REGISTER: Hear how PetroTal (PTAL) is increasing oil & gas production in Peru. Find out more at the focusIR Feb Investor Webinar. Sign up here.
Dear friends,
ReconAfrica, a Canadian oil and gas company tried to silence me with a bribe and a job offer.
But my people are tired of corruption, and we will not remain silent as this oil giant threatens us, our rights and pushes wildlife closer to extinction.
I'm Thomas Muronga, Chair of the Kapinga Kamwalye Community Conservancy.
In our ancestral home, we've safeguarded iconic species like lions and giraffes, but Africa's elephants, once 26 million strong, have dwindled to under 450,000. The largest remaining elephant herd in Africa, a mere 130,000, that call the Okavango home, teeters on the brink, threatened by ReconAfrica. Can you imagine them no longer existing?
In June 2022, we joined the Economic and Social Justice Trust, an advocacy group fighting corruption and advocating for rights in Namibia, in a massive appeal against Minister Pohamba Shifeta's approval of ReconAfrica's exploitative activities, despite its blatant violations of rights and laws.
But after two years, we still have NO ruling. Meanwhile ReconAfrica can continue to pillage and disembowel our land and our livelihoods -- completely unchecked.
Join our global call NOW to tell Minister Pohamba Shifeta to stop delaying a decision and save the Okavango Delta! For its people, my people and its magnificent wildlife
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/okavango_loc/
GB News are currently facing 13 investigations relating to allegations of fairness and impartiality by media regulator Ofcom. But these investigations don’t seem to be making them change their ways. It’s time to clamp down hard on GB News and revoke their licence to broadcast.
This is isn't about censorship, it's about making sure our news stays impartial.
We don't have to agree with everything GB News does or says, but we should expect all news outlets to follow the rules. Ofcom needs to hold all channels to a high standard and punish those that break the rules.
https://tinyurl.com/5emrv4b3
Right now, the Conservatives are consumed with in-fighting between different sections of the party, and we can’t let Liz Truss and her cronies win. They want to cut inheritance tax, a move which only benefits the wealthiest 4% of the population. [6] Our investigation with a leading think tank found that scrapping this tax could bleed the Treasury dry to the tune of £30bn by 2028. [7]
That's not just a number. If it went ahead, it's a slap in the face to every nurse and doctor running from patient to patient, coming home and collapsing with exhaustion. It’s a sign of disrespect to everyone who has been waiting for a hip operation which will change their life. That money is enough to fund 17 million cancer treatments a year. [8]
So will you tell Jeremy Hunt not to bend to the will of the mega wealthy and say no to tax cuts for the richest 4%? It only takes 30 seconds…
Have a look at this:
https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/no-more-tax-cuts
Use the link below to join me and add your name today:
https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/no-more-tax-cuts
Water companies have spent the past few years dumping BILLIONS OF LITRES of raw sewage into our rivers, seas and streams. So far, consumers like us have been footing the bill for the incompetence and mismanagement of water bosses, while they get to enjoy bonuses, dividends and profits. Given their behaviour, banning bonuses doesn’t go far enough. The next Government should fine water companies in shares, not just their bonuses and profits.
https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/fine-or-renationalise-water-companies-petition
BBC News: Joe Lycett investigates sewage network in new show
Channel 4: Joe Lycett vs Sewage
[2] The Guardian: Thames Water pumped at least 72bn litres of sewage into Thames since 2020
Sky News: Water bosses have received £25m in bonuses since last election, Labour says
The Financial Times: UK water company dividends jump to £1.4bn despite criticism over sewage outflows
Sky News: From privatisation to profits: Pressure on 'rip off' water industry unlikely to go away any time soon
[3] POLITICO: Rishi Sunak confirms loosening of key green pledge
BBC News: Keir Starmer defends Labour U-turn on £28bn green spending
[4] The Mirror: Water company bosses told to 'swim in the mess you've made' after pollution warnings
[5] 38 Degrees: Where’s my poo
38 Degrees: Why we inflated a giant poo emoji outside The Houses of Parliament
[6] Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Government cracks down on bonuses for water company bosses
The Guardian: Labour to urge MPs to ban bonuses for water firm bosses over sewage dumping
On 16 November 2023, a missile struck about 1,000 metres from the centre’s fence. One of the tigers, Tygriulia, experienced such a shock that she threw herself against the enclosure wall. She couldn’t stay on her feet for a few days afterwards and had heavy bruises. This situation required intensive veterinary care.
Due to the ongoing warfare, most of the big cats suffered from contusions and digestive problems prior to arriving at the centre—the results of nearby explosions and eating spoiled food due to lack of feed supply. Many had been left behind by their owners.
Sadly, in Ukraine, there is rampant, unregulated breeding of big cats for private owners and the exotic pet trade, which only exacerbates the issue of overfilled shelters. Experts estimate there are still dozens more lions in private homes within the country, and many continue to be abandoned or surrendered as the conflict forces evacuations.
These cats can’t be released back to the wild, as they were raised to be dependent on humans for their daily care—many since they were only a few weeks old. As cats learn the skills necessary to survive in the wild from their mothers, it’s near impossible to ensure they will be able to live outside of captivity.
http://tinyurl.com/2zxyh2bb
Source Thee Kings Fund 18 December 2023
Agency and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
Policy, finance and performance or the NHS in a nutshell!
How has spending on the NHS changed over time?
The vast majority of public1 NHS funding comes from general taxation and National Insurance contributions (NIC's).
A small proportion of funding (1.0 per cent of the total Department of Health and Social Care budget in 2021/22) comes from patient charges for services such as prescriptions and dental treatment.
This excludes private income NHS public providers can earn, and Department of Health and Social Care spending on non-NHS providers.
What is the NHS budget?
Public funding for health services in England comes from the Department of Health and Social Care’s budget. The Department’s spending in 2022/23 was £181.7 billion. The vast majority of this spending (94.6 per cent, or £171.8 billion) was on day-to-day items such as staff salaries and medicines. The remainder was largely capital expenditure on long-term fixed assets such as new buildings or equipment.
Of the day-to-day spending, most (£155.1 billion in 2022/23) was allocated to NHS England for spending on health services. The remainder was allocated to central budgets of the Department of Health and Social Care and its other arms-length bodies such as the UK Health Security Agency and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
Policy, finance and performance or the NHS in a nutshell
Source Thee Kings Fund 18 December 2023
How has spending on the NHS changed over time?
Since 1955/56, spending on the NHS has increased by an average of 3.6 per cent per year in real terms, but this masks substantial variation over time. As most spending on health is allocated from central government, it depends on the decisions made by the government of the day.
Looking more recently, since the Conservative party has been in power (2015/16), spending has increased by 2.8 per cent a year on average in real terms. But it is important to remember that this masks more substantial annual increases or decreases caused by additional investment during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government’s most recent budget included planned spending to 2024/25. Between 2022/23 and 2024/25, spending on health and social care is projected to increase by an average of 0.1 per cent a year in real terms.
Where does the money go?
In 2021/22, the largest area of day-to-day spending was on staff costs, equating to 40 per cent of expenditure. Other areas of significant spending include primary care (general practice, dentistry, etc), procurement (supplies and services to deliver health care) and non-NHS health care (independent, local authority or voluntary sector providers
One in 20 patients has to wait at least four weeks to see a GP at a time when funding for family doctor services is falling, NHS figures show
.https://rb.gy/bin7fi
Many of these assignment writing websites are using poorly paid and inadequately experienced or unqualified writers from countries like the Philippines in order to undercut recognised UK NUJ writing rates.
https://www.londonfreelance.org/rates/index.php
Some of those who use these site are hoping to get a degree or other qualification without putting in the required commitment and hard work by instead paying one of the many slickly marketed and unregulated writing services that keep most of the fees paid and then pays its writers far less than the recognised freelance writers rates to do most of the work .
https://essayscam.org/forum/gt/help-threatened-legit-writing-company-84/
Presumably most people who are trying to obtain a degree would prefer to do so by fair means and once qualified wouldn't expect to paid less than he appropriate salary for doing the job?
In which case they should consider how then do fully qualified and experienced writers feel to have their pay rates undermined by scrupulous incasement writing companies?
While taxes are rising for people like you and me, it's never been easier for the rich and powerful to avoid them. In just the last few days, it’s been revealed HMRC hasn't charged a single company over tax evasion, despite new laws, while Overseas Territories aren’t reporting firms using them as tax havens, and just yesterday it was revealed two thirds of the the UK's richest earners paid less tax in 2023 than in the year before. [
Billionaires are being let off the hook through legal tax avoidance schemes, and getting richer and richer, while we make up the difference. It’s just not right. Whilst our schools and hospitals fall apart, HMRC has chosen to go after… ordinary people making a little extra money selling their clothes online. [3] And the Government are even talking about more tax breaks, which will benefit the wealthy. [4]
Enough is enough. It’s time we shut these schemes down the Government wants a boost before the election, and polls show the public would prefer services to have better funding over yet more tax breaks. This is our chance to pressure Jeremy Hunt to shut down legal tax avoidance schemes, so we have more money for our NHS and public services.
while taxes are rising for people like you and me, it's never been easier for the rich and powerful to avoid them. [1] In just the last few days, it’s been revealed HMRC hasn't charged a single company over tax evasion, despite new laws, while Overseas Territories aren’t reporting firms using them as tax havens, and just yesterday it was revealed two thirds of the the UK's richest earners paid less tax in 2023 than in the year before.
https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/hmrc-tax-advoidance-petition
If it's not bad enough that Avanti West Coast makes passengers pay for the worst train service in the UK!
Leaked slides from an internal Avanti West Coast presentation, whose services are notorious for disruption, delays, short-notice cancellations and overcrowding, show senior management at the operator calling taxpayer money “too good to be true”.
https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/avanti-bonuses?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blast44138
Got bailiffs knocking at your doors?
Just hide your money, all offshore!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvtSomaXKE8
Https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001gn7t/the-boy-the-mole-the-fox-and-the-horse
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001gn7t
We went into the shelter for two and left with five pups | The Asher House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu1LOMX9h1Y
Who stole all my oranges?
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&q=Who+stole+all+my+oranges%3F
Who broke into the feed shed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeeUzUwKy2w
‘Smarter’ people were more likely to have voted to remain in the European Union, a new study has claimed.
Research from the University of Bath’s School of Management found that cognitive skills including memory, verbal fluency, fluid reasoning and numerical reasoning, were correlated with how people decided to vote.
The research used a nationally representative sample of 6,366 individuals from 3,183 couples collected as part of a large survey called Understanding Society.
They found that, of the people with the lowest cognitive ability, only 40% voted Remain, whereas 73% of those with the highest cognitive ability voted Remain.
“This study adds to existing academic evidence showing that low cognitive ability makes people more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation,” lead author Dr Chris Dawson said.
He added that certain evidence provided to the public by the pro-leave campaign leading up to the referendum was “contradictory, false and often fraudulent”, and that “people with lower cognitive ability and analytical thinking skills find it harder to detect and discount this type of information”.
“Low cognitive ability can lead to decision errors and many Leave voters are now saying they regret their choice,” co-author of the study, Dr Paul Baker said.
“The study highlights how the rise in misinformation and disinformation, and people’s inability to counter this information, is undermining the democratic process and can be used to influence democratic outcomes.’”
The study looked at couples living in the same household to equalise people’s experiences, as well as controlling for demographic information such as political beliefs, education level, income and newspaper readership.
It found that having a high cognitive ability partner increased the likelihood of voting remain, and that the person with the highest cognitive ability in the couple was more likely to vote Remain.
The researchers did however emphasise that it is important to understand that findings are based on average differences between large groups of voters.
“Depending on which side of the debate you fall, reading this may fill you with anger or joy. However, both these emotions are an error of judgement,” said Dr Dawson.
Approximately 36% of leave voters were determined to have a higher cognitive ability than the average remain voter, the study also found.
He said: “It is important to understand that our findings are based on average differences: there exists a huge amount of overlap between the distributions of Remain and Leave cognitive abilities. “
https://tinyurl.com/mwdmekkh
https://tinyurl.com/mwdmekkh
Britain’s trade has been hit significantly by its departure from the single market. Trade in goods with the EU fell sharply after the Brexit transition period ended, with UK imports from the EU dropping by approximately 25 per cent more than UK imports from the rest of the world, a trend which persisted throughout 2021. A recent revision to the official trade data (marked as “EU adjusted” in the chart below) has shown a slight uplift in imports compared to previous data, but the EU imports are still shown to have underperformed the non-EU ones.
https://institute.global/policy/three-years-brexit-casts-long-shadow-over-uk-economy
The UK economy will shrink and perform worse than other advanced economies, including Russia, as the cost of living continues to hit households, the International Monetary Fund has said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64452995
Much speculation has taken place in the past five years around the impact of Brexit on the EU and UK economies,
https://www.gerhardschnyder.com/brexit-impact-tracker
Britain’s trade has been hit significantly by its departure from the single market. Trade in goods with the EU fell sharply after the Brexit transition period ended, with UK imports from the EU dropping by approximately 25 per cent more than UK imports from the rest of the world, a trend which persisted throughout 2021. A recent revision to the official trade data (marked as “EU adjusted” in the chart below) has shown a slight uplift in imports compared to previous data, but the EU imports are still shown to have underperformed the non-EU ones.
https://institute.global/policy/three-years-brexit-casts-long-shadow-over-uk-economy
The UK economy will shrink and perform worse than other advanced economies, including Russia, as the cost of living continues to hit households, the International Monetary Fund has said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64452995
Much speculation has taken place in the past five years around the impact of Brexit on the EU and UK economies,
https://www.gerhardschnyder.com/brexit-impact-tracker
All of England’s rivers have failed quality tests for pollution, and the River Thames has some of the highest levels of microplastics of all rivers on the planet.
Our great rivers are dying, and that means we are too!
But it's not just in the UK, rivers are dying all over the world. Experts say that unless we act now, two-thirds of the world’s population could face safe water shortages in the next 2 years. It will affect billions of us! We need urgent global action to turn this around -- and right now, we have a chance to get it!
Countries are about to gather for the first UN Water Conference in almost 50 years to consider bold plans to restore the world's dying rivers and secure water as a fundamental human right. Insiders say that with enough public pressure, we could win unprecedented protections for rivers and the water they carry. But laggard governments and big corporations will fight back to derail action!
So let's build a massive groundswell of public support for Earth's water and deliver the voices of people everywhere in deafening flood to save our precious lakes, rivers, and freshwater ecosystems while we still can!
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/stop_war_on_water_uk_12/?crtqjhb
London, Friday 17th February 2023NatWest has today announced that its profits for 2022 were £5.1 billion. The results are accompanied by news that NatWest has raised its bonus pool for employees to £367 million, following the government’s removal of the cap on bankers’ bonuses late last year. This, coupled with the source of these profits being largely due to interest rate rises from the Bank of England, has renewed calls from Positive Money for a windfall tax on banks’ excess profits. They are directing supporters to a petition, calling for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to introduce this tax, with more bumper profits and bonuses likely to be announced by HSBC and Lloyd’s Bank next week.Fran Boait, executive director at Positive Money, commented: “NatWest is using bumper profits to deepen its bonus pool, not to support the public, who bailed it out just 15 years ago, and who are now footing the bill of the higher interest rates boosting those very same profits. “It is completely unjust that bankers who create only more wealth for the already-rich get pay boosts whilst those who educate, transport and care for the public are forced onto picket lines for fair wages.“Clearly the government was reckless in its decision to remove the cap on bankers’ bonuses, which needs to be reinstated, and should tax these unmerited profits in order to provide struggling communities with financial support.”https://positivemoney.org/2023/02/natwest-2022-profits-positive-money-response/?link_id=5&can_id=7912b55e72d6174409e36b7a8226a78d&source=email-lets-bring-in-a-windfall-tax-on-banks-2&email_referrer=email_1820280___subject_2324388&email_subject=lets-bring-in-a-windfall-tax-on-banks
The Tory Brexiteers are now in the "Last Chance saloon", they really have shafted the UK!
https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,boris-johnson-says-uk-government-was-wrong-to-offer-brexit-without-plan-for-how-leave-vote-would-work_12003.htm
Trump Republicans clearly underperformed, and in Britain, public regret over Brexit—or “Bregret”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/britain-brexit-regret-polling-populism/672467/
We have Dominic Cummings to thank for Boris Johnson's original “get Brexit done” campaign that won him the election. However, during an interview with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Cummings admitted that Brexit could have been “a mistake”.
https://www.joe.co.uk/politics/brexit-may-have-been-a-mistake-admits-dominic-cummings-281538
Guy Hands has said that Rishi Sunak must admit that the Brexit campaign was full of lies, if the party wants his support again.
https://leftfootforward.org/2022/11/billionaire-tory-donor-tells-rishi-sunak-to-admit-that-the-public-were-lied-to-over-brexit/
When the UK left the EU, it still had some financial commitments to the bloc, which were estimated to come to around £32.9 billion. On Thursday, a statement from the government admitted that the figure is now £42.5 billion – an increase of almost £10 billion.
The announcement was made very quietly, after the start of parliament’s recess, cunningly avoiding coming under fire from opposition MPs – or even Tory bankbenchers, such as Theresa May.
https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2022/07/22/brexit-divorce-bill-another-10-billion/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62263972
"This Conservative government's terrible deal, backed by [Conservative leadership contenders] Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, is costing British taxpayers billions of pounds," Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran said.
"This is the price of years of Conservative chaos and neglect."
It's hard to understand how anyone could believe that NATO/US pushed Russia into invading Ukraine, but then Boris and Farage fooled the gullible and ill informed that Brexit was an oven ready deal which would bring benefits, although now the truth is ever more apparent by the day!
Putin was losing support at home so he creates a diversion by causing a war and then sets about trying to convince the ordinary Russians that he is protecting them from the evil West.
When leaders lose popularity they often resort to such tactics, rather like Thatcher did to win the the next election in the eighties!
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-falklands-war-180976349/
37 years ago, During the Falklands War did the EU help us NO they were openly sending Weapons to our AGGRESSOR never forget that” – Facebook post, 31 January 2020
This is not true. The EC (the predecessor of the EU) applied an arms embargo and an import ban on Argentina
https://fullfact.org/online/european-community-supported-britain-during-falklands-war/
The war Falklands war cost Britain about £2.8bn (£9.5bn in present value) and the islands’ defence costs upwards of £60m annually. In 2012 it was estimated that British taxpayers paid more than £20,000 per islander for defence alone, and approximately one-third of the population worked for the government. Unlike other former colonies such as Gibraltar, relations with the nearest nation-state are thin. Though living in a technically autonomous British overseas territory, the islanders are wholly dependent on Britain!
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/07/british-sovereignty-falklands-absurd-imperial-hangover-argentina
Brexit some facts
https://fullfact.org/europe/brexit-transition-period-economic-cost-public-opinion/
Russian Invasion of Ukraine the Facts
The war in Ukraine was fomented by disinformation and information warfare will be part of the battle.
https://fullfact.org/blog/2022/feb/ukraine-disinformation/
https://fullfact.org/news/ukraine/
“Russia is destroying biolabs.”
There are biological research labs in Ukraine that partner with the U.S. Department of Defence, but they do not do weapons research; they do disease monitoring. Russia is not bombing those labs. This narrative has been seeded by Russian propaganda outlets over the past two weeks, including the foreign ministry. The Russian state media outlet TASS published documents that they claimed prove NATO and the US were developing biological weapons at labs in Ukraine.
https://www.logically.ai/articles/a-round-up-of-misinformation-narratives-of-the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine
Bad information ruins lives. We’re a team of independent fact checkers and campaigners who find, expose and counter the harm it does.
https://fullfact.org/about/
Track Your Investments
Register for FREE