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Is this the new UK them hard Brexiteer Tories are cooking up? Scarier than HELL

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/06/uk-to-host-spyware-firm-accused-of-aiding-human-rights-abuses

 

UK to host spyware firm accused of aiding human rights abuses

NSO Group technology is allegedly used by autocratic regimes to spy on journalists and activists

 

EIOqYMlW4AUPjMY.jpg


The British government is helping a controversial Israeli spyware company to market its surveillance technologies at a secretive trade fair visited by repressive regimes, the Guardian can reveal.

The government will host the NSO Group, which sells technology that has allegedly been used by autocratic regimes to spy on the private messages of journalists and human rights activists, at the closed Security and Policing trade fair in Hampshire next month.

The NSO Group is due to be an exhibitor at the three-day fair, where police and security officials from abroad can browse commercial stalls selling surveillance and crowd-control equipment.


Around 60 foreign delegations are typically hosted by the British government to the fair. In the last four years they have included countries whose human rights records have been criticised such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Hong Kong. The identities of this year’s delegations are not known as they are usually announced on the opening day of the fair

 

 

NSO has faced allegations that its technology is used to target human rights activists and reporters around the world. At least three UK residents are among those who are alleged to have been targeted using spyware sold by NSO. Among them is a prominent London-based satirist who is suing Saudi Arabia in the UK courts alleging that the Riyadh regime targeted him using malware developed by the firm.

The company is being sued in the US by WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, which has alleged that 1,400 of its users were hacked over a two-week period last year. NSO has denied the allegation.


The company’s signature spyware has also allegedly been used to target journalists, including a recently revealed case involving a reporter for the New York Times who is alleged to have been targeted by Saudi Arabia using NSO technology. NSO has denied the allegation.

Last week Reuters reported that the FBI was examining whether NSO technology was used against Americans. The firm said it was not aware of any inquiry.

The annual trade fair is organised by the Home Office and the Department for International Trade. The NSO Group has attended previously.

The general public have been barred from the fairs. Whitehall memos show that the government has a strict criteria for selecting who attends and exhibits. Last year Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour MP who was sitting on the parliamentary committee examining arms exports, was denied entry.

The Home Office bills the fair as “THE official government global security event, offering a world-class opportunity” to network with government officials and buy technology from commercial firms  :blink: :blink:

 

More than 300 firms, mainly from the UK, are due to exhibit their products at this year’s fair, which will open on 3 March at the Farnborough airport exhibition centre.

Brochures from previous years show how firms were seeking to sell equipment for many kinds of surveillance, from software that “intercepts” national phone and internet systems to traditional “bugs” that can be attached to cars or hidden in walls. Some exhibitors are promising “immersive experiences” to help sell their products.

Ministers are due to give keynote addresses at the fair, which is also attended by senior government officials.

In its promotional material for the fair, the NSO Group calls itself a “global leader in the world of cyber-intelligence, data acquisition and analysis”. It says it sells its technology to selected intelligence agencies, militaries and law enforcement organisations around the world to fight crime and terrorism.

It says it is “committed to the proper use of its technology to help governments strengthen public safety and protect against major security threats”.

There are three cases of NSO technology allegedly being used to target British residents. They include Ghanem Almasarir, a satirist known for mocking the Saudi royal family, Faustin Rukundo, a British citizen who is a member of a Rwandan opposition group and lives in exile, and a lawyer who is involved in a civil case against the Israeli surveillance company. NSO has said its technology is only intended to be used to fight crime and terrorism.

Martyn Day, a lawyer representing Almasarir, said: “Unless the government is prepared to take a stand and make it clear that it is inappropriate for such software to be sold to oppressive regimes then we are nothing short of colluding with those very regimes in their oppression of dissidents.

A Home Office spokesperson said in a statement: “The government will do all it can to help keep British people and British interests safe in the UK and overseas”   :rotfl:

 

 

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Well the City lives off working.with blood dictators, trafficants and mafia, laundering the money in remote places that still belong to the UK because of the imperialism. 

To let those tech spy firms operate in UK seems much less immoral, imo.

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4 hours ago, XXL said:

Is this the new UK them hard Brexiteer Tories are cooking up? Scarier than HELL

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/06/uk-to-host-spyware-firm-accused-of-aiding-human-rights-abuses

 

UK to host spyware firm accused of aiding human rights abuses

NSO Group technology is allegedly used by autocratic regimes to spy on journalists and activists

 

EIOqYMlW4AUPjMY.jpg


The British government is helping a controversial Israeli spyware company to market its surveillance technologies at a secretive trade fair visited by repressive regimes, the Guardian can reveal.

The government will host the NSO Group, which sells technology that has allegedly been used by autocratic regimes to spy on the private messages of journalists and human rights activists, at the closed Security and Policing trade fair in Hampshire next month.

The NSO Group is due to be an exhibitor at the three-day fair, where police and security officials from abroad can browse commercial stalls selling surveillance and crowd-control equipment.


Around 60 foreign delegations are typically hosted by the British government to the fair. In the last four years they have included countries whose human rights records have been criticised such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Hong Kong. The identities of this year’s delegations are not known as they are usually announced on the opening day of the fair

 

 

NSO has faced allegations that its technology is used to target human rights activists and reporters around the world. At least three UK residents are among those who are alleged to have been targeted using spyware sold by NSO. Among them is a prominent London-based satirist who is suing Saudi Arabia in the UK courts alleging that the Riyadh regime targeted him using malware developed by the firm.

The company is being sued in the US by WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, which has alleged that 1,400 of its users were hacked over a two-week period last year. NSO has denied the allegation.


The company’s signature spyware has also allegedly been used to target journalists, including a recently revealed case involving a reporter for the New York Times who is alleged to have been targeted by Saudi Arabia using NSO technology. NSO has denied the allegation.

Last week Reuters reported that the FBI was examining whether NSO technology was used against Americans. The firm said it was not aware of any inquiry.

The annual trade fair is organised by the Home Office and the Department for International Trade. The NSO Group has attended previously.

The general public have been barred from the fairs. Whitehall memos show that the government has a strict criteria for selecting who attends and exhibits. Last year Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour MP who was sitting on the parliamentary committee examining arms exports, was denied entry.

The Home Office bills the fair as “THE official government global security event, offering a world-class opportunity” to network with government officials and buy technology from commercial firms  :blink: :blink:

 

More than 300 firms, mainly from the UK, are due to exhibit their products at this year’s fair, which will open on 3 March at the Farnborough airport exhibition centre.

Brochures from previous years show how firms were seeking to sell equipment for many kinds of surveillance, from software that “intercepts” national phone and internet systems to traditional “bugs” that can be attached to cars or hidden in walls. Some exhibitors are promising “immersive experiences” to help sell their products.

Ministers are due to give keynote addresses at the fair, which is also attended by senior government officials.

In its promotional material for the fair, the NSO Group calls itself a “global leader in the world of cyber-intelligence, data acquisition and analysis”. It says it sells its technology to selected intelligence agencies, militaries and law enforcement organisations around the world to fight crime and terrorism.

It says it is “committed to the proper use of its technology to help governments strengthen public safety and protect against major security threats”.

There are three cases of NSO technology allegedly being used to target British residents. They include Ghanem Almasarir, a satirist known for mocking the Saudi royal family, Faustin Rukundo, a British citizen who is a member of a Rwandan opposition group and lives in exile, and a lawyer who is involved in a civil case against the Israeli surveillance company. NSO has said its technology is only intended to be used to fight crime and terrorism.

Martyn Day, a lawyer representing Almasarir, said: “Unless the government is prepared to take a stand and make it clear that it is inappropriate for such software to be sold to oppressive regimes then we are nothing short of colluding with those very regimes in their oppression of dissidents.

A Home Office spokesperson said in a statement: “The government will do all it can to help keep British people and British interests safe in the UK and overseas”   :rotfl:

 

 

I pray to Saint Kylie Minogue up in the skies that she gets the UK out of this mess hehe

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Australian journalist and researcher John Pilger's "The War on the NHS" documentary

Trailer and British Film Institute presentation

 

 

 

 

 

John Pilger's new documentary, THE DIRTY WAR ON THE NHS, "goes to the heart of the struggle for democracy today", he says. Britain's National Health Service, the NHS, was the world's first universal public health service. Designed to give millions of people "freedom from fear", the NHS today is under threat of being sold off and converted to a free market model inspired by America's disastrous health insurance system, which results in the death every year of an estimated 45,000 people. Now President Trump says the NHS is "on the table" in any future trade deal with America. Filmed in Britain and the United States, this timely, compelling documentary touches us all and reveals what may be the last battle to preserve the most fundamental human right

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John Pilger introduces the world premiere of a new documentary that uncovers a hidden and sustained campaign to undermine the idea of a British universal free health care system

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
The House LiveOverseas NHS and care home staff to be exempt from health surcharge after U-turn by Boris Johnson

 

:semifunny: :semifunny: :semifunny:

 

The U-turn comes after a host of his own MPs pressed the Prime Minister to make the change, along with the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons.

At PMQs Mr Johnson said he had “thought a great deal about this”, after criticism of the charge - which is also due to increase from £400 to £624 in October.

He said he had been a “personal beneficiary of people who’ve come from abroad and frankly saved my life”, but said the levy raises about £900million, adding: “I think that is the right way forward.”

And earlier on Thursday Downing Street doubled down on the commitment to the policy, despite a former Tory party chairman calling it “immoral”.

The PM’s official spokesperson said the Government had given a “very clear manifesto commitment” to increasing it.

They added that the surcharge “goes directly back into the NHS to help save lives”. 

But just hours later a spokesperson for Number 10 said: “The PM has asked the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care to remove NHS and care workers from the NHS surcharge as soon as possible.

“Work by officials is now underway on how to implement the change and full details will be announced in the coming days.

“As the PM said in the House of Commons, he has been thinking about this a great deal.

“He been a personal beneficiary of carers from abroad and understands the difficulties faced by our amazing NHS staff.

“The purpose of the NHS surcharge is to benefit the NHS, help to care for the sick and save lives.  NHS and care workers from abroad who are granted visas are doing this already by the fantastic contribution which they make.”

Downing Street said the change will apply to all NHS workers, including porters and cleaners, as well as those in social care.

But they confirmed the NHS surcharge remains in place for other categories of visa applicants and will increase in October, as planned,

It is the second U-turn in as many days after Priti Patel announced families of NHS care workers and cleaners who die on the coronavirus frontline will be allowed to stay in the UK on Wednesday.

The major climbdown from the Home Office came amid anger after it emerged those relatives were exempt from a bereavement scheme, with the offer of indefinite leave to remain only applying to certain occupations including nurses, radiographers and biochemists. 

 

https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/overseas-nhs-and-care-home-staff-to-be-exempt-from-health-surcharge-after-uturn-by-boris-johnson

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Coronavirus: Tory MP Steve Baker calls for Dominic Cummings 'to go'

A prominent member of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbench MPs has called for Dominic Cummings “to go”.

Steve Baker, the Tory MP for Wycombe, told BBC Breakfast the allegations that the PM's chief adviser broke lockdown rules is causing the party harm.

 

 

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@Kim

 

From the other thread

 

This is a huge story right now and doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. Cummings is of course not just an adviser, he's more or less the de facto PM and makes all the big policy decisions with Bozo as the public face. His biggest claim to fame is as the architect of the whole 'vote leave' Brexit campaign (and all the illegality surrounding it) It'll be interesting to see where this one goes, but even if he does 'resign', he'll still be in the background running the show

 

 

Totally

It's curious how the British media are being so slow, almost reticent to call out the Johnson's government handling of this emergency, as slow, reckless and ineffective as the handling of it itself, particularly the BBC of course

It seems though that the papers media seems more up in arms about this latest development and other recent government evident failures than the major TV broadcasting press

I hear this Dominic Cummings story was broken by a collaborative effort between the Guardian, the Mirror and the Observer

What I find telling about all of this is that even Brexiteer Tory MPs that have called the lockdown measures dystopian and dictatorial (Steve Baker) are now jumping at Cummings throat demanding that he goes and that the story should not be Cummings but the pandemic and the various social and economic negative ramifications it will have on the public

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4 hours ago, XXL said:

 

Totally

It's curious how the British media are being so slow, almost reticent to call out the Johnson's government handling of this emergency, as slow, reckless and ineffective as the handling of it itself, particularly the BBC of course

It seems though that the papers media seems more up in arms about this latest development and other recent government evident failures than the major TV broadcasting press

I hear this Dominic Cummings story was broken by a collaborative effort between the Guardian, the Mirror and the Observer

What I find telling about all of this is that even Brexiteer Tory MPs that have called the lockdown measures dystopian and dictatorial (Steve Baker) are now jumping at Cummings throat demanding that he goes and that the story should not be Cummings but the pandemic and the various social and economic negative ramifications it will have on the public

Well it's the usual British exceptionalism, isn't it. A few weeks back when Italy had those big numbers it was all we heard, about what a huge catastrophe it was - the minute Britain hit those numbers (and beyond)...nothing. The day after the UK recorded the highest death toll in Europe, the govt stopped publishing the daily international comparison numbers and everyone was told to not 'politicise' the pandemic and that any inquiry will have to wait till it's all over.

Anyway, Bozo, in the most excruciating press conference, has just put his full support behind Cummings in a very risky move. Even the most compliant of British sheep aren't all that happy to see that while they've been holed up for weeks following the rules, the ones making said rules have been flouting them with no consequences. 

But as most people have been saying, Bozo can't exactly fire his own boss, especially one that has about 10 yrs of dirt on him and the rest of the Tory scum running the country.

Anyway god bless the civil servant who (really!) tweeted this nugget just after Bozo's speech.... before it was quickly deleted...

 

EYzGoDvWoAE2yJv?format=jpg&name=medium

 

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I pray to San Kylie Minogue up in the skies to save the UK from this mess and find a cure to the corona 🙏🏼 

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1 hour ago, Kim said:

Well it's the usual British exceptionalism, isn't it. A few weeks back when Italy had those big numbers it was all we heard, about what a huge catastrophe it was - the minute Britain hit those numbers (and beyond)...nothing. The day after the UK recorded the highest death toll in Europe, the govt stopped publishing the daily international comparison numbers and everyone was told to not 'politicise' the pandemic and that any inquiry will have to wait till it's all over.

Anyway, Bozo, in the most excruciating press conference, has just put his full support behind Cummings in a very risky move. Even the most compliant of British sheep aren't all that happy to see that while they've been holed up for weeks following the rules, the ones making said rules have been flouting them with no consequences. 

But as most people have been saying, Bozo can't exactly fire his own boss, especially one that has about 10 yrs of dirt on him and the rest of the Tory scum running the country.

Anyway god bless the civil servant who (really!) tweeted this nugget just after Bozo's speech.... before it was quickly deleted...

 

EYzGoDvWoAE2yJv?format=jpg&name=medium

 

Omg that tweet! 

 

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I know it's silly but for so many years, in my teens and my twenties, I saw the UK as some kind if light of hope. These past 5 years my perception has changed so much. 

I still hope that somehow a new generation of politicians arrives and change some things. Sometimes it only takes new leaders to change things. In Spain we have a big mess in many things but these past two months important legislation has been approved to protect the working classes, after a decade of destruction of our rights. 

I hope the same happens to the UK. Most labour revolutions happened there!!!!!

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10 hours ago, Kim said:

A few weeks back when Italy had those big numbers it was all we heard, about what a huge catastrophe it was - the minute Britain hit those numbers (and beyond)...nothing.

The day after the UK recorded the highest death toll in Europe, the govt stopped publishing the daily international comparison numbers and everyone was told to not 'politicise' the pandemic and that any inquiry will have to wait till it's all over.

 

I've noticed that too :rotfl:

Pathetic

I was like WTF

 

As @Raider of the lost Ark was saying in the Corona thread the BBC in particular has gone into overdrive trying to minimise other European countries successes in the fight against the pandemic

What is even more striking is that they are talking about a phased reopening of schools in a week time when there is so much internal and external divide on this particular issue, especially considering five and six year old have no understanding of social distancing etc, and talking about a phase 2 or phase 3 when in fact not only the UK was the last European countries of the big ones to introduce a lockdown (losing a good three weeks edge on countries like Italy where the infection struck earlier and quite strongly) but also that it was never a proper lockdown to begin with, unlike in Italy, Spain and France or even Germany

Parks open, masks not made mandatory from the start, laughably loss of smell and taste symptoms being added to the official list last week when it's been on the WHO list for the past three months

And as for the comparison with Denmark and their reopening of schools, what a joke, Denmark is way smaller than the UK, structurally very different and it's probably run in a much more orderly way than the UK, no one rule for thee and one for me bullshit

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19 hours ago, Kim said:

Anyway, Bozo, in the most excruciating press conference, has just put his full support behind Cummings in a very risky move. Even the most compliant of British sheep aren't all that happy to see that while they've been holed up for weeks following the rules, the ones making said rules have been flouting them with no consequences. 

 

Agreed

This story is not going to go away and it is certainly not going to go down well with most of the papers, BBC or not, but most of all with the public and anyone who's made an effort to stay put and cooped up and it's probably going to lose their job or at the very least face hardships in the near future

The sad excuse of his four year old son is utterly insulting and pitiful, there are people who haven't been able to say goodbye to their parents or grandparents or care for their children, normal people (just like in Italy where you couldn't celebrate funerals) who certainly don't have Dominic Cummings resources yet they would have never dared to drive out of London for 260 miles

I think if this government that's barely five months into its legislative run doesn't disown Cummings asap it will massively hinder its popularity with part of the electorate even pro Brexit that has put their trust in them

If the UK standing in Brussels talk about a deal were already fragile now it's hanging on a very thin thread

Trying to get a US deal with the other 🤡 will soon be top of the agenda, Johnson is already committing to reviewing China's involvement in the British 5G infrastructure development (yet another clumsy U-turn), knowing that Trump opposed to the entire project from the start, so fucking transparent

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19 hours ago, Kim said:

Bozo can't exactly fire his own boss, especially one that has about 10 yrs of dirt on him and the rest of the Tory scum running the country.

 

I wonder what he's got on Johnson to make him so protective of him in spite of the press and public reactions. The way he handled reporters outside his London home alone ...

So arrogant, "I don't have to explain anything, hey, you're not staying two meters apart"  :rolleyes:

I fucking can't, honestly this type of behaviour of people not resigning in the evidence of wrongdoing is more characteristic of an Italian parliament member, I would never have thought to see British politics in this dire, disjointed and pitiful state

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11 hours ago, Kim said:

Anyway god bless the civil servant who (really!) tweeted this nugget just after Bozo's speech.... before it was quickly deleted...

 

EYzGoDvWoAE2yJv?format=jpg&name=medium

 

 

Brilliant!!

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13 hours ago, GOD said:

I pray to San Kylie Minogue up in the skies to save the UK from this mess and find a cure to the corona 🙏🏼 

 

Have you got a case of the @Jitterbug  ?

:laugh:

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Sturgeon's BBC Interview this morning

 

I say this with a very heavy heart - I really do fear that Boris Johnson has decided to put political interest ahead of the public interest

 

The consequences of that are potentially very serious. Trust in public health messaging is very important, and arguably as we go into the phases where we start to lift lockdown that becomes even more important because we rely less on the letter of the law and much more on guidance and appealing to people’s good judgement

 

 

Word

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16 hours ago, karbatal said:

I know it's silly but for so many years, in my teens and my twenties, I saw the UK as some kind if light of hope. These past 5 years my perception has changed so much. 

I still hope that somehow a new generation of politicians arrives and change some things. Sometimes it only takes new leaders to change things. In Spain we have a big mess in many things but these past two months important legislation has been approved to protect the working classes, after a decade of destruction of our rights. 

I hope the same happens to the UK. Most labour revolutions happened there!!!!!

Well as someone who's lived through 7 prime ministers so far, i'll hazard a guess that you formed that opinion during the reign of  'New Labour'? ....and all the associated fake nonsense of 'cool britannia' etc as the country pretended to shake off the stink of Thatcher, but it's no surprise that she herself said she considered Tony Blair her "greatest achievement"...

Blair had a huge majority - the opportunity to make major changes to the country and the institutions that run it, instead he split Labour in two as he dragged it to the right, killed the party completely in Scotland, paved the way for slippery Cameron and his eurosceptic acolytes and now this current freakshow of unaccountable clowns...
...and seeing as Bozo's polling numbers were at an all time high last time I looked, I guess England is quite happy with its choice, so...

 

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