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Good afternoon. 
It's Wednesday the 29th of 

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October just after 1:00. 
Welcome to UK Call News. 

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I'm your host Mike Robinson and 
my Co host today is Charles 

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Ballot. 
Welcome to the programme, 

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Charles. 
Thank you, Mike. 

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And joining us via Live Link is 
journalist and peace campaigner 

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Vanessa Bailey. 
And later in the programme, I'm 

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going to be covering the latest 
on the regime change operation 

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against Venezuela. 
Charles will be reporting on the

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new digital ID for veterans and 
also on the D prescription of 

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the terrorist organisation 
currently occupying Syria. 

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And Vanessa is going to have the
latest from Lebanon. 

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But we're going to begin with 
Gaza because, well, apparently, 

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surprise surprise, Israel has 
started bombing again. 

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Vanessa. 
Yep, the so called ceasefire 

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didn't really last very long, 
not that we honestly expected it

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to. 
And, and we need to remember 

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this is not Trump's peace scam. 
This is only a ceasefire that 

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we're monitoring at the moment. 
The Israeli forces have 

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withdrawn to what is known as 
the Yellow Line, which is the 

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first step of the withdrawal 
from Gaza. 

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But of course, what are they 
doing? 

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If we have a look at the map of 
Gaza, you can see that they're 

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still occupying something like 
58% of the Gaza Strip. 

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So that means that effectively 
around 2 million of the 

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Palestinian population, although
of course numbers of dead are 

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rising rapidly and there are 
reports of around 500,000 having

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been killed to date. 
You will see that those people 

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are being pushed into an ever 
decreasing area of land. 

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And when we talk about the 
staggered withdrawal, if we look

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at the next map, you can see 
that the yellow line is supposed

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to be the first withdrawal 
point. 

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But you can also see that the 
red dots are the bases or the 

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dig insurance that the Israeli 
forces have already started 

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putting in place there. 
And also worth pointing out that

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the extremist factions that are 
very much affiliated to ISIS, 

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that are being backed by Israel 
and Netanyahu to lead attacks 

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against Hamas inside Gaza are 
being sheltered within that 

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section that is still under the 
control of the Israeli forces. 

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And I have to say in I think 
around 9:00 PM last night, the 

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reports of massive US Israeli 
bombing started coming in. 

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At the same time Trump is 
putting out statements such as 

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this one on the basis of an 
Israeli report that the reason 

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for the bombing is that there 
was an Israeli reservist soldier

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killed by Hamas in the yellow 
zone. 

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So what is Trump saying? 
He's saying Hamas is a very 

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small part of peace in the 
Middle East and they have to 

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behave. 
Not that the Israelis have to 

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behave. 
Of course. 

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If they are good, they're going 
to be happy. 

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If they're not good, they're 
going to be terminated. 

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Their lives will be terminated. 
So again, we see the usual reset

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position of the United States in
support of anything that Israel 

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does, even if it's basically 
continuing the genocide 

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unimpeded. 
Rubio, Marco Rubio came out 

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pretty much with the same thing 
a couple of days ago, Says that 

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Israeli airstrike and Gaza is 
not a violation of the 

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ceasefire. 
Of course, total hypocrisy here.

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And then if we actually have a 
look at what has been happening 

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since 9:00 PM last night, as I 
said, I noted it beginning 

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around 9 PMI woke up multiple 
times during the night and it 

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was still ongoing and it's still
ongoing now. 

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So this is from the 28th to the 
29th of October, massive US, 

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Israel strikes in Gaza, over 100
injured, 46 confirmed deaths. 

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That's now up to around 100 with
the ongoing bombing. 

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Many children, I think up to 20 
children have been killed in 

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these attacks. 
Entire families have been wiped 

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out. 
Very important. 

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This is always part of the 
Israeli genocidal tactic in 

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Gaza. 
Targeted densely populated 

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areas, tent camps sheltering 
internally displaced civilians 

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and children. 
More apartment blocks were 

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destroyed, killing anyone still 
inside. 

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And strikes across central Gaza 
are still ongoing as I'm 

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speaking now. 
Now, among the victims, I'm not 

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going to show many of the awful 
videos that are, as always, 

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coming out of Gaza, but just to 
put some human face on the 

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massacre that Israel is 
perpetrating still both in West 

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Bank and in Gaza. 
These are the twins, Sham and 

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Yahya, I mean Abu Dhal. 
And in fact, they're entire 

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family were wiped out. 
Their parents and the rest of 

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their family were wiped out in 
one strike. 

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And yet again, another 
journalist was also murdered in 

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the latest strikes. 
This is journalist Mohammed al 

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Manirawi who worked for 
Palestine News. 

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He and his wife and members of 
his family were killed in one 

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strike. 
Now, very recently, Peter Oborn,

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who's a British journalist, who 
in my opinion was one of the few

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that did a decent job alongside 
Robert Fisk in in his Syria 

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reporting during the regime 
change war that began in 2011, 

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particularly when he went to 
Aleppo, when really Western 

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media was running a criminal 
campaign to demonise President 

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Assad and the Syrian Army. 
Peter Oborn went to Aleppo and 

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came back and was heavily 
smeared actually for his 

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reporting on what was really 
happening in Aleppo. 

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He's now published a book called
Complicit. 

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You will find the link to that 
in the show notes in which he 

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accuses the British government 
of being complicit with 

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genocide. 
And this is an interview on 

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Channel 4 with the former 
ambassador to Yemen, although, 

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as he points out, he was based 
in Saudi Arabia that was bombing

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Yemen. 
He wasn't actually in Yemen. 

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Edmund Fitton Brown, and this is
Peter Oborn, basically taking 

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the British government to task 
for their involvement in 

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genocide both in Yemen and in 
Gaza. 

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And please listen to Fit and 
Brown's response to it. 

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And when you were ambassador, I 
dare say you were in Riyadh, no.

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I was in Jeddah. 
Jeddah. 

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I saw a humanitarian catastrophe
visited on Yemen by a gay 

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British backed bombing. 
I saw the bombing of hospitals, 

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I saw the slaughter of 
civilians. 

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There you are in Jeddah and I 
and I also because I'm in a part

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of an investigative journalist, 
I learned of the deep concern 

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inside the Foreign Office then 
as now that the Britain was 

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party to war crimes. 
What is your You have a record 

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here of supporting the mass 
slaughter of Arabs and you did 

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this in Yemen as British. 
I'm sorry, it's a very serious 

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matter. 
It isn't something you should 

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laugh about. 
No, it's a laugh of accusation. 

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It is the slaughter of of Arabs 
in the Yemen and now the 

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slaughter of Arabs in Gaza. 
These are these are two. 

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You have defended British 
government policies in each case

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reduce of and I I find it very 
troubling and morally wrong and 

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morally atrocious and deeply 
shaming for our country that we 

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should support that, that that 
kind of hand, that kind of 

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contact. 
I I highly recommend watching 

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the whole interview. 
I have to say that Fred and 

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Brown represents the really 
unpleasant face of British 

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orientalism and neo colonialism 
throughout the entire interview.

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But I just wanted to play one 
last excerpt from the interview 

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where basically Fit and Brown as
supporting the concept or the 

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narrative that Iran is the next 
enemy for the UK. 

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So let's just play this one. 
Second, as well, the Houthis are

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obstructing commerce in the Red 
Sea. 

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Iran has been a consistent enemy
of the United Kingdom, has been 

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conspiring to murder a British 
author over decades, and has 

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been trying to kill people on 
the streets of the United 

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Kingdom. 
The Israelis provide preventive 

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intelligence that has enabled us
to stop some of those plots from

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going. 
Ahead, I would simply say here, 

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the Israelis also carried out a 
number of illegal 

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assassinations. 
The attack on Iran, which they 

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brought the United States in, 
was illegal. 

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There haven't been proper 
propagation from Iraq. 

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I mean, this is just 
extraordinary. 

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I mean, Iran threatening to kill
people on British streets. 

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Mike, wondering what your 
comment is on that? 

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Well, yes, I think we'll talk 
about that more an extra. 

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I just wanted to ask you one, 
one question, Vanessa, and that 

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was, you know, you talked about 
US and Israel strikes, what is 

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the United States role and 
what's happening today and 

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yesterday? 
Well, I mean, they're supplying 

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the bombs. 
Sorry. 

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I think really they're, they're,
you know, they're, they're 

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probably the most complicit in 
this. 

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But of course the UK is 
providing the surveillance. 

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So between them, they are 
leading this campaign against 

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the Palestinians. 
Yeah, OK. 

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Any comments? 
Well, I think, well I've saved 

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for extra, but there's there is 
a lot to say about it Vanessa, I

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think. 
Yeah, Yeah. 

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OK. 
OK. 

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Well, look, let's move on to 
Venezuela then. 

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And well, in recent weeks, the 
United States has been making 

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clear that it intends to launch 
a new regime change operation in

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Venezuela. 
So if we just put the map on 

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screen here, you'll just to make
sure everybody knows where it 

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is. 
Now I appreciate Vanessa covered

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some of this last week, but I 
think it's worth just having a 

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look again at what's been going 
on over the last several weeks 

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because earlier this month the 
United States began bombing 

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boats claimed to be involved in 
Venezuelan drug running. 

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Now the sixth attack as was 
being reported in US and I News 

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talks about drug smuggling semi 
submersible. 

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And for the first time since 
these operations began, the US 

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Navy said at that time that it 
had captured 2 survivors out of 

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four people who were said to be 
on board that that Reuters 

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claimed the exclusive here on 
the survivors story. 

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And then subsequently one of the
survivors was apparently 

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released. 
We'll come onto that a little 

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bit later. 
Then the flights of B50 twos 

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over the Caribbean began on 
Wednesday, October the 15th in 

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what was clearly a big show 
intended to panic Venezuelans. 

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The Pentagon released a bunch of
photographs for propaganda 

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purposes. 
And this opportunity was grasped

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by with both hands by the likes 
of armyrecognition.com that we 

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just saw a second ago on screen.
And they said the Pentagon said 

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AUS Air Force B52H Strata 
Fortress bomber, the side of the

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second Bomb wing integrates with
two US Marine Corps F35B 

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Lightning 2 aircraft in the US 
Southern Command area of 

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responsibility on October the 
15th, 2025. 

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So that was one of the picture 
captions. 

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And then each of the picture 
captions included a statement 

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saying bomber attack 
demonstrations contributed to 

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the collective defence of the 
Western Hemisphere and 

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demonstrated the US commitment 
to the safety and security of 

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the region. 
So that should make everybody 

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here in Britain and Europe and 
in the United States feel a lot 

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better. 
But here in Britain, we weren't 

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immune from the propaganda for 
regime change as highlighted 

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here in the Daily Mail. 
And you know, this was Trump 

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deploys secretive night stalkers
regiment as Venezuela mobilises 

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millions of troops fearing 
raising fears of all out war was

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was their propaganda take. 
And then Trump announced on his 

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truth Social account 10 days ago
that his interest isn't just 

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Venezuela, it's also Colombia. 
Because of course, the narrative

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about this is that it's all 
about drugs and narco states. 

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And this is really the reinsert 
the resurgence of the war on 

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drugs narrative and so on as an 
excuse for regime change. 

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Meanwhile, on the 17th of 
October, NPR here reporting that

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Senator Tim Kaine was planning 
to force a second vote. 

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There'd been an attempt to get a
first vote in the Senate under 

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the War Powers Act to block 
Trump from attacking Venezuela. 

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The previous week, he and Adam 
Schiff had forced a Senate vote 

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to limit Trump's war powers, and
that vote failed by 48 votes to 

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51. 
And two Republicans took part 

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in. 
That was mostly a Democrat 

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thing, but two Republicans took 
part. 

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That was Rand Paul and Senator 
Lisa Murkowski. 

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So they were supporting that 
idea. 

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For the second vote, Kane was 
joined by Rand Paul as Co 

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sponsor. 
And Rand Paul said the American 

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people do not want to be dragged
into endless war with Venezuela 

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without public debate or vote. 
We ought to defend what the 

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Constitution demands, 
deliberation before war. 

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And then a few days later, Adam 
Smith, Representative Adam 

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Smith, who's the top Democrat in
the House Armed Services 

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Committee, he called for 
hearings on the Trump regime's 

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bombing of these so called drug 
trafficking boats off the coast 

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of Venezuela. 
So the political imaginations 

231
00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:57,080
continue, quite ineffectually so
far. military.com published an 

232
00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,800
article on the 20th which says 
while the Venezuelan military 

233
00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,800
couldn't match the United States
military and firepower, it's 

234
00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:09,160
still a major threat with 21 
Russian made Sukhoi 30 at mark 2

235
00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:14,240
jet fighters delivered in 2008 
and 2009 and armed with KH31 

236
00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,840
anti ship missiles. 
And they also talk about the 

237
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,680
Venezuelan military having 
positioned older, older air 

238
00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:25,040
defence systems. 
But these could still present 

239
00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,240
problems for low flying 
aircraft, especially 

240
00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,480
helicopters. 
Now since then they've been 

241
00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,680
further repeated overflights by 
the US bombers as the 

242
00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,040
psychological war continues. 
So this is UK Defence Journal 

243
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:39,600
talking about this a few days 
ago. 

244
00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:44,240
And Trump says, though, that he 
will not be going to Congress to

245
00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,320
seek authorization for his 
military campaign. 

246
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,320
I don't think we're going to 
necessarily ask for a 

247
00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,520
declaration of war, he said, 
according to the New York Times.

248
00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:54,040
Here. 
I think we're going to kill 

249
00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:56,560
people that are bringing drugs 
into our country, OK? 

250
00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,080
We're going to kill them. 
You know, they're going to be 

251
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:04,240
like, dead. 
Lovely, That's a very similar in

252
00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,560
style of narrative to to what 
Vanessa was reporting. 

253
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,920
Reporting a couple of seconds 
ago now, Five days ago, then 

254
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:15,280
Secretary for War Pete Hegseth 
posted this to his ex account 

255
00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,480
saying that overnight, at the 
direction of President Trump, 

256
00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,000
the Department of War carried 
out a lethal kinetic strike on a

257
00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,720
vessel operated by a terrorist 
designated terrorist 

258
00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,960
organisation trafficking 
narcotics in the Caribbean Sea. 

259
00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,560
Six people were killed. 
But he went on to say this, 

260
00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:34,440
which I thought was quite 
hilarious. 

261
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,880
He said if you're a narco 
terrorist smuggling drugs in our

262
00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,440
hemisphere, we'll treat you like
al Qaeda. 

263
00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,400
And Vanessa, I'd be interested 
in your thoughts on that comment

264
00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,840
because this is very interesting
statement for Hexif to make 

265
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,440
since just like al Qaeda, the 
drug cartels have the full 

266
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:54,680
support of successful US regimes
with the CIA being fully engaged

267
00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,960
in the drug running, using drug 
money to fund black operations. 

268
00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:00,640
And this is very similar to 
what's been going on with al 

269
00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:01,920
Qaeda. 
They do, of course, over the 

270
00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:07,520
last number of years. 
Fascinating from from three 

271
00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,280
aspects, really. 
Because they're going to treat 

272
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,360
them like they treat Al Qaeda. 
Does that mean with kid gloves 

273
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,360
and a red carpet and take the 
bounty off their heads and 

274
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:21,280
welcome them back into the fold 
of the international community 

275
00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,080
that is led by the United 
States? 

276
00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,360
If they're going to kill the 
people that are responsible for 

277
00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,200
the drug smuggling, they better 
start back at home with the 

278
00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:37,880
CIAAKA, the cartel of the sons 
that was run by the CIA and is 

279
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,320
now being sort of used to target
Maduro. 

280
00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,200
But also funny how the Captagon 
trade in Syria has increased 

281
00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:48,320
exponentially since Assad left, 
whereas previously, of course, 

282
00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,160
Assad was described as the head 
of a narco state and a drug 

283
00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,320
Lord. 
So, yeah, I mean, you know, this

284
00:16:53,320 --> 00:17:00,080
is, this is an ongoing tragic 
comedy that is produced entirely

285
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,200
by the United States and the 
CIA. 

286
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,160
Absolutely. 
Now the war of words continues, 

287
00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:10,240
with Congress apparently unable 
to do anything to stop events. 

288
00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:14,560
So Rand Paul again, talking 
about extrajudicial killings. 

289
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,480
But it's not really having much 
bite yet. 

290
00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,319
So we'll see whether they can 
actually get any momentum behind

291
00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:23,839
this. 
And now the United States has 

292
00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:27,400
sent an aircraft carrier to the 
region with threats to bomb 

293
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,440
alleged drug cartel targets 
within Venezuela itself, as 

294
00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,440
Vanessa just mentioned. 
Now, as a result of the USS 

295
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,040
Gravely docking at the Port of 
Spain in Trinidad, Venezuela has

296
00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,480
suspended energy agreements that
it had with Trinidad and Tobago 

297
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,720
over what officials have 
described as hostile actions by 

298
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:50,040
Trinidad and Trinidad. 
Not terribly impressed with that

299
00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,600
situation. 
I see that they may feel that 

300
00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:56,280
they're stuck between a rock and
a hard place in the sense that 

301
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,600
they're probably equally 
concerned about what the United 

302
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,520
States is capable of at this 
point. 

303
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,960
But anyway, that we can discuss 
later whether there's any excuse

304
00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,000
for that. 
But then late yesterday, the 

305
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,240
news broke via Associated Press 
that the Trump regime attempted 

306
00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:16,080
to bribe Maderos as the 
Venezuelan president's pilot to 

307
00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,200
fly Maduro to a suitable 
location for the United States 

308
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,520
to arrest him on drug 
trafficking charges. 

309
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,160
And just to quote the article 
here, it says the untold saga of

310
00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,680
how the agent tried to flip the 
pilot as all the elements of a 

311
00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,840
Cold War spy thriller. 
Luxury private jets, a secret 

312
00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,600
meeting at an airport hangar, 
high stakes diplomacy and the 

313
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,080
delicate wing of a key Maduro 
Lieutenant. 

314
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,320
There was even a final act of 
intrigue aimed at rattling the 

315
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,720
Venezuelan president about the 
pilot's true loyalties. 

316
00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:48,760
So the question is, why is this 
happening? 

317
00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:53,040
Well, Afshin Ratanzi offers a 
suggestion in this post on X. 

318
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,600
Now let's just have a look at a 
video he attached to this post 

319
00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,320
on X. 
It's a comment from former U.S. 

320
00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:08,160
ambassador James Story. 
This is a very bad actor, 

321
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:13,120
sitting on top of the world's 
largest known reserves of oil, 

322
00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,960
plus the critical minerals that 
will fuel the 21st century 

323
00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,400
economy, and he's in bed with 
our strategic competitors. 

324
00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:27,120
So that seems to be the position
of the United States anyway, and

325
00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:29,840
perhaps we're getting a bit 
closer to the truth there. 

326
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,200
Now. 
Tomorrow at 1:00 PM, I'm going 

327
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,880
to be speaking to Jose Bimorgi. 
Bimorgi, sorry, who is the 

328
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,520
Venezuelan ambassador to Lebanon
and Syria, and we're going to be

329
00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,320
talking about US actions against
Venezuela. 

330
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:49,000
And he certainly has quite a bit
more to say on why that 

331
00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:50,600
particular action is being 
taken. 

332
00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,800
But clearly regime change is 
what it's all about. 

333
00:19:53,800 --> 00:20:00,200
And perhaps Vanessa, just very 
briefly, perhaps oil, rare 

334
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,160
earths and other raw materials 
may be part of it, but perhaps 

335
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,840
the fact that Chavez and Maduro.
Are not supporting the drugs 

336
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,600
trade in the way that previous 
Venezuelan governments did. 

337
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:18,800
It may be part of it as well. 
Yeah, and also Colombia's 

338
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,200
President Christophe Petro, who 
who has made a statement that he

339
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,160
would support Venezuelan 
militarily if if the US does 

340
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:29,040
invade or declare war. 
But also it's Venezuela's 

341
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,280
connection to the resistance 
axis, to Iran, to Hezbollah, 

342
00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:37,560
formerly to Syria, as you 
mentioned, Yemen and Iraq. 

343
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,920
That's also another important 
reason for any kind of 

344
00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:47,160
destabilisation of Venezuela. 
Yes, thank you, Charles. 

345
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,040
Yeah, well, I was just thinking,
Hegseth. 

346
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,840
I mean, peace through strength 
seems to be sort of last week's 

347
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:54,760
news, doesn't it? 
Absolutely. 

348
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,080
Yeah. 
But yeah, let's move on to 

349
00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,720
digital ID for veterans. 
Inevitably, yes, veterans, of 

350
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,480
course, there are 2.2 million of
them in the country. 

351
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,480
So we believe, and the Ministry 
of Defence has finally announced

352
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,840
that they are going to make the 
veterans ID card a digital one 

353
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,520
which they've inevitably put out
on X. 

354
00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:18,600
And specifically the text says 
that veterans can now prove 

355
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,800
their status and access benefits
at the touch of I'm sorry, I've 

356
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,840
let's get back one, prove their 
status and access benefits at 

357
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,200
the touch of a button. 
A modern way to honour service 

358
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:33,440
and deliver real support. 
I mean, that is quite the 

359
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,400
stretch, but perhaps not so much
of A stretch as using Yemen 

360
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,960
warders at the Tower of London 
to try and make it look 

361
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,320
exciting. 
It is perfectly extraordinary 

362
00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,400
the way in which this is being 
marketed, but nonetheless, 

363
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:48,840
that's the way they've pushed on
with it. 

364
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,600
Specific iron there, of course, 
because the Tower of London is 

365
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:55,400
known to the public at least for
its ceremony of the keys with 

366
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,520
the use of a physical key. 
But still they appear to be 

367
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,480
trying to appeal to the older 
generation, perhaps by using the

368
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,040
Yemen warders or indeed 
tourists, but we'll see which 

369
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,480
way this goes. 
Now the Office for Veterans 

370
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,120
Affairs has got in on the ACT 
and this is how they are 

371
00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:15,360
plugging it. 
The Tower of London has 1000 

372
00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:18,280
years of history but today is 
about modernising government and

373
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,760
bring it right up to date by the
launch of the Digital Veterans 

374
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,720
Card. 
The purpose of the Veterans Card

375
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,600
is selling veterans to access 
charitable services, government 

376
00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,400
services, but also discounts 
that available to veterans and 

377
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,720
by digitising that they can 
prove they are a veteran, they 

378
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,520
can prove who they are and they 
can access those services much 

379
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,480
more seamlessly and 
straightforward just from the 

380
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:36,920
smartphone. 
If you're permanently called for

381
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,080
using a smartphone and you've 
got that physical card as well, 

382
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,560
then I would really urge people 
to get it downloaded for me. 

383
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,720
I've got banking through my 
phone, I've got my Veterans Rail

384
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,080
card is on my phone as well. 
And so this just really 

385
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,040
complements those, which is this
fantastic step in the progress 

386
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:52,920
that we're making to modernise 
how veterans can access 

387
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:54,840
services. 
I'm looking forward to all the 

388
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:56,560
discounts that are going to be 
available to us. 

389
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:57,720
So I think that's a really good 
idea. 

390
00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,640
The Tower of London, let's do a 
veterans discount. 

391
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:01,160
So that's a great way. 
You've got it in your phone, you

392
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:02,720
can show you're eligible for 
that, so. 

393
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,640
This government very much values
of veterans and wants to make 

394
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,040
sure that we can access those 
services much easier and that's 

395
00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:09,720
what digitising the veterans 
card is all about. 

396
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,680
What is the psychological effect
of talking about digital ID, 

397
00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,320
which is a very modern thing, 
and playing music from the 1500s

398
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,640
in the background? 
Not quite sure. 

399
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,920
I mean, it does belong in a sort
of comedy sketch from the 1990s,

400
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,560
but apparently it is true. 
The the Office for Veterans 

401
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,400
Affairs have continued on X. 
They've, they've of course 

402
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:38,640
tweeted out about it. 
They have said specifically that

403
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,840
they're, well, that sorry, I'm 
sharing on screen now an image 

404
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,400
of how the card will look so 
dramatically different from the 

405
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,280
thing on the smart screen, the 
smartphone screen, which is 

406
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,360
going to be the digital 
identity. 

407
00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:54,720
But the text that they've drawn 
out the same line, again, it's 

408
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,720
going to be secure and quick. 
Now, I'd say both of those 

409
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:02,480
things are highly questionable. 
And to what extent do veterans, 

410
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,360
Yemen waters in particular, 
struggle to actually get an ID 

411
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:08,120
card out if they want to show 1?
I mean, they've literally spent 

412
00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,520
their entire career producing 
the Mod 90, the military ID 

413
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,680
card, with no trouble at all. 
But in the context of the recent

414
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,160
government government 
announcements about the wider 

415
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,680
plan for digital Idi, think it's
worth listening back to what 

416
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,560
Johnny Mercer, who was running 
the Office for Veterans Affairs,

417
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,920
what he said about it a year or 
so ago? 

418
00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,320
Well. 
But the majority of the work 

419
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,760
goes into digitising Vets UK, 
which should have been done 30 

420
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,600
or 40 years ago to make sure 
that we understood where our 

421
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,200
veterans are and looked after 
them properly. 

422
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,600
So is it value for money? 
Absolutely. 

423
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,520
Has it been extraordinarily 
difficult to get it over the 

424
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:45,960
line because of all the working 
parts? 

425
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:47,640
Yes. 
And if if it was, if it was 

426
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:48,920
easy, it would have been done by
now. 

427
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,000
If there were some who who may 
not want a veterans ID card. 

428
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,000
They're not mandatory. 
But for the vast majority of 

429
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:55,960
people, I think it's going to be
a really useful addition to 

430
00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:00,600
their lives, not mandatory, 
where we heard that before. 

431
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:02,800
There we go. 
Given what Keir Starmer has said

432
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,440
recently, although he seemed to 
have backtracked on that, but 

433
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,120
the the, this idea that a, that 
an ID card, even at that point a

434
00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:11,040
physical ID card could be 
mandatory. 

435
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,480
Now, why would he have said such
thing all the way back then? 

436
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:19,320
Indeed, as part of a 
Conservative administration, and

437
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,280
I've spoken about the 
development of this initiative 

438
00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,760
on a number of occasions, But 
one thing I did do back in 2022 

439
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,760
was to put in a Freedom of 
Information request to the 

440
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:31,440
Ministry of Defence to make a 
number of enquiries, but 

441
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,880
specifically what a physical 
card might turn into. 

442
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,360
And the Med replied that none of
the information was in scope, as

443
00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:40,760
though the things I was asking 
about had never actually been 

444
00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,320
considered, such as linking 
health and financial information

445
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,800
to the card. 
However, on the specific 

446
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,040
questions about the digital 
context, they said that under 

447
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:55,760
Section 16 of the FOIA advice, 
you may find it helpful to note 

448
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,040
that the areas presented in 
these questions are not covered 

449
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,640
in the scope of the ID project. 
There is no intention to link 

450
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,640
the creation of a physical or 
digital card. 

451
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,880
So we can just pop that back on 
screen that shows the text 

452
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:10,640
there. 
And then they go on to say, 

453
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,360
regarding your question six, 
there is no intention to share 

454
00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:17,680
any personal identifiable 
information with other 

455
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,040
government, department or 
corporate bodies. 

456
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,240
Now this obviously three years 
on would appear to be an out and

457
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:29,120
out lie and I will go on to 
explain the context of that lie.

458
00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:31,720
But but before we do say, we'll 
just have a look at where this 

459
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,920
has come from at least in recent
recent years. 

460
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,160
And I'm showing now the 2018 
strategy for our veterans in 

461
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:42,080
which they say that data is 
essential to understand veteran 

462
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,520
community, contributing to a 
robust evidence base which can 

463
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,200
inform policy making, enable 
planning and support service 

464
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,000
delivery more effectively and 
deliver good evaluations. 

465
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,440
So they talk about requiring 
data for the prediction of 

466
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,760
needs. 
They don't specify whose needs, 

467
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,080
which seems to be quite an 
important part of this. 

468
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,720
And we go on just pull out 
another criterion, which are 

469
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,720
which is veterans and the law. 
And really one would take from 

470
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,240
this the implicit 
acknowledgement. 

471
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,560
The government appreciates that 
there is a challenge potentially

472
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:15,320
presented by the 2.2 million 
veterans that could be 

473
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,640
considered to be motivated, 
capable and organised and 

474
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,520
therefore present a serious 
problem to government if they 

475
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:25,560
chose to do so. 
Now they go on to say that 

476
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:28,840
there's a specific challenge 
concerning legacy 

477
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:30,800
investigations. 
Of course, Mike was speaking 

478
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,680
only on Friday about those very 
investigations which are of 

479
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,160
course being pushed forward by 
the government itself. 

480
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:40,440
So this is very disingenuous in 
the way that the language is 

481
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,040
being manipulated. 
Now also just to go forward a 

482
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,040
little bit into the Veteran 
Strategy Action Plan 2022 to 

483
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:52,520
2024, they insist again that 
they veterans have this sort of 

484
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,760
specific problem identifying 
themselves. 

485
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,840
They say it also needs to be 
easier for veterans to verify 

486
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,960
their status in order to access 
government services. 

487
00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,880
Now my question is why? 
And very briefly on a personal 

488
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,400
note, I am a veteran and I don't
see that it needs to be any 

489
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:11,440
easier for me than it does for 
anybody else to verify my status

490
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,040
in order to access government 
services, if I even wanted to 

491
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:15,960
access government services in 
the 1st place. 

492
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,680
But that might be considered 
slightly by the by this 

493
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,800
obsession that veterans having a
special problem with it seems to

494
00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:26,760
be somewhat bizarre. 
Now also the the other issue 

495
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,680
going back to the Freedom of 
Information request is that in 

496
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,280
that strategy paper they said 
that they were going to carry 

497
00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:35,880
out a scoping study to design a 
service which will offer the 

498
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,520
digital verification of veteran 
status. 

499
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,920
Now this was published in 
January 2022, therefore some 

500
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,640
months before my Freedom of 
Information request went in. 

501
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,840
So they would have known at that
time that there absolutely was 

502
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:53,200
to be a link with the digital, 
digital version of the identity 

503
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,520
card. 
Now obliquely, but I think very 

504
00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:59,840
relevant, there's been a lot in 
in the news at the moment about 

505
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:03,920
the company's house requirement 
for directors to identify 

506
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,440
themselves by the 18th of 
November. 

507
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,200
You need to prove who you are to
set up, run, own or control a 

508
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,160
company in the UK, they say. 
Now there are many issues with 

509
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,680
this, but according to the 
information put out by company 

510
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,120
size and Government one login, 
there is no requirement for 

511
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,160
biometrics nor to use photograph
ID. 

512
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,240
And the choice remains of course
for you because they do still 

513
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,160
request information which they 
cannot possibly guarantee the 

514
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,280
security of. 
But this has been wilfully 

515
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:33,920
misrepresented in some quarters.
So I think it is worth looking 

516
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:36,480
at what the what Companies House
does actually say. 

517
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,000
But just quickly as we finish 
off, we'll just go back to the 

518
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,320
military and conflicting notions
surrounding the readiness for 

519
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:44,720
war. 
Of course, thinking back to what

520
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,960
Pete Hagseth was just talking 
about a moment ago, we've got 

521
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:54,640
Sean Raymond in the Daily Mail 
yet again story about women in 

522
00:29:54,640 --> 00:30:00,440
the Royal Marines and indeed 
what the Commandant of the 

523
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,560
Commando Training Centre Royal 
Marines actually said about it. 

524
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:06,280
We'll just have a quick listen 
to him. 

525
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:13,520
Most men can't complete this 
training and therefore the women

526
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,520
that might be able to do it are 
are extremely high performing. 

527
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:19,440
They are out there. 
I wonder if they're out there, 

528
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,960
though, already gainfully 
employed in the sorts of elite 

529
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:26,680
sports that might otherwise, you
know, be more appealing to them 

530
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:28,920
than necessarily coming down to 
be a real Marine commando. 

531
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,840
But I'm rocket clear there is, 
there are women out there that 

532
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,520
could come and do this training 
if they were motivated enough to

533
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,760
do it. 
And we have had some women 

534
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,960
recently who have come close. 
Unfortunately, they haven't met 

535
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,240
all of the standards, but we 
absolutely want you. 

536
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,720
The two questions Commandos 
always used to ask in World War 

537
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:49,720
2. 
Are you here to help? 

538
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,800
Are you any good? 
Well, the third question we need

539
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,000
to add is, and we want you if 
you're different. 

540
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,400
We want you if you're different 
because the cognitive edge is 

541
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:00,240
going to be a game changer for 
us going forward. 

542
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:04,640
So it's hard to know exactly 
what he means by that, and if 

543
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:07,880
anyone can be rocket clear on 
what rocket clear means and do 

544
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,360
right in. 
But the other thing to set this 

545
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:14,840
alongside is what's happened 
with the selectional recruitment

546
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:18,600
into the Reserve SAS. 
And the most recent edition of 

547
00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:24,280
Soldier magazine has this piece 
in it on the Special Forces and 

548
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:29,120
indeed talks about being able to
go into the selection process on

549
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:31,320
resettlement. 
But also interestingly, they've 

550
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,760
got 2 little bits here saying 
applications are accepted from 

551
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,200
men and women across all three 
services. 

552
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:41,920
And you can join reserve SAS up 
till the age of 43 and 364 days.

553
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:46,600
So relevant to this is the most 
recent episode of Military 

554
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,720
Matters, in which Brian and I 
spoke specifically about the 

555
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:53,200
issues surrounding recruitment 
and how this is at odds with all

556
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,640
the various defence literature 
that's being put out, but 

557
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,520
especially the commitment to 
what's being described as a push

558
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,440
for 30% of the armed forces to 
be made up of women. 

559
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,120
Thank you, Charles. 
OK, let's let's move on then. 

560
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,280
If you like what the UK column 
does, if you'd like to support 

561
00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,120
us, please go to the front page 
of the UK column website. 

562
00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:16,440
There's a big box there that 
takes you to a page which gives 

563
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,560
you all the various options. 
We do need ongoing financial 

564
00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,080
support, so if you can possibly 
join us as a member or make a 

565
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,120
donation, that would be 
fantastic. 

566
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,320
Thank you to everybody that has 
and does. 

567
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,280
But if you can't do that, please
do share material you find on 

568
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,040
the website or anywhere else 
related to UK column because 

569
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,320
that is key for us to defeat the
censorship regime. 

570
00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:43,120
Now it's 7:00 tonight. 
Jerem is speaking to Shannon Joy

571
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:45,320
on everything being a reality 
show. 

572
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,600
I think the way things are going
at the moment, it increasingly 

573
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:52,000
looks like reality TV. 
It is nuts. 

574
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:57,480
And then at 9:00 PM tonight is 
Karl Zaz speaking to Pepe 

575
00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,920
Escobar. 
Join him for that. 

576
00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:05,360
Then yesterday you were speaking
to Shahz Khan at 1:00. 

577
00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:06,920
Absolutely. 
Well, she's written an excellent

578
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:09,160
book called The Ultimate Vaccine
Timeline, and she has the 

579
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,400
benefit of not being involved in
any way in the medical 

580
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:14,240
profession and therefore she 
looks at things very 

581
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,160
objectively. 
Her father died, she believes, 

582
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:18,880
as a result of a flu jab. 
And she's gone back into the 

583
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:22,160
history of particularly the 
safety around vaccinations and 

584
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,360
had a whole load of documents 
released that never been seen 

585
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:25,880
before. 
So it's a fascinating interview 

586
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:27,840
and I really would encourage you
to have a listen. 

587
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,160
Another quick reminder that 1:00
PM tomorrow, I'm speaking to 

588
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:34,880
Ambassador Jose Bio Morji, 
Venezuelan Ambassador to Lebanon

589
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:37,440
and Syria. 
Join me at 1:00 for that. 

590
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:43,200
And then a reminder that on 
Sunday evening, the latest 1000 

591
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,520
Words podcast went out featuring
James Delanpole. 

592
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,560
Yeah, it did indeed. 
So that's the first first part, 

593
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,320
and then the second part will be
going out for members this 

594
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,440
Sunday at 7:00 PM. 
So getting into Delano's sort of

595
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:59,040
transition from a Telegraph 
journalist into where he's got 

596
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,400
to now in terms of his journey 
down various, it holds. 

597
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:06,560
And finally, Charles a digital 
another digital idea event. 

598
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,679
Yes indeed, this one up in 
Edinburgh and this is this 

599
00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:12,800
Saturday at the Mound just off 
Prince's Street, so if you are 

600
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,920
able to get along up there then 
please do so. 

601
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,679
Fantastic. 
Now let's move on to assisted 

602
00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:21,080
dying Charles. 
Yeah, indeed, now it's going 

603
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,000
back a little bit. 
The second reading in the House 

604
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,920
of Lords on assisted dying was 
on the 12th of September 2025 

605
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,239
and there were many speaking in 
opposition for a whole host of 

606
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:31,840
reasons. 
I think a notable comment to 

607
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:35,440
pull out comes from Theresa May,
Baroness May, now the former 

608
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,800
Prime Minister, say, who said I 
do not believe that the 

609
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,639
safeguards in the bill will 
prevent people being pressurised

610
00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:43,719
to end their lives, sometimes 
for the benefit of others. 

611
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,960
They worry that, as we have seen
in countries where there is such

612
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,120
law, people will feel that they 
must end their lives simply 

613
00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:52,880
because they feel that they are 
a burden on others. 

614
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:56,760
Now I bring this up because Will
Coleshill has a report that he's

615
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,280
put out from the Battle of 
Ideas, which he attended 

616
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:02,040
recently, and he caught up with 
Lord Moylan. 

617
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,000
I'm Daniel Moylan. 
I was speaking this morning at 

618
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,640
an event and I've got another 
one to speak out this afternoon 

619
00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:16,560
and I've been coming to the 
battle of ideas as a speaker for

620
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,280
a number of years now and I 
think it's a great event. 

621
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:23,040
And what about the battle of 
ideas makes it special? 

622
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:26,320
Well, the fact that it's so many
of the events there are people 

623
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:33,200
with an alternative take on on a
different perspective on public 

624
00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:37,160
events, but also the fact that 
the audience is normally very 

625
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:39,360
lively and intellectually 
critical. 

626
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:42,080
May I enquire as to the topics 
on which you've been speaking? 

627
00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:45,240
The one this morning was about 
the process by which Parliament 

628
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:50,520
has been making law on the 
assisted suicide legislation and

629
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,160
the one this afternoon, which 
I'm doing, it's slightly short 

630
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,480
notice without very much 
preparation, is about the steel 

631
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,880
industry and the railway 
industry and what the future is 

632
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:00,760
for them. 
Do you want to talk a little bit

633
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:02,960
more about the assisted dying 
and then maybe the steel 

634
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:04,960
industry? 
Yeah, well, I'm opposed to this.

635
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:07,200
It's a dying bill. 
But the question this morning 

636
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:09,560
really was whether the 
legislative process we've got is

637
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,240
fit for purpose. 
And I do agree with people that 

638
00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:16,760
I think that the the way the the
Commons has gone about this bill

639
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:21,280
has sort of tested the system 
very hard at the boundaries. 

640
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,240
And this is partly because the 
government isn't honest or 

641
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:28,160
Claire Starmer isn't honest 
about the fact that it's really 

642
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,160
his bill. 
And these are a lot of glove 

643
00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:34,720
puppets really, that he's trying
to move around without accepting

644
00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:38,120
the responsibility for the bill.
Don't say it's a government bill

645
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:40,360
because a lot of people in the 
government don't want it. 

646
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,880
Or if they even if they do want 
it, they don't think it's a 

647
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,200
priority, which should be 
distracting the government from 

648
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:50,000
its core business, which is what
it increasingly is doing, I 

649
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,160
think. 
But Starmer does want it and 

650
00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:54,920
he's making that commitment. 
And, and the way in which the 

651
00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,960
parliamentary system has been 
used is really stretching it to 

652
00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:00,600
its limits. 
Comes to the Lords now and we'll

653
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,640
see you know how much scrutiny 
it can get there. 

654
00:37:03,720 --> 00:37:06,600
What is the mood like in the 
Lords around the assisted dying?

655
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:08,840
Do you think it could be 
rejected in the Lords? 

656
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:12,280
I think there's a very, there's 
a huge amount of deep concern in

657
00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:15,480
the Lords, even amongst people 
who support the bill or are 

658
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:20,080
sympathetic to the principle 
about how badly drafted it is, 

659
00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,040
how many holes it has. 
It's a sort of skeleton 

660
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:25,720
legislation with all the 
important stuff to be filled in 

661
00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:28,880
later, which people don't like 
at all, especially on something 

662
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:32,200
as sensitive as this and for the
stuff that they're talking about

663
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:34,960
to be filled in by ministers 
without proper parliamentary 

664
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,960
scrutiny. 
And that's, that's what the bill

665
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,560
contemplates. 
So yes, I do think there's a lot

666
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,640
of concern about it even amongst
people who might be sympathetic 

667
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:46,400
in principle. 
Very, very unusual for the House

668
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:50,240
of Lords to vote down a piece of
legislation, vote it down a 

669
00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:53,120
piece of legislation that has 
passed the Commons. 

670
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:57,080
But I think it's likely to be 
heavily amended in the Lords and

671
00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,200
then it would be up to the 
Commons to see if they can agree

672
00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,760
to the amendments or not. 
So you're talking about the 

673
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:04,840
legislative process, No. 
Do you think that we've 

674
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:07,800
abrogated too much power away 
from the Commons and away from 

675
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:10,040
the Lords to the ministers 
themselves? 

676
00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:12,160
And essentially, it's ruled by 
executive Fiat. 

677
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,680
Well, it's it's certainly true 
that there are powers now in 

678
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,800
many bills that give the 
government the right even to 

679
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:22,120
rewrite other acts of Parliament
without coming back to 

680
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:24,440
Parliament. 
This is what we mean when we 

681
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,080
talk about Henry the Eighth 
clauses, Henry the Eighth 

682
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,120
powers, and there are too many 
bills with Henry the Eighth 

683
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:33,680
powers. 
And I think we are in danger of 

684
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,080
going that way. 
But it's partly a function of 

685
00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:37,920
simply having too much 
legislation. 

686
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:42,400
We, we pass too much 
legislation, we try to legislate

687
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,240
for too many things. 
And I think and governments 

688
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:48,240
trying to do too many things. 
And I think we would really 

689
00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:50,360
think about the scope of 
government and what it should be

690
00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:54,680
doing because the state is the 
apparatus of the state is 

691
00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:58,200
falling over under the pressure 
of all the things it's being 

692
00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:01,240
asked to do. 
So is it time for a great repeal

693
00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:04,720
bill? 
Well, we've tried something like

694
00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:07,680
that before, but yes, there's an
awful lot of legislation that's 

695
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:11,720
specifically about the 
legislation passed by the Blair 

696
00:39:11,720 --> 00:39:15,080
government which totally 
distorted and changed our 

697
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,360
constitution. 
They talked it, they called it 

698
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,800
modernising it wasn't it? 
It's made large parts of it 

699
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:23,960
democratically unworkable. 
And I think a lot of that does 

700
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,480
have to go, yes. 
So you're looking forward to a 

701
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:31,200
big change in 2029? 
I certainly think there will not

702
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,640
be a Labour government in 2029 
and I rather welcome that. 

703
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:35,120
Yes. 
Well, thank you. 

704
00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:36,080
Very much. 
Thank you very much. 

705
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,560
Very nice and pleasure. 
Thank. 

706
00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:44,240
You. 
Dangers of modernising Thanks to

707
00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,880
Will Colthill there no to 
Theresa May to go back. 

708
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:49,560
She also suggested that it could
be used as a cover up for 

709
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:53,760
mistakes made in hospital or for
hospital acquired infections. 

710
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,720
And she said cited a friend of 
hers who calls it the licence to

711
00:39:56,720 --> 00:40:00,000
kill Bill, say as Lord Moylan 
says there, she says it's not an

712
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,040
assisted dying bill but an 
assisted suicide bill and will 

713
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:05,680
follow the next stage which will
be the committee stage starting 

714
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:10,200
on 14th of November. 
Thank you, Charles. 

715
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:16,160
Now we talked mentioned earlier 
on in the programme the group 

716
00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:19,960
that is currently occupying 
Syria and of course many people 

717
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:22,960
will know it by the name of HTS.
It has been a prescribed 

718
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,080
organisation for obvious 
reasons. 

719
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,520
Is it still? 
It is not, no. 

720
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:31,960
And Vanessa did actually mention
this in Extra last week. 

721
00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:34,720
It was, It was sort of unfolding
at the time. 

722
00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:38,160
And sure enough, the government 
has now announced its intent to 

723
00:40:38,720 --> 00:40:42,200
D prescribe HTS and so we'll 
just show you the notice from 

724
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,400
the Home Office and the Foreign 
Commonwealth Development Office.

725
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:49,560
And here it is in English, which
says UK removes Hayat tarea al 

726
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:52,320
Sham from terrorist organisation
list. 

727
00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:56,840
Now in this extraordinary news 
story they have said that the 

728
00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:00,560
government or for the government
it will mean closer engagement 

729
00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:04,360
with the new Syrian government 
and support UK foreign and 

730
00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:08,000
domestic priorities from 
counterterrorism to migration 

731
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:10,440
and chemical weapons 
destruction. 

732
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:13,720
Now one might think that it 
would be cause for concern that 

733
00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:17,280
a terrorist organisation needs 
to be de prescribed in order for

734
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:19,400
any of those things to actually 
happen. 

735
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,680
The statement, it also goes on 
to say something which I'd like 

736
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:27,640
to hear Vanessa's comment on and
it is this which is Daesh 

737
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:29,640
remains a significant threat in 
Syria. 

738
00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:33,520
The D prescription of HTS will 
support this government's 

739
00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:37,560
engagement on the counter Daesh 
mission in Syria, in turn 

740
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:42,160
reducing the threat to UK. 
Vanessa, how does that work? 

741
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:47,600
And it doesn't work because HDS,
which of course is simply a 

742
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:52,160
rebranding of al Qaeda or or 
Jabat al Nusra, which was 

743
00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:57,200
founded by Jolani, now President
Ahmad al Sharad in Syria. 

744
00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:02,320
But the HDS military are 
actually effectively reliant 

745
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:07,880
upon ISIS to support them in 
their ethnic cleansing massacres

746
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:11,040
of Syrian minorities. 
So I'm really not quite sure how

747
00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:15,280
that works at all. 
I think we we conclude that it 

748
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,280
absolutely doesn't work much 
like most of the language that's

749
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:21,920
contained not just within that 
statement, but also that the 

750
00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:24,800
statement came from Dan Jarvis, 
the security minister in the 

751
00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:28,120
House of Commons on the 2020 
second of October, which is 

752
00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:30,560
really a master class of 
euphemism. 

753
00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:33,520
He said after capital 
consideration and following 

754
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:37,480
extensive consultation across 
government and with operational 

755
00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:41,840
partners, he says this decision 
reflects our unwavering support 

756
00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:45,480
for British interests and 
commitment to the security of 

757
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:48,800
the United Kingdom. 
Now, as it happens, the Home 

758
00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:52,640
Office list of prescribed groups
has not been updated. 

759
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:57,000
And so this is what it's said 
since 2017 just to you in the 

760
00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:59,000
picture. 
So it comes under the AL Qaeda 

761
00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:04,080
banner and specifically it 
refers to Hayat Talia Al Sham 

762
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,200
should should be treated as 
alternative names. 

763
00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:09,120
Obviously they've listed a few 
others should be treated as 

764
00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:12,600
alternative names for the 
organisation, which is already 

765
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:15,000
prescribed under the name al 
Qaeda. 

766
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,680
Now, of course, this links back 
to what we've just heard in the 

767
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:23,240
news about Venezuela and and all
the rest of it and indeed 

768
00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:25,600
relates to Hamas. 
I mean, there's so many things 

769
00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:28,480
that are tied into this. 
And of course, with that in 

770
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:32,960
mind, it is absolutely relevant 
that this was the exact same 

771
00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:35,840
process was gone through in the 
United States back in July of 

772
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:37,160
this year. 
We'll just have a look at that 

773
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:41,000
on screen. 
So this happened in July in the 

774
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:42,280
States. 
I'd just like to draw your 

775
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:44,560
attention to the banner running 
across the top of the page which

776
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:46,080
says federal government 
shutdown. 

777
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:50,480
Due to the Democrat LED 
shutdown, website updates will 

778
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:54,120
be limited until full operations
resume. 

779
00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:57,600
So blaming it on the Democrats, 
I mean, is this really how the 

780
00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:00,800
leaders of the free world are 
supposed to conduct themselves, 

781
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:04,680
one might ask? 
Prior to this, even back in 

782
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:08,600
December 2024, Middle East, I 
illustrated how the process is 

783
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:11,840
very, very obviously simply 
geopolitical and has absolutely 

784
00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:14,960
nothing to do with the spectre 
or otherwise of terrorism. 

785
00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:18,080
And they also make a very good 
point about the process of the 

786
00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:21,000
prescription. 
Now this is government governed 

787
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:26,360
by the Statutory Instrument 
number 2299 from 2006 attached 

788
00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:32,240
to the Terrorism Act 2000, which
states an application under 

789
00:44:32,240 --> 00:44:36,480
Section 4 of the ACT must be 
made in writing and must state 

790
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,400
the name of the organisation to 
which the application relates, 

791
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:43,120
whether the application is being
made by the organisation or by a

792
00:44:43,120 --> 00:44:45,760
person affected by the 
organisation prescription and 

793
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:49,720
the grounds on which the 
application is made. 

794
00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:54,120
Now in neither Dan Jarvis's 
statement in the House of 

795
00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:58,720
Commons or the news story, as 
I've articulated, is there any 

796
00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:01,360
reference to how this has 
actually come about. 

797
00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:05,480
So I I called the Home Office to
ask who had put the application 

798
00:45:05,480 --> 00:45:08,600
into the Home Secretary and how 
was this process followed? 

799
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:12,040
Of course the media office had 
absolutely no idea what I was 

800
00:45:12,040 --> 00:45:15,320
talking about but did say they 
would respond to my email to ask

801
00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:17,320
the question so that they could 
formally look into it and get 

802
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:19,240
back to me. 
There has been no response. 

803
00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:22,520
I called again immediately 
before the news programme and 

804
00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:26,200
asked that the press release 
would be sent to me immediately.

805
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:29,680
That did not come either. 
So it looks at the moment very 

806
00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:31,960
much like government to have 
written absolutely roughshod 

807
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:36,480
over the due process. 
And just before asking Mike and 

808
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:39,800
Vanessa for comment on this and 
with the appeal for the 

809
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:43,760
deprescription of Palestine 
action in mind, I refer to one 

810
00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:47,640
of only four examples of the 
prescription happening. 

811
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:51,800
And we look at a Guardian 
article from 2017 making the 

812
00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:57,360
connection between the supposed 
bomber, Salman Abadi of the 

813
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:01,440
Manchester Arena incident and 
the Libyan Islamic Fighting 

814
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:05,640
Group. 
Now the Guardian article there 

815
00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:08,200
says the 22 year old was 
influenced in part by the people

816
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:10,720
who formed the Libyan Islamic 
Fighting Group, a little known 

817
00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:13,560
al Qaeda affiliate outlawed in 
2004. 

818
00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:18,080
So al Qaeda again, but lo and 
behold, the same government 

819
00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:21,160
which described the events in 
Manchester as being among the 

820
00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:24,720
worst terrorist incidents we 
have ever experienced, de 

821
00:46:24,720 --> 00:46:28,760
prescribed the LIFG just two 
years later. 

822
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:33,200
So there's an awful lot here 
that that needs to be made sense

823
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:34,560
of. 
But I think, as Vanessa 

824
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,560
suggested for earlier, that 
that's quite because I'm 

825
00:46:37,560 --> 00:46:39,360
challenged to make any sense of 
it. 

826
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:43,760
What are we to think about this?
Well, I mean, the question is, 

827
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:47,120
one question I would ask is why 
was Al Qaeda ever really 

828
00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:49,800
prescribed in the 1st place? 
Because, you know, this was an 

829
00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:53,600
organisation which Britain, the 
United States created in the 1st

830
00:46:53,600 --> 00:46:57,080
place. 
It has served our purposes for 

831
00:46:57,080 --> 00:47:00,040
foreign policy ever since. 
We've been funding it, we've 

832
00:47:00,040 --> 00:47:05,440
been arming it. 
And so it, it seemed that like 

833
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:08,040
the prescription of that 
organisation was virtue 

834
00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:12,200
signalling or it was an attempt 
on a domestic platform to 

835
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:14,440
present a different situation 
that was happening 

836
00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:17,760
internationally. 
And of course they were able to 

837
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:22,160
use the excuse that al Qaeda had
carried out 9/11 and atrocities 

838
00:47:22,160 --> 00:47:25,560
in the UK and so on to justify 
certain things going on here. 

839
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:30,000
So, but you know, the, the thing
that really I think is striking 

840
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:35,320
about this is that we here, we 
have HTS, which let's be 

841
00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:37,400
accurate about this, are head 
choppers. 

842
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:39,560
They've been cutting off the 
heads of people that have been 

843
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:41,600
assassinating people, murdering 
people. 

844
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:44,360
These are people that have 
actually taken people's lives. 

845
00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:47,040
On the other hand, we have 
Palestine action. 

846
00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:49,400
And no matter what you think 
about Palestine action and what 

847
00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:53,360
they've been doing, they have 
not actually committed any crime

848
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:57,560
against a physical body. 
They've committed criminal 

849
00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:01,880
damage at worst in certain 
circumstances, and how these two

850
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:05,080
things are considered parity, I 
have no idea. 

851
00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:10,840
Yeah, Vanessa, specifically on 
that, on that conflict there 

852
00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:14,080
between what Palestine action 
have done in the form of 

853
00:48:14,080 --> 00:48:17,240
criminal damage and what HTS 
have been doing. 

854
00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:23,880
Well, in fact, I think the first
case for the film 24, the first 

855
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:27,960
three that were actually put 
before a judge, their sentence 

856
00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:33,320
was reduced from criminal damage
to to I think just, I can't 

857
00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:37,320
remember what it was reduced to.
And yet this group is prescribed

858
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:39,320
terrorists. 
But I also want to make the 

859
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:44,080
point that Hamas and Hezbollah 
are prescribed terrorist groups 

860
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,680
in the UK. 
They are not a threat to UK 

861
00:48:46,680 --> 00:48:48,840
national security. 
They're a threat to Israeli 

862
00:48:48,840 --> 00:48:52,000
national security. 
You've now de prescribed Al 

863
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:56,040
Qaeda effectively HTS that is 
conducting genocidal ethnic 

864
00:48:56,040 --> 00:48:58,680
cleansing in Syria of 
minorities, including 

865
00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:04,560
Christians, that is backed by 
Israel and has a very high 

866
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:10,000
probability of being a threat to
the UK population when 

867
00:49:10,080 --> 00:49:14,200
particularly British jihadists 
belonging to Al Qaeda returned 

868
00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:17,920
to the UK. 
So yet again, Israeli national 

869
00:49:17,920 --> 00:49:22,240
security is being prioritised 
over British national security. 

870
00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:30,200
Let's come back to you and 
what's the latest in Lebanon? 

871
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:35,800
Well, I mean, in Lebanon, we're 
seeing a ramping up of Trump's 

872
00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:38,800
administration bully boy 
tactics. 

873
00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:42,120
I don't know any other way to 
describe how Trump enacts his 

874
00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:45,520
foreign policy globally 
recently. 

875
00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:50,920
Well, in fact, yesterday and 
today, yesterday it was one of 

876
00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:54,840
the US envoys arrived in 
Lebanon. 

877
00:49:55,280 --> 00:49:59,640
And today Tom Barrack, Trump's 
economic hitman, as I describe 

878
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:03,640
him, is going to be in Lebanon 
and he basically put out a 

879
00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:07,440
statement, I think it was 
yesterday, US envoy warns 

880
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:12,480
Lebanon that they have one last 
chance to disarm Hezbollah and 

881
00:50:12,480 --> 00:50:14,880
of course the Lebanese 
resistance, which doesn't only 

882
00:50:14,880 --> 00:50:17,840
consist of Hezbollah. 
His full statement. 

883
00:50:17,840 --> 00:50:22,240
So basically he said, I will 
inform the president, the Prime 

884
00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:25,360
Minister and the speaker of 
parliament that they have one 

885
00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:28,880
last chance. 
He then went on in his 

886
00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:32,600
basically, what is a a threat to
the Lebanese people. 

887
00:50:33,240 --> 00:50:36,600
Either they learn their lesson 
and decide to enter into direct 

888
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:41,080
negotiations with Israel under 
US auspices to establish a 

889
00:50:41,080 --> 00:50:45,160
timetable and mechanism for 
disarming Hezbollah, or Lebanon 

890
00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:48,720
will be left to its fate and 
will remain so for a long time 

891
00:50:48,720 --> 00:50:51,640
with no one to care about it, 
neither in America nor in the 

892
00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:53,680
region. 
And no one will be able to 

893
00:50:53,680 --> 00:50:56,680
pressure Israel to prevent it 
from doing whatever it deems 

894
00:50:56,680 --> 00:50:59,720
appropriate to undertake 
disarmament by force. 

895
00:50:59,720 --> 00:51:01,840
This is quite an extraordinary 
statement. 

896
00:51:02,080 --> 00:51:05,520
He's not mentioned the fact that
Israel is still occupying 

897
00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:09,520
Lebanese territory and is 
increasing its occupation of 

898
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:12,760
Lebanese territory. 
Today an attack by the Israeli 

899
00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:16,960
forces inside Lebanon was 
carried out on a on a Lebanese 

900
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:20,200
army vehicle. 
Not not a Hezbollah resistance 

901
00:51:20,200 --> 00:51:24,960
vehicle, but actually the 
official Lebanese army bombing 

902
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:29,120
and and suicide drone attacks 
have, sorry, drone attacks have 

903
00:51:29,120 --> 00:51:32,960
been increasing in the last week
and none of this is mentioned by

904
00:51:32,960 --> 00:51:34,640
Barrick. 
In fact, what he actually does 

905
00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:40,040
is abrogate responsibility for 
Israel's action and basically 

906
00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:44,080
withdraws the US from the 
negotiations and Saudi Arabia 

907
00:51:44,080 --> 00:51:48,120
from the financing of the 
essential reconstruction of 

908
00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:51,480
civilian infrastructure 
destroyed by Israel in the last 

909
00:51:51,480 --> 00:51:55,240
war, and basically leaves the 
field open for Israel to do 

910
00:51:55,240 --> 00:51:58,280
whatever it wants. 
So in other words, just as the 

911
00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:02,560
British withdrew actually from 
the the occupied territories of 

912
00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:06,160
Palestine and left it to Israel 
to ethnically cleanse 

913
00:52:06,160 --> 00:52:11,240
Palestinians in 1948 with the UN
support, right now the US is 

914
00:52:11,240 --> 00:52:14,360
doing exactly the same thing and
saying to Israel, go ahead, 

915
00:52:15,160 --> 00:52:17,440
disarm Hezbollah and bomb the 
South. 

916
00:52:17,840 --> 00:52:20,320
And in fact, that is very much 
what has been happening. 

917
00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:24,680
This is just a very short video 
from an area known as Balbek 

918
00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:30,200
where you have some of the most 
historic heritage Roman ruins in

919
00:52:30,200 --> 00:52:34,240
the region. 
And just to show on the map 

920
00:52:34,240 --> 00:52:37,360
itself where that is, because 
it's not in the South, it's 

921
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:41,760
actually very much in the 
eastern sector on the border 

922
00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:44,040
with Syria. 
Sorry, the cats getting in on 

923
00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:48,840
the ACT. 
And so basically Israel is 

924
00:52:48,840 --> 00:52:54,640
increasing the field of its 
attacks in Lebanon, just as, of 

925
00:52:54,640 --> 00:52:57,520
course Barrack has given them 
green light to do so. 

926
00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:01,360
In the last few days there has 
been a strike on a number of 

927
00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:05,680
cars travelling in the South and
these strikes are on a daily, if

928
00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:08,560
not two or three times daily 
basis. 

929
00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:11,400
In the image, you can see 
basically what happens when 

930
00:53:11,680 --> 00:53:15,040
these drone strikes occur. 
They they just basically take 

931
00:53:15,040 --> 00:53:19,200
out the car, anyone close to the
car, anyone travelling next to 

932
00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:22,560
the car and all the people in 
the car of course simply 

933
00:53:22,680 --> 00:53:25,880
obliterated. 
And on the left is a young man 

934
00:53:25,880 --> 00:53:29,400
who was killed in this way in 
the last couple of days, Issa 

935
00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:33,800
Karbala, who was basically 
assassinated by an Israeli 

936
00:53:33,800 --> 00:53:37,080
drone, of course violating the 
ceasefire, which has been 

937
00:53:37,080 --> 00:53:43,320
violated around now I think 6000
times by its by Israel. 

938
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:47,080
And I think a very important 
factor in this and something 

939
00:53:47,080 --> 00:53:52,200
that I was reflecting on, having
had a discussion with journalist

940
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:58,760
Madwa Osman, who of course is 
Lebanese, last night, over how 

941
00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:02,360
these policies are really 
affecting the human beings in 

942
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:04,400
this region. 
And it's very difficult to 

943
00:54:04,400 --> 00:54:09,720
convey the psychological warfare
that is being waged against 

944
00:54:09,720 --> 00:54:12,280
these people on an almost daily 
basis. 

945
00:54:12,720 --> 00:54:16,040
This is something that she 
posted this morning following 

946
00:54:16,360 --> 00:54:19,720
our long and detailed 
conversation last night. 

947
00:54:19,720 --> 00:54:23,160
And, and the whole post is in 
the show notes, but she 

948
00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:26,080
basically says there are days 
when grief feels heavier than 

949
00:54:26,080 --> 00:54:30,600
the sky, when silence echoes 
louder than any bomb and you 

950
00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:34,440
start to wonder if the heart can
actually break twice in the same

951
00:54:34,440 --> 00:54:37,920
place. 
People here are absolutely torn 

952
00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:41,680
apart by what is happening. 
Everyone has lost people, family

953
00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:45,480
members, friends, relatives in 
this war. 

954
00:54:46,080 --> 00:54:50,200
And very much they they are, 
they are being ignored very much

955
00:54:50,200 --> 00:54:54,400
by Western media, by Western 
regimes that are complicit in 

956
00:54:54,400 --> 00:54:57,760
the ongoing aggression by Israel
against this region. 

957
00:54:58,080 --> 00:55:01,280
But one point that she made at 
the end, and I think this is 

958
00:55:01,280 --> 00:55:06,040
where you get the connection 
across all borders from the West

959
00:55:06,160 --> 00:55:11,080
to the East to West Asia, that 
we're all fighting the same 

960
00:55:11,080 --> 00:55:13,880
enemy. 
So she says if you still ache at

961
00:55:13,880 --> 00:55:17,320
injustice, if you still feel 
love burning under the ashes 

962
00:55:17,800 --> 00:55:20,280
when you're not defeated, you 
are alive. 

963
00:55:20,320 --> 00:55:22,840
And that in itself is 
resistance. 

964
00:55:23,320 --> 00:55:27,160
And I think it's a powerful 
message that even those that are

965
00:55:27,160 --> 00:55:31,720
suffering really the most in in 
West Asia, from Yemen to to 

966
00:55:31,720 --> 00:55:35,920
Gaza, are still able to 
understand the concept of 

967
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:39,160
resistance. 
And I think in the West we have 

968
00:55:39,160 --> 00:55:42,880
a lot to learn from this, that 
all the sacrifices that have to 

969
00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:47,640
be made to actually defeat the 
enemy ultimately are worth it 

970
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:52,800
when you can feel that you have 
upheld your human values and 

971
00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:55,960
what it means to be human today.
And that, of course, is what is 

972
00:55:55,960 --> 00:56:03,040
being attempted to be eroded by 
those that are enabling what is 

973
00:56:03,040 --> 00:56:05,440
happening in this region. 
Yeah. 

974
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:07,760
And I suppose the other thing 
that we could say about that, 

975
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:12,840
Vanessa, is if we're looking for
inspiration for resistance, it's

976
00:56:12,840 --> 00:56:16,960
the, the longevity and the, the,
the, the determination over an 

977
00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:19,080
extended period of time to 
resist. 

978
00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:23,800
It's not something that is that 
they can solve in six months or 

979
00:56:23,800 --> 00:56:25,680
a year. 
It's something that takes years.

980
00:56:25,680 --> 00:56:29,360
And and they're not, they're not
running away from the fight. 

981
00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:34,040
No, and it doesn't mean that 
there aren't moments of of 

982
00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:40,880
defeatism or or a drop in morale
or or even depression, 

983
00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:43,200
psychological trauma that 
exists. 

984
00:56:43,640 --> 00:56:48,520
But ultimately, at the core is 
this refusal to be dehumanised, 

985
00:56:48,520 --> 00:56:52,760
to be othered, to be wiped out 
or exterminated. 

986
00:56:54,200 --> 00:56:56,640
Yeah. 
All right, so I think it's a 

987
00:56:56,640 --> 00:57:00,440
very, very good point and and it
should be considered in the face

988
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:02,920
of all of the various things 
that we talk about. 

989
00:57:02,920 --> 00:57:05,760
I mean, even though there is 
obviously a scale of how much 

990
00:57:06,520 --> 00:57:09,360
sort of trauma people are 
actually subjected to, but but, 

991
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:12,600
but absolutely Vanessa, I think 
humanity is the main thing to 

992
00:57:12,600 --> 00:57:16,280
consider at all times. 
And in a way that sort of leads 

993
00:57:16,280 --> 00:57:22,720
into the final piece for the 
programme today, which is that 

994
00:57:23,360 --> 00:57:26,200
one might think that being 
autumn, it's the time of year 

995
00:57:26,200 --> 00:57:28,520
that you should be absolutely 
terrified of bird flu. 

996
00:57:29,280 --> 00:57:33,000
But thanks to the Purbright 
Institute, we can give at least 

997
00:57:33,000 --> 00:57:34,920
a little bit of our fear to 
mosquitoes. 

998
00:57:35,400 --> 00:57:39,080
Purbright Institute, which of 
course is largely funded by Bill

999
00:57:39,080 --> 00:57:43,120
Gates and more or less has a 
direct connection with the 

1000
00:57:43,120 --> 00:57:46,280
Animal and Plant Health Agency 
and therefore Defra. 

1001
00:57:46,280 --> 00:57:48,760
But the Purbright researchers 
have said that they've helped to

1002
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:52,720
uncover the origins of the 
London Underground mosquito. 

1003
00:57:53,840 --> 00:57:57,880
Quite why this has assumed such 
significance at the moment, I 

1004
00:57:57,880 --> 00:58:01,240
will leave for you to decide. 
But you might make your mind up 

1005
00:58:01,440 --> 00:58:04,080
and I show you the next piece of
information. 

1006
00:58:04,080 --> 00:58:07,080
But basically there had been the
supposition that a mosquito had 

1007
00:58:07,360 --> 00:58:11,280
evolved in underground chambers 
and in the tunnels of the London

1008
00:58:11,280 --> 00:58:12,680
Underground over the last 200 
years. 

1009
00:58:12,680 --> 00:58:15,240
And apparently, per Bright 
scientists, presumably great 

1010
00:58:15,240 --> 00:58:17,640
expense, have decided that in 
actual fact, it's come from 

1011
00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:19,360
somewhere else. 
So now we know. 

1012
00:58:19,400 --> 00:58:22,760
And the next thing is that this 
is coincident. 

1013
00:58:22,760 --> 00:58:26,160
This month, surprise, surprise, 
with a grant of nearly $17 

1014
00:58:26,160 --> 00:58:29,520
million from the Gates 
Foundation to Oxitec, who are 

1015
00:58:29,520 --> 00:58:32,120
going to conduct field trials to
measure the impact of a 

1016
00:58:32,120 --> 00:58:37,040
biocontrol approach on mosquito 
populations and malaria 

1017
00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:40,680
transmission. 
Now, this is specific to America

1018
00:58:40,680 --> 00:58:45,280
and Africa, but of course, talk 
about mosquitoes in the United 

1019
00:58:45,280 --> 00:58:48,320
Kingdom means that we get to 
consider malaria and chikungunya

1020
00:58:48,320 --> 00:58:51,600
and always sorts of things that 
frankly, if you really haven't 

1021
00:58:51,600 --> 00:58:54,600
the time to think about bird flu
can occupy that space for you. 

1022
00:58:54,600 --> 00:58:58,760
So this is where it looks like 
it's going with the the fear 

1023
00:58:58,760 --> 00:59:01,840
narrative, and we will of course
keep an eye on it. 

1024
00:59:02,360 --> 00:59:07,640
But I think to Vanessa's point 
about humanity, all of this does

1025
00:59:07,640 --> 00:59:12,560
in fact come down to that. 
And the relationship between so 

1026
00:59:12,560 --> 00:59:16,680
called sort of zoonotic diseases
and public scaremongering is 

1027
00:59:16,680 --> 00:59:18,080
something that should be taken 
very seriously. 

1028
00:59:18,080 --> 00:59:20,240
And we've seen how it's been 
inflicted upon the human 

1029
00:59:20,240 --> 00:59:21,680
population in the last five 
years. 

1030
00:59:21,960 --> 00:59:25,760
And now, of course, the great 
push to make the natural world 

1031
00:59:25,760 --> 00:59:28,840
seem frightening and something 
that we should be wary of. 

1032
00:59:28,840 --> 00:59:31,920
So I think that's something very
much that we should in mind as 

1033
00:59:31,920 --> 00:59:34,320
we finished the programme and 
I'm sure we'll talk about it 

1034
00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:36,120
more in extra. 
We, we will indeed. 

1035
00:59:36,200 --> 00:59:39,360
So we will be back in a few 
minutes for UK column news Extra

1036
00:59:39,360 --> 00:59:41,800
if you're a UK column member. 
If you're not a member, maybe 

1037
00:59:41,800 --> 00:59:45,440
you'd consider joining and then 
you could join us for that. 

1038
00:59:45,880 --> 00:59:49,760
And for every UK called News 
Extra that's coming up in the 

1039
00:59:49,760 --> 00:59:54,000
not too distant future. 
Don't forget Jerem and Carl 

1040
00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:57,880
tonight and the interview with 
Jose and myself tomorrow. 

1041
00:59:58,440 --> 01:00:01,160
Join us for that as well. 
But we'll see you on Friday at 

1042
01:00:01,200 --> 01:00:03,120
1:00 PM as usual. 
See you then. 

1043
01:00:03,240 --> 01:00:03,720
Bye, bye, bye.