspiring-to-spy-on-you/277190/

 

 

 

 

British spies snoop on YouTube and Facebook

The British government taps into the cables carrying the world’s web traffic at will and spies on what people are doing on some of the world’s most popular social media sites, including YouTube, all without the knowledge or consent of the companies.

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/27/22469304-snowden-docs-reveal-british-spies-snooped-on-youtube-and-facebook?lit

 

 

 

UK spies attacked anonymous hackers

The blunt instrument used by the British secret service to target hackers also interrupted the web communications of political dissidents who did not engage in illegal hacking.

http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/edward-snowden-interview/exclusive-snowden-docs-show-uk-spies-attacked-anonymous-hackers-n21361

 

 

 

British spies use sex and dirty tricks tactics

British spies developed “dirty tricks” for use against nations, hackers, terror groups, suspected criminals, and arms dealers including releasing computer viruses, spying on journalists and diplomats, jamming phones and computers, and using sex to lure targets into “honey traps.”

http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/edward-snowden-interview/exclusive-snowden-docs-show-british-spies-used-sex-dirty-tricks-n23091

 

 

 

 

Brexit removes European human rights court rulings making it illegal for the government and or its agencies to engage in the mass surveillance of the public

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled mass surveillance to be illegal.

The Court ruled that article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (the right to privacy)  included “sufficiently precise, effective and comprehensive” measures limiting surveillance to only people it suspected of crimes.

But the Tory government National Security Act (2011), contravenes (ECHR) since a minister of the government is able to approve a police request to search people’s houses, mail, phones, and laptops if they are seeking to protect national security a process that does not require judicial review or approval. And the law does not provide the circumstances under which the surveillance can be ordered (unlike other parts of the same law).

A minister can also order the surveillance for 90 days and extend it by another 90 days and there is no obligation to delete any of the information gathered during that time once the surveillance is ended. All highly questionable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gordon BrownNiccolò Machiavelli

 

Gordon Brown, the master leaker, when he was Prime Minister, had the Tory Damien Green arrested on allegations of leaking information . Yet in July 1985, at the time he was interviewed by the BBC’s Frank Bough, he just couldn’t avoid gloating and smirking about the leaks he had orchestrated, received and passed on through his network of minions who were always eager to do his murky deeds. Many people will have cause to have hatred in their hearts for him. He has departed the scene as a politician, but he leaves a foul stench that will linger for years to come. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIrweIqqsOc